Roland, Celestia, and Luna were at their wit's end. None of them had slept since the news, and all of them have been staring at this damned map. No longer did they search for them in hopes of stopping them. Now they sent out search patrols armed to the teeth with powerful weapons of arcane design and make. They needed to find him, and they needed to bring him in. If their hunches were right, he had done something unspeakable.

The others, Lily, Megan and the lot were out looking for him as well. They had formed their own little task force, combining their talents and skills into a formidable search group. Roland knew the chances of finding them were extremely slim, and with Sharpe with him it was virtually impossible. But he needed to hope. He needed to have some kind of faith that this could get resolved.

Luna stumbled, one of her legs giving out from exhaustion.

Celestia looked to her sister, worry on her face. "Luna, what's wrong?"

The midnight blue alicorn only blinked in response, looking around her confusedly.

Celestia strode up to her, wrapping a wing around her sister and nuzzling her gently. "Luna, let me walk you to your room. You need sleep," she said gently.

Luna stared ahead blankly, either not hearing her or not able to register her voice.

Celestia looked back to Roland, an apology written across her face. "I'm sorry, I'll only be a moment."

Roland nodded, little more than a jerk of his head. He heard them leave, their hooves clip-clopping out of the room and into the vast hallways. He was alone now. He didn't want to be alone. The only thing keeping them awake was each other. Now that he was alone though... No, he had to stay strong. He was a soldier, he could do this. He just had to stay focused.

"Pardon me," a voice said.

Roland looked up from his place on the floor. The floor? Why was he on the floor?

The being standing before him looked like it came out of a grab bag for spare animal body parts. A donkey head, lion paw, eagle talon, goat leg, lizard tail, bat wing, all kinds of strange things. He had seen this thing before. Discord it was called.

"Oh, so sorry to interrupt your nap, but I was here looking for Celestia," he said. "I'm a bit worried about her."

Roland pushed himself up to his feet, leveling the thing with distrustful eyes. "What business do you have with her?" he demanded.

Discord looked out the window, nodding his head. "Didn't you notice?" he asked.

Roland looked out the window. Nothing was out of place. The Sun, the gardens, the partially destroyed courtyard... Nothing was wrong. "I don't see anything wrong," Roland said, looking back to the mismatch creature.

Discord's eyes narrowed slightly. "So you haven't noticed that the Sun has been up in the one o' clock position for three days now?"

Roland's eyes went wide. "Oh damn," was all he said.

Discord nodded. "Indeed."

***

Lily stood under the flowing water of the falls, letting the cooling water rush over her. She couldn't remember the last time she had a real shower. The cool water felt good, amazing really. The Sun had been up for three days now, almost four. The heat was unbearable, and the water was simply divine to her aching body.

The water cascaded over her naked body, lending a glimmering sheen her her pale skin. Her generously proportioned breasts and backside would have made even the gayest of the gays straight. She was a timid girl, but the universe had decided to endow her with the body that other women prayed for. Sometimes, she hated the stares she got. That was why she dressed in such baggy robes, to hide herself.

She ran her hands through her pink, silky hair. Just like her body, it gleamed from the wetness as it fell from her small hands and fell against her smooth back. Her skin was flawless, thanks to her role as healer and not a fighter.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the waters crash into her chest. She was smiling happily, just a tiny pull of her lips that would go unnoticed by most. But not all. No, there were some that know her better than even she knew herself.

Running her hands under her supple breasts to clean under them, she remembered some of those that knew her that well. Some of the friends she lost. Some of the teachers and companions that were driven away by reasons that, to her mind, were foolish. They didn't approve of the company she kept, they didn't think she was good enough, they were jealous of her. All of them but a precious few left her in the end, all because she chose to live her life for herself.

A single stream of salty water left her eyes, becoming lost in the waves that cleaned her. Old memories, and all that.

She had learned many things since coming with Orion and Tisus. At first, it was only the two of them. But soon, they found her on a mission, in trouble well above her head. Tisus had helped her, but it was Orion that had saved her. He refused to leave her alone out in the desert, even when Tisus threatened to leave him. He didn't even know her, but he refused to abandon her to her death for one simple reason: it was wrong.

She turned around, letting the water fall across her back and clean away spots she couldn't reach.

He had treated her like a child. Cooking her meals, listening to her complain about silly things, being there for her at night when she had nightmares to make her feel better, stealing her little trinkets and gifts whenever they were in a market. In a strange way, she could almost see him as a father figure before he truly became her friend.

