Author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm very happy that you like my story, and don't worry, there's much more to come. I'll just briefly comment on a couple of questions that have been raised before we hop to the next chapter.

Syvia – Cool, I have old time fans? Neat!

Light-Eco-Sage – Ya know, I think I'll go with Keira's opinion of not wanting to know about the tail thing. Maybe he was trying to hide, though… yeah, that sounds reasonable. What? I'm not copping out! Hey!

Shir-ran – I'm very honored, don't worry ;)

Toboe's pup – Well, considering that Damas died three days ago in this fic, I at least feel that Jak has the right to still be hurting. 'Course, that's my opinion.

N.Y.A.I – It wasn't the key that Jakwas afraid of, per se, but the reflection of water and the metal reminded him of all the needles Praxis and Erol plugged into him when he was tortured. I guess I need to try harder to make that point, which is good to know.

kyanightdragon – Patience, patience… good things only get better with a little wait.

Everyone else, thank you again for your support.

Enough rambling, chapter time!

Chapter 5, Morning sunlight

Somewhere along the way back towards Spargus, Jak's eyes slid shut and he leant back against his seat, braving the bumpy ride for a short nap.

"Aw no, not again!" Daxter complained as he noticed what was going on, "one of these days you're gonna be dumped in the middle of nowhere if you keep doing that!"

Sig glanced to his right to discover the reason for Daxter's complaining, and a small grin appeared on his face. He turned the wheel and steered towards the high dunes to the west, vaguely seen in the fading moonlight.

"Hey! City's that way!" Daxter called, pointing towards the horizon, "you're not really going to dump him out here, are you?"

"Nah, just taking a detour," Sig said without looking around.

"Detour? What detour? There's no road to close!"

"Shut up or I'll skin you alive with your own bones."

In the face of a very real threat, Daxter decided that it might be good to follow such a blasphemous order just for once. It was quite a painful ordeal, however.

Eventually Sig hit the brakes atop the highest dune he could find, and stood up on his seat to check on things properly.

The air remained still apart from a mild breeze, and there was no smell of an approaching storm. No lamps from marauder vehicles either – it seemed like the rats were still hiding in fear inside their holes.

Perfect.

He turned off the engine and looked ahead, towards the horizon which now had begun to fill up with a warm splay of yellow.

Satisfied, Sig sat back down and poked Jak's shoulder.

"Hey, chili pepper. Wake up."

"Mmgrshh…?"

Jak straightened up, yawning and rubbing his eyes with one hand.

"Whazzit?" he muttered.

Daxter leaped forwards, reclaiming his seat on Jak's shoulder to get a proper look on the scenery before them.

"Oooh, look at the pretty colors…" the ottsel said.

Jak blinked a few times before his vision completely cleared, but as it did he looked in the same direction as his companions and remained quiet.

Crossing his arms, Sig leant against the backrest of his seat with a slanted smile on his lips.

The sun steadily rose above the horizon, spreading a red shimmer across the western sky and setting the sand of the wasteland on fire. Streaks of purple clouds floated on the intensifying ocean of red and yellow, while the stars went out one by one. The gleam of the sand intensified by the minute, only here and there prickled by cacti and their growing shadows.

It was breathtaking, even as the audience had to shield their eyes when the light became too intense. Watching the natural wonder of colors, it was for a moment difficult to remember what a sorry place the world was. In the embrace of the new day, things seemed so much easier to bear.

The two men and the ottsel watched nature's fleeting masterpiece in a rare silence.

But eventually, the sun left the horizon completely, and the sky began to return to its blue dress. The fresh feeling remained in the for once gentle winds, however.

Sig realized that his time had run out, and with an inward sigh he began searching through his list of ways to begin the conversation. None of them seemed satisfying this time either. Charging this one head on just did not work.

It was frustrating beyond words.

"Hey, Jak," he finally settled on.

"Hmm?" the blonde warrior murmured, still pleasantly trapped in the morning peace.

"Well I…"

Damn, this was going to take a good chunk of pride, which he had been saving for some special occasion.

Then again, this was probably one of the few really, really good reasons he would ever have to sacrifice his pride.

"… I wanted to tell you I'm sorry," he finished, staring straight ahead at the cooling horizon.

Jak and Daxter both turned their heads in confusion.

"For what?" Jak said, for once making it before Daxter started asking stupid questions.

Sig reached up and rubbed his chin as he desperately tried to find the right, or if nothing else then the least wrong words, again.

Shit, shit, shit. This was really not his forte! Damn that little Keira for dragging him into this, and damn himself for feeling guilty enough to let her drag him into it.

