Revan.
Aaila's eyes flew open. She lay in bed, soaked in cold sweat. Her breath came hard, as though she had been running. She glanced at the form beside her. No, the voice was a woman's and Carth Onasi slept on. His presence in the Force was calm and blank. The voice had echoed inside her mind, interrupting yet another dream full of fire and darkness.
Who are you? Aaila thought, reaching out with the Force.
You know me, child.
Aaila's breath caught in her throat. Something about that voice touched the dark part roiling beneath her serene exterior. The darkness within herself disturbed her. She knew she had been Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, but she had been so certain that her darkness had been banished. During the war…that was it. During the war she had not had these dreams.
I don't know you. And Revan is no more.
Ah…but neither of those statements is true, child. You know me, though you may not remember me. And you are Revan still.
I am not. Aaila reached out to brush Bastila's conscious. The voice snapped angrily.
Do not touch her mind, Revan!
Aaila withdrew instinctively, disconcerted that this…presence…could feel her use of the Force. Trying to reach Juhani or Jolee would be futile. They were too far away to be of help, at any rate. They were at the Academy on Coruscant.
Who are you?
I am your teacher, child, the voice intoned, calm and cold again. I know why you wake screaming in the night.
How-?
I know why cannot let the man lying next to you get as close as both of you would like.
How do you know all of this?
I told you already, Revan. I am your teacher.
Aaila closed her eyes again, trying to shut the faint visions out. She did not want this. Not at all. She had destroyed Malak, destroyed the darkness. She was Jedi. She followed the light.
There is no emotion…
There is peace. Wouldn't it bring you peace to know why you fell?
Aaila's blood turned to ice in her veins.
What did you say?
I know why you fell, Revan. I know what drove you to abandon the light and chase the shadows. I know how you and Malak learned of the Star Forge.
Aaila sat up in bed. Carth shifted next to her. This woman knew more about her than she did—than anyone living did. This woman knew the answers to the questions that had been plaguing her since she had slain her old friend.
Come to me, Revan.
Aaila bit her lip and looked over at Carth. His face was peaceful in sleep. He did not deserve the chill that had come over her, the screams in the night, the flashes of darkness that shook her to the core.
Can you get these nightmares to stop?
They are memories, Revan. If you can face your past and who you are they won't be nightmares anymore.
Not visions of things to come…visions of things that had already happened. Things she had done. She did not know which was worse. Aaila knew this could be a snare, a lure back to the dark side but if this woman knew the truth…
She sighed. How can I find you?
I will guide your footsteps. Come alone, child. Leave the soldier and the prodigy behind.
Aaila lay back down. Carth shifted in his sleep and put an arm around her. A tear slid down her cheek.
Let me say goodbye.
Very well.
As she closed her eyes, she saw a vision of an elderly woman in Jedi robes. Something jolted in Aaila's heart and clicked in her head.
"Kreia…" she whispered.
She could have sworn that she heard a quiet, low laugh.