Star Trek Voyager characters are the property of Paramount Pictures
The Gift
Sometimes things can be whatever we want them to be.
Sometimes what we cannot see is more valuable than what we can.
Sometimes a box is just a box.
Chakotay thought of the words Kathryn had written in his birthday card as he carefully held the gift she had given him with it. It was a red box, an empty shiny red cardboard box. She had given it to him that morning, wrapped in a gold ribbon that was carefully tied in a bow. She had visited his quarters especially to give it to him, but had not stayed to watch him open it. When she had gone, he had untied the ribbon and opened the box, only to find it was empty. His immediate thought was that she had forgotten to put his gift inside or was playing a joke on him, but when he opened the card she had given him with it and read what Kathryn had written, he knew that it was infinitely more. At least it could be if he wanted it to be. Or it could be just an empty red cardboard box.
Kathryn sat before a window of stars and gazed into the blackness. It had been over ten hours since she had given Chakotay his gift and while she had seen him briefly in the Mess Hall that afternoon, he had not mentioned it. He clearly wanted it to be nothing more than a box. Suddenly the door chime sounded. Kathryn stood up and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Come in."
The gray doors opened and Chakotay stepped inside. He walked over to her and stood before her.
"Thank you," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. "No gift could ever be more precious."
Kathryn smiled through tears and Chakotay slowly, tenderly, raised her face to level his and kissed her softly.
The End