"Cargo freighter Nemesis, transmit passcode and await confirmation."

Sitting in the co-pilot's seat, Yana glanced over at Kalen warily, tapping in the passcode Trethin had provided him with when the two men had spoken. She was on board with the plan, of course she was. Orsk had thought it all through; their cargo space was loaded with strong boxes filled with credit bars, more than enough to pay off her debt and then some to the unscrupulous man who held both of them on a short leash. That was only the first step of the plan. The second step - getting into Trethin's personal quarters - that was not going to be so easy. But they were committed to this little venture now. They'd have to see it through, or die trying.

"Cargo freighter Nemesis, passcode confirmed. Proceed to Docking Bay 4 and await inspection."

"Proceeding to Docking Bay 4."

The name of the ship alone was proof of what they were planning, but Kalen had gambled that Trethin's ego was such that he'd think nothing of it. It was just a name, after all, and the ship and their mission was deserving of such a name. Kalen exchanged a glance with Yana. From this point on, they'd have to be very careful what was said between them, and they'd have to be in perfect understanding of the other, as their lives and the life of his sister depended on it. He had yet to mention that little tidbit of information to her, hoping she would understand when he did.

Trusting him to bring the ship in safely, Yana drew in a slow breath. "Ready to hate me for the next twenty-four hours or so?" she asked quietly, watching as the docking bay doors opened ahead of them. Trethin would have his people go over every inch of the ship, they both knew. They'd made certain there was nothing incriminating anywhere.

"So long as you don't hate me when it's all over," he replied, regretting the fact that he hadn't told her about his sister yet, but he knew she had her own reasons for hating Trethin and he didn't want to lay his own troubles on her shoulders. He turned his attention to piloting the ship in for landing, having little trouble with the controls. This was the easy part.

"I thought we'd established that I don't hate you," she pointed out. Established as in ....spent the last two nights so wrapped up in each other it was a wonder either of them got any sleep at all. She wasn't entirely sure what that meant, still, but it was something she thought she'd like to continue doing. "Have you ever been here before?"

He ignored her reply, not wanting to think about what they'd shared the last few nights. He knew he was starting to have feelings for her, and in his experience, that never ended well. Maybe this time would be different, but he wasn't getting his hopes up. If nothing else, he'd never forget the few nights they'd shared together. "Once or twice," he replied, vaguely. Even so, he'd always been treated more like a prisoner than a guest, Trethin going so far as to handcuff and blindfold him on occasion.

"He doesn't treat his guests with any more dignity than his prisoners," she warned him. She'd been a "guest" of Trethin once or twice herself; she knew what he was going to expect her to put up with, and in order for them to get where they needed to go, she was going to have to do it. "All the guards' weapons are set to kill. On this station, no one gets a second chance."

He also knew they'd be relieved of their own weapons. This was going to be a risky venture, but the stakes were too high to back out now. "He'll be happy to see us when he sees all those creds," Kalen said, knowing Trethin had no reason to suspect a betrayal, so long as he held Kalen's sister's life over his head.

"He won't think twice about killing us if he isn't," Yana murmured, twisting to lower the landing gear as he brought them into the bay. There was an armed team of guards already waiting for them - the inspection they were expected to allow. "Here goes nothing."

Kalen hadn't stopped to consider the fact that Trethin might find them dispensable now that they'd repaid Yana's debt, but he had a feeling the man would find some excuse or other to keep them under his yoke. "I won't let him hurt you," Kalen insisted, though he wasn't sure what he could do about it if they were outnumbered. If he was going to die, at least he'd die fighting.

"You might have to look the other way for a while, then," she told him. Her tone was already back to the cool, business-like cadence she had shared with him during the first weeks of their acquaintance, her expression shut down the way it had been until he'd pried her open not so very long ago. This woman knew how to protect herself in this place; she wasn't sure her companion did.

He knew the same was just as likely for her. He wasn't quite sure what kind of reception they were going to get from Trethin, but he figured the knowledge that they'd brought him a small fortune might work in their favor. No matter what happened now, it was too late to turn back. They were just going to have to see this through to the end, but at least, they'd be together, and Kalen found himself hoping he'd put his trust in the right place.

She glared out through the cockpit window at the guards waiting for them as the ship settled in the docking bay, glancing away only to power down. "See you on the other side," she murmured, dropping her hand out of sight to squeeze his before she rose to her feet, making her way out of the cockpit and toward the gangway. Letting Trethin's people on board.

"Be careful," he murmured quietly, albeit a little belatedly, unsure if she'd heard. He'd been in worse scrapes than this, but this time it wasn't only his life that was on the line, but hers, too, and it was that small detail that had his insides tied up in knots. Once she was out of sight, he steeled his nerves for what was to come over the next twenty-four hours or so before getting up to follow. He took one last glance around the cockpit of the ship he'd already grown so attached to, wondering if they'd survive this, before following Yana toward the gangway.

Their reception was not gentle. Both of them were manhandled off the ship and disarmed; Yana went along without fighting it, her eyes downcast in a submissive manner that Kalen knew was completely against her character-type. They were held at blaster-point until the ludicrous "inspection" was done, the contents of their cargo bay stacked in front of them as one of Trethin's more officious minions assiduously counted the credit bars and signed off on the shipment.

"Captain Triem, Dain," she said finally, betraying a little reptile in her background with the forked tongue that slithered out to taste the air. "Lord Trethin invites you to a small gathering he is holding this evening. Clothing is provided for you. You will not stray from your guest rooms until you are summoned."

Kalen was far less submissive than Yana, shrugging off the guards who were trying to manhandle him with a glare of warning. They wouldn't have expected much less from him anyway, and he had no trouble playing the part of an indignant guest. "Coya," Kalen acknowledged the woman. "As charming as ever."

Kalen clenched his jaw, unable to say a word without giving himself and Yana away. He had to play the part of a man who'd been betrayed and left behind for dead, rather than that of a partner and lover, despite Trethin knowing just which of Kalen's buttons to push. As for Kalen, he'd be more inclined to celebrate once the man was dead, but if he cared at all for his sister's life and that of Yana's, he had to continue with this charade for a little while longer. "Well, let's celebrate then. Where's the booze, Trethin?"

"Over there. We'll speak more, later." Trethin's attention was already turned onto Yana, enjoying making her squirm and knowing she couldn't do a thing about it without ending up a corpse in space. He didn't give Kalen a second look, dismissing him from his mind.

