Chapter Text
You hummed a bit to yourself as you walked through the hallway. Today was a good day. Work had been going on smoothly, and Kevin had asked you for dinner tonight.
Thank goodness he had, otherwise you would’ve torn his head off, what with it being your anniversary. For three years, you two had been dating, and it had been nothing short of blissful. Sure, there were fights, but there was also forgiveness and plenty of love.
But now…now you were ready for something more. The next step. You had dropped subtle hints, mentioning Earth and how nice it would be to settle down there. Showing him your parent’s wedding photos. And some not so subtle ones. Such as having Robert and Angela over for dinner and asking them how long it was taking them to plan their wedding.
Sadly, Kevin remained ignorant to your hints. Maybe you would have to take matters into your own hands and propose to him. It was the 23rd century after all. You pushed the door open into the mess hall, grabbed some lunch and walked over to Uhura.
“Hey sweetie!” She greeted you with a smile and a nickname.
“Hiya Nyota.” You replied, setting down your tray. You poked your mashed potatoes, trying to keep your emotions from showing. Clearly you failed because Nyota asked you what was up.
You sighed. “I’m worried about mine and Kevin’s relationship.”
Her brown eyes widened. “You’re not thinking about leaving him are you?!”
“No! Nothing like that!” You hastily reassured your friend. “It’s just…I’ve been dropping hints that I want him to propose like crazy and he’s not doing anything about it.”
She nodded and looked at her tray. “Hmm. Maybe he just isn’t picking up on them. You know how oblivious guys can be.”
“That’s true.”
She slid her dessert towards you, and you slid yours to hers. “Anyway, did you finish that book I lent you?” Nyota asked, tactfully changing the subject.
You perked up, and started chatting about the book. When the mealtime was over, you told her about another book that she should read and went to go get it. It wasn’t in your quarters, so it must be in Kevin’s. Before you opened the door to his room, you heard voices inside. Not just Kevin’s but a thick Russian accent as well.
“I don’t know how to tell her Pavel!” Kevin was saying, his voice agitated. He was pacing, boots clicking on the floor. Curious, you eavesdropped a little more.
“Vell, it’s a hard thing to say.” Chekov said, “I have never said it to a girl before.”
Kevin sighed, and stopped pacing. “How can I do this? How can I change our lives so drastically?”
Your mind reeled. What was Kevin talking about?
Chekov sighed and you heard him clap his friend on the back. “Look Kevin, you and her are so sweet together, its hard to imagine you apart.”
Your heart sank. Kevin was trying to break up with you. And after things had been going so well. To think that you had thought of marriage! Tears formed, and you fought back the urge to sob.
“Just remember that you love her.” Pavel continued, “And that this will be the beginning of a great something that you will go through. Together.”
"But what if she says no? I don’t think I could bear that.” Your boyfriend’s voice was muffled, as if he was speaking through his pillow or his hands.
Chekov laughed. “You honestly think she’ll say no to marrying you?! You must be dumber than I thought.”
Your head spun. What? Just a second ago you had heard him saying that…oh. Wait, he was going to propose! A smile spread over your face, sending the tears far far away. He did love you after all.
Realizing that you were still technically eavesdropping, you scampered away and back to your job. The rest of the day, a smile lingered. When people asked you why the smile, you just shrugged and replied that it was a good day.
~~~
“Ensign?” Your superior officer said, scaring you out of your thoughts.
“Yes?” You tried to sound like you hadn’t been daydreaming about your wedding.
“I’ve assigned you to the away mission tomorrow. Here is the mission details. I want them followed to the letter.”
You tried not to grimace as you took the padd. “Of course sir.” A quick scan of the specs told you that the planet was a class M. But where you were assigned was a dank swamp. And the assignments that your superior had given you were all the most grueling, labor intensive ones that no one wanted.
It had been weeks since you had first overheard Kevin talking about him planning to propose. You had dropped hints, and been on pins and needles those first few days, but he had remained indifferent. Now, you wondered if the whole thing was a dream.
You sighed as you sat down to dinner with Kevin. It was your favorite, but it could’ve been flavorless mush for all you could tell.
“If you sigh one more time, I swear…” Nyota said, sliding into the seat across from you.
"Sorry.” You said, biting your lip. “It’s just…I’m not looking forward to tomorrows away mission.” A quick bite of the food only decreased your appetite.
Uhura raised an eyebrow and pushed her stew around. “Why? I thought it would be a fun mission.”
You snorted. “If you like swamps and in depth microbiome analysis. I’m dreading this mission Nyota.”
She shrugged and took a sip from her cup. “You never know, this mission could turn out different then you think.”
You sighed and took a swig of water. “Maybe.” But you didn’t know.
After a surprisingly deep sleep, you were ready for the away mission. You all but dragged your feet to the transporter, dreading this mission. The tricorder banged against your thigh as you bounced up the steps to the transporter pad.
