"The wonderful smells of desperate living. How I've missed you." Atton said sarcastically.
"Yeah. It's been a while since I've been to Nar Shaddaa." I replied.
"You've been to Nar Shaddaa before?" Atton asked incredulously.
"I used to live here." I stated simply.
"You did?" Tyla questioned.
"Yeah, during my exile." I explained.
"Interesting." She muttered.
"Let's get going. We need to get the Exchange to notice us so we'll have to do a lot." I said, taking charge for once.
"Great. We get to make more friends. And just how do you plan we get noticed?" Atton questioned irritably.
"By helping out as many people as we can and stopping Exchange business." Tyla explained.
"Because that's my favorite pass time! Helping out refugees and pissing off powerful criminals! Wouldn't have it any other way!" He grumbled sarcastically.
"It won't be that bad Atton! And after we help some people we can go to the cantina." I said.
"Alright, alright. If it means I get my juma juice and get to talk to some pretty Twi'lek girls it's worth it." He said and my eye twitched. Stupid Twi'lek hookers.
"Or we could go to the cantina now Aura. We could gather some info on the big Exchange boss there."
"Who, GOTO? He's the one who runs the Exchange here. Really weird dude. Never shows himself in person, just sends a droid." I explained.
"Then I guess we need to find GOTO." Tyla said as we headed to the cantina.
When we got there we all sat down and Atton ordered him a drink. "What? You two aren't getting anything?" He questioned both of us.
"Nope." We replied in unison.
"It's some sort of Jedi thing isn't it?"
"No. It's a 'we're not alcoholics' thing." Tyla said, glancing around the cantina.
"I just don't want to be drunk on the job. Never ends well when I am." I laughed.
"Do you want some Aura?" He grinned, pushing the glass in my direction.
"Are you trying to get me drunk Atton?" I questioned, grabbing the cup and taking a swig of it.
"Maybe."
"Won't work with this. You'd have to get something a lot stronger and a lot of it."
"Then what do you drink?"
"Corellian ale mostly. Tarisian ale would be nice but since the planet has been destroyed you can't really get much of that anymore."
"I thought Jedi didn't drink."
"You have a lot to learn about Jedi, Atton. We aren't as good and respectful as everyone thinks. I remember one time I got so wasted that I woke up on top of the Jedi Temple with half my clothes missing and a boma sleeping next to me." I grinned sheepishly. Atton stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds before finally replying.
"How did the boma get on the roof?" He questioned.
"How should I know? I was more worried about where my shirt went!"
"That's why you don't see me drinking." Tyla muttered.
"What about the time you ended up in Vrook's closet with Mal hanging by a rope from the ceiling in his underwear, Kavar ranting about Mal having candy in his shiny bald head like he was a piñata, and Rev stuck to the wall?" I smirked.
"You just had to bring that up." She grumbled.
"I seriously need to go to a Jedi party one day." Atton stated. I saw some Twi'lek dancers trying to show off their skills and nudged Tyla with my elbow.
"Hey Ty. You wanna go see what they're doing?" I asked, pointing to the dancers.
"I would rather not Aura." She muttered.
"Come on. We might at least get some information from it if we do it." I pulled here up and dragged her over to where the others were. "Hey! What's going on here?" I questioned curiously. The Twi'lek man explained to us how he was trying to find dancers for his Vogga and that he could not find any suitable dancers.
"So Vogga needs some new dancers again. Should've known. He gets bored way too easily." I laughed.
"Aura, you aren't going to do what I think you are, are you?"
"Can we try?" I asked and he nodded.
"Aura. Please don't make me do this." Ty complained.
"I'm not doing it by myself."
"Fine." She gave in and we both danced for the Twi'lek.
"Very good! Now go try these outfits on so I can see what you look like in them!" He exclaimed, holding up two skimpy outfits for us.
"What? You said nothing about outfits! This is all your fault Aura! This is like when we had to dance in those force cages!" Ty shouted furiously.
"Oh yeah...I remember that. We were drunk then too."
"You two danced in force cages?" Atton shouted. "I seriously need to get you two drunk one day."
"Can it you horny pilot!" She glared evilly at him.
"Calm yourself Ty. We need any information we can get!" I told her, trying to calm her down.
"I hate you. You could've just gone in there yourself! You do work for him after all!" She growled, snatching the outfit and going to change. After we changed into them I realized they were much worse than I had thought.
"I've lost my innocence!" I shouted dramatically.
"You never had any innocence!" Tyla responded angrily. Atton stared at both of us, his mouth hanging open slightly as he took in all of what we looked like.
"You have three seconds to stop staring at us before I electrocute you with my Force lightning." She snarled at him.
"Tyla! Control the bloodlust!"
"You can't blame a man for staring when you're dressed like that." He grinned sheepishly.
"If you want to stare then stare at Aura."
"Maybe I will!"
"Hey! I'm right here you know!"
