They walked across the grounds of Starfleet Academy towards her dormitory. Other students were lounging with friends on benches, milling about in groups, laughing in the early evening. It was a dichotomy that unsettled T'yel as the ache in her heart became more crushing.

Her gaze followed a fellow student sharing a funny story with another peer. She could picture her mother sitting on the bench, taking a break from studies to chat with a roommate. Another couple were situated next to a tree near Robau Hall. It looked like the blossoming of new love as the male cadet stepped timidly forward before sharing a chaste kiss on the female cadet's cheek.

T'yel could see her mother standing by that very tree, could she have been kissed in such a way by her father? Starfleet Academy is where their family story had begun. Father was so distant. The fact she and Selemani even existed, T'yel thought, was by no means a miracle.

"Your brother is hurting too"

T'yell knows Tiberius speaks the truth. She just wished Selemani did not keep everything in.

"He closes himself off to me", T'yel looks up at the clear San Francisco night sky, thinking not just of her brother but her Papa. The father that never wanted her. "It makes me feel lonely."

Tiberius takes her hand in his, "I'm…" A group of Orion girls pass and his voice hitches an octave lower, " here". A pang of jealousy struck T'yel a moment, she wished she had the same effect on Tiberius.

But of course they are best friends. That's it. That is all. He has been one of the few things she can count on and his humor is one of them.

He looks at her slyly, "You know on New Vulcan holding hands would be…"

T'yel answers with a smirk, "Indecent."

"Your father is still upset I took your honor," Tiberius added playfully, nudging his friend in the shoulder and T'yel can't help but nudge him back as they walk across campus. She is feeling a bit better already.

T'yel thinks back to New Vulcan, learning that she could make Father angry and doing it deliberately. It wasn't rebellion. She wanted her father to say something. Anything. She touches the necklace clasped around her throat . The necklace her father transported back to her after she threw it at him in a fit of rage and left New Vulcan. After years of not being raised by him, he thought presenting a necklace was sufficient? Despite that, she continues to wear it. It's an amulet from Vulcan. Old Vulcan. A Vokayan amulet. It's one thing she has of Papa and of a people she wished she felt closer to.

Tiberius touches her earlobes, ever so slightly bringing her back from her thoughts on New Vulcan. Does he know that touching her there makes her tingle with something other than mere delight. Most likely not. He is her best friend after all. He fingers the earrings that match her amulet dangling beneath her ears. Turquoise. He had given them to her on her 18th revolution around the sun.

Wanting to displace these feelings of uncomfortableness she says in a half deprecating and half joking manner, "You would not take the honor of an elf." Tiberius after all would not even take advantage of an Orion although she had seen him stare many a times at the green skinned beauties. Every man did.

Tiberius shook his head, "Jesus, Mary and Jupiter are you that oblivious?"

Was she? They were by that tree near Robau Hall. That tree where the couple she spied on once stood. Where perhaps her mother stood with her father whispering of their plans for the future in the stars.

He has his hand on her back swinging her gently towards the tree, "What the-"T'yel says her left hand reaching Tiberius' shoulder for balance.

"Friends do not do this on New Vulcan" Tiberius took her right hand and instead of holding on like they usually do, he touches his fingertips deliberately to hers. Her whole body shivered in excitement as she closed her eyes, leaning against the tree into the palm of his hand, letting the sensation flow through her, pulsing in areas of her body which made her feel ashamed.

She had always felt nothing but friendship for him, but that time on New Vulcan was different. T'yel wanted to make Papa angry. In doing so she did feel something else she wasn't expecting for Tiberius. In her anger at father , she had quickly put it aside. When she reunited with her friend at Starfleet Academy she was certain it was just a passing curiosity for them both and nothing more.

She would not let him know the effect it had on her. Their friendship was not worth ruining.

T'yel opened her eyes, His forehead was pressed against hers, his eyes closed. This was truly awkward and she had to make it right. But she did not know how.

"You don't want an elf" she whispered, feeling his hot rapid breath against her cheek.

Tiberius's eyes slowly opened, his forehead still pressed against hers. he said each work slowly and distinctly, " I have always wanted you."

