Thwei Guan released a deep breath of contentment. She had just eaten a meal of well prepared meat and other things that she was certain would have been rather expensive back on Yaut. Rick had freely given her many things that would have a substantial cost to them, and he had yet to ask for anything!

Rick used the remote to turn the TV on. He quickly flipped through the channels until he found a good Kung Fu movie. He was lucky in that it was just starting. He saw his non-human guest put her face mask on, and he'd been made to understand that she didn't see the same spectrum that he did, which meant that mask would enable her to watch TV with him.

Thwei Guan was quite impressed with the story that was being displayed. Rick had explained what fiction was, and thus she knew that this was not a historical account of something that had actually happened. Instead, this was something to simply be enjoyed for the fight scenes that were contained in it.

Suddenly, Thwei was gaping in stunned disbelief at what she was seeing. Right there on that strange display was an ooman fighting with a sword in each hand. That was amazing enough, but the ooman's two opponents were each using a spear in ways that she'd never heard of before. She instantly set her mask to record this spectacle so that she could study these methods and techniques later.

When the 'movie' as Rick called it, was over, Thwei Guan asked quite a few questions. She learned, much to her surprise, that oomans had many styles of sword fighting, hand to hand fighting, and so many different hand held weapons that Rick couldn't name them all. It meant that there was so much that she didn't know, but wanted to learn. That was when Rick told her about something called the 'internet', and how much of the information she wanted, could most likely be found there.

Thwei watched a couple more of these 'movies' with Rick, before she went back to her ship. Instead of going to sleep, she had her ship's computer scan for the ooman communication signals and decipher them. That was how she found the ooman's internet. The computer aboard her ship was quickly able to access and copy the information she sought, and Thwei found herself stunned that oomans actually had more than a hundred different weapons that were either thrown or held in the hand while fighting.

Thwei Guan stayed up for many hours while she studied the various forms of fighting. She found that the styles of 'quarter staff' fighting were also excellently used with the spear. Now, she had an excellent opportunity to advance her skills. She'd been certain that there were other methods of using a weapon in each hand available, and now she was confronted with the proof of it, because there were actually many styles of such combat available.

BREAK

Nearly a week had passed since the alien Thwei Guan had crashed in the middle of the junk pile that cluttered up his land. To Rick, that didn't really matter. What did matter, was that she hadn't arrived with an invasion force, and she hadn't shown up with all kinds of Sci-Fi weapons straight out of some space movie. What she had shown up with, was a bunch of weapons that were clearly meant for mêlée use. Such a thing made a huge difference in the size of the force she would be able to fight. Rick wasn't stupid. He knew that she'd have to be able to absolutely humiliate Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan, and every martial arts master who ever lived all at once to do anything that was detrimental to the human race.

Rick had often thought about the lean and muscular physique that Thwei Guan so casually displayed. She'd been sleeping in his guest room which was across the hall from his own bedroom, and on occasion, the inevitable had happened. He'd seen her naked. There were some obvious scars that were clearly from close encounters with something that had failed to kill her, but there was nothing that would actually mar her natural beauty.

Rick would admit to a fair amount of physical attraction, because she cut a very athletic appearance. Her coloring was unusual and exotic, but then it was impossible to get any more exotic than a non-human species. Her eyes though, that was what drove him to distraction. The color of a perfect emerald, those eyes had a clarity and color that had never been matched by any jeweler on Earth.

Rick had just poured himself a cup of coffee when he heard some strange noises coming from the guest room where Thwei Guan was sleeping. He set the cup down and went to investigate.

"Thwei? Are you okay? Can I come in?"

"Yes…"

The response was a sound that seemed to be one of near pain. Rick opened the door to see that Thwei was sitting on the bed shuddering and not looking well at all.

"What's wrong?" Rick asked in concern.

"Is breeding season… Need male… to breed with…" Thwei panted heavily.

"Oh… and there's not one here." Rick said as he thought he understood the situation.

"You… are… male…"

Rick's eyes shot wide at that remark. "Oh no…" He muttered as he quickly backed out of the room and shut the door.

Rick got in his Grand Cherokee and drove in to town, made a single purchase, and he hurried home. He opened the packaging of his purchase, went into the house to offer it to Thwei. He felt highly embarrassed as he handed the large pink dildo to the alien female and explained the manner of its use. He then left Thwei alone and went to his workshop while trying not to think about just what she would be doing with that dildo.

Several hours later, Rick was sitting down and drinking a cup of coffee when Thwei entered. One look at her showed him that she was pale, haggard, and still shaking a bit. Apparently, whatever had been done wasn't quite enough to satisfy the urges she was experiencing.

"Why am I unacceptable?" Thwei growled out softly.

This ooman was her friend. Rick had proven his friendship with an incredible gift and his help in the repair of her ship which was why she didn't want to get violent against him. She suspected that the reason he hadn't bred her was because she was not of his species, so she was asking to make sure.

