Vignette Two (4 days later in the mountains of Zaria)

Over the Mountain

The lush, vibrant planet of Zaria lay deep in the Unknown Regions and was controlled by the Chiss. The remote, virtually uninhabited planet was nearly completely covered by temperate and rain forests. The terrain was of steep volcanic mountains and deep valley lakes. The planetary system that it was part of was relatively new, only a few billions or so years old which meant the planet was still changing. There were no sentient life forms native to Zaria, but the Chiss had been on planet for about a hundred years building a resort and vacation economy besides the harvesting of the large hard woods that were so abundant. The animal life of the planet consisted of large, lumbering amphibians in the marshlands and mammals of all shapes and sizes, but the most interesting of the animals were the beautiful and colorful birds that made their homes in the tall ferntrees.

Jag and Shawnkyr had landed their ship at the resort landing pad that was situated at the base of Mount Glorious and on the shore of a valley deep water lake. There they acquired the needed equipment and supplies for the twelve day round trip up the mountain and down again. Mount Glorious was well known for its beautiful trails and the spectacular view of the lake below and the surrounding mountains from the lopsided ancient volcanic crater near the top. It wasn't the tallest mountain or even the most challenging to climb, but in Jag's opinion it was the most breathtaking.

He and Shawnkyr were well beyond the half way point of the trail when it came to an abrupt end as the mountain side, which had been a fairly easy hike, became a shear rock ledge. Jag watched her come up beside him and he smiled when he saw that she was breathing heavy. She was in excellent shape but she never had the stamina he did when it came to this sort of thing. He knew she enjoyed the challenge climbing the mountain presented but he couldn't help but wonder if she would have gone hiking up the mountain side if someone else had asked her.

She swallowed and put her hands on her hips as she stared up the side of the cliff. Then she turned to him in disbelief and asked in the crisp and formal language of the Chiss, "You are not pondering climbing that yet today, are you?"

His smile broadened and he responded lightly also in Chuenh that was as much his as it was hers, "Why, Kyrn, are you tiring?"

She looked up at the deep blue of the sky that had opened up as the tall trees thinned when the side became steeper and rockier. Then she shook her head and countered, still looking at the sky, "No, if you choose to go up I will follow, but the lateness of the day concerns me. There is a lot of shadow now and the hand and foot holds will not be as easy to see especially near the top."

Jag watched her as she turned her face upward and he felt his heart skip a beat. Shawnkyr wouldn't be considered beautiful in the sense Jaina Solo or his mother had been considered beautiful. She was taller and lankier than most human females; in fact, she was a few centimeters taller than Jag himself. Her face was more angular, more sculpted with a jaw line that was squarish. But she did possess an exoticness that Jag found very attractive. However, her physical appearance as he saw it wasn't the only thing he found beautiful, he loved her character. Actually, over the past five years he came to find Shawnkyr to be more beautiful than Jaina Solo ever was to him, because unlike Jaina, Kyrn was unassuming, not selfish and definitely not self absorbed as Jaina had a tendency to be.

Jag often wondered when he fell in love with his best friend, and he could never pin point a particular moment when it happened. He hadn't wanted it to happen and at first he was terrified that he could even be thinking of Kyrn in a light other than friendship. But she was always there when he needed someone. There were things she knew about him that no one else ever would, his secret fears and what she called his idealistic dreams. But then she wasn't of the typical Chiss thinking either. She wasn't completely against opening up to the GFFA, and she wasn't as prejudiced against other species as other Chiss were. No, she wasn't completely open-minded, but she could see value in anyone.

But if Jag had to give a date and time when his love of her as a friend turned into something more, it had to have started when he returned from Known Space and she helped him find value in himself again after Jaina Solo broke his heart. And it probably began with her only statement against Jaina Solo, but it wasn't what she said about Jaina that struck him, it was what she was saying about him, "Tako, she never deserved you. Even I could see that she never gave herself completely to you, as you humans are so fond of saying. You are a good man, Jag, and deserve someone who will love you for who you are and not want to change you to fit what they feel you should be."

As Shawnkyr turned to look at him again, he swallowed his reverie and quickly turned his attention to the steep cliff that reached a good twenty or thirty meters above them. After getting his feelings back under control, he faced her and smiled, "Okay, Ailen Mel, you win. We will camp here tonight." He paused and as he caught the slight smile of victory that played at the corners of her lips he went on to add, "But, we get up at day break and climb that cliff. The sun will be gleaming brightly on the rock face, so, you should have no problem seeing."

