A/N: Dino, Step, KK, Thank you so much for your reviews! Yeaaah I didn't know it was going to go this way either, or where it might go next, but we are going to find out! On a side note, Three different people have asked for a Tilly side story. So at some point, I'm going to write a little Tilly ficlet for you all. Who knew the feline was going to steal the show! XD Now, I plan on tying someone into this I think you'll think it's cool...And now for the drama…..and we hope romance...but first DRAMA! ;)

Strom disembarked from the shuttle onto the tarmac of Shir'Kahr's largest space port. He shouldered Tilly's pack and approached two people who seemed to be waiting for him. When he got closer he realized it was his mother, T'Sam and father Stran. He raised the ta'al to them. "My father, my mother, why have you come to greet me?"

"Your Grandfather requested to meet you and bring you directly to him upon your arrival."

Strom's eyebrow raised, "That is an unusual request."

"He was most adamant, my son." His father said, looking at the pack over his shoulder.

"It is an earth feline, named Tilly. She is my pet." Strom said raising Tilly so her parents could see her. His mother nearly smiled and his father looked perplexed.

"She is an agreeable little creature, her markings are very unusual." T'Sam said placing a finger toward the mesh of the enclosure. Tilly pressed her nose into T'Sam's finger and purred loudly. "Fascinating."

"Come, we will take you to your grandfather." Stran motioned for Strom to follow him.

Stron was sitting in his chair reading a book when Strom entered fresh from his travel from Earth. "Sit," he said motioning to the chair opposite him.

Strom took his seat without question. His grandfather was very old, and these days rarely asked for visitors. This was a rare treat. "Greetings grandfather."

Stron nodded, looking at his pack curiously before raising both eyebrows, "You have an earth feline."

Strom blinked, "Yes, it surprises me you know them."

A small wry smile crept over the old vulcan's features. "I saw many of them when my ship crashed there almost two hundred years ago, Strom. That is why I asked you here today."

Strom knew of the incident he was speaking of, it was documented in the vulcan science library. He had not read it, but several of his classmates had, commenting on how it must have been to be on such a primitive planet. "You were aboard the vessel that crashed on earth?"

"I was, as was T'Mir, and Mestral." He waved his hand, "Open the cage I wish to see the feline."

Strom undid Tilly's travel compartment and the small feline jumped out after giving the air a good smell first. Planting her paws forward she stretched her back, throwing her butt in the air. Stron's head cocked to the side as if lost briefly in a memory. "I never thought I'd see one of those again." he blinked, and patted his lap. Tilly jumped up on the elderly vulcan and purred as he gently stroked her fur. "Tell me of Earth, Strom." he said petting Tilly, who was now wantonly rolling on his lap.

"It is very diverse, much more than I knew. They have a sport for everything, and thousands of variety of animals." Strom began.

"What of the people, how did you find them?"

"Surprisingly agreeable." Strom said, thinking of Sabrina.

"Between the two of us, Mestral did not die. Few people know that, but Mestral stayed." He looked at Strom, "And I almost had a human mate…" he said with a note of scandal in his voice.

"Grandfather?" Strom's attention perked.

"There was a widowed woman, Mrs. Garret, who had lost her mate to the coal mine. I was working as a plumber to sustain a living. She kept calling me for repairs, Mestral suggested that she enjoyed my company." The old vulcan looked at his grandson, "The day I was to leave, I went to her home to give her an item I repaired, a suction device, and she kissed me."

"That is very bold of her, but human women are bold." Strom noted. "What did you do?"

"Don't be foolish, I returned the kiss. She was an agreeable woman, her son was in need of discipline, he had no father figure, but she was most agreeable."

"Do you regret leaving her?"

"Some days I have." he said turning his attention to Tilly who had decided Stron was a perfect place for a nap. "They were a conflicted species at the time, and I had little patience with their world's potentially destructive path. I am told much has changed."

