Chapter 64: Two Homes

A/N: Dear all, hope you are all well and looking after yourselves!

Guest and Romulanlover, thank you very much for your reviews for the previous chapter! And to all of you who read and/or reviewed this story, big thanks and many, many hugs!

This is the last chapter, and it's always a simultaneous pang and relief to end a story. I'm planning a story after this one, and since there have been requests for Letant to have his own romance fanfic, I'll be seeing what I can come up with. I've also got a mini-sequel planned for Asha and Vekal's daughter Liruna, and her life as a half-Human, half-Romulan adult.

Many thanks again to all of you!

Note: Annika Hansen, better known as Seven of Nine, and Kathryn Janeway are canon figures from Star Trek: Voyager. I love Seven of Nine, so I absolutely had to include her in this final chapter :-) As for Jean-Luc Picard, we all know he's from Star Trek: The Next Generation!


Asha and Vekal were driven home by Kihika in the new family flitter, the back of the car full of gifts from relatives, friends and acquaintances. It was also custom for the respective parents-in-law to accompany the new family home. Asha's parents Shalini and Rahul sat proudly next to the new parents, Liruna tucked away in her grandfather's arms. She was fast asleep and seemed completely unfazed by the whole procedure.

"She knows she's loved," Kihika said wisely.

Living with a baby was challenging and confusing. Asha had known and expected this, but actually experiencing it was another thing. She was deeply grateful for having so much help from particularly Kihika and Vereth, who took turns getting up at night when Liruna bawled for her milk and brought the baby to her parents' room to be nursed. Lilou would always follow, as if to ensure that Liruna would reach her destination at the "milking station", as Asha jokingly referred to it. While she groggily undid her dress, Vekal would hold Liruna and murmur endearments in Romulan and English to her.

Vekal was a proud and dedicated father. He was aghast to hear about Terran gender roles which had lasted well into the twenty-second century, forcing especially women into unrealistic and unreasonable roles.

"It is very understandable that you prefer Romulan men," he stated.

"But Vekal, we are in the twenty-fourth century now and have come a very long away," Asha laughed. "Just look at André. He's a gem of a Human man. Sweeping statements cause more harm than good."

"True. May the four elements be thanked that it is so," he said.

Asha sighed softly. "I miss Romulus. I hope we can take our daughter to Romulus one day."

"One day, e'lev. One day."

In the meantime, Asha discovered to her chagrin that she would display the same quality which her own parents had always displayed and which used to annoy her to no end: she would hover and try to micromanage. She insisted on checking on the baby whenever she could, much to the annoyance of everyone else.

"Ihhei, I have looked after babies before," Vereth pointed out to her testily.

"It can't hurt to check an extra time," Asha said defensively. Finally, Vereth discreetly made her displeasure clear to Vekal. He addressed the matter promptly.

"Asha dearest," he said, "it seems you fear that our baby has difficulties breathing."

"I just want to make sure she's breathing properly," she replied, looking sheepish.

"E'lev, Liru is breathing just fine," he said gently. "She's also Romulan, after all."

Asha grinned. "You're teasing me again."

"Naturally," Vekal answered, smiling.

Asha's parents, who obviously meant well, kept giving her suggestions when they visited each other. Asha would get increasingly irritated, and it was hard for her to react as calmly as her husband did. She knew her parents were not trying to tell her she was incompetent, but simply sharing their knowledge about what had worked for them. Vekal, however, would notice the pinched look on her face and pat the back of her hand.

It was not easy for him to have Human parents-in-law, and for Asha's parents it had been even more difficult to have a Romulan son-in-law and to be in contact with the Romulan community because of their daughter's choices. It had all been very sudden for them, and now, with a half-Romulan grandchild, it made the fact clear that whether they wanted or not, Romulan genes and culture were fused with theirs. However, they loved their grandchild to bits, and Liruna would give obvious signs of affection when she saw them.

Admiral tr'Maiek would come to visit, croon untuneful lullabies over her and even knitted booties for her, much to Asha's incredulity.

"He adores knitting," she told Letant. "He's made ten pairs of booties for her now. I myself can't stand needlework, knitting, crocheting and the like."

"You see? Romulans are good at everything!" Then he paused. "Though he could work more on his singing."

Not to be outdone, Letant tried to apply himself to knitting his own booties. When he proudly handed his first pair to Asha, she stared at the shapeless bag-like shoes, thanked him affectionately and put them away in a cupboard to collect dust. Vekal could not stop laughing when he saw Letant's effort. The best was still to come, because André, also not to be outdone, tried to knit bonnets for her. They were hideous, garish things, and Asha would put one on Liruna's head when André visited and remove it as soon as he was gone.

"Why don't you just tell him that you don't like them?" Vekal asked. Maya's Vulcan husband Navok agreed with him.

"This kind of dishonesty is illogical," he commented.

"Dishonesty? Navok, André would be very hurt if I told him. He put so much time into knitting them. Besides, Liruna will grow out of them," Asha said.

"It would be far more efficient if you told him, then he will stop putting time into tasks which waste his time and encourage hypocrisy."

Maya placed her hand in front of her mouth, her shoulders vibrating with laughter. Vekal, too, looked amused.

"Hypocrisy? Are you serious?" Asha exclaimed, outraged.

"Vulcans are always serious." Behind him, Maya shook her head vigorously. Asha managed to swallow down her laughter and continued.

