Chapter 4

A slim figure hurries down a dirt path, her long, matted,ebony hair framing her dirt trodden, tanned face. She knows the planet will be destroyed so very soon, but is unsure of how she will escape. As her light grey eyes scan the area, Kreia's words play through her mind; she knows this is not her time to die and that she must keep searching for some way off the wretched planet. Her eyes scan the area again, but this time settles on a form she had not seen earlier. As she squints, she recognizes the crumpled body.

"Atton!" She gasps, breaking into a run towards her beloved friend. She kneels and Atton looks up to her with a smile, speaking slowly with choked gasps for air.

"You're...alive. Did...I...save you yet? Your eyes..." He says softly, staring at her horrified expression. "That bad, eh?" He turns his head away from her and continues to speak as she listens intently. "I always was ugly...now the outside matches. I was waiting for this, but...it's not fair...I let you down..."

The woman shakes her head and attempts to lift his battered body from the ground. "Atton, hold on, I can still help you."

He quickly winces in pain, so she softly rests his body in her lap and supports his head.

"No. I was supposed to save you." He says stubbornly.

Tears began to form in her eyes, but she holds them back. "You did, Atton. You fought bravely, and I could never ask of you for a greater sacrifice. Please, just let me help you."

He continues as if he doesn't hear her. "I'm so tired of living anyway...too many deaths…I'm so sorry for it all. For everything I've done in the past." He slightly winces and gasps again. "I never told you...I lied to you..." He chuckles dryly then winces once more. His laugh quickly dies and with a pained, humiliated expression, he continues. "I don't want you to see me like this. I don't want to die in front of you. I can't bear it."

"All that was your past is forgiven, Atton. Do not worry." She shakes her head. "And if you're trying to get rid of me, it's not working."

He turns his head towards her, his brown eyes gazing into hers with another small smile. "I loved you from the moment I first saw you, thought you were a dream...meant every word... tried to play it off as a joke...wasn't funny..."

Her wall of defense was broken as her lips quiver and tears run down her face, leaving behind their trails.

His smile grew wider and he chuckled dryly again, though it was obvious that the laugh was painful. "How ironic…here, at the end of this…this is when it all comes out...I love you, Maicah. I love you."

She leans over and kisses him softly on the lips, whispering an I love you too. His body which was tense soon relaxes and she cradles her lifeless love in her arms. Sobs escape from the Jedi and seem to echo throughout the dreadful planet she lost so much in before and now.

Maicah shot up in her bed, screaming a series of "no's" before she looked around and realized her surroundings weren't that of the long destroyed planet, but of the sleeping quarters of the Ebon Hawk. She wiped away the tears that had been streaming down her face from the very real nightmare, everything that happened in it a horrible reminder of what took place. She sat there still, silently wondering when she would heal from the deep wound that had been made on the day of his death. She could hear Revan quickly making his way down the corridor, most likely due to her screams, so she threw her legs over the bed and tried to think of a reasonable excuse that she would do such a thing.

"Maicah, are you okay?" Revan asked urgently, worry displayed in his eyes as he scanned the room to be sure that no one and nothing was bothering her.

"No, I'm fine..." She hesitated, finally deciding that she might as well be honest. "I just had a nightmare, that's all..."

Revan nodded his head slowly, offering to listen if she wanted to talk about it though he was immediately shot down, as he expected to be. He sighed before a grin appeared on his lips, "Well, are you ready to get off this ship?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Maicah returned his grin, trying to be as convincing as she could be that she was fine.

"Good, let's go then." The two made their way to the exit ramp, exchanging ideas on what they thought and hoped would be going on with Citadel Station and Telos.

Admiral Onasi was standing with his arms crossed, a grin on his face as he watched his old conrad, Revan, exit the Ebon Hawk. "You're still flying this old thing around?"

Revan laughed as he and Maicah stood before him, looking back to the ship that each had their own memories of. "What can I say? I got rid of it for a while, but I loved it too much to stay away for long."

Carth nodded his head, waiting to hear news of how the mission his friend went on had gone. He was overjoyed to see that both Jedi were okay, so he assumed something must have gone right. "Mind telling me of any new adventures? You were pretty vague in saying what you were doing before you ran off into the unknown."

Revan's face grew serious for a moment before he rested a hand on his friend's shoulder's, looking around the docking station they were currently at. "How about you tell me how Telos is looking first, how the rest of the Republic's doing, and then we'll talk about me." The two began walking, Revan motioning for Maicah to follow. "I hope you really have been sticking to your orders, so I don't have to fire you."

