Star Trek: 10 Moments That Confirm J/C (Janeway & Chakotay)

Displayed proudly within the recess of Admiral Janeway (of the Voyager-A)'s ready room — next to combadge, curved phaser, Bloomington seal, Voyager model, Molly picture, plus an item we'll get to, and below Arachnia headwear and Academy graduation certificate — there was another mirror, more compact than a universe, but no less great in significance, and certainly reflecting no evil. Before Cracked…, this was the mirror of Isabo's Shirt.

That 2005 short story by Kirsten Beyer, published in the anthology Distant Shores and set a few weeks after the Star Trek: Voyager season five episode Bliss, is without a doubt one of, if not the, most important for all J/Cers, and now it is, at least in part, canon. In it, the mirror is a gift from Chakotay to Janeway, upon which, in essence, their romantic feelings for each other become imbued. It is a gift that Janeway feels unable to accept there and then, but the fact that she has by 2384 would suggest that the pair have been exploring romance and are perhaps even a couple.

In Observer's Paradox, there was also the CHAH-mooz-ee, a cultural symbol used by Chakotay's people, in this case drawn onto a stone, first seen in The Cloud. As the wormhole, the path to Chakotay, is about to be closed, Admiral Janeway picks up the CHAH-mooz-ee, clutching it to her chest as she recalls the moment Chakotay offered it to her at the launch ceremony of the Protostar, as "a beacon to guide me home". I mean, if that's not confirmation they love each other, I don't know what is!

For the observer, the paradox of watching is equally and often to be robbed of any influence on events. Powerless in the moment, all Janeway could do is hope for Chakotay's safe return. Therein also lies the paradox for all those who want for J/C. With no power of our own over what is already written, all we can do is watch and will for them to succeed. That, however, is never a foolish, but always a hopeful, thing.