"Time Makes Us Bolder"

 Cherokee translations are as follows:

a da nv do  - Great Spirit
i gi nv tli - my brother
u wo ha li  - eagle

Captain Kathryn Janeway stood before a sea of dress uniform clad Starfleet Officers and was about to engage in one of the singlely most dreaded acts of her life.

"Friends, family, and fellow officers welcome. I have never been one to be afraid of change. But as one gets older she feel's the loss of loved ones more keenly. And Commander Chakotay was loved, not only as my first officer but as my friend, as well. Seven and I are indebted to him for many things. Most importantly, our marriage, which he so graciously performed and the life of our daughter which he saved while delivering her into this world under less than hospitable circumstances. He has lead a very distinguished life that was violently and untimely snuffed out by an unprovoked attack from the Breen a mere eleven light years from Federation space. Ladies and gentlemen, I... am... angry, to say the least."

She paused to gather her emotions and thoughts back under control.

"But my anger is not why we're here today. We are here to celebrate Chakotay's life, not morn his death. Everyday of life was, to him, something to celebrate. He taught our daughter that. He told her the story of the miracle of her birth and how she should rejoice in everyday of her life because she almost didn't get that chance."

Janeway cleared her throat and stiffened a bit, to keep the tears at bay.

"Through her eleven years of life in the Delta Quadrant, Chakotay had become like a father to Kaven. And to that end she has composed a poem to honor the only father she has ever known."

Bump, bum, bum, bum...bump, bum, bum, bum...bump, bum, bum, bum. The ceremonial drums of Chakotay's native people played softly in the background as the captain read her daughter's poem.

"True Man, Kind by Kaven Hansen Janeway:

As he lies he thinks of time gone by,
A glittering memory of his eye,
And listens to the soft lullaby
Of sad voices sighing, my oh my.

Into the unsure darkness he peers
And wonders if his travels hold cheers
Or end with only bitter tears
And the mocking sound of soil's sneers.

His calm, mild eyes search the faces
And look for some revealing traces,
That show how to receive the graces,
That his pure heart so fiercely chases.

A glowing begins to warm his mind
And assures his soul that he will find
A peace that the Great Spirit will bind.
Because, in life, he was true man, kind."

Janeway's eye's riveted on Seven, searching for the love and support that she had come to rely on. Painfully Seven watched as a single tear slipped down her partner's cheek. The captain closed with a few words spoken in Chakotay's native tongue.

"May the a da nv do carry i gi nv tli, Chakotay, on the wings of the u wo ha li, to his resting place, with the bones of his ancestors."

Janeway, Seven, and their little girl mingled through the crowd with the other Voyager crew members. Tales were being told, tears could be seen, and laughter could be heard.

'Perfect', the captain thought, 'just what he would have wanted'.

Something broke her musings. "Seven, what is that God *awful* noise!?"

"I believe it is a sample of the music Mr. Paris has selected for Chakotay's dinner gathering."

"Paris." Janeway sighed. "I told him something up lifting but appropriate. I hardly think Mambo Number 5 is fitting for a funeral dinner, let alone Chakotay's. Remind me to never ask Paris to do anything ever again! I must have lost my mind."

"I shall Kathryn," the Borg smirked.

Janeway shook her head and began scanning the room for Ensign Paris.

"Kathy!! Kathy Janeway!"

"Mark! How have you been?" the captain asked as he approached her.

"Quite well. Thank you. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yes, me too. Mark, I don't believe you have met my family yet. This is my wife Seven."

"Pleased to meet you Seven. You're a lucky lady."

"Indeed," she quirked the implant covering her left eyebrow, with a touch of annoyance.

"And this is our daughter, Kaven," Janeway continued quickly after noticing Seven's discomfort.

"Ahhhh. So this is the young lady with such a talent for writing. How old are you Kaven?"

The not so little girl straighten, pushed her chin out, and said officially, "I'm eleven years old, sir."

"Well, you're awfully big for eleven. You must take after Seven."

