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There is no one quite like her.
Theron knows it from the first time he meets her. After a lifetime spent among the Jedi and the SIS he knows how Siths are supposed to act. In the beginning she manages to surprise him at every turn. Even though he has gathered intel on her for a long time and she is one of the most high profile Siths in the entire Empire, he expected something completely different. He expected arrogance and bloodthirst. He thought she would burn with hate, like all the rest of them. That she would be callous and uncaring.
Instead he finds that she is passionate but her passion is tempered by intelligence and compassion. She goes out of her way to help anyone who asks. She tells bad jokes that he just shakes his head at. And she flirts with him. He really doesn’t know what to do with that in the beginning, but he plays along. He knows that nothing will come of it. As soon as they finish their mission, whatever might be between them will be over. There is no way that love (even if he knows that is a too strong word for it) can overcome the war between the Empire and the Republic. They both have duties and they both have roles to play. Being together doesn’t fit into it.
But they continue to flirt. She teases him about having feeling for her. He deflects and tries to sound like she is completely wrong. It doesn’t come out very smooth. She grins knowingly at him as his cheeks burn.
During his and Lana’s exile, he thinks of her. But when they meet again, he doesn’t know where they stand.
“Hello, Theron.” She says, her voice as smooth as always and her face carefully blank.
He stumbles a bit. “Is that a good hello or a bad one? Outside of Lana I can never tell with you Imperial types.”
She smiles cheekily at him. “Are you really asking me that after the last time I saw you?” Her golden eyes glitter with amusement.
“Okay, point taken.” He says lightly. It seems that their, whatever it is, is still going on.
She grins at him and then it’s back to business as usual. Pirate gangs to infiltrate, Mandalorians to fight and Revanites to stop. Between it all she manages to put him off balance at the most surprising moments with her flirting. When he tells her about Torch and her Mandalorians and that their encampment is on another island on Rishi, she looks pouty and asks: “What’s the matter, Theron? Is my being around so distracting you need to hurry me off to some other island?”
He figures that his since attempts at playing it cool and deflecting have been failing miserably, he owes her some honesty. “You’re not entirely wrong...” He says and crosses his arms.
That gets a reaction out of her. She blinks and Theron has very little experience with embarrassed Sith, but he swears that her crimson cheeks turns a deeper shade of red as he says it. She quickly looks at Lana and suddenly seems very concentrated on what Lana is talking about. Theron can’t help but smile a little to himself. It feels good to know that he isn’t the only one that can be put off balance.
*
Their first kiss on Rishi has been long time coming. Theron is still surprised when he cups her cheek and touches the bony ridges along her jaw. He can’t even describe the feeling. He has never expected to be in a position where he would kiss a Sith. After they part from the kiss he jokes about that he thought he would be imploding as soon as he kissed an Imp. She rolls her eyes at him fondly. The warm feeling is his chest doesn’t go away for a long while after that.
The end of the battle against Revan marks the end of their relationship.
“Well, look. There isn’t any easy way to say this but… I mean we both knew this would have to end eventually.” He tells her and tries to sound casual in a way he most certainly don’t feel. “The Republic exonerated me so I’m back in the fold. And they gave me a new job. A big one.”
She looks at him with her big golden eyes and she doesn’t even try to hide the sadness. But she smiles and just congratulates him. “That’s quite a vote of confidence. I’m proud of you. You deserve it.”
As many times before, her comment throws him. “Okay… that’s unexpected. You do know what this means, right?” He pauses and looks at her. “Soon as we rejoin the fleet and make the jump to lightspeed, that's it. No more truce. You and I, we probably won’t exchange another word again.” He tries to not sound as broken as he feels when he says it.
Her eyes are suspiciously shiny when she grins a little at him and grabs him. “Who needs words?” She kisses him long and deep like she is desperate to put all her emotions she can’t or won’t put into words in the kiss instead. When they break apart, she stares at him with her golden eyes.
“Farewell, Theron.” She says quietly, her voice quivering slightly. “May the Force be with you, always.”
When she turns away from him, she doesn’t look back. Theron is grateful. He doesn’t want her to see the look on his face.
In months after Yavin 4, when he is alone in his apartment and his thoughts get loud in the silence, Theron remembers golden eyes and soft lips. He knows what he want is impossible, but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming.
*
The fiasco on Ziost is all his fault. He made a bad call and now others are paying the price for it. It feels even worse when he almost can’t contain his happiness when he sees her.
“The Empire is hard at work, I see.”
She smiles widely. “Look who it is. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” The relief and happiness is evident in her voice and her posture relaxes as she takes him in.
Suddenly he feels awkward. There is an Imperial agent looking strangely at them. He knows what happens to traitors in the Empire. He tries to play it cool and pretend like she didn’t just acknowledge their entirely inappropriate history. “Uh... hi.” Once again he demonstrates exactly how not smooth he is whenever he is in her presence. He doesn’t know where they stand. Things between them is supposed to be over, but right now it doesn’t feel like they are. She looks surprised and even a little hurt at his greeting. He just doesn’t know what he could do differently.
The agent goes on about how it’s too late for the Sixth Line, but Theron refuses to listen. So does she.
They fall back into their previous pattern when it was just them and Lana. It almost hurts how right it feels. But he would never defect from the Republic and he knows she wouldn’t abandon the Empire. It seems like all they’re going to get are quick moments during crises where the Empire and the Republic are forced to work together. Theron is willing to take that if it’s what he can get.
As they wait to face the Emperor she turns to him. She sounds almost breathless as she speaks. “I thought we’d never meet again.” She smiles, almost shyly, at him. “It’s nice to be wrong.” Her uncertainty is sweet.
“Yeah,” He says. “Despite all the awfulness on Yavin-4, it did have its moments.”
She smiles more openly, but there nothing more about it to say as the battle with the Emperor starts.
She let’s Theron take Master Surro with him when the battle is over. He is surprised, but thanks her. As he gently helps Master Surro towards their shuttle, he hears her call.
“Theron!” She yells, louder than needed.
He turns around slightly, wary of harming Master Surro. He looks at her but says nothing.
She falters slightly, as she seems to read something on his face. He isn’t sure what exactly, because he’s inte sure what he’s feeling at the moment. “I’ll see you around.” She finally says.
He nods. “Yeah, see you around Drehea.” He turns away. This is not the time, nor the place to talk about this thing between them.
They will have to wait five years to do that.
During those five years, Theron will beat himself up over and over again. He will hate himself for not taking thirty seconds to give her a proper goodbye. He vows to do better when they meet again.