Talal || Star Trek: AOS

Seven Years Later...

It was a tough journey, for all of them. Anyone who said that none of them felt anything would have to be blind and an asshole. There's always several of them.

But he was proud of how far they've gone since that fateful day, finally climbing out of the darkness and making the most of their lives.

Nyota, after transferring, furthered her career like she always wanted. She was now the most sought after Xenolinguist in the Federation, and could go anywhere she wanted. But she chose to remain on the U.S.S. Farragut, where she had made new friends and created a new life for herself. It took some work to get where she was, and a lot of heartache, but she found happiness. So he was happy.

Scotty eventually resumed his position on the Enterprise, now serving under her new Captain - not Decker anymore thank God, the man was a nightmare - and bringing the 'Silver Lady' back up to speed. He also fine tuned his brewery to accommodate Vodka, much to Pavel's delight. Keenser never left his side of course, and he had to admit that the small alien was as loyal as they came. Scotty found happiness, so he was happy.

Hikaru managed to ride out his anger at the injustice of religion by resuming his fencing exercises, mercilessly taking down his sparring partners with little more than welts from the flexible metal. He also met a wonderful man - one which he totally approved of, by the way - by the name of Benjamin. After a year of dating, the two men finally decided to make it official. It didn't take them long to file for adoption of a little girl named Demora. One look at the innocent kid, and what anger he had held on for almost three years had dissipated. Hikaru found happiness, so he was happy.

Pavel made his way up the chain of command, and is now no longer the baby faced Ensign that had once served under Captain Kirk, but is now the Enterprise's new Captain's XO - it's like watching your own kid grow up. To the awe of everyone around him, his navigational skills have gotten even better, and he's been invited on numerous occasions to hold workshops at Starfleet Academy to share the discoveries he has made in his field. Pavel had found happiness a while ago - invented in Russia, remember? - so he was happy.

Speaking of the new Captain, after Matthew Decker had finally retired, First Officer Spock became Captain S'chn T'gai Spock of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Many of what Jim had once enforced and allowed on the ship was reinstated, and crew morale was boosted up to 96%. The only difference was that there was more logic when decisions were made - who would be surprised at that? In the seven years, he has also allowed his more human side to show through his Vulcan mask, making the man more approachable and efficient in his Captaincy. He ended up bonding to a full-blooded female Vulcan by the name of T'Seng after Nyota left. It wasn't a loveless bond, but a strong one that Vafer Tor recognized as T'hy'la. For once in his life, Spock actually found happiness, so he was happy.

Then there was Bones. Sweet, sweet Bones. He never rejoined Starfleet as an officer, but he was offered a position at the Academy to teach wet-behind-the-ears cadets about what and what not to do in high-risk situations. He finally won full custody over Joanna when someone filed a complaint about Jocelyn's party life, which often left the kid unsupervised and left to her own devices for long periods of time. She's in her teens now, which McCoy isn't sure he can handle, but he's doing a damn good job so far. Since finally having responsibility over a child, he had toned down on the bourbon quite a bit. He never quit drinking - that's impossible to ask of someone, especially Bones. But there were nights where he'd sit in his study, Joanna having finished her homework for that day and snoring the night away, just staring into space. He hadn't moved on as much as the others had, but thinking about Jim didn't hurt as much anymore. So, even if he wasn't at his best, Leonard McCoy found that he was happy.

And so Jim was happy.

And that was all he needed to move on.