Author's Note: Thank you again to everyone for taking the time to read my stories and especially to those of you who drop me a note now and again. I do hope you enjoy what I've written. Just a quick heads up for this premise: I believe in the actual series, Chakotay and Seven were aware of Admiral Janeway's future predictions for them in Endgame. In this story, they do not. Happy reading!

Janeway sat alone at her desk in her ready room and watched the familiar stars of the Alpha Quadrant rush by for the first time in seven years. Her door chimed and she called for the person to enter. Chakotay walked in and she motioned him to a chair in front of her desk.

"We're home," she said.

"Yes," Chakotay answered. "You did it."

She smiled as Voyager raced towards Earth. "We did it."

Silence grew between them and Chakotay leaned forward and took her hand in his. His soft touch stroked at her fingers until she pulled away from him. She busied herself with a padd and he sat back with a sigh. "May I ask what Admiral Janeway shared with you?"

Without looking at him, she replied, "You know what she shared. She gave us the information we needed to get home."

"She did more than that." Chakotay took the padd out of her hands. "What else did she say?"

Janeway took the padd back. "We're going to have a lot of briefings to get through once we dock. You should be prepared."

"I am prepared and you're avoiding my question. What did she say, Kathryn? Was it something about me? Something about us?"

Janeway fingered her padd. "I can't tell you, Chakotay. Temporal prime directive."

He chuckled. "The temporal prime directive went out the window when your future self traveled back here and changed our entire futures."

"Maybe."

Chakotay took the padd out of her hands again and placed it back on the desk. "What did she tell you? It was more than just about coming home. Was it something about us?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. You just said that future has changed."

Chakotay folded his arms against his chest. "I think I have the right to know what you did with my life."

She looked at him and said, "Really? I never took you for the narcissistic type. Do you really believe my…her main objective in coming back here was to enlighten me on what our personal relationship becomes?"

"What does it become?" She averted his gaze and picked up another padd. He relaxed his arms to come closer. "Obviously her main objective was to get all of us home. But, I think there was something else. Something about us or about me that entered into her decision to do what she did. I saw the way she looked at me while she was here. It was the same expression you have now. Regret."

Janeway fingered the padd. "I have regrets about a lot of things, Chakotay and so did she. I believe the regret you saw in her was that she was not able to get us home any faster than she originally did. That's why she came back and rectified it."

"Why? What happened in her timeline because she couldn't get us home as fast as we have now?"

She dropped the padd on her desk and rubbed at her forehead. "I don't know, Chakotay. It was a five second conversation in the hallway. I have no idea about what happened except…"

Chakotay straightened up. "Except what?"

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She pushed her hair out of her face and said, "All the Admiral told me was that if I didn't get you and the rest of the crew home, I would lose more members of my crew."

"You already know that and so did she. Any Captain knows the longer they're out in space…" Chakotay lapsed into silence. "I see," he said finally. "And I'm guessing she…you lost someone you really cared about." He licked his lips. "Was it me?"

"No," she said softly, "You made it home."

"I don't think I believe you."

A tear slipped down her cheek. She leaned her head back against the chair and quietly wiped it away.

"Did something happen after we got home?" He watched her fidget. "Something did happen after we got home." He grabbed her arm. "You're avoiding my question, Kathryn. I haven't spent the last seven years with you without knowing when you're being dishonest with me. You're holding back. What won't you tell me?"

She shook her head and pulled away again. "It doesn't matter anymore, Chakotay. We're home now. Those lives that Admiral Janeway knew don't exist anymore." She piled her padds together on her desk and punched at her computer. "Enjoy your new life. You and Seven and the rest of the crew have a whole future to look forward to now that we're away from the Delta Quadrant."

He studied her for a moment. "Seven and I and the rest of the crew plan to."

"Good. I have a lot to do." She glanced over and said, "You won't leave without saying goodbye, will you?"

"The crew, Seven, or me?" Chakotay rose and put his hands on his hips. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." He walked over to the door. It opened to let him leave but he hesitated. "You know, you have a whole life to live now too, Captain. My final recommendation as your first officer is that I want you live it. And, since I won't be an officer any longer under your command, I fully intend to make sure you do. You and I are never going to say goodbye, Kathryn, not in this timeline or in any other one."

Janeway saw his smile and the determination in his dark eyes before he turned and walked out her door leaving her for the final time on Voyager, alone, once again.