The BLTS Archive - What She Left Behind
#3: A Promise to Keep
by peacejaw (peacejaw@yahoo.com)

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Published: 05-25-06 - Updated: 05-25-06

Disclaimer: The usual disclaimers apply here: I don't own
Star Trek: Voyager, or any of its main characters. I do own
this story, however, and all original characters.

Author's Note #1: My apologies for taking so long to post
more of this series; life sort of happened, and I wasn't
able to write as much as I'd wanted to.

Author's Note #2: This takes place shortly after 'Prime
Factors'.

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As the sun gently sets into the darkening horizon, Samantha
Wildman watched it closely from the comfort of her husband's
arms. Being wrapped closely within his embrace was one of
the best presents she could have received from him on their
first wedding anniversary, next to watching the sunset with
him.

Sneaking a glance at their surroundings, Samantha could see
the private Ktarian beach was empty of other people. She
could see several Ktarian critters near the churning emerald
water, doing who knew what. From their position on the
pristine white sand, it was easy to see that the critters
had no interest in what they were doing and that was all
she really needed to know about them. Looking around at the
beach again, she saw that there were no animals large enough
to consider Greskrendtregk or her food, and they themselves
were just too big for the smaller animals to eat. The
creatures were just too small, and the birds, which were
flying to and from the trees just beyond the beach, were
getting what they needed to eat from the sea.

With the occasional sounds from the birds and with waves
gently rolling onto the shore, Samantha knew that she would
never forget this visit to this particular paradise with her
husband. The first-time visit to the beach had definitely
made that much of an impression, and she would always be
grateful to her husband for knowing what would capture her
heart so completely. It also seemed like she was falling
even more in love with Greskrendtregk the longer they were
together, and she would be eternally grateful for that fact.

Looking up at the pink, purple, and orange sky again, her
eyes went wide with amazement. As the sun slowly set, the
colors deepened, giving them a new layer of beauty to them.
She loved sunsets. Always had, and probably always would.
Samantha figured that it had been this reason Greskrendtregk
had brought her to this particular beach, and that made her
body completely unwind from a very long, and very trying,
month.

"It's so amazing," Samantha whispered softly, her eyes still
transfixed on the sky.

"What is?" Greskrendtregk asked, his breath gently caressing
her hair as he continued to cradle her.

"The sunset. They're so amazing here."

"Just like you," Greskrendtregk admitted, kissing her neck
ever so softly.

Samantha could barely feel his lips pressing against her
soft skin, yet she could feel the shivers going up and down
her spine. Greskrendtregkk could, and would, always do that
to her, even with the softest caress.

Greskrendtregk lowered Samantha onto her back as he brought
his lips to hers. He gently rolled on top of her and pressed
his lips to hers.

Samantha heard the soft moans escaping from her own mouth as
her husband increased the pressure on her mouth. Resting her
left hand on Greskrendtregk's neck, her right hand stroked
his back. As she did so, Samantha could feel his hands over
her body lovingly.

Anticipating his needs, she pulled off his light red jacket
and sensually slid the shirt Greskrendtregk was wearing
underneath off. Her left hand pulled him closer so that she
was able to plant several gentle kisses down his neck, and
then onto his chest.

When she felt Greskrendtregk attempting to remove her shirt,
Samantha quickly took it off for him. And then she wiggled
out of her skirt. When she reached out towards him again... 
Greskrendtregk disappeared.


Samantha woke up screaming a second later. Sweating
profusely, shaking, and feeling rather disoriented, she was
dimly aware of her fingers clinching her sheets tightly.
Sitting upright, Samantha drew her soft, lightweight blanket
up to her chest. Shivering, her heart racing, she tried to
bring her erratic breathing under control. Within seconds,
Mariah Henley's face was in front of hers. It took several
seconds for Samantha's brain to comprehend what her roommate
was saying.

"I'm okay, Mariah," she said uncertainly, still panting
slightly from her fright.

"Are you sure, Sam?"

Samantha nodded once. "I'm sure." Pushing the blanket off
her body, she sat straight up. "I'm sorry that I woke you
up."

Sitting down on the side of her bed, Mariah attempted a
smile. "It's okay. Besides, it's almost time to get up
anyhow."

Glancing at the clock on her nightstand, Samantha nodded in
understanding. "Still, I'm sorry that I woke you."

"Do you want to talk about your dream?"

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"You sure?" Mariah asked lightly. At Samantha's nod, Mariah
attempted another smile. "All right, then. If you ever want
to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Samantha nodded in understanding. With Mariah as her
roommate, it wouldn't be too difficult to find the woman if
she ever decided to talk about the dream with her. "Thanks
Mariah."

"No problem." They sat there in silence for a long moment
before Mariah spoke again. "I think that I'd better go take
my shower now, if you don't mind me going first?"

"Go on," Samantha encouraged lightly, attempting a wan smile.
"I don't mind waiting for my turn."

Samantha watched Mariah pick up her clean uniform and head
into the bathroom that they shared. Almost immediately, she
stood and started pacing. The dream bothered her more than
she cared to admit to, and Samantha wasn't quite sure what
to do about it. She could have talked to Mariah about it,
certainly. But she didn't feel comfortable sharing such a
personal dream with her roommate; they weren't quite that
close in their friendship just yet.

The only person who fit that bill on Voyager was Chakotay,
and Samantha wasn't sure if she could tell him about the
dream. If she told him, or anyone else for that matter, then
she would have to voice her suspicion about what the dream
actually meant. And there was no way she was ready to do
that yet.

Hell, she wasn't even ready to admit the possibilities to
herself. Still, Samantha knew that she couldn't avoid
knowing what the dream meant. Either her husband of four
years had dissolved their marriage, and their bond, or
Greskrendtregk was dead. Since Ktarians mated for life, it
was extremely difficult to dissolve a marriage or the bond a
couple shared. The marriages and bonds that were dissolved
were usually done due to an extremely unusual situation.
Most Ktarians learned to live with their mates, problems and
all. Because she knew her husband well enough to know that
he would not dissolve their marriage, or their bond, even
with Voyager being so far from home, Samantha was fairly
certain that Greskrendtregk was probably dead.

Dead.

Samantha wished that she could blame the dream on the latest
attempt to get home, but she knew better. Her bond with
Greskrendtregk was gone and there wasn't anything she could
do about it, except maybe cling to the probability that she
was pregnant with his child.

It was that probability, after all, that would no doubt give
her something to remember her husband by, something other
than simple memories. After all, her child would give her
the strength and will to survive their long journey home. It
would, Samantha knew, also give her the chance to be able to
keep her most precious promise to Greskrendtregk: to name
their son after Greskrendtregk, even if Greskrendtregk was a
middle name.

Gathering up her clean uniform, Samantha sat back down on
her bed. There was no point in going back to sleep, not when
it was so close to the time for her to wake up. Not that it
really mattered. She doubted that she would have been able to
return to sleep. Since Samantha knew that work was the best
thing for her to focus on at the moment, that's what she was
going to do: focus on her work.

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The End