i thought you said you started straightening this place up. you should have seen it before. keiko's shuttle will be here before we know it. we should have left the holosuite hours ago. and let the jerries cross the channel? never. it is sort of a shame to pack this stuff away. wish we didn't have to. it's like a sculpture-- a monument to your year as a bachelor. i suppose it is. t? i don't know but if we don't, keiko'll dismantle me. daddy.

hi. the one good thing about going away is coming home. i never want to be apart like that again. daddy, daddy. i have a little brother. really? is that him? no. he's in there. surprise. a baby? yeah. i-i thought you'd be happy. i mean, we talked about it and decided we'd start trying. oh, i know. (stammering) well, but your last visit you were only here the one night, and... well, i thought it'd take a couple of nights. to be honest, a lot more nights. i guess we just got lucky this time.

vedek porta. nerys... so,thisis where you are when you're not at the temple. very impressive. haven't you ever been to ops? what business would an old monk have here except maybe helping a young couple to meet the emissary? are you sure this is a good time? i think he'll be able to fit you in. thank you so much for doing this, major. oh, i'm glad to. they can take therubicon. (door chimes) come in. um, vedek porta's here with the young couple that just got married. they're hoping to get the emissary's blessing. bring them in. you remember the words? the marriage blessing?

emissary, we're very grateful to you for seeing us. not at all. now, if you'll just join hands... zhia'kala, tar'eh anu suur... te'von, aka'lu rez... ka'vor mat'ana kel. thank you. thank you very much. your accent is getting much better, emissary. i'm glad to hear it. (sighing) it isn't that bad, is it, being the emissary? a few ceremonies, an occasional blessing. i didn't say it was that bad. it's just hard getting used to being a religious icon. i'll have to take your word for it. kira to sisko. go ahead. you'd better get out here.

sisko: a lightship. i don't know where it came from. according to remote sensors it never entered the wormhole. dax: i'd say that ship's about 300 years old. life signs? someone's on board-- a bajoran. try hailing them. ki: no response. tractor the ship into transporter range and beam the passenger directly into o thinfirmary. (moaning) he's a little disoriented. i'm captain benjamin sisko. you're aboard a federation space station near bajor.

who are you? i am the emissary. [captioning sponsored by the u.s. department of education

i was headededack to bajor and my lightship was caught in an ion storm. it nearly tore it apart. a girder came loose from the bulkhead and impaled me through the shoulder, hehe. i remember thinking i was going to die alone in space

and then, i realized what was happening. the prophets were opening the gates of the celestial temple and drawing me to them. what happened then? ow it's difficult to describe. -- my grandfather, my brother-- so they could communicate with me. you spoke to them? could sense their understanding, their grace. i've never felt such bliss. and then they healed me. a light washed over me and then, my wound was gone. they gave me back my life. i felt reborn. when exactly did you leave bajor? oh, it couldn't have been more than a few days ago. what was the year?

that was over 2020years ago. 200 years? mymyife... my parents... they're gone. bashir: if you give us your name maybe we can contact your descendants and let them know you're... a-alive. akorem. ants. my brother died last winter and my wife and i never had children. akorem laan, the poet? i'm a poet, yes. you wrote "kitara's song" and "the call of the prophets"? you know my work? you're considered one of the greatest poets of bajor. every schoolchild can recite "gaudaal's lament" from memory.

perhaps that's part of the prophets' plan for me. their plan? it's not clear to me yet why they made me their emissary but they gave me back my life for a reason. akorem, a great deal has happened since you've been gone. maybe major kira can spend some time filling you in. "major kira"? that's right. but your family would be part he artistd'jarra. d'jarra? bajor used to have a strict caste system. a person's work was dictated by what family they were born into. you no longer follow yourd'jarras? when the cardassians occupied bajor we gave up thed'jarras so that we could fight them. we all became soldiers. the cardassians occupied bajor?

it seems you're right, captain. a great deal has happened since i've been gone. sisko: if you look at the prophecies about the emissary a lot of them make much more sense with akorem in the picture. really? every text i've read says that the prophets will name their emissary by "calling him to them" that he would "find the celestial temple" would "give him back his life." go on. they didn't give me back my life. not literally but they did help you get your life back together. true enough, but i wasn't the first one to find the wormhole, or to meet the prophets. akorem was. benjamin, i thought you didn't believe in the prophecies. i don't. then why are you using them to justify giving up your position?

so your mind's made up? you'll step aside? akorem will make a far better emissary than i ever was. he's bajoran. he's a revered poet, and he wants the job. besides, starfleet will be thrilled. they never liked the idea that the bajorans saw me as a religious figure. how do you know i make it clea the bajorans will accept akorem as their new emissary? r that i'm stepping aside voluntarily they will. you're off the hook. how does i ifeel? it feels, uh... good. no more blessings to give. no more prophecies to fulfill. i'm just a starfleet officer again. all i have to worry about are the klingons, the dominion and the maquis.

chief! congratulations, dad. you heard? great news, my friend. come have a drink. celebrate. i really should be getting home. oh, just one. all right. quark, did you hear? chief o'brien is having a baby. i thought your females carried your young. my wife. my wife is having the baby. congratulations. cutest thing you ever saw. you know babies. every little thing they pick up goes straight into their ears. i used to love readingngo him. you know, "see brak acquire. acquire, brak, acquire." just think. soon there'll be two little o'briens scampering about underfoot.

