A/N: Some romance will definaetly start showing up soon and most of your questions will be answered! Thanks to those have read this far!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars...:(

Chapter 5

Mical sat with his back towards the door to the cargo hold. He breathed in, held it, and then breathed out again. He was thankful for his Jedi training because otherwise he would ahve gone mad months ago. He sighed softly. Months...it had been months since they began their escapade to find and rescue Fiona. Months and no trace of her. It was as if she had dissappeared completely. Mical shook his head. That was not possible. He would have known if something bad had happened to her...he would know it.

He decided that he would just continue on with his exercises. They hadn't encountered any danger yet...but that didn't mean that it was far behind. Atton appeared at the doorway. He looked tired...his eyes had lost the edgyness that they used to have. He also had lost the wrinkles that formed when he smiled or laughed. Laughter and smiling had been one of the things that seemed out of reach since they began this rescue mission. The man had basically become an empty shell of a man who used to experience life to the fullest. It broke Mical's heart seeing him like this.

They had never been reall great friends...but nevertheless, they were companions. Ones that would give their life to save the other one. Mical stood and regarded his friend with a sad smile.

"We're going to top by a planet called Ord Mantell. Apparently it's a smuggler's haven and a good place to lay low and rest for a while." He breathed a sigh of dissappointment. "Something we could both use."

Mical got up and thumped Atton gently on the back. "I agree." Mical began to head back out to the cockpit, but noticed that Atton wasn't coming. Mical could pilot the ship...but he really didn't feel like crashing today, especially on Ord Mantell. A planet that was smack dab in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it was the closest you could get to going into the Unknown Regions without actually going there.

"Do you actually think we're going to find her?" Atton asked quietly.

Mical had to admit that the chance that they were going to find her was very thin. Especially on the account that they had been searching for her for almost a year. Mical was about to answer when Atton began to speak again.

"We've been searching for so long...we have absolutely no clue where she is...not even a hint!" He sighed. "I thought that we could...that maybe there was a chance that she was still..."

"She is alive, Atton. She is alive, I know it. If she had died, we would have felt something...even a little tremor in the Force." Mical said confidentely...even though he had his doubts.

"Who are you kidding? We have done everything we can to find her...hired every person that I can think of..." Atton put his head in his hands. "I don't know what else to do? I don't want to give up...because that would mean that she is...she is..." He looked away.

"Don't give up, Atton. We will find her...even if it takes many years. You must keep faith in yourself and the Force..." Mical began, trying to comfort his friend.

"The Force? The Force!" Atton let out a sarcastic laugh. "The Force is what took her away from me! I say damn the Force! Damn it!"

Mical had no answers to this. Atton wasn't right about a lot of things...but this could be one thing that he is correct on. The Force had taken her away from him when he was just a child...then had guided her back to him on Dantooine. And now the Force had violently taken her away from him again. Atton was right...yet at the same time...so very wrong.

"We'll refuel...then," He looked back towards the wall. "then we're going home. I'm going home."

"Atton-"

"No...I'm tired of this! I don't want to live my life on a chance that..that the love of my life might be coming back...I can't! I won't." He started to leave before turning back towards Mical. "I'm sorry. I failed...I failed."

Mical merely nodded.Atton left mumbling something about failing to protect the only woman that he had ever truly loved and had ever truly loved him back. Mical slumped against the wall. His heart thudded against his chest. Going home would just mean one thing. One thing that deep down he would never truly admit. That Fiona Rykos had died. Had died out there...alone. A valient woman dying alone in the vast expanses of space.

"No. She is not dead. She can't be..." Mical whispered to himself. "I know it."

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"Corellian whiskey...and make it a double, hold the ice." The woman said as she walked up to the counter and swung her leg over the stool, revealing her modified blaster pistol...a warning to anyone who wanted to mess with her.

"Coming right up." The bartender turned around and began making the drink. He turned back around with a full mug of some of the most powerful alchohol in the galaxy. "Here you are. So, we don't get many of your kind here. Must be some big deal for a human to show up here at Ord Mantell. You get in some trouble? Large price on your head?"

"First off...I don't care if you don't get any humans here often, cut the chit chat. I don't intend to be your friend. Secondly, if I did have a price on my head, why in hell's name do you think I would tell you or any of your pathetic friends here about it?" She brought the mug to her lips and took a large swig. It burnt all the way down.

