The day in Ops was thankfully uneventful, and although Kira's reddened eyes didn't pass unnoticed, no one questioned her until after the shift ended. Then Miles O'Brien approached her hesitantly, coming up behind her to rest his hand tentatively on her shoulder. Kira wheeled, looking up, before the hope drained from her face like water.

"Oh ... Chief. What can I do for you?"

"Are you all right, Nerys?" O'Brien's wide, honest face showed concern.

"Me? I'm fine. Just fine ..." The last 'fine' came out immediately followed by a choked sob. O'Brien, dismayed at the results of his query, let his arms encircle Kira gingerly, making ineffectual, clucking noises.

"There, there, now ... ah, don't cry, Nerys. Don't ... now come along. You're coming home with me. Keiko will be glad to have you. We'll fix you a nice dinner, you can spend the night in Molly's room if you like ... come on ..." O'Brien managed to get the sobbing Kira safely out of Ops without drawing too much attention, although a number of eyebrows lifted at the sight. Fortunately Dax was at the other end of the station, and Sisko safely ensconced in his office ... O'Brien finally got Kira to his family's quarters, calling for Keiko as he came through the door.

"What on earth -?"Keiko took Kira into her arms, murmuring soothingly. "Miles, what happened?"

"No idea," O'Brien said shortly. "She's been like a zombie all day -- I've never seen her like this. But Odo's been conspicuous by his absence." O'Brien's tone made it clear that it would not be a pleasant experience for the constable when he finally reappeared.

"Nerys, what happened?" Keiko stepped back to peer into Kira's face. "Did you and Odo have a fight?"

Kira nodded wordlessly. She knew that there was no way she could explain the exchange that had passed between her and Odo without both of them being hopelessly misunderstood. Keiko gave a compassionate grimace, and led Kira to where she could seat her gently on the couch.

"Miles, get Nerys a cup of tea. Nerys, it'll be all right. Odo loves you, you'll work it out."

Odo loves you. Kira shuddered, shaking her head as she held her arms wrapped tightly around her body. She was beginning to suspect that everyone on the station had known this important fact before she had. "I'm not sure that he does anymore. And it's my fault ..."

Unobserved by the preoccupied grown-ups, Molly O'Brien surveyed Kira's distress solemnly. Thinking hard, the little face locked in a furious scowl, before suddenly brightening at some internal revelation. Turning towards the door, Molly exited her family's quarters without being noticed, and headed determinedly for the nearest turbolift.

Odo, holed up in his office, was having an equally disquieting day.

At first he buried himself in a series of reports - reports to be written, reports to be read, reports to be regarded, reports to be snorted at and ignored. A security duty roster encompassing the next three months was carefully put together. Then he studied the day's criminal activities report, an exercise that brought unwelcome reminders of Kira. Of course, they had to be memories of Kira at her best - laughing at him over a cup of raktajino, reaching out to clutch his hand compassionately in hers - moving beneath him and crying out her passion in the dark. Finally, Odo had had enough. He put his head down in his hands and sighed.

"Mr. Odo?"

The clear, childish voice caused Odo's head to come up sharply. Molly O'Brien stood looking at him, her dark eyes wide and solemn.

"Molly!" he exclaimed, getting to his feet and coming around his desk. Given a choice between getting down on her level and raising Molly to his, Odo elected to lift the little girl in his arms. "What are you doing here?" He sat her down on the edge of his desk, peering at her anxiously. "Where are your father and mother?"

"Home." Molly's stare was relentless. "Aunt Nerys is sad."

"Is she?" Odo was alarmed to find a sudden lump in his throat. "Is she with your mother and father?"

"Daddy brought her home from work. She was crying." Molly's look was frankly accusatory.

"I see." Odo was appalled to feel moisture gathering in his own eyes. Molly was onto him like a hawk.

"Are you sad, too?"

"I suppose I am," Odo confessed.

"'Cause of the fight?"

"Yes." Odo managed a crooked smile. "Because of the fight."

"Mommy and Daddy fight sometimes," Molly confided.

"Do they?"

Molly nodded solemnly. "But then they kiss an' make up, an' Daddy says that makes it all better."

"Do you think your Aunt Nerys and I should kiss and make up?" If only it were that easy, he thought tiredly.

"Yes!" Molly announced. She held out her arms imperiously. Odo helped her down to the floor, to have her reach out and secure his hand in a tight grip. "Come on!"

