Last time: They returned to Chikara to find clues.
Now: Viran admits something has kept down for a long time.
Chapter 2- Viran's Feelings, Sasha's Heart
The alehouse was quieter than it was during the hunting season on Artemis, but it was still the main center of the town and was doing lively business this evening. Kyr sat at his usual table, and Sasha and Viran with him. His rifle lay across the table in front of him as usual, and his buy'ce was off so he could drink from his pint. It was a nice treat for him to have drinking companions, usually he would just sit there and listen to music or watch holovids in the privacy of his bucket, but this evening he was enjoying the company of the two Jedi. They were sharing stories of their exploits over the last several years, trying to one-up each other with every adventure and outrageous tale.
"So then-" Viran said, "So then the guy goes 'Wait, I thought that was on the left, what happened to the red one.'" He said with an outrageous burst of laughter. "All I'd had to do was scoot it off to the side with some, ya know." he wiggled his fingers a little. "And I made a hundred credits off him from that bet. I don't think that army officer had any clue what happened."
"Yeah, and then Op came in an hour later and said 'What was this about a missing red droid.', you should have seen his face." Sasha said, finishing the story.
Kyr started laughing as well, putting the pint down before he spilled ale all over the place. "Did he actually believe you were a magician after that?" He asked.
"I have no clue." Viran said, "I don't think he ever caught on though." He said laughing.
Kyr's gauntlet buzzed slightly, letting him know Tac was trying to reach him. "One sec, it's Tac." Kyr said, putting his buy'ce on so he could talk to the droid. "What have you got?"
A warbaling came over the line followed by a distinct set of chirps.
"Okay, we'll be there in a second." He glanced over to the right spot on his visor display to activate the outside amp so Sasha and Viran could hear him. "That was Tac, he said that the calculations actually found something. He's got it setup to show us."
"Great." Sasha said with a smile, downing the rest of her ale in one gulp while Viran took a last drink from his. Kyr considered taking his buy'ce off again to finish his off but didn't feel like it, he grabbed his rifle and slung it on his shoulder, starting to make his way through the crowd to the exit with the two Jedi following.
"Hey, Mando!" Kyr was brought up short as the bounty hunter that Sasha and Viran had encountered last time stepped in his path. He towered over Kyr by a good head, who just looked up at him.
"What do you want, Klack?" He asked. If he hadn't been wearing his buy'ce the smell of the man's breath would have stunk of alcohol, Sasha and Viran could smell it from standing at Kyr's shoulders.
"I want my two thousand credits." His eyes glanced over at Sasha and flared with recognition, but he returned his attention to Kyr.
"Buzz off shabuir." Kyr said. "I don't pay people who kill civilians on my jobs." He moved to push past Klack, but he grabbed Kyr's shoulder.
"I want my two thou-" However he was going to finish his sentence and was cut off as Sasha grabbed the man's wrist before even Kyr could react, and twisted his arm down and around, leveraging it to push his body down to the table. She squeezed hard on his wrist, pinching his nerves, and only slightly more rotation would snap his wrist, and possibly dislodge his shoulder if she pulled the right way.
"I told you to leave us alone and forget about Kyr." She hissed at him. He growled back at her, about to say something, probably quite rude, and she twisted his wrist ever so slightly, just a little too far, and it felt like things were just about to start snapping. "I said your arm would no longer be attached to your shoulder, remember?" He whimpered a little bit. "I said do you remember?" She pulled on his arm, putting some extra strain on his shoulder socket. He actually cried out a little at that. "Good. So what are you going to do now?"
He mumbled something unintelligible.
She pulled on his arm just slightly, "I asked what are you going to do now?" She repeated, sweetly.
"I'm going to leave you alone and forget about Kyr." He growled out.
"Good!" She said, letting him go with a shove. She stood up and straightened her tunic. Kyr and Viran were just staring at her, Viran with a smile, Kyr still behind his T-visor.
"Hey!" The bartender said. It was a different one from the day shift when they had been here last time.
"Yeah, we were just leaving." Sasha called over.
"Nah, I was just going to say, next time you're in your next drink is on me." She said with a nod towards Klack.
"Thanks," Sasha said with a smirk before heading toward the door leaving Kyr and Viran behind.
"Nicely done Sash'ika." Kyr said, a smirk evident in his voice as they caught up with her outside the lodge.
"Exceptional as always," Viran complimented as he walked on the other side of her. The two of them were standing with her between them.
She glanced at them with an innocent smile and blush. "Thanks. It was nothing. Just something I picked up from all my time as a bartender on Vestora."
"That sounds like a fun bar." Kyr said.
Sasha frowned slightly at that. "It was."
Kyr noticed the slight change in her demeanor, but didn't push the topic. They continued through the streets back toward their awaiting vessels and Tac with the new information. When they returned, they boarded back onto Kyr's ship only to be met by Tac's beeping and wailing as they re-entered the ship.
"Well they don't let droids in the alehouse." Kyr said, answered. "Besides, you don't drink, what would we have brought back for you?"
The droid groused a little more as they followed him back to the ships lounge. "What have you got?" Kyr asked.
