(Flashback)

Kai laid on her back in the cockpit as they traveled through hyperspace and gave a heavy sigh.

It had been a long time in the making, her research on this woman, and what had come of it? So far, all of her leads on Viya's syndicate were cold. How could that be possible? She was trying so many avenues, but they all led to nothing, every time. How could a widespread syndicate like hers be so hidden underground? Why was she so well protected? Either Kai was met with the end of a blaster, or a lack of documentation, and she was starting to prefer the first because at least that meant she got a reaction.

She checked her tablet again and when nothing came up from her search, she groaned and sighed again. She rolled onto her stomach and laid her head down on her arms.

Rayfe shot a quick look down and when he saw what was on her tablet, what she was searching for, he glared slightly before turning back to the controls. "Kai. I thought we talked about this." His voice was firm, and held a hint of disappointment.

Kai rolled her eyes, out of his sight since she had her head away from him, and she rolled back to her back, where he could see her face. "We did talk about it, and you know how much this means to me. Rayfe, do we really need to talk about this again? They killed my mother!" She sat up, her palms flat on the ground and looked at him, frustrated. She felt her heart jump at her own words, and it made her chest feel numb.

He kept his eyes on the controls as he flew, but answered. "Yes, I know that, but I keep telling you, if you go after them, you will die. I don't want that for you. For us. I love you too much." He said, sounding slightly desperate, not a normal tone for him. When she didn't argue he took a small breath of relief. That at least meant she was listening, and that's all he needed her to do.

Kai thought about what he said for a moment as she usually did. Every single he told her that he loved her, it seemed to fill a hole in her chest, and right now, it was riding her of that numb feeling. But she still just had the hardest time letting it go. "I love you too. It…it feels wrong though. To just leave it." She tried to explain and he nodded, letting her finish her thought. "To leave it, it feels like I'm abandoning her. It feels like her death meant nothing to me, that it's not worth seeking revenge." She combed back her hair with her hand and sighed, looking up at him. She knew he could read her face just as well as she could his.

"I know that, Kai. And I also happen to know that you know I understand. You know what happened to my family. You know how I lost them, and the years of desperation and pain I endured, that we both endured. But we have moved past that, we have found each other and I can't let you go into something that will only hurt you more. Please, promise me that you will stop searching. We can have a good life together. It may be one job after another, but if it's with you, I don't care." He finished, feeling slightly out of breath, at the strength of his words. She kept her gaze to the floor in front of her, and he bit his bottom lip in thought for a moment before standing, his lekku twitching slightly. He knelt on the ground, next to her, the ship now on autopilot.

"Keella," he said gently, using his term of endearment, "look at me, please." He asked her, and gently placed a calloused finger under her chin.

Kai raised her eyes to look at him, and blue stared into brown, not looking away or blinking.

He gently moved the hair out of her face, soft against his fingers. "I am so sorry she was killed, and I'm sorry you couldn't do anything to save her. If I could find a way to rewind time to give her back to you, you know I would." He whispered, and leaned forward to kiss her forehead, and then leaned his head against hers, and he gently nudged his nose against hers. "I love you. And I want you to survive, and live." He was about to say more, when she sat up more and wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder, and he bent slightly so that he could swing his legs around and sit down completely. He brought her close and closed his eyes in relief.

"Okay." She said quietly. "You might have to tell me that a few more times, but I know you're right. She…she wouldn't want me to do this, she wouldn't want me to put myself in danger." She leaned up and looked at him, her thumb brushing his cheek. He smiled and leaned into her hand, his lekku moving happily for a moment. "I love you, Rayfe." She said quietly, a small smile on her face. "I don't know what I would do without you."
He grinned wide and leaned forward to kiss her, holding the back of her head and when he leaned away he winked. "You'd be horribly lonely, most likely. Get into all sorts of trouble, and have no one to break you out."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Okay, I don't get in that much trouble, and I'm usually pretty good at getting myself out of it."
He laughed loudly at that one and tapped his finger against her nose. "You are good at a great many things my love, but avoiding trouble, and getting away from it when you're in it, is not a skill you have." Then his face became a little more serious.
"Speaking of trouble, I…may have found us a job. I am not sure it's a good idea but the person in charge is willing to pay well."
At the mention of a job, Kai perked up her mind already moving. "Alright, what kind of job are we talking here?"
He slid his own pad over and showed her the details, the few there were.

