Well kids, this is it for a week or so...I'm heading out to Southampton and I just want to sit in the sun and do nothing...I'll try to write here and there but chances are there won't be an update for at least a week or two. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, and let me know what you think!

"Captain on the bridge!"

Kathryn slowly stepped further away from the sanctuary of the turbolift and closer to the command chairs. As soon as Harry had uttered that phrase, all the bridge officers stood and looked at her with unveiled awe. She felt mildly uncomfortable.

She felt the uncomfortable feeling dissolve as the bridge crew broke out into joyful applause. Smiling, she struggled to keep back the tears. The respect and admiration she saw in all their eyes was wreaking havoc on her emotions. This was the first time she had set foot on the bridge – her­ bridge, once – in two years…or rather, seven. She had never thought to be here again, and yet, against all odds, here she was.

She smiled at everyone around her. How much they had all changed! And yet so much was the same. Tom, though his eyes looked suspiciously misty, was still giving her his trademark smirk, his arms folded across his chest. Harry was smiling at her like a first year cadet, his mouth wide and his eyes sparkling. Tuvok, naturally, was stoic as ever, standing at attention as if he were greeting a high ranking admiral and not an old friend.

But she didn't have his Vulcan stoicism. She didn't have a uniform on, and in the two years that she had been on New Earth, her Starfleet protocol had fallen completely to the wayside. So instead of nodding pleasantly and going to shake her former second officer's hand, her eyes welled up with tears which spilled unchecked down her cheeks, and she began to circle the bridge, greeting each of her former officers as she approached them.

Harry was first. She took his face in her hands, and smiled tremulously at him.

"Looks like you finally got that promotion, Harry." She whispered.

Harry grinned, his own eyes watering up, and he completely went against regulations when he wrapped his arms around his former captain and gave her a gentle but firm hug. She responded in turn, hugging him back tightly.

"We never gave up on you, Captain." He whispered in her ear. "We always meant to come get you two back. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Thank you for not giving up." She pulled back and grinned wryly at him. "I have my suspicions that your voice cried out the loudest for us."

Harry blushed. "Well, I did give Tuvok quite a bit of ageda after we left you here…I made quite a few waves."

She patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure your intentions were noble."

Tom came up next to them. "You know what they say about good intentions, Captain."

"That the road to hell is paved with them?" she laughed. "I suppose you would know about that." She pulled him into a hug just as tight as the one she gave Harry. "How are you, Tom?" she looked up at him. "Speaking of hell, you look like it."

"Gee, how kind of you. Not all of us had a five year cat nap."

Rather than reminding her of what she lost, Tom's comment, delivered in his particular way of speaking, lightened her spirits. "How are you?" she asked again, softer. Chakotay had told her of the sorrow in his and B'Elanna's lives.

"Things look brighter with every day that passes." He said seriously. "And today, they are looking especially bright."

"And how are your parents?"

"They're very well. My father said to tell you that he hopes you enjoyed your

vacation, because he's putting you to work the minute you set foot off this ship." He grinned.

She laughed. "We'll see about that."

Tom's smile faded as he became serious again. "Welcome home, Captain."

"Thank you Tom." She moved from him. She made her way around the bridge, greeting each person warmly with a hug. B'Elanna's hug was made a little difficult by the large bump protruding from her body, and both women laughed as the baby inside kicked against them.

"Congratulations, B'Elanna." Kathryn said happily. "I was so thrilled to hear you have a family. I was a little surprised to hear who with…" she shot a grin at Tom. "But somehow, it makes sense."

"It didn't make much sense at first!" B'Elanna said, rolling her eyes. "But we're very happy. Wait until you meet our daughter! Owen and Julia insisted on keeping her while we were away, and I couldn't say no. They love to spend all the time they can with her. I just hope she recognizes me by the time we get back."

"I'm sure she will." Kathryn said.

"By the way, your children are adorable." B'Elanna squeezed her hands. "You're going to make a great mother to them…just like you were to us." She said, shrugging shyly.

Kathryn's face broke into that trademark wide smile of hers. "Thank you, B'Elanna. That's very kind of you to say."

She continued around the bridge, until at last she stopped at Tuvok. He stood ramrod straight, his dark eyes holding her blue ones. They regarded each other silently until Kathryn moved closer and took his hand.

