REVAMPING THIS STORY!!

Sister: Prologue

In a modest apartment on Citadel Station, a woman woke up screaming.

Revan Vaas looked wildly around for Carth, but the space next to her was empty. Wha – where… where is he!? The nightmare shrieked through her mind. Trying to control her mounting panic, she glanced at the clock.

Revan calmed down a little. It was 9:01. No wonder he's gone – he had that meeting at eight. She closed her eyes and sighed out, nerves scrunching her forehead even as she tried to center herself.

She was considerably more relaxed now, but the remnants of her dream were still haunting Revan. The echoing shouts and screams were bouncing around her skull as she slowly got up out of bed.

Wrapping a pale blue robe tightly around herself, the former Sith Lady quietly left her apartment. There was no Carth to talk to right now, but Revan needed to get the dream off her chest. She wandered down the hall, past the doors of her comrades, wondering who she could tell of this horrific nightmare. As she ticked off names in her head, she was inwardly grateful that most were staying on Telos's Citadel Station for the first 6 months after the Star Forge.

The first door next to her and Carth's apartment was home to… Mission? Nah, don't want to upset her, she's too young.

Progressing down the hall, Revan continued to cross off names in her head. Zaalbar's back with his clan, and Canderous is trying to reunite the Mandalorians… that's out. Bastila? No, that dream was from the Dark Side time and that's kinda why she fell… Juhani? Maybe, but she isn't really who I was looking for.

Revan came to a halt in front of the final door in the row. Jolee!

She knocked cautiously on the door. From within came an annoyed, "It's only 9 o'clock! Come back later, I'm eating, dammit!"

She bit her lip to keep in laughter. Good old Jolee. If anyone could understand, it was him. "Shut up, old man, it's only me," she called in answer. "And it's 9:01, by the way."

The sound of shuffling feet and a gruff, "Damn technicalities" answered her, and finally the door swung open to reveal Jolee. He gave her a sour glance and grumbled, "It better be important, lass…"

She smiled weakly, suddenly unsure of herself. "Very. May I come in?" Jolee's expression softened as he saw the nervousness on Revan's face. He didn't speak, just nodded once and gestured into his small apartment.

The short, thin Jedi sat in one of Jolee's chairs. Her black hair was loose and tangled around her face, and her brown eyes drooped with exhaustion and uncertainty. Jolee's brow furrowed as he surveyed her face. "So you're exhausted looking, and you come prancing down here with no warning in your pajamas and a bathrobe at 9 in the morning. Why?"

Revan met his eyes for a moment, then looked down. "It was a new memory…" she murmured at the cold tile under her bare feet.

Jolee's eyes widened. Revan's mind was like two halves of a whole: One half was her memories and experiences from her time under the alias Nikita Vaas and as the new, lightsided Revan. The other was from her time as Revan-the-Dark-Lord-of-the-Sith and her childhood before that. The latter memories were scattered and fragmented, but ever since the revelation of her time as the Sith Lady, they had come to her in dreams. However, after the defeat of Malak and her acceptance of the past, Revan's memory-dreams had slowed. A new one was a surprise.

Jolee smiled kindly at her, and leaned back in his chair.. "Tell me about it, lass." Despite the obvious willingness of Jolee for her to continue, Revan still refused to look up. She took several deep breaths and began slowly:

"It was from the time during the Mandalorian Wars, I've figured out that much. I still have my violet lightsaber, so I wasn't fallen yet. I was on a ship over Malachor V. There was a holovid going of the interior of another ship. I was – was telling a Jedi to activate the mass shadow generator. I feel like I know her, but I can't place it. She didn't want to activate it at first; she tried to tell me there were other ways to win. But I didn't listen, said it was the only way for the Republic to end the war, and she did it. And then…"

Revan broke off, a lump in her throat. The older Jedi waited patiently as she regained control of her shaking voice.

