The remnants of their sandwiches lay on the table in Kathryn's quarters. The pile of reports next to them was slowly getting smaller. But they weren't exactly working as fast as they could. Kathryn was sitting with her back to the sofa side again, her legs propped up in front of her. She waved her coffee mug around. "You know, Chakotay, sometimes I simply marvel at the details people put in their reports. I mean, honestly, reports like this one," she held up her PADD, "are the reason why we always need so long to get through them. This is Ensign Bronowski explaining in detail how he fertilized the Talaxian cucumber plants in the airponics bay," she sighed. "Is there some damned protocol making this amount of detail mandatory? Or are they scared I won't trust everyone enough to do their jobs? I mean.." she waved again, "I like to know what's going on on my ship – but ...fertilizing cucumbers?!"

He laughed at her exasperation. He sat opposite her, casually leaning back against the other side of the sofa. Her snappy remark about 'damned protocols' hadn't gone unnoticed. He smiled. "Then I suppose you shouldn't read this. It's an interesting report on the Doctor's new ...breakthrough." Kathryn covered her face with her hand. "Oh God, yes... he mentioned it this morning."

He put on a nice mock-intrigued look. "Oh it's quite a read. Fascinating discovery. Unfortunately..." he paused, "...his findings only apply to Klingon-Bolian hybrids."

Kathryn nearly spilled her coffee laughing. "Let me guess – he mentions this detail only at the very end."

Chakotay sighed and tossed the PADD to the others. "Well, there's Chell, he's Bolian - would you like me to ask B'Elanna to 'contribute' to the advancement of medical science?"

She tried to look serious. "I think there's a regulation about unnecessarily risking the life of a crew member." They both laughed again. This time, he simply couldn't hide his feelings any longer. He had the distinct feeling that his face was an open book to her anyway. She became quiet and locked her eyes on his. He had tried to hold back his hope, but being with her like this was too much to handle. He needed to get away, afraid his open heart might frighten her back into her shell. He broke eye contact and started to pile the PADDs they had worked through. "It's late," he said. "I better let you catch some sleep." She seemed to welcome that suggestion and put her PADD and empty mug down, stretching. She looked so cute.

Oh god, I need to hold her. No, actually I need to get out of here. Now.

He planted a quick kiss on her cheek, wished her a good night and was gone.

Lying in bed, Kathryn touched her cheek once more. He had left in a hurry, and she had seen why. It made her so happy to see him still needing her, but she was also a bit scared. The kiss – oh come on, it was more a peck, really – had felt so right, so gentle, and yet conveying an inkling of what lay beneath. Kathryn knew that he understood everything. He knows something has changed; he's hoping again. And this time, I'm not going to let him down. I'll never break his heart again. He read her correctly in every way. But Kathryn knew one thing he probably didn't dare to think yet. Had he just grabbed and kissed her, she couldn't have resisted for a second. For all she knew, this was the happiest she had been in a long, long time, and his kiss absolutely topped it off. She drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Kathryn woke up refreshed. She immediately thought of the goodnight kiss and blushed happily. She tried to pull herself together, but no matter what she tried, the butterflies wouldn't leave. So she ended up on the bridge, monitoring the away mission, unable to wipe a smile off her face. When Chakotay arrived with preliminary data from astrometrics, her heart did a somersault. A smile and 'good morning' was not unusual. But today, the electricity between them was virtually visible. The change to the last couple of weeks was so abrupt, even Tuvok would notice. Turning in her seat, she sent a quick glance over to Tactical. Tuvok saw her distress. Looked quickly at the Commander, busy at his console. He seemed to figure it out, looked back at her and guessed what she needed. He gave a silent nod of approval. The Captain's face lit up. Tuvok never smiled, but she knew him well enough to see when he was pleased. She felt very much at ease now. She looked over at Chakotay. She didn't realise she was staring at him until he smiled. He kept his gaze on his PADD. "Sleep well?" His voice was almost inaudible, thank God.

