Maverick and the Jedi (closed for LassardLost)

[slut_in_white]

A short RP about an alternate universe event, taking place during Jedi and the Maverick, during the stop on Naboo.

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Davin looked back up at Aria. "I have example after example of you people turning around and stabbing us in the back for an extra credit. So, yes. I don't have to like working with you. And I sure as hell don't trust you. But if all I have is your need to maintain your reputation, well I guess that will have to do."

Davin released the light saber from Aria's back, flipping it through the air into his hand. He pocketed it, turned around, and started walking away from her towards the hangar.

Aria rolled her eyes, following Davin. Part of her wanted to keep attacking him for his unjustified mistrust of her. She wasn't one of those mercs. She wasn't the kind of person to kill innocents for any amount of money. At least, not anymore. That second thing, about the merc stabbing the Jedi in the back... well, that hit closer to home than she would ever like to admit.

They made their way back to the hangar. No use sticking around on Naboo without a reason, especially not in an area crawling with so many Imps. "I'm not those mercs," she snapped, finally unable to handle the tense silence any longer. They were walking up the ramp back into the cargo hold of the Shadow's Hand.

She was going to continue, but stopped short at the sight of an old Miralukan woman sitting in the middle of the empty cargo hold, smiling when they walked up the ramp. "Such anger!" she observed, chuckling. "Ah well, it all starts as it must."

Aria blinked at the woman, her hand going to her blasters. "Who the hell are you?"

The woman continued to smile, apparently not at all off-put by Aria's anger. "You may call me Titania. And I am here with a gift of prophecy."

Aria snorted. "Bullshit." But, while Aria couldn't feel it, the woman was incredibly powerful in the Force. There was actually some possibility that she was telling the truth.

The woman shrugged. "You do not need to believe me in order for the future to come to pass."

 

[LassardLost]

Davin had become quiet on the way back to the Hand, in part because he didn't have any more to say to his mercenary counterpart, but also in part because he felt something in the Force. And that something was made apparent to him as soon as they stepped into the cargo hold of the Shadow's Hand.

The Miralukans were a humanoid race who lacked eyes. In their place, they had vestigial eye-sockets, and usually they covered them with some kind of piece that ended up looking like thin spectacles or some other material that blended into their skin. They saw, but they saw with the Force. And many of them had the capability of looking into the future, so attuned were they to their Force based sight.

Davin was quietened even further as she spoke. She seemed to pose no threat, though he wasn't sure Captain Maverick would appreciate that.

"She's strong in the Force," Davin said. "Let me speak to her." He glanced at Aria as he passed by her slowly, his gazed fixed on the woman, who sat peacefully on the floor in the middle of the cargobay.

"What is your purpose here, Miralukan?" Davin asked. They were just as susceptible to the Dark side of the Force as any other Force adept. He had to make sure she was not a spy.

 

[slut_in_white]

Davin told Aria the woman was strong in the Force, and she rolled her eyes. Great. Just what she needed. More Force Adepts.

Titania smiled kindly at Davin. "Ah, young man, you struggle with your nature. I understand. I am here to help you. I know of you, Davin, and of you, Aria. And your lives are on a course I do not imagine you expect. You will need each other before long, and I have come to ensure that you do not break before you have begun."

Aria glowered at the woman. "What the hell does that mean? Yeah, of course we need each other, I don't fucking know where I'm doing, and there's no way this moron would get himself anywhere useful without my help," she growled, glowering at Davin.

Titania sighed heavily. "You see? Your anger overcomes you, both of you, and you risk everything. In time, you will come to trust each other, but there must be something for that trust to build upon, and you are at a dangerously high risk of shattering that foundation entirely." She motioned for them to follow her and she tottered into the ship, waving her hand at the cargo bay door to make it open as she approached.

Aria's eyes went wide. "HEY! What are you doing? You can't go in there!"

"Calm yourself, Captain, I'm not going to harm your ship." She walked into the common area and took a seat. "Come. Sit. Close your eyes. I will show you your future."

Glaring at her, Aria sat, but she didn't close her eyes. There was a pause, and the Miralukan woman smiled. "Aria," she prodded gently. "Please let me help you."

"J4?" Aria called. The robot appeared a moment later. "Keep an eye on this woman." There was no way she was going to close her eyes while a strange lady was on her ship.

"Yes, Mistress."

Aria closed her eyes, and sighed heavily. She didn't expect anything to happen at first, but then, she realized the darkness wasn't the back of her eyelids anymore. The space around her was black, but she could look down and see her body. And when she turned, she saw Davin standing beside her "What the hell?"

 

[LassardLost]

Davin experienced the same, as he closed his eyes and drifted into a blackness that seemed to light up another world. He looked down and saw his body, and then looked over at Aria and saw her looking at him, her confused - and, as usual, angry - eyes flashing at him. Then a whirl of light and sound appeared before them, and it seemed as if they were floating above a scene. I

There was Aria and Davin, in a dark room of some kind, with large blocks of machinery every where. There were several men, all of whom, it seemed clear, were bent on attacking Aria and Davin. There were sounds of people dropping, yelling, blaster fire, and then… a scream that belonged to a voice that was all too familiar.

