Star Trek Voyager does not belong to me, only this story does! :) It will not be replicated for profit or for sale of any kind. Just a little story that I wanted to pass along to all of those who felt cheated at the lack of detail in "Resolutions". Enjoy.
Kathryn Janeway looks over to her former Commander and smiles. "Building...what could you be building? And why can't you tell me?"
He turned around as she was walking toward him and laughed, " you can't stand it can you? You're like a little kid!" She smiled and patted him on the shoulder when her combadge went off and Tuvok's voice was heard. Almost ashamed at the actions she had been sharing with her former crewmember, she looked at him and looked away quickly.
"Captain, we are about to leave orbit now."
"Understood, I'd like to speak to the Crew now Tuvok."
"Your comlink has been put through to the entire ship."
Kathryn gives her speech to the Voyager crew, tears filling her eyes as the memories of the years they had spent together filled her mind.
She looks back to Chakotay, her only real memory of the ship and smiles a weak smile. Tuvok lead Voyager out of communications, out of reach...and Kathryn feels a deep loss inside of her. She looks distant, weak, and empty at the loss of her ship and its crew.
Chakotay moves in closer and gives her his hand, which she takes hesitantly and leads her back into the shelter. They both sit in silence for a moment and Chakotay gets up from his chair and goes to Kathryn, tears streaming down her face. He pulls her up into his arms and gives her a gentle hug.
"Chakotay..."
"Shh...it's ok. We are going to be fine here Kathryn. You are a strong woman and as hard as this is, we will make it."
"I know Chakotay, it just won't be the same without Voyager."
"It's ok, I will be here with you. It's not like I'm going anywhere," his attempt at humor only made her mood worse. She knew SHE wasn't going anywhere either. She looks into his eyes and tries to smile. She is struggling with emotions for a moment, trying not to lean on him, trying not to expose too much, and backs away.
"Well, I'm going to go check those traps..."
She walks out suddenly and goes into the woods. Chakotay watches her leave and sighs, battling the feelings that are rising inside of him. He walks outside and starts to finish his work on her new bathtub.
Kathryn comes home empty handed and sees Chakotay standing next to a large object that has been covered by a sheet. She looks at him in wonder and smiles. Running up to him she looks into his eyes, "and what is this commander?"
He smiles, "I thought we were passed those titles Kathryn," his dimples shine through as he smiles at her, "I've finished building, and I figured you would like to see your new gift."
"Gift?" Her curiosity is killing her, eating her inside wondering what this man had made her.
He takes the cover off and exposes the bathtub he built for her. She smiles and laughs for a moment and looks at him, "Chakotay, it's beautiful! I didn't mean for you to build me a bathtub," smiling she pats his shoulder, "this is very kind of you, thank you."
Kathryn looks up at the sky as the light is dimming and looks at Chakotay, "Well, I suppose I'll get out of these clothes and give this a try!" She smiles eagerly and walks into the house and sighs.
"Chakotay, are you there?" she calls out as she is soaking in the tub, relaxed.
"No! I left an hour ago!" She smiles at herself and laughs, "You know, I was thinking, maybe I'm going about this all wrong, maybe I'm going about finding the cure the wrong way. If I could learn about this planets eco system and what's in the atmosphere that's keeping us alive, maybe I could replicate it?"
He sighed to himself, "It's worth a try."
Kathryn closed her eyes just as a noise was heard in the woods directly next to her. She gasped and screamed, "Chakotay! Someone's in the woods!" He was up and by her side with a gun before she had even fully assessed the situation. He pointed the flashlight in the direction of the noise when a primate was found as the cause of the noise. Standing close to him, her bare arms were touching his, "It looks like a primate of some kind..."
"I've detected primate life on this planet" he confirmed. She walked cautiously toward the small animal and extended her arm. " I'm Kathryn that's Chakotay, we've had to move into your backyard, but I hope we can be friends."
The small animal made a squeaky noise and climbed the tree that he had come down from.
"I hope he comes back."
"Looking for a pet?" Chakotay laughed.
"No," Kathryn smiled, "looking for clues on primate physiology, they must have to deal with insect bites as well."
Chakotay was now fully aware of how clothed she was, and couldn't help but stare at her perfectly white skin. Kathryn looked up to him and his wondering eyes and covered herself a little more with her towel. His eyes caught hers again, "Well...excuse me." He quickly retreated back to their house and Kathryn had a look of sheer confusion on her face.
'What the hell just happened?' she thought to herself. Grabbing her robe, she went back inside.
The next morning, Kathryn went out to check the traps once more, and finally found the insect that had bitten them. Just as she put it in her case to take back to study, the primate was standing in front of her once more. Its arm was in the air, pointing at the sky as Kathryn walked toward him.
"Well hello again! Are you following me? You see that," she pointed to the bug tap, "that just may be my ticked out of your backyard, now what do you think about that?" The primate began going wild, pointing at the sky as Kathryn felt a large gust of wind that wasn't there before, and that wasn't yielding. She looked to the sky. "What's happening to the sky?" The primate was screeching louder, "If you're suggesting I get out of here, I agree!" She grabbed her case and began running back to the shelter. The thunder caused the ground to shake, which made Kathryn lose her balance and fall.
Running harder, she fell once more with a large shake of the ground she was running on.
"Kathryn!" Chakotay yelled, looking frantically for her. Seeing her on the ground he ran to her, "are you hurt?"
"No, I just couldn't keep my balance and carry the case at the same time."
"Here, give it to me, lets go!" He pulled her to her feet and ran with her. They reached the shelter and he threw the case to the other side of the room and heaved them both under the table. As everything fell, Kathryn reached out, being restrained by Chakotay. She buried her face in her hands, crying. Her tests, her projects, everything has fallen. The storm has settled, yet neither moves from their position. Chakotay senses Kathryn's reluctance to move, and wraps his arms around her, holding her deep into the night.
They go outside to assess the damage and see that it is worse than they had thought. The traps are ruined and so is every chance of escape.
Her eyes are glossy as she looks back at him, "well, that's one way of letting go." His eyes are full of apologies, "I'm sorry..."
They work together to clean up the area around the shelter and return inside at nightfall. Kathryn is rubbing her neck, sore from the day's labor. She giggles slightly to herself, "I guess I'm not used to that type of work, my knots are getting knots!" Chakotay looks up at her rubbing her neck and gets up, testing the waters.
"Here, let me help." Taking her hair, he moved it to the side, and put his hands over hers on her neck, and began moving slowly. She relaxes and slowly sits back into the chair, her eyes closing as she does so as she lets out a small moan, "oh, that feels good." His hands stop and her eyes slowly open. She stands up quickly to face him and smiles, "that's much better, thank you." He gives her a small closed mouth smile as she departs to her bedroom. He looks at her stirring in her bed and sighs, 'will she ever let go of her protocol and just accept it?' he thinks to himself. Just as his head clears the thought, she appears before him, sitting directly in front of him. "We need to talk about this." He sat back, 'great, just great.' he though.
"Ok."
"I think we need to define some...parameters about us."
He kept a straight face, he wouldn't back down this time, "I don't think I can define parameters," he answered without fault. He looked into her eyes and began..."I will tell you an ancient legend..."
Her eyes filled with tears as she smiled, "Is that really an ancient legend?"
He looked down and sheepishly smiled and then looked up with a straight face, "No," he smiled again, "but it made it easier to say."
She kept eye contact with him and put her hand out in front of her and he reached for hers, fingers entwining, eyes connected, and true feelings finally being exposed by one look.
She gets up, "I'll see you in the morning Chakotay."
He smiles and nods.
Chakotay finds Kathryn outside tending to the seeds she had planted close to a month ago.
"I never figured you for a gardener Kathryn!" She looked back at him, rubbing her hands together and picking up her coffee, "Oh yes! I came from a family of gardeners!"
"Let me guess, you hated that too?"
"Of course! Who wanted to be out mucking around in the mud when you could be studying Quadra mechanics?" she laughed.
He looked at her, and smiled, this woman was always full of surprises.
"Come on, I have something in the house I want to show you." She got up and rubbed her hands together, dirt on her face, smiling. They walk into the house and she looks at the computer that has the blue print of a boat on it.
