Puzzle Pieces

[Anara Valnor]

For the sake of his life she complied. She sat, quietly, but kept her rage filed gaze fixed to him. She didn't flinch or make a sound as he worked; she could feel what he was doing. At his next command she tore her shirt off without a moments hesitation and sat bare before him.

Where once she had tried to hide her nudity from him, now she no longer cared. Her body was just a shell for her soul. A sick weak thing she cared nothing for. Hiding was the furthest thing from her mind; she'd never hide from him again.

Her eyes were glowing softly as she gazed at him, her blood flowing freely from the deep gashes across her torso. Still it didn't phase her. Nothing was capable of reaching through her cloud of anger and so she sat there, bleeding out, the urge to tear into him with her hands eating at her gut.

 

[James Justice]

James could hear as much as feel her anger around him. It was very distracting. Extremely distracting, even more than her bare body was. His fingers worked along a deep gash in her side, just under the ribcage that had barely missed her bone by a centimeter. James grimmaced, "This is going to sting, brace yeself."

His finger tips gripped a shard of glass lodged in the wound, pulling it out in in a quick movement. As blood started pouring out even further he pressed a towel to her wound, "Fething hell."

The blood quickly began to soak through the rag, onto his fingers. He cursed again as his free hand began to rummage for a bag of hemoglobin substitute. She was loosing too much too fast and he was beginning to regret even taking her on this in the first place.

"Gods damn," he cursed, plunging the needle into her arm and taping the bag where the drip would begin to flow without question.

His face began to show his worry furrowing in a scowl. The wound had covered his hands in a slick red slick coat. The formerly white rag had been transformed into a bright, solid crimson. He wondered partially if her liver had been cut in the wound. It was almost the right place. Either way, he had to stop the bleeding or she would be dead soon. Very soon. His right hand fished in his coat pocket, retrieving a micro arc welder. He never left home without it, just like cigarettes and booze.

"I have to cauterize the wound," he said grimly, "This is gonna hurt. A lot." He grabbed the back of her neck and looked in her eyes, anger and self-loathing taking him over. He was angry that she had gotten this upset. But he was more angry at himself that he had set her off like this. If ye die I will never forgive ye. Or myself. Especially myself. His brown eyes almost brimmed with tears as he hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't ye dare die on me. Ye hear me? Dun't die."

James pulled Anara's lips to his in a sloppy, intense kiss. She couldn't die on him. Not now, not ever. More than anything he wished he could take it back. He was so scared, and so angry at himself. But he had to be brave, he had to do this. There wasn't another choice.

He pulled his lips away, giving her eyes one last look. In case she doesn't make it. I want to remember what that looked like before I made her angry. He tossed the rag aside and the sound of the arc-welder with the smell of her burning flesh filled the room.

 

[Anara Valnor]

The voices cried out and a wave of familiarity washed over her; she was dying and she knew with absolute certainty that she'd died once before.

Her lips twitched upward in the facade of a smile as her anger continued to burn. Still she felt nothing, save her life flowing away across her skin, and still she didn't speak. Burning orbs of amber met his dark gaze, her own gaze void of anything save rage. Her face, on the other hand, was a mask of indifference.

His words didn't stir her, but his kiss...that sparked something and she returned it without hesitation. However, with a ferocity born of a woman that has had to survive countless horrors Anara clung to her rage to keep her body and heart dead to the man before her. Physical pain was nothing for her; she'd suffered worse in the pits of Nar Shaddaa. Memories flooded back as he sealed her wound, the stink of burning flesh filling the room. Still Anara didn't physically react as a fresh wave of anger welled up inside her petite form.

Holding James' gaze Anara finally nodded slightly, her head beginning to throb from blood loss and a flood of adrenaline. Only when the wound was sealed did she seem to come back to life, her eyes dark as they shifted down her bare torso. Countless scars peppered her skin and she lightly touched the freshly made scar, tears welling in her eyes as she relived how she'd acquired the rest.

