CHAPTER FIVE

Anja groaned and reached for her head. She felt like she had been hit by very large swoop bike. Her eyes popped open when she felt the hand on her arm.

Arren smiled at her. " Lay still." She said. " Moving with only cause you more pain. The effects will wear off quickly now that you are awake."

Vlaina handed something to her and she held it out to Anja. " Here… caffa… it will speed the antidote circulation in your blood stream."

" What… what did he inject me with?" Anja asked, taking the cup.

" We developed it for our scouts. It only works against those touched by the Force. It's a serum that instantly turns you into a noodle. It only works if you aren't prepared for it. Which you weren't." Arren said. " We're in one of the underground compounds dotting Katarr. Our troops are finishing their sweeps and installing the last of the stealth disruption shields so we can return to the colony."

" He had no right to do that." Anja said sipping caffa.

" Yes… a point that Revan is currently in the process of expressing to him." Arren winched as there was a large crashing sound from the next room.

Anja looked at her. " What was that?"

" That was the fifth…"

" Sixth." Vlaina corrected.

Arren grinned weakly. " Sixth time… sorry… sixth time that Uncle Canderous has been tossed across the command center for doing what he did."

Anja looked at her. " You mean…"

Arren nodded. " Revan kind of took it personal."

Anja struggled to sit up, but Arren's hand stopped her. " That would not be a good idea." She said. " We learned long ago to not get involved."

" But Revan will hurt him!" Anja said.

There was another loud crashing sound from the next room followed by a curse in Rakatan. " That was the fourth…"

" Fifth." Vlaina corrected her.

" Sorry. That was the fifth time Revan got tossed across the room." Arren spoke. " He may be nearing seventy years old, but Uncle Canderous is still quite capable of taking care of himself."

Vlaina went to the door to peek out and Anja could then hear them yelling at one another.

"… your woman! If I hadn't of stepped in, we could have been jumped by a whole slew of those Sith bastards while you two were arguing!" Canderous bellowed.

" She is not my woman!" Revan bellowed back.

" What do you mean not your woman! I may be old boy… but I ain't losing my mind just yet! That's the little Kath Hound we have all been hearing about all these years! The one you have your bond with! I'd recognize those eyes anywhere!" Canderous snapped.

" She asked me to close the bond!" Revan popped.

" Close the bond! You're denser than your father boy! That's what your mother told him too! Close the bond! Don't invade my mind! Stay out of my head! And while she was telling him that… she got weak kneed being in the same room as him!" Canderous yelled. " Doesn't take a Jedi Master to see that little Jedi Kath Hound in there has got the hots for you! I can smell it coming from her pores! Now you either pull your head out of the Ronto backside it's stuck in… or I'm going to toss her very attractive tail onto one of my ships and send her back to Coruscant where she won't be a distraction to you!"

" Then do it!" Revan spoke finally. Arren and Vlaina both glanced at Anja as she sat on the bed her eyes wide. They all heard the sound of lightning in the next room and they ran for the door to burst into the command center. The center was nearly destroyed, smashed glass all over, and several dents in the metal of the wall frame. There was also a large smoking four foot crater in the floor of the center now. Arren and Vlaina went to Canderous as Visas came in from the other entrance.

" Uncle Canderous." Arren said softly as he found a chair and lowered his bulk into it. His face and jaw bore the signs of the battle between the two men, his lip bloody and his jaw very bruised.

" He hits harder than I remember Arren." Canderous said with a smile.

" Let me heal you Canderous." Visas said, starting to unlatch his armor.

" I'll be fine." Canderous said. " Someone go after Rev. He needs more help than I do, poor boy has got it bad. Worse than his father had with his mother."

" I'll go." Anja's voice broke in from behind them, as she came out of the adjoining room.

" You will not!" Canderous barked. " You're the problem!" He got back to his feet, still sore from the fight. " Vlaina… find someone to take this Jedi witch back to a ship and take her back to Coruscant!"

" I will not go back!" Anja spoke, her green eyes flashing. " I'm… I'm needed on this mission!"

" Needed!" Canderous shouted. " Bantha piss! We've been doing darn good without you the last thirty years! You're just another Jedi Princess! Only problem is you got less brains than the last one I knew. At least she knew what she had when it was standing in front of her. Those Jedi windbags certainly brainwashed you good! You deserve them!"

" You just try and make me go back!" Anja growled. " We'll see who wins that battle old man!"

Canderous laughed at her. " Princess… I was killing Jedi ten times better than you before you was even born! You would just be a little blip on the radar!"

" Canderous! Enough!" Visas told him.

Canderous waved his arm at Anja. " Bah! She ain't worth the effort it would take to love her! Rev Junior is better off sending her back to her masters."

Anja was a mass of emotions she had never felt before. She clenched her fists together to try and control those emotions raging through her, and she failed miserably as she felt the tears burst from her eyes. Anja turned and ran from the room.

Canderous looked over Arren's shoulder to see if she was gone. " Think it worked?" He asked, grunting as Visas removed his chest plate.

Arren looked at him. " Perhaps. But I would not want to be you if she ever tells Revan what you just told her."

Canderous met Arren's eyes. " You and me both." He said. " Jeez! When did he get so strong?"

