Confusion, that hated feeling which had been an unknown within the Collective but during her short time on Voyager had become painfully familiar, coursed disconcertingly through Seven of Nine's mind as she registered Sickbay's ceiling swimming above her. "What…" She began, an exasperated hiss through her clenched teeth, as she tried to sit up on the biobed she was now aware of below her.

The Doctor's hand, unnervingly strong considering he was a hologram, grasped her human arm tightly and gently but firmly attempted to coax her back down. "Relax Seven, lie back." He advised calmly, "Your body has been through a lot in the past few hours."

Seven stared at him uncomprehendingly, stubbornly sitting upright despite the uncontrollable shaking she now felt rippling through all of her muscles. She recognised a quiet sigh to one side of her and now saw that the Captain was standing by her bedside, a tentative smile on her face. Seven knew that expression, of concern, pity and unease, from when Janeway had been trying to convince her to surrender her Borg identity. Seeing it again now made her heart sink a little, what had she done now that warranted attention? "Do you remember anything about what happened today Seven?" The Captain asked carefully, peering into her face.

Seven was shocked by the affect that question had on her. Incoherent images and sounds, memories, invaded her brain with such force that she felt a gasp catch in her throat. "No…" She started to deny as guilt, still a relatively new feeling for her, made her stomach clench. "Not clearly." She admitted more honestly, although the more she sifted through the restored memories the clearer they became and the more unsettled she felt.

The Captain and the Doctor seemed satisfied enough with this admission however, apparently they had been expecting it as the Captain barely gave a sympathetic pause before launching into an explanation. "From what we've been able to tell from your actions and the Doctor's scans Seven, one of your more…" Janeway searched around awkwardly for the right word, "…covert implants was activated by some Borg wreckage present in this region of space and forced you to follow a signal…"

"My interfacing homing beacon." Seven interrupted, more stoically than she felt, shrugging off their querying glances, "That is the only implant which does what you describe. It is designed to direct disconnected drones back to the Collective and to guide the Collective to newly assimilated territory."

The Captain couldn't hold back a grimace at her matter-of-fact tone. "Well, it did as it was designed. You left Voyager to pursue this signal, avoiding all of our attempts to keep you here!" She saw Seven frown uneasily and added reassuringly, "Don't worry Seven, we all realise that it was against your will."

"It was." Seven agreed, "I had no control over what I did while the beacon was active." She was surprised by the icy fear which clawed at her heart as she acknowledged this, a part of her knew that this implant was normal Borg procedure and she should have anticipated such a thing, but another part of her, the human side which had been given a voice on Voyager, was terrified by the total loss of self she'd experienced. It felt strange now to think that a matter of weeks ago she would have considered the homing signal a godsend, saving her from being shut out of the Collective. "Did I…damage someone in my altered state?" She asked apprehensively.

The Captain smiled at her kindly, obviously touched by her worry. "No Seven, you didn't hurt anyone. This was a medical emergency and everyone on this crew understands that, don't worry."

The Doctor now spoke up, squeezing Seven's shoulder with one hand as he held a tricorder over her with the other. "You'll never need to worry about something like this happening again either; I removed the beacon while you were unconscious. Your cybernetic systems seem to be coping fine without it." He closed the tricorder with a satisfied click.

The relief Seven felt surging through her was unexpected but overwhelming. "Thank you Doctor." She murmured sincerely before glancing at them both questioningly, "There is one factor I do not understand, my beacon should not have activated here. This region of space does not have any Borg activity; I would not have allowed Voyager to enter it otherwise."

The Captain exchanged a worried look with the Doctor. "You're right; there hasn't been any recent Borg activity…" She took a deep breath, "The wreckage that affected you was assimilated over eighteen years ago."

Seven didn't need to study their sorrowful faces; she found the answer within herself, in that muddle of dizzying, violent memories. "The Hansens. That wreckage was the Raven." She was started by how hollow her own voice sounded, by the odd lump pressing on her throat. "I was assimilated there."

The Captain nodded unhappily, "I'm sorry Seven, I wish…"

"It happened." Seven said sharply, "My being there again…remembering, changes nothing."

