7. Explained
Bastila's surge of emotions clouded my dreams. I hadn't dreamt for two weeks, and it seemed like her subconscious had a lot to tell me. I no longer felt compelled to ask for details about their relationship. I felt her confusion, her reactions to his confessions, her astonishment at the Council's ruling, and her passion for him. It was a bizarre experience.
"Look, princess, I wasn't that fond of you either." Canderous sighed. "I mean you were downright irritating when I first met you."
"This is complimenting me?" Bastila inquired.
"I'm getting there!" Canderous tried not to shout. "I don't know when I stopped hating you, but it was after I saw that Ciara liked you, so you couldn't be all that bad. I never got the bond stuff or the Jedi stuff, but I knew Ciara was all right. Anyway, I found myself in the company of women who were my match, for once. On Taris, they were all cantina trash. Then Onasi called me on it."
"Called you on what?" Bastila asked, feigning puzzlement.
"I guess I'd been staring and talking about how much I respected you as a warrior."
"I was under the impression that you were interested in Ciara."
"That was just because she listened to me. I really wanted you to listen to me." Canderous was losing his words fast. "So I kept talking, figuring you'd have to listen eventually."
"I don't know what to say." Bastila's face did its famous kinrath impression. Canderous kissed her almost violently. Bastila was startled at first, but she melted into it.
I woke up with a jolt. I was a little disoriented, not to mention a bit freaked out. I soon regained my composure. Carth had rolled over and tangled himself in the sheets, still snoring. I crawled over to him and kissed him on the cheek gently, but he was sound asleep, so I got up and put some caffa on to brew while I checked out my new clothes. They were baggier than I was used to, but they looked comfortable. My new underwear was a lot better than my old one-piece number. First of all, it was different. It looked a lot more like Bastila's two-piece did. I laughed, figuring that Carth had a say in what Juhani bought. Men could be so simple. I put a robe on over my nightgown, poured myself a cup of caffa, and sat down on a comfortable lounge chair. Carth was still unconscious. I'd expected him to be awake by now. I put my caffa down on a table and sat on the bed next to him. I kissed his cheek again. "Wake up, you lazy bantha." I whispered. He groaned.
"Not yet."
"Yes yet." I shook him. "You've been sleeping longer than I have. Get out of bed or you'll stay there all day."
"But I want to." He pulled my arm so I lay next to him. "We can be lazy."
"I haven't moved for two weeks. I'm antsy."
"You have company this time." His eyelids looked heavy and his general sleepiness gave him an air of innocence. I wanted to lie there all week.
"I made you caffa." I offered.
"How sweet of you." He smiled. "But I'm going to sleep."
"Don't make me drag you out of bed." I laughed, sitting up and tugging on his arm.
"Okay, I'll get up." He resigned. "I haven't slept that well in ages." He stretched and I could see a fluff of hair below his bellybutton.
"You can have the fresher first." I offered. "As a sign of my goodwill." He smiled and mumbled something as he headed to the washroom. I went back to my caffa. I had wanted to sip caffa and chat with him, but there would be times for that. I remembered his offer to sneak into the bath with me. A thought crossed my mind. I tiptoed into the washroom, making sure I was as quiet as I could be. I spied his stack of clean clothes on the counter by the washbasins. I grabbed them and ran back out to the main room, stashing them with the rest of his clothes. I innocently returned to my caffa, hoping he'd simply forget that he'd set out clothes for himself. I wasn't so lucky.
"What did you do with my clothes?" He called. I started laughing.
"Nothing!" I tried to stifle my laughter long enough so he'd believe me, but I knew it wouldn't work. Sure, it was a childish joke, but I was enjoying myself. I was entitled to act like an idiot sometimes. Carth emerged from the washroom with a towel around his waist. His hair stuck out in every direction. I couldn't help but laugh harder. I was giddy. It was the first time I'd seen him without a shirt, and I didn't mind at all. The look of feigned irritation fell from his face. He sat down next to me and hugged me.
"You thought I was devious." He smelled overwhelmingly of soap and shampoo. He'd shaved, and his face was smooth against mine. "Alright, I'll hang out here and drink caffa with you until you decide to give me my clothes back."
"I'll never tell." My eyes never left his as I finished off my caffa with a gulp. "Don't we have some sort of official thing to go to? Wouldn't you rather not go naked?" I goaded him.
