Thanks to Saidi for digging out this story from her mailbox. I forgot I wrote it and sent it to her ;) Enjoy
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Title: Snow-Tanned
Author: T'Sia
Date : 15.02.2009 (written)
Rating: G
Summary: a fairytale confuses little Spock.
Comments: Thanks to Saidi for a quick beta job.
Disclaimer: Not making money of this. Characters belong to paramount.

~*~

The entrance door clicked open and Sarek entered his town house where he lived with his wife and his young son. He balanced the huge parcel on one hand and set down his briefcase with the other while the door closed with an unobtrusive low click after him. He heard steps and looked up to see his wife coming from Spock's room, carrying the still sleepy looking toddler whose midday nap seemed to have ended just shortly ago. Unlike Vulcan children Spock's sleeping rhythm was slightly erratic and today he seemed to have slept quite long into the afternoon.

Sarek set down the parcel and extended a hand to his wife to touch in the Vulcan fashion, the only kind of affection they would show in the presence of their son whom they had chosen to raise in the Vulcan way. Amanda smiled and he felt the warmth of her welcoming thoughts when their fingers met and he touched her mind. When in physical contact no words were needed for him to know how her day had been and how she was feeling. They touched a moment longer, enjoying each other's mental company, until Spock began to fuss, ending his parent's silent exchange. Sarek extended both arms and Spock leaned towards him so that his father could take him from Amanda's arms. Sarek settled his son against him and Spock leaned his head on his shoulder while his father touched his temple and helped his son's mind to become fully awake.

Amanda smiled gently at the tender display that no stranger would ever be allowed to see and then she glanced at the parcel Sarek hadn't mentioned yet. He guessed her question before she could ask it.

"This parcel is for you. I was called to pick it up at the interstellar mail station." He raised a brow. "I was required to pay an extra amount of credits for shipment."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Really? Then it's from my mom. She always fails to put enough postage on it. I told her three times already."

"No matter," Sarek answered and set down Spock, who now fully awake wiggled in his grasp, eager to inspect the parcel as well.

After Sarek sat him down the toddler patted the parcel gently and tugged at a cord bound across the package to make it easier to carry. "Yes?" Spock indicated his wish to open the package. He looked at his parents expectantly.

Amanda looked at her husband. "I take it you wish to meditate before evening meal?"

 "Affirmative," he answered briefly and walked down the corridor to his meditation chamber.

"Okay, that leaves us two to find out what's in this parcel," she said to Spock and grabbed the bundle by the cord. It was surprisingly heavy and she winced when she set it down in the living room again, her fingers already showing signs where the cord had cut in. She retrieved a small knife from the kitchen and squatted beside the parcel to cut the cord. Spock appeared beside her and leaned against her shoulder while she removed the cord and the paper.

"What a big package, right Spock?" Amanda commented to him as she opened the lid of the box and found a letter from her mother. She sat on the floor and pulled Spock into her lap to read the letter to him. When she was finished she turned him so she could look at his face. "So this parcel is not only for mommy, is it?" she said enthusiastically, referring to the contents of the letter, and Spock squealed. "Let's see what grandma packed for you, shall we?" They both turned back to the package and Amanda removed a stasis unit. To her utter delight it held a small assortment of Terran fruit - and not any Terran fruit. She knew whatever fruit her mother sent her came from her own garden. She opened the box briefly and sniffed. The delicious scent of apples was the most detectable and she breathed deeply to inhale a piece of her old home.

"Mmmh," she said and held the box to Spock so that he could take a whiff of the scent as well. He reached for the fruit inside, but Amanda took the box out of his reach. "No, we'll have them tomorrow, honey. They'd only spoil your dinner."

Before Spock could fuss about being denied the fruit Amanda rummaged quickly through the box and as the letter had promised she found children's items that her mother had found valuable for Spock.

"Now look, my old teddy bear," she said and pulled the stuffed animal from the box. She showed it to Spock. "Grrr, says the bear," she explained to him and then touched the nose of the toy bear to that of her son. Spock giggled and reached for the toy. She gave it to him and while he was occupied studying it she pulled further items out of the box. She recognized them all - they'd all been hers once. She felt a small tug of homesickness, but when she looked at her son, smiling in utter delight about the teddy bear she knew she would never trade the present for the past. She stroked Spock's fine hair lovingly and then took out another item.

"Aww," she said and that made Spock look up from the teddy bear. He watched as Amanda turned the item in her hand. She dwelled in memories while looking at the old disc that held an animated fairytale movie she had loved as a child and played over and over until her parents and brothers could recite all of the dialogue. "Hmmm," she said and her face took on a thoughtful expression. She looked at Spock.

