A/N: Thanks again for all the nice reviews. It is because of your prodding that this chapter was written at all, so you only have yourselves to blame this time. I would like to apologize for the blatant use of cliches starting with the kiss scene in the last chapter and continuing on full force in this one. But they wouldn't be cliches if they didn't work... at least I hope they work. Anyhow, it was fun writing this drivel and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Round Two
As soon as he was around the bend in the hallway Atton jumped and tagged the ceiling lightly, unable to contain his jubilance any longer. He strutted the rest of the way to the cockpit, reveling in his success. She had been putty in his hands. He still had it. Oh yeah.
As he entered the cockpit T3 warbled at him cheerfully. "Go on, get out of here, you rusty tin can, I'll take the controls now." The droid chirped disapprovingly at him. "What? You think I'm drunk?" It beeped a confirmation. "Well, I'm NOT," Atton snapped at the little droid. T3 chortled skeptically. "If you must know, I'm happy. I know, it's a shock to me too. Now go! Before I start using you for target practice!" Atton waved his blaster at T3 dramatically as the droid wheeled itself down the hallway. Atton grinned and fell into his chair triumphantly. He kicked his feet up onto the console, angled the seat backwards and crossed his arms over his chest.
Absentmindedly he ran a finger over his lips. He could still taste her. He could still smell her too. He bent his head down and sniffed at his shirt, her scent lingered there. His grin broadened. He hadn't felt this alive in… well… ever. He'd been in love before, of course, who hadn't? But it had been a long time ago and he hadn't been connected to the force back then. Her kiss was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He thought that it probably would have ranked at least in the top 5 of his all time greatest kisses even without the bond… but with it, it had blown them all away.
He closed his eyes and began his mental pazaak game as he recalled the events of the evening. He remembered the way she'd put her hand on his knee or leaned against him. How she'd blushed repeatedly when she'd been embarrassed. He remembered how she felt when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. How incredible it had been when she fell asleep curled up with him, her head on his chest. He wished for a second he could freeze that moment in time. It had been one of those rare times when everything just felt right. So content, so peaceful. He had forgotten everything else then. For those few minutes before he'd fallen asleep she had been the only thing in his world.
He'd only had two other times in his life that had felt so right. The first time he'd been 17 and she had been amazing. He guessed now that first love had been like that for most people, but at the time he'd thought he was the only person in the galaxy who'd ever felt that way. He'd thought he would marry her, but life had other plans. He'd joined the Republic fleet primarily because he'd thought it was the fastest way to establish himself and get her to accept his proposal. When he told her he was shipping off to flight school she had practically swooned. He'd thought she'd be sad he was leaving her, but something about the whole notion of being engaged to a pilot in the Republic Fleet had appealed to her. They had spent the night before he left in each others arms exhausting themselves - each of them trying to give the other some unforgettable memories to help get them through the coming months of separation. It had been in the wee hours of that morning that he had first experienced one of those perfect moments. He had lain there, intertwined with her, both of them long past exhausted and she had pledged her eternal devotion to him. It had been perfect.
It turned out, however, that her definition of "eternal" had been about three months. As the weeks passed the communication between them became less and less frequent. At first he had been distressed and tried to get leave to go see her. He'd pleaded with his commanding officer but the CO had been heartless and the old saying had rung true: If the Republic had wanted him to have a girlfriend, they would have issued him one with his uniform. He hadn't been surprised when he received a small package from her with his ring and a note explaining how she had fallen for a young doctor back home. She went on and on about how sorry she was, that she hadn't meant to, that it had just happened… it was destiny. He scoffed as he threw the datapad into the disintegrating trash receptacle, shoved the ring down in his pocket and headed to the cantina. He'd traded the ring for a few pazaak cards and soon forgot about her; drowning himself in pazaak, juma and the arms of one of the female members of his squadron.
