A/N: Wow, after last chapter this story has gotten over 100 followers. It's kinda unreal how many people are reading this, the internet is truly a wonderful medium. Thanks for all the support and reviews I'm getting, I love you all. Next week will be my last hectic week, because I'll (hopefully) graduate next Thursday. After that I'll probably have much more time and liking to write, meaning faster updates.
For all the purists (or historians, if you will): As you may have noticed earlier, Cathar's destruction was pushed a couple of years forward. It now happens much closer to the start of the Jedi's intervention during the Mandalorian Wars. Kotor's timeline is a mess to begin with and this story already has some AU elements, so I hope you don't mind. And if Bioware can tinker with it for their mmo, so can I.
Onwards!
Book Two – Rebirth
Chapter Seven
Of Cats and Banthas
The vast desert of Cathar lay stretched before them, a harsh and inhabitable environment consisting mainly of sand and reddish rocks. A sandstorm buffeted Revan as she was running through the massive expanse. She silently thanked Meetra for giving her the large sand goggles, and the Cathar for providing her with the black scarf that was wrapped around her head. Her entire face was covered, effectively blocking out the raging sand.
The Jedi Knight was accompanied by Princess Rhawones and her guard, a group of seventeen female Cathar soldiers led by Battlemaster Aviendha. All of them, the princess included, were wearing tight fitting coats of soft brown and red colors, giving them some camouflage against the desert backdrop. Their faces were covered by black scarfs which were wrapped around their necks, faces and heads. Their weapon of choice was the spear. All of them were tall, the smallest of the group still towered a good six inches above Revan.
Clouds of black smoke rose on the horizon and the air was vibrant and reddish. A city was burning. Worry clasped the throats of the group as they made their way to the source of the smoke. Part of Revan wanted the princess to stay behind, but she knew the proud Cathar would have nothing of it. They reached the city, which was devastated and laid to ashes. Dead bodies were littering the outskirts, belonging to both Cathar and the source of this madness: the Mandalorians. As they moved through the eerily silent streets the smell of scorched flesh reached their nostrils. Revan nearly gagged from the sickening smell and quickly embraced a light Force-trance to block it out.
"Do you believe us now?" Princess Rhawones asked angrily, eyes red from the airborne ashes and loss of her people. "A city of over fifty thousand souls is assimilated. Is this what your Order calls 'innocent skirmishes'?"
"No," Revan growled, desperately trying to keep her voice steady as the cruel truth dawned on her. "The High Council has lied to us. Those fucking Mandalorians aren't as harmless as they want us to believe. This is… brutal."
"What will you do, Knight Revan?" the princess demanded. "Will you allow the Jedi to keep turning a blind eye while the Outer Rim burns? While my people burn?" The Cathar princess also had trouble keeping the emotion from her voice, her species' burning passion only strengthened her anger and despair.
"I will go to the High Council, force them to see reason. If not…" Revan looked at the destruction around her and her face turned grim. "If not, I will take matters into my own hands. Rally all Jedi willing to listen, willing to fight for our cause." She grabbed Rhawones' shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "The Outer Rim will not be forgotten."
The Cathar Princess gave her a grateful nod. "I only hope your aid will not come too late."
Suddenly Revan felt a flicker through the Force. A Force-sensitive being was desperately fighting for its life. Without thought she fully embraced the Force and used it to slow down her surroundings, giving her tremendous speed. She traced the creature's source and rushed off towards it.
After rounding a couple of corners in the destroyed city she found what she was looking for. A young Cathar girl who could be no older than six years old was surrounded by five Mandalorians, who were taking turns to attack the poor thing. Apparently they had found a good match, because the girl had already killed two of them. But Revan noticed her strength was waning, as her tired arms could barely hold on to her spear anymore.
Searing hot anger boiled up in Revan's stomach. In one Force-sped rush she was at the girl's side, skipping through the enemies' line effortlessly, and she pulled the young Cathar protectively against her. The air around her became alive with energy as she molded the Force into a massive whirlwind. Revan and the girl were in the eye of a storm that gathered hubris at a horrifying rate. The five remaining Mandalorians were pelted with bricks, beams, spears… everything that wasn't secured to the ground. The sickening sound of breaking bones and ripping sinews was all around them, until every single Mandalorian lay dead around them.
