Allana

The cruiser we were boarding landed on Coruscant by noon. The second we walked out, we all claimed to be hungry, so, I offered to go to Dex's again. Skyguy, Witty, Snips and I made our way there and enjoyed a very delicious meal, and the kids finally got their milkshakes. Everything was calm, we were laughing and chatting, etcetera.

At some point, my comlink started beeping but not like it usually does. It simply beeped with a pattern. I frowned.

"Is it broken?" Asked Cal. I shook my head.

"I don't think so." I said.

"It sounds like a code." Said Anakin.

"Morse code." I looked at Dex, he was walking past our table. "Dex, do you have a pen and piece of paper?"

"Of course I do, hun. Here ya go." His second left arm handed over his notepad and the pen where he was taking the orders. I moved the page where someone's lunch order was written to the back and started writing the letters as the comlink beeped.

"S.E.P.A.R.A.T.I.S.T." More beeps. "A.T.T.A.C.K." Longer beeps. "I. C.A.P.T.U.R.E.D. B. Y.  G.R.I.E.V.O.U.S." My eyes met Anakin's, who was looking at the paper before he looked at me, both of us frowning. The beeping continued. "T.R.A.C.K...M.E. D.O.W.N...A.D.I." My heart sank for a moment. "Dex, I need the check. Urgent situation going on."

"If it's urgent, it's on the house. Go." I smiled and nodded at him.

"Thanks." I stood up and rushed outside. We all ran into the Temple and straight into the Communication Centre, where we interrupted a meeting. "Sorry." I said as I clicked buttons and removed the hologram they were all looking at.

"Allana, what's the matter?" Asked Master Plo.

"Master Gallia contacted me, she said her ship has been attacked by the Separatists. She's been captured by Grievous." The members of the Council that were there looked at each other with worry. "I'm tracking her comlink as we speak." Seconds later I got the coordinates. "Found her. She's three parsecs away from the Aleen system."

"Waste no time." Said Plo. "Go." I nodded and we ran out of the Centre towards the hangar. Ani communicated with his 501st while I called my Pack. When we arrived, everyone was ready and waiting for us.

"I'll get into his ship while you handle the airstrike." I told Anakin and he nodded before he ran, alongside Ahsoka, into his cruiser and we ran into ours. "Admiral." I said the second I stepped into the bridge. "Here are the coordinates, we need to rescue Master Gallia. Hurry."

"Yes, General." Said Coburn and in a matter of minutes, we were out of Coruscant's atmosphere and jumped into hyperspace. When we arrived, Cal and I rushed to the hangar and met the Wolfpack there. We hopped on a gunship piloted by Warthog.

"Listen." I called the group's attention. "Once in, Wolffe, Comet and Boost will make it to the bridge to free Adi while the rest of us will draw the droids' attention to us. That should help you rescue Gallia. We'll meet in the middle."

"Yes, sir." Said the Commander as we landed in the enemy vessel's hangar.

We found a bunch of droids but we quickly destroyed them, then, we walked further into the Separatist transport and I guided the team on instinct through the hallways. When we turned right on a crossways, the doors whooshed open to reveal more yellow droids. They fired their blasters at us and my apprentice and I deflected their blasts back to them while the troopers fired their own blasters back at them. I pushed three droids down with the Force and spotted a pair of droids that I know too well.

Few seconds in, my Master, alongside the troopers arrived to help us destroy what was left of the droids.

"Thanks for the rescue, my apprentice." Said Adi as she reached my side and we continued to deflect blasts. A second later, we cut by the half the last two remaining droids.

"Yeah, no problem." I told her as we turned the lightsabers off, making them whoosh.

"General Grievous has fled." Wolffe informed.

"His classic cowardly move." I breathed in. "Finish up the remaining droids that-"

"We are Republic!" Yelped 3PO. "We belong to...Senator Amidala." He continued after I sent him a glare. "Don't soot! Don't shoot!" He approached our side, alongside R2.

"I didn't mean you two." I said.
"I can't believe it." I looked at my Commander, who spoke at the same time I did.

"You know them?"

"Yes, ma'am." He answered. "We transported them to Master Gallia's ship after we left the planet Aleen before we arrived at Coruscant." I frowned.

"What were you guys doing on Aleen?" Asked Cal to my right.

"Helping the natives rebuild their homes after a series of earthquakes, sir." Answered he. I nodded. "C-3PO was sent as a translator, R2 came along." I chuckled. Those two are always working together.

"Yes, Commander Wolffe." Said 3PO. "How have you been, sir?" I smiled more. "We have been on quite an adventure, Lady Lana."

"I bet." I commented. "I'm certain Wolffe would love to hear all about it." I started walking forward towards the exit.

"Uh, a- actually, ma'am..."

"Excellent!" Exclaimed 3PO and I held back a chuckle while Cal did giggle. "It's a long story. And you won't believe it."

"Uh, ma'am, excuse me..." I continued my walk and chuckled in a whisper alongside Kestis as we heard how 3PO started telling Wolffe about everything that had happened.

  "You're still a twelve year-old." Said Adi.

"Maybe, but I live in the body of a twenty year-old person. Which makes it more fun." She chuckled.

"I bet." We walked through the hallways and destroyed the remaining droids, then, we reached the hangar. "I need to talk to you." I nodded as we walked into the gunship. "Remember the guy you, Skywalker and Obi-Wan faced months ago? Savage Opress." The gates closed.

"Well, I wouldn't think of him as a simple 'guy'...he's a monster."

"Guy or monster, I believe I have a lead on him." I frowned.

"I'm listening."

"I was meditating the day when you were on Naboo and I sensed something odd, something sinister and an image came to my head. I saw him." I frowned.

"I could search for testimonies. If you saw him while having your eyes closed, I'm sure someone with their eyes opened should've seen him as well." She nodded.

"Do it as soon as you can."

"I'll start the moment we arrive at the Temple."

When we arrived at the cruiser, we stepped into the bridge and I asked the Admiral to get us back home. The news about Savage were unsettling. He was terrifying, not to mention dangerous. When we arrived at the starry planet, we walked off the cruisers. Anakin and Ahsoka walked out of theirs and approached my Master to express how grateful they were that she's fine. Adi walked into the Temple right after thanking us all again and congratulating the shadow squadron for their success in outer space.

"Well gang, follow me." Said Anakin all of the sudden.

"Where?" Asked Cal.

"To eat something." I chuckled. "What? I'm hungry, I don't know about y'all." He was somewhat right. Getting to Aleen and fighting the Seppies took a while. We arrived at nighttime.

"Dex's?" Asked Cal.

"We had lunch there and it closes early on Wednesdays." I said. "There's another diner close by though. No clue how's it called."

