Naomi wasn't resisting Icheb's kiss. She was, in fact, rather enjoying it and was actively reciprocating. Her arms were wrapped around Icheb just as his were around her. It felt wonderful to be in his arms, she had been imagining this since arriving on the Lindbergh. She knew she loved him, probably had for a long time, but was this real love or puppy love? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew now was not the time to be romantically distracted.

She moved her hands to the side of Icheb's face so she was cupping his face in her small hands. With great effort and regret she disengaged her lips from Icheb's, but made no effort to stand up, she stayed seated comfortably on his lap. "Icheb, wake up, you need to snap out of it. We're in trouble."

"I'm awake, and I know we're in trouble. What are we going to do about this?"

"I mean the shuttle is in trouble."

They had only been looking at each other but when they looked around, the situation in the shuttle had changed drastically. The view out the window no longer showed the internal structure of the bioplasmic organism which Naomi, in her youth, had dubbed the telepathic pitcher plant. They were surrounded by a clear starscape. Dr. Franklin and Naomi's roommate Mary were nowhere in sight. "Icheb, something is definitely wrong here. We were being pulled into the pitcher plant organism, and the Doctor and Mary were unconscious. Now they're gone!"

Before either of them had an opportunity to investigate the whereabouts of their crewmates, or the disappearance of the bioplasmic organism, the Ruth Elder was filled with a flash of brilliant white light. When it cleared there stood before them a familiar figure. Who was singing an odd rhyming song:

"Itchy and Naomi, sittin' in a tree

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"Q-Ball, what have you done?" Icheb didn't seem terribly worried at the sudden appearance of a member of the Q Continuum, probably because he considered Q Junior to be a good friend. Nor did he show any indication he intended to dislodge Naomi from his lap.

"What have I done? I'm not the one who decided a potentially life threatening situation was the perfect time to declare my love for a certain ensign and start kissing her." Q Junior replied with as much wounded indignation as he could summon.

"What have you done with Todd and Ensign Melody? Where's Neelix?"

"Oh, that, well, your shipmates are back on the ship, completely conscious and only slightly confused. The fur ball, Mrs. Fur ball and all the little fur balls are safe on their asteroid."

"You did all of this didn't you? Neelix was never in any danger and the wormhole wasn't real, right?"

"Right." Q's demeanor made it clear that he was very pleased with himself.

"Why?" Icheb knew his friend Q was up to something, but he had no idea what could possibly be the motive for this elaborate deception.

"I'm just being Q, as in Qpid."

Naomi, still in Icheb's lap thought she should point out the obvious, "There's no Q in cupid."

"You spell cupid the way you want to, and I'll spell it the way I want to, Miss Wildman. You certainly have become a beautiful young woman, the last time I saw you, you were still a kid on Voyager. Ahh, how time flies."

"Thanks, you still look the same."

"A benefit of Q-ness is having unlimited control of space, time, matter and one's appearance. I could just as easily look like an Earth canine if I wanted to." Q sat down in one of the seats behind the normally forward facing pilot's seat. Since Icheb and Naomi were already facing the back of the shuttle, it made for a nice conversational atmosphere. Q looked as if he was settling in for a nice long discussion with some old friends. He snapped and all of them had a beverage in their hand. Icheb had a glass of carbonated water, something he had acquired a taste for after arriving on Earth. Naomi had a glass of papalla juice. It was difficult to tell what Q's drink was, but whatever it was, it emitted bright pink steam. Naomi and Icheb took sips from their drinks, then set them aside so as not to hamper their ability to hold onto each other.

Icheb's foggy brain seemed to have cleared. "Now, let me get this straight; you created the illusion of a wormhole…"

"It wasn't a wormhole, it was that telepathic pitcher plant Seven, the doctor and I had to escape with Qatai's help. Which is why you were all unconscious."

"So, the wormhole turned into a bioplasmic organism and rendered everyone unconscious, Neelix and his fellow Talaxians are still safe and sound on their asteroid colony, and we were never in any danger, right?"

"Right."

"I'll ask you again, why?"

"Isn't it obvious, Itchy?"

"Q, if it were obvious, would I ask the question?"

"I suppose not. I did it for you, for both of you."

Naomi asked, "What is that supposed to mean?" Icheb was nodding his head in support of Naomi's inquiry.

"Well, how should I put this? You, both of you, needed a kick in the pants."

At their blank expressions, Q continued his explanation. "Look at you; she's sitting on your lap with her arm across your shoulders. You have your arm around her, you both look cozy and content. Yesterday it was, 'Sir' and 'Ensign' when you passed each other in the corridors. The two of you were skulking around that ship of yours like a couple of love sick teenagers and someone had to do something about it; I elected myself. Now you look like a pair of lovebirds. I would say my method has been 100 percent effective. "

Icheb couldn't decide if he was angry or amused at his friend's interference. "You could have let us work it out."

"Itchy, I'm immortal, which means I have all the time in the galaxy, and I wasn't sure you and Naomi were going to 'work it out' in time for my dotage. I let you finish your little non-exploding Kadis Kot game, didn't I? Anyway, you showed no signs of 'working it out,' you were ignoring each other."

"Did you ever think," Naomi addressed Q, "maybe we were ignoring each other because it was the best course of action considering our careers?"

"What, does Starfleet discourage crew fraternization? Doesn't sound very enlightened to me."

"Q, you know better. It's just our ranks are not, um, well…"

"He is referring to the disparity in our ranks. He is the first officer, second in command, and I just arrived from the Academy. I am the lowest Ensign on the ship, and as such, it isn't really appropriate for us to, um, well…"

"Go ahead, continue Naomi, it wouldn't be appropriate for you and Icheb to…what?"

Q got the answer in stereo as they both replied, "Fraternize."

Q smirked, "Do you call kissing in a shuttle fraternizing? I thought fraternizing was more along the lines of playing Kadis Kot, or eating dinner together."

"Q, should we even try to communicate with our ship?"

"No, I have dampened all outgoing communications, and you're evading the issue. Why can't two people who are obviously fond of each other," this statement was accompanied by a wave in the direction of the couple in the pilot's seat, "pursue a relationship if they want to? You do want to don't you? If either one of you deny it, I swear I'll fling this shuttle to the Delta Quadrant!"

Icheb rolled his eyes, "You're just being ridiculous. And why do you care if we have a relationship or not?"

"Why do I care? Why wouldn't I care? Like I said, Q as in Qpid! And in my capacity as Qpid, I would like to clear up one little matter which my appearance may have interrupted. Icheb, you have told Naomi you love her, do you deny it, or are you going to claim it was induced by your addlepated condition?"

Icheb was blushing, "No, I don't deny it, because it's true." As reinforcement of his statement, he kissed Naomi gently on the cheek.

"Good, now we're making progress. However, I don't believe Miss Wildman has responded directly to your declaration. How about it, Naomi? How do you feel about him?"

Before she could answer Icheb assured her, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Q-ball is just being perverse. He thinks he's funny."

"It's okay, I appreciate you trying to give me an out. However, I don't think he would have asked the question if he didn't already know the answer. Isn't that right Q?"

"True." Q didn't even attempt to keep the self satisfied smirk from his face.

Icheb whispered, "Does that mean…?"

Before answering she moved her face towards his so their foreheads were touching. "That I love you as well? Yes, I do, I think I have for years."