"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."
Confucious
"Well...that explains a lot," Rowin quipped, as he reached up and scratched behind his left ear.
His nose twitched in cadence with his words and Cody thought he could identify signs of hidden amusement in the way the Lepi's whiskers lay against his furry cheeks. The former commander glanced thoughtfully away from the humanoid sitting next to him and shifted his attention back across the table toward a cheekily grinning Sheresh. Words failed the clone, so he merely shook his head and chuckled briefly.
"I don't think I'm ever going to believe in coincidence again," he reached up himself and scrubbed a rough hand over his face. "Choosing to bring us here wasn't so random, was it?"
"Sheresh isn't exactly known for her 'random' decisions," Rowin answered in place of the female Mandalorian; his twangy voice was full of cheer.
"So I'm noticing," Cody snorted and slid a sarcastic sort of look over toward the biped space rabbit.
"No, it wasn't random," Sheresh chuckled and her brilliant smile softened some of Cody's sardonic response. "I've known Sol for a long time, now. Though, I will admit that this is the first time I've ever met his family."
"How did his family take to him disappearing for seven years?" Cody frowned slightly to himself as he pondered a question he had always had about the Cuy'val Dar.
"Rather well, as I understand it," Sheresh shrugged; she then paused and amended her statement with a slight frown of her own. "Well, as well as they could take it, given the circumstances. Fett didn't normally recruit Mandalorians with families, as I understand it. When he did, he usually approached those like Sol when they were away from home on business, or in some situation where they could 'disappear' conveniently without a lot of fuss.
"I know he approached Sol while he was negotiating an arms deal with the Verpine; I don't know much about Mandalorian family dynamics to tell you the truth, nor do I know much about Sol's family history. But, it's not uncommon for Mandalorian spouses to go missing for long periods of time – or, indefinitely," something like sadness crept into Sheresh's voice and she broke her gaze with Cody and glanced down at the table beneath them.
"It's a hard life as a Mandalorian – and even harder as a spouse. Those who originate from outside of the culture – like Drali – have to learn to accept the good with the bad. Sometimes, that means going seven years without hearing from a loved one; sometimes, it means never hearing from them again."
"That's..." Cody thought instantly of Tay and his heart twisted painfully at the thought of her waiting patiently on word from him. "That's really rough."
"Yes, it is," Sheresh finally lifted her head and her honey-brown eyes caught Cody's with a brilliant intensity that riveted his full attention. "The life of the Mando'ad is not for the faint of heart. And that extends to any that a Mandalorian would call his – or her – own."
Silence fell among the three, as Cody turned his own attention toward the handle of his empty caf mug. He fiddled with it and ran his thumb thoughtfully over the green glazed rim. His thoughts wandered over the myriad of events that had unfolded between him and Tay, and he wondered – for the first time, in truth – what his "intentions" toward her really were.
He had slept with her and in doing so, had claimed her as his own. He thought of her as his – and he hoped that she thought of him as hers. But, where would such thoughts lead them? Commitment seemed to be a value held in high esteem among the Mando'ad – as were fidelity, loyalty, and family honor.
Where would his relationship with Tay lead them, especially in light of Sheresh's assurance that Saa intended to eventually adopt Cody into the aliit? It was one thing to be a redeemed clone commander, with no creed or cause to call his own. But, if he was a Mandalorian...where did that put him in relation to a certain Jedi fugitive? The Order was all but extinct, but neither he nor Tay could deny the truth of what she was. Nor, could they deny the truth of what Cody himself was slowly becoming.
Could a Mandalorian warrior coexist with a Jedi healer? More importantly, could a Mandalorian warrior commit himself to a Jedi healer and expect the same in return? Tay had already lost one husband and she would probably live the rest of her life without ever knowing how, exactly, Del had died. Would it be fair to ask her to face – yet again – the potential for a similar loss?
Cody titled his head thoughtfully and considered the earthenware mug held between his larger hands. Tay had willingly accepted him into her bed, with the full awareness that he was leaving that next morning, into a future that neither one of them could divine. She had loved him in spite of that knowledge – he had no reason to believe that she wouldn't continue to do so, regardless of whatever happened in the course of his Mandalorian adventures.
And, as far as Saa seemed concerned, Tay was Mando'ad, by virtue of her previous marriage to Del and Del's subsequent kinship with the Par'jain alor. The young Miralukan Jedi also seemed well aware of the risks associated with loving men like Del and Cody – from everything that Cody could ascertain, her awareness did not stop her from opening up her heart to them with equal dedication.
