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Disclaimer: Paramont owns all things Trek, which includes I think everything in this story. I own nothing.

“Next time we will be sure to call head.” Admiral Paris smiled at his former Science Officer’s joke and cut communication. He knew that Katie would wait for orders before landing her ship, and that would give him some time to contact the rest of the Admiralty. Seven years ago the admirals talked extensively about the Voyager crew and bringing her home. But time went by and they had to declare it lost. Admiral Paris himself contacted Katherine’s family and fiancé. Gretchen took it better than he expected. She lived a long time knowing that her daughter could die in battle. Gretchen had already lost her husband and a man she loved like the son-in-law he planned to be. Pheobe cried and looked for the comfort of her family. Owen Paris recalled the image of Gretchen holding her daughter. Mark however took it the worst. He had nearly lost his job because he spent so much time talking to Starfleet trying to get his Katherine back. The rage in his eyes at hearing that he would never see Katherine again simply broke Owen’s heart. Mark asked if Owen had lost anyone. Owen told him about Tom and finally the two men had an understanding. That day, Owen broke down as he told Mark that Tom died thinking his father hated him.

Eighteen months after Starfleet declared the starship Voyager lost, word came from their holographic doctor that most of the crew had survived. He also brought word of several staff changes. The captain made her prisoners a part of her crew. Not only that, but Maquis replaced some of the senior staff. At a time when Starfleet needed hope because of the war going on, to the public, news of Voyager gave that hope. For the admirals, the news didn’t have the same effect. Owen, like a lot of the admirals, had conflicting emotions. The news meant his son might come home, but what kind of homecoming would the rebels on the crew receive? How would the debriefings go? No one asked those questions, assuming it would take several generations before Starfleet would have to face it. Owen hoped that by the time they returned, no one would remember the Maquis. However, the Cardassians still have some influence with Starfleet and they haven’t forgotten the Maquis.

Owen approached his office. His secretary told him that the rest of the admirals had already begun their videoconference. Owen nodded in acknowledgement and entered his office. On his screen, he saw that the admirals had already started a spirited debate. The six admirals looking at him seemed split down the middle about how to proceed. Half wanted to board Voyager immediately to take the former Maquis to a detention center, the others wanted to allow the whole crew to come home triumphantly and deal with the Maquis later. Owen thought about the letters he had received from Tom about his wife and daughter. The admiral hoped that when this debate ended, the whole crew would return as heroes. If that happened, it would force Starfleet to grant leniency to the Maquis.

***

Captain Katherine Janeway heard the door to her ready room chirp. Immediately she knew the identity of the man on the other side. She wiped the tears from her eyes, though she didn’t know why – he would understand, he always did. In 7 years of fighting side by side, she knew only one person in the entire universe would understand exactly how she felt. Still, she wiped her eyes, not wanting him to see her cry.

“Come in.” As the door opened, Katherine stood up and moved around to the front of her desk anxiously anticipating the sight of her first officer. As she sat in her ready room waiting for orders, she imagined this moment. The moment when he would walk through her door and she would run into his waiting arms. She would cry into his embrace and he would comfort her, gently rocking her from side to side. She would promise to stand by him and the former members of the Liberty. He would promise to help her adjust to her life on Earth again. She braced herself for the happy ending that they had never spoken of, but decided on together. She looked up at the ready room door and saw to her horror Chakotay, not coming into the room, but instead, getting escorted off the bridge. The woman marching into her office wore security yellow and the pips of a Lieutenant Commander. Janeway immediately began to walk to her bridge, but the woman caught her on the shoulder.

“Captain, on behalf of Starfleet, let me be the first to welcome you and your Starfleet crew home. I assure you that your arrival will be fitting of the heroes that you and your crew have become.”

“If that’s the case, why is my first officer getting escorted off his bridge?”

