Fools Rush In by Teal
Chapter Thirteen
Worf busied himself with packing his clothes. Jadzia had left earlier, and it was, once again, entirely too quiet in there for him. The door buzzed.
"Enter".
Ezri walked in, smiling cheerfully. "Hello Worf. Haven't seen much of you lately."
"I have been busy."
"I noticed." She grinned at him, and then saw what he was absorbed in doing.
"You're leaving?" She asked unbelievingly.
"Martok needs me to return to Kronos."
"Now?"
"If I do not return now, he will have to replace me."
"He said that?"
"He did not have to. I have been gone long enough."
"I guess some of us don't think so. Jadzia is sitting in Quarks looking very unhappy, and now I know why. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"It is better this way."
"I'm not so sure, Worf." She walked around him, trying to get him to face her.
"You can't tell me you haven't been happy these last few weeks."
"It changes nothing."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" She asked him, hands on her hips.
He exhaled loudly, clearly frustrated at the conversation. "I do not want to discuss it, Counselor."
"Counselor, huh? Well that's too bad Worf, because I'm not leaving until you do." She went around and sat on the couch, directly across from his bags, and put her feet up on them. "I'm waiting."
His shoulders sagged down defeated. "Ezri, I do not want to make the same mistake twice."
"Oh, you mean me. The mistake you made was trying to have me?"
"No, you were not the mistake," he back peddled. "The mistake was trying to replace Jadzia with you."
She smiled sadly. "I know that Worf. But listen, trying to relive an old relationship with the wrong players, and starting up an entirely new relationship are two different things."
"It would not work."
"Why? Why wouldn't it, Worf?"
"She is not Jadzia." He said with deadly finality.
"Oh, yeah, sure she is. She looks the same, sounds the same, has the same sense of humor, and I bet she even smells the same to you." Ezri saw his eyes widen as her comment hit home. "She doesn't always act the same way, or respond the same in all situations the way as we might expect, but who would after such a long lapse in time? We all change, Worf. And she has been through so much." She got up and turned him to face her.
"Listen, do find yourself thinking, "oh, Jadzia wouldn't have said that", or, "Jadzia would have done that this way", or even tell her she isn't acting like Jadzia?"
"No." He looked shocked, and she could see he remembered how he'd treated her during their short romance.
"That's because she is Jadzia, Worf. And she needs you, almost as much as you need her."
Worf looked away from her, turning back to his packing, and Ezri knew that the conversation was over. She sighed, completely frustrated with him.
"Let me know how you are once in a while, okay?" She rose up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek softly. "Bye, Worf." And Ezri quietly left his quarters.