After dinner the second night aboard was finished Mylena hung behind for a few minutes to help clean up the dishes.  It was her way to be useful.  She was friendly to those who wished to speak, but she did not initiate any conversations. She was distracted as she worked, her almond shaped eyes seeking out the form of the pilot from under demurely lowered lashes.
 
Once the dishes were stowed away and she was able to slip away without being rude she would do so, following him towards the cockpit.  She hesitated outside the door, wanting to come in and talk with him, but uncertain if she should disturb him.  She studied him for a long moment, feeling more free to do so since he wasn't looking at her but then she felt bad about spying on him.  He was likely used to being stared at.  His whole life had felt the scrutiny of eyes upon him for daring to be born different. People who made no pretense of gawking and those who were more subtle, but couldn't help but track him with their eyes, sizing him up as it were, judging.  He had felt the weight of their stares his whole life, measuring him.  Such was not the sense he would get from the she glances given by the graceful girl.

After a long moment, she made a soft sound, not quite a clearing of her throat, nothing so crass. Just enough noise so he would know she was there. She waited for him to acknowledge her presence, head bowed, eyes lowered.  She was dressed in the same pale jade silk outfit she had worn before, her hair left down loose about her shoulders, hanging down to the middle of her back in inky waves. 

"Hello Newt." She said his name in her softly accented voice, somehow seeming to savor the sound of it in her mouth, the taste upon her tongue. " I did not wish to disturb you in your work. I had hoped to make a more formal introduction than we were allowed before.  As we are to be shipmates and I hope very much, friends." The last words, breathless and a bit rushed as if she were nervous, her eyes lowered shyly. "If I presume too much by thinking a gunhand, as the Captain describes me, to be worthy of a pilot's attention please forgive me for overstepping." 

He had seen her first out of the corner of his eye upon her approach. Such grace, and beauty,each step choreographed. His heart had immediately begun to race,and his mouth dry. "Yep, a spark in the Black".

Was she here to see him,surely not. No,no she must have gotten turned around. Just then she hinted to him,her presence.

"Stay calm Newt,you got this", the voice echoing in his ears from within.

Her gaze was inquisitive,as many were towards him, yet hers possessed a warmth and genuine kindness. Hearing her speak his name, sent tingles of electricity through his form. Was he dreaming, had he taken a harder fall upon the stairs than he realized.

" I did not wish to disturb you in your work. I had hoped to make a more formal introduction than we were allowed earlier.  As we are to be shipmates and I hope very much friends."

Her words jolted him out of his daze. Soft spoken they were, yet with a thoughtful approach most lacked in the Black. Very reminiscent of those whom had been trained to work around luxury and wealth, a familiarity to his ears.

  "If I presume too much by thinking a gunhand as the Captain describes me to be worthy of a pilot's attention please forgive me for overstepping." 

Offering the seat at the helm, " Your words hold a kindness to them, a melody. My how you spark! Overstep away Miss Mylena, overstep away".
Taking a quick step back and looking at the floor, "Goodness, forgive me, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, uh,why did I say that,uh."

She blushed at his words, a delicate coloring in her cheeks, a pinking of her ears, a slow flush creeping up her chest.  A warmth growing in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with the delicious meal that they had just eaten earlier. "There is nothing to forgive." She took a step closer, close enough he could almost feel the whisper of her silken clothing against his skin, the scent of jasmine teasing his nostrils, as she slipped into the recently vacated chair. Seated like this actually made her almost eye level with him and with a liberty the former slave usually wouldn't take she met his eyes for a long glance, before dropping them shyly once more. "I like how you speak very much."

Her fingers touched the arms of the chair as if absorbing the remainder of his essence that was left on its surface. "Are you sure I am not intruding? I would hate to take you away from your duties." She sounded so young and earnest with her question, some might take it as someone looking for an excuse to leave, but there was something about the way she looked at him that made it very obvious there was nowhere in the 'Verse she wanted to be but right there where she was, alone in the cockpit with him, the stars providing a beautiful backdrop. "Being a pilot must be so exciting and glamorous, being able to travel wherever you want among the Heavens...this is the first time I have ever traveled on my own."

He was certain that his words had offended her. How could he be so thoughtless, his emotions were on overload, causing carelessness. It was not like him at all,he was always in control before. He had to be,if he weakened they would get close,he'd get hurt.

"There is nothing to forgive."
Lifting his head up to fill his eyes with her presence again. "What?"

