Disclaimer: I own nothing even closely resembling Voyager or this song.

A/N: Set around Scorpion part 2 along with a subtle reference to another episode. Chakotay POV with a slant towards J/C.

And the fire fades away, most of everyday

Is full of tired excuses, but it's too hard to say

I wish were it simple, but we give up easily

We're close enough to see that you're on the other side of the world to me

- 'The Other Side Of The World' by KT Tunstall

He wasn't sure which one of them turned away first. They'd been arguing, something that had been happening more often lately, and just as the tension in the air reached the critical overload level they both turned and walked a few steps in the opposite direction.

They'd put distance between themselves before things got out of control, but it in reality there had already been a gap between them. It was like a ditch that had settled between them, one that had slowly been getting bigger, and now they might as well be on other sides of the galaxy even when they were standing just a few feet away from each other.

He'd seen the ditch growing too, but hadn't done anything about it. Instead he'd tried to ignore it and move on. That obviously hadn't worked, let alone actually helped their situation. If anything it had made it worse considering the collision they'd had earlier...and it certainly wasn't the type of 'collision' he'd dreamed about for the last few years.

He wasn't even sure why they, why he, had allowed their friendship to fade, but he wasn't going to let what was left disappear into the shadows of the Delta Quadrant. He had played his part in their current situation and he would just have to help put it back together now.

Which was why he found himself outside her quarters with a bottle of Antarian cider. When he rang her door chime she answered, though not nearly as quickly as she used to. When she allowed him inside and got two glasses while he replicated them something to eat, he knew this would be the first step in building a bridge over that ditch that separated them. And this time, the bridge would be indestructible. He'd make sure of it.

A/N: Thanks for reading! What did you think?