Chapter 1

"Seven?" the woman of her dreams questioned not more then two feet away. As if by it's own accord, Seven's right hand lifted up to carress the cheek of B'Elanna Torres who was standing right in front of her just as lovingly as she had carressed the console a minute ago. And again, that smile appeared making the drone look so heavenly. But this time a matching smile lit up the features of the engineer as she leaned into the touch.

'I believe I am beginning to like suprises,' Seven thought as she fell in love with the volitile Klingon all over again.

"Hey, Lanna! What's the hold up?" Tom Paris yelled from the doors of engineering across the room to where Torres and Seven stood in front of the warp core. The trance between both women was irrevically broken. Seven's hand quickly dropped to her side just as Lanna's smile had faded. Now, instead, a slight frown and crinckled brow took the place of the once surprisingly soft smile. Confusion soon clouded over big brown eyes as they searched clear blue eyes filled suddenly with pain. But before questions could be asked, the women were interrupted again.

"Come on, Lanna. The movie's going to start soon and we're going to miss the previews if we don't hurry. I know how you hate to miss the popcorn dance," Tom said when he approached the women with a childlike enthusiasm that can only be compared to that of a kid in a candy store. B'Elanna blushed furiously at Tom's little admission. For some reason she didn't appreciate looking foolish in front of the ex-Borg. 'Since when do I care about what the ice queen thinks? It's probably cause she's just so damn perfect and I hate looking imperfect next to her.' 'Either that or you might actually care about what she thinks of you,' a little voice, not her own, inside Lanna's head piped up helpfully. 'Since when the hell did I get an inner voice and what do you mean I care? Never mind I don't have time or this.'

"Come on Tom, let's go see that movie. Seven, we'll talk later," Torres said as she turned around to leave.

"Yeah, bye, Seven. Glad you're feeling better," was Paris's only acknowledgement toward the blonde.

"Lieutenants," Seven merely whispered to the back of the woman she loved while watching her life walk out of the doors and into her own life without Seven in it.

With shoulders slumped and head down, Seven walked out of engineering alone. Her destination, one of infinite coldness, harsh reality, and a loneliness that could be felt deep within her bones, cargo bay 2. On her trek down empty corridors, Seven remembered when she had been informed of the completion of the repairs made to her alcove.

"Kim to Seven of Nine."

"Go ahead, Commander," Seven had answered automatically. Only after she had said that did she realize how inappropriate it was. "My apologies, Ensign Kim. I believe the Doctor would call it a 'slip of the tongue' caused by the fact that 'old habits are hard to break,'" the Borg tried to explain her momentary lapse but realized it was not a very good one.

"Umm, that's okay Seven. I just wanted to let you know that your alcove is all fixed up and whenever you're ready to regenerate, you can." Seven could almost hear his eyebrows shoot up the young man's forehead when he spoke.

"Thank you, Harry. I appreciate all of your help."

"You're welcome, Seven. Anytime. Kim out."

Thinking about that last part of the conversation again, Seven realized that not only did she hear happiness in Harry's voice from being able to help her out but also concern as well. Perhaps he was concerned about the fact that she had 'slipped up' and called him Commander or perhaps he was shocked to be called Harry. Perhaps he heard the pain in her voice which she tried so hard to hide or maybe he had picked up on her unease. What ever the reason may be, she knew that Harry was a very kind man and would undoubtably be payig her a visit soon. In fact she was also expecting a visit from the captain soon. Although Janeway had promised Seven some time alone to sort things out on her own, that time was almost up. Knowing the captain, she would wish to discuss what had occured in the dream and how Seven was feeling. That's why she was now heading towards the cargo bay. This ex-drone knew that a conversation with the captain would be a lengthy and emotinally draining experience,one that she would probably need to be well rested for. A nice eight hour long regeneration cycle was just what the doctor 'suggested'.

But things are much easier said then done. Walking into the cargo bay, Seven took a long look at the alcove and shuddered in response. This was the place where she had her dream. The place where she lost most of her friends, the place where the crew finally accepted her. This was the place where she gained a true family with Naomi Wildman and where she found love yet lost it. This was the place where she remembered. Everytime she stepped up to her alcove would she remember her dream? Thanks to her eidetic memory, even though this was only a dream, Seven was able to remember every detail of what had happened. 'It may have been a dream for everyone else but it felt so real to me.' A reality she wished she could get back to. 'Perhaps I will dream again.' Seven's human side hoped but it was her Borg side that always reminded her, 'Improbable'. Yet for some reason that hope wasn't crushed. And with a slight smile curving her lips, the ex-Borg stepped up to the alcove and began her cycle.

