Chapter Three: Tomorrow Comes

"Tomorrow comes, sorrow becomes his soul mate."

James Blunt, "Billy"

Ebon Hawk, Males' Dormitory

"Come, little Jedi. Come and get me."

With a jerk he sat up and panted heavily for a second or two, not knowing where or who he actually was. Then his mind cleared up a little, and he calmed down. He was still Atton Rand, still in the males' dormitory of the Ebon Hawk. He took another shuddering breath and put his face in his hands. What in the Force's name had that been?

He had been trying to sleep for at least two hours, all the time tossing and turning because he just couldn't find a way to sort through that whole business with Né. And then he had finally been able to sleep and then suddenly just someone woke him up by whispering in a ridiculously scary voice what he had just heard in his sleep. He didn't even know if he had really heard it or if it was just a part of one of his totally mixed up dreams.

But the feeling it had carried with it… so cold and evil. The last time he had felt anything as evil as that had been in the tomb on Dxun when he had tried to prevent that Sith ritual from happening with Né and Visas. Granted, he hadn't been a trained Force adept at that time, but the whole place had almost literaly reeked of evil.

And now traces of Dark Side energy were still hanging in the room. Faint as they were, he could still feel them, with his senses sharpened after the training with Né and everything. Sighing in a low voice, he laid down again and shut his eyes. But the only things that would come were either images of Né at their last meeting, with all the distress and pain on her face, and the tears… or the memory of the cold whisper which had woken him up.

After a few more turns Atton got up groaning. Mical's drunken snoring and Mandalore's grunting he could ignore at any time, but that voice together with the images and the fainting traces of evil in the dormitory made it impossible for him to stay any longer. Grabbing a lose shirt and his side deck he made his way to the cockpit.

Plunging down in the pilot's seat he shuffled the deck and started to play solo pazaak. But from the start his thoughts weren't on the game. He found them circling solely around Né and the circumstances of her leaving. Why in all the Stars did she have to go on a search for Revan, of all people? I mean, it's not as if she hasn't been Dark Lord of the Sith at one time., he though a little sourly.

But then again, he had experienced it himself: Sometimes it was obviously very easy for her to forgive what others deemed unforgivable. Closing his eyes he leant back, putting his game on a temporally halt. From all the Jedi he had known – and yes, killed – Neeneá Tekal had surprised him the most. Not even Ootah – the Jedi who had been responsible for his desertion from the Sith – had surprised him so much. True, she had shown him something very stunning about himself but in the end she had behaved like any other Jedi – aloof, superior and arrogant.

Né had always been different. Maybe it had had something to do with her initial memory loss when they had met on Peragus II, maybe it just was her. She had been insecure at first, but had proven very fast to be a capable warrior. She had stoically borne his stupid come-ons and innuendoes at first and shooting back some of her own when she had felt a little more at ease in his company.

He had been surprised at how fast she had warmed up to him, and then how loyal she had been, even at those times when the old witch had given her a hard time about tolerating him on board. The old witch… he still wished Né would have listened to him earlier. Only when she had found him beaten up by those damn Handmaidens on Dantooine had she believed him that Kreia was "Sith as ever Sith it gets", as he had put it then.

She had left the cockpit without a word after she had ordered him to go to Telos, and it had kind of scared him. Usually, Né didn't order because she didn't need it. She kindly asked and people would do it, just because it was her asking. He then had taken off and set course to Telos. For a while he had debated searching her out and had finally decided to do it, all the time searching after her afraid he would only find her meditating with Sleeps-with-Jedi-holocrons in the cargo hold again.

But he had found her sitting in the females' dormitory, just on the same spot the old witch had used to sit while meditating. She had had her back to him, and for a moment he had thought she was meditating, but then it had dawned on him that sitting curled up with your knees against your chest and your arms around them and your head on them clearly wasn't her usual meditating position.

Taking a deep breath he had pushed himself away from the door frame he had been leaning against, closed the door and walked over to her. He had crouched down beside her and had laid a hand on her shoulder, softly asking: "Hey, beautiful, what's wrong?"

She had lifted her head, and stared at him in utter disbelief: "What's wrong? I just saw my Master going all Sith on the masters and then you having been beaten to pulp by the Handmaidens of a woman I used to call a friend and you ask me what's wrong? I'd really love to have your nerve right now, you…"

It had been the first time ever Né had lashed out at him like this, and it had triggered his usual reaction: lashing out as well. "Hey, sister, now don't go all frag grenade on me. I did nothing to deserve this, at least not this time. I just wanted to help, that's all. But if your Ladyship is too much of a Jedi now to appreciate that, I can go. Saves me a lot of trouble, too."

She had suddenly looked shocked at first and then like a wounded gizka. After another shock second she had looked away again and said a lot quieter: "You… I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. Please excuse me now. I… need time alone."

