The Third Day Of Every Month

God only knew why she picked that day. It didn't seem significant at first. By the Earth calendar, it was September third. Their first date. They had dinner in Kathryn's quarters, then sat on the couch and talked for two hours before finally parting company. There was no kiss, despite the established date, since both were still too nervous about the idea to actually go through with it.

After that first date, their nervousness abated, but each time they attempted to kiss, something kept interrupting them. A hail, a red alert, a false alarm… Finally, exactly one month after their first date, they kissed. The date was October third.

For the next six months, they continued to date, and kiss, and every third day, one red rose, and one white rose would appear on Kathryn's desk. On April 3, they made love for the first time. Exactly a year later, she moved in with Kathryn, and mentioned for the first time the "tradition" of making relationship milestones on the third day of a month.

Kathryn proposed on February 3 the next year, and they married in October, keeping in with their tradition.

All the while through their relationship, she sent roses to Kathryn, every third day of the month.

Now, Kathryn returns the favor.

It was ironic, really. June 3, they got home, back to the Alpha Quadrant. They were married, of course, so Starfleet couldn't do anything to her even if they wanted to. They had been married just over three years when she was diagnosed. In truth, it wasn't really a diagnosis, since nobody knew what was wrong, only that she was dying. That was November 3.

Two years later, she was gone. Now Kathryn kneels, placing a red rose and white rose against the polished stone, staring at the words engraved there.

Annika Hansen-Janeway
January 20, 2348 - December 3, 2384
"More than a just a friend, and more than just a lover. Can a single person be life and love? Annika, darling, you are my life and my love. I live for you and I love for you. For eternity."

End notes: Okay, I know the stardate of Seven's birthday was given, however, when I input it into my stardate calculator, it came out at January 3, 2447. Now, in another fic I'm writing, I gave Seven the birthday of January 20, so I use that. <g> Also, about the roses. Everyone knows that red roses mean love and white mean passion (or purity, but I'm going with passion here) but red and white roses together mean unity, so that's why Seven picked those colors.