A female kath hound rose from her side and peered through the tall grasses of Dantooine at a man blundering through the meadow. Satisfied that her young were given a wide berth, she lay back down but still kept a distrustful eye on the intruder. A woman stood a short distance behind the man, with a nasty scowl matching her equally nasty clothing. Dirt and grass stains covered her tan robes, and she seemed bothered by her current look of disarray.

Bastila Shan huffed and skipped into a frigid jog to catch up. Q'ren Ocoun jerked around at the sound of snapping twigs and rustling grass to see who the attacker could be. He met fiery blue eyes and a furrowed brow.

"I'm not helping you if you attract any more of those hellhounds."

He flashed a horrendously arrogant grin, puffed out his chest, and stated, "I don't need it."

An exasperated rumble erupted from Bastila's throat and she smacked his arm. 'How many times have I heard that already? I swear those were the first words he ever told me back on the Endar Spire.'

She began to prepare a rant in her mind, and ran into a flashback of her first time running into the amnesiac Revan, now named Q'ren Ocoun.

Bastila floundered through the crowded hallways of the Republic ship in a desperate attempt to make sure that "Q'ren" had made it aboard before the ship "raised her sails" as the captain had said. She still didn't understand that. Her thoughts flitted away at the sound of a thud and a series of expletives. Just around the corner was a man struggling to lift a large piece of, now dented, machinery off the floor. Relief flooded Bastila's mind at the recognition of the "former smuggler". She bent down and tried getting eye contact.

"I can he-"

"I don't need it."

A twitch found its way to her nose, a subconscious habit when she was irritated. 'How rude! Cutting me off like that…and he didn't even look at me.'

"Bas?"

That single word slapped her back to reality. A frown was forming on her face, but she just couldn't complete its formation. That endearing term, as much as she had come to dislike it, really felt nice. For once she wasn't being seen as an inferior padawan or as a superior by some soldier or youngling. It was one of equality, and to her, it meant attachment. It scared her, but the feeling of mutual… 'Don't even think about it. It's just mutual respect, nothing more.' In the end, she could only furrow her eyebrows. Her mouth made a tight smile, and her eyes twinkled.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just…thinking." It's mostly true, right?

"You sure? You seemed disconnected, and that's not normal, for you anyways."

"Yeah, normally you're the one distracted, while I'm coherent." He had walked into it, it was only fair she deliver the comeback for all of the snidy remarks he'd thrown her way. Q'ren raised his right brow.

"Can I help that my only companion is a young woman?"

He never saw the hand streaking towards his face. White exploded into his vision, but he kept his footing. He'd taken worse hits, but his cheek still reminded him of the abuse it'd just been subject to. A chuckle escaped past his lips at the sight of Bastila glaring at him with one hand on her hip and another jabbing into his chest as she proceeded to scold him for letting his mind muse on "inappropriate things".

"-and it's very unbecoming of a soon to be Jedi!"

Q'ren took a bold step and brought himself uncomfortably close to Bastila for her own liking. He caught her waving hand and grasped for her other.

"You know, that kind of action is considered the beginnings of a mating ritual in some cultures."

Bastila froze, and a blush threatened her pale skin.

"I- I would nev- Oh my goo- How- Ugh!"

Q'ren's infamous smile cracked his features once more at the sound of her spluttering, and soon a deep laugh rang out over the field.

Usually, Bastila felt incredible annoyance towards Q'ren. He was so carefree and relaxed, and she normally couldn't help but feel irritated…and if she was willing to admit it, jealous. But for the first time, she realized that she couldn't keep herself bothered with him. And that thought was not something she wished to pursue.

Her musings were cut short when she noticed that her hands were still in his grip, and he was caressing them with his thumbs. Unsure of what to do, she brought her eyes up to the deep brown of Q'ren's eyes and just stared. After an uncomfortable silence, she slid her hands out of his and began to walk in the direction of the "tainted grove". She heard someone shout and didn't have time to see the mass of fur smash into her.

Q'ren was horrified. Three kath hounds stood over Bastila's still form, and each were challenging each other over their next meal. 'I need to act now!' He snatched for the lightsaber that hung from his belt with nothing more than a basic idea of getting the predators to chase him. With a shout and a throw, he hurled the weapon into one of the hounds. It released a jarring howl, and the hounds left standing tore off after Q'ren. His mind cleared, and Q'ren realized with a shock that he'd just thrown his only weapon with no way of getting it back without leading the hounds back to Bastila. And he'd just gotten the attention of blood thirsty monsters. Instinct took control, and he began to run.

Q'ren stumbled back to the area he'd left Bastila lying in. He wouldn't have come back at all had he not led the now large group of kath hounds into a pack of Mandalorians. They were too busy defending themselves to worry about who the stranger was, or where he went.

Dusk found Q'ren sitting at the side of a medical bed. After taking a quick breather, he had gently scooped Bastila up into his arms and begun the grueling journey back to the Enclave. She was a lot heavier than she looked. When he'd finally struggled through the gates of the small complex, he'd taken Bastila straight to a Jedi Healer. Bastila didn't suffer anything more than a hard hit to the head, but she would be sore for some time. She hadn't woken or even stirred over the past few hours, and Q'ren was still worried despite the constant reminder that she would be fine. He heaved a sigh, sat back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

"Wha-what happened?"

Q'ren jumped and looked around. The room was very dark. 'Night must've fallen awhile ago.' He ignored the present question, and handed a glass of water to Bastila. When she'd finished gulping down the precious liquid, she glanced over at Q'ren and gave him a questioning look.

"Oh right… You met an alpha kath hound."

"What's the rest of the story?"

"I rescued you, nothing new."

He faced a hard scowl, but he felt Bastila's gratitude. He reached over and gave her a crushing hug; she stiffened at first, but she slowly relaxed. She even returned the hug.

"You really scared me Bas."

"So how'd I get here?"

Q'ren couldn't help but grin at that.

"I carried you. Something I rather enjoyed."

"You beast. I hope Canderous didn't see us- I mean, me. He wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"I almost paraded you in front of the others, but I prefer keeping you to myself. So no, he didn't."

Bastila scrunched her nose and groaned.

"Was that really necessary?"

Q'ren flashed his innocent look, and leaned forward.

"What?"

"I would appreciate it if you kept your-…'compliments' to yourself."

Q'ren gave her another "innocent" look, and grasped her hand.

"Despite your outward act of disliking them, I know you like them."

Bastila's eyes searched his face for a minute before she finally sighed and lay back in her bed. 'I don't like them do I? To accept those compliments could begin the formation of attachment, which is against the Code. He doesn't truly care for me does he?' It was with very confused thoughts that Bastila obeyed Q'ren's order to rest. She adjusted her position and closed her eyes.

EDIT: I read through this again and felt that a few things needed some adjusting. Nothing to the overall story has changed just some minor tweaks here and there.