Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and thanks for being patient with this story.

Dinner was a somber affair, silent as each of us focused on our meal. I knew enough about Vulcan tradition by now to know that Soval's conversations with me during mealtimes was a concession to human culture, to what I was used to. Sitar and S'Vas ate in silence, and I followed suit, concentrating on taking tiny, measured bites of my food.

"On Earth," Soval said quietly, picking at a pile of shredded plomeek stalks, "it is often customary to converse over meals."

Sitar glanced over at me, putting down a forkful of food. "You said nothing about that, Ms. Forrest. You should have told us."

"No, no, I don't want to make you uncomfortable," I insisted, shaking my head vehemently. "It's not going to kill me to have one meal in silence if that's what you're used to."

"We are on Earth," Sitar countered. "We came to see my brother, to ensure that he was well, but we also came to meet you and learn more about you and your culture. We would like to concede to it as much as possible."

I simply flushed and returned to cutting up my plomeek into little tiny bites. "Like I said, it's not that important. I'm okay with talking or staying silent, it's fine either way."

"Our time on this planet is limited," he said, "so I would rather talk. May I know about your family? You mentioned that your father is in Starfleet, but what occupation does your mother hold? How large is your family? Do you have any siblings?"

I nodded. "Yes, I have two brothers, and a sister-in-law. My mom works part-time in an office job, and she has..." I glanced up at the ceiling, counting in my head, "four brothers and two sisters? Yeah. Six siblings. They all live out of state, so we don't get to see them very often. My dad has two brothers, one older, one younger. All told, I think I have maybe twenty cousins? Mostly from mom's side, obviously. So yeah, I have plenty of family."

Sitar raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing with some unreadable expression. "Your family is quite prosperous, it seems." He tilted his head. "And...that quantity of children...that is normal on your world?"

I smiled. "Actually, it might be seen as a little unusual. Most people only have three children at maximum, so six might be a bit excessive. But still, as long as you have the resources to raise your kids and you care for them all, I don't see a problem with it."

"I knew your father has two brothers, but I was not aware that your mother had five siblings." I turned to Soval, raising my eyebrows as I stared at him.

"You think that's a lot, try my great-great-great-grandmother. She had thirteen children."

A strange look gleamed in his eyes, but I turned back to Sitar when he spoke again.

"So you are accustomed, then, to being in a large family?"

Soval cleared his throat, and I looked at the ambassador in time to see him throw a dark glare towards his brother. I frowned, but thought nothing of it, and turned back to Sitar.

"Yes, I am mostly accustomed to being in a large family. I suppose it must be odd to think about living with so many siblings, huh?"

"It...it is not what we are used to," he admitted, and he looked towards his brother.

"Did you get along when you were younger?"

Soval smirked ever so slightly. "Why do you ask, Genevieve?"

"Because I fought with my brothers all the time when I was little. I'm just trying to get a picture of your life when you were a kid."

I glanced back at the man beside me, but Sitar was silent, and looked pensive.

"We rarely got along," Soval replied smoothly. "We tried our mother's patience every day with our arguments."

"When we were at the same school – I believe you would call it primary school – the teacher would often send us to the headmaster if we fought too much in the courtyard during breaks."

I laughed despite Sitar's somber expression. "Oh no! S'Vas, what did you say to them when they fought too much?"

Soval quickly translated my question, and S'Vas smirked, just barely, his eyes sparkling with what looked like mischief. He kept his gaze on me as he replied, his voice crackling a little.

"My father says he would often deprive us of our favorite foods, and assign us extra meditation time or chores to teach us the error of our ways." His father nodded sagely. "Unfortunately, these lessons took quite a long time to sink in."

I smiled, nodding in thanks to S'Vas, and Sitar asked me another question.

"You mentioned that you and your brothers fought often. Do you remember over what?"

I shrugged. "I remember one time my brother Oliver cut all the hair off one of my dolls." I grinned. "I paid him back by getting into the permanent markers and giving some of his action figures tiny makeovers."

Soval tilted his head. "And what kind of makeovers did these figures end up with?"

I smiled at him. "I remember giving all of them hot pink lips. I think one got an eyepatch, and I gave at least two horrible blue eyeshadow. They looked awful. And we were both grounded for two weeks for it."

"Grounded?" Sitar said, sounding confused. "I do not know the meaning of that term."

"Oh, it just means that we couldn't go to friend's houses, or watch the comm. We had to read books instead or play outside, and not with friends."

"Ah." He raised an eyebrow, his eyes focused intently on me. "And did you find that these measures were an effective deterrent against disobedient behavior?"

I shrugged. "I suppose it was effective enough. I only got grounded a few times when I was a kid. I don't think I was really badly behaved, but every kid messes up sometimes. I guess that's just part of growing up."

"And when you have children, which method do you think you will employ?"

I froze for a moment, glancing at Soval as my brain flew into overdrive to find an acceptable answer. My arms crossed my chest and I frowned.