"Hello, old friend." She said softly. "You've taken very good care of my ship."

"She was never really mine to command, Captain, but it has been a privilege to lead in your stead." He paused. "You have been…greatly missed."

She quirked a quasi-Vulcan eyebrow at him. "Am I to understand that you contacted the Viddians after all?"

"I disobeyed your orders, Captain. I am prepared to accept the consequences."

She snorted. "After seven years? Hardly." She eyes him suspiciously. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say your decision was almost…emotional. After all, you deliberately disobeyed orders. That's not like you."

"I made a decision. I stand by it. I only regret that our attempt at securing the Viddian's assistance was unsuccessful."

"Don't be sorry, Tuvok." she smiled past him at Chakotay. "I'm not. But I am so grateful to you all for coming back for us." She turned around and caught the eye of each bridge officer, all of whom had been on Voyager when she was the Captain. "We started our journey together, and you didn't forget about us after we were separated. Words alone can't express our gratitude. If not for you, I would still be…" she swallowed. "I would not be here. So thank you. All of you."

Chakotay walked down the ramp to stand at her side. "We have an announcement. We want to get married, down on the planet, before we leave. With your permission, Tuvok, we'd like to ask the crew as our guests. And we would be honored if you would perform the ceremony."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "It would be difficult for the entire crew to attend. I would prefer to keep a skeleton onboard during the ceremony, and the most logical choice would be the crew members who were not in the Delta Quadrant with us on our journey home. And as to your request, I would be honored."

"So Tom, who won the betting pool?" Chakotay suddenly asked the first officer.

Tom's face reddened. "Betting pool?"

"Sure. Come on, you don't think I didn't know about the running bet on when Kathryn and I would finally get together?"

Tom collected himself and stood at his full height. "Honestly, Chakotay, I'm insulted that you think an officer of my good standing and rank – a rank, which may I remind you, out-ranks you – would ever have anything to do with something as sordid as betting." He cleared his throat. "And incidentally, as we are unaware of the time period where your, er, relationship with Captain Janeway changed, if there were a betting pool, hypothetically, we wouldn't be able to declare a winner until we had that information."

"So which pool was satisfied?"

"Just the one determining whether or not you had finally…ummm…"

B'Elanna slapped her stomach. "Done this. I'd say the twins are a pretty good indicator as to the outcome of that bet."

"Please, Commander." Tuvok said wearily. "Restrain your more colorful entendres for your off hours."

"Which Commander?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" he said.

Kathryn patted Tuvok's arm. "Poor Tuvok. I'm sure seven years with those two on your bridge must have been tiring."

He turned his eyes to her. "Exhausting." he said flatly.

"Well, we should start planning, and do it quickly." Chakotay said. "I know you were planning to leave tomorrow. Is there anything left of our settlement down there?"

"No there is not. Everything has been transported to Cargo Bay 2. I would suggest we continue this discussion in the ready room so that the crew can continue to prepare for departure. Commander Paris, if you would join us."

"Of course, Captain."

"Commander Kim, you have the bridge."

The four of them left the bridge and entered the ready room, to the disappointment of the bridge crew. B'Elanna lasted exactly one minute before asking Harry's permission to be excused. Of course, he readily agreed, and she ran off to spread the news.

Meanwhile, Kathryn entered her old ready room with no small amount of trepidation. It was the same, and yet it was different. Very little had been changed, but there were small signs that it was now Tuvok's room. There was the traditional Vulcan meditation lamp on the table in front of the couch. Her framed pictures were gone. A sculpture that she recognized from a brief, rare visit to Tuvok's quarters were on the desk. And the desk was neater than she had kept it. The pile of PADD's that had often covered it were absent, and her computer terminal had been replaced and updated with a new sleeker version which was only a panel of transparent aluminum that rose from a crevice in the desk. She was unused to seeing the desk so bare. In fact, on closer inspection, she could see that it wasn't her desk at all. It had been replaced.

But the ghosts of her old life were still here. She could see her and Chakotay sitting on the couch, going over crew reports together. Coffee, Commander?, she would say, and he would crinkle his nose in disgust. How can you drink so much of that sludge?, he would ask. She spent so many hours on that couch during down time, staring out at the passing stars, wondering if they would ever stop passing and settle on the one star she wanted to see, the star that her home planet revolved around. She wondered if she would ever live on a planet again.