“Captain, if I may.” The woman, apparently Betazoid, indicated that she would like to sit and talk to the captain privately. Janeway took a few steps inside and stood against her desk, forcing the stranger to stand uncomfortably in front of her taking a glare that would strike fear in the heart of the fiercest Klingon warrior. “I know that seeing the captain of the Liberty taken into custody comes as a shock to you, but the admiralty has decided that having members of the Maquis participate in the homecoming activities would take away from the celebrations. I don’t know how familiar you are with the political situation here, but seeing the rebels standing next to our Starfleet officers could re-ignite a very precarious truce we have settled.”

Janeway didn’t even blink as she continued to stare down the commander. Slowly, to give the impression she chose her words carefully, Janeway said, “Commander Chakotay is no longer the captain of the Liberty, a Maquis fighter, or a Starfleet rebel. He is an honorable man who not only agreed to follow all Starfleet ideals, but also convinced his crew to do the same and as a result was instrumental in integrating the crews into the one -- an act that more than any other made this homecoming possible. That one crew ran this ship for the last seven years. No member of this one crew has seen any distinction between any members based on what ship they were on when we ended up in the Delta Quadrant and we will not participate in any festivities until all members of this one crew celebrate together.”

“I understand that you are upset by this decision, but it is necessary. I am sure that Admiral Paris will contact you soon to give you your orders. I ask that you direct the members of both crews, ah excuse me, your one crew, to cooperate fully with our officers. We believe this action will make things easier in the long run. Our officers will be finished in about 10 minutes.”

Janeway knew she couldn’t help, at least not until she talked to Owen. She still didn’t remove her glare from the intruder on her ship. Though she did ask more softly, “What about B’Elanna? She just gave birth to her first daughter. You can’t separate that family right now.”

The security officer turned back to face the captain again. Katherine thought she looked nearly apologetic. “I’m sorry captain. None of my people want to do it, but we are under orders.” With that she left the ready room and the captain felt more alone than she had at anytime since leaving Deep Space 9 seven years ago.

***

Owen watched from his office, as the former Maquis quietly, almost impassively, boarded the Alcatraz. Chakotay told his crew to hold their heads high, they never did anything to be ashamed of. Since the first time they heard that Voyager survived and had set a course for home, Owen researched each of the people that would likely serve with his son. Even before he read at length about the woman who claimed his son’s heart, Owen knew her file backwards and forwards. He also spoke with Chakotay’s colleagues when he worked at the Academy and looked up the commander’s service record. He learned to admire the Indian well before he learned of the high regard Tom held him.

Owen watched as Chakotay walked B’Elanna out almost trying to protect her after she kissed her daughter and husband goodbye. Owen hated what the admiralty decided. Take the Maquis and pretend they didn’t exist while giving a hero’s welcome to rest. He didn’t know how to face Katie and Tom or how to make either understand. He knew they saw the Maquis as a part of the crew, a part of their family. The Maquis served valiantly with the Starfleet crew, side by side, through all their adventures. Janeway handed a comparable number of commendations to both crews. Her logs showed that she treated all members of her crew as one crew. Crew logs showed they felt as much a part of the crew as the original Starfleet crew. Unfortunately, even if Janeway and her crew didn’t see a distinction, Starfleet had to make a distinction. The Maquis made the decision to defect from the Federation and then to commit serious war crimes. The admirals had to be fair to the Maquis who still served time in various penal colonies -- and to the ones who died in battle. They had to satisfy the terms of the treaty. Despite the heroics of the many members of the crew, the Maquis sealed their fates long before they knew that their fates would put them in the Delta Quadrant. Now Owen had to face his former protégé who undoubtedly hated this more than he did.

Kathryn sat on the bridge when Harry told her about the incoming communication. She told the ensign to send it into her ready room -- then continued sitting in her chair. After several minutes passed, Harry reminded her that Admiral Paris waited for her. Dismissively she said she knew and then turned to the security station and said, "Tuvok, do you think it’s logical for a captain to leave the bridge under these circumstances? Don’t answer that. I’ll go talk to the good admiral.”

