So, here we are at chapter eight and I've made a few changes the rating has gone up to an M, there's no M rated material in this chapter but there will be violence and sexual situations in the next three. Also I've changed the summary because the original no longer seems appropriate, the story is still going in the direction i planned for it but when I first started I didn't know if i;d get this far with it and so the summary only really covers the first few chapters.

Enjoy.

Saturday, the first week of January.

The students were due to arrive back at the academy on Monday, classes were due to restart Tuesday. A handful of students had returned early though, she was one of them. Spock was writing this years February exams he had spent four hours sat at his desk in his office bent over previous exams from before he had become a teacher at the academy to be sure he had not included any questions that were exactly the same. Then he had started checking through the recommended reading he had assigned and came up with a series of questions that would were based upon things that were mentioned in these but not his lectures. This would show him which of the student actually read all the assigned readings.

At midnight he organized the papers and locked them in his desk ready for him to return to them in the morning. He had not exercised enough today, he had been focusing on doing all the tasks that needed to be completed before the Cadets returned. He was not tired, he would spend an hour swimming lengths, the cool water would relax his tense muscles and prepare him for sleep. He headed for the indoor swimming pool in the sports complex. He always kept a spare pair of regulation trunks in his locker so headed to get them first. Then the changing rooms, the warm showers to get ride of any dirt that might of attached itself to him since his morning shower and finally out into the swimming pool.

Nyota was there, her arms and legs gracefully propelling her through the water. Spock had not prepared himself to see her, after not seeing her for three weeks her sudden presence hit him like a projectile to the chest leaving him feeling breathless a little shocked and, well like he had just been hit in the chest. He reminded himself of the promise he had made to his mother, to allow himself to feel the emotions just once without trying to control them. As the old human saying went best to get it over and done with. He walked to the waters edge and prepared to dive in when he noticed that she had stopped to look up at him. When he straightened to look at her she looked away. He was reminded of her strange behavior in the pool before.

Hello Nyota, I trust you are well. Yes, just couldn't sleep. How was your Christmas?

" I spent my free time pursuing personal interests. What is the cause of your sleeplessness, is there something on your mind?"

" No, it's just the change in time zones."

He nodded then proceeded to dive into the water and swim. He heard further movement in the water, Nyota had also resumed swimming. He swam 1.23 lengths to each of hers, she was fast for a human. They were swimming parallel to each other, two meters apart. Every time he passed her it was as though her body was radiating a great heat that seeped through the water to him. Away from her it was cold, at first he tried to block this sensation, ignore the signals coming from his body as he would when in pain, allowing himself to feel was uncomfortable as he was unused it. The reaction to suppress any emotion was strong and ingrained into his being. He reminded himself again that this discomfort was only for this one night. Once he had fulfilled the promise to his Mother things would go back to normal.

He stopped swimming when he heard her getting out the water. He trod water watching her walk away from him, he felt disappointment and the urge to call to her. Due to his promise to his mother it was an urge he could not ignore.

"Nyota, are you leaving?'

She turned to him. The sight of her in the red swimming costume brought an intense physical attraction, it was something Spock had very little experience of but he could recognize it, he had never known physical attraction could be so strong. He could understand why some people did stupid things when in this state. He did not approve of it, it would lead him to act in an illogical manner.

" No, I'm just getting a drink of water, the chlorine is making my throat feel dry."

He nodded and continued to swim somewhat reluctantly. After eight lengths he heard her footsteps returning but she did not enter the water. At twelve laps he became aware that she was watching him and after fourteen he stopped too ask her why. Wiping the water form his face he saw that she was sat at the pools edge a few meters away her feet dangling into the noticed that she had a large dark bruise on her left calf her position earlier had not allowed him to see it. He felt concern and a slight panic.

" Nyota you are hurt."

"Hm," she made a little noise of confusion then following his gaze looked down to her leg. "Oh, my sister and I were bike racing, she hit an area of low traction and she swerved and collided with me. My leg got caught and twisted between the two bikes. It hardly hurts anymore now."

She looked down and gave a small tinkling laugh. Spock doubted she was laughing at the accident but had the strange awareness that she was remembering something that she had found humorous. He watched her and she must have sensed that he wished to know what she was thinking because she started to talk again.

"I'm just thinking of my Mothers reaction when we came back all scraped and bruised. She just said she'd kiss it better. It's like we were still kids, always falling over or running into things."

" Kiss it better?"

Yes, haven't you heard that before?

