Disclaimer: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine belongs to Paramount Pictures. The Lives of Dax, Avatar Book One of Two, and Avatar Book Two of Two belong to Paramount Pictures and Pocket Books. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Spoilers: for Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Lives of Dax by various authors, Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Avatar, Books One and Two by S. D. Perry and all the books that take place after them, and more spoilers for my story, "Twelfth Host."

Timing: Ezri's and Zetil's stories: A century after the DS9 series finale. Yorin's story: ninety years after Zetil's story. Rizon's story: two years after Yorin's story, and a few h ours after events in "Twelfth Host".

Summary: For over three hundred and fifty years, Dax has lived nine lifetimes and done amazing things, met famous people, and been apart of extraordinary events. But it doesn't end there. Zetil Dax is a fashion designer whose life gets turned upside down when Odo comes to visit. Yorin Dax is an engineer on Trill who accidentally learns of a secret plot to weaken his people, and gets pulled into a fight to stop it. And Rizon Dax, introduced in "Twelfth Host", is a doctor and a member of the Trill underground, a group of people that want one of two things: a stronger and better United Federation of Planets, or Trill independence.

"Life's too short to deprive yourself of the simple pleasures."
-Torias Dax, "Facets"

It was the year 2478. The first war between the Dominion and the Federation had ended a century ago. Seventy years ago, the second war had begun and ended within months with the Federation once again emerging victorious, if weaker than before. Seven years ago was the war between the Klingons and the Romulans, reducing the two empires to mere fragments of what they once were. The Federation helped them out both empires as much as they could, but with the continuing threats from the Borg, the ___ (from Star Trek: Nemesis), and the Breen, not to mention the eventual threat of the re-strengthening Dominion, the Federation's resources were stretched thin. The mighty United Federation of Planets continued to remain stronger than its neighbors. The strain hadn't begun to show, but eventually, if things continued to grow worse, it would be obvious to all those concerned.

Meanwhile, the lives of the people everywhere in the universe continued. Five years after being declared 'missing', Captain Benjamin Sisko returned to Bajor and his house there, where his wife, Kasidy Yates Sisko, and his two sons, Jake and Benjamin Elias Nog Sisko, were waiting for him. Captain Sisko had a long and successful career in Starfleet before retiring with the rank of Vice Admiral. Thirty years later, He and Kasidy Yates now rested in simple graves on their Bajoran property. It had only been on the insistence of their children that they weren't given anything fancier and "more befitting the emissary and his wife." Benjamin, jr. took on the role of religious icon more readily than his parents or his half-brother, although not any less reservedly. He now lived the life of an Avator and part-time chef; he was the absent owner of his late great-grandfather's restaurant on Earth. He also owned and managed a Bajoran restaurant in a town near Dakhor Province. Jake continued to produce wine from his father's vineyards, and raised his children and grandchildren in his father's dream house on Bajor. Over the years, Jake had produced many novels that were bestsellers on many worlds throughout the Federation and wasn't planning on retiring any time soon.

Many others from the "old crowd"-those Ezri Dax had worked with and grown to respect and care for so many years ago on Deep Space Nine - had passed away. A century after she had been joined to the Dax Symbiont, only Ezri, Jake, and Nog remained. Odo was presumed to be alive as well, but no one had heard from him in decades.

In the year 2478, Nog and Jake were both 118 years of age. Nog, former officer in Starfleet, had reached the rank of Commander before his father Rom died in a shuttle accident. Nog had enjoyed the title of Grand Nagus of Ferenginar for close to eighty years. He would soon pass on the title to one of his sons.

Rear Admiral Ezri Dax had retired only months ago at the age of 125. She, too, had children and grandchildren. Ezri had long been of the opinion that her children were male and female replicas of their deceased father, Julian Bashir, only with spots. Some of her family lived on Trill, others lived on Earth, and still others lived with her brothers' families at the mining colony where Ezri Tigan grew up.

Over the years, every year or as often as possible, any remaining members of the original crew of Deep Space Nine - O'Brien, Odo, Kira, Sisko, Yates, Jake, Nog, Rom, Quark, Garak, Julian, Worf, and Ezri - had gotten together to mourn those that had passed away. Now, in the year 2478, Ezri, Jake, and Nog agreed to continue the tradition, perhaps for the last time.

They agreed to meet at the Sisko home on Bajor. It had not been easy for Nog to get away from his duties on Ferenginar, and Jake was of the opinion that he had just as much trouble clearing his property of both relatives and Bajoran tourists before his two friends arrived. Nevertheless, the two of them managed somehow. It hadn't been easy for Ezri to get to Bajor, either. She was getting old. Already, she'd suffered from a mild seizure. The Guardians at the Symbiosis Commission had tried vainly to dissuade her from leaving Trill; they were afraid that Ezri would suffer another seizure she couldn't recover from, and then Dax would be lost. Ezri persisted, however, and had determinedly gone to meet her friends, refusing to accept the possibility that she might die while she was there.

Ezri arrived first. Nog arrived shortly thereafter, accompanied by a lone bodyguard. Nog looked good in the expensive Ferengi clothing he wore, although he leaned on his cane more than he once did. Ezri found herself envying him the cane; she'd refused to use one, claiming it made people treat her as if she was more fragile than she really was. That irritation seemed insignificant around people who were only seven years younger, and she wished, now, that she'd given in to using a cane after all.

