Author's Note

A piece for my Sith Legacy series, exploring the next generation of my original stories. These stories explore what happens to my characters after their stories from Star Wars, The Old Republic and the tales of their children. Enjoy and feel free to review!

Staring down the Rodian, Ji had to respect the man for holding his ground, but he still had a job to do. "Don't make this harder Lyka," he muttered. "The Guhrin just want their money back."

"So what happens when they find out I don't have it?" The green skinned man shuddered fearfully as if contemplating the possibilities, but Ji wasn't falling for it.

"You had enough to bribe the last hunter lookin' for you," he said dryly. "So I'm inclined to believe you held onto some."

The Rodian stopped shaking and tilted his insect-like head at Ji. "If you want money..." he tried bargaining, but Ji raised his hand.

"The money you give me ain't worth what I'd get for this job." He pulled a set of binders from his belt while keeping his blaster aimed at the man. "I really don't wanna shoot you, but you know I will..."

"HEY! What's going on over there?"

"Bu'nas'a!" Ji cursed under his breath. Coruscant security, he was hoping to avoid them.

Some of the local politicians were taking flack about the crime rate and had passed a new justice bill. The Bounty Brokers Association had pounced on the idea, offering up contracts to help out the local law enforcement. Still, it was risky doing bounties on the Republic planet, many locals resented the presence of the mercs, even though most were just trying to clean things up.

Wonder how they'd feel if they knew I was a Mando, he thought, bet that'd go as well as offering flatcakes to a gundark. Bad enough he felt as exposed as a killik without its carapace, wearing civvies and having had left his beskar on the ship to blend in better. He had his own reasons for hunting on Coruscant though, so the risk felt worth it. Oh really? His inner voice said, worth facing down the four, no, make it five pissed-off looking security officers aiming blasters at him? Absolutely, he thought with a grin that he quickly squashed before regarding the officers.

"Just a little business," Ji said calmly, "Nothin' to get worked up about."

"Help," Lyka cried out, "This man is trying to rob me!"

"Why you!" Ji turned and glared at the man before reining in his temper. "I ain't tryin' to rob him. There's a bounty on his head so I'm collectin' him up."

"A bounty hunter?" The tall woman heading up the squad sneered in disgusted disbelief. "We don't need scum like you hanging out around here."

"I'm within my rights ma'am," he said as he pulled out a datapad. "Got the contract free and clear from the BBA. They said any means are allowed s'long as I limit my carbonite and don't disintegrate him." He turned to Lyka and gave him a dark grin, "Always harder to collectin' on a pile of ash anyway."

The encounter was starting to draw a small crowd, which had Ji mentally groaning. Bad enough doing bounties here, but you had to chase this one to the Senate Tower, his internal voice grumbled, you really are di'kutla. Crowds made his job tougher, you never knew when an overzealous citizen would jump in, or worse yet, a rival after the same target. Scanning over the faces he looked for any threats but only saw a blend of curiosity, loathing, and mischief. Whoa, wait, mischief?

His gaze shot to where he thought he'd seen an impish flash of silver set against soft brown, but it was gone. Gotta be my imagination, he thought as he kept looking. Then he thought he saw it again, partially hidden under a dark brown hood, but it disappeared once more.

"So what do we do with them Captain?" One of the security officers addressed the tall woman who was leading the pack of officers.

"We can detain both of them for now," she said. "Corporal, subdue these men."

"You're not taking me in!" Lyka shouted and pulled his blaster.

Firing rapidly, the Rodian managed to catch an officer in the leg, causing him to fall back against one of his squad mates. Pandemonium broke out as the crowd began to panic, soon they were shoving each other with no regard for who they ran into. The officers were trying to shout over the din to no avail.

"Oh Hunter," Ji heard Lyka's voice and looked over to see the man pointing a blaster at him. His hand went to his own, but as he drew it he felt himself yanked aside and the whiz of the beam narrowly miss his ear. A slight tingle spread over his body and he saw confused fury appear on the Lyka's face, just before the Rodian was tackled by a security officer.

"Jicoln Cadera," a sweet feminine giggle filled his ear. "Just can't stay out of trouble can you?"

Angel, he thought, it was her that he'd seen. He hadn't been imagining the feisty Jedi, 'course it wouldn't have surprised him if he had. He may have swooped in to rescue her back on Taris, but she'd swooped into his fantasies ever since. At night she'd dance blithely into his head and he'd get lost in swirling dreams of silver hair and eyes. Now here she was in the flesh, sending the moisture from his mouth and his pulse into overdrive.

A quick glance to the hand she held confirmed that she'd made them both invisible, some form of stealth related to her Force abilities. He didn't question it, he just followed her lead as she pulled him from the melee. Once they'd gotten a safe distance from the chaos she dropped the field, but he still felt a tingle in his hand where she held it. He suspected the feeling had nothing to do with her abilities.

She was in what looked like formal Jedi robes, a dark brown cloak with an ivory tunic that wrapped around her slender torso and offset her creamy brown skin. Matching ivory trousers were bloused into her high boots, and the double-sided saber she wore was supported by an artfully worked leather belt. From her up-swept silver hair to her toes she looked every inch the solemn Jedi, if one ignored the twinkling trouble-filled silver eyes that gleamed up at him.

Bu'nas'a, he'd missed her, he thought, and he did the only thing he could think of, the only thing he'd wanted to do since she'd left Taris. A quick pull of her hand had her in his arms, and he gave her a firm, but gentle hug.

"Glad to see you Missy," he said, near sighing at the feel of her against him. She tensed for a moment in surprise, then returned the hug, and he hoped she couldn't feel how fast his heart was beating.

"Good to see you too Ji." The sincerity on her voice was as warm as her embrace, and he wondered how long he could keep holding her. It seemed too soon when she backed away, her eyes still shining at him. "You're lucky I was passing by," she said, and gave him a teasing push. "I might have been tempted to leave you, however. You know, since you're too good to contact me even though you said you would."

Looking closer he saw a touch of disappointment in her eyes. She'd wanted to hear from him, he realized, and the knowledge had him raking his hand through his shaggy brown hair in embarrassment.

"I lost the comm you gave me," he admitted. "Felt terrible about it. I just hoped our paths would cross again."

He wasn't about to admit just how terrible he'd felt when he realized it was missing, and how he'd frantically sped through the Taris swamps hoping to locate it. She gave him a skeptical look, and it felt like those silver eyes were peering into the very core of him, right before she burst into another grin and looped her arm through his.

"Then luck really is on your side," she laughed. "Just a shame that you seem to have lost your bounty."

Found something better, he thought, but just shrugged. "He's Coruscant Security's problem now," he said. "Not worth the creds or the trouble bailing him out. I'll let the Guhrin know where he's at. If they still want him, they'll get him."

The two-cred gang would be irritated that Lyka was in the hands of official law enforcement, but that was the last thing on Ji's mind. He was too happy strolling with Angel beside him. "So do you normally stay on Coruscant?"

"Not usually," she said. "That's why I mentioned you being lucky. I had to address the Council, and was on my way to Old Galactic Market." She giggled before she whispered conspiratorially, "There's a sweet shop that sells the most wonderful Kowakian Crumb-cake, it's my mother's favorite."

"This sounds worth checking out," he chuckled, "Lead on."