Disclaimers: I don't own them, but do wish I could own Seven of Nine for one night. Maybe Valentines Night. I tried desperately to put sex into this, but couldn't come up with anything other than bad lesbian poetry.
Code: T/7.
Rating: PG13
Archiving: Yes
Constructive feedback welcome.
Any feedback or other comments should be sent to memphissway@yahoo.com
Description: This is in response to the challenge and I believe includes all of the elements. There are no men in this. Yea! If there are men, then it is only by proxy and reference. Feedback is welcomed. BTW, I have my usual Shakespeare reference in this story. Puck and Viola were begging me to do so. How could I resist for Viola is sharing my bed tonight and Puck has put a spell on her? I knew I loved that little fairy. Well, enough blabbering, on with the show.
Happy Valentine's
19 Mar 2001
"I'm not doing this!" the angry Klingon yelled as she looked at herself in the mirror. Megan Delaney, never one of her best friends but the one who had comforted her when Tom had left her for Megan's sister, Jennifer. Megan had been hurt, too, kicked out of the quarters she shared with her sister and brushed aside like a bit of fluff. She went running to B'Elanna to plot revenge, but they ended crying in each other's arms for the longest time, and if B'Elanna weren't pregnant, she would have probably gotten completely drunk, too. "I look like a shuttle craft."
"You look fine! You look..."
"My God, if you say that I'm glowing I will honestly kill you and I'll replicate a batleth to do so."
"B'Elanna," Megan said sternly. "Let's just go out and have some fun. The captain actually programmed the place, so it can't be half bad. I can guarantee that Tom's not going to be there. Girls only."
"And Jennifer?"
"She said she's not going when I'm invited her."
"You invited her?! How stupid can you be!"
"She's still my sister, Lanna. I can't ignore her forever."
"I'm sorry," B'Elanna said, becoming calmer in an instant. " I should have been more thoughtful."
"It's alright. Besides, you look wonderful. Everyone is going to be so jealous of me!"
"Jealous of you? Am I your date?" B'Elanna said, joking around and fluttering her eyelashes.
"Yes, of course. Consider how potent I must be to get you pregnant!" Megan said nearly falling over with laughter. B'Elanna joined in and fell back on her bed.
"Are you sure she is going to be there, Kathryn?" Seven of Nine said as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had shed her biosuit and wore a black silk dress, reaching only mid thigh. Her hair was down and she wore a touch of make up and a tiny bit of perfume, on her insistence. Kathryn Janeway had told her that she didn't need it because she was intoxicating enough without the perfume.
"Yes, Seven. I made sure to tell Megan to take her there," Kathryn said as she rearranged her own hair over and over again. She was secretly hoping that B'Elanna wouldn't show up so that she'd have Seven all to herself. Unfortunately, Megan was one of the few people aboard Voyager who could get away with ordering B'Elanna Torres around. "She won't let her get away with not coming."
Seven looked at her nervously. Absently seeing that Kathryn, her mentor and friend, was dressed and nearly ready to go. It wasn't often that her captain dressed in anything other than her uniform. That night she wore a pair of loose red silk pants, a fitted silk cream shirt, and an Asian inspired red silk jacket. Seven couldn't deny that Kathryn looked beautiful and it would be a shame not to see the reactions of the crew to see this gorgeous woman step out of her quarters.
"Seven, yes, don't be nervous. I have it on good authority that B'Elanna talks about you constantly in passionate tones..."
"Because she hates me."
"That's not true!" Kathryn said strongly, but not harshly. "Think about when she hid you when you were rejecting your implants. She was very caring then. Besides, Megan says that she's pining over you."
"You are sure of this?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Both Harry Kim and Megan Delaney have told me this. Do you need more evidence?" Kathryn asked.
"No, thank you, Kathryn."
Kathryn stepped closer to her and cupped her cheek, feeling her shake under her touch. "It'll be alright," she said, more to herself than to Seven. She wanted to see this woman happy. She deserved it and so did B'Elanna. Both had been through almost too much throughout their lives.
Still, Kathryn wished that Seven would be in her arms, crying for joy rather than in sorrow because of some misplaced comment by the woman the young Borg loved.
"Let's go," Kathryn said quietly, stroking Seven's ocular implant with her fingertips.
"Kathryn, is there something wrong?"
"No," she replied huskily. "You look very beautiful. B'Elanna would be a fool not to love you."
"Thank you, Kathryn."
~~~
"You didn't tell me that she was going to be here," B'Elanna growled into Megan's ear, still her voice was shaking with nervousness. "I look like a targ pregnant with a full grown elephant."
"You so do not!" Megan said. "Captain Janeway wanted me to make sure that you were here."
"Why?"
