"Dammit, Rev, what's taking them so long?"
In the main hold, Atton shifted impatiently in his seat, while Revan sat on the floor doing her best to keep Daynn amused. Carth, collapsed in a corner with his back against the wall, was staring in front of him with his eyes glazed over. He flinched as Atton spoke up and gave him a long, thoughtful look. "She'll be along," he muttered absent-mindedly. Mira and Dustil, in a different corner, were doing what they did best—play pazaak—and ignored Atton completely. A clanging sound was emanating from the hyperdrive room. The noise ceased abruptly and was followed by a string of Zabrak curse words. Revan looked up in the direction from whence the words came.
"That's never a good thing to hear coming from your tech," she commented before turning her attention back to Daynn, who had discovered another large insect and gleefully poked at it. Atton noticed what the boy was up to, coughed, and silently held up three fingers. Daynn sighed loudly and played with the bug more cautiously. The banging resumed in the hyperdrive room.
The sound of footsteps shuffling up the loading ramp gave them all a start, and all six occupants of the main hold raised their heads. Atton anxiously got up. A young blonde Jedi walked in and halted suddenly when his eyes locked with Atton's. Mical quickly glanced away as he hurried past him and headed down the hyperdrive room corridor, only to disappear in the medical room and close the door behind him. Only then did they all notice that Jena had been standing behind him. The wrath in Atton's eyes instantly faded away, and a wide grin formed on his lips. He held out his hands and took an eager step toward her. A small boy sitting on the floor however got up and ran to her before Atton had the chance to get any closer.
"Jena!" Daynn cried out happily, throwing his arms around her waist. She smiled gently at him, tousled his hair and kissed the top of his head.
"Were you good?" she asked. Daynn nodded vigorously. Atton raised a dubious eyebrow and folded his arms.
"Mira taught me how to play pazaak!" Daynn announced proudly. All heads in the room turned to Mira. She looked up and blushed.
"What? What the hell else was I going to do with him once Atton dumped him on my lap?" she demanded. Atton gave her a self-satisfied smirk. So… He's too young to learn to gamble, is he? Catching Atton's smug look, she vividly pointed at him. "Hey, he put him in stasis!"
All eyes turned toward Atton. He gaped. That little… "He kept running away!" he vociferated. As he did his best to avoid Revan's horrified glare, his eyes wandered over to Jena. Did she look… amused? Atton smiled faintly. That's my girl, all right… His heart beat slightly faster. My girl… She's finally here. He took another step forward, his grin returning. Revan suddenly became aware of the situation, and her eyes softened a little. She got up and walked over to Daynn, who still clutched Jena, and gently took his hand.
"Come with me, Daynn… I think Jena and Atton need some time to talk," she said, leading him away from Jena.
"He loves her!" piped Daynn. Jena blushed, and she and Revan exchanged glances. Revan colored slightly and turned away.
"Yes, he does," she murmured, picking the boy up in her arms. "Come on… let's go look for bugs outside." Jena stopped her.
"Don't go too far," she warned. "You never know. And make sure you have your lightsaber." Revan nodded and started walking out of the room. Jena looked thoughtful. "Actually…" She wrinkled her nose ponderingly. "You guys are parked right in front of a tree, right?" Revan nodded.
"Yes… why?"
"Hold on, let me go with you for a minute… I need to check something," Jena said, turning toward the door.
Atton could no longer stop himself. "Jena!" he protested.
Jena smiled faintly. "Don't worry, Atton, this'll only take a minute. It's really important. I'll meet you in the cockpit. I'll be right there."
Carth's eyes shifted from Jena and Revan to Atton, and he pursed his lips. Atton inhaled deeply and clenched his teeth as Jena disappeared behind Revan and Daynn. Dammit, Jena! He brusquely turned and left the room in a huff while Mira and Dustil glanced uncomfortably at each other.
