DIRECTED BY
AIRED ON
April 29, 1996
RUNTIME
45 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
219
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-13 04:07:08
PAGE VERSION
Version 2
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SUMMARY
Stardate: Unknown. A mysterious woman approaches Jake about his future as a writer. Odo promises to do whatever it takes to help Lwaxana Troi keep her baby over the father's wishes - even if it means marrying her himself.
STORY
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BEHIND THE SCENES
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REVIEWS
The best episode of the first three seasons
Written by
Pike on 2018-03-11
★
★
★
★
★
(This review contains major spoilers!)
MUSICALLY PERFECT
The episode is very interesting, as well as musically emotional. I just loved the soundtrack of that episode.
EVIL MORTY
I hoped to see the return of Evil Morty, but I have to say that I clearly did not anticipate that the friendly and hopeful campaigning Morty would be the one. This was pure genius and I loved every minute of it. I have only one wish, to rewatch the entire episode, which I'm sure I'll appreciate even more knowing the twist.
20 MINUTES?!
The episode doesn’t even last half an hour, but it is dense.
SUMMARY
An outstanding episode. I give it 9 out of 10. Without any doubt, the best episode of the series so far.
___________________________________________
Outstanding
Written by
Gruic on 2018-03-12
★
★
★
★
★
With that episode, everything is perfect. Music, plot, crew, the ending...
This episode presents all the best things we can find in the show.
9/10, but in regards of 20 minutes show, maybe it can become a 10 one day.
TRANSCRIPT
[Promenade - upper level]
(People are arriving through the airlock below and being met.)
MAN: Here they are. Welcome.
WOMAN: Thank you.
PADD: Recording.
JAKE: Character sketches for possible stories. A Bolian tries to impress a dabo girl by wearing a toupee. A thief disguises himself as a Monk so he can swindle a Ferengi. A woman travelling alone. She's come a long way.
(The woman looks up at Jake. Their eyes meet. Jake looks away and she walks off.)
[Security office]
(A woman in a purple dress is waiting for Odo, crying.)
ODO: Lwaxana?
LWAXANA: Oh, hello, Odo.
ODO: You've been crying.
LWAXANA: I can't help it.
ODO: Why?
LWAXANA: Because.
(She stands up to show off her big belly.)
LWAXANA: I'm pregnant.
(After the titles, Odo has picked his jaw up off the floor.)
LWAXANA: It's a miracle. I never thought I could have another baby.
ODO: Then those were tears of happiness?
LWAXANA: I won't let him do it, Odo.
ODO: Who? What?
LWAXANA: My husband, Jeyal. He wants to take my baby. That's why I ran away.
ODO: Please, Lwaxana, try to be calm. Now tell me, why would your husband want to take your baby from you?
LWAXANA: He's Tavnian.
ODO: And?
LWAXANA: They believe in strict separation of the sexes. Boys are raised by men, girls by women. Why, those poor children aren't even told the other sex exists until they're sixteen.
ODO: And your child is male?
LWAXANA: And the day Jeyal found out, he said that he was going to take my baby away from me as soon as he was born. Well, I told him that that isn't what we'd agreed, that he had said it was going to be different with us because I wasn't Tavnian.
ODO: But he changed his mind.
LWAXANA: During our wedding ceremony, he spoke so beautifully about why he wanted to marry me, but afterwards it was as if I had become a piece of property in his eyes.
ODO: So you ran away.
LWAXANA: And it wasn't easy, believe me. Toward the end, I was practically a prisoner in my own house.
ODO: Well, now that you've shown your husband how determined you are to be part of your boy's life, perhaps he'll reconsider his position.
LWAXANA: Oh, no. Not Jeyal. He's the most wilful man I've ever met. I'm so tired. I've never needed a friend more than I do right now.
ODO: I appreciate your situation, and I would like to help.
LWAXANA: I knew you would. You're such a dear, sweet man.
ODO: Unfortunately, I'm also a very busy man.
