Disclaimer - not mine, duh.
With a bounce in my step that hadn't been there before, I left Dustil's room and made my way to the library. The datapad Master Vrook had given me was burning a hole in my pocket. There was so much I needed to find out before I could do as requested and head to Deralia.
I spent the rest of the day looking up information to cross reference the datapad. Deralia itself was a small backwards planet. Not surprisingly, I found little information on it. What little I did find was boring. In fact, I was extremely bored. Research like this to an active person like me was excruciatingly mind-numbing. Unknowingly, I started tapping my foot and twirling my hair.
"Hey, stranger, long time no see!" I heard Mission's voice pipe up behind me. "We get here and you ditch me. I see how it is, Big Z and me rescue you and you ditch us." I turned and saw Mission tapping her foot with her arms crossed. Her voice sounded serious but the big grin on her face belied her words.
"I figured you didn't really want to spend the day surrounded by datapads." I beckoned Mission to a seat near me. "How'd you get in here, anyway?"
"Jolee got me up here. He grumbled the entire way, the old coot." We exchanged fond smiles at the thought of Jolee. The old man never failed to put a smile on my face at his antics.
"I'm sure he did. Bet he muttered about his knees or something." Mission barked out a laugh.
"Sure did, he was going on and on about them. We didn't even use a flight of steps or anything. We took the repulsorlift instead. So, what are we working on?" Mission picked up Vrook's datapad.
"That, my friend, is supposedly all my history. I'm just checking to make sure."
"You are checking something on a computer?" Mission used an exaggerated dumbfounded expression. "How far have you gotten? I bet you're still on the first part."
"I'll have you know that I'm on the second part." I childishly stuck my tongue out at the young Twi'lek across from me.
"Let me do it, I'll have everything there is to get out of this machine faster than you can say 'Sithspit'."
"Have at it." I laughed and waved a hand at the console. True to her words, she quickly pulled information out of the computer system. After a few hours, she looked up and smiled at me. The pile of datapads next to the console proved her words.
"Got it, we can go shopping." We packed everything up and went off to find some stores. I needed new clothes. I was still a little worried about the whole "holey skivvies in the afterlife" thing. Besides that, Carth's ceremony was coming up and I didn't want to embarrass him.
Mission and I spent the rest of the day wandering from shop to shop. I splurged on a few outfits I knew I'd never wear. Being the good Jedi that I am, I also bought a few new robes. Loving Carth like I did, I also insured that he wouldn't be stuck with holey skivvies in the afterlife either.
A haircut completed the day for us. Until today, I hadn't bothered to repair the damage from the psychotic dueling champion. There were other things more important to me. However, I didn't want to embarrass Carth at the ceremony. It was bad enough that word was spreading throughout the galaxy that I was the former Dark Lord of the Sith. I didn't want to be a Dark Lord of the Sith with bad hair in addition. When it comes to making things as smooth for Carth as possible, "Vanity, thy name is Revan" is my motto.
Mission and I split up at the lift doors to her apartment. I quickly headed up to the apartment Carth and I shared. I was a little shocked to find that not only was Carth there before me, but he'd also set out a romantic dinner, complete with ambient lighting. The apartment smelled wonderful as I took in the sights and sounds of the place. A romantic ballad played softly in the background.
T3 wheeled up to me with a glass of some type of bubbly liquid. I took the glass by the delicate stem and wandered further into the living room. Goggle-eyed, I searched for Carth.
"Carth? Carth? Are you in here somewhere?" I turned towards the kitchen and jumped. Somehow, someway, someone had talked HK into wearing an apron and a chef's hat as he stood at the cooking unit.
"Statement: The Master is to sit at the table." I felt a little weird not seeing a blaster or other weapon in HK's hand. The only real evidence that it was HK was that he held the stirring spoon as if it were a weapon. Knowing HK, he probably could take out a room full of people with that teeny spoon.
"HK, T3, where's Carth?" I looked around the room as I sat. There were candles everywhere. My datapads and all the bags from the shops were taken from me by T3. He disappeared quickly from view with a quick little "boop".
"Statement: The Master's Love Sla…, errr, that is, Carth is waiting for you to sit before appearing. Please sit." HK sounded embarrassed at using Carth's real name instead of Love Slave or meatbag.
As HK finished speaking, Carth came up behind me and held my shoulders. He leaned down and whispered into my ear.
