Author's note: I'm back! Sorry for the delay in updates. I have been away from my computer for a few days now. Here's a brand new chapter all ready to go!
Characters: Spock (POV), references to Sarek and Amanda Grayson
Genre: General
Summary:His father's insistence on keeping such potted earth plants made very little sense.
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Spock knelt in front of the small potted plant, carefully tilting a jug of precious water into the dirt, giving life to the roots.
His father's insistence on keeping such potted earth plants made very little sense. Vulcans were not decorative creatures, and the rest of his father's new residence on Vulcan II was a stark illustration of this fact. It was very sparsely decorated, with only the most necessary of furnishings and utensils.
However, the back deck of the apartment quarters was home to several species of potted earth plants.
Spock moved from one plant to the next around the porch, still wondering at his father's illogical actions. He knelt in front of a small cactus, tilting just a little water into the base of the pot.
The memory was on him before he could stop it, taking him back to years ago, when his mother was still alive, and Vulcan was still a beautiful star in Earth's night sky…
"Spock."
His mother's voice had him alert in an instant, his focus drawn away from his books as she beckoned him from the door to their back porch. Their eyes met and she smiled, that warm smile that awakened a strange glow deep in the pit of his stomach. He suppressed his own smile, no sign of his inward struggle appearing on his young face.
"Spock, come water the plants with me." His mother said, her smile warm, and inviting.
He left his seat and the small kitchen table, stepping carefully to his mother. She laid a hand on his back, very gently guiding him out on the deck. She handed him a cup of water and he took it carefully. "Tell me the names of the plants Spock, and what is special about them."
The first plant he reached was small, prickly cactus. "A member of the family Cactaceae." he spoke softly. "This plant bears a prickly exterior, but is able to survive in arid climates for long periods of time."
He heard his mother's light footsteps and she joined him, and knelt beside him, her warm brown eyes, his eyes, focused on the cactus. "I love this plant. It seems hard and prickly on the outside, but in the desert, it is a source of life for many." She reached out, touching a thorn carefully with her finger, a gentle smile curving at the corners of her mouth.
Spock watched her, fighting down his emotions again. His mother understood him so well….
Spock opened his eyes, gasping for breath. In front of him, the small green cactus plant stood innocently in its pot, and for a moment he could see her kneeling, her gentle hands carefully touching the thorns as she smiled that warm, inviting smile. The memory was so clear…
Suddenly he understood why his father kept a garden.
