Epilogue

Three weeks Later

There were tears running down her face, Spock felt discomfort, not at the fact that she was showing emotion but the fact that he could do little to ease her worry and loneliness.

"I am only a communicator call away." Spock said using the familiar earth colloquialism.

"You're only twelve light years away." She gave a little laugh through her tears.

"Yes." He didn't correct her on the actual distance, it did not seem like it would be the correct time to do so.

"You will keep in touch?" She asked as if it would ever be possible for him to keep away.

"I will be available to you whenever you need me and my home is always open to you."

He wanted to kiss her again, but it was not proper. She was home now, the long lost daughter returning to her family. She was not lost and alone on a planet, she would not need him as much as she seemed to believe that she would. But he would miss her, he would be alone without her his only friend.

A movement caught his eye and he looked over Nyota's shoulder. The woman who had just come into the shuttle bay hanger was not similar to Nyota, her face was round she was shorter and perhaps a little plumps but she had oval shaped brown eyes that were familiar enough for him to instantly recognize her even if she wasn't trembling and letting off a strong sense of nervous expectation. She was led by a tall teenage boy who definitely had Nyota's straight nose.

Nyota realized he was no longer focused on her and turned her head slightly to look behind her. She froze instantly her body tensing and a sharp gasp of breath escaping her mouth.

They stared at each other across a distance of five feet, a family separated by expectations and fear that they no longer knew each other. Then something was recognized and the walls crumbled and they were running at each other only to stop again within touching distance, the boy stood to the side nervously. He had only been a child when Nyota had left but now was a young man.

Nyota's mother reached up cupping her daughter's face. Looking searchingly into her eyes.

"Nyota?"

"It's me Mama." Nyota replied in a voice that sounded too young for her.

"Oh my god."

Nyota was caught up in her mothers arms. As they cried and the nervous boy stroked his hands soothingly over both his mother and sister's back Spock felt a sad happiness for her. He took one last look at the beautiful woman who had captured him so completely.

"Goodbye Nyota, you have changed my life." He said quietly to himself as he boarded his shuttle. He went up to the slightly older academy pilot.

"Back to San Fransisco please."

"That was a short stopover."

"Do you need more time to rest?"

"No, but I think she might have other ideas." The pilot pointed behind him.

Spock turned and saw Nyota stood in the small cramped cabin, her face still stained with tears.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to the Academy to join my mother and father in their visit."

She looked at him for a long moment her expression unreadable to him.

"Come meet my mother."

"I would not intrude upon such a personal moment."

"Spock."

How she made a single word into and argument he did not know.

"Come meet my mother."

"I would be honored."

Nyota smiled and turned to run back down the metal stairs.

Spock turned back to the pilot.

"Plans have changed it seemed, if you wish to seek nourishment I should be no more than an hour."

"Probably three, and dude, has that one got you wrapped around her little finger."

Africa, Earth, 354 days later.

Spock had been too many planets and many places upon this particular planet, Earth. But something about visiting Nyota's family for the summer months seemed to crate a tension in him he had not experienced anywhere else. As he walked up to the doorway he realized it was because here, more so than anywhere else, he felt the need to be accepted. This was Nyota's family.

He found himself being pulled through the door and into a tight and unfamiliar embrace before his distracted mind could figure out what was happening.

"Spock, you are more than welcome here. Please, call this a home away from home. You are part of the family now."

"You are very gracious Mrs Uhura." Spock said.

"You brought my daughter back to me, you will always have a place here." She said seriously.

Spock felt cool fingers stroke along the back of his hand. He turned to see Nyota's wide smile. The touch was only meant as a reassurance but for one glorious second they were connected, their minds meeting for two seconds, a flash of emotion, a greeting between their minds as old acquaintances. Then it was gone and he had to remind himself she could probably not feel what he had felt.

They sat next to each other at lunch, Spock told them of Vulcan, they told him of Earth. He and Nyota never mentioned the time they had spent together previously, it would be too private and raise too many emotions. They did not talk directly to each other letting Nyota's family speak to Spock, ask the questions they wanted to ask, all the obvious ones about Vulcan emotions and telepathy, yet it was not awkward. There would be time for the two of them later, and there was. Nyota's family did not flick an eyelid when Spock followed her upstairs to see the language translations she had been working on. She had gone back to school and had decided to focus on languages, particularly alien languages.

