Summary: Larin and Seth bond! <scary!> One will sacrifice all so the other can live
happily ever after--but which one? Plus, Mara and Luke want another shot at Maul. And
what is going on with Iyala? As for Vaiya...well, for her, life is really gonna suck.
 

{Visions}::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

     In the healing trance, Mara dreamed.
     She wasn't supposed to be dreaming. She wasn't supposed to see anything but total
oblivion, so deep was the healing trance she had locked herself into. But she dreamed, and
that meant only one thing.
     She was having a vision.
     A long time ago, during a tumultuous time in their lives, Luke had told her about a
vision he had had shortly before a terrible event had happened. That event had been the
loss of Mara's memory. But when Vaiya had been born and Callista had died, Mara had
believed that she was also going to die and had passed on to her almost-born child every
memory in her mind, locking them away deep in Vaiya's subconscious. So Vaiya, returning
from her first, although unscheduled trip to Durran, had stepped in and given Mara back
her memories.
     Luke's vision had taken place on a rocky cliff, and he said he had seen Mara
standing on top of it, not looking like herself. From that place, she had cast down her
lightsaber at Luke, as if she meant to kill him.
     No, not *as if.* She had meant to. Because when Mara lost her memory, all she
could remember was her former hatred for Luke Skywalker. Her hatred, Palpatine's hatred,
the hatred of an entire empire, the hatred of the dark side.
     As she gazed up at that rocky cliff, Mara felt that dark hatred again. It wasn't
coming from her own soul, that she knew, but it hovered just outside of it and attempted to
reach its cold fingers into her heart. She tried to shut it out, but it was overwhelming, and
she felt like it was covering her with some horrid substance that would never wash away.
     It was then that Mara saw her.
     Vaiya stood atop the cliff, her strawberry-gold hair flying about her head, the heavy
locks flying almost straight upward. Her hands were on her hips, which were cocked to
one side, and her face was covered with shadow. Mara couldn't see her eyes, only dark
caverns where her eyes should have been.
     It was then that she noticed the dress.
     It was like Vaiya was wearing her soul on top of her body. The dress was purple
and black, but the colors didn't blend together. Instead they seemed to be at war, moving
against each other, one pressing into the other, constantly changing places. It writhed about
her form like elegant rags, sleeveless, almost legless, divided at her thighs so that her
flesh--to much flesh--showed clearly.
     Mara opened her mouth to call to her but no sound would come. And Vaiya just
stared at her, knowingly. Mara stepped forward but was forced back as the sickly feeling
dug even harder into her, trying to get in. Vaiya's stare was so intense, and Mara felt as if
two people were glaring at her--her child, accusingly. And another. One she knew, but
could not bring herself to face.
     As Mara stared, the horror became overwhelming, and she could hear herself
moaning loudly. She shook her head, trying to break free, her arms and legs lashing out as
if it could keep the evil back by force.
     Then Luke's face hovering over her, his warms hand on her shoulders, pulling her
back to reality. She gasped and clutched at him, throwing herself into his arms. He held
her close and rocked her, his shock tangible, his concern like a warm blanket.
     "Mara, easy," he whispered. "It's okay...what happened? You were supposed to be
in a trance."
     "I was...I had a vision."
     She felt him jump. Neither had had any visions for quite a while now. "Of what?"
     "Of Vaiya."
     He sighed. "I'm sure it was a dream, Mara. You just got some pretty shaky news
about her, I'm sure that--"
     "I wasn't dreaming, Luke!" Mara protested, even as her fingers dug harder into him.
"I was in a trance. I had to be seeing a vision."
"So what was the vision?" he asked after a thoughtful pause.
     She tried to tell him, but the words didn't make sense. He gently pushed her back
onto the bed, but stayed close, pushing her hair away from her face. She finally shook her
head in frustration and said, "I don't know, Luke. It was like she wasn't even our daughter.
Like she was possessed by someone...or something!"
     Luke didn't say anything. He just stayed with Mara until she was calm again. Mara
knew him well enough to know that he believed her. He trusted her. Even if she was half-
cocked and ready to go off, he trusted her. So as she lay there, regaining her senses, she
came to a decision.
     "We have to find him."
     "And then what?" he whispered, a touch of that fear in his voice.
     "We kill him."
 

     *Larin?*
     He felt her, the overwhelming concern first in her mind, primarily for his safety
and then for the fact that he was with Seth, of all people, tracking down Darth Maul, Seth's
father. Almost instinctively, he glanced at the other man.
     *Vaiya,* Larin returned.
     *What are you doing?*
     He could almost picture her in his mind, her hands on her hips, that outraged frown
on her face, looking so much like her mother it was frightening. He smiled to himself.
     *We can't let Maul escape.*
     *But he's already gotten away! I mean...I can tell that you're not chasing him.*
     *We're tracking him.*
     There was a moment's pause before she replied, and it reminded Larin of the
sudden burst of static on an old commlink. *How?*
     He didn't know how to explain it to her. Somehow, between his ability to see
through barriers and Seth's blood link to Maul, they were on his trail, and while it was not
a running kind of chase both Larin and Seth knew that they were on the right track, and all
that was needed for the next confrontation was patience.
     Seth was looking at him curiously. "I'm talking to Vaiya," Larin finally told him,
keeping his tone clipped and brief.
     Seth nodded. The way he suddenly winced reminded Larin of the pet spinspider he
had had as a boy, when her web was shaken by a breeze that was just a touch too harsh.
"Ah," he said. "I am sorry."
     "No reason to be."
     *Larin,* Vaiya called to him. *What are you going to do when you find him?*
     *What I have to.*
     *Which is?*
     *I don't know. I guess I'll know it when it happens.*
     *That's not good enough!* He could feel her anger rising, inspired more by fear for
him than anything else. *Let someone else---*
     *Who?* Larin challenged. *Your father and mother are hardly up for this. Ben is
too brash and this isn't Anakin's fight. That leaves Seth, and I can't let him go up against
Maul alone.*
     He could feel the thought in the back of her mind, but she did not send it to him.
But the sensation of the words, "why not?" became fresh in his head, and he blinked in
surprise.
     *Vaiya, you of all people--*
     *Larin, I'm scared for you. For both of you, really, but mostly for you.* Her sudden
candor almost made him miss a step, and Seth looked at him oddly again. *Please, I have
to ask you...come back to the med bay. We can get security to help Seth--*
     *Vaiya,* Larin chastised gently. *I may not like this man because of many reasons,
but I could never desert anyone in as much need as he is in right now.*
     Vaiya fell silent. Maybe she was considering what a good and decent and
incredible human being he was, risking his life to help someone who had seduced his wife-
-and his wife had seduced in return. Maybe she was doubting him, just a little bit, and
wondering if he was planning on killing the ex-sith lord the second his back was turned.
Or maybe she was just  scared out of her wits and for a damn good reason, but still he
could not leave this path.
     *Very well,* she finally said, but it was with incredible reluctance. *Stay linked
with me, though, Larin. Please.*
     *For as long as I can. But I think you need a break.*
     *I don't need a break, I've been cooped up in this tower for the last several hours.
But if you need a rest then I'll check back shortly.*
     *All right.* Already his head was beginning to ache with the strain. But just as he
broke contact, he felt her send her love to him.
     And again, almost by instinct, he stole a glance at Seth. For some reason, he felt
very sorry for the man. He couldn't blame him for loving Vaiya. There was so much in her
to love. And the fact that she had been a part of what had brought Seth out of the dark side
probably brought some heavy attachment to it.
     It was unfair to keep her to himself like this, but at the same time, Larin could not
bring himself to share Vaiya, even the feelings of friendship that Seth had every right to.
     "She cannot be happy that you've decided to chase after Maul," Seth said. The
words were strained, as if he were afraid to say them, as harmless as they seemed to be.
     "Well...Vaiya may seem a lot like her father to many people, but it's really her
mother's side that she gets her overprotectiveness from. She's more than content to let you
run head first into danger, as long as she gets to lead the way."
     Seth's shoulders shook slightly, and Larin realized he had laughed. "Yes, Mara. She
behaves so fearlessly, but only a person who has known fear can treat it with the disdain
that she does."
     Larin made himself grin. Somehow, talking about Mara in such a familiar way felt
almost as bad as speaking that way about Vaiya. But Larin had no say in Seth's relationship
with Mara. That had nothing to do with him..."Is that why Maul wanted her?" he asked,
keeping his voice light.
     Seth sighed, and there was a thoughtful pause. "Master Luke did not tell you." It
seemed more like a statement than a question.
     "Well..." Larin shrugged. "He told me what he knows. Perhaps you might know
something he doesn't."
     There was a definite pause as they walked. For a moment, Larin thought he might
have offended his new companion, but he heard Seth take in a breath of air.
     "I have not been able to see into his mind," Seth confessed. "Not as much as
anyone would like. Only glimpses, and when we were dueling before things were too
intense for me to take notice of anything imparticular. But I believe that he seeks to avenge
his Master's death on not just Master Luke but upon his whole family. Mara was Sidious'
Hand...his servant in every way. The fact that she is married to his enemies, and to an heir
of Vader no less, enrages him."
     "But why her?" Larin pressed. "Why is she important?"
     "Perhaps it is her blood. She is the daughter of Sidious. And a distant relation to my
mother, Iyala."
     Larin paled. "Your mother, Iyala," he echoed.
     "Yes. Your friend, Iyala, was named for her." Seth blinked, the surprise on Larin's
face obvious to even the Force-blind. "Did you not know this?"
     "I had heard...bits and pieces. But never the whole story."
     "Didn't Vaiya tell you?"
     Slowly, Larin shook his head. So that was what they had been hiding from
him....but at whose request? Iyala had certainly made no move to tell him. Perhaps she had
asked Vaiya to keep silent. But why would Iyala do that? And the thought that Vaiya was
keeping more secrets from him made his stomach turn.
     Seth grunted, obvious disturbed at having to be the bearer of this bit of news. "And
what have you heard of Iyala helping Maul?"
     He had preferred not to think of that. Sure, Ben had told him--or rather, told Vaiya
in his presence. Vaiya had not even spared him a look, but he sensed her distress. They had
been close, once upon a time...
     "Only that she is. We don't know why."
     "Don't you?" There was almost a challenge there. Larin's eyes narrowed slightly.
Perhaps Vaiya had told him...it would make sense. What had happened between Seth and
Vaiya had taken place shortly after Larin had confessed to his flirtation with Iyala.
Somehow, he did not feel his anger rise. Instead, there was only a peaceful, almost saintly
calm.
     "Iyala hasn't been herself lately," Larin said. "Maybe I'm to blame for some of that."
     Seth shrugged, as if dismissing that aspect of the conversation. "I would not know.
But I do know that she was a clear target because of her physical appearance. Most likely,
Maul seduced her."
     "Then why wasn't she with him?"
     "I don't know. Perhaps Maul can tell us that when we find him."
     A terrible thought occurred to Larin. "He didn't kill her, did he? Would he do that?"
     The look Seth gave him was almost sympathetic, if such a terribly colored face
could hold any semblance of that emotion. "I don't know. I'm sure he would if she made
him. But you would have found a body if he had.  He has no reason to hide his evil. So if
you did not see a body, then perhaps---"
     "Maybe she left him."
     "Maybe." Seth shuddered slightly. "My mother left him, too. Maul could not have
taken it well, to be left by the same woman twice."
     "They aren't the same woman," Larin pointed out.
     Plainly. "To him, they are."
     Larin stopped. They had been walking during the entire conversation at a rather
odd paced--even, but hurried. And they had been getting nowhere. Maybe there was a
better way.
     "Do you think we could locate him?" Larin suggested.
     Seth turned to him, the bright pattern on his face twisting in a puzzled expression.
"I thought that was what we were doing."
     "No, I mean telepathically. Flush him out. I mean, I'd discovered that I can see
through barriers, although I don't know how strong that gift is, and you're connected to
Maul, aren't you?"
     "He blocks me out...but yes."
     "Then maybe we should combine our powers and try to scan for him in a mind
meld."
     "If we failed, he could discover what we were doing and make himself impossible
to find."
     "He's already gotten away from us," Larin pointed out. "He knows we're chasing
him. We have nothing to lose, really."
     Seth seemed to consider this, and then took a step back toward Larin. "One
question--how much would it...disturb you...to join minds with me?" He blinked. "One of
our own fallen to the dark side is quite enough for one day."
     The thought did disturb him...even repulse him. But he knew this was the only way.
Sacrifices had to be made. He reached out to Seth, palms up.
     "I'm willing to risk it," he said.
     Seth placed his own hands on Larin's. Larin had thought the man was wearing
black gloves, and was stunned to feel real flesh, even flesh-colored flesh, against his own.
Seth's grip was confident, surprisingly so. And then the man shut his eyes and focused.
     Larin followed. He braced  himself for the inevitable sting, but it never came. Seth
held those thoughts back, and whether the effort was conscious or unconscious, Larin was
grateful.