"Then you'll have to tell me where you put them. I'm not going to hunt around this suite for an hour. For all I know, you'll steal my towel when I'm not looking."
"What makes you think I'd do that?" I asked innocently.
"The fact that you've been staring at me since I came out of the washroom." I blushed a little.
"Stop pretending like you mind. All right, I put them back with your other clothes."
"I thought you'd be more creative than that." He smiled, getting up. "I think it's your turn for the fresher." I put my empty mug on the tray it had come on, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed to the washroom.
"Try anything and you're dead." I stuck my head through the doorway. "I was just getting back at you for your comment about my underwear, so we're even."
"Fine, I'll leave you alone this time." Carth smiled. I got in the fresher. It was still wet and fragrances from his shaving cream lingered. I moved as quickly as I could, listening intently for any indication that Carth was causing trouble. I stepped out of the fresher, but made sure to keep myself near it as I toweled myself off, wrapped my hair in a towel, and pulled on my clothes. I entered the main part of the washroom, only to find Carth putting finishing touches on his hair. He made room for me next to him so I could do mine. I could feel him watching me as I slathered gunk from the salon in my hair to keep it wavy yet manageable. I towel-dried it until it wasn't soaking my shirt any more.
"What's on tap for today?" I asked Carth cheerfully.
"I'm not sure. We'll probably talk to the others about where we want to live and get that figured out, and if there's time, maybe some wedding planning."
"You weren't supposed to mention it for a few days." I smiled.
"I'm excited." He explained.
"There were so many times I wanted to talk to you about what was happening and you wouldn't talk…"
"I was still figuring stuff out, I guess." He said, absent-mindedly.
"I wasn't asking for a reason. I wasn't asking for anything, really. I was just making an observation."
"I see." He looked satisfied with his looks. "All right, are you ready? We should get breakfast."
"I need to talk to Mission." I agreed. "But I want to talk to you about what happened this whole time. During the interrogation I realized there were a lot of reactions and thoughts I wanted to tell you about."
"Me too, but this isn't something we can have a quick chat about before breakfast. How about later?"
I smiled. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten how to deter important conversations." For no apparent reason, Carth pulled me close to him for a kiss, but a pounding on the door interrupted. I gave up being confused. He was a big sap somewhere underneath his tough exterior and I thought I could handle that. After all, I was finding out how sappy I really was. He grabbed my hand and we headed toward the door, where Canderous and Bastila were waiting. I grabbed Bastila's arm, letting Carth and Canderous take the lead. "I had a dream about you and Canderous last night." I whispered. She blushed.
"You can't tell dreams from visions yet? I had it too." She said softly. "That was basically when I realized that I did indeed love him."
"I figured as much." I walked a little more briskly to catch up with the men. "How are you doing now?"
"Wonderful." She beamed. "I feel like he and I have forged a bond like ours, only it was voluntary."
"About our bond," I began. "I found that I could concentrate and kind of get rid of it temporarily." I could tell she knew what I was talking about. "I figured you needed some privacy."
"Thanks." She blushed. "The Council said that you discovered more about the nature of our bond."
"Maybe." I sighed. "I remembered being Revan, just for a moment. Right before you captured me, I realized that Malak had turned on me. That's when I collapsed. I remember thinking that if I could do it again knowing what I did, then I wouldn't have walked that path. I think you saw that spark of redemption in me and kept me alive. I had to be willing to be brought back, and I was. You gave me that second chance."
"That seems to be a common theme." Bastila mused.
"Could you take any longer?" Canderous turned around. He and Carth had reached the entrance to a nice restaurant.
"Don't tempt me." Bastila's eyes narrowed at him. Canderous laughed approvingly.
"I think I left my shoes back in the room." I added, succeeding at further amusing Canderous.
"You can pick 'em, Onasi." He thumped Carth on the back. The men shared a quick but incomprehensible exchange and laughed.
Bastila shook her head. "Let's go or we won't get to eat anything."
"You look really happy." I remarked. "In a lot of ways."
"Well I am," Bastila replied frankly. "And if you mean what I think you do, then I only wonder why you had to ask." She smirked. I used to hate that condescending look on her face, but I could only laugh.
"Good to see you've got things rolling." I whispered to her.
