Libra Star Fortress, Officer suite
Trowa opened his eyes and stared a moment at the ceiling. Today was the last day of leave before he would have to report again to the
Aeon II. Only this time he was an officer. A
Chui. That made him smile. He had waited a long time for this. "You awake?" Asked a sleepy voice. Trowa glanced sideways and saw the beautiful face laying on his shoulder. "Aye, Just enjoying laying here with you. It's what I miss most when I'm on deployment." The beautiful face, with a starburst tattoo over one eye, leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I miss it too." She sat up in bed and glanced at the clock. "Run and grab a shower, I'll lay out your uniform and fix you some breakfast, Yamamoto-Chui."
Trowa took a quick shower and trimmed his beard and mustache. He looked at himself a moment in the mirror. Some salt was beginning to show in his hair and beard. His left eye glowed red and he gently toughed the scar around it. How long ago had he lost his eye? Over 15 years ago? How time flies. He place the eyepatch over the glowing red eye and smiled. He still looked like a dashing rogue, even though he was a lot less rogue then he had been.
His wife had laid out his number one uniform on the bed. As he dressed a little girl came running into the bed room wearing an officer's hat, his officer hat. "Mama says breakfast is ready Papa." Trowa smiled as he scooped the little girl up in his arms and kissed her on the forehead. "Good, I've been smelling those frying onions and it's making my mouth water." Trowa's wife, Estrella, had gone all out for her husband's farewell breakfast. Salami, mashed plantains, eggs, fried onions and fried cheese as well as fresh passion fruit juice. Trowa tucked into his food with relish, it might be a very long time before he had his wife's cooking again.
An hour later Trowa was preparing to board the shuttle that would take him to the Aeon II. He held his daughter in one arm and his wife in the other. "I'll send you messages every day." Trowa was promising Estrella. "You better." Estrella admonished him. A final, long kiss to Estrella and a tight hug to his daughter and Trowa turned to board the shuttle. "Trowa, I almost forgot." Estrella called as she hurried to give her husband a portable cooler. "For your Taisa. Her favorite." Trowa smiled. "I know she'll love them.... Te amo mucho mi Estrella bonita." His wife had grown up speaking a dialect of Nepleslian and Trowa knew how much it meant to her when he used it. They had one last kiss then he boarded the shuttle.
The shuttle ride took very little time at all to reach the
Aeon II. Trowa spend the time reviewing the repairs that had been done to the ship as well as the new crew rosters. It would be good to know who was going to be on the ship. When the shuttle arrived, he remained seated a few moments while he finished reading the file he was on. Curious. He made a note to his data slate then grabbed his over night bag and gift for the Taisa disembarked.