After the Captain was finished in engineering, she finally made her way to the bridge, butterflies in her stomach. Chakotay stood as she entered. She smiled, her tension slowly dissolving in face of a daily routine. "Status?"
"All system normal, Captain."
"Seven wants to check out a nebula that's only a few light years away." Chakotay shot her that 'doesn't she all the time?'-look and she couldn't help grinning. He didn't have any objections, it was almost on their way anyway.
"Set a course, Tom. I'll be in my ready room." Tom had been listening, smiling to himself, wondering what was going on through their minds.
"Aye Captain."
When she was gone, Tom checked the chronometer and looked back at Harry, who grinned back. Exactly 8.5 minutes after the Captain had left, Chakotay got up and paced a little. "Tuvok, you have the bridge."
As soon as he had disappeared for the Captain's ready room, Tom spun around and pointed at Harry. "Dammit Harry, you had me this time."
"Told you decency would win."
"Decency? Come-ON Harry, 8.6 minutes isn't very subtle. I was close."
Tuvok interrupted their bickering, as usual. "If you were betting on what I think you were, I suggest you terminate that exercise, gentlemen." He seemed a little annoyed by the happy mood on the bridge this morning.
"Don't worry, Tuvok, we were just having a bit of fun..."
"I am not worried, ensign. I am simply reminding you of your duties."
Kathryn's face lit up when Chakotay entered. He had been on her mind all morning. She was almost too happy to keep a straight face at all, finally knowing what she knew. He looked pretty pleased with her mood. They started out with coffee as she renewed her thanks about the night before. He simply stated that he was glad she got some sleep.
"Gods, I haven't slept that good in ages!" she exclaimed, before realising what she was implying. She felt so relaxed that moment she didn't think and blushed madly. He grinned his gorgeous dimpled smile, but said nothing to push the topic. They changed topic and spent a while just sitting there, chatting. Like usual, but, she thought, it's different. So natural, there's no pressure, all the walls are down.
Chakotay invited her to have lunch with him in the mess hall, then he left. She felt stronger than she had for a long while. She went back to sorting through various reports, but today even the most boring things couldn't tear the smile off her face.
When Chakotay returned to the bridge, he noticed that Tom and Harry were grinning at him, before they quickly looked away. He realised that he must've radiated silly happiness when he left the ready room. They suspected something. He didn't care too much, and there was nothing, really, nothing had happened. Yet, a little voice told him. He silenced it, but for the first time, hope dared to lift it's head again.
There wasn't much going on all morning, for once, thank goodness, Chakotay thought, and Tom spun around happily. "You know, my list of what I'd do with the Force keeps getting longer and longer."
Harry snorted a laugh. Chakotay looked amused. "Like what, for example?"
Tom turned dead serious and looked straight at Tuvok. He waved his hand a little.
"You want to have fun. You want to eat a chocolate sundae."
The way he stressed the last two words made Harry and Chakotay burst out laughing. Tuvok was not amused and merely shook his head in faint indignation. They continued a bit like this, Harry pretending to talk Neelix out of using leola root ever again and Chakotay wondering what the Doctor would have to say about Darth Vader's 'crude breathing apparatus'. He did quite a good Doctor impression. Laughing, they passed the time quickly.
Kathryn left her ready room at 1300 hours, and Chakotay joined her in the turbolift. They couldn't help seeing Tom eyeing them curiously but only smiled. This is so strange, Kathryn thought. Nothing happened, and still I feel as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. A tiny voice in her head added something will eventually come of it, now that you made up your mind.
But then she suddenly started to worry. The feeling of lost time came back to her. Was she too late? Was it okay to give it a few days to let this new feeling settle in? She glanced at him. He had been watching her, again that curious look on his face.
He couldn't figure it out. There was something going on insider her head, he knew that. He didn't want to interfere, since it seemed to make her happy. He couldn't help hoping, now, that she might come around. But he was scared this could only be a temporary change, seeing as life in the Delta Quadrant was hardly ever as quiet and crisis-depraved as it was that day.
During lunch they only talked about day-to-day business. Kathryn recalled something from a report about a young Ensign's pregnancy. Chakotay was usually better informed about these crew-things, so she bugged him about details. He happily obliged – apparently the woman from engineering was in a steady relationship with someone and it all looked rosy. She simply smiled and prodded her food. "And I thought this day couldn't get any better. I'm truly happy to hear about them."
At her first remark, Chakotay smiled broadly. It warmed her inside, but she also realised she'd said something a little too intimate again. Anything related to her wonderful wake-up call seemed intensely private to her now. She enjoyed actually having a private life at all to treasure now. It was still too fragile though, she couldn't simply talk about it and not blush.
The rest of the day passed normally, they reached Seven's fabulous nebula and conducted all sorts of scans. There was a layer of dense gas blocking one part of the nebula. Janeway stepped over to Harry. "I'd like to see what's underneath – can you recalibrate the sensors?"
Harry started working on it as she turned back to see a mischievous hint of a smile on Chakotay's face. His message was clear, almost screaming at her. Am I glad I got to see what's underneath again. She thought she might burst of happiness. She hadn't been sure about his feelings anymore. But now, she assumed because of her behaviour, he became bolder by the hour. She blushed and was immensely glad when Harry announced that the recalibrated sensors needed a while to penetrate the cloud. With a quick "keep me informed" she slipped away to her ready room. This time, Chakotay didn't follow her, but rather gave her some room.
By evening, they had gathered enough information to plan a salvage mission - some of the gas particles could be converted into energy. Tom, the Doctor and Seven were to take the Delta Flyer the next morning. Kathryn dismissed the meeting and lingered by the window for a moment. Chakotay lingered, too. As soon as everyone else was gone, she turned around and gave him a quick crooked smile. "Let's hope this once it doesn't turn into a disaster when we send out an away mission into a nebula. Last time my coffee addiction nearly got us all killed!"
He chuckled. Then he took his chance, trying to sound as casual as he could. He failed miserably. Gods, she still drove him crazy, even after all this time. "Dinner?"
She bit her lip. "I'd love to, but to be honest, I was a bit lazy today... and I've still got a pile of reports to go through."
"Isn't it the Captain's prerogative to be lazy once in a while?"
"Not this Captain's, Chakotay," she added with a sigh and gestured resignation. But he wasn't going to give up. "Then how about grabbing a snack from Neelix and then I'll help you with the pile."
She considered it. He almost expected her to come up with another excuse, maybe she simply wanted to be alone one night before they met up again the next day. He just couldn't help it, he suddenly wanted to spend every minute around her, making sure that smile stayed right where it was.
But she didn't object this time. His heart jumped. He offered his arm and together they made their way to the mess hall. Chakotay couldn't stop grinning like an idiot and made a mental note to behave more like a man and less like an adolescent. He felt like taking out his first date to dance, immensely proud to have her with him.