"Maybe you should dance for me once we get back to the ship Aura." He smirked, snaking his arm around my waist.
"We'll see."
"Would you two stop that!" Tyla complained, smacking both of us.
"I was just kidding!" I whined. "Now let's go dance for Vogga." I said, following the Twi'lek man out of the cantina and through Nar Shaddaa until we reached where Vogga stayed.
"I've brought you two dancers Vogga." The Twi'lek stated.
"Good!" He exclaimed and we both danced for him. After we finished I walked up to the Hutt boss and grinned widely at him.
"How's it been Vogga? Missed me?"
"Leila! Where have you been? I was beginning to think something had happened to you on your job."
"I'm shocked that you would even think that Vogga! You know that would never happen!"
"Did you get what I needed?"
"Of course I did. Do you really think I would come around you if I didn't have it?" I grinned, handing over the datapads I had stashed in my pack.
"Good, good. The credits will be transferred to your account. So are you ready for your next job?"
"Can't do that Vogga, but I do have a favor to ask. I know you have fuel and Telos needs it. So would you be willing to supply them with fuel?"
"What do I get out of this Cross?"
"I'll get rid of GOTO for you." I smirked.
"You've got yourself a deal!" He said quickly.
"When did Aura become the negotiator?" Atton asked.
"I have no clue." Tyla replied. I turned and grinned at them.
"We now have fuel for Telos! Let's go find GOTO!"
"Stupid outfit." Tyla grumbled, trying to fix it. "Why I listened to you I have no idea. You could've danced by yourself. You didn't need me."
"It would've been less fun though!"
"Hey there beautiful!" Some guy shouted and I laughed.
"Well we're definitely getting attention. Just not the right kind."
"We should go back to the Hawk so you two can change." Atton said, glaring at the guy who had shouted at us.
"Why do you care?" I questioned and Tyla just laughed.
"I don't feel like having to shoot down a bunch of guys for trying something." He replied.
"There's more to it than that." Tyla smirked and Atton glared at her.
"What do you mean?" I stared at both of them confused.
"Nothing." She grinned.
"Here Aura." Atton stated, draping his jacket over my shoulders.
"Thanks." I nodded, pulling the jacket on and smiling at him. It smelled like juma juice, pazaak cards, and the Nar Shaddaa cantina but I didn't mind. That was how Atton smelled.
"Would you two come on? We need to go to the pazaak den now." We all headed into the pazaak den after persuading the guard at the door to let us in and glanced around the room, trying to find potential people in need of some sort of help.
"Hello! Would one of you like to play pazaak with me? I'm really bad at it but I come here to play. I don't know why. But I'm sure you would win some credits!" The droid said.
"Maybe we should take this hunk of metal up on its offer. It would get us some more credits." Atton suggested.
"We're not taking advantage of this poor broken little droid Atton!" I exclaimed.
"Alright, alright!" He grumbled.
"Ty, can you fix the droid?"
"Yeah." She replied, going to work on the droid.
"Ah. That's much better. Thank you so very much." The droid said, walking out of the den. We walked over to the next person, which happened to be a female Twi'lek, and Atton grinned slyly.
"I think you should let me handle this one." He stated, glancing in my direction.
"Go ahead. See what I care." I growled, clenching my fist and glaring at the Twi'lek.
"I sense some jealousy!"
"I'm not jealous." I replied through the bond.
"Sure you aren't."
"I'm not!"
"Whatever dude."
"Stupid frackin schutta. Evil Twi'lek bitch wants more than a damn game of pazaak." I snarled, watching the Twi'lek and Atton flirt with each other. Atton glanced at me again and I glared at him until he turned back around to the Twi'lek.
"He's doing that on purpose." Tyla snickered and I turned my glare to her.
"No, he just likes to flirt with anything that moves."
"That's what you think." She mumbled under her breath. Atton finished his game of pazaak and then walked back over to us, grinning widely.
"Have fun with that Twi'lek?" I grumbled turning away from him.
"Are you jealous Aura?" Atton laughed at me.
"No!" I shouted, feeling my face heat up.
"You are jealous!" He grinned, slinking his arm over my shoulders and leaning down to whisper in my ear. "Don't worry babe. You're my number one."
"Whatever." I mumbled, and began our quest on how to piss off the Exchange. We did everything from returning a girl to her mother to healing a sick man. We even destroyed a droid so that the swoop racing was now fair instead of being rigged. After running around for hours we were all tired.
"How much more running around do we have to do to get these guys to notice us?" Atton questioned, stopping to rest a minute.
"We can stop for now. We can do more tomorrow if we have to. But before we head back there's something I want to do." I said. Tyla and Atton both looked at me curiously.
"What do you want to do Aura? I swear if it involves forcing me to do something you can forget it." Tyla threatened.
"Nah. It's not that. I just want to swoop race since we took care of the droid who kept winning." I explained, heading to where the swoop racing was.
"Great. Do you even know how to swoop race Aura?" Atton questioned.
