This was the hardest chapter to write, mainly because of what happens. But it all had to begin somewhere. It was tough deciding whether or not to have this chapter, but it's one of those chapters that you feel you have to add because it's very important. Although I warn you that it does contain plenty of emotion. Good time for you to put on your Vulcan masks if you do find it sad.

Kudos for my beta MoreColourfulMoniker.

Summary: Zia finds out what she is in the worst way possible.

o.O.o

Chapter 4 – Where It All Began

It was a beautiful spring day. Zia skipped along the road on her way home from college, humming a happy tune. She was having so much fun in Grade 5; today was one of the best days she'd had all year. That morning in English her class did a spelling test and she'd received full-marks, getting the word 'biennial' right when everyone else got it wrong. Then in Mathematics she finally mastered the interest formula, which was something she'd been working on since learning it a week ago. In Science they were studying volcanoes and she figured out just what happened to volcanoes when they were active – they were extremely volatile and could only be stopped with a cold-fusion device. When she got home she wanted to do some research into cold-fusion; it was just fascinating. That day had been a brilliant day.

"Hey!"

Stopping, she glanced around and saw a group of other ten-year-olds in her grade. She smiled as she saw Dane and Victoria at the front, coming towards her. But she was confused. They went home a different path to her, so why would they be coming this way?

As they came level with her she waved. "Why are you here?" she asked.

Dane's eyes met hers and she shivered. There was none of the warmth she was accustomed too. This wasn't Dane; this was someone else. He had never looked at her with such hate. Fear wormed into her belly as she realised that everyone – even Victoria – was staring at her the same way.

"Hello Zia," Dane said coldly.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously, backing away a few steps. "I don't like this."

The group stopped except for Dane. He came very close to her. "Do you know what you are?" he asked threateningly.

"Um, I'm a person…?"

"WRONG!" His hand came from nowhere and smacked her right in the face. She fell to the ground, stunned. "You're a FREAK!"

"But, but," she blubbered, shocked and afraid. Pain was all she could feel. Dane advanced on her and she scrambled backwards, fearing another strike. Her cheek was already stinging. "I don't understand!"

"Ask your parents," he said mockingly. As he pulled his hand back to hit her again, she rolled backwards, leapt to her feet and raced away without looking back.

o.O.o

The door slammed open with a BANG! Two humans leapt to their feet, startled, and the woman was enveloped in gangly arms.

"Mummy, help!" Zia wailed. She buried her face in Mummy's shirt.

"Whoa, whoa darling," Mummy said soothingly, running her hands through Zia's hair, "what's the matter?"

Zia was crying too hard to say anything else. Her face was green and was that a bruise on her face…?

Daddy rushed over, fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Zia, holding her tightly. He made shushing noises and stared up at Mummy in worry. Slowly Zia quietened down, although she convulsed with hiccups and was shaking from head to toe.

Finally she looked up at Mummy. "Dane isn't my friend anymore." Her lip trembled. "He called me a freak and hit me. Why was he mean?" Her eyes filled with tears again.

Mummy knelt down too, holding Zia at arms' length. "Dane hit you?" she asked in disbelief. Zia nodded. "That is not right! I'm going to march over to the Caster's and give them a piece of my mind!" Preparing to stand, she was stopped as Daddy shook his head.

"Zia," he said softly, "why did Dane call you a freak?"

She sniffed. "He came to me with some of my friends when I was coming home. I don't know why he called me a freak. It was mean."

Mummy was bristling with rage, her eyes narrowed. "No one hurts my little girl."

Something stirred in Zia's mind. "What am I?"

All the rage went out like a light. "What?"

"Dane said that I don't know what I am. He spoke like we weren't friends, like I wasn't like him. Am I like him?" She was trying her best to quell the fear, but it was impossible. No one had hit her before and she simply couldn't understand anything right now. It was as if her whole world had been turned upside-down.

Daddy shared a look with Mummy and turned Zia around to face him. "Sweetheart, we'd hoped that you would be older by the time we had to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

He took a deep breath. "You're adopted."