{Possession}::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

     Iyala stood in the center of the room. It was a lot like the first one, only higher up
and lacking the supreme, overwhelming importance the other one had contained.  But it
was silent, and away from all the commotion.
     Maul was such a fool. He had let down his guard too long and they had gotten to
him. She sensed it, like ripples through a lake. He'd been a fool to take Mara, but there was
something in that thought that pleased her...no, did it please her? Why would it please her?
Jealousy flared up, but it was countered again.
     She felt weird.
     It was like the hand at her back was now pushing at her, sinking into her flesh and
filling her shoulderblades, seeping into her chest, into her lungs. It tainted the air in her
throat, filled her nostrils with a thick stench that made her think she was drowning.
     This room...it was like the first one. It was a prototype but it hadn't been deep
enough. Palpatine...Sidious...the Emperor had wanted it deeper, more hidden. But this one
had the same cosmic booby trap as the first one.
     She saw the control panel, but her feet would not move toward it. Nothing would
move. She realized with a growing horror that a terrible tingling numbness was rising
through her body from her feet. It reached her stomach and made her entire being shiver.
     Something was wrong.
     The presence was so strong now. She turned around and around to see who it was
but there was no one there and it terrified her. The tingling was reaching higher, like a
wave washing up through her body. It went into her chest and clutched her heart, giving
her pain and then releasing her. It slid over her neck, through the pipes and chords and
even over the ridge of her teeth and tongue, like gentle fingers. It crept up into her cheeks
and then washed over her scalp.
     She shut her eyes. She could have stopped what was happening, but something
wouldn't let her. She realized that something was herself. The power came next,
intoxicating, and she felt her body become aroused by it.
     It stunned her, that such a thing could bring her that kind of excitement.
     Several moments passed as she reveled in the feeling, as if trying on a new skin. It
wiggled around her like a thousand featherlight fingertips.
     Then her entire body went numb.
     She lost sensation in everything. She could not move her fingers, her toes--she
could not lift her arm to drive away the terrible tickle the stray strands of her hair were
inflicting on her nose, and then she couldn't feel her nose.
     After that, there was only the dark swirling pain of chaos as her mind suddenly saw
its new occupant.
     *You may call me Lord Sidious.*
     *Yes, my Master.* She sensed Maul's enormous pleasure. When had he come into
the room? She hadn't noticed him, had he seen the transformation? But no, there was more
time passing, and she saw terrible things. She saw death and destruction. She saw a planet
burning.
     She saw chaos.
     She saw the dark side.

     Maul entered the room in time to see Iyala's frozen body begin to move again. It
moved stiffly, as if she were not used to it.
     His first impulse was to run to her and toss her across the room. But he had no real
energy for that--his breath was coming in heavy pants. He had been running from the Jedi,
in spite of the shame. He did not know why he was afraid, but he was. Of both of them,
terribly afraid.
     "Iyala," he snarled instead, and she turned and looked at him, startled. There was
something about her eyes---
     "Maul," she replied, the word rolling off her tongue in an odd way. He did not want
to claim that he knew her well, but he did know enough to know that she did not roll her
words the way she was rolling his. In fact, she sounded hauntingly familiar, and Maul
wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him from his leftover battlelust.
     He started to swear at her, low at first for abandoning him, and then high pitched as
if he were seized by the rages he had only been known to cause in others. He approached
Iyala, his hands extended and his fingers curved in like talons. The last thing he knew he
said was, "You will pay," and she had lifted only one finger, her eyes no longer brown but
colored an iridescent purple, almost inhuman.
     "I pay no one," she said, and fried him like she had never fried him before. He
slammed into the wall, his eyes glazing over with pain. Her blast before had not been this
painful, only enough to disorient him while she escaped.
     She had not moved. Although she had shifted her weight somehow and it was
rather odd. It was almost like there was another person in her skin.
     She was grinning. It infuriated him. He would have rushed her, but something
made him stop.
     "Maul," she said again, her voice sounding deeper, the word more like a moan than
a word. Her lips didn't move quite right...it was familiar to him, but he could not---
     *No.* "M--m--master?"
     It was almost a squeak.
     She shifted her shoulders, straightening, and suddenly there was no doubt. He
didn't know how he knew, but he knew.
     "You may call me," she said, her voice a horrid blend of her own female vocal
chords and the terrible darkness within, "Lord Sidious."
     "Yes, my Master," he purred, delighted. So he had not been abandoned. How
Sidious had accomplished this little task, Maul had no idea. He was even inclined at that
moment to disbelieve and attempt to run the lying little slut through with his lightsaber.
But his body ached, and instead he fell to one knee.
     As he looked up, he saw the pleasure on her face. It was almost too much--that face
alive with the dark side, even if his wife was long since dead, terrified him. It was a
delicious fear, the fear of things as they should have been. Iyala should have turned with
him. Things would have been different. And while there could be only two, it seemed that
Sidious himself had at last found the answer.
     Now, they were one.
     She smiled. It was a terrible smile.

     "What do you think you're doing?" Vaiya demanded as she glared at her parents.
Her father seemed to shrug helplessly, even as the scowl across his face echoed Vaiya's
disapproval.
     "I want a piece of that sith's hide," Mara said, her back to Vaiya, her legs swung
over the side of the bed, her body upright even as it slumped slightly in exhaustion.
     Vaiya strode around the bunk and met her mother's eyes. She glared back, daring
her mother to test her will against her own. The immense tension she felt about Larin and
Seth being together, out there alone against Maul, had been slowly driving her insane for
the last hour. She had tried to contact them only to realize they had locked their
concentration up on some unknown task. The horrid thought that they were engaged in
some mental war bounced in and out of her head, and now she was ready to let loose on
someone, she didn't care who.
     Mara's face was almost serene, and Vaiya knew she was going to lose this fight, but
she didn't care. She would fight it anyway.
     "No."
     Mara smiled. Her hair spilled over one pale shoulder, brilliant red and gold even as
it was dulled by days of abuse. She slid herself to the edge of the bunk, the white hospital
duds wrinkling and gathering at her back as she moved.
     "Stop me," Mara dared.
     Vaiya glanced at her father for support. "Are you going to let her go when she
hasn't even had a full healing trance yet?" she barked at him.
     Luke shrugged. "I thought of having her restrained, but she told me she'd chew
through the straps."
     "And you believed her?"
     "He'd better," Mara said, giving her daughter a toothy grin. It was the kind of look
that made Vaiya wonder how much of a terror her mother had truly been during her days
as the Emperor's Hand. "Besides, I've got an itchy bad feeling that something is going on in
that tower."
     Vaiya sighed. "You can't go. You know you're not up to full strength. Why go and
kill yourself? Is it really worth it?"
     "She's got you there, Mara," Luke said softly.
     Mara glared at him. "Details," she snapped. "Don't bother me with details." She
held out her hand. "Did you bring my clothes?"
     With great reluctance, Luke slung a bundle into Mara's arm. She strode over to the
small changing room and disappeared behind the curtain.
     "I don't believe you!" Vaiya screeched at her father. "You're going to let her--"
     "I'm not letting her do anything," Luke protested. "She says she's better and I
believe her."
     "But isn't it obvious that she's wrong?"
     "Yes, but since when did Mara ever take second hand wisdom?"
     Vaiya clenched her fists. "If she goes up against Maul, he could kill her."
     "She won't be going up against Maul," Luke said, glancing at the changing room.
"She wants to find Iyala."
     Vaiya blinked. "Iyala? Why her?"
     "Isn't it obvious?" Mara said, stepping from the changing room. She was in the
clothes she had worn to Coruscant when she'd first arrived to start her hacking into the old
database--black trousers, black shirt, and a deep emerald greed jacket with long sleeves
lined with gold embroidery work. At her belt hung her lightsaber.
     "Luke fixed it," Mara said, reading her daughter's mind. "At my request."
     "A lightsaber won't do much good against her Force lightning, if she throws any,"
Vaiya pointed out.
     "I have Luke's too. And Ben's. He's coming with us."
     "Oh, and I'm supposed to just stay here?"
     "Yes. Your husband told you to."
     Vaiya wanted to laugh in her mother's face. "And what if your husband told you to
stay here?" she demanded. "What then?"
     "I'm not pregnant," Mara pointed out, and then immediately regretted the words.
Vaiya's face widened in shock.
     "Dad told you," she stated.
     Mara softened. "Come on, Vaiya...you think I couldn't tell?" She even smiled and
lifted her arms to embrace her daughter. "I should kill you for making me such a young
grandmother," she joked lightly, hugging Vaiya closely, "but instead I'll settle for a good
old fashioned curse--may your children act just like me and Luke."
     "God help us all," Luke remarked.
     Mara kissed Vaiya's cheek. "Congratulations, sweetheart," she said. "Now, you're
going to have to excuse me."
     They were turning to leave, heading out of the center and back into the fray. And as
Vaiya watched them go, she was suddenly overwhelmed by a terrible feeling. A feeling so
terrible it seemed to have a will and voice of its own and it came pouring out of her mouth
in a loud shriek--"WAIT!"
     They turned and looked at her, puzzled.
     "I'm coming with you."
     "But Larin told you to--" Mara began.
     "I don't care. I can't stay here alone. I have to go and find him. They're together. I
don't know how I know, but Larin and Seth have found Maul, and Iyala is with him. I can't
stay here. I can't sit around and let everyone else fight. I have to go." The panicked feeling
was almost totally in control now. "I have to. I don't have a choice."

