Chapter 2

"Um, Bao-Dur and Mandalor are fighting again, I think-"

Atton jerked to a stop as his eyes caught sight of Keira. It was a sight to behold, shocking enough to cause the head games he constantly played to come to a jumbled halt.

From the time Atton met her in that cell on Peragus as she strode in with nothing but her undergarments and a blaster, Keira had represented strength. Even when she left herself wide open, calmly declaring, "If you have questions, ask," there was a self-assurance about her that he would never doubt.

The scene before him now, however, contradicted everything he thought he knew. Keira was huddled in a corner. Her legs were drawn up as her arms hugged them to her chest; she was curled safely in the fetal position, seeming broken and desperate. As she took every ragged, tear-choked breath, he saw the way her shoulders slumped. The black hair that was always perfectly pinned in place fell freely about her.

Beyond her position, what shocked him most was her face. Since they had begun traveling together he had seen many expressions cross her face. The way her eyebrows would lift into her forehead in surprise. He would watch as her eyes would narrow and her lips would draw a tight line in irritation. When she fought, be it with words or weapons, he saw either suppressed anger or a fierce protectiveness and purpose burn in her eyes, her eyebrows slanting down to press against her eyelids. He saw when her eyes would soften as she surveyed those who's lives had been destroyed by war and violence. As one brow would raise in an unimpressed manner, almost in disdain or amusement. One thing tied them all together, thought: They were all suppressed.

What he saw now, thought, was beyond their level. Tears were pouring down her already tear-stained cheeks, with more welling up in her eyes. Her eyes were darkened, staring at him unblinkingly, so many emotions flashing through them. They screamed of peircing anguish, confusion, and fright.

She seemed desperate.

She seemed like a child.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"What......happened?"

Keira lowered her eyes, shuddering.

"You tried to kill me," came the terrified whisper.

"What? Mira and I left you behind at the cave!"

Her eyes focusing on the pistol at his hip, Keira added, "You all tried to kill me."

Her eyes slid shut, tears leaking out to stick on her eyelashes. Everything was playing in her mind's eye.

The room was dark. The only people who could be her family were shooting, slashing, yelling; they were trying to kill her.

Her body began to shake. A small, pained noise made its way past the sobs that blocked her throat.

"Keira..." Atton took a step forward, prepared to reason with or comfort the girl, thought he wasn't sure how.

"Stay back!"

Keira shot to her feet in an instant. Locks of hair fell in front of her face. Her eyes met his in a terrified, desperate gaze as she kept one hand stretched out.

Stiffening, Atton eyed the hand, the fingers of which were curled in a position he knew all to well.

"I can snap your neck in a moment," Keira hissed. "So don't come any closer, murderer. I'm not defenseless."

Atton backed up quickly, his back pressing against the ship's steel walls. In a hurry to protect himself, he unhooked his pistol's holster from his belt.

He could see Keira's eyes watching the gun fall. As it hit the floor, she seemed to relax a bit.

"Keira," Atton began hesitantly, "We were all in the ship while you were off doing whatever you were doing. Besides, why would we even want to kill you? I mean, Mira might, since she's a bounty hunger, but she doesn't kill people."

Keira blinked at him for a moment before sliding down the wall back to the floor.

"That's what I"m trying to understand! Why!"

Atton slowly walked over, finally kneeling in front of her. Sighing, Keira closed her eyes. After a moment, she looked back up, eyes regaining an emotions he was familiar with.

She was going to ask a question, and she was going to get an answer.

"What is apathy?"

Atton's eye brows shot up into his forehead.

"Uh....lack of emotion? Good grief, is this Jedi speak or something? Some hidden meaning?"

Keira's mouth twisted into a small, relieved grin as a short, harsh, yet genuine laugh escaped her. The sudden affect could be seen over her entire image. Her limbs slipped into a relaxed posture, and her head tilted back to rest against the wall.

"It wasn't really," she said breathlessly, "it wasn't you...it wasn't actually any of you. It was just a vision-just a vision."

After trying to decipher her jumbled speech for a moment, Atton shook his head and stood up.
"Well, it's good to have you back from whatever world you were in."

Giving a small grin, Keira took the hand he offered her, using it to get to her feet.

"Of course. You'd be dead if I wasn't around."

Laughing, Atton shook his head, and Keira couldn't help noticing that he was actually an inch taller than her. She blinked, then strode past him to the door. It didn't matter anyways. As she looked back, she narrowed her eyes.

"This stays between us, got it?"

"Alright, but for a price."

"Wha-"

In the space of a few seconds Atton had crossed the room and placed a quick peck on her lips. He walked calmly out of the room in her moment of shock, looking as if he hadn't just kissed Keira, the exile who could likely kill him. Fighting down a small, unexplainable blush, Keira left the room, calling after him, "You're not gonna get away with that!"

A/N: Ah...here's the disclaimer I forgot to put in: I don't own the game, the characters, the setting, yaddayaddayadda, it all belongs to the....lucus arts place, I think?

Well, here's what the note's /really/ about: Reviews please? I'm not entirely sure how I did on this. I think there may be some OOC Atton, too. After all, when I wrote this chapter it had been a little while since I'd played, so I didn't have a firm grasp on his character. But, yes, reviews are much welcomed!

Finally, thank you for reading! -Wings.