I agree... if it were a romance novel I certainly wouldn't be a fan... but in my hypothetical argument ... cooler heads would prevail and it would make sense for Dukat and Kira to be together for multiple reasons.
Here's the thing. You haven't given multiple reasons. Every single time your argument boils down to, "ZOMG, guys, it would be so
romantic!"
You have ignored every single reasoned argument presented to you as to why it would be a terrible idea, and you haven't addressed a single one of them. You've come up with a rather half-baked premise that, "Well, the Bajorans did bad things, too, so that makes Kira and Dukat even." Except that it doesn't. It doesn't even come close.
Frankly, you're coming across as either very young, very sheltered, very naive, or very callous, possibly a combination of any or all of the above. "Love conquers all" is a romantic notion that looks good on paper (to some) but that does not work in practical principle and has no place in certain situations, such as this one.
Please, at least
attempt to address the points several people have raised in a way other than "
so romantic", if you're going to keep making this argument. Otherwise, it's impossible to take you seriously on any level.
1.) Dukat showed
no remorse for the atrocities he, himself, committed and had committed in his name during the occupation. Worse than that, he remained firm in his belief that what he did was actually good for Bajor.
While, yes, he is a fictional character in a fictional world, there are several real world analogues to Dukat and the atrocities he was responsible for. Not "atrocities" and not so-called atrocitites.
Atrocities. Rape. Murder. Slavery, both of the labor and sexual kind. Mass starvation. Torture. Theft of resources. A salted earth policy when they left to cripple the recovery efforts. Occupation of a world that was not theirs and that they had no right to. Fictionally written, yes, but not fictional to Kira or the Bajorans. In the context of the story, these things are absolutely real to these characters.
I get the impression that the fact that this is fiction is what is allowing you to gloss over all of that. (At least I hope that's the case. I would hate to think that you had a smiliar attitude toward WWII Germany, what happened to the Kurds in Iraq, the tribal warfare in Rwanda, or the most recent events in Darfur. The thing is, there are people who do have your attitude toward all of the real world examples of genocide, which is one reason your stubborn insistence about this isn't just coming across as somewhat shallow and naive but as offensive.)
2.) Kira spent her
entire life under the boot heel of the occupation. She lost her mother to Dukat. She lost family and friends as a direct result of his policies. She never had enough to eat. Yes, she violently resisted the people who occupied her homeworld, raped her friends, killed her family, and made her life a living hell. You
honestly can't see the difference between what she did and what Dukat did? If so, that is disturbing. Very disturbing.
As I said in another post, put yourself in her shoes. Really try. Think of witnessing all of these things as a child, growing up without a mother, being twisted into something you can't accept (coming up very quickly on the third point), being raped, being starved, and then jumping into bed with the one person you see as
most responsible for your suffering, the one person all of your friends, family, and country members also see as
most responsible. There is no world and there are no circumstances under which that would make even a little sense. Don't forget point one. He feels bad about
nothing. He thinks he's right.
3.) Kira has genuine remorse about everything violent she did during the Occupation. She is torn up inside and has a hard time looking in the mirror over it some days. Kira did not invade Cardassia, steal their resources, rape, pillage, and plunder. Kira was trying to
prevent that from happening to her people and make the oppressors
go away, and she still feels bad about it. Kira is light years from Dukat when it comes to emotional maturity and integrity, and throughout the series she increases that distance in leaps and bounds while Dukat remains stuck in his stubborn insistence that everything bad he did is actually good and that she's just an ungrateful little bitch for not seeing it the way he does.
It is not Kira's responsibility or obligation to improve Dukat's morality by giving in to his twisted desire to have her approve of him. There are millions of women around
this world who get into relationships with
bad men because of the oh so (supposedly) romantic notion that all a bad man needs is the love of a good woman to "fix" him. About every 15 seconds or so a woman is murdered by the man who supposedly loves her, a man she believed she could fix, a man who is abusive and without remorse. And you want Kira in this type of relationship. Say what?!
4.) Kira is admired and respected by her people as a symbol of the Resistance and of Bajor's moving forward. The same people who admire Kira despise Dukat with completely justified reasons. For Kira to turn around and jump into bed with Dukat and proclaim to Bajor that she loves him would
not heal Bajor or any Bajoran who witnessed that. It would open more wounds, cause more pain, and hinder healing, not help it.
Again, try to think of it in real world terms. A terrible serial killer who has terrorized and preyed on a community for
decades is finally apprehended and brought to justice. While he's in jail, the sister of the most high profile victim declares her love for him and her intention to marry him. You honestly think other people who lost loved ones to this killer or her own family are going to have the reaction, "Aww, that's so
romantic! I guess love really does conquer all, and we should forgive him for what he has done to our loved ones"?
(Don't forget. Our serial killer has expressed
no remorse for his heinous crimes of torture, rape, and murder. He has told the community that he feels he improved them, made them stronger. He has told the sister this, too.)
No, realistically, their reaction is going to be disgust, horror, and a sense of deep betrayal at this woman who is basically sending the message that her dead family member and all the other dead family members don't matter, because the serial killer is "
hawt" and charismatic. No healing will come of that situation, and frankly, it would make me question the sanity of the sister.
As I said, please at least attempt to address these points rationally. "ZOMG, guys, it's sooooo romantic!" is not a rational response to any of this. It's a non-argument.
Are you seriously going to deny that there is sufficient evidence, seen in the series, of Cardassian atrocities?! We've seen the conditions on Terok Nor--the slavery, the beatings, the arbitrary "justice," the kidnapping of "comfort women" to perform sexual "services" for Cardassian soldiers, seen how the planet looked right after the withdrawal, seen the refugee camps...I think we've seen more than enough.