Eight hours later and the computer intoned, "Regeneration cycle complete."

Seven slowly returned back to reality opening those crystal blue eyes to the starkness of the cargo bay. As she took in her surroundings, a frown immediately covered her features. 'I did not dream.'

"Seven? Are you okay?" The captain asked as she moved closer to the blonde.

"Captain. I am fine. A little disoriented but am functioning nonetheless," Seven replied, a little startled that she had not seen the captain there at first.

"Well, I do believe it is time for our little chat then. I'd really like you to talk to me and open up a bit. Judging from that frown, I doubt that you're just 'fine'. How about we head up to my quarters?"

"No!" Seven said a little too quickly and vehemently. "I, uhh, would prefer to talk here if you agree that is." The Borg stumbled over her words, not sure how she could explain that the captain's quarters were her quarters not two days before.

"That's fine Seven. I want you to be comfortable and if that's here, then that's fine by me." Although Janeway was suprised by the odd manner in which the blonde was acting she was also warmed by the fact that it made Seven seem much more human then ever before.

The two women sat down next to each other on the dias and Janeway noticed how much Seven really did change as a result of her dream. True, even now she was no slouch, but the Borg no longer kept that impossibly straight posture that she had whenever she would sit. Her facial features were more descript, no longer projecting the icy Borg exterior she once did and her eyes held a depth of emotion that Kathryn didn't think Seven possible of, at least not at this time in her life. Janeway couldn't help but admire and enjoy the new changes in her young charge. A smile crept up onto the captain's face as she thought about how lovely and beautiful Seven now looked. 'Not to say that she wasn't beautiful before, but now it was just that more apparent and radiant.

Before Janeway could ask the young woman to tell her about the dream, the doors to the cargo bay opened and in walked Commander Chakotay.

"Captain, Seven. I'm sorry to interrupt, I didn't know that you would be meeting with Seven this morning. I just wanted to stop by and offer my assistance to Seven. If you need to talk or anything like that, I've been told that I have the ability to listen well." Chakotay turned to Janeway then Seven.

"Thank you, Commander. I will keep that in mind," Seven replied back and made the commander smile at her choice of words. Like Seven would ever be able to forget the offer.

"Seven, would you mind terribly if Chakotay sat in on our little discussion as well? As he mentioned he is a great listener and he might be able to offer up some advice I might not think of." Kathryn thought that even though he would eventually hear of what happened in a report, it was better for him to here it from the source.

"No, I do not mind. You are welcome to 'pull up a seat,' Commander." Seven gestured toward the floor in front of the two women.

"Why thank you, Seven. I think I will." Chakotay also now noticed the fact that Seven was different from what he remembered but for him it was a good kind of difference. 'Can't wait to hear about what had caused that difference.'

Just then the holodeck doors opened for a third time that morning. This time it admitted one Harry Kim and one Tom Paris.

"Come on, Tom. I think I left it in here," Kim yelled a little too loudly and with too much acting effort. "Oh, sorry are we interrupting?" Seven merely raised her eyebrow while Janeway rubbed her forehead and Chakotay laughed.

"You know, Harry, maybe next time you should let me do the acting," Tom replied as he rolled his eyes at his friends bad attempt at lying.

"Does everyone know that I was planning on meeting with Seven today to discuss her dream?" Kathryn asked as she realized that Chaoktay's arrival was no accident either.

"Well, yeah," Tom supplied helpfully. "We all knew you wanted to check up on Seven immediately and the morning was your first chance possible. It was then just a matter of asking the computer for your location. Harry here also was concerned over the strange way Seven's been acting and wanted to check up on her too. Me, I am slightly concerned but more curious about this dream than anything else. So, mind if we join you?"

"No, I do not mind. You will undoubtably find out about it some way, whether it be through gossip or ship's logs so I might as well tell you now. Avoiding the emminent is ineffiecent and illogical," Seven said as the two men took seats on the floor on either side of Chakotay.

