Ten days after they landed Voyager, Kathryn and Chakotay were taking their midnight stroll along a beach one of the away teams had found.  This one was a little rocky and wasn’t a very good place to swim, so the crew had avoided it in favor of other beaches.  It was a perfect place for a captain and first officer to get away from their responsibilities.  They had brought food along and built a small campfire to brighten their picnic area.  After they had eaten, they wandered along the beach talking.

“Kathryn, I’ve told you a lot about myself, and you know about Seska.  What about you?  Why hadn’t you married yet when we met?”

“Oh.  I don’t know if I can answer that.  I hadn’t met you, for one thing.  But why no one else?  I don’t think I met anyone who ever wanted what I wanted at a time when I was ready to commit myself to a shared future.  I never met anyone who made me feel what you did, what you do.  Anything less would have had to be perfect in all other ways.

“The closest I came, I think, was the summer before I started at the Academy.  I was seeing a boy, a man, whose circle of friends included some of my friends.  We started dating.  He was finished with his education and was taking over the family Agri-business in central Indiana.  He knew exactly what he was going to be doing for the rest of his life.  He wanted that business and he wanted a wife.  He wasn’t shopping around for a wife as much as keeping his eyes open for a long-term relationship.  He was a lot like you, Chakotay.  He didn’t push people to be something they weren’t.  He was patient.  I think he would have waited forever if I had ever indicated that I wanted him to wait.

“I wasn’t ready to even consider a long term commitment.  I was going to the Academy!  I was a scientist.  I would get to travel to other planets and stars to study and learn.  I had a career in Starfleet to build.  I enjoyed his company; we had a lot of fun.  Later I sometimes wondered if I had made a mistake.  He was good to me.  He cared about me.  We didn’t want the same things.  It was kind of sad in a way.  We could have been a good couple.  But we wouldn’t have been a particularly happy one, only I’m not sure we would have known that.  He looked to the land and I looked to the stars.

“It’s interesting.  Of all the men I had been involved with since then, you are the most like he was.  The only difference is that you look from the land to the stars.  So, why hadn’t I married?  You are the only man I’ve met who was looking for a long-term commitment and wanted what I did.  You are the only one who would not have asked me to give up my career, and you’re the only one I would have given it up for.  That brings me back to my first answer; I hadn’t met you.”

“Kathryn, that is the most confused and wonderful thing you could say to me. I love you, too.”  Chakotay spent several long minutes expressing that love before drawing away.  “We’d better head back and pick up our things.  We’re due back on board in half an hour.  And when we get there, I have some plans for the rest of the evening I think you will enjoy.”  Arm in arm they walked back toward their campfire in quiet contentment until Kathryn broke the silence.

“Chakotay?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s get out those hyposprays when we get back, OK?”

“I like that idea, Kathryn.”  Chakotay smiled and pulled her even closer to his side.