From the Ashes

by Prisoner 24601

KoTOR: Chapter 10. Malak spoke. “Do you remember how you taunted me? You were so good at being cruel, Revan. One minute I was your friend and lover, the next, your broken apprentice.”

7. Partial Truths

Since people are asking questions, I'm now putting the author's notes at the end of the story. So without further delay…

Chapter 7: Partial Truths

"What have you done?" Bastila demanded.

Jolee and Min faced each other, legs crossed on the crimson rug in Min's office. Her meditation focus, a candle, burned in between the two Jedi. Bastila stood over them, hands on her curvy hips, lips thinned in frustration. Jolee looked up at the angry Jedi woman and decided that he'd sit this fight out.

Since the incident in the med bay, Jolee had been training Min, teaching her rudimentary mental defenses. He'd been appalled to discover that the Jedi had not taken the time to teach her even the simplest of mind blocks. While Min was strong in the Force, she had very little natural aptitude for empathy. It had taken her awhile, but Min was able to isolate the bond she and Bastila shared and put a mental block on it. But by doing so, she finally realized how much information she'd inadvertently been sending through the bond. The woman was understandably livid.

Min rose from the floor and her black eyes flashed at Bastila. The younger Jedi instinctively stepped backwards.

Jolee folded his long, elegant fingers on his lap and settled in for the show. The poor girl doesn't stand a chance.

"What I should have done months ago. What's the matter Bastila? You don't like the idea that you can't spy on me anymore?"

For someone who had a lot to hide, Bastila was an appallingly bad liar. "I do not know what you mean."

"The bond, Bastila. I find it strange that while you seem to have complete access to my emotions, I almost never feel yours. Why is that?" Min inquired in a deceptively bland tone.

"Perhaps my emotions are more controlled than yours."

Jolee almost groaned out loud. Do you really think that she's that stupid?

"Or perhaps you're manipulating the bond so I can't feel yours." Min's voice grew dangerously quiet. "Why didn't you tell me that I could put a mental block up to keep you out?"

"It was for your own good."

"Oh. It was for my own good." Despite the sarcasm, Jolee could feel Min attempting to control her temper.

"Yes. It is my duty to keep an eye on you, which considering your recent," Bastila searched for the right word, "escapade with Carth, you clearly need."

Jolee's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he wisely kept silent. Maybe the boy wasn't as dense as he'd feared.

Min refused to allow Bastila to sidetrack her. "Fine. Since I clearly need your wisdom and guidance, I'll let you back into my mind. As long as you let me into yours."

Bastila's complexion went from creamy pink to deathly white in under a second.

"What's the matter Bastila? Don't like that idea? Does it make you feel embarrassed, infuriated, violated?"

"I did not mean-"

Min got right into Bastila's face. "I don't care what you meant, or what your intentions were. If you ever open the bond between us again, without my permission, you will be on the receiving end of one seriously spectacular ass kicking. Are we clear?"

Bastila nodded dumbly; Min stalked out of the room.

Jolee waited for the door to close before speaking. "Not training her to raise a simple mind block was very irresponsible. You left her wide open to any mental attack."

Bastila slumped into the leather chair. "I followed the orders of the Council and did what they thought was best. To be truthful, I thought it was necessary as well. "

"You know what I hate? Well, you know, lots of things, really. But I'm old and easily annoyed. But that's beside the point. What I really hate are how most people view the Jedi. Everyone thinks that Jedi are perfect, that they can do no wrong."

"You would have me go against the orders of the Council?"

"The Council isn't infallible."

"You know what she is. It was the only way that I had to monitor her. It was the only way I could be certain that she was not falling to the dark side."

"Are you sure that was your only motive?"

"What are you implying?"

"Min is very strong. Being exposed to all that power through the bond must be very intoxicating. Not to mention the darkness that is still there."

"I do not enjoy this bond. The constant exposure to her emotions and powers is at times overwhelming. Still, I monitor her as much as possible. It is my duty."

"And how's that working out? You've been 'monitoring' her now, for what, several months? Did your mental intrusion make any difference at all other than causing everyone to suffer a headache?" While he appreciated the deviousness of Min's revenge, Jolee, along with the other members of the crew, was growing weary of the noise that Mission insisted was music. He was going to have to have a little talk with Min about that.

"It warned me about the two of them."

"I hate to break it to you young lady, but anyone with eyes can see that. Have you ever watched them play Dejerik?" By the way Bastila colored, it was apparent that she had.

The flirting that had always gone on over the game board had recently grown in intensity. Min usually wiped the floor with the pilot, although for his part, Carth really didn't seem to mind. Jolee wondered how much of the Min's success had to do with her strategy, which was admittedly very good, or Carth's inability to stay focused on the game, which was inexplicable considering that as a Republic Fleet Captain he must know something about strategy and tactics. Jolee eventually realized that Carth wasn't even looking at the game board most of the time.

Jolee sighed. "I suppose you think you're going to be able to stop them."

Guilt swamped Bastila's aristocratic features. "I have to. It is dangerous and unkind to both of them. If they found out they would both be hurt."

"Has it ever occurred to you that this could be a good thing?"

From the shocked look on her face it was apparent that it hadn't. Jolee wasn't surprised. Bastila was, after all, everything that the Jedi Masters said you were supposed to be. It was no wonder the girl was so damn unhappy. Heh. Time to corrupt the youth.

"Let me ask you this: have you ever been in love? Truly in love, I mean, and not simple infatuation." Bastila just stared at him as if he were insane. Jolee didn't mind, he had grown used to it. "The Jedi, with their damnable sense of over-caution, would tell you love is something to avoid. Thankfully, anyone who's even partially alive knows that's not true."

The poor girl looked like she'd been bushwhacked.

"All this nonsense about avoiding love is so much foo-foo. Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled, but passion is not the same thing as love."

"What about the pain it can bring? Surely you can see the wisdom of not permitting emotional attachments. Love can only obscure and confuse the matter. Especially in this case."

"Love causes pain, certainly. Inevitably love is going to lead to as much sorrow and regret as it does joy. But how you deal with the bad part of love is what determines your character, what determines the dark side's hold over you. Controlling your passions while being in love, that's what they should teach you to beware. But love, itself, will save you, not condemn you."

"Is that what you think is going to happen? That somehow love is going to save her? I do not think you grasp the seriousness of the situation!"

He suddenly felt his age. It was very tiring. "Don't I? Hmph. Maybe you're right. It seems whatever I have to say is falling on deaf ears, anyhow." He rose in one lithe movement. "You won't be able to stop them. Any interference you take now will just anger them more. I'm afraid you're just going to have to let them sort it out for themselves."

"That's just not acceptable," Bastila said.

"It's out of your hands now. So why don't you do what the Jedi Council is always preaching?"

"Which is?"

"Put your trust in the force." He had the satisfaction of leaving her gaping.

---

The woman was driving him crazy.

Carth sat across the table from Kara Tam, local bureaucrat and Czerka Protocol Officer, and tried to pay attention to what she was saying.

"So then, Janar says to me…."

It was Min's fault that he was in this position. They'd discovered very quickly after landing at Anchorhead, the one and only settlement this dust ball of a planet had, that Czerka Corp. required hunting licenses from anyone who wished to access the rest of the planet. If they had been able to pinpoint the location of the Star Map, they could have just landed without Czerka's permission, accessed it and left. After all, Tatooine was a very desolate planet and the odds of getting caught on a quick raid were slim. But they couldn't pick up the signal from space. Min and Bastila's vision showed that the map was somewhere deep underground. It made sense really, if the Star Map had been out in the open desert, it would have been covered long ago by the constantly drifting sand dunes.

Since it looked like it was going to take longer than they had expected, they were going to have to play by Czerka's rules, or risk attracting very unwanted attention.

Which was why he was having dinner with Kara Tam; she was the Czerka employee in charge of issuing hunting licenses. Min, Carth and Canderous had gone to the Czerka branch office earlier that day. They had stood in two separate lines, filled out a stack of paperwork and spoken to three different clerks. After getting the bureaucratic runaround for several hours, they were finally able to speak with Protocol Officer Tam.

"I'm sorry, Jedi Avery, but due to the increased frequency of sand people attacks, Czerka Corporation is no longer issuing hunting licenses to the general public." They all knew this was a lie; the Duros in front of them had just walked out of there with a hunting license. The protocol officer hadn't sounded sorry at all. Carth recognized her kind, the woman reveled in her petty power and probably resented being stuck on such a back water world.

Compounding the problem was Min's tendency to walk into a room like she owned it. Although he was pretty certain that she did it unconsciously, the effect on Officer Tam was the same as raising a red flag in front of a ronto. Denying Min a license would be the highlight of her week.

Min rubbed her temples. "Isn't there somebody else we can talk to? Someone who can get things done?"

It was the wrong thing to say, Min had inadvertently questioned the bureaucratic authority of her one woman fiefdom. The protocol officer favored the Jedi with her best false smile, her bright cheerfulness thinly veiling her increasing hostility. "No. I am the highest authority present in this branch office. If you would like to appeal my decision, you need to fill out these forms." The officer gleefully pulled out a stack of forms about four centimeters thick. "It takes about three weeks to get an answer."

Min stuck her foot in even further. "What if we pay you four hundred credits, instead of the original two hundred?" Greed flickered behind the woman's eyes. If they had tried this tactic first it might have worked, but Min had already insulted her. There was no way this was going to work now.

"Are you offering me a bribe?"

Carth could see that Min was about to lose her temper. He was amazed actually that she'd managed to keep it this long and figured that maybe some of the Jedi serenity was rubbing off on her, although her clipped "Yes," sounded more like "Yes, you stupid dune cow."

"Jedi Avery, I am astonished and insulted that you would think I could be persuaded by such methods."

Or maybe not.

"Listen, you petty little-"

"Would you excuse us for a second?" Carth grabbed Min by the elbow and steered her over to the corner where Canderous was waiting. He had a freshly lit cigarra clenched between his teeth despite the sign that asked patrons not to smoke. Strangely enough, no one tried to stop the big Mandalorian.

"This isn't working," Carth said. "We're going to have to come up with another plan."

"I can't believe that woman. What the hell is her problem?"

"You're her problem."

