Archive of Our Own

The docking bay was dead silent and I loved it. With everyone off at the awards ceremony for the Rogue One team, I had the place to myself, buried up to my elbows in the engine of a ship doing repairs.

It had been tempting, the idea of attending the ceremony with the rest of the base to finally see the team that had plunged the universe into war. Rogue One had been the only topic of conversation on everybody’s lips for weeks. And I almost went…almost.

But then a ship came in with a destroyed fission chamber. When I realized it would take too long to get all the grease off of me, I decided to stay behind and work instead. Besides, the base wasn’t that big. I’d probably run into the Rogue One team eventually, maybe on their way to the mess hall or something…

I was crawling into the ship’s interior when I heard someone enter the docking bay. The footsteps were hurried and a little anxious before they finally slowed to a stop followed by a sigh of relief. I pulled myself up to peer out of an open panel.

Bodhi Rook leaned against a stack of cargo crates, his dark hair swept back in a clean ponytail, his boots polished to a slick shine. He pulled a medal off of his neck with frustration, like it was weighing on him, and set it aside. Why was he out here? The ceremony was likely to last well into the night and wouldn’t dwindle off until morning. It still had hours to go yet.

But anyone hanging out in the docking bay at this time of night with an awards ceremony going on probably didn’t want to be bothered so I left him alone.

As I inched my way deeper into the ship again, my hand slipped and the wrench I’d been holding dropped, clattering around as loudly as possible before it hit the ground.

“Shit,” I whispered, head bowed and eyes closed.

I crawled down as fast as I could but before I could jump to the ground, I found myself meeting Bodhi’s gaze as he looked up at me, crouched just inside the ship. He retrieved the wrench and held it out to me.

“You dropped this,” he said.

I smiled apologetically. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your peace and quiet, I swear.”

“You knew I was here?”

I nodded. “I heard you come in. But I didn’t want to pester you so I didn’t say anything.”

He watched me for a moment and shifted, glancing over his shoulder.

“What are you doing out here anyway?” he said. “The place is empty.”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

He shrugged. “Just needed to get away for a while. You?”

“Not a party person. Too many people. Besides, I’ve got a ship to fix. I’ll probably be pulling an all-nighter to get it up and running before the morning.”

Bodhi’s eyes brightened a little and he stepped closer to the ship, peering into an open panel.

“What’s the problem?” he asked.

“Fission chamber. One of the catalysts came loose mid-flight but the other one is fused tight and it’s proving to be a bit difficult to get off.”

Bodhi started rolling up his sleeves as he nodded towards the ship.

“Mind if I take a look?” he asked.

“Knock yourself out,” I said, handing over the wrench. “But you’ll get your fancy clothes all dirty. And your friends might miss you at the party.”

He waved me off as he started worming his way into the ship’s engine. “Nobody will miss me. The whole base is there. Besides, there’s so much drinking going on, they probably can’t even tell which way is up by now.”

“You know, if anyone finds out the great Bodhi Rook is doing my job for me, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

A small, tired sigh came from inside the ship.

“Well,” I said, “that sounded enthusiastic.”

“Everyone sees me as this…hero,” Bodhi replied, his voice tinged with frustration. A metallic clank echoed inside the ship and he swore softly.

“You started a war.”

“Exactly. That’s not heroic. If I’d been a hero, I would have avoided inciting a war throughout the entire galaxy.”

“But what you did was brave. The odds of pulling that off, getting out alive…they weren’t good. Not many people would volunteer to do that.”

“All I did was fly the ship.”

“I’ve heard it was a little more than that. But I believe you.”

He didn’t say anything for several seconds then worked his way out of the ship with the fried catalyst in hand. He held it out to me.

“All set,” he said. “And I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”

“My lips are sealed. You just saved me another hour of work, by the way. I owe you one.”

He shrugged and his gaze dropped to the floor as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I really don’t mind. I’d much rather be out here piecing parts together than scrambling for the right thing to say for the hundredth time.”

“You and me both.”

He hesitated for a second before he spoke again.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

I raised my eyebrows. “For what? I’m the one who should be thanking you,” I said, holding up the dead catalyst.

“For believing me. About what I said earlier.”

I nodded. “No problem. You’re the one who lived through it. You’ll know the story better than anybody else. Why shouldn’t I believe you?”

