(Lyrics from Joseph Arthur's "Honey & The Moon")
Noreh found Mike in his quarters. He was staring moodily into the mirror, his weight resting on raw knuckles, his wounds untended, his body still covered in dirt and soot from his recent travails. She approached silently, her eyes taking in the blackened cuts, and the way his body was shaking.
Don't know why I'm still afraid.
If you weren't real I would make you up now.
I wish that I could follow through.
I know that your love is true and deep as the sea.
Fear? Exhaustion? Anger? She didn't know the cause. She did know that it wasn't good for him to feel this way.
He had to be aware of her presence. His breathing had changed. Great sucking breaths had become slower, more measured. She stood behind him, her ash-blonde hair a stark contrast in the mirror against his blackened skin. His bright green eyes gleamed amidst the accumulated darkness.
But right now, everything you want is wrong.
And right now, all your dreams are waking up.
And right now, I wish I could follow you
To the shores of freedom
Where no one lives.
"Let me help you," she said, resting one hand lightly on his shoulder. He didn't move, and she looked closer at his bare back, noting the cuts and the flayed skin. She could pick out individual grains of sand, glinting against the darkness. She didn't need to look hard to know that her friend was in tremendous pain from the contaminated wounds.
He didn't reply. She moved past him, and opened the cabinet where he kept his medical supplies. She hunted through the contents, and pulled out some sterile wipes and a few other things she thought she'd need.
"You need to clean up," she said. "Go take a shower, and I'll take care of your cuts."
For a moment, there was no sign of him having heard her. His eyes watched her in the mirror, and then he stood upright suddenly, wincing as his body protested. A single drop of blood fell from the tip of a finger onto the floor. He turned to face her.
"Go," she said.
Still he was silent, but he turned and walked towards the shower. Before he stepped inside, he undid the tattered remains of his trousers and let them fall to the floor. Noreh turned away before she could see anything, willing away the blush that threatened to swallow her whole.
Remember when we first met
And everything was still a bet in love's game
You would call, I'd call you back
And then I'd leave a message on your answering machine
She busied herself with preparing for his return. She set her equipment out on the low table by his bed, and found a torn sheet on which he could bleed freely without having to worry about messing up anything he'd want to use again.
When the shower door clicked open, she took a deep breath and looked up. He was wrapped modestly in a long, thick white towel, but it wasn't this that made her gasp. His chest was criss-crossed with thin, angry looking cuts. Ignoring her, he opened a cupboard and took out a pair of shorts that he slipped on modestly beneath the towel. Hanging up the towel, he looked at Noreh for a long moment and then crossed the room to sit on the bed, his back to her and his hands resting in his lap.
If anything, his back looked worse than his chest. It was almost as though someone had slashed at him when he had been lying on the floor, unable to protect himself. One slash traced from the bottom of his rib cage up to the back of his right ear, a diagonal slice that could have killed him several different ways, if his attacker had been. . . What? Less careful? She traced the cut with her finger, trying not to hurt him.
"He wanted me to suffer," Mike said, quietly. Noreh let her hand fall away as she realised exactly what they were facing.
But right now, everything is turning blue.
And right now, the sun is trying to kill the moon.
And right now, I wish I could follow you
To the shores of freedom
Where no one lives.
She took up a sterile wipe and began to gently clean his wounds. She wasn't sure how badly he was hurting; He made no noise. She concentrated first on chasing away all the foreign particles that had become imbedded in his open wounds. It took a long time, and gradually Noreh became aware of a change in his breathing. His breaths were coming in shallow gasps now, and Noreh realised that he was hurting more than he would let on. She tried to be more gentle still, but his wounds were numerous, if not exceptionally severe, and the fight with the Dark Jedi, the unprotected cross desert ride and the speeder explosion had all done their bit to contaminate the cuts on his body. More than an hour passed before she felt she had removed the last of the grains from his back.
"Turn around," she said.
He did so, his eyes not meeting hers. She looked at the cuts, noticing how the area over his heart had been left free of damage. She wondered how intentional that had been.
Freedom. Run away tonight.Freedom. Run away. Run away tonight.
She set to work on his chest, resolutely avoiding looking at his face each time he gasped. The pile of sterile wipes decreased more rapidly. These cuts seemed more severe, the degree of penetration the dirt had achieved more complete. Noreh looked away at one point as she chased a larger cluster of particles and a trickle of blood spilled from the wound.