Instead of getting angry, she gave him a thoughtful look. "You're right. I am." Carth could see the wheels turning and he wasn't sure he wanted to know where this was heading. "But she likes you. I think you should go back over there and talk to her, see if you can get her to take our bribe."

"You can't be serious."

"Come on, Onasi. It won't be hard. Just go over there and show her those big brown eyes of yours and get us the hunting license."

"What makes you think that will work?"

"Because she's looking at you like she wants to sop you up with a biscuit."

Carth had really hoped that Min hadn't noticed that; he could feel himself turning pink. To make matters worse, Canderous' snicker rumbled through the room.

Even though his irritation must have been clear to her, Min forged ahead anyway. "Hey, it's your turn. I had to put up with that Sith guy on Taris, Davik and Uthar."

"Uthar?" He scowled.

"How do you think I got into his bedroom?"

Now he was angry. "You didn't tell me you were in his bedroom!"

"That's where he kept all his files. Anyway, that's beside the point. Are you going to do this or not?"

"No!"

She sighed in defeat. "Alright. Maybe we can hire one of the hunters."

"You know we already tried that." Canderous said. The hunters were a tight lipped group, afraid that another would discover their prime hunting grounds. "The only one who was interested was Tanis Venn. But after yesterday…."

He gave Carth a vaguely disgruntled look which Carth returned in kind. Carth wasn't going to apologize for what happened yesterday. The hutt-slug had trashed his wife to total strangers, and then had the nerve to proposition both Min and Bastila. Carth had slammed the guy's head into the table and informed him that he might want to speak with a little more respect, unless he wanted to lose some of his teeth. His only regret was that he hadn't gotten the chance to follow through with it.

"Oh, I think I could probably get him to reconsider." She looked like she would rather jump into a sarlacc pit.

Faced with making nice with the petty civil servant or having that core-slime as their guide for their entire stay, Carth broke. "Fine."

"Go get her, pretty boy," Canderous snarked, as Carth snatched the credits out of Min's hand.

Unfortunately, it had worked. Too well. Kara Tam the Protocol Officer had agreed to take the bribe for the license, on the condition that he take her out to dinner. So now they were sitting in the local cantina and sharing an after dinner cocktail. It didn't help that Jolee, Canderous and Min were sitting across the bar playing a game of grav-pool. The three of them seemed to find this whole situation endlessly amusing. He had endured their ribbing all the way to the cantina and now could hear their laughter floating across the dingy bar.

He was going to wring Min's neck for talking him into this.

"Enough about me," Kara said. She tossed her long hair back and leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand. She would actually be a pretty woman, if it weren't for the fact that her features were slightly pinched, which cast a constantly sour expression over her features. "I think we should go somewhere private and talk about you for a while."

"I can't," he lied, "the boss expects us to be up pretty early in the morning."

"But if you didn't I'd be so disappointed…." Kara tried to run her foot up his leg. He moved his chair back in time to dodge her, the chair legs making a protesting squeak as he slid backwards. His obvious reluctance didn't seem to deter her at all. Either she was completely clueless, or she didn't care. He was guessing it was the latter.

Damn it. She's not going to let me get out of this gracefully.

Her predatory smile quickly turned into a snarl. He followed her gaze to where Min was standing over his shoulder. "I've come to collect my pilot."

"But I'm not finished with him yet."

"I think you are."

"You realize that I can revoke your hunting license as quickly as I gave it to you?"

Min winced. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." She draped her arm over the back of his chair and leaned over his shoulder. He could smell her scent; it had been gnawing on him for days. Expensive, spicy and very subtle, she must have bought it in Cloud City. It made him want to bury his face in her neck.

Min moved closer, rested her palm on the table and stared into protocol officer's eyes. "Thank you for dinner," she said.

Kara's eyes grew large and cloudy and her face went almost slack. "Thank you for dinner."

"But flyboys with death wishes really aren't my type." Carth ground his teeth in frustration. He'd hoped she'd let up on that. I guess not.

"But flyboys with death wishes really aren't my type." Kara repeated obediently, and somewhat sadly.

Min paused, thinking, and then said, "I think I'll go spend some of my newfound wealth."

Kara said the words as if they were her idea. "I think I'll go spend some of my newfound wealth."

"Somewhere else." Min added as an afterthought, when Kara didn't move. She made a little shooing motion with her hand.

"Somewhere else." Kara stood up and with a somewhat confused expression on her face walked out the door.

Min let out a sigh of relief. She straightened back up and took the chair Kara had vacated. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would go this far." He was surprised to see that she actually looked like she meant it.

It took him a second to recover from the effect of her nearness. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Jolee showed me."

Now that she was sitting across the table, it was easier to be mad at her. "Why didn't you do this in the first place?"

"Since I just bitched Bastila out for taking advantage of our bond, it didn't seem right to do this unless I didn't have a choice. It just seems so vile." He had to admit she had a point. What Bastila had done really ticked him off. While what Min had just done wasn't nearly as invasive, it did seem like a really dirty thing to do. It was actually kind of scary that the Jedi could do something like that to a person's mind.

But she lost all the points she'd scored by smiling like she couldn't help it. "Besides, for a while it was rather amusing."

She could have at least been jealous! "I'm so glad I could provide entertainment for you."

"Admit it, you love the attention."

Carth felt the familiar mixture of irritation and amusement that usually came from talking with Min. "You think so? I could probably get the same kind of attention from a blaster rifle."

"Don't like it, huh? What are you going to do about it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? You just wait, woman, you'll get yours."

"Mmm, sure. You're all talk, Carth."

He was exasperated that she didn't believe him. She probably thinks I'm too wholesome!

He leaned forward, looked her directly in the eye and spoke softly. "And just what would you do if I wasn't?"

She arched an elegant eyebrow at him and a slow smile spread across her face. For a few seconds, Carth allowed the possibilities to rampage through his thoughts. Realizing that this conversation was going into dangerous territory where she clearly had the upper hand, he backpedaled, laughing. "No, no, wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know." Right. Just keep telling yourself that Onasi.

Yes, she was definitely driving him crazy. The worst part was, he was loving every minute of it.

---

Canderous filled his lungs with the dry night air as the familiar smell of dust and sand brought back memories of his homeworld. It was late and the streets of Anchorhead were dark and deserted. Min fell into step beside him as they started back to the ship from the cantina. Jolee and Carth trailed behind, still engaged in an intense debate over the importance of the current Republic war effort compared to other campaigns.

Although Min was not a short woman, she barely came up to his shoulder. He looked down at her. [What's the plan?]

She pleased him by responding in Mandalorian. [We talk to the Jawa clan chief. Komad seemed to think that if anyone would know where a Star Map would be located on this rock, it would be them.] Komad Fortuna was one of the few hunters that would even talk to them. He was well respected by the other hunters and was the only one who was even remotely helpful.

Canderous hadn't been too surprised to learn that Min could actually understand some of Jawa trade language, the woman's ability with languages was uncanny. Still it was strange, the only place he'd ever heard of Jawas living was here on Tatooine and she insisted she'd never been here. Of course she also insisted that her parents were farmers. Why she'd lie about it baffled him, but she paid him well, and more importantly he was finally fighting opponents worthy of his skill, which was something he hadn't been able to find since his people were defeated by Revan. He wasn't about to mess that up.

Besides, he respected her, which was a hell of a lot more than he could say about Davik, or most other people. And even though she could be a serious pain in the ass, he had to hand it to her, she didn't take shit from anyone.

[We'll need to pick up some desert supplies. I'll ask around to see what we need.]

[I know what we need. I'll take care of it.] At her questioning look he continued. [The world of my clan - Ordo - was much like this. Dust basins and rock crags. But my world at least has some green around the equator. I heard that some of my people came here after the war, but I don't know what happened to them.] Not for the first time, he felt a twinge of regret for what was now lost.

[Do you want to take time to find them?]

He considered in silence for awhile. [No. Clan Ordo is long gone. The Mandalorians on this world, while of my people, are not my kinsman or my comrades.] Three figures stepped out onto the abandoned street. Although no one drew their weapons, Min, Carth and Jolee tensed up. But Canderous was stunned. [Jagi?]

[Canderous. It has been quite a long time.]

[I thought you were dead!] Jagi had been one of Canderous' most trusted subordinates. Together they had fought across the galaxy, until Althir. Canderous moved forward to exchange the traditional handshake greeting but was stopped by the look in Jagi's eyes.

[Of course you did. You thought all of us that you had sent on that attack had perished! I alone realized what was happening and managed to escape the trap before it closed. The trap you set for your own men!]

Anger replaced surprise. [I did what was prudent at the time. If I had not done it, the battle would have-]

[The battle would have been won anyway! No excuses, Canderous. I challenge you to a blood duel.]

Jagi flung the blood scroll at Canderous which Canderous caught in one hand.

[I accept, you insolent whelp.]

[I shall be waiting for you Canderous.] Jagi signaled to his men and disappeared down the alley.

"What's going on?" Carth asked, suspiciously glaring at Canderous. Min held her hand up to silence him. She looked intently at Canderous as they made their way in silence back to the Ebon Hawk.

The common room was strangely quiet, Juhani sat at the table in meditation. The others must have retired to their quarters for the evening. Once they were in the common room, Min sat at the table and gestured for Canderous to sit on the other side. Canderous and Jolee pulled up chairs, while Carth stood behind Min, arms crossed, glaring at Canderous.

Canderous opened the blood scroll and read in silence for a minute. When he looked up he began to speak in Mandalorian. She cut him off. "In basic, Canderous." He wasn't surprised, when others were present she insisted that they speak in basic, something about it being rude. Usually he didn't give a damn, but he wasn't sure he wanted to discuss this with the pilot, the old man and the Cathar. She was the boss, so he obeyed. But he didn't like it.

"Jagi was a warrior under my command up to the battle of Althir."

"Althir. That sounds familiar." Min said.

"It was one of the last planets the Mandalorians destroyed before the Republic declared war on them." Carth said. "You were there?"

"Yes. In one battle, my unit managed to defeat a force of Althiri ten times our own size. That battle gained me command of an entire sub-sect of my clan. For five days they had managed to hold off our forces, keeping us to the outer rings of their world, preventing us from attacking it directly." Canderous lit a cigarra and took a slow, deep drag. "My task was to assault one of their flanks with a false attack. The Althiri would be drawn out by the units I had sent in. Once they had surrounded those units, the bulk of my forces would attack from the rear and defeat them."

