I've Looked Into the Face of an Angel
Growing up in a household with an older sister and a younger one, there was always girls around. Some of them drove me crazy. Girls don't like talking about the stars and planets far away. All they seemed to want to talk about is makeup and clothes. Who cares about makeup and clothes? It's the person inside that counts! I use to talk to my mother a lot. Later in life, when I thought about her, I almost always thought of her in the kitchen making our meals and talking to me as I sat at the table carving. Sometimes I would help her with the meal.
One day as we were talking, she said, "Chakotay, most boys your age are dating. There are plenty of girls that come to the house, but I never see you with any of them."
"I like some of them, mom. Just not enough to want to spend a lot of time with them. I want someone special in my life."
She wiped her hands on her apron and sat down at the table. She reached across the table and held my hand, "Someday, Chakotay you will look into the face of an angel and you will want her with all your heart and soul. And, she will want you."
"I've never seen any of the girls here that look like an angel, none are that pretty."
"Beauty has nothing to do with it, Chakotay. She could be the ugliest girl in the world, but to you she'll look like an angel. Don't be fooled by beauty. When you meet her, you will know."
I finally left Dorvan and went to Earth to the Academy. There were a lot of girls there as well. Some where quite beautiful, but none looked like an angel to me. I was disappointed that I'd never find someone with the face of an angel.
I finished the Academy. I even finally became a Captain in Starfleet. I still searched for that angel. It just didn't seem to want to happen. Maybe I was destined to be alone the rest of my life. Oh, I had plenty of women in my bed, but none that I would want to spend the rest of my life with.
After the Cardassians destroyed Dorvan, I resigned from Starfleet and joined the Maquis. The Maquis had women from many different planets, but none had the face of an angel. I bedded some of them, but they were just a warm body to be with on cold nights.
A couple of years after joining the Maquis, our ship, the Liberty, was hit by a distortion wave and brought 70,000 light years from home. Having an old ship, which was barely held together, I knew we'd never make it back home.
But, suddenly, there was another ship there - a Starfleet vessel, called Voyager. They had been sent to the Badlands to arrest us.
Ayala told me that their Captain was wanting to talk to me on the view screen. I went over to the screen, and for the first time in my life I looked into the face of an angel. Her name was Kathryn Janeway.
That was twenty years ago. A lot has happened since then. We combined crews. I destroyed my ship for the good of us all. We crossed the Delta Quadrant and got home in seven years. We got married and had two children. Both our daughters look like her.
I count my blessings. I was lucky. I found my angel. I now understand everything my mother tried to tell me back then. Kathryn is a beautiful woman, but she's so much more than that. She's everything I've ever wanted in a woman. I'd follow her to the end of the world and back. After all I followed her across hell to home!