When Kathryn was getting ready that night, she thought about Chakotay. The relationship between them was somehow constantly changing. They could go days without seeing too much of one another, then sometimes they had dinner together, and other days they were closer, sharing moments like in the mess hall earlier. She didn't know what prompted them. She usually didn't get funny feelings or the impulse to grin when they were on the bridge or even when they talked in her ready room. She used to react to him like that, especially when they were alone... then they used to flirt a little, tease each other, and she had been happy. But these last couple of months they'd grown distant. The Equinox incident had driven a rift between them, and it was my fault. No wonder he kept his distance after that... threatening to kill Lessing... The thought of her behaviour still haunted her. And relieving Chakotay of duty was certainly one of the worst moments of her life.

But they had carried on, as usual. Things had settled back to the way they were, they talked and were friendly, but it took a while before they had dinner again.

Then Michael. She still wasn't sure why he had taken it so lightly, even encouraged her to pursue that relationship. She was a little sad, maybe somehow she wanted him to be jealous. But in the end it didn't matter, Michael was quickly forgotten. Being with a hologram was simply not the same. She knew Chakotay so well, knew his habits, quirks... the bond she shared with him could not be replicated by a computer. And now, after the fights were resolved and there was no Michael, there were suddenly just the two of them again, back on the drawing board so to speak. This mader her a little nervous.

When Chakotay made his way to Tom's quarters, he ran into Kathryn, who was on her way, too. She was wearing tight but comfortable looking pants, some sandals and a beautiful short dress on top. He could see her collar bones, a bit of her shoulders, her gorgeous neck... stop it. He mentally reprimanded himself, but smiled at her nonetheless. "You look beautiful. Comfortable."

She gave him her sweetest twinkling smile. "Thank you."

He noticed that she had taken in his casual clothing as well. "You don't look bad yourself," she stated, looking him up and down. "..and comfortable. It is nice to be out of uniform, isn't it? I wear it to sleep so many nights, sometimes I believe it's part of my skin."

"I know what you mean." He smiled, offered his arm, and they continued on their way.

When they arrived, Harry and B'Elanna were already there, bustling with bowls of popcorn.

Chakotay grinned. "And what will we be poisoned with tonight?"

B'Elanna shot him an angry smile. "We're 'setting the mood' – have some appreciation for all those replicator rations!"

Kathryn smiled and touched Tom's arm, looking curiously at all the popcorn and beer. "Tom, you shouldn't have made such an effort..."

"Of course I should, after all it's not every day we get together like this, Captain present and all..."

He'd meant it as a joke, but Kathryn only quietly replied, "Please, I am off duty, so I'll just be Kathryn tonight."

Tom was a little surprised at her somber tone, but smiled and nodded. Chakotay watched this with interest and smiled at Kathryn. He was genuinely glad she could let her guard down once in a while. B'Elanna prepared the table. "It looks like we're ready, everyone's here – we did ask Tuvok and Neelix," she said to Kathryn, "but you can guess. Tuvok thinks nostalgia isn't logical and Neelix is busy in the mess hall with a new leola root experiment. We didn't even dare to ask Seven."

Chakotay and Kathryn chuckled. He grabbed a beer and came over to her. Harry grabbed one too and shook it at B'Elanna. "You know, you'll regret spending your rations on beer once you have to sample Neelix' experiment!"

They all laughed as B'Elanna rolled her eyes, then gathered up around the TV. Tom gave them a quick introduction about TVs in history, and B'Elanna explained how she'd built it. Kathryn was impressed. She loved 'old stuff'.

"I made a few modifications for convenience," Tom added. "Since this TV is so old, it can usually only show black and white movies. I modified it, so we can see it in colour... it's more fun that way. And B'Elanna made a remote - that isn't exactly authentic either, but practical."

"Shall we?"

They sat down. Chakotay later wondered how he had ended up next to Kathryn, but he felt that nothing else could have happened. They just belonged together, somehow, even if it were not as lovers. B'Elanna sat next to her, with Tom in the corner like Chakotay. They were a little crammed and he was conscious of Kathryn's body against his. Harry sat in the low armchair next to Tom, beer in his hand, looking very comfortable. As Tom got the remote and put the film on, Kathryn grabbed a bowl of popcorn. Chakotay grinned. "Are you going to keep that one for yourself?" She grinned back and held the bowl tightly. "If you ask nicely, maybe I'll let you share." He was so happy at seeing her like this. She had that mischievous, playful grin on her face again. He simply wanted to hug her and tell her how glad he was she was back. But suddenly the Star Wars fanfare made the two of them jump madly. Kathryn poured a handful of popcorn over herself and Chakotay.

"What was..." she started, but Tom and B'Elanna only waved their hands, "Shhh... read!"

Chakotay grinned, shrugging a little, and they both read the words on the screen.

That done, she brought some of her attention to the popcorn all over her and started to pick it off. Chakotay had a hard time concentrating on the screen instead of her. He picked up the popcorn from his shirt as well and dared to brush some of her leg. She simply smiled apologetically, and then they turned back to the film. He put his arm around the back of the couch, virtually around her, but not around her shoulders.

God, he has no idea, Kathryn thought. The feeling of him so close made her giddy, although she kept telling herself it shouldn't. And when he brushed the popcorn off her leg, it sent some bolts of lightning through her body. He didn't notice, and she tried to behave normally, concentrating on the film. It proved hard, but she was soon surprisingly engrossed with the plot, as were the others.

Throughout the film, all 5 of them kept commenting. For Kathryn, that was the most fun. B'Elanna constantly complained about technical or mechanical improbabilities and Kathryn was sure she'd heard her mumble something about never letting such a hairball in her engine room. She was especially anguished at the "stupid construction" of the Death Star, a term which had them all toppling over with laughter anyway. Tom kept making snide comments about "light speed", and Harry had tears in his eyes from laughing at R2 and C3PO. Chakotay was relatively silent and simply enjoyed the atmosphere. Kathryn's personal favourite character was obviously the princess, running around giving orders and still looking graceful although she was wearing that strange "nightgown" as they had dubbed it. Chakotay noticed and leaned towards her. His voice was quiet at her ear ad made her flesh tingle. "What I'd give to see you wear your hair like that," he grinned mischievously. Kathryn only shot him a look of mock-indignation and bombarded him with some popcorn. "Don't you dare insult the princess." He laughed silently as they continued to watch, occasionally grabbing some popcorn from 'their' bowl.

Tom and B'Elanna had not been oblivious to their friendly bickering and smiled at each other knowingly.

Near the end of the film, even B'Elanna was quiet with anticipation and grabbed Tom's hand. Kathryn grabbed her dress. Chakotay grinned. Even though they all knew there had to be a happy ending, B'Elanna and Kathryn were fidgeting. When Han Solo came back, saving the day, they both had little fits of excitement and in near unison said "I knew it!" under their breaths. As Luke fired the final shot destroying the Death Star, B'Elanna wasn't even bothered by the technical stupidity anymore and she and Kathryn simply grinned at each other in understanding.

When the film was over, they enjoyed the end credits for a while in silence. Then, suddenly, B'Elanna broke out laughing. "I just imagined the same setting with the species we met so far--" Harry grinned. "Yeah, can you imagine? 'Obiwan, you will be assimilated'!" Harry breathed like Vader and the others giggled. Chakotay joined in. "The Force is irrelevant." They all broke down laughing now, wiping tears from their eyes.

They continued like this for a while, and Kathryn felt like she hadn't had such a good time in years.