Disclaimer: I don't own it; it belongs to George Lucas, yada, yada, yada.

Aurora ducked out of the little hut and headed into the dark swamp. Without even thinking about it, she turned to the right and headed toward the clearing where Luke's X-Wing now rested. She knew she'd find him there. He'd been industriously cleaning the ship most of the evening; to the point that he'd even skipped the evening meal. Not that she blamed him. A powerful Jedi Master Yoda might be, but he was no cook.

But she knew that cleaning the debris left from the fighter's swamp water immersion wasn't Luke's primary purpose. He was avoiding Master Yoda because of his failure today with the ship. He was upset with himself; she'd seen it on his face when Master Yoda had turned away from him. So he was punishing himself by working relentlessly when she knew he was already exhausted. She gave an inward sigh. Luke was harder on himself than anyone she knew. He constantly drove himself to be the best; not out of any desire for acclaim or recognition, but simply because he needed to be. She had a feeling that he believed if he was the best pilot and Jedi in the galaxy, then he could save everyone he cared about. The way he hadn't been able to save his aunt and uncle.

Sure enough, as she came into the clearing she could see Luke kneeling on the wing strut swabbing intensely at the housing for the proton torpedoes, his face set in a ferocious scowl. However, since the rag he was using was black with mud and filth, he wasn't making much progress.

Aurora sighed, feeling her heart turn over a little in her chest. His disappointment in himself was palpable.

"Hey." She said as she approached the ship.

Luke looked up briefly. "Hey."

"It looks a lot better." She glanced at the ship, desperately searching for something to say. "Did it start up okay?"

"I haven't tried yet." Luke responded bleakly. "I thought I'd better get all the debris off it first, so that nothing gets caught in the engines." He continued to swipe half-heartedly at the muck.

"Oh." Aurora nodded. "Probably a good idea." She tugged on the end of her braid, uncertain how to deal with the awkwardness that had sprung up between them.

Suddenly, she heard Luke sigh above her and then a quiet, "Sorry."

She glanced up to see him looking down at her uncomfortably. "I guess I'm still in a bad mood because of earlier."

Aurora bit her lip. "I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but I don't really think Master Yoda intended you to succeed."

She shrugged when he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"He looked really surprised when the X-wing started to come out of the water, and then more resigned than disappointed when you couldn't bring it all the way out. I think you had more strength than he realized, despite what he said."

Luke looked thoughtful for a moment, his hand idly squeezing the dirty rag. "So it was another test?"

Aurora snorted. "What isn't?"

"Good point." His mood considerably lightened, Luke continued to wipe at the ship, moving to reach the underside of the proton launcher. "If he didn't expect me to succeed, then he wanted to see how I'd deal with failure." Pondering this, he grinned ruefully. "Guess I didn't handle that very well either."

"Oh, Luke -."

He waved one hand at her. "No, it's okay. I'm not going to start brooding again. I can deal with this. I just have to realize that mistakes are okay; that's how we learn. I guess it was just the idea that I was so far from where Master Yoda expected me to be that set me off. I felt like a complete failure."

"Not to mention being completely exhausted and stressed." Aurora felt compelled to add, sitting down on a nearby rock.

Luke tossed her another grin. "Nah. After all this time with the Rebellion, I'm used to that."

"Hm." Aurora said, nodding her head in agreement. "Is it completely sad that I feel uncomfortable when I'm not stressed out and tired?"

Luke, in the process of trying to reach under the launcher, burst out laughing. Unfortunately, his position was already precarious and his arms more tired than he had realized. He suddenly found himself lying flat on his back in the mud under the wing, desperately trying to draw air into his lungs.

"Luke!"

Aurora dropped to her knees in the mud next to him. "Don't move! Where does it hurt?"

Her hands were moving over him carefully, searching for broken bones.

Luke wheezed out a breath. "I'm fine." He tried to sit up, but her hands on his chest kept him from moving. "I just. Knocked. My breath out."

She gave him a considering look, but continued to search for injuries. Luke lay back patiently. As he got his breathing under control, he couldn't help but enjoy the feel of her hands moving over his body.

After a moment, Aurora sat back on heels. "I don't feel anything broken. I guess you're okay."

