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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave	By : madradena Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1722 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own ST:TNG nor Dreamland, nor the characters from either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 41
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- 43
Deanna sat at the small, round table with the Captain and Beverly, who had joined them only a moment ago. She watched them curiously as Beverly leaned over to the Captain and whispered to him "We'll need to talk! Later." To which the Captain's only response was a rush of realization followed by embarrassment Deanna could feel radiating from him - though she did not understand why. She also felt a warm excitement coming from Beverly disturbed only for a fleeting moment by a slight resentment when the Doctor told the Captain what she had. Deanna knew something was up between the two of them - and at times like this, she wished she could read their thoughts as well as their emotions.
But she couldn't. So she just turned her attention to the here and now as she looked around: the house was full, at every table there sat three-four people and were turning their heads curiously at the strange settings. She had to admit she had never attended a play where the audience was part of the settings, and she was as curious as everybody else around her.
She just loved coming to the theatre! She always enjoyed the play on two different levels! The first one was the level everybody else sensed: the feelings of the characters, the excitement of the plot, the fun of the comedy, the sadness of the tragedy... The other level was the emotions the audience felt while watching. It was interesting how different the reactions were that the scenes generated in the people around her.
After the lights went out, and the play began, she got a very vivid example for this, when the second scene of Dreamland played out. Deanna watched Data doing his tap-dancing bit with delight and a hint of surprise, while Beverly watched him proud - and the Captain felt embarrassed, thinking the scene to be somewhat ridiculous. Deanna feeling his awkwardness, smiled to herself: of course, serious dramas like Shakespeare tragedies were a lot closer to the Captain's personality and so also to his taste.
After the scene, Deanna then noticed there was a third level of enjoyment she could have differentiated: the emotions of the participants. Though she could not sense Data's feelings, she could have made a good guess while watching him staring after Emma, when She left him there on the Street to go to El Parador. Or when He was singing to her "Some enchanted evening..." inside the Restaurant - just a few tables from them!
It was a delight to watch Will appear as the leader of the Mariachi in full Mariachi costume, including a sombrero! And Deanna was instantly reminded of Q's entree after he got his powers back almost a decade ago - it was unforgettable. She glanced to her side and saw that even the Captain allowed himself a small smile - and then even a chuckle, when Lieutenant Barclay as the Waiter walked up to Data and told him that He was creeping Emma out with his singing to her from across the crowded room!
By the time, Emma and Data hopped onto the Train, even the Captain started to enjoy what he was watching. The plot and the songs were so cute and corny, it was impossible not to fall in love with the whole of it - or with the wonderful chemistry those two on stage! Beverly was right: they really clicked! It was breathtaking as they waltzed then did some swinging together, singing and dancing in an amazing harmony. By the time they disappeared inside the girl's apartment 'for a nightcap' as the line went, Deanna was not able to tell Emma's character's feelings and Emma's own apart. It was such a captivating and enchanting emotion being so deeply in love that Deanna suddenly found herself wishing to feel it too for a special someone.
It was then even more astounding to watch them break up in the next scene. Sonya did a great job as the snarky 'mistress' saying "Sugar, you've got a terrific guy here!" and Emma's reply "Yeah... I thought so..." was simply heart-breaking, just as her song "I'll never forget you...".
They went on to the Ship, where Will did his second cameo as the leader of the Strolling Trubadours, and the mood became melancholic. Deanna knew everybody in the room could relate to the feeling of Data's sad song going: "What'll I do, When you are far away, And I am blue, What'll I do?" Feeling a rush of profound sadness coming from behind her, Deanna looked around and saw an ensign sitting at a table in the back of the room, who actually cried listening to the song - Deanna knew, the girl was just through a break-up herself.
The scene changed again, and they found themselves part of the audience of a Club, where Data performed a song cheerful and taunting about the break-up, and it lifted the mood. Just as the sadness started to lift from the hearts of the audience, Data and Emma met yet again - with Reg as her new and very jealous Fiancé... When the two of them remained alone, and Emma sang her beautiful song "I remember you..." everybody in the room was sure they needed to be together again! Deanna felt the audience rooted for them to reconcile, almost as if it was a matter of life-and-death throughout Data's song "Come back to me!" Everybody completely forgot about the fact that they were actually watching a dream.