And she had, just not the planet she had expected to live on. But they had a good life, for what they had. It just wasn't the life she had always wanted.

And now she could have it all.

It was within her reach. Right there.

But something will go wrong, she thought bitterly. It always does. I couldn't even enjoy the birth of my own children. How can I expect the Universe will let me enjoy my own wedding?

"Kathryn?" Chakotay's voice was low in her ear. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly at him. "I'm fine." She wandered around the room. "I have to say, Tuvok, Voyager looks beautiful. Chakotay told me there was a war back home, but from what I can see, the ship looked remarkably undamaged."

"The war ended four years ago. Voyager underwent an extensive overhaul afterwards. Many systems were updated or replaced."

"They tried to replace the viewscreen." Tom said. "But Harry wouldn't let them. They wanted to give us one of those new holographic screens like they did on the new Enterprise, but Harry told them-"

"New Enterprise? What happened to the old one?" she frowned. "Jean-Luc is still alive, isn't he?"

"He's alive. The Enterprise-D crashed on a planet in the Veridian system. The crew came out of it largely unharmed, but the ship was destroyed. It all revolved around James Kirk, believe it or not."

Kathryn gave a short laugh. "I beg your pardon? He's been dead for more than eighty years. How did he have anything to do with the D?"

"He wasn't actually dead. It's a long story."

"It's one I'd like to hear." Chakotay said. "Captain Sulu told me so many stories about Hikaru Sulu's adventures with Jim Kirk that I almost felt as though I knew him."

"Another time, perhaps." Tuvok said. "Suffice it to say, Starfleet Command felt Captain Picard and his crew were worthy of another ship, so they were given command of a Sovereign class vessel, the Enterprise-E. It proved to be a wise move, as Picard and his crew proved themselves many times during the war."

"And their ship was one of the first to be equipped with a holographic viewscreen." Tom said, getting back to his earlier point. "But Harry said, what are they supposed to look at while the screen is off? Then he made a big case to Operations and the Engineering Corp. that the viewscreen on Voyager was the very same screen that the legendary Captain Janeway had stared at during her two year voyage in the Delta Quadrant, and that they would be destroying a piece of history if they were to replace it. He said that that view screen had shown this crew some of the most magnificent sights the Delta Quadrant had to offer, and some of the most grotesque. They finally got tired of hearing him and left the screen in." Tom shrugged. "I don't know, Harry was just really attached to that view screen."

"Well, I'm glad. That holographic screen sounds terrible." She ran her hand along the railing separating the levels. "Voyager is still such a beautiful ship."

"Of course, once we return and you are debriefed, I will surrender command to you, Captain." Tuvok said evenly.

Kathryn turned to him in horror. "No! No, Tuvok. You've been her captain far longer than I was. She's your ship now. I have no claim on her."

"Forgive me, Captain. But this ship has always been yours."

She hesitated. "This ship…this ship was my child. This crew…they were my children. I could guide them and be there to lead them…but I have children of my own now, to guide and lead…I have a family. And as much as this crew will always be my family, I have to get to know my children now. It's no less than any of us deserve. I won't be accepting command of a ship when we get home, Tuvok. Maybe not for a long time."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "It will be a disappointment to Starfleet, and to the crew…and to myself as well. You are a fine captain, and your presence among the fleet will be missed. I have no doubt that you would have led bravely and with dignity in the Dominion War. But if this is your choice, then I respect it, and I wish you a prosperous and tranquil home life." He nodded to Chakotay. "You as well, Chakotay."

"Thank you," he said, a bit stunned at Kathryn's declaration. They hadn't discussed it yet, but he assumed she would want to get back into Starfleet once they got home. While he wouldn't be the happiest about it, he was prepared to support her. She was a Starfleet officer. She was a Starfleet Captain. She wouldn't be the woman he loved if she were any different.

Or so he had thought.

She smiled at him, as if she read his thoughts. "Are you okay? You look a little…blindsided."

He let out his breath in a laugh. "I feel as though I have been. I didn't know that was what you wanted."

The smile left her face and she stared at him. "How could you think it wouldn't be?" she said quietly. "I was deprived the first five years of their lives. I was deprived five years we would have had together. I'm not going to waste anymore time. Long enough, Chakotay. We've waited long enough. It's time for us, now."

"Time for us," he echoed in agreement.