In the cockpit, Atton sulkily dropped down in the pilot's chair. This is ridiculous. This is getting more and more ridiculous. First she disappears and I can't sense our bond… then I finally find her in the most bizarre way, and she refuses to come back to the ship with me so she can spend time with Mical, who had just tried to kill me… She makes it back to the ship and instead of talking to me, she brushes me off and goes outside with Revan and her brat to talk about something that's 'really important'. Not to mention the fact that I still can't sense our bond normally since I found her. It's been on and off. What the hell is going on? I haven't even gotten the chance to kiss her yet! He put his feet up and folded his arms moodily. What are they talking about out there that's taking so long? Are they talking about me? Is Jena…
A noise behind him pulled him out of his musings: the door had closed. He peered over his shoulder—Jena, who had taken her armor off and who now wore a simple tunic, stood silently across the room. Is she hiding again? I didn't sense her presence…Atton got up and stood beside his seat to greet her, as he had always done before when she came to talk to him in the cockpit. But now, things are so different… So many things have happened…So many things… He looked at her and he could feel his heart beat savagely in his chest. So many things I could do to her right now… He shut his eyes. No… no, I can't be thinking about that. I'm mad at her. I want answers, dammit! And she damn well better have some! He opened his eyes again and stared at her coldly. They both stood, awkwardly eyeing each other in silence. I wonder what she's thinking…Probably thinking up the best way to avoid my questions, he thought bitterly.Jena looked at Atton nervously. She fidgeted slightly—subtly wiping her left hand on the side of her tunic—and alluringly bit her bottom lip. That last action caused Atton to forget all about his annoyance, as he could do nothing but fixate on that lip and start to wish he could bite down on it. This silence has gone on long enough, he sternly told himself. You are not going to stand here after a year and a half of not seeing her, and stay mad at her. Say something, you idiot! He opened his mouth, but closed it again. Say something already! In an extraordinary effort, he managed to move his eyes away from her lips and looked into her eyes. Damn, she's beautiful…I had no idea I'd miss her that much… I never want to have to let her go again. Right… that's all good stuff—now say it out loud He closed his eyes. Say something… ANYTHING!
He opened his mouth. "Jena, will you marry me?" he blurted. His eyes suddenly widened in shock.
"What?" Jena asked, visibly taken aback.
"What?" he repeated incredulously, more to himself than to Jena. What the HELL did I just say? When I said 'say anything', I didn't really mean ANY thing!
Jena raised an eyebrow and the corners of her mouth curled slightly as she stifled an urge to laugh. "You just asked me if—"
"I KNOW WHAT I SAID!" he exclaimed with wide, terror-stricken eyes.
With a mischievous gleam in her eyes, Jena mercilessly insisted. "So… do you want me to answer, or…?"
"NO! Force, no! Don't say anything! I don't think I could deal with the answer one way or the other!"
Jena was no longer able to repress her laugher. This was definitely a lot more like the Atton she remembered. "You know," she said with a twinkle in her eye, "if you want, I could just pretend I didn't hear you…"
"Could you?" he asked gratefully, manifestly relieved. Then realizing he was starting to put his foot in his mouth, he quickly added, "I mean, not that you're not… I mean… not that I don't… um…" He became incredibly flustered and nervously ran his hand through his hair and rested it on the back of his neck.
Jena laughed even harder. "Just shut up before you make it worse, pazaak boy!"
Atton grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I think I'll do that…" he said in an uncharacteristic show of wisdom. He awkwardly made his way to her, clumsily put his arms around her, and drew her to him, his cheek resting up against the side of her head. He shut his eyes and sighed contentedly. "I missed you so much!" he said in a rough whisper.
She chortled. "I guess so, if you were propo—"
His eyes opened wide. "I thought you said you'd pretend you didn't hear me!" he said distressingly.
"Right," she chuckled. "My mistake." Smiling, she gently extricated herself from his arms and coyly glanced up at him. He softly brushed a few strands of hair from her face and held his breath as their eyes met. Something felt very odd in the pit of his stomach. I can't believe I'm nervous. I'm nervous about kissing her. I've never been nervous about kissing her… or anybody, for that matter. What is she waiting for? Why doesn't she kiss me? Maybe she's waiting for me to do it… or… He glanced away slightly. Or maybe she just doesn't want to kiss me. Maybe that's what all this avoidance thing was about. The tender smile on his lips faded as he grew worried. The thought had never occurred to him before. He had assumed that Jena had been waiting for him as eagerly as he had been waiting to see her, but what if she had changed her mind about him? It's been a year and a half, after all… Maybe she… I mean she said she loved me in that message she left on T3, but what if she doesn't anymore and doesn't know how to tell me? He briefly shut his eyes, and, clenching his teeth, he backed away slowly.
