"I promised you that I would take you to see the place where I grew up," Will said to Soren. "I keep my promises, don't I?"

Will and Soren were in the helicopter on the way to the ski resort at the top of the mountain. Soren marveled at the beauty of the snow covered mountainside.

"It seems so peaceful up here," Soren said. "Everything looks so clean, pure, and white, like it's never been touched before."

"Appearances are deceiving." Will winked at her. "See that tree over there? It's still bent from the time that I slammed into it when I was twelve." Soren thought that he was serious until she saw his expression. He saw hers and burst out laughing.

As the helicopter got closer and closer to the top of the mountain, Soren got more and more excited. She had never been skiing before, but Will had learned to ski at a very young age and assured her that she would enjoy it immensely.

"My friends and I came here every weekend when I was a teenager," he told her. "There are beginner's slopes for people like you who are just learning. It's not difficult at all and you'll have so much fun. Trust me." Will seemed particularly animated as he relived old memories. Soren couldn't wait to see for herself if he was right.

Finally the helicopter reached the top and they found the beginner's slopes. Will, to whom skiing came as naturally as walking, went on the beginner's slopes himself to keep Soren company.

At first Soren felt awkward when wearing the skis and handling the poles for the first time. Will patiently explained to her the best way to keep her balance and ski straight, and she tried very hard to follow his directions exactly.

Soren's first trip down the mountain was awkward. She fell a couple of times and was embarrassed. Will helped her up and stayed with her until they were at the bottom and waiting for the helicopter again.

Soren thought that she would have enjoyed piloting the helicopter that took them back up to the top of the mountain. She hadn't piloted such small craft in a long time. Helping Will pilot the Enterprise was a different thing altogether.

Soren's second trip down the mountain went more smoothly. She only fell once, and Will told her that she was a fast learner.

Soren skied down the beginner's slope with Will several more times, and each time the trip down seemed smoother. Soren began to relax and enjoy herself. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before. She felt as if she were flying. It was the most exhilarating experience she had ever had. It must have been so difficult for Will to leave all this behind to join Starfleet as a young man, she thought.

At first Soren thought that someone had thrown a snowball and hit her in the back of the head. Then it felt like a solid wall of snow hit her from behind and knocked her flat. She couldn't see anything but white. She moved her arms and legs in a swimming motion in the direction she thought must be up, but the snow was so heavy. She felt so weak and disoriented, and her hands and feet were going numb. She thought that she heard voices, but they sounded so muffled through the blanket of snow covering her. She began to feel drowsy and fought with all her might to stay awake, because she knew that if she fell asleep she would never wake up. Keeping a pocket of air in front of her face so that she wouldn't suffocate, she continued to struggle, although by now moving her limbs took tremendous effort. Suddenly she felt her fist break through a barrier of some kind. Excited, she waved her exposed arm with all her might. Her pocket of air collapsed and she got a mouthful of snow.

"I found her! She's over here!" It was a male voice and Soren could hear it clearly. Seconds later two men were pulling her up out of the snow. Will? She looked from one face to the other. Neither of them were Will, but he was there within seconds, gently gathering her up into his arms.

"Soren...oh my God, Soren..." He sounded as if he were crying. "Speak to me, please baby, say something, say anything..."

Soren tried to speak, but all she could do was cough up snow. She made retching noises and was suddenly gasping huge gulps of frigid air, which was very painful. Tears came to her eyes.

"Thank God." Will sounded extremely relieved as he hugged her to his chest as tightly as he could.

Soren's teeth were chattering so hard she could barely speak. "W-W-Will?"

"It's going to be all right, baby. I've got you now. Everything's going to be fine."

Soren was in another helicopter, this one taking her not back to the top of the mountain but to the nearest hospital to be treated for hypothermia. Will held her tightly the whole way, caressing her and saying her name over and over again.

When the helicopter landed, he helped to lower her onto a stretcher. She was rushed to the ICU, where blanket upon blanket was piled on top of her and tucked in all around her. Soren was still shivering uncontrollably. She felt as if she would never be warm again.

Soren stayed in the ICU for a long time as the medical personnel struggled to get her body temperature stabilized. Will was by her side the whole time, helping her to sit up and making her drink cup after cup of black coffee and clear broth.