Everything slowed. This couldn't be right. It couldn't be true. Mummy and Daddy were her parents and they loved her. They were the only people she remembered. The thought of not being their daughter, even if it was true well, it was absurd. Why would they lie to her for her whole life? If they loved her then they wouldn't lie. There was just no way that she could be adopted.

Mummy touched Zia's arm. "It's true. We found you as a baby and took you in."

"But… you're my Mummy and Daddy. You told me! You never lie!"

"Sweetie, we're your adoptive parents. We don't know who your true parents are, but they weren't human."

A cold hand clawed its way into Zia's body. "Who were they?"

"We don't know, but they were Vulcans."

Her blood ran cold. She wasn't… human? Not only was she adopted but she was a Vulcan too, whatever that was. This was too much to take in!

"Mummies and daddies aren't supposed to lie."

With that, she turned and ran from the house, Mummy and Daddy crying out after her. She ran aimlessly, not wanting to come across anyone else. Right now she needed space and some time to think. She needed to figure out why Dane had been so mean and ruined her great day.

It was a surprise to end up at the public swimming pool. After checking the signs she realised it was closed for the day and she climbed over the wall with little difficulty, landing on the concrete floor without a sound. She strolled over to the water, staring into its clear depths and pursing her lips as she knew she couldn't swim. Well, it couldn't be that hard to learn. She pulled off her skirt and tights, shirt and boots until she was just in her panties.

At first contact the water was cold. She touched it with her toe and recoiled nervously. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… maybe she should just find a good place to hide.

Yet, she always liked to learn something new. So she pushed aside the doubt and slid into the water, shivering at the sudden coldness. Blood rushed to her hands and she stared at them, noticing for the first time that they were tinged green instead of red. Perhaps she was an alien. Thinking about it, Mummy and Daddy had never told her that she was human; she'd just assumed it. Then they may not have lied!

But still, it was unfair of them to keep the truth from her. She submerged herself, shaking her head when she emerged. Her hair was almost black when wet, compared to its usual auburn colour. It was a beautiful colour.

She'd seen people swim before, so it couldn't be that hard. One simply had to bring one arm around, then the other, and kick their legs. So that was what she did, and she found that she couldn't breathe for her face was in the water. Coughing, she splashed around for a minute, regaining her footing. It was a good thing to be taller than all her grade and most of the Grade 6's and 7's.

Determination kept her going. And something else was bothering her. Victoria was her best friend, so why did she just stand by while Dane hit Zia? Was she in on whatever was going on? Did she think that Zia was a freak? If that was what she thought then she was a bad best friend. They ate together at lunch, sat together in class and played in the park together, so why was she being mean too? It wasn't fair! Zia hadn't done anything bad to them! Did they have something against these 'Vulcans'?

That must be the answer. They probably learned that she was Vulcan and for some reason they don't like Vulcans, so they decided to let her know that. Even she knew that it wasn't wise of them, given that she didn't even know that she was Vulcan. And she still didn't know what a Vulcan was.

Wow. She blinked and came to a stop. While thinking, she'd fallen into a smooth stroke and had reached the end of the pool. So she turned and went the other way, loving the feel of power that swimming gave her. It was amazing – like she could do anything. Power and weightlessness filled her and she thought of her parents again.

They may have lied about being her parents, but they hadn't lied about loving her.

o.O.o

Mummy and Daddy looked up as Zia entered the house and immediately noticed how wet she was.

"Oh honey, are you okay?" Mummy asked, ceasing to pace.

"Yeah," Zia replied. "I just went for a swim."

"You can swim?"

"I taught myself how to do it," she said proudly. She hesitated. "You're my Mummy and Daddy, always have been and always will be. I love you and nothing will change that."

Tears filled Mummy's eyes and she and Daddy hugged Zia tightly. "We'll protect you," Mummy whispered. "We'll do our best to protect you from the mean people, because we love you."

They did their best to protect her, everything short of sending her away to Vulcan. Zia was pleased about that. She didn't want to go to some strange place away from Mummy and Daddy. They didn't tell the government, and the big people didn't find out. So she had to deal with the increasing bullying, even as all but one tutor turned a blind eye. Mummy and Daddy spent lots of money on getting Zia psychologists to come in every week from other states, places where no one hated her. Her parents loved her through everything, and for that they became her heroes.