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On the BeachAuthor - Sulriel | Genre - Episode Addition | Genre - Romance | Main Story | O | Rating - G
Fan Fiction Main Page | Stories sorted by title, author, genre, and rating On the Beach By Sulriel Rating: G ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T’Pol sat in her quarters, trying to study her Kir’shara, but her mind was restless and she could not focus. She tried closing her eyes to concentrate her thoughts, but always her mind kept coming back to one thing – Commander Tucker. Giving up on the Kir’shara, she set it aside and walked to her window. Turning away, she tried to straighten her room, but there was nothing to straighten. She needed to talk to Commander Tucker, Trip. Her earlier attempt at broaching the subject of their bond had not gone well when he denied that he was experiencing anything unusual. Of course, she had then also denied it herself, an emotional reaction that her recent studies of the Kir’shara should have prevented. Annoyed with herself, and giving in to her desire to see him--telling herself it was a duty, not a need--she left her quarters. T’Pol entered the mess hall and tried to not be obvious that she was looking for Trip. She ordered a chamomile tea and surreptitiously looked around the room. He was not there. Checking to be sure that no one noticed, she discarded her full cup of tea and left. Next, she went to engineering, where she pretended that she was checking the subroutines, again surreptitiously surveying the room. One of the engineers stopped beside her. “If you’re looking for Commander Tucker, he left to get some sleep. It looked like he really needed it.” T’Pol controlled herself carefully and, looking at the young engineer, tried to respond without inflection, “I am not looking for Commander Tucker. I merely wished to inspect the matrix for any further damage.” The engineer shrugged, “Suit yourself. It sure is nice to have him back, though, don’t you think?” With that, the engineer turned and walked away. T’Pol watched the engineer go, not certain if there had been anything other than a comradely comment in that last remark. Trying to hide a sigh, and deeply annoyed with herself, she checked the read-out one more time. Accepting that tonight would not be the night that this situation would be addressed, she turned the view screen off and left. * * * * * * Casually dressed, T’Pol was striding through dunes with sea grasses gently fluttering in the wind. It was hot, and her Vulcan senses opened up to the smell of the sun and sand and sea. Coming out onto the beach, she saw a man sitting on the sand, looking out across the ocean and turning something in his hands. Trip. She started across the beach toward him. Coming up beside him, she sank to the beach to sit next to him, looking out to sea. She turned her head and saw what he had in his hands. “A starfish from the Solean Sea,” she identified it. “Is that what it is?” he said, still not looking at her. “What’s it doing on a beach in South Carolina?” Not waiting for an answer, he turned to her, more challenging. “For that matter, what are you doing here?” She looked at the ocean, finding his searching gaze too intense. “I wanted to talk to you.” “Oh yeah? About what?” “About why you left. And about what’s been happening . . . between us,” she stole a quick glance at him, “since you’ve been gone.” “I’d say that nothing has been happening, between us, since I left.” He angrily tossed a pebble toward the water. “So that’s about the same as before I left, isn’t it?” She sat, struggling with how to say what she needed to say, how to get beyond his defenses. “Trip, . . . I . . .” She looked again at the water, then turned her whole body to him, leaning towards him to her lips to his cheek. He turned his head slowly to her, their lips mere millimeters apart. “T’Pol, what . . . ,” he whispered. She kissed him on the lips, gently, then more firmly, but he, while wanting to enjoy, to give in to her kiss, held himself back, and finally pulled away. “T’Pol,” he said, his voice choking with whispered emotion, “what are you doing? Why are you doing this when you don’t even care? I . . . I can’t . . . .” “Vulcans are not, . . . . I . . . am not, good at expressing emotion.” She cast around for help expressing herself, and her eyes finally came to rest on his. “I am trying to tell you how I feel about you.” “Feel about me?” he almost seemed angry. “Feel, yes,” her eyes met his calmly. Now that she had taken the step of admitting feelings, she felt stronger, more at peace with herself than she had in days, or weeks, or months. “It is not logical for me to continue to deny that I have feelings for you. Strong feelings.” “T’Pol,” he choked again, not daring to believe his ears, “are you saying that you love me?” “Yes.” He turned to her fully, a look wonder taking over his face, “I love you too. I realized it right before you married Koss.” “But you hid it, said nothing?” “I had to. For your sake,” he stole a quick look at to sea, and then back at her, “and mine. And then you were married, and then when you weren’t you made it clear that you didn’t want me. Why now?” “When you left I realized that we had . . . something special.” It was her turn to look away, and then back. They regarded each other peacefully, for the first time in a long time. Then, as if with one thought, they embraced with a deep, passionate kiss--he, pulling her into his lap and she, relaxing into his strong arms as if she had always belonged there. Eventually he pulled away slightly, his lips traveling down her neck in a trail of kisses. As he came back to kiss her lips once again, he whispered, “it’s too bad this is just a dream.” She pulled back from his kiss, and pushed him just far enough away that she could look into his eyes. “I do not believe this is a dream.” “Sure it is! This is what I’ve hoped for so long,” he looked at the beach. “This is the beach where my family used to come for vacations when I was a kid. Here you are, claiming you love me. This is my dream.” He shot his raffish grin at her and leaned in, “and a pretty darn good one at that!” He planted a kiss on her lips. She pulled back again, reluctantly. “I do not believe this is just your dream.” She cast about, trying to find the words. Finally she just looked him square in the face and came out with it. “I believe that you and I have formed a mate-bond, that we are sharing each other’s thoughts, and dreams.” “A what?” “A mate-bond. When Vulcans are paired, they form a link with one another, so that the female will know when the male has entered pon-farr.” She paused to search for the words. “Sometimes, when a husband and wife are particularly well matched, the bond goes beyond that, and they can enter one another’s thoughts. This bond is unbreakable. I think that is what has happened to you and I.” He stared at her, struggling to grasp the implications of what she was telling him. “Do you mean we’re stuck with each other? For the rest of our lives?” She nodded, silent. He thought about it for a moment, then looked at her happily. “Well, I guess I can live with that,” and he kissed her once again. * * * They sat, still entwined, she cradled in his arms, he resting his chin on the top of her head, both of them looking at the ocean, clearly and deeply contented. Finally, he spoke. “I still think this is a dream I’m having.” She gestured at the starfish that he had tossed aside on the sand. “How do you explain a Vulcan starfish on your Earth beach?” “Maybe I just made it up.” He grinned at her with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m not just about engines, I’m a creative guy, you know.” She quirked her eyebrow at him. “Of that I have no doubt, Mr. Tucker. However, I studied Solean starfish as a child. I believe you found it in my memory.” She pushed herself up to look at him. “We will need to do something to confirm that I am correct.” She paused to think. “Tomorrow, when we see one another, we will say something to confirm that we both experienced this.” He laughed. “Well, I’m not going to blurt out that I love you, if that’s what you’re thinking!” “No.” She regarded him coolly. Not responding to his teasing was one of the things that gave their relationship the greatest spice. “It has to be something we would be willing to say, but that we would not ordinarily say.” He smiled at her and brushed back a piece of her hair mussed by the wind, just drinking in the joy of being in her presence without having to be on his guard. Her brow creased in thought, and her gaze fell on the starfish. “Perhaps ‘starfish’?” “’Starfish,’ huh?” he smiled at her. “It’s a deal. But for now, there’s no reason to waste a perfectly good dream.” And he drew her into his arms for another deep kiss. * * * * * * T’Pol came out of her cabin, well rested for the first time in a long time. Not quite smiling, but with contentment on her face, she headed toward the bridge. At the same time, Trip left his quarters. Although he too, felt full of energy and rested, he was also nervous. He had had such a good dream, a strange dream that he did not want to run into T’Pol and have the reality of her coldness ruin the feeling he was still riding on. The captain’s voice on the intercom interrupted his reverie, “Senior staff to the bridge.” Trip stopped to turn to the bridge, disappointed that T’Pol would ruin his day sooner rather than later, but then he remembered that he was only a temporary guest on Enterprise and turned back towards engineering with a smile. The voice of the captain again stopped him in his tracks, “Commander Tucker, please join us.” Sighing, Trip braced himself for what was coming and turned back to the bridge. He breathed deeply as he waited in the corridor for the turbolift, swinging his arms as if preparing for a prize fight. The lift arrived and the door slid open to reveal T’Pol. They stared at each other, and each took a breath. Just as they were about to speak, Malcolm rounded the corner at a run and clapped Trip on the shoulder, entering the lift. “Come on. We’ll be late.” He and Trip entered the lift, Trip stepping to the back to stand next to T’Pol. Trip and T’Pol snuck sideways glances at one another, but were careful to avoid catching the other’s eye. Malcolm could sense the tension behind him, and realized that he’d interrupted something. He carefully avoided looking over his shoulder, but it was about time those two figured out that they belonged together and got on with it. He was almost tempted to say so when the lift doors opened, and he stepped out. Trip and T’Pol each stepped to the door in unison, then as Trip stood back to let T’Pol go ahead, she quickly turned her head toward him and murmured “Starfish” as she exited. Stunned, Trip could not respond, or even move. Then slowly his whole body relaxed into a smile, and he followed his mate onto the bridge. ---- Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS! A whole mess of folks have made commentswow. great fic - first thing in the morning for me :) I hope you write a sequel!! awsome, we need a story like that on the show CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE,CUTE! That was too cute! I loved it! Awwwwwwwww... that was cute. Very funny having the Captain realize Trip would be thinking as he was. Just tells you how well they know each other!!!! LOL my only complaint--over too soon!!! my only complaint--over too soon!!! Wonderful, I particularly liked the way it ended with T'Pol getting her *starfish* in first and the way it affected Trip. Aaah, just got to love Trip and T'Pol. Ali D :~) LOVED this. Nice way to get them to admit their feelings! I really liked your dialogue -- totally believable. Thanks for writing this! Beautiful! Sweet! I like starfish! :) Loved the story! Really hope we may see something like this on ENTERPRISE, if they screw their heads on right! I loved it. It was about time that they admitted that they loved each other, I just wish that there would be more of that kinda stuff on the show! Wonderful... Just wanted I needed. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. Um, SEQUEL!!!! :-) Very nicely done.... It was great their time on the beach, and how Trip wasn't sure until the last moment. Definitely needs a sequel.... Thanks for writing it. Thank you for the beautiful story, I hope you write more... Cute and sweet. :) I've got a big grin on my face! Thanks for putting it there. I hope you write a sequel to this if not I hope you write more! Very good story. Made me smile... ;) Thanks. Starfish indeed!!! That was cute not to put to finer point on it...well done :) |