"You are such an idiot, B'Elanna Torres!" she said harshly but quietly. They were in a dark coffee house, a stage set up against the back wall with a microphone and a stool. The room was full of hushed whispers of women there to enjoy the romantic Sapphic poetry, the taste of the evening. Holographic smoke filtered through the air like whispers of gossip, twirling around heads and landing on clothing, forever adhering to the cloth.
"Don't you dare yell at me, Megan!"
"Why the hell not? You are stupid. Have you seen how she looks at you? You could be a targ pregnant with a full grown elephant or a thousand elephants, and she'd still look at you with desire and love. And don't you dare deny that you are in love with her, because you look at her the same way. It was a blessing that Tom cheated on you because maybe then you'd see your true feelings."
"How dare you talk to me like that!"
"Who's gonna if I don't?"
B'Elanna huffed and sat back in her chair, her arms across her chest and resting on her four months pregnant belly. `She looks like a four year old who didn't get her way,' Megan thought, chuckling under her breath.
"Steam rose from her belly
like the waves over molten lava,
and her lover was pleased,
pleased because she had done this.
This lover made her lover call out
in joy
in sorrow
in anger
in passion
in love.
It didn't matter,
for this woman who laid before her now
never spoke until that very moment,
never uttered a sound that was her own,
but now she owned her own voice,
her own life,
and if the Prophets chose,
she owned her own death, as well.
But now, now, she owned her own body
and that body experienced a new death,
the death at the hands,
at the tongue,
at the skin,
and at the love of another,
and her mortal cries proved testament
to that very death and the rebirth that followed.
The rebirth of love."
Tal Celes blushed at the applause and the shouts for an encore that came from the audience. She wasn't used to this kind of attention or the strength that welled in her that made her able to say such daring things. These were her own words, words that she had coveted for many years and constantly reminded her of the lover she left at home seven years previous, now dead by the hands of the Jem Hedar.
Celes moved back to her table, gently crying, to be comforted by her roommate and new lover, Sarah James. Sarah knew of Celes' lover and loved the Bajoran even more for it. She thought that it was precious that one person could love so much.
Captain Janeway patted her on the shoulder and whispered, "That was beautiful," in her ear. Celes nodded and thanked her.
"Ladies, and no gentlemen," said Samantha Wildman who received mounds of applauded at the last comment, "We bring to you the poetic stylings of Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix One." The room erupted into applause again and Seven nervously made her way to the stage.
"Thank you, Ensign Wildman," Seven said in a mock Borg tone. More laughter and applause and Seven cracked a small smile.
"Shakespeare speaks of growing old,
buds of May being shaken by the wind.
I have never seen one grow old
or buds of May being shaken by any wind.
They do not exist in my world,
but I understand the sentiment.
I love thee more than perfection,
for perfection is imperfection
when compared to you.
You are more than perfection,
more than Omega.
Where I would have given anything
to see Omega for one second,
I would give everything
to feel your love,
your arms around my body,
your breasts against my back,
your elegantly ridged forehead
between my shoulder blades,
your smell intermingling with my smell,
and our child sleeping happily in the next room.
And if the universe sees fit,
I will love thee enough now
and better when I am dead."
The entire room was crying and clapping at Seven's emotional and apt words. She only had eyes for one woman, though. She looked hopefully at B'Elanna as Samantha rubbed her back and told her that she was brilliant. She quirked the corner of her mouth up a little and wished for a response from her love while a tear flowed down her cheek.
B'Elanna mouthed "I love you, too," to Seven and Seven relaxed perceptively. She walked off the stage and into B'Elanna's open arms. They shared their first kiss in front of everyone, including a woman both happy at what they had gained and sad at her own loss.
"Do you know what day this is?" B'Elanna asked as she gently pressed Seven to the bed, hovering over her like a tigress.
"Do you wish the stardate at a time like this, B'Elanna Torres?" Seven asked, gently caressing her soon to be lover's hips and swelled stomach.
"No. It's Valentine's Day, a day of love," B'Elanna said before gently nipping at Seven's lips.
"How serendipitous! No more talking unless you find your voice," Seven said, her voice containing a tinge of sarcasm. They kissed and made love for the first time of many times.
Five years later, B'Elanna and Annika Hansen Torres watched as their four and a half year old daughter slept wrapped around a purple targ named Toby. The outside world of Earth and the Alpha Quadrant meant nothing to them. They had their perfection, their Omega in that very room with them.
B'Elanna showed Seven, which she was still called, back to their bedroom amongst the stars, undressed her slowly and lovingly, and then undressed herself. She wrapped her arms around her tall blonde wife, pressed her elegantly ridged forehead between her shoulder blades and breathed in the scent that was her love and her family.
"You were right so many years ago, love," B'Elanna whispered.
"How so?"
"This is better than perfection."
THE END