"Things did not go as I had planned. I saw an opening - a mistake they had made in the disposition of their forces - and took it! While fending off our main force, they had let their fleet split in two! The center of their entire fleet was left exposed! I turned my forces and assaulted the center of their fleet, decimating them!"

"You disobeyed your orders." Carth said, disapproval displayed by the hard line of his jaw.

"It was a chance given to a warrior once or twice in a lifetime. The chance to change the course of history in a single act. Their slow, ponderous ship could not turn to face us without being overwhelmed. Their command vessels were destroyed in seconds. Their ranks were thrown into chaos."

"If you won, then why does Jagi want to kill you?" Min asked.

"Because when he turned his forces to attack the middle, he left his own men without cover. Those men he sent in, on the false attack, must have been slaughtered." Contempt dripped from Carth's voice.

Canderous stood and faced off against Carth. "If I had not attacked when I did, the battle would not have been won so easily! The Althiri were fighting hard. I saw a break in their defenses that left their center exposed. I had to take the chance. I stand by my decision."

Carth took a step forward, itching to fight. "You were given direct orders and were part of a plan! You had a responsibility to your men!"

Min intervened. "It was a smart tactical move."

Carth stared down at her in disbelief. "He hung his own men out to dry, Min!"

"And he probably saved more lives by doing what he did."

"It's true," Canderous said, although the thought actually hadn't occurred to him until now. "If I had not done what I did, many more warriors would have died and the battle would have taken much longer."

Carth called him on it. "Bullshit. The fact that you saved lives was incidental. You did it for the glory, didn't you? So much for Mandalorian honor."

"Mandalore taught that opportunism and flexibility in battle were to be admired. As a warrior you should know that. That's how Revan fought."

"Yeah? And look how Revan turned out."

"Your precious Republic wouldn't be here without him."

Canderous knew that he had scored because Carth didn't deny it.

"Her." All eyes turned to Juhani.

"What?" Canderous said.

"Her. Revan was a woman."

"It's true," Carth said.

"How would you know?" he asked Carth, but it was Juhani who answered.

"Because I met her when I lived on Taris." Everyone stared at her.

Jolee interrupted. "Okay, kids. As fascinating as this is we still have a problem here."

"There is no problem old man. I have accepted Jagi's challenge, we fight in one week."

"I think you do have a problem. Where are you going to find someone to be your second, sonny?"

Canderous stood in silence as a strange loneliness stabbed him that he wasn't aware of until now. Going into a blood duel without a second would be unthinkable. But most of his comrades were dead, or very far away. He wasn't even sure if he knew any of the other Mandalorians on this planet. Most likely they were comrades of Jagi. By tradition, he needed someone who had fought by his side. By tradition, the second would have to volunteer, he could not ask.

"I'll be his second." Min said. She looked up at Canderous. "That is, if you want me to be."

Carth was outraged. "You must be joking!"

"I wouldn't joke about this."

"I would be honored." Which was actually true, the woman had proven herself to be a true warrior. There was also the added benefit of pissing off the pilot. Perfect.

"No!"

"It is not up to you, Onasi." She stood. "Hand me the scroll Canderous, and a knife."

"You don't know what you're agreeing to."

An odd bewildered look crossed her face. But it passed quickly and she spoke softly, "Yes, Carth, I do." She asked Canderous. "Is the fact that I'm a woman going to be a problem?"

"Technically, no. There is no restriction on women in Mandalorian blood dueling, but it is highly unusual. Don't expect them to respect us."

"That's not what I mean. Do you have a problem with it?"

Canderous handed her the scroll and the knife. Their eyes met across the table. "No. I meant what I said, I would be honored."

She nodded and laid the scroll on the table in between them. They faced each other across the table and Min ran the knife swiftly across her right palm, and handed it back to Canderous. He did the same. They grasped palms over the table, his large callused hand enveloping her long slender fingers, forearms touching. Their blood mingled and dripped down their arms onto the scroll.

They spoke the words together, he didn't even have to coach her. [Win or lose, I will guard your honor. If you falter, I will stand in your stead and spit in the eye of death. If you die, I will light your pyre and honor your memory. The galaxy will tremble before your name's honor.]

[Will you accept me as your second?] she asked.

[Yes. My enemies are yours, and yours are mine.]

[Then it is done.]

He felt a cool tingle cross his palm and when he pulled his hand away the cut was already healed.

Jolee handed her a cloth, and she wiped the blood off her arm. "I will deliver the scroll in the morning. What is your weapon of choice?"

"Mandalorian short blades, no armor." She handed him the bloodstained towel as he continued. "When you deliver the scroll tomorrow, be careful. Jagi will not respect you, and he will try to put you in your place."

---

Canderous was right. Jagi did try to put her in 'her place.' When she had presented him with the blood scroll he'd tried to backhand her across the face. She'd caught his wrist in one hand while the other held her lightsaber next to the family jewels. After he realized he was dealing with a Jedi, his attitude had changed towards the more respectful end of the spectrum, but not by much.

She was momentarily blinded as she stepped out the door into the bright desert sunlight. As her eyes adjusted, she was greeted by two pairs of accusing eyes. Min fought the urge to around and go back inside. I'd rather deal with a group of misogynistic Mandalorians.

She decided to ignore them since she was in a foul mood anyway. Last night had absolutely freaked her out because not only did she know the words to the Mandalorian blood oath, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she had done it before. It was the same feeling she had while swoop racing and building her lightsaber. On top of that, she was unnerved by the fact that this whole situation had arisen in the first place. First Zaalbar's family on Kashyyyk, then Carth's son on Korriban and now this. It hadn't really occurred to her that maybe the Jedi were right when they talked about destiny and fate, until now.

And then there was Carth. That was a whole host of issues she just did not feel up to confronting today.

Brushing past both Carth and Juhani, Min started down the street. She knew that they were both mad at her and she'd blown both of them off last night. She had gone by herself this morning against her better judgment because she needed time alone to think. Not that it had really helped at all.

They both fell into step, flanking her. "You should have waited for one of us to come with you," Carth said.

"Why? So you could argue with me?"

Juhani agreed. "He is right. Mandalorians are vicious of temper and easily provoked. You tempted their wrath by coming here today. It was foolish for you to come by yourself. Besides, we do not wish to argue with you."

"Maybe you don't. But he does."

"How could you do this Min? How can you stand as his second after what that bastard has done?"

She turned to Juhani. "See?"

Juhani gave Carth a sharp look. "We are just having a hard time understanding why you would stand for him."

It was hard to maintain her temper when Juhani spoke to her so reasonably. "Why? What do you have against Canderous?"

"It is not personal to Canderous. I have never trusted Mandalorians. They are not to be trusted. They are brutes and savages and destroyers of worlds. I do not know why you tolerate his presence on your ship. In truth, he has had some merit so far, but I am not certain it is worth the risk you take."

Min knew there was more. There was always more. "And?"

Juhani's face was tight with grief and anger. "In the early days of the Mandalorian war, there had been fighting closer to the Outer Rim worlds. The Mandalorians came and overran my home world, Cathar, they slaughtered my race... I cannot forget what they have done."

I guess that would do it. Min stopped in the street and looked at Juhani. "I thought you were from Taris."

"Not originally. The Mandalorians drove my parents from Cathar. My parents carried me as a baby with them and were lucky enough to escape. They fled as far as they were able, and eventually settled on Taris. They could stand running no further, I think..."

Min and Carth waited in silence for Juhani to pull it together. Guilt laced through Min. I can't believe I didn't know this. I should have taken time to get to know her better. She'd left the Cathar pretty much to herself. It was hard to get to know her, she was so aloof. In truth, the woman seemed to prefer it that way. But that's no excuse, damn it!

"I am sorry. It is just that I cannot stand to be around him for very long. I suppose I do not really dislike him, it is just…."

Min nodded and decided to grace Juhani with an explanation. "He's alone, his clan is gone and there is no one else to stand for him. For him to go without a second would be beyond shameful."

"Has it occurred to you that maybe he deserves to go alone? He sold out his own men for glory. He doesn't deserve you." Carth stated, even though she was not talking to him.

"Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't really matter. He's on my crew so he doesn't go alone."

"He's a Mandalorian Merc and not your responsibility."

"Yes he is. And I thought you, of all people, would understand that."

"What?" he snapped.

"You're a Captain. If he were a member of your crew, what would you do?"

Carth's jaw locked in a hard line. "That's different."

Min crossed her arms and looked him in the eye. "Really? How?" His lips thinned in frustration as his silence indicated that he didn't have an answer.

"Hey, I agree with you. I don't think for a second that Canderous did what he did to save lives. He probably did it for the glory. And while I still think it was the best tactical move, his motivations were completely wrong. You're right, he is a complete bastard for doing that. But whether or not I like it, he's my bastard, my responsibility. I didn't ask for it, but I've got it."

"I don't like it."

"Tough. You're just going to have to live with it."

"Right. Because that's what you'd do." Her temper began to flare as he continued. "You, who's been on my ass about this 'death wish' you think I have since we left Cloud City. You, who must be the most damned persistent woman I've ever met!"

"Well…that is different!"

Carth threw her words back at her. "Really? How?"

"Because I'm right."

He had the nerve to mock her. "Oh, that's why. Thanks for clearing that up, Min."

"You're not even planning on coming back!"

"Damn it, woman, if you keep hounding me I'm going to put you over my knee and teach you a lesson!" Min blinked in surprise at that statement, but Carth continued on his tirade. "How many times do I have to tell you? I gave you my word that I'd see this mission through to the end and I meant it! You don't think I would throw away everything we're doing here, do you?"

"It's not about the mission you nuna brain!"

He stared at her in complete confusion.

"Do I have to draw you a god damn picture? It's about you! I'm worried about you!"

Min wondered how someone so obviously stupid could make her toes curl when he kissed her.

"I don't want you to throw your life away and I'm afraid that your need for revenge is going to end up getting you killed! I don't want to see you die, because I care about you, you idiot!"

Silence hung between them.