Cody decided after much consideration, that his concern was not so much Tay's commitment to him, should he officially choose the path of the Mando'ad. His concern was much more basic, much more daunting in its reality.
To be committed to another being – at least, according to the values of such in the Mandalorian culture – meant one inevitable reality:
Marriage.
And, with marriage, family.
Cody swallowed hard and forgot – for the moment – that he was sitting in a common area with two other sentients who were watching him meander through his thoughts. He had never, in his whole short life, ever anticipated the possibility of something like marriage. A few clones dallied in the occasional romance – that was not uncommon or even unexpected. But, there was no permanence associated with such relationships; there was no true expectation of "forever." Cody couldn't think of a single clone – except, perhaps, for Rex – who ever hoped to be another's "one and only." And even Rex, he was sure, had never hoped for anything so extravagant, so ordinary, as marriage.
And he, the fabled Commander Cody, had never had time for much romance; the one time he had opened up his heart to a female, she had ripped apart every ounce of trust he possessed. Tay had built back that trust – and more – but even then, Cody hadn't thought in terms of marriage.
Until now, in what was quite possibly the most unlikely place and situation of all.
He was hundreds of miles away from her; he had only shared a single night with her; he had no idea when he might see her again. But, while he couldn't exactly remember how he got to bed, the former commander did remember what he had seen before Kix had helped him make his way to a solitary pillow.
Cody remembered the sense of belonging that he had felt, sitting with Sol and his family within the rounded confines of their spacious gathering room. He remembered the warmth and the sense of inclusiveness that he had felt; he remembered the joy on Ka'ra's tattooed face as she had introduced her husband and younglings.
Did he dare hope for such things himself? It seemed...almost beyond his station, in a way. It seemed horribly grandiose to even hope for something as casual as a relationship-in-passing with a Jedi. To marry her...to father her younglings...that seemed almost impossible.
Though, Cody mused as he lifted his head and finally met Sheresh's gaze from across the table. Being alive seems impossible. Seems there's been a lot of 'impossible' going around these days.
And that's when a new thought struck him, with all the force of a blaster cannon.
How else will the Jedi Order be built, but through bloodlines and families?
He could feel his eyes grow wide, as realization dawned on him. Saa's words, spoken on the Ijaat as they had first traveled away from Anobis and Mydwyth, rang in his ears:
"We've torn this galaxy apart, and we owe it to a whole generation of slaughtered sons and brothers, to do our part to set it right."
Slowly, Cody turned his head and eyed Rowin, whose own attention had seemingly wandered back toward the caf carafe on the counter across from them. And next, he heard the space rabbit's hope, spoken in words almost too earnest to bear:
"We've never had a Lepi Jedi yet. Though, I've had dreams o' bein' the first, one day."
The clone finally turned his eyes back toward his own space, toward his hands which were still wrapped around the mug, as if it were a mooring line meant to keep him from casting adrift into his deeper thoughts. He considered those hands for a moment – they were weathered and scarred, like the rest of him. He had torn apart droids with those hands; had taken down Jedi, had killed other sentients with them. He had, by his own hands, turned himself into a hopeless addict; he had broken his hands against a pole in frustration, anger, and sorrow. His hands had given pleasure to a female, to a Jedi; he tapped the side of his mug with his fingers and considered their future.
He would still fight, he would still bleed, and he would still kill with his hands. But, he hoped, too, to continue bringing pleasure to the female – the Jedi – he called his own. He hoped to hold his children in those weathered hands, before their strength failed him and he succumbed to the aging that accelerated his life.
Cody blinked, his realizations having come full circle, in the companionable silence that had gathered at Sol's battered kitchen table.
He had taken hope away from the galaxy. But, perhaps, he could live long enough to give it back, to replace some of what he had so wrongfully taken. Perhaps, he could give Rowin a master to teach him. Perhaps, he could Saa a son to carry on the clan. Perhaps, he could give the brothers he found some sort of cause to replace the Republic that they had lost.
Perhaps, he could give a Jedi his broken heart and perhaps that would enough to hold them both together in sickness and in health. Perhaps...perhaps...
Perhaps, he was just a family man, beneath the troubled soldier. Perhaps all that was needed to stem the tide of darkness was just a little bit of love.
A little bit of love that could lead to a child.