He had not, he could not see any scientific reason why kissing somebody would cure an ailment. But the universe had often proven to hold things that apparently did not play fully to the rules of science. At least not to any understanding of science that they currently had. One day all these things would be explained and the logic of the universe would reveal itself to the lifeforms that inhabited it. He looked at that darkened patch of skin, a blight on an otherwise beautiful body and he wished it to disappear, he wished to take away the pain however slight. Kiss it better, he longed to kiss that skin. Kiss it better, It seemed logical to him at that moment, an experiment, the only way to test something if the theory does not seem correct.

He slowly waded through the water to her. He stood exactly a foot and a half away from her and took her ankle gently in his hand raising it slightly out of the water.

"Spock, what are you doing?" Her voice sounded curious but he could feel a deep trust she had for him flooding through the slight telepathic link the skin to skin contact had opened. It made him glad to know that she trusted him so implicitly and he thought to himself that he would never do anything to break that trust, he would protect her, always.

Kissing it better. He explained, he sensed her surprise. He paused for the slightest of seconds, she could have stopped him if she had wished but she didn't. He bent his head close to her inner calf, keeping his eyes focused entirely on that dark bruise he pressed his lips gently to her skin. Her skin was smooth and silky as he had always imagined it, warm to the touch, damp and with the smell and slight taste of chloride from the water. He delighted when he heard a soft gasp from above him. He backed away reluctantly letting go of her ankle but not without letting his fingers brush down the sole of her foot. As he had suspected the bruise was still there.

" The bruise is no better, however your heartbeat has has increased by 23% your breath sounds uneven and your internal temperature has risen by two degrees."

Her dark eyes starred down at him, he registered the surprise in them, her cheeks were starting to show a slow blush and her lips were slightly parted. He stopped himself from withdrawing completely, he had allowed himself to feel, to act upon those feelings and had committed an intimate act with a young student. He would have immediately started the suppression process is it weren't for one thing. He may be attracted to Nyota but he had just learned that Nyota was also attracted to him. He had fleetingly felt it through their contact and all her physiological response had confirmed it. If he were to do the logical ting this would mean that he should back further away from Nyota, stop calling her by her name, even put a stop to their lunches. A more concerning thing was that he had convinced himself, if only for a few moments that what he wanted to do was logical even though it was not. It was no form of scientific inquiry that had lead him to kiss Nyota but a strong desire for skin to skin contact. He would need to think on this for a long time. His short period of following his emotions had, as he suspected led to highly illogical acts on his part. But, illogically he wished it too continue, just for a few moments he had the strong inclination that there was more to be learned tonight.

" I am sorry, that was highly inappropriate of me."

"No, it's okay."

There was a silence, and it was not one that Spock felt comfortable with. He usually enjoyed silence, it was easier to concentrate on the task at hand or ones own thoughts.

"Did you ever play in the pool when you were a child?"

" Pools are for exercising."

" Me and my brother and sister always used to play in the town pool."

" What games do you play in pools?"

" Not games, not exactly, just mucking about."

She slide back into he water and waded a few feet away from him, she lazily swung her arms around in the water. Spock was wondering what thought processes had lead her to this topic of conversation, in his mind all he could think about was that soft touch of her flesh to his lips and the torn thoughts and emotions that had erupted from it. She seemed to be completely ignoring the strange act though.

" I was thinking about it when you came in. All I do is swim laps, but sometimes I wish I was ten year younger and back in that swimming pool splashing my brother and holding him underwater, it was so much fun. Life was simpler and funner back then."

" I too used to be held underwater, by my class mates. I would not have thought that you would find pleasure in attempting to drown somebody."

She laughed. Spock felt the shiver down his spine the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

" I wasn't attempting to drown him, it was just fun. Splashing each other was fun."

She turned her back wading away from him. He acted suddenly, impulsively. Swinging his arm around quickly then raising it suddenly out the water to cause a large cascade of water to fly up toward Nyota, only a small amount hit her at the distance that he was from her. He did not find that the action had been pleasurable in anyway. Nyota turned around she was grinning widely, she copied that action and the cool chloride water hit him in the face. It was not in anyway pleasant but seeing the way Nyota was smiling the twinkling and mischievous light in her eyes. It was an acceptable trade.

" Cadet Uhura I will have you reprimanded for splashing a superior officer."

This time her laughing was even more delightful than before, Spock did not think it was because she laughed more loudly than he;d ever heard her but because he knew he was the direct cause of the laughter and it pleased him.

"Are you joking Spock?"

