The Journey – Part 1 – Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Rating: NC-17

Trip had been busy. He had the quartermaster make him a Vulcan robe. It was the same color blue as T’Pol’s favorite shirt of his. She said it brought out the color of his eyes, which were her favorite feature. He contacted Soval for help on what they would need to do to complete the bond. Soval told him what to say and offered to teach him the Vulcan translation, but Trip said he’d do it in English. He only had three days left, and it had taken him a week, with T’Pol repeating the words in his head all day, to remember his greeting for Soval. Trip wanted to learn Vulcan but not right now.

He also questioned Soval about arranging an official Vulcan ceremony and how much time he’d need to do it. Soval said he could arrange for it to be held when they came to Vulcan, if they let him know 3-4 days in advance. Trip said he’d get back to him after he talked to T’Pol. Soval asked if anyone else would be attending the ceremony, and Trip told him no; they were keeping their relationship as quiet as possible for now and hadn’t decided if or when that would change. He told Soval if they had a ceremony, and he was going to be on Vulcan, he was invited to join them. Soval said, “Of course I will be on Vulcan. Mr. Tucker, do you think I would abandon you when you are to meet with the High Council for the first time?” Trip smiled at that. Who would have ever thought he and the Ambassador would be friends.

Trip found what he wanted for the table setting and asked Chef if he could prepare T’Pol’s favorite Vulcan meal. Chef let him know he had gotten the recipe and had all the ingredients. He talked to the quartermaster again to find out if he knew of anyone on board Enterprise who might have red wine. The quartermaster gave him three names. An Ensign in the Armory had several bottles and let him purchase one of them. Now he needed to talk to Malcolm. He had one day left. He tracked him down in the Rec room. “Hey Mal, how’s it going?”

Stalling, Trip brought up their training. “Pick a night next week for that Bat’leth practice.”

“How about Wednesday at 20:00?”

“No problem. I’ll let T’Pol and Hoshi know.”

“Don’t worry about Hoshi; I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Anything you want to tell me?” Trip asked teasingly.

“We’re friends, Trip.” Malcolm was a little nervous.

Something in Malcolm’s tone said ‘leave it alone.’ “Okay, I won’t pry.” Trip took a deep breath. “Mal, I need a big favor. And I can’t tell you why I need the favor.”

“What’s the favor?”

“I need you to do whatever you can to make sure that from 18:00 tomorrow, no one disturbs me in my quarters for as long as possible, unless we’re attacked or something.”

“Can I assume that whatever you’re going to be doing is important?” Malcolm knew that it must be or Trip wouldn’t have asked otherwise.

“Yes, it is and I promise I’ll tell you all about it as soon as I can, but I just can’t right now. If you do this, I need it to be between you and me.”

“I can do that unless the Captain were to ask any questions or try to contact you.” Then Malcolm knew he had to ask one more question. “T’Pol wouldn’t have anything to do with this, by any chance?”

“Can we just leave any speculation out of this for now? I know I’m asking a lot, but I need some time to take care of something very important to me, and I’m asking my friend to help me out. If you’d rather not, I understand, and I’ll forget this conversation ever happened.”

Malcolm looked at Trip. He marveled at Trip’s ability to bounce back and still have that sense of wonder about visiting new places and meeting new people after all the mishaps and loss he had suffered in the last 3 years. He was grateful to have his friend back, and whatever was going on in his life lately had been nothing but good for him, so Malcolm knew ‘yes’ could be his only answer. “I’ll take care of it. Make sure you’re inside at 18:00, and I’ll have the security system screw up and lose your quarters until you comm me to fix it. No one will be able to get in or out without going through me.”

“Thanks, Mal. I won’t forget this.”

“You bet you won’t. You owe me big.”

Trip left and went to T’Pol’s. He had been there earlier to take her robe to his room. He wouldn’t let her into his quarters early because he wanted to surprise her. He thought about discussing with her whether or not to tell Malcolm about their new relationship but decided to wait. He didn’t want anything to spoil tomorrow. T’Pol finished meditating, climbed under the covers, and snuggled up against Trip; thus they fell asleep.

The alarm went off. Trip hadn’t even opened his eyes, but he knew T’Pol wasn’t there. The shower was running. He sensed her through the bond, and she was nervous. There were so many conflicting emotions that he was having trouble identifying them and who they belonged to. He tried to calm his mind and send calm through the bond. T’Pol felt it and settled somewhat. Trip tried to get a sense of what she was nervous about, but she had him blocked out. He didn’t like it when she blocked him out, but he knew sometimes it was necessary, especially when their emotions were running high. He was nervous but in a good way. Completing the bond didn’t make him nervous, as they’d been bonded long enough now that he knew that wasn’t it. T’Pol had said the bond would be better, somehow. He didn’t understand how, though, because the connection they already had was strong. Maybe his nerves were because of a new sense of responsibility he had. He was now responsible for someone other than himself. That had been true since Phlox told them the bond was already permanent, but now he would be saying that out loud.

