His eyes slowly blinked open, catching glimpses of her angelic face as she looked down at him. Her quiet voice repeatedly called his name as she smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. He noticed the ceiling above her and realized he was lying on his back.

“Hi,” Hale whispered to her.

She sat beside him and continued to finger his hair. “Did you sleep well?”

“I don’t remember falling asleep. Where am I?”

“Zaya’s ship. In bed.”

He sat up and found his legs covered by soft sheets. Scratching the back of his neck, he blushed. “I don’t remember how I got here. It’s been a while since that happened.”

Pandora rolled her eyes. “You were so tired that you weren’t entirely yourself. I had to force you to go to bed.”

Hale looked behind him at the pillows. Still feeling exhausted, he wanted to lie back down again beneath the covers. But Pandora stopped him, holding out a glass of water to him.

“I thought you might need something to drink.” She grinned. “That wasn’t alcohol.”

He accepted the glass and sipped it. When he was finished, she set it on the side table and sat on the edge of the bed. Reaching out to stroke her cheek, he gazed into her violet eyes. Inside he was trembling, and he hoped it wasn’t showing. He wanted her to be the first face he saw every single morning and the last every single night. He was getting ahead of himself. They hadn’t known each other for very long. It would probably never be anything more than a fantasy.

Still, he was hopeful because he was undeniably desperate for her. Pandora offered him the love that he had craved for too long. He wanted to lie close to her and wrap her in his arms beneath the bed sheets.

She would be the perfect wife. She was gentle and loving but bold enough to speak her mind and hold him accountable for his actions. He could trust her with his secrets, knowing that she wouldn’t judge him. He had never felt this way about someone before.

He moved in closer for a kiss. He expected her to close the gap between them like she usually would. But she instead put a finger to his lips and pushed him back gently.

“Why not?” Hale asked, moving her finger away.

“We can’t get distracted right now. I came to wake you because we just left hyperspace. And you need to land the ship on Garra.”

Hale leaned in closer. “I only want one kiss.”

“Does it ever stop at one?”

He nodded, understanding why she was denying him. One led him to wanting more, much more. Hale kissed the top of her hand. “You’ll have to make it up to me later, then.”

She laughed. “We’ll see. If you behave, I'll think about it.”

With a tight grasp, he held her hand and interlocked their fingers. His heartbeat quickened just from the touch of her fingertips, though she would never know from his face. This was what it must have felt like to be a lovesick teenager: to want someone so deeply that it hurts. He knew better than to hope for a future with her, but it didn’t stop him. He dreamed about being with her every chance he found. However, her reaction to holding his hand wasn't as accepting as he was used to from her. She willingly held his hand, but she frowned as she did. He wondered if she had changed her mind about him.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hale asked, as they walked back to the bridge.

“No, everything’s fine,” she replied.

Pandora continued to hold his hand. Entering the bridge, Hale caught Zaya's envious eyes staring at them. Although Zaya was obviously jealous, she smiled arrogantly. He clenched his jaw; her smugness irritated him. She looked as though she knew something that he didn’t.

Then he noticed the smile still absent from the face of his love. Why was she unhappy? Looking through the viewport, she could see Garra, a great, swirling ball of white ice hanging in space. This was her destination that she had been waiting for the whole time. He thought she would be overjoyed at the sight of Garra.

When they sat down in the pilot and copilot chairs, Pandora let go of his hand and rested her hands in her lap, out of his reach. Her sudden coldness towards him angered him, rightfully so in his mind. What reason did she have to be upset with him? He was giving her what she wanted. Was that not good enough for her?

He gripped the yoke to angle the ship more accurately towards Garra. The coordinates currently logged in the system gave him a roadmap to the landing spot on the surface. Landing a ship was nothing to him. He could hold her hand and land the ship easily. And he would have. But she didn’t want him to.

“Something is wrong. Why did you lie earlier?” Hale leaned over to whisper so that Zaya might not hear.

She shot him a look of disapproval. “You’re accusing me of lying. Really?”

“You said that everything is fine, but obviously it’s not.”

Pandora made a quick glance back at Zaya before responding. “It’s not worth talking about. It’s not even a big deal.”

Hale followed Pandora’s glance to Zaya, and Zaya winked back at him. Hale’s face, failing to mask his rage, turned back towards Pandora. “What did she say to you? Tell me!” Hale demanded.

