While silently waiting for her fifteen minutes to pass, Ananda falls asleep in Khan's arms. She begins to snore softly, and Khan places a tender kiss on her ear. With great care, he extricates himself from their embrace, crosses the room over to the bathtub and runs water for a shared bath. He drops in a dragon bath bomb, pulls up a sleeve, and churns the water until the orb disintegrates. The splashing rouses Ananda who smiles to herself as she watches Khan prepare their bath water. Sensing her gaze, he turns to look at her and cants his head to greet her.
"Would you like to share a bath with me, Ananda?" Khan asks.
"Yes, Noonien sounds lovely."
She swings her legs out of bed, stretches, and pads over to the tub. She stops for a beat, then begins to remove her nightgown as she lowers herself into the warm, softly scented water. Khan follows suit, and the two find themselves ogling each other, grinning shyly .
Ananda floats over to Khan, nestles herself between his thighs and leans into his chest. She smoothes her hands up and down his thighs and hums softly. Experiencing each other completely nude for the first time is making them both a little nervous, but the warm silky water encourages Ananda to be a little adventurous, and Khan doesn't mind at all.
"May I kiss you, Ananda?" Khan purrs.
"Yes, Noonien. You may..." She smiles coquettishly and nods.
Ananda turns to face Khan, and they smile at each other before beginning to cover the face of the other with soft kisses. He cradles her face in his hands and draws her close. He pecks the corners of her mouth delicately. Luxuriating in the fullness of her lips, he kisses each one separately before leaning in for a soul kiss. She parts her lips to allow their tongues to dart and swirl and seek. Khan kisses her tenderly, deeply and soulfully.
Feeling a little light headed, Ananda breaks the kiss, nuzzles Khan's nose, lays her head on his shoulder.
Ananda reaches around behind Khan's sturdy frame for a sponge, once found - she dips it into the water and passes it over an eyebeam. A perfect dollop of foam is dispensed onto her sponge she that she squeezes until it lathers before she sweetly begins to bathe Khan. Ananda swabs his chest, neck and arms very languidly. He dips himself beneath the water to rinse before turning to present his back for similar ministrations. Ananda takes great pleasure in her handiwork - worrying her lip and scrunching her nose as she watches the frothy bubbles cascade down his back, cresting over his backside to dissipate into the water.
Ananda releases the sponge, watches it float away and sink. She slides over and wraps her arms around Khan, who is thoroughly relaxed, but still highly alert.
"I don't think we're supposed to be enjoying ourselves, Noonien." Ananda thoughtfully remarks.
"I'm sure our pleasure was a variable not accounted for in the original scheme of things. But that matters little to me at present... " He glides his fingertips over Ananda's arm and presses himself into her.
"We've got things to get sorted, you and I. Are we to begin negotiations here, naked in my bath?" She smiles and kisses his shoulder.
"Only if we refresh the water." With his back turned, Khan's roguish grin is contradicted by the humourless monotone in his voice.
Ananda uses her foot to let water out of the tub, and manipulate the spigot, replacing the tepid used liquid with a stream of piping hot, fresh water. She hooks her feet under Khan's arms to draw him closer as she reclines on the back of the huge oval tub. He allows himself to drift backward until his head rests on her ample bosom. She hums softly and places a kiss on top of his head.
"Noonien, what is it like to be you?" Ananda sighs.
"I don't understand the question..."
"Before you recovered your memory, you looked in the mirror and saw John Harrison. But after you discovered your true identity... What was it like to look in the mirror, or see your reflection? Knowing that inside you were someone else?..." Ananda's voice catches in her throat, but she continues. "I can't imagine what that must be like..." Her voice is soft and soothing, but the sadness and confusion she feels is loud and clear.
"When you learned that you had been augmented, how did that make you feel, Ananda? You felt a bit betrayed, did you not? Confused? Angry, maybe?"
"Yes. Yes to all those things, Noonien. But I'm still Ananda on the inside." Ananda's body becomes less pliable and she begins to emotionally withdraw from Khan. "Please help me understand, Noonien. I want... I just want..." she pleads.
"Ananda...?"
"Noonien. Who are you, really? Are you the tender, gentle soul who's just made love to me? Or are you an intolerant, cruel and uncompromising psychopath who crushed a man's skull bare handed and laid waste to a city? Which one of you did I give myself to?" She sobs.
"What have I done?" she sobs.
Khan braces himself and suddenly rises to his feet. Ananda draws up into a ball and rocks herself. Khan reaches down to pull her to her feet, spilling water around the tub as he draws her close. "Ananda, please look at me."
She refuses, preferring instead to press her forehead into her knees.
"YES! I am an impulsive, angry, seemingly vengeful man. I've been running or fighting to survive all my life. The only security or real happiness I have ever known was the camaraderie of my crew. When I thought their lives were in danger it felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest and shown to me, still beating." Ananda's naked body is wracked by sobs but Khan stoops down and pulls her uncomfortably close. Ananda shudders, but makes no attempt to pry herself away from him.
Ananda trembles as the ambient air chills her skin, but more than that, a deep abiding sense of fear and regret finds its way into her heart, casting a pall over her newfound feelings for Khan.
"My demons are legion, Ananda. In truth, you know this to be an unassailable fact. I'm a proud man, but I stand here asking you to give me a chance to come to terms with who I am. And, who I've been. We've started something together. Something wonderful. Let's give it a chance to grow." He reaches between them, places his hands on her tummy and holds them there.
Through her tears she looks at Khan, takes a deep breath, and places her hands over his. Her unspoken gesture moves him to tears. They pull each other into an embrace so intense they feel as if they cannot breathe on their own.
Khan lifts them both from the tub, crosses the room to Ananda's bed, grabbing a towel on way. He places her on the mattress and tenderly begins to dry her. She frees the towel from his hands, and takes him into her arms.
"Say nothing. Just hold me, Noonien. And please don't let me go." Ananda implores.
"Okay..." he chortles.
"Noonien Singh, Are you trying to have the last word?!" She pouts.
"Perhaps..." He quirks a brow, and smiles.
"We can do this all day." Ananda huffs.
"Ananda?" Khan bellows seductively in his lower register.
"Yes, Noonien?"
"I think I'm falling in love with you..."
Ananda smiles sweetly, looks directly into Khan's eyes and chuckles:
"You win..."
YOU ARE READING
Bearing Witness
Science FictionStarfleet Commander Ananda Greydon is a graduate of The University of Betazed and, a member of the newly formed Starfleet Counseling Service. Half human, half Betazoid - her silhouette could be described as imposing: A tall woman by any standard, sh...
