Dav reappeared long enough to lose to Rana and beat Zace once before he had to land. Zace had mastered her queasiness enough to enjoy the spectacular view of the planet surface unrolling beneath the ship, mountains and forests and farmland, and finally a city surrounded by more ships than Zace had ever seen together in her life. Dav landed near Jus's starfighter at the edge of the city, and Rana eagerly dashed down the ramp, helmet under one arm and kad and Verp hanging at her belt. Zace, having changed into her new armor at Rana's not-so-subtle suggestion, followed her into the fresh air with more relief than she would admit even to herself. Keb hailed them with a shout.

"Ran! Zas! Come meet my cousin!"

She was standing next to a tall, brown-haired man in deep sea-green armor. He had a strange-looking pale brown mammal at his heels, and as they approached, it ran over and began sniffing the hem of Zace's kama with great interest.

"Hey!" she squeaked, whirling around, as the man called, "Back, A'den!"

The animal, chastised, lowered its sleek head and slunk back to its master, who bent and patted its shoulder fondly. "Sorry about that," he said, looking up to meet Zace's eyes. "A'den doesn't get to meet new people very often. I'm Cabur."

He was, Zace decided, quite good-looking. She made some polite answer and introduced herself. Rana was still staring at the creature.

"That's a strill," she said, a note of distaste in her voice.

"Yes, it is," Cabur answered, slightly puzzled. "And that's a Verpine shatter gun!" he added, eyeing Rana's holster appreciatively.

"And this is Rana," Keb said hurriedly, trying to diffuse the situation. "Davrel's cousin. You've met Dav, right?"

"The pleasure is mine, I'm sure," Cabur said politely. "Yes, I know Davrel."

Rana nodded, smiling stiffly. Keb caught Zace's eye and jerked her head slightly, eyes urgent. Zace, annoyed, smiled at Cabur and Keb and caught Rana's elbow. "Sorry to dash off so soon, but Rana, Ruusaan has my, um, good pair of boots. Come with me, or I'll end up lost."

Rana allowed herself to be pulled away, and once out of earshot, gave Zace a sideways look. "Why are your good boots so urgent?"

"Never mind my boots. Why are you being so rude?" Zace hissed.

Rana scowled. "I don't like strill."

"That's no reason to be rude to someone you haven't even met yet! And he's Keb's cousin."

Rana's scowl deepened and she lengthened her stride, forcing Zace to almost jog to keep up. "I don't like strill."

"Why?" Zace was getting very impatient with Rana's recalcitrance, and she had wanted to see more of the strill. "I'm sure Keb knows, and will tell me if I ask her."

"Keb doesn't either," Rana answered shortly. "Here's our ship. Ruusaan's probably already brought your boots back and is unpacking."

She spun on her heel and stalked away, leaving Zace standing, annoyed and puzzled, at the ramp of the Parjai.

"And then she just walked off and left me!" Zace finished, taking a sip of shig. Ruusaan had already been unpacking, and had conscripted Zace and Dav to help her. When they had finished, Ruusaan made some excuse and disappeared, leaving the two of them to find the pot of shig she had brewed. They were now sitting at the small table in the galley, and Zace had told Dav what had happened earlier.

Dav frowned, sitting back. He remembered why Rana hated strill, and could guess why she didn't want to tell Zace. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how much to tell her.

Zace frowned back. "And I know you know something I don't, from the look on your face. You just don't want to tell me."

"It's not that," he said, swirling the dregs of his shig around the bottom of his mug. "It was a while back, and if Rana doesn't want to tell you herself- Well, she has her reasons, I'm sure, but she also has a good reason not to like strill."

"She said Keb didn't know."

"She probably doesn't. I only know because Ruusaan told me."

"Told you what?" Rana was standing in the doorway, something furry and unidentifiable dangling from one hand. She noticed Zace's revolted gaze and held it out. "Supper. I went hunting."

"Nothing," Dav said, trying to sound casual. "Ruusaan's secret ingredient in her pastries," he added, inspired by the mention of supper.

