Author's note: This is the way that I imagine episode #150, 'Second Chances', might have turned out if Soren had been aboard the Enterprise at the time.

"It is just as suspected," Will told Soren, once they were alone in her quarters. "He is identical to me in every way. Even his memories are the same, up until the mishap with the transport beam."

Will had led an away team to retrieve some important scientific data from a planet called Nervala IV. The attempt had not been successful, but the away team had made a truly shocking discovery: a man who called himself Will Riker and seemed to be identical to Will in every way.

"Where did he come from?" Soren asked.

"Eight years ago I was a lieutenant on the USS Potemkin. We had come to Nervala IV to rescue a research team which had lost the data. I was the last one to be beamed back aboard the Potemkin after the rescue, and the transporter officer tried to beam me up by splitting the transport beam. Part of the transport beam was reflected back to the planet, causing an exact replica of me to be materialized."

Soren's mind raced in a struggle to absorb it all. She had heard of mishaps involving transport beams before, but never one this bizarre.

"So he is essentially another you?"

"Absolutely identical in every way, it seems."

"But his memories are identical only up until the time of the transport beam accident. And that was eight years ago."

"Yes."

"You and I didn't even know each other eight years ago. So he doesn't know me."

"No, he doesn't."

"Where is he right now?"

"The last time I saw him he was on the holodeck with Data and Geordi. Would you like to meet him?" Data and Tasha had just returned from their honeymoon in Paris, France, on Earth.

"Of course I would."

Will and Soren went to the holodeck to see if he was still there. Soren saw him sitting at a table and couldn't believe her eyes. If he and Will had been standing side by side she wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.

He saw her coming and stood, smiling politely. "Hello," he said pleasantly. "I don't believe we have met. I am Lieutenant William Riker."

To Soren, it felt just like meeting Will again for the first time.

"I am Soren from the planet J'naii," she told him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Soren of J'naii." His grin - Will's grin - broadened as he shook her hand. Soren felt an unexpected twinge of guilt. I know what you look like naked, she thought. I know every inch of your body intimately. She couldn't look him in the eye.

Will, sensing her discomfort, put a protective arm around her. "Soren has had a long day and is tired," he said.

"I will wish you a good night then, and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow." Even his voice sounded identical to Will's.

"That was the strangest experience I've ever had," Soren said later to Will, when when they were back in her quarters. "I felt just like I was meeting you for the first time all over again."

"Strange doesn't even begin to describe it," Will said. "I keep expecting to wake up and find out that it was just a dream."

Over the next couple of days, Soren thought of approaching the newcomer, but she still felt too uneasy to really talk to him. She still felt a sense of having invaded his privacy, no matter how unreasonable she tried to tell herself those feelings were. Will himself was becoming increasingly frustrated.

"I am his superior officer, and he resents having to take commands from me," Will complained to Soren.

"You have had opportunities for advancement that he never had, being stranded on Nervala IV for eight years," Soren said. "I can understand his being bitter about that."

Will just looked aggravated. "Well, I'm sorry as hell for all his missed opportunities, but that isn't my fault. There was nothing I could have done about it. I didn't even know he existed until just a short time ago."

Soren rubbed his back and he looked more relaxed.

"Maybe he feels that you don't understand his point of view," she said.

"It isn't my job to understand his point of view. It's my job to see that he performs his own job as he should."

"That's true, but perhaps you should be a bit more patient with him. After all, this has to be a pretty big adjustment for him, after being all by himself for so long."

"I swear, sometimes you sound so much like Deanna." He grinned at her.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Now he was sitting down and she was massaging his shoulders.

"I don't know. All I know right now is that that feels wonderful and I don't want you to stop."

She embraced him and kissed the top of his head. "Well, at least I've got you smiling again," she said.

"This is a picture that Will - the new Will - painted for me of the Janaran falls," Deanna told Soren.

"It's beautiful," Soren said.

"It is beautiful," Deanna agreed. "I hope that you have the opportunity to visit my beautiful planet of Betazed some day."

"I know that's where you first met Will."

"Yes." Deanna had a dreamy, far-away look in her eyes. "And the Jalara jungle, where the Janara fall are located, is the place where our relationship was first consummated, and I became his Imzadi."

For Soren, the words were like a dagger plunging deep into her heart. She wished with all her might that it could have been her there in the Jalara jungle with Will. She knew that an 'Imzadi' was a very special thing that she could never be.

"Please don't look so sad, Soren." Deanna placed a gentle hand on her arm, and Soren remembered how utterly impossible it was for her to hide her true feelings from Deanna, as it was for everyone she knew.

"At that time he was young and very ambitious. His career was more important to him than I was. That was why he failed to meet me for our planned vacation on the planet Risa. He received an unexpected promotion and chose that over our relationship."

"That must have been so painful for you," Soren said.

"It was." Deanna had that dreamy look in her eyes again. "But the new Will still feels the same for me as he did during that time on Betazed. He told me that the only thing that kept him sane during those eight lonely years was the hope of meeting me on Risa. It broke his heart when he realized that he had missed it."

Deanna looked as if she might cry. Soren felt awkward.

"I thought that I had moved on with my life, that I had closed the book on that part of my past. Yet when he called me 'Imzadi' and held me in his arms, it felt just like we were on Betazed again."

