Chapter One - Who Am I Fooling? Only Me

Vulcan, 2284

Peter Kirk was not a young man who wanted to hear explanations. The fact that he loved his Uncle Jim was the only thing keeping a remotely civil tongue in his head.

"How could you?"

"Peter, I..."

"How could you entrust Spock, of all people, to handle our challenge to T'Pau's decree?"

"If you'll let me..."

"No, Sir! I will not let you do anything. You have repeatedly allowed your friendship with Spock to influence your decision-making when it comes to Saavik. You are her father! When no one came forward to claim her, you gave her technical Vulcan citizenship by adopting her. Her silent biological parents can't be found. Spock couldn't be bothered to sign the papers. Thank God you're a better legal guardian for me than for---"

At that, a Jim Kirk who was, if anything, angrier with Spock than Peter, slapped the boy he had sired on his late sister-in-law at his sterile brother's request. He immediately regretted it. Peter Kirk glared harshly.

"Right now, Unc, be glad I remember my StarFleet Oath Of Service."

He walked off, quickly, taking a route to Sarek's house through the desert that only he knew. By law, he had to leave, for being seen with his now ex-wife in public was against Vulcan Law. When he was gone, Saavik emerged, on Uhura's arm. She looked at Jim, her adoptive father. The strain of the dissolved bond had erased her self-control.

"James, I thought you said that Spock does not hate me."

"Saavik--he doesn't hate you."

She tried to be logical. But Peter was the more logical of the two, and right now she could barely feel him. In the six years since she had rescued the cryo-stasised 13-year old from the corrupt heads of Starfleet Command, she had always felt his presence. That had only deepened when they had bonded during her Pon Farr.

The clumsy groping and kissing gave way to real lovemaking, and the pain of two children who had been kidnapped, raped, and tortured gave way to paradise. Then T'Pau had challenged the unapproved Bond. Then Spock had seconded the Challenge. Then Kirk and Spock had talked. It seemed as though they had an agreement. The Bond would be allowed, but the kids instructed on proper Vulcan etiquette. But Spock had reneged, and Kirk vowed never to trust him to handle Saavik's Vulcan affairs again.

"Sir---I did enjoy being your niece-in-law."

Jim had known for a long time that Peter and Saavik were in love. But he never expected them to marry as early as they did. Because of cryo, Peter was still only 19, while Saavik was 22--well below Vulcan's legal age of free bonding, which was 40. In order to better serve Saavik, Jim had asked Spock, who was originally supposed to be her adoptive father, to handle all ritual and passages. But it had all gone wrong, as the little girl of his heart walked off, lightly sobbing, despite her heritage. Uhura let Jim have it with both barrels.

"Jim, Spock treats Saavik like shit! Yet you insist on letting him into her life. Why? Why is a man who is a genius Captain and a grand lover such a fool when it comes to his best friend's failings?"

Jim shook his head.

"Do you hate me too, Nyta?"

She held him, as she had for almost forty years, on and off, since they were fugitive kids during the Kodos disaster.

"No. Of Course Not. But Jim, we helped both those kids put their lives back together. I even promised your sister-in-law that I'd take care of Peter. Married or no, I think of them both as my kids, too. Now they've been hurt again."

"Because I failed them, Nyta. Just like always."

Leonard McCoy saw Ambassador Spock's shuttle take off.

"Why, Spock? This didn't have to happen."

Aboard Spock's shuttle, he had an answer.

"Jim made a mistake in calling me to handle this. Once again, my hidden emotions concerning Saavik have caused me to act contrary to her well-being. But I was betrayed into captivity by my Brother. Forced to sire Saavik by a Romulan female Commander named Linviaj, since deceased. I was forced to leave her behind on Hellguard, only returning when she was seven. All these things have left me incapable of being her father. Even now, merely recording this journal has..."

Spock screamed.

"Delete....Journal...Entry."

As his pain retook him, Spock became Ambassador to Q'onos once again, and had acted logically in the matter of Saavik's bonding, with no evidence to the contrary.

