I do not own anything other than Yamada Seiko and the plot (as it takes place after the Narada Incident). Reviews, though I do not desire to push you to make them, are welcomed, but please no flames. Thank you for viewing my story.

Chapter One

She was seventeen when she ran away from home to join Star Fleet against the wishes of her parents, an old, traditional Japanese couple with three kids already sucking the life out of them. Who would it hurt if the youngest left them? For Yamada Seiko, the answer was simple. No one.

She didn't leave a note when she left. Her parents wouldn't realize it anyway. They were so caught up in the wedding of her eldest sister and her CEO brothers that they wouldn't notice that she'd dropped out of high school to join. Seiko had nothing going for her. Not yet anyway.

Stepping up to the registration counter, Seiko's eyes shifted back and forth. She was acutely aware that many of the cadets were older than her, much older. Some were at least ten years her elder and probably only a few weeks her superior. The woman behind the counter had to snap her fingers a few times to grab her attention, a look of disdain masking her otherwise fair features.

"You need your parents' permission to join Star Fleet if you're a minor," she said, a tone of apology laced in with her reluctant statement. "I'm sorry."

That was something Seiko hadn't thought about. She was still a minor and Star Fleet was rather meticulous about that. "Please… I have nowhere else to go," she whispered to the receptionist, her eyes sparkling with slight tears in the silvery entryway of Star Fleet's information center in sunny San Francisco.

"I'm sorry. We cannot allow minors in without permission," she repeated, the look on her face getting worse by the minute. Seiko figured that if she could keep this up, she'd be in for sure.

"Please… My parents… I haven't seen them since I was five… I just want to make them proud of me," she lied, fake tears running down her face. It was worth it to Seiko when not five seconds later, the receptionist was pushing around images on her PADD for assistance.

"It will be just a moment, Miss. They are sending one of the commanders down that will most likely be your commanding officer, should we allow you entrance. Don't worry. This is a regular occurrence, but sometimes we just have to be sure," she said softly and held out a tissue for Seiko. The younger girl took it gladly and dabbed at her face, shifting her bag on her shoulder.

The time that it took for the receptionist, who was named Bethany Seiko found out, to contact her superiors to the time that said superior was in sight was nothing. Seiko was fiddling with the strap on her bag and looking around when she saw a man dressed in the black Commander's suit. As he closed in on the two women, Seiko noticed the bowl cut and the perfect posture, even as he walked. With widened eyes, she realized that they had sent one of the only Vulcan members of Star Fleet.

"Good day. I am Commander Spock and I will assume that you are the young woman with an inquiry for admittance into the academy," he said, his hands behind his back as he glanced over Seiko and then turned to Bethany. "Thank you, Cadet Showers. I shall handle it from here."

Without a word, Bethany nodded and made a motion for the next person in line to come forward with their personal information. Shifting uneasily, Seiko waited for the Commander to speak to her again, her eyes anywhere but on him.

"If you would please follow me, I would be glad to discuss your situation in its entirety in my office, miss…," he said, trailing off.

"Oh. Um… Yamada Seiko, sir," she said, her own posture improving considerably as the two began their trek down the hall. The Commander was silent as he walked, many cadets stopping to salute him as they passed. Only a few of them gave her strange looks.

At a glass door, the two stopped and the Commander opened it for her. As he followed, he closed it and motioned for her to take a seat. Seiko did as he silently asked and placed her bag on the ground while he moved to a window to stare out of it for a moment or two. She was growing uneasy again just before he turned to look at her.

"Might I ask a personal query, Miss Yamada," he said, moving to sit behind the black oak desk in fluid like motions. Seiko couldn't help admiring his grace as she nodded. "Why do you wish to enlist in Star Fleet? And please, do not repeat the false statements that you gave Cadet Showers."

The blood rushed to Seiko's face as she looked down at her fingers. Biting her lip, she looked back at the Commander who was waiting patiently, his fingers brought together into a steeple formation on the desk surface. Noticing how immaculate the room was, including the papers placed on his desk, she let out the breath she had been holding.