They saw Aria scrambling up ladder like steps embedded in the side of one of the machine blocks, and finding Davin, bleeding, with a knife in his side, lying on top.

"You fucking stupid Jedi asshole. How did you get yourself stabbed way the fuck up here?! Fuck. I can't leave you alone for five fucking minutes..." She pushed him into a sitting position and ripped a large spiral of cloth off of his shirt, then yanked out the knife. Davin yelped in pain and Aria glowered at him. "Shut up, I need to get the blade out or you're just going to cut your insides to ribbons on the way out of here." She wrapped the strip of cloth around his torso several times, and tied it off. Then she grabbed the jacket out of his bag and helped him put it on. "Come on," she murmured, her tone a bit softer. "I can't carry you. I'll support your weight, but you have to walk.”

Each time she spoke, or for that matter every sound in this vision, seemed to echo through the blackness. They saw Aria help support Davin, who uttered deliriously all the way, back to the Shadow’s Hand. By this point, Davin’s face was pale, covered with sweat, and the area of blood that was seeping through the makeshift bandage that Aria had tied was drenching through with maroon.

She managed to haul him into the infirmary, where she cut the makeshift bandage off, gasping at the sight of how much blood he'd lost. "Fuck you, Davin. I told you, you're not allowed to leave me.”

Then, when she was done tending to him, she slumped down in the chair next to the cot and watched, exhausted, as Davin slept. "You ass. You get me all attached and then pull this shit..." She yawned, and fell asleep.

Then the next vision was Davin, standing, leaning by the doorway of the cockpit, thanking Aria for saving him. Aria was angry. "What the fuck did you get yourself stabbed for?! I had to carry your sorry ass back in here from the ramp!" She leaned towards him, her eyes narrowed furiously. "I swear to all things holy that if you ever do that to me again, I'll fucking kill you myself."

 

[slut_in_white]

Aria wasn't sure, at first, what they were seeing. It was some kind of... factory? And then she saw Davin getting stabbed, followed by that version of her climbing up to save him, cursing all the way.

Yeah, that seemed about like how she'd react to the fucking Jedi getting stabbed. Wasn't he supposed to be some kind of martial master? Moron.

Only then, they got back to the Shadow's Hand, Aria cleaned him up, and...

"Fuck you, Davin. I told you, you're not allowed to leave me. You ass. You get me all attached and then pull this shit..."

Aria - the real one, not this dream-of-the-supposed-future bullshit one - sputtered, furious. "What?" She glared at the Davin floating beside her. "This isn't fucking real. If you think I'm going to get all sappy on your, you're a fucking idiot. This senile old lady doesn't know shit."

 

[LassardLost]

Davin found himself overjoyed. Even as Aria began spitting her verbage of rage at him he burst into laughter. As she finished her sentence Davin, who simply couldn't resist, rubbed it in deep.

"Bahahahahah! This. Is. Amazing. Actually, it's not that amazing. I am a pret-ty charming guy, eh, Cap'n? I mean, who wouldn't fall for this?" Davin raised and lowered his hand before his chest, laughing hardily as he did. "Oh this is just ripe."

Though Davin felt himself wanting nothing more than to rile up the mercenary, he couldn't help but feel that there was something inside him that felt really, genuinely happy. Of course this was completely ignored. Right now, the ammunition this Force-adept had given him was just too good to pass by.

"It's hard not to fall for me, Captain Maverick. Don't worry, you wouldn't be the first."
Davin wasn't one to talk this way, not normally. But in this moment, there was really nothing else that could be said.

 

[slut_in_white]

Aria growled, furious at him for making more fun of her. "Fuck you!" she shouted, lashing out at him, though whatever force was holding them in the air before the scene wouldn't let her get close enough to actually hit him. "This woman is insane! If you think I'm EVER going to fall for you, you're even dumber than I thought!"

But, as she shouted, the scene changed again. It was the Shadow's Hand, the common room dark and empty. There was a thump and a cry of dismay from Aria's room, and immediately, a disheveled looking Davin ran out and slammed his fist against the door, demanding that she open it.

And Aria did. Wearing nothing but a sheet and looking like she'd been crying. "I thought I told you to stay in your room." It was suppose to sound cold and firm, like she didn't care to see him and she was ordering him back. But her voice cracked halfway through and instead, she just sounded... sad. She sighed heavily, reaching out with her free hand to brace herself on the door frame. She sounded emotionally exhausted. There wasn't any vitriol in her voice anymore. "What do you want, Davin?"

Looking Aria up and down Davin beamed, his wrinkled sleepless eyes doing something they hadn't done for many days. "Oh! I just wanted to check - I heard someone in here - no, I mean, I heard - I thought I heard you were in trouble so..."
so I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You are okay aren't you? You... you look different. Sorry. I know I shouldn't be here. I don't want to break your rules. It's just - you can't - I need to be out of that room and I needed to make sure you were okay. It's good to see you. You look amazing."

