Disclaimer: I own nothing unless of course they want to give me Chakotay as a Christmas present!

Synopsis: Just a quick little Christmas story inspired by a card I received and of course the wonderful heritage that I share with Kate herself!

Please note that this story was posted quickly and did not go through my editor, so blame me for any errors not Sue!

We Will Get There

The party was winding down. Once again Neelix had done an outstanding job. This was their sixth Christmas in the Delta Quadrant. She shook her head, could it really be the sixth? She had to admit that some days it felt like the sixtieth! But on nights like today when she watched her crew laughing and having fun she could not imagine what her life was like before she knew them. The Christmas celebrations in Indiana seemed a distant memory. One thing she remembered vividly was the snow. Even as a child she was amazed that there was always snow on Christmas. She was brought out of her reverie but the sound of whopping. She turned her attention to the corner where everyone was cheering. There was Chakotay, caught underneath the mistletoe, dipping B'Elanna to the ground in a kiss. She jumped when she heard a whisper in her ear!

"We could make them jealous ourselves."

She turned to see Tom Paris' smiling face. "Why are you jealous Mr. Paris?"

"No, but I have always dreamed of kissing my Captain underneath the mistletoe." His smile widen as he tried to lead her across the room.

She stood her ground firmly. She called to Sandrine to bring her another glass of wine.

"You are incorrigible Mr. Paris."

He took her hand and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss. "And you my captain are a chicken!" He swept away to grab B'Elanna before she escaped the mistletoe.

Kathryn settled back into the booth and continued watching her crew. She noticed Harry was spending more an more time with one of the ensigns assigned to engineering. She jumped as once again a voice appeared out of no where. "Maybe this one won't try to kill him!"

"Exactly what I was thinking!" She slide in to allow Chakotay to join her. "It's wonderful to see them all so happy."

"Yes, it is."

"They deserve it. It has been a difficult year." She began to let a touch of sadness envelope her.

Just then Sandrine brought two wines to the table. She leaned over to place one in front of Kathryn. Instinctively Chakotay moved over to avoid grazing Sandrine's body with his arm. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, he was now pressed against his captain.

"Enjoy." Sandrine said with a twinkle in her eye.

Chakotay slid back over just a little. Both their arms were free but his leg remained against her. She eyed him curiously but did not pull away. "Want to hear some interesting gossip?"

She looked stricken with fear. "Is it about us?"

"No."

"Then yes I do."

"The latest word spreading throughout the ship is that Tom is going to propose to B'Elanna."

"Do you think is true?" Kathryn had straightened in her seat. She reminded Chakotay of an excited child.

"I don't know. You can't believe everything you hear."

"Don't I know it. If you believed everything you heard about you and I it is a wonder we had time to run the ship." She punctuated her statement by moving her leg just enough that it rubbed his thigh.

He laughed. "That's true. I don't think anyone could have that much sex in a lifetime forget in a few years."

She didn't know how he did it but somehow his foot was rubbing on her calf. They were flirting outrageously and she was enjoying it. It was not too long ago that they had drifted apart. Hurt by too many fights, their friendship was almost lost. For the first time in her life she felt the urge to fight to hold onto something. So she invited him to dinner night after night. It started out very professional but slowly the barriers they had both erected began to crumble. What were the words he said, 'to always be by my side.' Finally she began to believe that they were true once again.

Chakotay was just about to do something very bold when Tom sat down opposite them. "Hey, you two. You look like a bunch of party poopers."

The Captain spoke before Chakotay could. "We are just a bunch of old folks watching you yougins enjoy themselves!"

"Please, if you are old then I am an angel."

"Well, that blows that theory, Captain."

Tom extended his hand. "Come dance with me Captain. You wouldn't indulge my other fantasy at least give me this."

Chakotay raised his eyebrows and looked at his Captain. She smacked his arm. "It was nothing Commander." Chakotay did not move. He wasn't sure he wanted Tom to dance with her.

"Come on Chakotay you kissed my woman it is only fair that I dance with yours."

Chakotay stood up to allow the Captain out. He gave Tom a stern look. "She is not my woman."

Tom grabbed her hand and headed for the dancing area. He called back over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. Save it for someone who might actually believe you!"

When the dance ended Chakotay was right there to take the captain from Tom.

"If she is my girl don't you think I should at least get a dance?" The music that had begun fast suddenly changed to slow and sultry.

"Absolutely Old Man, enjoy!"

"If I didn't know any better I would swear Tom was drunk."

"He was holding you a little close when you were dancing."

"And you did kiss B'Elanna."

"We can dance right over to the mistletoe right now if you so desire."

She looked up into his eyes as she placed her free hand on his heart. "Oh Chakotay, if all that mattered was desire."

"Shh! Let's just enjoy right now." He pulled her obscenely close and swayed to the rhythm of the music.

When the song ended both were flush. "Thank you for the dance Commander. I believe I will call it a night." He walked with her back to their booth. She picked up her glass and took a final sip of wine as she glanced around the room one last time and whispered "Merry Christmas, everyone." He continued walking with her to the exit. "Chakotay can you stop by my quarters when you leave? I have something I want to give you."

He knew she didn't want them to leave together or the flames of the rumor mill would be fanned. "Fifteen minutes."

"See you then."