Carth let out a laugh before Maicah spoke up, "you know, you two go ahead. You should catch up on...old times, or something." She smiled, shuffling her feet slightly as she hoped Revan wouldn't insist that she join them. To her delight, he decided it was a good idea. Had she known he was really concerned that she would get upset or angered with what he would be asking of Carth, she may have considered tagging along, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. The two continued down a corridor, talking and laughing as they made their way to more private quarters to discuss important business; Maicah, on the other hand, made her way towards the entertainment module. It was much less private and a place where much less important business could be taken of, but a good drink or two off the ship was exactly what she needed right now.

The upbeat, joyous sounds of the cantina pulsed around Maicah as she sat on a bar stool, running her fingers around the top of her glass continuously. Occasionally she would lift the glass to her mouth and take a sip of her drink, but it would be set back down on the countertop right after. Any person could tell just by looking at Maicah that she was in no mood to be social at the moment, so most kept away. But there also were the few foolish, lonely men who attempted to strike up a conversation with her. Whatever line they decided to use was shot down without a seconds hesitation and they all walked away defeated. She smiled to herself, guessing everyone got the message since she hadn't been bothered for some time, but realized a figure was now moving towards her. By the time the twi'lek reached her, she could feel his eyes burning through her. With a glare that could make the most confident of men turn away, she looked to him and waited for him to spit out whatever he had been planning to say to sweep her off her feet.

"Well, hello beautiful woman." He said in the smoothest tone he could muster. It was obvious he was new to speaking Galatic Basic, but at least he was saying what she assumed to be the words he meant. "I was watching your beauty and wanted to know if you dance for new group I make. All human women, you know. Very nice, very fun." He stopped to wait for her response as she looked away and took another sip of her drink.

After she had put her cup back down, she looked at him once more and opened her mouth to speak. "Who said I was a woman?" She asked, making her voice sound much deeper than it really was.

The Twi'lek stared in shock for a quick minute before hurrying away, yelling back random apologies. Maicah smiled, finishing off her drink and tipping the bartender before standing from her stool. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going now since she had only spent an hour or so here, but she needed to leave. All this unwanted interaction with others was beginning to make her cranky and she didn't want to do anything she'd regret later on, so she decided to remove herself from the problem.

She whistled as she exited the cantina, leaving the loud chatter and music behind her to instead wander around the empty hallways of Citadel Station. It had been so long since she last came here, but she still remembered it's layout like the back of her hand. It wasn't very hard to get used to it, it was so small after all. After a bit of walking, she stopped and looked out one of the many large windows. She and Atton had stood here before and talked of the many places they had seen as they both waited for Disciple to finish up in the little men's room. She could feel her throat becoming dry once again as the thoughts began pouring back, so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath then brushed back some hair that had fallen infront of her face. She had to figure out what she could do to recover from this grief soon because she couldn't continue going on this way. The remedy would have to wait, however. The sound of a muffled cry for help reached Maicah's ears, making her turn from the window. She took hurried steps down the corridor and peeked around the corner.

It was strangely dark, but she could clearly see a young man, probably about 15 years of age, struggling to get away from a large man who had him pinned to a wall. All Maicah could hear were hushed whispers, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the boy didn't want to be in the situation he was in. Maicah was now around the corner, leaning against the wall cooly. The two figures hadn't noticed her, so she cleared her throat to get their attention. She frowned, realizing that hadn't worked, so she tried it again...only this time it was louder and obviously forced. Thankfully, the man turned his head towards her, keeping his strong pin on the smaller boy.

"What do you want?" His voice was husky and rough to fit his large build, but she wasn't frightened. Honestly, look who had the better weapon here.

"Let the boy go. Now." She demanded, her arms crossed and waiting. This man was obviously lacking something in the intelligence department, however, because instead of cooperating, he was laughing at her.

"Oh yeah? What if I don't?" He asked stubbornly, appearing to be challenging her in some odd way.

"Trust me, you'll want to cooperate with me on this. So, I'll say it one more time. Let the boy go." Her arms were now unfolded and she was standing upright instead of seeking support from the wall.

"No." The larger said simply, turning back to the boy and slamming his fist hard against his cheek. The boy grunted loudly, the bruise all ready beginning to form. Maicah's eyes narrowed as she mumbled a don't say I didn't warn you. One thing she hated more than innocent people being hurt was innocent young people being harmed.