Owen expected to see Katie seething. He thought of all admirals, he would have the best chance of leaving the conversation well, that’s why he volunteered for this assignment. However, he didn’t expect the belligerent attitude that she showed. She started the conversation, “When can we plan to have our crew back?”

Owen decided he needed to put on the face of an admiral giving orders, instead of a friend looking for understanding. He had hoped that he would get to talk to her as a friend, but he knew she couldn’t hear reason right now. “Captain, its not that easy --”

“Well, we will not land until our whole crew is together.”

“Captain calm down, or I will remove you from your ship.”

“Well come and get me, you certainly have enough practice in doing that.”

The admiral exhaled deeply and tried to change tactics. “Katie, I tried. Several people tried to keep your crew together. Eventually I believe each member of your crew will be completely exonerated. But that is going to take time. Until then, the best thing you can do for them is to take a page from Commander Chakotay’s book and follow orders.”

“How dare you? You don’t know Chakotay, you see him only as the enemy. The enemy in a war that ended years ago. He gave that order out of loyalty to me and to our crew. He is nothing but honorable and he showed that today.”

“I know that Kathryn." Owen thought about his son and how he never showed understanding to Tom. He was determined to do this right. "Honor is one of the characteristics any Starfleet officer should possess. I am asking you to show it now. I give you my word that I will personally try to sort through all this as quickly as possible. The plan is to sequester the rest of the crew for debriefings. While you go through those, I will lead a group interested in the legal matters concerning the former Maquis and the Equinox. Kathryn, Katie, if you can work with me just a little, I will make sure you know everything you want to know. But I need your help -- so do they.”

Kathryn looked at her communication screen. She knew that Owen offered the best compromise that he could. “Is there any reason why they have to be separated from us during the debriefings? We will be in secured housing. Let us do that together and I think the crew will be more accepting of what’s happening.”

“I can’t make any promises, but I will try. Now I need you to agree to put the ship down on the Academy parade grounds at 0900 tomorrow. I’ll be straight with you Kathryn, it will be set up to be a heroes welcome and you will have to play the part. But your agreement to do this would be a show of good faith to an admiralty that feels sick over this whole thing.”

Kathryn considered what he said and finally shook her head in agreement. “Don’t let me down Owen. Your granddaughter is counting on meeting her mom. Janeway out.”

***

The crowd that gathered around Voyager as it landed would say they have never seen a more magnificent site. Humanoids all over the Alpha Quadrant saw the pictures of the landing broadcast on all channels. The noise from the friends and family of the Starfleet crew as one by one Voyager crewmembers walked onto the fairgrounds was deafening. Each knew that they could find their family and then go to the temporary housing units to prepare for debriefings. There Captain Janeway would learn if Owen arranged for her entire crew to stay together.

Owen watched as one by one, the computer called each crewmember’s name and a figure appeared. Next a family would run out to the crewmember and put their arms around him. He saw many tears shed that day. He had one more chance to reunite his son’s family, so from the conference room at the Pathfinder project he made the final appeal for understanding. Owen had never been known for his persuasive skills, but he knew that most of the admiralty wanted to see this happen, even if protocols would ordinarily prohibit it.

When Harry heard his name called, he didn’t know whom to expect. His parents wouldn’t miss this he knew, but he didn’t know about Libby. He couldn’t remember all the people he “fell in love with” over the last seven years. Had she done the same? His parents ran up to him, and he did see Libby. She stood behind the barriers with a man at her side and a baby boy in her arms. He waved at her and she waved back as his parents embraced him.

