Paramount Pictures owns all rights to the Star Trek universe, its characters and background. The story is not to be reprinted or reproduced without permission of the author or published for profit. The unfamiliar characters are mine.
This story is a What If story presuming that the events of Encounter at Farpoint, Haven, and Second Chances did not occur.
IMZADI REUNION
Starfleet Academy - 2390
Deanna Troi Miller was waiting for her son, Andrew, who was scheduled to graduate the next day from the Academy. She was also going to meet his fiancee, Kelli, and her family.
"Mom!" Andrew called. Deanna turned around and smiled when she saw him. Andrew resembled his father a great deal. Wyatt Miller died 11 years ago on an away mission leaving Deanna with three young children: Maria, then 14; Andrew who was 11; and Vicki, who was 3. Deanna resigned her commission shortly after Wyatt's death and moved her family to Betazed where she felt they would be safer. It had distressed her when Andrew expressed an interested in joining Starfleet. She relented after her mother reminded her that she joined Starfleet just to spite her. Andrew was set to graduate and getting married the day after graduation. Deanna was looking forward to meeting Kelli and her family.
Andrew came up to Deanna and gave her a hug. "Hi, Mom."
"Hi, Andrew. Where's Kelli?"
"Going for her father and younger brother. The Hood just arrived. I can't wait for you to meet her. You two will get along great!"
Deanna could tell that Andrew was up to something; but because he put his barriers in place, she had no clue as to what it was. However, she suspected that he was hoping to fix her up with Kelli's father. All she knew about Kelli and her family was that she was raised in Starfleet, that she had two brothers, and that her father was a widower. Her mother and younger sister had died a year after Wyatt died. She knew that despite the fact that Andrew was only one-quarter Betazoid, he had a bit of an empathic sense. He also had common sense and a good feel for people.
"Mother," Deanna's older daughter, Maria, asked with some concern as she came up to her mother and brother. "Are you OK?"
"Yes." Deanna smiled. "I think your brother is trying to fix me up with Kelli's father."
Maria looked at Andrew who smiled. "I never could hide anything from her."
Deanna noticed that her younger daughter, Vicki, wasn't with Maria. "Where's Vicki?"
"With Grandmother. They're waiting by the Apollo 11 replica."
Meanwhile Lwaxana Troi was waiting by the Apollo 11 replica at Starfleet Academy. Lwaxana turned around and looked at a tall, young Starfleet lieutenant with dark brown hair and clear blue eyes. Lwaxana felt like the clock had been turned back almost 30 years. She staggered at the sight of him. <<Could it be that he hasn't aged at all?>>
"Excuse me, ma'am, are you OK?" The young man asked as he took her arm to steady her.
"Yes. You look like someone I met many years ago."
The young man smiled. <<He has his smile.>>
"Judging from your reaction, it must have been someone special."
"Yes. He was very much in love with my daughter and she with him. My daughter eventually married someone she had been genetically bonded to; but she never loved him like she did the young man you resemble so much." Lwaxana smiled as a thought came to her. "What's your name?"
"William Riker, Jr."
"You're the son of the man my daughter loved -- her Imzadi."
"My father mentioned his Imzadi on several occasions. He never mentioned her name. He mentioned that her mother didn't approve of their relationship."
"I didn't. It took Deanna many years to get over him - even after she married Wyatt." She glanced at Vicki. <<Victoria, stop mooning over him. He's way too old for you.>>
<<Grandmother, he's gorgeous! He can't be that much older than me. He's still a lieutenant.>>
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, both my granddaughter and I forget our manners. I’m Lwaxana Troi and this is Victoria Miller."
"Please, call me Will." He smiled mischievously. "Besides if Kelli and Andrew have their way, I'll be your stepgrandson." He glanced at Vicki. "And your stepbrother/brother-in-law."
While Deanna, Maria, and Andrew were walking toward the replica, Deanna felt a familiar sense. She turned around and saw a beautiful young lady with dark hair coming toward them.
Andrew turned around and saw his fiancee, Kelli. She came up to the group.
"Mom, Maria. This is Kelli. Kelli, this is my mother, Deanna Miller, and my older sister, Maria."
"Nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Miller, Maria." Kelli said with a smile that looked very familiar.
Deanna realized who Kelli may be. <<Could she be Will's daughter?>>
"So, Kelli, where's your father?" Andrew asked as he took her hand and they started on.
"He and my brother are visiting my mother's grave. Today would have been my parent's 25th wedding anniversary. As usual, my father forgot until Kyle reminded him this morning. They'll meet us at the Apollo replica.
"Great. We were headed over there to meet my grandmother."
