Will sees Deanna for the first time at the wedding.
The sumptuous lines of her hips, the elegant arch of her spine, and the way her shoulderblades played against the skin . . . and the way the light shone off her skin . . . the richness of her smile . . .
Her smile.
Her back was to him but he could see her smile . . .
Because she'd turned her head.
And she was looking at him.
Right at him.
At him. And smiling.
Oh, my God, he thought, she knows what I'm thinking. She knows what I'd . . .

She was still smiling at him, for what seemed to Riker to be an eternity. Her bosom (God, her bosom) shook slightly in what he took to be silent laughter.

Rejection makes a person stronger =o)
"You know what your problem is Deanna?"
"Yes. My problem is you."

This is from the Betazed Art Gallery. Deanna's trying to teach Will how to focus on more than outside appearences.
"And I'm trying to explain to you Deanna, that I can only appreciate one work of art at a time."
"And right now you're still appreciating me."
"I guess so, yes."

Deanna tries to teach Will concentration. They hang on tree limbs, and they have to focus on one thing. Guess what Will's focal point is?
He thought about Deanna.
He pictured her as he had first seen her at the wedding - naked and smiling.
She stood on a beach, having just come out of the water, her body covered with thin rivulets of moisture. She shook her head in slow motion, water sraying out in all directions from her thick hair. Then she came toward him slowly, smiling, her arms outstretched toward him, her fingers gesturing for him to approach him . . .

Deanna took a step toward the trunk so that she could get a grip and descend . . .
And her foot slipped.
Her arms pinwheeling, and with a startled shriek, Deanna lost her balance and tumbled off.
Riker, still a short distance away, moved like lightening. His arms outstretched, he skidded and caught Deanna before she hit. But he hadn't had time to brace himself, and the weight of her carried him down. He dropped to his knees, the shock rattling his teeth, but he still held on to her.
Their faces had been mere inches apart from each other, and Riker now seized the initiative. He kissed her full on the lips.

Riker goes to the college that Deanna is attending.
And Riker took Deanna's image, took a mental snapshot, and imprinted it onto his mind. And then he cut loose in an undisciplined, inelegant burst.
You're afraid of me he informed her.
The reward to his herculean effort was immediate. Deanna was thrown off-step, and her head snapped around in astonishment. She looked right at him, and on her face was utter shock.

Riker was sound asleep when an insistant rapping came at his door. He sat up in confusion, checking his chronometer. It was the middle of the night.
He wrapped the blanket around himself and ran to the door.
Deanna was standing there, her arms folded, her eyes bright.
"I am not afraid of you."

Another techinique to get Will to look at more than the physical. This sece is long, so I'll just use the best info =o)
She turned to face him. "Take your clothes off."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It's a therapy technique I learned in class a couple of days ago. Take your clothes off. All of them."
They stood in the moonlight, facing each other, and then Deanna walked toward him. Riker's body was trembling inwardly, but he tried not to show it.
"Lie down. On your side. Your back towards me."
He heard a motion behind him and then Deanna was lying next to him. She curled up against him in the manner that humans still called spoons. She slid one arm under him and brought the other over, wrapping herself around him.
He felt her chin against his shoulder, and that particular connection was easily the least incendiary that occured to him. The rest of her front was pressed against his back, and his pulse and mind were racing.

Ahh the famous Jalara Jungle scene!
And somewhere, somewhere deep within Riker's mind, merged with his spirit, a word echoed. A word that he had never heard before. A word filled with mystery and promise and a future . . .
And the word was Imzadi

"Imzadi. What does that mean?"
"Well . . . it has several meanings. The surface level is simply 'beloved' or 'dear one'. But when used with certain people, under certain circumstances . . . well, you need to know the further nuance to understand its full meaning."
"So what is its full meaning?"
"She smiled shyly, which was a direct contrast to the casualness of her nudity. "It means . . . the first."
"The . . . the first?"
"Yes. No matter what happens from here on . . . we will always be true Imzadi. We will forever be each other's 'first'."
"You mean . . . you mean I'm the first man that you . . . that you ever . . . "
She nodded.
"Had sex with?"
She nodded again.
"Oh My God."
"You seem surprised."
"Deanna . . . um . . . I don't know if I said anything to give you the impression otherwise, but . . . but you're not my first. I mean . . . I've been with other women."
"No you haven't. You see . . . the concept of Imzadi goes beyond the physical. You've had other women physically. I know that. And even though I haven't had other men before you, that's almost incidental. To be Imzadi is to go far deeper than that. Don't you understand that, Will? Other women may have had your body, but I'm the first who's ever touched your soul."

Now surely by now you've heard about the poem. So . . . here's a little bit about that.
This is beautiful, Imzadi, she told him.
He smiled, inwardly and outwardly. Do you really like it?
You'd know if I were lying.
She studied the paper and read out loud:
"I hold you close to me.
Feel the breath of you, and the wonder of you
And remember a time
Without you
But only as one would remember
A bleak and distant nightmare
And you shudder against me in your sleep
Do you share the memory with me of dark times past?
And you smile
Do you share the memory of times to come?
The future holds such promise
And just as I cannot imagine how I survived the past
Without you
I cannot imagine a future
Without you."

