Hello All! Sorry for not updating sooner. I know you're going to kill me, but I've been busy watching the World Cup, haha. But, I'm here with another chapter, and I think you will like it. I'll bring another character a bit into the spot light. Who? Well you have to read to find out!

Thanks, as always, for the reviews and kind words!

Translation for the title is "New Life."

As the story turns…

Chapter 4: Uzh Ha'kiv

Spock continued to stare at her body as she laid on the stretcher. His eyes ranked over her form. She was exactly as he remembered, but still completely different.

She was still small compared to his stature, but she held herself quite differently. He saw that much when she approached them on the planet. She walked as if she stood above everyone else. She was confident in herself. A trait he never saw in her in all their years together.

Her hair, while it was the same golden color he remembered, it had grown to an impossible length. Stretching down almost touching the floor. In all honesty, the reason it did not brush the floor was more then likely due to the strange style she wore it in.

Two buns situated themselves on top of her head, but he could not say the style did not suit her. In fact, it looked as if it were meant solely for her.

Probably the most significant change would have to be her eyes. While they were still the same striking blue that he remembered, the twinkle, the one thing that would always catch his breath, was gone.

What, in this universe, had happened to her in order for that sparkle to die out?

He couldn't understand it, and he simply could not understand why she didn't remember him. She told him she loved him. She had promised to return to him, only to not remember him?

What life had she led away from him? How many years had passed for her? What were those images that he had seen on that planet? Were they images of a dream that plagued her? Or were they images of a nightmare that was her life?

Who was she? Did he even know her anymore?

His hand itched to perform a mind-meld with her. To draw out those memories of him that he knew were deeply hidden inside her subconscious, but his mind caused him to hesitate.

Was he prepared to let her back in his life? She was alive, and he was more than grateful to know this, but were they even the same people that they once were?

He did not have time to ponder the thought before Kirk and McCoy both walked into Sick Bay.

"How is she, Mr. Spock?" Kirk questioned as his eyes studied the girl.

Spock could not control the jealousy that welled up inside him as Kirk looked at her. He did not miss the way he examined her down on the planet, and, if past experiences are of any indication, the Captain was indeed a bit of a womanizer, and it was clear that Serena had caught his attention.

Spock instinctively stepped closer to her as Kirk approached. He had hoped that the Captain did not notice, but Kirk knew his First Officer too well to not take note of the action. Kirk, however, chose to address the issue at a later time. Now, he needed to know who this girl was.

"Her vitals are normal, Captain." Spock began. "I believe what caused her to lose consciousness was a state of shock which was initiated by the events she witnessed on the planet." Spock responded in an even voice; trying not to betray his Vulcan heritage despite the whirlwind of emotions that were going on inside of him.

McCoy stepped closer to the girl to double check Spock's findings. Kirk continued to watch the resting girl.

"Those images that she witnessed…" Kirk paused, gathering his thoughts, "…they were of the most disturbing nature."

Spock could only nod. He allowed his mind to wander once again to what he saw on the planet. Why had that been the image she had conjured up?

"Who is she?" Kirk questioned, interrupting Spock's train of thought.

The Vulcan remained silent for what seemed like ages as he tried to process the question. How could he answer him when he wasn't sure himself? He knew it had to be Serena, but he didn't know her anymore. As he continued to think, he decided that the truth was the best way to go.

"If my reasoning is correct, I believe she is a girl I once knew on Vulcan, and also at the Academy, but it appears as if she has no recollection of these events."

"Are you sure it's the same girl? Kirk questioned.

Yes. Spock answered in his mind, but he hesitated to say the world out loud. "It could very well be possible that she is not." In a way, it was the truth. She was not the same girl.

He couldn't do this. Not now. Not after the pain of losing her once before. He needed time to think. He needed time to meditate. He needed to understand why he wasn't happy to see her.

Spock inclined his head towards the Captain. "If I may, Captain, I will return to the bridge." Kirk studied him for a moment before he gave his consent.

