Seven of Nine walked confidently into Astrometrics, her posture instinctively relaxing as her eyes absorbed the familiar, and for her personal, room. She'd automatically moved to her habitual post at the main console before she realised that Naomi Wildman had hung back, hovering just over the lab's threshold, looking around with wide eyes, the case containing her kadiskot board clutched to her thin chest. "Naomi Wildman?" Seven queried softly as she finally looked up from the new stream of, innocuous and unhelpful, data to glance over her shoulder at the child, "Is there something wrong?"

Naomi jumped slightly at the sound of her voice before vigorously shaking her head, "No!" Even as she stilled again however, her senses were once more overloaded by this strange room. The basic layout was familiar enough to the girl who'd never lived outside of Voyager's protective shell, the curved central console, the main viewscreen dominating the far wall and the patchwork of smaller computer screens over the other walls; but some of the lab's features were completely alien. The luminous green light Naomi recognised from the time she'd snuck into Cargo Bay 2 out of curiosity, but in this room it didn't just cloud a corner, it permeated the whole room, emphasising the Borg numerals and script that flashed continually down either side of the viewscreen like streaks of lightning. What she found most disturbing however was that the viewscreen itself showed nothing but the black void she'd seen on every other screen and out of every window and porthole on the ship. Somehow she'd thought that Seven's special Borg technology, which she'd heard enough gossip about from the adult crewmembers to believe that it verged on magical, hadn't been able to pierce this darkness. "What…What does all this do?"

Seven turned to face her, "Astrometrics serves many different functions. It's most vital function is to map Voyager's position in the Quadrant at any given time using a combination of Starfleet and Borg long-range sensors…" She trailed off as she saw fresh trepidation fill the little girl's eyes as they moved skittishly around the lab with a mixture of fascination and fear, and cautiously stepped away from the offending console to approach the child. "You wished to teach me to play kadiskot, correct?" she prompted her stiltedly.

"Correct." Naomi echoed her seriously with a quick nod as a relieved smile pulled at her lips. Sitting down in the middle of the floor, with the complexities of Astrometrics happily out of sight and began to set up the board. Seven was surprised at how complicated the game the game appeared, Chakotay had hinted it was based primarily on tactics, which would certainly make it preferable to the games of flippant chance Lieutenant Paris had been trying to draw her into recently, or even the 'logical' game of Kal'toh that Tuvok sometimes participated in with Ensign Vorik, when it was really based relatively simple geometry calculations. "I'll tell you the rules and then we'll start." Naomi told her, rightly interpreting Seven's curious frown. "Neelix managed to beat me on his fifth try when I taught him."

Seven smirked good-humouredly, "I hope to be able to challenge that record." She replied, before eyeing Naomi's position on the floor, deciding to remove her boots for the second time that day before awkwardly twisting her body to mirror Naomi's stance, sitting with her legs crossed in a basket.

Seeing the normally unapproachable, icily elegant Seven of Nine struggle to match her, Naomi felt her eyebrows rise sceptically, "Is that…outfit uncomfortable Seven?"

Seven's gaze dipped sheepishly, "Yes, somewhat." She admitted before excusing the Doctor as was her habit, "I doubt the Doctor designed my biosuits with this situation in mind…Borg do not sit. This design of garment is apparently the most amenable to my remaining implants."

Naomi mulled this perplexing, and somehow saddening, answer over for a second, "Maybe you could ask the Doctor to find another design of 'garment' that you can sit in?" she suggested. Sensing Seven's discomfiture with this line of questionings, Naomi shook the kadiskot counters out of the pouch, "Red or green?"

"Red." Seven answered without thinking, still considering Naomi's initial suggestion as she gathered up her allotted counters and absently began to stack them up beside her. "Perhaps I will repeat your suggestion to the Doctor; I do not see why it shouldn't be possible." She finally remarked thoughtfully before electing to focus on the game, "Begin your instruction Naomi Wildman."

Naomi gave her a small grin, "Of course." She agreed, again naturally echoing Seven's serious tone. She then shifted so that she was lying comfortably on her stomach in front of the board, noting that this time Seven didn't even try to follow her. "So we start by making our first move at the same time…"

"Kadiskot!" Seven declared triumphantly, rebuking herself into quickly suppressing the beaming smile that she felt spreading over her face, only to see that Naomi was grinning equally widely.

"That's…" Naomi frowned intently as she made the calculation in her head, "Fifteen games to you…"

"…and ten to you." Seven finished, "Well done Crewman Wildman, you are a most worthy opponent."

Naomi blushed at the unexpected praise, "You've beaten Neelix's record by far. Do you want another game?" she asked eagerly. Playing with Seven had been much more fun that she'd anticipated, and she couldn't remember now why she'd been scared of the 'Borg Lady'. Yes, her implants were Borg, but Neelix's spots were Talaxian and Tuvok's ears were Vulcan. The jarring, sharp edges of her unusual speech patterns and penetrating gaze had quickly softened once they'd both become completely absorbed in the game.

"I don't see why not…" Seven began, only to be interrupted by the bleep of an alert on the console. She reached out a reassuring hand to Naomi when the child jumped in fright, and Naomi returned the favour by helping Seven to stand upright; her legs had been partially starved of circulation while she'd been sitting on the floor cross-legged. Having regained her balance, she swiftly returned to the console. It took merely seconds to discover the reason for the alert. "Theta radiation levels are rising…" She muttered. The inexplicable presence of theta radiation in this region had left her flummoxed since Voyager had entered, the fact that they were now increasing confused her further.

