Standard disclaimer: I don't own Voyager, the characters or the Voyager franchise. I'm just having fun playing with the characters.

Chakotay eyed the drawer again.

He was sitting in his classroom at the Academy. He'd accepted the offer to teach anthropology, and found that he loved it just as much as he thought he would, if not more. He'd thought about whether or not he'd stay in Starfleet a lot in the days leading up to Voyager's triumphant return to the Alpha Quadrant, but once he arrived the decision had been surprisingly simple.

He'd been in space a long time, and didn't particularly feel like going to space again.

Chakotay opened the drawer.

The box had been in the desk as long as he'd been at the Academy; about three months now. Before that it had been in a different drawer in the nightstand beside his bed in his quarters on Voyager. It had only left that spot one other time, for a few weeks, where it had been placed in a small box of other treasures that he kept under his bed on New Earth. He hadn't opened the box in a long time, but Seven of Nine had just left.

"Chakotay?" She stepped in the door, look uncharacteristically unsure. She stayed there in the doorway, not quite looking at him with her hands clenched behind her back.

"Hey!" he said, genuinely happy to see her. "I was beginning to think I'd have to file a missing person's report!"

"I do apologize for the lack of communication," she began, finally meeting his eyes. "It was not my intention to worry you. After our last conversation I felt the need to determine, on my own, whether or not to continue with this relationship."

"What?!" He was caught off-guard. He couldn't remember saying anything so serious during their last date. They'd just had dinner and then he'd walked her to the transport hub and then that was it.

"At dinner," her face looked more normal now. She was less unsure, fixing her eyes on him with a single raised eyebrow. He often thought that her look of pure incredulity when she thought someone was being unreasonable, stupid or inefficient was probably the first truly human behavioral tick she'd ever had. "I casually suggested that we might consider cohabitation in light of the difficulty we've had in scheduling time with one another. You did not refuse, but you changed the subject and seemed to have no interest in entertaining the idea. I did not find this offensive, but it is not like you to deviate from a topic of conversation like that and the behavior is not consistent with what I know about human relationships." She took a deep breath. "I came here to inform you that I have decided to discontinue our romantic relationship."

"What!" he was visibly agitated now. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. "Over that?"

"Actually, no" she said, still alarmingly more comfortable than she'd looked walking into the office. "I believe I found an explanation for your behavior while reviewing your personal logs over the last few years."

"My logs?" he felt that he should be enraged. He was… sort of. He was still struck by how an innocuous change in subject could have resulted in this bizarre confrontation now.

"Yes," she said. "I apologize for the breach in privacy, but our last meeting is not the only time during our brief relationship where you've been difficult to communicate with. If you were more forthcoming I might have pursued the subject with you directly. However, in the past, similar efforts have not resulted in your being forthcoming, and I decided that approaching you directly might be an inefficient use of my time."

"Well," he swallowed. She was standing in front of him, terminating their relationship as she would a defective circuit, and she was acting just as casually. "What did you find that made you come to this… conclusion?"

"Of course," she said, suddenly seeming to realize that she hadn't clued him in to the real purpose behind her sudden action. She looked down again, her fortitude seeming to waver. "Chakotay, I believe you are 'in love,'" she struggled with the words, as though she was still having trouble understanding the meaning of them, "with Captain Janeway."

The shock was a punch to the chest. He tried to speak, several times. He would begin, and then stop. He looked behind him, at his desk; at the drawer.

"Why?" he said. "Why would you think that?"

"There are several references to your feelings for her throughout your logs. There were not many in the recent year, but I see no evidence in the logs or in your behavior that leads me to believe those feelings have changed."

"I did feel that way at one time Seven, but," he stopped. Seven had put up her hand. It was the first time he'd seen her use a cue like that.

"Understand Chakotay that I don't expect you to be more forthcoming, and that I am not hurt by this revelation. I'm actually quite flattered that you considered me a worthy replacement. But I'm sure that I would only be a replacement, and not an adequate one. Even if I were, I believe that this history would add a level of complication and complexity to our relationship that I am not ready for."

"It sounds like you've made up your mind," he said softly. It was incredibly difficult sometimes, to argue with Seven.

"I believe I made that clear." She was raising her eyebrow again. "I hope to continue our relationship in a friendship capacity."

"I don't know if you're aware of how cliché that sounds," he almost laughed, but didn't.

"Actually the Doctor mentioned it to me when I discussed this impending conversation with him."

"You talked to the Doctor about this?"

"Chakotay," she seemed unwilling to tolerate his tendency to change the subject any longer. "I am not only doing this solely for my own benefit. You love the Captain. You have always loved the Captain. She is no longer your Captain. You are no longer in a command structure. A relationship with me is an inefficient use of your time."

He smiled, faintly. He was still in shock, amazed that all of this had taken place in ten minutes or less. He wasn't sure what to say.

But the expression on his face seemed to satisfy her, and she calmly left, presumably to tackle the rest of her to-do list.

Chakotay opened the box.