They were at the station the next morning before the sun was even up. Jim was walking briskly, one hand holding the strap of his bag, and the other holding his phone. His eyes scanned the screen, taking in the wall of text Pike had sent him.

"If it's on time, we'll get in around noon, Vulcan time." Jim said over his shoulder.

Spock just nodded, his steps were even as he pulled his rolling suitcase behind him. He was wearing a long black travelling coat over a sweater and trousers, and looked much more put together than Jim, who in the haste to get ready, had accidently grabbed Spock's sweatshirt rather than his own, and was now wearing it somewhat proudly.

Despite Spock's crisp appearance, he moved slowly, each foot in front of the other as if it was a task that required calculation before each movement. Jim didn't know if it was from a hangover, or just the weight of the world.

Jim bought two coffees from the booth at the station and passed one to Spock as they sat down to wait. Spock reluctantly drank, grimacing after each sip.

"You want some breakfast?" Jim asked, nodding his head in the direction of the booth, which also had donuts. Spock just shook his head, and took another long drink.

Maybe to avoid having to speak, Spock reached into his bag for his padd. Jim busied himself with one of the magazines in the racks on the back of the terminal seats. It listed the planets with the best restaurants. Vulcan wasn't there.

"I have a message from my mother." Spock said. "She is going to meet us at the station when we arrive, and take us to the hospital."

"You wanna get something for your dad?" Jim asked, rolling the magazine up and stuffing it in his bag. "Maybe some kind of snack that he can't get on Vulcan?"

"My father does not care for Earth foods." Spock said.

"He's ambassador to this planet, but he doesn't even like the food?" Jim was desperate to lighten the mood, but Spock was having none of it.

"I cannot say that I blame him." Spock drained the last of his cup with a look as if swallowing poison, before dropping the cup in the recycle bin.

Before Jim could reply, an announcement signaled it was time to board. Jim finished his own cup and tossed it, before grabbing his bag. As they went towards the gate, Jim noticed Spock was moving quicker now.

The shuttle bound for Vulcan was empty, aside from three other passengers. An elderly Vulcan couple sat stony faced near the back. A Vulcan teenage boy sat in the seat in front of them, as if determined not to appear to have any relation to them. It might have worked save for the fact that they all had matching luggage.

Jim took the window seat as well as Spock's hand as soon as they sat down. Spock showed no sign that he felt this. Jim watched Spock's face from the corner of his eye, but it was impassive.

"Everything's gonna be fine…" Jim said tentatively, offering a small smile as they took off.

"You do not know that." Spock said, his voice clipping.

"Of course, I don't." Jim recoiled, though didn't pull his hand back.

"Then it is illogical to act as if you do." Spock said.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's what humans do!" Jim growled, tightening his grip on Spock's hand defiantly. "We say shit that doesn't make sense, because it makes us feel better."

"An illogical sentiment."

"But a sentiment, just the same." Jim finished, smiling again when their eyes met.

Spock did not smile back, his expression only darkened. He lowered his voice to the point that Jim had to lean across the armrest to hear him.

"I am worried my mother has not told my father I am coming." Spock said, staring down at their hands. "I am worried my father does not want to see me. I am also worried that his health will not improve once he does see me. I am also worried that I am worried…for I should not feel anything at all."

"I –I think you get a free pass for feeling, considering the circumstance." Jim said, the awkwardness of the sudden confession dissipating. "And, why would you think he doesn't wanna see you?"

"Things between us…have been damaged since I left Vulcan. He claimed to have understood my choices, but as time went on, I came to believe he'd just been…humoring me. I am afraid he will always look down on me for choosing Starfleet over the Academy."

"You can't worry about that now." Jim leaned in further and placed his head on Spock's shoulder. "If he can't understand what you did, then that's his own problem. But you should just focus on seeing him…I'm sure he really wants to see you after what happened. Maybe it all came together in his head after he was hurt…how much he loves you, and would love you no matter what."

"…a logical sentiment." Spock sounded surprised.

"I was due for one." Jim looked at him and smiled. This time, there was the smallest of smiles in return.

"I can take that." Spock said from the platform behind Jim, who was currently trying to pull Spock's suitcase down the shuttle steps. One of the wheels was stuck in the grated metal of the bottom step.

