Title: Fire, Wind, and Water: The Debussy Suite 6, Ondine
Author: Wildcat
Series: TOS
Rating: T
Codes: S/U, Saavik
Summary: Fifteen months after Uhura is transferred to the Lexington, she and Spock must make some difficult decisions. This takes place after the events described in the following stories:
A Woman's Touch
The Taste of Snow
Almost a Kiss
You Could 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
Fire, Wind, and Water 3: Dialogue of the Wind and Sea
Fire, Wind, and Water 4: Bells Through the Leaves
Fire, Wind, and Water 5: Gardens in the Rain
Note that this is the final part 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, "Ondine," from which the title was taken.
A very special thanks to Gayle Rochefort-Potts, Don Buchan, and Jane St. Clair, who each supplied me with a beautiful translation from the French. I used all three translations to assemble the version below, and any awkwardness is solely my own fault.
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.
Feedback is desired.
…..
ONDINE
Aloysius Bertrand
Publie d'apres l'edition du Mercure de France, 1908
Ecoute! -Ecoute! - C'est moi, c'est Ondine qui frole de ces
gouttes d'eau les losanges sonores de ta fenetre illuminee par
les mornes rayons de la lune; et voici, en robe de moire, la
dame chatelaine qui contemple a son balcon la belle nuit etoilee
et le beau lac endormi.
Chaque flot est un ondin qui nage dans le courant, chaque
courant est un sentier qui serpente vers mon palais, et mon
palais est bati fluide, au fond du lac, dans le triangle du
feu, de la terre et de l'air.
Ecoute! - Ecoute! - Mon pere bat l'eau coassante d'une
branche d'aulne verte, et mes soeurs caressent de leurs bras
d'ecumeles fraiches iles d'herbes, de nenuphars et de glaieuls,
ou se moquent du saule caduc et barbu qui peche a la ligne.
Sa chanson murmuree, elle me supplia de recevoir son anneau a
mon doigt, pour etre l'epoux d'une Ondine, et de visiter avec
elle son palais, pour etre le roi des lacs.
Et comme je lui repondais quie j'aimais une mortelle, boudeuse
et depitee, elle pleura quelques larmes, poussa un eclat de
rire, et s'evanouit en giboulees qui ruisselerent blanches le
long de mes vitraux bleus.
…
"Listen! Listen! It is I, Ondine, adorning your moonlit
windows with melodious water droplets; I am here, in a moire
gown, the Queen Nymph, who from my castle balcony contemplates
the lake of starry night.
"Each wave is a sprite who swims in the stream, each stream a
winding path toward my palace, and my palace is built of water,
at the bottom of the lake, in the triangle of fire, earth, and
air.
"Listen! Listen! My father slaps the water with a green
alder-branch, and my sisters caress with their arms of foam
fresh grass islands, of water-lilies and gladiolas, and mock
the frail and bearded willow as he fishes in the stream."
Her melody sung, she begged me to accept her ring on my finger,
asking me to be husband to a queen, and to go with her to her
palace, to be king of her lakes.
And as I responded to whom I loved, denying her, she cried some
tears and burst out laughing, and vanished in a stream of
never-ending white and blue stained-glass windows.
…..
Ondine, chapter 1
"Check."
"Check."
"I bet four."
"Four? I'll see your four and raise you two."
They all turned toward Uhura expectantly. The betting was already up to six—Joshua must have felt like he had something pretty good, but Ravi had even upped Josh's bet. She pretended to think very hard about it, hesitantly meeting Ravi's eyes before her gaze slid back to the five cards in her hand. Hmmm... Ravi was so ebullient that he could never hide anything from her, and she could tell by the look on his face that he already knew he would win. Well, she'd just see about that. After all, she had her reputation as poker champ of the Lexington to uphold.
Her motions overtly cautious, she stacked six chips and placed them in the center of the table.
"Call."
As the betting came around again, Carolyn tossed her cards onto the table with disgust, then Anton did the same. It was down to just Joshua, Ravi, and herself.
Joshua eyed Ravi for a moment, then picked up three chips. "Okay, Ravi. I'll see your two and raise one."
Immediately tossing three chips onto the table, Ravi said, "See your one, raise another two."
Uhura lowered her eyes so no one could see that a smile threatened to creep across her lips. This was perfect! Intent on each other, Josh and Ravi would drive up the bidding without paying a bit of attention to her. Maybe one of them would even fold. She unobtrusively met the current bet again. Back to Josh.