Just then, Odo's combadge emitted an insistent <beep!>

"Odo here."

"Odo, this is O'Brien." The chief's voice was frantic. "Molly is missing. She was here in our quarters one minute and -"

"Relax, Chief. She's here with me now. She's fine - she just decided to pay me a visit."

"Oh, thank God! I'll be right there."

"No need, Chief. She'd like me to escort her home."

"Well, then ..." There was an uncomfortable pause at the other end of the comlink. "I don't like to impose -"

"I know Nerys is there, Chief. She doesn't have to see me if she doesn't want to, but tell her I wish she would. We need to talk."

"All right, I'll tell her, then." O'Brien seemed relieved at Odo's suggestion. "Thanks again, Constable - O'Brien out."

"Well, then, Miss O'Brien, it's time I took you home." Odo reached behind him to shut down the work on his computer console, and reached down to lift Molly into his arms. "May we walk like this? My legs are longer than yours."

"All right," Molly conceded. She added wistfully, "Are you sure you can't turn into a pony?"

"I'm afraid so." Odo nodded regretfully. "But if I ever could turn into a pony again, I would definitely turn into one for you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The O'Briens greeted their errant daughter with hugs and admonitions, kisses and promises of retribution. Odo hung silently in the background, his eyes scanning the quarters' main living area until they froze, transfixed, on the face of the woman who stood waiting for him in a doorway at far end of the room. Kira, her eyes wide but no longer tearful, gave him a little nod and gestured that he come to join her.

After managing a scant nod of greeting to the O'Briens, and a murmured assurance to Molly that he would love to fulfill her request to read her a story at bedtime, Odo crossed the room slowly until he reached Kira's side. Kira nodded in the direction of the bedroom behind her, while saying quietly to her hosts, "We won't be long."

Closing the door on Chief O'Brien's admonitions to take all the time they needed, Kira and Odo walked slowly toward the center of the room, carefully evaluating places where they might sit. Kira finally positioned herself gingerly on the edge of the bed, while Odo took the single chair that stood beside it.

Before the silence that swelled between them could prove utterly overwhelming, Odo said quietly, "Nerys, I owe you an apology."

"Oh?" Kira said softly. "I thought I owed you one."

"I insulted your beliefs and made light of something that's very important to you. That's inexcusable."

"Well, too bad," Kira said shortly. To Odo's questioning look she added wryly, "I already excused you."

"Ah - I see." Somewhat at a loss for how to proceed, Odo subsided into an uncomfortable silence.

"I just got so caught up in - in resenting the Prophets telling me what I had to do, that I wasn't taking time to ask myself if it was what I wanted to do. It's like Molly and her keyboard."

"What?"

"Molly has this - musical keyboard. She can just sit there and bang on it for hours, she loves it - only now she's taking lessons, and when her mother tells her she has to practice, she'll think of a thousand and one things to distract her. Not because she doesn't love it, but because she really hates being told what to do. I guess I've always hated being told what to do, too."

"Funny - Shakaar told me you were a good soldier." Odo's voice had a decidedly bitter edge as he spoke the name of Kira's former lover.

"Let's just say I'd had some of the rough edges worked off by the time I joined his resistance cell."

"I suspected as much."

Kira glanced up quickly at Odo's wry comment, traces of a smile slowly lighting her face. "You know me so well, don't you?"

"I like to think so." Odo met Kira's gaze slowly, reluctantly, the pain still evident in his searching blue eyes."" So - being with me is like being forced to practice your music lessons?"

"No." Kira shook her head. "The idea was, at first ... but being with you, that's - well, that's like the music."

Odo contemplated Kira's words in an ever-deepening silence. Finally he ventured, "I guess this means you'd like to try again. Or at least that you feel you should."

"Odo -"Kira looked up in the quiet, shuttered face with a sigh. "You may not believe this, but I swear that I've never lied to you since Vaatrik, and I'm not lying to you now. I am - very much in love with you. And I'm sorry that it took me so damned long to see it."

Odo's cautious smile was not entirely believing. "So my apology is accepted? You want us to try again?"

"With all my heart." Kira reached out, taking Odo's hand gently in hers. Odo lifted her hand in turn, lightly caressing her fingers with his thumb before raising them briefly to his lips. That accomplished, he closed his eyes with a tired sigh. There was a resignation about him that was sadder than tears.