"Oh. Well. I see." Carth's brown eyes grew wide in astonishment. He rested his hand on her neck and his thumb brushed across her jaw. His expression softened as he spoke. "Min, killing Saul is something I have to do."

"I know," she said softly. The thought was so unbearably sad.

"But I'm not going to do anything stupid or reckless, okay?"

"You're my friend. I just have this thing about my friends dying. It tends to piss me off."

Carth's smile was bittersweet. He searched her eyes intently. "I'll try not to let that happen."

"Good."

"I don't suppose I can talk you out of seconding Canderous?"

"No."

"You'll be careful won't you? Because, you know, you aren't so bad to have around yourself."

Min nodded and Carth drew her into a hug. She closed her eyes and let him, resting her cheek against his leather jacket. The smell of leather and clean male was making it very hard to think clearly. His unshaven jaw scraped against her forehead and she could feel his uneven breath on her skin. Carth's hand slid to the nape of her neck, his thumb massaging the pulse point which she knew was racing. Min knew all she'd have to do to get him to kiss her was to tip her head back just a little bit….

Damn it! Why does being good have to be so hard? Since she'd teased him into kissing her a week ago she'd tried to make herself behave. She knew that he was still grieving for his wife and that he needed space, and she was trying really hard to be understanding. The problem was that she'd discovered that she really, really didn't want to be understanding. What she wanted was him. Min knew the effect she had on Carth and had been deliberately provoking him. She just really couldn't seem to help it. And while she didn't want to push him into doing anything he wasn't ready for, the man had to go do something like this.

He's just trying to be a good friend. Grow up. She swallowed her frustration and took a step back.

"Jawas," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

His brown eyes were foggy as he blinked in confusion. "Jawas?"

"We should go talk to some. Right now."

"Oh, okay."

Belatedly, Min realized that they were in the middle of a busy street. Juhani stood a few feet away studiously looking at something else. Carth must have realized the same thing because he flushed in embarrassment.

It was either laugh or cry, so Min started laughing. "Come on guys. Let's go get some work done."

---

The Ebon Hawk sat, prepped for takeoff, in a rocky canyon twenty kilometers from the sand people encampment. The familiar hum of the engines had a calming effect on Carth, which was good because he needed it.

He swiveled in the pilot's chair and reached for the comm.

"Mission?"

"Yes?" came the bored and irritated reply that could only be mastered by a teenager.

"How close are they?"

"About a kilometer closer than the last time you asked." Mission was in the computer bay monitoring Min, Juhani and Bastila's position. The three of them, along with the crazy homicidal droid they had just bought were on their way to the sand people enclave. "Geez Carth, I'll let you know if anything exciting happens, alright?"

"Right."

They had spoken to the Jawa clan leader yesterday, and were happy to discover that the Jawas had seen the Star Map. They had worked out a deal where if they rescued the Jawa's enslaved tribe members from the nearby sand people, the Jawas would give them maps of cave systems. It was a good thing that he had gone with Min and Juhani. Once the two women had learned that the Jawas were being held as slaves, they would have agreed to save them without the Jawas help. As much as he appreciated the sentiment, they still had to find the Star Maps.

Bastila had been the one who insisted on finding a potentially peaceful solution and guilted Juhani and Min into going along with her hair brained idea. So now they were approaching the sand people enclave with disguises ripped off of their dead attackers and one homicidal protocol droid with the ability to speak the sand people's language. Carth had been surprised actually, that Min hadn't been able to pick up the language herself.

The plan almost hadn't happened. When Min learned that Bastila wanted them to disguise themselves in the sand people's actual clothing, she had pitched an absolute hissy fit. Not that he blamed her, the robes were foul. But it was either that or get attacked on sight. Min had voted for the attacking but was out numbered by the other Jedi.

It was the droid that worried him, even more than the sand people. Until now, he didn't realize that droids could go insane.

He swirled the dregs of caf in his mug and resumed his brooding.

Carth was just about to call Mission again when Jolee entered the cockpit and took a seat with a fluid grace that he shouldn't have had at his age. Carth wondered what the old Jedi wanted. He actually liked Jolee; the old man had a healthy disrespect of the Jedi Order. But he wasn't buying for a second that Jolee was just along for the ride. He wondered what Jolee's agenda really was.

"Out with it, sonny."

"Excuse me?"

"You've been moping up here all morning."

"Moping? I'm not moping." At Jolee's penetrating stare he conceded. "Okay, fine, maybe I'm moping a little, but you're very pushy, you know that? What's it to you?"

"I just thought you might want a little company. No need to get testy." Jolee started to rise out of the chair but Carth stopped him. I shouldn't have snapped at him, even if the old man is a nosy old coot.

"I was just thinking about my wife."

"Ah." Jolee nodded in understanding. They sat in silence for a while. "Did Min tell you that I was married?"

Carth swiveled in his chair to face Jolee. He looked at the old Jedi with increasing interest. "No. No she didn't."

"I told you about how I when I was a smuggler I got shot down over Ukatis." Carth nodded, everyone had been highly amused to discover that bit of Jolee's very colorful history. "My wife was the Ukatis enforcer who shot me out of the sky."

"Really?"

Jolee grinned. "Nayama was a marvel of a woman. Fiery, determined, smart. She dragged me to the capital and foiled three of my attempts to escape prison. Oh, and that body. Needless to say I eventually won her over, but that was after I kidnapped her upon being broken out of the Ukatis prison, mind you."

"What happened to her?"

"The short version is that she died in the final battle with Exar Kun."

"And the long version?"

"Is a story for another time. Right now we're talking about you."

"Oh, we are? I thought you were going to tell me a meaningful yet rambling story with a poignant lesson, old man."

"Go ahead. Mock the elderly. Since you know everything there is to know, I'll just get out of your way."

Oh hell. Maybe I do need someone to talk to. Why not?

"I've just been trying to remember what she looked like. It shouldn't be so difficult. I can remember things about her, things she did, the way she smiled, what her hair smelled like, our last fight. Just not her face. I try to hold it in my head but it's gone. Is that strange?"

"No, it's not. You remember the important things."

"But I should be able to remember her face. It's frustrating! I feel like I'm losing her."

"You've already lost her, kid. Killing Saul isn't going to change that."

"I have to do it, anyway. The only thing that's kept me going since she died has been the need to find Saul and kill him."

"If you really believe that, then why are you sitting up here wallowing in guilt?" Jolee didn't wait for Carth to answer. "Personally, I think that it has something to do with a certain mouthy young Jedi lass."

Carth stared out the front windows into the hot desert. After a while he spoke. "She cares Jolee. It's been a long time since someone cared whether I live or die."

"You know, wanting to have a life beyond revenge is not a betrayal of your wife. What do you think she'd want you to do?"

Carth knew the answer to that question, he and Morgana had that discussion years before. The irony of it made him sick.

She'd sat at the kitchen table wearing her Corellian morning dress and watched Dee play in the backyard through the bay window. Carth stripped off his stiff wool dress uniform jacket and hung it over the side of the chair.

Morgana turned her attention to him while still managing to keep an eye on her son. "You should get some rest," she said with a weary sigh. "It's been a rough couple of days."

It had been horrible. They had just returned from his best friend's funeral. He'd known Dustil Jarret his entire life, they'd signed up for the fleet, gone through flight school together and saved each other's hides countless times. It was hard to believe that he was really gone, except that Carth had heard his friend's panicked screams over the radio as his fighter had disintegrated from the enemy Mandalorian fire. He'd been the one to tell Dustil's wife.

Carth sat next to her and took her hand, knowing that she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "We need to talk, kitten."

Her deep blue eyes filled with both fear and anger. "I don't want to have this talk right now."

"I don't really want to have it either, but we need to," he said. Morgana looked away. Carth had tried to have this conversation with her several times before, but she had stubbornly refused. But after today he couldn't put it off any longer. He didn't want to cause her pain but he had to know. "If anything should ever happen to me, promise me that you'll move on, that you'll find someone who will make you happy."

"No," she said, quietly, calmly and firmly. Carth grimaced. He knew she was really angry with him because the angrier Morgana got, the quieter she became.

"Ana-"

"No. I will not promise to move on without you. I will not promise to find some one else to make me happy. So you're just going to have to live, Carth Marcus Onasi, and that's all there is to it."

He pushed, because he had to know that she'd do it. It was the only way he could go back out onto the battlefield with any kind of peace of mind. So he pulled the cheap shot. "Okay, fine. But what would you want me to do if you died?"

She started to tremble, tears slid down her cheeks but she refused to answer. Carth answered for her as he wiped the tears away. "You'd want me to be happy."

"Oh, that's not fair."

"Well?"

"Of course I'd want you to be happy!"

"The fighting with the Mandalorians has just started. A lot more people are going to die. I have to know that you'll do this for me. Please, Ana, promise me."

She'd relented in the end and she'd made the promise, but not until he promised to do the same. Carth never really thought it would apply to him.

Jolee studied Carth's face. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He sat in silence for a little while, lost in his own memories before continuing. "Life is short, kid. If you're fortunate, you'll find love once. To find it twice in one lifetime…well, that is something truly extraordinary."

Jolee waived his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Bah, listen to me go on as if I had all the answers. What do I know of love anymore? I'm just a lonely old man who's not even a Jedi. I'll tell you this though. If I were thirty years younger, you might have some real competition on your hands."

Carth scoffed. "Really?"

"Don't look at me like that, damn it! I wasn't always the wrinkled coot I am now, you know. I was rather dashing actually."

"Uh, huh."

"Oh yes. It was the dreads you know. Women loved them."

"Dreads?"

"I can still fight, too, so wipe off that smirk I see there."

Carth's comeback was interrupted by Mission. "Carth! They're in trouble! They need us there now!"

Carth began to bark orders as he lifted the Ebon Hawk from the ground. "Get to the guns, Mission. Canderous?"

"Yeah?" came the gruff reply.

"Be ready in two minutes."

"Don't worry about me, pretty boy. Just get us there."

He looked over at the co-pilots chair, and Jolee was already headed out the door.

Carth guided the Ebon Hawk through the narrow canyon, hoping that they could get there in time.