Jag shrugged off the backpack and dropped it near a large tree trunk a meter or so away from the trail. Shawnkyr followed suit and dropped her pack next to his.

Then after standing, she smiled at him and with a mischievous gleam to her red eyes she said, "I was concerned for you, Tako. I would not want you to fall from lack of light. It would have proven very embarrassing if I had to carry you down the mountain. I'm sure Cem and Wyn would never let you live that one down."

Jag laughed as he began to pull supplies out of his pack. "Yes, but weren't you really more concerned that I would have fallen on you since you would have been tethered to me. And I believe Cem and Wyn wouldn't have let you live that down."

"Yes, I will admit you are the better climber than I, but I would have made sure not to be tethered to you until you reached the top." She began to pull items out of her pack and then waved a protein bar before Jag then added, changing the subject slightly, "You may want to limit what you are thinking of telling your siblings, for I carry the food and I will determine how much I share with you." She laughed lightly at his expression of mock shock, and continued, "I know what a hardship not having enough to eat would prove to be for you."

Jag laughed. It had always been a running joke between them about the amount of food Jag could eat. He held up his arms in defeat and said, "Okay, okay, Kyrn, you win." She only continued to smile.

Moments later Jag watched Shawnkyr as she gathered leaves and bark to build a fire. Suddenly, he remembered the first time she called him Tako,when they were students at the military academy, and he asked, "Do you remember why you started calling me Tako?"

She stopped what she was doing and turned to him, amusement still playing across her face. "Yes, and I believe it had something to do with the amount of food you consumed but yet you never seemed to get taller. I said that you were like a shrub that would never become a tree no matter how much one fertilized it."

Jag shook his head and smiled, "I hated it when you started calling Tako." Which simply meant shrub.

"Well, I did not exactly like being called Ailen Mel, either," she said as the fire started and then she sat down beside him. "I could not help that I could out swim you." Ailen Mel was the name for a fast swimming fish on Csilla that often eluded fisherman but were delicious to eat. She was quiet a moment and looked up at him than quietly said, "But, I hope you never tire of calling me that."

Jag stared at her. Her quiet words touched his heart, "And I hope I never stop being your shrub."

They were quiet then as they finished setting up their camp under the ferntree. They finished their meal of protein bars and fruit paste as the first stars began to twinkle to life in the darkening sky. The talked about their families and about the current crisis. They valued each others thoughts and opinions but they didn't always agree. However, they respected each others ideas. Finally, they sat back against the tree trunk and became lost in the stars, wondering just how many of them they had been to. They found peace in the simple fire light, the night song of the mountain and each others quiet company.

XXXX

Two days later brought them to the old volcanic crater that seemed to take a bite out of the very top and side of the mountain. The crater was ancient and since had become nothing more than an oddly shaped plateau before the very jagged top of bare rock that made up the peek of the mountain. The plateau was covered with tall grasses, ferns, wildflowers of many brilliant colors, and a scattering of ferntree groves. They made their way over the plain to where a brook meandered across it. The stream's beginnings being at the very top of the mountain and by the time the brook reached the lake below it became a river. They were near the edge of the crater and the view truly was breathtaking of the lake below and the surrounding mountains.

Jag and Shawnkyr stood together just pondering the majesty of it all for several long moments. The sun was warm and they actually loved to camp near the brook because not only did it provide fresh water, but it also contained a relatively deep pool created when some furred water mammals used trees to damn the flow. Within the tangle of branches and tree trunks they made their nests. In the resulting pool of clear mountain water Jag and Shawnkyr loved to go swimming.

Finally, they went about setting up their camp that would be their home for the next three days. After Shawnkyr put the finishing touches to the pop shelter they used to sleep in, she turned to find Jag staring at her. He quickly diverted his gaze to look out over the mountain, but she knew the truth. It wasn't the first time in the past five days they had been climbing the mountain either, or for that matter, the first time in the past five years. She suddenly shuddered as her father's words came back to her, but not because she felt the need to heed his warning. No, Shawnkyr shuddered for completely the opposite reason, Jag's attention thrilled her.

