Chapter Thirty-Three, Part Three

"Why have them rest on board?" May sent Gladius into an easy course through the system, away from Taris' star. "We could be at Dantooine by now…"

"I want to give them some time to relax," Dan wrapped his arms around May from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Revan's mind is still in chaos, she'll be certain to have a nightmare about her past… I'd like you to offer to help her when she wakes."

"I can probably open up some of her memories," May leaned against Dan's chest, still focused on her interface with Gladius. "But you're the one who specialises in mind magic, you could probably help her remember everything."

"I could…" Dan shrugged his shoulders, careful not to break May's concentration. "But the time she spends without those memories helps her gain a new perspective on her actions."

The Revan that emerged from Malak's betrayal and the Jedi's plot was a different person. Light or dark, she abandoned her ambitions against the Republic. Revan took a new path, one that succeeded in bringing about the downfall of a hidden Sith Empire.

"It still seems a bit… shady," May snorted as she opened her eyes. Gladius could handle the rest on her own, until they needed to jump. "The Jedi might have taken her memories, but we're the ones keeping them from her at this point."

"That's true," Dan released May, enough to let her spin and face him. He pressed his forehead to her's and smiled. "But if the Jedi had their way, she'd never remember, and our method will still get her memories back faster than if we did nothing."

May rolled her eyes and thumped her head against his, an action that forced a grin on his lips. She frowned, hands pressed to her skull in mock horror.

"You and your thick head…" she rubbed her bruised forehead and glared into Dan's eyes. "How would you like it if someone held the keys to your memories, but refused to give you everything?"

"I suppose I might resent them…" Dan sighed. May was right, it was the moral choice to return Revan's memories in full. However, he and May had the benefit of a kind of foresight. "But I know how this story plays out, and Revan really does benefit from her amnesia."

"Alright," May returned her hands to his shoulders and rested her head against his chest. "But it still feels off, like we're playing god or something."

They drifted into silence. Dan held May in his arms as he gazed past Gladius' hull, into the dense starfields around them. A lot of their decisions, now and in the future, would be similar to this one. They had to walk a balance between serving their interests and the interests of the people they would one day rule.

"No one can stop us but us," Dan muttered. May didn't respond, her breath slow and regular, asleep. "I need to pay more attention to the choices I'm making… unless it's necessary to protect the future I want to build, I should do my best for the people around me."

It cost him nothing, beyond a bit of his now infinite time, to be more conscious and less reactive. His mind was fast enough to double and triple think any choice he made, but his natural inclinations let him slip into old habits. These people might have been characters to him in his past life, but they were living, breathing beings as well.

Dan settled in and did a mental review of all his plans for the future. Not just a search for shady moral choices that could be avoided, but a hunt for any imperfections in his reasoning. He wanted to build a utopia in the future, and his path would touch the lives of trillions in his home galaxy alone.

Time ticked on, until a soft alarm broke his concentration. An alert, Revan had left her quarters and was currently in one of the meditation spaces. May yawned and silenced the noise with a wave.

"Looks like it's time for me to put on a show…" she disentangled from Dan's grasp and stretched her arms above her head. "How many of her memories should I try to release?"

Dan followed May and rose to his feet. He placed his hands on her waist and raised her into the air. A gentle spin returned her to the plush lounger. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and stretched his own back.

"I'll go," Dan gave his Wife a smile as he moved toward the door. "You might have been right, Revan's real goal was always the destruction of the hidden Sith Empire… even if we return all her memories now, she'll likely listen to reason if we show her what we can do."

"Sounds good!" May returned his smile and cuddled deeper into the cushions. "Bring a blanket when you come back!"

"Will do," Dan laughed as the door closed behind him. His outlook had changed overnight. All of his plans had been skewed by his old perspectives, the human reaction to danger combined with his initial weakness in this galaxy. "The time for hiding is finished, Palpatine is reduced to a spirit and Abeloth is locked in her prison… when we finally go home Krypton will show its true face to the world."

Dan made his way to the meditation lounge, where Revan was seated alone. Bastila had tried to make her way here, but Gladius was instructed to help the woman get lost in the labyrinth of her halls. No need for the Jedi to be present, she would likely attack him to prevent him from telling Revan the truth. 

"I hope I'm not intruding," Dan knocked on the open door frame and stepped inside. Revan glanced up, eyes clouded.

"No," she shook her short black hair and put on the imitation of a smile. "I just couldn't sleep, but I don't mind the company."

"Bad dreams?" Dan moved to a rounded seat that faced the confused woman. He let Venom reform into a simple pair of clothing, a black button up shirt and a faded pair of jeans. "I might be able to help with that, if you like?"

He raised his hand and a small black orb formed on his palm. Dan placed the symbiote clone between them and motioned for Revan to take it.

"Venom is a master when it comes to mental blocks, and I can sense a strong set of walls within your mind," The symbiote between them inched toward Revan, but waited for the woman to decide. "You've forgotten more than you remember, but I think you know that, deep down."

Revan remained silent, eyes fixed on the orb at her feet. A shiver ran through her body like a wave that forced her gaze to connect with Dan's. 

"Who are you, really?" She raised a hand and rubbed her temples. "For some reason, when I look at you, all I see is a blinding sun, a beacon that I can see without eyes…"

"Sorry about that, it's a byproduct of my abilities and race," Dan laughed. The force users that joined him, as well as Merlyn, had all informed him of this strange change. Ever since his biofield appeared, his cells had surged with life, enough to flood the force like a lighthouse. "One day I'll sit down and figure out how to suppress it, but most force sensitives see the same thing you do."

"Force sensitive?" Revan frowned and shook her head. "You're mistaken, I'm just a soldier for the Republic, I don't…"

"If you can see my power, you're force sensitive," Dan waved a hand to interrupt her words. "The answers are right there, if you're ready for them… if not, the offer is always here."

Venom's clone began to return to Dan, but Revan reached out and took the orb in hand. She watched as it slipped under her skin, silent and painless.

"So, what am I supposed to…" Revan's eyes rolled back in her head and Dan reached out to halt her fall. He settled her onto a cushioned benched and turned to leave the room.

"She should be finished by morning," Dan drifted through the halls, toward a linen closet, and then back to May. "I'll grab an hour or two of sleep and then we'll go to our real first stop on this galactic tour."