More and more people arrived, and Chakotay soon lost track of who was part of the family, who was one of Gretchen's colleagues and who was one of the neighbors. Kathryn was constantly moving about, being pulled this way and that by various people who wanted to hear all about her recent space adventures. Chakotay tried to stay by her side as much as he could but found that he himself also attracted much curiosity because he was a newcomer to this close-knit community and thus everyone wanted to know where he came from and what his affiliation was with the Janeways.

Hoping to get away for a few minutes and needing to relieve himself anyway, Chakotay eventually escaped into the house. When he reemerged from the small guest bathroom, his ears picked up muffled conversation from the dining room. He wouldn't have paid the speakers any attention if it hadn't been for Kathryn's name, uttered in a low voice by none other than Gretchen Janeway. Knowing he really shouldn't, but unable to quell his curiosity, Chakotay silently stepped closer to the door, which was slightly ajar.

"Kathryn's not been herself," Gretchen was saying, sounding worried. "She's trying to cover it, but I can tell that something really upsetting has happened to her. My guess is that is has to do with an away mission she was on, where her team was captured and held hostage for several days. But that's as far as she would tell me, and I didn't want to press her for details. Have you heard anything, any unofficial news from the Al-Batani?"

"They recently lost two people, one of them from security," a second female voice answered, and Chakotay recognized Belinda Jameson. "I don't know under what circumstances though, I only read a short obituary in a Fleet-wide security bulletin. Do you want me to try and find out more? I don't know anyone on the Al-Batani, but a friend of mine is currently stationed on the K'Marco, which is one sector over. Maybe she's heard something."

Gretchen sighed. "That's very kind of you, but I'd hate for Kathryn to think that I'm spying on her. I'm just not sure how to ask her myself. She's like her father – readily sharing the good news, but keeping everything potentially upsetting to herself."

"She doesn't want you to worry," Belinda soothed. "How about talking to Chakotay? He might know something."

"Oh, I'm sure that he does," Gretchen stated emphatically, making Chakotay wince with guilty conscience. "But I don't want to bully him into breaking any confidences." There was a pause, and then she continued much more softly, "Did you see them together? She seems much happier since he arrived. If it didn't sound so cliché, I'd say he's good for her."

"I would tend to agree," Belinda replied, her smile obvious from her tone. Chakotay felt his ears go red. Still, he was unable to quit his eavesdropping post. "He certainly is an honorable man, and I'm sure that if he felt there was something you should know, he'd confide in you, or get Kathryn to tell you herself."

"I hope so," Gretchen sighed. "But I know how Fleeters think, Belinda. They believe no one who hasn't been there can understand, and that some things are best kept under wraps."

"That's right." Belinda's voice was quietly serious, and Chakotay pictured her taking Gretchen's hand or putting an arm around her shoulders. "And frankly, I've seen some things during missions that I wouldn't want my parents to know about either. But I have other people to confide in, and so does Kathryn. You just have to trust that if we do need help, we'll ask for it."

"Thank you." Gretchen's voice was slightly muffled, whether from emotion or from a close hug, Chakotay couldn't tell. Since the conversation seemed to be coming to an end, he quietly stepped away from the door and went back outside.

This morning during breakfast, Kathryn had told him that she'd spoken to Deanna Troi twice since leaving San Francisco. He'd been glad to hear it, especially since Kathryn said that she planned on keeping up regular communications with the counselor. For now, she didn't want to trust anyone else. Maybe in time he'd be able to convince her to tell her mother about those conversations and lessen Gretchen's worries somewhat.

-==/\==-

The setting sun found Chakotay sitting on the back porch, nibbling on a pastry and watching several of the kids playing hide and seek. Suddenly the back door was thrown open and Phoebe stormed out, dragging a man of about Chakotay's age behind her. An older couple followed, looking slightly bemused by the younger Janeway sister's behavior.

"Mom!" Phoebe shouted, trying to make herself be heard over the general din of conversation. "Kathryn! Look who's here!"

