"A CANING???" Trevor exclaimed as he flailed his arms wildly around the conference room.

Ami watched Trevor throw his tantrum for a few moments. When Trevor finally calmed down Ami continued with her explanation.

"That was the lowest that we could talk them down to. Since somehow no one you shot was hurt, they will forgo the escape, assault, and various other charges, but they insisted on convicting you of the mental illness charge.

"And after the crap, you pulled I can understand why. And I am not even going to begin to go into the trouble you would have been in with Starfleet if this planet hadn't just been a colony of an already warp-capable society."

Trevor eyed Foster in the corner of the room and then turned his attention back to Ami.

"Man, think how bad off humanity would be if we caned everyone with a mental illness." Trevor pondered.

Ami scowled at Trevor. "You should know better than to judge a society. Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Ami asked.

Trevor sighed. "But a caning?"

"Jeeze, Trevor. Don't be such a pussy." Ami grumbled.

Foster began to chuckle. Ami looked over at him and then back to Trevor.

"It's not till tomorrow, so go enjoy your last meal and I will hook up with you later. I need to talk to your friend here."

Trevor nodded and stood. He shot a grin at Ami and walked out the door. Ami then also stood and walked to a chair that was closer to Foster.

"So, what's your story?" She asked.

Foster chuckled. "My story is long and boring. I'd much rather hear your story."

"My story?"

Foster nodded. "How come you and Trevor aren't together anymore?"

Ami sighed and turned away, only to find Foster sitting in the chair across from her.

"You know he loves you, don't you?"

Ami looks up at Foster. 

"How can he still love me?"

Foster grins. "You still love him."

Ami sighs once more. "Of course I do. But I-"

Foster shakes his head. "Someday. Someday your species will learn that it's not about the I's and Me's, it's about the you's."

Foster stands. "You make him happy, he makes you happy. I just don't understand why your kind can't figure it out!"

"Figure what out?" Ami asks, confused.

"That," Foster says. "To paraphrase a song from Earth's history, you were made for him, and he was made for you."

Ami blushes.

"Jewel, I believe." Foster ponders.

Ami grins, still blushing.

"Good luck, Captain," Foster tells Ami, as he starts to walk out.

"Where are you going?"

Foster stops and looks at Ami. "To say goodbye to Trevor. He's improved my life, and I hope that I have improved his.

"If you need any more guidance, Trevor knows where to find me. But hopefully, if you have learned anything, you won't need my help. You will help each other."

Foster winks at Ami and walks out of the room.

Ami can only sit there, thinking about what Foster just said, and how she felt. How she has been feeling since the start of the Dominion War.

A tear rolls down Ami's face as she gets up and runs out of the room.

Trevor lies in his bed in his guest quarters. He simply is staring at the ceiling. His mind racing with the thought of being beaten with a stick.

Sure, it was only going to be 10 lashes, but still. It will probably hurt like hell.

"Shit, I am a pussy." Trevor mumbles.

"Hello."

Trevor jumped as Foster floated above him.

"DON'T BLOODY DO THAT!" He yells.

Foster grins as he floats down and has a seat in the chair next to Trevor's bed.

"I've come to say good-bye." Foster grinned.

"Good-bye? Why?"

"I've repaid my debt to you."

Trevor shakes his head. "You didn't owe me anything to begin with."

Foster shrugs. "Maybe not, but still. Do a good deed. What goes around, comes around, yada yada."

Trevor laughs. Foster continues.

"If you ever need any assistance, or just someone to chat with, you remember where to find me?"

Trevor nods.

"Good."

Trevor hops up and gives Foster a hug. "Thanks for all your help."

Foster nods, returns the hug, and smiles. "I fixed one last thing for you."

Foster disappears into nothingness. Trevor sighs and sits down. His communicator chirps.

"Ensign Vong to Mr. Watts."

"Go ahead."

"Just got a message, they have decided to cancel the caning. It seems all of their canes have vanished."

Trevor laughs. "Cool."

He closes the communication and starts to lie back down when his door chime goes off.

<Insert nifty Star Trek-style doorbell sound here>

"Come in." He calls.

