Author's Note: This is where the chemistry between Bastila/Revan starts flowing...

Chapter Ten

After the meeting both I and Bastila were dismissed to do whatever we like until tomorrow. I made a short transmission informing my whole group that we would be staying on Dantooine for awhile. All I wanted to do was, relax, and of course talk to Bastila. To help develop our bond, we were given a room to share. Bastila was already in the room reading a book. There were two soft looking beds and I chose the one closest to the door. She looked up from her book, meeting my blue eyes with her grey ones. We were finally alone for the first time since the escape from Taris. I sat down on my bed then spoke first.

"I didn't expect us to stay together, but I especially didn't expect us to become closer."

She looked sad.

"Are you saying you don't want to be closer to me, that you don't like being around me?"

"Bastila what gives you that idea?"

"Well as I recall I've been annoying you quite a bit. We certainly didn't start out on the right foot."

I shook my head.

"I agree. We didn't have the best first impression of each other, but with Taris and everything ... my impression of you has definitely changed in a good way."

"I'm glad to hear that. Just so you know, so has mine. You are an amazing woman..."

I remembered the kiss.

"When we were on the Ebon Hawk ... your knuckles are they okay?"

Bastila looked like she was also expecting me to say something else.

"Ah yes. Thank you for stopping me from mindlessly harming myself any further. I used a medpac to take care of the damage so my knuckles are nearly healed. You interrupted me."

"I'm sorry. It's just that ... when you hugged me then ... kissed me. I still don't know what to think."

I held her gaze. At that moment both of us must've had dilated pupils. She stumbled with her words.

"I... I don't either. I mean we have this connection between us. At that moment I felt it strongly and I felt it was the right thing to do. It wasn't very Jedi-like of me!"

"Bastila you know I didn't mind it. Actually it made me think of you in another light. Before I thought of you as a cold and entitled Jedi ... after that conversation, that's when my opinion changed. I started thinking of you a lot more."

At that moment I began to blush and felt the heat on my cheeks. I looked away but the awkwardness was no less intense. It wasn't just me. It's hard to describe but I felt Bastila feeling the same way. First it was awkwardness but then I felt something else, something immeasurably stronger. I felt longing on and off, spiking and leveling off through me. It was hard to tell where my longing began and Bastila's ended. The only certainty was the fact that it was mutual.

I heard Bastila's weak trembling voice.

"I can't believe this is happening between us, I mean, we hardly even need to talk to make it happen. I know ... how you feel and you know how I feel. It makes things excruciatingly difficult for both of us, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I don't recommend you walking over here anytime soon if we don't want it to explode."

"Lena, don't use such expressive words! It doesn't help the situation any. That said, I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

I swallowed hard.

"Oh I have ideas. I'm not sure they're the kinds of ideas that will help us stop the Sith or teach me to be a Jedi, but they are intense ideas."

"Those kinds of ideas look, feel, sound and taste so good. It doesn't help that we have the same images in our heads right now. Lena you should know that the Force can manifest itself strongly in moments of such intensity."

The magnitude of our feelings coupled with our bond and Force sensitivity made us practically connected fully through our minds. It felt as if I was trapped in agonizing longing for Bastila and she was in the same boat as me. With effort I managed to block her out of my mind. I wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. Blocking out her consciousness required massive concentration. I expressed my only idea for solving the problem.

"We should keep our relationship at a platonic level, at least physically for the duration of my Jedi training. I think we would both be distracted if we..."

Her voice sounded sultry.

"If that is a promise it's certainly promising. Our minds will definitely cross the line of platonic friendship. Well that has happened somewhat already ... and it will only go further the moment you remove your mental block."

She took a few deep breaths to focus her mind then continued.

"I believe keeping things platonic will work only if you promise me now..."

"Promise you what?"

"Lena promise me that you are mine, that I can have you after you've become a Jedi."

"I'm curious, are Jedi actually allowed to have a lover?"

"They… they are not. Feelings such as passion and desire are discouraged. The Jedi Code teaches peace and calm, of which passionate love is the opposite. I don't suppose what we are feeling is particularly peaceful or calm. I want you to know you are the first person I've ever felt passionate longing for."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Bastila are you implying you've never had a lover?"

She looked offended.

"I'm not implying it Lena, which you would know if you removed that annoying mental block. I never had a lover, and never felt passion for anyone ... until now. I want this regardless of what the Jedi Code dictates, that's why I need you to promise..."

"I promise we can get back to this after my training, and I won't recoil when you get too physically close to me. Now you promise me you'll focus on training."

Bastila walked over to my bed then set down next to me. She moved her face directly in front of mine, her breath hitting against my lips as she spoke.

"I like how you aren't recoiling right now. I do promise to focus on training from this moment on, but what happens in our dreams when we are unconscious is hardly related to training."

She moved her face away, giving me a wink before walking over to her own bed then lying down on top of it. I did the same on my bed without removing the mental block. If anything the whole experience just now intensified my bond with Bastila by magnitudes, allowing us much more than the sharing of visions, allowing us the sharing of our consciousnesses.

Next morning my training began. Bastila and I were given a routine starting with meditation in the early morning, combat training with swords in the afternoon, and ended with scholarly reading mainly on the topics of the Force and Dark side corruption in the late afternoon. Similar to Republic soldier training, we ran and performed general fitness routines every other day in place of weapon training. I always outperformed Bastila in physical training, outrunning her every single time which never failed to irk her. Although to her credit, she always outdid me with her remarkable Force abilities. One afternoon, as we lay in our beds, I asked Bastila.

"Why haven't we been training with lightsabers?"

She sighed then crashed her head against the soft pillow.

"I've missed my lightsaber! As you well know, I've misplaced it, so currently I don't have one. Lightsabers are unique to every Jedi. You will eventually have the opportunity to craft your very own lightsaber, and that's when I'll get to craft myself a new lightsaber."

I closed my eyes.

"We've trained for almost a week so far…"

"Lena your training will be completed when you are deemed ready by the Council. But don't worry; I believe you are making impressive progress."

She propped onto her elbow, batting her eyelashes at me as she spoke.

"And I'm sure you know that it is in my very personal interest that you complete your training sooner rather than later."

"You know, missing your lightsaber that much is unhealthy."

"The lightsaber isn't what I'm missing that much… it's you dummy, and you know it."

We didn't share any new visions as we continued with the training; however we shared consciousness in our dreams. As each day passed I felt my familiarity to Bastila grow. Our familiarity grew in days the equivalent of long years of acquaintance. We've known each other for just over two weeks, but already I couldn't imagine having ever been apart from her. Bastila was in my mind and I in hers, yet strangely I felt as if our connection would only go so deep. Consciously I didn't have access to her memories and she didn't have access to mine, we could only perceive present thoughts, feelings, and moods. Even that was enough to build a fierce mutual attachment between us that we both feared yet welcomed.

Steadily my ability with the Force developed to the point where I gained conscious control. Through intense concentration, day by day I developed the ability to slam with the Force as well as levitate in place and create a deflective zone around me. I learned about corrupt artifacts and of ways to tell if the object is indeed corrupt. Red crystals in general meant corruption although that wasn't always true.

The Sith sword I had found was beyond a doubt a highly corrupt artifact. On the way back from training I bumped into Councilor Dorak. He saw me then eagerly began to speak.

"I examined the sword and I must say I am impressed that it didn't fully corrupt you. In my time as a scholar I have come across artifacts this corrupt on very few occasions. The Jedi who obtained those artifacts were … each one of those Jedi became corrupt and had to be killed. You are a very remarkable person, Lena Rouen, to be strong enough to resist this level of corruption…"