Where My Heart Is...

DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. The 
story contents are the creation and property of T'Kuht and is copyright
(c) 2001 by T'Kuht.

The doors to the hydroponics garden opened and Spock stepped into the fragrant, tranquil 
room. He was not certain why he was here, it was not logical, but the sight
of the variety of plants and flowers stilled his questions for the moment. A lone figure sat 
on the stone bench that faced the fountain that he had often used for light
meditations. The familiar figure spoke before he announced himself, "Hello Spock." 

"Why are you here?" he asked slightly confused. 

The figure turned and the spotlight illuminated the face he had known for so many years. 
It was unchanged, beautiful, and alluring, "I've been waiting for you. You are
the last to arrive, you know. Took your own sweet time as well." 

"You knew it would. Surely you have not waited here all this time?" 

She shook her head, her blonde hair glinting like spun gold in the light. "No, not the 
entire time. I waited till I knew it was closer for your turn." 

Spock regarded her quietly. It had been so very long since he had seen her. The eyes were 
the same though. They would not change, ever. "I am the last to arrive?" 

"Of course, now we can go. Follow me." Standing, she led him through the garden to the 
rooms beyond. A door slid aside to reveal the blackness of space. It was the
catwalk that linked the gardens to another section used for receptions and parties. This 
was the area that made you actually feel as if you were walking in space. On
three sides the walls were made of transparent aluminum and it often took a moment or 
two to get over the severe vertigo. He did not feel such an effect, and if she
had, she did not show it. 

He wanted to pause, to appreciate the view, but she turned. "Not now. They're waiting. 
You can come back later and stay here forever and a day if you wish." 

Her smile cajoled him to follow her. The door to the reception room opened and there 
they were. It was as if the warmth of the Vulcan sun had been captured and
welcomed him in. All of his life he had felt cold and alone. The people he had resembled, 
the ones he had called his own, had rejected him fully. Now he only had
these ... aliens as friends. No, he was alien as well as them, for he was they and they were 
he. It had taken him all his life to finally understand and now it was too late
... 

"Spock ... finally, we can go now," Jim Kirk answered beaming. 

"Jim, you have been waiting ... for me ... Where are we going?" he asked, not quite 
understanding. 

"You were the last one, Spock. Some of us have been waiting nearly 200 years. But we 
could not go without you. Christine was our lookout. We knew she'd never
leave, no matter how long it took," Leonard McCoy answered. 

Spock looked down at his hands. They were no longer those of a 263 year old Vulcan. He 
was young again as were they. All of them, they were in old uniforms. The
familiar soft blue velour felt so right against his skin. They had waited for him ... He was 
almost speechless, the tears began to form. Of all the people he had come
across in his life, of all the protestations of human inadequacies, to find that he was most 
welcome amongst them was almost overwhelming. Spock shook his head, "I
do not understand. This is not the way, this is not logical." 

Christine, perhaps the one who most understood, replied, "Spock, it does not matter what 
you believed or what we did. The truth is this reality. Vulcan has no term for
'heaven' yet this is it. You are just lucky that we loved you enough to wait so long." 

He belonged, finally after all his life had presented to him, he was finally one with others 
no longer alone. The tears flowed. 

"Time to get going. Are you coming, Spock?" Montgomery Scott asked. 

"Where?" 

"To new adventures. Spock, we are on another plane now. We will always be as this, 
forever if you wish. It has to be your choice. But once you decide, you can't
change. If you want to come with us, we are going where we've never been before ... " 
Kirk answered. The others crowded around him wanting him to come so
badly. But they knew it had to be his decision. 

Spock didn't have to choose. He had always been here, even when he wasn't aware of it. 
So, this was heaven and heaven was a starship that traveled forever and
friends and belonging. Yes, this was home. 

Spock nodded, his dark ebony hair catching the lights and glints of silver glowing off the 
strands. "Yes, I want to come." 

Warmth, laughter, joy, peace, contentment, love radiated around him. They were 
complete now. The ship could leave and roam eternity. 

* * *

The Terran news services transmitted the obituary throughout the Federation and beyond. 
If it had not been for this man and men like him, the life they knew would
not have been. Spock of Vulcan, Ambassador, Starship Captain, Scientist, Humanitarian, 
Philanthropist, and Legend died today at the age of 263. As per request, his
body will be cremated and his ashes scattered throughout space... 

FIN