"Well that concludes my wander into the flower gardens of earth. I have created an info sheet with the basic meanings of all the flowers I have discussed tonight which is available on the ships database and all of the flower species are currently being grown by Nelix"
Nelix stood up " yes All the flowers shown and talked about tonight are available in the hydroponics bay. Anybody who wants some can pop in and help themselves I just have one little request. with the exception of the roses which I have several dozen plants worth of if you want more than three of any particular bloom please have a quick word with me. I have been growing as many as I can but the supplies are still fairly limited thankyou"
Nelix sat down and Chakottay stood back up.
"Thankyou Nelix. I hope you all found our seminar entertaining and informative and Thank you all for coming this evening from both of us. have a good night."
Chakotay and Nelix left the stage to a hearty round of applause and the group gathered in the mess hall began to disperse. Captain Janeway turned to seven who was seated beside her
"Well seven what did you think"
"It was fascinating. Nelix is certainly very knowledgeable about the cultivation of these plant species and Chakotay's knowledge of their meaning and significance is impressive"
"It certainly is, Chakotay grey up in a tribal colony and learnt a great deal about nature and plants from his family. I find the things he know to be very interesting. And the amount Nelix has tight himself about cultivation of alpha quadrant plants is simply astounding. But aside from their knowledgeability what did you think of the content of the seminar?"
" i I had no idea that flowers could be more than just a thing to admire. The idea of them passing on messages is intriguing. I also had no idea that flowers meant so much to humans."
". I'm not sure how flowers came to have meanings originally but they have been used as a way to pass messages both obviously and secretly for thousands of years.
Personally I love being given flowers. They are beautiful and remarkable. They say a lot when a person doesn't know how to put their feelings into words."
"That is intriguing." Seven looked at the time "perhaps we could discuss the merits of flowers both as decoration and messengers in more depth at some point, however for now if you will excuse me I need to return to the cargo bay"
"Alright seven. Have a good night"
"Thank you captain you as well"
Seven left the mess hall and made her way back to the cargo bay where she decided to act on B'Elanna's advice immediately. she went straight to her console and began to research every aspect of Valentine's Day that she could think of.
After learning everything she could about the holiday itself seven turned her thoughts in the direction of trying to figure out what to do for Kathryn. B'Elanna had suggested giving the Captain something personal and subtle yet decipherable that it came from her.
After some thought Seven returned her attention to her console and began to research traditional Valentine's Day gifts.
After an hour seven had not made any progress. For the first time in her life as a human research had failed to yield any usable results. Seven decided that perhaps a more personal form of research was in order. She began to scan her Borg memory of all interactions with the captain in the hope that she might find a clue of what the captain might wish for a gift. After only a few seconds the words that the captain had spoken just a few hours ago came to her mind.
" ". I love being given flowers. They are beautiful and remarkable. They say a lot when a person doesn't know how to put their feelings into words." "
Seven decided that flowers seemed an appropriate place to start. However now she was unsure of which flowers would be most suitable. After a few moments consideration She decided the best thing to do would be to go and have a look around nelix's supplies in the hydroponic bay.
On the way to the hydroponic bay seven met Naomi wildman exiting a turbo lift. Seven was surprised and slightly concerned to see the young girl out of her bed and her quarters so late in the evening.
"Good evening Naomi, it's very late at night for you to be out of your bed is somthing wrong."
"Oh hello seven no everything is fine, I'm out late because I had to wait for my mummy to fall asleep before I snuck out"
"But Why are you sneaking out at all, that is not your usual behaviour"
"I know but I have to pick something up from the hydroponics bay and I don't want my mummy to know anything about it. Do you know about my mummy and daddy using the satellite connection to have a day together tomorrow?"
"Yes I have been fully briefed on the plan to surprise your mother. I am part of the team working on the project. I will be in charge relaying the signals through the astrometric bay to and from our holodeck tomorrow and ensuring that the connection is stable."
"Cool. I suppose I should have guessed you were involved being in charge of astrometrics and all. Thank you seven, I'm really grateful for all the effort so many people are putting in to make this happen for my parents."
"You are welcome Naomi. However we have changed topic. We were discussing your reasons for being out or your bed at this hour. What is it you are picking up"
"Well my daddy always gave my mummy these special katarian flowers on Valentine's Day and my mummy told me about them last year and she still had some seeds, so I asked her if I could have some of the seeds to study and she gave me half of them, I worked out that they were viable so I took the seeds to Nelix and he has been able to grow them. I am on my way to pick up the flowers then I am going to take them to the holodeck just before my mummy comes so that daddy can give them to her again."