"Ambassador's Log : I am nearing critical negotiations with Chancellor Gorkon on matter replication technology......."

Peter Claudius Kirk knew that self-pity was a great waste. But as his marriage had just been summarily annulled, he felt like a great waste. He stood in the middle of The Desert.

"My grandfather was killed by Ghidorah."

He cupped his hands.

"My parents and my younger brother were killed by his spores on Deneva 3."

Sparks started to come from his fingertips.

"My grandmother was murdered by his worshippers. They kidnapped, used, and held me for ten years in an icy coffin."

The sparks traveled from one palm to another.

"They've targeted my real father, his friends, and the woman I love more than my own life for harassment."

Energy began to well up in his open palms.

"I have to stop Ghidorah. Mind you, I have no idea how."

His eyes began to glow.

"Sarek is dying, the UFP is riddled with xenophobic bigots, and most of the universe is already dead."

Lightning flowed around him, building still.

"Now, my heart has been broken---AGAIN!!!"

He searched his soul, but could not find Saavik's casually loving presence in it. Not yet, anyway.

"Luckily, I have a Necropolis inside my mind. Victims of Old Three-Skull, don't ya know. Among them are my folks--and a little boy with a monkey's tail. Good kid. Too bad he's dead. But he did show me something."

In the distance was a very large sand dune. Peter began.

"KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"

In a burst of rage-driven energy, Peter turned the sand dune to solid glass.

"Kind of like Vulcan's cold heart. I used to love this place. It helped me recover, I thought. But the only good thing about it--was a girl who has no idea just how beautiful she really is."

Back home at Sarek and Amanda's Peter found Saavik waiting. She said one word.

"Husband."

"Wife."

"Will you lay in my bed, defying the laws of men and books?"

"You are my law, Saavik-kam. But--what the hell do we do in public?"

Her head drooped.

"I--have no idea."
Chapter Two - Guess That I Am Just A Hopeless Case

He was widely known on Vulcan as the studious ambassadorial aide to Sarek. The Son of Kirk served as the right hand to the Father of Spock.

Each day, without fail, he would deliver all messages, relay all new information, and jot notes at those meetings that Sarek could not attend. In secret, he would use his own powerful telepathy, an unwanted side-effect of his imprisonment, to recalibrate the dying Sarek's emotional control. He worked days that lasted 18 hours.

She was the trusted coordinator for Sarek's schedule, a more daunting task than it sounded like. She had to know who. She had to know when. She had to know seating, and orders of importance and self-importance among Sarek's fellow diplomats. Sarek's unacknowledged granddaughter served him well, on days that lasted 18 hours.

When Peter Claudius Kirk, legal nephew and biological son of James came home to Sarek and Amanda's, there was someone already waiting for him. Her name was Saavik Brianna Kirk, adopted daughter of James. His best friend, his legal sister, and his ex-wife through no choice of theirs. She looked at him, and smiled playfully.

"Greetings, Brother."

Using his telekinesis, Peter had them both stripped and in bed within one minute. They moved furiously, threatening the bed's frame on many an occasion. But for all their ecstasy, their pain was intense. For the bond that had sustained them had been ripped apart by icy, bony fingers. This was their only time together. Public contact was forbidden til the final decree of dissolution came through. When they slept--it was inside of one another.

"Hi yourself, sis. I Love You."

"Who will you slay the dragon for?"

"For you and you alone, Saavikam."

"Liar. Begin Again."

Life outside these five hours was almost unliveable. One day, Saavik grew tired of hiding her love in meaningless cubbyholes. On that day, she did what she had always claimed she might. She challenged T'Pau. In this, she challenged all of Vulcan.

Chapter Three - I Turn Around To See Your Face

Imagine that your very first crush, that oh-so special one on that impossible person is found to be mutual. Imagine then it evolves into that first love, again remaining mutual. It never wavers. There is never anyone else. It does not stifle you, nor does it ever leave you alone. Imagine that you can sense the other's thoughts. A bond, one so very deep, you realize that it must have somehow existed before the two of you were even born. On Vulcan, such was called Klaefthe, and was rare indeed. Almost legendary.