"Well, it's nice to see some things don't change," Tom stated after hearing words like ineffiecent and illogical.

"What doesn't change?" the Doctor asked as he materialized in the cargo bay and immediately joined the group on the floor plopping down next to Seven. The captain groaned while everyone else smirked at the Doc's arrival.

"Obviously, the grapevine for gossip still travels faster then light," Janeway complained.

"Perhaps, Captain, it would have been easier to just call a senior staff meeting," Seven dead panned but couldn't hold in the laughter as Neelix came running into the room, dragging behind him B'Elanna and Tuvok, asking if they had missed anything. At first everyone was extremely shocked to see Seven of Nine, late of the Borg collective, laughing but each joined in as the ridiculousness of the situation dawned on everyone.

"Perhaps we should just move this discussion up to the conference room istead of sitting here," Janeway suggested being one of the firsts to regain some sort of control.

"Naw, I kinda like sitting here. It's sorta like a little camp out, except we're missing the fire and marshmellows," Tom disagreed.

"Tom's right, Captain. Here we're all relaxed and for once just hanging out together instead of just working together," Chakotay seconded.

"I agree, Captain. I do feel more relaxed here and able to be comfortable," Seven added.

"Oh, Alright. We'll stay. But if my butt hurts tommorrow from sitting on this floor instead of a comfy chair, you will all be exposed to my force ten glares," Janeway aquiessed.

"So, Seven, tell us about this dream," Tom prodded as the three late comers took there seats. Tuvok sat behind Kim and Chakotay with Neelix sitting next to him and Lanna taking a seat next to the Doctor up on the dias.

For the next 40 minutes, Seven told all those present about her dream. From the attack by the Grendali to the death of half of the senior staff. From her taking command to her taking care of Naomi. From her moving into the cptain's quarters to the crew's acceptance of her. From the shore leave to the accident. From Torres, Kim, and herself being know as the command team to the narrow escape from species 3785. Of course a few details were left out like who had injured her by sabotaging the computer and her subsequent relationship with Lanna. But nonetheless, she still managed to shock everyone present.

"So, while in reality only nine days had passed, over a month had passed in your dream?" Chakotay asked completely facinated by the dream.

"Yes." Seven now looked over the quiet room as the others took in what she had just described.

"The command team, huh?" Lanna smirked as she finally broke the silence. "Cool." Now she understood a little better why the ex-drone was acting so strange and different in engineering yesterday. 'She really does seem a whole lot different, more human some how. I guess when you're forced to captain a human starship, you really do have to adapt and adapt for the better. She doesn't seem so arrogant or extremely self-confident anymore. She doesn't even seem like the ice princess I once knew. Maybe we could actually become friends now,' Lanna contemplated. 'Yeah, and then some.' There was that little voice again.

"So that's why you didn't want to come to my quarters then. They were just your's two days ago, not mention Naomi's." Realization finally dawned on the captain.

"Wow, Seven. You went from having no quarters to the captain's quaters. Some people have all the luck," Harry complained, again.

"Ensign, I believe you made the same complaint in my dream but when I offered you the position of captain so that you may have the quarters you seemed to 'change your tune' very quickly." Seven smiled at the blushing young man as everyone else burst out laughing.

"She's got you pegged, Harry," Tom managed to get in inbetween laughing and gasping for breath.

Seven's smile quickly faded from her face. All this talk about her dream was really beginning to stir up memories. Not to mention every time she looked at Tom Paris, Seven felt a stab in her chest realizing all over again that her love does not love her, but rather someone else. Janeway saw the change immediately and decided to call an end to the meeting. Everyone grumbled a bit over the fact that it was over but got up anyway, respecting that Seven still needed time to adjust back to reality. One by one they each left the cargo bay but Lanna had lagged behind. Like Janeway, she too saw the pained look that ghosted across the blonde's face and for some reason was reluctant to leave. But seeing the captain stay behind to talk with Seven, Torres decided to leave anyway. 'The captain will find out what's wrong and comfort her so what am I worried about. So what if I want to comfort her too? It's not my place. Just a few days ago we were barely on speaking terms and now just because she show's some emotion I want to hold her? But maybe I should try and reach out to her. After all if my dream self can stand to be friends with her then I'm sure I can manage. She really does look like she can use a friend and so can I for that matter.' B'Elanna sighed as she let the bay.