That was perhaps the first mistake Trethin had made since Kalen and Yana's arrival. Kalen could only hope there'd be more. There was no mistaking the fact that he didn't really want to be there, and he was careful not to get himself drunk, though he had to make it look like he was drinking more than he really was. Somehow he managed to keep an eye on Trethin and Yana, while appearing not to care. The only way Trethin was going to allow him a little slack was if he believed Kalen was loyal, even if it was only because he'd blackmailed into that loyalty.

Kalen had the easy side of things, in her opinion. Yana was not allowed more than two steps away from Trethin all night, listening to him proposition and insult her with equal measure, enduring unwelcome hands on her body and his leering stares. But there was method to this madness; she'd known this was what he wanted to do to her, that he expected her to be worn down by his persistence, if nothing else. She just hoped Kalen understood why her body language began to soften over the course of the evening; why she stopped pulling away from the lecherous man who held her leash. Why, when Trethin retired for the evening, he took her with him.

Kalen didn't need an explanation to know why Yana and especially Trethin behaved they way they did. He hadn't been expecting Trethin to treat her like a slut, and yet, it didn't really surprise him all that much either. Though it infuriated him to see her treated that way, he had to pretend not to care, and that, for him, was the hard part. It wasn't hard to tell that he didn't really want to be there, but then, no one really expected him to be jovial, considering he still seemed to be in Trethin's thrall. Once Trethin retired for the evening, it seemed the party was over, and all of his so-called guests were returned to their rooms, including Kalen. The first thing he did upon returning was get rid of the ridiculous cape that was part of his party outfit and which only served to get in his way.

The minutes ticked by, until half a cycle had passed. What the hell was Yana doing" But any ruminations on just how far she was going to have to go were cut short by his door sliding open. The guard sneered at him. "Boss wants to have that little talk now, merc," he was told. "Get moving."

Just the word "merc" ground on Kalen's nerves. He fancied himself a pilot, more than anything else, with dreams of becoming the captain of his own ship. A dream he was on the cusp of achieving, if all things went according to plan. "Now?" Kalen echoed, mirroring the guard's sneer. "I was just going to catch a little shut-eye."

"Now." The rifle was aimed directly at him. "Don't think he'd mind too much if I spaced you instead, but he wants to break that little girl good and proper first. So get moving."

"What has that got to do with me?" Kalen asked, grudgingly starting toward the door. He wasn't quite sure where he was being herded, but if Trethin was hoping to break Yana the way Kalen thought he was, he might unknowingly be playing right into their hands.

He wasn't given an answer. Trethin paid the guards on his station well enough not to ask questions and to look the other way when he had special guests. This one was no different, marching Kalen through the warren of corridors to the planet-side of the station. It figured Trethin would live on the side that offered the best views.

The guard pressed a button on the console beside the door, and Trethin's voice snapped in reply. "Yes, what?"

"Brought the merc, Boss," the guard reported.

"Yes, yes, let him in," was the answer, and a moment later, the door opened. The guard pushed Kalen inside roughly.

The guard's treatment didn't come as anything of a surprise either, gentle in comparison to the way he'd been treated after Yana had left him behind a few weeks before. He still wasn't sure why Trethin had summoned him here, but he hoped it worked in their favor. He only hoped the man hadn't broken Yana the way he'd said he would or that she'd betrayed him a second time.

There was certainly no lack of luxury in Trethin's private quarters. As the door slid shut and locked at Kalen's back, however, it became clear that it was lacking a certain bodyguard. The Kaloren was stretched out on the floor, unconscious, the fur on his nose and the back of his head matted with blood from a very determined impact or several. And Trethin" The man himself was sporting a bloody nose of his own, hog-tied painfully on the end of his sumptuous bed, glaring at Yana, who was busily gagging him. There wasn't a mark on her.

Kalen looked from Yana to the guard to Trethin and back, feeling an odd sense of annoyance that she seemed to have things under control all on her own. "You seem to have things well in hand here," he observed, with just a hint of annoyance in his voice. It had been a long day and an even longer evening, though he suspected it had been far more unpleasant for her than for him.

She straightened, frowning back at him. "You want me to get him to call the guard back in here?" she demanded, waving a hand that was definitely bearing the marks of skinned knuckles at him. "After four hours of being groped, I think I can be forgiven for taking my temper out on them, don't you?"

Kalen frowned, his annoyance fading a little. He wasn't annoyed with her so much as with Trethin, after all. "Are you all right?" he asked, unable to hide the concern in his voice. If Trethin hadn't figured out by now that they were working together, he would know that for certain now.

"Apart from wanting to throw up every time I think about his hands, fine," she said, her tone short with a combination of fear and anger. "We need to find that console. It'll be in here somewhere."

Kalen's frown turned to a scowl, hoping the man had got no farther than putting his hands on her. Now that she had Trethin hog-tied, he didn't look as dangerous as he'd seemed, but he knew that if the guards found out what was really going on in here, their lives would be forfeit. His gaze turned back to Trethin, who wasn't looking too happy about his situation. "Why not just ask him?"

Yana looked at him, vaguely exasperated. She reached out and pulled off the gag.

"....mercenary scum, your little whore is dead, you hear me, dead! But I'll make you watch, you can watch as every one of my men ..."

Whatever the threat was, Yana cut it off by neatly jamming the gag back into Trethin's mouth. "I had to switch the gun to kill and aim it at his balls to make him shut up long enough to get you here."

Kalen followed Yana's glance over at Trethin, finding he felt no desire to punch the man or cause him any further physical pain. He had suffered humiliation at Yana's hands and he had not only lost everything he'd worked so hard for, but he was about to the one thing more precious to him than anything else - his life. He didn't see much point in adding insult to injury, even if the man did deserve it. "I think we're done here," he said, dismissing Trethin from his mind and his life forever, he hoped.

"You ready?" she called to him, ignoring the prone man on the bed. It was time to get moving - that timer gave them a little under ten minutes to get safely out. It was just as well she knew her way around this station.

"Right behind you," he told her, following at her heels, the blaster rifle in his hands and set not to stun, but to kill. There was no point in sparing men that were going to be dead in a matter of minutes anyway.

She waved him back from the door, opening it to offer a sweet smile to the guards standing there. "Why don't you two come and join the party?" she suggested, beckoning to them with a come hither finger. She took two steps back as they crowded through the door toward her ....and dived out of the way.

