From nfmartin@fas.harvard.edu Sun Sep 29 02:24:23 1996 Return-Path: nfmartin@fas.harvard.edu Received: from husc.harvard.edu (root@husc.harvard.edu [140.247.30.45]) by aviary.share.net (8.6.12/8.6.9) with ESMTP id CAA18652 for ; Sun, 29 Sep 1996 02:24:12 -0500 Received: from husc7.harvard.edu by husc.harvard.edu with ESMTP id DAA29704; Sun, 29 Sep 1996 03:33:14 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost by husc7.harvard.edu with SMTPid DAA23735; Sun, 29 Sep 1996 03:33:12 -0400 Date: Sun, 29 Sep 1996 03:33:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Nyani-Iisha Martin X-Sender: nfmartin@husc7.harvard.edu Reply-To: Nyani-Iisha Martin To: alara@aviary.share.net Subject: Closure Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Status: O Hi. *smile* Can you please archive this and the followwing story for me? Thanks. Ny Author's Note: I feel sorry for Libby.=20 I know, the girl we've been presented with is little more than cardboard, but the Powers That Be have done badly by characters who we *know* are fascinating, so I choose to think that they've done badly by her, too.=20 After all, Harry Kim loved her, so there must be some substance to the girl, and I can't help but think that there's a story in dealing with the loss of one's SO in these circumstances, when you can never really know if they are alive or dead; the idea of such a loss horrifies and fascinates me, as I think about how I would cope (or, more likely, wouldn't) if I lost my boyfriend that way. Ellen wrote about Mark's reaction, so I'm going to write about Libby's. However, I'm in a fantastic mood (as in fantasy, not as in goodness), and I'm far too kind to my characters, so I'm going to give her a closure she could never really get. Hooray for characters who were born to be plot devices! With that I give you a story rated R for sexual language and situations (no, not a full NC-17 this time), a story titled.....=20 =20 _Closure_ (a sequel to _Alpha Centauri_, in the adult section) by Ny Martin (nfmartin@fas.harvard.edu), c 1996 Voyager, Harry Kim/Libby (R) part 1 of 2 Disclaimer: The characters (except for Alehi) and the venue (the USS Voyager and 24th-Century Earth) belong to Paramount, lock, stock, and barrel. I=D5m jus= t having a little fun with them to give them peace of mind. The mindtalk notation is an idea that belongs to Mercedes Lackey. The story, however, is mine, COPYRIGHT Nyani-Iisha F. Martin 1996. I don=D5t intend to make a penny off of this, so I ask that nobody else do so either, nor reprint it (except for a single copy for personal use) or repost it without my permission.=20 The story is rated R, as I said before, and there's quite a bit of sex in it (just not as detailed as I've written before), *mostly* of the het variety. So, if you don't want to/ aren't supposed to read this, please do stop now. =20 That being said, on with the story! "No other planet has a moon quite like Earth's," Alehi had said, and he was right. As large as the Sun on Earth's horizons, phasing constantly, silverly glowing, it rose and set, pulled tides and shone. Now, as its argent light began to spill over the sill of the open window, Libby Sternen began to wake up, and smiled as the first rays touched her face.=20 A pair of muscled arms held her warmly to a smooth, broad chest; as she tightened her arms gently around the trim waist, she snuggled her head more firmly into the crook of the broad shoulder and contentedly sighed, "Harry."=20 "That was his name, wasn't it?" asked a calm young voice, a slightly sleepy male voice, one deeper and more resonant than Harry Kim's. Libby's heart leaped in alarm as she threw her eyes open to look into big, black, Betazoid eyes, eyes that twinkled sagely and merrily back at her, eyes framed by pale skin and fluffy, wavy red hair, by a pug nose and freckles and a charming smile. Eyes that were not Harry Kim's.=20 For a moment, Libby almost screamed with shock, before she rolled away from Alehi and choked back tears of shame. __________________ At that moment, 69.25 thousand light years away, Harry Kim lay in bed between his sleeping lovers, Tom's head on his shoulder, B'Ellana's back against his side. However, Harry was awake, his arms around them, thinking of Libby and how she was coping. He still loved her; he had been pleasantly surprised to see that he could love more than one person that way, and that knowledge freed him from any guilt that could be caused by thinking about one lover while lying warmly between two others. So, guiltlessly, Harry thought about Libby.