Aria snorted with laughter. There wasn't much happiness in it, but there was at least genuine amusement, even if it was marred a bit with derision. "No I don't. I look like I haven't slept in a week." She shook her head and ran her fingers absently through her hair. "What the hell's the matter with you, Davin?"

“I’ve been thinking,” he said through his hands, still covering his face. “A lot.” His voice started wavering. “I can’t shut you out. I don’t know!” He burst out. “I’m so damn confused! I don’t understand. I don’t even know what I am. If I am really a Jedi? I certainly don’t behave like one.” He looked up at Aria, anguish filling his eyes, as if he was about to burst into tears, though no tears in sight. “Why do I constantly feel like I need to subject myself to your… ways. You are such a pain in the ass to deal with, yet here I am, sitting on the side of your bed, tearing myself to pieces on your account?! Why the fuck do I care?!”

“All I know, is, after sitting in that room for two weeks, is that I do. Do you understand?” He walked up to Aria and grabbed her by her shoulders, though didn’t shake her. “I. Care. About. You.” He mouthed the words slowly, looking right into Aria’s eyes. “And I bloody well shouldn’t. But I do. I cannot go back damn it, I can’t go back!” And then without giving any kind of break for Aria to respond, he added, “Say something! You have to say something!” Then he paused, let go of Aria’s shoulders (which was good because something in the back of his mind told him that if he didn’t he would have a knife added to his body), and took a step back.

“And, please, let it be something nice. I could really use something nice right about now. I don’t know. For the sake of the mission. Or for the sake of not having an unhinged Jedi on your ship. Make up a reason. Just say something nice.”

She shook her head, still smiling (at least the expression was genuine this time). "What do you want me to say? That you look good? You're a mess. We're both a mess." She took the two steps required to close the distance between them and splayed her hand out against his chest, pushing him backwards until his knees hit the edge of her bed and he sat down. She dropped the blanket that was covering her, not bothering to acknowledge that it left her naked in front of him, and knelt on the bed, straddling his lap. "This is a terrible idea." The statement was perfectly matter-of-fact, brooking no argument. "But worse would be to let this no-contact bullshit go on. We're going to get ourselves killed if we can't even stand to look at each other." She lifted her hands, one sliding over the back of his neck and carding through his hair, the other resting on his shoulder. She evidently intended to kiss him, but made no actual move to do so. "If you want me to fuck off, tell me now." Her voice had grown whisper quiet, and there was something almost vulnerable in her gaze. She was fighting it, amusingly, by narrowing her eyes at him, into almost a glare. "Because I'll fucking kill you if you shut me out again."

Davin closed his eyes and sighed in utter relief as Aria straddled him, immediately running his hands up and down her bare hips. So smooth. So perfect and ready. “Yes – yes, we wouldn’t be able to work together this way, that’s it. Let’s blame it on our mission. I don’t care. I just need you to do something for me." David leaned heavily into Aria's neck kissing it, tasting it like a ravenous wolf that had been starved for days. "If I ever shut you out again," he managed to say between tastes, moving slowly up her neck to the angle of her jaw, "kill me."

Aria - the real one - turned to look at Davin, one brow lifted, smirking. "Um, so what was that about being irresistible, you Jedi bitch?"

 

[LassardLost]

Davin’s facial expression had slowly changed from that of a cheeky grin, to flat, to frowning - half in confusion, half in intense annoyance.

He growled back at Aria’s taunt. “Well, clearly you have a thing for ‘Jedi Bitches’ - you looked just as haggardly as I did in that… image… vision, whatever. And you’re the one that dropped your sheet and straddled me. I didn’t make the advance. For all I know I’m just playing along to get a stubborn merc to help me complete the mission.”

Davin’s words felt hollow and almost hopeless even as he said them. He knew what he saw. And his… apparent, alternate self’s confusion as to his identity seemed to shake him. Davin swallowed nervously as they were whisked to another scene.

"Dress," Aria ordered, tossing him one of his new shirts. The anger in her expression gave way for a moment into fear and, while he was pulling his new shirt on over his head, she asked, "Do you trust me?”

The cargo bay door the Shadow’s Hand opened, and Aria shoved him, hard, down the ramp. Davin stumbled several steps down the ramp before he was able to make himself stop.

Standing on the grass before them were no less than two dozen Imperial soldiers, and standing in the center of them, was a tall, willowy woman with black hair. The moment Davin tried to move, every one of the 24 guns around him were trained on him.

The woman laughed. "Ah, my sweet pet has finally come home to me."

Aria strode down the ramp past Davin. Aria crossed the grassy space between them and dropped easily into a kneel at the woman's feet, bowing her head and lifting her arms up to present Davin's lightsaber.

