This chapter is called "Conversations and Interlocutions." Redundant, yes? It was going to be called "Why The Heck Do These People Talk So Much?" but the second one wouldn't fit, so voila! Lots of dialog written late at night. That's when I can write the most, but usually I fall asleep. How crazy! Sleeping at night. Psh!

Okey dokey. The chit chat has a purpose. Had to set a few things up. Don't know what yet, but I'm sure it's in there. ;)

I am going crazy! Usually I try not to think about things I want right now because it makes me nuts, but writing this story makes me think about KotOR and KotOR II, and that makes me wonder if anyone is EVER GOING TO MAKE A SEQUEL!

Has ANYONE heard anything about KotOR III? Anything substantial and substantiated. I don't care for frauds or fiction. I want cold hard facts, darn it! Curse the addictive game!

Also, they need some good voice actors if they make a third game. I liked the characters in Sith Lords, but some lines were just mangled beyond repair by the nasty lack of inflection and fake -- if any -- emotion in the voices. Or it sounded very, very scripted. Whoever voiced Carth in KotOR I was excellent. And Bao's voice is very nice. :)

I beg you! Let me know if you know anything!

Alright, I am done groveling. Thanks!

Chapter Nine

"I love talking about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about." -- An Ideal Husband

A deep sigh washed through and out of Revan, relaxing her constricted muscles as it traveled from her toes to the tips of her raven hair. It was the night before the first battle of the revolution. Subsequently, it was also the night before Case's wedding and the trials for her hand. Revan had expected Atton to drop out of the competition since there was an alternative way to escape, and yet neither man had made a move to back down. Typical males.

Luckily, part of her plan was for Virote to renounce his claim. One of the Twelve would be performing the ceremony under the expectation that the prestigious Virote would emerge victorious from the trials. That was the reason Virote wouldn't drop out until the last second. Whichever of the Twelve was assigned to the marriage would be unable to back out of the ceremony in time. That would get Atton and Case close enough to take him hostage and hopefully get inside his head. Fortunately, weddings were not heavily guarded, even when one of the Twelve was there. Who would pull a stunt at a wedding? No one from Xent would dare. Even Virote had hesitated when Revan revealed her plan. That hesitation was one reason she opted for Atton to be the pseudo husband instead of the young lord.

Revan sighed as the enormous lake shivered in the dying light. She watched the sun sinking toward the water's surface, minutes away from being drowned. It was peaceful on the balcony of Virote's manor; silent. A shiver ran through her as she thought about what the dawn would hold. The confrontation would have to go all the way up to the Twelve themselves. She was eager to arrive at that point; something was not right with them, and she couldn't wait to find out what. She was a sucker for mysteries.

"Revan?"

Glancing up, Revan saw Case striding toward her, determination lining her features. She sighed, knowing another confrontation was likely. It seemed she couldn't get away from them.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

Case said nothing until she drew even with Revan. They both stared out at the setting sun, listening to the silence broken only by the waves colliding with the rocky shore.

"Why are you here?" Case asked unexpectedly.

"Here where? This planet specifically, or why did I choose this career path?" Revan joked lightly.

Frowning, Case shook her head. "I mean why are you doing all this? You have to know how this is going to end up."

"You mean painfully and probably abrupt? Yeah, I know," she replied, "But in all fairness, mining is almost just as dangerous as being a Jedi. I'd know; did that for a few months to get some credits. Nasty job."

"I'm serious," Case growled, turning to face Revan.

"What is it?" Revan sensed a growing anxiety behind Case that had nothing to do with the impending war. Well, almost nothing.

"I have visions sometimes," Case started slowly, "Sometimes about the present, sometimes about the past or… This one was about the future."

Revan listened, fascinated. She had heard of Jedi possessing a sort of precognition, but she had never met anyone who had it. More than likely it was a product of Case's unusual connection to the Force. Unique functions of the Force had always fascinated Revan, which was why she had taken up the old Force-user on his offer to train her to rearrange herself to squeeze through solid objects. Itched like hell, but it was useful.

"What?" Revan said, snapping back to the present. She hadn't caught what Case had said.

