A/N: This lil bunny wasn't so kind… it left gaps in the writing so it isn't even a neat little bunny.

I warn you now, this is a spoiler so if you haven't finished Chapter 1 with your Jedi Knight... why not, what are you waiting for, slacker? *smirks* Okay so this really is a bit of a spoiler. You have been warned.

Male Jedi Knight & Kira

*Spoiler* Last chance to turn back now… or not


There is no death

"Stop it, Kira. I'm fine." That's a lie and we both know it. My hands clench into fists and I have to mentally force myself to relax my hands.

I've been marked. That stupid bitch deserved her death. I should have waited until she was awake and fully aware. Then I could have watched her eyes as her life slipped away from her by my hand. There is no emotion…

I take a deep breath. Bantha shit, there is emotion and I have plenty of them fighting inside me. Anger, frustration, hopelessness, hate-

Her hand on mine startles me out of my thoughts and I stare blankly at her. Her red hair is finally growing out. She looks less like a child and more like the woman I known she is. Her hand on my cheek caressing my face causes my eyes to close and I lean into her touch. More emotions to add to my growing list: Lust, Passion, Desire.

"Rys, talk to me. I can feel your anger." Kira steps closer to me. I can smell the light scent of flowers and spices. I hold her hand to my cheek and visibly relax. A slight turn of the head and I kiss her palm, her inner wrist and breathe her in.

"You shouldn't be near me right now, Kira. It isn't safe for you." I search her face, so trusting and open. I know all of her little dark secrets, her deep desires, her whims and wishes. I stood by her and stood before her, she bared her soul to me and I've claimed it as mine. A fallen Jedi filled with potential is what they call me and yet there's nothing I can do to save her if she's too close when my death comes for me. "I'm marked. There is no telling when it will strike. You saw what happened to Organa, it will happen to me and I can't have you beside me and possibly die with me."

"Every time we face an enemy I could possibly die. Why is this so different?" Kira gets that stubborn look, her jaw tightens and I chuckle before kissing her. Her resolve is fleeting at my ministrations. She can't deny me. She's mine and she knows this. "Not fair, Rys'elo." Her free hand slips into my hair, knocking my hood back and I deepen the kiss before trailing my teeth along her neck. Her heart is racing. I can feel it in the Force around us, in her body pressed against me.

"You're the only good thing left in my life." My words are bit muffled as they're said against her neck.
She lifts my face to peer up at me. Her eyes widen when they meet mine. I know what she sees and I close my eyes in shame. Another emotion, my list is ever growing. "I didn't realize you'd fallen so far. Rys, let me help you."

"It's because of you that I haven't given up completely. Don't you see, Kira? If you were to come to harm, I'd be lost… forever." I can't look at her. I can't let her see my eyes any more. The taint of the darkness within me has manifested at long last and altered me. Not only from within but the corruption is now taken joy in altering me visibly. It takes so much concentration to suppress it when confronted by one of the Masters. I just don't want to hide it any more. Not with Kira. I shouldn't have to hide with her, she's mine. "We have to get to the ship, we have to get Teeseven so we can destroy the Death Mark. I'm going to have to face Orgus and fill him in on what has happened."

We reach the outpost and I slip my hood back over my head, casting my eyes back into the shadows. Nodding at various soldiers we've assisted, we make our way to the thranta handler. "Reminder-"

"Yes, we know, they're to be used for official business only. This is official business. We need to get to the spaceport." I hand over credits and climb into the saddle before extending my hand to Kira.

Kira sits side saddle with her legs crossed over my own leg. Quickly I manage the safety ties and nod at the blasted droid. Before I know it we're lifting off the ground. The air is swirling around us and Kira's hair whips about in the wind. My own hood is tossed back from the sudden shift and we're moving quickly through the Alderaan sky. "I love flying on a thranta. It is so peaceful up here."

I smile at her. She's so optimistic and positive. Something I think I've lost. That hope, the belief that good will win over evil and I pull her in my embrace. "You're so beautiful."

Wrapping her arms around my neck she gives me a mischievous grin. "We're all alone up here with time to kill." I cringe. Poor choice of words. "Oh right, sorry."

I shake it off with a disinterested shrug. "Shh…" My grip on her tightens and I claim her lips. Awkward place to have a little fun, dangerous, too, but that just adds to the thrill of it all. Kira wants to get married, request permission from the Council to pursue a relationship. All boring prospects to me, I rather enjoy our relationship as it is. Dangerous, forbidden, much more my style.

One arm firmly around her, he other is busy loosening her robe. She shivers from both the chill of the air and my hand delving within the fabric to touch her. I free a breast and capture it with my mouth, suckling, squeezing, biting, flicking until she moans and squirms.

Once more my free hand is moving, this time it is slipping up her leg to her ass, squeezing, probing and she gasps so deliciously. Her head back she moans and squirms until she is clinging to me. Her cries of lust and passion are carried in the winds of Alderaan.