He reached out and fiddled with a circuit on the side of the ship. “Everyone else tries to convince me differently.”

“Maybe I’m not everyone else.”

He blinked, wide eyed then shook himself. A beat of silence passed as he shifted from foot to foot, alternating between watching me and looking like he wanted to run for his life. He finally made a decision and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

“I should probably…uh…” he said, backing up towards the door, “I should be getting back.”

He turned and nearly ran face first into another ship’s wing before he put out a hand to catch himself.

“Wait,” I said. “There’s a stain on your…”

I snatched up a clean rag from my toolbox and caught his elbow, holding him in place. He had a good few inches of height on me and I almost had to stand on tiptoe to reach the black streak of grease on his right shoulder. As I scrubbed at the spot, careful not to make the smear worse, I felt him stiffen slightly beneath my hands.

“Got most of it,” I said, pulling away. “Just hope people are drunk enough not to notice.”

He stood there for a moment, looking slightly stunned, before he mumbled a quick, “Thank you,” and walked away. I returned to the ship and started to pull myself inside when I stopped.

“Hey flyboy,” I called just as Bodhi reached the entrance of the docking bay.

He jerked around, startled.

“Care to keep me company for a little while?” I asked. “I could use the help.”

He wavered, tipped forward on his toes with the desire to stay before he rocked back onto his heels with the pull of responsibility. Before he could come up with an excuse, I let him off the hook.

“Actually, forget I said anything,” I said, waving him off. “Have fun at the party. I’ll see you around base sometime.”

I hauled myself into the ship, annoyed at the pinprick of disappointment in my stomach. What was I thinking, asking him to stay? He had way more important things to do than hang out in the middle of the night with a stranger he just met, doing someone else’s work.

A light tap on the ship’s exterior made me stop. I ducked back down to see Bodhi looking at me with a sheepish smile.

“Maybe I could stick around a little while longer,” he said.

I tossed a fresh catalyst at him and he caught it.

“That stubborn fission chamber is all yours.”

[][][]

I didn’t see Bodhi again for a few days after that. My work kept me plenty busy but I thought about him every once in a while. He seemed too gentle for this war, too soft around the edges. With all the responsibilities getting piled on his shoulders these days, maybe I could hunt him down and enlist his help again, give him a break from all the war talk he was probably getting sick of by now.

I was stripping away the blackened panels on top of an x-wing after a particularly nasty run in with Imperial forces when I spotted Bodhi leaving his own ship on the opposite side of the docking bay. I almost didn’t recognize him, dressed in a worn t-shirt and coveralls tied off at his waist with a pair of goggles perched atop his head. He seemed less on edge now, familiar with his surroundings, compared to when I ran into him that night he escaped the awards ceremony.

…until two eager young pilots cornered him as soon as he stepped off of his ship.

“Excuse me, sir,” one pilot said.

Bodhi took a step back and grimaced at that. He looked like he wanted to bolt right then and there.

“We were wondering what it was like on Scarif,” the other pilot said.

“Were you scared?”

“Did you see Krennic up close?”

The questions kept coming and Bodhi looked so frazzled, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

“Flyboy!” I called.

Bodhi’s head jerked up as he searched the docking bay. I raised my hand in greeting and whistled to get his attention.

“Up here.”

He relaxed a little with a slight smile, said something to the two pilots and waded through the crowded bay to stand below me.

“Mind giving me a hand?” I said. I lowered my voice so only he could hear. “Looks like your fan club won’t give up that easily. Better get busy fast.”

I nodded towards the two young pilots who were making their way towards Bodhi again. He scrambled up the side of the ship and settled in beside me with a grateful look.

“You fixed my fission chamber,” I said, “so I thought I’d save your ass and we’ll call it even.” I handed him a collector coil and turned back to my work. “Hold that for a minute, would you?”

He accepted the coil and held a mass of jumbled wires aside as I rooted around inside an open panel, searching for the dead collector coil that had been hit.

“You’re the only one who calls me that, you know,” he said.

“What?”

“Flyboy.”

“Would you prefer sir?” I replied, sneaking a sideways glance at him.

He made a face. “No. I wouldn’t.”

“Then flyboy it is. Unless you don’t like it…”

“No! No, it…makes me feel normal.”