"It was about you," Case repeated.

"Ah. Do I manage kill the galaxy this time?" Revan asked, suddenly unimpressed.

"No. It kills you."

Interesting twist, Revan thought, unable to deny a spark of interest. "Does it? How so?"

"This," Case said, motioning all around her, "Trying to save everyone and everything. You'll die trying."

"Of course I will," Revan said bluntly.

Case hesitated, seeming to be struggling with something. "I wasn't going to tell you. I wanted to hurt you, I guess. But I'm just hurting him by not saying anything, and he helped me enough that I owe him this."

Waiting patiently for Case to explain herself, Revan couldn't keep away the feeling of apprehension, almost excitement that filled her. She hoped against hope that Case was talking about what she hoped she was talking about.

"Admiral Onasi spoke to me right before I left Telos," Case continued, "He had a message for you."

"Telos is still alive?" Revan asked, feeling her guts twist into uncomfortable knots at the sound of his name. She couldn't hear it yet. She needed to stall. Her heart was beating fast enough to explode.

Revan felt herself soar high on the wings of joy, but just as suddenly a thought hit joy square in the chest and sent her spiraling to the ground. She looked at Case closely, studying her expression, her tone, everything. She could hear the care in Case's voice when she spoke about Carth. Revan was disgusted with herself, but she couldn't push away the little worm of jealously that dug at her. Why shouldn't Case care for Carth? It was mostly a free galaxy.

With a determined tug, Revan forced her attention back to Case.

"Yes, Telos is alive," Case said slowly, no doubt wondering why Revan wasn't jumping out of her skin to hear what the Admiral had to say, "It was all going to hell, but we managed to help the Ithorians get control over Czerka."

"Thanks for that. It…Telos is important to the Republic…to him. And Czerka sucks," Revan said with a small smile.

"Czerka what?"

"Nothing. Just an expression. What…did he say?"

"The message he gave me or the one he gave T3?" Case asked slyly.

"He gave T3 a message?" Revan asked incredulously. "The sneak! That means…" He must have known I was leaving. "The one he gave T3 first, if you don't mind, Case."

"I have it here," Case said, pulling out her datapad, "Would you like to see it?"

"I…no. Yes, I mean."

Case set the datapad on the wide rail and hit the playback button. Carth's wavering holo image stood before them. Revan's breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. Her heart beat painfully in her chest, threatening to break. She wondered how she had managed to leave him. If it hurt so badly to see this weak image of him, what would really seeing him do to her? No matter, she was glad to see any part of him. It had been so long.

"T3, there's not much time – I've seen that expression on her face before. Now I don't know where she's planning on going, but it's dangerous."

Revan raised an eyebrow. Like he was always so safe. Everywhere they went and everything they did was life threatening. She swallowed and threw up her mental walls, refusing to let her emotions break her. The time for that was past. This was merely informational gathering. That was all. Nothing more. Simple as that. Only informational.

"She's going to leave without telling me – I don't know why, but there's a chance she'll take you. If she does, I need you to watch out for her."

Revan's heart skipped a beat. He was always protecting her. And now she had to do the same for him. She had to stay away.

"She's strong, but she can't face everything alone. Do what you can, T3 – if she doesn't make it back, then I need you to come back, find help. If not me, then other Jedi, the Republic…"

He knew. Even without her telling him anything, he knew how important her mission was. And he didn't try to stop her. And that was why Case was with her at that moment.

"I can't lose her, even if she wants to be lost."

A knife buried itself in Revan's heart, wrenching itself between the cracks that stretched across. The pain was crippling. She was far more lost than he knew. Far more than anyone knew. And others were going with her.

"Thank you," Revan whispered. Her voice would not rise above low tones.

Case watched her closely, gauging her reaction. "I thought you'd want to see that. The message he intended you to hear he gave to me."

"What is it?" Revan blurted before she could help herself.

"He said to tell you that Carth Onasi is waiting for you."