"So you do still have feelings for him?"

Deanna nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Your Will told me that I should be careful. He thinks that the other Will might put his career ahead of our relationship and I might get hurt again, like what happened before. Beverly thinks that I should give the relationship a chance and see what happens."

Soren wasn't sure what to say. Was Deanna asking her for advice?

Finally she said, "If I were you, and I didn't give the relationship a chance, I think that I would always wonder what would have happened if I had. I remember how scary it was for me to leave J'naii behind and join Will on the Enterprise, but now I am so very glad that I did. I can't bear to think what my life might be like now if I had refused him and stayed on J'naii. I think it would just be pure torture for me to wonder what might have been."

Deanna listened quietly, and when Soren was finished speaking, she gave her a big hug. "Thank you so much for listening to me, Soren."

"I don't really feel like I was that much help," Soren told her modestly.

"You're a great listener, Soren. That means everything in the world to me."

Later that same day Will and Soren had dinner together in Will's quarters.

"This is a new recipe I just tried," Will told her. "I wanted to get your opinion of it."

Soren took a taste. "Delicious. You are a terrific cook, Will."

"Nah." She could tell from the way he grinned and blushed that he was pleased.

"Deanna showed me a picture that the other Will painted for her today. It was of the Janaran falls in the Jalora jungle on Betazed."

Will was silent. Soren wondered whether it had been a mistake to bring up the subject.

"Could have used a little more salt." He was busy clearing the table. Soren didn't say anything.

A few minutes later Will finally spoke again. "Yes, Betazed is a beautiful planet."

Soren could tell that he didn't really want to talk about it so she didn't press the matter.

A couple of days later the new Will called all his fellow crew members together to make an announcement.

"I have accepted a post on the starship Gandhi. I leave a week from today. Deanna has agree to accompany me and join the crew of the Gandhi as a counselor."

Deanna, who was standing beside him, smiled. It's so hard to say good-bye. I have been the counselor for the Enterprise for the past six years and I have many wonderful memories. I will miss each and every one of you very much. I will never forget all the special times we shared together. At the same time I look forward to this new opportunity to serve Starfleet side by side with the man I love." She and the new Will embraced.

"I have also decided that from now on I will be known by our middle name, Thomas, so that there will be less confusion," Thomas said. Soren knew that Will disliked his middle name.

Later, Will and Soren were in Soren's quarters, talking about the departure of Thomas and Deanna for the Gandhi.

"I suppose it will be a relief for you," Soren said. "I know that he had a hard time accepting your authority."

"Well, we had kind of patched things up recently. Ever since I saved him from falling when the bridge collapsed, he had become more accepting of the way things are. I gave him my trombone as a gesture of goodwill."

"I will miss hearing you play it."

"I can easily buy another one next time I am on Earth." He smiled. "I imagine it's more of a relief for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"It must have been awkward for you, being on the Enterprise with both of us and knowing that we were formerly lovers," he said gently. "I know it would have been awkward for me if the situation had been reversed."

All Soren could think about was the Janaran falls in the Jalora jungle on Betazed. She felt such a longing deep inside that tears sprang to her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Will asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, but oh God, I just want you so badly right now."

He chuckled softly. "Well, you don't have to cry." He picked her up and gently laid her on the bed. Quickly he removed her clothing and then his own.

He lay beside her on the bed, caressing her and stroking her in her most sensitive areas. Then he rolled onto her and entered her. She started to move and he whispered, "No, not yet." He continued to shower her face with kisses and then gently, slowly, began to move inside her. She felt her body moving toward climax and clung to him tightly, moving more slowly, wanting to savor the experience. Suddenly she felt a tidal wave washing over her, starting deep inside her and radiating out to the tips of her fingers and toes. She clung to Will like a drowning man to a lifesaver, crying out as the waves of pleasure coursed through her body. She heard Will groan as he climaxed himself. She felt as if she and Will were floating together on an endless sea, two entities merged into one being.

Soren opened her eyes and saw Will gazing at her with amusement and curiosity.

"What got into you just then, Soren?" he asked laughingly.

"I was just thinking...the waterfalls...the jungle..."

He kissed her. "Oh Soren, we have plenty of time for waterfalls and jungles. We have all the time in the world."

"We can't be too sure of that," Soren said softly.

"What do you mean?" He looked puzzled, and a little alarmed.

"Accidents involving snow, transport beams, and starship bridges just seem to be all too common." Soren spoke so softly that he could barely hear her.

Will gently lifted her chin and looked directly at her. His blue eyes had never before looked so tender.

"Soren, my love, listen to me. No one knows what the future holds. That's what makes every moment I spend with you so precious. It doesn't have to be near a waterfall or in a jungle or on a mountain to be special. Just to be with you right here on the Enterprise this moment makes me so very happy. If I knew that tomorrow were the last day of my life, it wouldn't matter to me where I spent it as long as I was with you."

Soren smiled. "I love you so much, Will Riker."

"I love you too, darling. Do you feel better now?"

"Much better. Can I please have a back rub?"

"Your wish is my command." He rubbed her back until she fell asleep. Then he turned out the light and went to sleep himself, his body tightly curled around hers.