Page 28 of Emma's Element

“You tired yet?” she challenged with a smirk.

“Not a chance.” They lowered their masks and were back at it. This time moving on each other faster. Their blades singing through the air, a blur of motion. He finally managed to touch her on her thigh. Then again on her shoulder.

“All tied up,” he teased. “Give up yet?”

“Ha! You wish. Next touch wins.” This time they both fought more fiercely. Their blades moved against each other with rapid speed, the clash of their weapons echoed through the gym. The movement of their feet like an intricate dance. Parry and riposte. Lunge and attack. Back and forth. Marcus ignored the ache in his shoulder as he met her move for move. Until with another flick of her fingers, she’d managed a touch on his wrist that he’d neglected to guard.

She tore her mask off, a huge grin on her face as the girls crowded around to congratulate her. The guys moaned and slapped him on the back. “You’ll get her next time,” Finch said. Marcus didn’t care that he’d lost. The smile on her face made it all worthwhile. He took the guys’ ribbing good-naturedly while he watched Emma with the girls. They were all looking more closely at the intricate design on the bell guard.

“Holy shit!” Finch called, drawing his attention from Emma. He pulled something out of Marcus’s duffle bag. “Are these what I think they are?” He nodded. “You have your own lightsabers?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” he quipped.

“Do they work?”

“Turn it on.” He crossed over to Finch to show him how to do just that. Then stood back to watch as he swiped the lightsaber through the air.

A look of wonder crossed Finch’s face as the lightsaber made the well-known sound from the movies each time they moved. “These are the coolest things ever!” Finch exclaimed. “Have you ever dueled with them?”

“A few times. My fencing instructor and I did a couple of times for fun,” he answered.

Emma and the others joined them. “Oh, cool. Can I see one?” Emma asked. Marcus handed her one, a jolt of awareness sizzled through him when their fingers brushed. She performed a deft move where she twirled the thing around her wrist. Clearly, she’d done this before.

“Don’t tell me you’ve fought with lightsabers before,” Marcus groaned.

“What? Like it’s any different than the épée?” She joked.

“Please. Please, please,” Finch begged. “I’ve got to see these in action. From people who know what they are doing!”

Marcus looked to Emma, a challenge clearly in his eyes. “What do you say? Wanna have a go?”

Emma grinned. “Wanna lose again?”

Finch handed him the other lightsaber, and the two of them stepped out onto the mat again, this time forgoing the masks and gloves. This was going to be fun. They tested each other again. Knocking blades into each other like two kids with cardboard wrapping paper tubes. Then the moves became more intricate. Marcus pushed forward, forcing Emma to retreat several steps as she defended herself. She retaliated, expertly swiping the blade against his, looking for her opportunity to strike. She shifted to attack him with an overhand move which he blocked, holding the saber horizontally in front of his face.

“You’ve had training, my young Padawan,” he teased, using the term for a young apprentice.

“Who you calling Padawan. I am a Jedi Master,” she retorted.

Marcus pushed her back again with his saber and circled her before lunging for her. She spun quickly out of reach, swiping at him with her saber as she twirled. He could hear the oohs and ahhs from the Nighthawks, clearly as impressed as he was with her skill. He went for her again, forcing her to retreat backward as he relentlessly struck her saber. He drove her back to the opposite wall of the gym. Then, with an astonishingly agile feat he’d only seen on sound stages, she whirled and ran to the wall, raised her right leg, and jumped, using her foot to launch herself off the wall. She struck with an upper-hand cut as she flew through the air. He blocked it again with a horizontal blade, but the force of her hit sent him to a knee.

He lowered his lightsaber as he knelt there, staring at her. “Are you for real?”

She laughed. “Told you I was a Master.”

He rose to his feet. “Seriously, are you some kind of closet stunt person or something? Do you have some sort of secret career we know nothing about?”

“Ha! No,” she replied. “During my Coast Guard days, I used to duel with a friend during our down-time. We got quite good. But we never had anything as sophisticated as this,” she said, flipping the lightsaber around her wrist again.

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” Finch yelled, running over to them. He knelt at Emma’s feet. “Teach me, oh Jedi Master!”

Everybody was laughing and complimenting her on her skill. Some even threw a few compliments his way for successfully blocking her attacks. Marcus watched as Emma accepted their praise. A beautiful rosy flush colored her cheeks, and her dark eyes sparkled with pleasure. He thought she’d never looked so lovely. His heart clenched. How was he ever going to leave her when he was done here? How was he ever going to leave all of them, he wondered as he looked at the Nighthawks around him. The last few weeks had been the best times he’d had since . . . he couldn’t remember when. And it was all due to the type of people they were. Giving, accepting, loving. A family. His life was going to feel all the emptier and lonelier when he returned to LA. But that was a thought for another day. Today was a good day. A fun day.

Graham approached him and shook his hand. “You can have my back in a fight anytime,” he ribbed. “But seriously, thanks for this, Marcus.” He looked at Graham curiously. “We’ve been working so hard lately; I didn’t realize how much everyone needed a break. This was just the ticket.”

“I thought it would be fun to see Emma fence,” he admitted. “And since I’d had some training myself, I figured, why not?”

“She’s pretty good,” Graham stated.

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