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2163.143

Okay. So after T'Mana called me to her house (which is enormous by the way and filled to the brim with little kids, I don't know why I was expecting little Vulcan kids to be as staid as the adult versions, but they weren't, at least not the littlest ones, they bounced off of the walls like my little nephew Diallo does) she stuck me upstairs in a library. It had tons of old fashioned books. I wouldn't have pegged her as a collector, but then it occurred to me that maybe print books were contemporaneous with her lifetime.

After she left me there for hours she finally came back up with tea. I was trying to be angry but something about T'Mana sort of makes you forget that. I guess I'll call it charisma. I'll try to transcribe what we said as best I can, she spoke in Standard so it'll be easier:

T'Mana (T): I understand that you have been looking for our T'Ura for some time.

Me(M): Yes. I think so.

T: I understand you lost your mother during the Battle of Cheron

M: Yes. It was very unfortunate.

T: I grieve with you. Your losses have been significant.

M: I suppose. No more significant than others who lost families,wives, children.

T: Yes... S'kal informed me that you were very insightful. He indicated that he was surprised.

M: Captain S'kal?

T: Yes. We received his reports directly as he had... a unique individual aboard his ship.

M: You mean me? Why do I sense that you have known that I've been here, that I'd be coming here for a very long time (I could've told her why I sensed that, but I'll get to it later)

T:Knowing such things is something that I am tasked with. Let us move directly to the point. You wish to see T'Ura.

M: Yes.

T: I am aware that you know of her unique abilities. I have discerned that she has been communicating with you. What I do not know is when you became aware of them. Did you discover them as a result of your own or did she tell you?

M:I'm not sure how to answer that.

T:Truthfully.

M:Truthfully? Truthfully I don't believe it can be distilled to one option or the other. I believe both played a role in my discovery.

T: ...I see. Yes. I suppose your logic is sound. This will assist us in determining what reprimand will be appropriate.

M:Wait? What?

T:T'Ura is an intelligence officer. She is bound by duty to the Vulcan High Command. She is not meant, under any circumstances, to share the nature of her mission. She must be punished.

M:You didn't tell me that! Where is she. I thought would let me see her.

T: Obviously your logic is flawed. Perhaps by excessive emotion. Of course, some of that could be related to T'Ura's tampering in your mind... young women like her... perhaps it is best left unsaid. Our servant Vamik will escort you out.

I was so mad. Livid. I went back to my domicile and I hit the wall. I even broke a finger. I've been studying Vulcan meditation though. I decided to try that. And it worked. And you know what else? For the first time? I was able to connect with T'Ura instead of her coming to connect with me. After an hour of meditation, after I was calm, I was able to focus and I decided to focus on her.

It was a completely different experience. I was able to say what I needed to say, to explain what I had been going through instead of waiting for her to search it out in my mind. She responded the same way she always does, that unnerving feeling of being both in my head and not. She said she knew she would be punished, but that she had no regrets. She called me her t'hy'la, she said I was the first that she'd ever had and that if things had been different, if we had not been from different worlds, she would not be subject to punishment for telling me her secrets. She said that if things could be different, I would be expected to know these things. She was upset then. I could feel it. Not just under the surface or fleeting, like the time that she smiled, but I could truly feel a wave of resentment and anger. And then she was gone.

Thinking back on it now, I guess that me feeling her emotion broke my focus. I wanted to make it better. She called me her t'hy'la. Of course I did. What sane man wouldn't want to soothe the woman he loved?

2163.150

So after that, I decided to revisit my search about what happens to natural, non-touch telepaths that are born on Vulcan. It's fascinating really, the amount of information that is right there on Vulcan that you would never access from Earth. I guess they don't have a need to hide the information from themselves. Not to mention in the time that I've been here, nearly a year, I've seen maybe five other Humans and they were delegates from the Federation council.

So it seems that the things that T'Ura is able to do is connected to the strength of her mind over some congenital or recessive condition. It would be like a genius being born on Earth, it's something that is largely innate but fostered over time. In some ways, she's millions of miles ahead of her counterparts in the development of her cognitive abilities but in other ways, she gets slowed down. While other Vulcan children are learning about meditation and controlling the expression of their emotions, she's learning not to telepathically suggest something to a crowd of people. I guess it's somewhat similar. She's learning to reign in her mind while other children learn to reign in their emotions. Unfortunately for her, she didn't start learning to reign in her emotions until later. At least that is what I think, based upon the literature I've found.

