The Casualty «Dukat/Damar & OFC» 🔞 ✔️

7. Gains and losses

One afternoon Dukat returned from a trip with a surprise.

"Nyran," he beamed at his fiancée, "meet my daughter -- Ziyal."

Nyran knew his daughter was older than her, but somehow seeing her with her own eyes shocked her anyway. She was taller too. And very beautiful, although the mix of two races on her face took some getting used to. Nyran felt somewhat inadequate in her presence(1).

"Hi," she greeted her nervously and took her hand. "It's really nice to meet you. Your father has told me so much about you..."

They talked for a while, carefully avoiding touchy topics. Ziyal was a sweet girl. Nyran could feel that she did not approve of their relationship, but she was very nice to her despite that. When Nyran dared poke into the situation, Ziyal gave her a sad smile.

"I can't preach to my father about who he should love," she said. "After all, I'm in love with one of his enemies and he's gotten over that. I can see that he's happy with you and that's what matters in the end."

The part that Nyran did not like one bit, was that Dukat tried to get closer to Major Kira -- again -- through their shared bond with Ziyal. But they were a sort of family and she did not intend to stand in the way. However, Dukat did not have much luck on that front. They managed to bury the hatchet over Ziyal's paintings -- Ziyal kept Nyran updated about everything, as she did not really have anyone else to talk to -- but then Kira did not show up for the party celebrating the honor of having three of Ziyal's artworks showcased in the Cardassian Institute of Art.

Nyran found Ziyal in her quarters -- the ones she had vacated after she moved in with Dukat permanently -- the next day, sadder than she should have been. She explained that Kira did not attend the party and then, when she tried to talk to her, told her that she could not make her choose between her and Dukat, so she just left.

"Well," Nyran sighed. "I know what it feels like to miss a mother(2). I'm sorry."

Ziyal sobbed and hugged her.

"I really thought we could be a family one day. But it seems that those two can never make peace. And I hate that I can't do anything about it..."

"Ziyal," Nyran stroked her back soothingly, "I know I can never be a mother to you, but... since we're going to be a family, maybe we could be sort of like sisters. What do you think?"

"That would be lovely," Ziyal exhaled into her dress.

It was a nice moment of bonding and Nyran was glad they could break some more of the awkward ice between them.

Then Kira came to talk to her again. She told her about the dress(3) and the conversation that followed and, this time, not even Nyran was able to find words to defend him. Kira could have been smug about finally making her open her eyes, but instead just comforted her with a hug.

"You're not the first woman to get duped by him," Kira said with more understanding than Nyran would have ever expected from her. "Don't beat yourself up just because you were innocent enough to have trusted him."

It was obvious Dukat's attempts were not just about providing Ziyal with a mother figure. He used his own daughter to try to bed the one woman that still refused him. Kira threw the dress in his face in the most scathing way, but she said that she had done it before and he still found reasons to keep thinking she would accept his advances.

Nyran felt sick to her stomach. His words clearly did not mean much if he was so quick to betray them the minute her back was turned. It made her feel even worse to realise that she seemed to find excuses for him where she should have rained fire and death. She chose to not speak to him about it, to not give him the opportunity to talk his way out of it again, and instead waited to see how it would play out without her interference.