Kathryn and Chakotay had been back at the estate for two days, and she was healed except for some residual stiffness in her shoulder. It was a rare day of little wind on the high plateau, and they were outside walking the grounds, making their way first to the scene of the shuttle crash. The debris had been removed and kept as evidence by Starfleet Security, but the deep cut in the earth remained. Kathryn stood studying the mar, noting the varying shades of light brown earth streaked with white where the shuttle had dug deep enough to disturb the limestone. Chakotay put his arm around her, hugging her to his side.

"We got lucky, Chakotay," she said quietly. "The pilot of that shuttle was the only fatality in all of the attacks. It could have been much worse."

"Yes, it could have." His voice caught on the last word.

She turned to him, saw the pain in his eyes, and reached up to put her hand on his cheek. "Oh, Chakotay. It's over, love. I'm fully healed, and we have two weeks to be together with no interruptions."

He held her hand to his face and closed his eyes. "I know. I always worried about you on the ship, too, only I couldn't show it. Each time you got hurt, I wanted to go to you, to tell you that I loved you and try to make you feel safe again."

She leaned her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her hair. "I knew, even if you couldn't say it," she told him. "You were always there in sickbay when I woke up, as I tried to be for you."

His fingertips tilted her chin until he could press his lips to hers, soft and pliant, the intimacy of the contact speaking his heart when words failed. His hand slipped from her chin to cradle the back of her head, silky strands of her hair sliding through his fingers. Their one night of passion rose in her memory, and she wanted him again, wanted to feel and touch and taste him, to give and take love made tangible. The scream of a kestrel cut the silence, and they both looked skyward to follow the bird of prey as it rode an unseen air current. The kestrel was a creature of beauty and power, and also of pity in its solitude and plaintive cry.

A cold wind began to gust, and Chakotay put his arm around her and hurried her back inside. By the time they were indoors, she was shivering and her hair had been whipped into a mass of tangles. She laughed when she realized the futility of trying to smooth it with her hands, and he followed her to the guest apartment and leaned in the bathroom doorway as she sat and brushed out the knots. She laid the brush back on the dressing table, and he came up behind her to reach under her hair, watching the play of light as the chestnut strands slipped through his fingers. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, concentrating on his sensual touch, moaning softly when he leaned over her and kissed her.

His hands slid over her shoulders and reached for the front of her blouse, slowly unbuttoning it as the tip of his tongue traced her bottom lip. The last button released and the material slipped down her arms as he raised his head to look at her in the mirror. She watched the reflection of his fingertips as they slid over her skin to push the bra strap down her left arm and free her breast, the sight of her nipple hardening heightening the sensation as he watched with her. He caressed the fullness under her breast, and she gasped when the mirror showed his thumb circle the rosy center and the bud tighten.

She reached behind her to the hem of his shirt and pushed it up until he slowly removed it. Still watching their reflection, she trailed her fingernails down his chest, feeling and seeing his sharp intake of breath as she left narrow pink lines on his skin. He unhooked her bra and pulled it off, returning both hands to her breasts to feel the weight of them in his palms, letting her see him cup their fullness and stroke his thumbs over the sides. Dropping to his knees at her side, he leaned over her arm, tilted his head, and snaked his tongue over one nipple, carefully keeping the angle such that she could see everything he was doing.

Light shining on the wet peak was enhanced by the mirror's reflection, the tip of his red tongue darting out in a point again and again only to draw back once more and leave her staring rapt and aroused by her own breast. When he moved behind her and leaned around to give attention to the other side, his hand found hers and guided it to the damp rosebud he had just abandoned, his dark, broad fingers over her pale, delicate ones slowly circling in the silver surface of the mirror. She wanted to close her eyes and give over to the thrum in her body, but she was captive to the vision he was creating, revealing herself to her own sight as he saw her.