"I'm sorry I took so long to return to you, mistress. I was trapped on the other side of the blockade and I did not want to return to you without a gift." Her voice was meek, like a child apologizing to a beloved parent. Davin, observing the scene before him, began to grow angry. She was planning on betraying him to the Sith the entire time. He glanced over at Aria, glowering at her, and wanting to whip out his lightsaber right then and there, but the scene continued, and Davin found himself unable to act.

Davin was being held in a 5 foot by 5 foot box, with energy fields all around. Vila swept into the room not long after he's been brought in, and sat down on a chair opposite his cage with a smile like he was some old friend.

"I'm going to tell you a story," she began, still smiling from ear to ear. "It's about your precious Jedi council, and how they once stole a man's identity. You see, some years ago, there was a great Sith Lord named Revan."

Davin knew that name. He knew that Revan had once been a Jedi, who fell to the Dark Side and brought many Jedi with him at the beginning of the Jedi Civil War. Revan had died during a major battle, leaving his apprentice in charge. Only, a few years later, Revan reappeared, having returned to the light, and ended the war by fighting his old apprentice. He was considered a hero of the Jedi, and proof that no one is truly irredeemable.

"Do you know the story of how he returned to the Light?” Vila went on. "You see, the Jedi didn't kill Revan in that battle. They took him prisoner. They stripped him of all of his memories, and they gave him a new identity." She smiled cruelly. "A man who had seen the truth of the universe was kidnapped and his very soul stripped from him." She leaned forward. "Now tell me. Do you think they could do something like that again? To, say, someone like you?”

She smiled like a kid who had a great surprise up her sleeve. "After all, if you were really a Jedi, you probably wouldn't have fallen for a Dark Lord of the Sith... like your precious Jayna.”

“...another story. In this story, we have a lovely, talented Sith Lord named Jayna who is sent on a mission to retrieve her love, a powerful Sith, stolen from her by the Jedi. She goes to Coruscant where she is 'discovered' as a latent Force Adept by your clueless masters. Did you not wonder how it was that she rose through her training so quickly? How she took such little time to master her abilities? She already knew. She'd already been taught, since childhood." Her eyes went wide, like a doe's, sad and vulnerable. "Imagine. Imagine having your lover stolen from you by your enemy, and, when you go to seek him out, you find him brainwashed by them, thinking that everything you are is evil." She shook her head. "Poor Jayna was heartbroken when she found you. She was determined to love you, even if you hated her. She wanted nothing but to have you back..." Vila's gaze turned cruel and her lips turned up into a sneer. "But we are Sith. Such desperation is weakness. We could not allow her to turn you soft. To turn our greatest hope into something so... mundane as a man in love.”

Davin’s mind… watching the scene enfold before him… vacillated between disbelief of this eerie Force-attuned woman who was supposedly showing them their future, and a mounting confusion mixed with rage. Something deep within him stirred, and his heart pounded in his chest. Could it really be true? Could it be, that he was taken by the Jedi, mind-wiped and re-built as one of them? Was he truly Sith? Davin found himself angrier than he could ever recall being in the past… but why?

Another scene:

"So tell me," she purred, still close to the field, "what game did Aria play with you?" She put her finger to her lips in a thoughtful pose. "Oooh. For you? I'd guess she'd play the hardened mercenary. Right? The one your natural charm and kindness slowly wore down?" Vila laughed. "What, did you really think she liked you?" She shook her head, grinning. "Oh no. She uses sex and the promise of love to manipulate men. Like you." She smirked. "It seems even Jedi aren't immune to the charms of Aria... what name did you say she have you? Oh, that's right. Maverick. How cute."

She sat down again, taking on that best-friends-sharing-gossip look again. "So tell me. Did she play the cold, calculating one who hates any sort of intimacy? Oh, or the rape survivor who doesn't want to be touched until you show her that sex doesn't have to be painful? Or was she the sex-crazed one who fucks all the time with no strings attached?" Vila winked. "At least, there were no strings until you, right? If I were a betting woman, I'd say either option two or three. She does the sex-crazed girl so well, but those eyes can show off such vulnerability when she wants them too…”

Davin felt his hand touch the handle of his lightsaber, gripping it tightly. As soon as this “showing” was over, he would kill the merc and finish it off. He would return to Master Tiderus and get his answers. But he would be damned if he was going to finish this mission with this wretched, two-faced lying bitch.

Again, another scene:

The guard picked up a massive metallic object, that appeared from the surface of it akin to a combustible engine, with cylinders. From each side of the "engine", three clear thick plastic tubes hung, giving the whole thing the appearance of a metallic spider with limp legs. At the edge of each tube, around the circumference of the opening, was a steel-like surface with what clearly appeared to be a very sharp circumferential lip. It looked like if the tube was pushed into, say, any body part, it would cut right into it, embedding the tube into the flesh by way of the steel bite.

This, in fact was exactly what it was for. Aria and Davin, sitting in the Shadow’s Hand, floating in some kind of cinema-showing that they couldn’t get out of, watched as Sith Inquisitors tortured Davin.