"Well, I… I suppose you'll want to get some rest…" he said coldly, his eyes devoid of feeling. She looked at him quizzically.
"Rest?" she asked incredulously. "Rest?" she repeated louder. Not waiting for a response, Jena threw her arms around his neck and leapt up, wrapping her legs around his waist. As a reflex, he reached over, caught her, and held her up with his hands. Before he had the chance to realize what had happened, she put one of her hands at the back of his head, leaned in, and without warning, pressed her lips against his. He breathed in quickly out of astonishment. Recovering from his surprise, he moved his head toward hers and kissed her harder and more fervently. His heart pounded in his chest, and he felt an irresistible urge to run his hands all over her. He however found it quite impossible to give in to that urge, as both hands were already busy holding her up. Partly breaking the kiss, he frantically looked around the room for a place to set her down. He quickly carried her over to the control panel, and she giggled as he put her down on it. "Here again, huh?" she teased. "It didn't work so well last time…"
He shrugged hurriedly. "I'm willing to bet this time no one will bother us." He grabbed her face with both hands and hungrily tasted her lips to make up for the precious time he had wasted talking, as though not kissing her for a few seconds had been excruciating. His hands slowly slipped down her sides and he gradually moved his lips down to her neck.
Jena slowly opened her eyes, peered down, and raised an eyebrow. "What happened to your robe?" she asked, pointing at the frayed edges.
"Oh, don't you start," Atton growled gently, backing away from her neck, lifting her chin up and kissing her eagerly. Pulling back and smirking, he added, "You should be happy… at least it's clean." He leaned in again, but she turned her head sideways, and his lips landed on her ear. She shook her head disapprovingly.
"I'm sorry," she said sternly, "but that just won't do at all. It'll simply have to come off." She started unfastening his belt. He grinned. That's my girl… never wastes any time, and gets right to the point. I love this woman. He kissed her lips as his hands clumsily slid down to her belt and unbuckled it. She stopped what she was doing and glanced down. "Someone's been practicing!" she said mischievously. "When did you learn how to undo these belts?"
He caressed her cheek and pulled her face back toward his. "Oh well you know…" he said breathlessly between kisses. "It's from all the other Jedi masters I've been sleeping with since you left…"
"Shut up," she said gently, smiling as she slipped his robe off his shoulders.
"Yes, master," he lasciviously responded as he once again kissed her.
"Now, this is definitely something I missed," Jena purred as she nestled up closer to Atton. "There was a definite lack of good cuddle partners in the Unknown Regions."
Atton grinned. "Cuddling, huh? And here I was thinking you were referring to all the other stuff." Jena stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled as he wrapped his arm more tightly around her and leaned his head back against the cockpit wall. He shut his eyes contentedly. He blindly adjusted the cloak he had draped over both of them in order for it to cover her better. He opened one eye and peered down at her. "You did lock the door when you came in, right?" he asked, vaguely concerned.
"A little late to ask me that, don't you think?" she replied lazily.
"Not necessarily… An hour ago they all knew better than to come anywhere near here. By now they may have forgotten about us."
"Not bloody li-hi-hi-hikely," yawned Jena. "But yes, it's locked. I just hope nobody needs to fix anything in here."
Atton shook his head. "Nah… Bao-Dur'll work around it for now."
Jena suddenly lifted her head. "Oh damn! Bao-Dur's here too? I didn't even say hi to him!" Her body tensed up as though she was about to get up. Atton reached over with his free hand and forced her head back down onto his shoulder.
"No, no, no…" he kindly ordered as he pulled her back. "He'll still be there later when we get out of here. Besides, he's the one who saw you most recently out of all of us. I think I deserve a bit more time with you after all I went through to find you, don't you?" She settled comfortably in Atton's arms again. He gently ran his hand through her hair and she appeared to become even more lethargic. She shut her eyes and smiled blissfully.
