Laughing With Blue Lips

Part I

Notes:

This is a Titanic inspired fic. The idea was originally posted on tumblr, but I couldn't wait so I just wrote it myself instead of waiting for someone else to write it.

This is a first draft. No beta has ever seen this, so all mistakes are mine. If you find any, send them my way or keep them ;)

The title is inspired by Regina Spektor songs (Laughing With and Blue Lips) - I was struggling to find a good title.

While writing this I was mostly listening to the following songs (in case anyone wants to get on the mood):

Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im spiegel

Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op. 11

Yann Tiersen - L'absente

Yann Tiersen - La plage

Yo-Yo Ma - Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: Prélude

Philip Glass - The Poet Acts

Max Richter - Vladimir's Blues

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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"Kathryn, are you seeing this?"

"Yes," she breathed excitedly, eyes glued to the terminal.

The scanners showed a massive source of almost pure dilithium. This was too good to be true and if she was honest, she had only taken Chakotay on this scouting mission because she had expected to find only traces of the mineral, like Voyager's long range scanners had indicated. She had hoped it would be enough to get them to the next inhabited M-class planet where they could trade for the amount of dilithium they needed.

Had she known this source was so pure and so massive, she would have taken Voyager here, so B'Elanna could start mining right away.

"Should we get closer?" Chakotay asked, Kathryn's excitement quickly spreading to him.

"Yes," she replied while working her console, "We need to see if there will be any problems for mining. Take us into a lower orbit."

The shuttle smoothly went into a lower orbit and when they broke the thick layer of clouds the view was breathtaking. The whole planet was white, covered in snow and ice, with specks of a vibrant azures and turquoise.

"Kathryn, look," he quickly urged her so she wouldn't miss the beautiful sight.

She threw a glance to the viewport meaning to only have a quick look but then she found her eyes glued to the spectacle outside, her eyes open wide in wonder.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, her readouts quickly forgotten, unable to tear her gaze away from the sight before her.

"Yes, it is." Chakotay smiled, but different to Kathryn's, his eyes weren't glued to the spectacle outside the shuttle but the one inside.

It had been a while since he last saw her sincerely fascinated and utterly happy about something. But there and then, her face glowed and her eyes had a shine to them, like they used to have in the beginning of their journey, when all the wonderful sights, all the undiscovered miracles of space still moved her unhindered, when she could still give in to the sensations without the burden of her guilt crippling her. But the years and the losses had slowly stripped her of that and it had been years since she had simply enjoyed something without immediately thinking about the dangers it may hold. It was a rare gift for Chakotay to see her so carefree and happy and he was glad he had gone on this scouting mission with her.