Chapter 7

- Remember Forever

Kavan growled fixing his eyes firmly on the door. 'We're leaving.'

'Who's going to hire you, boy?' Olimpiu shot. 'Who's going to hire her? She's a live wire boy. She's gonna get you killed! Be smart for a change, kill the bitch and collect the reward.'

Without a pause Kavan spun and landed his fist squarely on the side of Olimpiu's big head. Indis screamed for him to stop, darting forward only to be stopped by Wyatt's big arm. Jax lunged in to pull his friend out of the fight, but was there only in time to catch his limp body after Olimpiu's giant hand left its mark on his temple.

'Kavan!' Indis screamed when she saw Kavan's body crumple in Jax's hold.

'No, Indis,' Wyatt scolded, keeping a firm grip on her flailing arms. 'Stay back.'

Jax lowered himself to one knee, supporting Kavan's dead weight with one arm and reaching for a vibroblade in his pocket with another as his enraged boss stalked toward them. Carefully laying his friend's body on the ground he flipped the blade in his hand into a fighting hold and balanced himself on the balls of his feet.

'Jax, don't do anything stupid, son,' Wyatt warned, observing the conflict and calculating the different outcomes. Please don't do anything stupid, he thought.

'Wyatt, let me go,' Indis begged, pulling with all of her strength against his hold. 'Please, let me go.'

As Jax shifted his balanced forward and jumped toward the enormous creature, his fist closed tightly around the hilt of his vibrating dagger and extended as if to punch, Wyatt carefully but none too gently pushed Indis toward the opening hallway door. His ears flattened against his hairless head as he heaved himself rapidly forward to protect the small human. Jax was easily thrown aside by the more powerful being, beaten and knocked nearly senseless, but not before gashing a deep and jagged slice into the side of Olimpiu's fatty neck.

Drawn out by the shouts and screams, the twins looked out nervously from the dark hallway, Kari holding a long vibroblade down by her thigh, safely out of view. Dima glanced out in time to see Jax's body veer off it's attack course and knock into one of the tables. Before Kari could stop her, her sister ran out into the large room and was quickly knocked back by Indis's fall.

Olimpiu was beyond reasoning, angered and wounded, now threatened by an equal. Unable to form enough coherent words to make a characteristic threat, he pulled out a small blaster from inside his sleeve and fired it at Wyatt. The bolt which was set high enough to easily kill any humanoid only stunned the bartender who, after three more shots from the weapon, fell heavily backwards and hit his head on the side of the bar.

For a moment the fighting stopped. The club was still and quiet, as if nothing had ever happened there. Shielding the dagger from her boss's eyes, Kari slipped out of the hall to retrieve her sister as Indis surveyed the room. Three individuals had risked themselves for her. Why? Wyatt was bleeding heavily from a wound on the back of his head. He was nothing like her. While she considered him her only father figure, this was his life. She was but a passing breeze in his long life. Jax was just gaining his feet when he was sent back to his knees by a rush of dizziness. He barely knew her. He had his only life, his own love to care for. And Kavan. Kavan's eyes were just beginning to twitch. He almost looked as if he was sleeping, but she knew he was not. The angry lump that grew on the side of his face reminded her of that. Why did he not simply be rid of her? She had done nothing for him, nothing but pull him away from his home, throw him into danger after danger. He deserved more than her, if nothing else to be apart from her.

Kari hissed behind Indis, pulling her attention away from her lover's face. Olimpiu towered over them, no more than three paces away. Behind the shield the three dancers' bodies created Kari discretely activated the vibroblade.

'No, Kari,' Indis whispered, below Olimpiu's hearing range. 'I won't risk you too.'

'But Indis -'

'Please, Kari.' Indis bowed her head slightly, battling for control over herself. 'For me.'

'You,' Olimpiu interrupted loudly, shaking the small blaster pistol at the trio. 'You have cost me a lot of money,' he managed to growl out.

'She also made your little club famous,' Kari snapped, glaring at the fat creature. Dima's eyes trailed from her boss to her lover who was quietly and slowly making his way over to his reviving friend.

'Shut your mouth, you little slut,' he roared, pointing the pistol directly at the fiery Twi'lek. 'You should thank your gods that I don't make the money I deserve from you.'

Kari started her reply, gripping tighter to her weapon and rising to her feet, but she was cut short when Indis rose with her, continuing the cover of the weapon she was not supposed to have, and spoke over her shout.

'It's me you want, the bounty you think the Black Sun will pay you, not them.'

'You're right, it is, and what a pretty price that'll be.' Olimpiu was very nearly drooling at the thought of the unknown number of credits he saw as rightfully his.

'Indie, run,' Kavan's weak voice called from the side.

Dima shook her head, refusing a silent gesture from Jax as Indis darted right and Kari forward with the blade. Olimpiu turned at the sound of Kavan's voice and immediately levelled his blaster and fired it at the dancer. Two bolts hummed through the air and hit their targets. In the seconds that followed an eternity passed in utter chaos. Jax's head snapped toward the door. His eyes widened briefly before moving to stand and defend. Dima's eyes followed Jax's, and her scream echoed in the ears of the combatants at the sight of her sister's body before her. Olimpiu spun as the light from another blaster bolt caught his eye before striking the bouncer's chest. Holding her sister's body to her, Dima was torn and confused when she saw her lover shot. She sobbed quietly and dug her fingers into her sister's night clothes.

