Hello folks,
It's Monday over here so Angie said I could post. This is NC-17 and is set on an anonymous moon in a galaxy Far Far Away.

Comments would be very welcome please.

Anna

"Next!"

Luke stood fidgeting in a line of pilots. He was barely awake and yet had dragged himself from a bedroll not even warmed by his presence. His com had beeped.

"All pilots report to the medical wing."

Luke had been an obedient child. You didn't live with Owen Lars for eighteen years and not know what obedience meant. His so far brief career with the Rebellion hadn't changed his thinking any. There was always someone else to tell you what to do.

Luke had destroyed the Death Star only three months ago. Since then he'd been running from planet to planet, along with the rest of the rebellion. With the elation of that act had come the guilt. Not in the destruction of the battle station with so many lives but in the failure to protect his own family. Yet his life had never felt more real. In the middle of a war, Luke Skywalker had become a man. Well, in some ways he had.

Luke had enlisted to join the Rebellion as a pilot, but when he'd done the unthinkable, he could have asked for anything. All he'd done was ask that he be allowed to keep flying, to learn the skills that would eventually keep people safe. The Rebel leadership had seen a strange kind of wisdom in his request for it kept him safe from Imperial assassination and they could claim to have the miracle pilot anonymously safe within their ranks.

So here he was, wherever here was. It was a crossover point in the galaxy and in his life until he joined his new squadron. Han was off on a run somewhere trying to obtain parts and supplies vital to their war effort. The Princess Leia Organa of the doomed world of Alderaan was not really in his league. He got the feeling she would have liked to keep him around because he had saved her life, but she was a leader and he was merely one of the rank and file. Princesses and farmboys didn't mix in normal circles.

So he was in the middle of nowhere with all the things he'd gone through suddenly weighing heavily on his mind. His family, Obi Wan and the discovery of who he was.

He was eighteen, lonely, cold, homesick and dead tired. He felt so young and unprepared for all of this. Men and women of all species congregated in ordered lines. The guttural sounds of unfamiliar languages pressed in upon his ears. So many people, all trying to make a difference. A couple began to kiss directly in his line of sight and he shuffled awkwardly.

One of the men in front muttered something to his companion and Luke just caught the end of the remark. His face went scarlet with embarrassment. Luke hadn't realised people wanted to do such things, let alone discuss them. He slouched further into his flight suit. He still had no idea what he was standing in this queue for. He gave a nervous darting stare around him and caught the eye of a small female dressed in a mechanics uniform. She gave him a quick wink and Luke flushed even more, sinking even further, if it was possible into his jacket.

"Boy, am I getting some tonight." The loud voice of the man in front of him jarred him into wakefulness.

"Eh?" he stuttered.

"I've been waiting for this since Vardan Six. Supposed to get it then, but they'd run out."

Luke turned wide blue eyes on the man. "You talking to me?"

"Yeah, son. You old enough to be here?"

Luke bristled a little. "I'm eighteen."

The man's face creased into a smile. "So old."

"I'm old enough," and he nearly opened his mouth and told the man what he had done for the Rebellion.

"Lookin' forward to a bit of freedom?"

"Uh!"

"I'm Gilb."

"Luke."

"You seem tired, son."

"Long flight."

Luke felt eyes boring into the back of his head and he risked a glance behind him. The small female had fixed grey eyes on him with a particular intensity. He twisted surreptitiously around. Yes, it was him she was looking at. He could feel her eyes like grey laser beams drilling into his skull

"Play your sabacc deck right, son, you could be onto a winner. Especially once you get your shots. She's a nicely packaged female. Nice shape."

"Eh!"

"Miss Grey Eyes over there. Seems like she's interested. Well, why wouldn't she be, you are an X-wing pilot. They're high on the list of collectible bed partners. So I'm told. I've only met one or two females and they're like nectar surrounded by hilgen bees."

"I don't understand. I don't know her." Luke muttered trying to keep his face from turning red again. The Rebellion at times was worse than the talk at Tosche Station. He hadn't understood a lot of that either.
"Doesn't matter in a place like this. You land, you fly out. One team of mechanics, in another out. It's a temporary holding pen. If you like her, go for it."

"Go for what?"

"Where are you from, son? Tatooine!"

"Well...."

"We're getting our contraceptive shots. The Rebellion doesn't want little rebels running around until we have a galaxy freed from tyranny and oppression. Doesn't want their precious pilots and soldiers suffering from any strange diseases either."