"Yes, I've swoop raced before. I swear I won't get hurt."
"Just be careful. I don't want you missing any limbs or phalanges." I shivered at the thought of losing a finger. That was not going to happen.
"I'll be fine. I promise." I reassured both of them as I went to talk to the alien standing behind the reception desk. After a short discussion with him I went to where the bikes were and got ready to race.
The signal for me to start went off and I shifted gears, speeding through the track. The adrenaline rush swoop racing gave me was amazing, and I loved having to dodge all the obstacles in my path. The other swoop riders sped by me as they went the opposite direction and I laughed happily. I knew Tyla and Atton were probably worried that I would crash, but at that moment I didn't care. It was just me and the track.
I ended my race and rushed back to the desk to check my time score for this run. It had been a while since I had raced so I didn't expect to get a very good score.
"You got 49:03! You've beaten our track record!" The alien exclaimed.
"Way to go Aura." Tyla grinned.
"Told you I'd be fine." I replied. "So I guess it's time to go back to the ship then?"
"Ok. We need some food so I'm gonna go see what that merchant has. You two can go back without me. I should be there shortly after." Tyla stated.
"Will do!" I shouted, running off.
"Hey Aura! Wait up!" Atton complained, forcing me to slow down.
"Lazy. That's what you get."
"I'm not lazy!" He protested.
"T3 does more than you do Atton."
"Stupid droid."
"He's a good droid." I replied, continuing to walk until we were back at the ship. Bao-Dur had gone to get more supplies, and I had no idea and I really didn't care where Kreia went. It was just me and Atton on the Hawk. We both headed to the cockpit, but I stopped when I saw a dark figure sitting in the middle of the floor. I edged closer to make sure I wasn't seeing things and realized that it was a woman sitting there.
"Who are you?" I questioned, moving closer to her. She refused to speak and instead pulled out a red lightsaber and attacked me. I jumped out of the way, but she still managed to hit me with the tip of her lightsaber. I cursed to myself as a searing pain shot through my leg, but ignored it for the time being and continued to fight her.
"Crap!" I shouted, pulling out my lightsabers. She came at me again and I blocked her swing this time and kicked her in the chest with my uninjured leg, sending her backwards. She crashed into the wall and gasped as the breath was knocked out of her. She jumped back up and ran at me yet again and I sighed in frustration.
"Why the frack are you attacking me?" I growled, dodging the best I could and hitting her saber with full force. It burst into pieces and my jaw dropped. "Damn. That sucks."
"You've broken it." She whispered, collapsing to the ground. "Now you must finish me."
"I'm not going to kill you! Now get up and come on so I can fix our wounds!"
"B-but...I tried to kill you. You must!" She stated.
"I don't have to do anything. Now come on! Or do I have to drag you?"
"I...I am in your debt." She mumbled, and then passed out.
"Atton! Come here!" I yelled.
"What is it Aura?" He hollered, running back to where I was and glancing around wildly.
"Help me get her to the med bay." I muttered, pointing to the woman lying on the ground next to me.
"Where did she come from?" He exclaimed, glancing at me and then noticing my injured leg. "What the hell did she do to your leg?" I glanced down at it and flinched as I saw the blood oozing from it in a steady flow. That was really going to hurt a lot in the morning.
"It's nothing. Please just take her to the med bay."
"That doesn't look like nothing! That looks like she almost chopped your leg clean off!"
"Nevermind. Just go back to the cockpit. I'll do it myself." I declared, struggling to lift her up. She was heavier than she looked, and the fact that I had an injured leg didn't help at all. I staggered a few feet and then I felt her being lifted off of me.
"Stay here. I'll be back in a second." He said, walking off with the woman. I ignored what he said and followed after him slowly, trying not to put any pressure on my leg. I had made it halfway there when my leg gave out and I fell to the ground.
"Ow!" I cried out, hissing in pain. Sure, I had been told not to move, but I wanted to get there on my own without relying on Atton. Bad decision on my part.
"Frack Aura! You're so stubborn!" Atton hollered when he saw me. "Why didn't you just listen to me?"
"Because I could've gotten there by myself." I told him.
"And that's why you're on the ground right now instead of in the med bay." He laughed, rolling his eyes at me.
"Just help me up already." I said running a hand through my hair. I was expecting him to just pull me up, but instead he lifted me off the ground and started to carry me bridal style into the med bay.
"Let me down! I can walk by myself!" I protested.
"Stop complaining!" He growled, setting me down on the other bed in the med bay.
"Jerk." I muttered trying to heal my wound with the Force. "Crap!" I shouted when it wouldn't close up.
"What is it?" He asked, turning to look at me.
"I can't heal it." I whined.
"You Jedi rely too much on your Force powers. That's why people who don't have amazing healing powers like your kind use medpacs." He stated, opening some up and pulling out some syringes.
"J-just what are you gonna do with that?" I stuttered, backing up some.
"I'm gonna stick it in your leg so it'll heal." He replied.
