Death In the Soul's Presence
Author: Catwoman
Rated: PG-13
Plot: J/C
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters, yet I write the stories
Summary: Someone dies, and that causes another person his mourning.
His eyes were watering as he said the ceremony, his heart was pounding with every word he spoke, and his breath was growing more rigid with every intake. He felt as if it was not just her who was slipping into the darkness, but him as well. Even hours after the incident, it was still all too clear to him, as it would always be, when she lay dying in his arms. He had pressed his tear-stricken cheek against hers, and had felt her cold breathing, as she slipped away, piece by piece. Her body was dying, but his soul was diminishing along with it.
Now here he was, standing at the podium, the only thing to support his body, and without it he would fall in a heap to the floor. He was the one to give the eulogy, which he respected, but if he had to say another word, another memory, then he would not be able to bear back the tears. But he continued…
"… Captain Kathryn Janeway will always be remembered as our greatest captain. It felt almost impossible, but it happened. Our brave, corrigible… loving…. captain is gone…" here he choked on his own words but then continued, "…she has earned great honour as our captain, our friend, and our companion. When we reach home, and we will, her soul will be with us, and we will shout for joy along with it… knowing that we fulfilled her destiny… her memory will be with us always. Captain Kathryn Janeway… The hero of this crew."
He was cut off by his muffled cry, and looked up, seeing the rest of the crew in tears as well. None were as touched as he, but he understood their loss. None of them knew the love he still held for their captain. She was more then just a friend, she was a companion, something more then words themselves could ever describe. Nor, would he want them to. He missed her too much, and he knew, that even after years, that sorrow would never leave.
Finally, the now future Captain Chakotay could not stand it anymore. He briefly excused himself, and ran down the hall, out of the doors, in fierce agony. He keyed his override code, and the doors whooshed open. He didn't make it far before he fell on the floor in a passionate uprising of tears.
He lay there for seconds, minutes, hours… time did not matter anymore. All that mattered was that he lost her, and she would never come back. The darkness of his own room was around him now, plunging into his depths, creeping around his soul, and encompassing his heart, ripping it to shreds. He felt as if he couldn't breathe, couldn't live, couldn't think. Now he wasn't breathing! Turning purple with need for air, choking on his own emotions! He collapsed.
When he awoke, mere seconds later, his breathing returned, loud and unsteady in the lonesome room. The lights in his quarters were still dark, as the ungentle turn of events came over him once more. Then he felt something… a comfort tap? Nobody was in his room, and he had locked the doors, but he felt the pressure on his shoulder. Slowly but surely he turned around, as deep moist pools of brown met glistening sparks of blue.
"Chakotay…"
"K-Kathryn?"
Her figure was the same, yet covered with a pain of frost, ghost-like and spectral. She shone in the illuminated light seeming to come from the heavens; her dark burgundy hair was silhouetted like threads of silk, gliding on the wind.
"Kathryn… but how?"
"Chakotay, God granted me a gift. I'm so sorry I never told you before but…"
She reached down to him and gently brought him up on his knees. She leaned in on her own and deeply kissed him. Her feel made sparks of fire and heat go through his veins, as he realized how much his love flourished for her. She felt perfect in his embrace, a match made in heaven. And then she let go, the darkness returning as she faded away.
"Chakotay… I love you. I will always be with you, in your soul. Just embrace the light."
"…I have always loved you, Kathryn, and I will always, now and forever."
"Good-bye"
"No… not good-bye, never good-bye. See you in the light."
"Yes… See you in the light."
With that her soul drifted off, away from the solids of the universe, to the abstracts of heaven. There was a mourning returning in his eyes, and a longing in his heart, but his soul… his precious soul… would always be with her. He would love her in his heart, cherish her in his soul, and embrace her in the light, now and forever. She was his, and he was hers, not even death and sorrow could break a bond that strong, when two people love one another.
*Finis*