Shining Star: A Pavel Chekov Fanfiction

Thirteen

Pavel is fifteen years old when Hikaru shows up at his dorm room with a birthday gift.

It's a crisp September night, and Pavel has the window open to let in the ambient noise of the San Francisco streets below. He's sitting on his bed, working through some assigned reading for his Theoretical Physics class, when he hears the knock.

His relationship with Hikaru for the past month or so has been mostly restricted to sitting in the library together, working on assignments and drinking tea (Hikaru) and hot chocolate (Pavel). They live in the same residential hall—Hikaru two floors above Pavel—and they walk together to their rooms after each study session. Sometimes they talk about their life. Pavel has learned that Hikaru has two sisters, that he was the founding (and only) member of his high school's Botany Club, that he took up fencing when he was thirteen and has been doing it ever since. Hikaru loves to tell the story of when he was in middle school and his sleep-deprived brain decided it would be a good idea to flirt with the cute boy in his English class, except he ended up tripping over his own feet and babbling incoherently about plants when the boy tried to help him up.

In return, Pavel tells Hikaru about Mikhail, the kid who stuffed Legos up people's noses; about his Carl Sagan doll; about Valentina; about the failures of his English-only days with Mrs. Brezhneva. Hikaru seems to think it's pretty cool that Pavel skipped so many grades, but doesn't say anything more. He just takes it in stride, and Pavel loves it.

Sometimes they complain about their classes, the workload. "I mean, I love the stars," Pavel says one day, "but I never realized before that getting to them would be so much work!" Hikaru laughs at that. It feels good to make him laugh.

But it's not like they're talking about anything deep, like they're forging a lifelong bond. Yet. Their stories are all funny anecdotes. Nothing more.

So it's surprising to see Hikaru at the door of Pavel's room. And even more surprising to see what's in his hands—a present, wrapped in blue paper. Pavel's favorite color. How did he remember?

"Hey." Hikaru smiles. "Sorry to barge in, it's just—today's your birthday, right?"

"Yes," Pavel says slowly.

"I wanted to get you something. I hope you like it." He leans against the doorframe and hands the gift to Pavel, who takes it gingerly and opens the paper. Hikaru is a terrible wrapper, but Pavel figures it's the thought that counts.

The present is a planner. More specifically, it's a school planner that has a navy blue cover with 2256-57 School Year embossed in gold. Pavel grins—Hikaru must have been taking him seriously when he jokingly complained about all the work they had to do, and he did always like old-school planners and journals with paper and pen—but when he opens it, he gasps. At the top of each page is a fact about space, in neat gold print. One for every day of the year.

On the inside front cover is an inscription in Hikaru's messy scrawl: Pavel—Saw this in the store and it reminded me of you. Hope it helps you in your journey of getting to the stars. Happy birthday! Hikaru

As Pavel looks up, Hikaru grins. "I remember you telling me your birthday was September nineteenth, so I just had to get it."

"This is amazing," Pavel murmurs. "I wish I could thank you. Wait, I need to get you something in return. It's the least I can do. When is your birthday?"

"It's in June."

"Oh."

Then Hikaru walks to Pavel's dresser and peers at something on top of it. He laughs a little. "Is this the Sagan thing you were telling me about?"

"That's the one," Pavel replies. The doll is dirty and frayed and practically unraveling after ten years. In fact, it's almost unrecognizable as Carl Sagan. He still loves it.

"'One of the most popular attractions on Mars for scientists and historians is the Carl Sagan Memorial Site,'" Hikaru recites, "'which was established by the Mars Historical Preservation Society at the spot where the 20th-century Sojourner rover finally came to rest.' That's the fact in the space planner for March 11th."

Pavel flips to the March 11th page in the planner and laughs when he sees that Hikaru has recited it perfectly. "How did you memorize that?"

"I have my ways."

"I've always wanted to go to the Sagan memorial site," Pavel confides. "It's probably one of my top three places I'd want to go if I ever toured the Solar System."

"I've been there once," Hikaru replies. "We stopped there on a school trip for a fencing competition."

"Really?" Pavel leans forward in fascination. "How was it?"

"It was amazing."

"Maybe we'll go there someday. When we're both in Starfleet and we get paid vacation time. Or maybe on an away mission or something."

"Yep." Hikaru's smile lights up his whole face. "We'll go there together. On our journey to the stars."

They end up talking the whole night.