"No. No. Oh God no, please! Why!? Why are you - NNOOOAAAHAHHHHHH! AAH!" AAAHHH!" Davin screamed as the guard placed the engine-spider upon his chest, and flicked on a switch, with a brief electronic hum, the circular knife-tipped plastic tubes started turning slowly, digging, cutting into Davin's flesh in the spaces between his ribs on each side - three - on each side. They rotated slowly as they penetrated his skin, blood dripping from his sides.

Davin screamed, and screamed, and screamed, his body bucking, "Please.... PLEASE! PLEEEAAASE! OH GOD NO! No..." The tubes dug in until they had opened into his chest, creating a seal between the machine and the inside of his chest cavity.

The guard who had placed the machine on Davin's chest now brought a clear flask capped on both ends, containing a green liquid. He opened the cap on one end and poured it into an opening on top of the engine-spider machine.

"What... What is that?! What is that... please…” They watched in horror as the green liquid filled the clear plastic tubes, and flowed into Davin’s chest…

The scene dissolved into Davin lying limp in a cell. His left eye had been removed. There had been no anesthetic. Davin lay unconscious in a pool of his own blood, his face bruised, swollen and disfigured, his left eye sewn shut.

A group of Inquisitors entered the cell, and Davin was shaken awake - he instinctively flinched, trying to back away from the Sith. He looked like a pathetic, scared rodent in a cage. They held him down and inserted electrodes into his sides.

"Are you a Jedi or a Sith?" The lead asked. Davin didn't respond. His chest visible heaved.

They electrocuted him.

"Are you a Jedi or a Sith?"

Davin tried to speak, and when he did, he let drop from his mouth, "Sith.”

 

[slut_in_white]

Aria knew, the moment the vision showed them Vila waiting for them outside the ship, what was coming. "FUCK YOU!" she screeched impotently, looking up into the blackness, as if she expected to see the Miralukan woman - whom she now assumed was a Sith - grinning evilly back down at them. "FUCK YOU! THIS IS A LIE! I'M NOT GOING BACK TO HER! NEVER!" But it didn't matter. Worse, she knew what this looked like to Davin. She knew that, whatever happened between now and then, she would never return to being loyal to that Sith bitch. Whatever reason she'd had for presenting Davin to her as a gift, it had been a ploy. Not that Davin knew that.

That bitch, Titania, had claimed she was trying to help them strengthen their bond, their trust with each other. All she'd done by showing them this was make certain Davin would never, ever trust her again.

Then, her gaze flickered to a movement in the rear of the ranks of Sith troopers, and she gave an incoherent screech of rage. "JUNO! You slimy little fuck! I'm going to kill you for this!" But of course, all she could do was hang in the air, shouting uselessly.

And the next few scenes showed Davin being tortured horribly, and Aria hated it.

It didn't even matter that she didn't like Davin. She hated the thought of causing that kind of brutality on someone. Anyone. Well, except Vila herself, and maybe her cronies. She twitched, wincing visibly every time the vision-Davin screamed. And then, she saw him lying on the floor of his cell, one of his eyes torn out, and she curse, her own hands coming up to her own eyes, remembering vividly the pain of it. "Fuck... Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she breathed, not even realizing she was saying it out loud. "I don't even care if I hate you, I wouldn't... I would never give you to her," she spat, her mouth twisting around the word. "Not voluntarily."

After Davin admitted to being a Sith, the scene changed again. Another torture room, more torture devices, but these being used on Aria. They saw two men using the same ugly spider-machine on her while she writhed and twitched, terrified in her blindness. They saw her being raped by those men afterwards. And then, they saw Davin being dragged into the room, Aria being released from her restraints, and then her tearing the throat out of one of the guards with her bare hands. And then...

"Tell me, pet, what exactly happened to that sorry excuse for a Sith, Jayna?"

Aria bowed her head, breathing hard. Every breath came out as a hiss between her gritted teeth. "I murdered her, mistress."

Vila's smile widened. "How?"

Aria cleared her throat. Speaking was getting difficult. "I stabbed her through the neck," she rasped, coughing.

"Very good, pet," Vila cooed, grinning. "Just as I asked. Now tell me, do you deserve my trust?"

Aria winced. "I-I hope so, Mistress."

"Why?"

"Because I love you," Aria answered instantly.

Aria's eyes went wide, and she began to twist and struggle against whatever force was holding her in this vision. The image faltered and went black for a moment, and she realized that the woman was having difficulty maintain her hold on Aria, so she renewed her efforts. "FUCK! YOU! I'M NOT GOING BACK THERE! I'M NOT GOING BACK TO HER! YOU'RE A LYING BITCH!" And yet, despite her apparent fury, there was as much fear in her voice and demeanor as there was anger.

Titania seemed to regain her hold, though, with a struggle. The image below them flickered to life for a moment, then went out, and then came back, this time stronger, and Aria seemed to have been distracted from her struggle by the realization that the image was following her around Vila's yacht... while she defaced every single Imperial icon on the ship. And then, in a final act of defiance, tore the bed into bits.

