Soren was a highly skilled pilot, and having already proven to work well with Will Riker on the rescue mission to save two of her fellow J'naii, she became his new co-pilot aboard the Enterprise on a permanent basis. They worked long hours together, sometimes around the clock. When they weren't busy working the were usually playing poker with the others or having a conversation over a bowl of Will's famous split pea soup. Will told Soren all about his childhood in Valdez, Alaska, and she told him all about growing up on J'naii and her adventures with her pilot parents. They each talked at length about their respective careers and adventures in space travel, and Soren laughed at his amusing stories. Neither of them discussed their past love affairs. Will just never brought the subject up, and Soren was afraid to.

Soren was fascinated by her new fellow crew members. She thought that Worf was a little frightening with his Klingon forehead arches and deep voice, until she got to know him and learned how much of a teddy bear kind of guy he really was. She learned a lot about the Ukraine on earth from Tasha Yar, and she thought that mild-mannered and soft-spoken Data was such a sweetheart, and that he and Tasha were a cute couple. She was curious about blind Geordi's eyeglasses that allowed him to see even better than a normally-sighted person, and she admired Dr. Beverly Crusher's professionalism as well as her femininity. She thought that Beverly's precocious son Wesley was amazing, and she was in awe of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but Deanna Troi became her special confidante. She asked Deanna many questions about romantic relationships and the nature of men.

"What is the reason a man wants to be in a relationship with a woman? Is it primarily in hopes of marrying and producing offspring?"

"For some men that is a goal," Deanna replied. "Some men have a strong desire for the permanence and stability of a family. Some men value variety more and look for a series of short-term partners or even more than one partner at once."

"Which group of men is in the majority?"

"I would say that in general younger men are more likely to seek variety while older men are more likely to value stability. Except in the special case of the so-called 'mid-life crisis' in which a man fears getting older and begins to behave more like a younger man in an attempt to reclaim his lost youth."

"Once a love affair ends, is there ever a situation in which the couple reunites, or is the break-up always permanent?"

Deanna smiled. "If both individuals have have matured and reconciled their differences, then of course."

"Have you ever been married, Deanna?"

"No." Deanna looked sad.

"Why not?"

"The right man just never came along at the right time. Either it was the right man but the wrong time, or vice versa." Deanna seemed troubled. "Why do you want to know?"

Soren wasn't sure exactly how to answer. "It just seems to me that someone as pretty and nice as you are would have a partner."

Deanna smiled at the compliment. "I am happy as I am now. I have a full life and I don't need a partner to make it complete."

"But wouldn't having a partner make it less lonely and more pleasurable?"

"If it were the right partner at the right time, then yes. But that isn't the case right now and I am at peace with that."

Soren was silent for a time, thinking over Deanna's words. Previously she had felt pity for Deanna because of her current lack of a romantic relationship. Now she felt admiration for her because she had accepted her situation and made the best of it even though it was not ideal. Suddenly Soren thought of something.

"You told me that you have known Will for many years."

"That is true."

"How did you first meet him?"

"On my home planet of Betazed. He was stationed there temporarily and I was a psychology student."

There was something else Soren wanted to ask Deanna, but she felt terribly frightened. Finally she worked up the courage and asked her anyway.

"Were you and Will ever in love?"

Deanna looked away. "Yes." Her answer was barely perceptible.

Soren could feel her anxiety mounting. "Why did it end?"

Deanna sighed. "We were both very young and focused on our careers. Also, he wasn't yet ready to settle down."

"What do you mean by that?"

Deanna finally turned to face her. Soren thought that she looked like she was about to cry. "I mean that at the time he wasn't ready to love only one woman. Do you remember what I told you about the way some men are when they are younger? Will was like that."

Soren forced herself to ask the next question. "But do you love him still?"

"Yes, I do. But not in the same way. As relationships change and fluctuate constantly, so has mine and Will's. He and I will always be very dear friends. But he loves you now, Soren, in the way he once loved me. I would never attempt to interfere with that in any way."

Soren felt very unsettled for the rest of that afternoon. There was obviously a lot about Will's past that he had never told her. Why had he never done so? Was he trying to hide something? If one woman had never been enough for him before, how could she be sure that she was enough for him now? And Deanna had said that she still loved him, just not in the same way. What did that mean? Love was love, wasn't it? And if she still loved Will, chances were that he still loved her. What if he loved Deanna more than he loved her? He had certainly known Deanna a lot longer, and Deanna was very pretty, as well as intelligent.

That evening Will and Soren met for dinner as usual. Near the end of the meal Will asked, "Why are you so quiet tonight, Soren? Is something bothering you?"

"Why did you never tell me that you and Deanna were once in love?" Soren was very uptight and didn't realize how accusatory her words sounded to Will.

Will looked taken aback for a minute. "I never told you because it doesn't matter, Soren. Deanna and I are dear friends now, but that's all we are. You're the one I love now, Soren."

"Do you love her as well? Do you still need more than one woman to love?"

Will rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I don't know what you're talking about, Soren. As I told you before, Deanna and I are friends, but that's it. And as for me needing more than one woman to love, who put that idea into your head?"

"Deanna. She told me that the reason you two parted was that you couldn't love more than just one woman at a time."

He looked furious. "You are not to discuss my past with Deanna. Anything you want to know about it you can ask me. I have nothing to hide."

The next question was out of Soren's mouth before she could stop it. "Did you and Deanna have sexual relations?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, we did. Is that the end of the interrogation?"

Tears filled Soren's eyes and she rushed back to her room, leaving Will sitting staring after her and feeling puzzled and hurt.