"Look Thwei, it's not that I don't like you, because I do. I'm not married and I don't have a girlfriend or anything like that and I will not do a one-night-stand! I'm a bit old fashioned that way. When I finally do have sex… or breed with a woman or female as you say… it will be because we are married." Rick explained honestly.

"Married? What is married?" Thwei asked in confusion because she didn't know what that had to do with breeding.

"Married is when the two are together for the rest of their lives. There isn't anyone else and never will be. That's what I want, and I'm not going to accept anything less." Rick told her bluntly.

'Lifemates! He wants a Lifemate! He refuses to breed until after he is mated for life!' Thwei realized with a shock.

"So… if we were 'married' then you would breed me?" Thwei asked in clarification.

"If we were married… yes, I would have sex with you then. Being married isn't just about the sex Thwei. It's being together in everything! Partners no matter what, through thick and thin, good times and bad times. Someone tries to pick a fight with you, they'd have to fight me too. That's the way it works. A married couple eats together, sleeps together, works together, plays together, and spends their lives together. I'm not willing to settle for anything less." Rick explained seriously.

"On Yaut that is called Lifemates. Some, but not many are Lifemates." Thwei answered softly.

As Thwei looked at the ooman, she realized that he hadn't said that he would never breed with her, he had merely stated that he wanted more than a simple breeding. The subject of her being another species had never been mentioned. Could she spend the rest of her life with Rick? Would Rick be willing to spend the rest of his life with her? Would she need to stay on this planet, or would he be willing to leave? They were questions that she didn't have the answers to, and she knew that they would eventually have to be answered in some way. Thwei nodded her head to acknowledge what Rick had said as she turned to walk away.

Rick watched Thwei leave and hoped that he hadn't offended her in some way because he really liked her. He could see that while she had accepted his answer, she hadn't been all that pleased with it.

Break

As the days had gone by Rick's appreciation of Thwei's strength and skill had grown tremendously. He'd gone to her ship one afternoon to see if she wanted some coffee because he'd found that she liked it almost as much as he did. He'd found her training. The sight of a sheen of sweat covering her naked body was one thing, but the graceful way she moved as she went through some fighting maneuvers was something else entirely.

It was fairly obvious to Rick that Thwei wasn't completely familiar with the fighting style that she was using because even though she was still graceful, she was also a little hesitant in some of the moves. He stood there… gaping in appreciation for a good half hour before she came to a halt and closed her stance.

"That was… incredible!" Rick breathed softly.

Thwei had been so involved in her practice that she was unaware that she'd had an audience. Somewhat startled, she hid it perfectly. She turned to face her ooman friend and even though she couldn't be absolutely positive, she was sure that she saw admiration in his expression. She did know that she could smell a large amount of desire in his scent.

"I am much better when I use only one sword. I was practicing one of the styles used in a Kung-Fu movie. There is very little known among the Yautja about fighting with a weapon in each hand." Thwei Guan replied.

"Well Kung Fu movies are a good way to see a lot of different styles in use. They'll do all kinds of things that we humans can't really do. Humans can't fly… so any time you see that in a movie, it's done with wires that they aren't showing." Rick told her seriously.

"They can do that?" Thwei asked in confusion.

"Oh yes. They'll fly, run across the surface of water, run along walls, and stand on branches that are way too thin to support that kind of weight. Any time you see someone do that kind of thing in a movie, there's always a wire or some other form of special effect that they aren't showing." Rick told her casually.

Thwei Guan tilted her head in confusion at that. From what she had seen, oomans excelled at using a weapon in each hand, so why would they feel the need to create things they couldn't actually do? It made no sense to her.

Rick wasn't having an easy time concentrating on the conversation. He was all too aware of a very naked, and obviously female body wearing only a sheen of sweat standing in front of him. He could see from the way that Thwei was simply standing there talking to him, that she didn't have the same taboos regarding nudity as a human did. He had to admit that her armor and clothing left little to the imagination, but there was nothing left to imagine now! She was being completely casual about remaining nude, and not trying to cover anything at all.

Although she couldn't tell exactly where his eyes were focused, Thwei Guan knew that Rick was not only staring, but also admiring her body. She knew what was starting to happen, because she could smell the subtle increase of arousal in his scent.

Thwei Guan knew that Rick was honorable, just as she knew that he was an excellent friend, and open-minded as well.

BREAK

Rick headed out to Thwei's ship with a purpose. He knew that he had what he needed to fix that blasted piece of metal this time! Two torches, twenty bottles of oxygen, and twenty tanks of acetylene would definitely get the job done!

The first thing he did was to get everything set up before helping Thwei find a half a dozen rear axels to different vehicles. Those would allow her to put as much force into each strike as possible. If one broke… well there were a few others to replace it. He'd also made a strange looking sledge hammer out of a drive shaft and a thirty-pound anvil. He knew that it was far too heavy for him to use, but he was sure that Thwei wouldn't have any problems with it.