When she walked into the ship's common area, Davin was sitting there, waiting for her, and the real Aria felt an uncomfortable jolt of unadulterated joy at the realization that they both must have escaped. But why wasn't he trying to kill her for what she'd done?

Amusingly, her vision self asked the same question not a moment later: "Why the fuck aren't you mad at me?!" she demanded, stomping halfway across the room before her injury made her stop and bite back a curse. "For fuck's sake! You were tortured for weeks! You've turned into a Sith! Because of me! Why aren't you fucking yelling at me? What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

“There she is.”

Aria - the real one - looked over at the real Davin, her face a mask of confusion. "The fuck?"

Only before Davin could answer, his vision-self began to shout, first about not being a Sith, then about not being a Jedi, and then he simply burst into tears, startling both versions of Aria quite completely.

And then, in a move that probably confused the hell out of both of the silent viewers, the vision-Aria simply crossed the room, wedged herself into the space between Davin's back and the back of the couch, and hugged him, just holding him until he stopped crying, followed by a small quip about being shitty at comforting, which made the vision-Davin laugh.

Aria just shook her head. "What the fuck is happening right now?"

It was followed by Davin asking Aria how she had ended up with Vila in the first place, and Aria spilled the whole story, something which shocked the real Aria into silence. The concept of telling that story to anyone was... baffling. And yet, after what had happened, he still cared enough to ask, and she still trusted him enough to answer? There was no question that, if this was real, something huge had happened to them.

And then the conversation ended with Davin holding Aria's face in his hands, and proclaiming, “All I have is my name. Davin Graff. And you. Aria… whatever. I don’t even care. I don’t care that you killed Jayna. I blame the Jedi for taking my life away from me, and I blame the Sith for killing her and giving me my memories back. I hate all of them. But you. There’s only one thing in this universe that I love. It’s in this ship. And it’s not me.” And they kissed, passionately, lovingly, before the scene faded away.

Aria turned to Davin, utterly confused. "I... wait. You said that... and I didn't punch you for it? The fuck are you going to do to me, Jedi?"

 

[LassardLost]

By this point Davin felt like it was just too fucking unfair for this woman to have shown up and thrown a wrench in what seemed to have been a pretty straight-forward existence.

Now, he and been told - apparently - that he was a mind-wiped Sith, and secondly, clearly, the Davin and Aria in the vision had some kind of unfathomably and inexplicably strong bond of love for each other if they were going to have gone through everything they had just seen, and still by the end of it find comfort in each other. Not only that - it seemed that the only thing they could find comfort in was each other.

"There’s only one thing in this universe that I love. It’s in this ship. And it’s not me."

"I... wait. You said that... and I didn't punch you for it? The fuck are you going to do to me, Jedi?”

“I could ask you the same, apparently. I’m not sure what you did to me that despite my being tortured and having my eye removed that I’d… [/i] Davin couldn’t even bring himself to say it. His mind just kept on returning to that last scene in the Shadow’s Hand, when Aria came and embraced him from behind, and he and confessed his love for her.

Slowly, scene after scene, the walls inside Davin seemed to break down. What else could they do? There seemed to be no arguing it. He felt that what he saw was true. He felt it in his bones. Well, as true as something that hadn’t happened yet could be. There was something in Aria, and Davin was starting to ‘know’ it, that he was deeply attracted to, and something he found completion in… apparently. In reality, the whole thing was just too much to process, and Davin simply sat quietly, as if defeated, watching.

The next… who knows how long… was nothing but scene after scene of Davin and Aria having sex in different parts of the Shadow’s Hand. Davin started to feel uncomfortable, feeling himself actually becoming excited watching. This was absolutely absurd, the whole lot of it.

They were shown random moments in which they confessed their care for each other.

Aria: I won't apologize for what I did. I'm sorry I caused you pain, but I did what I had to, and I'd do it again, because there's only one life in this galaxy that means more to me than mine, and it sure as fuck wasn't hers.

Davin, kissing Aria passionately: "Fuck you for saying the most perfect god damn thing you could ever say and now I want to fuck your brains out but I can't because we have to fucking land on Korriban. Fuck you."

"You say it how it is. You tell me the truth. And you don't do it to fuck with me. Now you're the only one I trust.”

Davin, the real Davin, slowly looked over at Aria. And in a half defeated way said, “Are you… believing all this shit?"

 

[slut_in_white]

Are you… believing all this shit?

Aria shrugged. "I mean, I dunno. All the revelations... they're true. I did kill Jayna. I wished it wasn't necessary, but it was, because I was stuck under the thumb of that psycho and it was the only way out. And there's no way this Titania would know that it was me, unless she worked for Vila, but if she's as strong as you say? No way. Vila's a master manipulator, but she's weak. No Sith that powerful in the Force would let her control them."