I raised an eyebrow with a grin. “Hate to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure you’re far from normal.”

“You know what I mean,” he said quietly, looking away.

As long as I was discussing the inner workings of wires and circuits, Bodhi seemed to be more than ready and willing to talk for hours on end. But as soon as I came too close to talking about him on a personal level, he disappeared in on himself like a turtle, arms and legs sucked in tight, lost in the depths of his own mind.

“I’m teasing you, Bodhi,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

He shook his head. “You didn’t.”

I said nothing as I tugged on the damaged collector coil, but it wouldn’t give. Before I could ask, Bodhi retrieved a screwdriver from my toolbox and handed it to me. I wanted to make him smile again, to put him at ease. If that meant I avoided his personal life and only talked about wires and circuits, I could do that.

“I’ve got a question for you,” I said. “It’s a serious one.”

“Oh no,” he groaned under his breath. His shoulders hitched up around his ears.

“It’s not what you think, I promise.”

“Okay…” he said, hesitant and wary.

“What’s it like flying a ship?” I asked.

He raised his eyebrows and his shoulders relaxed.

“You’ve never been flying before?”

“Well, as a passenger, sure. But not…in the cockpit, at the controls. I was always stuffed in the back and it was less than pleasant. Besides, I’m a mechanic. I don’t have many options for getting off world.”

He paused, his thumb tracing along the collector coil as he considered his answer for a moment. And when he spoke, his voice was soft and distant with wonder.

“The sky stretches for miles,” he said. “All you see are stars and it feels…endless.” He smiled slightly and shook his head. “You never realize just how small you really are until you’re at the controls of a ship.”

“It sounds like you’re a man in love,” I said with a smirk.

He glanced up sharply, a startled look in his eyes. But when he saw the teasing smile on my face, he dropped his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck.

“You could call it that, I guess,” he said.

I brushed a stray lock of hair away from my forehead with the back of my hand as I pried the damaged collector coil out. I set it aside and held my hand out for the new coil. But it never came. I looked up to find Bodhi staring at me.

“What?” I said.

“Your cheek. Just a spot of grease.”

I tried to rub my cheek on my shoulder. “Did I get it?”

He smiled softly with a shake of his head. His hand came up automatically but then he pulled back, unsure what to do.

“I won’t bite,” I said.

He wouldn’t meet my gaze as he reached over, a little haltingly, and swiped his thumb over my cheek, his fingertips resting whisper-soft against my jawline. He lingered a second or two longer, the pressure of his thumb easing to the mere breath of a touch. Then he let his hand drop and his gaze shifted to mine for a fraction of a second with a shy smile before he glanced away and passed the new collector coil to me.

But it was too late and I ducked my head to hide the pleased flush creeping across my face.

Bodhi Rook had stars in his eyes when he looked at me.

[][][]

About a week later, as I was on my way to the mess hall, I spotted Bodhi in a cargo room, sitting on a crate as he tinkered with a droid. He was hunched over the droid’s arm, blocking out the rest of the world as he worked. I slid onto the crate next to him until my leg bumped against his.

“Hi,” I said.

He brightened and a tiny explosion of butterflies took wing in my stomach.

“Hi,” he replied.

“Is the droid yours?”

He shook his head. “Cassian’s. He got called away for a mission and I offered to fix K-Two for him.” He set aside his screwdriver and reached for a spare twist of wires, pulling one free and clamping another one between his teeth.

“I was looking for you earlier, by the way,” he said.

That sent more butterflies up in a flurry of excitement and I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling.

“Oh yeah? For what?”

Suddenly, he didn’t seem to know what to do with himself and he fumbled a pair of needle-nose pliers, nearly dropping them before he got a grip on them again.

“I was…wondering if you’d…I don’t know…be free to go off-world with me,” he said.

My eyebrows shot up and when I didn’t answer right away, he glanced sideways at me. Then he saw the look of surprise on my face and his eyes widened.

“I meant for a job,” he added in a rush. “As a mechanic. I’m supposed to get a…take a few replacement parts out in an hour. A ship got stranded and I thought…”

He broke off with a shrug.

I squinted at him. “You love piecing things together, you said it yourself. This doesn’t sound like something you’d need my help with.”

