Revered and Reviled

Patience gunned down the last Sith fighter. The Ebon Hawk blasted into hyperspace as Taris burned. Patience climbed down from the turret and Carth nearly ran her over.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," said Carth, his voice strange and tight.
Patience watched him walk back to the cabin he had chosen for himself. Destroying worlds must be a Sith thing, she thought to herself. First his homeworld of Telos IV, and now Taris. She sighed, and walked after him.
"Carth?" Patience peered into the pilot's cabin. There were no lights except the dim reflection of the guide lights on the floor and walls. She could barely see him, but knew that he was standing by the porthole, staring out into the blackness of space.
"Yeah, what is it?" he said harshly.
"Are you okay?" Patience took a tentative step into the room.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. Not that I can see anything in the dark. It's just… you don't look fine, that's all."
Carth rubbed at his eyes. "What do I have to do to make you go away?" he asked angrily.
"You could just say, 'It's okay, Patience, I'm not all torn up inside from watching Taris get destroyed. I don’t need a shoulder to cry on or anything.' If you say something like that, I'll go away."
Carth choked back a sob. "By the Maker, why? Why would anyone do that? Just to kill one woman… I hope she's worth it. By all the powers, she better be worth it." Carth bowed his head, and felt Patience brush away his tears. He pulled her close, burying one hand in her soft hair, hiding his face against hers.
She felt him shaking, trying to hold back his grief and rage. Patience put her arms around him, and held him gently. Said nothing, just held him close.
Her presence, her shape, her … patience. Everything about her just seemed to soothe, and Carth felt the worst of his misery burn away at her touch. He relaxed into her arms, her comforting strength.
"Thank you," said Carth finally. He brushed away the moisture from his face before he pulled away and looked at her.
Patience smiled gently at him, then reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll feel better, I promise."
He smiled back at her, thoughtful. "I think I'll get some rest now."
"Sure thing." Patience waved to him, and left his cabin.

"Someone with as much raw talent and sensitivity to the Force as you possess must be brought before the notice of the Council," Bastila insisted. "We must go to Dantooine."
"I have no problem with going to wherever so we can drop you off, but this nonsense about me and these stupid visions – "
"They are not stupid," said Bastila sharply. "This is an amazing opportunity for us."
"No, it isn't!" Patience glared at the Jedi. "For you, it might be. For me, it's a nightmare. I don't want to get into the minds of the Sith. I'm not a leader. I'm just a soldier, and I am definitely not a Jedi."
Bastila stared at her curiously. "Most people would be pleased to discover that they had such power, such potential. And you would reject it?"
"They can have it," Patience scoffed.
"Unfortunately," said Bastila, "it isn't our choice. The Force has chosen you, for some reason, and bound us together, with these… visions… of ours. Until we can figure out what it means, we must stay together. And we must follow the will of the Force."
"That is so stupid."
"It is not! The Force guides us, and you would do well to consider what is really behind your reluctance to acknowledge the power and wisdom in giving you, of all people, these visions."
Patience mentally threw up her hands, and left the bridge. Were all Jedi so intolerable, she wondered to herself. She heard someone walking behind her, and turned.
"Carth!"
He smiled at her. "Are you okay? Sorry about Bastila, I'm guessing she's still a little rough around the edges. Most Jedi only ever talk to other Jedi."
"With good reason," Patience grinned. "But, I'll live. I'm still not sure about this whole idea of being 'Force-sensitive,' whatever that even means."
Carth looked a little more seriously at her. "Well, if the Jedi Council says you have to be trained, then… it's important that people who can use the Force be trained properly, you know."
"I know, but," she frowned, "shouldn't someone have noticed this by now?" She sagged back against the wall. "This makes no sense."
"Well, have you ever met a Jedi in person?"
Patience thought about it. "I can't remember," she confessed.
Carth laughed. "Then you haven't. Trust me, you remember every Jedi you ever meet." He grinned down at her. "Come on," he gestured behind her, "let's sit down if you want to talk."
Patience looked behind her, and realized that she was leaning against the door to his room. "Oh, sure."
The room was still dark, and slightly cooler than the rest of the ship. She looked around curiously.
"Why is it so dark?"
"I kind of like it," Carth admitted. "Makes it easier to fall asleep. But I think the lights are broken or something. "
"Oh, do you want me to see if I can fix it?" She reached for the panel, just behind his head, before she realized what she was doing. "Oh!" She froze from nervousness, from being so close to him. She overbalanced, tumbled into his arms, before she could catch herself. "Um… sorry."
Carth put his arms around her waist. "Not a problem, I guess." He smiled at her, and leaned back against the wall with Patience still in his arms.
Patience tried not to laugh. "Right, sorry, I didn't – I mean, we could totally kiss if we wanted to, right?" She straightened herself, but didn't pull away from his arms.
"What?"
She blinked. "I said that last part out loud, didn't I?" She blushed bright red, and wished her tongue would stop listening to the crazy part of her brain.
Carth laughed before she could apologize. "It's true, we are both adults. So, yeah, if we wanted to. We could."
Patience sighed in relief at finding that he wasn't angry or offended. It was so easy for her to flirt and laugh with Carth. It felt like she had been doing this her entire life. "Of course. We don't even have to do anything else. We could just kiss. Like friends. Do friends kiss?"