Her capture, every punishment, and each fight she'd survived while a slave in the depths of Nar Shaddaa flashed through her mind. They played like a holovid through her mind and gaze as she slowly looked up to him.

 

[James Justice]

James sat back, panting. Sweat had begun to bead on his face. The worst was over. She was going to make it. The spacer's chest heaved with each breath. He had been close to loosing so much before that he was beyond tired of losing things. His eyes glazed over, unseeingly staring at Anara, mouth agape.

To say he was spent, was an understatement. To say he felt guilty was also an understatement. In trying to save her, he had almost killed Anara. What kind of monster was he? The worst kind. He needed to retreat. He needed a drink, a strong one. He wanted to forget everything, all of it. What he had just done, what he had almost done.

At last he rose, going to the bar, opening the cabinet and finding an unshattered bottle with shaking hands. He looked at it and cursed. The cheep bad wine that he had for guests who wanted to be posh. He was half tempted to throw it across the room. Instead he scrounged for another. The other bottle was full of Lum, the strong frothy, white and soap-like intoxicant that could easily bring a regular person into a drunken stupor with a few shots. James was no regular person.

He pulled the cap off and tossed it away. One gulp. Two. Four. Seven. He sighed and looked at the bottle. It wasn't working. Nothing was working. The spacer took a few steps back to the couch and sat beside Anara, still partially dazed and recovering from the moment.

What could he say? He didn't know. What was there too say that wouldn't make her angrier? Nothing. He offered the bottle, she would need it, he was sure. James wasn't sure if what he saw and felt was really an illusion and a lie, or if it was real. Or if she would understand.

The slience prevailed for several long minutes.

"Her name was Leighlah," he said at last. "Leighlah Chaser. Me childhood sweetheart. Through the travels with da, I kept coming back to her. Always. She waited for me. Always. One day, I were thirteen. Da got gunned down right 'afore me. Brutally murdered. I found meself alone on the Drunken Angel. I spent the next several years wandering across the galaxy, fightin' and a moving things. For all those years it was one credit to another, one bed to another. Just tyin' to survive. Took me a while to get back to her. Married her, finally."

He paused, looking ahead as if seeing something or someone who wasn't there. Memories of their time together flashed before his eyes.

"She were pregnant," he said half to himself, half to her in a quite voice, "pregnant, only six months into our marriage. We were gonna settle down proper. Start a family. That were when she died. Her and the child." He shrugged, "and I died that day too."

James snapped out of his reverie, "Ye should get ye rest."

 

[Anara Valnor]

Only when the bottle entered her field of vision did Anara seem to snap out of her rage induced daze. Blinking for the first time in minutes her eyes softened, her power withdrawing. Cautiously she took the bottle and raised it to her lips to take a long swallow. The liquid burned all the way down, but still she felt nothing as her eyes shifted to James, his soft words calming her further still. For several long minutes she simply stared at him before finally passing the bottle back to him. Exhausted she allowed herself to relax back into the sofa, her bare torso forgotten as she turned her gaze to the far wall.

"Mercureus Hawk," she finally breathed, her voice hitching. The pain of losing him was fresh, as though he'd only vanished from her life yesterday versus hundreds of years ago.

"We met within the Order...on Naboo," she smiled softly, remembering their first meeting fondly. "We were engaged," she continued, finally moving to retrieve her tattered shirt. The fact it was soaked in blood didn't seem to matter as she pulled it back over her head, her blood having long since cooled on the fabric. She shivered lightly, but gave no other sign of discomfort. "But he vanished...I never learned what became of him..."

For a long time she simply sat in silence, ignoring James' advice that she needed rest. She was fine or so she told herself.

"I never thought I'd love again...and then I fell in love with a dead man," she laughed sadly. "Moridin Talith," she breathed, pain evident in her voice. "We met in person only once before his death, but after that...He tried to tear my soul from my body so that he could inhabit the shell...Instead we wound up bound together...and by the end of it all I loved him more than I ever thought possible...I helped him regain a physical form, but I didn't understand the price required until it was to late..." Her eyes slid shut as she tipped her head back, a shuddering breath escaping her lips.

