Summary: Kira, Dukat, and Garak bury Ziyal on Bajor after her murder by Damar.
Disclaimer: This story and the concept herein belong to me. All characters trademarked to them are theirs, all those created by me are mine. Don't steal my characters please, and if you're from Paramount, I'm too small to worry about, so please harrass someone else.
By F. Carthew 13/11/98
comments to: dakhur@iinet.net.au
Kira's fingers danced over the runabouts control panel as she brought the craft down through Bajor's atmosphere. A faint cough behind her reminded her of her four passengers, one of them who's prescence was the only way she could speak. Landing at a barren field near a apparently abandoned house that stood a short walk from a small village.
"This is it. Let's go." Kira turned and picked up a shovel lying next to a long wooden box.
The two Bajoran security guards at the rear of the runabout stood and pulled up the handcuffed figure that had been sitting between them. "Do you want us to bring her with us?" One of the guards motioned towards the box that contained all that remained of Tora Ziyal.
"No, I'll dig the grave first." Kira stepped out into the heat of a Bajoran summer. "Then we'll bring her out." She turned to stare at the other figure that had so far remained silent. "You might as well stay here with Dukat. This will take a while."
"I'd like to help, Major." The Cardassian raised his head, his eyes empty and lifeless. "She was my daughter."
"It's summer out there Dukat." Kira's voice became softer, almost gentle, with the man who'd been her nemisis for as long as she could remember. "You're not well, Doctor Bashir only let you come if you weren't to be stressed in any way."
"I'll help sir." One of the guards stepped forward. "I doubt if he'll get away. And even if he did, where would he go?"
"Very well." Kira glanced at the other guard sternly. "Don't let him out of your sight, even for a moment."
"Yes sir." The guard saluted and clicked a set of handcuffed around his and Dukat's wrist.
The sun was hot. Kira knew this, she'd grown up in the province, the dirt was practically in her blood. But she'd never gotten used to the heat, she'd hated it, even as a child. But she would rather have eaten voles for breakfast before admitting that couldn't handle it. Still, the ground was hard and the grass burnt off, and it was taking twice as long as when she'd buried Tekene Ghemor. But it had been winter then, and the land had been soft and green. Now it was baked from the summer sun, and almost as hard as rock.
Wiping her face, she slumped into a chair in the runabout and tried to ignore Dukat's stare. "It seems to be taking some time, Major." The Cardassian continued to stare at her, and the guard he was handcuffed to moved imperceptably between them. "I always thought Bajorans were good at digging." He looked down to stare at his hands. "You dug so deep in the mines." His voice trailed off, and Kira heaved herself to her feet, and stalked out the door and back to the hole.
Snatching the shovel from the helpful guard, she attacked the hard soil angrily. The guard stepped back, stunned, then cautiously spoke. "Major, why are we doing this? Burying Dukat's daughter here I mean."
"Because she was my friend." Kira slammed the shovel into the ground, apparently trying to beat it into submission. "Because I brought her back to the station to keep her safe and and out of harms way. And I let her down."
"I wouldn't say that Major." A voice filled with sadness sounded above them, and the two Bajorans looked up to see Elim Garak standing over them, a small smile playing around his lips. "You did all you could for her." Garak glanced towards the runabout and his expression hardened. "No, it was others who murdered her Major, not you."
"I thought you were working on the station Garak." Kira wiped her forehead again and motioned to guard back into the runabout. Lowering her voice, she continued. "You told me last night you didn't want to come."
"I know what I said. But i changed my mind." The man's voice was steady, but his eyes were filling with pain. "I owe her this; She was my friend." Taking off his jacket and folding it neatly on the ground, he picked up the shovel the guard had dropped and began digging. "I should have taken her with me when we left, I should never had let her stay on the station."
"I don't know that anywhere would have been safe for Ziyal." Kira started digging again as well, the hot sun baking her shoulders. "And she wanted to be with her father very much."
"A mistake that cost her her life." The pain was more obvious now, and Garak was taking it out on the ground. "Her love for him was what got her killed."
"Garak." Kira stopped and reached out to gently place a hand on the man's shoulder, stopping him for a moment. "Damar fired the shot, not Dukat. He was trying to get her to safety, it was Damar who killed her, you know that."
