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Chakra danced after the shimmering firefly, sailing along in the twilight of the night of what had come to be Chakra's favorite place: the gardens of the Jedi Temple. Nom had allowed her to go, only for a little bit, while she conversed with a few of the Jai, and Chakra was finding it to be immensely fun, even is she was by herself.
The girl's dress, a pale green, pretty material swayed in a soft breeze as she ran after the firefly. Giggling, she watched it land in some bushes. Slowly she crept after it, trying to catch it... she placed both hands on the place on the hedge, but the fly flew away, much to Chakra's disappointment.
However, a far more interesting sight came her way as she watched Anakin Skywalker walking with Kaikiru, hand in hand. The little girl smiled as she watched her two friends... then surpressed a giggle as Kairi-chan kissed Anakin goodnight and walked away, looking very happy. Anakin stood there for a moment, a smile on his face.
Chakra came up behind him. "You are blushing, Chosen One!"
Anakin turned to see a smiling Chakra standing there, looking rather amused. He grinned and ruffled the little girl's hair. "Oh, you be quiet, Cha Cha!"
"You like Kairi-chan, huh?"
Anakin gave her another grin as they began to walk. "Yeah, I do."
"You really like her," said Chakra, as if she were a reader of minds when it was all so obvious. "I can tell. And she likes you."
Anakin laughed. "Well, I'm glad you've got us all figured out." He winked at her.
"Are you going to marry her, Anakin?"
"Where'd that question come from?"
"I do not know," said Chakra. She and Anakin sat on a small hill as the sun continued to set. "I was just thinking about finding someone to love."
Anakin laughed again. "Whoa, Cha Cha! You're only eight, take it easy! When you'll get older, you'll find someone."
"What do you like about Kairi-chan?"
Anakin lay on his back, a smile on his face. "She's kind... smart... beautiful... fun to be with..."
Chakra lay down too, gazing at the sky. "Will I find someone who is kind, smart and beautiful too?"
"Sure. Someday."
"Do you think..." Chakra trailed off, her crystalline eyes still staring at the twilight sky.
"Think what?" Anakin said, urging her to continue.
"Do you think my father was any of those things?" Chakra asked.
The question came as a surprise to Anakin. He didn't quite know how to reply... he knew Chakra never knew her father... or heard anything about him.
"I'll bet he was," said Anakin, trying to appease her.
"Mama never tells me anything about him... in the future, I mean," she said. "And when I ask, she looks sad... and she is usually so strong and brave about everything."
Anakin turned to look at Chakra, feeling sorry for her. "I'll bet he was strong and brave too."
"You think so?"
"Yeah." Anakin looked thoughtful. "I sometimes think about what it'd be like to have a father."
"You do?" asked Chakra, looking at him.
"Yeah... I think he'd be.... proud, and noble. And strong... and he'd be a great Jedi Knight... like Obi-Wan..." Anakin added thoughtfully.
Chakra sat up and hugged her knees. "It is nice to imagine."
"Chakra? Chakra!" Nom was calling her daughter. The little girl stood, as did Anakin.
"Well, I have to go. Thank you, Anakin."
"For what, Cha Cha?"
"Now I can imagine... now I can see my father. Anytime," she said.
Anakin grinned and ruffled Chakra's hair again. "Bye, Chakra." The little girl smiled and waved as she made her way back to her mother.
Anakin sighed, cast one more look at the now dark sky, and began walking back to the temple.
Dathomir.
It was a calm place, beautiful in its natural splendor, the early morning sun catching the leaves of the trees and dew that settled over them, making them glitter like jewels. A soft breeze blew past, warm even in the morning air. It rustled bushes and grass, trees and streams... and the dark hair of a warrior, a daughter of Allya, returned after nearly fifty years away from her planet.
Nom Da'Gara studied her home world with deep dark eyes, her beautiful face contorted by a grief long since past... her own sense of guilt that had ruled her for a very long time... but that was now gone. She had to put it behind her. She committed many crimes... and the sins would always be with her. But she was truly sorry. The Darkness within her was cleansed.
And that was why Nom Da'Gara had returned to her planet after all of this time - to pay homage to her Clan, Stone River... all of whom were dead. Another breeze blew through the green-tipped black hair of Nom Da'Gara, done up in warrior braids. She inhaled once, exhaled. She was home.
Her ship, the Mind's Eye, was in concealment, far from here. She didn't know when she'd return to it. Nom wasn't too concerned about that right now. She had too many other things on her mind. And these things preoccupied her for the better part of an hour as she continued on her way, through the forest, guided by a sense of instinct and a familiarity of this place.
Until she saw him.
Immediately, Nom went for cover, heading for underbrush. She spotted an offworlder, a man... perhaps around her age - twenty-one - handsome, and well built. But Nom wasn't interested in any of those things... her mind was plotting.
He was bent over a stream, filling a cantina with water. He had on a flight suit of sorts, gray pants that fit him well, black boots... a black jacket that was open to reveal a fitting shirt that showed off his built stature. His blonde hair fell over his eyes, but as he looked up Nom could see a handsome face and the brightest eyes she'd ever seen; a crystalline blue. She smiled to herself. What a catch!
She was not looking far a mate. But perhaps she could make peace with a nearby clan by selling this man to the Clan Mother, or anyone else who'd want him. And there was no doubt there would be buyers... he was attractive, and from offworld, no less! Such a man would be well treasured as a slave.
Nom reached for her belt, which held several items; a blaster, and three energy binders of unique design. Nom originally had them for the purpose of catching food - all you had to do was aim them at a creature's legs, throw them, and they would be tie together the animal's appendages and render it immobile. However, these binders may now come in useful.. if she could lure him in sufficiently...
Nom Da'Gara stepped out of the underbrush, and began to walk toward the stream.