"Every soul on Byss was torn from their bodies and...used to create a new body for him...I lost my connection to the Force that day and ran. Ran from him, from what I'd done, everything. I ended up on Nar Shaddaa in the pits as a fighter, a slave...He left me there until...the virus," she whispered, her brow creasing. What happened next was still fragmented in her mind, but Anara did recall one last thing about her trials with matters of the heart.

"He killed me...I was dead and then...he brought me back with some of the souls he stole." The cold realization stung and her chest tightened, the voices hissing as she prepared to speak the truth concerning them. Gods she hadn't known and now...now she understood why she'd wiped her memory.

"Five hundred thousand souls...trapped for the last four hundred years," she laughed then, the sound almost maniacal as she moved to stand. Her eyes darkened as she pulled the needle from her arm, the bag of hemoglobin unwanted as she finally turned to look at him. She didn't know what else to say, but feared her sanity was slipping and so she leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead, her fingers gently slipping through his hair.

"I am sorry you lost your wife and child...but do not let it destroy you....She would not want that for you..." she murmured against his skin before pulling away, her fingers slowly leaving his hair.

 

[James Justice]

James listened. He understood, deeply truly in ways that couldn't be expressed. He knew what it feel like to ache, and she did too. Though he had no idea what it meant to die, in a physical sense. It must have hurt to die, but worse to come back.

He heard what she said but there was only really one answer that was the truth; "It already did."

There wasn't anything left to day. Their broken hearts had already been laid bear, and the worlds would not care an ounce either way. The spacer grabbed her hand delicately and eased her to sit, on the couch and lay her head on his chest.

"Rest," he said in a commanding but gentle tone.

She would do it willingly or not, but she desperately needed to rest after the amount of damage and bloodloss her body had sustained. His hand ran through her crimson locks, soothing her, letting her melt in the moment. His other kept the female close to his body, wrapped around her in warmth.

Exhaustion began to take over as he thought about a lot. There were a lot of things for him to try and work out. A lot of things......

The spacer's head slowly slumped onto Anara's as he surrendered to the embrace of sleep.

 

[Anara Valnor]

Then I'll save you...or try...

Closing her eyes she leaned heavily into his warmth and hours later awoke to find herself draped over him. At some point James must have laid down upon the couch and she lay partially atop him. His steady heartbeat was reassuring, but at the same time she hated it because she knew what was to come. More pain, more anger, more destruction.

James was dangerous; to himself as well as for her.

Her eyes stung behind closed lids and as carefully as she could Anara sat up. Carefully she untangled herself from him, deciding that she needed a shower. Pressing a kiss to his temple she slipped away, her side aching with every beat of her heart. Carefully she undressed and inspected her newest scar in the mirror, her eyes dull as she moved to get into the refresher. For a long time she simply stood there, water so hot she could barely stand it running down her body and washing away the dried blood, the result of their clash. As she stood there, staring blankly ahead, Anara didn't realize she was crying until a sudden sob passed her lips. She actually startled herself, but that singular sob was enough to bring forth more as she slumped forward against the cold steel of the refresher.

She was losing her mind, bit by bit, and it was agony; even dying hadn't proved so painful.

 

[James Justice]

He could hear it. A murmur. A cry of desperation. Of pain and hurt. It cut through James' sweet sleep and relaxation of its blissful nothingness. Anara. She needed him.

James jolted from the couch. He could hear her sobs and the shower going. He had no clue how long he had been asleep but James could feel the hyperspace hum on the deck. Assuming the worst, James bolted from the couch and stormed the showered. His mind was racing for what he would have to do if her wound had opened up again if he would be able to save her life.

He barged in, seeing her bare body collapsed on the flooring. His eyes searched for blood. Nothing. There was no trial of crimson from her bleeding out. There was no spew of her innards on the floor. Without thinking James jumped into the scalding hot water. His clothes began to stick to his body. The heat stung, making him give a grunt of pain but he shouldered through.

