Sorry for the delay, guys. I was struck with a bit of writer’s block, and I’ve been a little busy. But I hope you enjoy the chapter, and don’t worry, they’ll be off the ship in the next chapter and things we’ll start getting a little more exciting.

Remember: I heart reviews. They make me feel all warm and squishy inside.

Abomination

Chapter Three

“The Stowaway”

-Revan-

I stared in disbelief at the small twi’lek as she pulled herself from the small confines of the storage unit. “Mission, what the hell are you going here?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. As much as I adored the girl, it was all I could do not to put my hands around her scrawny little neck.

“Uh, hey, Rev. How’s it going?” Mission laughed nervously, flashing me a lop-sided grin. She quickly glanced towards a larger compartment next to her, just as a very uncomfortable looking Zalbaar climbed out and stood next to her.

“Don’t ‘uh, hey, Rev’ me.” I mocked her. “What in the hell are you doing here? How did you even know about this?”

I heard Canderous snort from behind me. “I guess you have this under control,” he stated as he left the room, but not before flashing Mission a knowing grin. “Good luck, kid.”

When he was gone, I turned back to the two stowaways. “Well? I’m waiting.”

The teenager raised her hands in defense. “Rev, I know you’re angry, and you have every reason to be. But before you start removing appendages…can I ask you something?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”

Mission cleared her throat, shifting her weight uncomfortably. “Well, we’ve been hiding in there for several hours now, and I had a lot of water before we left, so –“

As angry as I was, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Down the hall, to the left.”

The teenager grinned widely and rushed from the room as quickly as she could. “Thanks!”

I turned to Zalbaar, who had remained quiet up until now. “Did she talk you into sneaking onto the ship?”

The wookiee nodded. "It was her idea, yes. But I agreed because I swore a life-debt to you and I intend on keeping it. As you know, where you go, I must follow."

I sighed and ran a tired hand over my face. “Big Z, as much as I appreciate the gesture, I can’t allow you two to stay with me. It’s too dangerous.”

Big Z leaned against the wall paneling and looked me up and down. "Mind if I ask you something?"

Looking around, I found a wooden crate and hoisted myself up onto it. “Go ahead.”

"If where you are headed is so dangerous, why are you going alone? We can help you?"

I looked down at the floor, trying to force back tears. I knew I had hurt all of my friends by leaving like this. Why was it so important that I had to do it by myself?

You know why, I reminded myself. You’ve already ruined so many lives of millions of people that you don’t even know. How could I possibly do it to the people that I love? This was certain to happen if anyone followed me.

“No one can help me.”

The fight was about righting the wrong I had done in the past. I needed my honor back.

It was about keeping the entire galaxy safe.

It was about facing my mother one last time.

It was about saving my son.

-Carth-

Before I knew it, we had arrived on Coruscant. Time flies when you’re completely miserable. Either this, or lack of sleep really does make your days run together.

Jedi Master Vandar had arranged for us to stay in the Jedi Temple for the time being while we were all being questioned about our journey, leading up to the destruction of the Star Forge and Revan’s disappearance. They assured us that it would only take a couple of days and we could be on our way.

I did my best to avoid everyone. I spent most of the time packing my belonging and preparing for my trip back to Telos. I had a lot of preparations I had to make for my arrival.

I had been gone so long, that I didn’t even have a place to stay. The last time I had stepped foot on my home planet was for my wife’s funeral. Needless to say, I didn’t stick around long afterwards.

Despite everything, I was looking forward to going home. I was eager to begin joining in on the Telos Restoration Project. It would be nice to see my planet become alive again.

It would be even nicer to have someone to share it with.

I groaned. I couldn’t keep doing this to myself. If I allowed Revan to invade my thoughts every few minutes, I would go mad. It was hard enough having to wake up and not have her lying next to me. Counting down the days that she might return wouldn’t help anything, and it certainly wouldn’t make me feel any better.

While examining my room, I noticed the large balcony that over looked the city, complete with a lounging chair. The sun was beginning to set in the distance, casting half of the city in darkness. It was truly breathtaking. I watched as the street lights below began to turn on.

For the first time in months, I finally felt relaxed.