I'll admit that the reading was difficult. It is scientific literature and it is in Vulcan, both make things more difficult but I'm fairly sure I've gotten more than just the gist of it. And it helps. It helps me to understand her and what she's going through. She was sent into the war in an emergency like I was, but my mom was always just a transporter away and I grew up with my mom there to comfort me. T'Ura, I don't think she had anyone. I still haven't found out who her original handler was. Still, it had to be so hard to be thrust into so many situations without someone to truly confide in. My mom told me all about what to expect and what to consider before I volunteered to help in the war effort, first from monitoring towers on Kilimanjaro and then on the ships when they figured out what I could do.

Anyway, after I did all of that research, I decided to find out what T'Ura meant when she said 'that if things were different'. I wanted to find out if there was a a way for her to avoid punishment. Part of me feels like T'Mana tricked me but at the same time, I should have been more aware of what was going on. I promised not to tell anyone about T'Ura and I broke that promise. I was just so excited about the possibility of seeing her again. At last.

Still. No excuses. I went back to T'Mana and Visec. I told them that it wasn't fair, that I was T'Ura's t'hy'la. I knew what t'hy'la meant. Sort of. I knew it meant 'more than friends' but I wasn't quite expecting their response.

2163.161

Did I mention that Raal was beautiful? It is. Being here with T'Ura is better than I could have ever expected. I wish my mother could have lived to see something like this. I bet that she would have loved T'Ura too.

Okay, so back to my story. For some reason, I thought that T'Mana would suddenly deny my statement and tell me that it was impossible for T'Ura to have that sort of relationship with me, but she didn't. Visec simply said "Yes. It is as we thought."

I can't get a read on Visec. He's totally different that T'Mana. It sounds dumb but I think of him as a Viking and her as Persian queen. I guess my Terran ways are stuck with me, but still, he feels like a Viking to me. I have read a great deal of Vulcan history and he strikes me as the guy who was always ready for battle, fighting for mates and chopping people up on the battlefield. He's huge. His hair is black but he's much paler than T'Mana. Of course, I have the feeling that you might have to be that big to feel confident enough to stand next to T'Mana. Don't get me wrong, I know lots of guys who love tall women but T'Mana is like a peacock. She can't show up to a party with a little wren.

Still, despite his hugeness, I sense that he's the coolheaded one. Just looking at him, I can tell that he thinks long and hard about everything and every result that might come of it. I bet he's the single person who can tell T'Mana to stop and she'll actually listen. If she's fire, then he's ice. I was not at all surprised when he announced that they would take me to T'Ura because it was the most logical course of action.

Okay. Maybe I was a little surprised; however, if someone was going to say it, I figured it would be Visec.

Spock had rigged the view screen in their bedroom to be remote controlled so that Nyota wouldn't have to get up or strain to answer it. She was officially, according to McCoy's readings, embarking on her fourteenth month of pregnancy. If she went another month she would have a full term Vulcan baby. She shook her head at this thought and watched as her brother appeared on screen.

"Hey Ny. You doing okay? Dad says you're not in the best shape." Basim said excitedly.

"I've been better. I'll be better. The baby will be here tomorrow, one way or the other. I'm just going to wait out the next eighteen hours and hope for the best." Nyota paused. "What's new with you?"

"I found something on your mystery lady." Basim beamed at her through the screen.

"Oh yeah?" Nyota sat up a bit, her interest piqued.

"Yeah. But first, tell me what you've found out so far from the second journal, at least since your last email." Basim rattled everything off at a fast pace. He seemed very eager to share his news. Some things never changed. Basim never outgrew his excited and wiggly nature.

"I haven't found much else. Charles is reunited with T'Ura, I guess they're living in Raal together. I am guessing that Visec is the one who made the final decision put them back together. I'm not sure if that was with T'Mana's blessing or not. Most of the stuff is just his perspective on T'Mana, Visec and Vulcans in general. I looked at the log list and there're only a few more entries. I don't know that they'll reveal what happened between the time that T'Ura went away and the time that Charles came back to Earth." Nyota shrugged lightly.

"I know what happened to her." Basim was literally bouncing in his seat.

"You do?" Nyota leaned toward the screen.

"Yep. I even found a picture, but I'm calling in favor to get it. Top secret stuff." Basim's eyes shown brightly.

"Okay... so spill. What's the news."

"She died in 2190." Basim said. "She contracted Tuvan Syndrome, apparently she developed it while she was working on Vulcanis." Basim looked down at his notes.

