Summary: After the war with the Dominion, Garak and Bashir meet again under more relaxed circumstances on Risa.

Bashir looked up at the sky, eyes scanning the shimmering clouds lit with golden light from the sunset. The puffs of white were stretched thinly against the backdrop of clear and crisp blue. The wind picked up, ruffling the doctor's hair as he craned his neck upward to watch the breathtaking display in the heavens.

Garak had given the sky only a cursory glance before directing his gaze to Bashir. The doctor looked happy. Not a single furrow adorned his brow and his face was encompassed with an expression of awe. The Cardassian found himself staring at his friend with something akin to warmth.

Throughout the war, they had struggled to survive and they were forced to hide secrets that ate at them. They had lost blood, sweat, and tears during combat with the Dominion. Bashir had finally managed to relax and smile genuinely again as if he did not have a care in the world. That sight was worth a thousand brilliant sunsets to Garak, and the tailor turned diplomat was not going to miss it.

Bashir breathed a dreamy sigh and turned to his Cardassian friend.

"I wish I could see sunsets like this every day."

"So do I."

The doctor blinked over at him with surprise. "Really? You don't seem that interested."

The Cardassian smiled enigmatically at him. "My dear doctor, I assure you that I value this sunset highly."

Bashir simply grinned at him in the trusting manner of a child. He glanced around at the empty beach. The sky was darkening and casting shadows across the open landscape. His smile faltered when he noticed that they were the only two individuals on the seashore.

"Oh, I guess we should head back. Don't you want to take your shoes off? They must be full of sand." Bashir glanced down at the flat styled shoe. The shoes had sunk deeply into the sand where the alien stepped.

"Well…" Garak made a show of checking the shore for any newcomers.

"Your feet can't be that ugly."

Garak scoffed. "Ugly! Why doctor, you might find it informative to know that by Cardassian standards human feet are considered strange and unsightly. You should take this opportunity to learn that though we call differences unattractive, they are simply differences in the end."

Garak removed his shoes with a deliberate flourish. Bashir's jaw dropped as he gazed upon his friend's feet for the first time.

"You have frills! Or webbing, I suppose. That is absolutely remarkable."

The Cardassian examined them idly. "You think so? They're difficult to squeeze into human size shoes. Boots have the tendency to pinch them sore."

Garak's feet had webbing between the toes and a sort of decorative frill on the top of his arches. It was all slightly ragged and organic looking like someone had wrapped the Cardassian's feet in tattered cloth.

"They're amazing. They remind me of Terran desert lizards. They tend to bury themselves in the sand and use decorative webbing like that to hold the sand up around them so that they can have enough room to breathe."

Garak chuckled. "I remind you of a desert lizard? How charming. Next you'll be comparing Colonel Kira to a Sehlat and Constable Odo to a hawk."

"The difference is that Odo actually was a hawk much of the time." Bashir reminded him.

"Amongst other things." Garak started heading back towards their rental house.

Bashir ran to catch up with the Cardassian's quick stride. "I'm going hover surfing with Jake and Nog tomorrow. Do you want to come along?"

"Of course, but to watch only. The water is too brisk for me to properly enjoy. If you need someone to dissuade you from taking physical risks, then I am your man."

"Physical risks? Are you talking about my age?"

"You're not exactly growing any younger, doctor. The war with the Dominion has aged us all. Even young Sisko is showing the effects. One of these days you are going to throw out your back simply because you refuse to acknowledge that you are no longer 28."

"Having a youthful mind isn't unpleasant. It's supposed to be the secret to longevity."

"Then I am afraid that you are far going to outlive me."

Julian frowned over at him as he walked. They were nearly to their vacation house.

"Circumstances are still bad on Cardassia, aren't they?"

Garak's expression said it all. He swallowed, bright blue eyes darkening with emotion.

"So few of us have survived and thousands more are dying from disease and pollution."

"Elim." The doctor lightly touched his elbow. "Why did you warn me away? I would have done anything to help, but your letters became so…agitated when I said that I would follow you to Cardassia."

