A/N: ANGST ALERT AHEAD!! MUCH ANGST, STOP IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE TEH ANGST!! (but do R and R. It's almost over! Thanks to all my readers!)
CHAPTER LII: Forgiven
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Jak moved silently through the now-empty Trayus proving grounds, eyes glinting as she doubled back to the workbench she'd found, keen on getting in a few last upgrades before she fought Atton and Trayt in probably quick succession. She dropped her lightsaber and a handful of parts onto the bench before prying her lightsaber open.
The past half an hour had been a flurry of battles, over and over again, against Sith and Dark Jedi of all levels and down to the usual troopers and turrets. And they didn't keep coming, a relief from her last major fight. But that's only because this is a shadow war, Jak. No one's gonna write about the tiny scuffles of one Jedi and one Sith like they are about the end of the Jedi Civil War, as they call it.
Upgrading her lightsaber only took five minutes, but Jak spent another twenty tightening up her arm, clumsily working her left hand as she tightened up the hydraulics. She did pause though, when she heard footsteps behind her. Slowly, Jak set down the hydrospanner, reaching carefully for the fusioncutter, before she heard the newcomer speak.
"You need any help with that?" Jak relaxed and turned to see the Iridonian tech, Bao-Dur, looking at her with a faint smile on his tattooed face. Even though she had thought the Hawk had been empty save for herself and Kiray, Jak was glad that they'd been followed.
"Couldn't have had better timing, tech," Jak answered, carefully holding up her mechanical right arm. "This thing hasn't been tightened up for five years, and my left hand didn't pick up on any of what my right hand did." Bao smirked as he came up next to her, picking up a few tools and carefully tuning up Jak's arm.
"I never thought I'd ever stand face-to-face with you, Revan, and end up making sure you were ready to fight." Jak shrugged a little, twinging inside at being called by her old name. She didn't answer, though, not until the Zabrak was done. "There. Shouldn't give you any problems for awhile."
Jak held up her arm, stretching the elbow back and forth without pulling at the fine, nerve-like circuits hidden away inside before flexing her wrist and each of her fingers. Satisfied, she picked up her lightsaber and put it in the storage slot in her arm. "Thank you. And please, don't call me Revan."
"I'll try to remember that...Jak." She smirked at him, and led him out of the tiny room. "Mira's going after Kiray, and I think Visas is trying to do something to weaken Trayt and Atton."
"I can guess what she's going to try," Jak replied. Bao-Dur had no answer to that as she led him up to the door of the upper part of the actual academy. The part that'll take us to the core. And Trayt.
The room was empty when they came in, but when Jak opened the door that led into the core's antechamber, she blocked Bao-Dur from crossing inside. The tech stared at her, eyes asking why he couldn't enter, but Jak shook her head minutely. No one, excepting her and Kiray, could possibly survive what was in this room. And only Jak could even have the chance to tackle Trayt. Once Jak was sure Bao-Dur was going to stay put, she carefully went into the room, fists clenched, keeping to the walls before she saw him.
Jak wasn't startled to see him there, all in black. But what did startle her was how much Atton had gone back to looking like Jaq; the neatly brushed-back black hair, skin pale enough to signal his slide to the dark side, but not enough to incite rumors of him being a Dark Jedi. She fought down a mental sigh; she wasn't Revan, she didn't love him anymore. Jak could still respect him, but only as Atton, and only as a friend. She made it to the door down into the core before he turned to face her. Jak locked her jaw when he smiled at her, but it didn't warm her to see it again because Jak couldn't accept what it suggested.
"Hey, Rev," he said quietly. "I missed you, babe."
"I thought I did," Jak answered, equally low. "But then a few things happened that changed my mind. Not to mention I'm married now."
"I never stopped loving you," Atton pressed, stepping close to her. "Rev...I know you can kill him. Kill Trayt. I'm still loyal to you, and you alone. You kill him, I can kill the exile, and we can be together again! Just you and me, no Malak, no other Sith. Like the old days, Revan." Jak closed her eyes, refused to look at him, but Atton touched her chin and lifted her face to try and meet her gaze.
"I said no. I'm married now, Atton. You love someone else. I won't go back to what was taken away long ago," Jak said quietly, jerking her jaw out of his grip and flicking her wrist. "And I won't let you kill Kiray!" Atton's kind face turned into a snarl, and before Jak could freeze him in place, she was thrown back through the opening door behind her, sprawled out on her back. She forced herself up, eyes widening when she saw a familiar blue flash appear behind Atton, amber and brown eyes narrowed.
"Kiray! No, don't fight him!" Jak yelled, but Atton's hand flashed down, and the door slammed downwards. Jak lurched forward just before it locked, and she pounded her fist into it, squeezing her eyes shut.
The two of them are going to fight. And neither of them is going to come out alive...unless I remove Trayt from the picture. Jak pressed her forehead against the cold stone, tapping the door once before turning around and staring down the long, dark hallway ahead.
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Kiray saw Atton looking down into Jak's stoic face, breath catching as she sensed the tender love towards the former Sith. She tried not to leap forward right then and there, but she did when Jak turned away, going for her lightsaber. The two of them could double up against him, and, hopefully, Kiray could talk sense into him before either of them got horribly wounded.