She sighed heavily. "I meant, outside all this mushy lovey shit, everything I did in these visions makes sense. If we ended up getting caught by Vila, that's exactly how I would have played it. Pretending to still be her loyal pet in the hopes that I could convince her to trust me enough that I'd get another chance to escape." Then, a frown. "And, if she worked for Vila, she wouldn't have shown us that Juno was the reason we got caught. I mean, she just gave away how we ended up in that mess in the first place, which seems like a stupid thing to do."

She sighed heavily. "As fucking insane as it sounds... Yeah, I think I do. But what I want to know is what the fuck happened. I mean, we're not exactly on the best of terms. How the fuck did we go from wanting to kill each other to... well, that?"

And, as if in answer, the vision flickered again, this time showing the rebel base on Balmorra. Naveen, kissing Aria. Aria, shouting at Naveen because he didn't have her money, and threatening to leave with the guns. The siren. The warning that the Empire was coming. And Aria commanding J4 to bring down the guns and growling something about making sure the rebels last long enough to pay her later.

The arrival of the two Sith. Davin went for one, Aria, the other. Aria's fatal mistake - her attention drawn for only a split second by the sound of the child's scream, and then her feet being lifted off the ground by the Sith. Her getting stabbed and kicking him. Her falling on top of him and driving her blade through his skull before collapsing from her injuries, and nearly passing out.

Aria grumbling, ""Damn it. I'm gonna die here because I went soft. This is what I get. I should never have tried to look out for anyone but myself."

Davin's voice, shouting through the dust. “Aria! If you’re dead I’m going to kill you!"

The real Aria snickered. "Ha. I knew it. You fell for me first."

 

[LassardLost]

Ha. I knew it. You fell for me first.

Davin opened his mouth to say something, but one, he really did not know what to say anymore, and two, the next scene had started, and it was Davin thrusting himself deep into Aria, the two of them in each other’s embrace, lying cheek to cheek. Davin saw himself whisper into Aria’s ear, “I love you, Aria.”

The real Davin felt himself go flush in the face. It was so damn… intimate… he couldn’t possibly imagine…

He went on: “You’re everything to me… Aria… Everything.”

At this moment, Davin, the real Davin, looked over at Aria as if to ask her, “What are you going to say?” And when he did, the look that he got back, actually told him before he heard her response in the scene.


"I...” the vision-Aria seemed to choke, "I want you. I need you." Her gaze was intense, but it looked like he had thrown her into some place where she was stuck. "You mean everything to me." She pulled Davin in close, her lips brushing lightly against his. "I can't live without you.”

But she never actually said the words.

Davin glanced over at the real Aria and saw her glancing down at her feet, for just a moment, though when she realized he was looking at her, she averted her gaze back to the next scene.

In fact this happened at least three more times. Davin explicitly confessing his love, and Aria, with a face that seemed almost tortured, saying something back that made it clear her feelings were the same… yet she just couldn’t say the words.

One time, vision-Davin, after expressing his love, immediately followed it with “And I now you love me too, don’t even worry about saying anything.” He knew her well enough, and knew her issues with that word - with love enough to essentially say it for her, and not care that she couldn’t say it.

Davin looked over at the real Aria. “Looks like I end up knowing you from the inside out. And not just physically. And apparently, you’re not as much of a pain in the ass as you pretend to be.”

And at that moment, Davin found in himself a little spark that somehow told him that all those times Aria cussed and became angry at him - even for the littlest things - he… actually kind of liked it. He had to admit, that deep within himself, if he was honest, he found it… terribly cute.

Davin shut his eyes and shook his head side to side. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

 

[slut_in_white]

It was kind of weird, given how private and intimate some of these scenes actually were, that the only thing she found particularly humiliating was the fact that Davin was learning she would never be able to say the word "love" and mean it. Somehow, despite what they were watching, that fact alone made her feel far more vulnerable than any of the rest of it.

She felt ashamed, like there was something wrong with her because she could do horrific things. In fact, she took pride in the idea that she could do anything that was required of her to survive. But she couldn't say that word. Not even when she so obviously meant it. A fresh coal of hatred started burning in her chest for Vila. She hadn't realized that the bitch had taken that from her, too.

Then Davin said, gently, "Looks like I end up knowing you from the inside out. And not just physically. And apparently, you’re not as much of a pain in the ass as you pretend to be.”

She glanced over at him, some part of herself aware that he was trying to respond to what they'd just seen without making he uncomfortable (or moreso, anyway), and she found herself appreciating the effort. A smirk appeared on her lips. "More like you end up loving how much of a pain in the ass I actually am," she answered, her smirk spreading into a grin when he responded.

She'd figured that would be it. How much more could this woman show them? But after the last vision of Davin say the word "love" for her, another flickered to life.

It was Davin and Aria, lying in bed she didn't recognize, in a room she didn't recognize. It was far more luxurious than anything she would have expected to have in the near future, with a stunning view of some ocean right from the bed. They were a mess, damp with sweat and clearly just finished another bout of sex. They were both lying sprawled on the bed, facing the door, watching the sunset, with Aria's head pillowed comfortably against Davin's shoulder.

