Okay, so this is the final chapter, let me know what you all think!

Chapter 21: A Sort of Happy Ending

Chakotay sat alone with his thoughts for a while after Kathryn had left. He remembered being on new Earth with Kathryn all those years ago, and how free they had felt to explore their love for one another without the responsibility of a ship or the distraction of her guilt. But with that memory came that one of a few months later when she had ended their affair, somehow he had known from the look on her face it was over, but it hadn't been until she had left that he had allowed himself to acknowledge his breaking heart. When he thought back to their relationship after Voyager's return to the alpha quadrant, he now saw how blind he had been to the warning signs that it wasn't working for her. He wondered if they would have been together now if he had have waited a little longer, if he hadn't have pushed her to start a family with him; but that failure on both their parts which had ended their friendship had also resulted in the creation of their two daughters, and he knew that neither or them would want to change anything because of that.

Finally he considered what Kathryn had just said to him, that if he wanted to go back down that road, this time she was ready and willing to go with him. Although he was tempted at a more intimate relationship with her, he couldn't shake the memories of how badly that had turned out for them both in the past. Friendship was all the two of them seemed to be able to manage, and he wondered if perhaps it was all for the best to keep it that way. After a while he realised that the many doubts he still had about whether or not to pursue anything further with her, came from the uncertainties he had about whether or not they could make it work. He realised that to make a decision one way or the other, he needed to talk to her.

When Chakotay finally climbed the stair case to go to bed, he had resigned himself to sleeping on the issue to perhaps bring it up another time, but as he walked out onto the dark landing, he noticed light seeping from under Kathryn's door, and realising that she was still awake, he decided that there was no time like the present to talk through his worries and concerns with her.

He knocked on the door and waited patiently to be granted permission to enter. Finally he heard the words 'come in' and slowly pushed the door open.

Kathryn was stood facing him by the side of her bed, now dressed only in her night dress and with a very confused look on her face. "Chakotay?" she asked with uncertainty as he remained in the doorway.

"I want to make this work," he admitted, "but I need to know from you that it can."

He received a small nod from the woman across from him, "I'm going to need coffee for this," she quipped lightly as she recognised his need to stay up and talk.

"Me too," he confessed as he reached behind for the door and started to close it. Although they were both tired, they accepted that if they didn't get this conversation over with now, perhaps they never would.

Kathryn grabbed her silk robe and wrapped it around herself as she waited for the coffee to materialise from her bedroom's replicater. Meanwhile Chakotay made himself comfortable on her bed, pulling off his shoes and sitting up against her headboard as he waited for her to bring the drink over to him.

Finally she joined him, and aided by coffee they stayed up into the early hours of the morning talking everything through. They spoke a little more about their past, about how she had hurt him and how he regretted not being apart of the lives of their daughters from the very beginning. Then they discussed what each of them wanted from their future together, Chakotay confessed his fears of her changing her mind again, and Kathryn expressed her worry that neither of them would ever be completely satisfied with only friendship.

At some point they both resigned themselves to their entwined fate, of how they would never be able to stop loving one another so deeply and that their friendship could never be enough. And finally they talked about how they would make a relationship work, and promised that if it didn't, they would put their children before all else.

After two long hours of talking they gave in to the strong desire for rest. Feeling it natural to do so, Chakotay remained with her that night, laying down beside her as she snuggled into the comfort of his arms, and pulling the sheets up around them. Thinking she was asleep he pressed his lips to her forehead, "I love you Kathryn Janeway," he whispered.

She must have only been on the verge of sleep as she slipped further into his embrace, "I love you too," she mumbled.

Finally, feeling more at ease and at peace with her than he had ever before felt, he closed his eyes, falling into a deep and pleasant sleep, which he wasn't disturbed from until the next morning by his three young children.

V

Eight years after Voyagers return

Chakotay watched his daughter from the doorway as she stood in front of the mirror studying herself and the beautiful dark blue bridesmaids dress which she wore, and he couldn't help the thought of one day seeing her as a grown woman and walking her down the aisle to the person she would chose to marry. As she did a twirl she noticed him staring and stopped to glare across at him, "what?"

He grinned but shrugged, "nothing."

"Then stop looking at me!"

This time he laughed openly as he entered further into the room, "how can I stop staring at you when you're so beautiful?" he said as he came to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders as they looked into the mirror at each other. "You look so much like your mother," he noted.

"She says that I look like you," the girl pulled a face, "I wish I really did look more like her though."

Chakotay pulled a mock-insulted face, but noticed his daughter had bent her head to look directly up at him, "daddy have you seen her? Mum looks so pretty in her dress."

