At 1830 the party was in full swing, with all but the minimum number of crewmembers needed to run the ship present, excluding Kathryn.
Chakotay sat at a table on the outskirts of the dance floor, talking with a radiant B'Elanna, and her not so radiant husband. Carefully clutched in his hand, under the table, was a box, which no one had seen as of yet.
1840 hours saw the doors to the holodeck open and almost all movement cease. Chakotay's head, along with those of many others, turned. Jaws dropped as they took in the sight that was entering the room. The Commander quickly gathered his wits and stood. Walking towards the woman he offered his arm, which she promptly took.
As he escorted her to his table many catcalls where heard, as well as a comment from Tom that earned him his wife's fist in his arm. Which resulted in him grimacing and rubbing his arm. "B'Ela…" he whined as Chakotay and his companion seated themselves.
"You look beautiful, Kathryn, thank you for coming."
"Thank you, Chakotay," the woman responded. Kathryn was attired in a navy blue, fitted gown with off the shoulder straps. The skirt itself was floor length with a slit that stopped just above her knee, revealing most of her right leg. "You don't look so bad yourself, though I wasn't expecting a tux," was noted before Chakotay pulled the box out of hiding and handed it to her.
"Don't open it yet," where his only instructions pertaining to the item.
Kathryn simply offered a nod of her head. "We should probably let the crew know, about the planet," she noted, her voice low and husky, meant only for Chakotay's ears, they wanted to surprise the crew, for once.
Chakotay nodded in Tom's direction, who stood and stepped onto the stage that the holographic band occupied.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Tom started, "there is only one piece of official business to take care of this evening," with that he left the stage, his position taken by Kathryn.
"Good evening, I hope you're all enjoying the evening," Janeway gave, sensing the excitement that ran through her crew. "As you know, the ship has made three stops in the last few weeks. This morning we asked every one of you, from our youngest to oldest, to make a decision and let us know," she motioned towards Chakotay, who'd come to stand beside her. "Votes have been tallied and a decision made," she looked out at the crew, pausing for effect, she knew that a vast majority of them had made this choice. "Tomorrow morning we will be turning the ship around and returning to the second planet we visited, apparently only Tom found the boars entertaining," she announced, receiving applause and cheers, as well as a few laughs at the final comment. "Now, shall we get back to Tom's well planned party?" the woman enquired before making her way to the stairs off the stage, allowing Chakotay to help her down.
The noise then returned to its previous volume, with the added excitement, and nervousness, of a planet to call home.
Chakotay, meanwhile, led Kathryn off the stage. "Kath," he said quietly, "may I have this dance?" he enquired, letting his obsidian eyes meet her icy gaze as he asked.
Her answer was a nod of her head. "Of course, Chakotay," she gave as he turned to take her right hand in his left. Her left hand settled itself on his shoulder, while his right found its place around her waist, on her back. They started dancing, moving to the music as he spun her about the dance floor. It was an upbeat song, causing the floor to be crowded by crewmembers.
Tom and B'Elanna, for all the energy they had, had elected to sit this one out, with B'Elanna being so near her due date. While the couple sat and talked, they busied themselves with observing their favorite non-couple.
"Aww, they're so cute together," Tom noted.
"No, Paris, I said it last night and I'll say it again today. Don't interfere in their relationship," B'Elanna stated as Harry Kim sat down at their table.
"Hey guys, what's up?" he enquired.
"Harry, would you please convince B'Elanna that I'm not going to interfere with the Captain and Commander?" Tom questioned of his best friend.
"Sorry, Tom, I don't think I can convince her of something that's not true," the ensign noted, grateful he was sitting closer to B'Elanna than Tom.
"Harry, you're supposed to defend your best friend, not his wife," Tom stated in mock shock.
"Oh, suck it up, Tom, just do us all a favour and leave Chakotay and the Captain alone," the Klingon stated, settling back in her chair and eyeing her husband.
"Okay, okay, I swear, I'll do nothing," he finally conceded, only to have Chakotay and Kathryn come up behind him.
"What won't you do, Tom?" Chakotay enquired of the pilot.
"Uh, nothing, Chakotay," he responded hastily before Chakotay pulled Kathryn's chair out for her.