Kathryn had been standing with a group of people not far from Chakotay, with her back to the house. Now she excused herself and turned, squinting at the new arrivals. Then her eyes went wide. "Mark!" she exclaimed. With a few quick steps she crossed the distance and threw her arms around Phoebe's companion.

The man looked both surprised and pleased by her enthusiastic greeting and hugged her back just as hard. It was obvious that they knew each other well, and Chakotay could not suppress a flash of jealousy. He rose and slowly moved closer, hoping to catch what they were saying so he could gauge the stranger's connection to Kathryn and her family.

"How long has it been, Kath?" Mark asked when Kathryn finally released him and they both stepped back to look at each other.

Kathryn reached up to tug on his hair which was turning a premature grey along his temples. "Long enough for you to get old," she laughed. "I don't know… three, four years maybe?"

"Probably," he agreed. "You haven't changed a bit though. Are you still mucking around in cosmology and quantum mechanics?"

"Most of the time, yes," she nodded and then quickly looked past him.

Chakotay was sure she wanted to change the subject and was proven right when she stepped up to the elderly couple behind the man.

"Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, how nice of you to come. My mother said you weren't sure if you could make it." She warmly shook the couple's hands.

Mrs. Johnson smiled. "Well, we had offered to help this young man move back to Earth. Little did we know that it would involve much more than just beaming a couple of boxes aboard our rented shuttle."

"Not everyone travels as light as my Kathryn," a new voice joined the conversation as Gretchen Janeway appeared at her daughter's side and proceeded to hug all three of the new arrivals. "It's so good to see you all. Did the move go as planned?"

"More or less," Mr. Johnson grunted good-naturedly, throwing a pointed glance at his son. "Although Mark failed to warn us that he used the last two years to accumulate quite a substantial art collection. Packing up close to a hundred paintings and sculptures for an interstellar move was not what I'd expected spending my time on."

"We still had an opportunity for some sightseeing, though," his wife interrupted his flow of words. "If you want, we could get together next week and then we'll show you our holos."

"That would be lovely," Gretchen agreed.

Mark offered to also present some the artwork he'd collected and they quickly arranged a visit for the following Monday. Without asking Kathryn or Phoebe for their opinions, Gretchen stated that she and her daughters were looking forward to the evening. The sisters exchanged a glance and shrugged.

"Have you met Chakotay?" Gretchen suddenly asked and Chakotay, who had been hovering at the outer circle of the group surrounding the Johnsons, unexpectedly found himself being pulled into the spotlight. "He's a friend of Kathryn's. Chakotay, these are our closest neighbors, Mary and Chad Johnson, and their son Mark. He, Kathryn and Phoebe practically grew up together."

While he shook the Johnsons' hands and conveyed his delight at meeting them, Chakotay noticed that Mark was looking back and forth between himself and Kathryn, obviously trying to gauge their exact connection. Gretchen's designation of him as a 'friend' left the door wide open for speculation, and Chakotay wondered whether her choice of words had been intentionally ambiguous. He also noticed that Phoebe was closely watching Mark, as if waiting for some sort of reaction. However, the other man soon masked his surprise and curiosity behind a polite smile.

"Are you with Starfleet as well?" Mark asked when the small crowd was starting to disperse, leaving them alone at the edge of the yard.

"I am," Chakotay nodded. "I recently accepted a teaching position at the Academy, but I was out in the field for several years before that."

"How did you meet Kathryn?" The question was asked abruptly, as if the speaker thought that enough pleasantries had been exchanged.

Chakotay chose his words carefully. "We met at a conference several weeks ago."

"What kind of conference?"

"Diplomacy and negotiation tactics."

Mark's eyes narrowed. "I thought Kathryn was a science officer?"

"Her commanding officer recommended that she broaden her horizons." Beginning to feel more and more like he was facing a board of inquiry, Chakotay resolved to turn the tables on Kathryn's childhood friend. "I understand you've just moved back to Earth. Where did you live?"

"I did some field work on the Caitian homeworld and its neighboring planets, researching their philosophical scriptures," Mark replied curtly.

"That sounds very interesting." Chakotay was truly impressed. The feline Caitian natives were not usually known for sharing their ancient writings with offworlders. "And now?"

