Mornings after the war against the Empire were different, more slower, and more prone to sleeping in than the usual wake up and get to work frenzy; even the mornings on Lira San were different. There was no briefings on trying to find the last of the Emperor's Moffs or high-ranking officials that were trying to hold onto the last dredges of power, no going around the galaxy trying to put out the last remaining embers of war, no helping the fledgling New Republic try to keep a grasp on the hopes that it was vastly superior than the Empire. All the mornings were now, and hope to continue to be, was a soft awakening to sunlight filtering in through the window, some morning sparring outside in the yard, a shower, and a nice, easy day where the worst thing that would happen was some wayward Lasat kit, or ten, would find their way to their porch and gather around and listen to stories about the skies above the planet.

And these mornings, the ones that were long since over due, were also supposed to be snuggling against one's mate but as Zeb rolled over onto his side, he found Alex's side completely empty. Patting the mattress with a hand, groaning in Basic and his mother tongue, Zeb opened his eyes to make sure that, yes, there was nothing there where there should've been a Human sleeping right beside him. It was barely after dawn, maybe an hour or so after the sun rose, and too early to be waking up when there was no need to; not even Chava had needed their assistance in one of the temples devoted to the Ashla that morning. The only things of importance that was on either one of their to-do lists, was getting some more food from the market and going to a couple of places in town that Zeb had wanted to show his mate around before the summer festivals started and there would be little time to be sight seeing. Standing up and stretching, Zeb scratched his chin as he made his way to the 'fresher for a quick shower and beard trimming before he would go look for Alex.

Usually he would find the Human sitting at the kitchen table, reading the morning news while drinking a cup of caf or tea, or was on their enclosed porch, looking out of the screened windows and into the distance, out in the openness that was considered their 'backyard'. One of the things Alex had commented on was the amount of wild space between the towns, cities, and other settlements, the type of nearly untamed wilderness that was rarely found on most planets in the galaxy. The kind that hadn't been screwed up by either the Empire, another invading species, or the current population; Zeb didn't tell him that all this space, especially the forests and grasslands, reminded him of Lasan. There was no need to voice that memory and Alex, in the few times that he saw Zeb's ears droop down when he was lost in thought like that, rubbed his arms and tried to keep him company long enough for the pain and sadness to slowly disappear. For while Zeb didn't need to vocalize what he was thinking, Alex knew that he was thinking of his home and needed to give his lover the comfort that he wished he didn't need to give.

By the time Zeb was done with the 'fresher, he was hungry for breakfast and something to keep him awake at this early hour. Lumbering into the living room, yawning as he scratched at the shirt he wore, Zeb looked around and found the door to the porch slightly open and a light breeze coming in. Alex was standing out there, hands clasped around a cup of tea – he rarely seemed to need caf this early in the morning – and still in his sleeping clothes, if the dark blue room was any indication he hadn't bothered to get dressed past brushing his teeth and combing out his now much longer hair. Zeb made a mental note, adding it to their to-do list for today, was getting him to a barber that didn't mind doing Human hair; they both had tried, and failed miserably, to keep Alex's head hair tame enough that it didn't get out of control. He could keep his facial hair perfectly, had done it for all the years he had spent in the ISB, but needed someone who could work on hair – or fur – better than either one of them could do. Neither one of them wanted a repeat of the last three attempts of doing hair, or fur, themselves.

Opening the door to accommodate his size, Zeb stepped out onto the porch and closed the door ever so slightly, Alex moving his head to the side just enough to acknowledge that he was no longer alone. Setting his cup down on the small, round table next to him – which was between two rocking chairs that faced the doorway of the porch – he leaned back as Zeb wrapped his arms around him, setting his chin on Alex's right shoulder as he held him tightly. It was nice to be able to hold him like this without a flight or fight response kicking in; during the first days they had been in a relationship, Alex had been more flighty about open displays of affection like this. It hadn't been that he didn't care about Zeb, but rather a mixture of his past guilt and a fear that he had fallen head over heels for someone outside his species. It took some time, and assurances from those outside the small circle of friends they had made, before he had become more comfortable with this show of affection. Now he craved it, even went as far as taking the first steps to a hug or even a quick kiss.

"Here you are," Zeb mumbled into Alex's ear, holding him even closer and giving said ear a quick kiss. "Couldn't sleep in again?"

"Something like that," he said, rubbing the Lasat's arms around him and holding his hands together over Zeb's. "What's the plan for today?"

"Always needing a plan, don't ya?" Zeb teased, now moving his face to kiss the back of Alex's neck.

"Always," Alex said softly, smiling wide at the effect the neck kisses were giving him, then frowned. It took Zeb a moment to realize that the other had suddenly stiffened, pulling back as Alex turned around and put his hands on Zeb's shoulders, moving his fingers along the lines of the shirt there. He hesitated to start caressing the Lasat's beard, as it would lead to them finding a reason to stay in bed for the rest of the morning. "I was restless, thinking about yesterday with the elders."

