Chapter 60: The Heart Heals
A/N: Hi Alaya Karangalan! Thanks for your review! One of the reasons why I was never specific about Asha's appearance is so that you, as the readers, can imagine her the way you wish. Asha is not a "classic" or "in-your-face" beauty. Generally speaking, she's content and self-confident about herself, including her appearance; though just like most of us, she has got her little problem areas and battle zones. What did make her particularly worried was when she first arrived on Romulus and her appearance made it very obvious that she's Human.
About Star Trek: Picard. What is funny is that I had the story (including the ending) planned more than a year ago, and when the series hit the screen, I noticed some parallels between my story and the series! Still, I had (and have) no intention of basing this story on the new series. By the way, I'm especially glad to see Seven of Nine back.
Then: Vekal asked Letant's aide to procure, if possible, a cutting of the Y'gora tree, as he realised he was going to be Sundered, maybe even permanently from Romulus. The Y'gora tree is a very important symbol of how the Romulans came to Romulus.
Finally, yes, Asha is trying to cope with her own home planet by turning completely to her Romulan side. She is, however, urged by her friends (including her Romulan ones) to not exclude and forget her Human roots. And no, offering a Romulan a beverage doesn't involve any dating or mating plans :-) In fact, I would imagine that Romulans did a great deal to not end up being associated with their Vulcan ancestors.
Hi romulanlover, Asha and Vekal always loved each other, though obviously in a different manner. There was a tenderness in their relationship much before Asha experienced the loving side of her husband and Vreenak. Vekal was the first Romulan she grew to trust. Love is never as clear-cut as I imagine all of us would like it. Human and Vulcan relationships are quite accepted on Earth, but Human and Romulan relationships are still frowned upon, especially because Romulans have a very bad reputation and were, after all, involved in a war with Earth some time ago. And please don't worry about your English, I've never had the slightest problem reading and understanding your reviews :-)
Happy Easter and stay safe to all my readers and reviewers!
Note: There's some Hindi in this chapter (the translations are included in the chapter). Kurti: Indian blouse for women. Shaadi: wedding. Beti: daughter. Jhumkas: bell-shaped earrings.
Romulan: Hwiiy ouye: you are beautiful.
Though this chapter might sound like the conclusion of the story - it isn't! There are more chapters and surprises to come :-)
What added to Asha's difficulties when it came to building bridges between Human and Romulan culture was that not only could her parents not stand Lilou, they couldn't stand Letant because of his caustic remarks on their marriage, uttered in their presence. On one occasion, when Letant picked up Asha from her weekend visit to her parents, he walked in on them bickering, as they so often did.
"Puh! I would not tolerate living together with someone who suited me like a mismatched shoe and howled around all day like a set'leth with indigestion!" Letant said scornfully. "How you two managed to marry in the first place is beyond me."
Asha's mother became very red in the face. Her father stared at him. Asha angrily grabbed Letant's arm and pushed him out of the house.
"Letant, are you completely insane? They're my parents! It's their way of communicating, and it works for them! It's none of your business, and you were awfully rude to them!" she hissed, remembering what Christine had told her what seemed ages ago.
"I'm simply trying to show them how bad their communication is. I was a Senator! I know these things."
Asha took a deep breath. "Delon, I know you mean well, but they are old enough to know what they're doing, and it's their marriage. There are some things you don't know. You wouldn't like it if you were in their shoes and someone started to criticise your marriage to your face!"
He sighed. "Oh, well. I'll desist. Still, Romulan couples never bicker like that."
"I didn't know you were a married man," Asha said witheringly. Letant raised a neatly combed eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Thank the four elements I never was and never will be!" he exclaimed with a dramatic shudder. "Who wants to be stuck with same person for the rest of their life? Such a crashing bore!"
Then he saw the tears in Asha's eyes. "Oh...I didn't want to grieve you, my dear. It is what's true for me, not for others. And you grew happy in your marriage."
"Delon, please stop rubbing your views on marriage in other people's faces," she snapped. "You've made a lot of people very cross, and that includes me. In fact, I think you had better leave. Now."
Letant obeyed meekly.
