This is in response to Bastila Skywalker's KFM romance challenge. Very mushy and a little steamy (I hope!) so consider yourself warned reader. Oh and if anyone's curious this does take place in the same timeline as my story "Backup" just much earlier.

8888888888888888888888888

Morii looked at the left path, and then glanced over to the right. Looking left again, then right finally she sighed. Yep, she was lost all right. This was just embarrassing! She was a Jedi! Jedi didn't get lost, did they? Well obviously they do honey, a voice in the back of her head said. Oh shut up, she told it. She sometimes wondered if everyone argued with their internal voices, but had never had the courage to ask anyone lest they think her loony.

Morii Vohn crossed her arms and glared at the fork in the walkway as if it had personally caused her disorientation. Granted it certainly wasn't the first time she'd got turned around, but somehow she thought being a Jedi would give her an internal compass or something. Morii had wandered away from the Wookie celebration of their recent freedom from Czerka in search of whatever passed for a Kashyyyk refresher. She had been looking forward to facilities of any kind after peeing in the Shadowlands for the last week. Nothing like having your bare butt hanging out to make you feel vulnerable, she mused. Camping was not high on Morii's list of fun activities, and camping in the Shadowlands even less so. Thankfully nothing more dangerous than a tach had approached her in that compromising position. Jolee and Carth had been in hysterics after that particular incidence.

Morii had been squatting close to the ground, looking around anxiously with her lightsaber clutched in her right hand. It was right after she had finished her business and was preparing to pull up her trousers when she felt something cold and slimy on her backside. She screeched in terror while igniting her lightsaber and spun around. Unfortunatly she hadn't pulled her pants up yet and fell over in the grass into an ungraceful heap. Pulling up her trousers frantically she jumped up just as Carth, Bastila and their new companion Jolee came barreling through the bush with weapons drawn. Morii had her lightsaber pointed at the offender and saw…a tach, cooing at her curiously. She blinked a couple of times in disbelief at the little simian. Carth came running up next to her, anxiety furrowing his brow.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Carth voice came out scared. His eyes scanned the permanent gloom of the Shadowlands searching for dangerous animals or enemies. Carth's eyes widened in surprise when all he found was a tach calmly looking up at them. "Uh," he looked at Morii, "something wrong?"

Morii blushed at the memory. On the plus side it had been the first time Carth had said more than two words to her not related to the mission since getting to Kashyyyk. They had been distant since their fight after leaving Dantooine. Carth had accused her of withholding information and leaving him out of the loop, and Morii had felt he was insulting her abilities and integrity.

She sighed and decided one path was as good as the other. Taking the left one she started thinking of the conversation they had on the way back up to rescue Zaalbar from Chuundar. She smiled at the memory of him sputtering out his apology. He certainly was cute when he was flustered. Morii had found herself unable to resist teasing him.

8888888888888888888

"So do you accept my apology?" he asked a little nervously.

She couldn't help poking fun at his anxiousness. "I don't know, maybe you should work on it for a bit."

Carth's eyes had widened in trepidation and he laughed nervously. "Oh, I don't think I like the sound of that."

He looked so worried she burst out laughing. "I'm just teasing you Carth."

"Oh," he chuckled. "So you do accept my apology, good." He grinned at her and her stomach fluttered.

Curious, she asked, "Why do you need my forgiveness anyways?"

Carth's eyes softened and his face grew serious. "Because you're an impressive and beautiful woman, and I want to make things right between us. So, can you forgive me?"

She then said the stupidest thing ever. "You think I'm beautiful?"

He chuckled again. "I'll take that as a yes." Carth walked off and left her standing there with her mouth hanging open.

888888888888888888888

She shouldn't be thinking about him like that, Morii berated herself. Jedi weren't supposed to be attracted to handsome paranoid pilots. She was supposed to be all serene and repressed, like Bastila. Morii mused as she walked on her and the female's Padawan's bond, as well as what appeared to be a blossoming friendship. Granted often Bastila drove Morii crazy, but she had also caught glimpses of the woman behind the Jedi Rhetoric. Bastila was honest in her concern for Morii and her desire to help her keep on the path of the light. Morii had sensed almost panic in Bastila at the thought of her charge falling to the Dark Side. Morii idly wondered if Carth's paranoia was contagious, but shrugged it off.