"Glad you could join us, Captain, it does us good to see you enjoying the event," Paris greeted of his commanding officer.
This, of course, earned him a stern look from the auburn haired woman. "Tom, I thought the rules where to leave the ranks at the door," Kathryn gave in her stern voice.
Tom offered a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Capt… Kathryn," he gave, stumbling over her name.
B'Elanna just laughed. "It is good to see you here, Kathryn," she noted before she turned her attentions to her husband. "C'mon Paris, let's dance," she requested, though it sounded more like a command. This caused Tom to get to his feet and lead B'Ela to the dance floor. Harry, meanwhile, had been wrangled by one of the Delanney sisters, and was now occupying the dance floor.
Once the table was cleared of everyone else Chakotay turned to Kathryn. "Dance with me?" he requested, holding out his hand. Chakotay knew, full well, that a slow song was playing, he also knew that people would talk, but he didn't care, he wanted to hold her.
Kathryn nodded, placing her hand in his, allowing him to escort her to the dance floor. Once there he wrapped his arms around her slender waist. Her own arms reached up, settling around his neck. They stayed a suitable distance apart, maintaining the boundaries they'd so carefully set in place.
As they danced they talked, their movements where fluid, as if they where one. Eventually their talk settled on the forthcoming colonization.
"Life's going to change, Kath," he noted, not daring to look her in the eye. "You've gotten the crew home. Starfleet isn't here…" he trailed off, her steely gaze catching his eyes.
"…No boundaries, rules or protocols," she finished for him as his grip about her waist tightened, drawing her closer. She didn't seem to notice, or if she did she said nothing.
"…Free to start being Kathryn, again, let down your 'Captain's façade'…"
"Chakotay, please…" the look on her face pleaded with him to stop this line of conversation. The look in her eyes shoed an inner turmoil, a fight, between the Captain and Kathryn.
Chakotay understood and nodded, we'll take this colonization thing one day at a time, together," he gave, tugging her even closer. He wasn't trying to hide his feelings from her, sooner or later he'd have to tell her anyway.
Kathryn nodded at this. "You'd better be there, Chakotay, by my side. I couldn't have gotten through the last seven years without you," she whispered into his ear.
He offered a smile towards her, one hand tracing its way along her spine, sending a shiver up her back. "I'll always be there for you, Kath," he whispered in return. They both knew that the words spoken between them mean more than what was verbalized.
The space between them had now been minimilized, with Kathryn firmly pressed against her first officer. Neither of them noticed, this, however, the pilot and chief engineer weren't quite so unobservant.
"Looks like they're getting a little chummy, over there," Tom smirked, looking at his wife. The two had returned to the table about ten minutes prior, neither wanting to strain B'Elanna and Paris-Torres Junior too much.
Torres looked over at the command pair and shrugged a little. "They have danced before, Tom. Not that big of a deal," the engineer noted, rolling her chestnut eyes.
"B'Ela, you couldn't fit a padd between those two, they're so close. I mean, come on, they're practically touching, any closer and he'd be carrying her," Tom defended as they watched the couple. Just as those last words where spoken they saw Kathryn laugh, though it was more of a throaty giggle. Then the Captain offered a smile that she reserved for Chakotay and stood up on her toes a bit to whisper something in his ear, causing a full dimple showing from him.
"They're flirting, B'Elanna, they're blatantly flirting, in front of the entire crew," he noted with a shake of his head.
"It's a no ranks affair, Paris, they'll go back to work tomorrow and forget about this. Tonight they're just Kathryn and Chakotay. Friends, maybe more, but probably not until after we colonize."
Tome raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, B'Elanna, I concede, again. You win this one, again," he noted, looking from his wife to where the command team had previously occupied. "Looks like they decided to beat a hasty retreat."
Torres chuckled and patted Tom's arm. "It was bound to happen, I bet Kathryn was starting to get self-conscious in that dress. Don't pretend you didn't notice, I saw you looking. I saw nearly every male in here drop his jaw when she walked in," she said, kissing his cheek affectionately.
TBC
AN: Chapter 15 will be relatively short, but I didn't want to combine it with chapter 14 or 16.