Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 8 Jan 2004 11:51:29 -0800 In: alt.startrek.creative From: shouldknowbettertt@yahoo.co.uk (shouldknowbetter) Title: The Rainbow's Foot (5/5) (34/34 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 Five (conclusion) The departure lounge at San Francisco spaceport was busy although the dozen or so Vulcans waiting for their transport vessel had a clear space around them. Most of the hostility might have faded but in general humans were too much in awe to approach. T'Pol joined the other Vulcans because that was where her body took her; her mind seemed incapable of decision-making. She hurt so much that she could not think, let alone cope with T'Pril's increasingly shrill demands to be entertained. The girl's education box was one of the things she had not packed, but it had been upstairs and T'Pol had not been able to bring herself to climb the stairs when the other woman was up there, in Tucker's bed. "Mother," T'Pril's voice was becoming louder, "I have nothing to do. Will you read to me?" Blindly, T'Pol reached for her bag. She did not even know if she had packed the book of Surak's teachings but it was there and under it was a blue tank top, standard Starfleet issue. She stared at it, feeling the emotions waiting to swamp her. It had been lying where she had neatly folded it after Charles had discarded it on the floor the previous day but that was no excuse for the fit of sentimentality that had led her to thrust it into the bag. The fact that she still loved him and probably always would could not be allowed to affect her actions any longer. Perhaps if she believed that he had deliberately misled her it would have helped destroy her affection, but she knew he had not meant to hurt her. If he had known that his lover was coming home, he would undoubtedly have ensured that T'Pol was gone before the other woman arrived without ever mentioning why she could not stay longer. It would not have been difficult, all he would have had to do was ask when she was returning to Vulcan and she would have left the next day regardless of the truth of the matter. It would have been bitterly painful to leave him again but it would have been … civilised. Not this brutal realisation that Charles had probably not enjoyed her company as much as she had believed, that he already had someone with whom to share his life. "Mother!" T'Pol handed the book over. "See how many words you can recognise, T'Pril." "I want you to read to me, mother." "I … cannot." If she tried, she was afraid that she would lose the vestiges of control she had left. "I wanna go home." T'Pol stared at her daughter in shock. That had been in English and had obviously been learnt from Charlie. "We are going home, T'Pril. We are returning to Vulcan. You must not speak English anymore." "I wanna go home. I wanna play with Katie and Charlie." "You cannot. We are returning to Vulcan." T'Pril deliberately let the book slide onto the floor. "No." "T'Pril, please …" She had no reserves left to deal with a tantrum. "Child," the voice was deep, cool and precise, "that is no way to treat a book." Desperate, T'Pol looked up to see an elderly Vulcan man standing before her daughter. "I will read to you if your mother is unable." He raised an eyebrow at T'Pol. "If you permit, madam?" "Yes." She swallowed, wondering if all the waiting Vulcans thought her an unfit mother – as she probably was. "I suggest that you meditate, madam. You appear … unsettled." T'Pol nodded, watching as the man drew T'Pril a little distance aside and opened the book, using a finger to point out the words as he read, clearly used to dealing with young children. She should meditate but it would not stop the pain; at best it would allow her to control it but she wasn't sure that that would be enough. No one would ever believe that living with a volatile, emotional human actually made it easier to regulate her emotions but it did. She had felt calmer and more in control the last few days than at any time since T'Pril's conception but that was gone now. Stiffly, T'Pol folded her legs under her, closing her eyes. She would try to meditate but she did not believe it would work; she was so tired, too tired to concentrate. If she could just sleep for a while, in the warm darkness where no one could disturb her … "Madam!" The sharp voice penetrated the blackness surrounding her and she blinked sleepily at the other Vulcan, detecting disapproval. "Madam, are you ill?" "No." He gave her a doubtful look and returned his attention to T'Pril, leaving T'Pol to realise that she had lied. She had felt this terrible fatigue once before, just after she and Charles had become lovers when the fear of losing him had made her retreat into herself. That had been resolved when they became bonded but a cure this time seemed unlikely. Surely the responsibility of a mother towards her daughter would be enough to anchor her firmly to the present? Except she did not know how much longer T'Pen would