Star Trek Voyager characters are the Property of Paramount Pictures

EPILOGUE

2390

Beneath a scorching summer sky, drums beat and flutes sung, filling the air with sweet music that enchanted the waiting crowd. Inside a tall wig-wam, an attractive young woman with a temple tattoo and long black hair flowing over a fringed beige dress, stood before her beloved step-mother.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful," Kathryn smiled. Voyager's former captain was also dressed in native costume and had a beaded band on her graying hair.

The teepee's door suddenly flapped open and Chakotay peeped his head in.

"We're ready."

"We'll be right there," Kathryn replied.

Chakotay disappeared, and Kathryn turned back to her step-daughter. There were tears in the young bride's eyes and Kathryn put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What is it? Are you having second thoughts?"

Adriena shook her head. "I love Konrak and want to be his wife more than anything, but I just...I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of failing him...of not being enough..."

Kathryn took Adriena's hands in hers. "Konrak loves you for you. Just be true to yourself."

A tear ran down Adriena's cheek. "But it's by being me that I hurt those I love. Apart from Konrak, no one has chosen to want me except you. Daddy loves me because I'm his daughter, and Hanara loves me because I'm her sister, but you loved me for no reason other than you wanted too. Yet I let you down so much by getting kicked out of the Academy. You're the last person I ever wanted to fail and disappoint, but I did."

"Oh darling," Kathryn said, gathering her step-daughter close. "I was secretly proud. I wish I'd poured a bucket over dragon-wagon." Adriena laughed softly and Kathryn kissed her silky hair. "My disappointment was only for you. I know how much you wanted to be a Starfleet Officer."

"I did," Adriena said, drawing away. "But I'm glad now it didn't work out. If it had, I wouldn't have come here to heal and wouldn't be with Konrak now." She smiled. "I'm so happy, Mom."

"And I'm happy you're happy," Kathryn replied. "That's all any mother wants for her child...as I'm sure you'll soon learn."

Adriena nodded. "Konrak and I want lots of children."

Kathryn smiled. "Then your father and I had better build extra bedrooms."

Adriena laughed. "We'll come and visit every Christmas."

Kathryn poked her stomach affectionately. "You'd better."

Adriena then drew her step-mother close again. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'm going to miss you too," Kathryn said sincerely.

The two women embraced for a while, then drew apart.

"Come on," Kathryn said, holding out her arm. "Let's not keep your groom waiting."

Adriena dried her eyes, took Kathryn's arm, and together they left the wig-wam.

As they stepped into the sunshine, voices began to sing and a group of young men and women began to dance. In the distance, Konrak, who had grown into a handsome young man, was waiting with his family, and Adriena smiled happily at him before joining hers. Hanara was amongst them, her red-hair blazing in the sun, and she proudly took up her position of honor beside her parents.

When the music silenced into the lone beat of a drum, the bride and groom began to walk towards each other, and their families followed in procession. The couple met outside the cabin that was to be their home, and as the tribe's priest approached them, their families formed a circle around them and linked hands. The priest was holding a beautifully decorated pottery vase that Konrak's family had made, and as Adriena and Konrak took each other's hands, he raised the vessel, which was full of water, to the sky.

"Great Spirit," he said, "we come together today to join in marriage this man, Konrak, and this woman, Adriena. We ask that you bless their life together with enduring love, harmony, fertility and fidelity. You gave us water so we may live, and gave us love so we may live in joy. Bless this water, Holy One, so that this man, and this woman, may live long in love."

The priest then lowered the vase and handed it to Adriena. Carefully, she took a sip, and then handed it to Konrak. After he had taken a drink, he handed it back to the priest, and the bride and groom piled their hands on top of each other. The priest then poured the remaining water over their hands, speaking as he did so.

"Before the Great Spirit you have pledged your lives to each other. May you never be lonely, but find company in each other. May you never be unhappy, but find joy together. And may you never long for love, but always love one another."

The priest then held out the vase, and Adriena and Konrak took a handle each.

"Cherish this vase as a symbol of your marriage and seal your union with a kiss."

Adriena and Konrak smiled tearfully at each other and then kissed tenderly.

Watching from the circle, Kathryn squeezed Chakotay's hand as a happy tear ran down her cheek, and felt him squeeze hers in return.

At midnight, when the celebrations were finally over and Hanara was fast asleep, Kathryn and Chakotay sat outside their wig-wam and celebrated their daughter's marriage with a glass of champagne.

"It seems only like yesterday she was a little girl," Kathryn said thoughtfully. "I will never forget the first night she came into my life, and will always be grateful for the love that came with her." She paused. "Time passes so quickly. It's hard to believe that it's almost two decades since we were stranded in the Delta Quadrant. I used to think I could plan my life to ever last detail...that I could control everything...I wanted to control everything. But the best things that have ever happened to me...Voyager, you, Adriena and Hanara, were all unplanned."

"The best gifts," Chakotay said gently, "are always those we're not expecting."

Kathryn's eyes found his and she gazed into them. "In k'aatech."

Chakotay smiled, her faulty accent telling him the words were her own, and he replied in kind. "I love you too."

Kathryn smiled in return, his accent telling her the same thing, and she raised up her glass. "To the next ten years."

Chakotay knocked his glass against hers in a toast. "The next ten years."

Their lips then drew together and they kissed softly beneath the stars.

THE END