"You always said you wanted to explore the river, well I think I could build that."
She put her arms around him and smiled, "You always know how to make me feel better Chakotay," she put her head on his solid chest. He smiled down at her and looked deeply into her eyes, "About those parameters..." his voice trailed off as she came closer to his face.
She keeps the eye contact and moves closer, "What parameters?" She moves in and gives him a gentle kiss on his lips and moves her arms closer, holding him to her. He moves his arms to her lower back and smiles down at her once they have parted.
"Kathryn..."
"Shh...Chakotay, I have been so blind not to let this happen years ago. I've been running from my feelings, hiding behind star fleet protocol...but Chakotay, there is no Voyager, no Star Fleet to hide behind anymore. There's nothing but you and me. I have wished for this for years, Chakotay, I'm in love with you, always have been." He held her tighter to him and whispered into her ear softly, "I love you too Kathryn Janeway."
She smiled against his chest and sighed. He held her for what seemed like forever. A forever without holding her and then finally she was with him, in his arms. He sighed into her hair and she moved out of his embrace and looked into his eyes. She smiles and walked over to the replecator and orders two cups of coffee and looks into his eyes as she hands him the cup. They sit in silence on the couch they have and the atmosphere is calm and enjoyable. She gets up and moves to the door; "I'll be tending to those tomatoes." He nods and smiles as she goes. He gets up and goes outside. He goes into the woods and gathers some wood. He was going to begin work on the boat for them. Kathryn watches him leave into the woods and smiles to herself. A plan is forming in her mind. She gets up and replicates candles and dinner. She dims the light, lights the candles, and places dinner on the table. She takes the time to walk into her room and gets into a tight red dress with a plunging neck line that she had on Voyager for the occasional shore leaves she took with Chakotay, but never wore. She let her hair hand loosely, curling the ends. She applies lipstick and smiles at her reflection. She walks into the other room briefly and goes back into her room. She hears the front door open and smiles anticipating his reaction. She appears from behind the corridor and gives him and seductive smile. Chakotay's breath stopped in his throat as he takes in the sight of her.
"Spirits......"
She moves toward him and gives him her best smile. He dark red lips reach his pale brown ones and he takes her in his arms, bending into her kiss. She sighs into his mouth and runs her hands over his neck and presses herself into him. She moves back abruptly and smiles, "dinner will get cold if we proceed to desert first." Chakotay takes a mental note of her promise and smiles at her, excusing himself to get dressed.
He came back smelling of ginger spice and was wearing black trousers and a navy blue button up shirt. She watched him sit down and he stared at her contently. The candles sparkled off her eyes, making them shine like all the stars in the universe, and her skin looked as delicate as a blooming flower. They begin to eat in silence when he finally breaks it. "You are extremely beautiful Kathryn."
She blushed, "Thank you Chakotay."
She got up to clear the plates and purposely leaned over him more than was necessary, giving him full access to view her chest. She expected him to keep his control, but in the mist of bending over him he placed feather light kisses along her breasts. Her breath stopped for a moment as she placed the plates back down and took his hands.
"I'll clear them in the morning, it's time for all of our dreams and desires to come to life."
He smiles as she leads him into her bedroom and they look at each other deeply.
"I love you Chakotay..." she moves in and kisses him softly and she smiles. He abruptly moves and kisses her neck and shoulders, moving down to her chest until he is on one knee. He stops his assault and puts a small object from his pocket into his hand and looks up to her. She looks down curiously, "Another surprise Commander?"
He smiles at her and looks deeply into her eyes. "We have come a long way Kathryn. From enemies, to a forced alliance, to friends to lovers. Kathryn Janeway, you are a big part in my life, you bring me a peace I didn't even know was possible and I can't imagine spending my life without you. Kathryn, I love you, I've never known love before..." the ring is exposed in his hand, she gasps and smiles, her eyes filling with tears.
"Will you marry me?"
Her composure is lost and she smiles and grabs him up and kisses him, "Yes...yes Chakotay I will!"
He smiles and gives her a large laugh as he picks her up and swings her around. He frantically kisses her cheek and lips. "Spirits, it will be wonderful! I will make you so happy!"
She laughs with him, the excitement of it all becoming too much, "Of course you will my darling, you always have."
They begin to kiss and fall to the bed when a loud rumble is heard. 'Someone is breaking in...' Chakotay's thoughts were materializing as he ran to get his gun, he stood in front of the door as Kathryn stood behind him. They break the door down and look at Chakotay with a twisted smile. They push past him and grab Kathryn up and carry her halfway out of the shelter. Chakotay growls and attacks the man holding Kathryn, but the man is unharmed. With one arm, Chakotay has been flung across the room hitting the wall and going unconscious. The last image he is left with is Kathryn's screams and her eyes filled with terror.
Screaming, biting, clawing and crying Kathryn tries to break free, but can't. She looks to Chakotay screaming his name, as the ring falls from his hands onto the floor.
-All goes black-
Kathryn wakes up, strapped to a chair in a dismal room. She tries to assess her position, yet can't move enough to even assess the damage to her body. She closes her eyes, trying to recall what happened/ Where she was. Then it all came back to her. Chakotay's proposal, the bang at the door, Chakotay sitting unconscious on the floor. She felt a lump in her throat as a man approached her. His pitch black eyes were staring into her soul. His black skin, and armor made her look away. Those arms could crush her in one swat. -Must not think like that...I will make it out...-
"What do you want with us? We mean no harm...Where am I?"
No reply.
"If we are invading your territory, we mean no harm. We were bit by an insect and your atmosphere is the only thing keeping us alive. We mean no harm, we just want to live our lives in peace. We will not disturb anyone..."
"SILENCE." The hoarse raspy voice made her wish she had never spoken at all.
"You are not welcome here."
She sighed, "We mean no harm. Our shelter, that is where we will stay for our time here. We have no vaccine for our illness, we can't leave or we'll die!" He looks at her with his piercing black eyes, "We have no cure for what you speak."
"We only want peace..."
A blow to her face knocked her to the floor with the chair. The man walks to her and picks it back up, "no more talking."
He walks out silently, no other words were spoken. Kathryn cries, her face red and beginning to swell from the force of the blow. She lets unconsciousness take her over once more.
-Chakotay awakens to a sound on the other side of the room. One of the aliens was still in the shelter. Chakotay looked at the strange being and got up. "Where have you taken Kathryn?"
Chakotay picked up the ring from the floor. He held it closely.
"All in due time."
What a response...
"we are not here as scavengers, we are not here to take over your territory! We were left here due to a fatal illness that keeps us from leaving!" His eyes were cold, looking straight in the eye of the beast. The man looked as though he understood, Chakotay had to try to reason with him. "You see this?" he held up the ring, "the woman you took, Kathryn, is my wife! We are here together, for a peaceful existence, nothing more."
The alien looked curiously at the ring, "we hold marriage very seriously...I will communicate this information."
The alien turned and spoke to his superior by some sort of communications link and turned around. He took Chakotay's arm and lead him out.
-Kathryn was sitting in the chair, groggy but awake when the door opened once more. She screamed, closing her eyes, waiting for another blow to the face as she had received every time someone entered. "Leave me be!" she screamed. She closed hey eyes tighter, wishing for only one person to walk through that door.
Finally she felt something on her shoulder and cried and cringed. "Please...just go..." Chakotay took her face in his hands, "open your eyes darling..." Her ears were playing tricks on her...don't open your eyes...The alien spoke, "It is not proper for husband and wife to be separated where we come from. You two may stay together until further action is taken."
Kathryn opened her eyes and did see Chakotay there. She gasped, trying to break free of her restraints. Chakotay untied her arms and she leapt forward into his arms. She cried into his chest, and held onto him.
"Shh...sweetheart, I'm here now...Kathryn, I'm here." he ran his hands through her hair, trying to make her aware that this was no dream.
She clawed his chest, sobbing.
"I thought I would never see you again! I've been kept here in the dark, starved, beaten the last few days."
He moved her face into the slight light. Her eyes were bruised and swollen and there were hand prints along her cheek.
"Spirits...Kathryn!"
He held her in his arms and she sobbed into his chest harder. The door re-opened. A tall figure they hadn't seen before walked in.