He opened his mouth to protest when the droid spoke for the first time since I had approached.

“He’s using this as a rather roundabout excuse to spend time alone with you,” the droid said. “He hasn’t stopped talking about…”

Panic rocketed across Bodhi’s face and he whirled on the droid in horror. “K-Two! Shut up.”

I coughed to hide a laugh and turned away until I could keep a straight face again. But when I turned back to Bodhi, he looked like he wanted to sink straight through the floor and I had to bite my lip to maintain the fragile thread of composure I was barely holding onto. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I’m going to crawl into a hole and die now,” he mumbled.

“No you’re not,” I said, nudging my shoulder against his. “You have to take me off-world.”

His head snapped up in surprise. “You mean…”

I nodded. He blew out a breath with a small laugh of relief and rubbed at his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Just one question though,” I said.

He waited, eyebrows raised.

“Can I sit in the cockpit?” I asked. “Or will I have to be stuffed in the back again?”

A smile blossomed across his face and his entire body seemed lighter. As long as he had something to keep his hands busy, as long as I could get a little smile out of him, it didn’t take much for Bodhi Rook to shine like the brightest star in the galaxy.

“As it turns out,” he said, “I’m short a co-pilot for this trip.”

[][][]

An hour later, I was in the cockpit with Bodhi, taking in the expanse of controls before me. Bodhi settled into the seat next to me and started flicking switches and pressing buttons.

“So where to, flyboy?” I asked.

“Corellia.”

“I’ve heard about it but never been there before.”

He cast a glance at me and his eyes were glowing with excitement.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “I’ve visited a few times and it’s always full of surprises. You’ll love it.”

“Will we have time to see a little while we’re there? Or is this strictly business?”

He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug as his gaze darted back to the console again.

“That depends on how fast we can get those parts replaced. Now strap in before you end up in the back anyway.”

I pulled the straps over my shoulders only to find a complicated tangle of buckles in my hands.

“What the f…” I muttered.

Bodhi laughed softly and reached across to take the buckles from me.

“I got it,” he said.

I watched his long fingers expertly float over the mess of straps and buckles as if it were the easiest thing in the world. The top of his head was only a few bare inches away from my chin and I could smell the sharpness of his soap, the lingering scent of engine grease, and something else underneath, something soft and sweet like apples.

In a matter of seconds, he had everything sorted out and I was safely strapped to my seat. He raised his head and froze when he realized how close he was, close enough to kiss. All it would take was the tiniest lean…

Then Bodhi scrambled back to his seat and focused every ounce of his attention on the console. After a minute or two, as the ship shuddered to life, he cleared his throat.

“I’ll need you to…uh…flip that switch on your right,” he said.

I pointed and he barely glanced in my direction before he nodded.

“What does it do?” I asked.

“Brings the landing gear up.”

I flicked the switch with a flourish.

“I feel so useful now,” I said.

He chuckled and the rigid line of his shoulders eased a bit. His hands were busy and he was laughing. Just had to keep him that way.

The ship surged out of the docking bay and my fingers dug into my chair with a death grip as the sky stretched out before us, a limitless prairie of open space.

“Whoa,” I whispered.

Bodhi tipped his head back against the chair with a sigh.

“I knew you’d like it up here,” he said.

“No wonder you’re in love, flyboy. How do you ever manage to stay on the ground after seeing this?”

But Bodhi didn’t respond and I glanced over at him. His head was bowed, his eyes screwed shut on a grimace as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Bodhi?” I said, placing a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head and blinked rapidly before he put his hands on the console again.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Just a headache. It’ll pass.”

He wasn’t telling me everything, that much was obvious. His lips were too tight and there was a strain around his eyes that didn’t particularly sit well with me. And the blissful look on his face he’d had only a moment before was gone now, replaced by cold seriousness. I had no idea what just happened but whatever it was, he was not happy about it.

“Flyboy,” I said quietly.

He looked over at me. “Yeah?”

“I’m only going to say this once so pay attention.”

His hands went still on the console and his dark eyes regarded me, wary and curious at the same time.

“If you ever want to talk,” I said. “I’m all ears.”

He managed a small smile. “I appreciate it, but…”

“I wasn’t finished.”

He clamped his mouth shut.

