A Mother's Touch

HER MODESTY

Osha sank down into the waters of the hot springs to soak away the fatigue and soreness in her muscles. Outside the world of the holocron, her eyes perceived colors in a way she had never noticed. She sank beneath the surface, but as she came up for air, she realized she was not alone. The Stranger stood on the shore, watching her, much as she had done when they first encountered each other. Only he didn't have a lightsaber in his hands.

"Training? So early? And without me?" he called. His voice was bereft with feigned injury to his pride. He tried to hide a smile behind his dark bangs.

"I didn't want to wake you." Osha swam toward the shore. He waited, expectantly. When it was clear he had no intention of turning around while she got out of the water, she hesitated, remaining in the springs. "Close your eyes."

"Why?" He cocked his head to the side and raised his chin. The latter was a tell when he was about to say something coarse. "You've seen me. And I've seen you...well most of you." He rolled his eyes, staring up at the sky, and rocked back and forth on his heels, like an insolent child. "To be fair, it was dark."

Osha slapped at the surface of the water, but he was too far from the splash. "Turn around!" She was relieved when he reluctantly spun around to face the opposite direction. Hurrying ashore, she dabbed at her skin with a towel and wrestled into her clothes. As she adjusted the collar of her tunic, the Stranger came behind her and used the damp towel to dry her neck and the ends of her auburn locs.

Wrapping his arms about her shoulders, he pulled her into his embrace and kissed the side of her neck. His warm breath against her skin brought Osha's legs to the point of buckling. "Sure you don't want to go back in the water?" he whispered in her ear. "With me?"

Though ever nerve within her wanted her to acquiesce to him, Osha had something to prove first. She did an immediate about-face and backed away from him. "Only if you can best me in the saber throwing exercise."

The Stranger stared at her through narrowed, suspicious eyes. "Best you?"

"If you win, I'll go back in the water. With you." She traced a line on his shirt, drawing her finger across his pectoral muscles and down his flat abdomen, stopping at his navel. "But if I win, you'll tell me your name."

He raised his chin defiantly and glared at her with a wry smirk. The wind played with the longer strands of hair in his face. "So you have been practicing. All right. That's reasonable. Show me."