Anja found him three hours later after the compound had been secured and cleared and Visas's people moved back into the colony. She was walking alone in the night air, letting the cool breeze blow across her face when she noticed him sitting on the roof of one of the colony buildings. She walked up to the side of the building and Force jumped her way to the level he was on. The twin moons cast a brilliant glow, and she could detect the injuries to his face that he had not healed since the fight with Canderous. The blood had dried on his cheekbone, where a large cut had clotted. His jaw was also bruised, and very shirtless, the moon light allowing her to see the large bruise he sported on his shoulder. She settled quietly in front of him in the lotus position and gazed upon his strong face.

What was it about this young man in front of her that had her emotions in such an utterly confused state? What she felt running through her was unlike anything she had ever before experienced. No one had ever pressed her control to this point, not even Master Corna, and she barely knew Revan. She closed her eyes there in front of him and tried to see what about him made her heart race, and her knees weaken.

Let me in.

What would be the purpose for that Anja?

Revan? You said the… you said the link we have is closed.

It is. That does not mean I can't hear your mind when you call to me. Especially when you shout. I have shut my mind to you as you requested. Unfortunately… you don't have the experience to shut yours to mine. I can only do so much. I'm sorry.

Show me.

Show you what.

Show me what happen Revan.

If I do that… if I do that Anja… I will not be able to close the link again. Once we share memories… there will be no going back. You will know all that I know, all that I am. I do not think you are ready for that.

You do not have to protect me Revan Panlie Junior. I can take care of myself!

Of that I have little doubt Anja.

Then… then let me in.

Very well.

The images flooded her mind like the scenes from a holo vid, nearly overwhelming her. She held her concentration and could feel the bond from Revan flow freely. She could feel him releasing his mind with something akin to a relieved sigh. It soothed her like nothing she had ever experienced. His mind was a whirlwind of images and memories, memories of his childhood, flashes of what he showed her on Coruscant. Images of his father and mother holding one another in their bed, their fear and pain filling the room they occupied as if it was a palpable thing. She saw his cradle in the corner, him laying in it, staring at the figures of his parents, his sapphire eyes bright and clear, and Anja realized he had been aware from those very first moments. He could feel their pain and anguish as if it was his own. What they felt they passed to him like genes are passed to a child.

The smoke was so thick.

The pain. The heat from the fire.

She could see the trees, so green in their color.

She heard the voices. Shouting. The booming voice of command.

There. Out of the smoke came the eyes. Like beacons to her. The large man behind them.

The voices.

" Leave her Revan. She will not survive. Her injuries are too severe." The man said.

Then his touch. His hand upon her chest and the warmth that spread through her. The pain ceased, and she felt the light trigger within her. Her own Force powers coming to life, dormant until he laid his hand upon her. Then his voice. The voice of a man coming from a boy.

" Do not fear my little Kath Hound. Fight. Reach out for my hand! Take it!"

And she did. And the bond was formed.

" Revan! No!" The woman's voice cried. Then the face. So beautiful she was. With long shimmering auburn hair and eyes like his. Gleaming sapphires. And then the light was gone. Only the voices remained.

" Revan! What have you done!"

" I saved her mother! She's my little Kath Hound! Look how she fights to live! Help her mother!"

" I will Revan. I will."

" My little Kath Hound. We'll be together someday. I will come for you. I will give you… I will give you the rest of my heart! I will…."

" Revan!" The woman's voice screamed. " Revan! Hold on!"

You almost died. Arren told me. You almost died saving me. I can see you in bed. So pale. So weak. Why? Why did you do it?

Because at that moment I loved you. And as hard as I have tried not too… I have loved you every day since then.

Oh Revan… I am so sorry for my words.

You did not know Anja. I was unsure it was you until I saw you. You are even more beautiful to me now than you were that day.

But I can… I can feel the pain I caused you.

I should not have re-established the bond in that way. It was too quick. Having you in my arms was…

What?

It was distracting.

Rev… are you blushing?

You… you called me Rev.

That is your name isn't it?

You learn quickly Anja Tamari.

You should have healed your wounds.

I have not fought with my Uncle like that for nearly seven years. I had forgotten how hard he can hit.

I am sorry for causing that.

The fault is not yours. He should not have done what he did. He is a cantankerous old Boma beast, but he is also a Mandalorian. They prefer the direct approach.

What happens now?

Now?

Yes. With this bond we share. What happens?

That is not my decision to make Anja. I can block some of my thoughts, and I can teach you to do the same, but we will always be linked. We will always sense what the other is feeling in some fashion. These are not the most perfect conditions to have you discover this.

I adapt very well.

Yes… I noticed that.

I will need time Revan.

Time is not a luxury we have much of Anja. I will not pressure you. You know what my feelings are. I can not make you feel something you do not. You will follow your heart.

Someone else told me that too.

Excuse me?

Nothing. I'm sorry. Friends?

For now, yes.

What does that mean?

It means I will not let the Jedi Council have you back without a fight. My little Kath Hound.

Anja's eyes opened to see him Force jump off the roof of the colony building. She could hear his laughter echo in the night air. A small smile spread across her full lips, and the moon caused her eyes to glow a dazzling green. A very pleasant warmth spread through her as she felt his essence fill her with peace.