ahostilerainbow | The Sky Is Beautiful (1/1)

Title: The Sky Is Beautiful
Author: M.E.
Fandom: Star Trek: 2009
Summary: He blinked, hard. The sky was beautiful on Tarsus IV.
Disclaimer: Not mine. According to the lawsuit papers...
Characters/Pairing: Jim Kirk
Warnings: mentions of blood and gore and death (it's a massacre, what do you expect?), some mindfuck, general mental trauma
Rating: T
Word Count: 390

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James T. Kirk reclined in the tall grass that coated the hill top like a shaggy mane and breathed deeply, trying to drain the tension from his body. He met little success, but it did help to settle his mind. The sky was beautiful here – it always had been – and he wanted to drink it in while he had the chance. The Enterprise was due to depart within two hours with their mission successfully completed and much of the crew having enjoyed some leave on the thriving colony.

Tarsus IV was one of the five Earth colonies in its star system and there were plenty of delights from home and abroad to be had. It had become one of the most flourishing colonies in the galaxy over the past ten years with a diverse population of well over ten thousand who took every opportunity to celebrate massive festivals in their capital city. The abundant crops and crowds would swarm the streets – he'd forgotten what that was like, all the food, the people, the music and the smiling – and the sound of singing and laughter would echo through the streets.

He had been there just an hour ago as their latest holiday was preceded by a parade down the main thoroughfare. He'd stood off to the side and stared blankly from the shadows before slipping away like a ghost – a skill he could never recall exactly when he'd learned, though he thought he might remember if he could see past the blood and bodies – through the throngs of people pressed close and so – so terribly emaciated, those that lived, some reclining on the filthy ground, leaning on the stained walls with their eyes closed like tired children trying to escape a bad dream – happy and full of life.

He'd shaken his head, known he had to get out of there before – before the guards arrived with their weapons and their awful orders – he lost himself in memories that weren't his own.

He blinked, hard. The sky was beautiful on Tarsus IV.

He remembered reading about the massacre on a PADD – watching the cold screens onboard the rescue vessel that was too late to rescue anyone – the day it happened, ten years ago.

He didn't think he'd ever be able to look Ambassador Spock in the eyes again. Emotional transference, his ass.

.:.:.:.:.

A/N: Dedicated to the delightful