Author's note: Thanks everyone for your reviews!

The Lady Revan: Bastila is acting quite strange. Everything will become clearer as the story continues.

gt3.14159: I'm glad to hear from another Canderous fan! Canderoushas been one of my personal favorites ever since I brought him out on Dantooine (long story).More fanfics should be about Canderous, hmmm?

LuvsDelkoSpeed: Either way, with HK or Jolee, would be a strange combo with Mission. However, there is a reasonbehind it.

Psychic Werewolf Assassin: I love odd pairings!It makes things much more interesting. I'm not certain about Zaalbar going with Juhani or T3but anything's possible.

Sorry if I didn't write back to your review but my time is limited!

Additional note: In some of my previous chapters, the transitions between events (i.e. different people talking) did not show up when I would transfer from Word to this site. I have edited those chapters and made certain to look over this chapter before posting. Sorry for the confusion.

Chapter 5

Carth's Conflict

It was by chance that Carth had spotted Bastila, once again sitting by one of the fountains. He briskly approached her. "Bastila!"

The Jedi looked over. The instant she recognized him, her face turned into a scowl. "Carth, I desire to be alone."

"No," Carth said conclusively and sat down next to her. "We're going to talk about this now."

"Really, there is nothing to talk about."

Carth sighed. This is going to be difficult. "Bastila, you shouldn't get mad at Ayla."

"A Jedi does not get angry. I'm just . . . disappointed that she disobeyed me."

"Going to a dance does not lead to the Dark Side."

"Disobeying your masters does. And Carth, I would rather not hear your opinions of what Jedi can and cannot do. You are not one and therefore cannot understand us."

Carth paused, deciding that he should try to take the conversation down a different route, the one he hoped might be able to settle the matter. I'd better be right about this.

"Bastila," Carth began, "would you like to attend the dance?"

Bastila rolled her eyes. "A Jedi does not attend—"

"But what if it was with someone who really wants to go with you?"

Carth tried to look sincere but Bastila met him with a hard stare, probing him for an ulterior motive.

"Are you trying to tell me that you want to go to the dance with me?"

Carth hesitated, worrying that her question might have another meaning. "Yes."

Bastila frowned. "I do not find this to be very humorous."

"What're you talking about?"

Her eyes blazed. "Really, Carth, I know what this is about. I did not forget the conversation you had with Ayla."

"I—"

"You wanted to go with Ayla to the dance, not me. She is the one who proposed that you should go with me."

Carth bit his lower lip. "Just because I wanted to go with Ayla initially doesn't mean that I don't respect you or that I don't want to go with you."

"Don't lie to me!" she shouted. "You're just asking me as a last resort, because there are no other available females."

"That's not true!" Carth shouted back.

"You're a typical male, Carth. You want to go with me so that your ego would not be punctured. Or maybe you wish to make Ayla jealous?"

Carth stood up, his face flushed. "I don't have to listen to this!"

Bastila continued to speak, but Carth was not listening. He already had his back to her, making his way towards the Ebon Hawk.

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". . . I mean, I don't know how such a thing could've rolled around! HK and Jolee? How does that work? They had never shown any interest in me and now suddenly they both want to go to the dance with me? It doesn't make any sense! What d'you think? What d'you think I should do?"

Zaalbar pondered this for a moment. "I don't like it. Can't you just refuse them both?"

"I guess I could but . . . they are going to fight for me after all."

"Well, they haven't fought yet. Tell them you don't want to go."

"But that's another thing . . . I do want to go! I didn't think I was going at first because I figured that no one would actually want to go with me. Now, it's like my wish had come true but it's just . . . weird, that's all."

"Then why did you bother asking me! You seem to have your mind made up!"

Mission hesitated for a moment. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing, then?"

Zaalbar sighed. "I suppose so."

"I know it sounds weird, but it'll be interesting," Mission smiled, "and besides, I've never been fought over before."