     Seth blinked. At least, he thought he blinked. There was a movement against his
hands, and he raised his head to see a pair of multi-colored eye staring back at him.
     "What did you see?" Seth asked. He felt like he had just been stirred from a
hundred year's sleep.
     Larin was pale and shaking. There were several beads of sweat on his lip, on his
temple, leaking down his cheek. He broke his grip with Seth and ran both hands through
his thick hair, slicking it back. His jaw worked but no sound came out.
     "What is it, Larin?" The use of the man's name was alien to him. He had never
addressed Larin directly before, and even the sound of Larin's name in his baritone felt
wrong. "What did you see?" he pressed on anyway, frightened.
     Larin shook his head and took a step back. "We have to hurry," he whispered. "We
have to...Yejion have mercy...there are explosives...right into the core." He seemed to sway
on his feet, his eyes screwed shut, and Seth reached out and caught the man by the
forearms before he could finish his tumble.
     Gently, Seth made Larin sit on the ground, his legs stretched out before him.
Crouching beside him, Seth waited. Whatever Larin had seen, it was not good.
     "I tried..." Larin took a shaky breath. "I saw Maul...he fought to keep you out but he
couldn't keep me out. And I saw Iyala with him, and I tired to reach out to her...and I saw
things." There was a low moan in the back of his throat. "God forgive me, what have I
done?"
     Seth gripped Larin's shoulder, giving him a slight shake. "Stay focused, my friend,"
he whispered. "What did you see?"
     "I saw someone in her body, but it wasn't her. It was something else. Someone else.
Someone evil, someone I recognized although I've never seen him before. I saw him when
Cal Saphringer kidnapped me and drugged me and I saw him again when I found Ben
when he was ten and we destroyed the Cult...I know who he is, but I....I...."
     He was losing it now, Seth could smell the panic, the way Larin's insides were
fraying apart at the edges. He tightened his grip, fingers digging into Larin's muscles as he
gently, carefully touched his mind to the other's. Amazingly enough, it seemed to help
steady him. Larin took several deep breaths.
     "The Evil One is here," he said, a bit more calmly. "And he wants to destroy us all.
Somehow, he's gained control of Iyala." He shut his eyes for a long second...there was
something...Seth felt it, warm and familiar.
     Vaiya.
     Larin was trying to shut her out. Whatever it was, he didn't want to share it with his
wife.
     How very strange indeed. Or rather, outright alarming.
     "How does he want to destroy us?"
     Abruptly, Larin stood up and clasped Seth's wrist. At first Seth thought he was
going to shove it away, but he held it there, in a gesture that seemed to connote
brotherhood. Larin's multi-colored eyes were clear, and the sweat was starting to vaporize.
"They're coming," he said. "Vaiya and Mara and Luke and Ben. They're coming back to
help us."
     Seth felt a sigh of relief escape his lungs. "Good, then we--"
     "No. You have to go meet them. Tell them to get away from here. Go back with
them, back to the palace. Evacuate this tower as far as you possibly can."
     "But why?" Seth scowled. "Why are you sending me back? I should stay...you need
to go be with your wife."
     Larin shook his head. "No, my brother," he said, his voice taking on a sad quality.
"This is something I have to do."
     Seth abruptly shook off Larin's hold on his arm, and as the reference of
brotherhood between them should have thrilled him, he was suddenly angry.
     "Vaiya is your wife," he practically snarled. "How dare you desert her like this? I
don't care for what honor or for what god! You have no right--"
     Larin's sudden smile stopped him cold.
     "Are you mad?" Seth asked softly, the sincerity in his voice frightening to even
himself.
     "Vaiya had a vision," Larin began. "It was right before we found out that she was
pregnant."
     Seth felt cold all over. So that was why Vaiya had been ordered to stay behind. And
why she had obeyed that order, as much unlike her as it must have been.
     "She said in that in the vision, the two of us were chasing her through a building,
but she didn't know why. And then she saw me holding her, and I was crying because she
was all bloody and broken. Behind us, through a wall of glass, she could see all of
Coruscant burning."
     "Do you know what it means?"
     "It was a warning. When I was searching for Maul, it came to me. When I saw him
and Iyala, together, and realized what had happened to her, I knew what I was asked to do.
And I suddenly understood the vision. I don't know how I did, I just did."
     All Seth could do was nod. "And?" he pressed.
     "She felt us chasing her...and then saw herself being held. If it was a dream I would
blame it on dream logic, but it wasn't a dream, it was a vision. When she was running from
us, she was not herself. She had to be someone else...Iyala maybe, or even Maul. And then
when she saw me holding her, her body broken and all of Coruscant burning, that was
what will happen if I let you go instead of going myself."
     "And you just know that, too, I suppose?"
     "Yes."
     The absolute calm with which he said it killed whatever protests Seth had left in
him.
     "So I'm just supposed to let you go?"
     "Yes."
     "I can't do that."
     Larin clasped Seth's shoulder, gentle, almost comforting. "Vaiya has a life to live.
A life she was always meant to live. Whatever part I had to play in that life was a gift. But
the gift is over now, the dream has ended."
     As Seth stared into those calm eyes, he could almost feel Vaiya as if her mind was
inside of his, and the echo of the grief that she would feel almost made him break down
and cry.
     It was over.
     "How can you give it all up, Larin?" Seth whispered, feeling like a little child.
"How can you just walk away?" He blinked, tears threatening him. It was like he could see
Larin's life, flashing before his eyes. The pain, the misery, the sweet, short years he had
spent with Vaiya, knowing happiness, seeing the distant promise of immortality through
their children, their twin children, a boy and a girl. The girl would look like him, but her
temper would be like her grandmother's. The boy would have his soul underneath a
flaming red head and his wisdom behind emerald green eyes.
     He could feel Larin's heart breaking with grief barely held at bay by the one thing
that was stronger than his love for Vaiya and those children and the rest of his family put
together--- his faith.
     "I'm can't. And I'm not. I'm setting it free."
     He let go of Seth and headed down the corridor. Seth made no move to follow him.

     Vaiya gasped from her seat behind the pilot's chair. Mara tossed her a quick,
puzzled glance, and Ben reached out and grasped her wrist.
     "What is it?" he asked, but was beginning to feel the echoes himself.
     "Larin," Vaiya whispered. "Something is wrong, but he won't let me in." The panic
on her face twisted her beautiful features until they were nearly ugly. "How much farther
do we have to go?"
     "Just a few more clicks," Luke muttered. He stole a quick glance at his wife, but
knew it was futile. Mara had insisted on the shuttle--it was faster than the speeders, and
they could more easily access the tower without having to bother to land the thing. They
would just leave it hovering, "Ripe for Maul's taking," Luke had bit, but Mara ignored him.
     Suddenly the comm station was live with chatter, and for the next few minutes
Mara and Luke scrambled to make sense of it. Soon they began to realize that the tower
they were approaching was being evacuated and all traffic was being routed out.
     As if by instinct, Mara zeroed in on one image. A man in a blue tunic with a
familiar bright face appeared on the rail outside the tower. She turned the ship toward it,
sliding out the ramp so that Seth could climb on board. Then she put the ship into hover
mode and burst out of her seat, rushing to meet their new passenger.
     Seth was almost out of breath when he finally reached them. Mara had to half hold
him upright.
     "What happened? What's going on?" she demanded.
     "Evacuating," Seth gasped. "They've found a bomb."
     "A bomb?" Vaiya shrieked, rushing forward. "Where's Larin?"
     "He went to find it."
     "AND YOU LET HIM!" Vaiya dove at him, both of her fists making contact with
his chest. Seth slammed back against the hull, and Mara seized her daughter, holding her
back by both forearms like a wrestler.
     "Wait a second," Ben said, struggling to be the calm one. "If Larin went to find it,
that means he went to deactivate it."
     "Since when does Larin know how to deactivate bombs?" Luke asked.
     "He doesn't," Mara said sharply. "Guess we'll have to go help him."
     "NO!" Seth spread his arms wide, as if to keep them from going anywhere. "He
said we have to evacuate. We have to leave." He turned his eyes to Vaiya, pleading with
every inch of his being for her to understand. "Vaiya, please...you have to trust---"
     "I hate you," she hissed, and then shrieked, "I HATE YOU! You left him to die!
How can I possibly trust you!"
     It was only then that the once-great Darth Seth looked like he was going to burst
into tears. "Contact him!" he cried, his voice crackling with the effort. "If you won't
believe me, contact him yourself!"
     Vaiya shook off her mother's grip. "Don't you move this ship," she growled at her
parents, and then went back to her seat. She shut her eyes, grasped for her calm, and
reached with all her might.
     No barrier was going to keep her out this time.

{Walk of Faith}::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

     He didn't know where he was walking. None of the twisting passages were familiar
to him at all, but still he pressed on. He had been given an order and he was going to do it
quickly.
     Before he lost his nerve.
     He was afraid that it would take forever to find. That he would be left wandering in
this agony of a half-daze, the anticipation more than his insides could take. But mercifully,
he felt the tension ease as he came across a room similar to the one they had found Maul
and Mara holed up in. It was empty, but it was far from silent.
     He could hear the low hum coming from under the floor. Without emotion, he
approached the small, round platform, pressing a few keys that allowed him to see the
device. It stabbed like a dagger into the ground, going deeper than he could possibly
image, all the way into the planet's surface for only Yejion knew how far. The controls
were locked. They flashed brilliant red and yellow with the alarm, but it was very quiet for
a detonation device.
     It was not intended, he realized, to give any warning. That was the point. To kill
without any chance of preparation, no chance of prevention.
     He realized that the controls had been fried by something, the wires melted
together. Even if he had had a deactivation code it would not have worked. Only the lights
worked, their red and yellow twittering furiously, alive with the chemicals and electric
pulses that worked underneath them.
     Larin shut his eyes. There had to be a way to do this. He felt himself pulled toward
the edge of the room, toward the main door. He smelled the sharp whiff of melted metal
and ozone, and saw that a panel had been slashed out. There was hardly anything
recognizable there--perhaps it was some sort of--
     *Shield.*
     Yes, it was a shield. A way to trap the explosion into this room and destroy its
contents without destroying the planet. Palpatine--the man who had built this room--
apparently liked things to be versatile. He could get rid of the room without hurting
anybody or anything else. And he could also use the room to destroy the planet.
     Larin was tugged back to the device in the middle of the room. He looked again,
letting his feelings guide him. The main control panel was fried, but there was something
else alongside the bomb itself, something with buttons that looked like the solid form of
the slag dropping from the doorway.
     Another control panel. Another shield.
     He ran his fingers over the buttons, knowing how to work them but not
understanding how he knew. In response, the shield started to slide its golden web over the
curving walls of the room, reminding him again of his old pet spinspider. But there was
something wrong with the shield. It was old and weak. It would save the planet, but it
would not save this tower. At least, not all of it.
     Larin gasped. Vaiya was hounding at him now. So Seth had reached them and no
doubt told them everything. She had to be furious, but more than anything he felt her
overwhelming fear for him, her love, her outrage that he should be called upon to do such
a task, that he, who had a family and a life ahead of him should be picked to die over a
man who had not even the love of his own parents.
     His throat threatened to close. *Vaiya,* he reached out for her, unable to resist one
last touch.
     *What are you doing?* she cried, and he could feel her weeping, her face pressed
hard against the rough fabric of the seat before her. She struggled to maintain her
composure, but it was a losing battle.
     Wordlessly, he showed her. He shared it all with her, the understanding of her
vision, the Presence that was guiding him wordlessly, asking him to sacrifice everything.
His own deep faith, his confidence that he was doing the right thing.
     That last part seemed to mean nothing to her.
     *Come back,* she begged.
     *If I leave, I'll have to deactivate the shield,* he pointed out. *If I do that, all of
Coruscant will die.*
     *If you say, I'll die.*
     *No you won't.*
     His smile flashed into her mind. *Don't laugh at me!* she shrieked, madness
edging in on her.
     *I'm not. I promise.*
     *Larin, how can you do this? How can you be so calm? How can you leave me?*
     She knew his answer, but she still had to ask, as if it weren't enough for him.
*Because I was asked to,* he replied simply.
     *Don't you love me?* It was almost a wail.
     *Of course. Always and forever.* He felt himself beginning to crack, the tears
sliding down his face. Strangely, though, they did not sway him. *Vaiya, you have to
leave.*
     *I can't. I want to be with you. Let me come be with you, Larin.*
     He shook his head. *You have the children. You can't be with me, not now. One
day, but not today.*
     She was crying so hard there were no tears. Her entire body had clenched into a
giant sob as it tore through her, ripping into her soul.
     *Vaiya, please,* he begged.
     She did not reply.

