Anubin always liked considering his tattoos, both the ones on his face and the ones on his chest.
His facial tattoos spoke of pain and revenge, a symbol of the life he'd led and the life he hoped to lead. He'd had them done just after being discovered as a Force sensitive, on his last day in the slave pens. It was high time by then that he, as a Zabrak, should receive his facial tattoos. Most received them at around fifteen or sixteen; Anubin was twenty-five.
His chest tattoos he'd been born with. Most everyone had a tattoo on their bodies somewhere that had been with them since birth.
Anubin had a starscape scattered across his chest, in all different shades of blue. When he was just a child, he and Advena would amuse themselves by trying to find constellations in the stars, patterns that fit a familiar shape: their mother's face, a map of their master's complex... Often, they'd make up stories to go along with the shapes they could find.
Anubin hoped that the real story behind those tattoos – the story of himself and his soulmate – would be greater than any of the ones they'd told as children.
Anubin was twenty-six when the addition to his tattoo appeared. It was an intricately patterned crescent moon, hanging just inches below his left collarbone.
He had no idea whose tattoo it was; the only people he'd been in contact with lately were his crew and his fellow Dark Council members. It was possible it was one of them... but the question was who it was.
After several meetings' worth of trying to find each of the others' tattoos, he'd narrowed down the possibilities to three people: Darth Vowrawn, Darth Ravage, and Darth Marr. The three were the only members whose tattoos he hadn't seen yet, though all three seemed equally unlikely candidates: Vowrawn was older and reputed to have taken many lovers, and the likelihood of his already having found his soulmate was high; Ravage was Anubin's newest rival, having set himself against Anubin almost from the moment they'd met, for whatever reason; and Darth Marr was... terrifying. And reserved.
And extremely attractive, even with his helmet and armor.
Having run out of options, Anubin decided to do something terribly drastic: He'd take off his shirt in the middle of the Council meeting and see how everyone reacted.
It worked; there was a general sense of surprise and confusion coming from most of the Council members, but only one registered shock, and only for such a short moment that Anubin wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been searching for it. Of course, the so desired reaction came from the one Council member he least expected: Darth Marr.
After the meeting, Anubin found himself sealed in the Council chambers with Marr bearing down on him.
"I never would have expected my soulmate to be you, Lord Marr," Anubin said, his voice pitched in an uncomfortably high register. He cleared his throat, which brought his voice back down to its normal pitch, and spoke again. "Not that I'm unhappy with this. I mean, you're very-"
"Stop babbling," Marr snapped. "Come with me."
Anubin followed Darth Marr out of the main square of the Citadel to an apartment building – the same one, in fact, that Anubin held an apartment in. They stood silently in the lift as it carried them all the way up to the top floor. Anubin followed Marr into an apartment decorated sparsely in shades of grey.
Anubin, who was more used to having colour and noise surround him in his own home, found it rather disconcerting.
Marr sat on the bed and gestured for Anubin to sit in the chair opposite. Marr then reached for his hood, pulled it down, and touched his mask as though to take it off.
"What – are you..."
"As my... soulmate," Marr began, "I feel you are entitled to know at least this about me, if nothing else."
"I'm going to die," Anubin mumbled as Marr proceeded to remove his mask, revealing... a normal human face.
Except for the empty eye sockets.
Anubin recoiled slightly, then caught himself. "You... have no eyes."
"I do not."
"Was that... some kind of injury?"
"Have you not heard of Miraluka?"
It suddenly clicked in Anubin's head. "You're a Miraluka."
"Clearly."
"You... you're blind?"
"I can see through the Force. And through my mask."
"Can I..." Anubin raised his hand towards Marr's face. Marr caught it.
"You may not."
"Okay." Anubin turned his hand in Marr's grasp so he was holding Marr's hand in return. Marr's face changed, but his expression was not unhappy; no, Anubin would describe it more as... pleased.
The two sat in silence for some time, neither of them moving or doing anything else to disturb the quiet. Eventually, Anubin slipped his hand from Marr's and stood, moving closer to the bed.
"Marr..."
"Mathias."
