Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 8 Jan 2004 11:46:31 -0800 In: alt.startrek.creative From: shouldknowbettertt@yahoo.co.uk (shouldknowbetter) Title: The Rainbow's Foot (4/5) (33/34 for series) Series: Begins with "A Logical Proposal" "The Rainbow's Foot" is tenth in the series Author: ShouldKnowBetter Email: shouldknowbettertt@yahoo.uk.com Rating: PG-13 Codes: Tu/T, A/Scharacters, drama, angst Summary: Ten years after leaving Enterprise, T'Pol attends a THE RAINBOW'S FOOT Part Four T'Pol would probably have listened to the music indefinitely if Tucker hadn't been keeping an eye on the clock. It was near midnight before he reluctantly stretched out a hand to stroke her cheek, smiling at the uncharacteristically dreamy look in her eyes as she turned to him. "Sorry, honey, but we gotta go or the babysitters'll get annoyed." She blinked, focussing again. "I am sorry." "For enjoying yourself?" She hesitated. "Perhaps." He leant forward and kissed her softly and she allowed the caress even though there were other people close by. "I dunno know what you're punishing yourself for, T'Pol, but you have gotta stop. C'mon, let's go home." She followed him sadly out into the night. She did not think he would want to know that she was being punished for loving him. By the time T'Pol finished meditating Tucker was already in bed although he was still awake, reading from a PADD that he tossed onto the floor when she slipped in beside him, reaching out to cuddle her close. She sighed with pleasure at the feel of bare flesh against hers, rubbing her cheek lightly against his chest. "You did not meditate?" "Couldn't concentrate." There had been far too many emotion-laden questions rattling around his head. "Good thing we're not still bonded or I'd be giving you a hell of a headache." Despite her recent meditation, it took T'Pol a long moment to control her reaction to that statement. If she had known how to recreate that inexplicable mental link between them, she would have done so and accepted the headaches along with the warmth and love and reassurance – except that Tucker no longer loved her so wanting the bond back was as illogical was wanting to live with him. "Are you tired, honey?" "No." T'Pol pushed her regret firmly down and raised her head. "But it is late." "And tomorrow's Saturday." His hands ran suggestively down her back, provoking an appreciative shiver. "Your meaning, Commander?" He grinned as the formal, disdainful question was mitigated by a warm fingers stroking his cheek. "I don't have to go to work, the kids don't have to go to school, so we don't have to get up early." "I anticipate that T'Pril will awake at her normal time." "So?" He nuzzled her ear. "You don't need much sleep." "What are you proposing?" "Sex." The hands were moving over her back again. "Nice, long, slow sex." Which was, of course, all he wanted from her. It was not enough but if his lovemaking were all she could have then she would accept that while it was available. It was so much better than being alone. For the first time in a week T'Pol was grateful that she needed less sleep than Tucker. He was still oblivious when she slipped out of bed after only a few minutes fond observation although he did promptly roll onto the portion of the bed that she had been occupying, but he had threatened her with violence early that morning if she attempted to wake him for anything short of a major crisis, so she did not believe that he would object to being left to sleep. On Enterprise, he had always insisted on staying in bed as long as possible on their days off, the backstop usually being that unless he got up before 0900 chef would have cleared away breakfast; it had required some ingenuity to persuade him that he could wait until lunchtime for sustenance. This morning, however, T'Pol needed to meditate and to think and so she carried the meditation candle into the living room where she would not be distracted by watching Tucker sleep. There was a transport for Vulcan leaving San Francisco spaceport at 1700 that day and she and T'Pril were supposed to be on it, but if there was one place T'Pol did not want to be at 1700 it was San Francisco spaceport. Tucker had not mentioned her leaving and surely he would if he wanted her gone. He knew the conference had finished and that that had been the ostensible reason for her presence on Earth. Had he just assumed that she would leave today? She did not want to, she wanted to stay. Just a few more days. Perhaps a week. Not as long as a month, certainly, although if he still hadn't asked her to go … Just long enough to see if the bond would re-activate for him too – for that had been the incredible, soul-touching truth that she had realised last night as they mated. When they parted all those years before, she had been told that the inexplicable bond between them would simply dissolve with lack of use and she had never had reason to doubt the truth of that statement. Seeing Tucker again, even being intimate with him, had not resulted in any mental contact until the previous night when, as he had observed, he had not meditated and so would have been ‘louder' to her if they had still been bonded. And she had heard him towards the end, by no means as clearly as she once had but there had definitely been the sensation of pleasure beyond her own. For T'Pol, the realisation that she was still linked in some way to Tucker was the greatest relief of her life, excusing some of her behaviour over the intervening