WotH-2 Chpt 8

==War on the Horizon - Chapter 8 / Book 2==
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===Morning After===
Location: Beloria, Independent world
It was Siri shifting the bed that woke me up the second time. The blond stirred and eventually opened her eyes before stretching, the visual doing some… Exciting things to certain parts of her anatomy that caught my eye before I shifted them back up to her face. 
 
Her eyebrow was raised when my gaze finally reached her eyes, and I blushed and turned away. It was odd; I hadn't been in a relationship for twenty years, but it put me in a situation where I could forge a new romantic bond, and I felt like a teenager again. My emotions were everywhere, and I didn't know how to feel or what to say anymore.
 
My decision to put off dealing with the emotions and other issues until now was biting me in the ass. For all intents and purposes, I was a widower who also had two dead children. Even after moving on in life, I still found myself hung up on this. I couldn't handle things right now, so I was going to do what I'd done in the past when dealing with my emotions recently. 
 
She must have seen something in my face because she sat up and grabbed my hand.
 
"Mark," she said softly. "Please turn and look at me."
 
I sat back down on the bed and looked at her, my eyes finding her crystalline blue ones and searching for something that indicated this was more than a one-night stand. 
 
Seeing that she now had my complete attention, she continued to speak. 
 
"Mark, I chose this. And while I didn't intend for things to spiral as fast as they did last night, I don't regret a single thing. You and I have become close, and I've come to realize that I don't just want to be friends with you. The things that you spoke of when talking about your family and your wife. I want that. I want the love and companionship. I want the ability to pass on what I know to my children, And more importantly, I want all of those things with you."
 
I was silent. There was a battle between butterflies and a pit in my stomach. A war between happiness for the future and the sadness of what I hadn't entirely dealt with yet. My heart beat in my chest like an old Celtic drum, the beat driving blood into my ears. 
 
"I…" I began and choked off. "I think I'd like that as well. But I'm going to be honest here. I'm a fucking mess. I mean, look at me. It's been nearly twenty years, and I still haven't fully dealt with the loss of my family."
 
"Something that I am learning from you and those around you," Siri smiled. "Is that emotions simply are. It is how we respond to those emotions that results in actions. I think you have made progress. But you blind yourself in this moment because sometimes grief can rise again in moments of joy and stress. I will never replace the love that you and your wife shared. But I hope that in time, it will grow to love that equals that of what you once had."
 
The Jedi Knight pulled me into a soft kiss. 
 
"Now, enough of the heavy subjects," she stood up, grabbed her Jedi Cloak, and slung it over her shoulders. "I'm a bit hungry."
 
"Right," I latched onto something familiar. "I can whip together some breakfast. Do you need to use the bathroom or anything?"
 
"I wouldn't mind using your 'Fresher," Siri sniffed at her armpit before wrinkling her nose. 
 
"Shower's the second door on the left across from the toilet," I told her as I pulled a pair of gym shorts on. "Now, I'll start breakfast while you shower."
 
As she left the room, I moved to the kitchen, my mind beginning to sift through my emotions while my body went through the motions of making breakfast.
"Something smells delicious," a voice broke me out of my reverie, making me jump slightly. 
 
Siri stood at the entrance of the kitchen, her still damp hair a bit of a mess and one of my shirts swallowing her frame. 
 
"My tunic is going through a cleaning cycle, she explained. "So I grabbed what I thought would fit out of your clothes. She shrugged. "I believe I was wrong."
 
"Nope," I replied. "In fact, I think it looks better on you than on me."
 
Shifting something so it wouldn't be noticeable, I grabbed the plates and began to ladle food on them, two cups of coffee joining the table as I cleared off the liquor bottle and decanters from the night before. 
 
As we sat down, the atmosphere began to lighten, and I felt us settle into a routine we'd shared while searching for the Katana fleet or during our travels to [[w:c:starwars:Coruscant and back to the Outer Rim. 
 
We ate and talked, the topics shifting from our opinions on certain people to hobbies that I found interesting and would like to share with her someday. 
 
We went over philosophy, and eventually, the topic drifted to the events of last night.
 
"I don't regret it," she said quietly after we'd finished our food and were left with coffee. "You do know that, right? I saw a chance to show you I was serious and took it. And you know what," a smirk slid across her face. "I'd do it again, too."
 
I felt my cheeks burn at how she looked at me before I replied. "Yeah, it's been seventeen years since I've done anything like that."
 
Siri finished her coffee and placed her cup by the sink before moving over and sitting on my lap. 
 
"We could try round 2."
 
"While I'm tempted," I shifted awkwardly. "I think that I have some work to do."
 
"Someone else can do it for once," she got up and tried to pull me out of the chair to no avail. "You're about to be busy."
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Chapter 2-8