October 2012
Author's Note: J/C Resolutions angst for everyone! Hooray! For this story, just assume they were totally doing it on New Earth. I know they weren't, but it makes the angst more- well, angsty. Don't forget to leave a review:)
Chakotay checked the chronometer on his PADD as he made his way to the ready room, nodding at the gamma shift as he went. It was 0300 hours and she wasn't supposed to be on duty, but Captain Janeway was still reading on the sofa with a cooling cup of coffee when he entered the unsealed doors.
When he approached, Janeway glanced up and flashed a weary smile.
"Catching up on those reports, Captain?" he inquired.
Since their return from New Earth, both he and his captain had been busy reading up on the surprising number of ship's logs and updates that had been filed in their absence.
Janeway nodded as she straightened up and set the PADD down. A few strands of auburn hair fell over her neck, which she rubbed while wincing slightly.
Chakotay's brow wrinkled- when they were on New Earth, he could've simply taken her in his arms and kissed the tension away from her slender frame bit by delicious bit while she giggled as though she'd never even heard the words "Delta Quadrant". Tonight, however, that command red might has well have been a force field warning him away.
Chakotay settled for stepping closer and gently setting his own report down on the coffee table.
"How are you, Kathryn?" he murmured.
Janeway rose gracefully and her piercing stare flitted to the window. How she had fought to bring them back to these skies, how she wept when she thought they'd be trapped on that planet forever- and how, unexpectedly, her heart broke when Voyager returned for them.
Finally, she spoke. "I miss New Earth- and I miss us."
She glanced back to see Chakotay's deep brown eyes downcast. "I know it was my idea to end our relationship and I've got no right to complain. I'm sorry I hurt you, Chakotay." Janeway said softly, even while a suspicious brightness glimmered in her eyes at her own pain.
Chakotay's gaze flickered up to meet hers. He reached forward and took her slender hand in his own. Without breaking eye contact, he arranged her fingers so they interlocked perfectly with his, palm to warm palm.
Janeway could not help but let a tear escape her blurring vision; she was being pulled back to the first night she'd spent entwined with him in his bed, when, in the middle of their urgency, he'd paused just to savor the feel of her hand in his; she was once again under the table while a storm destroyed all their hopes of returning home and Chakotay was clutching her hand while she cried; to even before that, on Voyager, when she feared that some crew would stay behind on a rare idyllic planet they'd found, he'd gripped her hand and told her that they'd face everything together.
"It's alright, Kathryn," Chakotay said quietly. He squeezed her hand gently. "Some wounds are meant to be honored."
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think in a review:)