His arms wrapped around her body, holding Anara close yet again. One hand ran through her soaking scarlet hair, the other clasped her chest against his. Water poured over his face, he looked into her eyes, his studying hers for a moment. His lips curled around Anara's. It was consoling and gentle. She needed it. She needed to know it was going to be alright.

Tasting her mouth, he pressed her back against the shower wall with his body. And another kiss. And another. One of hhis hands grabbed a handful of her hair as his tongue forced its way into her mouth. His breath was coming in heavy heaves.

Deeper. Harder. He sucked her flavor and her being into him. James could feel himself loosing control but he didn't care. A torrent of passion began to consume James as he exhaled into her mouth before ramming his tongue into the back of her throat. A guttural growl resonated from his body.

 

[Anara Valnor]

She was sobbing before long, forgetting all about the fact that she wasn't alone on her own ship. Words tumbled from her lips, some were her own and others belonged to the thousands of souls trapped within her. On and on she rambled, her voice drowned out by the cascade of water on the tile beneath her. It wasn't until strong arms hoisted her up that Anara realized she wasn't alone at all.

Gasping she forgot who had her and moved to escape until those dark eyes caught her own. "James," she breathed, her voice trembling as her hands rose to his face. His gentle kiss made her tears flow harder, but as he pressed her back against the cold wall Anara in turn pressed against him.

His passion fueled her own and her hands shifted from his face to his shirt as he consumed her. Her tongue dueled his for dominance, her body arching forward into his as she attempted to pull him closer to her. There was no space between them, save his soaked clothing. Anara caved, giving into the desires of her heart and body, her fingers moving beneath the clinging fabric of his shirt. Pressing against him, Anara caught his bottom lip between her teeth and pushed against his chest, challenging him as she let his lip go with a growl of her own.

 

[James Justice]

James could feel her challenging him for dominion and he could feel her passion in her. It fueled him, made him hungrier, and he could feel himself quickly slipping into a savage animal instead of a human. His hands with a mind of their own helped her's strip away his shirt.

Harder.

Stronger.

Hungrier.

His body pressed Anara's harder, threatening to merge her with the wall if he could. His legs slid between hers, rubbing against her inner thighs ravagingly. Heavy pants of desire escaped his lips and body as he was slipping deeper into desire and lessening his self-control.

His hands grabbed her scarlet hair and jerked her head back so he could consume her easier. Water trailed from his face onto hers from the overhead nozzle. It poured from his bare body onto her's.

 

[Anara Valnor]

Passion consumed them and by the end of it all they were bound together by that passion, a tie made between their souls that would either be their doom...or their salvation.

Hours later Anara awoke to find herself held snugly to James side, both of them naked. Their legs were tangled together as they always were when the two slept together, but with their naked bodies pressed together for warmth the meaning behind it all was so much different. Logic dictated that she should regret what happened between them in the shower, but she felt so...content. Regret was the furthest thing from her mind as she sleepily nuzzled into his side.

Only the sound of the still running shower kept her from drifting back to sleep and with a soft sigh she started to untangle herself from James. Careful not to wake him she slipped from his grasp and from the bed, moving back to the shower to shut the water off.

Running a hand through her hair, still unaware of the connection formed between them, Anara moved to put some clothes on, her eyes lingering on James sleeping form for a moment. A soft smile curled her lips, but with a shake of her head she turned away, frowning at herself. When had she gotten so sentimental?

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

James was naturally a heavy sleeper by nature. His drinking problem didn't help things. But with Anara in his arms, he was an even heavier sleeper. It was the first full 8 hours of sleep the spacer had ever had that wasn't induced by alcohol.

The buzzing of the ship's alarm woke him in an instant. Years of behavioral training had made it an easy thing for him to wake up to. The spacer stretched, letting his limbs fill through the bed, pawing and searching for Anara. Eyes still closed he gave a murmur of displeasure; was their fling just another dream or had it really happened this time? He had searched the bed and she wasn't there, he gave a grumpy growl before sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

She was there, dressed, he blinked twice, staring at her hard and long. The confusion was real, and very visible. Did we bang or--? He shook his head, he was not about to ask. Either way that was going to be way to awkward, and considering that he was half asleep and still sorting reality from dream, this was not a thing he wanted to deal with. Still, he let himself take in her curves for a moment. He reached up enough to give her cheek a caress, "Mornin' sweetheart."