As soon as the storm died down Princess Rhawones and her guard came rushing towards them. "You saved this girl's life," the princess remarked gratefully. "You truly are a friend of the Cathar."
Revan wanted to bend down to pick up the girl, but the young Cathar clamped against her savior so tight it was impossible to. "Hey girl," the knight said softly, while patting the girl's head. The girl looked up with two massive golden eyes. The eyes and face simply radiated fury. Revan could feel her heart melt and her rage grow, wondering how anyone could do this to an innocent young girl. "You okay?"
"They killed my parents," the girl said through gritted teeth. Her anger sent ripples through the Force and Revan knew right then she was dealing with a potential Jedi, and a strong one at that. "If you hadn't saved me they would've killed me too." Her grasp around Revan tightened even more and she kept staring up at her with her big yellow eyes.
Revan gave the girl's shoulder a comforting squeeze, hopefully letting her know everything was going to be alright. "What's your name, kid?"
"It's Juhani, master."
Xana shot up straight in her bed, eyes wide and cold sweat streaming off her body. Another vision, another fucking real vision. Bile shot up in her throat as the smell of charred flesh lingered in her nose, almost as if the burning bodies were lying right next to her. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself and calm her mind. She forced her brain to put things into perspective.
What she had just witnessed was the prelude to Cathar's sad destruction, through the eyes of a young Revan. Apparently the Juhani she had fought this morning had once been saved by the Sith Lord, those livid yellow eyes and facial markings left no doubt that the two were one and the same.
But why? Why did the Force bother showing Revan saving a young Juhani? She remembered Master Vandar, who claimed the Force was binding Bastila and herself together to guide them on a destined path. Was the Force forging such a connection between her and Juhani as well?
She quickly shook her head to clear her mind of that vile thought, it was something she didn't want to think about. The Bond she shared with Bastila was incredibly personal, having something like that with the unpleasant Cathar would be hellish. It couldn't be what the Force was trying to tell her. Maybe it was just giving her a nice little newsflash of Juhani's past. Or perhaps it wanted to rub it in that Juhani was saved by Revan, while the Dark Lord had left Xana to die when the scoundrel blasted herself and her pirate crew to smithereens.
She shook her head again, now she was simply getting ridiculous. She'd discuss it later with Bastila, her clever master might have better answers. Speaking about her master, the room was sorely lacking the brunette's presence. After the tiring events surrounding her promotion Bastila had ordered her to get an afternoon nap, before leaving the room to allow her some peace. She hadn't returned after that.
Xana yawned and stretched, feeling stiff as a board from the mauling she had received from Juhani. Despite the stiffness and weird vision the few hours of sleep had refreshed her. It had also settled down the whirlwind of emotions and insecurities inside her head. The defeat against Juhani didn't weigh down on her so much anymore, no longer did she feel like she had an insurmountable lack of ability. It felt more like an eye-opener, a wakeup call at exactly the right moment. Still, her pride was wounded, being defeated so easily by an arrogant seventeen year old brat.
With a sigh she got out of bed and opened the curtains, giving her the now familiar view of the Dantooine grasslands, a sight which never ceased to be amazing. Dantooine's star Dina still stood high in the sky, but her stomach indicated the afternoon was almost coming to an end. She scratched the back of her head lazily and yawned again, deciding she'd take a quick shower to wash away the cold sweat.
After a refreshing shower she quickly dressed up in her brown Jedi robes. Just as she was done the door slid open. A positively fuming Bastila stepped through, pulling Mission along by the arm. The poor girl looked scared out of her wits, making Xana frown and wonder what had happened. She knew the two of them didn't really like each other, but it took a lot for Bastila to get truly angry with the girl.
"Xana!" Bastila called disdainfully when the door had closed behind them. Her furious grey eyes were like molten silver right now. "You and your brat need to have a serious chat."
