Piotr climbed up into the flight deck, grunting a little as he pushed himself upwards from the ladder.
"Ladders! What a two-arm concept!" he said aloud.
"Two-legged, in my case apparently," quipped Walush, swivelling around in his chair. Outside the transparisteel window, the anti-space tunnel that was trademark to hyperspace travel loomed. "We'll be arriving in a couple standard hours. How's the crew? The captain?"
"I sent little Orian off to get some shuteye, the HK droid is charging in the droid bay, T3-S6 is in the medbay to alert us if the captain and the clone, Achilles I think the name was, wake up. The blood transfusion was successful enough; a couple of kolto pills in the morning for a week and those two will be more or less recovered. Yiddles is in his bunk, making grenades." At this, the Besalisk shook his head in amusement. "Can you believe that's a hobby?"
"Wouldn't put anything past him," replied the Dug. A bleep on Piotr's comlink interrupted his next sentence.
"They've awoken; I'll go get Orian and check on them. You want to come?"
Walush considered, then shook his head. "I should start landing preparations; on a planet like Tatooine, you want to have all your escape routes and entry points figured out beforehand."
Piotr shrugged, and then clambered down the ladder again, giving a grunt.
Piotr, bringing a sleepy Orian with him, quietly entered the medbay. Daxius was staring straight up blankly, a tear trail drying on the side of his face. On the other side, the clone's eyes slowly fluttered open and closed. A faint scar ran across part of his forehead where a bacta strip had been applied eight hours ago. The clone turned his head as the two entered; Daxius didn't seem to notice them.
"Where am I?" asked the clone in a raspy voice, coughing slightly.
Piotr took a canteen of water and handed it to the clone. "We brought you aboard after you ship was fried in the battle. We had to jump to hyperspace or risk getting cooked ourselves, and we're en route to Tatooine."
"Tatooine. Desert planet. Ruled by the Hutts. Neutral zone." said the clone automatically. His brows furrowed in confusion. "How do I know that? What do I... Who am I?"
Piotr shared a look of concern with Orian at this. Turning back to the clone, he asked, "You don't remember who you are?"
The clone searched around, as if looking for some clue, and said, "I... I am Arc... Achilles. I think my name is Achilles."
Piotr nodded his head. "That seems about right."
Achilles put a hand to his head, and sat up slowly. "I feel like ten percent."
"Ten percent of what?"
"...I don't know. I meant I feel like dust." Rubbing his eyes, Achilles looked over and saw Daxius. "Who's that?"
"That's the captain, Daxius. He was injured during that fight we had with the Dark Jedi."
Achilles eyes widened. "I have missed a lot. We fought a Dark Jedi? Jedi are our generals. We are under their direct command, and must obey their orders until the day when Order 66 is given by the Supreme Chancellor."
Orian looked at him in consternation. "What's Order 66?"
Achilles started to answer, then looked confused again. "I... don't know." Inspecting himself, Achilles motioned to the cuffs on his ankles. "What are these for?"
Orian replied, "You had a bone fracture and burst blood vessels; we had to use bacta injection cuffs to knit it together again. So what do you remember?"
Achilles searched his mind again, but it proved fruitless. "Nothing but my name and the odd random memory. Do you have any change of clothes? The dried blood look isn't really my style... is it?"
Piotr shrugged and grinned. "We haven't known you very long, but I'd say it isn't. I'll go and borrow one of Daxius' flight suits, you look about the same size."
Achilles leant back against the wall, letting out a sigh. Taking a swig from the canteen of water, he watched in curiosity as Orian pulled up a stool and sat next to Daxius, smoothing his hair back and wiping away a fresh tear. Daxius' eyes suddenly noticed her, it seemed, and an expression of recognition, joy and anguish flashed across them. Daxius sat up suddenly and enveloped Orian in a hug.
Orian, though surprised, relaxed into it and embraced him back, Daxius rocking slightly. He whispered behind her shoulder things she couldn't quite make sense out of.
