Chapter Three
Winona and Sarek maintained a professional but platonic relationship, though Winona did spend more of her off-hours in his company than she had before, and she was grateful for that friendship. She had no reason to believe Sarek wished anything but friendship from her, and that was all Winona was brave enough to ask of him. As the months passed, Winona began to realize that she saw Sarek as more than just a friend. She wondered what George would have said if he had any idea what she was thinking, and felt ashamed. Concern as a friend warred with concern as a professional when she was hailed from the surface of New Vulcan by the High Command. By the time the call for help reached Winona, the Maturin had headed up the relief armada for a full year, and the Enterprise visited on a fairly regular basis.
"Captain, a hail from New Shi'Kahr." Her communications officer turned from her station, "Marked urgent, ma'am."
"Thank you, Giana." Winona narrowed her eyes and got to her feet, "The source?"
"It's Ambassador Mera, Captain."
"Ah, good." She smiled, she always enjoyed speaking with Mera, "Have it patched through to my ready-room, then."
"Aye, Captain." Giana Toriena turned to her controls and Winona left the bridge. The doors closed behind her and she waited.
"Giana?"
"Ambassador Mera is standing by, Captain."
"Good. Good morning, Ambassador. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." She sat down at the table.
"Doctor Kirk, thank you for taking my call so swiftly."
"What can I do for you this morning, old friend?" Winona leaned towards the screen, trying to read Mera's body-language without being in the same room. He seemed nervous and agitated, which was not like him at all.
"I am calling on behalf of Ambassador Sarek."
"Sarek? What's wrong?" red flags and other warning signs were going up all over the place. Mera coughed.
"If I did not know personally how very important you have become to Sarek, I would never have dared involve you, but as I know that and he asked me to send for you, here I am."
"Mera, you have to tell me what's wrong, I can't read your mind." Winona leaned forward, "If something is wrong with Sarek, and there is any way I can help him, please you to share what you know."
"Sarek has fallen gravely ill, and…without the necessary intervention, he will die of madness."
"He's dying? Why did you wait so long, Mera?!" Sarek was dying, and only just now had they decided it might be a good idea to inform Winona?
"I was hoping to find some other way, but nothing has worked. As of this conversation, he has turned down sixteen potential mates."
"Sixteen?" Winona croaked, "Oh please, Mera, please…not…"
"I am very sorry, Winona, and more sorry for waiting so long to make contact with you. He kept insisting that you could help him, but as the condition is unknown to all but a few non-Vulcan physicians, we did not think him to be serious."
"The Enterprise got in two hours ago, I'm bringing McCoy with me. He knows how to handle this, he'll be able to tell us how far into the blood-fever Sarek is and how much time he has left."
"You will come?"
"Excuse my human figure of speech, Mera." She rubbed her forehead, "You better bet your Vulcan ass I'm coming, and I'll be down as soon as I've made arrangements." Mera chuckled, said goodbye, and she pressed a button on the interface. "Giana, get me the Enterprise."
"Captain?"
"Sickbay, preferably."
"Y-yes, Captain." Gianan was confused, she heard it in the girl's voice, and paced the office until she heard the triple-chime. She spun on her heel, leaning over the table.
"Doctor McCoy!"
"This had better be good, Captain."
"We have a problem, Doctor." She ran one hand through her hair, "I have just lately spoken with Ambassador Mera regarding the health of Ambassador Sarek. My presence has been requested at the estate soon as maybe, but there is no way in any Hell I'm going down there without someone who knows what to do with it."
"Wait a minute, Winona, hold up there." She could just see McCoy putting up both hands, trying to get her to slow down and tell him precisely what was wrong, "What's going on? Why do you need me? And why does Sarek need you?"
"Sarek has refused sixteen mates, and he will die if something isn't done! I need you because you're the only ship's surgeon I know of with any experience dealing with pon farr!"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm beaming to the surface, Doctor McCoy, you will meet me there. Kirk out." She signed off and raced down to Sickbay, throwing together a kit. Then she beamed off the Maturin to the estate where she met up with McCoy, Jim, Spock, and Spock's wife T'Preena. She hadn't expected so many of them, but she wasn't surprised that they had all come down. Going through the gates, they were met by Mera in the courtyard. He took them to Sarek, who rested fitfully on the great bed where Winona had spent many lazy mornings, and many a restful night's sleep.
"I never thought I'd be doing this twice." McCoy huffed as he ran a preliminary scan on Sarek to see how far along he was, "Let alone with the same family." Winona looked over at Spock and T'Preena as she sat down on the mattress and took Sarek's hand in hers. Mera was in charge of pairing up potential mates and had paired Spock with a beautiful young Vulcan named T'Preena, the girl had a heart of gold and the patience of a saint. They all loved her, Jim practically worshiped the ground T'Preena walked on, and Spock was ever the dutiful husband, finding time for his young wife and balancing that with the demands made of him by his duties to Starfleet and the Enterprise.
"Well, I've got bad news and I've got good news."
"What's the good news?"
"He's just into the plak-tow, but it's manifesting itself far more violently than anyone else I've seen."
"How many days, Bones?" Jim looked very unhappy, almost worried.
"Two days into it, he doesn't have a whole lot of time left."
"Considering the whole thing takes seven days, he's only got a few days left! Why wouldn't he take any of the mates you picked out for him?" Jim turned to Mera, who shrugged and looked meaningfully at Winona.
