Miriah folded the last of the newborn clothing into the labeled bin on the closet shelf. She knew Akaavi and Risha thought her obsessive organization had gone too far, but when all she had to do was reach in the correctly labeled bin and take out what she wanted, they'd see she was right. She looked around the nursery, only three more months and he'd be here, she thought. Cor did a great job with the paint, it was exactly how she'd envisioned it. She snapped her fingers and started at a brisk walk toward the hangar holding the Stardancer, remembering the stash she left there from her last shopping trip on Nar Shadaa. It was there that Corso found her, looking fondly at what had been her home for so many years. He walked up to her and threw his arm around her shoulders, touching her head with his.
"I kinda miss her, don't you?" he said, inspecting the hull with his eyes. She gave him a quizzical look.
"You miss being on the ship? Really?"
"Of course I do, some of the best and most memorable times of my life happened aboard that ship," he grinned at her. "Hey! Let's take her up for a bit, I'm sure she's as bored as you have been lately."
She turned and froze him with look, "Are you presuming to know my mind again, Corso Riggs?" He took a few steps backward, putting up his hands in front of him, his eyes wide.
"Whoa, are you channeling my mom? That's exactly the tone of voice she would use when she thought I was planning some stunt that would get me hurt or in trouble. It's the Mom Voice!" She almost laughed, but didn't want him to think she was forgetting what he'd said, and kept her stare on him. "No, love, I just figured you might like some flying time, it's been a little while since you've been zero G." His voice was gentle, a deep toned drawl, one that melted her no matter how angry she was. He took her hand in his, and punched in the code to unlock the pressure sealed hatch with the other.
She had a little trouble with the ramp, its angle seeming steeper now that she was carrying so much weight in front of her. He helped her up and closed the hatch behind them. "I'll let Akaavi know what we're doing, so she doesn't worry when she sees us lift off." She nodded, and continued toward the bridge, where she started doing the preflight check. Corso joined her on the bridge and started his own preflight duties. This ship could be flown solo, she thought, but it was so much better when she had a copilot. She felt that familiar jolt of adrenaline when the preflight engines hummed, and she grinned at her husband across the navcomp.
Corso saw her grin and returned it, feeling a little excited himself. He recalled when he'd been aboard for the first time, when the woman he'd realized he was in love with had just put a blaster bolt in a thief's head, and it hadn't bothered him one bit. She'd sashayed up the ramp, slender hips twitching, and, turning to look at him over her shoulder, she'd winked. That was it, he thought, the moment he knew he'd found the one he was supposed to be with forever. He broke off his memory when he heard the overhead doors of the hangar whir and felt the ship rise gently off the floor. She was the best pilot he'd ever flown with, and even six months pregnant could fly circles around most. They glided up, up and into the clear sky, reaching orbit in minutes, and broke through to do barrel rolls around asteroids. Miriah's giggles were music he'd missed hearing. Not that she was unhappy, but that she was just enjoying being in the moment and not planning her son's first years.
When her arms were tired from wrestling the freighter, they returned to orbit Dantooine, just enjoying being isolated in the ship. She turned her shining eyes to him, grabbing his hand. "Such a great idea, sugar."
"So I'm forgiven for thinking I knew what you were thinking?" he grinned at her, loving the sheer joy he saw on her face.
"This time," she told him.
Magdalane's ship had just entered orbit around the same planet when she felt her sister's presence, her joy unmistakable. She smiled, telling Felix what she'd felt. "So, you can feel her pretty much anytime? Or just certain times?" he asked her.
"Yes, most of the time when we're both on Dantooine I have to block her, Miriah's a very…uh, passionate… person. It's usually strong emotion that I feel unless I intentionally look for something else." She grimaced, recalling one night before she'd blocked her that she'd been woken several times by Miriah's emotions. Felix laughed at her expression, and turned his attention back to getting their shuttle ready to take down.
Miriah had descended to low level flight, manually piloting her ship to their hangar. Akaavi looked up as she heard the scream of the engines overhead, and smiled. They touched down with barely a thump, and Miriah looked at her husband, still grinning. "This has been wonderful day, I think I'll keep you," she joked as she tugged on a dreadlock. He helped her get out of her captain's chair, supporting her lower back, which had started to get painful when she stayed in one position too long. He felt his son kick when she hugged him, loving the feeling of being touched by them both.