Saavik had been born on a planet called 'The Hellguard'. It was a world built on depredations. Before being taken away from her Father, Spock, she held him for all of five minutes. That bond, too, had been severed, by Saavik's own mother, the Romulan Commander of that camp. A cruel member of The Order Of The Ancient Destroyer, the woman met her fate when a Spock she mistakenly taunted years later pushed her out an airlock. Spock later returned to The Hellguard.

But while it was for his Little One he came back, his pain was too great to acknowledge her. So Saavik was simply an unfortunate product of that place's rape of Vulcan prisoners. Spock moved to adopt her, but could not clear his mind of rage. So the stoic Vulcan made excuses, and it fell to technical Vulcan citizen James Kirk to adopt Saavik, a burden he gladly accepted.

Having lost his nephew, actually his son, Peter, the previous year, Jim joyfully prepared the little girl for life on Vulcan. Perhaps he was too emotional, but Saavik cared nothing about that. In a parallel to the late Peter's crush on Uhura, Saavik loved her 'Uncle Jim' dearly. But her life was much incomplete. One, she knew at her core who Spock really was, and the distance haunted her--shattered her confidence and self-esteem. Two--someone else seemed to be
missing. Because Peter Kirk was not dead. Though he sometimes had probably wished he was.

Born on Deneva 3, Peter Kirk was conceived in love. Not merely the love of his parents, but the love of one brother for another. George Samuel Kirk, Junior, aka 'Sam' had been rendered sterile by a radiation accident. So, in order to keep the Kirk line going, he and his wife Aurelan asked brother James to step in. After an awkward request, he did just that. On December 8, 2255, Aurelan gave birth to Peter Claudius Kirk.

But life and death are one motion, especially in a military family. On that same day, George Samuel Kirk, Senior, XO of the USS Constitution, perished along with all hands investigating the legendary lost colony at Vulcania. He found out who destroyed the place of Sarek's birth. The last sight on his viewscreen was of a hideously beautiful three-headed dragon. Ghidorah had killed the grandfather Peter had never known.

But the infant's mind was already powerful. A creature of prophesy himself, he forged a necropolis-- A City Of The Dead --- inside his own small mind. On an infant's level, he had merely made a house where Grandpa could stay. But souls lost to Ghidorah's rampages fled there by the trillions. For two weeks, the baby shrieked. Then, a feeling of safety fell over him. He was in his father's arms. Jim held his little Christmas present, and it was a bond that Sam and Aurelan encouraged. For ten years, the little boy knew love and lived in a futuristic eco-paradise. When he became an older brother, it was often Peter who handled 2AM calls. He even had dreams of another brother, called David. Life was good. Sam and his brother and Mother finally got along, and Aurelan was happy to live on a world where the NightCrawlers she had hunted as a teenager had no foothold. But the night sky was a mixed blessing to Peter. Sometimes, he would see the Enterprise arrive. Sometimes, though--he saw something else. He saw a dragon. Then, one day--the skies darkened. The spore-things came, and infected them all. The spore of the Beast.

He awoke aboard The Enterprise. His parents were dead. His little brother was dead. Half of Deneva was dead. The other half still suffered from a residual madness. Peter had been forced to kill schoolmates to reach his home. When he asked what any child would ask, his Uncle had to tell him that there was no place for him aboard the Enterprise. He broke down, and tried to steal his brother's body, talked down only by Uhura, who had promised her friend Aurelan that she would take care of her son. After a beautiful Christmas party, he left his Father's house, and went to dwell on Earth. His grandmother, by now adept at raising boys, was a beacon of light to him.

Then he heard noises. He had been there for two years, and the enforced quiet's violation threw him. He tripped over his grandmother's dead body, and then was taken by Section 31 to Admiralty Hall- center of The Ghidoran Order. He was a young boy in the power of his captors, and he was treated as such. Paradise was done for the boy they then cast into a cryogenic hell. Then, she came to save him. Love was born anew.
Chapter Four - No Matter What I Try To Do

Love had many ups and downs for the fated pair.

