Star Wars: Aspyre To More Chapter 14: Not That Little, a star wars fanfic

Chapter 14

Revan beheaded another Mandalorian as Alek sliced through the solid steel door of Mandalore's ship. She pressed her back against him and after a few more seconds she heard the piece of door being pushed and creating a hole. Alek stepped aside and she went in. He was about to follow her, but an entire platoon of Mandalorians came rushing towards them down the hallway. He turned to them and encased the first wave in stasis. With all his might he threw his lightsaber at them and it sliced through a few dozen Mandalorians. Revan turned back to help him but he held his hand up. She looked at him for a second, silently promised to come back quickly and he nodded at her.

Revan went inside the door and saw a lone figure standing on the bridge, looking out to the battle raging outside. So far both sides seemed to be pretty even, but the Republic had a very brilliant strategy and it was slowly turning the tide of the battle. Mandalore the Ultimate was wearing a bright golden armor and helmet, a bright red cape resting on his back down to his knees. Revan took off her cloak and ignited her lightsaber. There were no words that needed to be said. She hated this man, what he represented, what he had done, who he had killed, it didn't matter to her if the Jedi Code forbid them to hate. She hated him. She felt her grip against the metal handle tighten and she saw him draw his vibroblade. It was a very thick model with a very fancy grip. She would enjoy ripping it from his cold dead hands. She waved her head and sent her hair to her back, it flew in a golden arc and it landed gracefully, it tips caressing her hips. She saw him adopt a rather crude version of Ataru and smiled behind her mask, it would be very fun fighting this man.

"Mandalore, time to see if you live up to your name" she said with ice on her voice. The Mandalorian screams had slightly died out, but she still heard the occasional blaster shot towards the door. Alek would join her soon and he would witness her most glorious moment. Their most glorious moment. The end of the Mandalorian wars.

She ran to him and with all her might, brought down her blade on him, he jumped out of the way and blocked her next blow. He held her in place with his vastly superior strength, and lifted his boot and kicked her in the stomach, she allowed herself to be thrown a few feet and she landed in a rather dance-like position, her feet crossed and her arms outstretched, unscathed by his attack. Mandalore ran towards her and brutally slashed at her. She blocked his weaker blows and dodged his strongest ones. He was too strong to block successfully and she felt as her arms trembled with every blow, even his weakest ones. She jumped on top of him and swiftly placed her right foot on his head, balancing herself on top of him. She felt his body tense and then she felt him tremble, most likely with anger. With a vicious yell, he sliced at her and she jumped off him and landed behind him, yeah, definitely anger. She ran around him and slashed him once on his left arm, not deep enough to cut it off, but enough to make it useless for battle. She saw him wince in pain and she smiled.

Alek cut down the last Mandalorian and after a quick check of his surrounding, he turned around and entered the bridge. He saw as Revan kept jumping and somersaulting around Mandalore, using her small frame and large speed in such a way he had never seen before. He saw her jump and twist in the air to dodge a desperate slash that almost removed a few of her golden hairs. Alek raised his eyebrows in surprise at the move, despite having seen it quite a few times, it never stopped amazing him how Revan never failed, how she calculated everything and even took her hair into account when she made her moves. It was as if she knew where it would be, how it would flow and she used it to her advantage. Then he saw something that made him feel anger boiling on his gut. Mandalore grabbed her hair and pulled her down on the floor. Revan crashed against the floor mask first, but rolled and manage to avoid his monstrous stomp. She threw her hand at him and he went flying against the roof. Alek heard his bones crack with the force of the impact and for a second felt sorry for Mandalore. Revan did not like it when people touched her hair roughly. She really, really did not like it. With a swift twist of her wrist she sent him crashing against the wall and then threw him against the safety glass, creating a few tiny cracks in it. He saw his body go slightly limp and he assumed he was unconscious. He started to walk towards Revan but saw her flick her wrist again and sent him crashing to the ground. He stepped over to her and offered her his hand, lifting her tiny frame with ease. She took it coldly and then quickly went to check on him, she saw he was still breathing and for a few seconds stood still, unsure of what to do.

"The Jedi would want him alive" he said vaguely, though he doubted she would listen.

Revan stood still in front of the unconscious body of the Mandalorian leader and wondered what should she do? Would she be able to kill him and resist the pull of the dark side? And even more importantly, what would Alek think? He probably would not approve of it, but she knew that he would not stop her. She thought for a few more seconds and saw that Alek was looking out the glass at the fight, as if waiting for her to finish her business so they could leave.