"You are truly a beautiful person, Revan. Every day, I think I couldn't possibly love you more. You prove me wrong when you do something like you did today." His breath tickled my ear.
"What did I do?" I was honestly confused.
"Dustil." With that one word, I knew that Dustil had talked to Carth. From the romantic setting and Carth's words, I knew that the talk had gone well. "He came by today. We went to lunch and talked. I don't know how much got through to him but it seemed like he was willing to listen. Thank you."
"I may be ruining the dinner and all but I didn't do anything, Carth. I ran into him at the Temple and mentioned that you were at the Headquarters today." I turned my head and pressed my lips into his neck.
"You're underestimating what you did. Dustil told me that you were very emphatic with him." Hm, I wasn't sure that emphatic was a good word for the way I'd baited Dustil. Conniving and sneaky were better words. There was no way I was going to tell Carth that, though.
"So all this," I gestured at the table and the candles. "is because I said a couple words to Dustil?"
"All this is to say thank you. I know you did more than say a couple of words." Carth moved to the other side of the table and gestured at HK. From there, Carth wined and dined me into the late hours.
I can't remember much romance in my past. I don't think I've had much experience with romantic entanglements. From the one memory I'd recovered, Malak had protected me by killing or torturing my previous suitors. All that led to me appreciating what Carth was doing even more.
As Carth continued to cater to me, I felt soft and feminine. I hesitate to use the word girly, but that really describes how I was feeling. I'm normally very masculine in my approach to life. I don't shirk from a fight and I sure don't hesitate to fight someone bigger and meaner than me. I carry that attitude into all my interactions.
Well after dinner, Carth had to literally sweep me off my feet to get me to our bedroom. I imbibed more than my fair share of the bubbly liquor. It went straight to my head and I kept giggling. I felt like a princess as Carth carefully laid me on the bed.
"I think you've had too much to drink, beautiful." Carth said indulgently to me as he pulled my boots off my feet.
"Hey, before I forget, I got you something." This was followed by a girly giggle and a dainty burp, which was followed by another giggle.
"What did you get me?" Carth looked over at the bags mounded on a chair in the corner of the room.
"It's in the purple bag." My hand fluttered towards the stack. I giggled again as Carth opened the bag and pulled out the silly underwear I bought him. They featured a children's holovid hero. His face was priceless as his jaw dropped. "I didn't want you stuck in the afterlife with holey underwear." Carth continued to stare at the little characters all over the shorts. In mid-giggle, I fell asleep.
Malak sat beside me at a lake. The grass was thick and green. It smelled fresh as we sat on a blanket with a picnic spread out around us. The lake itself was a brilliant blue color, almost the exact color of my eyes. The sun was shining and it was warm where we reclined. I could hear the wind rustling the leaves of the trees around us. We were home and I felt peaceful.
"Our parents are not much changed." Malak's deep voice interrupted my contemplation of the beauty of the day.
"None of the family has changed. It's nice that there's somewhere in the galaxy that doesn't change." I reached out and grabbed a small piece of fruit. I happily munched at it, reveling in the satisfying crunch between my teeth. The small fruit was a burst of sweetness I'd missed during my years away. It brought back fond memories of sitting in my mother's lap as she prepared dinner. She'd let me sneak a piece of fruit from the bowl, playfully chastising me every once in a while.
"Everything changes, Revan." Malak reached across to steal the remainder of the fruit. I swatted his hand away.
"Not here, Malak, this place will never change." My innocent statement caused Malak to frown. With a day like today, however, it was easy to believe that we could go on living in our peaceful little slice of heaven.
"You are setting yourself up for disappointment, Revan. Everything changes and evolves." Malak reached for his own piece of fruit.
"It doesn't get much better than this, Malak. Look around you! There's no Jedi Masters telling us not to do something, no Padawans hassling us for stories about our exploits and no Jedi robes." I leaned back and looked into the crystal blue skies. The single yellow sun shone brightly and there were few clouds in the sky. "Look at that one over there." I pointed at a cloud. "It looks like a dewback!"
"Revan, sometimes change is for the worse. This place could disappear tomorrow."
"Malak, you're always so dour. Enjoy the beauty while it lasts, hope it lasts; try to be optimistic for once." I lightly punched him on the shoulder. "You don't see the dewback, do you?"
"I rarely have the time to contemplate shapes in the clouds. We have too much responsibility to be children any longer." I rolled my eyes.