A child that could lead to a little bit of hope.
A little bit of hope that might reignite the Force and sway its balance back toward the Light.
Given the nature of his thoughts, Cody was not at all surprised when they were unexpectedly joined by young Numa. She slipped so quietly through the covered doorway, in fact, that not a single adult realized that they had a fourth party in the kitchen, until she started sifting through the dishes in search of a clean mug.
Sheresh was the first to react; she jumped a little at the sound of clinking pottery, but the red-headed Mandalorian wisely moderated her reaction until she had turned around to assess the source of the noise. At the sight of Numa, something mixed flashed across her face, but Cody couldn't quite place it, since she had turned to the side on her stool and he could only catch her profile in that unguarded moment.
"Good morning, youngling," Sheresh greeted the pre-teen Twi'lek with a warm and genuine smile.
"Good morning," Numa took a moment to pause and greet her elders with the manners appropriate for her culture.
She grasped a newly claimed mug in her hands and turned to face the table where the three adults had gathered. The young fugitive bent slightly at the waist and bowed her head in a galactic sign of respect. It was a gesture Cody had once encountered often in his personal interactions with the Twi'leks; the memory of the respect he had once garnered threatened to send him into another introspective silence, but he stopped himself before he lost track of the current conversation.
"Have you seen Nerra Fives yet?" Numa stood up on her toes for a second or two and craned her neck to see around the table and the faces gathered around its weathered surface.
"I think he's still asleep, ad'ika," Sheresh shook her head and a lock of her bright hair fell into her eyes.
"Last I heard of Fives, he was still snoring," Cody chuckled and couldn't help the grin that tugged up the corners of his mouth.
Sheresh caught him by surprise, though, when she started giggling uncontrollably. The quirky bounty hunter reached up and tried to stifle her mirth behind her hand, but the sound of her laughter spilled out from between her fingers. Cody lifted an eyebrow at her in silent query, but that only seemed to make the half-Zeltron snicker harder. Mildly perplexed, the clone glanced over at Rowin, who only rolled his narrow shoulders in a casual shrug.
"Don't look at me," the space rabbit drawled lazily as he leaned forward to rest his furry elbows on the table.
"Does she normally burst out in spontaneous laughter?" Cody shook his head and tried not to chuckle himself.
Sheresh's laughter was infectious – he had to give her that much at least.
"Eh, depends," Rowin, too, seemed slightly amused; he wiggled his whiskers at Sheresh and twitched an ear in a manner similar to his previous shrug. "Though, beats me why she'd find a snoring clone so funny."
Both Rowin and Cody looked at Sheresh expectantly, but she didn't seem at all inclined to explain her random burst of laughter. Instead, she turned her attention back to Numa and pushed the stool next to her out with her good foot in silent invitation to the young Twi'lek.
"What time is it, ad'ika?" the female Mandalorian was still smirking over her own private amusement, but she continued to ignore her male companions and blithely changed the subject.
Numa didn't respond immediately, but she moved gracefully from the sink and clambered up on the stool with a mug full of milk. She settled herself before she answered and her behavior was that of a maturing young woman who was comfortable around her elders in spite of her age.
"I think it's about seven standard hours in the morning. Maybe later. I don't have a wrist-chrono and I haven't really seen any since I got here," she sipped her milk and considered the three over the edge of her mug. "But, I took a peek outside before I found my way here. The sun's up."
"At this time of the year…? That probably means it's more like eight standard hours or so," Sheresh sighed and the laughter in her face faded as her mind clearly switched toward more practical matters.
Cody could sense that the time for comfortable camaraderie was drawing to a close. Others in the vheh'yaim were sure to stir soon – if they hadn't already – and the kitchen, with its heavy scent of caf, was certain to draw new arrivals. Sheresh seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she reached over and patted Numa gently on the arm.
"If you stick around here long enough, I'm sure Fives will show up," her unannounced movement seemed to have startled Numa, so the bounty hunter winked playfully in what appeared to be an attempt to put the jumpy young Twi'lek at ease.
It seemed to work, though Cody wasn't sure if it was Sheresh's wink that did the trick, or the Mandalorian's sudden interest in Numa's current situation.
"If you don't mind me asking, Numa," the bounty hunter withdrew her hand and adopted a casual pose, with her elbows on the table and an easy smile. "Is it just you and Fives for now?"