As Josh and Ravi studied each other, Uhura felt someone nudge her foot. Daring a quick peek, she met Carolyn's eyes. The older woman winked, and Uhura looked back down before anyone else noticed.
The betting came back around twice more, and each time Uhura bet just the bare minimum. The pile of chips in the middle of the table grew huge, and she began to have second thoughts. She was so confident that she could beat their hands, but she'd never seen Ravi and Josh act like this. Finally, though, the betting slowed to a stop, and it was time to show their cards.
Joshua went first. Visibly tense, he placed his cards on the table, and Anton laughed out loud at the sight.
Reaching for his partner's hand, Anton crowed, "Good for you, Josh! A full house!"
Poor Josh. His relief at Anton's approval would be short-lived. Those three fives and two eights wouldn't get him far tonight, no sir.
His smile brilliant enough to power the ship, Ravi slapped his cards down on the table. "Full house, queen high!" He reached for the pile of chips.
Uhura rested her hand lightly on his arm and purred, "Rather sure of yourself, aren't you Ravi?" His shameless game of flirtation never ended, and she enjoyed this chance to turn the tables.
He shook his head. "Ah, Nyota. I can see that you are going to break my heart, yet again."
Raising an eyebrow, she turned her cards over one at a time. "You know it, darling. Six, six, six, six, king. Four of a kind."
"Ah!" He covered his face in mock sorrow as she scraped the pile of chips over to her side of the table.
Anton, Joshua, and Carolyn stood. While the two men headed over to the sideboard to refresh their drinks, Carolyn walked around the table and hugged Ravi's neck. "Ravi, when will you ever learn? You can't trust that woman any farther than you can throw her!"
"Oh, but that is why I adore her so. She is so beautiful as she rips my heart out and stomps it to a pulp. Someday she will see the error of her ways and succumb to my irresistible charm."
"Give it up, Ravi!" Anton poured a generous splash of whisky into his glass and laughed. "You know that she has a passionate lover hidden away somewhere."
Ravi leaned close to Uhura. "Someday her heart will be broken," he said in a stage whisper, "and I will be right here, waiting to pick up the pieces."
Uhura's voice equally soft, she said, "Don't count on it, handsome."
Carolyn wandered back to the table. "Speaking of your mystery lover, Nyota, I haven't heard much about him for a while."
Uhura began stacking her chips. Trying her best to keep dismay from coloring her tone, she said, "Oh, we've been having a little trouble getting together recently. We had hoped to have a short visit last month, but it fell through. Sometimes our schedules just don't mesh."
"I'm sure that's true," Carolyn said sympathetically. "Do you know when you'll see him again?"
Uhura smiled as if she didn't have a care in the world. "As a matter of fact, we're taking leave together next week. We've been planning this for ages, and I can't wait."
She finally looked up and met Carolyn's eyes. Even though her act seemed to fool the others, she knew that Carolyn could see right through her. This upcoming trip with Spock was so important, the focus of her highest hopes, especially after her crushing disappointment last month when he had canceled at the last minute. Granted, a communications workshop wasn't glamorous, but the topics would have interested him, and they would have had two relaxing evenings together. She couldn't believe it when the Enterprise had been sent to study that collapsing star! Of course, there had been no way he could miss it, but still...
She had kept her dejection to herself at the time, but Carolyn was astute. Uhura had no doubt she'd noticed her friend's unhappiness last month, and noticed her friend's forced cheerfulness now.
Carolyn nodded reassuringly. "You'll have a lovely time on vacation, Nyota."
All teasing gone, Ravi patted her hand. "Yes, I hope you have a lovely time, Nyota. Truly, I do not wish for you to have a broken heart." He grinned again. "One of us is enough."
Laughing despite her underlying uneasiness, Uhura felt a wave of real warmth toward her friends. Carolyn was a rock, solid and supportive, and even though Ravi went overboard sometimes with his suggestive wordplay, she counted him among her dearest friends. He was cheerful and reliable, affectionate and uncomplicated and outgoing. And always, always fun.
She shook off her concerns and picked up the deck of cards. Shuffling, she said, "Chicago stud, deuces wild. You four need to win some of these chips back! It would be such a shame if I took home everything tonight."
They gathered around the table as she began to deal.
...
Carrying a steaming cup of tea, Spock sat down at his desk and addressed the computer.
"Computer. List new messages."
