Title: How the Ghosts/Apparitions Stole (a) Valentine's Carol Author: Dana Quell Rating: PG Category: J/C Summary: Bit of V-Day fun. Janeway and Chakotay alone on a planet on Valentine's Day. Disclaimer: None of the crew of Voyager belong to me. They belong to Paramount, like they always have. Author's Notes: This was a response to three (!) challenges issued in JetCjr6; two of Spif's and one of Kat's. Spif's two were (1)Write a story where a character that you create gets Janeway and Chakotay together, and (2)Use the name Christopher Owen Edward Chakotay Thomas Janeway Torres Paris in a story. Kat's was to write a Valentine's Day story. So here it is. Started: January 11, 1999 "My Dinner with Kathryn" or "How the Ghosts/Apparitions Stole (a) Valentine's Carol" By Dana Quell It had been a boring day, and an even more boring couple of weeks. That's why when Nera, leader of the Jekitiress, invited the entire crew down to the planet for some rest and relaxation, Captain Janeway gladly accepted. She already knew that, though. What she didn't know was how her first officer had managed to talk her into getting some rest and relaxation when she planned on reading the reports that had somehow gotten backlogged. And she certainly didn't know how he had also managed to talk her into spending the day with him, in this old alien house. Maybe it was the magic of the day, or maybe her loneliness and isolation was getting to her. Or maybe, it was both. She didn't know; she knew only that despite her previous plans, she was enjoying herself. "So then, B'Elanna punched in his nose," Chakotay was saying. They both laughed, and he took a sip of the wine (real alcohol mind you, not synthehol) that they had brought. "Sounds like you had some fun times in the Maquis," Kathryn replied, taking a sip of her own wine. How long had it been since she drank real wine? Probably not since a similiar scene on Earth, before her Academy days. Chakotay looked down into his glass, pleased that she was having such a good time. Why, he'd never seen her more relaxed. "Yes, yes we did," he replied, letting his auto-response system take over, too absorbed in observing her to be bothered with answering. She noticed his 'observation', more out of the feeling that he was watching her than glancing up to see his eyes on her. She glanced up anyway, and met those eyes. Suddenly a tension rose, and they were drawing close to each other. Their lips were about to meet in one of those sweet soft kisses when- Bang! Something from upstairs crashed, startling them out of their near-kiss. "What was that?" Kathryn asked, feeling more than a little uneasy. For the first time she glanced outside the window an saw that the system's star had set. "I don't know," Chakotay replied. "Did you want to go look?" Kathryn nodded, flashing back to the castle on earth and her youth. Then she shook herself out of it, flashing her wrist beacon on and following Chakotay up the old creaky staircase. He stopped at the top of the stairs, waiting for her to catch up. Once she did, he pointed to a doorway, where one of the lights were on. "That light wasn't on when we were outside," Chakotay said. Kathryn pointed outside. "It also wasn't dark when we were outside." As she spoke, lightning struck, illuminating the window. They both jumped high, and edged a little closer together. Chakotay moved foward, and peered over the edge of the doorframes. Kathryn followed, and looked into the room herself. Once they were satisfied that the room was empty, they stepped into it. "Chakotay did it ever occur to you that this house might not be empty after all?" Kathryn asked, crossing her arms. Chakotay glanced at her and shook his head. "The locals who told me about it said it was empty and abandoned." "Well, someone obviously lives here." "Maybe the storm shorted out the fuses and made the lights turn themselves on," he offered weakly. She just gave him one of her patented 'yeah, right' looks and crossed to a door on the other side of the room. "Wonder where this goes," she said, thinking out loud. She turned the doorknob and walked through the door. Only to have it shut behind her. She whirled and tried to open it again, but this time the knob wouldn't turn. "Chakotay!" she yelled, pounding on the door. "Oh, don't worry. That knob gets stuck a lot," a voice behind her said. Kathrn turned and screamed her surprise at seeing one of the Jekitiress standing there, holding a candle. The Jekitiress also screamed, then stopped, looked at her, and asked, "Why are we screaming?" Kathryn calmed down. "You just surprised me, that's all. Who are you?" "Hmph. I suppose I should be asking you the same thing. I live here. I'm the Apparition of Waiting," the Jekitiress said, stepping closer to Kathryn. Kathryn stepped back instinctively. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. Apparition of Waiting?" The Apparition of Waiting nodded, looking a little impressed by being in the presence of a captain. "Yep. But you can just call me Aiti. All my fellow apparitions do." "Very well, Aiti. Do you know how to get the door unstuck?" Kathryn asked. Aiti nodded again. "Of course. It'll unstick itself when the time is right. Until then, Captain," she said, flopping into a chair, "I'd suggest that you make yourself comfortable here." "I can't. My first officer's in that room. I have to get back to him." Aiti's eyes lit up. "I see. Well, that really doesn't change anything, so you'll still just have to wait." "Wait for what, Aiti?" Kathryn asked, sitting down in a chair next to the apparition. "For your first officer to get done with the Apparition of Valentine's That Were," Aiti stated, glancing in the fire. ******** Chakotay watched Kathryn step through the door, and went to follow her, but before he could step through the door himself, it slammed in his face. He rubbed his bruised nose, but forgot all about it when he heard a scream. "Kathryn!" he shouted, pounding on the door. "Don't worry, Aiti's with your friend now," a tiny voice said from behind him. Chakotay whirled to the sound of it. "Who are you?" he asked the small Jekitiress. The little boy walked up to him. "The Apparition of Valentine's That Were. Who are you?" "Commander Chakotay of the Federation Starship Voyager. You're the Apparition of Valentine's That Were?" "That's me. I'm here to show you a few things," the boy said. "Show me a few things? Like what?" Chakotay asked. The Apparition stepped closer to Chakotay and took his hand. "Like the things you need to see." Mist swirled all around, and when it cleared, Chakotay was no longer standing in an old alien house but on his old homeworld. "I'm back home. But how? It was decimated years ago," Chakotay said, looking around with a glance. " I told you I was the Apparition of Valentine's That Were," the Apparition said. "This is Valentine's Day, 2340." Chakotay gazed around, his eyes finally coming to rest on a little boy talking to a little blonde girl. He recognized both of them. "You mean you haven't celebrated Valentine's Day ever?" the girl was asking the boy, whom Chaktoay recognized as his younger self. The young Chakotay shook his head. "Never, Joannie. What's so important about it?" Joannie took his hand and sat down on a log, pulling him to sit with her. "It's important because it's part of Earth's history. It's a part of our culture. Besides, I think it's a nice holiday." "In case you haven't noticed," the young Chakotay replied, rolling his eyes, "this isn't Earth. And what's so great about it? it's just another cultural holiday, only this one's much more mushier than the rest." Joannie rolled her blue eyes. "I suppose you'd prefer some Klingon holidays instead." "I wouldn't mind. It's better than being stuck with all these old Earth ones." "Can we get back to Valentine's Day?" Joannie sighed. "Now, as I was saying, there's something about the day that's almost...magical. You get presents, and love." The young Chakotay grimaced. "Yuck. Can we talk about something else, then? Now that you're done telling me about today?" Joannie sighed again, and the two went to talk about mundane things. Chakotay turned to the Apparition of Valentines That Were. "I remember that day. It was the day when I first truly learned about Valentine's Day. I was six years old when Joannie and I had that conversation. She had just come to the planet from Earth, and she and I had become fast friends." "You became more than just friends later on," the Apparition said, holding out his hand. "Where are we going this time?" Chakotay wanted to know, extending his own hand. The Apparition took it. "Where you fear to tread," he said as the mist began to roll again. This time when it cleared, they were standing in the same spot as before. The only difference was that the scene had changed. The younger Chakotay and Joannie were still there, but they had aged. They now appeared to be about fifteen. "Chakotay, you know how I feel about you," Joannie was saying, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. "But you're going to the Academy in a few days, and you can't expect me to follow you back to Earth. My home is here now, with your people, and if you ask me, this is where your home is too. With your family." The younger Chakotay's eyes grew furious. "You're dumping me? But we can maintain a long distance