"Well, if I had children...um, I really don't know what method I'd use. That'd be a conversation between me and my hypothetical partner...I mean, I kind of like what your father did. I think it really depends on your kids, though. If they're more extroverted and really like spending time with other people, grounding seems like a really effective deterrent, but if you have a quieter child, maybe your method is better. I don't know. I'm not experienced at all in disciplining children."

My eyes trailed up to Soval, and he was once again glowering at his brother, and he murmured something in Vulcan, his pronunciation crisp and articulated. I frowned at him, but his gaze softened as he turned his eyes to me.

"I made you uncomfortable," Sitar said stiffly. "Please forgive me."

I stared down at the ground and nodded, throwing a halfhearted smile his way, and the conversation died as everyone finished eating.

...

"Ms. Forrest."

I felt a hand barely touch my shoulder, and I slowly opened my eyes, staring blankly up at Dr. Avarak. "Good morning," I murmured, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"Breakfast will be served shortly. And after, the ambassador would like for you to accompany him and his family on a short walk through the gardens."

"Okay," I said, covering my yawn with my hand. I slipped out of bed before I could contemplate laying back down, and I saw that S'Vas and Sitar were blessedly absent from the infirmary. Soval was sitting up straight in his bed, dressed for the day and reading a PADD.

"Good morning," he said to me, glancing up from his work. I thought I saw a shadow of a smile on his lips. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," I sighed, shuffling through my suitcase to find something decent to wear. "And you?"

"My rest was restorative. My father and brother should be down momentarily to join us for breakfast. I hope you have no objection?"

I smirked up at him. "Of course not. Why would I?"

He frowned at me for a moment, then glanced back to his PADD. "Your conversation with my brother seemed...strained. He made you uncomfortable." He sighed. "There was no need to blame yourself for the course of this exchange, though I do hope we can, what is the phrase, make up for lost time?"

I focused on digging through my bag for some socks, collecting my thoughts and trying to shove away the fog of sleep still clinging to me. "Yes, and I hope so too. Your brother seems like a very good person, I just...well, his questions were very direct, and I just wasn't quite prepared for them."

His eyes gleamed with an unreadable expression. "You did not know my family was coming, and they certainly did not inform me of their plans. It does not reflect poorly on you in any way for not being prepared for this meeting. Please do not be so hard on yourself."

I could feel my expression soften at that, and I reached over and gently touched his shoulder. "I promise, I'm not trying to be hard on myself, I just...I should like to make a good first impression." I paused, searching his face. "...did I do a good job?"

Soval's gaze trailed to my hand still on his shoulder, then back to meet my gaze, his voice a low rumble as he spoke. "My father is quite intrigued by you...as is my brother..." He sighed again, then looked almost as if he were smiling. "Seeing Sitar interact with you reminds me of my younger days, when I would come home for Surak's Day and be questioned by my uncles and my father of my diplomatic missions." His gaze grew pensive for a moment. "It seemed every time I returned to my hometown, he would avoid me, sulking out in the garden while I told my family of my time with the Denobulans and the Klingons...and later your people."

I frowned at him, trying to piece together what he was getting at. "That's unfortunate. But it seems like he's changed."

Soval's eyes met mine again. "I believe so, yes. He never cared to listen to my stories...until I returned home for my latest visit and announced the exchange. He was keen to listen then."

"I wander what changed his mind," I said aloud, but Soval's gaze was drawn to something behind me; I heard footsteps and turned around (hastily ripping my hand from Soval's shoulder), and Sitar and his father entered the infirmary.

"Ms. Forrest, I trust you slept well?" the younger Vulcan asked, taking a seat beside me. "You look refreshed and renewed."

I smirked in slight confusion. "Yeah, I slept alright." I gathered up my clothes and my bag and looked to Soval. "I'll be right back."

And I slipped away from the trio before anyone could protest, high-tailing it to the bathroom so I could shower and change my clothes. I made it quick, hurriedly pulling my hair into a ponytail before exiting the washroom fully dressed and clean. The medical aide had just arrived with breakfast for everyone, and I took my seat again and thanked the young man for fetching our meal. We did not speak, for which I was grateful, and soon the medical aide took our dishes and we prepared to go outside.

Soval carefully swung his legs out over the side of the bed, towards me, and I stepped forward, offering my arm for him to grip. He looked up at me with those warm brown eyes and nodded, and he took my offered arm and eased himself out of bed. Before I could even look for his cane, Sitar was at my side, handing it over to his brother, and he gently took Soval's arm from me, helping him towards the door.

"Sitar, I am perfectly capable of walking on my own. Please aide our father."

"You were perfectly content to let Ms. Forrest help you. Perhaps you are not as healed as you believed," Sitar retorted, and he had yet to let go of his brother. I stared at them as Soval firmly removed his arm from his brother's grip.