"Oh," Rana said, instantly dismissive at the mention of cooking. She set the furry object on a counter and pulled a long, sharp knife from a drawer. Zace turned slightly pale and turned a determined gaze on her mug.

"Do you have to do that inside?" Dav was used to watching Rana clean and butcher her prey, but Zace wasn't, and he was annoyed at her for interrupting their conversation.

Rana looked up from the now-bloody knife. "What? Ruusaan's not here, and I'll have it cleaned up by the time she gets back. If I don't, then I'll just promise to grill her some." There was a wet, cracking sort of noise, and Zace went even paler.

"I'll just- go somewhere else, shall I?" she said, and almost bolted for the door.

"Trust you to ruin a perfectly civilized conversation, Ran," Dav said lightly, internally deploring Rana's complete lack of tact.

"Sorry," she called as he followed Zace. "But I am grilling it for supper, if you want any-"

He waved in acknowledgement and shut the galley door behind him.

He found Zace sitting on the ramp in the afternoon sunlight, and settled himself beside her. "Let me apologize for my dear cousin's appalling lack of refinement."

"Oh, I'm used to it." She smiled up at him. "And your charm more than makes up for her lack thereof." She slipped her arm through his, clasping his hand, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Dav smiled, feeling foolishly gratified, and patted her hand.

"What did Jus want?" she asked suddenly. "Rana said-" She stopped, looking down.

"What did Rana say?" Dav demanded, glancing down into her hair.

"Oh, nothing really," she said evasively. "You know how she is about- us…"

"What did she say now?" he asked, fairly sure he had a good idea.

"She said-" Zace giggled nervously. "She said Jus probably wanted to know when we were getting married."

"Mmm." Dav looked off toward the horizon.

Zace grinned, looking up. "Am I going to have to get you drugged up again before you tell me anything?"

"Oh, I hope not!" Dav laughed. "Not unless I really need it."

Zace sobered, pressing her cheek against his shoulderplate. "Don't say that. You'd better not get shot again."

"I can't promise I won't, but it won't be my fault like last time if I do."

"Close enough." Zace smiled contentedly and tilted her head up toward him, squinting through her eyelashes because of the sun. "When are we going to have to fight?"

Her lips suddenly became very inviting indeed. "Not for a while," he answered, leaning down.

"Eight hours, give or take a few," a new voice rumbled. Dav straightened up quickly, feeling warmth rise up his neck. Jus was standing at the foot of the ramp, helmet under one arm, dull orange kama looking even more rumpled than usual. "New intel, just in. Which means that they're probably about to be breathing down our necks, of course."

"What?" Rana appeared behind them in the doorway, still holding the bloody skinning knife. "They're coming?"

"So it would seem," Jus said, the scar over one eye puckering as he grinned. "Better sleep in your armor tonight."

"I always do!" Rana flashed a wolfish smirk in answer. "Oh, and if we haven't all been overrun by that time, I went hunting, so come back for supper."

"Don't mind if I do." Jus turned to go but paused, squinting into the sky as a huge warship roared overhead, accompanied by several smaller craft. "What the- Those aren't ours!"

"Hrachek!" Rana hissed, dashing out to stand beside Jus. "Aren't the crossed swords on the bottom of that ship his sigil?"

Jus swore, jamming the helmet back over his close-cropped hair. "It is! How the devil did he get past our sentries? Keep your comms on." He sprinted off, and Dav sighed resignedly, climbing to his feet and pulling Zace to hers. Rana had already disappeared back into the ship, and Dav narrowly missed a collision with her as she dashed back outside after Jus, helmeted and clutching her conc rifle.

Zace's pulse was racing as she strapped on her medpack and holster. Dav handed her a long-barreled carbine and selected a rifle for himself. Slinging the heavy gun across her shoulder, she followed him at a run toward Jus's starfighter, where he was pacing, a hand to the side of his helmet, apparently deep in conference over his comm. Jus looked up as they approached, snapping out orders.