There was a long, long silence, where neither of them said anything, and Aria almost grew uncomfortable with the feeling that she was looking in on a exceedingly private moment, even if it was technically hers. Vision-Aria shifted suddenly, looking up at Davin and laughing when she realized he'd been dozing. And then.... "I love you."

The real Aria's jaw dropped open. "No..." she breathed. "That's not..." She looked over at the real Davin, her eyes wide and confused. "What the fuck?"

 

[LassardLost]

I love you.

“What the fuck?

And before anything further could be said or done, the blackness began to fade away, Davin felt as if he fell back into his seat, yet at the same time he knew he had never left it in reality.

He was a bit disoriented, and he saw Aria looking about her as well. He turned to where Titania was… supposed to have been sitting. Gone.

They were left with nothing but what seemed like almost an entire life time spent together, that they hadn’t spent together yet. Davin couldn’t bring himself to look at Aria for some time. He just sat staring off into the floor.

If all of this is true, he thought to himself. I was a Sith. I was mind-wiped by the Jedi. Jayna was a Sith. She was sent back to get me. She was killed by Aria. I have no allegiance to Sith or Jedi. And, the only thing left is…

Now he looked up at Aria.

I love you.

“What the fuck?

Now, when he saw her, it was as if he saw the little that they had been through together so far through a different light. Aria was, apparently, the means by which he made it through finding out the truth. She would see him through it all. Because, in reality, she actually did care. And the more he thought about her, the more he realized that it actually could be. Whatever it was that they had just seen… it looked… incredible. It looked amazing. It looked beautiful. It didn’t look like anything else Davin had had in his life. And he wanted that. If he was honest with himself, he wanted it badly. Jedi or not.

“I don’t know… what we’re supposed to do now.” Davin started up quietly.

“Those two people, in those visions, they went through all that together. Their… love, grew throughout all that. But you and I - we just don’t have that. We don’t have those experiences.” Davin shuddered, remembered the horrific images of their respective torture sessions.

“But I sure as hell don’t feel like being tortured by some Sith Inquisitors.” Davin paused, looking down for a moment before looking back into Aria’s eyes, “And I sure as hell don’t want you hurt like that either.”

Davin was at a loss. Was there any way the two of them could end up like the two they had seen in the visions? Was there some secret? Some magic that would start them down that road?

 

[slut_in_white]

Davin couldn't look at her, but Aria couldn't stop looking at him. He was an enigma. He drove her crazy, disrespected her, assumed nasty shit about her... and yet, somehow managed to be the one thing that really, truly healed all the wounds that Vila had carved into her psyche.

What was weirder? The more she considered it, the most sense it actually seemed to make. She frowned, watching him try to work through the next logical steps for them.

"Okay, well, if we don't want to be tortured, we just... don't go to Dromund Kaas. I mean, we know now that slimy bastard Juno plans to sell us out to Vila, so we can use the papers to cross into Imperial territory and then just... not show up for the ore shipment." She shrugged. "We'd get a smuggling rap, probably, but who cares? Only problem is... What do we do after that? I mean, if the Jedi fucked around with your head that bad, please tell me you're not still loyal to those dicks."

She stood, slowly, and crossed the room toward him. "We could run," she said softly. "I know how to survive out in fringe space. We could take what jobs come, and just... exist, until we figure this shit out. Or we could do the job, the one your master gave us, and hope that our visions of the future might help us to avoid whatever pitfalls we would have hit otherwise."

He was looking up at her, and her gaze was fixed firmly on his lips instead of his eyes, remembering what it looked like, all those times they made passionate love. She liked sex, sure, but she couldn't remember it ever being like that. She wanted the intimacy, she wanted the trust, but right now, all her body wanted was that ecstasy. "We could... go to bed..." she suggested softly, leaning over until she was nose-to-nose with him. "I mean, consider the fact that we would have ended up like that even without that crazy lady's interference? How do you think it happened? The only times this trip we haven't been at each other's throats have been when we've been sleeping together. Maybe that's the secret. Lots and lots of sex." She wasn't being entirely serious, of course - there had to be something more to the equation than just sex. But watching herself orgasm that many times had left her understandably aroused, and it was clouding the rest of her judgement. Just a little.

 

[LassardLost]

Davin felt his heart pounding in his chest as Aria came closer and closer to him.

"I say..." Davin closed the gap completely, their noses grazing against each other. He slowly brought his fingers to Aria's cheek, grazing it with his finger tips ever so lightly. "...fuck Dromund Kaas. And the Jedi. And the Sith."

Somehow, Davin felt really good saying those things.

Their lips grazed against each other.

"I think..." Davin's voice dropped to a near whisper. "I'm going to love this."

Davin kissed Aria, softly, longingly, as if none of their prior arguments or angry lashing-outs had any bearing on who they were in that moment. And what did he mean by "this"? He wasn't sure. But he wouldn't mind if it meant Aria.

 

[slut_in_white]

The end.