Emotion grabbed Revan by the throat, choking her. Doubts buffeted her mind, but she pushed them away. The past wasn't there when one tried to go back to it. It no longer existed in the real world, only in memories. For her to pretend otherwise would be disastrous. Billions of lives depended on her letting go of what she wanted and what she had. And let go she would… when she could find the strength. For now she simply kept moving on, stretching the threads that kept her tied to her desires.

"Then he'll wait forever," Revan murmured.

"You'll die if you keep going."

"Yes."

"Then go back to him," Case snarled, "And stop this! I can do this without you. It'll kill you. Even if you deserve it, he doesn't."

Revan smiled a sad smile, and the pain in her eyes reached out to Case. No, Carth doesn't deserve anything but happiness. "Everything dies. It's just a question of how, where, and when. I was always meant to die this way."

"Are you so determined to make sure you're never happy that you'll sacrifice his happiness too? Just leave! Atton and I are more than enough to—"

"Case," Revan cut in, "I need you to understand this."

"What?" Case snapped.

With a deep sigh, Revan turned to the open sea in front of them. The sun was dying, sinking behind the planet, leaving behind it a trail of blood light that seeped into the sea, tainting the water red. She watched as it bled into the depths, staining the edges of land that were in sight. It was this she saw as she contemplated her future; the future without a future.

"If I don't do this, it's over. Eventually someone would be able to fix things, but not for thousands of years. That's why I'm here; to stand between this… thing and the galaxy. Take a look at the horizon… there's nothing there for me," Revan said. Breath was pulled into her lungs as she inhaled sharply, feeling the sharp pain of despair burrow into her.

"Look the other way; he's waiting," Case whispered.

"There isn't anything else. It doesn't matter what I want. I can't go back, even if I want to. I can't leave the galaxy to die… I can't go to him and let him die," she choked out, "Damn it, he's going to live whether he wants to or not."

"There are worse things than death, you know," Case replied softly.

Revan raised her shaking hands to her face, watching as they trembled of their own accord. "Can't you see the blood on my hands? It isn't the kind I can wash off."

"Then live with it. You think the rest of us don't have a river of blood behind us?"

The blood Revan had bathed in had stained too deep. She couldn't knowingly let more have their lives taken if she could save them.

"He deserves more than an ex-Jedi with nothing but trouble and death hounding her. He was married once, did you know? He was happy then and he can be again," Revan said firmly.

Case narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "No he won't. I saw it in him. You're it for him."

"Stupid pilot doesn't know when to let go," Revan muttered, resisting the urge to flee to safety.

"He won't sit and wait, you know. And he won't go looking for something to make him happy. It's you he wants. And he won't stop until he finds you or he dies. He'll protect the Republic because he's loyal, but he'll protect you because he loves you."

Revan clenched her fists tightly. "I'm going to get some rest," she said, sidestepping Case's words.

"Yeah, fine," Case said softly, "I could use some meditation before tomorrow. I'm not… calm right now."

Revan snorted. "I like sleep. Not that crap you and your students do. You should try that. You know, the whole shebang. With snoring, REM cycles, gizka shaped drool patterns on your pillow…"

"Yeah, maybe I'll try it when we're not at the edge of a battle," Case replied wryly.

"Case, you should know by now: we're always fighting one battle or another." With that, Revan turned and left her ex-general behind, headed in for a short night of sleep.

"Revan," Case called.

Revan didn't stop.

"Is it death you fear, or is it living? What would you do if you have a life to live? You've never considered it, have you?" And then so quiet that Revan almost missed it, "None of us have…"

XXXXX

Atton leaned comfortably back in his seat, his legs stretched out in front of him and one arm slung over the back of the chair. His eyes were trained on the extremely agitated Jedi in front of him as she paced back and forth across his room.

"I tried to tell her, but she was all "This is my fate and I'll die if I damn well please" and wouldn't listen to a word I said," Case growled, flailing her arms as she vented her frustration to the pilot.

"So, I'm sensing you're upset," Atton said.

Case shot him a glare as she continued to pace, resting her hands on the small of her back. "She's just… given up," she said with a sigh.

"Yes. Giving her life to save the galaxy. Way to take the easy way out," Atton agreed.