It was a stealth and theft mission. Something had been taken from the employer and he needed it back desperately.

The only information he could give was a clear description of the item, which was some sort of locked box with valuable crystals inside, fine gems that would make a fortune on the market. He could give the location of where the item was taken, but beyond that, there was nothing else.
There was no logistics of how well guarded the encampment was, or how many would be there.
He looked over at her. "I'm not sure about it. It feels off to me."
She sat there for a moment and thought, staring at the employer's face, a middle aged Bothan male who's face looked back at her.
"I think we should call him. This is offering us a lot of money and we really need to land somewhere to refill fuel and get repairs. It's just the two of us, so the likelihood of us getting caught will be a lot lower. And who knows, maybe he'll give us more details when we talk to him." She said, raising a shoulder in a shrug. "I think we should do it."

He bit his lip again in thought, and she looked at him affectionately before reaching forward with her thumb and stopping him and she gave him a small kiss. "Stop that."
He rolled his eyes at her and he relented. She was right, they did need the money.
"Alright, let's call him."

So, it turned out that the man really didn't have a lot of extra information to give them. Everything that was on the document was accurate. He gave them an estimate of about thirty-five guards, but they had no idea how it was split up, or what was to be expected.

When they landed about two klicks away from the campsite, Kai stood to zip her jacket up.

She made her way down to the cargo bay and picked out her blaster of choice and slid on some gloves for added grip. She grabbed the hair tie off of her wrist as well, and secured her hair up on her head, making sure that the bun wouldn't move. She would have preferred a ponytail, her hair just hanging free, but that was a rookie move when it came to hand to hand combat fights, and Ozan had taught her too well.

His vibrostaff still lay in its hooks on the wall and as she always did, she tipped her head to it and gave a small salute.
"Wish me luck, Dad. Let's just hope this goes well. I don't know hardly any info, but we'll be fine right?" She asked, and it was silly but she felt calm as she looked at it.

"Are you talking to that staff again?" Rayfe asked, climbing down the ladder and making his way over to her. He finished wrapping the bottom of his lekku and grabbed his own weapon, and he winked over at her.
"Stop teasing me, you know it calms me down." She shot back and poked his chest with her finger and he laughed before grabbing it and he pulled her into his chest.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and the other went to her cheek and he leaned down to give her a slow kiss.
She tilted her head so she could lean into it more, and just like it was every time, it was soft and kind and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

He kissed her again, and leaned back a few inches, still close she could smell his familiar cologne and his breath against her skin, and he kissed her nose. "Try to keep out of trouble." He said, the same line he always gave before a mission. He was such a man of habit and she loved that part about him.

"You know I can't do that." She replied, the words familiar to her, and he closed his eyes with a chuckle, and gave her a firmer kiss before stepping back and going to the ramp.
"Well, shall we get this over with?" He asked, and when she nodded he pressed the button. Once they were out, he closed the door and they began walking.

It was hot outside, and the slight breeze did nothing to cool it down. It came as a surprise as it was a fairly well forested area. One would have thought that the shade would offer some relief but it felt as if the whole planet was stifled by the heat. Kai did well by her standards, and didn't complain until the last klick.

She adjusted her shirt on her shoulders and glared over at Rayfe, feeling grouchy. "Remind me to steal speeders on our way back, so we don't have to walk all of this." She grumbled and he shook his head at her, his eyes affectionate. "It's really not that bad, love. We'll be in the campsite soon enough, and then there will be enough action that you won't be focused on the heat."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know. I just- "she cut off when she saw the campsite and she pointed minutely, yet dramatically in its direction. "There it is."
He gave her a dry look as his walk turned into a slow creep forward. "Thank you. I might have missed it otherwise." He retorted and she smacked his shoulder as they made their way forward.
They made it to the edge of the tree line and after a scan, they found a good spot to check out the perimeter and they settled on a small hill, hidden by bushes. Rayfe looked through his binoculars and cursed when he saw what was waiting for them.

"They have a fence around it, so we'll have to time it for when some sort of guard change happens, or supply run. There looks to be about thirty, so less than the man said. The tents seem easy enough to maneuver around. I'm assuming we're going for the tent nearest the middle, the one with all the loot in front of it." He handed the binocs to her and she gave the camp her own once over.