"I don't care about the truth anymore. I just want to be with you. I'll start going to the Bajoran temple with you, I'll learn the prayers - I'll get my nose fixed. Hell, I'll get ridges any damned place you want them. I'll even get an earring."

"Odo, I -"

"You're the only Link I have, Nerys. I'll do whatever I have to do in order to keep you."

Kira got slowly to her feet and moved to where she could stand close at Odo's side, reaching out and drawing his head to rest against her breast. "Odo, remember how you once told me about people always wanting you to change into things? Animals, furniture - that Cardassian neck trick - and how much you hated it?"

"Yes," Odo said simply. Kira could almost imagine that he was facing such a situation as he spoke, from the bleak hopelessness in his voice. Keeping her tone level, she finished:

"Well, the only thing I want you to be is you."

"Ah." The noncommittal syllable was little more than a breath. At first Kira wondered despairingly if he had heard a word, but then relaxed as she felt his arm creep up to encircle her. "Then I think I should take you home." He paused. "We have a date to set."

Kira saw immediately how important it was that she never hesitate. "Yes," she replied. "We do."

She felt him sag against her ever-so-slightly in relief. "Besides," Odo added. "There's something not quite right about making love on the bed of a five-year-old."

Kira nearly replied that Shakaar had once said the exact same thing, but decided against it. Honesty was one thing. Stupidity was quite another.

For the fiftieth time in only twice that many days, Chalan Aroya cursed the difficulty of her assignment.

At first it had seemed easy, to distract the former changeling so obviously beset by a welter of conflicting hormones. His seduction had proved no great difficulty, and she at first had been smug with the ease of her success.

However, as the buzz began around the space station about Security Chief Odo's and Major Kira Nerys' wedding, she did not feel so sanguine. In fact, she was livid with the knowledge of her seeming blunder - livid, and terrified.

The ones who had given her this assignment did not take kindly to failure.

Fortunately, certain options still remained open to her, ones that did not require the disgusting use of her body for such unspeakable intimacies. Since the ceremony was scheduled to take place in the Bajoran temple, that made it a public event. And after all, she was a part of the public.

Gathering the resources she needed for her assault proved no problem - she had been generally endowed with anything she might need to help guarantee her success. And there were always individuals on the station who would do anything one might require of them if the number of latinum strips was right.

Like a golden spider, Chalan Aroya began to spin her web.

"Nerys, are you absolutely sure about this?"

Kira sighed. It was a question she had been hearing a lot since she had announced her intention to marry Constable Odo - always from the constable himself. She finished tidying her uniform away into her closet, and turned to face her anxious lover with a smile.

"Yes," she said simply. "I wouldn't marry you if I weren't sure. I am absolutely, completely, totally sure."

"So many couples on Bajor never bother to get married, and they're perfectly happy. Perhaps we should just -"

"Odo, is it my cold feet you're worried about or yours? A lot of couples don't bother to get married because the ceremony takes four hours! Do you just not want to take the time?"

"Of course I do!" Odo protested. "I just want you to be sure."

"Odo." Kira crossed the room to take his hands in hers. "I'm sure. I love you, I want to marry you. And I've gotten myself a pair of extremely comfortable shoes for the ceremony. I suggest you do the same."

"I already have," Odo confessed with a little smile. Allowing himself to relax, he drew Kira gently into his arms and began to kiss her, while she responded with an appreciative purr.

"What about you?" Kira asked curiously. "Any last minute jitters?"

"Only the kind you get when you can't believe something is really happening. I am very much looking forward to this time tomorrow, when you'll finally be my wife."

"Forever," Kira assured him softly, pressing her lips back to his. She chuckled as Odo lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed.

"I fail to see what's funny," Odo commented as he lowered her against the sheets. Kira continued to laugh softly, even while she unfastened her robe, letting it fall open to expose her naked body.

"I just thought you might want to take the night off - give tomorrow a tinge of novelty."

"I'm afraid to," Odo replied solemnly, shucking off his own robe and tossing it across the foot of the bed. To Kira's questioning look he added, "I'm too new at all this. I might forget how it's done."

Kira's soft chuckles were replaced by full-fledged guffaws. Odo somehow found it ridiculously gratifying that Kira laughed until tears came to her eyes at the notion he might forget how to make love to her. It seemed like a very good omen.

"Yeah, and a razor cat will forget how to eat grinji. Tell me another."

"I love you."

"Well, that I believe. I love you, too."