"Shut up. I came for advice, not snarky comments."

"Well, excuse me if I don't care what happens to her. As long as whatever hellish ordeal she's dealing with is resolved, she can do what she wants." Atton idly picked up a small fruit from a weaved basket on the table next to him. He tossed it into the air and caught it as it fell. It was hard and purple. It smelled delicious, but he suspected it would feel like eating a rock.

"She might as well feed herself to a ronto for all the good she's doing by just… dying," Case snarled.

"Don't be ridiculous. Rontos are vegetarians," Atton said unhelpfully.

Pressing a hand to her forehead, Case grimaced. "The truth is… what she's doing scares me."

Atton's fist tightened around the fruit. "Why's that?" He tried to look stoic, unconcerned. He suspected he was failing miserably.

"Because… that's what it always comes to, isn't it? Jedi die. That's what we do. Precious few Jedi die of natural causes. Should we even be reviving the Order? Are we just delaying the inevitable by doing so?"

While he listened to her ranting, Atton caught the source of her anxiety. "You're worried about the group back in Republic space," he said.

Case kept pacing. "What if I've condemned them to die?" she said quietly, "Do you think it was all a mistake? I should have gone alone with Kreia, shouldn't I? Although I probably wouldn't have made it."

Atton's blood boiled at the thought of Case alone with that old hag. The crone probably would have sliced her throat in the dead of night because she thought Case was being infected by Sith bacteria or something. The only time Case had been alone with Kreia, Case had almost died when the planet exploded.

"I doubt you would pass up a stray gizka let alone a gang of misfits like us," Atton commented, spinning the fruit in his palm.

"I'm selfish. I like having people with me. You guys, specifically. I miss everyone," Case said softly.

"Well, there wasn't exactly a place you could have dropped us off. Peragus was a no go, and as much as Telos loved me, I'd rather not stay there. After that everyone tried to kill us whenever possible. It'd be nice if one person was glad to see us. Even Revan dreaded finding us."

Case bounced on the balls of her feet, still agitated. "I keep thinking about what Sion told me."

"What's that?" Atton asked, automatically suspicious of anything old Sleeps-With-Vibroblades said.

"That there are no answers. I mean, what are we really looking for? In the end, we'll know nothing more about any of this."

"Don't know about you, but I think Revan knows more than she's letting on. I don't think her sidekick has a clue, though."

"Thayne?"

Atton nodded. "He's got his share of secrets, but I don't think any of them concern us," Atton observed. He watched the purple fruit as he flipped it between the fingers of his right hand.

"Think he's dangerous?"

"Not as dangerous as I am," Atton said, grinning cockily.

Case rolled her eyes and resumed her pacing. "I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is going on right in front of me, but I just can't see it."

"I feel it too," Atton murmured.

"What?"

"The end. It's coming faster than I'd like. Unfortunately, you've all got me so stuck in this mess that all my retreats are useless."

Exhaling, Case plopped into a chair facing Atton, resting her elbows on her knees. After a moment, she glanced up at him, her eyes unreadable for once.

"I wouldn't be here without you, you know," she said.

Atton did a double take. He hadn't expected that. Not knowing what she was talking about, he shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many women tell me that," he said cheekily.

Case smiled a small half smile. "Thank you. Not many people can stick with me for so long."

"Well," Atton began, stretching languidly, "You and I are set to be hitched tomorrow, remember? What kind of a man would I be if I didn't attend my own wedding?" Atton ignored the shiver of warning that shot down his spine. Run! it told him. But it was part of the plan. Nobody was getting married.

"You'd be a scoundrel," Case said.

"Guilty."

After a moment of silence, Case blurted suddenly, "Why would someone want to get married? I don't understand it. I spent my whole life reveling in my freedom. I could help people and be free at the same time. It seems so confining, you know, marriage."

"Don't ask me. It's something I learned to stay away from," Atton said, "But to me it's confining for a whole other reason."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Case snorted.

"Not that reason," he muttered. Like he had time for any women with the chaos they were into. It had been well over a years since he had done anything like that. A record.