The second time he'd had a moment like this had been when he slipped behind the controls of his first ship, the Star Crawler. She hadn't been much, just a small freighter, but she was magical to him. He'd won (and lost) her playing pazaak on Nar Shaddaa. But for the few years he'd had her, she had been better to him than any woman ever had. She was fast, responsive and he had always known instinctively just how to handle her. It had been the moment he'd first made the jump to hyperspace with her that had been perfection. He had been headed to Corellia to pick up a "shipment" for one of the hutts. He'd flown a lot early on in the Fleet, before he'd been reassigned to the "special forces", but he'd never been at the controls of his own ship as it made the mystical jump. The moment the stars blurred in his vision he had been flooded by adrenaline, pride, and the sense of purpose that can only be achieved by piloting your own ship.
Now he had a third moment to file away with the other two. He hoped this one might end better than the others had, but regardless he was feeling pretty damn good right now. As he reveled in his thoughts he drifted off to sleep.
He woke up to the sound of Mira settling into the co-pilot's chair. "What do you want?" He asked her grumpily.
"Always a bucket of sunshine, aren't you?" she quipped back. "I was just checking to see if I needed to relieve T3, but I see you're here already. Asleep, as usual, but here."
"What can I say, I'm so good, I fly better in my sleep than most guys do on a double caffa."
"Riiight. Speaking of caffa though, Mical is making some, if you want. Does your head hurt as bad as mine?"
"Uhhh, no, actually. Vash showed me something last night…"
Mira interrupted him with a laugh, "I bet she did."
"Always have your mind in the gutter, don't you?"
"Not always, no. But, when I went to bed last night, you two were snuggled up on the sofa. When I got up, Vash's in her bunk and you're back here, grinning in your sleep. What's up?"
"We woke up, talked a little and she went to bed." He said shortly. He'd been going to tell her about the hangover cure, but he was suddenly very reluctant to do anything nice for her, or any of the crew. Especially not if it meant they would wind up making fun of him… which they would, since he was "meditating". Vashti would be aggravated when she got up and he hadn't done what she'd suggested, but he didn't think that was a bad thing right now. He needed to keep her off balance emotionally. Things would be much more fun that way.
Mira scoffed, "So why the grin then?" Atton scowled at her as if to prove he hadn't been grinning. "You really did a number on her last night," she glanced at him and his scowl had lessened a little. "You should have seen her when she came back to the dormitory. She's got it bad." He couldn't keep from grinning. "She was practically flying. She woke us all up. Bao, Kreia and me, but I don't think she noticed, even though Kreia was fuming."
At the mention of Kreia's name Atton's grin lessened considerably. "Ugh, I wonder how long I've got before I get my lecture from the witch."
"Yeah, you're gonna get it," Mira confirmed, "but, she seems to be really distracted. She won't talk to anyone, keeps saying something about needing to meditate on the meeting with the council. So you might get a slight reprieve."
The thought wasn't very comforting. Kreia had made it very clear that he wasn't supposed to get that close to her, or more accurately, that he wasn't supposed to let her feel those sorts of things for him. Well, too late for that now. Not like he'd really been trying… he couldn't help it if he was so damn irresistible. He grinned cockily to himself.
Mira shook her head. "You've got it bad too. It's cute. It almost makes you seem human."
"Now, don't you go falling for me too. One Jedi chick at a time is more than any man can handle." He said with an obnoxious sneer.
Mira snorted. "You're just trying to get me to leave, aren't you?" she asked as she stood.
"Whatever works," he chuckled back to her.
"Exile, wake up, I must speak with you," Kreia's voice grated against Vashti's ears jarring her from her sleep. She squinted at the older woman and then sat up, blinking sleepily.
"What is it, Kreia?" She asked a tad grumpily.
"I may not be able to see, but I am not blind. Something happened between you and the fool last night."
Vash waited a moment, thinking she was going to continue making her point, but the older woman didn't say anything more. She just continued to do that freaky blank stare thing where you couldn't see her eyes, but you still knew she was staring at you. "And?" Vashti had no desire to have this conversation with this woman but she'd learned a long time ago that she would say what she felt she needed to regardless of what you wanted - even if she had to invade your mind to say it.
