Yo!: I don't own treasure planet or any of its wondrous characters. Disney does. I DO however own C'kora.

This is the FIRST fanfic (if you could even call it that) I have ever attempted to write. Actually, its more like a backdrop for my character. I know, minor dialogue, and its boring. But I had to get it written down. I appreciate lots of feedback to help me out.

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There is nothing better then a good days work.

Elbow deep in dirty dishwater, the girl's aching muscles and tired eyes didn't seem to agree. With one wet hand, she shoved back a few stray strands of auburn hair and sighed a very exhausted sigh. She'd worked from sun up to sun down cooking, cleaning, waitressing, bussing and washing the newly popular Benbow in. Her beige apron was asmear with a colorful array of various foods. Her back muscles screamed for rest. And yet, she forced herself on.

Nothing better then a good days work….

She was lucky to have the job, after all. Montressor was a new and strange place to her when she'd left home nearly a year ago. With 4 younger brothers and sisters (not to mention the new man in her mother's life) she had decided to find her place elsewhere. She'd never once left the planet Yurmaaii. Home was nothing like this dirty little planet. But the people here worked hard. Carolyn liked work. It kept the mind and body busy. Work meant she didn't have time to worry. Didn't have time to think about home. Didn't have time to be homesick for a place she knew wouldn't welcome her any longer.

The proprietor's son pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen with a tub load of dirty dishes, looking as exhausted as Carolyn felt. His boots dragged as he forced himself the 15 feet across the kitchen floor to the counter to relieve his tired arms of the last of the dishes. Jim was no stranger to hard work, and the girl knew that. Yet after a busy day like today, even the most dedicated of workers was sure to show signs of wear.

Jim slumped ungracefully into a wooden chair and watched the girl wash and dry, wash and dry. He remembered what it was like all too clearly. He remembered being cooped up in the galley of the Legacy all night, scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing. Yet it never ceased to amaze him that such a small girl could work such long, harsh days without complaining or even letting her pretty smile slip.

It's sort of inspiring.

It had only been a week or so since the Benbow had been re-opened. Now nearly three times the size it had once been, the little hill top bed-and-breakfast and become insanely popular in the port town. What had once been a struggle to operate with only two people had suddenly become an improbability.

How does she do it?

Sarah Hawkins had seen Carolyn as a gift sent from above. When the Yurmiian had stumbled into the inn looking for a place to stay a few nights, she hadn't expected the prospect of a full time job and a permanent residence in a loft room. But as Carolyn was Sarah's blessing, Sarah was Carolyn's.

Jim had thought Carolyn to be a bore. She was proper and old fashioned and was always, always smiling. But before long they had bonded as friends. She had learned to make him laugh at work, making faces from across the room, or imitating a customer's complaint behind their backs. Carolyn proved herself to be full of laughter and life, and Jim, having recently discovered the laughter and life within himself only just recently, found Carolyn to be a welcome change to the daily routine of Montressor life.

He also found her to be full of surprises, like the day she exchanged her cotton work dress for a pair of his outgrown calf length trousers and demonstrated a fine example of Yurmiian solar surfing. It still hade him grin inwardly, just thinking about it.

"How many days?"

Jim jerked awake at the sound of her voice. She'd finished all the dishes, and he felt a pang of guilt for resting while she finished the work. He pushed himself out of the chair and grabbed a broom.

"Less then 2 weeks," Jim calculated. She had, of course, asked how many days before he'd be leaving for the Interstellar Academy. He pushed invisible dust around on the floor with the broom, daydreaming again already. He was looking forward to it immensely. The finest spacing school in the galaxy. A year ago, he didn't think he'd make it out of basic institution. Now suddenly, one grand adventure and one letter of recommendation later, he was readying to make a turning point in his life.

"C'kora?" Jim asked suddenly.

The girl wiped her pruned hands on a dishcloth and raised her eyebrows at him in recognition. C'kora was the Gloorish name for Carolyn. She'd learned that as a child, and preferred the nick name over her own since.

"Will you be going to school in town?"

She leaned her aching body into one of the wooden chairs and subconsciously wiped the table top clean as she answered. "No, I'm going to be working full time still. With you away at school, we won't have the extra help. We're going to have to hire a few more hands. The Dopplers offered be a baby sitting job, but I turned them down in favor of this." She forced a weak smile. "It's not so bad."

Jim frowned. He felt so guilty, going to such a prestigious school. C'kora, who deserved it so much more then he, had dropped out so she could eke out a living at such a young age. It made him a little angry, too. She was the same age as he. She was a hard, dedicated worker. She had everything she needed to be successful. And yet, she was waiting tables.

So I can go to a school halfway across the Empire.

Often times, Jim watched C'kora work, watched her run and watched her laugh and smile….and saw his mother in her. It was hard to ignore. His mother had had a difficult life. It quietly hurt him to see her headed down the same path. He could see it. She was 16 now. Within the next year or two, she'd probably marry, and a year or so after that, with child. He imagined her husband ditching her when the time was appropriate for him and her raising her family in the same fashion Sarah had raised hers. It hurt to think of that. She deserved better.

Jim didn't know when or with whom C'kora would decide to settle down, but he hated the son of a bitch already.

Not that Jim was interested in the girl that way. Oh no. They were wonderful friends, but it didn't go beyond that, ever.

They shared things neither of them had felt comfortable sharing with anyone else. Often times, the girl's worries would keep her awake at night. If working hard kept unnecessary thoughts at bay, being at rest let them flood her mind. So she found herself drinking cocoa before a low kitchen fire flame in the wee hours of the morning.

The first time Jim had found her here was shortly after she'd moved in. She sat on the wooden floor with her knees pulled under her chin and an expression of helpless worry on her usual cheery face. He kept her company before the hearth that night, listening to anything she needed to say. Since then, the hearth meetings had become more frequent. Often times they never spoke at all as Jim was never one to talk about his feelings, and C'kora tried to hide hers as best as she could. But it helped having some one there.

C'kora stood and gave the table one last wipe, and tossed the rag at Jim, smiling. They threw their aprons in the laundry bin for tomorrow.

"Another day, another minor back injury," C'kora said in exhaustive cheer, stretching her tightened muscles.

"We're off tomorrow evening. Wanna go surfing?"

"Sure."

The tired workers snuffed out the candles and climbed the impossibly long stairway to their rooms.

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Tell me what you think, please. I need all the help I can get.