"It was not your battlefield or your responsibility. Before you tell me that didn't matter, let me say that your letters brought me a great deal of comfort. It was reassuring to know that you were far away from that poisonous atmosphere. I knew that you would have given everything up for my people. They would have given you very little in return and shown open hostility. To know that you were continuing on with your life was of great consolation to me."

"Why? Damn it, Garak, do you think that it was easy for me to let it go? I knew that casualties kept mounting and I feared that one day I might glance through a list of deaths and find 'Elim Garak' there in the list of Cardassian names."

"Yet, doctor, here we are. We are alive and on one of the most beautiful planets in the Alpha Quadrant. If we wish to regret the past, then we risk forgetting about the tranquility of the present."

Julian sighed. "You're right. There's no use getting worked up over it now."

They had reached the front of their vacation house. The exterior décor was a gaudy turquoise and yellow. The tailor of Terok Nor would have scoffed about their tacky accommodations and pronounced all Risians colorblind, but this quiet and subdued Cardassian diplomat just took it all in with a weary expression.

Garak typed in the access code on the door activation pad. He spared Bashir a short reassuring smile. They entered, shaking off the slight film of sand on their shins.

"Jake and Nog are probably going to stay out all night again. It's another quiet evening for us. Lemonade?" Julian offered.

"Please."

Bashir poured out cold glasses of lemonade for them. He had fixed up the pitcher before they had gone on their walk. The doctor insisted on making a few things the old-fashioned way while on vacation and replicator lemonade did not satisfy him. He put less sugar in the drink so that Garak could enjoy it. It was true that Garak liked sweet things, but he preferred natural sugars over synthetic sweetness. The doctor sat down with his Cardassian friend at the table.

"You almost sound disappointed."

"Not at all. I was thinking about the last time I was on Risa."

"I remember. You returned in those horrid vacation clothes and you were irked with Mr. Worf."

The doctor chuckled. "Yes, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I guess it's just surprising to me that I'm not eager to go out. It's-well-it's too much work and I would rather read and listen to the waves."

"You're sounding positively Bajoran."

"Or like an exhausted doctor"

"You know, they don't have a policy against being out on the seashore after dark. We could build a fire. I've heard that humans are fond of that activity."

"That's an excellent idea. We could sample the kanar you brought and stargaze."

"It sounds as though you'll take a nap after the first five minutes." Elim smirked. He was familiar with the doctor's drowsiness after imbibing.

"I can't guarantee that I won't. Though I'll wager you'll fall asleep before me. I'm younger, after all."

"My dear doctor, are you calling me old? Not that I mind, of course, it's considered a complement on Cardassia."

"Hmm. Your chufa has lines in it."

"So does your forehead."

"That's because I'm moving my eyebrows," Julian said defensively.

"Perhaps I'm doing the same."

"You don't have eyebrows."

They stared at each other for a moment before the doctor dissolved into fits of laughter and Garak joined in.

"I put something in the lemonade," Julian confessed.

"I thought so. It's good to know that we've retained our mental faculties and haven't started laughing over facial features like children."

"Oh, but that's great. We could afford to be more child-like, don't you think? I'd go so far as to prescribe it."

"I think that you've had enough lemonade. We should build the fire while we're both still sober." The Cardassian shifted his weight in preparation to stand.

"Garak."

The former spy paused.

"Thank you for taking this trip. I know that it must have been difficult to pull yourself away Cardassia."

"There is no need to thank me. We were both guilty of overtaxing ourselves of late, but it's turned out quite well, wouldn't you say?"

Julian could not agree more. After losing so many friends they had both thrown themselves into their work. They had thinned down and their faces were lined with stress and shadows of fatigue. Some R and R had been a high priority for them and the doctor had encouraged his old friend to seize this chance. While in each other's company, the struggles they had endured seemed diminished and the universe's complexities had fallen away in the face of their familiar friendly banter. Despite their abandoned responsibilities, neither of them regretted the decision to visit Risa.

The doctor rose up, beaming. "Let's go stargaze."

The End