"She shouldn't have been there in the first place!" The Cardassian's voice was raised now, and one of the guards had hurried to Kira's side, apparently worried for her safety. "She should have been with me, on the starbase where she would be safe."
"I agree!" Kira was riled by now, her own pain at the young woman's death bubbling up. "But she wasn't, and now she's dead." She grabbed at her shovel again and attacked the soil. "So the best thing we can do is give her a decent burial. Now shut up and dig!"
Garak, mollified by the Bajoran's words, simply continued shovelling dirt again and they slowly made progress.
"At least I don't have an ego the size of the quadrant!" Garak sat primly on the seat opposite Dukat, watching the older man fume at him helplessly.
"I did what I had to do!" Dukat was showing some life for the first time since Ziyal's death. "it was my duty, to Cardassia."
"It was your duty to yourself." Garak sneered and stood, towering over the other man. "And you used everyone else to--"
"Garak!" Kira stormed into the runabout and grabbed the front of Garak's shirt, dragging him close to her angry form. "Either help me dig, or get out." She pushed him away, and he stumbled against the seat, faling into a sitting position, as the Bajoran stood over him and snarled. "Now, are you going to help me dig? Or to I beam you to the local police now?"
Garak thought for a moment, silently. Then stood and walked outside. Kira breathed a sigh of relief.
"Major, perhaps we should use the phasers to help dig." The younger guard spoke up as Kira and Garak took another break from their enforced labours. "It would speed up the process."
"Have you ever buried a friend?" Kira's diplomatic sense was very short. She'd already stopped one fight between Garak and Dukat, and knew there would be another before too long. The former dictator was fuming at Garak's appearence at the funeral, and had only backed down when Kira threatened to send him back to the station immediately.
"No, I've never had to do this." The guard blushed, his youth showing, and Kira felt a small amount of compassion.
"Well I have. More times than I care to remember." She stood and groaned slightly, her back protesting. "So let me do this the way I've always done it."
"Please, let me help Major." Dukat stood slowly, and glared at Garak. "Ziyal was my daughter. Surely it's my right to help bury her."
Kira gazed at the broken man for a long moment, then nodded. "Very well, but only for a little while." She nodded to the guard. "Take the handcuffs off. he can't dig with those on."
"But Major--" The younger guard began to protest, but was cut off by his older collegue.
"It's alright, there's nowhere for him to go." Kira's patience was running thin.
The guard frowned still, but unlocked the handcuffs and handed Dukat the shovel. The Cardassian, once a proud and arrogant man who ruled a planet, was now nothing but a broken shell of his former self. Rubbing his wrists slightly, he slowly walked outside, blinking in the bright sunlight.
"Dukat, if you start to feel sick or unwell, you have to tell me and get some can rest, okay?" Kira spoke firmly but kindly to her former enemy as they started digging again. "I promised Bashir you wouldn't be stressed today."
"I... I understand Major." Dukat kept his eyes down, his boot forcing the shovel into the ground, and they dug in silence for several minutes, before Dukat groaned slightly, and sat on the edge of the hole, now over halway to being a grave for his daughter.
Kira was by his side in a heartbeat. "Get me the med-kit!" She yelled at the guards lounging in the shade of the runabout, and heard one of them scrambling for the kit as she turned back to Dukat. Taking in his pale face, she automatically loosened his body armour, easing it if the man's frame and handing it to Garak, who'd appeared with the kit and a water bottle.
Dukat glanced at Garak and tried to stand. "I won't take anything you offer, traitor."
"Dukat, for all I care, you can die at any time you wish." Garak sarcasmed away in his usual form, but backed down as Kira shot him a fiery look. "But not today I'm afraid." Hauling the weak man up, he and Kira half walked, half dragged him back to the runabout. "If you die today, the Major and I will get into serious trouble. So, drink your water." Garak picked up the shovel and strode back into the sun, calling "And leave the digging to us."
Kira ran a damp cloth over Dukat's face. "Stay here, let us finish this." She turned to leave, but Dukat grabbed her arm, holding on fiercely.
"She was my daughter, Major. She was mine!" His voice was hard and sharp, as if he was reminding himself of the fact.
