A/N - Sorry for the long wait! My life is nuts.

Big shoutout to Lorna Winters for Nua Breizh, mentioned in this chapter. It is a place of her creation. Check out her stories if you're looking for classic lovely romance in a Trek setting and more tales of Nua Breizh!

The following day Ari's mom Jamie Lee arrived as a surprise. Arienne was actually beyond relieved to see that she looked back to her normal self. She would hopefully now have the opportunity to talk to her about everything that had been going on, but the moment that she and her old friends got together, all was lost.

Ari could have sworn that her mother was behaving worse than a teenager! All the ladies did was gossip, tell jokes about Romulan male body parts, eat and go out to spend their husband's credits. They all claimed they never spent without their husbands' consent, but Ari knew better if overhearing past arguments between their parents had anything to say about it. Then there was quite the uproar when they brought out the computer and called Rosemary who was presently in Paris, still happily married to Kutunah. Rosemary let out a squeal when she saw everyone on screen and then began to interrogate her cousin Jan as to why she had not been invited.

Ari watched on. She so wanted to tell her mother about what had happened in those short days but at the same time she didn't want to weigh her good spirits down with her personal affairs. The truth was that she couldn't remember the last time she had seen her mother so carefree. Instead, Ari focused on her designs and when she wasn't doing that, she was out on the water. A couple of times she joined her brother and tried to play a few games with him but when he kept whining that she was causing them to lose, she'd go find something else to do.

After their last argument, Brenak kept his distance from her. They seemed to only speak when they were exchanging morning salutations and then again in the evening to bid goodnight, if even that.

On one particular night however, she was coming down the stairs for a drink of water and just caught a quick glimpse of Brenak heading out. She looked up at the time and realized it was very late and the first thing her mind envisioned was him heading towards a nightclub to mingle with the single females. The thought of it caused her stomach to flip uncomfortably and her chest instantly felt heavy. She found herself growing inexplicably angry. Before she knew what she was doing, she was grabbing an empty can of Dr Pepper and crushing it with one hand.

It wasn't until she went back upstairs and passed D'Nal's room that she realized he wasn't there either. They had obviously gone out together. She found that she felt a little relieved but not by much. The truth was that it shouldn't matter to her one way or another. What he did during his spare time was his business and she couldn't understand why her emotions always seemed so out of control where it concerned Brenak!

Once she was back in her room, she realized she couldn't go to sleep so she tried working on her designs and when she found that she couldn't concentrate on that, either, an idea suddenly came to the forefront of her mind. She quickly fetched her handbag, unzipped it and pulled out Somak's comm number. Remembering when he had given it to her and said: "You may call on me anytime you wish", she eyed the fine Romulan print on the card and felt the silky material between her fingers. A smile formed on her face. Without a second thought, she pulled open her screen and called him.

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Brenak and D'Nal got back several hours later, trying not to make a scene as D'Nal was hardly able to hold himself up. Brenak was pretty much lifting him off the ground with one arm under his shoulder.

"If your mom sees us like this, we are both going to be in a world of trouble, D'Nal! I told you to sip it! You're supposed to appreciate the aroma and craftsmanship of the ale, not chug it down like a shot of tequila! Now look at you!"

"But it was so blue and…" he hiccuped loudly, "per... pretty!" D'Nal exclaimed before he finally slumped over and passed out. Brenak let out a loud sigh, picked D'Nal up and carried him over his shoulder. He made his way up the stairs quietly so as not to wake up anyone, although they probably would start waking up in a few hours, regardless. He knew it had been a bad idea to go out so late, but D'Nal wanted to see the nightlife as he had gotten bored of playing videogames.

They ended up hopping around a few nightclubs and of course there were several lovely ladies who had recognized Brenak, but it had felt different this time for some reason. He found himself looking for an excuse to get away from them as opposed to looking for one in order to be with them. His mind kept going back to the argument he had had with Ari and all it served to do was upset him. When the girls realized he wasn't paying them any attention, they would just leave him alone.

He and D'Nal ended up at a bar that specialized in a wide variety of galactic ales. His eyes zoomed in on the bright blue ale he had grown up watching his father drink, and deep hurt formed in his chest. He had been back on Romulus for a week and his father had made no attempt at seeing him. Brenak didn't really like Kali fal, but he ended up ordering it just the same. That's when everything had gone downhill since D'Nal saw him drinking it and had to have an order of his own. And now he was carrying his unconscious form upstairs and hoping nobody would notice. He quietly passed by Ari's room but his ears perked up when he heard laughter coming from inside.