The three friends settled into the chairs around the dinning table while Nog's bodyguard took up a position in the corner. Jake poured shots of Saurian brandy and passed the glasses around. Dax made the first toast. "To the crew of the Defiant," she said, "and the man who brought us all together."

"Here, here," Jake said.

They chinked glasses before taking the first sips. They knew that the night was just beginning; many more toasts would be made for each friend or family member that had passed away. For what felt like a long time, they just sat there, each person stuck in their memories. Eventually, Dax took a deep breath, startling her companions and dragging them back into the present. "I’m glad I could see the two of you again, one last time," said Ezri. "As I've told you before, Ezri's health is failing, and Dax might be placed in another host any day now."

The two men nodded. Jake knew about Ezri's seizure, and didn't doubt Nog had heard about it as well. Both of them still wished that she would live a little longer, but knew better than to express those hopes - wishing wouldn't change anything. Ezri had to put the symbiont first, as all Trills did.

Nog raised his glass. "It was good to know you, Ezri Dax."

Jake lifted his own glass. "Let's hope the next host can live up to you," he said.

Ezri hoped so, too. She smiled sadly as they chinked glasses again. She would miss these two fine men that she had the pleasure of watching grow up. At the same time, she knew it was time to move on. It was time to join with another host and put this life, and Jadzia's life, behind her.

*****

Zetil Morages nervously pushed her orange-red curls of hair behind her ears. She turned her attention to her Initiate robes next, smoothing every crease she could see through her reflection in the mirror. She tried to calm down, reminding herself that there was nothing to worry about. She failed completely.

She clasped her hands in an effort to still them and gazed back at her reflection. Sky blue eyes met her gaze, surrounded by a haze of freckles. Her freckles were a mixture of black and brown and extended in one long line from her left cheek to her right. At a distance, they appeared to be as dark as her spots, and all of them combined formed an 'H' shape. The blue Initiate robe with its sleeves that faded into red did nothing to make her freckles or her eyes less noticeable; instead, they did the opposite. Normally, she wouldn't care - she loved her body, but today was different. What if Ezri Dax took one look at her, gave her 'H' forming freckles one glance, and decided that she didn't want Zetil to be joined to Dax?

The door to the changing room opened, making her jump. She was surprised to see Ezri Dax herself enter; Zetil would have expected to see one of the Guardians or a Trainer, but certainly not her predecessor.

"Hello there," Dax greeted her. "You must be Zetil."

Zetil nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I thought it was against the rules for us to interact before the transfer."

Ezri shrugged. "Some rules were meant to be broken. You'll see what I mean very soon. I just wanted to see you through Ezri's eyes. The picture in your file doesn't do you justice, Zetil Morages."

Zetil felt herself blushing and self-consciously shifted from one foot to another. Ezri took her hands and squeezed them. "You ready?"

Zetil swallowed, wishing she had a hand free to smooth out a crease in her sleeve.

Ezri led the way out of the room. "What do you do for a living, Zetil?" she asked as they walked down the corridor. "You're a seamstress, right?"

"Seamstress and fashion designer, ma'am."

Dax took on a contemplative expression. "I've never been either of those before. It should be an interesting experience."

Zetil felt herself smile and begin to relax. Dax approved of her; there was nothing to worry about.

Dax continued, "Joran was a musician, but most of my other hosts have either been in politics, Starfleet, or the sciences."

Zetil shot her a confused look. "Joran? I wasn't told about a Joran Dax."

"No," Ezri sighed, "You wouldn't. But soon, you'll know all about him."

They entered the symbiont transfer room.

*****

Ezri and Zetil lay on the two tables. As one of the Guardians unzipped a part of her robe above her abdomen, Dax thought about the nine other times that she, or he, had gone through this very procedure. All but one of those transfers had been planned and prepared for hours or days ahead of time in addition to the years of training all initiates were subjected. She felt afraid and calm at the same time. This, she knew, was it. She, Ezri, would not last long after Dax had been removed from her abdominal pouch.

She thought about Nog and Jake, two fine men she'd left behind on Bajor. She thought of Julian, now resting in a cemetery in his hometown on Earth. She thought of Worf, who had died, nobly and honorably, in service to the Empire some forty years ago. She thought of Kasidy Yates and Benjamin Sisko, both resting outside a Bajoran temple. Although many Bajorans had wanted to build them a grand, awe-inspiring crypt worthy of the Emissary and his wife, Jake and his Avatar half-brother had fought to give them simple, ordinary graves, ones that Dax felt did them more justice than a crypt ever could.

She thought of Miles and Keiko O'Brien, both buried in the Starfleet Cemetery at San Francisco. She thought of Kira, who had lived a long, Prophets-blessed life. She thought of Quark, who had spent the last twenty years of his life on Rise, and Leeta, who had died a widow not long after Grand Nagus Rom's shuttle accident. She thought about Garak who had been killed by Cardassian terrorists for past crimes against their people. She also thought of Ro Laren, Vaugn, Jast, and Shar, four people she had respected and considered good friends, all who had lived and worked on the station after the end of the First Dominion War.

All of them were gone. Dax had known many of them during two of her lives, and and some of the others during three. None of her successors would ever get to know any of them, and Dax regretted that very deeply. But she was also resigned to it. Dax's friends and husbands had moved on to Heaven, Stovo'Kor, the Divine Treasury, and the Bajoran afterlife; it was time for her to do the same.

The procedure began.