"Miss the twi'lek girl on Nar Shaddaa?" Case said.

"Who? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really? I'll bet she remembers."

Atton thought back. Ah, he remembered. Case had been snippy all evening, he remembered, no doubt because he had been "wasting time."

"Oh. Yeah, well…" Atton said absently, giving halfhearted scratch behind one ear, not knowing that Case liked that habit.

Case smiled at his characteristic habit. It threw her back to simpler times, when all they had to worry about were a few thousand regular, run of the mill, blood lusting Sith on their tails.

"Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Sure," Atton replied, yawning widely. It had been a while since he'd slept. Two days, probably. Xent always made him lose track of time. Something about the thicker atmosphere, he thought.

"Why did you bid for me?"

Atton shrugged casually. "I didn't have my lightsaber on me. Seemed easier than killing everyone."

"Seriously. You're no more in love with idea of marriage than I am. Less, probably."

"I figured we'd find a way out of it. If not, there's always annulment," he answered.

Case narrowed her eyes, watching him carefully. "The trials are winner-take-all; you could have died."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know that at the time," Atton said, his tone clipped. He felt inexplicably nervous by her questions. He hated people digging into his motives.

"So what would you have done?" Case asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Not that," Atton snorted. Sudden irritation made him lash out, "Are we done with the interrogation?"

Case frowned. "Right."

Atton exhaled slowly through his nose, straightening up in his seat. Case seethed in front of him. "Look, I just don't like—"

"You don't like people knowing anything about you. I get it," Case said.

"Like you're so forthcoming," Atton returned, feeling his anger stir.

"I tell you things that affect you," Case snapped.

"Oh, really? Like the fact that you made that Nihilus that way by blowing up a planet? Didn't mention that when he was trying to kill us. Right, yeah, thanks for that."

Case's mouth opened, her face bright with anger. She snapped her jaw shut, her eyes steely. After a moment of strained silence, Case spoke. "Why do you always have to be so difficult?"

"Hey, if you wanted compliant putty, you should have brought Blondie with you instead. You're no picnic either, sweetheart."

"I didn't bring you! I didn't bring anyone!" Case exclaimed. Her eyes narrowed. "How did you know I was here? It took me two weeks to get lost enough to find this place."

Atton shrugged. "I got a tip."

"From who? The directions fairy?"

Only if the directions fairy gave birth to me and makes me call her "Mother," Atton said.

Case's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? Your mother," she mulled the word around in her head for a moment, "I need to meet her, I think."

"Wouldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"She hates you."

"She can join the club. They've got jackets, I hear. Why does she hate me?"

Tossing the little fruit from hand to hand, Atton slowly shook his head. "Something about you corrupting me," he replied with a look.

"What? How?"

Atton couldn't help but smile in amusement. Case hated it when others disliked her. She would be friends with the Sith if their starkly contrasting moral disputes didn't get in the way.

"She's not exactly blue," Atton said.

"She's a Sith?"

"Not a chance. She just hates people who manipulate the Force. She thinks it should be left alone, as is natural, she says."

Case caught on. "Ah. You were a good little scoundrel before I came along and made you into a respectable Jedi. Well, a Jedi at any rate."

Grunting, Atton flipped the fruit from hand to hand. "The Sith and the Jedi were on their way out before you came along. You've just killed her life's dream," he said with a grin.

"I take it you two are close," Case said with a bit of sarcasm.

"Not since the umbilical cord was cut," Atton replied.

Case was silent for a moment, her thoughts unapparent to Atton. He took that moment to wonder briefly what would have happened had any of the others followed her instead. If the idiot had followed her, would she have protested against marriage so strongly? He scowled at the thought.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Atton looked questioningly at Case. Had he missed something she said?

"You kept your promise. I just wanted to thank you for it," Case explained.

"What promise is that?" he asked. He knew what she meant.

Case's face reddened a bit. "When I asked to go back to Telos, you said no. But you promised I'd see you again, so…"

"Right, I remember," Atton said. He gave her a look.

In her face, he could see she knew what he meant. She was thinking about what had happened just before he left.