Zaya laughed devilishly. “The truth about you.”

Pandora shook her head. “Nothing that she said was that shocking. It just made me think.”

“What did she tell you?” Hale asked again, this time more desolately.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Pandora replied with teary eyes.

Hale leaped out of his chair and stormed up to Zaya. He gripped her shoulders and pushed her back and forth. “What did you say?” Hale shouted.

Zaya seemed unintimidated by his strength or his voice. “I told her about your exploits. About you and me,” she replied extra casually.

“Stay out of this,” Hale ordered. “You’re going to make her hate me.”

Zaya smiled. “She deserves to know about your sleeping habits.”

Hale gripped Zaya harder. He wanted to break her because she was breaking him. The way that Pandora had been looking at him for the last few minutes was killing him. She looked so disappointed with him. Before her talk with Zaya, Pandora always looked at him as though he was the key to her dreams. Well, before Zaya intervened.

Hale let Zaya go, before he actually hurt her. He stepped away from her, immediately regretting his outburst. When he looked up at Zaya, she was taunting him with a wide smile. Why did she enjoy watching him suffer?

Defeated, Hale returned to the pilot seat. Without tilting his head, he gazed at Pandora, who was silently crying. The rage…. It was making his chest burn. He wanted to release his pain through real flames. But he couldn’t, obviously. Zaya was there. And he needed to land the ship for Pandora, who right now hated him. While the same time, he wanted to cry. He actually wanted to cry…. Especially, when Pandora walked away to the back room.

He had to land the ship first before running after her.

Forcing himself to look ahead at the planet, instead of behind where she was, Hale guided the ship closer towards Garra. When the ship started to break through the atmosphere, Hale extended some of the drag fins to slow down the acceleration caused by gravity. He constantly looked to the side at the map screen, checking the topography of the frozen planet. Hale noticed most of Garra was marked with sharp cliffs and mountains. He knew to keep an eye out for the lower spaces because those would be stabler.

As the ship descended closer to the surface, Hale knew he had to quickly make a decision on the landing spot. He had no time to ask Pandora where she wanted to land. She wasn’t here.

He gripped the handles on the yoke tighter, thinking of her absence.

Hale guided the ship towards an icy valley surrounded by white mountains. The valley was smooth enough to land the ship on safely and had a better chance of being sturdy enough to support the weight. Hale extended more drag fins to slow the ship down further.

The landing itself wasn’t anything unique or complicated to him. He moved the ship parallel to the ground and set it gently on the ice. Hale remained in his chair for a moment, waiting to see if the ground was as sturdy as he expected. A few seconds passed by and nothing happened. So, he stood up and walked around the bridge. He searched through a few of the storage compartments along the wall.

“The last one,” Zaya said.

Hale glared at her but moved over to the last compartment anyway. He opened it and to his surprise, he found exactly what he was looking for. He happily popped off the lid. He and Zaya still had the same taste for alcohol apparently. He gulped the bottle down.

“That’s not cheap, you know.”

Hale shrugged. “I didn’t have to pay for it.”

“You might have to later.”

He laughed nonchalantly. “If I had money… sure.”

“There are other ways to pay for things,” she replied. He watched her eyes focus on what felt like every inch of his body, as if his clothes weren’t there. He knew she had a good memory.

He scowled. “I’d rather be in more debt.”

“Right…”

After he finished off his drink, he started walking towards the hallway.

“I doubt she wants to see you,” Zaya called to him.

Hale stopped for a moment. “And I have you to thank for that, don’t I?”

“Nothing that I said was false…”

Hale gave her another glare before continuing down the hallway. Standing in front of the bedroom door, he was nervous again, in spite of the alcohol. Pandora probably didn’t want to see him right now. He wanted to give her space, but he didn’t want to waste time. They were finally on Garra.

He knocked.

Moments later, the door slid open, and she stood at the threshold. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying the whole time they were apart. He wanted to hold her and comfort her. But he doubted it was the right time.

“Do you need something?” She asked.

“We’re here. We can leave now if you want.” He looked down at his feet. “Or if you need a minute—”

“No, we can go.”

She started to move forwards, but Hale held his arm out and pushed her back into the room. “Not dressed like that, you aren’t.”

She turned her back towards him.

“It’s freezing out there.”

“I didn’t bring anything else.”