She looked down at the broken body of Mandalore and realized that if he woke up, he would be in so much pain it would drive him insane. She thought, and decided, it was an act of mercy to kill him, ignoring the tiny voice on the back of her head saying it would be an even greater act of mercy to heal him. She pointed her closed lightsaber and placed it next to his temple. She saw him move and groan slightly and she pressed the ignition button before she had any second thoughts.

Aspyre woke up and stretched her body on her small bed. She looked around and saw Mission changing into her clothes. She closed her eyes and felt Bastila eating on the main room with Carth and Zaalbar. She felt and, slightly saw, Canderous taking a shower in the fresher and then she felt T3's unique presence near the hyperdrive. She took a deep breath and stood up. This was the last day they would be in hyperspace, in exactly 26 hours, they would reach Tatooine. Mission greeted her while she was struggling to get her pants on while wearing her boots. Aspyre shook her head at the sorry sight as Mission fell down on the floor furiously kicking her legs in the air and went straight to the main room. She greeted everybody and sat down next to Zaalbar. She poured herself a bowl of soup and ate silently. Mission came out and sat down next to her, finally having won the contest against her clothing. She poured some soup and they were silent for a second, nobody really having nothing interesting to say. Mission was fidgeting with her lekkus and seemed to have something to say, but Aspyre finished eating and decided she was still tired so she went to the fresher, brushed her teeth and went back to bed, she couldn't deal with anything right now.

Revan said bye, bye to her mommy and went with the little green man who was just a tiny bit taller than her. She liked the metal floor in the big grey metal bird. It clicked when she walked on it. The green man smiled at her and she liked it, he was nice. She went with him and she sat down in a nice chair. It was very soft. She looked around and saw her mommy waving goodbye at her, smiling. She smiled back and waved. She saw her daddy coming over and waving at her as well. She waved at him too. The little green man told her it was time to go and he pushed a button on the nice chair and she felt something pressing against her chest. She got a little bit scared but the nice little green man told her it was so she would be out of harm's way. He smiled again and she felt the bad fear go away.

The metal bird got up and she saw as her mommy and daddy became smaller and smaller until she could no longer see them. She saw them go higher and higher in the sky and she saw a big brown and green ball in front of them.

"What is that?" she asked pointing a little finger at the window.

"That is your home, Revan. That is how Deralia looks from where we are." The little green man told her.

She was silent. Her home was not that little. The little green man was probably wrong. She saw everything go to one side of the glass and then she saw only black and little white dots. The stars! They were so pretty! She then saw the little dots turn to lines and then bright purple and blue lights were shining in front of them. Wow! She liked those lights. They were so funny! They turned around and they hid from her and she saw one of the lights smiling at her, so she smiled back at it. She saw another light make a funny face at her and she laughed. Oh, those lights were very silly! She watched them for a while and then she began to feel sleepy. She saw the little green man come over to her and he gave her a nice pillow. She pushed it against her face and soon she was seeing the nice colors inside her eyes. Those colors where nice, but they weren't funny. She saw them for a few moments and then fell asleep.

Aspyre woke up and went to the fresher; she had slept all night again and was ready to go and tackle a new day. Except, there was nothing there really to tackle, it was still about four hours left until they reached Tatooine so all she could do was play pazaak with Mission or talk with Carth or Bastila, but there was a big chance that either of those conversations would end up in a fight and she did not want to argue right now. She took off her clothes and took a pleasant, lengthy shower. It was about noon so nobody was going to bother her right now. She filled the bath to the brim and sat down. She felt as the water covered her and crept inside her pores, under her fingernails, between her toes and into her hair. She felt every muscle in her body relax and thank her. She could almost feel her brain releasing endorphins at this feeling. She was so absorbed at the water she did not notice the door opening. She really did not notice the figure on the other side of the curtain taking its clothes off. She definitely did not notice the slim fingers grasping the edge of the curtain and opening it to step inside. She opened her eyes at the noise and saw Bastila looking at her. They both reddened and Aspyre felt the water temperature increasing as her own body started boiling. Bastila stared for a second and then sharply closed the curtain. She gasped and stammered a few words. She saw her figure quickly and clumsily dressing again.

