Author's Note: Ta-da! This is it! The final chapter. Thanks to everyone who's kept up with it. I know it got kind of long, but I couldn't help it! And, btw, there is a sequel, already written, just about as long...if anyone is interested.

Truly, I would appreciate some feedback. Did you like it? And if so, why? Thanks again.

CHAPTER 36

EPILOGUE

Hoshi smiled as she watched the Estabi mother and child leave the medical clinic. The little girl was being treated for a recurring skin problem, and new techniques at the clinic were making headway in the poor thing's condition. The girl was laughing, and the sound lifted Hoshi's spirits.

She waved goodbye to the receptionist and walked out the front door. It had been a long day. She had visited three of the clinics she had established since arriving on Estab five months ago. Tomorrow she'd visit two more.

Her life had become more settled once Kleth had beamed her out from under Captain Archer's nose. Not at first, of course, but shortly thereafter.

Kleth had practically kidnapped her. Beamed aboard the Falcon's bridge with no warning, she had been dumbfounded when Kleth and every other Klingon had dropped to their knees, fists to their chests, in a show of homage to her. If it hadn't been for the painkiller still numbing her, she would have burst into tears right there, embarrassing the whole lot of them.

In the highest tribute to her, Kleth had renounced his claim on the Falcon, offering it to her for command again. She had been so overwhelmed that she had seriously considered it for a whole day before giving her answer. With a ripple of amusement, she remembered the look on his face when she had turned him down. She hadn't been able to tell if he had been disappointed or relieved.

The strongest factor in her decision to decline resuming command was the way she felt about Malcolm. If she remained on the Falcon, she'd never see him again.

Not that there was much chance of that anyway, but there was always the possibility her Klingons would become renegades again, and she'd be looking over her shoulder all the time. She didn't want to live like that, with her on one side of the law and knowing Malcolm would be on the other.

She'd heard from Malcolm only once since Kleth had spirited her away. She had been trying to access her financial accounts and found them to be still blocked. Part of Starfleet's response to her involvement with pirates, she supposed.

Frustrated, she had tried to hack her way in, and an alarm had flashed on her console. She had activated some sort of sleeper message which had been waiting for her attempt to access that account. She had watched in fascination as words popped up on the screen.

"Accounts now accessible. Suggest moving them elsewhere ASAP. Ma'Com."

She didn't know what she expected, but that wasn't it. Some words of love, perhaps. Still, she was grateful for his assistance. Without it, she wouldn't have been able to get to her money and establish the foundation on Estab which was helping so many people.

She longed for more, however. What she was doing now was satisfying, but it was missing the one thing she wanted most -- Malcolm. Somehow, though, she couldn't picture him in such a tranquil setting. It was almost as an unsettling vision as her commanding the Falcon again.

It had been six months, and she had almost resigned herself to never being able to share her life with him. She'd have to cherish what they'd had, just as she cherished her time with Matthew, looking back on both those periods of her past with fond remembrance.

She inhaled deeply, trying to shake her melancholy mood as she walked toward the place she called home. It was spring in this part of Estab, and fragrant, flowering bushes lined the walk. She couldn't ask for a more peaceful, beautiful place.

The Estabi were open and friendly. She had never told them the reason she felt compelled to help them, and they never asked. She would make restitution in her own way. With her fortune from the sale of the shipping business, she could do a lot more good where she was than if she was locked away in prison.

She had bought a little cottage at the edge of this settlement, and had purposely made the local clinic her last stop today. She enjoyed walking, and it seemed the perfect way to end her work day, strolling amidst the calm surroundings on her way home.

Kleth was due any day now. She was handling the paperwork for the trade route he had established. That much she would do gladly for her old friend, although every time he visited he tried to talk her into rejoining the Falcon.

He missed her, she knew. His ploys to get her back aboard were now bordering on the absurd, each one more outrageous than the last. During his most recent visit, he had offered her, in lieu of command, the position of ship's cook. That would last about one meal with that crew and, respectful of her or not, they'd probably shove her out an airlock. Gagh wasn't on her list of recipes.

She was still smiling as she unlocked her cottage door and entered. She wasn't sure when Kleth would arrive, so she had made no plans, either for herself or for when he got there.

Tonight she was looking forward to relaxing. Much as she enjoyed her work overseeing the operation of the medical clinics, cramming three visits into one day had been tiring.