The thought that Jag could feel more than friendship for her caused a forbidden delight in Shawnkyr's soul. She knew they should never act on those feelings. Or even admit them to each other, but the primal being in her, that last bit of humanity that was left after millennia of separate evolution, rejoiced that he could find her not only attractive but possibly desirable.

She smiled at him and said, "It is a perfect time for that swim, Tako. The water should be delightful after the last two days of trudging up those cliffs." The day was warm and suddenly so was she.

He grinned, raising his scarred eyebrow as he said, "I think you are right. The water should be perfect. Why don't you change first?"

She nodded and grabbed the swimming suit from her pack and ducked into the shelter. Moments later she emerged wearing a dark blue swim suite. She secretly watched him as he pretended not to look her over and she wondered if she would have the power to resist Jag if you did make an inappropriate suggestion to her.

Jag smiled at her as he too ducked into the shelter but as he did Shawnkyr was certain she saw a twinkle in his light green eyes that she had never seen there before. And suddenly, she began to think that being so scantily clothed may not be the wisest of ideas.

As Jag changed, she moved through the grove of trees to the edge of the pool. She watched the small silver fish as they darted back and forth and was startled when she heard the rustling of Jag coming through the tall vegetation. She turned to find him coming toward her, a small smile played at the corners of his lips and the sun played at dappling his muscular bare shoulders and chest in sun and shade. She watched the way his body moved as he picked his way through the ferns and wild flowers that made up the floor of the grove and suddenly felt a fire grow in the pit of her being.

She wanted to turn away, and she was momentarily appalled that she could be affected by him so easily. She had seen Jag shirtless or near shirtless countless times but she never felt this feeling of wanton desire for him as she felt now. She wanted to touch him, she wanted to feel the sensation that the sprinkling of black curling hair on his tan chest would elicit as she ran her hand over it.

Jag must have noticed her expression because he gazed at her questioningly as he came to stand beside her. She lifted her red eyes to meet his green and there was no hiding the rush of pure emotion, pure desire that ran through her.

The Chiss prided themselves for their emotional control, their detachment to what they considered base primitive passion. However, they were not impassionate nor did they not love and desire; they only controlled those emotions and rarely allowed them to show except when it was considered socially appropriate and never in public. There were passionate marriages among the Chiss, but they were few. The Chiss did not marry for love, they married for alliance and children were expected but how those came about was never something that was discussed.

However, as Shawnkyr stood there mere centimeters from the man she loved, the man she would risk every thing for and the man she would be willing to die for, her control broke. She slowly lifted a trembling hand and gingerly slid it up across Jag's chest and she gasped at he feel of him against her palm.

X

Jag watched her as she lifted her hand to lay it on his chest. The touch was as gentle as a feather but it caused his breath to catch. Her boldness surprised him but it thrilled him causing his own well controlled desire to flare. As she moved her hand upward over the hair that sprinkled his chest, he shuddered.

"Shawnkyr," he huskily whispered as he gazed into her glowing eyes. But that was enough to break the trance she was under. She quickly pulled her hand away and turned away from him. At first, Jag thought it was because she found him repulsive. The Chiss did not have course hair like humans, their hair was soft and fine and rarely did they possess body hair. However, he quickly dismissed that thought when he saw her swallow hard and that her pulse at her throat had quickened. He realized it wasn't him that frightened her, it was her desire.

And that thought made his head spin.

She whispered after a moment, her voice shaky, "I—I'm sorry." She swallowed again and tried to add as she turned her eyes back to him, "I should never…"

She never finished the thought, Jag pulled her to him and for a moment they stood toe to toe staring into each others eyes. Then he let his hands slide up her bare arms to snake around her neck. He slowly pulled the pins that held her hair in its usual tight bun at the base of her neck. She closed her eyes and slowly shook out the long, feather soft tresses of her blue, black hair, allowing it to cascade over her shoulders and down her back. It was such a simple famine move, such an erotic motion that Jag groaned, entwined his fingers into that beautiful hair and pulled her down to meet his mouth.

The kiss was gentle at first but as she filled his senses with her petal soft lips and the gentle touch of her hands on his chest, he deepened it. The passion they shared in that simple kiss was mesmerizing and when she moaned her surrender to him, Jag was lost. The need for air finally broke the kiss and he pulled away to watch as she opened her eyes. He waited for her to say something but instead she moved her arms around him. Jag's heart raced and he relished the feel of her tentative caress across his back. He kissed her again and this time the kiss was fierce in its need. He broke the kiss and slowly slid his lips over her jaw line and down her neck. She threw back her head and moaned.

