A Tasty Dish To Set Before

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Title: A Tasty Dish to Set Before

Author: Stephen

Series: TOS

Codes: S/Tpg

Challenge: Biblically Speaking

Summary: Spock encounters T'Pring a couple years after the events in "Amok Time"

"I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick."

— First part of Ezekiel 34:16, King James (Authorized) Version.

Spock One

She was seated on the bench in the middle of the park. Her pose was perfect, the classic meditation pose that Spock had often attempted to hold but never quite able to do so. Something always prevented him. The heat rose, sending waves of distortion across the ground, but she showed no sign of it.

Spock stood in the archway marking the East entry to the park, his Star Fleet Uniform replaced by the traditional hooded cloak and tunic of his family. It provided him with some anonymity, welcome given the press following the end of the Enterprise's recent five year mission.

He hadn't really expected her to be in this particular park. Though on reflection, he should have. It was in this park that he'd first gotten to know her. Like most Vulcan parks of the area, it was simple, a stone path weaving among artfully placed stones and benches, with raked sand patterns, and hardy shrubs.

She was sitting on the very bench where they'd had their first kiss. It had been unexpected, though they were betrothed already, the sweet touch of their lips together had been thrilling. He'd missed that. Not that they'd ever done it much.

The last time had been before he had departed for the Enterprise the first time, to serve under Captain Pike. It had been much more animated, when their lips had met under the very arch which Spock now stood. It was that kiss that had filled his mind when plak tow hit him a couple years before.

He'd missed her, but she had found another and rejected him in that very time. The memory of the rejection filled his mind momentarily, but he rejected the urge to turn around and leave. Instead he walked forward, towards her.

Her eyes were closed, and she faced away from his current winding path, but he did not get close before some vestige of the bond they once shared warned her. Her eyes opened, and she lost her perfect pose. Her shoulders dropped, and her arms fell limply to her sides.

"Spock." His name was filled with longing, longing streaked with regret and the knowledge that she had forfeited her rights with him. It was strange how a single word conveyed so much, how one name, said in a low raspy voice could tell so much, even with Vulcan stoicism.

"T'Pring." Spock found his own voice echoing hers in longing, but not in regret. His closer position revealed a woman dressed in clothes that had seen better days, worn, frayed at the cuffs, dulled by the sun, and grayed with age. Her hair was no longer in braids. No longer did it look like she'd spent hours trying to look her best. Instead of the Vulcan Princess, before him on the bench sat an exhausted salary woman. "It is good to see you again."

"I never expected to see you again." The words came out flat, as she turned towards Spock, her eyes remained downcast. It looked to Spock as if she'd aged decades in just two years. What had been lines that only appeared during her rare laughs, were now just lines. What had been eyes surrounded by artfully applied make up, were now surrounded by the dark circles of one who had been unable to get enough sleep.

"And I you," Spock acknowledged. "I have not heard of you. How is Stonn?" At his question she looked up, and her eyes burned into Spock. A newly lit fire found its way into her, as her pose sharpened.

"Stonn is dead." Then the fire left her, and her body slumped, and her eyes dropped to the ground. "He died in plak tow. He couldn't bond to me. He couldn't bond to me, even though I was fertile. I tried, we tried, but it didn't work. They said it wasn't my fault, but we didn't bond and he's dead, dead even though he left me with child."

"I grieve with thee," Spock replied formally. Somehow his hand found its way to rest on her shoulder to comfort her. He moved to sit next to her, and placed his arm around her, as he had learnt that humans did when comforting the grieving on the Enterprise.

"I don't even get the comfort of my own daughter in my arms anymore. They took her away from me last week when I lost my apartment. Stonn's family has her now. I don't know what to do. I'm living from paycheck to paycheck, going deeper and deeper in debt with each week. They fired me yesterday. Last night I slept under a bridge, and all I've had to eat today was a peppermint candy I took from the hospitality candy dish."

Spock looked at the woman who he'd loved. All the gloss and glamour were gone now. She looked nothing like the woman who'd spurned him at the place of marriage, as Doctor McCoy had said, the woman who'd left him at the altar. The woman before him had lost it all. She'd been a girl born to privilege, now she had none. She had nothing.

He placed his arm under hers, and pulled her to standing. "Come with me, T'Pring. I believe I still owe you dinner. There is a place my mother recommend just a block from here that she says serves a wonderful spinach fettuccini alfredo. I believe it was your favorite human dish."