Chapter 2

Captain Kathryn Janeway watched as the doors to cargo bay 2 slid shut following the exit of one hesitant engineer. Turning back to face the other woman still present in the room, Janeway noticed that her eyes had also followed B'Elanna Torres out of the doors. But there seemed to be something else there as well. Perhaps a longing or need to become good friends with the aggressive half Klingon or just a desire to end the on again off again anomosity between them. Although their relationship had improved recently, perhaps Seven wanted it to improve even more. And from the looks of B'Elanna's hesitant exit, maybe she wanted the same thing. Janeway decided that she'd look into it later. Right now, the captain had other plans which involved a certain ex-drone.

"Seven, care to take a walk with me?" The blonde nodded her head and followed the captain out of the doors. She didn't question where they were headed knowing that Janeway would soon inform her.

"That was really some dream you had. If I were to look on the bright side of things, I'd say that at least now I know who to leave the responsibilty of the ship to should a disaster strick and kill half the senior staff," Janeway half joked with a smile slightly curling her lips.

"Captain, it was 'only' a dream. I doubt my true ability to lead this crew as captain is of good quality."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Seven. For every dream has a certain amount of realism in it and a basis in reality. You may have just dreamed it but there is the possibility that anything you did dream may just come true yet."

"Indeed," was all Seven could come up with as she tried to understand all of the implications of that last statement even if Janeway didn't understand it herself.

"Deck 3," Kathryn stated once they entered the turbolift which then got a raised eyebrow in return. "You know, while you were off being captain and saving the ship, you really did have quite a few of us worried that you would never wake up again. I know I was very frightened that I could have lost someone that I cared a lot about. You're one of the very few people on this ship that I can truely open myself up to. If anything would have happened to you, I would have been lost. But like I said, I wasn't the only one worried. Naomi came by everyday after her classes to see if you had woken up. She really does love you, Seven."

"I know, Captain. And I love her as well. I may have just realized in my dream that she was part of my family but I believe that she has always been and will continue to be a big part of my life." Seven smiled at the first mention of the little Katarine and Janeway noticed again just how far Seven had come in expressing her feelings. Janeway, herself, couldn't hold back a smile as they arrived in front of the Wildman's quarters. She nodded to Seven allowing her to ring the chime and then waited for the door to open. Thanks to super Borg hearing, Seven was able to hear what was being said inside the quarters.

"I'll get it, mom. And can I have some orange juice with my eggs?" Naomi yelled across the room and then opened the door. "Seven?" Naomi screamed in shock. She wasn't informed of the fact that the ex-drone had woken up yet but as soon as the shock wore off she immediately jumped into the woman's arms and hugged her with all her might.

"Naomi Wildman. For such a small person, you have an amazing ability to cut off the flow of oxygen," Seven mockingly choked out while Janeway watched on with awe and Sam, who had come to the door when she heard Naomi scream, laughed.

"Come on in you two. Seven, it's so good to see you feeling better. And even nicer to see that your sense of humor has improved." Sam stepped aside to let in the two women. Thanks to her daughter's friendship with the ex-Borg formed some years ago, Samantha Wildman also had the opportunity to get to know the human behind the Borg implants and found that she wasn't as bad as everyone thought she was. She was able to see the emotions hidden so well behind an ice cold exterior and found that Seven was indeed someone she could be friends with. Although Sam was disappointed by the fact that it took a child to show her that.

Seven carried Naomi back into the quarters followed closely behind by Kathryn. "I am glad to see you alive and well, Samantha." Sam gave a confused look at that last remark but was unable to question it as Naomi cut in.

"Seven, I was so worried about you. What happened? The captain told me that your alcove malfunctioned and you couldn't wake up. I was scared that you would never wake up. So how did you wake up and when? Mom didn't tell me anything." Naomi rambled on and on and then shot her mother an accusitory look.

"The captain was correct, Naomi. My alcove did malfunction and I was unable to wake up. I woke up yesterday afternoon from my regeneration cycle and I believe your mom only wanted to suprise you with good news. That is why you were not informed. I would have come to see you sooner, but I needed to be examined by the Doctor and then find out what had happened on Voyager during the nine days I was 'asleep'. The events turned out to be quite different than my dream."