***

“Gentlemen, I don’t come to you today as the admiral in charge of Pathfinder, nor as an admiral with a vested interest in the crew of Voyager. I come to you today as a father and a grandfather. I come to you today as a man whose son was lost seven years ago, a man who had to come to terms with declaring a whole crew dead. As many of you know, my son received the field commission of Lieutenant soon after the incident that led to the disappearance of Voyager. He chronicled to me the happenings of the Voyager crew. He told of how he learned to respect the values of Starfleet by watching Captain Janeway do her best to uphold them. He gave stories of how he began to value the judgment and opinion of Commander Chakotay as they worked together and came to an understanding. He spoke at great length about the woman he fell in love with, married, and now has a child with.

“Gentlemen, as we watch each member of that crew disembark from that ship, we have to know that they feel a major part of their crew is missing. They forgot the distinction of Starfleet and Maquis a long time ago. I know that we cannot forget that distinction, and we will have to find some fair way to deal with it. However, I ask you as a man, as a father, and as a former captain who understands the necessity of family on a ship, I ask you to let the Voyager crew reunite during this initial stage of debriefings.”

Kathryn heard her name called and finally understood the look on the faces of all her people. Anger at Starfleet for taking away part of her crew, relief at finally seeing Earth, unbelievable happiness at finally feeling her mother’s arms around her. For the first time since she left Mark, her captain’s mask came off completely and for the first time she felt everything and nothing all at once. The moment didn’t last. The announcement on the loudspeaker said she had to go to the temporary housing units. With that, she remembered reality again. Gretchen felt her daughter’s muscles tense and recognized the firmly planted captain’s mask as soon as she broke the embrace. Gretchen straightened the captain’s collar and said, “You look just like your father. Go make him proud. I will be expecting a communication from you soon, telling me that you got your whole crew back.”

“Thanks mom.” Katherine turned and headed straight for the temporary quarters where just over half her crew would stay for an undetermined period of time. While on the ship, she gave them a pep talk to get the crew through the landing. Now she prepared herself to ask for their support in quoting the party line until she knew better what they could do. She caught up to Tuvok looking for his advice, not listening to it because she desperately wanted to hear Chakotay’s.

***

Owen spent most of the time his colleagues talked wondering why they had to talk as long as they did. He knew that none of them wanted to keep the Maquis or the Equinox crew in a penal colony. They belonged with the Voyager crew -- their crew. The admirals dragged their feet only because they wanted to see how the Cardassians would respond to the return of Voyager. The Cardassians hadn’t responded at all and the admirals knew that no one benefited by waiting to come up with some short-term solution.

Finally Owen couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. He stood up in the conference room and said, “The first rule we teach in officer’s school is the value of all members of our crew. Jonathan Archer floated in the air with only a piece of shuttle hull plating between him and a hull explosion so he could save his armory officer. James Kirk put his whole crew in danger to retrieve Ambassador Spock. Picard has boarded a Borg cube to save his science officer. Captains are taught that there is no greater loss than one crewmember. Few orders are followed more whole-heartedly than the ones that will bring a crewmember home. How can we sit in this room and expect that crew to accept arriving home without their first officer, chief engineer, and the rest of their crew? Janeway gave us a show of good faith. Let’s let her know we deserve it. Now if you don’t mind, I haven’t welcomed my son home yet. If you need me, I will be with the other families of Voyager crew members.”

On her way to Archer Hall, Captain Janeway answered questions from members of the press as they continued to come up to her. Finally she announced that she would give a press conference later and answer all their questions at one time. When she walked into what some started calling the “Voyager Wing” because crewmembers took several floors in one section of this massive dormitory, Tom Paris stood at attention and immediately yelled “Captain on the deck.” Crewmembers walked out of their assigned rooms and stood at attention. Family members in uniform did the same as others stood in doorways to watch the captain walk across the hall. She saw several closed doors as she walked. They each had a name of a crewmember taken into custody. Next to her door stood a door for Chakotay’s room. Tom and Harry led a processional of senior staff members who walked behind her as she looked at each of her crew. When she stopped at Chakotay’s room, she turned and Harry said, “We rearranged some rooms. We want the rest of the crew to feel welcome when they arrive." She patted both men on the back and said to the whole crew, “senior staff will meet in 1 hour. The whole crew will meet at 1500. At ease.”

