AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Although I do not own Star Trek itself, or any of the original characters, those characters which I have developed myself, and those situations which I have written about, and the story names I have created, belong to me, and may not be used by anyone else without my permission.

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Destined From the Start

Chapter Twenty-one - Unexpected Meeting

2282

The family was on Deltos IV, having just finished a week of cabin camping. Their transport would not be here for another two hours. Baba had just come from speaking with the technician on duty. Apparently there had been an ion storm, and shuttle flights had been prevented. They would have to wait. Mama and Amanda took T'Mara outside to play, and the twins settled down in a corner with their latest lessons, totally absorbed, but Grayson felt fidgety. He wanted to walk about. Baba said it was fine, just so long as he was back before their transport was due. He left the transit center, and walked out into the small town, just meandering around, not sure what was bothering him. He turned a corner, and there, looking into a shop window, was Jilly.

He stopped still, not at all sure that he was not imagining things. He could not think, could not breathe. As though she felt his eyes upon her, she turned her head in his direction, and her eyes widened in shock. "Grayson?"

"Jilly." He slowly closed the distance between them, and reached out with one hand until his fingertips met hers. The familiar feel of the tiny sparks that had always shot between them when he did that raced from his fingertips up his arms, and spread throughout his whole body. He sighed out a deep breath, saying her name again. "Jilly."

A very wide grin spread over her face. "Grayson, what are you doing here?"

"We have been camping. Our transport is delayed, so I took a walk." He stared into her face, not believing that she was really here.

She looked up at him. "You've grown so much taller."

His eartips flushed a slightly darker green. "Height runs in my family." Unfortunately, half those words came out baritone, and the rest soprano.

The lovely sound of her laughter filled his ears. "Yes, it does. Oh, Grayson, I've missed you so!"

There were no words that expressed how much he had missed her. He could only stare at her, the same and yet different. She had been growing up at the same time as he had, and was not a child anymore, either. He could hardly take his eyes off her face, but he was aware, all the same, that her body had begun to curve in places where it had not done so the last time he had seen her.

She took his hands tightly in hers, and pulled him away from the shop window, down the narrow street to a small open space with pots of flowers and some benches. She sat down, pulling him down next to her. "Tell me everything."

He shook his head. "First tell me why you are here. And were are your parents?"

"We are transferring to a different assignment again. That ion storm messed up our transport, too."

"Where will you be? Is there a way I can contact you?"

She frowned. "I think we are going to a research station, but I'm not sure. They just don't tell me until we get places. I don't know why." She sighed. "They keep saying we're almost ready, but I don't know what they mean. I just don't understand my parents at all."

"We are still on the Enterprise. I have a new sister now, T'Mara, who was born on New Vulcan. We were there for a whole year."

"I know! I read about it on the newsfeed. I wish I had been there to hear your stories when you got back! I know it must have been interesting."

"Yes, it was very interesting. And nice to be able to spend time with my cousins. And the Vulcan educational system is much more stimulating. And where have you been, Jilly?" His hand touched the side of her face, softly, and he looked down into her eyes. "Have you felt me, wondering about you?"

"I think so. There are times when I think I can sense you out there. It's so strange, Grayson. I feel so close to you then."

They sat there on the bench, so close together, so happy to be with each other again, and talked about everything, in jerks and spurts, and both at once sometimes, until she heard her mother calling her. She looked about in alarm. "Oh, Grayson, I have to go." She jumped up. "If I'm not where I said I'd be, I'll get in trouble."

He rose to follow her, not wanting to let her out of his sight, but she was hurrying off so fast. By the time he got his wits together and was back on the sidewalk, she was nowhere in sight. Frantic, he looked up and down the street, but there was no one there. He went to both corners and looked down the side streets, but still no one. Dejected, he turned and headed back to the transit station. It was when he turned the last corner, and headed down that long straight street, that he saw her and her mother entering the door of the transit station. His strides lengthened into a run, and he headed after them, but when he reached the door and stepped inside, they were not in sight. He looked about, searching, but could not see them at all. And then Baba was by his side. "Grayson? Is something wrong?"

"Jilly! She was here! We were talking, and then her mother came." The words tumbled out of him. He kept looking about, searching the waiting area, but they were not there. "They're going to a new assignment. She didn't know where. Baba!"

His father's face looked back at him, his brows furrowed. "You are certain it was Jilly."

"Yes, Baba, yes! We talked, and I touched her." He looked at his fingertips, and back at his father, his face threatening to crumble. Spock nodded, and strode away to speak to the technician on duty. He came back only a few minutes later.

"You are correct. They were here. Their transport has just left. They are headed to a research station. I have the coordinates." He touched his son on the shoulder. "Control Grayson." But his voice was soft and warm.

Grayson swallowed hard. "We can find them?"

"Yes. When we are back aboard the Enterprise, we will determine which research station they are on. Perhaps there will be a way that you can communicate with her. Can you feel her through the bond?"

Grayson stood there, and let his concentration focus on the slim bond between them. There she was! Warm and bright, glowing softly. "Yes, Baba, Yes, I can! Stronger!"

Spock nodded. "Good. Focus on that. Remain calm. We will speak of this later. Here comes your mother and sisters. And they are calling that our transport has arrived."

Grayson nodded and straightened up. Something totally unexpected had happened to him, and he had those moments to treasure. Something told him that he would be pulling these memories out and reliving them for a long time.