Here's the fourth chapter. Don't know what else to say. Have a good one!

Declaimer: I do not own anything except the character of Emlyn, and I don't even really own anything about her other than what I made up minus anything that is in Star Wars.

FOUR

Emlyn woke up from a very odd dream involving a bothan stunner and two gizka and heard the sound of the ship's hyper drive disengaging. That had to mean one of three things: they were either being attacked and would have to fight for their lives, the ship had serious mechanical problems, or they had arrived on Tatooine. She hoped for the last option as she climbed out of her bed in the medical bay. Although she'd gone through the others not so long ago during her own travels.

For a few moments she did nothing more than stare at the metal ceiling of the ship, thinking about the time Lea had taken her to the refugee center on Nar Shadaa to see the people that needed help. Thinking back on her life, Emlyn realized that she really didn't have a place to call 'home,' and that she had spent a lot of time traveling across worlds. That wasn't so bad; she loved to keep moving, but it would have been nice to have a base, or a safe haven to retreat to.

The sound of several beeps caught Emlyn's attention and she turned to see the droid T7 watching her as intently as a droid could. "Yeah, I feel a lot better," she told him with a smile as changed into an outfit laid out for her, apparently by Dustil. It was another set of Jedi robes, so it wasn't like she would have chosen anything different. Or maybe she should; they were going to be undercover, right? She'd ask the Grand Pilot himself as soon as she could.

"Deet deet deeee…"

"That's where I'm going," Emlyn told T7 as she made her way to the cockpit. Dustil was busy messing with the controls and communicating with the control towers on Tatooine. It looked like he had handled the landing prep well. Emlyn was just glad the ride hadn't been like in the simulator at the Temple.

"How's your head?" Dustil asked, surprising Emlyn. She blushed a bit, realizing that she had been watching him for the past few minutes.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," she replied, taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair. She glanced over the landing information without really seeing it. "Dustil," she started. He looked up at her expectantly. "I…I don't really remember what happened. I mean, what was that thing, and how did it get on the ship? How long was I out for?"

"You were out for a few days, actually, and it's called a Xjyn, or so I was told," Dustil informed her, punching some buttons on the control pad.

"Why did it attack us?"

"It died before it would say."

Emlyn hesitated for a moment, trying in vain to remember more clearly. Soon they touched down on the surface of Tatooine. She gazed out at the endless sand with a glum expression on her face. She hated sand.

"Sand isn't so bad after you get used to it. Sometimes, anyway," Dustil said.

"Yes it is. I didn't grow up around it, but I don't like so much of the stuff; it gets everywhere," Emlyn insisted. The only thing worse would be an ocean planet, 'cause I can't swim, she thought to herself. She'd wanted to learn as a child, but her father had made the experience terrifying. She frowned when she thought about him forcing her to go underwater to 'get used to it' until she had become terrified of the water. Shaking her head, Emlyn pushed the past out of her head and looked over at Dustil. "Should we change into street clothing to blend in, or are we staying in our robes?" she asked him.

Dustil had an odd look on his face. Emlyn couldn't place it very well, but it looked like a mixture of surpise and anger. "Are… you okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"Me? Yeah, fine," he said, running a hand through his floppy dark brown hair. "Yes, street clothes would be best. Do you have any? I don't think I told you to bring some."

"I have them. What, you didn't find them when you picked out my robes for me?" Emlyn asked teasingly.

Dustil rolled his eyes. "No. Believe it or not I didn't go rooting through your things, Miss Paranoia."

"You don't have room to talk, buddy," Emlyn pointed out as she rose from her seat. "I'm going to go change. Meet you on the landing pad in five minutes."

Four minutes and fifteen seconds later Emlyn walked off the ramp of the ship to find Dustil negotiating the docking fees. Finally he seemed to reach an agreement with the man, who walked away looking happy. "How much did you pay him?" Emlyn asked, coming up on Dustil's left.

"Enough," was all he said.