"I had a feeling you might come looking for me," she murmured languorously.
"I've become that predictable, have I?" He smiled.
Jena burst out laughing. "Hardly… You still surprise me. Like earlier when you—"
Atton's hand quickly pulled away from Jena's head and he sat up straight. "So help me, Jena, if you say 'when you proposed to me'…" he threatened.
"Well, I was going to say, 'when you managed to undo my belt in less than the usual forty-five seconds'. But you know, now that you mention it…" she teased.
Atton sighed. "Fine, fine, I guess I asked for it…" he grumbled. He leaned back against the wall, stretched his legs out and smirked. "Well, I wish I could take credit for taking the initiative to go track you down myself, but I'm afraid that's entirely Revan's fault. She's the one who came to drag me out of the gutter I was sleeping in. I was too busy getting drunk to consider the fact that maybe you might still be alive and that I could go look for you. Not that I would have known where to look in the first place even if I had been sober."
"You weren't working on Telos?" she asked curiously.
Atton's smile faded, and despite the fact that Jena's tone had been completely devoid of accusation, guilt set in. "Right. You didn't know." He stammered. "I… I'm sorry. I let you down. I seem to constantly let you down." His hand started to fidget with the cloak.
"How have you let me down?" she asked quietly.
"I promised you I'd help with the restoration… And I did! …For the most part. But then when you… when I…" He hesitated.
"When you stopped feeling our bond, you gave up," she stated, finishing his sentence for him. Atton looked away. Jena took his hand. "I'm sorry," she said slowly. "It's my fault, really. I was afraid that might happen… that you might lose hope… but I had no choice… I couldn't let the Sith find out where I was going… So I had to stop using the Force altogether and I had to hide myself so no one would know where I was… and unfortunately that included you. I… I left you the message on T3, hoping it would help you understand that it was all part of the plan. You did get the message, right?"
Atton laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah… yeah, I did, but not till after Revan basically picked my drunken ass up off the Nar Shaddaa cantina floor and threw me onto the Ebon Hawk."
"I'm so sorry, Atton," she whispered wistfully.
His hand moved from her shoulder to the top of her head, which he gently rubbed as he kissed her temple. "Hey, don't be. You were doing your job… It's not your fault I gave up that easily. In my defense, I did hang on for a couple months… but then… well…" He looked down. "Didn't even tell anybody I was leaving," he muttered. "Carth must've looked for me for a while." He looked thoughtful. "He never did tell me if he did." He sat up and pulled his cloak up again. "I don't know if he even will say anything at this point… He's been a little weird recently. Kind of quiet. Doesn't talk to me like he used to. I've been spending more time with his son than with him."
Jena let out a weird little laugh. "Well, can you blame him? I mean this whole situation must have been a little strange for him…"
Atton shrugged. "Yeah, I guess… it's not every day you find out the woman you're about to marry has a kid whose father was a Sith. Plus I guess he was already annoyed about the other thing with Revan…"
Jena frowned. "What… other thing with Revan?" she asked cautiously.
"Oh… that…" he said dismissively. "It was nothing, really… Just him overreacting to a stupid situation. Must be the whole Onasi paranoia thing. I mean it was just a hug."
Jena seemed confused. "Okay, now I really have no clue what you're talking about."
"Like I said, Jens, it was nothing… Yesterday… or… a couple days ago… It might have even been three days. I'm not sure. You know how I get with space travel." He laughed briefly. "Anyway, I was telling Revan about this vision I had of you… I don't know, she must have guessed that Daynn was with you, because she got all worked up and hugged me and kissed my cheek, which shocked the hell out of me. Honestly, she's been nothing but a complete schutta to me since she picked me up on Nar Shaddaa. She's hiding stuff from me and I don't…" He frowned and shook his head. "Let's not get into that. Anyway, Carth walked in just as she's jumping all over me, and he's been a little weird since then. Like it's my fault his woman's insane." He looked over at Jena. She was wrinkling her nose and she bore a thoughtful and slightly confused expression. "What is it? You're not jealous about that too, are you?" he asked incredulously.