2278

"Peter! I am in the refresher!"

"So was I this morning. Funny how these doors keep coming open, whenever one of us is undressed."

"Stay if you like, but don't stare--I don't like being gawked at."

"Why? You're beautiful."

"An emotional-hormonal reaction. How many girls have you seen in this state of undress?"

"On Deneva? Saavik, classes in summer were held in the nude. But you are simply---"

"Don't say it. I'll let you stay, and look at me. But don't tell me a lie, Peter. I am not classically pretty. Not like you."

It would be years before Peter would be allowed to openly compliment her looks. This hurt him, for reasons he couldn't define. But he returned the favor, and they each became voyeured fixtures in the other's room.

2279

"This is ridiculous. A guy can fail to get it up, or a girl can be frigid. But what does both at the same time make us?"

"Creative, Peter-Kam?"

2280

Amanda stared hard at Saavik's black eye.

"Did Peter do this?!"

Amanda loved the boy, but this would have him banned from her house for good.

"Yes, Mother. But he had good cause."

"What good cause? Saavik, there is no good cause. He hurt my--dear little girl."

So fragile was Spock's sanity on the issue of Hellguard, that Sarek and Amanda could not acknowledge their granddaughter.

"Mother, I do not wish to discuss it. He had good cause."

"No, not this time. Out with it."

She gave in, and non-Vulcan tears began flowing.

"I grew angry with him over fantasies he hid about we two marrying. Our words were harsh. I immobilized him with a nerve-pinch variant--and then--Mother, I---I"

Amanda was horrified.

"You raped him."

"In the manner that I was shown on Hellguard. The male knows no pleasure and much pain. He headbutted me, and then bound me with torn sheets. He turned me on my stomach. I broke two of his ribs getting free-an hour later. We both apologized--but he is afraid, mother. Afraid of me--and of himself."

There was forgiveness--two months later. But love had taken a grim turn, and they proceeded more cautiously at Starfleet Academy.

2281

"When can we be alone?"

"Spock has chosen now to spend more time with me, while The Enterprise is refitted. His timing is illogical. But our loved ones are here, on Earth, while The Enterprise sits empty in spacedock..."

They looked at each other, and smiled. The Captain's Chair later needed reupholstering.

2282

Peter walked, disks in hand, and mouth holding a writing implement. He passed Saavik, in much the same condition.

"Howf r u doing, Saavikm?"

"I miff u, eter. Buff finals r finals!"

"U saif a mouful!"

2283

"So, Jim--what advice are you going to give the young marrieds?"

"None, Uhura. I've never been married, remember?"

"Yeah-- I remember."

2284

He grabbed all his things and moved back into his own room. He glared at her.

"You tried to immobilize me--again. Do you remember? We nearly destroyed one another, last time."

"Don't go."

"We still have our friendship, Saavik. We are still siblings. But as husband and wife--you and me, we're done. When T'Pau offers up the final decree--I won't challenge it."

"Then get out. For we truly have nothing at all."

Again, love prevailed. But not without opposition. Some of that opposition--came from within the young lovers themselves.

2285

Holding the final decree in her hands, Saavik looked directly into the eyes of the inscrutable T'Pau, her own great-great grandmother.

"What does thee want, Child?"

"I want my life back, Old Woman."

"The decree is just--and it is final. Would thee say otherwise?"

"Yes--For I Know Your Secret. I Know The True Reason you dissolved my marriage to Peter. And if not satisfied with your rejoinder, I shall spread this secret far and wide."

"Thee possesses Naught."

Saavik's lioness smile said otherwise.
Chapter Five - Gonna Spend My Whole Life Through; Loving You

"Give it up, Kirk! You'll never leave this desert alive. After Ghidorah, Charlie and I are the most powerful beings in the universe."

The 'Charlie' was Charlie Evans, a still-young boy empowered by aliens to survive on an inhospitable world. Problem was, he lacked the discipline to survive anywhere else. Already, the young maniac had raped and murdered Janice Rand, once the object of his obsession.