"I got it." Jim huffed, pulling once more. Several people were staring now, as he was blocking the doorway from the three Vulcans on the shuttle who needed to get off.

The Vulcan teenager rolled his eyes before stepping down and kicking the suitcase. It dislodged and slammed into Jim, sending him sprawling back onto the platform.

"…Thanks." He groaned, holding up a thumbs-up as the boy and his elderly guardians stepped down from the shuttle and walked past him.

Humans are so weak, the boy said in Vulcan, looking back down at Jim. Jim sat up, the suitcase shifting down onto his lap.

"But we have excellent hearing, you brat!" Jim shouted. The boy turned a bright green, before jogging to catch up to his guardians.

"Are you alright?" Spock asked, taking the suitcase from on top of Jim and offering his hand.

"Yep." He took the hand and was hauled to his feet.

Jim dusted himself off and looked around. The stations walls were all glass, giving him a perfect view of the oddly-shaped reddish-brown buildings that stretched out for miles all around, as well as the matching red landscape that surrounded the city.

"We are early." Spock said, looking to a large chronometer above one of the ticket booths.

"So, should we sit and wait? Is there somewhere I can get some coffee?" He yawned, his jetlag told him it was barely seven in the morning back home. It was also very hot, reminding him of Spock's apartment back home. He took off his sweatshirt and stuffed it into his bag.

"I believe –" Spock was cut off, his eyes widening as someone approached.

"You're here!" Spock's mother was spry for her age, flinging herself at him, her arms going around his neck.

Spock stumbled back a few steps, before awkwardly hugging her back. Jim pressed his fist to his mouth to muffle his laughter.

"Mother, you are restricting my airways." Spock wheezed.

"Sorry, dear." She stepped back from him with a sheepish smile.

Spock's mother was a head shorter than both of them, with brown hair that was showing signs of greying. She wore a scarf around her neck that looked as if it had slipped from around her head. Her robes were flowy and looked as if they were a lot nicer than anyone else's that Jim could see.

"Now, who's this?" She turned to Jim. When he looked into her eyes, he instantly recognized they were identical to Spock's. This put him very much at ease, and he smiled.

"Jim Kirk." He figured it was safe to offer his hand. She shook it and after a second, slowly rotated his arm, exposing his words. Her eyes flicked up to his, and he hastily pulled his hand back, blushing. "I'm his…" He found it hard to go on with her looking at him like that.

"Mother," Spock stepped in. "Jim is my t'hy'la."

"Yes. That." Jim nodded once.

"Oh…" Her entire face lit up. "I had no idea…why didn't you tell me?!" She rounded on Spock, a playful tone in her reprimanding. "Well, no matter, I'm just very glad you're here now. Welcome to the family. You can call me Amanda."

"Should we depart?" Spock asked.

"Just a minute." Amanda glanced around. "I was just wondering if there might be a place to purchase a cup of coffee…"

Jim decided he liked her very much.

"I take our leisure pace in leaving to mean that Father is no longer in critical condition?" Spock asked as they made their way out of the station, Jim and Amanda nursing cups of coffee, and Spock wheeling his suitcase behind him.

"Well, that, and I'm not sure we'll be allowed to see him if we're too early. No matter, we can always wait there. They do have a waiting room." She chuckled. "Come on, I got us the car service."

While everyone else seemed to depart from the station in shabby cabs or on foot, Amanda led them to a sleek black vehicle that was waiting for them. As they approached, the driver got out and grabbed Spock's bag.

"I got it." Jim said awkwardly, clutching the strap of his own bag as the driver tried to take it.

They climbed into the backseat, which was wide and cozy. Amanda sat in the opposite seat that faced them.

"Yes, Sarek is doing just fine." She nodded. "The worst of it is his leg. It was broken pretty bad in two places, but they put a cast on it, and he's very stable…though he fades in and out."

"Medication?" Jim asked.

"No, healing trance. They assure me that he'll heal quicker this way." She looked to Spock. "He asks for you every time he wakes up."

"He…asks for me?" Spock looked surprised.

"Of course he does!" She reached across the way to place a hand on his knee. "He really misses you…we have heard from you in ages! Though, I see now that you have been busy." She glanced Jim's way and smiled.

"I apologize." Spock glanced awkwardly out the window. "I…I just assumed you hadn't told him I was coming."

