Last time: Jayne enjoyed the harvest festival until a strange man and woman appeared.

Now: Jayne confides in Lara.

Chapter 8- The Mando and The Voice

"Thank you." Jayne said to Lara as she handed her a mug. They had returned to the cabin, and Lara had stoked the fire up to a warm glow as they sat in the chairs around the stone fireplace that rose up into the chimney above. The lights in the rest of the cabin were off or dim, so the fire was the main source of light. Something about this felt very much like home to Jayne as she took a sip of the rich herbal tea with hints of zherries. In her other hand she clutched Reginald.

"You are more than welcome," Lara said as she took a seat next to her in the other chair with her own cup of tea. As she sat down, she set the cup aside and pulled out a datapad that she had tucked into her armpit as she carried both cups. "I grabbed this. Thought we could use it to put together a list of everything you have learned so far about yourself. And then maybe see what we can piece together from that and see if it sparks any memories. If you'd like to."

"Sure." Jayne said, swallowing.

"Okay." Lara nodded as she started up the datapad and pulled out a stylus. "Alright so what do we know so far? You came from the woods, running from an escape pod." She wrote that down as she said that. "You arrived with some woman who is still in a coma. You're married. You have the twins. You like zherries and sweets. You said the name Sasha once. You're bilingual. And everything you mentioned at the festival." She said as she wrote that all down. "Okay, did I forget anything?" She asked once she finished.

Jayne swallowed. "When Taner mentioned Naboo the other day, I felt like I was familiar with it. I knew it was a beautiful place." She noted, trying to remember all the little things that had happened.

"Okay, writing that down," Lara said, not looking up from the datapad as she put that down. "Anything else?"

"What about my clothes?" Jayne asked Lara. "They seem strange compared to what everyone else wears here. Are they… Do they mean something?" Jayne asked, furrowing her brow.

"Hm, maybe," Lara shrugged. "They definitely had a regalness about it. And it appears to be tailored specifically to you. I noticed the exquisite stitching when I washed it."

Jayne rocked back and forth with the chair as she leaned back. "I can't really think of anything else. Oh, also the memory of the little girl like Kori."

"Right," Lara said, nodding as she added that. "Okay, so I think we have a really good list going here. So let's start with who you are based off what we already know and then go from there." She took a long sip of her tea and then looked back at the datapad. "You are a mother who is almost seven months pregnant with twins. We are assuming you are married based off the tan line on your ring finger, but lost your ring at some point before coming here. You are a very kind person as well as a fast learner. You've got a great sense of humor which means you are probably used to being around people who make jokes or try to be funny. Or you're just naturally funny. You have a bit of a sweet tooth, which there is nothing wrong with that, but that probably means you are used to sweets being around your house. And you speak more than one language which means you are educated and maybe even well traveled to an extent. How's all that so far?" She asked looking back at Jayne.

Jayne had recoiled in on herself a bit with a blush. "Embarrassing." She said honestly at such a complimentary description.

Lara chuckled. "Sorry," she said. "At least it's just the two of us here. And don't feel embarrassed about who you are." She then leaned in close. "Besides, you're about to become a mother, get used to embarrassing those around you." She whispered to her with a teasing tone.

Jayne smirked at that but still buried herself into Reginald with a blush. "But what does all that mean?" She asked after a moment. "And the nightmare, and running through the woods from… whatever I was running from." She said.

"Well I've been thinking about that as that is the one thing that still doesn't make sense to me," Lara started as she rocked back in her chair. "You are all these wonderful things and seem to come from a life that may just be as wonderful. But it's this part that confuses me." She paused. "When those two people called out to you, how did they sound? Angry? Worried? Happy?"

Jane paused for a moment. "Worried, I guess."

"Okay. What about the nightmare? I hate asking this, but can you describe it?" Lara asked, gently.

