Because there aren't enough men telling her what to do...

(( Thanks to the player of Jheryth Chrystopher for always being a fun collaborator when it comes to mucking up my characters' lives and just being an all around great husband. :P ))

The crowded pleasure barge hummed with conversation as music throbbed from the speakers and seemingly through the guests who were dancing. The party was in full swing, as the saying goes, and the stunning redhead who cut a path through the throng seemed to gleam from within in her white strapless evening gown. She was searching for someone, and now that she'd spotted her quarry, she made her way toward where he stood at the railing with his back to her.

Jheryth Chrystopher rested his full weight against the railing, one hand propping up his chin, the other holding a glass of brandy that was balancing  precariously on the edge of the railing. The occasional breeze tossed his hair back and forth across his back, revealing how thick and long it really was. As another gust of wind played by, he took a deep breath, catching the scent of the light, distinctive perfume she always wore.  His head turned slightly to the side, the well tailored black suit shifting effortlessly with the motion. Turning back, he rested his arm down on the railing, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I knew it was only a matter of time until you returned.” 

The assault of noises coming from the party seemed to bend away from his voice, making his words heard clearly.

The raucous party-goers faded from the corners of Aittera's vision, and the music died away. She knew without looking back that the barge was now empty save for herself and the white-haired man before her. She stepped to the railing beside him with a wry chuckle and took the glass from his hand to take a sip. "I suppose it makes a certain kind of sense - dreaming about you again after seeing you at a couple of these parties."

As the glass slipped from between his fingers, he turned to face her. That green energy flashed across his eyes, revealing an intense seriousness that the wry grin on his face did not reflect. “This must be of your doing. I would not dream you in such a place.” 

He moved his hand away from the railing, motioning down the length of her body before falling to rest at his side, “You wear that halo of yours very well.”

She looked down to take in the beaded, shimmering white material that wrapped around the curvature of her voluptuous form and lifted a reproachful glance back to Jheryth's face. "If the party barge is my doing, this dress is obviously yours," she chided, and a sudden thought occurred to her. "The green dress in the woods - that was you too. Just how long have you been stalking me in my sleep?"

His eyes flashed again, and he turned away from her, staring out over the skyline, “Of course I must be the monster. How else could you absolve yourself if it were you who sought out my company?”

Aittera smirked. "Aww...feeling the martyrdom vibe, are we?" She was not about to let him play the victim card with her. It was beneath both of them. "So, if you're not doing this, and I'm not...who or what is?"

He spun around to face her, his face set, growling, “I DON'T KNOW!” He took a breath, avoiding her eyes, looking around at the surroundings, his right hand clenched. “What we do know of already, it would seem we both are.”

She flashed him an angry look. "Don't be melodramatic. What the hell are you yelling at?"

Jheryth looked back at her, pain written on his face. “I have a lot to be angry about! How dare you presume to know what I'm feeling?” He glared at her. “I am glad to see that your time with him has hardly broken your stride!”

Aittera rolled her eyes at him. "You have a lot of nerve! It's not my fault we're in each other's dreams! Why the hell are you yelling at me?"

"It is amazing how lucky you are. You saunter in here like you haven't a care in the world. Tell me, did you enjoy your stay with Lord Ragious? Because you do not even have a scratch to show for it!”

That hit a nerve. The storm that suddenly shook the air around them in the dreamscape dumped buckets on them as she threw a fist toward his face in a sudden rush of anger.

He rolled his head back with the punch, avoiding a broken jaw, thrusting an open palm towards her rib cage.

Thankfully, the rain had already rendered the beaded evening gown slick, and Jheryth's palm slid over it, reducing the impact and propelling his hand off toward her side. It slowed her momentum though, diminishing the power she put into a follow-up jab to his gut. 

He let out a grunt as her fist landed, the drenched suit offering no protection. He swung his fist under her extended arm, aiming for her kidney, but the telegraphed punch was easily avoided with a quick step to his side, where Aittera sent a kick into the back of his knee.

He felt his knee give way, and he let himself drop down to both knees, Force reflexes already bringing his hands up to meet her swing, aiming both hands to grab hold of her arm. Trying to throw the matted hair out of his eyes with a flick of his head as he looked up at her, he raised his voice over the rush of wind and rain. “Aittera! Look at me!”

She was about to wrench her arm from Jheryth's grasp, but stopped to shoot a look of pure rage at his face. Blinking the rain from his eyes, his hair was a tangled, dripping mess, some of it plastered to his face. He kept a firm grip on her arm, keeping his senses alert for another attack. “He were are, fighting each other – and he's out there, laughing at us! I did not lie when I said you got off easy. I've watched him utterly destroy someone I care about. Twisted her mind, broken her, made her a true pet. Complete with her own cage, whoring her out. She's so broken now, she's just accepted that's who she is!”

The rain was gone as quickly as it had come, though the storm clouds remained, and she was backing away from him with the look of someone begrudgingly conceding a point. "You mean the slave."

He let go of her arm, picking himself off of the ground, "Her name was Renn'a. She was someone I care about. He destroyed that person when I abandoned her to save her sister. And what she went through was far worse than what you or Renn'a had to endure."

"You know there's no record of a sister, right?"

Jheryth nodded. "I am very much aware of that. I have been trying to look into it, but have made no headway. Without ever having met, they share the same last name."