The words sounded strange coming from the older, balding Gilb, but Luke could understand the sentiment, then it sunk in. He'd never.... And now he was getting something to stop him getting a woman pregnant. His face flushed anew. Uncle Owen had kept Luke so close to the farm and on such a tight rein that he'd had little opportunity to be with girls. Aunt Beru had explained the facts of life to him long ago, but always with the instruction he wasn't to do it because he might get a girl in trouble. Luke knew they couldn't afford to get contraceptive shots and there was no way they could afford the consequences. Luke learned to not even think about it. Instead, he filled his head with flying the stars and perhaps one day finding a dream girl.

Gilb gave the boy a cheery salute before vanishing into the cubical and Luke was left with uncomfortable thoughts. Jawa's curses, he was tired.

"Hey, flyboy!" the girl addressed him. "You busy later?" She was small, very curvy with the grey eyes he'd noticed earlier and mousy hair. Pretty, in a nondescript kind of way.

"I don't know. I might have to be debriefed. I've not seen any of command yet."

"Command!" she hooted in derision. "Come on, you an innocent or what?"
"I'm eighteen. I've been around."

"You've not been around much, I'll warrant." Her voice softened. He was cute in a gawky adolescent kind of way. His eyes were something though. Blue as the skies above a resort planet. This place didn't have atmosphere and you weren't here for the view. "Command will be getting their shots and then celebrating like the rest of us."

Luke shook his head. "I was told to be here and they would have someone brief me on my next posting."

"I'm Alis." She held out a grimy, oil streaked hand,

"Luke," he muttered.

"Next!" The voice sounded quite close to Luke but he ignored it as he stretched out a wary limb.

"Next!" The voice intruded in exasperation.

Luke stood with his hand still clasped in Alis's. He felt a warm tingly feeling run through him as she brushed her hand over his work-roughened palm.

"Used to doing a bit of manual labour, I see."

"Used to work on a farm," his voice choked a little and he felt an uncomfortable prickly feeling in his eyes. He couldn't break down. He was a man now, not a boy. Weeping wouldn't bring his family back.
Alis stared at him. She could see he was upset. "Empire?" was all she said and he nodded. "Me too," she whispered, letting him for a moment see past her tough fa?e. Somewhere deep in the grey eyes lurked pain.

"Hey, you can do that later, guys, with the benefit of all the correct medical care." The irritation caught at Luke through the senses. He felt the man's vexation through the Force. Ben had said he would sense things that way and now he was. Ben....

Luke and Alis jerked apart as a medic stuck his head out of the cubical with an aggravated expression. "Come on, I got half of the Rebellion still to see, get a move on."
The queue quietened and Luke found himself the centre of attention. He dipped his head and scurried into the cubical. Alis watched with an amused chuckle as she levelled a warning stare at a couple of technicians who started moving towards her.

" Sit there," the medic motioned to the rather ramshackle bed in the corner. "Name?" he barked - his voice and manner impersonal.
"Skywalker."

The medic ran his eyes down a pad. "Luke Skywalker, X-wing pilot. Last posting Yavin IV." He let out a whistle. No wonder this one looked dazed. "Not had any shots." He lifted his eyes and stared at Luke in disbelief. "Where in the name of the Empire did they find you?"
Luke coughed. "Tatooine."

"Where? Oh brother, Outer Rim." He came up to Luke and pressed a hypospray to his neck. So do you know about sex."
"Course I do...."

"Just never done it, right."

Luke lifted his chin and opened his mouth to say... anything to keep a little pride. A man had his pride, although Luke wasn't sure where his was at that moment.

"Just kidding, son. You can go and screw to your heart's content. That's what most of the other males and females of whatever species they belong to will be doing. Nothing else to do here."

"It doesn't seem right." Luke's face warmed at the vulgar term the medic had used

The medic gave Luke a puzzled glance. "This whole Empire ain't right, kid. People take comfort where they can. You're a real innocent, aren't you?"

"I was, " Luke gave a bitter shrug, his eyes hard. "Before the Empire killed my family and destroyed my home. I'm no different from most of the others here. We all have our tales to tell and secrets to hide."
The medic looked at the boy properly for the first time and saw the grief he was trying to keep from his features.

"Look, son, " he placed a fatherly hand on Luke's boyish shoulders. "Go and forget your troubles for an hour or so. Some use spice, which I don't recommend, others use alcohol. Some bury themselves in a warm body. Whatever you choose to do, it's up to you but you're covered for the latter."

Luke slid off the bed and wandered wearily out. In the distance he saw Gilb with his arms around a grey clad female. Gilb wasn't wasting any time. He returned the wave and headed back in the general direction of his quarters.