"So do you," he affirmed, resting a hand on the top of her head so that she was forced to look at him again through the mirror, "but no, I haven't seen her yet."

"She's in the next room if you want to go see her," his daughter suggested as she started again to tidy her straight dark hair from where her father had unintentionally messed it slightly.

"I'm not sure if she'd be happy to see me right now," he said neutrally, remembering Kathryn's many warnings the day previously for him not to do or say anything which would stress her any further.

Ellie walked away from him and over to the dressing table where she lifted a brush and needlessly started to pass it through her hair again. "You're most definitely a perfectionist like your mother," he pointed out.

She pulled a face, but didn't comment.

"Chakotay!"

He turned to see B'Elanna now standing by the door, with Layla's hand in hers, both dressed in matching deep blue dresses and the half Klingon looking less than pleased to see that he had decided to walk about the bridal rooms of the church. "You shouldn't be here," she needlessly reminded him.

"I know," he held up his hands as if to surrender, "I just wanted to see my daughters before the wedding started." He said as Layla crossed over to him and he automatically lifted her into his arms, "and what beautiful daughters I have," he insisted, spinning Layla about as she giggled delightedly causing both B'Elanna and Ellie to roll their eyes at their childishness.

The half Klingon folded her arms, knowing that he had most probably been hoping to 'accidentally' bump into Kathryn before they were due to walk down the aisle. "Well get out of here before the bride sees you."

Chakotay quickly came to a standstill, "isn't it bad luck for people to see the bride before the wedding?" Layla pointed out.

"Only for the groom," B'Elanna corrected.

"Not for me," Chakotay assured his daughters with a wink before placing Layla on the ground and exiting the room, leaving the bridesmaids to finish getting ready. He really had intended to go join the rest of the congregation in the church, but as he passed the door where he knew Kathryn was getting ready he noticed it was ajar, and from what Ellie had told him he allowed curiosity to get the better of him, and slowly and delicately he pushed it further open.

Kathryn was sat on a bench to one side of the room, her elegant white dress arranged carefully about her feet so as to avoid creasing it, and their two year old son sat beside her as she buttoned his shirt. Having seen Kathryn as a fearless and courageous leader who had only hardened over time, Chakotay was always amazed at the tenderness she used with their children, especially their youngest; Tommy. He found himself transfixed by the scene as she ran a hand affectionately over his hair, traced the lines of his face with her fingers and placed a kiss to his forehead, before reaching for a length of material which she then began to attempt to make into a bowtie.

Having tried and failed to tie the bow on a couple of occasions, it wasn't until she heard a soft chuckling coming from the doorway that she realised she was being over-watched. Suddenly she looked up and clashed gazes with the man standing across from her, "I swear Chakotay, if you say anything right now..." she began to threaten.

"I'm not going to say anything, I promise." He said as he entered into the room and crossed over to the bench where she sat with Tommy.

Without a word he knelt in front of his son, and taking the material from Kathryn's grasp expertly tied it into a bow.

"Do you think this is right Chakotay?" she asked him, and when he looked up to meet her gaze he saw a sudden uncertainty in her eyes.

"I'm not really sure if I'm the right person to answer that question," he told her honestly.

"You're the only person I trust enough to ask," she explained why of all the people she was asking him.

For a moment Chakotay was taken back to the moment which had lead to this one.

Six months earlier

Chakotay had just finished putting his children to bed, although Tommy had settled the moment his head had touched the pillow, and Ellie had been content to read to herself until she had drifted off to sleep, Layla had refused to go to bed until she had discussed with him every detail of their day together. As had become customary, Kathryn had come travelled across to his house in France for the weekend with their son and they had spent the afternoon at the beach, causing Layla to question her father about all different types of sea-life. Finally after half an hour, Chakotay had managed to exhaust the eldest of the twins and had left her to fall asleep.

Walking into a deserted living room Chakotay found a glass of red wine had already been poured for him and sat waiting for him on the side, he lifted it and took a sip of pleasantly pungent liquid before he started to wonder where Kathryn had disappeared to. Not wanting to call out in case he woke his children from their delicate sleep, he quickly searched the ground floor of his house, firstly finding the kitchen empty, and then the backyard patio, where he had thought she might have wondered, before he realised the light was on in his office.

She was set in his desk chair, so distracted with whatever she was studying that she didn't realise his presence straight away. "Kathryn?" he prompted gently.

His voice didn't just surprise her, it shocked her, and he noticed her hand move to conceal whatever she had been looking at on the surface of his desk. "Is everything okay?" he asked uncertainly as he watched a mask carefully consume her unguarded expression.

