Amanda anxiously paced the room in which she was supposed to be getting ready for her wedding, only vaguely aware of T'Pol's eyes on her. T'Pol was the sister of T'Pau, the matriarch of Sarek's clan, and she had been assigned the task of helping Amanda prepare for the bonding ceremony, presumably because of her experience with humans—T'Pol had once served on an early starship with an almost exclusively human crew. Amanda was immeasurably grateful to her; not only was she very graciously not making comments about how human Amanda acted, she was also the driving force behind the decision to allow Amanda and Sarek to bond at all.
It had been about a month since Sarek had told Amanda about his pon farr. Following their first conversation about it, they had both gotten their blood tested and found, to general surprise, that they were in fact compatible with one another. However, there had then been the slightly larger problem of getting T'Pau and the Vulcan High Council to agree to the bonding. Amanda, Sarek, and T'Pol had all had to speak with the council in private, and while Amanda had no idea what exactly T'Pol had said to them, it was clear that her testimony had made the decision. Amanda was immensely relieved. Sarek was very close now to his pon farr, and he wasn't acting like himself at all. Just this morning he had come to see her, and when she opened the door he immediately started kissing every inch of her that he could reach. It was flattering, but also worrying—particularly since T'Pol had been in the next room.
This memory was currently the focus of Amanda's worries. There was apparently a part of the bonding ceremony during which Sarek was supposed to undress her and then re-dress her in clothing that designated her as a member of his clan, and frankly, Amanda didn't think he'd be able to do it. He already seemed to be almost completely focused on sex; she could only imagine what undressing her would do.
Amanda randomly stopped her pacing, landing directly in the center of the room, and turned to T'Pol. "We have to make an adjustment to the ceremony," she said without preamble. "Sarek won't be able to undress me, he's too far gone for that. We have to convince T'Pau to skip that part."
T'Pol froze. She obviously hadn't considered this. "You are correct," she said, sounding faintly surprised that she hadn't thought of it. She abruptly turned and walked to the door. "Stay here. I will return shortly." And then she was gone, leaving Amanda alone with her thoughts.
"Great," Amanda muttered. That was exactly what she needed—more time to worry. Well, not really, but it was certainly true that there was plenty to worry about. Like Sarek's strength, for example. Vulcans were considerably stronger than humans, and while Amanda was sure that Sarek would never hurt her intentionally, she wasn't convinced that he wouldn't forget his superior strength while they were…
All of a sudden Amanda's vidphone chimed, startling her so badly that she walked directly into her bed. Unfortunately, the mattress was just about level with her knees, causing the collision to land her face down on the bed. She pushed herself up quickly, rather irritated with her own inattention, grabbed the phone, and jabbed the 'answer' button.
Diana's smiling face greeted her immediately, and Amanda felt an automatic sense of relief. She smiled back at her best friend. "Hey, Di."
Diana's smile widened. "Hey yourself," she replied easily. She glanced down, her brow furrowing slightly. "Hang on a second." Before Amanda could respond, Diana's head turned. "Hold still."
"What—" Amanda started, but then she was cut off by the sudden appearance of four people—Diana, Amanda's parents, and her brother Alec—in the room. "Oh my God, what did you do?" she exclaimed, unable to help herself.
All four of her visitors laughed. "I guess that means we look pretty real, huh?" said Diana. "We're holograms. It's a new phone feature. I figured it'd be easier than trying to do FaceTime with four people."
Amanda stared—they all looked pretty damn real to her—and then reached out experimentally to touch Diana's hand. Her own hand went directly through it. "Weird," she murmured.
Diana rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, interesting as that is, it's also really not the point," she said, a little impatiently. Amanda straightened up and looked expectantly at her friend, barely suppressing a grin. Diana sounded so businesslike. "The point," Diana continued, obviously satisfied that she had Amanda's attention, "is that we all wanted to see you before the big ceremony. And also, we have some news."
By the time she was finished talking, Diana was nearly dancing with excitement. Amanda raised her eyebrows. "What kind of news?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
In answer, Diana held out her left hand at the same time that Alec came over to stand next to her, causing Amanda to register the glittering diamond ring more quickly than she might normally have. "Oh my God!" she burst out again. She caught Alec's eye. "Took you long enough."
He laughed. "I appreciate your congratulations."
Diana giggled. "And of course that means you're going have to come back from Vulcan pretty soon, because you have to be my maid of honor."
"Of course," Amanda agreed, unable to stop smiling. Then she sighed. "You guys should go now, though. The ceremony's going to be starting soon."
"I still don't understand why we can't at least watch," Amanda's mother interjected. She looked much like Amanda with her curly brown hair, but her eyes were jade green instead of cobalt blue. Amanda and Alec had inherited their eyes directly from their father.
Amanda forced a smile, hoping her blush didn't show. "It's a Vulcan thing, Mom. It's not personal. You know I'd rather have you here." That, at least, was true. Amanda would have loved to have her family with her for the ceremony, but it wasn't allowed. She wasn't even able to tell them about Sarek's pon farr.
Her father shook his head, clearly irritated. "I hate all the secrecy they have with us. Haven't humans proven their trustworthiness over and over?"
Amanda hesitated, not sure how much she should say. "I don't really think it's like that, Dad," she said. "I mean, it's not just humans they keep things from. It's everybody."
"Excuse me." The soft voice came from behind Amanda, and she automatically turned to face the speaker, even though she knew it would be T'Pol.
"Oh good, you're back," she said without thinking. She heard someone behind her—probably her mother—clear their throat, and she blushed and turned around again. "Um, T'Pol, these are my parents, Mark and Evelyn, my brother Alec, and my friend Diana," she said, gesturing to the group. Then she addressed her family again. "This is Sarek's great-aunt, T'Pol. She's been helping me prepare for the ceremony."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," T'Pol said politely, inclining her head, "but I am afraid that I need Amanda now. The ceremony will be starting momentarily."
Amanda's family nodded. "Love you," Diana whispered, smiling encouragingly, and then the connection was cut.
There was a brief, faintly uncomfortable silence. "I apologize," T'Pol said softly. "I did not mean to interrupt."
Amanda shook her head. "It's okay," she replied. "I wasn't actually expecting the call." She sighed. "So. We're ready to go?"
T'Pol nodded. "This is for you," she said, holding out a long, kimono-like garment made of deep red silk. On the cuffs of the sleeve was writing very similar to Chinese or Japanese characters; it was actually ancient Vulcan, and it spelled out Sarek's clan name and an approximation of Amanda's name in Vulcan. "Once you are dressed, we will head down to the caves."
Amanda froze, her hands still tangled in silk. "Um, caves?"
T'Pol blinked. "Sarek did not tell you?" Amanda shook her head uncertainly. "The ceremony itself will take place outside, but you will be spending Sarek's pon farr in-"
"A cave," Amanda finished for her, a sense of dread filling her. "That's what you were going to say, right?" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, god."
"It is not as bad as it seems," T'Pol said. "The caves are where pon farrs traditionally take place, but they are fully furnished. They are similar to apartments."
Amanda forced herself to take a deep breath. *It's not that bad,* she thought. *And it's only a couple of days.* After a long moment, she looked up again. "Okay."

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