"Yeah, I agree. I think that's the one. Should we wait until dark? I think we should wait until the sunset puts the sun right in their eyes. We'll have to be quick. We'll only have a few minutes. I just think it will be too bright at night." She gestured to the light posts scattered around the campsite. "We can only stick to the shadows so much, before we have no other choice. Especially around the gate. But then again, if we waited we could lose them in the forest. What do you think?"
He hummed and laid his chin on his arms. "Now would be best, I think. We have the light to our advantage." He checked his comm and grunted. "So, we have thirty minutes to prep. What do you say, we have a romantic date of watching guard rotations?" He asked, giving her a wink.

She shook her head and sat up against the tree, readying her pistol and she looked around. "I'll do you one better. How about you check the rotations and I make sure you don't get shot in the back?"

He pretended to think for a moment and then nodded his head. "Ah, yes that would work too." He then got comfy and began scanning the area.

Soon the sun was exactly at eye level and they stood and made their way to the opening they were going to choose. She leaned up on her tiptoes and kiss his cheek one more time and she felt his lekku brush her arm affectionately.

"Shall we?" She asked, and when he nodded, she took the lead into the camp. As predicted, it was extremely bright, so much so that she was surprised they even chose to camp here. Sure, the fact that it was out of the way place was nice, but it left them highly vulnerable at this time of day.

They passed by a couple guards and decided that the best course of action would be to incapacitate them and place them in the tents. That way they could stay concealed for just a little bit longer. She placed a silencer on her pistol and handed one to Rayfe as well, their motions flowing like a dance.

Soon they approached the middle tent and when they snuck inside, they saw a minimum of eight guards. Where the rest were, she had no idea. But they had to take advantage of what they had. They each chose their targets and began to fire.

The element of surprise made it so that they took them out fairly simply and Rayfe opened the top of the backpack he had carried in and allowed her to slip in the box, closing it tightly. "Alright, one half down, now's the fun part." He whispered, his eyes sparkling at her.
She rolled her eyes. "You're enjoying this far too much." She shot at him and he shrugged and lifted the backpack onto his shoulders and gestured for her to go to the door. "That I am. Now, shall we depart?"

They opened the flap and it was almost the exact same as every holovid out there.

Another eight people, armed well, stared back at them and she looked at them and then at Rayfe. "Uh…run?" She offered and they took off back through the tent, the lasers burning through the fabric and they burst out the other side, heading into the sun. The best thing they could do was to get out of the camp this direction and loop back to their ship, even if it doubled the distance they had to go through the encampment.
They dove behind some crates and Kai managed to take out another four men before they kept running.
"Maybe we should have waited for nighttime?" Kai shouted back and she saw Rayfe roll his eyes and glare over at her.
"Now" he dodged and rolled and kept running "is not the time for that, love." He shouted and they skidded to a stop when four others ran out in front. Now they had guns coming from the front and the back. They hid behind a collection of crates and Rayfe winced as he caught his breath.

"Any ideas?" He rasped and she winked up at him.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask! I have two ideas!" She said triumphantly and his eyes widened when she pulled out two of their more expensive explosives. "I thought I'd bring these along, a little surprise."
"Well throw them then!" He said quickly and she nodded and pressed the button and tossed it to her right, and then tossed the other to her left and she tucked herself close to Rayfe, his arms automatically going around her as he curled over top.
The explosions made her ears ring and she groaned as she tucked her head into his chest. Once the ringing stopped she forced her body to move and she peeked over the edge. No one was moving. It seemed her plan was a success.

She grabbed onto Rayfe's hand and pulled him up to standing. "Alright, let's go!"

He nodded and they began running again, but now the sun was getting lower, so their time was short. They were getting near the edge of the camp, they could make it. They really could.

Suddenly a long shot rang out, a sniper round from the sounds of it, coming from across the camp. Of course, they were in the open, they just needed to move. If they stayed out in the middle of the path like this, they were easy targets.

It was then that she realized that Rayfe wasn't right next to her.

It happened almost in slow motion. She looked back and he was laying on his stomach, groaning but not moving.

She held in a gasp as she ran back and rolled him onto his side, sliding off the backpack.

Her hands shook as she moved his lekku out of the way and she saw the wound. A complete entrance and exit wound right in his chest. The smell of the blaster mixed with burning flesh met her nostrils and her breath stuttered.

"Come on, you have to get up!" Her hands felt numb as she pulled at his jacket and her eyes burned.
He placed a hand on hers, his breath already starting to grow short and harsh. "I can't. Take it, and leave. Now."