The Captain was struck by the pain which burned across Seven's face and enflamed her words before the younger woman feel silent again, her face impassive. "I know." She conceded, fingering the PADD she held as she considered what to do, but Seven's undeniably emotional reaction made the right choice clear. "We salvaged what we could for you. There weren't many personal belongings still intact but all of the ship's computer data, your parents' research, their personal logs, it was all still there." She sighed and leaned forward to take Seven's human hand supportively in her own, "Everything has been put in the Cargo Bay for you. I really do suggest that you go through it, sooner rather than later, it'll help you." With that firmly said, she nodded to the Doctor and turned to leave before Seven resisted this emotional breakthrough as she knew she would.

Seven's actual reply though, surprised her. "Captain, it was Lieutenant Tuvok and Commander Chakotay who assisted me, correct?"

"That's right, although Tom Paris was there too." The Captain answered, "I'm sure a thank you would suffice, they risked a lot."

Seven didn't respond as the Captain left and the Doctor let his superior's words sink in. As a medical professional he knew learning about her parents and her life with them would help Seven in the long run, but he doubted that pushing that idea would help right now, so he moved to practicalities. "You should programme a full 12 hour regeneration cycle for tonight, to recover properly from your operation…" He instructed her, pausing when he saw her flinch. "Is there some reason why you can't regenerate?" he asked probingly.

"No." Seven answered a little too quickly before allowing herself a small sigh. "During my nine most recent regeneration cycles I have experienced nightmares…"

"Oh yes." The Doctor remarked knowingly, "The birds, the ravens it would seem."

Seven shifted uncomfortably, "Yes." She confirmed, "They will stop now that the homing beacon pulling me towards the U.S.S Raven has been removed, won't they?"

"I can't answer that Seven." The Doctor told her regretfully, "From what I can tell, the homing beacon exerted no effect on your subconscious, it didn't cause the dreams." He saw her face pale and jumped into an explanation, "I'm not saying they're not related to what happened, I think that, somewhere in your mind, you knew the significance of this area and that knowledge manifested in your dreams." He patted her arm when he saw this didn't allay her anxiety, "Don't worry, the mind is the most complex organ, I'm sure everything will settle back down, but you do need to regenerate."

"I know, I will." Seven said detachedly as she slid off the biobed, "If I am fully repaired, I will leave now."

The Doctor smiled at her sympathetically, "Of course."

Chakotay gave a start as he entered the Mess Hall and saw Seven directly in front of him, sitting alone at a table clutching a mug of her mysterious "nutritional supplement" in her hands. It wasn't that he wasn't pleased to see her out of Sickbay, but he also knew something still wasn't quite right with her. Seven was a rare sight in the Mess Hall as a rule and when she did come it was a flying visit to the replicator before leaving, efficiency before appetite. Now through she sat completely unoccupied, even seeing her sitting was unusual, he could still remember Neelix having to teach her how to eat and coaxing her to sit, Borg didn't relax. Not that she looked relaxed now, quite the opposite, but she did look marginally more approachable. Whether he dared to or not was another matter, he didn't doubt that he'd seen Seven at her most vulnerable yet and he was far from sure how she'd feel about that. Would she accept his condolences, his understanding, if he could really give it? "Commander?" Seven's stilted voice answered his question, and he was left, as he perceived the slight waver in her usually cool tones, wondering if she'd heard his silent question somehow. Considering what he'd just experienced with her, the idea wasn't as remote as he'd once thought.

He raised a hand to her in acknowledgement, "Hi Seven." Somehow though that didn't seem enough and he headed for her table. "How are you doing?"

Seven felt something inside her tighten as she read his pensive expression, although she noticed that the wariness he'd previously regarded her with was gone. "The Doctor has informed me that I am fully repaired." This answer, while effective enough with other crewmembers who'd asked, suddenly seemed inadequate in front of him.

Chakotay tried to smile at her, but could sense something behind the words that saddened him. She sounded just as drone-like as always, but he knew now, for the first time, that she wasn't one. "That's good to hear." He answered truthfully.