     Mara turned and looked at Seth, who was watching Vaiya with a desperation that
was unlike anything she had seen in a living creature. After the longest minute, he finally
tore his eyes from her and looked at Mara.
     "We have to leave," he whispered.
     "Vaiya said not to move the ship."
     They stared at each other, and Mara found herself at a total loss, even as her
expression was hard and cold. She had taken this man in as another son, and he paid them
back by abandoning her daughter's husband to die? The terrible thought that he might have
planned it this way did occur to her, but one look into his eyes made her dismiss the
thought. He was as torn up about it as Vaiya was...perhaps he was feeling Vaiya's emotions
as well, doubling his dose of grief.
     "Mara," Seth pleaded, but his voice had resumed its normal baritone. "Do you
believe me?"
     "I don't know."
     "It is the truth. I would never lie to you. Or to Vaiya."
     "I know."
     "We have to move the ship or Larin will die in vain."
     Movement beside them made them both look at once. Luke had taken his position
back at the console, and Ben was hovering close to Vaiya, his expression anguished.
Vaiya, for her part, seemed like a ball of hysteria being held together only by her skin. She
rocked slowly back and forth, her fingers curled downward into the arms of her chair, low
moans escaping from her throat.
     "Vaiya," Mara called softly.
     Vaiya did not raise her head or open her eyes.
     They could all sense it now, their Force sensitivity finally kicking in. Something
terrible was going to happen. All around them ships fled from the tower, like insects
fleeing a shaken corpse. Not a single one turned back.
     Mara stepped closer to her daughter. Vaiya was practically writhing in her seat
now, the moans getting louder, sounding almost like words.
     Luke cleared his throat. "We have to move the ship," he said, his voice deadly
calm.
     "We can't, not with Larin still in the tower!" Ben cried, his eyes locked on the
transparisteel cockpit window, wide and frightened.
     Seth opened his mouth to speak, but it was Vaiya's voice that filled his ears.
     "Do as Seth says."
     They all looked at her, stunned. She raised her head, her face drawn and dark like a
skull. "Do it," she said. "Just go."
     Luke pressed forward into the controls, and the ship detached from the makeshift
bay and headed off with the others.
     Mara grasped Vaiya's wrist. "Vai," she said softly.
     "NO!" Vaiya moaned, knowing her mother's mind. "No, I won't."
     "You have to." She knelt beside her, wanting to grab her and shake her, but found
herself paralyzed by the grief emanating from her daughter.
     "I can't," Vaiya wept. "I have to stay."
     "You can't. You have to break free. If you stay with him you'll---"
     Vaiya silenced her with a single look. Mara's eyes filled with tears.
     "Could you have left Father?" Vaiya whispered, her voice all spirit.
     Silently, Mara let go and took her place at the pilot's seat.

     Larin was trying to push her away.
     *We have only seconds!* she pleaded. *How can you fight with me now?*
     *Because I love you. If you stay with me it will scar you.*
     *I'll risk it.*
     He shook his head, *You can't risk it. It isn't your right. You have children to care
for, a life to live. Vaiya, please.*
     Her replying sob nearly broke his heart.
     *Don't send me away, Larin,* she pleaded. *You can't take from me these last
minutes of your life. You chose your fate, let me choose mine.*
     *This isn't your fate, Vaiya. Terrible things will come of this if you stay.*
     *But I--*
     *If you love me, Vaiya, you will go.*
     Still she shook her head, unable to leave him, knowing it would be for good, until
Yejion came to claim her too.
     *I love you, Larin,* she cried, and the words had more meaning in that second than
they had ever had in her entire life.
     He did not answer with words. He answered only with emotions which reached up
to her like a warm blanket, cradling her in joy and peace and light. It was his joy, his
peace, his light. His confidence that he was on the right path, that he had fought the good
fight and would gain his reward. He would watch over her from a good place, always there
to guide her and love her and protect her. It was like a giant, soft cloud, pushing her away,
sending her across the span of time and space until she realized that the emotions were no
longer linked to his mind. He had shut her out, pushed her away, and the moment was
bearing down on him, the fatal moment. Desperately, out of panic, she reached out again.
     Only to be met with mind-boggling oblivion.
     The explosion shook the shuttle, but it was nothing compared to the shriek of
agony coming from behind Mara's seat. She spun around in time to catch her daughter as
Vaiya seemed to be hurled forward. They soared out toward the main palace, barely
missing the heavy lines of traffic. Luke turned the shuttle so that they could see the
explosion behind them, blossoming like some exotic flower. But it stayed contained. There
seemed to be some kind of golden spider net around it, keeping it in, holding it back from
its path of destruction.
     Larin had done it. He had saved them. He had saved all of Coruscant.
     And Vaiya lay in Mara's arms, a mere husk.

{Martyrdom}:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

     The recording of the event played over and over on the holonet news. Mara stood
and watched it, her face harsh in the jagged light, only the florescent glows of the moving
figures before her giving any illumination.
     The explosion had been surrounded by something that looked like a golden net.
The reporters zeroed in on it, trying to figure out what it was. Mara knew what it was. It
was a shield. A very strong shield that Palpatine had had designed many, many years ago.
Something Mara had only passed across during the many scavenger hunts she had made
into Palpatine's personal files. She had noted it as interesting, but having nothing to do
with her. So she moved on, not realizing that one day that net would stand between her life
and death.
     Then, as the blast began to recede, the net collapsed. It was a very smart invention,
using the explosions own kinetic energy against it, giving just enough so that it wouldn't
burst, but at the same time turning inward like a parasite and sapping the blast of its own
energy.
     A lot of fat good any of this was doing her. But it was better than pacing outside of
Vaiya's room.
     Everyone was hit by Larin's death. Ben was the only other human being that Vaiya
seemed willing to talk to, to allow near her. Larin had been his brother in so many ways,
adopted in youth and then in friendship during their later years. She wanted to comfort
him, but the ravage of her grief had taken everything from her, and she was hardly able to
manage more than a few words at a time.
     Behind her she felt Luke enter the room, bringing food. No one had ventured out
over the last several days except for him. It was like he had been designated as the calm
one, the only one with his head still screwed tightly to his shoulders. Mara knew better,
though. He was grieving as much as the rest of them, but that was Luke. He had always
had to rise above and move on. He was almost used to losing people close to him. His
uncle and aunt, Kenobi, Vader, Callista...Luke knew about loss better than anyone in that
room.
     She turned and looked at him. It had been hard to be separated from him since
Larin's death. She didn't quite get why at first. Separation anxiety was totally alien to her,
so at first she had resisted it. Now, she couldn't understand why she had been fighting the
urge to run to him and hug him.
     He set the bag down and glanced up at her. There were dark circles under his eyes,
which seemed half-glazed over in the dim light. He looked older--like he had aged ten
years. "What?" he whispered.
     She found that she was shaking, and as her jaw worked to make words, she realized
that it was trembling so hard she could barely speak. "I was...just thinking."
     "About what?"
     "Don't know. Life, death. That kind of thing."
     A small smile touched his lips. Very small. It was almost comforting to him,
listening to her fall back into her sarcastic ways. "Anything specific?" he asked gently.
     Her answer was to close the distance between them and bury herself into his
embrace. "I just realized that I can't image what Vaiya is going through right now. It's not
that I'm unable to, because I know I can, but it's almost like I won't."
     She felt his surprise. "Why?"
     "Because I wouldn't want to live anymore if anything happened to you." The
confession stunned her. Since when had she become so completely emotionally dependant
on him? It almost angered her, and she scowled, her fingers gripping him as if she wanted
to tear him apart.
     "Neither would I," he returned with the same heart-felt feeling. But Luke was no
stranger to his emotions, either. And Mara knew she shouldn't be. After all, she had said
when she'd married him that she wanted to learn his emotional openness. Boy, had she
learned it. She almost wished she could unlearn it. The feeling that one day she would lose
him, that he would die like all men and women in the galaxy, that eventually and
inevitably it would happen to her, that she would know what Vaiya was enduring at this
moment--it rocked her to her core.
     It dimmed every star in the galaxy.
     The door slid open again, and Mara lifted her head in time to see Seth pull back,
embarrassed to have caught them in an intimate embrace.
     "Seth," she called, relaxing her grip on Luke but not stepping away from him.
     He turned, his face caught in the shadow. "I am sorry. I will return at another time."
     "No, come in." It was Luke who took a step away from her, but kept his warm hand
on her shoulder, keeping her steady.
     Hesitantly, Seth obeyed.
     "I am sorry again--"
     "Forget about it," Mara waved her hand. But Luke squeezed her arm.
     "I think he means something else," he murmured softly.
     "Oh." Mara blinked and looked at Seth. "Uh...go ahead."
     He would not step past a few feet into the room. Come to think of it, he had been
rather scarce over the last few days. As if he were afraid of them.
     "I just came to gather my things," he said softly.
     Mara blinked again, and she even felt Luke's surprise. "Why?"
     A flicker of a frown crossed Seth's brow. "I would not impose on you any longer to
stay here. I have already caused enough harm. Tomorrow I'm going to begin the search for
Maul. There hasn't been any sign of him or Iyala since the explosion, but I think I have a
few leads."
     "Well," Luke interjected, "I would hope you wouldn't expect to have to do that all
by yourself."
     It was Seth's turn to blink, utter confusion on his face--a sight that might have been
amusing under less somber circumstances. "Master Skywalker, I would not bring any more
ruin upon your family."
     "You didn't." Mara heard her own voice before she realized it was she who had
spoken.
     His green eyes narrowed on her, almost angry that she would contradict him. "I
would beg to differ," he said softly.
     Luke shook his head. "Seth, you didn't set off that bomb. You came to warn us.
You saved our lives. We don't want you to leave."
     Seth snorted, "Perhaps you do not, Master Skywalker, but I'm sure that the rest of
your family disagrees."
     Mara and Luke looked at each other. Mara took a step closer to Seth. "Perhaps
there are a few things that I didn't make clear enough when all this started," she said,
getting a bit of her spark back. "I kind of have this reputation that I enjoy having. It's for
being loyal. I don't give out my loyalty all that easily. People have to earn it. I know that
you did what you thought was right. I know that you didn't want to leave Larin, no matter
how you might have felt about him." Seth opened his mouth to protest but Mara cut him
off. "No, be quiet, I know a lot more about what I'm talking about than you think.
Whatever happened between you and Vaiya and Larin is none of my business, but I know
that you would never have done anything to hurt him. I believe what you told us, Seth. I
believe you."
     He was stunned into utter silence.
     "Now, all that aside, I don't really believe you don't know this, otherwise you never
would have come back for your stuff. I know why you really want to leave. You think
Vaiya hates you. Well, she doesn't." Mara paused for effect. "She doesn't hate you. She was
upset. Right now she's grieving. She's going to grieve for a long time, but no matter what
she says or does, I know that she doesn't hate you. When all of this is over and she's been
given some time, she's going to realize that she believes you, too."
     All Seth did was shake his head.
     "Come on. You would never hurt her in a million years. You would have traded
places with Larin in a heartbeat for her sake. She knows that. She knows that you love her.
You just have to give her some time."
     His response was to shut his eyes. "Please, Mara," he whispered, and he sounded
like he was ready to cry. "Please just let me get my things and leave."
     Mara sighed. "My grandfather used to say that if you love something you let it go. I
didn't find out for a long time that everyone said that...but it didn't make it any less true. So
if you want to go, then you can go. Luke," she said over her shoulder, "where's his stuff?"
     Luke seemed to look around him for a minute, and then his face contorted in
embarrassment as he said, "It's in Vaiya's room."
     "Oh, great," Mara muttered. "Go get it, will you?"
     Luke sighed and headed down the hall into Vaiya's room. Mara watched him
disappear and then turned back to Seth.
     "Be sure to come find me when you change your mind," she said.
     Seth shook his head. "I won't."
     "Sure."
     Suddenly Luke was behind them again. The look on his face was stunned.
     "She wants to see you," he said.
     "Who?" Mara asked.
     "Seth. Vaiya wants to talk to you."
     Seth raised his head, his eyes bright. He looked like he didn't know whether to run
to her or to bolt from the apartment. Then slowly, so slowly, he took a step forward. And
then another. Finally, before he knew it, he was moving down the hallway toward the
familiar door.
     Luke turned and looked at Mara. "That was fast," he whispered.
     Mara shook her head, a small, rueful smile on her face. "No, not really."