"Dav! Take your nine and clear that hangar. The rest of you, follow me. We're defending the comm center. Move out!"

There was a crisp murmur of assent, and Zace fell in behind Dav again as the group split and he led the way to the hangar Jus had indicated. Reaching the building, Rana flattened herself against the wall beside the doorway across from Dav and pulled a grenade from her belt. Dav nodded, and she tossed it through the door, shielding her eyes from the blast and then charging in, rifle at the ready.

Zace piled in after the rest, diving for cover and bringing her carbine up. Her first nervous shot went wildly high, knocking out part of the illumination grid at the far end of the hangar, but her second was much closer, flying over the shoulder of the Weequay she was aiming at to take down the one behind him. Someone touched her shoulder, and she almost jumped out of her skin.

"Zace, right?" a low voice said, and she turned to recognize Cabur's distinctive sea green beskar'gam with the strill at his heels. She nodded, and he pointed down the wall. "Catwalk stairs that way. Go snipe."

She thrust the gun into his arms and drew her small pistol. "Lousy rifle shot. You do it." He nodded briskly, darting away. A bolt flew over Zace's head, and she dodged sideways, blasting an oncoming enemy. The long, high-ceilinged room, nearly empty except for a few piles of crates, was a maze of crisscrossing blaster bolts, and Zace noticed with some trepidation that the huge doors at the other end gliding open slowly.

Oh, I hope that's us with reinforcements! She glanced around for Dav, but he was shoulder to shoulder with Rana, both of them bringing instant death to anything they aimed at. Slowly but surely, they were pushing Hrachek's contingent back toward the other end of the hangar, and Zace dove for a new hiding place farther along the wall.

"Hrachek!" Rana snarled, bringing down another Weequay with a shot to the head. "I'm going after him. Cover my six-" She squeezed off another bolt before darting along the wall toward the far side of the hangar, where a dark figure now stood framed in the empty doorway.

"NO, Rana!" Dav thundered, but too late. She had already covered most of the distance, and was drawing her kad. Hrachek ignited his scarlet lightsaber in answer, and the two weapons met with a spray of sparks and a clash clearly audible over even the noise of blaster fire.

Zace, now crouching behind a large crate, was proving quite a deadly shot with her tiny holdout pistol. "Is she mad?!" she called, watching the dueling figures. Hrachek, though seemingly taken aback by the resilience of Rana's bes'kad, had quickly recovered, and the two of them were trading blows with a fervor that made the duels in the practice circle look like child's play.

"Haven't you known her long enough to figure out that answer?" Keb's voice crackled breathlessly over the comm. "She better be careful though- even beskar can be melted…"

"Hope she slots him before that," Dav gasped, diving for more cover and peering over the top. The strill A'den had not followed its master to the upper level. It tore at an enemy hamstring, and Cabur took down its owner with a quick shot to the head from above. "That's nearly all of them, I think."

"Good," came Jus's voice. "We need backup in the main hall."

"Be right there," Dav called. "Keb, Cabur, take the rest and go help Jus. Zas-" He hesitated.

"Stay here and finish this lot off," she said quietly. "And he's probably got more somewhere too."

"And I'll stay with you," he finished. "On three, move out."

Zace took down an Aqualish as the rest of the small group withdrew, then sneaked a quick glance at the battle raging toward her. Though Hrachek's thin smirk seemed petty and unimpressive when compared to Rana's grim helmet, the duel was evenly matched. They struck and parried, beskar and energy blade meeting with a horrific noise, and Zace marveled at just how good Rana really was.

Rana's riposte caught Hrachek off-guard, leaving a thin red gash down one cheek. She took advantage of his momentary distraction to strike at the lightsaber's hilt, and it went spinning out of his hand, extinguishing itself in midair and landing in a distant corner. His handsome face twisted into a scowl, and he quickly drew his thin rapier, blocking her next strike and redoubling the ferocity of his attack. "Dav-" Zace started, but he shook his head, dropping a Weequay who had been trying to get a clear shot at Rana.

