On a stony shore two figures started to materialise in a beam of golden light; slowly but surely their molecules warped into existence and the two bodies became solid.

Chris opened his eyes and blinked against the brightness of the twin suns of this new world, he breathed in a concoction of new scents and the familiarity of a sea breeze whilst the gentle lapping of waves and rustling of leaves reached his ears. After a moment's consideration he realised he could taste salt in the air, salt and earth. Everything here was so natural, the world was the most untouched planet he had visited in a very long time.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the natural light the view made him pause. The famed twin suns hung in the sky, one higher than the other but both of equal size, casting a brilliant crimson glow over the sky. The two colours mixed together, creating a watercolour painting of burnt orange and amber gold. It was breathtaking.

Pike followed the sky until he found the horizon, in the distance the colours fell away to be replaced by mountain ranges and hills. He and Michael had beamed onto a pebbled shore of a larger beach broken up by rock pools and white sandy sections. The lake was a brilliant clear blue; he could see life beaming through under the surface: a rainbow of multicoloured fauna underwater.

The beach followed round in a wide arc, stretching out for miles of untouched coastline. Jungle and forest ground bordered the shore, Chris could see that some areas were dense and think whilst others looked perfect for hiking. At present, he and Michael were the only ones in the entire area, it was strange to be away from the sometimes suffocating walls of a starship, but very a welcome one.

It was midday, that much was evident by the suns position in the sky, that and the heat beating down on their skin. A cool breeze offset the warmth, making it pleasant but still warm; no hotter than a day back home in Mojave. Chris glanced over to Michael and noted that she was too basking in the warmth, he realised she mustn't get a chance to feel this kind of heat anymore whereas on Vulcan it was prevalent.

Pike was distracted by a sound from the overgrowth; he wasn't alarmed by the noise of wildlife knowing that Michael had researched the area meticulously, so he peered into the jungle curiously. When he looked closer he started to spot movements in the trees; a colourful winged lizard-like creature leapt from tree to tree, multi-coloured insects swamped the air around the trees and rock pools glowing like fireflies. He could already hear at least a dozen or so different birds in the trees, and he could hear disturbances in the rock pools and water. Chris peered into the clear water, noticing colourful amphibious creatures of all shapes and sizes darting from cover to cover, moving almost too quickly for him to catch. So far, this planet and its inhabitants were beautiful, it was like splashes of every colour paint had been dropped over the world.

Chris was aware that he'd been staring for a while but he couldn't bring himself to look away. There were too many senses to catalogue, so many new sights and smells to sift through. This never got old, experiencing the life on a new world would never get old.

"What do you think?"

Michael's question snapped Chris out of the perfect moment. "Beautiful, quite beautiful." He stared at her as he answered even though he knew she had meant the incredible view. It wasn't like the statements weren't both true.

Michael noticed the object of his attention causing a pinkish blush to splatter her cheeks. She glanced away, uncomfortable with his never-ending compliments. The nervous gesture just made Chris' smile widen, he would never get tired of telling Michael how incredible she was.

Michael shook off the moment and quickly composed herself, taking his hand and flicking her eyes forward. "Come on, we've got lunch waiting."

"Where?"

"Around on the beach." She pointed a couple of hundred yards round the arched beach.

Pike shielded his eyes against the sun's glare and followed Michael's finger to a sandy cove in the distance. When he squinted he noticed bags and something which looked like a blanket on the sand.

"Did you put that there?"

Michael just smiled slyly and shook her head, she still wasn't going to give away anything about her plan. Chris took one look at her stubborn expression and scoffed; he resigned himself to remaining in the dark. Michael had clearly put a lot of effort into this trip and was enjoying his surprise just as much as the actual planet.

Michael looked skywards smugly and tugged on his arm, pulling him towards the cove. They bad to navigate a few rock pools and shelly shoals first, but nothing that gave either of them any cause for concern.

Whilst they walked the pair got a chance to witness more of the planet's aquatic species, they clearly liked to stay out of sight but Chris and Michael managed to catch glimpses of them if they walked slowly and quietly. Pike spotted a crab-like fish wandering along the surface of a rock pool, and Michael saw something which looked like a cross between a limpet and a starfish.

After a few near-misses with the rock pools they made it around to the sandy cove. Chris stared at the items he'd spotted from their landing point; he'd been right about the blanket and there were a tonne of bags and cooling containers dotted around the sand. He recognised his own rucksack that Michael had forced him to pack but the rest was a mystery.

"When on earth did you have the time to set all of this up?" He surveyed the huge pile of things, some of which had actually been laid out and set up such as the blanket and a cooler of drinks.

Michael tsked. "I can't tell you all my secrets, I wouldn't be such a mystery then." She sat down onto the picnic blanket and patted the ground beside her.

