She's what makes the difference.
Because of her, the Delta Quadrant and their journey really do seem worth it.
She's not a guarantee for a happily ever after, and she isn't the answer to why they're here. Well, of course she is, in a way. She got them in the DQ, but he means the question why they, as human beings, are here, on earth.
She's not the most beautiful orchestra that plays during a romantic scene and she's not a nice set of cool sheets when he's got a fever. But somehow she makes the difference. She manages to make things matter, the very small things. She wouldn't ever dote on him, she sends him to the Doctor to get a hypo spray and expects him to be on time for his next shift. He is, though slightly unstable on his feet. But he knows that she'll somehow make up for it.
She's not the rhythm of his heart and she's not his guilty conscience. She got him out of New- Zealand and onto a starship. But she doesn't remind him that he's technically a criminal. In her eyes, he somehow becomes a man, and not a number in a prison.
Though she's not a number one song that keeps playing in his head, she's his favorite kind of music. Over the years, her orders and commands have turned into his sweetest melody. Her laughter gets him on his knees and the way she says she loves him makes him want to reach out to the stars and die.
She's not the last way out that everyone's forgotten, she's not the savior of the world. She's saved the whole crew, that's for sure, but it's the harsh truth that, even though people would've missed them, the world wouldn't end with the loss of the Voyager crew. But she makes him and the crew feel special. They do matter. But she matters most.
Somehow, in the back of his head, she always makes the difference. She's what printed his pencil etched future in bold colors.
She made everything come alive, even though she nearly always had a horrible timing. She didn't arrive on time, stayed too long or left too soon.
Yet she made all the difference in the world to Tom Paris.
She wasn't the oasis that he had longed for after years in the desert, and she can't stop the tide.
She's not a flower in a garden and she's not a hand that reaches out in his darkest days.
She's not the anchor in the night that keeps him in one place. She's not his guide, nor the star that keeps him straight on course.
She doesn't laugh at his jokes to make him feel better. Even if the jokes are horrible and he's had a bad day. She never fails to point out what's wrong with it or ask him questions that confuse him.
But she made all the difference in the world.
She managed to worm her way into his heart. And now, this irresistible desire has taken hold of him and, even though she shouldn't be right for him, she is.
There are a lot of things she isn't. But there are so much more things she is. And that's what makes the difference for Tom.
She can make waking up something pleasant and looking into her eyes is something he'll always want to be the first thing he sees every morning.
She's what makes his world go around. She's the air that he breathes and she's what keeps him with his two feet firmly on the ground.
She doesn't lead him on, she's straightforward. She tells him she loves him every few days. Not out of habit, but because she feels like saying it.
He just smiles and kisses her.
She's, in a way, a wicked, wicked woman and he loves it. She kisses him in the rain on a planet during shore leave. She makes love to him in the rain on a planet during shore leave.
She's his Captain. Even if she wasn't his gravity, he would've loved her unconditionally. She's the Captain everyone would die for. She's the Captain people did die for. He loves her even more to try to take that weight on her shoulders.
She's his Kathryn.