Epilogue II

Amanda stared into the discerning eyes of Solnar, her new security guard who she had previously only known as: the pale V'Shar.

"Professor Timothy Redford?" she guessed.

His eyes remained steely black. That was obviously not the right name then…

They were on board a shuttle heading to the Vulcan Space Station and he was testing her memory of the names of the Earth scientists that were coming to participate in their joint research agreement with the VSA.

After her success at the diplomatic dinner, her favorite disconcerting secretary Salvik had chivalrously proposed that she also host the welcoming committee on board the station for the scientists. As the other diplomats in the corps also strongly supported the idea, she had been unable to say no and Salvik had been successful in his delegation to her.

Whilst she was trying to commit to memory the names of the guest list and their seating arrangements for the dinner as well as recommended topics for discussion, Sarek sat with Se'tek on the other side of the shuttle. They were busy reviewing the Vulcan contribution of scientific documentation after the V'Shar and the Vulcan High Council's censors had completed their review.

She allowed herself a brief moment of respite to admire her husband as he sat resplendent in one of his more elaborate Ambassadorial robes. She sincerely hoped the human contingent had brought formal wear or they would find themselves distinctly under-dressed. His hair was in the short fashion that he preferred, before it would start to curl and Amanda traced her eyes along the point of his ear, across his cheekbone and the bridge of his nose. She sighed in contentment.

He looked at her suddenly and Amanda flushed gently at being caught so unashamedly eyeing him up. He sent a trickle of curiosity down their bond but before she could respond there was a sharp rap from the table in front of her.

She returned her attention to Solnar, who was reminding her to focus on the task at hand. She nodded.

"Professor Elisa Amatu?" she guessed again.

He nodded his approval and prompted for the next in the seating arrangement.

Solnar had undergone quite the transformation since retirement from the V'Shar. He no longer had dark, painful-looking circles under his eyes. And his tall frame seemed to have filled out even more. He reminded her of a silent giant as he refused, unless under extreme circumstances, to speak at all. It was odd but she hadn't challenged it. A lot could be done with gesture and expression. She didn't mind the occasional telepathic conversation practice. Though Sarek disapproved as it required some form of physical touch for her to do so successfully. Unlike with his daughter, T'Pol, who didn't have such a barrier but she was too powerful to participate in ordinary life.

After Amanda had learnt to control her telepathic communication with Sarek, T'Pol (or the Samaritan as Amanda still liked to call her) had recovered dramatically. Amanda joined Solnar sometimes on his visits to see her. She had begun to gain weight and even regrow some of her hair. The girl was still caustic and rude to her but Amanda was pleased to see that as she recovered in strength so did her father. And she was comforted to be under their protection, should she ever be in danger of someone like S'Kelnek ever again…

She felt her stomach drop as they broke through the atmosphere of T'Khasi. Amanda looked hopefully at the star portal and Solnar leaned back in his chair and blinked at her to show his consent that she could take a break. Undoing the straps of her seat she moved towards the portal and peered out to the red surface of the planet she had come to call home.

Although she had been on T'Khasi for almost a year now and had learnt and experienced both wonderful and terrible things she looked at the planet fondly. Her journey was really only just beginning after all this time but she felt full of hope for both their and their planets' future. She knew they still had challenges to face and overcome but she also knew deep in her bones that as long as they were together, they could take on anything.

Author's note:

Well here we are. Thank you for reading my story! It's come a long way from the one-shot I posted so long ago. If someone had told me how long it would become I doubt I would have had the courage to start. So thank you to all the reviewers and PMs that encouraged me to keep going over the years. I know it took a long time but I hope you enjoyed it in the end. I would love to see your thoughts in a review. I really enjoyed building the world, the characters and the events that took place. It is hard to let go of something I have carried with me for so long. Working on this during my most difficult times always gave me much comfort and joy. But I am glad I could finally finish it.

I hope this also inspires others to be brave enough to try and write their own stories. After all...

"But what if there are sharks in the water?" she asked.

"But what if there are sea turtles?" he replied.

I wish you all the best in the future. Take care.