She started walking when Atton shoved Jak through the door, and froze when her eyes met Jak's.
"Kiray! No, don't –" She couldn't hear the rest of Jak's warning, before Atton used the Force to sweep the door down, locking ominously, before her turned to face her.
She tried to swallow her tears when she saw him, all in black, pale-skinned, and eyes full of hate and anger when they had looked at her with love the last time she'd seen him. Kiray tightened her grip on her lightsaber as he strode away from the door, hands resting on his belt.
"Hello...exile," Atton spat coldly, meeting Kiray's gaze. She drew herself up, tall and proud, staring right back.
"Atton. I knew you were here."
"So did I. And you aren't going any further than this room." He waved around idly, as Kiray gently shrugged down her robe, the soft blue fabric pooling at her feet as her heart pounded in her ears. Atton's hands tensed over his lightsabers as she gently grasped her own.
"That's fine, cyar'ika," Kiray replied softly, mismatched eyes lowered. "I only wanted you to see me, and I you. This is as far as I planned to come. Because...there's one thing I wanted to tell you." Atton started circling, as Kiray raised her gaze, staring straight ahead, grasping at what was left of the bond between herself and Atton, fondly remembering their time together...
"And what is it you wanted to tell me?" he asked, stopping right in front of her. Kiray took a slow, deep breath before raising her gaze, memorizing his face for one last time. She blinked slowly, sighing slightly.
"You asked me once, how tough it was, to be a Jedi. How I fared without a family...without a husband. I know the answer to that, now." She took a ginger step forward, wanting so much to reach up to him, feel Atton's warm embrace around her. Kiray forced herself to continue, "I couldn't. Not after all we've been through. Ner aliit is you, Mira, Bao, Visas, Jak, Mandalore...everyone. And my love has been, always been...for you." She looked up at him, before tossing away her lightsaber. "I will not fight you."
Atton watched her, his eyes stained, tainted with the darkness, even as she reached out to him, gently putting a hand on his chest. Kiray's throat stiffened, and tears gently rolled down her face as she bowed her head. Suddenly...a touch, under her chin, as Atton's gloved hand tilted her face up, and, for a moment, Kiray's tear-blurred vision swore she could see Atton, the real Atton. She blinked slowly, heart rising.
Kiray barely registered the crimson point of Atton's lightsaber flying towards her chest, and when it struck home, there was no blood. In a flash, Kiray's lightsaber flew to her grip, and the navy blade thrust into Atton's stomach. She sobbed as the pain finally reached her nerves, and sobbed all the harder when she realized what she had done. As they fell, in perfect time, she stared into Atton's shocked eyes, and, before he could make another strike, kissed him. It was short, cold in the return, but it was enough for her.
"At'ika...ni kar'tayl gar...darasuum," she breathed, fighting off the darkness closing in around her. Atton blinked at her, and, slowly, the red light vanished from his eyes. He took a gasping breath as he put a hand on her cheek, and Kiray clasped it tight.
"'M sorry...Kir...shoulda...protected you..."
"At'ika," she breathed, as he started falling onto her, and she wrapped her arms around him. "I...I will...always forgive you..." As darkness clouded her vision, stole away the warmth inside, she heard him, softly, in her ear.
"I know..."
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Bao-Dur was inside almost as soon as he had seen Atton's blade, and stopped short when he saw the bloody beam plunge through the general's back. He was dumbstruck, scared half senseless, as they fell to the floor: Kiray, impaled by the red lightsaber...and Atton, run through with one end of Kiray's. No!
He raced forward, both hands hurrying to find something, anything to stabilize either of them. Bao pulled out the blades and turned them off before peeling the two apart, fighting off horrified gasps. He had to stay calm, had to save them both. Behind him, Bao could sense Mira.
"Oh Force!" Mira exclaimed as she tumbled onto her knees next to him, pulling out the medpacs Bao had been looking for. "Damn, where's that handmaiden when you need her?! Or even that historian!" The huntress kept grumbling, even as the two Jedi Knights struggled to save the two.
"I think...we've got it," Bao-Dur sighed fourteen medpacs later, Kiray and Atton stripped of their armors and bandages wrapped around Kiray's front, another set of strips around Atton's stomach. The two of them settled against a pillar near Kiray and Atton, and Mira sighed.
"Y'know...I didn't think it was gonna end up like this," she admitted quietly. Bao looked at her in concern as Mira continued, "I mean...they were perfect for each other even before the bond thing, and now look. Nearly killing the other, it's disgraceful. I was workin' on planning the wedding and everythin'." Bao-Dur put an arm over Mira's shoulders and she sighed.
"I don't think any of us did, Mira," Bao-Dur answered. "But it's up to them to heal –" He nodded at the unconscious forms of Kiray and Atton " – and for Revan to take Trayt down."
"I hope you're right," Mira muttered, her green gaze never leaving Kiray and Atton. Suddenly, she stood, and gently clasped Kiray's hand with Atton's.
