"That's no moon!" Paris squealed in delight, laying his eyes upon the Enterprise-E.
"That would be illogical. I thought we had established, Mr Paris, that this was indeed a ship, and that there weren't any moons in the immediate vicinity." Tuvok rambled, completely missing the joke. His Vulcan eyebrows raised when he spoke, and this made Paris laugh.
"Tuvok, it's from Star Wars!" Tom tried to explain himself.
"What is this… Star Wars?" Janeway pushed herself into the conversation, cradling a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but the top was still anti-gravitational, which never ceased to amaze Paris.
"It's a-" Paris's hands floated around in the air, trying to find the right words. "It's an old Earth movie series." He crossed his arms and acted cool. "Kind of like a cult-series. I was totally into it." He leaned against the bulkhead as though he were jock and pretended to admire himself.
Janeway laughed and she put a hand on Tom's shoulder, but Tuvok had lost interest and walked away. "Tom, this is why I filed to have you on my ship again." She paused and tried to catch her breath between laughs. "You're a great source of entertainment!" She chuckled to herself and Tom smiled, glad he could provide some fun in such a serious crew.
"Always glad to help Captain!" He saluted. Janeway frowned at the use of her old title, preferring to go by Admiral now that she had been promoted. But she let it slide when she saw that Tom had caught sight of B'elanna. She sipped at her coffee slowly while Tom bounded off to see his wife, and their newborn daughter. Now that they had made it back home, she found it strange to see her whole crew together again. Granted, it was a farewell party for her and the former senior officers, but It was still strange.
Chakotay came over at that moment and hugged her. "It's good to see you again, Kathryn." He smiled and his tattoo stretched.
"Ah! You too Chakotay!" Janeway flashed a brilliant white smile and tucked some loose hair behind her ear. She rotated the cup of coffee in her hands and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she spoke again. "I was sorry to hear that you were dismissed." She said, and she truly meant it. When Voyager had returned, Chakotay and B'elanna were dismissed from Starfleet as punishment for their loyalty to the Maquis. B'elanna didn't mind, as she could find engineering work elsewhere, and actually preferred to stay home with Miral, but it hit Chakotay hard.
"I was too." He said, and looked thoughtfully into the distance. "But then I realized something."
"What?" Janeway felt the word escape, but she didn't remember even thinking it.
"My not being in Starfleet takes down a lot of barriers that came between us." He looked into Janeway's eyes cheekily and she smiled, completely oblivious to his flirting.
A high pinging noise resounded and all eyes in the room turned to a man in his late seventies, an Admiral Paris that Janeway had known since her days at the academy.
"It is my pleasure," The old man said with a deep, loud voice. "To send Admiral Janeway and her new crew on their maiden voyage on the new, Enterprise-class starship that you can see out the many windows. The Enterprise E!" Admiral Paris smiled and held a glass in the air. It was filled halfway with a clear bubbly liquid. "Here's to the finest crew in Starfleet!"
'Here Here!" hundreds of voices rang out in the hall, all wishing the crew a happy, safe voyage of intrigue and discovery.
"Kathryn?" Chakotay asked, still standing by her side.
"Yes Chakotay?" She swivelled and faced him, and found that his eyes were already trained on hers.
"How long will you be gone?" He asked softly, as he gently tucked that same piece of loose hair behind Janeway's ear again. His fingers lingered on her cheek.
"I don't know." Janeway looked away, and held his hand in hers, barely off of her face. "A year." She said, sounding sad. "Maybe more." She looked back at Chakotay and he let his arm fall to his side.
"Oh." He said. "I'll miss you while you're gone." He smiled awkwardly.
"I'll miss you too Chakotay." Kathryn smiled and hugged him.
When she pulled away he asked, looking at his feet, "Do you think, that when you get back…" He trailed off.
"That what?"
"That we could go for dinner on Vulcan, or for a day or two on Riza?" He looked up at her hopefully, much as a puppy looks at a potential playmate.
"That sounds wonderful." Janeway smiled brightly and kissed him on the cheek.
"Wow, wow, wow!" Tom's voice sneaked into their private moment. "Is this what I think it is?" He mock gasped and continued. "You're telling me that you wait until after my betted on time to get together?" He mocked hurt. "And worst of all..." He paused dramatically, a single finger held in the air. "This means Harry wins!" He frowned.
"Wait… Who wins what?" A familiar voice called from behind Tom. Tom turned to see Harry, who was leading an alien wife by her arm.
"Oh, nothing. I was just kidding." Tom quickly covered up, lying through his teeth.
"Okay, Chakotay, it was nice talking to you, good to see you Kim, but I really must be going," Janeway said, taking the last few gulps from her coffee and setting the cup down on the closest table.
"Oh Kathyrn, remember my offer." Chakotay winked at her and she laughed, forgetting just how much she cared for him.
"Sure thing Chakotay. I'll see you all later." And she boarded the Enterprise-E.