Episode 1.01: Homecoming

Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up. It was a little hard for me to write now that I have a Job and with MAP testing coming up really soon. Anywho, enjoy!

The wind whipped hard along the outside of the Dantooine Enclave as Revan stared up at the very stars that she had admired nearly ten years ago. Had it really been that long? She had to ask herself. It seemed like just yesterday that she and Malak had been chosen by Masters…

Ah…. Malak…

The cheers were still coming loudly from the inside of the Attendance Hall where the Graduation Ceremony was going on for Malak. Revan closed her eyes and took a long drag from the deathstick in her right gloved palm as she listened, smirking at the excited jeers from the new alumni who ignited their ceremonial lightsabers. I'm so proud of him.

Isn't a time to be proud, just yet. Not with the secrets the Master's were hiding from those within. She reminded herself. And I'll be the one to save the Republic… me and Malak. She smiled at the thought of him, a small subtle smile that showed her innocence that she though had gone long ago.

"Revan! Hey! Check it out!" Came a soothing call from the far wall. She hastily dropped the deathstick and ground it out with her boot before approaching him. He didn't like the idea of her smoking, not because it wasn't lady like… but because he worried. Usually when she lit up, that meant there was some really bad news.

"You got it!" She smirked to Malak as he looked at her with a look of heartbreak in his eyes. Damn, he noticed. She thought to herself. Trying to recover lost ground and change the subject, she focused on his new toy. "So, lets see it!"

There was a moment where he didn't say a word to her. He just stared at her with a condesendiing look that shot daggers, and she wasn't so sure that he wouldn't just run off now or give her the guilt trip of her life. But he sighed as his expression changed to a slightly more happy one, he not able to contain his excitement. There was an electric hum that sounded as a yellow light emerged and lit up the night. "Took me longer than it did you though… I didn't think I'd ever get it."

She patted his back, half-heartedly and he could tell by the way her mysterious eyes stared threw him though she gazed directly at him, that there was something big getting ready to go down. "Why weren't you in there at the Ceremony. The Masters are becoming suspicious about your odd behavior as of late. Master Vrook-"

Revan put a hand up, shutting him up. "Master Vrook is a fool and will lead you all down a horrible road as his reign ends!" She spat a little more angrilly than she meant. "Master Kavar, Atris, and the others as well!" Revan turned from Malak, putting a little space in between them and spoke with her back turned to him. "I spoke with that Republic Officer who had taught us Pazaak when we were thirteen. He's an Admiral now. Admiral Karath… he was recruiting people to come help with the war against the Mandalorians. Iridonia has just fallen and without the help of the Jedi Council, the Republic will surely fall."

Revan turned, a fire in her eyes that Malak had never seen before. He nearly took a literal step back from her as she looked desperately at him. "This is our chance Malak. To see the Galaxy and save it at the same time. We made a promise to each other and now the Galaxy is begging us to keep it. We have to go beyond the Jedi Council's wishes and join the war. And we have to recruit others. We cannot let the Republic fall!"

Revan's heart shuttered at the feelings rushing over her. And overwhelming feeling of self loathing for what she had done to Malak. The path she had drug him down. She'd loved him from the beginning, of that she was sure. Ever since they first met in the Enclave on Couresant and then later transferred together to Dantooine. Bored and trapped on a boring planet. What else was there to do than to play with danger and fall in love?

Revan turned over again, her heart ached. Would she do the some thing to Carth? He'd follow her blindly, now that he trusted her. That was his one and only weakness. He trusted little, but when he gave in, he fell like a blind idiot... hard. There was nothing to catch him and she did nothing to stop him. She hadn't known... or remembered... what it was like to be in love. To be loved in return. Nor did she remember the dangers that came with it. But she did drag him down, wishing that he'd love her. Nearly demanding it. And then her secrets were shown and she hurt him... and all the memories of loving Malak had come back.