Tac started by showing Chikara, and the ruins, then zooming out to orbit, with two yellow vector lines shooting out into space as the map zoomed out to show a large section of the galaxy.
"He says there are two systems that align exactly with the ruins at the time of the explosion. Don't have a lot of information on either of the places."
"What do we expect to find there?" Viran ventured.
"I dunno." Kyr shrugged. "I guess the hope is that we go there and find something, otherwise we don't have any other leads.
"Which one do we go to first?" Sasha asked, trying to think if there was a good way to decide between the two destinations.
"Tac and I will take this one," He pointed at one of the destinations, "How bout you guys take that one?" Kyr suggested.
Sasha and Viran both glanced at him, then at each other. It just hadn't occurred to them to split up. Op would have insisted they stay together, and that was still deeply ingrained in them.
"You guys don't need me to babysit you, you're Jedi after all." Kyr said, as if reading their minds. "Besides, after what you did to Klack, I'm the one that should be nervous without Sash'ika here to watch my back."
Sasha had a blush rushing to her face as he said that. Viran chuckled.
"I guess you have a point," Viran said. 'It's just… a new experience for us is all."
"You'll do fine Sport." Kyr said looking at Viran. "Tac, can you go get one of the survey imagers?" He asked the droid, who went off with a couple of beeps complaining how he had to do all the work. The mando then turned back to Sasha and Viran. "In case we find another temple or something, you can use the imager to capture the site, and then send it back to me so Tac can see if there are more alignments."
"We can do that," Viran said with a nod.
"I guess this would take less time," Sasha stated plainly. "Splitting up, I mean. As long as we all promise to keep in contact if we find something or run into danger and need back up."
"Yeah, definitely." Kyr said, as Tac came back in, dragging the equipment behind him like a pouting child at the end of a magnetic grappler line. "Tac!" Kyr yelled, "That stuff is expensive! Don't drag it like that!" He yelled at the droid as he ran to rescue the imager. He brushed the surface off as he went to hand it to Viran and Sasha. "Yeah, we keep in contact, if we find anything let eachother know, and if we need any help, back each other up."
Sasha and Viran nodded as they adjusted the gear in their arms. Viran looked to the droid.
"Can you send me a copy of the map with the route we will take?" Viran asked Tac. The droid replied happily with a couple of chirps and whistles. "Thanks, Tac."
"Oh, and if you hear from Op, let me know anything important." Kyr added.
Sasha nodded. "I will. I promise."
"Tac and I will walk you to your ship so he can download the coordinates to your system and give your our communication cyphers."
Sasha and Viran nodded as they gathered themselves and the gear before heading down the ramp followed closely behind by Kyr and Tac. They walked the short distance between their ships. As winter was setting in on Artemis snow was starting to gently fall across the landing field, collecting on the ground as they crunched through. The softness of the winter storm quieted the sounds of the town around them, and brought a peaceful stillness to the air. When they got to Sasha and Virans ship, Kyr tapped Viran on the shoulder. "Hold up Sport."
Sasha and Tac continued on up the ramp, Sasha took some notice of Viran and the Mandalorian staying outside but continued on board to help Tac interface with the ship. When she was inside, Kyr looked back at the younger man and took off his buy'ce.
"Viran, take it from me." He said, looking Viran directly in the eyes. "The things you'll regret most are the things left unsaid, the paths you don't go down because you didn't say what you had to. Regret is a terrible burden to carry with you, make sure you say what you need to before you don't have the chance." Kyr said in a quiet tone.
Viran looked up at him, at the face that was also Oppies and indirectly carried the weight of his mentor, his friend, his older brother behind it, even though he knew it was a different man. The snow was slowly settling on the top of his head and shoulder armor. Viran glanced back up at the ship, and then down at the ground, then back up to the Mandalorian. "Thanks, Kyr." He said quietly.
Tac appeared at the top of the ramp and trundled down. Sasha stood at the top.
"No problem Sport." He said with a pat on his shoulder, then looked up at Sasha as Viran walked up the ramp to join her. "Good hunting vod!" He called out to say goodbye.
Viran gave Kyr a small salute with two of his fingers as Sasha waved him off.
"You too. Take care of him, Tac," Sasha called as the ramp started to raise. "And may the Force be with you."
Kyr smirked as he waved them off as the ramp closed. Tac was chirping with a sad chime as they were leaving. Once the ship was up off the ground and up into the air, the Mando returned to his own ship followed shortly behind by Tac.
Viran guided the ship up and into the atmosphere of Artemis. As they flew up into orbit of the planet, Viran readied the ship to make the leap into hyperspace. He hesitated as he stared at the navicomputer. He then slowly raised his gaze to Sasha, who was sitting beside him in the co-pilot's chair. She was busy scrolling through the map Tac had given them on a data pad in her hands to notice him staring. He could hear Kyr's voice echoing in his head.
Shaking the thought away, Viran inputted the coordinates before pulling the ship into the swirls of hyperspace. As they traveled, Viran sat back in his chair as he turned on the autopilot. There was a strange silence that hung in the air as he bit the inside of his cheek with a nervous energy.