Spock listened to her rapid excited talking with interest until she looked at him and smiled.

"Sorry, I'm talking too much."

"Do not apologize, I find it interesting."

"I guess I've just been looking forwards to talking to you face to face, but now that you're here, I.. I don't know what i'm feeling."

"We have not been in the same room together in a year and the last time it was when you were in an emotional situation, waiting to meet your family again and scared that you might somehow end up back in slavery. I understand if my presence brings back some of those emotions."

Nyota gave him an ironic little smile.

"No, I've missed you. I'm just aware that we've got so little time together , I'm scared of missing a single moment of it. And by the way I've always wondered how a man who usually claims to feel very little has such a clear understanding of emotions."

"I have made a study of them in my mother."

"Yeah, that's it."

"Ah an example of Sarcasm, the lowest form of wit."

Nyota giggled and threw herself back on her bed.

"You're really here."

"I am really here, and we have ten days. We will have time for conversation and for language practice. We will have time to be ourselves and appreciate each others company."

Nyota looked at him, he could not discern the emotion on her face but they were there, playing quickly across her face. He waited for her to speak knowing she would always be open with him because that's what they had together, openness. The ability to tell each other everything that was in their minds, the ability to be one hundred percent themselves with each other, to never have to apologize for being themselves. They had something Spock had never known before and it was precious to him. He waited for their biweekly conversations, the little message in-between when she had seen or heard bout something she couldn't wait to share with him. There was twelve light years between them but somehow she was the closet person to him.

"Will you lay with me?"

Spock just silently laid his head on her pillow. They laid a few inches from each other, the silence between them was enough.

Ten days managed to pass as ten days would. Two hundred and forty hours that seemed both longer and shorter than it should. They spoke naturally and of all topics. Nyota showed Spock her favorite places, introduced him to television soaps which he found interesting but not in the way Nyota did. They went to galleries and museums and they relaxed in silence in each other company. Spock found himself acting in a way that he would not on Vulcan, he could speak in a way he could not on Vulcan, he did not deny the existence of his emotions, they existed but for the most part he was able to control them. There was nothing wrong with that when he was in Nyota's presence. It seemed she liked him for the little shows of emotion that were considered a fault on Vulcan. He could twitch his eyebrow at her to make her laugh, he could tilt his head and she would explain more to him. It was a more relaxed way of being around her, he found his meditation time cutting in half and yet he was still able to be in perfect control. But then it was time to leave.

As they parted there were tears from Nyota and soft familiar lips on his cheek.

"Maybe the day will come when you never leave."

Spock did not realize how much stronger their bond had grown through their fleeting touches until the shuttle crossed an unseen border and something in his mind stretched and then shrunk in an empty and short lived pain. He felt a rush of emotion when he realized that a year would pass before he would next have a chance to feel that freedom and comfort in his own skin, too be whole again. Then he pushed those feelings away knowing there was nothing he could do but deal with them in meditation later.

Vulcan, 368 days later.

Spock woke with a small start, he turned to the open door and saw the figure in the doorway. He took a breath and settled back down on the bed, Nyota had come to stay with them for a few months on his invite. She wished to practice at the language institute, she had been rushing through her studies on earth and wished to continue them over the summer months on Vulcan.

"Spock?"

"Come in Nyota."

He heard her soft feet padding across the floor and felt his bed shift with her weight. He felt an immediate comfort as she laid next to him, he always felt his mind react to her presence. He felt more complete when she was with him. She laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. These moments between them were rare but they never felt awkward. It was just right because it was them.

"I know we have not had chance to speak in private yet but I did not realize it would affect your sleep."

Her hair tickled across his neck and he felt her moods opening to him. Dark moods, unhappy thoughts swirling. He tightened his grip on her slightly wanting to protect her from the darkness of he own memories.

"I dreamed you had never come." She whispered softly like a secret. "That I had just made everything in my own mind. I dreamed I was still with lord Pur and he gave me to the slave master."