"She's fine. First blood. This is Ran'ika, remember?" he said softly, but was interrupted by a burst of Huttese profanity. Rana's leather gauntlet now had a rip dripping blood. She shouted something about real bantha leather not being cheap, and Zace stifled a mad urge to giggle. Even in a pitched battle for her life, Rana was still incorrigible. A fine line of blood had dripped down Hrachek's jaw, accentuating the pallor of his face, and red flecks dotted Rana's armor.

Zace was distracted from watching Rana by having to dodge a grenade thrown toward her hiding place. When she had found new cover and taken down the grenade thrower, she chanced another look. Rana and Hrachek seemed to be bleeding from several places, and both looked to be tiring. A blaster bolt sizzled over Zace's head, and she whirled around to see Dav drop his empty blaster and eliminate the shooter with a neatly thrown knife to the neck.

"That's all of 'em, I think!" he called, then twisted quickly aside and plunged another vibroblade into a not-quite-dead Weequay's throat. "Or not. That should-" He was interrupted by a cry of pain and anger. Rana was clutching her abdomen, and the entire right side of her sandy gold armor was slowly being stained crimson. Dav breathed a curse that Zace didn't even recognize as his hand went automatically for his empty holster. "Ammunition! Zas-"

She leveled her pistol at the pair, noting her shaking hands with something near hysteria. "Can't get a clear shot!" Rana staggered back a few steps, deflecting Hrachek's blows as he tried to back her up against a wall. She sidestepped, regaining a few feet, and the tip of her blade tore through his brocaded sleeve. Zace was wide-eyed with panic, clutching the pistol in a white-knuckled grip. "Daaaav! Do something!"

"Throw me the blaster!" he hissed, just as Rana's saber tip darted forward, wrenching the filigreed basket hilt of Hrachek's rapier out of his grip. As it hit the hangar floor with a strangely musical clang, she slashed viciously at his unprotected throat. As his lifeless form crumpled to the floor, Rana leaned on her kad, still holding her side.

"Hah! Hardly- a challenge at all," she laughed breathlessly. "Bring on- the rest of 'em." She took a tottering step forward, then slumped to the floor. Zace threw the pistol wildly in Dav's direction and raced forward, dropping to her knees beside Rana and trying frantically to unclip the medkit from her belt.

Dav put a single bolt through Hrachek's head and kicked his body aside, gently turning Rana over onto her back and pulling off her blood-spattered helmet. Her eyelids fluttered, and she summoned a ghost of her defiant grin. "Ow," she breathed. "Chakaar got me- didn't he? But I made his eyes water."

"You certainly did," he answered in what he hoped was a reassuring tone, then looked up. "Zas, can I do anything?"

"Keep her distracted," Zace answered shortly, gloves and helmet already off as she carefully removed the gold plates of beskar'gam. "This isn't pretty. Oh, Rana-!" she gasped, as the entire wound was revealed. "You must be made of beskar."

"Jus, come in!" Dav barked into his comlink, taking the misshapen saber from Rana's hand and setting it to one side.

"Copy, Dav. Sitrep?"

"All hostiles neutralized, including Hrachek. Bring Ruusaan ASAP, Rana's down."

"Copy tha- What? Rana? Our Rana-"

"Long story, no time to explain. Hurry!"

The anxiety in Jus's voice was clear. "Be right there, Dav. Pare sol."

Rana tried to sit up, but Dav held her down. "Let go, Davrel. I'm- fine, just a scratch-"

Zace's voice was slightly shrill from stress. "If this is a scratch- Rana, you're not supposed to be able to see bone if it's just a scratch."

Rana, scowling, tried to knock Dav's arm aside and sit up again. "Let me see."
Dav looked up at Zace, who nodded. He slipped an arm under Rana's shoulders, trying to move her as little as possible. Wincing, she swore in surprise. "That hurts now! Glad I- already killed him… Don't think I'm quite up- to doing it again just now…" He laid her back down and looked around for something to serve as a pillow. His gaze lighted on Hrachek's scarlet-lined cloak, and, pulling it off and wadding it up, he tucked it gently under Rana's head, figuring that Hrachek certainly wasn't going to be using it anytime soon.