=20 To be specific, at that moment, Harry was wondering if she was in love again. He hoped she was; _frankly, she would be wasted on celibacy_, he thought to himself, and smiled. Libby's naive eagerness and love of discovery had mitigated Harry's embarrassment at his inexperienced awkwardness, and she'd helped him accept his own passion, his own adventurousness, so much so that without having once known her he wouldn't be brave enough to take B=D5Ellana up on her offer, or secure enough to ask Tom. Harry hated the thought of Libby frittering herself away in chaste waiting, and that fate was, unfortunately, all too plausible; her passion was matched only by her faithfulness. They'd been an inseparable couple, monogamous nearly to the point of obsession, and it had taken Harry a great deal of time and thought to let himself love again....and that hyperactive emotional state he'd gone through had dug up doubts that he knew would plague him for awhile yet. He hoped it wouldn't take Libby as much time and effort as it had taken him, but, knowing how alike they were on some things, Harry ruefully thought that it might take more.=20 _Why not tell her this?_ a voice in his head said. _She needs to hear it._ _Tell her?!_ he replied to himself. _She's on the other side of the galaxy!_ _There must be a way to talk mind to mind. Go ask Kes for help._ _Well, I guess I might as well---_ Harry was distracted from further conversation with himself by something prodding him in the thigh; looking down, he saw that Tom had an erection in his sleep, and Harry felt warmth stir in his stomach as that sight triggered his own. Making a mental note to go talk to Kes, Harry started to run one hand down Tom's back, then paused to check the time; it was 648, more than an hour before they all had to be on duty, so he had plenty of time to wake them both up.=20 Smiling rather mischievously, Harry slid his fingers firmly down Tom's spine as he cupped B'Ellana's breast in his other hand, and was quite pleased with himself to heard them both moan softly in their sleep.... while, invisibly surveying the scene, Amanda-Q "leaned back", so to speak, and smiled, very pleased with herself that Harry had thought her advice was his idea and so had taken it. _____________ After watching the three until well after Tom and B=D5Ellana were definitel= y awake, Amanda popped over to visit the being who had first drawn her to Voyager. Despite her love of humans (she had been born one, after all) it was Kes whom she most felt a spiritual kindred with, though she had a life as short as a candle's flicker to the immortal Q. Kes was nice, Amanda thought, the way she had tried to be nice when she was human...and, sometimes, even now.=20 Like Harry, Kes lay awake beside her lover; unlike Harry, she was reading a book and listening to Neelix snore gently. :Whatcha reading?: asked Amanda telepathically; Kes, by now used to the Q's abrupt comings and goings, answered, :A book about holographic projections and consciousness transfers.:=20 :Fascinating," Amanda replied, more puzzled than fascinated. :Why?: :When my time comes, I might have my consciousness transferred, perhaps. If I can.: :I could make your life longer, you know. Perhaps even endless---: :No,: thought Kes firmly. :No, but thank you. I am what I was born, mortal. I might not even have the transfer done. I might have lived my life by then.: Amanda smiled, radiating that emotion to Kes, who smiled and lifted her head as if to look for her. :You didn't come here just to discuss eternal life,: Kes continued. :What is it?: Amanda made herself visible and sat down on the side of the bed, but before she could speak Kes thought, :please keep using telepathy. I don't want to wake Neelix.: _A herd of Earth elephants couldn't wake Neelix,_ thought Amanda privately, but she complied. :I just want to tell you,: she thought to Kes, :that you're going to be asked to help someone do something that seems impossible, and that it is truly possible. That mortals love where souls touch, in a place that knows no dimension, no distances.:=20 Kes smiled brightly and took Amanda's hand. :That's beautiful! But what am I going to be asked?: :Telling you would spoil the game: replied Amanda mischievously, and squeezed Kes's hand, and vanished. Kes shrugged patiently and returned to her reading with a smile. _____________ "Libby." Alehi put his hand on her shoulder and waited for her to stop dry-heaving; Libby quickly calmed down, but she curled up, biting her lip and trembling, feeling