She looked away, and up at his face. He was watching her intently, pain etched on his features but also a complete trust that touched her. She was hurting him, but he had faith that she was doing the right thing.
We're made out of blood and rust
Looking for someone to trust without a fight .
I think that you came too soon;
You're the honey and the moon that lights up my night.
She looked away, unsettled by the brief contact. She felt her stomach jolt, and wondered distantly why she couldn't focus on the job. He was bleeding, grievously wounded. This wasn't a moment for finer feelings.
He'd chased off after Vickie two days beforehand, without a word to anyone other than their Major. But before that. . .
She frowned as she swept a wipe across a smaller wound, perhaps pressing a little harder than was necessary. He hissed. She smiled a small, slightly guilty smile.
Before that, he had kissed her. A single kiss. Gentle, soft, carrying the promise of-
And then an alarm had sounded, and he'd jumped back like a scolded dog, before bolting for the door. She'd not seen him again until he'd arrived back from hunting Vickie. He was alone, and she'd been taken. She paused for a moment as she wondered whether she had managed to treat his most serious wounds after all.
But right now, everything you want is wrong.
And right now, all your dreams are waking up.
And right now, I wish I could follow you
To the shores of freedom
Where no one lives.
Her fingers traced a wipe across a long cut that went from his ribs to his waist. She tugged at the waistband of his shorts, moving it the inch or so necessary to follow the cut to its conclusion. She replaced the waistband gently, keen not to aggravate the wound.
Freedom. Run away tonight.
Freedom. Run away. Run away tonight.
There was one cut left. Noreh had wanted to leave it to last. It wasn't deep, it but it was delicate. It was on the side of Mike's neck, tracing the line of his jaw and then down across his throat to the collar bone. Noreh knew that one misstep in the cutting of this wound would have left Mike dead. It was little more than a graze, really, but it was filthy, and Noreh could only imagine it having become so if Mike's opponent had ground his face into the desert sand. She winced as she began the difficult task of cleaning the cut.
Her face was only a few inches from Mike's as she worked, and while her eyes were riveted on the cut, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek, in her hair. She could also feel his eyes on her, and glimpsed his eyelids fluttering as her finger caught the edge of the cut. She looked up at the same instant as he looked down, and for a second their eyes met. She looked away abruptly, willing her heart to stop racing. The look he had given her. . . She turned her mind reluctantly back to the task at hand. Mostly.
We got too much time to kill
Like pigeons on my windowsill we hang around.
Ever since I've been with you
You hold me up all the time I'm falling down
Her fingers followed the line of his jaw. She moved closer, tilting her head slightly to follow the cut as it dipped behind his jaw. It took her a second to register that his breath was now on her lips. She lifted her gaze to stare at his eyes, and disappointment flickered across her face as she saw that his eyes were shut. She couldn't be sure if he knew how close they were. Then she realised that he could surely feel her breath as easily as she could his. A small shiver went through her. She finished cleaning the wound, and sat back on the bed. She watched his face, but it was impassive as he felt her pull away.
She took a roll of bandages and moved closer once more. She pressed one end of the roll to his shoulder. He raised his hand to hold it in place, his fingers brushing against hers. They both gave small starts, and Noreh paused for a second, taking a deep, shuddering breath, before she began to unwind the roll. She passed it under his arms, moving back and forth, in and out of close range as the bandage moved down his body, covering up the cuts, protecting him from further injury.
A wince, a sigh, and she was done. Mike held the bandage as she pinned it in place. His hand moved from his waist to hers, stopping her from pulling away.
But right now, everything is turning blue.
And right now, the sun is trying to kill the moon.
And right now, I wish I could follow you
To the shores of freedom
Where no one lives.
She looked into his eyes, and this time his face wasn't blank. She was almost shocked by the hunger in his expression, but before she had any time to think, he had pulled her closer, and his lips were on hers, and this wasn't gentle but passionate, there was no promise, just an offer of everything now and damn the consequences. And it was met with a hunger of her own that was every bit as intense as his was. Damn the consequences.
Freedom. Run away tonight.
Freedom. Run away. Run away tonight.
Freedom. Run away. Run away tonight.