"Thanks, Dav," she said quietly. She lifted her right hand, studying the blood covering her gauntlet. "Losing quite a bit- not good…" Turning her head to one side, she caught a glimpse of her crimson-stained kama. "Not looking good- for me at all, is it?" She frowned. "Think your painkillers are working, Zas'ika- having trouble focusing. Or I'm dying-"

"Rana, you're not allowed to die on me! And that's an order," Dav said, his attempt at their usual bantering tone falling sadly flat. "Ruusaan will kill me!"

"Sorry-" she gasped, grinning wryly. "'S the way- I'd have chosen to go…"

Zace was biting her lip as she worked furiously. "Well, that's too bad!" she snapped, her voice half a sob. "It's not the way you're going to go!"

Rana tried to laugh, wincing. "Ah, Zas'ika, I've seen- death before. It can't feel worse- than this. Dav gets- the chakaar's lightsaber for my- wedding present, and Zas- can have Kyram'ika and the holster. Remember, now I'm- dead I get firstborn namesake-"

Running footsteps announced the arrival of Ruusaan and Jus. Ruusaan knelt beside Zace, opening her larger medkit as Jus joined Dav by Rana's head. "Jus- hoped you'd come."

"I'm right here, Ran'ika," he answered in a remarkably steady voice. "What is this? You're supposed to be indestructible."

Rana smirked slightly. "Supposed to- but not quite. One thing before I die-"

Jus pulled off his helmet, running a gloved hand over his short hair. "You're not going to die, but I'll humor you. What?"

She smiled dreamily. "Kiss me."

"What?!" He glared up at Zace. "What the Force did you drug her with?"

"You- heard me," Rana said dryly. "I'm dying. I'm lying- in a pool of- my own blood. Humor me." Jus leaned over her and pecked her gingerly on the forehead, then straightened quickly. She scowled. "Call that- a kiss? I want a- real one." She reached an unsteady hand up toward him, hand scrabbling for a grip on his armor to pull him down.

Jus glanced at Ruusaan, who had straightened and was wiping her hands. She gave a brisk nod, expression unreadable. He slipped one arm under Rana's head, easing her up as she curled her arm around his neck. There was a long silence before they parted, and Rana managed a satisfied smile as her eyelids drooped. "That's better. Goodbye, Ruusaan. Good luck, Dav- Zas- remember Aunt Rana- And Jus, I think- I've always loved you. You're the- only one who could- always beat me at anything. Pity- really-" Her eyes eased shut, and she gave a small sigh.

Zace watched Jus's expression as he gently laid her back on the floor. She couldn't quite identify it, but his tone banished all doubt. "Of course I could beat you, dinii, I'm nearly ten years older…" He looked up at Ruusaan, quiet desperation in his eyes. "Will she- She's not-"

Ruusaan shook her head. "We have done all we can for now. Put her in the bacta tank, but whether she lives or dies is up to her now."

Jus gave a short, desperate bark of laughter. "She'll live. She's too stubborn to die. Tough as zakkeg hide, our Ran'ika… She has to." He replaced his helmet and stood abruptly. "Dav, check on Orade's force and see if the battle's over yet, then get a fast speeder. We need the medcenter ASAP." Dav nodded shortly, and Zace, feeling that she had to do something, retrieved Hrachek's rapier and lightsaber from where they had fallen, using the hem of her kama to wipe them clean of blood. Rana's blood, she realized dazedly. Shades, I hope Jus is right…

The quiet murmur of voices seeped through Zace's uneasy sleep. She came awake slowly, neck horribly stiff from having been propped against the arm of a long bench while she slept. Her hipbone ached from the hard wooden seat, and her feet had ended up stretched across Dav's lap. He was sitting at the opposite end of the bench, head tilted back and mouth slightly open, snoring lightly. She smiled sleepily and was about to try to go back to sleep when she heard Rana's name.

