Seven paced around the room, her wedding gown discarded on the floor in a heap.

"Annie please sit down." her aunt Eileen said impatiently. She had been watching the young women pace back and forth for the last two hours. She would pause as if finally coming to a realization only to shake her head in a dismissive gesture and continue her pacing.

"You don't understand" she said agitated at the truths that, after months of refusing to acknowledge, were slapping her in the face. Seven had always been logical and objective. And now after all these months she realized just how foolish she had been.

"Annie, I know you can't see it right now, and I know you are hurting but..." Seven turned to her aunt her eyes cold and arrogant.

"I don't care about that, I mean I care for Chakotay and he would have been as adequate partner" she paused at he aunt's expression. "He was there for me when I felt lonely, scared and out of control and for that I am truly grateful." Seven was feeling emotions that she rarely experienced but she knew from studying the crewmembers of Voyager that what she was feeling was a combination of fear, shame, embarrassment and sadness.

"I knew" she looked at he aunt, knowing she would not able to continue if her aunt decided to judge her harshly. She swallowed a couple of times to try and dislodge the lump preventing her from continuing. "I knew that she loved him and I knew that he would always love her" she ran a hand through her hair. "You need to know, so that you can understand why I did this" she paused until her aunt nodded in the affirmative "When I was on Voyager I was unable to feel emotions as freely as I am now able to." she paused looking at her aunt to make sure she was following. When her aunt nodded in encouragement Seven continued.

"The doctor was able to remove the cortical stimulator that suppressed my emotions. It took a while to understand all the emotions I was feeling. All I could feel in the beginning was the fear that consumed me. The only person, besides the Captain, that was willing to take me under their wing and protect me was the Commander." She stole a quick glance and saw no judgment on her aunt's face. "The Captain was so busy the last couple weeks we were in the Delta Quadrant, and when we landed she barely had time for a quick meal before she was called into another meeting." she shrugged " So I began to depend more and more on the Commander and when the media got wind of our relationship it just suddenly spiraled out of control. We were being asked to show emotions that neither of wanted or felt. We let everyone else make the decisions for us. I don't think the Commander was actually processing what was happening until last night when I asked him if we would procreate."

She shivered at the memories of what the last few months had been like. "The crew began to shun us and rarely made an attempt to approach us." She got up once again pacing as she once again went on the defensive. "I mean I understand they were protecting the Captain siding with her against a perceived wrong. I knew the Captain and Commander had special feelings for each other that they were unable to express. I heard the whispers, innuendos, bets and jokes about the relationship between the Captain and the Commander. I was selfish and put myself and my needs before what she needed and what I knew to be right." she couldn't hold back the shame that had been consuming her since before Admiral Janeway came abroad. "I knew" she cried "I knew she loved him and I went after him anyway"

"Annie" Eileen was shocked and sadden by what her niece had done. But she could not judge her because she was unsure of whether her niece, at the time, had understood exactly what she had been doing

"By the time I realized what I had done. It was out of out control." She lifted her head wanting her aunt to understand just how messed up her relationship to Chaktoay had been. "We never even kissed"

Eileen was shocked by this pronouncement. Annika was a beautiful girl and the Commander was one of the most handsome men she had seen in a long time. "Never" she stuttered.

Seven looked at her and just shook her head. "He loved her all the time, even when he was with me, it was always about her. And you know what, I deserved it because I knew better." Seven hung her head in shame not wanting to see the expression on her aunt's face. "I knew he loved her and I wanted to feel that. But he couldn't betray her. Ever."

"Annie, this was never meant to be and putting a stop to this farce is the best thing that could have happened. He belongs to another and from what you have told me this does not come as a surprise. "

"They have been my family for the last 4 years. I betrayed not only the Captain but the crew. You should see the way they look at me. They hate me" she looked so much like a child that Eileen gave into the impulse to hug her.

"So tell me Annie what are you going to do to make this all better?" she asked with a authority. Eileen understood what the crew wanted. As any child would tell you, they just wanted mommy and daddy to be happy and if Annika was able to give them that no one would remember exactly why they were angry anymore.

"I don't know" she wailed.

"Yes you do. You need to go talk to the Voyager crew and tell them what happened" her aunt insisted.

" They won't listen" she insisted

"They will if you tell them what didn't happened between you and the Commander and what could possibly be happening between the Captain and the Commander right now"

"You think" she wiped the tears from her face and gave a tentative smile.

"I know" she smiled back at her niece. Seven pulled away from her aunt and headed toward the door. "Where are you going" Eileen shouted.

"I going to go talk to them" Seven yelled back running down the hall towards the elevator

"Talk to who?" Eileen was curious as to what her niece was planning.

"The Crew"