Seems like I remember reading or hearing that Nana (and possibly Rene) was against their two characters getting romantically involved. Does anyone know why? And also, was there another character that Nana wanted Kira to get involved with instead?
Nana was on record as being against it. I don't think she suggested an alternative romance, but she definitely didn't like Odo/Kira. I don't recall Rene being against it.
In one of the DVD extras Rene says kissing Nana felt almost incestuous to him because they were such close friends. However, he didn't say he was against the romance. Or if he did, it isn't in any of the few short clips of that interview that Paramount into the DVD extras instead of the whole interview --- which is always annoying, but that's another topic entirely... . Nana was vehemently against Kira hooking up with Dukat, and Alaimo was all for it. That's why Dukat ended up being with Kira's mother, it was kind of a middleground of not putting him with Kira.
IIRC it was Rene who initially floated the idea of Odo being in love with Kira. I wouldnt have minded if they just kept it in the background but i really didnt like it when they got together.
The thing is, if not Odo then who? Bashir started hitting on Jadzia the first time he saw her and ended up with Ezri. Jadzia and Worf. Miles was married. Sisko eventually got Kassidy. That leaves Quark (yeah right). And if Odo hadn't been in love with Kira, what would have binded him to the solids?
They have a longer history together than the other characters as well, which serves to make the romance more interesting and complex.
Nana had the best chemistry with Alaimo though, but she was against romance between the characters. I admit that while it would make a great psychologically complex book, it's not a good thing for Trek. mainly because of all the ensuing fan protests about -- oh, how Dukat's such a heinous character and killed Kira's family (indirectly, but who's checking facts anyway?) etc etc etc...