"Ah, my prisoners...How have my guards been treating you?"
Chakotay growled, "This is how! Look at my wife! She has bruises everywhere thanks to you and your men!"
The man pulled Chakotay away from Kathryn and to his feet, "What is your purpose here?"
His eyes turned to stone, "We wish to live out a peaceful existence, since your atmosphere is the only one that will keep us alive. Please, we only wish to survive in the shelter you saw. That's all we ask."
The man seemed to consider Chakotay's words and looked at him.
"Agreed...as long as we never see you anywhere out of those bounds. And as long as you will give us your shuttle craft we saw."
Chakotay looked at him, "Agreed. As long as this," pointing to Kathryn, "never happens again!"
"I assure you, these were not my orders. My orders to my men were to take you both captive until I could decide an appropriate action. After our attack by the borg, we have to be careful. New life on the planet is not tolerated without answers."
Kathryn looked up to him, "the borg attacked here?"
The mans eyes turned soft, "assimilating millions."
"I'm sorry...We have had a few run-ins with the collective as well. We are not here for any purposes as the collectives, we are here to live out a peaceful existence, that's all."
He looked down to her, "You are free to leave. We expect you to stay where we found you and no where else. We can't afford any activity drawing the collective to come back."
"Understood."
-Kathryn was lying in bed while Chakotay was busy expanding the shelter. He was almost done with the expanded bedroom. Now all that was left was moving the furniture in.
As Chakotay finished this out, Kathryn lay in bed, pretending to be asleep. They had left the aliens 4 weeks ago, and they had been more cautious when moving around.
Kathryn looked at her wedding ring and smiled. it's been four months since Voyager departed and she had to say she'd never been happier. There was only one more thing she had left to worry about...
"Kathryn," Chakotay called to her.
She lost her thought and got up. Chakotay looked at her and smiled and signaled to the finished log-cabin bedroom. She held onto his hand as she walked in. There was a double bed with wool covers and a fireplace at the other end of the room. Sand paintings Chakotay had made were there and the room was lit with a small candle on the bedside table. Kathryn smiled as she looked at her husband, "It's wonderful Chakotay, I love it."
"Good, I'm glad. Now, how are you feeling? You've been worrying me, since you've been sick every morning."
She took his hands and sat him down on the bed beside her. She looked into his eyes, "Chakotay...look, I have to tell you something."
"What is it?" His voice grew in excitement and worry.
She took a deep breath, "I'm..." she paused.
"Go ahead Kathryn."
"I'm...pregnant."
His eyes grew in shock as she smiled at him. "Oh, spirits! Kathryn!"
He tackled her on the bed, laughing until he was on top of her. He moved down and kissed her, his eyes slowly closing and their bodies mending into one.
-Kathryn woke up in the bed and rolled over to look at Chakotay. Her eyes were shinning and she felt a happiness fill her that she had never felt before. His eyes fluttered open, "Well good morning." She giggles and rests her head on his chest, "I love you so much Chakotay."
"I love you too," he placed a small kiss on her head and rested it there.
-5 more months pass-
A very pregnant Kathryn walks into the living room of their log cabin home and looks at her husband sitting on the couch. She sits on his lap and smiles, "Hi honey."
"How are we feeling today?" he pats her stomach protectively. "We," she smiles, "are doing just fine."
-Background noises- "Captain Janeway..."
She looks up to the combadge. "What the..." she gets up despite herself and grabs the badge.
"Tuvok to Captain Janeway..."
She touches it, "go ahead..."
"Captain, we have found a cure to your illness and have returned for you and commander Chakotay. We will be back in orbit to beam you up in 36 hours."
"Understood, Janeway out."
She looks to her husband and gives a weak smile. "This will be hard to explain..." she looks down to her pregnant stomach and sighs.
He goes to her and hold her in his arms, "Kathryn...this wont change, my love for you and this unborn child will not change, I love you, do you love me?" his voice is scared and unsure. Now that Voyager is back, will this turn into protocol and visits at night again? He couldn't bear the idea of not sleeping next to her and holding her in his arms.
Her gaze turned soft but serious, "Chakotay, of course I love you! Voyager won't change that." She holds onto him tightly.
"You are my husband on New Earth as well as on Voyager. They will just have to live with it." She plants a gentle kiss on his lips. "Now, what do you say we get one last bath on New earth?"
He smiles and eagerly joins her.
-Back on Voyager-
The crew is standing in the transport room, eagerly awaiting the return of their Captain and Commanding officer. Janeway and Chakotay appear and the crew looks at them in shock. The rings on their fingers and Kathryn's pregnant form give them all an indication of what happened. Kathryn smiles and Tom and B'Elanna give them large smiles.
"Welcome back!" They all exclaim. The doctor smiles, "well captain, I expect to see you in sickbay right away!"
Kathryn takes Chakotay's hand, tired of being stared at like a new panda in the zoo and walks to sickbay.
She sits on the biobed, Chakotay stroking her hair gently. The doctor runs the tricorder over her stomach and smiles approvingly.
"Well, the good news is, you will have a very healthy baby! The bad news is that you will have to deal with telling the crew the story of what happened down there."
Kathryn smiled at her husband and laughed, "All in due time Dr, all in due time. Now if you wouldn't mind, Chakotay and I will be returning to my ready room if anyone needs us right away. We are rather tired from the packing..." her eyes turn sad once more as small tears form in her eyes. Chakotay takes her hand and walks with her down the hall.
"What is it Kathryn?"
"I am just realizing how much I am going to miss our lives down there Chakotay. It was so peaceful...those were the best months of my life." she smiles at him and holds his hand tighter as they enter her ready room.
"It will be alright here as well, as much as I will miss the solitude, at least I know I will have a nice couch to sleep on when you kick me out again!" She laughed at the memory of kicking him out for an evening because she was so moody that he couldn't do anything right.
"You're right, as always...It's just going to be difficult adjusting to life as a Captain again. For close to nine months I have been a wife, and an expecting mother...now I don't have to worry about the lives of myself, my child or you anymore, now I have to worry about the lives of the people who serve under me. It's so much to deal with, especially in my condition."
He kissed her softly on her temple, "We will manage, we always do. Think of it Kathryn, nine months ago you and I were struggling to find peace in ourselves for letting Voyager leave us behind, making a home in a foreign planet. Now look at us, happily married, expecting a child," he patted her stomach once more, "we adjusted there Kathryn. We will adjust once more, we always do."
She looked at him and smiled, "You are always full of the right answers aren't you Chakotay?"
"Aye, Aye Captain."
She punched him in the stomach playfully and laughed, "Let's not get started on that right away! I'm not your captain anymore darling, I'm your wife! A very fat wife with swollen feet, mind you!" He laughed and closed his eyes gently and opened then to look at her.
"A very beautiful, pregnant wife," he looked down, "with swollen feet."
She laughed at him and gave him a soft punch once more. They shared a small kiss when the door chime went off.
"Come in."
Tuvok entered the room and looked at Captain Janeway and Chakotay, "I'm glad to see you safe and healthy Captain. I am sorry for going against direct orders and contacting the Vidiians, but after so many months the crews morale just wasn't raising, so it was what I had to do to save the emotional status of the crew."
"I understand. We are grateful that you did Tuvok. Thank you."
"Now if you will excuse me, I have more work to tend to."
She nodded lightly and looked at Chakotay, "Well darling...I suppose it is time to catch up on what's going on."
She kissed him and walked-waddled- out.
Captain Janeway was sitting in her chair on the bridge and looked out to her people. Harry was standing where he always did, Tuvok had gone back to his station, Tom was in his chair, looking out at the stars, waiting for his command, and Chakotay was sitting next to her, where he belonged. Captain Janeway smiled and gave her orders, "Well we've wasted a lot of time here, lets try to make up for it, Mr. Paris, warp 8."
"Aye, aye Captain!"
The Starship began its course back to the alpha quadrant, and the Captain was walking around, checking all the stations making sure everything was going as planned.
Captain Janeway called out, "Chakotay, I will be in my ready room if you need me."
"Yes Captain."
Janeway walked into her ready room and sat down in her chair. Though things had changed a lot on Voyager, she was still the Captain and had to act as if nothing had changed on New Earth, though everything in her had.
