So here we are at chapter 22 and the story is only half way through. Just in case they're any of you out there thinking when is this going to end, well the answer is right after the events of the film. The ending chapter is already written. So here we go... onto year two.

September

Spock stood amidst the loud noises and busy rush of the shuttle bay. Most first year were not due to arrive till the next day. The last two days had been designated for assisting the return of second and third year cadets who lived either off planet, in rural areas or in Nyota's case those who simply lived so far from the academy that traditional flight would take them over ten hours. Because 93% of those arriving were returning students there were only four instructors whose tasks were to show the 7% new cadets to their quarters guide the shuttles in to the landing bays and to hurry along cadets who were lingering. Spock took several deep breaths and tried to clear his mind, he had slept longer than usual the previous night but did not feel rested. His sleep had been interrupted by fitful dreams, one where he had met her in this exact spot but the hanger and the entirety of the academy was void of anybody else so they could walk freely hand in hand talking to each other about the time they had spent apart. From the moment he had arrived back in orbit of earth he could feel her gentle presence in his mind that little spark that had been there on Dansm III but silent and weak.

In other dreams he had seen their parting but different from how it had truly been. In his dream they had not been interrupted by Chris and he had made love to her passionately and without shame on the lushly carpeted floor of the classroom. Soft music playing in the background all the time.

His final dream was a true memory, he was in a hotel, very familiar to him even though he had only stayed there one night. He was in an elevator and when the doors open into the foyer he spotted Chris shaking the hands of an older African couple. With them was a teenage girl who seemed older than her age filled with grace and confidence and clad in figure hugging but simple black trousers and a white sweater. She was beautiful, he realized now the most beautiful woman he would ever meet, because she was a woman now, fourteen months later and the academy had done that. The girl of his dream had turned to look at him with curious amber eyes, her mouth had turned up in the slightest of smiles. Such a simple moment, such a small and uneventful meeting but it had changed his life in inconceivable ways.

His eyes flickered to his watch just as the numbers flashed from 13:34 to 13:35, the shuttle she was due to arrive in was three minutes late. He turned to the nearest computer terminal and checked the listings to see if there was a cause for it's lateness and a new arrival time sketched in but found the system had not updated itself. He would have to suggest to management an update to the system to make it more efficient.

His sensitive ears picked up the sound of the shuttle a two point 34 seconds before it arrived at the hangers entrance. His heartbeat increased significantly when he saw the shuttles name. Nyota had arrived and with in a few minutes he would see her beautiful features again, catch whiffs of that raspberry and flesh scent, hear the soft tones of her voice. He stopped himself before he ran his hand over his hair, it was flat he told himself, it had been years since his hair had been a cause of embarrassment, as a child his human genetics led to a slight messy curl in his hair that he had been a course of much torment from his classmates.

The shuttle started it's decent and he felt his stomach flip. Just a little while longer he told himself. It seemed to Spock as if his senses were muffled and he was no longer aware of any of the noises, smells or presence's in the shuttle hanger, only the shuttle carrying Nyota was present. When the shuttle touched the floor Spock took a few steps forwards then stood still with his arms folded behind his back a safe distance away from the shuttle. As the stairs came down and the occupants of the shuttle started to exit Spock was full of a nervous anxiety, he wished to fidget but again that was

Something he'd learned to suppress as a child, to the crowds of people passing him he would seem unemotional and unmovable.

He watched as five cadets exited the shuttle, he could feel his heart thudding just below his ribs, the same thudding as when he'd run fifteen laps of the track. Then, finally after what had seemed like more than the 48 seconds it actually was since the first person had made his exit A pair of well toned olive skinned legs appeared at the top of the stairs, the next step revealed the top of he skirt and slim waist, the third those gentle curves of her breasts he always tried not to overtly look at for too long, then finally her gorgeous features. She wore her hair down and he could see that she had trimmed it as it reached just a few inches below her shoulder, her skin was a tone darker than when she had left due to the African sun and although he would never point it out to her, her waist though still slim by all accounts was definitely a between one and two centimeters wider, it was a phenomenon he had often seen human cadets after summer break but it didn't bother him in the slightest. Before she was half way down the steps her eyes were flittering around the room, he knew that it was he that she was looking for and he could not help but be a little pleased by that knowledge. Her amber eyes met his and gave that familiar wide smile. Spock felt his breath hitch in his throat. He unconsciously took another two steps towards her just avoiding walking into another cadet. His eyes never left hers as she finished down the steps and crossed the room in hurried motions. She stopped 1.9 feet away from him. If they were anywhere else he would reach out to hold her in his arms but they were in a busy shuttle hanger surrounded by people who would see and then know about their secret almost forbidden romance. He had to be content knowing that she was safe and had returned to him and soon they would be behind closed door, safe from prying eyes.