Numa nodded slowly as she clutched the mug in her hand – unlike Cody's, her was glazed a deep blue that complimented the turquoise tint of her skin. Her eyes were large and dark over the rim of her drink and her response was heart-wrenchingly solemn for a youngling of only ten standard years.
"There's Nerra Boil, too, but he's been captured," her young face fell and her gaze slid away from Sheresh's face. "For a while, there was my uncle. And then Nerra Boil showed up and rescued me. Then there was Nerra Boil and Nerra Fives for a long while," her eyes lifted and Cody was suddenly riveted by her guileless look. "They both lost their own nerras, so they've become very close."
Shame tore through Cody's heart in the wake of her stare. And, if he had any hope of Numa not knowing who was responsible for Waxer's death, he now knew that it was gone. The young Twi'lek knew at least some part of his past – most likely from Boil himself. In quick retrospect, Cody mused that the revelation wasn't entirely unexpected. Numa had to have asked questions – and many of them – when Boil resurfaced into her life without the accompaniment of his ever-present partner, Waxer. Even at so young an age, Numa's reality was shaped by the truth of war; he knew the story of how Waxer and Boil had found her in the ruins of what had once been her own home.
The truth of Waxer's death wouldn't have escaped her and Boil wouldn't have withheld it. Cody hung his head and tried to find solace from his crimes in the scratched and scarred wooden surface beneath his forearms. His guilt was only slightly assuaged when Numa deftly turned the conversation toward the others, in what was suddenly a very perceptive search for the truth.
"I thought I'd lost both Nerra Fives and Nerra Boil, when the Imperials caught up with us in Korynth."
Cody continued to contemplate the table, but he heard Numa's voice turn toward Rowin and Sheresh. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the space rabbit flinch in anticipation of the pending – and hard-hitting – question.
"Nerra Fives says you betrayed us to the Empire. Why would you do that and then turn around to help us?"
For several seconds, nothing was spoken. Cody cautiously lifted his head and glanced toward his right, where Rowin was fiddling with his empty cup, and then across the table, where Sheresh was frowning at the ceiling. Finally, after a torturous calm, Sheresh started to speak; her words were soft and slowly uttered, as if the weight of them kept them from slipping easily off of her tongue.
"We didn't betray you to the Empire, Numa. If anything, the Empire betrayed us."
"We made a deal with them," Rowin lifted his eyes and his furry face was somber; his clear blue eyes had darkened to a deep cobalt and his inner turmoil was clearly expressed in the drooping set of his pale whiskers. "And here you have it," the space rabbit waved an all-encompassing paw at the four of them. "The result of such a bargain."
"So you do admit to making a bargain with Appo?" a familiar – and abrasive – voice cut through Rowin's stumbling explanation and riveted each of them to their seats.
Even Cody felt a deep sense of dread as he lifted his head and looked toward the kitchen entrance. Fives stood framed in the doorway, barefoot and hair tousled from sleep. His appearance would have been almost comical, except that every muscle in his bare chest was taunt with anger. His hands were clenched at his side and even his jaw was tight, as he directed a murderous gaze toward Rowin's head.
"For the love of Manda, would you stop jumping to conclusions, Fives?" Sheresh surprised Cody by responding to Fives' abrupt appearance in righteous indignation.
The former commander was struck – yet again – by the undeniable familiarity of Sheresh's interactions with Fives. The two had a past together – of that Cody was almost certain – and he was willing to bet that it was a past that far preceded recent events.
His hunch was further validated by the look that Fives shot the female bounty hunter. The former ARC was still angry, but something about his expression shifted when he turned his attention toward Sheresh. Cody couldn't quite place it, but something like betrayal replaced a great majority of the raw fury that had been directed mainly at Rowin. Cody also didn't miss the way that Fives' eyes lingered briefly on the curve of Sheresh's face – or the way her eyes slid appraisingly over the ARC's naked torso.
"Then tell me the truth. Right now, right here," Fives' body language remained hostile, but the tone of his voice switched subtly from accusation to confrontation.
The ARC stepped further into the light, until he was about an arm's length away from the table. He then jabbed a finger abruptly in Sheresh's general direction and narrowed his eyes. Suspicion still clung to the set of his broad shoulders and Cody knew that the moment of reckoning had come for both Sheresh and Rowin.
