Darkness {4}

Chapter 18

Consciousness slowly returned to Luke, greeting him hesitantly. He opened his eyes drowsily and blinked a few times, and he could move but he didn't want to. His limbs felt like they were made of lead, and the only thing he felt capable of doing was going back to sleep.

But a sharp pain in the upper left part of his head left him seething and awake, albeit dizzy. He squeezed his eyes shut and immediately saw sparks explode underneath his eyelids as he went to touch the tender area, and opened his eyes again once the pain had receded.

It looked like sunrise, based on how the sky was slowly getting lighter. Luke found himself covered in a slightly damp article of clothing, and he looked over to see a fire crackling to his left. He peeled the clothing off of him to realize that he only had his tank top on, and that the clothing wasn't his.

He spotted his jacket hanging over the fire on what looked to be a makeshift drying rack made of sticks, and looked across the tree he was laying against to see another shadowy figure laying against he one next to him. If it weren't for the firelight he wouldn't have been able to see Kira's outline at all. Her head was lolled to the side, and her chest rose and fell slowly. She was asleep.

It was only then that Luke realized something was tied across his head, and he frowned and felt around. He felt a knot on the left side of his head and also felt something wet underneath it along with a fiery pain, and when he pulled his hand back there was a bit of blood on it.

Luke sighed and leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes. The last thing he remembered was feeling a stone slab collide with his body and a searing pain in the left side of his head, which meant he must've gotten knocked unconscious and fallen into the water.

The pieces started to connect as he looked at Kira sleeping gently, and his confused expression softened. She must've saved him, but how he didn't know. He guessed he'd just have to wait until she'd woken up to find out.

His thoughts drifted to when this whole ordeal started, when the floor had crumbled near Kira and she had fallen into the watery depths. Now that he was thinking about it Luke realized how insane he was for thinking that he could get her out alive, but apparently he could. The chances were one in a million, but he'd saved her.

No, he corrected himself, feeling his head throbbing. They'd saved each other.

But a frown crossed his face as he remembered why he'd jumped in the first place, and he sighed to himself. Even after three years of only crossing paths once, Luke felt almost even more strongly about her. And that was not good for either of them.

So he'd hide it, he decided, his heart sinking at the idea but his brain deciding it was best. Although yesterday he was emotionally charged in general due to the circumstances, now he was able to step back and evaluate the situation. It was definitely not an ideal one to be in, being in love with a woman who either didn't know or didn't care. Besides, even if she did feel the same it wouldn't work. It'd be treason.

Kira stirred and Luke felt her Force signature flicker briefly, meaning she was waking up. He debated pretending to be asleep so that they wouldn't have to talk just yet, but he knew that if he could sense her alertness than she could sense his as well.

The sun rose over the trees slowly, and Kira opened her eyes. He closed his as the light grew brighter and caused him to have even more of a headache, and after a few minutes he heard the rustling of grass where she was laying, meaning she'd gotten up.

Luke opened his eyes because the sun was still mostly blocked by the tree-line, and he saw Kira take his jacket off of the fire and looked down to remember that hers was draped over him. He took it off and watched her stamp out the fire before deciding to speak.