"I think I know which one you're talking about." We all followed behind him and hopped on a speeder for him to drive there. When we arrived, we spotted a few police speeders parked outside. I frowned and looked at Ani as we jumped off the transport. "Looks like there's trouble." We opened the doors and few people ran out while we walked in. When I looked to the left, I spotted a droid checking on a woman that was laying on the ground.

"Oh, God." I whispered and ran towards her. I placed my hand on her shoulder and she started to sit up, that's when the owner of the place walked out of the kitchen, holding a pan.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Asked he.

"We don't want any trouble." Said Anakin, softly. "We're only trying to help." The blonde woman started to recover her breath.

"Lou, are you crazy?" Asked a droid from behind. "Pointing that thing at a Jedi? Put it down now." He left it on the counter.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm just all shook up." He helped me hold the woman for her to stand. She coughed. I looked at her neck and saw marks around it.

"We understand." Said Skywalker. "You wanna tell us what happened here?"

"We have it under control, sir." Said the droid and the other one made me step away from the woman. "It looks like only a simple altercation. Happens here all the time."

"I'm sorry, but the marks on her neck don't look like something 'simple' to me." I commented. They looked oddly familiar.

"But he's telling the truth, ma'am." Said Lou. "We get some rough characters in here. Things like this happen too often to count."

"We're sorry to hear that." He nodded at my husband's words.

"Thanks. Why don't you four take a load off?" He guided us to a table. "I'll get you some food. Meal's on the house."

"Thanks." The rumbling of a ship in the distant ship taking off made me jump. That and the odd feeling I had on my stomach all of the sudden that made me place my hand over my lightsaber. I frowned to myself. Anakin chuckled as he sat. "A little jumpy, aren't we?" I sat beside him.

"I don't know why."

"Did you sense something?" Asked Witty.

"Something...or someone from the past, that is all." I felt Anakin's eyes on me.

"Everything alright?"

"It's probably something Adi mentioned earlier." He nodded. "She mentioned Savage." He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I know."

"That's a name we haven't heard for..."

"Months." We said at the unison. "Yeah." I sighed. "It's probably nothing. Let's not worry yet." I frowned again and closed my eyes for a second when the tickle on my stomach was felt again. "You sense it too, don't you?" I looked at the blue eyed man and he closed his eyes, a second later, he opened them and nodded.

"A disturbance, something...sinister." I nodded. Lou brought us drinks. "Thanks." He nodded.

"All the way out here?" Asked Snips once Lou had walked away.

"Yes." Ani answered her.

"Do you know what or who it is?"

"No." I nodded in agreement.

"But whatever it is, it feels familiar." I said and he nodded. "We'll have to investigate it fondly." He nodded. That's when our food arrived. When we were done, we stood up, thanked Lou and made our way back.

Anakin parked the speeder on its spot at the hangar and we walked in. We went our separate ways, the Padawans walked in further and made their way towards their bedrooms while we discretely stayed by the entrance. Both of us walked out slowly before taking separate routes to get to our little home.

When we met there, we walked straight into the bedroom, then we decided to take a shower before going to bed, but I suggested a bath. They're more useful to relax the body after a tense day. It was fun. Scented candles, bubbles, massages...things got heated up a little bit. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw a lot of water out of the bathtub. When we were done, in multiple ways, we stepped out, careful enough not to fall with the wet floor and dried our skin and hair before getting our comfortable pyjamas on. Afterwards, we laid down in bed.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, and I thanked that. But not for long. Behind my eyelids, my brain wandered around many corners of many places until I found myself on a dark place. At first I thought it was simply me not seeing anything as I fell asleep, but I realised it was actually a dream and I was sure my eyes weren't closed.

I looked for a source of light but found nothing. I searched for my saber and found it in no time on the left side of my hips, hanging from the belt. When I turned it on, it was blue instead of violet. I frowned but started walking anyway, using its light as a torch. As I did so, I heard voices, people talking. A man, no, two men. One of them laughed maniacally and then I saw them.

At the end of the dark tunnel. Two sons of Dathomir. One of them looked at me and screamed, making me flinch, something that rarely happens. That's when the second one looked at me, he didn't hesitate in running towards me. He enlightened his lightsaber and its scarlet red light illuminated his face.

  In a second, without me being able to fight, Savage stabbed me, not with his weapon but with his horns. Once on the ground, last thing I saw was his twisted smile as he gave the final blow with the lightsaber.

I yelped at the burning feeling on my abdomen. My eyes snapped open as I sat up. I heard Anakin breathing in abruptly to my left, asking 'what' repetitively. He instinctively pulled the handle of his weapon towards him from the nightstand with the Force and enlightened it, he placed it in front the two of us, to defend us from the darkness of the room.

I looked at the window and it was cloudy, the sunlight barely visible, and it was raining. It had felt like a second, perhaps a minute, but I slept for hours.

"What- what happened?" His voice still half asleep. I breathed in and brought my knees close to my chest as I reclined my elbows on them and my hands found my face. "Angel?" He turned off the saber when he realised there was no one there to harm us. The nickname managed to calm my nerves. "Are you okay?" I looked at the clock that rests on my nightstand.

"It's five in the morning." I said. That's the only thing that left my lips. He sighed and left the saber back on the wooden furniture.

"It is. Which means we still have two hours to get to work." I nodded and my hands found the back of my sweaty neck. I hate cold sweat. A shiver went down my spine and Anakin's hand rubbed my back. "What did you dream?"

"Savage." I looked at him. "He...killed me." His hand stopped his movements and he frowned. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"I hope not. I won't let that happen." I gulped and nodded, then, I sighed. "Come here." He pulled me in and I placed my head over his bare chest, listening to his beating heart. That calmed me even further. He embraced me and hummed a melody we listened on the radio a while ago. We stayed like that until it was time to go back out there.

I felt bad the entire day. When I sat down and meditated to find guidance, I saw the same thing, on a loop, over and over again. It was exhausting. The rain continued to pour all over Coruscant and the air felt heavy for some reason. At least to me. I opened the door of my small room at the Temple when I found some time. Perhaps I can see something in the vision if I focus enough. I knelt down, placed the palms of my hands on my thighs and closed my eyes taking deep breaths.

The odd thing was that the waves didn't move slowly until becoming aggressive behind my eyelids, the second I entered that place of my mind, they were already a sea storm. I frowned and then, I fell. My body hit the ground with a painless thud.

  I was in a dark room, facing the ground when something pulled me with the Force. It felt as if a bunch of chains were being wrapped around me. I was turned around and a hand grabbed my jaw. I didn't see Oppress, but the other guy, someone I've only heard stories about, a dead man, a ghost. Darth Maul was right before me, with his yellow reddish eyes looking like burning lava into mine. I frowned and tried to get off his grip, but he only intensified it. He frowned angrily at me as I groaned and placed his lightsaber inches away from my face.

