I think it's fair to say that the Force is still messing with Soniee's love life even though the Sith Lord is currently gloating about his inhibitor chips and not paying a bit of attention to what his little pet project is getting up to with Commander Fox.

Maybe she should have been relieved that he hadn't been able to come back to meet them at the park. It would have been awkward to see him there with Lux after those things Lux had said. She'd had plenty of time to think about Lux's advice while she'd sat alone in the apartment. And then when he commed her and said he'd killed a vod, she knew what he'd want, what he would need. She wanted to give him what he needed but she didn't want to hurt him again, so while she waited for him she did her best to distance herself from the force. Her feelings were always so intense and confused when she was with him. Maybe if she could meet him with a clear head, she could make sense of it all...

Soniee took off her helmet. "It wasn't him."

Fox who had been sitting on the bed, face hidden in his hands, tormented by the fact that she had left him there, stood up went to her. He knelt beside her, hope alight in his eyes again.

"It was Lagos. She's just confirmed that... she's pregnant."

"Kandosii that's wonderful!"

"Yeah it was a good thing she commed when she did..."

"A playmate that can grow up with..."

"I didn't plan anything to prevent..."

"...our little one."

They both paused trying to digest what the other had just said.

"Are you saying that you want..."

"You mean you don't want..."

Soniee stood, pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders and shaking her head. She took a step away from him. "I'm not ready to be a buir."

"But you'd be a great mother."

"Maybe someday, but not now. Anyway, Lagos is all alone. Amis was the father. I-I think... I think I should go back, be there with her. She's like my sister."

Fox stood and touched her shoulder tenderly. "You don't have to go right away. If you're not ready for ad'ike... I can get the hypo first thing tomorrow. Then I'll be shooting blanks for three months and we'll have nothing to worry about. That'll be good, right? We can get to know each other before I have a little one to share you with. And... There are other things we can do tonight..."

She shivered and pulled away from his touch, beginning to look around for her discarded pajamas.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Soniee, someday I would love to see a verd'ika with your DNA and mine mingled together, a child nurtured in your body rather than in a vat in a cold sterile lab on Kamino..."

She pulled on her pants and was reaching for her shirt as he came up behind her.

Then as she pulled the tunic over her head it dawned on her like a bolt of lightning. "Fox, you love me." She spun around and looked at him.

"I would have thought that was obvious by now." He grinned, taking her in his arms.

"No, I mean you love ME," she varied her emphasis on the words as if that would make it clear and then with a smile on her face at her own revelation she said, "I don't love you."

Realizing her mistake, she stepped away from him and covered her mouth with her hands, "Manda, Fox, I'm so sorry. I - I've been so mixed up. Whenever I'm with you, your love is so intense in the Force, I felt like... it was my feelings for you but... you're the one who loves me."

"And I always will, Soniee, darasuum!" He reached for her.

She caught his hands with hers before his arms could circle her again. "Fox, I love Korkie. I know that now. And the reason I thought I was with him is because he loves me too, with that same intensity in the Force that I feel from you. Manda, I'm so sorry." She turned away from him, her mind just beginning to untangle his feelings of passion and heartbreak from her own feelings of discovery and regret.

"But," he raked his hands through his hair. "What if his feelings have changed? He hasn't contacted you in almost a month. I'm here now and... I love you. I want you to be my wife. And you said it yourself. You felt like my feelings were your own. Can't that be enough for now?" He clutched at her shoulders, not tight enough to hurt her, he was still unerringly gentle, but as if he was holding on for dear life.

"Fox, if his feelings have changed, then I need to find him. I need to convince him to forgive me and take me back because I love him and that will never change."

He took a deep breath and then turned, "Alright, then." He tried the door and cursed when he found it was locked.

She waved her hand to unlock it but then hurried after him, "Fox, wait!" No matter what, she didn't want him to be alone tonight after the tragic death of his brother.

But he didn't get onto the bike. He bent down to his discarded belt and drew something out of one of the pockets. She saw the flower she had given him also tumble out onto the ground. Then he stood and held a small holoprojector out towards her. "You'll be wanting this."

He activated it and the image that materialized was of a small ship. "It's a B-7 light freighter. It'll carry eight passengers and a ton of cargo but it only needs one pilot and... it's yours. It's not brand new. I think they took it off a Sep smuggler and the weapons systems have been neutralized so you'll need to..."

She laid her hand on his arm. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Fox."

"I've known about it for a few days," he admitted. "I...I hoped maybe it could be a wedding present, but if... you're certain, then... I just want you to be happy."

"Oh, Fox..." She stood up on her toes and hugged him.

He hugged her back tightly and she felt the dampness of his tears on her shoulder. "If he ever hurts you, I'll kill him."

She had no doubt that he would.