Thanks for your reviews, they really inspire me and motivate me to write the next chapter! Bewildered, Jamille Shane, Ahlysha and gkell, you rock!

Jamille Shane: I tried to show with the dream that Irina still isn't getting all telepathic info from him because she has some of her shields still up. But she'll learn how to lower them...

Chapter 25 - Depths

'My parents,' Soltek said in greeting as his mother and father appeared on the screen.

'Our son,' they replied coolly.

'I would deduce that you have news for me,' Soltek said in a grim tone not permitting himself any undue hopes.

'You are correct,' his father said, 'we have held counsel with your clan head and she decided to accept the human as your bond mate, if you come to Vulcan as soon as your duties permit so the bonding ceremony can be performed under her supervision.'

Soltek eyes grew wide in amazement before he could repress the reaction, 'please tell T'Fera that we are very honored by her acceptance.' He paused, 'but there will be a delay, because Irina is still in the period of familiarization according to human bonding customs. She will need a few weeks at minimum till she can accept my proposal.'

'Soltek,' his mother said, 'we know you want to honor your future bond mate by respecting her culture, but it was a very difficult negotiation with your clan head and she won't accept such a long delay.'

Soltek took a deep breath, 'I know Irina's human customs are in some aspects very different than those of Vulcans, but they are based on their own logic and a very important rule for them is not letting themselves be pressured into an intimate relationship without exploring it thoroughly. They take bonding as seriously as we do.'

His father sighed, 'it is more likely that their emotional weaknesses slows down their decision-making. If they would simply balance their reasons logically they would arrive much more swiftly and proficiently at such important decisions.'

Soltek raised his eyebrows, 'I have observed that they do balance reasons, but they aren't telepaths like we are so they need other methods to make sure they are compatible. They collect and process a lot of data about their future mate during this familiarization process prior to marriage and that kind of research usually takes an appropriate amount of time.'

Now his father looked exasperated. He wanted to say something, but his mother was quicker.

'Soltek, T'Fera would have never agreed to the human if we hadn't been so persistent.' She paused with obvious unease, 'we were persistent, because we had the impression something has happened between this woman and you which wouldn't be easy to dissolve.'

'It wasn't much of a honor for us to convey that to our clan head,' his father interjected.

'But you are still young and we know there are some parts of the Vulcan nature which are difficult to control,' his mother said softly, 'you have never brought any shame to us before, so we concluded that whatever has happened might have happened accidentally.'

Soltek paused, 'my parents,' he replied slowly, 'I'm grateful for your efforts and appreciate the difficulties they might cause you, but I am very sorry...I won't pressure she who will be my wife for a quick decision because of T'Fera's expectations.'

'Then it will be your own fault if your clan head arrives at her decisions!' his father replied hotly.

'She may decide according to her prerogative,' Soltek answered with an icy calmness.

'Then we have nothing further to discuss,' his father snapped and terminated the call.

When Soltek finally arrived in Irina's quarters she was in the bathroom combing her hair to get ready for breakfast with her mother and sister.

'What happened?' she asked, 'You're not late usually.'

'I've got two calls this morning, one was my aunt,' he answered.

'The one you haven't spoken to in almost 50 years?' she asked.

'Indeed, I have written a letter to her asking her to resume our contact,' he replied.

'And she called back? That's wonderful!' Irina exclaimed, 'how is she? Where is she living?'

'She and her family are in good health and she is currently living on Romulus,' he said.

Irina gave him a surprised look.

'She is the Vulcan ambassador to Romulus,' he explained.

'Wow! You never told me!' Irina said stunned.

'She was shunned by my clan head , who had forbidden all family members to contact her or to reveal information about her to outsiders,' he explained.

'Why? She must be the most famous member of your family?!' Irina asked flabbergasted.

'She is,' Soltek replied, 'but my clan head disapproved of her bond with a Romulan. She believed my aunt betrayed Vulcan tradition by marrying him.'

'Doesn't sound very logical to me,' Irina said, 'didn't Ambassador Sarek take a human wife after he became Ambassador to earth?' Irina asked.