The song finished, and there was a knock on Data's hotel room door. He quickly opened it, and there stood Emma out of breath but beaming with joy!
"Can I come in?" She asked breathlessly as She stepped in.
"How did you..." He started just dumbfounded.
"I left right after the first 'Come back to me'." She cut in gasping both from running and from being helplessly in love.
He then crushed her in an embrace and kissed her as passionately as He could. Deanna was completely overwhelmed by the strong emotions oozing from them so much so that she felt a catch in her throat. She looked to her sides and was surprised to see the Captain watching them with the same amazement as everybody else in the room!
"This is a dream!" Data breathed "I can't believe you're here!" He moaned.
"I shouldn't be! ...Too dangerous! You don't know what he's capable of, he's crazy!" Emma told him frightened.
"Don't be afraid. Whatever happens, we face it together!"
And the mood suddenly changed from euphoria to the determination of star-crossed lovers as He started to sing:
"There may be troubles ahead
But while there's moonlight
And music and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance"
She went on singing the same tune:
"Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill
And while we still have the chance
Let's face the music and dance"
As they started to dance tango, they went on with singing the next lines together:
"Soon, we'll be without the moon
Humming a different tune and then
There may be tear drops to shed
So while there's moonlight
And music and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance
Let's face the music and dance!"
When they finished the song and just stood there on stage holding on to each other as if their lives depended on it, the audience burst into a spontaneous applause, and Deanna could feel that both Emma and Beverly were surprised by it. But after a few moments, in which Emma could catch her breath, the clapping died down, and the scene went on:
"There's nothing he can do to keep us apart!" Data told her determined.
"He said he'd kill me, if I ever left him." She replied on a low voice "We've gotta get outa here!"
"Alright. I don't know where we're going but..." but He couldn't finish. The door crashed open, and there stood Emma's Fiancé with a gun in hand. He stepped inside and pointing the gun on Data, cocked it with a noise that sent shivers up the spines of everybody in the audience.
"Don't be crazy! Put the gun down!" He told the Fiancé on a low voice, who was now insane with jealousy.
But he didn't listen, just glared at her: "Get out of the way, baby!" he told Emma as She suddenly stepped between the two of them.
"Please don't! Don't! Ah..." She looked from one man to the other.
"You what? Come back to me?!" the Fiancé taunted "Now, get out of the way!"
"Don't be a fool!" Data tried to step up to him.
"I said get out of the way!"
"You'll never get away with this!"
"No, please!" She pleaded.
"Shut up, will you?!" the gun fired in the trembling hands of the Fiancé, and Emma slumped to the floor. As Data took her into his arms gently, She looked into his eyes one last time, then her eyes closed, and her head turned to the side.
The curtains closed, and Sonya appeared on stage singing:
"When skies are cloudy and gray
They're only gray for a day
So wrap your troubles in dreams
And dream your troubles away
Until that sunshine peeps through
There's only one thing to do
Just wrap your troubles in dreams
And dream all your troubles away"
And as the curtains opened again, the scene changed to a funeral.
"We commend to Almighty God our sister!" the reverend - played by Will - went on with his eulogy on a shaken voice "We commit her body to the ground. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust! The Lord bless her and keep her!"
The funeral ended, and Data walked to the seashore alone, slouching, broken by pain. Deanna looked around through her tears and saw that most of the audience were struggling to keep themselves from crying. When Data looked up at the sky, for some reason, Deanna felt she was reminded of what it was like when they had said goodbye to Tasha - and she let her tears fall.
"I can't believe you're gone!" He whispered.
Then suddenly Emma's voice could be heard with a faint echo "I'm not! I'm still here." She told him and slowly appeared standing on a cloud over the ocean, above him - if He reached out, He might have been able to touch her! Bright light surrounded her petite figure, almost consuming her.
"Oh, my god! You’re alive!" He moaned feeling his eyes filling with tears of joy.
She smiled a little embarrassed "Well, no! That's why I'm hovering above you." - a tear-filled chuckle rippled through the audience.
"Oh, yeah..." He wiped his tears smiling.
"Do you love me?" She asked then on a soft voice.
"More than you know! I hate this life without you!" He replied, and She smiled at him tenderly.
"Then come with me! Take a chance!" She whispered the same thing He'd whispered to her on their very first night together.
And She started to sing a song so unearthly and beautiful that Deanna thought only angels could have composed something as exquisite as that!