Okay, so after Deanna broke up with him (because of her mother, not her own free will!) she decided to go back to him. But . . . we all know that when she got to his room, he was with another woman =o(
The room was only partly lit, but she could see Riker was lying in bed, naked. His uniform was tossed in several places around the room. He was asleep . . . and curled around the naked form of a woman whom Deanna recognized as Wendy Roper.
Deanna made no sound, but her mind screamed in embarrassment and mortification.
It was more than enough to awaken Riker.
He sat up, confused and disoriented. He saw Deanna, standing in the doorway, backlit by the hall light.
"My apologies, Lieutenant. I seem to have come at a bad time. Perhaps if I'd called ahead, you might have been able to fit me into your schedule."

I don't want to give away much more, so I'll just say . . . READ THE BOOK!!! :o)

Triangle: ImzadiII was an excellant book, although there were fewer Imzadi moments.

In the beginning, Deanna went skinny dipping in the lake. Will happened by . . .
"I think I'd best be getting out now," she said.
"Should I turn around?"
"That would be a considerate course of action."
"Alright." Riker got to his feet and turned completely around in a circle, so he was facing her again just as she was about to emerge from the water. He grinned lopsidedly.
"You're a riot, Commander," Deanna said with just a hint of scold in her voice. And then, boldly, she emerged from the water.

Deanna: "My, my, Commander . . . becoming shy in your old age? It's not as if I have something you haven't already seen before."
Riker: "True. But it's just a manner of . . of decorum. After all, you and Worf are a couple now, and I . . . well it's just . . . it wouldn't be appropriate for me to be ogling you."
Deanna: "'Ogling'? Are you saying the sight of me naked would contain some prurient interest to you? Would be stimulating in some manner?"
Riker: "No. I'm not saying that at all. I can . . . I can admire your figure . . . in the same way that I would admire any naturally crafted work of art."
Deanna: "Why Commander, you flatterer!"
Riker: "I have my moments. The point is . . . I would just feel intrusive. That's all."
Deanna: "I notice that you didn't feel so intrusive that you refused to sit by while I bathed."
Riker: "Old times' sake. Besides . . . how do you think Worf would feel if I started rhapsodizing about your body?"
Deanna: "Good point."

Worf has just asked Deanna to marry him. And the stupid fool said yes! Arg..
Worf leaped to his feet, slapping the table with enthusiasm, shouting, "Yes! She said yes! We are engaged!"
And that was when Worf saw Commander Riker.
Riker was at a table halfway across the room. He was half standing, clearly in the act of rising from the table. And he had frozen in position, his face almost unscrutible.
It was at that moment that Worf abruptly realized, at the most rudimentary of levels, that his engagement might well be the most short-lived on record.

Riker is torn in two by Deanna's engagement, but won't admit it to Picard.
Riker: "What would you have me to do, sir? After the hearing, would you have me jump on the first transport to Betazed? Burst in on them in Lwaxana Troi's house, tell Deanna that we should be a couple . . . ?"
Picard: "Is that how you feel?"
Riker: "No!"

Deanna has just told her mother that she's engaged. But she hasn't said to whom . . .
Lwaxana: "So have you and Riker set a date?"
Deanna: "What?"
Lwaxana: "Riker. You and Will Riker. Your fiance."

Lwaxana is trying to teach Worf Betazoid customs. But Worf is not cooperating.
Lwaxana: "You don't love her Worf. Not like Riker did."
Worf: "What. Did. You. Say?"
Lwaxana: "She deserves the best. Will and Deanna, they were Imzadi. They share a bond you can never have."

Worf asked Deanna what Imzadi meant.
Deanna: "The First."
Worf: "The First. Are you saying that Commander Riker . . . he was your . . . "
Deanna: "But it's more than that. It's not just the first person who captures your body. It's the first person who captures your . . . well . . . your soul."
Worf: "Your soul mate?"
Deanna: 'I . . . wouldn't put it that way."
Worf: 'But you wouldn't deny it."

Riker is in a prison. kinda like a boot camp.
"Deanna?" he whispered. Except somehow he knew it wasn't Deanna, it couldn't be, yes, it couldn't be because she was so far away, so far . . . and yet he could feel her.
"No, not Deanna," Mudak said in disgust. He hauled Will to his feet. "There's a world outside your precious Deanna you know."
"No, no there's not."

Worf and Riker are fighting over Deanna. I got dibs on the tall human! =o)
Worf's voice escalated in volume until it was almost deafening. "Laying your life on the line now, that is easy for you! Entrap her love forever and then go off to die a hero's death, and leave me behind, painted as the one unwilling to sacrifice himself! When the fact is you were too much the coward to be there for Deanna when she needed you, and too much the coward to be there for your duty when the Federation needed you."
Riker hit him.

Well, there's more of course, but I won't spoil the ending. Read the rest yourself! TRIANGLE: IMZADI II Wonderful book! :o) Peter David is DA MAN!

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