Odo began kissing her all over her face and shoulders, before letting his mouth slide lower to her breasts. One erect nipple after the other was given the most careful attention ... Kira sighed as he finally entered her, letting out a groan of satisfaction.

"Oh, that's so good. I can't think when you do that. Yes, there - harder - oh, yes ..."

Odo couldn't really think either, caught up in the acute rapture of feeling Kira's body pressed tightly to his, enveloping him and caressing him with her wet warmth. Her fingers dug tightly into his shoulders as she rode the waves of pleasure that finally cumulated in her orgasm, and encouraged him to follow her into bliss. He jumped a little, startled, as Kira displayed the extent of her enjoyment with a full- throated shriek. His lover had gotten increasingly noisier as their sexual relationship had progressed, as well as more humorous and inventive. It was the tiniest bit unnerving, especially considering her periodic promises that she was saving the best for their wedding night. Odo wondered if he would survive it.

For the time being, he contented himself with a happy groan as his own release peaked and began to ebb. Kira began kissing him enthusiastically, murmuring, "Tomorrow night. Just you wait. I have got such plans for you."

"I'm breathless with anticipation," Odo assured her solemnly. Kira chuckled and snuggled against him, falling asleep with the ease of someone who spent many years having to take her rest whenever and however she could. Odo, on the other hand, was well on his way to being a complete insomniac - having required as little as an hour's worth of regeneration a night when he was a changeling, he resented the time his human body seemed to want devoted to repose, and tended to ignore it when he could. Now he lay awake in the dark, listening to the soft sound of Kira's breathing, and wondered for the umpteenth time if he was being a fool.

Kira said that she was in love with him. She acted like she was. But Odo knew better than anyone how good a liar Kira Nerys could be - at least to someone who wanted desperately to believe her.

The way I want to believe in her now.

Odo waited until he was sure that Kira was sound asleep before disentangling himself cautiously from her embrace. Then, throwing on pants, boots, and a tunic he headed out the door - Kira's quarters, tonight - he made his way to the main Promenade, to the central hub that was Quark's.

Although never in a million years would he admit it to the proprietor, Odo had developed an odd attachment to the seamy establishment, simply because it was so alive, so weirdly chaotic. Lover of order that he was, with attaining humanity Odo had gained an odd attraction for chaos, for the profusion of experiences that this solid life had to offer.

Perhaps because it's so comparatively brief, he mused as he headed into the brightly lit main area. He stepped up to the bar, and, after some thought, ordered a glass of tonic water. Lieutenant Dax had introduced him to the human beverage, and he found it pleasant, with its sharp tang and resolute lack of sweetness.

"No hangover tomorrow, ey, Odo?" Quark observed, pouring the drink and adding a twist of lime.

"Certainly not," Odo sniffed, tossing a slip of latinum on the bar. "I can't imagine what could be viler than getting drunk the night before your own wedding."

"Getting drunk right after your own wedding," Quark assured him solemnly. Odo grimaced a little as he acknowledged the validity of Quark's statement. "So," the Ferengi continued in a drawling voice, "you're really going to marry her."

"That's right." Odo sipped cautiously at his drink, wondering what was going to come next.

"She really does love you after all," Quark added with affected casualness. "You're a lucky man."

"Yes," Odo agreed shortly, unwillingly. A small bubble of panic threatened to burst in his chest.

"You know, I wondered at first why someone like Major Kira would want to marry someone like you - no offense, mind! Then I happened to overhear the oddest thing in that booth right over there." Quark pointed to the other side of the bar, where a corner booth was almost obscured by its activated privacy screen.

"'Happened to hear'?" Odo asked skeptically.

"I'm a Ferengi," Quark said loftily, looking hurt at the inference. "I have sensitive ears."

"Hmph."

"Anyway, Major Kira was sitting in that booth with Lieutenant Dax, and do you know what she actually did?"

"What?" Odo knew that he shouldn't let this conversation go any further, but the temptation was too great.

"She was talking about your wedding, and she started to cry."

Odo stared at the barkeep, stricken.

"But the damnedest thing is why she was crying." Quark polished another glass with careful nonchalance. "She was saying how much she loved you - and how afraid she was that you would never trust her enough to really believe it. Funny the notions these fee-males can get into their heads, don't you think?"

"Yes," Odo whispered, somehow squeezing out the word past the lump in his throat.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Quark did a fairly poor job of feigning that this wasn't something he'd had planned all along. "Dax is sitting in a booth in the back - she said to tell you to drop by and say hello should you happen to come in."

