DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: Voyager and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story itself belongs to me.
It took me eight years to finish a handful of drabbles. Sheesh...
Counting the Days
by Hester (hester4418)
-==/ C \==-
It's day eight when Chakotay finds that he can finally call her 'Kathryn' without feeling awkward. She's had to remind him several times because his tongue kept slipping, stumbling over the similarities between her name and her rank.
"Good morning, Kathryn," he greets her, without the usual hesitant pause or the self-conscious tug on his ear.
Her answering smile is brilliant, her eyes shining with the bright inner light that is her driving force. "Good morning, Chakotay," she says, giving his arm a light squeeze as she passes him.
He wishes that she's flirting but he knows that she's not.
-==/ J \==-
It's day twenty when Kathryn's frustration reaches a new peak, with even her most promising experiments yielding negative results. Chakotay watches her for a while and then disappears, probably fearing another of her frequent mood swings.
Two hours later, he's back. "Come with me," he says, "and close your eyes." She warily complies as he leads her outside.
There is smooth wood under her hands. When she finally looks, she can't believe her eyes.
"To help you relax," he explains with boyish excitement.
Teary-eyed, she has no words to express her gratitude, so she leans up and kisses his cheek.
-==/ C \==-
It's day thirty-five when he finally gets to hold her in his arms, though not quite in the way he dreamed of. The plasma storm is brutal, destroying everything Kathryn has worked on for weeks. He wonders if it will destroy her, too.
For his own part, Chakotay feels relieved. He's made his peace with being marooned on New Earth for life, but he never felt that he could talk freely about their long-term future. Now, there are no alternate futures anymore. If Kathryn can accept that, he knows they'll be okay. But if she cannot, he fears the consequences.
-==/ J \==-
It's day forty-one when something clicks inside her. She's been in a daze for nearly a week, only slowly warming to her new reality.
Today though, Kathryn wakes with a new sense of purpose. An explorer at heart, she always thought that traveling through space was a prerequisite for quenching her thirst for adventure. The dawning sun and chirping birds convince her otherwise. She's no longer fighting the planet, she's embracing it.
She still misses all the people on Voyager, but she realizes that there's one she would've missed more than the others if he weren't right there with her.
-==/ C \==-
It's day forty-seven when Chakotay grasps Kathryn's hand and holds it for as long as she lets him, which isn't nearly long enough. But at least it's a start.
Their days become more varied now, free of the need to collect insects and accumulate research data. He no longer scouts their surroundings alone while she spends endless hours bent over her work. They're a true team now, dividing chores and sharing discoveries while edging ever closer.
He's seriously started thinking about adding more living space to the shelter, but he'll wait a little longer before deciding on the final configuration.
-==/ J \==-
It's day fifty-six when Kathryn decides to recycle their uniforms. Chakotay made the suggestion once before, but she hadn't been ready to relinquish that part of her past. Now, she puts it on one last time, and reflects on how far removed she already feels from that existence.
"Maybe I'll be an admiral in a parallel universe," she says to him, half in jest, when she feeds the material to the recycler.
He indulges her with a soft smile. "I have no doubt."
She'll keep the combadges as a memento, even though she knows that they will forever be silent.
-==/ C \==-
It's day sixty-one when they stay outside long past nightfall, looking up at the stars and trying to find familiarity in the unknown constellations. It's Kathryn's suggestion to sleep under the night sky, and Chakotay readily brings out blankets and pillows for their makeshift camp.
He feels elated lying next to her, without the frosted glass partition obscuring her from his view. Staying awake long after she has fallen asleep, his patience is rewarded when she rolls over and her cheek presses against his shoulder.
When a shooting star streaks across the sky, he knows exactly what he's wishing for.
-==/ J \==-
It's day seventy-nine when the first hint of green peeks through freshly overturned earth. Kathryn planted the tomatoes on a whim, feeling the need to put down roots in the most basic sense. Tending the seedlings gives her a sense of belonging. Her mother would laugh at her newly discovered domestic side.
Chakotay's planning something again, she can sense it. When they walk along the river, he's sometimes lost in thought. But when she grasps his hand, he smiles, and she can feel peace and contentment radiating from him. She can't articulate it yet, but she knows they'll be happy.
-==/ C \==-
It's day eighty-four when their paradise falls apart. With Tuvok's call rendering his plans for a boat moot, Chakotay goes from elation to despair in less than five minutes.
Kathryn shuts him out, starting to pack crates before he's fully grasped what's happening.
He follows her lead, but his heart is not in it. He will follow her back to Voyager, but he'll mourn what they could have had on New Earth. And he wishes he knew if she feels the same.
He wants to tell her what their time together meant to him, but he can't find the words.
-==/ J \==-
It would've been day one hundred and six when she finally goes to him. She knows he's been hurting, and she is too, although she hasn't let him see it. But denying her feelings has become too much of a burden.
"I want to be with you," Kathryn tells him, watching his eyes light up with a wary kind of hope.
"For how long?" Chakotay questions.
"For as long as you'll have me."
When he kisses her, she knows she made the right decision. They're still almost 70,000 lightyears from Earth, but she's found her home right here with him.
-==/ Epilogue \==-
It's been almost twenty years since they left New Earth. By now, slipstream drives are as common as warp engines were in their time. Admiral Janeway's personal long-range shuttle makes the trip in just under three weeks.
They've been planning this visit for years, looking forward to it with a mix of nostalgia and excitement. Upon arrival, there's confusion. The planet looks different from space, too uniformly green. Scanners suggest that it's still uninhabited.
They beam down. Stunned silence is followed by laughter as they process what's happened. With no natural enemies, the Talaxian tomatoes have taken over the world.
-==/ The End. \==-