T’Pol had been quiet at breakfast and was now at lunch, and Trip wondered if something was wrong. Before he could ask, Phlox stopped by their table. “Good afternoon, Commanders.”

“Hey, Doc.”

“Mind if I join you?” Phlox asked, pointing at a chair.

T’Pol looked up over her cup but said nothing. Trip responded, “Sure, go ahead. Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no, I just wanted to see if you were both alright. It’s been…” Phlox paused, trying to figure something out. He continued, “…almost 3 weeks since I’ve seen either one of you. That’s a new record for you, Commander Tucker.”

“Gee, thanks, Doc. Can’t say I miss visiting. I haven’t really left the ship much, so I’m not likely to get beat up or catch some strange disease.”

“You were on the Zellerite ship for several days and toured the Coridan ship, and in the past, you’ve managed to injure yourself without leaving the ship.”

Trip could feel amusement and worry both, coming from T’Pol. “I haven’t exactly been working in engineering much lately, and when I am, it seems I’m doing paperwork.”

Phlox turned his attention to T’Pol. “Commander T’Pol, I assume you’ve fully recovered from the affects of that parasite?’

“Yes, Doctor, I have.”

“No headaches?”

Trip and T’Pol answered in unison. “None.” That wasn’t totally the truth, but they didn’t want to get into shielding and the bond with the Doctor—and certainly not in the mess hall.

Phlox seemed satisfied that they were both doing fine, got up, and started to walk away. “Things seem to be working out. Now I have to get back, as it’s feeding time. Commander Tucker, glad to see you took my advice and stopped drinking coffee.” With that, he was gone.

Trip looked at T’Pol. “You’re the one who got me to stop drinking coffee, aren’t you? That first morning I drank green tea with mint was because you wanted it.” Trip thought back to that day and then added, “No, you didn’t want it, but you kept thinking about it so that I would want it.”

T’Pol’s eyebrow lifted slightly. She was smiling through the bond. “I can influence you through the bond but only if you wish to allow it. When I suggested the tea, you knew of the bond but were not fully aware of it. I took advantage so as to try and help you with the headaches and stress you were feeling. I can no longer do that, as you would be aware.” She didn’t tell him about the cheesecake and Chamomile tea. He’d sipped his tea that night, but he hadn’t liked the taste. It was too sweet, so she had suggested another flavor to him. She would have kept it up until he’d found something he liked.

“Well, it turned out to be a good thing, although I have changed the green tea with mint to equal parts green tea and mint. Glad to hear you can’t make me do things I don’t want to do.”

T’Pol looked up at him over her cup, thinking to herself, if things went as she hoped tonight, she would not need to even ask him do anything; the bond would take care of them both.

Back on the bridge, Malcolm kept watching T’Pol. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was different. She appeared to be working at her station, but she really wasn’t concentrating. He’d noticed Hoshi watching her, too. T’Pol never socialized on the bridge, but she had become more relaxed. She still stood up very straight, but her shoulders hadn’t been as tense as they used to be. Today the tension in her whole upper body was noticeable. Malcolm knew she had something to do with whatever Trip had going on tonight. At first, he’d thought maybe they just wanted a quiet, undisturbed, romantic evening together, but Trip wouldn’t have asked for Malcolm’s help so they could have sex. Trip was a southern gentleman, as he liked to say, but asking the head of security to lock down your quarters was over the top, even for Trip. He and Hoshi had discussed whether or not they were a couple or just friends but hadn’t been able to come to any conclusion for certain. Malcolm was sure they were together, but he hadn’t been able to tell Hoshi he thought that because he’d promised Trip he’d keep this evening between them.

Malcolm’s thoughts then drifted to Hoshi. When they were in her quarters watching another episode of ‘Fawlty Towers,” he saw an empty vase sitting next to two yellow roses and a card pressed between clear plastic, as if Hoshi were saving them. He read the card: “beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady.” It wasn’t signed. Was she seeing someone? He was sure if she was, it wasn’t anyone aboard Enterprise, as he would have noticed that. He didn’t know if there was someone back on Earth, though. Whoever gave her the flowers must be important to her, or why would she save them? Now he just needed to get enough courage to ask her about them. This was why he avoided relationships. He didn’t know what to do or say when it came to women. In the past, he’d always just dumped the girl before it got serious, just to avoid getting to close. He’d considered doing that with Hoshi, but he couldn’t do it. She had managed to get past most of his defenses, and he didn’t know how to put them back up. For the first time in his life he really didn’t want to even try.

