Who' afraid of the big bad kinrath?

"Ladies first..."

Sephir Tal shot Atton Rand a withering look. The Jedi exile took a hesitant step toward the cave opening, carefully picking her way past the scattered bodies of the dead kinrath as if she were afraid they might come back to life and grab her. She got within inches of the cave opening when she stopped and turned to her companion.

"Oh come on you big chicken," she grumbled. "You've got the ranged weapons, you go first."

"Me, a chicken?" he snorted."You're supposed to be the big tough Jedi general."

She stuck her rosy lower lip out in a pout. "But... there are more of those kinrath in there..."

"And was it me who agreed to go take care of the kinrath problem?" he countered evenly. "Of course not, because for one, I wouldn't volunteer and secondly if I had, we'd at least be getting paid for this little excursion of yours."

"Well, I figured that they would offer us some sort of reward," she defended, looking uncertainly around at the dead bodies with their long legs scattered about. "Besides, I'd never actually seen a kinrath up close before. They're so..."

"Creepy?" Atton offered helpfully, batting innocent eyelashes. ''With those long, stabby legs and that stinger dripping with green, oozy venom..."

"Schutta," she pouted, smacking him on the arm and using it as an excuse to get behind him and push him towards the cave opening.

"Scaredy cat," he sighed. "Okay I'll go in first. But you'll be sorry when one of those monsters jumps out and kills me because my "Jedi" companion was too chicken to keep her companions safe."

"Don't be such a baby, I'll protect you with a Force shield," she reassured happily, inching along behind him as they entered the cave.

The ceilings were lower then she expected, with stringy grey-green moss and vines hanging down. Looking up, she saw they wove intricate patterns higher up, as if webs for some giant spiders. A low whimper climbed up the back of her throat and swung from her tonsils, but she refused to give it voice. The teasing she would endure would probably be harder to swallow than the fear.

They crept along the narrow tunnel, both working to keep the sound of their bootsteps to a minimum. The cave grew darker the farther in they went, only the strange luminous fungi that grew along the rock walls offering any light at all. Sephir shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling that the whole place was slowly collapsing in on them and keep her breathing normal. She had always hated enclosed spaces, especially ones full of huge, spiderlike creatures with long, sharp poisonous talons.

"Any tighter doll and you're gonna cut off my circulation," Atton's low baritone whispered in her ear. She saw a flash of his white teeth as he gave her a feral grin. Looking down at where she held his arm, she realized her nails were digging into the fabric of his sleeve.

"Sorry," she murmured, disengaging her grip.

"This place really has you worked up, doesn't it?" he asked, a hint of what sounded like sincere concern in his voice. She hesitated a moment, expecting some verbal trap. But his eyes showed nothing but concern and curiosity.

"I just don't care for enclosed spaces," she explained.

"Or creepy critters like kinrath," he added, a hint of humor lightening his tone.

"I suppose you're not afraid of anything?" she challenged, drawing herself up with pride to meet his gaze.

He chewed his lip for a moment as if considering. "Of course I am. Everyone's afraid of something."

She waited, watching him expectantly. He didn't offer any more. "Well? Aren't you going to tell me?"

His grin grew wider. "Nope."

"That's not fair," she groused. "I showed you mine, you should have to show me yours."

That brought a chuckle, almost eerie in the darkness. "Life's not fair, sweetheart, but if you really want me to show you mine..."

He turned around, almost backing her up against the cave wall. His hand placed against the wall blocked her in place. She could sense his energy, that playful, sensual warmth he exuded when he flirted with her, washing over her and chasing out the darkness. It made her feel giddy. "Atton, I hardly think this is the place."

"Why not? It's dark, crowded," he purred, leaning closer, "and nobody is around to interrupt us."

"It's also creepy and full of kinrath," she reasoned, pushing him off gently and she hoped he didn't notice, hesitantly. "I just want to get this done and get out of here before I lose it and run out of here screaming like a child."

He watched her for a moment, his face becoming serious once more. "You know I'd never let anything hurt you. Don't you?"

Her stomach did a flip flop at his words, at the sincerity she felt streaming off of him as he said them. It felt... wonderful.

"I know," she replied breathlessly.

He lingered a moment close to her. "Good."

She let out a breath she hadn't entirely realized she had been holding as he turned away and started back down the passageway. She really was losing it, had been losing it ever since Peragus. Ever since Kreia reopened her channel to the Force, ever since she first met her charming scoundrel companion. After all the years of emptiness and regret, companionship and sensation seemed to frighten her more than anything else. Part of her just wanted to crawl back into the hole she had been existing in and pull it in after her. Safe and sound in her emptiness.

Coward, she accused herself, feeling ashamed. That's what you've become, Sephir Tal... nothing but a coward.

Atton paused at a turn to the passageway, motioning her to stop with a silent gesture. She immediatley stopped, putting her back up against the passage wall until he gave an all clear signal. He glanced back at her, an almost worried look on his face for a moment. Then he seemed to shrug in confusion and step around the bend and almost out of sight.

Then suddenly, he fell back to the ground, gasping in pain and clutching his chest. Her blood froze in her veins for a second before her instincts took over.

"Atton!" she cried out in alarm. Both lightsabers ignited, cutting like knives through the dreary dark of the caves as she leapt to stand protectively over her fallen comrade. Her eyes scanned the darkness, but she could see no sign of his attacker. She thought she heard some scrambling from up above, and looked up to see some of the vines wavering slightly in the darkness above. But no other signs of movement. Her heart hammered in her chest as she heard Atton's low moans coming from the ground beside her.

"S-Sephir," he moaned, struggling for breath. "Be careful... they must... have come from above..."

She dropped to her knees beside him, struggling not to panic. She grabbed his arm, trying to pull his hand away so she could see the wound but he resisted, rolling to his side as he tried to sit up. "Atton... no. You must hold still. Moving will only spread the venom faster."

"Too... late..." he murmured, his voice growing weaker. His eyes looked up at her, soulful and full of regret. "I... I'm sorry, Seph... I should've..."

"Shhhh, it's going to be allright." She began ripping through her pockets, looking to see if they had any antidote packs left. Stims, grenades, every damn thing but what she needed." It's going to be fine, hold on Atton."

"Sephir," his free hand grasped her arm, stilling it from its mad search for a cure, "listen... if I don't make it..."

"Atton, don't say that!" she exclaimed in frustration. "I'll get you back to Kreia, she knows how to use the Force to heal... I"ll save you..."

"You already saved me, Seph." His hand slid down her arm to grasp hers. "I... I just couldnt find the courage to tell you."

Her hand gripped his, almost painfully with the strength of her emotions. "Stay with me, Atton. Don't give up."

"H-how about it, angel?" he whispered huskily. "Will you give a d-dying man... just one... kiss?"

She fought back a sob, gazing into his dark brown eyes. So much emotion there, laid bare where it was usually hidden behind sarcasm and flirtation. She could sense the passion he felt for her flowing off of him, and it terrified her. She couldnt feel this way, she hardly knew this man. She was a Jedi, or had been, and love was something forbidden to her. She had grown so used to being hollow, being empty that the intensity of this emotion he stirred in her seemed as if it would swallow her whole and she would be lost forever. She didnt even know if she trusted him, but at that moment she knew above all the other uncertainties that she needed him. She felt she would be lost without him... Force, don't let him die...

She leaned closer, pressing her lips against his in a kiss of desperate passion. She tried to pour all her strength into him through that kiss, that connection, to fight off the spectre of death that threatened to take him from her.

His hand released its grip on hers, instead tangling into her tousled blonde hair and pulling her closer into the kiss. His lips, warm and masterful, parted hers with expert ease as his tongue entered her mouth to do wonderful things to her senses. A low moan escaped him as he wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her down on top of him.

At first she was too shocked to do anything but let her body respond to the need he was stirring within her, returning his kiss with a hunger that suprised them both. Then realization began to set in, and a cold anger burned in her gut. She pulled back and pushed him to the ground, where he lay back grinning wickedly at her.

There wasn't a mark on his chest, only where his shirt was slightly askew from their embrace. His eyes raked over her with a devilish glint, a cocky smirk locked on his handsome features.

"You..." she hissed, struggling against the raging, conflicting emotions of love and anger to find a word bad enough to describe him. "You..."

"Schutta?" he supplied helpfully. "How about... kashpa? It's Huttese for a certain kind of sewer dwelling..."

"What is wrong with you?!" she exploded, her voice rising in anger. "You think that's funny? Playing with someone like..."

"Well, I did get a kiss out of it." He gave her a lopsided grin as he stood up and meticulously brushed the dirt off his jacket. "A very nice kiss, by the way. For a Jedi, you sure know how to ..."

She shoved him so hard he stumbled backwards a few feet. "I thought you were dying!"

"Hey, calm down, sweetheart," he soothed, holding up his hands in defense. "It was just a joke. Besides, I tried everything else to get that kiss, and nothing else was working."

He watched her almost apprehensively. Her cheeks were flushed with anger and, most likely, embarrassment. Her shoulders heaved with her breath as she struggled to regain control. Her large blue eyes glared at him, but he couldnt help but admire the view, she was so beautiful to him, even when she was in a rage where she was likely to kill him. If he had any sense at all, he'd be afraid for his life. But he didn't seem to have much sense when it came to her.

She drew herself up to her rather unimposing full height, her chin setting defiantly. "Well. I certainly hope you enjoyed it, because Tatooine will become an ocean before you'll ever get another one!"

She spun on her heel and stomped off down the passageway. He watched her go, admiring the view from behind. His tongue traced his lips, still moist from the kiss, savoring the memory of it. It had been a long time, since he had used those skills with a Jedi. He had sensed that repressed passion in her, but the intensity of it when she had released it into that kiss had taken him by suprise. She really was a wonderful little whirlwind of conflicting emotions, all tightly clamped down in true Jedi fashion. But there was a difference in her too, an emptiness that resonated within him.

Part of him had wondered if he could still do it, still twist a Jedi inside out. Part of him was just reacting as normal to the presence of an attractive woman. But there was something else there too, something undefinable, that he felt when she was around him. That same something that kept him with her, even after they had escaped Peragus. He could have left on Telos, on Citadel Station... but something about her fascinated him. Something more then passing fancy. Something that drove him to stick around, even face Kreia's abuse and having to watch the old Sith witch play her games with Sephir's mind, using her for her own selfish ends. He had almost meant the things he had said to her, about not letting anything hurt her. Something about this woman made him feel almost... protective. Possesive. Tender.

He shook off the thought, shoving it to the back of his mind with an almost violent fervor. He slammed the walls he had built up over the years around those thoughts, those feelings, locking them away where they were safely hidden and could never harm him again. He let out a deep breath, brushed his hair off his forehead, surprised at the fear those emotions invoked in him.

And he was glad that she had walked away, so she hadn't seen the one thing that frightened him the most.

"Awww.. .c'mon doll," he called out, letting his tone resume it's normal, playful flirtiness as he strolled after her into the darkness. "Don't be mad. I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. Wait up!"

The end...? Or is it?