allow her to retain T'Pril. The child needed stability and discipline, not a mother who could not control her own emotions. If T'Pril were to be taken away … then perhaps it would not matter greatly if T'Pol just went to sleep. To one side, T'Pol heard T'Pril's squeak of pleasure – yet another bad habit she had recently acquired – and the sound of small feet scampering away and forced herself to look; the responsibility was still currently hers. What she saw was the last thing she expected, as the slim, broad shouldered human swung her daughter up into his arms and hugged her as the child put an arm around his neck and began to chatter busily. Blue eyes met T'Pol's across the intervening distance and she saw anger and very little else as he came slowly forward. He stopped close enough that she could feel the anger in her head too, and that at least woke her up. "Weren't you even gonna say goodbye?" "I did not believe it to be necessary." "Why the hell not?" In the time he had spent searching for her, Tucker had worked himself into a furious temper. "Jeez, you didn't even tell me you were due to leave!" "I did not believe you would notice." "How the hell could I not notice you'd left?" "You had other company." Tucker glared at her, almost incandescent with fury. "Janice is my cousin! She stays over when she's in town. Hell, you really thought I'd do that to you? To her?" T'Pol was losing the remnants of her control; Tucker's anger had always done that to her. "Yes." "Well, I wouldn't! I love you! I've always loved you! My wife left me because I still loved you! Oh, jeez, T'Pol, don't cry." Tucker closed the gap between them and pulled her to him with the arm that wasn't holding T'Pril. T'Pol wrapped her arms around him, momentarily determined never to let go again. "Don't cry, honey. Not until we get home, anyway." "I … still have feelings for you." "Very deep feelings?" He was laughing at her, and she could feel other emotions from him now, relief and happiness and the warmth that she had so missed all the years they had spent apart. "Yeah, I know that." "How could you?" "Oh," the laughter was audible now as he pressed against her, mouth close to her ear, "because of the way you look at me, the fact you let me take you to bed." He tightened his grip. "The way you let me hold you when there are a dozen disapproving Vulcans looking on." T'Pol stiffened, raising her head from Tucker's shoulder although she could not bring herself to release her grip as it seemed he could not either. She met T'Pril's interested gaze first, then looked beyond to where every Vulcan in the departure lounge was indeed staring at them. It was the elderly man who had been reading to T'Pril who expressed the common view. "You shame yourself, madam. How dare you expose a child to this display of … sentimentality?" T'Pol met the man's eyes unflinchingly. "Even Surak did not deny that affection was a necessary commodity in raising a child." "Human affection?" "He is my t'hy'la." "Vulcans do not take alien lovers." Tucker had been frowning at the man, chasing an illusive resemblance, and suddenly laughed. "Yes, they do." He grinned mockingly at his old biology teacher. "Challenge your preconceptions, professor, before they challenge you." It wasn't as simple as that and T'Pol gave Tucker credit for recognising the fact. When they arrived back at his house, Janice, Katie and Charlie were watching an entertainment channel and T'Pril ran across to join them while the human children looked up at their father with calm acceptance. It was only Janice who appeared sensitive to atmosphere. "Hey." She sounded guilty. "Want me to leave?" "S'OK." Tucker had T'Pol's hand firmly in his. "Just keep the kids busy for a while, huh?" "Sure." She watched the man and woman climb the stairs together and sighed. Aunt Marjorie was not gonna be happy that her son had decided to return to his alien lover, but hopefully Trip would be. Tucker closed his bedroom door and took T'Pol in his arms again. "If you ever run out on me like that again, I'll break your neck." "She came upstairs." T'Pol still sounded uncertain. "I thought she slept here with you." "Janice always sleeps in Katie's room; Katie likes the company." His voice hardened. "I can't believe you thought I'd have made love you if I was in a relationship with someone else." "I believed that you just felt sorry for me." "I did but I love you too, and if there'd been anyone else I still wouldn't have slept with you." He rubbed his cheek against her hair. "We need to have that conversation, honey." T'Pol sighed. Reality was always painful and the last few hours had forced her to evaluate her wish to stay on Earth as the irrational desire it was. "It can make no difference. I cannot stay." "Like hell you can't! We love each other. Are you saying that still counts for nothing? Or are you gonna deny how happy you've been living with me this week?" "I cannot raise T'Pril on Earth." "I don't think you can bring her up on Vulcan." Tucker forced