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By Kary Haddad


İ1994 Kary Haddad
Star Trek and it's characters are trademarks of Paramount Pictures. This story is for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to infringe on Paramount's copyrights.

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	³Ready to beam down, sir?² asked Ensign MacDonald.
	³Ready,² Captain Jean-Luc Picard said. The Farragut  had taken him and the entire crew of the ill-fated Enterprise- D back to Earth. Picard was being beamed directly to his home in France. He had informed Marie that he was coming and she said that it was  fine. 
	Picard heard ³Energizing² from the young ensign and the familiar blue swirl of colors swallowed him up and spat him back out only about 20 meters from the door. He walked slowly toward it and prepared himself for what he expected to be an extremely emoti onal reunion. When he got to the door, there was a hand-written note posted on it. 
	It read, ³Jean-Luc, Iım sorry I couldnıt be with you now but I had to attend an important conference in New York and wonıt be back for 5 days. The house is yours for your stay and I hope you can remain there until I return. Love, Marie²
	Jean-Luc was disappointed at this news. He didnıt want to face this alone. But he grasped the doorknob with his hand and hesitated only a moment before turning it and pushing the door open it. 
	He stepped inside and when his eyes got adjusted to the light he looked around. A tear came to his eye when he saw the picture hanging up on a wall to the left of him. It was a family picture of himself, Rene, Marie and Robert. He quickly turned away not  wanting to remember it. He walked into the living room and dropped his bags on the couch. He then sat down in a chair and closed his eyes. 
	The darkness the surrounded him comforted him and when a swirl of colors danced in front of him, he began to relax. After what had happened, he needed a break. He tried to remember the goodtimes, when he spent every day with Robert.
	The swirl of colors he saw slowly changed into a recognizable image. Picard gasped when he saw who it was. 
	³Q?² he whispered the question to no one in particular. He opened his eyes and with a bright flash of light his old enemy was standing in front of him. This time wearing civilian clothes. ³What are you doing here?²
	Q looked surprised. After thinking about the question he responded. ³I told you I would be checking up on you. Here I am! I admit however that I was a little surprised at this extremely unattractive place youıve chosen to spend your vacations in.²
	³This house has been in my family for generations!² Picard defended his favorite building.
	³It could at least use a new paint job, or new fabric for the sofa.² Q changed both with a snap of his fingers. He then looked at Picard and when he saw the look that was given to him, Q quickly changed everything back. ³Now, tell me. What are you doing here?²
	³You donıt know?²
	³Tell me anyway.²
	Picard sighed. Q was always like this, there was no getting around it. ³The Enterprise  crashed defending the lives of an entire planet.²
	³What were you doing?²
	³The same thing. I was on the surface of a planet trying to stop a mad-man from destroying a star.²
	³Why would he want to do something like that.²
	Picard started to answer but paused when he remembered. ³The Nexus.² Picard sat there. Thinking about the Nexus. It was exactly has Guinan had told him. Joy, happiness, pure bliss. He snapped himself out of his reverie and listened to Q.
	³Ah, the Nexus.²
	³Youıve heard of it?²
	³Of coarse! Legend had it that a Q created the thing!² 
	Picard was surprised. ³A Q would do something like that? Give joy to thousands of people.²
	³I donıt know what he was thinking.² 
	Picard wasnıt surprised by this. It was typical Q logic.
	Q continued, ³You still havenıt answered my question. Why are you here?² He said, gesturing to the house.
	³Family matters.²
	³Oh, do tell!²
	³My brother and his son died in a fire. They lived here.²
	³Ah, Robert and Rene.² There was a bright flash of light and they both appeared in a room that Picard immediately recognized has Robertıs. ³Nice place!² Q commented.
	Picard suddenly remembered to breath again and he looked around. There were pictures everywhere. What he saw was startling, every picture had Picard in it. All except one. It was a picture of Robert and Marie. But all the rest were with Jean-Luc. He pick ed up one in particular. Q just observed silently.
	The picture was Jean-Luc and Robert has children. He remembered the photo too. It was the day their father first let them pick grapes from the vineyard. It was one if the favorite days of his life. There was a flash of light and it was gone. ³Where did y ou take it?² Jean-Luc demanded of Q.
	³Itıs downstairs in your bags! Here, letıs try Reneıs room.² Just has soon as he said it, they were there. Picard saw many pictures here too. A lot of them were only of Jean-Luc. 
	He also saw an open diary. He couldnıt resist the urge to read it. 

	Father says that Uncle may be coming to visit soon. I canıt wait! Mother says not to hold my breath, but I have been for the past 3 years.  I hope he takes us to San Francisco this time. He promised to take me to see Starfleet Academy on the next visit. 
I hope I get to be a great Starship captain just like him. 

	Picard finally saw. Rene considered him a hero and they had only met a few times. Now he was more joyless than ever. 
	Q saw the look on his face and it gave him an idea. ³The Nexus,² he said. ³I could take you there.²
	Picard seriously considered it but shook his head. ³No. I canıt. I would leave too many things behind. I would never come back. 
	³Yes, you would. I would make sure of it. I could let you in for a few days and yank you back out.²
	Picardıs features brightened. It would be his last chance to see them. And now, there was no reason to leave right away. He had to do it. ³All right, but you canıt leave me there!²
	³I wonıt,² Q promised. ³Good-bye Jean-Luc, see you when we next meet.²
	Picard closed his eyes and opened them to a familiar scene that he had only seen once before. A large beautiful Christmas tree and smiling children opening their presents. When there was a knock on the door, Picard silently thanked Q and went to open it.