A/N: Thanks so much for hanging in there. This is the last chapter and hopefully resolves everything.

Archer was on Enterprise, walking the nearly empty halls, happy to have some time to himself. Trip and T'Pol had organized a roster of shore leave schedules. T'Pol preferred to be on the ship. Trip decided some rest and relaxation would be good, heading down to the planet.

Jon used the excuse to catch up on some reading and watch water polo. It had been a quiet week, one he needed to reflect on events that happened.

Reflect he did.

T'Pol entered his thoughts occasionally, remembering their time together while she was in Pon Farr or on Betazoid. Sometimes, he even wondered what she was doing, able to conjure up her image in her quarters meditating. Jon wasn't exactly sure if it was his imagination or fantasy.

Phlox had asked to see him. His scans - while at least on the ship - indicated Jon was just fine. Heart rate, blood pressure, hormone levels, and just about everything else seemed normal. The doctor mentioned T'Pol's hormone levels had returned to normal as well, and indicated she was well. Jon saw this as good news, especially since everything they'd been through.

As he rounded a corner, he spotted T'Pol. She was hanging out near the door to his quarters, pacing in front of them. Since they hadn't spoken since they returned from the surface, Jon straightened.

"Anything I can do for you?" he asked, trying to sound as he usually would.

"Perhaps we should talk in your quarters," she said.

Nodding, he punched the button to let her in as he followed behind. Porthos greeted him and he gave the dog a few pets. When the door closed, she began speaking.

"I wanted to let you know, Dr. Phlox indicated my health was good," she said.

"He told me as well." As she squirmed slightly, he reassured her. "He told me as your captain. I don't know the particulars."

"You are … well also?" she asked.

He produced a tight smile. "I am."

"You've had time off, but haven't returned to the surface," she said.

"It was a little … intense. Besides, I'll need to be there again soon." He sat down on the edge of his bed and offered her the chair next to his desk. "I notice you haven't been to the surface either."

"No," she agreed. "You've worked your schedules around mine. It's clear you didn't want us to interact."

He didn't answer.

"You're avoiding me?" she asked.

"Just seems easier this way," he told her.

They studied each other until. T'Pol finally broke the silence.

She said, "I … believe I understand why Telana had such a strong effect on us."

"Oron indicated it was because of Telana's Phase." Jon had to admit, he didn't want to know any additional information about Betazoid menopause. He hadn't bothered looking it up, especially as it seemed personal.

T'Pol said, "No, he said he wasn't sure why Telana was having issues with telepathic control. The Phase only affects her. Her issues with telepathic control were undoubtedly because of me."

Jon said, "I don't understand."

She blinked at him for several moments before answering him. "Vulcans have telepathic abilities. I can pick up on her emotions."

He agreed, "We never resolved why I was. Perhaps humans have some latent telepathic abilities or I still have residue from my time with Surak-"

"You were feeling my emotions." She asked, "Have you … sensed anything recently?"

"Sensed anything?" Jon asked. "I don't-"

"Sensed me. My thoughts."

Jon was confused. She explained, "When meditating the other day, I saw you running."

"You were in the gym?" he asked. "I didn't see you."

"I wasn't in the gym. My mind saw you," T'Pol said. "Through what I believe is our … bond."

Jon had a vague recollection, a notion just out of reach. It reminded him of being on Vulcan - feeling the dry air, heat, and extreme gravity. Still, the notion was just out of his grasp.

"I believe we have a bond," she said.

She explained that Vulcans are typically bonded to ensure survival during the mating cycle. Koss, she told him, was someone she was bonded to as a child. They shared a connection to call the other one to Vulcan when they entered Pon Farr.

"But you're not married to Koss," he said.

"The bond can be extinguished when another mate is chosen," she told him. "Or when a child is produced."

"Trip," Jon said.

"When our child perished, the bond was no longer needed." There were hundreds of questions that needed answering, but she cut them all off.

"Jonathan, I'm bonded to you."

He stood up and paced as she explained her mating cycle must have triggered a bond with him. When he looked over at her, he could see the concern and confusion spread over her features. How her lip twitched and mouth turned down ever-so-slightly into a pout. It made him sit across from her and hold her hand.

"Have you been able to see me in your mind or sense my thoughts?" she asked.

"I'm not sure whether you've been in my imagination or … something else."

"What do you believe your imagination revealed?"

He put a hand through his hair and leaned back, still watching her. "I imagined you in your quarters meditating, on the Bridge. But T'Pol, humans need time to-"

"Did you imagine me meditating this morning?" she asked.

"Yes, but-" he started.

"What was I wearing?"

Closing his eyes, he recalled the moment. He'd just awakened and had thought about her - missing the feel of someone waking up next to him and the scent of her reminding him of the Vulcan desert.

Swallowing hard, he remembered in his illusion, she'd been wearing her silky pajamas - a magenta color. She'd been looking into the flame, but instead of meditating successfully, she'd been thinking about the day and calibrating her sensors.

