Title: Revelations
Author: Padawanmage
Rating: PG
Pairings: Hints of Trip/T'Pol w/allusions to a possible T'Pau/T'Les.
Archive: Please ask first…
Summary: A little 'filler' fic that shows what happened after T'Pau melded with T'Pol to help her with the P'Nar Syndrome in 'Kir'Shara'.
Author's Note: I'm not sure if anyone else caught this, but there seemed something between T'Pau and T'Les. Made more so when T'Pau tried to take Surak's katra away from Archer, failed, and T'Les was the first one to her side. Not to mention T'Pau revealed to T'Pol that she did meld with T'Les. There just seemed a lot of history between those two.
My thanks again to Lona for her beta skills.
"Revelations"
The sands flickered across the valley of the Forge. In the skies above, several patrols flew in ever increasing patterns. On the ground below, a seylat howled at the strange flying craft and sought shelter as the last vestiges of the night gave way to the first rays of the sun.
All this went unobserved by two Vulcan females and a human male, all three seeking shelter not only from the elements but also from detection by the patrols. The male lay unconscious due to exhaustion, whereas the two females couldn't react to the external elements due to the fact that the consciousness of one was being shared with that of the other.
Slowly, T'Pau pulled her hand away from the T'Pol's face, resting it on her knees.
"It is done," she said.
T'Pol took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She concentrated for several moments before glancing back at the woman kneeling next to her.
"I feel no different."
"As is to be expected, given how far the disorder has progressed," T'Pau said. "What I have started will have a cascading effect on your neurological imbalance. Within a week, at most two, all symptoms should disappear."
There could be no denying the quick look of guarded gratitude in T'Pol's eyes. Part of her still did not trust the woman, especially after the thinly veiled threat she had made to Captain Archer on forcing a meld to remove Surak's supposed katra from his mind. Her mother, T'Les, had told her to keep her mind open to new things, but T'Pol wished she could've had more time to develop that mindset before her mother's death.
Her mother…
Along with the curing of P'Nar Syndrome, T'Pau had shared with T'Pol her past experiences of melding with T'Les. There was so much that T'Pol had been given, it would take time for her to sort it all. But one thing she did immediately feel was the warmth and pride her mother had felt for her. It had taken her close to dying for T'Pol to hear those words, but now she knew the feeling behind them. The pain and loss she felt for her mother's passing was still there, but what T'Pau has shared had lessened their impact somewhat.
T'Pol looked up to see T'Pau staring at her intently her. "Thank you. Not only for the curing the disease, but also for sharing what you and my mother shared."
T'Pau nodded. "As I said, her passing was a great loss to us all." Something unreadable flickered in her gaze, but quickly vanished. T'Pol glanced over to the captain. He was still sleeping. When she glanced back, she found T'Pau still staring her intently.
"What is it?"
The other woman said nothing, but her eyes narrowed slightly and she cocked her head a little. "You care for him."
T'Pol blinked. "He is my commanding officer, of course I would care for his well being."
"No," T'Pau said quietly with a shake of her head. "I do not mean him," she turned to look at the captain and then back to T'Pol. "I mean him." And her gaze went upwards into the heavens…into space…the Enterprise…and current commanding officer.
Trip.
Now it was T'Pol's turn to narrow her vision and her hands began to ball into fists.
"How dare you…"
"Please," T'Pau said with a raised hand. "My meld was not intended to probe, but to share."
"Then how…?"
"Even in a basic meld, it is possible to unintentionally get surface thoughts. Although your captain's safety was at the forefront, I could also feel your concern for the other."
T'Pol took a deep, steadying breath and mentally chastised herself for not having better control. Not only for her blatant show of anger to another Vulcan, but also for her unusual concern for Commander Tucker.
"You must find such concern for humans…distasteful."
T'Pau took a moment before answering. "I…admit that was my initial reaction. But after my meld with your captain, I found his thoughts not so…chaotic." She glanced back thoughtfully at the dozing human. "Perhaps there is something we can learn from them."
"The High Command would find such concern and behavior deviant," T'Pol said shaking her head.
T'Pau looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Like mindmelds?" T'Pol couldn't respond to that and merely looked at the ground. The other woman continued, "The pendant your mother gave you? The symbol for IDIC? You would be surprised how much the teachings of Surak would condone such a relationship."
Weariness weighed heavily on T'Pol's eyes. "What could you know about deviant relationships?"
"More than you realize," T'Pau said, almost to herself.
T'Pol caught the emotion in that one statement and looked back quickly enough to catch the look in the other's eyes. Suddenly, all the experiences from her mother that she had received through T'Pau began to rearrange into a new context. T'Pol had felt a different kind of warmth coming from her mother, but she had assumed that it was all directed towards her. Her eyes widened in realization, but before she could say anything, the piercing roar of another patrol craft broke the silence.
T'Pau stood, glancing at prone captain. "I will scout ahead. Make sure he is ready to travel when I return." She turned and made ready to leave.
"T'Pau."
The woman stopped at the mouth of the cave but did not turn. T'Pol stood as well and walked up until she was right behind her.
"When we melded, I did not have time to sort out all the experiences you shared with me. Some things obviously will take more time than others, but some have just now come to me with clarity. In most of the experiences, my mother felt a…tenderness that I had assumed was directed towards me. However, just as you could feel my surface thoughts, I now remember some of yours. You grieve for my mother's passing, but the depth of that grief is more so than just as a casual acquaintance."
T'Pau, hearing all this, did not stir nor turn around. The first rays of the sun began to poke through the cave. Seeing that she would not get an answer, T'Pol plunged ahead with the one question that was foremost in her mind.
"T'Pau…were you involved with my moth – with T'Les?"
T'Pau remained silent, her back still to T'Pol. Slowly, her head turned to look over her shoulder and into the other's eyes. For years to come, T'Pol would never know if what she saw was real or a trick played by the incoming sunlight. But for a brief moment, she thought a quick look of grievous loss wavered there, and then was gone.
T'Pau quickly turned and walked out into the sands, leaving T'Pol to stare at the rising sun.
-FIN-