"But you—"
"Quality takes a little longer. Besides, I'm still getting oriented. I'm not used to Carth giving me this much information yet, nor have we really been alone together for long." She grinned, knowingly.
"Well, I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself." We entered the room and I suddenly wanted to cry, but I wasn't sure if it was from joy at seeing everyone again or sadness that it would be one of the last times. I was getting sick of the crying thing. Everyone sat around a giant round table and ate, chatting merrily. Canderous was already asking for his juice with extra "kick," and I found out that Bastila could really elbow a guy in the ribs. The room went silent as Master Vandar entered and we all gazed down at him, reminding me of how hard Carth laughed when the Jawas called me a giant.
"You're only a few inches taller." He'd said.
"All formalities aside, the Council and the Republic have made a joint decision about each of your fates. As you all know, there is much work to be done in rebuilding Taris, Telos, and Dantooine, along with countless other worlds. We have decided that it would be greatly advantageous to have you along to help. Whether you split up or stay together is not something the Council wanted to decide for you. You will be provided with lodging on the planet you choose, provided that you report to the embassy within two weeks of your arrival, which, we expect, will be after the festivities." He smiled at Bastila and me. "We would prefer your decision to be made before you depart, so we know which embassy to prepare."
"Are the planets habitable?" Juhani inquired.
"Yes." Master Vandar's lips remained tight. "They are not rebuilt, but they can sustain life. We hope to have rudimentary services ready for the public within five years or as soon as possible. It will be hard work, but will not involve chasing Sith all over the galaxy." I thought I saw him glance at Carth, who smiled and put his arm around my chair.
"Did you know about this?" I whispered. He refused to say anything, just smiled.
"Feel free to contact us if there are any further questions." Master Vandar bowed and left the room.
"Damn! I wanted to go back to Ordo." Canderous was the first to provide his input.
"How many of us would really follow you all the way out there?" I asked skeptically. I felt a swelling in my temples. I drank some melon juice, hoping that it would dilute the pain.
"As many of you as I can carry. All of you." Canderous boasted.
"Try me." I challenged, standing up a bit. He laughed haughtily.
"Bring it on, lightweight." Canderous stood and got into position for a wrestling match.
"There are more serious matters at hand." Juhani interrupted, her voice calm. Canderous and I took our seats, eyeing each other suspiciously. It had been a game, but we still took challenges like that somewhat seriously. "We must make a decision quickly."
"Should we vote?" Mission asked. "That seems like the quickest way to me."
"Well, does anyone have any objections to any of the planets?" I asked. "It'll be easier if there are fewer to vote for." The tension in my head spread across my forehead. Everyone began speaking at once.
"Dantooine's boring, and I've been stuck on Taris too long." Canderous stated. "They're both out, as far as I'm concerned."
"I have a chance to make Taris a better place." Juhani mused. "Dantooine would be nice, but I fear it would bring back only bad memories."
"Not Telos." Carth stated firmly, bringing some surprised looks.
"I'm tired of both Taris and Telos." Bastila sighed.
"I haven't been to Telos yet, but I'd like to see Taris again. Dantooine was pretty, too." Mission added.
"As long as I can return to my home after a while, I don't care where we go." Big Z was easy to deal with, as always.
"Heh, somewhere without trees. I vote for Tatooine." Jolee laughed.
"Not an option." I stated firmly, the pain swelling further, clouding my judgment.
"Dammit, I've earned the right to be difficult!" Jolee smiled.
"Okay, so every planet's been vetoed by someone." I sighed. "Two against each one."
"Well, what do you want?" Carth asked gently. "You forgot to vote."
"I'm sick of being the important one." I tried not to snap. I rubbed my temples, trying to eradicate the massive headache, which was being exacerbated by faint screaming in my subconscious. I had a feeling I knew what it was, but I tried to focus my attention elsewhere. "But my vote is for Taris. It's the closest thing I have to a home."
"We could always move after a year or two…" Jolee offered. "It's a kind of compromise."
"Why do you have to be difficult when you actually have answers?" I almost yelled. I don't know if I'd hallucinated it, but my voice took on a horrifying evil tone. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I—" I burst into tears and ran back to my room.
(standard disclaimer goes here...) Thanks to all reviewers! You are a great source of encouragement!