Title: Hear the Ocean Breathe 
Author: Cait N. 
Series: VOY
Pairing: J/C 
Rating: G 
Copyright: May 2003
Feedback: Yes, please! caitn@mindspring.com 
Archive: Yes, just let me know where.

Summary: A missing scene from "Future's End" Part 1. Entered in
the ex astris (http://www.geocities.com/eagle823_d/index.html )
"Yellow Umbrellas" contest.



=^= =^= =^= =^=

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Chakotay couldn't
keep the skepticism out of his voice.

"I'm following the tricorder," Janeway answered. "The subspace
signals are emanating from just around that bend up ahead."

Only by sheer will did he refrain from reaching out and taking
the tricorder from her hand to check it himself. Chakotay looked
back over his shoulder. They'd left the crowded beach behind
them, and seemed to be getting further and further away from the
more populous area of Venice Beach. 

"Is there any chance the tricorder could be malfunctioning?" 

"Just around the bend," she repeated, not willing, or wanting,
to acknowledge the doubt in his voice.

Chakotay wiped sweat from his brow, wishing he were wearing
Paris' tank top instead of the confining sports coat and slacks
he'd been stuck with. It had to be at least 90 degrees plus! A
sideways glance at his captain. How did she do it? She looked as
cool and fresh as she had an hour ago, while his clothes were
practically saturated with perspiration.   

They rounded the "bend" Janeway had been going on about, and
stopped in their tracks. 

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of yellow umbrellas dotted the
landscape. Huge, bright yellow umbrellas, held straight as an
exclamation point by a small concrete base.

"What the?" Chakotay looked around in amazement and confusion.
There wasn't another soul in sight now; just him and Kathryn. At
her continued silence, he prompted, "The readings?"

She fiddled with the tricorder. "I don't understand it."

"Understand what?"

She smacked the side of the tricorder in a decidedly
engineerlike fashion. "Now the readings are coming from town!
Near the area that Paris called 'the boardwalk'."

Chakotay sighed. Walking toward the closest umbrella, he sat
down in the sand near the base.

"You're resting?" Janeway asked.

"Yes, I'm resting," he answered sharply. He sighed again. "I'm
hot, tired, and frustrated at being so close to Earth, only to
have it turn out to be a big cosmic joke. 'You're back at Earth,
Chakotay, only 400 years out of time. Ha ha!'.

"I'm hot and tired, too," Janeway admitted.

"Then sit with me." He reached up and tugged on her hand,
catching her off balance. She landed in the sand next to him,
almost losing hold of the tricorder. She tucked it back in her
pocket for safe keeping. 

"I guess a few minutes won't hurt," she confessed.

"No, it won't." 

The ocean stretched out in the distance, silent waves lapping
against the oblivious shore. The only sound around them was the
canvas of the umbrellas as it stretched and bent in the wind. 

"It's so peaceful out here. You can almost hear the ocean
breathe."

He smiled at her whimsy.

Almost a minute passed in silence. Afterward, Chakotay couldn't
be sure whether it was the heat, the weird yellow-dotted
landscape around them, or the fact that so many things had been
left unsaid since their rescue from New Earth. He reached out a
hand and undid the clip holding Kathryn's hair at the nape of
her neck. His long fingers started combing through the strands,
spreading her hair across her shoulders. 

"Chakotay." She shot him a confused look.

He took hold of her jacket at the shoulders and inched it down,
watching it pool around her hips on the sand. The tank top
underneath left her shoulders bare; a pale golden color, her
hair sugared cinnamon against them. 

Chakotay shrugged out of his sports coat, the sweat-soaked blue
t-shirt underneath sticking to his skin. "Isn't that cooler?" he
asked.

Kathryn's smile was more a half-smile, pulling at the right
side of her face. "I suppose."

His fingers played with the stands of hair against her shoulder
again. "How I imagined it spread out at night, against your
pillow."

"Chakotay." Her smile faltered.

"Just a few minutes, Kathryn. I miss you and me and New Earth
and even that aggravating monkey." His hand tugged on her hair,
urging her head down onto his shoulder. "If I can't have a
lifetime, just give me a few minutes."

She scooted closer to him, her hair tickling his neck, her hand
resting loosely upon his thigh. 

Around them, the yellow umbrellas flapped in the ocean breeze.


THE END