"We have too much responsibility not to take a couple of moments to be happy and free. If being happy and free is childish to you, then I'm glad to be childish right now. C'mon, last one in the lack is a nerf!" With that, I jumped up and stripped off my tunic to reveal the swimsuit underneath. I ran as fast as I could, laughing the entire way to the lake. I felt Malak sigh at my antics but he quickly ran to catch up.
I jumped off the small dock and tried for the largest splash I could. I heard Malak jump in right after me. We both swam towards the center of the lake. The water was warm, as befitting such a glorious day. We frolicked like children, splashing and dunking each other.
After we tired, we finished our picnic. I was more than happy to lie out in the sun and let its warmth dry me. With a deep breath, Malak turned towards me.
"Why haven't you done as I asked?" This wasn't part of the memory. Malak and I hadn't talked much after drying off. We packed up and went back home to our parents. He didn't ask me about requests.
"What? This isn't part of the memory."
"Revan, I told you to go to Deralia. I have limited opportunities to help you. You keep wasting them. Find your past, discover your future." Malak disappeared off the blanket before I could respond.
I woke from my dream. Coincidently, I found myself facing the datapads in the corner. I hadn't bothered to read them after Mission had pulled the information. I still hadn't read much of Vrook's datapad either. I flipped over and flung an arm across Carth's chest.
At least it wasn't another nightmare, I sighed to myself as I drifted off.
The next morning, I was up before Carth. I had energy to spare, so I started sparring with HK. We were in the middle of a flurry of blows when Carth came rushing out of the bedroom, in his holey skivvies, with both blasters pointing. I heard HK snort and do his best impression of a laugh. I laughed so hard my sides hurt and I couldn't breath. Carth just shook his head and went back into the bedroom.
Breakfast went smoothly. Carth quickly headed off to do whatever it was he was doing all day at the Naval Headquarters. I resigned myself to a day of perusing datapads.
Oh the joy, I moaned to myself. I grabbed Vrook's datapad first. It was filled with my basic information and tales of indiscretions. As I read over the sparse details of some of my childhood pranks, my mind raced to see if there were any matching entries in the barren recesses of my mind. Very few of the stories brought back recollections. I don't remember setting lose a pair of gizka in Master Tal'Ven's quarters. I don't remember ordering a bouquet of stinky shlanta flowers for Master Vrook's birthday.
One noted indiscretion did bring back memories. Glass crawlers, from the planet Storinal, were scary looking arachnids. As fearsome as they may look, they aren't poisonous or harmful. In all reality, they are basically vegetarians.
However, Master Kalindar didn't know that when she walked into her room. Instead, all she could see were these large arachnids crawling around on her bed, in her drawers and on the desk. Her screams echoed throughout the Temple as students and teachers all ran to her aid. I gave myself away as the perpetrator when I started laughing at her reaction to her misfortune.
The detention and punishment was well worth the crime, in my opinion. As punishment, I was forced to practice Force-forms with Master Kalindar for hours at a time. Unfortunately for me, the Masters soon learned that this wasn't a punishment and adjusted their penalties accordingly.
For each of my subsequent misdemeanors, I was punished with meditation with one of the Masters. Normally it was Master Vandar's unpleasant duty to supervise me as I fidgeted my way through the meditation. This was excruciating to the physically active child that I was. I soon learned, with Master Vandar's help, to relax into an active mental state instead. Punishment became a joy.
I sighed as my brain flitted from one memory to another. These pleasant recollections helped me to pass the time as I went through tedious catalogs of information. I learned more about nerf herding than I ever wanted. Planet trade, exports, imports, major commerce and population centers of a multitude of worlds I briefly visited, all of it droned on and on as I sat on the couch.
The day passed quickly and it was late afternoon before I found the start of the information I actually wanted. With a start, I found a holo of my parents stored in the depths of all that useless knowledge. They were a beautiful couple. I looked quite a bit like my mother. I had my mother's height and her build. My face looked similar, even if I did have my father's eyes.
I have no idea how long I stared at the holo. I held the datapad one handed and reached the other to touch my parents, as if they would come to life in front of me. I was almost disappointed when my hand didn't encounter anything solid. Instead, my hand passed through my parents and tapped something on the surface of the datapad. The images' lips started moving and I heard my parents speak to me.
"Darling children, we have missed you. It is unfortunate, but we don't know when we will be able to communicate with you again. We are under attack and have little…"
A/N - I tried to make this one a little happier. Hope you all enjoy... let me know what you think!