Title: One Heart, One Soul, One Life
Spoilers: Kir'Shara on and a little spoiler later on (T'Les lives), AU but with canon...mostly.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Enterprise or its characters.
Logic…the foundation of everything Vulcan, it is what thought, life and death were based on. However, despite emotions becoming suppressed, bonds of love were formed…two souls bound together by a bond so powerful death could only break it.
So it became k'hat'n'dlawa…of one heart and one soul.
However, due to emotion constraint this bond only surfaced once every four generations. The holders of those bonds were made public as it was sacred from the time of Surak as he was the first to hold such a bond…with his wife.
Rules were set aside for those of the bond, rules because it was sacred. The K'hat'n'dlawa Bond became the hope for every parent secretly…although none would acknowledge it.
Marriage could be declared invalid immediately if a married Vulcan was found to have the bond with another despite having not bonded with them. It was a mystery to all how two souls could become one despite never meeting but also every time it occurred…the souls recognized each other and found themselves drawn to one another.
Only two Vulcans were blessed to have it once every four generations after Surak's discovery of it…at least until it surfaced between a Vulcan and a human.
The Vulcan bond would not become only Vulcan and as Surak once said…'life is change and all change is life.'
Trip Tucker stood in the ready room, silent but inside he felt extreme grief…unlike anything he'd felt before, not even with his sister's death. They were enroute to Andoria and Soval was on the bridge with Hoshi and Malcolm, talking about tactical advantages and communicating with the Andorians.
The door opened and he looked up to see Soval, "are you well Commander…you look quite…disturbed."
"I'm fine but I have a feeling someone has died…I feel grief but its not my own." He sat down and shook his head. "I've never felt like this before, not even when my sister died."
Soval eyed Trip, "may I share something with you few know of?"
"Share away, I could use a distraction." Trip looked at the ambassador as he sat down.
"T'Pol is more than a former aide to me…she is my niece. My youngest brother was her father and since his disappearance years ago I have tried to watch over T'Pol as best I could. T'Les told me of your affection for T'Pol and more disturbingly…her affection for you. She almost rejected the marriage to Koss out of concern for you…a human."
"Yeah sorry about that, I care for her…hell I'd go so far as to say I love her but it doesn't matter now." He shook his head, "T'Pol made her choice and to be honest, if I was in her position…I'd have made the same decision. Nothing T'Pol does can change what I feel for her but I love her enough to not hold back her life because of my wants. Koss is her husband and all I can say is he better take care of her or I'll make sure he understands he should."
"Although displayed with vivid emotions…your response is Vulcan. I ask if I may look into your mind, to see the cause of your grief…as a friend."
"Yeah, go ahead."
Soval reached over and placed a hand on Trip's face, "my mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thought; our minds are merging, our minds are one."
Soval found himself surrounded by grief, a voice crying out in pain and it was visible to see it was T'Pol. Reaching back into the engineer's mind, he attempted to find the source of the bond. Finding nothing but a very vague memory of his niece and Trip engaged in intimacy, he strayed from that memory out of respect…Soval found other memories including those of the wedding.
"You look amazing." T'Pol's face was full of emotion despite her look of calmness…only those who knew her could tell.
"I'm grateful you're here." Her voice full of pain despite the calmness of her face.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
T'Les's voice was heard and they all moved out of sight, T'Pol however stopped and kissed him on the cheek.
The ceremony began and Soval watched, listening and understanding unlike Trip had. T'Pol reworded her vows without anyone noticing yet he did…he understood the significance of her change…a bond would not form between her and Koss.
"I take thee as my husband, to honor until our time ends. Connected in mind, I bestow myself upon thee as a wife."
While they should have been identical, Koss's vows were traditional yet different. "I take thee as my mate, to honor until time ends. Connected in soul, I bestow myself upon thee as a mate."
Soval knew in that moment, T'Pol had chosen her mate and the marriage was in name only.
Removing himself from Trip's memories, he came out of the mind meld to find the engineer looking at him. "What did you find?"
"Your grief is your own, I am unsure why you exhibit it but perhaps in time you will understand."
He left without a word, concerned for the matter at hand…his niece had bonded with a human, while unintentional… it had occurred.
On Vulcan, T'Pau eyed T'Pol…their mind meld had produced evidence of a glorious future between humans and Vulcans yet a disturbing one as well. T'Pol had tried to hide it but was unable…she was concerned for her mate…the human engineer on Enterprise.
What she found most disturbing was that T'Pol was unaware of her bonding to the human engineer and the fact the bond was sacred, the most sacred bond on Vulcan that was found only once in every four generations, made her concerned about T'Pol and her mate.