"Your dream?" Both Wildman's asked at the same time. "I thought Borg don't dream." Naomi continued on.

"Normally they do not, but this was an unusual situation."

"Seven, have you had breakfast yet?" Seven nodded her head no. "Why don't you tell us all about it while we eat then. Captain, you're welcome to stay of course," Sam said.

"Thank you, I think I will."

The four women sat down to eat a small breakfast while Seven went over her experiences in her dream. Suddenly, the blonde's comment about Sam being alive and well all made sense.

"Seven, I'd like to thank you for all that you did. I know it was only in a dream but for you it must have felt so real. If anything were to happen to Neelix and myself I want you to know that you are the one I would prefer to take care of and look after my little girl. She loves you and thinks of you as family as much as I think of you as family. I just wanted you to know that." Both Sam and Seven soon had unshed tears filling their eyes.

"And I'd be happy to play the part of the favorite aunt who spoils their neice all the time," Janeway said with a huge smile on her face hoping to break the solem mood everyone was getting into.

"Cool", was all Naomi could say to the prospect of being related to the captain.

"Naomi Wildman, I have been given the entire day off by the captain. Since I am unaccustomed to free time perhaps you might be willing to help me form some ideas on how to spend that time."

"Oh, we could play Kadis Kot, go visit with Flotter, we could play hover ball, or color. I'm sure I can figure out lots of things to do." The young girl nearly jumped up and down in her excitement. She then looked to her mother with the sadest puppy dog look ever which Seven imitated as she realized Naomi was askng her mother to be excused from school today.

"Oh, alright. How can I say no to two cute puppy dog looks? Go and play." Both young women jumped out of their seats while one ran into her room and the other followed casually behind. Sam watched both of her 'daughters' leave the room. "Captain, have I ever really thanked you for severing Seven from the colletive? No? Well, thank you. Seven is such a good friend to Naomi not to metion me and she's so very special. I can't imagine my life without her in it."

'Neither can I.' The captain thought to herself. "Yes, she is special. And I'm so glad that the two of them get along so well. They're good for each other."

Seven came out of Naomi's bedroom carrying the Kadis Kot board followed by Naomi herself carrying the pieces to the game. The two set up the board on the living room floor while Kathryn watched. Sam had begun to clean the dishes up from the table and noticed that Janeway's eyes were glued on a certain someone. 'I wonder what's up with that,' Samantha wondered to herself.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I, unlike some others in this room have work to do. Seven, I'll speak to you later."

"Yes, Captain. Enjoy your shift."

"Ensign, thank you for the breakfast. It was delicious," Janeway said as she was practically out the door already. She had realized exactly where her eyes where looking and where her thoughts were heading and knew she had to get out of there fast. She kept up a brisk pace until she walked into the turbolift and then slumped against the wall. 'I am so in love with Seven of Nine,' Janeway thought unhappily. 'I was probably always in love with her but never acknowledged the fact until I almost lost her. Thank god she woke up. She still hasn't even told me what brought her out of her dream but what ever it was, thank you. Only now what am I suppose to do? I'm her captain, I can't get involved with a crew member. Then again, she really isn't a crew member. Still, the captain needs to keep a certain emotional distance in order to maintain the respect and aire of authority a captain must have. But, the crew does see me as a human being as well. They've seen me at my best and at my worst. They've seen my vulnerablities when dealing with depression and that silly attempt at love from a hologram. Chakotay has mentioned that the crew would understand if and when I decided to take a lover and would still respect me for it. I guess the only true question is, is Seven worth the risk, the chance, the trouble. I do so love her and desperately want to be with her. So much so that, yes I am willing to put aside my fears and doubts. Only, does she love me? Is it possible for her to love me? I think that last question has already been answered by the way our resident drone has been acting these passed couple of days. Now how do I go about finding out how she feels about me? Maybe a little research is in order, not to mention some wooing.' A smile appeared on Janeway's face as she sat down at her desk in her ready room, not really knowing how she got there but not really caring either. She had better things to think about, namely Seven of Nine.

