He was there "
By: Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58205.29 2315

The fighting was over; finally the Zion was on its way home. Sickbay was quiet and Teilani closed the last report. She was tired, tired of looking after people, no more patients, no more deaths She looked around in her office and smiled. Yellow was a good colour. She rested her head in her hands, and closed her eyes, somehow she knew that she was going to find it difficult getting to sleep, and she had a suspicion that if she did fall asleep, her dreams would not be peaceful.

Yet even Teilani could not fight the sand man anymore and she dreamt, and her dreams revealed her true feelings.

She was standing in mid-air, the wind blowing around her. It was very, very cold... slowly she inclined herself forward, and seemed to fly... where to, she didn't know. She looked down, but saw only green fields, vineyards, oceans.

"Hullo?" she called as she floated along. "Hullo?"

And a soft, masculine voice answered, "Hullo..."

In the distance she saw the one person who meant anything to her, also apparently floating on air, but he was still, waiting for her.

She got closer. "Ian?"

"I'm here, Teilani. I'm here."

She was right next to him. She straightened up, reaching out with her hands to grasp his. But he twisted away, and, laughing, called, "Catch me if you can!" Then he was off, flying away from her, over the fields, playing games with her. And she got colder. She knew that if she could just touch him the cold would vanish, that there would be warmth, and belonging... But he remained out of reach.

"Ian!" she called. "Ian, come here!"

"No fair, Doctor. I tried to catch you, now you have to catch me."

"You're too fast," she said.

"Then you must go faster, mustn't you?" His laughter rang out over the vineyards.

Teilani determined to go faster... and she did. With one hand she reached out and grabbed him by the arm as she floated alongside him. And as she did, the cold feeling was gone. The touch was almost electric, and she came up suddenly, 'standing' on nothing, facing him.

"Well, you caught me, now what are you going to do with me?"

"I..." Even in her dream, Teilani wasn't sure. She did want him, to be with her, but, somehow, the sky seemed an inappropriate place. "Not in the sky," she said.

"But the sky is the freest place! We're free here!" He twisted around, putting them both in a spin.

"Here's where we're free! Here's why we're out here! You're free! Kiss me!" Teilani floated forward and put her arms around his. "Then I'll kiss you."

She kissed him, feeling the warmth of her mouth flow into his. She thought he'd forget to breathe, but for some reason she didn't as they stood in the sky, sharing themselves with one another... and when she finally opened her eyes and parted from him, they were standing in his quarters.

"Here's where you want to be," Ian told her. "You want to be here, you want me here. You want me. Here."

"Yes." She still seemed to float as she stepped forward, noticing for the first time that neither of them had any clothes on. Had they been naked the whole time? She couldn't remember.

Ian opened his arms, and she walked into them, holding her hair back from her face with one hand, caressing his cheek with the other.

"Let us be one," said Ian...

... and then they were one. In his quarters. In the sky. In the vacuum of space. Everywhere at once. They were everything, everywhere. Galaxies could be born and die, suns could coalesce and go nova, empires could rise and fall, and they were there. They saw everything, they felt everything. It was too immense to be contained...

Teilani woke up, trying to get her breathing under control. Her uniform clung to her, so much had she perspired.. Passing her hands over her face, she got up and went into the little bathroom, adjacent from her office and splashing water on her face. She'd never had such a dream in her life. She leaned against the wall, as slowly her breathing steadied.

When it had, she looked at the chronometer. She was hoping that the sensation of the water would help her focus her thoughts... focus them on something other than Ian, that is. But she knew it wouldn't. He was there, in her mind.