"I'm so sorry, Aspyre! I did not feel you here, I thought you were asleep!" she apologized to her. Aspyre tried to say it was okay but she didn't really managed to pronounce anything, Bastila grabbed her towel and almost ran outside the fresher. Aspyre felt her tensed muscles begin to slowly, very slowly loosen up again, she felt her heart beat slow down from deathly fast to insanely fast to very fast to regular tempo and she felt her skin color return to its usual cream, very slowly.

She stayed on the water and tried to relax, but all she could see was Bastila, naked, looking at her. Naked! She would never forget this moment; it had to be the single most embarrassing moment in her life! Well, after that incident on Coruscant, but if that droid had not gone out of control and that taxi driver had not been drunk, only about five stories of the Coruscant bank would have been destroyed, not the entire block! She brought her head back to the present, so she was no longer allowed to go to Coruscant under penalty of death, it didn't matter right now. She could find a way to return later, if she ever wanted to return. What was she gonna do about Bastila? She thought for a second and she decided that she would not get an answer in the bath and she was not gonna get any relaxation after that. She got up and looked for her towel but did not find it, and then she realized with a gasp. Bastila took it! She must have thought it was hers and taken it! She opened her bond and tried to speak to her but found it was closed. She pried harder and after a few minutes she managed to get through.

"Bastila?"

"Y-yes?" a startled voice responded her.

"You took my towel! I can't get out!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll be right there!"

She heard footsteps running her way and the door opened and Bastila stood at the door, her towel on her right hand. Clearly Bastila had not expected to see her standing in the middle of the fresher naked and she gasped again when she saw her, her hair barely covering her naked form. Aspyre shyly took her towel back and softly thanked her. Bastila nodded and absentmindedly turned around and left, leaving, of course, the fresher door open. Aspyre sighed and closed it. She saw Bastila turn around at the sound when she realized she had forgotten that too and she soon heard a flurry of apologies coming from their bond. She shut her side and proceeded to dry herself. She twisted her hair and rinsed all the water in the tub before pulling the plug and letting all the water go to the purification system. She sighed and opened the door and gingerly looked left and right, seeing nobody she went to the girl's quarters and started to quickly get dressed. She finished getting dressed and opened her side of the bond again. She felt Bastila's shame and embarrassment coming from her side but also… curiosity? Bastila was curious? About what? Surely not her? She shook her head and tried to think of something else, and she realized she had about three hours until they reached Tatooine. She went to the cockpit and saw that they had already dropped out of hyperspace. She sat down next to Carth and he glanced at her, noticing immediately her redden face, indicating something had very recently happened to her. Her neck was not yet red, which meant it was not that recently but her ears were still bright red which meant it wasn't that far away either.

"Who saw you naked?" he inquired sarcastically.

She turned even redder when he said that and for a second he wondered, did he nail it?

"Nobody! That's so silly, why would you say that, you silly person! Nobody has seen me naked that would be so embarrassing! Don't say silly things, Carth!" she said with a nervous smile on her face. She started hyperventilating and turned her head back to Tatooine. "So how long until we can land? I really want to get of this ship and explore Tatooine!"

He shrugged and kept piloting with a grin on his face, bringing them closer to the bright brown planet. She did not see even the slight shade of green to indicate any plant life, and only tiny, tiny blue lines appeared every now and then. She saw the planet grow in size and soon she could make out the borders of the port of Anchorage. Carth neatly took them down and they landed gracefully on the platform. He opened the ramp and Aspyre bolted outside. She took five steps and she quickly felt the burning sun beating her down and she had to struggle to catch her breath, she felt sweat beads forming on her forehead, chest, hands and legs. She ran back to ship and saw that she was almost drenched in sweat. Her face was really hot and it felt slightly burned. She went to her bed and grabbed her mask. She placed it on and went back outside, followed by a quiet Bastila and a very energetic Mission. She saw Canderous coming out in full heavy body armor, taking no notice of the sun. She wondered how could they stand the heat, she could barely take it. When was the last time she had been in a place this hot? Never, she thought back, Deralia was never this hot, it was rather cold actually and the hottest place she had been was Dantooine. She went under the nearest shade she could find and saw Carth and Zaalbar getting out and heading to them. The six of them stood in the shade while they wondered what to do.

