Disclaimer: Paramount is big, I'm little-pick on some one your own
size!

Author's note: takes places 15 years after Every Moment.

"I don't need a counselor!" Kestra Elizabeth Riker was standing in the
doorway of her and her father's quarters and the 14-year-old was mad
as hell.
"Kestra, stop yelling and get back in here!" Will Riker bellowed.
"Not until you promise me that I won't have to see Counselor Davis!"
"You will see him, Kes."
"NO!" With that, Kestra took off down the hall.

Earlier that morning…

"Hello, Daddy, dear!" Kestra sang as she breezed into the main room.
Will froze. "I'm not giving you any more replicator credits." He
stated.
Kestra laughed. "I don't want any more, Daddy. I don't want anything,
period. I'm just happy."
Will eyed his daughter suspiciously. "What about the tragedy that your
life is right now?"
Kestra's eyes went wide. "What do you mean? My life is wonderful!"
"Well, lets see. You were just dumped by your boyfriend of three
months for your best friend, half your friends are getting shipped off
at the next starbase, Dr. Crusher is now at Command, and--"
"Okay, okay. But that's the past!"
"Kes, half of it hasn't happened yet."
Kestra shrugged. "Oh well."
"Kestra, what happened?" Will was concerned. His daughter's moods
didn't usually change that fast or that drastically.
Kestra grinned, her deep blue eyes sparkling. "Mama visited me last
night."
The only sound in the room was Will's fork as it clattered onto his
plate. Will's head went into his left hand and his thumb and index
finger started to massage the bridge of his nose.
"Kestra, I thought we were over this. I thought you were better." Will
lifted his head to look at his daughter.
Kestra's smile faded. "You can't get better if nothing's wrong." She
said quietly.
"Kes, Deanna is dead! Why can't you except that? Why do you have to
keep regressing into denial?"
Kestra stood up so fast her chair fell over. "Daddy, I don't care what
you say, Mama visited me. Nothing will change that."
Will sighed. "I'm going to make an appointment for you to see
Counselor Davis this after--"
"No!" Kestra yelled, running for the door. It opened and she stood in
the doorway. "I don't need a counselor!"
"Kestra, stop yelling and get back in here!" Will yelled as he stood
up.
"Not until you promise me that I won't have to see Counselor Davis!"
"You will see him, Kes."
"NO!" With that, Kestra took off down the hall.
"Gods, I hate teenagers!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After about five minutes, Will caught up to his daughter, He grabbed
her arm.
"Let go of me!" Kestra hissed.
"Kestra, stop this! Just come with me and I'll make a harmless
appointment. Harmless, okay?"
"No, it's not okay."
"Kestra, listen to me. I'm your father."
"You're not my father." Kestra said angrily. "My father would love my
mother. But you don't." Kestra suddenly yelled, "You don't love my
mother!! You never did!!" And then she stormed down the corridor.
Will stood there, dumbfounded. 'I do love you, Imzadi.' He thought,
not expecting an answer. 'I always have.'
Deep in his mind, Will thought he heard Deanna answer. ~I know.~ That
startled him into action.
As Will ran down the corridor, he tapped his comm badge. "Riker to
Security. Assemble a team to look for and retrieve Kestra Riker."
"Acknowledged."
"Riker out."
Five minutes later, Will turned a corner and ran right into Kestra. As
they fell, he grabbed her arm, as to not let her get away.
"Ow!" Kestra yelled as they landed. Will felt something hit his
shoulder. "Daddy, get off me!" Will scooted off his daughter, still
holding her wrist. The security officers rounded the corner. Kestra
sighed.
"Damn." She muttered.