And, indeed, he was curious himself to see how it all played out. The former commander had accepted Sheresh's help on good faith, but even he was willing to accept that dire circumstances created strange bedfellows. They had all been forced to trust each other in order to make this far – and while Cody didn't doubt the honesty of Sol and his family, or the sincerity of their political alignment, he was still able to appreciate the precarious position that they all currently occupied. It wouldn't take much for fate to tip the balance and Fives, for one, didn't seem willing to continue taking chances on blind faith.
Cody couldn't blame him.
Neither, apparently, did Sheresh. The bounty hunter met Fives' eyes and the whole room stilled as she began her quiet confession.
"Rowin made contact with me about six standard months ago. Kil's Bond with him was wearing him down because of the difficulty she's had adjusting to the loss of her brother. He wanted a change of pace and tracked me down on Togoria. He asked me if I wanted to partner up and I was bored, so I said 'yes'," Sheresh slowly reached up and tucked a strand of errant hair behind a pink-tinged ear; her eyes never left Fives' grim-set face.
"We decided to go after rogue clones – the ones being contracted by the Empire to hunt down deserters and Jedi. We thought that maybe if we tracked down a few rogues, we might be able to find a few fugitives, too," she shrugged and for the first time, her eyes slipped down toward her hands, which were folded on top of the kitchen table. "Though…to be perfectly honest, Fives," the bounty hunter's honey-colored eyes lifted again and her expression was a mixture of sadness and some other emotion Cody couldn't place. "Rowin really only wanted to protect you and the others.
"I thought that if we went after the bad guys, we might be able to keep 'em off ya'll's tail," Rowin piped up; his twangy accent filled the room with an unexpected warmth and a bold earnestness that was hard to deny. "I thought that maybe if ya'll had a little bit o' relief from all the runnin' around, maybe…" a strange hitch broke the continuity of Rowin's voice and the Lepi hastily cleared his throat to cover up the deep emotion that wavered at the edge of his words. "Maybe Kil could get better in peace, y'know? An' maybe little Numa could grow up somewhere safe…an' maybe you an' Boil could rest."
"You wanted to keep us safe?" Numa carefully set her empty mug on the table and gazed across the scarred surface toward Rowin's furry face.
Her expression was one of justified incredulity – after all, she was a child of war and she had learned at a young age that happy endings were few and far between. But, a child's hope shone out through her soft brown eyes and even Fives seemed touched by her unguarded optimism.
"I swear, on the Black Rabbit himself, that that was all we ever wanted," Rowin lifted his right paw and solemnly swore to the genuineness of his intentions.
Fives, however, was unmoved.
"Then why did you make a deal with Appo?" he challenged for a second time; his shoulders tensed and Cody absently noticed, for the first time, that a web of fine scarring covered nearly every inch of Fives' bared skin.
The former commander lifted an eyebrow in silent curiosity and made a mental note to ask Fives about the scarring later.
If there's a 'later' to be had, that is, Cody eyed the ARC's clenched fists and even tighter gritted jaw. Thank the Force he didn't come in here with a blaster.
There was little doubt in Cody's mind that – in Fives' current state of hyper-paranoia – that he would have shot first and asked questions later, if he had stepped into the kitchen armed.
"We never said we made a deal with Appo," Sheresh huffed indignantly and Cody could tell by the flush in her cheeks that she was trying hard to keep her own temper in check. "We made a deal with another clone – a rogue. You wouldn't even know him. His name was – is – Jecks."
A cold chill raced down Cody's spine and it was the former commander's turn to sit up suddenly and join in the conversation. He didn't even really mean to say anything, but the words leapt – unbidden – from his lips in point-blank shock.
"You made a deal with Jecks?" a part of Cody realized that he was surprising everyone else, in turn, by his recognition of the name, but he was beyond caring.
Images of his last fateful encounter with Jecks flooded into the forefront of his mind. The memory of Tay, backed up against a wall and desperate with a fallen Saa at her feet, sent a sense of panic clawing up Cody's throat. He had questioned Tay's mercy at the time, but had forgotten about it in the course of time and in all that had happened since then. But, now…now, Tay and Saa were more than just strangers passing through the frayed edges of his life. She was his lover and he was the closest thing Cody could ever have to a father; the realization that Jecks was still very much alive and well set the former commander into immediate alert.
It also made him eye Sheresh and Rowin a little less favorably. His eyes narrowed, but it was Fives who lent voice to Cody's sudden suspicion. And, as usual, Fives' paranoia was directed toward the wrong person.
Though, in retrospect, Cody accepted that Fives' mistrust was justified under the current circumstances.