"What on Romulus could she be doing up at this hour?!" he wondered. And then he remembered the shoe guy!

Brenak felt the heat of anger shoot through his body and he took a step towards her door, getting ready to turn the knob and storm in to tell that bastard on her screen off, but then he stopped himself when he felt a pool of D'Nal's drool forming on the nape of his neck. Brenak cringed and let out a disgusted sound. He forced himself to turn around and drop off D'Nal in his own room. As he watched his friend's unconscious form he decided that storming into Ari's room was probably not a good idea. He just couldn't understand why he was so angry over the fact that she was actually giving this perfect stranger a chance! Was she really that desperate?! He decided that he'd wait until morning when everyone was awake and maybe then he could convince her to stop talking to the shoe guy. He was after all only looking out for her best interests. Yes, that was it.
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The following morning the ladies were much more talkative than usual as it was their last day of vacation together. Brenak had only gotten a few hours of sleep before he headed downstairs. His eyes zoned in on Ari, first thing. He did nothing to hide his staring.

The other ladies motioned towards him and giggled amongst each other as they watched him. Ari was currently caught up and talking with Bea who was giving her some contact information and suddenly an idea began to hatch in his mind, and his previous plan instantly dissolved. He made to get some coffee and got as close to them as he dared to overhear the conversation.

"She lives on Nua Breizh with her husband Tristan and her kids, as you already know, but do you really feel the need to fly out there? I'm sure she'll be able to give you the advice you seek by comm."

"Initially I thought the same thing," Ari replied. "But when I read that Nua Breizh has some of the quadrant's most beautiful beaches I decided I could shoot two birds with one stone and get some work done there as well."

"Isn't that smart!" Bea exclaimed. "I had totally forgotten about that detail! You're absolutely right! No other beaches compare to the ones on Nua Breizh. I'm sure that the final touch of inspiration you seek will be found there!"

"You don't think that she'll mind my wanting to come so soon do you?" Ari asked.

"I don't think so. A week from now should be alright," Bea replied.

Brenak took all of the information and began plotting in his mind. He had heard of Nua Breizh of course, but never visited and suddenly it became apparent that that would have to change very soon.

When D'Nal finally woke up looking green and disheveled, the ladies quickly made him a hearty breakfast and nurtured him back to normal in no time. The excuse he had given them was that he had stayed up late playing videogames for too long. Brenak was relieved to see that they had obviously bought the excuse.

After everyone had eaten, they all went out into town together, Brenak stealing glances of Ari whenever he could. She caught him staring at one point and she felt her cheeks grow hot as she lowered her head. He was looking at her now, sure, but she knew that once this vacation was over he'd quickly forget about her. The logical thing to do would be to forget him and continue to see where things with Somak would lead. She smiled as she thought about the conversation they shared. They had been up all night talking! She had never done anything like that before! But still, there was the issue with her father that she needed much advice on, and that's why taking the trip to see Bianca was so vital now before anything really serious began to form between her and Somak.

"Head in the clouds, much?" She suddenly heard as someone gently bumped her shoulder. She looked up startled to see Brenak's smiling grey eyes. Her heart rate sped up as she looked at him. He really was incredibly handsome and she once again was reminded of how she hated the way her body reacted when he was near.

"I uh… I guess you could say that," she replied in a flustered manner.

"So this is our last day of vacation. What are you doing after this? Going back to work?"

"Yes, but I'm also going to visit a friend. What about you? Are you going back to showing your perfect body for the entire quadrant to see?"

Brenak lifted an annoyed brow. "You make me sound so cheap, Ari."

She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "But I know that you secretly love it," she replied.

Brenak thought about it for a long moment. "There was a time that I would agree, but I find that I don't really feel the same about it anymore."

For a moment Ari felt as if the world had stopped spinning, especially when he took on a very serious stare and stopped walking, she realized that she too had stopped walking and the rest of the party had gone off ahead of them. He then approached her and was very close, too close.

