Janeway and Chakotay, Sittin' in a Tree....... by Celestia DiSCLAiMER: Voyager and everything else in the existing universe belongs to Paramount. I just hope that they don't mind me building a few castles in their sandbox. The song belongs to Imani Coppola, and the wonderful people who helped to put together her album, "Chupacabra." *~*~*~*~ This was written for a JetCjr7 challenge given by Jenna. THE CHALLENGE: J and C design a new holodeck program together based on popular 20th century music videos. Which song would they choose to create a music video for, and what would they do? THE CATCH: these words (or some form of these words) had to be included in the story: handcuff, spirit, foam, sack, chocolate, and aristocracy. So, this is what my crazed mind came up with! *~*~*~*~ Oh, and by the way, I've decided not to deal with the tangled bush of getting J and C together, because that happens in almost every J/C story and I don't feel like dealing with it right now! So, in this story, the two are already together, but basically just beginning to explore the depth of their relationship. Kinda like this: Chak's jumped in with both feet, and Kat's just testing the waters. It had started as just an ordinary day. Captain Janeway had her first cup of coffee in her quarters, then, after deciding that she craved some company with her coffee, she'd headed to the mess hall, knowing that the Commander would be there having his breakfast. Sure enough, she spotted him as soon as the doors opened, sitting alone at a table near the back of the room. She stopped at the replicator to ask for a new cup of coffee, then continued on to go join him. Unfortunately, before she could get there, she was stopped by Neelix. "Captain! Just the person I wanted to see!" Kathryn smiled at him, and, out of the corner of her eye, caught Chakotay's amused look. "What can I do for you, Neelix?" "Well, Captain, as you know, every morning I air my show 'A Briefing With Neelix,' and Ensign Catop has just given me the most marvelous idea! You see, she told me about something that was a popular thing in the 20th century, called music videos. They took songs and put together dances and art and other things to the music and created video works of art!" He was waving his arms all over the place and talking excitedly. "How does this include me?" "Well, Captain, I would like to include one of these music videos on a future show, and since this *is* a relatively quiet part of space, and you and the Commander obviously have more leisure time than usual, I would like you two to put it together." He produced a PADD from somewhere behind his back and handed it to her. It contained the lyrics of the song, which was entitled "I'm a Tree." "I've already asked the Commander, and he agreed that it would be a wonderful idea! Oh, and if you're wondering why I picked what sounds like a strange song, it was because I liked the reference to the Great Forest, even though it was written by humans who lived 400 years before any contact with Talaxians." He was rambling, and he knew it was starting to get to the captain by the look in her eyes, so he got to the point. "What about it, Captain? Will you do it?" She glanced at the Commander. He had an amused expression on his face, and she knew that she was stuck doing this, whether she wanted to or not, because Chakotay had already agreed and because she couldn't stand disappointing Neelix. "All right, Neelix. I'll give it a try." He gave her an enthusiastic grin, and pointed at the PADD which she held in her hand. "Everything you need to know is on there, and I've already reserved Holodeck 2. Oh, and I would like to air this in two weeks, so that gives you lots of time. Have fun!" And with that, he hurried back to the mess hall kitchen, for there were hungry people lined up waiting for his latest concoction. Kathryn took a sip of her coffee and headed toward Chakotay's table. "You knew he was going to do that, didn't you?" "Well, he'd already asked me." "You could have warned me." "I was going to warn you on the bridge, before he got you at lunch. How was I supposed to know you'd come down here this morning?" She sighed as she sat down. "So, how are we going to do this?" she queried while skimming the contents of the PADD. "I imagine we could start by meeting in Holodeck 2 at 1300 hours. I know you have until 1800 off. What were you planning on doing?" "I was planning to handcuff myself to the computer console and read this week's reports." "Well then," Chakotay said as he go up. "It's settled. See you on the bridge." He walked out of the mess hall. Kathryn leaned back in her chair, took a sip of her coffee and wondered what she had gotten into. *~*~*~*~ She found out when she walked onto the holodeck at 1300 hours. Most of the holodeck was bare, but right in the center, with a small patch of bright green grass around it, was a very large, very tall, tree. Beside the tree was the computer console they were going to use, and behind it stood Chakotay. She strode over and stood beside him. "I see you've started already." "Actually," he said, looking up from the console. "This was already here. Neelix thought we might be stumped for ideas." "Neelix was right," Kathryn stated. Then she noticed the mug sitting beside Chakotay. She looked inside and saw a foamy liquid. "I didn't know you liked cappuccinos." "Just wanted a change of pace." "As if making a music video entitled 'I'm a Tree' weren't enough." "Actually, the song isn't entirely about the singer being a tree, that's only mentioned....." he did a quick count on his fingers. "Eight times. Nine, if you count the title." Kathryn raised her eyebrows, doing a fairly good Tuvok impression. "You remember the song well enough to know how many times she mentions being a tree?!" Chakotay nodded with a smug smile. "Didn't you think that the morning bridge shift was boring?" She lowered her eyebrows. "I had reports to read, because the time I was going to use for them has been replaced by time for this tree!" The last words were spoken with frustration as she waved towards the tree. Kathryn sighed and walked over to the tree, then walked all around it, marveling at the thickness of its trunk and the sheer height of it. Then she stopped, and touched the trunk of the tree, her eyes sparkling as if she had just found something truly interesting and amazing. And she had. Suddenly, she felt Chakotay's strong arms around her waist, and she leaned against him, admiring the crudely shaped heart, which contained their names, that he had carved into the tree, and just feeling secure. She was still a little wary of this relationship, of what the crew would think when they found out, about possibly going home and making her mother meet her 3rd fiancé, of losing the authoritative position that she had obtained with the crew, and mainly of losing her heart. "Do you like it?" he whispered, smiling down at her, eyes twinkling. "I love it", she replied, gazing up at him, living in the moment. There was no way not to love him when he was being so sweet. "But isn't there a law about destroying the environment this way, Commander?" A mischievous glint entered her eyes. "We're off duty, *Kathryn*," he told her. "Besides, you can't destroy a holographic tree. I was just adding my personal touch to the scenery. Getting into the spirit of things." She smiled warmly at him, the leaned in for a kiss. Unfortunately, just before their lips met, a voice sounded in the holodeck. "You may not be able to destroy a holographic tree, but you can still hurt one pretty bad! What the hell were you thinking?!" Kathryn and Chakotay, taken aback, broke from their embrace and searched the room for the source of the voice. Both of their gazes finally landed on the tree, where the blurred image of a face was beginning to form, with the crude heart right under the eyes and above the mouth. The face went cross-eyed as it looked down at its new nose. "Ouch, that smarted!" The eyes looked immediately at Chakotay. A branch began to point at him like an evil, bony finger. "It was you, wasn't it?! You who made such a mockery of my trunk! You who-" Kathryn cut the tree off. "Who, and what, are you?" she demanded in her Captain voice. The tree's eyes met hers, and the tree's arm-like branches assumed a position much like having its hands on its hips. The tree looked at Kathryn like she was the smallest micro-organism it had ever seen. "I'm a tree. What did you think I was, a goldfish? Haven't you the foggiest idea what this song's about?!" The tree broke into song. "I'mmmmmmmmmm a treeeeeee......" Kathryn cut the song off. "So.....," she said, pointing at the tree. "You would be....." she struggled with the name for a moment. "Imani, the girl who sings the song, stating she's a tree?" The tree shrugged. "I suppose so. It's better than merely calling me 'The Tree.'" She stared down at the two humans. "So, since you two *lovebirds*-" she said the word as if it had left an awful taste in her mouth. "-have already wasted an hour and a half, are we going to get this show on the road?" Chakotay walked over to the computer console. "Before you arrived, Kathryn, I though of how to go about this, and I decided to work on each stanza separately. Is that okay with you?" Kathryn merely nodded. "All right..." Chakotay pressed a few buttons. "Here's the first verse." He pressed one final button, and music came