He considered answering that Vulcans did not joke but indeed he had threatened her with an action that didn't mean to take and he had meant for it to illicit a laugh, he had indeed joked, he raised his eyebrows at her and she laughed more. Spock heard the sound of footsteps and looked at Nyota, he decided it best not to allow another student or staff member to see him so uninhibited. He nodded at Nyota and dove back into the water starting to swim laps, Nyota followed his lead. Three minutes later Spock passed the new swimmer in the water, a tellerite which explained why the student was around so late, the tellerites, like Vulcans did not require much sleep. After another eight minutes and 32 seconds Nyota left the pool. Spock felt disappointed that she had left and strangely annoyed at the tellerite for his untimely entrance.

Spock had allowed himself to enter into one of the deepest forms of meditation, his mental walls that dampened his emotions and allowed him to act in a clearly logical manner had taken a knock and they now needed to be strengthened. He entered this state of pure thought and tranquility not knowing how long it would take to restore his balance and find a solution to his feelings for Nyota that satisfied both his logical Vulcan mind and his Human heart, in the metaphorical sense. It was the first hour of Sunday morning, he would forgo sleep, food and exercise, he had known this form of meditation to last for days at times but as he was needed on Tueday morning he had set several alarms so that he would come out of it by then.

Spock came to awareness just as the sun was setting. He felt refreshed and tranquil. He went to his small replicator and ordered Plomeet soup, rice, fruit salad and milk. As he sat down to eat he felt satisfaction at having come up with an answer. Nyota was an inappropriate for a bond mate, but that inappropriate lied in two factors, the first being that although sensible and intelligent she was very young, six years younger than himself, still on the cusp of womanhood. The other was the fact that she was his student, the answer was simple. She would not always be this young and she would not always be his student. If it weren't for these two things she would be a suitable bond mate for him. She was quick to learn, had some similar interests, she wished to be on a star ship when she graduated, she was graceful yet could look after herself to a certain extent. She seemed to have a good control over her emotions, a strong will and determination. She was attracted to him, had on occasions sought to spend time with him and seemed to like him, she had never looked at him with the irritation that most Humans showed him. It would not be uncomfortable to be linked to her. So he would wait, he would wait for her to grow up, it would not be long now. He would wait and protect her and befriend her and let her know in some small ways that he cared for her and hope that when the time came when she was old enough and no longer his student she would accept him.

He had barely finished his Plomeet soup when his door chimed, carefully placing his spoon back into the bowl to be recycled he went over to the door checked the I.D. and opened the door to Christopher Pike.

"Spock."

"Chris, how may I help you?"

" I was just checking you're alright, the head called you three times and sent you and E-mail and as you didn't answer either he asked me to check in on you."

" I have been meditating, I did not hear the communicator. What is so urgent?"

I don't know some kind of disciplinary hearing. I shall check my messages once I have finished eating.

" Okay, is there anything you want to talk about Spock?"

" No, I am content."

That's good, look I'm glad your okay, I'm away for the next few days on a recruitment drive but I'll be back on Wednesday so I'll see you then.

"Yes. Goodbye Chris."

After Chris left Spock finished eating is meal and then got his PADD to read the message left for him. He had been summoned to a meeting to decide what disciplinary action was to be taken against Cadet Williams, apparently the Cadet had broken another rule but whihc wasn't detailed in the message. As a member of the Cadets apartment Spocks opinion would be taken into account. Spock had only been called to one of these meetings once before. The young cadet in question had disobeyed a senior officers order, but in doing so had saved the life of another cadet. He had a spotless record and good grades, he was given a sever warning and was held back from raising rank for a three year period, though many thought he should have got a commendation for bravery.

Cadet Williams grades were below average and he had a bad attitude towards rules and his senior officers. He was the cadet who had insulted Nyota, whether he'd stay at the academy or be dismissed depended upon the seriousness of the offense. Spock would reserve judgment until he knew the full details.

Spock got up at 6:00, exercised fro forty -five minutes, ate breakfast in the mess hall then headed towards the science lab that was dedicated to botany. He wished to make a final check on one of the plants he had been assigned to study. It had no medicinal or vitamin value. It produced delicate little flowers all year round. Each flower had five triangular shaped petals, it was a most unusual specimen as the color of the petals changed from a light blue to a dark purple throughout the day. It could not be pollinated on this planet as it could only;y be pollinated by a small unnamed insect native to it's home world. Due to this it could have no affect on earths ecosystem and Spock had grown three other samples from cuttings and had gotten permission to keep one.

The new plants had grown quickly and were now looking like small leafy bushes. Arriving at the lab he picked out the bush that had grown the most and had produced five of the delicate color changing flowers. He carefully dug it out of the green lab tray and replanted it in a brown ceramic plant pot with a fifteen centimeter diameter. He then mixed up a two pint bottle of plant feed. He checked the time , it was 7:32. It would take him twelve minutes to walk to the student accommodations arriving at 7:42. He wondered if Nyota would have risen. It was still the student holidays and he knew that Humans had the habit of not rising at the same time on days when they were not required to work or study as on the days when they were.

