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Nyota told Spock to put his hand over her stomach. The baby, still without a name, was moving furiously. She was kicking and it felt as though she were turning somersaults as well.

"Do you think that she is now preparing for her birth?" Spock asked, an unusual sense of wonder in his voice.

"Maybe." Nyota said. "I think she's got a few more turns before she gets into position to be born though Spock." Nyota smiled down at him. Spock often lamented what he called Human control over his Vulcan emotions but Nyota loved that he was unable to control his amazement at the process of her pregnancy. He frequently sat completely still, his fingertips stroking Nyota's belly in order to make some telepathic connection with the tiny person inside. Spock would turn to her and whisper 'fascinating' but Nyota knew that it was more than fascinating to Spock. She could feel his hopes for their daughter in her mind, his sense of joy and anticipation. "Don't worry Spock. You'll meet her soon enough and we'll both have plenty of time to get to know her."

"Are you feeling tired still?" Spock asked as he moved his hand at last and stroked Nyota's temples. She was sitting at the table with her grandfather's PADD in her hand. She had not been able to read much more in the last few days. She had been deluged with appointments to see McCoy. Nyota had suddenly lost two pounds and it raised fears that the pregnancy was draining her more than was medically acceptable. The truth was that since she wasn't working, she didn't have much of an appetite. She was, after all, an athlete. Her body didn't respond with hunger to laying around. Still, McCoy had ordered another battery of tests to make sure everything was fine. Nyota wondered if Spock's mother had gone through a similar experience and was saddened to remember that she would never see her granddaughter.

Nyota was thinking about the number of grandparents in her life that had not lived to meet her. She'd only known her maternal grandfather, who was still alive, however, somewhat distant. When Spock left for his shift, Nyota was anxious to read more about Charles Uhura. The journals were getting more detailed as she went and she could not help but feel like she was getting an opportunity to know the man who she had been told she was like.

2159.210

Today we docked on Vulcan to undergo some maintenance. Herrera told me it would be hot as hell out there on the surface of Vulcan but I didn't care. I needed to get off this ship. I haven't been on the ground in months. We keep docking at outposts where it's just a little metal and glass between us and the sky.

The planet is nice. It reminds me of home a bit but dustier and redder. Tyvoc showed me around a little. I guess that Tyvoc isn't really well liked here though, no one came to greet him like they did T'Ura. Still, I think Tyvoc is an okay man. He makes me smile. I don't think he means to but I think he likes the response anyway. He exchanges my rations of dried cocoa powder for rations of synthol. I don't think he knows what he's giving up, but I'm happy to accommodate him. I don't even like chocolate!

I'm a little worried about my mom. I haven't heard from her for a month. I sent a message off to my father and he hadn't heard from her either. I'm hoping its something routine like they're rationing power or they've frozen communications because they're creeping dark. I haven't heard anything about an attack in that part of the quadrant though, so it's more likely.

T'Ura says that exploring the rational is infinitely more logical than focusing on the wilds of my imagination. I think she means that if I focus on the positive, the negative will seem less likely. I don't understand her sometimes, but I like to hear her talk. Usually Tyvoc will interpret for me but I think I'm getting better at following her.

2159.229

I heard from my mother today. She says she's okay but I can tell that all this time away from home is wearing on her. It is wearing on me and I'm only 15. Mama said she was sorry that she missed my birthday and that she couldn't send anything. It's okay. Tyvoc said he wanted to explore Terran birthday celebrations and Hererra found some old whiskey, not even the synthol that we've been rationed, and they got crazy together. Well, Herrera did. Tyvoc was fine with the whiskey but I noticed him swaying a bit when he dipped into his chocolate stash a little later.

T'Ura says that Vulcans get weird on chocolate. She said "Vulcan inhibitions reduce proportionately in relation to the amount of cacao molecules that are consumed." I laughed when she told me but she was serious. She told me not to tell anyone else. She said that she's trusting me because I seem to be accelerated for a Human. She also says that Vulcans honor bravery and that I must be very brave to be here so young. I don't know. I guess. I told her that I had something that the ships needed in the war and it would be stupid for me to say no when it didn't seem anyone else could do it.

She said that Surak would agree. When I told her that I didn't know who Surak was, she gave me a book. It's in Vulcan but T'Ura said that she would teach me when we were off duty. She says it's really important that I read the book.

I'm back on duty in a few hours. I need to get something to eat. I think Tyvoc is saving his meat rations for me.

2159.283

Today was a bad day. Captain Nakamura excused me from my shift to sit with Tyvoc. I guess his wife or girlfriend, I can't tell which (I think he's too young to be married but I heard that Vulcans get married as little kids like in olden times), her ship got shot down by a warbird. He was charting our course and all of a sudden he just fell down.

