The doors whoosh open and closed as her and Samantha enter the Mess Hall. Kathryn hears the many conversations between different members of her crew and can even pick out a few voices. B'elanna Torres, Tom Paris, and Harry Kim are somewhere to her right, discussing how great the date Tom took B'elanna on was. Lt. Bailsly and Crewman Jones were talking about the service that was held a few days ago for Ensign Harper, and they seemed to be somewhere to her far left. Neelix's exited chatter came from the other end of the room, in the kitchen most likely.
"Oh!" she heard him shout, and silence grew in the Mess Hall as everyone finally noticed she was there. Suddenly Neelix was beside her. "Sam! Oh, and Captain, what a pleasant surprise!"
They both greet him, and the chatter starts again. This time, though, she knows they're talking about her.
"Is the Commander here yet?" Samantha asks.
"Ah! Yes he is!" Neelix replies, in his usual chipper tone. "Right over there, at the back."
"Can you take the Captain over there, Neelix? I'd like to see Naomi before my shift starts."
"Of course, Sam!"
Samantha lets go of her arm again and bids her farewell before leaving the mess hall. A new hand locks onto her; Neelix's. He begins to tell her of today's lunch menu and what she might like to eat. Leola root stew (as always), a Salad made with the leaves from a Schestr Tree, or a sandwich made with freshly replicated Talaxian tomatoes, swiss cheese, and lettuce. He also mentions that there is leftover Plomeek soup from when Tuvok was in there earlier. He suddenly stops her from walking; they must be at the table. Her heart quickens. She knows that he's there; she can smell his familiar cologne.
"Thank you, Neelix. I'll take over from here." Chakotay directs towards Neelix. She feels the Talaxian let go of her arm. Then she feels a warm hand on her backside as someone guides her to sit down at the table. It's Chakotay's hand. She flushes at the contact.
This has never happened before. She wonders. He's touched you many times before now, so why is this any different? It's because that kiss dug up those feelings you've had buried for so long, and now you're reacting to him.
"Now, what can I get you two today?" Neelix questions. Good, now she can think about food, and not that.
"I'll have the salad with some herbal tea." Chakotay orders. "What about you, Captain?"
She takes a long, deep breath to regain her composure. "Just a cup of coffee, please."
"No, Kathryn, you need to eat." He urges. He sounds more worried than the other times she's ordered just coffee and he protests against it.
"Alright. I'll have the Plomeek soup with it."
"Great! I'll be back with your order really soon! Captain, Commander." With that, Neelix scurries off back to the kitchen. A few minutes of awkward silence go by before Chakotay clears his throat and asks her how she's been. It seems to her that he doesn't want to talk about what happened between them a week ago, and she's perfectly fine with that.
" I'm rather sore from bumping into tables, walls, people, and such. But otherwise, yes, I'm fine." She replies, trying to reconstruct the former bond between them. She's relieved when she hears him chuckle.
It's easy to repair the bond between them when it's been broken so many times. They know what to do when this thing happens, and how to build their bond up quickly to avoid it staying in ruins forever. This time it took them longer than it should have, but they were officially back to normal. Hopefully.
"Oh?" He retorts. "Is that Kathryn Janeway's way of telling me she needs to see the Doctor?"
She pictures his smiling, dimpled face, and smiles too. "Try to take me there, Chakotay, and I'll throw you in the brig for a month!"
"But you can't. You're off duty!"
"Ugh. Don't try to remind me." She rests her forehead on her hands and sighs. Being off duty is the worst thing that could happen to her, a woman who's more at home when at work than in her own quarters.
"Bored?" Chakotay drops his humorous demeanor and replaces it with a more concerned one.
"You don't know the half of it! You're running my ship while I'm holed up in my quarters all day, with absolutely nothing to do..." She sighs again. "Losing my sight makes it a lot worse."
"I'm sorry, Kathryn, really. That's why after lunch I'm taking you on a walk in a garden."
She starts to get annoyed. "And what makes you think I want to take a walk through a garden? I won't be able to see anything!"
"You can still smell, and touch, and listen. I'm taking you to a real garden, and not a fake holographic one! Please, Kathryn. I know it will make you feel better."
"Alright." She relaxes a bit. "So where is this 'real garden' located anyway?"
"On a planet we're passing. The locals are friendly and have agreed to let us on the planet for trading and shore leave. They've got some of the best landscape..."
He proceeds to tell her about the planet, its people, and Voyager's dealings with it through lunch. His descriptions of the landscape make her a bit disappointed that she can't see it for herself, but there's nothing she can do about it. She asks many questions, such as if the people appear to be hostile or not or if there has been any disruptions. He tells her not to worry.
After lunch he takes her to the transporter room. The crewman at the console throws her a "Captain" and Chakotay a "Commander" as he leads her to the transporter pad.
"Stand here." He orders. His warm hand leaves her back and his shoes click as he walks to the spot beside her.
"It's not like I haven't been on a transporter before, Commander." She mocks.
"Just making sure." She's relieved when she recognizes the smile in his voice.
