[SpringsSong]

Xyshari shook her head as she felt tears slide down her face, staining her fur.

"You threw yourself between me and him.  You... for all you knew, that shot could have been meant to kill me," Xyshari said in a tear-choked voice.

"Were our roles reversed, I have no doubt that you would have done the same," Lana said, pulling Xyshari close.

[SpringsSong]

It was several minutes before Xyshari's tears stopped flowing, and a few more before they finally stood up and began to walk out of that room in the temple, heading for the back set of stairs and going up through the temple, out onto a large, sprawling patio that overlooked an even larger expanse of land.  Worldessly, Xyshari pulled Lana towards a waterfall and pool of water.

[SpringsSong]

After several minutes of walking, the two of them arrived at the edge of the pool, the sound of the waterfall quickly becoming the predominant noise in the area.  Lana made to sit at the edge of the pool, but Xyshari shook her head, pointing just past the edge of the waterfall, where there was a gap in the wall.

[SpringsSong]

Lana followed Xyshari over to the gap in the wall, which ended up being a cavern of some sort.  They walked in silence for some time until they reached an area where water from above flowed freely into a small pool.  There was a tent set up there, and two sleeping bags set up inside of the tent.  Lana turned to Xyshari, her yellow eyes soft.

"You've spent some time setting this up," she said quietly.

[SpringsSong]

"Until we can get things in the main temple set up as some sort of a home, yes," Xyshari said.  "This was... the first spot that I found where we could set up something temporary, but that could easily convert to something more permanent if we wanted it to.  It's... decently sheltered from the weather," she added.

[SpringsSong]

"You don't have to convince me," Lana said, kissing Xyshari's cheek.  "It just surprised me, was all.  When did you even have time to do this?"

"When I came back here to investigate that Sith relic that Talos Drellik was so interested in," Xyshari said.  "Before I came back to report my success on the matter, I took the time to stop here and set it up.  It... helped, for a night."

[SpringsSong]

"I don't... when did this happen?  You know I would have come along with you," Lana said, but Xyshari shook her head.

"I needed some time to myself--not unlike how you were after Arcann stabbed me," Xyshari said.  Lana paused for a moment, looking confused.

"Who told you that?" she asked, her tone slowly shifting from curious to accusatory.

[SpringsSong]

"...if he weren't already dead, he would be," Xyshari said after a few moments.  "I should've known--!"

"I'm... going to guess, then, that it was Koth?" Lana asked.

"He'd said that it had taken everything he could muster to get you in there before I woke up," Xyshari said.  "That you'd... been avoiding me up until that point, like you couldn't bear to see me like that."

[SpringsSong]

"He and Senya couldn't get me to leave your side!" Lana exclaimed, raising her hands in frustration.  "I'd almost lost you once five years ago--and then again that day.  When I saw you fly through the air and through Arcann's lightsaber, I..."

In that split second, Lana's otherwise firm, calculating, and otherwise stern visage cracked, and her voice wavered.

[SpringsSong]

"...I was watching you die," Lana said after a few moments.  "That you were even able to... somehow make light of the situation and make the remark about that being 'the right time and place'..."

"I didn't honestly know if I was going to live or die past that," Xyshari said.  "If I was going to die, I at least wanted to remember... something good."

[SpringsSong]

"You are insufferable sometimes, you know that?" Lana said with a smile on her face.  "Although I suppose I can understand the sentiment.  When I'd heard the rumors that you were dead, I spent longer than I'd care to admit angry at myself for not telling you about how I felt earlier.  For all I knew, you were dead and gone, and... and all I could think about was how I should have hold you on Yavin how I loved you."

[SpringsSong]

"Lana..." Xyshari began, but the Sith woman shook her head firmly.

"We've both had too many near-deaths to keep dancing around the issue, my love," Lana said.  "When you were thrown in carbonite, when you fought Arcann on Asylum--Vaylin... and then, everything so far with Theron..."

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Xyshari asked.

[SpringsSong]

"Damn it if I know; I'm not even sure what I'm doing!" Lana said, sighing as she sat down on one of the sleeping bags.  "This may surprise you, Xyshari, but not all Sith are predisposed to taking lovers whenever the mood strikes them.  We might be more... accepting of some things than the Jedi are, but..."

[SpringsSong]

Xyshari simply sat down next to Lana, listening as the Sith woman tried to put her feelings into words.  She had watched Doc struggle with something similar when he had proposed to her (although she had been endeared by his comparison of wanting to be "like the Wookiees" and sticking it out forever).

"Would it help if I told you that I had an only-slightly-more-awkward proposal from Doc?"

[SpringsSong]

The glare that Lana gave Xyshari was about on par with the glare that she had given SCORPIO when she'd told the artificial intelligence that she would deactivate her for her comments about HK being "inferior" and "destined for scrap".  After a moment, though, her gaze softened and she lowered her head.

"Am I really doing that badly?" she asked.