Emlyn noticed that he still looked troubled, but she couldn't think of a reason why, unless something had happened with the… creature thing that she didn't know about. Emlyn opened her mouth to ask him about it, but was distracted when she noticed what he was wearing. He wore dark pants, brown boots, a white shirt, and a dark brown jacket. The cut and style of the clothing looked great on him. Emlyn caught herself staring and quickly looked away.

"Nice outfit," Dustil said as he looked through a data pad.

"Thanks," Emlyn said. She thought so; her shirt was a sunset orange with three-quarter length sleeves, dark pants, and a jacket to keep the sand out. Not that it would work very well, but it would help.

"According to this," Dustil said, indicating the data pad, "Our contact will meet us in the Hunting Lodge."

Great, a den full of men with egos the size of Yavin 4, Emlyn grumbled to herself. She glanced up at Dustil and saw that he had that expression on his face again. Emlyn scowled. "What?" she snapped.

"Emlyn, there's something…" Dustil started but was interrupted by an approaching rodian.

"Ah! There you are, friends. I believe you what you need lies this way," he said.

Emlyn didn't like the look in his buggy eyes. "What do you want?" she asked him warily.

"To help," he replied.

Not trusting him, but deciding that Dustil should make the descision, Emlyn glanced at her companion. He looked perfectly calm, but Emlyn could tell that he was just as wary of this rodian as she was. "Why do you want to help us?" he asked at last.

"Because there is something that needs to be taken care of, friend," the rodian said.

"Which is?"

"I do not think such things should be discussed in such a place. Please follow me and I will explain everything to you."

Dustil looked at Emlyn, who bit the inside of her bottom lip and shrugged. "Fine, but if this is a trap, beware."

The rodian nodded and motioned for them to follow. They exited the docking area and walked into the settlement. Emlyn shuddered at the thought of living in a place like Tatooine. There were as many shady characters as there was carbon scoring from blasters, and that wasn't a small number.

"Just around this corner, friends," the rodian informed them, disappearing behind a wall.

Dustil gave Emlyn a look that warned her to be ready, and she glared back; she could take care of herself, and she had done so for years.

Around the corner were two people in black assassin clothing and the rodian who was looking terrified. "I could not refuse them. They would have killed my family. Please do not blame me," he pleaded. Dustil gave him a pitying look, much to Emlyn's confusion; the rodian had just sold them out, and Dustil was feeling sorry for him?

"Jedi, surrender and you will not be harmed," one of the assassins intoned.

"Leave us alone. We do not want a fight," Dustil said calmly, "But if you attack us we will defend ourselves."

Let's just get to the blows, Emlyn thought impatiently. The two of them were obviously not going to give up, so why even bother?

"Everyone deserves a chance, and it was only fair to warn them," Dustil told her.

Emlyn gaped at him. "How did you…?"

"Enough chatter! Our master wants to speak to you, Jedi," the left assassin said.

"I'm afraid we have somewhere to be," Dustil said, "But we do have some questions for you."

"You will not cooperate? Then we will take you forcibly." The assassins leaped into action, red sabers in hand.

Dustil jumped to meet them, his lightsaber slicing through armor and flesh. Emlyn was on the other assassin, fighting him back into a corner. He was pretty good, but not good enough. She swung her saber downward and ended his life. Looking over to where Dustil was, she saw that he had already done away with the other Sith and was talking with the rodian.

"Please do not kill me, master Jedi! I was only trying to protect my family," he was pleading to Dustil.

"I'm not going to kill you, but I do think that you should get off Tatooine as soon as possible; when more Sith arrive to find out why these two haven't hauled us away, they won't be happy when they find you," Dustil warned the rodian.

"But my business is here! I cannot leave and let my family starve!" the rodian wailed.

"You have a chance of making it on another less hostile world, but none if you stay here," Emlyn interjected.

"I will not let my family starve. I will hide from the Sith," the rodian insisted.

Emlyn knew that such a thing would not be possible. "Then you condemn your family to death," she said flatly.

The rodian hesitated.

