This is such a wonderful story. You have written the characters so beautifully.
Thank you!

Lovely continuation you've written here!
I really enjoy how authentically you've written Janeway and Chakotay. You balance the reader's need to explore their romance, without compromising the integrity of their development.
Thanks for sharing :)

Fascinating story, so well written. Thank you for sharing

Someone recommended as one of the best Chakotay-based fic, so I went looking for it. Well worth it. You sum up so succinctly how he must have felt about putting the uniform back on. Like how the biggest compromise wasn’t his, but the Federation. I like that you make him pretty grounded like he’s not conflicted in himself, but with the outside world.

"Do you mean to say you didn't actually embrace Starfleet's principles again at that time?”…
"It was never a question of embracing anything again. I'd never rejected Starfleet's principles; I rejected Command's failure to honour them, to apply them in practice.”

Its good how you show that he wasn’t selling out because he saw Janeway as the best of the Federation –
“Your destruction of the array demonstrated to me that you weren't afraid to make the sorts of decisions that Command had balked at. I followed you out there, Kathryn, not them. Surely you realised that?"
But she hadn’t!

It’s also good how you show the consequences for him of using violence, when he’d like a more peaceful life. The fallout here you describe is realistic. Great story Thanks for sharing.

Loved this ending to a story that was honest and dark, with a big ray of hope at the end. This is the deepest insight into Sveta I've seen. It is very realistic that she would feel this way about Kathryn, and be strong enough to confront her. The physical description of Sveta is also intriguing. It is easy to see why Chakotay would have been attracted to her. His defense of Kathryn is wonderful. All around great story.

Amazeballs! Your Sveta is EXACTLY how I imagine her but could never write so wonderfully. Ooooh the scene between her an KJ had me on the edge of my seat hoping it never ended / wanting it to climax in a huge explosion! I love this, as with all your work. And I would be remiss if I didn't say I wanted another scene with this Sveta and KJ. Savage :)

I loved this! Grown up angst is the best! :) It's always interesting to see Kathryn have an antagonist to play with, and you have written a very intresting Sveta, who certainly have good reason to distrust anything and anyone associated with Starfleet. I want to read more about her! Great work!

I always love reading your work. Thank you.

Great ending and I am so glad you came back and finished
it.

Sveta is a lot...witchier...than I expected. It almost seems she's looking to snatch up Chakotay for herself.

There is no doubt that you know your craft well. I like it how you so often use your stories to complete the picture that we have of a character. You meticulously peeled the layers away from how we are used to seeing Chakotay in order to give insight into a backstory that is rarely mentioned. The way you used his former decisions to emphasize the inner conflict that was still raging through him was very intense , partially painful and I admit that the scene in his bedroom made me cry. I loved how you explored the depth of their friendship and turned their roles around. Suddenly it was her part to make his burdens lighter, a side of Kathryn we don't see so often either.

My favorite moment:

"She felt time collapse in on itself. The distance that had extended between them over the last few years seemed to instantly contract (...)"

whew some intense emotions right there

Really interesting introspective here

Okay, so I decided that since I've been so rubbish at reviewing your stories, I am going to go back and re-read them all so that I can write proper ones. I started with this one because I remember being so impressed with it the first time around. What I particularly like is how you explore Chakotay's feelings about the Maquis so well. It was just one of the aspects of his character and backstory that was served so poorly in the series, and this story goes to show what depths they wasted by not investigating the effects of the Maquis struggle and subsequent massacre. I also, of course, love the brilliant interaction you've created between the pair of them - it feels in character and appropriate. And obviously, I very much appreciate the fact that you managed to get him topless! ;)

I reeally enjoyed this and it's very well written!