Jayne swallowed, trying to remember it. "I was running through the woods again. I wasn't pregnant, I was just running, and there was the black fog chasing after me, trying to catch me. And ran through the garden into the cabin and closed the door. But when I got in I was in this… vast space. Like a cathedral, but made out of black obsidian. I remember a throne, and a hologram showing the galaxy. And then the door opened behind me, the corridor was so dark it seemed to absorb all the light. I could just barely make out this hulking figure walking towards me. He had a helmet on, and his eyes were hidden behind these horizontal glass slits that were the only thing that caught the light. And he ignited a red sword and swung down at me. Then I woke up." She finished, distantly.

Lara sat there in stunned silence for a moment. "That sounds horrifying. I'm sorry I had you talk about it."

Jayne shrugged. "It was just a nightmare but… I don't know. Something about it felt real." She said as she hugged her plush cat closer. "It felt like Death coming for me." She swallowed. "Sorry, that's a rather melodramatic thing to say."

"No, it's okay. It's something connected to your past in some way. Or you have a very active imagination," Lara said. "But the point being is that I was trying to see if there was a connection to your nightmare and the people you saw. It seems like there isn't one aside from the two helmeted figures you mentioned. But I do think the one from your nightmares might have a connection to how you ended up here."

"Yeah." Jayne said, still not sure. In the darkness the hulking figure had barely been visible as a shadow, the helmet was the only thing that drew a connection between them, but there was a connection. "When I saw them, standing there on the dance floor, they were… foggy, out of focus. But they both seemed very concerned. He had a kind face." She noted distantly.

"Well that's good. Maybe the two you saw on the dance floor, maybe they are a part of your family or friends," Lara guessed. "And maybe you had a memory return where they were worried about you."

"Maybe." Jayne said. "But it was so real, like they were standing there. It was more like seeing them standing there as ghosts or something, hallucinations." She said.

"I wish I had an answer for you as to why or how you are seeing them, but I think hallucinations might be the best option I can think of," Lara said, frowning slightly. "And I hope we can find the real answer soon."

"Me too." She said, looking down at the twins. "What was it you mentioned before, about…" She furrowed her brow, trying to remember. "Jedah and… lifesavers?" She asked.

"Jedi and lightsabers," Lara corrected then continued. "Yeah, when you mentioned the plasma sword the first thing that came to mind was a lightsaber then a Jedi. You see, Jedi were these people that were known for fighting for peace and justice. They actually fought in the Clone Wars a long time ago, but then disappeared. Now there are supposedly a few that are still around that reappeared since the fall of the Empire. But the Empire had a few dark Jedi? Assassins, I think? I can't remember what they were actually called, but they also had lightsabers but theirs were red and they were known to be more vicious and evil. So maybe the helmeted figure with the lightsaber you saw was the Emperor's right hand, Vader."

"Vader?" Jayne asked curiously.

"Yeah, Vader was this guy in all black robes with a black helmet like what you described. He also had a red lightsaber and was known for hunting down Jedi during the Empire's reign," Lara explained. "But he was supposedly killed when the Empire was defeated by the Rebellion. So maybe you ran into Vader once. And maybe that's how you ended up here. It's possible the Remnant came after you because of your past with the Empire and Vader?" She suggested, it sounded really far-fetched. "I mean how else do you explain the escape pod being Imperial?"

"I…" Jayne started. "I have no idea. I don't remember anything about the Empire or this Vader person or the Jedi or any of that." She said quietly.

"It's alright. It's just a theory for now," Lara said, setting the datapad aside and grabbing her cup. "But hopefully the more you remember the more we can finish putting the pieces together. But it's a start. But what about the name Cien? We haven't really discussed that yet. Do you think it's your name? Or someone else's?" She asked.

Jayne swallowed. "I…" As she thought of that name, she had a sense of darkness associated to her, like a terrible shadow. Like it was the name of the shadow that had been chasing her in the nightmare. From the way the voices and the hallucinations had spoken to her, it seemed obvious that might be her name, but… the darkness of that name made her feel uncomfortable adopting it. As though it was such a monsterous thought that she might be consumed by something if she went back to that. If it was hers. "I don't know." She said. "For the time being perhaps I'll just stay with Jayne until we find out? I have grown very fond of that name." She said, a little sheepishness in her expression hiding the discomfort from the other name.