"I will make sure you stay awake long enough." He turned the red bladed weapon on, millimetres away from burning my skin. "You'll feel every single cut. Your death will be beyond excruciating." My hand found his at an attempt to push him away. "You will suffer as I have suffered." Then, I heard an echo of a distant and very known laughter that made me frown more before Maul let go and punched my face. My eyes snapped open. I groaned annoyed as I sat down. What the fuck was that? That's when the door opened, revealing Adi.

"I thought I'd find you here." She said.

"You mean you sensed my disturbed mind all the way over here." She smiled, chuckled and nodded before walking in. I sat against the bed and she sat across from me, reclining her back on the wall. I sighed.

"Something's really bothering you, what is it?"

"That demon. Savage."

"He scares you, doesn't he?"

"I...yes." I rolled my eyes. Admitting that something scared me has never been my favourite thing. "He terrifies me really." She raised her eyebrows.

"I knew you had certain fears but not one that terrified you."

"I know. The thing is, I have never, fought someone like him in my entire life. I have never seen death as close as with him. When he had me by the neck, I swear..." I closed my eyes. "I swear I could feel my bones cracking even if he never broke anything." I opened them again. "He's an animal, and now he's hunting me in my dreams. I don't know if intentionally." She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I had a nightmare, he killed me. Whenever I meditate, the vision replays itself. Until now." She sent me a glare to continue. "I saw a talking corpse, a Sith we thought was dead, the man Obi-Wan killed." Her eyes opened wildly.

"Darth Maul?" I nodded. "Impossible. That's certainly not real."

"It felt real. But he wasn't talking to me...he was definitely talking and threatening someone else." I frowned, remembering everything. "I also heard Ventress' laugh. But I don't get it. I don't understand what this means."

"Have you talked to Master Yoda?" I looked at her and remained silent. She cracked a smile. "I guess I have my answer to that." She stood up and offered a hand. "It's alright to recognise when we need help, you know?" I took her hand and she pulled me up.

"I know." I smiled and she smiled back. "Thanks. I'll talk to him later on, I have training with Cal." She nodded as we walked out. I made my way towards the training rooms and, once there, I waited for my apprentice, who showed up no time afterwards. "Hey kid, you ready?"

"Always am." I scoffed as we entered. "What will you teach me today."

"A short and simple, but useful, trick: how to run through a wall."

"Easy."

"I wouldn't be so sure." He frowned and I chuckled as I stepped on one of the squares of the ground, making it float to the top left corner. With the click of a button, the platforms raised and formed a pathway. "Reach my position." I instructed. He jumped but landed on the ground instead of the next platform.

"It looked closer."

"Exactly, it looked close. Clearly, it wasn't. Remember, things can be deceiving." I placed my hands behind my back. "I already told you what you have to do. Use the walls around you, run through them. Imagine they're the ground beneath you feet even if it's to your left or right." He nodded and jumped. He started running through the wall but didn't jump to the next one on time to get to the platform, he fell. "Try again." He sighed.

"It's difficult, Master."

"Indeed. The path is difficult, life is difficult and the times we're living on are difficult." I breathed in as he returned to square one. "There will be times where it may seem impossible, but with persistence and the Force as your ally, you will overcome any obstacle. You will master any path." He nodded. "Now, do what you must to reach me. Don't think too much, use your instincts."

"I'll try." I shook my head as Master Yoda entered the room.

"Like a wise man always said to me: do or do not. There is no try." Yoda chuckled and nodded when our eyes met. He tried and fell, closer to getting to me. "Closer. Trust yourself and try again."

"I still can't imagine how. You always say that's also an important step. To plan ahead, but, I can't see anything that will help me get there."

"Correct. Picture the way in your head, plan your moves and get here. What you need is already in front of you, the strategy you will use it's completely up to you."

"Yes, Master." He nodded and tried over and over again as Master Yoda hopped on a platform and made it float to where I was. I bowed my head.

"Master, is good to see you." I told him.

"Likewise." He looked at Cal running and jumping. "Doing a good job, you are." I smiled at him.

"Thank you." Cal slipped and yelped as he fell. I could've chuckled, the sound was funny. He laughed for the two of us. "Careful. Focus, Cal." I smiled at him.

"Yes, Master." He grunted as he jumped to the platform he was standing on.

"Came to supervise?" I asked Yoda. He shook his head.

"Disturbed you are."

"Adi looked for you, didn't she?" He chuckled as he nodded. I nodded too. "I was going to look for you after I was done here." He shrugged.

"Why?"

"I've seen things in my sleep and as I meditate."

"About?"

"Savage Oppress and...Darth Maul." He frowned. "It can't be right. Maul is dead, Obi-Wan killed him." He was silent and then looked at me. That's when I saw from the corner of my eye how Cal successfully landing on the first platform. "Good, Padawan." I looked back at Master Yoda. "Sorry." He shook his head with a smile but it started to fade away slowly.

"Not flawed your visions are. Darth Maul, alive is." Cal jumped and landed beside us, the sound of his feet hitting the metal of the platform made me jump. "Careful we must be." I nodded.

"Nailed it." Said Kestis and I smiled at him before high-fiving him. "You didn't say it would be tiring."

"Had I told you, you wouldn't have done it with such determination."

"Fair enough." I looked at Yoda.

"I assume Kenobi knows about this?" He nodded. "We'll make sure to track them down." He nodded and we bowed our heads at him. He chuckled and looked at Cal before going down the way he had arrived with no effort. I chuckled when I saw Cal's jaw on the ground.

"Isn't he like a hundred years old?" He asked in a whisper once Yoda had crossed the doorway.

"Yeah. He moved faster than you though." He chuckled.

"Race you to the exit. No head-start."

"I wasn't gonna give you one."

"I was going to give one to you."

"Well, you didn't." I jumped and started going through the walls with him doing the same on the opposite side. He was fast, and he's getting faster. I pressed the run and landed at the same time than him.

"You know? We should challenge Snips and Skyguy. Being as fast as you isn't helping me win." I chuckled.

"Some other day, right now, we've got work to do."

"Who are these guys, anyway?"

"Darth Maul is the Sith who killed Master Qui-Gon twelve years ago and Savage is an overly strong man who gained strength through magic." He nodded. "They're brothers and they're dangerous not to mention merciless. Savages." I frowned. "I feel something dark growing...there will be great loss."

And I was right. The days went by since the news of them came to our ears and the hunt started. A lot of people died, our Jedi companions died, Masters and Padawans. It worried me to engage battle with them, I feared for Kestis' life. However, we had an advantage, we were more than two, a lot of us were looking for them, finding them wasn't hard, keeping up with them was. I was in the Communication Centre trying to track them when Anakin walked in.