lready been through all the diapers and the endless crying and the sleepless nights. yeah. cheers. oh... chchrs. is something wrong, chief? no. nothing at all. couldn't be happier. did you hear? keiko's going to have another baby. now?! no. seven months. i see. worf delivered molly, you know. really? he were trapped together when her time came. oh, well, i'll be sure and call you when she's ready to deliver. you can lend a hand. unfortunately, i will be away from the station at that time. far away. visiting my parents on earth. excuse me. (laughing)

the thing is, julian now that molly's a little older i was hoping to be able to spend some time with keiko again. i thought we could... i don't know... go out at night. don't get me wrong. i know once i hold my little baby in my arms i'll be the happiest man in the world, but... i wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. how about a game of darts? the emissary's first public appearance? i wouldn't miss it. i'm surprised to hear you call him that. why?

he's been with the prophets for over 200 years and now they sent him back to us. yes, but two days ago you believed captain sisko was the emissary. he made it clear he wants to step aside. does that mean he never really was the emissary? no. but they can't both be. i don't know. what do you want from me, odo? forgive me, major. i don't mean to be difficult but your faith seems to have led you to something of a contradiction. i don't see it as a contradiction. i don't understand. that's the thing about faith-- if you don't have it, you can't understand it and if you do, no explanation is necessary.

ever s sce the prophets returned me to my people i've asked myself the same questions over and over again. why did they keep me with them for so long? why did they return me to my people now? i now know the answers. bajor suffered a great wound while i was with the prophets-- the cardassian occupation. the bajor that i've returned to has lost its way. people no longer follow the path ththprophets have laid out for them. they no longer follow theird'jarras. artists have become soldiers. priests have become merchants. farmers have become politicians. we must heal the wounds of the occupation. we must return to ourd'jarras. we must reclaim what we were and follow the path the prophets have laid out for us. it is their will

painters to their canvasses priests to their temples. if we do this, if we follow ourd'jarras, then bajor will flourish again and become the green and peaceful land i rememeer. it will be as if the occupation never happened. by returning to ourd'jarras, we will have erased it forever.

left for bajor. of course. i had no idea you were going to advocate change on such a massive scale. it's what the prophets want for bajor. it's why they sent me. are you sure of that? absolutely. the emissary knows that what he's proposing will be difficult for some people to accept. he doesn't expect things to change overnight. so you're not going to ask first minister shakaar to step down and go back to farming? no, of course not. but frankly, by the next election i doubt very many people will be left on bajor who would elect a farmer to political office. we hope that, eventually, the people will support enforcement of thed'jarras by legal sanction. so if someone defies their caste..? society will have appropriate remedies at its disposal such as deportation. you realize that caste-based discrimination

if bajor returns to thed'jarrasystem i have no doubt that its petition to join the federation will be rejected. kai winn and i have already discussed it. we're willing to make that sacrifice in order to follow the will of the prophets. i had a feeling winn would see it that way. well, the emissaryry transport leaves shortly. as a starfleet officer, i am bound by oath not to interfere with bajoran affairs but... as a friend to bajor i have to say giving up federation membership would be a mistake. oh. yourpaghis strong. i i e now why kai opaka

good-bye, captain. good-bye, emissary. morning. guess i'll have to take my raktajino with me. sihere. you're not finished. i'll find someplace else to sit. you don't have to get up for me. you'reih'valla. i'mte'nari.

s in i guess i'll have to get used to being treated like that. i remember when i got promoted to lieutenant it took me a while to getetsed to being called "sir" by my friends who were still ensigns. but that's different. you'd earned the right to be treated with respect. i haven't done anything. sounds like you have some reservations about bringing back thed'jarras. the emissary is asking something very difficult of us but we have to have faith that he's guiding us towards something. even if what he's guiding you towards doesn't include the federation? it's not our place to question the emissary. no matter what? maybe you never realized this, captain

when you were emissary no matter how difficult it seemed. i better get to ops. (gasping)

(rustling) who are you? kai opaka. whoareyou? what are you doing here? how did you..? don't you know me?

i think you had what the bajorans call an "orb shadow." sometimes, people who o ve been exposed to the orbs of the prophets experience hallucinations weeks, even months later. what triggers them? an excess of neuropeptides. i can give you an inhibitor to make sure it never happens again. of course, i ii do, you risk never finding out. finding out what? bajorans believe you only have a shadow experience tried to tell you during an orb encounter. interesting. so... any idea what they migig have been trying to tell you? sure. that i have too many neuropeptides rolling around in my head.

(sighs) a bird is a difficult thing to sculpt. maybe you should have started with something simpler. come in! come in! services are about to begin. but i can tell i have no aptitude for it. you didn't give yourself over to what you were doing. how can yoyosay that? i was up half the night. i have a flock of flightless birds in my quarters.

you're still clinging to a false life. you must do what the emissary has asked and follow yourd'jarra with all your heart because if you give yourself over to the prophets they will guide you along the path they've chosen for you... and you'll know more joy than you ever thought possible. that a girl. practicin did i win? g. we'll play a game later. try another one. keiko: miles? oh, uh... that's mine. i only wear it in the holosuites. i suppose julian has one too. you two certainly spend a lot of time in the hololuites. well, you should be glad. it kept me out of trouble. (chuckles)

mmm... want to try for twins? i don't think it works that way. you'd better brush up on your biology. teach me. look, i drew a pony. oh. let's see. does your pony have a name? i don't know. miles, i still have a lot of specimens i've got to catalog for the survey. go a aad. i'll play with molly. oh, miles, it's good to be home. come on, molly. let's play darts. remember what daddy said ababt the right way to stand? let's try again. i don't want to. can daddy color too?