"Cyar'ika... I know you're not her. You have to believe me. It's not because you look like her. It's not because you remind me of her. You're you to me. You're not some substitute; you're you! She's my past, and a part of me will never stop... but you're here. You are now. And you're my future. Know that. Don't ever doubt that you're you to me."
Orian patted him gently on the back, comforting him. His words soothed her; she didn't know what they meant, exactly, but she could hear the meaning behind them.
"I know. Don't worry; I know." Orian gently laid Daxius down into the bunk again, and he fell asleep once more.
Achilles had lapsed into sleep sometime during the exchange.
And, for a brief moment...
...during that state between awake and asleep...
...he saw the ship, the life within it, and the energy that bound his fate to the universe.
His blood tingled with the new material, the potential it had been given.
"I've been with my Master for four standard years now. Our connection is strong. We know each other as well as we know ourselves."
"It's why this sudden rift has come up between us. This awkwardness."
"I guess we've been doing it for some time now. Exchanging meaningful glances. The odd flirtatious comment. It's only now that we've realised exactly what we've gotten ourselves into."
"We're attracted to each other."
"It doesn't help that we're so close in age and yet so far in standing. She's my Master; I'm her Padawan. It's the most unspeakable of unions in the realm of the Jedi."
"It doesn't help that it's that time of a human male's life when we are becoming interested in females. That my master is so wise, so smart, so beautiful..."
"And we've been having the strangest of accidental brushes. We know it's not intentional, at least not consciously. Her leg touching mine when we sat next to each other on that transport ship. Her falling into my arms when that gundark startled her."
"Earlier, this afternoon, when she was sitting on the couch of the room that we were provided for this mission. When I walked past, and for reasons unknown to even me, I stopped and gazed at the back of her head, the shape of her shoulders, her neck..."
"When I reached out... and traced the back of a finger down the length of her lekku."
"We could barely register what had happened right after. We just stared at each other, both in shock, faces coloured. She stepped out quickly, saying something about needing to take a walk to clear her head."
"Now it's the dark of the night. I lay in bed, tossing as I try to figure out what's happening. What are these feelings I feel? I hear my Master; she's back from her walk, I guess. I pretend to be asleep in case she checks on me. My door opens, and stays open. After a minute, I finally give up on the act, and sit up. 'What's the matter, Master?'"
"'Sienn,' she says."
"'What?'"
"'Call me Sienn.'"
"'Alright then... Sienn. What's the matter?'"
"'I've been thinking. About this.' She walks closer, and I swing my feet over the edge of the bed and sit up straight. 'About what?'"
"She hesitates. My master... I mean, Sienn, looks into my eyes. I can see she's trying to summon up the courage to say something. I think she's going to do it. She's going to have me transferred to another Master. What else could I have expected? A Master and Padawan can't feel like this towards each other, no matter how much in love--"
"She cuts me off with a kiss. A deep, longing kiss. It seems it lasts an eternity, but I have to break it off to ask, 'But what about the Council? They'll never approve of us, Master--'"
"'Sienn. My name is Sienn, Daxius. And to answer your question,' she pulls me into another kiss, and this time I kiss her back, until she breaks off for breath. 'To answer your question; do you really care?'"
"I don't even hesitate. An abrupt shriek of laughter as I pull her close to me, and we fall back, one hand in the small of her back, the other behind her head, on her lekku."
"'Your lekku,' she corrects me. 'I'm all yours, and you're all mine.'"
"It's not because you look like her, Orian."
"It's not because you remind me of her."
"I loved her very much. As much as anyone could love someone else."
"But you're not some substitute. You're not just some replacement to ease the pain."
"You're you to me. You always will be. Sienn is a part of my past, and a part of me will always love her."
"But you, cyar'ika, you're here. You are my now. And you are my future."
"Know that. Don't ever doubt that you're you to me."
"Not even when I see her instead, for that split second between recognition and memory."