“If you ever don’t want to talk,” I continued, “I’ve always got more than enough work you could do for me. I’ll kick back with a drink, put my feet up…”

He gave a shy little laugh and it sent a warm thrill through me. The tension was still there, a dark shadow clinging to his shoulders, but at least he was laughing again and that’s all I wanted.

“I needed that,” he said after a minute. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, flyboy.”

[][][]

Bodhi eased the ship to the ground beside a u-wing ship in the middle of a field, on the outskirts of a massive Corellian city humming with activity. I stepped off the ship, breathing in the rich scents of dirt and freshly fallen rain with something spicy mixed in too. In the distance, I could just make out the city streets, bursting with people and colors, banners flying high, with faint strains of music twisting in and out of the wind.

“Is it always this busy?” I said.

“Not like this, no,” Bodhi replied as he tugged the crate of spare parts down from an overhead storage compartment. “It’s the end of summer festival. All work stops for the day to celebrate with more food and dancing than you could ever imagine.”

I tore myself away from watching the city and held my arms out to Bodhi. He dropped a sublight modulator in my arms along with a handful of tools.

“I might not be much of a party person,” I said. “But I would kill to see that.”

Bodhi tugged a new hyperdrive unit free and hauled it up to his shoulder as he made his way to the stranded ship.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t go,” he said, his gaze trained on the ground.

“We have a ship to fix.”

“Only one or two parts. Shouldn’t take too long.”

While Bodhi took out the burned hyperdrive unit and replaced it with a new one, I set off to the other side of the ship to fit the sublight modulator in. Halfway through the job, I stopped and my head snapped up as understanding finally dawned on me. What were the odds that Bodhi would ask me to go off world with him at the same time this festival was happening? This job that Bodhi Rook could do all by himself and suddenly he needed help – my help – to do it?

I marched around to where Bodhi was working.

“You knew,” I said.

He glanced at me, startled and confused. “Knew what?”

“You knew the festival was going to be today. That’s why you asked me to come with you.”

His eyes widened a fraction of an inch and he ducked his head back to his work.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “It was just a coincidence.”

“You’re a terrible liar, flyboy.”

He sighed and dropped his chin to his chest for a moment before he looked up at me.

“You’re right,” he said. “I could have done this on my own. But you said you didn’t get off world much so I thought…I thought you’d like to come. Especially when I found out I’d be going to Corellia. I almost offered to take you off world last week for a supply drop off but it was to some…barren rock of a moon. And that wasn’t worth your time so…”

He trailed off with a shrug and scrubbed his thumb over a scuff on the side of the ship.

“Is this a date?” I asked.

Bodhi inhaled so sharply, he coughed and his gaze darted to me. “What?” he croaked. “No, that’s not…”

I raised an eyebrow. “Bodhi.”

He swore softly under his breath and covered his eyes with one hand. I crouched next to him and slid my arm around his shoulders.

“Flyboy,” I whispered, taking his hand away from his face. “You could have just asked me out. I would have said yes.”

He raised his head to look at me, eyes filled with tentative hope. “Really?”

“Of course. Why do you think I tease you all the time?” I picked up a pilex driver and pressed it into his hands. “Now hurry up. It’s rude to keep a girl waiting.”

[][][]

Once we had the right incentive to get our work done, Bodhi and I were finished within the hour. I huddled closer to him as we waded through the cramped streets, sights and sounds and smells flooding every one of our senses until it felt like we were spinning in place, tiny little planets bumping through this galaxy of a city.

Then a group of passing cephalon women cut in front of me and I lost sight of Bodhi. I growled and shoved my way through the crowd with as much elbow power as possible before I spotted him again. When I hooked my arm through his, he turned to look at me, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Don’t want to get lost,” I said. “The base is never this busy.”

He placed his hand over mine, his thumb brushing across my knuckles with a feather light touch. He started to say something when a Devaronian man pushed by him and sent him stumbling into me.

“Watch it,” the Devaronian grunted over his shoulder. Then he did a double take and turned on Bodhi. “I know you.”

I felt Bodhi stiffen all over and I squeezed his arm in reassurance.

“You must be mistaken,” Bodhi said. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“No, but I know you. You’re that pilot from Scarif.”