"-month at least, but she'll live," came a man's unfamiliar voice from the room across the hall. Jus, looking somehow even more rumpled than usual, dozed beside the slightly open door. "Top-notch field medics, you and the girl. We could use some people like you here."

"Thank you, but no thank you," came Ruusaan's dry tones in reply. "Kad Ha'rangir only knows what they would do without me to patch them up."

The man laughed. "Pity." The door slid open with a slight whoosh, and Jus's head jerked up suddenly, eyes alert in spite of the dark smudges under them. Zace wondered how he managed, since she knew he'd still been pacing when she had dropped off from sheer exhaustion. He stood as Ruusaan and the man- apparently a doctor, Zace decided- stepped into the sunlit hall. Ruusaan was still in her beskar'gam, although she had apparently found time somewhere to clean it up, and Zace cast a rueful glance at her own bespattered armor. Jus murmured something to Ruusaan, who nodded before following the doctor down the hall. Jus slipped through the door, and Zace noticed with surprise that he was still clutching Hrachek's cloak, stiff with both his blood and Rana's.

If Jus ever lets that thing go, Keb ought to make Rana a new kama from it, she thought idly. Her stomach chose that moment to remind her that she had not eaten supper last night, and she sat up slowly, trying not to disturb Dav as she swung her feet onto the floor, but his eyes came open anyway.

"Zas," he said, voice thick from sleep.

"Morning, such as it is," she answered, stretching the kinks from her shoulders.

He cleared his throat and tried again. "Ruusaan? Jus?"

"Went that way and into Rana's room, respectively." Zace waved a languid hand down the hall. "Ooh, I need caf…"

"Rana?" Dav asked, ignoring her.

"The doctor- I guess he was a doctor- said she'd live."

His shoulders slumped in relief. "Of course she will. Rana…" He shook his head, voice trailing off as he rubbed his eyes with the heels of each hand. "Indestructible."

"Mmhmm." Zace pulled from a belt pouch the ration bar she'd been too worried to eat last night. Unwrapping it, she offered half to Dav and took a bite.

He accepted it mutely, his eyes focused on some point far past the opposite wall. "Cred for your thoughts," she said, mostly just to break the heavy silence. After the noise of yesterday, too much quiet seemed unnatural.

He cleared his throat in the way that meant he was thinking of how best to phrase his thoughts. Zace settled crosslegged on the bench next to him, chewing her half of the bar. This one had dried fruit and nuts mixed into it, and enough moisture to make it pleasantly sticky. The tips of his ears were turning a gentle pink.

"Zas'ika," he began, then paused.

"Mmm?" she replied, studying the shadows his eyelashes cast on the bridge of his nose. The early morning sunlight shone through the high, narrow window behind him, making a long puddle on the spotless floor.

"Zas'ika, do you remember when I wouldn't tell you what Jus wanted?"

His ears were definitely red now. "Of course. It wasn't that long ago."

"Well- Rana was right, actually." He had shifted his gaze from the wall to his boots. "In a way, anyway. He, um, wanted to know-"

Her heart seemed to have suddenly migrated upward. "Dav, dearest, are you- Are you proposing?" His eartips were scarlet, and a very silly grin was threatening her composure. He nodded, finally daring to meet her eyes. To her horror, she felt tears prickling at the edges of her vision. Blinking rapidly, she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in the high collar of his undersuit.

He patted her back awkwardly, looking slightly bewildered. "Zas'ika, will you- will you marry me?"

She sat up, wiping her face and sniffing. "You absolute darling idiot. Of course I'll marry you!"

He grinned suddenly, the color ebbing from his ears. "This isn't exactly how I imagined it, you know. In the medcenter, before caf-"

"And with me crying," she finished, flashing a rather watery smile. "But I don't care." She wiped her face with the now-tattered hem of her kama and kissed him.

Dav, who had been about to point out that her kama had done nothing but smear the dirt and tears, found that suddenly, he didn't care either.