"Mathias. I'm Anubin, then, not Occlus. May I... may I kiss you?"
Marr sat like a statue for a silent moment before he said, "You may."
The kiss that followed was more beautiful than any Anubin had ever experienced before.
"Marr's closed himself off from me," Anubin muttered to Advena as they sat together in the back of a speeder that Emerale was driving, heading back to the safe house on Rishi to meet the Imperial and Republic contingents. "I don't know why. There was no warning, he just... shut himself off."
"I hope something hasn't happened with Shan to make him like that," Advena replied.
"Master Shan wouldn't harm any of you... unless one of yours did something to make her..." Emerale cut in from the pilot's seat of the speeder. Anubin stuck his tongue out at her when she wasn't looking.
Advena smacked him on the arm.
"Whatever. We'll find out what's happened soon enough," he said.
When they arrived at the safe house, nothing out of the ordinary appeared to have happened. Marr and Satele Shan were standing as far from each other as possible given the tight confines of the space, and the troops that each had brought were glaring at each other from across the table.
The awkward silence as Anubin, Emerale and Advena walked in was broken by a slight gasp from Satele, and by C2-D4. "Would anyone like any refreshments? We have several fine beverages available!"
"He must have been a bartending droid in a past life," Anubin muttered.
"No, thank you. I'm fine,"Satele said, breaking the renewed silence.
"All right. We're off to a great start," Theron remarked to Anubin, who gave him a distracted half-smile.
"Master Satele, thank you for coming," Emerale said, bowing slightly to the older Jedi.
"Darth Marr, likewise," Anubin said, somewhat more formally than necessary. They had to keep up appearances, after all; even though they were soulmates, the rest of the galaxy didn't know that and didn't need to.
"The Revanite ships have been scattered, captured, or destroyed," Marr said, ignoring the pleasantries taking place. "Their accomplices aboard our vessels are in chains. You've found a threat and given us the means to root it out – separately. What do we have to discuss?"
"The Revanite threat goes deeper than this," Anubin said. We've called you here to negotiate a temporary truce – independent of our respective factions."
"What do you propose?" Satele asked. "That I take my troops and turn away from the Republic, if only temporarily?"
"We are at war," Darth Marr agreed. "Any truce should come from our governments, not two independent parties."
"We are the government," Anubin argued, "and this is more urgent than we can take the time to discuss with the Council. We need to take action now."
"The Revanite forces, led by Revan himself, threaten the entire galaxy," Advena chimed in. "Revan has threatened a takeover – and in the past, he threatened genocide against the Empire, with the means prepared to carry it out. Any threat from this entity is to be taken very seriously."
"What do you propose, then?" Satele repeated.
Anubin, Advena and Emerale explained Revan's threats in greater detail, and outlined their plan to deal with them: head to Yavin IV to stop Revan from resurrecting the Emperor. Thus agreed, everyone in the safe house went their separate ways, to return to their ships.
Marr and Anubin made their way to Marr's flagship, neither speaking but each knowing what the other was thinking, by virtue of their Force bond.
"You sensed it too, I assume?" Anubin asked as they retired to Marr's quarters.
"I did. I'm not certain exactly who it is."
"I am. It's Satele Shan."
Marr stared at Anubin, silently demanding an answer.
"She gasped as I entered. I don't think anyone else caught it, but I know what I heard. And sensed. She's our third."
Marr was silent. He reached for his mask and took it off, laying it on the bedside table. In a gesture of affection no one else could ever see, he reached for Anubin and cradled the younger man's face in his hand.
"We should call her..." Anubin murmured, but he shut up when Marr pulled him onto the bed with him.
Later, on Yavin IV, when all the camps had been set up and everyone had retired for the night, Anubin snuck into Marr's tent. The holoprojector was already set up, simply waiting for them to call.
Anubin was the one to reach out and press the button. Satele picked up the call promptly.
"Darth Occlus... Darth Marr. To what do I owe this surprise?"
"We want to talk to you. You know what about. Meet us at these coordinates in an hour," Anubin said without preamble, transmitting the coordinates of a secluded spot in the jungle, away from their patrols – and more importantly, Revan's.
