Author's Note: Thanks for the encouraging reviews!

"I'm not sure I understand. This sounds like wonderful news – he's aware that B'Elanna has been letting him win at hoverball and he wants to kiss his wife." The Doctor looked up at Kathryn where she paced nervously in front of his desk. "Do you not want to kiss your husband?"

She stopped, turned her gaze toward him, and sighed. "No… I mean yes…. I mean… I don't know." She collapsed into the chair beside her. She rubbed her hands over her face, pressed them against her mouth, then dropped them into her lap, fingers knotting together. "It just… caught me by surprise."

"A nice surprise, I hope," the Doctor raised an eyebrow and grinned somewhat slyly.

"Doctor!" She looked sharply at him, then felt her cheeks grow warm at the memory. It had been nice – very gentle and chaste – but nice, feeling his thick, solid lips on hers after almost two months. But as good as it was, there was still something that felt… wrong. "It's just that… I wasn't expecting it." She drew in a deep breath, stared down at her hands entwined in her lap. "You told me that he wasn't really aware of what marriage meant – that he knew me, depended on me, but… I thought that…"

"The romantic side of your relationship was gone," he finished for her.

And she nodded.

"Well, apparently it's not." The expression on his face softened, and the Doctor leaned over the desk toward her. "Kathryn, we want him to progress, remember? We want him to be the man he used to be – and part of that man was an equal, loving partner in your marriage. He's remembering more… and wanting more." He hesitated a moment, and Kathryn looked up at him. "Tom's doing a wonderful job with his therapy, but there are some skills he's going to need to learn from you."

Her eyes grew wide as she interpreted his words. "Doctor…"

He couldn't help but smile. A flustered captain was so rare. But he rushed to reassure her. "Most of those skills will come naturally. Just like hoverball," he added.

And Kathryn reached up and covered her eyes for a moment, was sure that he could see the color rising in her cheeks.

"I'm your doctor," he reminded her. "There's no need to be embarrassed. Just basic bodily functions and desires."

She lowered her hand, and he saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

"You do still love him, don't you?"

"Of, course, I do," she hurried to answer, but even she could hear the tone in her voice – hesitant, unsure. "It's just that… for the past two months, I've…"

"Been a caregiver, not a lover," he said succinctly.

And she nodded. And again, he smiled.

"Well, then, Chakotay won't be alone. You'll both be remembering."

~vVv~

He'd kissed her. And it had been nice. Her lips were warm and soft beneath his, and he'd felt her body press into him, her hand tightening around his hand. It seemed like forever, but he knew it had only been a few moments. And then she'd drawn back, smiled softly at him, her fingers still touching his cheek.

He'd felt a little nervous, as if he'd done something wrong. But at the same time, it felt so right, so natural. And he could remember other times he'd kissed her, held her… He closed his eyes. Sometimes the memories came back hard and fast – jumbled images that he couldn't always sort out – his lips on hers, calloused fingers on soft skin, bed sheets pulling away.

Kathryn moved her hand to his shoulder, squeezed the tense muscle, felt him relax under her touch. He opened his eyes, stared into hers. "I love you, Kathryn," he breathed.

"I love you." And she pressed her cheek to his, held him close in her arms.

"Chakotay?"

The voice came from across the table, and he blinked, looked up at Tom.

"You drifted away," Tom laughed. "Must be one hell of a daydream."

Chakotay looked back down, smiled shyly, felt his cheeks flush – which made Tom laugh even more.

"I take it you and Kathryn talked."

He just nodded his head.

And Tom sat back in his chair and grinned. "Well, don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to kiss and tell, but… If you need to ask me anything, you can."

He nodded again, but didn't look up yet. He did have questions, but he wasn't sure how to ask them or if to ask them… or who to ask. He'd talked to Kathryn. And that had worked out just fine. He smiled again at the memory – a new memory to mix in with the jumble of old memories.

"Any time," Tom assured, then pushed the data padd across the table toward him. "But let's get back to work. You've got more words to sound out."

And Chakotay sighed, touched the padd, and watched a word appear. He'd learned all the letters, knew what sounds they made, now he was learning to piece those sounds together. This word started with a b; he knew that.

"Buh… oat."

"That's it. Boat." Tom confirmed. "Keep going."

"Buh… ox."

Tom grinned. "Right again. Before you know it, you'll be reading books."

Chakotay glanced over at the shelf where he and Kathryn kept their books. They were old and thick, with millions of words in them. He shook his head. And Tom saw where he was looking.

"We won't start with those books," he assured. "We'll find something a little smaller." And he smiled at his friend. "Just take everything a step at a time, Chakotay. You'll get there."

~vVv~