EPILOGUE

"Wow!" exclaimed Tom Paris as he and B'Elanna walked past a large wooden cabin and were confronted with their first view of the lake.

"This is beautiful," agreed B'Elanna, carrying a one-year-old Miral while Tom carried the basket of fried chicken they had brought to the party.

"Wa-wa," said Miral, entranced by the large, blue lake. She started to squirm in her mother's arms.

"Just a minute, honey. We have to say hello to Auntie Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay. Then we can go play in the water."

Miral started to squirm even harder, until finally her mother had to put her down. Then the one year old was quickly toddling away from her parents. "Uncle Chacha!" she exclaimed. She laughed and squealed in delight as Chakotay tickled her belly, picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder. He carried her back over to her parents; she squealed all the way.

"B'Elanna, Tom, so good to see you. Glad you could make it!"

"This place is great, Chakotay!" enthused Tom as he looked around at the lakefront property, complete with dock, boathouse and fire pit.

"Isn't it?" Kathryn Janeway appeared from behind Chakotay and gave the newest arrivals a warm hug.

"Tom has the dish we brought," B'Elanna said.

"You can bring it into the kitchen," Janeway replied, pointing towards the house. "Seven, the Doctor and Chell are organizing everything."

"Great, thanks, Kathryn," replied Tom, bringing the basket up to the house.

Chakotay handed Miral back to B'Elanna. "Wa-wa!" the baby exclaimed, pointing at the lake.

"We brought her swimsuit," B'Elanna said.

"I hope you all brought suits," replied Janeway. "The water is wonderful." She gestured to the lake where Naomi and Icheb were already swimming. "As you can see."

"Where can we change?" B'Elanna asked.

"There's a changing room in the steam house," replied Chakotay.

"Steam house?"

"It was Kathryn's favorite thing on Laiffa. Fortunately, one of our friends there was kind enough to share his family design," Chakotay explained. "When we started looking for a lake place of our own, the first requirement was that the property be big enough for me to build a steam house. Come on, I'll show you." Chakotay led B'Elanna and Miral up the hill to show them the steam house.

"Captain!" The latest arrival to the party was Harry Kim, and Janeway waved him down the hill, to where a large group of the crew had congregated close to the lake. "Captain, this is beautiful."

"Harry, call me Kathryn! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Yes, Captain. Uh, Kathryn." Kim blushed saying her first name; after all these years of calling her captain, it was hard to get used to.

Janeway told him where he could bring his contribution to the food table and gave him the lay of the land. As every member of the crew had upon arrival, he complimented her on the beautiful property. Janeway watched as her crew mingled on the lawn, came in and out of the house with fresh plates of food, and jumped in the lake with laughter and abandon. She smiled. This was exactly what she had envisioned when she and Chakotay had bought the property, a place where the entire Voyager family could congregate and feel at home.

After returning from Laiffa, both she and Chakotay had moved out of their temporary Starfleet issue apartments and into a bigger apartment in San Francisco with a view of the bay. Voyager's assignments tended to be short, so Chakotay was only gone for weeks at a time. Kathryn was still waiting for reassignment after the destruction of the Explorer, so the San Francisco apartment was convenient for both of them and made it easy for her to commute to Starfleet Headquarters. They had known they wanted a lake place and it had simply been a matter of finding the right one. They had searched the world for the perfect place, and the house they had finally found, on a lake in northern Minnesota, reminded Kathryn of Hoda's property on Laiffa. The house was plenty big for the two of them, and there was room to sleep several guests in the finished basement. There was a large deck on the front of the house overlooking the water, where they frequently shared morning coffee or an evening glass of wine. The property had a dock and boathouse, and plenty of room for Chakotay to build a Laiffan steam house. Now that the steam house was complete, they had decided to have their first Voyager party, and had invited the entire crew out for an evening of swimming, steaming, eating and, most of all, being in the company of friends and family. By the look of things, the party was already off to a rip roaring success.

She felt an arm encircle her waist. "Enjoying yourself?" Chakotay murmured in her ear.

"Oh yes!" she replied, wrapping her arm around him. "It's perfect. How's the steam house holding up?"

"Tom, Harry and Mike are in there right now. I'd say it's a big hit so far."

"The kids certainly seem to be enjoying the lake. Think the adults will go in?"

Chakotay laughed. "Just wait till they get a little more Antarian cider in them, and I don't think it will be a problem." He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "By the way, I thought I'd keep the steam house hot after everyone leaves, just for us."

She stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear in return, "I like the way you think, Captain."

He hugged her tight and planted a firm kiss on her lips. Just then, Samantha Wildman called down from the house, asking for help with something in the kitchen, and Chakotay gave Kathryn another quick kiss and hurried up to help.

Kathryn Janeway turned back to watch her crew, who had become her friends and family, and smiled. She thought back to Hoda, and what the old Laiffan woman had said about her own life, and she looked up at the stars, towards Laiffa, where the old woman was, perhaps, standing on her dock and looking up at the stars, too. You were right, Kathryn thought, we are truly lucky.