"They are a diverse people, but I saw no savagery." Strom considered his next words, "There is a human female, grandfather, one who…" he hesitated to speak, "I wish to make mine."

Stron's wizened lips parted, "Is there a logical reason why you should not? This is not my time, Strom. Humans know about us, and they have grown. If she is agreeable to the pairing, and you wish her to be your mate, then do so." He pointed down at the feline, "Is this from her?"

Strom nodded, "She is."

"Human females seem to bond well with these creatures, Mrs. Garret had two. Ting and Tang."

"The interspecies medical exchange does not seem to condone my relationship with the female in question."

Stron nodded thoughtfully, "Will this medical exchange be there for you when you are dying of plak tow? Will the medical exchange give you children?" he waved it off, "If I had been braver, and perhaps times different, you may have had some human blood." He frowned, "But I was not, and now that time has passed."

Strom sat back in the chair.

"Do you have a picture?"

He pulled out his padd from his pack, tapping up her file. He passed it to his grandfather whose eyebrows rose, "An agreeable woman." He handed it back to Strom, "Give me my box next to my bed."

Strom stood and gathered the box, handing it to Stron. Stron carefully opened it and shuffled through a few things, "Here." he handed him an ancient looking piece of paper with a few figures, a redheaded lady, a young boy, and what looked to be his grandfather, much younger. The other paper had a young T'Mir, his grandfather, and a younger vulcan male, all in human clothes. "Do you look at these often?"

"Every night." he said solemnly. "It's not logical, but part of me would have liked to have stayed or taken a human bride back to vulcan."

Strom passed the pictures back to his grandfather, who placed them reverently back in the box. "Go now, my grandson, I am fatigued.

He stood, gathering Tilly up in his arms he then raised the ta'al. "Thank you, Grandfather, you have aided me greatly."

888

Strom set up Tilly's pan, food, and water in his rooms, letting her explore. He got a beeping message on his communications, answer it, it was a letter from Jon stating that Sabrina was putting her house up for sale. Strom frowned, knowing that home was her family home. Strom sent all the information required, and gave Jon strict instructions to buy the home for him under his family name. He sent Jon the number of the family legal aid, and told him to work with them to make sure Sabrina did not know who was purchasing the home.

Tilly jumped up on his lap as he was typing on the computer, he absently stroked her. He had made a decision, he was going to do something he'd never done before, he was going to be a rebel.

He placed Tilly on the floor and left his rooms, to speak with his mother and father.

T'Sam was helping Stran prepare food for last meal when their son entered the kitchen. "Are you settling in well, my son?" T'Sam asked as she chopped root vegetables.

"It is agreeable, Mother."

"How was your visit with your grandfather? Stran asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Surprising." Strom confessed, "I did not know he was one of the vulcans stranded on Earth.

Stran nodded, "He has told that story only two times that I know of. The first, when I was younger, just after Solkar made first contact with the humans. Today, if he spoke of it with you."

He put the vegetables in the pot to cook and then gave his son his full attention, "He spoke of you going to Earth with interest."

"Much has changed since his time there." Strom noted. "He recognized the animal I have brought from earth, he remembered them from his time."

"I am interested in observing this creature, you called it a feline?" his mother said, "It looked like an agreeable animal."

"Her name is Tilly, she doesn't like everyone, but does seem to be agreeable to vulcans."

"Our species developed from a feline like predator, perhaps not unlike the small creature, our scent may be pleasing to her." T'Sam observed.

"Your mother, always the biologist." Stran said raising two fingers to her, which she gently touched.

"I must inquire something of you both." Strom said taking a seat beside the food preparation table.

They both turned to him.

"Would you be agreeable if I took a mate?"

"Of course," His mother started, "Your father and I were speaking last week that we may have to gain the use of a clan matchmaker, if you did not find a mate soon."

"She is...human." Strom said with a small pause.