---

"Why doesn't any thing ever go according to the god damn plan?" Min asked in between gritted teeth. She parried the attack of the tusken raider gaffi stick with one blade while swiping with the other one. The warrior went down making a weird honking sound. Min wondered if it was a scream.

She took a second to catch her breath. The floor of the chieftain's hall was littered with sand people bodies. Everything had been going according to plan and they had been in the middle of negotiating the release of the enslaved Jawas when the sand people had inexplicably take offense and attacked. They didn't have time to figure out why, now they just needed to get to the Jawas and get the hell out of here.

"This way." Bastila began to trot down the canvas hallway.

The sand people's encampment was really a maze of tent like structures all tied together in a seemingly haphazard way. The shelter it provided was minimal; they looked like they could be torn down and moved within minutes.

Min and Juhani followed with HK-47 bring up the rear. The droid was gleefully laying down covering fire keeping back a half a dozen or so tusken warriors. It looked like it was having the time of its mechanical life.

"I have to admit Minuet, that droid is rather frightening," Juhani said.

Min agreed; her own feelings towards the droid were a mixture of exasperation, fear and amusement.

They rounded the corner and were met by another group of warriors. Bastila pointed to a canvas flap. "There! They are in there!" Bastila threw herself at the tusken raiders, and all Min could see was a blur of yellow light as Bastila pinwheeled her lightsaber into an attack. Juhani turned to help HK fend off the raiders coming up behind them. Min realized they were sandwiched in between two groups of warriors.

She drew back the flap. Seven or eight Jawas were huddled in the corner. When they saw that she was not a sand person, they began to plead for her help. By this time Min had completely lost her sense of direction and had no idea which way was out. The canvas hallway was filling with sand warriors.

Screw the hallway then. Pick a direction and start cutting.

Min walked over to the far wall and began to cut through the tough canvas with her lightsaber. Quickly checking the next room for occupants and seeing none, she began to herd the Jawas out of the room. Bastila, Juhani and HK saw what she was doing and began to fall back to the hole. Once she got into the next room she did the same thing. After three rooms and a handful of dead sand people, she finally reached the desert. Min stepped out onto the dunes twenty meters to the right of the sand people's gun turrets. Oblivious to the danger, several of the Jawas began to stumble out onto the sand.

The turrets swiveled towards her and she looked for cover as the blaster bolts whizzed past her. Stepping in between the Jawas and the turrets, she deflected as many as she could with her lightsabers. The rest of the Jawas, the Jedi and the droid were still pinned inside. She could hear them fighting off the sand people coming up behind them.

She lashed out at the turrets with electricity and the two closest to her overloaded and exploded. Before she could lash out again Min felt a sharp burst of pain spike through her mind.

Bastila!

Because of the momentary distraction, a blaster bolt caught her in the shoulder and seared through the filthy, tattered rags that covered her skin. The force of the shot spun her almost completely around before she toppled backwards onto the sand. Min laid there on the sand dazed and defenseless.

She heard it before she saw it. Flying this close to the ground the sound of the Ebon Hawk was almost deafening. The ship streaked across the sky filling her vision; the blazing guns taking out the remaining turrets. The Ebon Hawk kicked up a sandstorm in its wake and Min was momentarily blinded. She went fetal to protect herself from the whipping sand. While she managed to protect her face, the sand scored across the back of her unprotected neck.

Once she could see again, Min picked herself off the ground as the rest of the Jawas flooded through the hole. The Ebon Hawk made a graceful arc, banking left and Min could see that it was slowing down to land.

She looked around and made sure all the Jawas were accounted for; luckily none of them seemed injured. Juhani half supported, half dragged Bastila through the tear followed by HK-47 who brought up the rear. Min noticed that Bastila was limping, the rags that covered her leg were soaked in blood and her face was tight with pain.

Sand people began to swarm out of the enclave like blood ants from the actual entrance which was between the smoking gun turrets. Honking and shrieking, they charged. The Jawas huddled around Min's legs terrified.

The Ebon Hawk descended vertically behind Min. The laser cannons opened fire on the charging raiders. Min could hear the hiss of the landing gear lowering. The ship landed on he sand with a gentle thump and boarding ramp extended. Canderous and Zaalbar flanked the ramp and opened fire. Min guided the Jawas onto the ramp as soon as it was low enough. Bastila and Juhani followed quickly. The crazy droid followed almost reluctantly.

"Statement: Thank you master. The termination of the honking meatbag opposition was most satisfying," HK-47 said in his weirdly precise voice as the boarding ramp closed.

Min slumped against the wall, her strength leaving her as she came down off of the adrenaline rush. She shot the droid a suspicious look, half convinced that the droid had picked a fight just so he could start killing. "What happened out there? Why did they attack us?"

"Statement: The chieftain indicated that the Sand People robes are sacred, master, that they are never uncovered outside of the most private moments. Once he realized that the robes you are wearing were authentic, he was offended and ordered his people to attack."

"Mmm. I guess that would do it." She still didn't quite believe the droid.

"Query: Master, you do not think that I was responsible?"

"I wasn't sure."

"Query: What would you do, Master, if I were?"

"I would have Carth take us into orbit and have you shot out the air lock. You'd probably burn up in the atmosphere on the way down."

"Resignation: You are a harsh, harsh taskmaster, Master. I like you more already."

Somehow, that was not a comfortable thought.

---

After a shower and a couple of kolto patches, Min felt considerably better. They dropped the Jawas off in Anchorhead where their leader stuck to their bargain and gave them maps of the cave systems where the Jawas thought the Star Maps might be. Min was intrigued by the Jawas, and while the Ebon Hawk loaded supplies for their foray into the deep desert nothingness, she spent her time talking to them. To her disappointment they would not allow her to see what was under their hoods. Mission and Min had speculated for quite a while on that issue, Mission thought they might be furry, but Min was hoping they looked like miniature rancors. Unfortunately, it was going to have to remain a mystery, at least for now. It was after dark when Min finally returned to the Ebon Hawk.

Most everyone was gathered in the common room watching the Tatooine Swoop Races on the holovid. The couch was full and the remainder sat on a hodgepodge of chairs pulled around the holovid screen. The room was filled with cheering and trash talking as Mission, Zaalbar, Carth, Canderous and Jolee rooted for their favorite racers. Even Bastila and Juhani had joined them.

Mission gave a yelp of triumph as everyone else groaned almost in unison. She pranced around the room gathering credits from everyone.

"Pay up, geezer," she said to Carth.

He gave her a suspicious look while he fished credits out of his pocket. "You know a lot about swoop bike gambling odds for someone who is only fourteen."

"I find that interesting coming from you, Carth, considering you're the one teaching her new ways to cheat at Pazaak." Bastila said as Jolee added his credits to Mission's increasing pile.

Carth grinned. "Hey! She's taught me a thing or to herself."

Min's eyebrows shot skyward. "You cheat?"

"Of course he cheats," Canderous said. "No one is that good at Pazzak."

Carth dodged the question. He stood and walked over to the kitchen area and tried to change the subject. "You're back. I thought we were going to have to send out a search party."

"I thought you were just good at it."

"Oh, he is good at it." Mission grinned. "But cheating makes him better."

Min laughed and went over to the kitchen counter searching for the remnants of dinner. "It's good to see you're passing down useful skills to my crew. Honestly, Onasi, I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you."

"It figures that being good at cheating would impress you." He took a long pull from his Corellian spiced ale and leaned against the counter.

She let that one pass, it was just too easy. Besides, you're supposed to be working on being good, remember? Then she noticed that all the food was gone. "You bastards! Didn't you leave me anything from dinner?" She'd sent them to the cantina for food.

Carth frowned. "I thought we did."

[That was for you?] Zaalbar growled.

"Aw, Big Z, you didn't?" Mission said.

[I am sorry, Minuet.] The Wookiee stood. [I will go to the cantina and get you some dinner.]

"I can cook something for you," Juhani said. "We just finished loading the fresh supplies."

Normally, she would have let them. But for once, everyone was having a good time and not fighting. Since it would be a shame to spoil it, she waved them back down. "Don't worry about it."

Jolee wandered over and began looking at the data maps Min had left on the dining table. Min grabbed a bowl, filled it with gruel from the synthesizer and took a seat at the table. Carth snatched the bowl out of her hand and gave her a horrified look. "What are you doing?"

"Eating dinner. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"From the synthesizer? That stuff is disgusting. Besides, there's a whole bunch of fresh food in the cabinets."

"Which I'd have to cook."

"You'd rather eat what comes out of the synthesizer than cook for yourself?"

"Yes."

Carth shook his head, dumped the gruel in the trash and started pulling supplies out of the larder. Min watched him, stupefied.

"These caves look awfully big. Searching them is going to be time consuming." Jolee said, studying the maps on the table.

"Mmm-hmm," Min replied absently. She was busy watching Carth's shoulders flex underneath his shirt. Her mouth went dry.

"There are at least four different cave systems. Couldn't you get the Jawas to narrow it down a bit?"

Her gaze drifted downward, and settled on his very nicely formed backside. "No," she croaked.

"But they were certain that the map is in one of these caves?"

She tore her gaze away. Good. You're supposed to be good. "Yes," she said as she watched him assemble the sandwich instead. Min was fascinated by the domesticity of it.

"Well, at least they're all in the same canyon. Maybe we can get one of the hunters to look at these maps. They might know something about the area. Komad Fortuna would be a good start, he seems to know what he's doing. I'll go talk to him tomorrow morning."

Carth brushed the stray crumbs off the counter with one of his strong hands. Min thought she might expire from lust on the spot. Except that it wasn't just lust. "Okay. Good. Do that."

"Kid, what are…" he trailed off as he realized what she was looking at.

Carth turned and handed her a sandwich. She wanted to say thank you, the gesture was so amazingly sweet, but she couldn't seem to breathe. So she just continued staring at him.

He must of thought she was offended because his tone was defensive. "Don't get yourself in a twist over it, gorgeous. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just a sandwich."

Jolee, ever helpful, chimed in dryly. "Did I ever tell you that the Sith make a fine sandwich? Heh. But don't tell the Jedi Council I said that."

When she still didn't answer, he shook his head, snatched his beer up and left her staring at him as he rejoined the rowdy swoop racing crowd, muttering something about crazy Jedi women.