He decided to stop by his office on the way and call her to be sure that she was awake, he fit the two pint bottle into his bag and went to the plant, he gently ran his fingers over the silky texture of one of the petals. As the main scientist connected to the specimen he had the task of giving it a name. So far he had left the name on the fact sheet as XIN32X8, now he accessed one of the computer terminals pulled up the plants information sheet and typed in the box at the top the plants new name. Zambarau Nyota.

Picking the plant back up he headed back to his office where he typed Nyotas address into his communicator and waited for her to answer. It took her forty- two seconds. She was wearing her hair loose today and was wearing a yellow jumper.

Nyota, I hope I am not disturbing you.

" No, I was just going out for breakfast."

' May I come to your apartment? She looked at him with curiosity.

" Yes."

I shall see you in seven minutes and twenty seconds. He shut down the com link and headed to Nyotas apartment, taking the lift to protect the plant. She opened the door quickly as she was expecting him, she was wearing jeans and a jumper, the outfit hugged her figure. She looked at him with some curiosity her eyes wondered to the plant he held in his hands.

" Is there something wrong?" She asked .

He extended the plant slightly. I thought that you might like to have the specimen, to brighten up your room.

He used the words he had heard his mother use to explain why she kept plants in the house. A slow smile spread across Nyotas face, he had been right in his presuming that she would like the gift and he felt a small tightness in his stomach that he couldn't name but now knew was caused by pleasing her.

" It's pretty."

It is from a newly discovered class M planet. If you place it by your window and water it every three days it should survive in your room. He handed it to her, his fingers brushing her and giving him that slight electric thrill up his arm and a flash of delighted and curious surprise form Nyota.

Thank you Spock, it is lovely. She turned and put the plant on the windowsill. Come in. She said as he waited on her doorstep. He stepped into the room, the door closed behind him. He looked around her room, it was the first time he had been i n it since the day she had arrived. One side of the room was left plain, the desk had a neatly organized stack of PADDS and electronic books, a couple of paper books and a Dictaphone. The other side of the room had posters covering 85% of the wall, he could see a sock under the bed and there were items of make up and jewelry in amongst the badly organized PADDS, and a romance novel.

" Your roommate had not returned?"

" No, I got a message form her last week, she won't be back till Thursday, family problems. What's this called?"

Zambarau Nyota. He said, wondering if he could hide the fact that he had named it after her, it could be consider an action of over familiarity. He noted her eyes widened slightly as he said the name and her pulse increased.

" Why is it named in Swahili?"

It seemed appropriate that as I was giving it to you I should also name it in your native tounge.

" You named it?"

I volunteered to access the sample for any uses and naming it is part of the process.

" Why did you call it purple star? The flowers are blue."

In the morning they are blue, as the day progresses they darken to purple and then return to blue in the last hour before dawn.

She looked back at the plant taking her eyes taking it in slowly.

" Amazing."

It is an interesting trait, although I have determined the chemical reaction that causes the change I have bot yet discovered what purpose it serves the plant.

" Thank you Spock, really."

She seemed to move unconsciously towards him and then stopped looking slightly nervous. He thought that she had perhaps meant to embrace him but stopped herself due to the inappropriateness of the action. He wished that she had embraced him, he wished to hold her close in that innocent human manner.

"I'm going to get breakfast, will you join me?"

I have already eaten but I shall have a cup of tea. Tell me have you been studying Ontarian over the break?

" Yes, but I would prefer it if we talk in your dialect. I am becoming out of practice."

" That is acceptable."

As they headed down to the mess hall they talked more of Spocks experiments on the plant specimens and on trips Nyota had made during the break. Spock was happy to be able to sit across form her and listen to her talk again, he felt slight reluctance when it was time for him to leave for his meeting.

The meeting was held in a small meeting room next to the head of departments office. There was a long table with twenty seats around the edges, most of them were already taken with staff members. He knew most of them, there were three other teachers from the xenolinguistic department, the head of the xenolinguistics department, the head of security and a security officer. Two members of the administrative staff and Admiral Jenkins. There were three members he did not know but judging from previous experience they were members of the academy board. As he took a seat next to one of the other tutors the head of department a Commander Sinclair spoke to him.

" Thank you for coming Commander Spock. We are just waiting on three more members."