"Take my hand,
I'm a stranger in Paradise
All lost in a wonderland
A stranger in paradise"
He then went on with the same melody:
"If I stand starry eyed,
There's a danger in Paradise
For mortals who stand beside
An angel like you"
She sang on then:

"I saw your face
And I ascended
Out of the common place
Into the rare
Somewhere in space
I hang suspended
Until I know
There's a chance that you care!
Won't you answer the fervent prayer?
Of a stranger in paradise
Don't send me in dark despair
From all that I hunger for!"
Then He continued:
"But open your angel's arms
To this stranger in paradise
And tell him that he need be
A stranger no more!"
The enchanting music played on in the air for a few moments longer as She reached out with her hand:
"Come with me!"
"Fly me to the Moon!" He whispered and took her offered hand.
When their hands touched, a bright light filled the room, and the curtains closed again giving the audience one brief moment to wipe their tears before Reg and Sonya walked up the stage singing cheerfully:
"Wake up, wake up you sleepy head!
Get up, get up, get out of bed!"
And they opened the curtain to reveal the hotel room of Data once again then disappeared off-stage.
"Wake up, Sleepy-head!" a female voice could be heard from outside.
He was tossing and turning in his bed between dream and wakefulness "I swear I didn't even know her... She was here when I..."
And there was some more loud knocking: "Hey!"
He then woke fully and sat up in the bed completely dishevelled - which drew a ripple of laughter from the audience. He jumped out of his bed in pyjamas and a bathrobe, and before opening the door, He stopped short unsure if He really heard the voice He thought He did - it was impossible!
"Who's there?!" He asked.
"It's me!" Emma answered impatiently, and He opened the door at last.
"Oh, my god! You’re alive!" He whispered dumbstruck.
She gazed around somewhat perplexed: "Yeah, that's why I'm standing in the doorway." - the audience again chuckled.
He pulled her in and crushed her into an embrace: "Come here!" Then kissed her on the lips almost desperately.
He finally released her mouth for a brief moment, and She managed to get out "Mmmm, I can't breathe!" before He kissed her again.
"I can't believe you're here!" He told her, when He finally felt up to break away from her lips.
"What is it? What's happened?" She asked now alarmed.
"Oh, I had the craziest dream!" He said on a shaken voice.
"Mmmm, you did? Was I in it?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Well, tell me!" She asked, and He started in an undending flood of words still confused.
"There was this woman... and I didn't know who she was, but you thought I'd cheated on you. And you left me. Then I went on this ship, and there were these Trubadours, but they weren't the Trubadours, they were the Mariachi from before! And the ship hit an iceberg, and I thought I was gonna drown, but I didn't! And the next thing I knew I was in a Club singing, and you came in with your boyfriend... I-I am awake, right?" He asked suddenly completely unsure.
After a moment, She looked at him teasing "So. You cheated on me?"
His eyes widened "I'm sorry!" He told her on a thin voice.
She smiled and stroked his cheek lovingly "It's okay! It was just a dream! It wasn't real!"
"You’re the only dream that's real!" He answered with all-consuming devotion.
"Oh, you're sweet." She told him and gave him a small kiss on the lips "Go on, elaborate!"
And He started to sing the most adorable love-song:
"To know you, is to love you,
And I love you cause I know you
Are such a sweetheart
that when you walk down the street,
Everyone's heart, just naturally skips a beat!
The others, who have met you,
Better started to forget you
Because, to know you is to love you so,
It's time for everyone you know,
To know you love me!"
She then took on the tune:
"Were you the sun, it would be twice as sunny,
Were you a bee, there would be sweeter honey,
Were you a tune everyone would be croonin'
Harmonizin' out in the streets!
You're such a bundle of me oh my,
And that's the reason when you go by,
Each heart naturally skips a beat! ...Dear..."
And they sang the last bit together, with her doing the vocal for him:
"The others...
(Were you the spring, you would be twice as springy!)
Who have met you...
(Were you a vine, you would be twice as clingy!)
Better started...
(Were you the moon, everyone would be spoonin'!)
To forget you...
(Every night would be mighty sweet!)"
She then sang the line: "Because, to know you..."
"You make my life a bowl of peaches and cream!" He told her.
"...Is to love you..." She sang smiling.
"You've got me living in the craziest dream!" He replied.
