Word drabble: Spiral Shadows? :o
[For my SW/Outlander Xhareen & Malavai Quinn. In my Knights Of The …AU, Quinn came back after KOTFE Ch. 16, although it was a while before they got back to Odessen. But I think this works with that or with canon.]
They’d barely gotten any sleep, but Xhareen insisted. So Quinn rose up from this strange bed in this strange underground complex on this strange planet, got himself cleaned and dressed and followed her through the maze of tunnels.
He remembered the large, open hangar the Alliance used as a military command post from his whirlwind tour yesterday. But he had no idea why Xhareen wanted him here, with her, before the sun had even risen.
She walked through the hangar, greeting and being greeted by every one of the overnight crew. She knew all their names. None of them seemed remotely surprised she was here at this odd hour.
They greeted Quinn, too. “Nice to meet you, Major, sir.” Or “Glad you could finally join us, sir!” Quinn hadn’t the heart to tell them he wouldn’t be joining the military command here. He’d promised Xhareen he’d do the drills required of all active fighters and pilots, but he wasn’t about to upset her chain of command. He had another job in mind, anyway. He hadn’t even mentioned it yet to Xhareen.
When they got to the ledge at the edge of the hangar, Xhareen climbed up a well-worn path and stood dangerously close to the drop-off point. “Come on up,” she urged. So he followed.
The Odessen sun was just starting to tease the horizon with a riot of colors. The leaves were stirring in the breeze. The quiet in the hangar behind them seemed to invite the sounds in, letting them roll around and amplify, like a murmur in a crowd.
“I’ve had a ritual, twice a day, these past months,” she began. “We were a bit busy last night, so I skipped it. But I wanted you to know. I come here at dawn and dusk every day I can. In the mornings, I look up into the sky first.” And she pointed up above them.
The night sky had not yet yielded its spectacular view of the stars, so unfamiliar to him, he felt dizzy. He would have to study whatever they had on astrogation so he could learn the celestial bodies and not feel so lost in his new home.
“And when I look up at the stars, I always think that you are somewhere, looking at them, too. It makes me feel better. A little less alone.”
He grasped her hand and pulled her close to him. They hugged for a few, wordless moments.
“But there’s more,” she said, pulling away only slightly. “In the morning, and only in the morning, there’s always a breeze that creeps along the canyon below. And as the sun rises, it creates these spiral shadows for just a few, magical moments.”
The base, he knew, was near the planetary equator, so dawn and dusk passed by quickly. And sure enough, she pointed to a spot in the canyon that was just being touched by the morning light.
The shadows danced and swirled, accompanied by the music of the rustling leaves. It built to a crescendo, and the shadow dancers fluttered to a nearly orgasmic release. Then the dance stopped, and the breeze died down, and all was calm.
“Normally,” Xhareen whispered once the show was done, “I would, just as the sound died out, say your name and pray the Force would carry it to you, wherever you were. I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore.”
Quinn could have argued that he had been without her longer than she had been without him. But even the little she had said about her carbonite prison made such an argument silly, if not downright cruel.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I will never leave your side again, my love,” he swore.
She brushed her hand against his cheek. “I won’t let you.”
