A CRIMSON CHRISTMAS

by Boz

Disclaimer: The characters are owned by Paramount. (Apart from Kiri te Kanawa and I hope she doesn't mind me borrowing her wonderful house in my favourite part of the world just for this story.) I’m borrowing them to make sure they enjoy Christmas.

Rating: PG

~*~

Kathryn Janeway let herself into the house and took a quick look around, but there was no sign of him inside anywhere. She wasn’t surprised; it was somewhat later than she had arranged, but at least she was satisfied that all of the last minute things had been done so that she could leave the ship in good hands over Christmas. Walking through into the bedroom, she dropped her bag on the chair, then smiled as she saw what was lying on the bed......yes, he was just where she thought he would be. Three pohutukawa flowers lay together on the top of a folded up item of clothing, their soft brushes inviting her fingers to run across them. She carefully laid the blooms to one side and shook out the garment revealing a long sheath of blue, shot with silver, with a low draped back. It was perfect, just what she would have chosen for herself. How well he knew her.

Shedding her uniform, she dropped it into the laundry chute, feeling a lightening of her whole being as it dropped away from her. She took a quick shower, shimmied into her dress and, retrieving a small package from her bag, went out onto the wide decking across the front of the house. Just as she had expected, a small table with a crisp white cloth, set for two, stood on the decking in front of the wide glass doors. Placing her parcel next to the one that was already on the table, she drifted down the long soft lawn that led to the water’s edge. She knew exactly where he would be, but she paused for a moment at the top of the steps that led to the beach to take in the view. The bay was fringed with ancient pohutukawa trees, bursting with brilliant crimson blooms, proclaiming their joy of the season. The trees’ trunks and limbs tumbled off the bank and across the sand, gnarled and twisted, dipping into the sand then soaring out to make a dozen curving seats where generations of visitors had sat and absorbed the peaceful serenity of this special place, or had bounced and swung in holiday exhilaration. In the late afternoon sunlight, the water was sheened with silver and the occasional sliver of turquoise peeped through as the slight wind ruffled the ocean. Along the edge of the tiny beach the gentle waves made a quiet susurrus among the pebbles that were scattered on the sand.

As she wandered down the steps and across the beach her feet made no sound on the soft red carpet shed by the trees. She spotted him right away, swinging idly on their favourite springy branch. His back was to her and she paused for a moment to watch the play of muscles under the soft whiteness of his shirt. Her heart was beating faster and she could feel the excitement building in the pit of her stomach as yet again she was amazed at how just looking at him could have such an effect on her. Creeping up behind him, she put her arms around him and laid her head against his back with a satisfied sigh. She could feel the smile on his face as he circled her arms with his and pulled her even closer.

"Well, hello there," he quipped. "Do I know you?"

"I believe so," she answered, then inhaled sharply enjoying the pine scent of his cologne with the undertone of masculine muskiness. "Oh, how I’ve longed for this. It feels so good."

"Well, I know something that feels even better."

He stood up and turned around, lifting her over the branch onto the sand beside him and enfolded her in a deep embrace. As their lips sought each other’s in an intense and satisfying kiss, his fingers tingled up and down her bare spine, then skimmed over the shiny blue fabric until he cupped her buttocks and swung her into the air. They paused for a moment, grinning deeply into each other’s eyes, then he swung her back to the ground and they captured each others lips again, tongues jousting as their hands roamed all over each other sliding and seeking. Suddenly breathless, they pulled apart.....

"Kathryn, if we don’t stop now, this will be over before it’s begun."

"I don’t care".... she began to pull his shirt out of his trousers.

"Oh no, my sweet.....a long, slow evening of seduction and then you can boil over...."

She toyed with the thought of totally ignoring him, and dragging him down onto the sand but decided that maybe he was right and after all they had planned this evening for a long time and they both wanted it to be perfect.

"I surrender, but I can’t promise to keep my hands to myself for too long...."

