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Parting and Never Parted - Ch 3Parting and Never Parted ****************************************************************************************** Jonathan Archer had mixed feelings about being back on Vulcan. The planet held so many conflicting memories for him, some of them not his own. A strange, alien part in him from his time carrying Surak’s katra thought of the unforgiving, inhospitable planet as home even as he wheezed for the thin air and sweated profusely from the heat. His human physiology suffered the planet’s harsh conditions even as the remnant spark of Surak made him long for the red deserts and fire plains. He had avoided the planet as much as possible for years for those very reasons... it was confusing for Archer to be on Vulcan. Today confusion was his bedmate, but it was not Surak’s doing. Archer moved through the quiet corridors of the Vulcan hospital. Vulcan hospitals were nothing like Earth ones. It didn’t feel like a hospital. The building was built to honor the ancient healers of Vulcan. The walls were a deep clay red, the air cool like a cave or cavern, and it was nearly as quiet as one. Vulcans moved silently, like ghosts in cream-colored robes, down the halls. They spared Archer, the lone human in blue, glances but little more before vanishing. Archer knew where he was going so he let the Vulcan specters pass unacknowledged. The room was quiet, like the entire facility, when Archer stepped inside. Vulcan hospital rooms looked more like shrines, a single stone-slab bed in the center of the room, the room circular and blood-red with soft lighting to calm the patients and assist in meditation. It might have been secular but it also struck Archer as demonic. The central bed could look like a sacrificial altar if one was in the proper state of mind. T’Pol was lying on the room’s lone bed. Her hands were folded over her stomach, her legs perfectly straight and her chin slightly lifted. Her eyes were shut, her expression calm, and she looked serene. Archer moved closer and stared down at her. He could see how Trip had thought she was beautiful. There was an elegance to her, a grace and bearing that transcended species. “Captain Archer.” Archer turned at his name and set his eyes upon a Vulcan woman standing in the doorway. It took him a moment to recognize her. “T’Pau.” “I was told you were on Vulcan.” The former rebel had found a kindred spirit of sorts in Archer since the incident with Surak’s katra. She was certainly more patient and accepting of him than she was of most humans. T’Pau, her hands folded respectfully over her abdomen (as Archer had noted all the Vulcans moved through the hospital), moved into the room. Archer gave a small smile that he knew was mostly wasted on T’Pau. “I would have called you, but this wasn’t exactly a social visit.” “As I was also informed,” T’Pau said and stopped when she was abreast with Archer and stood alongside the captain. “Ambassador Soval told me about your Commander Tucker.” Archer’s pathetically attempted smile completely vanished and he nodded. “Yeah.” T’Pau said nothing but something in the look in her eyes seemed to offer sympathy. The Vulcan woman looked down at T’Pol’s restful figure and said lowly, “His loss was most unfortunate.” Archer would not cry in front of a Vulcan, as a matter of pride he wouldn’t show them tears. T’Pau looked back toward Archer and the captain took in a breath to collect himself. He looked down at T’Pol’s still face and said weakly, “Umm... I’m glad you’re here.” T’Pau lifted an eyebrow at him. “I... I need to get in contact with some people about T’Pol but I... I don’t know who I need to talk to.” Archer looked back at T’Pau and added sadly, “I’d like to bury her next to Trip and their daughter.” T’Pau stared a moment, surprise buried deep in her eyes, then she said, “That is a logical decision.” “It is?” “She has no living first-degree relatives; Commander Tucker was her bondmate. No Vulcan will contest her interment at his side. Were he Vulcan, their katras would reside side by side in the Hall of Ancient Thought. Since he was human, this is an acceptable compromise between our cultures.” Archer sighed to hear that the Vulcans would not fight him. He didn’t feel like fighting anymore. “The healers said she’d gotten here in time, I don’t understand why she didn’t... I don’t understand how this happened.” T’Pau considered T’Pol’s body and said softly, “The procedure succeeds only so far as the patient is willing. If she truly did not wish to recover, then there was little the healers could do.” “They couldn’t save her, even if she fought them?” T’Pau looked as baffled as any Vulcan ever could. “They could have saved her body, that is without question, but what is a body without the katra to fill it?” Archer couldn’t stand Vulcan reason, not at that moment. T’Pau seemed to recognize this and with a dip of her head said, “T’Pol’s death is a loss to both our peoples. I grieve with thee, Captain.” Archer nodded sadly and T’Pau turned to leave. Before she reached the door Archer turned quickly and called out, “T’Pau?” T’Pau stopped and turned. “Do you know anything about Earth fairy tales?” T’Pau seemed taken by surprise at the question but gave it due thought. “If I am not mistaken, a fairy is a fictional creature depicted as a miniature human with wings. I fail to see how the chronicles of these mythical beings is bearing on the current conversation.” Archer smirked. “Fairy tales are human stories, fables... they don’t necessarily have fairies in them.” The shadow of a Vulcan almost-frown passed over T’Pau’s face but she said nothing. Archer looked back at T’Pol and said, “In them, the lovers always have a happily