Morii still didn't recognize any of the landmarks she was passing. She frowned as she looked around her. Well there was no help for it; she would just have to keep walking until she ran into a Wookie who could give her directions. The tree canopy in this section of the village was particularly thick and it looked like the lanterns that were normally lit had gone out, which made the area very dark. Morii was so caught up in her thoughts and embarrassment that she didn't notice the presence of a sentient behind her until it was almost directly on her back. Morii called her lightsaber to her hand and lit the blue blade as she spun around. Chuundar still had a few supporters running around the village.

"Hey! Watch where you point that thing Beautiful!" Carth held up his hands and jumped back.

"Oh frack, I'm sorry Carth!" Morii apologized with cheeks flaming. "I was distracted."

"Uh, obviously." Carth gave her a lopsided smile and Morii's insides did a happy jig. Stop it! She told them firmly. What the hell was wrong with her? She was thirty years old, hardly a teenager. "Well, seems we didn't need to worry about you after all. Where have you been? I've been looking for you," Carth asked.

"I had to use the 'fresher," Morii answered in a distracted tone as she shut off her weapon.

"You've been missing for over an hour though," Carth's comment was puzzled. "The crew was worried you may have run into some remnants of Chuundar's faction."

"Well I had a hard time finding a refresher." Morii realized too late that her voice sounded defensive as she said this.

"Isn't there one in the chieftain's hall?" Carth asked her.

"Um…probably," she looked away, and to her horror Morii felt a blush spreading across her face.

"So what are you doing way out here? The hall's on the other end of the village." Carth poked a thumb back the direction he had come from, his appearance outright confused now.

"I…decided to take a walk." She stuck her chin out, but knew the excuse was a lame one.

Carth's face transformed into a look of suspicion. "Morii, are you lost?" he asked in a disbelieving tone.

"No!" she spat back.

A smile started to spread on Carth's face and quickly turned into a full grin. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. "You are lost." His voice held a note of awe. Carth's eyes grew wide and he began to chuckle. His face reddened as it burst into an all out laugh.

"Shut up!" Morii said, mortified. "It's not funny dammit!"

"I…didn't think…Jedi…got…lost," he gasped out between snickers. The jerk standing before her was bent over as he clutched his sides with the force of his mirth.

Morii scowled at him and crossed her arms. When Carth had wound down to chuckles and wheezes she said while glaring, "Are you done yet?"

"I'm sorry Morii, it's just, well Jedi tend to give off the impression that they're infallible, and the past couple of months have been a real eye opener for me. So you really were lost?" Carth masterfully controlled the impulse to bust up laughing again.

"Yeah, yeah, I was lost," she waved her arms about angrily. "I have no sense of direction. Laugh it up flyboy. So if you will kindly point the incompetent Jedi in the direction of the party I'll leave you alone to make fun at my expense." Morii once again crossed her arms and glowered.

"Look Beautiful," Carth moved up to stand directly in front of her. Morii refused to look up at him, instead studying a particularly interesting tree trunk off to her left. Carth put a finger under her chin and gently lifted her face. Morii reluctantly looked into his whiskey brown eyes and felt her irritation begin to lessen. "I am sorry." Carth smiled softly at her. "It's just, well, just when I think I've got you all figured out you do something that totally throws me for a loop. You're so capable, so skilled that it never would have occurred to me that you could do something as mundane as get lost. So I'm sorry for laughing at you, okay?"

Morii gave Carth a wry smile as she looked up at his face. "You seem to be apologizing to me a lot lately," she ribbed him.

Carth laughed. "Yeah, well like I said Gorgeous, I can't quite figure what to make of you, and that's led to at least a few blunders on my part."

Morii bit her lip in nervousness as she realized that his index finger was still touching the sensitive skin under her chin. There is no emotion…there is no emotion…there is no emotion…I should back up and laugh it off. I should run like hell. I should stop wishing that he'd kiss me.

"Well," Morii noticed her voice had gone a bit breathy, "I suppose I can forgive you." She gave him a coy smirk. "Lucky for you I'm a very forgiving person."