LWAXANA: Oh believe me, Odo, the last thing I want is to become a burden to you. I know how you value your privacy. All I want is a quiet place where I can have my baby in peace.
ODO: I was about to suggest the very thing. I'll find out when the next transport leaves for Betazed.
LWAXANA: Oh, I couldn't possibly go there. That's the first place Jeyal will look for me. I know him. He won't give up. Not until he finds me and gets his son back. That's why I came to you. Because I knew you'd protect me. You will protect me, won't you, Odo?
[Replimat]
(The alien woman enters and sits at the table next to where Jake is working. She opens a book. Those amazing pale blue eyes belong to Meg Foster.)
ONAYA: You're a writer. I could see you were somewhere else. Some place you were inventing.
JAKE: I'm working on a story.
ONAYA: I can spot a creative soul a galaxy away. My name is Onaya.
JAKE: Jake Sisko.
ONAYA: Do you live here?
JAKE: Yes.
ONAYA: I love Cardassian architecture, the way things flow together. Kell used to say that every element had to be of a piece, yet have a beauty all it's own.
JAKE: Tavor Kell the architect?
ONAYA: I knew him when he was in exile.
JAKE: What was he like?
ONAYA: He was shy, unsure of himself and his talent. Most people would never notice someone like him, but I have a weakness for artists.
JAKE: You wouldn't think he was shy from his designs.
ONAYA: When I first met him, they were as timid as he was. I was always telling him to stop censoring himself.
JAKE: He must've listened to you.
ONAYA: I've found artists have a weakness for me as well. At least, I hope they do.
JAKE: I, er, I've always wondered what Kell would have designed if he'd lived to be older.
ONAYA: He accomplished more in the years that he had than most people could in a dozen lifetimes. His name is known throughout the quadrant. His buildings will stand for centuries to come. Isn't that what an artist wants, to be remembered? Isn't that why you write?
JAKE: I don't know. I think it's mostly because I like to tell stories.
ONAYA: There's no reason to hide your ambition, Jake. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I think it's what makes artists so compelling.
JAKE: All right. I guess I do want to be remembered.
ONAYA: So what are you doing to make sure you will be?
JAKE: Well, I'm thinking of going to the Pennington School, on Earth.
ONAYA: You already have the talent inside you. I can see it. You just need someone to help you bring it to the surface.
JAKE: How?
ONAYA: There are ways. Exercises. Techniques.
JAKE: Can you show them to me?
ONAYA: Come to my quarters tonight.
JAKE: I'll be there.
[Sisko's quarters]
(On PADD 4747, Jake is reading The Commodore by C S Forster, again.)
SISKO: Are you packed? Kasidy's ship is going to be here any minute.
JAKE: Dad, I was thinking about staying home.
SISKO: Staying home? This trip was your idea.
JAKE: I know.
SISKO: You really want to pass up three days in the Bajoran outback?
JAKE: I thought maybe you and Kasidy would have a better time without me.
SISKO: Oh, lay off the matchmaking, Jake. Kasidy and I are doing fine.
JAKE: It's not just that. I'm also working on this story and I don't want to lose my concentration.
SISKO: You can write on the trip. Look, I'm not trying to talk you into anything. I don't get leave often, and I was looking forward to the three of us spending time together.
JAKE: Me too, but I really need to focus on this.
SISKO: All right. Good luck with it. See you in a couple days.
[Quark's]
LWAXANA: My marriage was a sham. What I'd mistaken for love was nothing more than a prison.
(Dax and Kira are medieval maidens, Worf is in his mok'bara gear and Lwaxana has talked them into melancholia.)
LWAXANA: So, tell me, where are you girls headed?
KIRA: Oh. A holosuite.
DAX: King Arthur's Court.
LWAXANA: Camelot. Love betrayed. Dreams shattered.
(At the bar.)
QUARK: Look at them. You'd think somebody died. I don't know if it's because she's Betazoid or what, but her mood is contagious. As soon as she walked in here, things started getting quiet.