He almost didn't hear it at first... it seemed to be distant and far away, but when he looked up again, he heard it clearly: singing.
It was a most unusual song... he'd never heard anything like it. He stood warily, not trusting the disembodied voice that had surrounded him on all sides, or so it seemed. However, he didn't have to ponder the source of the song for very long - when he stared ahead, he saw it was coming from a woman. He blinked. What was she doing out here, alone?
As she continued her song, he watched her with caution. She was young, perhaps around his age, wearing a red halter top and black pants with boots. She didn't look like she was a native... but than again, he didn't really know much about this planet where he had landed. What he was most transfixed on, however, were her eyes... such depths in the near blackness of them... yet they were coy... sly... something wasn't right.
Almost sensing that something was about to happen, he backed away from the woman, slowly at first, until she started to advance on him faster, the song never ceasing. He really didn't like this. Finally breaking contact with her eyes, he turned and tried to run, only to feel his legs locking up beneath him. He fell to the ground, hard.
The song had stopped. Since he was on his stomach he couldn't see much, but then he heard her walk over to him and roll him over onto his back. She threw a small yellow device at one outstretched hand, and it circled him, clamped itself onto his wrist, and drew it over to his other wrist, which it clamped onto as well. He was now bound by his hands and feet. The woman looked satisfied.
She pointed a blaster at his head. "I am Nom Da'Gara, daughter of Allya. I claim you as my slave!" she said.
His eyes grew wide. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I have caught you, and you are now my property," Nom said matter-of-factly.
"Whoa, sorry lady, I'm no one's property," said the man, and he struggled at his bonds. However, it was useless, he was bound tight. He frowned up at her. "Let me go."
"No," said Nom, still holding the blaster to his head. "I have already informed you of my ownership. It is no longer in dispute."
"Like hell it's no longer in dispute!" he said, half laughing, half desperate as he looked at her. "I'm a person! I have rights... or something like that... you can't do this to me!"
Nom appeared very calm as she answered. "This is the way things are done here." With that, she waved a hand, and the man found himself floating in mid air. He looked wildly around, helpless, and sputtered at her.
Hey! Put... get me down! Wha... what do you think you're doing??"
"I cannot carry you," said Nom as if he were being very ignorant. "How else do you expect me to move you? And we have quite a long walk until we get to Singing Mountain Domain."
"Singing what?" he asked, still very confused.
Nom ignored him. "What is your name?" He looked at her defiantly, crystalline blue eyes blazing with a lack of cooperation. She wouldn't get anything from him willingly. Nom sighed. "You will tell me your name."
Again, nothing.
Nom moved closer, her eyes locked on his. "As you have probably guessed, I have-"
"Force abilities, yeah, I noticed," said the man with an almost rueful tone.
"Yes," Nom said. "So I do not need to tell you that if I choose to do so, I can make you tell me your name using Force persuasion." She raised her eyebrows. "However, I hate using that method. It is very intrusive."
The man laughed with sarcasm. "Oh, as if binding me by the hands and feet and claiming me as your property isn't intrusive?"
Nom simply looked at him.
He sighed. Obviously there wasn't any way around this… for the moment. "My name is Kryss. Kryss Ramahoshi."
Nom nodded. "Then, Kryss, we shall be on our way." Nom began walking, and Kryss was surprised to find himself moving along with her, still floating in the air.
"Where are we going?" he asked, very displeased.
"To the sisters of Singing Mountain. I will sell you there, to another clansister."
"Sell me? Oh, no you won't."
"I'm sorry, but you do not have a choice," Nom said.
Kryss' mind was racing. There had to be something he could do, some way around this... he had to get out of here, he had to get the cargo to-
Then suddenly, it dawned on him. "Nom!"
The woman stopped. "What is it?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Please, can we go back to my ship first?" he asked, with hopeful eyes. "I have cargo that I was shipping to Coruscant... it's important that I keep it with me, please..."
Nom eyed him for a few moments. "What sort of cargo?"
"A very valuable crystal."
Nom considered this for a few moments. A crystal might increase the probibilty that he would be bought... a slave with a dowry was worth much more than a simple slave. And an offworlder slave with a dowry was almost unsurpassable. Finally, she nodded. "What direction is your ship in?"
"Northeast..." Kryss said. They were heading north at the moment.
"Come then," said Nom, changing direction, Kryss still floating behind, but with a much more hopeful and eager disposition than he had previously been donning.
"Here we are," said Kryss as the modest-looking freighter came into view. Nom drew to a halt and studied the ship for a moment. Its hatch was down. She began walking toward it.
"Where in the ship is this crystal?"
"It's in a secret compartment. You'd never be able to find it," Kryss said.
"You would be surprised," Nom told him. "Just tell me where it is."
"It doesn't matter," Kryss said, fairly annoyed, "because it's under password. Only I can get in."
"Then tell me the password."
"No! Look, lady, you've already taken my freedom and my dignity away from me, all right? Leave me at least control over my own ship, SOMETHING I can still have for my own," Kryss said. Nom stared up at him, then shook her head with a small sigh.
"As you wish." She lowered him to the ground and walked over to him, touching the binders on his legs, then his hands, and whipped a blaster out at him so fast he barely had time to blink before he was under guard. "Get the crystal," Nom said. "If you try to escape, I will shoot you, and you will be stunned for about four hours."
Kryss held up his hands. "All right, all right." Nom went behind him and pointed the blaster at his back. He rolled his eyes as he began to walk. "Gee, Nom, can tell you're a real people person."
"You are not funny."
"How did I know that was coming?"
They entered the ship and went down many different passages before coming upon a panel, which Kryss removed to reveal a small door. Nom still had the blaster aimed at him. Kryss glanced at her while he keyed in the first part of his access code. "You know, the last person who held a blaster to my head was out cold for days at a cantina in Coruscant."