He stood behind her again and leaned over to slide his hands down her stomach to her pants, unfastening them and pushing them down when she lifted her hips. He moved back to her side, never looking at her directly but keeping his gaze on the mirror, and pulled her slacks off over her feet, leaving her satiny underwear on. Staying where she could see his reflection, he slowly removed his own slacks and briefs, allowing her to take in the sight of his full nudity, his desire evident in his long, thick erection and the heavy sac between his legs. He watched her hand rise to him, her eyes still facing forward as she lightly traced the velvety skin and dark head of his shaft. When he twitched in her palm, her knees spread farther apart and a soft moan escaped her.

He knelt down and stroked his hand over her belly, his voice soft in her ear as he said, "Can you see how perfect you are to me, my love? To watch you respond to my touch." His hand slid lower and her hips rose upward. "To see your body flushed with desire for me." His fingers slipped over the damp satin between her legs. "To see you give to me your most secret gifts." He pushed under the material and spread her moisture through her folds to the tiny pearl that made her breath catch and her thighs quiver. "No sight is more beautiful to me." She slid her panties down and kicked them off, then spread her legs for him, her heels lifting as she propped up on the balls of her feet. Her eyes followed the reflection of his fingers sliding over her as she felt the delicious tingle wash through her. His other hand spread over the base of her neck, bracing her as her body stretched taut with sensation and her hips lifted to his touch.

"Yes, you see?" he whispered as he pushed inside her, slowly gliding first one and then two fingers in and out of her. He returned to her clit, his fingers glistening in the mirror from her oils as he pressed harder. She felt the clench of her stomach as she watched her body curl forward slightly. "When I watch you finally let go." His hand slid faster over her, and her lips parted as her tongue moistened them. "When your control weakens and you strain for release." The muscles of her legs tightened as the balls of her feet pushed against the floor, and she saw his eyes darkened to black as he watched her image. "When you abandon yourself to me and cry out in my arms, nothing is more precious to me than seeing my love for you shine from your face." At the first sound rising from her chest, he tightened his hold on her back and curled his fingertip against her swollen button. Her eyes closed, her neck stretched forward, and her body lifted from the seat as she came hard, her cry ringing through the small space. The mirror reflected the flood of her climax between her legs and his fingers slipping through it from her throbbing clit to her opening and back again until her spasms slowed and her gaze met his.

He lifted her from the chair and carried her to the bed, laying her down in the center before stretching out over her. She opened herself to him and guided the tip of his erection to her core as he locked his eyes to hers. One thrust sent him deep into her body, and they immediately began a quickening dance together, her legs wrapped over his and his hands cradling her face. With long strokes, he fanned the flames higher and higher, her sharp counterthrusts taking him deeper as her inner muscles tightened around him. Her hands dug into his back, soft noises sounded until they could no longer separate hers from his, and a fine sheen covered his chest and darkened the hair under her neck.

His chocolate gaze never left the blue of hers until she caught them both by surprise when her second orgasm seized her, driving the breath from her in a sharp cry, her wet heat clenching around him and pulling him with her. He roared with the force of his release spurting inside of her, driving deeper as he gripped her body to his in the searing back-flash through his nerves. It seemed an eternity before their hearts started beating again, the jolts and spasms slowed, and their muscles released, leaving them breathless and trembling. He finally mustered the strength to remove his weight from her and collapse onto the bed at her side, pulling her closer to snuggle against him as they lingered in a state of half-sleep.

She kissed his neck and sighed contentedly, shifting her leg to slide over his. "I feel like I should say something," she mumbled against his chest.

He chuckled. "Tell me you love me."

"I do, Chakotay. I love you."

He rolled her onto her side facing away from him and spooned his body around hers, his arm draped over her and his hand resting on her breast. "I love you, too," he said as he closed his eyes, and soon the rhythm of his steady breathing lulled her to sleep.

***V*V***

Kathryn and Chakotay spent two weeks in the isolation and beauty of the Paris' estate. They explored the rooms, studying the antiques and art work scattered throughout and discovering a storage room of furniture and decorative items in styles representing many different worlds that was like finding a treasure trove. They spent many hours in the library reading, sharing favorite books and authors with one another, and Chakotay showed her on maps the places his father had taken him as a child while trying to retrace the origins of his people.