ODO: What do you want me to do about it?
QUARK: Either cheer her up or get her to leave. Because if you don't, I'm going to throw her out.
(Odo goes over to the table with the black cloud over it.)
ODO: Ahem.
LWAXANA: Odo. Won't you join the party?
ODO: Actually, I have some free time and I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk.
WORF: I would.
ODO: I meant Lwaxana.
LWAXANA: I'd love to. Sorry. Maybe next time.
(Odo and Lwaxana leave)
DAX: I'm so depressed.
[Corridor]
LWAXANA: Kestra was six years old when she died. My sweet little girl. I lost my parents, a sister, a husband. But nothing, nothing compared to losing her. I didn't mean to carry on like that. I'm sorry.
ODO: No, don't apologise. I think I finally understand why you're so determined not to let your husband take the baby from you.
LWAXANA: These are your quarters, aren't they?
ODO: Yes. Right next to yours.
LWAXANA: My replicator is acting up. Would you mind terribly if we popped in so I could get a cup of Gavaline tea?
ODO: Of course not.
[Odo's quarters]
ODO: The replicator is right over here. I'll let Chief O'Brien know about yours.
LWAXANA: Oh, I already did. He said he'd get to it as soon as he could.
ODO: Gavaline tea.
LWAXANA: Is this for shape-shifting?
ODO: Yes. Actually, most people think it's a sculpture.
LWAXANA: Well, what do most people know? Thank you. May I ask you something, Odo? Are you over her? Don't worry, I'm not going to throw myself at you if you say yes.
ODO: Major Kira and First Minister Shakaar are involved now.
LWAXANA: How sad.
ODO: Not at all. I'm happy for her.
LWAXANA: Well, just don't go do what I did. Look for someone to fix your broken heart then end up pregnant and on the run.
ODO: I don't think there's too much danger of that happening.
LWAXANA: Oh!
ODO: What is it?
LWAXANA: The baby kicked. May I sit down for a minute?
ODO: I don't have any furniture.
LWAXANA: The floor'll do.
ODO: How are you feeling now?
LWAXANA: Like a changeling who's had to hold his shape too long.
ODO: Ah. Well I think I know how that feels.
LWAXANA: He's moving. Here, you want to feel? There!
ODO: Yes!
LWAXANA: Oh, I'm so tired, Odo. I don't think I've had a decent night's sleep in weeks. Sometimes, with Betazoid babies, you can actually sense their thoughts. Such contentment.
ODO: Yes, I can feel it, too.
LWAXANA: Someone once said life is a search to find the peace you once had when you were safe inside your mother.
ODO: I didn't have a mother.
LWAXANA: Don't worry, it's all right. You'll find your peace, just the same.
ODO: Lwaxana? Your replicator isn't really broken, is it?
LWAXANA: No.
ODO: I'm sorry if I made you feel unwelcome. It's just my way. Lwaxana?
(She's fallen asleep on him so he morphs his lower half into a pillow for her and his arm into a blanket.)
[Corridor]
(Jake rings a doorbell)
ONAYA [OC]: Yes?
JAKE: It's Jake. Jake Sisko. Remember me?
(The door opens.)
ONAYA: Come in.
[Onaya's quarters]
(Lots of drapery and candles, very romantic.)
JAKE: I brought some of my stories for you to read.
ONAYA: I don't need to.
JAKE: Oh. I thought maybe
ONAYA: It's what you're going to be writing next that interests me. You seem nervous, Jake.
JAKE: Maybe a little.
ONAYA: That's understandable. You should be nervous when you start something new. Although maybe not this nervous. Haven't you ever been alone in a woman's quarters before? Whatever you're thinking, put it out of your mind. You're here to work.
(She settles him on the settee)
ONAYA: Now, what's the most ambitious story you ever wanted to tell?
JAKE: I have an idea for a novel. It's sort of autobiographical. The main character's mother dies. It's not about that really. It's about a lot of things.