"I started thinking, after you told me your backstory and all that the other night, after the big kaabloie…"

Oh yes, that was about what they had managed to do after seeing the precursors' off, before that call for help.

"Whaddaya mean yer THE Mar? THAT Mar? Damas' Mar? I don't recall giving ye any dream grass to chew on, poppy…"

The disbelief then had at least been better than the reactions to the news about Damas. Jak stared down at his hands, gritting his teeth. Daxter worriedly watched him, his tiny hairy ears hanging down along his face. Of course Sig noticed this, but he still pressed on to get the worst over with. It could only get better on the other side.

Either way it did appear that Keira had been right about Jak not at all doing well about the matter. Sig had never seen the blonde's grim face so pale.

"You asked me what Damas had me looking for in Haven," the bigger man said, "and…"

He sighed.

"You get my drift. Had I told you… well. If he had known then Damas would have just broke through all the rubble in Haven even harder, but…"

Grunting in frustration, he rubbed his face with a gloved hand. He felt like a complete idiot trying to do something he was never meant to. Knowing that things were not going well, he gave up trying to make amends and steered onto safer hunting grounds; facts.

"You better not be doing something stupid like blaming yourself for it, you hear?" he said, "after all you did for Spargus, giving you a hand once in a while was the least anyone of us could do. I heard you were in some tightass situation."

Daxter had only been listening for a long time, and that combined with Jak's bone hard face made his tension spring free right at that moment.

"Tell me about it!" he said, waving his arms like a lunatic, "huge dark nasties with big black needles boring down on us, I thought we were goners for sure! Right Jak?"

Aiming at me can't move what do you want tied down cold metal the pain is coming somebody please help needles dripping is that my blood can't remember only it hurts HURTS HURTS!

Jak dug his nails into his palms and the pain forced him back to there and then. Somehow he managed to bluntly nod. He turned away, hoping that the runaway memories had not shown in his eyes.

Sig and Daxter exchanged bewildered glances. For a moment Jak's face had turned pale as ashes, but as he looked in another direction the color began to return to him. Sig shortly debated with himself, but finally chose to pretend that he had not noticed anything. He was quite amazed when Daxter also let it slip.

Hell, the fuzzy guy had watched his best friend mourn his father just a few days ago. Not even Daxter could be expected to be that devoid of empathy.

"Yeah," Sig picked up again, "Damas was really impressed by your skills. For a newcomer like you there wouldn't normally be any mercy after what happened between us in the arena."

He raised his hand and poked at Jak's shoulder panzer.

"And all these bits of armor he let you have," Sig said, "I think that somewhere deep down he sort of knew that you're his son."

With great satisfaction he noted that the blonde's hands began to unclench, ever so slowly.

"Or if he didn't, then he damn well wished so hard that he wanted to believe it," Sig added.

Jak opened his eyes.

"You don't have to believe me of course, chili pepper, but I knew Damas and he sure had me reporting on your past in Haven whenever you weren't listening. He never showed that much interest in a rookie before, he must've felt there was something between the two of you."

Jak straightened up.

"Are ya listening to this Jak?" Daxter said, crossing his arms, "we're finally getting some credit!"

"Yeah…"

The murmur was accompanied by a small, sheepish grin appearing on Jak's lips.

Sig had been pondering telling the youngster that Damas' body had been recovered from Haven and that there would be a funeral soon. But there was no reason to ruin the lifted spirits he could proudly claim to have built up in Jak.

'Damn, I'm good!'

"So, that's that," Sig said aloud and gave Jak a light punch on the shoulder, "now let's get back before Keiver decides we're dead and starts claiming our change of clothes."

"He'll have to drop a few pounds before he could use 'em though!" Daxter happily pointed out.

"He'd probably clean the lizard stables with Jak's," Sig smirked and turned the engine key.

"Not if he likes his teeth," Jak said, grin growing wider.

"If he keeps abusing toothpaste like he currently does, then that won't be an option for revenge, buddy boy! Phew!"

Daxter waved his hand before his nose, pulling a disgusted face at the memory. Chuckling, Sig released the handbrake and steered down the hill. They rolled onto more level ground and continued towards Spargus.

As the high stone wall of the city came into view, Sig glanced at Jak. The grin had melted away by then, but the youngster definitely looked a lot more at peace than he had done for a long time.

Sig returned his gaze to their destination, trying to maintain a neutral look though he really wanted to grin like a fool for what he knew the future held.

'Hold your yakows, Jak, we're not done with you yet.'