We tried to take him to sickbay but T'Ura said it would be useless and that it was more logical to use the space in sickbay for those who could benefit from it. She helped me move Tyvoc to his quarters and she left, saying only that she would grieve with him. I wasn't sure so I stuck around. He didn't cry. He just sort of stared at the wall. I asked him what he would do, if he wanted to go home and he didn't say anything. When it came time for my shift, the captain said she'd find a replacement. I sat with Tyvoc for about ten hours and brought him some of my packaged lentils, but he didn't eat. I came back a while later, after I'd done a shift and sat with him for the whole night. Finally he started talking.

He talked about all kinds of strange things, about blood and rage. I didn't think he'd do anything to me and he didn't seem angry he just seemed... confused I guess.

Tyvoc has been our cartographer during this mission and has been working with me pretty closely. He explains to me the routes that we're taking through unfamiliar space, especially when we get too close to the Star Empire. I'm not sure when he's going to come back on duty so I really don't know whether we're going to be going any further. We were meant to rendezvous with ISS Thor but I'm not sure that our other navigators are as familiar with this sector as they need to be. I'd been meaning to ask Tyvoc how he knows Romulan space so well. Maybe I'll ask when he's feeling better. I can tell he's not his usual self right now.

2159.305

T'Ura, Tyvoc and I have been spending all of our time off shift together. I haven't had much time to write, but it doesn't matter. Not much has been happening here. It seems that the Vulcans are raising more of their own ships into the battle which seems to be helping a bunch. The warbirds are still picking off Starfleet ships like flies but at least the Vulcans are coming to their aid.

My mother's ship had a close call. They were just undocking from a fueling station when a couple of warbirds uncloaked fortunately an Andorian warship was approaching the same fueling station and was able to prevent anything terrible happening. The Romulans just recloaked and ran when they realised they were surrounded.

I'm still learning Vulcan. Tyvoc seems to be glad to have something to do when T'Ura and I are on shift. He likes to sing the lyrics to old Vulcan folksongs and even made flashcards for me. The songs are a bit over the top but they certainly help me remember words. I'm not sure how much I'm going to be using the words 'blood', 'maiden' and 'kill' though. But you never know.

I asked Tyvoc how old he was. He said he was 72 in Terran years. I was pretty sure he was lying so I asked T'Ura. T'Ura said that it was true. I'm still sort of shocked. I'm not sure that they're not playing a joke on me. Vulcans seem all prim and proper but after knowing Tyvoc, I wouldn't put it past him to be playing a huge practical joke. I'd ask more about it, you know, to verify his age but I don't think I want to. I might find out that T'Ura is that old too. I don't think I am quite ready for that.

Nyota looked up from the PADD, realizing that her suspicions about the Tyvoc that her grandfather knew were true and he was the same Tyvoc that she had grown up with. Certainly, the Tyvoc described in her grandfather's journal and the Tyvoc that she had grown up with shared the same serious chocolate habit. Nyota was conflicted. She wanted to call her father and ask him how he had stayed connected to Tyvoc all these years. It had been more than a hundred years since the war. She also wanted to ask if her father had any idea what had become of T'Ura. Nyota had heard Tyvoc's vague mutterings about the possibility of Nyota's grandmother being a Vulcan and Nyota was tingling at the idea that perhaps T'Ura was her grandfather's first love. Perhaps Nyota was more connected to her grandfather than she ever knew.

Of course, Nyota recognized, that her grandfather had eventually ended up stationed on a Vulcan ship and he was sure to encounter other Vulcan women. Nyota also realized that it was quite possible that Tyvoc, who was the Vulcan equivalent of a kindly curmudgeon, was just shooting his mouth off in a fit of chocolate induced bravado. Still, Nyota thought it was remarkable that her grandfather had made these connections. Of all the people on the ship that a 15 year old boy could have connected with, Charles had become fast friends with two Vulcans, earning their trust enough for them to display their grief openly and to share the secrets of their people.

Nyota decided to be patient. She would not call her father or Tyvoc to ask questions about her grandfather's journal. As far as Nyota could tell, there was at least another full year of entries left to read and perhaps her questions would be answered within. She wondered about what had happened to Tyvoc's bondmate, whether he had ever taken another mate and what had become of T'Ura. Certainly T'Ura was also bonded. Had she been on Vulcan somewhere when the planet had been destroyed? Nyota frowned slightly at this thought. She wondered, if it was even true that Charles and T'Ura had been more than friends, what could have possibly separated them. Nyota leaned back against the pillows on her bed and dozed off, contemplating young love.

Author's note: Thanks to ayachan1412 for being my betareader! Thanks for all of your comments. I do love them. I'm just so excited about this story! I want to tell everyone how it ends but that'd be wrong, right? I've tried to include lots of Spock and Uhura moments since there isn't much angst/making-up/falling in love in this story. At least not for that particular Vulcan/Human pairing.