"We need to get some supplies, find Mission's brother, if he is here, search for clues to the star map and- Oh!" she ran towards the wall and read the poster placed on it. It said "Swoop Racing circuit, open for amateurs and professionals" in bright yellow letters in Huttese. Her face light up and she added to her list. "And go and race at the swoop track!" She turned back to her group, her hands clasped and she jumped up and down with joy. She saw their mostly disapproving faces and decided to land her gaze on Mission's who seemed to have less disapproving look. She nodded to her and then went to the city. Carth, Mission and Zaalbar went to the droid repair shop to pick up some spare parts and other supplies, while she, Bastila and Canderous went to the cantina and sat down on the table nearest to one corner. They stayed there for a few minutes, but nothing interesting happened, so Aspyre went to talk to some of the patrons there. She didn't get much info other than if she wanted to leave the city they had to get a hunting license from Czerka Corporation, who was not even selling them anymore. She looked at Bastila and found her staring intensively at a corner. She turned around and saw her looking at a woman, but her face was slightly obscured by the lighting. She opened her bond and began speaking to her.

"Who is she?"

"… I… I think she is, my mother" Bastila said with a shaky voice.

"What?" she said out loud.

A few patrons turned around and stared at her and Bastila covered her face with her hands. She sat back down, her face bright red and waited for Bastila to explain to her.

"I can't really tell, but that could be her. She looks around her age and I could swear I have seen that robe before."

Aspyre gasped at what she said. Jedi were not supposed to see their families after they became Jedi. It supposedly clouded their judgment and according to the Jedi council, that was bad. According to Aspyre, not seeing your family again was bad, but who was she to argue. She looked again at the woman, but she could barely see her face. Her hair color was the same as Bastila's, but other than that she could not see anything else. She turned and saw Bastila biting her lower lip, uncertainty and fear oozing out of her; she could notice it even without her bond. Canderous took the hint and left the cantina, presumably to wait outside or go find something to kill, if it was time or an actual living being was yet to be seen.

"Go say hello" she suggested to her, but Bastila threw her a "really?" look. Bastila did not speak fondly of her mother, but Aspyre knew that she loved her father dearly and maybe she could ask him where he was. "You can ask her about your father." Bastila thought for a few seconds and let out a sigh of defeat. Aspyre grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the woman. The woman looked at them as if they were nothing more than two passerby's that were interrupting her.

"Yes, do I know you?"

Bastila was silent for a second and hung her head in pain. Aspyre felt it too and for a second wished they had stayed in their table.

"It's me, mother, Bastila. Don't you recognize me?" she asked her sadly.

"Well what did you expect? I have nothing of you except a picture when you were a baby! I have been looking everywhere for you!" she snapped at her. She saw Bastila wince and she felt a pang of sympathy for her.

"Well, now you found me, what do you want? Where is father?"

"Ah, so you have not heard" the woman said with a sad look on her face as she took a long, profound breath. She contemplated for a moment and then simply said "your father is dead Bastila. That is part of the reason I was looking for you."

Both Bastila and Aspyre gasped at her words and their knees shook, threatening to bring them down.

"Dead? But how?" she asked with a terrified look on her face. She focused on her mother and her look turned from terrified to hateful. "What did you do to him?"

"Well, isn't this a beautiful reunion! You there, you are one of her friends, do you speak to your mother that way?" she asked Aspyre.

"I never used to you talk to her like that. She died a few years ago" she responded shyly. She saw the woman's face soften for a moment and then she spoke.

"I'm sorry for your loss. It would seem like I will be joining her soon."

"Please, spare us the melodrama mother, what do you want?"

"That is no way to treat a dying woman, not that you would care."

"Are you really dying, or is that for my benefit?" Bastila responded with steel on her voice and frost on her eyes.

"Yes Bastila I am. But don't you worry about that; I know you were always eager to blame me for everything so let's give you the chance. Your father, against my wishes came here to Tatooine to hunt a Krayt Dragon. He was killed by it. Another hunter saw him and he told me a few months ago."

"I see" Bastila replied with an immense misery, Aspyre opened her bond and started to absorb all of it, hoping it would help her. It did, but most of her sadness was replaced by anger. "So what do you want, credits?"

"Don't be insulting, I want you to use those senses of yours and find your father's holocron and bring it to me" she told her.

"So you can sell it?"

Aspyre tried really hard not to cry at the sight. She would give up the galaxy to be with her mother again, and here Bastila, who had the chance to, was throwing it all away over something as petty as the past. It really took all her might to do so. She tried to remember the last conversation she had with her mother, but her memory was hazy and she could not recall exactly what they had spoken about.

"-it, and then you will never have to worry about me again" Helena finished.