It was almost like shooting fish in a barrel, as the old saying went. Kalen blasted one of the guards in the chest before swinging the blaster around to do the same to the other. It was almost too easy, but he knew getting past the rest of Trethin's guards would prove more of a challenge. "Come on," he told her, as he stepped over one fallen guard. "We don't have much time."

"Oh, you know where you're going, do you?" she asked a little acerbically, snatching up one of the blaster rifles that had fallen with the guards. She really wasn't dressed for action sequences, but with any luck, this one would be over very soon. "This way, flyboy." She jerked her head, taking off down the corridor at a run.

There wasn't any time for a costume change now, and he was too bent on their escape to worry about her lack of proper clothing. He arched a brow at the nickname, but only briefly, before darting after her. He might have admired the way she looked, if he wasn't so worried about getting her out of here alive.

Trethin was so confident in the security of his station that there were no guards to intercept them in the corridors. The problems started when Yana opened the doors to the docking bay containing their ship. There were four armed men guarding the Nemesis, and even without prior warning, they were alert to anyone trying to get away.

Four wasn't so bad, Kalen thought. Two for him, and two for her. Piece of cake, or so he hoped. He silently signaled to Yana to indicate that she should go right, while he went left, allowing them to handle two guards each.

She nodded back to him, hoping like hell there was at least some cover in there. Checking the setting on her rifle, she darted forward into the bay, getting off one lucky shot that took down one of her designated opponents. The other one, however, was a better shot and had quicker reaction times. He was taking cover on the gangway of their ship, which made firing at him risky if she didn't want to hit anything important.

Kalen wasted little time in taking out one of the guards before the other returned fire, a shot just barely missing him as he ducked out of the way. Eliminating these guards was going to prove a little harder, considering they couldn't risk any damage to the Nemesis in order to make their escape. He ducked and rolled, finding cover behind a barrel of some sort before firing again.

Yana was still running. Her side of the hangar was distinctly lacking in cover, but so long as she kept moving, she thought she could probably avoid being shot. That thought lasted as long as it took for the guard to shoot the blaster right out of her hand, the small explosion peppering her hand and arm with sparks that burned.

Kalen was having enough trouble trying to keep under cover from the barrage of blaster fire coming his way without worrying about Yana, too. He muttered a curse in some obscure language before ducking out from behind the barrel to dart toward Yana and shove her out of the way of fire.

She let out a grunt as he tackled her, both of them rolling behind the command console of the docking bay. "I was almost here!" she objected, shaking out her hand. Her fingers still stung from the impact that had knocked the blaster out of her grip.

"Almost is not good enough!" he grumbled back, handing her his blaster. "I'm going to draw him away from the ship. When I do, I want you to shoot him." He didn't wait to see if she'd agree with him. It was a reckless plan and one that might not work, but all she needed was one clear shot and the odds would be in their favor.

"Wait, I thought you were the better shot!" The panic on her face was more than enough to prove that despite how comfortable she was wearing a blaster, she was definitely not comfortable actually shooting one. "There are two of them shooting at us!"

"I trust you!" he told her, not giving her much choice before darting out from behind the console again. They couldn't afford for the command console or the ship to be damaged, and they only had a few minutes until the entire station was blown to kingdom come. Kalen disappeared from view, the guard near the ship taking the bait and going after him.

"Oh, you ....absolute ..." The actual insult was lost in a scream of blaster fire as Yana popped up from behind the console, letting loose more than enough shots to riddle the guard moving toward Kalen. He wasn't going anywhere, that was for sure. As the other guard's attention turned to her, she shot out from behind the console, accelerating toward the ship.

Kalen heard the blaster fire behind him and hoped it was Yana doing what he'd instructed. It only took him a few seconds to reach one of the fallen guards and swipe the blaster up from the ground, but in the meantime, he was an easy target. Thankfully, no fire came his way, and he turned to find Yana moving toward the ship, but he couldn't find the last guard.

As Yana reached the gangway, the other guard made his move. He shot - not at her, but at the gangway in front of her feet, sending her reeling back in shock at the spray of sparks that rose to block her way, threatening to blind her. Now she was the easy target, and there was the guard taking aim.

As soon as the last guard showed himself, Kalen let loose a barrage of blaster fire in his direction, before making a beeline for the ship not only to shield Yana from any further fire but so that they could make their escape. "Get inside!" he shouted, as he joined her, knowing they were running out of time.

"Would you like to teach me how to wipe myself next?" she snapped back at him, both of them running up the gangway. Her hand slapped the pressure button that would close and seal the access way. "You're the pilot, fly the damned thing!"

"You're welcome!" he shouted back, wasting no time before dashing around the deck in a hurry to get to the cockpit. "Come on, querida," he whispered to the ship as he took the pilot's seat. "Don't let me down," he urged her as hit the controls to power her up.

"Why?" That wasn't the response most people hoped for when they confessed a growing attachment, but then, Kalen wasn't most people, and he'd experienced first hand how prickly this particular woman was. Yana couldn't see herself the way he saw her. And as much as she wanted him to say this and mean it, to want her the way she wanted him, as a presence in her life not just in her bed, it was going to take more than one confession to convince her he wasn't just being kind. "Of everyone in all the galaxies, why would you even consider me?"

"Because, Yana, you are not like anyone else I have ever met," he explained, finding it difficult to put his feelings into words. "I know you want your freedom, your independence, but I was hoping now that we are both free of Trethin, we might continue this partnership for our own sakes." He sighed, knowing that didn't come out quite the way he'd wanted it to, but hopefully she'd forgive him. "It has been a long time since I have cared about anyone the way I care about you."

She bristled a little as he implied that he knew her thoughts, but thankfully she had enough control not to say the first thing that came into her head. "I'm not a pilot," she pointed out. "I'm barely a mechanic. All I know how to be is a smuggler. And I have a terrible temper, I get jealous over the littlest things, I'll drive you completely insane. But ....but if you want to-to keep what?s going on here happening, then ..." She sighed, closing her eyes as she rushed her way through what came next. "I like you too please don't leave me anywhere."

For a woman who claimed not to be a pilot, she'd managed her little fighter well enough, but he didn't bother to point that out, instead focusing on what else she seemed to be trying to tell him. It was almost as if she was trying to talk him out of it, and yet, there she was, blurting out something about liking him and asking him not to abandon her. "Is that what you think" That I'll leave you behind?"

She didn't dare open her eyes, knowing herself well enough to be pretty sure that if she actually looked at him, he wouldn't get an answer. "You've got family," she heard herself say with a certain amount of reluctance. "I'm used to being alone. Everyone leaves me behind eventually."