I sat down in the chair next to me and closed my eyes, just listening to the speeders go by, and allowing my mind to wonder.

"You've been watching me closely as of late. Why is that?" Alora asked, resting her arms on the table and looking me straight in the eye.

"You noticed that, huh? Damn you, Polies and your Jedi sense." I smirked at her to indicate I was joking.

She played along. "Well, if you were any more obvious your eyes would fall out of your head."

I couldn’t help but blush. "Um, I'm not that bad am I?"

She laughed and playfully patted my hand. "Relax, Onasi. I'm teasing you!"

My eyes filled with mischief. "Damn it woman, if you don't stop hounding me, I'm going to take you over my knee and teach you a lesson."

"Aha! I would love to see you try!"

I did my best hide my embarrassment. I couldn’t believe it, I was flirting with her, and she was flirting back. As fun as it was, I cleared my throat and changed my tone. "Don't worry, I haven't been ogling you. I've been...admiring you."

She grinned, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "It's okay, I don't mind if you watch me."

I chuckled nervous. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner? Would've saved me a lot of trouble!" I smiled. "I will say one thing however. We've come a long way with your help. You're skills are amazing. I'm...I'm glad you're here."

Alora began to fidget in her seat and fingered her silverware. "Any other observations?"

"Yeah, but I hope you don't mind if I keep those to myself."

Things had been so much easier back then. Before any of us knew she was Revan, the former Dark Lord of the Sith. She had made it so difficult to not fall for her. And even after Malak had revealed her identity, I found it impossible to hate her.

The truth was I had already fallen in love with her. And now, Force knew if I would ever see her again.

It was killing me to just sit back and do nothing. I should have been out there with her! I don’t know what was so damned important that she had to leave in the middle of the night and not tell me. I should be there with her, not Canderous.

But those were her wishes; for me to stay behind and keep the Republic safe. So that was what I was going to do.

“I don't know when I'll return, but I make a promise to you that I will do my best to make it back to you. I'm not asking you to wait for me, you deserve to be happy, and Carth I wouldn't blame you at all for finding someone else. But I know you - you would wait until the ends of time for the things that you love. And I know that as long as I have your love to guide me, I will find my way home to you.”

I would wait for her forever, but I couldn’t sit around and wonder if she was even still alive after so long.

I’ll give you four years, Revan. If you’re not back with me by then, I’m coming after you.

-Revan-

Once Mission had returned from the refresher, I sat her and Zalbaar down in the common room. “Okay, now out with it. I want some answers.”

Mission sighed and leaned her elbows on the counter. “I couldn’t sleep. I just kept having this funny feeling that something bad was about to happen. I grabbed Big Z and for some reason, I knew you would be taking this ship when you left. So we hid here.”

I frowned and leaned against the counter. “So you overheard Canderous and me talking about leaving?”

“No, it was just a feeling.”

“And this was the same feeling you had about the ship?”

The young girl nodded.

This struck me as strange. The girl was too smart for her own good, but to know we were leaving without eavesdropping, and to pinpoint the exact ship we were going to take was odd itself. Not to mention that I didn’t sense her on the ship, even without the help of the Force.

It was possible the girl had a bit of force sensitivity. And as much as I would have liked to have explored it further, I had more important things to attend to. It was far too dangerous for them to be with me.

“At the first pit stop we make, I’m sending you to Coruscant with the others.”

Mission’s eyes widened. “No! Revan, please. I want to go with you. Big Z and I can help you do whatever it is that you have to do.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. The decision has been made. Why do you think I didn’t take Carth along with me? If I could, I would have taken every single one of you with me. But I can’t risk it.”

Mission stood up abruptly, causing her stool to crash against the floor. “You’re a coward, Revan.”

I frowned. “Excuse me?”

The teen crossed her arms over her chest and stared angrily at me, tears streaming down her face. “You heard me. You’re a fracking coward. You’re too afraid to admit that you can’t possibly do everything by yourself and that you might need help. You’re afraid to let people get too close, you always have been. That’s the real reason you left us behind. But you know what, Revan; I’m not going to allow you to push me away! You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

With that, Mission ran from the room, leaving Zalbaar and I staring at each other in disbelief.