Satele frowned, but nodded. "Very well. I will meet you."
"Come alone," Marr added before ending the call.
An hour later saw Anubin and Marr waiting at the appointed spot, Anubin settled on a tree stump while Marr paced in front of him.
Anubin stood suddenly. "She's coming. And she's alone."
Sure enough, Satele entered the clearing alone, a midly irritated look on her face. "Why did we have to meet in the dead of night like this?"
"We have to discuss... tattoos," Anubin said awkwardly. Satele gave him a deadpan stare until he began to remove his jacket, revealing the tattoos of the moon and stars, and the sun that had appeared two days ago on Rishi.
Satele went pale. "I... I'd hoped I was dreaming," she whispered. Then she laughed. "Imagine, me bound by fate to a pair of Sith Lords. Not just Sith Lords! Dark Council members!"
"I know it comes as a shock," Anubin began, "but... Satele... We wouldn't hurt you."
"You can't."
"We wouldn't," he repeated firmly. "I'm not that kind of a person."
"Fine. I've heard enough."
"But -"
She didn't stay to hear the end of his sentence.
Marr laid his hand on Anubin's shoulder. "She will come to terms with it, eventually."
"What if she doesn't..."
"Then that is something that we must accept."
Anubin couldn't sleep the next night.
After several hours of rolling around in his cot, trying desperately to nod off, he finally gave up and stood. He'd help out on a patrol route or something. That should help him shake off some restless energy.
He tagged along with the next patrol leaving, a group of mixed Imperial and Republic soldiers. He tried not to stick too close to the Imperials – camaraderie was half of a strong truce, after all – but the Republic soldiers refused to speak while he was around.
Anubin's patrol met up with another patrol in the middle of the jungle – and who, of course, should be with them but Satele Shan? Just his luck.
The two stood and stared at each other for a moment, then Anubin looked at his patrol group. "Go on without me. I'll meet up with you in a few minutes."
"Likewise," Satele said to her group, and they departed, leaving Satele and Anubin staring at each other again. Anubin absently noted that she was about the same height as he was.
Just the right height to kiss...
Before the thought even fully crossed his mind, he'd moved towards her and pressed his lips gently to hers. She reached up to push him away, then seemingly thought elsewise, and placed her hands on his shoulders instead, kissing him back – just as gently, a slow mutual movement of their lips, but it was sweet and nice and Anubin was greatly enjoying himself.
Eventually they came up for air. Satele stared at Anubin, right into his eyes, and said, "I shouldn't have done that."
That stung.
"Why not?" He kept his tone light, but he couldn't completely hide the undertone of hurt.
"Not because of you – I mean... Well, I suppose it is you. It's just... Love is forbidden by the Jedi Code. Attachment, relationships... they often lead to the Dark Side."
"You know, I told a Jedi once – I'm more light than half your Jedi, and I love."
"What happened to that Jedi?"
"I had to kill him." When Satele opened her mouth, he held up a hand. "I didn't want to kill him. I offered him a chance to surrender. He refused. He attacked me. All I wanted was to return him to his soulmate."
"Who was this Jedi?"
"His name was Nomar Organa..." Anubin told her the story of his time on Alderaan, about Lady Rist and her pining and her pain, and about Nomar, whose stubborn clinging to the Jedi ideals ruined his life and that of his soulmate.
"Don't you have exceptions for soulmates?"
"No. It's such a rare phenomenon... Not many Jedi ever find their soulmate. Nomar and I are the exception to the rule."
"Shouldn't you at least consider it?"
"I don't decide the rules for the Jedi Order on my own, Occlus."
"Anubin. My name is Anubin."
"Anubin," she repeated, and the name fell from her tongue like the most beautiful music he'd ever heard.
"Talk about it, then, with your Council. If you want to. Mention us by name, if you want to. Just... consider it."
Satele was silent for a moment, then she raised her eyes to his. "I will."
"That's all I ask."
Three months later, after Revan had been dealt with, Anubin received a holocall.
"Do you have a place where we can meet?" Satele Shan asked. "And Darth Marr, as well."
Anubin smiled. "As it happens, I have a place on Nar Shaddaa..."