The market place was alive with the early morning buzz of shoppers looking for just the right deal and shop owners trying to be that deal while making a profit. There were all kinds of stands and stalls along the road that Kathryn, Seven, and the baby were strolling along. There were stalls with a number of local foodstuffs and stands with pieces of local art and fabric. The two women were looking for something to get Gretchen. They'd decided that it would be nice to pick something up for her at each planet they stopped at, if possible. They were hoping that down the line, when they finally reached Earth, the small trinkets would serve as small connections, reminders, of their lives while lost.

Neither one was really sure what to get. Sam Wildman picked up stones, crystals, and rocks for Naomi, but seeing as how Sam was a geologist those things made sense for her to get. Kathryn and Seven were both scientists in their own rights but star charts and astrophysical scans weren't exactly the keepsakes they'd had in mind.

"Perhaps we will be able to find something over there." Seven said as she looked towards a stand.

The stand seemed to have a verity of maps and globes, the sight of which made Kathryn smile. She turned the stroller that Gretchen was in towards the stand and walked over with Seven at her side. They both glanced over the items laid out on the table but it was Seven who picked up a small golf ball sized globe.

"That is made of our finest gruk and dalis stones." A man said as he watched the two women looking at the globe.

Kathryn took the globe from Seven and turned it over and over in her hands. It was very pretty. "We could make a marker for the base with the planet name and stardate." She said to Seven. Seven nodded.

After buying the small globe the trio headed over to a small outdoor eatery for lunch. They talked about how such things like the small globe could be found on most planets and it would be easy to create a small collection for Gretchen. Gretchen for her part sat quietly in a high chair chewing on a snack cookie that Neelix baked for her and Miral.

Shore leave was nearly over and Kathryn still hadn't been able to ask Seven the question she'd wanted to ask her. She wanted it to be perfect and every time she'd planned something, something had gone wrong. She'd tried again two nights before while the two of them sat on the front pouch of the cabin they were staying in. They'd been looking up at the stars while Seven rocked Gretchen to sleep. The little one had had a hard couple of days with her ear infection and only slept while being held. The moment had seemed perfect, the quite night, the stars, their sleeping child. But just as she'd made up her mind to ask, Icheb showed up. He needed to talk to Seven about his friendship with the girl he'd met on the beach. The poor boy looked lost and confused and Kathryn couldn't bring herself to tell him now wasn't the best time. Instead she simply took Gretchen inside and allowed the two former drones a bit of privacy.

"My Kathryn." Seven said softly.

Seven's voice calling out her name brought Kathryn out of her thoughts. "Yes?"

Seven looked a little concerned as she looked across the table at her partner. "Are you functioning within normal perimeters?"

Kathryn laughed at Seven's use of her formal line of questioning. "Yes Annika I'm functioning quite well."

For a long moment Seven simply looked at the older woman. Then she titled her head to the side as she said; "You have had something on your mind for some time now. Explain."

She knew that her attempts had not gone unnoticed, and Kathryn had known that it would only be a matter of time before Seven asked her about what she was up to, so she'd seen this coming. "I've been trying to ask you something."

Seven looked around a moment and then back at Kathryn. "Well, it would appear that we're alone and no one knows we're here. Perhaps you can ask now?"

Kathryn smiled as she thought about it. Perhaps just winging it would be the best. Their relationship was full of times when just rolling with the punches was called for. Kathryn reached across the table and took hold of Seven's hand. She looked into her lover's ice blue eyes as her thumb rubbed small circles over the flesh of Seven's hand. Kathryn was just about to open her mouth to ask when the expression on Seven's face changed. There was something wrong. "Annika?"

Before Seven could reply Kathryn heard the screams and then the shouts.

"Stop him!"

"Thief!"

"Vandal!"

"He shot the bank keeper!"

"He's armed!"