Akaavi met them as they came down the ramp with a hug for Miriah, and she pulled Corso aside as Miriah did a walkaround of the ship.
"The Jedi who claims to be her mother called, crying, wanting to make up," she told him, a look of disapproval on her face. Akaavi had trouble thinking of how cold Sarai had been to her own daughter when she was an infant and up until she was an adult. No mother could have treated her own child like that, was the Mandalorian's opinion. Corso nodded to her, and caught up with Miriah on the other side of the ship.
"Hey, Mir, hold on a second. 'Kaavi just told me that your mom called while we were up," he told her, trying to keep his voice even. She whirled around, a look of contempt on her face.
"She can keep calling, I'm not talking to her yet. She'll have to come up with a better explanation than 'I was upset you were keeping a secret' before she's welcome here."
Corso caught her in a hug, whispering to her, "Don't let it ruin your day, love." She nodded, he was right—they'd had a great time and she wouldn't let her mother spoil it. They walked up to the house, and slowly her good mood was restored. They relaxed in the swing, Miriah sitting against him, as the sun settled in the sky, and he figured it was another memory to hold onto.
Maura and Aric were coming off a mission that went bad, and they'd not yet figured out how to solve the problem. Aric was angry that he'd been on the ship when Maura was in danger, and instead of being loving and supportive, he was growling and snapping. This is not helping, she thought, not at all. She could hear him in the briefing room still, his "I'm the XO" voice in full force. She was sitting in medbay, Elara applying more kolto on her arm from an errant blaster round. The young medic glanced up into Maura's eyes, biting her lip, the look of worry on her face translating into her slightly shaking hands.
"Elara, what's wrong? This is a simple fix, it just singed me. Why are you so jumpy?" Maura was concerned, she didn't often see her squad's medic in anything but her calm and capable mode.
"I'm sorry, sir, I – I just have to confess, when the call came in about the aborted mission, I turned and bumped poor Colin's head on the edge of the holo." Elara's eyes were bright with unshed tears, and she turned away quickly to hide them.
Maura took her arm, "Don't worry about it, Elara, it was an accident. I'm sure he wasn't hurt…oh wait, did Aric yell at you? Is that what's got him so riled up?"
Elara nodded, and said, "He was upset you'd been hurt, that's all. He worries, the whole time you're gone, about something like that happening. I never get upset about it, because I know it comes from concern."
"You mean this happens regularly? And no one's told me?" Maura was very close to seeing red, and definitely ready to have a talk with her husband. She slid off the medbay cot and pulled her shirtsleeve down over the kolto patch.
She approached the briefing room and leaned on the hatch. "Lt. Jorgen, may I speak to you please." The tone was frosty, but the look was glacial. Aric wondered briefly if he should put his armor on first, he knew Maura was pissed off. Hell, he thought, I'm pissed off too, so let's go. He rounded the corner to their quarters, where she was standing very still.
"Close the door, "she snapped at him, and waited for him to comply. When he did, he turned toward her, expecting to get yelled at. Instead, she just looked at him for a minute. When she did speak, it was in a measured tone that belied the emotion underneath. "I don't know how to fix this, Aric. One of us has to be on missions, one of us here. We can be as careful as possible, but there's always a risk that one of us won't make it back. Today, it could've been me, but it also could have easily been you. So, my question is, what do we do?" She turned her back to him in order to blink away the moisture in her eyes.
He stood there, silent. He looked at his beloved, knowing she was speaking the truth, but not having any brilliant solutions for them. She turned back to him, "Regardless, it had nothing to do with Elara, and you shouldn't have yelled at her." He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. She was right, he thought, and I need to fix it. That, at least, he could do.
She closed the distance to him, stood nose to nose. Well, nose to chin, she thought. When he gently touched her face, the tears she'd been holding back betrayed her, and he held her close, murmuring to her, "It's okay, honey, I'll fix it. Shhh."
"What are we going to do, Aric?"
"I don't know, but we'll figure something out. And I'm sorry, sweetheart, I just worry about you when you're out there without me." She hugged him, nodding.
"I worry about you, too," she sniffed. He wiped the tears from her face with his thumb, and put his hand close to the door panel.
"Ready?" She nodded, and tried not to laugh when everyone on the crew was standing in the hallway.