Standard Disclaimer - The characters and universe mainly belong to George Lucas. Something I know that we all are very sad about. However, I do claim this particular take on Revan and the events that happened next.
Remnants
Life sucked.
Or perhaps it had just been the past few months, Jaia allowed as she stared at the corner seat of the bar and its occupant.
But it'd all started far from here anyway, so she couldn't really blame this water logged place. Or the bar. Or the moron in her seat.
Her poor ship. Her lovely little ship, the Sereph, had blown out its last legs, leaving her stranded on Nar Shadda. And that was good. Because if there was anywhere in the universe she'd want to be stranded while trying to find a new ship and a new job to put a little money in her pocket, she'd choose Nar Shadda. After all, she had some very nice contacts there. She was owed favors. And her reputation would certainly open doors, after all. A smuggler of her caliber was worth something – in the right circles.
Or so you'd think. She'd gone to her old friend Yue Danter's house. The hulking man had lived in that same little hollow ever since she first met him, nearly eight years previous. But now, there was some old woman answering the door. No Yue Danter here, thank you very much. Slam.
It'd taken her aback. She'd stared at the door for a moment and then braced herself to break the silly thing open if Grandma wouldn't open up again. But then a Twi'lek girl, not quite a kid but not an adult either, had gotten her attention from across the way.
"The guy you are looking for is gone," the girl had stated, looking a bit nervous. "But if you are looking for someone who can help you on Nar Shadda, I know a few people."
As long as it wasn't the Hutt. She did not want to be dealing with Vogga in any way shape or form. Still…
"And you'll tell me about this person out of the kindness of your heart?" She'd raised her brow skeptically.
The girl just looked at her for a few minutes, then smiled shyly. "Well, its not like I'd say no to a little money. But I was thinking more like, you'd let me call you if I ended up needing you? It'd be like… a favor owed?"
Wonderful. A favor? "Alright, kid. Feed me the info and I'll owe you one."
The girl was grinning now, the expression rather charming in its glee.
'Yep,' Jaia had thought to herself, 'I am such an easy mark.' The fact that she also did give the kid a little of the credits she was hording proved it too.
So the girl had given her a name and a place. A local bar with a fairly decent reputation. But, before she left, she'd also darted in and given her a quick hug as well. Jaia was checking her pockets, her weapons, her clothing for a good fifteen minutes after. Wary of some sort of tracking device too small to be seen, she'd even gone back to her apartment to wash and change clothing.
It was Nar Shadda after all.
Once at the bar she'd waited and found that they were watering down their alcohol horribly. That was, in her opinion, a sign of a truly bad bar. She could care less about the clientel, if the alcohol was watered down… not worth a second look.
Luckily, her contact hadn't taken long to show up. The man was older, hair whitened in contrast to his dark skin. He'd snuck up on her, something that didn't make her feel at ease though he'd apologized. When she wasn't mollified he grumped at her. And that'd made her grin and more inclined to talk.
"Jolee Bindo," he'd introduced himself. He already seemed to know her name. "Your friend Yue got himself into a little trouble. Local. But he'd heard rumors that you might be looking for some help with your ship and all asked me to see what I could do."
Jaia had sipped her drink in a ploy for a little thinking time. "So you are a friend of his?"
"More like an associate." Bindo revised. "But its close enough."
Jaia had nodded a little, "Then, you'll know that phrase he was always repeating? When things would not quite go right?"
Jolee winced, "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"
Jaia shrugged, but didn't relent.
Then the old man surprised her. The long string of Syabian cursing was both fluid, accurate, and actually had more of a sting to it than Yue had ever managed to give it. Plus, he didn't even hesitate once in the thirty seconds it took to recite it. She was laughing by the end.
"Now, if we're done making me jump through hoops, young lady?"
Jaia had to agree at that point that Yue sent him. "So, what," she'd asked, "exactly are you going to do to help me?"
And Jolee smiled, though his dark eyes were as sober as a man making a vow. "That means, my friend, I'm getting you a ship."
It had been enough to make anyone believe that some cosmical force or deity was smiling on them. And the way things went, it only seemed that her good luck would continue. Jolee had taken her to the ship almost right away. A little bargaining, a little haggling. Jolee said that the only catch was that he, and a group of people he representated, may contact her for jobs occasionally. Not much of a draw back, as far as she could see.
And yes, even at the time she was aware that it all seemed to good to be true. But beggers couldn't be choosers and she was down on her knees for certain.
She'd felt all… disconnected. Like, without her ship, nothing in the universe was right. She was not used to feeling so alone or vulnerable. She had figured that part of it had to deal with Yue, disappeared without a trace. Everything now had seemed unfamiliar, unfamiliar without the buffer of her ship.
She would have agreed to much more than Jolee was asking.
So, she'd taken possession of the ship. She figured that one of Jolee's unspoken little consortium had to be the Cathar woman that was shadowing them as they did a joint inspection of the beauty. And the scent of fur in the engine room spoke eloquently of former owners. She wasn't the fastest, nor the biggest. A three person crew at most, she'd bet. But the little ship was sweet in design and lines. What her name was, Jaia hadn't cared. She'd dubbed her new home, partner and companion the 'Asylum' and never looked back.