"Yes," she said quickly.

Chakotay studied her, and he realised that something was off about her, "you look troubled by something," he observed.

Kathryn shook her head, "I'm just tired, with the time difference between here and San Francisco."

He nodded absently, "the time never gets any shorter does it?"

"No."

Chakotay frowned, he had known this woman a long time, and he got the distinct feeling that she was hiding something from him, both in what she was saying, and the hand that was purposefully still covering something on his desk. "What are you doing in here?" he asked.

She saw his eyes drift to her hand, and knew that he game would soon be up, so decided to concede defeat before he pushed her any further. "I just finished making a call to my aide, and then I started to look for a padd to make a note about a meeting she mentioned next week…" he watched as she lifted her hand from the desk and was confused to see that there was nothing on the surface. His eyes drifted up, and instantly he became aware of her exposed palm laid out for him to examine, and he realised that in her search for something very ordinary, she had inadvertently come across something unusual.

"What is this?" she asked, her eyes piercing as she waited for his answer.

He shrugged, not entirely sure why she wanted to pursue this conversation, "you know what it is."

Kathryn met his gaze a moment longer before she realised his reluctance to continue; she had come across something he hadn't intended to give to her. She lowered her hand and picked the engagement ring up with her fingers, beginning to play with it absently. "What are we doing?"

Chakotay frowned, "when? With what?"

"Now, together," she met his gaze, "do you really think that we can just keep travelling between two homes forever?"

Although worried about what she was saying, he had to confess that he had had the same concerns in the most recent few months. "You're not happy with how things are?"

"Are you?"

"I guess not."

Kathryn sighed heavily, and his heart sank as he remembered an agreement they had both made coming up to two years before, that if at any point they felt it wasn't working, they would say, instead of allowing it to linger. "I want more," she surprised him, "why don't we get married?"

"Married?" he repeated stupidly.

"Yes," suddenly her face broke into a dazzling smile.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" he asked, a small smirk forming at the sudden turn around.

She eyed him carefully, "I suppose that depends on what your answer would be?"

Chakotay pulled a face and folded his arms, deciding to play coy, "sorry Kathryn, it doesn't work that way, you'll have to ask me first."

Although annoyed that he was pushing her to make the final move, she couldn't hide the enjoyment she was getting from the game, and laughed openly at his refusal to answer. "Will you marry me Chakotay?"

A smile that emphasised his dimples over came his lips, and with a slight tilt of his head he made his way over to where she was sitting. Kathryn waited with painful anticipation as he knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his own as he took the engagement ring from her gentle grasp between her finger tips. "Why does everything have to be so complicated with you?" he asked, with an intense and loving wonder, "nothing would make me happier right now than having you as my wife," he answered, and then he took her left hand delicately in his, and slipped the same ring he had proposed to her with all those years ago onto her finger.

His mind moved back to the present moment as Kathryn looked at him with an uncertainty in her eyes that hadn't been there the day they had decided to marry, and he realised that it was nothing more than pre-wedding jitters.

"This has always been right," he assured her.

Kathryn reached across to cup his cheek in her palm as she realised the absolute truth of his words, somehow, in all the confusion they had found each other again, and they were both as determined as each other to never lose it. "I know," she quietly agreed.

"Then stop doubting yourself… stop doubting us," he requested with a tender smile.

She met his loving gaze to acknowledge how truly lucky she was to have this man in her life, then finally offered him a short smile, "thank you," she said sincerely.

His smile transformed into a dimpled grin, "I swear Kathryn if you leave me at the alter …" he jokingly started to threaten.

Kathryn placed her fingers to his lips, "I won't," she promised him with all seriousness.

Taking her hand in his own he kissed her palm, and then raising himself up further, pulled her towards him so that he could kiss her neck, her cheek and then her lips. He moved back slightly to meet her gaze, "I love you," he stated, his voice having lowered to an enticing murmur.

"I love you too," she exchanged, and as his eyes met hers she could feel the love she felt for him reflected back and radiating around them both.

With great reluctance Chakotay pulled back and glanced across at their son who was distracted and irritated by his formal clothing and oblivious to his parent's discussion. Laughing inwardly to himself, Chakotay rose onto his feet and turned back to Kathryn who was still watching him. "I'll see you in a few minutes," he said casually.

Kathryn rolled her eyes as he left the room, at the ease in which he spoke of their impending vows to be married, but at the same time was grateful for it. Having lost the last of her pre-wedding jitters thanks to Chakotay, she was finally ready to marry him.

The End