"It's the correct thing to do when you want to spare someone's feelings. And I want to spare my best friend's feelings," she resumed.

"You are doing it the wrong way," Navok said pedantically.

"Okay, I can see that we're thoroughly disagreeing on this. Just make sure you don't tell André."

Navok wrinkled his nose haughtily. "It is not the Vulcan custom to be sworn into secrecy based on deceit-"

"My husband, deceit, hypocrisy, dishonesty – whatever you want to call it – is necessary sometimes to nurture social contacts. Dishonesty comes in different shapes and sizes," Maya explained, holding her fingers to his.

"Ah, I see," Navok said, brushing her fingers affectionately. "I must say that the headwear produced by your friend is unaesthetic," he remarked to Asha.

Asha's dimples emerged. "Something we can agree on!"

Navok picked up Liruna, who had crawled up to him, and looked at her. "A very charming little individual."

Asha and Vekal smiled at each other.

And so Liruna-Rani, daughter of the House Jo'rek on Earth, grew up surrounded with love. She remained an only child, as Doctor Metak advised Asha and Vekal that another child would be too risky, and the couple was perfectly happy with life the way it was. What they did miss, however, was Romulus.

During that time, thanks to clandestine and highly secret meetings in which Letant, other former high-ranking Romulan authorities and Starfleet officials were present, bits and pieces of news from Romulus came. Romulans were not tolerating the isolation of the Empire or the persecution of minorities. But the worst thing was that the Tal Shiar had kept the threat of the Borg a secret, forcing the Romulan. They had in fact forced military commanders to steal samples of Borg technology and finally managed to smuggle drones onto Romulus. With those samples, the Tal Shiar had created a threat risking the lives of their own citizens: a nanovirus, originally meant as a weapon against other species. The Borg, aware of the capture of their drones, had assimilated hundreds of Romulans serving on spacecraft and had destroyed more outposts. And then a Borg vessel had appeared near Remus, ruined Remans and the dilithium mines. The military had decided to take action against them – and against the wishes of the Tal Shiar.

Not only had this thrown the Empire into chaos, but whatever grudging trust the Tal Shiar enjoyed was withdrawn from them. Mutiny was the result. The Tal Shiar headquarters were stormed by an angry mob consisting of military personnel and the people, notably the younger generation of Kihika's age. In the meantime, Senator Cretak did what she could to send and receive information to and from Earth.

Overall, it was a shameful business, Romulans killing Romulans, and the Borg waiting on the sidelines.

Finally, a call for aid was sent out by the Romulan Empire to the Federation, and the Romulan embassy became a key player in the conflict. Annika Hansen, a former Borg, was dispatched to Romulus together with Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who had tackled the Borg in the delta quadrant, and with Jean-Luc Picard, who had had encounters with the Borg during his time as a Captain of the starship Enterprise.

Back on Earth, Asha and the Romulan community waited anxiously for news, afraid that Romulus and its people might be destroyed, but also grimly satisfied about the downfall of the Tal Shiar. Besides the Human-Romulan cooperation, other planets were invested in coming to Romulus's aid, such as the Vulcans and Klingons – obviously with the political goal of having Romulus owe them a huge favour, and thus maintain a specific hierarchy of power and piece in the quadrants. But the bottom line was that the Borg was everyone's enemy, and for that reason alone, people who usually disagreed with each other were willing to cooperate to achieve a common goal.

"Veruulir. The Tal Shiar had no business meddling with Borg technology," was Kihika's dry comment.

Vekal said that the mess, although it grieved him deeply, was actually a good thing.

"It offers Romulus the chance to begin afresh. Them and us over here on Earth."

Liruna was four years old by then. When she heard the adults talking about Romulus, she asked when they would visit the planet. Her parents exchanged a long look, and finally, Asha said: "Soon, Liru. Soon."

"How soon is soon?"

"When we know the date," Vekal said patiently.

"When will the date be?" Liruna pressed.

"Once we know the date, we'll tell you," he said.

"And when will you know the date?" Liruna continued.

"When we write it in huge letters on your bedroom wall," Asha quipped.

"Oh," Liruna said, sounding concerned. She was silent for a little; then she asked: "Is Romulus very far away?"

Asha bit back a smile and left the room. She returned with a PADD on Romulus for children, in English and Kzhad. Liruna was happily occupied over the next few hours while her parents took the opportunity to make love upstairs.

As they lay together in bed afterwards, recovering their breath, Asha said thoughtfully: "I hope to make love with you on Romulus. In fact, I hope to do a lot of things on Romulus, Vekal. And most of all, I want Liruna to have real contact with her roots. She's a child of two worlds, as you said. Our whole family is of two worlds, now."

"I have a lot of hope for Romulus, e'lev. Hope for renewal, for abolishment of slavery on Remus, for improvement and progress. It will take long. It will take many generations, but Liruna's generation will contribute to shaping New Romulus," Vekal remarked.

"Yes, my deyhhan." She snuggled up to him. "One day, I hope Liruna will see Romulus."

"She will, my ailhun," Vekal said, kissing her and stroking the stretch marks Asha's pregnancy had left on her stomach, where Liruna's first world had began. A dermal regenerator could have wiped them out, but Asha had refused. Her daughter was a separate entity from her now, but Asha wanted her to remain engraved in her skin, to remind her of the unique Human-Romulan bond they shared.

END