'He did, which was a very wise and logical decision of course, but my aunt worked as an aide of Ambassador V'Lecha at the Vulcan embassy on Betazed when she married Malak and she had no plans to become involved in Romulan diplomacy at that time...though I am sure my clan head would have disapproved of her marrying a Betazoid as much,' he explained.

'Your clan head sounds slightly xenophobic,' Irina said carefully.

'She is,' Soltek replied curtly.

Irina was surprised by his frank statement, he seemed to develop a slightly rebellic attitude towards his strict clan head and parents. That wasn't a side of him she had seen before.

'T'Fera, my clan head, accused my aunt of being selfish, emotional and treacherous, of becoming like a Romulan herself,' Soltek continued. 'My aunt was called to a family council to explain herself, but she decided not to attend and then they shunned and disinherited her in absentia.'

'Wow,' Irina just said, needing some time to let this information sink in.

'So you're disobeying your clan head by talking to your aunt?' she asked.

'Affirmative,' Soltek replied.

Irina frowned at him, she wasn't sure, but she thought she had felt a brief flash of anger and sadness about a dear person being suddenly snatched away for such superficial reasons. Since she didn't know his aunt personally, it made no sense that those feelings could come from herself. She also felt guilt for ignoring her, she, who had cared so much for...him. With a gasp she realized that she was telepathically receiving his feelings.

'Forgive me,' he said becoming aware of what he was doing and it was like a door suddenly closed.

Irina just looked at him too moved to say anything. She hadn't known he was able to have feelings like that for other people. It suddenly made him so...human that he should miss his aunt. Or maybe she had just missed this aspect of him all the time too blind to see it. She didn't know what to say to comfort him and just took his hand.

First he looked at her in disbelief, but then Irina felt the 'door' open up again and a warmth flooded her that she felt her legs turn into jelly. She pulled him into a hug and the warmth vibrated through her heart and her entire being as he put his arms around her and allowed her to comfort him.

Then her door chime went off, supposedly with her mother and sister fetching them for breakfast.

Irina was grateful for Olga being in a good mood and talking a lot at breakfast, because she felt more contemplative at the moment. After breakfast they decided to do a tour of the station first before making any concrete plans on what to do today and tomorrow.

Irina was very busy explaining everything while they walked from one level to the next. She was glad Soltek would step in on the engineering related subjects.

When they entered the arboretum, Irina linked her arm with him like she had done before. She noticed that he seemed pensieve and conflicted about something, maybe he was still thinking about the issues with his aunt and clan head, but then she had the feeling that she was missing something. She knew asking him about it in public wouldn't produce any results whatsoever, so she made a mental note to ask him later when they were alone.

Her mother was very interested about the technology behind the arboretum, if the light installation adapted to the different needs of different plants, if they cultivated vegetables and fruits on the station and then she told them about her latest experiments with replicated soil she put into artificial biospheres on the moon and added bacteria and insects to fertilize it for growing food. Olga seemed bored by the topic and egged them on to continue because she wanted to see the shops on the other side of the arboretum.

Before they knew it, it was midday and they were hungry and stopped by the Green Leaf for lunch. Antamo was on shift and flirted with Olga and her mother as he usually did with new customers. Olga gave him some cheeky rebuffs, while her mother honestly flushed.

'Mum,' Irina said in a low voice, 'he's Betazoid, he's empathic, he says things you want to hear on purpose.'

Olga giggled.

'Oh,' her mother said, 'just as I suspected.'

Irina rolled her eyes, 'he flirts with everyone.'

'He didn't with you,' her mother replied teasingly.

'Maybe he's afraid of Soltek,' Olga said and laughed at the thought.

'He is,' Soltek replied factually is if it was the most obvious thing of the universe.

Olga looked at him stunned like she tried to decide if he was serious or if she had just witnessed the rare instance of a Vulcan making a joke.

In the evening after a lengthly shopping tour they ate dinner at the Garden Restaurant, it was located at the edge of the arboretum.

Irina had invited Lamira and Kalm to join them, which had been a good idea, because Olga was very happy to see Lamira again. They had always gotten along very well and were talking and laughing very loudly and rapidly telling each other what they had done while they didn't see each other for several years.

Lamira's boyfriend Kalm looked slightly bored though, but her mother saw his predicament and started to ask him questions about his planet, his culture, his job as a pilot and everything else.