Discovering that the soft mud was actually rather comfortable under his exhausted body, Luke casually stacked his hands behind his head. "I told you, I'm fine. Everything works just perfectly."

Aurora gave him a dirty look. "Except for your head. What were you thinking?"

"I slipped." He smiled at her. "Besides, it was your fault. I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't made me laugh."

"You wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't been working yourself way beyond exhaustion." She retorted, but without rancor. Her heart had finally slowed down from the frantic gallop it had experienced when he had first fallen. In the wake of the adrenalin surge, her body felt tired and a little shaky, and it was almost pleasant to sit here in the mud and the darkness. Idly, she glanced down at her companion, seeing him up close for the first time since she had entered the clearing.

"Wow, Skywalker. You are a mess." She decided after considering his disheveled appearance for a moment.

Luke scowled good-naturedly and swiped at his face, but since his hands were equally filthy, he only succeeded in leaving another streak of mud across his cheek and forehead.

"Oh, yeah. That helped." Aurora decided. She shook her head despairingly. "I think you're going to need a complete ground crew before you're clean again."

"Gee, Commander. Are you offering to give me a bath?" He asked cheekily.

She snorted. "In your dreams, Skywalker."

"Oh, yes." He breathed. "Definitely."

"Pervert."

Luke grinned at her. "If you think that's perverse, you should hear about the one where-."

Aurora lifted one hand. "I really don't want to know about your prurient fantasies." She shifted so that she was sitting cross-legged next to him.

"Fine." Luke removed one hand from under his head and waved it airily in front of him. "We don't have to discuss my fantasies. We can talk about yours instead. Especially the ones that involve me."

She turned her head slightly to look at him, one eyebrow raised. "And what makes you think you feature anywhere in my fantasies?"

Lifting his head, he spread his arms wide; indicating his sweaty, mud and slime covered self. "Come on, Aurora. How could I not?"

She tried to hold back the laugh, but it burst out anyway. "Mmm. You're absolutely right. I can't imagine how I've managed to resist you for so long."

Luke nodded sagely. "You know, that's a question I ask myself nearly every day."

Still smiling, she regarded him carefully. "You know, I think you've now moved beyond exhaustion. You're so tired you're becoming punchy."

He laid his head back down and closed his eyes. "It's entirely possible." Now that he was finally prone, his body was making him aware of exactly how tired he was. His head was swimming slightly and a strange sort of giddiness seemed to have set in. "I think I'll just stay here tonight."

"Here?' She looked around at the dark swamp. "In the mud?"

He didn't bother to open his eyes when he replied. "Why not? As you so nicely pointed out, I'm already a mess; I'm tired, and I really don't feel like walking back to Yoda's hut."

"What if it rains?"

"Then I'll get wet." A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "At least I'll be clean."

He heard Aurora's soft snort of reluctant amusement as she stood up. "Come on. I'll give you a hand up and make sure you don't fall into the swamp."

He opened one eye. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm staying here tonight. I can't spend one more night curled into a ball in Yoda's hut."

"You're not serious!" She was looking down at him with disbelief. "What if some predator comes along?"

"Have you seen any since we've been here? Other than Artoo's swamp monster, of course, and that was in the water." He closed his eye again.

"Just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean they're not here." She was still standing above him stiffly, staring down at him. As she heard the words leave her mouth, she berated herself internally. She sounded all prim and proper. Dammit, she sounded like Leia!

"Then maybe you should stay and protect me." There was a stunned silence above him. Luke held his breath in anticipation, waiting to see how she'd react. He'd manage to make the question sound casual, disguising the honest desire behind it. But everything in him was tensed in expectation, waiting to hear what she'd say. Hope started to rise when she didn't issue an immediate denial. Was she actually considering sleeping here with him? He cursed his muddy, exhausted state. Finally he heard her draw a deep breath.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? Don't you trust me?" His mouth curled in that slightly naughty smile he was capable of occasionally. "I promise your virtue is completely safe. I'm way too tired to try anything." The yawn that followed was only half-faked. Keeping his eyes still mostly closed, Luke watched her through his lashes. Her face was a study in indecision. He felt a surge of triumph. She was actually considering it! He wasn't even certain why he was pushing so hard for this right now, because truthfully, he was exhausted. Not to mention dirty and probably smelly, and nothing could be further from the idea of romance he had in his head then a night spent in the mud. He wasn't even planning on anything happening tonight. But still…To have her willingly spend the night with him. To lie all night next to her, feeling her warmth next to his body, and inhaling that wonderful scent that was her's alone. To get her to finally admit, even intangibly that there was something more between them than just friendship.

