^SYBOK.

^{he looks so different. so much older. so much like his mother. like their mother. and although the frame of the younger vulcan becomes tense, he is overjoyed when spock does not pull away. all at once, he pulls the younger vulcan toward him, arms wrapped gleefully around his slender form. such broad shoulders his brother had; nothing at all like the boyish and wiry limbs of a child.       ❝  spock. time away will never make me love you any less. you are my baby brother! that is all that matters. ❞}

^{he pulled away carefully, looking over the grown-up features that sculpted his brother’s face. how much he looked like her. like the woman that sarek had married; their mother. not his by birth, but she who had RAISED him. he longed to see them again. to perhaps apologize for the rudeness he offered in his leave. to her, at the very least. reconciliation with sarek was far beyond lost as a cause.     ❝  oh, how i’ve missed you, spock. a day has not gone by that i have not imagined what you had become. and look at you, on board a starship. mother must be so very proud of you. ❞} 

                                  ^{(    PROUD   OF   YOU.   )       ———-     his    features   contort   ,    the   mere   ,   simple    mention   of   his    mother   far    TOO    PERSONAL    even   coming   from    blood    -    bound    lips.    and   it   builds   ,   a   TIDAL    -   WAVE    ,    with   an   embrace   so   much    like   her’s   ,   a   HUMAN   TOUCH      ——-     affectionate   ,  INTIMATE .   his    eyes   glance   away   momentarily   ,   an    attempt   to   conceal   dread   that   still    lurked   beneath   his   surface   ;   a   wound   still   fresh.    the   very   essence   of   her   RIPPED   from   his   arms   ,   taken   ,    no   ,    STOLEN   by   nero.   the   kind   of   rage   he   is   WARNED   ABOUT   builds   inside   him  ,   a    fury   that   would   bring   hot   tears   to   his   eyes   if   not   for   his   brother’s   presence.} 

                        ^{but   it   is   THEN   ,   the   mention   of   PRIDE   as   if   it   can   still   exist   without   a   host   that   allows   his  jaw   to   clench   ;    brings   his   attention   back.     ‘     sybok   ,     ‘     his   name   laced   with   warning.      ‘       your    whereabouts   have   kept    you   from   what   has   happened.   ‘    and   he   doesn’t   want   to   mention   the   LOSS   of   vulcan   ,   of   a   home   -   world   dear   to   him.   of   the   destruction   of   lives   ,    his   FAMILY.    (   AN   ENDANGERED   SPECIES   )     but   he   knows   he   must  ,   not   out   of   DUTY  to   his   people   ,    but   that   of   his   BROTHER.  ———     ‘    it   is   with  ..    great    REGRET   that   i   must   be   the   one   to   tell   you   ,   brother.    VULCAN   IS   GONE.     ‘}