"What do you know about Jecks?" Fives folded his arms slowly over his chest and challenged Cody as unapologetically as he would Sheresh.
"I know he tried to collect a bounty on Tay," Cody jutted out his jaw stubbornly, unmoved by Fives' bristling hostility. "He shot Saa and would have taken her down, too, if I hadn't been there to intervene."
The former commander paused for a moment and wondered briefly if he should offer any further details. The conversation around him, though, was moving rapidly and he decided that if Fives wanted further details, then he could ask for them at a later time. Right now the only thing that mattered, was communicating to Fives that Jecks was no ally of Cody – not ever and especially not now.
Cody's answer was sparse, but it appeared to be enough to satisfy Fives' defensive curiosity. The former ARC turned a thunderous gaze toward Sheresh and Cody almost thought the news would send his brother into an apoplectic fit.
"You two made a deal with a bounty hunter who tried to kill Healer Marr?" Fives' indignation truly knew no bounds; even Cody was mildly intimidated by the fury that raged across his brother's features.
"We needed information," Sheresh seemed to have had enough of Fives' defiance, as she stood abruptly up from her stool.
Her movement was so sudden, that she accidentally knocked over her seat. The stool's fall was muffled by the dirt floor underneath their feet, but it was still enough to make poor Numa jump and spill some of her milk. The young Twi'lek watched, wide-eyed and clearly frightened, as Sheresh and Fives stared each other down.
"In the time it took me to find Sheresh, form a plan, an' get a ship, y'all had practically disappeared," Rowin's back stiffened defensively and Cody was silently thankful that none of them were currently armed. "We ran across Jecks on Nar Shadda while we were tryin' to find out where maybe y'all had gone."
"I was able to…ah…" Sheresh hesitated and the pink of her ears deepened. "Persuade Jecks to tell us some of his story…" the Mandalorian cleared her throat and her gaze turned toward Cody – the former commander didn't miss the curious inflection that she gave to the word "persuade", nor the fact that she seemed suddenly unable to look Fives in the face. "And he told me about his bounty here on Korynth – he claimed to have known you, Cody, though he didn't mention your name. Simply said he unexpectedly ran into a man he once called 'friend'. Claimed his fight with you – and the fact that you didn't kill him – made him reconsider the wisdom of his choices."
"Tay's the only reason I didn't kill him," Cody scowled and folded his arms across his broad chest.
Sheresh's words ignited a burning curiosity over Jecks' identity and the clone commander spent a silent moment trying to recall the rogue clone's name. If the bounty hunter claimed to know Cody – to have called him 'friend', once – then he had to be a brother that Cody knew well. The former commander recalled – in painstaking detail – the name of every man who had ever served under his command, or beside him in the course of the war. "Jecks" was not a name he knew and he was abruptly perplexed by the suggestion that Jecks might know more of him than Cody knew of the other.
Out of habit, Cody glanced over at Fives, as if silently seeking help in gathering his recollections, but he only met a mistrustful gaze. The former commander sighed and rolled his shoulders in a shrug.
"If Jecks claims to know who I was, then he holds a better hand than I. I've never served with a brother by that name," Cody paused, frowned, and chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment. "So, unless the name is assumed, Jecks' claim is just another lie."
"Seems Jecks is good at tellin' tall tales," Rowin scratched behind one of his floppy ears and his blue eyes roved uncomfortably across the small group. "He had us fooled."
"I believed him," Sheresh admitted; she crossed her arms as well and leaned her hip against the edge of the table in an effort to shift weight off of her bad leg. "His story felt true at the time, but…well…" the blush across her face deepened and she still avoided Fives' eyes. "I suppose that was a miscalculation on my part."
"The deal?" Fives didn't seem impressed by the volunteered back story; he ground out his question through gritted teeth and his heated gaze seemed to bore right through Sheresh's forehead.
"He said he had accepted one last bounty – Kil's bounty, ironically enough. He justified his reasoning by claiming that he had not accepted the standing Imperial bounty. According to Jecks, an anonymous third party had contacted him and offered a double payment of Kil's bounty in exchange for her live capture and secure delivery to specific coordinates," Sheresh finally managed to look Fives in the face and the two stared each other down for a long, breathless moment. "It was sheer luck, Fi'ika, I swear," the earnestness in her face and voice piqued Cody's curiosity; it seemed, in that moment, as if there was more at stake for her in Fives' eyes, than just the validity of her story. "Our meeting with Jecks was random and I didn't expect him to have any interest in you and the crew. But, when he claimed to hunting Kil, I made him an offer."