"What did Kyr have to say?" Sasha's voice rang into his thoughts, breaking him of his daze.
Viran blinked rapidly before looking at her. She wasn't looking up from the datapad, but her body language led him to believe that she was trying to converse with him.
"Oh uh… it was just some words of advice for the trip," Viran said, turning his gaze to the dashboard as if looking for a distraction.
"Oh?" Sasha asked curiously as she glanced up at him from the datapad.
Viran cleared his throat. He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to avoid eye contact.
"He said to um… to uh… not leave things unsaid and make sure that um… that we are on the same page. You know… just in case…" Viran said extremely nervously.
"In case of what?" Sasha asked as she leaned forward in her chair.
"In case of the worst case scenario. In case we are in danger," Viran groaned. "I don't know. It was just some Mandalorian proverb."
Sasha chuckled. "Mandalorian proverb? No offense, Vir, but Kyr doesn't strike me as the wise old jedi master type to be giving sage advice like that."
Viran turned red. Sasha turned her head in such a way as if to see his face.
"Now what did he actually say?" Saska continued to poke at him.
Viran sighed. Standing from his seat, he briefly paced the cockpit of the ship knowing full well Sasha's eyes were on him. After a moment, he spoke up.
"He said exactly what I said. To not keep things to myself and say them or I will regret it forever. Especially if something happens," Viran said with his back to her as he needed to say it without looking at her.
"Does this have to do with last night?" Sasha asked.
Viran lowered his head. "Yeah." He responded after a long moment of silence.
"Viran, if you have something to say just say it," Sasha said with a pinch of annoyance.
Clenching his fists, Viran turned on his heel with his eyes closed and let the words fly out of his mouth like word vomit.
"I like you, Sasha," He blurted out.
He heard her chuckle as he slowly peeled his eyes open to see her standing from her chair, coming to him.
"I like you too, Vir," Sasha said with a smirk. "But we already knew that."
"No, I mean…" Viran groaned as he gripped his hair with his hands, frustrated at himself. He took a deep breath and dropped his hands. "I mean I like… like you." Another pause. "Like I love you."
He said it. The words had finally been said out loud to Sasha. But now he felt his biggest fear settling into his chest. What was she going to say? Viran glanced up at Sasha to find her frozen in front of him. Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth was slightly open.
"You… love me?" The words seemed to fall from her lips as if they weren't real.
Viran turned as red as a berry. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… I do."
"How long?" Sasha then asked.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"How long have you… you know?" Sasha asked him.
"Um… a long time now. I think it was around the time you first beat me in a long spar we had shortly after we first arrived at Vothkul about four years ago," Viran remembered. "We were exhausted and had been sparing for a while. But the way you looked in the moonlight as I lay defeated on the dirt." He paused for a moment, remembering. "Ever since that night I saw how beautiful you were with everything you did. The way you handled yourself at the bar was a level of badass that always impressed me and made me smile. Oh and your smile… I never knew something could make me so weak. And…" He stopped when he realized he was rambling on about her. Viran looked at her and saw that she was about as red as his cheeks felt. "I'm sorry. It's just… You mean everything to me, Sash. You always have. Even if I didn't notice it until I was older."
She was silent. The look on her face was enough to say she was speechless. Stepping backwards, Sasha glanced around unsure of how to respond.
"I had no idea," Sasha said in a soft voice. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Oh believe me, there were a number of times where I tried or even did, but you weren't…"
"Conscious," She finished before closing her eyes in realization. "That's what you said to me when I was sick with the flu. And on Polis Massa. You were telling me how you truly felt about me."
"Because I thought I wasn't going to see you again," Viran said with a pang of fear. "You were so unwell. I just had to say it before… it was too late. Obviously you got better, but I still felt like I had to say it. However, you never heard me. But Oppie did, at least the first time."
"Viran…" She started, but he interrupted her.
"No please. Let me finish," Viran said as he held up a hand. "If you don't feel the same way, that's fine. But I will never not be there for you, to protect you or fight by your side. You are my best friend Sasha. I just had to say somethi…"
He was cut off as Sasha closed the gap between them. She grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him into a soothing kiss. Her lips pressed against his, surprising him. Viran's eyes blinked in shock as she pulled away slightly.
"You talk too much," Sasha said softly. "And… I love you too."
Viran found a smile grow on his face. He grabbed her chin and tilted it toward him as he pulled her into another kiss. Her lips were so soft against his. Viran had dreamed of this and the fact it was happening made his heart leap with joy. Their arms slowly wrapped around each other as the kiss continued. Slowly they pulled away, their foreheads resting against each other both with smiles on their faces.
"So you love me too, huh?' he asked with a slight chuckle.
"For a while too," Sasha said bashfully. "But I assumed you didn't feel the same about me."
Viran laughed causing her to giggle. "Glad to know we are on the same page."
"Aye," Sasha said. "And I promise I will always be there for you too."
He grinned as he pulled her into a hug and held her close to him. He didn't know how long they held that position, but neither of them cared at the moment.
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