I find my mind is centering, focusing. I can release the anger, the hatred. I lose myself in Kira, seeing to her pleasure. For all the wrong reasons it is still right. She centers me and I can put aside my emotions and focus once more on my task at hand. Robes fixed, her fingers hastily run through her hair and she leans against my chest catching her breath by the time we land.

Kira slides down off the saddle and steps back watching me as my holocom chirps. With a deep breath, I hop down, pull my hood back over my head and answer the call. My master's image stands stoically watching me with a critical eye. "I've got the coordinates to Nefarid's location. I'm heading there now. Hark managed to target me as well as Duke Thul. I have to destroy it before it kills again." My demeanor is calmer than my racing heart. Orgus is too distracted to notice. Not the first time he's been oblivious when dealing with me.

With hands on his hips, he shifts his weight and I can almost sense him hesitate. "I haven't been completely honest with you." I clench my teeth and bite back my retort. This wouldn't be the first time. He better pray it is the last. "I haven't been searching for the apprentice. I've been hunting Darth Angral and I just found his cruiser."

"You could have told me. You should have told me." I can barely hold on to my anger and then I feel it. Kira has stepped up beside me, close enough that I can feel her aura and her calm washes over me. "Where are you?"

"On the border of planetary sensors at the edge of the system and he's ready to jump to hyperspace, I have to act now. I just wanted someone to know." Orgus' hands had been moving slowly as he spoke, an old habit of his that I've grown accustomed to over the past year.

"Just someone?" That comment cuts deep and I can feel Kira press closer. "You could be going to your death and you figured someone should know. Well, I'm pleased I could be just someone for you."

Orgus sighs heavily. "Now is not the time for this. I need you-"

"I know what I need to do, Master." I say that last word as if it were something vile, because it is. He's more than my master and now I'm not even his padawan, I'm just someone. A step up from a stranger I suppose but not by far.

"Rys'elo, curb your emotions and focus on what must be done." Orgus takes a deep breath and fidgets. At least I get the satisfaction of knowing I made him uncomfortable. "Stop Angral's apprentice, destroy the Death Mark; I'll see you back on Alderaan when I can." He peers up at me and nods. "We have things to discuss."

My heart clenches in my chest, my breath hitches and I'm filled with an emptiness that I can't explain. "You're a wonderful Jedi, Master. You'll do well against Darth Angral." I say the words, but do I feel them or have I just turned into the man I hate, spouting what is expected rather than the truth.

"I wish I could have met you sooner." If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the old man almost grinned at me. "You're a fine Jedi, one of the best students I've ever had the privilege of teaching. May the Force be with you."

The image blinked and disappeared. I stare at the blank holocom in my hand and I have a sudden urge to throw it at a wall and see if it will shatter in a million pieces. Instead I close my hand around it before shoving it back into the bag. Still he refuses to voice it, choosing to hide behind master and padawan. Weaving our way through the spaceport to the hanger I can feel Kira's hand slip into mine. "Times like this I can honestly feel my hatred for him burning in my chest." I quicken my step and head towards the ship. Time is running out. I must get to Lord Nefarid, I must destroy that machine, I must save Alderaan and maybe save myself.

"Teeseven, we're heading out. Now!"

-OO-

I watch in horror the holographic images of Orgus as he struggles to stand. Darth Angral is hovering over him in triumph. You can almost feel his disdain in his words. My grip on my lightsaber tightens when Orgus staggers on his feet. The two masters face each other and my heart clenches. "Fight him… please…" I don't realize the words are out of my mouth until I feel Kira's hand on my arm.

I don't know how, why but when Orgus spoke his last words it was as if he was looking at me. "There is no death… there is only the Force."

"No!" I reach out as if I could stop the killing blow and I can feel his pain, his regrets, his pride. Orgus' link with me is severed and I feel as if the wind has been ripped from my body causing me to collapse to my knees gasping.

"Rys!" Kira grabs my arm and a tear finds its way down my face. "I'm so sorry."

"I will kill him. If it takes the rest of my days, I will find that man and rip his heart from his chest and crush it in my hand." My chest is heaving with pain and anger. My resolve is strengthened and I stand before the holoterminal before calling out to the coward lurking in the shadows. "Nefarid! I won't be satisfied until I hear your dying breath."

Nefarid cackles in the dark corners, "You're much too passionate for a Jedi. Ever consider you're on the wrong side?"

-OO-

Stepping over his limp body Kira and I join T7-O1 at the Death Mark. "Destroy it… please. I don't trust myself around this technology. The temptation to use it against our enemies…"

T7-O1 beeps and bleeps as he whirls his techno magic. I distance myself from them and stare down at Nefarid, his last words haunting me. I can feel Kira approach before she speaks. "You aren't like them. There is still good inside you."

I know she's trying to cheer me up but I'd like nothing more than to choke the life out of her for speaking. She must feel my hate and anger because she steps back from me. "Orgus Din wasn't just my master…" I turn my burning red eyes and stare at her, allowing my anger to intensify within me, "he was my father."