Setting: Post-Nemesis

Rating: PG

Codes: ?, R/T, Lw

The Spell

Shes something all right, I can hear the man muttering the words; the man with the blue eyes she so adores, as he leaves her home. Against my will I find myself both angered and smiling, for he is the one who broke her heart, he is the one who made her cry at night for weeks after he left and he is the one who made her cry when they met again. Yet he is also the one who held when she lost her son, who can make her smile through her tears and who reminds her that however precarious the situation, there is always love and faith.

She's strong, my precious, in many ways she's like her mother. Probably in more ways than she would like to admit. Both are strong, strong enough to overcome the pain and hurt in their lives and both will fight for everything they believe in with inextinguishable fire. I've seen them do it time and time again.

There is a Terran saying: What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. And where Lwaxana and Deanna Troi are concerned, I agree. Beautiful, intelligent, passionate and headstrong; enough to drive any man crazy and madly in love. The Troi-spell I call it, if only to annoy my wife.

Of course I'm not the one to judge it, for I too have been caught and surrendered willingly, a lifetime ago.

I've watched them for years without them knowing; I observed and I cherished. I laughed with them and I cried with them. I offered comfort in their sleeps and helped them fight their nightmares. I held Lwaxana when she lost her second true love when Timicin followed the tradition of his people. I held Deanna when Will Riker left her, when her son died. I shared her fear when she had lost her empathy, whenever an alien life form took over her mind and when that vile Preator Shinzon abused her, just as I shared Lwaxana's fear for growing old alone and loosing her daughter.

I also shared their joy and love, the fulfillment Barin gives his mother and the one Riker gives Deanna. I share Deanna's love for the unknown, her dedication to her career, family and friends.

I watch her even now, as she leaves the quarters which she and Will have made their home on board that magnificent Starship, and heads for the transporter that will take her down to her home planet and the house in which she grew up where she will be rejoined with her mother. Nothing touches me deeper than seeing those two women --so different and yet so a like-- curl up against each other, their faces mirroring each others joy at the coming minutes.

My precious is getting married.

Well, technically she already is, but she'll have her Betazoid ceremony in a matter of minutes. Something not only very important to her mother, but to herself as well. Deanna may be half human, but she has been raised on Betazed and the Betazoid way of life is simply in her blood. I know that inside her chest her heart is soaring with anticipation and joy, for finally will the Imzadi-bond she and the human Will Riker share be completed; sealed to never be broken again.

I will watch her as she goes through the ceremony, as I've watched every major event in her life. And never, never once did she know. Oh she suspected and she hoped, but never has she known.

I watch them disentangle from each other, each swiping away a tear with an equally gracious gesture. I cannot be sure whether of joy or of sorrow, for I know they are looking forward to the life that lies ahead, but can't help missing those who shall not be there to witness the joining. Myself, Kestra, Driala; Lwaxanas sister, Ian, Deannas grandparents, her mechanical friend Data and numerous other friends both have lost.

I follow them to the chapel in which the ceremony will be held and watch as Deanna, looking more beautiful than I've ever seen her, answers to the summoning of her best friend. I watch as Lwaxana hides a smile behind her kerchief while trying to look as if she's crying and I watch as Captain Riker fights his way to his Imzadi. I watch as the ceremony is completed and although my heart is filled with joy I also feel a pang of regret; my task is being taken over by someone else. Someone else will watch her now, hold her when she's frightened or in pain, someone who will love her every minute of her life, even when they're fighting for a Troi-woman fights with true passion.

The bond is nearly completed and my time has come. Time to say good bye after forty-three years of loyal service to this magnificent creature that is my daughter and fifty-five years of looking after the vibrant woman who was my wife.