She outstretched her arm to aim her fingers directly towards the large bully then slowly rotated her hand so the palm was facing her. Not only was her palm facing her, but also the recalcitrant man who also happened to be hovering in mid air. His victim was seated on the ground, panting heavily and staring in shock at what was happening before him. With her free hand, Maicah drew her lightsaber, the silver light's soft humming reaching each of their ears.

"If you ever lay a hand on this boy, or anyone else for that matter, you can be sure I won't be as friendly next time." Besides her harsh tone, Maicah appeared completely calm. She dropped her hand, allowing the man who, in the light, appeared only a few years older than his victim, drop to the ground. As soon as his bottom landed on the ground, he scurried up and ran by her, yelling random curses on the way. Once she was certain he was gone, she looked to the boy who had been in need of help and hurried over then offered her hand to help him up. He took it hesitantly, watching her closely.

"Thank you." He said quickly, dusting himself off.

Maicah gave a nod, stepping back to give him his own space.

"Are you a Jedi?" He asked, eyes wide again.

She nodded again, shrugging. "I figured that would be obvious enough by the robe and lightsaber." She clipped the lightsaber back to her belt, shaking her head. "But I guess it just takes some people awhile now-a-days."

The boy winced slightly at her sarcasm, expecting all Jedi to be the patient, soft spoken, and wise ones he had heard about.

Maicah sighed, realizing her remarks had come out harsher than she had intended. "I'm sorry. My name's Maicah…Jedi, at your service." She did a mock bow, waiting for his own name.

"I'm Dumond." The boy, Dumond, thought for a quick moment before appearing anxious.

Maicah watched the different emotions he displayed for a few seconds before raising a brow, convinced that this boy was a bit different than most. "Well, now that you're fine, I think I'll be goi-..."

Dumond cut her off with a sentence of his own. "No! You must wait here. My brother, I would like him to speak to you." Dumond sprinted past Maicah, leaving her by herself in the dim hall. A look of irritation played across her face as she spun around, calling out after the strange boy. "I'm a Jedi! Do you realize how many things I have to do today?" Well, to be perfectly honest, she didn't really have anything to do at all. Therefore, she chose one of the walls surrounding her and leaned against it, waiting patiently for whatever Dumond wanted to show her about his brother.

Dumond returned shortly after with a man who looked only slightly similar to him. Dumond was a toe-headed, short, and scrawny boy while the man beside him was tall and muscular. Their noses shared the same sharp curve and his hair was the same pale blonde, though it was a bit longer than the boy's. Besides the physical differences, there was also something else that made this stranger stand out to Maicah. Something echoed within him, she could sense it, and she knew it needed to be let out. She stood up straight as the two approached her, looking from Dumond to whom she assumed was his brother.

"Hi, I'm Dumond's older brother, Kyle." The stranger introduced himself with a grin as the two stopped before Maicah.

Maicah nodded and offered her hand. "The name's Maicah." She was shocked when Kyle took her hand and, instead of hand shaking it, kissed it lightly. She pulled it back when he let go, looking to Dumond. "So what was it you wanted me to talk to him about?"

Dumond looked between the two with a slight smile then finally answered Maicah. "Well, isn't it obvious? My brother should join you and your friends as a Jedi!"

Maicah raised both brows, looking between the two like they were both crazy. "Look, I'm sure you'd make a wonderful Jedi, but I can't take you with my friend and I. It's too dangerous for someone who doesn't know how to use the force properly and we're going to be too busy to keep an eye on you. Besides, by most Jedi standards, you're far too old to be trained." Maicah decided to spit out all the excuses she could think of all at once instead of one by one. To each of these, Kyle shook his head in disagreement, clearly not getting the point.

"But he's so smart. He'd learn quickly! And he's only 25, he can't be too old to learn things about the force!" Dumond cried out, defending his brother who didn't know what to say at this point.

"I'm sorry, but I ca-..." Maicah's sentence was cut off by a deep, smooth voice behind her.

"Woman, are you a Jedi?" The voice asked, making her let out a frustrated sigh and glance up to the ceiling.

"Yes, I am." She continued looking up at the ceiling, hoping that if she didn't make eye contact with whoever it was, they would go away. She wouldn't have guessed the man behind her had a death wish for her since most of his kind would strike without bothering asking a question. Strange indeed, but his mistake.

"Then prepare to die." The deep voice said harshly. Maicah spun around, lightsaber in hand as the silver and deep red colors clashed against one another. With her free hand, she sent the other dark robed Jedi who stood to her attacker's right flying back. Kyle and Dumond watched in shock for a moment before Kyle ran at the thrown back Jedi with his sword. Dumond gasped, unsure of what he could do.

