Yes theyre sharing a drink they call loneliness,
But its better than drinking alone.

The stars were fixed in place as she travelled by. The light, strong and bright as it was, did not lighten the blackness of empty space. There were no planets or moons or any special anomalies in her sight, just emptiness and the cold flickering of the stars.

In the background a music selection played just loud enough to drown out the sound of the engines and that she could make out the words if she listened closely. Not that she did, the music was unimportant to her, nothing more than a tool to keep the silence from becoming deafening.

She reached forward and wrapped slender fingers around the tall glass. Her little finger slipped under the body that held the deep red liquid and wrapped itself around the foot. She lifted the crystal glass to lips as red as the wine and allowed the intoxicating liquid to gently lap against her full lips, before running it in over her tongue and tasting the wine once again.

She put the empty glass back on the make-shift table in front of her and picked up the half-empty bottle from the floor and filled the glass again. The wine had taken some to get used to; being much different from the kinds wine she usually drank. It tasted well however and even if it hadn't she would probably still have drank it.

Putting the bottle back on the floor and picking up the glass yet another time she absentmindedly motioned the glass in such a way that the red liquid rolled around, pushing up against the edges. It was really fascinating to watch. Not two movements were the same, lighting, speed and motion ever changing, like everything else in the universe. There wasn't a single thing that remained the same forever. People grew and withered, both physically and mentally. Plants and trees grew, reproduced and died. Rocks, inorganic and immobile as they were, changed too; they broke or were smoothed by the elements; sometimes reduced to a pile of dusts. And planets and stars, they too altered; much slower than most living creatures, but they altered and at one point, they too, would be reduced to nothing but space-dust.

She knew this, had known of the universal changes ever since she was old enough to understand them. But there were times, times like this, when that knowledge caught her by surprise.

Knowing that every single thing changed at one point, she should also be prepared that her life would change as well. Some time during her travels aboard the Enterprise she had forgotten about that. She had become accustomed to watching everything around her change, everything but her own life and that of her closest friends.

Sure, relationships formed, but none of them lasted and somehow the six of them remained as they had been. All single and good friends. Until that too had changed.

Worf had been the first to leave and after a while she'd forgotten how easily things could change.

But then Will had left. He had been offered another ship, the newest of the Fleet and he had accepted, taking Geordi and Data with him. So it was now down to the Captain, herself and Beverly and she wondered how long that would remain.

A hand on her shoulder startled her so much that she dropped her glass. The glass bounced off her leg, the wine soaking her dress to the skin and splattered onto the floor. "Merde!"

Now facing her unexpected visitor, Deanna quickly calmed herself down. "Captain."

"Counselor, I apologize. I didnt mean to startle you." She glanced down, taking in the damage the wine had done to her dress. The stain was already hardly noticeable against the dark-grey material and would become even less so once dried.

"It's all right. Would you like to join me?" He considered her offer and she soon felt his emotions shifting to negative and suppressed a sigh. She could really do with some company. Then, to her surprise, he grabbed one of the chairs standing around the conference table and pulled it up besides hers. For a brief moment she wondered if perhaps her loneliness had showed on her face, but it really wasn't important. She was glad to have someone to share the evening with and from what she could sense, so was he.

"Don't you want to change?"

"No, not really, the stain will dry soon." Deanna walked to the replicator and asked for another wine-glass. Returning to the chairs, she filled it and handed it to her companion.

A smile spread across his face and he lowered the glass. "Chateau Picard."

"I saved it."

Silence accompanied them as they drank the red liquid, but she didn't mind. It was reassuring to simply have a familiar presence nearby. At one point -she'd long since lost track of time- he slipped her a datapadd. Just as she finished skimming through the file he spoke; his voice graver than she had heard in a long time. "Beverly's leaving for Earth."

"Unity is falling further apart."

"So it is." He responded gravely, not picking up the quote.

She turned slightly to look at him and saw that he, like her, was trying to hold on to what was left. "It's not the same without them, is it?"

"Not close."

Conversation wasn't much of a success, or a failure. She knew what he was feeling and on some levels he had to know what she was feeling. They'd known each other long enough to feel comfortable with this silence, to be grateful for the shared moment. Deanna sighed and took another sip of her wine and watched the stars as they cruised by.

"Are you leaving too?" Jean-Luc asked, breaking the silence seconds or eons later.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"It does to me."

That wasn't what she'd had meant, but it was good to hear. "Thank you." The silence returned and both of them welcomed it. The wine was clouding her senses and the haziness was just as welcome as the company and the silence.

The music behind them swelled and fell, did a few backward summersaults and settled. Her turn to interrupt silence. "It wouldn't matter, you know. Leaving."

He pondered that for a little while, taking the time to refill his glass and empty the bottle. "It wouldn't." He agreed then.

They sighed simultaneously and ignored the rule that said they should laugh now, watching the red liquid rolling around in its see-through prison. She yawned unlady-like and was followed by him. Human psychology. Sanity took over and Deanna held her glass away from lipstick-stained lips. "I should get some sleep."

Picard smiled, "as should I, no doubt" and rose as she did.

"That would be wise." Did she just smile, genuinely? "Goodnight Jean-Luc." She kissed his cheek, for a second tempted to let the contact linger, and walked away.

"Lunch, tomorrow?"

The question made her pause, however briefly. "I'd love to."

"So would I." Jean-Luc whispered against closed doors. He'd lost all of his friends, except for this one. Deanna was still here with him and he could not just let her slip away.

Back in her empty quarters, accompanied only by the same cold flickering of the stars, Deanna Troi thought similar thoughts.

End