A/N's: Sorry to anyone that thought my 'warning' shouldn't have been there!!! I just didn't want any A/T's getting disappointed when it turned out to be T/Tu.

The ship looked old.

That was to be expected though, she remarked to herself, since it had been nine hundred years in the past.

She ran her hand over the originally smooth surface, feeling the bumps and scars with her fingers. A battle's history lay in these scratches, evidence of a war that crossed all barriers, even time itself.

The ship's name had been burnt off in a firefight, presumably the one which killed its occupant. She felt a pang of grief, for this ship had been one of their last symbols of peace.

One of the few ships still left to the exploration of the past, the Freedom was a symbol of hope in a galaxy torn by war. Her own brother had piloted the vessel, a time-historian. He had headed back to the early ages of space exploration to study some of their own ancestors.

But her brother was now dead, killed by one of the many factions involved in this temporal cold war.

She closed her eyes as she kept her hand on the ship. Her brother had lived and died inside this hull, had spent his life's work in here.

A door opened behind her, and she opened her eyes. She turned to face the captain of her own vessel, Paul Jaeron.

He was a tall, imposing human, but kind of heart. Long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his blue eyes offered comfort to her.

"How are you, Raela?" he asked softly.

"Okay, I suppose." she replied, turning back to the ship.

Paul moved closer, and also reached out to touch the ship. "I know it's hard, Raela, but that's war. We've all lost someone close."

Raela closed her eyes to keep the tears from falling. "My brother never had anything to do with this war! He was a historian, a man who studies the past to learn from their mistakes! He wanted peace, not war."

Captain Jaeron sighed. Raela had always been one of his more spirited officers.

"Why was he in the timeframe he was? And why didn't he tell anyone where he was going?"

"He wanted to be left alone. He wanted no part in this war."

"Who exactly was he studying, Raela?" asked Paul, after a short silence.

Raela smiled slightly, as she had known what her brother had dreamed of always doing, even as a child.

"He always did want to see them." she said aloud, remembering her brother's words, so very long ago.

"Them?" Paul asked, confused.

"Enterprise," Raela responded, turning her attention back to the present, "He had always wanted to see our great-great grandfather, born on the first exploration vessel Earth ever had. He had always wanted to see the first hybrid child. I think his name was..." She paused, trying to remember. "Oh yes. Charles Tucker IV. The first human to ever have pointed ears."

*Well, I am quite sorry if the end isn't quite fitting, but this is my first ever Enterprise fic. As they always say, practice makes perfect! :)*