ever after.” T’Pau regarded Archer and his fallen friend. One weary and sad, the other the abandoned domicile of what was once a brilliant mind and katra. “That is, of course, illogical.” Archer brushed his fingers gently over T’Pol’s still, cool cheek. She looked so regal, even in death. “Illogical as hell, but it’s better than how things really work out.” T’Pau watched Archer a moment. “Captain, I believe the characteristic of your species I find most fascinating is your capacity for hope.” “Sometimes hope is all we have.” T’Pau looked once more between Archer and his former first officer then turned and left the human to his grieving. END Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS! A sad, but touching look at how things would have turned out in B&B's grim world. OK, I'm in tears. I fought and then this line got me, “In them, the lovers always have a happily ever after.” Sad and touching, like Bucky said. though story to write I imagine, taking it to the extreme takes some guts, I am glad you did it, I really liked it Sad, but pretty. Well done. :*) So sad... Yes I'm in tears too. Not sure if it's because it's such a waste of a good character, but because I wanted a 'happily ever after' for TNT. It's very sad to read.....well written etc, but so so sad. There's a strange irony in that B&B gave this world to the characters they supposedly loved. Perhaps it's writer's prerogative, perhaps it's an echo of their own discontent. I don't know. Still, it's an awful thing to live without hope. Thank you, Miss, for this piece. WOW! I was blown away. This Ruled Above all other fanfics for it's pathos and it's beauty. You could be a good writer you know............. I have such mixed feelings about this piece, MissAnn. It's beautifully, soulfully written, and you've done wonders with what B&B gave us, but it's so tragic and, like StarTrek_Chick said, a waste of good characters. If Trip had died a meaningful death, I could probably "accept" T'Pol dying of a broken heart, but as it is, it's another tragically unnecessary death. This is not in any way a reflection on your story -- you've done a brilliant job -- but I don't want Trip and T'Pol to end this way. Having said that, it speaks to your writing skills and love of the characters that this story feels more final, and certainly inspires a more emotional response, than the aired finale. Well done. So heartbreaking. But mostlikely true. T'pol truely did love Trip greatly,,dispite what BnB tried to imply,, and after Trips death if the only way for her to keep living were to break what was left of their Bond,, I have no doubt that she would never do it,,cause their are worse fate's then death.. Truely sad But a well writtin Fic. :( Sad and in this story they'll always be remembered forever young and be side-by-side in death. I guess in this fic they really are the Romeo and Juliet of Star Trek. You write well, and I suppose this had to be the logical conclusion of your original premise about bond mates dying when their mate dies. It's a touching AU story... but I have to tell you that I've never enjoyed tragedies. I like my entertainment upbeat. My heart is broken... and it's your fault. (Says a lot about your writing skills, doesn't it?) Like others, I'm sitting here with tears rolling down my face. But unlike some other readers I don't really have a problem with the direction you took. No, this is not the future I wanted for these characters. But I have a hard time convincing myself that TATV isn't canon. It's so hard being a TnT shipper! But it wasn't at all hard reading your lovely story. Thank you. I usually don't like deathfics, but I have to say MissT, this is one of the best. It really portrayed the relationship between Trip and T'Pol and the resolution, although sad, underscored it. Thanks for changing my mind about reading such fics. Sniff...well now I'm depressed...sorry, no offense to your wonderfully characterized and written story, MissAnn, but I kinda wish I hadn't read it.....off in search of a hug... It's beautiful and sad. I've been moved to tears by your story. Thank you. It's beautiful and sad. I've been moved to tears by your story. Thank you. This is by way the best possibility to work with the desaster that was TATV. This is the most beautiful angsty story of any fandom I have ever read, and I've read hundreds of them. It was so sad that I was *beyond* tears. My chest clenched and my eyes burned as I read this. Wow... gotta go read something happy before I *explode*. Bravo! I await more moving stories from you. "Wonderful" is not a powerful enough word to describe your writing! Sincerely, Emily Sad Sad Sad. Great story. I'm glad to be back. I havent been able to get on in 4 WEEKS. I thought i was going insane. Hi, MissAnnThropic: Love the story, however sad. It could happen this way. I have a question. What does “Pe’ew t’hy’la th’ah. Th’ashayam Trippe!” mean? I've managed to translate the other Vulcan phrases, but not this one. And what website did you use to construct the phrases? Thanks. And keep writing! You're one of may favorite authors on this site. beautiful, and so sad Since the Frame for Last Full Measure has Trip alive after the events of TATV there is a wa this story can have a happy ever after. How about a 4th chapter where someone in Star Fleet medical opens ta Statis pod in which they had placed Trip. Since the rate of time's passage inside the pod would be several trillon to one it would have felt to Like the late person that I am, I just read this and loved it. The descriptions of death and despair were phenominal, ironic I know, but you did all that you could do with a decidely misjudged and quite frankly unfitting finale. Sad yet beatufil, and I love your name. :) |