"Thank you, Quark." There was more in those words than gratitude at receiving the message from Dax. Odo started to turn from the bar, and then added as if it were an aside, "Oh, Quark, by the way ... at the wedding tomorrow ..."

"Did you change your mind about the holographic arch and lovebirds? Very popular!"

"No, I didn't. No arch, no lovebirds. But it seems that human males have this - tradition - of having someone stand up with them at their weddings - best man, they call it. I hadn't given it any thought, since the wedding is Bajoran, but I suppose it's something I should do - I hardly want to wake anyone at this hour just to ask them, so I was wondering if - you might consider doing it. And no, there's no latinum in it for you."

"We-ell, the bar is closed that time of day ... I guess it would be good for business to be seen right up there with law enforcement ... sure. I can do it." Tiny smiles quirked the corners of both Odo's and Quark's mouths in acknowledgment that the form of their rivalry had been somewhat preserved. As an afterthought, Quark added, "Do I have to do anything? Besides stand there?"

"You can hand me the charm that goes on Nerys' earring. I'll wait and give it to you there - I don't think you could sell it for a big enough profit to make it worth your while, but I never know with you, Quark." Collecting his tonic water, Odo went off in search of Dax.

And found her - though not alone. Crowded around a couple of tables were Dax, Sisko, Bashir, both adult O'Briens, Worf, Jake, Morn, Rom, and a fairly large group of assorted Security Personnel, both Starfleet and Bajoran, along with one other smiling figure on whom Odo fixed his gaze with unmitigated shock. The group bellowed a lusty "Surprise!" as Odo slowly approached -

"Dr. Mora -?"

The Bajoran scientist got to his feet, smiling as he did so. "Since you were so kind as to invite me to tomorrow's festivities, I thought I would come in a bit early - and then Lieutenant Commander Dax asked me to join her group here tonight."

"What is all this?" Odo asked, bewildered.

"It's our party," a soft voice whispered from behind him, very close to his ear. Odo whirled to find Kira smiling at him mischievously, beautiful in a forest-green dress that came to her ankles. Odo stared at her, bewildered.

"But you were asleep."

"I would hardly have been any good as a resistance fighter if I hadn't been able to at least fake being asleep, Odo." Kira reached up to kiss him on the cheek. "Didn't you know that Bajorans have their parties before the wedding?"

"But tomorrow - I thought we were -"

"You mean the stuffy human thing with the cake? Yeah, we'll have that, too."

Meanwhile, the others were up and milling around, encircling the engaged couple with smiles and congratulations.

"You know, I don't believe in counting my chickens before they're hatched, but I think she means to go through with it, Constable." Chief O'Brien smiled jovially, raising his mug of synthale. "To Major Kira and Constable Odo! Long life to the happy couple!"

"Hear, hear!" came the cheerfully bellowed response from all sides as everyone raised glasses and drank. Bashir, already several mugs into the evening's celebrations, found the brass to step close to Odo and murmur:

"So, do you still want to have it removed?"

A modest amount of tonic water threatened egress through Odo's nose as his face flushed a dull red. Kira, overhearing the doctor's remark, asked, "Have what removed?"

"Nothing, Major ... just a little appendage that was giving the constable some trouble. I imagine it's all cleared up now."

Kira looked closely into Odo's face, and at Bashir's humorous smirk. Eyes wide, she exclaimed, "Odo! You didn't ask him to -"

"Like he said, it's all cleared up now." Their conversation was drawing far too much attention from the surrounding party-goers. Odo remembered, wincing, how rowdy the few Bajoran prenuptial parties he had attended had gotten before evening's end. It looked like his own would prove no exception as Jake Sisko, of all people, called cheerfully, "So, Major Kira -"

"Nerys!" Kira shouted back, equally cheerful.

"So, Nerys, is it a little appendage?"

Sisko did have the remaining decorum to elbow his son sharply. Kira, on the other hand, donned the most bewitchingly suggestive Cheshire cat smile, before finally saying, "You don't hear me complaining, do you?"

There was a general bellow of laughter all around, and Odo resigned himself to his face being on fire for weeks to come. Worf, surprisingly jovial, said, "They say that a warrior's skill and cunning is the measure of his weapon. All things considered, Major, you should find yourself well-served."

A general shout of laughter met this Klingon observation, accompanied as it was by Kira's demure smile of agreement and Odo's look of total mortification. At that point Quark popped up with a large tray of beverages.

