Hm, have more angsty Into Darkness stuff that was hiding in the recesses of my computer... The central character, though. She's not in the list.

Enterprise's Toast

We were supposed to always be together. Maybe not forever, because neither of us will last that long… but still always. I can't go on without you. Can I?

Maybe I can, technically. Things can be put back together after they're broken, can't they? I can. Can you? I'll last a lot longer than you will—after all, I'm built to last. You aren't. Even though you have a thirst for adventure, and I do, too, your adventures will be the end of you one day. Luck will leave, reality will catch up, and I'll have no choice but to let you go.

But it wasn't supposed to be this early.

I thought, someday not soon, on some planet, so far out of my reach that it would have nothing to do with me, you'd look up at the stars. Would you wonder "Did we make a difference?" Would you think of all we did, the places we went, the people we met, the friends we made? Oh, yes. We made a difference.

You'd look at the stars that were our home together and you'd think, "It was fun." Because it was. It was fun.

But I wasn't supposed to be the end of you. Maybe I wasn't even supposed to last as long as you. After all, you seemed invincible. Immortal. Maybe you still are. First in the hearts of your crew; they'll never forget you. I won't either. And me—they'll never forget me. You never forget your first love; isn't that what they say? I'll never forget mine.

I suppose, that way, we still can be together always. In some place where immortality is real, in that place we never die. The place where neither of us are forgotten, both of us are avenged; but our lives are lost at the expense of our best friends' sanity. What sort of death is that?

I don't know what to say now... except thank you. I know you didn't save me just for me. It was for everyone else. But when Scotty announced my time of death, you sprang into action, and that was also for me.

I don't know what to say now… except I'm sorry. I never meant for you to be afraid. No one should have been able to do that, especially not me. I was a fortress; I was invincible, immortal, we could go anywhere, and we believed it together. And now, the tears falling for you—ones that never should have been shed—they're mine, too.

But things that are broken can be put back together, can't they? Can you? I don't know. Can I tell you a secret? I was afraid, too. I knew when this started, I would probably be lost, but if that happened… we would be lost together. Because we're supposed to be always together.

To the best captain any ship ever had.