Maybe I am crazy. Or maybe….

She looked down at the stupid sandwich and she knew. "Oh, shit."

Jolee just looked at her expectantly.

"I love him."

Jolee snorted. "It took you long enough to figure that out. What did you think it was?"

She turned to Jolee. "Lust! I thought it was just lust!" she wailed.

He wisely didn't comment.

"Damn it!"

"Do I need to give you the lecture about how the Jedi Council is wrong about love? I thought you were smarter than that."

"Please don't. You know I don't buy into that tripe." She and Jolee had already had this conversation when he told her about his wife.

"Then what's the problem?"

"It makes everything so much more…complicated." Yeah, this is just what you need, Min, on top of everything else.

"Do you want to avoid one of the greatest things in life simply because it comes with some complications?"

"No," she said meekly.

"Good." Jolee left her sitting by herself wondering what the hell she was going to do.

---

In the dim coolness of the port side crew quarters, Canderous prepared for battle. He'd spent most of the day in meditation of the code of the Mandalore, done a ceremonial cleansing and prepared his weapons. While the duel wouldn't be fought wearing armor, he prepared it as well. Canderous was not about to ride out into a desert full of hostile sand people without it. He was about to don his armor when the door slid open.

Canderous didn't even bother to turn around and acknowledge the other man. Instead he threw the taunt over his shoulder. "Come to watch a real warrior prepare for battle, pretty boy?"

Since they'd joined up on Taris, Carth and Canderous had pretty much ignored each other as much as possible. Other than a few conversations about weaponry, they spoke and worked together only when necessary. It was an arrangement that had suited both men just fine, until the recent events with Jagi.

Carth caught him by surprise. He waited until Canderous started to pull the heavy armor over his head before he made his move. He kicked Canderous' legs out from under him sending the big Mandalorian sprawling, face first onto the floor. As Canderous fumbled to untangle himself from the armor, Carth slipped his arms underneath Canderous' shoulders and clasped his hands behind the Mandalorian's thick neck, pinning him onto the floor. Canderous tried to break the lock, but the pilot was surprisingly strong. He'd underestimated Carth, and it wouldn't happen again.

"Alright, Canderous. I think it's time we had a talk don't you?"

Canderous relaxed, and waited for the right time to make his move. He knew that Carth wouldn't kill him because if he were unable to fight the duel, Min would have to take his place, but he could injure him. In a duel with Jagi, it could mean the difference between life and death. "That's the problem with you. All you do is talk, when what you really need to do is get laid."

Carth ignored the jibe.

"Listen you honorless son of a bitch! First of all, don't call me 'pretty boy' again. Ever. Second, if she gets hurt, at all, from this idiot duel, I'm going to have your guts for garters. Understood?"

Canderous grunted, which Carth mistakenly took as an affirmative. He relaxed his grip and began to stand up. In one swift movement, Canderous rolled over and kicked Carth squarely in the chest. The pilot fell backwards, gasping for air.

The Mandalorians stood slowly. He pointedly began pulling on his armor. "I've killed men for less. The only reason I don't kill you right now, is because of her, even though this whole conversation dishonors her."

Both jealousy and confusion crossed the pilot's face. Canderous found it actually rather amusing. He decided not to inform the pilot that Min was really not his type. He preferred his women with a little more curve and a lot less lip; although had she offered, he wouldn't have said no. But Canderous knew was the real problem between the two of them wasn't Min, she was just the catalyst.

"Honor? Yeah, we know all about Mandalorian honor, now don't we?"

"You know nothing about us!"

"I know that your own men hate you enough to challenge you to a blood duel. And I hope they kick your ass, because I figure you have it coming. But your honor," Carth spat the word as he stood, "dragged her into this mess because she felt sorry for you."

"She doesn't need your help and she's not yours to protect. When you claim her and make her yours, instead of acting like a lovesick kinrath pup, then we might have something to talk about. Until then, get out of my way." Canderous pushed past Carth and into the hallway.

The twin suns of Tatooine burned low in the sky when Canderous finally pulled Min in front of him onto the dewback. The giant beast of burden snorted and stomped impatiently in the sand.

Normally, he would have had her ride on her own dewback, but when he'd told her that they were to ride on the giant four legged green reptiles, instead of on a speeder, she'd almost backed out of the duel. But Jagi was hosting the duel and it was his right to insist on the traditional method of travel. It had taken a while for him to realize that all of her bitching and moaning about riding them was actually a cover for her fear of the animals, something that was confirmed now that she was sitting in front of him. The woman was stiff with fright. It took him close to fifteen minutes to convince her to climb up on its back. He finally had to resort to a dare.

Not one to pass up the chance to piss off an enemy, Canderous snaked his arm around her slender waist and cheerfully leered over her shoulder at Carth. He had the satisfaction of seeing the pilot's jaw clench and his eyes blaze in anger. Min didn't seem to notice, she was too busy clutching the saddle in a death grip.

"Don't wait up." Canderous sneered as the dewback lurched forward. The animal quickly picked up speed and Canderous skillfully guided it over the sandy dunes. Min began to relax and after a few minutes she actually seemed to be enjoying the ride. She flashed him a grin over her shoulder.

The sun sank as they traveled, and the sky turned a brilliant shade of deep red. When he saw the mesa rise up in front of them, he felt his first pang of homesickness in years. He knew now why Jagi had chosen to fight here. The dewback nimbly picked its way up the narrow trail leading to the top and by the time they reached it the sky had turned violet. Torches illuminated the dueling ring. Twenty or so men stood, illuminated by the firelight.

Canderous dismounted the dewback first and then helped Min down. He took a good look at the men who stood near the ceremonial circle. He did not recognize any of them. Jagi would have notified every Mandalorian of fighting age within traveling distance. The last time Canderous had fought a blood duel, it was in front of thousands of his kin. While he knew there weren't many of them left, there should have been more. While he didn't expect thousands, only twenty men seemed like a travesty.

Are there so few of us left?

Jagi stood in the center of the dueling ring, which was a circle drawn in the dirt in blood from a sacrificed animal. His sharp, angular features were illuminated by the flickering firelight. He was stripped to the waist and already was carrying his two Mandalorian short blades.

[Ah so you managed to come after all. I thought your cowardly nature might reveal itself and you wouldn't show.]

Min helped him strip to the waist. They could have fought in full armor if they had wished, but Canderous had always preferred the freedom of movement while dueling.

[Are you certain you want to do this, Canderous? He was your comrade, your friend once,] Min asked softly.

[This is a matter of honor. I cannot stand by this insult. I must do this.]

Min nodded, but her dark eyes were sorrowful. [It's an awfully high price to pay for honor.]

[He knows nothing of honor!] Jagi said.

Canderous stepped into the dueling circle and Min handed him the short swords. [Enough of this talk, Jagi! Let us do what we came here to do.]

The men began to circle each other slowly. But Jagi wasn't done talking.

[Do you know what he did Jedi? He ordered us to attack the enemy flank, promising us support. But when he saw better prospects for his own glory, he abandoned us and left us to die surrounded by enemies! The deaths of my comrades, your warriors, is a debt in blood that can only be paid by you. We both know the stakes here, and we both know what we must do. It is only in death that this can end.]

Jagi and Canderous lunged at each other. Steel scraped on steel, as the blades met. Both men managed to block each other's attacks. Canderous pushed forward using his greater strength to beat Jagi backwards, but Jagi was quicker. He sidestepped Canderous in mid attack. As Canderous' momentum carried him forward, Jagi's left blade sliced his shoulder.

But it was only a flesh wound. Canderous could feel his implant kicking in and healing it as he recovered his balance. It was the only wound Jagi would make. Canderous was systematic and relentless in his attacks. Over a matter of minutes, he wore Jagi down until Jagi was covered with bleeding cuts and limping. He'd lost one of his swords.

Their eyes locked and they both knew this was the end, but there was no going back now for either of them, the code of the Mandalore wouldn't allow it. Jagi advanced with grim determination in his eyes. Canderous batted away the weak attack with one sword, slid the other up under Jagi's ribcage and twisted. Jagi lurched back and dropped to his knees as blood gushed out of the wound. Canderous stood over his former comrade and slit his throat.

He thought that he would feel something. Triumph, vindication, the thrill of victory. Instead he felt nothing. He felt completely empty.

He looked up at Min and saw the disgust and sorrow on her face. It cut deep, he thought she understood.

Jagi's second came forward, and collected Jagi's body. The funeral pyre was already built in preparation for one of their deaths. His second lit the pyre and they all stood and watched Jagi's body burn under the star strewn sky.

Canderous in stood in silence next to Min until the pyre burned down. She shook her head as he pulled her up onto the dewback for the ride back to the Ebon Hawk.

They rode in silence for a long while, until finally he spoke.

[I thought you understood about Mandalorian honor.]

[I do understand but It doesn't mean that I agree. This was such a waste, Canderous. Your people fought for glory and honor until almost all of you were wiped out, and still you fight amongst yourselves. You destroyed worlds for it. It's just such a waste of life, energy, resources, everything. But now you all you have is your honor. No people, no clan, no comrades but you have your honor. I just hope it was worth it.]

---

They didn't return to the Ebon Hawk until very late, but Carth waited up for them anyway. Other than HK-47, who had taken over duties of night watchmen, Carth was alone. He'd been working out his worry and frustration on the punching bag although it was difficult to get a really good workout, since his chest was pretty bruised from Canderous' kick. Being worried about Min was something he was getting used to, but he didn't like it.

They entered the room in subdued silence. Canderous looked at Min and spoke in Mandalorian. Min answered in basic. "You're welcome."

The Mandalorian gave Carth a long apprising look but said nothing, instead moving in silence to the crew quarters.

Min acknowledged Carth with an absent nod before heading off to her office. He followed her and watched her from the doorway. She pealed off the top half of her armor jacket, revealing just the clingy red tank top and her slender brown shoulders. She tossed it carelessly on the desk along with her belt and lightsabers, poured herself a liberal glass of wine from the bar and sank into leather chair. Carth sat down gingerly on the couch.

He studied her as she sat in the chair, head tilted back, eyes closed, legs stretched out in front of her. Carth wanted to know what was bothering her; she'd been touchy, quiet and aloof for the last couple of days. He was hoping that by now she trusted him enough to tell him, but his patience was wearing out. If she didn't tell him soon, he was going to make her tell him.