years. Vulcans could not be bonded to more than one individual at a time. Even to mate with someone when bonded to another was known to cause distress. She had married Stolas when still bonded to Tucker even if no one had been aware of the fact, and that had been part of the reason for the miserable failure of the marriage and her inability to rid herself of her affection for her human lover. The problem she now had was what to do with her new knowledge. The sensible option was to return to Vulcan and find a master who could probe more deeply into her mind, divine the nature of the bond and unravel it. What she wanted to do was stay on Earth and hope that further intimacy between herself and Tucker would reinstate the bond for him too. It had always been far weaker for him so it made sense that he would not yet be aware of it, but it must eventually awaken for him too. Surely if he knew that they were still bonded, he would let her remain with him? It could be that his own marriage had failed for the same reason, but would he then blame her? Insist that the bond be removed? She did not know. Torn between hope and despair, T'Pol lit the candle. She would meditate on the matter. Speculation was futile. Logic must prevail - providing logic justified regaining the man she loved. "Mama?" T'Pol opened her eyes to find that the sun had arisen while she was meditating and so had her daughter. "Good morning, mother." "Good morning, T'Pril." She would let the childish ‘mama' pass without comment since the girl had greeted her correctly immediately after. Indeed, T'Pril was the image of a well-behaved Vulcan child, kneeling respectfully before her mother clutching a book containing the simplified teaching of Surak, suitable for the young. The only discordant note were her pyjamas that were old ones of Katie, decorated with a poor facsimile of a bear known, for a reason T'Pol could not fathom, as Pooh. "Did you behave well last night, T'Pril, while Ambassador and Mrs Archer were here?" "Yes. We played a game with dice." "That is good. It will teach you to appreciate probability theory." "Will you read to me, mother?" "Of course I will read to you, T'Pril. Would you like a drink first?" "I would like a banana." "I believe that you have eaten every banana in the house, T'Pril. We must ask Commander Tucker where we may acquire more." The girl cocked her head to one side. "Who, mother?" T'Pol sighed; she had never actually introduced her daughter to Tucker. "The man whose house this is." "Daddy?" It took T'Pol a moment to ensure that her voice would be steady. "That is not his name, T'Pril. It is an English word meaning ‘father'. He is Katie's and Charlie's father." "What should I call him?" "You should call him Commander Tucker." "That is long." "Yes, but you are quite old enough now for courtesy. Come, T'Pril, we will get you some fruit juice and then we will read for a while." They read of Surak's strictures on self-indulgence – T'Pol thought they might both benefit – and the associated parable and T'Pril paid attention, looking thoughtfully at her mother afterwards. "So I may not eat too many bananas?" "That is certainly one example of self-indulgence, T'Pril," as was her mother's infatuation with a human. "But if I cannot have a banana now because we have none, I could have two later?" By which logic, T'Pol was entitled to twenty years in Tucker's bed. "That is not quite what Surak intended, T'Pril." She regarded the girl sadly, all too aware of how selfish she was being. "T'Pril, are you content in this house?" She got only a puzzled stare. T'Pril was too young for abstract concepts. T'Pol had not understood the differences between acceptance, contentment and happiness herself until she had grown to love a human. "Do you miss being on Vulcan? Do you miss your books and," for a moment she could think of nothing else, "grandfather?" "Will grandfather come to visit us here, mother?" "He will not, T'Pril, but we will see him when we return to Vulcan in a few days … or perhaps a little longer," and she hugged T'Pril tightly. For as long as Charles allowed her to stay. "T'Pol?" Tucker appeared at the door, hair standing on end, a robe pulled ineffectively around him leaving most of his chest bare. "What …? Oh," he had seen T'Pril and sighed, "duty calls, huh?" He pulled his robe straight and came over to sit beside T'Pol, kissing the mouth she offered and switched to Vulcan. "Good morning, T'Pril." "Good morning, Commander Tucker." "That is very formal, T'Pril." "Yes, because mother says I may not call you ‘daddy'." T'Pol went rigid with horror but Tucker only laughed, the arm he had flung around her shoulders tightening comfortingly. "She is correct, T'Pril. Your own father would not approve." Again T'Pril beat T'Pol to the answer. "I do not have a father." "Do you not?" but he was looking at T'Pol. "No. Grandmother says it is because mother is a disgrace. What is a disgrace?" "Nothing your mother is." T'Pol could hear the anger in Tucker's voice and feel it stirring in her head too – she was not imagining that the bond was reforming! – but did not dare look up to see if it was directed at her. "Fetch yourself a banana, T'Pril." T'Pol knew he was getting rid of the child and was about to ask a great many questions she did not want to answer. This time, however, her daughter rescued her. "I have eaten all the bananas. May we get more?" "Yes. T'Pril, will …" Charlie appeared down the stairs, yawning and coming to lean on his father. "What are we gonna do