Fail Safe - Pt 2

Fail Safe

By Sue

E-Mail: susieqla@yahoo.com
Category: Romance/Het
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It all adds up...
Archive: All Enterprise archives are fine.
Disclaimer: Star Trek Enterprise is the property of Paramount and its subsidiaries. I am not making any profit from this.
Spoiler(s): Aenar, Affliction
Note: Not saying that this will actually happen, of course, but it's fanfiction license. Please indulge.

***'***'***'

Part 2

Assignations

There was a lot to be said for a Vulcan who was as confused as the day was long. This day seemed to be the longest one she had ever lived. It had nearly drained her had come very close to being her undoing. The dominant thought that precluded all others was the imminent departure of the chief engineer, her colleague, confidant, friend and...lover, Charles 'Trip'--Tucker.

Today was the closest she had ever come to letting it be her undoing. Emotional upheaval that would have been if T'Pol had allowed the chaotic feelings roiling inside her to go unchecked. On the way to Tucker's quarters, she had gotten firm hold of herself and wondered, as Trip would have phrased it, "what the hell" was she doing? She was about to confirm her worst suspicions of being way out of control, a liability to herself and anyone she inflicted her instability on. By the time she had reached his door, T'Pol, summoning up every last fiber of resolve, cooled that full head of steam she had relentlessly stoked.

She had stood at his door, just staring at it, wanting to tell him all that weighed upon her tortured mind. Ask him not to leave because if he did, the torture wouldn't end, it would only begin. But, at the last moment, she had backed away from his door. Reinforcing her determination, T'Pol tapped into restraint. She promised that before he left, she would say something to him, but for now it was better she take stringent stock of this entire fiasco and the role she had played in it.

Seeing him now would mean failure, as sure as she knew that his decision to go was rooted in her unwillingness to show him her true self. She lacked the courage. It was a humbling thought, but in light of all the other humbling thoughts she had entertained since returning to her quarters, maybe she would have to be the one to take the first vital step. Just tell him...tell him how much he mattered to her. Tell him he mustn't leave because his doing so wasn't what she wanted him to do. He must stay and allow them to nurture one another.

In gradual stages, T'Pol opened her eyes. Serenity and a feeling of well-being enhanced her mood. Never again would she rationalize away her need for meditation. It was the mainstay in her life. If she hoped to gain greater focus that would sustain her, opting out of meditating wasn't an option. Before beginning her meditation, T'Pol had been interrupted by the captain. He had comm'ed, informing her that ENTERPRISE would be returning briefly to Earth for the COLUMBIA's official launch. There was talk of the crew having shore leave of a transitory nature, T'Pol considered.

She had thought how that would eliminate the need for a transport coming to convey Trip to the COLUMBIA. They would. It bought her a bit more time. She rose from the strategically-placed pillows, blew out the candle and decided she'd take a warm shower; showering was proving quite conducive to setting the proper mood.

While the streams of convergent water sensuously peppered her body, her mind picked apart the dream she'd had the night before, choosing to dwell on the pleasure Trip's roaming hands gave her, sometimes it seemed of their own volition. If he were in this shower with her now, she'd get him to change his mind, T'Pol waywardly mused. She'd show no mercy.

Just before falling asleep, she concentrated on how she would approach him, not tomorrow, but the day after. It would take precisely two and one-half days, thirty-one point eight hours, ninety seconds to reach the majority of this crew's homeworld, plenty of time to have the most important conversation she had ever had with Trip. Then, T'Pol breathed deeply, closed her eyes...and, as though she'd been sedated, dreamt of Trip...always of Trip...enrapturing her.

Maybe there was a kernel of truth to the saying Humans liked to spout when either enjoyable things seemed all too fleeting or pressing matters impinged...'time flies.'

She had kept putting it off, putting it off...speaking with him. The correct term was procrastinating, but somehow T'Pol didn't see it that way. She was merely giving Trip the chance to tell her he was leaving, but he never did, and he'd had ample opportunities to let her know if he had really wanted to. They had spoken in passing enough times. Did he expect her to broach the subject, informing him she knew? Perhaps he was making it a test of wills...