He had taken a deep breath then, knowing he would likely be maneuvering himself into dangerous waters. "I…um… I don't think so. I'm your friend, Né, and you've done a lot for me. Now let me repay at least a little. Just… come here, won't you?"

She had looked at him with red-rimmed eyes, tears streaming down her face, not able to move. He had raised an eyebrow encouragingly and had said: "You don't have to talk, just don't… cry in here all alone. Now, what're you waiting for, huh?" It had been a daring step for him, as he still wasn't completely sure what she felt for him and if she really trusted him, even more so since she had know about his past at that point already. And so it had come as a surprise for him that she had taken him up on his offer and had actually turned towards him, hugging him and crying herself to sleep in his arms.

He missed her. Even now, when she still wasn't gone for a whole standard day, he missed her terribly. He missed the banter and the smiles and the pazaak games, even if she had been a horrible player. He missed the easiness with which she was turning straight towards him when she felt troubled. He missed… just everything about her. Groaning he put his face in his hands again. Somewhere deep down he had the terrifying feeling that without her always a part of him would be missing.

"I take it I was not the only one having been disturbed in my sleep a little while ago?", suddenly a voice said behind him, and he nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Dammit, Visas, I told you not to sneak up on me like that. You just scared the living bantha-poodoo out of me!"

Atton spun around in his seat, facing the Miraluka Jedi. "I am sorry to have cause you distress. It was never in my intent to scare you."

Grunting a little, Atton muttered a "Yeah, alright, didn't die from a heart attack, everything's still running."

"But you do know why I am here though, do you not?"

Sighing he nodded. "Yeah, very easy to figure that out. If I could hear that voice, chances were pretty good you would hear it as well."

The Miraluka shifted her stance a little. "You underestimate your potential, Atton. I am sure you also felt what accompanied that voice."

How does she do that? "Stay out of my mind, will you? But yes, I felt it. Drove me out of the room actually. Was kinda surprised Mical didn't feel it as well. But then again… stupid boy's still completely out of it."

"I was not in your mind. I merely was aware of the fact that Neeneá once mentioned your exceptional perceptiveness, even at your nearly untrained status."

He raised an eyebrow and carefully masked the warm feeling that was suddenly spreading through him at Visas' mentioning of Né's praise of him with dripping sarcasm: "Mentioned my "exceptional perceptiveness" now, has she? Anyway, what's your opinion on this whole thing?"

Visas heaved a small sigh. "It is… distressing. I absolutely do not know who caused this but I do know that it is nothing to be taken likely. The traces of evil that remained after the voice were too real for this. We need to find out more about this. I… have the feeling that this could endanger Neeneá gravely."

An alarm bell sounded in the back of Atton's head. He absolutely didn't like the sound of this. Something – someone – was after her and the first thing that stupid girl does is run away on some stupid suicide mission to get an ex-Sith Lord back. Probably had known this all along, as he knew her. "Dammit!"

Visas cocked her head a little. "What is it?"

He jumped up and started pacing the small space in the cockpit. "Stupid Jedi girl's known it all along, I bet. When she had come for me yesterday, I could feel it. She'd been keeping a secret, and I didn't say anything because I was too busy… Well, no, way too personal for you."

"Whatever it is she was carrying with her, we need to act. We have to find her, and help her against whoever is threatening her."

Atton cocked an eyebrow towards Visas. The Jedi woman usually wasn't very brash or forthcoming, which was why her adamant and insistent demand now startled him a little. If Visas was like this then something needed to be done. And suddenly it was his decision to act. Uncomfortable as he felt, he still closed his eyes briefly and then told Visas: "Alright. Wake up the rest of the crew, I'll get us a take-off clearance and try to plot some plan where to go first. We'll meet in the main hold in ten minutes, exactly."

"As you wish.", was Visas' only reply, and he was surprised to hear no mocking in it.

Korriban, Sith Ruins

At the moment she had said foot on the planet again she knew that something terrible had happened. And yes, not only were two of the tombs on the planet's surface all open, but there was a freshness to the planet's native dark energy that made her instinctively coil back into the space ship. Neeneá Tekal had had her fair share of dark side exposure alright, but this felt like being hit by a hurrican, like being sucked into a maelstrom… or like a big, cunning, ferocious predator ready to strike at any moment.

For a moment she debated sealing the entry ramp and getting off the planet as fast as possible, but in the end her sense of duty and her curiosity got the better of her, and she took a deep breath, took her double-bladed light saber from her belt and walked down the ramp again, telling T3 to stay with the ship. At first she opted to examine the tombs a little closer. They had been inaccessible at her last time on Korriban, and the new dark currents she felt were mostly coming from three of them. The first one she entered was that of Marka Ragnos.