Time had passed and she'd taken the jobs as they came. The recent wars seemed to have done more damage in their last mysterious days than anyone would have guessed. Almost all her contacts had blown up and dried away. That left the legitimate deals for the most part. With all the relief efforts and reconstruction, there'd been no problem finding a group who'd pay.
But it must have been the lack of that extra edge of excitement, just slipping by the authorities, just evading getting taken out by a peevish syndicate boss for haggling too strictly… because she'd still felt like she was missing something. Just a little hollow… Even the financial success that allowed her to purchase an astro-mech droid after a couple months didn't thrill her as much as she had thought it would.
She'd bought it on Manaan and after settling it on the ship, had gone promptly to the closest bar. That was the one thing she could say about the water world, it did have a decent set up in that regard.
The room had been packed, filled with both locals and travelers. Still, it was no worry to find a seat and a nice ubiquitous blonde man to talk and flirt a little with. He was a bit dense, but he was diverting enough at any rate.
"…shouldn't be here…" The crisp female voice hadn't cut through the babble in the bar. It wasn't loud, in fact it was lowered. Yet for some reason it'd caught her attention almost right away. She'd shimmied a little to be able to look at the door to the bar and still pretend to be paying attention to Tall, Dumb, but Handsome.
The woman at the door had been a Jedi. Which had made it strange that she appeared to be arguing with a man much too old to be her Padawan. He was military, if Jaia hadn't missed her guess.
"… being hypocritical…" He'd been fairly good looking and he spoke quietly. He glanced in her direction but she'd reacted in time. Her lips curved as she pretended attentiveness to her companion.
"…doesn't need you." The woman's voice again. Somehow her words had become easier to pick out even though she'd dropped the anger for a moment in favor of …pity? "She's moved on and she's happy. Isn't that what you wanted for her?"
About that time, Jaia got bored. The situation was painfully obvious. A jilted lover, stalking his former romantic interest and nosing in where he wasn't wanted. She'd been sure that if his friend hadn't been a Jedi, the words 'get over it' would have been said. Likely with an accompanying smack. By the time she decided to glance over again, they were both gone.
And by the time she'd prepped her ship for take off, heading out to the next job, next stop, next run, she'd forgotten about the incident completely.
But then, of course, the right thruster capacitor had broken, just out from the planet. She'd limped back in, taking nearly two days to cover the distance. And that left her here. Now. Angry at the fact that it'd broken, furious at the bantha faced customer who'd be docking her pay for the delay, and wanting only one simple thing.
To be able to drink in peace in her nice little corner table at the bar.
And it was already occupied.
Her eyes narrowed.
Occupied by the jilted whiny man from the other night no less. He was sitting alone, looking intently at the half filled glass in front of him.
Jaia hesitated, debating briefly. She could run a scam to get him to move his backside. She could threaten him to move said backside as well. But, with a sudden let down like a balloon deflating, she found that most of the energy her anger had given her was gone.
He didn't look that whiny, really. He looked like… she wasn't sure. Just very sad, she supposed.
She exhaled and damned mostly dormant maternal instincts and boyishlyappealing faces. Yes, she was certainly an easy mark. Damn it.
Drink in hand she walked over to the table and sat down, without saying a word. She didn't look directly at him, giving only her profile at first and setting up the unspoken subtext that she didn't /need/ to command his attention with words or gestures. It also was certain to leave him off balance and… even kindly motivated gestures were better if you had the power in the game, after all. He could turn out to be an ass.
She did smile as she spoke, "You look like someone has shot your favorite pet, my friend."
/Then/ she glanced at him.
He was staring at her. She grinned.
He cleared his throat, "Yeah. Poor Fluffy. He was too young and good for the world, I guess."
She laughed, facing him fully now. A sense of humor? Now she felt a bit better about the encounter. "Isn't that always the way?" She raised her glass, "To Fluffy then."
He followed suit and drank but didn't take his wary gaze off of her. He also didn't speak again.
She sighed, "Come on. Look. This is the deal. Neither of us are very pleased at the moment. So you can either mope here all alone, or…"
"Or?"
Her most charming smile, "Or, you can buy me another drink and enjoy mildly interesting conversation as well as my absolutely wonderful company." Self mockery to invoke a response was not below her and she bobbed her eyebrows meaningfully as well.
But he didn't respond in the way she thought he would. A laugh, a grin, or a smile and a polite, 'please leave' would have all been in character. Not the sudden… barrenness in his eyes. Loss. So stark and open that it clenched her own gut in empathy.
He looked away sharply and she was reaching out to touch his hand on the table without consciously deciding to do so. Just a touch. Not forcing likely inadequate comfort, but still compelled to make the gesture.
"Hey," she said, quieter, "I'm sorry. I can leave, no problem. I just thought that you might need …well. You looked like you might need someone to talk to. And if not that, a distraction."
His lips unbent a little, "And you decided to volenteeer?"
She raised her chin, "Hey, it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it, eh?" She was drawing her hand back to her own drink. "I was bored, after all."
He smiled tightly, ruefully, but again was quiet. She'd give it one last try.
"You're a Republic solider, right?"
"Got it in one, gorgeous." He was making his tone more even, now.
She couldn't help but chuckle at that, "Gorgeous? I like that."
"Somehow I thought you might." He reached out for his drink again, and looked back at her. "So…"
She was still amused, but her expression gentled a little, "So." She repeated. She extended her hand, "Jaia Sin."
His fingers were warm.
"Carth Onasi."
