ShiKahr, Vulcan, Stardate 2292.298

Losha looked out the window of the ground car at the sun setting over the suburbs of ShiKahr. In the distance were the foothills of the L-Langon mountains. The further from the city they got, the closer the desert loomed. He had been released from the hospital and Sarek was driving him back to the house, where Naalem, Malar, and Amanda awaited. Unlike what he had seen of the city, with its office towers and apartment buildings, they now passed neighborhoods of small houses, all surrounded by neatly maintained gardens. As the sun had not gone down completely, he wore glasses which adjusted automatically to light input. He wondered how much brighter things would appear without them. It had been a quiet ride with Sarek. Silence made Losha uncomfortable, but he could think of nothing to say.

When the homes and buildings began to taper off, they turned down a road which bordered the desert to the right. They passed two houses between the road and the beginnings of the desert. The road then dipped down a rolling hill, before leveling off for a short distance. Here Sarek turned right onto an unmarked road, then pulled up to a gate on the left. He pressed a button on the car's control panel and waited as the gate began to swing open.

Once they were inside the property, he turned to the right where the driveway continued to a detached garage. When they exited the car and emerged from the garage, Losha looked out to the desert below and beyond them. Terraced rows of shrubs and desert plants led down a slight hill toward a wrought iron fence that enclosed the entire property. A gate at the bottom opened onto a trail that led through haphazard bushes out into the desert, the mountains in the distance.

"It is too late this evening, but tomorrow I can show you the property and perhaps we can go on a walk of the neighborhood." Sarek, who had been heading up toward the house, turned and stopped when he saw that Losha was not behind him.

"I would like that." Losha turned around to follow Sarek up into the house. It was a single story house that did not seem particularly large for an ambassador, though the grounds were extensive.

Naalem and Amanda greeted Losha with wide smiles. Malar was smiling too, overjoyed, he knew, in her own subdued way. The front door opened into a foyer lined with small bookcases on each side, and past those was the sitting room that led out onto the patio. Amanda gave him a tour of the rest of the house, which he had mapped out in his mind in the days he had spent there before the surgery. Losha was again struck by how different the house appeared than what he had imagined. The kitchen, which led into a dining room, was to the left; to the right was the hallway that led to the bedrooms and bathroom. Everything was simply but elegantly decorated.

The room Losha had been staying in was the first on the left. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he stepped across the threshold, Amanda behind him. A bed with night tables on either side, a chair, a dresser, and a wardrobe. A painting of a rock formation hung over the bed.

"Do you recognize it?" Amanda asked.

"No."

"It's Sehlat Rock, near Raal on the Voroth Sea."

"Why is it called Sehlat Rock?"

"You know what a sehlat is, right?"

"Yes. I have seen pictures of them."

"Well, if you turn your head this way," she leaned somewhat to the right and tipped her head down, "it looks like the outline of a sehlat."

Losha leaned and tipped his head in the same manner. "I can't really see it. Maybe I'll be able to once I do some of the vision exercises the therapist gave me."

"If you can see it then, you'll know your vision is completely recovered because I've looked at this painting nearly every day for over fifty years and I still can't see it." She smiled and laughed.

"Have you been to the real Sehlat Rock?"

"Yes, once many years ago, when my son was about ten. We took a vacation to the Vorath Sea."

"Did you see the sehlat in the real formation?"

"I thought I did. For a second, perhaps." She laughed again. "Or maybe I only thought I saw it. Spock saw it right away. This was his room, you know."

"I had wondered…" Losha trailed off, not wanting to bring up an unpleasant topic for Amanda, who had been so kind to him.

"You had wondered whether this was your father's room?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Your father is an unpleasant topic for my husband, but not for reasons you might think. But if you would like to ask me about him, or talk about him, I don't mind. As I said to you on the space station, I cared for him." She paused for a moment before continuing.

"His room was the one Malar is staying in. Two doors down. We didn't hang on to any of his things though. He had little when he came to us and most of that he took with him when he left. What little was left behind Sarek…" She seemed to be searching for the right word. "Well, Vulcans aren't sentimental, as I'm sure you know."

"If they aren't sentimental, it would seem that objects would have no meaning to them so they wouldn't mind hanging on to them, don't you think?" Losha asked. Vulcan behavior was so alien to him.

Amanda sighed.

"Yes, one would think. But I've come to learn that Vulcans aren't always what one would think. I'd better get dinner ready. We can talk more later." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

Dinner passed quietly. Afterwards, they retired to the sitting room. Losha was anxious to look at everything he possibly could, but found himself yawning not long after they sat down. It was only then he realized how exhausting the day had been.

After breakfast the following morning, he sat in the garden, trying to focus on his exercises. He had wanted to get out of the house, but found himself too distracted by everything in the garden to concentrate. It was smaller than he imagined. He was sitting on the bench, which lay to the right of the doors to the sitting room. To the left of the doors was a table that sat four, and to his right, past the bench, was a gate that opened onto the grounds. Potted plants filled the patio, as well as those hanging from the wall that enclosed it.

He tried once again to focus on the exercises, knowing that as soon as he finished, he would be able to tour the grounds and the neighborhood. He looked up at the sound of the doors opening. Sarek stepped out onto the patio.

"My apologies for interrupting you."

"It's o.k. I was having trouble concentrating anyway."

"I regret that I will not be able to accompany you around the grounds and neighborhood this morning. I have been called into the city on urgent business. My presence is necessary, unfortunately. Amanda will be most gratified to show you around. I hope to return by late afternoon."

"Alright. I understand."

"Good day." Sarek turned and re-entered the house.

Losha was actually somewhat relieved that Sarek had been called away on business. The prospect of spending time alone with his grandfather was still uncomfortable for him. He was getting more comfortable in his presence, but Sarek was still a virtual stranger to him. And the short conversation he'd had with Amanda about his father last night had brought more feelings of discomfort to the surface. Amanda had said she'd cared about his father, and he found it easy to be around her. But letting himself get to know Sarek felt somewhat like a betrayal to his father's memory. Sarek might be able to pretend as if his father never existed, but he couldn't.

"Losha?" He heard Amanda's voice at the same time he heard the door opening. "I don't mean to rush you, but it will be getting very hot soon. If you aren't finished with your exercises yet, we can postpone the tour 'til early evening. That might be for the best anyway since Sarek will be back by then."

"No, that's not necessary. I was just finishing." He hit the power button on the padd, his exercises unfinished.

Author's Note:
Thanks to Texas Cow Girl and Guest for your comments on the last chapter, to everyone who has stuck with the story this long, and to my beta reader, TomFoolery. My vacation has ended, so I'm not sure when I will have the chance to write the next chapter. However, I'm fairly confident it won't be as long as the wait between chapters 46 and 47 since I do have a few days off coming up in the near future. I'll do my best :-)