After a few paces it was pitch dark, and she ignited her light saber, even if it did spend only little light. Carefully she edged along the wall, using her Force senses to feel forward for any dangerous creatures or devices, but the dark energy that was filling the tomb somewhat deafened her and made it nearly impossible to concentrate. It was as if a thousand voices were whispering to her, luring her, cajoling her, threatening her to just give in to the dark.

Yes, she had had battles fought against the dark side – in fact she was fighting them nearly every day of her life, but this was different. The pull here was so strong, and it was so easy to just let go.

Focus., she thought. I need to focus. For a moment she stood, closing her eyes, trying to find a picture or a sound or a feeling or just anything inside her that brought her peace and silence. And then she found it. Because you will be here with me, playing pazaak… He had stood right before her, almost whispering this as an answer when she had asked him why he was playing pazaak even in his head. And Atton had explained to her that he used it as a mean to block his mind from others, but she had heard something else in it: the promise of something. You will be here with me… Even then it had somehow filled her with warm anticipation and peace. It was just perfect for a moment like this.

She fleetingly thought about how sad it was that she would maybe never be able to tell him how much his little advice had helped her in this place, but she dismissed the thought quickly and focused just on the feeling the memory left behind. She started running again, soon finding her in a hall. With her senses she located a torch nearby and picked it up. She used a lighter from her utility belt and soon could turn off her light saber. Levitating the torch she used it to ignite the remaining ones and suddenly found her in what could be called the ante-chamber to a mausoleum.

Apart from the flickering torches it suddenly was deathly quiet, and that made her nervous. The voices had subsided, and that was not due to the fact that she found a way to focus away from them. She wasn't that good. Igniting her light saber again and now using the torch to light the way before her she carefully made her way towards the actual mausoleum.

Meter after meter the room was lit up, and when the light fell on the tomb it nearly made her cry out in horror. The tomb was empty. Not only wasn't there any body left but it also felt empty. As empty as Master Kavar had felt. Dear Force, what have they done?, was her first thought when she edged closer. But she wouldn't find out by just staring at it. Trembling she made her decision. She would use the Force sight to try and find out what had happened.

Steeling herself with a last deep breath she brought herself to step into the place where the sarcophagus had been and closed her eyes. She opened herself up to the Force, let it flow through her… and then the pictures came floating toward her like a holovid played very fast.

A woman in dark robes… her face as white as snow… A man in Jedi robes, dragged in by others, wearing the robes and armors of Sith warriors… The woman again… Atris! An open sarcophagus and a rotten skeleton… Voices, so many voices… whispering, shouting, howling… The man again… Kavar! jerking, awakening… a vicious glint in his eyes… "And so I'm free again!"

Panting heavily she dragged herself away from the sarcophagus' hold. No!, she thought desperately. No! She couldn't have done this. Not Atris! Not even Atris!, the thoughts raged threw her mind, but in her heart she knew the truth. It had been Atris who had somehow summoned the ghost of Marka Ragnos and it had been Kavar's body which had served her as vase for it.

Suddenly an almost inhuman scream pierced the dead silence of the tomb, and terrified she noticed that she didn't even know if it came from her or some other source. And then she did the only thing that came to her mind: She ran like she had never run before. When she suddenly felt the taints of the dark side reach out to her almost corporeal – just like cobwebs – she pushed her speed even more, ignoring her protesting lungs and feet.

Getting out of the tomb she noticed dusk had crept over the planet, and her decision was an immediate one: She would leave. Now. She didn't care about the other open tomb, as she already was pretty sure what had happened there, and she didn't care about the missing time as she was pretty sure that the third tomb used by Atris would be the one of Ludo Kressh in the Shyrack Cave.

Panting and gasping for air she let herself fall into the pilot's and took of too fast to even be able to warn T3 to grab a hold somewhere. The droid screeched in protest, but she didn't care. Only when she was fast away from the planet that all she felt was the eternal humming of the universe did she slow down. Curling up in her seat she withdrew herself to the deepest depths of her mind, cowering in blind fear of what she had just witnessed. And what she was to encounter if she chose to follow her recent path.

A/N: Whoa, this was like the creepiest chapter I've ever written. And I don't even like horror :P Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed:

Everyone who told me to keep updating - I'll do my best though I tend to have sudden cases of writer's block (like with "Minor Characters" - I bet my beta-reader's just waiting for my next e-mail to give me a decent thrashing for neglecting that story for so long ;)) and that tends to lead to extensive times without updates. So please be prepared :S

Kitty E - Well, I did write he only had four glasses of alcohol. I figured that being a scholar who's a little "worldly innocent" makes him someone who gets drunk very easily but isn't quite aware of that ;)

Amme Moto - Thanks for adding me to your favorites :)