T'yel snatched her hand back, Tiberius hand falling away. His eyes looked confused and hurt. She had hurt him but this was not right. It had to stop. Because of what happened on New Vulcan, he was punished because of what they did.

She pushed him away, "You do not Tiberius. You could have been the first human at the New Vulcan Science Academy. Because of me, my father would not admit you."

His head shook. " No, I chose Starfleet because I knew you would study here"

T'yel looked down at the ground her head in her hands. "No you aren't telling the truth. My father wanted you gone."

"Your father is many things, but not vindictive. I was admitted and I chose you."

This was far too much for T'yel. She thought back to the taunts of her childhood. Papa had left her. Her brother taken away. No one would love her. No one. Tiberius? He had refused an opportunity of a lifetime to be with her. She was not worth It. Father had admitted him to the New Vulcan Science Academy and he had chosen Starfleet? Unlike Uncle Jim, Tiberius was always into science. On the Enterprise he spent most of his time in the science lab. His dream since they were young was to learn from the best and brightest in the sciences on New Vulcan.

"You are mistaken Tiberius. You cannot feel that way."

"Stop. Stop with this self deprecating bullshit for once T'yel. Do you know how many other classmates I have to fight off ...just to be your friend? Do you see how the other guys look at you?"

No she did not see. All she could see where her classmates from years ago taunting her for things she could not control. How she wanted to be accepted by her human classmates. She could not fit in as a vulcan, but perhaps as a human? It was not so.

"I am not normal" T'yel says quietly. Not referring to being part Vulcan or part human. But the part of her that changed the day her mother died. She allowed him to lean closer, " I will never be normal."

The look she can see in his eyes, is desire. This is not the first time she has seen him look at her this way. But the first time T'yel realizes what it is and how long he has harbored these feelings for her. She is afraid and she does not know why.

"I" ,he paused, closing the distance between them and cupping her face in his hands,

"I have wanted you just as you are. Then and now. and I would not want you to change. But I couldn't fix the hurt you feel and I want you to be happy. Let me make you happy."

He then says the words T'yel thought no man would say to her. "I love you"

T'yel wrenched away from his hands, the disappointment evident in his face.

"Do.. not... say..those..things." she kept her voice steady, trying not to betray what she truly felt as she climbed the stairs to her dormitory.

"I do. I have loved you since we were kids"

No,she said to herself,, her back still turned away. I am broken. You cannot love me. Please love someone who is more worthy of your affections. Not me. "Leave Tiberius. Go."

A forceful exhale was heard, his steps drifting away.

T'yel placed her hand on the door sensor, the door sliding open beckoning her entry. As she stepped in, Tiberius raced up the stairs catching the door, holding it to prevent it from closing.

"Tiberius, I said…..,"

She didn't expect him to press his finger against her lips preventing her from talking.

"I love you so much I have been working months with your brother on a research project he started with Professor Scott. A project I do for you. That your closed off brother does.."... He took her by her shoulders forcing her to look at him, his voice filled with exasperation "...for you! Because Selemani would do anything for his little sister. Do you really think he likes shutting you out? He is shutting you out to protect you."

A special research project? Selemani had been engrossed in labwork since she began her Starfleet studies. 192 missed lunches and dinners. 29 missed events. It wasn't because he was trying to avoid her. Her big brother was doing something for her.

Before she could ask what it was, what it could possibly be, Tiberius lifted her chin and spoke softly, "It will make everything right again. As it should be."

Before she could object and later as she thought about it, she would not have, He brought his lips upon hers in a tender kiss before leaving out into the night. T'yel stood there, biting her bottom lip, still tasting a bit of mint that Tiberius had left behind, when his lips had touched hers.

Mere seconds. 30.41.

Perhaps everything was not as it should be, but in 30.41 seconds the universe felt perfectly right.

TBC

3rd and 4th chapters are already finished. I just have to type them in. Tiberius is not like Capt Kirk, but I wanted to show how one can be very different than their parents. He doesn't run after Orion girls. Or many girls for that matter. He only has eyes for one. And although Spock has left the Enterprise for New Vulcan after the death of Nyota, he is still friends with Capt Kirk, inviting Tiberius into his home in Chapter 4. Time travel coming up soon. NExt chapter will explain why T'yel refers to herself as an elf.