Saleairy woke to Carth cursing as he stumbled on the vibro blade leaning against her side of the bed. She smiled and he collapsed on the bed beside her. She could read his face like a large print book. His cute, surprise embrace was not so surprising because of his keen grace. She smiled and remembered that she really did think he was like a Gizka. She rolled over to face him and petted him behind his ear. He laughed.

"I'm not a damn Gizka." She kissed his cheek.

"I could let HK experiment and find out once and for all." Her purring tone, resounding deep in her throat made him laugh.

"Let's not." She smiled at Carth and peered into his eyes. After a long moment, he seemed confused. "Why are you staring into my eyes longingly?" He rested his hands on her sides and pulled her closer.

"I can't see my life without you anymore."

Saleairy gasped as Carth's belt buckle jabbed her ribs. She chuckled and the motion made Carth laugh as he propped himself up on top of her. He'd untied her hair and it sprawled across the pillow her head rested on.

"Why do you wear a belt with the Republic buckle anyway? It's ostentatious and inconvenient." He kissed her neck and she ran her fingertips through his hair.

"It's an ice breaker." He said.

"Ice? What ice?" She kissed him and leaned against the pillows, looking at him with a strange expression.

"The ice that apparently melted within the past twenty four hours." He kissed her neck again and sighed.

"I was icy?" She asked.

"Not icy but distant." Carth kissed her again and she shifted under him.

"I didn't mean to be." Carth sighed as he stared at her. He stopped propping himself up and she made a noise as his weight settled on her frame with a soft thud.

"Who's the Gizka now?" She giggled. "I'm wondering how you can be so serious and then derail whatever was going on." He asked, stroking her face. She blinked at the affection and shifted under his weight.

"What do you mean?" She asked. She rested her arm around his neck and played with the hair that spiked from his forehead.

"I'll say something that might have bothered me for a split second and you seem very concerned, and then we forget whatever we were doing to fix it."

"I care about your feelings. It's strange though isn't it? A Jedi being empathetic?" She said, pulling on a stray strand of his hair.

"We never discuss what's bothering you to such lengths."

"What are you implying?" She asked.

"I'm implying I should stop mentioning things while we're doing something that's important." He kissed her and she laughed.

"Important?" She rolled on top of Carth and took an unrestricted breath. "Suffocating me ranks highly on your priority list huh?"

"Yes it does." He blinked at her and made a move to kiss her. She yawned. He sighed and pushed her off of him. She landed on the floor, looking startled.

"That was icy." She took a pillow and stayed on the floor.

"I only meant to get your exhausted carcass off mine." He peered at her from the bed. "You don't have to stay down there."

"I know." She made herself comfortable and shut her eyes.

"Saleairy-"

"My exhausted carcass is staying where it was tossed." She said.

"All right."

Moments passed where Saleairy dozed and Carth watched her, one arm over the side of the bed as the other propped his head up. She kept the knowing smile from her face and fell further into sleep. She was cutting the last threads to consciousness as seconds passed.

Carth dropped onto her from the bed.

"Ohh, Carth, that was, unexpected." She pushed him up and took a breath, letting him resettle.

"Should I be more careful? Do you need a fragile sticker?" He nuzzled her neck and collar. She giggled because his whiskers tickled her and she held his face still for a moment.

"You're frisky. Did someone spike your drinks?" She laughed as he smiled with a meek look of innocence.

"No, I've just been sleeping more lately." He touched her face and she caught his hand, running her fingers over his knuckles. "I'm the only one." She pushed him up so she could breathe for a moment without his weight pressing down on her and continued the conversations.

"I know babe. I'll be better. Are we leaving tomorrow?" Saleairy asked.

"Yes."

"I can sleep on the Hawk. The night sky here is gorgeous. Want to go onto the veranda to look?" She asked.

"You just want me off of you so you can breathe." She gasped as his belt buckle prodded her ribs.

"Maybe." He got up and pulled her up, keeping her hand in his and pulling her closer. She leaned on him and felt the ache in her ribs deepen.

