The Escape Pod

"Run!" Finn yelled, grabbing Clara’s hand.

Clara didn't hesitate. She threw off the suffocating expectations of her family, the terror of the governor, and the fear of the future. She gripped Finn's calloused hand, lifted the heavy, ruined skirts of her bridal gown, and sprinted.

They bolted out of the brig, dodging the stunned security guards, and tore down the narrow, flashing corridors of the engineering deck. Sirens began to wail throughout the *Aegis*, signaling a security breach.

"Where are we going?" Clara gasped, her lungs burning as they navigated the labyrinth of pipes and steam vents.

"Maintenance Bay 4!" Finn yelled over the alarms. "There’s an emergency escape pod. It's supposed to be for catastrophic engine failure, but I think a catastrophic wedding counts!"

They burst into the cramped, grease-stained maintenance bay. The escape pod was small, utilitarian, and smelled intensely of ozone, but to Clara, it looked like a chariot.

Finn shoved her inside, immediately diving into the pilot’s seat and ripping the access panel off the console. He frantically twisted wires together, his hands flying across the manual overrides to bypass the ship's lockdown protocols.

"Security forces are breaching the bay!" the automated ship voice announced.

"Come on, come on," Finn muttered, jamming the hydro-spanner into the ignition port and twisting hard.

The pod roared to life. The heavy airlock doors sealed shut with a definitive hiss, locking the elite guards out.

"Brace yourself, Princess!" Finn yelled, slamming his hand down on the launch button.

The explosive bolts fired. The pod shot violently out of the side of the massive luxury cruiser, throwing them back into their seats as they were launched into the infinite, velvet black of deep space.

As the *Aegis* shrank into a tiny point of light behind them, the alarms in the pod silenced. The only sound was the steady hum of the small thrusters. Through the single, reinforced porthole, millions of stars burned brightly against the dark.

Clara unbuckled her harness. Her dress was ripped, her hair was a mess, and she didn't have a single credit to her name. She had never felt richer.

She crawled across the cramped cabin and threw her arms around Finn. He caught her, letting out a breathless laugh as he buried his face in her hair.

"We're completely broke," Finn murmured, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist. "And we are definitely fugitives."

"I don't care," Clara whispered, pulling back just enough to look into his dark, kind eyes. "You gave me the stars for Christmas, Finn."

She closed the distance between them, pressing her lips to his. The kiss tasted like engine oil and pure, unadulterated freedom. They were drifting through the galaxy in a cramped, greasy pod, but as Finn held her tight, Clara knew she had finally found exactly where she belonged.