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From: "Keith & Jessica Bratcher" <campbratcher@psci.net>
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Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 19:24:31 -0500
Subject: [ASCEM-S] NEW DS9 "Finality" (O/K) [G] 1/1
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Title: Finality
Author: Farfalla the Butterfly-Kitten
Email: blueberrysnail at yahoo dot com
Website: http://cosmicduckling.com
Series: DS9
Pairing: O/K
Rating: G
Infinite thanks to Chris, who rocks my socks off for
inspiring this story, and for Kat and Hy, who dragged
me in by insisting that K/O was just like K/S. Whoo
for Kira, the Major Bombshell! ;-)


FINALITY

Colonel Kira Nerys stood before her prayer mandala,
still as a sapling in a windless garden. Soon, she
would begin the nightly ritual that began with
meditation, then a warm mug of ginger tea, and
concluded with falling asleep over a chapter of the
vacuous Terran novel she'd been reading. It was a
comfortable pattern, a safe order that had filled the
emptiness left by absent friends.

She knew exactly what shape the emptiness had, or
rather, that it had no shape at all. It was exactly
the dimension of that dimensionless being who for so
brief a time had shared her world in an open and
honest love. Her days were busy with her important
work as station commander, and her nights were
occupied with the banal activities that distracted her
from her sense of loss.

She'd lost much. That had been a constant throughout
her life. But usually the loss had been through death,
and though traumatic, the finality of death provided a
beginning for each individual period of healing. With
Odo it was different.

With Odo--he'd left, but he was alive, and could
return to her at any minute, or never at all. There
could be no healing, because the future was uncertain.
If she knew he was never coming back, she could mourn
and miss him and finally just move on. She could deal
with it. If she knew for certain he'd come back, it
would have been easier to live these months. His
immediate presence was not required, but the prospect
of his definite return would calm her spirits.

Instead, what was this? Her nights gave her the
torture of fulfillment in dreams. They had become so
frequent that even within their misty boundaries, she
feared the fickleness of reality. The dreams grew
harder to handle as they became less far-fetched. One
morning, she had actually thought he was beside her in
the bed when she awakened. The sinking feeling of
realizing he was not had been swept away by the
bustling energy of Ops, but one could not work through
every hour of the day.

The meditation helped. Thank goodness for prayer.

But this night, the door chimed before she was able to
begin. Already relaxed by the warm glow of the
candles, she blinked a few times before coming back to
her senses and responding. "Come."

She turned to face the opening door. Light poured in
around the silhouette of an Andorian holding a bulky
object in one hand. "Colonel Kira?"

"Yes?" She stepped into the doorway, suspicious of the
interruption.

"Delivery service," said the Andorian, and shoved the
tissue-paper-wrapped mass into her waiting arms.

"Thank you..." Kira found herself standing in her open
doorway staring at the huge bouquet of red roses she
now held, as the Andorian walked away down the
hallway.

She retreated into her room and shut the door,
inspecting the flowers with confusion. One,
two--twelve roses, an even dozen. They were a dark,
velvety red, with leaves of emerald green, and they
were interspersed with tiny white puffs of baby's
breath. How strange. Who would send her roses? She
didn't even particularly care for flowers--sending
botanical curiosities to each other was a human
custom, and she had no idea what circumstances would
warrant a bouquet of red roses.

Kira was very close to calling the Andorian back and
telling him he'd gotten the order mixed up somehow,
when she realized there was a small cardboard card
attached to the tissue paper wrapping. It was folded
in half, and she opened it and read it by candlelight.

"I'm finally home."

Her heart nearly stopped. Roses from Odo... and a
message.

With shaking hands, she lifted the roses to her face
and inhaled. What a beautiful smell... The lights of
the candles blurred into strange golden stars as tears
sprang to her eyes, her skin stinging with the cold
sweat of fear. This was it. This was her finality.
Finally home... never to leave.

At least he had found it. She loved him enough to
thank the prophets for that. How long had he sought
such a home? Only they that have gone without truly
value what they find.

Only they that lose...

If only they hadn't wasted so much time.

She looked down at the flowers, trying to calm her
nerves, and realized that some of the tissue paper had
slipped. Two thorns poked her hand, and she recoiled
from them with sluggish alarm. She was puzzled when
she saw no blood--not even a puncture.

Kira studied the roses more closely, and noticed that
the leaves were tinged with yellow. Real flowers...
obviously these plants had been grown naturally and
traveled a long way, and were not the product of a
replicator as she had originally assumed. She wondered
why Odo had sent roses. He'd always been very generous
to her--quiet, but generous--but she didn't even like
flowers.

The yellow spread through the leaves.

The yellow spreading through the leaves glowed and
sparkled.

The roses drenched their blooms in golden light, and
Kira's grip on the bouquet tightened as they expanded
and stretched and grew--

"Odo?!" she stammered.

Her hands now held him by the shoulders, and she
almost shook with wonder as his form approached the
floor and began to support itself.

"What the--Why didn't you tell me you were--Oh!"

Kira cradled him in her arms, tightly now, as he
completed his transformation before her gaze.

"I did," he reminded her with soft calm, rubbing the
tense muscles of her back with one hand. His eyes
twinkled in a reassuringly familiar blue. "Didn't I
say I was home?"

//

=====
Farfalla's Kirk/Spock happyplace @ http://cosmicduckling.com/spirk 
Stories, humor, cartoons, poetry, screencaptures, & more! 
All-Ages Kirk/Spock Archive @ http://www.thyla.com
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