Finally her teeth stopped chattering enough that she was able to talk.

"What happened?" she asked.

"There was an avalanche," "Will told her. "The owners of the ski resort told me they had taken every precaution, used explosives and everything. But it happened anyway." He sounded like he still couldn't believe it. Soren was completely bewildered.

"Don't try to talk now, sweetie. Just relax and try to get some rest. We'll talk some more when you're feeling better." Will stroked her hair and she closed her eyes. She was asleep almost instantly.

It was a couple of days later. Soren was out of imminent danger and had been moved from the ICU to a regular hospital room. The medical personnel thought it best that she be kept for another day or two for observation, just to be safe.

Her hands and feet felt as if sharp pins and needles were sticking in them. The doctors and nurses taking care of her said that that was a very good thing, that it meant that all of her fingers and toes were still alive, that they were not frozen.

One doctor remarked on how fortunate it was that she had dressed as warmly as she had.

"So many tourists underestimate just how bitterly cold it can get sometimes up here and underdress. We see so many cases of frostbite in the winter, I couldn't begin to tell you how many."

Soren remembered that it had been Will who had insisted that she wear so many layers of socks and gloves.

"My friend grew up here," she told the doctor. "He told me how warmly to dress."

"Well, he gave you excellent advice," the doctor told her.

After the doctor had left, Will said, "I feel just awful about what happened, Soren. I wish that we had never came here. I wanted to share with you some of the experiences I enjoyed while growing up. Instead I almost got you killed."

"It wasn't your fault, Will. You had no way of knowing the avalanche was going to happen."

"I knew that it was a possibility. I could have told you that, but I didn't." He paused. "I didn't want to frighten you."

"I wanted to come, Will." She touched his hand. "I wanted to see where you grew up. Even after what happened I'm not sorry that we came. I'm glad I got to see the mountains, and riding in the helicopter was fun."

"Hey, I'm supposed to be comforting you, and instead you're comforting me." He grinned, and Soren laughed for the first time since the accident had happened.

He squeezed her hand. "Well, I promise that our next adventure on Earth will be much more pleasant." He cleared his throat. "That is, if you would still like to come back to Earth with me again."

"I would go anywhere in the universe with you, Will Riker," she said.

"I'm so glad you feel that way, Soren," he said softly, giving her a big hug and kiss. All of a sudden he looked excited. "Hey, when the summer gets here I'll take you kayaking. You don't have to worry about avalanches in the summertime."

"Perhaps." Soren closed her eyes. All she wanted right now was to be back home again.

Soren had been released from the hospital, and Will still had several days of leave time left before he had to report back to the Enterprise, so he took her to see the Chugach National Forest. He told her the names of the trees and other things about them.

"This is a sitka spruce. The Eskimos use the roots for weaving baskets. And this is a western hemlock. It's boughs are used to collect herring eggs by the Tlinget Eskimos."

Soren ran her hand gently over the bark of the tree, and then looked up to where the top of the evergreens towered high into the sky. "Both of them can grow to be 70 meters tall," Will added.

"Do you remember that night on J'naii after the dinner when I took you on a tour and showed you some of our trees?" Soren asked.

Will smiled dreamily. "How could I ever forget?" Then he looked sad. "You certainly got into enough trouble over that, didn't you?" he said softly.

"It's all right. If it hadn't been for what happened that night, you would have left on the Enterprise and I would have stayed on J'naii and we probably would never have seen each other again."

Will was silent. Soren could tell that he had something important on his mind. She was patient, waiting until he was ready to tell her what it was.

"Soren, it took nearly losing you to make me realize just how precious you are to me. I couldn't bear to have to live without you. You mean the world to me, and I want you by my side forever and always." He knelt on one knee on the forest floor. "Will you marry me, Soren?"

Tears were streaming down her face. "Nothing in the world would make me happier than that, Will."

"So you will?"

"Yes, I will."

"You have made me a very happy man, Soren." He took a ring from his pocket and slipped it on her finger. "If you don't like this one, we can exchange it for another."

Soren looked at the diamond sparkling in the sun. "Oh Will, it's beautiful. I love it."

"I'm glad." He took her hand. "Come on, let me show you the rest of the forest. We've barely scratched the surface."

Soren felt as if she were walking on clouds.