Chakotay heaved an exasperated sigh as he stared down at his overflowing suitcase. He'd always considered himself a relatively organised person, but the last couple of days of frantic preparation for exchanging his family home for Starfleet Academy had taught him otherwise. Anxiety churned in his stomach as he glanced at a family photograph, one of his parents, Sekaya and himself standing in the garden about five years ago, taken before his mother had gotten ill or he and his father had inked their distinctive tattoos on their foreheads. The thought clawed at his mind while he stared at it was that maybe his father was right, maybe he'd never be accepted there and would lose his place here if he left? Gulping hard he walked over to his open wardrobe, empty excepting the crisp Starfleet cadet's uniform that had been sent out for him all the way from Earth, they were far too prestigious to be replicated after all, and ran his fingers up the sleeve, imagining multiple gold pips on the collar with a smile. He had to be doing the right thing; he'd wanted this for years…

"Whoa, have you got any clothes left to wear to the party tonight?" Sekaya asked incredulously from behind him as she entered his room; it was in such disarray that it looked as if some sort of natural disaster had hit this part of the house.

Chakotay frowned at her irritably, "Yes, I do have something to wear tonight, not that I wouldn't take any excuse not to go."

"It's your going away party! Why are you so damned ungrateful? I've put a lot of effort into planning it for you…"

"Well, maybe because I have a lot of better things to do than listen to your friends rant about the Cardassians and Starfleet, and because I know you're only throwing it as an excuse to invite Ryac over here without Dad being suspicious."

Sekaya flushed at the mention of her obviously not so secret boyfriend, "So what if I am? Once you're gone, Dad's going to be watching me like a hawk…"

Chakotay sighed in exasperation; he'd had enough of being berated by his baby sister for having the nerve to leave her in this backwater while he went off to enjoy himself on cosmopolitan Earth. "He's not that bad…" He retorted defensively, "Have you ever considered that you might need some of that protection to stop you doing anything stupid?"

"Protection from what exactly?" Seven inquired curiously as she appeared at the doorway with Lucky, now well on the way to being full grown and her near constant companion, by her side. "This planet is impressively peaceful."

"Nothing!" the siblings reassured her in unison, neither of them in the mood for dealing with Seven's social naivety, before Sekaya took Seven's arm, "Come on, let's leave my brother to his grouchiness and go and get ready for the party shall we?" she asked cheerfully.

Seven glanced down at her cropped trousers and lightweight top, "What is wrong with this attire? It's only our classmates and neighbours attending the party."

Chakotay chuckled in agreement, "Yeah, why do we have to change Sekaya?" he teased.

Sekaya shot him a hot glare and quickly made an excuse to Seven, "Because I asked everyone to dress up quite fancy Seven, so that Chakotay will see us all at our best before he goes."

"Oh…" Seven mumbled, giving Chakotay an unreadable sidelong glance before nodding her acceptance. "If that is what you have arranged Sekaya then I will of course do as you wish."

Sekaya beamed a satisfied smile. "Great! I'll go and get ready and then we'll deal with you okay?"

Seven nodded silent assent, breathing a heavy sigh as Sekaya disappeared into her room, catching Chakotay's eye and sharing a small knowing smirk with him before her eyes scanned the messy room with a professional eye. Walking up to the suitcase in her fallback stance of poker straight spine and hands tucked behind her back, she asked in a businesslike tone, "Would you like me to assist you?"

Chakotay nodded gratefully, although he knew she was offering to avoid Sekaya's prodding and primping for as long as possible. As he joined her in folding clothes, he muttered quietly in exasperation, "Sisters!"

Seven laughed softly, "I concur."

"I say we lobby the Federation to come and kick the Cardassians out of our backyard before they think of any peace treaty!" Halan, the older brother of Frenec, argued as he sipped a drink on the Kotay's patio that night.

"That's why we're sending Chakotay, to convince them of just that!" Frenec replied, "Or is he just going to see if a year on an interplanetary research mission is even more boring than living here?"

Laughter echoed around the group of young men, only Chakotay stayed silent. Normally, he didn't let the words of idiots like Frenec and Halan get to him, but tonight was the exception because he'd been hearing doubts and forebodings about his Starfleet career all night, not just from teasing students in his old school class but from practically every generation in the village. True, he'd always been dimly aware that his going to Starfleet would be a contentious issue, there were all the border issues Starfleet never bothered with even as the war with the Cardassians raged on in other sectors and then the fact that for many of his people Starfleet was the antithesis of what they were trying to achieve here, a world were they could carry on their traditions in peace with little or no interference from the 24th Century. Why couldn't they accept and be supportive of his decision? His family was…to a point.

He sighed and abandoned his plate of barbeque on a nearby table, suddenly desperate to be alone, heading off determinedly into the peace and quiet of the forest.

Seven shivered, odd considering it was a balmy, almost airless, late August evening, and backed away further from the crowd around the house, her new heels sinking into the garden's dark soil. She couldn't help feeling tense, trapped, even though the rational part of her mind told her she was in no danger with these people, she couldn't shake off her feelings of inadequacy and discomfort. Wiping her sweat damped brow and adjusting the chiffon skirt of her dress, she headed towards Kolopak's tool shed where she'd last caught sight of Sekaya, hoping for some familiar unintimidating company. Hearing talking inside the structure, she cautiously opened the door a little further, only to see Sekaya and Ryac standing together, their lips tentatively meeting. "Sekaya, what are you doing?" she asked bluntly.

