Waiting for Night to End

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Waiting for Night to End
Author(s):	Elise Madrid
Date(s):	2004
Length:	12,888
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:	online here
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Waiting for Night to End is a Kirk/Spock story by Elise Madrid.

It was published in the print zine Kindle My Heart #1.

Summary

Spockʼs self-imposed exile comes to end when he feels his bondmateʼs presence in his mind after over seventy-five years of silence. "He pushed back the sadness that engulfed him whenever he thought of Jim. After seventy-eight years it had become habit, and almost easy. For what was sorrow compared to the black shadow of bitterness and despair that was his constant companion? Kirk had often remarked at Spock's innocence of the darker shades of human, and Vulcan, nature. He wondered what his lover would think of his solution to escape the ever-present reminders of that lost innocence."^{[citation needed]}

[AO3 summary]

Spock is light-years away when Kirk "dies" on Veridian III.

Reactions and Reviews

"Waiting for Night to End" by Elise Madrid is about 28 pages long, and ends the zine Kindle My Heart. Unlike the other two stories in this zine which probably happen during the first five year mission, this story happens at the end of Kirk's appearances in the movies, after his death in Generations. The plot is extremely complex. There are various flashbacks as well. It's a quite original story, and I enjoyed it a lot. Elise is a writer that I either like or don't like, and this story is definitely one in the like column. I liked all three stories in Kindle My Heart and recommend it as a zine, even though it is a small zine.

This story takes place after Kirk's death on Viridian III in "Generations". I know a lot of people don't enjoy reading stories set after that film, and that some Star Trek fans don't even consider the film canon. Personally, I'm pretty fond of the movie, despite Kirk's death, and this story is lovely. "Waiting for Night To End" is very sad, bittersweet, sexy and also tragic in many ways but it's incredibly well written and for me it brought out a lot of emotion while I was reading it. I had no idea where Elise was going with the story, and I did not feel safe while reading it. It could have gone pretty much anywhere as far as I'm concerned. But the story is absolutely poetically written. In the end it also turned into a very satisfying conclusion/continuation of Generations, and the whole plot idea is something I can easily buy into. Thanks for a lovely story, Elise!

Stories set after the movie “Generations” always make me sad. Even if the author somehow manages to get Kirk and Spock back together, I hate to think of all the long, lonely years Spock spent without Kirk. Since I can't forget that I saw Generations (much as I would like to), then I need K/S writers to somehow get Kirk and Spock back together in a happy ending, and Gilda does just that in this remarkable story. This is a beautifully written story that also cleverly incorporates the canon appearance of Spock in Star Trek TNG and very creatively reunites our lovers. If you hated “Generations“ then you need to read this story!

Generations exists. Kirk was lost on the maiden voyage of the Enterprise B. Unlike some who have relegated this movie to the non-existant, I am unable to pretend it did not happen. And yet, since seeing it for the first time, I have imagined countless possible conclusions and resolutions. Most of those have been as unsatisfactory as the movie itself. No more.

Elise Madrid has pulled all those elusive threads together and woven a plausible and satisfactory closing chapter to the saga. But it is not done without pain. This is a sad, sad story, full of decades of suffering and unimaginable loss. I don't want to relate the plot itself, as this is a new zine and Waiting For Night To End deserves to be unblemished by the retelling here. So, I shall say that Spock is the Spock I would expect after the events of Generations. He has lost his love, his life's partner, and is condemned to live the remainder of his days with only the dimming memory of that precious light. The title says so much. The meeting of Enterprise B with the Nexus was the beginning of Spock's endless night of loneliness and sorrow, of regret for what might have been. "Oh, my." Remember those words uttered by Kirk? We now know what they meant. It is much like I suspected and hoped. But there is so much more to it.

Such an innovative Spock! The author has devised the perfect and yet never before imagined project to occupy Spock during these dark times. No, I won't tell you more. You must read this one for yourself. Especially if you are one of those people who have watched the seventh movie and mourned the useless loss of life and gratuitous plot. Here lie your answers.

As with every K/Sr, I have my own likes and dislikes when it comes to certain types of stories. Two of my biggest dislikes are "Mirror" and death stories, so when I sit down to read one of these set in either genre, it has to be something pretty special to appeal to me. This story, I'm happy to say, does just that.

Set long after not only the movie "Star Trek: Generations", but also the ST TG episode "Unification", this story opens up with Spock in self- imposed exile on a distant planet. He is completely and utterly alone, both his parents long dead and Kirk lost in the Nexus many years ago. Without even the small distraction from his grief and loneliness that work could bring—his mission on Romulus came to an abrupt end when he was betrayed by a government official and forced to flee for his life—and with no desire to return to Starfleet, Spock spends his days doing the only thing that brings him a small measure of comfort: reliving memories of times shared with his beloved bondmate. That is until one day when their bond, so long dormant, suddenly comes alive and Spock soon finds himself in possession of Kirk's katra. Even that, however, isn't enough for Spock and he soon departs on a risky endeavor to reunite with his t'hy'la body, mind, and soul. Just when it seems like he has succeeded, however, a cruel twist of fate threatens to destroy the future he so carefully planned for himself and the precious life he strove so desperately to save.

A heart wrenching tale of love lost, found, and almost lost again from an imaginative and talented author. Highly recommended.

This is the fix-it I was unconsciously waiting for after Star Trek VII - Generations. Elise's style and faithfulness to a single point of view - Spock's - serves to let the reader feel Spock's isolation and anger as if it were our own. Spock's past, even his time on Romulus, feels as though he was only drifting, until the re-appearance of the Nexus and with it the bright spark of Kirk's consciousness light up his spirit, ripping him out of his complacency and setting him onto the logical path at whose end stands the only outcome he can live with. Stark, ruthless, miraculous and such a fitting ending for Starfleet's most famous duo.