When they arrived, they noticed William, Vicki, and Lwaxana having an animated conversation. When Deanna saw Will, she knew without a doubt that Kelli and Will were her Imzadi's son and daughter. She knew her mother must have noticed the resemblance also.
<<Deanna, I noticed. He's as handsome as his father.>>
Deanna smiled. <<I noticed.>>
After the introductions, the group waited for Kelli's father. While they were getting to know each other, Deanna suddenly felt an intense sensation - one she hadn't felt in far too long. She slowly turned around and saw her Imzadi, William Riker, whom she hadn't seen since he left Betazed nearly 30 years earlier. He smiled when he saw her. She ran to him and they hugged.
Kelli and Andrew gave each other the thumbs-up to indicate that so far their plan was successful. Kyle moved toward the others with a smile. Like Kelli and William, he had known the story of his father's first true love. He knew that his father loved his mother and missed her terribly, but he also knew that this woman also held a special place in his heart.
"Will, it's so good to see you again." Deanna exclaimed as she took his arm and led him back to the others.
"Yeah, it's been too long." He leaned over and whispered. "You know Andrew and Kelli are trying to get us together."
"I know. I think they figured our relationship out. I know I told Andrew about you."
"Kelli found a picture of us and asked me about you. I told her almost everything."
By this time, they caught up with the others where Deanna introduced Will to Maria and Vicki.
Lwaxana greeted Will with a hug. "It's is so good to see you again. You're still as handsome as ever, and your son makes me wish I were much, much younger. In fact, it's obvious that good looks run in your family."
Will just smiled. He was a bit surprised at Lwaxana's warm greeting considering he had always thought that she didn't like him and never thought he was good enough for her only daughter. Lwaxana read his thoughts and smiled.
"You were good enough. I just didn't want her to leave Betazed and she was genetically bonded to someone else."
Will smiled again. "I'm glad I know the truth now."
"Andrew, Kelli, did you two know about our past?" Deanna asked to end the awkward moment.
Kelli and Andrew looked at each other and responded in unison. "Yes."
"How?" Will asked. "I know I told you about Deanna but never mentioned her name."
"When we discovered our relationship, I started to explain the concept of Imzadi to Kelli. I found out that she already knew about it."
"I explained that Dad had an Imzadi but never married her."
"I knew Mom never married her Imzadi. So we checked your Starfleet records..."
"And discovered that Dad had served a couple of months on Betazed and had saved a Betazoid citizen from the Sindareen..."
"I knew Mom had been captured by the Sindareen and was rescued by a Starfleet officer..."
"We just pooled our knowledge of our respective parent's Imzadi..."
"Then when we had it figured out..." He grinned mischievously. "I asked Grandmother; and she told me that you two were, indeed, Imzadi."
Deanna stared at her mother in shock. "Why?"
"Because I knew it was partially my fault that you two never married."
Will hugged Kelli and Lwaxana. "Thanks."
Vicki and Maria looked at each other. "That is such a beautiful story." Vicki said. The she impulsively hugged Will. "You and Mom will be perfect together."
"Vicki!" Maria exclaimed. Her younger sister had inadvertently given away Andrew's and Kelli's scheme.
Deanna smiled. "Don't worry, we're both on to your plan." She said as she took Will's hand.
"That must be one drawback to having an empathic mother." Kyle observed. He was glad that his father was happy for the first time since his mother died.
"I was on to this too." Will said with a smile. "OK come on. I'll treat us all to dinner on Fisherman's Wharf."
As the two families walked the short distance between the Academy and Fisherman's Wharf, Kelli and Andrew looked back at Will and Deanna who were falling further behind.
"They make such a cute couple." Kelli noted.
"Grandmother, were Mom and Captain Riker like this when they first met?" Andrew asked Lwaxana.
"I don't know. I did everything I could to keep them apart." She responded with more than a little regret.
"Mrs. Troi, I doubt you could keep them apart now." William said with a smile. Lwaxana took his arm
"Then I guess you and Kyle should start calling me 'Grandmother.'"
"Sure, Grandmother." He kissed her on the cheek.
"Kelli, Will, do you think Aunt Laura and Uncle Luke will object to Dad's finding someone else to love?" Kyle asked.
Will and Kelli looked at each other. "They were in on this too." Kelli answered with a giggle.
"Kelli, Andrew, are you two going to change your wedding date to make it a double wedding?" Maria asked.
"No way. I'm sure Mom and Captain Riker would rather have their own wedding." Andrew said.
One month later on Betazed, in a traditional Betazoid ceremony, William T. Riker and Deanna Troi Miller were married finally consummating their Imzadi bond.
The End