"What was that about? McCoy asked when Spock left the room.

Kirk continued to stare at the door when he replied, "I'm not sure, but there's something he's not telling us. That much is obvious."

"And you're just going to let him walk away without some explanation?" McCoy asked incredulously. "Jim, this could be a danger to the ship." He stated gesturing towards the girl.

Kirk thought on McCoy's words before he shook his head. "No, if there was something threatening the ship itself, Spock would have informed us. Regardless of what he is hiding, he is still a Vulcan and still as logical as ever."

"You always have the utmost faith in him." McCoy replied with a chuckled before he turned back to the girl. "A face from the past. Wish I had a face like that in my past. She doesn't even look as if she could be human." McCoy's eyes continued to gaze adoringly at the girl. In all his life, he had never seen such beauty. He was quickly snapped out of his trance when Kirk replied.

"Not just a face from the past, the face from the past. Did you see the way he looked at her? There was so much emotion behind his eyes. I have never seen him betray his cold exterior except for that time he nearly killed me." Kirk stated.

"Yea, too bad he didn't complete the job." McCoy stated in annoyance.

Kirk smiled. "Ah, come on Bones, life on the Enterprise would be incredibly dull without me on board."

"And a lot more efficient." McCoy said with a small smile. "Now get out of here so I can tend to these patients who saw fit to have too much fun down on the planet of vast imagination."

Kirk laughed audibly before making his exit. He made his way to the bridge; his mind wandering to the girl, and also to his First Officer. What could it all mean?

For now, he would let Spock stew. He would allow him to digest whatever it was he was trying to wrap his mind around, and then he would approach him. Partially out of curiosity, and partially for the safety of the ship.

She heard voices, and beeping noises. She kept her eyes closed as she tried to recollect what happened. As she thought through the recent events, in all honesty, she could not remember where she should be. The last image she had in her mind was the image of a tall man with pointy ears.

She began to stir slightly, and she regretted the move. Her hand immediately came to her face. She felt dizzy and drained. She groaned as she attempted to stop her head from spinning.

She soon felt a presence by her, and she willed her eyes to open. They were immediately greeted by a bright light.

"Ahhhh, the light, it burns." She said groggily. She heard a deep chuckle, and once her eyes finally adjusted, they fell on the face of a man standing over her.

"So, you've finally decided to join us?" He said jokingly as he started to run some kind of machine all over her body.

"Where am I?" She questioned.

"You are in the Sick Bay of the U.S.S. Enterprise." He answered as he continued to observe her.

Enterprise? What was that? And why was she in the medical area of it? What happened? The man hovering over her moved away and began to put information into some kind of handheld computer. She, of course, tried to sit up in order to attempt to figure out what the hell was going on.

She groaned again as her head started to spin. She immediately felt pressure on her shoulders trying to force her to lay back down. "You should rest. You are probably still a bit disoriented." The man stated.

"Please, just let me sit up." She said as she continued with her motions, ignoring the hands that still remained on her shoulders. She finally managed to get herself up. She sat there for a moment with her eyes closed, trying to will away her light head. Once she felt she could handle herself, her eyes fluttered open once more.

They came into contact with light blue eyes staring at her in concern. "Are you alright?" The man questioned.

She nodded her head slowly, giving him a small smile. The concern in his eyes quickly melted away into a look of passiveness. He backed away from the girl to turn and pick up the little computer that he'd been holding before.

She took the opportunity to really look at him. He was tall, with brown hair, and the palest blue eyes she had ever seen. Even more so than Minako's. There was a pain in her heart at the thought of the name before she brushed it away.

"Well, everything seems to be normal with you physically." He stated. "Could I possibly get some basic information from you since we do not have a record?" He questioned as he drug a chair up by her bed and took a seat.

She studied him for a moment before she gave a reluctant nod. If he got too personal, or if she grew suspicious, she would stop.

"Name?" He questioned.

"Serenity." She answered simply.