T'Pol's head up to meet his eyes. "You weren't doing too well without me, were you?" "No." "Are we still bonded?" The unexpected question shocked her. "Yes." She raised a hand to his face. "I have started to hear your emotions again, but I did not think that you would yet be able to." "I can't, not really. Maybe when we made love last night …" He broke off with a shrug. "It's just felt so right being with you again." Long, sensitive fingers caressed her cheek. "Why'd your husband divorce you, T'Pol?" She closed her eyes. "When Stolas took me during his pon farr I called him Charles." "I can see how that would dent a guy's ego." "I believed that I had ceased to care for you but it became clear that I had merely buried my feelings. They are … resilient." "I missed you like crazy." Time for confessions on his side too. "I was an idiot to go back to Natalie but it was the easy thing to do, I guess." He sighed. "By the time I worked out I'd made a mistake she was pregnant and it was too late. Maybe I shouldn't have married her, but one of the reasons I gave you up was to have a family so I thought I'd better have one. Charlie was another mistake but I intended to stick it out and I didn't think Natalie knew I regretted the marriage." He gave a grunt of bitter laughter. "I guess I wasn't as good an actor as I thought. She started trying to get me to return to active duty in space not long after Charlie was born and when I wouldn't, she started sleeping around anyway. Things fell apart pretty quickly after that." He cupped T'Pol's face in both hands, holding her eyes. "T'Pol, darling, we have to stay together this time. We were wrong not to try harder before." "T'Pril will suffer if I remain here." "T'Pol, do you want us to live together?" "Yes." "Then let's start there and work out how we can make it happen." Tucker was in the downstairs bedroom with T'Pril, taking her through one of her concentration exercises, when the doorbell sounded. He didn't react since it was important not to interrupt the lesson, knowing that Charlie would get the door. "No, T'Pril," she had looked up at the noise, "we must concentrate." The last few weeks had improved the Vulcan language skills of his side of the family. "We will start again." He ignored the opening of the bedroom door and this time T'Pril did so too while she completed tracing the complex pattern on the screen of her education box. "That was very well done, T'Pril." Finally he looked up to see Charlie's frantic face. "What's up?" "Dad … we got a visitor." Wondering who could have sent his son into a panic, Tucker unfolded his legs and stood up, T'Pril trotting ahead to the door as she recognised that her lesson was over. She squeezed past Charlie and Tucker heard her squeak of delight. "Grandfather!" Oh, shit. At least he managed not to say that aloud although he expected that his expression matched the boy's. He took a deep breath and went into the living room, hearing Charlie retreat upstairs. T'Pril was perched on the lap of a middle aged Vulcan, chattering happily, her face bright. She stopped talking when Tucker appeared but only to perform the introductions. "Look, Uncle Charles, it is grandfather." T'Pol had refused to allowed her daughter to call him Trip; he was almost resigned to the fact. "Yes." He stuck to Vulcan, just to show he could. "Welcome to Earth, Doctor Branek." T'Pol's father rose to his feet, keeping hold of T'Pril. "Commander Tucker, I presume both you and my daughter realise that what you have done is unacceptable." "We're not doing anything we haven't done before." Keep it cool, Trip. No good losing your temper. "You did not openly profess your relationship as I understand you do now. There is not one of the Vulcan community on Earth who does not know that my daughter is living with you as your lover." "Haven't they got anything better to do than gossip about us?" "Evidently not." T'Pol had learnt her dry humour from her father. "Where is T'Pol?" "Mother has gone to buy bananas." T'Pril was very pleased to see her grandfather but rather frustrated at being excluded from the conversation for the last few minutes. "Do you know bananas, grandfather? They are an Earth fruit and very nice, only I am not allowed to eat very many because Uncle Charles says that I will turn into a banana if I do. I do not think I would, grandfather, because I am a Vulcan, not a fruit, and mother says that Uncle Charles is often not logical. May I eat more bananas, grandfather?" Tucker saw Branek's mouth twitch. "You must abide by your mother's decision, T'Pril, as a dutiful daughter should. Perhaps we will read what Surak tells us of self-indulgence." "Yes, he says it is bad. We often read that story, but …." "T'Pril," Tucker said gently and she looked across at him, pouting a little. "Yes, I will stop talking about bananas, Uncle Charles, but may I tell grandfather about the other things I have been learning." "Of course you may, T'Pril." He caught Branek's eye. "Shall I leave you together, sir?" "I