"Hey." He greeted. "What are you doing?"

"Pinning it on the Nightbrothers." He chuckled.

"Good luck with that." He clicked some things on the computer and when he had the info he needed, he started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"Med stations. We're going to hand over supplies on the Outer-Rim. Why?" I signaled my Master to come here as he spoke.

"Can you take Cal with you? I think I found something and I don't want him any near these guys." He nodded.

"Of course. I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks." He looked over his shoulder and spotted no one coming in or through the hallway. He stepped closer.

"Any new thing on your dreams and visions?" I sighed.

"Yeah." I looked at him. "It no longer feels like it's me the one he kills. It feels like it's someone else but I don't know who. Besides that, everything's the same." I smiled for a second before I looked at the computer again.

"Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you'll figure it out." I nodded. "You do the same, okay? Keep me updated." He kissed the side of my head right after I nodded once more. I smiled. "And be extremely careful, you know how dangerous they can be."

"I'll be."

"Bet." He walked out and minutes later Adi arrived.

"I'm here, what did you find?" She asked.

"Distress signal at the Meridian sector, Cybloc system. It's close to the most recent attack that was reported." She nodded.

"Let's go. I'll call Obi-Wan."

"I'll pilot the ship."

"Fair enough." We walked out of the Centre and made our way to the hangar as she contacted Kenobi. As we arrived at a ship, he reached our side. We stepped in and I sat on the pilot seat with my Master as co-pilot and Obi-Wan as gunner.

As we flew through hyperspace, I told him all about it. He agreed, saying that he had a feeling it was them as we got closer. Minutes later, we jumped out and found a base before us. I flew towards the first airlock and when the ship was attached to the base, I turned the engines off and we walked out. Once in, we met with the guy who had called for help and he guided us into the facility.

"They ought to be flush." He said as we stepped into the first room, finding a bunch of security droids destroyed on the ground. I bent down and checked on the metal, the cuts were lightsabers, obviously. "Chips were all unlocked. No way to trace 'em." Referring to the safe boxes. "All done by the two crabbiest Zabraks this side of the Hydian."

"They were alone?" Asked Kenobi.

"Yup, yup." The guy answered. "What were they, a couple of Jedi gone rogue or something?" The three of us exchanged looks.

"They're not Jedi." I answered. He scratched his chin.

"Do me a favour. Spark up that lightsaber, would you?" I grabbed my weapon and turned it on. "Mmm-hmm. Well, the droids that got attacked said that theirs were red." I turned it off and looked at my comrades again as I clipped the weapon to my belt again.

"They're Sith, and we need to find them before they strike again." Said Adi.

"Well, they took my cargo ship. The droid survivor said they heard something about the Sertar sector." I frowned and looked at the two Jedi once again.

"Thank you." I told him and he nodded before we turned around and started our way back to our ship.

"What is in the Sertar sector?" Asked my Master.

"That's where Forrum is." I answered.

"You've been there?" I nodded at Obi-Wan's question.

"What can we expect?" Asked my Master.

"Pirates." I said as we hopped on our ship. The trip started shortly after we were strapped in and we arrived in an hour or so. When we jumped out of hyperspace, I ran a scan through the ships that were before us. I frowned when I spotted three of Hondo's ship there.

"We have a match on the cargo ship." Said Gallia to my right as she looked at the scans.

"Seems like Maul and Savage have picked up a pirate escort." Said Obi-Wan.

"Maybe to unload the stolen cargo." Adi added and I nodded.

"I'm not sure Hondo would have an alliance with those two." I commented.

"So you know this Hondo personally?" Asked Adi.

"Well...yeah. Fun stories for another time."

"I'm eager to hear them."

"Sure you are." I said with sarcasm.

"I really am. I'd like to hear the mess you got into. I don't know much about your screw up moments that much anymore." I chuckled.

"I'll tell you all about it when we get back to the Temple, I promise."

"Bet." I chuckled. "Contact him."

"Right away, Master." I contacted the surface and a guy answered, when I said I'd like to talk with the Captain, he told me to wait. Few seconds later, the one and only, Hondo Ohnaka appeared. "Greetings, Captain."

"Greetings?! What kind of menace have you brought to my planet now?" Said he.

"Glad to know you're okay too." I said under my breath.

"First, you lose this system and Grievous comes in and destroys my entire stronghold, leaving me here just rummage through the leftovers of my once great Empire. And now these two horned men show up. Who are these horny-headed maniacs? They don't seem like normal Jedi."

"Not Jedi, Hondo. Sith. We tracked them here."

"They just threatened to attack with a group with my men. My own men!"

"Yes, we're looking at them right now, a cargo vessel and three of your starships. They are heading towards you, Hondo."

"Da-da-da, more to the point, are you going to help me when you get here?" I looked at the other two, who nodded immediately.

"I mean, there's nothing we can do about your men, but we can certainly do something about the Sith."

"Good. I'll deal with my men. You three deal with those tattooed crazies." I nodded.

"Deal." The transmission ended.

"Get us to the surface." Ordered Kenobi and I nodded before flying to the surface. With every mile we took before we landed, my heart grew smaller. Something inside of me stirred. I had a terrible feeling. And I have no idea if it's because of my fear for the nightmares to come true or something else but there was a constant feeling on the tip of my stomach that I was not enjoying.

I landed the ship and we walked out to find chaos. Red and blue blasters being fired from one side to another and yelling of the people. We walked out of the ship and stood close to the edge of the cliff, where we were able to have a better view of whatever was happing down there.

A second later, we heard footsteps behind us and we could sense it was them, besides the fact that the echo of two lightsabers being turned on perfectly indicated who they were. The three of us turned around as we grabbed our own weapons from our belts.

"Throwing in with pirates now?" Obi-Wan teased Maul, I assume. "Oh, how the mighty Sith have fallen." We enlightened our lightsabers and that was enough invitation. Maul jumped and engaged a fight with Obi-Wan. His thrust went for my Master's head too but she bent down right on time while my eyes were pinned to Savage's. He didn't hesitate in jumping forward towards me.

I engaged a fight with him and my heart pounded in my ears. I don't want to die today. I can't die today. I blocked every single one of the trusts with the certain focus and effort. Then a third blade was added to the fight. Adi had joined me. This fight was gonna be a tough one. They were walking forward and we walked backwards. When there was no more ground for us, we jumped down. Gallia and I ran underneath a small structure before Opress jumped on top of it, taking the metallic ceiling down before running towards us again.

