Originally written Oct 1998

Title: Bear Essentials
Rating: K+
Summary: Tom gives B'Elanna a teddy bear, but she doesn't want it. P/T.

A/N: I don't know what happened. One minute, I was just sitting there watching "Lifesigns" (which I just discovered that I have on tape!), ROTFL as the Doc showered Danara with presents- flowers, a box of chocolates, and a big, white teddy bear- while they were in the '57 Chevy... and the next thing I know, this story developed a life of its own!

Also, Klondike is a real-life polar bear. (Just in case you were wondering... I watch PBS specials. :) There's one on Klondike and his sister, Snow. It's titled "Klondike and Snow: A Tale of Twin Polar Bears," and it's one of my favorites.)

Tom took careful aim and threw the ball again, knocking down the last of what had been a pyramid of bottles. The crowd that had gathered around them cheered enthusiastically. B'Elanna looked on indifferently as the jolly booth attendant handed him his prize, a furry white teddy bear wearing a bright red bow-tie.

"For you, my lady," he said as he grandly presented B'Elanna with the bear. "Your very own teddy bear."

She looked at them both skeptically, reluctant to take the bulky mass of white fluff that was being offered to her.

"Don't you like it?" he asked, somewhat crestfallen.

"Not particularly."

"Why not? It's cute."

"But it doesn't even really look like a real bear," she protested.

"It's not supposed to," he said exasperatedly. She finally took it.

"Well, it's still just a hologram, Tom," she reminded him, holding the bear at arm's length.

Tom didn't say anything, but the look on his face said quite enough. He had wanted her to have this bear. And he wanted her to like it. He couldn't understand why she didn't.

B'Elanna shifted the bear to her other arm, trying to carry it as inconspicuously as possible. She wasn't having much success. It was just too big and fluffy.

They had been wandering around the carnival for a while when Tom had insisted that they stop at this particular booth. He had said that it reminded him of his childhood.

B'Elanna hadn't understood exactly what he found so fascinating about carnivals, but it was his latest holoprogram, and he had seemed eager to share it with her. He had been so excited about it. He still was. She had to admit that she was enjoying herself as well. Despite the bear.

The brightly colored flags of the carnival booths fluttered in the breeze. Holographic carnival-goers chattered happily with each other as dusk fell. Hand in hand, Tom and B'Elanna continued to stroll around the carnival grounds. B'Elanna was still carrying the teddy bear, with considerable reluctance. Good thing it's only holographic, she thought with a grimace. I wouldn't want to be seen carrying this around in the corridors. That would be way too embarrassing. She couldn't wait to get rid of it when their holodeck time was up.

B'Elanna entered her bedroom and stopped dead in her tracks. Her jaw dropped. There, on her bed, was the white teddy bear. Tom must have replicated it and sneaked it into her quarters somehow. Unbelievable, she fumed. That man is so stubborn! she thought to herself. She couldn't believe that he had wasted his replicator rations on this, this... teddy bear. It must have cost him at least two weeks' worth of rations, if not more, she thought critically. B'Elanna picked up the bear and examined it carefully. It looked exactly like the one from the carnival, down to the last detail. It was even adorned with the same festive red bow-tie and idiotic grin on its cute little furry face.

Disgusted, she threw it on the bed. What was she supposed to do with it now? She had to keep it, of course, but she didn't exactly want it out on display in the outer room for everyone to see. There wasn't a lot of room in her bedroom for it, either. She sighed. Tom was absolutely incorrigible. Why do I let him get away with it? she asked herself as she contemplated the offending teddy bear. Resigned, she finally cleared away a space on her shelf for the bear.

The door chimed.

"Come in," she said, a little too sharply. She knew it was him.

Tom walked in, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hi, B'Elanna."

"Tom," she growled.

"How do you like your present?" he asked.

She merely glared at him. Still grinning, Tom went over to the shelf and straightened out the bear's bow-tie.

"Did you name him yet?" he asked.

"Him?" she repeated blankly.

Tom looked at her impatiently. "The bear."

"It's a him?"

"Well, he's wearing a bow-tie, isn't he?"

She stared at him incredulously. Tom was perfectly serious, she realized. He's taking this whole teddy bear thing way too far, she told herself.

"You should name him," Tom said again. "He won't be complete without a name."

B'Elanna was starting to lose her temper. "*It* doesn't need a name. *It* is just an inanimate object. Why should I have to name an inanimate object, when even the Doctor doesn't have a name?"