When Asha re-entered the house, her father sat her down. Her mother was outside in the garden, working her anger out of her system by pulling out some weeds.
"I don't want that Romulan idiot here again. He may have aided you and he may be your friend, but we won't tolerate him under our roof," her father stated. "Your mother is very angry, and so am I."
"I told him he was out of line and to mind his own business," Asha said. "I agree with you that what he said was very disrespectful."
"Good. Our marriage is none of his concern and none of yours, either. We have not made a single comment about you going out with that other Romulan."
"I know. I was married myself. As for Vekal…" she blushed and studied her hands.
Silence fell.
"My daughter, you are, as you so often say, a Romulan. You will know what to do," her father said. Asha winced inwardly, and she bit her lip as her father got up to join her mother in the garden.
"Daddy?" she said. He turned. Asha got up.
"I love you. It's…I have to learn how to fit in again. Not to feel like a stranger to myself."
He nodded slowly. "I love you, too, beti. But," he raised a finger, "it doesn't mean that I'm going to allow that rude person back in here ever again."
Asha smiled a little. "It's okay. He'll stay outside if he shows up again over here. I scolded him, and I'll do it again."
Asha's parents were slightly mollified when they discovered a sizable box outside their door with the best of Romulan foods and beverages, a book on Romulan culture and the eccentricities of its people (translated into English) and a beautifully carved figure of a raptor. When Letant himself followed up with an elegant apology, he was allowed to re-enter the premises, though Asha's parents maintained a marked distance and somewhat stiff manner towards him. It was good enough for them, and good enough for Asha. If anyone would have criticised her relationships with Thorek or Vreenak, the offending party would have found themselves at the doctor's with a broken nose.
The other part which added to Asha's Human-Romulan difficulties were her feelings for Vekal, especially after she lunched with Letant and he asked her, in typical direct Romulan fashion, how her relationship was progressing with Vekal.
"Oh, we're not a couple. We addressed and still address each other as father and daughter," she said, her cheeks and ears turning pink.
"But you are unsatisfied with this arrangement of nomenclatures?" Letant prodded mischievously.
Asha poked at her food and put down her cutlery. "Paenhe and eneh…It no longer feels that way. I trusted Vekal as soon as I saw him, and we came to love each other without being in love. But now…Now I love him the way I love a mate. We've been making gestures which are only made between Romulans who are romantically interested in each other."
"So you would like to mate with him?"
"Yes."
"I thought as much," Letant said triumphantly.
"So much has happened. I lived and loved with Thorek and Merken. My heart died when they died." She took a deep breath to steady her emotions. "But today, I know that I can live, love and be in love again. I have grieved, and a part of me will always grieve. I'll always love them. But most of all, I want to live as full a life as I can with Vekal to share it, if he is willing. Every day I thought of him, Delon, fearing for him and hoping that he was well."
"Then, my sister, go for it. I have rarely known you to hesitate, and he adores you. Just make sure you drop "eneh" and "paenhe", though."
"Letant!"
The Senator chuckled.
Asha, however, remained serious.
"You do not think me a traitor or something?"
Letant stared at her. "A traitor?"
"Because Merken was like your brother. And you might think that I'm shallow for being able to feel what I feel for Vekal."
Letant shook his head, still staring at her incredulously. "What a strange idea! Did I not tell you that you might fall in love again?"
"I never thought I would. That that was it. I lost two mates, and I loved them so much, and always will…And yet, I am able to love Vekal. Is that wrong?"
Letant smiled and patted her cheek. "No, Asha. There's nothing remotely wrong about it. You are not being unfaithful to their memory, and I saw for myself how truly you loved Thorek and Merken."
Asha nodded.
After this conversation, Letant threw himself into the role of matchmaker with enthusiasm.
When he met Vekal, Asha was leading her little Romulan assistants about the embassy park on a treasure hunt.
"So, for how long are you going to wait like a raptor stuck to the branch?"
"Raptors sit on rocks, not branches," Vekal said evenly.
Letant smiled roguishly. "It is unlike you to evade questions, you, who have commanded the finest of Romulan star vessels and been involved in the most challenging engineering technology. You do not fear challenges, my friend. Yet you evade my question. Is it too soon after your wife's death?"