He continued to move forward while we didn't. I grunted every time I blocked his attack and breathed in whenever I was able to attack. We were moving underneath similar structures than the one Savage stepped on before he destroyed the one we were crossing underneath with a swing of his saber. I bent down when the scarlet blade of his weapon aimed for my head, my back even cracked. When I jumped and tried to kick his back, he threw me away with the Force.

I fell and my saber got knocked out of my hand as I rolled over the dirt and he started to approach me. I looked at him and fear took over. I couldn't do anything but to crawl backwards. When he was close enough, he moved his saber up and I thought: this is it. I have reached the end of my line. But the burning wound never arrived, instead, I heard the loud crash of two lightsabers close to my head. I looked up and saw my Master frowning. He snarled when he looked at her.

"Not my Padawan, bastard." She pulled her blade up, pushing his and they started fighting. She was drawing him away for me to have time to get back online and helped her out. When I grunted and moved up, a piece of metal flew through the air and hit a side of my abdomen, he had thrown it when he pushed Adi down. I yelped as I fell to my knees and my left hand found the wound. I felt the sticky blood on my skin and the black fabric of my sleeve and glove. I looked up and found him walking back here but before he could do anything, Adi attacked him again. She kicked his leg and he looked at her, not even moving.

I saw them fighting again and in a second, he pushed her backwards. Her back hit strongly a broken piece of what seemed to once be a ship. Her lightsaber turned off as Savage ran towards her, like a bull. My eyes opened wildly.

"No...no!" I got up and pulled my saber towards me with the Force as I ran towards him, but it was too late. I was too late. Too slow. His horns were stuck to Adi's abdomen. I extended my hand and froze on the spot as her blue eyes filled with tears when they connected with mine and my eyes were flooded with salty water too. Savage stepped away and she wrapped her hands around her stomach as blood stained her clothes and ran down the armoured gloves. She fell to the ground and closed her eyes slowly, making an effort to keep them open. When she fell, her hand dropped her saber and it rolled through the ground. I frowned and the monster spinned his saber before sticking it onto her back. She frowned with the impact and her eyes met mine again. A soft smile was drawn on her lips before the light left her eyes and closed. Her whole face relaxed. "NO!" I yelled as the tears fell down my cheeks. I could swear I could hear a part of my heart cracking and breaking.

I ran and pulled towards me the weapon of my Master and ran faster towards her murderer. I jumped and enlightened both lightsabers, when I landed, I kicked him with all my strength away from her and took him down. When I attacked him, a blade appeared out of nowhere to avoid my attack. I looked over and it was Maul. I frowned when he moved me back. It was me against them until Obi-Wan jumped in. The four of us started fighting and we had to jump up to get on the ship part.

It broke my heart to leave her behind, laying on the dirt but I had to if I meant to get out of this one right now. The blades crashed over and over, this time, I was attacking too, not only blocking his attacks. I wanted to avenge my Master, to terminate the fucking monster once and for all. I don't give a shit about the stupid rule book and our code, not after, in some way, her blood's in my hands. I want to kill him.

"Naberrie, over here!" Yelled Hondo. His voice made it to my ears over the crash of the blue and violet blades I was wielding against the red one of his. I pushed Opress back and jumped. When I landed, I groaned and my hand found the right side of my waist. I was still bleeding.

"Come on." Said Obi-Wan as he pulled me up while we deflected blasts and ran into Hondo's fortress. It was destroyed and no longer looked the way it did. Tall, strong...united. It looked broken and tore apart. I scoffed. Kenobi stayed by the entrance for a second and instriucted me to follow the pirates.

"I like the new decoration style." I said. Something funny about the Captain: we share the same sense of humour. He did chuckle.

"I knew you would." I scoffed. When we got further in, we stopped moving. I reclined my weight against a wall and threw my head backwards when I started feeling the adrenaline drifting away. I closed my eyes and more tears fell down my cheeks. "Take this cannon down the hall." Hondo instructed the remaining allies he has. "We'll ambush those traitors there." We all heard rapid footsteps approaching. My hands tightened around the metallic handles. The one in my left hand felt odd. Thankfully, it was only Obi-Wan.

"Where are the rest of your men?" Asked he, referring to the ones that had taken the cannon.

"They are setting up an ambush. We can use your help." He looked at us. "Where is the other Jedi? There were three of you." I sobbed. I was unable to control it at this point.

"She...she's dead." I answered and breathed in and it hurt. I groaned.

"She's d-" His eyes snapped at me. "They are too powerful for even you?" I frowned. "I am semi-speechless." My eyes squeezed shot. I looked at him and his gaze softened. "I'm sorry." I nodded.

"You're hurt." The Jedi told me.

"Really? I didn't notice."

"What did Adi say of your sarcasm?" I cracked a small smile.

"That it's either funny or annoying, no in between." He smiled. "Is it annoying now?"

"Just a bit." I smiled at him before sniffing. "Can you go on?"

"I must."

"But can you?" I meditated for a second. The wound did burn like living hell and the bleeding didn't seem to stop.

"Hopefully." I looked at the pirates. "Is any of you carrying a med-stim by any chance?" A woman approached me and handed one over. "Thank you." She nodded as I injected it near the wounded area, groaning. "Hopefully that'll do the trick for a while." Obi-Wan nodded. That's when we heard voices from the enemy. Our attention snapped towards the end of the hall, Kenobi and I enlightened the lightsabers and the pirates made their guns click. Fighting with two lightsabers feels a bit weird. I spinned Adi's saber until I had a reverse grip around it. Adi's chosen fighting style, the one she taught me but that I rarely used. Thank the heavens for muscular memory.

"Allana and I will draw the brothers away. Once that's done, blast the passageway closed."

"And leave you two alone with the two crazies?" Asked Ohnaka. I smiled at him. "Well, okay." That's when Maul showed up first, Savage right behind him. I tightened my grip around the handles and frowned. "Retreat! Retreat!" Yelled Hondo and the pirates ran. I looked at Obi-Wan and he nodded before we turned the lightsabers off and ran behind them all as well.

"Do not let them escape!" Yelled Maul behind us. We turned left while the rest turned right. I could feel the two Sith right behind us and when I heard blaster fire and rocks crashing as they hit the ground, it confirmed it was two against two. At some point, we stopped running and turned around. "Surrender. Even if the fight seems to be fair, you're no match for us both." I frowned angrily and turned the lightsabers on. The blades crawled out of the handles slowly, like mine did on Mortis back in the day. Obi-Wan followed my lead.

"You are mistaken." I said coldly. It did feel as if that dark part The Son poisoned me with crawled out of the deepest part of me all the way back to the surface. Maul chuckled.

"We shall see, young girl." That was enough to start the fight. If there's something Adi left very clear throughout her teachings is that in order to be ready and prepare a counter attack, sometimes all you need to do is wait for the enemy to arrime first, and so we did. The brothers attacked first and that's when I started focusing. I tried to analyse the fighting pattern.