"Fresh drinks! Drinks on the house!"

"Hey!" Dax exclaimed, "I already paid for this whole party! Drinks included!"

"Well, I didn't include this round. Drink, Odo?"

Odo looked at the half-full glass in his hand. "I don't need -"

"Yes, but this one's better." Quark extricated the drink from Odo's clutching fingers. "It has gin in it."

"Gin?" Odo sipped at the new beverage cautiously. It was still refreshingly lacking in sweetness.

"Trust me." Quark continued on his rounds, passing out glasses to various laughing recipients. Odo looked back at Dr. Mora, who stood watching him with a rueful smile.

"I have to admit," Mora said simply, "I never expected to see you like this."

"What? Getting married?"

"No - well, that's part of it. No, I mean not a shapeshifter anymore. Human."

"I - I never expected to see myself like this either, Doctor." Odo was taken aback by the renewed sense of loss that swept over him. To divert himself he added shortly, "I'm rather surprised you came."

"Why would you be? We spent a lot of years together, Odo - you'll always be important to me, shapeshifter or not."

Odo found himself once again speechless. Kira, listening quietly at his side, stepped in to fill the breach.

"Thank you, Doctor." She leaned over to kiss the scientist's cheek.

"Please - call me Pol."

"All right." Nodding, Kira smiled in agreement. Meanwhile, a small ruckus was brewing among the ranks, with a growing murmur of "Speech! Speech!" The request was formalized by Sisko, who pontificated:

"On the occasion of your last wedding, Constable, you were the one who took us by surprise." The captain referred to Odo's brief marriage of convenience to Lwaxana Troi, annulled shortly thereafter. "This time, though, we thought the surprise should be yours - now, we want you to put Kira up on that table right there and tell us why you want to marry her."

Odo took on the look of an animal caught in a trap. Kira stood, smiling at him questioningly. Steeling himself, Odo reached out and caught her around the waist, hoisting her with relative ease to the spot indicated, thankful to note that it had four legs and was relatively stable.

"All right!" Jake crowed. There was an appreciative murmur all around as the din slowly hushed, although Dax had to jab Morn with her elbow before she could get him to quiet down.

"I -"Odo got no further before he stopped. How did one put into words a longing that had taken roots in one's very soul? He looked up at Kira, and somehow found the answer in her wide, encouraging, questioning eyes. "Because I'm in love with her," he said simply, his eyes never leaving hers. He added, in a strong voice that held no shadow of doubt, "And because I know she's in love with me."

"Oh, Odo ..." Kira dropped to her knees on the table and wrapped her arms around Odo's neck, fastening her mouth on his. Suddenly the onlookers ceased to be a concern as Odo kissed his bride-to-be until both of them were breathless.

After a respectful silence, the happy tumult recommenced. "Is he as good at that as he looks?" Dax inquired, amused, as Kira and Odo finally drew away from each other, and Odo helped Kira off of the table to once more stand beside him.

"Perfect," Kira assured her. "I trained him myself. You should try him sometime," she added generously, with a welcoming gesture. Odo had a moment to look extremely startled before Dax stepped up to accept Kira's invitation.

"Not bad," Dax said finally, stepping back. "But I sense a certain lack of enthusiasm."

"Wrong partner." Odo faked a growl. Dax grinned at him, completely unconvinced.

"You know," Bashir inserted smoothly, "on Earth all the men get to kiss the bride ..."

"Julian," Kira shot back, "welcome to Bajor."

"Right." Bashir subsided hastily, surrounded by a roar of laughter. Odo chuckled, slipping his arm around Kira's shoulders as though such demonstrations were the usual thing for him. He realized suddenly that something he had never expected was happening to him. He was enjoying himself at a party.

"I suppose this seems much better than having to do the Cardassian neck trick," Dr. Mora observed quietly. Odo glanced at him, startled, and gave a rueful smile of acquiescence. Mora nodded understandingly. "It may be hard to understand now, but - things like the 'Cardassian neck trick' helped to protect you, Odo."

"Protect me? How?" Odo let his arm fall slowly from Kira's shoulders as he listened intently.

"Let's just say that it was - distracting. While they were laughing at the 'Cardassian neck trick' they weren't thinking about any other things you might be able to do for them."