     Seth reached the door and was lifting his fist to knock when it was pulled open
from the inside. Vaiya stared up at him, her face pale and drawn, her eyes red and ringed
with black and purple circles, her hair hanging around her like a dirty gold curtain.
     He pulled back as if waiting for her to hit him.
     "Thank God," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around herself as if she were
cold. "I was afraid that you had left already."
     "I was getting ready to," he said softly, not having any idea how to act at the
moment. He felt almost empty of any emotion, except the desire to get away.
     "I hope you haven't made too many plans," she said softly. "Because we don't want
you to go."
     He let out his breath slowly. "No, I shouldn't stay. It wouldn't be wise."
     "No, maybe it wouldn't be. But it would be the right thing to do." She paused. "I
heard my mother's little speech about how I don't hate you. She's right, you know. I don't
hate you. In fact, I wanted to...apologize."
     His eyes widened in shock. "Why?"
     "Because I shouldn't have done what I did. I should never have said anything to you
that mean and vicious. I was just so angry--"
     "You had every right to say those things. You had every right to be angry."
     "But not at you."
     "Then at who?"
     "At Maul. And Iyala."
     There was a vicious edge in her voice that made him shudder.
     "But not you," she said, this time softly. "Please, don't go."
     "I have to find Maul before he does more damage."
     "I know. That's why I want you to stay. We have to do it together. None of us stand
a chance against him alone. We have to stop him, but we have to work together. Please,
Seth. You can't leave. You're our best link."
     He frowned as he gazed at her, as if trying to see inside her. Through the
maelstrom of grief, he could see the spark of something else forming. A spark of desire. It
was the desire for revenge.
     He shook his head. "I don't know, Vaiya---"
     "Seth." It was a moan now, "PLEASE. I'm begging you." Then, more softly, "You
can't leave me now. Not now."
     He didn't know how many seconds ticked past as he gazed into those eyes, so
clouded and glazed with exhaustion, tears and anger. But he knew he would not say no. He
knew that whatever words came out of his mouth, they would be slow and reluctant, but
not a no.
     Instead, he did not speak. He only nodded his head and turned to head back down
the hallway, regretting each and every step.

     Ben wandered aimlessly. He passed through levitating squares adorned with statues
and underneath streams of brilliantly colored ships. He drifted around ornate buildings
with the late sun reflecting its rays off their transparisteel panes. He paid no attention.
     He wanted to go back to the apartment. He knew that Vaiya needed him, perhaps
now more than ever. And he needed her, so badly. They may have had different mothers,
but the blood bond between them was true.
     Still, he could not get his feet to take him back.
     He thought about how he had lost his parents before he was even born. He thought
about how his mother had run away from his father, and how he had been entrapped in a
stasis block for ten years as a newborn before his adopted parents--Larin's parents--freed
him and took him in as their own child. He had no memories of those times but he had
been told the story again and again as a very small boy by the woman he had known as
mother until he was six years old. Or was it seven? The memories were hazy. He didn't
remember how old he was when they were killed. He only knew that he didn't just lose
them, he had lost Larin, then, too. His older sibling had been so angry at the world. He
wanted revenge. He'd gotten it, and it had cost him his chance to return. It had cost him his
last name.
     But still, Ben had hoped. He knew he would see his brother again. So he waited
patiently, under the care of an aunt and uncle who were kind enough to him but did not
love him like parents love their children. Perhaps they had known of his origins and were
afraid of him. Or maybe it was his Force ability--strongly visible even then--that kept them
away. Many Force-born children were held at arms length from their parents, because they
were often taken away from them young and raised to be Jedi Knights. At least, that was
what some of the datacards that Mara had recovered said. He waited there, with them, and
when the time came he left. He was only nine, close to ten, but he left. He did not
remember that time very well. He only knew that he had had a guide. The mother he had
never known had appeared to him. He wondered if she was a ghost or an angel. But he
knew who she was, and he listened. He followed her. He got to know her. He was able to
know her love for him.
     In the end, she had left him, too. But left him in good care, in the Skywalker's
home, where he belonged. There he also found his brother, the one he thought he'd lost.
And better yet, he gained a sister he had never known about, and found that, of them all, he
knew her best.
     All those years ago...it had seemed to far behind him until a few days ago. Now
Death was turning its head back to him, wanting to take it all away again.
     He shut his eyes. He was being foolish. People died. Larin had died to save them.
His death wasn't a tragedy, it was a cause to celebrate. He had given them all, he had
shown his love for them in a way no words could have ever expressed. He had sacrificed
his life to save them. They should have been honoring him in celebration.
     Ben knew why they would not dare.
     At first, he was sure that Vaiya was going to join her husband in death. The toll it
took on her nearly sucked all the life from her. But she lived because she had two other
lives growing inside of her. She had to take care of them--they were Larin's legacy, his
mark on the galaxy. They were the link to the past and a chance for a future. But Ben saw
the look on her face. So angry, so hateful. The dark side was close to her now, wanting to
seize the opportunity. She battled it, but Ben knew it was sheer grace that was holding the
dark powers at bay. Her heart was not in it. She wanted to give in, wanted to take the quick
and easy path to destroy Darth Maul. She knew she could do it--she had brushed paths with
the dark side before and knew she had abilities that she had not begun to tap. She was,
after all, a Skywalker. Granddaughter of the Lord Vader. And on top of that, she was the
daughter of Mara Jade, who was the child of Emperor Palpatine. Everything was stacked
against her, and Ben knew--somehow, he knew--at the first chance she got, she would turn.
     Just to destroy Maul.
     This wandering was getting him nowhere. He had to go back and be with Vaiya.
She needed him. But as he finally got his feet to take him where he belonged, he heard
voices drifting down to him while he was in the lift. Angry voices, loud voices.
     "I said get out of my way!"
     That was Vaiya, loud and blunt like an injured cat. There was a soft response, and
Ben passed through the doors in time to see Mara and Vaiya in a face-off.
     "Mother," Vaiya growled.
     "I have never forced anything on you in your life," Mara said, folding her arms.
"But I am your mother and you will listen to me."
     "I'm not a child! You can't tell me what to do!"
     "If you're not a child then stop acting like one and listen to me! Vaiya, you can't.
Let Seth--"
     "Seth isn't enough! You saw what happened before. I need to be with him. Together
Seth and I can take him!"
     Mara shook her head. "No."
     Vaiya clenched her teeth so hard they sounded like they were going to pop. "Give
me one really good reason," she hissed.
     "I've got two," Mara said, holding two fingers in Vaiya's vision. "You're pregnant."
     There was a heavy silence.
     "And?" Vaiya whispered.
     "And?" Ben shot in, stepping into the fray beside Mara. "Vaiya, don't you get it?
Those children--they're all that's left of Larin! How can you be so selfish and not think of
their lives? You know that if you go running off and battling Maul like you tried to take on
Cal Saphringer, you'll risk miscarrying! You can't give the fight your all if you're worrying
about that! And if you don't fight hard enough, he'll kill you, and we lose all three of you!"
He paused. "What would Larin think of that?"
     Vaiya glared at them both.
     "Perhaps you'll listen to him," Mara muttered. "At least he makes sense."
     Ben looked from Mara to Vaiya. This was unusual. Vaiya never defied her mother,
not like this. Not when it was this important. Ben had long since known that the two of
them shared a special bond, and that didn't bother him. This bothered him--seeing it
tampered with like this.
     Without really understanding why, Ben stepped forward and placed a hand on
Vaiya's shoulder. She swayed slightly with the force, but after a few seconds she turned her
eyes to his and blinked slowly. As if she were waking up.
     "Yes, he does," Vaiya whispered. "I'm...I'm sorry. You're right. I can't risk it. Larin
wouldn't want me to risk the children." Her voice started to crack. "It was for that reason
that he made me stay behind...if he had let me come with him, maybe he wouldn't have
been killed."
     "We all would have been killed," Ben pointed out gently. "You seem to forget,
Vaiya, that you should be proud of him."
     Tears filled her eyes. Funny, her face looked so dry and drawn, like she had run out
of tears. "Proud," she whispered.
     "He died a glorious death. He died so that we could live, so that his children could
live. What he did, Vaiya...it was beautiful. There isn't any love purer or greater than that."
     The tears overflowed, but they did not fall. "I know," she moaned. "I know that.
But it still hurts. And I still wish that we could have been able to stop him."
     "I know," Ben soothed, taking her into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder
and took several deep breaths. "I know, Vaiya. I understand. It's okay to grieve. It shows
how much you love him. But you have to remember that he died for a good and noble
cause. He freely chose it, and his reward for it will be great."
     "I hope so," she said, lifting her head, the tears gone. "Because I'm going to make
the people who put him in that position pay dear."
     Ben sighed. She needed time. She would get it, he promised himself that.
     It was then that Seth appeared, his face haggard and worn.
     Luke jumped up from where he was sitting. "Well?" he asked, and Vaiya pulled
away from Ben slightly to turn her attention to Seth.
     "Gone," Seth said, his voice empty. "A shuttle was stolen just the other day, not too
long after the explosion. Whoever it was killed seven guards. Cut some of them in half,
roasted the others."
     "It was them," Vaiya said, her voice dark.
     "Yes." He glanced at them all, as if expecting them to be angry. "I am sorry."
     "And once again," Mara said, crossing her arms, "it isn't your fault."
     All Seth did was shrug.
     Vaiya stepped away from Ben, letting out a huge sigh. "And I don't supposed any of
us have a clue as to where they'll go."
     "Where they go doesn't really matter," Ben pointed out. "It's when they come back
that we have to worry."
     "Maybe Palpatine has some more hiding places that we haven't discovered yet,"
Mara offered. "If they've gone to one of them, we don't really have a chance of finding
them."
     "Unless they start causing trouble," Luke pointed out.
     "All the better for us to find them, then," Mara returned.
     "No," Vaiya said, her voice very soft. All eyes turned to her. "Ben is right. It doesn't
matter where they hide. If they're hiding then we're safe from them for the time being. It's
when they choose to strike again that we have to concern ourselves with. It's all we can
concern ourselves with. Because if they don't want to be found, they won't be found."
     "Are you so sure?" Mara murmured.
     It was Seth who answered for her. "Yes, Mara," he said. "And considering we have
more pressing matters at hand here, we should let them go for the time being."
     Vaiya flinched.
     "You can't be serious," Mara said, a touch of real anger in her voice.
     "Yes, he can," Vaiya whispered. "We have to go back to Durran." She paused.
"Larin's body may be unrecoverable, but we still need to bury him. And we will do it on his
homeworld."
     "What will be bury?" Luke asked softly.
     Vaiya did not answer. She turned and headed back for her room.
     "We'll think of something," Ben assured him. "This is kind of tough, you know. I
mean, she's got to bury him but she can hardly hold it together."
     "I know," Mara said in a low voice, "but what choice do we have? She has to let
out her grief. She can't hold it in. Not while she's pregnant, at least."
     Luke rose from his seat. "Okay, then," he said, clapping his hands together lightly.
"Let's get moving. We'll leave for Durran at dawn."