Obi-Wan was focused fighting his nemesis while I fought one of my demons. Savage may be strong, but he was sloppy. He barely had a style, he only attacked. Unlike him, I have one. One my Master was so eager on making me learn to stay alive for a very long time. I developed an unpredictable one, at least one that wasn't as repetitive as others. I had the advantage. This confidence made the terrifying feeling fade away. I was still scared, that wasn't going to change. Not soon.

As I fought Oppress, I found moments in which I could kick him. I managed to kick his knee, the spot Adi had kicked earlier; his chest, his stomach. That pissed him off. He frowned constantly. The fight continued, more aggressive every time, from my part at least. I was angry. I kicked him in between attacks on the knee again until I made him kneel. When I was about to cut his head off, Maul took a hold of me with the Force, lifted me up and threw me against a wall. I groaned. I looked up to find both men about to attack at the same time. Obi-Wan jumped and landed to my right to block Maul's thrust while I blocked Savage's.

"She was your Master, wasn't she?" Maul started talking and my eyes snapped towards him. "Oh...she was." They pressed the attack and my wrists started to feel weak. I groaned. "Yes...I can feel your pain, your rage...it's giving you focus...strength."

"You're right, they give do give me that." I kicked, with all the strength I could gather, Savage's knee and I finally broke it, making him yell. When his attack weakened, I bent down and moved my hands up, managing to cut his arm off. He yelled again. Kenobi took advantage of the moment to push Maul a few inches back.

"Savage!" Yelled Maul as I aimed for the head once again. I moved my hands down to cut his head off, but I didn't get to kill him. I only felt my body moving backwards before hitting a wall and hear a loud crash in front of me. I groaned as I moved up. Mail had pushed us back and broke the ceiling further, blocking the hallway and keeping us away from them.

"You okay?" I asked Obi-Wan as he held his head for a second.

"I am, you?" I shook my head as I stood up.

"No. Come on." He stood up too and we started running down the hall until we made it out. We found the pirates united again and firing at our common enemy. I ran past Adi's body and froze for a second, until I heard Maul yelling. When my run resumed, I found Savage helping his brother run, for he had a robotic leg missing. As we got closer, Maul managed to pull our ship down. I pressed the run and jumped one of its broken wings but when I landed, it was too late, the brothers were already taking off with their own ship. Thankfully, not everything was lost, one of the pirates fired a bazooca and damaged one of the engines of their transport. They weren't gonna make it off world. We all saw how the ship fell and later on exploded when it hit the ground.

"Well, Naberrie, let's get out there and see what riches have fallen from the sky for me and you...and your friend." Said Hondo. He laughed as I sighed. "Shall we?"

"Very well." We hopped on speeder and made our way to the crash site. There was debris everywhere, as well as fire and smoke columns. When we parked the speeders, we started walking around. My wound hurt like hell and my whole self felt weak. There were boxes filled with guns, credits and even spice on the ground but...

"There's no sign of those two, boss." Said one of the guys who was a traitor but no longer was, whose name I don't know. I sighed once more.

"Well, if the condition of these goods is any indication, ah, your other friends have been vaporised." Hondo told us.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Said Kenobi to the left. "I cut one of them in half once, and he survived."

"Well, isn't that interesting?" I breathed in, feeling my lower lip trembling and groaned as my wound made it hard to breathe.

"You need urgent medical attention." Obi-Wan told me.

"I know. I'll get back to the ship, there must be a first-aid-kit in there, and I'll call in for help." He nodded and I hopped on a speeder to make it back. I couldn't enter the ship properly, I had to jump and break the glass of the cockpit to get inside. I checked for the kit, but, there was nothing I could use. So, I sat on the pilot seat and thank goodness the controls weren't broken. In no time, I was calling someone and he picked up immediately. "Ani."

"Lans. Man, I'm glad to see you. I had a very, very bad feeling earlier. Are you okay?" I cried and shook my head. "What happened?"

"They escaped, the ship is only junk, I'm wounded and Adi is...she's..." I couldn't even say it. I just cried.

"Oh God. Lana, I'm so sorry."

"I can't talk right now. Everything hurts."

"How bad is it?"

"Very. I haven't stopped bleeding in straight forty minutes or so." His eyes opened wildly. "Please hurry." He nodded.

"Hold on, okay? I'll be right there. Just hold on." I nodded and finished the transmission. I groaned as I got up, almost falling down in the process. I was starting to feel very dizzy. The adrenaline in my body was fading away.

I crawled out of the ship and fell with a loud and painful thud on the ground. I looked up and spotted her on the opposite side of where I was standing. I breathed in and started getting up slowly. I groaned with every step I took, when I was getting closer, I fell again and ended up on the ground again. I crawled my way to my Master until I was by her side and sat up. When I held her, she was cold and pale. She was obviously not breathing and there was not a chance to bring her back. Well, there was...I could heal her with the Force, but to bring one back from the dead means giving oneself's life. I felt conflicted. Call me selfish or whatever, but I wasn't ready to do that sacrifice if I'm honest. Plus, I've never learned how to do it. I was always pretty much useless when it came to use the Force's healing abilities.

I cried as I held her close to me. She was dead because of me, because I was stupid and foolish enough to let feat take over. Had I defended myself she would, most likely, still be alive. Maybe she'd be wounded too, but breathing and with a beating heart. But she wasn't. She protected me and died for it.

The guilt was consuming me and I made a serious effort to keep my cool but I couldn't. I was crying without control, even screamed the air of my lungs out. And I continued to drain my eyes from tears for a long while until I saw a ship arriving. I sighed as my eyes closed and my grip around Adi Gallia's body weakened until I felt completely numb. My torso collided august the ground again as I dropped Adi'a corpse and let myself fall. My eyes closed.

"Allana!" Someone distantly called my name after a short while. "Lans?" I opened my eyes for a second and saw Anakin before me. "I need a medic!" He yelled to he people that were on the back. "Hold on." I blinked. "Just hold on." My eyes closed again and everything was black for a long time.

[...]

I don't know how long had it been when my eyelids started opening again. I frowned. The room was too bright as to keep my eyes opened perfectly. I breathed in and groaned when I felt as if a needle got stuck on the right side of my stomach. That's when I felt a hand squeezing mine. I saw a black leathered glove around my skin, looked up and found my husband's face.

"Hey Smarty." He said gently and softly as my eyes adapted to the light after a couple blinks. "You're safe now, you're okay." I breathed out all the air in my lungs before breathing in again.

"Where are we?"

"The Temple's med-wing. We arrived few hours ago. You had lost a lot of blood and were passed out but now you're awake." I nodded.

"Obi-Wan?"