"The work you have yet to do is much too important for you to become distracted by such things. Especially with him."
"And?" She asked again, not in the mood to defend herself or her actions.
"You must not allow it to continue! This is not the time for such things. You should be preparing yourself for the meeting with the Jedi Council on Dantooine. And beyond that meeting, there are still the Sith Lords you must deal with. Personal feelings for anyone at this point will only be a liability."
"I will take what you have said into consideration," Vashti replied almost out of habit. How many times had she said these same words to this woman to appease her? She couldn't even begin to count them.
"I grow tired of your diplomatic words and your deceitful agreement. You chain yourself to that fool and he will be nothing but a weight around your neck. You would be wise to heed my warning."
"Perhaps, Kreia, you're probably right, of course, but it's too late now. The chain has been forged. And I have spent too much of my life running away from my heart." She paused a moment, smiling quietly to herself. "We have 2 days before we get to Dantooine, and I plan on enjoying them."
Kreia scoffed at her and went back to her meditations. Well, at least that's over with, She thought to herself as she laid back on her bunk. What is? She heard his question so loudly in her mind that she almost jumped. Would you quit doing that? Force, you practically gave me a heart attack. Besides aren't you always the one complaining about Jedi invading other people's minds?
I can't help it if your thoughts come screaming out at me. It wasn't like I was trying to listen or anything. She thought she could hear the pout in his voice.
Fine, just… let me know you're there before you start talking to me next time, will you? I really don't need anymore gray hairs. She groused back at him.
You have gray hairs? This time she could hear his amusement.
Yes, and they've all shown up since I let you out of that force cage on Peragus.
Kreia cleared her throat loudly and glared up at Vashti. The younger woman made a concerted effort to shield her thoughts from Kreia. Oops, Vashti mentally giggled, we were disturbing Kreia's meditation… I forgot how easily she can hear me. I think I've got her blocked now.
Eh, come to the cockpit and we'll chat in person. I know I'd feel better that way.
Ok, I'll come up there after a bit, need to get cleaned up first..
Vashti drug herself out of bed and headed toward the fresher. She felt considerably more awake as she slipped her clean tunic and leggings onto her still slightly damp body. She wrapped a towel around her shoulders as she braided her still very wet hair and headed out into the common area. Everyone, except Atton and Kreia, was there, all sipping mugs of caffa and looking like they were feeling pretty miserable.
"Um, you guys have hangovers?" They all glared at her their answers obvious. I told you to cure everyone's hangovers when they woke up.
And I told you I didn't want to do it. His answer was defensive and almost aggressive.
She fumed and the rest of the crew regarded her curiously as they saw the anger creep over her. "Are you all right?" Mira asked her.
Vashti tried to smile, "yeah, I'm fine. I uh… just thought you guys would be feeling better by the time I got up." Before anyone could say anything else she closed her eyes and began calling on the force. They were all surprised at how much better they felt when she opened her eyes again. "Better?" They all nodded. "Mical, come with me? I think I need to meditate on some things." Mical's face brightened considerably and he eagerly jumped up to follow her.
They made their way to the cargo hold and dropped to the floor there. "Would you like to talk about it first?" Mical asked hesitantly.
"No, I don't even know what it is that's bothering me, really." He looked at her skeptically. "Let's just meditate, ok?" He nodded and they slipped into their poses.