In a very quiet voice, she said, "And then she was screaming and wouldn't stop. And I think I had a Force Bond with her, because I could feel pain. Oh, Force, it hurt, so badly, and it was diluted because it wasn't directly at me. Can you imagine how much she was hurting? It wasn't physical, it was like… like my connection to the Force was peeling away. And there were voices in my head, and they weren't mine, and they were screaming too, and the blonde Jedi there kept saying my name and asking why… And then, suddenly, the pain was gone. I couldn't hear the screaming, but I couldn't feel the blonde Jedi anymore, either…"

Revan trailed off into silence. Jolee watched her for a minute or two, before asking, "What were you thinking about before you went to sleep?"

Revan looked up. She thought back to the night before. She and Carth had been cleaning up after dinner when he had come up behind her and whispered, "I love you, Nikita Vaas." She had looked at him, and said, "Don't call me that anymore. I was Revan before it was Darth Revan, and I want to keep the name. Nikita Vaas doesn't exist." He had nodded, and they had moved into their bedroom, the name Nikita Vaas still fresh in Revan's mind…

"I was thinking about my name," she told Jolee, a crease forming between her brows. "My name from the Star Forge quest, Nikita Vaas."

"Ahhhh…" Jolee sighed, contemplating her, an intrigued expression on his dark-skinned face. When Revan stared at him, confused, he began to explain.

"You know that Vaas was your last name even before your memory was lost, and Revan your first?" She nodded. Jolee continued, "Well, for a while now I've wondered where the name Nikita came from. You see, Bastila tells me that the Council let you choose it."

Revan's eyes grew wide, but Jolee pressed on, "They asked you if the last name Vaas meant anything to you when you were still recovering from the capture. You said yes. They then asked why, and you said 'Nikita'. So they gave you the name, seemingly in an attempt to let you decide who you were, as long as it was not Revan.

"What confuses me is that the Jedi must have known who Nikita was if they knew you from when you were young. So it stands to reason that they would only give it to you if the owner didn't need it anymore. And since you said the name, she must have been important to you."

Revan sat up straight. "She must have. That must have been her, the blonde one." She paused, worry washing over her. "I wonder why they gave me her name…" she murmured. Jolee leaned back in the chair he had sat in, and stared Revan straight in the eye. "Go on with your day, and before you go to sleep, meditate on Nikita Vaas," he advised. "Maybe more dreams will come."

Revan nodded once, and rose, giving Jolee a grateful smile. "Thank you, you old coot," she said teasingly, and Force-sped towards to door.

Jolee chucked a pillow at her, and yelled at her retreating back, "Fine way to thank my service to you!" To himself, he mumbled, "Old coot indeed!"

---

Carth returned late in the day from his meeting, by which time Revan was back to her usual cheerful self. She had taken Mission shopping – always an interesting experience – and was in a considerably better mood for it. She asked Cart how his day was, nodding and smiling as he told her excitedly that he was being considered for a position as Admiral, and that Dustil was going to continue with his Jedi training. Revan acted completely normal, leaving Carth blissfully unaware of her returning memories. She didn't know why she kept it quiet, except somehow, she knew it tied in with the research she had done over the past 3 months. Research Carth couldn't know about.

Nikita Vaas, Nikita Vaas, Nikita Vaas… Revan chanted this like a mantra in her head as she prepared for bed. Even the warmth of Carth beside her couldn't distract her from the desire to get the memories.

Nikita Vaas, Nikita Vaas, Nikita Vaas…

Nikita Vaas, Nikita Vaas...

Nikita Vaas...

.: Revan stood in her Sith warship a few months after her invasion of the Republic. She determinedly hacked the dead Jedi's datapad, tracing it back to its roots in the Jedi archives. She had to know what had happened to Nikita.

At last, she cracked the code. Deftly, she scrolled through until she found the records of the Order's Knights, and searched for 'Vaas, Nikita'.

Her scream of fury as she read 'Exiled' rang through the whole ship. :.

