The sun was setting over a brick-red mountain ridge, streaking the sky with strange colors that Amanda had never seen in the sky on Earth. She was standing alone on a small terrace. She turned to look behind her - an elegant Vulcan home, with large, low wings; a design to keep the building cool. Amanda puzzled at it. She had never seen this place before. With the fluidity of dream-movements, Amanda walked to the edge of the terrace, considering stepping off to explore the desert, where the red sands stretched away as a rusty sea.
"What are you doing here?" Amanda turned to see a Vulcan boy, probably fourteen or fifteen years old. He stared at her with dark eyes like deep polished wood. Amanda immediately knew him as Sarek.
"I don't know." She replied, with dream-fed bluntness to her tone. She wasn't nervous or angry in his presence. He was there and she was there, and that was that. Although Sarek's expression was calm and smooth, Amanda saw a flash of confusion in his dark eyes.
"I don't understand. It is strange that you should be here."
"I go where I wish."
The sound of footsteps made Amanda turn. A Vulcan girl was approaching them - Sarek's age, Amanda could tell, but already a stunning beauty. Her face was as perfect as a porcelain doll's. Somehow she stood out more than her surroundings, as though she were more real than everything else. Her blue dress was shimmering in the dusky light. Amanda immediately disliked her, although she wasn't sure why.
"Why haven't you come to see me, Sarek?" She asked, not even glancing at Amanda. Her voice was as soft as a dove's. Amanda felt her dislike for the young lady grow. Sarek also looked thrown off, glancing between the girl and Amanda as if he were feeling out of his depth.
"This isn't how this happened." He said slowly. "This is different. I do not understand why it is different." He turned suddenly on Amanda, and she recognized a spark of anger in his eyes. "You are not supposed to be here. Why have you come here? How?"
Amanda stared at him, unable to say anything, stifled with confusion. The boy Sarek advanced on her. His shoulders were already rather broad. Amanda stepped back. "Why are you angry with me?"
"I am not angry. You are incongruous. Your presence is perplexing. You cause...turmoil." Amanda took another step back. She knew, in a strange way, that this young Sarek wasn't just talking about the current situation. He came closer, eclipsing Amanda's view. The girl in the background faded into a bluish smudge. "Why do you draw me to you, Amanda?"
"I don't know," Amanda said. She stepped back onto the red sand of the desert, and awoke.
Amanda opened her eyes and looked around, feeling muzzy and confused. It took her a few moments to register that she was lying in her bed in her little home on Vulcan. For some reason it took her much longer to draw herself out of the dream than usual. Still sleepy, she forced herself to sit up and stretch - she did have a big day today, after all. As she dressed and fixed her hair, Amanda thought about the strangeness of the dream. Sarek had been in her dreams before, far more often than Amanda would like to admit to herself, but this time it had felt like she was visiting his dream. An altogether unsettling thought, although she knew it couldn't be possible. Still, the country house, the pretty girl...those things weren't out of her memory or subconscious, as far as she could tell. That was the thing about one's subconscious, though - it worked busily without one's knowing or understanding. Dismissing this thought as unimportant, Amanda made her way downstairs to breakfast. She was already filling with excitement and nerves for her first day as a real teacher.
Upon arriving at breakfast, though, Amanda had to force herself to eat. Her stomach was too full of butterflies to be hungry. What would the Vulcan version of butterflies be? she mused as she tried to finish the porridge T'Iva had made for her. "Mathra. Butterfly." Finally, breakfast more or less eaten, Amanda went out to meet the hovercar that would take her to the Children's Institute, armed with a lesson plan and eagerness to begin.
The same rather reedy guide greeted her at the Children's Institute when she arrived. He seemed pleased to see her, however, and politely led her to her classroom. Apparently she was arriving at the same time that the students were coming in to begin their own classes. She spotted Selek among the neat little figures and raised a hand in a sort of wave to him. He nodded at her before disappearing along with his fellows into another classroom. Amanda hoped she would see him when she was finished for the day. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with Selek - he was sufficiently curious about Earth to enjoy her company as well, and they had a comfortable companionship as inhabitants of two very different worlds, seeking to learn about each other.
Amanda's own classroom was a smallish one at the end of a hallway that Amanda had not been down before. She surmised it must be part of the wing for the younger children, as many of the fixtures and furniture was obviously designed for smaller bodies. The thought made her smile on the inside. Vulcans and Humans might be very different, but in some way or another, all children were children.
"This will be your classroom, Miss Grayson. Please alert me or one of my fellow stewards if you have need of anything. You should find the room adequately stocked with resources for teaching." Amanda's guide said politely, gesturing for her to go into the room. "I shall not be far away, if you have need of me." With that, he left, and Amanda was alone in the hallway. It was eerily quiet - where were all the children? Puzzled, but determined to get on with things, Amanda went into the room and set her small bag down on the desk at the front. Like all things Vulcan, of course, the room was rather stark compared to Terran standards. There were small chairs arranged in a semicircle in front of an adult-sized chair at the head of the classroom. Behind the teacher's seat was a huge screen, the size of which Amanda marveled at. There was a small console beside the teacher's seat - Amanda hoped that it was simple enough for her to get the hang of it quickly. Before she could truly test it out, however, someone was clearing their throat in the doorway.
