> Aftermath. Picking up the pieces.

[kukalaka_n_me]

[The first thing that Julian noticed was the sound of voices talking quietly amongst themselves. And the soft hum and whirl of machines of some sort doing what they were supposed to do. He slowly cracked open his eyelids, allowing light to come streaming in. He blinked, disoriented, groggy. His mouth felt dry. His body was like a lead weight,

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[aeruginous]

[ anywhere on shtel nor felt safe after being trapped in a freezing cave, so it was no wonder gaila fell asleep in sickbay to the lullaby of julian's heartbeat. dr. mccoy encouraged her to get some shut eye in her quarters or, if she refused to leave, rest on one of the beds in the anterior room, but gaila would barely leave julian to eat. she couldn't have fallen asleep back there anyway. it still reminded her of the whale incident.

so she fell asleep, and she was still so tired from their ordeal in the holosuite that she didn't wake up immediately upon being disturbed. even when her consciousness stirred, she didn't want to open her eyes. that was until she felt a hand on her head, and registered the rough voice speaking as julian's.

gaila's eyes opened, blearily at first, and then she rapidly blinked the slumber away to find him looking back at her. she'd never take watching him wake up for granted again. ]

You're awake.

[ a drowsy smile spread across her lips. her eyes watered but she blinked that away too. she lifted her head

[kukalaka_n_me]

[He'd never seen a more beautiful sight in his life. Gaila smiling at him, safe in his arms.]

I have you to thank for that.

[He had so many questions. About how she'd managed to end the program. How they'd been rescued. How she'd kept him alive.

But the need for answers seemed paltry and insignificant against the one single truth:

He was alive.

Which meant that he could spend more time with Gaila. Would have another chance to make her as happy as he possibly could.]

I thought I'd never see you again.

[Damn it, he hadn't been intending to let his emotions run riot again, but...blinking away more tears, he pulled her hands towards him.]

Come here.

[He needed to kiss Gaila. To do what he hadn't had a chance to do before, when he'd been wounded and helpless and dying. To reaffirm with his body, not words, that he loved her. Completely and without reservation. It was only a kiss, but it would have to do.]

[aeruginous]

[ and she needed to kiss him, but she didn't know how strong he was and she didn't want to push. gaila had been sitting too long and was still sore... well, all over, so standing up was not the smoothest process, but she gladly allowed herself to be pulled toward him, and kissed him softly.

when they'd been in the facility, high as kites on adrenaline, she'd wanted for so much more than this. but now, she could appreciate everything a simple kiss brought with it: the warmth in his lips, the returned pressure, the breaths so abundant he would willingly keep from taking a few just to express to her how he felt. the simplest things.

the things she so strongly couldn't contemplate being without she'd walked right into a blizzard. it sounded crazy. it was crazy. but she knew right now that she'd go that kind of crazy again, if she ever had to. ]

[kukalaka_n_me]

[He didn't want to let her go. But he wasn't yet back to full strength. When he pulled back, he was breathless. Not just because she had excited him, as she always did, but because the effort of what he had done had taken its toll.]

When I am fully recovered, I am going to put a smile on your face like you wouldn't believe.

[He vowed, tracing the side of her cheek with his fingertips. Dying hadn't seem so terrible a fate as losing her. And putting her though his own death. He was beginning to realize what it meant to think of someone else first. To worry about their wellbeing over his own.]