Year Three

Jim's long illness caused something of a setback in his studies, forcing him to spend his vacation between his second and third years making up what he'd missed. The fever had left him drained of energy for weeks and Bones watched him like a hawk to keep him from exerting himself in any way. Jim was tired and grumpy and frustrated and complained a lot which Bones thought was funny.

"Trying to beat me in the bellyaching contest, Jim? Because you're doing a fine job of it."

"Oh, shut up," Jim growled and hid himself behind his hair again. It was handy for shutting annoying best friends out and hiding his feelings from prying eyes.

He'd kept thinking he'd heard Spock saying she loved him, but had it been only a dream? When she'd visited him after he was finally proclaimed out of danger, she'd been her usual friendly, logical self.

But the nurses gave him the recordings to listen to again and he replayed Spock's over and over smiling happily every time. Maybe she didn't want to get all emotional in front of him yet, but the fact remained she HAD said it. He fully intended to say it right back, given the right opportunity.

He almost did several times, but chickened out. Then, Spock went away for a month on a training mission and Jim could only contact her by brief, patchy messages which were rather inadequate for his purpose.

Jim's own intense final year courses had begun in earnest before they were able to have a conversation again.

"Greetings, James. It appears your color and vigor have returned."

"Yeah. I'm finally back to normal again," Jim said. "Now I can get back on track and complete my credits in time to graduate in May.

I assume your mission went alright since you're in one piece?"

"It did. Only three cadets suffered minor injuries. Overall it was a most enlightening experience. Simulators cannot match the real actual sensations of working on a star ship. When the iFarragut/i went to Warp, I was quite startled at the change in speed at first before I became used to it. Unlike Leonard, I do not believe I will have any issues with long exploratory missions."

"That's good," Jim said. "What did they have you do?"

"Scan and classify the life forms on a midsize planet. They were quite numerous and the largest mammal was a rather cat like creature with two tails."

"Two tails!? That sounds peculiar."

"They were rather comical looking," admitted Spock. "It appeared each one had a separate use: the upper tail had a sharp spur on the end for self defense and the lower tail was used for balance as well as indicating sexual interest."

Jim snorted at that. "Well, you're definitely having a more interesting year so far. I'm deep in the study of Stockholm syndrome in one class and various alien species' social structures in another. The criminal justice class is really the highlight so far. But I didn't call to bore you with that. I wanted to say thank you for that message you left me when I was sick. I listened to it over and over while I was recuperating. Did you mean it when you said you loved me?"

"James, It was my pleasure," Spock answered. "As for my sincerity, you are aware that Vulcans cannot lie, are you?"

"Yeah," Jim said sheepishly, flushing a bit. "Just needed to hear it straight from you, because It's totally requited, Spock. I've...uh..." (his face grew even more red as he stuttered the words out) "fallen in love with you when I never thought I'd be capable of such a thing. I'm sorry I didn't have the guts to tell you when you were here."

Spock was inwardly ecstatic as Jim confessed. Yes, the shaggy haired man who'd been given to her father like cast off junk, worn out and malnourished, had, with time and nurture, become the driven, determined, well on his way to thriving, person who'd charmed his way into her heart.

"You may not have said it verbally, Jim," she assured him, "but your actions and eyes were quite emotive."

"Well, I am human, I guess," he said happily. "I wish this could have been more romantic, but I'll make it up to you later." He winked and smiled slyly.

Spock couldn't wait for graduation to come so she could show him more thoroughly just how loved he was (in the Vulcan sense at least.)

They would need to have many very frank talks in the future, but the declaration had been made.

Four weeks later

Vulcan

Amanda greeted her guest with great enthusiasm having not seen Jim since his early convalescence.

"Jim! It's so good to see you again!"

She gave him a fond hug and looked him over carefully to make sure he wasn't looking stressed from the travel.

"It feels like coming home, even with the boiling heat out there."

Jim grinned as he wiped sweat off his face. Even the short walk had him red-faced and very warm.

"I'm glad you're here," Amanda said sincerely, pleased to see her surrogate son again. "Your cool basement room is all ready for you, but tell me, What brought you out here for the weekend? This is highly out of character for a busy college student."

Jim smiled shyly and lowered his travel bag to the ground.

"Well, For one thing, I missed you. For another, I have something I need to talk to you and Sarek about."

"It Must be important for you to come all this way to say it in person," she commented, noting how he was going with the neat ponytail and barely any facial hair.

Jim nodded, looking a bit nervous.

"It's very important. It has to do with...um...major life plans."

Amanda understood. Spock had looked almost happy when she'd talked to her last and with the way Jim's eyes were darting around the room and the fond smile on his face as he glanced over at her usual chair, she guessed (and hoped) it meant Jim wanted to make her daughter a part of his "major life plans."

She set to work on getting him well fed and rested in order to stand the best chance of standing up to Sarek's inevitable interrogation. Vulcan fathers were very protective of their daughters, even if the marriage had been planned since childhood.

As it turned out, Jim not only admitted he was in love with Spock, but intended to marry her if given their blessing. He held up surprisingly well against the onslaught of probing questions, obviously having come well-prepared to plead his case.

"Are you aware of the fact Vulcan bonds are not merely physical, but mental, as well? Once bonded, it is nearly impossible to break."

"I'm aware of that, sir."

"With your varied careers, it may be challenging to grow and nurture your bond. Have you considered that?"

"Yes. Many times. After graduation, there will be a period of time when we'll both be on earth for awhile while I'm in training and the Enterprise is refitted. Then I'm probably going to get an assignment on a Starbase or a ship itself, working in cooperation with Starfleet. We won't be completely out of range and I don't have the Kirk determination for nothing. I love Spock and I would do anything I possibly can to make this work."

"And you feel you are ready for such a relationship?"

"Yes," Jim said honestly. "I know I'll always have...certain issues... because of what Andromeda did, but I trust Spock in a way I wasn't able to with anyone before. She never acted disgusted around me or pitied me or tiptoed around my problems. Cliche as it sounds, we connect with each other uncannily well."

"Yes, you do," Sarek admitted. "Your minds seem very compatible from what I have observed."

In the end, he gave his blessing (and so did Amanda) and Jim spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, eating pudding, and planning a proposal.