"Magenta pajamas. You weren't able to meditate successfully."

"Yes," she agreed. "I was instead thinking of calibrating the sensors."

His brow furrowed. This time, she leaned over and took his hand. "I could feel your longing," she told him.

Moving from her grasp, he paced some. "T'Pol, what I was going to say is it's not unusual for humans to try to understand emotions. Sort through them. Compartmentalize them. Mine are-"

This time, she stopped him and kissed him - a human kiss. His lips tingled and mind buzzed at the feel, especially when she deepened it.

"I've … missed you, too," she said.

"You don't have to do this," Jon said.

"A bond has asserted itself. It means you are my mate. And I am yours," she said.

She told him that she wasn't pregnant. Then, she explained that a bond had formed nonetheless - something she was unable to attain even with Koss successfully, despite the intervention of Vulcan priests. Stroking her cheek, seeing the puzzlement even in her eyes, he wasn't exactly sure what this meant for the two of them.

"Even before my mating cycle, I have leaned on you - relied on you," she told him. "Through Pa'nar Syndrome, learning more about the Kir'Shara, and even my mother's death."

"You followed us into the Expanse and even formalized your career at Starfleet."

She said, "Yes. I wept when you left for the Expanse to destroy the weapon. When you returned and after you successfully destroyed the weapon, I was upset. Although I was able to control my emotions, I nearly cried."

This, he didn't know.

She said, "You are often in my thoughts. When you are with me, I feel your strength. And in your absence, I often feel weak and untethered."

It was odd because he always considered her to be the strong one. He counted on her wisdom and guidance often. Even when he had to do what he knew was wrong - stealing a warp coil and stranding people in the Expanse - she was there to push him, fight with him reconsider, and help him when she understood he had no choice.

She had been his strength from the beginning of Enterprise's mission.

Jon saw her take his hand for the Vulcan embrace. His fingers felt like electricity zipped through them.

"Jonathan, Vulcan emotions are also difficult to understand. I, too, have been thinking about us and trying to understand my feelings. I have concluded that our attraction to each other, our friendship, our caring for each other - isn't that what love is?"

Gazing into her eyes, he had to agree. That's exactly what love was. It was the love he felt for her.

"Romantic love?" he asked, looking for reassurance.

"I know you're attracted to me. I could feel it during my mating cycle. I could feel it on the planet. I can feel it now," she said.

They'd discussed it before - their attraction. It'd been when Porthos was affected by the Kreetassan pathogen. They'd danced around the observation. Then and occasionally since then, it had confused him. Now, it felt liberating. Instead of answering her, he kissed her again, this time more deeply and passionately. He felt her melt into his arms.

This would mean they'd need to work things out. Maybe even, they'd need to keep their relationship clandestine. After all, Jon knew Trip was still nursing a broken heart. Maybe, though he doubted he could do so, they could wait until she no longer reported to him.

Vulcans may live more than one hundred years, but humans rarely do.

T'Pol took his hand and whispered to him, "Come with me to bed. We can determine the nature of our relationship, and how we demonstrate it, later."

He thought, How did she know what I was thinking?

As if to answer, her eyebrow poked up. She lay out on the bed and pulled him gently to her. It wasn't long until they were showing each other their love and devotion. Unlike Pon Farr, it was passionate without being frenzied. And unlike being on Betazoid, it held no guilt or worry. Instead, they were able to show each other just how deep their love was to each other.

When they both were completely satiated, he worried the covers over her as he nibbled on the point of her ear. He could sense her exhaustion and felt it himself. So, he held her in his arms as they watched the planet below them spin slowly. T'Pol indicated, her voice sleepy, that Telana's Phase may soon be over, so they could return to the planet for negotiations. She even remarked it might be easy to reach agreements - the species seemed so much like the humans. He whispered to her they'd figure that out later. But secretly, he had to agree. They would make good allies in an ever-growing universe of alliances.

"Later," he told her. "For now, let's just enjoy the moment."

Bringing her body closer to his, he felt her snuggled against him. He kissed the top of her head. There was a satisfaction that felt deeper than any relief of his body. This time, the joy had reached his soul. And he wondered, with some bemusement, if this was what was supposed to happen - a boy who had been angry with the Vulcans because they'd impeded his father's work met one and fell madly in love with her. It made almost a cosmic sense for that to happen. It was an irony that made as much sense as befriending an Andorian who kidnapped him.

He smiled, a chuckle working itself into his throat.

"What?" T'Pol asked. Her voice sounded worried and she rolled over to look at him.

"Just wondering if this - us - was supposed to happen all along."

"I thought you didn't believe in destiny."

"Maybe you're changing my mind," he told her.

"It is a difficult thing to do," she told him.

Whatever chuckle he had formed became a full-fledged laugh. They kissed once more before falling asleep.