A/N: It always bothered me that you had to leave your crew behind at the near-end of KotOR 2; I must have spent ten minutes the first time trying to find a way back into the Ebon Hawk after it crashed on Malachor V. So fear no more, this is definitely what happened! Kate Falco is the female, light-side Exile. Enjoy!

Coming Home

. . .

That was it. It was over. Nihilius, Sion, and finally Kreia were all gone.

Kate stumbled out of the crumbling academy, a little lightheaded from the battle. As the ground shuddered, she willed herself to break into a run. She found her way back through the maze of crevices, moving more on the Force's power than her own. No storm beasts barred her way this time- she supposed they had retreated deep into the caves in an attempt to escape. But there would be no escape; the Mass Shadow Generator was functioning perfectly, and she could feel the planet being torn apart beneath her weary feet.

At last, the familiar shape of the Ebon Hawk came into view, teetering on the edge of a vast rift in the planet's surface. The Hawk's escape pod was gone- by now her crew was safely on their way towards the nearest system. The loading ramp stood half-open, and she hoped no storm beasts or marauders had decided to take refuge in the hull.

After slipping inside, she made sure the ramp closed, and headed for the cockpit. A thud and several footsteps broke the ship's silence, and she drew her lightsaber. She edged around the hallway, ready to strike.

"I was starting to think you weren't coming back," a familiar voice called.

Cautiously lowering her weapon, she stepped into the cockpit. "Atton? Is that you?"

"Yes ma'am," he said cheerfully, swinging the captain's chair around to face her. "So what took you so long?"

Kate stared at him for a full minute. "I thought I told you to leave with the crew!"

Atton looked at her incredulously. "And leave you here to die? Kate, how could you think that of me? How were you planning to get off this rock?"

Kate huffed, "I could have managed by myself."

Atton looked blankly at her.

"What, I could fly this thing! It can't be that hard if you do it every day."

Atton raised an eyebrow at her.

"Alright Flyboy, shut-up and get us off this planet before it collapses."

"Roger, captain," Atton said with a grin. The Hawk shook violently as the planet gave an almighty quake beneath them. The cliff gave way just as Atton got the ship airborne, and they dodged several falling boulders as they made their escape.

A few minutes later, they watched safely from space as the planet collapsed, taking the ghosts of a thousand victims with it. Finally, Malchor V was finished.

Kate was the first to break the silence. "So. Barring your idiotic hero stunt, did everything else go smoothly?"

"For the most part. As you can see, the Mass Shadow Generator still works. Everyone but G0-T0 and that blasted remote left on the escape pod. They radioed in their coordinates, and we're on our way to meet them now."

"Bao left his remote behind? Why?"

"Well, someone needed to activate the Mass Shadow Generator."

"Oh, of course. Poor little thing, it must have been blown apart in the collapse."

"I wouldn't exactly say that," Atton said wearily. A faint beeping came from the cargo hold.

"Oh Atton, you rescued Bao's remote? I thought you hated droids!"

"I do. Almost wish I hadn't saved it, the miniature trash compacter hasn't shut-up since." Atton sighed. "But the droid did its job, probably saved us all."

Kate beamed at him. Then without warning, Kreia's words echoed in her ears. "Atton is, as always, the fool. He has nothing to offer to one such as you – and even a fool such as Atton is not so ignorant of that fact."

"Atton… can I ask you something?"

"Is this another interrogation?"

"Maybe."

"Well then, ask away."

"Do you… do you have feelings for me?"

Atton was quiet for a moment, then said with a painful smile, "I'm not good enough for you, Kate. We both know that."

Kreia had said it before, but hearing it from Atton made her heart ache.

"That's not true. I owe you so much, Atton. When we met on Peragus-"

"You mean when you saved my pathetic hide from starvation in a force cage…" Atton muttered.

Kate kept talking over him. "I was lost, alone, and afraid. When I met you, well, it didn't really get any better what with the murderous Sith lord parking his ship outside the station, but still, you were there."

Kate placed both hands on top of his. "You've always been there, Atton. There have been so many times where you could have left us, but you never did. This ship is home, and you… You're home to me, Atton. I rely on you more than you know. I love you," she finished earnestly.

Atton was dumbstruck. Then he chuckled and said, "Wow. Some Jedi you are, falling for an ex-Jedi-assassin. You got a death wish or something?"

Kate smiled and leaned in closer. "Somehow, I'm not too worried." Closer, and their lips were just inches apart.

Suddenly, a shadow passed over her face. She pulled away, and punched him in the chest, hard.

"Ouch!"

"Why didn't you say something months ago?" She said, exasperated.

"I… Well, why didn't you say something then?"

"A lady always waits for the gentleman to ask," Kate huffed. "Besides, I thought that you and Mira were together…"

Atton shook his head. "That woman would have killed me the minute she got on the ship if you weren't around to keep her in check."

"Then what kept you from telling me?"

"I thought that… you and blondie…"

"Disciple?" Kate doubled over laughing. "Oh Force no. He's sweet but… much too uptight about everything. And that hair, yikes."

"Besides," she whispered, leaning in close to him, "I sort of have a thing for brunettes."

And at last, they shared a long-awaited kiss.

. . .

The commlink on the dashboard beeped angrily, but it was ignored.

Atton and Kate sat on the floor of the cockpit, staring out at the vast sky, together.

Atton wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and as she rested her head on his chest, she could hear his heart beating.

After they eventually got around to picking up the rest of the crew on Chorlian, she didn't know what they were going to do, or where they were going to go, but that was okay. There didn't need to be an after, because finally, there was a now.

The Exile sighed contentedly. She was home.