"B-but it's a needle."
"Please tell me you've used a medpac before." He said staring at me.
"No. Needles scare me." I told him.
"You're a frackin Jedi Aura! Why would you be afraid of a needle?"
"Because." I said sheepishly.
"Well it's time to get over your fear. Now hold still."
"Stay away from me with that thing!"
"It won't kill you!" He said trying to hold me down.
"Yes it will!"
"Stop being a baby! Now hold still!" He roared, pushing on my shoulders making me fall back onto the bed, and then sat on me so I couldn't move. "Now it'll be over in two seconds. Can you at least stay still for that long?" He questioned irritably.
"Fine." I sighed, closing my eyes and then flinching as I felt the cold needle against my thigh.
"There. Now was that so bad?" He laughed.
"Yes. It was the most horrible thing ever." I grinned opening my eyes.
"Liar." He said. "Now all I need to do is wrap your leg up and it should be better. It's not healed fully because we didn't have that many medpacs, but you should at least be able to walk." He explained, grabbing some bandages.
"I can wrap it up myself!" I blushed, trying to get away from him.
"No. For once you're doing what I say." He stated. "Now pull your boot off so I can reach the spot where you were hit."
"What? Why?"
"You were hit on the thigh Aura. Your boot covers the wound. Now take it off."
"Why can't I just wrap it myself?"
"Because you don't need to be moving around!" He growled, yanking my boot off.
"Ouch!" I shouted when my boot touched the wound.
"That's what you get for not listening." He said grabbing hold of my leg and pinning it down with his own so I wouldn't move. His warm hands brushed against my thigh as he wrapped the bandage, making me blush even more.
"You know, if someone walked in they would think we were doing something totally different right now." I muttered thoughtfully. He paused and looked up at me, smirking.
"Are you suggesting we do something different?" He grinned, pinning me down again and leaning over me. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to me so I could whisper in his ear.
"I have a lot of suggestions but I doubt you could handle them." I joked.
"I bet I could handle anything you threw at me."
"You want to test that?"
"Maybe." He smiled evilly.
"Aura? Atton? Are you in…Dear Force what are you two doing?" Tyla shouted suddenly and Atton reluctantly turned away from me to look at her.
"I swear we weren't doing anything!" I exclaimed.
"Well the dirty look Atton is giving me tells a different story." She laughed.
"He was wrapping my leg up because I got injured." I explained.
"He wasn't anywhere near your leg Aura."
"He pinned me down because I kept moving around while he was wrapping it."
"Yeah. That's what I was doing." He said, getting off of me.
"I bet Atton thinks it was something else." Tyla mumbled under her breath and he shot her another look. "So how did you get injured anyway?"
"She was attacked by her." Atton explained, pointing to the other bed where the woman was sleeping.
"A Miralukan? That's odd." Tyla muttered.
"Yeah. We came back and she was just sitting in the middle of the floor. I tried to talk to her but then she just attacked me." I told her.
"She's a Sith so we should space her before she wakes up." Atton stated, glaring at the woman.
"We aren't spacing her Atton! She could help us!"
"You're kidding Aura! She tried to kill you!"
"But she didn't!"
"She would've if you hadn't stopped her!"
"We aren't spacing her." I growled.
"If she tries to hurt you again I'm killing her."
"Fine! Become my bodyguard if you have to! But we aren't spacing her!"
"Would you two just stop fighting already?" Tyla yelled, rubbing her temples. "We have a long day tomorrow so we should all probably get some sleep."
"Alright. But Aura is staying with me tonight." Atton declared.
"No I'm not! I'm sleeping in my bed!"
"Alright. I'll just come in there and sleep with you then." He retorted, smirking.
"Fine. Just go to sleep." Tyla said and then grinned evilly at me.
"Don't I get a say in this?"
"No." Atton and Tyla said at the same time.
"I really hate you right now."
"Get over it." She laughed through the bond.
"You would've thought that we had helped every refugee known to man yesterday! But somehow we still end up finding more to help!" Atton complained.
"Stop complaining and get to helping. You didn't seem to have a problem with helping me yesterday, so you can help these people today." I grumbled.
"But that was different!" He proclaimed and Tyla laughed at him.
"I see no difference. Now get to helping. We need to get the Exchange's attention, and helping these poor people is the right thing to do." Tyla stated.
"If you haven't already noticed, I don't really care about what's right and wrong." He said bluntly.
"You should care." I muttered, stopping to rest.
"Your leg starting to hurt again?" He asked, looking worriedly at me.
"Only a little. I'll be fine in a minute. I just needed a break." I replied.
"Why don't you two head back to the ship. I don't think Aura should be walking around when her leg is injured."
"Awww! Come on! I'm fine! I just needed to rest for a minute! Let's go help some refugees!" I shouted.
"You either go with Atton peacefully or I'll tell him to carry you back to the ship." She grinned evilly.