She shook her head. "No, no… I was thinking about something else altogether…"
"Good," grinned Atton. He took her hand in his. "Because you've got no reason to be. Quite frankly, after we get off this planet, if I ever see Revan again, it'll be too soon. She drives me up the wall… keeps reminiscing about the Civil War as though those were the good ol' days. She constantly calls me 'Jaq'. Like she can't let it go. I don't see why she can't get used to 'Atton'. It's not like we were so close that she used my name on a regular basis. I only ever saw her half a dozen times. Well, maybe a bit more… I don't know. Quite frankly, I've been trying my best to forget." He laughed, but his laughter died on his lips when he saw Jena's face. "What?" he asked.
"Well…" Jena began slowly, as though she was testing the waters. "It's very likely you'll have to see her after this trip is over."
"Why, cause she's a friend of yours?" He pouted slightly and sighed. "Well, I guess I can put up with her for short visits…" he said half-heartedly. He suddenly smirked. "And if not, then I guess I can go hide at the cantina or the pazaak lounge while she's there, and come back home when the coast is clear." He chuckled again. Jena glanced strangely at Atton and dropped her eyes. "What now?" he demanded, mildly irritated. "You've got that look…" He studied Jena closely, folded his arms and pursed his lips. "The last time you looked like that was because you were hiding the fact that you were going off to the Unknown Regions." He frowned. "Is… Is that what this is? Is that what you've all been hiding from me?" he said accusingly. "Are you going back out there without me again?" Not that… anything but that…
"For Force's sake, Atton, that's not it at all," she breathed. "I'm not going anywhere without you. I told you… It's…" She forced a smile. You know what? Never mind… It's really nothing important." She sat up, kissed Atton's cheek, and leaned down to her right side to seize her discarded tunic, which lay on the floor next to them. Atton reached over and grabbed Jena by the wrist, pulling her back toward him.
"I don't think so, babe," he said saucily. "Now you hold on a minute. Revan may be a bad liar, but you…" He pointed at her. "…Are an even worse one. You know something. I don't know what you know, but you know something you're keeping from me. I may not trust Revan to tell me the truth, but I trust you not to hide anything from me. Now please tell me what the hell's going on around here?"
Jena bit her lip uneasily and winced. "You honestly don't know?"
"Obviously not!" he cried. "Look, I have no idea what this is about, but all this secret stuff is starting to make me crazy. I bet it's not even as big a deal as I'm making it out to be. So could you just please tell me what it is Revan's been hiding from everyone, so I can happily go back to being semi-sane? Can you please do this for me, Jena?"
Jena gazed into his eyes and nervously ran her fingers on the side of his cheek. She took a deep breath.
"REVAN?" Atton bellowed angrily at the top of his voice, as he walked briskly through the main hold, still doing up his belt. "REVAN!" he repeated, incensed. He heard a small cough behind him and quickly turned. Mira and Dustil sat on the floor together, pazaak card free for once, and peered up at him.
"Gee, Atton, who might you possibly be looking for?" Mira asked sarcastically. Atton shot her a baleful look, which caused her mocking smile to vanish instantly. "She's in the cargo hold," she immediately stated.
As Atton started to turn back, Dustil couldn't resist a gibe. "I take it things didn't go so well with Jena…"
Atton's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. "Oh no," he replied. "Things with Jena went just fine. It's your schutta of a mother I've got issues with." He stalked off toward the hyperdrive room corridor.
Unimpressed, Dustil frowned. "She's not my—" he began to say, and Mira kicked him. "Ouch!" He rubbed his ankle with his hand and glared at her. She shook her head.
"You don't want to contradict him right now," she whispered. "Trust me… I don't know if I've ever seen him this furious. And I was there that day they told him he couldn't be part of the rescue mission when Jena got kidnapped by Go-To."
Down the hall, Atton's voice calling Revan resounded once more.
"Atton, will you just get back—" shouted another voice from the cockpit corridor. Seconds later, Jena came racing out, also struggling with her clothes. She came to a dead stop when she noticed Mira and Dustil sitting on the floor, staring at her just as they had Atton. She pursed her lips, threw her hands up irritably and stamped her foot when she realized that Atton was nowhere to be seen.