as if she'd never be able to face him. How could she have done this? How could she betray Harry like this? She was awash in self-loathing, shame, anger. _I'm a slut. A faithless slut._ "No you are *not*." Alehi's voice, with its uncommon edge of anger, sliced through Libby's misery and made her look up at him in surprise. "I'm sorry, but you were thinking so loud..." "I must have been," said Libby soberly, as she scrubbed her eyes with her fists. Alehi gently put his arms around her and waited for her to look up again, and when she didn't, started to talk anyway. "You aren't faithless. What you are is a beautiful young woman, a woman who needs closeness and friendship. Your Harry would want you to have closeness and friendship, no?" "But I promised to wait for him," she replied, her voice ringing hollowly in her ears. "To marry him." "You can't marry a dead man---" "He's *not* dead!" Libby would have jumped from Alehi's embrace if he hadn't held her. Instead, he looked at her with those huge, calm, black Betazoid eyes, holding her gaze until her heart stopped pounding. Then he yawned, and smiled. "I'm sorry for upsetting you, Libby. Do you want to go back to Chicago? The nighttime shuttle costs a fortune." Libby thought, and shook her head no. "Well, then, we should probably sleep."=20 "Yeah," Libby agreed, looking up at Alehi with a bit of wonder. He was so impeturbably calm...."We can talk in the morning," he continued,"but, right now, I am too tired to properly discuss this, and you deserve a proper discussion." Libby smiled at that; he was also polite to a very fault, and was even politer to those he knew well, but in a kind and disarming way. "In my semi-professional opinion," he said, beginning to stroke her hair, "you need to be held." Libby laughed. "I'm afraid I'll have to get a second opinion on that," she said as she sat up. "What did you do with my nightgown?" Alehi looked vaguely disappointed. "I tossed it on the chair," he said, and pointed. "But please don't get up."=20 Libby shook her head, smiling ruefully. "I have to," she said. "I can't....we can talk about it tomorrow. And don't you even offer to take the loveseat; you wouldn't fit on it." With that she got up and got her nightgown, and curled up on the loveseat with a blanket. Alehi closed his eyes in resignation, so Libby was free to think. What she found herself thinking about was her relationship with Alehi.=20 After Voyager had vanished, taking Harry, Libby found that she couldn't stand being so near to Starfleet anymore, Starfleet which had stranded her father and now apparently killed her fiance'. She transferred to the University of Chicago, a very good and venerable institution, to continue her studies in Earth literature; the city wasn't quite as good for stargazing as San Francisco was, but she could always go to remote places on weekends.=20 There, she met Alehi. Three months her junior, large and redheaded, sweet and wise and Betazoid, and completely unflappable, whether an animal escaped from a lab or Earth went under martial law. He was training to be a psychiatrist and was an astronomy buff also, and loved to sing and was as stubborn as a rock, but knew when to let go. Libby liked him a *lot*, more than she would admit to herself, as he looked at her with increasingly warm dark eyes. She invited him to dinner, to Arizona to stargaze, and finally to San Francisco to see the Capital of the Federation. And, after some real beer and some increasingly cuddly conversation they ended up in the hotel bed; her body still ached deliciously from the weight and heft of his body....and her heart still ached horribly for her missing fiance', for her promise now broken, and, most of all, for herself. Libby watched Alehi's face, even gentler in sleep, and knew that she wanted him even now, wanted to wrap herself around his solid, warm body, wanted to tell him that she didn't mean any of this bellyaching, to just forget it, that she was his. She finally admitted to herself that she was beginning to fall in love with Alehi Sibonnov, though she knew she couldn't because she'd bound herself to Harry Kim, and with that thought she buried her face in her arms and began to sob quietly...and Alehi frowned in his sleep.=20 _______________ _This is completely, utterly crazy_, Harry told himself, but the thought did nothing to damp the surging, hopeful eagerness he felt, that he'd felt all day and which now made him all but run down the corridor to Kes's quarters, somehow feeling almost as if Libby were waiting for him there. He paused in front of her door to calm himself down, and heard lively music leaking from behind it.