Now: December 2260(a), The Vulcan Colony

"Why did you do that?" Uhura knew she was overreacting, but the anger and fear were real and she didn't think she could hide them from Spock anyway.

"I thought that you would be pleased," he told her. "You are very close to him, and I believed you would be happy to know that I consider him to be a friend, as well."

"I am pleased that you're making friends, Spock," she said, letting out a little breath. "But couldn't you have waited until I was back on the ship? And until we were a little closer to the end of the mission."

Spock's face fell as much as a Vulcan who followed the path of Surak's face could fall.

"Considering Leonard's irascible nature, it seemed prudent to approach him as soon as possible, beloved."

She sighed and looked away from the comm screen. He was right of course.

"That makes sense," she allowed, glancing back at her fiancé. "I'm just overreacting. Don't pay any attention to me."

"I did not mean to displease you, Nyota." He looked so sad, she wanted to cry for him. But she was still too pissed for that.

"I know, baby," she told him, trying to rein in her frustration. "Look, I have to go. I'm supposed to help T'Khio'ri with dinner. She's still learning to prepare Vulcan meals."

Spock nodded, but still looked unsure. "Of course, beloved. I would not wish to be the cause of your tardiness."

He reached out a hand to touch the screen and she did the same.

"I'll message you soon, okay? And we'll talk again in three standard days. Same time."

He nodded again, and she wanted to kick herself for having put that sad look on the normally austere visage. For not being able to say the words that would change it to the smile he offered only to her.

"I love you, Nyota." His words were a supplication, entreating her to confirm she was still his. She saw as much in his eyes.

"I love you, k'diwa," she replied, meaning it, before ending the communication.

.

.

Uhura sank onto a stool and propped her elbows on the work surface in Ambassador Spock's kitchen. The walk from the Hall of Welcome to the home he now shared with his betrothed had not settled her mind as she'd hoped. She leaned her face against one palm and gratefully accepted the proffered cup of tea with her other hand.

"What is troubling you today, Nyota?" T'Khio'ri asked. Concern was controlled, but still evident on her smooth brown face.

"Spock asked Len to be his best man."

T'Khio'ri smiled. "I can't think of a better choice. If he is anything like the Leonard McCoy I knew, he will prove to be a good friend to both you and to Spock."

"He already is! That's not it." Uhura shook her head in frustration. "I wasn't ready to announce this to the whole world. Spock and I have nearly three years to work things out and I'm confident we will, but… but I'm not all the way there yet. And telling Len means, if things don't work out, there's one more person who will be disappointed by this mess.

"I feel like such a bitch for being angry with Spock over this, but I can't help it. The fact that he's telling other people and even making plans for our future should make me feel more secure, shouldn't it? And, I look at you and your Spock and tell myself that what I've been through is cake compared to what you went through. But none of that makes the hurt and fear and confusion go away."

T'Khio'ri tugged Uhura's hand from under her chin and enclosed it in her nearly identical, but far warmer one. She squeezed lightly and dropped her shields.

"Do you believe pain is quantifiable? It is true that you did not experience the same events we did. It is true that you were not apart for as long as we were. It is also true that you have not been together as long as we have been. You don't have the benefit of many years together to help when you weigh what is unacceptable and what can be endured through compromise.

"Spock and Nyota are not 'meant to be.' If you find that you can't move beyond this hurt you still feel, the universe will carry on. In spite of what the entity and so many around you have led you to believe," the Vulcan woman told her.

"But what about our link?"

"With time, you could learn to live around it. It does not preclude you absolutely from forming other romantic liaisons."

"It stopped you," a confused Uhura pointed out. "You never married."

"No, I didn't." T'Khio'ri shrugged. The very human gesture, like so many of her mannerisms, was still somewhat startling. "But before Spock became aware of what was between us, I took on several lovers over the years. In the end, I decided that none of them could give me what I needed from Spock.

"However, my situation was different from yours. My Spock had never offered me all of himself, and then taken it away. He'd never knowingly hurt me.

"You do not have to be with your Spock unless your love gives you no other choice. There are other men who can make you happy if he cannot."

Uhura's mouth fell open for a second before she remembered herself and took a sip of tea.

"I have surprised you," the Vulcan woman stated. "That is, perhaps, because you can't imagine knowing him and not wanting to be with him. Yours is not the only other Spock I have met, Nyota."

She briefly sketched the story of a transporter malfunction that had sent her, Kirk, Scotty and McCoy to an alternate universe where there counterparts had served a brutal empire.