"Oh." Nyota frowned. "That's sad. That's such a long, slow disease to have."

"Yeah." Basim said. "I'm pretty sure she was happy though. I found out that she was teaching both the Vulcan lyre and violin to small children. Didn't Charles say she loved music?"

"He did." Nyota felt her mood improve.

"Her records indicate that she died unbonded and almost all of her property, along with her continued pension from her work for the Vulcan government, went to the school she taught at when she died. It was a special school Ny. It was for kids like her to be around others instead of removed. It's actually still operating on Vulcanis and named for her."

"Oh that's great Basim. That's so great!" Nyota smiled fully now. "She sounds like a great lady. Brave, persistent, making things better for others based on her own experiences."

"I take it you've found a name for the munchkin?" Basim grinned.

"I think so." Nyota said, her voice filled with relief.

"Well, there's one more thing." Basim said slowly. "I said most of her property went back to the school. Some of it didn't. Some of it went into trust that was held by the leader of her clan to be held for a K. Uhura."

"Wait, what?" Nyota cocked her head to the side.

"You think that's dad?" Basim had a look in his eye.

"Dad wasn't born until 2195. How could she have left him something before he was born?"

"I don't know Ny." Basim's eyes twinkled in the same way that their father's did. "Maybe she was psychic."

"Oh God, you've been waiting to do that all day haven't you?" Nyota groaned.

"Oh come on! It was funny!" Basim protested. "Oh, hey, that photo that I got from the Vulcanis archives is coming through to you. Go check your email and let me know what it looks like. It's coming straight to you."

Nyota nodded and climbed out of bed. Nyota's brother was a terrible prankster and she bet that he'd made up the whole thing about the property just to get that line in. Still, it was nice to know that T'Ura was the kind of woman that had turned out nicely. Nyota would read the rest of the journal later. Whether Charles and T'Ura broke up or had been kept apart, she had been his first love. They'd longed for the other and had not given up until they found each other. Nyota actually thought it was remarkable that an eighteen year old would stay committed to a woman that he had known for such a short time. Nyota thought it really showed the character of both Charles and T'Ura that they'd been able to do what they'd wanted with their lives after the dire circumstances that surrounded their adolescences.

"Nyota? Why are you up?" Spock walked in just as Nyota stooped to check the email from her brother.

"Oh, I'm just checking my email. I have every intention of going back to bed in a moment." Nyota said over her shoulder. "Basim is still on the line in the bedroom."

"I take it that there has been no further change in your condition?" Spock said as he looked Nyota over.

"Nope." Nyota turned toward him as the old image downloaded. "I think I came up with a name though. What do you think about T'Ura Charlotte?"

"I take it that you've found sufficient information regarding the life of your grandfather's T'Ura?"

"Yeah. She started a school on Vulcanis, she taught music there. So do you think that name is suitable? I'm so impressed by my grandfather, I thought Charlotte would be a reasonable homage to him too. T'Mana'll get over it right?"

"I'm sure. I think T'Ura Charlotte Amanda would be an even more appropriate name." Spock said formally.

"Of course." Nyota moved toward Spock and kissed him on the cheek. "I like that even better."

Nyota turned back around and looked at the photograph. It couldn't be right. The woman in the picture looked just like her, but Vulcan. Nyota thought that she looked like Kioni Uhura but she'd been wrong. She looked like this young Vulcan woman. Nyota shook her head as she transferred the call in the bedroom to the living area. "Basim? This can't be right."

"What do you mean? What's the serial number on the photo?" Basim asked.

"This woman... did you see the photo Basim?" Nyota was suddenly very confused and felt somewhat lightheaded. She felt Spock at her arm.

"Nyota, please calm yourself."

"Spock look at her! There has to be some mistake right?" Nyota stopped and rolled her eyes. "Very funny Basim. Ha ha. Okay. You finally got me. What did you do? Use a photo manipulation program? This plus the stuff about ? Great."

"Sis, I don't know what you're talking about. That info about K. Uhura wasn't made up and I haven't even seen the photo. Like I said, I had to call in some favors and one of the conditions was that it could only be sent to one person and it couldn't be disseminated any further. I thought it made sense to have it sent to you."

Nyota would have responded to Basim's statement but just then, her water broke.

Author's note: Thanks to ayachan1412 for being my betareader. Is this a mean place to stop? Maybe. Up next a new baby, more connections are made and Nyota reacts and the full story starts to emerge. Thank you all so much for reading this story and for your comments.