The bartender obviously got the hint and went to go attend some other customers. A large man walked up next to her and took a seat. He eyed her lustfully. That was it...the woman had already had quite enough of this Force-forsaken planet. She wasn't about to get eyed by a scumbag like him.

"Like what you see?" She said sensually.

"Hey, why don't you come with me and we'll have some real fun..." He leaned closer to him. She could smell the alchohol on his breath.

"Fun? Alright, I'm game." Quicker than the oaf could see, the woman had a pistol pointed at his head. She laughed maniacally. "Ahhh, this is what I call fun..."

Then she fired a warning shot. Right through his head. He collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud. The other customers looked curiously...then turned back to the drinks and conversations. She put her pistol safely away. Men are such ignorant fools. Say a few words and they trip over themselves trying to get you in the bed with them.

The bartender looked over angrily at her. "Hey! There's no fighting in my..."

"Save it...or you will be next. Understand?" The bartender nodded reluctantly. The woman went back to her drink.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw two tall men enter the cantina. She paid no heed to the first but eyed the second. He was blonde and looked fairly muscular...a pretty boy, no doubt. She knew she would have some fun with him...but figured that she was suppose to leave soon and let the idea drop. The first man looked rough, but had roguish good looks that no one could scoff at. No one but her. She'd seen a million like him. Hell, she'd slept with a million like him.

"Atton-" The blonde was looking directly at her, his jaw threatening to drop. The darker haired man's jaw was dropped.

"I see it, but I don't believe it..." The woman rolled her eyes. These pups had probably never seen someone like her before. It was actually kind of pathetic.

The woman took another gulp of the whiskey...then she was suddenly on the floor. Quickly she went into defense mode. She hit the man in the jaw with an uppercut and knocked him flat. Then she pulled out her knife and put it directly underneath his chin, sharply against his neck. She glared at him as he laid there stupified.

"Fiona! What are you doing! It's me, Atton!" He said.

"I don't know who the hell you are..." She smiled. "But you picked the wrong girl to rape, buddy. Now you're gonna die."

She was about to slit his throat when she was suddenly enveloped in a light purple haze. Her muscles cramped up and she couldn't move. Her eyes continued to hold the fierce determination and fire. If she ever got out of this paralysis...she would definetly kill him. She waited for the pain that was sure to follow...but it never came. Her eyes softened. She looked up and saw that the blonde man had his hands out in front of him.

"Fiona? What's wrong? It's us...don't you remember?" Atton said as he struggled to get up. "Mical! Let her go! Now!"

"Atton, something is obviously wrong with her. She needs medical attention..."

"I said now!" Atton yelled as he held her gently.

"As you wish." Mical put his hands down and the stasis wore off immediately after.

The woman struggled to get up and out of Atton's grip, her pistol in her hand she pointed it directly at Atton. "Who the hell are you!"

"What do you mean? It's us!" Atton yelled back.

"I haven't ever seen you in my entire life! And who is this Fiona person you're talking about!" She said, her voice was loud but shaky.

"You are Fiona!"

"I am most certainly not! I am Serena Toppak!" Her eyes held a new emotion within them. Fear and confusion.

Atton looked to Mical and then back to Fiona. "Look, put the gun down..."

"Back up...now!" She stepped forward menacingly.

"Put the blaster down..." Atton held his hands in front of him.

"Don't move another step...or I swear I'll blow your head off." Her voice wavered.

"Please, Fiona. We want to help you..." Mical's calm voice made her lower her gun slightly.

"The next time someone calls me Fiona, they'll be lying in a pool of their own blood." She murmured.

"Let us help you..." Mical paused. "...Serena."

Fiona found a renewed strength. There was no way out of this one...unless she killed both of them. Her chances were slim but she had to kill these maniacs. She pointed the gun at Atton. "Time to die."

There was a loud bang. Atton stood there preparing for a balster shot...he held his hands out and the shot stopped in middair. He sighed and leaned closer to Fiona...or the person who used to be Fiona. Fiona would never have tried to kill him. Mical waved his hand slowly.

"What the-" Serena collapsed to the ground. Her dark hair tumbling around her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders, sillouetting her figure.

Mical and Atton stood for a moment before Atton picked her fragile body up and began making his way to the Ebon Hawk. A feeling of hope, despair, and confusion overwhelming him at once. His Fiona was alive...that was all that mattered. She was alive...

A/N: The plot thickens! Please review! All reviews are appreciated!