Title: Fire, Wind, and Water: The Debussy Suite 3, Dialogue of the Wind and Sea
Author: Wildcat
Series: TOS
Rating: M
Codes: S/U, Saavik
Summary: Five months after Uhura is reassigned to the Lexington, she and Spock take Saavik to the beach on Relan Four. This takes place after the events described in the following stories:
A Woman's Touch
The Taste of Snow
Almost a Kiss
You Would Even Say She Glows
The Flame Within
Fire, Wind, and Water 1: What the West Wind Saw
Fire, Wind, and Water 2: The Isle of Joy
Note that this is part three of Fire, Wind, and Water: The Debussy Suite.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, and company. I have just borrowed them for a while, and I will not profit from any of this.
Thanks to Claude Debussy for his piano composition, "Dialogue du vent et de la mer" from which the title was taken.
Also, thanks as always to my beta readers, Jungle Kitty and ebonbird.
Fire, Wind, and Water: The Debussy Suite won 1st place for "Best S/U Story," 3rd place for "Best TOS Story" and Honorable Mention for "Best Overall Story" in the 1998 Golden O Awards. This particular story also tied with "What the West Wind Saw" for 1st place "Spock Romance" in the 1998 ASC Awards.
Feedback is desired.
Dialogue of the Wind and Sea, chapter 1
"Spock! Nyota! LOOK!"
Forgetting that she was twelve years old and therefore too big to act like a child, Saavik bounded over the small row of scrubby bushes and ran out onto the sand. It was incredible! Everything was so bright, everywhere she looked. The sand was a bleached white, broken only here and there by odd little spiky plants, and it stretched as far as she could see to the left, and as far as she could see to the right. In front of her, an intimidating expanse of water sparkled in the sun, a living, churning beast, each wave a ripple that grew into a huge, roaring shimmer before it collapsed onto the beach. And the sky—she had never seen such a vivid shade of purple, and she wanted to chase away the single small cloud that drifted overhead so that the purity of color would be completely unspoiled.
She kicked off her shoes without breaking stride and ran until she felt the fine substance between her toes change from a shifting, dry warmth to a solid coolness. When she reached the very edge of the water, close enough to feel the spray but not so close that she would actually get wet, she turned and looked back up at the little beach house.
"You must come out here!" she shouted over the noise of the ocean. "Now!"
From behind the rented flitter, Nyota waved and called out, "We'll be there in a minute, Saavik! Just give us a few minutes to unload our things."
Saavik put her hands on her hips. "You do not need to unload our things. We will have the rest of the day to unload our things. Come out here with me!"
She watched as Nyota exchanged words with Spock. She couldn't hear them, but Spock nodded, and a moment later Nyota removed her shoes and trotted across the sand in her direction. Spock followed, but he did not remove his boots, and he did not move so quickly.
Nyota reached her first. "Isn't this wonderful, Saavik?"
"It is! This beach is much better than the beach in Hawaii. We are almost the only people here! And there are no big buildings, either."
Nyota looked out over the water. "That's one of the reasons I chose Relan Four. There may not be a lot of other things to do, but the beach is so beautiful and unspoiled that we don't need anything else to do. We'll just stay right here for three days!"
Spock walked up behind Nyota. "Am I to assume that this meets with your approval, Saavikam?" he asked.
"Yes! It is perfect. Come, let us walk on the beach. Do you think we will find any seashells?"
Not waiting to confirm that the adults were following her, Saavik set off at a brisk pace. The waves looked bigger farther down the beach. Perhaps that was where the best seashells would be!
...
Uhura unloaded the carton of supplies as she watched Saavik through the window. The little girl was still searching for shells, and she had rolled up her pants so that she could wade out into the water. She'd been a little uncertain about the unpredictable wetness at first, but she was progressively becoming more brave.
Spock came in the door with the last of their luggage, and Uhura looked at him across the countertop that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. "She's having such a great time," she said. "This is going to be a good weekend."
"I agree. You did an excellent job with the arrangements."
"Thanks."
He vanished up the steps with the suitcases, and she turned back toward the window just as Saavik was caught off-guard by a large wave. Uhura laughed at her expression. Determined to pick up whatever it was she had seen, she knocked a droplet of water off her nose, tightened her lips, and ducked down to try again.
A moment later, Uhura heard Spock come back down the stairs. She took one more quick glance out the window, then met him in the middle of the room.
Spreading her fingers on his chest, she murmured, "You know, I haven't had a chance yet to give you a proper hello."
He rested his hands lightly on her lower back. "It seems that this might be an opportune time for you to greet me in a more befitting—"
Sliding her hands up into his hair, she pulled his head down and silenced him with a deep, searching kiss. She had missed him so dreadfully in the long month since their last brief meeting, and she let the pressure of her lips and the arching movement of her body tell him what mere words could not. Although he was surprised by the suddenness of her actions, he quickly recovered, pulling her tightly against him and running his hands across her back.
Eventually, she released him. "There. That's better," she said huskily.
"It is my opinion that our greeting was still lacking in, shall we say, 'depth'? Perhaps we can remedy that later."
"Oh, definitely." Smiling, she sauntered back into the kitchen. "For now, though, we have some unpacking to do. Would you help me with this?"
"Of course."
His voice was still somewhat rough, and she chuckled when he cleared his throat before joining her. Opening the cabinets in search of a bowl for the fruit, she said, "I haven't asked yet how Saavik did on her flight. Do you know if she had any problems?"
He reached over her head for the bowl, which happened to be on the very top shelf. "From all indications, she did very well, but I am not certain I would say the same for the flight attendant who was tasked with ensuring that she arrived safely at her destination. He appeared rather relieved to turn her over to my care at the Sarellian spaceport."
