Author's Note: I got the idea for this short "glimpse of life" after reading Laura W.'s story "Never Young." I so love the idea of Kathryn and Chakotay growing old together and sharing a lifetime. Thanks for the inspiration, Laura!

I wake to an early stillness, faint light filtering in around the edges of the curtains, like pastels - soft yellow and pink, a morning blush on ivory walls.

Gentle snoring fills the room – a sound he staunchly denies in the light of day – a sound I have grown to love, hearing it in my dreams.

I feel the heat of him beside me, his solid weight and bulk heavy in the middle of our bed – like sleeping with an old-fashioned furnace, and, turning over, I move closer to his warmth.

I watch the steady rise and fall of his chest, smooth and bare, still firm after all these years - and I long to touch him, to run my hands over muscle and bone, from chiseled ribs to the softness of his stomach.

Yet, not wanting to wake him, I simply reach out and hold my hand to the back of his head.

His hair is silver now, almost white against bronze skin, like a line of clouds at sunset, separating night from day, wisps of corn silk on the pillow beside me, soft between my fingers.

~vVv~

A gentle touch whispers along my neck, and I open my eyes, the room around me still shadowed and barely lit, the guarded glow of sunrise behind curtained windows.

A soft rustle over my shoulder – the movement of arms and legs – and I know she is awake.

I feel the softness of her, pressed along my side, breasts and hips and thighs – perfectly sculpted and molded against me – a work of art wrought by old world masters.

Turning over, I see the grey-blue storm of her eyes, clouded with sleep, watching me. And I smile. The gaze is not predatory but still possessive – an ownership I gladly accepted a lifetime ago in that first moment on Voyager's bridge.

As she moves closer onto my pillow, her hair brushes against my cheek, threads of copper and spun gold, a trace of platinum, fanned on white linen, and I reach out to touch her, precious metals in my hand.

~The End~