She opened a bottle of wine, poured herself a small glass and took it into the bathroom. Setting it on the rim of the tub, she turned on the water and dumped some bubble bath in. A long, hot soak would be divine. Afterward she'd see about fixing something for dinner.

She undressed and was about to step in the tub when the door chime sounded. It had to be Kleth. Only he had such timing, she thought, recalling the time he had found her and Malcolm in bed in the captain's cabin.

Donning a robe, she belted it around her waist and went to the front door. Throwing it open, she wasn't surprised to see Kleth. What did surprise her was that he was standing with his back to her, surveying the property.

"This suits you, little one," he said, his eyes taking in the profusion of flowers as he reached out to touch one which was trailing over the porch railing.

"Oh, are you saying I'm a delicate flower?" she teased.

"You appear to be like them," he said, turning to face her, "and many of them have thorns."

She chuckled as she ushered him into the cottage. "Blood wine?" she asked.

"Need you ask?" he countered, sitting down heavily on the couch.

She grinned as she pulled out the flagon she kept for him under the counter in the kitchen. Grabbing a mug from a shelf, she took it and the blood wine into the living area and sat down in a chair across from him.

"Here you go," she said, placing the items on a low table between them. "Serve yourself. I'm not about to give you any more ideas for jobs for me on the Falcon."

He grunted as he unstoppered the flagon and poured himself a generous amount. Raising the mug to his lips, he swallowed the entire draught. Hoshi watched the procedure with an indulgent smile. Some things never change, she thought.

"I have brought more contracts for you to look at," he said, setting the mug back down on the table and pouring himself another helping.

"I've got the last batch ready for you, too," she said, reaching over for a data padd on the end of the table and handing it to him. He tucked it in a pocket.

"Don't you want to look at them?" she asked as he passed her a different data padd he took out of another pocket.

"No," he replied honestly. "You have done excellent work so far. There is no reason to suspect these will be any different."

His expression suddenly became guarded as he looked at her, making her uneasy. Something was going on in that Klingon mind of his.

"Have you heard from Ma'Com?" he asked suddenly.

She was taken by surprise. In all his visits, he had never once mentioned Malcolm.

"No," she answered warily after a moment. "Should I have?"

Kleth grunted. "He is your chosen one."

"Kleth," she started, then sighed. "I'm not going to discuss this with you."

"You want him."

Hoshi stared wide-eyed at him. She had almost forgotten how direct Klingons could be. It was one of the things she admired about them but, in this particular case, she would rather he leave well enough alone.

"You do not have to answer, little one," he rumbled softly. "I know."

She watched as he finished his blood wine. When he stood, she was startled.

"You're leaving already?" she asked, getting to her feet as well.

"There are matters that demand my attention aboard the Falcon," he said, reaching for his communicator. "And there is another matter that will occupy you here."

This had gone beyond unusual to downright strange. Kleth generally would transport to one of the public pads in the settlement and walk to her cottage when he came to visit. He'd leave the same way. He'd never used his communicator to call for a beam-out.

"Now," he said into the communicator, but instead of Kleth dematerializing, someone else was beaming into her living room.

As the longed-for features coalesced, Hoshi's legs almost gave out. She tore her eyes away from the materializing figure long enough to glance at Kleth and saw a look of satisfaction on his face. She quickly shifted her gaze back to Malcolm, her breath coming more quickly as the transport process was completed.

For a moment they stared at each other, she drinking in his eyes, the dark hair, the chiseled features, the uncertain but hopeful smile on his lips. She couldn't blink her eyes for fear he would vanish.

A rumbling noise broke her focus, and she turned to Kleth again. He was grinning at them. He stepped over, clapped Malcolm on the shoulder, and gave him a shove in her direction.

She raised her arms as Malcolm reached her and held him tightly, feeling Malcolm crush her to him in return.

Looking through her tears over Malcolm's shoulder at Kleth, she whispered, "Thank you."

A second wine glass was sitting next to hers on the edge of the tub. Both glasses had been emptied.

They had made love in her bed, but when Malcolm had gone into the bathroom later and seen the neglected bubbles, he had let the water out, run fresh warm water and had playfully pulled her out of bed and into the bathroom. It was a tight fit, but they both were able to sit in the tub, she in front of him, leaning back against his chest, as they sipped the wine.

"This is much better than your shower on the Falcon," he said as he slowly ran a washcloth over her neck.