Trip wasn’t even pretending to work anymore. After lunch, when he got back to engineering, he tried working on the torpedo specs he and Malcolm were still trying to get right, but the figures didn’t make sense. And when he tried to visualize the design in his head, he couldn’t. He finally gave up. He crawled into a Jefferies tube to do some maintenance, but after dropping his tools several times, he realized his mind was focused everywhere else but on the tasks at hand; so he decided to call it quits before did more damage to the conduits or himself and ended up in sickbay.

The shift ended. Trip arrived at his quarters first. He quickly covered everything, so T’Pol wouldn’t see what he had done. He jumped in the shower, and when he was done, he came out of the bathroom dressed in his underwear and greeted T’Pol as she came in. “Hi, darlin. You can take a shower and change in the bathroom, while I finish up out here. Your robe is hanging in the closet.”

T’Pol looked around the room, nodded her head and went to shower and change. Trip took the covering off the table, lit the candles, poured them each a glass of wine, and turned on romantic music, adjusting the volume so it was playing very softly in the background. The door chime sounded. Trip waited a moment to be sure the crewman who delivered dinner had time to leave, then opened the door and brought the cart inside. He placed their dinner on the table and put the empty cart outside in the corridor. The clock said it was 17:45. He ran through everything to be sure there was no reason for them to leave his quarters. He was sure he had everything. He put on his robe. He actually liked it. It was light and comfortable, not at all like the robe he wore back on Vulcan. Koss came to mind. He needed to think about something else. This was not a good time to think of T’Pol marrying anybody else. Tonight would help erase that memory from his mind forever. The only other memory he’d like to change is from the Fire Plains. He’d loved it there, even though it was hot and he hated deserts. As soon as T’Pol told him about Koss, he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. They’d have to go back there when they went to Vulcan. He wanted to remember it as the romantic place he had felt it was when he first saw it.

T’Pol stepped out of the bathroom, and Trip just stared at her. He had been right. She looked beautiful in her robe. “Wow, you are beautiful.” He had picked this one not because it was formal, but because it was a light gold with red trim. Red was his favorite color on T’Pol, and he suspected it was hers, also although she probably wouldn’t admit it. She’d tell him what she thought looked good on him but never what she herself looked good in.

T’Pol looked at his robe. “You look rather handsome yourself. The color is pleasing,” she said as she looked from the robe to his eyes.

“I thought you might say that.” He pulled out her chair. “Would you like to sit down?” She kissed him lightly then sat down.

He sat down. “I got wine. I know you don’t usually drink it, but you told me once you liked red wine if it had a little kick to it.”

She raised her glass toward Trip, and as he picked his up and touched it against hers, she said, “To us.”

He reached across and lifted the cover off her plate. He couldn’t pronounce what the dish was called, but the look on her face told him she knew what is was. “Where did you get this?”

“I had help. I described it to Soval, and he told me what it was. I gave the name to Chef, and he got the recipe from somebody. I didn’t ask. You know how he is. Never gives away his secrets.” As she ate, he could tell she liked it.

They finished dinner and Trip got up, moved the candles to various places around the room, cleared the dishes to his desk, handed T’Pol her wine glass, then folded up the table. He took the cushions and laid them on the floor and motioned for T’Pol to sit. He grabbed a small dish then sat across from her. “Chef said to tell you to eat these while drinking the wine.” He reached across and touched her bottom lip with the chocolate covered raspberry. “He said the chocolate is a little sweeter than what you like, but with the wine and the raspberry, you’d like it.” T’Pol bit into the raspberry and let the chocolate melt against her tongue. Trip raised his wine glass to her lips and watched as she let the wine mix with the chocolate and the fruit. The look in her eyes said all he needed. She was enjoying this. “I didn’t know how much you like bittersweet chocolate, Chef says you’re like every other woman he’s ever met, but you keep it a secret, so he makes you little treats and sends them to you in your quarters so nobody knows you have a sweet tooth.”

“I do not have a sweet tooth. I did not eat sweets until I met you, and now I only occasionally indulge myself. It is not a secret that I like bittersweet chocolate. Malcolm knows, as he was present when Chef gave me some candies he had made. When Malcolm asked if they were bittersweet chocolate, and I said yes, he asked if he could try one, as that was his favorite sweet.”

Trip put another treat to T’Pol lips, and as he watched her sip her wine, he tasted one himself. “I’ll bet you have a stash of chocolate treats in your quarters somewhere. Do you want more of these now, or should we save them for later?”