Owen Paris changed out of his admiral’s uniform before walking into the Voyager Wing of Archer Hall. He didn’t know how his son would react to his father, but hoped it was better than how this crew would respond to an admiral. He walked into his son’s room and recognized Harry Kim and his parents. When Tom saw his father, he stopped talking, drawing four sets of eyes to the silver-haired gentleman. In all his years in Starfleet, Admiral Owen Paris had never felt his heart beat as hard as he did in this moment. He looked his son in the eye wanting to reach out and hug him. But Tom’s eyes told him all he needed to know.

“Son, it’s so nice to see you.” He tried to make it sound official, but Owen knew that he let his voice crack.

“So father, have you heard from my wife? How’s she doing without her baby?”

“Tom, believe me, I have been working with --”

“You know what Dad, I just don’t care. Come on Harry, let's go get Miral from Sam Wildman.” Tom stormed past his father and disappeared in the hall. Owen stood alone in the room of his son, realizing he had no friends on this crew. All of sudden he wanted to go back to debate with the admirals, but he knew he should talk to one other person.

Kathryn walked around Chakotay’s quarters. She had taken the liberty of packing some of his personal items before she left Voyager. Seven walked into the commander’s quarters when she saw her captain moving around in them. Kathryn looked at his medicine bundle and ran her fingers across it. Seven came up from behind her and said, “If you need some spiritual guidance, perhaps you should use the bundle. I do not think the commander would mind.”

“No, no, I couldn’t. A medicine bundle is a very personal thing. You know, he has only shown the contents of his to one person. I have my own that I could use. I was just thinking that if this is here, it’s not with him and he should have access to his animal guide.”

“It is unfortunate that he does not have this, what did you call it, medicine bundle?”

“He has never even told you about this? It is a major part of his faith. I thought that you two were getting close.”

Seven seemed surprised. “We have begun a social relationship, but no, he has not shown me this tenet of his faith.”

This time Kathryn didn’t know what to say. Seven didn’t even seem bothered that Chakotay had not shared something so personal and important with her. Seven, didn’t seem to notice the captain’s discomfort. The former drone continued, “Perhaps I should replicate him a gift for when he leaves the penal colony.”

Kathryn couldn’t handle it anymore. She had to act happy to be home even though a major part of her crew didn’t arrive with her. Her chief engineer had her child snatched from her not even an hour after she gave birth. Now she stood in the temporary quarters of the man she loved with his new girlfriend who can’t understand who he is. Kathryn no longer cared if she came across as cold, she wanted to stick it to someone and Seven seemed as good a target as anyone. “Seven, have you ever been in love? Do you know what it’s like to want to spend time with a person so bad that you would spend time with the things that remind you of him because he just isn’t around? Do you even know that you are supposed to feel worried, and scared and lonely and a host of other things because he is not with you?”

Seven didn’t seem at all emotionally moved, frustrating Kathryn even more. Seven looked at the older woman and said, “Captain, do you love Commander Chakotay?”

Yelling, with tears in her eyes while clutching Chakotay’s medicine bundle to her chest, Kathryn answered, “Yes, Seven, yes. I love him. I have always loved him. I have never said it to him or to anyone else because of those damned protocols, but following them hasn’t gotten me anything apparently, so I can say it loud enough for the world to hear. I am in love with my first officer.”

Seven watched as her captain walked out of Chakotay’s quarters. Kathryn stormed into her newly assigned quarters and started emptying boxes on the floor hoping to find her medicine bundle. She wanted to ask her spirit guide to make sure someone watched over Chakotay. As she started going through a box, she heard a knock at her door. When she turned around, she saw Owen Paris literally peeking his head in. She gave him a death glare as she said, “I don’t want to hear about protocols or procedures. All I want to hear is when my crew will be back.”

