He was playing pazaak in his head; it was always a good idea to keep your mind occupied on a ship full of Jedi who couldn't be trusted. He'd been bored waiting for their fearless leader to get out of her "lesson" with the old witch and it was something to pass the time. He was hoping she planned on taking him with her to the Jedi Enclave. Not that he had any interest in entering a Jedi nest, but at least they were supposed to all be gone now.
He was on a four game winning streak when he felt it. It wasn't Kreia's ripping his thoughts from his mind, and it wasn't like the Sith assassin's intrusive prodding, it was more like a knock, blunt and insistent in his head. And then it was gone. He could guess.
Sure enough, not long after, his pretty ex-Jedi came marching into the cockpit, looking determined.
He leaned back casually in his pilot's seat.
"Something up?" he said.
"Atton, why do you play pazaak in your head?"
The woman was nothing if not direct.
"Passes the time," he said. "It's better than listing off engine sequencers, memorizing hyperspace routes, or counting ticks in the power couplings."
He laughed to himself as she was completely diverted for a moment.
"There are no ticks in the power couplings – it's fixed!" she said adamantly.
"Of course it's fixed," he said. "And that's why you should count the ticking in the power coupling too."
Her confusion was palpable. "You're not making any sense," she said, sounding exasperated.
He frowned at her and thought how best to explain.
"Why do I play pazaak?" he said. "All right, I'll show you."
He pulled out his deck and she groaned. For someone who was good at everything, she was a lousy pazaak player.
"Look-" she said. "I really don't have the credits to lose to you again."
"We're not playing for credits," he said grinning. "We're playing for something else."
"We better not be using Nar Shaddaa rules," she said eying him suspiciously. "I was tricked into that once before in the Outer Rim."
He snickered and said, "Nope, sadly, our clothes are going to stay on..."
"All right," she said.
They played a quick hand, which she lost of course, and he was silently cursing himself for not insisting on Nar Shaddaa rules.
All he said though was, "Good match... now what are you thinking about right now?"
"I'm thinking I suck at this stupid game," she said sullenly.
"Right," he said. "And that's why I play pazaak in my head. Because if you don't, you've left the door wide open. And anyone could walk in."
She looked down at the cards uncomfortably and said, "Atton, before, I felt your mind. With Kreia's help. I'm sorry."
"Of course you did," said Atton. "You see, Jedi... light or dark... do it, more often than you'd think. But I never heard one say they were sorry before... that's a new house rule."
"It won't ever happen again, I promise," she said. She went on, "You play pazaak to shield your thoughts?"
"No," he said patiently. "I just play pazaak in my head. But while I'm doing that, it's a lot harder for someone to walk in."
She looked nervously around her and said, "Can you teach me to shield my thoughts like that?"
"No. I can only teach you to play pazaak. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
She clearly didn't. He tried again.
"If you're ever fighting someone who has the power over your mind... whether light or dark... play pazaak. And when they try to use their powers on you, suddenly it's not as easy as they thought."
He picked her hand up from where it was resting on the pazaak cards and said, "Because you'll be right here with me, playing pazaak, where they can't reach you."
She spent a moment digesting that and then looked up at him, smiling, "Thank you, Atton!"
And then she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. It caught him completely by surprise, the suddenness of her body pressed against him. It shouldn't have, he'd seen her hug loads of people, but now his hands were on her waist and he could smell her hair. He thought she must have been aware of it too, he could feel her leaning into him, her head practically resting on his shoulder when something occurred to him.
"Was there someone in particular you needed to keep out?" he asked.
She pulled away, blank. Stricken, he realized he had ruined everything again.
"No," she said, "Just seemed like valuable information. I should go get a crew together for the Enclave."
And then she was gone. Atton was quite sure he wasn't going to be invited to the Jedi nest now, so he was surprised when Bao-Dur stuck his head into the cockpit a few minutes later.
"Are you coming?" asked the Zabrak. "You're the only one in the crew that can use a blaster that isn't a droid, and I don't think T3 was built for trekking through Jedi ruins."
Frustrated and a little resentful, he said "Does she even want me there?"
Bao-Dur raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, the General said to ask you, and if you were busy, to see if the Miraluka would like to come."
Of all the insane... He jumped up.
"Is she crazy? She's gonna take the Sith?! She is crazy!" he said as he stormed out of the cockpit.
She was laughing at the entrance.
"Ready?" she said, giving him a bemused look.
He stalked off the ship and started off in the direction of the Jedi Enclave. It didn't take long for her to catch up, Bao-Dur keeping a respectful distance.