"No."
"Do you fear that Asha will reject you?"
"I only know that I am terrified of losing her. Of her walking out of my sight." His voice became rough with suppressed emotion.
"Not if you walk with her."
Vekal looked at him and nodded slowly, determination filling his face.
The next time he was invited to Asha to have supper with her, he decided to go ahead. He watched her moving around the garden. She was wearing jeans and an embroidered blue kurti. He had tried on this odd Human legwear and disliked it, finding it to irritate his skin and making him look odd.
"Asha," he called. She turned around and looked at him. When he embraced her and kissed her forehead rather lingeringly, following up his greeting with a deep look into her eyes, she blushed. Her heart sped up its pace, but she met his gaze as usual and noticed that his face and ears were tinged green. He touched the back of her hand with two fingers – one of the many hand gestures of tenderness which had survived the Sundering between Vulcans and Romulans. This gesture in particular was related to courting. She responded with the same gesture. Then she reached up, took his face in her hands and kissed him slowly on the mouth. He responded with a small sound in his throat and with such passion that her mouth became as flushed as her cheeks.
He was reaching towards the back of her head to loosen her ponytail when Kihika called them in for supper, her eyes shining with joy to see both of them so much in love. Before they went in, he whispered to her: "I will leave my door ajar in case you wish to keep me company tonight, my dearest one."
She smiled. "I have every intention of doing so."
He kept his door ajar. And waited with all the impatience of a Romulan hopelessly in love. Finally, he heard soft footsteps. Asha entered. She looked at him, her expression tender, then slowly removed her clothes until she was naked. He dropped his robes onto the floor and embraced her. She had just showered and smelt fresh. Their hands met and their fingers touched, exploring in gestures that were a testament to the Vulcan roots of Romulans, although their touch sensitivity had decreased for most part over the centuries.
"Asha, my darlingest one, calling you 'paenhe' is starting to feel ever so slightly incestuous," Vekal remarked mischievously.
She smiled, took his face in her hands and kissed him softly on the lips. "I agree, e'lev."
He returned the kiss just as softly and ran his hands up and down her back. They got into bed. As she spoilt him with her hands and mouth, she felt at peace. She had firmly believed that after losing both Thorek and Merken, she would never ever love again, and he had believed the same after Christine's execution. Yet here they were in his bed, discovering that the heart, whether Romulan or Human, had a wonderful capacity for healing and loving if given the chance.
Vekal caressed her breasts and brushed her nipples with his palms, then with his tongue. She closed her eyes with enjoyment. Her hands travelled across his body. He breathed heavily when she played with his erection. He was eager and on fire, but with an experienced Romulan's maturity, he possessed self-control and wanted to savour every moment with Asha.
He drew her tenderly into his arms and she looked into his warm brown eyes; and softly, like an afterthought, his sex slipped into her body. He felt her shiver, and he stilled his movements, watching her face. Her expression was full of pleasure, and she began to move against him, moaning. Her lips parted in a smile when she felt his seed spill into her.
They woke up to the merry chirping of birds in the garden. Eager for each other, they started the morning by repeating what they had done last night, but with far more vigour. The sheets were rumpled and damp when they were finished. They bathed, making love again in the process, dressed and had breakfast together. Vereth and Kihika walked about the house beaming, betting that it was just a matter of time before Vekal moved in with her.
Six months later found Asha and Vekal in Agra, India. She ruffled his iron grey hair, laughing, and he took her mehndi-decorated hands gently in his, smiling at her playfulness. They were wearing traditional Romulan wedding bracelets around their wrists, designed by a skilled jeweller in the Romulan community. Asha's bracelet was adorned with gold and green gems in the shape of Y'gora flowers, and Vekal had gifted her with a matching necklace and pair of earrings.