"Gary's right, Peter. You have no choice. No Hope. Ghidorah Is The End Of Time Made Flesh. You can't hope to stop him. Not you--or your half-Romulan slut."

The Gary in question was Gary Mitchell, once the best friend and First Officer of Peter's father, James. Now – he served Ghidorah. Out of nowhere, a small rock struck Charlie's face, drawing blood. Peter Kirk yelled out.

"You and I have something in common, Charlie. You raped Janice's dead body, and I once raped Saavik's living one. Differences are-Saavik loves me, and I know I'm nuts. Janice couldn't stand you--and you have no clue as to just how insane you are."

As Charlie raged, and Gary restrained him, Peter mentally reached out yet again for his beautiful Saavik. Again, she was not there. A cold, murderous rage crept into his mind-- a rage that would erase the two 'gods' who pursued him still within the hour.

At T'Pau's Hall Of Judgement, adjacent to The Kolinahri Temple At Gol, the object of Peter Kirk's affection challenged the one being she feared perhaps even more than Ghidorah. That being was T'Pau herself. Like a Great Oak by way of Bonsai, T'Pau would be ruler of Vulcan, if Vulcan had a ruler. Logically, of course, it did not. But Saavik wasn't interested in any of that. No, she only wanted one thing.

"I want my life back."

She had heard her Peter say that countless times, never truly understanding what the boy from paradise was talking about. But when their marriage was dissolved--Saavik knew. For in their union, the girl from hell had at last known true contentment. She wanted that back.

"Thee challenges the annulment's legality? I acted within my rights, as Ret'jb over Vulcan. Thy challenge has no basis."

"You are wrong, T'Pau. Because my Peter spoke truly that day, over a year agone. Your decision was based-in Emotion. By your own standards, it is therefore an invalid decision."

"State thy claim, Unfortunate Child."

Saavik knew she had struck a nerve when T'Pau called her 'Unfortunate Child'. She pressed hard on that nerve.

"How can I be an unfortunate child, Lady T'Pau? After all--I am of your house. Why else would you permit me to live at the home of your own grandson, Sarek?"

T'Pau's stunned silence confirmed Saavik's hypothesis.

"Speak thee quickly, child. Our patience has limits, it is known."

"I shall speak only fact, Lady. Fact - I am not a proper Vulcan."

"This is hardly news, child."

"Fact - Peter often behaves in a Vulcan-like manner, to deal better with his awesome pain."

"He is a strong boy, this is true. More disciplined by far than thee."

Saavik felt victory approach, with those words.

"Humans are odd. At times, they seem so logical, one is thrown by the intensity and focus of their efforts. But other times, they are dull things, and massively chaotic when pressed. But not Peter Kirk. No, he is a hero, and in many more ways than one. Nyota Uhura loves him. Amanda loves him. I Love Him. Because his efforts are unceasing, and he shows little but compassion. The allure of the human made real--All Logic, with a tinge of forbidden emotion."

With T'Pau's continued silence filling the hall, Saavik moved in for the kill.

"I used to be so afraid of you, T'Pau. I wanted so much to be like you, it throws me now to even brush that memory's surface. You were perfect, and not plagued by emotion. Look at you now, though. No longer 'All Of Vulcan In One Package'. Merely an old fool who tried to end my bonding by force."

T'Pau almost gritted her teeth.

"Thee--were not worthy of him."

"Neither are you, T'Pau."

"Thee are a schoolgirl--with a crush, nothing more."

"And you--are a pathetic tricentenerarian who has made the great mistake of falling in love with a human boy one-tenth her age!"

T'Pau would never cry--but Saavik had hit her hard, nevertheless.

"Thee Must Leave Here--Thee and thy human are banished from Vulcan--"

"Save it. We renounce our Vulcan citizenship. Oh, and that 'human'--does not call out your name. He calls out--mine."

Saavik gestured, and the great doors flew open.

"I can not fault you for your the object of your affections, T'Pau. But interfere again, and I will destroy you--and that is no idle threat."

Having bearded the devil, Saavik rode off to reclaim that precious thing that was hers and one other's.

