The BLTS Archive - Love Lives Longer Than Time
by sheepfairy (sheepfairy@gmail.com)

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Spoilers: Spoilers for Episode 76, 'Rejoined'.

Summary: Six months after they last saw each other Lenara
and Jadzia  meet again.

Author's Notes: I hope you like this! Also, thanks to Becca
for the  beta job.

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There were many, many reasons why leaving your past loves in
the past was the best thing for everyone involved. It wasn't
absolute, of course; people made little comment about Dax's
continued relationships with people outside of Trill
society, probably because everyone else only lived once
anyway. But for the Trills themselves, clinging to old
attachments only led to stagnation at best or disaster at
worst.

Unfortunately, while she was aware of the many cautionary
statements and warnings put out by the Trill government, she
didn't believe a single one of them. There was only one
thing stopping her and Lenara from being together, from
being happy together, and that was the threat of a premature
death at the hands of their own society.

If she had believed in the logic behind the laws it would
have been easy to ignore the message Lenara had sent her two
weeks after she'd left the space station. It would have
saved her a lot of fear and waiting and emotional upheaval,
but it also would have cost her something dear. So she
knowingly disregarded the laws and, after a few weeks of
secretive communication, she and Lenara decided on their time
and place.

It was full six months after their last meeting, and Jadzia
waited in a plain but clean and well-kept apartment. She had
arrived early, unfortunately, and, left to her own devices,
her mind had turned to worry. Dax, generally speaking, was
not the worrying type, but then again for all his pretension
at rebelliousness even Curzon had never dared to flaunt
Trill law in such a severe manner.

Although, if she were to be honest, what scared her the most
was not the thought of getting caught. What scared her was
the thought that Lenara might change her mind and not show
up at all.

By the time the door finally clicked open Jadzia had gone
half-crazy from waiting, and seeing Lenara at the door
looking beautiful (although also just as nervous as Jadzia
herself) sent a flush of joy rushing through her.

Jadzia's immediate reaction was to pull Lenara in for a
kiss. It probably would have been more appropriate to talk
some first, or at least exchange greetings, but six months
was a long time to wait and Dax had never been terribly
patient. Their bodies were different, but there was still a
sense of familiarity that brought Jadzia comfort and soothed
the nerves that she had built up while waiting. A wave of
nostalgia washed over her and, for a second, it was easy for
her to forget that they were no longer Nilani and Torias,
and they were no longer married.

Lenara moved first, ending the kiss but not pulling away. "I
was afraid you wouldn't want anything to do with me after I
left you alone on the station," she said.

Jadzia smiled, even though the pain of that rejection still
lingered. "I really shouldn't have asked that of you in the
first place." After all, asking her to stay was the same as
asking her to die an early death, although Dax couldn't help
but note that she had already lived far longer than most of
the non-symbiotes she had known.

Lenara started to say something but stopped, and when she
started again it was to change the subject. "It's just a
shame we only have two days. And even that was a trial for
me to get with no questions asked. I very nearly had to
murder my brother just to get away."

"Ah, tell me about it. Everyone I know is so nosy -
fortunately I'm an accomplished liar. Now they all think I'm
on a five day trip to visit a Vishkarin monk whose life I
once saved in the hopes that he'll be able to teach how to
psychically ascertain people's moods." She had told Benjamin
the truth, of course, but other than that she had felt it
wise to keep the situation to herself. And lying could be a
lot of fun if it wasn't malicious.

Lenara laughed. "And you really expected them to believe all
that?"

"They believe every story I make up. Usually it's only the
things that have actually happened that I have a hard time
convincing them of."

"That's typical, isn't it? Nobody wants to be taken in by an
obvious lie, but there are so many things in the universe
that are unbelievably true."

"That's what I always tell people," said Jadzia. "Although,
in defense of their ability to recognize a lie when they
hear it, I am actually going to stop by the Vishkarin
monastery on my way back. Although I'm afraid that instead
of being allowed in as a favor for saving somebody's life
I'm simply going to have to pay full price just like any
other tourist."

"Really? Knowing you, Dax, I'd expect you to be able to
wiggle your way in for free."

"Well, I'm certainly going to give it a shot. But I'm afraid
even I sometimes fail to get what I want," said Jadzia.

"Yes," said Lenara, "I suppose that's true." She didn't say
you didn't get me, after all, but Jadzia knows how to read
between the lines.

Jadzia slid her arm around Lenara's waist, drawing her to the
couch and relishing the contact. Lenara wasn't the same
person as Kilani, but they were so similar that it was
difficult to remember that. The coloring of the hair and
eyes might have been different, but changing hosts had done
little to change her grace or her personality. And those
were the things that were important, because those were the
things that Dax remembered best.

"But I almost always get close enough to make me happy,"
said Jadzia. Settling down on the couch had probably been a
bad idea, as she was more in the mood for the bed. But they
had two days, and that meant that there was time enough to
move as fast or as slow as they wanted to. After a lot of
trial and error Dax had come to the conclusion that when you
only have a short amount of time, rushing things only seems
to make it go by faster.

"I was terrified the whole way here," said Lenara, leaning
her head against Jadzia's chest. "I was afraid just getting
into contact with you. But just being here... I have no idea
why I was so nervous."

"We do have to be careful," said Jadzia. Her fear for
herself had slipped away at some point, but her fear for
Lenara remained. Because Lenara had been far more resistant
to temptation than Jadzia had been, and if she did get
caught Jadzia would be the one to blame. And she did not
want to be the one responsible for shortening Lenara's life.

"I know," said Lenara. "But still, I think it's worth it. I
know it's worth it."

Jadzia pulled her tighter and leaned in for another kiss. In
the end, it was worth it - they might get caught, but it did
her no good to live her life in fear. If Dax had learned
anything in her long life, she had learned that.

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The End