The smell of jasmine was intoxicating as she brushed past him lightly seating herself at the controls. She spoke softly again "I like how you speak very much." 

If it was all just a dream, Newt wished not to wake. He had hoped when responding to the classified, that the Ronin would provide him peace and comfort. Now here upon the bridge with Mylena, if only for a brief exchange of kind words and playful glimpses he would take it.

"Are you sure I am not intruding? I would hate to take you away from your duties."

Newt, leaned into whispering distance and spoke softly "Měilì de huǒhuā (Beautiful Spark) you could not intrude upon me if you tried. "

"Being a pilot must be so exciting and glamorus, being able to travel wherever you want among the Heavens...this is the first time I have ever traveled"

Newt, took Mylena's hands into his own and placed them upon the controls,lightly allowing his shoulder to press against hers."Then by all means allow me to be your guide."

It wasn't exactly true that she had never traveled.  But never like this.  Before she had always gone where her Mistress wished, carted along like luggage.  For the first time in her young life she was free to go where she wished. With who she wished. To do what she wished.

He spoke so kindly to her, this intrepid pilot, venturing out among the stars unfettered. He must be so fearless. He leaned closer, his warm breath tickling against her ear and cheek and she gave an involuntary shiver. She turned her head just a bit, her eyes inky pools reflecting the lights in the cockpit. Long sooty lashes fluttered, her head bowing demurely once more. That waterfall of hair almost obscuring her face, but it didn't conceal the smile which curved her lips.  The scent of jasmine stronger this close, mixed with something else, some exotic scent he knew but couldn't quite place. 

He took her hands, placing them upon the controls. His touch was gentle, but there was strength in his hands and despite his shorter stature there was nothing weak about him.( and that's not nothing.) His hands still touching hers, his shoulder pressing to hers, he would hear her sharp indrawn breath, released as a tiny shudder.  That electricity between them almost palpable. When she spoke, her voice had lowered too, softly intimate, sharing words not meant for others to hear. "My Zhǐdǎo xīng*."

*Guiding Star

Newt's whispers continued softly, "Mylena, where have you been hiding my whole life. If only I had known of you, I'd of left no stone unturned until I found you. Now though, now our paths have combined at this point in time. Your journey just beginning,  mine reaching it's middle."

Slowly guiding his hand above hers, moving gently across her arm,caressing her with his touch. Lifting her chin with his finger tips, gazing longingly into her eyes. "Kiss me."

He could feel the skin of her arm goose-pimpling under his heated caress, the fine hairs there raising as if arching up to meet him.  Her breathing had become a touch more rapid, her lips parted slightly as he spoke. The quickening in the rise and fall of her chest.  Her hands tightening on the ships controls as the world spun dizzily around her.

She could have told him where she had been.  Her life as a child, trained in the slave camps, serving first her Mistress then her Master before finally being freed.  But none of that mattered now.  She wondered idly what he would have done if he had found her then.  Would he have bought her and claimed her as his own? Would he have stolen her away? Fought for her?

Fingertips raised her chin, her flesh felt feverishly hot and yet she shivered. Dark almond eyes stared deeply into the blue grey depths, and she sank beneath the wave of them, drowning in the moment.  His command was one she couldn't ignore, even if she had wanted to, she was too well trained. She closed the distance, her lips brushing his in the most tender of kisses. Butterfly like that kiss flitted and danced across his lips, a maddening taste of a kiss, a promise of what could be if only he'd claim it.

Newt's whole body hummed in delight and passion. His senses stretched to their limits, transfixed on the here & now, the sharing of two halves,this shared kiss.

Nothing in the Verse mattered to him at this moment, except the young woman he knew as Mylena.  Everything else held no value to him, bobbles all, attempting to out shine a Spark. Right here,right now, he was complete in her warm embrace.

This stranger,this delicate spirit,drawing forth emotion from the darkness, from the depths where secrets are kept. She held the key to all his gates and locks at this moment.

Whispers still rolling off the tongue."Tell me Mylena, would you have kissed me if I had not asked? I fear that you now think me a fool. Just another aggressor of a man trying to cling to something that isn't his. I swear to you on all that I am, all that I may even be. Your Spark is yours & yours alone,to give unto whom you wish."

Newt's face turns slightly away as a tear runs from pale blue gray eyes down his cheek.

She reached up with one hand, gently cupping his cheek for a moment, before her arm slipped further back to allow her fingernails to graze his neck, drawing him closer, deeper into the kiss. His words silenced for a long moment as her lips press more firmly to his, and yet even in the firmness so soft and pliant, warm and inviting.  When she finally drew away she was truly breathless, tears shimmering unshed on her lashes. 