He looked up at her. His eyes bore into hers. His face was quite handsome, but it seemed to hold a bit of bitterness to it. She wondered why that was, but decided to dismiss the curiosity for now. Perhaps she would find out, but as of now, that was not her top priority. Now she needed to figure out where she was and why she was here.

The man continued to stare at her, and Serenity began to feel a bit self-conscious. "What?" She questioned. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Last name?" He stated with a bit of annoyance.

Last name. Serenity almost wanted to laugh out loud. How long had it been since she had a last name? She never needed one after she ascended the thrown. She was always known as Serenity, or Cosmos. She thought back to her last name when she was Usagi, but decided against it. That name in itself brought back memories of a simpler time.

"Moon." She finally answered, deciding it was the best fit.

He nodded and began to key in the information.

"Date of birth?" He questioned automatically.

This actually made Serenity laugh out loud. The man looked at her in confusion, but she could do nothing but smile in return. She noticed that his face softened a bit as he gazed at her.

"Who are you?" She questioned, deciding to try and get around the whole age issue.

"Dr. Leonard McCoy." He stated formally.

"Dr. McCoy," she said lightly, "would it be too much of me to ask how I ended up here?" She questioned.

"Well, I'm afraid I was going to ask you the same questioned." He stated lightheartedly. The grumpiness in his face easing a bit as he continued in conversation with the girl.

She sat there for a moment as she thought; her eyes zoning out. She remembered Chaos. She remembered the entity within her body, and she remembered plunging the sword deep within her to kill it.

I should be dead. She thought. She remembered sending her star seed off before she trapped Chaos, and she remembered the wish she made before she took her last breath. Her spirit must of followed her star seed here. But why?

She continued to think of what happened after that. There was blackness, and then…him.

"Who was the man with pointed ears?" She questioned.

McCoy chuckled. "That would be Commander Spock. He has been watching over you since you arrived."

"I'm not sure, but I feel as though I've met him before." Serenity thought out loud, but quickly shook the thought. "But that's impossible. I would have remembered him."

McCoy nodded. "Yea, it's hard to forget a Vulcan. They tend to leave an impression on whomever they associate themselves with." He stated sarcastically.

"Vulcan?" She questioned.

McCoy stared at her curiously. "You're not from around here, are you?"

She gave an embarrassed smile before she stated, "I'm afraid I'm not."

"Well, I'll let Spock inform you on the fascinating culture of the Vulcan. For now, what else do you remember besides him?" McCoy questioned.

That's when Serenity's eyes widened. "Chaos." She whispered.

"I'm sorry?" McCoy asked; not quite hearing what she said. He didn't have time to wait around for an answer as her vitals began to skyrocket. Her heart rate and blood pressure reached amazing heights as she attempted to lift herself off the stretcher.

McCoy attempted to keep her down. "You need to calm down. Your pulse is off the charts, and you cannot sustain it at that level."

"No, I need to save them! I need to fight Chaos! Didn't you see the demon?" Her eyes were frantic, and her voice was hysterical.

McCoy continued to try and force her down. "Those images were not real." He stated trying to get through to her.

"What do you mean they weren't real?" She screamed at him. "Of course they were! Chaos followed me! To seek revenge!"

"I'm telling you, the images were not real!" McCoy screamed back. "The planet has the ability to manipulate your thoughts and memories into real images. Trust me! I was down there! The minute you fainted, the images faded. They are not real!"

Serenity stilled herself. She looked up into McCoy's eyes, and she saw so much intensity in them.

"I'm telling the truth." He stated softly this time.

And she knew he was. She fell against him and burst into tears. For a moment, McCoy's body stiffened before he finally relaxed, allowing his arms to embrace her. She continued to sob into his shoulder as relief and anguish washed over her. Sure, there were other pressing issues, but, for now, she just needed to cry. It had been so long since she had done so.

