Resistance Is Futile - pt 26

Guinan looked up sharply. She had felt another shift. And this time...she was sure.

Q.

And not just any Q...but that Q.

Coupled with the sure knowledge that she could not, should not, must not tell Virginia of his presence.

It was almost enough to make her want to swear.

She felt Virginia enter Ten-Forward before she actually saw her. Her friend was surrounded by a sense of calm turmoil...of all contradictions. But then, Virginia herself was a contradiction, so it was no surprise. Gandraleayian powers didn't usually manifest until the child was in their late teens, often not until they had turned twenty, and this held true for hybrids as well ... usually. Virginia claimed her powers had begun manifesting shortly after she'd turned thirteen.

Quietly, Guinan made her way across Ten-Forward and made eye contact with her friend, beckonging for her to follow. It didn't surprise her any when Virginia followed, but the lack of expression on her young friend's face concerned Guinan.

Guinan turned as the door to her living area closed behind them...and before she had completed her turn, Virginia was in her arms, sobbing. As quickly as that, the dam had burst. "Oh honey...what's happened?"

In broken sentences, Virginia told Guinan what had happened...what had been said...who had said it...when it had been said. "Why?" Virginia cried, her voice a mixture of rage and despair. "Why can't I have someone that loves me?"

"I'm sure there is, Virginia..." Guinan could say no more, knowing that empty platitudes would not help.

She held her young friend until the sobs ceased...slowly winding down one shuddering gasp at a time. Somewhere in the midst of the tears Guinan had sat them down on her low couch.

"It's not fair," Virginia stated. "Why do I have to live by a different set of rules than everybody else?

"Because you're not everybody else, Virginia," Guinan said, speaking a hard truth. "You're the girl who will be Queen."

"Empress," Virginia corrected with a choked voice.

"Empress. You're destined to rule a Empire that comprises a whole galaxy, my dear. Your life was never going to be easy, which I think you knew before you knew who you really were."

Virginia nodded wordlessly.

"I know that doesn't make it any easier, does it?"

"No. And it's still not fair." Virginia pulled away, wiping her eyes as she did so.

"Life never is. Now, how about some chocolate?"

Virginia managed a small smile. "Only if it's your triple extreme chocolate lovers sundae."

"Would I offer you anything but?" Guinan rose to her feet and glided effortlessly across her room to the replicator.

Virginia curled her legs beneath her on the couch as her friend programed in the dessert. "Am I a bad person? For not stopping him when he said her name?"

Guinan didn't answer right away, and when she did, it was in the form of a question as she handed Virginia a bowl full of chocolate ice cream and toppings. "What would you say if our situations were reversed? If I had slept with a man, knowing that he loved another, and asked you if I was a bad person?"

The younger woman pushed the ice cream around in the bowl, making designs in the syrup and white chocolate chips. "I'd probably say that you were only human...even though you're actually not...but you know what I mean by that expression, that you're only normal. That you're lonely. And that just because you made a mistake, doesn't mean you're bad."

Guinan sat by her on the couch. "Does that answer your question?"

"I'd have to say yes."

"Good. Now - eat your sundae before it melts."