T’Pol didn’t answer. She simply placed her wine glass on the desk, took Trip’s and did the same, then moved the dish of raspberries. She turned and looked directly into Trip’s eyes. “I am going to initiate the meld now.” She waited to see if he would object. When he didn’t, she added, “I will place my hand on your face, and you will need to place yours on my face the same way. Relax your mind.”

T’Pol touched his face with her fingers and found the correct placement. Trip did the same, and once she felt his fingers in the right position, she said, “My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts.”

Trip felt a rush of thoughts and feelings. His and hers swirling around, faster and faster; he was dizzy. He couldn’t stop it. Then he felt T’Pol’s mind begin to slow it all down. All became calm, and T’Pol was standing before him. She waited a minute then asked. “Are you ready to complete our bond?”

Trip knelt down, and T’Pol followed and knelt down across from him. Trip spoke, “parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched.”

T’Pol responded with, “parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched.”

Together they said, “We are one.”

T’Pol was in his mind. His memories were like pictures flashing by, with emotions attached, as T’Pol took them in. His childhood: Lizzie, his sister Alex, and Brother Joseph running on the beach, scuba diving. His first dance: The one time he lied to his dad, about prom night. The band he, his brother, and cousins were in. Him tearing apart whatever engine he could find and putting it back together. The hours he spent in his late teens teaching himself to be an engineer. Starfleet academy: Jonathan and A.G at the 602 club, then their unauthorized test flight. His commission on Enterprise. His first meeting with T’Pol. His anger at her for dissing him, but also his attraction to her. His pregnancy. Telling T’Pol to make her own decision, but really hoping she’d stay on Enterprise. He and Malcolm in the shuttlepod drunk. Lizzie’s death: The anger, the hate, and need for revenge, his despair and his finally beginning to let her go.

The beginnings of his realizing how he felt for T’Pol. Every time he was afraid or desperate because she was in danger. His need to tease and goad her, to hide his growing feelings. The friendship and closeness he counted on. Their night together, and her rejection of him the next day. Lorian and the other Enterprise. The hope he felt for a future with T’Pol after talking to his son. The loss he felt when the E2 didn’t make it out with them. T’Pol’s marriage, her mother’s death, his sadness at what he began to believe could never be. His utter feeling of hopelessness when he transferred to Columbia. Confusion and frustration when he couldn’t get her out of his head. The joy he felt when she asked him to return and kissed him. Elizabeth and the devastation at the loss of another child. Wanting to help T’Pol, but her pushing him away. His decision to give up on a romantic relationship with T’Pol and work on just being the best friend he could. His fear when she finally told him about their bond and admitted she had feelings for him. Then the fear was gone, and all that was left was his acceptance, protectiveness, trust, and love for T’Pol.

Then came T’Pol’s memories. Hours of training to control her emotions. Sitting at a computer doing drills on math, science, and logic. Her working with her father and being disciplined by her mother. Her father’s death. Her time with the intelligence service. Her time at P’Jem. Her appointment to Enterprise. Her first meeting with the Captain and Trip. Her turning her back on him and her attraction to him. Tolaris, Silik, Rajiin, the Orions. Her delight in play-acting when she needed to get Enterprise or the crew out of trouble. Her fear whenever Trip was lost or hurt. Sim and her knowing Trip had feelings for her. Sitting at his bedside in sickbay in the middle of the night, holding his hand. Their night together: the cascade of feelings during sex and fear of losing control afterwards. Her belief that pushing him away was best for them both. Meeting Lorian and her older self on the other Enterprise. The despair at the loss of Lorian, but hope for a future with Trip.

Her marriage and the emptiness she felt as she repeated her vows. Her mother’s death and the overwhelming sadness. The Kir’Shara and trying to find meaning and control again. Koss divorcing her and wanting to go to Trip. Her crying when Phlox said it was hopeless; there was nothing he could do when Trip and Hoshi had that virus. Her fear and confusion when she found out he was transferring to Columbia, and then despair when he actually left. The recognition of their bond when Trip kept showing up during her meditation. The joy when she asked him to return to Enterprise and he said he already asked for a transfer back. The hopefulness when he said they had a lot of work to do. Her decision to talk to him. Elizabeth, the bond with her, and her utter and total despair at losing that connection and her daughter. Her inability to deal with her own dark feelings, having nothing left to deal with Trip’s. Her belief that their bond had died due to neglect and her decision to just be his friend. Her realization that their bond was still there and her acceptance that she was happy that it still existed. Her fear that he would want to sever the bond, but taking the risk and telling him about the bond and her desire to keep it. Then Trip felt all the warmth, acceptance, trust, and love she held for him.