"Let No One Put Asunder That Which God Has Decreed."
Chapter Six

T'Pau sat in silent fury, and not merely fury at the impertinent girl. No, she had been right. The boy's strength had mightily impressed her from the beginning. How anyone--Vulcan or otherwise--could recover so quickly from the vast wrongs done to him was a measure of his true being. For in the end, Peter Kirk was, after all, his father's son. And he was not alone. There was at least one other like him.

On her way through the main plaza of T'Navat City, Saavik saw a bearded man, a Vulcan, gesture for her to sit down.

"I cannot talk with you, sir. I am here to meet--my brother."

"Brothers are important, Saavik. The fact that mine won't speak to me is a source of great pain. How is Spock, anyway?"

Saavik breathed in, and attempted to regain her emotional control. Despite not being a 'proper' Vulcan, that control was still formidable, and it was enhanced by the nearby presence of her Peter. Though the bond had been ruptured, adjacent physical presence stirred its memory.

"You--are Sybok. Ambassador Spock's brother. I have no more to say to you than to him. You, Sybok, are of The Ghidoran Order. You serve The Beast."

Sybok smiled.

"My child, how old were you when you were first taken by force?"

"I was five. Any younger, and they would have damaged my ability to eventually bear children for them."

"How many times were you taken, in all?"

"Three Hundred. I was often passed over. They said I looked human."

"What of your bondmate?"

"Peter is my former bondmate. To my great regret. Our bond sustained us both."

Sybok shook his head.

"Silly girl. T'Pau can't just wave her hand and cancel a bond like yours."

"But--she did exactly that."

"Heh. That's an old trick. You feared her power, and so it worked against you. She probably has one of her wretched booster crystals going. Magnifies her abilities. Didn't you wonder why it all worked, when Peter Kirk is the most powerful telepath in the quadrant?"

Saavik nodded.

"While your words are logical, the source is in question, Sybok. Again, you serve Ghidorah."

"We'll get to that. Now, how many times was Peter taken?"

Her voice was now much more pained.

"Three Hundred. But while my assaults were spread over two years---the Admiralty used for him for their pleasure—in the course of three days."

"Guess how many times I was used?"

"I cannot."

"Exactly once, when I was initiated into the Order. I was thirteen. I was presented with a seven year old girl. I was told to take her. I refused. So--she took me, instead."

Saavik started.

"The Immobilizer Touch? The one I used on Peter?"

"And the one used on your Vulcan father. Your mother was Linviaj, The Romulan Camp Commander. Later still, it was her ship that Kirk stole the cloaking device from. Its a small universe."

"Sybok--who was this vicious girl?"

"Oh--T'Pring. But I think you knew that. Well, I was disgusted, of course. Add to that, The Order had made a recording of the encounter, to ensure my loyalty. Now, you and your Peter seem to deal with it all through rage. But the mind has other ways of dealing with such shame, Saavik. One of them--is to splinter."

Saavik took this new information in.

"You refer to K'tra T'w--or what Peter would call 'Multiple Personality Disorder'. If that is the case, then who am I speaking with right now?"

"Sybok the naive dreamer. The 'core' personality who is aware of the others--and their dark actions. I have to go, Saavik. T'Navat may be an interplanetary city, but I'm certain that I am not welcome here. But--you will speak to Spock again. Explain to him about my k'tra t'w--and the part it played in an old betrayal. One last thing, child?"

"If I am able to grant it."

"You are. Please tell me--that you forgive me."

Saavik looked down, and shook her head. Memories as old as her own life began to click in. When she looked up again, her face was contorted with rage--and her eyes were glowing. Telekinetically, she held Sybok against the wall of the private booth.

"You--you were there on Hellguard! You know who my father is."

Just as suddenly, she dropped him.

"Go away, Sybok. Go far away. I grant you forgiveness, only that I may be forever free of you."

"But don't you want to know---"

"Not from you. I want nothing from you. Now go."

Her final words to him were so like Spock's, Sybok was made to weep for everything he had lost. That part of him that opposed Ghidorah died, then, and entered The City Of The Dead inside Peter Kirk's mind.