Thus far, T'Pol felt was flunking. Time was running out.
Come early morning, ENTERPRISE would be entering Earth's orbit. That left tonight to speak with him. It was already late at that. Would he still be awake, or had he retired? A busy day awaited him.

She was poised before his door, making note of how much she was trembling. She tried to control the erratic tremors that shook her, but she met with minimal success. She was barely breathing. Forcing a breath and a lengthy swallow, her throat was dry, she signaled that he was having a visitor.

Upon entering, she heard Trip say, "Yeah?" He was gazing out his viewport, she saw. After first glancing over his shoulder at her, and then turning back to look at the heightened activity buzzing about COLUMBIA in preparation for launch, he remarked, "She's a thing of beauty..."

T'Pol didn't trust the stability of her voice, let alone her control. As though it was someone other than herself who spoke, she said, "COLUMBIA is virtually identical to ENTERPRISE." Her voice sounded so small, trailing off, as if its being lost in a tempest. There had been something in his tone which faintly suggested that he might have been referring to something else apart from the starship he was about to abandon ENTERPRISE and her for. But then again, it could have been her own wish fulfillment kicking in.

"Ah...a good engineer can see the differences."

He wasn't being proud. It was no exaggeration, she commended, Trip was a brilliant engineer, brilliant and he far exceeded any notions of what she once viewed as physically provocative. He was, as Human women would and she had heard them say in her presence, a gorgeous hunk. Why wasn't she telling him so, well, not telling him he was a hunk, exactly. But she knew she should be telling him things far more important encompassing the future she was beginning to realize she wanted with him. Time was running out, streaked through her mind as her heart skipped another ragged beat.

"You comin' to the mess hall later? My goin' away party?"

There was no hint of regret or diffidence, but rather, T'Pol judged, some evidence of smugness in his delivery, the cavalier manner he'd flung the invitation at her. Striving to strike a balance, counterbalancing her apprehensions with her annoyance with him and his ill-conceived decision, T'Pol waited before continuing. The decision he was trying to pass off as valid which irked her. Reservedly, she commented, "I don't understand the logic of this transfer. Your not being promoted ha--"

"You think I'm doin' this to advance my career?"

She chalked his question up to being rhetorical. "You wouldn't leave Captain Archer without sufficient reason." When would she stop the pretense? Even she began to wonder.

"Well...for one thing this is a new challenge..."

Everything else he said never reached her mind, it was just so much filler. She knew the real reason he was going. He wanted to get as far away from her as he possibly could, without his coming right out and saying so. "Are you leaving because of me?" she pressed. Now was that so hard, she grilled herself. She'd put it out there. Regardless of what he said, she, yes she, was bringing it to a personal level, the only level she was concerned with right now, a prime directive of a decidedly different kind. Since when had Trip become so Vulcan, she thought with something akin to antagonism.

"Nuh, Starfleet's approved the transfer."

T'Pol's positive attitude waned, her hopes of their reaching some description of an understanding weakened, hearing his peevish avoidance of an answer. Peevish, yes, that is what she heard. T'Pol felt her pulse throb behind the critical juncture by her ears where jaw met neck. "You didn't answer my question." Answer me, answer me now, she mentally implored, wishing she were braver. If she were, she'd be asking him that question again, locked in his arms with hers wreathing his neck. His movie heroines normally employed such tactics whenever they sought their lover's conciliation.

With a look of going for her jugular, Trip said in classic galvanized style, "Ah--this may come as a shock, but not everything in my life revolves around *YOU*."

HURT!--nearly as bad as the result from dire physical injury coursed through her. Not for one moment had she ever imagined that anything in his life revolved around her, never would've expected it to. Such a vindictive thing to say. She didn't understand.