Odo nodded slowly, his comprehension slow and shattering and complete. In so many ways Mora had been a father to him, caring for him as best he was able. As close to a parent as he would ever know, at any rate, and one who had done what he could to defend his strange alien charge. For all his faults and shortcomings, Mora was yet another Link, as were all of the beings celebrating around him.

As the realization slammed into him, Odo wondered briefly at the awful pain of healing, the terrible joy of it, the appalling desire to embrace the world. Then he felt Kira's arms close around his waist.

"Are you all right, sweetheart? We don't have to stay."

"No ... no, l'meytahl, I'm fine." Warmed by the Terran endearment, Odo responded with a Bajoran one. "I'm having a wonderful time."

Thanks to the kindness of synthehol, no one turned up hung-over for the wedding. Which was definitely an advantage for anyone having to deal with an extremely agitated former changeling.

Quark, resplendent in a new topcoat, eyed the pacing constable with amusement as they waited in the small anteroom of the Bajoran temple. "Relax. She'll be here."

Odo, unfamiliarly attired in the gray dress uniform of the Bajoran militia, wheeled on Quark like a razor cat on a vole. "She's late!"

"Not quite," Quark observed. "She's just not early. Besides, Dr. Bashir and Chief O'Brien were telling me that weddings always start a little late - so the bride can make an entrance."

"Am I late?" Kira stepped into the anteroom followed by Dax, her smile quickly mirrored by one from Odo. Kira wore the traditional garb of a Bajoran bride, a simple green dress with touches of rust that was flattering to her coloring. Her dark eyes were enormous.

"No." Odo smiled, all worries forgotten. "You're right on time."

"I'd hate to miss anything," Kira said softly. She stepped forward until she stood nose to nose with Odo, sighing with contentment as his lips rested on her forehead.

"You mean like you just missed breakfast?" Dax commented acerbically. "Odo, she couldn't eat a bite!"

"I couldn't either," Odo said simply. "I told you it was foolish, making us sleep in our separate quarters last night."

"At least you have something to look forward to tonight," Dax quipped. "Well, are you ready?"

"I have been," Odo assured her, "for quite some time." Kira smiled and nodded, turning to face her Trill friend and tucking her hand in the crook of Odo's arm.

"Let's do it."

A Bajoran wedding was a pure orgy of signs and symbolism, the spoken word mingling with softly sung chants, and the sweet scent of incense rising over it all. In some ways, the bride and groom were the plainest things there, Odo with his simple uniform, and Kira with her rather plain dress, but their faces marked them as the focal point of the room, even as the four-hour ceremony ground interminably on. At least two hundred people on the station and from Bajor had made their way to where they could share the special event - Odo had blinked, astonished, when they first walked out of the anteroom to face the crowd. Even though most of these people were friends of Kira's from the Resistance, there was a more than healthy spattering of his own security personnel as well, as well as a sizable group who could only be termed as co-workers and mutual friends. Dr. Mora sat next to Captain Sisko, beaming, his eyes bright and curious as he surveyed his former research subject. Sisko himself looked both pleased and apprehensive - I can well imagine, Odo thought, that having two of his senior officers in such a close personal relationship has its worrisome side attached.

No one noticed Chalan Aroya, seated discreetly towards the back of the chapel, her usual flamboyant attire replaced with something more subdued for this special occasion. Occasionally her gaze flitted to a spot by the chapel's aisle, where a dark Bajoran man in civilian clothes watched the proceedings with a more than friendly interest. His eyes didn't miss a movement as he surveyed first the couple and then the crowd, and occasionally fondled something that he held in his pocket. His movements were so subtle that he would easily have passed unnoticed, if it wasn't for the fact that Klingons found humanoid "romantic rituals" to be horribly boring, and Bajoran ones more boring than most.

Commander Worf's gaze fell on the unknown Bajoran by chance, but once there it was riveted. He knew a predator when he saw one, and this man was a predator. The question was - which was his prey? Sisko? The major? The constable? Worf slipped from his seat and positioned himself to move quickly as soon as the ceremony ended.

Which it finally did, to the profound gratitude of the couple at the heart of the celebration ... Bajorans didn't seal their weddings with a kiss, but with a stately walk down through their guests, greeting them in the name of the Prophets. Worf tensed. The unknown Bajoran was on the side of the temple where Kira had begun to personally welcome as many of her guests as she could. Worf saw the man's hand slip from his pocket, and the gleam of light on metal - the light flashed stealthily outward in a subtle killing strike, but the blow never reached its target.