He wasn't sure why she wouldn't open her eye and look at him, unless she was afraid he might see something there she didn't want him to see. "Stop saying that, Yana. Why is it so hard to believe that I care for you? Yes, I have family. I have a sister I have never met and who probably knows nothing of my existence. I have a father who died without acknowledging me as his son and a mother who died after giving me away. What kind of family is that?" he asked, with just a hint of bitterness in his voice, though it was not directed toward her. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "You should see what your father had to say on that holo."

Her eyes snapped open at the bitter tone in his voice, wondering if he knew how lucky he was. He had a sister, he had family - the man who had raised him, whom he had loved like a father, actually was his father. "My mother left," she blurted out. "When I was a baby, she left me. I don't know where she went or if she's even still alive. My father ..." She sighed, looking down at her hands. How could she even begin to explain her relationship with her father" "The holo," she agreed with a faint nod. "Unless it fell out of your pocket."

He reached into that pocket, pulled out the holo, and handed it to her. "Why don't you see what he had to say while I get us something to eat?" he asked, thinking she'd probably prefer to watch that in private.

"Thank you." She smiled, unable to deny a thrill of excitement as the holo dropped into her palm. She would finally get the goodbye she'd been lacking for seven years, finally know what her father's last thoughts were. She'd built it up in her mind, all her hopes clinging to a message that might somehow excuse the years of neglect that had gone before. She knew there wouldn't be any words of love on there - Hix Triem wasn't like that - but maybe there was something just for her.

He moved to his feet to let her watch that holo in private, but before he left, he leaned close to touch a kiss to her brow, tenderly, almost protectively. Whatever it was he was thinking and feeling had very little to do with leaving her behind.

Her smile softened as he kissed her brow, her eyes following him out of the cockpit. He cared about her. Her. With that thought in her mind, she rose from her seat, moving to plug in the holo. A lump caught in her throat at the hologram that formed.

"Papa," she whispered to the familiar face, forcing herself to listen as he began to speak.

"Orsk, if you're seeing this, then I'm dead. Pandora is yours, all debts considered cancelled as per our agreement. Keep the girl out of trouble. The apartment on Rhy'Din is already sold ..."

It was a shock, to hear that the message was for Orsk, but Yana hadn't truly expected the whole thing to be for her. But as the message moved on, detailing accounts she'd never known about, planets she'd never heard of, people whose names she didn't recognize, her hopes began to sink. There was nothing there for her. No word of goodbye, not even an acknowledgement that she was his daughter. Just an instruction to Orsk to keep the girl out of trouble. Just the girl.

Thankfully, Kalen made good on his promise, busying himself in the ship's galley, while Yana watched what he assumed was a private and final message from her father. He gave her as much time as she needed, keeping to the galley until she was ready to join him, respecting her need for privacy. Whatever the message might be, she knew how to find him if she needed him.

It took her a long time to emerge from the cockpit, the holo in her hand. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks blotchy, betraying the tears she'd been so careful to keep absolutely silent. She set the holo down on the table with a dull thud. "It's for Orsk," was all she said, already turning away.

"For Orsk?" he echoed, setting down the sandwich he had just about finished. There was one for her, too, along with a cup of coffee. He'd made sure the galley was well-stocked before they'd left Rhy'Din, not without Orsk's help. It took a minute for him to realize what she was saying, noting the tell-tale signs of tears on her face. He'd never seen her cry before, not even a little, but the holo had clearly not been what she was hoping for. His expression darkened for a moment, those familiar feelings of anger and hatred washing over him, this time where her father was concerned. Or maybe it was Trethin who was to blame. Whichever the case, they had both clearly hurt her. "What did he say?"

She stilled as he echoed her, unable to just walk away when she knew he deserved some kind of explanation. She'd been so insistent on getting the holo. What a pointless hope that had been. Story of her life, really. "It's a message for Orsk," she told Kalen quietly, more subdued than she'd been since he'd known her. "Instructions on what to do with his ship, with his property. Who to give the proceeds from the sales to. Turns out Pandora was never meant for me, she should have gone straight to Orsk in the first place. And the money he made off selling her should have gone to people I've never heard of."

He felt deflated, almost like someone had just punched him in the gut, but he knew that was nothing compared to what she must be feeling. No wonder she felt so alone and worried so much that he'd abandon her, like everyone else had done before him. Well, he knew a little of what that felt like, though Rhel - no, his father - had never abandoned him, never turned his back on him, never walked away from him, like hers had. What was he supposed to say to all that' There wasn't anything he could say or do to take away her pain, but maybe he could give her a little hope for the future. He moved to his feet and closed the distance between them, surprised to find his heart aching for her and wishing there was some way he could take away a little of her pain. He reached to adjust the blanket he had wrapped around her shoulders, using it mostly as an excuse to touch her and be close to her.

"Well, you're not alone. Like it or not, you're stuck with me now, and Orsk has promised us a big enough percentage of Trethin's money that we don't have to worry about being indebted to anyone ever again." It wasn't exactly words of comfort, but his heart was in the right place.

"Is there anything about her in the planet's records?" he asked. He'd done his fair share of searching for her in the last decade or so, but it was a big universe and searching for one person was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Now that they had an idea where she was located, though, it was a different story.

"Let's take a look." Slithering closer to the screen, Yana tapped in a search, watching as the information skidded past for a moment before she had to take her eyes away. "These things always make my eyes cross."

Kalen took a swallow of his coffee as he turned his attention to the output of information skidding past on the screen, a small smirk at her comment. "It takes some getting used to," he said, as he tried to follow the scroll of information.

There were a lot of Trethin holdings on that planet, it seemed, and each of them listed personnel in the dozens, even hundreds. But somewhere in the middle of all that scroll was the name they were looking for. Ardinn, Mira. Grease monkey. Garvenel's Scrap.

"There!" Kalen exclaimed, leaning forward and pointing at the screen as his sister's name scrolled past. "Go back a little. It was right there," he told her, since she was the one who was sitting in front of the control panel.

It was just as well Kalen had spotted it. Yana's eyes were watering trying to follow the scroll. As he pointed, she paused the search, scrolling back in the hope that she'd be able to see it herself. And there it was. "Wow, they let her keep her name," she mused. "They must have been very sure you'd never look here."

He frowned as he stared at the screen, reading the tiny snippet of information over several times, as if trying to memorize it or convince himself that it was real. Of course, they'd been sure he'd never look. The bigger question was how had Trethin found out about Mira when not even Kalen had known how to find her" "I spent years looking and couldn't find anything. How did Trethin find her before I did?"

