The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 75 - After the Storm comes the Calm

Nomi broke free of his embrace and activated her lightsaber. The ice-blue blade appeared with a hiss.
Skywalker activated his lightsaber as well. With a quick, flowing motion, he charged.
Their blades met, sparking and accompanied by electrical discharges. With all her strength Nomi tried to push her opponent back and she succeeded.
Panting, she stood in front of Luke and waited for the next attack. The attack came quickly, but she sensed where it was aimed. The young woman easily managed to block the blow and swing back to counterattack.
She had a feeling Luke wasn't using the Force this time. The Jedi staggered under the force of the unexpected impact. She followed with rapid slashes. Eventually she managed to penetrate his defenses. Just before she could seriously hurt him, she deactivated her lightsaber.
Completely exhausted from the fight, they faced each other. In a reflexive move, Luke raised his lightsaber in salute before deactivating it.
"You did very well, Nomi. An opponent who can't use the Force doesn't stand a chance against you. Tomorrow we'll see how you fare against an opponent who can also use the Force. That's all for today."
Nomi nodded her head.
"See you tomorrow, Luke."
She turned and went to her quarters.

Nomi's sons and Dash, who was cradling Tasherit in his arms, were already waiting for her there.
"Dada has suwise, mama," said Biggs with a big smile.
"Your father has a surprise for me?" she asked, looking at her husband who was just as excited as the triplets.
"Our kids are fed and I want to show you something, darling," Dash smiled at his wife while handing Leebo Tasherit.
Then he took Nomi's hand and together they went outside where two speeder bikes were parked.
"This is your surprise?" asked Dash's wife, raising an eyebrow. "We use speeder bikes every day for patrol duty."
Rendar laughed.
"Of course the speeder bikes aren't the surprise I have for you, honey. C'mon, get on your bike and just follow me."
He mounted his bike, started the engine and before Nomi could react, he was on his way.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Nomi got on her own speeder bike, started the engine and it wasn't long before she was catching up.
After a while the landscape changed. It was untouched by the otherwise omnipresent environmental pollution. Nomi looked at the green grass and the clear sky in amazement.
After a standard hour, Dash Rendar stopped at the edge of a forest and dismounted his speeder bike. Nomi did the same next to him. She wondered what he wanted to show her. Again Dash took his wife by the hand and led her through a gap in the thicket.
"I discovered that on my last patrol," he said and took off the breath mask. "The air here is fresh. We don't need the masks."
Nomi also took off her mask and was speechless when she saw the crystal clear lake in front of her.
"Do you like it, darling?"
"It's beautiful here, Dash."
Rendar smiled and began to undress.
"C'mon Nomi, let's swim," he said and reached for his wife. "Why are you hesitating? Get undressed and get in the water. Nobody can watch us here."
Nomi stood on the shore and watched as her husband entered the water and moved effortlessly in it.
"C'mon, the water is wonderful, darling."
"Uh, Dash, I'm from Tatooine, a desert planet," Nomi answered and looked at her husband who was standing in the water in front of her.
"I know, Nomi."
"But there's something you don't know, love," she hesitated for a split second. "I can't swim."
Dash looked at her in astonishment.
"You can't swim? An Alliance fighter trained as a commando can't swim?"
His wife shrugged.
"I never had a chance to learn, Dash."
"Then you will learn it now, honey. Get undressed and get in the water. It would be strange if I couldn't teach you to swim."
Nomi undressed slowly.
"You don't need to be afraid. I'll hold you."
Her husband approached her and took her hand. Then he carefully led her deeper and deeper into the water until she suddenly couldn't feel the bottom anymore. He held her as promised.
"Move your arms and legs like you saw me do."
At the same moment, Dash let go of his wife. Nomi dove under and got water in her mouth. She came back to the surface, coughing and spitting.
Dash laughed as he held her again.
"It's not funny Dash, are you trying to drown me?"
She glared at her husband, who couldn't stop laughing.
"No, Nomi. Maybe I should warn you next time. Let's try again."
Finally she tried to imitate the movements she had seen her husband make.
"You're doing very well, Nomi. I'm slowly letting go of you now."
He released his grip and Nomi, to her own surprise, swam. Dash swam alongside her and tried to grab her, but she eluded him. Finally they swam to shore together. They got out of the water hand in hand and lay down on the grass. Rendar kissed his wife deeply, letting his hands wander and passion followed. As she lay exhausted and happy in her husband's arms, Nomi wondered if Luke could have sensed what had just happened. Dash lovingly brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her.
"I think we should go back to base, Nomi. Tasherit will be hungry and our sons will surely want to hear a story from you before they go to sleep."
He rose and helped his wife up. After getting dressed, they walked hand in hand to the speeder bikes. Shortly thereafter, they were on their way back to base.

As they entered their quarters, they were greeted by Leebo carrying the crying Tasherit.
"Your daughter has been crying for half a standard hour, Nomi. There was no milk to feed her."
Nomi thought she heard a reproachful undertone as the droid handed her daughter to her. She sat down, undid her shirt and started feeding the little girl while the triplets sat at her feet, wide-eyed listening to a story.

It was late and Nomi could hardly keep her eyes open. After putting the children to bed, she and Dash went to sleep as well. The young woman snuggled up to her husband and closed her eyes. She tried not to think that tomorrow was going to be a hard day and she seemed to succeed because she fell asleep after a short time.