He wanted her. In that moment nothing else mattered, not the fact their love was forbidden, not the fact that he was human and she Chiss, and not the fact that their friendship would be forever changed. None of that mattered because in that moment, Jag had never loved her more.

He pulled her down onto the soft moss covered bank of the brook and continued to explore her as he slid the bathing suit off her willowy form, kissing her pale blue, soft skin. He left not a centimeter of her untouched; he gave attention to her breast and her flat abdomen. She moaned as his fingers found her womanhood and he caressed her to a near frenzy.

She caressed his back and chest, her touch timid, unsure. Her kisses were gentle and yet passionate. He knew she had never been with any one else because it was not the Chiss way. Sex wasn't considered sacred; it just wasn't considered appropriate behavior outside of marriage to the Chiss. And knowing he would be her first made him ecstatic.

He finally moved over her, never taking his gaze from hers. Her breathing was as ragged as his and she moaned as he gently lowered himself. He felt the bite of her nails on his back which caused him to groan as he joined with her. He kissed her, ravaging her mouth, relishing the sweet, spicy flavor of her. Then he whispered hoarsely into her ear as he gave her a moment to get used to him and then he began to move ever so gently, "I love you, Ailen Mel."

"Tako—Oh, Jag—" She moaned and held onto him as he took her over the edge of the mountain on the tide of their passion.

X

They lay together, wrapped in each others arms as they let their breathing and heart rates slow. Neither of them said anything. They simply enjoyed the pleasure that they found in each others arms. He stroked her hair, relishing in its softness, its lightness. He had never felt anything so exhilarating.

Finally, he softly asked, "I did not hurt you, did I, Ailen Mel?"

She turned within his arms, lifting her head from his shoulder where she had been resting. She met his eyes and she reached out to stroke his cheek, then she shyly smiled and said, "No, Tako, you did not hurt me. I never felt such pleasure before. But, I should ask if I caused you discomfort."

Jag smiled at her innocent question which he was sure referred to the deep scratches her nails caused on his back and shoulders, "No, my love, you did not hurt me."

She laid her head back down and Jag suddenly felt unsure. He knew he loved her without question. But she had not declared her love to him. He was sure she did, for, she would never have allowed herself to have been so compromised if she did not. He knew it was the human nature in him that needed her to say the words. To a Chiss actions always spoke louder than words but humans needed to hear the words as well and often believed the words over the actions.

And it was his human nature to say the words to her, which spurred him to speak, his voice full of the emotion he felt, "Shawnkyr." At her name she moved to look down at him again, her hair spilling around her face and over his chest. He caught his breath, because he had never seen her look so beautiful. He reached up and gently tucked a wayward lock behind her ear. Then he said, "Shawnkyr, I never thought I could love any one as much as I do you." When she opened her mouth as if she was to protest his words, he softly touched his fingers to her red, passion swollen lips, "Please, Ailen Mel, allow me this one bit of human weakness. I need to tell you this. I need you to know what you mean to me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and would do any thing for you."

"Oh, Tako," she hoarsely whispered, "you cannot mean these things. I should never have been weak and let myself be carried away on my emotions. We can never be more than what we were. It would ruin you if the Ascendancy disapproved of our relationship and since we have no way of knowing what they would think, it can never be discovered." She paused and with her own trembling hand she stroked his face and the hair at his temple. Then she went on, her words and her openness surprising him, "Jagged, I do hold you in the highest of regards. I would do anything or go anywhere for you. I would fight to my dieing breath to keep you from harm and I would never do anything to bring you harm or shame. If that is not love then I do not know what could be. But that is also why I will not allow you to destroy your chance at success because of your feelings for me. "

As she made to get up Jag stopped her, holding her tightly against him instead. His voice edged with a sudden urgency as he pleaded, "Then let us have this. Let us have this time on the mountain. We will decide what to do for the future when we return to Csilla."

Shawnkyr's answer was to wrap herself again around his body. Pale blue next to deep tan, they lay together under the dappled mid-day sun listening to the bird song, the chirping of insects and the bubbling of the brook in the beautiful wilderness of the Zarian mountain called Glorious, where the only thing that really mattered was their love.

To be Continued...