ONAYA: So many it all seems so big to you right now. You're afraid that you can't do it justice?
JAKE: Yeah.
ONAYA: But I'll bet you know what the first line is.
JAKE: How'd you know that?
ONAYA: I have something I want to show you something.
(She hands him a case. He opens it.)
ONAYA: Revalus used it when he wrote The Wait.
(It's a pen.)
JAKE: You knew him?
ONAYA: I told you I have a weakness for artists. I want you to have it.
JAKE: I don't know what to say. Thank you.
ONAYA: There's more.
(She moves the PADD aside and replaces it with stack of paper.)
ONAYA: Here.
JAKE: Paper. I've never worked on paper before.
ONAYA: Revalus used to say that a writer should put pen to paper as if he were a painter putting brush to canvas. It's part of what he called visceral writing.
JAKE: What's that?
ONAYA: It's one of the techniques I told you about.
JAKE: Can you teach it to me?
ONAYA: That's why you're here.
(Onaya goes behind Jake and puts her hands on his shoulders.)
ONAYA: Isn't it? The opening line of your novel. Write it down.
(Jake writes - From my window it looked like the )
ONAYA: Now keep going.
JAKE: What do you mean, keep going?
ONAYA: Write whatever comes to you. The idea is to create a stream of consciousness and see where that takes you. You can edit later. Just write the first thing that comes to mind. I won't look.
(She starts to stroke the back of his neck and head.)
ONAYA: Let the words tumble out of you. Don't censor them. Feel the pen in your hand, the texture of the paper. Let yourself fall into a rhythm. You feel where my thumbs are? That's your foramen magnum. It's a focal point of the body's bioelectric field. There's another one here. (his temples) The Vulcans call them qui'lari. The Indians of ancient Earth called them shakras. I know how to stimulate them to make you feel restful or energised or even creative.
(Jake has written - succumbed, letting the feelings engulf me. Images flooded my )
JAKE: This isn't bad.
ONAYA: I told you I could help you. Let the words flow, Jake.
(He goes onto another page.)
ONAYA: Let them flow.
(She gathers golden energy from Jake's head in her hands.)
ONAYA: Yes, that's it. Let them flow.
[Odo's quarters]
(Lwaxana is checking the objects in the room, looking for something. She arrives at a fine metal mesh.)
LWAXANA: There you are!
(Odo oozes off his big piece and sits on top of it.)
ODO: Ah, ha. Got you that time.
LWAXANA: That's not fair. I didn't know you could do surfaces.
ODO: Well, now you do.
LWAXANA: Shall we try again?
ODO: Are you sure you're up to it?
LWAXANA: Oh, absolutely, I haven't had so much fun in months.
ODO: Really? Neither have I.
COM [OC]: Security to Odo.
ODO: Go ahead.
SECURITY [OC]: A transport just arrived from the Umani sector. The man you asked us to look out for was on it.
ODO: Acknowledged. You know what to do.
SECURITY [OC]: Aye, sir.
LWAXANA: It's my husband, isn't it?
ODO: Stay here. I'll handle this.
[Security office]
JEYAL: You'd better have a good reason for dragging me in here.
(Everyone say Hi! to Michael Ansara, not playing a Klingon this time.)
ODO: I'm Chief of Station security. That's all the reason I need.
JEYAL: Well, well. You're the changeling. Odo, if I remember correctly.
ODO: And what of it?
JEYAL: Lwaxana told me all about you. How you broke her heart. Strange she'd come running to you for protection. The pregnancy must have her confused, poor woman.
ODO: I find her remarkably clear-headed. She doesn't want to see you so you might as well turn around and go home.
JEYAL: I've come a long way, I'm not going to leave here empty-handed.
ODO: She is not going back with you.
JEYAL: I am not talking about her. I am talking about my son. I intend to see that he is raised by men, not by the pampering foolishness of women.
ODO: I hate to disappoint you, but Lwaxana has no intention of giving him up to you.
