After eating, they sat together on the small sofa in Spock's sitting room and watched the moon rising in the new colony planet's sky. He could almost feel her curiosity about his unfinished story, but understood that she would not ask him to share more than he was able. In that, she was much like the Uhura from his past/future, and he was grateful to know it. Still, he knew something of what she had suffered over the past two months and four days, and felt certain that continuing his tale to its conclusion would offer her a measure of comfort.

"I loved her, Nyota," he said, "and I love her still, although we could not bond in the Vulcan way."

She opened her mouth, perhaps to argue his choice of "could not", perhaps to ask the "why?" he was certain she'd wanted to ask at the dinner table, but had held off in order to spare him further pain. Her intent did not matter. He was not finished speaking.

"You understand that it is difficult for those of my father's race to speak of things such as this," he said before she could utter whatever was on the tip of her tongue. "When I was your k'diwa's age, it was even more difficult for me to speak, or even to think, of such things. But I have had more than a century to find… peace with it, and I would like to share with you what life we shared in my time."

Her mouth fell open just a bit. She was taken aback, he could see. Certainly confused, most likely flattered… He saw she was eager to know what he knew, but too polite to push to have her curiosity sated.

"Thank you, Spock," she managed after a short pause.

"I saw my mixed heritage much as the burden other Vulcans thought it to be, though not quite as the disadvantage others likened it to," he began. "I was made aware of how it set me apart from the rest of my world, and I worked hard to compensate for what others saw as my weaknesses. In that, at least, I was successful.

"I exceeded all expectations, low as most of them proved to be, and further, my successes were greater even than those of many full-Vulcans my age. I felt no pride in this, for pride is not the Vulcan way, and I had chosen to live my life according to Vulcan strictures.

"There was only relief that I did not fail in my endeavors, thus making them believe they had been proven correct."

He turned to see her reaction to all he had said so far, but her gaze was trained on the window and the moonrise beyond.

"She asked me about the full moon on Vulcan, once," he said, making no attempt to hide the nostalgia in his voice. "I told her Vulcan had no moon.

"She would laugh to see this scene. Though you must not believe that she would have been unaffected by the tragedy that befell my people. She would understand, I believe, that I chose this planet, in part at least, for her."

At this, she did look at her companion. As if freed from whatever invisible bonds had held her in check before, she asked her second question of the night.

"What happened?"

Eighty-three point seven seconds passed before Spock felt ready – able – to reply to such a simple question. The answer was far from simple.

"I fell in love, as I have already told you," he said. "But I waited too long to know it."

The old half-Vulcan shifted in his seat and turned towards his young human companion. He took her hand in his, knowing that the thoughts and feelings he could transfer through the contact would help her understand in a way words were too limited to convey. With a mind meld, he could have told her all in a fraction of the time, he knew. But he would not risk it in what was still an unsettled time in her life. And, he would admit if asked, he wanted to say these things aloud. He needed to hear his voice speaking about the woman who'd helped shape the man who sat before this Nyota Uhura.

She squeezed his hand encouragingly, and he let her feel some of the confusion and frustration that had marked the first years of his acquaintance with her other self.

"We met when she was assigned to the Enterprise as its senior communications officer," he said. "I did not know her at the Academy, and at first, she was little more than what her record showed her to be: extremely competent in her field – both in her knowledge of the galaxy's languages and in her technical abilities. I knew of no one else better equipped to handle the unique requirements of the Federation flagship under the captainship of James T. Kirk.

"She was able to perform delicate repairs to the communications system under duress, address the representatives of many cultures without giving offense and still, she managed to charm almost every male on the ship. Even I was not immune, though I was not yet one of her suitors."

Spock projected his fondness and professional admiration for his old friend through his link to her younger counterpart.

"She was, of course, very beautiful, and not unaware of this fact," he said with a small smile that was far larger than any that the younger Spock would have allowed. "She delighted in teasing me, testing my commitment to abstain from expressing my emotions. There were times when she was successful.

"Looking back, it is not unreasonable to think 'Of course I loved her' and, indeed, I have often entertained just that thought, " he told Uhura. "But, in all the years we served together, I never acknowledged, or was even aware of, feeling that way. Even while we were sharing physical intimacies, I believed that I turned to her because I trusted her implicitly."

He smiled again, broader this time, and lifted an eyebrow for good measure.

"And because she offered a more effective remedy than meditation."

He allowed a frisson of the smallest part of the pleasures he'd shared long ago to flow through their connection. Not much – this was not his Uhura sitting beside him, he knew – but enough so that she understood that their couplings had been… passionate and pleasing to both parties.

"She was my friend and we shared many adventures together both during and after our service on the Enterprise. But it is the after, I think, that will matter most to you."

He closed his eyes, and through decades of long practice, kept his feelings from her. The rest of what he had to say would be the most difficult of all he had to share with her, and he wished to spare her his anguish before it was completely necessary.

"For over thirty years," he said, "we continued in this vein, until she left the Enterprise for good. Still, we were much in one another's company whenever possible. And even when our responsibilities took us places far away from the other, she was there, every seven years, when I had need of her.

"Do not think that my affection for her did not grow over that time. It was inevitable, given our natures, that such would occur. But I did not have a name for what was happening between us until long after I believed such times should have passed."

He paused again, searching for the best words to explain what had happened so long ago.

"Just over seventy years from this date in my time," he continued, as she sat, rapt, "the Nyota Uhura I knew was altered. It wasn't until after this occurred that I realized what she knew all along: our two hearts were meant to beat together. In my blindness, I had lost the chance to bond to my t'hai'la."

Uhura's full attention was his.

"I do not know the full details of what happened to her. I only know that her life was saved, much of her youth was restored and that she now owes a debt. Until that debt is repaid, she must continue on, untouched by time."

Unable to hold back, she gasped.

"You mean, you mean she's still – you mean she was still alive when you… left your time?" she choked out.

"She was," he replied gravely. "And though she believes her long life to be a curse, I know that it is what gave me time to learn the depth of my love for her."


A/N: Hope this answers some of your questions. I'll get to the ones about the other Spock tomorrow, hopefully. I'm already four minutes late in posting this. Hot off the presses because of time constraints. I'll edit later.

Usual disclaimers: I own nothing.