Disclaimer: Lets all say in chorus after me:
"I will listen to Paramount. Paramount is God. And if you ever steal Paramounts characters, Paramount will rip your lounges out."

Since I wanna keep my lounges I dont steal Paramounts characters. I only borrow them.

Shooting Star
by Camilla Sandman

II

Its cold in space. Cold, and quiet. So peacefully quiet. So vast and yet so small. Billions of years pass by like seconds, tick a star rise, tock a star fall, unchangeable for eternity, a quiet song without a singer. From the stars we came, and to the stars we will return. Some day.
For as long as the universe has existed, lifeforms have seeked space to tame it, conquer it...
And as so many before them, so were this ship, seeking home, trying to defeat a great distance, never giving up. A ship called Voyager. All alone in the vast coldness of space.

Lives are too short. All things die, only the cold space is forever.

We are given so short lives because only then can we fully appriciate it. Only then can we embrace the moments and savor them, only then can we believe that love is eternal, only in the threath of death can we truely live.

The ship rocked slightly.

On the bridge, Kathryn Janeway lost her footing and fell into the arms of her First Officer.

Tock... A star fall

"Are you allright, Captain?" His face held a little smile as he said it, his eyes for a second showing something she feared more than anything.

"Fine," she hastily added, getting up before her position felt too comfortable.

"Report."

"We were hit by an energy wave from an unknow location, Captain."

Sighing, she dropped into her chair.

"Try tracking the wave, Ensign."

Sahe could feel Chakotays look on her, but refused to give in to temptation and return the glare. Instead she kept them locked on the monitor. After a while she heard him sighing and look away.

Only then did she look at him. He looked tense, his full lips pressed together.. She felt an urge to go over to him and taste them, but she resisted it, feeling a slight panic rise.

It would have been so much simpler to deal with his feelings for her if she hadnt had feelings for him. They had both known from the beginning, but somehow keeping them locked away, blaming protocol and Starfleet. Then, stranded together they had acknowledged them, planning to start a life together. But Voyager had come back.

So they had forgotten the moments they had instead of treasuring them.

Life is too short to allow mistakes like that.

And now, as the years passed, it became worse. The feelings only deepened, and so alone in space one always needs comforting.

They had comforted each other on several occations. But each time pushing the moments away instead of embracing them, claiming the fate of the ship needed to come first.

So easy to forget.

She had forgotten their first kiss, like a spring breeze melting ice after a longer winter. Dancing together, he had suddenly placed a hand on her cheek, titlting her head on up so he could bring his lips down on hers. The way his tounged had explored her mouth had her head swim, his lips had felt so warm and full against her skin. And all the time they kept dancing slowly to the rythm of their hearts. So much easier to forget.

She had forgotten the first time they made love. How they wanted to apoligize after the Borg incident and ended up sleeping together. How they had made slowly love to one another, their bodies a perfect fit. His hands had touched every centimeter of skin, bringing her pleasure she had never felt before. He had brought her a climax like no one else before him, all the time while whispering her name like a soft caress. So much easier to forget.

She had forgotten how it was like to sleep in his arms. His strong, protective arms. How she felt completly happy, completly save as never before in her life. Their bodies tangled, another way of making love. His sweet breath on her skin, caressing her. So much easier to forget.

It was easier. Easier to forget than relive how they seemed to be perfect together. How their souls and bodies needed to be one. How love were always in their eyes. How they could not keep distance to each other no matter what.

So easy to forget.

And so hard to live without.

"Captain, the energy waves... Its a wormhole!"

She suddenly felt numb, her eyes wondering to Chakotay without thinking. He quickly returned it, his surprise as great as his.

The ship rocked hard.

She fell against something soft, strong arms around her. Falling debris everywhere. A sense of death in the air.

"Engines are dead!"

Harrys voice was far away. She was lying under debris, her body close to Chakotays. She shifted slightly to meet his glare, both knowing what would happen.

"Chakotay, Im so sorry..."

"No words," he whispered softly.

His lips found hers, she pulled him as close as she could, hearing the alarm bells go off weakly. The kiss was urgent, desperate, needing to cover too much terretority in too little time. She could taste blood from a cut in his upper lip, she traced it slowly with her tounge, willing the death in the air away.

As they both slowed down, his hands wondering down to her breats, letting them rest there gently, all of her memories finally being allowed to escape, she suddenly felt very alive.

And so came death to Voyager.

The explotion rocked the ship, teared at it. Janeway felt Chakotays arms almost crush her against him, their mouths still desperatly locked in one another. And then came the end, in fire.But seen from a distance, the ship looked like a star, shining greatly before falling. A shooting star - make a wish...And space was as before. Cold, quiet, peacefull. A beautiful grave. At one with the stars. Forever.