"Cadet Uhura." He said trying to keep the abundant emotions he was experiencing out of his voice. "I trust you are well."

"Yes , thank you commander." She took another half step forwards. "And you? Are you well?"

"More than well now you have returned my precious one."

Though he knew nobody else at the academy spoke the dialect he kept his voice low enough so that only she could hear it. He reached his hand out to he in his dream this had been when he was able to take her hand and that beautiful katra only 1.4 feet away had touched his mind. In reality it was so that he could take one of the large heavy duffel bags she carried on her back. 'Soon' he promised himself 'soon we will be as one again.'

They walked side by side through the hanger, Spock noticed a few people staring at them but when he returned their stares they quickly averted their eyes. He found himself giving quick glancing looks across at Nyota, when she first stepped out of the hanger he watched her take a deep breath, smiling slightly at the fresh air. Each time he looked at her the light fell across her skin in at a different angle cast different shadows and patches of light across her skin. Just before they entered the student apartments he glanced across at her and their eyes met. She looked down and shook her head in a silent little laugh. He realized that not only had she noticed his frequent glances but had been making her own as well. There was the usual queue outside the lift so again they took the stairs, he did not need to ask her anymore he knew she preferred it. Spock felt his apprehension rising with every step he took. He tried to gather his emotions, shrink them and make them more manageable. He felt relatively calm by the time they reached the tops of the stairs, turned left down a corridor and walked the 13 feet to the room she had used the previous year.

"It will still recognize you the locks in this sector have not been reset."

Nyota pressed her palm to the door pad and typed the door code he had set to give her extra security. The door opened and he followed her into the apartment. The door shut behind them and they were alone at last. Spock placed her duffel bag into the corner of the room. Nyota flung hers next to the bed. He turned to her and she gave him a short smile but there was something slightly nervous about it. She walked up to him and rested her head against his chest, he took in the feeling of her against him. The wonderfulness of her being closer to him again, he slowly rested his hands against the small of her back and bending his head down to rest in the curve where her shoulder met he neck, that spot was always warmer than the rest of her and her scent was always more concentrated. There was something unfamiliar, something about her that didn't fit exactly with his memory of her, it was her scent there was something other than the usual raspberries, she was wearing a perfume soft and floral.

" Do you still want me Spock? She muttered against his chest.

He gently pushed her away from him and reached down for her hands taking both in his own then spreading her fingers so they could carefully link them. Spock heard Nyota gasp and he could understand it's cause the link between them that had been sedate had flown open it was to him as if a firework had gone off in his mind. He thought of the affection and regard he felt for her and pushed it through the link towards her. She smiled a natural wide smile and looked up at him. She moved her hands from his and grasped his wrist, she took a step backwards pulling him backwards with her. She dropped his wrist and sat on the bed scooting over to lie on her side in the middle. She gave a small shy smile and patted the sheets next to her. He felt a shot of desire travel down his body, he had seen her make the small gesture in a dream he had experienced three weeks previously, but in the dream she had laid completely revealed to him. He laid on the bed his movements felt awkward to him as he shuffled along the bed so they could lay a few inches apart from each other. She stared at him with her beautiful amber eyes transfixed him, their permanent curiosity and light, the gentle way they took him in as they talked or held each other or that hard granite flash of anger when they argued. Those eyes held such expression and now they stared across at him with adoration which matched his own. Gently feeling as though anything more than the slightest of touches would break her he leaned close and placed feather light kisses