Nothing. Nothing. Focus on nothing. She thought to herself also making sure to shield her thoughts. Nothing… he does nothing I tell him to do… She fumed. No, not that nothing. Nothing… let go of your anger… empty your mind… As always happened when she tried to empty her mind, her hearing became very acute and she began to hear laughter coming from the lounge. Canderous' big bellowing laugh along with Mira's amused chuckles. I wonder what they're laughing about…NOTHING, she reminded herself suddenly. Ugh, this isn't working… Heartbeats, count heartbeats… One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, hrm, my heart is beating fast… though not as fast as it was last night. Especially not after that incredible kiss. Her heart beat faster at the memory. Eight, nine, ten… I wonder how many tens he dealt on purpose… eleven, twelve thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen… switch the sign of the plus or minus 2 card and the total is 20… The thought startled her, she wasn't exactly sure if it was hers or not. Hrm, maybe counting isn't the best thing. Focus on something benign, meaningless… Jedi Temple, fountains, training… there that's better… Coruscant, traffic, learning to fly a speeder, crashing… boy he's crashed this ship a lot… not that it's his fault, it's my fault we keep getting shot at… damn it, there I go thinking about him again… I wonder what Mical's thinking about over there…probably nothing… damn show off… this thought startled her as well. Atton? She called to him, still shielding her thoughts, wondering if he could hear her in spite of her barriers. Hrm… no answer. I don't think he can hear me, but why in the world would I have started playing pazaak or insulting Mic? Those couldn't have been my thoughts… But, they'd have to be mine, I'm blocking his. Oh, no. I've gotten too close… I'm starting to think like him now… Sith Spit.
"Vashti?" Mical said her name questioningly and she opened her eyes, a slight scowl on her face. "I sense you're having trouble focusing… are you sure you wouldn't like to talk about whatever is bothering you?"
Vashti rubbed her face in frustration. "No, I don't… I'm just annoyed with… well, annoyed…" she gave him a meaningful look and he nodded.
"Perhaps you should try focusing on the code?"
"Right the code, I'll try that." She closed her eyes and began again. There is no emotion, there is peace, a giant piece of nonsense is more like it… Ok… not a good way to start… Deep breath... try again... There is no ignorance there is knowledge… the knowledge that the council is full of egotistical geezers…well, except for Kavar maybe… there is no passion, there is serenity… but my favorite kind of serenity comes AFTER the passion… mmmm… it's been waaaay too long…She lingered on that thought for a moment. There is no death, there is the force… and becoming one with the force is NOTHING like death. Nothing at all, how silly of you.
Ugh, I don't think that's how you're supposed to do it…Sith's Blood. What the hell is wrong with me? I haven't been this restless since… well… since the time I picked up that smuggler… damn, he had a nice butt… and the way he touched me was…
"Vashti!" Mical's voice cut through her thoughts. Her eyes flickered open, annoyed with him. "I don't think that whatever you were focusing on was working. Perhaps you should try to work off some of your excess energy before trying to meditate again."
"Yeah, maybe that's a good idea… so grab a practice saber and we'll…"
Mical interrupted her, "No, not with me. I have some things I need to do… and I don't think I want to take his beatings for him anyhow." He stood quickly and left her in the room by herself. She frowned as she pulled her knees up to her chest. What the hell did he mean by that?
"By what?" Atton's voice made her jump for real this time. Her eyes shot to where he was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed.
"Damn it! Will you QUIT sneaking up on me?" she snapped at him. She jumped to her feet and began digging through supplies.
"Sorry, I didn't realize standing in a doorway qualified as sneaking," He responded sarcastically.
She glowered at him, "What do you want anyhow?"
"Well," he began agitatedly, "I got tired of sitting alone in the cockpit waiting for this woman I know to show up and grace me with her presence…. Like she said she would." His glare deepened. "So I decided to go find her, and guess what? She was "meditating" with her boy toy alone in the cargo bay."
"Force! You are immature!" she turned toward him and just about yelled at him now. "If you cannot grasp the concept of meditation, then you need to seriously reconsider your current life path."
"I get it, sister, but I also get other things." He raised his voice to match hers. "I felt the emotions rolling off you when you were in here with him. I felt your restlessness, your desires… Force, it was rolling off of you so strongly you scared the kid off!"
"You're imagining things. Mical had things to do. And I do as well," She finally pulled a practice saber out of the bin she was rummaging through. "Could you go ask Bao or Mira to come here? I'd like to get in some saber practice."
