A Heart Divided
by Anne Rose
A Heart Dividedby Anne Rose |
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Janeway leaned into Chakotay's personal space, "For two people who started off as enemies, it seems we get to know each other pretty well. I've been wondering--just how close do we get?"
Conflicting emotions played across Chakotay's face as he answered, "Let's just say...there are barriers we never cross."
Her lip quirked up into a bemused smile, "Until this moment, I'd always thought of myself as a clever woman," she sighed. "Seven years you said? Something tells me those will be some of the longest years of my life."
He reached out and stroked her cheek with the back of his right hand. "They have been for me. I wish you could remember this. I wish..." He straightened suddenly and patted his jacket. Inside the pocket he found, miraculously preserved, the tiny wrapped package he had been carrying with him when he went to her quarters for dinner. Pulling it out, he looked at it for a moment, and then pressed it into her hand. "I know this may disappear as soon as we restore the timeline, but I want you to have it anyway. I want you to know that it is yours, always." She took it from him and smiled. "Please wear it, for me, even if it can only be for a brief time, and *try* to remember."
"I will Chakotay. See you in the future." She took his hand in hers for a moment, and then released him, turning, almost fleeing from engineering. Once in the turbolift, she opened the small package and removed its contents. A sad smile crossed her face as she put on his gift. "Chakotay, I promise I'll try to remember you."
Janeway entered the bridge and looked at Harry Kim, "Ensign?" she demanded.
"Chakotay should be initiating the pulse in ten seconds," he said. "Five...four...three...two..."
In his own timeframe, in engineering, Chakotay worked rapidly to reconfigure the deflector dish. Gesturing to B'Elanna he ordered, "Reroute main power to the deflector, and set the polarity to the frequency I'm inputting."
"Why?" she asked.
"Ever heard of a lightning rod? In about three seconds, we're going to need one."
B'Elanna nodded and entered the necessary commands without further questions.
Janeway walked out of the turbolift and stared at the image on the viewscreen. "What is it?" she asked.
"I don't know," Harry answered, from the big chair. "Main power's being re-routed to the deflector dish."
"Who gave that order?" Janeway demanded. But before the crew could respond, Voyager was rocked by a discharge from the anomaly. It connected with the deflector dish in a shower of sparks.
"Damage?" Janeway asked.
"The deflector's been burned out, but we're okay," Harry reported.
The turbolift doors opened, and Chakotay emerged onto the bridge, "Do you mind telling me why B'Elanna burned out the deflector dish?" she asked smoothly.
"Actually...I ordered her to do it," he replied with equal calm.
"Why?"
"Trust me; it was better than the alternative."
"Which was what, exactly?" she continued, unsatisfied with his evasive answer.
"I can't tell you," he grinned.
"Why not?"
"The Temporal Prime Directive," he said cutting off any further questioning. "B'Elanna's already got a team working on repairs. What do you say we finish our dinner?" He said, reaching out for her. She gave him a confused smile, but took his hand and allowed him to lead her off the bridge.
They spent the meal sparring playfully, but purposefully about his experience between the time they separated and when they met again on the bridge. Each time he turned the conversation to some other topic.
After dinner, they moved to the couch and chair by the window to enjoy the cider and continue their conversation. "Forget particle fountains and subspace inversions. There isn't an anomaly scarier than a thunderstorm on the plains, especially when you're six years old. I remember watching a bolt of lightning split an oak tree in my grandfather's yard. I climbed it just a few hours before!"
Chakotay sipped his cider, "Good timing."
Janeway paused, "So...what would've happened if you hadn't turned our deflector dish into a lightning rod?"
"We've been down this road before," his smile taunted her.
"Have we?" she asked, all but batting her eyelashes at him.
"You, wanting answers to questions you shouldn't ask."
"But something did happen outside the normal space-time continuum."
No answer.
"It's strange thinking there's a piece of your life you don't know anything about." She said, absentmindedly bringing her fingers to her collarbone as she spoke.
"Sounds a lot like the future," he said, unconsciously mimicking her gesture.
"Any predictions?"
"Only that in a few minutes, this bottle will be empty," he said, refilling her glass.
She gave him a slightly petulant look, "Then maybe you should go to the Cargo Bay and grab another one."
"How do you know that's where I keep it?" he asked, startled.
"Oh, I can't tell you," she whispered.
"Why not?"
She looked at him with the most serious expression she could manage, "Temporal Prime Directive."
As she lifted her glass to take another sip, she absentmindedly fingered something below her collarbone... something underneath her uniform. His eyes went to her neck and he saw the gleam of a gold chain, barely peeking out at one point along her jacket. Immediately, he clutched at his own chest, just below the collar bone.
"Kathryn, what are you wearing, under your uniform," he demanded.
"Chakotay?" she asked, one eyebrow rocketing up her face. "I'm not sure I understood your question."
His glass discarded on the table, Chakotay moved to the couch and reached for her neck. She began to pull back, but then stopped and allowed him to touch her. His hands ran around her neck, searching for something. When he found the chain, he paused for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Then slowly he drew it out from underneath her jacket, and let it rest on top of the fabric.
The gold gleamed and reflected the candlelight as it moved with her rapid breathing. He looked up into her face, and saw that her eyes had misted over. She was looking at him now with an intensity that took his breath away. "Kathryn," he whispered. She smiled as a tear escaped her eye.
He reached up to his own neck, and pulled a similar chain out for her to see. Then he took the pendant in his hand and leaned closer to her. She brought her pendant up and met his. They fit perfectly. They sat and stared at the two halves of a heart, now fitting together to make one whole.
They looked up again, eyes meeting. He dropped the necklace and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, gently rocking them back and forth, as he stroked her hair, and smoothed away the tears from her cheeks. "I made that necklace over a month ago, to give to you tonight. I even thought about inscribing it with a Valentine's sentiment like 'be mine'. I never imagined you would have been wearing it for the past 7 years. Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"I wanted to," she murmured into his shoulder. "You'll never know how much I wanted to." Raising her head, "But after I learned of all dangers we would face in the Delta Quadrant, all of our close calls, I didn't want to risk *this* moment. There were days when it almost killed me, not to be able to tell you... how much I loved you."
He gasped as she said it, and he clung tighter to her, as if afraid she would vanish. Now it was her turn to wipe away the tears that flowed from his eyes. She kissed the edges of his smile, his dimples and then his eyes.
He opened his eyes and looked at her. Smiling broadly, he smoothed back the hair that had fallen across her face. "I've waited so long to hear you say that... to feel free to tell you what's been in my heart, how much I have loved you, and how I want to continue loving you for the rest of our lives."
She laughed gently, "Well we make a fine pair. All teary eyed and weepy, at what may be the most important and happiest moment of our lives."
"I've been hoping and waiting for so long. Now that we're here, I hardly know what to do," he laughed.
"Well, I've been waiting for this evening for 7 years. I've had a little time to plan. This necklace was the best Valentine's gift I've every received."
"Happy Valentine's Day Kathryn."
With that she reached up and pulled his head down, meeting his lips and covering herself with his body. When they separated, she took his hand and led him toward their future, together.
THE END
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