Chris barked a laugh and he plopped himself down next to Michael obediently. He looked into her eyes, his own sparkling with something. "Oh trust me, I think I'm going to spend the rest of my life discovering the enigma that is Michael Burnham."

Michael's breath hitched and she muttered back. "You would be so lucky."

"I really would." He replied earnestly and leaned in for a kiss, his hand came up to cradle her jaw. The slide of their lips was slow and full of life. Michael's hand came up to cup the back of his neck and he smiled into her mouth when he felt her begin to run her fingers through his hair. Pike disentangled their lips slowly and stroked his thumb along the underside of her cheek and jaw, Michael hummed contently and leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment.

Eventually she opened her eyes and glanced at him. "Hungry?"

Chris grinned. "Famished."

Michael started rummaging through all the bags and Chris was soon handed his favourite sunglasses and baseball cap. Chris put both items on and leaned back on the blanket, doing as instructed and waiting for Michael to open bags and determine what was safe for him to see or not. He had to admit he definitely felt like he was on holiday, something which he usually struggled with. But being out in the sun, on a beautiful beach with the sound of waves crashing in, in casual shorts and a t-shirt with Michael by his side. It was the perfect image of a vacation, and one he was falling in love with even more as time passed.

Michael began to spread food around the picnic blanket and eventually let him sit up and look at what was for lunch. Chris stared at the wide assortment in awe, he had never seen so much of his favourite food in one place before. There was; Pizza slices, tacos, fried chicken, rocky road slices, apple pie, mint choc-chip ice cream, and to top it all off Michael had just handed him an ice cold bottle of cider from the cooler. He had always loved apple cider especially in the sun and Michael had lovingly remembered every detail of what he liked.

"Michael…" He stuttered, looking like he'd been struck dumb. He glanced from the definition of his favourite picnic to her and grinned. "You're too good to me."

And he meant it, the amount of time, effort and thought that had gone into all of this already was incredible and something he would never forget.

Michael smiled triumphantly as she helped herself to some vegetarian dishes. "I know."

Chris followed suit and took a bite of each thing, making more content humming sounds with each addition, the flavours were insane and each one was the best it could be. Michael must have spent hours getting the replicator settings right to make everything so perfect.

He tasted the apple pie and swallowed some of the cider, grinning as the flavours danced together and tasted just as good as he remembered on Earth. Chris shook his head and chuckled in disbelief.

Michael put down her slice of pizza and tilted her head, curious of his scrutiny. "What?"

"Nothing, I just keep thinking someone's going to wake me up from this dream."

Michael laughed, the sound sweet music to Pike's ears and completing the perfect image. Her face morphed into a wicked grin and she suddenly leaned over and pinched him on the leg.

"Oww." He pulled away from her touch and put on a fake-hurt look, completing the image by pouting with his lower lip.

Michael didn't fall for it in the slightest, she cocked bet eyebrows and threw him a knowing look. "There, now you know this isn't a dream."

Chris kept up the wounded look and glared up at her. "I'm not sure I like your methods."

Michael patted the spot she had pinched lightly and held his gaze, a firm smile still in place. "They're perfectly acceptable and tried and tested."

Pike snorted and lost the ability to look wounded, finding too much amusement in Michael's antics. "So you're treating me like you would an experiment?"

"I am a scientist." She pointed out primly, straightening up and glancing down at him with a victorious smirk.

Chris tipped his head to her. "You have a point."

Much later in the day Chris patted his full stomach and collapsed back against the blanket, Michael joined him not long after. The pair laid in companionable silence, their stomachs fit to burst after devouring the feast Michael had put on. Pike started to daydream and watched the incredible colours of the sky drift overhead, conversation soon picked up and after a time they fell from light conversation to deeper matters of the past.

They'd spent endless nights staying up talking, about everything from their early days in Starfleet to their times in service. It still amazed both of them that they had stories that the other hadn't heard,;Chris always had the best ones. His time aboard Enterprise in deep space was a treasure trove, and his academy days alone painted a picture of youth, recklessness and many many drunken stories.

Michael almost felt like she had missed out on the experience, but honestly she wouldn't have enjoyed the wilder experiences; getting drunk was not her thing. But she would have liked to have seen a young Chris Pike; the handsome ambitious test-pilot. Chris was just finishing up a tale, one which involved her brother Spock. These were always Michael's favourite memories, it gave her an insight into his life and all that she had missed.

"We all ended up covered head to toe." Chris laughed, remembering the moment well, "and Spock…" he lost it when he tried to put it in words. After a few moments of laughter Pike composed himself, just about and managed to spit out the memory. "…Spock looked at me, with his most serious expression and his eyebrow was raised higher than I'd ever seen, and he said…"

Chris put on his best imitation of Spock, making his voice monotone and sitting up straight. "Captain, I request that we never visit this place again."