He grinned his dimpled grin and pulled her down to sit beside him on the branch. They fit together perfectly in the curve of the branch where the smoothly worn bark told of generations of lover’s trysts. He reached down for the bottle of fine champagne and two glasses that he had waiting and they silently toasted each other with their eyes and then held their glasses to each other’s lips and let the bubbles burst on their tongues like the frothing bubbles bursting on the edge of the sea a few feet away.

They were happy to swing almost silently for a while, watching the sun set, exchanging occasional murmured endearments whilst his fingers drew lazy circles on her bare back and hers traced his ears and across the back of his neck. Eventually he drew her close again and they shared a fervent kiss, barely hiding the suppressed passion which lurked so close to the surface. As the trees on nearby Urupukapuka Island were silhouetted black against the pink-washed sky, he drew her to her feet and they wandered hand in hand back up the path towards the house. She so loved this part of their annual ritual and once again she thanked the spirits for giving them this time alone together.

With a flourish he seated her at the table, then took his seat. He picked up one of the parcels and handed it to her.

"Merry Christmas, my love."

She smiled into his eyes then carefully undid the bow, and pulled the paper off to reveal a small box. She smiled at him again but his eyes said ‘Come on, get on with it....’, so she slowly lifted the lid of the box and gasped as she lifted the gift out.........

It was exquisitely carved. She recognised the golden glow of the ancient kauri wood which they had found under the house when they cleaned it out. It was perfectly detailed and she held it cradled in her two hands - Voyager - their ship, small against her haaands just as it was small against the huge expanse of the Delta Quadrant yet powerful and glowing with life. When she eventually raised her eyes to him they were sheened with tears.

"My love, I can’t even begin to explain what this means to me...."

"Don’t....I can tell, you know that....."

He had told her before of the life force that the wood from a tree had in it even centuries after it had been torn from the land and she knew that this was one of the things that kept him so firmly centered and why it was so important to him to keep up with his carving skills. She could feel in her hands the energy flowing from this ancient piece of wood, buried in a swamp for 50,000 years after the tree had fallen yet still retaining its form and essence after all this time. It seemed to embody the very forces of the universe.

"Your turn," she whispered, and he picked up the other package as her fingertips continued to stroke the soft golden curves that held so many memories.

He undid the wrapping and pulled it out. She grinned as he looked at it. A gold-plated PADD? He looked at her quizzically.

"Read it."

She watched, fascinated, at the emotions playing across his face. Finally he put it down, leant back in his chair and placed his hands together in a gesture that took her way back to a place they had called New Earth.

"It’s true?"

"Of course it is."

The grin spread across his face like a meteor bursting across the sky.

"You’re retiring from Star Fleet?"

"Well, I know that we said we’d work it out and in the five years since we’ve been home, we’ve done pretty well, but its not good enough for me. I know we talk almost every day, but I can’t stand waiting for months at a time to be with you. I know you love your lecturing at the Academy and we both thought I’d hate it. Well, what I’ve hated is having to say goodbye, of lying awake at night aching for you, of turning to speak to you on the bridge and finding a stranger there, one who could never read me like you did. You know that I’ve had three first officers in the past four years and I still call them all Chakotay in the heat of battle. No, I know there’s more to life than that so here I am, all yours, every day, forever and ever..."

Suddenly he leapt to his feet and pulled her out of her chair and into a huge bear hug that nearly squashed her ribs, swung her round and round until they were both dizzy, then kissed her until they were both drunk with the moment and laughing and crying at the same time.

"Are you sure?"

"I’ve never been surer of anything in my life." The look she shot him was pure Janeway - he’d recognise that determination anywhere. He burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Okay, it doesn’t take more than that to convince me," and he was off chortling again....

"Well, I presume there’s food here somewhere?" She sat down grinning knowing he’d seen exactly what she intended him to see.

"Well, yes, my lady, your Christmas favourites, of course."

He theatrically swept the lid off the stasis warmer and served the first course, scallops marinated in wine and garlic, then skewered with bacon and mushrooms and lightly grilled to perfection.

"Well, I have to say this beats Leola root any day."

