Disclaimer:Characters belong to Gene Roddenberry. Movie verse belongs to JJ Abrams.
AN:Edited at 1201 pm Oct 25. This fic contains KS preslash.
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Sarek stared down at the locket he held, in the center of the heart shape was a framed picture of an beautiful , brown haired, brown eyed woman smiling lovingly and since he had been the one taking the photo; that loving smile had been for him alone.
Vulcans didn't take photographs as they prided themselves on photographic memories but he had enjoyed indulging his human wife. In his office was a photo album with photos of the two of them and of Spock throughout his life before he had left Vulcan. He was thankful Amanda had insisted on keeping copies on Earth and Vulcan. Now that Vulcan was gone he was grateful for those albums.
"Amanda, I miss you." It had been one year since Vulcan's destruction and he had watched his beloved die before his eyes as he was safely in a transporter beam. He had beamed aboard hoping they had saved her but the gaping hole of darkness in his mind where she should've been told him otherwise. He had wanted to plunge into the darkness with him but their son Spock would not allow it.
It had been a hard year, a new world had been found for them but it had been going progressively slow since they were working from scratch. Also it was hard for the remaining Vulcans to keep their emotions locked up and the violence had been growing worse. He had heard of the faction growing against T'Pau and of the rumored Romulan involvement.
He was currently on Earth inside his office at the Vulcan embassy and it helped give him some serenity. At 1450 hours there would be a ceremony where gongs would ring at the moment Vulcan was destroyed and to think of all those who have been lost, including the personal on all of the starships that had been destroyed.
He came out of his musings and picked up the locket with the photo of Amanda and put in his side picket near his heart, it was illogical but if he had truly followed every teaching of Surak he wouldn't have allowed a human woman to have stolen his heart. He began to walk toward the garden.
He had recently established the Amanda Grayson scholarship fund to help underprivileged children to get an education and some of that fund went to help abused children. Amanda had worked with extreme dedication on the project and he felt remorse that she couldn't see the end results.
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In the garden he had constructed a statue of the photo of her that he held inscribed with the words Amanda Grayson beloved wife and mother. As he approached he could see a blond haired man in a golden shirt and black pants laying flowers at the base. "Captain Kirk?"
The young man stood up, "I'm sorry to intrude ambassador."
Sarek waved away the nervous babbling, "It's quite all right Captain, I am merely surprised to see you here of all places."
"I'll be at the ceremony later but I needed to do this...to show the proper respect for your wife."
They both remembered the scene on the bridge one year earlier. "I'm sorry for what I said ambassador."
"I have met the counterpart of my son and it has been interesting to say the least, it gives me hope that the Spock I raised will turn out just as well." He invited Kirk to sit on a bench.
"I was very disappointed at how you were able to compromise my son and I felt disquiet at how you could bring Amanda up in such a way but after I saw the tape of your trial I realized Spock had committed a terrible wrong against you by mentioning your father in the way he did, what you did was administer an appropriate punishment."
Kirk's blue eyes filled with sadness as other memories came, "I was no saint, I had no business cheating on that test, I was cocky and full of myself. I wanted more than anything to escape m y father's shadow at any cost and I knew winning the Kobayashi Maru would do that. I also hurt a good woman in the process who actually loved me. Her name was Gaila and she died in the battle of Vulcan, so I can never make things right."
"Be a good human being James Kirk and you will earn the right to be called great, to be absolved of all your sins."
Captain Kirk nodded his gratitude.
"Do you know where my son is?"
"With Lieutenant Uhura, last I saw him."
Sarek could never understand what Spock saw in that woman, she was brash and full of herself. During dinner once she'd spent most of the time bragging about her accomplishments, how intelligent she was in so many subjects and then had expressed her condolences for Amanda. Then she'd used that moment to bring up Kirk's behavior. It was obvious she had what Amana would call a smug manner about her and Sarek had lost all respect for her. If Amanda still lived he knew his wife would disdain Nyota Uhura.
He intended to show Spock his dislike from now on, the woman was unacceptable.
He'd also seen the way Kirk had started to look at Spock and felt sorry for the captain, unrequited love was never good. He had had a few human assistants over the years and he knew what it was when he saw it.
"How are things between you and Spock?"
Kirk sighed "Strained, sometimes, but I know I can trust him as a Starfleet officer, he's pulled me out of a lot of messes and I've pulled him out of situations as well. He's a good man and I know I can trust him. Maybe someday we can be friends; I have a fantastic crew even though the way we came together wasn't good."
Sarek nodded, his respect for this man was growing and his next words stunned him as well as Kirk. "In private you may call me Sarek."
Kirk's smile was genuine, "You may call me Jim."
"Jim it is." They began to walk together and Jim spoke.
"I grew up in Iowa where there weren't flower gardens around, my helmsman Mr. Sulu has been teaching me about all the different species of flora."
Sarek led him to a flower that was white on the inside and purple on the outside. "Vulcan orchids these were Amanda's favorite flowers. Next was a plant with red flowers that had little green tendrils in the middle. In the moonlit those tendrils turned white and glowed. Next was a Rigellian Orchid. Legend said if it opened and glowed red when two people were there, they were destined to have a great love affair. And a venus flytrap which Sarek had never liked much. They continued to walk and he told of some of his negotiations and Jim told some stories about his missions. Sarek avoided personal questions since he didn't want to delve into Jim's childhood. He was surprised by how much Jim knew about the flora and he told Sarek next time he was on the Enterprise he would teach him chess.
Sarek thought the game sounded strange but was up to the challenge.
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As they reentered the embassy they were approached by Spock. "Father." His eyebrow rose when he saw the captain next to him. "I have enjoyed spending time with your captain; he is a most fascinating man."
Spock put his hands behind his back, "An enigma as they would say."
Kirk nodded, "Thanks Mr. Spock, I'll leave the two of your to chat."
Sarek looked at Spock sternly, "I respect him deeply." His tone told his son that he expected Spock to do the same and he wouldn't tolerate anything less. Just the Lieutenant Uhura walked up.
"Father, you remember Nyota?"
She nodded, "Hello Ambassador."
Sarek put his hands behind his back, "Greetings Lieutenant, I am sorry but I really must be going."
Uhura nodded, "Of course Ambassador." Sarek nodded and walked off without another word.
As he headed toward the main chamber he had only one thought. *My son you do not know what a treasure you have forsaken.*