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That night Chakotay and Seven got ready to tuck the children into bed.
"Can you tell us a story?" Denis asked curiously.
"What story would you like to hear?" Chakotay asked. "The Little Lost Bantha Cub." Char said. "No!" Numa cried. "Tell us about how the Jedi freed Ryloth during the Clone Wars!" "The fall of Empire!" Ailyn and Bail chimed in.
Engel just shrugged. "Just a story." She said.
"Well, I am going to tell you a story about a bear named Winnie-the-Pooh." Chakotay said. "Long, long ago in the Hundred Acre Wood there there lived a bear named Winnie-the-Pooh, or Pooh as his friends called him. Well one day one of Pooh's friends Christopher Robin decided that he and all of his friends were going to go find the North Pole.
"So Christopher Robin gathered Owl, Rabbit and all of Rabbit's relatives, Eeyore, Kanga, little Roo, Piglet and Pooh. Once they they all gathered he told them what he wanted to do and they headed up North.
"While they were walking little Roo fell into a pond and was swept downstream. Kanga cried and everyone tried to catch him but they couldn't reach that far.
"Then Pooh noticed a pole lying in the grass. Thinking that he could lower it into the water and rescue little Roo he picked it up and held it over the water and little Roo grabbed it.
"Pooh then set little Roo on the ground and everyone cheered.
"'Where did you find the pole'" Christopher Robin asked Pooh. "'I found it on the ground, right there.'" Pooh replied.
"'Why Pooh you found the North Pole!'" Christopher Robin declared.
"Everyone cheered again and they quickly wrote a sign to place on the pole. It read: The North Pole, Pooh found it!
"Then they all went home to plan the next day of fun." Chakotay recited.
"That's just silly." Denis declared. "The Poles are places, not things."
"Why don't you tell me a story now." Chakotay said. "I bet you know some really good ones."
Chakotay listened as Char, with some help, told the story of The Little Lost Bantha Cub. It really was a cute story.
"Mommy, Ani, and me don't like Sand People." Bail said. "Why?" Chakotay asked. "They hurt Ani's mommy until she joined the Force." Bail explained. "Ani love his mommy and was hurt that she had to go. And they hurt Ailyn too!"
Chakotay sighed.
"How about Seven and I sing to you? Would you like that?" Chakotay asked them, hoping to calm the children down.
The children nodded.
Seven entered the room and sat next to Chakotay.
"Down in the valley?" Seven suggested.
Chakotay nodded and selected the song from his padd and held it between him and Seven.
"Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow;
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.
"Roses love sunshine, violets love dew,
Angels in Heaven know I love you,
Know I love you, love, know I love you,
Angels in Heaven know I love you.
"Build me a castle, forty feet high;
So I can see her as she rides by,
As he rides by, love, as he rides by,
So I can see her as she rides by.
"If you don't love me, love whom you please,"
"Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease,"
"Give my heart ease, love, give my heart ease,"
"Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease,"
"Write me a letter, send it by mail;
Send it in care of the Birmingham jail,
Birmingham jail, love, Birmingham jail,
Send it in care of the Birmingham jail.
"Roses love sunshine, violets love dew,
Angels in Heaven know I love you,
Know I love you, love, know I love you,
Angels in Heaven know I love you. "
Chakotay and Seven smiled as they finished the old song.
The children yawned and stretched. "Another?" Numa asked sleepily. The other children nodded on agreement.
"How about Loch Lomond?" Seven suggested.
Chakotay nodded, selected the song and took a deep breath.
"By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes.
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond.
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae.
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
"Oh ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland before ye.
For me and my true love will ne'er meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
"'Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides o' Ben Lomon'.
Where in (soft) purple hue, the hielan hills we view
And the moon comin' out in the gloamin'.
"Oh ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland before ye.
For me and my true love will ne'er meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
"The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping.
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again.
Tho' waeful may cease from the greetin'
"Oh ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland before ye.
For me and my true love will ne'er meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond."
Chakotay smiled as he and Seven finished the song. The children had fallen asleep.
Quietly they stood and made their way to their bedroom.
"Aren't they cute?" Chakotay asked his wife. Seven nodded. "And intelligent.," she commented.
"Maybe we should have one." Seven suddenly said. "Icheb is more than capable of handling Astrometrics in my absence and Miral will need someone to play with." She explained.
Chakotay could only stare at his wife.
"Are you sure?" he asked her. She nodded.
Chakotay felt a smile come to his face as he and Seven stepped into the bedroom and helped each other undress.
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Bail opened his eyes.
He wasn't in his room in the Jedi Temple and he couldn't hear his parents or Ani in the kitchen.
Then the yesterday's events came back to him.
He reached out with his senses and discovered that everyone was in the room with him and that there were plenty of other people nearby, but they didn't feel right.
Bail frowned.
The door to the room opened and the woman with fake limbs came in.
"It is time to get up and have breakfast." She annoinced.
Bail gently shook Ailyn.
"Breakfast, Ailyn!" he cried.
The other children stirred and one by one sat up.
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Seven could see confusion and a touch of fear in their eyes for several seconds until they remembered where they were.
Chakotay appeared a short time later and together they helped the children dress for the day and then led them to the Mess Hall.
Seven watched as the children ate their food without a complaint and listened to them chatter away.
Seven watched as Naomi Wildman approached their table.
"Hello," she said. "Welcome to Voyager."
"Thank you." Numa said softly
"Do you want to play on the holodeck?" Naomi asked, curiously. Bail frowned. "What's a holodeck?" he asked slowly.
"It's a room that uses holographic technology to simulate people, places and things." Naomi explained. "It's for play."
"Light is altered to look like people, places and things." Seven explained after seeing their puzzled faces.
The children continued to look confused.
Suddenly they smiled.
"Yes, we would like to play with you." Char said.
Seven stood and led the children to the holodeck, after they had carried their dishes to the kitchen for cleaning.
Seven observed as the children played one of the many chapters of Te Adventures of Flotter T. Water.
She could tell that something was bothering the children but she was unsure as to what.
Finally it was time for Naomi to go to her class and Numa said that she needed to learn Basic.
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