Bastila turned around and left the cantina, Aspyre looked at the woman with wet eyes nobody could see and apologized in Bastila's behalf. She followed her and saw outside, standing next to Canderous. She walked towards her and grabbed her by her shoulder, she turned her around and she slapped her face. Bastila gasped and winced at the hit. She placed her hand on her cheek and looked at Aspyre, first with shock and anger, but when she saw the tears flowing down her neck and into the sand her look turn to worry and guilt.

"You destroyed that woman, Bastila! She asked for your help and you not only turned her down, but also threw it back on her face and spat on her" she said with barely controlled anger. "She is your mother Bastila! Your mother! How can you do that to her?" She tried to go on, but she couldn't find the words, she turned around and left for the Ebon Hawk, Canderous following her closely and leaving the shocked Bastila behind.

Bastila began to feel Aspyre's emotions through their bond, and a waves of sadness, despair and regret crashed over her, all focused around one person. An image of a woman with long blonde hair like Aspyre flowed into her mind. Bastila gasped and realized how selfish she had been, how unbelievably unkind and what a horrible person she had been. She ran to the Ebon Hawk, she had to apologize, she had probably showed Aspyre what her and her mother's reunion could go by, at least on her imagination and she destroyed the image. Feeling tears rolling down her cheeks, Bastila reached the hangar and ran inside the Hawk. She went straight to the girl's quarters and saw Aspyre without her mask, her head between her hands and a small pool of tears on her feet. Bastila saw the image and it completely destroyed her heart. She ran to the girl and hugged her, but she did not hug her back. She tried to talk to her through their bond, she tried to feel what she was feeling, but she was cutting her off.

Aspyre lifted her head and saw Bastila's face covered in tears as well. Bastila grabbed her head and placed her forehead against hers. She closed her eyes and allowed the bond to reopen. She felt all of her emotions flooding her and did her best not to break down. She felt the guilt that Bastila had, but at making her feel bad, not towards not helping her mother. She felt it and it made her even madder. How could she be so stupid? How could she not see?

"You mother is who you should be worried about, not me. She is the most important person in the galaxy and you are hurting her in ways that you could not even imagine. Bastila, I would sacrifice everything, absolutely everything, to see my mother and father again, to be given the chance you just were and I just had to watch the beautiful moment when you were given that chance, followed by the atrocious instant when you took it and crushed it under boot. You have no idea what it is to watch that… It would be like eating in front of a starving man and then throwing the leftover to the thrash and burning the thrash in front of his eyes. It was so… cruel of you to do that."

Bastila felt her emotions well up, sadness, guilt but most importantly shame began to rise on her chest like they were about to burst. She felt the pressure on her chest increase and her heart actually began to hurt. She tried to breathe, but her windpipe was closed, she began shaking and sobbing next to her. She was right, she had to try, she owed her that much, not her mother, that was for sure, but Aspyre. She knew she would truly do anything to have a chance to be with her mother. And to be honest, she would also do anything to give her that chance. But the universe did not work that way, and pipe dreams and false hope was all they had. She felt Aspyre's sadness and anger at the event, she felt her sympathy for her father's loss and it mixed with her own pain and shame. Soon the emotions were too much for the girls to handle and they broke down on each other's arms. They kept crying for what seemed like hours until they heard steps coming from the ramp. They felt Mission's happy face poking inside the quarters, but her smile faded when she saw the two girls, hugging and crying with their foreheads pressed together. She quickly retreated outside and sat in the main room. She sat next to Carth and Zaalbar, a philosophical look on her face.

"What is it?" Carth asked her.

"Bastila and Aspyre are sitting on their bed, crying. The bed sheets look soaked, they must have been there for a while" she said with a worried tone. Carth started to get up, but Mission grabbed his arm and pulled him down. They saw Canderous walking into the main room carrying some spare parts and started to tinker with them. "Hey what happened to Bastila and Aspyre?"

"Princess? She got sad cause she saw her mom and apparently she hates her but loves her father and he's dead now and Aspyre was mad cause princess didn't appreciate her mom so she slapped her and then we came back to the Hawk and they started crying" he said without stopping what he was doing. He checked his watch. "It's been… four and half hours since we came back."

