A goddess. His lover was a literal freaking goddess.

Was his life always going to be so gods-damned weird?

He lay in bed that night, pondering the events of the day. He had gone on what might just qualify as a first date with the woman he loved, only to have that date interrupted by a freak storm brought on by some kind of shadow monster, and then his lover-who-is-actually-a-goddess fought off the monster and saved their lives.

A perfectly normal day in the Delta Quadrant, he scoffed silently.

He thought back on the conversation they had had once they got back to the house and they had healed their scrapes and bruises from their mad dash through the storm.

"So… what exactly are you a goddess of?" he had asked.

"The seeking of knowledge," she had replied. "At least, I think that's my true calling."

"You think so?"

"It's not like I'm born knowing exactly who I'm meant to be. No one is, on any plane of existence. All I know is what that person prayed for and I think what that girl wanted help with was doing better in school. So… knowledge."

"Is that why you're a scientist?"

"In this lifetime at least, yes."

"How many lifetimes have you lived?"

"Human lifetimes? Three. One in the thirteenth century, one in the twentieth century, and this one. I was a woman for all of those lives, and I must say I much prefer this century as far as civil rights go."

After a moment, an idea occurred to him. "Do you have any other powers? Like that energy whip thing you did earlier?"

"Yes, but for something like that I need a focus. Something I can channel my energy into, otherwise these poor mortal hands will suffer terribly."

"What else can you do?"

In answer, she had reached up and touched his cheek gently with her fingers. Suddenly, his mind began to swirl with the sensation of a second presence sharing his consciousness. Words and sounds flashed by too quickly for his conscious mind to comprehend. Then as soon as it had started, it was over. Kathryn withdrew her hand and smiled.

"Ti amo," she said.

"'I love you'," he translated. "How did I know that?"

"I gave you my knowledge. My whole race is telepathic."

"Wow."

"In a mortal body, my telepathic powers are strongest when I'm in physical contact with a person, but I can still implant a suggestion in their mind even without that - a thought or an emotion I want them to feel."

"So when you were always touching people on the Bridge…"

"That was mostly just because I'm a touchy-feely kind of person," she had laughed. "But some of that was me telepathically implanting strength and courage to get everyone through our latest ordeal."

He couldn't help but be impressed.

"Like you saw," she continued, "I can manipulate energy in a limited fashion. And I can project my consciousness outside of my body and travel in my non-corporeal state. But that's about it."

"Wait, were you the mist I kept seeing when I was astral projecting?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Is there anyone else in this life who knows who you really are?"

"Kes knows," she responded. "Her telepathic powers are stronger than she knows, and she picked up that I'm something stronger than merely human. My mother might suspect something, but she never brought it up. Also Ensign Hayes might know. She was praying one night, just sending her words out into the cosmos to anyone who might be listening. She was feeling homesick and hopeless and wanted guidance, and I happened to hear her words, so I offered some comfort. I don't know if she knows it was me, though."

"I have one last question," Chakotay said. "Do you consider yourself to be… above anyone else, just because you're a goddess?"

"Hell no," she laughed. "I'm not even good at being a goddess; I certainly don't deserve to feel any arrogance about it."

"Well, whether you think you're a good deity or not," Chakotay had said. "You'll always be more than good enough to me." He held up his hand and Kathryn entwined her fingers in his. He then leaned forward and kissed the back of her hand. "I love you."

She had leaned forward then and kissed him, their first proper kiss, deeply on the lips.

Lying in bed hours later, he reached up and touched his tingling lips at the memory. He turned his head to look at the wall behind which his lover lay sleeping. He thought if he could concentrate he might just be able to hear the sound of her breathing.

No, wait. That was the sound of footsteps.

Suddenly, his blanket was pulled back and he sat up with a start.

"Just me." Kathryn sat down on the bed beside him and tucked her feet up under the covers. "Couldn't sleep."

"Uh, Kathryn? This bed's not big enough for both of us."

"Then we'll have to stay close," she said, snuggling up beside him. "And tomorrow we'll push the two beds together to make one big bed."

He smiled in the darkness. "Okay, we'll do that." He tucked the blanket around the two of them and wrapped his arms around the small figure beside him. "Sleep tight."