Nyota Uhura

They'd been studying the phenomenon with long-range scanners for the past several days, but while the Enterprise was too large to move through the outer radiation spirals, a shuttlecraft should be able to slip inside and take data readings at close range. Unfortunately, the radiation given off by the phenomenon would interfere with navigation, so Nyota was going to help John navigate remotely. She was happy to do her duty, and it wasn't often that they got to work so closely together, so she was looking forward to it. It always made her slightly nervous when he left the ship, but they didn't anticipate any problems. The radiation was trouble for instruments, but not a problem for humans. Besides, she'd be on the com with him the entire time.

As the shuttlecraft pulled away from the Enterprise she hailed him. "Uhura to shuttlecraft. John, can you hear me?"

It was difficult to believe their 5 year mission was almost over. Crew people had come and gone over the years, and they'd seen things she'd never even imagined were possible, but the unpredictability of life on the Enterprise had grown oddly routine. She didn't feel ready to face life anywhere else, but it seemed likely that the ship would be sent on another exploratory mission and that most of the senior officers would stay in place.

She knew she'd have to deal with some changes in the coming months, but as long as John was there she knew she could handle them. Just having his quiet presence by her side was enough to soothe most of her worries. By now he could speak passable Swahili and she could play decent piano. Of course, playing herself didn't compare to sitting on the piano bench beside him while he played and they sang together. They were no longer complete hermits, but their lives had merged together to the point that she now found herself walking towards his room instead of hers even though she knew he was still working.

She sat down on his bed and sighed a little to herself. She was finished with her work in the communications lab, and he wouldn't be back for hours, but she had alpha shift the next morning and really should try to get some sleep. She'd never quite managed to shake her discomfort with sleeping alone, especially now that she'd grown used to John breathing - and occasionally snoring - beside her every night. Still, she felt relaxed enough that she should make an effort. Shaking her head a little at herself, she stripped off her uniform and pulled the blankets over her, mind flickering back to the times he'd chased away her nightmares. It smells like him, she realized with a happy sigh, pulling the blankets more tightly around her and burying her face in the pillow. She imagined him lying beside her, thought of the sound of his breathing, and drifted off to sleep pretending she was in his arms.