Chakotay looked over to Tuvok, "Tuvok, you have the bridge. I'll be in the ready room." Walking into the ready room he saw Kathryn humped over a PADD, 'just like old times Kathryn...' he thought. She looked up at and him and smiled. She looked back to her PADD, "Chakotay, would you mind replicating some coffee for me?"
"Sure. You really shouldn't drink this stuff so much Kathryn, it might be bad for the baby."
She looked up to Chakotay and laughed, "Ok honey, I will keep that in mind."
"Getting sarcastic with me?"
She laughed harder, "No, me?"
He laughs, "Yes, you!" He sits down on the chair opposite her, across the desk and looks up at her.
"So, how are you feeling?"
She sighed, "As well as I can feel I suppose. I miss our life down there Chakotay, but, it's also comforting to know that we have all of our friends back, and that this baby won't be left alone on the planet to die when we pass..."
He stopped her, "Kathryn, I know, I thought about that too, but now that we're on Voyager, we don't need to worry about it anymore. I worried about that as well, and I know it put a lot of pressure on you, but we're home now."
She smiled, "Yes...home...I suppose Voyager has become home to us Chakotay, along with the rest of the crew."
A chime at the door.
"Come in" Kathryn called.
B'Elanna came in and smiled at Chakotay and Kathryn.
"I just wanted to come in and personally wish you a happy return. I also had some news of my own."
"Oh," Kathryn started, "and what is that?"
She smiled to herself, and looked up to her and Chakotay, "Lieutenant Paris and I have began a romantic relationship, and since I know it's procedure to come to you and tell you first, I wanted to do just that."
Chakotay smiled and laughed slightly at the thought of Tom and B'Elanna, and hugged her.
"That's wonderful news!"
She smiled, "thank you Chakotay. Captain, do you permit it?"
"Of course B'Elanna."
She nodded her head and walked out. Chakotay looked over to his wife and laughed, "Well, I suppose we have set a good example among the crew."
She threw her hands up, "Don't remind me! Now we'll have relationships left and right, and that could mean more families, and less work being done."
"Yes, but, Kathryn, don't you want the crews morale to go back up? If we're stranded out here, we may as well make the best of it, don't you think?"
She sighed, "of course you're right Chakotay," she laughed, "like always."
She got up and gave him a hug as well as she could in her form, "I'm going to go get something to eat. Join me?"
He waved his hand toward the door, "After you."
"Oh Captain, Commander! I wasn't expecting you in here today!" Neelix's happy voice sounded as they walked through the door.
"Oh," Chakotay commented, "and why is that?"
Neelix smiled, "Well because I was preparing a party in your honor! A sort of, welcome home party, among other things. It will be on Holdoeck 2 this evening at 1800 hours. " The small Talaxian smiled.
Captain Janeway smiled, "Well, thank you Neelix. That is very thoughtful."
They arrived at the party that evening and were greeted by the crew. A Welcome Home and Congratulations banner was hanging above them and the Holdoeck was in the image of New Earth. Kathryn smiled and looked around, holding her pregnant stomach, tears coming to her eyes.
"Who made this program?"
Chakotay smiled and whispered into her ear, "As soon as we came home, I recreated New Earth fresh in my memory so that we could visit when we missed it."
She looked at him, a tear rolling onto her cheek, "Thank you Chakotay." She took his hand in hers and they walked toward their old shelter. The crew knew better than to follow them, and they began talking amongst themselves.
Kathryn opened the door and looked upon the place they called home for close to a year. Kathryn walked into the old room that they had shared. She smiled warmly at the scene before her and looked back at Chakotay.
"I love you. Thank you for this."
He smiled at her and took her in his arms, "I wanted us to have an escape when we needed it. Now, lets go back out and attend the party."
Hand in hand they walked back out. The party was a large morale booster for the crew. B'Elanna and Tom were huddled together in a corner, smiling in a way Kathryn had never seen before. Neelix and Kes were together on the rocks laughing and joking about. Tuvok had been in the other corner with Harry playing a game of logic.
Kathryn took her husbands hand and walked around their old surroundings and looked out onto the river again.
"It sure is beautiful, isn't it?"
He sighed, "Yes, it is."
Kathryn smiled and kissed her husband. She jumped back, surprised.
"What, what is it?"
She looked at him and took his hand and moved it to her stomach and Chakotay's eyes filled with tears.
"Our baby is kicking!" She smiled and rejoiced with her husband as some of the crew walked over to witness the Captain's delight. They all stood still, watching their strong Captain embrace her husband, crying and smiling all at once. One by one the observers hugged the Captain and walked away, smiling and happy that she had finally found what she was looking for in life.
-3 1/2 months pass-
Captain Kathryn Janeway is lying on her couch in her ready room, holding her extremely pregnant stomach and moaning. "Chakotay!" She called out, knowing he wasn't there. Hitting her combadge she called out, "Captain to Chakotay" "Go ahead" "I need to be moved on my side..." Light chuckles are heard, "Understood, Chakotay out."
Three minutes later he was by her side helping her move to her side and giving her some water to drink.
"Kathryn, honey, I know that you hate going to see the Dr. but you have had back pains all afternoon, don't you think it's time for a visit?"
She looked at him, "Ok...fine...I suppose it couldn't hurt."
She struggled with getting up and finally Chakotay helped her and supported her back while she got balance and they walked to Sickbay.
Upon entering sickbay the Dr. got up and went to the biobed that Kathryn had sat down on. He ran a tricorder over Kathryn's stomach and smiled happily.
"Commander, you will have to get someone to cover your shift as well as the captains. Your wife is in the early stages of labor."
Kathryn's eyes went wide and she looked fearfully at Chakotay.
"Understood, I'll be back in a moment."
Chakotay went to the Bridge and smiled happily at Tom. He then turned to Tuvok, "Tuvok, the Captain is in labor, you have the bridge until further notice."
"Understood sir."
Chakotay ignored the smiling faces of his crew, minus Tuvok's unchanging expression and walked back to Sickbay.
-5 hours later-
Loud screams are heard as Kathryn wiggles against the bed, crying and screaming, perspiration dripping from her face. Chakotay is holding her hand as she nearly crushes it and he is handing her ice chips by the second.
"It's ok Kathryn, breathe. Just keep breathing and it will all be over soon."
Her face is red and twisted, "how about this, you come down here, deliver this baby and fucking leave me be! I'll NEVER let you touch me ever again! You hear me! Never!"
He hid his smile, "Ok darling, I understand, just breathe for me and I will never touch you again."
She sighed as the contraction passed and she rested her head into the pillow.
-another four hours later-
"Captain, on my mark you have to push, do you understand?"
She screamed again.
"PUSH."
She bore down with everything she could and fell back onto the bed.
"Ok Captain, you're doing fine, just a few more and this will all be over."
Chakotay held her hand and wiped her forehead with a wet rag and kissed her cheek. "Almost over Kathryn...just keep pushing darling...just a few more."
"PUSH CAPTAIN!"
Kathryn again bore down with all she could and the Dr. announced that the head was crowning.
"Ok Captain, one more and we will introduce you to your baby. Ok push Captain!"
Kathryn pushed with all her might and fell back to the pillow as soon as she heard the sounds of her baby crying. The Dr. held the newborn in his arms, "Captain, Commander, I'd like to introduce you to your daughter."
Kathryn cried, but this time out of joy and not pain. She held her arms out after the Dr. had finished cleaning the child up and placed her in Kathryn's arms. Chakotay smiled, tears in his eyes as he kissed his wife.
"She's beautiful Kathryn."
She looked at him and smiled, "what should we name her?"
"Aeriella...we should name her Aeriella."
Kathryn smiled and kissed her husband and then looked to her daughter, "Welcome home Aeriella."
B'Elanna and Tom wandered into the room as soon as Chakotay said it was alright, along with Harry, Neelix, Kes and Tuvok. They all (minus Tuvok) smiled at the Captain and Chakotay and the newborn in her arms. The Dr. stood with the crew and had a smile on his face.
"Everyone," Chakotay started, "this is Aeriella. Aeriella, meet your family."