{Recovery}::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

     Life moved.
     That was all that Vaiya was aware of. The movement of things around her. But
they were separated from her, far from her. The only things close to her were the two
children in her womb.
     They had not been a part of her for very long, but she still felt guilty that she did
not think of them enough. Larin's death made everything seem bleak and meaningless.
Every time she thought of her children, she realized that they would never know their
father...the father who had died so that they could live.
     Aunt Leia came to them as they were preparing to leave and informed Luke that
they had found human remains at the heart of the explosion. It wasn't much...mostly ash,
and some traces of a skeleton. Mara asked that they be prepared to be taken back with
them to Durran. Vaiya did not have the heart to see them herself. But she did receive one
important item, the existence of which stunned her.
     One thing had survived the explosion, by pure miracle. His lightsaber. Leia gave it
to Mara, who gave it to Vaiya. Mara asked if Vaiya wanted to bury it with his remains, but
she refused. The lightsaber had belonged to Valeris. He had given it to Larin as a gift.
Now, it was hers.
     Valeris was dead. Larin was dead. Iyala was a traitor. Everyone she had known or
cared about on Durran was dead or gone. It was like some great chapter in her life had
been completed, and a sense of finality overcame her and nearly sent her into another bout
of tears. But she resisted. She couldn't cry forever.
     They took her to Durran. The passage of time was the same as the hyperspace
starlines around them--moving, but still. And meaningless, offering nothing but their
blankness. Vaiya ate, slept, and began to pay attention to her body. Larin had died for these
children. She would not lose them.
     Before they left Coruscant, the doctor she had been seeing expressed extreme
concern for her. In such a mental state, her pregnancy could be made difficult when it
didn't have to be. Of course, the urge to rip his head off after telling him that she was oh so
sorry to have the nerve to grieve over the father of her children during her pregnancy,
came and went. She knew he was right. Mara stayed very close to her on the journey back
to Durran, talking to her about numberless things, mostly about pregnancy, sharing with
her various stories about the days before Vaiya's birth. She had heard the story about
Callista countless times as a child. But it had been many years since her childhood.
     Actually, it hadn't. She was only 26...too young to be a widow. Too young to feel so
old. But she had already lived a lifetime, or at least she felt like it. Perhaps it was a
desperation to remind herself of her youth that she let Mara go on about the Jedi's sacrifice
of her life. Or maybe it was an attempt to empathize with Vaiya's loss. Whatever it was,
Mara was better company to her only daughter than she had ever been in her life.
     The best part was that Mara kept everyone else from smothering her. Luke, Ben,
even Seth seemed to be hovering around her, and it was getting to her. She wanted to be
alone, to sulk in peace, but knew she couldn't. Yet she had no taste for company. Her
father and Ben seemed to have the hardest time staying away. Only Seth seemed to
understand. He came, took a quick look at her mood, and then made himself scarce.
     She had no idea what to think. But the loss of Larin seemed to have sucked all her
emotions for Seth with it. Or maybe she just refused to think about him. The feelings were
too terrible to contemplate at the present.
     When they arrived on Durran after seven long days, they took the sealed bag they
had placed Larin's remains in and brought it to the First Temple. She felt so strange
coming home to that place. It was filled with so many memories of happier times. Or
maybe those times had only seemed happy because they had come before this tragedy. Her
days in the First Temple had been overshadowed by the threat of Cal Saphringer, and the
strange dreams of a man with a red and black face. But Cal had been defeated, and Seth
had turned from the dark side. Larin was found addicted to some strange mild-altering
drug, but he had recovered. Maybe it wasn't the time that had been different. It was her
confidence. She had had a steady guide, a heavenly messenger watching her every step.
She had called angels to her side in battle, and was wise beyond her years.
     Where was all that grace now? Had it deserted her? Because she had given in with
Seth? Perhaps...perhaps Larin's death was a punishment.
     The Elders heard the tale of Larin's death and declared him a hero. The funeral
would last seven days, but first the remains had to be prepared. Vaiya lacked the strength
to deal with any of it, but the Elders were quick to assure her that they would handle it.
They asked only that Vaiya stay in the temple during the preparation time.
     She agreed. Even though the place felt so empty to her.
     On the second day back, Vaiya attempted to pray. She went up to the private
temple and spent hours there, trying to offer up her grief. She wasn't sure if she felt a
response. She felt lighter as the time passed, but there were too many emotions in her for
her to determine what was what. Then, during the hour before the midday marking, she
had a visitor.
     Syrian had been her teacher when she'd first come to the temple. He had taught her
the way to fight with a lightsaber, arts of the old Jedi that had nearly been lost. He had
objected strongly when she had made a double bladed lightsaber. Funny, she had never
thought about it much until this moment why. He said it was a sith weapon. A few years
ago, Vaiya had visited her father's academy and had learned of Exar Kuhn, the first sith
lord to carry a double-bladed weapon.
     Then there were Seth's comments about how she had been trained in the same way
he and Maul had been trained. A particular form of combat that had been lost to the Jedi
since the purgings. But how would both Syrian and the Cult of the Destroyer know of this
form of combat?
     He entered the temple, almost unaware of her presence, and as he reached the main
altar he glanced over and saw her. His dark face, blacker than any Durranian she had ever
known, lit up with pleasure and he called out her name. In spite of her heavy heart, Vaiya
smiled and rose from her place, hurrying over to embrace him.
     "Welcome home, daughter of life," he said, giving her a bear hug.
     She let out a small laugh. "I haven't heard that name in years." Although in the
Chad language, Vaiya had meant stonelifter, in the Durranian tongue it meant "rebirth."
     "That's because it's been years," he returned. Then he sobered. "I heard about your
husband. I didn't expect to find you up here, but something told me to come here this
morning."
     The questions buzzed around her head. "Syrian, are you pure Durranian?"
     He seemed surprised. "Why do you ask?"
     She took a look at his head. The fact that he was hairless had never struck her as
odd, but only now did she look closely at the ridges of his forehead. They were very low,
almost invisible except to the eye that purposely sought them. Then, like a thunderbolt, it
just popped into her head. "You're part Zabrak?"
     He jumped back. "What?"
     She frowned. "I'm not angry," she said. "I can understand that you want to hide it.
But I don't know why I never realized it before."
     He snorted. "Because it's something I generally don't like people to know."
     "I'm sorry," Vaiya said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend--"
     "You didn't," he said. "My great grandfather was Zabrak. He left his homeworld as
an adult and came here. It was in the days when Iridonia and Durran were like sister
planets. It lasted a long time...we had some sort of religious falling out, I don't know if
either of our people would even remember it. Then when I was a teenager, I wanted to go
to Iridonia and learn their fighting arts. It was during the time that I was there that the Jedi
purges wiped out most of the Zabrak people. I barely escaped with my life. I kept my
heritage a secret for fear of bringing the Emperor's wrath to Durran."
     "I always wondered how Durran escaped from the purges, or why Palpatine
allowed them to isolate themselves."
     "We were careful. Or maybe we were just under special protection." Syrian glanced
toward the sanctuary and sighed. "Whatever it was, it saved us. But we lived in fear for a
long time." His looked back at Vaiya. "I've also heard about Iyala."
     Vaiya paled. "How?" she whispered.
     "Now that Durran is open to the rest of the known galaxy again, news gets here
rather quickly."
     "It hasn't even been two weeks!" Vaiya cried.
     Syrian sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, Vaiya. But I urge you to stay here in
the temple. Don't go looking for her. Don't stain your hands with blood during this sacred
time. I didn't know your husband well, but I know that he would not have wanted to see
you raise your saber against a sister, no matter how far she had fallen."
     There was a slight noise behind them, and Vaiya turned to see her parents entering
the temple.
     "They told us that you were up here, Master Syrian," Mara said. "I hope we aren't
interrupting anything."
     Vaiya gave them a small smile. "Nothing that can't be interrupted," she said. She
stepped away. "If you want to talk in private--"
     "No," Luke said, "it's not a private matter. Master Syrian, we were wondering if you
would be willing to train us."
     Syrian cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Train you?" he echoed.
     "Well, rather, train me," Luke added. "In the particular form of combat that Vaiya
and Seth are trained in."
     "Vaiya taught me some of what she knows," Mara said, "but it's been a while. I was
wanting to get a bit of training under my belt as well."
     Syrian seemed to consider them. "Well...Vaiya trained for several months to learn
all she knows, and before that she had been raised as a Jedi by yourselves, from the time
she was old enough to reason, perhaps sooner. What you ask is much. How much time are
you willing to spend here?"
     "They're both Jedi Masters," Vaiya pointed out. "Perhaps it would not be as
difficult as you think to pass on what they need to know."
     "To defeat someone like Darth Maul," Syrian said, giving them a knowing look, "it
would take more time than you think." He turned to her parents. "Perhaps your wiser path
should be to let Vaiya engage him in combat should he attack you again."
     "That would be impossible for the next several months," Mara said.
     Syrian looked at Vaiya questioningly.
     "I'm pregnant," she stated.
     The big black man let out a large belly laugh and hugged her again. Vaiya accepted
it, the first sign of amusement on her face in the last two weeks. Luke and Mara smiled at
each other.
     "Well!" Syrian cried. "In that case, I guess we have some work to do!"