on her eyelids that had fluttered closed as she had sensed his intentions. He could not describe the feel of her cool skin under his lips but it was simple and fascinating and addictive and always led to that pressure building in his chest and stomach and unless he took measures to stop it his groin. Not content to only kiss her eyelids he touched his lips to her forehead, the wispy hair of her eyebrows, first her left temple and down her jaw line then the right. He pushed his body against hers and she yielded to him turning onto her back. He leaned over her palms on the bed sheets careful to keep his weight of off her but still keeping his body close to hers. He felt the soft mounds of her breasts moved against his chest as she took sharps shallow breaths. The sound of her heart beat so strong and fast seemed to ring in his ears. She ran her fingers through his hair and down the nape of his neck as she stared up. He moved all his weight onto one hand and stroked his finger along her cheek the skin soft and smooth. He took some of the hair that rested on her shoulders into his hand and let the fine fibers run through his fingers and drop back down as her fingers came back up along the side of his face and lightly traced his ears. He heard the soft reverberating moan but it took him another few seconds to place that it had come from him. Nyota gave a soft little smile he knew was in response to the sound and then with tantalizingly slow movements ran her fingers upwards along the side of his ears right to their very tips causing a tingling and warming sensation to spread down them. He recognized the pleasure he was feeling, more than he had ever experienced before, he had to share it with her. He reached up and almost regretfully took one of her hands away from his ears and linked their fingers together. The force of their link astonished him it seemed to have grown whilst they had been parted yet that was not possible. She was there with him, truly with him her mind open like a book if he wished to read it. She seemed as real to him as his own self, the little light between them was now a bright star and they were only separated by the finest of veils. He could feel her emotions as if they were his own and they almost were, pleasure, warmth, happiness, longing, desire, the slightest of nervous apprehension but outshone by a sense of belonging and strange hope. How could she handle such strong and complex emotions without needing to suppress them? She was extraordinary in her ability to feel and handle emotions.

Her free hand pinched lightly at his ear and he felt a sudden shot of pain cut through the pleasure, if he had been expecting it he would have blocked it and it wouldn't have affected him.

"Ow." Nyota said her voice startled she looked up at him her eyes wide with shock. Spock realized that she had meant the action to be pleasurable for him.

"My ears are rather sensitive Nyota." He explained his voice low.

" I'm sorry." She said he sensed a small worry in her, he had to get rid of it, it was not congruent with the rest of her feelings.

" Apologies are not necessary, you did not know ."

He sensed a slight relief in her.

"I felt your pain."

" The bond is strong at the moment."

" Why?"

Spock knew it was not a complaint but curiosity.

"I believe it is because I have a strong desire to be close to you, our telepathic bond seems to be strengthened by that desire, my mind is actively trying to join with yours."

" It's a mutual desire Spock."

He opened his mouth to explain how both being in the same state of mind was also aiding their connection but she pressed two fingers on his lips. He raised his eyebrow in a silent question but her hand had already snaked up to entwine in his hair at the back of his head and apply slight but persistent pressure bringing his face closer to hers.

"Kiss me Spock."

He happily answered her request, he intended their kiss to be sweet and soft but at the first touch of the moist softness he wanted more. He hungrily breathlessly moved his mouth over hers wanting to claim her. She was his, he felt pride and joy in that fact, but not she wasn't completely his not yet, it wasn't permanent yet.

As the kiss deepened he only felt the need to claim more of her grow, he pressed his body into her feeling every curve against him. He removed his hand from hers but their link remained just as strong. He allowed his hand to wonder up her arm, the dress uniform left so much unexplored skin bare. When she broke the kiss panting for air he shifted and held her left arm up to his mouth, he kissed her wrist feeling the gentle pulsing under the skin he ran his open lips up to the crease of her elbow where he placed another kiss feeling her shudder beneath him. He felt the slight dampness of perspiration and fascinated by this thing that no other humanoid species does he gave a little lick to her skin and tasted the salt on his tongue. Something about tasting her just seemed to increase his desire and he felt the edges of his control begin to peel away.

