Fascination ( episode ) Ambassador Lwaxana Troi visits the station to attend the Bajoran Gratitude Festival , resulting in an outbreak of passion throughout the station as people admit their secret feelings for others . Summary . Teaser . Jake is lounging in the quarters he shares with his father , gazing at an earring he intended to give to Mardah , instead of helping the residents of the station prepare for the Bajoran Gratitude Festival as his father figured he would . It turns out that Jake doesn ' t " have much to be grateful for , " since Mardah has been accepted to a school three hundred light year s away on Regulus III . Ben encourages his son to go to the Festival , since the point of the celebration is to let go of one ' s troubles " and make a new start . " Jake reluctantly agrees to go , but promises " not " to enjoy it . In the Replimat , Chief O ' Brien and Dr . Bashir talk about the impending return of O ' Brien ' s wife and daughter to the station . It seems that O ' Brien ' s having a rough time without them . On the Promenade , Odo encounters Major Kira , who ' s slated to preside over the Festival and is helping put up decorations . Odo says that he would like to join Kira in celebrating the Festival , but it turns out that Vedek Bareil will be coming to the station to do the same . . . which dims Odo ' s enthusiasm . Later O ' Brien and Kira are in one of the cargo bay s waiting for the transport to arrive . Bareil disembarks , and he goes off with Kira joyfully ; a few moments later O ' Brien ' s wife and daughter do the same , but they ' re not nearly as joyful . According to Keiko , the chief ' s wife , it was " the " worst " trip . " Molly , his daughter , doesn ' t " feel so good " either . . . and when the chief asks her what ' s wrong , she vomit s noisily onto his uniform . At just that moment Ambassador Lwaxana Troi steps out of the airlock . Lwaxana says , " " Oh ! You poor dear ! I should never have given you all that candy . " " Act One . Dimmed or not , Odo ' s enthusiasm is still adequate to the task of enjoying the festival . He ' s in the security office outlining to Lieutenant , a Starfleet Security officer , the procedure by which he monitors Quark , when Mrs . Troi walks in and asks Jones to leave so that she and Odo can have some time alone . It turns out that while she ' s on the station in her official capacity as a representative to the Festival , her " real " purpose is to see Odo and give him " a shoulder to cry on " about his discovery that the Founder s are the power behind the Dominion . Odo is underwhelmed and politely exasperated at the prospect of being the object of so much personal attention from Mrs . Troi , who seems keen to " delve into the " depths " " of Odo ' s " pain . " The O ' Briens have made it back to their quarters , where Miles and Keiko nearly get into an argument about their plans . They ' re anxious to please one another , but Keiko ' s wrung out and the " last " thing she wants to do is make any decisions . The two of them ultimately make plans to go the Promenade , but it is plain that neither of them is pleased with the idea since it is something of a compromise that doesn ' t go far to please anyone . Finally , the Festival is about to begin . Celebrants and performers are walking along the Promenade toward the entrance to the Bajoran temple , where the Presider ' s dais is set up . After a showy but brief ceremony , Kira declares the Festival begun , and people start to disperse . However , Jake and Bareil both have momentary headaches . Ben notices Jake ' s twinge of pain , but when he asks if Jake ' s all right , Jake says he " never felt better " and starts to smile . Act Two . Sometime later Jake walks up to Kira and offers her a jumja stick , asking for a few moments in private . They stand aside to talk , and Jake explains that he has feelings for an older woman but has no idea how she might feel . Kira believes that he ' s talking about Mardah , but Jake reveals a shocking surprise : the woman on his mind is actually " Kira " , who is speechless . Meanwhile the Vedek tracks down Jadzia and starts laying on the compliments , leading up to an announcement that he ' d like to get to know her " a lot better . " Jadzia ' s response is one of annoyance , and she promptly excuses