New chapter up. Thanks to everyone reading.

Nikka POV

By the time I got to the cantina, I desperately needed a drink. Things had been going so well, I should have known something was going to go wrong. I guess it was just wishful thinking to believe I'd never run into Corso again. I didn't necessarily want him dead, but I didn't really want him in my life in any way, either. At least Bowdaar was around to back me up for our conversation.

I got a glass of my usual and a mug of the corellian ale Bowdaar had become fond of over the last year we were working together. I sat down at a table near the back and only had to wait five minutes for my wookie friend to join me. He greeted me with a friendly howl, then sat and took a long pull from the mug, barking appreciatively.

"Thanks for meeting me here, big guy. I need some backup."

Bowdaar cocked his head to the side.

"Corso will be here in about half an hour to talk. I didn't want to sit with him alone."

Bowdaar growled low in the chest. "I will beat the coward."

"I'm giving him a chance to explain. If I'm not satisfied, I'll let you do what you will, but I do want to hear what he has to say."

Bowdaar huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "He has not earned the right to speak with you."

I smiled up at my friend. "No, he hasn't, but I'm going to hear him out all the same. I'm feeling generous today."

About fifteen minutes later, Corso walked in alone. He looked around only once before heading towards me. He looked disappointed Bowdaar was with me, but also seemed happy to see me. I was giving him a look that could melt the hull of a ship.

"Thanks for talking with me, Nikka." He said, very carefully taking the seat across from me, the furthest from Bowdaar.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared. "You wanted to talk, so talk."

"I was hoping we could talk alone." He replied.

Bowdaar growled deep in his chest and I had to chuckle.

"Anything you have to say to me, you can also say in front of Bowdaar. Honestly, you're just lucky I informed him you're on planet before he ran into you. You'd be a few limbs short right now." I leaned forward. "Now, I have things to do and places to be, so if you're going to speak your piece, I'd do it now."

He hesitated for a moment, looking down at his hands, which were resting on the table. He then looked up at me with the silly half smile he had when he was happy, but didn't want the whole room to know. "It's good to see you're doing well."

I sighed, shaking my head. "That is really not the direction you want to go right now. Here, let me help you. You can start by explaining to me why you thought leaving me without so much as a note was an okay thing to do. You were always so damned afraid to hurt women, even the ones trying to kill you, why did you think it was alright to leave me hanging. Doing what you did hurt me more than a slap across the face, you do know that, right?"

"What I did was cowardly and wrong, I know that. It was just...look at you...you're so far out of my league and there you were, training to be a Jedi. How could I ever compete with that?"

I scoffed. "Do I look like a Jedi to you, Riggs? Did you even bother to read the message I sent to you? Did you not read the part where I said I wasn't joining the Jedi, just learning to use and control my intuition?"

"I...I didn't know that." He looked down at the table. "I sorta...erased the message after the part where you said you were training with the Jedi."

My jaw dropped. "So, let me get this straight. You decided to leave me because I was training with the Jedi? Really? Really?" I looked over at Bowdaar and I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. "You were really that stupid? You threw away a marriage after reading two lines of a two page message!?" I wasn't screaming, but I was talking very aggressively. Fortunately, the cantina was fairly empty and there were few people around us sober enough to eavesdrop.

"I made a mistake."

"A mistake. You call ruining our marriage a mistake. When you cooled down a little, did you even think to contact me? Explain what happened?"

"I thought about going back to you everyday. I would beat myself up at night, thinking about it. I just couldn't. I just couldn't admit to you or myself that I…"

"...was a coward with limited intelligence?" I finished for him, rather harshly.

"That I made the biggest mistake of my life. That I jumped to a rash conclusion. I think I talked myself into believing I didn't deserve you. As I said, you were always out of my league, but after those six months, you were too far out for me to justify being with you."

"Damn it, Corso, that wasn't your decision to make. All that out of your league garbage was only in your mind. I loved you Corso and I'm assuming you loved me. That should have been enough."

"I know and I'm sorry."

I sighed, not sure where else to go with the conversation. It was hard to hear that someone left because they were too angry to read a message and jumped to a false conclusion. Our relationship was terminated over a misunderstanding and Corso wasn't man enough to come back when he realized he made a mistake.

"So am I. I just wish you could have understood how important it was for me to do what I did. I wish you could be with a strong woman and not feel inferior. You're attracted to strong women, but deep down, you want someone you can take care of. You were raised with expectations for gender roles. It's not your fault."

We sat quietly for a few minutes, neither knowing where to go.

"I'm assuming you...moved on?" Corso asked, almost sheepishly.

"Did you think I'd take up a vow of celibacy? It's been like eight years, of course I moved on. You didn't ruin me for all other men...sorry." I might have been a little harsh, but I was still angry and the conversation was making my head hurt.

"I'm not surprised. Any man would be lucky to have you."

"So, now that we've cleared the air, can we function on this base? You're a good person, Corso, and a good fighter. My brother needs as many fighters as he can get. You'll be an asset, as long as you can be on this base with me and not get all weird if we're in the same room."

"I came here to join the Alliance. I didn't know your brother was the Alliance commander and I certainly didn't expect you to be here. I can still do my part."

I nodded. "Good, I'm happy to hear that." I stood, downing the last of my drink and slamming the empty glass back on the table. "Welcome to the Alliance." I said, leaving the table. Bowdaar only paused long enough to give Corso a meaningful look, as if to say 'Don't mess with me', then followed me out.

Once outside, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. One uncomfortable conversation down, one to go. I needed to find out when Theron was scheduled to be back on Odessen and intercept him before any of this got to his ears. It was hard to keep information hidden from him for any length of time, so I needed to be quick. It was entirely possible I was already too late.

To Be Continued...