"I won't lie and say that I haven't enjoyed the modeling world. I've actually enjoyed it very much; too much. I honestly never thought I'd hear myself say this but this trip has actually helped me realize that I need to straighten out some things, especially where it concerns my father."

Ari's eyes lit up and she relaxed a bit when she realized he was relaying something to her that she knew was very personal. "Really? Are you going to try to make amends?"

Brenak looked up for a moment. "I think that I need to try, even if he won't hear me out; I need to still try. I find that I actually miss the old goat, and I feel like there's a lot we need to talk about. Trouble is that…"

"You don't know if he'll be willing to listen," Ari finished for him.

Brenak nodded. "Yeah, you know how Romulan fathers can be."

Ari nodded. "I do indeed, it's not easy, but at least you're trying and who knows, maybe when he sees you putting forth the effort to come talk to him, he'll hear you out. After all is said and done you're still his son and I'm sure that deep down inside he too wants to reconcile."

Brenak looked at her and gave a small hint of a smile. His fingers lightly brushed away a few strands of hair that had come undone from her ponytail and her eyes widened at the gentle gesture. She looked up into his sparkling grey eyes and was completely lost. She was unable to move, talk, or even breathe for that matter. She felt everything happening in slow motion when Brenak suddenly leaned down and lightly brushed her lips with his own.

It was very brief and not a promise of anything more to come, but rather a symbol of trust and assurance. Still, she couldn't help but feel her blood rushing to her ears, and her heart was beating fiercely.

"Thank you," he whispered before he pulled back and began walking towards the group again.

Ari stood there in complete shock, feeling more conflicted than ever before.

QQQQQ

Hours later and she was still in shock and conflicted. Good thing it was the last night at the beach house. She figured if she wasn't sleeping, she could get packed up early.

As she packed, thoughts kept intruding on her mind.

Brenak kissed me…

But Somak is a nice guy. And it's about time someone stepped to me despite who my father is! I mean, that's brave…

But Brenak kissed me and it was nice…

But I still have to figure out, how am I going to handle my dad situation? It doesn't matter who you like if you have a parent that's insistent on forbidding you to even date!

…Brenak kissed me and oh GOODNESS it was MORE THAN JUST NICE!

She tried to analyze the situation with a level head. She felt she had no proof that if Somak kissed her it wouldn't be just the same or even better, right? Well what if it was worse, though? What if they had no chemistry and he was an awful kisser and-

She wanted to slap herself. Somak was the better choice, overall. He came from a good family and she knew he was serious about a possible future with her. Brenak was just… he loved women. That wasn't a crime or anything, but she knew she had to look out for herself and for her heart. If she was already swooning from one kiss from him, how would it be if they got into an actual relationship? Would he wrap her around his finger? And what if he broke her heart? He had the face of a heartbreaker, that was for certain! And those damned eyes of his!

As soon as first light hit, she was packed. She was tempted to place her things downstairs at the front door, but she decided not to be so obvious. She truly was contemplating leaving before everyone else, but knew her mother and D'Nal would wonder why she was running out on them, so she stayed and waited.

While she waited for everyone else to wake up, she decided she would make the last breakfast of vacation that morning. Cooking always did help her to zone out and concentrate on something other than her problems. And working every summer for a family that cooked for a living had left her with substantial cooking skills.

No one got up for a good two hours, so Ari cooked until people began to come downstairs. She would make a dish, put it aside in the replicator warmer and then move onto the next one. She lost track of time and just let herself flow into the art of cooking.

By the time the ladies began streaming downstairs, they were shocked at what Ari had put together as she began taking things out of the warmer one by one. "Oh, it smells delicious!" Jan was clucking.

Jamie Lee Sisko knew something had to be wrong. The last time her daughter had gone on what she called a 'cooking bender', she was trying to get up the courage to tell her father she wanted to go away to college. Something was worrying her baby girl's mind! "Home fries, bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes…" She looked at her daughter, honestly worried, because she was still taking more food out of the warmer!

Bea was smiling and began pointing out the Romulan foods Ari had also made, "I can't believe you did those fried fruit pastries that make on the other side of Romulus. And oh! You made Osol twists! Ohh, I love those sour things! And you made meat rolls! There's coffee and raktajino, Vulcan kasa! Did you actually juice the fruit this morning?! You have positively outdone yourself!"

