(Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe Balance and Victory already has 1,000 views! I'm truly thankful for all your views, feedback and support. As a special thanks to YOU, the readers who have made all this possible, I have decided to write an interlude featuring the Rogue Jedi character who attacked Anakin and Padmé back in Chapter 6. Some of you were saying that you hoped she would return, so here she is! Enjoy!)

These past seven years had brought nothing but unsatisfied desire to the apprentice of Darth Sidious. While the title of "apprentice" was an honor, she knew it was nothing more than that. Just a title, a name with no meaning. Lord Sidious had given her an opportunity all those years ago- just one task- and she had failed. Apparently that failure had told him a lot, because he had never entrusted her with anything else.

Sidious was like a parent who favored one child over the other, and his apprentice knew which of those children she was. The Emperor only wanted what he couldn't have: Skywalker.

Why do you need him so badly? The apprentice wanted to say. Yes, he is powerful, but he has been hiding for seven years. We have heard nothing from him. Meanwhile, here I am, willing to learn and obey.

It wasn't her fault that she wasn't destined to bring balance to the Force. She had the eager and humble spirit of an apprentice, while Skywalker did not.

She couldn't even remember the last time Sidious had contacted her to ask for anything. So, for a long time, she had wandered aimlessly throughout the Outer Rim, somehow hoping to find Skywalker. She had long since figured out that she could never be what Sidious wanted, but if she did find Skywalker, could she earn a small trace of favor in the Emperor's eyes?

Many times, the apprentice felt disgusted with herself for carrying on this way. She was practically a slave, a dog who pathetically yapped after its master's heels. But she felt that she had nothing else to do with her life. Nothing else was worthwhile or meaningful.

Why did her destiny depend solely on Darth Sidious? Why was he the only one who could help her?

As she stood on a high cliff, thinking about all this, she took out her lightsaber and fingered it. She had made this herself, years ago, when she was a teenage Padawan in the Jedi Order. Back then, she had been unbelievably excited to finally have a weapon of her own, but now when she looked at it, all she could see was its faults. The poor craftsmanship, the unbalanced design, and the blue blade that represented everything that she was not. Blue was supposed to represent peace and contentment, an unattainable ideal for her.

She wished she could destroy the useless thing, but that was almost impossible. Someone might find it and try to rebuild it.

At this point, she didn't even know if the Force was worth caring about anymore. She could feel it, but only just enough that she could clearly see how far she was from understanding it. It would give her certain feelings that would later prove meaningless. She would try to let it guide her, but it would lead her nowhere. The Force seemed like it was toying with her, amused by her.

The apprentice figured that if the Force would only cooperate with her, and if she could learn to use it properly, then she wouldn't have so many problems. She might actually feel like she had a purpose. But the only person who could teach her was Sidious.

At least, that was what she assumed, but she had to wonder if it was true. After all, she did recall that no person had ever helped her achieve a breakthrough in the days of her Jedi training. Her greatest breakthroughs had always been self-taught.

The apprentice also realized that her connection to the Force had been weakened after the day she assisted Sidious in the Great Jedi Purge. Her emotions had been out of control that day, and she had hated what she was doing. The Force had been filled with horror and death. Maybe she had simply been too scared to tap deeply into the Force after that point.

As the wind blew precariously around her, she realized something. Sidious would not ever care enough to help her; she would have to help herself.

She got into her ship and set a course for Ilum, where she planned to build herself a new lightsaber- a symbol of a new life in which she would never be a slave to Darth Sidious.