"If you had not asked I would not have dared to kiss one so far above my station.  It would have been improper." She nodded sagely but didn't look away, the expression making her look older than her 24 years. "My person has never been my own, belonging first to the Masters at the training house, then to my Mistress and when she died to her nephew." The hand around his neck hadn't moved, the nails tracing at the  edge of his hairline. "Until Maria Barcello gave me my freedom I had never given a thought to what I wish.  I tell you this, I believe now more than ever our fates have brought us here, bound together by destiny." She leaned forward once more and brushed another delicate kiss across his lips. "If I had the dare to wish upon any star among the millions in the Heavens I would wish upon my Zhǐdǎo xīng to guide me to this place, this moment in time."

Her touch gentle,soft, her lips finding his again,intertwining deeply,passionately, two halves becoming one.

"If you had not asked I would not have dared to kiss one so far above my station.  It would have been improper."

He hesitated briefly "My Station? Improper?"
Thoughts and words fought their way through bliss and labored breathes trying to piece together a puzzle he already knew the answer to.

"My person has never been my own, belonging first to the Masters at the training house, then to my Mistress and when she died her nephew."

As Mylena, spoke freely of her past to him, Newt's mind raced with emotion. Taking her hands into his,ever so gently he began to kiss them softly. "Never again I promise! Never again! Oh my sweet Spark."

Newt,listened intently to her voice as she continued her tale.
"Until Maria Barcello,gave me my freedom I had never given a thought to what I wish.  I tell you this, I believe now more than ever our fates have brought us here, bound together by destiny."

A jolt of recognition washed over him like a thousand waves. The name she spoke, a name from his own past, a name surely she had gotten wrong. "Maria!?" "Maria Barcello!? Are you certain? Mylena, I piloted rescue missions for Barcello! I flew missions for her for 6 years! If I would have known of you,I would have flown through hell to get you!"

"If I had the dare to wish upon any star among the millions in the Heavens I would wish upon my Zhǐdǎo xīng."
Grabbing her tightly he began to kiss her deeply about her face and neck.

These feelings were new to her and she was simply overwhelmed. His impassioned promise of never again was more true than he knew.  When Maria had won her freedom it had changed something in the former slave girl and she would truly die rather than live her life collared ever again.  But now, meeting Newt, she felt she might instead be willing to fight for her life, rather than die for her freedom. 

When he revealed he knew Maria, had been one of her people rescuing slaves and helping them find new lives she thought her heart might burst. "This is indeed fate.  When I was born on Oasis the owner of the estate had no use for a serving girl with a baby. So I was sent to the training house to be taught, then to be sold.  I was luckier than most, I was bought by an older woman. She was kind at least.  It was my job to act as her maid and to protect her. It wasn't a terrible life but it was never my own.  When she died her nephew inherited me.  He was a nasty man, bluberous and crude. He bet me in a game of cards and Maria won me."  She paused, looking down at their entwined hands. "Now you tell me you know Maria, that you helped her save people like me and I say again this must be destiny that has brought us together.  How else in a universe so vast does this happen?"

She let herself get lost in the moment, surrendering into his embrace, reveling in his kisses and fervently returning them with ones of her own.

Hands held intertwined, Newt gently turned one of Mylena's over, palm up. Kissing it ever so gently before tracing the the lines with his index finger. "Our paths were separate, racing to the same point,here, now,destiny perhaps,maybe something more. I felt it first upon the stairs, so beautiful,plucked from the very heavens."

Placing her hand upon his chest,over his heart, whispering sweetly into her ear "And now,do you feel it? My heart racing,pounding,longing. I don't understand it nor do I even think I should try. Mylena I found you, no, no you found me! Out in the Blackness of the Verse.You rescued me! I don't know what awaits us on this voyage, but I'm here for you. Not to keep you,not to make you mine, never! Tis your choice & yours alone. Our paths have crossed, this is fact, if tomorrow is the last then I'm joyful for today."

She giggled softly as he kissed her palm, the scruff of his beard tickling the sensitive skin; her fingers twitching as he traces the destiny embedded in her flesh. "Destiny does not count time as we do, but brings us across time and space to the exact moment we are meant to be." She shifted in the chair, letting herself nestle against him as he places her hand over his heart, her head resting on his shoulder. "We will take this voyage together my Star, and face what comes together, but I know in my heart that we are intended to venture into the Blackness as one."