Through it all Indis stood with her eyes blurred and her lips parted slightly. She watched Kavan's eyelids open and close rapidly, trying to gain a focal point. She saw his chest heave as his one undamaged lung tried to compensate for the other. The wound immediately cauterized, and there was no blood. It felt surreal, like she was walking in a dream. In their search for vision Kavan's eyes found hers and locked onto them as if they were his one remaining lifeline. When she fell to her knees Indis was at his side. Her eyes, not wanting to part from his, did not blink as her hand gently surveyed the damage the blaster had inflicted.

'I did this to you,' Indis whispered, her ghostly voice barely escaping immobile lips.

Without warning his hand closed over hers, and his chest spasmed. Indis looked down, breaking their eye contact and squeezing her eyes shut as tears pushed their way out. When his body grew still she looked up, returning her eyes to his once more but no longer able to meet his still gaze. Pulling her hand softly from his lax grip Indis reached up and gently touched Kavan's jaw. His lips were loosely parted, relaxed in a way she had never seen them before. When she touched his shoulders they were not the hard, solid blocks she had grown accustomed to, even in his sleep. His brow showed no signs of the stress that seemed to trouble him day by day. He looked peaceful as she leaned forward, her tears falling across his bruised skin. Her lips softly brushed his, gently caressing his, hoping, praying that his would cease their stillness and reply. When they did not Indis's world went dark. She remained that way, bent over him, gently stroking his neck as her tears washed over his lifeless features.

Reality suddenly sharpened and the disbelief in her heart turned to overwhelming pain as Indis clutched her lover's shoulder. Pounding the floor, she called out his name again and again, each time expecting his arm to raise and hold her in an embrace. Yet for all of her pleading Kavan would not hold her.

Still deaf to the world around her, Indis barely noticed the slender hand pulling her arm. The intended effect was to get her to run, but the distraught child could think only of leaving behind her anguish. Looking up through her thick wet lashes, her blue eyes bored into the tinted lens of the bounty hunter's helmet. She saw his gun, held casually, as if he merely guarded the door and had no real intention of using it.

Indis's hand dropped to Kavan's waste, feeling along the edge of his pants for the vibroblade he kept hidden there. Grasping it tightly, she rose slowly to her feet, ignoring the Twi'lek pleading to her. She intended to give the hunter a reason to use his blaster.

Trembling fiercely she tightened her grip and took a step forward, oblivious to the bodies of her friends scattered at her feet. She stood in an empty arena, a broken warrior fighting for the last remnants of her pride. Before her, against the empty backdrop stood her weapon. She took another step forward.

The hunter watched curiously from behind the tint of his visor. He thought of his father, of the day he clutched Jango's empty shell to his chest, pleading with any god who would listen to bring his father back so he would not be alone. He thought of the code of honour his father had lived by, the code passed down from generation to generation. The power of the word, debt, and how every man should live.

For a moment her step faltered. She heard Dima's cries echoing through her skull, the Twi'lek's pleas to the hunter in the doorway to spare Indis's life. Unable to think or act with conscious movement Indis fell to her knees, dropping Kavan's blade as she looked up at the familiar mask. Her dry lips tried to form a word that her voice would not utter. Her body swayed as she knelt unsupported. Her eyes never broke contact with the dark visor as the hunter lifted his blaster and gave her the silence she longed for.

'Indie,' Kavan whispered somewhere in the still darkness. 'Indie, come on. Wake up.'

Indis opened her eyes, shivering in the cold. The shadow world was a blur as she blinked furiously, her hands holding tight to something warm and secure. As shapes came slowly into focus all she could see were dim shadows, outlines of towering crates and close walls. She felt sick. Her head was light, floating somewhere heavily above her aching body. The knots in her stomach tightened and her body clenched inward, curling her closer into the warmth.

What had happened, where she was, was all a dream, a hellish nightmare. Her very existence hung suspended between shadow and vapour. Two strong arms around her held her back, her only link to the world of the living. Her eyes slowly fell closed as she rested her head against the warmth surrounding her.

'Indie, we have to get out of here,' Kavan whispered again, gently shaking the girl in his arms. 'Please, wake up.' She made a mumbled reply as her body shifted, her head lolling back as the ship's violent vibrations shook them.

Kavan looked around frantically, feeling the effects of the depressurized hold as his vision spun. Gritting his teeth, he gathered his friend closer to him as best he could, using all of his strength to half carry – half drag her past a stack of crates and up towards an opening. She whimpered unconsciously as he held her under the arms, pushing against the airlock desperately. Quickly his thin arms lost their strength and Indis began to slip from his grasp. He stumbled forward, trying to catch her as she fell, landing in a broken heap below him.

A/N: That... really didn't come out as well as I wanted it to, and it's a lot shorter than I had planned. Originally it was a part of chapter 6, but I don't know why I split it up. Sorry for the insane break. Hehe... I'm a terrible person. Cheesy ass cliffhangar again... I need to find a new chapter ending technique.