"That's alright," Lara said, smiling gently at her. "If you want to remain as Jayne then there is no one here to stop you. And until we have all the answers, you are welcome to still use that name."

Jayne nodded, rocking softly in her chair and clutching Reginald close. "I don't have any idea who I was or what I did." She said distantly, staring off into the fire. "What if I find out and I wish I hadn't?" She asked quietly. "What if this is more a gift than a curse?"

Lara looked down at her cup of tea. "Then it's up to you to decide what to do when that moment comes. But as much as we would love to have you stay here with us, if there is a family out there looking for you then it doesn't hurt to give them a chance. But this place is always welcome to you, no matter what."

"Thank you." Jayne said gratefully.

"Of course," Lara said, beaming. "Now Taner won't be back for a couple more hours. I could pull out a deck of cards and we could play some sabacc. That sound like fun?"

Jayne thought for a moment before a slight smile came to her. "Yes. I think I may actually be pretty good at it."

"We shall see," Lara said, chuckling as she stood up. "I'll be right back."

Jayne's fourth day back at the office after the harvest festival was filled with the dull task of filling out insurance claim and intake forms, as Wesley had taught her, as well as the occasional highlight of getting to meet new patients as they came in. From grizzled old miners to young mothers that were bringing their children in for check-ups. The former of which some seemed pleasantly surprised to see her, and the latter excitedly talked to her as they asked her about her pregnancy and she about their children.

She glanced up from her continued entry of the backlog of insurance claims and did a double take, swallowing nervously as she saw who was coming in the door. No one from Durasteel Springs that she had seen before. A Duros dressed like a cargo pilot was walking in, and at his side there was a heavily armored man. His face was hidden behind a helmet with a T-shaped visor who had a blaster pistol at his hip and gauntlets that she knew, for some reason, had a flame thrower and a set of rocket darts. His mottled brown and forest green painted armor was pockmarked with scratches and blaster bolt impacts that had left carbon scoring impact marks but left the armor plates unscathed.

"I'm Molser Ves, here to pick up a shipment of bacta?" The Duros said. The armored man stood there looking at her, also glancing around subtly, but she had the sense he was incredibly bored.

Jayne swallowed. "Oh, yes. Mister Ves, I have your appointment with Administrator Steav." She said, looking down at the scheduling system. "He should -"

"I got it Jayne." The Administrator for the medical center said, coming through the door. "Ves, can you come back here with me?" Steav said, holding the door to the rest of the center open for the guest. "We're just getting your shipment ready but Vestora called and asked for you to bring another scanner as well." He said.

"Well, that's going to cost extra." The Duros said as he followed the administrator back and the door swung closed behind them.

The armored man still stood there, bored and looking around.

Jayne swallowed, looking down at her terminal and then back up at the armored figure. "May I get you anything?" She asked tentatively. "Water, perhaps?"

His helmet abruptly turned to look at her, and she shrank back a little in her seat as he took a few steps towards her desk. "What is your name?" He asked, his voice only slightly altered by the helmet.

"Jayne." She answered cautiously.

He regarded her for a moment. "Just Jayne? No family name or clan?" He asked.

Jayne shook her head uncomfortably. "It's a long story, but no."

"That's a shame." He replied. "I'm Grav Ahl'shira."

"It's nice to meet you." She said, looking up at his glass visor and then away as the memory of the nightmare intruded into her mind.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing around the room. Then he reached up and gingerly took his helmet off, revealing a man with an olive skin tone that looked like he had seen years of action. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable little sister if the bucket brings back bad memories."

"No, it's fine." Jayne said, looking up at him. "I, uh…" She hesitated. "Did you want some water or anything?" She offered again, at a loss for anything else to say.