"Well, of course I did." She looked slightly hurt. "He asked me for you, so we arranged everything with the Academy. Honestly Spock, you act as if you're still eighteen. Your father may have been disappointed when you left home, but he always supported you and he was always proud."

"Yes, well…" Spock somehow looked even more uncomfortable now than he had on the shuttle ride. It was as if he was more prepared to face a disappointed father than one who actually wanted to see him.

"I hope he's up." Amanda sighed. "He was asleep during the first visitation hours this morning when T'Pring came by…"

"T'Pring?" Spock sat up impossibly straighter. "She came by to see Father?"

"Yes, well, she was just on the floor below visiting her daughter. The poor thing stays in the hospital these days…" She sighed. "Sarek was asleep but she and I got to talking. I told her all about your work at the academy, and she was very impressed. I told her to come by again when you were here."

"But Mother, I do not want to see her." Spock practically whined.

"Honestly, Spock." She said again. "I know you and T'Pring never really got on as children…"

"An understatement." Spock grumbled, but she went on as if she hadn't heard him.

"But you're adults now. Her husband has been off-planet for his work for the past few months, and she's been all alone with that poor baby. The least you could do is be kind to her."

Spock scowled but didn't argue. He just stared out the window as they drove on. Amanda turned to Jim and started asking him so many questions it was hard for him to keep up.

By the time they reached the hospital, Jim had managed to recount his childhood, his enlistment, and his less-than-stellar first time meeting Spock. She laughed loudly.

"Well, I suppose it's better than how I met Sarek." She waved a hand. "You wouldn't know it the way he speaks, but he was delightfully awkward."

"There is…something else, Mother." Spock lowered his voice, and glanced at Jim as their ride came to a stop in the parking lot.

For a minute, Jim thought Spock was going to tell her about the rules that prevented their relationship from going public. That would be quite a disappointment, as it would be nice while they were here, to pretend those rules didn't exist at all.

Instead, he listened as Spock told her about the bond between their minds. Jim was grateful Spock carefully skirted around the actual activity that had resulted in the bond.

"Have you ever heard of that happening before?" Spock asked. "A bond forming of its own volition? It must be exclusive to psi-abled beings such as Vulcans, that have soulmates. Did you and Father…?"

"No," She looked surprised. "But Sarek and I got married almost as soon as we met, so that I'd have Vulcan citizenship by the time we returned from Earth."

"I could find nothing on it when I looked…" Spock shook his head.

"How did this happened again?" She looked between them. "What were you doing that could have linked you?"

Jim had never been more grateful in his life to hear the driver rap his knuckles on the tinted glass that separated his section from the backseat.

"That is our cue to get out." Spock said quickly, undoing his seatbelt, his face bright green. "We are wasting visitation time."

Jim undid his own seatbelt before stepping out of the car into the thick hot Vulcan air. The hospital looked a lot like the station from outside; the sections that weren't glass were dark reddish-brown stone.

"Leave your bags in the car, so they'll be with us when the car takes us home." Amanda said.

"Mother, Jim and I can stay in a hotel…" Spock started as they made their way across the lawn in front of the hospital.

"Nonsense!" She waved her hand. "You two will be perfectly cozy at our place. Your old bedroom is just like you left it."

"Good news." Spock said sarcastically, and Jim laughed as they made their way into the building.

The lobby was empty aside from a few Vulcans sitting in a waiting area. Jim tried to discern what was wrong with them, but he couldn't tell, as they all had the same bored expression.

There was a small line in front of the reception desk, and Amanda got in it to obtain visitor passes. Jim and Spock hung back near the elevator.

"So, this girl your mom was talking about, was she an old childhood bully?" Jim asked in a whisper. He wasn't going to judge Spock if he'd been picked on by a girl. After all, Vulcans were strong, and Jim knew what it was like to be a shrimpy kid.

"Yes." Spock nodded. "As well as my ex-fiancé."

Jim gasped, wanting to retort, but was speechless. Just then, Amanda approached with visitor passes that they pinned to their clothes as they stepped towards the elevator.

"It's floor seven." She said, pressing the button. "T'Pring should be on floor six, if you ever want to visit…" This time Jim shared Spock's dread at her name.