Mission opened her mouth to speak. Four hours? Not even she had cried that much when Taris had exploded, well, she had, but not all in one sit! She wondered what to say, but Canderous seemed unfazed by any of their responses. She wondered how he could be so insensitive, their friends were crying uncontrollably in that room and here he was, fidgeting with some spare parts like he didn't care. He kept building and taking apart the same piece for about five minutes and then Mission suddenly got it. She took a closer look at his face and saw his jaw was slightly clenched, his hands were not making the same precise movements they usually did and his eyes were not as hard as they usually were, they were hard and covered by the wall of indifference he usually had, but now the wall was not as thick. She felt slightly embarrassed and surprised at the same time, so Canderous Ordo was not the senseless mercenary she thought he was… she would have to apologize later. She looked at Carth and saw him looking at Canderous too; he gawked at her and motioned to him with his eyes. Mission nodded and they both got up and went to the cockpit.

"Wow!" she breathed once they were out of his hearing range. "I did not see that coming, he might have as well been crying with them!"

"Shut up! Don't let him hear you say any of that or he will rip your lekkus apart and strangle you with them!" Carth told her in a scolding tone. He was fairly certain that Canderous would do it. Hell; he was sometimes tempted to do it himself. He saw Mission look nervously at the main room and they both sat down at the cockpit. After a few uncomfortable minutes they were fidgeting with whatever they could find.

"Wanna play pazaak?" she asked him.

"What you see in that game that makes you play it so many hours I will never know" he sighed, but grabbed her spare deck and they both started playing.

Aspyre felt really tired. Despite the fact she had been awake for only seven hours, her crying with Bastila and the intensity of their emotions, probably doubled by their bond, had left her mentally and physically exhausted. She opened her eyes and saw Bastila's beautiful eyes looking back at her. She shakily smiled and they both rested on the bed. She pulled her closer to her and snuggled against the taller girl.

"I know you will do the right thing, Bastila" she whispered in her ear. Bastila slightly nodded and she kissed her lightly on the cheek. She closed her eyes and felt all the pain being slowly washed away as sleep took her.

Revan was happily jumping up and down her chair. The ball in front of her was getting bigger and bigger! She saw it turn so big it did not fit in the glass anymore! She tried to see where it went but all she saw now was grass everywhere. She saw a very big not-house in front of where they landed and she saw a lot of kids like her standing in a line, looking at a very tall man. The little green man looked at her and she followed him outside the… ship, it was called. She saw a very pretty animal flying on top of them. It was like a bird, but it was so big! She saw another bird on the ground just like the one on top of them, but this one was black and it jumped over people and grass and boxed and not-homes like he wasn't even there. Maybe it was following its mommy on the sky. She followed the little green man and stood on the line. She saw the boy next to her. He was a little bigger than her. He had no hair. She wondered how he lost it. She looked at the man in front of them. He was talking like daddy talked to her.

"Okay, now that we are all here we can get started, little boys and girls." He said with a smile on his face. He turned around and told them to follow him. He told them this was going to be their new home. She saw a lot of people in her home. She saw a pair of people that had very bright lights in their hands and they were moving them and hitting them together. She gasped when she saw the bright sparks that went flying around. They were very nice. She liked the blue light. She followed the man and they sat down in very soft pillows. The man told them they were all very special because they use something he called the Force. She saw a boy raise his hand and he asked him what the Force was. Revan looked down on the ground; she had wanted to ask him what that was. The man smiled and told them that the Force was what let him do this. He pointed at a pretty red ball in front of him and without touching it, he lifted it! She gasped and she saw the ball moving towards them, it bounced on their heads and she saw it on top of her, she saw it going around and around and around and around in front of her. She saw it stopping in front of her and she laughed. Funny magic ball! She looked at the man and the ball went back to him.

"We are going to teach you to do that" he said with a smile. "Do you want to learn?"

She screamed yes really loud and the other kids did too. They all got up and they followed the man to another room, where he said they would begin to teach them.

Aspyre felt a warm breeze caressing her face, sweeping through her closed eyes and she felt as it split when some entered her slightly parted lips and the rest went down, creeping towards her neck. She felt Bastila's warm body pressed against hers and pressed even closer to her. She felt a little sad, but it wasn't that bad anymore. She saw Bastila placing her hand on her back and rubbing it. They stayed in bed for a while, blinking the gumminess away. They stood up and quietly, still holding hands made their way to the main room. They saw nobody there and they sat down on the table, eating in silence. They got ready and left the Hawk. It was late at night; nobody would bother them right now, so they might as well search for some clues to find the star map. Still holding hands they walked down the main street and felt the cold night of Tatooine grip them. They stopped at the cantina first and found Helena in the corner, still sitting there with an indifferent expression on her face. Aspyre looked at Bastila and squeezed her hand. She smiled at her and they both walked towards the older Shan. They stopped a pair of feet away from her and waited for her to notice them. She looked at them and stood up.