To mentally remove myself from the tension between those two, I turned to S'Vas. His shocking blue eyes twinkled, and he glanced over at his sons with what looked like amused exasperation. With that reassurance, the tension eased slightly, and I smiled at him, offering my arm for him to take. The old man took my offer and pulled himself slowly to standing, and I continued to support him as we passed Soval and Sitar, headed steadily towards the door.

The two of them seemed to snap out of a daze; their somewhat heated conversation had devolved into Vulcan, and stopped the moment they saw me escorting their father out the door. Sitar rushed to my side, offering to take S'Vas off my hands, but I smiled and shook my head, patting his father's arm very gently.

"Don't worry, Sitar, I've got this. Soval, do you need a hand? I've got a free arm."

"I would appreciate a little assistance from you, Genevieve. Thank you."

I smiled and let him wrap his arm around mine, and I glanced back to Sitar with his narrowed eyes and dark glare. "I'm sorry, Sitar, if I had a third arm, I'd offer it to you."

Soval's sidelong glance he directed towards me was unreadable, but he bowed his head and gently pulled me towards the door, the three of us meandering to the garden, Sitar walking behind.

The clouds from yesterday still lingered in the sky, the air fresh with the smell of rain. I had slept through the downpour that had descended on the city last night, though from the looks Sitar gave the heavens, he and perhaps S'Vas had not missed it.

"Your world is replete with water," Sitar murmured, and I glanced back at him to see him staring intently at a dripping bed of flowers. "And yet I see Vulcan plants in this garden. How have they survived here?"

"The first Vulcan plants brought to Earth did not do well outdoors, at least not in this region," Soval replied evenly. "But the plants in this garden are hybrids."

My eyes drifted to the ruddy red shrubs at the edges of the courtyard. "Really? How difficult was it to cross-breed an Earth plant with Vulcan flora, though?"

"Not as difficult as you might think," the ambassador said, and I could feel his eyes on me. I turned to him, tilting my head in intrigue, and his eyes gleamed with that warmth from earlier. "Our two worlds are not as different as some might claim."

I had no answer for him, but maintained eye contact for a few moments longer before looking away. His tone sounded warm and gentle and maybe even a tiny bit flirtatious, and I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with handling that in front of his family. S'Vas, however, seemed pleased at being outside, despite the chill, and his grip on my arm tightened slightly. I patted him again, as lightly as I could.

"Would 'honored elder' be the correct honorific for referring to your father?" I asked the ambassador, and Soval raised an eyebrow.

"'Osu' would suffice. That is the equivalent of referring to a man as 'sir' in your language."

"Five months you have been in this exchange, and you are only now teaching her what 'Osu' means?" Sitar's voice bit through the chill like a knife, and I turned back to him, frowning.

"Brother, do you think she has had any opportunity to speak with the members of my staff? Until recently, she referred to me exclusively as 'ambassador', but we have thankfully moved to a first-name basis."

Sitar shook his head. "But to not know something so simple..." His gaze met mine, and I must have looked uncomfortable, because he bowed his head and sighed. "I do not mean to be overly critical, Ms. Forrest. My comment was directed at my brother, not at you. I do not blame you in the slightest for your ignorance. The blame lies solely on Soval, for failing to teach you as thoroughly as he should have."

Something told me that he wasn't talking about honorifics anymore, but we dropped the subject and continued our leisurely stroll through the garden.

Sitar did not speak to me again until the two of them were departing, and while Soval said farewell to his father, the younger brother drew me aside.

"My brother has failed you, in so many regards. It is deplorable. You should know more than you do, and as I said earlier, I blame your ignorance squarely on him." He stepped a little closer and lowered his voice. "I would not have wasted all this time with you. Since my brother has not taught you properly, should you wish to know everything there is to know, about our culture, about current events on our world...do not hesitate to contact me. I will not be as cowardly as Soval."

I frowned. "What's stopping you from telling me now?"

"There is no time. And my brother would likely never speak to me again. Despite our disagreements, he is still my brother, and I will respect his rules in the Consulate he heads, no matter how much I do not like said rules." He lightly placed his hand on my shoulder, and I glanced over to Soval and his father to find them in a similar position, with S'Vas' hand on the ambassador's shoulder. I looked back to Sitar.

"Do not hesitate to contact me, Genevieve. I will not fail you, if you choose to put your trust in me." His grip tightened for a moment. "Peace and long life. Until we meet again."

And then he released me and turned to his brother, repeating a similar gesture as they said their farewells. I noted their tones were much stiffer than when Soval was speaking with his father.

S'Vas turned to me, and lightly took my hand in his. I smiled up at the old man, and despite the fact that I hadn't had much time to get to know him, he struck me as well-meaning and kind. A shadow of a smile touched his lips, and he placed his other hand over mine, encasing my hand in his warm, gentle grasp.

"You will take care of my son?" he murmured. I nodded wholeheartedly.

"Of course I will," I replied. "I promise."

S'Vas' eyes twinkled, and he patted my hand, then left me be, departing with his younger son in the waiting shuttle.