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The doors to her apartment had only barely closed when everything shattered. Kathryn sank to her knees, burying her face in her hands. All day, she had thrown himself into her work, desperate to find a solution, an answer. All day, she had held herself together, trying to act like her world wasn't crumbling around her.
He couldn't be gone. Not like this. Not so far from home, so far from her. Not there.
They'd lost seven long years to the Delta Quadrant. Things had only just begun to go their way. She couldn't lose him to the Delta Quadrant. That was a twist of fate too cruel even for the universe to throw at her.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to rage, to bargain, to run out and find him, to wake up and find this was all a horrible nightmare. Instead, she curled in on herself, her body shuddering with every silent sob.
This was what it felt like to be the one left behind. Now she knew what her family had gone through when Voyager had disappeared. But this just wasn't fair. Here or on the ship, this was the second time this had happened to her.
Maybe her love life was cursed. Maybe she was destined to be alone for the rest of her life. Who else could have not one but two engagements end in the Delta Quadrant?
She moved to the bedroom in a daze, wanting nothing more than to curl up in her bed and go to sleep. Maybe she'd wake up and find this was just a nightmare.
Her eyes settle don the smooth stone resting on her bedside table/ Picking it up, she clutched it to her chest. Chakotay had called it a beacon to guide him home. She'd never believed he'd really need one.
Another tear slipped from beneath her eyelid.
"Please bring him home."