nonelikemesince

It had only been about five minutes by Anakin's estimation, but it was cold. Really cold, and not showing any sign of warming up. The oxygen in the airpack would last them a while longer, but Anakin was too conscious of the fact that it was still a finite supply.

"There has to be something we can do," Tahiri said in a whisper; she was shivering. So was Anakin, actually, except for where he was leaning against her, squashed so closely together as they were in this cramped storage locker. "If we can yank Massassi trees out of the ground with the Force, surely we can --"

"What?" he asked. "Pull a bunch of oxygen molecules up here from Yag'Dhul, seal up the station, and repressurize it?"

He didn't have to see her to know what kind of face she was making; he knew her well enough to picture it exactly from her defensive tone of voice. "Hey, at least I'm trying to think of something."

"So am I," Anakin replied, and it came out more snappishly than he'd meant it to. "If you have an idea, let's hear it."

"You know very well I don't have an idea," Tahiri retorted. "You'd feel it if I did."

"Tahiri --"

"Oh, just shut up," she said sullenly.

She probably would have kicked him if she had the room to move, like she'd punched him back on the flight deck of the Errant Venture, because whenever she had to vent some extreme of emotion she -- oh.

He tried to project reassurance through the Force as he offered, "I'm scared, too, Tahiri."

"No, you're not. You're never scared," she insisted. "Even when you are, you aren't by normal standards."

"I was scared when I thought I'd lost you on Yavin Four," he replied, and they lapsed into awkward, tense silence until he realized she was crying. Great, that wasn't going to make this less uncomfortable, but with some difficulty he managed to get his arm free and wrap it around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," she said through sniffles, half muffled against his chest. "I got you into this. Corran's right. I keep thinking I can be like you, and I'm not. You always win. Me? I always screw up. If it weren't for me, you'd be back in Fandom, or on the Errant Venture, right now."

Anakin didn't really know what prompted him to say it, but he heard the words coming out of his mouth: "But I'd rather be here with you."

He felt Tahiri's reaction in the Force, a clear, sharp moment of surprise, then hope, that faded into wariness, and knew she had turned to face him even though they couldn't see each other.

"Don't say things like that. I know you think I'm still a little kid," she said, a faint imitation of the lecturing tone she used with him sometimes. "I know you --"

Maybe it was the stress of the situation, or that he desperately wanted to reassure her, maybe both or something else altogether that he couldn't name, but Anakin reached his hand up to run his fingers over her cheek, then the scars on her forehead. Radiating confusion in the Force, Tahiri trailed off midsentence; anything else she might have said would have to wait, because much to Anakin's own surprise he was bending down to kiss her.

Only for a brief moment; she pulled back, and murmured, "Oh. That was a surprise."

"Sorry," Anakin replied, and then wondered why he was apologizing.

"No, no. Come here." This time it was Tahiri who reached up, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him, and Anakin completely forgot about the freezing cold.

"Your timing is perfect," Tahiri pretended to chide him. "Wait until we're doomed to give me my first kiss."

"Mine, too." What cold? His face felt like it was on fire. "Umm..."

"How was it? Kind of weird." He hadn't asked the question, but she answered it anyway; they'd always been able to communicate on some nonverbal level, but it seemed clearer, all of a sudden. Then, as if she had to double-check, she kissed him again and confirmed, "Nice. If we survive, we'll have to figure this out, you know," she said.

Anakin had always been good at solving puzzles, but this one seemed intimidating. "Yeah."

"I mean," Tahiri went on, "I'm not the kind of girl who'll kiss just anyone on a first-time-to-be-stuck-in-a-locker-on-an-airless-space-station."

Anakin made a nonverbal noise of agreement then cracked, "Might be simpler if we don't make it."

"Yeah." Tahiri hadn't moved away, not that they had much room to spare. "Are you sorry?"

"No." It was still a surprise, but he didn't even have to think about the answer, and he meant it when he said, "No, not even a little. So let's survive so we get a chance to figure this out, okay? Do you think you can manage a hibernation trance? Our air will last a lot longer that way."

"I'm not sure. I've never done it," Tahiri admitted.

"I'll help. Just clear your mind --"

"Maybe you don't know very much about girls," Tahiri said, sounding much more like her usual spirited self now. "You just kissed me, and now you want me to clear my mind? It's like there's a tribe of Ewoks dancing in there!"

"C'mon. Try," he urged, but there was a noise from outside. Where it should be vacuum, which wouldn't transmit sound waves, which meant . . .

He reached for his lightsaber as the noises turned to a rattling that suggested someone was working the latch, but the door opened to reveal Corran, and it occurred to Anakin after the fact that he could have sensed that in the Force -- probably should have, but in his defense he was still pretty flustered right now.

"You're okay," Corran said with evident relief.

"We are. Where'd the air come from?" asked Anakin, squirming out of the locker.

"I remembered there was a modular backup system. I was afraid the Givin had taken it out, but they haven't. I sealed up the room and pumped air in," Corran explained, and tossed them a pair of vac suits. "It probably won't last long, so get into those, quick."

They practically hadn't bothered waiting for the invitation, but Corran kept giving both of them odd looks, and finally Anakin asked, "What?"

"Should I have left you two unchaperoned?" Corran asked, and if Anakin hadn't been bright red before, from the way his cheeks were burning he resembled the Errant Venture's hull now.

It was really inconvenient knowing so many Jedi sometimes.

[OOC: Yes, I had to do this scene by itself. I HAD TO. I've been waiting forever for this one. NFI/NFB/OOC-okay, still Edge of Victory 2: Rebirth by Greg Keyes, etc.]