over the holodeck speakers. *There's a tree in the city It ain't looking pretty Blessed with stress Smog clogging Feelin' shitty There's a river on the highway Things ain't going my way Turn around, go away, come again another day To the bed I go Stumble to and fro Tired of another day of looking for my glow. It's hard to get up You can say I'm fed up But one thing's for certain Yo, I gotta keep my head up* Kathryn looked at Imani. "That doesn't quite describe you." Imani laughed. "I know! Especially that 'ain't looking pretty' part. Look at these leaves! This trunk! These branches! They're beautiful!" "And how 'blessed with stress' can a tree be?" asked Chakotay. "Very blessed, Commander, now that you've put this hole in my face!" "What about 'smog cloggin'? You're just standing in a holodeck, and they don't create smog." "*That's* for the designers to deal with," Imani smiled. "I've been programmed not to help with that. Neelix wants this to be your original work." "So it's Neelix's fault you can talk!" Kathryn teased. "Yeah. He wanted me to be inspirational to you guys, help you out when you got stumped. He figured you'd get stuck *a lot*." Imani giggled. She was seeming, in more and more ways, like an unruly child, or at least a teenager with drastic mood swings. "Well, let's prove him wrong," Kathryn said with purpose. She strode over to the console to stand beside Chakotay. She started pressing buttons, and she pointed her ideas out to Chakotay as she went along. *~*~*~*~ Two days later, they were about to start working on the chorus. Imani had become less and less of a nuisance and more and more of a friend. Chakotay had yet to show up on the holodeck, and while Kathryn was waiting, she was talking to Imani, who was now, telling by how much she liked to talk about boys, more of a mood-swingy teenager than an unruly child. Imani tsk-ed. "Talking to a tree, Kathryn? What would everyone back on Earth say?" Kathryn smiled wistfully. "Mark would say that this Starfleet life had finally got to me." Imani's eyes widened. "Mentioning the ex, eh? You know, Kathryn, you've got to forget him before you can really appreciate Commander Handsome." The tree gave her a wry smile. "Don't let Chakotay hear you calling him that," she said with a chuckle. "And how does a tree know enough about love to give advice?" "I'm not just your average tree," Imani smiled. She saw Chakotay come in carrying a paper sack and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "And my advice is, telling from the smell of chocolate coming from that paper sack, that you should forget Mr. I-got-tired-of-waiting-for-you and pay full attention to Commander Handsome fast." "How do you know it's chocolate?" Imani pointed to her heart-shaped nose. "The nose knows." She lowered her voice even further. "And so does the heart." With that, the face on the tree disappeared. It was Imani's way of giving the couple some privacy. Kathryn walked over to meet Chakotay. "What were you two talking about?" he asked teasingly. "Just....girl stuff," Kathyrn replied jokingly. "She reminds me somewhat of my sister. Annoying, but occasionally enlightening." She'd thrown that last part in just to see if Imani was still listening. She was. "Hey! Watch who you're calling annoying!" Kathryn whirled around. "I thought you were giving us some privacy." Imani rolled her white cartoon-like eyes. "I'm a hologram. When on the holodeck, I know all, see all. But if you want to *pretend*, and at least *feel* like you have some privacy..." she waved her branch and a wooden ladder appeared. "If you go up there and carry on your conversation in the tree house, I'll turn off my 'ears' and leave you alone." "Promise?" "Only if you go up to the tree house, Commander." She motioned towards that ladder. "Going up?" Chakotay and Kathryn headed up the ladder. *~*~*~*~ The tree house was fairly large, but then again, so was the tree it was in. There was a big, soft couch, and a small table in front of it, and on top of that was a small vase containing a single peace rose. *Imani's touch, no doubt,* thought Kathryn. *But how much control can a hologram have over a program?* She tried not to ponder it too much. Chakotay was holding her hand and he led her over to the couch. They sat down and he looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Something seems wrong....what is it?" Kathryn pondered her situation and what she was going to tell him, and suddenly an old childhood chant played in her head. *Janeway and Chakotay, sittin' in a tree.....