     "You're being too gentle," Ben growled as his yellow blade locked with Seth's red
one once again. "I can't train for real combat if you keep handling me with kid gloves!"
     Seth backed away, twirling the double-bladed lightsaber out of habit. "I don't think
you understand," he said. "This isn't like training with remotes, or even the kind of training
your father gave you. That required only that you listen to the Force."
     "What else does it require?" Ben cried, deactivating his blade. "The nature of the
lightsaber is dependant on Force abilities--"
     Seth held up his hand. "There is more than Force-strength at work in this kind of
combat. This requires enormous physical endurance and the ability to be fast. In the old
Jedi order, they used to speed up their metabolism with the Force in order to make
themselves run faster, jump higher, and fall from great heights without getting hurt. You
have not had that kind of training. Jedi Masters your parents may be, Ben, but even they
have had to learn again what they thought they knew."
     Ben sighed. He kept silent for a moment, trying to remember something his father
had once said. "Then I will unlearn what I have learned," he finally said.
     Seth nodded. "Is your will strong enough to let go?"
     "Try me."
     "Then come with me."
     While Vaiya had stayed in the temple, waiting as the Elders of the First Temple
prepared for the burial rites, the rest of the family was staying nearby in a private lodge
reserved for special guests to the planet. Considering that Vaiya had been essential in
bringing Durran into the New Republic, her husband was not only being given a religious
funeral, but a hero's memorial celebration as well.
     Seth had not left the lodge since they had arrived, afraid of what the people would
think of his face. He didn't know what memories this place might have of the Cult of the
Destroyer, considering they had violated the temple on the day that Vaiya had been
celebrating her acceptance of her Durranian Faith. So he pulled out his cloak and covered
his head so that his face was in shadow, and he and Ben stole out into the nearby desert,
taking the high ground, where the desert turned into rocky cliffs that cut deep into the land,
making gorges that seemed almost impossibly huge.
     They walked for almost an hour before they reached it, but when they did, it was
hard to miss.
     "I've never been here before," Ben said, overlooking the natural wonder with real
awe in his voice.
     "I have," Seth whispered.
     "When?"
     "About two years after I came to live with Valeris." Seth sat down on the rocky
ground and picked up a handful of the iridescent dust in his hand. "He was trying to teach
me to unlearn my dark side training, and focus on the light. What I couldn't understand
was that I not only had to let go of my reasons for my actions, but I had to let go of my
actions for themselves. I didn't understand...sometimes I think I still don't. But it wasn't
about trying to understand everything at once. It was about making the right decision at the
right moment."
     Ben crouched down, looking over the cliff into the dark shadows below.
     "It's all about knowing what is right and what is wrong," Seth continued, but his
voice had returned to his low baritone, and was starting to turn foggy and distant.
     "So how do I do that?"
     "You live in the moment, one moment at a time. You have to think fast, but do it
clearly. You have to listen to the Force, be one with the calm."
     "Sounds like what I've been trying to learn from day one."
     "You will always be trying to learn it." Seth stood up, his feet dangerously close to
the cliff's edge. His voice cleared, and Ben lifted his head and saw that he was gazing
down into the gorge. "When I came here, I was in a state of despair. I didn't think I would
ever learn how to use the light instead of the dark. It felt like an impossible battle. So I
stood here for what had to be an hour, trying to decide whether or not to jump."
     Ben's eyes widened. "You were going to kill yourself?"
     "I considered it. If I had been serious, perhaps I would have jumped right away.
The sun was setting when I arrived, and by the time I left it was full night. But I stood
here, just like this." His toes were practically hanging off the side.
     "What made you finally turn away?"
     "I didn't."
     Seth turned his head and smiled at Ben.
     "I jumped."
     The younger man shook his head, baffled.
     "I didn't do it because I wanted to die, that much I remember. And it wasn't a heavy
jump. I merely stepped off the cliff and let myself drop. Just as I was hitting freefall, I felt
a surge of power, and it felt like there was some great heavy wind pushing up at my feet. I
don't know what happened next--I've tried to remember but I can't. The next thing I knew, I
was at the bottom of the cliff, my feet crouched under me. I knew that I should have been
dead, but somehow the Force caught me."
     "How did you get back up again?"
     "I can't explain it to you. You'll have to jump for yourself and find out."
     Ben stood up, but hesitated. Then, slowly, he put his feet at the edge of the cliff,
letting his toes dangle below. He considered rocking forward and just letting the weight of
his body push the dirt loose and send him tumbling, because somehow his knees refused to
crouch so that he could give himself a good shove.
     Then, as he stood, waiting, he started to feel dizzy, and he covered his eyes. He saw
a face float past him--his mother's face, Callista's face, grey eyes and malt blond hair. All
of them worried, paniced.
     *Don't jump, Ben!*
     His feet locked and refused to move. He saw Valeris, his sharp green eyes boring
into him.
     *Don't be a fool, boy.*
     Was Seth trying to kill him? The terrified thought flew into his stomach and gave
birth to a thousand chewing maggots that threatened to tear their way through his insides.
He wanted to turn and glare at him, but his head wouldn't move.
     *Valery,* came a familiar voice. Ben opened his eyes, but the cliff had vanished.
Before him, Larin stood, his hand outstretched. Ben didn't know if his hand was open or if
it had been narrowed into a pointed, accusing finger.
     "Larin," Ben moaned. "Help me. I don't know what I'm doing."
     *Don't you?* Larin smiled, his face alight with his usual cheerfulness, his voice
pulling out that lazy drawl that all the Northerners had. *You're testing yourself.*
     "Should I jump?"
     *Should you?*
     "I don't have to."
     *No. You don't.*
     "But I want to learn what the others have learned. I have to be a warrior if I want to
help them stop Darth Maul."
     Larin's smile increased. *Valery Ben Skywalker,* he chastised. *All you have
already done and still you don't know?*
     Ben frowned. "I don't understand what you mean."
     *You seek to know your place, like all of us do. But more than that, you want to
know if you're important.*
     He almost laughed. "I know I'm important."
     *Do you?*
     "Yes."
     *Then why do you have to jump?*
     Ben considered this. He had been contemplating his life earlier, but the most
important parts he had missed. He was a healer. He had been trying to be a warrior like the
others, all the while missing what made him so much more useful to them. What made
him important.
     He almost laughed. Then, carefully, he lifted one foot and took a heavy step back.
Then another, and then another, until he was far enough away from the cliff. He blinked
and the vision of Larin was gone.
     He turned and looked at Seth, whose tattooed face bore the distinct expression of
relief. "So that was the point, right?"
     "Those who have real power know when not to use it."
     "But if I wanted to, I could have jumped, and lived, like you."
     "Yes. You have the power of the Force. Your special calling may not be in a battle,
but that doesn't mean you couldn't fight if you had to."
     "So I just have to stop worrying about it."
     "Exactly."
     Ben looked down at his feet for a long minute, and then looked back up at Seth
again. "What did you see?" he whispered.
     "I can't tell you that. It was for me alone, as whatever you saw was for your eyes
alone."
     "Then how did you know what I--nevermind." Then he started to swing his arms. "I
feel all stiff. How long was I standing there?"
     "For the better part of an hour," Seth replied.
     "What?" Ben ran both hands through his hair. It felt thick and dirty from the wind
and the dust. "Well, that explains why I feel all rusty."
     "Then you'll be in the mood for the first lesson. We're going to try and run back to
town."
     "Run?" Ben shielded his eyes against the late afternoon sun. "Are you crazy? How
could be possibly run back to town from here?"
     "I'll show you," Seth said. "Most of what the Force is made of is energy. At least,
that's its substance. So when you move any part of your body, you are turning potential
energy into kinetic energy. If you're strong in the Force, you can make the energy
transference happen more quickly, and thus enable you to run at nearly impossible speeds
without getting tired."
     "Well, then let's do it." Ben took off at a run, and Seth waited a moment before
following. Using a quick burst of energy, he caught up with Ben in seconds. It was almost
like a game of leapfrog, Ben jumping ahead and then Seth. But they made it back to town
in half the time it had taken them to get to the cliff.
     Ben was panting slightly from the exertion when they arrived at the first outpost. "I
think I got that...but I can't seem to do it in more than short bursts."
     "That fine, your endurance will grow with time," Seth said, his breath completely
even. "Think you're up for the next lesson?"
      "What is it?"
     "Using the same method to catch yourself when you fall."
     "Like the cliff."
     "Yes, but we'll start off slow." He pulled the hood of his cloak up to cover his face.
Ben flinched.
     "I hate to ask you," he said, his voice low, "because I know you told me that your
vision was for you alone...but did it tell you that you would ever be rid of that mask?"
     Seth sighed. "I did see myself...without the mask. But I knew it would be a long
time."
     "You had your vision years ago," Ben pointed out. "Have you tried recently to
remove it?"
     "I cannot remove it by any natural means," Seth replied solemnly. "I have tried
them all. Coruscant was a place of many wonders from all over the galaxy. None of the
methods worked."
     They fell into silence, and within a few minutes they had reached some industrial
complex. There was a large pyramid covered with mirrors, but it was not just a single
pyramid--smaller pyramids of different tints were emerging from its four sides like towers.
However, for all its size and newness, it looked like it was closed.
     "What is that?" Seth asked.
     "I don't know...I remember a little about it--I think Larin brought me here once
when I was a little kid. It's a trading center, I think. Now that Durran is open to
offworlders, I'm sure they've expanded it."
     "Hmm." Seth regarded the building carefully. "Perhaps this is just the place."

     Ben looked down. It wasn't really that high of a drop--only a few stories, at most.
And he had been doing this for the last hour, and had not had a problem yet.
     Behind him, Seth grunted. "Come on, come on...jump or I'll push you off!"
     "It'd like to see you try."
     "Would you?" Seth pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ignited one scarlet blade.
Ben siezed his saber and lit it in response, and then glanced around. They had wanted to
avoid damaging any property. Most of the scaffolding from the expansion had been
removed, and the place looked so clean he was sure he could have eaten his lunch off the
floor and wiped his mouth on the walls. It seemed a pity to endanger all of it now with a
mock-lightsaber duel.
     "Easy, Seth," Ben warned. "I don't want to get thrown in a hold and have to spend
Larin's funeral--"
     It was at that moment that Seth lunged forward, and Ben reacted too quickly to
counter the blow. To his utter amazement, however, their blades never connected. Seth
had faked it--with just enough force to knock Ben off his balance.
     His arms flailed out, and he barely kept his fingers around his lightsaber handle.
His feet wouldn't connect against solid ground again, and he was tipping, tipping, going all
the way back with nothing but the open air to catch him.
     He would have twisted around and gotten his feet under him, but instead he just
focused. To his utter amazement, it had started to come to him naturally, like a self-
defense technique. When his back slammed into the marble floor, it stung and took most
of the wind out of him, but it didn't hurt half as much as it should have.
     Ben gasped and opened his eyes in time to see Seth laughing so hard he was
doubled over.
     "You...you should have seen...your face!" Seth managed. It was a slightly horrifying
sound to hear that deep, raspy baritone caught in the throes of such merriment, but Ben felt
himself smiling anyway.
     "Next thing you know," Ben wheezed as he pulled himself to his feet, "you'll be
attacking me in my sleep."
     "Now if I told you that what good would it do you?" Seth said. "If I'm going to
surprise you, I can't warn you first."
     "I know." Ben rubbed his ribs. The fall hadn't really stung that much. And what if
he had had a real enemy chasing after him? He would have had to leap right back up again
and defend himself. "I get the point."
     "I thought you---" He stopped, and from where Ben stood it looked like Seth
wobbled a bit on his feet.
     "What is it?" he called.
     Seth shook his head, his eyes screwed shut. "We have to get back to the Temple,"
he said, leaping down to the floor beside Ben. "And we have to run."
     "Why?" Ben shouted as Seth took off out of the building.
     "Vaiya!" Seth shouted back. "She's in trouble!"
 

