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Upon Spock’s arrival in the afterlife, he’d reunited with everyone he’d known who had yet passed on, including his most beloved, Jim. Time did not pass in this realm the same way it did in the material universe, yet Spock was under the impression that he’d been there a satisfying amount of time.
At the moment, however, he and Jim found themselves surrounded not by the presence of many souls, but of a single entity other than themselves.
“At last, I may have an audience with the two of you,” said a disembodied voice.
“Who are you?” Jim asked.
“I am the purveyor of all life in the universe. Some might say the living essence of the universe itself,” the voice answered.
“Why have you brought us here?” Spock asked.
“I wanted to speak to you about the extraordinary bond between your two souls and what you were able to accomplish with it during your lives.”
“You were… impressed by it?” Jim wondered aloud.
“In a sense, yes,” said the voice. “In observing the lives of the universe’s inhabitants, I found that what comes to be most important to them is connection with others. That is why I forged bonds between souls such as yours. There was a time when I could only do so with others on one’s own world, but once sentient life began to explore the stars, I could create these bonds between those of different worlds who would be able to find each other across the vastness of space.”
“Does this mean that your decisions to do so determine one’s destiny?” Spock asked.
“I only make it so that souls are bonded. I do not set in motion any events or actions which occur during one’s life. I always meant for it to be one’s choice how they will live. That is how the most unique experiences are created, which become a part of one for all their life and the life beyond.”
“Infinite diversity in infinite combination,” Spock mused.
“So it wasn’t your fault that Spock and I were eventually separated in life,” Jim said. He was referring, of course, to the time he had gotten lost in the Nexus for 78 years, only to give his life once he re-emerged, and Spock had lived the last century of his life without Jim for those reasons.
“Those were unfortunate circumstances,” said the voice. “Even so, because your bond is something that goes beyond time, space, or even death, all that you had shared with one another, all of your emotions and memories, remained with you, as it will always.”
“I know,” said Jim. “I just wish we’d had more time together.”
“You are together now, are you not?” said the voice.
When neither Kirk nor Spock answered, the voice went on. “I understand, you wanted to be together longer in life, since your lives had been greatly affected by the bond you shared. Perhaps an allowance can be made. I cannot return you to life, nor turn back time so that different events occur. However, I can allow you to return to the material universe in your spirit forms. There, you can explore the cosmos together as you wish.”
“We will be able to navigate freely, unbound by any physical limitations?” Spock asked.
“Precisely,” the voice answered. “Your bond will ensure that you are never separated. When you wish to return to this realm, simply will it, and you shall be.”
Jim looked to Spock and smiled. “Look at us, Spock. We have such a special bond that the universe itself is making exceptions for us. Well, what do you say?”
“I am eager to join you, Jim,” Spock replied.
“I’m sure Bones won’t mind if we go without him, since he was never one for space travel the same way we were,” said Jim.
“Then it shall be done,” the voice said, and Jim could feel the entity’s presence fading away from them.
The next moment, Jim and Spock found themselves in space, surrounded by a field of stars. Being spirits, of course, they did not need to breathe and were not subject to harm from being in space unprotected.
“We’re ghosts among the stars, Spock,” Jim said with wonder.
“Indeed,” Spock agreed. “How do you suppose we navigate in this state of being?”
“Well, I’d say we simply look at a particular star and if we both want to go there, we’ll be brought there,” Jim guessed. “How about… that one right there?” He pointed to a star that shone more brightly and in a different hue than the ones surrounding it.
“If you wish to go there, I will certainly follow,” said Spock.
Suddenly, the pair were whisked through space, almost as though they were traveling at warp speed on a starship. Much faster than they would by warp, they arrived at what must have been the star they were previously observing.
Jim laughed in amusement. “This is amazing, Spock. I think I could do this forever.”
“We are not constrained by time, and we have infinite space to explore together,” Spock observed.
“No one else, I’d rather do it with, Spock,” Kirk replied.
“I share the sentiment, Jim.”
They took a moment to bask in the star’s glow together, in view of billions of others within their reach.