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[Watches for a moment, hands cupped behind her back until she nods to herself.]

Admirable job there flyboy, keeping those stars in line all by yourself.

Isn't there something more important you should be doing?

[His face broke into a smile, the private one he wore just for her. He turned around, mimicking her gesture]

It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it. And as for something more important, there most certainly is. But you were in the other room.

[And he stood, nice and close, just watching her eyes]

Well thank the stars we have you.

[Oh the smirking, oh the wry twist of lips that only grew when he approached.]

Is that so? Just what sort of mission is it?

[He made a grave face. See? This is his grave face, Mrs.Celchu.]

Oh, it's a mission of the greatest import. The very fate of the galaxy hangs on it. Far more important than vaping TIEs, or even the occasional Super Star Destroyer.

[He leaned forward, his lips a few inches from hers]

That and it has no actual end. It's meant to go on for a very long while indeed. I refer to it as 'Operation Make My Wife Happy'.

[Oh dear, that was a grim visage indeed, might even make her eyes widen a touch.]

That's very important. [She nodded seriously and leaned in as he did.

Closer.

Closer.]

Don't even think this means you get out of the mission debriefing for the last strike team.

[He made a show of wincing]

It's a very important mission. And I really shouldn't be talking about how we mauled a Strike Cruiser and her complement of TIEs. Again.

[He also made a show of sighing]

But worth it, I suppose, to watch that memory of yours be amazing once again. And hear your voice.

[His lips brushed hers, gently]

And listen to you speak.

[He kissed her again, a bit more firmly]

And just watch you speak, really.

[And then a third]

[Damnit Tycho, this was how he'd swept her off her feet in the first place. The man had no business being this romantic.

She allowed the first kiss.

She softly returned the second.

Her arm wound round his neck with the third and she actively kissed back.]

My memory works for all kinds of things you know.

[His arms went around her waist, and he nodded]

Oh, I haven't forgotten. I've got it written down in my cockpit. Quite simply 'My wife is brilliant and remembers everything'. No holos just in case of capture or distraction - but a reminder. Of what I fight so hard to come home to.

We fight for freedom for all species.

The fact that you have an incredible wife is beside the point, and quite the bonus to you.

[She ruffled his hair and smiled.]

Which reminds me, Leia requested I make a trip out by the rim, very hush hush so far, but I think things are brewing.

[He remembered that part. He remembered it absolutely. The two of them remembered it more than most, really.]

I think, after all the terrible things I've seen...this is the best part. Freedom for the galaxy is abstract, distant. But you...you're real. We've fought so hard to carve out part of the universe where we can be together.

[He lifted a hand, brushing her cheek gently]

So, is this the sort of mission that will require fire support, or the sort where I know nothing and can't ask when you get back?

[He doesn't ask about them, and didn't resent it, either. They had jobs to do, important ones. He just preferred it where he could incinerate people trying to harm her from the air.]

What we've seen is the evolution of government and control. The Empire wasn't always in charge, and stars willing won't have such power much longer. I was raised with the ideals that all should be free, I've lived by that and if I die for it, then it's a death I can accept.

Though not in the near future I hope.

[She smiled into the touch and leaned against him, letting her look up at the stars as he had earlier.]

If you would be happy being the lowly pilot of potentially treacherous peace talks, I would welcome it. Leia has far more faith in these people than I do. It feels too easy, too murky for my tastes.

You know, back when I joined the Rebellion, I never even imagined the Empire could fall. After Endor, I thought the war would be over in a few months. Now...well, we've freed so many people from tyranny, but it just takes so long.

[He shook those thoughts away, putting an arm around his wife]

I don't mind being the lowly pilot. After everything we've been through? I wouldn't trust an Ithorian to cook us lunch in one of these missions.

I suppose with how I was raised and educated I saw it as an inevitability.

