Dive Start
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/63749869.
Rating: General Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Star Wars: The Acolyte (TV)
Relationship: Osha Aniseya/Qimir | The Stranger
Characters: Osha Aniseya, Qimir | The Stranger (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Oshamir Valentine Gift Exchange 2025
(Star Wars)
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of to be loved is to be known
Collections: Oshamir Valentine Gift Exchange 2025
Stats: Published: 2025-03-10 Words: 895 Chapters: 1/1
Dive Start
by StarlightAfterAStorm
Summary
"A swimmer’s courage isn’t just about diving into the unknown; it’s about coming up for air,
again and again." - Unknown
Osha and Qimir and the ocean.
A companion piece to "Regalo"
Notes
HAPPY (belated) VALENTINES! For Jeymien!
I am so sorry for the delay on this but I hope you enjoy it!
You prompted "Osha and Qimir getting to know each other post-canon." So have a small
scene of Osha learning a little more about Qimir.
See the end of the work for more notes
Osha never learned how to swim.
She and Mae were raised in the secure walls of a sanctuary on a forest planet. There were
water sources but the twins had never been allowed to venture that far. Mother Koril would
have never allowed them the risk of danger in the water.
So much of Osha’s memories of her childhood are earth and moss and leaf and bark smell of
the forest mixed in with the brick and metal and rust and incense smell of the fortress. But all
of those memories become buried under the smell of ashes and the prickling burn crawling
over her skin as walls of heat rush towards her.
Osha stands now at the entrance to the cave she shares with Qimir, shivering in the harsh
winds and watching the violent crash of waves, shimmering white froth covering jeweled
cerulean. The water stretches out farther than she can imagine, sea and sky blending into the
horizon, a different infinity than the vast emptiness of gazing out of a ship’s cargo window
into the stars.
The fire seems so far away now.
The small crunch of stone beneath foot coming from behind her warns Osha that Qimir is
approaching. She is completely sure that he’s done it on purpose. She has no doubt that he
has the ability to walk up to her without making any noise to alert her at all.
“Dinner?” His voice is pleasant and smooth as he holds out a bowl of soup. He makes it often
and though it was once unfamiliar to her, she has come to crave it when they are off planet.
She looks blankly at him, her mind too lost in its wanderings to answer.
He tilts his head at her before setting the bowl precariously on the railing and stepping away.
Osha doesn’t watch him go. She’s still unsure how to trust this man. Not sure that she should
at all.
A dark shadow of a man who killed over a dozen Jedi in front of her. Who killed Yord and
Jecki.
A man who has been nothing but patient and kind with her. Pushy in their training sessions,
challenging every piece of Jedi training she’s ever internalized, but never cruel.
A man who nearly killed Mae with a fist at her throat and his lightsaber at her head.
A man who feeds their leftovers to the little skuras on the shore.
Who is this man that she hardly knows?
Osha flinches when she feels heavy leather settle itself on her shoulders. Qimir’s cloak.
Immediately it chases the chill away and she shivers as she wraps it tighter around herself.
She was right. He hadn’t made any sound at all that time.
“A credit for your thoughts?” His voice carries over the wind.
Osha hums softly in response.
“Did you ever teach Mae how to swim?”
Osha doesn’t have to look at him to know his brow is knitting in confusion.
“No? Was I meant to have?”
Osha hums again.
Qimir moves to stand next to her.
Osha turns to look at him, deceptively casual in his loose tunic and easy posture. The wind
whips his bangs around his face but he doesn’t move or flinch even as the chilled salt air
must be flowing right through his thin layers. His eyes, darker than the shadows gathering at
the edge of the sky, stay concentrated on hers.
Qimir answers her little hum with one of his own.
“I grew up on an island planet.”
“Like this one?”
“Close enough. The sand was softer and the heat was stronger. I spent just as much time in
the water as I did on land. My mother…” Qimir’s voice falters for only a moment. He shifts
his weight from foot to foot, the only indication Osha has that he’s not unaffected by the
information she didn’t ask for but that he’s gifting her anyway. “My mother called me a “little
fish”. Warned me that one day I’d get caught by the fisherman’s nets and she’d only know
after I’d been dished into a pot of sinigang .”
Osha huffs out a quiet laugh.
“I can teach you how to swim, if you’d like, Osha.”
Osha feels a smile tug at the corner of her mouth despite herself.
“I would. Thank you, Qimir.”
Qimir nods at her, staying for one moment more, eyes drinking her in, before he steps away
and back into the cave.
Osha watches the play of muscles she can see in his shoulders beneath the thin layer of his
shirt as he moves away from her. She takes a step towards the entrance before she remembers
the forgotten bowl still balanced on the railing. Osha picks it up to sip at the soup. Cold now
after being ignored for too long, but still delicious. Sharp sour bursts across her tongue,
smoothed over by the savory brine of the seafood Qimir had caught that morning. Less spice
than she knows he prefers because her tolerance is so much less. Deliciously zinging in a way
that wakes up her nervous system and grounds her to her present.
Osha looks back out at the horizon, tipping her head up to catch the slight outline of the
moon rising in the darkening nightfall.
The warmth of their cave welcomes her as she joins Qimir for another bowl.
End Notes
Dive start - Diving entry from the blocks in the deep end of a pool
Sinigang - Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory taste
I wanted to convey the sense of the sea and the water washing into Osha's life after the fire.
And making a connection between her wanting to learn to swim with how she just dove right
into this life with Qimir without knowing much about him. And, like I always write him,
Qimir is willing to give Osha whatever she wants. Even when she's not sure what she want.
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