The seventh floor held all of the Vulcans who'd been injured in the attack on the embassy. Apparently, Sarek was one of the ones that'd been lucky, and escaped with minor injuries. Jim peered into the tiny windows on the doors, and saw most of them were heavily bandaged. They all looked as if they were asleep.

Sarek's room was the last on the right. His door was open and he was awake, sitting up in bed and reading from a padd. His leg was heavily casted, but he looked otherwise ordinary, aside from a deep green scratch on his arm.

"Hello, Father." Spock said, slowly approaching the bed. Jim hung back awkwardly.

"Spock." Sarek looked up. "I am glad you are here."

"You are?" Spock looked surprised, as if he still hadn't believed what Amanda said until he heard it for himself.

"Of course I am. It is logical to want to be with family after such an ordeal, and I was very glad to hear you would find the time to come, despite your busy schedule."

"I…apologize for not making time in the past." Spock hung his head.

"Apologies are unnecessary." Sarek said with a wave of his uninjured arm. In the movement, Jim caught a flash of words.

"Who is this?" Sarek asked when he caught Jim staring.

"I, uh…" Jim stuttered, caught off-guard.

"Sarek, this is Jim." Amanda placed a hand on his shoulder and nudged him towards the bed. "He's Spock's soulmate."

"You are a male?" Sarek looked mildly surprised.

Jim bit his tongue on the "I think so" retort that was brewing in his head, and instead just stared at the back of Spock's head.

"This is all quite logical!" Sarek said. "It is no wonder you never favored T'Pring growing up. Had you informed me of your preference for males, I would have never made you stay bonded with her for as long as you were."

"Father, I never favored T'Pring growing up because she was horrible." Spock said bitterly. "And I seem to recall that I asked to dissolve my bond with her as early as age fourteen…"

"My refusal of this was logical." Sarek's voice clipped. "It all came down to wanting you to have someone once you reached maturity. I was simply doing what was best for you."

"You mean as you did when you insisted I join the Science Academy?" Spock's hands actually curled into fists. "What that what you thought was best for me, or what was best for you?"

"Well, my apologies for wanting to keep close the only child I had left." Sarek rose up in the bed, his face going greener.

"Sarek, your blood pressure!" Amanda warned, but he ignored her.

"Father, that is not the reason." Spock said. "We all know that you did not want me to know my own heritage there. You wanted to fit me into the Vulcan mold so that I would be exactly like you. This is exactly what you did to Sybok –"

Amanda gasped, her hands clasped over her mouth and her eyes on Spock as if she no longer recognized him. Sarek looked for a moment as if he'd been struck. He then sat up further, sending the pillow behind him tumbling to the floor.

"You understand nothing of which you speak!" Sarek raised his voice. "Sybok left this place because it was not right for him. However, it was right for you…"

"Then why did I hate it!?" Spock actually screamed, something Jim had never heard before.

"You put too much pressure on yourself!" Sarek's voice started to go hoarse. "You held yourself to the impossibly high standards of your peers."

"You mean full-Vulcans?"

Spock then slipped into Vulcan, shouting words and gesturing. Sarek shouted back, his voice raw and sounding as if he were going to collapse back onto the bed and die. Jim had honestly never been more uncomfortable in his entire life.

"Stop it!" Amanda shouted over the both of them, reminding Jim very much of Christine Chapel. "Stop that! I cannot stand to hear you two fight!"

"I should not have asked to see you." Sarek said darkly, leaning back against the empty headboard. "I should have known this would happen again."

"Sarek, Spock is right." Amanda looked as if she'd been bursting to say this. "You were always so critical of him when he was coming up…"

"I suppose you also think I drove Sybok away." Sarek did not look at any of them.

"Of course not!" She looked hurt. "But I think him leaving hurt you more than you wanted to admit, or even realized. You too…" She looked at Spock.

"I am sorry, Spock." Sarek whispered, his voice still hoarse. "I always knew I could not change how the past went, but I always hoped we could move past it and be close. I attributed everything that went wrong with Sybok as something I could prevent with you. I never let you make your own choices, because I feared you would choose to leave as well."

"I did choose to leave." Spock lifted his chin. "But not because of the same reasons as Sybok. You did not drive me away…I was always proud of…this." He waved a hand towards the window, where the Vulcan landscape was stretched out around them. "But Earth is my heritage as well. I needed to know that…I needed to go and find Jim."