“Wait! Wait!” Someone called, a familiar voice. “Don’t transport yet!” Kevin came skidding into the room, breathless and disheveled.
“Don’t…go…yet…” He wheezed, leaning against the control console. “Give me a minute.”
The ensign behind the console looked confused. “Sir, you’re not authorized to be on this away mission.”
Kevin straightened, his face still beet red from running, but his breath normal. “Special permission from the Captain.” He handed him a padd. The ensign looked at the padd, then at you, then back to the padd. He sighed, handed Kevin the device and motioned for him to get on.
He grinned and all but leapt onto the transporter. You gave him a smile and waited for the familiar buzz to work its way out from your torso.
A blink later, you were standing on a planet. But…this wasn’t like the specs. It was supposed to be clammy and filled with murky water and swamp terrain. Instead, it was sunny and flower filled hills rolled for as far as you could see.
“Where…this isn’t right.” You said, spinning in a circle. “They must’ve gotten our coordinates wrong.” Frowning, you grabbed your communicator. Before you could flip it open and berate the transport team, Kevin grabbed your wrist.
“They got the coordinates right darling.” He said, a smile edging into his eyes. “Just trust me. Come on.”
Thoroughly confused, you followed him.
He led you into a small glen of trees, all heavy with perfumed flowers. Their petals rained down in a gentle shower, kissing you with their silken touch. In the heart of the little forest, was a tall grandmother tree. Its branches were so old, some were spread across the ground. The breeze fluttered the warm air, carrying the sounds of a brook and…wind chimes?
As you grew closer to the trunk, you noticed the source of the chiming.
Thousands upon thousands of dreamcatchers hung there. They coated the trunk like a second skin, a vibrant, fluttering, jingling skin. Each was different, some were bigger and complex, others tiny and simple. A common theme among them was glass stones hanging off them.
“What is this place?” You asked in a hushed tone, afraid to break the magic that fluttered around you like the petals.
“Roughly translated, the Forever Tree.” Kevin said, putting his arm around your waist. “The people indigenous to here come when they want to declare their intentions to a person.” He pulled a dream-catcher from his pouch. “I thought we could do the same.”
You smiled softly. What on earth did you do to deserve this man? You both hunted for a perfect spot to hang it. Once you found a bare spot, you hung it up. You noticed though, there was something odd about your dream-catcher.
It was pretty, leather and sinew stringing together a vast array of natural stones. The center was rose quartz, symbolizing love of course, Kevin was such a romantic. But the ends, the ends were different. Pink glass hung from all the ends except for one. Tied around the center was…a ring.
“Kevin, what’s this?” You asked, the ring in your hands. He smiled and took it.
“Now for an Earth tradition.” He said, dropping to one knee. You gasped softly, not believing your eyes.
“Darling Y/N.” He said, shaking his head. “I…I don’t know where I would be without you. You came into my life like something from a dream, a vision I couldn’t quite understand. But then, you smiled at me and the dream became reality. I knew from the moment that I saw you that we were going to be together till the end of our days. Y/N, will you marry me?”
The answer was instinct, not because of emotions, but because of how right it felt.
“Yes.” You responded, smiling through the budding tears. “Yes, yes of course.”
He grinned and sprung up, wrapping you in his arms and kissing you. Smiles kept interrupting the kiss, but you didn’t care.
~~~
“So, the whole thing was fake?” You asked, nibbling on a sandwich.
Kevin had more surprises up his sleeve; a picnic basket had been transported down. You ate while he explained how he planned this whole thing.
“Well, not exactly fake.” He said, sipping a soda. “I convinced your superior to give you the specs for a planet that we passed a while ago. I was on the away team, it was as horrible as it sounded.”
You giggled and pulled out a pie. “But how did you find this place, its beautiful!”
“Uhura helped, a lot actually. Pavel, not so much. His idea was to take you out for a few drinks at a bar and ask you afterwards. Thanks.” He said as he took the pie.
You chuckled and spooned whipped cream on the slice. “If you asked me after a few drinks, we would wake up in Las Vegas having been married by an Andorian Elvis.”
Kevin almost choked on his pie. “That would be a sight to see.”
A communicator beep cut through the laughter. Kev groaned and flipped it open.
“Lieutenant Riley here.” He said, scooting so he could lay his head in your lap.
“Well Lieutenant, what did she say?” Captain Kirk’s voice asked, he sounded like he was holding back giggles.
He looked up at you, and pressed a quick kiss to your left hand where the ring laid. “She said yes.”
Through the communicator, it sounded like the whole bridge was cheering. Kevin rolled his eyes and snapped it shut.
“I have one more question.” You said, once he had finished kissing you properly.
“What is it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“How many people were in on this?”
He blushed and toyed with your ring. “Would you be mad if I said the whole crew?”
“Maybe.” You replied, having way to much fun at his reaction. “But I’ll forgive you if you kiss me again.”
You forgave him a thousand times that day, and a thousand more that night.