She remembered what it had been like to be in love with Malak and not have the emotions returned. She had loved him and her feelings hadn't had to go unrequited for long. She remembered following taking Malak to Saul and the ride in her ship on the way.

She gazed glassy-eyed out the window, the dizzying patterns of hyperspace both blinding her and hypnotizing her. But her mind wasn't there. It was on him, his very presence. She loved him and as soon as she thought the words, her heart clenched and nearly ceased all together. While it was that she loved him, she knew that her love would go forever unreturned.

Unknowningly, she reached into her pocket and lit up a deathstick, taking a deep drag as carbon burned the back of her throat and singed her lungs. It was a welcome feeling and she closed her eyes to savor it. Letting her emotional pain be drown within the small mass of physical pain. "Space woman! Why must you do that! You're killing yourself!" Came an outburst from the doorway that caused Revan to jump and rush to put out the thing. She didn't have to wait for long as Malak yanked it from her hand and tossed it on the ground, grinding it out with his foot. Looking up at him, she noticed he had shaved his head.

"You're hair... it's-" He shook his head.

"No, this isn't about me. Why do you do that to yourself? Why do you do it to me?" His last sentence was quieter, as if he hadn't really wanted her to hear it.

"What are you talking about? I've smoked forever? It hasn't ever bugged you before. I just needed to relax, and well... not much happening in Hyperspace right now." She covered. She had nothing, she knew that. But there was no use covering now. "Why is it that you care all of a sudden?"

He sighed hard, not really knowing what to say. His mouth fell open and then closed, opening again as to speak and then closed once more. Revan had to inwardly remark that he reminded her a little of a fish having an oxygen crisis, but she stifled that thought quick before she could burst out in a fit of giggles and caused him to be offended. "I've always cared, and I could tell in your eyes that night I graduated back on Tatooine that you knew it. You just never cared about my feelings enough to stop." His reply was soft, scared to even speak the words.

"Never cared, Malak, I love you!" Neither one spoke and the silence burned at her ears until she wanted to claw at him to get inside her mind and see what the hell possessed her to speak those words. But it was all out there now and she paled with the exception of the crimson she felt forcing itself to the surface of her skin. Malak just blinked at her, unable to form words right now. Several excrusiating moments of silence passed until Revan could no longer take it. Either someone spoke or coughed or something, or she was going to have to trust in the Force to make herself be invisible. Neither happened, so she booked. Rushing from the room, she headed for her quarters.

There were tears coming from her eyes as she attempted to suffocate herself with the plush pillow on her bunk. Alright, not exactly suffocate, but it would look as such to the naked eye. It wasn't until there was a gentle touch on her shoulder that her sobs broke and she looked up. "What do you-" A strong finger silenced her full lips as, soon replaced by a set of lips of his own. It was akward, yet so right. Perfection rang through her mind as she came out of her shock and touched a gloved hand to his smooth cheek. Even through the leather she could feel it's softness. Warmth bled though her with each quickening pound of her heart. She was alive for the first time in nineteen years.

"Damn it!" Revan scream tossing the first thing she could find and watching it hit the wall. Her lightsaber hit it with a loud clank and clunked onto the floor, little bits of shattered crystal falling out and litering the ground around it. I failed another, again. What is it with me that causes others to fall without question until they ultimately meet their own demise at the expence of my succession? But I don't succeed and their deaths will all be in vein. Every last damn one of them!

"Revan, are you alright... or is this an episode that you would rather me miss?" Came a call from the doorway. Dustil peeked around the corner adorned in his Padawan robes, hair in the traditional short buzz with braid. Revan hid her tear streaked face within the pillow and when she didn't reply, Dustil tried again. "Father sent me by here on my way back from the party. He wanted to make sure you were alright. It might be awhile until he can sneak away."

Revan said nothing, yet waved him away, wishing for morning to come just a little faster.

A/N: Chapter Two Completed. Look for the conclusion in Chapter Three, coming soon!