AUTHOR: Matteabrit, September 2002
SUMMARY: A brief interlude on the planet of Chakotay’s birth
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Characters theirs, this piece mine. Place the copyrights accordingly!
NOTE: I got this idea several months back from watching several family members re-roofing an uncle’s house. It was handwritten outside on a deck in PA, typed in a MO hotel room, and edited here in Arizona. Thanks as always go to my not-beta who managed to do a quick return after this sat discarded for so long.
“Are you sure they don’t bite?” she asked, again, as she waved her arms in the air.
“For the umpteenth time, Kathryn,” he answered between gritted teeth, “they do not bite. They are not biting insects.” He paused in his work, wiped his brow, and stared up at the woman standing by him. “Now, why don’t you go sit yourself down with a mug of coffee and go through those reports like you want to.”
She stared the man down for a moment, arms across her chest, daring him to continue that suggestion. But another swarm of insects came in on the attack and, with a last futile wave of her arms; she strode off towards the house. Grabbing a mug of coffee from the pot in the kitchen, she gathered up the latest batch of Starfleet reports and headed back outside to the wooden deck that surrounded the dwelling.
The insects weren’t around this part of the property, probably because the deck was all wood and not dewy from the previous night’s rains. It was a beautiful day, so unlike the one before which had been unusually damp and overcast. Little work had been done; instead they had sat around with friends and neighbours, passing the time exchanging stories of the past and plans for the future. It was an exciting time on Chakotay’s planet, a time of rebirth and renewal, and not even the rain could bring down their spirits.
Kathryn sat down on a wooden bench but soon found she could not concentrate on the dry material in front of her. There was so much activity going on around her. Chakotay was changing a tyre on one of the work trucks the group was using. Kathryn had wanted to help but the insects had annoyed her, testing Chakotay’s patience in the process.
Above her, there was even more activity as half a dozen men fixed the roof of the building. These men were members of Chakotay’s extended family, family he hadn’t known were still living until he’d returned home, bringing Kathryn with him. After the initial joyous celebrations for his return they had got down to the hard work of repairing the family property. This particular house belonged to an uncle of Chakotay’s. His wife was inside, fixing a lunch for the men. Kathryn had offered to help but Liya had politely laughed her off, saying that everything was fine. Kathryn suspected that Chakotay might have already spread stories of her limited cooking abilities.
With a grunt of satisfaction, Chakotay stood up. Looking towards Kathryn and catching her eye he commented, “All done,” and smiled. She watched him replace his tools into the back of the vehicle and then walk up the steps towards her. “How are you doing?” he asked, taking a seat beside her and placing an arm along the deck’s wooden railing.
“Oh, okay,” she replied. “Tyre all changed then?”
“It’s done,” he replied shortly. “Of course the Cardassians left us with a pile of junk, pretty much useless to work with.”
His tone was calmer than his words implied. Over the past seven years, Kathryn had watched him mellow from the angry man wanting blood who had first arrived on her ship. Since then he had shown himself to be a caring, passionate, loyal crewmember, friend and now, just recently, something more. Even when he had first set sight on the destruction wrought by the Cardassians he hadn’t raged. Instead, he had withdrawn into himself, been uncharacteristically silent. It was a silence he had only pulled out of when they had received news of family members still living.
“You okay?” he asked, cutting into her thoughts.
She smiled back at him. “Just enjoying the day. I can’t seem to concentrate on these,” she said, indicating the padds beside her on the bench.
Chakotay laughed. “I wouldn’t be able to either. Don’t worry about it.”
“Easy for you to say,” she retorted. “You’re not the one having to write them.”
He pulled her in close to him. “You just have to inform them of what’s happening here, right?” She nodded. “There’s only so much you can write. Might as well leave it until this evening.”
Kathryn sighed. “I know. But I just feel so useless right now.”
“Don’t be.” He placed a light kiss on her hair. “No one’s going to mind you taking it easy for once, Kathryn. They all know how hard you worked on Voyager to get the crew home. Just sit back and relax. It’s either that or you get up on that roof and help the others.”
She laughed. “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose.” Looking upwards, she commented, “They’re doing well.”
“They are.” Chakotay stood up. “I better help them.”
“Well, for goodness sakes’ please don’t fall off.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry.” He leaned over and kissed her softly, his eyes becoming serious. “I love you.”
It was something Kathryn imagined she would never get used to hearing. They had gone for so long skirting around the issue of their relationship that when it had finally been formalised they had both been taken by surprise. Upon their arrival back in the Alpha Quadrant, Chakotay had resigned his field commission, despite having been offered a permanent rank. Kathryn had initially gone to his apartment to talk him out of it. She had ended up in his arms and, ultimately, in his bed. Neither of them had planned it, but afterwards they found they couldn’t stay away from each other. Chakotay shortly thereafter found himself making plans to return to the planet of his birth and Kathryn managed to wrangle a suitable assignment out of Starfleet so that she could accompany him.
“Love you too,” she smiled back up at him.
Moments later Kathryn was watching Chakotay walking on the roof with all the surety of a cat. He certainly was at home in whichever situation he found himself in, she reflected. He had been perfectly suited to his old Maquis ship but had then managed to fit right in as her first officer. And now here he was again, transforming smoothly into the role of planet native. It was a part of him that she loved.
Sighing softly, she turned back to her padds. Tapping away she began to compose the first part of her report. There was no easy way to say what she needed to. “Work here on Trebus is steady but slow going. The supplies we were promised from the Federation are still yet to arrive…”
FINIS
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