Nom quirked an eyebrow. "Are you trying to intimidate me?"
He looked her squarely in the eye now. "Are you intimidated?"
"No," Nom said flatly.
Kryss smiled and shrugged. "Worth a try, wasn't it?" He finished keying in the access code, and opened the door, pulling out a clear case with a crystal inside - a crystal of pure white, in the shape of a flower specimen Nom had never seen before.
"What is it?" Nom asked, glancing between the crystal and Kryss.
"I don't know... the only thing I know about it is its name: Nalanlni. And the fact that it's one hot ticket..."
"What do you mean?"
Kryss raised his eyebrows and exhaled loudly. "Well, this thing has been the center of attention of two... erm... quite powerful groups... the Sailor Jedi..." Kryss carefully took in Nom's ever-so-slight snap to attention, "and another unknown group. I'm supposed to get this to Coruscant so the highest bidder can make a claim..."
"You are a smuggler..." Nom said conclusively, gazing at him.
"Congrats," Kryss said, returning the stare. Nom broke away first. She stared at the crystal, almost hypnotically...
"I've never seen anything like it..." she said softly.
Kryss was still looking at her. "Neither have I..." he whispered. Then, without warning, he clubbed her in the back with his free hand, causing her to go sprawling to the floor, the blaster flying out of her hands. With a cry of surprise, she flipped onto her back, only to find Kryss pointing the blaster at her and setting it to stun. He gazed down at her with an unreadable expression...
"Are you intimidated now?" he asked.
Before Nom could reply, he had fired the blaster, and the last thing Nom remembered was the obvious look of regret on the smuggler's face.
When Nom came back to consciousness, she wasn't exactly sure where she was, what had happened, or why, for that matter. However, reality slowly came back to her as she lay on her back, still as anything except for her gaze, which took in her surroundings carefully.
In one graceful, fluid movement, Nom stood up, backing away toward the door with a look of revulsion and anger. She paused for a moment in order to effectively contain the fury at her situation that was growing within her. Once it had been reduced to a strong displeasure, Nom exited the bedroom, heading for the cockpit.
Kryss was sitting there, causally, and when he heard her approach, he turned to face her.
"And she awakens," he said with a grin. "Have a nice nap?"
"What do you think you are doing?" asked Nom with a hard glare.
"Going to Coruscant, as I planned," Kryss said, unwaveringly. "Sorry I had to do what I did, but you left me no choice, honey."
"Do not," Nom said forcefully, "refer to me with any term of affection, understand?"
Kryss grinned his charming grin again. "As you wish, lady."
"Take me back to Dathomir this instant," Nom insisted.
"Can't do that."
"And why not?"
"Because I need to get this crystal to Coruscant as soon as possible," said Kryss, standing now and moving into a corridor that led to another room in the ship. "Once we're there, you can catch a ship back, okay? The best I can do for you now."
Nom followed him. "You have kidnapped me!"
He stopped and turned to look at her, an incredulous expression on his face. "Kidnapped you? Well, maybe I'm just returning the favor!"
Nom sighed. "I have told you, that is the way things are done on my planet!"
"Well guess what? We're on MY ship now, and THIS is the way things are done here - we go where I want, okay?" Kryss said and entered the lounge area.
Nom fumed. "Why did you not just leave me on Dathomir after you so nicely stunned me unconscious?"
Kryss didn't look at her as he went to a computer panel. "I was pressed for time."
Nom paused, her dark eyes never leaving him. She seemed to be searching for something... "You were worried about me."
Kryss gave a dry laugh. "Worried? About you? Ms. Gung Ho? Yeah sure."
Nom knew he was lying... perhaps he forgot whose company he was in. Through the Force, Nom felt his emotions, and he had indeed been worried about her. However, as interesting and confusing this revelation might be, it didn't make up for what he did to her. She narrowed her eyes.
"I cannot believe I am in this situation," she said, folding her arms.
Kryss gave her a sardonic look. "Poor Nom. Look, you're here whether you like it or not, okay? So why don't you just go to an unoccupied part of the ship, sit there until we're at Coruscant, and then we can both get out of each other's lives, all right, sweetheart?"
"I HAVE TOLD YOU, DO NOT CALL ME-" Mid-admonishment, Nom suddenly turned her head and ceased her talking to Kryss. She was gazing, narrow-eyed, into nowhere.
Kryss blinked. "What's up? Are you all right?"
Nom didn't reply. Her brief connection with the Force, reading Kryss' emotions, had also established another connection... she could sense a Force-sensitive presence... an evil intent lying beneath…she drew in a deep breath...
"Something is not right..." she whispered.
Violet hair. Dark blue eyes. Olive skin. Beautiful. Deadly.
Sailor Sith Stardust of the Sith Senshi watched the freighter on her veiwscreen, smiling and congratulating herself on what had to be the easiest job ever. She had watched the Ramahoshi man ever since he had arrived on the barely inhabitable moon where he got his prize... the crystal, Nalanlni, ...the prize that was soon to be hers...
Stardust frowned. Well, not exactly hers, but at least the Sith Senshi's. Perhaps she'd get a taste of its infinite power before she gave it to them, however, she thought gleefully.
Her ship was cloaked... there was no way for Ramahoshi to notice her... it was only a matter of bringing them into her range and disabling them so they wouldn't be able to leave.
With a simple push of a few buttons on her controls, her ship, The Silver Scythe came out of cloaking. With a push of another button, Sailor Sith Stardust fired.
"Evasive maneuvers," Nom said to Kryss.
"What?" Kryss asked, desperately confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Evasive maneuvers! To the cockpit, now!" The ship rocked with impact, sending both Nom and Kryss flying to the left.
