Two sets of ghostly footsteps echoed like thunder through the ancient temple's empty corridors, their rhythm erratic and stumbling. One set limped and faltered, while the other cajoled and encouraged.

C'mon Rev, we're almost there! Please, just a little further…

Fear was a choking presence, shoving dark tentacles into nose and throat, winding around heart and lungs. Breath, blocked and gasping, hitched in soft hiccups.

She couldn't move! Her limbs dragged through the air as if she were struggling through swamp and sludge. So weak. No strength. No Force. And the blackness that hunted them only grew stronger.

C'mon, Rev. I know it hurts, but you can do this!

Dark eyes sought green in the swirling murk. Strong fingers stroked her hair, and pulled sweat-soaked tendrils from her face.

I didn't come all this way to lose you now!

Dragged, pushed and shoved with darkness clawing at her from all sides, she progressed step by agonizing step towards the light. Steady hands held her up, propelled her through a hissing portal.

Go!! He's waiting for you!

She had only time to turn, time to see the hatch slide closed, time to watch dark eyes and a wry grin disappear … and then …

And then …

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A shrill wail snapped Admiral Carth Onasi from the flickering data screen. Two long steps took him to her side. He was never further way than two, good strides. Never.

Why am I always watching her nightmares?

His large hands cradled her face as her eyes flickered open, still unseeing.

"Hey, Beautiful. Come here."

He lifted her into his arms, despairing yet again at how frail she felt. She didn't weep, now. She had that first time, though, the first time their eyes had met again after eight years apart. She had clung to him, sobbing quietly in his arms for hours.

To be fair, so had he.

Now, she simply trembled, her fingers clutching at his bare shoulders. He rocked her in silence, as he had done every night since her return. He almost felt guilty for feeling so much joy in being able to comfort her. Almost. But as he buried his face in her deep auburn hair, he was just selfish enough to allow his heart to soar, despite her pain.

Finally, as her breath steadied she turned to him, eyes still filled with horror.

"How could she do it, Carth?"

Her voice startled him in the darkness. In the year since her return, he hadn't pushed for any details beyond what she had been willing to offer, and she had offered very little.

"Do what, Aniki?"

"Just…just…stand there! Force, I have never felt such pain …" Revan's throat closed over her words as she struggled with the memory. "It felt … it felt like … being torn apart. She was just on the other side of that door and I couldn't go back, I couldn't get through!"

"Aniki …" Carth paused, unsure how to continue. No matter how he put this, it was going to hurt her. "From what I understand from Chodo Habat, Bish was in a lot of pain anyway …"

"Because of me …"

"You can't keep taking on the consequences of other people's choices, Beautiful. Bish made her own decisions."

"Bish was pushed into a corner because of my actions!" Revan extracted herself from Carth's arms and he shivered as a cold breeze drifted between their bodies. "And there … on Ashas Ree, she was only there because of me…"

"You may as well say she was there because of me, Aniki. I asked her to take a message to you."

The sound that carried across the room was as much a sob as it was a snort of disbelief.

"She made a difference, though, didn't she?" The pilot's voice was soft as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around his wife. "She helped you finish what you had to do."

"Yes." Her whisper disappeared into his chest as she turned into his embrace, but her voice strengthened and became cold. "I tore that temple down around their ears. The planet is still laced with darkness, but I don't think it will be spreading any time soon."

"That's what she wanted, Angel. She wanted some way to atone, to ease all that ache inside. She wanted to find some peace."

"And…and she gave you back to me. I'll never be sorry for that, Aniki. Never."

"She told me to run. She told me you were waiting." The ex-Jedi's fingers cradled his face as she peered through the gloom. "When … when she was gone, it hurt so bad. I just wanted to curl up and die right there, but I kept hearing her – 'He's waiting for you.' And I couldn't die without seeing you again."

"She never told me there was someone waiting for her! She didn't tell me!"

The memory of what had been left of Atton Rand chilled them both to the bone and they clung to each other for warmth.

Much later, as the solarglobes began to glow, Carth sat before the flickering image of a holo – never once in the last eight years had the pilot been able to sleep the whole night through. The massive, heavily cloaked figure shimmered blue and danced on the tabletop. Carth peered warily over his shoulder at the sleeping figure of the former Sith lord Revan, her cheek pillowed softly on her own auburn hair.

"Did he come?"

:Yes, Admiral. He came. He took the datapad. We believe he means to fill the contract.:

"We're sure about the intel on this Coltro character?"

:We are not sure of much of anything, Admiral. But we have reason to believe that this is our best chance, indeed, perhaps our only chance.:

"Dammit, I thought we'd have enough of saving the galaxy."

:This is not about the galaxy, Admiral. It is about saving a single soul.:

Carth nodded and switched off the holo.

"It maybe about two souls," he sighed and gently slid into bed beside his wife.