"Together"
Author:
D. Destiny
Paring:
T/R
Rating:
G
Summary:
Deanna reflects on her marriage.
Author's Note: This story I've
written on a request of Gloria; who kindly asked (thus: threatened) me to stop
writing sad stories. This one's sweet and definitely Imzadi...but if it escapes
the category 'sad' you'll have to decide for yourself. This story is in Deanna's
POV style.
Timeframe:
Distant future.
"Together"
The stars are beautiful tonight I don't think I've
ever seen them shine so brightly not even through a viewport of one of the
Enterprises. But then I am of course biased. There is something about looking at
the stars from solid ground, not a spaceship, but a planet. The stars, when
looked at from a planet, seem more illusive, more romantic then when looked at
from the bridge of a ship. Definitely different.
I have lived my entire childhood on a planet, never
once travelling beyond its moons. In my adult years I have seen more planets,
spacial anomalies, nebulas, clusters, moons, asteroids and other objects
floating around space and have I met more people from various races and
encountered more difficulties than most other people alive. And so planet-side
life soon became an utterly dull prospect.
My life I lived to explore. And exploring is
something I still do every day thought no longer out there, it's just as
rewarding to explore in here. Perhaps I'm thinking in riddles again, perhaps it
is just the truth. Exploration is a profession you can practise anywhere.
Take Captain Jean-Luc Picard for instance. He spend
the greater part of his life exploring the unknown, 'boldly going where no one
has gone before' or as we used to say '*baldly* going' which was of course a
display of affection...maybe intertwined with pun but that is something I'd
never admit aloud. When he was done exploring the unknown he spend a few years
digging in old planets; exploring the past. And eventually he settled down and
spend his time exploring himself and his wife.
An explorer in heart and soul. And perhaps that very
quality is what brought us together in the first place. Six officers and a
captain, a group that soon developed a bond of friendship and loyalty, but
most of all we shared curiosity and the want to
explore.
It saddens me now, when I look upon the stars and
find my gaze travelling along those which I dedicated to my friends. The bright
blue one just next to the Iraika-sign I dedicated to Admiral Picard
(though in my mind he's still Captain Picard) who
passed away nearly forty years ago. The red one next to it that's flickering so
fervently is for Beverly Crusher who passed away only a year after her husband
Jean-Luc. I hope they've found each other on the other side and will look back
on their lives with pride.
For Worf I picked a star that seems a bit isolated
from any other star, but that because of that isolation shines brighter then the
others. Worf died with honour just as he wanted to. Unable to fight with his
crippled ship he rammed the Romulan Flagship and saved the Federation in a war
erupted when my first attempt to join the Romulan Empire with the Federation
failed.
The closest star near him is for Alexander who died
along his father's side, leaving behind a beautiful wife and two sons to carry
on the heir line. The star nearest to my home planet is for my mother who left
this world bereft of her uniqueness and eccentric presence, but did so before
she had lost the ability to be exactly that. Which I am grateful for, for my
mother always was repelled at the idea of becoming a ' helpless, toothless,
ancient bitch', or so she told me.
There are more stars out there, fortunately more
then the number of friends I've lost. There is one for Geordi LaForge, Tasha Yar,
Thomas Riker, one for my father and the three little ones that seem
unreachable are for the three children I've lost. My
first son Ian, who didn't really die but did. My second daughter Cordelia who I
lost before she was even born, unable to protect her from an alien
culture. Tyken, my third son, died not long after
his birth. He wasn't strong enough for the illness that had invaded is tiny
body.
There has been a time when those losses were too
great for words, and with each a period of mourning came. Thinking of them now
only invokes a feeling of weariness and melancholy in me. Sometimes making me
feel guilty. Those times my husband understands I need space and gives it to me
willingly, but he never is far away. Almost lurking around the corner ready to
jump in when I need his arms around me.
"Space, the final frontier," Jean-Luc had
this little speech he would make whenever a new load of officers arrived on the
Enterprise, that being one sentence of it. For years those words held true to
me. After all, once you'd reached the end of space, where to go? Settling down
on a planet however gave me a new point of view. For me space is a reminder of
the past. A precious place where my memories are hidden yet exposed. But more
than that space is for me a window to the future. So space really isn't the
final frontier, for time knows no final frontier.
I know there are ships out there carrying my
children, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren. I know there are planets
out there however distant on which my offspring live or work. And whenever I
look up at the stars and remember those who've I've lost it is only a matter of
time before a moving spark reminds me of those who still live.
My life has been good, my career glorious and my
family perfect. The universe is now more peaceful than it was when I started my
journeys. The Cardessian have signed a peace-treaty that has been
holding for the past thirty years, the Dominion and
the Jem-Hadar have been severely crippled and will be in no way able to be a
thread to the Federation for at least another fifty years and the Romulan Empire
no longer exists, Romulans are now well respected members of the United
Federation of Planets, admissioned fifty-five years ago; five years after the
Troi-Toreth agreement.