Kai's eyes lit up in anger. "Are you karking kidding me? I'm not leaving you." She tried to slide her arm under him and he grabbed it, and she could hear the reinforcements starting to approach. She managed to slide him onto her lap and she moved his lekku so she wasn't crushing it. "Can you stand?" She asked, her voice rough.

He coughed in pain, and his eyes squinted shut. "Can't feel my legs too well." He whispered and he looked up at her. "Go get those jewels to our client, ok?" He asked quietly. "Leave, please. I don't want you to die here."
Hearing those words, her chest exploded in pain. "But Rayfe…I can't leave you here. I love you." She choked out and he lifted a shaky hand to hold her face. She could hear voices as they grew closer. They only had a few more moments. "I love you so much. I need you. I can't live without you." She continued as she leaned her head on his and he sighed, warm air puffing onto her face.
"Oh, Kai. You're so much stronger than you think you are. You can make it out of here, and you are going to keep living. Promise me something." He looked up at her desperately. "And I need you to promise on your life." He coughed as she nodded.

"What is it?" She asked, and he gave her a small smile and relaxed his face.

"Please, don't go after Viya. Please. Your life is not worth trying to take her out." He begged her and she closed her eyes and swallowed. Of any promise he could have asked, of course he asked that one. But she couldn't refuse him, and she couldn't go back on it either.
"I promise." She said quietly and he grasped her wrist with all his strength, which it nearly broke her to feel that it wasn't much.

"Kai, I need you to promise." He insisted and she glared at him, with anger and all the love she could musterin her eyes.

"I promise Rayfe. I won't do it. It doesn't mean I don't want to. But I promise I won't." Tears started to fall as he relaxed and slowly blinked.
"I love you Kai. Now leave." He commanded and she held her forehead to his for a long moment before choking out a sob. "Go." He whispered, and she took this last moment to hold him, and feel his warmth and love.

She let out an agonized whimper as she placed him back on the ground against a nearby crate. and she handed him her pistol. "I'm so sorry." She told him and he winked up at her, still having that trademark smirk she fell in love with, on his face.

"There's nothing y-you" He coughed "have to apologize for. We knew the risks. Thank you for letting me come with you that day. You didn't have to, yet you did. Thank you for taking care of me, and loving me. I'm the luckiest man in the galaxy. Now," He slapped her ankle lightly with his hand. "go."
She backed up, her head ringing and pain lancing in each temple and she stepped back, her chest squeezing tighter and tighter. She had to leave. She was vulnerable here.

She held in a cry that threatened to tear her chest apart and she turned and ran. And she kept running, even when she heard rapid shots ring out and what seemed like a dozen other shots answer, none falling towards her, but at the man who was protecting her. The silence afterwards was deafening and she couldn't bear to look back, because she knew what she'd see.

She kept running even when she fell and tore her jacket, causing her arm to bleed. She kept running, the sounds of the camp getting further and further away.

She managed to slip up the ramp of the ship and she slammed her hand down on the button, finally letting the sounds of absolute pain loose.
It echoed around the empty ship as she stumbled in the pilot's seat, her eyes almost too blurry to see. She'd felt this pain too many times in her life, but each of the previous times it had been different, breaking something deep inside her.

Her ship lifted off with her automatic motions and she managed to get into the atmosphere and into hyperspace with a destination to a fairly deserted planet. The planet was one Ozan always told her to land at if she needed to hide somewhere.

When she knew she was safe, she curled forward in the chair and curled forwards, digging her nails into her palms, just to feel something, anything other than the raging pain in her chest. The sounds coming out of her didn't even seem human, but none the less, they were coming from her.

All she could see, all she could smell, was the moment back with Rayfe. How was she going to live with never seeing him again? All she could see was his wide smile he'd always give her or his peaceful face when she'd wake up before him, the second such a rare occurrence.

She buried her head in her hands and slid onto the floor, curling into a ball. She couldn't go in their room, not now. Maybe not ever. Right now, all she could do was fight for every breath and hope no one came after her once she exited lightspeed.
That had to be enough, because she wasn't capable of anything else.

** Keella = darling

(You can go to the link for other words in Ryl, for any of ye curious folk. ?page_id=34)

(A/N: I just wanted to thank all my wonderful readers for being so patient as I grind this story out! I know sometimes it's a while between chapters, but I appreciate the support and kindess and patience!)