"M-my brat?" Xana inquired, shrinking a bit under the stern gaze. "Something happen?"
Bastila shoved the Twi'lek girl forward. "Tell her what you did, Mission."
The girl shuffled nervously on her feet and didn't dare meet Xana's eyes. She muttered something unintelligible, Xana could only pick up the words 'bantha' and 'enclave', which didn't make a whole lot of sense. "Louder girl," the knight admonished harshly.
"I lured a bantha into the enclave," she finally said aloud.
For an awkward moment Xana just stared at the girl. "You did what?" she finally managed to ask.
Mission anxiously looked up to meet Xana's eyes. "I lured a bantha into the enclave," she said again.
Xana's mouth dropped open to say something, anything, but she couldn't find the words for something this ridiculous, so she snapped the useless appendage close. This was a joke, it had to be. Sure, they both looked way too serious for it to be faked and Bastila didn't do jokes, but still… "A bantha? Into the enclave?" The girl only nodded. "Where did you find a bantha?"
"At a farm just south of the enclave," she muttered. "It was a domestic one, used to pull the cart."
"Tell her the rest of the story," Bastila gruffly ordered.
"Once it got inside it started to panic. It ran into the library and up the stairs to the second floor."
Xana blinked, trying to imagine a burly bantha in these hallways. "You got a bantha into the enclave and it ran to the second floor of the library?" she asked weakly. Mission nodded again.
"The entire story, Miss Vao."
Mission flinched from the Knight's angry words and quickly continued. "Err… you see, Banthas are able to climb stairs, but… but they can't go down them again. They err… they sorta had to… put it down… They had to drag out the dead body."
Xana, being the visually oriented creature that she was, could see the entire scene unfold before her, like a small movie playing in her brain. She snorted from the outrageousness of it and then couldn't help bursting out in cheerful laughter. "M-Mission, that's… just aw-awesome," she managed between fits of laughter. The girl smiled sheepishly and then started laughing with her, clearly glad her boss wasn't angry with her.
Bastila was a completely different story though, as her angry scowl deepened even more. "Awesome? You think killing an innocent creature is awesome?"
The padawan noticed the danger and tried to make a straight face, but failed miserably. "C-come on Bastila," she chuckled. "You gotta admit it's funny."
"Care to explain how it's funny to the angry farmer that came to redress his dead bantha? Or the janitors who had to clean this mess up?" Xana just snorted, then burst into laughter yet again, bending over and leaning heavy on her knees "You are unbelievable," the master groaned. "And here I was thinking you'd be reprimanding your girl harshly for her foolish act."
"Anything I'd say would pale in comparison to what you've no doubt already said," the padawan said between gleeful hiccups.
"That's no excuse!" Bastila spat. She took a step forward and grabbed Xana by the ear, pulling it hard. "She's your girl, so her actions are your responsibility."
"She's not mine," Xana countered, while trying to pull her ear free. The sudden pain immediately subdued her cheer. "She's a woman of her own."
"Both of you try to defend so desperately that Mission isn't a child. But this immature action shows she's nowhere near grown-up yet, and therefor she needs a strict guardian. That person is you, because you're the only one she accepts."
"Fine, fine," the apprentice sighed. "Mission, get over here." The Twi'lek girl did as she was told. Xana sat down on her knees, grabbed both the girl's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, trying to look stern. "What you did was against the rules. You really pissed off a lot of Jedi with your actions." Mission looked at the floor shamefully. "Why did you do it anyway?"
The girl looked back up. "I heard you were defeated by that Cathar woman and knew you'd take it badly. I wanted to cheer you up. I had hoped to wake you up in time so we could enjoy the rampage together, but Bastila caught me before I could reach you." Mission gave her a sheepish, apologetic grin.