Naomi joined her at the console, now totally comfortable in the lab. "Is that bad?"

"No." Seven assured her quickly, "Merely unexplained. It does interfere with the short-range sensors somewhat, but Astrometrics sensors will compensate."

"That's good." Naomi said in relief, peering with interest up at the viewscreen, as if the theta radiation was visible. "How do the Borg sensors improve the Starfleet ones Seven?"

"Borg technology allows us to scan thousands of star systems at once to collate our exact position in the galaxy at any one time." Seven explained as succinctly as she could.

Naomi frowned thoughtfully, "Mom told me this region doesn't have any star systems, how do the sensors work then?"

Seven gave her an approving look, impressed by the intelligent enquiry. "The properties of this region do make navigation slightly more complex than usual, but there are enough spacial constants in the region to be able to find our position and an appropriate route towards the Alpha Quadrant."

Naomi nodded slowly, but bit her lip. "Are you scared Seven? It's so empty…"

Seven turned to her, kneeling down to be level with her gaze. "This region is…intimidating, you are correct Naomi, but Voyager is safe. Perhaps even the safest it has ever been in many ways."

Naomi could see the sincerity in her blue eyes and relaxed a little, now more curious than anything. "Why do you say that?"

Seven started to shake her head, unsure how much to tell the child. "I know that the Collective would not venture into this region, and it appears that there are few other aggressors either. This region may be…tedious, but it also seems to be peaceful."

"More like boring." Naomi corrected with a sigh, even as she brightened. "I guess that means no Kazon, no Vidiians…" Seven was tempted to remind her that Voyager had left those species behind long before she herself had come abroad and Naomi had been just an infant, but she let her continue, "…no Hirogen trapping us in the holodeck…"

"No, it appears not." Seven agreed indulgently, "But the crew will remain alert to all threats, meaning that you should not worry."

"I won't." Naomi assured her, "Or at least I'll try not to."

"I'm pleased to hear that, try your best to do so." Seven advised her with a gentle smile, seeing as she rose back up to her full height that Commander Chakotay was standing behind them, next to the door. "Commander!" she exclaimed, instantly wondering how long he'd been there, "I apologise, I didn't realise you…"

"Don't worry Seven." Chakotay told her kindly, "I didn't want to interrupt, but Sam wants Naomi to come for dinner." He smiled down at Naomi as she hurriedly began to tidy her kadiskot board back into its case, and knelt down to help her. "Your mom will be pleased you've been having fun."

"I have had fun Commander." Naomi replied with a shy smile at Seven, "Would you like to play again sometime?"

"I will play with you whenever you are willing." Seven answered, blushing when she saw Chakotay mirror Naomi's pleased smile. "But you shouldn't leave Neelix out for my benefit."

Naomi giggled in delight, "I'm sure he'd arrange a tournament if I asked." She turned towards the door reluctantly, "I'd better meet my mom in the Mess Hall." She said quickly, "Thank you for having me in your lab Seven."

Seven nodded in acknowledgement of her politeness, "You are welcome here Naomi Wildman, enjoy your meal."

"I will." Naomi assured her, waving at her and Chakotay before disappearing into the hallway.

Chakotay took Naomi's place at Seven's side as she left, viewing her with fresh eyes once again as a fond smile curved his full lips. "You've made a friend today Seven, and reassured her too."

"She has helped me also." Seven told him softly, before adding more lightly, "Kadiskot is certainly more entertaining than Captain Proton." She smirked in response to Chakotay's warm chuckle, but soon became serious again, "You heard what I told her about my view of this void? I hope her mother would not object, I do not want her to believe that Voyager is constantly surrounded by violent aggressors while in normal space…"

Chakotay sighed heavily, "But the fact is that we are Seven." He admitted tiredly, "Naomi is very mature for her age, you reassured her as best as you could."

"Perhaps." Seven conceded uneasily, her eyes drifting uneasily back to her console.

"It's what I saw." Chakotay told her firmly, "Anyway, she's certainly not afraid of you anymore, I think she was a little before today."

It was now Seven's turn to sigh heavily, "It may prove unwise for me to have dissuaded her from that fear."

Chakotay stared at her in disbelief and horror, "What do you mean by that Seven?" he demanded, grasping her arm.

Seven pressed her lips tightly together as she swallowed, "It is wise to fear the Borg, my parents did not and that resulted in their assimilation, and mine." She eventually answered with deceptive bluntness.

Chakotay inhaled sharply, moving the hand that had grasped her elbow down to briefly squeeze her hand briefly, "But you're not Borg Seven, having a healthy fear of the Borg doesn't mean anyone should fear you." He gazed at her intensely, "Do you understand what I'm saying Seven?"

Seven regarded him levelly, but her actual expression was unreadable. "Yes Commander." She didn't add that she didn't fully believe it, after all she'd been told everyday since she'd been separated from the Collective that she was no longer Borg, and she knew that she was no longer a drone, but she knew she couldn't be considered fully, naturally, human either.

Chakotay sensed that he should drop the issue for now, though he did so reluctantly. "If you're ready for dinner, join me in the Mess Hall, as Chakotay."

Seven's eyes shot up to his at that, and only then did she realise that she was looking up at him at a sharper angle than normal. Blood flooded her face as she spotted her boots under the console.

A laugh rumbled from Chakotay's chest when he saw her expression, "I was wondering when you were going to notice."

Seven pushed her embarrassment aside to smirk at him, "When I am reunited with my shoes, I will then join you in the Mess Hall."

A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D I hope you all have a happy new year and thank you so much for everyone's support for my writing over this past year, I really appreciate it.