relationship if we try hard enough." Joannie shook her head. "We can't, Chakotay. There'll be other women, at the Academy. And there are other men, here. I'm sorry." As soon as she finished, she kissed him one last time and left, running into the forest and its comforting darkness. "Valentine's day, 2349," the Apparition said, turning from the scene to Chakotay, who was looking as devastated as the teenage Chakotay. "I remember. She dumped me on Valentine's Day, kissed me once, then left. I left for the Academy three days later and never saw her again. I assumed she died when the Cardassians attacked the planet," Chakotay said, not taking his eyes off of his younger self. "But what's this got to do with me now?" "It's one of your worst fears. Fear of rejection," the Apparition simply replied. He held out his hand once again, and Chakotay looked at it, then took it. The mist came once more, and Chakotay found himself alone in a room, sitting on a chair that he couldn't rememer ever seeing before. He glanced around, looking for the Apparition, but he was no where in sight. Chakotay decided that another Apparition would come for him, so he settled into the chair. ******** "Sorry, Captain, time for me to go," Aiti said, lifting herself out of the chair. "Wait. Go where?" Kathryn asked, standing up as well. Aiti smiled. "I'm the Apparition of Waiting. Your first officer is now waiting. I've got to go wait with him." "Oh," Kathryn replied. "Nice meeting you, then." "Don't worry, Captain. I'll probably see you before you shove off," Aiti said, then just disappeared. Kathryn blinked, wondering how Aiti had done what she just did. "Oh, don't worry, Captain. Aiti's perfectly safe." She whirled to the sound of the voice and saw a woman of about her age. The woman held out her hand. "I'm the Apparition of Valentine's That Are." Kathryn reached for the woman's hand and shook it. "Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager," she said, trying to reclaim her hand from the Apparition's iron grip. "I know who you are, Captain. And I would like you to come with me. There's something I would like you to see." "Such as?" Kathryn had given up the struggle and concentrated on the conversation. "You'll see..." the woman hinted at as the fog rolled in. Kathryn looked at it all in silent wonderment. Once the mist cleared, Kathryn found herself standing once again on Voyager. She turned to the Apparition. "How did we get here?" "I brought us here," the Apparition shrugged. "But it's a day ahead of the day that you come from, and nobody can see or hear you here." Kathryn accepted this oddly enough, half convinced that she was still in the big chair, dreaming it all. She and the Apparition walked a ways, finaly coming to a stop before the doors to the mess hall. "I hope you didn't bring us here to taste Neelix's cooking," Kathryn said. The Apparition merely smiled and walked through the doors. She stared at where the woman had been just a few seconds ago, but before she could react, a hand reached through the doors and pulled her through to the mess hall. When Kathryn got her bearins, she saw that the Apparition had moved to stand next to the table where B'Elanna, Tom, and Harry sat. She moved to stand next to them. "Hey, I haven't seen the Captain and Commander at all today. Tuvok's still running the bridge. Do either of you know if they're still down at that planet?" Tom Paris was asking his companions. Both Harry and B'Elanna shook their heads. "Haven't seen them. What are you suggesting, Tom?" Harry asked. Tom raised his eyebrows and leered at his companions. "Aren't you thinking the same thing I am?" B'Elanna scowled at him. "You're a pig, Tom. Besides, what they do in their free time is their business, not ours." "But don't you want to see them happy?" Tom replied. Harry broke in. "I agree with B'Elanna. It's none of our business. But I would like to see them happy." "That's the spirit, Harry," Tom said, slapping him on the back. "But you forgot one thing." "What's that?" "Happy and together." B'Elanna sighed. "When are you ever going to grow up, Tom? Can we please change the subject?" "Sure," harry said, grinning. "So, what did you and Tom do yesterday for Valentine's Day?" Harry was lucky that the table was between him and B'Elanna. Kathryn chuckled, but inside she was wondering if all the crew felt like that about her and Chakotay's relationship. "That's only a few crewmember's opinions, Captain," the Apparition said, turning from the scene of the joking officers. "The rest feel pretty much the same way." "So the crew doens't mind. Fine. I can accept that. But protocol forbids it," Kathryn replied. The Apparition of