"I would suggest Manaan," Emlyn continued, "They need more shop keepers and it is relatively safe there." She knew full well that the rodian was not a shop keeper; she could feel it. But she felt that he might be able to give them information that would help them.

"I do not keep a shop," the rodian said reluctantly.

"We know," Dustil said, "We need you to tell us where you met these Sith and what they were doing here. And don't lie to me by saying you don't know."

The rodian looked around nervously. "I suppose I should tell you; you did save my life… Yes, I'll tell you. They here to stop you from investigating the Sith appearances here on Tatooine."

"Why, and who sent them?" Dustil asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"They did not want you to follow their trail. They were sent by someone named…" the rodian let out a gurgling sound and pitched forward onto the ground.

Emlyn and Dustil had their lighsabers out in a millisecond, their eyes darting around for the assassin. They saw and felt no one. Dustil walked over to the rodian and sorrowfully looked him over, searching for the cause of death. After a while he said, "Cardiac arrest," he said in confusion.

"What? That's not… He wasn't killed?" Emlyn asked, kneeling next to him.

"I didn't say that," Dustil said grimly. He moved his hands over some of the main rodian arteries, and after a few minutes found what he was looking for. "Feel here," he told Emlyn, taking her hand right hand in his left and putting it on the artery.

"It's…hard," Emlyn murmured.

"Yeah. My guess is that they put whatever material this is inside of him, and whatever the stuff is it responds to a high frequency sound that they emitted from somewhere not far from here, causing it to expand and cut off the blood to his heart. But that's just a guess," Dustil said.

Emlyn snorted. "Yeah, that was my first supposition too."

"I'm not sure what it is; there are several possibilities that I know of, and even then I might be wrong," Dustil mused. "But feel that? I suspect it's a form of nylex." He moved Emlyn's hand so that she could feel the whole lump under the rodian's skin.

"That's horrible!" she gasped. The lump was contained by the walls of the artery that had been stretched very tight. It would have been an extremely painful death. "If I knew who did this…" she muttered.

"Speaking of that, we shouldn't stay here too long," Dustil said, releasing her hand.

Emlyn nodded, rubbing her right hand with her left one. "Did I hurt you?" Dustil asked, noticing her action. She quickly shook her head. "Alright. I don't know what else to do for this guy other than put him where someone will find him; we would be in huge trouble if we were caught with him," Dustil said.

"Yeah… I just feel bad for his family," Emlyn said quietly. She shook her head, loosening the sad thoughts from her mind and directing her focus to their current mission. She had seen beings die, and it was painful, but it would happen to them all eventually. Some sooner than others, she thought sadly, looking up at Dustil. He was staring at her strangely again. She snorted, annoyed.

"Do you do that all the time?" he asked her, taking her arm and leading her away from the death scene.

"Only when I'm annoyed," she retorted, "And with you around it's going to continue." Looking around, she spotted a small alley and pulled him into it.

"Hey, you know Jedi are supposed to resist things like this," Dustil joked as they stood close together in the small space.

"Shut up. You know that's not… forget it. What's going on, Onasi? You've been giving me weird looks all day, and on top of the thing when you read my mind or whatever… Talk," she said.

"I've actually been trying to tell you ever since you woke up, but I waited for a bit while you recovered, and after that I just kept getting interrupted," Dustil said, crossing his arms.

"Point, Onasi," Emlyn said.

"Fine. We have a Force bond," Dustil replied.

Emlyn gaped at him. "We have a what? Please tell me you just said a bounty on our heads."

"Well, maybe that too, by now," Dustil said thoughtfully, "But no. I formed it accidentally when I stopped you from dying."

"I almost died?"

"Yeah…"

"And you saved me?"

"Yes."

Emlyn rose onto her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek. When she pulled back she almost laughed at the shocked expression on Dustil's face. "That was for saving my life," she said, smiling. Then the smile vanished and she shoved him back into the wall behind him. "And that's for binding me to you without my say so!" With that she stalked out of the alley and marched toward the Hunting Lodge.

Dustil stood there for a moment, stunned, before coming to his senses and laughing. He quickly hurried after her and fell into step with her. "So, any questions?" he asked.