He bent back down to her kissing her again as his hands sought out more flesh. Travelling down her arm and brushing down the curve of her waist till one last conscious though made him remember kissing her calf in the pool. He reached down and hooked his hand behind her knee pulling it upwards alongside his own leg and inadvertently causing his groin to be pushed up between her legs. He felt a rumbling growl as she squirmed under him causing a delicious friction in that part of his anatomy. He felt her hands that had been travelling up and down his back, along his shoulders and biceps now dip down one resting in the dip of his lower back the other travelling over the top of his buttocks to gently squeeze, he growled again. She broke their kiss again, lightly nipping his bottom lip as she pulled away.

She looked up at him, lips plump from the bruising force of their kisses. She reached up to gently run a single finger down his cheek. She was so beautiful to him, so desirable and full off life. Too be paired with her and allowed access to her thoughts and emotions seemed to him to be a want deeper than any he had previously experienced. He bent to kiss that area where he had smelt the perfume and although later he would not be able to say why he did it he bit down on the soft flesh there drawing a sharp intake of breath from Nyota. Before she could speak he captured her mouth again his tongue quickly gaining entrance to her mouth. All thought had ceased, primal instincts were taking over. He ran his fingers over the delicate flesh below her knee making her squirm again. Then he stroked along her inner thigh till his hand knocked against the material that had been slowly working it's way up till it barely covered her. Nyota seemed to fidget against him her hands no longer stroked along his back they rested under him against his chest. As one hand drew lower down her thigh the other came up to her face , bringing most of his weight down on her. He liked the increased Closeness he wanted more, wanted to know her Mind to be inside her, one with her. His fingers found the points on her face for psychic connection and his mind began probing the link further open, just as those at her thigh worked their way up to brush against the soft cotton of her underwear. Four things happened at once, Nyota pulled away from him but her hands pushed against his chest, he felt a sudden string panic come from their telepathic link heard her strongly say 'no' and then experienced the strange sensation of somebody waking up in a strange place with no idea how they got there. It was as if his mind quietly turned off had just been switched back on again.

He backed away from her quickly pulling himself to the edge of the bed, back turned away from her, he closed the link between them blocking her from him almost completely. He bent his head into his hands, he was horrified by his actions, the two offences he had almost committed. There was some darkness to his nature, that he had always known, it was a darkness in all Vulcan's. The darkness that had made them give up love and happiness and take on logic, the thing they all needed to protect themselves against. But never, never would he have thought himself capable of forcing anthers mind. 'She chose you.' He thought to himself, 'isn't that where all the beauty lies, that she chose you to create a bond with, to be her partner and now you try to force her to give more when she has already willingly given you so much.' Why hadn't he protected himself against his dark Impulses? He knew they were there, seven months ago hadn't he considered taking anthers life? As a child had he not broken a classmates nose and jaw? Had his willingness to feel happiness loosened his control of his other emotions?

He felt a hand touch his shoulder, despite their distance he could feel her concern.

"Spock?" Her voice was so sweet, so worried. She did not know what he had been attempting to do. She was goodness, angelic and he was... No, wasn't she capable of anger as well, she was human he knew she was capable of lust he had felt it from her half a dozen times. Perhaps she would understand even forgive him. But he was too ashamed to tell her.

"Spock, speak to me."

" I lost control." He told half the truth. "I have little experience with these emotions, I do not know how to control them yet."

He felt her lean her head against his shoulder, wrap her arms around his stomach and kiss his neck. It was affection he didn't deserve.

"It's alright Spock." She whispered soothingly. " Nothing happened, you didn't hurt me..."

"It's what could have happened that worries me Nyota." He said cutting her off and turning to look at her breaking the hold she had of him. He looked into her sad eyes, she was still panting slightly from the intensity of their kisses.

"Spock, It'll happen when we're both ready. I trust you. You won't hurt me Spock." Her fingers reached to touch his face and he was forced to strengthen the barriers that dampened their bond. Spock knew that she wasn't referring to their mental bond but to the a physical one. She believed that it was his touching her without permission that he was ashamed of, she wasn't wrong and he wouldn't correct her further.

"Okay?" She asked.

"Yes." he answered taking her wrists and pulling her hands from his face.

"I must go meditate, I need to regain full control."

She nodded. He placed a small kiss to her forehead before leaving her.

Well, tell me what you think.