think not, commander. You seem to have some influence with the child and I may need you to divert her conversation again. T'Pril, you have not yet learned the value of silence." "No, I have not. At school, Madam M'Ven says I speak far too often. Here I do not talk as much because we do not always speak Vulcan but I am learning English and then I may talk too much here as well. I have already learnt much English, grandfather, and Uncle Charles is reading me stories about Pooh to teach me more." She stopped only because she had run out of breath and Branek sank into a chair with the suspicion of a sigh. "What is Pooh, T'Pril?" "This is Pooh." She tugged at her pyjamas; Tucker hadn't got around to getting her dressed. "He is a bear," she used the English word, "although I do not understand because we visited bears at a park and they did not look like this, nor did they speak." There was a sound at the front of the house and T'Pril slid from Branek's knee. "That is mother now." Tucker moved swiftly after her, hoping to give T'Pol some warning although his lover did not give him time to speak, having seen her pyjama clad child. "Charles, why have you not ensured that the children are dressed?" "Mother …" "T'Pol …" "You have not even dressed yourself!" "Mother, grandfather is here." Tucker saw T'Pol's eyes dart from him to the child then back again and read the resolution before she stepped past him into the living room. "Father." "Daughter." T'Pril slipped back in. "Mother, did you acquire bananas? I believe grandfather would like to eat one." Watching from the doorway, Tucker definitely saw Branek's lips twitch again although his voice was grave. "T'Pril, I believe that you should leave us for a short while. Can you entertain yourself?" "Yes, I will play mathematics. I am now at level 3, grandfather, and last time I saw you I was at level 2." "You make progress, T'Pril, and I am pleased. Go now." "Yes, I will go, but later …" "T'Pril." She glanced over at Tucker with a frown very like one of her mother's. "Yes, I am going, but …" "Scoot!" She scooted past him and up the stairs leaving Katie behind to glare at the new Vulcan from the safety of her father's side. "Have you come to take T'Pol and T'Pril away?" "That is what we must discuss." Tucker's hand closed firmly on his daughter's shoulder. "We'll sort something out, Katie. Go upstairs and keep an eye on the other two, huh?" She scowled at him and then back at Branek. "Daddy's happy with T'Pol here." "There are wider issues to be considered than personal happiness, child," he said, perhaps for more than her benefit alone, and Tucker gave the girl a gentle shove. "Please, Katie. We'll talk later." She retreated after T'Pril and Tucker finally moved away from the door to join T'Pol, wishing that Branek had not caught him quite so unprepared. He had been enjoying a long lie in when T'Pol and Katie decided that they were going shopping and he had been evicted from his bed to look after Charlie and T'Pril. He was still wearing nothing more than a bathrobe, and he hadn't shaved or even brushed his hair. The only positive point was that he had cleaned his teeth but Branek was unlikely to notice. T'Pol's parents had not considered a Starfleet officer an acceptable partner for their daughter. What Branek would make of an aging slob who couldn't even get a child out of her pyjamas by 10:45 on a Saturday morning didn't bear thinking of. Branek appeared to be ignoring his daughter's lover, however, as he faced T'Pol, whose expression was calm, showing nothing but polite expectation. "You have had a long journey, father. Did mother accompany you?" "T'Pen chose to remain on Vulcan but she made my duty clear to me." Again that flash of wry humour. "Are you set on this course, T'Pol?" "I am." "Then can you explain to me why you have chosen to disgrace yourself and your family? To cast off our traditions and your heritage?" He raised a hand to delay her answer. "Please try to be logical, T'Pol. I do not wish for sentiment." She paused, meeting his eyes for a long moment. "I have not rejected my heritage, father, nor would I ever do so. I follow the teachings of Surak as I have always done, as you taught me to do. As for my reasons for remaining here, it offers me the companionship I have been without for many years. Charles and I have always had many interests in common and sufficient tolerance to accept divergence where it occurs. We both have children whom we have been caring for alone; it is logical to share those duties. My research can continue unaffected; there are opportunities within Starfleet for that." "And T'Pril?" "She will continue to attend the school at the Vulcan consulate and we will instruct her here." "She will grow up amongst humans, uncontrolled and irredeemable." "No, father, we will ensure that she receives the necessary discipline." "If you do not return with me to Vulcan, your mother has instructed me to bring T'Pril back without you." "I would lodge a protest with the