=20 Then, before he could press the chime, the door opened, and there was Kes, dancing with abandon. Head shaking, hair and arms flying, feet not seeming to touch the ground, Kes whirled in time to a bouncy bit of instrumental music that Harry couldn't identify; as he stood dumbstruck watching her she leaped up in the air and landed, striking a pose, as the last chord sounded and died away.=20 Then she smiled at him as she relaxed. "Come in, come in," she panted.=20 "Uh..." _How did you know I was outside?_ "What were you dancing to?" "Late pre-Federation music from Earth. Lt. Paris lent me the disk." Kes picked up the case as she walked over to replicate a glass of water. "That last one was called "Stadia Lite", and the next one is 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It', and then the...the 'Ran-ma Theme'. Do you want to hear any of it?"=20 Harry winced. Tom had lent that disk to Kes because he didn't "need it to bug you with anymore." "Um, no thanks.....Kes, I came to ask you for a favor." "If I can do it, I will." Kes smiled at Harry, and took another swig.=20 _Clear simplicity_, Harry reminded himself. _Just ask clearly and simply._= =20 "Can you help me talk to Libby, my fiancee back on Earth?" Clearly surprised, Kes made a questioning, bubbling sound into her water.= =20 She set the glass down and opened her mouth, but just as Harry braced himself for the "no" she blinked and paused, staring intently at him. Then she smiled again. "Yes, I can try," she said. "Sit down on the floor?" She handed him a cushion, and he settled down on the floor with it, as she sat down facing him; reaching up, she pressed her fingers to his temples in a manner reminiscent of Tuvok's mind-melds, and laughed cheerfully. "It feels odd to be the one doing this....Harry, wrap your hands around my wrists," she directed. "Yes, just like that. And close your eyes, and think of Libby." Harry suddenly had a moment of doubt. "Do you think this will actually work?" Kes smiled patiently. "People love where souls touch, in a place without dimension, without distances. If you love her she can hear you." Harry smiled, warmed to the bottom of his heart. "Thanks, Kes," he said, and, carefully keeping his grip on Kes's wrists, closed his eyes. Open or closed, he could not have seen a pair of invisible hands rest lightly on Kes' shoulders, but she felt them, and smiled wider. _________________ Libby curled up on the loveseat, hating herself. Alehi was being nearly impossibly good about the situation: she had explained her position to him, how she couldn't betray Harry; he had calmly tried to dispute her argument; she said that was that, and he accepted it. He didn't say a thing about it all day, through all the touristy stupid stuff they did, but whenever Libby turned to him she could see him looking at her, watching her and remembering the previous night, till she wanted to scream with frustration. And now, she lay on the loveseat, facing away from those dark eyes. She knew he could read her every thought if he'd wanted to, that he was denying his own curiosity and keeping the eyes of his mind blinkered...and she knew that she wanted nothing more than to look up into those eyes as their owner's face descended on hers---- Libby brushed that mental image away. She wasn't confused by her feelings; she was simply very dismayed by them. _They'll fade_, she thought. _We'll go back to Chicago tomorrow, and I'll avoid Alehi for a few weeks, and then everything will be all right. I might even be able to laugh about this._ Ignoring her conscience, which was crying, "liar", she sighed and closed her eyes. "Where did you get that nightgown? And why aren't you in bed? You're going to catch something." _I know that voice.._ Libby opened her eyes and turned her head---and nearly jumped out of her skin. Harry stood in the middle of the room, between the couch and the bed, looking just as he had the day she'd told him good-bye, dressed in that yellow-shouldered Starfleet uniform. Libby tried to sit up, though she thought, _this is just another dream_; Harry smiled at her and went to her, and she stretched out her arms to him. Slowly and precisely, just as in all her dreams of him, Harry scooped her up till he was nearly lifting her and pulled her into his embrace....