Morning Light

Star Trek VOY Fanfiction
Title:	Morning Light
Author(s):	Djinn
Date(s):	2002
Length:
Genre:	het
Fandom:	Star Trek: Voyager
External Links:	Read online at AO3
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Morning Light is a Star Trek: VOY Janeway/Chakotay story by Djinn.

It was nominated for a 2002 ASC Award.

Reactions and Reviews

This could have turned into one of those 'morning after recrimination' scenes which ends with all the old accusations being dredged up or otherwise has them going their separate ways, but it didn't. Instead we were treated to some lovely--and sharp--dialogue, and a very satisfying conclusion.

Yes, this is a morning-after story -- but it's also a lot more. Djinn plays nicely with the permutations of "light" and "dark" and "heavy," using the same terms with varied meanings to capture the difficult, yet strong relationship of Janeway and Chakotay. One of my favorite images (because it's so true to the way things look when you're with the one you love): "The place where her arm joined her shoulder was suddenly the most beautiful thing in the world, replaced a moment later by the curve of her chin as she turned back to him."

I loved this Janeway/Chakotay story of the morning after. One of the things that struck me about it right off the bat is how fresh Djinn's love scenes are. Having read all of her offerings this year, I find it remarkable that they are never stale, stock scenes but have all the individuality called for by the very different personalities involved. You couldn't take a scene from her Janeway/Chakotay and plop it into one of her Chapel pairings or vice versa and have it fit. I love Djinn's Janeway/Chakotay. Among all her pairings, they're the ones that breathe a lightness and warmth. I loved how she painted the contrasts between them, Chakotay's insecurity and Janeway's confidence, his deadly seriousness, and her lightheartedness. I loved Chakotay's words to Janeway about that, his saying that their love is as different as their personalities, that if he couldn't see it, it was because her love "was in the air, where I'd never look for it. Heavy things don't hover, they land, they root. I was too busy looking down to see anything so light." I also loved how Janeway had set things up. I thought that was very much in character. "Morning Light" breathes an air of lightness and sweetness you want to bask in.

A really beautiful morning-after scene. Djinn really knows how to convey mood and this one is filled with both sweetness and tension. The dialogue between Janeway and Chakotay was well-done.

I just love this story. The differences between the characters of Janeway and Chakotay are fully presented, and entirely true to what we saw on the show. I like the idea that several years have passed, enough time for them each to have moved on, and yet they haven't. Seven's departure is treated respectfully. The dialogue is perfect and I love the idea that Janeway set it up. This is one of my favorite J/C stories this year.

The last thing I expected to see in this large category of a large series was a fresh take on J/C, but Morning Light surprised me. I figured every fanon explanation of the failure of J/C had been done to death, but Djinn has put her mark on a new one. Chakotay is just too serious - it's brilliant! I'm sure it will make its way into fanon soon.

Djinn has Chakotay's pov down pat in this story. The play on words (with the title) is great, and I'm glad they were able to finally end up on the same page at the end.