"Momma Seven says I have her stature, but Momma Kay's extremely pleasant aesthetic qualities," the young lady boasted.

"I think Momma Seven is right, honey. You are quite the pretty one."

The child blushed.

"It was very nice to meet you young lady. I hope we will see each other again sometime."

Kaven cocked her head and smiled a crooked smile, unconsciously making a perfect Seven, Janeway combination.

"Well, it has been a terribly long day. And Mother is expecting us. I think Seven and I need to say our good-byes to the crew and get Kaven home to bed."

"Oh yes, of course. I would have expected Gretchen to be here." Mark pointed out in a questioning tone.

"She knows better than all of us the nature of these proceedings. Mom wanted our first meeting to be a good memory. 'One of many yet to come,' she said. I can't fault her for that."

"No. I suppose not. Tell her I said hello, would you?"

"Certainly." Janeway looked expectantly at Seven.

"You and Kaven go ahead. I will be along shortly Kathryn."

"All right."

Janeway eyed her partner somewhat apprehensively. Hoping Seven wasn't planning on killing Mark while she had her back turned.

"It was nice to see you again Mark. Take care."

"I will Kathy. You do the same."

Janeway strolled away, with her hand entwined in their daughter's fingers, leaving Seven to her own devices.

"Mr. Johnson, I wanted to compliment you on your efficiency."

She squared her shoulders in that certain way which warned those who knew her that the wrath of Seven was preparing to descend upon them.

He stared at her unsure. "Oh?"

"Yes. Abandoning someone, after only three years, whom you say you loved, is very Borg like in its effectuality." She gazed at him dead pan.

In a lowered voice, "I thought she was dead."

"Did you come by that revelation before or after you copulated with your secretary?"

"Now Seven..."

Seven didn't allow him the chance to finish. She grabbed him by the front of his tunic.

"Do not speak. But heed my words," she whispered in a low menacing tone that sent a chill down his spine. "My assimilation tubules are fully functional. Do you understand?"

He just gaped at her and nodded.

"Excellent," releasing him from her grip. "You may go now."

And he scurried through the crowd like a mouse under the watchful eyes of its predator.

As they road the transport home to Indiana that evening, Kaven had fallen asleep with her head in Seven's lap. And as her partner trailed fingers through their daughter's hair, Janeway mused for the umpteenth time that, that must be the most wondrous sight in all the universe to behold.

Seven caught the captain looking and smiled warmly at her, in quiet understanding.

"I love you so much, you know," Kathryn husked around the lump in her throat.

"No more than we love you Kathryn. You are our life's breath. Nothing else matters as long as you are with us."

Kathryn crossed the transport compartment and knelt in front of Seven, placing her head so she could nuzzle their little girl's hair.

"I'm the lucky lady. With two gorgeous blondes professing their undying love for me, I have to wonder what I did to deserve such bliss."

"You loved me, never gave up on me, and gave me this precious gift," indicating the slumbering child, "which I have no way to repay you for and no way to properly express my gratitude for. With such evidence before you, how can you doubt your worthiness to possess joy?"

As new moisture escaped Kathryn's eyes she whispered, "how indeed, my darling. How indeed."

The transport set down, in front of a spacious, white farm house skirted by an equally white picket fence. A late evening, summer breeze swished through the lush, unseen soy bean fields behind the house. And Janeway's chest ached from the sound and the smell of home. They approached the house, with Seven toting her sleeping package and walked up the wooden porch steps just as the front door flew open revealing a smiling teary eyed Gretchen Janeway. She was a short, stout woman in her late seventies, not showing any signs of slowing down and exuding the gentle radiance of years of motherhood and grandmotherhood.

"Kathryn," came the low gravely voice that was similar enough to the captain's to make Seven feel completely at home as she watched the scene unfold before her.

Gretchen threw her arms around her oldest child and hugged her for the first time in nineteen years.

"Oh darling, I have missed you desperately," Mrs. Janeway cooed, squeezing her daughter fiercely.

The captain said nothing, fighting to maintain some semblance of emotional control as she clung to her mother like a frightened cat to a screen door.