The doors slide open and Ami comes in. She looks at Trevor for a few moments.

Trevor returns the look.

After what seems like an eternity Ami runs to Trevor and embraces him.

"I should have waited." She whispers.

"It doesn't matter." Trevor sniffled, tears coming to his eyes. "What matters is now."

Ami nods as she and Trevor continue to embrace.

"She's starting to wake up," Serena called to Mina and Lita who were sitting in chairs in the corner of sickbay.

"Mmmm?" Raye softly mumbles.

"Raye?" Serena asks.

Raye blinks a couple of times. "Serena?" She weakly asks. "You're dead too?"

Serena looks around. "I'm dead?"

Lita rolls her eyes and walks over to Raye.

"You are not dead," Lita tells both Raye and Serena.

"What happened?" Raye asks.

Lita pulls up a seat and sits next to Raye's bed. Mina walks over and grins.

"When the life support went down, so did the jamming field. When the Crossroads realized you were still on board they transported you over." Mina explained.

"I remember passing out." Raye acknowledged.

"They had you onboard within seconds after that. They quickly revived you, treated you for hypothermia, and now here you are." Mina finished.

"Was everyone else okay?" Raye asked.

Lita stood and smiled. "Thanks to you, we all made it back in one piece, no worse for the wear."

Mina smiled at Raye and started off.

"I have to return to the bridge. The Captain and Shampoo are on medical leave for a couple of days, so I'm running the show."

Raye grinned. "Better you than Serena."

Mina laughed. Lita laughed. Serena frowned, but then started to laugh. It was good to have her friend back.

"Well," Lita started. "You have another visitor, so we will leave you two alone."

Serena nodded, bent over, and gave Raye a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad you are alright." She smiled.

Raye weakly smiled back. "A little hull breach can't take me out."

Serena shook her head.

"No. I mean overall."

Raye did her best to raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's still to be determined."

Serena grins. "Just remember, we love you."

Raye nods to Serena as Lita motions for her to come with her. Once the pair had left the room, Raye looked around a bit, trying to find her other visitor.

"You know –" Jeff states, from a darkened area of the room. "I could get used to your desk."

Raye laughs but then grimaces. She glanced at her bio screen to find she had a broken rib. 

"Well, you can have it." Raye groans.

"Yeah." Jeff acknowledges. "I am glad that you seem to have tied up the loose ends."

Raye does her best to nod. "Most of them, but if we are heading back to Earth, I will have time to finish things off. I shouldn't be stuck in here for too much longer."

Jeff nods and walks over to Raye. He leans over and kisses her on the cheek.

"Raye Hino, you are a spectacular person. You have learned how to treat others. You may not be healed from your past experiences, but you have learned to deal with them."

Jeff starts to walk out of the room but stops just short of the doors.

"And I do believe that you have learned the most important fact of life."

Jeff steps forward and out the sickbay doors.

What goes around comes around.

<Insert nifty Star Trek style doorbell sound here>

Shampoo looks up and towards the door from the book she was reading. She places her bookmark in it and hops off her bed. She then walks over and puts on a robe to cover the tank top and shorts she was wearing.

"Come in." She states.

The door opens up. Ranma and Akane are standing there, smiling at her.

Shampoo acknowledges them and walks back to the bed. She hops on it and scoots to the head of the bed, motioning for the pair to sit at the foot of her bed.

Ranma walks in first and has a seat. Akane follows and sets a covered dish down on the table before joining Ranma on the bed.

Shampoo cautiously eyes the dish. Akane groans a moment before letting out a chuckle.

"Don't worry, I gave one of my mom's recipes to the ship's chef and had him cook it," Akane informs an obviously relieved Shampoo.

"Shampoo –" Ranma starts, but Akane interrupts him.

"Shampoo, Ranma told me what you said. Why you came over with him to help save me.

"Both Ranma and I realize how insensitive we were. We wanted to apologize, and to thank you."

Shampoo thought about what she wanted to say for a moment.

"Shampoo forgive you."

Ranma and Akane both smile at Shampoo.

"But," Shampoo starts. "Ranma and Akane must promise to Shampoo that you never keep any secrets again."

