Two

Chapter 28

As soon as the following morning came, Nima tried to return to her normal routine. She sat by the lake, focusing on her surroundings. But one thing kept coming to the forefront of her mind. If she thought she shouldn't have a lightsaber, then she shouldn't. But Maul had wanted to give her one. Perhaps he wouldn't now, but she wanted to be good enough for one.

After meditating, Nima cooked themselves a meal of spiced meat for them both, but with an added mix of some foraged berries and the roots of some reeds from by the lake. As they sat on the grass with the sun beaming down on them, Nima looked up at the blue sky.
"Can we go back to Coruscant?" she asked.
"You want to go back there?"
Nima nodded. "Yeah. There's got to be other things to do, hasn't there? Other shows and restaurants and stuff to see."
"There is. When do you want to go?"
"Tomorrow?" she asked. "Or the day after, I don't really mind when."
"Tomorrow then." Maul nodded. "There are lots of places to eat, and maybe we can go to the theatre." Nima's eyes widened and her lekku twisted around each other.
Nima smiled. "Thank you." He almost smiled back again as he continued eating.

Once they finished, they sat together under the sun. It had reached its peak in the sky, and it was the warmest part of the day, even though the temperature hadn't changed too much.
"Shall we practise?" Maul asked. Nima thought about using the lightsaber again, about asking him. But using it still scared her. One misplaced move would suddenly be far more painful than accidentally hitting herself with a stick.
"Yes." Nima got to her feet and Maul stared up at her. "I want to practise with the staff." It probably wasn't hard to guess why, but Maul didn't say anything. He just moved to get them while Nima took the plates back inside.

When she returned, Maul tossed the staff to her without warning and she only just managed to catch it.
"We'll practise stances and then spar," he said. Nima nodded. Practising the stances and different positions and different attacks was what she wanted to do. Having Maul defeat her in a sparring match yet again was not what she wanted, but she knew it helped her to improve.

As Nima moved through the defensive stances, she knew exactly where both ends of the staff were. When she practised the attacks, she tried to make sure she didn't hit herself. When she did, she repeated the move until she consistently didn't hit herself, knowing that if it had been a lightsaber, it likely would have cut into her own flesh like it was air.

She seemed extra tired after practice, and knew it was because she'd put in the extra effort. She'd been training for longer than she usually did too, since the sun was creeping towards the horizon.
"I'll cook this time." Maul was already walking to the hut.
"I'm not hungry yet." Nima moved to sit on the grass. "I kind of want to sit out here for a while." He nodded before heading inside, leaving her alone.

Sitting outside and relaxing wasn't something Nima could do before. Seeing space through the viewport of the ship wasn't nearly as beautiful as it was from the surface of a planet. The sky was starting to glow orange and red as the sun set and stars started to appear. Before, Nima didn't see the point. She figured they all looked the same, but she couldn't see how a sunset on Coruscant or Tatooine would look anything like this.

"You really are tired."

She looked up at Maul standing above her. He moved to sit down and she pushed herself up. The sky was now completely dark. The night was quiet and she moved to sit up.
"I guess it was just peaceful," she said with a smile. "I guess I really do feel safe here."
"There isn't any danger here."
"But I used to be scared here, unsure of it all," she admitted. "But you taught me to fight. Even if someone managed to find me here, I could fight them. Maybe that's why I feel like I can finally relax properly."

"I'm glad," Maul said quietly. "But I still doubt anyone would look for you here."
"I know, but still." Nima trailed off, turning her gaze from the stars to Maul. With the tattoos, parts of him blended into the darkening night and shuffled closer. "Would you sit out here with me?"
"Yes." Nima hummed and shuffled closer to him. Her thigh pressed against him as he stared at her.
"Even if we just do nothing?"
He nodded. "Even if we do nothing but sit here." She smiled and looked back up at the stars.

For a while, she was happy with that, occasionally glancing at him. The night was growing colder, and she considered going inside. Maybe just a little bit longer, watching the stars crawl across the sky.

"I think I might head back inside," Nima said as she turned to look at him. He was staring. "Are you watching me?"
Maul didn't answer for a moment and Nima furrowed her brow. "I've seen a lot of stars, but only one of you." The night air didn't feel so cold any more and she tried to think of something to say.
"Can I kiss you?" He nodded and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his. Even though she hadn't done it before, she liked it. She kept kissing him and he returned them. He wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her so she sat on his legs, straddling him. With one hand on his shoulder and one on the side of his face, Nima kept kissing him until she had to stop to breathe.

His hand slid from around her waist to resting on her hip.
"Do you want to..."
"I don't know," her response was quick. Too quick. Why was she so hesitant? She liked him, and clearly the feelings were returned but... Her heart raced a little too much. She closed her eyes for a moment. "I just..."
"You don't have to explain." His voice was low before he kissed her again. She smiled into the kiss and draped her arms around his neck. She grabbed his hand and lifted it to her lekku. As he brushed his thumb across her skin, Nima shivered and then smiled. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the moment.

"Let's go inside. I need to sleep," she whispered as she moved onto the grass as she stood up. Her feet lifted off the ground as two arms wrapped around her again. She was shifted so Maul carried her bridal style. "What are you doing?"
"You said you're tired," was Maul's response. "Unless you want to walk?" Nima stuttered but relented. She didn't mind so much, especially since he'd offered to cook earlier.
"No. No, this is fine." Nima grinned. It was more than fine.