The LetterBy  Aries4116@aol.comPremise: The Looney Archivest challenge:  What did Owen Paris' letter to Tom say?Well....I decided to give it a shot. Although I'm not sure how it will turn out!!  Stay tuned.Disclaimers: Paramount owns more than I will in my lifetime. This is all done in entertainment.Stuff: This takes place right during "Hunters".  Rating: I'm going with PG-13. I could really get into this....The Letter     B'Elanna watched as the information downloaded, scanning to make sure the letters didn't run together. Some of the information was hard to read due to the interference. She knew who was getting a letter from home.      In a way, she knew she would not get one. No one would care or remember her. So far she was right, until Chakotay came to her with the letter he received from a old friend in the Maquis.      Dead. Gone. All of the Maquis were gone from the Alpha quadrant thanks to the Cardassians and the Jem H'dar. The latter being a new enemy from the Gamma quadrant. The only bright side to that news was that most of the Maquis were in Federation prisons, alive.     She couldn't  erase the memory of Tom's eyes when she told him that she was receiving a letter from a Admiral Owen Paris. His soft blue eyes turned a cold, hard blue color in seconds. She swore he wasn't breathing for a awhile there. Escape. He wanted to escape from this quickly. He did after he hugged her upon hearing of her friends. It was a sincere hug, he cared for her.  She couldn't keep him there for the rest of it to download. Instead she watched him leave and return to the bridge.      The information began feeding in a little quicker than she could keep up with. She hurried through it and stopped at the word "coward".  She waited until the information had stopped before going back to read Admiral Paris' letter.      Somewhere deep inside her, her anger began to burn. Burn like a star going nova, the energy slowly rising through her veins. With the letter in hand, she began walking around trying to calm down some so she could read this letter. Was it her right to read this letter before Tom?  No, she had no right to do so. She stopped pacing long enough to look at padd. There were a few choices: First, read the letter and if it was a good letter, let Tom read it. Second: If it turned out to be a hurtful letter, tell Tom it was lost with some interference. Third: Read the letter and tell Tom she read it and wait for the fall out.      B'Elanna sunk down to the floor and leaned against the wall. How was she to know what was right?  Tom had always talked of his father in a negative icy tone. Why make him hurt more?  He has experienced nothing but hurt his whole life, even from those who called him "friend" or "son".  She loved him enough not to hurt him anymore than he had been.      She began reading the letter while holding her breath.<b>Thomas,You have managed to live an existence that could have been used on someone worth while. I'm surprised that you were alive when the Federation got word of Voyager's survival in the Delta quadrant. I had already written you off as dead. In my existence you no longer live. You died the minute you betrayed Starfleet and the Paris name. I'm sorry that you  could not uphold your place in the Paris family.  Do you know what a coward is? It is one who lacks courage, that is you. You have failed Starfleet and the Maquis all with in a year. Sooner or later you will understand how much  you have hurt me. I only hope I will be alive to see your realization.  You might be able to start anew in the Delta quadrant, but when you return home, you will have to face your past and your mistakes. Mistakes that you can never change regardless  of the achievements you have made in the Delta quadrant. Your mother and sisters were estactic to hear that you were still alive. They love you very much and wait for you to return. I do not share their view and never will. Good riddance...........Owen Paris</b>     B'Elanna threw the padd with such force, it crumbled against the far wall into many pieces. It didn't satisfy the anger that exploded inside of her. She jumped up and walked over to the pieces that lay on the floor and began stomping and cursing in Klingon and using some human curse words as well.      Then something unexpected happened....she began crying in the middle of her rage. Huge tears spilled out of her eyes and wouldn't stop. That only made her more angry. B'Elanna Torres did not cry like a child.      Time. Time changes people and feelings. B'Elanna only prayed that Tom's so called father would change. Tom didn't need to, he is fine just as he is.            Tom watched B'Elanna with a careful look as they left Neelix's party. She was way too quiet but had a tight grip on his hand as they walked along the corridors.  She was still a mystery at times.           "Are you okay B'Elanna?"  His soft voice stopped her in her tracks as she looked up at him.           "I'm just tired. It has been a long day."             "You have been working hard on those letters."          "I'm sorry about yours. I tried to save it."   A tender lie.          "It's okay B'Elanna, something's are better left unsaid."B'Elanna reached up and framed his face in her hands, "I love you Tom Paris."  Then took his lips in a deep kiss. He melted into her touch, pulling her closer to him. He gently pulled away  and said, "I love you also."     They continued walking down the corridors into the future together. Forever.                                             The End......