"Funding for the project ran out, but I'd done all the research I wanted anyway," the other man explained, his tone a tad less belligerent than before. "And then I was fortunate enough to find a post here on Earth." His eyes swept the crowd and then lingered on one particular spot.

Chakotay felt certain that Mark was watching Kathryn but restrained his urge of turning around and checking for himself. "Your parents must be happy to have you back. Are you staying with them?"

"Only until I get a place of my own set up." Mark's gaze snapped back to Chakotay, looking him up and down as if seeing him clearly for the first time. "Where are you from again?"

"I was born on Dorvan V, but my ancestors migrated there from Earth in the late 23rd century. They used to live in the Central American jungle."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Only once, as a teenager. I'm afraid I was too young then to truly appreciate the family history my father was trying to teach me about."

"There are a lot of things we don't truly appreciate while we're young," Mark replied absently, his focus once again on the guests behind Chakotay. "Please excuse me. I should say hello to all the other neighbors." He turned away without waiting for an acknowledgment.

Chakotay watched him join the crowd and be greeted by half a dozen people at once. It was obvious that he was well-connected in the community, despite his absence during the past few years. And in fact the same was true for Kathryn, who also appeared to have effortlessly slipped back into a place that had been kept for her, just waiting for her return.

All of a sudden, Chakotay felt lost. Despite the warm welcome he'd received, and the instant acceptance as 'one of the Janeway clan', this wasn't his family, his tribe. In the two decades since he'd left Dorvan, he'd rarely been homesick, but now it struck him just how long it had been since he had seen his parents and his sister. The small nagging voice that he'd first acknowledged during his beach stroll with Kathryn the other day returned, reminding him that he'd been fabricating excuses for years about why he never went home during shore leave. It wasn't just his apprehension about facing his father – that Kolopak was still angry with him was pretty much a given, considering how he'd shunned the traditions of his people and chosen his own, very different way of life. The other, more important reason for avoiding his native planet was that he was afraid of having lost his place in the community. As a boy, he'd always felt 'different', as if he'd been born in the wrong place, to the wrong people. But he'd nonetheless been an integrated member of the tribe whose place wasn't questioned despite his personal quirks and space-bound notions. After twenty years of doing everything to leave his origins behind, he suddenly longed for the simple comforts of his childhood surroundings. But would he still be welcome?

"They can be a bit overwhelming, can't they?" Leo, Phoebe's fiancé, had approached without Chakotay noticing and was holding out a beer, smiling knowingly. "Seriously, how's anyone not born here supposed to keep up with all the 'remember when so-and-so did this-and-that?' and 'that must've been the year when such-and-such happened'? I swear to you, the first time I attended one of these family gatherings, all I did was hide behind Phoebe and nod politely every time someone looked my way."

Chakotay laughed, already feeling better. "You read my mind." He accepted the offered beer and clinked bottles with the younger man before taking a long swig. "How long have you and Phoebe been together?"

"Three years, give or take a storm or two. I thought I'd met everyone by now, but there are some distant cousins here today that I've never heard about before." He leaned closer and winked. "Watch out for Aunt Erica. She seems to be especially fond of Kathryn and isn't shy about showing it."

"So I've heard," Chakotay replied neutrally, not wishing to pursue the topic of Kathryn's nosy aunt. "So where do you hail from?"

"Copernicus City on Luna. Ever been there?"

"I'm afraid not. What's it like?"

While Leo described the beauty of an earthrise over one of humanity's oldest space colonies, Chakotay searched the crowd for Kathryn. It was getting dark now, but small lights in the trees and candles on the tables provided warm illumination without throwing harsh shadows. He finally spotted her sitting with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson as well as another elderly couple from the neighborhood. Kathryn was talking animatedly, gesticulating with one hand while the other held a glass. When she paused to take a sip from her wine, she looked up and met Chakotay's gaze. Her lips turned up in a happy smile, warming his heart, and he knew that he'd never feel truly lost or lonely while she was around. He smiled back, lifting his bottle in a toast which she returned before they both went back to their respective conversations.

-==/\==-