Thwei watched as Rick placed the ends of both torches in a rack he'd built out of bailing wire which he'd brought with him, to hold them about a nok apart (one foot) while facing each other so that both sides of the plate could be heated at the same time. She knew that he fully intended to be successful on this attempt, because she could almost see his determination. First one torch was lit and set in place, then the other. She watched as Rick stared at the bent plate with narrowed eyes that she was certain was a glare of anger or frustration.

"I think we'll get it this time Thwei!" Rick exclaimed as he let those torches do their thing.

When one of the torches sputtered and died, Rick instantly went to look at the gauges on the tanks where he changed out the empty. He pulled out a thermos full of coffee and poured two cups, and offered one to Thwei.

"Don't even bother with it yet." Rick instructed firmly as he made a point of relaxing. "We're gonna heat that thing up like nobody's business. Then, when I know it's hot enough, that's when we hammer it back into place!"

Thwei knew that Rick was taking this as a challenge to his skill and knowledge. Strangely though, her ooman friend wasn't tensed up or even angry. He was relaxed and confident. She watched curiously as he went to a broken vehicle of some kind and pulled something out of it, before doing the same to another. He placed the two things against yet another of the broken pieces of machinery before turning to her.

"Come have a seat. I plan to let that cook awhile, so we might as well relax while it does." Rick said as he gestured to the two seats that he had pulled from old broken down trucks.

"Do you think it can be fixed this day?" Thwei asked curiously as she sat down on one of the seats that Rick had retrieved.

"It should be! I stress 'should', because I think I brought enough fuel and oxy to get the job done. If I didn't…" Rick shook his head. "then we'll just have to work on it again tomorrow."

Rick sat down and took a sip of his coffee. "That stuff is tougher than anything on this planet! Not even our ceramics would be able to take that kind of heat, but that thing is just now starting to turn a dull orange." He said before sipping his coffee again.

"Doesn't matter though. We haven't even used a third of our supplies. That means that chunk of metal just lost the stubborn test." Rick stated with a smug grin.

"What is the 'stubborn test'" Thwei asked in confusion.

"That would be the test to see who is more stubborn… me, or that plate!" Rick replied with malicious confidence.

After going through six tanks oxygen and six tanks of acetylene, the plate was now a bright yellow. Rick believed that the plate was now hot enough to be hammered into place.

"Thwei… grab an axel and get ready to knock the hell out of this thing!" Rick stated as he turned off the torches and got them out of the way.

"What?" Thwei asked in confusion.

"Grab an axel." Rick said as he pointed. "And hit this thing as hard as you can!"

"Oh."

Thwei Guan picked up one of the axels that were situated nearby for exactly the purpose they were going to be used for. She swung hard and hit the plate with a loud ringing clang that seemed to echo a few times. She kept doing it because Rick had not told her to stop.

After having swung the axel as a hammer seven times, it was now useless. Thwei dropped it, and snatched up another where she once again pounded against the hull plate.

By the time Thwei had destroyed four axels, Rick was shaking his head. The plate was now barely moving if at all. It meant that they needed to heat it back up and start over. Now however, the plate was close enough to the hull that a torch couldn't be placed on opposite sides.

"You can stop now my friend. You're wasting time. I need to heat that thing back up so you can do this again." Rick told her.

Thwei huffed in disgust as she dropped the axel. She was almost angry as she stormed back over to her seat and sat down.

Rick smirked as he studied the plate. He was ready for this. Grabbing a roll of duct tape, he taped the two torches together, and used the bailing wire to make a stand to hold them. He lit the torches and set them into place with one eight inches from the top and the other the same distance from the bottom of the plate. He knew that since the plate was already hot enough to melt iron, that it wouldn't take too long to heat it back up. He stood up after getting things in place and turned to resume his seat. When he turned around, he saw Thwei's expression.

"Cool your jets my friend. Don't get mad now, we're winning. We only have to move that thing this much." Rick said as he help up his left hand with thumb and forefinger about two inches apart.

"Then… it is almost back in place?" Thwei inquired in disbelief.

"Almost." Rick answered with a grin. "Just a little bit more. And we got plenty of fuel to do it too! As much as I brought with me this morning, I got twice that in the shop!"

Rick crossed his arms smugly. "That thing is going back in place. If it ain't today… it will be tomorrow!" He finished menacingly.

Thwei looked at her friend in surprise. She knew that he meant this. For him, there was no longer the possibility of failure. He clearly stated that he had more than enough materials to finish the job, and was certain of it being completed.

She watched in silence as Rick sat down and poured a fresh cup of coffee from the thermos. When he held out his hand for her cup, Thwei knew that he was offering a refill, and that made her smile.