* She pushed the impromptu thought aside and concentrated on the task at hand. "It's just that..." she stared at the peace rose then took a deep breath. Wait a minute! What was she thinking? What was she going to tell him? That they were moving too fast? That she couldn't continue this relationship? That he had jumped in this with both feet, and she still had one foot on the bank, and she was scared of drowning if she jumped in? But a sudden moment of clarity struck her as she stared at the peace rose. You're not moving too fast, Kathryn, you're moving too slow! You've got to jump right in, both feet, don't be afraid of drowning. Take a risk! Live a little! Starfleet's tens of thousands of light-years away, for gosh sakes! What are they going to do, demote you because you fell in love? She shifted her gaze to his eyes, those endearing brown eyes that looked like they belonged more on the face of a knight who lived in the aristocracy of the Elizabethan age than a Native American ex-Maquis serving as First Officer on a stranded ship. "It's just that..." What was she going to say now? "I just had to say.....I love you." He gave a soft chuckle. "You didn't have to say that. I already knew it. Your blue eyes tell all." She simply smiled and then they kissed, a long, deep kiss that more than made up for the one that Imani had interrupted a couple days ago. The chant was still ringing in Kathryn's head. *Janeway and Chakotay, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.* *~*~*~* Imani smiled as the scene played out before her eyes. She'd only promised to turn her 'ears' off, not her eyes. Besides, there was no *way* she was going to miss seeing that kiss! She felt an immense feeling of giddiness and happiness swell up inside her. Now if only some crew members would wander onto the holodeck so that she could gossip..... *~*~*~* It was day three, and they were almost done. Just some finishing touches here and there, and then putting it all together. But Chakotay had thought up an idea that might make it take a little bit longer....but also make it mean that much more. Kathryn wasn't so sure it was a good idea. "Do you *really* think we can do that?" "Of course we can. It's our music video. We may be making it for Neelix's show, but he didn't place any restrictions on us." "But using New Earth for some of the scenery....won't some of the crew be able to tell? I mean.....what kind of conclusions would they draw from that?" "Perhaps the right ones." She stared at him, dumbfounded. "This is how you want to tell the crew? In a music video about a tree, which is being transmitted ship-wide on our morale officer's morning show?' "It's not as if we're telling them outright. Only the really observant will notice. How bad can it be, with the crew knowing? And even if they can't, it will mean more-" they stared into each other's eyes. "To us." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "But where are we going to fit it in? The song talks about the city, and how dirty it is. New Earth was.......simply beautiful." "It can be the backdrop for any of the peaceful stanzas, like the chorus or the end of stanza two when she's just sitting under the tree. Or even just during the interlude, or the 'freak' stanza, which doesn't mention the city at all." "'Freak' stanza?!" "Remember?" he started singing it from memory. "Yo, what a freak While you're staring at me I'm a tree Now, no, not a freak! I'm a tree (no you're not) I'm a tree (stop lying)." It was the silliest stanza in the song, and it didn't help that Chakotay was an awful singer. But at least he'd broken the tension! Kathryn was bent over laughing. "I hope that's not what you're doing for the next annual crew talent show." "What? And convince the entire crew that 'I'm a tree'? Never, Kathryn. I think I'll reserve all my embarrassing exploits just for you." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You're so kind." "So, want to see what the chorus looks like with it's new backdrop?" "You did it already?" "I couldn't sleep last night." He pressed a few buttons and the chorus of the song rang out. *The sun ain't hard to see Just spread out your sweet leaves Everything around you Is just part of every other thing I'm a tree* She leaned against him as she watched the wonderful scene unfold, all of it so familiar, forever stored in the part of her brain where she kept her fondest memories. "It's beautiful," she whispered. He put his arm around her, and started pressing buttons with the other hand. "Shall I show you the rest of it?" She smiled at him and nodded. Suddenly, Imani broke in. "You know what? I think you two have done it. You've made this whole thing almost perfect. And to think, the commanding officers making a music video for a song about being a tree...." "Almost perfect?" "Yep, almost.......but I didn't get enough close-ups." *~*~*~*~ "You're done already?!" Chakotay nodded. "Kathryn and I actually found it a lot of fun, once we got into it." "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it," the Talaxian nodded, obviously surprised that they had finished so fast. "Tell me, did the tree help at all?" Chakotay was flustered for a moment, then it clicked. "You mean Imani? Well, I suppose she did, although not in a way you might expect." "What, precisely, do you mean?" He merely smirked. "Never mind. So, when are you going to broadcast this?" "Well....." Neelix thought for a moment. "Since you and the Captain have finished it so early and seem so excited about it, I think I'll put it right on tomorrow's show! Do you plan to be watching, Commander?" "We'll see." Chakotay replied. He was going to find out what Kathryn's plans were first. *~*~*~*~ It turned out that Kathryn's plans included a delicious breakfast (which included coffee, and lots of it), Chakotay, and that morning's edition of "A Briefing With Neelix." All in all, it was pretty nice. "And now," Neelix announced on the small vidscreen. "We have a special presentation....remember a couple of weeks back when Ensign Catop was on juggling, and she spoke of being inspired by a music video she saw when she was a kid? Well, I talked to Commander Chakotay and Captain Janeway, and they agreed to do one of these 'music videos' for the show. So, without further ado, here is the Captain and Commander's version of: 'I'm a Tree'!" They heard the fiddle start up, and they bobbed along to the music, for they now knew it off by heart. *There's a tree in the city It ain't looking pretty Blessed with stress Smog clogging Feelin' shitty There's a river on the highway Things ain't going my way Turn around, go away, come again another day To the bed I go Stumble to and fro Tired of another day of looking for my glow. It's hard to get up You can say I'm fed up But one thing's for certain Yo, I gotta keep my head up* The video was playing, but Kathryn and Chakotay were each lost in their own thoughts about the brief time they spent working on this. The heart in the tree, the first meeting with Imani, her outrage at Chakotay's sweet symbol messing up her trunk..... *Keep your head up Keep my head up Keep your head up Keep my head up Keep your head up, girl, keep your head up.* Kathryn's thoughts in the tree house, realizing she really didn't have all that much to lose....and so much more than that to gain. *The sun ain't hard to see Just spread out your sweet leaves Everything around you Is just part of every other thing I'm a tree* Now the video spun over some of the scenery from New Earth, and they each had their own thoughts of that.......*when are you going to build me another bathtub like that one, Chakotay? You know, baths in Starfleet issue tubs have never been the same since that......* *Why you gotta do what you do Why you gotta tell me how to be, gee Make me feel like you I'm tired of messing around Tell me what these people know A tree in the city Needs somewhere to grow. River on the highway Ain't never seen a grayer day Sad, it's lonely It needs somewhere to play. As for me, I'll sit under the tree, 'Cause there ain't no better place to be.* Sitting in the shade Imani provided from the holographic sun, confiding things in a tree which Kathryn really didn't talk about with anybody else... *Keep your head up Keep my head up Keep your head up Keep my head up Keep your head up, girl, keep your head up. The sun ain't hard to see Just spread out your sweet leaves Everything around you Is just part of every other thing I'm a tree* New Earth again, and more memories of their own..... The chorus was followed by an interlude, and Kathryn chose this moment to turn to Chakotay. "We did a pretty good job, didn't we?" He answered by hugging her closer. *Yo, what a freak While you're staring at me I'm a tree Now, no, not a freak! I'm a tree (no you're not) I'm a tree (stop lying)* Kathryn gave a small laugh as she remembered Chakotay's rendition of that verse. Even Imani had later commented on his try at singing! *Keep your head up Keep my head up Keep your head up Keep my head up Keep your head up, girl, keep your head up. The sun ain't hard to see Just spread out your sweet leaves Everything around you Is just part of every other thing I'm a tree* The chorus played over a couple more times, but neither of them noticed. They were too busy 'congratulating' each other on a job well done. *****************fini***************** so....that's my first ever jetc challenge out of the way....*phew!* now I've just got to wait for my turn in the round robin to come up......... send all your comments to celestia@innocent.com PLEASE!!!!!!!!