"In the name of all things sacred, what the HELL is going on?" Kryss cried, regaining his footing and running to the cockpit. Nom followed, bracing herself as they were fired upon again.
"It is a Sith Senshi!" she cried. "I felt it through the Force!"
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Kryss cried.
"I DID!" Nom yelled. "You chose to question me!"
Kryss ran to the control panels and began standard evasive maneuvers. None were working, and every ten seconds or so, they were hit with powerful photon torpedoes. Nom studied the panel and several warning signals.
"Damn! Kyrss, we have lost the rear shields!"
"GREAT!" Kyrss yelled. The ship was hit again.
"Can you not FLY this thing?" Nom asked.
"I'd like to see YOU get away!" Kryss cried. To his surprise, Nom planted herself in the copilot's seat, switched manual control to her side, and began to outmaneuver the ship with amazing ease and surprising control.
Kryss stared. "I had to ask, huh?"
"I am going to position ourselves so we can land on the planet..." Nom said. "Ithor, I believe it is... you must get us down there."
Kryss looked at the controls. "We've lost rear shields... among other problems... this will take a while to repair..." he said as the ship rocked again under the fire of The Silver Scythe. Nom returned a few shots.
"We will land there... I will distract her so we can go unnoticed."
"How in the name of the Force are you going to pull that off?" Kryss asked.
"Trust me."
She was crazy, Kryss thought. She was insane! Trust her? ...with the way she was flying?
The really crazy thing was, however... he did.
Nom transferred manual control back to Kryss then sat back in her seat, seeming to be in deep concentration. Kryss prayed whatever she did, she would do it fast... he didn't know how much longer they could hold up...
Sailor Sith Stardust grinned triumphantly. She had them now! They were damaged.. now to initiate tractor beam...
An alarm sounded. She flicked on sensors. "What?!" she cried out loud. There was a ship coming out of hyperspace right next to her, so close that when the field opened, she'd be ripped apart by the sheer forces of it.
Not wanting to die, Stardust moved her ship well out of range quickly. The effect was that Ramahoshi's ship was out of her range for a few moments, but that wasn't a problem... they weren't going anywhere... Once this ship was past them, she could continue...
She waited. No ship came. Stardust frowned and looked at her sensors again. They registered nothing. No hyperspace area, no ship... it had been a mind trick! Someone was playing with her mind through the Force!!
No!
Stardust, in a rage, closed her eyes and searched...
A Senshi?
Ramahoshi wasn't a SENSHI! Then who...? She scanned the area gain. No!! Now the ship was gone!! She banged one fist on the control panel, furious.
She would find them. And that crystal. If it took till the day she died...
Kryss scanned the area, trying to see anything besides tropical plants and trees. Ithor was a warm planet... populated, yes, but it looked as though they had landed as far away from any civilization as one could possibly get on this planet. He stood at the entrance of the hatch, contemplating.
He had just scanned for damage and made a report of repairs that needed to be done. Quite a bit had been scuffed up during the attack, and it would take some time to set things right again...
Kyrss looked down at Nom, who was on the ground, looking, like he was, at the surrounding area. He watched her for a moment before speaking.
"Thanks."
She turned to look at him, dark eyes boring directly into his. "For what?"
"Getting us out of there. You're one hell of a flyer."
A small smile seemed to tug at the edge of Nom's mouth but never formed. "You are welcome."
Kryss walked down the ramp. "I have to effect some repairs... looks like we're going to be here for awhile."
Nom's momentary lightening of the mood seemed to fade. "How long?"
"Six or seven days," Kryss said.
"Six or seven days... here... with you?" Nom asked, eyebrows raised.
Kryss grinned. "Yes ma'am."
Nom turned, and heaved a great sigh. "Wonderful..." she said in a dreadful tone. Kryss rolled his eyes. She flicked her dark eyes back at him over her shoulder. "I will help you with the repairs."
"You don't need to," he said, frowning.
"I will help," Nom insisted, turning back. "In fact, I think we should being as soon as possible. Now. What should I do?"
Kryss appeared to be thinking. "Well, you could go in the kitchen and fix me up a niiiiice sandwich..." He said good-naturedly, grinning at her.
"Me?! Go in... and make you... a male... asking a Dathomirian..." Nom sputtered furious. Finally, she turned her back on him, threw up her hands, and said with a growl, "You are IMPOSSIBLE, Kryss Ramahoshi!"
"Birds of a feather, Nom... birds of a feather..."
The repairs to Kryss' ship came along gradually. Nom's expertise in things mechanical helped out a lot, and Kryss had everything he needed to get the ship running again -- it just took time to get it to that point. And after about a week on the tropical planet, both were eager to leave.
However, the strain between Nom and Kryss had lightened... lightly. Both were extremely strong-willed and stubborn, so they still had their spats, Nom often getting the better of an often-flustered Kryss, but when they realized the futility of the bickering, they became rather civil. Friendly-like, even.
Kryss enjoyed telling Nom stories while they were working on the ship, and Nom enjoyed listening. When he wasn't being overly sarcastic, Kryss actually had a witty sense of humor, and on a few occasions, he even made Nom smile.
Kryss lived for those smiles, he found. He tried to make them appear as often as he could, which as the days progressed became more and more often.
Nom found herself actually enjoying Kryss' company, if at times he was still a rather bothersome male. Nom seldom enjoyed a male's company like this before, and it made her surprised at herself. She reasoned she had found a friend.
Neither of them suspected their feelings.
On their eighth night on Ithor, Nom and Kryss had finally finished the necessary repairs. They decided that in the morning they would take off, as they both were rather tired.
Nom conjured a fire with a Force-spell, not because it was cold, but because it grew quite dark at night, and Nom wanted to sit outside for a while. Kryss, freshly cleaned up, as Nom was, came out to find her sitting on the forest floor, looking up at the break in the canopy.