As the happy scene unfolded, the stars were shinning brightly onto the Captain, her husband, their new daughter and the crew that had become a family.
Kathryn Janeway looks over to her former Commander and smiles. "Building...what could you be building? And why can't you tell me?"
He turned around as she was walking toward him and laughed, " you can't stand it can you? You're like a little kid!" She smiled and patted him on the shoulder when her combadge went off and Tuvok's voice was heard. Almost ashamed at the actions she had been sharing with her former crewmember, she looked at him and looked away quickly.
"Captain, we are about to leave orbit now."
"Understood, I'd like to speak to the Crew now Tuvok."
"Your comlink has been put through to the entire ship."
Kathryn gives her speech to the Voyager crew, tears filling her eyes as the memories of the years they had spent together filled her mind.
She looks back to Chakotay, her only real memory of the ship and smiles a weak smile. Tuvok lead Voyager out of communications, out of reach...and Kathryn feels a deep loss inside of her. She looks distant, weak, and empty at the loss of her ship and its crew.
Chakotay moves in closer and gives her his hand, which she takes hesitantly and leads her back into the shelter. They both sit in silence for a moment and Chakotay gets up from his chair and goes to Kathryn, tears streaming down her face. He pulls her up into his arms and gives her a gentle hug.
"Chakotay..."
"Shh...it's ok. We are going to be fine here Kathryn. You are a strong woman and as hard as this is, we will make it."
"I know Chakotay, it just won't be the same without Voyager."
"It's ok, I will be here with you. It's not like I'm going anywhere," his attempt at humor only made her mood worse. She knew SHE wasn't going anywhere either. She looks into his eyes and tries to smile. She is struggling with emotions for a moment, trying not to lean on him, trying not to expose too much, and backs away.
"Well, I'm going to go check those traps..."
She walks out suddenly and goes into the woods. Chakotay watches her leave and sighs, battling the feelings that are rising inside of him. He walks outside and starts to finish his work on her new bathtub.
Kathryn comes home empty handed and sees Chakotay standing next to a large object that has been covered by a sheet. She looks at him in wonder and smiles. Running up to him she looks into his eyes, "and what is this commander?"
He smiles, "I thought we were passed those titles Kathryn," his dimples shine through as he smiles at her, "I've finished building, and I figured you would like to see your new gift."
"Gift?" Her curiosity is killing her, eating her inside wondering what this man had made her.
He takes the cover off and exposes the bathtub he built for her. She smiles and laughs for a moment and looks at him, "Chakotay, it's beautiful! I didn't mean for you to build me a bathtub," smiling she pats his shoulder, "this is very kind of you, thank you."
Kathryn looks up at the sky as the light is dimming and looks at Chakotay, "Well, I suppose I'll get out of these clothes and give this a try!" She smiles eagerly and walks into the house and sighs.
"Chakotay, are you there?" she calls out as she is soaking in the tub, relaxed.
"No! I left an hour ago!" She smiles at herself and laughs, "You know, I was thinking, maybe I'm going about this all wrong, maybe I'm going about finding the cure the wrong way. If I could learn about this planets eco system and what's in the atmosphere that's keeping us alive, maybe I could replicate it?"
He sighed to himself, "It's worth a try."
Kathryn closed her eyes just as a noise was heard in the woods directly next to her. She gasped and screamed, "Chakotay! Someone's in the woods!" He was up and by her side with a gun before she had even fully assessed the situation. He pointed the flashlight in the direction of the noise when a primate was found as the cause of the noise. Standing close to him, her bare arms were touching his, "It looks like a primate of some kind..."
"I've detected primate life on this planet" he confirmed. She walked cautiously toward the small animal and extended her arm. " I'm Kathryn that's Chakotay, we've had to move into your backyard, but I hope we can be friends."
The small animal made a squeaky noise and climbed the tree that he had come down from.
"I hope he comes back."
"Looking for a pet?" Chakotay laughed.
"No," Kathryn smiled, "looking for clues on primate physiology, they must have to deal with insect bites as well."
Chakotay was now fully aware of how clothed she was, and couldn't help but stare at her perfectly white skin. Kathryn looked up to him and his wondering eyes and covered herself a little more with her towel. His eyes caught hers again, "Well...excuse me." He quickly retreated back to their house and Kathryn had a look of sheer confusion on her face.
'What the hell just happened?' she thought to herself. Grabbing her robe, she went back inside.
The next morning, Kathryn went out to check the traps once more, and finally found the insect that had bitten them. Just as she put it in her case to take back to study, the primate was standing in front of her once more. Its arm was in the air, pointing at the sky as Kathryn walked toward him.
"Well hello again! Are you following me? You see that," she pointed to the bug tap, "that just may be my ticked out of your backyard, now what do you think about that?" The primate began going wild, pointing at the sky as Kathryn felt a large gust of wind that wasn't there before, and that wasn't yielding. She looked to the sky. "What's happening to the sky?" The primate was screeching louder, "If you're suggesting I get out of here, I agree!" She grabbed her case and began running back to the shelter. The thunder caused the ground to shake, which made Kathryn lose her balance and fall.
Running harder, she fell once more with a large shake of the ground she was running on.
"Kathryn!" Chakotay yelled, looking frantically for her. Seeing her on the ground he ran to her, "are you hurt?"
"No, I just couldn't keep my balance and carry the case at the same time."
"Here, give it to me, lets go!" He pulled her to her feet and ran with her. They reached the shelter and he threw the case to the other side of the room and heaved them both under the table. As everything fell, Kathryn reached out, being restrained by Chakotay. She buried her face in her hands, crying. Her tests, her projects, everything has fallen. The storm has settled, yet neither moves from their position. Chakotay senses Kathryn's reluctance to move, and wraps his arms around her, holding her deep into the night.
They go outside to assess the damage and see that it is worse than they had thought. The traps are ruined and so is every chance of escape.
Her eyes are glossy as she looks back at him, "well, that's one way of letting go." His eyes are full of apologies, "I'm sorry..."
They work together to clean up the area around the shelter and return inside at nightfall. Kathryn is rubbing her neck, sore from the day's labor. She giggles slightly to herself, "I guess I'm not used to that type of work, my knots are getting knots!" Chakotay looks up at her rubbing her neck and gets up, testing the waters.
"Here, let me help." Taking her hair, he moved it to the side, and put his hands over hers on her neck, and began moving slowly. She relaxes and slowly sits back into the chair, her eyes closing as she does so as she lets out a small moan, "oh, that feels good." His hands stop and her eyes slowly open. She stands up quickly to face him and smiles, "that's much better, thank you." He gives her a small closed mouth smile as she departs to her bedroom. He looks at her stirring in her bed and sighs, 'will she ever let go of her protocol and just accept it?' he thinks to himself. Just as his head clears the thought, she appears before him, sitting directly in front of him. "We need to talk about this." He sat back, 'great, just great.' he though.
"Ok."
"I think we need to define some...parameters about us."
He kept a straight face, he wouldn't back down this time, "I don't think I can define parameters," he answered without fault. He looked into her eyes and began..."I will tell you an ancient legend..."
Her eyes filled with tears as she smiled, "Is that really an ancient legend?"
He looked down and sheepishly smiled and then looked up with a straight face, "No," he smiled again, "but it made it easier to say."
She kept eye contact with him and put her hand out in front of her and he reached for hers, fingers entwining, eyes connected, and true feelings finally being exposed by one look.
She gets up, "I'll see you in the morning Chakotay."
He smiles and nods.
Chakotay finds Kathryn outside tending to the seeds she had planted close to a month ago.
"I never figured you for a gardener Kathryn!" She looked back at him, rubbing her hands together and picking up her coffee, "Oh yes! I came from a family of gardeners!"
"Let me guess, you hated that too?"
"Of course! Who wanted to be out mucking around in the mud when you could be studying Quadra mechanics?" she laughed.
He looked at her, and smiled, this woman was always full of surprises.
"Come on, I have something in the house I want to show you." She got up and rubbed her hands together, dirt on her face, smiling. They walk into the house and she looks at the computer that has the blue print of a boat on it.
"You always said you wanted to explore the river, well I think I could build that."