She turns to face the front and clasps her hands behind her back in preparation to be transported. Chakotay asks if she's ready; to which she gives a curt nod.
"Energize"
First, she hears the voice of the crewman when he acknowledges Chakotay's request. Next she hears the familiar hum of the transporter as it starts the transport. Then a slight tingling feeling. Then she can't hear anything anymore.
What usually comes next is a blinding white light, but since she's already blind, she doesn't see it. A few seconds go by before her body stops tingling and she can start hearing things again. The chirping of exotic birds, the rushing of water, the rustle of leaves as they blow in the wind. She pictures a rainforest-like atmosphere, but Kathryn knows that might not be the case.
She immediately calls for Chakotay. In her state, she can't see what's going on, can't defend herself from an enemy attack. She's as good as dead in those sorts of situations.
"I'm here, Kathryn." He gives her shoulder a quick rub to reassure her. She feels herself start to blush again, and tries to fight it.
"So, where are we going?" She says quickly.
"I thought we'd go to the waterfall that's to our left and then head back on a path through the trees." He moves his hand from her shoulder to her lower back.
"Sounds good."
He leads her on the path, stone by the feel of it, towards the waterfall. The sound of rushing water gets louder and louder as they walk. Something brushes against her arm and she jumps, stepping backwards into Chakotay's strong embrace. He assures her that it's just a branch from one of the plants that border the path.
"Sorry. I think I'm becoming too paranoid."
"There's no need to apologise. You can never be to alert, especially in your..." He stops himself and they keep walking. She's relieved that his conscious is respectful enough to prevent him from saying it.
Soon, the sound of rushing water turns into a roar so loud Chakotay has to nearly shout for her to hear him. They've finally reached the waterfall. Chakotay pauses for a moment. The water is so close that it makes the air around them humid and misty. The pause they took soon becomes awkward, and Kathryn scratches the side of her light-reflecting eye band uncomfortably. Chakotay must have noticed this, because he started to move around as if he were looking for something interesting. Finally, to both his and her relief, he did.
"Kathryn, let's go over here." He leads her over to a spot on the right, and stops just as she feels flowers, vines, and leaves brushing up against her legs. He begins to crouch and tugs at the back of her uniform to signal that he wants her to follow. She complies and lowers herself beside him.
"There's an interesting flower here." He tells her. "I wish you could see it."
"Maybe you could describe it for me." She suggests. Perhaps the same tactic she tried earlier this morning with Samantha would allow her to take part. Chakotay takes a deep breath and begins to tell her about the flower.
"It's this striking blue-green colour, and it seems to glitter in the sunlight. It's got only two petals that are serrated at the ends and its center is such a bright white that I can't look at that area for too long. It's... very beautiful." He sighs deeply, as if the last sentence was painful to say. Then, in a soft hushed murmer, as if he doesn't want her to hear, he adds, "Just like you."
His tone made no difference. She still heard him. The temperature of her cheeks rose 300 degrees and she felt the need to stick her head under that roaring waterfall to cool down. Part of her thought, 'What the hell was he thinking?' but the other part had been wanting to hear something like that for a long time now.
"What did you say?" She asked, voice shaking. She grasped his arm with an unsteady hand as he pulled her up to standing.
"I-"
His voice was interrupted by another, a bit far behind them away from the waterfall. They both turned around to the sound, made by a certain Tom Paris.
"Captain! Commander!" He shouts, over the roar of the waterfall. "Enjoying a little bit of paradise too?"
Chakotay clears his throat and Kathryn shifts her feet, both embarrassed that Tom could have seen how close they were.
"Hello, Tom." She greets him warmly. She tries her best to regain her composure, clasping her hands behind her back and trying to stand taller.
"Tom, B'elanna." Chakotay does his own greeting, and Kathryn acknowledges B'elanna's presence.
"Oh, I didn't know you were there, B'elanna. I'm sorry."
"It's alright Captain. No offense taken." The half-Klingon replies. "I never expected to see you here."
"Well, after the Vashoths so kindly offered us the use of their planet for shore leave, I thought I should take the Captain here to give her a break from all that paperwork she's been doing." Chakotay explains as Kathryn's cheeks grow a shade brighter against her will. She forces herself to keep up her formal composure through it, her Starfleet smile plastered on her face.
"I see!" Tom exclaims. "I hope you two enjoy it." The group exchanges goodbyes and after a short pause, Tom and B'elanna brush past them towards the waterfall. Something one of them did must have affected Chakotay, because he let out a long sigh and shifted uncomfortably beside her. She lets herself ponder what it could have been before her thoughts wander to what transpired before.
Kathryn finally admits that they probably should talk about it. But not here, and definitely not now. So she makes a decision that she soon regrets, just a little.
"I... uh, Chakotay." He turns to face her and grasps her arm awkwardly.
"Yes, Kathryn?"
"I... think I've had enough for the day. I'd like to go back now,"
"Alright"
He keeps his hold on her arm instead of moving it to her backside as he'd done previously. They began to make their way back to the beam up point in silence.
She'd broken the bond again, and she wasn't so sure that they would be able to repair it.