"I didn't meet the Nyota Uhura of that world, and so cannot speak for her, but if she and her Spock were more than colleagues, I doubt that love was the driving force that had brought them together," she explained. "He was ruthless — they all were — but he also had a sense of integrity I suspect the others did not share. He knew almost immediately that we were not his crewmates, and yet he helped us find our way home. Still, even knowing he made his choices based on a need for survival, he was not a man I could have loved. Perhaps it was different for the Uhura of his world. Perhaps not." She shrugged.

Swallowing another sip of tea, Uhura reflected on what the other woman had told her.

Now, imagining a world in which she and Spock hadn't fallen in love was as odd as imagining Ambassador Spock with a Nyota of his own had been just a few months ago.

She squeezed T'Khio'ri's hand in return.

"I want to be with him," she said, and the conviction behind her words flowed through the link. "Maybe some other Uhura, one who never had him or who lost him or who, I don't know, had a very different life from me could be happy with someone else. But I want him."

A fizz of happiness buzzed through both women and Uhura wasn't sure if it was hers or the Vulcan's. She found herself smiling and realized she didn't care.

"It seems to me that you've already made your decision," T'Khio'ri said. "Perhaps you had better let him know this, as well. Now, I think it's time we started cooking. Spock will be home soon."


Now: December 2260(a), The Enterprise

Silence ruled the Enterprise bridge for several minutes after they'd avoided the notice of three squadrons of Klingon Birds of Prey. Life in the Neutral Zone was a world away from the milk runs they'd become far too accustomed to.

"Nice work, Mr. Chekov," Kirk told the young tactical officer once everyone felt safe enough to start breathing again. "That was pretty quick thinking."

The Russian turned from his console and aimed a sunny smile at his commanding officer. He was blushing, for God's sake! Kirk looked down to avoid watching the kid basking in praise.

"I cannot take all the credit, Keptin," Pavel to him. "The idea came from the great tactician of the African Revolution, General Abraham Uhura."

Interest piqued, Kirk's head snapped up again. "General Uhura?"

Chekov nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, Keptin. He vas wery famous for his maneuwers in his day. He vas called a tactical genius. If I em not mistaken, he vas an ancestor of Lt. Uhura's."

"General Uhura was Lt. Uhura's five-times-great uncle," Spock supplied, unasked. "His tactical skill has been credited for allowing the freedom fighters to overcome the much larger forces of the Second Colonial Government."

Chekov's head bobbed so hard in agreement, Kirk feared he was going to hurt something.

"Yes," the young Russian told the group at large. "He did this ewen though the continent had been almost completely decimated during the Eugenics Wars. But, that is not so surprising vhen you consider he vas half Russian."

Jim spun his chair around to catch his first officer's reaction to this bit of nonsense. Pavel Chekov was the only person he knew, besides Lt., j.g. Saunders, who could elicit a nearly detectable annoyed response from Spock on a regular basis. His penchant for attributing every notable (in the positive sense, only) event in history to Russia or to Russians had tested the scientist's famous reserve.

Even Bones wasn't that good at pissing off the half-Vulcan.

"General Uhura's great grandmother was originally from Ukraine," Spock stated as if he'd been asked.

"Jeez, Spock, did you have to pass a test before she agreed to your first date? Or did that come later?" he asked, smiling and shaking his head. "Know the family tree, side branches included, or no nookie?"

"Your attempt at humor is most inappropriate, Captain."

The half-Vulcan's face remained impassive but Jim knew he'd stepped over the line. He'd realized it even before Spock opened his mouth to deliver the overly formal rebuke. Crap. Time to mend fences. Again.

"Sorry, Spock," he said. "You're right, it's none of my damned business why you know more about your girlfriend's family history than most unofficial family historians know about their own ancestors."

He could have sworn Spock was about to sigh.

"Captain," he said instead, "is it not customary for a fiancé to know something about his betrothed's family?"

"Well, yeah, but knowing that her great-great-great-great-great uncle's great grandmother was born in Ukraine instead of in Russia is a little excessive. I mean, the direct line is one thing," Kirk teased, "but people who aren't even blood relations?"

Spock tilted his head to the side. "Actually, Captain, the youngest daughter of that union married into the what became the Wakufunzi family, so Lt. Uhura is directly descended from General Uhura's great grandmother, though not from the general himself."

Kirk stared at his first officer for a moment before shaking his head. Never argue with a Vulcan, he reminded himself.

"I stand corrected, Mr. Spock," he said just to put an end to the bizarre conversational turn, and swung the command chair forward again.

"I knew there vas a reason vhy Miss Uhura is so beautiful," Chekov murmured from his station. "Of course she is also Russian!"


A/N: Here begins the sequel to Once and Future. Updates on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Most of the questions left unanswered there will be addressed in this fic. Didn't read Once? Find it at /s/5293456/1/Once_and_Future.

Disclaimer: I don't own them!