Aww, Xana could feel her heart melt right then, her Blue was just too adorable and endearing sometimes. She wanted to lock the girl in a warm embrace to thank her for her efforts, but they were still watched by a very disgruntled Bastila, so she refrained from that. "While I appreciate the sentiment, you should obey the… obey…" She just couldn't finish the sentence, knowing how hypocritical she'd sound. "Ah, damn it all. That was fucking impressive Blue, how'd you pull it off?"
Bastila heaved a frantic sigh, while Mission smirked. "The hard part was nicking some bantha fodder and releasing the bantha from its pen." Mission gave her a mischievous smile. "The rest was a matter of careful planning and stealth."
Xana barked a loud laugh and gave the girl a big hug. "I'm so damn proud of you, that's my girl." She pulled back and looked more serious. "Although… you did get caught."
The girl cocked an eyebrow and looked offended. "No I didn't. No one saw me. Miss Bastila made a guess I had done it, I think she's some sort of seer or something. She interrogated me." Mission shuddered and leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Her eyes are super freaky when she's angry, she forced me to admit."
"Poor thing," Xana said sympathetically, while rubbing the girl's back. "Even I get scared when she gets angry."
"What are you patting her back for?" the knight scowled. "Aren't you going to reprimand her for her misbehavior?"
"C'mon Bastila," Xana reasoned. "Even you have to admit it was pretty damn impressive, leading a bantha in under the noses of all those Jedi."
"Impossible," Bastila groaned. "Bloody impossible, both of you. I should've known you'd encourage this kind of adolescent mischief, seeing how Mission's a spitting image of you. If I didn't know better I'd say you two are sisters, or mother and daughter even."
Suddenly Xana could feel Mission tense up in her arms, and when she looked at her the girl was wearing a pained expression, full of neglect and longing. "M-Mission?"
As quickly as the expression had come it disappeared again, making way for one of played disgust. "Who'd want Grey as a mother?" she joked with a forced grin. "You must be seriously off your bonkers."
Xana studied the girl. Her joke had clearly been halfhearted, did Mission want more from Xana than the simple relationship as friends they shared now? She saw the frail being in her arms and decided not to push the issue right now. "Hey! I'm not that bad," she said quasi-offended, playing along with the joke. The Twi'lek just stuck out her tongue, causing Xana to chuckle again and easing the tension.
"Fine," Bastila snapped. "You've crossed the line, both of you. If you won't take responsibility, I will," she told Xana pointedly. "You can both think of the consequences of your actions when you're sleeping under the stars tonight. Without a pillow or a blanket."
"Not again," Xana groaned. She had spent countless of nights under the Dantooine sky without a blanket, which was quite the torture considering the sharp drop of temperature at night. But then again, this would be the first time she'd be accompanied by Mission, so it wouldn't be that bad. "I understand master," she sighed. No point in making matters worse by going into a discussion she'd certainly lose.
The Twi'lek's face fell, but she knew she deserved being punished and she was too afraid of Bastila to go against her will. "Yes, Miss Bastila," she muttered.
"At least you still have the presence of mind to accept your punishment without being foolish," the knight told them with a small sigh. Most of her rage vanished, Bastila wasn't someone who continued being angry once she thought proper justice had been dealt. "Just be glad I won't report this to the Council, I'm sure their punishment wouldn't be as feeble as mine."
Mission nodded at the knight, then grinned when she knew she was off the hook. She turned back to Xana and hugged her tightly. "Congratulations with your promotion," she cheered.
"Thanks Blue," the padawan smiled warmly. She pointed at her black eye. "Wasn't easy, but I pulled it off."
"Just admit you did in on purpose," the Twi'lek giggled. "You want your skin to be as pretty blue as mine."
"I do," Xana laughed. "Guess it didn't work, ey?"
"Nope, you're still ugly," Mission replied playfully, causing a pout from her boss. "So show me the goods!"
"Err… which goods?"
"Your new lightsaber of course, you daft oaf! Didn't your promotion mean you could finally ditch the blue flashlight and get your hands on the good stuff?"
"It sure did," Xana grinned, while drawing her new lightsaber and activating the yellow beam.
"Eeeeeew," Mission exclaimed, watching the saber with playful disgust.