Irina decided it might be a good moment to have a private talk with Soltek and she asked him to take a walk with her through the dimmed arboretum. She linked her arm into his and waited till they were alone.

'Something's bothering you,' she said her hand traveling down to hold his. He permitted her to touch him, but she felt like he erected some kind of wall between them so she couldn't directly see what it was he wanted to hide.

'It is nothing you have to be concerned about,' he replied in a voice that was supposed to sound neutral, but she had the inkling she was somehow involved in what bothered him.

'It's not about your aunt?' she asked.

'No, but you don't need to concern yourself with it,' he said.

'Is it something about me?!' she asked grabbing his hand more forceful than she intended.

He stopped walking, 'you've become quite perceptive.'

'Tell me, whatever it is,' she said facing him.

He drew a deep breath, 'my parents have called again. They have talked to my clan head, T'Fera.'

'What did she say?' Irina asked in anticipation.

'My parents negotiated with her that she will accept you if we come to Vulcan soon and let a priest perform an official bonding ceremony,' he said.

'That means marriage?' Irina asked.

'Yes,' Soltek answered neutrally, but Irina could feel he didn't want to press her.

'How soon is she expecting us?' she asked making an effort to remain calm before she had heard him out and understood fully what his clan head required of her.

'As soon as our duties permit to leave the station,' he said slowly, 'I explained to my parents that this is too soon for a human, that you don't officially bond until you've had a longer period of courtship and familiarization to make sure you're compatible...but they said they were very persistent to get even the concession for me to marry you at all and T'Fera would never agree to permit this familiarization period.'

Irina frowned, 'I'm not sure I understand this fully yet. Dr. Lark said the bonding ceremony entails a healer or priest performing a telepathic link...wouldn't they realize we're already connected?'

'The healer or priest would, but his task is only to ensure that there is a functional bond, if it has been there already or has to be initiated in the ceremony is of no consequence to the success of the ceremony,' Soltek said. The attendants of course will notice, because if there's a functional bond already in place the priest will pull out of the mind meld much more quickly than if he or she had to initiate a new bond.'

'So if we do this,' Irina said slowly, trying to understand, 'everybody will know we, ahem, didn't wait...but will there be any punishment for you?'

'No,' Soltek said, 'Vulcans don't talk about what a couple might have done or not before they were officially bonded – but that doesn't mean that unbonded Vulcans can...'

'...do what they want and shack up with anybody they like,' Irina finished his sentence, 'I think I get it.' She was pondering this for a moment.

'But wouldn't T'Fera realize this when she attends the ceremony and might still find a way to punish you?' she asked.

Soltek took a breath, 'my parents have conveyed the possibility of this to her already.' He was blushing again.

Irina briefly wanted to bang her head on some desk at Vulcan 'honesty'. She didn't want to think about how his parents had managed to confess that.

'Then I will marry you,' she said facing him.

He pulled her closer and put his hand on her face and a shower of warmth flooded her, tingling so much that she felt her hair must stand on end and her belly felt like full of happy butterflies which wanted to make her jump up and down.

But then it stopped and the warmth suddenly vanished, 'I don't want you to pressure you into this just because of my clan head,' he said gravely.

'Don't worry,' she said and kissed him. 'I love you,' she whispered in his ear.

He didn't say it, but she felt another wave of warmth flood her. It made her feel all fuzzy like she was floating in a heaven full of cuddly cotton balls and she thought her knees will give way any second and she might melt on the spot. But Soltek pulled her close against himself and started kissing her neck as she put her arms around him. She came to her senses though when he tugged at her skirt to expose her shoulder and bit her with a moan.

'Soltek! We are in public!' she hissed.

'Forgive me,' he said panting and hastily pulled back, 'did I hurt you?'

'Not really, I don't mind, just wait for later' she said, 'I must say though, that it's always strangely arousing when you do that...must be the telepathic connection,' she shook her head in disbelief.

He looked at her with misty eyes like he was short before doing it again.

She looked at her shoulder and saw that she was bleeding slightly. 'We better make a quick detour to my quarters so I can clean this up,' she said dragging him with her.