Carth's other arm moved around her waist as he ever so gently pulled Morii's body against his, giving her all of the time in the world to break his hold. Carth's face hovered inches from hers when he whispered, "Lucky for me…" He paused just for an instant before bringing his mouth down on Morii's.

Morii's head along with parts situated lower swam with an onslaught of pleasurable sensations. Her hands opened in surprise at the intensity of the kiss and she vaguely heard a thunk noise coming from the wood on the walkway. Morii brought up her hands instinctively and rested them lightly against his shoulders. Carth's other arm moved to wrap around her waist and he pressed her in closer, molding her front to him and causing Morii to clutch the fabric of his flight jacket in response. Morii answered Carth's unspoken question by opening her lips and allowing the kiss to deepen. A soft moan escaped from the back of her throat as she brought one hand to rest on his neck and the other crept up the back side of his hairline to tangle in the strands. Carth's hands began to move down her lower back as Carth pressed her hips against him with a responding sound of his own.

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad…this is great! This is fantastic! This is really turning me on! Morii's brain recited stupidly. She pulled down on his neck and pushed her body even harder into his, if that was at all possible. The kiss had tuned more passionate and both sets of hands were beginning to roam further a field.

An animal shriek from fairly close by broke the moment. They both came apart breathless while looking into each other's eyes. Morii stared up at Carth with her chest heaving as if she'd just done battle with five terentateks, and Carth had a similar dazed look. Morii's head was spinning and she said the first thing that came to mind.

"I think I dropped my lightsaber," Morii told Carth with a distracted voice.

Carth raised his eyebrows and grinned. "Now that's one I've never been told before." Morii began to chuckle along with him. She bit her lip, still smiling and looked down for a moment a bit shy.

Looking back up into his eyes Morii said, "I suppose we should get back." She made no move however to leave Carth's arms.

"Yeah, we should," he agreed, still clutching her to him.

"Morii, there you are!" a high voice exclaimed behind her. They jumped apart as Mission came up behind Morii, but not before she saw them. "Um, and what exactly are you two doing?" Mission asked slyly with one hand on a hip.

Morii pushed back nervously on the two curly strands of hair that escaped her braid. "Hey Mish, you part of my search party?" She glared at Carth as if to say, why didn't you warn me there were others?

Carth shrugged a silent apology, I forgot. He then gave Morii a slight leer as her as if to remind her of just why he forgot. Morii blushed in response.

"Yeah," Mission had a disturbing grin on her face. The Twi'lek then started laughing, leaning forward and rested her hands on her knees. Finally Mission came up and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell Bastila. Your secret's safe with me." Mission was probably still angry at Bastila for using the Force to trip her up over a week ago.

Morii blinked in sudden realization. "I need to find my lightsaber," she said as she glanced around at the walkway floorboards. This statement sent Mission into another fit of giggles and Morii scowled at the girl. The worst part is Carth looked like he was about ready to burst out laughing as well. "If you two idiots are done?" she asked them. She spotted her lightsaber and scooped in up off the wood planking. She clipped the weapon onto her belt with all the dignity she could muster and gave the other two her best 'Bastila' look. It was too much for Carth and he let a chuckle escape at her face. Morii rolled her eyes at him but began smiling as well despite her embarrassment and irritation.

"Well, I'll just tell the others I found you." Mission continued to beam idiotically at the two of them. "See you back at the party!" She waved and took off at a trot, occasionally letting out a small chuckle as she ran. It's about time! Mission thought to herself.

Morii sighed and smiled ruefully at Carth. "At least we weren't on the Hawk, nothing's private there."

Carth laughed at that. So many people living in that small a space did make things a bit…cramped. He was pretty sure every member of the crew had seen at least one other crew member naked at some point by now. "True," he smiled at her. "Shall we head back?" Carth asked.

"We probably should." Morii suddenly felt a bit shy, which was an uncomfortable and unusual sensation for her. Carth moved up next to her and put an arm around her waist. She wound one around his in response and they began to travel down the path.

"Just one thing Beautiful," Carth began.

"What's that?" she looked over and up at him curiously.

"I'm leading the way," he grinned rakishly at her.

Morii's mouth dropped in an "o." She swatted him in the stomach with her right hand. "Don't get cute!" she retorted.

"To late," Carth said.

Morii snorted in response but silently agreed with him.