"Thank you, little sister, but no." He said. "Your accent is interesting. Where are you from?" He asked.

"I uh…" She gulped. "I didn't know I had an accent." She said sheepishly with a tentative smile.

"It's faint, but it's there." Grav said with a smirk. "Almost sounds Courscanti, but not quite. Mixed with a little northern rim. Where are you from?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted, more comfortable with seeing the person under the armor. "I was in an accident and I've lost my memory."

"Ah." Grav said with a pained expression. "Same thing happened to a friend of mine, took him a little while to remember everything, but it came back. You'll get there, little sister." He said in an understanding way.

"I hope so." Jayne said, glancing down at her terminal and then back up. "What brings you in with mister Ves?" She asked. "Are you partners?"

"Nah." He replied, shaking his head. "We're business acquaintances, he just wanted a little extra security on this run since the Bacta could be a pretty good haul for someone. Pirates and the like."

"Oh." Jayne said. "Well I hope that you don't encounter any troubles on your trip." She said.

"I'm sure we won't encounter anything I can't handle." He said with a smirk. "When are you due?" He asked, glancing down at her stomach.

"Another two or three months." She answered tentatively.

"That must be rough with the memory troubles. But as the saying goes, 'nobody cares who your mother was, only the mother you'll be.'" He said in a consoling manner.

"I'm not sure I've heard that before." Jayne said. "But I like it."

"It's an old Mando saying." He answered with a smirk.

"Mando?" She asked, furrowing her brow.

He blinked and looked at her a little incredulously. "You don't know what a Mando is? A Mandalorian?" He asked.

"No." She said, shaking her head. "I don't even know what my name was. Is." She admitted.

He regarded her for a moment. "I'm a Mando, little sister. And judging by how fluent you are in Ma-" He was interrupted as the door opened, and Mr. Ves came through the door, pushing two crates on hover dollies.

"Grav, can I get a hand with these?" Mister Ves asked as he stepped into the reception area.

"I'm hired muscle, not 'hired muscle'." Grav replied. "That'll cost extra."

"Don't worry, Vestora 'ill pay it." Vas said with a toothy grin as they stepped away.

Grav shook his head as he put his helmet back on and stepped up to the hover dolly. "It was nice meeting you, little sister." He said to Jayne as he and mister Ves started directing the crates away.

"You too." She called after him.

Administrator Steav glanced over at her. "What did you guys say?" He asked curiously.

"What?" Jayne asked curiously.

The Administrator shrugged. "Nothing. Oh, by the way, I was able to get you added to payroll for this week. I know you probably don't have a bank account yet or anything, so we'll be be able to give you a credit slip to use until you can get it setup."

Jayne looked at him stunned. "Thank you so much." She said, grateful for him to get that arranged so she wouldn't have to live completely off of Lara's charity. She could actually start to pay her and Taner back, even if it was such a meager recompense for all the help they had given her over the past week and a half.

Steav smirked at her. "You're more than welcome Jayne. You've been doing great work here. Keep it up and you'll make a great administrator some day, this is how I got started." He said knocking on the desk with his knuckles.

"I'll keep that in mind." Jayne said with an effusive smile.

Steav nodded with his own smile. "Lara was looking for you, said she needed some help with a little research project if you have any extra time?"

"Absolutely." Jayne said, excited to help.

"And so here I am running through the gardens, trying to catch a muddy, screaming five year old as my husband stood on the patio laughing at how ridiculous we both looked," Lara said as she told a story of a younger Taner.

Taner, who was chopping vegetables for the stew, groaned in embarrassment as his cheeks flushed red. "Mom, please stop."

Jayne tried to reign in her laughing. "So where were his clothes?" Jayne said with a smirk as she used a hefty spoon to stir some meat that was searing in the pan.

"Everywhere, but on him," Lara replied with a snicker.

Taner put a hand to his face and tried to disappear into the vegetables he was cutting.

