SIX MONTHS LATER

A welcome rush of cool air hit my sweat-covered body as I pushed through the doors of the academy onto the quiet streets of Yorktown. Small shivers traveled across my skin as the artificial breeze flowed strongly against me while I took the stairs two at a time.

I was still coming off the high from my Advance Hand-to-Hand Combat Skills class that had just finished minutes ago. It was best to utilize the high from my combat classes effectively — I was now rushing off to my apartment to study. I found that if I gave myself as little downtime as possible, I could actually make a small dent in the heaps of studying I needed to accomplish for all my other required classes.

I was granted admission back into the academy begrudgingly. And with terms and conditions, of course. First, none of my credits I had completed all those years ago would count. Second, this was my final chance at graduating. If I dropped out, if I failed, that was it. No Starfleet. No space travel. No purpose.

The last six months of my life had been manic. It seemed that no matter how much of my time I dedicated to studying, my reading, writing and math skills still lacked severely. I was years behind all of my young, infuriatingly judgmental classmates. Finding a tutor had been futile. It seemed that my age and unknown race made me more of an outcast than in my previous attempt at cadet life.

Not to mention everyone in the academy knew the only skill I truly possessed was combat. Needless to say, no one wanted to risk interacting with me, period. But I refused to let the adversity of my situation bother me. I trudged forward with every intention of succeeding, regardless of the academy’s conditions and my peers' disdain.

My thoughts were so wrapped up in what I needed to get done tonight in order to try and gain some ground on the subjects that I was struggling with badly as I continued down the perfectly paved path, passing fellow cadets and civilians going about their daily lives as usual. That’s why I didn’t hear the woman shouting my name until she was a few feet away from me. And she was shouting loudly.

“Aria! Aria, hey!”

I could have sworn my blood froze solid in my veins. Here I was, so lost in my own thoughts and quiet determination that I had literally marched straight past someone who was shouting my name. I didn’t even have an excuse like having music playing in my ears or being engrossed in conversation with someone. I just had my head so far up my own ass that I had blatantly ignored someone for god knows how long.

With a big sigh and a muttering of a swear to the sky, I turned on the heel of my sneakers to see who I had just glaringly insulted. Who in the hell could possibly want my attention?

Lieutenant Uhura. That’s who. She was leading a group of Enterprise crew members who were now stopped and all staring directly at me. Me, clad in unwashed cadet gym clothes. Me, with sweat-dampened hair and red blotchy cheeks. Me, who no doubt could be smelled from systems light years away.

My stomach dropped to my shoes. I kept my gaze on Uhura and let the faces of the crew blend into the background. I knew who was there. The longer I went without seeing exactly who accompanied her, the better. I grasped the strap of my gym bag where it crossed my chest. My heart was already hammering against my ribs.

Shit. Just shit.

“Lieutenant Uhura, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

She wore a huge, easygoing smile. The natural beauty she possessed always left me awestruck, envious. Self conscious. It was like standing next to the sun — I was just a washed out planet in her wake. She stopped in front of me, arms spread wide in her special, going-out civilian clothes.

“We were all just headed over to the Dark Moon for drinks and dancing. This is our last weekend stationed here and we wanted to celebrate accordingly!”

I did my best to smile back at her as she spoke. Clearly they had all already been drinking. I mean, I certainly didn’t blame them. But one question was still burning in the front of my mind. One that I couldn’t just ignore.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant, but how do you know my name? How do you know who I am?”

Looking from side to side, as if there were people dying to eavesdrop on our conversation, she took a step closer to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. She leaned in close and whispered quietly, causing my body to tense at her sudden proximity.

“Kirk has told me all about you. You left quite an impression on him.”

Regret boiled up inside of me. Regret and dread. I needed to stop this now. Before it got any more out of control.

“Lieutenant look, please understand —”

“Please come out with us, Aria, Please! I would love to get to know you, plus you look like you could use a drink or two. For me. Kirk is too busy sulking, anyways. There's no way he’ll be there.”

Tension immediately began to release from my shoulders. He wasn’t here. Not with the group going out, anyways. Still stationed on Yorktown, but not for long. Suddenly my thoughts were formed and readily available. My heart kicked down to its normal speed. Back in control. Stupid, stupid Jim. Stupid power over me that was incomprehensible.

“I really appreciate your offer Lieutenant, I do, but — ”

“Uhura. Please call me Uhura.”

“Thank you, Uhura, but I really need to be studying — ”

“You can study tomorrow, on Sunday! It’s Saturday night, Aria. Please come out with us. I’ll take you back to my place and you can freshen up. We’re the same size, it’s perfect.”

What was I supposed to do? Tell her I barely had a grasp on reading or writing English, and I needed every possible spare second of time to study? That basic math seemed impossible? There was no way out of this. Not with buzzed Uhura giving me that doe-eyed look of hers, and the fact that she was already tugging on my arm. With a sigh and forced smile, I turned to the over-eager Lieutenant.

“Alright, alright, I’ll come out.”

“YES! Follow me, I already have the perfect outfit picked out for you in my mind. It’s going to look so…”

My focus drifted to the group of Enterprise crew members that Uhura pulled me past. A lot of faces I didn’t recognize. Especially since they weren’t in uniform. But there were two that stuck out with painful clarity. The two faces from the riverbank that day so many months ago. The doctor called Bones and the Vulcan, Spock. Bones offered me the smallest of nods and a half smile. Spock, on the other hand, eyed me intensely with his angled eyebrows knit tightly together. I shot him a hard stare right back.

As Uhura dragged me along, my mind reeled. I could have never even come close to predicting that this is how I would be spending my night. I attended class and I studied until my brain felt raw. That was it. No friends, no ‘going out’, no social life. But here I was, Uhura talking animatedly about what I would wear tonight to go out to a bar. And dance. In public.

Six months of peace. I would have taken hours of physical exhaustion doing combat training any day over this painfully awkward social situation. But, at the very least, there would be no dashing, charming captain around. Yes. That was some small comfort to me that at the very, very least, Jim Kirk wouldn’t be there.