Daddy's Little Girl

By Stephanie

Pretend there is a disclaimer here. Really, there is one. It is just in a very small font and also in invisible type.

June 2, 2003

(Okay, this story doesn't deal with Riker and Troi, but it does deal with Troi. Follows the story "Until the End of Time")

He held her close to him. Their bodies swaying to the music that played all around them. He never wanted to let her go. It had been so long. Too long. He thought that it would be a very long time before he ever saw her again. He was so surprised when she had shown up that one day. She was a sight for sore eyes, but it was too soon.

She had grown into such a beautiful young woman. She had only been but a child when he had last felt her in his arms. This was a moment he would cherish forever.

"You don't know how much I have missed you," he whispered into her ear, causing her to pull back slightly to look into his face with those large dark eyes of hers. He placed a kiss upon her soft cheek. "I still can't believe you are here."

She smiled a brilliant smile at him. Oh, how he had missed that smile. He traced her lips with a fingertip. "Remember when I use to tell you stories?" He smiled when she nodded. "You would never go to sleep until I told you one." He sighed heavily. "You would always have me sing to you as well." He watched as tears began to glisten in the depths of the dark eyes that continued to gaze at him in adoration. He began to sing to her now, just like in the good old days. It was her favorite song. His heart was so full of love for her that it flowed into his voice and into his eyes. He brushed a finger across her cheek as a tear slipped down it. He wanted this moment to never end.

He drew a heavy sigh again when he finished the song, "If only she was here with us too." At that moment, they both glanced down to see a lonely figure kneeling in front of twin headstones, placing red and purple flowers in front of one stone, then the other. "It is not her time." He looked back into the face before him. "She has outlived us both, but she will survive. She will go on for the both of us." He kissed her cheek again.

"I love you, Daddy." The words warmed his heart and soul.

He ran a hand through her long, dark brown curls. "I love you too, my Little One."

Father and daughter continued their dance on a floor made of thick, white clouds. The heavenly choir playing "Down in the Valley" as he sang the words one more time to his little girl.