Ah, so that was why he hadn't been in bed when Zeb had woken up that morning, one of the few reasons why he – or anyone else the two of them knew – would be up, because they were thinking too much on something. When they first started bunking together, sometime around the six month mark of their relationship and only when the Ghosthad been docked at the Rebel base they were stationed at, either Alex or Zeb would wake up to find the other already up because duty called. More often than not Alex was the first one up, having already started a pot of caf for the rest of the crew and had long been gone from the ship before most of the others had been up. Sometimes it was because Zeb couldn't sleep because he was restless, sometimes it was because a nightmare kept them both up, or because Alex had to be pried from his work that he brought back to bed. But even though that there were now much fewer nightmares, and fewer reasons to be up at the crack of dawn, still there was little reason for him to fret. Especially over a few that could not accept that people do, in fact, change.

"Don't, it won't do you any good ya hear? Besides, you'll get into the 'need to prove yourself' mood whenever you think too much on it and you'll try to do something crazy." Pulling him back into the warmth of his embrace, Zeb held onto him with a comforting squeeze. What he didn't say that his lover would do something stupid to try and prove that he had changed, it would just lead to more sulking and more ways to ease the burden that he no longer needed to bare. "You've proved you've changed, that started when you began questioning things. It'll take some time for the elders to see what I see, but they'll come around like the rest of the town has. Just be patient, hmm?"

Alex nodded, resting his head on Zeb's chest right under his chin. "This feels good."

"It better," he said softly, rubbing the back of Alex's head. It was a small reassurance that his lover wouldn't brood over it too much at the moment, maybe not for the rest of the day, but it didn't mean it wouldn't come up sooner or later. "Now, lets get some breakfast. There's a few places in town that I want to take you."

XXXX

The first leg of their journey into the small village had gone simple enough, with Zeb leading Alex through the crowds of an indoor market and showing him the various wares the stalls had to offer. Most of the small tables and booths had clothes, wood carvings, and other assorted gadgets that the residents of the town made themselves, all of which were in designated sections of the building this market was housed in; the general wares were on one side, with food and other assorted baked goods in the other. The smells of bread, teas, and other such foods beckoned everyone over to that side, with hand-carved tables, chairs, and benches situated in the center of the building. There was even a place that was selling some sort of Lasat desert that Zeb claimed was the best desert he had tasted in years and once they got their shopping done for the day, would take Alex there to buy some of it to try. Maybe even get some of it for later in the day.

When they left the building, Alex felt hopeful for the first time in the last couple of days as he hadn't heard any despairing remarks towards him or to Zeb for bringing him here. While he learned most of the Lasat language during his time on Lasan, whatever blanks were filled with Zeb's help before the location of Lira San had even been revealed to him. He noticed that while most of the dialect was the same, some of words were vastly different from the two planets and he felt as though he needed to take care with his words until he – and to a lesser extent, Zeb – knew the difference and would mess up any more than he already had. He didn't need to offend anyone on this planet because he spoke a word that meant one thing on Lasan but had a completely different thing here on Lira San. Despite that worry and everything else he had been worrying about before, his step was lighter than it had been the day before and he felt that there was a chance he'd really be able to fit in here.

As they moved to walk towards their next destination, Alex felt something shove past him from behind and stumbled forwards, Zeb grabbing him him with his free hand so that he wouldn't fall flat on his face. Several of the surrounding Lasat glanced towards them just as Alex righted himself, glancing to the side just as three small kits – looking no older than seven or eight by Lasat years – ran past them and were pushing and shoving either other. Zeb took a step forwards and was about to shout something to the kits but only stopped when Alex put a hand on his shoulder; he turned slightly to Alex, who shook his head with a smile.

"Don't need to yell at them, they're just playing around. Besides, others have already said something to them," he said gently, nodding towards the now disappearing kits. Zeb looked back towards the rowdy kits, who were pushing past others in the crowd and many of the older Lasats had a few choice words that Alex had to smile at. A few had shook their hands towards the three, a couple of shouts were directed to the young kits, but there was no anger or annoyance in their voices, just a few sighs and shakes of their heads as things settled down once again. "Didn't we fight so that the kids could play like that without having to worry about bumping into the wrong person?"

"Yea, we did," Zeb grumbled, shaking his head as he slung an arm over Alex's shoulder and guided him towards the other shops on the street. Alex didn't need to remind him, or himself for that matter, that he had been the wrong person once, who would not have hesitated at some point to have done something worse than yell a few annoyed words at them. He inwardly shuddered at the thought of the man he used to be, of what he would've done just because a kid pushed past him in play, just to prove a point that no matter the age, everyone must be made an example of.

Oh how far he he come.