By Vulcan standard, the sacred k'hat'n'dlawa bond was held as a marriage above marriages, a bond above all bonds. Death brought death, if one mate died, the other would quickly follow…it was two people living as one being. T'Pol's marriage was invalid and the fact she held the bond with a human was testament that humans were not as inferior as once believed.
Although oblivious to the bond, T'Pol held deep affection for her mate…a deep love that could only come of finding and holding a bondmate.
Their bond would have to be acknowledged as all k'hat'n'dlawa bonds were…publicly, it was tradition. There was no way to withhold the fact she bonded with a human…tradition regarding the bond was sacred and upheld always.
She'd see to the matter if given the chance.
T'Pol eyed T'Pau as she stood before her mother's friend and Vulcan's present First Minister. She had pulled her husband into this…T'Pol guessed to thank him for his generous giving of codes. Captain Archer wasn't nearby so she guessed it had to be private…Vulcan privacy that humans were not aware of.
The doors opened however to reveal Trip and Soval, she had not expected to see either. T'Pau held out a hand to the benches near her new desk. "Ambassador…Commander welcome, please sit. There is a matter I wish to discuss with you all."
They sat and Soval looked at her, "First Minister, I must ask a query…if this is about my family, why is Commander Tucker present."
T'Pau stood and walked around her desk, looking at them. "Vulcan and Earth have a glorious future ahead of us…not merely as allies but as family." She looked at Koss, "Koss, son of Tulor, I regret to inform you that marriage to T'Pol is invalid. I assure you no ill-nature was meant for this."
"Invalid?" This came from all four present and T'Pau nodded.
"T'Pol melded with me so I could cure her Pa'nar syndrome and in doing so I found she is holder of the k'hat'n'dlawa bond this generation." She looked at T'Pol, "I also found that your bondmate is that of Commander Tucker.
"As you know, marriages can be declared invalid if the k'hat'n'dlawa holder is married. Since you have been found and as has your bondmate…your former marriage is declared invalid."
"But he is human." She felt Trip glaring at her and also knew he had no clue what was happening.
"I concur," Soval eyed both women, "Commander Tucker became distressed and consumed by grief when he had no one to grieve for…I now believe it was your grief of your mother that he felt. I performed a meld as well and found the same although I did not voice it due to matters occurring at the moment.
"You may go with our family's deepest apologies Koss." Soval eyed Koss and the architect stood, nodding to both T'Pol and Trip.
"My wish is that you both may find balance in your future together, may you both live long and prosper."
He left and T'Pau eyed both, "the bonding ceremony will occur tomorrow evening at sunset…I suggest you both prepare."
"Hold on a moment," Trip looked at them all, "I'm still lost to everything that is occurring…what the hell is going on?"
"Husband, control your emotions." T'Pol looked at him and he eyed her in surprise because the word 'husband' came from her mouth and was directed to him. His demeanor changed quickly and he settled.
"Commander, once every four generations there is a sacred bond that comes to light called k'hat'n'dlawa and roughly translated it becomes 'of one heart and one soul' and it makes two beings into one in every sense of the term. Death for one is death for the other, affection runs deep and emotions are felt over long distances…as you experienced T'Pol's grief.
"There is no doubt about your bond, it is distinguished from other bonds by the way your katras are entwined. You sense both unlike when a meld is performed on a holder of a normal bond, you only sense the person you are melding with.
"The ceremony will take place as tradition states and then it will be announced at an appropriate time that this generation's k'hat'n'dlawa holders have been found. I believe this bond you hold will allow our worlds to flourish."
"Let me get this straight," he looked at them, "we are bonded together in a bond that makes us one person and if one of us dies, the other does as well. Also we're getting married because its tradition and not only that, you're about ready to announce to Vulcan that one of its citizens is marring a human." He looked at them, standing. "I respect you, I do…I placed my ship, my life and that of the crew to save Vulcan but this is screwed up. I need time to think about this."
He began to leave, T'Pol tried to reach for him but he moved out of her reach. "Husband?"
"No," he put a hand up, "just leave me alone T'Pol."
He left and T'Pol sat down, Soval noticed her demeanor changed despite the Vulcan calmness she portrayed. "He will return, his affection for you is very deep…he told me of it."
"You do not know his stubbornness, when his mind is set to a task he does not defer from it." She stood and looked at him, "perhaps this is sudden, humans are unlike Vulcans, he will need time to adjust. I propose the ceremony is held off till he becomes accustomed to the bond."
"Perhaps that is best, for now this shall stay between us and to keep from shaming his family, I suspect Koss will say nothing but he had released you from marriage."
A/N: Will Trip accept T'Pol?