Sheresh's expressive face twisted and the heart of her remorse played openly across her ruddy features. Misery echoed in the depths of her eyes and Cody – for one – was sufficiently convinced of her innocent involvement in the circumstances surrounding their current situation.
"When Rowin learned that Jecks was hunting Kil down, he agreed to my idea," for a moment, Sheresh shifted her attention toward the Lepi, who nodded slowly in silent confirmation. "I…ah...convinced Jecks to split the bounty with us," her blush darkened yet again and this time, Fives growled in what could only be interrupted as obvious disapproval. "We agreed that three were better than one and we parted ways from Nar Shadda. Jecks supposedly had two different leads on the Daa'sun's Kryst'shun's whereabouts. We took one and he took the other."
"That still doesn't explain why Appo's bloody flagship showed up on Ord Mantell," Fives' dark eyes flashed and Sheresh practically hung her head in shame.
"I didn't realize until after our meeting in Worlport, that Jecks had abandoned his second lead," Sheresh addressed the top of the table, unable to look up at either Cody or Fives. "It was about the time that I realized he had followed us, that I also realized that the Empire had followed him. I tried to make contact with you as soon as I realized that we'd been double-crossed, but by then the Imps were already hot on your trail. Next thing I knew, news of your clash with Imperial fighters was all over the city. I heard from a source who had seen it first-hand, that it looked like the Kryst'shun's hyperdrive had been hit. Based on that, Rowin and I guessed that you'd be making your way here, to Anobis – Korynth was the logical destination.
"We left Ord Mantell as quickly as we could, in hopes of intercepting you in Korynth. I wanted to explain what had happened and we were both hoping we could help you all out of a tight situation. But, then…well…the Imps beat us here and you were captured and…" Sheresh seemed to have run out of words; she tapped the top of the table with a frustrated fist and lifted world-weary eyes toward Fives.
The look on his face could best be described as conflicted. Cody didn't necessarily agree with Fives' abundance of paranoia, but he could sympathize with the wariness that darkened his brother's face.
"We're pretty sure Jecks tracked us from a distance when we parted ways on Nar Shadda. An' we're pretty sure he sold all o' us out to Appo once we caught up with ya' on Ord Mantell," Rowin quietly spelled out the obvious and a heavy silence descended upon the cozy kitchen.
Several moments passed, before Fives finally broke the intense pall.
"You expect me to believe all of this? That you got sold out by another bounty hunter?"
"I don't expect you to believe anything, Fives," Sheresh retorted gently; she met his angry gaze and her own expression was surprisingly level. "But, we've told you the truth."
There was another solemn pause, during which little Numa slipped off of her stool and reached for Sheresh's hand.
"I believe you," the young Twi'lek directed her earnestness upward, toward Sheresh's guilt-ridden face. "You saved us and you brought us here," the youngling's explanation for her hope was simple, direct, and deeply profound. "You'll help make everything right again, won't you?"
Sheresh squeezed Numa's hand and for a moment, the hardened Mandalorian's voice broke under the strain of her conviction.
"Of course, Numa. If we can, we will," Sheresh lifted her eyes and looked Fives directly in the eye; even Cody could tell that his disbelieving brother was shaken by the raw sincerity of the moment. "I promise."
A/N: Aaaaand A Thousand Suns is off of hiatus! :) A little earlier than expected, in fact! Many thanks to all of you who have been patient with me; this last month has been rough and a lot has happened to suck my muse dry. Thankfully, I've made some tough choices and realigned my priorities...which means I will once again have time (and plenty of it) to work on ATS and other pursuits. ^^ Who knows? I might even pick up Something Done Right again - for those of you who have been waiting on my Canderous muse to hit again.
Many thanks and much love to Codywolf, reulte, and laloga for reviewing - and, as always, to laloga for encouraging me to keep up with things. Thanks, also, to all of you who have favorited this story (and others) during my hiatus. I truly treasure everyone's support.
Things should start picking up in the next chapter. I'm sorry if things are progressing a little slowly right now - unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately) this arc is proving crucial in setting up the second half of this story and the stories to come. Trust me...the best is yet to come and the peace Cody and company have found for now is going to be quite short-lived. -_^
Love it? Like it? Hate it? Lemme know...!