In The Beginning
"Han, don't. It's not worth it," Qi'ra said, pulling desperately on the young rogue's jacket.
She couldn't find it in herself to be too mad at him. After all, since that day in the corridor eight years earlier, Han had become a personal bodyguard of sorts. She hadn't complained for the protection had been mutual. They protected each other no matter what.
But she feared that Scud had gone too far this time with his comments about her more matured body and what he wished to do to it.
"C'mon Qi'ra, I broke his nose once. A second time might be an improvement," Han said but his dark eyes were fixed on the other young man.
"Aw what's the matter Han, your master not letting you off your leash?"
Oh no. Qi'ra saw the look of determination on her friend's face and knew that her only option now was to make sure that Scud managed to walk off with a pulse.
"C'mon Qi'ra you needs you a real man. Someone who knows what he's doing and can put you where you need to be," Scud said, a hand gesturing to his crotch.
Her skin crawled and a blush rose to her cheeks. She had started to curse the day that puberty had hit ever since men like Scud had noticed and she'd had to endure such things. Scud's friends laughed behind them.
"That's it..."
And then an idea hit her. Her hands grasped each side of the collar on Han's jacket, she stood up on her tiptoes, and pulled Han into a kiss - her first.
Qi'ra wasn't sure what she had expected but she hadn't thought that Han's response would be so...enthusiastic...or skilled. She'd heard rumors from the other girls and their gossip about the two of them being more than friends hadn't meant anything to her. But now...
She broke the kiss, meeting his gaze and saw something there that hadn't been there before. Maybe it had, she thought and she felt the heat spread across her cheeks. But her rash decision had felt incredibly right.
Slowly she turned around to face the men, all of whom looked utterly dumbfounded and were pleasantly silent. She straightened herself up and smiled to them.
"I assure you, Scud, I know where I belong."
She walked away with her head held high, a hand pressed to her lips, and a new opinion of her personal hero.