The space shoved himself off the bed and fully naked stumbled into the cockpit. For the first time in a while his mind and hands had not gravitated to alcohol as a motivation to get out of bed. He studied the console a second and blinked before pulling them out of hyperspace. There was definitely something that felt very different. The spacer couldn't figure it out and it was infuriating him. The ship was the same, the location was the same, but he felt different. It was like something was missing. Something he had been carrying for a long time. Something that had been clawing at his mind every second of every day for years.

What is it?

The spacer looked out over the planet of Onderon that had filled their viewport as he racked his brain, trying to figure it out.

[member="Anara Valnor"]

 

[Anara Valnor]

Pulling a fresh shirt over her head Anara caught James just as he was waking up and the stare her threw her way was...odd. Blinking she returned it, her brow slowly creasing in confusion. "What?" she asked softly, lightly leaning into his touch as he easily chased her light frown away with his simple greeting. Something felt off, but Anara couldn't pin point what the problem was.

Blinking she stared after him for a moment, admiring the view, before moving to follow him. Again her eyes drifted downward and she laughed at herself; it wasn't like she'd never seen him naked before.

Something was wrong, she didn't feel wrong per say, but her continuing focus on his bare arse was odd. Anara wasn't a teenager anymore and she'd never been that fascinated with his anatomy before. Maybe having her long standing dry spell broken had really affected her?

Shaking her head Anara shifted her gaze to the planet looming before them and her breath hitched, her chest tightening painfully. Gods... Simply seeing the planet brought about a violent emotional reaction and before Anara realized what was happening she had sunk into the nearest seat, tears clouding her vision. She made to wipe her eyes and upon raising her hands she realized that she was shaking. Staring at her hands she simply sat there, heart racing as memories from a life lost a long time ago flooded her mind.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

Anara's tears woke James from his semi-stupor. Though he couldn't hear them, it was as if he could feel them. The spacer shook the idea away; that was non-sense. Normal people didn't feel others crying. That was ridiculous. But he looked at her and he knew it was true. He could feel her pain.

It was as if he was breaking down, hurting, and weeping. Anara's flood of thoughts subconsciously caused one of James'. The battle of the Two Chiefs. The Mando-Run. The Sith Alchemy Fiasco. Rose Blade turning to the dark side. The bombings of Dal'Bor. Thraxis' torture Pit. The Month of Torture and his escape from the Prosecutor. Shut up and help the damn woman, James told himself. Biting his lip, James forced the memories back in the back of his mind. He would lose it later, he knew it. There would probably be several empty bottles of alcohol by the time this was done. But he would handle that when he got there, Anara needed his help right now.

The spacer delicately took her shaking hands in his own. He pulled the small woman close, into a warm embrace. His arms wrapped around the back of her shoulders, pressing the side of her face to his body. A hand delicately began to run through her crimson hair. He could only imagine what she had been through in her life. Only desperate things could drive a person to want to forget it all. James understood--some days that was just what he wanted.

"Just let it out," he murmured in his low, gravely voice, holding her close, "I got ye. I got ye."

 

[Anara Valnor]

Her pain doubled...tripled and before long she could scarcely breathe. Trembling she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will the onslaught of emotions away, but holding the concentration necessary was impossible. Her reaction to seeing Onderon had triggered something in James, a flood of emotions that mirrored her own. How in the name of the Gods she knew all that Anara couldn't begin to guess, but it hardly seemed to matter.

