Sisko orders Ezri to return, but she refuses — and instead traces a possible route Worf may have taken in his escape pod. That evening, Sisko shows Kasidy a model of his dream home and asks her to marry him. She joyously accepts. Meanwhile, Ezri locates Worf's pod and beams him aboard.

At Dominion headquarters, the rapidly deteriorating Female Shapeshifter makes it clear to Weyoun that she expects him to find a cure for the disease plaguing her people. Aboard the station, Jake is honored when Sisko asks him to be his best man. Traveling in the runabout, Ezri's strained attempts to converse with Worf are interrupted by an attack from the Jem'Hadar. Forced to abandon ship, they beam safely down to a planet in the Goralis system, but neglect to pack the equipment necessary for alerting the station to their location.

Sisko and Kasidy discover that their plans for a simple wedding may go awry because the Bajorans expect the captain, whom they consider their Emissary, to hold a lavish ceremony. Meanwhile, Dukat unexpectedly appears in Damar's quarters on Cardassia to request a favor. After several days stranded alone on Goralis, Worf and Ezri's conflicting emotions culminate in a passionate encounter. Later, they're confronted by two Breen soldiers, who open fire with their phaser rifles, blasting the two — who fall to the ground unconscious.

Worf and Ezri awake in a cell aboard a Breen ship, unsure of why they've been taken prisoner. In the meantime, Dukat, now surgically altered to look like a Bajoran, plots his next move. Back at the station, Sisko is summoned by the Sarah Prophet, who warns him that he must not marry Kasidy. After Sisko protests, she ominously announces that his greatest trial is about to begin.