Valentine's That Are merely shrugged. "It's your decision. But before you decide anything, you've still got one more Apparition to talk to." Kathryn thought for a moment. "And that would be...?" The Apparition took her hand. "The Apparition of Valentine's To Be," she said as the mist began once again. Kathryn found herself sitting in the chair she had been sitting in before when the mist cleared. She stood, slowly, stretching. Suddenly there was a noise behind her, and she whirled, drawing her phaser. Before her stood a black robed skeleton, it's skull grinning at her sardonically, like it knew a secret that she didn't. She put her phaser away and heaved a sigh of relief. "Let me guess. The Apparition of Valentine's To Be?" The skeleton didn't speak, just nodded. He then pointed and themist started to roll in. Kathryn found herself once again on Voyager. She turned to the skeleton but found that he had continued walking and ran to catch up. She soon found herself on the bridge. It looked exactly as it had when she left it, but it felt different. Wrong, somehow. She glanced around at all the officers stationed. There was Tuvok at tactical, Harry at Operations, Tom at the helm, B'Elanna at Engineering, and Seven at that little station which was behind the captain's chair. Hell, there was even an older version of Kathryn herself. Suddenly it struck her. Where was Chakotay? "Apparition? Where's Chakotay? Why does everybody look so distraught?" she asked, turning from the scene. The only response she got was a bony finger pointing to the viewscreen. Kathryn turned to it, and watched on as a coffinwas shot out into space. Understanding dawned on her. "No. No. Not Chakotay. It can't be Chakotay. Apparition, please tell me, it's not Chakotay." The Apparition stayed silent still, and just watched the older Kathryn stand up from her chair. "Tuvok, you have the bridge," the older one said, heading for her ready room. Kathryn followed. Once inside, the older Kathryn sat at her desk and immediately began to sob. Kathryn waited for her to calm herself down, but it didn't happen for a full five minutes. When she finally was calm, she got up and moved to one of the portals, picking up a photograph along her way. She stared at it for a while, then gazed out into the stars. "Oh, Chakotay," she sighed. "I'm so sorry I never told you." Kathryn looked at her older self. She looked old and haggard, having lines around her eyes and mouth. Her eyes and hair were dull and lifeless, and where before there had been reddish streaks in her auburn hair, there were only gray ones. It also looked, from the bags beneath her eyes, as if she hadn't been sleeping, and, from the way her uniform was hanging off her, hadn't been eating as well. Kathryn faced it; her older self looked like hell and didn't even care. Was this what the future held? Chakotay's death and herself, alone as ever? She didn't want it like that, never had. A bony finger tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to face the Apparition. "Oh, Apparition, is this future reversible? Can I change it?" The skeleton did nothing as the mist rolled once more. ******** Aiti jumped out of her seat. "Well, looks like the Apparition of Valentine's That Are is free. My work is here is done...for now." Chakotay got up as well. "Oh, well, nice meeting you," he replied. She nodded, then vanished. He stood for a while, wondering how long it would take for the next apparition to appear. He didn't have to wait long. "Would you come with me, Commander?" a voice said as a woman stepped ou of the shadows. "I am the Apparition of Valentine's That Are." Chakotay nodded. "What fear am I going to face this time?" he asked. The Apparition merely smiled enigmatically and took his hand. The first thing Chakotay could see when the mist cleared was Voyager's corridors. The Apparition beckoned to him with her forefinger. "Head to Astrometrics," she said, whispering. "There you will see a conversation of Harry and Seven's. But keep in mind that while you can hear them, they won't be able to hear you. And this is the day after Valentine's Day, 2376, so it's tomorrow for you." Chakotay nodded, then headed for Astrometrics. Once he got there, he noticed Seven and Harry working on a project. "Ensign Kim," Seven began, not glancing up from her work. Harry stopped his work, getting a feeling that the conversation was going to include yet another detailed explanation of yet another aspect of humanity. He was right. "Yes, Seven?" "I noticed that yesterday several of the crew were engaging in extracurricular activities more than usual. Why?" Harry swallowed. "Uh, well, yesterday was Valentine's