"Garvenel's Scrap," Yana murmured, tapping that in for the search. At the very least, it would give them some idea of where to land. She glanced at Kalen, not sure how to answer that question. "How did Rhel die, Kalen?" she asked gently, hoping it had been clean. If it hadn't been, if Trethin had had a closer hand in it, then she had a horrible feeling she knew how the man had known about Kalen's sister in the first place.

"Trethin killed him," Kalen replied, not really wanting to go into the details. Wasn't that enough to tell her what she needed to know" It wasn't so hard to figure out how Trethin had learned about Mira then, though it made Kalen's heart sore to think about it. "Why didn't Trethin kill me, too?" he asked, though the answer seemed obvious enough. Why kill Kalen when Trethin could force him into making him more money"

"Then that's how he knew," she told him in a dull tone, reaching to touch his hand briefly. "He can't hurt you anymore. He can't hurt her anymore." She didn't see the need to answer his question; it seemed obvious. Trethin had got a decade of loyal service out of Kalen, after all.

"I should have killed him a long time ago," Kalen said, through gritted teeth, well aware of her touch and her attempt to comfort him, but too full of hatred to acknowledge it just yet. Oh, they were a pair, weren't they, he thought. Both of them filled with guilt and grief and anger and loneliness. Maybe that was why they understood each other so well. The memory of Rhel's death was making his heart ache, closing his eyes against the sting of tears.

"He's dead now. Cursing his corpse won't change the past." She drew her hand back, twisting to another screen to bring up a scan of Faraxen, locating Garvenel's Scrap. "I'll put these coordinates into the navi computer, and get changed."

He nodded his head mutely, turning to stare off into space, one hand curled beneath his chin, as he struggled with his memories and his grief and his guilt. He thought that Trethin's death would put all of that to rest, but all it seemed to do was open old wounds, better left alone.

Her fingers brushed over his hair as she slipped past, making her way first to the cockpit, and then to the captain's quarters, where they had been sleeping. It seemed to be their quarters now, though they hadn't actually said it out loud. Eager to be rid of the barely-there outfit Trethin had put her in, she set the gold pieces to one side, stripping out of the tunic and boots to wash quickly in the 'fresher and apply bacta to the bites she didn't really want Kalen to see.

Whatever it was she was doing in the captain's quarters, he left her to it, even though part of him realized these might be the last moments of privacy they would be able to enjoy together before they arrived on Faraxen in search of his sister. He sat there alone for a long while, struggling with the feelings he'd kept bottled up inside for too long. After a while, he brushed the tears from his face and got up off the chair to go in search of a fresh change of clothes.

She'd covered up by the time he was moving, swearing as she picked the braids in her hair free. Yana was definitely not a woman at home with being particularly womanly, as evidenced by the sheer violence with which she ripped her comb through her hair.

At least, he'd emerged from his grief and guilt and arrived in their quarters in time to notice what she was doing to her hair. "You're going to go bald doing that," he warned, with just a hint of teasing in his voice.

"I wouldn't have to do it at all if that bloody droid hadn't twisted it all into knots," she complained, dragging the last of the tangles free. A fair amount of hair came away on the comb, too, but she barely glanced at it, turning her attention to gathering her mane up into the familiar knot at the back of her head.

He sighed, hearing the annoyance in her voice and deciding to take pity on her, though he'd never so much as brushed a woman's hair before. He made his way over to her and snatched the comb from her hand. "Let me before you pull it all out," he scolded, moving to slide the comb through her hair and very carefully free whatever tangles she'd missed.

"But you -" Her objection died was he drew the comb through her hair, startled by how soothing it felt. No one had ever combed her hair for her - at least, not that she remembered. She felt herself relax with the comforting sensation, a faint smile touching her lips. "I care for you, too, you know," she said, the words blurting out before she could stop them. "I'm not very good at it, but I do care."

With her back to him, she might not be able to see the look on his face, but she could probably hear the smile in his voice. "I know," he replied, his touch surprisingly gentle as he worked the tangles from her hair and smoothed it out with a hand. He wasn't going to be able to style it the way she liked, but he wasn't doing a bad job of combing it out, surprised to find he liked the feel of her hair against his hand.

His answer made her smile deepen, her head turning as she twisted in place, hands catching his. "We're a mess, aren't we?" she pointed out, her eyes itching from her tears not so long ago but dry once again. "Why don't we put our messes together and see if anything comes out whole?"

"You realize Trethin has to be paying them to keep her there," Kalen pointed out. Without Trethin to pay them, there wasn't much point in keeping Mira on Faraxen, but they might be willing to let her go for a price. He didn't much like the idea of buying his sister's safety, but it might save them from a firefight and further complications.

"Yeah, and I don't see the point in paying them anymore just to give her a little freedom," Yana said stubbornly. "You really want to line the pockets of someone who's happy to take money to keep a little girl in a scrapyard her whole life?"

"No, I want to buy her freedom, just like I would have bought yours!" he argued, just as stubborn as she was and saying a little more than he'd planned on saying.

"And if you were listening to me, instead of only hearing what you want to hear, you'd understand that there's a way to get her free without paying them a cent or starting a fight!" she argued right back again, her voice rising impatiently. Oh, she'd absorbed what he'd said, but right now, the important part of the conversation was focused on deciding how they were going to get Mira off Faraxen.

"Yes, but your way means they'd have reason to look for us, and my way does not," he argued back, not quite as impatient as she was. In the end, he would have to decide whether her plan or his plan was better. Neither was perfect, but they wouldn't really be able to make a final decision until they were there.

"Are we planning on coming back to this galaxy anytime soon?" she countered pointedly. "Trethin's contacts are going to be looking for us anyway - I was under the impression we'd be giving this galaxy a wide berth for a few years while Orsk gets his claws in deep anyway!"

Kalen clenched his jaw, not really wanting to admit that she might be right, even if she was. "What you are proposing is kidnapping her," he argued further, though if she was being kept there against her will, she might be more than willing to jump at the chance to join them.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying, if she doesn't want to come with us," she agreed with a fervent nod. "If she does, there's no point to this argument. If she doesn't, are you really going to just shrug your shoulders and walk away' Really?"

"I don't know," he admitted a little too quietly, as he got up from the pilot's seat. "I need to check our weapons," he told her, or maybe he just needed to think.