She put her arms around him and smiled, "You always know how to make me feel better Chakotay," she put her head on his solid chest. He smiled down at her and looked deeply into her eyes, "About those parameters..." his voice trailed off as she came closer to his face.
She keeps the eye contact and moves closer, "What parameters?" She moves in and gives him a gentle kiss on his lips and moves her arms closer, holding him to her. He moves his arms to her lower back and smiles down at her once they have parted.
"Kathryn..."
"Shh...Chakotay, I have been so blind not to let this happen years ago. I've been running from my feelings, hiding behind star fleet protocol...but Chakotay, there is no Voyager, no Star Fleet to hide behind anymore. There's nothing but you and me. I have wished for this for years, Chakotay, I'm in love with you, always have been." He held her tighter to him and whispered into her ear softly, "I love you too Kathryn Janeway."
She smiled against his chest and sighed. He held her for what seemed like forever. A forever without holding her and then finally she was with him, in his arms. He sighed into her hair and she moved out of his embrace and looked into his eyes. She smiles and walked over to the replecator and orders two cups of coffee and looks into his eyes as she hands him the cup. They sit in silence on the couch they have and the atmosphere is calm and enjoyable. She gets up and moves to the door; "I'll be tending to those tomatoes." He nods and smiles as she goes. He gets up and goes outside. He goes into the woods and gathers some wood. He was going to begin work on the boat for them. Kathryn watches him leave into the woods and smiles to herself. A plan is forming in her mind. She gets up and replicates candles and dinner. She dims the light, lights the candles, and places dinner on the table. She takes the time to walk into her room and gets into a tight red dress with a plunging neck line that she had on Voyager for the occasional shore leaves she took with Chakotay, but never wore. She let her hair hand loosely, curling the ends. She applies lipstick and smiles at her reflection. She walks into the other room briefly and goes back into her room. She hears the front door open and smiles anticipating his reaction. She appears from behind the corridor and gives him and seductive smile. Chakotay's breath stopped in his throat as he takes in the sight of her.
"Spirits......"
She moves toward him and gives him her best smile. He dark red lips reach his pale brown ones and he takes her in his arms, bending into her kiss. She sighs into his mouth and runs her hands over his neck and presses herself into him. She moves back abruptly and smiles, "dinner will get cold if we proceed to desert first." Chakotay takes a mental note of her promise and smiles at her, excusing himself to get dressed.
He came back smelling of ginger spice and was wearing black trousers and a navy blue button up shirt. She watched him sit down and he stared at her contently. The candles sparkled off her eyes, making them shine like all the stars in the universe, and her skin looked as delicate as a blooming flower. They begin to eat in silence when he finally breaks it. "You are extremely beautiful Kathryn."
She blushed, "Thank you Chakotay."
She got up to clear the plates and purposely leaned over him more than was necessary, giving him full access to view her chest. She expected him to keep his control, but in the mist of bending over him he placed feather light kisses along her breasts. Her breath stopped for a moment as she placed the plates back down and took his hands.
"I'll clear them in the morning, it's time for all of our dreams and desires to come to life."
He smiles as she leads him into her bedroom and they look at each other deeply.
"I love you Chakotay..." she moves in and kisses him softly and she smiles. He abruptly moves and kisses her neck and shoulders, moving down to her chest until he is on one knee. He stops his assault and puts a small object from his pocket into his hand and looks up to her. She looks down curiously, "Another surprise Commander?"
He smiles at her and looks deeply into her eyes. "We have come a long way Kathryn. From enemies, to a forced alliance, to friends to lovers. Kathryn Janeway, you are a big part in my life, you bring me a peace I didn't even know was possible and I can't imagine spending my life without you. Kathryn, I love you, I've never known love before..." the ring is exposed in his hand, she gasps and smiles, her eyes filling with tears.
"Will you marry me?"
Her composure is lost and she smiles and grabs him up and kisses him, "Yes...yes Chakotay I will!"
He smiles and gives her a large laugh as he picks her up and swings her around. He frantically kisses her cheek and lips. "Spirits, it will be wonderful! I will make you so happy!"
She laughs with him, the excitement of it all becoming too much, "Of course you will my darling, you always have."
They begin to kiss and fall to the bed when a loud rumble is heard. 'Someone is breaking in...' Chakotay's thoughts were materializing as he ran to get his gun, he stood in front of the door as Kathryn stood behind him. They break the door down and look at Chakotay with a twisted smile. They push past him and grab Kathryn up and carry her halfway out of the shelter. Chakotay growls and attacks the man holding Kathryn, but the man is unharmed. With one arm, Chakotay has been flung across the room hitting the wall and going unconscious. The last image he is left with is Kathryn's screams and her eyes filled with terror.
Screaming, biting, clawing and crying Kathryn tries to break free, but can't. She looks to Chakotay screaming his name, as the ring falls from his hands onto the floor.
-All goes black-
Kathryn wakes up, strapped to a chair in a dismal room. She tries to assess her position, yet can't move enough to even assess the damage to her body. She closes her eyes, trying to recall what happened/ Where she was. Then it all came back to her. Chakotay's proposal, the bang at the door, Chakotay sitting unconscious on the floor. She felt a lump in her throat as a man approached her. His pitch black eyes were staring into her soul. His black skin, and armor made her look away. Those arms could crush her in one swat. -Must not think like that...I will make it out...-
"What do you want with us? We mean no harm...Where am I?"
No reply.
"If we are invading your territory, we mean no harm. We were bit by an insect and your atmosphere is the only thing keeping us alive. We mean no harm, we just want to live our lives in peace. We will not disturb anyone..."
"SILENCE." The hoarse raspy voice made her wish she had never spoken at all.
"You are not welcome here."
She sighed, "We mean no harm. Our shelter, that is where we will stay for our time here. We have no vaccine for our illness, we can't leave or we'll die!" He looks at her with his piercing black eyes, "We have no cure for what you speak."
"We only want peace..."
A blow to her face knocked her to the floor with the chair. The man walks to her and picks it back up, "no more talking."
He walks out silently, no other words were spoken. Kathryn cries, her face red and beginning to swell from the force of the blow. She lets unconsciousness take her over once more.
-Chakotay awakens to a sound on the other side of the room. One of the aliens was still in the shelter. Chakotay looked at the strange being and got up. "Where have you taken Kathryn?"
Chakotay picked up the ring from the floor. He held it closely.
"All in due time."
What a response...
"we are not here as scavengers, we are not here to take over your territory! We were left here due to a fatal illness that keeps us from leaving!" His eyes were cold, looking straight in the eye of the beast. The man looked as though he understood, Chakotay had to try to reason with him. "You see this?" he held up the ring, "the woman you took, Kathryn, is my wife! We are here together, for a peaceful existence, nothing more."
The alien looked curiously at the ring, "we hold marriage very seriously...I will communicate this information."
The alien turned and spoke to his superior by some sort of communications link and turned around. He took Chakotay's arm and lead him out.
-Kathryn was sitting in the chair, groggy but awake when the door opened once more. She screamed, closing her eyes, waiting for another blow to the face as she had received every time someone entered. "Leave me be!" she screamed. She closed hey eyes tighter, wishing for only one person to walk through that door.
Finally she felt something on her shoulder and cried and cringed. "Please...just go..." Chakotay took her face in his hands, "open your eyes darling..." Her ears were playing tricks on her...don't open your eyes...The alien spoke, "It is not proper for husband and wife to be separated where we come from. You two may stay together until further action is taken."
Kathryn opened her eyes and did see Chakotay there. She gasped, trying to break free of her restraints. Chakotay untied her arms and she leapt forward into his arms. She cried into his chest, and held onto him.
"Shh...sweetheart, I'm here now...Kathryn, I'm here." he ran his hands through her hair, trying to make her aware that this was no dream.
She clawed his chest, sobbing.
"I thought I would never see you again! I've been kept here in the dark, starved, beaten the last few days."
He moved her face into the slight light. Her eyes were bruised and swollen and there were hand prints along her cheek.
"Spirits...Kathryn!"
He held her in his arms and she sobbed into his chest harder. The door re-opened. A tall figure they hadn't seen before walked in.
"Ah, my prisoners...How have my guards been treating you?"