Day, Seven," he answered with a smile. She stared at him. "Valentine's Day? What is the significance of this day?" "Well, um, I don't know the whole background story, but on ancient Earth there used to be a Saint Valentine who spread love and joy to everyone. And then after he died, they made a day to honor his memory." "That still does not explain the crew." "I was just getting to that part. Be patient." "Patience is irrelevant." "Yeah, I know. Everything's irrelevant to you," Harry replied. "It became tradition to celebrate the holiday with your loved ones." Seven nodded, absorbing the information. "Is that why the commander and the captain went down to that planet together?" Harry nearly choked. "Uh, no, Seven. The commander and the captain are just friends." "But I have seen the way they look at each other. You mean to say that they are not in love?" "Uh, Seven, I think we should get back to work. The commander and captain's relationship is none of our business. This is." "Very well," Seven replied, turning back to her work. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Chakotay turned to the Apparition, who had joined him. "Does Seven really think that the captain and I are in love with each other?" The Apparition nodded. "Is it true?" she asked in return. Chakotay considered the question carefully. "I do love her, and think that she loves me." The Apparition raised an eyebrow. "Then what's the problem? Why aren't you two doing anything about it?" "It's not quite that simple," Chakotay replied, shaking his head. "There's protocol to be followed, especially this far from the Federation-" The Apparition broke in. "Nothing's ever quite that simple. Until you do something about it. It always looks tough in your mind, or on paper, but as soon as something is done about it, it gets easier. Time helps, too." "Maybe. But I'll leave the decisions to her. After all, she is the captain." The woman rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You've still got to see the last Apparition." "Does that mean we're done here?" Chakotay asked. The Apparition nodded. Chakotay found himself standing in the room again a few minutes later. Out of the shadows this time came the last Apparition. "Commander Chakotay, this is the Apparition of Valentine's To Be. Apparition of Valentine's To Be, this is Commander Chakotay. Play nice you two," the Apparition of Valentine's That Are said, then vanished. Chakotay glanced at the skeleton. "So, uh, do you come here often?" he joked. Maybe it was just Chakotay's imagination, but it looked like the skeleton smiled. Pointing to the door, Chakotay glanced at it. Suddenly the old wood one became the sliding doors to the captain's ready room. Chakotay glanced behind him at the bridge, then entered the room. What he saw was an older version of Kathryn standing next to the couch, staring out at the stars. "Oh, Chakotay," she said. "I'm sorry I never told you." Chakotay moved closer to see what she held in her hand, and was surprised to discover that it was a picture of both him and her. He was more surprised to discover that it was a picture that he recognized as having been taken a just that day. They had been in the transporter room, getting ready to beam down to the planet when the Doctor came into the room with his holo-imager. They had smiled, and allowed him to take a picture, and then they had beamed down. They had both been so happy, ready to get some much needed relaxation at last. Looking at the picture, a thought came to Chakotay. Was she mourning for him? Was he dead? Gods, how he hated to see her so distraught. Was that the reason why she looked so terrible? Because of him? He looked to the Apparition, who had come into the room, and started yelling at him. "Can this be avoided?! Can I spare her this kind of pain?! Tell me!" But the Apparition said nothing, only grinned like the bones were meant to, and the mist came one last time. When it cleared, Chakotay found himself in that gods-damned room. Angry, and a bit overwrought, he charged across the room and forced the door open. Once inside, he glanced around for Kathryn, and not seeing her turned on Aiti, who was just standing there. "What have you done with her? Where is she?!" he demanded of the Apparition, not wanting to wait for an answer. She put a finger to her lips. "Sh, she's sleeping," she said, pointing to a big chair. He turned, and saw her there, indeed sleeping. "Why'd you lie to me? You're not the Apparition of Waiting and we didn't just meet! You're the local who told me about this house," Chakotay said, half whispering so he wouldn't wake Kathryn up. "You're right, I did lie to you. We didn't just meet. I