“I am not here as an admiral, I am here as a father and a friend. I’ve already struck out as a father, so I wanted to see if you will talk to me.”

“Owen, I know you are not the enemy and that you are doing everything in your power to help us out. I fully expect to hear what that entails filtered down to me in the coming months. But Owen, nobody here is going to feel good about this until our people are back with us.” Kathryn looked at her mentor and said, “Give Tom some time. Yesterday he piloted a starship through a transwarp conduit, became a father, lost his wife, and came home. His life has changed quite a bit. He needs time to adjust.”

“And he needs his wife back. I need to get back to headquarters and see where we are on that.”

**

Janeway, Tuvok, Paris, Kim, the Doctor and Seven found a large round table to sit at to conduct a business meeting. “As far as I am concerned, nothing has changed since we left the Delta Quadrant. We have a duty to our crew, the part that is here and the part that we will see brought back to us. Those here need their moral kept up. For those on the penal colony, we need to cooperate with Starfleet until further notice. I believe we do have at least one person who wants to help us, and as of right now, that’s all the hope we have. But we have come through worse and always met our objective.” Janeway then asked each member of her senior staff to attend a press conference with her. She emphasized the need to use this to show Starfleet that they would cooperate. She hoped to use this as leverage if necessary. Finally she asked that anyone not able to follow this order stay behind.

Harry spoke up first, “Captain, I believe that each person here feels a personal loss because of our missing comrades and each of us would do anything in our power to help fix this problem. While no one wants B’Elanna back as much as Tom and apparently no one wants the commander back as much as you, we all want our crew back. And we all will follow anything you ask us to do in order to make that happen.” Kathryn looked at Tom who struggled with answering the question her eyes asked. In a very understated gesture, Tom agreed to go out with the senior staff.

When Captain Janeway saw each member of her senior staff shake his or her head in agreement, she said, “Well then, lets go.”

It took a half hour to get all the details ready. When the senior staff walked out onto the parade grounds they realized that the crowd had actually grown since they last stood on this lawn. The Voyager crew had a stage set up for them to sit on while members of the press sat in a roped off area in front of them. Admiral Paris watched the question and answer period impressed by the way that the captain and crew held themselves.

Most of the questions went to Captain Janeway who tried to answer each honestly without letting anyone see how truly upset she was. The rest of the crew tried to keep their answers light and funny when appropriate. Owen laughed when he watched a few questions directed at Harry and Tom.

“Ensign Kim, what are you most looking forward to now that you are home?”

“My mom’s apple pie. And getting a new pip on my collar.”

“Lieutenant Paris, Now that you are a dad, what is the first thing you want to teach your daughter?”

“How to pilot. She will start small, the Delta Flyer.”

However, not all questions were as easy to answer and Owen could see on the faces of the crewmembers how they helped each other. One newsperson asked Tom how he felt about B’Elanna’s situation. Before Tom could respond, Kathryn stood up and said, “As you all may have guessed, we feel the loss of the former Maquis more than any of us could say. Our hearts all go out to Tom and his daughter as they wait for their wife and mother to safely return to them.”

As time went on and some of the questions got more difficult to answer, Owen could see the anger more and more obvious on each crewmember’s face. Even Tuvok seemed to lose patience when he had to answer a question about whether or not Chakotay fulfilled his responsibilities as first officer. “My role was as chief security officer. Commander Chakotay admirably served as first officer to Captain Janeway for the entire voyage.”

The Doctor had to answer questions about what he thought would happen to him now. Seven had to explain repeatedly that she is not a Borg drone. Owen could see how the whole experience wore on them, but they refused to let anyone who didn’t know them as well see that. He smiled with pride at their resiliency. As the press conference began to wind down, Owen transported outside of the Voyager Wing so he could talk to the captain for a few minutes.