Her gaze withered from his which was hard and cold, as though she was having a seizure. Couldn't he see what he had just done to her? It was as though they had never known one another in any way. T'Pol felt faint, but she did not swoon, though her legs wobbled a little as she
somehow found her protracted way to his door which felt miles away. Trip said nothing, did--nothing. He just watched her go with her look of nonchalance sewn in her face. Indeed, it was she who had to get away...leave him as quickly as Vulcanly possible. Truly, it had been a calamitous mistake, becoming romantically involved with Charles 'Trip--the obstinate ' Tucker, the third...the Human who had changed her forever.

What was she supposed to do now? Never wanting to see him ripped through her mind, and stuck. No, never again...

***'***'***'

On Captain Archer's persistent extension of an invitation, here she was, attending a function she had no business associating herself with. "You're a senior officer, T'Pol. It just wouldn't satisfy protocol if you weren't in attendance..." he had said.

The mess hall was smartly decorated. The buzz was Hoshi, though presently not here, but with Phlox on Earth, and a few imaginative others, most of whom were in attendance, had been pressed into service. Maybe one or two might judge that the decorators had gone a bit overboard with streamers, painted balloons, some of which were configured in stylized imitation of warp cores. Whose talent,
ingenuity and dexterity had been called upon for doing that, T'Pol didn't know. She liked the way the blown-ups of brightly-colored plastic looked, though.

Chef had made a beautiful cake in the shape of ENTERPRISE.

The convivial facility no longer resembled the pedestrian place she had taken breaks in, these four years, sometimes with Hoshi, or Malcolm or Travis, sometimes with all three at the same time, and mostly alone. Excepting those times when she'd eaten with...him.

For the moment, T'Pol would whisk clandestine looks at the him in question as she sipped some punch that Second Lieutenant Martiene Peterkin had slipped her, having said it was, "Ever so lightly spiked with rum." In a hushed voice she whispered near T'Pol's ear, "Loosen you up a bit. Nothin' wrong with being a little loose. Hey, it's a party, right?"

Yes, it was a party, complete with music of distinctive varieties. Again, the bemused Vulcan asked herself what was she doing here. T'Pol wondered if any jazz at all would be played. If it were, maybe it would be easier to loosen up. While thinking that, Trip glanced her way. Before she made herself look away, she saw him smile. She wanted to retreat. Watching him briefly say something to Travis, T'Pol kept watching, as though transfixed. He began coming over with his eyes targeted on her.

Focus on the moment, put aside any pain, she recommended to herself, unsure of anything that used to signal he wanted to be with her. His candid words that had inflicted such anguish were still fresh in her mind. She didn't harp on them. She sensed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he meant to approach her. T'Pol dictated she stand her ground. What need was there for her to avoid him? He'd made it clear, his "life did not revolve around her." Hers certainly did not revolve around his. Since they'd become strangers, his coming over was probably his way of extending nothing more than a professional courtesy. They were still colleagues, after all, but soon to be ex-s.

"Glad you could make it," Trip said normally, a respectable enough smile gracing his face.

He seemed nothing like the man who had disillusioned her no more than three hours ago. T'Pol said nothing, she merely nodded, sipped more punch.

"Like it?"

"Like what?" she said just as deadpan as he had asked.

"The punch."

His voice was warming, and despite the urge to be cautious, she was as well. She couldn't deny he would, in all probability, have some amount of residual effect on her. Having known him intimately, and he her, wasn't something she was ready to relegate to being commonplace. Could it ever be thought of as such? The more he gazed at her with those bright blue eyes of his, the more she wanted him to rethink his untimely decision. "It is quite palatable."

"I had a hand in concoctin' it."

"The inclusion of the rum?"

"You got it...lip smackin' if I do say so myself."

"Perhaps if your new assignment doesn't live up to your expectations, bartending might be a viable concern."

"I'll keep that in mind. You taste the rum? Gives the joy juice more of a fruity taste, don'tcha think?"

It was back. Their banter was back, and hearing them slip into what they had once engaged in so effortlessly felt like welcoming an old friend home, an old friend who had stayed away too long. "Yes, but it's not excessive."

"No. I added dashes just to give the nectar some pep. Wouldn't want anyone gettin' sloshed on my account."