Spock felt his fists clutch tightly at his side. The cold stab of jealousy entered his heart once again. He should be the one holding her. He should be the one comforting her. At that moment, he had a very illogical thought. He hated McCoy.

He immediately snapped out of the rage that was quickly taking over his brain. No, he liked McCoy. He was the best Chief Medical Officer in Starfleet, although he would never inform him of this fact. He knew the doctor all to well to know what kind of reaction he would obtain upon revealing that information.

While his body willed him to walk right up to her and take her into his embrace, his mind stopped him again. He wasn't sure how to deal with all this emotion, and he wasn't sure if he was exactly what she needed right now.

So, instead of going out on a limb, he made the logical decision and decided to walk away.

Her sobs subsided to mere sniffles as she slowly pulled away from McCoy.

"I'm so sorry. I should not have done that. I don't know what came over me. Normally I'm so in check with my emotions, but it just seemed…" McCoy held up a hand signaling for the girl to cease her excuse.

"There is no need to apologize. I'm not blind to know that whatever those images were, they were haunting. The best thing for you to do now is to rest and get adjusted to your surroundings. We can continue with the questioning more when the Captain is around." Serenity nodded at this conclusion and gave him a smile.

"Thank you Dr. McCoy." She whispered. He gave a half smile before nodding to the girl.

"Now." McCoy continued on a lighter note. "Do you want to stick around here, or would you prefer me checking to see if the Captain has set up some accommodations for you?"

Serenity thought about it for a second. "Well, no offense Dr. McCoy, but these beds aren't exactly the most comfortable thing." She replied truthfully.

McCoy chuckled. "You don't have to tell me that. Try spending the night in one of them because you have to keep watch over so many damn patients. Gets right annoying, especially considering when you find some of your staff incompetent at what they are doing." He grumbled the last part out as he made is way over to the com to contact Kirk about the room for their new guest.

Spock walked onto the bridge once again, only to be met by the eyes of Kirk.

"Mr. Spock, good to see you." He said as he approached the Vulcan. "It appears our new guest is ready to be dispatched from Sick Bay. Would you mind escorting her to her new room and give an explanation of the ropes around here?"

Spock stiffened before giving a sharp nod to the Captain and exiting the bridge; retracing his steps back to Sick Bay.

At this point, Kirk was showing real concern for his First Officer, and he hoped that, whatever it was about this girl, Spock would be able to figure out the situation and soon. He wanted to give the man some space to think things through, but he also needed details about this girl. He also needed Spock to be alert, and he had a feeling that, with this girl around, it would be difficult for the Vulcan to think on anything logically.

Spock walked into Sick Bay to observe Serenity and McCoy engaged in a lighthearted conversation. If he were being honest, he had never seen McCoy so happy and at peace as he was at that moment in time. There was no bitterness to his face, and Spock did not like the change.

McCoy looked up to notice that Spock was standing there looking at them. He was a bit shocked at the darkness of his eyes, but McCoy chose to ignore the look. "Ahhh, this is…"

"Mr. Spock." Serenity said; finishing McCoy's sentence. She walked closer towards him as she began to examine him. Her heart began to beat a fraction faster as her eyes wandered over him, finally meeting his dark eyes. "I believe our last introduction was a bit too dramatic. I am Serenity Moon." She bowed slightly towards the man, not exactly sure if a handshake would be proper with him.

Moon. The color began to drain from his face. Flashes of her drawings and stories of the moon ran through his mind. Perhaps, buried deep within her, was the same girl that was his k'diwa.* How could he approach trying to rekindle their life together? Should he? Instead of acting on any impulse, he simply inclined his head towards the girl. "As you know, I am Mr. Spock. I will be showing you to your room."

Serenity nodded. She turned back to McCoy and said, "Thanks for everything, Dr. McCoy." She smiled brightly at the man, causing him to blush slightly.

"Please, call me Leonard." He said bashfully. Her smile widened as she acknowledge his request with a simple nod of her head. She then brought her face to the Vulcan. "Shall we, Mr. Spock?" She questioned.

