(Star Wars) ~ Alice

VI

Alice and Dak arrived at his own palace after breakfast, which sat on the edge of the dune sea not far from the Pit of Karkoon. He showed Alice around the home, which was basically a smaller scale version of Skywalker's palace. He was pleased to show someone around personally, especially the quiet blonde at his side. "That concludes the tour." He joked, chuckling with her. "You like the place?"

"It's very nice... Smaller, so I won't get lost." She answered with a nod of her head. "Well, you'll be with me most of the time. You should definitely be fine." He looked down at their hands, both intertwined with each other's; it's funny because to him, they just seemed to fit together. "It is hot though... Well, hotter than normal." She commented, her free hand running over the back of her neck. A lightbulb went off in his head. "Did I show you the rooftop?" He began tugging her along, already knowing that she was going to love this surprise. Once they got to the stairs, he stopped and picked her up bridal style. "Mama Jae said for this week, just so you don't overwork your ankle." (In all honesty, he just wanted an excuse to hold her.)

Alice giggled quietly, her arms going around his shoulders to steady herself as he mounted the stairs two at a time. Dak pushed the door open and the bright light outside blinded them for a moment. When their eyes adjusted, Dak carefully (and rather reluctantly) set Alice down on the ground. "Welcome to my own little oasis, Bunny." She looked around and gasped, followed by a smile; it was beautiful up here, like the hanging gardens she had once heard about! Speaking of which, around the perimeter of the rooftop, floating garden troughs created a fragrant and colorful barrier at the edges. More than half of the rooftop was a massive pool; at the far right side was a raised infinity tank whereas the lower (larger) portion was deep enough to dive in. Along the back flower wall as well as in each of the roof's corners were palm tree's that provided a little shade from the harsh sun.

It really was an oasis.

"It's beautiful." Alice's hand went out to touch some flowers growing in a nearby pot. "So are you..." He sighed, inwardly slapping himself when he realized what he'd said. "I mean, I'm glad you like it, Alice. It's your oasis too..."

"Can I come up here from time to time?" She asked, either not hearing what he had said or choosing to let it go. "Of course; you can come up here whenever." Dak smiled at her as another lightbulb when off in his head. "How about you and I go change and we can come back here to swim?" Her head snapped up again as a look of fright crossed her face. "N-No, I'll stay here." She told him, looking at the water with a fearful look. At this, he took a knee in front of her; one of his hands brushed against her cheek. "What's wrong? Don't tell me nothing because your face is telling me it's something." She looked down at the ground and bit her lip. "I'm scared of the water... I-I can't swim." He gently pulled her into his arms, trying to comfort her.

"It's alright, I'll teach you. I won't let you get hurt, in or out of the water."

"You're not mad?" Alice asked, sounding surprised. Usually when she refused to do something, there were a lot of punishments. "Of course not, why would I be?" Dak smiled at her, glad to see that she wasn't scared anymore. (Well, at least she didn't look frightened.) "You need to know how to swim, Bunny; especially since you're going to need to know for the other house." Mentally he face palmed again but before she could ask him what he was talking about, he decided to explain. "I'm planning on building a summer house soon and wherever it's going to be, there will be either a pool or some body of water. Never mind that now, we'll have plenty of time to talk about that later. Let's go get changed and then we can dive right into it, okay?" He held out a hand to her after getting back on his feet.

"Okay..." She answered, putting her hand in his and heading back down the stairs at a slower pace. Dak led her to their room, immediately walking into their master closet. He grabbed a swimsuit from one of her shelves and headed back out. "I didn't really know what kind of swimsuits to get you so I let Padme and Satine pick them out for you... Is this okay?" He handed her a baby blue bikini with black detailing around the edges and cups. She nodded her head but she looked a little unsure before taking it and going into the refresher to change. Dak walked back into the closet, stripping himself of his shirt. A pair of black trunks caught his eye; he quickly changed into them before walking back out of the closet. Alice was waiting for him near the sitting area of their suite. "Woah." She looked up at him surprised, running her hands down her sides. "Do I look okay?"

"You look perfect." He chuckled, nervously trying to recover. "Sorry, I just didn't think you could get any prettier." Dak smirked before grabbing her by the hand and leading her out of their room.

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Alice stood at the edge of the pool; even though they were starting in the shallowest end that was barely a few inches, she was scared to take that first step. Sure, this was shallow but what about the rest? "Bunny, I'm not going to let you get hurt. Just give me your hand and we'll walk in together, okay?" Dak was already ankle-deep in the diving pool; it had a shoreline walkin rather than steps. "Please don't throw me in... I know that's how many 'learn' but the idea scares me." She confessed, her hand gripping his tightly. "I'm not going to do that; I may be a crime boss but I'm not that mean." He brought her closer so he could keep a hand on her waist instead of just holding her hand.

They walked until it was about navel level on Alice; the water lapped against Dak's hips. "Just relax, we're just gonna float for now. I'm going to teach you and then you're going to do it on your own, okay?" When she nodded, he took that as his cue to go on. "Alright, I'm going to pick you up and then I'm going to hold you on top of the water." He had a plan; she just needed to go with the flow. "Just don't let go... please." She told him but released her grip on one hand and let him pick her up. A moment later, she was laying on her back, feeling the water move around her. "Close your eyes." He softly commanded, kneeling in the water beside her. Both of his hands were supporting her, one just below her neck and the other underneath her thighs.

"Just take some deep breaths and get used to the water. You might feel it on your face but that's normal so don't worry about it. When you're comfortable, hold your arms out and let them rest on top of the water." Once she did this, he slowly removed his hands; she didn't even notice when he had let go. Dak smile beamed as he watched her, feeling this sense of pride swell within his chest.

"See, you can do it."