"Dactari for your thoughts?" he asked goodnaturedly.
"That is not a sufficient price," said Nom, frowning. "And besides, you cannot price thoughts. Do not be ignorant."
It took Kryss a moment to realize she was serious. He blinked a few times then sat down beside her.
"Never been to Ithor before," said Kryss casually.
"Same with me," said Nom.
"And I've been to a lot of places," Kryss added.
"As have I," said Nom.
Kryss looked at her. "Nearly one-fourth of the galaxy."
Nom looked at him. "Nearly two-fourths of the galaxy."
"I've been to the unknown regions!!"
"I have been there too!!"
Frustrated, both looked away, frowns on their faces. Nom glanced over at him once. "Have you always been a smuggler?"
It was as if the spat never happened. "Yeah, pretty much. My dad was one. Guess it's just how I grew up." He grinned. "It's an exciting life..." the grin faded a bit... "And a hard one... but I wouldn't do anything else."
Nom turned her gaze upon him again. "What about your mother? Was she a smuggler too?"
Kryss gave a dry laugh. "Hardly. Ah, my mother. My dear, sweet mother... I can't even remember her."
"Then how do you know if she was 'dear' and 'sweet'?" Nom asked, confused.
"That was sarcasm, Nom," Kryss said. "I never knew my mother. My dad told me about her. Said she was a high society debutante from Corellia. When she met my dad... well, she was enamored with the 'bad boy' image. That is, until, she got me."
Kryss paused, looking rather bitter. "She told her snotty family when she found out she was pregnant that she was taking a 'vacation'... she went to Nar Shaddaa, had me, then told my father he'd better take me or I'd wind up in an orphanage... didn't want to tarnish her name..." Kryss laughed the humorless laugh again. "She was a prize, my mom."
Nom seemed sympathetic. She reached out and put a hand on Kryss' shoulder until he looked at her.
"I know how you feel, Kryss," she said softly.
Kryss seemed curious. Nom slid the strap of her halter top down until the back of her shoulder was revealed. A large scar ran all the way down it... faded somewhat now, but Kryss could tell that it had once been a large wound.
"What happened?" he whispered.
"My mother was no prize either..." Nom said. She looked like she wanted to continue, but something held her back.
"Go on, Nom," Kryss said, surprised at his soft tone. "You can tell me."
"A long time ago..." Nom said. "My clan, Stone River, wanted to accept a Nightsister back into our clan, who said she was no longer with the evil forces." She saw his confusion. "A Nightsister is a witch who uses the Dark side of the Force instead of the Light."
"Like a Sith," Kryss said.
Nom nodded. "I did not want her to return... I alone thought she was still evil... I... I killed her." Kryss said nothing, letting her go on. "My clan sent me into exile, and when I returned to them, I was so angry... I killed them all... I was more of a Nightsister than the one I had killed."
Nom's voice nearly broke. Kryss sat very still, surprised.
"I went on a thirty-year repentance mission... and now, I have purged the Darkness within me. I cannot undo what I did, but I am a different person now. And I am sorry."
Kryss, acting on impulse, reached out and took Nom's hand. She stared down at their intertwined fingers in shock.
"I think," he began, "that you are the strongest soul I know, to have the courage to go on..."
Nom met his gaze. There was no sarcasm, no scoffing. She felt the crazy urge to tell him all, everything she ever felt, but he spoke first.
"You said a thirty year mission..." he said with a frown. "But you can't be more than twenty-two or so."
Nom inhaled. "In truth... I am over seventy years old. The clan cast a non-aging spell on me... I will not age until I die."
Kryss still held her gaze.
"I have never told anyone that," Nom said. "Not even..." She paused. "My closest friends."
"Why tell me?"
Nom hesitated. A thousand thoughts flew through her head... each thought new, exciting, confusing. She wanted to say, 'Because you are like no other,' or, 'I feel something when I am near you'. But all she could do was something she'd never do to anyone else, she knew... she leaned closer to him....
"How sweet."
The pair looked up sharply. There, in a blue and black fuku was Sailor Sith Stardust. She wore a nasty grin on her face.
"A couple that lies together, dies together. Hand over the crystal. Now."
"Dream on, honey," Kryss said, standing quickly.
"I don't need to dream, honey..." Stardust hissed. "You'll give it to me, or you'll pay!"
Kryss reached for his blaster, but Nom put one hand on his arm. "Leave it to me." He watched with utter confusion as she moved forward.
"You cannot threaten us, creature of evil. I am a defender of evil, and you will be the one to pay."
"Nom?" Kryss asked, eyebrows raised. "Wh... what are you doing, here?"
"Quiet, Kryss," Nom said. "And back up. DATHOMIR WITCH POWER, MAKE UP!!"
In a dazzling light show, Kryss watched as Nom turned into some sort of warrior... a Sailor Jedi!! When she landed, he marveled at her green and white fuku, her elegant appearance, lined with ferocity.
"Soldier of Life and Justice, I am Sailor Dathomir! For Creation and Destruction, I will punish you!"
"A senshi!" cried Stardust. "Just what I need..."
"Brown Water Spout... Rise!" cried Dathomir. A drop of water hit the ground, then collected dust and spun toward Stardust. She avoided the attack.
"Wanna play? Let's play!" She held out two hands. "Evening Star Shine!!" Dozens of light rays went flying to Sailor Dathomir.
"Kryss!" she called. "Get out of here!"
"I'm not gonna leave you!!" he cried as Dathomir evaded the attack.
"Do not be a fool! Stone River... Obliviate!!" Somehow, Stardust avoided this attack too.
"Stardust Elimination!!"
