Chapter Fourteen

The warm water felt wonderful and I was reluctant to turn it off. I dressed in my sleep pants and shirt and walked back into the sitting room to check up on my "protectors", still towel-drying my long hair.

Tycho was asleep on the couch, his back to the room. His overshirt was off and hanging with his blaster on the end of the couch.

Wedge was sitting in a chair, reading from his datapad. He watched me with a lopsided grin as I covered Tycho with a blanket. "Oh, sure. You wake me up so I can fix you dinner and he gets to sleep?"

I grinned playfully as I walked over to Wedge. "Sush, you're going to wake him. Besides, he's my second for the sims; I want to make sure he gets plenty of rest so we can kick your butt," I teased softly.

He laughed as he set his datapad aside and pulled me into his lap for a kiss. When our lips parted, he took a deep breath. "This could prove distracting. Maybe you should turn in; tomorrow is going to be a long day, even with the late start."

I set my jaw and pretended stubbornness, "Not till you tell me what you were reading."

He kissed me on the nose, "Your complete record – Admiral Ackbar sent it to me. It said you volunteered for the Jovan group headed for Endor but didn't go. Why?"

I shrugged, "Our leaders thought my absence would be noticed – at least that was their 'official' opinion. I think it was because they were worried how my grandfather would react if anything happened to me." I chewed on my bottom lip, "I had been dating Tino for several months so I guess, in the long run, they were right. I'm sure he would have noticed that I wasn't where I was supposed to be."

He sighed sadly, "We could have used you there but considering almost all the Jovanese were killed...."

I nodded in sympathy, "I trained a good many of them."

We sat quietly, each lost in our memories before he spoke again, "Well, I guess I should go over Tycho's report while I have you here. Anything you can add would be helpful."

I nodded and he handed me the datapad. I read through the report, which was extremely accurate; I only needed to add the name of the "ruffian" leader and their attack style, which Tycho wouldn't have known anyway. "You know, I'm really going to miss Tycho when I go back. He's wonderful to have around."

"And you're not going to miss me?" he pouted.

I giggled, "What's the matter? Jealous?" When he continued to pout, I added seriously, "I'm going to miss you more than I can say."

He buried his hands in my hair and held me tightly to him as he kissed me thoroughly. I could lose myself in him so easily it was beginning to scare me. We parted to catch our breath and he leaned his forehead against mine.

"As much as I hate to say this, you really do need to go to bed," he panted.

I sighed, "OK, but only if you promise to talk Tycho into letting me send a copy of his report to my Admiral. I'm really not looking forward to having to explain everything in detail to him."

Wedge grinned, "I don't think that will be a problem. Now, go to bed."

He pushed me to my feet and swatted my rear playfully to get me started in the direction of my bedchambers. I reached the door and turned for one final look before climbing into bed. I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.