"What the heck does a Force bond do?" was his answer.

"It means we're connected by the Force. If you feel for it, you'll notice a line that links us. We can hear each other's thoughts and feel emotions unless we block them, and we'll probably end up knowing more than we want to about each other," Dustil told her.

"How fun," Emlyn muttered, "Is there a way to sever them?" She felt between her and Dustil. He was right; there was a thin thread of Force that connected the two of them. That was all she needed. What if he finds out…? She began to worry, but shook it off and continued to listen to Dustil.

"Yes, but it's usually painful, tedious, and possibly fatal. Plus the Council would have to take a very long time evaluating it and assessing all the aspects, and then they might cut the connection, but we might die in the process," Dustil said cheerfully.

"This day just gets better all the time," Emlyn replied, just as chipper, "First assassins, now a possibly lethal bond! My, my! Now all we need is to run into some psycho and I'll be happy."

"Check out the one on my left," Dustil said, looking to his left at her.

"If I was in a worse mood you'd be laying in the med bay, Onasi," Emlyn told him, knowing full well that he could beat her into the ground if he wanted.

Dustil just smirked at her.

I'd love to just smack that look right off his smug face! Emlyn thought.

:Give it your best shot, Em: said Dustil's cheerful voice in her head.

:Don't do that! I want my thoughts left alone unless I invite you in: she snapped.

:Then block them so I don't have to hear: Dustil retorted.

:And just how do I do that? I'm not normally a closed person: She heard Dustil make a disbelieving sound in her mind before he answered.

:Just throw up walls around the stuff you don't want me to hear or feel. It won't work with stronger emotions or anything, but it should handle the majority: Dustil told her.

Emlyn decided she didn't want to think about her own bond much more, since it wasn't a good thing, in her mind, but she couldn't stop herself from asking another question. "How do you know so much about Force bonds?" Emlyn asked him aloud, "There isn't much known about them, and yet you seem to be an expert. Speaking from experience?"

"Nah, heard it second hand," Dustil said, shrugging. "Hey, we're here," he said as Emlyn opened her mouth to say something else. They had arrived in front of a building that looked a lot like all the others accept for the arrogant sign that let them know that they were at the Hunting Lodge.

"'Where beast hunts beast'?" Emlyn read, wrinkling her nose at the words. "Wonderful. I woke up thinking, 'hey, let's spend the day conversing with brainless bantha lice!'"

"You seem to have a high opinion of this place," Dustil remarked.

"Yeah, it was great having the idiot men from here hitting on me the whole six months I spent on this planet," Emlyn said, "Believe it or not there aren't many human women on Tatooine."

"Sarcasm seems to be your thing," Dustil said absently as he pushed the door open. "Hey, when did you live here?" he asked curiously as they walked into the sand colored room, small fans twirling above their heads.

"A couple years ago, about," Emlyn told him, observing the men, twi'leks, gamorrians, rodians, and various other beings either sitting alone or going on and on about some creature they'd slain.

"What were you doing here?" Dustil continued.

Emlyn frowned a bit. "I was being trained in the ways of the Jedi," she said.

"Here?"

"Here and there, a bit of everywhere."

They took seats in a corner of the room while Dustil looked around. "I don't see our contact yet," he murmured, then turning his gaze on Emlyn, who was staring intently at the floor, asked, "Who taught you?"

"A woman named Lea Polien. She took care of me after my mother died and my father left me on Nar Shadaa. He ran out of money, so he sold me to the highest bidder," Emlyn said casually. She glanced up and saw Dustil frowning at her. She was relieved to find no trace of pity; she hated getting anyone's pity, and was glad Dustil knew that. She did see sorrow, however.

"How old were you?" he asked quietly.

"I was eleven," she replied, "My mother died when I was nine, and my father… kept me around for a couple of years, and then sold me to some lower Exchange thug for a slave."

"What happened?" Dustil asked hesitantly.