They stood facing each other. Trip wrapped her in his arms. “I love you, T’Pol.”

Trip smiled and kissed her. She had never said she loved him. He felt it through the bond, but she had never told him. He accepted that she never would.

They kissed for some time until T’Pol pulled away slightly. “We have spent many nights here in our dreams, and it was pleasurable; but I would like to return to our room now.”

When they became aware of the room again, Trip expected the bond to feel different than it had during the meld, but it didn’t. T’Pol stood up and offered her hand to help Trip stand.

Trip stepped forward, wrapped his arms around T’Pol, and began moving to the music that was still playing in the background. He began whispering the words in her ear, “All that I am, all that I’ll be, means nothing at all, if you can’t be with me, your most innocent kiss, or your sweetest caress, seduces me. I don’t care about tomorrow, I’ve given up on yesterday, here and now is all that matters, right here with you is where I’ll stay.”

His warm breath lightly touched the top of her ear. He felt a shiver run down her back. His head lifted slightly so he could look into her eyes. He brought his trembling hand up to caress her face. The bond was becoming more active than ever before. Warmth, desire, and need were overtaking their senses. Trip kissed hers lips. Gently at first then the passion he’d felt for months began to exert itself. She responded with a passionate need of her own. He moved to kiss her ear, just barely touching the tip. Another shiver down her spine. Her hands were lightly massaging the back of his neck. They moved down to the front of his robe, searching for an opening. She found the button and unfastened it. Her eyes were closed as her hand began moving across his chest.

He continued teasing her ear with a mix of soft and slightly harder kisses, all the while blowing wisp of warm air into her ear and down the side of her neck. His kisses moved down her neck until he could no longer touch her skin. He moved across her neck to the other side. Kissing her ear and blowing warm breath on her now moist skin. The shiver he felt from her this time was stronger and seemed to run all the way down her body. He became aware she was trying to remove his robe. He stepped back to give her room as he put his hands on either side of her head; and rubbed his thumbs around her ears as he kissed her lips once again.

Trip felt the air hit his skin as the robe left his body. T’Pol’s hands were moving up his chest, back down to his waist, and around to the back as her nails barely touched him. She slowly ran them down the side of his neck and down his arms, back up to across his shoulders and up the back of his head. The sensations were building between them in the bond. The intensity grew, and they could no longer tell which were his and which were hers. The need to touch her skin overtook him. His hands moved down and undid the buttons of her robe and slowly slipped it off. She had on underwear and what looked like a tank top, but it only covered to just under her breast. He touched her stomach and traced around her belly button with his finger.

T’Pol moved around him and began kissing across his shoulders. Her tongue began running lightly over his skin. As she moved back and forth, her breath made him tremble as it reached his moistened skin. Then she moved to the top of his spine. She planted light kisses and began to nibble up the back of his neck. She found the spot she had been looking for. Trip’s body twitched hard as the sensation spread across his shoulders and down his back. He wondered how she knew where to touch him? Her fingers ran up his sides at the same time she found that spot on his neck again; the sensation went through his body and his knees buckled. She wrapped her arms around his chest to hold him up. She kept her arms around him and slid her body around to face him. He could feel himself becoming very hard. T’Pol pressed herself up against him and moved her hips back and forth across his body. His legs began to shake.

T’Pol removed the rest of her clothing, lifted Trip’s undershirt over his head, and then helped him out of his underwear. She lay down on the bed. Trip stood by the bed and looked at her laying there. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. He lowered himself to the bed and lay down beside her. He kissed her mouth and felt her lips part slightly; the tip of her tongue moved slowly across his lips. He let his own lips part and let the tip of his tongue make contact with hers. The kisses became deeper and their tongues were buried in each other’s mouths. Trip took her head in his hands and kissed her with a passionate hunger. He was lost in the sensation coursing through his body and the bond. T’Pol responded with equal force and pressed the full length of her body against him. When their skin touched, the heat between them intensified. Trip let out a moan. Every nerve ending in his body had been stimulated.

Her movement against him became more insistent. Her hands were in constant motion up and down his back. He moved his hand between them, under her breast, and moved his body away from her. He traced his fingers in circles across her skin, down to her waist, and back up again. He then moved up to her breast and circled around the nipple. He moistened his fingertips with his tongue and continued moving around her breast as he blew softly on the areas his fingers touch. He looked up at T’Pol. Her head was lying on the pillow, and her eyes were closed. There was a smile on her face. He kissed her neck then let the tip of his tongue run across her skin until it found the other breast. He took the nipple into his mouth and began sucking lightly. Her desire began to build, and he could feel her need growing. His hand rubbed her other nipple between his fingertips. He continued until he heard her moan and felt waves of desire in the bond. Her control was almost gone.