Finding Peter talking to a snide young man with blond curly hair, Saavik waited til they were done. The young man had
a mother, also a blond, who gave Peter a quick hug.

"Peter-Kam, are you all right?"

"Ta Kevlem, Saavikkam, Huf--sorry. Standard, I know. Well, that Mitchell Evans was a phony. It turned out to be Gary Mitchell and Charlie Evans. 'Charlie X', as it turns out, killed poor Captain Rand. But he's ashes, now."

"But what of Gary Mitchell? His powers were far greater than Evans."

Peter looked up and nodded grimly.

"Let's just say that in the end, there can be only one."

Saavik gulped, and grabbed at her neck.

"Peter--I confronted T'Pau. We--are banished."

He smiled.

"Good thing we're boarding the Enterprise in The New Year."

Saavik too, smiled, and then remembered Sybok's words. Peter 'heard' them, as well.

"A crystal, eh?"

He closed his eyes, and 'saw' T'Pau's chambers. Sensing an absolute dead zone, he knew, then.

"Saavik, your abilities are much more precise. Can you see it?"

"Yes---"

To T'Pau's horror, the magnifying crystal fell and shattered. It was unduplicable, patterned as it was to match the precise pitch and frequency of Saavik and Peter's bond.

"We are free, Peter. But I feel no different."

"Perhaps in time. But for now, let's go home and celebrate the fact that we now have no obstacles. Can I ask you something? Something big?"

She nodded yes.

"Alright. Why do you insist on calling us brother and sister? I know we legally are, but it feels very weird to me. Sorry."

"Stand up, Peter."

He did. She then embraced him, holding onto him like a life-preserver.

"If--we were to lose everything else, we would still have this. The things-the pains we have spoken of. The sheer joy and life-force we share. Do you think we could have survived the ups and downs if we were merely lovers? Or even bondmates?"

"I just thought you were being cute. I never understood. Maybe I can't ever understand. But I know one thing I can do."

So he kissed her, hard and deep. The Vulcans all stared.

"Its all right. She's my sister."

"Mmmm. Peter--who was that rude young man speaking to you?"

"Oh--that was Doctor David Marcus--our little brother."

"It does not matter. I've always liked you best."

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Epilogue One-

T'Pau watched as all the souls of Vulcan left Gol forever. They were leaving to join The Necropolis in Peter's mind. From the most recent on through past Surak himself, they one and all ignored her. She cried out as the oldest went.

"I pray thee--do not leave me here in this great hall. It is empty--and I am alone."

Indeed she was.

------------------------------------------

Epilogue Two -

USS ENTERPRISE, February, 2286

McCoy nodded to Saavik.

"So you and Peter are back together?"

"Yes, Doctor. But now we move at our own pace. No conspirators, no authorities, not even emotions or hormones. We, at our cores, decide these things. No outsider, even to Ghidorah itself, shall force our hand either way."

The Doctor laughed.

"Well, I can think of at least one outsider that is going to change everything--depending on what you two decide."

Saavik was confused.

"What outsider, Doctor?"

"First things first, Saavik. Is Peter your only partner?"

"Of course."

"How would you describe the state of intimacy between you?"

"We are---active--and at our very most relaxed since we began, six years ago."

"Very tense, were you?"

"Extremely."

Bones sighed.

"Saavik, when two people finally relax sexually, and truly know how to enjoy one another--certain delicate systems finally begin to work properly that stress has been known to effect adversely."

Saavik hoped that her recent irritability was not a sign of any kind of disease. But then, she reasoned, life was incapable of surprising the young couple any more-she thought.

"Doctor--what is my condition?"

McCoy smiled again as he looked over the tests, which revealed, among other things, that Spock was the girl's father.

"Saavik-you better call Peter and tell him to come see me."

"Why--what does he suffer from?"

"Same condition as you--impending parenthood."

Saavik gasped. Once again, an outsider had intervened, but this time, the interference was not only welcomed--but the answer to their prayers.

"I Am---With Child."