Stran shrugged, "If she is loyal, and willing and able to see you through your time, I see no issue with this." he looked to his wife.

"Biologically, as you know, you would not be able to impregnate her without intervention, but I can aid in this at my laboratory if it is you both decide a child would be wise." His mother said adding her part to the pot to cook.

Strom cast his eyes between them both, slightly incredulous as to how they both received what he had just said.

"When will we meet her?" T'Sam turned to ask, "Does she require instruction in...private matters?"

"She will require information on the pon farr." Strom said barely able to say the words. "I believe she will come soon. For that reason, I am leaving my post at the interspecies medical exchange. I believe either a private practice, or perhaps research may be more suited to our needs."

"That sounds reasonable, as you will need to live together for a year, and the exchange is too unstable. They pull their members all over the galaxy with no notice." His father said pouring some water. "I was never agreeable to Dr. Oratt, his thinking was too conservative, and his application of rules petty. I thought that his ideology might contaminate you."

Strom's lips pursed, and he looked away. Oratt had colored his view on a great many things, and over the years of working with him, he had changed profoundly. He had become the person whose file described him as officious and petty.

"Let us know when she will arrive, we will need to send invitations for the bonding ceremony, and prepare the ceremonial ground for the ritual." Stran said, mentally making a list of all the things they would need to do, "Will her family require housing?"

"She has no family living." Strom said in answer to his father.

"Then we will welcome the increase of our house." T'Sam said, "You seem pensive, my son."

"I did not think a human bride would be well received and there is much to think of, including concerns about the time."

"My son, let us first speak of the time." T'Sam said, "Vulcans are stronger, and in a way more resilient than humans. That said, when a vulcan child is born it at best weighs five pounds. Normally developed full term human babies begin at five pounds and can go up to twelve pounds. If a human female can pass a twelve pound baby, your time is not going to harm her." She looked at her son and husband, "You men always think your lok is like some photonic cannon." she scoffed.

"Mother!- My wife!" Strom and Stran both exclaimed clearly embarrassed. "Mother, vulcan women have died during the time."

"Yes, and it usually those bonds that are forced, and without affection. If you do not hold regard for your mate, and you fight the circumstance, then of course there is violence. I am given to understand that humans do not bond without the emotion love. It is an emotional indulgence that happens to be a great benefit in the time." she said, and discreetly looked to her own husband with fondness.

"We require some knowledge of her. What are her dimensions, so we may prepare proper vulcan clothing for her, in our clans' colors? When will she arrive, and how quickly will the bonding take place. Does she have special dietary requirements? Will you live on Vulcan or Earth?" Stran began listing in a clipped efficient way.

"I do not have all these answers just now, but I will soon. She has not agreed to be my mate just yet, but I believe it will happen. First, I am going to give notice to the medical exchange. I am also buying a home on Earth." Strom said, now very thoughtful about how he would proceed. He would call Jon, who has had great success in obtaining a mate, and get an advisement.

"Very well," T'Sam said, "Now to other business, have you been trained in melding yet?"

"No, Mother."

"That is most disagreeable. I highly recommend that after you no longer work for the exchange that you spend the time between employment studying the new translation of Surak. He says that it is part of the heritage of every vulcan, your brother went to Gol to study this, we have studied this, and we wish it for you as well. We have already made plans so Stron's katra not be lost, and that we all share in his memories. I will be displeased if you cannot." T'San said laying down her expectations.

"Is this your desire as well, Father?" Strom asked turning to him.

"Yes." Stran said firmly, "We have lost thousands of wise vulcans without obtaining their katra. The old standard has diminished us greatly as a people. Our clan stands with the S'chn T'gai clan in this regard."

"Then it will be as you say." Strom said, still dubious about the entire melding thing, but his parents were more than generous with their approval of both his proposed mate and his leaving his post, he would not argue. He had submitted to going to earth with great reward, perhaps this submission would also be as fruitful.