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

She was brought from thought, however, by Sarek's next question. "Ellara, Spock told me you have been previously engaged. May I ask what ended the relationship?"

Had Ellara been drinking, there would have been a massive spit take at that moment. As it was, she ended up choking a little bit on her saliva.

Spock, while slightly surprised by Ellara's reaction, was more affected by the interrogation already coming from his father. He had expected a bit more tact, however, he could see the logic in taking Ellara by surprise. It did not mean he approved of Sarek's actions, though, not one bit.

After composing herself, Ellara opened her mouth to answer. "Uh, well, I guess, it's a long story, but the watered down version is that she died."

Sarek 'hmm'ed in response, but didn't seem satisfied. "If it is acceptable to you, I would appreciate to hear the whole… story."

Ellara winced, having expected that. "It would require me to go into some detail about the history of my planet." she warned, trying to avoid answering.

"As Ambassador, it would be beneficial for me to learn more about the newest addition to the Federation."

There was no getting out of this one. Ellara fidgeted in her seat to get comfortable before starting. "Right, well, before we start…" and so she told him the story of her relationship with Lywa.

At the end, he seemed to contemplate what had been said. If the facts surprised or angered him, he didn't show it. It was intimidating. "I understand. If you could please follow me, we shall partake in an evening meal."

All three of them stood, and the couple followed Sarek into a large dining room, where three places had been set.

Sarek sat at the head of the table, with Spock and Ellara sitting beside him, but across from each other. She had a feeling this was done intentionally, so that Sarek could question her and leave her without the support of Spock, forcing her to think by herself.

Her predictions were contradicted, however, when she found that they enjoyed the meal in complete silence, save for the occasional clanking of utensils on the dish. Thinking back on it, Ellara remembered Spock mentioning that this was common in Vulcan society, and that he only spoke with Ellara because he knew she enjoyed conversation during a meal.

Once they were finished, Sarek politely declined her invitation to have her help him clean up. However, he had Spock pick up their dishes and the two retreated to the kitchen. From where she was sitting, looking around, she could faintly hear them whispering to each other.

On Spock's end, he was internally fuming. "Spock, do you deem it wise to pursue a relationship with a woman who comes from a society where marriages are arranged before birth?"

He was severely disappointed with his father. "I would have thought that it would make little difference, considering that I was bonded with T'Pring at the age of twelve."

"That is not the point, Spock. Your arrangement with T'Pring was thought out carefully and held logic behind it. Her engagement was decided a month before her birth. How could her parents know if the two would be a suitable match?" Sarek responded cooly.

"I do not know, father. I have neglected to seek answers from Ellara. Does it not matter enough that I care about her?" Spock replied. His voice held an edge to it that informed his father of Spock's rising anger.

"Careful, Spock. You are forgetting yourself." Sarek reprimanded, and Spock lowered his chest, realising he had puffed it out in a sort of challenge.

He looked down slightly, and said, "My apologies, father."

Sarek swallowed, disappointed in both Spock and himself. "It is of no consequence. I am not saying that I do not approve of the match, Spock," Sarek began, "I simply wonder if it is logical."

"Father, I would like to tell you something..."

From outside the kitchen, Ellara had gotten up and was gazing at the pictures on the wall. They were mainly made up of deep colours, and matched the decor of the house. However, right behind Sarek was a painting of him, Spock, and someone she assumed to be Amanda. Just looking at her, Ellara could tell that she must have been a kind and gentle woman with a bit of an attitude, if her small smirk was anything to go off of.

"Ellara, would you join me on a walk?" asked Spock.

Ellara jumped and yelped, having been surprised. She pressed a hand to her chest, where she felt her racing heart, and said, "Oh my ancestors, Spock, you scared me."

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sarek's eyebrow raise a tad at her dramatic reaction. So that's where Spock got it from, she thought. "I would love to join you." she replied, smiling up at her boyfriend.

He began walking, and the two left the house. "So, have a destination in mind?" Ellara asked Spock.

"I am taking you to meet someone." he responded mysteriously.

"Ok then." murmured Ellara, slightly irritated by his lack of a proper response.

The two walked in silence for a considerable amount of time. The sun, which had been beginning it's descent across the sky, now cast a beautiful reddish glow on the sand.

Finally, they arrived in front of a very modest home. Spock reached forward and rang the doorbell. From inside, Ellara could hear a cat meowing, and wondered just who lived here.

The door opened, and Ellara was taken aback. In front of her was an old man, except that it was Spock. She looked back and forth between the two men, as the other man looked on with mirth. "I- what- how?" she asked, confused.

"Please, come inside, I shall explain." the other man replied. She could hear laughter in his voice, which was odd, considering that he was very obviously Vulcan.

He gave the two tea, and even prepared Ellara's just the way she liked it. They all sit in a small living room, where a cat was purring on an armchair in the corner. "I am Spock." said Spock, only it wasn't her Spock, it was the other one.