"And you thought it would be boring to just sit here," Mira told Dustil. She looked up at Jena. "Well, judging from Atton's reaction, I'd say he knows. Told him, did you?" she enquired with a crooked smile.
Jena rolled her eyes and exhaled deeply. "Y—" She stopped, frowned, and eyed Mira suspiciously. "Hey, how do you even know what this is about? Did Revan…"
Mira shook her head categorically and shrugged. "I know everything that's obvious, my dear."
Jena sighed, leaned her back up against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor next to Mira. "Yeah, it is pretty obvious, isn't it? To be quite honest, I thought he knew… I mean, how could he not?" She slouched dejectedly and rested her head in the palm of her right hand with a slight pout.
Mira scoffed but still sympathetically put her arm around Jena's shoulders. "He's a man," she whispered. "Women are crazy, but men are stupid… some more than others." Jena smiled wistfully. Mira flicked at Jena's temple. "Of course he didn't know, bantha-brain! It's Atton we're talking about. Force, I love the man like a brother, but even you have to admit, he's a little dim—especially about stuff like that."
Dustil's eyes traveled from Jena to Mira. "What are you two talking about? What was obvious?" he asked with a puzzled expression. Mira smiled condescendingly and patted his head.
"See what I mean?" she asked Jena. "Such a man," she mocked, turning back to Dustil and pinching his cheek.
"REVAN?" Atton bellowed as he turned around the corner toward the cargo hold.
"WHAT?" demanded an irritated voice coming from within the room. "Do you really need to yell for me from across the ship, Jaq?"
Atton stopped short and smiled contemptibly. He slowed down and made his way to the door at a more leisurely pace. He put his hand on the doorframe and casually swung from it. "Hello, Revan," he drawled, his voice dangerously calm. "I see you're alone. No little bundle of joy to keep you company?"
Revan lifted her head from the storage cylinder through which she was rummaging. "No. Carth is putting Daynn down for the night. It's still early, but he's really tired…"
Atton's scornful smile grew wider. "Well, isn't that precious…" he said acerbically. "I guess Carth is one of those naturally born father-types."
Revan frowned suspiciously at Atton's tone. "I… guess so…" She turned her attention back to the storage cylinder. "What is it that you want, Jaq? I take it from the way you were hollering for me that you didn't just come here for small talk." She reached in and pulled out a few food containers. "And please don't yell anymore. Daynn really needs to sleep." She set the containers onto the floor, shut the cylinder tight and turned to face Atton. She folded her arms.
Atton contemplatively stroked his chin and readjusted his approach. "Oh… oh, nothing, really… I just had a few questions," he said innocently.
Revan raised a perplexed eyebrow. "You had a few questions… and that's why you were calling me from across the ship?" she asked dubiously.
Atton concealed a faint sneer, dropped his eyes and stared at his boots in what seemed like an embarrassed fashion. "Yeah… well… It's about Jena."
"Oh?" said Revan, forcibly unconcerned.
"I don't know," he continued hesitantly, his hidden eyes gleaming maliciously. "I was talking to her and… well, something just didn't add up." He stopped, but as Revan was clearly waiting for him to continue, he carried on. "I asked her why she had volunteered to risk her life to go retrieve your son. And I don't know… she wouldn't give me a straight answer. I was hoping you could tell me."
"Well… I don't know, Jaq," Revan replied uneasily as she vainly tried to look at his eyes. "I mean I'm sure she had her reasons. I told you why she was the best choice—she could conceal her presence best out of all of us. I didn't… well, as much as I wanted to go, I didn't think it would be a very good idea for me to go. The fact that I was looking for my own son would certainly have distracted me from potential dangers… I wouldn't have been focusing…"
Atton waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, I get that, I get that… What I don't get is why you let her go… I mean you told me yourself that you were ready to send her home. She told me in her message she left me on that cargo cylinder on wheels that you were worried about her. Now—why would you let her go look for your own son if you were that concerned?"
"She insisted," Revan said quietly.
"And you didn't ask… why she insisted so much?"
"Sure, I did. She said she was the person best suited for the job, and that I simply had to trust her… that she'd never let any harm come to the son of someone she cared about," she breathed. She peered down behind her, crouched down and picked up the food containers she had left on the floor. "Now, if that's all you wanted to know, Jaq, I really should—" Atton gestured lightly with his hand.
