Disclaimer: Wish Star Trek were mine, Mine, MINE! But it is not...*sigh* I'll get over it someday. No ownership, No money. Just playing.

A/N

As always, a big fat THANK YOU to TalesFromTheSpockSide for being my beta and Vulcanizing pictures for me. There is just a bottomless well of awesomeness there. We're winding down here people, the end is near (the story, not the world...don't want to be accused of inciting a panic).

The Hunt

Chapter 21

The Pleasure and Charge of a Proper Vulcan Husband

Part II

The Commander and the Cadet

Three years ago...

Vulcans are not prone to making 'snap' decisions. They do not go 'off on tangents' or 'flights of fancy'. Their thought process in all things is thorough, meticulous, logical.

Sarek waited, patient and unmoving, watching his grown and distinguished son gaze at an array of Vulcan sand stones just inside the entrance of the embassy. He was oblivious to his father's presence. He stood tall and straight, and to one unfamiliar with him he would appear as still as the stones he studied. But Sarek had an experienced eye when it came to his heir. His only child was restless and fidgeting; imperceptible to most, but there nonetheless. Spock would have no reason to linger so close to the foyer unless he was waiting for someone. He was waiting for her.

Spock had chosen Starfleet over the Vulcan Academy of Sciences against Sarek's wishes, and now this. He had come to Vulcan and dissolved his bond with T'Pring, the mate his father had carefully chosen for him, because Spock wanted a human female. Sarek was not pleased. The decision to sever such a bond without the assurance that another was secured to replace the betrothed was dangerous.

Spock had selected another for himself, but that did not preclude the human he had designs on from refusing him. Sarek knew from his Amanda that while the pair had been acquainted for some time, they had not engaged in any courting ritual, human or Vulcan. Spock could not; the female was his subordinate. Illogical and dangerous. The more information Sarek had received on the situation, the more disquieted he became. Spock could destroy his career and hers if he pursued her against the regulations that clearly and strictly prohibited it. Spock was not making choices based upon logic, in his father's opinion, but rather on his chaotic human drives. Had his son drifted so far from his Vulcan roots...his Vulcan heart?

Amanda had disagreed with Sarek's assessment and tried to dissuade him from interfering, telling him that while his son was 'completely besotted' - she had not been able to refrain from smiling as she spoke the words - Spock was still functioning logically. His wife had not missed the situation unfolding, even light years away from it. She was quite sure the female, Cadet Nyota Uhura, was not only an exceptional match for Spock, an astoundingly gifted linguist and dedicated student, but that she was also equally beguiled by their son.

"He has chosen well for himself," she had stated, in response to Sarek's growing frustration. But in Sarek's mind the situation could not be borne; Spock had chosen, but what of the woman? There could be a great chasm between human affection and human commitment. Sarek's devoted wife notwithstanding, his view was that a human's understanding of commitment was profoundly different from that of a Vulcan. And while his mate vehemently disapproved, telling him he must trust his son and had no right to intervene, Sarek journeyed to Earth to do so. Spock had avoided him on Vulcan. He would not be allowed to do it here.

Spock's wait was not a protracted one. Sarek had been observing him for 3.45 minutes when he turned from the exhibit toward the entrance. His father followed his eyes, noting the tension in Spock's shoulders ebb away, and looked upon the object of his son's desire. She was just as Spock had described to Amanda; he had made perfectly clear the level of his interest in her, by way of his attention to, and desire to share, every detail of her appearance as well as her intellect. Nyota Uhura was indeed aesthetically pleasing, her beauty becoming more compelling and vibrant as her eyes found Spock and she smiled, seeming to light from within.

Sarek looked back and forth between the commander and the cadet as they greeted each other, wondering at how their desires for each other could have gone unnoticed thus far. The pull between Spock and Nyota was palpable. And he realized, as he watched them proceed into the building, Cadet Uhura enthralled as Spock led her through his planet's history, in effect beginning to groom her to become his, that nothing could be done. Nor did anything need to be. Amanda was correct about the Cadet. Nyota's emotions toward Spock were intense and strong and she was unwittingly projecting. His son, as well as any Vulcan in their vicinity, could be in no doubt of her deep love for him. It would only be a matter of time before Spock formally secured her as his bondmate. It was only logical.

Amanda moved to stand at Sarek's side, trying not to sound smug in her thoughts and failing miserably. "Like father, like son."

"I told you, my husband."

"Yes. It appears a human mate suits our son as well."

Spock would never know they had come. They stood in silence for several minutes gazing in fascination at their son...in love.