The officers followed their escorts to their temporary quarters, but Owen signaled for Kathryn to follow him. They went back to his office so that she could blow off some steam. Owen tried to let her know that he appreciated what she and her crew did. The captain however was livid and wanted to know when her crew would return. “I can’t answer that. The admiralty decided I was too emotionally involved in this to help in anyway. Now I can only help you and your crew out as a friend and Tom’s father. But Katie, I would guess you and your crew scored a lot of points with the admiralty today.”

Kathryn patted her friend on the back said, “Thank you Owen. I look forward to hearing about what got you kicked out of the loop.” She walked out the door and towards Archer Hall replaying the events of the day over in her head. She felt a sort of freedom from telling Seven and others that she did love Chakotay, even if at the same time she felt embarrassed about how public the admission was. She mentally prepared herself for a long battle to reunite her crew. This battle might cost her her career, but she knew they deserved no less from their captain, or from her. She also thought about what she would say to the crew at 1500. She would address her crew not just as a captain, or the leader of a community, but as a person facing a devastating loss with them.

She arrived at the Voyager Wing hoping to walk in without anyone noticing. She thought they all would be busy settling in. When she walked into the first door, immediately everyone stood at attention. Tom yelled out, “Captain on the floor.”

With a smile she said, “Mr. Paris, we’re not going to make this a habit are we?” As she patted his arm she noticed that next to him stood B’Elanna holding their baby. A tear rolled down the captain’s cheek as she looked down the hall and saw that no doors were closed and each member of her crew -- Maquis and Starfleet alike -- stood shoulder to shoulder, just as she would always remember them. B'Elanna handed Miral to Tom and she eagerly embraced her captain. Janeway moved down the hall and saw Mike Ayala entend his hand to her. As he pulled her into a hug, he thanked her for all her work. She continued greeting each member of the crew that started as Maquis. Finally she made it to the end of the hall where she saw Chakotay.

As the captain approached her first officer, she didn't know what to say. She stopped before she was close enough to touch him. Chakotay closed the distance and embraced her. He felt her tears as they stained his uniform and he rested his cheek on the top of her head. When she finally pulled away just a little, he whispered to her, “I heard you have something to tell me.”

Kathryn wiped the tears from her eyes and whispered back, “What about Seven?”

Chakotay drew her back into his embrace and said, “Who do you think told me? Tom was too excited to see B’Elanna.” With a laugh, he took a look at Kathryn, who didn’t seem to understand what was going on. With the first two fingers on his hand, Chakotay guided her face so that she looked straight into his eyes and he said, “I love you Kathryn, and I fully intend to stand by you as we sort through all this stuff, and after that, I intend to spend the rest of my life with you." He looked at Kathryn who looked completely overwhelmed. He flashed her a double dimpled smile and said, "But one thing at a time. I understand that you called--" Kathryn stopped him by putting a finger over his lips. Quietly she said, "I have waited 7 years to say this, I need to say this now.” She stepped closer to him and put her arms around his neck, “I love you Chakotay. I love you and I promise that no matter what happens from here on, I will stand by you and our crew.” She pulled his head to hers as he moved his hands down so they rested around her waist. They didn’t notice the crew applauding until after their kiss had completed.

Chakotay rested his forehead on Kathryn’s and whispered, “Welcome home captain. Congratulations.” Then he kissed her again.

***

On the third floor of the Voyager Wing, the crew gathered in a large room that would later serve as the mess hall. Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay walked in together holding hands. They went up to an area designated for the captain to address the crew. Chakotay sat in a chair next to the podium she stood at. “We are home, but in many ways we are alone in familiar territory. We have friends, but we also have enemies. Our greatest strength comes from the unity we have together as one crew, wearing one uniform, with one set of ideals. Our purpose is clear, to make sure that no member of our one crew is ever taken from us again. On behalf of Commander Chakotay, welcome home”
The end

Go to the sequel, One Year