"Eew, what?" Xana asked gruffly, not liking the tone of her brat.
"Same color as Bastila's," she pointed out. "Is this some kind of Jedi equivalent to wedding rings or something?"
Xana grinned and didn't have to look at Bastila to know her ears would be gathering blood at a rapid rate right now. "That's all wrong, you little jackass," she chuckled, while pinching Mission's cheek affectionately.
"Mwemme gwo," the Twi'lek mumbled, as she tried to pull Xana's hand way.
"The color of the blade represents the branch the Jedi has joined," Bastila pointed out, as dignified as she could muster, considering the light blush on her cheeks. "The fact that our blades are of the same color merely means we are part of the same branch."
"You reckon her brain has a fun filter or something?" Mission huffed. "Not an ounce of fun, that one." She turned back to Xana with a disappointed pout. "So no engagement yet, huh?"
The padawan chuckled, but her master's growl cut through her. "For the thousandth time, that's never going to happen."
"She sounds less certain each time," the Twi'lek said triumphantly. She patted Xana's back sympathetically. "Don't worry, I give it a few more weeks before we fully crumble her resolve."
"Keep this up and you'll never sleep in a bed ever again," the brunette threatened.
"Pfft, I'm just trying to help," Mission all but whined. "Sometimes you're just unreasonable and mean, Miss Bastila."
The brunette did look a bit ashamed under the charm offensive, but she didn't back down. "You're not helping at all." Mission wanted to say something, but Bastila raised a warning finger at her, causing the girl to shrink back and swallow her words. "Let's go to the cantina," the brunette said snappily. "I'm hungry."
"Me too!" Mission cheered with a wanton smirk. "I could totally eat a bantha." Xana laughed at that, but Bastila walked out of the room pretending she hadn't heard. The Twi'lek leaned over to her boss. "Few more weeks," she whispered in her ear. "Mark. My. Words."
Xana shook her head and grinned, she truly didn't know what she had done to deserve such a loyal, kind kid like Mission in her life. With her prank and goofy words to Bastila she had lifted her gloomy mood effortlessly. She wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder and followed her master to the cantina, feeling much better than before her nap.
After dinner Xana decided to spend an hour or so at the library. Her latest vision had reawakened her curiosity in Force Bonds, so she wanted to reread all files about them. Right now was perfect, the library was deserted at this time of the day. When she entered she saw no traces of Mission's dead bantha, the janitors had probably cleaned up the mess already. She gathered the files she was looking for and settled down in a comfortable chair to read.
A few minutes later she was approached by a Jedi Knight. It was Belaya, the brunette that had befriended Juhani. "Hey Xana," she greeted with a small smile. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure," Xana answered, while closing the file and gesturing to the chair in front of her. "Sit down."
The brunette sat down and looked at the Padawan seriously. "Xana, I wanted to thank you for bringing Juhani back to m… to the enclave." She blushed a bit when she stumbled on her words. "I-I'm very grateful, she's a good friend."
Xana smiled internally as the pieces clicked into place. "You're welcome, Belaya," she answered sincerely. "But you two are more than just friends, aren't you?" she added in a whisper, a small grin spreading across her lips.
Belaya's eyes grew wide and her face turned pale. "H-how did you…" She suddenly looked scared and desperate. "No one can ever know about this!"
"Hey, calm down," Xana soothed immediately. "I'm not snitching on you. I think it's great the two of you have found love and pursue it, despite the Code and the general consensus on homosexual relationships. I wish things were that easy with Bastila." Her face fell.
Belaya calmed down and looked sympathetically at her, albeit a bit surprised. "You two as well?"
"Yeah," the padawan muttered. "Or actually, no. There's mutual attraction and something brewing, but Bastila seems afraid of her feelings." She looked up at the knight hopefully. "How did you manage to convince Juhani having a relationship isn't bad, despite what the Council says?"