Michael burst out laughing, getting the unsaid words in her brother's request even by the second-hand storytelling. Spock must have hated the experience to ever make such a demand. Michael imagined the scene Chris had been painting so vividly, of Spock covered in muck and at his wits end… It was a heart-warming image. Chris was the best storyteller, Michael could picture everything he detailed and he always had her in tears by the end. It was a wonder the Enterprise crew got anything done with all the mishaps they ended up in.

As Chris finished up Michael's grin eventually faded to a strained smile and Chris noticed that Michael didn't seem to be able to keep her hands still, she was gripping her t-shirt in an effort to hide the anxious tick. Chris was intrigued by the sudden change in atmosphere and gripped her hand lightly, noticing the slight frown that had appeared on her forehead.

"You okay?"

Michael snapped out of wherever she was and she smiled reassuringly, squeezing his hand in return. She rolled over towards him, took a deep breath and asked what was on her mind. "I'm curious, how did you and Spock become close?"

Chris leaned back from Michael, subconsciously taken aback by the change in direction. It almost sounded like Michael didn't believe that her brother could get close to somebody. He knew that her and her brother's history was a long and complicated one but he didn't know all the details, they'd never trodden down that path before. "You're surprised that we are?"

Michael inclined her head, throwing him a knowing look. "We are talking about Spock here. He doesn't let many people in."

"True." Pike scoffed and tipped his head in acknowledgement; he settled down to tell his story.

"When Spock first came aboard the Enterprise, I was intrigued. I'd heard great things and his work was a testament to himself but…" He trailed off and scrunched up his face, unsure how to end the sentence diplomatically.

Michael completed his sentence for him. "Let me guess he kept to himself."

Chris smiled gratefully at her. "You know your brother. He's secretive and private; on the surface a great scientist and officer but underneath that?" He trailed off and had a faraway look in his eye like he was back reminiscing in the memory. "Well let's just say I got curious, I don't like mysteries or not knowing things."

Michael smirked and held in a laugh. "Hmm, you don't say."

Chris threw her a pointed look and bit his tongue, ignoring the interruption and carrying on with his story like Michael hadn't interrupted. "I made it my mission to get to know Spock, away from work."

Michael snorted and rolled closer to him. She was clearly amused by the idea of his mission and how unlikely it was. Pike picked up on her wry amusement and shrugged, effectively admitting to the naivety of his younger self. "Yeah I know, I set myself a pretty big challenge but I didn't know that at the time, I was determined to get to know the man that no-one else seemed to know."

Chris sighed heavily and a weariness settled around him; he suddenly felt the need to be closer to Michael, so he hooked his arm around Michael and pulled her in beside him. When he had been in deep space, on the 5 year missions, everything had fallen to him. He didn't miss that loneliness and the stress of being so isolated, it meant everything to be able to share moments with someone else, to experience true companionship. He stared up at the sky, beyond the stars, and started to gesture with his hands to aid in his story-telling.

"When you're in deep space, relationships between the crew are vital. We're all we've got out there, it really makes you all part of a family. I wanted Spock to be a part of that family." Chris tailed off sombrely, it was moments like this that he really missed his Enterprise crew. It made him hold Michael that much tighter.

Chris shook the melancholy off and moved to the more comedic part of the story. "So I started trying to eat with him, I invited him to play chess and when none of those invitations were accepted I turned up one day when he was in the gym and challenged him to a sparring match."

Michael turned on her side and stared at him wide-eyed. "You didn't."

Chris' eyes sparkled, partly because of the memory and partly because of Michael's reaction. "Oh I did. This may surprise you but I have made one or two idiotic decisions in my time and that was one of them."

Michael leaned up on her elbow and glanced down at him skeptically, amusement already shining from her eyes as she guessed where this was going. "Had you ever seen him fight before?"

Pike shook his head deliberately slowly. "Nope and neither had anyone else on board Enterprise, I just assumed that because he was skinny as hell he would be easy to take. I mean I'd heard Vulcans were naturally stronger but I was confident in hand-to-hand."

Michael stifled her laugh with the back of her hand. "I'd never take you to for someone who underestimates people."

Chris shrugged and felt a blush taint his cheeks; he didn't like to be admit to mistakes of judgement. "I don't, usually. For some reason Spock slipped under my radar, I just didn't register him as a threat." He rubbed the back of his neck and ended up grinning and laughing at his own stupidity. "Boy did I pay for that mistake, for weeks."

"What happened?"

Chris rolled over to his side and leaned up on his elbow, mirroring Michael's position. "Well at first Spock refused to spar. Then me being the pushy idiot I am made it an order. I suppose I had an ulterior motive, I wanted Spock to open up but I also wanted to see what he was made of."

Michael's eyes sparkled and her smirk was growing with each word, she was clearly enjoying the exploits of a younger Christopher Pike making a fool of himself.