Trip moved over top of her and gently brought his body down on to hers. When their skin touched, it felt as if an electrical circuit had been completed, and the current began running through them. T’Pol reached up, took his face in her hands and brought his lips down to meet hers. She began pressing her body hard against him while moving her hips. Her hand slipped down and touched him. Her fingernail began tracing around the tip. This was almost more than he could handle. He let out a gasp. Her finger encircled him and began moving up and down. When her stroke went up she hesitated and slowly let her nail trace across the tip; then her hand moved back down. Trip fought the urge to just get lost in the sensations he was feeling. His hand found her breasts, and his mouth began sucking on her ear. His tongue darted in and out. Their breathing became rapid and shallow. The bonds intensity was increasing, and Trip couldn’t think. She reached up and took his face in her hands again.

“Now, Trip. Please.”

Hearing T’Pol speak startled him. He looked into her eyes, repositioned himself, entered her slowly and stopped. He could feel her need, but he could also feel the emotions slamming into her brain; so he waited. When she began to move under him, he lifted himself up and waited. The emotions were less volatile. She arched her back upward, so he lowered himself back down. He repeated this until he was sure her desire was peaking, and the emotions weren’t overwhelming her and making her afraid. He increased his rhythm but still hesitated slightly. Her hands were running up his back and into his hair. She tugged at his hair several times, and he could feel her desire and frustration building. He began moving faster and harder.

“Trip” she whispered as her breathing became very fast. When he heard her whisper his name, his control was lost. He gave himself over totally to the sensation and touch, and as soon as he felt T’Pol let herself go and her nails dig into his back, he followed. He collapsed on top of her, trying to catch his breath. Once his head cleared a bit he started to move to his side, but T’Pol held him where he was.

“Not yet, T’hy’la.” He didn’t move.

“What did you just call me?’

“T’hy’la.”

“Does that mean the same as Ashayam?”

“It means many things, and I’m not sure I can explain it properly.”

He attempted to move again, and T’Pol let him go. He put a pillow under his head and looked at her face. “Try.”

“T’hy’la means brother or sister, but not always a sibling. Someone who is compatible in spirit and mind. A kindred spirit. You described your relationship with Lizzie in this way.”

“Yeah, I loved her. It felt like she was part of me, more than Alex and Joseph are.”

“T’hy’la also means friend. One who you trust above all others and has traits you do not that help balance you. The meaning as I used it means bondmate and lover.”

“Then it does mean the same as Ashayam.”

“No, it means that and much more. It is about the nature of the relationship between two people. According to what my mother told me, it is rare for bondmates to form this type of bond. Most couples have the normal bond, some weak and some strong like my parents. Similar to our bond before it was completed.”

“I noticed the bond felt much different when we completed it, but when we ended the meld nothing seemed different. I thought I would feel some sense of loss because we weren’t as connected, but I didn’t.”

“You are right. We should have felt differently when we ended the meld, but the connection we have formed is special. A meld will only be needed for us during a healing trance or if one of us is deeply unconscious. A bondmate who is your T’hy’la is one who knows you inside out and accepts you without question. One who is so compatible that you do not have to voice what you need. …one who you would trust with your life… and whose life you cherish more than your own.”

Trip wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “You just described all-consuming human love, T’Pol. Vulcans feel love; they just don’t have a name for the feeling. They have a name for the relationship. So how does this affect us?”

“It means we cannot be separated for long periods of time. If one of us were to die, the other would soon follow. We are no longer two separate minds. We are two separate bodies who share one mind together, and we will have to discover what this means together. Because it is rare, not much is known; if it is, no one discusses it. We could talk to a priest when we are on Vulcan.”

“Since you mentioned a Vulcan priest, would you be okay with having a ceremony to make this official when we get to Vulcan?”

“That would be acceptable. I will make the arrangements.”

“I already asked Soval if he could do that… if you agreed. He said he would, and he would need three to four days beforehand to get it all setup. I also asked if he’d like to be there.”

“Soval is your friend and my mentor, so if you want him at our ceremony, he is welcome.”

Trip was wondering if the fear and worry he felt from T’Pol earlier in the day had been because she thought he would be upset about the intensity of their bond. As soon as he asked himself the question, he knew the answer. “You know what you said about knowing things? I think I just figured out what you meant. I was thinking about why you were so worried earlier today, and then I knew it was because you thought that we were T’hy’la; you were afraid you might be wrong, and you really wanted it to be true.”

“Yes, and I didn’t know how to explain that to you. I have told you what it means, but even I do not fully understand what it means. It has to be experienced to be understood.”