The veranda stretched across all the rooms their friends stayed in but they stayed in their own section, leaning on the railing. Saleairy blinked at the shining orbs in the sky. Orbs wasn't a good word for them but she'd been taught that they were some legendary goddess' pearl necklace that was broken when she fled her world. The orbs remained to protect her people and give them hope for her return. Orbs stuck in a childish memory that wasn't real.

Carth held her tighter and she wondered if he could read her thoughts. She leaned back into him and shivered. The planet was very cold at night, despite spring quality weather. She wasn't the only one to notice; Carth held her tight at night and they stayed under the covers, bundled together like peas in a pod. Carth made the comparison when he awoke to find her burrowed into his frame, as close as possible without him noticing the entire night. She laughed and Carth squeezed her. He was too strong for his own good and his arm around her ribs made her wince.

"Peas in a pod? Where did you learn that?" Carth laughed and it made his chest rumble. Saleairy blinked at him.

"You've never heard that before?" Carth said with an incredulous air.

"No. It seems like a very archaic reference to me." She said.

"My mother taught it to me. She grew 'archaic' vegetables, peas, wherever we lived so I would grow up healthy," A weighted pause and he squeezed Saleairy. "and strong." She gasped as his grip loosened.

"Are you parents still-"

"Yes. They'll meet us in a few days. Dustil is waiting for us." Carth said.

"I know. We talked about that."

"I know. I'm just excited to see him again." Saleairy wondered how it would feel to have a child. She wondered how Carth felt about the child he fathered, raised, lost and found again. She wondered what parental instincts felt like. She'd only seen passing glimpses of family life and she wondered if Carth missed having a wife. He missed Dustil but Dustil was Carth's. A wife was different. A husband would be different.

"I am too." Her voice was timid and Carth loosened his grip. He felt her breathing against his chest and touched her face.

"Do you know what those four stars are Saleairy?" She looked to where he pointed. It was a strange shape and one star was the obvious point, brighter than the other three. Beside the pointed star was another star that seemed to hover in the shadows of the brightest. The other two were similar and farther away. They made an odd semi circle.

"Is this going to be a corny analogy?" She asked.

"Yes. That's supposed to be the family of stars. The parents." He pointed to the brighter stars. "The eldest child." He gestured to the brighter of the two small stars. "And a child yet to come." He turned her face to the faint star that hovered in the shadow of the appointed eldest child star. His hand touched her stomach and her stomach seemed to slide under his touch.

"Did your mom teach you that?" No teasing in her tone.

"My father did. Once when I was little, so I could teach my children, and once when I was a teenager to pick up chicks." Saleairy broke out laughing.

"Which version did I get?" Carth laughed and they started when Jolee hollered from further along the veranda.

"Hey love birds, keep it down! Some of us need more than pleasant company to have a good day." Saleairy smiled and Carth responded with an air of meekness.

"Sorry Jolee. I'm just trying to woo her."

"Well do us all a favor and keep the wooing to a quiet minimum indoors!" Jolee said as he returned to his room. "And don't flash that innocent 'I respect my elders' look either. I'm a Jedi, remember?" Saleairy laughed in silence, tears running from her eyes as she burrowed into Carth's chest. "And Saleairy, quit distracting the boy with stars. Distract him indoors!" Saleairy laughed as Jolee shut his door. As she chuckled, Carth took her arms and turned her so her back rested on the railing. She stood up taller so the rail wouldn't touch a large bruise on her back and stared at Carth. He pressed against her with an air of gentleness that was previously only expressed when he thought she was hurt. He held her around her waist and they leaned on the railing. His belt buckle poked her stomach as he bent to kiss her. As they kissed, she eased it from his belt and slid it through the railing. He heard the odd clank as it hit the cement lobby below them and sighed. She held his face close to hers and their foreheads touched; Carth had never seen her smile so close before.

"If the Republic spent the cred to have a real belt instead of a clip on buckle, it would've taken more effort on my part." She kissed him and tickled his jaw. "You'd think they'd invest some credits in your well being."

"I really doubt them considering my pants when investing in my well being." He mumbled. She smiled and he saw the fire behind her eyes.

"They should."