Chakotay growled, "This is how! Look at my wife! She has bruises everywhere thanks to you and your men!"
The man pulled Chakotay away from Kathryn and to his feet, "What is your purpose here?"
His eyes turned to stone, "We wish to live out a peaceful existence, since your atmosphere is the only one that will keep us alive. Please, we only wish to survive in the shelter you saw. That's all we ask."
The man seemed to consider Chakotay's words and looked at him.
"Agreed...as long as we never see you anywhere out of those bounds. And as long as you will give us your shuttle craft we saw."
Chakotay looked at him, "Agreed. As long as this," pointing to Kathryn, "never happens again!"
"I assure you, these were not my orders. My orders to my men were to take you both captive until I could decide an appropriate action. After our attack by the borg, we have to be careful. New life on the planet is not tolerated without answers."
Kathryn looked up to him, "the borg attacked here?"
The mans eyes turned soft, "assimilating millions."
"I'm sorry...We have had a few run-ins with the collective as well. We are not here for any purposes as the collectives, we are here to live out a peaceful existence, that's all."
He looked down to her, "You are free to leave. We expect you to stay where we found you and no where else. We can't afford any activity drawing the collective to come back."
"Understood."
-Kathryn was lying in bed while Chakotay was busy expanding the shelter. He was almost done with the expanded bedroom. Now all that was left was moving the furniture in.
As Chakotay finished this out, Kathryn lay in bed, pretending to be asleep. They had left the aliens 4 weeks ago, and they had been more cautious when moving around.
Kathryn looked at her wedding ring and smiled. it's been four months since Voyager departed and she had to say she'd never been happier. There was only one more thing she had left to worry about...
"Kathryn," Chakotay called to her.
She lost her thought and got up. Chakotay looked at her and smiled and signaled to the finished log-cabin bedroom. She held onto his hand as she walked in. There was a double bed with wool covers and a fireplace at the other end of the room. Sand paintings Chakotay had made were there and the room was lit with a small candle on the bedside table. Kathryn smiled as she looked at her husband, "It's wonderful Chakotay, I love it."
"Good, I'm glad. Now, how are you feeling? You've been worrying me, since you've been sick every morning."
She took his hands and sat him down on the bed beside her. She looked into his eyes, "Chakotay...look, I have to tell you something."
"What is it?" His voice grew in excitement and worry.
She took a deep breath, "I'm..." she paused.
"Go ahead Kathryn."
"I'm...pregnant."
His eyes grew in shock as she smiled at him. "Oh, spirits! Kathryn!"
He tackled her on the bed, laughing until he was on top of her. He moved down and kissed her, his eyes slowly closing and their bodies mending into one.
-Kathryn woke up in the bed and rolled over to look at Chakotay. Her eyes were shinning and she felt a happiness fill her that she had never felt before. His eyes fluttered open, "Well good morning." She giggles and rests her head on his chest, "I love you so much Chakotay."
"I love you too," he placed a small kiss on her head and rested it there.
-5 more months pass-
A very pregnant Kathryn walks into the living room of their log cabin home and looks at her husband sitting on the couch. She sits on his lap and smiles, "Hi honey."
"How are we feeling today?" he pats her stomach protectively. "We," she smiles, "are doing just fine."
-Background noises- "Captain Janeway..."
She looks up to the combadge. "What the..." she gets up despite herself and grabs the badge.
"Tuvok to Captain Janeway..."
She touches it, "go ahead..."
"Captain, we have found a cure to your illness and have returned for you and commander Chakotay. We will be back in orbit to beam you up in 36 hours."
"Understood, Janeway out."
She looks to her husband and gives a weak smile. "This will be hard to explain..." she looks down to her pregnant stomach and sighs.
He goes to her and hold her in his arms, "Kathryn...this wont change, my love for you and this unborn child will not change, I love you, do you love me?" his voice is scared and unsure. Now that Voyager is back, will this turn into protocol and visits at night again? He couldn't bear the idea of not sleeping next to her and holding her in his arms.
Her gaze turned soft but serious, "Chakotay, of course I love you! Voyager won't change that." She holds onto him tightly.
"You are my husband on New Earth as well as on Voyager. They will just have to live with it." She plants a gentle kiss on his lips. "Now, what do you say we get one last bath on New earth?"
He smiles and eagerly joins her.
-Back on Voyager-
The crew is standing in the transport room, eagerly awaiting the return of their Captain and Commanding officer. Janeway and Chakotay appear and the crew looks at them in shock. The rings on their fingers and Kathryn's pregnant form give them all an indication of what happened. Kathryn smiles and Tom and B'Elanna give them large smiles.
"Welcome back!" They all exclaim. The doctor smiles, "well captain, I expect to see you in sickbay right away!"
Kathryn takes Chakotay's hand, tired of being stared at like a new panda in the zoo and walks to sickbay.
She sits on the biobed, Chakotay stroking her hair gently. The doctor runs the tricorder over her stomach and smiles approvingly.
"Well, the good news is, you will have a very healthy baby! The bad news is that you will have to deal with telling the crew the story of what happened down there."
Kathryn smiled at her husband and laughed, "All in due time Dr, all in due time. Now if you wouldn't mind, Chakotay and I will be returning to my ready room if anyone needs us right away. We are rather tired from the packing..." her eyes turn sad once more as small tears form in her eyes. Chakotay takes her hand and walks with her down the hall.
"What is it Kathryn?"
"I am just realizing how much I am going to miss our lives down there Chakotay. It was so peaceful...those were the best months of my life." she smiles at him and holds his hand tighter as they enter her ready room.
"It will be alright here as well, as much as I will miss the solitude, at least I know I will have a nice couch to sleep on when you kick me out again!" She laughed at the memory of kicking him out for an evening because she was so moody that he couldn't do anything right.
"You're right, as always...It's just going to be difficult adjusting to life as a Captain again. For close to nine months I have been a wife, and an expecting mother...now I don't have to worry about the lives of myself, my child or you anymore, now I have to worry about the lives of the people who serve under me. It's so much to deal with, especially in my condition."
He kissed her softly on her temple, "We will manage, we always do. Think of it Kathryn, nine months ago you and I were struggling to find peace in ourselves for letting Voyager leave us behind, making a home in a foreign planet. Now look at us, happily married, expecting a child," he patted her stomach once more, "we adjusted there Kathryn. We will adjust once more, we always do."
She looked at him and smiled, "You are always full of the right answers aren't you Chakotay?"
"Aye, Aye Captain."
She punched him in the stomach playfully and laughed, "Let's not get started on that right away! I'm not your captain anymore darling, I'm your wife! A very fat wife with swollen feet, mind you!" He laughed and closed his eyes gently and opened then to look at her.
"A very beautiful, pregnant wife," he looked down, "with swollen feet."
She laughed at him and gave him a soft punch once more. They shared a small kiss when the door chime went off.
"Come in."
Tuvok entered the room and looked at Captain Janeway and Chakotay, "I'm glad to see you safe and healthy Captain. I am sorry for going against direct orders and contacting the Vidiians, but after so many months the crews morale just wasn't raising, so it was what I had to do to save the emotional status of the crew."
"I understand. We are grateful that you did Tuvok. Thank you."
"Now if you will excuse me, I have more work to tend to."
She nodded lightly and looked at Chakotay, "Well darling...I suppose it is time to catch up on what's going on."
She kissed him and walked-waddled- out.
Captain Janeway was sitting in her chair on the bridge and looked out to her people. Harry was standing where he always did, Tuvok had gone back to his station, Tom was in his chair, looking out at the stars, waiting for his command, and Chakotay was sitting next to her, where he belonged. Captain Janeway smiled and gave her orders, "Well we've wasted a lot of time here, lets try to make up for it, Mr. Paris, warp 8."
"Aye, aye Captain!"
The Starship began its course back to the alpha quadrant, and the Captain was walking around, checking all the stations making sure everything was going as planned.
Captain Janeway called out, "Chakotay, I will be in my ready room if you need me."
"Yes Captain."
Janeway walked into her ready room and sat down in her chair. Though things had changed a lot on Voyager, she was still the Captain and had to act as if nothing had changed on New Earth, though everything in her had.