"We refer to him as Spock Prime to differentiate between us." commented her Spock.

"How?" she questioned again.

Spock Prime turned to her, his face becoming slightly grim. "Do you remember a few years ago, when Vulcan was destroyed?" She nodded. "An anomaly had opened up in space, and I, as well as Nero were brought through."

"Wait, so, you're from an alternate universe?" she asked, incredulity filling her voice.

"That is correct. You are just as perceptive as you were in my universe." he said. Ellara could sense that this upset him, a bit.

"You… you knew me?" she whispered.

He raised his head, nodded, and said, "We were married."

Ellara gulped, not sure how to take that information. "We… we were?" she asked, cautious.

He gave a good hearty chuckle, shaking his head. "No, we were not, I am afraid. Not for lack of trying on my part. You simply wished to be my friend. After recovering from your rejection, I moved on, and we spent many years as the closest of companions."

"Oh." was all she said.

For some reason, this disappointed her. She had a feeling that his reality and hers were different, however, it didn't mean she was pleased to know that they weren't together in another reality. "To see the both of you here together is a pleasure that I never got to experience." Spock Prime wisely said.

"If I may ask, what is the nature of our visit?" asked Spock.

Spock Prime then turned to look at… Spock, and replied, "It was to introduce myself to Ellara. I assumed that you would most likely not tell her about me, and that she should know who I was. After all, I am you."

"And I am here…" she mumbled.

"I am aware that you are here." Spock responded, albeit a little confused.

Spock Prime had a hint of a smile on his face. "I believe Ellara was referring to my speaking of her as though she were not present. My apologies; I had forgotten how much you disliked that."

Ellara shook her head, standing up. "I'm sorry, this is just so confusing. It's like you're Spock, but there's something… different. I don't wanna say wrong, but it's so off-putting. I feel like, if Spock had been raised to embrace his human side a bit more, then he'd be you."

She began pacing, a frown crossing her features. Spock was now worried. He knew that this would have been a bit shocking, but she was almost… scared. That was a good word for it. "Ellara." he called quietly.

She turned to look at him, and he stood up and went to her. "We shall only be a moment." he turned and told his alternate self.

Spock brought Ellara outside and watched as she leaned herself against the wall of the house, tilting her head up to the sun. "Ellara, please, tell me what is troubling you."

He watched as she took a deep breath and turned to him. In her eyes, he could see many conflicting emotions. "I just… It's so overwhelming, Spock. It's you, but it's not you. It's like seeing the man that I love copied and distorted. It's so… It's so strange."

Spock took a few moments to formulate a response. "I shall not pretend to understand what that feels like. However, I am sure that, had the Ellara from his universe come through as well, I would feel the same way."

Ellara gave a half-hearted chuckle, shooting him a warm smile. "Not your best comforting session, but still effective."

"I do not understand." Spock replied, perfectly aware of what she meant.

"Let's just say, it's a good thing I'm the counsellor."

When Spock and Ellara arrived home, the sky outside was a deep blue, with stars sprawled across like a beautiful painting. Ellara took a moment to just look. She didn't linger long, however, as it was late and they were both tired.

Quietly, they entered the house and retreated to their room where they got changed and got into bed. Spock fell asleep almost as soon after he said goodnight to her, which included a kiss and a stroke of her face, but Ellara stayed awake to ponder on the days' events.

She had met her boyfriend from another universe. It made sense that she was shaken up. What didn't make sense was why she was… scared of him. Ellara tried to think of why, and she believed she came up with an idea. She was afraid that his failure at dating the alternate version of her was a reflection on how her and Spock would turn out. Coming to this realization, she quickly turned and laid her head on Spock's chest to hear his… well, not exactly his heartbeat, but to hear him breath. Ellara felt as Spock slowly put his arm around her back, clutching her to him. It was nice, how they were resting, and she was pleased to know that even in sleep he wanted her to be near.

The next morning, the two woke up quite early to make breakfast for Sarek. Spock had woken her up with the information that it was customary in Vulcan culture for guests to make the morning meal. They wouldn't be making anything complex, a simple Plomeek soup would suffice.

Looking outside the window, she could see that the sun was still not up. As quietly as possible, the two crept- well, she did, Spock simply walked normally- to the kitchen and began cooking. She did mess up a few times, but it was thankfully nothing to consequential and was easily fixed.

When Sarek woke up and saw that they had made breakfast, he was what she assumed the closest thing to outwardly pleased as possible. All together they shared the meal, then retreated to the living room to discuss their plans for the day.

So, I've decided to upload this chapter five days early, and I'm gonna post the next chapter on the day I was supposed to post this one(the 30th) simply because I've been really late these past couple weeks, and I wanna make it up to you(definitely not because I already wrote the next chapter and don't want y'all to wait two weeks for it haha). I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, and know that the next one is a freakin' feels train!

emmabou: Haha thanks!

Love. Fiction. 2016: Tada! More conversation!

- fangirl0012345

Updated February 25th, 2017.