"And this must be Kaven," Grandma Janeway whispered as she gazed at the child.

Janeway finally cleared her uncooperative throat, "Yes Mom. And this is..."

"Seven of Nine," Gretchen said with a fond smile on her face and in her voice.

She stepped toward Seven and raised a soft, warm hand to caress Seven's cheek.

"Thank you for loving and protecting my daughter all these years. I am grateful."

Seven was touched by Gretchen's honest display of affection and could only manage to choke out a quiet, "you are welcome."

"Come. You must be exhausted. I know I am. Let's get that little one to bed. I thought Kaven could stay in your old room Kathryn. And you and Seven can have the large guest room across the hall. That way you'll have plenty of room to settle in."

"Mom, we haven't really had a chance to discuss where we were going to stay."

"There is nothing to discuss," Mrs. Janeway said matter of factly. "You will live here. We're a family. And I have missed the past nineteen years of your life, the first eleven of my granddaughter's, and I don't hardly know anything about my new daughter. So we've got a lot of catching up to do."

Janeway gave Seven an apologetic smile.

"You are correct Mrs. Janeway."

"Please Seven, call me Gretchen."

Seven nodded. "Your offer is acceptable."

"Good. Then it's settled. I'm going to turn in. It's way past my bedtime," she grinned. "I'm making your favorite for breakfast tomorrow."

"Mmmmm. Blueberry pancakes with burnt nuts and maple syrup. You're going to spoil me already. And I haven't been home but a day."

"Never stopped me before." She winked at Seven. "Now get that poor child to bed."

"Goodnight Mom."

"Oh! I almost forgot. Phoebe, Roger, and the boys are coming over tomorrow for a picnic. We're having barbecue and, of course, lots of fishing and swimming. Her three boys are a hand full. So be prepared."

"Thanks for the warning Mom," Janeway quipped.

Gretchen chuckled, "you're welcome," and give her wayward daughter a last, long look before padding off to bed.

Seven and Kathryn tucked their exhausted bundle into bed and flopped down themselves.

"Swimming," the captain mused aloud, "that sounds like a marvelous idea. How about it, Seven? Want to go for a midnight swim?"

"You are attempting to make a joke, are you not?" Seven suspected the answer to her question was no. But she asked anyway.

"No, I'm not joking. Come on Seven! It'll be fun." Kathryn became wistful. "It has been almost twenty years since I swam in that pond, across the meadow. I have many fond, old memories of summers there. I'd like my first new memories there to be with you."

Seven pulled her partner gently against her body for a soft, melting kiss. "I can not say no Kathryn. But I do not have any swimming apparel."

"That's okay," the captain said, flashing her captivating, agley grin. "Neither do I."

"I can see that water is not the only wet we will be experiencing this evening."

"Now, Annika Hansen, whatever do you mean!?"

Seven smiled.

The walk to the lake was peacefully pleasant after such a grueling day. In the distance they could hear an owl speaking to the night, as the summer winds caressed their bodies. And the katydids serenaded them while they strolled hand in hand through the moonlit meadow.

Home.

"Seven?"

"Hmm?"

"Is this all a dream?"

"No Kathryn. It is not."

"Still, I can't shake this uneasiness. Are we really, here, in this place, after all this time?"

The captain halted, causing Seven to turn to her in question. Kathryn placed her palms on her spouse's chest and breathed a cleansing sigh as she smiled up into her beautiful Borg's visage.

"So many years." She paused in loving contemplation. "I don't think I've ever told you. Being lost in the Delta Quadrant ceased to be a nightmare, the very passage of time ceased to be a nightmare when, at last, I found you. I... I *need* to feel you Annika, to be sure that this is real. You are the only thing I'm always sure of. Please, let's..."

"Shhh... my Kathryn." Seven's glistening eyes beamed with tenderness as she pressed a trembling finger to her lover's lips. "Then let us swim together, and make love together, and feel together that we are indeed, finally, home."

~~~The End~~~

"Survival is insufficient".......*loving* is perfection.

Copyright: 12/99