Kestra sat on the edge of Lee's bed and stroked his hair. She smiled when he stirred and opened his eyes to look at her.

"Morning," she said with a smirk.

"Mhmm, mrrning," he groaned as he rolled over and put his face down into the pillow. Kestra laughed as she crossed the room to get some coffee. "Give me some of that will ya," Lee said as he finally rolled over and sat up. Kestra brought him a cup and sat beside him. "What an angel."

"I do my best," she replied. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. She pulled away quickly. "Yuck!" He raised a brow. "Morning breath," she explained, "I'll have a kiss when you've brushed your teeth." Lee laughed as he got off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

"Yes ma'am," he said as he disappeared behind the door. Kestra smiled as she heard him loudly brushing his teeth, knowing that he was making a show of it for her sake. When he came back out he headed right for her and kissed her passionately. "All better," he murmured with his lips against hers. She smiled into the kiss and pulled him closer.

"Much better," she said when they finally broke apart. Lee grinned and turned back to get his uniform.

"You sure you have to leave today?" he asked as he changed.

"Yes," she said firmly, "we're starting an art project with the kids, and I want to be there."

"How long are you planning on working at the school with Laura?" Lee asked as he came back over to retrieve his coffee.

"I hadn't really thought about it long term, but I don't see any reason to stop now," she said. Lee nodded.

"And what if you had a reason?"

"What kind of reason?" she asked in a mocking voice. Lee took a deep breath and came to sit beside her on the bed.

"What if I asked you to spend more time on Pegasus?" he asked. Kestra sighed.

"Lee, you know I want to spend time with you, but aside from that there's no other reason for me to be up here," she explained.

"Is there anything I could do to change your mind?" he asked. Kestra shrugged and laughed.

"You'd have to make me a part of your crew and I don't think either of us want that," she joked. Lee didn't laugh, but instead he grew more serious. He grabbed her hand and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Kestra I don't want you to be a part of my crew. I want you to be my wife," he said seriously. Kestra's eyes widened.

"Lee… I," she stuttered, "what?" Lee smiled softly at her flustered reaction.

"I'm serious. I want you to marry me. I know I've made some mistakes, but we've worked through them. It's been long enough, and I think you know it's not because of Kara and Anders or anybody else. This is about you and me. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you," he said. Kestra smiled in spite of herself. She placed a hand on his cheek.

"I love you too," she said, and Lee smiled, "but… you know what I want." Lee's face fell and he squeezed her hand.

"How can I prove it to you?" he asked.

"Talk to Starbuck," she said evenly, "until you two work out this, whatever it is, I can't trust that you won't use her to do something stupid again." Lee sighed.

"It's not that simple. Starbuck doesn't want to talk to me," he said.

"And you don't want to talk to her, and that's why you have to. You both care about each other deeply and refuse to talk about this tension between you. I'm not willing to wait until it blows up in your faces, because if we're married it'll blow up in my face too," she said. Lee's eyebrows rose questioningly.

"So, if I work things out with Starbuck…" he let the end of his sentence taper off as he stared at her intently. Kestra couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face at his look.

"As long as you work things out with Starbuck, and still want to when the two of you are done, then… yes. I'll marry you," she said. A smile broke out across Lee's face and he wrapped her up in a hug before she could protest. Kestra laughed as she returned the hug.

"You mean it?" Lee asked in disbelief.

"Of course," she said as she cupped his face in her hands and looked at him seriously, "I wouldn't joke about this. I would have married you months ago if I was sure you weren't trying to make Starbuck jealous." Lee's face fell, and Kestra moved so that she was looking him in the eyes again. "I know you love me, Lee. You don't have to prove it. You just have to promise me that you're committed to us, no matter how bad things get or how much Starbuck gets under your skin. For better or worse and all that, right?"

"Right," he said as he leaned in for a kiss. Kestra reciprocated and the pair fell back onto the bed happily.