"He was waiting for the only one he wanted."
"Mom? You've got to be joking!"
"I've been here for a year, Jim. I've been a widow for twenty-six years, and capable of choosing my own mate for three. I don't think I should need to ask my own son's permission." She fixed him with a look that had worked in his childhood and apparently into adulthood and captaincy.
"But…Mom, he's Vulcan!"
"It shouldn't matter what he is, Jim." She shook her head, narrowing her eyes at her son, "I'm happy, Jim, I've finally remembered what it feels like to smile, to laugh again, to have something worth coming home for at the end of the day." And she had been coming home at the end of the day, for approximately six months. Word was circulating in New Shi'Kahr that Ambassador Sarek was quite deeply involved with Doctor Kirk, Winona was surprised it hadn't spread beyond New Vulcan.
"Does he really make you happy?"
"Yes, Jim. As bizarre as that sounds, he really does."
"Why didn't you tell me, Mom?"
"Would you have believed me? Or would you have done this, and freaked?"
"Yeah, you're right." Jim scratched the back of his neck, appropriately shamefaced, "I'd have called you crazy. But you never questioned my choices, who am I to question yours?" Jim looked at McCoy, who glared at him with no heat behind the look. Winona leaned back against the headboard and smiled.
"Do we have your blessing?"
"You gave me yours, I'd be wrong to refuse you my own. Dad wouldn't want you to be alone for the rest of your life, and if he was anything like me, I don't think he'd have one spiteful thing to say about it." Jim grinned, that crooked smile dubbed the "Kirk smirk", and Winona knew he was right. The foursome left, she distinctly heard the door lock behind them, and she was alone with Sarek. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Winona lay down beside Sarek to watch him sleep. It wasn't long before Winona herself fell asleep, but not for long.
Winona had no idea how long she actually slept when she was aware of someone touching her, warm hands touching familiar places, sensitive and knowing fingertips teasing the hem of her skirt. She smiled and knew he was awake. The hand playing with her skirt skimmed up her flank and came to rest against her stomach, fingers curling into the fabric. Winona angled her head back and let it come to rest against his shoulder. No words passed between them, anything that needed to be said was said through touches. Did she trust him? Yes. Did he trust her? Yes. Was she willing to spend the rest of her life married to a Vulcan? Happily, and was he willing to spend the rest of his life married to a Human? He had given half of his lifetime to a Human before, her happiness was his primary matter of interest. Pulling away from a human kiss, she looked at him.
"Let me save your life." She whispered, "Let me do this and save your life. No one else understands why you refused sixteen potential matches."
"There is a beauty in the human spirit, an openness in your mind. A willingness to take something broken and heal it."
"As I healed you, Sarek, you helped me heal." She put her head down on the pillow and watched him, "My son thinks I might be going crazy."
"What did he say?"
"In the end, he told me that since I had never openly questioned his choices, he couldn't justifiably question my own."
"Your son, he is…bound to Doctor McCoy?"
"Not yet, but I fully expect that any day now." Winona had to smile. When Jim had shamefacedly admitted that he had no interest in girls and never planned on a traditional marriage, she had been a little surprised, and warned him to be careful who he decided to give his heart away to. It had gone to Doctor McCoy, and when it got out during their second year that the two of them were a "thing" on campus, Winona had just smiled. She wasn't really all that surprised Sarek knew about Jim and McCoy.
Somehow, they got around to discarding their clothes, kicked off the foot of the bed or tossed off the side in a fit of sudden impatience to touch bare skin and explore familiar territory.
Vulcans had a bad reputation as cold, emotionless creatures who relied solely on logic and self-control to get them through their daily lives. Winona knew better. Vulcans could be cold, emotionless creatures, but they could also be warm, loving, and affectionate creatures. Sarek's affection was quiet and simple, a gift offered with all the shyness of a teenager on his first date and the daring of a practiced lover. He deliberately paid special attentions to a silvered scar on her stomach, absorbing her sadness as she remembered where the scar had come from and what it meant for her. No more children. The disruptor blast had knocked her several feet backwards and doctors said she was lucky to be alive. There was so much scar tissue that having children would be impossible and not at all advisable. It just wasn't safe. The scar had never bothered Sarek and he had promised her that in the event they married, adoption was a very reasonable alternative to bearing children.
Finally, his fingertips brushed against her psi-points. It was time to finish what they'd started.. This was nothing new to her, she had shared her thoughts and her memories many times with Sarek, but this was the first time it actually meant something. Her mind opened willingly to his touch, everything was doubled, tripled, two familiar minds seeking to become one. With an audible click, it was done and Winona was no longer alone in her mind. Or beyond it, for that matter.
Hours later, Winona and Sarek rested together on the large bed, reveling in touches as they slowly came down from those high places reached by coition and the achievement of a satisfying orgasm. He did most of the touching, Winona wasn't entirely sure she was capable of doing more than blinking.
"I have worn you out." And didn't he sound smug? Winona smiled and turned her head to look at him.
"A lovely exhaustion, ashayam." She promised as his fingers explored the length of her spine. Sarek loved touching, which went against the most commonly-held belief that Vulcans hated physical contact. Some of them did, Sarek did not. Winona considered herself quite lucky, really. For the first time in twenty-six years, she felt safe, loved, and content that no matter where she went or how long she was gone, Sarek would always be waiting for her to come home.
FIN