Unsure what to make of her display Spock lifted one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile. Amanda smiled back. "Yes, how about some Earth studies, Spock? It's time you begin to learn about both parts of your heritage," she said to the toddler who could not quite grasp the meaning of her words yet. Without waiting for any kind of confirming uttering from him she picked him up and they went to the bedroom that held a small vid-screen and a disc player. She inserted the disk and then sat down on the bed, settling Spock in her lap while the first colourful pictures flashed across the vid-screen, captivating the attention of the child as well as the adult.

Some time later Amanda looked up startled when Sarek appeared in the entrance to the bedroom. He raised a brow when he saw his wife and son absorbed in what seemed to be an animated movie for children - obviously of Earth origin. Spock was utterly absorbed in the display of the many colourful pictures and didn't notice his father coming in. Amanda grinned at Sarek sheepishly.

"Sorry, I forgot all about dinner."

"Obviously," Sarek commented and walked over to the bed. To Amanda's surprise he sat down. "What is this movie?"

"It's the movie version of an old Earth fairytale 'Snow White'."

"And you deem these fictional elements productive to Spock's development, Amanda?"

"Why not? It was one of my favorites when I was a kid and mom thought it was cute for Spock as well. I thought we could start some Earth-related education."

"I see. So the fact that you show this to our son has no coincidental connection to your affectionate memories of this?"

On the screen the evil stepmother just arrived at the house of the dwarfs to find Snow White and Spock waved his arms in excitement, sparing Amanda the embarrassment to look at Sarek when she kept her son from bouncing on the bed and flinging his arms in her face. She couldn't hide her flushed cheeks though and thus she quickly handed Spock to his father to cover up her embarrassment.

"I'll go make dinner. The teaching is all yours." She turned back at the door and shook her head at the extraordinary scene of her Vulcan husband watching an animated children's movie from Earth, equally captivated but slightly more skeptical than his infant son.

~*~

The next day Amanda closed the door to Spock's room and took a deep breath. It had taken her considerably longer today to make him go to sleep, even though he was tired and cranky. Sarek had a home office day and was in the study, working over some documents. She went to see him but when she walked in his com unit chimed. He took the call, then looked up and saw her. She just mouthed 'cellar', then pointed at him and said 'Spock' indicating he was to look after their son while she was going down in the cellar and taking a sun bath. He nodded his understanding and she went to change into a swimsuit and a robe.

Before she went into the cellar she fixed herself a plate of sliced apples and then went to activate the tanning bed. While she waited until it had warmed up she looked at her skin and noticed the tan had already lessened since last week. It was not vanity that had caused her to buy the device, though. As a human she needed vitamin D which would be generated by the sunlight on her skin were she living on Earth or being absorbed by eating meat. The Vulcan sun, however, did not cause such a reaction in humans and so there was only the option of taking supplements or eating animal flesh. Both options were impossible for her to use since she showed allergic reactions to the supplements and she could also not eat animal flesh in a Vulcan household. Then a friend of hers had suggested a simple solution. Instead of going to live on Earth to have Earth's sun, they could bring the sun to Vulcan - with a tanning bed. It seemed to be the only available option if she didn't want to suffer osteoporosis.

Once the machine blinked it was ready she set the timer, then opened the lid, put her headphones and sunglasses on and made herself comfortable on the bunk. Then she pulled the lid down and the lights came on. Occasionally she reached out to snatch a piece of apple, but gradually she relaxed under the warming rays of the artificial sun and dozed off.

~*~

When Spock woke up he was alone. He felt thirsty, but nobody was around to give him water. He called out for his mother, but she didn't come. So finally he climbed out of his bed. Stretching to his full height he was just able to touch the door panel and the door slid open. He entered the corridor, but saw neither one of his parents. He heard Sarek's voice from the study, however, and made his way over to the room, still on slightly unstable legs.

When he reached the door he glanced inside and saw that Sarek was talking to someone on the vid-phone. He could hear other voices from the speakers of the vid-phone, but neither they nor his father spoke a language he understood. He still felt thirsty and made a step into the room. His father had not seen him yet and Spock hesitated. He had been told not to disturb Sarek when he was working. He put a finger in his mouth and chewed on it while pondering what to do. On impulse he turned and searched the other rooms for his mother. He could not find her, though, and so he ended up in front of one of the doors he was not permitted to go beyond, but the door was not closed and he could see the first steps leading down into the cellar. Carefully he hugged the doorframe and peeked around the corner. He saw further steps and a wall ahead. Against the wall was an eerie glow. His small brows bunched together in concentration and curiosity. Again he chewed on his finger.