Chakotay stopped at his quarters to get her gift. When he entered her quarters he noticed that the lights were low and she was sitting on the couch. "I never did tell you tonight but you look amazing in red." He was referring to the red velvet dress that she had chosen to wear to the party.

She smiled shyly. "I wear red everyday!"

"Enough said." He went over and joined her on the couch. I made us a little egg nog to the toast Christmas. She handed him the cup. "What do you have there?" She pointed to the large present he had in his hand.

"Oh, this. It's nothing." She pouted just a little. He laughed out loud. "Okay it's for you." He handed it to her and she ripped off the paper.

"Nothing like patience!" Her enthusiasm warmed his heart.

She had opened it backwards and when she turned it around her eyes widened in surprise. "Chakotay it is beautiful!" What she saw in front of her was a picture. On the right side was an old white house set back behind a field. There was a dusting of snow on the roof of the house while remnants of a larger storm remained on the grass. In the distance walking up a path was a tall man in a swaude coat. He was headed for the house. "Chakotay this is amazing. It looks just like my home in Indiana."

"I know."

She looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean you know?"

"I sent a message to your mother in one of the data streams and asked her to send me a picture of your house."

"Chakotay, that is so sweet." She ran her hand across the front. "This must have taken a long time. You must have… I mean."

He took her hand. "I know what you mean. Even though we were struggling it never crossed my mind that we would not work it out. Did you read the writing on the side?"

To the left of the picture was a hand written poem.

"May the light of the

Christmas star be with you.

May the blessed light shine on you

And warm your heart

until it glows like a great fire,

So that a stranger may come

And warm himself as your friend."

"It is an old Irish blessing, Kathryn."

"And the stranger, the man walking toward my house in the painting, is you."

The room was charged with emotion. Their hands were still entwined. His courage faltered so he looked down. "Yes. Six years ago we were strangers, and now,"

"And now we are so much more." She freed her hand and ran it down his cheek. "Thank you, Chakotay. It is the most wonderful gift I have ever gotten."

"I just wanted to give you something that would remind you of home, because I believe we will get there."

"That is exactly what I was thinking when I worked on your present. I believe we will get there." She stood the painting against the wall as she slipped into her bedroom.

"If my present is in there I am already ecstatic." He teased.

She returned holding a painting. "Nice try! It's funny that we both had the same idea. I painted this for you." She handed him the painting and stood behind him and watched as the emotions played across his face.

"I didn't think you remembered."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Not a day goes by that I don't."

Chakotay's eyes were glued to scene in front of him. The sky was dark but filled with stars. In the background stood a shelter. But the dominating image was to the left by the tree in the foreground. A large bathtub stood in front of the tree. It was filled with water but empty. A woman stood next to it. She had a towel wrapped around her. Her reddish brown hair was pinned up with small pieces escaping on each side. Behind her stood a man his face was down as his lips brushed her left shoulder. The woman's eyes were closed but a small smile graced her lips.

Chakotay was overwhelmed. It was magnificent. Of course this scene never really took place, but in his mind it had happened a thousand times. "Kathryn, this is gorgeous." She sat on the table so that she was able to sit next to him and look at the painting.

She very quietly spoke. "I just wanted you to know that I believe we will get there some day."

He laid the painting down carefully and turned to her and hugged her. She pulled back a little, not out of fear but because there were some things she still wanted to say.

"I don't like it when things are not right between us. I am not a good captain, or a good person, when that happens. Less than a year ago I thought you were gone for good."

He raised his hand to her mouth. "Shh, I am never going anywhere."

"I know I have hurt you, but please know it was never intentional. The painting was, well." She shook her head and stood up. "Damn, this is hard!"

He stood up and took her arms and led her back to the couch. "I am not going any where. Talking to me isn't hard, fighting The Borg, now that is hard!"

She laughed and settled down into the couch. "The funny thing is that as ridiculous as it sounds but fighting the Borg is easier for me than talking about how I feel." She took a deep breath and he waited. "We both know that the scene in the painting never happened. But I wanted you to know that in my mind it happened a thousand times. I just wanted to tell you that I want to be with you and I think that someday we will get there." She looked up at him expectantly.

"Thank you, Kathryn. It is most beautiful gift I ever received. Every time I look at it I will think of the …" He stumbled as he almost said love.

She took his hands and finished for him, "love."

He smiled sweetly, "I will think of the love we feel for each other." He pulled her back and nestled her into the crook of his arm. "I think I will hang it in my office!"

She spun around. "Don't you dare!" He laughed at her reaction.

"Where then?"

"I was thinking maybe your bedroom."

He shook his head. "I don't know. I may not ever get any sleep."

"You mean you are getting sleep now!"

"You're right. I guess it doesn't matter."

She settled back down into his arms where she felt secure for the first time in a long time. Suddenly someday seemed too far away. She turned and faced him. "Chakotay, I think maybe someday starts today." She leaned in further and gently kissed his lips. She pulled back slowly. She couldn't read his face. "Is this too much? I mean I don't think I am ready for much more but I wouldn't mind this. I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable position, Chakotay."

"Kathryn, I have been uncomfortable for six years. I will still be uncomfortable but I'll be enjoying myself a whole lot more!" His lips descended on her and as she gasped in surprise he deepened the kiss. Yeah, he was uncomfortable but someday was a lot closer today then it was yesterday. What a Merry Christmas this turned out to be!