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This is the first story of a collection of events taking place after 'Father and Son'. They are all in loose chronological order and are rather like snapshots of Jak's and Damas's lives after they discover they are father and son. You could call them bonding moments, so that's what they'll be called.
"Since I missed most of your childhood," Damas began rather painfully, even wincing at the thought of all the lost years, "please tell me; when did you start speaking? For the few years that I still had you, you never spoke, even though other children your age did. You were adept at communicating silently and had even been learning the monks hand language before you disappeared. We believed you were mute, though the monks told me you were fine."
Jak sat on one of the flat rocks in the pool in Damas's audience chamber. They were the only two currently there, since the monks no longer had to constantly supervise Damas's recovery and Sig was elsewhere in the city fulfilling the official public duties of King that Damas couldn't return to doing yet.
"While I was in the past, I never spoke. I was very good friends with Daxter and he always understood me, even though I didn't say anything. We were always together and he would speak for me. But then we came through the time rift into the present, about three years ago now, and I was captured by Erol and put in prison for the Baron's experimental--and as of yet unsuccessful--Dark Warrior Program. I was there for two years," Jak struggled to control his voice, which had roughened slightly at the memories, "until Daxter came to break me out. That day, I was nearly unconscious, but then I heard him, and he jumped on me to try getting my attention. He wanted me to say something, do something, to show that I was still alive and that I was still me. At his insistence, I revived somewhat and said, 'I'm gonna kill Praxis!' The Praxis who had finally given up on the Dark Warrior Program and had ordered Erol to kill me. And then I transformed for the first time into my dark eco form, making Praxis's program a success and nearly killing my best friend." Jak laughed mockingly at himself. "My first words were a vow to kill the Baron of Haven City. And I tried to. I even snuck into the palace once, but he found me first and escaped our fight before I could kill him. Kor, the Metal Head leader, ended up doing it. I was there and witnessed the confrontation. Praxis was the only one who didn't die immediately from Kor's attack, but he did die, with me at his side." Jak fell silent, remembering the day.
Damas stood and walked slowly across the stones of his pool until sitting down on one next to Jak's. "I believe it is better that you did not kill him, Jak. What would satiating your revenge have accomplished? Just a dead man. A dead father, actually."
"I wouldn't have been able to look Ashelin straight in the face," Jak mumbled, looking down at his reflection in the water. "It was strange, in the end. It seemed like Praxis was a different man, almost. Once I saw Kor transform and reveal that he was a Metal Head leader, all I could see Praxis as was a leader trying to save his city. He charged Kor, sword drawn, with his Krimson Guards around him, trying to kill the leader to stop the war. Right then, that's all he was trying to do; not oppress Haven City, not torture any of the people, no Krimson Guards abusing citizens, not hunting the Underground... Praxis just didn't seem so bad right then."
"Before the coup, he wasn't that bad of a guy. He cared about his daughter and would help me run the city. After the coup, the power got to his head, and his fixation on the war grew," Damas explained.
"That might be why, after Kor's attack when I went to Praxis's side, I didn't kill him right then. Maybe I just didn't want to anymore. When I saw him defending the city, I didn't want revenge."
"Holding on to revenge can twist men away from their true intentions. I'm glad that my son is a man who can let go." Damas smiled at Jak, also his son, Mar, who was much older than he should have been. "What were his last words?"
"He told me that I was his weapon. From the Dark Warrior Program. 'You are the supreme weapon, Jak. And I made you. Still, any leader worth his salt always has his backup plan. Remember, the first rule in making a bomb is to always make two.' Those were his exact words. And then he basically handed me the Precursor Stone, which I needed to attack the Metal Head nest and go after Kor and the young me."
Damas couldn't help but grinning, even if they were discussing a man's death. "Yeah, that sounds like the old Praxis that I remember. Always had a backup plan for everything, he did. Even his daughter's birthday parties! You should've seen him, back in those days. He was a good man then, but war changes people. He changed after it started getting worse. Especially after the old city wall was destroyed and we had to fall back behind the shield and a stronger wall."
"War does indeed change people," Jak said, his voice indicating that he was obviously thinking about himself and his eco powers.
"Changes aren't always bad, Jak."
Jak grunted noncommittally.
"Come, my son. Let us end this talk and get some food."
