Perfect Moments

The world didn't even seem real. Perhaps that was because it wasn't. Still it seemed so perfect, she was sure that it couldn't have existed this way anywhere else. Every nuance was carefully planned, each color bright, clear and perfect. Sunlight streamed down. It felt so warm, it added a paradox of reality to the scene.

Her eyes swept over the holodeck again and again, taking it all in as best she could. The sky was blue enough to hurt her eyes, and created a sharp contrast to the rolling green expanse of grass on which she stood. That sweeping sea of land continued as far as she could see. The only thing that broke the endlessly bright world of color were large patches of daises, which added to the unreality of it all.

The fields of flowers held a scent that filled every molecule of air with the hint of nonexistent fragrance. It shocked her in a way, knowing as she did that the flowers had no true scent of there own. Not like others she had known. Yet this scent, pure, clean...seemed the most perfect thing she had ever known. The whispers of the breeze through the field were the only sound.

It was simple, clear, endless perfection. All at once it was comforting and unsettling. She turned round in a circle once, absorbing it all again, this world in which only she existed. And then, in a breath, it happened. The world which was once empty seemed to hum with life. Quietly at first, then gradually filling everything. And yet, in this room nothing changed. It was her. Or rather him.

She never moved as his hands slipped around her waist, his hands finding hers. Suddenly, there was nothing unsettling here at all. It was warm, bight as ever. The whispering wind now held only friendly voices. She breathed in the scent of flowers and him, letting it fill her before releasing it into a sigh of contentment.

His laughter shook gently between them. He loved that. How was it that she managed it? That power that she had to say so much without a word. He felt her settle back against him, and he gathered her closer. "The girls would love this."

As his words broke the silence, she smiled, closing her eyes. She could see them here, now that she tried. Four year old Abby chasing butterflies while Beth, at an ever so much more mature age of six, busied her small fingers with the meticulous creation of daisy chains. She was suddenly filled with the desire to hold them close. "I miss them, you know," she said quietly.

Will squeezed her gently. "I know. Me too. Just a few more hours, love. And then, they'll be back, in all of their bouncy, giggling glory, FULL of stories of Grandma's house. And utterly spoiled, to be sure."

Deanna giggled. "What where we thinking, subjecting the girls to three weeks alone with my mother???"

Will's rich laugher sounded in her ears once more. "I'm not sure who was subjected to who in that arrangement, Imzadi."

She had to agree. She couldn't decide who she pitied more, her mother for having taken on the two handfuls known as the Riker children, or her daughters, for becoming unsuspecting partners in her mother's...unconventional...life. The one thing she was sure of was that all three had undoubtedly had a marvelous time in the process. She turned in his arms, slipping her own around his neck. "As happy as I'll be to see the girls, I HAVE enjoyed this having you all to myself you know." She punctuated the statement with a kiss.

Will silently agreed, his response lost in her kiss. They hadn't been alone much since Beth was born, and hadn't had much more before that either. Deanna had become pregnant almost immediately, and they had both been delighted. After all, they had spent long enough waiting for this life, this family to waste any time in achieving it. Abby had followed in just over a year, and their busy little family had settled into a happy existence all their own. Still, they had missed having time alone as a couple. Which was why his mother-in-law's offer to take the girls for a while while Beth was still out of school had seemed like a movies idea.

It had been, at first. They enjoyed the time to be together, of course. It was wonderful to come home at the end of the day and have no responsibilities beyond each other again. At the same time, however, he found that he missed hugging his daughters hello as he came though the door, and sometimes, in the past few weeks he had gone to their room to check on them before remembering that they wouldn't be there.

The whole thing was an odd sort of paradox, really. Much like this place. Wonderfully perfect, and yet utterly empty without someone to share it with. That same emptiness and simplicity which gave it perfection also held the power to make in unbearably lonely. Wordlessly, they shared these quiet reflections, and many others, as they pasted the next two hours there, alone in a world in which there existed only the two of them and the love that they shared. They shared silence, relishing this time together and waiting with anticipation for the moment that their lives would once again be all but consumed by the buzz of ever busy life that was their children.

The time passed neither quickly nor slowly...most likely because they couldn't settle on which they would have preferred, Deanna mused. Finally, they left, Will stopping to save the program as they left, vowing to come back with the girls, soon.

Now sooner had they entered the transporter room than they were besieged by hugs and a rush of ecstatic voices. They looked at one another over their daughters' heads and smiled, knowing another perfect moment.