"It was a dream, I am here , I will not let them touch you again."

He promised her stroking his hand down her back.

Nyota sniffed slightly then buried her face in his shoulder pushing the curves of her body into his.

"I always feel safe when I'm near you."

If Spock was comfortable in making emotional statements he would have told her in that moment that he never felt alone when she was around, that it was the only time he didn't feel lonely and that he wished that little bond that still existed between them was deeper and not be reliant upon their physical closeness. As it was he just leaned ever more slightly into her touch so that he could rest his lips against her forehead and wish they were intimate enough to share a kiss.

She slept in his arms for the rest of the night. Spock did not sleep yet felt rested and content the next morning.

Vulcan 230 days later.

It had been tense for weeks, ever since the meeting with the board of directors at the science institute. His mother had wrapped a scarf around his neck and wished him luck. He knew she would be proud of him no matter what he did, it seemed the Humans could not only love but loved unconditionally.

"Say goodbye to your father."

Spock had stiffened at the suggestion but nodded. There was no logical reason not to, even if they had not spoken in weeks.

He stopped by his father's office and looked in. His father was sat up straight in front of his computer system,

"I am leaving for Earth now."

"This is not the path you chose?"

"It seems it is the path that has chosen me."

"You must be in charge of your own destiny Spock."

"I am father."

"I question the choices you are making, and your reasoning, they are military."

"I wish to study science but work for peace and against slavery."

"So it is the girl."

"Yes." He would not deny it. Nyota had changed everything and he welcomed it.

"You are following your emotions, you shall embarrass yourself and your family."

"I would have wished for your blessing but I do not need it."

He walked out of his family house without looking back. He may not have the blessing of his father but he would always have Nyota nothing would take away what they had together.

730 days later.

Spock was typing up his final paper of his second year when his com unit rung. He looked up and noted the call was coming from Vulcan. If it were a local call he might have ignored it but as it was he saved his work and turned over the computer screen to the comm system. The familiar face of his mother filled the screen.

"Hello Mother, I trust you are well."

"Very well Spock. I was just ringing to wish you luck on your exams."

"Luck does not exist. I am well prepared."

"I know you are, you always are. I'm proud of you Spock."

"Thank you mother, I am glad to have brought one of my parents pride."

"So, any news for me?" His mother said changing the topic as quickly as possible. Spock had not talked to his father in two years.

" Nyota's results came in, her position at the academy has been confirmed."

His mother smiled widely.

"Sounds like somebody else is proud."

"I do not understand."

"You're voice changes when you mention her."

"I do not hear any changes in my voice mother."

"You're face softens a little. I like it Spock, I like the effect she has on you."

Spock thought it best not to answer, after a moments silence his mother kept talking.

"Are you happy to have you're friend joining you?"

"I always appreciate her company."

"Do you love her?"

"Mother?"

Spock understood the question but the fact that his mother had asked him such a personal question and expected him to answer with an emotional statement surprised him. He chose to ignore it, there was no dignified answer to a question that was so personal and came so quickly.

"I have to finish a project and revise mother. I shall be finished in eleven days, we will have more time to talk then."

"Okay, I understand when you're telling me to mind my own business. Look after yourself Spock."

"I always do mother. Live long and prosper."

"Peace and long life."

The screen went blank and Spock was left with his thoughts.

Did he love her ? He thought of her so often, he wanted her in his life for the length of it. He wanted to make her proud of him. He waned to be somebody worthy of her regard for him. She was so strong and so clever and so moral, she was beautiful, she was steady and driven. Yet despite these things he never felt uncomfortable in her presence, she was his best friend. Yes he loved Nyota.

Fifty days later.

Spock awoke with a strange sensation in his stomach that did not go away with nourishment. He found his heart was beating too fast, his breath at times uneven, his mind unable to focus. It did not concern him, he knew that it was because this was the day when Nyota would arrive at the academy. The first day in a year where they would get to be within a mile of each other everyday and free to meet up for lunches and conversations whenever they pleased. Today was a day that had been anticipated by a small unchecked part of his mind.

The fact that it was also the day when he would start his third year of the academy and a new position on the staff as a computer programer did not seem to matter as he went through his daily grooming habits and pulled on his red suit. He checked the time and left for the shuttle bay.