"I'm sorry I clammed up back there," she said. "I'm not very good at all of this... Any of this."
"Sure could have fooled me," he said.
"The thing is..." she went on. "Kreia and I seem to have developed a Force bond. A very strong one."
He remembered again her falling to the ground, screaming in agony. Clutching her left hand. He'd always known. He didn't like it, didn't want to see it. But how could he not.
"How strong?" he asked.
"If I died, she'd die..." she said. "And the other way around."
"Are you kidding me?" he said incredulously. "Anything happens to the old hag and you're toast?"
She stopped walking. "It doesn't feel so good when you put it that way, but yes."
He was an idiot. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it like that."
"I know," she said ruefully.
"So that's why you want to shield your thoughts?" he asked.
"She speaks to me in my head sometimes. I was just wondering... if there was any way to protect myself from voices in my head," she said.
That nosy witch, he wasn't surprised. He'd never understood why she kept Kreia around, much less took her advice. It was a little clearer now.
"Then just play pazaak," he said coolly.
She grinned at him conspiratorially. "And you'll be there playing with me."
"Right," he said, smiling back at her.
Right, he thought. This is not not getting attached. But he didn't have time to think about that, they were now in front of the ruined Jedi Enclave, her home, and she was looking at it in horror. He could see her blinking back tears.
She was speaking quietly to herself, "Oh Squint, how could you? This was your home too."
"Squint?" he asked.
"Alek... Darth Malek," her voice was shaky. "He grew up here too. We always had an uneasy friendship, we had some things... in common. He was the one who introduced me to Revan, when she first came to Dantooine from Coruscant... he worshipped her."
"He was her apprentice, but I don't think Revan ever really saw him," she continued her reminiscing. "If you think I'm single-minded, then you should have seen her. She was from the Outer Rim, so she took the Mandalorian threat personally."
"Where were you from?" he asked.
She gave him one of those inscrutable looks she was so good at and said, "I'm not from anywhere."
She stepped lightly over the rubble towards the entrance to the Enclave. He and Bao-Dur followed close behind. Turned out, he had been right about the nests, they just weren't Jedi nests. Inside, they were met with laigreks... lots and lots of laigreks. And like the last insect monsters they met on this planet, they weren't the friendly kind. This time, those creepy little jerks came with at them with glowing red eyes.
"You always take me to the nicest places," he remarked.
She said wistfully, "You should have seen this place before, it was beautiful."
He felt properly chagrined; he probably shouldn't make jokes in a place like this. Not that he didn't have plenty more where that had come from.
Bao-Dur performed an impressive feat when their ex-Jedi sliced into the forgotten droid bay. He rigged half a dozen protocol droids to wander the Enclave, exploding anytime they happened upon one of those damn bugs. It was pretty smooth sailing after that.
When she got the door opened to the Jedi Archive however, Atton raised his gun. He didn't know who that man on the other side of it was, but he knew he was too young to be the Jedi Master she was looking for. But his headstrong companion walked right up to the stranger.
The pretty boy blond standing in front of them bowed at his ex-Jedi. Of all the... he shook his head in disbelief.
"Thanks for the polite bow," she said, "You must be a gentleman. Atton, you should take notes."
He smirked at her back, but didn't lower the gun.
"I am a historian and scientist working for the Republic, although I am certain my contemporaries would judge me more a historian than scientist," said the pretty boy.
Contemporaries? Who was this guy kidding? There's no way his leader was buying this crap.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
A good question. See, she sees right through you, Pretty Boy. He glared at the newcomer over his leader's head.
"Like you, I was looking for some trace of the Jedi. I had heard mention that one of the Jedi Masters had gone there, but I found no trace of them."
"That's not the only reason," said his ex-Jedi perceptively.
"No," said the blond man. "The other reason was the ruins themselves... and once I arrived, I felt it was necessary to stay, to protect what was left."
He watched on in agony as his leader beamed a smile at the newcomer.
"Finally," she said, "someone with some sense on this planet!"
Atton scowled, but he lowered his blaster. Sense? The guy was a puffed up buffoon, how could she not see that already? At the rate she picked up strays, he needed to get her out of here, and fast. But it was too late.
The frivolous man bowed to her again and said, "If you would have me, I can apply my knowledge and skills to helping you find the answers you seek."
Atton spoke up then saying, "Look, we're already full up. We don't need anyone else. We travel light."
He then grabbed his ex-Jedi by the shoulders to lead her out of the room. She pulled away from him and gave him a sharp look.
She said to Pretty Boy, "We would welcome your company."