Amanda looked up to see a female adult Vulcan waiting there. She didn't look much older than Amanda herself. She gave a little bow when Amanda met her eyes, and Amanda hurriedly reciprocated. Amanda could see a few children standing behind the lady, looking solemn, as quiet as little statues. "Good morning, Miss Grayson. I have brought your class to you. Go inside and sit down, children." The young woman stepped aside and gestured for the children to file inside. They did so, and Amanda watched them take their seats. It was strange how the youngest Vulcans seemed to be even more grave and sullen than their elders. Perhaps it was because Amanda was used to see children in a more excitable state, so that in contrast these young Vulcans looked as somber as strict polititians.
"Thank you." Amanda said, extending the ta'al to the woman. She returned it with a nod.
"I will be here to escort them to their next class when you have completed your teaching for the day." She said, and smartly stepped out. Amanda was left in the center of the semi-circle of children, all of whom were watching her with round, serious eyes. Amanda wanted to laugh, simply out of nervousness, but controlled herself.
"Good morning, children. My name is Amanda Grayson. You may call me Miss Grayson, perhaps Amanda when we become better acquainted." Amanda could have kicked herself for that - she had no idea how Vulcan children were supposed to address their teachers. Maybe the children would be bewildered by such an informal form of address. In any case, she continued, "I will be teaching you a short class on Terran culture and language. Before I begin today's lesson, please introduce yourselves to me." Amanda nodded to the little girl sitting on the end of the circle. She felt strange using this kind of language with young children. She felt as though she should be more friendly, more flexible, but perhaps the children would give her a guide to how she was supposed to speak to them. Her questions were answered for her as soon as the little girl opened her mouth.
"I am T'Lun. I am five years of age." She said. Her eyes were as dark as Sarek's, and her gaze never moved from Amanda's face. As used to Vulcans as Amanda was now, hearing the solemn voice coming out of the little chubby face was incredibly strange to Amanda. It was like being addressed by a very serious doll.
"Pleasure to meet you, T'Lun." Amanda said, then turned to look at the little boy next to her.
"I am Tomek. I am older than T'Lun. She is my younger sister. I am six and a half years of age."
"Pleasure to meet you, Tomek." Amanda said. They continued in this fashion until they reached the end of the line of children. Amanda mentally tallied them up - four girls and six boys: T'Lun, T'See, T'Ama, and T'Diah; Komek, Aven, Emonn, Rotah, Sadrak, and Turinon. They looked at her expectantly after T'Diah had introduced herself. Amanda nodded and said.
"Thank you. I will do my best to remember all of your names." She began, but Sadrak piped up before she could continue.
"Why should you encounter difficulties in remembering our names?" He asked. His neighbor, T'See, gave him a sharp look. "You must not interrupt the teacher, Sadrak." She said. The boy beside Tomek, Emonn, offered, in a thoughtful tone "Humans do not have the same faculty of memory that Vulcans do." Amanda watched them, surprised, for a moment before she was able to pull herself together.
"I suppose you are right, Emonn, although we are not deficient." She said. "Humans have about eighty five percent of the recalling ability of Vulcans."
"What is the figure exactly?" The smallest girl, T'Ama, asked. Amanda floundered for a moment before saying "The exact figure is not important - at least, it is not relevant to the subject at hand. May I begin with the lesson now, children?"
They all looked up at her, and a few of them nodded. Oops, mistake number two...Vulcans are not good with sarcasm and teasing. Wondering how difficult this class was going to prove to be, Amanda began with her lesson.
"The first Human cultures on Earth arose around two thousand years B.C.E, and abbreviation which Humans use to mean "before the common era", which is held to be the year zero. The culture about which we have the most information is that of the Egyptians, whose first monuments can be dated to approximately the year 2150 B.C.E. ..."
Amanda worked hard with the children for the next hour, beginning with the Egyptians and ending, just in time, with an explanation of early agriculture on Earth. For the most part, the children were serious and studious in their attention, politely raising their hands to ask a question when Amanda gave pause for it. She found, with a mixture of relief and amusment, that these children were not so very different from Human children, although there were still significant differences. Amanda's class would often go into long-winded tangents amongst themselves, which Amanda could barely force herself to stop because she found them so fascinating. At one point, T'See and Turinon got into a heated argument about heiroglyphics that both impressed Amanda with its intellectualism, and amused her with its somewhat inconsequential subject matter. It seemed to her that Vulcan children were very eager to offer their own opinions, and would battle fiercely with each other in debate about them, even if their points were about something rather silly. As an observer, Amanda got the idea that Vulcan aptitude for logical reasoning and intellectual conversation came very early - "choosing a hill to die on" must come later. Amanda had to gently steer the discussions back to the Egyptians on several occasions, as the children would bring in increasingly far-flung points to support their own arguements. It was clear to Amanda, however, that there was a rapacity for learning inside each of them. This was immensely pleasing and fascinating to her.