Sarek looked at Jim once more. Jim was torn between wanting to step up and say something dramatic, and wanting to sink into the floor never to be seen again. But this was for Spock, so he just looked back at Sarek with determination.

"Spock," Sarek's voice was much softer, and Jim wondered if the fight was truly over, or if he was just too hoarse to continue. "Does living on Earth, and being with Jim make you happy?"

Jim was expecting some sort of retort about happiness being an emotion, and therefore, impossible for Spock to experience. Instead, Spock just straightened his posture and nodded.

"Yes."

"Jim," Sarek addressed him, and Jim scrambled to emulate Spock's posture. "Does Spock make you happy?"

"Yes." Jim nodded.

"Good." And to everyone's surprise, Sarek smiled. "Then I have not failed as a father."

"Of course you haven't." Amanda picked up the pillow from the floor and placed it behind her husband. "Spock loves you, and he's glad to be here, just like you're glad to see him."

"Spock, I have many articles saved on my padd that I would like to show you." Sarek sounded as if nothing had just happened, and Spock seemed to gratefully run with this opening to a civil conversation.

"I will be glad to give my professional opinion." Spock said, grabbing a small chair by the window and placing it by the bed.

Jim felt Amanda lightly touch his elbow. He looked to her and she jerked her head towards the hallway. They stepped out and gently closed the door.

"Oh my goodness." She sighed, collapsing onto a bench under a long window. "I would say that it isn't normally like this…but it seems that always happens when they get together."

"I get it." Jim said, and really he did. Though the key difference between the shouting matches between Sarek and Spock and Jim and Frank was that Sarek and Spock actually loved each other.

"I'm glad he found you." Amanda placed a hand on his shoulder. "You seem good for him."

"Yeah, well…" Jim blushed, looking down at his shoes. He did not mention that every second he spent with Spock was jeopardizing their positions at the academy.

The sound of footsteps brought back Jim's attention. Someone was coming down the hallway towards them. It was a young Vulcan woman about his age. Her hair was short and cropped around her ears. Her robes were brown and limp, giving her the appearance not unlike a moth.

"Lady Amanda." T'Pring nodded. "How is Sarek?"

"He's awake." Amanda stood up. "Spock is with him."

Jim got to his feet too and stared at her defiantly. Her eyes moved to him with almost a bored expression.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Jim Kirk." He said curtly. "I'm Spock's t'hy'la." It was Jim's first time ever trying to pronounce the word, but he figured he did a pretty good job, based on the way her eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Pleased to meet you." She said, her eyes now moving over him in interest. "I did not know Spock had taken a spouse."

"We're not…uh, married." Jim said, his confident tone faltering slightly. "But we are engaged…linked."

"Are you?" She narrowed her eyes. "But you did not do this on Vulcan. I would have heard if Spock had been here…"

"Didn't need to." Jim raised one shoulder in a shrug. "We did it on our own."

"I see…" She still looked skeptical.

"T'Pring, would you like to go in and see him?" Amanda asked, and Jim wondered if she was referring to Sarek or Spock. He felt his insides boiling.

"Yes." She nodded, moving past them towards the door. She entered without knocking.

"Come on, Jim." Amanda smiled. "You must be starving."

"Actually, I am." Jim chuckled. "But everything around here is vegetarian…right?"

"Yes, but you do not live here as long as I have without learning what places are willing to bend the rules."

"They'll do that?" he asked.

"Well, humans eat meat, so it's logical, right?" she laughed as they walked towards the elevator.

"Right…logical."

Spock was by his father's bed, reading a news report on the attack off a padd when the door opened. Expecting to see Jim or his mother, he actually did a double take when he saw who it really was.

"You're awake." T'Pring looked over his head at Sarek. When her eyes moved down to Spock's, he felt instantly like a child again. "Hello."

"Hello." He instinctively shrunk back.

"You are reading the news." She came to stand behind him and looked at the padd over his shoulder. "I was at the elder's chamber today to see T'Pau, and I heard that the attacker is dead."

"Yes, that is true." Sarek nodded. "He was an assistant to one of the off-planet ambassadors. He did not take into account how the Vulcan air pressure would affect his homemade explosive. He got hit with the worst of it."