Commander Worf caught the man's wrist in his hand, and snapped it for good measure. The small, needle-like knife the attacker had carried concealed in his pocket fell from suddenly nerveless fingers. Without missing a beat, Odo segued into security mode, snapping out orders, having the man arrested, and his weapon impounded as evidence. The would-be assassin, struggling in vain against the two sturdy security guards who had stepped forward to restrain him, turned suddenly and pointed through the crowd.

"She's the one who hired me! Why don't you try arresting her?"

Chalan Aroya had never expected that this paid underling's loyalty would remain bought. Nonetheless, her mission remained the same.

She brought out a energy weapon from a fold of her dress and fired directly at Major Kira.

Odo and Quark both saw it coming - Quark dove low to knock the major's feet out from under her while Odo took the more instinctive option of stepping in the beam's path. Kira was safely on the floor before she realized what had happened, lying wedged somehow between Odo and Quark. Quark was noisy in his complaints as he attempted to untangle himself, but Odo didn't make a sound.

Chalan Aroya made no attempt to run away, but calmly handed her weapon to the person nearest to her and waited for one of the security guards to take her into custody. Her job was done, to her way of thinking, although perhaps not as it had originally been ordered. At any rate, it didn't look like Odo would be enjoying any benefit from his human status.

Kira crawled to Odo's head, her gaze fixed desperately on his face as she stroked the hair back from his forehead. Odo opened his eyes and smiled at her, whispering, "'My end is my beginning' ..." Then his blue eyes glazed over as though doused with milk, and he was very still.

Bashir somehow made it through the crowd, slapping his combadge and shouting, "Medical emergency! Two to beam to the Infirmary, STAT!" He and Odo both disappeared in a glimmer of light, leaving a dumbstruck Bajoran woman in a green dress, pondering a future that suddenly loomed black.

"Major ... Nerys ..."

Kira slowly focused on the voice of her commanding officer, as Sisko squatted down by her side. She stared at him wordlessly, wondering at the numbness that had clutched at her very soul.

"Come on, Nerys ... let me take you to the Infirmary."

The Infirmary ... Odo was in the Infirmary. Kira nodded slowly, and let the captain help her to her feet. Funny that she didn't feel a thing ... she followed Sisko quietly from the chapel, noticing with curious surprise how the crowd parted to let them pass, the sympathy that shadowed each face. Sympathy? Because Odo was hurt? How silly of them, Odo would be fine - who knew better than she did how hard it was to really damage a changeling?

Only Odo isn't one anymore, a small voice taunted. He's just a middle-aged human who took a disruptor hit for you. How well do think that will turn out?

Kira's eyes widened as she stared down the Promenade toward the Infirmary, and she gathered her skirt in her hands and started to run.

Bashir met her as she pelted through the door, his hopeless, shocked face making him seem far older than his years. "I'm sorry, Major," he said quietly. "He's gone."

"Gone ...?" Kira whispered the word, trying to comprehend.

"The weapon - it's like nothing I've ever seen before. Sets up the neural sequences to fail in rapid progression, all involuntary and voluntary muscles to shut down in a matter of minutes, and apparently it's irreversible. At least I couldn't reverse it." Bashir thrust a hand through his curly brown hair, compassionate eyes intent on Kira's face. "Nerys, would you like to sit down?"

"Where is he?" Kira wondered for an instant where that cold, brittle voice came from, before realizing it was her own.

"I have him in stasis," Bashir said briefly. "On the off chance there's some recent development out there I haven't encountered yet. I've already got Dax looking into it."

"Take me to him," Kira ordered. Bashir led her through the main treatment room and the surgery, to the small room beyond that acted as a temporary morgue. There, wrapped in the glow of a stasis field, was the too-still form of the man who had held her laughing in his arms only the evening before - the man who had been looking forward with bemused anticipation to the surprises she had promised him tonight. Only it seemed that death had surprised them both.

"Please, Julian," Kira said softly. "I'd like to be alone."

Continue reading "About Face".

Copyright 1996 by Carolyn R. Fulton. Paramount Pictures, VIACOM et al owns all rights to STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and the characters and universe depicted within. This is a work of fan fiction, designed solely for the enjoyment of fans of the Star Trek universe, and no infringement of Paramount's copyright or trademarks is intended. The following may be reproduced electronically or in single hard copy for your own enjoyment only, providing that all disclaimer material remains in place.

Return to The Major and the Constable Home Page.