Maicah's attacker slashed at her with his saber viciously, but she dodged and blocked each slash with agility and grace. After he realized his slashing wasn't working, he stabbed at her, but she unsurprisingly dodged it and sent a kick to his gut. He stumbled back a few steps, now defending himself against her lightsaber attacks. After a few more minutes of this, a silver light protruded from the back of the dark Jedi's chest and he dropped to the ground with a few choked gasps for air. Maicah immediately hopped over her foe and ran for the other dark Jedi who was ungracefully swinging his lightsaber around, attempting to kill Kyle. Either this Jedi was horrible with his weapon or Kyle was amazingly well at dodging swords and the like because the Jedi had not made contact with Kyle except for a singed pant leg.

Kyle jumped out of the way as the Dark Jedi turned to Maicah, recklessly swinging his saber towards her now. All she had to do was duck to the ground and kick the Jedi's feet out from under him and he was done. She made sure his death was quick as she stood to her feet then dusted herself off.

"Brother!" Dumond's familiar voice cried out, making both Kyle and Maicah spin around. The first Jedi Maicah thought she had killed was standing behind Kyle's little brother, his left hand on the boy's shoulder and his saber, red light beaming, in his right. Everything began to move in slow motion as Kyle began to run for the evil Jedi, screaming for him to leave him alone. Maicah lifted her hand, attempting to bring the Jedi's saber to her by use of the Force, but he was too quick. He sent her flying back very far, as she had done to his now dead partner, and her back crashed hard against a wall. A sick smile made it's way to his face as he lifted his saber, sending it through Dumond's chest and his own body as well. The Jedi dropped to the floor, truly dead this time. Dumond struggled to stand, but also fell as blood met the floor from his wound, landing in his brother's arms as Kyle threw himself to the ground to break his brother's fall.

"Dumond, hold on. We'll get help, okay?" Kyle whispered, cradling his brother in his arms.

"Don't hate him, that's what he'd want you to do. And don't avenge me. Just...just be a Jedi. Protect...others from...this." Dumond managed to get out the words before his breathing slowed to a stop and his body became limp.

Kyle stared in horror, shaking his head in disbelief. This couldn't be happening, not to his young brother. "Dumond. Dumond, wake up." Kyle whispered again, tears beginning to fall from his eyes as his brother didn't respond. He hugged the lifeless body of his brother as he broke down and sobbed.

"Kyle, I am so sorry. I should have been more prepared. I should have prevented him from hurting your brother." Maicah spoke quietly, seated across from Kyle at a small table in the cantina. Kyle shook his head, his eyes filled with pain from the event that had taken place only a day ago.

"It's not your fault, Maicah. Do not blame yourself." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Please, let me join you. I need to become a Jedi now. It's not something I just want anymore, it's something I absolutely need." Kyle was not a beggar, he never was and he would never be. But he knew he needed to ask Maicah for this favor.

"What of your family?" Maicah was originally going to say no, but had stopped to think about it. If it really meant that much to him, what could it hurt? She could train him in her spare time and keep him on the ship when they were to do dangerous missions.

"Dumond was the only family I had here." Kyle responded quietly, looking down to the table. Maicah decided to leave it at that for now, not wishing to go into anything too emotional for him at the moment.

"We leave today once Revan is ready. Last night, I told him what had happened and he decided it would be wise for us to not stay as long as we had planned. I'll help you move whatever you have onto the ship." She saw tears begin to form in Kyle's eyes and became uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if they were tears of joy or grief, but she assumed they were for both. In fact, she assumed right.

Kyle stood and looked down at himself. "This is all I have to bring."

Maicah also stood from her seat and headed for the exit. "Very well. Let us get Revan then."

Kyle followed Maicah closely as she left the cantina and walked through the corridors. He knew not what to expect in this journey he would be going on, but he could tell that it would be big...well, it had to be big if it involved these two. And no matter what, he was going to becoming a Jedi, even if it was the last thing he'd do. Not just for himself, but for his beloved brother.

Author's Note: Okay! I really appreciate the reviews Jen DeClan left for the four chapters I've posted so far, so I'm going back to add some things to previous chapters and I'm trying to make sure this next one I'm posting is really good. That being said, it may be a few more days (minimum) until I get it posted, but I wanted to make sure no one thought that I was giving up on this. I'll try and get this out a.s.a.p, but until then, reviews are much appreciated!