A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I am sorry that I didn't update sooner, but I finally got it done, the next chapter that is. I hope I will get better with updating. I really thank you for your patience with me.

And now: enjoy!

Having finally reached the bridge, Commander Chakotay took a few deep breaths. He was late, very late for their senior staff meeting. It seemed that nobody, including the computer, did had the heart to wake him from his deep, peaceful slumber. Yet, once he woke, his pleasant dreams were overpowered by fierce reality once again. Only his sense of duty made him get ready for a day he had dreaded all his time on Voyager. He never heard the forlorn meow when the door to his quarters shut on his retreating back.

He stood in front of the closed door, knowing that once it opened there would be no more reason to hope. Hope, what hope? He knew she was dead and even if Seven did find her body, she would never be among them again. He would never hear her laughter anymore, nor feel her hand on his chest, nor her lips on his. Chakotay closed his eyes briefly and took one more step towards the door thus activating its opening-mechanism to reveal his silent senior staff. The atmosphere was subdued, all eyes were cast on the table, only Tuvok made eye contact and nodded at him: "Captain."

"No!"

Both words seemed to hang in the air for minutes, yet it was only a moment's hesitation before Tuvok, Voyager's new XO, spoke again in his usual calm manner: "Pardon me, Captain, but that is exactly who you are. Captain Janeway would have expected nothing less."

"I know, I'm sorry Tuvok, of course I will be Voyager's Commanding Officer and I will lead her home, I promised it to her." Chakotay paused briefly. "Voyager is Captain Janeway's ship and it should be hers, always. I will keep my rank of Commander. I know this is a starfleet ship and if you, as my executive officer, want a promotion I would gladly give it to you. But please, leave the rank of Captain to Kathryn." Chakotay sat down heavily, emotionally spent.

Tuvok certainly did understand Commander Chakotay's motive for declining the title of Captain. He doubted, though, that Captain Janeway would be forgotten by anyone on this ship. Nevertheless, he knew about the frail human emotions of his comrades, so he decided to go along with Chakotay's proposition, at least for now. "I understand, Commander, and I will still go by Lieutenant Commander."

Chakotay sighed in relief. "Thank you, Tuvok. Seven..." He couldn't make himself to complete the sentence.

"I found nothing, Commander", Seven of Nine said stiffly.

That was it then. "I will inform the crew right after this meeting. We still need to plan her...", once more Chakotay took a deep breath, "her funeral..."

"Don't worry about it, Chakotay, we", Tom Paris looked at Harry, B'Elanna, Neelix and Seven, "are already on it."

This put a smile on Chakotay's face, albeit a shaky one. "Thank you all, I really appreciate it."

"If that's all...?" He looked questioningly around the table. "Dismissed. Tuvok, I'll be in the ready room, you'll have the bridge. Please, open a ship wide comm channel in...", again he paused, but knew that he couldn't keep the crew in the dark forever, "ten minutes."

Tuvok nodded in acknowledgment and haded for the bridge, following the rest of the senior staff.

Ten more minutes were not nearly enough for Chakotay to compose himself. His surroundings, of course, didn't help at all. In the ready room, her ready room, everything spoke of her: her personal items decorating the room and her desk, the half read report from engineering, even her favorite coffee mug held its usual, now cold, content.

"Tuvok to Commander Chakotay." Chakotay jumped in his seat, suddenly startled though he did anticipate the call. He slapped his comm badge hard. "Chakotay here."

"I will open the channel now." Chakotay tried to swallow that great lump in his throat. "Go ahead, Tuvok."

Chakotay squared his shoulders and tried to don on a captain's persona.