Seven stared down into the dregs of her mug for a moment. His presence meant she was starting to regret her decision to substitute nutrition for the regeneration she was avoiding. "I believe it would be appropriate to offer you my gratitude Commander. I have already thanked Lieutenant Tuvok and you deserve the same since you played as big a part in returning me safely to Voyager. Thank you."

Chakotay was pleasantly surprised by the sincerity in her words, it brought a softness to her voice that he hadn't heard before. "I was happy to do it Seven." He assured her, sliding onto the bench across from her to look at her directly, "I'm glad you didn't go through that completely alone."

"As am I." Seven murmured distantly, her gaze downcast from his, before a sigh shook her frame. "I suppose, now that I am free from the Borg mind, recalling such trauma is an inevitability."

Chakotay felt his heart wring in grief for her. "Probably." He agreed reluctantly, "Not all of your memories will be that bad though." Hopefully, he added silently.

Seven inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement, not quite a nod, but enough to reassure him for now. "There is one thing I do not understand Commander." She told him abruptly.

Chakotay was intrigued despite himself. "What?"

Seven took a breath, "You know about my…nightmares I presume?" She waited until he nodded, and then continued, "The Doctor told me that they were not caused by my homing beacon, that they were part of my own subconscious, but I do not understand how that could be." Her tone became uncharacteristically agitated, "I do not know the purpose such fabrications could possibly have!"

Chakotay studied her for a moment before meeting her gaze levelly. "My people, I, believe that dreams have a great purpose." He told her, pausing uncertainly as he wondered whether an ex-drone of all people would listen to his beliefs, but she was watching him intently, her sky blue eyes losing their famed iciness and giving him a strange courage. "Dreams are seen as insight into the soul, and as how messages from beyond are given, a vision quest is like trying to find a specific message. We have to interpret what we see in dreams, even if it all seems muddled." He gripped the edge of the table as he remembered his father giving him this explanation long ago, "My father taught me the significance of all of nature in dreams. The raven that you saw, as well as having some personal significance for you, is supposed to herald change, metamorphosis, in your life." He stopped as he heard Seven inhale softly and realised himself that that analogy was appropriate for Seven, who had just been torn from the Borg she knew and was on her way to being human again. "Only the most worthy in the tribe can summon the power of the raven to help them through change…" He saw Seven flinch and remembered that the raven had been frightening in her dreams, "Change isn't always pleasant, or for the better." He muttered wryly before continuing, "But for harmony we need to face it, and the raven keeps secrets that harm us for when we're ready to deal with them and heal."

Seven stared at him unblinkingly, "And you believe remembering this "secret" of my assimilation will help me?"

"Yes." Chakotay replied honestly, for he saw that it was a real question. "Eventually."

"The Captain has told me to study the Hansens belongings and logs." Seven confided after a long pause.

"But you don't want to?" Chakotay guessed, sighing as Seven nodded, sometimes the Captain did not know when to stop pushing. "That's okay, just because you found them, were guided to them, doesn't mean you have to cope with it all right away, no one could expect that." Seeing that she still felt unsure, he added gently, "Only you'll know when you feel ready, if ever. It might come in a dream, or one day it might not hurt so much, but I don't think you need to worry about that right now."

"No." Seven agreed heavily, suddenly rising from her seat. "Thank you Commander." She said again, almost a whisper this time.

"You're welcome." Chakotay replied warmly before watching her walk out.

That night, Seven was granted a peaceful, dreamless sleep in her alcove. Many years later, when the raven visited her again, she saw it without fear.

A/n: I've really enjoyed writing this fic, thank you for all of your support everyone! PLEASE REVIEW this final chapter! :D I owe particular thanks to battlevalkyrie, who gave me the initial idea for this story, and lightbane1905, who provided all the information about Native American mythology for this fic. All that Chakotay said in this chapter is true according to Native American beliefs, I loved how the real mythology actually suited the storyline, amazing!

Of course, as always, a big thank you to all of the reviewers: lisac1965, Sweetdeath04, NikkiB1973, Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay, EMcKinney, Tropicalgirl, Teal06 and TV appreciator, as well as all future reviewers and everyone who put this on their favourites and alerts! :)