"That's very thoughtful Naomi. I am sure that your mother will be very pleased. However what if she wakes up and sees that you are missing."
"I've left a note on my bed saying that I'm ok and I've gone to pick up a surprise. I hope she doesn't wake up and see it but if she does at least she won't worry"
"You are very sensible for a child of your age"
"Thankyou seven, by the way where are you going this time of night. Shouldn't you be regenerateing"
"I only have to regenerate one night out of three. I am also on my way to the hydroponics bay. If you would like We could walk there together."
"Ok then"
Naomi put her little hand in sevens larger one and they both set off together. After a while of companionable silence Naomi spoke again
"Seven why are you going to the hydroponics bay."
"I am seeking a Valentine's gift for somebody to attempt to indicate my affection."
"You have a crush on somebody on the ship?"
"I suppose you could put it that way yes. I was hesitant about displaying my affection due to the fact that I do not belive that it will be returned however it was suggested to me that Valentine's Day would be a good time to give a gift and "see what happens"."
"You have a very good friend then seven. I always say if you never try you never get."
"Indeed. I have however been having difficulty selecting a gift that will be both personal and appreciated and my research failed to yield any usable results. After some thought I have decided that flowers are a good place to start"
"Flowers are always a good gift for lots of different situations. What flowers are you going to choose"
"I have not solved that problem yet."
Naomi gave seven a confused look and seven rephrased
"I don't know"
"Did you go to the flower seminar earlier this evening?"
"Yes"
"Well why don't you think about what you want to say to this person what feelings you want to display and use the information from the seminar to choose flowers that mean what you want to say."
"That is a brilliant idea Naomi. I have the entire seminar stored in my Borg memory I should be able to use it to select appropriate floral species. Thank you"
"Your welcome" Naomi laughed."do you need any more good ideas"
Seven looked at the girl closely before replying
"Perhaps. I am still unable to think of anything suitable for a second gift. I was advised to create something but everything that I can think of that would be both appreciated and within my skill set would either take to long or we lack the required materials."
"A Valentine's gift hand made in just a few hours. Hmmm How about a poem"
"A poem?!"
"Yes you could write them a poem. It would give you the opportunity to say how you feel and what you think of this person you could even put in a clue so they can figure out its from you if you don't feel able to give them the gifts directly."
"That is an idea worthy of research"
"You can't research your way into writing a poem seven. It has to come from the heart. You helped me with my poetry and creative writing homework a few months ago so you know the basics of writing. Just stand at your console think about this person and see what comes."
"I will try that. Thank you again Naomi you have been a great help."
"You're welcome seven".
They had arrived at the hydroponics bay now and Naomi skipped off to the little side room where Nelix had been growing Naomi's flowers in secret and seven started to walk around. She went slowly around all the different flowers and as she went compared each species to the information in Chakotay's seminar she paused several times choosing blooms that best fit the feelings she wished to impart. by the time she had completed a full circuit of the bay she had a Bouquet made up of three of each of 9 different flowers and a tenth flower for a little idea that had just occurred to her.
Seven spent the walk back to the cargo bay considering different methods of delivering the gifts. She wanted to do something interesting but not so outlandish that it would disrupt the captains duty shift. And she wanted to deliver the gifts in the morning but she needed to plan it for after the bridge had finished setting up the holodeck for the wildman family. By the time she reached the cargo bay she had several good ideas and now just needed to select one.
She replicated a vase with water and was about to place the flowers inside when another idea occurred to her. Looking at the clock she decided that she had time for her latest idea as well as writing the poem. she placed the flowers in the vase in her hand and put it to one side then replicated another plain un-glazed vase and a set of paints and brushes. Taking it all over to her work station seven set to work painting the vase, after finishing painting the design she decided to add a short sentence. Seven didn't usually use metaphors or sentiment but in this case it seemed appropriate, after some thought seven decided on a sentence that seemed fitting and painted it in around the neck. Taking the finished vase back to the replicator she reprogramed the machine to dry the paint and glaze the vase. After that had been done seven moved the water and flowers to the new vase arranging them carefully and recycled the old one. Satisfied with the flowers seven put them to one side returned to her computer screen and turned her attention to writing a poem.
By 4am seven had written and edited a poem that she was happy with. She thought that most people would not consider it a particularly romantic poem it was quite direct and to the point much like seven herself. nor would most people understand why she had included certain things, However the captain wasn't most people and as such seven was confident that she would understand and appreciate it.
All that was left now was to make a final decision on the delivery method and set it up. By 7am everything was in place and seven of nine headed to astrometrics to begin her duty shift