[Her hands covered his around her. Moments like these, moments of peace and reflection were rare. She'd quieted her idealist ranting to better savor it. One of the things that would forever separate her and her beloved friend Leia, Winter could occasionally turn things off.]

Now your paranoia is starting to show, my love. How about if you watch my back, I get this summit accomplished and we break open that bottle of Alderaanian brandy I've been save and take the long way home?

Paranoia? Perish the thought. Years of fighting Isard and Thrawn and everything the Emperor could concoct to throw at us assuredly never instilled a distinct sense that the universe was out to get me.

[But he smiled as she spoke again, holding her all the closer]

And you say the nicest things, darling. A vacation? A real vacation? How many 'breakdowns' will I have to arrange for our shuttle on the way back to let us have that?

Years of fighting have served us well, it's why we're still around after years of it. That and the fact that you are one of the best pilots ever to fly, the rebellion is lucky to have you.

I'm even more lucky.

[Not that is wasn't a hard won relationship, they had moments like anyone in their position had. But they'd manged to overcome and survive.]

Vacation? Tycho Celchu I am a statesperson and indispensable asset to the intelligence of this rebellion. You are one of it's foremost pilots and leaders. The likes of us do not get vacations.

[Momentary look of affront at the very suggestion.]

At least three I'd think. Hyperdrive repair in space can be so time consuming and it has such potential for further failure.

You realize, of course, that if and when we decide to have children, the genetics are going to be astonishing? My piloting instincts and combat skills, your memory and infiltration skills? Though a very good second choice would be for them to take after you, period.

[He grinned at her look of affront. She was a magnificent actress when she tried. And just plain wonderful when she made it obvious.]

And you know, on those Lambdas, well. Usually quite reliable, but the dampeners on the hyperdrive tend to crack extensively and it takes forever to get replacement parts from Seinar.

Thinking you want children? I seem to recall a time when all you wanted was a ship and a mission.

[When she did that, poked fun like that, it was one of the ways she said she loved him without the words.]

We may need to keep strict com silence too, just to be safe.

[He chuckled, kissing her temple.]

Back then, I wasn't married to a woman like you and was merely trying to convince you to fall for me in return.

[And he knew, that he knew. He still whispered the words to her regardless. Pilots might have had ego as plentiful as hydrogen, but here at least he refused to allow it access]

Even if I have to reason with the comm unit with a hydrospanner. I was thinking that it might be incredibly likely, too, that the breakdown would occur in the vicinity of Ithor's floating cities, over that beautiful forest.

I was watching you, from early on. You were...unique among the pilots I'd met. So driven sometimes even I felt lacking. I thought in my station there was no time, no place for that in my life.

What I have up here, [She raised a hand to tap the temple he'd just kissed.] can be as much a curse as a blessing.

I remember everything, when you think you can't have something, or you've lost it... No one should have to remember that.

But here we are now, and I have so many memories that I wouldn't trade for anything. Just like that one on Ithor, where the hot night breeze swept in over the balcony. I'll have to pack that vinesilk nightdress, the one you like that's open all the way down to there.

[Oh yes, she knew exactly what the response to that would be, he didn't need her mind to remember that vividly.]

[He most certainly did not, and he responded with a long, lingering kiss, the details flooding back into his mind like a symphony.]

I remember everything about that night, you know. I don't have any clearer memories in my head, I think. I remember the smell of the flowers, those little purple ones in our suite. The weight of the ring in my pocket. Having this whole speech prepared, and just finding it so inadequate when I looked into your eyes.

[He paused, and a bit of his private grin return]

And then there was that nightdress.

You did pretty well for a pilot.

[She smirked and held up her hand, looking at the ring she still, and proudly, wore. A symbol of their union, and the one thing that gave her the hope to keep fighting when things were their darkest.]

You proposed, I had to do something to measure up. Maybe this time we just lose ourselves for a while, and work on making new memories.

[He grinned, nodding slowly]

For a pilot, definitely. Good thing I never gave in to that urge to become a poet. Hard to recite a love poem when you get tongue-tied in front of your lover.

