TITLE: IMZADI AUTHOR: bellefleur EMAIL ADDRESS: bellefleur1013@yahoo.com DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: sure RATING: PG-13 CLASSIFICATION: V, MSR SPOILERS: nope DISCLAIMER: Not mine; they belong to CC, FOX, etc. Star Trek belongs to Gene Roddenberry and his disciples. SUMMARY: Mulder whispers sweet Betazoid nothings in Scully's ear. ======================= Scully stirred awake as she felt something brush against her neck. More precisely, it was her partner, and now lover, nuzzling her from his position spooned up behind her. She realized that she had been dozing since he last left her sated, but apparently he was still awake. She reached down to stroke the arm that was wound around her waist and linked their fingers together as her hand met his. He snuggled closer to her and hummed in pleasure into the back of her neck, and she answered with a contented sigh. "Scully?" "Hmmm?" She was alert enough to respond to him but quickly drowsing again. "Do you ever watch Star Trek?" This non sequitur brought her back to consciousness. "What?" "You know, Star Trek. But not the original one. The first spin-off. With Data and Picard and Worf." She wasn't sure where he was going with this, but she was willing to follow him along until he reached his point. "Yeah, I've watched it a few times." He hesitated for a moment and she waited patiently for him to continue, now fully alert. "Have you ever heard the word 'Imzadi'?" "It's Betazoid, isn't it? Something that Riker and Troi call each other." She felt him lift up his head, and she turned to meet his gaze as he raised up to look at her. His expression was a mixture of amusement and surprise. "I thought you said you'd only watched it a few times." She turned her head away but couldn't hide the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Well, I guess I just saw the right episodes." Mulder smiled brightly before sinking his own head back onto the pillow that they shared. He suspected that he had a closet Trekkie here, but he'd return to that point later. "So, do you know what it means?" "Mmm, I think it's some term of endearment. I don't remember if I ever heard them explain it." "It means 'beloved', but it also means much more than that. When it's used between lovers, it can mean 'the first', but not necessarily in the way we would mean it. It refers not just to physical love, but something much deeper. It's the first person to really touch your soul." Scully now saw where he was going with this and involuntarily held her breath as she waited for him to complete his thought. His voice dropped to a whisper, spoken directly into her ear as though sharing an intimate secret. "That's what you are to me. You're my Imzadi, Scully. You're my first. No one's ever touched me on the level that you have. No one's ever touched my soul before. Being with you is like...making love for the very first time. It's knowing a pleasure that I've never known before. You're my Imzadi. My beloved. My first. And I hope you'll be my last." As he finished speaking, Scully let out a shaky breath. Her silence caused him to worry, and he began to wonder if he had said too much. But when she turned in his arms to face him and he saw the unshed tears glistening her eyes, he realized that her quietness was due to her struggle with the emotions clogging her throat. Looking into his eyes, and once again seeing through to his soul, she was no longer able to stymie the tears pooling in her eyes. Eventually she squeaked out the words, "Oh, Mulder...," but got no further. She buried her head in his chest and held on to him tightly as the love flowing between them was almost palpable. He stroked her hair and her back as she regained her composure, knowing how important it was to her at all times to maintain that feeling of control. After a long moment of quiet between them, he heard her small sniffle and felt her damp cheek brush against his as she moved her lips toward his ear. Just as intimately as he had whispered to her, she spoke in return only one word: "Imzadi." And then she moved those lips to his mouth and let her actions speak louder than her words. When she pulled back from the extended kiss to look Mulder in the eyes, she found them clouded with emotions and arousal. A smile of mirth and contentment slowly broke out over his face. "How come you never told me you were a Trekkie, Scully? Just can't admit you believe in aliens?" As much as she needed the tight rein over her emotions, she knew that Mulder needed humor to defuse intense moments. These were defense mechanisms that they both used and accepted about each other. She'd play along. "The term is 'Trekker', Mulder, and just because I watch a fictional show that includes aliens does not mean I believe they really exist." He only beamed more broadly at her in response. Leaning toward her, he rolled her onto her back and pinned her to the mattress with his greater bulk. He ducked his head to her neck and began nuzzling again, working his way to her ear. Through the haze of pleasure that was beginning to build, she heard him whisper, "It's okay, Scully, your secret's safe with me." Her snicker soon evolved into a moan as he set about once again prospecting for the depths of her soul. In the way that he loved her, this man had become to her what no one before had ever been. Her partner. Her beloved. Her Imzadi. THE END ===================== Author's notes: Who knew that Star Trek could be so romantic? Riker and Troi are one of my favorite couples next to Mulder and Scully, and I always felt that the term "Imzadi" applied quite nicely to our dynamic duo, so I had to write this little piece of fluff about it. While the term is used frequently in ST:TNG, I don't believe that the full explanation is ever given there. That I found in the novel written by Peter David, entitled _Imzadi_, which explains the back story between Riker and Troi. In chapter 26 they, shall we say, become Imzadi (i.e. do the wild thing--in the wild, no less), and Deanna explains to Will the meaning of this word that he heard her project into his mind while they were making love. I have to admit that although the last Star Trek movie ("Nemesis") left some things to be desired, I was very happy that Riker and Troi were finally allowed to get married, and I think that CC could learn a few things about giving the heroes a happy ending...(after 3 or 4 movies, of course). send feedback to: bellefleur1013@yahoo.com find my stories at: www.geocities.com/bellefleur1013