Half an hour later…

Kestra prowled around the room.
Counselor Davis sighed. "Kestra, if you sit down, you'll be more
comfortable."
"Shut up." Kestra hissed. "I don't want to be comfortable."
Counselor Brian Davis sighed again, letting his annoyance show for a
moment. "Kestra, when was the first time your mother visited you?"
Kestra thought back. It was when she was four, in a place called the
Valley of Song, on Betazed. She suddenly snapped back to reality.
"That's not relevant."
"I think it is. Please, Kestra, think back."
Kestra crossed her arms and sought out her mother's mind and the peace
that always flowed freely across the link.
Davis watched with wonder as Kestra closed her eyes, took a few deep
breaths, and promptly passed out.
"Davis to Sickbay. Doctor Matthews, medical emergency in my office."
"Acknowledged, on my way."
Davis smiled as the musical voice of Katarina Matthews came across the
comm. Then Davis realized that Kestra's eyes were open, staring
unseeingly at the ceiling. He knelt down beside her, calling her to
see him.
Doctor Matthews breezed into the room, her long hair almost getting
caught in the door as it closed.
"Shit!" she exclaimed as she saw Kestra. Doctor Matthews looked up at
Counselor Davis. "She's in the catatonic state that she enters when
being 'visited' by her 'mother.'"
Davis sighed. He knew by now that there was nothing any doctor could
do to bring the captain's daughter out of this state.
"Wait a minute…" Davis looked at Matthews as she spoke. "Brian, what
do you think would happen if I neutralized her paracortex?"
Davis shrugged. "I dunno. You're the doctor here, not me."
Kestra moaned and rolled her head to the side. Matthews and Davis
looked at her as she blinked a couple times and focused on the doctor.
"Kestra?" Matthews said softly. "Say something." 'Gee, Kat, that's
cliché!'
Kestra licked her lips. "Ouch."
"Huh? 'Ouch'? What's wrong?"
"My head hurts."
Matthews ran her tricorder over Kestra again. "There's nothing really
wrong. Your paracortex has been working over time and is a little
stressed, but that's it."
"Oh." Kestra said, dazed. "Okay."
Matthews stood up and helped Kestra to her feet. "Well, I'll leave you
two, now." Matthews then left Davis' office.
"Kestra?" Davis asked tentatively. "Would you like to sit down?"
Kestra sat, without speaking, on the long beige couch.
"Kestra, I want you to think back to one of the first times your
mother visited you. Can you remember?" Kestra nodded. "Good. Can you
tell me about it?"
Kestra nodded again and started to speak. "I was four. It was the
second time she visited me. I was standing in the Valley of Song on
Betazed. She was sitting under the tree, in the shade. I asked her why
she didn't visit Daddy. She told me that it was because Daddy knew
that she was dead. I said that I didn't like that word, dead. It felt
wrong. Mama explained to me that death isn't wrong. It's a natural
part of life. I still didn't understand, but she had to go. And then I
woke up." Kestra seemed to come out of her trance.
"All right, why do you think this happened? Why is your mother
visiting you?"
Kestra was silent for a minute, as Davis' words sunk in. "Oh my gods!"
Kestra yelled. "You tricked me! I hate you!" As she said that, Kestra
ran for the door and ran down the hall to the quarters she shared with
her father.
After she entered her room, Kestra locked the door and laid down on
her bed. "Mama, you betrayed me."
~No, Kessa. I helped you. Counselor Davis wants to help. Besides, it's
time that I visit your father.~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That evening…

Will rolled over onto his back for what had to be the hundredth time.
His eyes snapped open as he felt a familiar touch on his mind.
And for the next two hours, Will stared unseeingly at the ceiling.

That morning…

Kestra entered the bedroom. "Daddy?" Will shifted in bed. Kestra
walked over and sat on the side of the bed, placing her hand on Will's
arm. "Daddy, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I'm sorry."
Will turned his head to look at his daughter, and Kestra gasped.
Will's normally cheerful blue eyes were red, swollen and watery.
"Daddy, what happened?"
"Deanna visited me last night." Will said quietly. Kestra bit down on
the 'I told you so' that was rising in her throat.

Later, on the bridge…

"Ensign Rodriguez, plot a course to Betazed. Warp nine."
"Sir?" Rodriguez turned to look at Will.
"Do it, Ensign."
Rodriguez pleaded with her eyes with Commander Data.
"Captain," Data spoke up. "we have orders to--"
"I know what our orders are, Commander. This is something I'm willing
to risk a court martial on. Ensign, you have your orders."
Rodriguez turned back to her station. "Aye, sir. Course laid in. Warp
nine."
"Engage." Will watched as the ship jumped into warp. "Number One, you
have the bridge." Will got up and walked into his ready room, securing
the doors behind him. ~I'm coming, Deanna.~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two weeks later…

Will and Kestra shimmered into existence. They were standing on the
side of one of the hills that formed the Valley of Song. Kestra looked
over at the tree. Just like in her visitations, she saw a woman
sitting in the shade. "Daddy." Kestra whispered.
Will looked to where Kestra was pointing, and the woman stood up. Will
and Kestra slowly walked over to the woman. As they got closer, Will
could make out her delicate body structure, that mass of curly black
hair that always had the power to make him drool, and those deep black
eyes that were looking deep into his soul.
"Deanna!!" Will shouted. The woman stepped out of the shade. It was,
indeed, Deanna Troi-Riker. "Imzadi!!" Will bounded over to her, taking
her in his arms as he reached her. "Gods, Deanna, Imzadi, I missed
you."
Will whimpered as he showered her face with kisses. Deanna's hands
came up to Will's face and stopped his movements. She looked straight
into his eyes, into his soul. "I love you."
Will kissed Deanna fully on the lips, losing himself in her for the
first time in fifteen years.
Kestra came up beside her parents, tears running down her cheeks as
she watched this reunion. Deanna softly pulled away from Will, and
turned slightly to her daughter.
"Kessa." Deanna said, holding out the arm that wasn't wrapped around
Will to her.
Kestra flung herself into her mother's arms. "Mama, I missed you… I
love you, Mama." Kestra looked into her mother's face to see tears
running down her cheeks. 'This is real.' Kestra thought. 'The smell,
the touch. Not as if it were over a great distance. We're a family.
Finally.'

From the other side of the Valley, the Entity smiled. This was how it
was supposed to be.

The End