Hale entered the bedroom, without her permission and walked past her, their arms brushing against each other. He opened Zaya’s closet and started looking through her clothes. He pulled out a pair of black leggings and a puffy coat, lined with fur. He then started going through the drawers. He grabbed a pair of socks and gloves. Hale threw all of the items onto the bed.

“There,” he said.

“I don’t know if Zaya wants me wearing her clothes,” Pandora replied, staring at him defiantly.

“I don’t have any other solution for you!” His voice grew louder and angrier.

She crossed her arms. “Don’t start talking to me like that.”

Hale moved closer to her and stared down at her. She was much smaller than he was in every way. He could make her listen if he so desired. He felt guilty for taking pleasure in his ability to control her because he knew how wrong it was. He grabbed her wrist and stared deeper into her eyes.

He was shocked by what he saw. He no longer saw anger in her eyes. He saw fear.

Hale immediately let go and stepped back. Was she afraid that he would hurt her?

“I’ll wait outside for you to change,” he said, walking out the room.

Pandora made sure the door shut right after he left.

His body felt cold. Not because of the freezing planet they were on. It was Pandora’s cold stares that were painful.

* * * *

Zaya internally laughed, watching Hale continue to sulk for the last half hour. He sat, heavily slouched in his chair, and he took a sip out of the drink in his hand every few seconds. This was as pathetic as she had ever seen him. Only a woman could make him this way. He was used to always getting what he wanted, and when he didn’t, he had a tendency towards moodiness.

“Don’t you have anything stronger than this?” Hale asked her.

“Usually I would. But… I didn’t have time to collect everything I wanted. I was chasing after you, remember?”

Hale stood up and stretched. “It wouldn’t matter anyway.” He threw the glass bottle in the waste compartment, shattering.

He sat back down and hunched over, covering his face with his hands. Zaya was perplexed. Hale wasn’t one to show his emotions ever. He occasionally would let his temper fly, but she had never seen him… broken hearted. Since they had come back into contact, he was an emotional mess. She could see the conflict within him in his eyes. He was hurting.

She didn’t pity him. But she found his grief annoying. “Alcohol won’t fix it. Neither will she though.”

“Shut up,” he snarled. “It’s your fault that she’s mad at me.”

“Is it? I told her nothing but the truth.”

“I didn’t want someone else to be the one to tell her all those things.”

“Are you so sure that she didn’t already know? She’s not as stupid as she looks.” Zaya smiled, waiting for his reaction.

Hale still sat there, but she could feel his anger.

“Stop it with the comments. I know how much you enjoy creating conflict. But I would appreciate it if you would just keep your thoughts to yourself.”

“Even after she forgives you, will that fix what’s going on with you right now? Are you really upset that she’s giving you the cold shoulder? Or is it guilt?” Zaya sighed. “I don’t know why I’m trying to help you. But I know there’s something wrong with you. You haven’t slept with her yet, have you.”

Hale shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“That’s personal.”

Zaya scoffed. “I think that we’ve passed that point ages ago.”

“Obviously, I want her.”

“What’s stopping you? I’m pretty sure she would let you do whatever you want to her.”

He turned his head and grinned. “Maybe. Eventually, yes. But… it wouldn’t feel right.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you should talk about it with her.”

“She gets disappointed every time I tell her no.”

Zaya rolled her eyes. “Of course she does. You’re kinda leading her on.”

“What she wants, I can’t give her. I can’t promise her commitment. I can’t. I wish I could.”

“Does she expect that from you? Or are those expectations you’re putting on yourself as an excuse to push her away?”

Hale’s voice stuttered, looking for a response. “I—I don’t—”

Zaya was eagerly awaiting his response. But that’s when Pandora decided to enter the room. And Zaya knew he wouldn’t respond now.

Hale stood up and walked to her.

“I’m ready to go,” she said.

Hale nodded without saying anything and opened the exit ramp. The chilling outside air rushed into the bridge, and Zaya shivered.

Hale didn’t look adequately dressed. He had on a long sleeved shirt but no coat. However, he never seemed to get cold for as long as she had known him. Zaya didn’t think much of it. She assumed he had really good circulation.

Before they left, Hale brought Zaya a drink and put it within her reach, since she was restrained by the chair.

“We’ll be back soon. I hope,” he said, walking down the ramp with Pandora.