[As for the rest...he just grinned all the more.]

You always have the best ideas, love.

I thought you managed your tongue rather well. But it might be we're talking about different things.

[Winter had those moments when the high birth and education of her past were right out the window and she sounded more like the rough and tumble types she frequently missioned with.]

I'd better, tactics and planning are part of my specialty.

[Those were, frankly, the best parts for him. Well, along with all the other best parts. But high-born and high-educated she might have been - she was still a brilliant operative and a crack shot. No wonder she was so good at blending. It wasn't as difficult to be a chameleon when your personality was so broadly based.]

We just might be, love, but I think I like your argument better. How about we adjourn to our quarters and debate at length on the subject?

Sounds like a wonderful plan, and I'll beat you there by a full minute.

[Was she racing him? Oh yes she was, and she cheated too. A shove to his chest pushing her off and sending him back. Her laughter falling back over her shoulder to him as she dashed toward the privacy of their rooms.]

[With a laugh, he chased after his wife, delight riding freely on his face. Out of all the things he had seen in his life, of all the things he had achieved - marrying her was the best of them all.]

You're on!

[They worked hard, they both had dangerous lives, so these moments of play were eagerly taken.

And she cheated, stopping halfway to pull him in for a sudden kiss, letting him get just distracted enough to run for the bedroom and arrive ahead of him.]

You should never let your guard down, Tycho, it's a weakness.

[He nearly tripped when she kissed him, he really did. He recovered and chased after her, far too late to win, of course. But his arms went around her, spinning her and lifting her feet from the ground, catching her lips with his again]

Tough, I'm going to keep doing it around you. Feel free to take advantage of it as much as you want. Or can.

[In this situation was anyone really not a winner? Winter laughed and spun with him, short spray of snow white hair fanning out in a fine cloud until he stopped and his lips took her. He stole her breath away, every time.]

Well I suppose I'll just have to learn to live with it.

As always, a prudent decision.

[He just held her for a long moment, forehead resting against hers.]

I do want a family with you one day. In case I haven't made that crystal clear. Either one or a large brood. Your choice, really.

Oh, my choice? How kind of you considering I'll be bearing the offspring myself.

[She intentionally ruffled his hair for that.]

It's an idea I have considered myself, when things settle down a bit. I can't exactly do my best work if I'm blown up like a Hut with swollen feet and eating all the time.

[He grinned at the former, arms moving around her waist]

All the more reason to get on pounding the Remnant into dust. And you could never look like a Hutt, not even slightly possible.

"I love it when you talk military tactics." She grinned, of course it was a joke between them. She was the tactician, he was the pilot. But when they teamed together, stars help anyone in their way.

"You say that now, but when I am bloated and my feet and back hurt and I send you out for food to satisfy my cravings, we'll see what you say then."

"I'll use my X-wing," he started, putting on a thoughtful look. "I could probably get a healthy discount through the simple expedient of a proton torpedo lock."

He smiled, kissing her forehead.

"And I'll say you're beautiful. And our child is blessed to have such a mother." A hand touched her stomach, a quiet indication of his future attitude towards things.

"When we can promise our child a future born in freedom, then I will say they will be blessed with both a fine mother and a wonderful father. And a better world to live in."

Her arms wound around his neck and she pulled them together. "We might not be ready for a baby yet, but you know, it never hurts to stay in good practice. I am all in favor of frequent exercises to stay in top form." The sly smile back on her lips.

"Will there be grading on them? Haven't had that since my Academy days. Can't say I want it back, either. But some minor critiques and...encouragements. Those I could accept."

His arms encircled her, pressing back to her, teeth playfully nipping at the tip of her nose.

"Oh yes, and you know what a stickler I am for attention to details." She drew him back into the confines of their draped bed.

"If you do it wrong, I'll make you do it again," a kiss, "and again" another kiss, "and again until I'm satisfied."