"Damn you. Fine. I'll go. But I will get my revenge!" I yelled, walking off with Atton close behind me. "This is all your fault you know." I told him, sticking my tongue out at him.
"What? How is this my fault? You're the one who got injured!"
"No. It was those stupid syringes that made me all weak." I stated.
"Yeah. That was exactly what it was. It couldn't have been the fact that you were hit in the leg by a lightsaber!"
"I'm glad you agree." I smirked.
"Hey! You there!" Someone called out from behind me. I glanced back and saw two Twi'lek guys standing off to the side, motioning for me to come closer. I walked up to them warily and glanced at both of them.
"What is it?"
"We have some information about your companion."
"Okay? What is it?" I questioned curiously, edging closer to the two of them while Atton continued on.
"We'll give it to you...for a price." I sighed. Of course. No one ever wanted to tell you useful information for free anymore. You always had to pay for it.
"Fine." I said, pulling out a hundred credits and gave them each fifty. "Spill it."
"The man you're traveling with. Don't trust him. He's not who he seems." They both said, running off before I could reply. Well that was...interesting? I walked back up to Atton and he looked at me quizzically.
"Where did you run off to?"
"Hm? Oh. Nowhere." I replied, still deep in thought.
"Well you better stick close to me. You get lost in Nar Shaddaa, who knows what kind of trouble you'll get into." He stated, pulling me to his side. We continued to walk in silence for a long while, until Atton suddenly stopped in front of me, refusing to move.
"What're you doing?" I asked, trying to move past him. He grabbed my arm so I couldn't get away and held me there, staring at me with his chocolate colored eyes.
"There's something wrong and you won't tell me what it is."
"Nothing's wrong." I lied, trying to wiggle myself out of his death grip on me.
"I'm not letting you go until you tell me." He said stubbornly.
"Atton. We don't have time for this! We need to go back to the ship!"
"Tell me!"
"Fine! You wanna know what's bothering me so bad? Two guys just told me I shouldn't trust you Atton! That you weren't who you seemed to be! I'm trying to figure out if I believe them or not! You tell me Atton! Can I trust you?" I shouted, finally yanking my arm out of his grip.
"You've trusted me this long haven't you!"
"I just want to know Atton! I don't want to be left in the dark, wondering what you did that made people not want to trust you!"
"Why do I have to tell you anything when you never tell me a single thing! You're such a hypocrite Aura!" He snarled angrily.
"Why are you getting so defensive about this Atton?"
"Maybe it's because there are some things I don't want people to know! But I guess you Jedi wouldn't know anything about that! You can just dig through people's minds whenever you feel like it to see what you want!"
"Not all Jedi are like that Atton!"
"That's a lie! You're all the same! I was stupid to think you were any different."
"I would never intentionally read your thoughts Atton! Why would you even think that?"
"Because all you Jedi are liars."
"There has to be a reason why you hate us so much! I just want to know what you did before you came to Nar Shaddaa! That's all!"
"Alright! You want to know! I'll tell you! I was in both wars! I fought along side Revan, and when she became a Sith lord, I followed her. We were trained as assassins, but we weren't just any assassins. We were trained to kill Jedi. And I was really good at it. Most Jedi never even saw me coming." He explained, his voice growing dark.
"It's actually really easy to kill a Jedi. You just have to know how. No contact, you just catch them by surprise and it's all over. If the Jedi has a Padawan with them all you have to do is go for the Padawan." He laughed. I tensed up, thinking of Master Vash and how she would've protected me if we had gotten into something bad.
"Why would you do that!"
"The Jedi were easy to hate. They just sat and watched as innocent people died. At least the Sith were honest about what they were doing. We followed Revan because she had been the one to help us, so when Revan started a war against the Jedi who hadn't helped us during the war we fought with her."
"Then why are you here? Me and half the crew are Jedi if you haven't noticed that by now. Why haven't you killed us yet? You've had plenty of chances! You could right now if you wanted to!"
"I'm not a Sith anymore!"
"Really? You sure act like one still with your hatred for Jedi and everything!"
"I was a bounty hunter after the war! I'm not a Sith anymore!"
"Not much of an improvement Atton! Or is that even your real name?"
"The name I went by when I was a Sith was Jaq. But I'm not Jaq anymore. I'm Atton. Jaq is dead."
"How can I be sure? You lied to us, to me. How do I know you aren't lying right now? You're probably after us for the bounty."
"I was after you. But then, I gave it up." He muttered, turning away from me and staring at the ground.
"You were just with us to get the bounty!" I growled, shoving him away from me. "Everything that's happened was just a ploy then! You never wanted to help us, you just wanted to earn some money off of us! You killed us Jedi before so you knew it would be easy to catch us!"
"No! It was like that before I knew you! But when I met you on Peragus I gave up being a bounty hunter! I just couldn't do it. Not to you."
"I trusted you Atton!"
