Last time: Kait gives Oppie her heart.

Now: Sasha and Viran spend some time alone.

Chapter 8- Alone Time

Viran tightened the bolt on the panel he was closing up on the Forerunner as he finished up another set of upgrades. This time he had updated the navicomputers and consoles inside the cockpit with new switches and buttons as some of the old ones had degraded over time, and occasionally would get stuck when he was trying to use them while flying. In the past, he had just oiled them down as a temporary fix. But when they returned from their brief pit stop at Mandalore, he accidentally hit one of the buttons a little too hard and busted it. After that, he scoured the holonet and various ship parts sites to order the new buttons and switches. And an upgrade or two to the navicomputer since he had to open it up anyway. They had just arrived this morning after Oppie and Kait had taken off, so Viran had been in the Forerunner the entire day swapping the parts out.

Stepping back, Viran wiped the sweat that was falling down his face with his rag as he looked at the consoles with a smile. They all looked so shiny and new. He delicately ran his fingers over the new buttons and switches feeling the slick plastic and metal that came with something fresh out of the box. After a moment he started to press them, booting up the ship. Immediately, they didn't get stuck in place as the ship started and that made him relieved. Flipping a couple of the new switches, he put the ship in half power mode which shut off the engines and the main power, but kept the basic life support systems on which included air conditioner and lights. He sighed as the air started blowing on him, cooling him off.

That was the only issue with replacing the consoles, or any in ship wiring, was that he had to have all power off or he would fry himself. Which meant no air flow. And the last thing he wanted was to stumble into the house, crisped from the ship zapping him, and having Sasha give him the 'I told you so' look she gave whenever he wasn't being careful before patching him up. Plus if that happened, that would mean another potential week of him rebooting the Forerunner….again. And he always hated doing that as it always took so long.

The last time that happened they were trying to run from the Empire to head for another planet and he had been in the middle of repairs when the alert went out that they were leaving. He wasn't thinking and immediately went into panic mode trying to get the ship ready to fly. Not only did he fry his fingers, but he also short circuited the whole ship causing it to shut down. They spent an extra week in hiding and avoiding town while Viran fixed the ship. Then they had to leave without being caught and that was a whole other problem that they somehow managed to avoid.

Viran ran the rag over his face one more time before he started to clean up the mess he had made in the cockpit. He gathered the old switches and buttons, and placed them into the box that the new ones came in. He then packed up his tool kit, the head lamp he had been using, and the portable fan that left much to be desired when it came to air conditioning. He then turned off the ship after a few moments letting everything power down. As soon as everything was packed up and put away, he walked into the passenger compartment of the ship and over to the small refresher. He cleaned off his grease covered hands in the small sink. Glancing up into the refresher mirror, he noticed that his shirt was covered in sweat, oil and grease stains that were just large enough and thick enough that they were causing his shirt to stick to him.

Wiping his hands on the towel in there, he then reached down and pulled his gross shirt up and over his head. As soon as it was off, he looked himself over to see that in fact some of the grease and oil had soaked through and mixed with sweat. Tossing the shirt to the floor, Viran took the towel from the wall and wet it in the sink before wiping himself off. He glimpsed himself and smirked slightly as he noticed he had bulked up a lot over the years. He used to be a skinny kid who only got leaner the older he got. Now he had actual, visible muscle on him that showed how much he grew physically as well as mentally and emotionally.

Once he felt clean-er, he dropped the rag next to his shirt and went to grab another shirt from his old bunk. One that would just serve as a temporary fix until he got to his bathroom inside for a shower.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sasha's voice rang from the ramp as he straightened up from sorting through his drawer, a shirt at hand.

Viran looked over to her. He smirked. "No, just fixing the ship."

"With your shirt off? Who are you trying to show off for?" Sasha asked in a teasing manner as she leaned against the ramp opening.

"I don't know," he answered innocently. "Maybe you?" Sasha rolled her eyes and threw his pillow at him with the Force and a flick of her finger. He swatted the pillow away and shot her a mock glare. "Rude."

"So why is your shirt off?" Sasha asked, folding her arms across her chest.

He could see her staring at his bare torso as their gazes didn't quite meet. He smirked at her.

"It's covered in oil and grease. So much so to the point that it soaked through," Viran commented dryly. "I was just switching shirts when you so rudely barged in and started assaulting me with a pillow."

"You know you and Kyr hang out too much," Sasha pointed out as she approached him. "You're starting to sound like him."

"What are best friends for?" Viran flashed her a smile at that.

Again, Sasha rolled her eyes as she came up to him. Once at his side, she stopped and looked him over with a furrowed brow. She was staring at his scars, mainly the one from Caranas that ripped him open. It was still a large and visible scar compared to some of the smaller ones. She placed her fingers gingerly against the scar tissue and looked at him.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked.

"No. Occasionally it'll throb to remind me that it's there," Viran said, shaking his head.

Sasha nodded and then walked around him to look at his back. The scar from Kopesh's lightsaber was still there, but it was a thin white line compared to the other scar. However, there was a new, still healing scar from the blade he took to the back that perfectly lined up with the old one.

"What about this one?" she asked as she ran her fingers over it.

He grimaced. "A little. It's still a little sore, but again nothing too bad," he said before turning to face her. He placed a hand on her right shoulder. "Do yours still hurt?"

"Not really. They just throb sometimes too," Sasha said absently "But they are fine."

"Okay," Viran said, dropping the subject as he could tell she still hated talking about her scars.

"You know it's crazy to think how far we have come over the years," Sasha said after a moment as she stared at his other scars. "It still feels like everything that happened on Vestora was just yesterday, but also a million years ago at the same time. Same with everything else we've had to endure."

"Yeah. I still can't believe where we are after all of this time. You and I are married with Lana. Our once thought of enemy is now our sister and she is married to Kyr, and they are expecting twins. And now Op has a girlfriend. It's all moving too fast sometimes, but I also think back to before Vestora and remembering dreaming of a life like this, but figuring it was never going to happen," Viran said softly.

"Well be careful what you wish for," Sasha said, smiling. "Sometimes it comes true."

Viran chuckled at that. "Yeah it did."

Sasha looked up at him, meeting his gaze. For years, Viran was either shorter than her by several centimeters or is the same height as her. But at this moment as he stood before her, he in his boots and her in flats, he actually had to tilt his chin slightly to look down at her. A smile played at his lips as he looked at her.

"So this is what it is like to be tall," he observed with a chuckle.

"Shut up," Sasha said, punching him lightly in the gut.

He winced at the punch, but still laughed lightly at that. "What? I'm just enjoying it. Is that a bad thing?"

"No," she said, smiling at him. "Besides, I kind of like it."

"Oh?" Viran smirked.

He reached down and caressed her cheek. Leaning in, he pulled her into a kiss. She melted against him as he wrapped his arms around her. They held the deep and passionate kiss for a long moment before pulling away, breathless.

"I should probably put my shirt back on and go take a shower," Viran said, pulling away from her.

"Yeah, you kind of smell," Sasha admitted sheepishly. "But I didn't want to say anything though."

"Thanks," Viran snorted as he pulled the shirt over his head. "And here I was, going to offer to share a shower with my wife." He then added as he started for the ramp.

"Wait, that was an option?" Sasha asked in mock surprise.

Viran just laughed as gathered his discarded shirt and towel before heading down the ramp. Sasha walked with him, hand and hand together, back into the house.

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