The way I think it should have been.
"Yes." Chakotay walked toward the noise and realized that it was their
commbadges. They could only faintly hear Tuvok's voice through the
static.
"~~~~~ To Captain Janeway. Tuvok to ~~~~~ and Commander Chakotay. Please
respond." Chakotay sat the badges down on the table and watched as
Kathryn picked hers up.
"This is Janeway."
"Captain, it's good to hear your voice. We have news."
"What is it?"
"We have medicine that we believe will effectively treat your condition.
We plan to be in orbit in approximately thirty-six hours.”
Kathryn looked at Chakotay with sad eyes. She had grown accustomed to staying on the
planet and had liked him as company. She was not looking forward to
returning to their previous relationship. She was going to miss the man she had had the privilege to
get to know over the past several months.
Chakotay noticed her mind hard at work. He had loved getting to know her over the past several months. He would miss the times they stayed up late and talked about anything and everything. Even though it was a bad situation, he liked it when he held her after the plasma storm. He liked
it when she gave him permission to massage her back, and he loved the
moment in time when she opened up and held his hand after the ancient
legend. He was going to miss her. He knew that she was thinking the same
thing and tried to give her a weak smile. She was getting what she had
wanted since the day they were stranded on the planet together. He was
happy that she was happy.
Ever since Tuvok had told them of his return for them, she had cried in
the privacy of her home when he was talking to his spirit guide. What she
didn't realize was that when she cried, her spirit guide cried too.
Kathryn's spirit guide was a lizard. Lizard came to Chakotay's spirit
guide when he was depressed. Wolf held him and Lizard cried into her
neck. Every time that Chakotay entered the spirit world, Lizard was
crying into Wolf's neck. He knew that Kathryn was crying too.
On the day Voyager was expected to arrive, after many times of seeing her
spirit guide cry, Chakotay said he was going to contact his spirit guide
and left. He stayed out about ten minutes until he heard muffled sobs
coming from inside the shelter. He walked in like he always had and saw
her sprawled out on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. He put down his
medicine bundle and went to her. Chakotay raised Kathryn up into his warm embrace
and walked her to the couch. She sat in his lap and continued to cry. She
pounded her fists into his chest and sobbed. After she settled down, he
asked her to tell him what was wrong.
"I don't want to leave," she said. "I like this. I like having you here
every morning and talking to me when I can't sleep. When we go back to
Voyager everything will go back to the way it was and this will never
happen again. I love this. I love you."
She clamped her hand over her mouth when it dawned on her what she had said. Frankly, she couldn't
believe she had told him. She wanted to keep this from him and tell him
later. This would affect their working relationship.
As a response to her confession, he gently cupped her chin and tuned her
towards him. She removed her hand from her mouth and looked at him. He
leaned in close and kissed her, a kiss feather light.
Kathryn had closed her eyes and they were still closed when he moved away. She opened them to
slits and pulled Chakotay close to her again. This kiss was not so light. It
was more of a promise. A promise that this night would never be
forgotten.
Tuvok's voice entered the room once more saying that they would be there
in four minutes. Kathryn got off of his lap and grabbed her last supply kit.
Chakotay followed her outside and was looking at her. Voyager’s Captain looked at her first officer.
She threw her bag down and kissed him again.
"I'll never forget this but we can’t have it while we’re on Voyager,"she said with tears in her eyes.
"I will wait for you forever, Kathryn. You know that. I love you."
"I love you, too. I just wanted to make sure."
"I'm sure."
"So am I. Janeway to Voyager. Two to beam up."
With a shimmer of light, all that was left of the romance that Kathryn
and Chakotay had shared was the dead grass that was left beneath where
their shelter had been. Everything else was lost.