herself . Elsewhere , Odo is enjoying some Bajoran music , and Mrs . Troi catches up to him . He tries to get away , but she follows him . While they ' re making their way they encounter Jadzia , who ' s still miffed at Bareil . . . and as Odo and Lwaxana move off , Jadzia feels the same twinge that Jake and Bareil did . Miles and Keiko are in Quark ' s , where their conversation starts out cordially enough . However , Keiko has some bad news : her project on Bajor has turned out to be a lot more complicated than anyone expected , and as a result , it is likely to run two or three months longer than planned . When Miles shares his ( predictably unhappy ) opinion about that , Keiko says that one of her colleagues , Sebarr , whom she ' s taken as a confidant warned her about Miles ' reception of the news . At that , the conversation devolves into a straight - up argument , with Miles expressing some suspicion that Keiko has discussed aspects of their personal life with another man , and the two of them march off from the table in separate directions . Act Three . Later , it turns out that Commander Sisko has gotten the news about Jake ' s crush on Kira , and he tries to talk his son down . . . but it doesn ' t work . A few moments later Mrs . Troi and Odo are walking out of Quark ' s , and they pass by the chief as he sidles up to the bar . He apparently gets the same twinge as Jake , Bareil , and Jadzia . Sisko changes into street clothes and goes to the wardroom , which is being prepared for a party in honor of the Gratitude Festival . He finds Jadzia there , and hears all about her trouble with Bareil . He offers to help sort out the drama that ' s sure to result , and just then Jadzia starts draping herself all over him . The commander , meanwhile , is at a loss to understand what ' s going on . Act Four . In light of the strangeness with Jake and Bareil , he takes Jadzia down to the infirmary , where Bashir gives her a clean bill of health . Sisko is embarrassed at the news , and tries to laugh it off without much success . Meanwhile , the chief has made it back to his quarters and he ' s under the impression that Keiko ' s re - evaluating their entire relationship . He asks Keiko to let him in their bedroom , but she doesn ' t want to talk with him . Standing outside the door , he apologizes at length for being " selfish and childish and pig - headed . " Then he sits down dejectedly and goes on to say that he ' s left a letter of resignation on Sisko ' s desk , that he ' s ready to move down to Bajor ( and ultimately back to Earth ) so that he can be nearer to Keiko and Molly – without once making any conditions , because he loves her and always has . Keiko tells him that she needs time to think , and that he ought to go to the party in the wardroom . Later Bashir is with Lwaxana and Odo in the Habitat Ring where they encounter Kira , who ' s angry and depressed because of Bareil . She explains about Bareil and Jake , and Bashir points out that Jadzia was acting just as strangely . He decides to return to the infirmary and Kira decides to join him , but as they start walking , they both feel the same twinge as Jake , Bareil , and Jadzia . Once they get to the infirmary they look one another in the eyes and without further pause begin to kiss passionately . Act Five . In the wardroom , Jake is still obsessing about Kira , and Jadzia is trying to keep her distance from Bareil . Commander Sisko puts a call out to Bashir , who doesn ' t respond , so he sends Odo to the infirmary to retrieve him , and Lwaxana follows Odo . Once Odo gets to the infirmary , Dr . Bashir and Major Kira are still kissing , and Odo needs to " order " Bashir out of the infirmary . In the wardroom there are an awful lot of unhappy and confused people , but the chief brightens up when his wife shows up , wearing an outfit that he ' s especially fond of ( Her tight red dress ) . She tells him that he should not resign , gives him a long kiss , and tells him that she loves him . However , there ' s still a lot of tension elsewhere in the room , and it comes to a head when Jadzia goads Bareil into starting a fistfight with Commander Sisko . Sisko blocks all but one of Bareil ' s punches with ease , but then Jadzia steps in and knocks him out . Quark , who ' s moving around the