Wash took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and forced himself to think of a few good things about his current state so he could shunt the anxiety to the back of his mind. He had his arms around Zoe, for one. Having Zoe in his arms was always a major mark on the “good things” scale. When he tried to think of a few other positives, however, his nervous mind had to strain and his heart started to race again.

He shook his head. A lot of his friends from flight school would have been surprised to see him suffering from a bout of anxiety. “Easy-going,” “laid-back,” and other similar adjectives had always been applied to him. He tried again.

Well, he had eaten dinner, the prospect of having breakfast looked solid, and they were staying at a place that actually had a bathtub –Zoe must have inherited her love of baths from her mother. Those were all good things. He and Zoe were currently sleeping on a pile of hay, but that was standard accommodations in these parts as many people did not have proper beds, let alone beds for their guests. The loft was pleasantly warm.

Zoe stirred slightly. “You okay, baby?” she murmured.

“Sorry I woke you,” Wash whispered back against her mass of dark curls, wondering how the trained solider could sleep in any sort of condition once her mind willed it, but somehow also knew exactly when she needed to wake.

“It’s all right. Is somethin’ botherin’ you, husband?”

“Wo hao,” Wash reassured her. “It’s just harder for me to fall asleep in a strange bed….er, strange pile of hay, I mean,” he smiled, “than it is for you, my soldier wife.”

Zoe nodded, her head slumped back down, and Wash knew that she was asleep within seconds. He also knew that slumber would not arrive that quickly, if at all, for him tonight. He tried to brush away the many worries that relentlessly nipped at his mind.

***

“I want to again see that handsome man my daughter married! When is he going to wake up and come down from that loft?”

“Mom, let him sleep. We had a long trip here yesterday, and he