Clinging to the man she found comfort in his embrace, in his warmth, and slowly she began to settle. The voices within her calmed, their hissing becoming low murmurs as Anara's tears slowly ceased to flow. "No...No I'm ok...I can't," she murmured finally, her focus more on him. He was a distraction, a welcome one, and she gladly pressed her face against his warm chest. "I...want to apologize for earlier..." she murmured, his chest muffling her words slightly. Pain of a different kind bloomed in her chest as she thought back to why they had been fighting in the first place and while it hurt to admit or even acknowledge Anara never had any right in the first place to be mad with him.

He'd made his feelings clear and she'd turned away from them; if he found solace in the arms of another then she had no right to be upset. She'd made her choice, wrong though it was, and now she had to accept that.

Swallowing she pushed him back just a bit so she could see his face and so that he could see the sincerity in her own. "I had no right...I apologize for that...for all of it," she breathed before leaning up to press a soft kiss to the corner of his lips. Offering him a sad smile she hugged him a final time before pulling away, hands still trembling lightly rising to wipe at her eyes.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

Her kiss had been warm, very soft and sweet on the side of his lips. It made him feel so good, so much better than many of the hot and heavy passionate kisses of other women had been. She was really a gentle sweet being, but like any woman, she could go into a fierce rage when provoked. He had never honestly seen someone he cared about react that violently to anything in his life.

"Dun't be sorry," James said in a soft but firm voice. "Dun't. It were my fault, I shun't have yelled at you, I'm sorry."

If ye were smart, Anara, ye'd run before I hurt you again. It was my fault. Mine. All mine. I am the one who made ye angry. I am the one who caused ye to get that upset. I am the one who caused ye to almost die. I know I should push ye away but I'm too selfish. I dun't want to live without ye.

His hands softly swept away the remaining tears from her cheeks. He gave a sad smile, "I will do everything in my power to help ye, to take care of ye. I know ye ain't a damsel in distress, and ye are strong, but this be what I do for those I care about," he lowered his eyes, "But I know I can't protect ye from meself. Everything I touch becomes marred."

He moved to grab a bottle of ale, one of the few remaining ones. Self-hate and self-loathing rolled off him like almost visible clouds. The spacer chunked the bottle cap across the room and began chugging. Chugging. A third of it was gone in a matter of a half a minute. Years of practice had refined it to an art. And now, once more the self-destruction feelings were in the back of his mind, where they belonged.

The spacer began to pull an outfit together; leather pants sprawled across the couch, a dark tee-shirt across his desk, his coat on the peg, his gunbelt on his nightstand. In a matter of a few minutes, his outfit was finished. As the self-pain continued to rise in the back of his mind, James had to self-medicate more alcohol, emptying the bottle before he was ready to land the Angel. The spacer gave Anara a gentle squeeze and kiss as he walked in, "Good morning, by the way. We going anywhere specific?" James asked taking the yoke, "we are definitely going to need to restock on alcohol. Big time."

[member="Anara Valnor"]

 

[Anara Valnor]

It was the most peculiar thing, but even though James never really spoke his fears to her, Anara felt them. In fact she could swear that she could hear him murmuring them in her mind. Holding his gaze for as long as he allowed Anara fought with herself, the urge to force him to look at her nearly overwhelming her. However, she decided to let him be and simply spoke her mind on the matter as he slipped away from her.

"James...I don't want protection from you...a few more scars don't matter to me," she explained before he slipped away. His heart was heavy and it weigh on her own as she sniffled a final time, her trembling having subsided for the most part.

For a long moment she gazed after James, but eventually her eyes shifted back to Onderon. Gazing at the planet still felt odd to her, but she no longer felt as though she was going to be overwhelmed by emotion. In fact the longer she gazed at the planet the more at ease she felt and when James returned she leaned happily into him before taking a seat upon the arm of his chair.

"The capital...I lived there..." she murmured after a long moment, glancing at James. She stared at him for a long moment before moving to press a kiss to one of the cuts upon his face, one of the cuts she'd caused.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

Her words surprised James. Darn these saber jockeys and their wizardry mind-reading tricks. He quirked an eyebrow as he began to guide the King down in to atmos. Only a fool would say he was the best, but--well, he was one of the best. He let the actions, though he had done them all thousands of times, enough to do it in his sleep, distract him from what he had to say.