"Talking to the Council about what happened in Florrum as we speak." The flashes of the battle came to my head and that made my cry again.

"Where's Adi? Have they done something to her?"

"No. They agreed on waiting for you to wake up to proceed with anything. But it's happening tonight, her funeral." I groaned.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"I'm so sorry." I sobbed and breathed in again. "I had Padmé bring you some clothes for you to get changed into." I nodded. "I'll give you your time and space but we must reach the funeral room soon." I nodded and got up from bed. It hurt. Once on my feet, I made my way to the bathroom. When I arrived, I took a shower and proceeded to get dressed. When I was done, I looked at the mirror for a while before putting the Jedi robe on, then, I walked out. "I did keep this." He handed over Adi's weapon. "It had stains of blood, so, I cleaned it. I figured you'd like to keep it and...she'd like you to keep it too." I nodded as I grabbed it and clipped to the left side of my belt. It felt extremely heavy. "I'll be right beside you." I looked at him with more tears in my eyes.

"Thank you." He nodded and we walked out to make it to the gloomy and depressing room. Moments later, all the people who knew her arrived, even her parents, who arrived not as her family but respected politicians. They were crying, specially her mother. It hurt to see that. So badly. Padmé stood by my side and held my hand the entire time as the fellow Jedi arrived and gathered around. When the Council stepped in, so did the stretcher where her corpse was laying. The tears streamed down my face like waterfalls, with no natural stop. Seconds later, as the stretcher floated down to start the incineration, I felt sick. I felt like throwing up. "I can't do this." I walked out of the room slowly, letting go of my sister's hand. When I crossed the door I walked faster and faster.

When I was outside, I heard Anakin calling my name softly. The fact that he had gone after me was a risky move, but perhaps it would look like a friend worrying about another one. I placed my hand against the wall and tried to catch my breath, but I couldn't. It was too fast for me. His hand found my back and traced circles around it, like he always does. The way he knows that relaxes me.

"Breathe, okay?" He said in a whisper, close to my ear. "Breathe for me. Please." I shook my head.

"I can't...I can't breathe." I said. "I think I'm having a panic attack." I whispered.

"Okay, okay, come here." He started to guide me through the long hallway, that only seemed to grow larger with every step we took; as if it was endless, until we had turned right in a dark corner. "Try to think of something, anything else."

"Like what?" I started hyperventilating. He struggled to give me an answer.

"Just...try to stop your breathing."

"I can't." I felt dizzier. He held my face in between his hands.

"Shh, shh. Lana, look at me, look at me." My eyes glued themselves to his. "Shh, shh. It's okay, it's...fuck it." He looked to the left and to the right quickly before pressing his lips against mine. I opened my eyes wildly before closing them, his touch was truly magical. The kiss lasted ten seconds and ten seconds were enough for some reason. He broke the kiss and stepped away from me for a bit. "Better?" I breathed in and out two times.

"How did you do that?"

"Well...holding your breath can stop a panic attack, so, when I kissed you...you held your breath."

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did." I nodded and my eyes pooled with tears again.

"Thanks...smartass." He scoffed. I remembered a pair of similar moments of our childhood. It felt as if we weren't married for a second.

One: we were just a couple of young teenagers discovering they felt something for each other as they hid from Madame Jocasta in a maintenance closet after playing a prank on her. A reduced space, both close to each other, faces inches away. It was the day before we went separate ways.

Or two: when we were around twelve, we had gone on a mission with our Masters and we ended up separating from them as we ran away from a gang of pirates. I was panicking as we hid in a small and dark cave, and he stepped close to me, held my face in between his hands when he saw them closing by and asked me to stop breathing as heavy. I couldn't, so, he placed himself even closer and that's the moment I fell in love with him. His eyes were so calming, so reassuring, so loving...I was mesmerised by them, but what made me go silent was his hand covering my mouth. That made me stop my breathing. When the pirates went away, he removed his hand from my lips and we sat there for two minutes doing nothing but to look at each other. Moments later we went out and defeated the pirates, cuz we're cool like that.

"I need some air." He nodded and we started to walk until we stood by the windows. "You did it again." I smiled at the memory.

"Did what again?"

"Stop a panic attack of mine." He narrowed his eyes trying to remember when exactly had he done it before. "Corrllia."

"Oh, you mean when we were being chased?" I nodded and he chuckled. "I remember." He looked at the ground as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his back on the wall. "I really wanted to kiss you, you know?" I frowned as a smile traced its way through my lips. "I was starting to develop a crush on you prior to that mission and I had that impulse but I thought I'd ruin our friendship if I did, so, I just covered your mouth."

"I didn't know that."

"I know. I didn't catch feelings until I was like...fourteen, to be honest. I mean, I hadn't fallen in love with you until then." I chuckled.

"Well, I did fall in love with you that day."

"Really?" I nodded.

"It only took a glance for me to realise it." He smiled at me and I smiled back before looking past the window. I sighed and the smile dropped slowly. I didn't speak, I just felt the air hit my face gently as my eyes looked at the starships. When we heard people walking down the hall, we walked closer to the area.

There, Obi-Wan met us and asked us to join him. We looked at each other, not knowing what he meant, but we followed behind him anyway. As we walked, Masters Yoda and Windu were added to the line. We walked out of the Temple and made our way to the Senate.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"The Chancellor was informed about what happened in Florrum and has requested to talk to us." Answered Kenobi. I nodded and we approached Palpatine's office. "Chancellor." He greeted and we bowed before Sheev once he had walked out of his office.

"Generals." He greeted back. "Please, take a sit." We sat down on the small couches that he has by the entrance of his office, not inside, though. The ones by the hallway. "First of all, I'm very sorry for your loss Allana. I can't imagine what you're going through." I nodded at him.

"Thank you, Sir. It means a lot." I thanked him and he nodded.

"However." The Chancellor continued and I frowned a bit. "I believe this tragedy has given closure to this matter." My frown intensified and as I opened my mouth, someone else spoke to my right before I could.

"I disagree, Chancellor." Said Obi-Wan. "Everything we've learned from this is that the Sith are persistent. They will not die."

"I understand your reservations, Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid we can no longer allow this personal matter of yours to be a Republic concern."

"But-" I tried to speak.

"It does not appear this Darth Maul is a direct threat to the Republic. We need to redirect your efforts to the cause at hand: stopping Count Dooku and thus ending the Clone Wars." His voice eclipsed mine and, to be honest, I was not in the mood for that right now.

"Chancellor, if I may." I spoke up right when he opened his mouth to continue. "I do believe this should be labeled as a Republic concern." Every pair of eyes landed on me. "Maul and Savage have caused multiple attacks in which a lot of colleagues and friends have perished." That sentence had a different meaning now. It hurt to say it. "If they continue, there won't be enough Jedi to continue with the fight in the trenches. Not to mention, that they were trying to build an army of pirates."