"I should probably meditate," Case mumbled, averting her eyes as she stood.

Atton reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back into the chair. Case didn't fight him. She glanced up at him, her face colored.

"You thought I'd go forever without dropping in on you? Not a chance," he said, his voice low.

"Well, I'm glad to have one of you guys around…" Case said awkwardly.

"I think you're glad it's me. Or would you prefer I was someone else?" Atton said.

"N-no. I mean, I'd rather we all be together, but…" Case tried once again to rise.

Atton grabbed her chair and pulled her closer until their knees touched. He felt Case flinch at the contact, but he ignored it and kept his hand on her arm.

He watched her for a moment, gauging her expression. He leaned toward her slightly, his body tensing. He watched her throat contract as Case swallowed hard. In a snap decision, Atton cupped the back of her neck with his free hand and moved toward her.

"Don't," she breathed, her tone anything but convincing.

He felt her shiver under his hands as he hesitated a hair's breadth away from her mouth, but she didn't pull away.

"You're stuck with me," he murmured, his moving lips brushing her mouth.

Case inhaled sharply and jumped away from him, retreating to the other side of the small room before Atton could even blink. A split second later the door swung open to reveal a servant carrying a tray of food and drink.

The servant blinked in surprise when she saw Case in Atton's room. "Here is your lunch, sir. I hope I am not interrupting," she said, setting the tray on a small table before bowing and exiting the room. The door swung shut behind her.

The silence was deafening.

XXXXX

"Hey," Thayne said, walking up behind Revan.

"Hi," she said politely, not looking away from the water as she leaned on the railing of the terrace. Then suddenly, "I told Case I would be sleeping. How could anyone sleep before this?"

"If anyone can, I'd suspect you could," Thayne said with a grin, leaning next to her.

"You'd think."

Thayne glanced at her. "There's something else on your mind," he said.

"Yes, but I hope you don't mind if I keep it to myself. It isn't relevant."

Shaking his head, Thayne said, "Why do I get the feeling that all this is going to end the wrong way?"

Revan nodded slowly. "Mmm. It feels… crooked in my mind." At Thayne's blank look, "You don't understand, I know. But that's how it feels. Like the Twelve were broken, put together, broken, again and again. They're wrong."

"Why did you bring me?" Thayne asked suddenly, forcefully.

With a shrug, Revan replied, "You wouldn't leave, if you remember."

"Yes, we've had so many opportunities for me to get off this insane ride."

"I told you, people follow me even when everything in them is screaming for them to run away. Even if I had left you on some planet, you would have come. This way was quicker," Revan said.

"And tomorrow we start a war that has nothing to do with us," Thayne said.

"That isn't necessarily true. I'm afraid it has a lot to do with the both of us."

"Me? What does anything on this frakking planet have to do with me?" Thayne asked, taken aback.

Revan smiled sadly. "I don't know yet. But you're here for a reason. We all are. You can't feel it, but the Force is what brought us to Xent."

"And the Force has a will, right?" His tone was sarcastic.

Turning back to the water, Revan didn't answer.

"You're worried about him," Thayne said.

Whipping her head around, Revan stared openly in surprise. "What?" Her voice was sharp.

"You've been different ever since you mentioned that friend of yours. You said you didn't want him to die. I just assumed it was him you were preoccupied with, crazy as that sounds right before a battle," Thayne explained with a shrug.

Smiling Revan clapped him on the shoulder. "That's just ridiculous. We're married, remember? I would never cheat on my husband."

Thayne laughed, bumping his shoulder against Revan's. "I see. You'd conquer a galaxy, but never cheat."

"Hey, Sith have morals spilling out of their ears; they just resemble evil plots more than scruples," Revan sniffed.

Suddenly serious, Thayne exhaled slowly, watching some sort of odd bird skim across the water in search of food. In a flash its beak ducked below the water and emerged with a fish, beating its wings hard to pull up and away from the manor. Thayne almost wished he could do the same.

"Have you ever really been married?" he asked.

Shaking her head, Revan replied that she had never had the time. "From eighteen to now, I've been fighting some government structure or another. Have you married?"

