Star Wars: Starunner Saga 33

Pekmae was still, her hand slowly creeping up to her throat, as was her wont. Her eyes were distant, vacant, though she acted as though she heard him. For a brief moment a hint of old pain stirred in her eyes then quickly it was shut out by reality and a bit of determination. It was not a look she held often; there was no fierce edge or impassioned emotion. It was a reserved, resigned look she saved for the end, when it was time to do what needed to be done. All in only a moment's time and she shook her head, just a little. "Reb doesn't say good bye."

She took a few steps away, toward the back of the ship then she stopped, as if she remembered something. Foot still poised in the air, Pekmae turned and crossed back to her husband. She put her hands on his cheeks and leaned in to touch her nose to his. "I've been away long enough," she said. "It's time for me to catch up." Then again she was on her way to the back of the ship, exuding warm fuzzies.

Pek found the kids in her quarters and smiled at them, leaning in the doorway nearly exactly as Reb had earlier. She watched them for a minute then said, "Alright, you guys ready to go home? Go ahead and pack up your things..."

She turned her head and looked down the corridor to where she knew Reb would be, then looked back at her kids. Maybe in a second, a minute, she would go and say something. But not yet...

Den sighed with subdued happiness when she began to walk away.  He listened to her footsteps, as they distanced, and then stopped in front of her quarters. She was going to miss him..  He knew.  For a moment, Den wondered if he owed Reb anything for transport.  He recalled that they were to talk about it when Pekmae was awake.  He supposed that was a tactic to divert Den's attention away from something not needed.

Den pulled himself to his feet and followed the same path that Pekmae did, joining her side in the doorway in front of their children.  This was the first time the kids had seen the both of their parents at the same time in quite a while. To be honest, the thought of this even pleased Den to no end.

Pek smiled as Den stood beside her, then she plunged into the small room. "Alright, let's gather up our things!" she said cheerily, climbing halfway under her bunk to grab the rest of her gear. She put her hand on the satchel of weaponry and suddenly felt very ill. What if one of the kids had gotten into this when they weren't paying attention...? She felt like she was going to have to learn parenting all over again. An anxious hand flicked over both of her blasters to find them secure, then she hoisted up the bag and focused on Den.

"Care to put this away for me, hun? It's not for the little ones to play with..." With it cleared away, the closeness of the room finally struck Pekmae. How had she ever lived on a ship before? She stood up and dusted herself off hurriedly, then gave one last look around. The room was cleared out, just as when she found it.

Pek heard a noise and focused her attention through the walls of the ship, then she smiled to her children. "Alright, why don't you guys follow daddy out, and I'll meet you at the other ship, Okay?"

She felt unfocused, addled, like she had too much to do and not enough time for it all. She strode down the hall, forgetting her limp, and her boots rang out clearly on the decking. She found Reb in the cargo hold not really doing anything productive. She found him, then lost her words.

When Pek went to her quarters to pack them up, Reb had moved on further in the ship. His best bet was to just pretend none of this was happening. He knew it would come to this, eventually, but....it felt like it happened so soon. When she came in he focused on  her unwillingly, his face covered by the hard, Reb look that was his trademark.

"I'm leaving now," she said to him without dancing around the subject. He was glad for that. He nodded to her, then ran a hand through his grayed hair. "Yeah, I know."

Pek didn't say anything for a bit, then she closed in until she was standing just across a box from him. "Let's not wait another five or ten years...that's too long." She hesitated and broke his gaze for a moment. "If you ever need a good pilot, I'm sure I can find one." She smirked, saluted, then went back down the corridor.

He listened to her footsteps until they were only dim echos in the halls, then he shook his head and started to snake his way from the cargo hold.

"Pek never says good bye," he muttered under his breath.

Den found his way to the Arkayis and tinkered with their things, settling the children in, stuffing away the bag Pek had given him, stuffing it away in a place where the childrens' reach could not get.

He now sat in the pilots chair of his ship, quietly, listening to the sound of it warming up for take off.  In the distance, when he focused on them, he heard the children entertaining one another in the bowels of the ship.

When Pekmae finally made her way to the Arkayis, and the cockpit, Den looked at her intently a moment, and asked, "You ever wonder if Reb doesn't say goodbye is because you don't say it?"

Pek boarded the Arkayis without looking back, though more for the expression than the action. She couldn't have seen the Escape if she'd turned around anyway. For a moment she felt confined and shook it off as pre-flight jitters. She wasn't used to taking her time as she left; mad dashes and daring escapes were more her thing. As she passed through the corridors of the ship on her way to the cockpit, Pek felt a hint of a pang in her heart.