She broke the silence first. "You've been watching me very closely lately. Why?"

Damn, busted. "Oh. I hadn't thought you'd noticed."

"If you were any more obvious, your eyes would fall out of your head."

"I'm not that bad, am I?"

Min's lips quirked into a slight smile. "Not for a monkey-lizard, no. Not bad at all."

"It's not like all I do is watch you or anything. I don't mean anything by it." Sure, Onasi. "Alright, I'm concerned about you. I've been keeping these thoughts to myself, mostly, but I think it's time I say something. You've been acting kind of strange lately."

She opened her eyes and turned to look at him. He was happy to see that she wasn't irritated, merely curious. "Oh? Any other observations?"

Only that you have the longest legs I've ever seen, a beautiful face and your skin makes me want to touch you all the time. He cleared his throat. "Well, maybe a few. I hope you won't mind if I keep those to myself." He expected some kind of retort, but when she remained silent his worry doubled. "Come on, Min. Tell me what's wrong."

Min leaned forward slowly, rested her elbows on her knees and let her hair spill over her face. Eventually, she pushed the black curls behind her ears and sat up.

She set the wine glass aside without drinking. "There's something not right about me."

"I don't understand."

"I think I've fought in a blood duel before."

"When?"

"That's just it. I don't remember. But I can't shake the feeling that I've done it before." She looked at him and he could see the fear and confusion on her face. "I knew the words to the Mandalorian blood oath but I don't know why. And my fighting style? Carth, it's traditional Mandalorian two handed dueling. Canderous and Jagi used it tonight. I asked Canderous why he never mentioned it before. He thought I knew and assumed that I had hired a Mandalorian to teach it to me. But I don't remember anything like that. I tried to remember where I had learned it but I couldn't."

Min couldn't contain her agitation. She stood and began to pace the room. "And that's not the first time this has happened. It happened before when I built my lightsaber and when I raced in the swoop races on Taris. I shouldn't have been good at those things. I've never done them before. But it feels like I have. It's on the edge of my mind, but I just can't remember."

"Maybe you're unconsciously using the force."

"That's what Master Zhar said. But I'm not. Now that I know what using it feels like, I know that wasn't it. There are other things too. Like memories that don't match my emotions."

Carth remembered her outburst on Cloud City. "Like your parents."

"Yes. I hate them Carth. I absolutely, unequivocally despise them. But I don't know why. I can't ever remember a time when they weren't good to me."

"And there are other little things that just don't make sense. Like why can I speak to the Jawas? They only live here on Tatooine. I've never been here before, I've never met a Jawa until now." She stopped in front of the desk and touched her lightsabers.

"None of this even includes what Dustil told you, or the strangeness of Bastila coming with us or the fact that she didn't tell me the true nature of our bond or all the suspicious decisions that the Council has made."

While he couldn't see her face, Carth could see her shoulders trembling. She turned to face him but she couldn't look at him.

"Your instincts were right, you know. You have every reason not to trust me."

Carth stood, walked over to her, and cradled her face in his hands so that she would have to look him in the eye. She looked absolutely miserable and scared. "I do trust you. I trust you with my life, my son's life, the crew, this mission, with everything."

She tried to protest, but he silenced her with his thumb over her lips.

"But something isn't right. I blamed it on you, before, but I think the Jedi have thrown you to the wolves, and I'm worried about what might happen to you." He'd been thinking a lot about it ever since his conversation with Dustil. "I think some terrible fate is waiting for you. I think the Jedi Council knows it, too. And I don't want that to happen."

He swallowed and continued, hoping that she wouldn't think he was a fool. "So, if I'm going to find some purpose beyond taking revenge on Saul, then it's going to have to be in protecting you."

Her dark eyes searched his face. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I never got the chance to save my wife and son. Because I didn't stop Saul when I had the chance. Because I finally have the chance to do it right."

Because I love you. When the thought came it really wasn't a surprise. Although he knew he should say the words out loud, but he just couldn't. Not yet.

Instead he said, "You are an extraordinary woman and you make me think that maybe I might have some purpose beyond revenge."

She gave him a gentle smile. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but just how are you supposed to protect me?"

"I don't know. I'm not the best of men, and I'm not the strongest fighter there is, but I'll find a way. If I'm going to live past Saul, I need you to, as well. Let me protect you from yourself, from the Sith, you have to let me try. I don't know whether it means anything to you, but it does to me."

"Of course it does."

They looked at each other with a quiet intensity. Eventually, he spoke. "Good. Then that's settled."

Carth was happy to see that she looked relieved. He wanted to hold her and he tried to, but she jerked backwards, bumping into the desk.

"I, um, I don't think that's a good idea."

He was astonished at how much that hurt. "Why not?"

He caught the rueful smile before she turned her back to him and side stepped. She began to gather her gear off the desk. "Because if you do that, I don't know if I'll be able to behave myself."

Carth felt the slow burn go through his gut and decided that Min was finally going to get what she had coming. "Oh no woman, you can't say something like that and then just walk away. Not this time."Before she could do just that, he stepped behind her and put his hands on the wooden surface, trapping her between him and the desk. He leaned forward and spoke softly into her ear, "Is that what you've been doing all these weeks? Behaving?"

Her breathing became heavy. "Uh, well, I've been trying to."

Amused, Carth slid his hands across her belly and pulled her against his chest. He nuzzled her neck, breathing in the smell of her, desert heat mixed with her spicy perfume, and spoke the words into her skin. "You tease me all the time and you know it. You've been driving me crazy, beautiful. Is that your idea of behaving?"

"I never said I was any good at it," she murmured.

"I think maybe it's time for some payback."

"For what?"

He chuckled, because she actually sounded indignant. "Oh, lots of things. For starters, making me carry that damn computer through the entire forest." They never had actually found anything useful from it. She laughed softly in return. "Or the time you called me wholesome. Or the whole mess with Kara Tam that you found so amusing."

Carth reached the nape of her neck and did what he'd been wanting to since Kashyyyk. Very gently, he kissed her. She started, and the gear she'd been holding hit the desk with a loud thump. He smiled, and slowly and methodically began nibbling and kissing his way across her shoulder, pushing the cloth out of the way, and back up her neck again and across her jaw. Min tipped her head backwards and melted against his shoulder with a sigh. "You're not giving me much incentive to be good."

He finally turned her to face him and her dark eyes smoldered. "What if I don't want you to behave yourself?" he said.

Min's smile was positively wicked. Carth returned it with one of his own. She wound her arms around his neck, plunged her fingers into his hair and kissed him. Her body stretched into his as he wrapped his arms around her. The searing intensity knocked the wind out of him and he staggered forward catching himself on the furniture.

Carth's last coherent thought was that good behavior was highly overrated.

---

"So, what are you going to do now that you're rich, Bastila?" Mission asked as she picked her way through the dusty cavern.

Min, Mission and Bastila were on their way back to the Ebon Hawk. After two weeks of searching caves that seemed endless, they had finally found the Star Map. Having received the coordinates off the equipment they were now rushing back to the ship which sat in the massive main cavern, hoping that they would be able to gather the others, who were exploring other tunnels off the main cavern and take off before the large sandstorm set in.

Mission was referring to the Krayt Dragon pearls that they had cut out of the dragon's stomach two weeks ago. Min had told them that the pearls had a value of at least twenty thousand credits each. They'd split the bounty with Komad Fortuna, who had helped them kill the creature who had unfortunately taken up residence in the cave systems they needed to search. After the split, there had been enough pearls that each of the Ebon Hawk crew members got one. Their precious cargo was now locked in one of the Ebon Hawk's secret smuggling compartments.

Bastila was genuinely surprised at the question; she had never really thought about it until now. "I do not know. I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose I should give it to the Order."

"Give it to the Order? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"A Jedi has no need for such material things."

Mission's eye roll indicated what she thought of that. Bastila pointedly ignored her.

"Maybe you could set up a fund to buy the Jedi better looking robes." Min suggested with a grin.

The woman had been in a perpetual good mood for the last two weeks. Bastila's had been quite the opposite. The happier Min and Carth became, the guiltier Bastila felt. But it really was too late to do anything about them now. She hated lying to them, it constantly ate at her to the point where she could barely face them. The fact that she respected them both and they so clearly mistrusted her hurt badly. Any friendship or mutual respect that they could have possible shared was undermined by the suspicion that stood between them. Not that she blamed them really, she would feel the same way in their position. She hoped that this mission would end soon, and her duties towards them would be over.

"Vanity is unbecoming in a Jedi." Bastila said.

"Yeah, well, the Jedi are unbecoming in those horrible brown robes. I notice that you never wear them." Bastila was about to retort when Min added, "That's because you have good taste."

Bastila was unexpectedly pleased by the complement.

"What about you Mission? What are you going to do with your money?" Min asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought maybe I could use some of it to find Griff."

Min ducked her head under a low outcropping of rock. "Have you thought about getting an education? You know, going to school somewhere?"

By Mission's shocked expression, Bastila could tell that she hadn't. Strangely, Mission's shock turned to hurt.

"You're not, you know, trying to get rid of me are you?" Mission asked.

"No! What makes you think that?"

Mission had clearly been worrying about this for a while because the words came tumbling out. "Well, now that you and Carth are, you know, together, I thought that you might not want me around. I mean, Dustil hates me and you're a Jedi and it's not like you chose to have me come along anyway and - "

Min stopped and grabbed Mission's shoulders. "Mission, look at me. You will always have a place on my crew. Whatever happens between Carth and I won't change that, okay? Besides, do you think Onasi would let me get rid of you?" Mission looked greatly relieved. Bastila felt a twinge of jealousy and loneliness so sharp that she forgot to breathe. She had never experienced that kind of camaraderie in her whole life. It is so unfair!

At that moment, she truly hated the Jedi Order. Min continued, unaware of Bastila's turmoil. "As far as Dustil goes, I don't think that he's going to like me very much either, so were kind of in the same boat there. I guess we'll have to figure that out when the time comes. As for the Jedi Order, I don't really care what they think. I won't be returning to them anyway."

"What do mean?"