"Bao or Mira?" He fumed for a moment, then smirked, "I guess you are afraid of me, now?"
"No, I'm afraid of what I might do to you if I fought you right now." She answered, her voice steely.
"Give me your best shot, babe" he said pulling his saber off his belt and igniting it. He spun the double yellow blades in front of him slowly.
She threw the practice saber aside angrily and grabbed her own sabers off her belt igniting them simultaneously. In her right hand she held her silver saber and in the left she wielded a short saber with a violet crystal. She twirled her blades on each side of her, warming up her elbows and wrists.
They circled each other for a moment. It wasn't the first time they'd dueled by any means, but it had always been fairly friendly before. Now, she wanted to hurt him… or at the very least knock him down a peg or two. She made the first move, swinging her silver blade upward, close to the center of his double blade. As he shifted his saber to deflect her blow she jabbed forward with her shorter saber from the side. He snaked sideways to avoid her second blade and spun his double blade quickly, catching both her blades and twisting them in her grip. To avoid losing them, she snapped her arms outward, away from the spin, leaving her body momentarily open to attack. He didn't hesitate. He quickly shifted the spin of his saber to swipe vertically at her torso.
She cursed mentally as she jumped back, feeling the heat from his blade as it skimmed the air where she had been. Her sabers spun in front of her again a split second later as she regained her stance. She fumed at him as he smirked at her. Be patient. Let him make the first move. She thought to herself as she began to circle him again.
I made my first move last night, if you'll recall… and I'm pretty sure you liked it. His mouth stayed turned up in its persistent smirk as his voice echoed in her head. Damn it! Get! Out! Of my! Head! She punctuated each piece of the thought with a violent chop of her silver blade. He deflected each one easily stepping towards her with each blow, grinning at her lack of focus, as he backed her straight into a wall.
She felt her back press against the wall and cursed again as she crossed her blades in front of her, keeping him from coming any closer. He cocked an eyebrow at her as he spun his saber quickly from side to side, pinning her against the wall. The proximity of his blades to her shoulders was unnerving, but not as unnerving as the closeness of his cocky grin. She knew that if he tried to strike at her she would be able to block and escape. But she also realized as he stood there smirking at her, that he wasn't in any hurry to give her the chance to move away from him. He's playing a game with me… She thought to herself making sure he didn't hear her this time. If I want to beat him, I have to play the same game. You can't win a game of pazaak playing dejarik. Suddenly her anger melted away and a fiery look sparked in her blue eyes. He started almost imperceptibly at the sudden change in her demeanor, but it was enough.
In a flash, she turned off her blades, dropped to the floor and did a forward somersault through his legs, taking extra care to make sure she brushed against the more sensitive areas as she rolled. She leapt to her feet directly behind him, spun to face him, and reigniting her blades again she body slammed him against the wall were she had been standing a second before. Fortunately for him his reflexes had been fast enough to extinguish his blades as his saber and arms became pinned between him and the wall.
Her sabers were on each side of him and her body pressed against his back trapping him. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward her lips almost brushing against his ear. Damn he even smells good sweaty. She thought as she whispered, "Give up?"
He leaned into her a moment, feeling each curve pressing into his back. She pressed into him harder, and breathed hard against his neck. Feeling her overbalance against him, he pushed off from the wall suddenly, sending her backwards across the floor on her rear end as he spun away from the wall and re-ignited his saber. "Nah, I'm having way too much fun to want to give up yet." He said with a smug grin.
She jumped to her feet again and reignited her own sabers returning his grin. "Come and get me, flyboy." She said huskily as she spun her sabers almost invitingly.
His grin widened considerably as he stepped toward her, slashing downward at her torso. She blocked the blow with her short saber stopping it mid spin and slashed horizontally at his waist with her other blade. As soon as Atton felt the resistance to his attack, he quickly reversed the direction of the spin of his blade blocking her silver blade from hitting his waist and knocking it upward. He then spun his saber around his waist, trying to take advantage of the opening he'd created. She stopped his blade as it swung around him and quickly placed her second blade on the other side of his, trapping it between hers. She wrenched it sideways savagely and he had to jump to avoid having his leg chopped off by the other end of his own blade. Mid-jump he thought to extinguish his saber to free it of her grasp and as he did so, he used the force to redirect his jump sideways out of the reach of her sabers as he reignited his.
