Vausees stepped out of the cottage she and her fiance had rented for their holiday as the sun began to rise over the waves on the horizon. The sun warmed the trill’s skin as she stood with her eyes closed, loving the carefree wind that had begun to blow off the ocean. Debrah, who was lying in bed in the other room under a light, a silky sheet with a pleasant smile on her face as she looked at Vausees, noticed her taut, smooth, toned legs as a breeze kicked the sides of her long button-up shirt to the side.

She turned to face Debrah with the same smile on her face.

“Good morning, my love,” Vausees said, creeping back into the bungalow and climbing onto the bed.

“Morning,” Debrah said as she reached out and gently brought Vausees into her arms, kissing her deeply and returning the welcome as she laid her forehead on Vausees’s.

“How do you feel about us doing some traditional scuba diving?” Vausees questioned, gradually raising herself to straddle Debrah’s legs.

“I believe that would be a terrific idea,” she replied, sitting up and resting her hands on Vausee’s hips, “it’s been a very long time since I did anything on Earth that didn’t include work.”

Vausees smiled and slipped from the bed to change, but not before dropping the top she was wearing and tormenting Debrah, who shook her head as she watched.

‘She’ll be the death of me,’ she thought to herself as she tossed the sheet aside and stepped out to follow her soon-to-be bride.

*** Half an hour later ***

The bubbles rushed to the surface as soon as they exited the breathing device. Two women’s skin was caressed by crystal clear warm waters as they swam into a school of tropical fish, which dispersed as the two women neared.

A gentle, muted giggle could be heard as bubbles exited Vausees’s mouthpiece. She turned to face Debrah, who had her back to her as if she was inspecting something in a neighboring reef. She swam over to her and joined her, her attention locked on whatever Debrah was thinking about.

Debrah grasped a diving knife in her left hand, and in her right, a little thing. She turned to face Vausees and motioned for them to surface with her head. Vausees nodded, and the two of them rose to the surface.

As Vausees surfaced a few moments later, Debrah sheathed the knife and removed her diving mask. The two went to a leased boat and boarded it. Debrah placed the thing on the deck as she drew herself from the sea, closely followed by Vausees.

They went over to a table after putting on towels. They looked over the object Debrah had uncovered on the reef. Debrah carefully removed part of the residue that was encasing the object.

“What exactly are we dealing with here?” Vausees queried, peeping behind Debrah’s back.

“I’m not sure, but I’m sure Starfleet will want this,” she added as a cleaning brush revealed a solitary Xindi sign.

Vausees softly took the object and examined the symbol, which she understood immediately. “Are you aware of what you’ve got here?” she inquired, pointing to the mark.

Debrah sighed and shook her head. Vausees took out a PADD she’d brought with her and scanned the Starfleet Archives for the frigid temporal conflicts and the Xindi’s attempts to eradicate humanity.

“This is a fragment of one of the Xindi’s weaponry,” Vausees stated as she placed the PADD next to the thing on the table.

Debrah looked at the image on the PADD before shifting her focus to the object. “I believed they had all of the weapon platform pieces,” Debrah said as she examined the object. “That had made it through the Earth’s atmosphere,” she explained as she returned her focus to Vausees.

“That’s what was mentioned, but this is a missing fragment,” she explained as she stared at Debrah. “It goes without saying that this artifact should be kept for archive purposes.”

Debrah nodded as she examined the object. “If it is Xindi, this will cause a stir among the fleet because the last report said that all parts had been collected and that there were no outstanding pieces.”

Vausees nodded in agreement with what her soon-to-be bride had said.

*** Several hours later ***

As an Officer left their home, Vausees and Debrah sat close. They had returned the item to Starfleet as needed, but the Xindi-object had to be confirmed, which caused some controversy. They both glanced at one other while they sat in quiet. “That was definitely needless,” Debrah sighed as she stood up, walked over to a bottle of wine, and poured them both a glass.

“I agree, but it’s the politics of discovering a previously unknown missing piece,” Vausees said as she accepted the glass. “Thank you,” she replied as Debrah took a seat beside her.

“However, why the interrogations?” “Being probed like that made me feel like a criminal for a time,” Debrah said after taking a sip from her wine glass.

“I agree that they were a little too rigorous in ensuring that the object wasn’t a forgery.”

Debrah sighed and smiled as she looked over at the countertop. Vausees grinned as she laid down her glass and looked over to where she was staring. She then stepped up to the counter and took the trinket that had piqued her fiance’s interest. She placed a tiny box in Debrah’s now outstretched hand when she returned to her.

“Open it,” Vausees urged as she stared into her fiance’s sparkling emerald eyes.

Debrah cautiously raised the top of the black velvet box, and tears began to gather in her eyes. In the box were two rings, one with an emerald and the other with blue topaz. Vausees slid the blue topaz ring onto Debrah’s left ring finger. Debrah did the same with Vausees’ emerald ring.

“Oh, baby, these are gorgeous,” Debrah said, holding out her hand to inspect the blue topaz set in the white rose gold ring.

 “Give me your hand,” Vausees replied, holding her hand out to Debrah.

Debrah put her palm into Vausees’s, and the stones began to shine and vibrate as soon as the two rings touched.

“The closer we are to each other, the greater the vibrations,” Vausees said as she lifted Debrah’s hand and kissed each knuckle tenderly.

Debrah rose to her feet and softly snatched Vausees’ hand. Vausees noticed the sudden passion in her fiance’s eyes when she looked up. She stood up and followed Debrah to the bedroom, a smile on her lips. Debrah softly began to kiss Vausees along her neck as they lay down beside each other. Vausees’s mouth twitched with delight as she clutched Debrah to her.

 *** A while later ***

A soft breeze stroked Vausees’ back as she lay there next to Debrah. As the two basked in each other’s warmth, she played with Vausee’s hair.

“Merry Christmas, my love,” Vausees whispered as she rolled onto her side, her arm covering her bare chest as she gazed at Debrah.

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Debrah said as she leaned in and kissed Vausees.