"I want to use my knowledge for something other than fueling my brothers' companies," she said truthfully and stared him in the eye. He wasn't impressed with her answer, or at least that's what his eyes told her. The teen kept eye contact as she straightened up. "My parents focus on my older brothers and sister, you see. They believe that I should be working for them for the rest of my life, regardless of my wishes to join Star Fleet."

"Again. Why do you wish to enlist, Miss Yamada?" he asked, as if he were brushing away her explanation.

"I want adventure. I want to use the intelligence that has been engrained in me. I want to do something with my life that I can be proud of."

Commander Spock leaned back into his seat and watched her for a moment. He was watching her eyes, looking for a lie, but when he didn't find one, his eyebrow raised the slightest bit. Seiko watched as he opened a drawer on his right and pulled out a PADD, still in its box, and placed it before her.

"As a future member of Star Fleet, I would ask you to open this and please import your personal information so that I may have a sense of where to place you," he said finally, making Seiko's lips widen into a smile and real tears rush into her eyes. "If you would like, I can assist you in doing this momentarily. I must speak to my superiors of my decision in your enrollment while you wait outside."

"Yes, sir," she said and stood up before saluting him. He nodded slightly and pushed the PADD towards her. With a smile, she grabbed her bag and the PADD as she left the room, shooting one last glance at the Vulcan. He was watching her leave, his hand hovering over his own.

Closing the door, Seiko jumped up and down in happiness. She couldn't believe her luck in being able to make it into Star Fleet. Sitting in a chair across the hall from the Commander's office, she opened the box for the PADD and started to input her personal information. It wasn't difficult to do so until she got to the point that they asked for a guardian's signature as well as that of an educational institution. She had neither and her heart sank.

"What if he doesn't let me in because of this?" she wondered to herself, looking at the input margin that her school would have had to place their assurance that she graduated. Her head dropped and she wrapped her arms around her knees, which were on the chair. She had been so close. A requirement for Star Fleet was to graduate high school, though she had left with straight A's.

Reaching into her bag, Seiko pulled out her inhaler and puffed it a few times. She didn't need it regularly, thankfully for her and her future at the academy, but sometimes her chest would clench up as if she did. Whether it be a placebo effect or actual medicinal qualities of the medicated inhaler, she felt better after taking it.

"Do you have asthma, Miss Yamada?" a cool voice asked, making her look up from her nearly completed registration. Standing in his doorway was none other than Commander Spock, a slight frown on his face as he watched her.

"Oh. Um. No. It just helps… with some things," she said, hiding it from his view as he stepped towards her. When his gaze hit the PADD in her hand, she felt her heart sink again. "I worked on some of the registration, in case you actually allowed me to enlist, sir."

Commander Spock looked into her eyes, a look of wonder there instead of one of annoyance that she figured he'd have. "And why would you believe that I would not allow your admittance, Miss Yamada?" he asked, looking at the piece of technology that she now held out for him. "Perchance it is of your leaving your home before graduation. Am I correct?" he asked and took the PADD from her.

"Yes, sir. I did leave with straight A's, Commander. I wanted to come to Star Fleet as soon as I could," she said half-heartedly. His eyes were scanning over her information quickly, barely paying any attention to her.

Suddenly, with a few swift movements over her information, the Commander looked at her again and held it out to her. "Welcome to Star Fleet, Cadet Yamada."

Seiko's jaw dropped. She looked at her PADD and saw a guardian's signature and a stamp of an educational institution. Both had the Commander's name there with swirling letters. She smiled up at him and tears ran down her face.

"Is something wrong, Cadet?" he asked, a flash of concern in his eyes.

She just laughed slightly and rubbed her eyes. "No, sir. I am just happy."

"You cry when you are happy?"

"It's… complex, sir," she sighed and smiled at him, his own nod making it wider. "Thank you, sir."

"From this point forward, I am your commanding officer, Cadet. You are to be placed on my class lists and will choose a room from the many on my floor of the cadet dorms. As you left your academic institution before completing and enrolling you at the end of our academic year would be highly illogical, you will meet with me daily in order to complete your general training," the Commander said as he motioned for her to follow him.