He waited just outside, he would miss the first glances of her but his thoughts would not be disturbed by the noise and chaos that was arrivals day. Could he tell her? Would he risk the friendship that had defined him for the chance of something more?

He sensed her before he saw her. The red dress uniform fit her body beautifully and looked as if it had been designed just for her, but it was her bright smile that left him breathless. He did not know what he said as he led her through the sudden crowd but they somehow managed the pleasantries, she was well, the journey had gone without a hitch, she was glad to be here and no she did not want the tour just yet. Then she touched his hand and he was able to focus.

"Could I just go to your room, I want to be alone with you."

Spock nodded, it was exactly what he wanted too. He led the way wordlessly.

Then they were alone in his room and her hands reached for him and he knew in an instant what she wanted. He took her in his arms where she belonged.

She kissed him softly almost timidly as if she didn't know that he would never turn her down, that he would do anything she wished him to. He was enslaved by her but he knew she would be a kind mistress. She gave a sigh as she pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder. He placed his hands on her back and allowed himself to breath in her scent, lightly floral with some slight hints of citrus. It was the scent he adored, the scent he tried to remember whenever she was gone from him.

She backed away from him gently.

"Spock, can... can we talk?"

"Yes."

She looked down shyly.

"I have been thinking lately, now that I'm going to be at the academy with you and we'll get to see a lot more of each other perhaps we can be together." She said it quickly as if it had been rehearsed, he could sense her nerves.

"Nyota, there has been nobody else since I first laid eyes on you. My engagement to T'pring was dissolved long ago. It was for you that I came to Earth, it is for you that I do everything. To become somebody worthy of spending their life with you."

Nyota looked down a smile gracing her lips, he could also see a tear slide down her face and could not work out it's reason. He reached upwards and wiped the tear from her face.

"It's weird, all these years that was exactly what I've been doing. I saw you as a hero at first, this untouchable creature who didn't walk on the same planes as everybody else but then over the year you became my friend and I saw your vulnerability and your weaknesses. I love you despite and because of them Spock."

She took a deep breath and leaned towards him placing a small kiss right at the corner of his mouth. It was not enough, not enough for this wonderful confirmation. The woman who he loved loved him back. It was feelings and emotions and desires all together in a powerful mixture like nothing he had experienced before. It was pure joy. Confirmation that he could be accepted as what he was, half human half Vulcan, that he could be seen wholly as himself despite that. And it came with the sense he would never be alone again, he would have her as his bondmate. They would make their lives into one path, parted yet never parted.

Spock reached for her, he pulled her close to him and crushed his lips onto hers. Things faded and blurred around the edges until there was only the two of them in the whole universe. The skin at the juncture of her neck tasted cool and salty from her long journey, it was an addictive spot and the moans that came from Nyota's throat drove him to the point where the control he had held his whole life was slipping away and it was of no concern to him.

As they slowly undressed he got the chance to explore the body he remembered but had never learned, there would be time for every millimeter to be traced, inhaled, tasted. And as he did so he found his body was capable of more than combat and holding his brain. It reacted with shivers and fast breaths and sounds he did not know he was capable of making. He let himself experience these new things, he knew he was safe with Nyota, she was the only one that he would ever be able to consider showing his raw emotions to. Without her presence he was afraid of these things but he knew that she would be able to guide him in these new things, trust and friendship, lust and love.

She was all he needed.

The smell and taste of her led her down to an even sweeter point, his teeth grazed her inner thigh before her licked up the sweet juices.

"Spock, Please, I want you." The words were breathless. He looked up and meet her beautiful eyes, the eyes that had once looked at him with hate but now looked at him with love and trust and wanting. Their eyes kept contact as he rested between her legs, his member rubbing against her soft folds of flesh.

She was not being forced to give herself to him. She was doing it of her own accord, she had chosen him. He would not betray her, he would not allow her to regret the choice, he would not allow himself to loose her. She was his t'hylia, his soul mate, his love.

As their bodies joined their minds welcomed each other as old friends.

"T'hylia." She whispered to him.

"My love." He whispered back.

The end.