The brunette smiled. "It was the other way around, in fact. We've been friends ever since we were little, and slowly fell in love over the years. Juhani wanted to surrender to her feelings, but I was afraid. Afraid of the Code, afraid of the masters, afraid of the dark side. So I told her I wasn't interested." She chuckled. "What an idiot I was, fooling a Cathar isn't that simple. All my actions had made it already clear I was very much in love with her, and it turns out those blasted creatures are able to smell pheromones. Apparently those rose sky-high whenever I lay my eyes on her."
"They can smell hormones?" Xana asked weakly, hardly believing what she was hearing.
"Smell, or otherwise sense, dunno exactly." Her smile grew wide. "Try telling a woman 'no' when she's getting so horny from your smell her knees start to buckle."
"You're very open about it," the padawan remarked, feeling a bit surprised about the woman's sudden change of character.
"Ah, s-sorry," the brunette muttered. "I didn't mean to… I just… I never had someone to discuss these things with. Living in secret is hell, certainly if you want to shout your happiness to the entire universe. And you always seemed so… provocative with your sexual innuendos, I thought you wouldn't mind."
"Relax, I don't mind at all. I must admit I like having someone to talk about these things, seeing how this place is filled with uptight bastards. So please speak your mind."
Belaya grinned in relief. "Awesome! Well, as I was saying, Juhani knew I was in love with her. And if a Cathar gets something in her head she'll pursue it to the very end." Belaya chuckled again, a longing look appearing in her eyes. "I became her prey, and she didn't give up until I was hers."
"She wasn't afraid of the Code then?" the padawan wanted to know.
"Oh, she was. But she grew up on Cathar, and marriage was an extremely important part of their culture. Their lives were harsh and love was considered the greatest gift of their Goddess, bringing joy in their otherwise bleak existence. Disrespecting that gift was downright blasphemy, ignoring love was simply not done. So if there was mutual love between two Cathar they always got married, regardless of social status or gender."
"So her fear of the Goddess overruled her fear of the Council?"
"Yep." Belaya let out an amused laugh. "And Juhani is a persistent bitch, so here we are."
"That won't really help me," Xana said with a sad smile. "It seems the more I try to trigger Bastila, the further she pushes me away."
The brunette squeezed Xana's shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll come around. Give it time, once she realizes what a beautiful woman she's missing out on, her fear for the Council will melt like snow in the sun."
"Thanks," Xana muttered with a tiny laugh.
"And if she keeps refusing you, I can wholeheartedly recommend a Cathar woman," she added with a naughty twinkle in her eyes. "They're loyal to no end and they make excellent lesbian lovers."
"Oh?" the Padawan smirked, getting curious. "How so?"
"Well, first of all they're awesome cuddling partners. Their skin is much softer than human skin, almost fluffy. Perfect to curl up against after a long day of work."
"Somehow I hadn't pegged Juhani for the cuddling type," Xana remarked dryly.
"She has her tender moments," Belaya answered with a warm smile. A smile that quickly grew lewd. "But the sex is just… extreme."
Xana had to laugh, she started to like this woman very much. "Now you have me curious," she grinned, while leaning forward.
Belaya chuckled and pointed at her mouth. "It's in the tongue y'know? Theirs is very long and muscular. Flexible… strong… wet… intrusive…" She shuddered a bit. "Just perfect."
Xana couldn't help but laugh and shook her head. "And I take it that tongue gave you no rest this afternoon?"
"Seven months is a long time," the knight winked. "And I believe I'm not off the hook just yet, her libido and stamina are off the charts. It's going to be a long night."
"I knew you were a naughty girl when I first lay eyes on you," Xana smirked.
"And if I weren't yet taken I might've given in to your flirts," Belaya answered with a twinkle in her eyes, briefly scanning over Xana's body and face. "But I wouldn't betray Juhani no matter what" she added more seriously. "She's the best girlfriend one could ever wish for." She shuddered a bit, wearing a fearful expression. "And she'd probably mangle me if I cheated on her."
"Forcing you into a relationship and threatening you into submission… if she hadn't almost killed me and treated me like dirt I'd be very jealous." Xana grinned widely.