"Hold on… I just want to get the whole story… Jena was very elusive. She must've been hanging around you Jedi for too long… She's gotten a bit cryptic." Revan set the food down on top of the cylinder and exhaled resignedly. "So…" he continued. "She went after Daynn, she found him, and then she came… here? Why?" Atton seemed genuinely baffled. "I actually forgot to ask her about that," he said truthfully.
"Oh… that…" Revan sounded less apprehensive. "That's what she was explaining to me when we stepped off the ship earlier… There are creatures on Myrkr—called ysalamiri—that live and feed on trees, and that create a protective bubble to hide from the vornskrs. The Force can't be manipulated or sensed when you're around ysalamiri. So we can't use the Force on most of the planet… though a large area of this clearing is not covered by these bubbles. Actually, the Ebon Hawk seems to have landed right on the border—half the ship is Force-free. The Sith were looking for Daynn, so Jena brought him here to prevent them from sensing him… plus it helped her control him." She smiled faintly and looked away. "He appears to have an ability to penetrate even the most guarded mind."
Atton couldn't repress a smirk. "Yes, I believe I may have already experienced that very endearing talent of his."
"Well, he does have the potential to become very powerful… that's why the Sith want him: so we can't have him."
Atton shook his head rapidly. "All right, fine," he said, adopting his earlier harsher tone. "People can't sense Daynn here, and that's why Jena came here with him. Got it. Didn't it seem strange to you that Jena would be so willing to risk her life to find your son, though?"
Revan frowned. "I told you, Jaq. She told me…"
"Yes, yes, yes," he dismissed. "I know what she told you. I'm asking what you thought. Didn't you find it at all odd?"
"Yes, I did." Her eyes dropped.
Atton smiled smugly. "And do you still find it odd?"
She quickly turned and picked up the food containers again. "Of course I do, Jaq. Why wouldn't I? Now if you don't mind…" Avoiding Atton's gaze, she took a few steps toward the door. Atton raced after her and forcefully pulled her back by the arm. He laughed sardonically, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
"You're a terrible liar, Revan. Didn't I always tell you that you were a terrible liar, my Lord?" Revan's face grew ashen and she stammered something inaudible. Atton ignored her feeble attempts at denying his claim. "How could you possibly think I wouldn't find out? To be quite honest, I'm still not sure how you managed to become a Sith Lord in the first place, because you're a horrible liar… but what I'm mostly surprised about is how you managed not to blow your credibility as an Evil Dark Lord after this got out. I mean, it did get out, didn't it Revan? Or were you just as secretive back then? Most would've assumed it was all Malak's doing, like I did… But some of them…" He grinned nastily. "Lord Revan's Favorite Little Killer. No wonder they called me that… I'd always wondered. How long had you been crushing on me, Rev? And you had to wait till I was drunk to make your move. Were you really that insecure, my Lord? Were you afraid I'd turn you down if I was sober? Did you panic after and worry that people would find out about it? I mean, the Dark Lord lusting after one of her lowly Jedi assassins… That can't be good for the ol' image. No wonder you didn't hunt me down after I deserted. I'm just surprised you didn't kill me yourself when you had the chance. It's not like you were above Force choking me."
Revan was livid. "Jaq…" she said pitifully. Her body language told Atton she was about to deny his allegations.
"Will you cut it out, Revan?" he cried impatiently. "Stop trying to hide it from me; I already know! For once in your life, could you please just tell me the truth… the actual truth?" Revan looked away and Atton reached over, pulled her face back toward him and forced her to look into his eyes. "How could you not tell me?" he whispered harshly. "Are you saying you didn't get a chance to tell me about this since you picked me up on Nar Shaddaa and suddenly realized that Jena's 'Atton' was really your 'Jaq'?" He let go of her face and shot her a disgusted glance. "I can't believe you actually let her be the one to tell me. Jena told me, Revan." He grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her lightly. "I had to hear it from JENA," he said vehemently. Revan shut her eyes. "JENA's the one who told me I'm Daynn's father."
Author's Notes: MWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
I feel so incredibly evil.
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