He chuckled with her and they were off into an easy conversation sharing the gossip about all their old Voyager crew mates, no, their Voyager family, who would all be joining them for their annual reunion and Christmas celebration tomorrow. It was a tradition that they had established especially for those who no longer had families of their own and one that everyone looked forward to every year.

They groaned together at the thought of Tom and B’El’s twins - the ‘destructive duo’ as everyone called them. At least Tom and B’El’s new venture with the old ship they had converted to carry interstellar cargo ("That old bucket of bolts," Chakotay mused wryly) seemed to be working out. Kathryn had met them a couple of weeks earlier at DS6 and in between being mauled by the twins had managed to find out that B’El was pregnant again.

"Oh no, not triplets this time, I hope!"

Neelix’s restaurant was flourishing after a few lean years when he had discovered that Terrans weren’t too enamoured of Delta Quadrant menus.

"I can't figure it out," he had mentioned to Kathryn and Chakotay when they had dined there not long after he set it up. "There didn’t seem to be any problems with my food on Voyager." They hoped he hadn’t intercepted the secret glance they shot each other. However once Kathryn had enrolled him in a course at the Sisko Institute for Fine Foods, he had managed to integrate some of his favourite ingredients into an exotic menu that was fast becoming famous across half the galaxy.

"Must be the cue for the second course," Chakotay observed, placing the platter of crisp green salad on the table between them. There was something satisfying about eating a meal with ingredients you had grown and gathered yourself, he thought. The garden was flourishing and they smiled with a shared memory for which no words were necessary as he placed a dish of the first tomatoes of the season, sprinkled with fresh basil and olive oil from their own olive tree in front of her.

"The piece de resistance," he announced passing her a plate with half a crayfish, the sweet white flesh a vivid contrast to the orange of the shell that encased it, "went diving for it this morning, myself."

She leaned back with a sigh. "You know, I can’t believe how lucky we were to find this place...." she swept her arm around, encompassing the magnificent house and its sweeping views over the Bay. The house had been built over 300 years ago and had been owned for many years by a famous opera singer of the 20th century, Kiri te Kanawa. Chakotay had found it when he was looking for a present for her and Tom had alerted him to the beautiful Bay of Islands which he had heard about when he was in jail in New Zealand. Most of the Bay had been preserved as a marine sanctuary for centuries and there were very few parts of it in private ownership, so Kathryn was right, they were lucky, but he had always felt there was more to it than that. Something had drawn him here, a connection to the land and the ocean. The early indigenous peoples of this country had many connections with the people his tribe were descended from and he felt the mauri, the life force which had drawn him to this place.

It made him think of the last conversation he had had with Tuvok a few months before when he resigned his commission as Captain of the Defiant 2 to return to Vulcan.

"I guess, Chakotay,".....it had taken Tuvok a long time to stop calling him ‘Commander’..... "of anyone I know, you are the one who will understand. All of my life I have disciplined myself to bury my feelings, to act only with logic, yet at this stage of my life, I recognise that there is something more for me on my home planet, something I must return to search for. It is time."

Telling Kathryn about this conversation for the first time made Chakotay realise that although it seemed to have taken forever, he and Tuvok had finally articulated the respect, yes, and maybe even friendship that they felt for each other.

They giggled together as they thought of Tuvok’s reaction to the ‘destructive duo’. Last year the two of them had spent some time trying to remove "Uncle Tuvey’s pointy ears" until B’Elanna had finally seen the look in Tuvok's eyes and decided a swim might be in order.

That brought up another memory to share laughter over. Seven, trying to master the art of swimming. Every time she tried to turn onto her front, she seemed to immediately flip back over and float high out of the water. The EMH had commented sarcastically that maybe he could place two of the small umbrellas from their drinks on the two new islands which seemed to have sprung up in the bay.

"I saw her last week," Chakotay said.

Kathryn tried to keep in close touch with Seven, knowing how hard it had been for her to make the transition to Terran life. She was followed everywhere she went at first and no one seemed sure where to fit her in once the Starfleet hierarchy had drained as much information out of her as they could. Eventually Kathryn had managed to convince them of her astrometrics skills and they had found a job for her where she was highly respected and was managing to regain more of her humanity. Unfortunately her private life hadn’t been so successful and she had been pursued by a number of unscrupulous men who were more interested in her very obvious assets rather than her personality. Her psyche had been battered and bruised by these encounters and Kathryn had eventually enlisted the help of her friend Deanna Troi to try to help her to make better choices in her life.

