Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters(trust me, if I owned Carth, writing about him would be the last thing on my mind =D), they belong to LucasArts and Obsidian/Bioware, excepting the exact nature of Revan and the Exile. Oh, and Brynna. Please don't sue the fangirl! =)
"Tell me about when you met my mom."
Mission Vao smiled at the girl sitting on the kitchen counter. "Again? Bryn, I've told you that story a hundred times."
Brynna Onasi put on her best begging face. "Pleeeeease, Mish? Father's working in the ship bay again, and I'm bored."
"Well, alright, but only if you get of the counter," Mission caved to the huge brown eyes the nine year old had inherited from her father. "You look almost exactly like her, you know."
Brynna slid onto one of the tall stools sitting next to the counter and propped her chin on her hand. "Everybody says that. Father and you most of all."
"I guess we do. We knew her the best." Mission couldn't help but smile at the dark skinned girl. "Your hair is longer than Emi's and you got your-"
"Father's eyes, I know. Story?"
"Sorry. I met your mother on Taris, before the Sith bombed it into oblivion during the Jedi Civil War. My friend, Zaalbar, had been captured by Gamorrean slavers, and I needed help to get him out. I ran into your mother, and father, in the Undercity. They needed to get into the Vulkar base, so I offered to get them in if they helped me get Big Z. When Emi headed to Dantooine she took me an' Big Z with her. I liked traveling with her. She took me with her a lot. I was used to people treating me like I couldn't help because I was only fourteen. Your mother treated me like a valuable asset. I really appreciated that. 'Specially when your father would treat me like a little kid," Mission chuckled. "Sometimes I deserved it, too."
"Well, you are younger than Dustil, remember," Brynna chimed in, grinning.
"How can I forget when you remind me every time I tell this story?" Mission tugged on Brynna's waist length braid. "You want to hear the rest?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"Where were we? Oh, yeah, when the Jedi Council sent her to look for the Star Maps, she took us with her, even if Carth and Juhani were the only ones to get off the ship. She gave some excuse about wanting to have someone who knew the Republic with her when I teased her that she had the hots for your father." Mission chuckled over a memory.
"What?" Brynna demanded. "What's so funny?"
"I have a new piece to add to the story. I can't believe I forgot this, though both of your parents would be very unhappy I remembered."
"Oooh, is it embarrassing?" Brynna grinned.
"It fills one of those gaps. I'll let you decide for yourself if it's embarrassing," Mission hedged. "We were on Manaan, waiting for Emi, Carth, and Juhani to come back…"
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"Mission, what are you doing?" Bastila demanded, arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the young Twi'lek.
"What's it to ya?" Mission shot back, mimicking the move, and adding a thrust out hip for good measure. "Emi said I can do what I like, long as I don't hurt anyone." She was annoyed at being interrupted, and the fact it was Bastila, of all the crew members, just made it worse. "Go away. Why're you bein' so nosy?"
"Why are you being so secretive?"
Mission couldn't think of a good reply. "Fine." She stepped aside to let Bastila see vibroblade she had been fitting back together with a number of upgrades. She had added an ionite edge, zabrak hilt and vibration cell, increasing the weapon's damage. "It's a peace offering for Carth. I never technically apologized for acting like a spoiled child. I just hope it's good enough. I know Emi keeps a sharp eye out for anything that's any kind of improvement far as weapons go."
Bastila smiled. "It's a good weapon. And I have a feeling the mere fact you took the time to work on it will mean more to Carth than the quality of the weapon itself." The two looked up at the sound of the landing ramp lowering. "Either T3 is trying to escape, or they're back."
"I put my credits on Emi bein' back." Mission slid the vibroblade under her bunk and wiped her hands against her Echani combat suit, more from habit than necessity, and headed to the main hold of the Ebon Hawk. When Emi, Carth and Juhani entered, both Emi and Carth were blushing, the pilot much more so than the Jedi, though Emi was red enough even her dark skin couldn't mask it. Neither answered when the expected demands poured forth. Carth retreated to the cockpit with a muttered curse and a sheepish glance in Emi's direction, while Emi darted for the bunk room and slammed the door. Not before Mission caught the goofy grin spreading across her face, however. Mission grinned and raised her eyebrows at the closed door. I'd bet my last credit something happened between them down there, she decided, and dragged Juhani off to a quiet cargo hold to interrogate her.
"What happened?" The demand leapt from her lips with next to no encouragement. "Why are they blushing?"
"Whose blush should I explain first?" Juhani replied quietly.
"Emi's." Mission leaned forward eagerly.
"Carth asked for forgiveness for not trusting her and for being a 'pain in the rear'. Emi acted like she wasn't going to accept, until he got nervous. She told him she was just teasing. He told her he was relieved, because she is an intelligent and beautiful woman and he wanted things right between them. That is the first time in my life I ever saw a Jedi blush. It obviously stunned her, because the next words out of her mouth were, 'You think I'm beautiful?'. Carth smiled and told her he'd take that as a yes."
Mission rocked back, chuckling. "I knew there was something between them! 'Wanted to have someone who knew the Republic with her' my left lekku! What about Carth's? Why'd he look so embarrassed?" She leaned forward in interest, elbows planted on her knees, celebratory grin splintering her face in two.
"Emi caught him watching her."
Mission's eyes widened and she burst out laughing. "Oh, boy. Where were you? Did she take him to task?" Her eyes glinted with laugher even after she managed to shut herself up long enough to hear the answer.
"Actually, no. It was most curious." Juhani smiled. " We were almost back to the ship, in the visitor's area. After he swore up and down he hadn't been 'ogling' her, just watching her, in admiration, of course," Juhani chuckled, "Emi told him it was alright, she didn't mind."
"Then why was his face the same color as a Sith lightsaber?" Mission's eyebrows drew together in a frown.
