Ok, chapter 5, coming up! Last chapter, I know I cut off kinda abruptly, but I had decided that the chapter was getting a bit too long, and I was wanting to get to the point where Embo went home! So, here I am, doing a time skip!

You know the drill.

"A person who truly loves you is someone who sees the pain in your eyes,

While everyone else still believes in the smile on your face."
― Danielle Rose-West

Embo was gently guided to the speeder by his two friends, both of them supporting him so he didn't walk on his still-healing leg, and little Marrok was waiting happily in the backseat.

"Thanks for coming to get me…" the Kyuzo said tiredly, smiling behind his mask. The other two smiled back, although Sugi saw something in his gold eyes that made her feel worried. Now that she knew him better, she also knew a bit about reading him, seeing past his walls to what he was really feeling.

His eyes were haunted, like the eyes of some of the older warriors she had met. But Embo was only nineteen… how could he already have such old eyes? What had he seen in his life that did this to him?

Once they had gotten Embo into the speeder, the Zabrak gave him a blanket, since it was the colder part of the year on Coruscant. Now that she could see him, really see him, she felt a little protective of the Kyuzo, especially since he was injured. He seemed surprised now, having her taking care of him like this.

"Sugi… you don't have to…" he said, but she shook her head, looking at him in a stern, joking fashion.

"Embo, you are hurt, and cannot walk on your own, so I am going to take care of you," she said, smiling a little. He was always trying to be so strong… "Your job is to get better, our job is to make sure you do your job. Enjoy it."

"She's got you there, pal," Cad said, chuckling. He was already in the driver's seat, and when Sugi got settled in the front passenger seat, they drove off.

Back at the apartment, Sugi and Cad helped Embo get to his bedroom, where the Zabrak went into "fussy mother hen" mode, making sure that the Kyuzo was comfortable and getting him something to eat, much to his embarrassment and his Duros friend's extreme amusement.

"Sugi…" Embo said softly, cheeks going red, "you really don't have to do this for me…"

"Yeah, I do," She said, bringing him some soup, "I feel like I owe you; if it wasn't for you, I might never have been able to leave Iridonia."

And so, Embo surrendered to her coddling, feeling safer than he could ever remember. It… actually felt kinda nice, having someone worry over him like this. Soon, he fell asleep…

But it wasn't restful.

When Sugi came back into Embo's room, she found him twitching restlessly in his sleep, breathing rapidly in distress! Quickly, she dropped the clean bandages she had been bringing him, and rushed to his bedside.

"Embo… Embo, it's ok, it's just a dream!" She said, shaking his left shoulder to wake him up.

"No… no…" he moaned, obviously having some nightmare.

Suddenly, he woke up with a soft gasp, eyes wide and struggling to get his breathing under control!

Not knowing what else to do, Sugi sat down next to him on the bed, and carefully pulled him into her arms, gently rubbing his back to help him calm down. He struggled a bit at first, not registering what was happening, but then surrendered to the embrace once he realized where he was.

"Sugi…" he said softly, uncertainly, even a little scared. The Zabrak just held him a little tighter, wishing she knew how to take away his suffering… suffering she now saw clearly in his eyes.

"Shhh… it's ok… you're ok…" she murmured, unwilling to let him suffer alone. She didn't know why, but she wanted to protect him from anything that would hurt him. "Is there anything I can do? Something to make you feel better?"

Embo stayed silent for a few minutes, wondering if he should say what he wanted to. What he knew would make it better… what his damaged heart needed.

Finally, he whispered, "just… stay here… I don't want to be alone…"

"You won't be alone…" Sugi said, pulling him in a little closer. "I'll be right here… I'll take care of you…"

And that was, strangely, all Embo needed. All he could ever really need.

Maybe… just maybe… letting Sugi into his heart wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

"What do you mean you're leaving?!" Sugi shouted at the Duros, who winced at the volume.

"I'll be back in a week or two!" Cad replied, trying to avoid the Zabrak's glare. "We're running low on cash, and I found a job that'll pay well! I'm going with another friend of mine to do this job, and then I'll come right back!"

"But Embo is still healing!" Sugi cried, frantic, "He…"

"Has you," Cad said, trying to avoid potentially getting his head ripped off by the irate woman. "I know you don't know your way around yet, so I'm having another friend help you out with that. Her name is Leik, and she's a Nautolan. Her usual partner, Urii, is helping me out with this job."

"Does Embo know them, too?" Sugi asked, and Cad nodded.

"They partnered with us on our third bounty together; they watched our backs, we watched theirs. The two of them are both a couple years older than me; more experienced too, and they know this planet like the back of their hands."

"Well, when will they…" Sugi was about to ask when the two women would arrive, when there was a knock at the door.

"Right now," the Duros said, grinning. He went and opened the door, revealing a green-skinned Nautolan woman wearing a dark brown jumpsuit and a pair of black combat boots, and an amber-eyed Korun woman wearing a dark green jumpsuit and black combat boots with her braided black hair up in a thick ponytail.

"Hello, Bane," the Korun said, smiling, "ready to go?"

"Who's your girlfriend?" The Nautolan asked, her joking tone clearly heard. Sugi rolled her eyes, arms crossed.

"I'm Sugi, and I'm not his girlfriend," she said, irritated. "I'm just a friend."

"Ah, So you're the famous Sugi I've been hearing about!" Leik said, grinning. "It's not everyday that Embo takes someone under his wing, you know! People have been talking about it from here to Tatooine!"

"Really?" Sugi asked, blushing.

"Yeah!" Leik said, then, leaning towards the Zabrak, "So, have you been learning secret Kyuzo techniques? Anything having to do with fighting?"

"Actually…" Sugi said sadly, "I've only been learning his language so far. He was injured during a battle on my planet, and he only got out of the hospital a few days ago."

"Ohhh… poor Embo," the Nautolan said sadly, her smile fading. "He's a good guy… Is he doing ok?"

"He's getting better," Sugi assured, thinking back to when Embo had had that nightmare the very day he had come back. After she had sat with him for a few hours, he seemed to open up to her more, like he was finally feeling like he could actually trust her. "He can't walk right now, and the doctors put him on strict bed rest, so I kinda need some help taking care of him."

"Because you don't know your way around?" Leik asked wryly, and looked at Cad. "Bane, you sly dog, you didn't mention I'd be playing chauffeur. I thought I'd just be watching your apartment for you."

"You didn't tell her?!" the Zabrak asked Bane incredulously, and the Duros grinned.

"Just wanted to see her reaction." Cad said, then turned to Urii, "We should get going."

"Indeed," the woman replied, adjusting the position of the strap of a sniper rifle on her back so that it was more comfortable.

"Just out of curiosity, what will you two be doing?" Sugi asked, looking at them.

"Sabotaging a droid base."

Oookayyy… that ended up longer than I expected… and sorry about the abrupt cliffhanger, but I needed a place to end the chapter, and I couldn't think of anything else to add to this chapter, so… yeah.

What happens next? Even I don't know! Again, all of this is out of my head, so none of this is stuff I've pre-written into a notebook.

R&R!