Odo and Kira are trapped in a cave, with a strange crystal growing on her.
Odo and Kira chase a Maquis raider to a small moon, where Kira's foot becomes stuck in a crystal formation that slowly grows around her as seismic tremors increase. Odo refuses to leave her, opens up about his past while trying to free her, and finally confesses that he loves her.
When Kira says she loves him too, Odo becomes suspicious, and the trapped Kira turns out to be the female Changeling, who had set up the trap to persuade him to return to his people. She tells him where the real Kira is, and Odo rescues her without revealing his feelings. On the station, Nog asks Sisko to sponsor him for Starfleet Academy, and Sisko eventually agrees to help him.