Chapter 7, again thanks for reviews! They are, as always, much appreciated! This chapter is a bit angst-y, but I'm hoping that I'll have finished the story before chapter 10, but there won't be any more updates this week because I'm going on a music tour. Enjoy!

Disclaimer- now look here… THEY'RE NOT MINE!!!!.........................Yet.

Commander Chakotay turned over in bed, unable to sleep.

Kathryn had been dead for a month now, and although Traymoon insisted he could still see her, Chakotay was beginning to lose hope.

He still dreamt of Kathryn every night, still talked to her in his sleep, but he was beginning to wonder if he was only doing that because he missed her so much, because he wanted to see her so badly he was dreaming about her, about the Kathryn he wanted her to be, the Kathryn he loved, and who loved him back, the Kathryn he could kiss.

The more he thought about this, the more convinced he was that this was true. He began to feel paranoid that Traymoon was only pretending to see Kathryn, so he could stay on board, but why?

At this question, Chakotay's mind began to real. He began to dream up different theories. Traymoon was studying the tactical data so his people could launch an attack, he was planning to blow up the ship, he was leading them in the wrong direction and had managed to fox the long and short range sensors…

The ideas got more ridiculous the more he thought of them. But at the end of it he'd convinced himself that Traymoon was lying, Kathryn was dead, and his dreams meant nothing. And then he'd wake up in the morning after talking to Kathryn (or whoever she was) all night and he'd be feeling doubtful.

Chakotay sighed, rolled over, and fell asleep.

She was there, of course she was, she was always there. Lying on her back in the grass gazing at the sun, looking the same as ever. She sat up as she heard him approach and smiled. Her smile was the same, still beautiful, displaying her perfect pearly white teeth and lighting up her beautiful blue eyes. Chakotay walked towards her and hugged her, before kissing her lightly on the lips.

Kathryn screwed up her eyes and cocked her head to one side. 'What's wrong?' she asked, still displaying that old captain's tact for being able to spot when something was wrong with a member of their crew. Not that he was part of her crew, Chakotay corrected himself mentally, she was dead. And this Kathryn was only a memory.

'What's wrong?' Kathryn asked again.

Chakotay swallowed his doubts and turned to her. He smiled and said, 'nothing's wrong,' before taking hold of his face, pressing his lips to hers and sinking down onto the grass, kissing her deeply, making the most of the time they had before he woke up.

But Kathryn, who had stepped into his mind in order to see his dreams and be able to talk to him, knew what he was thinking. She broke the kiss and pushed him up.

'I'm here,' she said to him, 'Traymoon isn't lying to you, he can see me, I'm here Chakotay you know that.'

Chakotay shook his head and looked down at his boots, 'but you would say that,' he said, 'you're a figment of my imagination and that's what I want you to say.'

Kathryn looked at him sadly, 'you promised me you wouldn't give up,' she said, 'you promised me you'd believe me, you promised, Chakotay.'

Chakotay stood up and looked down at her, 'I'm sorry Kathryn,' he said, 'I love you, I love you so much, but I'm just loving my idea of you, the Kathryn I want you to be, Captain Janeway wouldn't love me the way you do, and that's because she's dead and you're my imagination. Captain Janeway died on that planet when we were attacked, maybe it was the Tanguri that did that? Yeah, I bet it was. Anyway, you don't exist, I'm sorry Kathryn, but I don't want to dream about you any more, I want to have time to heal and mourn for my captain. And then I'll be captain. I won't be as good, but I'll try. And I won't dream about you any more, because you don't exist. I don't recognise you any more. Goodbye Kathryn.'

And then he faded as we woke himself up, and he left Kathryn sobbing on the grass, she knew that without her first officer's support, that was it. No-one would look for her anymore, she was a faded memory, forgotten, and then Kathryn faded, but this time, she didn't reappear.