"Please Aura…"
"No!" I shouted, swinging at him. "Don't come near me you traitor! Don't you ever talk to me!" He reached up and touched his cheek where I had hit him and nodded solemnly. I then spun on my heel and ran away from him, into the dark streets of Nar Shaddaa.
(Tyla's P.O.V)
I walked up to Atton as Aurali ran off, and shook my head at him. "You are an idiot." I muttered.
"You hear that too?" He questioned, not looking at me.
"Every word."
"And yet you still talk to me?"
"I understand where you're coming from Atton. I hated the Jedi that did nothing but sit back and watch as the Republic burned around us. I hated them enough for it that I left them. A lot of what you said was true and I'm not stupid enough to deny it. But a lot of what you said is wrong as well. I understand why you followed Revan. Aurali tends to forget sometimes that we followed Revan and I killed millions because of that war and Revan's command. I don't blame you. And I think you've changed from the person you were back then. I don't see Jaq the Sith assassin when I look at you. I just see Atton. And Aura will eventually too. She just needs some time. But this would have worked out a lot easier if you had just told her earlier. Why didn't you?"
"I...don't know. I guess I just didn't want her to hate me. But it's too late now. She'll never talk to me ever again." He sighed.
"She'll forgive you. Just give her some time."
(Aurali's P.O.V)
"Aurali. Where are you?" Tyla's voice came across the bond.
"Why should I tell you?" I grumbled, ignoring her.
"Stay where you are. And don't try to get into any trouble." She told me and I laughed.
"I can't make any promises. It seems like trouble is attracted to me." I laughed hysterically.
"I'm sending someone to get you."
"I don't want anyone to come get me!" I shouted through the bond, but I got no reply.
"Stupid jerk being stupid. I don't know what I see in him." I muttered, downing my 12th glass of Corellian ale. Sure, drowning all my sorrows with alcohol wasn't the smartest thing to do at a time like this but it made me feel good. That's all that mattered at this point.
"You seem kinda lonely. Mind if I joined you?" A guy questioned, taking a seat beside me.
"I'm not lonely." I grumbled, downing another glass of ale. "I'm just pissed at the world. There's a difference."
"I think you're lying. You look like you need some sort of company." He stated. I spun around and looked at him skeptically. Tall, well built, and good looking. I could definitely use his company right now to forget all about Atton.
"Alright. Whatever. But if you even think about trying anything I'll cut your balls off with a rusty spoon."
"Ouch. That's not very nice."
"Never said I was a nice person."
"True. So what's a pretty girl like you doing in this run down bar?"
"Why should I tell you?" I questioned, eyeing him warily.
"Because you're lonely and look like you need someone to tell your problems to. And I'm a very good listener." He replied sincerely.
"You really wanna know?"
"If it makes you feel better then yes." He smiled.
"I'm trying to forget someone by killing brain cells."
"And how's that working for you?"
"It's a work in progress."
"Look, instead of wasting all your credits on killing brain cells to forget about a boyfriend-"
"He's not my boyfriend." I growled, thinking of the stupid scoundrel and his dark eyes and amusing personality again. Stupid hormones.
"Well instead of sitting here killing brain cells to forget about a 'certain person', why don't you come back to my place instead?"
"You're place? Why would I go to your place? For all I know this could be a trap. And I've already fallen into someone's trap today, I don't need another one."
"Come on. Don't be like that! Do you really think I would do something like that?" He said, acting like he was hurt. I thought of Tyla and what she had told me to do, and almost decided against the guy's offer. But then I remembered what I had found out about Atton and all reasonable thoughts left my brain.
"Alright. Lead the way." I smirked, following him out. He slinked an arm around my waist and I leaned against him as he led me down an alleyway. I felt a presence behind me and glanced back warily, just catching a glimpse of someone going behind a corner.
"Maybe I'm just seeing things."
We arrived at a small apartment complex and he led me to a door on the bottom floor. He kicked the door open and threw his jacket on the couch. "Make yourself at home. I'll be right back." He told me and I nodded, flopping down on the couch.
"So what's your name anyway? I probably should've asked that sooner." He laughed, coming back with some food.
"I'm Aurali."
"That's a beautiful name Miss Aurali." He stated, sitting down beside me.
"Yeah. I guess. What about you? You do have a name right?"
"I'm Shayne."
"A suitable name for someone so charming." I grinned.
"Yeah right. You're just trying to be nice." He laughed again.
"No I'm not! I mean it!"
"Well then thank you. It is an honor to hear it from you." He replied, taking my hand in his and kissing it lightly. Wow. This guy really was charming and nice. A total change from the scoundrel I was trying, but epically failing at trying to forget.
"Stupid jerk." I snarled.
"Still thinking about him." Shayne declared.
"No. What makes you say that?"
"So I'm the stupid jerk then? That's not very nice."
"Fine. You're right. I was thinking about him."
"You ever think that you might actually have some sort of feeling for him?" Shayne questioned, staring at me with his penetrating blue eyes.
"Of course I don't!"