"All hands, this is Commander Chakotay speaking. I know you are all aware of certain rumors that have not been verified. It therefore is my sad duty to inform you of the events that took place yesterday in the late afternoon. Ten of Voyager's crew were caught at the site of over 20 cruelly butchered cats and were accused of having committed said crime. The murder of a cat is normally punished with the death of the murderer. In our case, these ten crewmen would have faced lifelong imprisonment. I know that quite a few of you got to know our gracious hosts, the Faylee people, as very open and warm. Captain Janeway, as always, stood up for our people and tried to find a way that would both obtain our lost crew members and satisfy any legal demands of the Faylee. She did find a way but at the cost of her own life."

It took all his willpower to keep his voice from wavering.

"We were not allowed to take her body back with us and even after several elaborate scans we could not find any traces of her body. Since it is the Faylee's tradition to cremate their dead we can only assume that this is what happened to the remains of Captain Janeway. I will also like to inform you that I have accepted the command of Voyager, yet I will not accept the title of captain. It belongs to Captain Janeway, the greatest leader Voyager will ever see. To honor her exemplary life and the love for her crew, which she valued more than her own life, we will have a memorial service tomorrow at 1500 hours. We are still safely in orbit around Faylia, so everyone is welcome to attend. If she were here she would say it to you herself: you are a wonderful crew. Chakotay out."

His mouth was dry as if he had spoken for hours, yet suddenly his lips were moistened by a drop of salty liquid, and than another one and another...

Like almost everything in the past 15 hours his way back to his quarters was hardly registered in his brain. He shot a painful look at her door, but couldn't make himself to enter the override code. He knew he had to stay strong for her crew, otherwise he would have slumped to the floor as his strength left him once more. Only through sheer will power he made it to his own bed before he collapsed.

It was so quiet, maybe he could sleep? Yes, sleep would be nice, he was so tired... Chakotay's eyes popped open, again. There was a tiny noise coming from his bathroom. It sounded so weak, almost like the whimpering his own soul made. The cat! He had absolutely forgotten about it. Where the energy suddenly came from, he didn't know, but within the blink of an eye he was in his bathroom. But where was the cat? Another meow, hardly stronger than the last one directed his eyes to his toilet. There she was, in the basin trying in vain to keep her little head above the water. He got her out of the water, graped a towel and was on his way to sickbay within seconds.

In the turbolift he leaned on the wall, spent, and pressed the tiny, shivering body to his chest with his left hand, while his right gently dried it's soaked fur. He knew he should have avoided her eyes, but part of him wanted to be comforted by her presence again. Chakotay was not prepared for what he saw:

It was maelstrom of pictures. Explosions were all around him and it was always Kathryn on the ground with a constantly changing variety of wounds. Two pictures stayed a little longer. First, he saw himself on a barren planet, cradling her inert body, pleading for her to breath. In the second picture he saw her tear stained face as she was being ushered into a white room. As the door closed behind her, he could still feel the tingling of his lips where hers had been just a moment ago.

"No!" He almost threw his bundle at the opposite wall, yet caught himself just in time. He would never hurt an helpless animal, even one that confused him so.

The EMH was active, when he finally arrived in sickbay. "Ah, Commander, what can I do..." His gaze fell on the cat. "Oh, what happened now?"

"I found her in my toilet bowl. She almost died." The last sentence Chakotay had whispered more to himself.

"Well, put her on the biobed, will you?" While Chakotay did as he was told, the Doctor retrieved a medical tricorder from a medical cart behind him.

"Hmm, she was lucky, you got her in time. Her body temperature is two degrees below normal and she is extremely exhausted. She hardly swallowed any water, though." He injected her with two hyposprays. "You can take her back, now. I guess she will sleep for a while. I would recommend to you to keep you toilet lid closed from now on. And always provider her with a dish of fresh water."

Water, food. With a pang of conscience Chakotay realized that he hadn't given her either this morning.

"Doctor, I possibly can't take care of a cat right now. Since you know so much about them, you should look after her." Before the Doctor could utter any possible complains, the Commander had already left sickbay, leaving the doors to close behind him.

"Nice", the Doctor muttered and than addressed his new roommate: "What will I do with you?"

The cat looked back at him, his skepticism mirrored in her own blue eyes.