Naomi crept into the turbolift, her notebook clutched to her chest. It wasn't often that she dared to venture to the bridge but she needed to talk to the captain and it wouldn't hurt to find out if she was free. The lift headed straight to the bridge with no stops on other decks, for which she was grateful; it was all too easy to be waylaid when she was on a mission. It had only recently occurred to her that the reason people were always stopping her and wanting to talk to her was because she was the only child on the ship; she always made an effort to talk to people because her mother had told her it was polite but the grown ups on the ship never seemed to understand that she was very busy.

As the turbolift doors opened, Chakotay turned his head slightly and saw Naomi. She gazed at him, remembering what B'Elanna had said but not quite plucking up the courage to say anything. For his part, Chakotay made no move to engage her in conversation. He smiled sadly and Naomi wished that she could think of something to say. Instead she turned to Tuvok and asked if she could go and see the captain in the ready room. The Vulcan nodded, eying the little girl as she skirted warily round Chakotay, shooting him a timid half smile and disappearing through the door as soon as the captain called her in. Chakotay threw his head back against the headrest of his chair and stared moodily at his hands. Tuvok cleared his throat.

"Commander, are you well?"

"Yes, thank you, Tuvok."

"It is just that when Miss Wildman came onto the bridge I got the distinct impression that something was wrong."

Chakotay glanced around him at the other bridge crew busy not listening and made his way to Tuvok's station, leaning heavily on it.

"She won't talk to me Tuvok and I don't know why. I saw her in the corridor yesterday and it's almost as though she was scared of me. I don't know what I've done."

Instead of raising his eyebrows and telling him patiently that children often acted in strange ways and it wouldn't be long before Naomi was back to normal, as Chakotay expected Tuvok to do, the Vulcan nodded sharply.

"I believe I know why."

"Why?"

"Miss Wildman has recently discovered the existence of Maquis on the ship and has been pressing various crew members for information. When she asked me, I told her that you were an ex Maquis. Perhaps she is connecting you with the more unsavoury acts that the Maquis committed."

"Who would tell her about that?"

"I did," Tuvok said simply, not looking up from his panel as he pressed various buttons.

"You told a child of her age that-" Chakotay said hotly, his eyes darkening.

"Miss Wildman is mature for her age," Tuvok countered, "And she would have found out what happened regardless of whether or not I told her. When I found her, she was reading reports from the database. It is better that I told her in a way that she could understand."

Chakotay breathed once and slumped against the station, gazing over his shoulder at the ready room door.

"I don't want the only child on this ship to be scared of me, Tuvok. How can I make her understand?"

"As you would do with all children. Go and talk to her in a place that she feels safe. Perhaps even now would be a good idea, when she is with the captain."

-POLITICS AND CHOCOLATE ICECREAM-

"What can I do for you, Naomi?" Kathryn smiled, putting aside the PADD that she was reading and gesturing for the youngster to take the spare chair. Naomi clambered up, her notebook held tightly under her arm. She fixed the captain with the stare that Kathryn had come to associate with a plan in action.

"Captain, I'd like to ask you some questions about the Maquis."

The smile froze on Kathryn's face.

"How do you know about the Maquis, Naomi? Your mother doesn't want you to know about them."

"She told me about them," Naomi explained patiently, "After Seven accidentally told me about them when she was sick the other day."

"I see," Kathryn nodded slowly, not happy with the situation but accepting it for the time being, "And what would you like to know about the Maquis exactly?"

"Do you think that they were right?"

"Once, a long time ago, I thought they were wrong," the captain rolled her head gently in a circle, as though trying to literally weigh up the judgement in her head, "But now that I have become friends with a great number of them, I can understand why they were fighting. I do not agree with their actions but I understand their cause."

"That's what Tuvok said too," Naomi didn't look up as she carefully noted down the captain's words, "That he understands but he doesn't agree."

"How many people have you spoken to about this, Naomi?" Kathryn asked, seeing for the first time the pages of writing in her notebook.

"Mommy, Tuvok, B'Elanna and now, you."

"You've done a lot of research then."

"Yep. In history class, Commander Chakotay says that you can't make a judgement if you don't have enough evidence."

"Why haven't you spoken to Commander Chakotay? I thought that the two of you were friends."

Naomi ducked her head and noticeably didn't answer the question.

"Naomi? What's wrong?"

"Tuvok told me some of the things Commander Chakotay did, when he was a Maquis," the little girl whispered, her lip trembling.

"Three cheers for Vulcan tact," Kathryn thought, reaching out and taking Naomi's hand across the table, "You've spoken to B'Elanna though. Why are you scared of Commander Chakotay and not her?"

"B'Elanna's always been a little bit scary," Naomi murmured, "Especially when she's in a bad mood. Commander Chakotay has always been –"

Noticing that she was struggling to find the words, Kathryn stepped in to help her, "Commander Chakotay has always been your friend and now you don't know what to think."

Silently, Naomi nodded.

"Well, Naomi, I don't know what I can say. Commander Chakotay isn't that person anymore. He is your friend. He's everyone's friend and he would never do anything to hurt you."

"He might have once," Naomi's frustration and fear got the better of her and she began to cry, "I don't know what to think anymore."

At that precise moment, as the captain was already walking round the desk to comfort her, the door opened and Commander Chakotay stepped in. Naomi gasped and moved closer to the captain; Chakotay didn't try to move but Kathryn could see from the look on his face that he knew why Naomi was crying. Deciding to take the lead, Kathryn firmly moved Naomi to stand next to her and indicated that Chakotay should sit in the vacated spare seat. Before anyone else could say anything, she put an arm round Naomi's trembling body and said to Chakotay, "Please tell Naomi why you joined the Maquis."

He nodded slowly and swallowed deeply, just once. How to explain it to one so young?

"I was in Starfleet before I joined the Maquis, Naomi. Did you know that?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I was. But then I saw that the Cardassians were attacking my home, a little moon in the DMZ, and no one in the Federation was trying to stop them, apart from the Maquis. I had to join the Maquis, Naomi, because my family was in trouble. The Cardassians killed most of my people and they killed my parents. The only real family I have left is a sister who was off world when the Cardassians attacked."

Seeing that Naomi had stopped crying and was looking more intrigued than scared, he continued, remembering to keep his tone even and his face friendly.

"I joined the Maquis, Naomi, because I wanted to protect my family and I stayed because I wanted to stop other people feeling the loss that I did when my people died. Do you understand now?"

With a gentle push from the captain, who could see that Chakotay really needed his young pupil and friend to see that he wasn't a threat to her, Naomi walked slowly round the desk and stood in front of him, with her head tilted slightly to one side.

"So, the only reason you ever hurt anyone was because you wanted to protect your family and your tribe and your planet?"

"Yes."

"And now that you're here, you don't need to hurt anyone because your family isn't here."

"That's right," he smiled sadly, reaching out and taking one of her small hands. She didn't flinch away, "And do you know something else? Everyone on this ship is my family now, and I want to protect them, not hurt them."

"Even me?"

"Especially you."

Naomi threw herself at him, her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He returned the gesture with relief and smiled at Kathryn over Naomi's head, mouthing his thanks.

When Naomi pulled away, she smiled sheepishly at him, "I'm sorry I was so silly."

"Don't be sorry at all, Naomi. I've already forgotten it. I'm just glad we're friends again."

"Me too. Can we have a lesson soon? Tom was telling me about dinosaurs but I think he was making up the names. Was there really such a thing as a Doyouthinkhesaurus?"