"Then why can't you stop thinking about him, even when you're with another guy?"
"Because he's a really good friend!"
"A really good friend? You want to test that?"
"How?"
"Kiss me. If he's just a friend then it shouldn't be a problem, but if you can't do it then there's something more than friendship there." He explained.
"Are you just trying to get lucky?"
"A little." He said sheepishly.
"Alright. We'll try this Shayne. But I bet you're wrong."
" Well I bet I'm not." He grinned, leaning over and pressing his lips to mine. What do you think you're doing? You know you like Atton more than just a friend! Stop this nonsense right now before he shows up and sees this! Shut up brain! I wrapped my arms around Shayne's neck and pulled him closer to me, trying to forget all about Atton and just enjoy what I was doing with Shayne. It was going pretty well until I heard the door slam open.
"Aura?" Oh shit. I glanced up at the angry scoundrel who had just busted open the door and sighed. This was not going to end well.
"Well Miss Aurali. It looks like I was right." Shayne grinned, looking at Atton. "I wasn't surprised though. You two have been together longer than you know."
"What is that supposed to mean? And what were you doing with her?" Atton snarled, pointing his pistol at Shayne's head.
"Drop the frackin pistol Atton. I did that because I wanted to, not because I was forced. If you don't like it then leave. You have no say in what I do. Especially not now."
"Actually Miss Aurali, I think I'm going to leave."
"What? Why?"
"Because I don't have a right to get between you two. You'll realize it eventually." He said, walking out of the apartment.
"Alright? That was...interesting?" I muttered, standing up and walking out the door.
"You could've gotten yourself killed Aurali." Atton shouted angrily.
"Look, I'm drunk and angry right now. So just shut the hell up and go back to the damn ship before you piss me off even more. If you don't this will end badly."
"Aura..." Atton muttered, trying to think of what to say.
"Go away Atton." I growled, turning on him and grabbing him by his jacket. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave now before I hurt you. Because if you don't I won't think twice about hurting you traitor." He looked shocked for a moment and I thought he would finally leave, but then he just kept being persistent.
"Look! I'm sorry about what I did! It's not like I knew what I was getting myself into when I did it! I didn't even know you! All I knew was that there were Jedi on Peragus, and bounties on Jedi were high!"
"I trusted you and you betrayed that trust. That's all there is to it. Don't try to defend yourself because I don't want to hear it. It's a load of crap and you won't fool me again."
"Damn it Aura! Can you at least stop being a bitch for two seconds and listen to what I'm trying to say! Everyone has things from their past they don't want to talk about and it's fine with you, but when it comes to me you act like this! Why am I any different?" He exclaimed, edging closer to me.
"None of the others were trying to turn me in for a bounty! I see why Ty is so afraid to trust people now. It's because of shit like this! And you're the lucky one who helped me learn that!"
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to hate me! I thought if I just didn't tell you it would be easier. That's why I didn't tell you. I wasn't trying to get you to trust me so I could turn you in. I swear I wasn't. No matter what you think I'm the same Atton I was before you knew everything that I am now."
"Whatever. I'm not talking about this right now. Let's just get back to the ship. Tyla probably wants us back." I muttered, walking in a random direction.
I felt his fingertips brush against my wrist and I turned back to look at him. "The Hawk is this way." He stated.
"I knew that."
"We've been summoned to the Jek'Jek Tarr." Tyla explained when we were back at the Hawk.
"What? By who? And why?" I questioned.
"Visquis. He wants to meet with us."
"Both of us?"
"Yeah. But I think only one of us should go."
"I'll go!" I shouted quickly, receiving odd looks from everyone.
"No. I'm going. You stay here and make sure nothing happens to the ship."
"What? Why?" I shouted through the bond.
"You need to fix things with Atton." She explained.
"I don't want anything to do with that traitor."
"Do it." She growled lowly.
"Don't you just hate it when they have mental arguments? It makes you feel so left out." Bao-Dur muttered, staring at us. Atton only nodded slightly and then went back to what he was doing.
"Fine. Maybe I can help Bao out with something." I sighed in defeat.
"Good. Now I'm pretty damn sure this is a trap so if I don't come back in about two hours then it's time to send a search and rescue team. Got it?" She said, heading to the exit.
"Yeah. Don't get yourself killed! I don't think Kavar would like that too much." I grinned at her.
"Thanks for telling me that right before I walk into something dangerous! That'll really reassure me!"
"Any time."
"She forgot to mention that the treaty for the bounty hunters is off." Atton mumbled, going to the cockpit.
"Joy. Another thing we have to worry about. Why am I not surprised?" Bao stared at me intently. "Whaaaaaaat?"
"Is something wrong Aura?"
"Nope! I'm perfectly fine! Couldn't be happier!" I lied, slumping down on the couch.
"What happened between you and Atton?" Damn he was good. I glanced up at him and smiled.
"Whatever do you mean dearest Bao?"
"Go talk to him."