Hoshi closed her eyes and sighed. "And we don't have to worry about Kleth barging in."

She felt his chest vibrate against her back as he chuckled. "If he did, we could ask him to bring us more wine."

"Only if you want blood wine," she retorted and languidly splashed a few drops of water back at him.

"No, thank you," he said, moving the washcloth over to her shoulder and tracing the small scar left by the wound Shidak had inflicted. "Does it still hurt?"

"Only before it rains," she said. "I'm considering going into meteorology with this new weather prediction talent I've developed."

She fell silent as he continued stroking her with the washcloth, occasionally dipping it in the water to warm it again. She'd deliberately avoided talking about their situation. She realized she was living in the moment, not thinking about when he would leave but instead savoring every moment he was with her.

"Hoshi..."

Here it comes, she thought. He's going to tell me he can't stay. She tensed in anticipation and felt his answering hesitancy. She took a small measure of comfort in the fact that he didn't like what he was going to tell her.

"I've resigned my commission with Starfleet."

"What!"

She sat up and scooted around to face him. He was giving her that half smile of his, the one that meant he wasn't sure how she would react but was hoping that she'd be happy.

"I'm no longer in Starfleet," he said.

"I heard you the first time," she said. "I just never expected you to do that. You can't... What are... Why?"

He grinned and reached for a towel. Handing it to her, he said, "I've been planning to leave Starfleet ever since you were beamed off Enterprise."

As she stood up and started to dry herself, he grabbed another towel and began to do the same.

"But, I don't understand," she said. "You never contacted me, other than that message about my accounts. You never gave me any indication..."

Once again her voice trailed off as she struggled to comprehend what he was saying and tried not to be too hopeful of what he had yet to actually say. To cover her confusion, she grabbed her robe and put it on.

"You don't have any men's robes around here, do you?" he asked and grinned when she shook her head. "I'll have Kleth beam down my things later. I should have something in with them. In the meantime..." He wrapped a towel around his waist.

"Your things?"

"You're going to make me call you an idiot again, aren't you?" he said, and took her into his arms. "I'm staying, Hoshi."

As the magnitude of what he was saying finally sank in, she realized their surroundings perhaps weren't the best place to be discussing their future. She was almost certain of what he was going to do, and they needed at least to get to the living room. She didn't want to tell her future children that their father had proposed to her in the bathroom after they had just taken a bath together.

She gently released herself from his embrace. She pushed past him with a smile and went into the living room where she sat down on the couch. Malcolm's puzzled face peered at her from the bathroom doorway, and she patted the spot on the couch next to her. He came over, still wrapped in the towel, and sat down.

"What exactly do you plan to do now?" she asked.

"Kleth has offered me the position of first officer aboard the Falcon."

It should have surprised her, but it didn't. She felt laughter bubbling up in her throat and couldn't contain it.

"Don't you think I can handle it?" Malcolm asked seriously.

"No, it's not that," she said. "Do it. If you don't, he'll come up with all sorts of other jobs for you."

Malcolm's brow furrowed, not understanding. "It's only temporary, anyway."

"Oh?"

"Long enough for me to find my own ship. Then Kleth and I are going to form a shipping partnership," he said.

"If you'd rather not ship out with Kleth, I think I can afford to buy you a ship of your own," she said softly, hoping he wouldn't refuse.

She could see his pride warring with his desire. He wanted to take her up on the offer, but he also wanted to do it on his own. She decided to give him another option.

"You could always marry into it," she said, looking away. "I need someone to ship in medical supplies for my clinics here."

He gave her a small smile when she looked back. "We could start with that," he said.

"Start?"

"I expect to have a substantial fleet built up by the time the first of our children comes along."

"You better work fast," she told him, drowning in his eyes as he leaned over to kiss her.

Their lips had just touched when a beeping sound came from Malcolm's pile of discarded clothes near the bedroom door.

"Bloody hell!" he said, pulling back from Hoshi and getting up.

Holding the towel in place around his waist, he stalked over to the clothes and fumbled in his pants pockets until he found the communicator. Snapping it open with more force than necessary, he said gruffly, "Reed here."

"Ma'Com?" came Kleth's voice. "Are you ready for your things to be beamed down?"

"I suppose so," he said, looking back at Hoshi who had remained on the couch and was listening with a gleam in her eye. "I want to talk to you later, Kleth. We need to work on your timing."

--THE END--