"So how is she? I haven’t seen her for a few months."

"Well, I’m just not sure. She has a new man in her life. He’s a holoprogrammer. They seem very happy together, but I felt a little uncomfortable in his presence - it’s as though he wants to make Seven the centre of his universe and relegate everyone else to second place."

"So - that’s what you and I tend to do with each other."

"No, it’s different somehow............... Anyway, you can’t be her mother hen for ever. She has to make her own way in the world sometime. You’ll see tomorrow. She’s bringing him with her."

"Well, the EMH won’t be too pleased. I think he’s always had a bit of a soft spot for her."

"Yes, but you know that he’s so full of his new job that he can’t stop talking about it. I feel really sorry for all of those students who have to take his compulsory ‘Diseases and Afflictions of the Delta Quadrant’ courses - imagine five lectures on the physiology of the Kazon. Yuk!"

They ate for a while in companionable silence, their eyes sending each other unspoken messages.

"How’s Harry?’ he asked suddenly.

"Well, I do like to keep some of the best gossip until last," she chortled. "You know his rise to the top has been nothing less than meteoric?"

"Couldn’t have something to do with the hard taskmaster he had to deal with for seven years, could it?"

"Well, baptism by fire was the way Admiral Paris put it! Anyway, tomorrow I am going to have the huge privilege of being able to tell him that he has been promoted to Captain and his first command will be none other than Voyager." She sat back and looked at him with satisfaction as she dropped the bombshell - boy if this was half the reaction Harry was going to have tomorrow, was she going to enjoy herself!

He shook his head. "But, Voyager....for his first command?"

"Well, as you know, they wanted to decommission her a couple of years ago and I talked them out of it, but you have to admit she’s not one of our most up-to-date vessels any more, so they’ve decided to reassign her as a near-space diplomatic transport. It’ll give Harry a great stepping stone for his career and its a fitting way for our ‘grand old lady’ to spend the last years of her life." She ran her hands over the silken wood of her carved Voyager. She knew it wasn’t going to be totally easy to give up, but having Harry there was going to make it that little bit better and deep down she knew that it was the right decision.

Seeing the far away look in her face, he knew what she was thinking. He knew he was going to have to help her over the next few months but already he felt as though his burden was so much lighter. No more long sleepless nights of worrying when he knew she was going into battle, or on the days that he hadn’t heard from her for some reason or another. No more nights of aching empty arms, longing to touch her, to feel her silkiness surrounding him fitting together where they belonged.

This wasn’t the night for sombreness. He stood to collect her plate and dropped a light kiss on her head. She reached back and ran her fingers down his face.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For being here, for believing in me, for waiting.....I guess we both knew I’d know when the time was right....."

He dropped another kiss on her head; words were unnecessary, just being there was enough right now......

He went inside and came out again holding something behind his back. Instantly the mood lightened.

"Come on," she said. "What is it? Let me see."

"Hey, you’re just like a little kid, wheedling," he said with a huge grin as she fell about laughing.

"Unfair," she wheezed. "You know that gets me every time.....anyway, I know its not a bathtub.....and I do know what it is.....so put it down right here.....!"

He placed the plate in the middle of the table and watched her face.

"Yesssss. Oh Chakotay, you know this is my favourite dessert.....wicked, but food fit for the gods! I knew I kept you on for some reason."

"What, my prowess in the bedroom isn’t enough?"

"Hmmmmmmmm, well, I’ll just have to test that out next.....now, cooking ability, sexual ability.....wonder which one will win?"

She jumped up, ran around to his side of the table and slid her hands quickly between his legs.

"Hmmmmm, here’s something else that may need feeding later," and quickly darted back to her seat before he could grab her.......

"Unfair...."

"Oh no.....we have this dessert first, then......." she blew him a kiss, then handed him the knife.