"M'aih?" he tried with a small voice, but he got no answer. Finally his curiosity got the better of him and he climbed down the steps, always staying close to the wall and looking back over his shoulder to see whether his father was about to catch him doing something forbidden. When he reached the foot of the steps he paused to look around. To his left were racks with food and supplies that didn't tolerate room temperature. The glowing light from ahead caught his interest and he ventured further. When he drew nearer a large device came into view and Spock stopped dead in his tracks. The thing before him looked like the device he had seen in the movie the day before. Inside the glowing box lay his mother. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving.

"M'aih?" he tried lowly, then louder again, but she would not wake up. His gaze fell on the small table beside the machine and his eyes widened when he saw the apple - the same fruit the evil woman had given Snow White! He was scared and ran back up the stairs as fast as he could, calling out for his father.

~*~

Sarek had just closed the conference call and leaned back in his seat, sighing deeply. Sometimes his duty was taxing, even for his controls, and his patience weakened. He tilted his head to one side when he heard the voice of his son, calling out for him. Alarmed by the high pitch of the boy's cries Sarek got up and walked out into the hall with quick steps. In the corridor he met his son who was running towards him at dead speed. He squatted and caught his son when the boy stumbled with the last steps that separated them. Spock was clearly terrified, his eyes opened wide, tears glimmering in them.

"What is wrong, Spock?" Sarek asked and touched the meld points of his son to find out what had scared him.

"Bad apple," the child uttered and in the boy's mind Sarek saw the vivid picture of Amanda motionless on the tanning bed, then the memory pictures from the young mind, showing the fairytale character from the movie they had seen the day before lying in a transparent box. He realized the similarities between the scenes and knew Spock had somehow mixed up fiction with reality - not surprising for a child this young. He sent calming thoughts to the child, but Spock tugged at his arm. "Kiss," he said, believing Amanda could only be awakened with a kiss. Of course this was not true, but he was not able to convince the young mind. So he picked up the boy and brought him to his room. "Wait here, Spock. I will go check on your mother," he said and watched as Spock grabbed and hugged the teddy bear Amanda had given him yesterday. "Stay here," he said again and left the room.

As he had expected he found Amanda still in the same position when he stepped down the last steps to the cellar and saw the tanning bed. He stepped up to the device and spoke to her. She did not answer and when he opened the lid of the tanning bed he noticed that she had not only fallen asleep, but he also heard the faint sound of music when bent close to his wife. He looked at her serene features for a moment, her lips slightly parted, her chest heaving gently with every breath. He knew he should just awaken her, but with his son's wrong conclusion still fresh in his mind, he impulsively did that which was never permitted outside their bedroom and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

She started and her eyes opened abruptly. She took off the sunglasses and headphones and then smiled sheepishly. "Oh, did I miss dinner again?"

Sarek shook his head. "No, you did not, but you upset our son."

Amanda frowned. "Really? How so?"

"Well, he wakened without me noticing it, came down here and found his mother lying unresponsive in a transparent box, with a plate of half eaten apples by her side."

Amanda looked at him quizzically, wondering why this should scare her son, and when she made the connection one hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes," Sarek answered dryly.

"Then the kiss..."

"He believes it was the only way to wake you."

Amanda chuckled softly.  "Are you implying you're a prince?"

He raised a brow with mock indignation bending close to her, almost to kiss, but denying her the privilege.  "Only as much as you are a princess, my wife." He straightened when he heard shuffling steps on the stairs

Amanda looked past him and saw her son. She got up and held open her arms. Spock flew to her and she hugged him. "Oh, I'm so sorry, baby. I didn't mean to scare you. Mommy is fine, see," she said and stood, still cradling Spock to her.

Spock pointed to the apples. "Bad apples."

"No, honey, the apples are not bad. Mommy just fell asleep in the tanning bed." She shot Sarek a helpless glance, urging him to support her with explaining tanning to a child that had never seen it, and never would anywhere else on this planet.

He offered her no help though, just crossed his arms in front of his chest.  "As I indicated before, I do not think that exposing him to such...fictional elements...is beneficial to his development, Amanda.  However, as you saw different, this teaching is all yours," he mimicked her words from the previous night, a teasing glance in his eyes; then he turned and walked up the stairs, leaving Amanda to deal with explaining the difference between fiction and reality.

THE END