A/N: And now, movie night! I had to work this in, just because of the whole thing at the end with the song. That popped into my head a while back, and I just had to do it.
Oh, by the way, if any of you have never seen West Side Story, I kind of spoil the ending a bit. A bit.
Trip should have been suspicious when T'Pol showed up to movie night. She almost never came, save for a few times, and he had begun to view it as a metaphor for their relationship. He would attempt to convince her to come while never actually coming out and asking her, and she would refuse, only to show up later – with the captain. Well, that had only happened once, but the thought still pissed Trip off. How had Archer managed to rope her into coming?
He probably asked her, you idiot, he told himself. She might have come with you if you had just asked her. But no, you had to be a smartass about it.
But here she was, seated directly beside him, her back ramrod straight, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She was watching the screen, but Trip stole occasional glances at her expressionless face and caught her eyes flicking to Kamea, who sat at the end of the row directly in front of them, next to Hoshi.
So that was it. She was keeping an eye on Kamea. Which was why Trip knew he should have thought it suspicious that she'd showed. And for the briefest of moments, he'd entertained the idea that she was actually admitting that there was something between them.
Trip had tried to talk to T'Pol after her argument with Kamea in the mess earlier that day, but T'Pol had brushed off his concern and refused to acknowledge that anything out of the ordinary had happened. But Trip knew better. He could tell that T'Pol was torn up about something. He couldn't quite explain how he knew; being around her was uncomfortable – he would get tense and frustrated, even if he wasn't feeling that way, and his stomach would get all tied up in knots. At first he thought it was just their situation, but now he suspected that it was something akin to sympathy pains. It was awkward being around her, to be sure, but it didn't always make him tense – and yet he always felt that way. It was almost as if he could feel what she was feeling – and Hoshi was right. T'Pol viewed Kamea's continued presence aboard Enterprise as a threat. And she needn't bother. She could never be replaced.
T'Pol turned her head sharply and caught him staring. He smiled encouragingly at her and returned his attention to the screen just in time to witness the knife fight between the Jets and the Sharks. The usual tittering in the audience was gone as all eyes were riveted to the screen. When the leader of the Jets – Trip couldn't remember his name, as he hadn't been paying all that much attention to the movie – was stabbed, an agonized cry echoed through the suddenly silent room, as though someone had actually been stabbed.
All eyes turned toward the source of the sound – Kamea, who had covered her mouth with her hands and was staring at the screen with wide eyes, as though unable to believe what she was seeing. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and Hoshi tentatively put an arm around her shoulders, drawing the unresponsive girl into a one-armed hug. T'Pol gave a disgusted snort – probably at Kamea's outright display of emotion over a movie – and turned back to the screen. Trip couldn't help but wonder what the hell that was all about. Why would Kamea get all bent out of shape over a movie – especially one that she had apparently seen before?
When the movie ended, and the lights came on, Trip saw that every woman in the audience was sniffling and dabbing her eyes with a tissue – except T'Pol. That was to be expected, but it would've been nice if she'd teared up. After all, Trip had specifically chosen West Side Story because of its similarity to their situation. She could have at least acknowledged that.
The crowd began to file out of the mess, talking animatedly among themselves. Trip smiled in satisfaction; he'd known that restarting movie night would be just what the crew needed.
"Explain something to me, Commander," T'Pol said, once most of the crew had left.
Trip raised his eyebrows. Was T'Pol about to offer her opinion on the movie without his asking for it? Would wonders never cease? "Shoot, T'Pol."
She turned to face him. "Why is it that humans are so obsessed with such tragic stories?"
Okay. Not exactly what he'd been expecting, but it was still something. "What do you mean?"
She lifted a delicate eyebrow and gestured to the now blank screen. "This film was based on the play 'Romeo and Juliet', correct?" Trip nodded, and T'Pol continued. "Why does your species feel the need to recreate such a tragic story? Why not, as Ensign Sato suggested, have a happy ending?"
Trip's eyes widened. Just how long had she been listening to their lunchtime conversation before revealing herself? He sighed, wondering if she was equating the movie's tragic ending to their own failed relationship, as he'd hoped that she would. "It's the idea of love conquerin' all. People like to think that if you love someone enough, nothing else matters. Tony and Maria didn't care that they were different races or from rival gangs. All that mattered to them was that they loved each other."
Too bad that doesn't apply to us, he thought bitterly.
"But their love did not, as you say, conquer all," T'Pol said. "Tony was killed. Their love could not overcome the hatred between the gangs."
Trip nodded patiently, relishing the thought that they were back on familiar ground. "True, but at the end, did you notice how both gangs united to carry Tony's body away? It leaves you hopeful that maybe Tony's death and his and Maria's love for each other had an impact on the others."
"Yes," T'Pol said, and Trip could tell that she was getting frustrated, "but why are there such stories in the first place? If humans wish to see a triumphant tale of love overcoming all obstacles, why aren't all romantic movies like the fairy tales that you've told me about?"
He looked at her, sadness gripping his chest so tightly that he feared it would cut off his air. "Because not all love stories are fairy tales. They don't all have happy endings."
Just look at us, he thought, and it was on the tip of his tongue to say it, but he held back. There were still people in the room with them, and the last thing he wanted was to once again be part of the ship's rumor mill. The rumors about him and T'Pol had finally died down. He suspected her marriage had something to do with that.
T'Pol stared at him, and there was something reflected in the liquid depths of her eyes, but Trip was afraid to name it for fear that he was wrong. Then she straightened almost imperceptibly and said, "I find this genre of film to be highly illogical."
He couldn't help but smile at that. "And why is that, T'Pol?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You would never see a Vulcan spontaneously burst into song." She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Trip supposed that it was. Vulcans weren't exactly known for their lightheartedness.
Kamea chose that moment to walk by, humming softly to herself. She did a pirouette, spinning so that she faced Hoshi, and began to sing.
"Good night, good night
Sleep well, and when you dream
Dream of me
Good night"
Hoshi giggled and held out her hand. Kamea grabbed it, and the two girls proceeded to twirl each other around, singing "Tonight" the entire time. They ended the song with Kamea lowering Hoshi into a dip, and both girls were laughing as they stood up.
Trip turned to T'Pol, who stared at the two women in stunned silence. He bit back a smile. "I'd say you've just been contradicted."
T'Pol crossed her arms, and he recognized the gesture. She was not happy. "I believe I have been validated." She stood up abruptly, pushing her chair away as she did. "Good night, Commander." She walked briskly out of the mess hall, not even acknowledging Hoshi and Kamea as she brushed past them.
Trip sighed and walked over to the two women. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he asked Kamea.
She looked at him, her face impassive. "Did what?" she asked, all innocence.
"You shouldn't go around purposely antagonizin' her like that."
Kamea cocked an eyebrow. "Commander Tucker, if I wanted to purposely antagonize her, I could think of better ways to do it." She paused. "And are you telling me that you've never tried to push her buttons just to get a rise out of her?"
Trip shook his head, feeling the need to defend T'Pol's actions. "She's just gotta get used to the idea of you bein' on board, is all." He purposely ignored the latter half of Kamea's statement, because it wouldn't help matters any to admit that he'd spent pretty much half of their mission rubbing T'Pol the wrong way.
The muscles in Kamea's jaw tightened. "She's doing such a good job of it so far. Good night, Trip."
She and Hoshi left the mess, and Trip resisted the sudden urge to kick his chair away from him. Why did he feel like he was in the middle of this fight?