Only a few days ago, they had married quietly in a small Human-Romulan outdoors ceremony, with her parents, André, Doctor Metak, Rhian, Letant, Kihika and Vereth attending. And, of course, Lilou. A large group of other Romulans and Humans had come, too. Even a few Vulcans – thanks to cousin Maya and her Vulcan husband – had joined the ceremony. All eyes had been on especially the bride, for she had worn a sari with traditional Indian jewellery suiting her Bengali background, including a big nose ring with a chain fastened to one of her earrings. Paisley mehndi had covered her hands and feet, and a red and white bindi with dots extending over her eyebrows had been painted on her forehead. Vekal had flushed green with enthusiasm when she had walked barefoot over the grass to him, her smile radiant, soft touches of kohl accentuating her eyes, her forehead ornament shining in the sun. Jasmine flowers had been wrapped into her hair. "Hwiiy ouye!" he had murmured to her, enchanted.
"You, too," she had murmured back.
They had put garlands around each other's necks, and Vekal had saved some of the petals. Letant had dabbed at his eyes and blown his nose loudly, earning an irritated nip on the ankle from Lilou. However, credit went to him for the wedding, for he had jokingly asked the couple four months into their relationship when they were going to marry. Asha and Vekal had immediately discussed the idea and had decided it was a very sensible suggestion.
As per warrior tradition during Romulan weddings, Asha and Vekal had decided to include the dagger ritual, during which they inflicted a small cut on each other's arms and their blood, red and green, was poured into a tiny jewelled vial. After the dagger ritual, their crystal of blood had been given to the couple, and they had kept it proudly on a little stand in their bedroom.
Asha had said farewell to the two bracelets she had worn earlier and placed them tenderly inside their box. She had read the letters Christine, Thorek and Merken had written to her and cried tears of sorrow and joy. Live, Asha, live. Live life to the fullest you can, Thorek had written.
Letant, too, had told her as much.
They left for their honeymoon in India, two days after their wedding.
Asha had seen the Taj Mahal before, but she had been a teen, and it was like seeing it for the first time again. Vekal was astonished, gazing at the huge majestic palace. He loved India with its seas, tropical topography and climate, reminiscent of Romulus, but it was also completely different and new from everything he had seen so far. They visited a few carpet shops, then returned to the one they had liked the most. Interested, he watched Asha bargain fiercely with the salesman.
"Ye kitne ka hai?" she asked, stopping in front of a carpet. The salesman told her. How much does this cost?
"Arre, these are tourist prices!" she scolded the salesman in Hindi. "Yeh bahut mehanga hai!" This is expensive!
The man enthusiastically spread out the carpet on the floor, enjoying the haggling.
After several minutes they settled on the price for two carpets and their delivery to the hotel.
"We just had our shaadi. We've got to splurge," she told Vekal, who agreed and surreptitiously bought her bangles and earrings, including beautiful gold jhumkas with beads. She hugged him and wore them at once.
That night, as they hugged and kissed each other, Vekal teased her with his fingers until she was well and truly wet. Sweat broke out over her body, and he knew by her moans, growing body tension and accelerated breathing that she was very close. He removed his fingers, positioned himself between her thighs and entered her tenderly, making sure the ridges on his penis rubbed her just the way she liked. She cried out and clutched at him as she orgasmed, ending where he began. He enjoyed the sensation of lying inside of her and feeling her vagina lock him within herself and then let go as she relaxed. After a few minutes, when she wrapped her legs around him and kissed him eagerly, he began to move until they climaxed together.
Finally, their honeymoon was over and it was time to leave hot and sunny India, and return to San Francisco. Vekal was now the Romulan equivalent of a Human community's mayor back on Earth. He was in charge of seeing to the growth and prosperity of the Terran Romulan community, and his schedule for the next weeks was full, as was Asha's. Tired after their shuttle trip and unpacking, Asha and Vekal sat outside in the garden. It was night, and they both gazed up at the stars. Somewhere out there were Romulus and its twin Remus.
The Y'gora tree was sprouting, and a stout little sapling stood in the yard. It, too, seemed to be gazing at the stars.
"Shall we go to bed, my ailhun?" Vekal asked tenderly, seeing Asha rub her eyes sleepily.
She stretched. "Yes, my deyhhan."
They got down from the swing and went indoors, holding hands. Lilou was napping, and she opened one eye to look at them. She yawned and snuggled her face into her paws as Asha closed the door gently. As she did so, she had the feeling that somewhere else, a door was opening, and that the path which lay outside that door was going to be even more special than what she had experienced so far.