"Yes, sir," she nodded and followed him out of the information center and onto the lawns of Star Fleet. His eyes remained ahead of him, but Seiko's were focused on his ears. "Commander, may I ask a question?"

The Commander looked down at her and then in front of them as they neared the dorms. "I welcome it."

With a small nod, she watched him. "Was it difficult for you to decide to come to Star Fleet?" she asked, her background reading of the academy being pushed into the front of her mind. He pressed a button and a lift appeared for the two of them.

"As I am sure that you are well aware of Star Fleet and its personnel, you will note that as being only half Vulcan, I did not retain a place with my kind. My decision to join Star Fleet was a simple and logical one," he said as the lift carried them to his own floor of cadets. Seiko nodded, thinking about what she'd read again and watched him from the corner of her eye.

Seiko remained silent for the rest of the ride, moving her eyes to look at the door instead. She had a distinct feeling of being watched, but had to push it aside when the lift stopped. The Commander held a hand out for her to exit and followed, only to be in the lead once more as they passed many doors, a few of them open with cadets reading to studying. Some even looked up at her with smiles.

Stopping at a door, the Commander looked down at her. "These are my quarters, should the need arise that you require my assistance. The following rooms are available. Rooms 13, 17, and the one beside my own, 33. I would like to note that on a personal level, room 33 may be a sound choice. However, your choice is that which matters. All three are single rooms, meaning that you will not have a roommate at this time. If you would like one, it will not be difficult to move things around for the next term."

Not believing what she was hearing, Seiko looked up at Commander Spock and gaped a bit. She would have a choice of having a single room for the first time in her life. Plus, she could have hers right next to her Commanding officer, a man sure to have a quiet life in case she needed to study. It was perfect.

"If it isn't too much to ask, sir, I would like room 33," she whispered and looked at the number of his door. 31.

"It is no trouble, cadet. I only ask that as we will be neighbors, you will keep your output level at a minimum. There are many things of the Vulcan tradition that require little disturbance, though I do not believe that this shall be a problem between us," he said, turning the lock of her room and handing her the key.

The room was appropriately sized with one bed on the wall connecting her room to the Commander's. On the opposite wall was a TV of sorts that was most likely for the use of announcements and the like. There were several shelves with a hexagon design and a bathroom connecting itself to the room opposite the entryway.

"This is better than I imagined it would be," Seiko blurted out and took off her shoes as she entered. The Commander took a step into the room before stopping to watch her. She placed her bag down next to the bed and jumped a little in happiness. She couldn't help dancing a small bit at the end of her bed. That was until a small clearing of the throat reminded her of where she was. "Sorry, Commander."

"Do not apologize, cadet. I, too, am aware of how personal freedom can affect one used to the control of family. Now, I shall leave you to unpack and adjust the room to your fitting. I have many things to do before dinner, at which time I shall escort you to the hall, if you would allow me."

Another moment of jaw dropping and gaping at the Commander with a slight dash of red coming up to Seiko's face. She knew it was his job to see that his cadets knew what they were doing, but she felt like this was too much. "Sir, I'm sure I can find it on my own. I wouldn't want to have you waste your time."

The Commander gave a small shake of his head and looked around the room. "I do not mind it, Cadet. I shall be going there myself, as will the rest of the floor. I was hoping that after dinner, I could test you to have an accurate assessment of where you stand in your education. This is why I made the offer."

"Then I will gladly accompany you, Commander," Seiko said, feeling the happiness bubble inside of her at not only being free of her family but getting off on a good start with her own Commanding officer. She couldn't ask for a better entry into Star Fleet.

"I shall be waiting at your door at 1800 hours, Cadet Yamada. The replicator at the end of the hall will be able to produce a cadet uniform for you, which I insist that you wear from this point on," he said.

"Yes sir."

Commander Spock nodded and turned to let himself out of the room, the door closing after him. When Seiko was aware that she was now alone, she sat on her bed and smiled to herself. 'Not only did he get me into Star Fleet, but he's going to help me with my schooling… For a Vulcan, he's very generous… Not to mention gorgeous,' she told herself. She fell sideways onto the bed and started to squeeze her new pillow, never wanting this feeling to end.