A Taste of Forgivness

[Mu Satach]

The man shambled down the streets towards his low rent hotel. Reaching the lobby he felt the cool rush of sterilized air.

"Whoa, looks like somebody finally got lucky." the desk clerk grinned from behind the desk as he entered.

The man smiled, "Not quite."

"Aw, what happen man? I thought for sure when you didn't come back last night you finally got to see her." the kid kicked his feet off the desk and spun around to view the old man.

"I did."

"Then what's the problem?"

"She hates me." there was no malice or sorrow in the statement, it was just a matter of fact spoken kindly. A bit of a laugh escaped his lips at the reaction of the desk clerks confusion. "It's a long story and I'm a bit tired."

"Man, that sucks. After you've spent all this time just waitin'. What a waste."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Sometimes," air escaped his lungs "sometimes you spend the rest of your life paying for and regretting the things done in moments of haste."

The kid's eyebrows furrowed together, "So... will you be checkin out and movin on then?"

"Well, the last time we talked it took me 5 years to find her again, but something about her has changed since then. I think she'll be coming back here, so I'll be hanging around a while."

"Last time? How long you been doing this?"

It was a man's turn to look slightly confused, "You know, I've sort of forgotten." His eyes faded a bit as he became lost in memory, "She was so beautiful and trusted me completely. She would have died for me and I..." his voice broke, he swallowed hard and blinked several times.

An echo from his past loomed before him, a hand stretched out reaching towards him. The rumble of rushing water, the sound of a heavy gate rolling shut, the deep clinking clatter of its tumblers as it slowly cranked down silencing a final scream "Don't leave me!" coming from the deep darkness within and he saw himself turn away.

"Pops!"

"Hmm?" the man came back from from his past,

"I said, if it's been so long you can't even remember anymore, why bother? Why don't you just let it go."

"Because, can't spend eternity feeling this way." he headed to the lift.

"Oh hey, almost forgot. Some guy name Doc Ivins tried to get a hold of you earlier. Said you'd know how to reach him."

The man nodded his appreciation and left the lobby.



Mu piloted the Avenger through the asteroid field not far from Bespin. She could hear her breath inside the black helmet. The view was limited, but it didn't matter. She almost preferred it that way. Not seeing, but reaching out feeling her way through the system. Anticipating the rocks beyond the rocks, the patterns they made as they glided past her, like dancing in shifting sand in a sea of time. It was relaxing, it was challenging, it was a distraction, but it brought a moment of peace to her thoughts. And ultimately that was what she had purchased from the Lieutenant.

Every moment she could spend racing in the ship took her further and further away from her past. The more in control, the more she felt herself returning and that was what made the outrageous amount of money she paid for the ship worth it. Every ounce of her being had to be concentrated on her surroundings. One mistake, just one would mean the end of her existence.

In the ship she was the one in control, she commanded it's every shudder, it responded to her touch and she to it and if she made a mistake it cost her and her alone. A victim of only her own hands and no one else's.

A hint of a smile pulled at her lips hidden beneath the Imperial mask. She increased her speed and continued her dance through the field.