"Yes, she has," said D'Nal as he ran downstairs. "I could smell the food from up there!" He grabbed a meatroll off of the platter and started eating it without a plate or anything.

Arienne should have told him to not do that, but she couldn't help but grin at her little brother. He always liked it when she cooked, especially her Romulan food.

Brenak walked downstairs, then. Everyone else was busy talking so they didn't notice the eyes of the two very attractive young people as they met and looked at one another for a few seconds. Her mother, though, caught Ari's blush as she turned away from looking at Brenak. She took the next item of food out of the warmer. It was a starchy dish cooked in a thick Romulan gravy mixed with a root very reminiscent in taste to garlic.

"I kind of lost my mind this morning," Ari said as she began pulling out ham steaks she had heated in apple juice topped off with pineapple slices with a cherry in the middle of each pineapple ring. She also grabbed the last item of food from the heater, shrimp peppers and cheese grits. "I figured it was our last day here and we should really try and eat all of this leftover food so I… I cooked as much of it as I could while everyone slept."

Brenak wanted to speak to her again before they all left the beach house, but she was taking some large premade plates out of the house, then.

"Going to feed the security men?" asked Jamie Lee with a smile.

"Yeah," she said.

"Come right back and eat!" her mother yelled.

"I will."

QQQQQ

The security men were happy to see Ari bringing them her wonderful fried fruit pastries, osol twists and meatrolls.

They thanked her furiously and she only smiled shyly in response as she ran back to the house. The oldest of the security men had watched her grow from the time she was about five to that moment. He was a husband and father himself and he knew from the look on his ladies face that she had a lot on her mind. She also looked as if she had not slept all night.

The other men were clueless, but they all dug in and melted at the taste of the meat rolls and fried pastries.

QQQQQ

Arienne went back into the house. The food looked and smelled delicious, but she mysteriously had next to no appetite. Her mother noticed she did a lot more of moving food around on her plate than actually eating it and that's when she knew something big had to be going on. Her daughter could normally eat three plates in one sitting! What was going on here? She had only gotten halfway through the plate in front of her!

Everyone else was oblivious…

QQQQQ

Since she was already packed, Arienne found herself walking on the beach as everyone tried to get their things together to go back home. While she walked along the shore, hands in her sweater pocket, she let the feel of the sand between her toes comfort her a little.

And then she saw Brenak coming out of the house. He was walking toward her.

Her heart jumped and then sped up. She really didn't want to feel this way when she saw him, but she couldn't help it! At least, she knew, after this vacation she maybe wouldn't have to see him again or at least not very much. With time her unreasonable crush on him would fade and she could go back to her normal self.

"How are you?" she asked him as he joined her on the beach.

They stood opposite one another, her looking up into his beautiful gray eyes. "Well for starters, I'm positively stuffed," he smiled widely. "It was my last day here and I figured 'what the hell' and ate everything I wanted."

She giggled at that and couldn't help but ask, "Did you like the food?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he held his stomach appreciatively. "Working in a restaurant made you an excellent cook," he complimented. "I should come to your family restaurant next time I go to Earth."

She nodded, thrilled and grieved at the thought all at once. To see him again… But also, to not see him again… "You should do that," she found herself encouraging without thinking.

They started walking along the beach, then. "I'm gonna go and see my dad today…" his words trailed off.

"Really?" she asked, eyes wide, as she looked over at him.

"I'm going to go back home with my mom," he said with true determination.

"When's the last time you went home?"

He sighed and admitted, "It's been years."

"He's going to be really surprised," she said, actually very glad for this sign of maturity in him. "And remember, no matter what happens in the long run, you trying to reach out to him is a very positive thing."

He stopped walking then and looked down into her eyes. "I want you to make me a promise right now, Ari." His eyes combed over every piece of her features, her skin, her eyes, her hair, her beautiful lips he had kissed only that one time. He knew they would all be leaving soon… but he planned on seeing her again much sooner than she realized.

"What's that?" she asked, caught up in the beauty of his eyes and face.

