Chakotay sat by a counter in the Holodeck setting of a rather large Russian Palace style ball room, watching the door. Any minute. Any minute, she would be here.

"No girl tonight?" asked Tom Paris, slipping into a seat beside him and raising one eyebrow. "We'll have to see what we can do about that."

"Thanks for the offer, but she's on her way." Chakotay smiled slightly, gaze unwavering.

"By the way you're staring at the door, she must really be something. Who is she?"

He crossed his arms, pretending to consider whether he should tell the helmsman or not. "She's something, all right," he said. Vicious as an insulted Klingon, frightening as imminent death...But what can I say? She's charming...for some reason. "You'll see."

"Mm, can't wait to meet her."

"You've met her." Oh, boy, have you met her, he mused.

"Oh, really?" Tom's brow rose toward his sandy colored hair-line.

As if on cue, the doors slid open to a sight the Commander wasn't sure he'd ever see. In stepped his date, and as her blue-grey eyes met his, he was sure it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever had the privelage to witness.

The most rare thing was her apparel; Voyager's captain was actually wearing a dress. Thin straps like silk rested on her otherwise bare shoulders, supporting a modest, midnight blue, floorlength evening gown, for lack of better word. Its long hanging skirt concealed her shoes, except when she walked, and then only the tips of the high heeled clear sandals she wore were visible.

Tom's eyes had widened a bit, brow raising even further in surprise. Chakotay, while feeling exactly as Paris did, masked it a little better than the Lieutenant managed to. He watched as Neelix, with exhileration, greeted her at the door, watched as she became uncomfortable under something the Talaxian was saying, unsure of whether it was apparant to anyone save him, and decided to come to her rescue.

Standing, he made his way over to her and held out a hand. "Madamoiselle," he said with a slight bow. Janeway laid her own atop it, mouthing "Thank you."

As they walked back across the floor amongst crowds and couples, he looked at her and lowered his head toward her ear just slightly to quiet his tone. "When I asked you to come with me, I didn't expect you to get so dressed up."

"Well, I decided to be thorough," she said just as quietly, a grin forming.

"You certainly did a nice job of that."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything else as the lights slowly dimmed and music started to play. They sat, side by side, her arm resting on his shoulder in a friendly manner as they watched the pairs dance. After a song or two had played, he looked over at her, stood, and held out his arm. "May I?" he asked, in a teasingly dramatic tone.

The captain grinned as she got to her feet and took his arm.

"I'm not good at this," he admitted, facing her.

"It's a slow dance, you don't have to be good at it, because there's really nothing to be good at. Basically all you do is sway. And...if we can take on the Borg, we can do that," she mused.

"Words of encouragement?"

"The best I could come up with."

"We need to work on that."

She laughed, shaking her head. Chakotay looked around and frowned slightly, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "Have you noticed something strange?" he asked her.

Janeway cocked her head, looking around as he did. "People are...staring at us," she said in puzzlement.

"I think they know I can't dance. They're waiting for me to mess up," he mused.

"Well let's show them what you've got then," she said on a tiny laugh, and the music began.

It was played by a flute, soothing and quiet, and as it progressed, he found most everyone's stances had changed. But what he noticed the most, what he caught himself paying sole attention to, was their own.

The traditional position they had started out with had been abandoned. Now his arms were around her, holding her, his cheek resting gently on the side of her auburn head. Her forehead was softly touching his shoulder, her eyes closed and her breath warm and soft against him.

Up til then he had been lost in his own little world. But when it registered in his mind that they were this close, that he was holding her in his arms, his heart leapt and skipped a beat.

Kathryn seemed to have noticed it all at once too. She stopped moving, her eyes opened and she stepped backward slowly. An oddly nervous smile placed itself on her features, and the song ended just as easily as it had begun. "..It's late," she said quietly. "...I have alot to do tomorrow. I think I'll turn in..."

He nodded, dropping his arms to his side in embarassment, and watched her go. It was past, the moment was gone. It was over.

Chakotay decided to do his best to ignore it. It had been one random thought, nothing more.

The moment was gone.