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"Captain."
Jim turned at the sound of his first officer's voice behind him in the hall. Spock approached Kirk, his face impassive as always.
"Yes, Mr. Spock, what is it?" His reply came out a bit harsher than he'd meant. It had only been a few days since they'd traveled to 1930, and Jim had loved and quickly lost Edith. Grief had made him short-tempered.
Spock paused in front of his captain, hands behind his back. He seemed to hesitate now, a nearly imperceptible rock back and forth in his stance. Finally, he brought his hands from behind his back.
"I thought you might want this."
It was a hat. Her hat. There it was, in all its beautiful simplicity - a light purple with a little pom pom on top. Jim took it from Spock's outstretched hands reverently.
"I...how did you-?" The question stuck in Jim's throat.
"After the crash." Jim flinched at the word. "There was confusion, but I thought…" Spock trailed off, unusual for him. He shook his head, as if tossing off errant thoughts, and continued, "I believed you might like something to remember her by."
Jim's fingers tightened on the hat, marking folds in the felt. He felt the tears coming again and willed them away, shoving them down.
"Jim…" Spock said gently. Kirk looked up at him. His eyes were dark, but warm too. Jim always wondered how anyone could think Spock cold. Spock said something gently in Vulcan, and turned abruptly away, quickly disappearing around the corner of the hallway.
Jim made his way to the bridge in a daze, Edith's hat still clutched in one hand. It was relatively quiet there, with only Sulu and Uhura on duty. Kirk approached the lieutenant.
"Lieutenant Uhura?"
"Yes sir?"
"Could you translate this for me, please?" Kirk repeated the phrase Spock had said to him in the hallway.
Uhura's face grew concerned.
"It's a traditional Vulcan expression of condolences," she said slowly. "It translates to 'I grieve with thee.'"
Jim's grip on the hat tightened. Uhura noticed the motion and looked down. She reached tentatively for Jim's free hand.
"Captain...when you went to the past--"
"Thank you lieutenant, that will be all." Jim left the bridge as quickly as he could without being rude.
Kirk made his way to his quarters, and sat heavily on his bed. He looked down at the hat, so small and soft in his hands, and finally let himself cry.