"Luke!" the voice took a while to penetrate the fog in his brain. What was her name - Alis? Pretty name. Like a flower. He'd seen real flowers growing wild and green for the first time on Yavin IV. Little grew on Tatooine in the barren desert. His eyes clouded over as again he saw his family.

Alis stood awkwardly. She'd spotted him the day he'd arrived. She was in the second rota of mechanics and had nearly finished her shift. She was here for a standard month and then would be shipped out somewhere new. It was okay for the moment. It left her little time to think. The X-wing had touched down in something close to the most near perfect landing she'd ever witnessed. The figure had climbed from the cockpit and on removing his helmet, she'd seen it was a very young man, about her own age in fact.

He'd immediately checked his ship and unloaded a stubby R2 droid which he'd talked quietly to, rubbing its little domed head affectionately. Something about him had called to her. He was different; she knew that. Different and she wanted to talk to him.

Alis had escaped her home planet when the Empire invaded it. Her family had been forced to work down the mines where her father had been killed in an accident soon after the Empire had taken over. Her mother had died not long afterwards. She'd not wanted to live without her husband. Alis accepted that. Her parents had truly loved one another. Her mind switched briefly to Dallan as it did every day of her life. In time she would forget and move on but it was too soon for that. Dallan had been a member of an early Rebel cell. He'd been caught, interrogated and executed by the local garrison commander for some fabricated treasonous act. The blond pilot reminded her of Dallan somehow.

"Luke, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he returned dully.

"No, you're not. You've been too long in the cockpit and not enough time sleeping."

Luke gave a small grin, which lifted his face into something that almost could be called handsome. He'd be a looker when he grew into his features. She found herself drawn by his eyes again. Yup, this one would break a few hearts. He seemed to really look at you, see into you, the real you and not what you let every one else see. He would be dangerous if you were ready to let down your shields.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand and led him to where the pilots were quartered.

"I'm in here." He stood looking down at her. He wasn't tall, but she was nearly as tiny as Leia. Were all small women this determined?
"Lieutenant Skywalker to briefing room one." The tinny voice over the tannoy, broke the spell and Luke groaned. Why did it have to be now? All he wanted to do was sleep. "I'd better go." He fidgeted awkwardly again.

Alis took a step backwards, impressed despite herself, reminding herself what a good judge of character she was. "Is that you?"
"For my sins."

"I'll wait for you. See you get some undisturbed rest later on."
Luke stared at her and nodded. Somehow it felt right. "I'd like that."

"Oh and Luke...."

"Yeah,"

"You were right. Command did want to speak to you."

Over the next three days Luke and Alis got to know each other as best they could without becoming too close. Luke didn't want to fall in love with her, and he suspected Alis was seeing him as a substitute for her dead sweetheart. They'd exchanged enough about each other to feel comfortable but not the things that really mattered.

Then came the night she kissed him. His last night.

It had been pleasant and warm and something had turned a little in his stomach.

"We've spent all our free time together for three days and you've never once jumped me. Any other guy would have by now. Any other pilot would have had my top off." She took a large swig of lomin ale. "Taken liberties or something."

"I'm not any other guy," he replied, his blue eyes vulnerable as he stood up and prepared to leave.

She'd reached up and covered his lips with her own. "I know, that's why I want to do this." Alis backed him against the wall and pulled his head down to hers while she kissed him, the strong taste of his Corellian whiskey flavouring the encounter. Luke hadn't much experience but he had kissed a girl or two, although that was as far as it had gone. For a moment he forgot everything, the Rebellion, the Princess, his family and let himself enjoy the feeling. His arms snaked around her and pulled her closer.

A ribald comment in his ear caused them to pull apart, both breathing heavily. Alis's cheeks were flushed, her mouth showing the ripeness that came from a good kissing.

"Hey, son. Told you she liked you. But I would go somewhere private, if you ask me." Gilb's good-natured face peered at the pair in the darkness of the bar.

"We didn't," Alis muttered snootily. "Come on, Luke."

She took him to her quarters and again pulled him into her arms. This time Luke didn't protest. He wanted to feel something; he'd been anaesthetised for too long. Ever since his family had died, there had been a chunk of durasteel where his heart had been. He began to rub his hands carefully over Alis, moving nearer her breasts.

"Luke, touch me. I want to have your hands on my body."