"Not you too!" I whined. "Why is everyone out to get me today?" I questioned the ceiling. "Master Vash? Why can't you be here when I need you? You would've sided with me." I sighed drearily.
I thought back to the times at the Enclave when Tyla, Revan, and I always got into trouble and how Kavar, Vash, and Zhar would always get us out of trouble. Those had been the good old days. Back when all we had to worry about was not getting caught by Vrook. But that was a long time ago. Too many things had changed since then. And we weren't those people now. Not anymore.
"Dwoooooooooo."
"What is it T3?" I muttered, refusing to open my eyes. Cold metal was pressed to my neck and I cursed to myself. The bounty hunters. I had forgotten about them.
"Up. Now." I opened my eyes and glanced at the bounty hunter. She was a Twi'lek, and from what I had heard from around Nar Shaddaa she was none other than one of the Twin Suns.
"Where's your sister?" I spat at her, glaring at her beautiful Twi'lek features.
"She's taking care of your friends right now." She laughed evilly. A few seconds later, Bao-Dur and Kreia were dragged out from wherever they had been. I guess Visas was still knocked out in the med bay, because the other Sun hadn't brought her out.
"Hey guys." I laughed.
"This is no laughing matter Aurali!" Kreia glowered at me.
"I know. But what can I say? I still find a way to laugh at it." Bao glanced at the hallway that led to the cockpit and then glanced back at me.
"We need to find some way to tell Atton that we're in trouble. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what's happening." He whispered to me.
"We don't need that traitor's help." I whispered back. "I have my Force powers."
"Do not use them. They are depleted enough. Let the fool do this on his own." Kreia said in all her old lady wisdom.
"Fine. But how do we signal him?" I nearly shouted. I'm surprised the Twi'leks hadn't heard us. Maybe they were deaf in one ear or one tail or whatever they used to hear out of.
"You must go into his mind and signal him."
"That's invasion of privacy woman!"
"It's either that or he gets captured and we get hauled off." She growled.
"Alright! I get it! Don't get your robes all up in a bunch!" I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to feel everything in the ship, and listening to everything around me. I heard Bao's thoughts and I smiled at him.
"Is it working?" He whispered and I nodded to reassure him. I found Atton's thoughts and tried to push my way through. I was abruptly stopped by his wall of pazaak though. I tried to push further but he wouldn't let me.
"What the hell are you doing Aura?" He seethed, his anger transferring through the mind link into my head.
"Shut the hell up and listen. Apparently Kreia says that you have to come help us since I can't use my Force powers on the crazy Twi'lek sisters holding us captive. So come help us before something happens that will make us unable to save Ty." I explained. The anger didn't let up though as he replied.
"Why don't you just use your Jedi powers on them? You've never needed my help before! Why do you need it now you stupid Jedi!"
"Don't you dare say that! I've needed your help plenty of times! Without you we wouldn't have been able to do a lot of things! But if you're gonna be like that then fine! Why don't you just collect the bounty on me yourself! At least it would keep Bao out of it! I don't too much care about what happens to the wicked witch." He forced me out of his head then and I turned to look at Bao and Kreia. "He's not going to help us. It's fine though. We can get out ourselves."
"That fool!"
"Just wait until I get a hold of him." Bao fumed, his usual calm attitude gone. One thing I knew about this Zabraak is that you did not make him mad. Atton was in for a world of hurting if we ever got out of this. I heard the cockpit door slide open then and blaster shots were fired at the Twi'leks. They both fell over motionless and bleeding from their precise head wounds, as Atton stepped over them into the main room.
But this wasn't the Atton I knew. The Atton I knew would've never looked at me like that. The Atton I knew would have helped us. And the Atton I knew sure as hell wouldn't be putting a blaster pistol to my head like he was doing right now. Or maybe this was the actual Atton in front of me instead of the one who I had grown accustomed to. I wasn't exactly sure at all.
"Go ahead. What're you waiting for? If you want to shoot me then shoot me already. No one's stopping you. And after you do that you can collect my bounty and start over." I growled, staring up at him. He was breathing heavily and his eyes kept darting from the gun, to me, and then back to the gun once more.
"What're you thinking Aura?" Bao shouted.
"Pull the damn trigger Jaq! It's what you wanted wasn't it? Then do it already! Be the killer you once were!" I sneered, using his old name.
"Aura! Stop this madness!" Bao hollered, trying to get out of the binds the Twi'leks had put him in.
"I hope you know what you are doing, putting all you're trust into this murderer." Kreia muttered.
"Well? What's it going to be?"
"You...Are the most insane Jedi I've ever met." He stated, pulling his gun away and stalking back to the cockpit.
"Well that went well."
Anything familiar belongs to LucasArts/Obsidian/Bioware. Tyla Moore belongs to Shadows of the Storm. Aurali Adrics belongs to Aurali Adrics.
Choices for the Right Reasons © Shadows of the Storm/Aurali Adrics