As another fascinating light show came rocketing to Nom, Kryss ran around, unseen, to Stardust's back, where he aimed his blaster at the back of her head and rapped it against her skull, knocking her down. Sailor Dathomir ran over, examining Stardust. Kryss aimed his blaster at the Sith Senshi's chest.
"No!" cried Sailor Dathomir.
"Why not? She was gonna kill you!"
"Yes, but if you destroy her, it will only send more coming. Stun her... that will give us time to leave."
Kryss obliged as Nom powered down, and the two of them headed toward the ship, knowing there would be some explaining done when they were airborne...
They were well on their way again before either of them spoke. Kryss looked at Nom with disbelief and confusion, unsure as to where to go from here.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he finally asked. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Sailor Jedi?"
"It never came up," Nom said.
"Never came..." Kryss began, but trailed off before he could form the rest of the sentence.
"Please do not let this change anything," Nom asked him. "Do you feel any differently now?" There was worry in her tone... he seemed intimidated by her... she didn't like that.
"I don't know."
"I ask you, please, not to treat me any differently."
Kryss looked at her. She was a Sailor Jedi. A pretty soldier. She was practically nobility... so far above him. How could she ever....
"Okay," he said softly.
Stardust sat, holding one hand to her throbbing temple aboard The Silver Scythe. How could this have happened to her? How could she have been outwitted by a Sailor Senshi?
It was disgraceful. Her mission was terribly simple. The Sailor Sith had found out about the Sailor Jedi's plea to Ramahoshi to bring back the crystal safely and unnoticed. They too made an offer to him... Stardust was here to ensure that the crystal ended up in Sith possession. And she couldn't even pull that off...
It was very disgraceful.
And a fuel to the fire which was Stardust's obsession of finding the flower crystal Nalalni.
She closed her eyes.
Time to relocate her prey.
Though she had asked Kryss not to treat her any differently, a new kind of strain had developed between Nom and Kryss. Now, neither seemed to know what to say to the other one.
This both frustrated and worried Nom. Why was she being so self-conscious over a male?
You know why, she told herself. Perhaps he is not just a man... but Kryss Ramahoshi, a man you might be growing to love. This thought sat like a lump of coal in Nom's mind. This was so unlike her...
"We're uh... coming up on Reecee now," Kryss said awkwardly, entering the bedroom where Nom had spent the better part of the hyperspace trip. They both had decided that they better lay low somewhere for a while... and besides, their food supply was running low. One stop on Reecee, then they'd head straight to Coruscant.
The ship landed in a forest on the outskirts of a modest-sized town. Kryss and Nom decided to stay in the ship for just a few days, just in case someone got curious about the newly arrived ship. During this time, Nom and Kryss avoided each other, each still quite unsure about how to approach the other one.
Finally, on the fourth day, they ventured out, and on the way to the town, Nom broke the horrible semi-silence.
"Do you have something against Sailor Jai?" she asked.
"What?" Kryss said, surprised.
"You act as though I am someone to be avoided, feared even," Nom continued. "Why?"
Kryss sighed. "It's not like that... it's just..."
"Just what?"
"Well... you're someone who's in a position of nobility... A Sailor Jedi... that's a pretty important title, you know?" He paused, scanning the horizon as they walked the path that would lead them into town. "Why would you want to have anything to do... with someone like me?"
Nom looked indignant. "Are you implying that because I am a Sailor Jai, I would not associate with someone who is not?"
"Are you saying I'm wrong?"
"YES, I am saying you are wrong!!" Nom cried. "And besides, I decide who I associate with, not the Sailor Jai! And they are the nicest people you will ever meet, believe me!"
Kryss looked at her. Nom calmed a bit and paused for a few moments before she continued on.
"The Sailor Jai... seem to be inexorably tied to fate, you know. Some do not believe in it," she shrugged. "But it is hard to avoid the fact that we all seem to have paths laid out for us... preset destinies... things that happened to us many years ago that reflect the future, rebirths, rising again..." Nom looked thoughtful. "And not only are we affected, but those around us as well." She looked pointedly at Kryss.
"So... you think I might have a place in fate too, Nom?" he asked with a grin.
Nom, with the utmost seriousness, said, "Perhaps."
Kryss took her hand. They walked, hands joined, in silence the rest of the way to the town.
The bar wasn't exactly the best place in town, but it would do. Nom and Kryss entered and sat at the bar while the people occupying tables watched them with interest and suspicion.
No one took notice of the man who suddenly up and left. No one saw the commlink he was pulling out of his pocket as he went.
They ordered drinks. While they were waiting, a particularly surly-looking man, obviously drunk, sauntered up to the bar and sat on Nom's left side. "Hey good lookin', " he said with an oily smile. "Lemme buy you a drink?"
"No," Nom said. "I am with someone." She motioned to Kryss on her right side, who was glaring.
"Aww, com'on, pretty. What're you hangin' around with him for, huh?"
"Lack of options," Kryss said, half sarcastically, half angry, "given the company around here."
The drunken man got very mad at this statement. "So, you think you're better than me now, fly boy?!"
"Get 'em Annon!" jeered one of the man's friends.
"Look, forget it, okay? Take a hike," Kryss said, turning to his freshly-arrived drink.
"You can't tell me what to do!" cried the drunken man, growing more obnoxious by the minute. "I'm buyin' this chick a drink! And maybe I'll give her a little something else, if I feel like it!"
Nom's head snapped up, and there was fire in her eyes.
"You touch her, you'll regret it," Kryss hissed.
"Oh yeah?!"
Kryss stood, as did the man, but once again, Nom stopped Kryss. "No, it is okay, Kryss," she said with a wink to him. She picked up her drink and moved to the man. "Maybe I would like it if he bought me a drink." She was close to him by now, and the man was leering. "However, maybe I should just dispose of this one first..."
She poured the drink all down the man's front.
