Sorry for the long break, can't promise it won't happen again but we'll see what my brain decides to do/not do… anyway here we go.
T'Leiarel deleted another message without reading it. It had been over a week since Stelev had told her to "return home". She'd never even set foot on New Vulcan and Savel had broken their arrangement off years ago. Apparently as there was a larger percentage of male Vulcans off world at the time of the attack, meaning that there was a shortage of Vulcan women so now she would have to do… such a flattering proposal. How could anyone resist such romance?
She rolled her eyes, a habit she had gained from long time spent among the humans and dabbed a little peppermint oil under her nose, it kept her from smelling too much, not ideal but a lot better than the high strength sunblock she used to have to use on Vulcan. The light white clouds floated across a pale blue sky in a gentle breeze with the scent of rain on the air, it was a good day, the chill so much more refreshing than the dry air of Vulcan.
Determined to be cheerful, despite reminders of her brother's attempts to control her and the unresolved issues with her parents when they died, she set off down the street towards the library where she helped to teach diplomatic students telepathic resistance skills. She was not expecting the knot of Starfleet uniforms near the main desk with an old photo of her from when she was still dying her hair, still living the lie. She was not expecting the tingle and the tug of recognition as one of the trio looked in her direction. Unsure quite what to do she looked down, turning, she ran into one of the students.
"El, hey, you okay?" Jocelyn asked with concern. T'Leiarel managed a smile and a nod.
"I just… I saw someone I thought I recognised." She shrugged. "How are you?" She had to figure out what to do about Spock and the other two Starfleet officers, but she wasn't likely to have much time, they were already heading towards her.
Kirk, Spock and Uhura had travelled to London without issue, and found the library where the information they had told them that their stray Vulcan was likely to be. Turning up on someone's doorstep being somewhat rude and with no guarantee she would actually be there, she may have decided to eat lunch somewhere else after all.
"So you don't recognise this woman?" The clerk at the desk shook his head with a shrug, causing Kirk to frown. This was not as simple as it had seemed. Spock was wondering if this was what Stelev meant when he said T'Leiarel was unusual… He felt a pull, a slight tug of self and looked up as a young woman entered the library.
She looked nothing like the girl he remembered, blonde hair falling to her shoulders, older of course, but even from a distance he knew that her shocked eyes would be green as blood. It made no sense that he should know it was her, and yet he did.
"Are there any Vulcans that come to the library as far as you're aware?" Uhura asked, the woman who had been the girl looked away. Spock frowned.
"There's El, least that's what all the students call her, she's got similar ears to your friend here." The librarian shrugged. "She's just over there." He gestured towards the doors and the two women now speaking there. Spock was striding over briskly as the other two hurried to keep up.
"Greetings." Both women turned to look at Spock, her eyes were as green as he remembered.
"Hi," Kirk added, slipping around Spock with a frown at his first officer and focusing on the dark haired girl, "we were asked to come here by your brother, Assistant Ambassador Stelev. He said that you needed some transport?" She didn't look especially like the picture…
"I think you must have me confused? My grandfather was Ambassador Julian Winters, but he died around the time I was born… I'm Jocelyn, Jocelyn Winters." The confusion on three faces had little impact on the other two who were watching each other cautiously. There was amusement and irritation on her face, it was strange to see them so clearly on a Vulcan.
"T'Leiarel, I believe we met once before." Spock commented calmly, politely, drawing the attention of the others to the correct woman.
"You remember." She smiled slightly. From the corner of their eyes both could see Kirk looking at the picture questioningly. "I believe Stelev was responsible for that meeting also." There was a frown as she remembered something looking away for a moment before meeting his eyes directly with a surprising sincerity. "I was sorry to hear about your mother. She was a good woman." The reminder was painful but Spock nodded, appreciating the simple fact that she had bothered to know about the loss.
"So where is it you're going?" Jocelyn interrupted, clearly curious about what was going on.
"Stelev wants to force me into an arranged marriage, one that was arranged when I was child, called off some time ago and is now arranged again due to a lack of acceptable alternatives." El's voice was bitter, with disapproval lying heavy over each word. "And it seems he sent the Captain here to do his dirty work, knowing that I'm not likely to slap someone who saved my life, and the planet we're standing on, simply for associating with my brother. Is that about the size of things?" She turned pointedly to Kirk who seemed more than a little stunned by the anger and the way things were shaping up.
"He didn't say anything about forcing people… just that you had a wedding to attend on New Vulcan and he wanted our help to get you there…" He held up his hands to distance himself. "Is that why you changed your hair? To try and hide from him?"
"Not exactly… my hair is more to do with why the arrangement was called off. It seems that I am going to need to tell my brother in person what he refuses to accept via message." Spock felt an urge to keep her from the marriage, to protect her from other men, it was mild for now, the early stirrings of the time making themselves known, he would have to see if any of the priestesses had made it to New Vulcan to help him with the problem. "Perhaps I can finally stop envying the mess on your hands." She commented, earning more confusion from the others, as Spock remembered the time they had met before, the blood on his hands and the fight that had preceded it. While most of him disapproved of his conduct back then a small part, the slowly waking fire, relished the primal freedom of that moment. His hands clenched momentarily to fists, unnoticed by any save for the slightest widening of her eyes.
"So you're going to come with us?" Kirk was confused but not about to argue with her, he remembered the last time he had poked a pissed off Vulcan, so to speak, those bruises had been truly impressive. "Great. Is there anything you need to do before we go?"