But that was before Tisus got him killed by Mandalorians.

At this point the group had expanded, and they needed more supplies. The closest planet was Nal Hutta, a slime ball and hub of crime. They had an argument over something or other, and in the end Orion had went to the bar and Tisus had stormed off to somewhere in the city.

At the end of the day, Orion was drunk and stumbling back to the ship. When he got there, it had taken off without him. Tisus had taken off without him and hadn't told anybody.

He hailed the ship, yelling at Tisus to come back. With everybody pressuring her, she went. But when they landed they saw them. The Mandalorians. They had him surrounded, wanting to kill him for the sport of it.

She shivered, even with the water of the falls not being cold. The memory of Orion burning to death still caused her nightmares sometimes.

Lily turned, letting the water fall on her front again. She let the soothing feeling it brought wash away the memory.

She felt hands snake around her waist, pulling her into a strong body. She gasped, her eyes going wide. Old memories...

She felt him lean down, placing a small, delicate kiss on her neck. "Just like old times," he said, his voice laced with sadness and longing.

She tensed, not sure what to do. They were supposed to bring him in, to take him down. But...

He moved his head, kissing just behind her ear where he knew she was sensitive. "I miss those times, Lily. When it was just us, together." He breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of her wet hair. "I wish we could go back to that every day. Before things turned into what they are now."

She closed her eyes, more tears falling. She felt her body relax, becoming putty in his strong arms. She knew that where she was right now was the safest place in the Galaxy to be. "Is it you?" she asked quietly, almost being drowned out by the roaring of the falls. "Really you?"

He brought his head down again, trailing small kisses along her neck lower and lower to her collar bone. "I've never been anything but me, Lily. I just change when we're not alone."

She let him kiss her along her collar, the feeling of it sending chills up her spine. "You went crazy," she said.

He brought his head back up, kissing softly along the other side of her neck. "I still am. But I can push it away, at least for now."

She put her hands over his, holding on to them tightly. "Why now?" It was a question that had questions upon questions in it.

He planted a small kiss just under her jaw. "You're alone, and I'm lost in more ways than one. I couldn't show myself to anybody except you. They wouldn't understand." He pulled her into him tighter, the rough fabric of his cloak and shirt feeling strangely nice against her wet skin. "I need to know that I can trust you Lily. Please don't make me regret coming here."

She swallowed. The safest place in the Galaxy had just become the most dangerous. She knew he wouldn't hurt her though, not intentionally. Not in his right mind, at least. "You can trust me, Orion."

He turned her around slowly.

She let him. When she was fully turned, she gasped quietly. He wasn't wearing his cloak or his shirt. The roughness she felt was only his skin.

She ran a hand over his naked chest, staring at the countless scars. "When did you get so hurt?" she asked softly.

He took her hand in his, swallowing the small thing up with his much larger one. "When you weren't looking," he said.

They stared at each other, the water falling over and around them, soaking them both beyond what they already were. They both felt something that was long thought dead stir inside of them.

"We don't have any protection," Lily said, staring into his eyes.

He leaned down and took her lips with his own. The kiss was simple, as all the best ones are. A simple touch of flesh upon flesh, but the feeling and meaning went so much deeper than that. To their very cores.

When he broke away, he lead her out of the falls to a soft patch of moss growing nearby.

Lily looked at him with apprehension. "But... we shouldn't. Not here."

He laid her down on her back, putting more care into placing her softly on the moss than what was necessary. He claimed her lips with his own once more, holding the kiss for a long time. He pulled away slightly, looking down at her naked body not with lust or hunger, but with a deep-rooted need. "If the Forces wills it, nothing can stop it," he said with a small smile of his own. A real smile. His smile.

She wound her arms around his neck, staring deep into his eyes. "I miss you."

He nodded sadly. "I know. I'm sorry. But now, in this moment, you can have me back."

She leaned forward, kissing him for the first time in years. Not just physically, but with her very spirit. "I'll take it," she said, smiling happily. Just a small pull at the corners of her lips.

Author's Notes:

Holy crap! It's good to be back in this story!
So, the D&D was officially discontinued a long, long time ago. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Bad, because now I don't have anything to fucking play in my spare time! Damn it, I wanna play some D&D!
But it's good too, because now that all of the characters have been abandoned, I can claim them as mine without some kind of infringement. So, basically, I can do whatever I want with this story now; I have free reign over where this goes. As you may know, this was supposed to be sticking to a story line of what happened in the D&D, but now I can make it my own story. I am the Dungeon Master! Fear me mortals!