My eyes catch a falling star and track it as it
penetrates my planet's atmosphere only to disappear a second later. When I
remember the ancient tradition to make a wish when seeing a falling star I find
I have nothing to wish, except for my husband's arms around me. But they'll be
there regardless.
An empathic smile runs through my mind, accompanied
by a familiar feeling of uninhibited love and affection at the same time as my
ears pick up the soft footsteps approaching me.
~What are you thinking about Love?~
~You~ I reply grinningly, there's no need to explain
it to him he knows. Our Imzadi bond has grown incredibly strong through the
years we've spend together. Whether as lovers or as friends.
"You shouldn't stay out this late, you'll get a
cold." I smile, despite being aware of his seriousness. He's taking good
care of me, he always has. But we both know there isn't much time left before
I'll be able to do much. An alien poison is slowly mastering my body and I am
unable to control it much longer, two or three years at most. I have resigned
myself to it and so has Will, despite his
unwillingness to acknowledge it.
"Come and lie down with me for a while."
Mumbling some objections he lies down anyway, theatrically accentuating the
objection his limbs and muscles make. Emphasizing the obvious: we're old.
Although of course our children and friends keep contradicting that. My hair has
been white for some years now, his still a darker shade of grey. The lines on
our faces tell the memories our lives have invoked up on us and Will has lost
the battle with his belly-muscles. But I don't mind, I still love him as much as
the day we got married, possibly even more so. Putting up with a Riker as
husband for eighty years is
in patience only equalled by creating the agreement
with the Romulan Empire and raising three half-Riker kids.
"Kyleigh informed us that the mediations on
Wij'ko are nearly finished and she and her family will be back in four
weeks, in time for the annual Festival off the Houses." Knowing there is no
need to
I don't visibly acknowledge his words, but I do curl
up against him, shifting my head from the grass beneath me onto his shoulder.
Kyleigh is our eldest daughter and currently head of the Fifth
House, married to the son of the First House and
mother of Cordelia and Ian. Cordelia married two years ago and is a Doctor on
the USS Picard, Ian is still single and on his way to command much like his
grandfather was at that age.
Our second daughter Beverly -or Verly, but never Bev,
because she hates that nickname- has passed command of the Federation Flagship
The Enterprise-G onto her son Thomas six months ago and decided to finally make
use of her psychology degree.
Ian, our son lives on Earth and teaches at the
Starfleet Academy, his granddaughter Deanna finished her psychology degrees five
years ago (must run in the name) and her twin Lwaxana is well on her way to
become a renowned musician. Their parents sadly died while on duty, therefore
Ian and his wife Cassandra took the task of raising the twins upon their
shoulders.
Our family is well scattered across the galaxy, the
family names; Troi, Riker and M'wey will continue to be remembered for many
years to come and personally I can't think of a better future.
We're supposed to see everyone again in four months,
for we have a big family reunion every year. Just to see how everyone's doing
and prevent them from growing apart, but if I'm being honest with myself and
acknowledges the weariness and tiredness that has crept in my bones and soul I
wonder if that reunion will be as joyous as the last one.
Will tightens his arms around my body, pulling me
even closer against him undoubtedly aware of the shift in my emotions. Even
after a century I can still picture him exactly as he was the day we first met
at Chandra's wedding. I can remember the night we forged our bond, our meeting
onboard the Enterprise-D. There are so many memories of him in my head I
sometimes wonder if there's any place
for other memories at all. He still manages to
surprise me and the deepness of his love can still make me cry. I've seen him
injured so many times that when he doesn't get injured every once in a while I
become worried that the universe might have exploded
without us noticing it.
It seems ridiculous, but at 120 years I still feel
like a teenage girl in love. I love him so much that at unguarded moments my
chest hurts because I can't express it verbally. The past eighty years
have been a pure bliss and I know for a fact that I
can't be happier than I am today. We've weathered battles, severe injuries, the
loss of loved ones and raising children together. We've done everything
there is to do and we've seen everything there is to
see. We lived our live to the fullest and then a bit more. Defied death more
times then I can count and still had plenty of time to love each other.
His palm cradles my face in his hands and he turns
his head to brush my lips with his ever so tenderly. ~I know,~ whispers into my
mind, ~I know Imzadi, let it go. We'll be all right.~ A tear slips from his eye
and from mine. I tried so hard to keep it from him, to cover up the feeling that
has haunted me for too long now, but he knew all along. I can't fight it anymore
though, nor do I want to. I am where I want to be, in his arms. I am what I want
to be, a wife and a mother and I have what I always wanted to have, my Imzadi
and my family.
"I love you." Three simple words which I
can all but utter with profound love.
~As I do you my Love. Let it go now, I'll be with
you.~ Pressing myself closer to him I wave my fingers through his. ~Let it go.~
he whispers one last time and fills my mind with love, acceptance and
tranquillity. Our souls dance in the love as our
lips meet in a kiss of forever and my body gives in to the tiredness hunting me.