Juicy- Kira Carsen

Kira awoke to soft sheets and warmth.

Well that can't be right. Ugh... She opened her eyes, looked around to find herself in the middle of a hospital room, lying in a bed that supported her back and neck. T7 the droid was sitting next to her, head bobbed downward in a simulation of sleeping. Kira was wearing a hospital gown, and reached up to fix a strand of hair that had fallen in her eyes when she felt the patches of white cloth that covered her ears.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Ugh... testing?" she tried, relieved when sound filtered into her eardrums. It was like it came from far away, echoing oddly in her skull. "Teeseven?"

The little droid beeped as it awoke from its resting state. "Twoo?" it asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she assured it. "If that's what you asked. Kind of got my ears shot out by that Imperial."

Doctors=say Kira will heal.

"Well that's good." She stretched her arms, yawning tiredly. "Wonder how much kolto they stuffed inside. Maybe Hayram knows." She glanced around and saw the bed beside hers was empty, and she frowned. "Alright, buddy. Where'd he go?"
T7 looked around her bed, eye light flickering uncertainly. T7=does not know Hayram Antilles' location.

Kira sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Well, he's not asleep, and that's bad." She checked herself to make sure that she wasn't stuck with any IVs (she wasn't) and hopped off the bed, taking a moment to regain her balance before proceeding.

Doctors=ordered T7 to make Kira stay! The droid chirped nervously.

Kira glared at him. "Who are you, my warden?" She strode up to the door of her room and let it slide open, then almost ran into Hayram's gown-adorned chest. "Oof."
Hayram looked down at her, raising a brow. "Teeseven," he sighed.

The droid whined pitifully and she came to its rescue. "I escaped, not his fault," she smirked. "In fact, I was wondering where you'd gone."

"Juice," he answered shortly, hefting a small pouch as he brushed past her and clambered onto his bed. He had patches covering his ears too, but at least they could hear each other well enough to converse.

Kira watched him for a moment, confused. "Uh... so, you going to tell me what happened?"

T7=saved Jedi!

She rounded on the astromech in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she demanded. "T7 that's amazing!"

The droid backed away into a corner, as if it was bashful.

"You little miracle worker, you," she smiled, kneeling by the droid and tapping its dome affectionately.

T7=followed signal from communicator given to Jedi by Tarl, it explained. T7=sustained damage to rotors and wheels. T7=made it to Sith base.

"Guess that comm was a good idea after all," she mused, glancing back at Hayram, who was sucking down his juice pouch and staring up at the ceiling distantly. It would have been amusing, had she not reached into the Force and felt his sadness.

Sadness at what? Force...

T7=hacked Imperial computers, disabled systems. Its light dimmed slightly. T7=captured...

"Huh? How did we escape?"

"I woke up before you did," Hayram finally answered, voice a monotone. He didn't look at her, though she stared at him inquiringly. "Watcher One gave us the Doctor, since T7 had wiped all the information they'd obtained and... gave up."

He sucked another bit of juice. "Gave up," he whispered dreamily, entranced, obviously pondering all the implications and how this could apply to his internal philosophy.

Kira snorted, then chuckled, and erupted into a full blown laugh.

Hayram narrowed his eyes at her, finally, and she laughed again, louder, clutching at her sides and falling back to rest against T7, eyes clenched shut to hold back the few tears leaking from her. "I... you..." she tried, then laughed again.

"Why are you laughing?" he wanted to know.

"Because... you... are... so..." she giggled again, then fell against T7 heavier; the droid looked at her with its eye curiously, then back up at Hayram, as though it was giving the droid equivalent of a shrug.

Hayram turned back to his juice and looked at the ceiling again stubbornly. "Doctor says we can leave once the kolto injections are finished healing," he stated evenly.

Kira felt her chuckles slowly subsiding, pointed at the pouch in his hand. "I... I'm sorry," she managed weakly. "You just... with the juice... and a little dribbled down your chin..."
He huffed in irritation. "Trying to keep you informed, here... I did save you again," he added cheekily, keeping his voice in check remarkably well.

The challenged piqued Kira's attitude. "Three to one. I'll catch up. Just you wait," she sniped, and sighed as the laughter left her. "For the record, making deep statements shouldn't be done while you're wearing a gown and sipping juice."

"Thanks for the warning," he said dryly.

"So we got Godera."

"We did."

"And the Watcher surrendered?"

"He did. I had to let him go."

Of all the things Kira had expected, that wasn't one. "You what?"

Hayram shrugged. "I had to," he repeated, fingers tapping quickly in annoyance. "It was either that or let him be captured and tortured by the Empire."

"Why not bring him in?"

"He'd kill himself," Hayram said simply. "I felt it."
The light atmosphere was evaporating, and she went with it. "You wanted to kill him," she stated.

He closed his eyes, nodded. "I almost did."

She saw, then, the conflict that was rubbing at him. She stood from her position on the floor and walked to his bed, placing a hand on his arm. "But you didn't."
"No. Guess not. Maybe Satele was right after all."
She raised a brow but he didn't elaborate, so she let it drop. "Well, I guess it was a win, then," she shrugged. "Only almost killed us."

"Yeah," he sighed again. "Only almost killed us."
Silence fell between them and Kira returned to her own bed, drawing her knees to her chest. By happenstance, her eyes spotted the round, purple fruit on the desk next to her bed.

Something in her chest fluttered heavily. No way... Her fingers reached out and gripped the fruit, bringing it to her nose to smell it. The sweet, strong fragrance wafted up into her nostrils and made her mouth water.

"Hayram?" she squeaked, staring at him. "...Muja?"

"Sorry about what I said... in the forest," he muttered.

"You... remembered?" she whispered, disbelieving.

For his part, the Jedi Knight regarded her neutrally and took a deliberate draw from the juice pack.

He was okay, she realized as the Force brightened. Apology accepted, tough guy.

She beamed widely, affection welling within her heart as she returned to the fruit and snatched the small knife he had placed there for her, peeling away the outer layer of the sphere, then quartering the juicy innards into slices. Six prepared, she popped one into her mouth and chewed.

Oh, Fooooorce...

(O)(O)(O)

A/N: Not every battle is a traumatic, soul-wrecking event for Hayram. I made this one specifically to point out that fact. I like Hayram, but I wanted to be clear that he isn't some overly-emo Jedi or whatever. He's serious and thinks far too much, but he makes mistakes and deals with them. I could've made this chapter much more serious and dark, about Hayram pondering his angry tendencies, but I think that's been rehashed enough as it is. He's growing and moving on, and Kira... well, I just think Kira is amusing to write, especially since she doesn't take our hero's crap and see's how foolish he is sometimes.

The title is intended to make people read the last chapter, then see the title of this one and go, "What the (censored)... I think it sets up the mood pretty well. XD

Anyhow, the next chapter will introduce Godera and send our trio off on their next assignment: Nar Shaddaa. I've got plenty planned for that planet...