Spock sat rigid, ignoring the slamming of his heart and the almost sickening prickle of his skin, with her right behind him. T'Pring took no notice, casually strolling to the window and talking more with Sarek about his work prior to the attack.

"Spock," she said suddenly, turning away from the window. "I spoke to your…human mate, out in the hallway."

"Yes, he wanted to come with me once we heard of Father's injury." Spock nodded, allowing a slight bit of bragging in his voice. The fact that Jim wanted to come with him was more than T'Pring ever would have done for him.

"How noble." She said curtly. "I would like to speak with you privately for a moment."

It took him a second to realize she was talking to him still. She was staring at him impassively, waiting for him to stand up.

"Why...?" He asked skeptically, as his brain rapidly constructed a scene in which she'd get him alone only to push him down and call him names.

"It is…" Her eyes flicked to Sarek, and perhaps it was a trick of the light that made it seem as if she blushed. "A personal matter."

"It is nearly time for the nurse to bring my lunch." Sarek said, sitting up in bed. "You two can speak out in the hallways. I will be fine."

It was not concerns for his father that made him reluctant to go, but the words of his mother played over and over in his head. He was not a child anymore. They were adults, and T'Pring was hardly going to push him down. Not in a public building, at least.

He followed her out into the hallway. It was deserted, but she kept walking until they came to a long window further down the corridor. The Vulcan landscape stretched out before them. They both silently watched it for a moment, though Spock was also watching her.

She was different now. Gone was the heavy make-up and ornate hair style that she'd had in their youth. Her hair was short, and her face was pale.

"You have a human t'hy'la." T'Pring said, speaking finally.

"Yes." He said firmly.

"Is that why you wanted to dissolve our bond?"

"Yes."

"And you are betrothed to him now." She said this as a fact rather than a question.

"Yes." He answered quickly. He didn't know if Jim told her that, or if she was just guessing, but he did not want her to think he was unsure of it, when it was the thing that made him happiest.

"I see…" She looked almost uncomfortable for a split second. "I must ask you something…you were able to form a bond with him on your own. One equivalent to the one we had…how? How did you do this?"

"What do you want, T'Pring?" He snapped, his cheeks coloring.

"Can you feel him?" She pressed on. "In your head? Can you feel his thoughts and emotions the way we –The way that we were supposed to be able to?"

He understood instantly why she was asking. His eyes widened and then he nodded. "It was difficult…and first. Jim is psi-null, and I was not used to it, due to you and I only ever pushing each other out. But I do hear him, and feel him. And though Jim may not recognize it, he hears and feels me." He couldn't tell if she was expecting this answer or not. She turns away to look back out the window.

"I see…" She whispered, as if too tired to keep her voice sharp.

"We pushed each other out. We did not feel one another, and as a result, our abilities to feel bonds since have suffered. I can feel Jim…yet, you are married and cannot feel Stonn."

"It is not…Stonn." Her voice shook. "Once we were bonded by an elder…we could hear one another. It is…" And then she did something Spock had never seen a Vulcan do. She cried. She pressed her sleeve-covered hands to her eyes and wailed. "It is T'Ariis! My daughter! I cannot feel her!"

"Your –daughter?" He seemed to recall his mother saying something about T'Pring's daughter.

"Yes…" She trembled, her face still covered. "We have a bond…but it is so weak. I first believed this to be because she is so sick…she has seizures…but now I am sure something else is wrong."

"For what reason are you telling me this?" Spock asked, the slightest bit of alarm in his voice.

"You…you were able to repair the bond with your mate, so that his mind was susceptible to it. You were able to do this…with no training. You can do this for me too."

"I –what?" He felt as if he was greatly missing something here.

"You, Spock!" She pulled her hands from her face and looked at him with shining dark eyes. "You can meld with me and T'Ariis. You can link us…so that she will not suffer."

"I do not understand." He glanced back towards his father's door at the end of the hallway.

"Strong bonds allow emotions to be shared." She sounded slightly exasperated at his inability to grasp what she was saying. "They also allow one to feel another's state of mind. When T'Ariis had her last seizure…I did not know. I could not feel that she was in distress. With a stronger bond…"

"You…you think that a stronger bond would help your daughter's illness?" He asked slowly.

"No," T'Pring shook her head. "Nothing can cure her. She has a severe neurological disorder. But if we were strongly linked…I would be able to better comfort her, and to sense when she is in trouble."