Kathryn and Seven both reacted quickly. Seven picked Gretchen up from the high chair and shielded her by holding her closely. Kathryn moved so she was between the man that was running towards them and her family. For a moment her right hand went to her hip, but then she remembered that she wasn't only unarmed but she wasn't even in uniform. She watched as the local authorities rounded the corner, closing in on the man. She also saw the panic flash in his eyes. She was just about to reach for her comm badge to signal the ship to beam Seven and the baby up when the man fired his first shot blindly into the crowd.

The first shot hit the side of the cafe and people started running for cover. Kathryn turned briefly to see if Seven and the baby were ok, when she turned back to where the man had been she was just in time to see the man's second shot coming right at her. It clipped her in the arm, burning the material of her blouse and the skin beneath it. She'd barely heard Seven calling up to the ship as she stepped towards the man who was running right at her. Her movements were fluid, graceful, and practiced. She engaged the man, fighting him for his weapon, he was bigger then she was and stronger, but she was well trained and well seasoned.

Her arm hurt like hell and the fight to make the man drop his weapon wasn't helping. The local authorities closed in but couldn't shoot the man clearly. Then the weapon went off. Seven's eyes grew large as the struggle ended. The few seconds it took for the authorities to capture the man, pulling his body off Kathryn's, felt like an eternity to Seven. She rushed over to were Kathryn was lying on the ground and knelt next to her.

"Kathryn?" She asked as she held tightly to Gretchen with one arm and using the other to help Kathryn sit up.

Kathryn opened her eyes and groaned. "He was heavier then he looked."

"Are you alright?" Seven asked as she gave Kathryn a once over.

"I think so." Kathryn replied until she tried to move her arm. She groaned as her eyes closed tight. "Except for that."

"The Doctor will be here shortly. I've already alerted the ship." Seven stated as she turned away to look around. She wanted to double check the area as well as look for any members of the crew.

Kathryn reached for Seven's face, turning her so she would be looking at her again. Her heart was pumping, her arm hurt, and her adrenalin was rushing, but she wanted this and she wanted it before her teams arrived and everything got crazy. It wasn't the perfect setting she was looking for, but inside her heart, Kathryn knew it was the perfect moment. "Annika," She said softly as she looked up into Seven's ice blue eyes. "Will you marry me?"

Seven blinked as she looked down at Kathryn. She had felt a change in their relationship over the past weeks, but she had no way of describing it. All she had been sure of was that the change made her feel safe somehow, but Kathryn wasn't being very open with what she was thinking and that had scared Seven. But now that she knew what it was a slow smile started to spread across her face, and her eyes filled with tears. "I thought you'd never get it out."

This time Kathryn blinked just before a smile appeared on her face. "So will you?"

"I would be honored to marry you my Kathryn." Seven answered as she leaned down and kissed Kathryn as Kathryn wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck. The two didn't pull apart until Seven heard the tell tale sounds of someone forming solid after transport. The Doctor and Tuvok came right over to where Kathryn and Seven were. The Doctor went right to work on the Captain's injuries while she told Tuvok what happened.

The group beamed back to the ship after talking to the Chancellor. The man had been thankful and remorseful over the event all at the same time. Later that evening when they were finally alone in their quarters Kathryn finally showed Seven the rings she'd been carrying around for a week. The rings were simple titanium bands with two thin, knotted, lightly tinted ribbons, one red and one sliver, with seven small dilithum crystals embedded in the middle of each knot loop.

"Do you like them?" Kathryn asked as she sat next to Seven on their bed.

Seven looked down at the rings trying in vain to control the wash of emotion she was feeling. She'd been getting use to emotions but she'd only ever felt them so forcefully on a hand full of occasions. "They're perfect, my Kathryn."

Kathryn smiled just before receiving a kiss. Shore leave had been wonderful, but being alone in their own quarters, a space that had once been a marker of Kathryn's isolation but was now the haven she shared with her family, had been the setting for the perfection Kathryn had been seeking. In the end she wouldn't have changed any thing.

The End