ambassador to Earth." "She would overturn it. The child is obviously better served by living with her grandparents than with a mother who consorts with a human." "Mother," T'Pol said softly, "has wished to take T'Pril from me for some time." "She has," Branek confirmed calmly. "Your behaviour has concerned her." "You may tell her that her concern may cease. I am … better." "She is better." Tucker decided that he had waited long enough and came to stand behind T'Pol, hands on her shoulders. "I'm not surprised T'Pen was concerned. T'Pol worried the hell out of me when she first came to see me. But she's better now, because she's with me. What would you prefer for your granddaughter, Dr Branek, a mother who's so miserable she can't control herself or one who's calm and rational and happy?" "I would prefer a daughter with a Vulcan husband." "But you can't have that. I never set out to screw up T'Pol's life but I did and I'm sorry about that, but it's done now and we have to make the best of it – and that means us living together." "This was not the outcome I anticipated when I instructed you to come to Earth, daughter." "Nor I, father, but I am pleased with this solution." She crossed to the computer terminal to collect a data recorder. "We have a proposal for you." Branek took the recorder, watching as T'Pol returned to Tucker's side, letting him continue. "We thought you'd try to take T'Pril away and we don't want that. What we're suggesting," he indicated the recorder, "is a trial period. T'Pol tells me that Vulcan children regularly undergo assessment of their physical and mental health and educational standard. T'Pril's next assessment is in five months. Leave her with us until then and we'll see what the assessors say. If she's suffering from being on Earth then we'll think again, but whatever the outcome, T'Pol and I will be staying together." Branek looked up from the legal agreement in his hand. "This is what you want, T'Pol?" "It is, father. Very much." He sighed. "Your mother is likely to divorce me if I agree to this." "Would that be a bad thing?" "You have always been an undutiful daughter, T'Pol, with a strong streak of stubbornness and frivolity." He saw the human grin and his daughter look reprovingly up at him. "I will spend the rest of the day with my granddaughter to judge her current well-being for myself and meditate on the matter tonight. You will have my decision tomorrow." "Thank you, father." "So you'll be staying for lunch, sir?" "If you will accept me into your house, Commander Tucker, I will. I have an interest in these bananas of which T'Pril speaks with such fondness." They went to the beach the next day so that Tucker and T'Pol had something else to think about than Branek's decision and when they returned home the message light was blinking on the computer terminal. T'Pol gave it a cool look and slipped into the seat with unruffled composure to access Branek's conclusion. He was brief. "I will return in five months. Live long and prosper, T'Pol, Commander Tucker." One of T'Pol's eyebrows cocked slightly as she filed the message then she rose to approach Tucker who was biting his lip, too nervous to read the message himself. "It would appear that we are staying." He drew a sharp breath then let it out in a whoop, snatching her into his arms to spin her around. "Yes!" "Dad! Not the kissy stuff!" Tucker ignored his son's advice and kissed T'Pol soundly, while she clung to his shoulders and took the most of the opportunity to kiss him back. In case anyone is interested, the title is from another Christina Rossetti sonnet. This one was too apt to resist: The irresponsive silence of the land, The irresponsive sounding of the sea, Speak both one message of one sense to me:- ‘Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand Thou too aloof, bound with the flawless band Of inner solitude; we bind not thee; But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free? What heart shall touch thy heart? What hand thy hand?'- And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek, And sometimes I remember days of old When fellowship seemed not so far to seek, And all the world and I seemed much less cold, And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold, And hope felt strong and life itself not weak. END of "The Rainbow's Foot" End of "A Logical Proposal" Series I have another nine-part series that begins with "Down a Dark Road." I'm hoping to post it here soon. It is available at Trip/T'Polers: http://triptpolers.houseoftucker.com/fiction/author_shouldknowbetter_down_a_dark_road.shtml -- 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 00:41:42 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n40.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.108]) by merlin (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aH0hx5b33NZFlq0 for ; Wed, 14 Jan 2004 21:43:03 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-12884-1074145313-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.