A/N: Remember how last chapter I titled it 'The First Fight'? I was really wrong. Anyway, in this chapter, I need to inform you that both Erik and Mara took judo classes during college, so that explains that.

Mara lay in her bed, tossing and turning restlessly in the dark room, trying hard to fall into a world filled with dreams and magic, but failing miserably. She finally got up, and went over to her closet, where her eyebrows raised at seeing short dresses with the skirts coming up to where her thighs would be.

"No...way," she said incredulously. Seconds later she was stalking through the halls in a bathrobe, prepared to talk Erik's ear off.

She banged angrily on Erik's door. "Erik!" she hollered at the top of her lungs and pounded on the door again. "Erik! Open this door NOW!" People up and down the hall cracked open their doors, looking at her like she was insane.

"Hi, sorry to disturb your sleep, everyone," Mara said sweetly. Then she returned to her scowling and proceeded to bang. "Erik, you jerk! Open the door!"

The door slid open, and Erik reached out to drag her in, the door whisking shut behind her.

Mara took a breath to speak, but Erik held up a hand, his eyes weary. "Before you start," he said, "may I remind you that people have active imaginations. Please, please, I beg you-do not come to my room at night again."

Mara stared at him in incredulous disgust. "Wimp," she finally said, and then said calmly, "I couldn't sleep tonight." "Gee, Doctor, how horrible," Erik said sarcastically, taking a seat in a chair. "Maybe you should get a prescription for a sleeping pill. Oh-wait. That's your job. And that is your problem?"

"No," Mara said. "My problem is the fact of what is in my closet!" she yelled. Erik moaned. "I knew this moment would come, but couldn't it have come earlier in the day?" he asked her. "No," Mara said. "First of all, the fact that all the women wear these uniform-y dress type thingies is beyond me. How sexist. I mean, look at them! They come to their thighs," she said in a horrified whisper.

"Mara," Erik said in exasperation, rubbing his brow, "do you have a problem with your thighs?"

The next moment, Erik found himself on the floor with one arm twisted behind his back and burning quite painfully with Mara's foot digging into his back.

"What exactly, are you insinuating?" Mara asked through gritted teeth and she wrenched Erik's arm harder. Erik sighed, and finally said, "I am getting tired of being beat up by girls." "Aw..." Mara clicked her tongue sympathetically. "Poor ba-"But she never finished her sentence as Erik wrenched his arm away and swept her feet out from under her and she crashed on the floor with an anguished "Ow!"

He got up, and extended his hand to Mara, which only infuriated her more, so she took his hand and bent his fingers back, to which he grit his teeth to keep from howling in pain.

She got up, and fell into a judo stance, bouncing slightly on her heels. "Come on!" she invited him. "Let's finally see who's best!" Erik shook his head. "I only use my judo moves in defense," he said, glaring slightly at her. "That was defense," Mara answered, glaring back. "You insulted me!" "I never insulted you!" Erik protested. "I merely asked if-"

He caught Mara's wrist as she lunged, and twisted it slightly. She drew back a little, and kicked his shin in a childish gesture. He grimaced a bit, but didn't let go of her wrist, fearing that he would have a black eye in the morning if he did. He didn't anticipate her other hand swinging around with full force. The next moment, his eye was stinging and she was shaking her now free wrist in slight pain, and then they returned to their defensive positions.

By now, Erik was getting more and more angry with her, and so he dropped his commitment to only use his skills for defense. He struck out, and she barely dodged his hand by a quick movement of her head.

Mara leapt at him, her hands clawed and aiming for his eyes. With quick reflexes, Erik grabbed her arms and flipped her over onto the floor, shoving his foot into her abdomen. She choked and gasped for breath, and with lightning fast speed she swung her legs up and he lost his footing and fell to the floor beside her.

She leaped up, and smoothed her hair back, taking a deep breath. She permitted Erik to get up, hands on her hips and breathing deeply to ease her dizziness.

He breathed heavily, wiping away some blood on his upper lip, and said, "If it makes you feel any better, Dr. East, there's nothing wrong with your thighs."

