Author's note:  For those that don't know, Donna Lewis pronounces it 
"ah-gen-ay". 
Also, right now because I'm frustrated and due to writer's block, I 
decided to put in a few observations made by DS9 characters concerning 
our favorite pair to fill space.  But as it turned out, it tied in quite 
nicely with the storyline. 

Beloved B'Elanna, Part 7 - Agenais 
by (guess who?) Cheile 

Dedicated to Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes (aka Robbie McNeill and Roxann 
Dawson--can you tell I've had too much sugar?) :) 
**************** 
"And there it was, 
lit by a blue flame, 
a gold and crystal palace 
And they were dancing in long silver veils 
and white lilies in their hair 
And then we rose above in the moonlight 
to watch the city sleeping 
And this beautiful, magical place 
I no longer want to leave." 
  -- Donna Lewis, "Agenais" 

**************** 
  

      "I'm going to beat you!" 
      "Like hell you are!" 
      She bared her teeth in a grin and he laughed. 
      Tom watched B'Elanna execute the moves from the old Klingon 
martial arts program he'd created three years ago.  After that time on 
the holodeck when she'd bared her heart to him, he never thought she'd 
go near the program again.  But now she was at it, encouraging him, and 
beating him, too. 
      "Stop letting your mind drift off, Tom!" she called back.  "You'd 
better watch out!" 
      Tom spun around in time to see one of the monsters coming at him. 
Bringing the bat'telh up, he delivered the deathblow at the last second. 
      "You're getting slow, Paris!" B'Elanna laughed.  "I thought you 
were the martial arts expert." 
      "I am--but I'm letting you win," he teased. 
      "Letting me win?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows.  "Oh, 
really?" She propped her bat'telh against the nearby wall.  "Maybe you 
shouldn't and we'll see who beats who." 
      "Is that a threat?"  A grin spread across his face. 
      "It might be." 
      Before Tom could react, he was slammed into the nearby wall. 
B'Elanna's eyes were narrow, but he knew she was kidding. 
      "Am I in trouble?" he asked glibly. 
      "You might be."  She lessened her grip on him.  "But then I have 
to be careful.  I can't hurt you too much."  A small smile slowly grew 
before she leaned over to kiss him. 
      "Can't hurt me too much, huh?" he asked when they separated.  "How 
much is too much?" 
      B'Elanna had let him go and gone to retrieve her bat'telh.  "I 
don't know.  I'll have to think about that one for a while." 
      "I better be careful then."  Picking up his bat'telh, he followed 
her. "Computer, end program." 
      He wrapped an arm around her waist as they left the quiet of the 
holosuite to the noise and clamor of Quark's. 
      Quark glanced up from his padd to see Paris and his girl crossing 
the room toward the doorway.  His arm was around her waist and she was 
leaning against him with a soft, happy smile on her face. 
      Quark shook his head, though he had to smile a little himself.  At 
least they were together now. 
      They disappeared out the door and Quark turned back to what he had 
been doing, the fleeting thought now forgotten. 

      Odo had never really understood love. 
      He had been told that love, and other such similar emotions, were 
more for solids than a changeling.  And they were better understood by 
solids. 
      Yet as he watched Lieutenant Paris and his girlfriend walking down 
the promenade, his arm around her, her face alight, he had an idea of 
what they could be feeling. 
      "Odo?" 
      He looked down into the dark eyes of the person he thought most 
special.  Her gaze reflected the same emotions he had a feeling of. 
      Perhaps the other Founders had been wrong.  Maybe he could be 
different. 
      Deciding that, he took her hand in his and she leaned her head on 
his shoulder as he continued to observe the crowds coming and going, as 
always. 