“So, basically, we wanted to be together. So this bond formed without us knowing, and once that happened, we were bonded forever?”

“That may explain why the bond did not form the way most bonds normally do.”

“I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing between you and I is normal.”

“Would you want that?”

“No, I’m happy with things exactly as they are, wife.”

Trip leaned in and kissed her. The bond came to life, and the passion began to build. They made love again. When they finished, T’Pol grabbed the extra blanket at the end of the bed, opened it, and covered then both as she climbed into the back of the bed and laid her head on Trip’s shoulder. He’d always slept in the back because T’Pol usually woke up before him and he didn’t want her to have to climb over him to get up. As he listened to her breathing even out and felt her relax into him, he knew this was where she preferred to sleep and would from now on. The sound of his heart beating gave her a sense of peace as she drifted off to sleep. Trip Tucker smiled to himself. He was one happy man. He couldn’t think of anything better than laying here, holding the woman he loved and who loved him. He closed his eyes and, like T’Pol, fell into a peaceful sleep.

Trip was awake. He looked over at T’Pol. She hadn’t moved from where she fell asleep last night. She was awake, but her eyes were still closed. She was content lying in his arms. Trip had never seen her this at ease. He started remembering bits of his dreams. He and T’Pol on the beach near where he grew up. At a monastery on Vulcan he’d never seen before, at the fire plains, on his father’s boat. They had shared their dreams, but they weren’t erotic and hadn’t kept them from sleeping.

His stomach growled. He looked over at the clock. The mess hall would be open in one and a half hours. Malcolm had the early shift today, so he would head for breakfast first thing. “T’Pol, I need to eat and so do you. We need to get up and take a shower, so I can comm Malcolm and have him let us out of here. Then we can go to the mess hall.”

“You had Malcolm lock us in?”

“I didn’t want anybody to disturb us last night. No one usually comes to my quarters, and the only ones who would comm would be you, Hoshi or Mal, but I wasn’t taking any chances.”

“Did you tell Malcolm why you needed him to do this?”

“No, I just told him it was important to me, and I would explain when I could.”

Trips stomach growled again. He got up and offered T’Pol his hand. “Let’s get that shower.”

He turned on the water and stepped into the shower. T’Pol was right next to him. She began soaping his back, then moved down the back of his legs and back up again. She came across his shoulders and down over his chest. He turned around and kissed her. She returned his kiss with more passion than he had ever felt from her. Her emotions were slamming into his head. There was love, desire, need, but no fear. She pressed him against the wall. This wasn’t going to be long and sensuous, and she was not going to allow him to tease and make her wait. This was fast and furious and all T’Pol. Trip just relaxed and let her have her way. When they recovered, he soaped her down, then washed his hair while she rinsed off. They stepped out of the shower. Trip grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist then took the larger of the bath towels, wrapped it around T’Pol, and dried her off. He dried himself, brushed his teeth, grabbed some clothes and left T’Pol to finish her morning routine. He decided not to shave because he somehow knew T’Pol liked it when he let the stubble grow for a day or so.

Trip commed Malcolm in his quarters. “Malcolm, this is Trip. Are you there?”

“I’m here, what do you need?”

“It seems there’s something wrong with the door to my quarters. I can’t seem to get it to open. Could you see what you can do to remedy the situation?”

“Give me a few minutes, I need to check the security routines and see if I can figure out what’s wrong. Just keep trying it till it works.”

“Thanks, Mal. I’ll talk to you later.”

When the door finally opened, Trip and T’Pol put the dishes from dinner on the cart that was still where Trip left it, and then walked to the mess hall. T’Pol was teasing Trip about his first dance. As they walked into the mess hall, Malcolm and Hoshi looked up to see Trip walking backwards, facing T’Pol with his hands up. He looked as if he were dancing with some invisible partner and laughing. It had been a long time since anyone had seen this Trip Tucker. He was light and free and happy. Malcolm saw the look of amusement in T’Pol’s eyes. It was obvious that things had changed for the better between those two. Malcolm just hoped that it stuck this time because watching Trip at this moment told him that if she rejected him again, Trip would be lost forever. He would sink into that black hole in his mind, and they’d never get him back.

T’Pol listened as he described his older brother Joseph teaching him to dance. She knew she could just look into his memories and see what had happened, but for the first time, she understood his need to tell stories and talk about his past. She never knew what a fond memory was, but now she felt it. As Trip talked and shared this part of himself with her, he experienced the feelings. Not with the same intensity but just as real. The awkwardness of a teen, the embarrassment of dancing with his brother, the fear of asking a girl to dance, and the happiness when she said ‘yes.’ This is what Trip had meant when he said he wanted them to get to know one another. He wanted them to talk and share themselves and those things that made them who they were. Looking at memories in one’s mind let one see events and even feel them, but Trip’s way let her feel them as if she were there with him.

