The BLTS Archive - Fifth Anniversary
by Jaxonii (imzadiofborg@gmail.com)

---

As always, the characters belong to Paramount.
All mistakes are mine.  ;)

---

The chill breeze fingered through his short hair
as he wandered down the old beaten path. It had
been years since he'd thought of this place, and
the memory caught him at a good time. He needed to
get away for a little while, somewhere to think,
and this was just the place.

He pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his
coat as he walked on, more out of habit than for
warmth. The air was cool, he admitted, but nothing
like it could be at this time of the year. With
each step, memories of the past few days ran
through his mind, the not-so-great ones along with
the... . Well, there really weren't any good ones he
could think of. He'd screwed up royally this time,
and Deanna hadn't taken it well at all.

Several cardinals flitted past, singing a joyful
tune as they flew. Will paused for a moment,
taking in the scenery, and turning to see the
trail of footprints he'd left in the newly fallen
snow. Shouldn't be too hard for anyone to find me,
he thought, hoping someone would come look for
him.

And if he was correct, there was a certain someone
who should be getting at least a little curious of
his whereabouts fairly soon. Hopefully, he
corrected; it is possible she's still ticked.

With a half-crooked grin, he continued on his way.
His destination wasn't too far ahead, and
hopefully, he wouldn't have to wait for long.

---

Irritated, Deanna paced. Will was late, and it
wasn't like her to feel this way, but given the
recent events between her and Will...  mainly on his
part, she thought, she felt little guilt for those
feelings. Riker was obviously well aware of them,
too. He was the one who brought the universe down
on her, and she made him well aware of it.

Her gaze was now on the holopic of their wedding.
Seeing the two of them together, how they looked
at each other with such love in their eyes. The
longer she studied the photo, the idea that she
possibly had over-reacted slowly came to the
forefront of her mind. Why didn't I see this
before? she thought, I really did give Will a hard
time, and said a lot of things I shouldn't have in
my anger.

She walked over by the viewport, seeing the stars
as they seemed to streak past. Will had been
off-duty for over two hours now, and still hadn't
come back to their quarters. Deanna began to reach
out through her mind to find him, but decided that
wasn't the best choice. The last thing she wanted
was to make the situation worse by an unsolicited
probe.

After waiting long enough, she asked with a sigh,
"Computer, what is the location of Captain Riker?"

The answer came quick. "Captain Riker is located
in Holodeck 2."

Deanna spun on her heel to leave the room, but
stopped just shy of the door. She went back into
the bedroom and took a thick coat from her closet.
If her guess was right, she was probably about to
get caught in the freezing cold of Alaska.

---

Will approached the ledge. Hundreds of feet below,
he could see the trail of a frozen river as it
curved its way between the snow-capped mountains.
The sun was still low, and there were a few stars
out, but the best was yet to come.

At least, he hoped.

He kicked a few rocks off the ledge, listening to
them clatter down the mountainside until they were
too far away. He once again contemplated the
events of the past week. Somehow, their fifth
anniversary managed to pass him by. Deanna let it
go until three days ago. She hadn't forgotten, but
waited to see how long it was going to take until
it hit him.

Unfortunately, she got tired of waiting, and
informed him of his error. He had apologized
profusely, but it didn't seem to matter. Before
long, they both were angry, and words were
exchanged; many of which both (hopefully) wanted
to take back. Will had tried to make amends with
chocolates and flowers, but nothing worked. Her
use of the "silent treatment" had finally gotten
the better of him, not to mention the hardness of
the couch.

He still felt bad about forgetting, but there was
nothing to be done now; at least, until they could
finally find a way to re-connect. In fact, that's
why he was here today, in the freezing cold.

Riker remembered how a brisk walk in the woods
always helped clear his mind when he was at home,
just as it was helping now. A sense of peace
washed over him with the brush of the cold wind.

The crunching sound of someone trudging their way
through the trees got his attention. He smiled in
mild amusement as he recognized the mumblings of
someone not terribly thrilled with the cold, the
snow, and whatever else they happened to run into.

Will back-tracked slowly, knowing who was coming,
but not wanting to seem like he actually was
expecting her either. It wasn't long before he and
Deanna were standing several feet apart, and
silent.

They looked at each other, neither knowing what to
do or say, just happy the other was there. Anxious
smiles eventually spread across their faces as
they both said, "Hi."

Their smiles stayed in place, but not one of them
moved. Deanna finally spoke, "I was worried about
you when you didn't come home."

"I know. Deanna, I'm sorry--"

"No, Will, I am," she interrupted, "I shouldn't
have acted the way I did. And the words I said... 
should never have left my lips." Her eyes dropped
from his and she studied her feet. As she kicked a
bit of snow off the toe of her shoe, she
continued, "I never truly meant any of it."

"And I didn't mean what I said in return." He took
a few steps toward her, "Besides, I'm the one who
should learn to take a look at a calendar from
time to time," he said. "It surely would have
helped to avoid this whole situation."

Deanna slowly approached Will, stopping when they
were only a few inches apart. She could feel the
warmth radiating from him, and could see how the
happiness shown in his eyes. "It wasn't really
that big of a deal to begin with, you know. What's
five years, when we've known each other for far
longer?"

"True," he reached toward her, taking her in his
arms. It felt good to have her in his arms again.
After a few short moments, he asked, "I know
you've come here with me many times, but there's
something you haven't seen before. Come with me,
Imzadi."

She nodded and took his hand. It wasn't long
before Will had taken her back to the ledge he was
standing on earlier.

"It won't be long, just watch the sky."

"What am I looking for?"

"Trust me; you'll know when you see it."

The sky had darkened slightly, and there were a
few more stars out than before. Then suddenly, in
a flash of light, ribbons of all colors began
flashing and weaving intricate patterns across the
sky.

Deanna watched in awe, then huddled close to Will,
"It's beautiful," she whispered, not wanting to
take away the splendor in the sky.

"Not as beautiful as you, my Imzadi," he answered
quietly and stroked her hair, "I apologize for
being late, but, Happy Anniversary."

With a smile, she turned away from the edge of
mountain. "I think we both have some making-up to
do. Would you like to accompany me to our
quarters, Captain?"

"Anywhere you lead, I will follow, Counselor. You
know that." Will gave her his best grin and took
her hand in his as he escorted her from the
holodeck.

---

The End