Berengaria Seven

Fanfiction
Title:	Berengaria Seven
Author(s):	CatalenaMara
Date(s):	2009
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:	Berengaria Seven
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Berengaria Seven is a Kirk/Spock story by CatalenaMara.

Reactions and Reviews

This story was written for the 2009 K/S Advent Calendar. For those of you not familiar with the Advent calendar, it began on the internet in 2002 and has been published every year since. For each day of the month of December, various authors and artists contribute stories, usually (but not always) based on the Christmas holiday. From 2002 to 2005, the Advent Calendar consisted of slash stories from multiple fandoms, including K/S, then in 2006 the K/S version was born. Now while I‘ve enjoyed reading the various contributions over the years, when it came to this latest calendar, I was a bit leery of what I would find. Anyone who reads K/S on the net will probably agree with me when I say that ever since the movie came out, virtually every K/S story that has appeared on the net since has been based on the movie, or, as they are commonly known, 'reboot" stories. While some of these stories are okay (although I can‘t get over the concept of Kirk with blue eyes), I much prefer the stories based on MY K/S, the one I fell in love with 30 years ago. So when I saw that there was going to be a 2009 K/S Advent Calendar, my first thought was, "Oh, God, they‘re all going to be ̳reboot‘ stories." Well, as it turned out, I was right, although there were a few of "my" K/S stories sprinkled among them. Worse, the majority of those "reboot" stories were what are commonly categorized as "fluff", with no plot and little imagination, stories one tends to forget about as soon as one finishes reading them. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed with the calendar until this author offered up this little gem of a story. The author‘s summary of this story is "Approximately one year after the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. New Year‘s Day on an alien planet, a planet Spock visited many years before. Spock and Kirk return now to witness the results of seeds sown long ago.” The story itself is told from the POV of a native woman known as "Grandmother", who was present when Spock first visited the planet those many years ago. Now he has returned, along with Admiral Kirk, to join Grandmother and her people, to witness an event that represents tradition and rebirth, an event that thanks to Starfleet technology is possible once again. The irony of Spock‘s reappearance, coinciding with this most special happening on her planet, is not lost on Grandmother. For she can see that he too is reborn, from a young, lonely man to someone who has found peace and contentment. She soon realizes that Spock‘s newfound peace is a direct result of the man who now stands at his side – James T. Kirk. For me, not only was this story hands down the best on the calendar this year, it also represented an important lesson when it comes to writing K/S. If you want to write a great K/S story that the reader will not soon forget, whether that story is based on the original K/S or the new "reboot", you need to bring your passion for the fandom to your work and let it shine through every word. It is something this author does time and time again, and it is the main reason her stories remain so unforgettable. This one included.

Kirk and Spock return to a planet Spock visited many years ago and are permitted to witness a local ritual. It involves dragons, which made me squee out loud. What I really love about the outsider POV is that she met Spock back before he met Kirk, and what she notices is how being loved has changed him. This fic would have made an awesome AMTDI plot, but I'm kind of thrilled it didn't go that way, because it's absolutely delightful as is.