Luke flushed scarlet but lifted his hands and placed them on the opulent curves

Alis stood in the middle of the tiny room she'd called home for two months. She was moving out the day after Luke did, to some base on the far side of the galaxy. It was unlikely they would meet again. They knew that and accepted it. Her bag lay on the floor half packed, but the two young people ignored it as they moved closer, their eyes asking and answering questions. His hands moved to curve over her shoulders and down over her full breasts. He felt her nipples harden, even through the indestructible material the Rebellion favoured for some of its uniforms. Luke opened his mouth and let his tongue caress hers. A streak of fire burned its way down to his groin and he stiffened, embarrassed at such a reaction. But instead of backing away Alis circled her hips against his erection encouraging it, feeding its flames. Luke drove away rational thought and just began to feel. Her mouth was hot, her welcoming arms surrounded him, and he could sense heaven awaited him elsewhere.

They were young and alive and suddenly desire hit Luke as his shaft hardened. He began to undress Alis, and she scrambled to get him out of his clothes in turn. The two of them, dressed only in their underwear, fell back onto the bed where their caresses began to heat up in a frantic fumble of arms and legs. Luke was inexperienced in sexual matters but he knew the differences between man and woman and how they fit together. Alis's urgent fingers began to tug at his shorts and pull them down his legs allowing his proud shaft to spring free, unfettered by soft cloth. It was strange he thought when his brain cleared for a fraction of an instant, what natural instinct gave you the ability to do. But that was his last rational thought as he tentatively parted Alis's legs and probed her entrance. He could feel the dampness between her legs as he touched the material covering her womanhood.

"Luke!" her voice rose to a thin scream. "Now!" she panted breathlessly. "Do it to me now!" Her voice turned into a demanding growl and she moved his hands away from torturing her nipples, to grasp her final covering. With his heart in his mouth, Luke tugged gently and finally they were lying naked against each other. His male member reacted even more, if it was possible and with his heartbeat thunderously loud in his own ears, Luke slid home.

Alis keened a wail of satisfaction as she locked her legs around him and began to rotate her hips. She was no virgin, but she'd only done it a few times with Dallan before his death. Luke opened passion filled blue eyes and watched the woman below him, he was buried in her up to the hilt and it felt strange. Strange but good, incredibly... good. Alis tightened her silken muscles around him, and Luke began to sense his composure departing. With a careful thrusts, he moved all the while checking that the woman in his arms was enjoying his moves. Her breathing quickened, his heart pounded in his chest.

"Yes, oh yes."

Luke began to thrust more and suddenly began to lose his composure and control, this felt so good. Alis dug her nails into his back, the shock sent a burst of feeling to his already sensitised flesh and he buried his lips in the sensitive hollow at the base of her throat. Their bodies matched as they paced the road to final satisfaction and when it did, Alis yelled in defiant triumph, followed shortly by Luke as he spilled life essence into her receptive woman's body.
They lay unmoving for several minutes, letting their bodies cool down and their breathing return to normal.

"Thank you," Luke whispered. For the first time in ages, he'd felt.
"Thank you too, Luke. You've given me the courage to go on with my life."

"Dallan?"

"I loved him but he's dead. Your family?"

"Dead too, but I have to continue fighting so that their deaths and Dallans' will not have been in vain. You already have courage, Alis."
"Good." Her mouth curved in an inviting smile. "Since we're very much alive, I wouldn't mind another go at the activity we've just tried out rather successfully."

Luke moved back into her arms and dropped a kiss on a rosy pouting nipple. The sexy quality of her voice sent renewed life to his loins. Alis stroked his shaft and watched as it reacted to her touch.
"I would say you were ready, pilot."

"Oh, I'm ready." Luke rolled her underneath him and with a swift manoeuvre was in her.

"Is this move in the piloting manuals?"

"Oh no, I think I invented this one," Luke quipped back.

"Then show me some of your other moves, flyboy."

"My pleasure. Mechanics always need to work with good tools."

"These are good.... aahh! These are the best."

Then all talking stopped as they communicated by touch and rhythm alone.

Luke climbed into his X-wing and stared around the hangar. A small movement caught his eye. Alis stood at the entrance, her grey eyes serious. She gave him a smile and a wave.

"Clear skies, Luke," she mouthed.

Luke nodded. "Thanks," he mouthed back. "Okay Artoo, fire up the converters." He pulled his battered helmet onto his tousled head and the hatch on the x-wing came down sealing him in place. Alis grimaced. He might as well be several star systems away from her now. Such was life, but she emerged from the hangar bay with a lighter heart. Something about the boy had touched her. She didn't love him, she hadn't spent enough time with him, but with people like Dallan and Luke willing to lay down their lives to make things better for the rest of them, then she could do her bit too.

Luke set the co-ordinates and blasted out into the vastness of space. He really was a man now; in all the ways that counted. Not that he would be sharing every private detail. He would never forget Alis, but she was his secret.