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   You Always Said

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        "You always said you'd dance with me at my wedding, " she said as she laid her hand gently on his arm.

         Looking down at his glass and then into her eyes, he tried to push the words past the lump in his throat. "Yes, I always did."

         "Then will you dance with me now?" she could see how effected he was by the question.

         "You know I will, " his smile genuine as he took her hand and led her to the center of Ten-Forward.

         Laying her head against his shoulder, she closed her eyes and let his arms envelop her. Swaying gently to the music, she couldn't help but let
the tears well in her eyes. "It's been a long year, " she whispered against his chest.

         "Indeed it has, " he answered, the smile on his lips fading slightly into a less convincing gauge of his emotions. The memories of the past year
flashed bright and hot through his mind.

         He remembered the day that she had come to him; to tell him of the proposal and her acceptance of it. He remembered how he'd felt as if he
had been slammed into a brick wall. But he had told her he was happy for her and offered her his congratulations. Somehow he had always thought it
would be him.

         But things had changed; he had changed and he couldn't bear the thought that she would be in someone else's arms, having someone else's
children, growing old with them and not him. So he had told her, laid it all on the line, as-it-were, and in the end here they were, dancing in the middle
of  Ten-Forward…at her wedding.

         Sensing his emotions, she pulled back a little, so that she could look up into his eyes and, unable to stop the tears, she let them fall.

         He took her face in his hands and gently wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, as he had done so many times before.
"I will always love you."

         She backed away from him as the music slowed, coming to an end, "I have to go, " the questioning look on his face making her explain. "I have
to get changed before we leave on the honeymoon."

         He held her, still, reluctant to let her go, wanting to make this moment last forever.

         As she was about to turn to go, the tinkling of metal against a champagne glass drew their attention, as well as everyone else's, to the Captain.
"It has always been the happiest of duties for a captain to marry two people so much in love. " And raising his glass, "To Will and Deanna, may your
love continue to grow stronger and deeper with each passing day."

         Once again she melted into him, her tears of joy falling again unbidden. With Will's strong arms around her, she looked up into his eyes as their
friends applauded their marriage. "Thank you for dancing at my wedding, " the smile on her face the only thanks he needed.

          "Hey, I always said I would, " he told her, lightly kissing the top of her head and sending her off to get changed; they had a honeymoon
to get to, after all.