Author's note: This vignette is based off the final scene of the fabulous story "In Memoriam" by KJaneway115 and therefore it is recommended that you read that story first in order to better understand this one. Many thanks to her for graciously allowing my muse to play in her sandbox. This was also written for the following prompts at Caesar's Palace forum: green and gold (color challenge), forest (Epic challenge) and clouds (Darkness challenge).

Legal B.S.: Star Trek Voyager and all canon elements are owned by Paramount/CBS. We shippers only own our dreams that they never gave us onscreen. (And they can't have them either!)

Síocháin

Warmth. It tickled her senses and soothed her in the same instant, pushing away the chill that had formerly held its grip on her. She opened her eyes to meet the light that was its source, its rays shining down to surround her.

The impulse to look back one final time at where she had been struck her, but the brilliant golden light encircled her, growing brighter by the moment until she was encompassed in its radiance. Despite its blinding gleam, her eyes didn't burn or sting and a few blinks brought her vision back into focus almost immediately. The outline of clouds was the first thing to become visible as she looked around at her new surroundings; they seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, if there was a horizon. The light made it hard to tell.

As though her train of thought had willed it, the light dimmed by slow increments and the clouds began to change shape too, shifting and shrinking, forming into...leaves? She blinked again. The clouds were gone and she now stood in a very familiar forest glade, green-tinted light spreading its rays in dappled patterns across the grass beneath her feet. Patches of blue sky were visible through the uppermost branches far above where she stood. A warm zephyr caressed her skin, blowing with it a faint sound she immediately recognized on some instinctive level. She couldn't put a name to the sound, but she knew it. A small smile formed on her face and she followed the sound as it floated on the breeze, knowing what she would find at its source.

After only a minute's walk, the trees opened up into a much larger clearing, dominated at its far end by a sturdy cabin and, beside it, an empty patch of tilled ground waiting to be sown. Halfway between the cabin and the edge of the tree line where she stood was a workbench, its surface covered with a neat semicircle of tools and a partially done carving. And standing next to the bench was him.

She smiled again at the sight of her beloved, blinking back tears. How she had missed him these past years they had been separated. Oh, she'd had her memories to treasure and reflect upon, and, of course, their family—the living legacy of their deep and abiding love. But the memories had been incomparable to his presence at her side. To see him again—to know he was here...

He turned toward her at that moment and the smile that lit up his face made hers widen. She called his name and he opened his arms to her. And then she was in his arms without realizing that she had run to meet him. She melted into his touch as his hands moved in caressing motions over her hair, down her arms and back, as if he were learning the feel of her again. He whispered her name into her hair and she held him closer for a long moment before leaning back to look up into his beautiful dark eyes. He bent his head to kiss her softly and she reveled in the warmth that flowed through her at the contact. "Oh, Chakotay, how I've missed you."

"And you, my love. I've been waiting for you."

"I know."

He drew her close and she leaned her head on his chest, feeling and hearing the steady, strong thump of his heart against her cheek and she relaxed in the familiar sound and the warmth of his embrace. This was what she had missed. And now that they were together again, the missing piece of her soul was back where it belonged and everything felt right once more.

She was at peace.

*fin*