Kira gently prised his fingers off her arm and pushed him back to a sitting position. "I know. I loved her too." Turning away, the tears sprang again into her eyes, but she ignored them and headed back to the grave.
A summer sunset, brilliant in it's rainbow of colours, spread over the land, bathing it in fire and gold, a gentle breeze rustling the leaves and making them appear alight with flame. Into this, a solemn procession came. Garak and Dukat, one on either side of Ziyal's coffin, gently lowered her to her final resting place. Kira stood at the grave, head bowed, and silently said a prayer for her dead friend, as the two Cardassians each scoopped up a handful of dirt and let it trickle onto the coffin. When they finished, and all was silent, Kira spoke up.
"I thought it might be nice to say what we each liked about Ziyal." She glanced at the two other men, their faces grey and stone.
It was a long pause before anyone spoke, and Kira was about to turn and start filling the grave in, when Dukat surprised her by speaking up. "An excellant idea Major." His eyes never lifted as he continued. "I didn't spend much time with Ziyal. There was never really the opportunity." He sighed, his voce growing fainter as the memories claimed him. "I remember her as a child, how she laughed all the time. She was such a happy child, always eager to please. I loved her so much." Hos voice broke for an instant, but he recovered, then went on, fainter still. "I hated having to send her away, but I had no choice. And when I thought I'd lost her, it seemed as if my world had crumbled. But... But I found her again, thanks to you, Major." He lifted his face, and Kira saw tears streaking down his cheeks, tears she thought she'd never see.
"You didn't just save Ziyal that day Major, you saved me as well." The tears ran faster now, but Dukat didn't seem to notice. "And to watch her again, to hear her laugh at just... At the wonder of living! It was like I'd been re-born." He stared at the grave again, and his expression fell. "I should have taken better care of her. I should never have let her leave Bajor and come back to the station in those days.And now, she's dead."
Silence once again flowed out from the group, until Garak suddenly glanced up and smiled. "I remember lying in Ziyal's program of the fire caverns, and talking about Cardassia. Looking at each other through the smoke, the fire between us, talking about politics, our experiences." He shook his head sadly. "I shall miss those talks most of all in the months to come."
Kira nodded slowly as her thoughts came together. "I remember her desire to learn the most." She smiled fleetingly. "She wanted to learn everything there was to know, about Bajor, Cardassia, the Federation, everything." The tears that had been threatening for the last few days came unbidden again, and she was forced to scrub them away again. "I never had a sister, but Ziyal was closest I've ever had. And I was proud to know her, and call her my friend. And I'm proud to bury her here on Bajor with my family."
There wasn't much to say after that. Dukat had retreated back into his silent world again, and had to be helped back to the runabout by the guards. He didn't say a word as they handcuffed him again, and strapped him back into his seat for the long journey home.
Kira and Garak filled in the grave as the twilight settled around them. But not a word passed between them as they shovelled the soil back into the grave. Finally, the hole was filled and a slight mound gently sloped over it. Garak stood by in respectful silence as Kira placed the traditional Bajoran headstone over the grave and uttered a final silent prayer for the spirit of Tora Ziyal.
"Will you travel back with us Garak?" The Bajoran and the Cardassian breathed in the warm night air, faintly outlined in the last rays of the dying day.
"Thank you Major," Garak's patented smile had returned, but there was no malice or deceit to be seen there this time. "But I would rather not spend three hours with Dukat -- especially when he's like this."
Noting Kira's curious expression, he sighed and continued. "He was once a proud man; a Cardassian man." Garak's face became thoughtful, and Kira nodded. She understood. "But now, he is just a shell that used to be a man."
"And after all that's happened, you don't want to see him like this." Kira nodded brusquely and strode towards the runabout. "Can I at least beam you safely to the transit center?"
"That would be very kind of you Major. Thank you." Garak gave his little bow and moments later, he vanished in the swirl of the transport beam.
Settling into the pilots seat, Kira set a course for home as a sobbing sound lifted behind her. She didn't turn to watch, to gawk and laugh at what Dukat had become and how vunerabale he now was. The man deserved some semblance of respect, whoever he was. Besides, her own tears were rolling down her cheeks as she stared straight ahead, listening to the muffled noise.
For Dukat was crying.