JEYAL: Her intentions do not concern me. As her husband, I have a legal right to my son.
ODO: I've been familiarising myself with Tavnian laws. It's well established that the male child is considered the property of the mother's husband.
JEYAL: Exactly.
ODO: Not the child's father, the mother's husband. By the time Lwaxana gives birth, you won't be her husband.
[Odo's quarters]
LWAXANA: We're getting married?
ODO: If you take me as your husband in a legal Tavnian ceremony, your marriage to Jeyal will be automatically annulled and he'll lose his claim to the baby.
LWAXANA: I don't quite know what to say. I'm just touched by your willingness to do this for me.
ODO: It's not so much, really. We'll remain husband and wife for a few months, long enough to satisfy Tavnian law, and then get an annulment of our own. It's not as if I was planning to marry someone else.
LWAXANA: Even so, thank you.
ODO: There is one thing I don't understand. Jeyal insisted on staying to witnessing the ceremony.
LWAXANA: He did?
ODO: Is that a problem?
LWAXANA: In a Tavnian wedding, the groom must stand before the bride and tell her why he wants to marry her. And then, in front of his family and friends, he must proclaim his love for her and convince her to accept him as her husband.
ODO: Well, I trust I can count on you to accept me even if I just stand there and read last week's Criminal Activity Report.
LWAXANA: No, no, you don't quite understand. If anyone present doubts the groom's sincerity, they can challenge the validity of the marriage.
ODO: You mean I have to convince Jeyal that I want to marry you? Ah.
[Onaya's quarters]
(The first person singular narrative continues apace.)
JAKE: I've never been able to write like this. Ideas are coming so fast I can barely keep up with them.
ONAYA: It's amazing, isn't it?
(Onaya is blissed out on his creative juices.)
(A drop of blood falls onto the paper. Onaya stops what she's doing.)
ONAYA: Jake.
JAKE: It's okay. It's just a nosebleed.
ONAYA: You should rest.
JAKE: I'll be all right. It's already stopped. Where was I?
(And he starts writing again.)
[Odo's quarters]
BASHIR: Did I miss something? I didn't know Odo was getting married till this morning.
KIRA: I'm not sure he knew either.
O'BRIEN: Who's he?
KIRA: I think that's Lwaxana's husband.
O'BRIEN: Good of him to come.
(Odo enters in a plain blue robe and goes to Jeyal.)
ODO: So glad you could make it.
JEYAL: I'm sure you are. It's not too late to call this off. Your dignity is important to you. I understand that. I would not want anyone to see me go through a charade like this.
ODO: If you don't mind, this is a very special moment for me.
(Lwaxana enters, also in blue and carrying a lit globe. She stands on a podium in front of the window.)
ODO: In keeping with Tavnian tradition, I stand before you, here in my home, among my worldly possessions and declare my wish to add this woman to that which is mine. She is as kind as she is beautiful, and I want her to be part of my life from this day on. Marry me, Lwaxana.
JEYAL: Am I the only one finds this little more than a pale declaration of love? He could be talking about any woman.
ODO: Lwaxana is not just any woman. Not to me.
JEYAL: Then prove it to us.
ODO: Before I met her, my world was a much smaller place. I kept to myself. I didn't need anyone else and I took pride in that. The truth is, I was ashamed of what I was, afraid that if people saw how truly different I was they would recoil from me. Lwaxana saw how different I was and she didn't recoil. She wanted to see more. For the first time in my life, someone wanted me as I was. And that changed me forever. The day I met her, is the day I stopped being alone. And I want her to be part of my life from this day on. Marry me, Lwaxana. Let me into your light. Lwaxana?
LWAXANA: I give myself to you, forever and always.
ODO: I say for all to hear that this woman is mine. If anyone challenges my claim to her, let them do so now. (nothing) I present to you my beloved wife.
(They come down from the podium.)
O'BRIEN: Odo, congratulations.
DAX: Congratulations.