"No, I refuse," she muttered to herself. She couldn't believe her own emotions betrayed her into missing Rusty, even a little. She sealed a hard edge around that bit of her feeling just in time to find Den in the pilot's chair. Her step faltered and she landed a bit heavily with her right foot, causing her to wince. Maybe she'd have Den look at it...

Pek couldn't remember a time when her husband had piloted her. She knew he was a good pilot, of course, but she'd been nervous around others since her first solo flight. She was on her way to saying something when he beat her to it. She was taken aback by his intent gaze and found herself creeping toward defensive maneuvers. Her eyes narrowed and a bit of edge came over her. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

The Jedi's eyes brightened, and his famous grin snuck onto his face.  He'd picked up on her defense the moment it creeped up on her.

Now, Love, I'm not trying to poke at you."  he said warmly, "but I know you. Sometimes all too well.  And I know if you don't actually say goodbye, its easier for you to actually leave..  Because sometimes, goodbye implies far too many things."

Den pulled his gaze from her and to the control panels of the Arkayis, and started keying in coordiantes.  His fingers slowed as he thought about the last time he punched in info.  He looked at Pekmae again, and started to ask about the message tubule sent in futile, but then thought better of it.  He was sure if she'd seen it, she'd mention something.

"Anything you need before we take off?" Den finally asked, looking over at her again.

Pek sat down as a co-pilot but did not turn to fiddle with the controls. She fiddled with her blaster, instead, snapping and unsnapping the holster. "I said good bye when I left you..." she started, building her defense. "And I at least told Reb I was leaving. When he left me he never said a word...we all just woke up one day and he was gone." Her voice changed into something soft, though bitter, and she looked at the control panel. "I never expected to see him again..."

Pekmae fiddled for a moment more and shook her head absently as he asked if she needed anything. "Not from this rock..." she said petulantly. Then, with a sudden sure speed, Pek jumped up with eyes of wild concern. "The kids!" she said and looked over her shoulder. "Are they all strapped in and ready to go? I'll go see." And she was off through the corridor without another word or backward glance over her shoulder.

Den shook his head and sighed as she zipped down the corridor.  He hadn't had a chance confirm if the children were strapped in before she was gone. He gathered she was in a hurry due to the sensitive topic on conversation. He focused on the control board again, to punch in the commands for lift off.

The Arkayis shuddered to life, and began to lift its way out of the atmosphere and into space.  The external sensors signaled the clearing of atmosphere, and Den keyed in the coordinates, and the entire Starunner family was headed home.

Pekmae followed the sounds of play until she found her children, then she shepherded them back up to the lounge. "Here we go, my darlings...there'll be plenty of time for play, later. Right now we have to..."

She stopped speaking and looked at her booted feet, for a moment unsure if she'd felt the tremor or not. Squatting, she hoisted Rei into a seat and buckled her in. Kael had already climbed into his seat and was working with his own straps. Pekmae felt the vibrations again and a frustrated look came over her face. "Your daddy is a very silly man..." she said to Kael and smiled as she straightened out his clasps and buckled him in. Then she made her way back to the cockpit and took a seat in the co-pilot's station, and proceeded to strap her own self in.

"I know that we're in a hurry to get home," she began sweetly, "But since no one is chasing us with guns blazing, it seems we could have waited long enough to make sure everyone was strapped in." She finished and looked at him, very serious. She hadn't gotten her children back to let them tumble around in a ship. If they were half as accident prone as she was....

"They're little, hun...haven't been on ships very much. Not everyone can be as sure-footed on a moving ship as a former scoundrel-pirate or a well-traveled Jedi."


Den winced.  He knew the children were small, but they'd been around with their father in Pekmae's absence.  The Jedi, however, didn't bring that up, because she was the type woman who may take the reminder of her absence to heart.  Den's eyes softened and he smiled. "I'm sorry, my Love."

DenJie keyed in some more coordinates and the stars stretched into starlines, and space disappeared into a spiraling kaleidescope. He looked over at his wife, their first moment of absolute solitude.  The first moment of being alone.  He knew better, though.  He knew better than try to talk to her.  As soon as she got settled into her seat, she was more than likely going into the trance-like state that she always did during hyperspace travel.


Pek was looking at her husband when he looked over to her. She had her elbow rested on the control panel and her hand along the side of her face, shielding her eyes from the swirling lines.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "Long time no see...except not really."


