On Vulcan, there was no such thing as self-esteem. I was something that Spock had to keep telling himself. That his father meant nothing negative when he told him that he was abdicating his responsibilities and squandering his talent. That to him, it was a simple statement of fact.

Spock sat in front of the Comm. screen, trying to think of what he was going to say to his father. He would have to start by mentioning the visit, and then somehow bring up the fact the he was bringing Nyota with him. Perhaps he could say how vital she was to the mission, but then his father might misinterpret their relationship. No, he would have to be direct. He sat for a moment, summoning his courage before he turned on the screen.

"Hello father," he said as soon as the connection was complete.

"Hello Spock," Sarek replied slowly, "It has been a very long time since I have heard from you."

"I apologize," Spock answered, "I tried to contact you while I was on Earth, but you were not at home."

"And you did not try again," Sarek accused, "Otherwise you would have eventually reached me."

"Perhaps I have not put the effort into contacting you I should have," Spock admitted, "I still find it difficult to talk to you without mother present. I have not yet become accustomed to her death."

"So you are letting your emotions affect your actions," Sarek stated.

"Only my desire to control them," Spock replied dutifully.

"If only I could believe that," Sarek spoke slowly, "But I believe that your emotions have been influencing your actions for some time."

Spock bristled.

"I do not agree," he stated finally.

"First, you declined an offer from the Vulcan Science Academy, which, with help from your mother, I was willing to accept as the foibles of youth. But then, you decided to leave the Vulcan colony when you had a clear responsibility to stay and help repopulate. I am ashamed to have to admit that you left to pursue your own glory."

"It was a logical decision," Spock replied defensively, "Starfleet offered me an excellent opportunity, and I felt I could contribute more than as just one extra Vulcan on the colony."

"What could you possibly contribute in Starfleet?" Sarek demanded.

"We are exploring the universe and performing scientific research."

"Human research," Sarek stated.

"I do not believe there is a difference," Spock replied.

As he spoke, anger welled up inside of him. If there was one thing Spock disliked about Vulcans, it was their arrogance. Sure, there were different types of Vulcans like there were different types of humans, but on average, they tended to believe that they were far superior to other alien races. And his father, Spock knew, certainly fell into that category.

"I am coming to visit next week," Spock said suddenly, changing the topic to avoid an argument.

"What business do you have on the Vulcan colony?"

Spock briefly considered saying that there was no reason, he just felt like a visit to see how his father reacted, but the idea was so laughable he didn't say it.

"We are delivering some relief supplies from Earth."

Sarek lowered his head.

"This is shameful," he said, "I never thought we would see the day where we were taking charity from humans."

"There is nothing to be ashamed of," Spock said matter-of-factly, "I am sure if disaster stuck Earth, Vulcans would do everything they could to assist."

Or at least half-sure, Spock thought bitterly. Maybe the logical decision would be to let such an emotional race fade away.

"Still, it is unfortunate. We will need to make concessions to them that we would once have never had to make."

Spock's rage at his father's arrogance finally exploded. Or perhaps it was his rage at years of hearing his father talk down to his mother.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "That you can no longer interfere with their politics or hide technology or spend your days insulting us?"

Spock froze. He had never intended to use the word until he had said it aloud.

Us.

He could see an inkling of shock in his father's eyes.

"Spock, you have strayed," he whispered finally.

But for the moment, Spock was beyond caring what he had to say.

"If you will excuse me," he said, "I have duties to attend to."

It was a few minutes later before he realized that he had never told him about Nyota.