An Enterprise-D science officer and musician whose romance with Jean-Luc Picard ended when he had to send her into danger.
Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren took over as head of the Enterprise-D's stellar sciences department in Lessons. She shared Picard's love of music, and their duets, with her on piano and Picard on his Ressikan flute, grew into a romance.
When a firestorm threatened a colony on Bersallis III, Picard sent Daren to lead one of the evacuation teams. She survived, but they both recognized that he could not stay objective about her as her captain, and she transferred off the ship.