Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters.

The next day, Ellara was woken from her nap when a sharp knock sounded at her door. She groggily mumbled out incoherent babbles while she fixed her hair and wiped the drool from her chin. Ellara stood up and slowly made her way to the door, steeling herself before opening it. Behind that door were Lieutenant Uhura and Commander Spock. "Ah. What a pleasant surprise." she exclaimed, knowing full well why they were there. It was noon, therefore their lunch break, and she had told the Lieutenant to drop by less then twenty-four hours ago.

"I do not believe that to be true, Counsellor, as Lieutenant Uhura told me you had suggested the both of us come for an appointment." the Commander said, professional as ever.

Ellara chuckled, gesturing for the both of them to take a seat. "I've told Nyota dozens of times, I'm not against telling it many more. Please, call me Ellara. At least Ms. Lat'toy. Counsellor makes me feel like I'm some dusty old man."

"Very well," Spock nodded, "I do not believe that to be true, Ms. Lat'toy."

A small smile graced Ellara's face, and she began. "It's true, I did ask Uhura to bring you here for an appointment, however I believe she would be the best person to explain why."

Looking towards Uhura, Ellara nodded once, letting her know she should go ahead. Nyota took a deep breath, turning to face her boyfriend. "Spock," she started, taking a moment to think over her words. "Ellara felt the need to ask this of us because I told her…" Uhura paused, breathing deeply. "I told her that I was considering ending the relationship.

When Spock heard these words, his breath caught in his throat. He could not believe that Nyota had just said that, that she had been in so much distress she felt the need to end the relationship and he had not noticed or tried to help. "What made you consider that?" he asked, voice cracking a little bit.

"I feel like you aren't putting as much effort into this relationship as before. That you don't love me anymore." Uhura answered, tears beginning to spring in her eyes.

"Why do you feel that way, Nyota? Is there something I can do to change that?" Spock said, slightly quieter then before.

Uhura slowly thought it through before answering. "You've blown off our date nights for the past few weeks, and you're never back to say goodnight to me anymore. You're burying yourself in your work and forgetting me."

Spock was honestly shocked. He had not noticed what he was doing, he was so caught up. He had no idea that Nyota felt this way, and Spock was upset he had drove her to such extremes. "I am sorry, Nyota. I did not realize that I had been doing such." he explained, gazing deep into her eyes. "I will make more of an effort now that I know."

Uhura smiled at Spock, and all seemed well. "There we go, problem sort of solved, if you have any…" Ellara trailed off once she saw the Lieutenant shaking her head, her smile having become sad.

"It won't help, Spock, and you know it. It's just going to happen again. This isn't meant to be. Between yesterday and today, I've had time to think, and I've realized that even before you stopped showing up, I was unhappy. This relationship isn't going to work anymore, and I think," she took a breath to collect herself. "I think it's over."

Spock wanted to cry out, to scream at the counsellor for meddling, to tell Nyota how much he loved her, but he did not. He did not because this is was she wanted, it was what she was asking for, and because he loved her, he would let her go. Spock would respect her wishes. So, he gave her a slight nod and said, "If that is what you want, very well."

Uhura nodded, slowly reaching over and hugging him. "Goodbye, Spock." she whispered in his ear, taking in his scent one last time.

Spock didn't say anything, in fear of what would come out of his mouth.

Lieutenant Uhura let go, bid Ellara goodbye, and left. Spock did the same shortly thereafter. Ellara took a deep breath, sinking down into her seat. That was not how she expected that to go. She honestly thought that they could fix their problem. Ellara quickly shook her head. It was done, it was over, and there was nothing more to be said.

When Ellara went for dinner that evening, she almost walked right out of the cafeteria at the sight that she beheld. Sitting in the middle of the room was the entire bridge crew. Spock and Uhura were also there, although they were at opposite ends, contrary to when she last sat with them and they practically couldn't stay apart. The tension was very clear at the table, as everyone kept shifting in their seats, and the conversation wasn't very invigorating. As she went to turn around, Doctor McCoy caught sight of her and waved her over.

Sighing, Ellara walked towards the large group and took a seat next to a man she was certain was called Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu. She extended her hand towards him, and introduced herself. The two began a pleasant conversation about the ship, discussing the events that had happened, until he mentioned that he was good in martial arts. Ellara brightened considerably, and the two began comparing fighting styles. Sulu was telling her about Earth's martial arts, and Ellara was telling him about Rendoria's wild attack method. The two quickly set a date to spar, promising to use their own methods and to teach each other afterwards.

"When did you learn how to fight?" Ellara asked, wondering how much experience her opponent would have.

Sulu chuckled, taking a bite of his food. He swallowed before answering, "I started learning when I was thirteen, I think. What about you?"

Ellara blanched slightly at the question, remembering when and why she had learned. She realized that Lieutenant Sulu was still waiting for an answer, and decided it would be for the better to talk about it. "My uh… My dad made sure I had the best teacher after my mom died. I was sixteen."

Everyone who had been paying attention quickly looked away, and Sulu fumbled for words. "Listen, I am so sorr-"

Ellara waved off his apology, saying, "Please, I've heard that enough times. I practically invited the question." She let out an awkward chuckle, and quietly returned to her food, ending the conversation.