Miles Davis! Something slow and slinky from the jazz great was playing. She recognized the rendition; it had been performed once at the club she used to frequent in her search of the exciting, the provocative...the new. Something moved T'Pol's heart and made her flutter her eyes, which Trip saw were unwaveringly focused on him.

"Dance with me? C'mon, for old time's sake..."

Her eyes suggested he ask, and before thinking better of it, he'd done it. Before the part of her he'd hurt thought better of it, and prevented her from accepting, T'Pol nodded. Miles Davis wasn't one to turn down, and T'Pol conceded, neither was Trip, despite the gaps in their understanding of each other. The hardcore part of her mind chided, sternly whispering, 'No!' Her heart overrode such rigid thought. The next thing she knew, without a shred of hesitation, Trip had her in his arms, tipping her in the direction of a section of makeshift dance floor where the lights were lower. "You didn't forget did ya?"

She knew what he referred to as he held her tighter, even closer to himself; his thumb stroked her soft hand which he was grateful she let him hold. "No...you were a good teacher," T'Pol admitted, allowing Trip to place his palm very low on her back almost molding flush against...'her behind.' "It was good your teaching me how to dance."

"You look nice," Trip spooned into her ear, treasuring the feel of her in his arms. "Long as ya live, you'll always look good in red. God, do ya..."

T'Pol smelled the punch on his breath, wondering how many cups he'd had, but what did that matter? Perhaps he'd drunk a little of the rum straight from the bottle as she'd seen him do at other times with other liquors. She'd already had two cups, she could have had more, but she still wasn't much of a drinker despite Archer's personable invitations to join him for drinks on various occasions. T'Pol heard herself say in a very liberal way, "And you will always present a pleasing appearance in blue." He was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and slacks that were a gradation lighter. Trip made dashing and dapper look easy. How she wished he'd change his mind.

"Thanks, darlin'," he funneled into her ear, breathing in her exquisite scent. So wonderful, Trip thought, but impossible; our workin' out was a dream, a lovely dream, but had nothin' to do with reality. Maybe her guard's a mite lower though since my quarters. Man, what was I thinkin'? Slappin' her with my mouth like that? T'Pol felt, where her chest was pressed up against his, a pronounced beating. Still in her ear, he said, sounding contrite, "That fella who told ya his life didn't revolve around ya... Remember him?" T'Pol nodded, not wanting to flinch, fragilely sighed into his body. "He was an imposter. A hell of a fool who said what he said 'cause he doesn't think. He's thoughtless like that when I'm not watchin'." Heavily into T'Pol's ear, Trip rescinded, "I'm sorry, darlin'. Sorry for sayin' somethin' so cruel, sadistic. I know it hurt. I saw, and didn't do a damn thing."

She listed slightly away, off him. She needed to see what lurked in his eyes. She wanted him to see what was in hers, nearly desperate for him to see. "What if it had been you speaking instead of him?"

Not caring if anyone saw what he did, Trip leaned his lips against her forehead, kissed her and murmured, "I would've said you're partly the reason I'm goin', not blamin' ya, though. Blamin' myself and things beyond our control."

Here wasn't the place to have this discussion, critically overdue. T'Pol stopped dancing and minced no words, feeling emotions she kept a tight rein on buck as though they were set to explode inside of her. Out the corner of her eye she saw the captain eyeing them, Malcolm too, who was standing beside Archer. She did not care what they might be thinking or what anyone else in the room was. The only person's thoughts that mattered belonged to the handsome man who continued to hold her. Close to his right ear T'Pol whispered, "Don't go. Stay, Trip. Please...stay. I don't want you to leave."

Trip slackened his hold, but for whatever reason he had, his arms renewed their snug fit about her. "Darlin', believe me it's for the best I go. As soon as I'm gone, you'll know how right I am. Gettin' involved was a mistake. I know that now." He felt her beautiful body stiffen in his embrace, but now wasn't the time to be chicken. What did he have to lose? "I meant to tell ya this long ago...long ago. Long before goin' home with ya to Vulcan, and we know what happened there. Well, I figure if I don't tell ya now, I never will, and I do wanna tell ya 'cause, hell, I owe it to ya. What we had, whatever it was, for a little while, really meant somethin' to me...before all the other stuff. Koss, the Kir'shara." Trip kissed her forehead again, letting his lips stay put this time. Gently, he confessed, "T'Pol...I love you." Never had a burden so heavy felt so good to surrender. "True, but moot now. Like I said...for the best. I never meant to hurt ya." He cupped her hand tighter. "One day you'll look back and know this was the right choice for both of us..."

Stunned, T'Pol broke herself out of his arms, tearing her hand away from his. He loved her? He'd said so, but if he really meant it, he would be telling her he would stay, not go. Love her? T'Pol balked. His leaving was supposed to convince her? His logic never failed to confound her, he was bowing out true to form. “Your decision is discrepant.” She wheeled around to go. She felt his hand brush her arm, trying to reel her back, but she sidestepped, evading his grasp. Never looking back, T'Pol sailed out of the mess hall, and she vowed, out of his life, once and for all.

Miles Davis' track had long since ended. Different music played. As the panels of the mess hall doors forcefully swung closed behind her, the lyrics of the new music assailed T'Pol's ears...'We've both played that game before. Say I love you, then say goodbye...'

***'***'***'

Trip was gone, had reported directly to the COLUMBIA after his party had broken up several hours later, not waiting until morning...Phlox had been abducted by persons whose true identities were obscure, for reasons unknown...T'Pol had performed her first mind-meld with Hoshi, with positive results for discovering who the doctor's abductors were. In such a short period of time, these incidences had seemed to jell into a single, incongruous event. However, there was an unanticipated side effect that had resulted from the mind-meld which was something of a shock to T'Pol.

Finding Phlox was priority one, but a priority of a personal nature, something she had wondered about for some time, had surfaced for her, an extraordinary presentiment...

"Why are you here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Is this a daydream?"

"I'm meditating. This is where I go in my mind."

Boring, Trip thought, but regretted having thought it. He got the eerie feeling that T'Pol knew what had gone through his mind. "Well, I would have thought you'd have picked a more interestin' place...like the beach, or ah, uh, one of those fire plains you showed me."

"Please leave..."

And Trip thought, Well, at least she said, 'please.' But I'm busted...she knew just what I was thinkin', callin' this bleak place of hers a bore. Sheesh, no wonder everything's so black and white with her. Poor girl has no color in her life, no zest. "Exactly where am I supposed to go?" He smiled, knowing she didn't use such language.

"Away."

"This is MY daydream. YOU go away."

"You may remain under one condition."

"Oh, yeah? An' what's that?"

"Don't speak to me!"

"That suits me just fi--"

“--COMMANDER—“

Startled, Trip blinked. "T'Pol? T'Pol?" he spoke aloud, which snagged him one or two curious looks from new colleagues who were nearby. T'Pol? This was COLUMBIA, not ENTERPRISE, where she was. What the hell went on here, Trip pondered, befuddled.

What was happening to her mind? What explained Trip's presence in it? Most disturbing was his ease of acceptance, as though his invasion of her mind, his intrusion into her innermost thoughts, had gone on ever since they'd met. Of all times for Phlox to be missing. He would most likely help her get to the bottom of this latest affliction if he were here.

Since T'Pol's mind-melding with Hoshi, Trip was a frequent visitor to the empty place. T'Pol, from first behaving as though he was imposing whenever he showed up, quickly gave way to welcoming, wanting him to be with her. Her initial pretense belied her true feelings. His cerebral presence minimized the severity his physical absence had the potential to cause. Hoshi knew more about them than T'Pol was comfortable with her knowing, but there wasn't much the First Officer could do about that. As T'Pol had told Archer, she had never been formally trained for mind-melding. The captain's claim of being the receptacle for Surak's katra was minimal recommendation for any expertise he assumed he had.

So...the linguist may have had a fuzzy idea, fuzzy T'Pol hoped, of hers and Trip's romantic involvement. It was more than Sato needed to know, but a wealth of things couldn't be helped. Like the rumors which had buzzed round and about ENTERPRISE about them for so long. As Trip had phrased it on the night of his going away party, "Moot now..." Trip was in her life, and he was in it to stay, even if currently he was light years away.

T'Pol prepared to retire for the night, following meditation that was proving more satisfying than it had ever been. The shower she'd taken prior to her session surpassed relaxing. She was euphoric. While unwinding in the water currents, she heard Trip whisper, "You're even more gorgeous when you're all wet and hugged up with me." T'Pol shuddered in convulsive reflex when the strains of riveting pleasure racked her receptive body. He kissed her from head to toe, and back up again.

"Trip," T'Pol moaned huskily, her eyelids fluttered rapidly. The 'cut and dry place,' as he had taken to calling it, was now one huge shower stall. Naked in every sense of the word, they continued pleasuring one another. Trip needed more air; T'Pol just needed him.

She lay in her bunk now, totally spent but floating as though she were borne upon clouds, 'big ol' fluffy sun drenched clouds,' which reminded Trip of 'cotton candy,' he'd once told her in thought. T'Pol closed her eyes in heady anticipation. The expression the best of both worlds took on deeper meaning. Trip had promised he'd meet her on the beach where the sand was the whitest it could ever have been, and the ocean was bluer than blue. The pristine venue came complete with majestic palm trees whose supple fronds swayed in time to the leisurely tempo of their lovemaking. The 'cut and dry' was looking and feeling a lot less drab, worlds more vivid, these days since Trip's introduction.

Languishing in his arms, T'Pol nearly drifted off. The sun dried their bodies off from the swim, well, more like hugging and cuddling in the surf, they'd taken earlier. They glowed, basking in the feelings they shared. Securer in the emotions she felt and Trip's reassurance, T'Pol broached, "T'hyla, we should be together."

"We are, aren't we?"

"Together physically."

"Oh... Uh, don't take this the wrong way, darlin', but what we've got like this is real good. We don't seem to argue as much as we used to. Notice that?"

"I miss your corporeal presence."

"And bein' with ya in the flesh would be better than this?"

"Better than you could ever imagine."

"Accordin' to you, my imagination's just fine."

"Indeed, but I have something to tell you."

"Like how weird this is. You and I bein' so far away from each other. Yet now, we're with each other more than when we were both on ENTERPRISE."

"That is what I wish to speak to you about..."

"You could tell me now, ya know."

"I'd prefer speaking with you in person."

"Can I tell you somethin'?"

"Of course, Trip."

"I miss you too. Miss ya like crazy. I wasn't sure you wanted to hear me say that. This bein' in each other's daydreams is nice, but, like the old sayin' goes...'Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby.'"

"You must return to ENTERPRISE."

"Easier said than done, darlin'. I just transferred here. I think Starfleet'd take a dim view of my treatin' duty to my new assignment like chess."

"Trip, I must see you. You MUST return."

"Cute, but typical...you orderin' me around in my own daydream."

"I am not ordering you, I'm merely requesting. It's important to... to...our--"

"Future?"

"Yes. To our future."

"Not to throw cold water on anythin', but if memory serves...you were the one who made it pretty clear I wasn't what you wanted. Don't hate me for bein' honest."

"If we aren't honest with each other, then we have nothing. I never hated you."

"We had that night, the best night I'd ever had in my life, but the next mornin' you acted like we never happened, like I was hallucinatin’, makin' more out of it than it was, and, darlin', it was pretty damn special, to me. I didn't know what to think. I thought I'd been nothin' more than a toy to ya."

"An experiment..."

"I have feelin's too, ya know."

"I know...the strongest I've ever known."

"Damn right! Later on, it just got harder, especially after the things that happened at Vulcan. I did the avoidin' first 'cause you were married. Then when you weren't, you started keepin' away like you were afraid of catchin' something, treatin' me like I was an illness. It hurt like hell."