=20 =2E.._but I'll be damned if this kiss doesn't feel real_, thought Libby incredulously as Harry kissed her warmly, holding her tightly. "Of course it does," said Harry, pulling back to look at her. "This isn't just a dream." Libby looked up at him and smiled. "Of course this is a dream. You're not telepathic." Indeed, there was no clear line between thoughts and speech for either of them; she couldn't quite tell if his mouth moved when he spoke.=20 "Well, it is a dream, but not just a dream," said Harry, sitting down on the loveseat and putting on his "explanation face"; Libby smiled at that as she sat beside him. "I've come to talk to you."=20 Shock coursing through her veins, Libby heard herself gasp, and she clutched his arm as if she could keep him longer. "You're dead, then."=20 Harry smiled. "Not today." Then, he sobered a bit. "But, I'm so far away that if I tell you you'll think this *was* nothing but another dream. If I manage to get home it'll take me decades. So, I came to talk to you; I should have much sooner." Harry looked down at the nightgown. "Where'd you get this, anyway? You usually wear a shirt to bed."=20 "Alehi gave it to me," Libby said before she could stop herself, and felt her face burn as she looked down into her lap, wishing with all her heart that Harry had come to see her 48 hours ago. Trembling, she waited for the inevitable question, but it didn't come. Instead, Harry put a hand on her cheek, warm and gentle; when Libby looked up she felt the hot tracks of tears burn down her face---and the tender smile on Harry's made even more fall.=20 =20 "Libby," he said tenderly, "I'm in love again, too." _You fucking cheat_, Libby thought, and cursed herself the moment she thought it. Tearing her gaze from Harry's she buried her face in her hands, trying not to cry. _It should be easier in dreams,_ she thought. _It should hurt less when your fiance' doesn't love you anymore._ "How can you think that?" Harry replied with some heat. "Of course I love you." Libby looked up in surprise. "But, then---" "I love them, too. And they love me. I need that....and I know you need it also. I would hate to think of you pining away alone, waiting for me. Alehi's nice to you?" Libby was surprised that she wasn't more surprised by this. "Very. He's a lovely guy." _God, this is weird._ Harry heard that thought and grinned. "Weird is part of the job, Captain Janeway told me. It's part of my life." Putting his hand on her cheek again, he continued, "go be happy with Alehi, Libby. I want you to be happy." Libby looked up into Harry's face, so solid and real above her, and smiled as her heart lifted like a sunrise. "Thank you, Harry. God, how I love you...." she exclaimed, and threw her arms around his neck, feeling his solid body against hers, that uniform rubbing her nightgown front, his cheek warm against hers and his hair silky on her hand. Harry squeezed her in return and whispered, "I love you too, Libby."=20 Then she started thinking again. "Them?" Harry sat back, a broad smile on his face. "Yeah. Tom and B=D5Ellana. Ship'= s Pilot and Chief Engineer respectively. We've set up shop together; I hope one day I can introduce you to them." Libby smiled. "I hope so, too. You'll like Alehi." She was about to tease Harry about his newfound adventurousness when he suddenly flickered like a light, feeling less solid in her arms. "Shit," he said, looking distant and annoyed. "They're trying to wake me up. Kiss me?" Libby did, fully and heartily, wrapping her arms around Harry to feel him one last time.=20 Then she pressed her cheek to his, still holding him tightly. "When I realized how far away we were," Harry whispered, "there was so much I wanted to say to you...."=20 "I know. I know. I've loved you for six years; of course I know." Libby kissed his ear, and they sat silently for a moment; then Harry sat back and took Libby's face in his hands. She looked up into his Human-dark eyes and caught her breath, warmth curling in her stomach as she lifted her hands to lay them on his; no one could look serious and beautiful like Harry could. Harry looked back at her for a moment, as if memorizing what she looked like, then kissed her gently. "Good-bye, Libby," he whispered against her lips, his breath warm on her face. "Good-bye, Harry," she whispered back, gripping his wrists tightly.=20 =20 And then she woke up. ________________ Harry opened his eyes to see the Sickbay ceiling above him; just as he recognized it a rush of voices fell on his ears at the same moment as a tsunami of pain swept through his head. Next to him, Kes moaned. Three different faces loomed over Harry; when he could make his eyes focus he saw B=D5Ellana, Tom, and Captain Janeway all looking very worried, and a= ll speaking at once. "Wait, wait," Harry feebly demanded, waving his hands over his chest. "I can't understand you all at once. How did I get here?"