The man cried out in outrage as the bar occupants laughed. Suddenly, the man grabbed Nom's arm roughly. Nom, being Nom, elbowed him in the stomach and backhanded him across the face.
Now, the man's friends were on their feet, running for Kryss and Nom. In seconds, a bar fight was in full swing, Kryss and Nom with the upper hand. It all broke off, though, when the bartender approached with security.
Nom reached for the drunken man's head, which was now laying face down on the countertop, before they got to her. She pulled it back so he'd look at her. "NEVER say anything so disgraceful again." She picked up another unused drink and poured it on the top of his head. "And THAT was for calling me chick."
Kryss was laughing as the two of them were taken by the arms and brought to the front door.
Nom and Kryss were thrown out into the pouring rain, Kryss still laughing, Nom wearing a large smile, the first one she had worn in days.
"Ahh, what fun!" Nom said.
"I've definitely got a woman with some skills, I can say that much!" Kryss said with another laugh.
"Are you sure you have me?" asked Nom, eyebrows raised.
Kryss stopped and looked at her, standing there in the rain... the sun, hidden behind the clouds, casting a silver like glow on everything. Something felt right... impulsively, Kryss grabbed Nom's hands.
"Nom.." He tried to gather his thoughts. "Every day with you... I feel like I am complete, you know? I don't know... I've never felt like this about anybody... I'm... I'm not sure if I could go a day without you now..."
Nom looked at him with surprise... surprise that faded to a feeling of exhilaration. "Are you saying, Kryss... that you care about me?"
I'm saying I love you, Nom." He moved his hands to her face now, holding her cheeks. "You're so beautiful... and so strong... and I've never---"
Nom put a finger to his lips. "And I love you, Kryss." Again, the smile that had been so rare before these past few weeks. "I love you, too."
Kryss embraced her, not caring that the rain fell endlessly down on them, not caring that it was cold... for he was in paradise.
Nom's heart soared. She felt like a whole person, like she had found what she had always been looking for. When Kryss pulled back, she looked at him with curiosity mixed with happiness.
"Nom," he began, "Nom Da'Gara, daughter of Allya... will you marry me?"
Nom wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes, Kryss Ramahoshi. I will."
They kissed the first kiss they had ever shared, one of earthshaking power. When it was over, it was hard to tell which was more moved.
"One thing," Nom said.
Kryss looked almost panicky. "What's that?"
"Do not call me honey."
Kryss grinned. "What can I call you then?"
She kissed him again, then whispered, "Your Destiny."
They eloped that day on Reecee and spent a romantic evening together. They vowed the next day, when they realized they had to go, that they would take a real honeymoon as soon as the crystal had been delivered to Coruscant.
Knowing that the second bidder had to be the Sailor Sith and that Stardust was just an assurance that they would get it successfully, Kryss had decided that he would give the crystal to the Sailor Jedi. Nom said he was biased. Kryss said maybe he was.
Food store replenished and eager to complete the trip, Nom and Kryss got to the ship... and realized they were not alone.
The first inclination was that the entire ship had been ransacked. Kryss hurried to check on the crystal... only to find the security panel revealed... the compartment open... someone had broken the code... how, that was impossible?... and there was no crystal inside.
He ran back to the cockpit where Nom was. "Nom! We have company!"
"What?"
"The compartment is--"
"Empty!" Sailor Sith Stardust materialized behind them. "Where is that crystal?!"
Kryss and Nom both stood, dumbstruck. The crystal should have been in the compartment... unless someone else got it first...
"A little help from a few spies told me you were here," Stardust bragged, "And your ship was easy to find... but I cannot find the crystal. Where is it?!"
Both were silent.
"You will tell me or I will KILL YOU!" cried Stardust.
"We do not know!" answered Nom truthfully.
"Oh really?" Stardust sneered. "Well in that case... Stardust Energy Bind!"
Both Nom and Kryss were wrapped in body binds of pure energy that proved to be unbreakable.
"You will come with me," Stardust hissed, "until you do know where Nalalni is!!"
Kryss and Nom were roughly thrown into a small, cold brig aboard The Silver Scythe. As soon as they were in, the energy binders that had immobilized them vanished, and a force field went up in the doorway. Sailor Sith Stardust was most displeased as she stared down at them.
"Where is that crystal?" she asked very forcefully. "Where is Nalalni??"
"We've told you, we don't know!" Kryss insisted.
Nom glared. "How can we tell you something we ourselves do not know?"
Stardust was breathing heavily. "Fine. Have it your way. I will give you one night to reconsider. In the morning, if you do not reveal to me Nalalni's location... I will be forced to use...persuasion." She gave them a perverse smile, one ringed with promises of terrors to come, and exited the brig.
As soon as she left, Nom jumped up and went to the energy field holding them in. After several minutes of studying it and testing it systematically, she shook her head. "I do not believe it," she said softly. "This energy field is Force reinforced. I do not think I can get us out, even with my powers."
Kryss sighed. "Well... so much for a honeymoon, huh?" He sat on the ground, leaning up against one cold wall. Nom went to him, settling herself in the crook of his arm as he draped it over her.
"Where could the crystal have gone?" she asked.
"I wish I knew," answered Kryss. "What do you think she'll do to us?"
"Torture, I expect," said Nom, with a terrible calm.
Kryss rubbed his forehead, seemingly worn with fatigue. "I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"For dragging you into this. You wouldn't be here now if I hadn't taken you from Dathomir..."
Nom's brow furrowed. "You are right... I would not be here. And I would not be your wife, and I would not have found the only man I will ever love." She drew him close and kissed his forehead. "And I would not change that for the world. I have no regrets."
Kryss smiled at her. Amazing how she had that effect on him. "Then I have none, either." They joined hands.
