A/N: A special thanks to the wonderfully sweet WhirlingSkirts for beta reading/editing this. Should make reading this that much more enjoyable. I can't thank you enough. Mwuah!- KerryLamb

Their shuttle was late. While his father silently stewed and his mother emitted the occasional frustrated sigh, Spock was content with the predicament.

It was so rare that he was around so many humans and rarer still that his environment lended itself to observing them. Emotive and often times illogical to a fault, his mother's people captivated Spock in a strange, siren's song. As much as he wished to be among them, their ways were so vastly different than Vulcans' that Spock feared the outcome of his inability to conform to the human social norm.

Watching a harried mother scooting her brood along as she tried to navigate them towards their gate gave the young Vulcan just one example of how they differed. The chubby toddler in front raced ahead, laughing back at his exasperated mother's pleading until he crashed head on into a businessman's leg. The executive-like figure glanced down from his comm with an expressive o shape to his lips and smiled down at the toddler as the child reeled from the collision.

The mother clambered toward the businessman, full of sorries as she shook her head between him and her son. The jet setter waved away her concern (at least Spock concluded this) and ruffled the boy's hair with a hand at his scalp. All of it fascinated Spock.

It was just the right amount of taboo, a place between longing and relief that gave the young hybrid a sense of direction. These were prime examples of how he shouldn't act, though something within him wished to express and define such actions for himself. Wouldn't it be thrilling to smile as a shuttle took flight or perhaps scowl at the person's head who cut in front of you?

Spock rested his chin on the back of the seat as he watched traveler after traveler walk or run past him, their faces somewhat blank of emotion, through the eyes of a five year old. Spock figured most of them were deep in thought as they trudged on towards the shuttle gate to get to their destination but as soon as they came across a familiar face, each human he observed suddenly blossomed with emotion. It was like walking into a darkened room to suddenly have the light or the room's comm turn on.

His eyes darted from one face to the next until he settled on a very small and very female face. It belonged to a human child, near his age, though terran years pass faster than that of Vulcan. She was skipping out in front of her parents, dancing and singing loudly though Spock did not hear any music to inspire either action.

He paled with morbid excitement as she and her parent drew closer to where he was seated. All too late did he think to avert his gaze but in the midst of her lively performance their eyes met and her eyes lit up at the sight of him.

Alien as they were to each other, Spock knew the look of a peer recognizing another as she raced over and bounced into the seat behind his. Spock reared back as her face came barreling towards his all smiles and huffy giggles.

" Nashaut!" she lisped happily. Spock blinked rapidly and tilted his head at her Vulcan hello. Vulcans were the first to visit Earth and their culture was not so obscure but he had not expected her to greet him in such a fashion.

When he did not reply she sat up straighter in her chair and frowned, which only made him stare back at her more. Why was she suddenly displeased? Before he could think on it further, she gasped with a look of surprise and rushed her hand upwards between them. Knitting her brows and biting at her bottom lip, the girl molded her small brown hand into a poorly shaped ta'al.

He looked up from her hand to find her smiling again and as alarming as it was to see her face so expressive, it pleased him. It meant that she was welcoming of his person.

" I'm Nyota! I know Nashaut and Rom-halan and Dif-tor heh smusma from school from my teacher Ms. Sato!" she gushed. It was clear from her tone that she was proud of that fact and was expecting him to answer accordingly.

He opened his mouth and saluted her back, telling her his name, much to her amusement. She tried pronouncing it, her mouth moving with unnecessarily grand gestures as she did so but could not quite achieve it. However much she mangled his name Spock found his own amusement with trying to help her and suppressing his mouth's reaction to Nyota's attempts to mimic it. It did not hurt him like when others purposefully misspoke his name, merely humored him. Watching her bounce in the chair repeating his name in a sing song voice, Spock was inclined to call her a friend in the short time he knew her.

As they spoke their parents, mainly their mothers, took turns joking with each other about the joys of parenthood. " A thankless job." his mother chuckled as Nyota's mother laughed back with smiling eyes.

"I envy their innocence. Nyota makes friends wherever she goes." They continued talking in fits and starts until the fathers joined in. As the adults settled in to a quiet drone of conversation, Spock and Nyota's attention drifted from to the departing shuttles they could see through the window.

"Do you like shuttles?" she asked in standard. Spock turned to see her pressed against the large window studying the craft nearest to them. He figured she did not know any more Vulcan than what she had spoken earlier and welcomed the chance to speak standard with someone other than his mother.

"Yes. I find many of their designs appealing."

She began to pepper him with questions. What was Vulcan like? How was the school? What did he eat? How long did he sleep? Did he have a pet? And on and on it went.

Spock hardly thought a simple salutation could lead into such a rigorous interview but her charm was warm and infectious. He found himself answering with his own lips slightly curled and even found a space in between her friendly interrogation to ask a few questions of his own.

"Do you live here or are you visiting Washington DC?" she asked.

"My family is planning to do the former and we have concluded the latter."

Nyota wrinkled her nose and her brow and drew a slight gap between her lips. "What?"

Spock bit the inside of his cheek and shuffled where he was perched on the chair. "We are moving to the area."

She brightened at the clarification and performed a jubilant bounce on her chair. "Us too! Are you going to miss your old house?"

Spock glanced towards their parents, gazing fondly from where they were conversing back to Nyota's questioning face. "Not anymore."