She let him go, gritting her teeth at how dense he was being. At least, in her opinion, he was being dense. She was all for taking the girl away to Rhy'Din, or somewhere else, somewhere away from Trethin's dead fingers, whether she wanted to come or not. The whole point of this was to get Mira safe. Yana wasn't sure what the problem was.

He went to do exactly what he told her he was going to do, though it was only in part to check their weapons and in part to consider her argument. She was right, and he knew it. Why should they reward Trethin's men further for keeping his sister from him' No, it was only that Kalen was worried for her safety - the safety of a sister he'd never met - and was willing to do whatever needed to be done to keep her safe. Was he willing to cut and run, like Yana was suggesting" If that was what it would take to make sure Mira was safe, hells yes. He was ready and willing to do that and more.

There was little need, or desire, to talk it over further as they came out of hyperspace near Faraxen. Yana contacted Garvenel's Scrap as they entered the atmosphere, citing a burnt out compressor coil as the reason for their unscheduled stop. She also gave them a false name, just in case. There was no reason for them to suspect that the battered ship contained the one person they'd been told never to allow anywhere near their teen-aged hostage, whether she knew she was a hostage or not.

The conversation had waned once he'd returned to the cockpit, both of them focused on the task at hand and too stubborn to admit either might be wrong. So long as they got Mira out of there safe, none of it mattered anyway. Though Kalen hadn't said so in so many words, he was grateful for Yana's help. There was no one he trusted more or would have wanted at his side, even if they didn't always agree.

Safely on the ground, Yana powered down, handing Kalen the compressor coil she had dug out of the spares compartment and run a heavy current through to back up their story. "You know what to do," she told him. "I'll keep the home fires burning."

"You're not coming with me?" he asked, taking the compressor coil in hand, but not yet moving from the pilot's seat. His insides were suddenly all twisted up inside, the memory of her abandoning him once before still a little too fresh, but he pushed it aside. She'd come back for him; she'd stayed with him; she cared for him, when no one else had.

Her eyes found his, warm and certain. "No," she told him quietly, though she could have taken offense at what she knew was going through his mind. "I'm waiting for you." She reached out to touch his hand. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Kay. Never again. But you're the only person who can do this, and you need someone with their hand on the controls if things go sideways."

"And what if they figure out who I am?" he asked. It was possible. There was no telling what Trethin might have told them about him, and yet, there was no reason to think they might suspect him either. He was simply a traveler in need of a part, at least, until word reached them of Trethin's demise.

"Grab her and run," was Yana's only advice there. "Better bet would be not to be obvious. You're a cargo pilot whose ship needs a part replaced and fitted, or you're not going to make your drop on time. That's all they need to know. If they ask about me, I'm the co-pilot who's good with numbers but should be kept as far away from the engines and circuitry as is possible."

"Keep the engine running," he told her, though it was hardly necessary. It was a saying he'd once heard on Rhy'Din, which simply meant she should be ready to leave at a moment's notice. He didn't bother to say good-bye because this wasn't good-bye. It wasn't even see you later. He was only planning on staying there as long as he had to go get his sister out of there.

"Here." She tossed him a small device. "Comm link. Just in case you need rescuing." She winked at him, smiling teasingly. "Get going, you're keeping them waiting."

"You rescued me once already," he reminded her, hoping she wouldn't have to do it again. "Be back as soon as I can," he promised, hoping, too, that he'd be able to keep that promise. He'd caught the comm link and shoved it some place safe and unseen. There was a blaster pistol strapped to his thigh, but it would hardly look out of place in a place like this.

The gangway lowered as he approached, proof enough that Yana was watching his every move. Faraxen proved to be a dry world, the air choked with metallic dusts from the ship work that went on all over the planet. The clouds they had drifted through to land painted the sky ocher, with no sight of the sun that made the air unpleasantly warm. The scrapyard was piled high with metals and parts, with ships half-stripped and some completely emptied of workable pieces. Droids were visible sorting through this debris, supervised by humans.

One of those humans was waiting for him - a rough looking man, wiping his hands on a rag. "You Staffen Ors?" he asked, his voice rasping from years of exposure to the contaminants in the air.

Mira's eyes widened, her jaw dropping as she turned her bemused stare from the droid onto Kalen. "Are you for real?" she asked, shaking her head. "No, don't answer that. BB says you're safe to go with, we're going. What about this part' You can't take off with a coil out."

Kalen was already moving to close the gangway door, pulling the comm link from his pocket to contact Yana in the cockpit. "Cargo safely on board. Get us out of here," he told her. "There's no time to explain now. Consider this a rescue," he told Mira, as he moved past her toward the cockpit. "Come on. You need to strap in for takeoff. This might get a little bumpy."

As soon as he contacted Yana, the ship's engines fired. BB-D2 let out a happy whistle, rolling away in Kalen's wake. Given little choice, and not entirely sure how she'd gone from taking on another crappy small job with no commission to breaking free of the planet she'd been on for ten years with no sign of escape, Mira shrugged and followed. "So ....no broken parts then, huh?"

"No broken parts," he confirmed, leading both her and the droid toward the cockpit. So far, it had been almost too easy, but he wasn't complaining. "This is Yana, my ....co-pilot," he explained before dropping into the pilot's seat. "Any trouble so far?" he asked her, hoping his sister had the sense to strap herself into one of the seats behind them in case they were fired on or pursued.

Yana glanced back as Mira dropped into the seat behind Kalen, fumbling with the straps. Despite the dirt, she could see a definitely family resemblance there. "No, but I think our friend over there is on the verge of realizing we haven't paid for anything," she told Kalen, nodding to where Garvenel was looking around his yard wildly. "You landed us, I suggest you take off or I'm liable to bounce off that destroyer hull on the way up."

"So she's the reason you came to a scrap planet?" Mira asked, grinning at the look Yana shot her. "Hey, you're pretty. Work it hard enough, you don't have to be good at flying."

"Man the guns, just in case," Kalen told Yana, since he was taking over flying. He didn't think there was much they could do to stop them, but they couldn't be too careful. Of course, he was going to light speed as soon as they were free of the planet's gravity and the ships in orbit around it. He was busy punching buttons and moving levers to get the ship off the ground, wasting no time with explanations except for one: "No, you are," he told Mira.

Flipping the co-pilot controls to auto, Yana nodded, rising from her seat to squeeze past Mira and jog to the gun turret, clambering out of sight. Mira watched her curiously, turning her head back when Kalen's answer sank in. "Wait, me?" she asked in confusion. "Oh, come on, now you're just playing with me. Who comes halfway to nowhere for a nobody like me?"