And they finished the song together:
"To know that you... love me!"
The music played out, and She gave him the most seductive smile: "Come on! Let's go back to bed!" She purred.
He couldn't help but smile back embarrassed "I-I don't think I can sleep any more!"
"Perfect!" She whispered and turned on the radio. Then slid her arms around his neck and kissed him. They cuddled lovingly stumbling to the bed as the lights dimmed around them.
Reg and Sonya appeared at the two ends of the stage holding the curtains in their hands, and they started singing:
"Put your dreams away for another day
And I will take their place in your heart"
They pulled the two curtains slowly together until they met mid-stage and sang the last lines hand in hand:
"Let your kiss confess this is happiness, darling
And put all your dreams away"
Then while the music played out, they disappeared behind the curtains as well. The only sound remaining was the ringing of the wake-up call, Data'd ordered for 9:30 AM at the very beginning of the play. When it died down too, the lights went out, and the audience burst into applause.
When they went out to bow to the audience for the fifth time, and then all five of them met backstage again, the audience was still applauding. Moreover, the applause became wilder with people whistling and shouting 'Bravo!'. They looked at each other a little puzzled.
"Well. At least, it seems we did not flop." Emma told them spreading her arms.
"Oh, we did well over that!" Will told them with a grin. Then motioned with his head to the stage "Let's indulge ourselves in success a little more!"
They all nodded smiling relieved and happy.
Will went out and bowed then stepped back, and Sonya jogged out on the stage. She bowed smiling and joined Will at the back of the stage. Reg was the next who got some whistling - apparently from the female portion of the audience - and he joined his two castmates at the back too with burning cheeks. Then came out Emma - she took her time, she did not hurry, only walked until she was mid-stage and then bowed low. She realized she missed this SO much, and she wanted to enjoy it as long as she could. When she straightened, she locked gazes with Bev and mouthed 'Thank you!' - Beverly had to wipe a stray tear seeing this. Emma joined the others, and finally Data stepped on stage. The house was literally brought down by only his sight. He couldn't help to feel a little embarrassed, when the audience gave him a standing ovation - he had hoped his performance would be adequate, but had never dreamed it could yield such a reaction. He bowed and gave the people a timid smile, then stepping back to the others, took his place in the middle, next to Emma, as all five of them held hands and stepped out to the front of the stage to bow together. Then they bowed again one by one and left the stage starting with Will then going on with Sonya and Reg then finally ending with Emma and Data.
When they were recalled for the seventh time, Emma was struck by an idea, and she stepped down the stage and pulled a very embarrassed and unwilling Beverly up to them and had her bow to the audience too. The performers applauded too as she bowed, then the two old friends hugged tightly. Beverly then bowed together with them one final time, and they all disappeared back-stage once again.
When they heard that the applause died down, they looked at each other somewhat relieved - except for Will and Emma, who thoroughly enjoyed the attention and would have went back a thousand times, if the audience wanted.
"I'm very proud of you! All of you! You did better than your best!" Beverly praised them.
"It's your merit, Bev!" Emma told her and hugged her again lovingly.
"That's right!" Will told her and pulled her in for a hug too.
Then came Sonya, Reg and finally Data; they all gave her a grateful though a bit shy hug.
When she released Data, she looked at all of them "There will be a small gathering in Ten Forward. When you're finished with cleaning up and changing, step by! I think there will be some people who would want to get to know you - if they haven't already." she chuckled and looked up at Data stroking his arm "Especially you, Prince Charming!"
They all laughed, while Data stood there with a confused and embarrassed expression "I do not understand, Doctor Crusher! I only played a character in a piece! Why would anyone be interested in ME because of the personality of my character?"
They all chuckled at his innocence. "Oh, god, if anyone is more naive than that, that's cheating or wearing make-up!" Emma quoted another saying from Epsilon "Come here!" she told him lovingly and pulled him in for a short kiss then smiled at him naughtily "Don't try to understand, Handsome, people are crazy! Just enjoy that you're popular!"
They chuckled some more, and Beverly exchanged a glance with Will seeing Emma cuddle up to Data, and Sonya to Reg with a happy smile. If for nothing else, but for seeing all of them so happy it was all worth the energy and time.
"See you all in Ten Forward!" Beverly finally said goodbye with a sudden catch in her throat and left the five of them alone.
All Italics are from Dreamland
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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave