Title: Great Expectations

Title: Great Expectations

Author: JennaTripped

Rating: PG

Pairing: T/T

Summary: Someone asked, long ago, for a look at T'Mir in primary school. This came out a little more angsty than I'd planned, but there it is.

The snickers from behind her should have been enough warning but as usual, T'Mir had expected her peers to control themselves better than they were able. Daddy said she had "great expectations" and probably wouldn't see them realized until she was older. It seemed that T'Mir was constantly waiting until she was older, and she was just never old enough.

She laid down her supplemental datapadd and straightened her shoulders.

"Whassa matter, T'Mir?" T'Mir felt something collide with the back of her robes. "Eh, freak, something buggin' you?"

T'Mir allowed a sigh to escape her lips and focused her attention back on her studies, only to realize she'd read several chapters ahead. Absently, she tapped on her datapadd.

Name: Francis Elright

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Age: Eight years, four months, Earth calendar.

Comments: Jerkface.

If T'Mir had been Human she would have smiled. Of course, if she'd been Human she would have given in to the sneaky, angry, voice in her head telling her to throw the datapadd at Francis hard enough to hurt him. She could do it, too. Hurt him, that is. She took another breath and let it out in a puff, some of her tension escaping with it.

"T'Mir?"

T'Mir looked up and met the eyes of T'Vin, her primary school instructor. The woman was quite tall, but willowy and graceful, and her eyes were a soft chocolate brown at odds with the otherwise sharp features of her face. T'Vin's gaze was steady and soothing. The Vulcan always seemed to know when something was about to go horribly wrong in her classroom, always seemed to know when one of her young students had been pushed too far. T'Vin reminded Mira of her Mother. Suddenly the room felt stuffy and warm, and Mira knew she was going to cry.

T'Vin cast her gaze away from T'Mir, allowing the child to regain control, and it settled on the young Human boy in the seat behind her.

"Mr. Elright, perhaps you would care to demonstrate your mastery of our current topic." It was not a request, but a directive. The boy slowly got to his feet and walked to the front of the classroom. T'Vin looked back at the girl, who by now had straightened in her seat and was looking attentively forward, and nodded her approval.

T'Pol opened the door to her home with one hand, the other quite full of sleeping toddler, and entered. She eased Lorian into an armchair in the common room, his head lolling gently against the soft cushion, before patiently working out the stiffness in the arm that had held him. The boy had a habit of falling asleep in the most unusual places amid smells and sounds that would have roused even his father. T'Mir had certainly never been so oblivious. T'Pol well remembered how sensitive her daughter was to even the slightest disruptions and supposed she should be grateful her small son "slept like the dead," as Trip was fond of commenting.

A beep from the communications unit alerted T'Pol to an incoming message. She sat down and accepted the call from her daughter's teacher.

"Instructor T'Vin."

"T'Pol."

T'Pol had no official designation as head of research at the Science Academy. She was not military anymore, nor had she ever pursued civilian degrees. It was an unusual situation but one that served her well when she was working on more sensitive projects.

"T'Mir is well?"

"Yes. The children are having their midday meal now. It seemed to be an opportune time to contact you regarding her conduct in class." T'Pol remained silent, allowing the older woman to continue. "As you are aware, T'Mir is frequently the target of harassment by the other children."

"She has reported being bullied, yes. We have spoken at length about strategies to deal with the problem."

"I understand you have begun meditating with her?"

"Yes. After the last incident my husband and I agreed that she needed to begin formal study of certain disciplines."

T'Pol allowed herself to dwell on that distinctly unpleasant conversation for a moment. Trip had been more disturbed by his little Mira's sudden outburst than T'Pol had anticipated. She had found him, later that night, sitting in T'Mir's room watching her sleep.

"She's so tiny," he whispered, "how could she do something like that?"

"She did not intend to harm the girl, Husband. It was unintentional."

"She fractured her scull, T'Pol. She's seven years old!"

"Yes. And the other child was being highly antagonistic." A flare of anger skipped across their bond, outrage that their child had been pushed to such extremes. "She does not know her own strength, Trip. We must teach her."

"I believe that has already begun to help her and can only continue to do so. T'Mir is in a difficult situation, T'Pol. She fits in with neither Human nor Vulcan children in her peer group."

T'Pol inclined her head, her attention back on the situation at hand. T'Mir's difficulty socializing with children of either species was a constant source of anguish for her parents. Especially Trip, who wished for his daughter to form close friendships like the ones he had enjoyed as a child.

"We have noticed." A trace of frustration, there. She would need to meditate more tonight. Perhaps T'Mir would join her.

"I believe she is improving, T'Pol. She very nearly lost control in class today but was able to calm herself."

"I will be sure to express your approval this evening. Please update me as warranted," she added unnecessarily.

"I will do so. T'Vin out."

T'Pol flicked off the comm. She remembered the look on Trip's face that night one year ago, but the image was supplanted by one of him swinging his giggling daughter in the yard.

If it wasn't hard, what fun would it be?

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