She jumped as an explosion in front of them announced that Yana was taking no chances. The short-tempered woman Kalen had put on gunnery duty had just blown up Garvenel's main building on principle alone, sending the entire yard into a panic.

Kalen couldn't help but smirk a little as Yana sent her message to those on the ground, even as the ship rose off the landing pad and started away from the planet. "She's got a bit of a temper," he explained, regarding what Yana had just done. "BB, tell her," he told the droid, so that he could concentrate on maneuvering past the ships in orbit and out into free space.

"Was that really necessary?" Mira asked, regarding the explosion.

Yana's voice came over the inter-ship comm. "No, but it made me feel better."

Despite herself, Mira snorted with laughter at the unexpected answer, glancing down as BB-D2 trundled into the cockpit, launching into an explanation of who this man was and why he was here in the first place. There was a lot of excited whistling involved - the little droid had apparently been waiting for this day for a very long time.

In Kalen's estimation, the explosion was hardly necessary, and yet, it seemed to have made Yana feel better. After everything they'd been through the last few weeks, they needed a victory like this. "Jumping to light speed. Hang on!" he warned, loud enough for Yana to hear him in gun turret. He punched a few more buttons and pushed a lever forward that made the ship lurch and the stars blur before she shot forward and out of this sector of space.

The lurch was enough to send BB rolling backward out of the cockpit with a shrill whistle that sounded more like a celebratory whoop than anything. He didn't appear to have any brakes, or rather, wasn't using them - he rolled straight down the turret access and wedged in the hatch directly above Yana, unable to get himself out. Muffled cursing suggested that she was trying to push him back out from beneath.

Left in the cockpit, Mira was silent, trying to process what she'd been told. That this man was Kalen Dain; her brother, the man her father had told her would come for her one day the last time she'd seen him. That she still had family, and he was right here. It was a lot to take in for a scrapyard brat who'd spent the last ten years working hard for just enough food to keep her going.

Kalen set a course for home, which these days was Rhy'Din, unsure what to make of his sister's silence. Either she was in too much of a state of shock to say anything or she didn't believe what BB had told her. What did you say to the last remaining living member of your family - one you had been waiting a long time to meet and thought you never would" He turned in the pilot seat to take a better look at her now that they had made their escape, leaving Yana to deal with the droid.

"I'm Kalen," he told her. "Rhel was my father, too. I've spent the last ten years looking for you. I know it's a lot, but there will be plenty of time to talk later. For now, are you hungry' Thirsty' Is there anything you need?"

She raised shocked eyes to him. "I know who you are," she said quietly. "BB's been telling me stories about you and Dad for years. He said ....Dad said you'd come for me, one day, but that was on Ena'tar, and then people came and took me to Faraxen, and ..." She let out a disbelieving huff. "I guess I stopped believing BB after a while." There was a pause as she looked at him, drinking in the features that told her he was her father's son. "I'm Mira," she said, introducing herself belatedly even as her stomach rumbled at the thought of food.

"All good ones, I hope," he said, with a faint smile. He reached over to take her hand, not in greeting so much as to make sure she was real and vice versa. "We have a lot of catching up to do, but first I think I should show you around." And get her something to eat, from the rumbling sound coming from her stomach. "Yana! Stop fooling around with that droid and help me show Mira around."

As Mira tentatively squeezed his hand, Yana called Kalen something highly uncomplimentary from beneath BB-D2. The little droid beeped cheerfully, and with a loud thump, was unceremoniously heaved out of the turret access hatch to roll harmlessly back toward the cockpit. "Move, ball," Yana told BB as she climbed out herself.

"I'm a grease monkey," Mira informed him proudly. "I can fix anything." A series of beeps sounded from behind her as she fell into step with Kalen. "All right, most things," she conceded. "But what I can't fix right away, I can work out pretty fast." She peered into each compartment as he pointed them out, but the moment engineering was mentioned, she slipped past him, striding into the space that held the mechanical linkages and workings of the ship like she owned it.

Just as he always insisted that he could fly anything. "A mechanic," he corrected, preferring that to grease monkey, just as he did pilot to flyboy. She'd already seen the cockpit and probably spied the ladder that led to the gunnery turret. "There's another cargo hold on the other side of the ship. Galley, Circuitry Bay." He didn't bother to mention the Smuggling Hold, at least for now. "Home away from home."

Mira was running her hands over the panels as he spoke, listening to the ship sing to her. "You know she drags on take off, right?" she said suddenly, twisting to look at him. "I bet it's the sublight oscillator. Just needs taking out and cleaning up, I can do that in a day. She'll stop pulling to the ground when you fire her up straight away."

He arched a brow, impressed with how she'd noticed that. He'd noticed it, too, but hadn't really known what the problem was and hadn't had enough time to tinker with it to find out. "How'd you learn all that?" he asked curiously, doubting it was anything Rhel had taught her.

She gave him a look that suggested he should rethink that question. "I grew up scrapping ships," she pointed out in amusement. "BB taught me bits here and there, but he mostly just told me what parts I was tinkering with and what they do in a real ship. Garvenel had me crawling through ducts to fix circuit outages until I got too big, and then I got upped to engines. It kinda comes naturally."

"But ....You didn't grow up there. You grew up on Ena'tar, yes?" he asked, not knowing anything much about her really, except that she was Rhel's daughter. He wasn't sure how Trethin had found out about her or what had happened to her mother. He wasn't sure why Rhel had kept her such a secret from him, unless it was to protect them both.

She shrugged. "I was seven when they took me to Faraxen," she told him. "My mom was pretty broken when they told us about Dad. She told me to go with them, so I did. She died about a year later. I think she just gave up."

If Kalen did his math right, that was right about the time when Trethin had Rhel killed or shortly thereafter. "I'm sorry," he told her, and from the tone of his voice, he seemed to really mean it. There had been enough death and grief and hardship to go around, but maybe that was all behind them now. "A man named Trethin was responsible for ....for his death," Kalen explained, unsure how to refer to her father - their father. Unlike her, he had always known him as Rhel. He'd only learned the man was his father a few days ago, and it still hadn't completely sunk in. "I assume Trethin is the one who had you taken to Faraxen."

"Who?" She just looked confused by the name-drop, scratching her head with one long finger inserted into the scruffy bun atop her head. "Never heard of any Trethin. Garv got pissy if I asked to leave, so I stopped asking. Stowed away once, but they found me and took me back."