It was perfect, from the fresh strawberries and cream on the top.....oh what memories that brought back..... to the crisp meringue, encasing the soft marshmallow inside. She remembered the day they had found the recipe book at the back of the cupboard in the kitchen as their new replicator was being installed - something she had insisted on from the start. Chakotay had searched through the brittle, yellowed pages for something that would be unique to celebrate their first Christmas in their new home. He found it very quickly; Pavlova, named after a famous ballerina as it looked so like her frothing tutu. This had evidently been a national celebration dish in New Zealand since the 1930s and when he made it, they knew why. It was superb.

She let it dissolve on her tongue, the flavours melting together before she swallowed it. He watched her, mesmerised, and she glanced up to find him looking like a sleek black panther, gathering itself together to launch itself for the attack.

"Oh no....not yet....." his eyes darkened and she drowned in them as she leant over and began feeding him with her spoon. They matched each other, spoonful for spoonful, faces getting closer and closer until she fed him the last spoonful and he leant into her, taking her mouth with his and opening it so they shared the last sweet mouthful, passing it slowly from tongue to tongue.

With a wicked grin she pulled away and went to sit on the swing chair on the edge of the decking.

"Hey," he protested.

"Oh no - a meal’s not finished without a perfect cup of coffee to round it off."

"You’re not going to make me wait for that." His breath was hot in her ear as he whispered to her sending a shiver through her body.

"Oh yes......a long, slow evening of seduction and then you can boil over.....that’s what I believe the words were."

"I’m boiling over now, without worrying about a coffee pot," he complained.

"Tough luck." She hopped up and poured them both a cup of coffee and they curled around each other on the chair, sipping as quickly as the hot drink would allow.

She sighed and put her head back looking up to the sky seeing the six brilliant stars of the Southern Cross that helped to define this place. A myriad of shining lights tracked across the sky. One of those could be Voyager....it was hard to imagine space from this perspective, to think of all of those stars that they had seen close up, of the adventures they had had.

No, for her right now, this was her space, her place in the universe, and it was a long time since she had felt like that planetside. She took his cup from his hand, put it down alongside hers and held his hand tightly, feeling the gold bands on their fingers rub against each other. She raised his hand to her lips, lingering over it, then she turned to him.

"Now," she said, "now I’m just about ready to boil over."

He pulled her to her feet and led her to the bedroom where they spent the night showing each other just how much further than boiling point it was possible to go.

**************

finis..........

NOTES...if you’re interested in some NZ geography and history.:

Kauri trees are gigantic trees that can live for 2000 years or more. The Far North of NZ was covered in these trees but the land was cleared for farms and the trees proved to be wonderful for spars for sailing ships (Nelson’s ships in the Battle of Trafalgar had kauri masts), and for building...and so the land was plundered and today very few of these giants remain - the largest and most famous is Tane Mahutu, the ‘god of the forest’. Nowadays it is illegal to fell kauris and we are trying to replant although it will take centuries for these trees to reach maturity. Thousands of years ago many kauri trees fell into swamps. The anaerobic conditions preserved the wood and when the land was drained for farming, huge trunks and stumps of the trees were hauled out - the wood is still perfect and is used for furniture and souvenirs. Swamp kauri has been carbon-dated to up to 50,000 years old.

For those of you who know of Kiri te Kanawa - she does in fact have a beautiful home on the shores of the Bay of Islands - very private with its own beach. She spends a lot of time here over the summer but everyone just lets her be.

Pavlova is NZ’s national dish, I guess. There’s always been a battle between Australia and New Zealand as to who invented it but a researcher has found the earliest reference in a New Zealand book....so there!!!! You can’t have Christmas or a wedding or any other celebration without pavlova!

Pohutukawas are the most amazing trees. They grow along the shores of the harbours and burst with crimson blooms right on Christmas time which is why they are known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. The branches are very strong but springy and they grow right onto the beach and often over the water at high tide. they’re easy and fun to climb or to swing in the branches. They are an integral part of many New Zealander’s summer holiday memories.

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