Emlyn looked down at her hands, studying the lines and curves intently. "Nothing really bad," she said, head still bent. She could feel Dustil's brown eyes on her hair, and could feel his emotions through their bond; anger, sorrow, concern. "I was beaten a lot, but I was never… used. Luckily the thug was some kind of buggy creature and had no interest in human girls," Emlyn said.

"Is that where your scar came from? The beating?"

"Which scar?" Emlyn said with a short laugh, "I have several, and not even half are from Sbenklad. That was his name."

"The scar just by your hairline, the long white one," Dustil clarified.

"Oh, yeah, that was from my father," Emlyn said with a shrug, trying to look unconcerned, but she knew Dustil could feel the hurt inside her. "I don't keep it all bottled up," she told him, "Lea helped me work through it. I'm just still healing. Not all scars are on the skin."

"So Lea rescued you?"

"Yeah, she was a Jedi sent to investigate Sbenklad. She wasn't very happy when she saw the state I was in. Lea bought me and set me free, and then offered to train me as a Jedi. She didn't tell the Council. I think she knew what was going to happen, but didn't have a way to stop it," Emlyn said, losing herself in her thoughts. She had suspected Lea of receiving visions on occasion, and though Lea never said anything about it, it was a distinct possibility.

They sat in silence for a moment before Emlyn felt a warm hand on her own. She looked up quickly came face to face with Dustil. His look told her that if she ever needed anything, he would be there for her. She felt a rush of gratitude toward him for not giving her his pity, and for simply being there. Reaching out gingerly with her mind, she brushed his consciousness. Tentatively, she spoke words in her mind, making sure he would hear them. ::Thank you:

:For what:

:For being my friend, stupid:

Dustil laughed out loud and took his hand off of hers. Emlyn smiled at him and leaned back in her chair. "So what about you, Onasi? Got any dark secrets that I can drag out of you?"

"Something tells me I haven't gotten all of yours out of you yet," Dustil said, a bit of a smirk on his face.

"That would be a correct assumption, but that's all you can have for now. So what was your childhood like? You lived on Telos, I know, and you're an only child."

"My father is a war hero, and has been for a long time. He was in the Mandalorian War under Revan, and then in the Jedi Civil War against Revan," Dustil said, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"What are you looking at me like that for? I'm just curious. Is he a pilot, your dad?" Emlyn asked.

"Yeah, one of the best in the Republic if not the top one. I was sure for the longest time that he had to be Force sensitive, but he isn't at all, and that makes his skills even more amazing," Dustil told her.

"Wait," Emlyn said, holding up a hand as a thought struck her square in the head, "Your dad isn't Admiral Carth Onasi, is he?"

"That's him," Dustil said, grinning.

"So you know Revan?"

"Better than you'd think. She was the one who convinced me to leave the Sith Academy on Korriban where I was taken after my home world was bombed any my mother was killed," Dustil said, "I was angry with my father about that for a while, but it really wasn't his fault."

Emlyn had been in mid swallow when she heard his words, and choked on her spittle. "You were a Sith?" she asked incredulously.

"Top student," he replied.

"And now?"

"Now I'm a Jedi, but still one of the best students," he said, giving her a toothy grin.

"Careful, Onasi; if your ego gets any bigger you won't be able to get back through the door."

"Funny. Anyway, Dad and Revan left to destroy the Star Forge, and I escaped with a bunch of other students. I don't know what happened to most of them, but I'm glad they didn't stay. I wanted to destroy the Sith for some of the things they'd done, and for pulling me into their mindset. Luckily Revan snapped me out of it," Dustil continued.

"What did they do to you?"

"Not me personally. They killed my mother, Morgana, and murdered my best friend, Selena, because they thought she was holding me back from my potential as a Sith," Dustil said darkly.

"Stupid nerf herders," Emlyn muttered angrily, "What then?"

Dustil gave her a half smile before continuing, "I went back to Telos and began to help rebuild and wait for my dad to come back. It felt like old times, when he was gone a lot, only mother wasn't there. I was around seventeen at the time.