"Yeah, and just look at him," Tom joked.

"Tom. You're missing the point. I don't *need* a teddy bear. Klingons do *not* have teddy bears." She couldn't believe that they were even having this discussion.

"You're only half-Klingon," he pointed out. "And half-human. It's quite common for humans to have teddy bears."

"Not adult humans!"

Tom laughed. "Oh, come on, B'Elanna..."

"I'm serious, Tom. You really shouldn't have wasted your replicator rations on this... toy. This must have cost you two weeks' worth of rations!"

"Two and a half, actually, but who's counting," he corrected with a dazzling smile, hoping to interrupt her tirade. But B'Elanna was unfazed.

"And for what?! A stuffed animal!" she continued. "How could you spend two and a half weeks worth of replicator rations on this?"

He decided to turn on the charm. "You're worth it, B'Elanna," he reassured her.

"Yeah, well, the bear's not!"

"He's a very high quality teddy bear," Tom protested. "I wanted you to have the best."

Her only response was to shake her head at him in exasperation.

"Come in," said B'Elanna with a hint of impatience. She was trying to write an engineering report in her quarters, but people kept dropping by to see her for some reason.

"Hi, B'Elanna," Harry greeted her cheerfully.

"Hi, Harry."

"I was wondering if you wanted to play hoverb-- Hey, a teddy bear!" he broke off as he noticed the bear sitting on her shelf.

Oh, no, B'Elanna groaned to herself. Harry had picked up the bear and was now hugging it affectionately.

"He's really cute, B'Elanna. What's his name? It's a boy, right? I mean, he has a bow-tie."

B'Elanna buried her head in her hands and groaned out loud. Why was everyone so obsessive about the bear? First Tom, and now Harry. Were they crazy? She was tempted to just throw the bear into the back of her closet. Before anyone else saw it.

"I used to have a teddy bear. Not as fancy as this one, of course. This is one classy teddy bear... aren't you, Mr. Bear..."

She couldn't believe it. He was actually talking to the bear as though he expected a response!

"Harry..."

"Yeah?" He was deeply absorbed in making the bear wave to her.

"I don't want to talk about the stupid bear! Or to it! Put. The. Bear. Down. NOW."

"Okay, okay," he said, hurriedly putting the bear down. "So, how 'bout a game of hoverball?"

B'Elanna shook her head. "I have to finish this report right now. Maybe tomorrow."

"Okay," Harry said agreeably. "Sorry to bother you." He gave the bear a final pat on the head on his way out.

As soon as Harry had left, Ensign Samantha Wildman appeared with Naomi in tow.

"The Doctor asked me to give this to you," said Samantha, handing B'Elanna a data PADD.

"Thanks."

"Ooh, a teddy bear!" Naomi squealed rapturously when she spotted the stuffed animal. Harry had left it sitting on a cushion. "Is he your teddy bear, Aunt B'Elanna?"

"Mm-hmm... " B'Elanna had to smile at Naomi's obvious delight, despite her own distaste for the bear.

"He's adorable! So soft and cuddly... " Naomi said, cuddling the bear close and stroking his head gently. "What's his name?"

"He doesn't have one," B'Elanna admitted.

"Oh... If I had a white teddy bear, I'd name him Snowy. I wish I had a teddy bear..." Naomi trailed off longingly.

"Tell you what... you can borrow mine for a while, okay?" Finally, a way to get rid of the damned bear, thought B'Elanna with relief.

"Really?" Naomi's eyes grew wide.

"Really."

"Oh, thank you, Aunt B'Elanna!"

"You're welcome, Naomi."

"Mommy, can we go show him to Neelix now?"

Smiling indulgently at her daughter, Samantha Wildman nodded. "Of course, honey. Thanks again, B'Elanna."

"No problem." B'Elanna smiled as Naomi happily carried the bear off. She settled back against the cushions to work on her engineering report again. But she didn't get too far, since Tom arrived mere moments later.

"Where's the bear?" was the first thing he asked, as he noticed that it was conspicuously missing from the shelf.

"What? Oh... Naomi Wildman has it," she said distractedly, trying to finish her report.

"You gave it to Naomi?" he asked incredulously.

"She really liked it, so I said she could borrow it for a little while. I think I might just tell her that she can keep it."

"What?! I can't believe you would even consider that!" His voice rose.