"Back already, did you find the holocron?" she asked in a very business-like tone. Bastila took a deep breath and got ready to talk. For Aspyre, she had to.

"No mother, not yet. I-"

"Well, what are you waiting for? For a Jedi you don't seem very busy." Bastila winced and Aspyre felt her hand slightly tense at her mother's comment. She squeezed it and sent her soothing thoughts into her head.

"No mother, I came to apologize for the way I treated you before" she said and exhaled, there, she had said it. Helena eyed her daughter carefully. What had caused the sudden change in her? She looked at her companion and saw that she was as anxious as her daughter. She looked down and saw them holding hands nervously. She smiled when she saw that and chuckled softly.

"Oh sweetie I forgive you, and I'm sorry too" she said, hugging her. Bastila returned the hug and felt a huge weight come of her shoulders.

"I was just so shocked when I heard father's death I- I…" she tried to speak but her mother simply shushed her.

"It's ok, honey." Bastila nodded and hugged her tighter. Aspyre saw the two women hugging and whispering and she felt happiness and fulfillment inside of her. She saw them sit down and begin talking softly. She went to the bar and ordered a cup of caffa. She sat there, enjoying Bastila's feelings and the sizzling cup of caffa in front of her. She finished it and ordered another one. She had finished about five of them when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned, expecting Bastila, but finding it was both her and Helena. She smiled at them and finished her sixth cup in one gulp.

"Your name is Aspyre right?" she asked her. She nodded. "Please take good care of my daughter." Aspyre looked at Bastila and smiled at her.

"I won't let any harm come to her, miss Shan."

"Thank you. Now I don't want to take any more of your time, I'm sure you must be tired and you have much to do tomorrow." She turned to Bastila who started to protest but she hugged her tightly one last time and told her she would be here tomorrow, waiting for her.

She said goodbye to Aspyre and left the cantina. Aspyre looked at Bastila who was radiating an aura of peace and tranquility. Both girls smiled and Bastila grabbed Aspyre's hand and pulled her towards her, embracing her tightly. She felt her hand caressing her face and she turned slightly red.

"Thank you so much Aspyre. You have helped so many times. I- I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you so much" she whispered to her. Aspyre hugged her and patted her back twice. They separated and Aspyre grabbed her hand and they both started walking towards the Ebon Hawk.

"We should get some rest so we can be fresh for tomorrow" she told her. Bastila nodded and they briskly made their way to the ship. They went to their quarters and found Mission snoring on her bed, half her body hanging out from it. Her lekkus were flailing in her sleep and they would occasionally lift up and tense in a circle before they relaxed and fell towards the floor again. They sat down on the bed and were silent for a second; she saw Bastila fidgeting with her hands and for a second wondered if she had something to say. There was no way in hell she could have been prepared for what she did. Bastila grabbed the back of her head with her right hand and placed her left hand on her cheek, she pulled her closer to her, and before Aspyre could ask her what she was doing, she pressed her lips against hers.

Aspyre felt Bastila's warm full lips encase her own, moving up and down as she kept kissing her. She tried to understand what was going on, but her mind was completely focused on the Jedi girl that was eating her lips with her own. She slowly started to digest the effects that this was going to have on her, on them. Bastila, who was always so preachy about attachments and passion, was kissing her, and kissing her passionately! The always perfect always moral Jedi princess, as Canderous called her, was forcing her lips on hers and her tongue inside of her mouth! What did it mean? Was she giving up the Jedi code? What was she doing? Aspyre kept wondering all the implications this was going to have on their lives, she wondered and thought so hard she did not realize she was kissing her back, she did not realize she was grabbing her hair and pushing her fingers into it, tossing it around. She did not notice that their outer robes were thrown on the ground. But she did realize when she felt Bastila's hands caressing her body and hers doing the same thing. They rested on the bed and she heard Bastila's voice inside of her head.

"I love you, Aspyre Venar."

"… I love you, Bastila Shan."

The girls shut off from the world around them and focused on themselves, determined to give themselves at least this night. They were so absorbed with what they were doing that they did not perceive Mission's eyes unenthusiastically opening.