Hello everyone! Wow, I'm so thrilled by the response to this one! Over 600 views in the first few days it was posted! Thank you guys so much!
So a lot of people wanted me to ship Scotty with Jaylah, and a lot of people wanted me to ship Chekov with Jaylah, and one person thought it would be funny/cute if I shipped Keenser with Jaylah (not so sure about that one! It would be really funny, tho) Well since this story is in dedication to Anton Yelchin, I'm shipping Chaylah! (is that their ship name? I hope (coughs sheepishly). Doesn't sound right. Anyway, there you go! (By the way, I made up Jaylah's language, so it's not gospel, just my imagination)
Thanks to all my reviewers, you know who you are!
Disclaimer: Nope, don't make any money off em, cause I don't own em.
Nyota Uhura should have been nervous. Except that she wasn't. It sort of scared her, and sort of calmed her, which, after some thought on her part, was completely ironic.
Her sister Ruala was so thrilled to be aboard the enterprise she could hardly stop talking. Yada yada yada yada yada. All last night, all this morning. Jaylah was annoyed, but kept it to herself. She was more curious than anything. That was probably because she'd never been to a human wedding. Well, human and Vulcan. Weddings on her planet were simple and quick, made strong by their straightforwardness. They didn't wear fluffy white dresses, or bother with little silver bands on their fingers. And they certainly didn't take this long to get ready for. As it was, the Enterprise had been preparing for weeks for the reception alone. Fresh, replicated food was scheduled to be beamed up, ranging from Vulcan, to African, to Gluten-free. Jaylah showed Uhura how to fix her hair into the loose, old-earth bun that she had seen her roommate at the Academy wear. The sides were loose and whips came out as little curls. Uhura, by the time she had gotten into the dress, had broken one vase, two rose bouquets-which were quickly replaced- and one of her heels.
"I'll go barefoot." She decided. Ruala looked amused.
"I do not know what is 'barefoot.'" Jaylah told them. Her white face flushed slightly blue.
"It's when you don't wear any shoes."
"Agoish brema s'om shleemach. My sister and I would go…. Barefoot. At home."
"What does 'Agoish brema-'" Uhura failed to pronounce the words, and let out a sad, helpless smile. "That first thing you said, what does it mean?"
Jaylah spewed out the words again at top speed again, "it means… I to…" she thought, "to make sense of…. Something. To…"
"To understand?" Ruala asked.
"No, it does not mean to stand under something."
"That's not what she meant," laughed Uhura. Ruala's watch buzzed, and suddenly Nyota was all nerves. "That's the timer, isn't it? Is it time to go out already?"
"Calm down, crazy. That's the twenty-minute warning." Ruala shook her head. "Here is your 'something borrowed.'" She placed something small and shiny in her sister's hand.
"Something borrowed?" Jaylah asked.
"Yes, when humans get married, there is an old rhyme, a tradition. It goes, 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."
"What is the something old, something new, and something blue?" Asked the alien, puzzled.
"Glad you asked, allow me to show you." She tapped her sister, and Uhura hopped up onto the bed. "Something old- "she tapped Uhura's three hair clips with diamond settings which sat on the dresser, "-something new- "she tapped a bracelet, "-it's called a bracelet, from me! You saw the 'something borrowed.' Earrings. They're Aunt Lureah's. And we don't have something blue yet."
"Erecheveg lo'o joshaeoix sevay?"
"What now?"
"The…. Uh, it is… you know it, the container? Crashed?"
"You mean the vase? Oh yeah, it is blue. But I can't carry a smashed vase down the alter."
"You could put a piece in the hem of your dress?" Ruala suggested.
"I could, but then I'd have to sew it back up, and we don't have time. Spock is probably waiting."
"Ugh, Vulcan's are ridiculously prompt, aren't they? I don't know how you do it, sis."
Nyota rolled her eyes, smiling.
Jaylah had an idea, "You could but a blue ribbon around your flowers."
"Perfect," Ruala, much to the surprise of the alien, hugged Jaylah, "you're a lifesaver!""I do not know what is a lifesaver." But this time, she was smiling.
He was going to burn this suit when this was all over. Chekov stood impatiently, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
Maybe it wasn't the clothes he was worried about. Not even the wedding. But he was a little concerned about someone else. What would he look like when she- the doors slid open. Chekov saw Jim stiffen into a more formal posture, lifting his chin, grinning cockishly.
"'ere comes Jaylah!" whispered Scotty, wiggling his eyebrows at Chekov. The ensign blushed madly.
He almost forgot to look up, but when he did, there was Jaylah, looking a little tense. She was dressed in a lovely blue gown that flowed to the floor, and though she seemed uncomfortable too, she looked brilliant. Her hair was down, with small, foreign blue flowers tucked in it. He was both disappointed and relieved when she didn't look his way, but took her place on the other side. Chekov tried to pay attention, but his thoughts wandered back to her every time he tried to concentrate. Then came Ruala, looking spunky and way too excited. Her long chocolate hair swung neatly, almost identical to how Uhura's looked when she brushed it out, except it was wavy and thicker. Scotty grinned at her, and Chekov could have sworn he saw the bride's sister blushing. While Bones rolled his eyes, Sulu was quietly laughing at them all.
And then came Nyota. She was breathtaking beyond words. Even Jim Kirk seemed surprised. Her lovely face was framed with wisps of hair, and her gown flowed around her like a cloud. Spock let out a breath.
Though she should have been excited, there were tears pressing at the backs of her eyes, for she walked alone.
I guess, she thought, I had always wanted Dad to walk me down the aisle.
Her father had died when she was twelve in a shuttle accident. Even on her wedding day, was the world so cruel that she would have to walk alone?
But she felt an arm loop through her own and startled, looking up into the all too Vulcan eyes. She didn't remember them ever being so tinted with that funny human emotion called love- the kind that only a father can have.
"Amanda walked alone too," said Sarek. "I would never want that for the wife of my son."
She smiled at him, now crying for a different reason, while Spock simply stared in raw amazement at his Father, who walked next to his bride-to-be, compassion and joy radiating off the both of them. Even if Sarek's face did not show it.
Jaylah watched too. She felt eyes on her, and looked up into Chekov's excited and slightly bashful green eyes. He looked away quickly, and Jaylah smiled to herself for the first time in what felt like forever. She didn't stop smiling till long after the "I do's" had been said.
"Would you like to dance?"
She looked up at Chekov. Others around them had grabbed partners and were dancing on the floor. Even Spock had let his wife drag him up there to dance a waltz, which looked good with his toothpick-straight posture, and Nyota's elegant figure swaying to the same beat.
"This music is… slow."
"I haf an idea."
He walked off, and disappeared into a crown of more than slightly drunk Ensigns. The song ended.
She didn't see him come back, but heard a familiar sound which brought her feet to tap lightly. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned around.
"Now would you like to dance, Jaylah?" Chekov's eyes were bright. Jim had already grabbed a pretty red-haired ensign and was twirling her around with a little too much enthusiasm. Bones was flirting with another blue shirt, Scotty with Ruala, and Nyota was trying to show Spock how to dance to a song like this one.
"It is the song!" she was amazed he remembered. "Why did you turn it on only for me?"
"Well," he blushed, leading her to the dance floor, "I like ze beats and shouting."
Fin!
Tell me what you think! I am willing to do a sequel if you really want me to, but I need feedback, so don't be afraid to tell me your honest opinion! Thanks so much for reading!