It was always the unpacking which was more difficult, she mused. A new starship, new command...the transition, professionally, was a simple one. The emotion changes, however, were another. As a framed holo-photo was placed on her bedside table, one finger reached to trace the face within.
"Mark." Mark. Their last goodbye- for they had done this, gone through the movements so many times- had been brief, she communicating to him via her viewscreen onboard Voyager. Scant few days prior, they'd shared a slice of pecan pie in a bistro overlooking San Fernando Valley. He was understanding of her career, accepting the fact that she needed to be in space. But that never made the farewells any easier.
His picture in a comforting place, she found time at last to sit apon the bed. Personal touches- and she was pleased she had brought so much- were scattered through the room. 'Strategically placed', Mark would have lightly joked. Her family's grandfather clock, gifted to her by her mother several Christmases past; potted ferns and cherry blossoms; a photograph- Margaret Berkwhite- and books lined up in faded leather bindings upon a polished oak bookshelf.
The sound of a chime broke the silence, her head turning toward the doorway to her living room. Through that expanse someone waited for her to answer- someone wanted an audience. And with that mental click she realized the moment was her last as Kathryn Janeway. Conferences with the crew, times to meet and discuss--those were all she had now, all that Captain Janeway reigned over.
"Come." The solitude banquished, she rose to approach the archway, prepared to meet her subordinate. The surprise was unexpected as Chakotay met her gaze and she foreced herself to be the Captain. "Commander."
"Captain." The title made her wonder- would her name ever be spoken again...would she hear it in the gentle ways Mark delivered it, full of adoration. It had to be pure, unadulterated adoration, else it wouldn't work.
"I'd like to welcome you," She continued. His eyes registered confusion, his expression remaining neutral. "And to extend my congratulations."
"For what? Accepting Starfleet?" The 'former' Maquis Captain seemed skeptical, guarded. She allowed herself a moment before responding; surprising him, she was certain, with her choice of words.
"No. For becoming what I anticipate to be," and in this man's pride, stature and self, she found a smile- along with a warmth wrapped in loyalty to hold-on to. Grapple. Tether. Believe in.
"...a valuable friend."