"Sometimes." Carth looked at her, trying to see where she was trying to get to.
"I'd kiss you, if you were my friend," she said brightly.
"Heh."
"So… are we friends, Carth?"
For an answer, he pulled her close, pulled off the ribbon holding her ponytail in place, letting her hair spill over his hands before he brought his lips to hers.
"This doesn't mean anything," Carth pointed out, his voice soft and warm.
"No, of course not," she agreed, slightly breathless.
"We're just bored. And friends," he added.
"Yes," she smiled in agreement, and pulled his head to her for another kiss.
Bastila, her face cold and angry, walked through the dining area, heading back to the bridge without saying a word to any of the other crew members.
"Hey, are you okay?" Mission asked, but the Jedi didn't seem to hear her.
Zaalbar growled something, and then laughed, holding out a giant paw to keep Mission from following Bastila.
"What do you mean, she's too slow?" said Mission, confused.
Canderous looked up curiously, and looked around. "Ha!" The Mandalorian laughed, and then went back to his drink without saying anything more.
"Huh?" Mission looked around as well. "I don't get it, what are you guys laughing about?" she asked impatiently.
Zaalbar refused to answer and Canderous didn't bother.
Mission got up, to go see what Patience was doing, and maybe ask her. Suddenly, Mission looked around again. Patience wasn't at the table, and neither was Carth. "Oh!" She looked at Zaalbar, who chuckled again.
"I see you figured it out," grinned Canderous. "Let this be a lesson to you, girl. A woman who waits for a man is a woman who will always wait for a man."
Mission glared at him. "Don't you try and indoctrinate me with your crazy Mando'ade teachings, old guy."
"What's the matter? You don't want to learn how to fight like a warrior, and love where you chose to?"
Mission flushed, and Canderous sipped his drink again, waiting for her to reply.
"Mandalorians respect their women. We don't let them wait at home for a hero to save them," he said harshly. "We teach them to fight for themselves, and glory in their strength."
Mission knew he was making a point about her brother, and stiffened. She glanced at Zaalbar.
The Wookie shrugged, and growled sheepishly.
Mission's eyes watered, and she fled to her room.
The Mandalorian raised an eyebrow. "Did you just agree with me?" he asked Zaalbar.
The Wookie nodded.
"Huh." Canderous finished his drink and returned to the ship's garage to finish working on the swoop bike.
Carth was still kissing her, and Patience couldn't think of anything except how wonderful it was. His hands were tangled in her hair, his body was lean and warm and strong, his lips claimed hers, possessed them as surely and completely as if she had been made for his taking.
Carth finally pulled away from the heady intoxication of her kisses. "I should… piloting. Dock. Entering system, things like that. You know."
"Oh, right," Patience agreed, and they moved away from each other. She couldn't take her eyes off him yet, she just wanted to keep staring at him, and yes, go on kissing him forever. Carth was looking at her too, thinking much the same things. After a few heartbeats of gazing, lovingly and hungrily, at each other, suddenly Patience bounced forward and kissed him on the cheek before running out of the cabin.
Carth laughed in stunned surprise, and touched the spot where her warm, soft lips had touched him. He heard her laugh in the hallway.
"Get to work, flyboy!" she yelled as loudly as she dared, then laughed again and went down to the garage, where the swoop bike was.
Canderous looked up as she entered. "Done already?"
Patience blushed. "We didn't do anything. Much."
"Planning to finish later?"
"So, how's the bike? Think we'll find anywhere to race?"
Canderous chuckled at her. "The bike is fine. Still can't believe you risked our lives to steal a bike."
Patience grinned. "It's a really nice bike! How did Davik get it from the Hidden Beks anyway?"
"Probably paid for it. That's how Davik and the Exchange work," the Mandalorian said grimly. "Everything has a price. They specialize in finding it."
"Well, not everything," said Patience gently.
Canderous grunted, but didn't debate the point. "So, we're going to Dantooine? You're going to become a Jedi?"
Patience laughed. "Don't be ridiculous! Bastila just needs to get some stuff out of my head. I'll fight when I need to, but I'm no Jedi. I'm not interested in being some great hero. I'd rather settle down on a farm somewhere, and have a couple of babies."
"Wise woman," Canderous grunted.
"Yeah, can we go back to talking about the bike instead of babies?" she blushed.
Canderous looked around quickly. "You pissed off that Jedi, by the way. Not sure if she had her eyes on the flyboy, or whether she just wants you to stay celibate, or what."
"What?" Patience frowned. "I'm not - ugh, I'll go talk to her, get it over with."
"Really?" The Mandalorian raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty bold," he said admiringly. "Are you scared of anything?"
She laughed lightly. "I'm sure I am, I just don't remember what it is!" Patience sighed. "Well, I am scared of one thing, but it's stupid."
Canderous looked at her in surprise.
"I hate these visions that I'm sharing with Bastila. It's not what I see that scares me, it's the taste of the Sith minds. The hatred, the hunger for power. How could anyone live that way?" Patience asked angrily. "What's the point? I hate the way it makes me feel," she shuddered. "I hate touching their minds."
"Are you afraid of the Dark Side?" he asked curiously.
"No," said Patience uncertainly. "And that's what scares me."