Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager belongs to Paramount, the writers, and whoever else can legally claim it. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" belongs to Joss the King Whedon and whoever has rights to Buffy. I am making no profit from this.

AN: So I said I'd never do a post-Endgame fic, but I had this idea for a nice little bonus ending to my series. It doesn't really deal with Endshame at all, but it kinda deals with everything from the whole series, and life, of Kathryn. It must be assumed for this ficlet that Kathryn and Chakotay did not get together while on Voyager.

I want to send out a huge thank you to everyone, and there were lots of you, who gave me reviews, feedback, and love while I was working on this series. I enjoyed it immensely and am glad you did as well. This coda is dedicated to all of you.

Home

By Lady Callista

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"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need." -Sarah Ban Breathnach

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Of all the clichés that ever had been or ever would be, Kathryn had found that 'Home is where the heart is' was probably the most accurate.

Although that did mean that her definition of home had changed many times during her life.

It had been so simple when she was little. Home was her parent's house in Indiana. The place where her family was. The kitchen where her mother baked brownies, the backyard where she and Phoebe played. The front porch where her father had placed a telescope so she could study the stars. The bedroom where she had slept, and studied, and eventually came to dream of the day she could make her home among those stars.

Then, for four years, home had been Starfleet Academy. It hadn't been her parent's home in Indiana anymore, but it hadn't really been her dorm room in San Francisco either. It had been the Academy itself, the idea and ideals of it. Home had been a cadet's uniform, or a classroom, or the text her nose was currently buried in.

That was when she had first understood the idea that home could be a feeling rather than a place. And from that point on home that been just that, a feeling.

It had been the Academy, and then it had been Starfleet itself. Home hadn't really been the ship she was on or the quarters she lived in. It had been the uniform, and the ideals and beliefs she had been so passionate to serve and protect. She had actually considered space more of a home than Earth was.

Then for a brief time it had been Justin, and she had understood for the first time that home could be a person. And she had all too quickly come to understand the soul-wrenching pain of losing that home.

Space and Starfleet had become her home again, a home that was much safer because it couldn't be lost the way a person could be.

Mark had been a comfort to her, and while she had loved him and known they would have had a good and quiet life together, she had never allowed him, or his home in South America that she would have shared with him when she wasn't in space, to become her home.

Starfleet was a much safer place to consider home.

And in an instant even that had, in a round-about-way, been torn away from her.

It had taken being lost 75 years from Earth for her to finally realize that Earth was still her home, and always would be. And that she would do anything to get back there. While she hadn't thrown away her belief in Starfleet or its principles, she had realized that it wasn't enough. She needed something else to truly be home.

And that something else had snuck into her heart while she was trying to get back to Earth; actually two somethings, although the one had taken her much longer to admit than the other.

Although Earth had again become home, and neither she or her crew had ever given up hope that they would one day get back there, she had found another home. Voyager itself had become home, the first time in her long career when she had truly allowed herself to consider a ship and the people on it as her home.

And one person in particular, although that particular home had been nearly eight years in coming. Eight years before the circumstances made it possible, which had been enough time for her desire and courage to overcome her fear of a person once again becoming her home.

Laying in her bed, ten years to the day since Voyager had been lost in the Delta Quadrant, Kathryn's thoughts drifted through all the moments in her life that had brought her to what she now considered home. It wasn't this house she lived in, it wasn't San Francisco, or even Earth.

Although she would never again take Earth for granted, or forget what it meant that it was hers, if anyone had asked her what home was, she wouldn't have said Earth.

Although she was still a proud Starfleet officer, she wouldn't have considered Starfleet, or space, her home any longer either.

Because home had once again become a person, rather than a feeling or a place.

And even as she prayed that would never change, she sent up a secondary prayer of thanks for all the strange moments in her life that had led her to this point.

Married to the most amazing man she had ever known, a man who by all rights shouldn't have been in her company for more than five minutes, and those while she was arresting him. Sleeping next to him after falling in love with him half a galaxy away from where they now slept, laying in his arms after having spent nights dreaming of what it would be like if she could allow herself to be with him.

As she drifted off to sleep, Admiral Kathryn Janeway rolled over and cuddled against a warm chest. Although he didn't wake, Chakotay's arms wrapped around her, holding her close.

Home, this is home, was Kathryn's last thought as she fell asleep

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"There are moments in your life that make you, that set the course for who you're gonna be. Sometimes they're little, subtle moments. Sometimes they're not." -Whistler in "Becoming," from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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FIN

AN2: I'm not sure what I want to write next. I do have a few stories in the works, but they're going slowly at the moment. I've also been told multiple times throughout this series that certain Moments deserve sequels, and there are certainly a few I would be willing to do that with if I find a good way to continue them. Anyone have a preference? A scene where you really want to see what happens next? A good idea for what could happen after one? Or one I didn't do that you wanted? Just let me know and I'll see if my muse will work with it.

Oh, and if you've got a moment, please stop by the poll on my profile page and vote for your favorite '25 Moments' scene(s), cause I'm really curious. You can vote for up to three. Thanks!

And just one final thanks to everyone who kept me sane throughout the writing of this series. I can't believe I'm finally done, and I couldn't have done it without you. Special thanks on that front go to KJaneway115, Kerry J, skadoo, Profitmom, pumplin314159, Rascal 207, Photogirl1890, Aranyvoros, ForensAnthro, e. bln, hester4418, Laura W, mabb5, ElsieJo, red 2007, Mizvy, badmelk, Jordan Trevor, and apologies and thanks to anyone I missed. You all helped me out in various ways, from simply writing awesome reviews that revitilized my muse, reassuring me that things were indeed IC, correcting spelling/typos, to chatting with me on PM when I was having issues with something, and so much more. Thank you so much everyone. It's been a great ride!