Bodhi took a step back and his fingers dug into my hand. The Devaronian advanced, shoving into Bodhi’s space with a scowl. His red skin and thick curved horns made him look even taller as he towered over Bodhi.

“You’re the whole reason we’re at war,” he said. “It’s your fault.”

A hot spike of anger rocketed through every nerve in my body and I shoved the Devaronian in the chest.

“Back off,” I said.

Bodhi latched onto my wrist with a death grip and pulled me aside.

“What the hell are you doing?” he hissed. “He’s at least three times your size! You don’t pick a fight with someone like that.”

“He has no right to talk to you that way.”

“I don’t care.”

I shot him an annoyed look. “Liar. Yes you do.”

“Fine, I do care, but it doesn’t matter. Can we go now?”

“It matters to me. Besides, I’m not finished.” I turned back to the Devaronian. “Hey, buddy, I’ve got a few words for you.”

Bodhi tugged on my hand with a desperately whispered, “Please stop doing this,” but I ignored him.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” the Devaronian said.

“You are now because I’m with him,” I said. “So whatever you say to him, you say to me. And what I just heard, I really didn’t appreciate.”

The Devaronian sidled up to me, inches away, a hulking beast of a man thick with muscle and well aware of his intimidating appearance, taking full advantage of it and putting it to good use.

“Your scrawny little pilot boyfriend got us into a shit storm nobody wanted,” he growled.

“He put his life in danger for cowards like you who sat on their asses and refused to do a damn thing against the Empire.”

Bodhi made a small strangled noise behind me and his fingernails dug into my wrist. He was probably having a heart attack by now…

“Coward?” the Devaronian said, dark and dangerous. “Do you have any idea…?”

A Devaronian female came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. He bared his teeth in Bodhi’s direction.

“This isn’t over, pilot,” he growled as he backed up then disappeared into the crowd.

I turned to Bodhi to find him shaking. A Devaronian threat wasn’t something to be taken lightly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He blew out a wobbly breath and his hands came around me tentatively, barely touching my back.

“You are utterly insane,” he muttered against my neck, his breath ghosting over my skin, light and warm.

I smiled and tucked my face into his shoulder. “Don’t pay any attention to him, okay? He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

“But he’s right.”

I broke away and placed my hands on his shoulders, tipping my head to the side to look him in the eye.

“That’s not true,” I said.  

“No one wanted this war. No one…”

“Bodhi.” I stepped closer and took his face in my hands. “To do what you did…I know you don’t think much of it but the rest of the galaxy can only dream of being as brave as you.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” he said through clenched teeth. “I wasn’t brave. I was terrified the whole damn time.”

“What do you think bravery is, Bodhi? You kept going. You kept fighting. That’s what people admire in you.”

He closed his eyes and leaned into my hands with a sigh.

“You could admit I have a point,” I said. “I won’t mind.”

He laughed softly and raised his head. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good enough for me.”

“But we should probably be heading back.”

“What? Why?”

“Maybe because you pissed off a Devaronian three times your size.”

“He doesn’t scare me. One sour apple won’t ruin our fun, okay? And you promised to show me around so don’t even think about trying to weasel your way out of it.”

He was still hanging back a bit, digging his heels in, but the corner of his mouth twitched up too.

“I don’t know…” he hedged.

I rose up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Please? Just a little while longer.”

When I pulled away, he stood there, stunned, and blinked once, twice. I laughed and caught his hand, taking full advantage of his shock and tugged him into the crowd.

[][][]

Hours flew by in a blur. Bodhi pushed food into my hands when I forgot to eat, too caught up with seeing everything I possibly could. And in return, I dragged him into games with me, Wurr marbles and laser darts and Dejarik. Then I found the exotic drinks, things I’d only ever heard of before but never actually got to taste and I tried to convince Bodhi to join in but he just shook his head with a smile. The suns slipped below the horizon and the shadows tangled with the flames from torches and bonfires as the celebration extended well into the night.

Before I could dart off again, Bodhi caught me around the waist with one arm and I stumbled into him, my hands braced against his chest to catch my balance. My hair was a mess, my shirt untucked and the collar undone. At some point in the night, a Corellian child had graced me with a flower crown that continually slipped to one side like a rebellious halo. And the drinks had made my whole body loose and warm and giddy.

