"It's always been my favorite season, ever since I was a child."
"May I inquire as to why?"
Uhura glanced over at Spock, no Commander Spock as long as they were at the Academy in the view of others, and smiled. He was walking her back to her dorm after a working dinner, and an intense discussion of the origins of Xenolinguistics, and both were enjoying the cool autumn night.
"Of course. Autumn just brings back good memories. Happy memories. In school we used to build these huge piles of leaves and we'd have these jumping contests. The person whose leaves went the highest would win."
"What would the winner receive?"
"Oh, just stupid things, some cookies or a piece of candy, whatever we had at our disposal."
"Was this form of sport sanctioned by your academy?"
Uhura giggled (she only giggled around him) and the corner of Spock's lips twitched. Almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but it was still a twitch and for that Uhura was proud.
"Well, it's not a real sport Spo- Commander," Uhura replied, kicking up a few stray leaves. "Just a fun pastime for children, nothing more, nothing less."
"Fascinating."
Although Uhura wasn't looking at him she knew his eyebrow had risen.
"I do not entirely understand your affection towards this season. I often hear students complain about the sudden cold weather and the male students seem to anger at the addition of pants to the women's uniforms. Living flora die and fauna go into hibernation, it is not supposed to be a pleasurable experience."
By now the pair was in front of Uhura's door and she was punching in her entrance code.
"That's the negative way to look at it," she whispered. "Tomorrow morning just look outside and take in the beauty of the season. I can't explain it better than that, but you're a smart man, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Good-night Commander, thank you for walking me home."
"You are welcome. Good-night, Nyota."
And the next morning when Spock looked out his window, he tried to see the season the way he believed Nyota looked at it. As the sun caught the hues of the leaves, transforming them into more than just basic reds, yellows, and oranges, practically giving them a life of their own, Spock thought he might have begun to realize just why Nyota loved autumn.