was the local who told you about this house. But I am the Apparition of Waiting." "Why'd you set this up?" "For your own benefit. When I saw you in town, I also saw how you were lonely. So I brought you to this house, where I could help you with this," she said. "You'll appreciate it someday." With that, Aiti vanished. Chakotay glanced around, looking for her and failed to notice that Kathryn had woken up. She jumped out of the chair, and drew her phaser, then reholstered it when she saw it was Chakotay. "Chakotay," she sighed, moving to him and collapsing in his arms. He held her, and thought about how good it felt to be doing so. "C'mon, let's get out of here," Chakotay said, breaking the embrace and heading for the door. "Good idea," she replied, breaking into a run. Once they got outside into the cold dark night, they requested an immediate beam-up and disappeared in a cloud of blue haze. ******** Sounds of cheer and goodwill echoed all through the large house after they left. A party was going on, for Apparitions only, and only those involved with getting Kathryn and Chakotay together. "Let's have a toast; to Aiti!" the Apparition of Valentine's That Are said, raising her glass. "To Aiti," everyone echoed. Aiti sat in her chair and smiled, listening to the clock chime midnight. "Listen to the clock," she said to the others. "It's no longer Valentine's Day. Our work is done...for this year." Everybody smiled jubilantly, holding up drinks, as they listened to the last chime of the clock and then vanished into thin air. ********Epilogue: Valentine's Day, 2407 Seventy one year old Kathryn Janeway sat in a chair on the holodeck and glanced around at those assembled family members that had arrived smiling. Years ago, on that fateful Valentine's day, 2376, she never would have thought that she would experience happiness like she was right now. Thanks to those Apparitions, whom Chakotay had also seen, disproving her theory that they were just dreams or figments of her imagination, she had lived her life to the fullest. Chakotay. Her husband of more than twenty eight years. He was dead, now, having passed away two years ago. But he had still lived longer than he would have if they hadn't followed the advice given to them by the Apparitions. And the years had been much happier than Kathryn suspected they would have been if they had just remained captain and first officer, friend and friend. B'Elanna came over to her, then, breaking her daydreams of the past. Tom, B'Elanna's husband, was also dead. He had passed away last year. They had had one child, a son named Arthur. Arthur was a good man now, grown and married to Kathryn and Chakotay's only daughter, Adelaide. They had not yet arrived, probably being too busy with their own handful of a child, Chris. Just then, the sliding doors to the holodeck opened to reveal the last arrivals of the day, Chris and his parents. Six year old Chris immediately ran to his Grandma Kay, as he called Kathryn, and Grandma Be, which was his nickname for B'Elanna. Kathryn smiled, and lifted him up onto her lap. "Hi, Chris, how are you doing?" she asked, looking into his eyes. God, how he looked so much like Chakotay. "Christopher Owen Edward Chakotay Thomas Janeway-Torres-Paris!" his mother yelled, charging into the holodeck. He immediately buried himself into his grandmother's embrace, for he knew that his mother only used his whole long name if he was in really deep trouble. "Adelaide, calm down. I'm sure whatever he did isn't so bad that he can't have his punishment wait for a few moments," Kathryn said. "That's right," the Doctor said, getting his holo-imager ready to start taking pictures. "Now, everyone, please, will you get into height order?" "Mom, I don't see the point of you having us take the same picture every year on Valentine's Day," Adelaide complained as she got into position. "Oh, be quiet," Kathryn replied, getting ready to smile for the camera. "It's a family tradition, and it won't be broken as long as I live. Besides, it'll be a nice picture, and something that you'll be able to cherish after I'm gone." "Mom, don't talk that way. You know I don't like hearing you say things like that." "Well, then don't listen," Kathryn replied. She hugged Chris tighter, and he looked back up at her, dark eyes questioning, probing, for answers. She knew, then, in that moment, that this was the future generation, and that everything was going to be just fine. She had made the right choice years ago, and now she was glad. "Say cheese!" the Doctor said, positioning himself behind the camera. "Cheese!" three generations said, smiling. The End. Finished January 26, 1999, at 7:37 pm.