"Aww." Tom said cheekily. "Look, Tuvok. They like each other."

If a Vulcan could sigh, Tuvok would have.

They left Tuvok's ready room – for that was what it was, Kathryn thought firmly, Tuvok's ready room – and started to head for sickbay to get the twins. But once in the turbolift, Chakotay evidently changed his mind because the deck he called out was three, not five.

Kathryn looked at him in confusion. "Why three? Did you forget something in your quarters?"

He suppressed a smile. "You'll see."

The doors opened and they headed down the corridor. He led her past his quarters and stopped in front of the door that had captured his attention when he first came back onboard a few days earlier. Before he knew she was going to be okay, that door had taunted him.

"My old quarters? Chakotay, why are we standing here? Aren't these Tuvok's quarters now?"

He smiled softly. "Enter your code."

Her mouth fell open slightly but she reached over to tap her code on the pad next to the door. It slid open with a hiss, and her mouth fell open even further.

"My code still works?"

"These are still your quarters."

She looked stunned. "But why? Why didn't Tuvok take them?" She frowned. "Come to think of it, why didn't Tom and B'Elanna take your quarters?"

"The senior staff felt it wasn't appropriate for anyone to have these quarters' except you and me. The original occupants." He smirked.

She smirked back. "Maybe I was original, but you, my dear, had a predecessor." A shadow passed over her face as she remembered her original first officer. He had been a good man, although she hadn't known him well. But she could never imagine that she would have been anywhere near as close to Cavit as she was to Chakotay.

Tentatively, she took a step inside, and he followed. The rooms were as she left them, more or less. Anything that she had left behind was gone, no doubt claimed by her mother when Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant. But there were some things, here and there, that had been hers. There was a painting in her bedroom of the green fields of Indiana. Phoebe had painted that for to take on her first big command. They're giving you a brand new ship, Kathryn, her sister had said. Don't foul it up. And then she had given her the painting. Might as well have something not hideously Starfleet issue on that bucket of bolts. She was surprised now that she hadn't remembered to bring it to New Earth, but then, she hadn't exactly been in a position to pack her own belongings. Everything they had with them had been transported by the crew. They had simply been unable to come back to the ship and pack. Somehow, the painting had been overlooked. Along with our boosters, Kathryn thought wryly.

Also overlooked was the collection of seashells she had kept on an end table in the living area. It was a clear vase, and inside were shells from every vacation and shore leave she had ever been on. She used the term sea shells loosely; for not every planet in creation had sea shells, but there was usually a version of them or something which could, by a stretch of the imagination, be referred to as such. She had shells from every shore she had been to on Earth, of course. There were little jagged edges of stone from the underground caves of Mars, shells from her first shore leave on Risa, and even from a visit to Vulcan. And once they started setting down for leave in the Delta Quadrant, the vase had filled up even more. There were shells from that wonderful planet in the first year, Sikaris. Well, the planet had been beautiful, but its people had turned out to be no less decadent and hedonistic than the Greeks and Romans of ancient Earth. There were shells from Kitaris IV, where they had set down for a major maintenance overhaul after the incident where Voyager had been copied and her counterpart had destroyed her Voyager to stop the Vidiians. She even had a shell, a luminous pale pink in color, which had come from shoreline of one of the great cities on the planet where they found the 37's. That one was one of her favorites, neck in neck only with the pearly pale green form Neelix had given her once as a gift. It had been shortly after he and Kes came onboard Voyager that he visited her in her quarters to thank her for allowing him the use of her personal dining room for a galley. He had noticed the jug of shells, and she explained its significance to him. A few days later he came back with the green piece. It was softer than a shell at first touch, but tougher than one, and indented more like a fossil, but a beautiful lustrous color. He explained that it was called a Kravix, and it was found in varied colors along the shores of the moon Rinax where he grew up. I only have two, he had said sadly. Rinax was completely destroyed years ago…nothing of it remains. It is now a barren, desolate rock. I brought these with me when I left…and I would like you to have one. You may have never taken your…what is it, shore leave? You may not have had shore leave there, but I would be honored if you would place this in your collection. A little piece of my home in thanks for allowing me a little piece of yours.

She had been touched, and honored, and she told him so. She immediately placed the Kravix in the jug, and it remained there now, flashing at her, welcoming her back to her little piece of home.