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Carth, with head in his hands, sat on the ramp leading to the Ebon Hawk. He had felt awful ever since that confrontation between Bastila and Ayla. All he wanted to do was attend the dance with Ayla but nothing was ever as easy as it seemed. His greatest anxiety when he was considering asking her earlier was just that she would somehow become insulted and never speak to him again. Now, this fear was actually occurring, but with more twists; Bastila now seemed she would always remain suspicious of Ayla's intentions, and because of this Ayla would probably never remain on friendly terms with her mentor. And Carth was stuck in the middle of it all with no plausible solution.

Asking Bastila to the dance was a complete failure, he thought. Now she not only hates me but will probably hate Ayla even more. What am I saying? I'm overreacting. After this dance is over, everyone will be back to their normal selves. Right?

He heard the sound of footsteps approaching his position. When he looked up, he was reminded of another horrible twist—Canderous.

The Mandalorian was not even looking at him but instead at the ship's entrance. He strode past Carth without the slightest movement of acknowledging his existence and proceeded up the ramp. Carth continued to watch him, feeling aggravated with every step he took. Right before Canderous entered onto the ship, Carth decided he could not sit passively any longer.

"Canderous!" he called out.

The Mandalorian turned, his face pasted with a wry smile. "I knew you couldn't resist." He stepped up to Carth's position. "So, what does the gracious Republic soldier want with an evil Mandalorian? You'd better be careful, Carth, any moment now I could pull out a blaster and fry your head off. We Mandalorians are quite fond of malicious—"

"Dammit Canderous," Carth interrupted, "this isn't about the war."

The smirk disappeared from Canderous' face as he became serious. "What, then?"

Carth hesitated. The instant he saw Canderous, he was sure he had to speak to him, but now he wished he could have waited. He would have liked to plan out what to say instead of looking foolish. However, he knew he could not back down at this point. "I was just wondering . . . you asked Ayla to the dance?"

"What's it to you?" Canderous asked brashly.

"It's just that I had planned on going with Ayla."

Canderous' smile returned. "Oh, so you're jealous?"

Carth could feel his face heating up with both anger and embarrassment. "I'm not jealous. It's just that . . ." Carth released a heavy sigh. "Maybe sitting around in the swoop hangar makes you blind to everything that happens on the ship but Ayla and I—"

"Oh, so you and Ayla are close," Canderous said mischievously.

Carth squeezed his hands together, barely able to contain his anger.

"No, we're good friends."

"Friends," Canderous smirked.

Carth decided it would be best to let the matter slide from conversation. "Anyway, considering that I am her friend, why did you ask her?"

"I didn't know Ayla could only have one friend at a time."

Carth sighed. "Look, this is one chance I could have to spend time with Ayla. Can you please back down? Just this once?"

"I was right, you are jealous."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Sure."

"You're definitely not a friend of hers! Why did you ask her?"

Canderous paused for a moment. "You really want to know?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Carth could only nod in response, surprised at Canderous' tone. Never before had he heard his enemy speak to him in such a soft voice.

Canderous scanned the area, checking to see if anyone was nearby, and leaned over. He whispered into Carth's ear. "Because it's all part of an evil Mandalorian scheme to take over Manaan."

Carth did not reply, feeling stupid that he actually thought Canderous would say something sincere. This feeling quickly changed to anger as Canderous reeled back and began to laugh out loud. "For once, can't you be serious?"

Canderous snickered. "I would but it's just you're so gullible."

Carth let out an agitated sigh. "You knew I would ask her, didn't you? You don't like Ayla, you don't like anyone. You just did this to get back at me."

Canderous frowned. "You really are paranoid! If I wanted to get back at you, I wouldn't ask your girlfriend to the dance."

"I don't trust you and I don't trust you with her!" Carth pointed his finger at him. "If you hurt her, you're dead!"

Canderous raised his eyebrows. "That's . . . a bold statement coming from you."

Carth took a deep, calming breath. He, too, was shocked for saying such a thing.

"Is that all?"

Carth stared at Canderous for a moment, surprised by the question. "Um . . . yes."

Canderous turned his back and briskly walked off into the ship's interior. As Carth watched him retreat, he knew he had to keep his eyes on him.