The Sword and the Rose~Epilogue

See first part for disclaimers/notes.

By: Kathryn Murphy

Kathryn Janeway sat on the couch in her quarters, sifting through one of the many piles of reports left to her attention. Since her return from unconsciousness, two days ago, her time had been occupied by the mountain of reports, and accounts seeking her response.

Just as she was about to gather another pile of padds, her door chimed, and she turned to the sound. "Come in." she called.

Chakotay stepped through the doorway, and smiled. "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked.

Kathryn smiled immediately, and shook her head, "No. Unless you count the pile of reports you left for me to read!" she said, laughing, and threw the padd down on the table. "Come in; have a seat." she said, indicating the couch.

Chakotay stepped forward, and placed a wrapped box on her table, gently moving aside her work, before taking his seat on the couch.

Kathryn raised an eyebrow, eyeing the box on the table, and turned to face him, "Can I get you anything?" she asked.

He shook his head, "No thanks." he said, smiling at her.

"What?" she asked, her eyes questioning.

Chakotay laughed at her expression, "Aren't you going to ask what it is?" he questioned.

She broke into a smile, "Ok, what is it?" she asked, grinning.

His eyes grew serious, "Open it." he said, handing her the box.

Kathryn caught his eyes and smiled slightly, before reaching over and taking the box in her shaking hands. She quickly discarded the paper, and slid her finger nail under the edge, lifting it up. When it finally opened, she gazed in, and took a quick breath, bringing one hand to cover her mouth.

"Do you like it?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Kathryn lifted the gift from its enclosure, and raised her eyes to his, as she struggled to find her voice. She traced the outline of the glass stasis chamber, as she gazed at the rose through teary eyes. "How did you..." she started. "You don't know how much this means to me Chakotay." she whispered.

Chakotay moved closer and to her, took one of her hands in his, and laced their fingers together. "After the attack on Voyager, the maintenance team tried to find you, and when they couldn't, they contacted me. They thought it may be important to you." he said. "The flower was still alive, I just replicated a new chamber." he replied.

"Chakotay I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am." Kathryn began quietly, "I thought I'd lost it." she whispered.

Chakotay turned his head, and his eyes locked with hers, "You never lost it Kathryn," he said quietly "You never lost me."

She smiled, as she tentatively raised her hand to his face, and brushed it over his cheek. She turned in his arms, as he pulled her to him, holding her tightly.

"What did it say to you?" she asked after a moment.

Chakotay looked down at her, "What did what say?" he asked.

"The alien. It said something to you, just before they disappeared." she said

Chakotay chuckled, and tightened his grip on her, and paused. "It told me to never let you go." he answered quietly.

Chakotay sighed, as Kathryn wrapped her arms around his, and leaned back against his chest. Closing his eyes, he began to stroke her hair, "And I never will." he added softly.

Fine

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