She looked at him in surprise. Tom was getting visibly worked up over this. She couldn't understand why he was so upset. It was just a teddy bear! It was silly to form an emotional attachment to an inanimate mass of white fluff with a red ribbon. Wasn't it?

"It's just a teddy bear," she said. "Why should it matter?"

He refused to look at her. "Well," he said at last. "It's your bear. I guess you're entitled to do whatever you want with it." That said, he turned to leave.

"Tom, wait..."

He ignored her.

Frustrated, B'Elanna threw her engineering report across the room. She had not expected that at all. Now what?

A few days later, B'Elanna still had no answer to that. Tom wasn't speaking to her. Okay, she had to admit that she *had* been looking for an excuse to get rid of the bear, but Tom was overreacting. Maybe it was just the two and a half weeks' worth of replicator rations, she reasoned. No, that couldn't be it. Well, then, maybe it was because he had given it to her as a present and she had trivialized it. That made more sense. But she couldn't help feeling that there was more to it than that...

There must be something very meaningful about that bear, B'Elanna realized, but she couldn't figure out what. And since Tom wasn't talking to her, she couldn't ask him.

Brow furrowed, she sat on her bed and contemplated the space where the bear had been. Her shelf did look empty, she mused. As though something important were missing.

Well... maybe she did miss the bear. Just a little. And Tom had seemed so upset about it.

B'Elanna sighed. How was she ever going to ask Naomi to give the bear back to her? Naomi was so fond of it.

Still, it had to be done. Tom would never forgive her otherwise. With that resolution, she marched over to the Wildmans' quarters. Samantha Wildman answered the door, and B'Elanna explained her reason for dropping by.

"You want the bear back?"

"It's just that... well... Tom gave me that teddy bear," B'Elanna explained, embarrassed.

"Oh! I didn't know that," exclaimed Ensign Wildman. "Well, of course you should have it back, then. We'll just get Naomi another bear."

Relieved, B'Elanna thanked her profusely.

At that moment, Naomi bounded into the room, hugging the bear.

"Naomi," her mother said, "Is it all right if we get you another teddy bear? I know how much you like this one, but Aunt B'Elanna would like to have her bear back. Uncle Tom gave it to her."

"Oh... " Naomi said, gazing sadly at the white teddy bear. "We were just getting to be good friends."

"We'll get you one of your very own, okay, honey?"

Naomi regarded her mother solemnly, then B'Elanna. Finally, she nodded and handed the bear over to B'Elanna.

B'Elanna let out the breath she'd been holding. For a moment, she'd been afraid that Naomi would resist.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my bear, Naomi," B'Elanna said awkwardly.

"You're welcome, Aunt B'Elanna. Can I come over and visit him sometime?"

"Of course."

"You can introduce your bear to Aunt B'Elanna's bear later on," Samantha told her daughter. Naomi perked up.

"Yeah! Then they can be friends!" she said excitedly. "Can we get my bear right now, Mommy?"

"We can go after dinner."

"Okay. Bye-bye, Aunt B'Elanna. Bye-bye, Aunt B'Elanna's teddy bear," said Naomi, waving good-bye to them both.

"Bye, Naomi." B'Elanna had the bear wave back to the little girl. Feeling somewhat foolish but immensely relieved, B'Elanna left, still clutching the precious bear and hoping that no one would see her carrying it on the way back to her quarters.

"So how did you get Naomi to give you your bear back?" Tom asked. B'Elanna was sitting on his lap, one arm around him and the other around the bear.

"I just asked for it back. Neelix replicated her a new teddy bear, a K'tarian polar bear, and she liked that one better anyway."

"I'm surprised you wanted this one back..." he said, absent-mindedly stroking the bear's fuzzy head.

She shrugged. "Well, I'm surprised that it bothered you so much that I was going to let her have it," she countered.

Tom looked embarrassed.

She instantly regretted the words. Her voice softened. "Tom, what's so special about this bear, anyway? I mean, it's obviously important to you, and I wish you'd tell me why."

He was silent for a long moment.

"When I was a kid, my mom gave me a teddy bear a lot like this one," he finally confessed. "My dad won it for her at a carnival when they first started dating."

She stared at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. My dad didn't exactly approve, but my mom gave it to me anyway. Klondike was my favorite stuffed animal. We were inseparable."

"Klondike?" she echoed.

"Klondike. I named him after a famous late 20th century polar bear. See, there were these twin polar bears who were abandoned by their mother shortly after they were born and had to be raised by people who found them -- "

"Wait a minute. *You* named him? Your mother didn't give him a name?" she interrupted.

He looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was getting at. "No, she didn't."

"Well, then. I feel perfectly justified in deciding not to name my bear," she muttered.

He couldn't help but laugh at that declaration. She sounded so serious. B'Elanna made a face at him but didn't say anything more. She wanted him to continue.

"Klondike wasn't just a toy to me. He kept me company, and I shared all of my secrets with him. I never minded being sent to my room, because I had him, and we would go on adventures together."

B'Elanna smiled. She could easily picture Tom as a lively little boy with his teddy bear, getting into all sorts of mischief.

"He would comfort me when I was sad, especially whenever I failed to live up to my dad's high expectations. Klondike was always there to remind me that things weren't really that bad and that I wasn't alone."

He paused, lost in thought.

"I guess he also reminded me of how much my mom loved me and believed in me," he said softly.

B'Elanna nodded. Hugging the bear, she settled more comfortably in Tom's arms. She was moved by the story and flattered that he wanted to share it with her. Not just the story, but the bear as well. "Oh, Tom. That's beautiful," she sighed. "I'm sorry I overreacted earlier. I'm not that fond of teddy bears, and I don't want you to spend all your replicator rations replicating impractical presents for me," she explained. "And I didn't understand why this bear meant so much to you. But I think I do now."

He nodded. "Well, I'm sorry I got so angry when you didn't want the bear. I felt like you were rejecting *me*."

She shook her head. "Never," she said firmly.

He drew her closer. "Is there any particular reason that you don't like teddy bears, B'Elanna? Didn't you ever have one?"

She didn't say anything for a long time. "I ... I used to have one," she admitted quietly. "My father gave it to me. But after he left, my mother wanted to get rid of everything that reminded her of him. Including the bear. I wouldn't let her at first, but later on..."

She took a deep breath, struggling to find the words to express her feelings. He gently caressed her back, comforting and encouraging her.

"I really loved that bear, because it was a gift from my father, and I adored him. I kept hoping that he would come back someday... but he never did. Eventually, I realized that he wasn't ever coming back. And it hurt. I felt so... betrayed. I needed him, but he wasn't there for me anymore."

She blinked back the tears that were starting to form. "My mother was always telling me that I should be strong, that I didn't need a teddy bear to comfort me and keep me company. After a while, I started to believe her. I probably should have kept it, but I was just so... so angry at him... In a way, I wanted to get rid of everything that reminded me of him, too."

"Oh, B'Elanna... I'm so sorry." He cradled her in his arms.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry... I've been acting like an idiot over a teddy bear!" she said, sniffling.

"I guess we're both guilty of that."

They smiled at each other ruefully.

"What made you think of giving me this bear, anyway?"

"I don't know... I just wanted you to have it," he mumbled. "Maybe it's silly, but it's important to me. And..." He paused, fumbling for the right words. "And I don't mind if... if you want to give the bear to someone else..." he said hurriedly. "But I wasn't exactly expecting you to give it to Naomi... I just thought – No, that's not what I meant. I was hoping – I mean –" Realizing that he was becoming incoherent, he stopped.

Basking in the warmth and security of his loving embrace, B'Elanna pondered his words. He was such a romantic, she thought. She understood what he wasn't saying. What the bear signified for him. That maybe someday there would be a child who would love and treasure this bear the way Tom had cherished his mother's teddy bear...

"It's not silly at all, Tom. I understand."

"I thought you would like it..."

"I do," she reassured him. "It just... brought up some sad memories, that's all. But that was a long time ago. It doesn't really matter anymore. What matters is now, and the future..."

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too..." She hugged both Tom and the bear for a long moment. "It's a wonderful present, Tom. Thank you." She gently brushed her lips against his.

He leaned in to get closer to her, but the bear hindered his efforts. They both laughed.

"We just made up, and the bear's already getting between us again," Tom said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Well, we'll just have to put him back on the shelf where he belongs," B'Elanna murmured.

"Good idea." He gently picked her up, bear and all, and carried them both to her bedroom.

A little while later, the bear watched over them from his place on the shelf as they drifted off to sleep. B'Elanna sighed contentedly as she snuggled against Tom's chest and sank into a peaceful slumber...

...dreaming of a dark-haired little boy with sparkling blue eyes and the slightest hint of ridges on his forehead, his proud parents watching over him as he peacefully slept, clutching his baby blanket... and a white teddy bear with a red bow-tie.

The End :)