Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Note: A big thanks to Lusitana for giving the idea behind this particular piece.

Friendship

"You don't remember anything at all?" Juno asked him, clearly displeased at his first answer. Did she think rephrasing her question would bring something different? Because it wouldn't. He didn't remember his parents or his childhood. He didn't remember anything except the pain of failed lessons and the dark silence of almost constant solitude.

"No." The word came out sharper than intended and the expression on Juno's face told him that he'd annoyed her. Or upset her, maybe. The thought of that curbed his exasperation at her inquisitive nature. When he spoke again, his voice was more compliant.

"I don't remember them. I doubt I ever knew them."

There. That worked. The frown lines had eased, though he didn't like how the curious glint had returned to her eyes.

"But it doesn't make sense. Vader must have taken you from somewhere."

She was right, of course, but knowing that wasn't going to bring any moments of shining clarity. If he'd ever had memories of a childhood he did not recall them. He had probably been too young when Vader had come for him. Or maybe Vader had locked his early memories away. Attachments led to distractions. It would have slowed his training or faltered it completely. He'd never really understood that until he'd met Juno. Not that he was attached to her, or anything. She was just different and she was a distraction.

If she had been some sort of test then he'd certainly failed it. Failed it badly, too. Starkiller would never admit it, but she'd distracted him from the get go. He still recalled how surprised he had been at how she had shown no outward fear of him. Only curiosity. Always curiosity. That was more than could be said of most of the other pilots he had worked with. Most of them had been wary or suspicious or just downright disrespectful of a boy who could overpower them without even trying.

"Did you ever ask him?" Juno continued, drawing him away from his thoughts. Unable to solve her own problems, had she moved on to solving his? It was a wasted effort, if so. She'd be more likely to find out about the truth of her mother's death, than his own. Besides, he didn't care anyway. Why would he?

"About what?"

"About where you came from."

He gave her an incredulous look. "No."

"What about PROXY? Does he know?"

"If he does, he's not telling."

And who knew. Maybe his parents had given him up willingly for the cause. He couldn't say he would be surprised at that scenario. For every person who rebelled against the Empire there was someone fiercely devoted to it.

It didn't matter in the end, anyway. Vader would have killed them, willing or not. His secret apprentice wouldn't be very secret for long if there had been bragging parents or distraught ones.

No. Even if he had been curious he knew there would be no one alive to find. What was the point of chasing after ghosts?

"I just don't—"

"—Juno," he interrupted. "Let's just focus on finding Kota."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see her give pause; considering. The expression she wore wasn't hurt. Perhaps perplexed might have been the more accurate word.

"You really don't care?"

"No." Though he wasn't sure whether that was true anymore.

"Well, I care."

He blinked. "Why?"

"Because…" she paused for half a beat, "because you're my friend."

An awkward silence followed.

What did he say to that?

It was something that had been known between them, certainly. Known but never spoken. Having it confirmed out loud was a strange thing. It made it real. Made it breakable.

But before he could even start to conjure a reply, she had turned back to her work. Perhaps she had taken his lack of response as some sort of rebuke. If so, he didn't know what to say to fix it. Silence was safer.

"It'll take me a moment to get us ready for the jump to hyperspace. Hopefully this will be the last location we have to look." She paused for a moment. "But I won't hold my breath."

Her face was tinted pink, he noticed, but her voice was level as it usually was.

"He can't evade us forever," he said.

"He's avoided capture so far." Juno pointed out. "He's good at it."

"We're getting closer." Starkiller refused to think otherwise. "He can't run forever."

Thanks for reading!

Also, a small update for those who read 'Severance'. I'm doing a big rework on the epilogue which means it will be delayed somewhat. However, as a result, it will hopefully be a much better reading experience. With Liisiko's help I'm going to be working hard on it over the next couple of weeks. As always, updates on its status can be found on my profile.