"Why not ask an elder…or a healer here at the hospital?"

"You do not understand!" She wailed, waving her arms. "I cannot…tell anyone. I have not even told Stonn…if he…if anyone knew that I had a weak bond with my own child, they would believe this to mean that I am an unfit mother…that I do not love her. This is not true! I love her more than anything! You must help me, Spock!"

Spock gasped as T'Pring dropped to her knees, she reached out and clasped one of his hands in both her own. She looked up at him with such desperation, that he could feel it flowing in from her skin.

"I –" He was too frozen to even pull his hand back. Could he do that? He had no training. When he repaired the bond between himself and Jim, it was because it was the only choice to save Jim.

"This is the only choice." T'Pring said, as if reading his hesitation. "In desperation…I went to the elder's today. I knew I was risking losing T'Ariis if they did believe me to be a fit mother, but I had no choice. T'Pau was not in…so I thought I had no options left. But now you are here….and you can do this for me…"

"I –"

"Please!" She gasped. "Not for me…not for Stonn…but for a child that has only ever known pain. I want to take that pain away. She is not long for this world…she deserves to live the rest of her days with her mother's voice in her head.

He looked down into the face of the person he only ever hated. She was so different looking now, that she might have been a different person all together. His hand was still clasped in hers, and she was looking up at him, so broken.

"…Yes." He managed. "Yes, fine. I will help you…"

"Thank you." She whispered, dropping his hand and getting to her feet. Tear streaks stained her cheeks, but her face became stoic once more. "Follow me. She is on the floor below."

"We are going now?" He asked in surprise.

"Of course. It is most logical, as no one will be there to disturb us. The nurses already brought her lunch just before I arrived."

He followed her into the elevator and down onto the floor below. It was identical to his father's floor, but before he could make more of an observation, she was turning into the first room on the left.

For a moment he thought they were in the wrong room. The bed was empty aside from a small lump in the blankets. As they came closer, he saw it was a child. She wasn't moving, and her dark hair was splayed out on the pillow.

"Hello, my love." T'Pring scooped the child up and climbed into the bed. She sat up against the headboard and cradled the child to her chest. The child whimpered slightly, but did not move.

As he watched T'Pring whisper to it, such loving things that would certainly be seen as an overuse of emotion by any other being in the building…he was almost completely convinced this was not the same girl he knew.

"I will do it now." He said awkwardly.

Spock closed the door and turned off the light, so that the only light in the room was a soft orange glow from the lamp on the bedside. He climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged on top of the covers and facing her. This was quite different from when he did this for Jim. For one, Jim had been stirring, and for another, it was his own link he was strengthening.

"I will meld with you and T'Ariis, and strengthen your bond, but leaving no trace of my mind behind." It was easier said than done.

He pressed one hand to the child's temple. It was hot with fever. She sniffled slightly. With the other, he touched T'Pring's face, splaying his fingers on her psi-points.

Twilight was falling over the city as Spock walked to his parent's home from the hospital. His mother had messaged him that she and Jim were already settled in. She'd told him she'd send a cab for him, but he'd declined. Walking always helped him when he needed to think.

T'Ariis hadn't stirred much one he pulled back from the meld, but from the look on T'Pring's face, he knew she felt her now.

"I cannot thank you enough." T'Pring had said as he stood from the bed. "I…I want to apologize for the way I treated you when we were bonded."

"It hardly matters now." He'd said.

"…I hope you are happy with your mate." She settled further into the bed.

"I am very happy." He went to the door. "Goodbye, T'Pring."

He'd gone back to his father's room afterwards and visited for a while. It was one of the most pleasant times he'd spent with his father since adolescence. Though, he was glad for this, he couldn't help but let his mind wander and stray to Jim.

Perhaps he could inquire to the next time T'Pau would be in her chambers. If he made a very logical argument…Jim might be willing to truly and fully bond in marriage before they returned to Earth.

After seeing T'Pring and her daughter, and yet another fight with his father, he understood how truly important love was, despite Vulcans claiming emotions served no purpose.

Proposing this to Jim was something he was actually excited about. The only downside was that once they returned to Earth, the fact that they would be married would mean they had truly defiled the school rules.

For some reason, he did not think Jim would find this much of a problem.