Not as good as in your bed.

She had it on the tip of her tongue, but at the last moment she recollected herself. We're on the bridge for heaven's sake! He was looking straight at her now, probably waiting for an answer. And he saw her look. And knew what she thought. Damn. Why is he always able to read my mind?!

She pursed her lips and managed a very chaste but honest "yes, I did, thank you." He went back to his PADD... short of blatantly grinning he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Harry had observed their little flirting session and smiled to himself. He almost felt sorry for Tom for not being there to see it. He'd gloat at him later.

"Paris to Voyager."

"Go ahead, Tom."

"Captain, we're collecting and testing samples from different locations within the nebula. So far everything's normal. Although I'm a little suspicious."

Janeway looked up, concerned. "Why is that?"

"Well, normally, about ten minutes into any away mission we get shot at, swallowed by unknown phenomena or crash land on a planet. I don't trust this nebula."

The bridge crew laughed. Harry responded. "If you run into any bad guys, be sure to replicate yourself a bunch of light sabres." Now it was only the Captain, Chakotay and Harry to giggle and the others gave them quizzical looks. Tuvok rolled his eyes.

Janeway thought about Tom's words when she sat in her ready room later. She knew he had meant it jokingly, but she also realised how much a little peace and quiet had to offer. A few days without anything weird or dangerous happening. They always joked that "weird was part of the job", but she knew that a boring shuttle mission could be heaven compared to what they had been through before.

That would explain her relaxed mood. She wondered what was going to happen next. Tonight I'll be sitting next to him again. Maybe another nightcap later? She honestly didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Funny, she thought. Somehow, whenever I was really depressed, I used to think of moments where one of us was dying ...and we would acknowledge our love only then – when it was too late ….and there were no consequences. Now, it threw her head spinning like a plasma storm. She had not really thought about afterwards, ever. Okay, there were weak moments when she thought of much later, maybe a family, back on earth... but she hadn't actually imagined what a relationship on Voyager would be like. How nice it could be. She thought of Tom and B'Elanna. She had simply dismissed it as impossible for herself. And I always expected that something drastic had to happen before I changed my mind on anything. She was checked out of her musings when she heard the door chime. To her surprise, it was Tuvok.

He surprised her even more with his next request. "Captain, I have observed that you and the other participants of Mr. Paris' so called 'movie night' seem to be in a good mood since that evening."

She grinned and answered with affection in her voice. "A good observer, Tuvok, as always." She couldn't help but feel deeply gratified to have him on this journey. He was one hell of a rock to rely on. Besides Chakotay, of course.

"It was a shame you didn't join us."

"A mistake I intend to rectify, Captain. It seems I dismissed the invitation to quickly, seeing it only as pointless entertainment."

She raised an eyebrow. "And now you don't?!"

He simply continued. "It seems your gathering has had a positive effect on crew morale, as well as on the relationship of you and the Commander." She blushed. Damn you, Tuvok.

"Seeing that you seem to be happy, I simply wanted to give you my best wishes."

She blushed even more and only managed a weak "it's not what you think.." under her breath.

"I wish to participate in tonight's gathering." She was stunned. "To observe how a film raised crew morale? Or to spend time with your shipmates?" She couldn't imagine anyone he'd less like to spend time with than Tom Paris. "I believe both would be beneficial."

She smiled. "I'll be glad to see you. But be warned: this is decadent entertainment!"

"I'm sure I'll manage, Captain." A tint of sarcasm in his voice, he raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, Mr. Tuvok, I'll see you tonight, when the Empire strikes back, don't be late!" she stood and laughed as he left. She quickly informed B'Elanna of the additional guest. She laughed in shock, but seemed curious to see Tuvok off duty. This was going to be fun, Kathryn thought.

But no matter how hard she tried, her mind kept going back to Chakotay next to her, teasing, Chakotay carrying her to his bed......