Seriously?
by Starsinger
Uhura hears of Sarek's visit and stops by, and gets caught. Don't own them.
Jim's hands were still unsteady three days later, but he was managing to lift the water cup without getting wet. Well, he managed it if both hands were wrapped around said cup anyway. He and McCoy were walking about McCoy's favorite subject, Joanna. She and Jocelyn were heading back to Georgia tomorrow, and he was already missing her. Out of nowhere Uhura swept into the room and stared at Jim, "Ambassador Sarek went through the WATER RITUAL with YOU?!" she said. Kirk nodded, barely restraining a grin. "You got it right? I mean the 'I come to serve bit' right?"
"My Vulcan is just as good as yours is, Uhura. We both had the same teacher," Jim replied.
"And who, may I ask, was your teacher?" McCoy inquired.
"T'Gren," they said in unison. Their eyes met and they started laughing.
"The old Vulcan science teacher at the Academy?" McCoy asked.
Three years earlier…
Jim had sat down in the mess hall preparing to enjoy the ham sandwich in front of him when his hand was suddenly grabbed and he was pulled away from his lunch. He looked mournfully after his lunch as he was pulled through and a pen was thrust into his hand. He found himself looking at a sign-up sheet for a new course at the Academy, Vulcan Language. He looked confused at the person who had dragged him here, Uhura, "Why am I suddenly going to learn Vulcan?"
"Because I need someone else as a partner in learning this," she replied. "And you finished Anthropology last week. So, your nights are free."
Faced with this inescapable, if shaky, logic, Jim found himself scrawling his name down on that piece of paper. Vulcan made learning German look like a cake walk. There were so many words that had double and even triple meanings that it made both their heads spin. T'Gren believed in the immersive language method. After about three weeks, the only language she spoke was Vulcan. Jim and Uhura spent many a long night in the mess hall just trying to keep up. Even with Jim's eidetic memory, it was tough. Uhura had more than one reason to envy that memory.
Ironically, three days after they finished the course, they were sitting in local bar toasting their success, they'd both made A's, when Pike came around. T'Gren had made sure they were signed up for the next semester.
Back in present
"I never did finish that sandwich," Jim muttered.
"Well, that explains all those nights I couldn't find you," McCoy muttered. "Hey, I thought you hated him at the Academy!"
"Only when it suited her," Jim replied. That prompted a pillow in his face. He growled at her and said something incomprehensible. She replied and the same language. McCoy threw his hands up in defeat. What he hadn't noticed was the PADD Uhura carried under her arm. He came back in an hour later to find her in bed with Jim looking at the PADD in her hands.
McCoy's brow creased in worry, "Uhura, you didn't show him anything…"
Uhura waved him off, "Don't worry, McCoy, we've been watching crazy cat videos. Or, at least we were before he fell asleep," she said fondly looking down at her Captain.
"Uhura, what is this water ritual you keep talking about?" McCoy finally demanded.
"Thousands of years ago, before the time of Surak, Vulcan was a very dangerous place to live. Atomic weapons were used without much thought as to their consequence. Warring tribes fought across the vast landscape that is Vulcan. Vulcans were very distrustful of each other. They were barely venturing into space."
"You mean they weren't always so logical?" McCoy asked.
"No, that was a way for them to stop the fighting. Remember, Vulcans and Romulans are virtually identical species. There are minor genetic changes between the two, but they can cross-breed easily. Romulans are directly descended from those who fled Surak's teachings and the wars raging on Vulcan. They honestly believed they would be the only survivors of those wars. The water ritual was a way of telling a stranger that they were welcome in a home, and under the protection of its patriarch. They became what Vulcan's termed 'Guest Friend'. It was a great honor back in the day."*
"Today, its meaning is a little different since Vulcans rarely need that kind of protection on Vulcan anymore. In fact, Sarek has virtually adopted Kirk as his son," Jim's sleeping head had drifted over to Uhura's shoulder where it rested comfortably.
"What did you mean, 'I come to serve', 'your service honors us'?" McCoy asked
"Those phrases are a lot like 'Live Long and Prosper', 'Peace and Long Life'. We're not entirely sure of their origins, but we suspect they date to before the time of troubles on Vulcan. It's better than 'Today is a good day to die'." Uhura shrugged.
"Who says that?" McCoy asked aghast.
"Klingons," Uhura replied with a shrug. "Vulcan's refer to the time when those who would become Romulan as 'The Sundering.' It's not a subject they like to talk about."
"I can imagine," McCoy said softly. They heard someone clearing their throat in the doorway. They both looked up and found Winona Kirk standing there.
"Well, I imagine you want to make sure all I showed you Kirk were crazy cat videos," Uhura said slipping out of bed and putting the sides back up. "That bed is hard," Uhura said as they walked out the door.
"I know," McCoy replied, "we still have to be careful about bed sores…" Winona listened as the two voices trailed away. She walked over and looked at her son sleeping so peacefully. Then she sat down. She had no idea how she was going to say what she would, she just knew that they couldn't continue like this. He looked so much like his father that it hurt.
Jim's first words hurt even more as he opened his eyes, "Winona." He hadn't called her Mom since before she packed him off to Tarsus IV. They stared at each other uncomfortably.
"Commander Spock and Scott came to tell us what happened when they thought you wouldn't make it. Sam is here too." Jim's eyes lit up, Sam had been the only thing that had made his childhood anywhere near bearable. "Look, Jimmy, I can't make up for those years I screwed up, or what Frank did to you. I can't even pretend that I knew nothing about it, since I protected Sam and not you." Jim's lips pressed together in suppressed emotion. "I also know that saying I'm sorry isn't enough. I don't blame you for hating me."
"I don't hate you, Winona, you were just never a mother to me. When Frank decided to sell Dad's old car, something inside me just snapped. That's why I drove it off that cliff."
Winona nodded her head, "I guessed recently it must have been something like that. Sam has been in and out of trouble, like you, since he ran away from home. He told me flat that he couldn't stand the way I treated you. Could you do something for me, for Sam?" Jim nodded, he couldn't not help his brother.
"He's trying to turn his life around, gotten clean and sober. I know he's too old for the Academy, but could you recommend him for college admission? He's got a real chance to make something of himself. He's been approached by the Xenobiological Sciences Department at Brigham Young University. He is excited at the opportunity, but needs a letter of recommendation."
Jim looked at her, it was still all about Sam, but if Sam came to him, "Let me talk to Sam, first, Mom. If this is what he truly wants, then I'll write it." He looked down at his hands not knowing really what to say.
Winona rose and left, McCoy poked his head in, "You know, Jim. Your brother just needs the same chance that you got from Chris."
"I know Bones, and if Sam really wants it, I'll give it to him. I just wish, for once, she had focused on me." Kirk never noticed that he was crying.
