Another quick cue, but the first use of "Ilia's Theme" in STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE outside of the overture scores a moment between Decker and Ilia where (after a bit of a hint earlier on the bridge) it's made quite clear that the two have a history. Is the dialogue here a little heavy-handed? Maybe. But Persis Khambatta in particular absolutely sells the emotions felt here.
I'm sorry.That you left Delta IV? Or that you didn't even say goodbye?If I had, would you have been able to say it?No.- Will Decker and Ilia
One of my favorite behind the scenes stories about the score from TMP is that "Ilia's Theme" was always intended by Goldsmith to be the Big Theme for the film. It wasn't until he played some of his cues for Bob Wise that he was instructed to come up with something more thematic for the rest of the score. Of course, we all know what happened from there...