"Once I caught him, I bathed him again then made him pick up all of his discarded clothing," Lara told. "I'm still wondering how one of your boots ended up on the roof."

"That was Dad's doing," Taner added, still embarrassed.

"Ah, I should have known," Lara said with a snap of her fingers.

Jayne snickered at that. "So that's how you got into gardening?" She asked, looking at Taner slyly.

"No," Taner said, shooting them a glare as his mother chuckled. "I got into it later. When I was like twelve. She wouldn't let me in the garden for a while after that."

Lara smiled. "You messed up the flower bed. I had to ground you somehow."

Taner grumbled and returned his focus to the veggies.

"It does seem like an auspicious way to start the hobby." Jayne said with a huge smirk. "Do you have any rosemary or darraden?" She asked, looking through the bottles of spices and herbs that were near her on the counter.

"Yeah," Lara said as she reached up into one of the cabinets. She pulled out a bottle of both. "Here you go." She handed them to her. "Are you sure you've never cooked before?" She asked curiously.

"I have no idea." Jayne said as she took the bottles. She looked between them and turned back to the stew meat, giving it a stir so it would brown evenly.

"Well, you seem to have a good idea of what you are doing," Lara observed. "That is looking and smelling good."

"Thanks." Jayne said with a smile as she carefully sprinkled some of the crushed darraden over the sizzling meat.

No, you're lying. That wasn't a dream. That was real. That is real. This is the dream. This already happened, but not like this. This is wrong. You are my sister, Cien.

Jayne suddenly looked around the kitchen, alarmed, trying to figure out where that desperate voice was coming from. It sounded like someone shouting from a great distance, outside the cabin perhaps.

"Jayne, you okay, hun?" Lara asked worriedly, noticing her looking around.

"I'm hearing that voice aga-" She was cut off as it returned, more vehement, more forceful than before.

No. No! This is wrong! This is a dream!

Jayne recoiled slightly, looking around in alarm at this voice flooding into her head.

Lara and Taner exchanged a worried glance. Lara then looked at Jayne and she grabbed her gently by the arm. "What is the voice saying? Do you want to sit and figure it out?" She asked, unsure how else they could help the expecting mother.

This isn't real. This isn't real, the voice repeated in her head, like it was breaking down into sobs. Jayne felt tears come to her own eyes as she recoiled from the overwhelming pain and anguish the voice carried, and that felt like it washed over her like an ocean wave as if she herself was feeling it. No… no… The voice trailed off as it collapsed into sobs.

"Jayne?" Lara said worriedly as she tried to get her attention. "Jayne."

Jayne sniffed as she felt the pain and anguish as if it was her own, she backed into the counter, away from the pan of sizzling meat, as she wiped her eyes trying to keep her composure. "I…" She started. "I don't know what this is." She said quietly, feeling like her entire life had just shattered.

Lara glanced at Taner and then walked over to Jayne. She placed her hands on her shoulders. "We will figure it out. It's going to be okay," she assured her. "Why don't you sit down for a bit and I'll make some tea? We can finish up on dinner."

Taner nodded as he was looking at them, backing up what his mom was saying with a reassuring expression.

Jayne nodded as Lara started leading her away. "I'm sorry." She said quietly, in between sobs she was trying to control.

Lara wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay, sweetie. You don't need to apologize. Just take deep breaths. It's going to be okay," she said comfortingly as she led her to the kitchen table.

"That voice, she…" Jayne started, "I don't know how to describe it. It was like she lost everything."

"This is the same girl from before?" Lara asked.

"Yes." Jayne said as she settled into one of the chairs that Lara led her to.

"Hm," Lara pondered for a moment. "Maybe this is a memory coming back or something?"

"I hope not." Jayne said quietly as she reached for Reginald without thinking about it.

Lara frowned as she looked down at Jayne. She reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder. "I'll grab you some tea." She said, unsure of what else to do.

"Thank you." Jayne said, hugging her plush lothcat close.

End of part 2.

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