* * *

Meanwhile, right after Lanna had left the cargo bay she was lost in thought. The top most being her overly concerned attitude toward a woman whom she had just learned to tolerate. 'I guess seeing her in engineering and then in the cargo bay with eyes so full of emotions changed the way I now see the Borg. Well, I can't really call her that any more now can I? Borg don't feel or show emotions, yet that's exactly how Seven acted. The longing I saw in her eyes in engineering, the happiness I saw when I first entered the cargo bay, the sadness when I left. Maybe it's high time I reevaluated why it is that I hate her. Or do I hate her any more?' B'Elanna was so disturbed by that last thought that she didn't even realize when she she arrived at her quarters. Again, she was reluctant to move. She had deliberately walked home slowly because she wasn't up to dealing with Paris any more, her husband of about six months now. Lately, it seemed that their relationship was becoming more and more strained as time went on and she just wasn't up or dealing with him especially in lieu of her new thoughts. She checked the time from the computer and figured that it might be safe to enter hoping that Tom had left for the alpha shift already.

"Lanna, where have you been? I was beginning to wonder that you had skipped out on our morning breakfast yet again."

'Damn, no such luck.' "No Tom, I was just taking a stroll. Besides I'm not that hungry right now," Torres said as she walked into the ensuite to wash up before shift.

"That's alright, sweetheart. So, what did you think of miss perfection's dream? Captain, huh? Never would have thought that she would be capable of being captain let alone wanting the job."

"She is very capable of handling the position of captain if it were to fall to her and I think she would make a great captain. Besides she's not perfect anymore. And anyway, it was just a dream so drop it flyboy." Lanna needed to defend Seven. She didn't know why, she just did.

"Honey, come on. Do you really think the crew would just follow her as captain, no questions asked? And since when do you defend the ice princess?"

"I am not defending her. I just think you're wrong about her. She's changed since she first came on board and I may not be able to answer for the rest of this god forsaken crew, but I would follow her leadership." The argument began to get heated.

"That's easy for you to say when you aren't in that position to having to trust her judgement in regards to the safety of this crew."

"You p'tach, she has put her own life on the line several times over in the past when it has come to the safey of this crew and she would do it again!" B'Elanna screamed.

"I am not getting into an argument over Seven and her dream with you. I am so tired of fighting with you. I'm sorry I made you angry. Forgive me? Who knows maybe Seven would make a good captain." Tom apologized an then went to hug his wife. Lanna on the other hand wasn't ready to be nicey nicey yet. She slipped from his grasp and Tom frowned. "Okay, look I have to be on the bridge now so we could talk later? okay?"

"Fine," was the engineer's only response as Paris left the quarters.

Chapter 3

The day seemed to fly by for Seven, which was quite odd in and of itself since the woman had a built-in chronometer, or clock, and was able to keep track of every second that passed. Today she was actually having fun. The captain had given her the day off today in order to rest and reacquaint herself with 'reality' and Seven had decided to spend the entire day with her youngest and best friend, Naomi. They played on the holodeck and in the young girl's quarters, they went to astrometrics and cargo bay 2 doing anything and everything that came to mind in regards to playing of course. But now it was 1800 hours and Naomi's mother, Sam Wildman, had just come home from alpha shift. This was 'dinner time'. Sam of course invited Seven to stay for dinner but the Borg declined already having had breakfast with both mother and daughter.

"Come on, Seven, stay. Mom doesn't mind making dinner for the both of us," Naomi whined.

"She's right, Seven, I really don't mind even if you were here for breakfast this morning. You can eat with us anytime you like. I told you, we consider you family," Sam joined in, pleading just as her daughter had done. Ever since hearing about Seven's dream she found that she really did love the ex-drone just as if she was apart of her family. Before the were friends, but now, now they were family.

"I apologize, Sam, Naomi but I had planned on visiting Mr. Neelix in the messhall for dinner. I found that the 'month' I was away I had... missed his cooking. It is illogical to miss something you hate but nonetheless, I did miss it."

"It probably reminded you of the way Voyager used to be. A touch of home you could say." Sam tried to help clarify things for Seven a bit.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I am just illogical." Seven smiled while Sam laughed and Naomi realized she had just missed something. "I promise to visit you both tommorrow but I must leave now." Seven said as she reached down to wrap Naomi in her arms and give her hug. As she straightened up, Sam wrapped Seven in her arms and gave her a hug, too.

