"A Day Without Rain"
by Jedi Adia

Disclaimers: Enterprise belongs to Brannon Braga and his creative staff, and is based on the concept of Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry. Also, songs used in this piece ("Only Time", "Wild Child", "Falling Embers", "One by One") are the property of Enya.

"Coming out of warp in three...two...one," Ensign Travis Mayweather
pulled back on the throttle, and the Enterprise NX-01 dropped out of warp near
Earth.

"If you don't mind my asking, Captain," Charles Tucker said, as he came onto the bridge, "why have we returned to Earth?"

"Shore leave," Captain Jonathan Archer answered. "And there's something
I need to ask you, Lieutenant - if you would step into my ready room."

"Of course, Captain."

***

"You'd like me to get acquainted with T'Pol, Captain?"

Jon sat down at his desk and folded his hands before him. "Yes, Trip.
The crew avoids her like the Plague, and even the senior officers seem edgy
around her," he said. "She's a member of this crew and she needs to know that."

"Understood, Captain."

Who can say where the road goes,
Where the day flows,
Only time...

Trip walked down the corridor to the transporter room. Nervously, he
wondered if T'Pol had any idea that the captain had set them up.

"Hey, Trip, we're all waiting for you," Travis said. He, T'Pol, and
Ensign Hoshi Sato, were waiting near the transporter pad.

Travis and Hoshi beamed down, leaving Trip and T'Pol.

Trip gave the coordinates to the operator, and he and T'Pol were soon
on their way. Trip had decided to take T'Pol to Hawaii. His father had a camp on Oahu that he'd left to Trip in his will. Maybe this would be easier than he'd first thought.

...and who can say if your love grows,
As your heart chose,
Only time.

When T'Pol materialized on the surface, she found herself in an environment entirely different from that of Vulcan. There was water, she noted. The only water on Vulcan came from underground quarries. She watched waves crash in from the horizon, and the water recede, taking more with it than it had brought in. T'Pol shook her head. This wasn't logical to...be this way. She'd been with humans for far too long, it seemed.

"What do you think?" Trip asked.

"I don't...know," T'Pol answered.

Once, as my heart remembers,
All the stars were falling embers...

Trip and T'Pol had been on Oahu for several hours by the time nightfall arrived. They watched the stars come out, and spoke not a word.

"What's it like on your planet?" Trip made the first attempt and kicked himself. It was so lame.

"Nothing like yours, Lieutenant," T'Pol answered. She glanced at him, saw him looking at her, and looked away again. "Lieutenant..."

"Trip - please. Or Charles, if you prefer," Trip said. "T'Pol - I want to be your friend. Everyone does. If only you'd let us." He took her hand. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't protest.

"When my people first made contact with yours, they thought you most illogical. I can see you haven't changed much since then," T'Pol said.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Trip said. "Emotions are a good thing. You should try it sometime."

"My people did try, once," T'Pol said. "Emotions almost destroyed them."

"It's amazing how an emotion such as love can almost destroy an entire civilization," Trip said, almost to himself, but T'Pol heard him.

"Do you...love me, Lieutenant?"

"I admit that I do, but I don't understand. I think you're afraid of your emotions," Trip said, "and how can I love someone who seems to feel nothing, because she's afraid to feel?"

"Illogical."

"Is it? Let go, T'Pol...there has to be a wild child inside the logical shell."

Let the rain fall down everywhere around you
Give into it now, let the day surround you
You don't need a reason, let the day go on and on...

It was impossible, T'Pol thought. He was her friend, but to love him...was illogical. Her race had loved years ago. But the love had given way to jealousy and hatred. It couldn't happen again. The Vulcans had evolved into something superior. That's what they thought. But T'Pol didn't feel superior to the man beside her, the chief engineer of the Enterprise NX-01. She felt like his equal.

One by one my leaves fall
One by one my tales are told...

"Lieutenant...Charles...you are my friend," T'Pol said, "and about what you said...I will think about it." She hesitantly squeezed his hand, and he squeezed hers, but said nothing. Nothing needed to be said. He had shore leave and a friend to spend it with. A friend who considered him her friend. It was all he needed.