      *The Prophets have laid a rather unique path for me.* 
      This thought ran through Major Kira Nerys' mind again, as it had 
for the past several days. 
      She looked down, observing the pair that everyone seemed to be 
watching the past couple of days--two of Voyager's former crewmembers.  
The pilot, a tall human with golden hair and bright blue eyes.  And the 
engineer, the half-Klingon, half-human girl. 
      Kira was unsure why the two were attracting so much 
attention--there 
had been so-called "stranger" pairs.  Worf and Jadzia.  Garak and Ziyal. 
Rom and Leeta.  Even the girl's parents were a more unusual pair--her 
dark-haired blue-eyed human father and her fierce, beautiful Klingon 
mother. 
      And then there was her and her closest companion.  A Bajoran and a 
changeling.  What could be more unusual? 
      So deciding, she leaned against Odo and let her gaze skip here and 
there, thinking how the Prophets had blessed her, to give her one such 
as him. 

      Linzia looked about, her bright blue eyes taking in everything on 
the promenade.  She loved to sit up on Jake's shoulders and watch the 
crowds go by.  It wasn't often Mommy let her go with him and Nog to just 
walk around.  But Nog was busy today, so it was just her and Jake. 
      She liked watching couples especially.  Nog's daddy and Aunt Leeta 
were always close together.  You hardly saw one without the other in the 
same place. 
      She looked up.  Sure enough, there was Odo, way up at his post, 
where he always was, Kira beside him.  Sometimes, Linzia wondered if he 
ever left that spot. 
      As they passed Garak's tailor shop, Linzia waved to Garak.  Ziyal 
wasn't with him--no, there she was, on the other side, where Linzia had 
missed her. 
      She returned to looking about the main crowds.  The usual--wait a 
minute.  Now there  was a pair she had never seen before. 
      The man was human, like Jake.  He had a shock of hair the color 
that Mommy called "blond" and eyes the color of Earth's sky. 
      The girl had dark hair that went to her shoulders and eyes as dark 
as Kira's.  But what Linzia noticed were her brow ridges.  They weren't 
full.  They were like hers.  Except for the difference in eye color and 
the fact that the other girl had no spots, they were almost alike. 
      Linzia wondered who she was.  She would have to ask Mommy later. 
      They passed by.  Linzia watched them go, then turned back to the 
rest of the crowds.  Jake would have to take her back soon.  She decided 
she had better look while she still could. 

* 

      They had reached the habitat ring and B'Elanna was about to head 
for her own quarters when Tom stopped her.  "Wait.  Come to my quarters 
first.  I have something for you." 
      Shrugging to herself yet curious, she followed him to his 
quarters, propping her bat'telh by the door so she could grab it on her 
way out. 
      "Sit down and relax," he told her.  "I have to find where I put 
it." 
      B'Elanna settled herself into a chair and waited patiently, 
watching the stars slowly pass by the window as the station continued to 
revolve in its usual graceful pirouette. 
      "Found it!" he said triumphantly.  He came back with a small box 
and handed it to her. 
      "What is it?" 
      "Well, go on.  Open it." 
      B'Elanna took the small box and opened it.  Inside was a ring, a 
small Koladan diamond set in a slender band of gold.  Her breath caught 
in her throat. 
      "Tom, is this......" 
      "An engagement ring?"  He smiled.  "Yes, it is." 
      "You mean......" 
      Moving in front of her, he dropped to one knee and took her hand. 
"B'Elanna, will you marry me?" 
      B'Elanna was stunned.  Only two months ago, she had thought Tom 
would never want to be more than friends.  And now he was proposing to 
her. 
      "I can't imagine life without you.  And I want to spend the rest 
of it with you," he said quietly. 
      Unable to speak, she could only nod. 
      Taking the ring from the box, Tom slid it onto B'Elanna's finger, 
then drew her close to kiss her. 
      "I love you, 'Lanna," he whispered.  "You are everything to me."  
He gently brushed away a single tear as it slid down her cheek. 
      B'Elanna laced her fingers through Tom's, leaning against him, 
watching the stars slowly pass by the window, bright as the future, 
because she knew that with Tom's love, anything was possible. 

To be continued...... 


Are their troubles finally over?  What will happen next?  Who is Linzia? 
I won't talk on the first two, but as for Linzia, if you haven't a clue 
about her, wait till the next part.  More about her there. 

Legal B.S.  Paramount's characters, my story.  Well, I made up Linzia. 
Copyright 1997, by Cheile.  Comments go to cheile@hotmail.com.