"Working. You have nine new messages. Message from Starfleet Division of Personnel concerning assignment of new mineralogist. Message from Starfleet accounting concerning projected cost-of-living increases for 2276. Message from Saavik, personal. Message from Nyota Uhura, personal. Message from—"
"Computer." He paused, uncertain whether to hear Saavik's or Nyota's message first, but finally decided that it would be reasonable to listen to them chronologically. "Play message from Saavik."
The screen brightened, and he saw Saavik's serious face.
"Greetings, Spock! Today Mr. Thras made all of his students practice for the graduation. I did not understand why everyone was so excited about it. All we did was find our assigned seat, walk up one side of the stage and pretend to accept our diploma, then walk back down the other side of the stage and return to our seat! It was not an efficient use of our time, but when I attempted to explain that to Mr. Thras, he told me to be quiet and observant and I would see why we had to do it. And do you know what? He was right! Several foolish children did not understand. And the stupid boy next to me made rude noises every time Mr. Thras was not looking. I did not find it humorous at all and told him to stop, but he did not listen to me.
"When I came home from school, Margaret said that she is going to give a special present to me and Elizabeth when we graduate! Elizabeth wants new hoverskates, but I wish to have a pet. A real pet, not an insect or a tribble. Insects do not like it when I hold them, and a tribble just sits there doing nothing at all. I saw a lizard at the store, a big lizard with ruffles around his neck, and that is the pet I want. Margaret said that she would think about it.
"Tomorrow we are going on a field trip to the new school. It is much bigger than my old school, and it has a science lab and everything! And it is only for big children. Not for stupid little ones.
"I must go! Remember, only six days until you come visit me. Saavik out."
Spock gazed fondly at her image until it vanished. Saavik was quite excited about her upcoming graduation ceremony, and her excitement was contagious. Indeed, he could not deny that he was experiencing a certain eagerness as well. This was a landmark event for her, and he was pleased—and he must admit, proud—to share it with her. He was also most anxious to see Nyota again. Seventy-seven standard days had passed since they were last together, and their parting conversation had not been a pleasant one.
He lifted his tea to his lips as he reviewed the words they had spoken that day. Each harboring his or her own private doubts, a gulf had yawned between them. She had asked him what he wanted; he had told her he did not know. She had requested that he work with her to make things right again; he had countered that he would try his best. But they both had known that his 'best' might not be enough to satisfy her.
He had actually come very close that day to terminating their relationship, but in the end he had been unable to do it. He wanted her. Very much. That was a simple truth. The untruth between them, however, was insidious and complicated, and until he knew his own mind, he could not share his guilty secrets with her. And she was much too perceptive to miss the fact that he was hoarding something, keeping part of himself from her.
It was clear that he had disappointed her terribly when he canceled their plans last month, but better disappointment than more accusations, more recriminations, more evasions and half-truths and hurtful words. He knew the unpleasantness would have continued, because he was still uncertain. Uncertain about himself, uncertain about her. Would she still want him when she learned all there was to learn? Could he bear the thought that he might hurt her someday, either physically or emotionally? Could he sustain the level of intimacy she desired, build the type of life she wanted, share himself fully, satisfy her needs?
Could he make her happy?
He took a deep breath. "Computer. Play message from Nyota Uhura."
Her beautiful face appeared on his screen.
"Computer. Pause message."
Frozen just as she raised her eyes to speak, her gaze was clear and intelligent, the long, dark lashes framing perfectly symmetrical brown eyes. The smile that gently curved her lips brought an unexpected tightness to his chest—that smile was reserved only for him. Even through their troubled times, she smiled at no one else like that. His voice was rough when he spoke again.
"Computer. Resume message."
"Hello, Spock. I went for a walk in the arboretum last night, and I thought of you. My roses are beautiful, and so popular that the chief botanist is accepting suggestions for additional varieties. We may end up with a whole rose garden. I spoke with Crewman O'Donnell, and he apologized for dousing us. Again. As a matter of fact, that's probably about the hundredth time he's apologized." She chuckled. "I guarantee you that he knows exactly where the sprinkler control is located now.
"I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to our trip to Gamma Cygnus. Saavik is so excited. I get a message from her nearly every day! In today's message she said that Margaret promised the girls a party, with all the strawberries and popcorn they can eat. It sounds like a real blow-out to me!"
She paused, searching as if she could really look into his eyes, then smiled her intimate smile again. "We'll have a good time, Spock. I'm sure we will. Talk to you soon. Uhura out."
The screen faded. Knowing that his request was illogical, he said, "Computer. Play message from Nyota Uhura."
Leaning back in his chair, he sipped his tea and watched her smile once more.
End chapter 1