She grinned at him as she stepped closer, a flurry of strokes striking out at him. He parried each blow with a quick spin of his saber, but her strikes were unrelenting. She kept stepping towards him and he realized too late that she had backed him into the wall this time. As the shock of feeling the wall behind him settled over him, she reached out with her hand and used the force to wrench his weapon out of his hands, throwing it across the floor of the cargo hold. She stepped closer, still spinning her sabers on each side of him. She stopped their spin as she took another step towards him. She leaned in close to him, "Give up now?" she whispered as she pressed against him.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer to him as she extinguished her sabers and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him. Where his kiss had been tender and sweet, hers was hungry and passionate. She dropped her sabers and began pawing at his chest with one hand while stroking the back of his neck with the other. It was as the kiss slowed that she became aware of an unusual noise coming from the other side of the ship. What the hell? She thought as she listened more closely and realized that she was hearing whoops and cheering coming from the general direction of the lounge. Suddenly she snapped her head around and glared at the cargo hold's security camera. The cheers stopped immediately. She closed her eyes as she broke free from his grasp, used the force to call her sabers and stormed out the door towards the communications room.
She caught them all still standing in the com room, looking quite sheepish. "Did you guys enjoy the show?" she asked obviously agitated.
Mira spoke up quickly, "We were just watching the duel, Vash. It wasn't our fault you turned it into more than that."
Canderous, never one to be apologetic for anything, said with a smirk, "I guess HK was right about people forgetting about the security cameras when the mating rituals begin."
She clenched her jaw and happened to glance over at the security screen just as Atton ignited his saber and the screen went black. Her eyes widened and she turned and left the room as quickly as she had arrived. She went back to her bunk, and laid there for a little while, trying to regain her composure. It didn't help that she could feel Kreia's smugness at her predicament, but she knew that as long as she was this close to the old woman that Atton wouldn't come seek her out. At least not in person.
She didn't know what bothered her so much about everyone watching her. It wasn't like the crew had done anything wrong. She'd have been in there watching too, if she hadn't been the one making a fool of herself. She sighed and rolled to face the wall as she sensed Mira entering the room.
Mira glanced uneasily at Kreia but sat herself on Vash's bunk anyhow and patted her on the shoulder. "You know we just want you to be happy."
"I just feel so stupid," she mumbled back to her.
"Stupid? Why? It was great.. You should have seen the look on his face as you walked out. You really got to him. Be proud, girl! Makes me want to loan you my stun cuffs and Bothan stunner." She grinned as Vashti giggled and sat up. "Seriously though, anything you need to pursue your target, just ask me." She dug in her pocket and pulled out the holovid disk she'd shown them the night before and handed it to her. "And you know, I don't ever want to watch this again." She shuddered dramatically. "I also added a little something extra on the end, you'll want to check out, I think."
Vashti snickered and glanced over at the older woman still meditating on the floor. She'd have to find someplace else to watch it again. "Anyhow," Mira continued, "I think we're about to get lunch out if you're hungry." She patted Vash on the knee again and stood to leave. Vashti followed her out to the common room and managed to suppress most of her blush as she met the amused glances of her crew. Her discomfort faded quickly though as the food began to appear and she began to focus on filling her growling stomach that grumpily informed her she had missed breakfast.
It was a short time later when Atton stormed from the direction of the cargo hold. He stopped briefly and grabbed something to eat as he glared hungrily at Vash. He shoved a piece of fruit in his mouth and then quickly turned and stormed towards the cockpit. As soon as he was gone, she broke out with a giant grin as she and Mira exchanged looks. Vashti decided she'd let him stew a little before the next round.