"Garvenel was probably keeping you there for Trethin. Either that or ..." Kalen wasn't sure he wanted to think about the alternative explanation, which implied her mother had either been forced to give her daughter up or had done it of her own free will. Whichever the case, they were both orphans now, as was Yana. "Doesn't matter. You're free now to do as you please."

She held his gaze for a long moment. "Can I stay with you guys?" she asked hopefully. "I can fix this old girl up like new, I swear it. Won't even cost much - I just need access to a scrapyard, and I can jury-rig pretty much any part to do what I need it to. I just ..." She deflated a little. "I don't have anywhere to go."

He wasn't sure about Yana, and he didn't want to have to choose between them, but Mira was blood. She was Rhel's offspring, too, and he couldn't turn his back on her. "I didn't bring you here to abandon you," he told her, practically repeating the promises he and Yana had made to each other only a short time before. "We can always use a mechanic," he assured her, though his reasons for keeping her with them went a lot deeper than that. "Would you like something to eat?" he asked, changing the subject.

"He's a good cook," Yana's voice interjected from the doorway.

Mira blinked in surprise, tilting her head to look around her brother at the little woman standing behind him.

Yana was holding an armful of towels and clothing pilfered from Kalen's wardrobe. There was nothing in hers that would fit the tall teenager. She offered the girl a faint smile. "Maybe you should clean up before you try eating, though," she suggested. "The refresher in your bunk is good to go, the tank'll be hot by now."

"Can I?" Mira's eyes strayed to Kalen, asking for permission to wash up while he cooked, since apparently that's what was happening.

Kalen's gaze swung toward Yana at the sound of her voice, a hint of surprise on his face, before looking back at his sister. "Yes, of course," Kalen replied. "I'll be in the galley. Opposite side of the ship. You can't miss it," he told her. He wasn't sure if Yana was going to join him or not, but he felt a lot better knowing her demeanor seemed to have softened.

Mira's grin reappeared, eager at the thought of washing herself really clean and wearing something clean, even if it wasn't hers. BB-D2 collected the towels and clothes from Yana's arm, trundling back toward Mira's bunk as the teenager jogged after him.

"Pink stuff, then white stuff on your hair, green for the rest of you," Yana called after her, chuckling at the excited, "Okay!" she got back before the door swished shut on her.

"Thank you," Kalen said, turning to Yana once Mira had disappeared into what was likely to become her quarters. "How long before we reach the Gate?" he asked, knowing they wouldn't be killing time the same way they had before Mira had arrived. He wasn't only thanking her for the towels and the clothing, but for making his sister feel welcome, despite the awkwardness of the situation.

"About three hours," Yana told him, stepping back into the corridor. "Long enough to feed her and wash her clothes. I'll take her to get a few things just for herself when we get to Rhy'Din - somehow I don't think you're the type to enjoy shopping." She offered him a glimpse of a teasing smile.

He winced at the thought of that. "I wouldn't know what to buy," he admitted, relieved to see the smile he was coming to know and, yes, even love. "What do you think a hungry teenager is likely to eat?" he asked, moving forward to take her hand, his fingers brushing against her palm.

"She looks like she's been living on half-portion ration bars for years," she said, the faintest suggestion of a blush on her cheeks as his fingers skimmed over her palm. "Something light's a good idea. I think we're going to have to make sure she doesn't go straight for the rich stuff for a while; it'll take time for her stomach to get used to having more than protein to break down."

Put that way, there was no telling what the little droid might know that he wasn't saying, but Kalen wasn't as concerned about his own past as he was about Yana's and Mira's. "Orsk might know something about your mother," he suggested as he flipped the egg mixture.

She snorted derisively. "I don't want to know," was her harsh response. "She abandoned us. One day she was there; she put me to bed, she told me to have sweet dreams, and the next morning, she was gone. Hix wasn't back for three days, Kay. She left a five year old alone for three days. Completely alone. I still remember eating what I could find out of the trash can."

He wasn't going to make excuses for her parents, not when he was only just beginning to understand his own past. Some people just had no business having children, it seemed. "If I am ever lucky enough to have a family, I will make sure I am there for them." It wasn't exactly a promise - not to her, anyway, but to himself. As fond as he'd been of Rhel, smuggling was no way to bring up a child.

"They'll be lucky children to have you for a father." It was a compliment, but edged with the by-now-familiar wariness. It was going to take time for Yana to really, truly believe that he wasn't going anywhere without her. "And Mira seems like she'd be a great aunt, though your kids would likely end up covered in grease and flying A-Wings without your permission."

Though he hinted at some of his dreams to Orsk, he'd yet to say much about them to Yana, taking things, as she'd said, one step at a time. "I'm sorry about Hix, querida. I know you were hoping for more." He wasn't really sure what else he could do or say to ease her pain. He had already promised he wasn't going anywhere; she would just have to take him at his word.

Her expression was pained for a moment, internally forcing that pain away before it could intrude further. This time was about Kalen and his sister, not about her and her silly hopes. "I can't talk about it," she said quietly. "Not yet, anyway. Maybe if we find out more, I'll be able to explain why I was such an idiot over a holo that doesn't even belong to me."

"You don't have to explain," Kalen told her, but whether that was because an explanation wasn't needed for him to understand or whether he just didn't want her to think she was obligated to give him an explanation, he didn't say. He slid the omelette onto a plate and poured a glass of milk made from a powdered milk mixture that was unlikely to spoil.

"Yes, I do," she argued gently. "But ....only to you, and not before I'm ready. I don't want to mar this reunion with your sister just because I'm screwed up, Kay." She touched his hand with tentative fingers, offering an almost shy smile. "I'll go get Mira out of the 'fresher and check on our course."

"You're not screwed up, Yana," he assured her. If she was screwed up, then so was he. It occurred to him that the three of them were quite the trio, all of them screwed up in their own way, and mostly because of the faults and failings of their parents. He offered a soft, hopefully reassuring, smile and leaned down to touch a kiss to her lips. "Nothing's changed, Yana," he told her, reminding her without saying so that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Yes, it has," she smiled in response, her lips brushing his tenderly for a brief moment. "But in the best way." She squeezed his hand, stepping back to venture out of the galley in search of his little sister. Things had changed, but definitely for the better. Instead of alone, they were together. It was a good place to be planning a new life from, free of debts and obligations to anyone but themselves. Would that life be without its troubles" She hoped not. Yana Triem enjoyed getting into hot water every now and then.