"I'm sure she was a bundle of energy and excited questions."
"No doubt."
"I wish that I could have traveled with her for at least part of the journey. Believe me, waiting by myself at the Relan spaceport was excruciating. I was never so happy as when I saw the two of you walk through that gate."
"I believe that I can speak for Saavik when I say that we were most pleased to see you, as well."
They were interrupted by the sound of tumultuous footsteps pounding up the wooden stairs at the side of the house. Saavik burst through the door and ran into the kitchen.
"Look what I found!" she exclaimed breathlessly.
She held a small, perfectly formed shell of a pale yellow color, with a thin red stripe that coiled around the delicate spiral.
"It's beautiful, Saavik! I can't believe you already found something like that. Just think what we'll find if we get up early in the morning before anyone else." Uhura reached back into the cabinet for the basket she'd seen earlier. "Why don't you take this into your room? You can begin a collection."
"Yes! I will do that!"
Saavik grabbed the basket and dashed through the living area to the sunny room that looked out over the ocean. Spock had commented earlier on the fact that Saavik's room and the deck above it had obviously been later additions, but Uhura couldn't imagine this little house without those two features. They were the best things about it.
Moving close to Uhura, Spock murmured, "Saavik asked me again during our flight about the nature of my relationship with you. I was able to divert her attention, but I do not wish to delay her again. She is understandably curious about the topic."
Uhura nodded. "It's time for us to talk to her. Do you want to do it right now, or would you rather wait until later?"
"I believe that she is too interested in the beach at the moment. Would you care to join her? I am willing to put away the remainder of our supplies."
"I'd love to go out there. You don't mind?"
"Not at all."
She was already halfway across the room. "All right! Tell Saavik that I'm going to change, and that I'll be right there."
Uhura flew up the stairs. Finally! She couldn't wait to get in that water.
...
Placing her basket of seashells on the low table, Saavik pushed her hair behind her ears and noted that the ends were still damp. Fascinating. It would appear that ocean water did not evaporate as quickly as she would have expected. Perhaps this was due to the high mineral content. The water certainly tasted odd. When she had finally ventured out with Nyota this evening, a huge wave had caught her in the face and knocked her down, causing her to swallow a large mouthful. The incident had been most disconcerting. Not only was the water repulsive in her mouth and sinuses, but for an agonizingly long moment she had not even known which direction was up. When she finally regained her feet, she had been mortified to realize that her fright was apparent in her expression. Looking up at the beach, however, she saw that Spock had started into the water after her even though he was fully dressed, and she understood that she was not the only person who had been alarmed.
She scooted to the edge of the sofa and bent over her small basket. Of the six shells she found today, only two were duplicates, and she was eager to determine the scientific names of the creatures who had once inhabited these tiny homes. Spock had offered her the use of his padd, which was loaded with extensive data on the flora and fauna of this planet, but she had opted instead to use the tattered paper book she found tucked away in one of the drawers in her room. Perhaps her choice was illogical, but she found the hand-drawn illustrations in the small volume quite elegant and appealing.
She was so intent on her research that she did not realize at first that Spock and Nyota had seated themselves in the chairs opposite her.
"Saavikam."
Her nose buried in the book, she replied, "Yes, Spock?"
"Please put down the book. We must talk."
Spock's tone was very serious, and when she looked over the edge of the page, she saw him meet Nyota's eyes. She quickly closed the book. Whatever this was, it was certain to be more interesting than the classification of seashells.
"Very well. What do you wish to talk about?" she asked.
His expression unreadable, he said, "Do you recall our discussions on Dantria about the various types of relationships between adults?"
She sat up straight, her heart beating faster with excitement. "Yes. Are you finally going to tell me about you and Nyota? It is about time! Are you bonded?"
Nyota darted a glance at Spock, obviously trying her best not to grin.
Taken aback, he raised both eyebrows. "No, we are not bonded."
"Are you going to get married?" Saavik asked.
Nyota's eyes were big as she looked back and forth from Spock to Saavik.
"No, Saavikam," Spock said. "We have no plans for anything of that nature."
"Are you having sex?"
"Saavikam!" He took a deep breath, then continued in a firm voice. "That is a personal question, and one that is not to be asked in polite company. It is also none of your business. What I wished to tell you is that Nyota and I are t'hy'la'ke. We have shared the flame."
"That is good! I knew that there was something between you, but I was not sure what. It certainly took you a long time to tell me." Saavik thought about it for a moment. "You should get married, you know."
Spock closed his eyes briefly.
Finally losing her battle to remain serious, Nyota laughed and came over to sit beside Saavik on the sofa. "Something like this is very private and personal, and telling people about it is a big step. Because you're so special to us, we wanted to be sure you knew."
Saavik looked over at Spock, who nodded solemnly, then back at Nyota.
"Is it a secret?"
"Mostly. Three friends have figured it out, but otherwise we've kept it quiet."
A secret! And only for her and three other people to know. "I will not tell anyone!"
Nyota patted her on the knee, then stood. "Good for you. Now, it's getting late and I think it's time for us to go put sheets on your bed." Leaning close, she whispered loudly, "And if you have any more questions, we can talk, just you and me. Girl talk."
Saavik looked over at Spock as Nyota grinned at him, and then she picked up the basket and started toward her room. "I am going to bed now. Do not listen to us, because we are going to talk, just girls! No boys."
"I quite understand. Good night, Saavikam."
"Will you look for shells with me in the morning?"
"Yes. We will ensure that we rise early."
"All right! Good night."
As she followed Nyota into the bedroom, she tried to decide what she wanted to talk about first.
End chapter 1