Part X
In the morning the amity that had been so strong in the night seemed to dissolve and was replaced by awkwardness, an uncertainty of what to do next.
They sat stealing glances of each other across the table as they tried to force themselves to eat breakfast. Each was hoping that the other would speak first, and both were expecting the worst. Finally Beverly couldn't stand it anymore. "Why did you come here?" she asked gently, not wanting to start another fight.
"I heard the noise...I was worried about you."
"No, I mean...to this planet."
His tea must have been doing something extraordinarily fascinating for he was staring at it rather intently. He wanted to tell her that it was for the simple reason that he loved her, had loved her from the moment he saw her, but he couldn't. Not now, not amidst all the stiffness and awkwardness. It wasn't right. He wanted to wait for the right moment so he instead shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at his tea as if he expected to find the perfect words, the words that would fix everything, in the gently rising steam.
Beverly pushed away the anger that was threatening to rise again. "Please Jean-Luc, talk to me."
Jean-Luc stood and walked slowly to the window. Beverly followed, stopping a few steps behind him to allow him room to think. He watched the snow fall for several minutes before speaking. Some people get old waiting for the right moment. Sometimes it never comes. Awkwardness or no the words had to be said. "I don't think I have ever loved anyone the way I love you." He spoke slowly giving each word time to sink in with its full meaning. "I never felt the exhilaration, the feeling of being truly alive until I met you. I didn't feel it when I won the marathon at the Academy, I didn't feel it when I took command of the Federation's flagship, but I feel it every time I look at you. You make me...feel. You bring my perception of life to a whole new level. Because you Beverly....you are...my heart." He turned to look at her, catching her eyes which were filled with tears. "I love you." There it was, simple as that. Decades of pent-up emotions put neatly into simple words.
The first tear escaped and slid down Beverly's cheek. Slowly, each movement deliberate and meaningful, she took the few steps needed to close the space between them and slipped her arms around him. They held tightly to each other not wanting to ever let go. All of the childish petty arguments melted away to some distant place, and suddenly all those lonely nights made sense. They had been worth it for this moment. "I love you too Jean-Luc." She buried her face against his neck crying silently for misunderstandings, for fear, and for lost years. For all the things that had somehow managed to keep them apart.
She might have stayed that way forever, hidden in the protection of his arms, if not for Jean-Luc's nose nudging against her cheek. Beverly nuzzled against his neck then turned to him avoiding his eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I should never have doubted you."
His hands slid up her neck to curve around her face and he pressed his lips against her soft skin kissing away her tears. "It's all right. Beverly, it's all right," he breathed against her cheek. "Everything is all right now."
She nodded against him and rubbed her tears from his neck. "Everything is all right now," she repeated. She raised her eyes to meet his and smiled for the first time in what felt like a very long time.
His own smile pressed against hers in a tender promising kiss that grew deeper and more intense with each passing minute.
For a moment it was as if the entire universe and everything that had ever happened was just so that this moment, this tiny piece of existence, could occur simply to bring these two lost people together.
Jean-Luc made one last trip to the dingy little cabin a mile away to gather his few things and bring them to Beverly's cabin. There were still two weeks left of their shore leave and they intended to make very good use of their time. Some days they took long walks in the snow (with an occasional snowball fight) but mostly they stayed in finding better things to do than try and stuff snow down each others shirts.
They left the snowy little planet with a reluctance that all people leave places where their lives have changed for the better and they knew that someday they would return....maybe for their honeymoon....
FINIS