Spock turned on his heals and quickly rushed out of Sick Bay, Serenity following behind him.

As they made their way through the hallways and corridors, Serenity's eyes widened in fascination of some of the things around her.

"Fascinating." She stated. "I have never seen anything like this in my entire life." And that was saying something coming from her.

Spock glanced at the girl outside the corner of his eye. "I take it you are not aware of the technology on a Starship?" Serenity simply shook her head no at the question.

"It will take some getting adjusted to, but you will find that, with the proper text and guidebooks, you should be able to understand the basic meaning of some things on this ship. I will be sure to direct your attention to some very informative ones." Spock stated.

"Thank you very much. That would be very helpful." Serenity said as she gave the Vulcan a smile, sending his stomach into a fluttering mess.

They were silent once more before Serenity questioned, "So, you're a Vulcan. Forgive me for the crudeness of this question, but what exactly is that? Are you a type of humanoid?"

Spock nodded. "We are indeed. Our culture originates from what was the planet Vulcan."

"Was?" She questioned.

Spock swallowed slightly before stating, "It was destroyed."

His answer was a bit clipped, so Serenity chose to not to press the issue further. She wanted to tell him sorry. She wanted to tell him she understood what it felt like for your home to be destroyed, but she bit back the words. For some reason, she knew he didn't want her sympathy.

"Well, that is incredibly interesting. I would love to know more about the culture." Serenity said, trying to right her curious mistake of questioning too far.

"I would be glad also to direct you to the proper reading materials on that, and to answer any questions you may have." They had arrived outside her door.

"This will be your room while you stay on the Enterprise. As of now, I am aware that you have been given food, and Dr. McCoy has instructed that you continue to rest in order to ensure that you get over the potential shock of being here. I also recommend that you follow the doctor's orders." Serenity could have been imagining it, but she could swear that she saw the slight twinge of concern hidden behind his eyes. She immediately recalled the thought though. Who was she to know what this man was feeling? Especially when it appeared he took so much pride and patience to cover his emotions.

"Since it is getting quite late, tomorrow, if you wish, I can give you a more detailed tour of the ship and some of the inner workings of it. How to obtain necessities and such. You will find that, most things in your room can either be operated by a specific button, or by voice operation. Should you need any assistance, please do feel free to contact either I or the Captain. Our rooms are on this same hall." He then pointed towards the direction she would need to walk in.

Serenity smiled softly at the man in front of her. "Thank you very much for bringing me here and for being courteous. I am a bit tired and overwhelmed now, so tomorrow sounds like a good idea to do the tour itself."

Spock inclined his head in response and began to walk away from the girl.

"Mr. Spock." She called out to him, causing him to turn back.

"I'm sorry…but have we met before?" She questioned.

Spock's eyes widened, but only slightly. He didn't know exactly how to respond to the question without having a full out emotional meltdown. Does she remember him? A small glimmer of hope came alive inside his heart.

He must have been silent for too long because soon she began to blush and stated nervously, "Never mind, that was a crazy question. I have to say the scenario in itself is quite impossible. Forgive me."

"Nothing is impossible." Spock was shocked by his response, but he stated it without really thinking. It sounded like something she would have said in a situation such as this.

Serenity was a bit taken back by the answer, but she smiled warmly at him nonetheless. "You're right." She said softly.

The corner of Spock's mouth twitched ever so slightly before he said, "Goodnight, Ms. Moon."

"Goodnight, Mr. Spock." She walked into her room, the image of the Vulcan burned into her memory.

Well there's another chapter! Again, sorry about the length of time it has taken me to update. Uh oh, what's going on with Serena and McCoy? How will Spock handle this? And why is he so reluctant in getting her to remember him? I hope everyone enjoyed it, and don't forget to PLEASE REVIEW!

-Lizzy

*Translations

K'diwa - shortened form of address for beings who are each other's k'hat'n'dlawa (soul mate); equated to the term 'beloved'.