Work Text:
It started because Kira Nerys realized the children were already forgetting the occupation. On the anniversary of the Cardassian withdrawal, she asked all the Bajorans on the station to meet in the Temple to tell stories of the occupation. The attendance was lower than she had hoped, but she heard several stories she hadn’t heard before. However, Kai Winn felt that it was unseemly to use the temple for an event that was not traditional or religious in nature.
The next year, Quark offered up the bar as long as everyone bought drinks. That year the event was larger. As the night went on and the drinks flowed, people started booing the Cardassians and cheering for the brave resistance. It was raucous and oddly therapeutic.
The third year, Jake Sisko asked to come and record the stories. The next week, he gave Major Kira a pad. He had given the stories poignancy and cadence without distorting the history. Nerys shared the writing with several friends. In the weeks that followed, she was surprised with many requests for the book. She told Jake he should consider publishing it, but he said the stories belonged to the Bajorian people. She shared it along with circumstanced that had led to its creation.
The forth year, Nerys was surprised to find the several families had traveled from Bajor to be present for the stories. Quark’s bar was standing room only. Quark was delighted and promised Major Kira exclusive use of the bar on the anniversary next year. Large recurring events were good for business. He sold noisemakers to add to the cacophony whenever a Gul was mentioned. There was apparently a rule of acquisition about merchandising opportunities.
The fifth year, one of the women brought little cookies shaped like the triangle on the front of Cardassian armor. It was filled with sweat millaberry paste.
By the tenth year, the tradition had spread thought Bajor. Those without their own stories to tell read a chapter for Jake’s book. It was a night of celebrating history. They tried to kill us, but we survived.