number one obscure ds9 character: PEL!!!!!! AGGHHH 2x07 rules of acquisition my beloved
imagine. you fall in love with your business partner but you’re secretly a woman (your entire society is insanely horrendously sexist) and when you are forcibly outed to him, you think that maybe he might understand, that he'd be different, that you could run off somewhere where people wouldn’t care if you didnt fulfill oppressive gender roles, and he replies that he would care.
i would have done something drastic
she should’ve appeared again just to deck quark in the fucking face
By the will of the prophets, by the end of the series Sisko (and thus Bajor) has formed strong personal bonds of friendship with figures of political influence in nearly every major power that could be a threat to Bajor, or could simply be a help to Bajor’s growth.
The Federation: it would have been enough for him just to be there, but Sisko’s war hero status makes their investment in Bajor more personal.
The Klingon Empire: Worf - (as outlined in this post) is almost comedically well connected, and practically handpicked the Chancellor himself.
The Founders, (and thus the Dominion) : Odo is sent back to temper his people with a love for a Bajoran woman that will live with him the great link forever.
Ferenginar - Sisko performed the Grand Nagus’ wedding ceremony (to a Bajoran, no less. Leeta is part of this too), and personally mentored his son.
Cardassia - Garak will likely have some influence in the new government given his skills and role in the war. Of course, no matter how much he owes Sisko, he’s too capricious on his own to be trusted with Bajor’s safety, so they granted him the tempering influence of a profound relationship with a federation doctor. Whether you think they get married post canon or not (they do), wild horses couldn’t keep Julian frontier-medicine Bashir from going to help rebuild Cardassia.
I 100% think this was all planned by the prophets. It had to be that exact moment with those exact people. (We’re just missing the Romulans, really. Bit of an oversight.)
And then they left Kira there to oversee it all, and maintain those relationships, Kassidy to build his temple according to his specifications, and Jake to tell the story.