Aurora bit her lip in indecision. Spend the night here, with him? Really not a good idea. She trusted Luke, she really did. But after her abrupt realizations by the water, she didn't entirely trust herself. Because truthfully, he looked far too appealing right now; even covered in mud. Still, she let her mind dwell for the moment on the idea of sleeping next to him all night, however innocently. This could be her only chance to ever spend the night with him. He wasn't proposing a night of wild sex or even any cuddling. Just sleep. The idea was wonderfully appealing. It had been a very long time since she had experienced the comfort of another's presence and warmth next to her while she slept. There was something extremely alluring about the concept, especially if it was Luke.

Luke's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Of course, you're probably right. It's not really a good idea. I doubt Leia would consider this proper behavior."

Her gaze snapped down to his abruptly. His eyes were open now and she could see them glinting in the light from the moon that was actually visible for once. Her mouth opened in an immediate denial that the idea of propriety had even entered her mind, before she realized that the gleam she could see in those blue eyes was amusement.

"Oh, that was low, Skywalker."

The smile he'd been trying to suppress suddenly escaped. "But so effective."

She growled something under her breath and stomped off. Luke felt a tinge of worry enter his mind. Had that last one been too obviously manipulative? But before he could begin to feel too disappointed, she was back, carrying something in her arms. Irritation marking her movements, with a few quick snaps of her arms, she had a thermal blanket laid out on the ground and was tossing another one down on top of it. She'd obviously cadged them from the storage compartment of his X-wing. Luke watched silently as she sat down and tugged her boots off and then her jacket; bundling the latter up ruthlessly to use as a pillow.

Catching his eye, she shrugged indifferently. "I refuse to sleep in the mud."

"Of course." Luke continued to watch as she slipped between the two blankets. He cleared his throat self-consciously. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to share?"

Her head resting comfortably on the makeshift pillow, she raised one eyebrow. "You were the one who wanted to sleep in the mud, remember?"

"Those are the blankets from my X-wing, remember?"

"True." She appeared to be considering the point, then with a heavy, put-upon sigh, she tossed back one corner of the blanket. "Get in."

Luke wasted no time in pulling off his boots and his own jacket, before sliding in next to her. The blanket was rather small, so he was forced to lie somewhat close to her. For warmth, he assured himself. Still, the feel of her body stretched along the length of his felt glorious.

She was lying on her side, facing away from him, so he couldn't see her face, but he could tell by the tenseness of her body that she wasn't asleep yet.

After a moment she spoke again. "This could be a problem, you know."

Luke felt his stomach clench, but he kept his voice casual. "How so?"

"Well, after this, we can no longer honestly deny all those rumors about us sleeping together."

"I don't think this is quite what they meant." He said wryly.

"Still."

There was another moment of silence and his eyes were starting to drift shut, when her voice came out of the dark again. "Aren't there regulations about sleeping with your commanding officer?"

"I'll override them for you."

"I don't think that's possible considering you're the commanding officer in question."

"I'll think of something."

She could hear the drowsiness in his voice, and after a few minutes, his breathing evened out into sleep.

Aurora felt herself relaxing. The heat from his body was welcome as the air temperature was getting noticeably cooler. His slow, even breaths gently stirred the hair at the nape of her neck. Almost against her will, her eyes began to close. Her last thought before sleep overtook her was that sleeping next to Luke somehow felt right.

It was sometime later that a slightly irritated Jedi Master hobbled into the clearing in search of his errant students. Catching sight of the pair sleeping on the ground, he paused for a moment, considering this turn of events. Luke had curled closer to Aurora in his sleep, his arm curving around her waist and both were sleeping peacefully, the lines of exhaustion and strain smoothed away.

"Hmm. Not good this. Not good." Yoda whispered to himself. But after a long, thoughtful silence, he turned and walked away, leaving his two students undisturbed.