They shared breakfasts in the kitchenette of the guest apartment, lunches in the large estate kitchen, and candlelight dinners in front of the fireplace, talking long into the night over a bottle of wine. Late one night when they couldn't sleep, they packed wrist beacons, water bottles, and fruit into a backpack and followed the hidden tunnel from their bedroom to the cottage at the edge of the estate grounds. The sun just was rising through cottage windows when the couple emerged from behind a wall panel, and they shared a picnic of fruit and water before falling asleep tightly curled together on a small bed. They awoke to a cool but sunny afternoon and trekked across the grounds back to the main house, stopping along the way to watch the small wildlife. Early one morning, they stood with their arms around each other for 20 minutes at the long window in their sitting room, watching a family of deer foraging for tender grass shoots and flowers.

Kathryn and Chakotay also shared in each other, exploring what brought each other pleasure. In the shower, his hands tangled in her hair and attempted to push her away as he fought his rising climax, until she said, "Please, Chakotay, I want to taste you." He looked down at where she was kneeling before him and gave her control, his seed spurting into her warm mouth as he sobbed her name. On the bed, his tongue found her, after their joining had been completed, and cleaned their combined fluids from her until she peaked impossibly in a third orgasm. In the kitchenette one morning, he showed her how he liked to be stroked with her small hand laid over his as she followed his motions and learned his erogenous points.

In front of the fireplace after dinner and wine one night, she allowed him to enter her wet heat from behind, a position she had never liked until his gentleness and attention to her needs showed her the pleasure she could feel, learning that it was trust, or lack thereof, in her partner that had lain at the root of her dislike. He started with them lying on their sides with her back to him, his arm over her ribs with his fingers laced through hers, until he felt her receptive enough to turn her on her stomach and with long, slow thrusts plunge them both over the edge. They opened themselves completely to one another and discovered heights of desire they never knew existed.

Admiral Paris and Commander Harkin kept them apprised of the investigations, and by the end of a week enough information and evidence had been gathered and more arrests made to ensure the Terran Guard never banded together again. There would be no problems with Kathryn and Chakotay returning to San Francisco at the end of her leave, though Starfleet did request permission to install additional security monitors at her home for the time being, which she agreed to at Chakotay's urging. The Friday before she was to report back for duty on Monday, they decided to return home.

Chakotay held the door open for Kathryn at Tommaso's, placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked toward the crew's regular Friday pizza night table. B'Elanna was the first to spot them, and she sprang up from her chair, drawing the attention of the other 25 crewmen. They all gave Kathryn and Chakotay a standing ovation, and the other restaurant patrons joined in as they recognized the couple. Kathryn thanked everyone and encouraged them to enjoy their meals before turning back to her former crew with a bright smile and a flush on her cheeks. "That was unnecessary, but we appreciate it," she told them.

The crew shuffled seats and made room at the head of the table as they had done before, but Chakotay asked them to leave a third seat open. He looked over the crew and said, "One of us should have the honor of the head of the table tonight. In the Delta Quadrant, rare were the times when we could express our appreciation for hard work and dedication. Hell, we were usually too exhausted from our hard work and dedication to take the time. We made it home only by working together, but there's not a person at this table tonight that isn't here because of the attention, care, and dedication of the Doctor. Doctor, I think the honor should be yours," Chakotay said as he waved to the head chair. "You've been saving our butts from the minute you came online, and I for one am grateful that you were able once again to keep our Captain with us."

Cheers went up, glasses were raised in toast, and the Doctor walked to end of the table with a wide grin on his face. Kathryn squeezed his shoulder and kissed his cheek, and he sat down, for the first time in his holographic life speechless. That brought more cheers from the table, and Kathryn and Chakotay took their seats beside each other. Kathryn's home would become their home, and they would spend the weekend getting used to being back in civilization and beginning to create their new life together. Tonight, they would take part in Voyager's family, reliving the memories that had bound them together with ties that neither time nor distance could sever.

Finis