Mara let out an outraged squeak, and punched his other eye. She waited for him to recover, but waited too long, as he hit her eye and she was bent over as well now, clasping her eye and wishing she could kill him without having to suffer consequences.

She touched her nose, and realized it was bleeding. She looked at Erik with sudden hatred, and wiped her hand on her bathrobe, leaving a red smear. Erik rolled his eyes. "Could you at least use a Kleenex or something like a normal person?" he asked. "Why?" Mara asked. "Because it's the polite thing to do!" Erik answered, kicking at her gut. She swerved aside. "You know I hate politeness!" She swung her arm at his chest and he blocked. "That's blatantly obvious by the way you drive!" Erik said, grabbing her arm and wrenching it behind her back, then grabbing her other arm. "The way I drive has absolutely nothing to do with anything!" Mara protested, swinging her head back and hitting him on the jaw. She felt his grip loosen on her arms and launched her head into another attack on his jaw. Erik stomped on her foot and she yelped a little as her bare foot throbbed in pain. "Body language describes a person more accurately than anything," he reminded her. "So, I'm guessing right now you're mad," Mara said, emphasizing 'mad' as she banged her head on his chin again.

"Excuse me, sir?" Both Erik and Mara whirled around as a woman in a red uniform looked at them in horror and hurriedly turned and ran out shouting over her shoulder, "Excuse me, I'm sorry!"

Erik and Mara looked at each other in horror, and Erik let her go to quickly close the door, which only made things worse as the people who were watching outside snickered.

"Oh, great move, Admiral," Mara said. "Now they think we're...we're..." she shuddered. Erik didn't say anything, just moved back into a judo stance. "Final round," he said. Mara's mouth twisted into a sneer. "Fine by me," she said tightly, and whirled around, her leg hitting his gut and knocking him across the room. He made a brilliant comeback by doing an unexpected spin and then going low and using his legs to knock her off her feet.

Mara rolled to the ground and suddenly lost her balance. Instead of leaping gracefully up, she tumbled to a stop. In the short moment that she tried to find her bearings, Erik had pinned her to the floor. They stared at each other, both breathing heavily and then slowly Mara relaxed.

She sighed. "You win," she admitted glumly. "Let me up." Erik hesitated a moment, trying to discern if she were in earnest or not, and finally let go of his hold on her, but kept himself ready in case she tried any sudden moves.

Mara slowly got up so as not to startle him, and sat down in a chair, wiping her bleeding nose and gingerly feeling a bruise on her forehead.

Erik sank down into another chair with a deep sigh. They looked at each other. "You're gonna have two black eyes tomorrow," Mara said, sniffing and trying to control the blood flow.

Erik sighed again, and got a Kleenex pack and handed it to her. She took it gratefully and dabbed at her nose. She held out the now completely red Kleenex to him and he sat up a little straighter to avoid it, and pointed to the trash can. Mara rolled her eyes and went to throw it away.

"Well," Erik said, "You're gonna have two purple eyes tomorrow. Purple doesn't go good with your green uniform." Mara protested, "No way am I wearing those uniforms: they are sexist, ugly, and perverse."

"Have you even seen Star Trek?" Erik asked her. Mara shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Not recently," she admitted. "Have you ever seen anyone make a move on anyone in the series?"

"Um..."

"Exactly. Although why anyone would want to hit on you is beyond me," Erik muttered, but Mara heard and glared. "Erik, I will not wear a dress that short," she said. "I never have, and I never will."

"Wanna bet?" Erik asked. Mara looked down. "Not especially," she muttered rebelliously. "You will follow the rules on this ship," he said. "Hmph. Wanna bet?" Mara retorted. Erik just kept a steady gaze on her and finally she said, "Fine. Whatever. But I will hate you for the rest of my life."

"What else is new?" Erik asked. They were silent for a while, and then finally Mara said, "You know that we just beat each other up about a dress?"

Erik thought about it for a moment and then started laughing. "Yeah," he said. Mara started giggling too, and both forgot about their pain and Mara about the fact that she had lost a battle to a man she despised with all of her might.

And so they laughed.