Work Text:
Fandom: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine
Pairing: Ezri/Kira, Jadzia & Kira friendship
Rating: PG
Timeline: Season 7, before Ezri pulled a one-girl kamikaze rescue mission to save Worf. Also, there was no Kira/Odo. Both for obvious reasons.
A/N: Again, I liked Jadzia tons, but Ezri's pretty cool to. When she's not having a mealt-down, being a general basket-case or jumping Worf. Or sleeping with Bashir. Eww...
Beta: Insane Vampiress (http://www.fanfiction.net/u/293946/)
Disclaimer: Not mine. I play with other people's toys.
*~*~*
Every time she sees her, it's like nothing else matters. The moment Ezri walks into the room, it's as if there isn't a war going on outside the station with the entire quadrant at stake; like there aren't men and women dying that very minute. The she immediately feels guilty because Jadzia was her friend and how can she be glad Ezri's here when it was Jadzia's death what made it happen?
Kira's probably the only one, aside from Captain Sisko, who doesn't see Ezri as Jadzia reincarnate. The Colonel has no problem telling them apart; Jadzia was calm and collected when Ezri's excitable and bubbly, and the way Jadzia used to approach things with a scientific view where Ezri makes seemingly random guesses until she gets it right. When Jadzia made jokes, she always managed to keep a straight face so for about half-second, you weren't really sure they were jokes, but when Ezri tells them, her face takes on an impish grin that Nerys can't help but be drawn to. Little things. But aside from her occasional mistake of forgetting and ordering Klingon coffee or bloodwine instead of tea, there are very few similarities between the two of them other than the name 'Dax'.
It's possible that she doesn't see the things that represent her friend because she doesn't want to. But it's easier to believe that Doctor Bashier, Miles, Quark, and even Odo see parts of Jadzia in the new girl because she's the last connection to a friend they've lost. Kira knows Worf sees the few similarities she does, like the way they both attempt to defuse tension by making wry observations or how sometimes Ezri gets that dreamy look Jadzia used to when she recalls fond memories of past hosts. But those are probably traits that all Dax hosts had, not specifically of Jadzia and Ezri.
She thinks it's one of the reasons Ezri is comfortable around her, because Kira doesn't say things like how she had Jadzia's eyes or how Jadzia said almost the exact thing the last time they spoke. She sees Ezri as Ezri, as a different person and she doesn't treat her as a second chance or a way not to leave things unsaid. Kira can even joke with her in a way she never could with the Lieutenant Commander, because Ezri has an air of complete acceptance that Jadzia never seemed to have, no matter how carefree or open-minded she could be.
That, and how much time they spend together makes her the closest friend Kira can ever remember having. Which can probably explain her reaction when Ezri Dax steps into Ops and smiles right at her, the way her heart seems to stop, the ridiculous grin that spreads across her face and the slight tinge of guilt that follows right after.
But that tinge has been getting smaller lately. Because it's not Ezri's fault that Jadzia's gone and there isn't anything wrong with being friends with her.
As it is, she never felt like this around Jadzia, anyway. Nerys is pertty sure she'd have known if she'd ever had any desire to kiss the previous Dax host. As Ezri leaves the Captain's office and heads for the turbo-lift, she smiles and mouths 'later,' reminding her of their dinner plans at Quarks' after shift, as if she'd forget. It's become the highlight if her day.
Particularly since she's been thinking that Ezri might feel the same way.