Belaya chuckled again. "I had to endure an hour long tirade about how disrespectful you had been to her, and how she couldn't comprehend the human race at all." She cocked an eyebrow. "You must've left quite an impression, maybe I should be the one feeling jealous."
The padawan snorted. "Well, don't worry, I prefer my girls with a little more meat on the bones," she said with a playful wink.
This time it was Belaya's turn to snort. "Sure, sure. You're just afraid of what Bastila would do if she found out. You might laugh about me submitting to Juhani, but I know exactly who's the one in charge in your relationship. And that person isn't a muscular ex-marine."
"I'm afraid you're right, Bastila is bossy," Xana admitted with a sheepish grin. "That's the problem with beautiful women, they can get whatever they want. All they have to do is look at you with their gorgeous eyes and all resistance melts."
"Oh? So you think Juhani is beautiful then?" the lnight wanted to know with a wide smirk.
"Even a blind man could see that," the Padawan answered honestly. "She has this thing about her… a raw type of beauty with a hint of feral danger behind it, if you know what I mean."
"Eww, I knew you were checking her out, you pervert."
"Did not," Xana grinned. "All you were asking was if I thought she was pretty, which I simply answered honestly. That doesn't mean I was planning to make a move on her." An involuntarily shudder went through her. "She'd probably rip me to shreds if I tried."
"She definitely would," Belaya agreed, sounding surprisingly serious. "Cathar don't believe in sex without love, so she'd consider it a massive offense if you tried to work your way in her panties."
"Thanks for the warning," the padawan offered sincerely. Knowing herself she might just have tried some innocent flirting with the Cathar, just for the thrill. "You might've saved my life with that."
"You can stop looking at her like that altogether," the knight smirked possessively. "She's mine!"
"Yeah, yeah. Implying you never checked out my Bastila."
"Oh definitely," Belaya admitted readily with a lewd grin. "She has always been a pretty one, that girl. The textbook example of a classic beauty. But she was always so frigid and cold, I never even knew she swung our way."
"Otherwise you would've made a move?"
"Oh no," the knight answered immediately, looking a bit scared. "I never even considered starting a relationship. Not until Juhani forced me to see the truth about the Code."
Now Xana was truly curious. "What truth is that exactly?"
The other woman smiled knowingly. "There is no passion, there is serenity? In this sentence, passion implies lust without love. The Code says nothing about loving each other."
"So making love is something different than passion?"
"Of course! Lovemaking is the ultimate demonstration of care and affection, passion has nothing to do with it."
"But what about that other line? There is no emotion?"
At that Belaya merely shrugged. "We're the good guys, aren't we? We act out of our love for the galaxy and our wish to preserve it. We're even supposed to love our master or apprentice. Why allow us to love those, but make an exception for our spouse? Seems hypocritical."
Xana couldn't help but smile. "You've given a very good interpretation of the Code."
"That's the problem with ancient, vague texts," the brunette shrugged. "Different people will explain them differently. So how do we know which interpretation is the right one?"
"The Council will claim theirs is the one and only. But I prefer yours." Xana's shoulders sagged a bit. "Now to convince Bastila of that fact."
"If you want, Juhani and I could have a talk with your master, convince her of our point of view."
"Thanks for the offer," the padawan smiled. "But no thanks. This is something the two of us will have to work out together."
"Fair enough. Just don't hesitate to ask me for help, if you ever need it." She smiled warmly. "I owe you one."
"Thanks Belaya, I appreciate it."
"Well, I gotta go. I've kept Juhani waiting for too long already." The brunette winced a bit. "She calls it possessiveness, but I know that's just a fancy word for jealousy." With a final smile and wink the knight left.
Xana smiled as she watched Belaya leave the library. The knight's open and kind behavior was a far cry from the cold and sad woman she had been just a few days ago. It was simply incredible how Juhani affected her. She also felt a pang of jealousy. The knight had a wonderful night full of pleasure to look forward to, while she would be out in the cold grasslands of Dantooine, trying to get some sleep.
She and Bastila would need to have a serious chat somewhere in the very near future.