"So one day I hear that Malak had finally been defeated, and by his former master no less, and I knew the dad wouldn't be far away. When he got back it was hard for a while; we didn't know each other, and I had grown up before my time. When we began to get along better, Revan showed up, and for a while I… didn't like her."

"Why not?" Emlyn questioned.

"Well, because she and my father were… together," Dustil said, "It was kind of a shock when they got married.

"She married him?" Emlyn gasped.

"Isn't that what I said?"

"You're Revan's step-son?"

"That's generally how it works when your parent gets remarried," Dustil said with a grin.

Emlyn just gaped at him for a moment before pulling herself together. "When did they get married? And you seem to be okay with her now…"

"I wasn't for a long time. But Revan just has this thing about her that makes people want to trust her. By the time she left for the Unknown Regions I trusted her completely. She came back six years later as a prisoner of the Sith, and I still don't know what that was about, she managed to escape, came to visit, and dad pretty much forced her to marry him," Dustil said casually.

"Forced?"

"Well, she wanted to marry him, but didn't think it was fair to make him wait so long, especially when she didn't think she'd come back a second time, but Dad managed to convince her that he didn't want anyone else, just her. So they got married, she left again after a couple weeks, and then came back a few months later because she was pregnant."

Emlyn smiled at the thought of a baby, but stopped and asked, "Is that good?"

"Dad was… pretty much floored, and Revan was happier than I've ever seen her. So now I have a sister on the way," Dustil ended.

"Wait, so Revan just came back not too long ago?"

"Right."

"What about the…?" Emlyn started, but was interrupted by a feminine voice.

"Are you the ones interested in the Sith appearances?" Emlyn looked up and saw a very beautiful girl with long, chestnut curls, full red lips, a heart shaped face, and a slight, but well endowed figure.

"Yes, we are," Dustil replied, smiling at the girl, who smiled back.

"My name is Freya Sholin. Pleased to meet, you Jedi," she said softly, her liquid blue eyes focused on Dustil.

Emlyn frowned. They were in the middle of a possible Sith plot and the two of them were making eyes at each other? Especially with those Assassins entering the Lodge. "Hey, I know this might be a bad time, but could you guys continue this little flirtation a bit later? We have company," she said flatly, pointing to the door.

Dustil and Freya looked away from one another and saw the seven Assassins that Emlyn had indicated. Freya gasped in an unbelievably feminine way and looked like she was going to pass out on the spot, but clenched her jaw and remained conscious.

Good for her, Emlyn thought irately to herself.

'She is not used to seeing Sith walk right into a building.'

I know, but there's something I just don't like about her, Lea.

'The fact that Dustil was admiring her?'

What! Don't be dense! I could care less! She just seems like a pity seeker, Emlyn thought grumpily.

'Do not be so quick to judge.'

Yes, Lea.

"Jedi, surrender the girl or die," the leading Sith hissed.

Half to Emlyn's relief and half to her irritation, Dustil stepped between the Assassins and Freya. "I'm afraid we can't do that. Blades up, then," he said, that familiar smirk on his face. If the situation had been different, Emlyn would have laughed, but it wasn't, so she didn't.

The Sith fought better than she had expected, and she soon found herself being driven back toward a wall. With a grunt she swung her lightsaber into the Sith Assassin's body, and then moved on to the next one. Soon there was only the leader and two others. Dustil got the others, Emlyn had the leader. He was even better than the others. He attacked viciously, pushing Emlyn back until her shoulder blades hit the corner behind her. She was trapped. She swung at him and missed, and he trapped her arms over to one side, and pressed her against the wall with his elbow and knees.

He turned off his lightsaber and put it to her stomach. With a sadistic grin he spoke. "Now die, Jedi," he hissed, and switched his saber back on.

Wow. This took a lot of pages. Well, not that many, but more than I had planned on! I thought this would be the shortest chapter yet! Guess not, huh?

I keep wanting to do two : when someone is talking through the Force, but my computer won't let me and is going crazy... again. I swear I never mean to break it! Machines just don't like me!

Review please. I really like feedback. :)