Looking around inconspicuously, she saw that she had left the table feeling more tense then before. She groaned internally, knowing that she'd have to fix it. Ellara glanced at her table mates, trying to find someone who'd be easy to start a conversation with. She spotted the man- well, more like boy- sitting next to Sulu who seemed to be easygoing. All she remembered from his name was Chekov. His shirt placed his rank as Ensign, with the colour indicating command and helm. She thought up of a random question, and then turned to him to ask. "So, Lieutenant Chekov, what's your role on the ship?" she strived to sound as lighthearted as possible, knowing her accent could make her seem slightly condescending.

That was a problem Rendorians had when speaking to humans. Their accent, while not very thick, tended to make them sound like they felt superior to others. Ellara had figured this out early on, when people scoffed at most of what she said, so she had practiced with Jonesie to attempt to make her sound more happy. It had worked; people stopped scoffing, and they instead admired her accent. It had started to slip a little, however. The lack of people to talk to had made her lose practice, so she had to really force to speak normally. She wouldn't want to sound condescending to Chekov; he was most likely in his very early twenties, and clearly the groups little gem, someone they wanted to protect. It wouldn't win her any favours to sound rude.

At hearing her question, Chekov perked up, and began explaining his many duties aboard the ship. Ellara only listened halfheartedly, nodding and 'mhmm'ing appropriately. She sneakily glanced at the rest of the table, and saw that the tension had clearly diffused. The corner of her lip raised slightly, happy that her plan had succeeded.

Ellara looking around the entire cafeteria, noting the other people milling around. The longer she looked, the more she noticed that a few specific people were sending glares her way. Ellara frowned, wondering what she had done to deserve their hatred. She turned back around, confused, and then took in the fact that she had no more food. Her frown deepened, remembering that she had had at least an apple left. She glanced at the people at the table once again, and saw the Captain eating her apple, smiling cheekily. Ellara raised one of her eyebrows, and quickly swiped the banana from his tray. Kirk's face erupted in surprise, not having expected that. Ellara got up and started walking away slowly. "Bye, Doctor McCoy. Thanks for waving me over."

Ellara left the cafeteria and made her way to her quarters, chewing thoughtfully on her banana. She reminisced on the days events, how she had split a couple that was subject to much gossip. Stopping in her tracks, she remembered that the people glaring at her in the cafeteria were the people she often heard gossiping. Ellara rolled her eyes, disappointed at their immature behaviour. If they confronted her, she'd make sure to give them a piece of her mind, and remind them that the private lives of a Lieutenant and a Commander, whose ranks were above theirs, were exactly that; private.

When she reached her room, she basked in the smell of the candle she had lit that morning. It was a scent only found on Rendoria, and one that was used very often in her home. She had a whole box full, as when her father wasn't away for work, he was making candles for some extra funds. With the lack of a second income, the quality of their lifestyle and home had decreased. He had often made candles for their family before Ellara's mother died, getting only praises. When he began making them to sell, they had a bit more money for some of the things they used to enjoy. Ellara and her father were by no means poor, but they weren't swimming in cash either. They were walking that fine line right in the middle.

Before Ellara had left, her father had taken a specific candle to one of the High Priests to have it blessed to give her good luck. That was the candle she pulled out now, as she got ready to sleep. Once she was changed and she had gotten washed, Ellara kneeled beside her candle. She placed her right hand on her left shoulder and vice versa, crossing her arms in front of her. She began muttering a small chant, alerting the gods that she was about to begin praying. Ellara said her usual prayer, wishing luck on her family and friends, and asking for love and fortune in her future. Before she blew out her candle, however, Ellara hesitated. She closed her eyes, and quickly muttered, "Please, my Gods, help me get over the death of my mother and my beloved. It has been nine years, and it still hurts just as much as the day they died. I am tired of mourning, but I don't know what to do. I do not have any priests or priestesses to help. Please, guide me."

Ellara bowed her head, and then blew out the candle. She uncrossed her arms as she stood up before crawling into her bed. "Computer, turn off lights." she said.

The lights shut off, and Ellara descended into a restless sleep.

So that's chapter six! I hope you guys enjoyed, this one clearly took me a bit longer to write. I'm definitely making the updates once a week, though. So, hopefully the updates will be a bit more regular. I am, as always, looking for a beta reader, so if anyone's interested, please PM me. This chapter showed the religious side of Ellara at the end. I personally am not religious whatsoever, but it just seems to fit in with the Rendorian lifestyle. Yeah, so now Spock and Uhura are split, which leaves Ellara open for the kill. Except not really because she's only spoken to him twice and barely even thinks of him as an acquaintance lol. Also, really quick, I keep mentioning that it's been about ten years since her mom and fiancé died. It was mentioned in this chapter as being nine since she was sixteen, and in another as being about ten(rounding)... can anyone guess why? Kudos to whoever does and comments on it! Definitely a slow burn. To reiterate, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll talk to you at the end of chapter seven!

booklover1798: Nice to see you comment twice, that was a nice bonus. And honestly, I kinda modelled that part of her character after me, mostly because I don't really know how to be outgoing lol. And here is the update haha!

ZabuzasGirl: Thank you so much.

the Guest: *smashes cup on the floor of a cafe* Hehe. Sorry, that just reminded me of Thor.

AwesomeFangirlOtaku01: First of all, your username is a+++. Second, yeah, I am trying to take it slow because a lot of stories make it a sort of "I saw him and then I loved him". Not that I don't mind those haha. I just prefer knowing someone first. And thank you so much!

.129: Another person that commented twice! It really is nice to see people enjoy it enough to keep reading haha. But that's good to hear, I enjoy knowing you guys like where I'm taking the story. I'm also open to suggestions if you have an idea for something that needs to be done, btw.

- fangirl0012345

Updated August 11th, 2016.