Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek

The Movie

They stood at the door of the ship's recreation room. The movie was about to begin, but he was fidgeting, reluctant to enter. He asked her for a reason as to why he was there. He stressed that he required a logical explanation, for he could think of none. She flashed him a mischievous little grin and said it was because he was madly in love with her. With a barely contained scowl, he looked around the nearly empty corridor to make sure no one else had heard. She was always subjecting him to her impertinence and he was never sure why he always tolerated it.

After a few more awkward moments had passed, she gently suggested that maybe they should call it off, maybe go on a nice walk around the arboretum. He was about to accept her suggestion, when his attention was captured by her eyes - large brown eyes - that always knew when to look at him with understanding. For an interminable amount of time, he became quite fascinated by those eyes, and then he wordlessly motioned for her to lead him inside.

As soon as they entered the room, the entire place fell into silence, and he could not help but notice the stares that were turned their way. Some of those stares were reserved for him alone, but others were also reserved for her. Lieutenant Jacobs rushed over to ask him if everything was all right, as if he could not conceive that his austere Vulcan commander was merely there to 'enjoy the show' along with the rest of them. He gruffly informed the befuddled lieutenant that everything was indeed all right, and then he looked to her for guidance. She responded by formally leading him to the very back row, as the eyes of almost fifty crew members followed their progress.

They took their seats. As blackness filled the room, he could not help but experience some trepidation. He had never actually seen a movie before, at least never an entire one, and certainly never for the expressed purpose of being 'entertained'. When he was a child, his father had decreed that the main purpose of such entertainments was to elicit an emotional response, thus making them inappropriate for beings like themselves. As an adult, he had always endeavored to follow that decree to the best of his ability.

Truly, he did not wish to contemplate what his father's face would look like if he could see his son at that moment. For if there was only one expression that often broke upon Sarek of Vulcan's impassive countenance, it was one of stern disapproval. As she turned to whisper something into his ear, his own expression darkened, and he realized that he did not wish to think about his father just then.

Therefore, he focused his complete attention upon the giant screen at the front, and it was not long before he found himself watching it in almost morbid fascination. In the twenty years since he had begun living among humans, he had come to believe that he had seen the limits of illogical behavior, but the antics of this film's characters were illogical beyond anything he could have possibly imagined. At first, he could not even begin to comprehend which emotions this movie was supposed to be eliciting. But soon he heard laughter fill the entire room, and as the plot unfolded, the laughter continued quite unremittingly.

He found himself nodding. Of course. This film was a dramatic work that was light, humorous, or satirical in tone. In other words, a comedy. He was not finding this comedy entertaining in the least, which he supposed was something to be thankful for. But he could not deny that it did have some value. For it was making her laugh along with the rest of the room, and he always liked listening to the sound of her laugh.

After a while, the assembled audience began to grow quiet, and he could only assume that the movie was now entering a less 'comedic phase'. Becoming quite disinterested, he began to study the dim outlines of the crew members sitting in the rows in front of them. A few appeared to have come here alone, most appeared to have come in groups, and some must have come here as 'couples'. Yes, surely they were couples, for they were leaning against each other, putting their arms around each other.

He sighed. Why did humans always insist on gratuitously displaying their affections while in public? But then he noticed a pressure upon his arm, making him all too aware of the fact that she was touching him - or he was touching her - ever so slightly. The armrests were quite narrow, thereby causing them to brush up against each other.

Swallowing, he began to shift uncomfortably within his seat. He was well aware that many in this room would now misconstrue that they were a 'couple' and were currently on a 'date'. The propagation of any such rumors would be most regrettable, for they were fellow officers, serving on the same starship, within the same chain of command. He would not have both of their careers damaged by such accusations.

Before coming here tonight, he had told her of these concerns. She had responded by saying he was too 'paranoid', as if he was even capable of being in such an emotional state. Moreover, she had told him that because they spent so much time together, half the crew believed they had something 'going on' anyway. Of course, that revelation had disturbed him immensely.

But in truth, there was another concern that he had at the moment, one that surpassed any other. For ever since the movie began, he had been thinking about the stares that had greeted them when they had entered the room. He could not get them out of his mind. For he often saw those stares when he was with her. He saw them when they performed their music for the crew. He saw them when they conversed in the mess hall. He even saw them when they walked down the corridors together.

He knew the underlying reason behind those stares, the central question that was being asked: how could a woman like her - a woman who enlivened an entire starship with her warmth - possibly want anything to do with a man like him?

Lately, he had been asking himself the very same thing.

Slowly, haltingly, he turned to look at her face - her perfect face - now cloaked in darkness but still visible by images of soft moving light. Did she know how much she had come to enliven him? Did she know that when he was with her, he no longer felt alone?

Suddenly, she returned his gaze and he found himself looking away.

For some time, he sat there, staring at the shadows covering his feet. He should have cut her off at the first indication. But how does one cut off a friend? Yes, she had become his friend...and he did not have many. From the beginning, there had been a physical attraction between them; that had been something he could deal with. But since then, she had become much more to him. So much more.

He shook his head and then looked to the exit. It would be best if he immediately returned to his quarters and to the solitude of his meditation chamber. Once there, he could stamp out the storm that had taken hold of him. But just as he started to rise, he felt a hand upon his shoulder.

Turning towards that hand, he once more looked into eyes that understood him. Barely suppressing his elation, he inched his own hand over to rest it upon hers. Caressing its softness, he allowed himself just a glimpse into her mind – his first glimpse. There, he felt joy. How a joyless creature like him could ever make a woman like her any more happy, he did not know, but somehow he was. Soon, she was intertwining her fingers with his, and then he felt something else.

He felt her warmth. And not the warmth of her skin, for her skin was pleasantly cool. Rather, it was the warmth of her very being, pure and undiluted. He thought about the other women he had known on his travels, never had he felt anything like this from them. To think that all this time, this was right here, waiting for him.

The End