{Messenger}:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

     She felt dizzy. The world was rushing past her, red and purple flashes that seemed
to get closer and closer to her with each second.
     She had been alone. Her parents were training with Syrian. Ben and Seth had
disappeared. She wasn't sure how she felt about being alone now--usually it was just a
constant reminder of how she was a widow now, that Larin was dead and soon to be
buried. The worst of it was, she kept expecting him to suddenly appear behind her, or
beside her, or through a pair of sliding doors. He would come to her and hug her and tell
her that it was all a dream, some kind of nightmare, and that he would never leave her.
They would talk about their children, what to name them, wondering what they would look
like and how strong in the Force they might be. And then she would blink and remember,
and the pain was fresh all over again.
     She had been fighting the urge since the morning. She thought that if she could do
it for just one day, just for this day, then everything else would fall into place. She forced
herself to walk the empty corridors and not look around every corner or turn her head for
every parting set of doors. She even thought about returning home, even briefly, and
gathering a few things to make her stay in the temple more comfortable.
     Her father would have told her that she was rushing herself, that she had to give
herself more time to heal. But she had to start the fight now, or else she knew she would
give in to despair. Seth, bless him, had kept his distance the last few days. But she knew
that was only a matter of time as well. Soon, she would have to deal with that situation,
and she did not like the feelings that it created inside of her.
     She had reached the end of the main hall when the doors had parted before she had
been close enough to activate them. Her heart, for the first time that morning, had leapt in
her throat and she looked up, feeling all dizzy like she usually did when she came out of a
terrible dream, the floating sensation of being lifted up by the hand of Yejion Himself and
taken out of the misery.
     The sensation increased when she realized that there actually was someone behind
the door, until she actually expected the edges of reality to begin their colorful swirling
disintegration. But as she looked, she realized that the figure cloaked in black was not
Larin. It had a dark cloak on, covering its face.
     It lifted its head, and red and yellow eyes glared at her. For a brief moment, Vaiya
thought it was Seth. His face was covered with the bright red and black markings. It had to
be Seth--who else could it have been?
     "Maul," she whispered, her hand going to her belt.
     "You must be Vaiya," he replied, pulling his own saber from his belt and igniting
it. He sneered at her. "The only Jedi in your family I haven't had the pleasure of defeating
yet."
     The comment sparked anger in her, and she ignited her blade, but not in self-
defense. Something in her snapped. The peace and the calm fell back and all the rage and
hatred and grief over Larin's death at this man's hands came rushing upon her.
     She struck first, hitting him so hard that he had to take a step back. To her utter
surprise, he actually smiled at her.
     They stood that way for a moment, their blades humming angrily where they
touched. "Where did you get the mask from?" she asked snidely.
     He chuckled nastily. "Perhaps I killed your other lover as well and tore it from his
face."
     That was all she could stand. Vaiya flew at him, and the only things she knew
afterward were the faint noise of the blades as they crashed into each other again and
again, the red and purple blurs, and the buzzing of her own rage as it gathered around her
like a cloak. A cloak with big, sharp teeth.

     Seth tore up the temple stairs, gaining some angry cries from some nearby
worshippers who only desired quiet. Ben was far behind him, but he didn't have time to
worry about him now. The closer he got, the more he felt it.
     They were in some sort of corridor. Finding which one, however, was going to be
tricky. He stopped at some sort of junction and shut his eyes. Using the Force, he stretched
every sense to the limit--only to find himself assaulted by a hundred different smells, a
hundred different sounds. He pulled back, focusing only on Vaiya. He could sense her
mind, even though it was still distant. Locked in some sort of battle fever...he had to get to
her quickly or else she would overextend herself---
     He felt her pain as keenly as if it had come from his own gut. She doubled over, the
sharp jab of her body rebelling under the strain. She knew she had to pull out but her anger
wouldn't let her. And her fear...fear of Maul slaying her with her unborn children.
     Seth said a small prayer and ran down the left corridor. He came to a heavy set of
doors and found that they had been jammed shut. Maul had come through here, and then
sealed the way behind them.
     Without hesitation, Seth sliced through the heavy doors with his lightsaber, and
within seconds he began to hear the clashing of blades as they echoed off the marble walls.
Carving a life-size opening, Seth pressed his foot against the loosened stone and pushed it
through. The crash as it shattered on the ground was so loud it was almost deafening.

     Something happened. There was a loud noise from somewhere behind Maul. He
heard it, too, and it shattered his concentration as well as her own. She stepped back,
taking a precious breath and wiping the sweat from her soaked brow.
     A little more and the pain would come back. The doctors had warned her not to
exert herself too much. The pain she had experienced had come from the fact that her body
was having a hard time adjusting to the sudden arrival of two new lifeforms inside of it. If
she pressed herself too hard, she would miscarry.
     And Larin's children would die.
     When Seth appeared, running at full speed and charging Maul with a burst of fresh
energy, Vaiya did not hesitate to step back. But she knew she couldn't sit along the wall for
too long. Maul had come for her. She could sense it in his mind--his entire reason for
coming here was to engage her in combat. Why? It couldn't be simply because she was the
only one he hadn't fought...and perhaps the only one who could defeat him. Maybe it was
to take her now when she was weak and vulnerable.
     Wouldn't Iyala have loved that?
     Angrily, she pushed herself back onto her feet. Maul and Seth were at each other's
throats, pushing each other back and forth. They didn't seem to be getting more than ten
feet from her, either way. Perhaps she could give Seth an advantage. Igniting one purple
blade, she dove into the battle, getting Maul's attention. As he swung back to counter her
strike, it gave Seth an opening.
     "Vaiya, get back!" Seth ordered as Maul swung around again to face him.
     "This is my fight, too," she hissed, but even as she tried to press forward, she knew
her strength was gone. There was a steady ache under her abdomen. She pressed her hand
to it, trying to alleviate it, but Maul was the vengeful type. Even as Seth tried to lure him
away from Vaiya he doubled back and took a wild swing at her. She brought her blade up
to bear but the blow was too hard and she barely managed to defend herself. For a brief
moment, however, it looked like Maul's attitude had gotten the better of him, because the
move left his back wide open. But just as Seth was bearing down on him from behind him,
Maul lunged forward and seized Vaiya by her wrist, then swung her around and threw her
right into Seth's chest. Seth and Vaiya both shut down their blades to keep them from
running each other through, and Seth and caught Vaiya with both hands, barely keeping
them from tumbling by widely bracing his feet on the marble floor. In spite of his effort,
the floor was slick from their sweat and he slid back a few feet, hitting the wall with a
grunt.
     Maul pulled away, twirling his lightsaber like a propeller. He showed his teeth--
black and yellow as they rotted away in his mouth. Seth tightened his arms around Vaiya,
and she glared at their opponent, her rage giving her a burst of new strength. But Seth
steeled his grip, unwilling to let her go, even as her muscles coiled to lunge forward again.
     To their utter surprise, Maul gave them their space. He seemed to be content only
to watch them.
     "Are you well?" Seth asked, his voice low.
     "I'll be okay," Vaiya replied tightly.
     "And the children?"
     "Alive." The rage left her in a breath as she remembered once again why she
couldn't fight. Why was it so hard to remember that when Maul made her angry?
     Maul snorted. "You're both pathetic."
     Vaiya's eyes narrowed, and Seth sighed in frustration, but neither spoke.
     "You have no idea what I have to offer you."
     "Ha!" Vaiya snapped. "Offer? Just a fast death! We know who your ally is, Maul. I
don't know how you managed to let her gain control of you but--"
     "Control?" Maul barked. "You think Iyala controls me? You know nothing of the
dark side."
     "Why don't you try us, then?" came a sharp voice behind him. Maul turned to see
Luke and Mara, glaring at him. Mara's lightsaber was in her hand, but her arm was hanging
at her side, as if she were forcing it to stay here.
     "We know a little about the dark side," Luke joined in. "Maybe you could enlighten
us."
     Maul let out a small, grunting laugh. "Indeed, Masters Skywalker. Perhaps you
would know more, especially since you're so familiar with my master."
     "Your master is dead, sith lord," Luke growled.
     "Is he?" Maul's eyes narrowed. "Lord Sidious--or Palpatine, as you call him--had
powers beyond life or death."
     Mara snorted. "Yeah, we know all about it. I'm so sorry to inform you, horny boy,
that your master's pathetic attempts to come back from the dead were soundly put to an
end. He ain't comin' back again."
     "If you believe that, then you are fools. My master was no mortal man. He fooled
you all into believing that he was human like the rest, but it was only the body of a man
that he used."
     "What are you talking about?" Vaiya cried.
     Maul looked back at her. "Your friend Iyala is no more. She has become something
darker and more powerful. Your parents may have killed the pathetic clones of Palpatine
that my master prepared in case of mortal death, but they did not kill Sidious. He lives...in
the body of your friend."
     Vaiya glanced up at Seth, as if expecting some sort of denial. But Seth's eyes were
locked on his father, wide with horror.
     "Sidious is a demon," he said.
     Maul laughed, showing his rotted teeth again. "More than just demon, boy. And he
asked me to bring a message to you." He looked at Mara, his eyes meeting hers and
holding them. "I think you already know what it is."
     Mara could take no more. She ignited her blade, but Luke reached out and held her
back.
     "You will be first, Mara Jade Skywalker," Maul taunted. "These others have only
been stupid, but you have betrayed your own blood, your own loyalty."
     "Fine with me," Mara sneered. "Come and get some."
     Seth straightened and pulled Vaiya behind him, putting her between him and the
wall as he stepped forward. "And what of me, Father?" Seth barked. "Or aren't I deserving
of your attention?"
     "Wait a minute..." he heard Vaiya whisper behind him. He shifted his head so that
he could hear her better, but didn't dare take his eyes from Maul. "Why are you here and
not your beloved Master, then?" She pushed forward, letting Seth stay partly between them
but wanting to get a full shot at their enemy regardless. "Why hasn't Sidious come and
wreaked his revenge on us personally?"
     "Such petty things are beneath--"
     "Bantha dung!" Vaiya cried, and she was almost smiling. "Your 'master' is
forbidden to set foot on Durran! That's how this planet survived the purgings, and that's
why he had to send footsoldiers to do his dirty work here when he kidnapped my mother,
and why you're here now!"
     "Vaiya, what are you talking about?" Luke asked.
     "Don't you get it, Father?" Vaiya said, taking another step forward, making Seth
hustle as well to remain her shield. "Sidious is a demon. And this place is protected. This
entire planet is protected."
     "By Yejion," Mara whispered.
     "It's always been so," Vaiya said. "Holy land is always forbidde