"It ain't the scars that can be seen that I leave," he said quietly, "its the ones that will be on ye heart. Forever. Those be the ones I am scared of. Those'll be the type I leave."

Her lips felt wonderful on his delicate skin. He flinched, slightly, only from the delicateness, not from her touch. He reached up and gave her cheek a gentle brush.

He blinked, trying to get rid of the things that were in the back of his mind. I know I will hurt her. One day I will do something. Something horrible, unforgivable. Something that will make her leave me. Like Sasha. Or someone will take her from me. Like Leighlah. The idea hurt enough to draw stinging tears to his eyes. He blinked them away, tightening his grip on the yoke. Life just could never be easy for him, could it? Not even once?

A few moments later they had landed, and James let the King power down, babying the vessel. Nodding, semi-satisfied, he led Anara down the loading ramp and soon they were standing on the open, but busy street. His arm was wrapped around her waist comfortingly as he studied her face carefully, "Anything looking familiar? Memories coming back?"

[member="Anara Valnor"]

 

[Anara Valnor]

That first step onto the planet was hard, harder than she cared to admit. While nothing really looked familiar, the sounds and smells around them did. It reminded her of...well she wasn't sure, but there was no denying the familiarity of it all.

With a slow shake off her head she looked around them, her eyes attempting to take everything in all at once. "No...not really...but..." her words died on her lips and she shook her head, frowning softly. Without giving it any thought she allowed her feet to carry her down the street, James at her side. While she had no idea where she was going her feet seemed to and so Anara trusted the muscle memory of her body.

"You're not the only one scared of leaving behind scars you know," she murmured as a way to distract herself as they continued down the street. "Or afraid of being scarred in return...But nothing worth having is ever gotten with ease," she finished as they came to a large fountain. Around them were various shops and restaurants, all with a splendid view of the fountain in the middle of the square.

Molten orbs traced along the delicate edges of the fountain's sculpture, her brow creasing in thought. "I...used to play here as a child," she whispered as she pulled away from James to approach the old fountain. It had seen better days, but it was so exactly as she remembered and...

"My father had a shop here!"

Turning around sharply she spotted where the shop had once resided, but now it was an entirely different business. Disappointment swept through her, but Anara was quick to push it aside. Why would she expect her father's shop to still be there? No doubt it had been gone for hundreds of years.

Sighing she glanced up to James, offering him a weak smile. "Even before I wiped my memory I always forgot this isn't my time..."

 

[James Justice]

James nodded at her comment as they walked. She was so--right sometimes. And it could made him so upset it, the spacer clenched his teeth. Why ye gotta be so right all the time, eh? Could ye be wrong for once, just for the novelty of it? Deep down inside James knew he was wasn't really angry at her. He had hurt her, and he was afraid he would again. That was why he was angry. And terrified. He would take his licks and be nearly killed without a complaint for her. It wouldn't be the first time he did it for someone he cared about, after all. But he couldn't stand by the idea of her suffering. He relaxed his jaw and let it go, letting his self-hate take its proper back seat again.

He watched as Anara began to have the wheels turn and remember again. It genuinely made him smile. Then she fell dissapointed once more and James took a set closer to her. He smiled back genuinely.

"Ye got something though, that is good, darling," he said warmly in his low, gravelly voice. His index fingergave her chin a playful tap, "Keep ye spirits up, we are getting somewhere. That's what's important."

He needed a drink. He could feel his body aching for alcohol. Badly. He never went a morning with only one bottle. For the first time in a while James internally cursed having two livers. The alcohol was being digested all too soon, all too soon it was leaving the bloodstream. Distracting himself, the spacer fished a cigarette from his pocket with trembling hands and was soon puffing a wreath of steady tobacco smoke around himself. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets to hide his hand's shakes as he smiled. The last thing Anara needed was more reasons to worry about him. Or to lose the flow of thought she had going here.

"What's next, sexy?"

[member="Anara Valnor"]