"We went for no protective gear, Spock was reluctant about the whole thing but I continued to push. "I then told him to not hold back, that I'd know if he did and it would offend me big time."

"How long did you last?" Michael managed to spit out without breaking into tears, just.

"3 seconds." Chris muttered sheepishly.

Just like that Michael lost the last remnants of her self-control. She began to laugh so hard that breathing became a chore, she lost the strength to hold herself up and tears formed in her eyes. Michael rolled onto her back and held her chest whilst Chris watched on. He felt the blush return to his cheeks and fought down the urge to avert his gaze; truthfully the whole thing was humbling and he was happy that Michael found the whole event amusing. He did love to make her laugh.

Michael eventually wiped away the tears and started to control her laughter, breathing in through gasps. She rolled back over to him and waved her hand in the air, indicating for him to carry on with the story. "What on earth did he do to you in 3 seconds?"

Chris winced at the memory, he'd got the worst bit out of the way so he cracked on and told it as it was, even if it did sound brutal. "I went to strike first, Spock grabbed my shoulder and before I knew it I was flat on my back staring up at Spock with a broken arm."

"He broke your arm?!"

Chris waved the concerned alarm off. "It was already weakened from an old injury. It's my fault for not telling Spock, my fault for underestimating him in the first place and definitely my fault for ordering him to not hold back."

Michael was staring everywhere but his way; she held her hand to her mouth, unsure whether to laugh or not. "I can't believe Spock broke your arm..."

"Yeah, neither could Doctor Boyce. He was so pissed at me..." Chris smirked at the memory of his CMO, Phil was a good friend, but by god was he a harsh Doctor. He never let Chris get away with anything, if he could see half the shit Chris was getting into aboard Discovery he would blow the roof off the place. "Don't get me wrong it hurt like a bitch and the cast was annoying for a couple of weeks but the outcome was good."

"I don't see what's good about a broken arm and getting your arse handed to you."

"Well, first I ate some humble pie, and my ego got a healthy knocking down as Una lovingly put it. Secondly, I got to find out what Spock was capable of and gained a new sparring partner, and thirdly I gained a friend."

Michael's expression softened. The way he'd said friend, she knew her brother and Captain were close but hearing about it was a revelation. "So all it takes to become your friend is to break your arm, if I'd have known..."

Chris chuckled and nodded. "Something like that. After the accident Spock hung around sick-bay until I was patched up, he would not stop apologising. I told him to shut up, it was my fault in the first place but he was mortified by what he'd done. I kept reiterating that I told him to do his worst, it was my bad I didn't know my opponent before jumping in, and that I should know better."

Pike suddenly started shaking his head, remembering how stubborn Spock had been and could be.

"He felt so awful that I was worried he was going to retreat entirely. I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been, running headfirst into a fight with someone I knew nothing about." Chris shook his head wistfully, still kicking himself over how stupid he had been and how much worse it could have ended up.

"After a lot of nagging from both me and my first officer Spock eventually saw my side of things, and I asked him to spar with me again, but this time he could teach me some of his crazy ninja moves as my hand to hand was clearly lacking."

Michael contentedly leant against his chest, hearing the deep rumble of his voice and finding it soothing.

"Spock felt better letting the matter drop now he had a way be could pay me back, so we started hanging out together in the gym, the fighting soon moved to the chess board, and then it wasn't about meeting to beat each other anymore it was just about meeting for the sake of it."

Chris was staring wistfully out to the sea, lost in the memories of his friendship with Spock. He was reminded of all the good times he had shared with the Vulcan, and of how far the kid had come; how open he was now compared to his first day aboard the Enterprise. Chris had set a mission to get to know Spock and he felt privileged that Spock had let him into his life.

"Sometimes we'd talk about his family life, his childhood, about you." He glanced sideways too Michael, watching her surprise at being mentioned. "Other times we'd discuss the latest scientific papers or findings from the latest discovery, and other times we'd just sit silently."

Michael's expression was soft and maybe even a tad somber, something wistful lacing her tone. "That sounds nice." Clearly by her tone all this talk about Spock was bittersweet. One part of Michael wanted to have experienced this with Spock and seen her brother like this with her own eyes.

Chris picked up on her sadness and gripped her hand, gently giving her a reassuring squeeze. "It was... And now I have new memories to share with the both of you."

His words had the desired effect. Michael's expression brightened and she looked much happier than a few seconds ago. Thinking about the future and of their life together; making new memories like this holiday, and what she had now rather than remaining all that she'd lost in the regrets of the past.

She lifted his hand to her lips and planted a warm kiss against his skin. "Thank you for sharing that with me, I missed a large part of Spock's life. Sometimes I forget how much."

"There's always time to catch up." Chris replied without hesitation.