The pair both nod.

"Would you like to come with us?" Akane asks.

"The ship will be leaving for Earth in a couple of days, so we plan on going down to the planet for a picnic." Ranma finished.

Shampoo sighs. "That okay. Someone needs to stay here and make sure ship doesn't fall apart."

Ranma nods and he and Akane stand. "If you change your mind, let me know," Akane tells her.

Shampoo nods and watches the pair as they hold hands and walk out of the room.

Shampoo turns and looks out the window at the planet they are now orbiting. She sighs and goes back to reading her book.

"Are you busy?" Ryouga asks, sticking his head into the captain's ready room where Mina was sitting.

"No," Mina states. "Come on in."

Ryouga nods and walks in, taking a seat across the deck from Mina.

"How are you feeling?" Mina asks.

"Good," Ryouga affirms. "Then again, who wouldn't feel good after a seventy-seven-hour nap?"

Mina chuckled. Ryouga blushed slightly.

"I suppose Commander Gosnell told you what happened?"

Mina laughed. She then shook her head at Ryouga. "Sorry, just laughing at Lita's name, not you."

Ryouga nods and allows Mina to regain her composure.

"Yeah, she did. You are still in love with her, yeah?"

Ryouga blushes some more.

"I've been in love with her since the first time I saw her. My whole life I have been obsessed with her."

Ryouga hangs his head. "And now, she isn't just out of reach, she's completely gone."

"I am not going to say I know how you feel, Ryouga," Mina said, spinning once in her chair. "But no one expects you to get over her overnight. But I think you are on the right track for moving on."

Ryouga looks up at Mina. "So what's the deal with us?"

Mina blushes. "Who says there has to be a deal?"

Ryouga doesn't quite understand and the look on his face reaffirms that.

Mina sighs. "I don't want to be in a relationship. You are still in love with Akane. Do you think anything serious would actually work out?"

"No."

"No." Mina agrees. "So, that being said, meet me in ten forward after your shift."

Ryouga nods and stands. "I know that this would help me move on." He chuckles.

Mina grins evilly. "Couldn't hurt."

"What a mess!" Tatewaki states, looking at what is left of the control center.

Kodachi walks up and nods in agreement.

The enormous hole in the side of the Kuno ship has been regenerated. All that is left is for the Kuno siblings to repair the control room.

Tatewaki has a seat on the floor as a Kuno drone goes walking by with a push broom.

Kodachi sits next to her brother. She sees a pile of dirt on the floor and calls to the drone.

"You missed a spot." She informs it. The drone looks at the pile of dirt and whips out a dustpan.

"I SHALL SMITE THEE!" It yells as it sweeps the dirt into the dustpan and dumps it into a garbage can.

Tatewaki leans back and looks at his sister.

"I guess it was a good thing that George set the ship to auto regenerate and then cloak. And that he also set the ship to automatically warp to our secret base."

Kodachi nods. "It's also good that the silly ones that invaded our great and noble cube didn't realize that even though we may be dead, once the regeneration cycle kicks in, we would be revived."

"Yes," Tatewaki adds. "Although I don't have any clue why we, the great Kuno Collective, would need to state all this information."

Kodachi shrugs. "Loose ends, maybe?"

Tatewaki nods and stands. "Once the repairs are done we shall begin to come up with our next and greatest plan!"

Kodachi hops to her feet. "We don't need George to do it either!"

"It would be pointless to need him. He seems to be blocking our every attempt to re-link to him and get his location!"

Kodachi cackles. "I guess he will just have to stay a Federation prisoner for the rest of his life!"

Kuno also cackles. "Sucks to be him!"

Meanwhile, in the Sisko's brig…

"Hey, security guy."

The security officer standing guard in the brig walks up to George's cell.

"What?" 

"I think I am almost able to reestablish a link to the collective!" George gloats.

"We'll see about that!" The guard says, turning to another guard.

"Increase power to the dampening field."

The second guard complies. George frowns.

"Aw, you blocked the attempt."

The guard grins and walks off. George lies back down on his bunk and chuckles.

"Sucker." He quietly mumbles to himself as he closes his eyes to enjoy the silence.