= =20 "'How did you get here'!" spluttered Tom; B=D5Ellana nudged him to be silen= t as Janeway explained, "Tuvok found you and Kes slumped on the floor unconscious. We couldn't wake you two, no matter what we tried." "Even a cortical stimulator provided only partial results," said the Doctor crankily, sounding as if he was on Kes's other side. The pounding in Harry's head was beginning to subside, so he nodded and tried to smile.= =20 "Well, Captain, I'm back now," he said shakily, and was rewarded with relieved-looking smiles from all three; Captain Janeway went off to see about Kes, but Tom and B=D5Ellana stayed right where they were over Harry. "How do you feel?" B=D5Ellana asked.=20 "My head is pounding, but I'm OK." Harry tried to sit up, but B=D5Ellana an= d Tom pressed him back down. "I've slept long enough," he protested, but they wouldn't let him sit up as Tom, who looked slightly frazzled, demanded, "What happened to you two, anyway?" "I asked Kes to help me talk to Libby." Harry winced when he saw their faces fall; Tom looked distraught, B=D5Ellana almost miserably angry. "I mean, I was saying goodbye," he quickly added.=20 "Oh." They both looked very relieved, as the Doctor came back over. "Well, Mr. Kim, you'll have what I have been told by Kes is a "reaction-headache" for about a half-hour more. I recommend that you return to your quarters and lie down for the night, *undisturbed*." The last word was addressed to Tom and B=D5Ellana, who pointedly paid the Doctor no attention. "In that case," said B=D5Ellana as she and Tom helped Harry up, "let's get you home.= " Standing up made Harry feel much better. "I'm still impressed by Kes's power," he said as they left and Neelix came rushing headlong in, burbling in alarm about his "dearest". "I hadn't been sure that she could help me get that far, but she told me....she told me that people love where souls touch, in a place without distance or dimension. That it didn't matter how far it was, if I loved Libby." Noticing how quiet his two lovers were, Harry added, "I hope she has as much fun with that boy Alehi as I'm having with you two." Tom grinned at him. "Speaking of fun---" "You heard the Doctor," admonished B=D5Ellana, but her eyes twinkled; Tom retorted, "Yeah, and I paid him about as much attention as you did. What do you say, Harry? Headache gone yet?" Harry looked at Tom and laughed for sheer happiness. "No, but you can kiss it and make it better. And other things, too."=20 "You two are unbelievable," sighed B=D5Ellana, as they reached his quarters= , but she came in with them and sat right down on Harry's bed to take off her boots. Before either man could say anything she calmly explained, "I need a shower," and was undressed before Tom and Harry could do more than stand and watch. "A *shower?" Tom repeated. "Yes, a shower," said B=D5Ellana, gracefully tossing her uniform into the 'fresher and walking to the bathroom. Just before she vanished into it she casually added, "and a good fuck when I get out," and shut the door.=20 "Well," said Harry, turning to look at a for-once-silent Tom. "I think I feel better already." ________________ It was the first gray light of dawn. Libby blinked, then raised her fists to her face, looking at her hands, remembering how just a moment before it had seemed as if Harry's wrists were in their grasp, wrapped in the hands now empty and clenched. She unclenched them slowly, thinking about that dream. Was it for real? Had Harry really come to her and let her go? Alehi rolled over in the bed, catching Libby's eye; she sat up and looked at him, sleeping quietly, and her jumbled thoughts suddenly all fell into place. As silently as she could, she got up and crept into the bed.=20 Alehi didn't wake up until she actually kissed him; she could feel him respond, then startle, before he gently pushed her away and sat up. _I can't blame him for his reticence_. "Libby, are you awake?"=20 "Yes," she said, and laughed. "I'm not sleepwalking." "You changed your mind," Alehi said, slightly accusingly, slightly distrustfully. It pained Libby that she'd made him distrust her, that she'd tried his patience so badly. "Yes, I thought about it...I had a dream." Libby paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words to describe the dream, when she realized she was talking to a Betazoid.