His Cat, Her Major ~ Jasper Hale

Destressing

Immediately after returning to the Cullen house, Maya and Jasper headed up to his room for a shower. Wanting nothing more than to wash off the remnants of the battle.

"God I am so glad that it's all done now" Maya confessed tiredly once the door was closed. "Uncle Caius and my siblings always talked about battles as if they were not a big deal, but that was honestly one of the worst experiences of my life."

"It's okay to not enjoy it Darlin'. The important thing is to remember that we all survived and that we're all okay." Jasper pulled her into a comforting hug then, once again thanking every higher power he could think of for keeping her alive and safe along with the rest of his family.

Maya let out a laugh at that as her arms came up to hold him to her. "Yeah well, I still never want to be in another battle ever again. But still, seeing you in action was amazing. I know you told me about your past but I don't think it was until today that I really understood just how amazing it is that you survived all those years fighting." She pulled back just enough to reach up and place a kiss on his cheek before returning to holding him close with her head resting on his chest.

He let out a self-depreciating laugh at that. "I wouldn't judge my abilities based on this battle. It was by far the hardest battle I have ever fought. Not that the enemy was particularly challenging. They were neither well trained nor well led as neither Victoria or Riley was there, but our side definitely made it a struggle."

"Because you live with a bunch of pacifists with no combat experience?" Maya teased.

He shook his head sadly, ashamed of what he was about to confess. "If only that were the problem. In the past I was never close to any of the newborns. Besides Maria and later Peter, everyone else was expendable and could be replaced. If they were killed it was aggravating as we would have to train new ones but it wasn't a big deal. However with this battle, the thought of losing even one member of my family was unbearable. I wasn't fighting with nameless soldiers; I was fighting with you and Alice and Rosalie and Emmet and Carlisle and Esme." He bent down to rest his forehead on hers, "I don't know if I would have been able to live with myself if one of you died because I wasn't good enough."

"Oh Cowboy, even if one of us had died it wouldn't have been your fault." As she felt him shake his head to deny it, she pulled back to take his face into her hands and force him to look at her. "Listen to me. You did the absolute best you could. You trained us, gave us the best advantages in the battle and watched our backs as we fought. Doing this despite how much you hated having to take on the role again. Or hated having all the memories you tried to forget brought to the surface. You did that for us. The only reason any of us are standing here now is thanks to you and I will not allow you to second guess yourself or put any of the blame on yourself. You, my Darling man, went above and beyond for this family. And I could not love you any more for facing your past as you did for us." She brought him into a kiss then, one that was slow but fierce as she poured all her feelings into it.

He kissed her back desperately, pulling her flush against him. He slowly backed them up towards the shower and began fumbling with the taps not breaking the kiss. Once the water was flowing they both began to strip, pulling their clothes off in a frenzy, only breaking away to yank their shirts off and give Maya a chance to breath.

Though Maya was honestly not sure how this had happened.

What had begun as a kiss of reassurance and love had become one filled with a desperate need to assure themselves that the other was still alive and well. It was as if the reality of the battle was just hitting them now as they both began to realize that they could have lost the other. Their hands slid over each other as they moved under the water.