"I want you to do what you want to do, okay?" he asked. He shook his head. "I know you love your dad so much and it's not like the relationship I have with my father, but they both have the same thing in common. They want their kids to do what they want them to do. I realize now my dad did that because-" words were stuck in his chest. "He just loved me so much he didn't know how to let me go and give me space. I'm going out on a limb to make peace with him so I want you to promise me you'll go out on a limb, too, and be who you want to be and do what you want to do… Whatever that is, whoever it involves…" He meant himself and most certainly not that shoe guy!

She found an involuntarily sheen of tears in her eyes because she thought he meant Somak! Was Brenak not going to pursue her? So he would not try to win her over, after all. Knowing that he was a ladies man should have made her feel better about that, but already her heart had begun to incline toward him and she was little bit crushed. True to her Romulan side, she did not let a tear fall. She only graciously nodded. "I promise to do what it is I want to do. I'll find a way to get the point across to my dad that it's my life and it's time I started living it."

His hands involuntarily reached out and pulled her in to his chest. The hug they shared was warm and comforting. For Brenak, it was a beautiful promise of things that could happen between them. To Arienne, it was a definite good-bye filled with beauty and pain. She put her arms around him and squeezed, inhaled him. He even smelled good to her…

She tried to pull away from him before she did something stupid like—

His hand pulled her face to his, abruptly, and he kissed her. He had not planned it, but it felt like he really couldn't help it. The kiss was one soft peck, like the one from the day before.

They both pulled back just a little and looked into one another's eyes, breathing strangely. He could see the surprise on her face, the confusion. And he didn't want any illusions as to what he thought about her. His lips met hers again, more insistent. His heart was pounding hard in his chest as he tasted the unique quality that was all 'her'. This didn't feel like those other kisses of conquest he used to get exactly what he wanted out a woman before he walked away, never to be seen again. This was a kiss filled with yearning and hope and true promise. At least to him, it was!

So when she pulled away and ran from him and back to the house, he found himself standing there on the beach, confused. Why was she running away from him? There was no way she preferred that shoe guy over him! Or maybe she did?

He was going to have to fix that!

QQQQQ

Arienne wound up taking one of the security cars after all and leaving before everyone else. There was another security car waiting for D'Nal and Jamie Lee, at least, so it wasn't as if they were stranded or anything.

"Did Ari leave already?" Brenak asked everyone that afternoon. "I just checked her room and her stuff is gone?"

"She left about an hour ago," said Jan, trying to hide her smirk.

He faced his mother then and said, "I'm coming home today, mom. I've just been avoiding the issues with dad and—I realize now he didn't mean to be so controlling, he just thought that was the way he was supposed to show he loved me. And well Ari thought it was a good idea I was doing this today and I just wanted to tell her thank you for… everything…"

Jan sat there for a good ten seconds without being able to get a word out of her mouth. And then she blurted out, "Who are you and what have you done with my son?"

He looked up at the ceiling and started to laugh. "Ah, mom, I'm not that bad!"

"You're positively rotten and I love you anyway!" she said as she gave him a hug. "I'm leaving in twenty minutes. Will you be ready to go by then?"

"I'm already packed and everything."

QQQQQ

Vreenak stood at the door of their home, eager to see his wife again. He knew she needed a few days away from time to time, but he always missed her dearly. He also missed his son, but his pride ran too deep to even breach that subject, even with Jan.

His wife exited the vehicle first and to his stark surprise, their son was next to come out of the vehicle.

He felt himself walking to the vehicle, slow at first. Was this an apparition? Would his son disappear on the air? But as he came closer, he saw that his son truly was there. He reached them both and found himself hesitating. Would it dissolve into wholesale anger and bickering like it usually did?

Jan felt tension in the air as both men looked at one another, neither one speaking. Brenak remembered what Arienne had told him about it being positive to reach out to his father. "Dad," he barely got out. "Dad, I think that… I think we should talk…"

Vreenak simply nodded rapidly. "Yes, my son, I agree, we should."

And then Brenak swallowed and took a leap of faith. "I need your advice about something, too." He looked away sheepishly. "If you don't mind."

Jan's eyes were streaming tears as Vreenak's face softened. "If you think I would be any good at that sort of thing." His hand reached out and he squeezed his son's shoulder. "I'm not as smart as I think, at times."

Brenak's eyes met his again. This time, there was an open smile on his face. "I know you can help me. You won mom over, right?"

Vreenak's face grew into that insufferable smirk that made Jan begin to worry. What were these men about to concoct?!