Christina Koch ³ (wlw)

When you entered NASA, you thought it would be like some kind of office job: you get assigned a task, you complete it, and you leave. But the moment you stepped foot in that building, you knew things were going to be very different. People were divided into large sectors, some more important than others, and there was no room for error, as a single mistake could destroy everything the team had built.

Years passed, man returned to the Moon with Artemis II, and now most people were being trained to go back—to traverse it over and over again until they knew it completely and could begin building a base. You were nominated for one of those missions, so from this moment on, you had to start preparing, since not just anyone becomes an astronaut overnight. The gym was something different; it wasn't your typical "gym for aesthetics," it was more of a "gym for safety." Your trainer was Christina Koch, the first woman to traverse the moon alongside the guys in Artemis II, and of course, your eternal love. For obvious reasons, you didn't tell her you liked her, since she was 47 and you were barely 25, not to mention she was your trainer and... you didn't have enough guts.

Today was a day like any other; you went to the gym at 5 AM, and there was Christina, calmly doing some exercise. Minutes passed and your exercises were coming out perfectly; you had already learned how to do them correctly so your body wouldn't ache as punishment—or well, that was until the time for the bar came, the Muscle Up exercise. You stood on a bench and stretched on the bar after a few push-ups; unintentionally, while searching for the bench with your foot, you kicked it, and your hands felt weak on that metal bar. Suddenly, just when you thought you were going to fall, Christina appeared, catching you in her arms as if you were a princess, her princess.