Author's Note: This is the sequel to 'Getting to Know You'. If you have not read that story, I highly recommend that you read it first.

__________________

A New Day Coming

Chapter 1 : I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

Spock

It had been 1 week, 3 days, 4 hours, 16 minutes, and 23 seconds since he had seen her. He had not slept. He could not meditate. He had not realized the extent to which he depended on her to keep him focused, calm, centered. When had she become necessary to his existence?

Perhaps if he could just talk to her?

Once again he found himself seated on the floor of his bedroom, the bottom drawer of the dresser open, inhaling the scent of her on the clothing she wore to meditate. Quite illogically he wished that he had some of her underwear also. He cocked his head, remembering something. He rose from the floor and crossed the room to the closet. There, at the end of the row of neatly hung clothing, were the black silk shirt and black slacks he had worn in Oxford, when they had 'danced'. There at the end, when the music had stopped, she had been so close to his leg that he had felt the heat of her center. Was it possible? He drew the slacks out and pulled the right leg up to his nose. There was a faint odor there. He sniffed along the leg - there, more to the side - a much stronger scent. He inhaled sharply - Ahhhh! Nyota! She must have brushed against him there when the music stopped.

He took the slacks from the closet and crossed to the drawer, retrieving the shirt, then to his bed. He lay down, pulling the slacks close to his face on one side, one armpit of the shirt against the other side of his face. He lay there on his back, the scent of her filling him. Against all logic, he was able to sleep.

****

He has finished the last component. The array assembly will start tomorrow. Surely this is justification for an update. He can call her - this is an acceptable reason. He can hardly wait until he is in his quarters again. Then he thinks of the time difference - she will be sleeping. He must wait.

****

He runs, his normal ten km. He showers. He eats some fruit, a piece of cheese. Finally he judges the time acceptable. He starts toward his com unit, pauses. He goes into his bathroom, looks at himself. His hair is neat. His clothing is neat. He goes back to the com unit, brings up his address book, finds the entry she made. With uncharacteristically shaky hands, he activates that link. And waits. He is about to give up and deactivate the call when she appears on his screen.

He does not wait for her to say anything. "Nyota. It is good to see you." He had not intended to say that - the words just tumbled from his mouth unbidden.

"Spock!" She peers at him, coming closer to the screen on her end of the call. "You look tired. Are you working too hard on the message array? You need to take time to eat and sleep."

He is overwhelmed that she expresses concern for him. Surely this is not appropriate, nevertheless it is very comforting to him. "I have finished the component construction. Assembly of the array will start tomorrow. I .. I have not slept enough."

"Well, sleep then. I know you can go much longer than I could without sleep, but you can't go without it entirely! Isn't there anyone helping you?"

He cocks his head, considers. "No one is helping me. There are few people here at this time of the summer. Even the other instructors are mostly gone. But the array needs to be completed."

"Can't you at least call in some of the technicians? You can't build the whole thing by yourself."

But she will not return until it is ready for tuning. Therefore, he must build it.

"Remember what you told me before the Oxford Invitational? How I needed to keep my body fed and rested and exercised so that it would function correctly when I needed it to? If you don't eat and sleep and run, your mind is not going to be clear. You will make mistakes."

"Your logic is sound. I have been deficient in my personal maintenance. I do not wish to make mistakes in the construction. Thank you, Nyota. I will attempt to do better."

She looks at the bare desk surface. The mug that normally sits beside his com unit is not there. "Spock, have you finished all of Mama's tea? I could send you send more if you like."

She would send him something? Something that she had touched? Something with her scent fresh on it? "If it would not inconvenience you, Nyota, that would be most welcome."

"I'll get it mailed out this afternoon then." She drops her eyes for a moment, then raises them again, looking straight at him. "It's nice to talk to you again, Spock."

"As it is nice to talk to you, Nyota."

They sit there for a moment, just looking at each other. Then there are voices at her end, people in the background. "I need to go - they are waiting on me. Sorry." She hesitates. "Call me again?"

"I shall be sure to do so."

She ends the call and he sits there for some time, remembering the bright clothing she had been wearing, the lovely sound of her voice, her beautiful face.

Nyota

It was so nice to be home again, even if only for a few weeks. She had visited some old friends, spoken to relatives she had not seen in some time, talked for hours with her sisters, helped Mama in the kitchen. And then she was ready to go back - to go back to the Academy which was her life now. But she had no excuse, and Mama would be upset and unhappy if she just left. So she put on a happy face and pretended that she was enjoying the endless shopping trips, the laying around doing nothing in particular. She was so used to being busy, always trying to catch up, that she was slowly going crazy from doing nothing.

Mama and her sisters were urging her to hurry up and get dressed, they wanted to go shopping, when the com-unit buzzed. They said to just ignore it, but for some reason she just couldn't do that. When she answered and saw who the caller was, she was so glad that she ignored them. There was his placid face looking back at her. But for some reason he didn't look at all well. She leaned forward to bring him into better focus. He looked tired. When he admitted to working long hours alone on the message array construction, she almost volunteered to come back and help. But she bit her lip and only urged him to try to find some technicians to help him.

