11
"Father liked you," Spock says softly, stroking her hair as they watch the waves from the pier. "He approved greatly."
"That's good to know. I liked him too. He's more serious than you, but there was something very noble about him."
They held each other in silence for some time.
"I feel such remorse that Mother did not get the chance to see the way things have turned out. I can see the way she would have fought to contain her smile meeting you. She knew I could never love my arranged bride. I believe it is one reason she encouraged me to join Starfleet. I feel she secretly hoped I would have the opportunity to meet my true life partner, a woman that I would choose for myself," Spock tells her.
"Life partner?" Nyota says, sitting up to look him in the face. Her heart skips a beat.
Spock's hands drop to his side, as his cheeks flush. "Forgive me," he says, blinking. "I was under the assumption you knew of my intention once we consummated our relationship—"
She breaks into a smile as something in her soul takes flight. "What assumption? What intentions?"
"You mock me, Nyota."
"No," she laughs joyously, throwing her arms around his neck as best she can from their side by side seating. "I want to know if you're saying what I think you're saying!"
"My intention has always been for you and I to commit ourselves to one another in an official ceremony that would unite us as husband and wife. If I were human, I might go so far as to say that for me, it was love at first sight."