"We will be expecting you by for breakfast, Miss I-have-already-consumed-my-nutritional-supplement. So don't be a stranger."

* * *

Seven was standing over the kitchen counter looking at all the lime green and purple foods displayed for dinner tonight.

"Seven! It's so good to see that you have finally dcided to try out some of my scruptious food. hat can I get for you? We have....." Before Neelix could list all of the dinner meals Seven interrupted.

"Mr. Neelix, I believe I will try some of your leola stew. Peraps you can add some salt to that as well." Seven deliberately left off the fact that she had missed his cooking, afraid that when this phenomenon wore off, Seven would be obligated to continue to eat in the messhall.

"No problem, Seven. Anything to drink with that?'

"Some iced tea would be fine."

"Well, then here you go. I don't believe I saw the captain here tonight. Is she coming to meet you?" The cook asked when he saw Seven looking around the messhall.

"No, but I do believe I see a few friends to sit with. Thank you, Mr. Neelix." Seven headed over to one of the middle tables with her tray of food in hand.

"May, I join you?"

"Um, why?" Ensign Beth Kayla asked being the first to recover from the shock of having Seven of Nine ask to join them. She then received two kicks, one from Crewman Coty Keller and another from Junior Lt. Ben Harris, her dinner companions.

"Sure, Seven, if that's what you want," Keller offered.

"Thank you. I know that this must be a little unorthidox considering we have not spoken to each other in the past, but I would like to get to know you. Perhaps even become friends." Seven placed her tray down on the table and took a seat next to Coty.

"Why?" Beth asked again. Unable to ask anything else.

Seven opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. 'Perhaps it would be easier to just tell them of my dream.' And that is exactly what she proceeded to do. A dinner and 30 minutes later the three junior officers sat with their mouths wide open.

"I believe I enjoy telling my dream," Seven stated.

"And why is that, 'captain,'" Keller joked suddenly seeing a new side to Seven. She seemed a more relaxed and emotional human, not the cold unfeeling drone she used to be and Coty liked it.

"Because I enjoy seeing the funny faces people make when shocked," Seven smiled as did the other three at the table.

"So, I became chief pilot, huh?" Kayla asked yet again.

"Yes and I do believe that if you continue to practice your skills, then perhaps Captain Janeway will be able to give you more responsiblities fitting of a back-up chief pilot."

"Cool, thanks, Seven. So, do you think you could come up with a really good holoprogram for me to train on? If you think I'm good enough to be chief pilot then I want to prove it to Janeway too." Again the ex-Borg smiled, something she was really becoming used to, as the other two jumped in with suggestions of their own. All becoming comfortable around each other as if they had been friends for years. The blonde realized that she had just made another three friends.

* * *

Across the room were two other life long friends. Both Tom and Harry sat eating their dinners.

"What's wrong Tom, you haven't said more then two words tonight and the alpha shift just wasn't the same without your jokes."

"Lanna and I had a fight this morning. I don't know what's going on. All we seem to do now is fight. This morning we even fought about Seven, who Lanna was for some reason actually defending. It's like I can't say anything right any more."

"Well, Tom, you can be pretty rude sometimes."

"I know and I did apologize for that but she wouldn't even allow me to hug her."

"Maybe but it is so much more than that. Maybe she's still mad and didn't want to hug you."

"She never wants to hug me or kiss me. I don't know what to do any more. It feels like we're growing so far apart."

"Well, I don't know what to do about the rest but have a talk with your wife tonight and fix the fight from this morning. Then worry about the rest latter. Give it time and I'm sure things will work itself out and you and Lanna will be just fine."

"Yeah, you're right, Harry, and I'll just pick up a little insurance on the way." Tom picked up his empty tray and deposited it in the replicator. He then pressed in a few commands and replicated a yellow rose, Lanna's favorite color then headed out of the messhall.

* * *

Meanwhile, the aforementioned wife was pacing back and forth in her quarters. A low but deep growl emminated from deep within B'Elanna's throat and nearly shook the china set up on the kitchen table. Her deep not so clensing breaths only served to blow out the candles on the table. The lights had long ago been raised to normal room lighing levels and the soft jazz music no longer played in the background. 'The food is not going to be the only thing that ends up cold tonight,' Lanna vowed right before she went back to her pacing.

Chapters 4 to 6