Her sisters kept calling to her, urging her to hurry up and come along, they were ready to leave. Sighing, she told him she must go. Before signing off though, she added "Call me again?"

His response made her inexplicably happy. She bounced off to join her sisters in a much better mood than she had been in for several days.

Spock

He was in the gym, lifting weights. With nearly all of the cadets and many of the staff gone for long summer leave, he could set up his weight bar the way he liked it and leave it unchanged for weeks at a time. After the first semester here, he had never tried to use the resistance machinery again - he had broken too many pieces of apparatus. After all, they had been built mainly for the use of humans.

After finishing with the weights, he moved to another area of the gym and continued his workout with some suus mahna katas. When he realized that he was moving at the speed he had adopted for use in instructing Nyota, he stopped. He stood quietly, head hung, unhappy. He was not used to this feeling. It was not conducive to proper functioning. With a deep sigh, he went to swim laps.

Nyota

She measured out some of Mama's newest tea blend into a small metal canister, screwed the lid on tightly. She took a very old pen and a small bottle of very black ink. On a flat white label she very carefully drew the Vulcan letters 'tel' - Terran-style tea. She waited for the ink to dry, then peeled the protective paper off the back of the label and pressed it on the lid of the canister. She placed it into a small box, folded down the flaps and sealed them. Then she went to the com-unit and printed out the mailing label she needed. She took the small box and dropped it in her bag and headed out the door. She would mail this out right now.

****

She sat in the old wooden swing under the trees behind the house, idly pushing herself with one foot. She needed something to DO! Suddenly something occurred to her - no, she couldn't do that! What would he think! But... It was Tuesday afternoon HERE ... Maybe...

She jumped up from the swing and dashed into the house. She hurried upstairs to her room and closed the door. She turned on the old com-unit that had been hers when she was in high school. It only had a small screen, but the sound was still good. She accessed the Academy directory, found the number she wanted and punched it in, holding her breath. She waited while it chimed seven times, almost giving up, then --- there he was!

"Spock, it is 1400 on Tuesday afternoon and it is time for our conversational practice. I thought perhaps you might be able to converse with me while you are working on the array." She spoke in his native dialect, not the formal one used for most communications on Vulcan. His tired face soothed out, the corners of his mouth turning up, one eyebrow rising high above his eye. YES!

Spock

With a great sense of relief, he realized that there was a limited amount of construction left to do. The array would be ready for testing and tuning in a few days.

Finally he had a legitimate reason to ask her to return. It was not illogical, he truly needed her help. He relaxed for the first time since she had left for Africa. Soon she would be here. It was enough - for now.

He slept for ten hours, only realizing when he awoke that he had been severely sleep deprived. He showered, shaved, combed his hair out neatly. He put on a fresh uniform, ate some fruit, some cheese, a small bread roll. He had been hungry - hungrier than he had been in some time. He calculated the time difference - it should be mid-morning where she was. He could call her. He seated himself before his com unit and keyed in her name.

Nyota

She was helping Mama scrub the kitchen. Her hair was braided and pinned up on her head, tied in a bandana. She wore old clothes, left in her closet when she departed for the Academy. The shorts and halter were a bit small now - she had grown a little since then and had more muscles from all the physical conditioning. She had bright pink waterproof gloves on that came almost to her elbows. She was not worried about it, there was no one here to see her but Mama. And then the com unit chimed.

She took a quick glance at the clock. No, it wasn't time for conversation. She hadn't thought so -- there was no telling who it was. She was going to let it chime, but Mama said to answer it. She crossed over to the desk on the other side of the room, leaned over and pressed the 'receive' key with one pink-clad finger. The screen filled with his image, formally clad in his dark gray uniform, neat and straight. Perfect.

"Cadet Uhura. I believe that you expressed an interest in participating in the tuning of the new message array processor. This activity will commence on Monday, if you can arrange transportation by then." He must have memorized this speech, because he did not pause until it was complete. Then one eyebrow rose as he took in her state of disarray. "Have I called at an inopportune time?"

Almost she laughed. But this was a formal call and she must treat it as such. "No, sir. I was just helping my mother clean the kitchen. I will arrange transportation immediately, sir. I will also need to call the housing officer and arrange to occupy my dorm room early."

"There is no need for you to concern yourself with that cadet. As I am here at the Academy it will be a simple matter for me to handle this for you. Were you satisfied with the quarters you previously occupied?"

"Oh, yes, sir. They were fine. Gaila and I had plenty of room there."

"Please inform me as soon as your travel plans are confirmed so that I may meet you at the airport. You will have a long flight. It is only logical that I make arrangements on this end to get you to the Academy grounds as quickly as possible."

That makes no sense at all, Nyota. Cadets are NEVER met at the airport. But she remembered all the times that he had 'escorted' her across the campus and realized that this was an extension of that. "I shall forward my itinerary to you as soon as it is confirmed, sir."

"I shall await it, cadet. I look forward to your capable assistance." He nodded, then broke off the connection from his end.

She hurried to the sink and removed the pink gloves, then back to the com unit to arrange her transportation. She could hardly wait!