A/N: Not much to say, but I do have to tell anyone who has subscribed to my Author Alert. I'm revising and correcting the errors on most of my stories, so I won't be doing much updating on my stories.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the story. They are the respectful property of Paramount; I just write stories about them.
Tuvok sat quietly in his quarters doing the day's meditation. He let his mind clear of all thought as he focused solely on the tips of the fingers he was pressing together.
The chime to his door sounded. He ignored it. The chime sounded again. This time, he got up to answer it, thinking that the person at the door must need to see him urgently. He opened the door to find B'Elanna standing in front of him -both hands behind her back.
"Lieutenant Torres," he said in greeting.
"Hey, Tuvok. Do you mind if I come in?"
"Of course not." He stepped out of the way and walked back to his meditation candle. "I was in the process of meditation. I know we had a session yesterday, but you are welcome to join me.
"Actually, I'm not here to meditate."
"If I may ask, what is the purpose of your visit?"
"I came to give you this." She handed him an object wrapped in brown paper. "Happy birthday," she added.
Tuvok took the package from B'Elanna's outstretched hand.
"Did the Captain tell you it was my birthday?" he asked.
"Uh, no; Kes told me before she left."
"And how did she find out?"
B'Elanna shrugged.
"Are you going to open it?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.
He carefully ran his fingers through the taped sides of the paper. He pulled it away to reveal a paperback book.
"Sudoku?" he questioned, reading the title off the front of the book.
"It's a Japanese logic puzzle," B'Elanna explained. "It was popular in America during the early twenty-first century.
"To solve it you have to place the numbers one thru nine -sometimes they used pictures or letters- into nine different columns, rows, and grids, without repeating.
"Since I knew using nine of anything would be too easy for you -even using the hardest ones- I did some research and created two-hundred jumbo-grid puzzles, using twenty-five letters of the Vulcan alphabet. And so that you wouldn't get bored, I used twenty-five different ones for each page."
"Thank you, B'Elanna," Tuvok said.
"You're welcome, Tuvok." She smiled, then began to walk out the door.
"Lieutenant," he called right before B'Elanna could walk out of the room.
She turned around to face him.
"I would appreciate it if you would not tell anyone of my birth-date. Especially Mister Paris."
B'Elanna smiled at the mention of her boyfriend.
"I promise. Trust me; I would never sic Tom on someone's birthday. Remember my princess themed party last year?"
He shock his head yes.
"His idea." She then left.
Tuvok looked over the book in his hands. On the side, he noticed a pencil taped to it. Foregoing his meditating, he un-taped the pencil, and began to work on the first puzzle.