Standard Disclaimer: Neither Star Wars nor Knights of the Old Republic belong to me. All are George Lucas' and Lucas arts, etc. The only thing I'm claiming is the impressions of the main characters and, in later chapters, the A/U plot. Which, believe me, isn't all that original to get all bothered about. Sequel to Things Left Behind.

Remnants -11

They were about half way through the trip to Tatooine.

"I love flying." Alayne said without preamble or prompt. She'd pulled up her leg on the seat and was looking out at the stars with an expression of deep satisfaction.

"Space or atmosphere?" Carth asked. It was going to be a fairly long flight and it made no sense to not indulge in a little conversation. Besides, the small paranoid voice in the back of his head asserted, it wouldn't do to allow her to continue to be a mystery after all.

"Mm. Mostly atmosphere." She admitted. "Its more exciting."

"Yeah. You could say that, fighting air currents, gravity and not entirely reliable turbulence." Carth laughed a breath.

"Oh, come now. Space isn't all that peaceful either, no matter what the poets say." Alayne threw the question and its implicit challenge back at him.

He shrugged, "No. It's not. But it's a heck of a lot smoother."

"That I'll grant." Alayne said with a nod. "So, tell me about yourself, Commander? I've read the files. Those decorations on your uniform. . . I know they didn't come easily."

"No."

"I'd like to know." The Jedi asked, voice going quiet, gentle. She paused, "I know that people, good people, likely died so that you'd live and end up being the one to have them. That's simply the way it goes. If you can tell me about those people. . . about what you saw. I'd like to know."

Now it was Carth's turn to look out at the stars. Surprisingly, he didn't feel the instinctive pulling back that such questions, so routinely given by wet-behind-the-ears ensigns and eye-lash fluttering diplomat's daughters, usually gave him. He'd kept up that wall, even when others, people that he'd actually cared about and called friends, had asked him the same things more circumspectly. But maybe it was time to let go of it. Somehow he felt that maybe . . . just maybe it was.

"You really want to hear old stories like that?" Carth asked finally.

"I do." Alayne was certain.

So he told her.

++++++++++++

Tatooine was about as expected. Hot. Sand that blew and made hair feel heavy, dirty. They the Ebon Hawk down gently in the cresting heat of late afternoon. Alayne sucked in her breath as she stepped out of the airlock and into the thick oppression that was the desert world.

"My," she muttered.

"Not exactly a prime vacation spot." Carth noted, continuing to walk. Alayne hesitated a moment, and then paced him.

"It's a good thing that a prime vacation isn't our goal then." She responded lightly, voice smooth and almost playful. He wasn't sure about that last part. Playful wasn't a trait he associated with most Jedi.

But there had been exceptions.

Alayne was smiling. She did that a lot. However, she wasn't looking back at him, apparently intent on scouring the scene before her. "So where do you think we should start then?" she asked.

"We can make inquiries, discreetly, about ships that may have docked in the time frame for her leaving." Carth said, "With so many of the corporation people leaving here, we've got an easier job than we could have."

The Jedi nodded. "Alright, then. That's a start. Then what?"

"Two people are more obvious than one. I was thinking that while you did the docking record checks that I could do a bit of scouting. You know, get a feel for the area and see what's changed."

Her eyes narrowed, "I see." She paused as they filed from the landing pad into the streets, "Then this has nothing with trying to get away from me or your own ego demanding that you should be the one to find Revan?" She raised a brow, unconsciously imitating Bastila at her coldest.

"What? No. Of course not." Carth retorted.

"Then I see no reason that we should separate." Alayne repeated firmly. "It's not as if I'm conspicuous.."

Carth gave her a sideways look. The Jedi had abandoned the robes, acknowledging that if Revan was on planet and caught a whiff of a Jedi wandering around she'd be much harder to find. So now she wore a skirt that seemed to be made more of filmy scarves than cloth, all in varying shades of browns, tall boots, and a tan tunic belted to her small waist. The skirt had surprised him, but since it wasn't a single joined piece but several that fluttered around her, he supposed it didn't hinder much movement. And it also hid the lightsaber at her side with its constant shifting quite nicely.

So she did have a point. She wasn't conspicuous - at least not any more than any other attractive woman. . .

He paused, realizing he'd lost his train of thought.

Alayne continued to speak. "Besides, I don't know my way around here. And you are a nice imposing presence that could lend me a little weight in my asking."

"A Jedi needing a brute squad?" Carth said, recovering and deciding that some ground wasn't worth arguing over. "That's something you don't see everyday."

"Yes, well, I'm not a Jedi here, am I?" The smile was back.

"Good point. Well, I guess we'll just improvise." Carth acceded.

+++++++++

It took very little to find out the ships that had docked those weeks ago. And it only took a smile from Alayne and a scowl from Carth to further prompt the information that a red haired woman, about 5'7, had not seemed to be on any of the transports. At least not that anyone had seen. Neither Commander or Jedi found that definitive.

"Look, we should turn in and get some sleep." Alayne said firmly. The stars were out now, the temperature dropping rapidly. Carth found himself wanting to argue with her, but not really having the will to do so. Not that he'd expected to get results from the docking authorities - that'd be too easy. But it would have been a sign that they were on the right track, beyond hazy recollections of half hopeful half anguished dreams.