room trying to serve food , nearly trips over Bareil but only says , " " Commander , you throw one hell of a party . " " Quark continues to move around the room , then feels a twinge of his own . . . and proceeds to put his serving tray down and declare his deep attraction for Keiko . The chief pulls Quark away from Keiko by the lobe s and is about to take things even further when Sisko stops him , saying that it is not Quark ' s fault . . . and then points at Mrs . Troi . In the infirmary , Bashir diagnoses Lwaxana with Zanthi fever , but she ' s certain that ' s impossible since it only affects " older Betazoid s . " Bashir explains to Sisko that , as a result of her condition , Mrs . Troi has been projecting her feelings of affection ( in her case , for Odo ) onto those who are nearby her when she suffers an attack , which handily explains the day ' s misplaced amorousness from people who ' d been near Mrs . Troi that day , and felt " latent " , subconscious attraction to others on the station . Things should , Bashir says , " be back to normal in a day or two " – which is how long Sisko tells Bashir to avoid Major Kira . With the Festival over , Mrs . Troi , Keiko , and Molly are leaving the station . Mrs . Troi tells Odo that if he ever gets tired of waiting on Kira , she ' ll be happy to have him in her life . As for the O ' Briens , things have been set right – there ' s nothing " latent " about the Chief ' s love for his wife , and she ' ll be back to the station in a few months . Memorable quotes . " " Odo . . . don ' t worry . I ' m here to help you . " " " " What . . . kind of help do you mean ? " " " " Oh . Well , a sympathetic ear , a shoulder to cry on . . . a lap to melt in ? " " " " I never expected Kai Winn to make me one of her principal advisors . " " " " I think she asks your advice just so that she can do the exact opposite of what you recommend . " " " " Jadzia , of course . I ' ve never understood how the two of you could be such good friends . She ' s so . . . " unpredictable " . And you ' re so . . . " " " " Predictable ? " " " " Well , I didn ' t mean it like that . " " " " I love you , Nerys . Want to go out with me ? " " " " Miles , I didn ' t say I was going to ! I just meant I could use some . " " " " That ' s okay . If you need to sleep , go ahead ! I ' ll understand . " " " " No , you won ' t . You ' ll be disappointed and you ' ll start brooding and stomping around like an Andorian bull . " " " " Morn , It ' s hard to believe a handsome , fun - loving guy like you could have so many problems ! My advice to you is to burn this as quickly as possible and don ' t look back . " " " " Oh , dance with me , Odo ! " " " " I ' m sorry . I don ' t dance . " " " " Nonsense ! I saw you moving to the music ! " " " " That wasn ' t dancing . That was . . . swaying . " " " " Oh , then sway with me , Odo ! " Sway " with me . " " " " Commander . . . you throw one hell of a party . ' " " " Zanthi Fever ? ! Oh , that ' s ridiculous . Tha - that ' s impossible . That only affects older Betazoids . " " " " My headache was just a headache . I never was affected by Mrs . Troi . " " " " Well , I guess that means you don ' t have a latent attraction to me after all . " " " " Nothing " latent " about it . Or weren ' t you paying attention last night ? " " " " You ' re saying Dax . . . ? " " " " Only on a " subconscious " level . Best not think about it too much , if you ask me . " " Links and references . References . 47 ; advisor ; agrobiology ; Andorian bull ; antiviral agent ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; Bajoran betrothal bracelet ; Bajoran Gratitude Festival ; Bajoran music ; Bajoran temple ; Betazoid ; botany ; brain ; candy ; Constable ; deputy ; distant past ; divorce ; Earth ; ecosystem ; Ermat Zimm ; facial expression ; Ferengi ; Ferenginar ; Human ; humanoid ; humor ; I ' danian spice pudding ; infection ; intoxication ; latinum ; letter of resignation ; lute ; Mardah ; marriage ; " Old Man " ; " peldor joi " ; Piggy ; practical joke ; Presider ; Promenade ; Prophet s ; pudding ; Quark ' s ; racquetball ; Redab ; regeneration ; Regulus III ; Regulus III Science Academy ; renewal scroll ; Replimat ; ritual ; Sebarr ; Starfleet Academy ; tradition ; vital signs ; vomiting ; Winn Adami ; Zanthi fever ; zoologist