"My failing...my inner turmoil regarding...what it means to be Vulcan...emotions...love..."

"Your indifference nearly killed me. I can't face that again."

"You won't have to. Return and I will show you..."

"I mean, hey, I know I'm only a clueless guy. Guys get impatient, okay--this guy does. I don't know about Vulcan men, I only know about me. I wanted you on my terms and when I wasn't gettin' that, I started pushin'. I know...I said I understood, but I said so 'cause it's what you wanted to hear. I didn't want you thinkin' I could be that insensitive. Hell, I tried to understand, I did up to a point. Then I started losin' it behind all the really close shaves we've had lately. I got pissed over your actin' like you didn't want me, not carin’ one way or the other. I'm far from perfect, darlin', but I expected a little somethin' from ya in return. I would've settled for crumbs, anythin' that might've showed you cared, just a little. Drove me nuts, I had to get away."

"I judged you wanted what I couldn't give, and what I could give wasn't what you wanted. I am Vulcan, but not the most logically-thinking one. Not since you, t'hyla. As my mother used to say, I have always struggled with my emotions. You challenge them all the time, and me. Vulcans do not seek romance. I have no knowledge concerning this form of relationship. I've never been in one of this nature before. It is unsettling."

"I don't mean to unsettle ya, well, not on purpose anyway. For what it's worth, I've never been in a relationship that confuses the hell outta me. Women mystify me, as it is."

"And I?"

"You out an' out astound me, T'Pol. I've never known anyone like you. When you’re sweet to me...I fall hard all over again."

"I'm coming to terms. I embrace the Kir'Shara, what it truly means to be Vulcan, but I was wrong to shut you out. Trip, I want to embrace you too. You give me something I've never had before. Acceptance of who I am, what I feel, and not being ashamed."

"I'd be lyin' if I said I can get along without you. Come to think of it I did lie when I told ya my life didn't revolve around you. Maybe I could pull that crap before, but not now. It feels like I've waited for you a lifetime, T'Pol. It killed me, sayin' goodbye, have a nice life, but at the time it seemed my only option."

"Things have changed..."

"How?"

"I will show you..."

"You keep sayin' that."

"Do you trust me?"

"With my life. I love you, that hasn't changed. Doubt it ever will the way I'm goin'. I can't get ya out of my head...my heart."

"T'hyla..."

"Yeah?"

"Please...return."

"What if I can't right away?"

"Then you'll leave me no choice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I shall come to you..."

Trip chuckled, holding her tighter in his mind's eye, kissing her face all over and T'Pol yielded herself wholly to him. He thought about one of his favorite old romantic movies, 'It Happened One Night,' which they'd seen together two years ago. Concentrating, pooling their imagery, it was Movie Night aboard ENTERPRISE, in the white room, all over again...

End

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

A wonderful story !
You should write a sequel !!!!!!

Great stuff.

I agree, sequel! That was fun, thank you! :)

I order you to write a SEQUEL!

This was enjoyable, please write a sequel, I would like to see them physically together

Oh, you've done it now. Hah, you'll never escape the Trip-T'Poler clutches without writing a sequel! :-D

The series, as always, inspires me, as well as you great folks. Okay, one sequel comin' up!

THANK YOU ALL!!!

Excellent! This is just *begging* for a sequel! Loved it to pieces but boy is T'Pol lucky that Trip loves her so much and can be so forgiving. After all she has put him through she had better mean it this time. Ali D :~)

WOO HOO! LOVED IT!

Man, finally got to reading this! And thank god I did! Wonderful story! Really beautiful! I hope you do a sequel soon! Thanks for this!

Another vote for a sequel! I loved how you handled the party! Awesome stuff, having Trip come clean there, but at the same time not ready to see that they are meant to be together, regardless of his love for her.

Can't wait for the next installment!

Loved it I want a sequel pronto. It's really great. Never finish this story it has potenial to go on for years.

Reallllllyyyy liked this one!! and I add my voice to the request for a sequel!!