Chakotay looked over to Tuvok, "Tuvok, you have the bridge. I'll be in the ready room." Walking into the ready room he saw Kathryn humped over a PADD, 'just like old times Kathryn...' he thought. She looked up at and him and smiled. She looked back to her PADD, "Chakotay, would you mind replicating some coffee for me?"
"Sure. You really shouldn't drink this stuff so much Kathryn, it might be bad for the baby."
She looked up to Chakotay and laughed, "Ok honey, I will keep that in mind."
"Getting sarcastic with me?"
She laughed harder, "No, me?"
He laughs, "Yes, you!" He sits down on the chair opposite her, across the desk and looks up at her.
"So, how are you feeling?"
She sighed, "As well as I can feel I suppose. I miss our life down there Chakotay, but, it's also comforting to know that we have all of our friends back, and that this baby won't be left alone on the planet to die when we pass..."
He stopped her, "Kathryn, I know, I thought about that too, but now that we're on Voyager, we don't need to worry about it anymore. I worried about that as well, and I know it put a lot of pressure on you, but we're home now."
She smiled, "Yes...home...I suppose Voyager has become home to us Chakotay, along with the rest of the crew."
A chime at the door.
"Come in" Kathryn called.
B'Elanna came in and smiled at Chakotay and Kathryn.
"I just wanted to come in and personally wish you a happy return. I also had some news of my own."
"Oh," Kathryn started, "and what is that?"
She smiled to herself, and looked up to her and Chakotay, "Lieutenant Paris and I have began a romantic relationship, and since I know it's procedure to come to you and tell you first, I wanted to do just that."
Chakotay smiled and laughed slightly at the thought of Tom and B'Elanna, and hugged her.
"That's wonderful news!"
She smiled, "thank you Chakotay. Captain, do you permit it?"
"Of course B'Elanna."
She nodded her head and walked out. Chakotay looked over to his wife and laughed, "Well, I suppose we have set a good example among the crew."
She threw her hands up, "Don't remind me! Now we'll have relationships left and right, and that could mean more families, and less work being done."
"Yes, but, Kathryn, don't you want the crews morale to go back up? If we're stranded out here, we may as well make the best of it, don't you think?"
She sighed, "of course you're right Chakotay," she laughed, "like always."
She got up and gave him a hug as well as she could in her form, "I'm going to go get something to eat. Join me?"
He waved his hand toward the door, "After you."
"Oh Captain, Commander! I wasn't expecting you in here today!" Neelix's happy voice sounded as they walked through the door.
"Oh," Chakotay commented, "and why is that?"
Neelix smiled, "Well because I was preparing a party in your honor! A sort of, welcome home party, among other things. It will be on Holdoeck 2 this evening at 1800 hours. " The small Talaxian smiled.
Captain Janeway smiled, "Well, thank you Neelix. That is very thoughtful."
They arrived at the party that evening and were greeted by the crew. A Welcome Home and Congratulations banner was hanging above them and the Holdoeck was in the image of New Earth. Kathryn smiled and looked around, holding her pregnant stomach, tears coming to her eyes.
"Who made this program?"
Chakotay smiled and whispered into her ear, "As soon as we came home, I recreated New Earth fresh in my memory so that we could visit when we missed it."
She looked at him, a tear rolling onto her cheek, "Thank you Chakotay." She took his hand in hers and they walked toward their old shelter. The crew knew better than to follow them, and they began talking amongst themselves.
Kathryn opened the door and looked upon the place they called home for close to a year. Kathryn walked into the old room that they had shared. She smiled warmly at the scene before her and looked back at Chakotay.
"I love you. Thank you for this."
He smiled at her and took her in his arms, "I wanted us to have an escape when we needed it. Now, lets go back out and attend the party."
Hand in hand they walked back out. The party was a large morale booster for the crew. B'Elanna and Tom were huddled together in a corner, smiling in a way Kathryn had never seen before. Neelix and Kes were together on the rocks laughing and joking about. Tuvok had been in the other corner with Harry playing a game of logic.
Kathryn took her husbands hand and walked around their old surroundings and looked out onto the river again.
"It sure is beautiful, isn't it?"
He sighed, "Yes, it is."
Kathryn smiled and kissed her husband. She jumped back, surprised.
"What, what is it?"
She looked at him and took his hand and moved it to her stomach and Chakotay's eyes filled with tears.
"Our baby is kicking!" She smiled and rejoiced with her husband as some of the crew walked over to witness the Captain's delight. They all stood still, watching their strong Captain embrace her husband, crying and smiling all at once. One by one the observers hugged the Captain and walked away, smiling and happy that she had finally found what she was looking for in life.
-3 1/2 months pass-
Captain Kathryn Janeway is lying on her couch in her ready room, holding her extremely pregnant stomach and moaning. "Chakotay!" She called out, knowing he wasn't there. Hitting her combadge she called out, "Captain to Chakotay" "Go ahead" "I need to be moved on my side..." Light chuckles are heard, "Understood, Chakotay out."
Three minutes later he was by her side helping her move to her side and giving her some water to drink.
"Kathryn, honey, I know that you hate going to see the Dr. but you have had back pains all afternoon, don't you think it's time for a visit?"
She looked at him, "Ok...fine...I suppose it couldn't hurt."
She struggled with getting up and finally Chakotay helped her and supported her back while she got balance and they walked to Sickbay.
Upon entering sickbay the Dr. got up and went to the biobed that Kathryn had sat down on. He ran a tricorder over Kathryn's stomach and smiled happily.
"Commander, you will have to get someone to cover your shift as well as the captains. Your wife is in the early stages of labor."
Kathryn's eyes went wide and she looked fearfully at Chakotay.
"Understood, I'll be back in a moment."
Chakotay went to the Bridge and smiled happily at Tom. He then turned to Tuvok, "Tuvok, the Captain is in labor, you have the bridge until further notice."
"Understood sir."
Chakotay ignored the smiling faces of his crew, minus Tuvok's unchanging expression and walked back to Sickbay.
-5 hours later-
Loud screams are heard as Kathryn wiggles against the bed, crying and screaming, perspiration dripping from her face. Chakotay is holding her hand as she nearly crushes it and he is handing her ice chips by the second.
"It's ok Kathryn, breathe. Just keep breathing and it will all be over soon."
Her face is red and twisted, "how about this, you come down here, deliver this baby and fucking leave me be! I'll NEVER let you touch me ever again! You hear me! Never!"
He hid his smile, "Ok darling, I understand, just breathe for me and I will never touch you again."
She sighed as the contraction passed and she rested her head into the pillow.
-another four hours later-
"Captain, on my mark you have to push, do you understand?"
She screamed again.
"PUSH."
She bore down with everything she could and fell back onto the bed.
"Ok Captain, you're doing fine, just a few more and this will all be over."
Chakotay held her hand and wiped her forehead with a wet rag and kissed her cheek. "Almost over Kathryn...just keep pushing darling...just a few more."
"PUSH CAPTAIN!"
Kathryn again bore down with all she could and the Dr. announced that the head was crowning.
"Ok Captain, one more and we will introduce you to your baby. Ok push Captain!"
Kathryn pushed with all her might and fell back to the pillow as soon as she heard the sounds of her baby crying. The Dr. held the newborn in his arms, "Captain, Commander, I'd like to introduce you to your daughter."
Kathryn cried, but this time out of joy and not pain. She held her arms out after the Dr. had finished cleaning the child up and placed her in Kathryn's arms. Chakotay smiled, tears in his eyes as he kissed his wife.
"She's beautiful Kathryn."
She looked at him and smiled, "what should we name her?"
"Aeriella...we should name her Aeriella."
Kathryn smiled and kissed her husband and then looked to her daughter, "Welcome home Aeriella."
B'Elanna and Tom wandered into the room as soon as Chakotay said it was alright, along with Harry, Neelix, Kes and Tuvok. They all (minus Tuvok) smiled at the Captain and Chakotay and the newborn in her arms. The Dr. stood with the crew and had a smile on his face.
"Everyone," Chakotay started, "this is Aeriella. Aeriella, meet your family."
As the happy scene unfolded, the stars were shinning brightly onto the Captain, her husband, their new daughter and the crew that had become a family.