The pair sprang apart, red faced. Sekaya felt anger flood her at being interrupted during her first ever kiss with Ryac, but as she read Seven's bemused face, she knew she'd have to explain it away satisfactorily enough that the Borg didn't go and ask her father what it meant. "I…was just congratulating Ryac on getting accepted for college Seven, that's all."

Ryac hurriedly backed her up, "Yeah Seven, that's what humans do when they're…congratulating."

"Oh…of course." Seven agreed, not wanting to reveal her utter lack of knowledge or understanding. "Where's Chakotay?"

Sekaya shrugged, "I'm not sure, I think he went into the forest for a break from everyone."

Seven nodded hurriedly and left them as quickly as she'd appeared. Ryac couldn't help but smirk, "I can't believe she swallowed that excuse!"

Sekaya hit him on the arm. "Don't be mean!" She exclaimed defensively, "Seven's entitled to be a little naïve; she's not even been free from the Collective for six months yet for Sprits' sake!"

Chakotay kicked loose stones around under his feet as walked aimlessly through the forest. Am I really doing the right thing? What if… His thoughts were unceremoniously interrupted by a voice somewhere behind him, "Chakotay? What are you doing out here?"

He whirled around to Seven standing under a tree, obviously uncomfortable in the ridiculous silver heels Sekaya had chosen for her, but otherwise he had to admit that otherwise she looked pretty good in the outfit Sekaya had chosen for her, a sky blue halter dress with a ruche bodice and chiffon knee length skirt. Even her hair had been coaxed out of her customary up-do and was spread in all its golden glory over her metal mottled shoulders. He was stunned enough to pause before answering her, "I…don't know, just thinking I guess."

Seven studied his face, the way his strong, tattooed brow was crinkled in a deep frown, and a thought she might have put down to intuition, if she had been familiar with the concept, left her mouth as a question, "About your decision to join Starfleet?"

Chakotay gave a start in surprise, was he really that easy to read? "Yeah, I suppose. That and a lot of other things." She frowned at him and he laughed weakly, "Okay, mostly that." He admitted.

"Why do you want to join Starfleet?" she asked abruptly.

His face lit up despite his surprise, Seven had never once commented on his plan to join Starfleet before now, but maybe he would finally get some support. "To explore the galaxy, learn and experience new things, everything I can't get here."

To his dismay he saw that she was frowning at him, incomprehension in her blue eyes. "The pursuit of more knowledge is admirable…" She began honestly, "But why do you wish to leave, cut yourself from your people, your family…your Collective?"

At her words Chakotay felt the anger and frustration that had been building up inside him all night explode. "Okay, I understand everyone else making that point, but you of all people? How can you have the nerve to throw that back in my face?" he shouted. "I'm not abandoning anything! All I'm doing is what I want, expanding my horizons, becoming more of an individual, without relying on other people all the time! Not that you'd know much about that…" He stopped mid rant, inches away from her pale face, when he saw tears of hurt forming in the pale orbs and felt guilt at what he'd just said wash relentlessly over him as he wished he could take back what he'd just said, "I'm sorry Seven, that was callous of me, I didn't mean that you…"

Seven shook her head and stepped back from him, "No, you were correct. I will never have the same level of individuality as you have." She stated matter-of-factly, though Chakotay saw her throat moving momentarily in a gulp. "I apologise for impinging my judgements on yours and I hope you enjoy Starfleet."

He smiled at her in relief. "Thanks Seven…" He began to say but was interrupted by the sudden brush of her lips on his, "What was that for?" he choked out in shock as she pulled back as quickly as she'd come.

Seven frowned up at him in confusion, unsettled by the way her pulse had suddenly increased and the underlying suspicion that she'd just done something very wrong. "Sekaya did that to Ryac when she was congratulating him on getting into college, they told me it was a human tradition."

"Did they now?" Chakotay said quietly, feeling bad at what he'd automatically assumed, of course it was just a misunderstanding! "Well, I think Sekaya should have told you that it's more normal to kiss someone on the cheek if you're congratulating them." He advised gently, not wanting to embarrass her.

"Oh…I apologise for my mistake." Seven replied, lowering her head for a moment before looking back up into his face, her expression serious. "I wanted to warn you that the vast majority of assimilated humans originate from Starfleet ships, please be vigilant."

"I will be. I don't intend to ever be assimilated Seven, not after what they did to you." He replied softly, touched by her concern and relieved that no awkwardness existed between them that would've made his last two days at home difficult!

Seven nodded silently in agreement. "I am returning to the party now, do you wish to stay here?"

"No, I'm just coming." He answered as she turned abruptly on her heel and walked towards the house. Sprits, I am going to kill Sekaya for telling her that! If Seven had made that mistake with another guy she could've got taken advantage of! He raged mentally as he followed her, absently licking his tingling lips. On second thought, maybe it's too embarrassing to admit how I know…

A/n: Oh, I REALLY hope you like this! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D