They returned to his quarters, talked, and made love throughout the day. They talked about T’Pol’s strict childhood and lack of friends growing up. She had been an only child, and her parents had both been busy, professional people. She told him about her first disagreement with her mother. From that day on their relationship had never been the same. They had gone to dinner at the home of a colleague of her father’s. It was the first time she had been allowed to accompany them. They had served the dish that Trip had Chef make for her. She had liked the meal, and when her father asked what she thought of the evening, she’d said she had liked the dinner. The dish had been better than the one her mother made. Her father said nothing, but T’Pol had felt a second of something from her mother before she blocked it out. But being young, she had not recognized that her mother was upset about her comment on the food. She had asked her mother why the dish tasted differently than when she made it. Her mother had said her recipe was the one her mother had taught her. T’Pol had asked if she could make hers the way it had been made that night. Her mother could not hide her anger. She had told T’Pol that food was not for enjoyment. It was for survival, and one ate whatever was served to them. T’Pol did not understand what she had done wrong but had let it drop. Trip told her he sympathized. Every parent and child experienced the same thing; when they both knew that the child had grown up and no longer saw the world only through their parents’ eyes.

Later, T’Pol asked him about the lie he had told his father. She had never known him to out and out lie. Trip told her about the prom. He was seventeen and had taken Alicia, the girl he had dated all through his senior year. They had started making out while dancing and ended up in his car in the parking lot. Trip explained it had nothing to do with love; that it had been all about being a seventeen-year-old guy having sex for the first time. He had felt a little guilty afterwards, like he taken advantage of Alicia, even though she had started kissing him. When he had gotten home, he had been happy and smiling. His father had seemed to know what had happened and had asked him if he’d done anything he shouldn’t have. Trip had said, “No, of course not, Dad. You taught me better than that. We just had a lot of fun tonight,” and then he had gone straight to his room.

Trip explained that if it had just been about him, or if Alicia had been there and said it was okay, he would have told his dad the truth. But it hadn’t been just him. Alicia had feelings, and he wouldn’t have done anything that might have hurt her, even though he’d known they’d had no future together. She had been off to Boston as soon as they had graduated. She’d wanted time to learn her way around before college started. Trip hadn’t decided what he was going to do, but he had been leaning toward Starfleet, even though his parents hadn’t been happy about it.

They also talked about the bond. Trip told T’Pol, “This bond could create some problems for us. When you say we can’t be apart for long periods of time, what exactly do you mean?”

“If our bond had been like it is now when you transferred to Columbia, you would never have been able to leave Enterprise. The problems you experienced there would have started when you decided to go. The bond would have started to do whatever was necessary to keep us together.”

“So I can’t leave Enterprise without you?” Trip knew if that were the case, they would be leaving Starfleet sooner than he thought.

T’Pol understood what he was worried about. “The bond will only create problems if one of is hurt, in danger, or unhappy about something concerning the other. It will act when one of us has a need. We can be apart by mutual agreement but not at great distances. With effort, we can suppress it but not indefinitely.”

“If it becomes necessary to leave Enterprise, I am prepared to do that. But we’re doing okay here for now, so I’d really like to try to make this work for as long as possible. That having been said, we need to talk about Malcolm and Hoshi. At some point soon, we are going to have to tell them something. Malcolm is my best friend, besides you, and I hate keeping things from him. He and Hoshi are involved. I’m not sure how close they are yet, but I know he cares a lot about her. That means she will know, too.”

“Hoshi is a friend, and I trust her and Malcolm to keep our relationship private.”

“I know. This isn’t just about them keeping our secret and us keeping theirs anymore. It probably never should have been. We need Malcolm to know about our relationship, but we also need him to know about our bond. He goes out of his way to keep me safe on away missions, and if we might have issues because of this bond, he needs to know so he can do his job. We might also need his support if anything were to happen to one of us. Phlox would be here on Enterprise, but what if we aren’t on the ship?”

“You are right. We need to discuss this with them, but can we take a little more time and keep it between ourselves?”

Trip agreed to wait. While they talked, T’Pol introduced Trip to many new positions during neuro-pressure that she had considered too intimate to show him before. He understood why she had skipped them. He would not have been able to hide his feelings for her had they been doing these while in the Expanse. They made love, ate a late dinner, and slept.

Tags: Fanfic, Star Trek Enterprise Fanfic, Stories, Trip and T'Pol Shippers