“Slow down for a minute,” Bodhi said gently, his breath fanning over the top of my head. “You’re going to drop if you keep running around like this.”

I glanced up, prepared to protest that there was still plenty more to see, when I saw the look on his face and my smile faltered.

“What?” he said. “What is it?”

I traced a finger over his chin. “You,” I said.

He frowned, confused. “What?”

“You are smitten,” I chirped.

He raised an eyebrow. “And you are drunk.”

“Am not….maybe just a little tipsy. But I know what I’m saying.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“You should do something about it.”

A flicker of fear sparked in his eyes and he said nothing. I drifted towards him on my toes, my head spinning from one too many drinks, from exhaustion, from the celebration, and from being so temptingly close to Bodhi’s body heat, breathing in the soft, sweet scent of him.

“Come on, flyboy,” I whispered. “Kiss me already.”

My words were barely a low breath in the chaos of the festival but Bodhi heard me, he definitely heard me. I could tell by the look in his eyes, always so expressive, always giving away what was in his achingly wide open heart. And for a moment, I thought he might actually do it.

Then he kissed my cheek, fast and chaste, and took me by the shoulders, setting me at a safe distance away from him.

“That’s not what I meant,” I said.

His eyes gave him away again, darkened with a shadow of panic, and he took another step aside until the crowd nearly pushed between us. He headed back in the direction of the ship and with each step, my heart sank a little lower.

He stopped, rubbed at his neck then spun around and in two long strides, he crossed the space between us. He placed his hand so very, very carefully against my cheek and kissed me, light and quick before he pulled away to look at me, his gaze darting over my face, gauging my reaction.

I curled my fingers into his shirt, tugging him closer, and the smile that bloomed across his face made me so dizzy, I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep from tipping over.

“About damn time,” I said.

He touched his forehead to mine with a breathless laugh as he slid his arms around my waist and kissed me again, stronger this time but still so gentle and soft like butterfly wings.

[][][]

I don’t remember walking back to the ship or falling asleep but I woke up with a thunderous headache and a mind overflowing with hazy memories of too much food and drink and people. Then I realized I was in Bodhi’s arms, still fully clothed, my head tucked under his chin, his breathing steady and even. Slowly, I cracked one eye open to see faint morning light slipping into the ship. I grunted, screwed my eyes shut and buried my face against his chest.

“Told you to take it easy on the Corellian rum,” he said, his voice rough and gravelly with sleep.

“Rub it in why don’t you,” I muttered.

He laughed softly and kissed the top of my head.

“Are we back on base and just ignoring everyone?” I asked, my words muffled against his shoulder.

His fingers drifted through my hair and over my back. “I contacted the base to let them know we were staying the night. Thought you might like some time to recover from that hangover before you faced the real world again.”

I groaned and I felt him smile as he turned and nuzzled against my ear. For all his hesitancy to touch me when we first met, or to kiss me last night, it seemed as if he couldn’t stop touching me now. I propped myself up on an elbow, squinting at him in the glare of the sunlight.

“Did we…?” I started. “You know.”

He shook his head, trailing the back of his fingers down my cheek. “No. You could barely keep your eyes open last night, you were so dead tired. And I wanted it to be the right time.”

“You want there to be another time?”

He hesitated. “Well…yeah, but only if you’re interested, I mean…”

“Yes,” I said. “I am.”

I plucked at the collar of his shirt but he placed his hand over mine, his thumb rubbing back and forth in my palm.

“Now isn’t the right time either with that hangover of yours,” he said gently. “Nice try though.”

I blew out a breath of mild frustration and he laughed.

“That was the same response you gave me last night too,” he said. “You certainly tried to convince me to change my mind.”

I closed my eyes and winced. “Was I embarrassing?”

“Not even a little, love.”

I leaned into him, placing feather light kisses along his jawline to his mouth through the smile spreading across my lips, lighting up every inch of my skin. He brushed my hair aside and his hand drifted over my shoulder, down my arm, to interlace his fingers with mine.

“Thank you for taking me off world,” I whispered, nudging my nose against his. “Every second of it was perfect.”

He smiled and the stars in his eyes glowed blindingly bright.

“Damn, flyboy,” I whispered. “You really are smitten.”

“You could definitely call it that.”

(To be continued...)