Title: In Fifty Years

By: Tori Morris

Rating: PG-13, for mild violence or something. I dunno.

Subject: 50 years after WYLB, Kira Nerys.

Note: So new that I haven't posted it to ASC yet, but it was in the LJ, so not that new.

***

She's grown old now, and power has settled around her like an old jacket, or the skin tight uniform of her youth. The other ministers mock her behind her back, but always remember the right tone to her face, before they scamper off to vote down her latest proposal concerning military finance.

They are the children of the new Bajor, for whom Cardassians and Jem'hadar are but faintly remembered horrors, and they cannot conceve her drive. To them, there is no need for Bajor to own starships, so long as they speak kindly to their allies. The Federation's big ships are fine with them.

She grows tired of the new age, and in her dreams, she remembers when it was simpler. In the morning, she limps out of bed for her raktajino, and wonders when the Occupation started to become a fond memory.

***

When they are not in session, Minister Kira of Dahkur walks down the streets of Bajor's capital alone. It is safe here, for an old woman, and despite her age, she still thinks she had a wicked right hook. And she settles on her park bench, the one in front of what used to be the science ministry, and reads the news.

She likes this bench, because she can remember it from her youth. She set a bomb up once, fifty feet away, and was knocked into the metal bars by the blast as she tried to escape. The Cardassian who found her assumed she was innocent--the Bajorans always either killed themselves with their bombs, or escaped hours before.

Nerys likes to imagine that perhaps, Odo was watching from the window.

***

She scans the news quickly this afternoon. There is no story by Jacob Sisko to save and mull over. No story connected to her history, as it is now distant for most. And there is no story from the Dominion. In fifty years, a handful of reporters have dared to go through the wormhole, and when they do, she scans each line with as much strength as she can muster.

Sometimes they mention her lover, most of the time, they refer to the Link. They have changed, kept the peace all these years. That was the deal. And when she reads this, she settles back into her chair, and lets loose a silent prayer to the Prophets, and renews her faith in the deal.

She too, can help keep the peace. This will be how they are together.



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