"Because after Emi told him that, he made some joke--or at least he said it was a joke--about how he wished she would've told him sooner because it would have saved him a lot of trouble. Emi gave him an absolutely scathing look--hip out, arms crossed-- and said 'Oh, really?' . THAT, Mission, is why our pilot is the same color as a Sith lightsaber. And that's all you're going to get out of me."
"Alright, I'll go tackle our fearless leader, see if I can get any more out of her." Mission left the cargo hold. She chuckled as the sound of Carth and Bastila having a nice heart to heart chat drifted out of the cockpit, and headed for the bunk room. "Hey, Emi. Can I come in?"
"Who is it?" Emi's voice sounded muddled, a first for the confident Jedi.
Mission rolled her eyes. "It's me, Mission. Please open the door." She heard the lock disengage and the door swung open a crack. Mission slipped through and closed it behind her, re-engaging the lock.
"Thanks, Mish." Emi lay on her bunk, staring at the ceiling. "I don't want--"
"Bastila to come give you a lecture about how love is forbidden to a Jedi and your affection for our oh-so-handsome pilot must be ended before it begins?" Mission sat down on the edge of her bed.
Emi glared daggers at the Twi'lek. "Exactly. Though if she did, I would hasten to assure her I am not falling for… Carth."
"And the way you voice got softer saying his name is s'pposed to convince me how?" Mission grinned cheekily at her friend. "Em, everybody knows you two are falling for each other."
Emi groaned. "Everyone?"
Mission nodded and smirked. "Everyone. And Bastila's in the cockpit right now, 'discussing' things with Carth."
"Great. I'm probably next. I wonder if I can put it off till after Kashyyyk." Emi rolled over and buried her face in her arm.
"I doubt it." Mission smiled sympathetically.
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"Of course, it did get put off, because we were captured by the Leviathan as we left Manaan," Mission concluded.
Brynna stared at her for a few seconds. "Wow. So…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "On with the story."
"Well, on the Leviathan, your parents, along with Bastila, were taken to be questioned personally by Admiral Karath, while the rest of us were put in cells. Your mom asked me to see what I could do about getting them out. So I picked the guard's pocket and stole his key card, got free, and went looking for them. When I found them, none of them looked too great, which was to be expected when dealing with Sith interrogation methods, but Emi looked way worse than Carth or Bastila. When I asked what was wrong, she said she'd tell me later, and sent me back for everyone else while she, Carth, and Bastila went after Karath. I was a little worried about the glint of revenge I saw in your father's eyes, but I let it go and went my own way.
"I joined back up with the others, and we got to the Hawk and got ready to leave. We were starting to get really worried what had happened to them, and Juhani, Big Z an' me were getting ready to head off after them, when Carth and Emi come pounding up the landing ramp and we're out of there faster than a bantha out of a Krayt dragon cave. They took off so fast, we didn't even have time to ask where Bastila was or why Carth wouldn't look at Emi."
"Then, when you all demanded some answers, is when it came out that Mom was Darth Revan, right?" Brynna swiveled the stool as she asked, reaching for a piece of the fruit.
"Right. And when Emi told me that whenever she wouldn't answer one of Karath's questions, he tortured Carth instead of her, knowing Jedi can't bear to see those close to them suffer. He didn't know how close they were, but it was still effective. She was sobbing, Bryn, harder than I'd ever seen anyone cry. It tore her heart out. And then the man she agonized over nearly took her head off for being a former Dark Lord. Honestly, he was the only one who had a problem with it."
"You were okay with it?"
"Of course. I didn't care who she had been. All that mattered was who she was in the present, which was the exact opposite of that. And you know the rest of the story."
"Up through when Malak died. Everyone does. I know Father finally told Mom on Kashyyyk that he couldn't hate her and was actually falling in love with her, and how he wanted to be her reason for staying true to the light. And how, when Mom refused Bastila's very tempting offer on top of the Rakatan temple, he told her he loved her, and she said the same. And then they went to the Star Forge, and kicked Malak's butt, and Mom was reinstated into the Jedi Order and you were all heroes. But what about after that? You've never told me that part before. Fill in s'more gaps for me." Brynna grinned at her friend.
"After that, I caught your parents making out on a balcony, and got to see them both a nice shade of crimson again." Mission couldn't help but chuckle. "Your mother was probably the first, well, after the man himself, Jedi to ever pull a Bindo."
"Huh? 'Pull a Bindo'?" Brynna squinted in confusion. "What's that mean? Is that named after Jolee?"
"A Jedi who gets married while still being a Jedi. And yes, it does come from Jolee. They got married about two weeks after the ceremony, and had you right away. But your mom kept having nightmares, not being able to sleep, snapping at your father for little things. Finally, it came out that her 'nightmares' were actually memories of what she'd done as Revan. Oh, they had some fights about the wall she put up over that. She left when you were three months old. Left a note apologizing, asking Carth to take care of the Republic, and me to help him take care of you. He probably cooks better than her now. We both have done our best, but I can tell your father's losing hope she'll ever come back. Even after the Exile, Teren, said he'd look for her. It's been nine--"
"YES! Yes, yes, yes!!!!" Mission's story was interrupted by Carth as he burst through the door, scooped Brynna off the stool--"Come here darlin'!"--and spun her around.
"Carth Onasi, what's gotten into you?" Mission demanded, hands on her hips. "You're gonna mess up your knee again."
" Mish, that was months ago. You can stop worrying about it." Carth grinned. "Here. Atton just brought this by the ship bay." He tossed Mission a small datapad.
"Careful!" Mission caught it, tapped the screen and read the short message, then joined in the 'family hug', laughing with joy, leaving the datapad on the counter. "YES!!"
Heard from Teren. Emi's coming home.