Spock nodded, within a few minutes another xenolinguistics lecturer arrived a doctor who Spock knew to still be a cadet at the accademy and finally the last member of the board the academy main hand to hand combat teacher. With all members seated Commander Sinclair went around the table introducing the members of the meeting and the reasons they had been chosen to attend, the security officer had been a witness to the offense, the doctor and combat officer had apparently special knowledge that would help the board make a decision, the rest were there to offer their opinions on the matter and vote.

I shall now describe the incident we are here to discuss for those of you who are not yet aware of it. Micheal Williams a third year cadet specializing in xenolinguistics attacked another student a Niko Hursti. The incident occurred on Saturday in the hanger bay where the two cadets had just arrived back to the academy after the Christmas break. The two had apparently had several heated discussions previous to this, the reasons for the attack are unknown, Williams is currently in the brig and has offered no explanation as of yet. Hursti has already been cleared of any offense as he does not seem to have instigated the fight in any way and only acted in self defense during the fight, he caused no injury to cadet Williams. Hursti himself has obtained some serious injuries that Doctor McCoy will describe to you in a moment. Most of these injuries were caused by an iron bar that Williams picked up during the fight. Mr Marshall here tells me that Cadet Williams has advanced hand to hand training and was perfectly capable of killing cadet Hursti, Security officer Flint was the first ofn the scene and will describe to you what he observed of the attack and finally Doctor Ohakim, Sinclair gestured across the table to one of the people Spock had not recognized is a psychoanalysis and has done an evaluation of Cadet Williams mental state.

Spock listened to the dispositions made, cadet Hursti had suffered from a bleed in the lining of his brain that could have led to brain damage if had not been treated immediately, broken ribs and defensive wounds to his arms. The attack had been a serious one and Spock didn't have any doubt that not only would the cadet be dishonorably discharged but would also spend time under restraint. Doctor Ohakim had suggested that the Cadet suffered from paranoid and violent tenancies. After sixty seven minutes the floor was opened to discussion, the head of security put forward that this was not the only offense committed by Cadet Williams, Spock and the other tutors mentioned his grades and descriptions of his character. Three hours in, several possible punishments had been come up with and were put to a closed vote. Spock voted that the cadet be dishonorably discharged, serve the full amount of time in the brig for the offense and to receive some psychiatric care during that time. It was the logical solution, the cadet was disobedient, showed disrespect to the hierarchy and rules star fleet was founded on and had almost killed another cadet. He was unstable and needed to be taken away from society and rehabilitated. The members of the meeting were allowed half an hour for lunch as the votes were counted and considered. Spock ate alone, the members of the board seemed subdued. Upon reentering the room the verdict was announced. Cadet Williams was to be formally and publicly discharged. He was to remain in the brink up to that point and then be transported to a rehabilitation center where he would be reaccessed every year for a maximum of eight years.

That evening Spock sat in his office finishing writing the exam papers for his module. His office com link beeped, technically the offices were closed for the day so anybody who was trying to contact him would have already tried his apartment. He pressed a button below the screen set into his wall and saw Doctor Ohakim, he had no communication with the Doctor previous to that mornings meeting so he surmised that she must be calling about Cadet Williams.

" Commander Spock."

Doctor Ohakim.

" Cadet Williams has escaped from the brig." Spock was not shocked, the news was not expected but he recalled that the Cadets father had been a lock smith and had designed a lot of the systems that were in use at the Academy today.

I trust that the security guards are already searching the area?

" Yes, I just thought that I would contact you to warn you."

Warn me of what? I doubt Mr Williams is of any particular threat to me if he is acting logically then he will be trying to get out of the academy grounds and possibly off world to a none federation planet. I doubt he's thinking logically. Mr Spock, I was with the admiral when he delivered the verdict to Cadet Williams. He flew off the edge, he showed signs of extreme mental disturbance he made a lot of threats against staff members and for some reason a lot of them were aimed at you.

" There have been several occasions when I have reprimanded the cadet, he may hold a grudge against me. Thank you for informing me Doctor Ohakim."

" There was something else, he said something along the lines of 'I'll get his beloved protege' you might want to warn whoever it is he means."

" I do not have a protege."

Well in the state of mind that he's currently in he could simply mean somebody he's seen you with or somebody that he thinks you favor in class.

Spock thought about it, when cadet Williams had insulted Nyota he had stepped in front of her. When they had lunch together on Wednesdays he could recall Cadet Williams as having been in the mess hall at the same time. The week before the Christmas break Cadet Williams had come to his office on the Wednesday at 11:46 Spock had turned him away giving him an appointment for the next day but Cadet Williams had looked at Nyota, seen her sitting in Spocks office with a cup of chamomile tea, perhaps even heard them talking. He was going after Nyota.

Bit of a cliff hanger, hope you liked it though.