She wondered how she had forgotten to request that the jug be packed.

There was very little else of hers left, but clearly, the room had been seldom entered in seven years. She could almost still smell the scent of the candles she liked to light when she was relaxing in her tub. But that was ridiculous fanciful nonsense, she told herself scornfully. Voyager's ventilation system would have recycled those scents long ago. Still, there was a lingering scent of jasmine that she couldn't explain away.

She wandered, brushing her hand over the sofa, pressing her glass to the view port where she had stood so many long nights. It wasn't her home, not anymore, but it had belonged to the woman she had been so long ago. Not as long ago for her as for everyone else, but two years was still a long time to be away from a certain type of life and then thrust right back into it.

She sat down on the sofa and Chakotay sat across from her. They looked at each other silently for a few minutes.

"It's strange, isn't it?" he finally asked. "The first time I went back into my quarters, it creeped me out."

"Creeped?" she quirked a smile. "Yes, I suppose that's the word. I feel creeped out. I felt like that in the ready room, too. I almost expect the ghosts of us to come gliding by, going about business that we have no business going about anymore."

"Say that five times fast."

She laughed. "You really do hang around Tom too much, I think. I've been saying it for years."

His expression sobered. "Tom has changed. He's not who we once knew. They've all changed. But the one thing that never changed was their loyalty to you."

"To us." She said firmly. "They're just as loyal to you."

"I suppose they are. Frankly, many of them should be on to bigger and better by now. B'Elanna and Harry, especially, should be first officers on another ship, I would think. Tom should be a captain. And yet they stay here. Loyal to Voyager, loyal to you. Just about every crewmember we had seven years ago is here to get us, Kathryn. That sort of loyalty…you don't see it often."

"How will we live up to it." She murmured.

"I don't think we really have to. I think that a lot of people are going to be disappointed that we won't be coming back, but our trek ended a long time ago. You were right when you said that this is Tuvok's ship now. This isn't our world, or our life. We left a long time ago and I don't think we could ever truly come back. We aren't them anymore, Kathryn. We just…aren't. And frankly, I really don't have the desire to be. All these years, when you were…where you were, I promised myself that if we ever got rescued, I would have a proper burial for you with your family, and then I would devote my life to raising the twins. Maybe be a professor or something, assuming I wasn't still on the Federation's most wanted list. I was never going to go back to Starfleet, Kathryn. I wasn't going to do that to my children, I couldn't. Not when they didn't have a mother. I would have supported you in whatever you did, but I can't tell you what a relief it is to know that I won't have to watch the sky at night and wonder where you are, or if you're safe."

"It's…strange…" she said slowly. "It's almost as if a part of me did die. The Captain part. All my life, all I wanted was Starfleet. There was never any other choice, no other option. I knew, eventually, I wanted to get married and have a family. The first time I was engaged, I was so young. What probably would have happened is that we would have started a family and I would have had a desk job. And I think back then I would have been okay with that. I would have compromised. But by the time I was engaged to Mark, there was no compromise. I was Captain Janeway, and that was that. I wouldn't have given that up for Mark, Chakotay, and he would have let me get away with it. I don't even think I would have made time for children with the way I was going. But now…I don't want to do it anymore. I just…don't. It makes no sense, and it's not who I was, but I suppose losing five years of my children's' lives is enough to scare me into not losing any more. I don't want that life. I want the one we had on New Earth. I want to have a house and a dog and have the kids play in the yard and…burn dinner."

They laughed. He leaned forward and rested his hands on her knees. "Then that's what you'll have. In a few hours, we'll get married down there. And when we get home, we'll find a house and a dog and you can burn as many dinners as you want."

She touched his cheek. "And you can fix them." She whispered.

"And I can fix them." He grabbed her hand and they stood up. "Come on. Let's go get the twins and tell them the good news. I'm warning you, though," he said as they left her quarters and entered the turbolift. "Now that they have you back, I suspect they're going to be clinging to you and jabbering at you for a long time to come. Especially our daughter."

Kathryn laughed. "Good. That's exactly the way I want it."

As Voyager orbited the third planet of the system, another vessel orbited the fifth, masking their signal behind the planet.

"Contact the warship. It is Voyager."

TBC

Dun-dun-dunnnnnn……

Whatcha think? Who do you think it is? Who do you want it to be?