"So let them." It was as if he hadn't heard the first part of what I had just said. "Let Maul play with the rabble. They're just petty crooks. It is of no relevance to the Senate compared to the Separatist threat." I frowned more and my eyes met Obi-Wan and Anakin's. I can't believe this.

"Chancellor, I-" I tried to speak again, but, he cut me off once more.

"Good day, gentlemen...and young lady." I frowned as he walked past us and into his office.

"Unbelievable." I said under my breath once the door had slit shut and we had gathered closer to discuss whatever that just happened.

"Something is stirring in the underworld." Said Obi-Wan. "The crime families have had too much free rein since the Jedi have been distracted by the Clone War."

"Agreed." I said. "Had he let me finish you would've found that I think the same way than you. I fear it's a fertile place for the Nightbrothers to flourish."

"If they have indeed survived." Said Windu.

"They both did." I bit the inner part of my cheek when Kenobi spoke.

"Hmm." Yoda exclaimed. "Right you two might be, but heed the words of the Chancellor, we must. A personal matter this is for you. Clouded your judgement may be." His eyes glued themselves to mine. "In time, if they live, reveal themselves Maul and Savage will. And then swiftly we shall act." I sighed before I nodded and turned around to walk out. The air around me was still suffocating. It annoyed me. When I was out, Windu and Yoda didn't think twice about going to the Temple.

"You should get some rest." Said Obi-Wan. "It was a rough day."

"Yeah, and precisely because it was, I'll get a drink first. Or two, or I don't know how many." I said. "Feel free to join." Kenobi looked sadly at me.

"You get to the Temple." Anakin told his Master. "I'll keep an eye on her." Kenobi nodded before he left too. When he was out of sight, Ani approached me. "Where do you wanna go?"

"The pub that's a few streets away." I answered and he nodded. We walked in silence until we got to the place. I sat down by the bar and Ani sat beside me. We ordered two glasses of Prow. Straight up. We drank in silence until he spoke.

"You were talking in your sleep." I looked at him. I assumed he was referring to the time I was unconscious and he was there, taking care of me. "You were apologising to someone."

"To her, I assume." Truth is, I can't recall the dream I was having.

"Why? It couldn't have been your fault." I looked at the glass that I was playing with.

"But it was. She saved me." I sighed and drank the cup before asking for another one. "Savage and I were fighting and when I tried to attack, he threw me away. When I hit the ground, my saber got knocked out of my hand. That's when he started to approach me and my mind went blank. I didn't pulled my weapon towards me, I didn't push him back, I just crawled backwards. The fear consumed me and I couldn't think of anything.
>> She stopped him from killing me, and they engaged in fight. When I tried to jump in, he threw a broken piece of something and ripped my skin with it when he tried to push Adi away, then he tried to approach me again and she stopped him. That's when he killed her." I took a sip of the drink. "Now it makes sense why I was wielding a blue lightsaber in the dream and why it didn't feel like it was me the one he killed." I looked at him again. "Hadn't I been so damned scared, she'd be alive right now."

"That's unfair." He took a sip of his drink. "I don't think it's your fault. She loved you like a daughter, she would've done it had you been scared or not. She sacrificed herself for you." I started crying again and took another sip of my drink.

"Still, there are so many unresolved things." I sniffed. "It was supposed that we'd be back, all of us, alive. And maybe we'd be sitting here, and I'd tell her all about our little adventures with Hondo." He chuckled, inviting me to do the same.

"Really?" I smiled and nodded.

"I told her I knew him, saying that it was a set of funny stories. Adi told me she'd like to hear them all. At first I thought she was being sarcastic, but then she clarified it was genuine. I promised her I'd tell her and now..." A pair of tears fell from my eyes and splashed on the wood of the bar. His hand traced circles on my back again. "She was still giving me advice on how to be a Master for one-on-one training." I sighed. "It's been hours since her passing and I already feel lost." I finished my drink.

"She's still around to guide you. I know that." I nodded.

"Thank you." He nodded when I looked at him, offering a smile that I tried to match.

"Wanna go home?" I sighed as I sat up straight.

"Yeah." I pulled the correct amount of credits and placed them in between the empty cups before we stood up to start our way home.

  Thankfully it was a short trip. A trip in which I remained quiet, listening to my thoughts and my thoughts only. Truth is, they were confusing before they turned completely silent. When we arrived, I immediately walked into the bedroom and got rid of my clothes and took a shower. A long one. When I was done, I put on my pyjamas. Moments later, after I had bushed my teeth, I was laying in bed and looking at the city life that's on the opposite side of the window.

  I felt Ani's weight being placed on the mattress behind me and how his arm wrapped itself around my waist and pulled me close. I cried more and then an idea popped in my head.

"I'm gonna kill him." I spoke out of the blue.

"What?" He asked in a whisper.

"I'm going to kill him." He stopped hugging me and looked at me. Even in the darkness, I saw the confusion in his eyes.

"Killing is not our way."

"But it was when Obi-Wan supposedly died?" He frowned sadly. "I'm sorry." He shook his head.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's not your way. You're no killer, Lana. I understand what you're going through, I really do. But vengeance will only break you, believe me, I know." I frowned and sat down.

"What do you mean that you know?"

"When I...killed the Tusken after my mother died in my arms, something broke inside of me. Beyond repair. And that something, whatever it is, once it's broken let's out a poison through you. It's hard to contain it. It's darkness, pure darkness. You know how it feels when it flows through you." I looked at my hands. I felt it today again. He sighed. "When you experimented it, The Son was the one controlling you but when you let it out...it's a whole different story and I don't want you to go in there, to be broken...like I am." I took his face in my hands, making his forehead touch mine.

"You're not broken." He smiled tenderly.

"A part of me is, but, I'm good at hiding it." He sighed and kissed my palms. "I know I won't be able to stop you. I was close to doing the same with Hardeen. Like I told you when we were in Zygerria: do what brings your mind at ease." He scoffed. "I stopped trying to convince you to change your mind once it's settled. You're incredibly stubborn and I gave up years ago." I smiled.

"Thank you." He nodded and kissed my forehead.

"Come here." We laid down again and I placed my head over his chest as his right hand caressed my back, my arm while the left one placed itself on my neck, his thumb moved up and down underneath my jaw. He kissed the top of my head before he hummed a melody, similar to the one he sang when I had the nightmare for the first time. Only that now it was reality instead of a bad dream.

  My fingers traced figures over his bare chest as I started feeling tired. I closed my eyes as his voice flooded my ears. I breathed in deeply before submerging myself into the world of dreams and hoped not to face a new nightmare in my sleep.