today?" There was a brief pause while Tucker controlled his temper. "Dad?" "We have to do a few chores and go shopping." "Nothing else?" "We can go play soccer in the park this afternoon if you want." "What about tomorrow?" "I dunno. Ask Katie. It's her turn to chose." "Dad?" Charlie sounded anxious and Tucker gave the boy a hug, calling on a few meditation techniques to push the irritation out of his voice. "Sorry, Charlie, I'm not awake yet. Let me get some coffee, huh?" Tucker caught T'Pol when she tried to slip away to get dressed, following her into the bedroom and closing the door firmly. She eyed it warily. "The children …" "Will be fine for five minutes. Why didn't you tell me you were divorced?" "It did not seem relevant." "Bullshit! What was T'Pril saying about you being a disgrace?" "Divorce is rare on Vulcan. It is not readily accepted." "Now why don't I buy that one? T'Pril's father won't even acknowledge her?" "No." "What happened, T'Pol?" "It is none of your business." She had turned away but he pulled her back. "The hell it is! If I was responsible, I need to know." "When I married, I had not seen you for three years. How could you be responsible?" T'Pol was not sure why she was not taking the opportunity to explain. Perhaps she was scared of getting the wrong answer. "Did he know you'd had a human lover?" "Yes." "Daddy!" Tucker swore. "This is useless. We are gonna talk about this, T'Pol. Tonight, once the kids are in bed." "There is no need." "Oh, yes, there is. I've given you a week, T'Pol. That's long enough." She had to take a couple of breaths to control the pain. "I will leave at once "Excuse me?" He had been at the door but swung back. "Daddy!" He swore again and opened the door. "What?" "Can I have more toast?" "Yeah, just gimme a minute." He crossed the intervening space to T'Pol in two strides, cupping her face in his hands and tipping it up for a long kiss, surprisingly free of passion. "I didn't mean you had to go. I want to help you, honey. Trust me on this one, huh?" and he kissed her again. "Trust me," he whispered when he freed her mouth and she nodded because she really could not bear to leave before she had to, even if it gave her only one more night. "Good girl," and he kissed her a third time with a passion that left them breathless. T'Pol stayed in that afternoon. The time she had spent with T'Pril that morning had demonstrated to her that Tucker's children probably needed to have their father's undivided attention for a while and it would do no harm for T'Pril to have her mother do the same. Tucker raised no objection so she deduced that he felt the same. She was on the floor with T'Pril, practising balancing exercises, when the front door opened only an hour or so after the Tuckers had left. Surprised because Tucker had said they would be a couple of hours at least, T'Pol looked up to see a tall blonde woman enter, a travel bag in one hand. "Oh!" There was surprise in the exclamation as the newcomer caught sight of T'Pol. "Hi. Where's Trip?" T'Pol felt her stomach contract. "He has taken the children to the park." "Serves me right, I guess. I never got around to telling him I'd be back today. Have we met?" "No." T'Pol's breathing was threatening to become erratic. "I am … a colleague." "Then I guess I don't have to worry about what Trip's been getting up to while I've been away." She yawned, showing excellent white teeth. "I'm Janice, by the way." She headed for the stairs. "Tell Trip I'm here when he gets in. I'm bushed; been in Europe all month." T'Pol watched the human woman climb the stairs, her mind descending into shock. This could not be happening. It was she who lived with Charles, not this female who so obviously matched the criteria she knew he favoured; except that she was deluding herself. She had known from the start that her time with Charles was limited but evidently she had ignored logic and let herself believe that she could stay indefinitely. Now she knew why they had always slept in the downstairs bedroom. Not to be out of earshot of the children while they made love but because the room she had thought of as Tucker's was theirs, his and the other woman's. T'Pol became aware that she was shaking; she had been such a complete and utter fool. "Mother?" T'Pril's high-pitched voice penetrated her mother's painful thoughts. "Mother, look at me." "Very good, T'Pril." She barely noticed the child's improvement. "Now we must go." "Mother?" "Come." T'Pol snatched the girl up and headed towards the bedroom. She had to leave immediately, before Charles returned. She could not bear to face him. It would not be fair to face him with his lover in the house. She would leave as she should have done anyway. The transport to Vulcan left in less than two hours and she would be on it. The fact that she had cancelled their passage was irrelevant, there would still be space available. There was no reason for Charles to know that she had misinterpreted his hospitality. She would go back to Vulcan - and maybe one day she would stop hurting. Continued in Part Five -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From ???@??? Thu Jan 15 00:46:54 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n18.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.73]) by skylark (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aH0jV7zR3NZFjw0 for ; Wed, 14 Jan 2004 21:45:29 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-12883-1074145284-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.