(Kira and Bashir hug Lwaxana. Quark shakes Odo's hand. Kira kisses Odo.)
KIRA: Congratulations.
BASHIR: Well done, Odo.
(Lwaxana puts the light globe in a box.)
JEYAL: I cherished you, Lwaxana. You were my most treasured possession. Take care of our son. When he asks, speak well of me.
(Jeyal leaves.)
QUARK: Ladies and gentlemen, please do me the honour of accompanying me to my humble establishment. I'm throwing a party for the happy couple.
DAX: Quark!
QUARK: What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.
(The witnesses leave.)
ODO: Are you all right?
LWAXANA: We did it. He's really leaving.
ODO: It would appear so.
LWAXANA: Oh, Odo, you were wonderful. You know, for a minute there, I really believed you wanted to marry me. I suppose that we should tell them the truth. But let's wait till after the party.
[Onaya's quarters]
(Jake is still writing and Onaya is near sated on his creativity.)
ONAYA: Jake, you should rest.
JAKE: Not now. I'm onto something.
ONAYA: Your father will be home soon. You should be there.
JAKE: I'll see him later.
ONAYA: Enough.
(She takes the pen from him.)
JAKE: What'd you do that for?
ONAYA: You're pushing yourself too hard.
JAKE: No, I'm not. My mind has never been so clear. Everything is coming together. At this rate, I can finish this novel in a few days.
ONAYA: And you will. I promise you. But if you rest now, your work will be even better.
JAKE: All right, I'll go home. Maybe get some sleep.
ONAYA: You'll come back later?
JAKE: Of course. I need you.
[Turbolift]
JAKE: Promenade.
(Jake feels dizzy.)
[Replimat]
(Jake nearly trips over the step.)
JAKE: Orange juice.
(Jake takes his drink to a table, goes to sit down and misses.)
[Infirmary]
(Jake is on a bed with the forehead device on.)
BASHIR: Something has stimulated Jake's brain functioning in a way that I have never seen. The capillaries in his cerebral cortex have dilated twenty percent. Neurotransmitter production is up by at least that amount, and neural activity is off the scale.
SISKO: Do you have any idea what caused it?
BASHIR: Not yet, but it's a good thing we got him here when we did. His cortex was on the verge of synaptic collapse.
SISKO: But he is going to be all right?
BASHIR: I'd like to keep him in a neural stabilisation field for a while.
JAKE: Onaya.
SISKO: Jake.
JAKE: Where is she?
SISKO: Jake, what happened? I'm going to go talk to Odo, see if he knows anything about this Onaya.
BASHIR: I'll let you know if his condition changes. (to nurse) I'll be in the lab.
(Later, as Nurse Patricia Tallman is tending to Jake, a golden glow comes through the wall, solidifies into Onaya and knocks her out.)
ONAYA: Come with me, Jake. It's time to finish what we started.
(Later again, CSI O'Brien is scanning the wall)
O'BRIEN: I'm picking up concentrated traces of some sort of psionic energy on the bulkhead.
BASHIR: The tests I ran indicated that Jake's mental activity was stimulated by some kind of psionic phenomenon, possibly telepathic in nature.
SISKO: Then this entity Nurse Tagana saw could have been responsible.
BASHIR: We have to find it, then get Jake back in the neural stabilisation field before it's too late.
O'BRIEN: I'll tell Odo to have his search parties reconfigure their tricorders to scan for psionic energy.
BASHIR: That'll help, but only for a while. Psionic residue decays within minutes.
SISKO: Then we'd better get moving.
[Conduit junction]
(Jake is still writing, giving off energy for Onaya.)
ONAYA: Keep going, Jake. The moment I saw you, I knew you were worthy of what I could give you. But I can't stay with you forever. This is your chance to create something that will live on, long after you're gone.
(Jake's nose starts bleeding again, so Onaya gives him a handkerchief.)
ONAYA: There. It will stop in a minute.
[Conduit]
SISKO: (to crewman) I'm getting something about twenty metres in this direction. I'll go this way. You swing around and take tunnel sixty one G.
