Remains of the Day
by
vanhunks
A vignette
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Janeway and Chakotay.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Living on the ashes of one's dreams.
REMAINS OF THE DAY
"There's something I wish to tell you..."
She wanted to tell him three years ago. They were home... Then courage had fled, and her love remained a flame that no one saw. She had stood before him then, and the words "I love you" were in her head, in her heart, in every pulsing heartbeat, in the way her mouth tried to form the words. Then, the emotion brimmed like a rich creamy froth waiting to burst over the brim of her cup of happiness.
He had looked at her expectantly, waiting for the precise moment that his life would change forever. They had beaten the vile enemy, were ready to touch Earth. She was ready now. Everything came together and everything fell apart the moment she felt the ancient stranglehold of fear, and duty. It choked her "I love you", killed it and unceremoniously dumped it where weakness reigned. The froth of happiness subsided, only to shrink away, leaving nothing but a thin, sick layer of weak scum.
"What did you wish to say?" he asked.
"No, it's nothing," she sighed. "Just something unimportant."
Then he married someone another. She was Borg. She was beautiful, aloof, icy. Kathryn's love burned like a lonely flame on a dark island all the years he remained faithful to his Borg.
He returned many years later, widowed.
"There's something I wish to tell you," she told him.
The waiting look was back. It was in his eyes, in his trembling hands, the parted lips, the sudden flush that crept to his cheeks. He still wanted her. His love for her never faded. Her love remained a burning flame. Her heart sang. Her heart pounded.
"What did you wish to say?" he asked.
Fear...fear....
"No, it's nothing," she sighed. "Just something unimportant."
**
END