Den's eyes met Pek's, and his formed into a shy smile. "It does seem like its been forever." His features hadn't changed much in all the time they knew one another.  He
wasn't as lean as he once was, and in his long brown hair, some silvery stands could be found.  But to look at his face, he was still the ambition-filled padawan from all those years ago.  It was especially evident in moments like these.

"I'm sorry I made everyone think I died."

Pek rolled her eyes, her smile never fading. "Me too." Maybe they thought she died...she didn't know. She had been gone a long time. But that was over, now. She was back with her family for an indefinite, open-ended length of time.

"It happens, I guess," she said and flicked her eyes to where the viewport should be. Her hand still as a shield, she saw nothing more than the blur of palm, then her eyes were once more fixated on her husband.

"Sorry I passed out all the time. My head still hurts from that. And sorry I wrecked up the house." She also didn't know if he'd seen it, but she may as well confess it all now. "I busted my foot up pretty good, too. I think I had a breakdown..."

She didn't want him to feel guilty, she only wanted him to know what had gone on while he was away. She was good-humored and bubbly, strange for her, and just glad to be back with him.

Den's warm gaze slid from Pek's face to her feet. A few strands of his long brown hair slid into his blue eyes.  He lifted his hand from his lap, and used it to push the hair from his face.  His index and thumb fingers intently rubbed the strip of facial hair that stretched from his bottom lip to his chin.

"Do you want me to look at it?" He asked quietly as he studied them both. His gaze found its way back to her face again, and despite her injury, he smiled at her.

Pek shrugged and settled back in her seat, then placed her booted right foot into Den's lap. "Knock yourself out." Being on a ship made her feel a little like a pirate, and she never thought that was a bad thing. "Think you can turn that thing off?" she asked, nodding toward the viewport. She didn't feel like reaching for buttons...besides, it wasn't the same as trying to beat Reb to it.

She twisted her foot from side to side, her eyes tightening in the corners just a bit. "It was really bad at first. I was on crutches when I went to pick up the kids...couldn't even wear my boot. But, when I went to look for you I had a chance to work on it, some." She shrugged, smiling and teasing. "But I'm sure you could do a better job of it than I could."

Den nodded towards the controls, and the viewport closed the invisible space between the Starunners and hyperspace. "Couldn't even wear your boot, huh?"  He asked as he carefully slid the right boot off.  Once the foot was free, he gently placed it on his lap, and
studied the boot itself a moment. "I'll say.  I think this boot is actually my boot."  He glanced at her foot, and the up to her. "But then again, with the swelling, you may have needed the extra space my boots can afford."

He nodded at the comment of crutches, and flashed a bright toothy smile at her final comment.  "I think I've got a little more training under my belt for healings.  Not that I need it as much as you do..  You seem to find yourself in the worse predicaments.." His final word trailing off as he lightly placed his hands on her swollen appendage.  DenJie's cool blue eyes drifted closed, as he negotiated with the Force on healing Pekmae's injured foot.

Pekmae smirked and nearly chuckled. "They are yours, hun. When I was only wearing one I took off to find you and left the other..." She trailed off and would have started and jerked her foot from his grasp completely but he was already concentrating. Her eyelids felt a little heavy but there was an unpleasant twisting in her gut. "I left the other on Reb's ship...couldn't fly without a boot, and I found these on the ship." She'd had these boots for longer than she could remember...they'd seen her through many a scrape. She knew that stuff is just stuff, but if she'd lost her boot...she was pretty sure she would be devastated.

She smiled a little as he mentioned her penchant for injuries, though she was still distracted through worry for her boot. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't want to bother him, so she compromised with speaking to the viewport in a tone that could have been directed to him. "The Jedi did that to me....never was accident prone 'til I fell in with them." It was only mostly true...she'd gotten into some scrapes before then, but chalked it up to normal piracy. Any smuggler scoundrel worth her salt could get out of a jam.

Den's eyes were still closed, but there was a notable smile on his face.  "Yes, the Jedi.  Meddlesom bunch, they are." His blue eyes opened, and he smiled at her.  "I for one," he said, leaned down and inspected the foot closer,"am glad you get into these situations." He sat up and smiled to her again, "Because it gives me the chance to be the protective husband and tend to you."

He lifted her foot and lightly wiggled his finger tips across the sole of it, and then placed it back on the deck plating. "Well, my love.  That should do it.  Be light on it, because its still going to be sore, but its no longer broken."