Chapter Text
“We could take you to Vulcan,” Diane offers. She’s sitting in the command chair, as completely at ease as T’Volis has ever seen her. There are still smudges under her eyes, a hollowness to her cheeks, but a lightness in her expression that speaks of good health, even if the rest of her body has yet to catch up. “We’re ordered back to Earth, and it isn’t if it’s not on the way.”
Her initial inclination is to refuse. But there is no logic in it, only the gratification of long habit, avoiding Diane and her own unsettled mind. Now, with her own ambivalence resolved, taking the most efficient way back to Vulcan is the only reasonable course of action. If it means rebuilding their friendship, this is an additional advantage.
“I would be glad,” she says, and when Diane invites her to sit in one of the auxiliary seats at her side, she sits, looking at the strange sweep of the Bridge and the quiet bustle of people. Their minds are loud, but at least the cacophony is no longer one of distress. And Diane, next to her, is settled, radiating a peaceful happiness like nothing T’Volis has ever felt from her before as she surveys her domain. Complete, T’Volis thinks, a conclusion with very little logic to it, but still it fits the moment.
Diane leans over in a quiet moment and says, “I’m glad I could share this with you, even just the once.”
T’Volis thinks of all the times she did not understand, all the times Diane would not have been able to share this with her, all the missed opportunities, and nods. This is not the life she would choose for herself, but now she can see, at least faintly, why Diane has done so.