The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 12 - An unexpected Reunion

Several months went by and a certain routine was established on Echo Base. The Tauntauns became useful riding animals and the pilots were using them instead of the still useless snowspeeders.

Nomi passed the hangar on her way to the Tauntaun stable when she saw from the corner of her eye a familiar Corellian freighter. It wasn't Han Solo's YT-1300, the Millennium Falcon, no it was a more state of the art model. She stopped and looked over. Yes, she was right. There was an YT-2400 standing. Its hatch opened, the ramp lowered and a tall, red haired man walked down. The young woman's heart skipped a beat. It was the Outrider and the man walking down the ramp was Dash Rendar. The smuggler and mercenary she fell for back on Tatooine. She had thought she wouldn't see him again, but now he was here on Hoth.
Tarik came from the other side of the hallway seeing Nomi looking at something in the hangar. He scowled when he looked in the same direction and saw Dash. Tarik didn't like the man, who wasn't the right man for Nomi in his opinion. He didn't understand why the young woman fell for the guy.
"What is he doing here?" He asked, pointing at the man who just reached the end of the ramp.
Nomi gave a start, since she hadn't noticed her friend's approach being concentrated on the man at the YT-2400.
"Don't do anything stupid, Nomi," her friend said, looking at her. He noticed how longingly the young woman was watching the smuggler who walked around his ship, obviously looking for any damage. Tarik shook his head and frowned. "I can't believe that you still have feelings for this guy. How long is it that you haven't seen him?"
"Almost one standard year," her nearly inaudible answer came. "But we both were busy."
The winged alien raised an eyebrow.
"You both were busy," there was a sarcastically undertone to be heard. "So there wasn't any opportunity to make a call? How often have you tried to reach him and he didn't return your call?" He looked intently at Nomi as he waited for an answer. It was an answer which never came.

"Nomi!" Dash Rendar shouted when he saw the young woman and came over, totally ignoring Tarik who stood at Nomi's side. "I didn't expect to see you here."
He hugged her tightly and gave her a kiss, which caused Tarik to stare at him angrily.
"I just brought supplies, weapons and ammunition and you, Darling?"
He let go of Nomi and smiled at her. Darling; it was as if they hadn't been apart for a long time.
"Oh, Tarik and I quit smuggling a few months ago and joined the Alliance," she said with a hint of pride in her voice.
"You joined? Are you crazy, Nomi?" The smuggler and mercenary looked at her with an expression as if he had bitten in a sour fruit. "To smuggle supplies for them is one thing since they pay good credits, but to join them and their crazy cause is another thing. I would never do this."
"Thought so," Tarik said silently and left. He wasn't eager to stay longer with the two love birds than necessary. But with luck Nomi would come to her mind and break up with the guy.

"You see it this way, Dash?" The young pilot looked at the mercenary and was disappointed. She had thought that he was with the Alliance. That it was idealism which brought him to Hoth. But now he had told her that it was only for the credits. Dash had noticed his girlfriend's change of mood and raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, what's wrong, Nomi?" He asked and cupped her chin, bending down to kiss her.
"Nothing," her brisk response came while she tried to escape his grip.
"Ah c'mon, there's something, Honey," he said, let go of her chin and straightened, now looking down at the small woman standing in front of him, who stared daggers at him. "The way you are looking at me speaks volumes."
"You come here after all those months and now you think you can continue where you left? This isn't how it works, Dash."
The mercenary looked at her taken aback. He had thought that Nomi would welcome him with open arms and now he learned how wrong he was about this.
"I love you, Nomi," he said and he knew he meant it. It was something he had never said before, being always attentive to not show his feelings for a long time. Attachments made someone vulnerable and he never wanted this to happen again.
"You love me? Then stay here with us. Join the fight for freedom, Dash. It would mean a lot to me," she said, hoping that he would agree to stay. That he would agree to fight with her side by side against the Empire.
"Oh, I will stay for a while taking into account that they hired me for several supply runs and a blizzard is approaching," he said, flashing a winning smile, but he was well aware that it wasn't what Nomi wanted to hear from him.
"Understood," the pilot looked over to the Outrider where Dash's droid Leebo was busy directing those unloading the cargo. "I think we both have work to do."
She turned and headed out of the hangar. Blizzard or not, she would do her duty. There was time later to think about Dash Rendar.
Dash looked after her, before he walked back to the Outrider to help Leebo with the task at hand.