[Conduit junction]
(Jake drops the paper, exhausted.)
ONAYA: What's wrong?
JAKE: I can't.
ONAYA: Let me help you.
(She holds the paper and his right hand for him.)
ONAYA: That's better, isn't it?
(She goes back to taking his golden energy. Sisko jumps through the upper hatch.)
SISKO: Get away from him.
JAKE: Dad, don't interfere.
SISKO: I said get away.
(Onaya does.)
SISKO: Sisko to Ops.
KIRA [OC]: Go ahead.
SISKO: Lock on to my signal and stand by to beam Jake directly to the Infirmary.
KIRA [OC]: You're too close to the reactor core. There's so much interference I can't get a lock.
SISKO: Get a medical team down here immediately.
KIRA [OC]: Aye, sir.
SISKO: What are you?
ONAYA: It's not what I am that matters, it's what I do. You don't know the minds I've touched. Catullus, Tarbolde, Keats. a hundred others. I unlocked their potential.
SISKO: Is that what you did to Jake? Look at him!
ONAYA: They all die in the end, but look what I gave them in return. Immortality. Their names will live on forever.
SISKO: And you, what do you get out of it?
ONAYA: What I need to survive so I can go on, find others and unlock their talents as well. He was the youngest I ever found. So eager, ready to give everything he had in one great burst. What a waste. I will never forget you, Jake.
(Onaya starts to turn into golden energy.)
SISKO: You're not going anywhere.
(Sisko's phaser has no effect. The ball of energy flies through the bulkhead and off into space.)
[Security office]
LWAXANA: I have wonderful news. There's a transport for Betazed leaving this afternoon. I'm going home.
ODO: I thought you were planning on having the baby here?
LWAXANA: If I did, I'd end up staying for months and that wouldn't be fair. I've imposed on you enough.
ODO: Lwaxana, you could deliver at any time now, and it's a long way to Betazed. You really should stay.
LWAXANA: I'll miss you, too.
ODO: Then why leave?
LWAXANA: You've gotten used to having me around, haven't you? Oh, you dear, sweet man. Don't you see? What you want is company, someone to take care of.
ODO: Is that so wrong?
LWAXANA: No, of course not. The problem is I want much more than that from you. You see, I can't help it. I'm still in love with you. And as much as I wish that you were in love with me, I know you're not. I could stay, I try to make you fall in love with me, but we both know that won't happen. Then I'd end up resenting you, and our friendship is far too important for me to let that happen. That's why it's better for both of us if I leave now.
(Lwaxana kisses Odo.)
LWAXANA: Goodbye, husband.
ODO: Goodbye, wife.
[Sisko's quarters]
(Sisko enters with Jake's manuscript.)
SISKO: How are you feeling?
JAKE: Okay, I guess. You've read it?
SISKO: I just finished.
JAKE: What'd you think?
SISKO: You've got a good start on a novel here, Jake. The dialogue is sharp, the story's involving, the characters are real. The spelling is terrible. I especially liked the father.
JAKE: Remind you of anyone?
SISKO: A bit. It's really good.
JAKE: I know. I just wish I wrote it.
SISKO: You did.
JAKE: How can I be sure? I mean, without Onaya.
SISKO: Listen to me. You wrote these words, not her.
JAKE: But she got them out of me.
SISKO: And that means they were somewhere inside you. And all you have to do is learn to find them for yourself.
JAKE: You're right. But I got to tell you, I don't feel up to writing just yet.
SISKO: That's understandable. Take it easy for a while. You'll get back to it. And then, someday, when you're ready, maybe you'll finish it.
JAKE: Sounds like a plan.
SISKO: I've got to get to work. I'll check in on you in a couple hours.
JAKE: I'll be here.
(Sisko leaves, then Jake picks the pen. We see the title of the novel, Anselm, and under it he writes by Jake Sisko.)
2024-09-13 04:07:08 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