"Once. But that was twenty years ago. She was older than me, but so beautiful. I was only twenty at the time. She was in her early thirties with a daughter over ten years old. I loved them both immediately." Thayne stopped abruptly and shook his head. "I have no idea why I'm telling you any of this. You don't need to know, and I don't know anything about you, really."

"Come on, we know each other a little by now. People don't go through what we have and stay strangers," Revan said.

"Tell me something about you," Thayne said, "Just you."

She raised her eyebrows, looking surprised. "Not many people have asked me that before." She shrugged. "They usually want to know about my days on the Dark Side."

"I knew you before I knew Revan, so I figured… why not ask about you?"

"Seems fair, but it's more complicated than you think. Do you mean me before the wars, me during the wars, me when I didn't remember who I was, or me after I remembered?"

"That is complicated. Which time was the best?"

"Before the Star Forge, after I forgot who I was. I was just Shayla, and all I was responsible for was helping the Republic. I was a good scout who knew when to break rules and when to follow them. And I had my family with me then," Revan said. She gripped the edge of the rail, fighting off the emotions that came with remembering. Maybe the Jedi Council had had the right idea when it came to painful memories.

"I'm assuming you mean your crew," Thayne said.

"Right. That was the absolute best time I've ever had. Of course, everything got shot to hell once things got more complicated, but for a while it was great."

Thayne nodded slowly, taking in what Revan had told him. He didn't know the particulars of her mission and those who went with her, but he was willing to be that her friend Carth was among them. In his life, his wife had been his best friend, until that too had been destroyed.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"I promise you'll pull through this," Revan said unexpectedly. When Thayne just looked at her, she continued. "I understand what you were saying before. It wasn't fair for me to bring you here and into all of this. So I'll make sure you're okay through this battle."

"That wasn't what I meant, but thank you."

"Miss? Sir?"

Thayne and Revan turned to see a servant addressing them with a bow.

"Lord Virote requests your presence. He said to tell you that there are a few things he is concerned about regarding…tomorrow." The servant was clearly uncomfortable talking about the battle.

"Of course," Thayne said, walking to join the servant. He seized the opportunity to leave before Revan asked him any more questions. Things could get awkward if she hit upon the wrong line of thought.

Revan followed behind him, and Thayne couldn't help but wonder if she already knew what he had meant when he asked her why he was there.

Aahh, the end of another chapter! Thanks to you all for sticking with me. I'll try to get another chapter out as soon as I can. This one was a lot of talking, eh? A lot of times I prefer dialog, so think of this as a tribute to it. Or not. Whatever you want.

I have a crazy month coming up. I'm out of the state for most of it, so that should be interesting. Where does the summer go, I ask you.

And again, please let me know if anyone has anything on KotOR III. I'm simultaneously ecstatic about it possibly being made and filled with dread about who's going to make it.

1x1pEngUIn89 -- Thanks! Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, what does your name mean? I've been thinking about it, but I just can't manage to figure it out.

qt3.14159 -- Wow, thanks for the compliments. I'm glad I didn't disappoint you. :)

CCX -- I have NO idea why summer is busier. Maybe the stars are all misaligned or some such thing. This summer is worse than normal. I bet it's because Pluto is angry about not being a planet anymore! It has its own moon, for crying out loud.

DanceOfWords -- I'm glad you and your friend liked that part. It was actually inspired by one of my sisters who is afraid of spiders. It's pretty funny when she sees one.

skywalker05 -- Ah, yes. Typos. I should really get a beta reader or something. Feel free to point any typos or anything out to me. It helps.

The Outlander -- I'm not sure I've ever had a nicer review. Thank you! That totally made my day! And I'm glad to hear that my before and after ramblings don't bore you too much. I tend to go on a bit, but I'm glad it entertains you. I look forward to hearing from you again. :)

Shenene392 -- Glad you liked it! I know what you mean about time to review. Just drop me a "Good job, dude!" or a "Where's your head, chick?" if you don't have time. That works great.

Thank you to all who reviewed! Your input is spectacularly important to me.