At one point towards the end of the class, however, one of the discussions began to go sour. Two of the children were locked in a dense argument that, to Amanda's surprise, was causing more and more distress as it went on. Amanda could see Komek's face taking on a greenish flush as he belabored his point, his voice rising to a higher pitch than she had heard before. Sensing that he was about to lose emotional control, Amanda darted in to end the argument just as Komek was raising his hand to smack the other child. In a Human kindergarten, this sort of thing would be rather commonplace, and would be sorted out easily. Amanda did her best to calm them down, giving Komek a very pointed look. He quickly withdrew and soothed his expression, although Amanda could see it was a struggle. She was struck with the knowledge of how difficult it must be for Vulcans to learn to suppress their emotions. Ataur had told her that they were more violent and intense than Human feelings, and Amanda could see that in Komek's face as he fought to calm himself. Just like Sarek, she thought. It really takes an immense amount of strength and self-control to keep themselves sane.
Despite that one hiccup, the class went very smoothly. Amanda found herself truly enjoying the discussion with her students. They raised interesting questions which she was eager to answer. When the young Vulcan woman came by to pick the children up again, Amanda felt as though barely any time had passed at all.
"Thank you, children. Continue with this level of dedication to your studies and you will do very well." She said, keeping a smile inside for herself. "I will see you again tomorrow."
"Nemaiyo, sevensu!" The children chimed (still in solemn tones) in unison as they got up from their seats. "Thank you, teacher!" Amanda blinked - she had forgotten about that. At the end of each class, the children would say that to their teacher. She had seen other teachers receive the same thanks, but she hadn't thought that her students would say it to her. She was both surprised and pleased, privately, of course.
Her duties finished, Amanda had some time to herself. She packed up her things and wandered out into the hall, meaning to head for the main hall. She walked past many classrooms, both empty and full, hearing bits and pieces of lessons as she drifted by. A little rumble of hunger reminded her that she hadn't exactly eaten breakfast that day. Time to be a little more purposeful in her wanderings. After a few more minutes of being lost, Amanda found her way to the main hall of the Institute. It was relatively empty just then, classes being in session. The few people in the room were busy with their own work, and largely ignored Amanda. She nodded to the few who looked up at her, and turning back to face the entranceway nearly bumped into a tall Vulcan.
"I'm sorry," She said automatically, stepping back to get out of his way. She looked up and felt her heart give a little strangled hiccup. Sarek was standing in front of her, looking a little more diffident than was his norm.
"Good afternoon, Miss Grayson." He said, his expression becoming stony again. Amanda felt her spirits sink. Nothing ever good happened when she ran into Sarek. Better not let it have a chance to happen.
"Good afternoon. Excuse me." She said, trying not to sound too hurried, and moving to go around him. She was surprised when he moved to block her way. Curious but still frustrated, she looked back into his face. "Yes?"
"Miss Grayson," Sarek said again, making Amanda mentally roll her eyes. "I was planning to accompany Selek on an excursion this afternoon. As I thought that it might interest you, I would like to extend an invitation to you."
Amanda looked at him blankly for a few moments before her neurons could bundle together a reply. "Oh. What sort of excursion are you going on?" She was surprised that she managed to be so cool and collected. Normally she'd be fumbling for her words on the floor right about then. Perhaps Ataur's training was helping her, in more ways than she'd expected.
"There is a small active volcano site not far from the outskirts of the city. It is of course not dangerous. Selek has often expressed interest in going to see it. Given his apparent taste for your company, I thought perhaps you would like to accompany us." Sarek intoned. He looked even stonier than usual now, and Amanda wondered if he were fighting hard to keep a lid on himself. It certainly seemed that way. She herself was unsettled - she of course liked spending time with Selek, and a true Vulcan volcano would be very interesting indeed, but Sarek...Amanda swallowed, feeling as though her heart was trying hard to crawl its way up her throat. She had to admit to herself that this outing sounded exciting...for more reasons than one.
"Yes, I will go with you." Amanda was surprised to hear the words in her own voice. They had jumped out of her mouth of their own volition. Cursing herself for un-Vulcan-like impulsiveness, she looked away from Sarek on the pretense of picking a thread off her sleeve. "It sounds like an interesting outing."
Sarek, though still blank faced, seemed to be just as surprised as she was at her acceptance. He gave her a quick nod. "I will fetch Selek from his studies and come to your residence in one hour's time, if that is sufficient." Amanda wished she could smile at the awkwardness of his speech. It sounded even more stilted than regular complex Vulcan sentence structure. Instead, she nodded in reply. "I will expect you then." With that, she smoothly sidestepped him and went on her way again, feeling her heart bouncing and fluttering in her chest - like a mathra.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the long delay! I went to my sister's graduation and didn't have any internet :( I also apologize for this chapter being a little shorter. I've hit a little bit of a writer's block with the next part of the story, and I wanted you to have something as quick as possible. The next chapter will come soon, I promise.