I never really had him

Life Begins

Part 3

The debriefings were finally over for Chakotay. He was happy to have been pardoned. He received generous compensation from Starfleet, and he also received a job offer from Arizonian University. The only downside for him was that Seven had to stay at Starfleet a bit longer. Apparently some of the admirals had some mathematical questions for her concerning the Omega Molecule.

Seven finally came out a few hours later. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and told Chakotay that she was going to have to stay a week longer. Chakotay understood what Omega must have meant to Starfleet. He sighed and took her hand.

"I have been given a job offer in Arizona. I was planning on going to the interview, you wouldn't mind if we lived in Arizona would you?"

Seven smiled. "Anywhere that you wish to live, I will comply. Commander I need to go back inside. The admirals asked that I be gone no longer than 5 minutes."

"I understand. Go show them how the Borg operate, at peak efficiency."

Seven smiled and went back inside the building.

**************************************************************************************************************************

Chakotay arrived at Arizona University the following day. The smell of the Gulf of Mexico filled his lungs. It was already quite warm and he enjoyed the feel of real sunshine on his skin. When he had boarded voyager he had a tan hue on his skin. After 7 years in the delta quadrant the hue had faded.

He walked down the sidewalk and into the administrative offices. Two hours later he had the job. He was so excited he could hardly wait to tell Seven about it. As he was leaving, he noticed some brochures of homes for sale.

He casually picked one up and skimmed through it.

On the very last page was a house for sale, near the gulf, on a secluded section. He didn't know why, but instantly he knew it was the house that he wanted. He decided to go see it. He went to the real estate office to get directions to the house, and was surprised when they said that it had been on the market for quite awhile. He asked for directions to the house when one of the realtors asked if she could show it to him.

When they got to the house, Chakotay could see why it had been on the market for awhile. It needed some fixing up, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. The view was incredible, from the deck you could look right into the Gulf.

He turned, looked the realtor right in the face and said, "I'll take it."

The realtor was stunned. "Are you sure sir?"

Chakotay gave her a dimpled smile and said, "Positive."

**************************************************************************************************************************

Three days had passed since Kathryn had come home to Indiana. She was settling into her new surroundings and enjoying the fact that soon Thanksgiving and the holidays would be coming.

Her mom had left early to go shopping, and she had decided to stay behind and catch up a bit with her sister. Kathryn loved her sister, even thou she was a pain. She sat next to her, the two of them swapping stories like they were teenagers again.

After a few stories, Pheobe held her hand up. "I want to hear one of the good stories now sister."

"What do you mean Pheobe?"

"Don't get me wrong, I like giant macro viruses as much as the next person, I think, but I want to hear about is that sexy commander of yours, and why you two never got together."

Kathryn couldn't help but smile at her sister. "What makes you think he's sexy Pheobe?"

Pheobe choked on her hot tea, and nearly spit on her sister. "You're joking right, I saw the man on TV just the other day. The man is a dream come true." "So know I want to know the truth Kathryn why didn't you bring him home with you to meet the family?"

Kathryn sighed. "Pheobe he is not that good looking, and besides he belongs to someone else."

Phoebe's eyes got wide. "So it is true then?"

"What's true?"

"That you two had an awful affair and that he decided to dump you"

"Pheobe where in the world did you hear that?"

Pheobe crossed her legs under her and folded her arms. "It was on the news yesterday. Apparently some reporter came up with that story."

Kathryn sipped her coffee and turned to her sister. "Well that reporter was wrong, in fact dead wrong. We never had an affair, I never got dumped by him, and we didn't have some secret relationship either. We were friends Pheobe just friends."

Pheobe got up and went to the kitchen. "Kathryn if you're not going to tell your sister the truth, then who are you going to tell?"

"Pheobe I am telling you the truth."

"Sure Kathryn, I have some papers to grade, so I will chat with you later."

"Pheobe, I am telling you the truth."

She turned to her sister. "Kathryn, is that why you said the word -WERE?"

Pheobe walked up the stairs. As Kathryn sat on the couch, alone. She whispered to herself, thinking about Chakotay. About how she had hoped for them to be together. How she had hoped that he would have waited for her. But she knew that she had seven years to even mention her feelings toward him. And in seven years she had never once even explained how she felt toward him.

Her mind began to wander. And for a moment she even thought about going after him and telling him how she felt. That she was sorry for pushing him away. And then she remembered that he was in love with someone else.

A single tear fell from her eye. She knew that he loved her. Perhaps it was the same love that he had felt for her, years ago.

Her mind traveled back to New Earth, when they were at the table together and he had told her an ancient legend. He had gently caressed her hand, his eyes telling her how much he loved her.

Kathryn shut her eyes, and didn't let any more tears fall. She shook her head. "I made my choice and he made his, and that's all there is to that."

TBC