No sooner had their fingers touched when a white glow appeared in front of Kryss' chest. He winced, as if in some sort of pain, and Nom backed up slightly, her dark eyes very wide as she watched the phenomenon. When the glow faded, an amazing white crystal in the shape of a most beautiful flower was revealed hovering in midair above Kryss. They both stared at it in shocked silence.
Finally, Nom regained her wits. "It... it was inside of you!"
"How?" asked a bewildered Kryss.
"It was necessary," came a third voice. Nom and Kryss jumped as a form came from out of the crystal -- a form of a woman.
She had no features, just a hazy white, slender outline. But she seemed to radiate with a feeling of calm and beauty that settled over Kryss and Nom like a blanket.
"Who... who are you?" asked Kryss.
"I am Nalalni, the original keeper of the crystal, and from whom it gets its name," said the woman. "When I died, my spirit remained with the crystal, and shall remain so for eternity. I am this crystal's guardian."
Neither Nom nor Kryss knew what to say, so Nalalni continued.
"I foresaw the Sith's arrival on Reecee, and knew I had to protect the crystal's awesome power. I hid the crystal inside of you, Kryss Ramahoshi, the night before you left your ship to go into the town. I used you because your wife would have had a reaction to it, should she use her Sailor powers that day. I could not let the crystal be revealed."
Nom looked at Kryss, amazed at how much this... entity knew.
"The crystal must not fall into Sith possession," Nalalni continued. "And it is in danger of doing so. We must stop that from happening."
"How?" Nom asked.
"The crystal has many powers," said Nalalni. "For instance, anyone who should touch it will become ageless."
Kryss blinked in surprise. That meant....
"Yes," Nalalni said. "You were affected too, Kryss. And it has other powers, as well, such as teleportation."
"Are you saying you can teleport us out of here?" asked Nom.
Nalalni hesitated. "Yes... but only one of you. I am very sorry, but until the True Power of the crystal is awoken, it only has enough power to take one of you." Nalalni paused. "And that Power is not meant to awaken on this day, I regret to say."
Kryss and Nom exchanged worrisome glances.
"You must choose by morning," Nalalni said, already starting to fade from their vision. "When you have decided, hold up the crystal and say the name of the place you wish to go. I am sorry again, Ramahoshis...." And with that, Nalalni faded completely, and the crystal stopped glowing, falling into Kryss' lap.
Nom and Kryss were silent for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, they turned to one another and both said, "You go."
Nom shook her head. "I am not going."
"Nom, you are gonna go."
"Kryss, it would not be logical! I can defend myself, I am a senshi!" Nom cried.
"I have a few tricks up my sleeve too," Kryss said.
"I will NOT go," said Nom stubbornly.
"Nom you have to! Listen... I... I just have a feeling. You need to be away from here. For something important," Kryss said awkwardly.
Nom frowned. "Are you saying you have had an insight?"
"Call it what you will..." Kryss said. "From the moment that Nalalni woman told us to choose, I knew it had to be you... something's gonna happen, Nom, something big... and you need to be out of here to do something about it." He looked at her seriously. "Look, Nom, nothing like this is supposed to happen to me. I'm not Force-sensitive, I'm not clairvoyant... so it must be important." He paused. "Your a Sailor Jedi... can't you feel it?"
Nom could feel it all right, but oh, she didn't want to. Yes, something was going to happen... life would be changing for her, she knew she must go and face it... but if that meant losing Kryss...
"I cannot just abandon you," Nom said. "It is cowardice... and besides... I love you too much."
"You have to, Nom," Kryss said again. "And don't worry. I'll find my way back to you. I have all the time I need now," he said with a small smile.
"Do you give your word?"
"As your husband, I do."
"I take words of honor very seriously," Nom said.
"I take words of love even more seriously," Kyrss said and kissed her once. There was a long, heavy pause. "Be with me one last time, tonight..." Kryss said softly, adoration shining in his crystalline blue eyes. "Before we face our uncertain tomorrow...."
Nom stood in the center of the brig, crystal in her hands, which oddly enough, had turned a bright green the moment she touched it. Her eyes were locked on Kryss'. He kissed her forehead and stepped away.
"Wait for me on Dathomir," he said. "I'll make it back to you, I swear."
"I will wait," said Nom. "Kryss--"
But he shook his head. "No tearful good-bye... I'll see you again."
Nom bowed her head and raised the crystal with one slender arm. "To Dathomir!" she cried. A hazy green mist covered her eyes, and she could just barely make out Kryss saying, "I love you"... she tried to respond, but her lips would not move.
She was now in a place of eternal green light... seemingly neverending. She could not move her body, but her mind was completely active. It was a very unpleasant feeling... she was unusually aware of time going by... an hour... two... three... a day... another day...
Finally, after nearly two days of being in a stasis, the green light cleared, and she was suddenly on Dathomir at daybreak, feeling oddly refreshed and awake, though she could not ever remember going to sleep while in stasis.
Nom looked around. This place was familiar. She was very close to Singing Mountain territory. Nom looked down at her hands now. The crystal had vanished. Where could it have gone now...?
Then, very gradually, Nom felt another presence... faint, but clear... Nom gasped. She put one hand to her flat stomach. A light... a light was forming within her... she was with child... with Kryss' child...
Thinking nothing could have made her happy at this time, Nom was surprised to find joy swelling within her. She was to be a mother. And this must have been the thing of importance that he told her about...
Kryss...
Nom raised her gaze to the morning sky, pink and blue... scattered with clouds... I will find you, she vowed, if you do not find me... and I will love our child with my entire being, as I love you...
The promise sealed, Nom Da'Gara Ramahoshi made her way to Singing Mountain, at one journey's end, and another's beginning...
About the Senshi in this story:
Chakra/Sailor Chibi Dathomir
Nom/Sailor Dathomir
Kairiku/Sailor Chibi Naboo