=20 "Look at my thoughts," she said, hearing her own voice soften as she looked up into those big dark eyes.=20 Alehi looked genuinely surprised. "Are you sure?" Libby nodded, and suddenly found herself falling into those bottomless eyes for a long moment as he probed her mind gently, like a kiss....and then smiled. "You're sure," he said, more a statement than a question. Softly, Libby whispered "yes, I am," still caught in those eyes. Forever afterwards Libby would remember Alehi's fire-colored hair crackling slightly, swaying in a nonexistent breeze, for the slightest moment before the fire swept over him and this normally reserved, placid boy beamed at her, coming alive so that the breath caught in her throat and she wondered how she could ever have thought him phlegmatic. Alehi raised one hand to her face, stroking her cheek with his wide fingers, looking down into her eyes and beaming at her. "Libby," he whispered, and bent his head to kiss her.=20 And then he was on her, clutching her to him, ravishing her mouth, only stopping to pull the nightgown off one-handed and fling it across the room. He was still in her mind, he could see what she was feeling, and he let her see what he was feeling as well. Libby knew how her kisses felt to Alehi, how her breasts felt in his hands, her hands in his hair, and she could see that he saw her thoughts, that he felt what she felt when he kissed her, stroked her, entered her; best of all, she could see his thoughts, could see how long he'd loved her, how long he'd wanted her. It was so intense it hurt and so wonderful she fervently hoped it would never end; Alehi hoped with her until she could nearly not tell where her mind ended and his began. But, of course, it had to, but when it did it ended spectacularly. The fireworks in her mind slowly fading, Libby came back to herself to find herself gasping, Alehi slumped half atop her, their minds still as connected as their bodies were entangled. _Wow_, she thought as she took a deep breath. _Wow indeed_, thought Alehi back. Libby turned her head to look into his gently smiling face, now flushed with exertion, and saw her future there, and smiled back with all her heart. __________________ "Why did you help Harry talk to his fiancee?" asked Kes simply, sitting on the floor and weaving a cat's cradle between her fingers. Amanda was standing, leaning against the wall and making three others float and spin in midair; Neelix, mollified, was in bed, snoring so loudly even Kes admitted that he couldn't be awakened by conversation. "Because I can," Amanda responded just as simply, holding out her hands; Kes's cat's cradle floated up to her. "And because I think I should."=20 Kes began making another, then looked up at Amanda, intrigued. "Why?" "They aren't supposed to be here, you know," said Amanda. "They were torn away from their homes, their families, their lives. I feel bad for them. So, I think they deserve a little closure." "You could do that with simple dreams, though," Kes replied. "Why send Harry's message through me?" "Because you deserve a little opening." Amanda set all four cat's cradles to spin in unison, and bent down to smile at Kes. "You have some tremendous powers, my friend Kes, and I want the Voyager crew to respect them, and you." Kes sternly pointed at Amanda, though both of them knew she was suppressing a smile. "Don't go helping me before I ask, Amanda-Q", she admonished, wagging her finger; Amanda donned her best stricken look. "But---" "No." Then Kes let the smile burst through. "You can keep helping the Voyager crew, though. You're good for them." Amanda grinned at her, and she went on. "I can see Harry in my mind, sleeping more peacefully between Tom and B'Ellana than he ever did before."=20 "Thanks," Amanda said with a touch of irony, her grin going lopsided for a moment. "I'll do my fixing in dreams, though. Even with my help this took a lot out of you and Harry...."Amanda cocked her head for a moment, as if listening to something far away; then she raised her hand, and the cat's cradles flew to her palm in a neat pile. "But now, I've got to go.=20 Goodbye, Kes."=20 "Goodbye, Amanda." Kes watched her friend vanish in a flash of light, smiled to herself, and stood up from the floor to begin another day. The End. *smile* ____________________________________________________ Nyani-Iisha F. Martin nfmartin@fas.harvard.edu "I'm sorry. I may marry you and father your children,=20 but I'm not giving you my root password." ----Bill Duetschler, my SO