She looked pointedly at Bastila. "I've had enough of their games. The only reason I'll be returning to Dantooine is to get some answers."

Bastila's response was cut off by Mission. "Do you hear that?" She cocked her head listening to the faint sounds echoing down the cavern. "It sounds like…blaster fire!"

"Damn!" Min tossed Mission the lantern and dropped the gear she was carrying on the rocky ground. "Try calling the others on the comm. and follow as fast as you can," She ordered, although calling the others was most likely futile since the signal wouldn't carry very far underground. Min took off at a full sprint towards the blaster sounds. Bastila followed her into the darkness.

She could sense Min ahead of her using the force to speed up and guide herself through the dark tunnel. After what seemed like hours, she could see grayness up ahead and Min still running at full speed ahead of her. Finally, they reached the main chamber which was lit by the external lights of the Ebon Hawk. Carth had moved the ship into the cavern as far as possible to shield it from the sand storm that was quickly approaching.

The sound of the blaster fire had died out minutes before and the main cavern was strangely silent. Min waited for her at the cavern entrance, panting and lightsabers ignited. Bastila stretched her senses and knew they were not alone. She could feel Zaalbar, who they left with HK-47 to guard the ship, inside the Ebon Hawk, and could tell that he was hurt but not in any mortal danger. HK-47 lay in a heap of metal on the ground next to two dead bodies. She couldn't feel any of the others nearby. Bastila hoped that was because they were still in the caves and not because they were dead.

Bastila recognized the oily presence. "Bandon," she said softly.

She had known him when he was a Jedi Apprentice, before he had been kicked out of the Order. Bastila had been glad to see him go, he had been callous and cruel to the other students their age bullying and terrorizing them whenever it suited him. While Bandon was punished for his bullying by the masters, the other students were of course not allowed to retaliate, and their Jedi masters had preached patience and compassion to them. The Jedi masters had allowed him to stay in the Order for a long time anyway, sure that they could make him into a more compassionate, responsible person and the other students had suffered for it. Finally, Bandon had gone too far when he'd permanently blinded another student during a sparring session, just because he could.

"He's the Sith I felt on the Endar Spire. The one who killed Trask." Min said.

"There are two others with them."

Bandon must have sensed their presence because he and the other Dark Jedi stepped confidently into view. He still looked the same as the last time Bastila saw him, head shaven, goatee and black leather armor.

"At last, my search is over. I was beginning to fear someone else had killed you and deprived me of the pleasure. You may have defeated the pathetic bounty hunter my Master sent after you, but you are no match for me. I have studied at the foot of the Dark Lord himself!"

Min turned to Bastila, ignoring Bandon's words completely. "Which one do you want?"

"I will take Bandon, if you take the others."

"Deal."

While Bandon was still talking, both women moved at once. Bastila focused in on Bandon, and threw her double bladed lightsaber at him. The yellow blades spun through the air at Bandon's body and he threw himself to the side into a roll to avoid being hit. Bastila called the blade back to her hand as she launched herself at him. She was quickly on top of him, her yellow blades slicing across his back though his black leather armor. Bandon howled but managed to throw a force wave in her direction. She countered it, but it bought him time to recover and stagger to his feet.

They circled one another and then Bandon made a critical mistake. He tried to invade her mind, but to do that he had to drop his mental defenses, which allowed her in. She brushed his mental attack aside and hit him with one of her own. The force of it momentarily stunned him and she landed another blow, this time cutting into his right shoulder.

Bandon, realizing he was outmatched, ran towards his speeder, abandoning the other dark Jedi in his party. Bastila chased after him, but he reached his speeder which sat at the mouth of the cave, before she could stop him. He jumped on and took off. Blaster fire came from behind her and she turned seeing that Zaalbar had lowered the ramp and was firing at Bandon's speeder. A couple of shots connected, and while the speeder didn't explode, she could see black oily smoke coming from the engine and it was obvious that he wasn't going to get very far. She moved towards the other speeder, ready to give chase when Min stopped her.

"Look," she said, pointing towards the eastern sky. Bastila saw a massive cloud of dust and sand darkening the sky, it would be on them in less than a minute. Both women moved back from the mouth of the cave to where the Ebon Hawk was standing. The sandstorm ripped past the cave entrance blocking out all the outside light. The only light that remained was from the Ebon Hawk's exterior lighting which illuminated the bodies of the four dead Sith.

Bastila laid her hands on Zaalbar's wounds, letting the force flow through her fingers to heal his lightsaber burns.

"Do you think Bandon will survive?" Bastila asked.

"Not unless he has a ship nearby, you saw how his speeder was smoking. He won't be able to get very far. And for us to go out chasing after him is suicide." Min stepped over to the pile that was HK-47 and began to inspect the smoking droid.

"He found us. You know what that implies."

"Yeah, that Malak is looking for us and he probably knows what were looking for."

"He could have been just looking for me."

"It's possible. But I doubt it. I think they know what were looking for. First Calo on Kashyyyk and now these guys. But there's nothing we can do about it now. We're stuck until this storm blows over."

Bastila nodded and hoped that Min was wrong. The problem was that Min usually wasn't.

---

Carth rolled over in the darkness of what was once Min's office, now converted back into the captain's quarters, and pushed aside the beer bottles and wine glass sitting on the end table. It took a second before his sleepy eyes focused on the chronometer.

Damn. Time to get up.

The sandstorm that had kept them grounded for the last seventy nine hours was due to blow over in the next twenty minutes. Knowing that if he woke her up the odds of him actually getting out of bed would decrease significantly, he eased out of the warm bed as quietly as possible, even though he really didn't want to.

In the dark greyness he could see her dark skin and hair in contrast against the white sheets. He shook his head in disbelief as he entered the 'fresher. Even though it had been almost three weeks, he still had a hard time believing that he, of all people, had taken a lover. Even more unbelievable was that for the first time in over four years he was actually happy, despite the fact that they were being hunted by the Sith and all their suspicions about the Jedi Council. He still hadn't gotten over the shock that the fact that he loved Min didn't lessen the love he felt for Morgana. When he'd finally realized that, the guilt began to slowly fade.

He quickly cleaned up and by the time he re-entered their now bedroom, Min was stirring in the bed. He mercilessly brought up the lights while she rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"'Morning beautiful."

She responded with a yawn, followed by a non-descript grouchy sound and rolled onto her back stretching in a movement that never failed to make his blood burn, although he was beginning to suspect that she did it on purpose. Of course, it helped that she wasn't wearing anything.

Min watched him dress with open interest and he had to laugh, the woman was damn near shameless.

"So we're still heading to Manaan, right?" he asked.

Their original plan had been to go back to Dantooine and demand that the Jedi Council answer their questions before they went any further. But two days ago the four Jedi on the ship had felt what Bastila had called "a significant disturbance in the force." Min was sure that it was another mass attack, like the one that happened on Taris. Luckily between the distance of the attack and Min's newfound mental defenses it hadn't had the same affect on her as Taris had, although she was still pretty shaken up about it. The nightmares that she had apparently been having since Taris had gotten worse as a result, and she'd had to take tranquilizers in order to get any sleep. He'd been seriously ticked when he'd learned how bad the nightmares actually had been all this time. But between that and the holovid news reports of Malak's advancing army, it was becoming very clear that they were running out of time.

"Yeah. Grilling the Jedi Council is just going to have to wait." Frustration shone on her face. It mirrored his own feelings.

He finished dressing and sat down on the bed next to her and ran his fingers over her hair. "Hey, we'll figure this out. Once we've got the last map, we'll have to head back to Dantooine anyway to regroup and show them what we found."

She nodded and he kissed her and when he eventually gathered the willpower to break away she looked seriously annoyed. Not to be defeated, she began kissing his jaw as her hands wandered across his shoulders. "Isn't there someone else who can fly this ship?"

"No one who can fly it out of this cave without crashing." At the moment, Carth sincerely wished there were, but it had taken some fancy flying to get the ship far enough back in the cave to protect it from the sand storm.

"I don't know about you, but it's a risk I'm willing to take." Their mouths met and she pulled him back down onto the bed.

Focus, man. Focus.

After a minute he said, "Min?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Once we enter hyperspace, it's a four day journey to Manaan."

"Four days?"

"Yeah, four whole days with nothing to do."

Mollified, she relented and let him up but she gave him a look that just about melted him in his boots. "I'm going to hold you to that Onasi."

Min rolled back over on her stomach and burrowed into the bed. Carth tore himself away, deciding that this was going to be the fastest jump into hyperspace, ever.

---

First of all I have to thank Lord Valentai for his very, very, very helpful beta.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. The feedback is hugely appreciated and I'm glad that the idea of the Rodian Punk Band went over so well.

Strikeaxe: You know most people don't catch the reference. Btw Jean Valjean is one of my all time favorite characters (in literature or musicals.) I guess I have a weakness for characters seeking redemption…

Trunxluvr82190: The fic that you are thinking of is called Denouncement and was written by David Gaider who was the developer who, I believe, wrote most if not all of the Carth romance dialogue. It can be found at www.kotorfanfic.com for anyone who is interested in reading it.

VMorticia: Thanks for the catch on the spelling. You probably were gnashing your teeth by the time you got to chapter four with my whole Zalbaar/Zaalbar handicap. As soon as I get the time, I'll fix it. As far as Cloud City goes, they ended up there because I needed a place to drop the Sith kids off, and I thought Cloud City was cool. As far as it existing for only 50 or so years before the movies, you're probably right. I really know nothing about the extended Star Wars universe and rely heavily on two websites for all my knowledge (For those who care they are the Star Wars Databank: and The Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia: MsoNormalsammie teufel: I never really thought about Min being any particular class, but I guess she would be a scoundrel (with almost no skills)/ councilor. I just wanted a character who was powerful but not particularly awesome with a lightsaber, healing or empathy. Her bunk was clean, because she isn't a particularly messy person.

stupid gizka: If you gave this fic to your friend as a game guide, she'd probably freak out when she reached this chapter!

ceridan: Yep. I do know that they just bombed Taris unlike what the Death Star did to Alderaan. I had them react to it like in the movie because I figured with that many people dying so close by, any one that powerful would feel it.

Anyway, thanks again guys. Hopefully it won't take another month to get the next chapter up.