Aittera fixed him with a dubious expression. "Dawes is not an uncommon last name. Sounds like you're reaching."

He smiled calmly back. "That would be a valid point if they were not identical. She believes Kiabe intended to use that fact to replace Renn'a with her to spy on Ragious."

"Wait. Back up. I think I'm missing a few puzzle pieces. Twins? And what does Kiabe have to do with any of this?"

His eyes sparkled with a soft green glow and he folded his arms across his chest. "Of course you are. Until last week, the only two people who knew Will'a existed were Kiabe and myself, and I worked very hard to keep her identity a secret." He looked down at his soaked clothing.

"I guess it's time to start talking then. Who is Will'a to Kiabe?"

Jheryth closed his eyes, concentrating as he lowered his arms to his side. After a few moments his suit melted away, being replaced by a green terry cloth robe. He opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling in satisfaction. "That's better."

Aittera rolled her eyes and stalked back to the railing, folding her arms to rest against it, looking up at the storm clouds. In spite of the rain that had poured on them earlier, she was completely dry, her dress unaffected. Dream or psychotic break, it wasn't her that needed to put on a show. "Are you going to give me a straight answer, or do I need to wake up and hunt you down?"

He sighed as he joined her at the railing. "Of course, Aittera." He looked out at the horizon as he spoke, keeping his face passive. "As I understand, Will'a would have been a tool for Kiabe to use. Allow me to expound on the question. Will'a had been a guest of Kiabe's torture room for about a year before I rescued her."

A hushed expletive left her lips with a look of disgust. "How did you find out about her?"

Jheryth continued to keep his face passive as he spoke. "Completely by accident actually. I was summoned to Kiabe's estate for business. I do not believe she expected me to find out about her. When I happened to see her on a security monitor, I destroyed anyone who attempted to keep me from leaving with her. Leaving Renn'a where she was, and keeping off Ragious and Kiabe's radar was the only way to keep them both safe."

"That explains why you disappeared for so long, I suppose. Why is she wandering around Nar, asking my boyfriend to arrange a meeting with Renn'a if you're trying to keep her off the radar?"

"Because she asked me to give her the truth about her imprisonment, not because she was fully ready, but because Kiabe has found her. I told her it was unwise to seek out her sister, but she is determined."

Aittera nodded with a slight scowl. "That'll be a disappointing family reunion for her."

"I am inclined to agree with you. I am also certain that should she accomplish that, then Ragious will learn of her existence."

"You think he'll decide he wants a pair?" She smirked at her own double entendre.

"As sick and twisted as he is, how could he resist?"

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

Jheryth turned to her with an evil glint in his eyes. "Kill them both."

"Good luck with that." 

"I despise everything they are. For all that power they have, they pervert themselves by preying on the weak. They use dirty, underhanded tactics to get what they want. They have hurt people that I care about. Even Will'a understands that the only way to be safe is to kill them. That is my stake in this. You at least deserve the truth, though I'm willing to bet you do not want to hear the rest of it."

Aittera's expression became hardened, and she kept her gaze fixed to a point on the horizon. "I don't care."

"Only one of us is going to speak the truth. I do not blame you. I had hoped I earned at least that much."

Had he? She supposed she owed him something for giving Selus the security codes to the Avenger. "The truth is I can't help you."

Jheryth looked at her with tenderness. "The truth is you would rather run than stay and fight. It does not matter how many others he hurts, as long as it is not you. If that is your position, at least have the courage to admit it."

Aittera growled low, clenching her fists where they rested on the railing. "It's not. My hands are tied. If this was my call, I'd still be going after him like gangbusters until the bastard is dead."

"I truly apologize. If I had not given him the means to rescue you, perhaps this conversation would have gone differently."

"Oh sure. You'd be having this conversation with a dead woman. I bet that'd be useful."

"You misunderstand. I had intended to get you out myself. I chose to give that information to Selus instead."

"You'll understand if my confidence in Selus's abilities overwhelms any I might have in your own."

"His confidence in your abilities seems lacking."

"Kriff you." Aittera spun to face him, the storm raging in her deep blue gaze as intensely as it had assaulted the dreamscape around them. "Do you really think that coming to me with this self-righteous spin on things is going to sway me or get me to help you? You really think I'm so blind as to not see that you're just as selfish and self-serving as you ever were? You saw a girl who looked like the one you lost to your rival on a security monitor and ran to her rescue. What if she'd been a common soldier or a captured Jedi you had no personal stake in? You were already doing business with a damn Sith known for her cruelty and viciousness, Jheryth! I may have shed my ideals for a more realistic view of the universe, but at least I don't pretend to be something I'm not!"

He met her gaze without flinching. "That is why I gave the information to Selus."

"Exactly. That's exactly why I didn't choose to walk away from my partner and best friend for you, and it's why you don't get to criticize him or his influence in my damn life. You forget that I have as much intel on you as I do on Ragious, and all I see are similarities. The only loyalty either of you have is to yourselves and your own self interests. The idea of putting someone else's interests ahead of your own for no other reason than loyalty or honor is a foreign concept." 

She cast about for a way to end the dream, finally settling for walking toward the pleasure barge's exit without waiting for a response. 

Moments later, she was seething as she sat up in the still unfamiliar surroundings of her new flat on Nar Shaddaa.