.: Again, the dream of Malachor V's destruction flooded Revan's consciousness: the indescribable pain, the death of the planer, and the screams of the blonde Jedi – 'Revan, why?' :.

.: Revan and Malak stood looking over the Dantooinian plains. It was mere hours before they left to join the Republic in the Mandalorian Wars. 'We'll save the Republic!' crowed Malak as he remembered their plan. His jaw was a natural one now, and he stood tall and proud, his head almost a foot above Revan.

'Shut up, you,' a younger, but happier Revan snapped. 'We haven't even left yet.'

From behind them, the sandy-haired Jedi of her memories joined the pair, slinging an arm over Revan's shoulder. 'Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Rev…' :.

.: Even more time had rewound, to a time when the Mandalorian Wars weren't even a thought. Malak and Revan were comparing their brand-new, just-built lightsabers, gasping with pride and delight.

Nearby, the blonde Jedi sulked. In this memory, an age difference of at least two years was apparent between her and her friends. 'You always get everything first, Rev,' she complained, staring at the glowing blades with obvious envy.

Revan smiled smugly, activating and deactivating her violet saber absentmindedly. 'Of course I do, Nik. It's a fact of life – live with it.' :.

.: The memories continued to fly backwards. A six year old Revan, only two years into her training, anxiously scanned the newest crowd of younglings to arrive at the Academy. She clutched a letter from her parents in her small fist. She needed to find Nikita, and soon.

Finally, she spotted the scared looking four year old in the corner. The blonde child's nervous look turned to joy, and she smiled as Revan ran over, hugging her tightly. The letter fell to the ground next to them and was swept away by the wind.:.

.: A four year old Revan was being escorted onto a star cruiser by two tall, faceless Jedi. She looked morosely over her shoulder and waved goodbye, Behind her, her parents, one dark and one fair, waved back. In the fair woman's arms a blonde toddler bawled… :.

.: The last memory was the fuzziest. A two year old Revan leaned over the edge of a cradle, staring at the baby within. The infant was round and pink, with an unruly tuft of blonde hair and vividly green eyes that gazed at the older girl – as unlike Revan as possible. From above her, she heard her mother proudly saying, 'That's your sister, Revvie – your sister Nikita.' :.

Revan sat bolt upright in bed, heart pounding, breath shallow, and gaze wild. Carth cracked an eyelid, but opened both eyes as he stared at her panicked state.

"Rev?" he croaked in a voice rough with sleep. "You all right?"

She shook her head, and looked into his warm, sleepy eyes. "Remember how I told you not to call me Nikita, because she didn't exist?" Carth was upright too now, watching Revan's face. "Yeah?" he said cautiously.

Revan met his gaze, and whispered, "I lied."

---

Two days later, it was Carth who woke up to his partner missing. In her place he found a black datapad with a message for him:

Dear Carth,

All that research I've been doing for the past few months has led up to this. I never told you what it was about, did I? Well, I am now. There's this… I'm not sure what to call it – a force? Maybe the better word is 'race'. Anyway, they're out there, beyond Republic space, and they're called the True Sith.

These aren't like Malak. They aren't even like me from when I fell. They're literally anti-Force that take the shape of humans and aliens, so darksided you can't even sense it until it's too late. They've been fueling conflict for centuries, millennia even. One of them led the Rakata takeover. Another persuaded Mandalore to go to war. Yet another had some sort of contact with Malak and me, but I can't remember. All of this has been chipping away at the stability of the galaxy, even the stability of the Force, because they want to kill it. And I've put the weapon in their hands.

I told you about my sister, how she suffered at Malachor. But it's worse than anyone knew. She's a hole in the Force now – losing all those bonds ripped the Force right away from her, leaving a wound. She can use it for the ultimate good – she can find Force sensitivity easier, she can unite people – but if the True Sith get her, they'll use the hole to attack the Force. To kill it. To end all life.

It's my fault. I made her press the button. But now I know about the True Sith. I know what I have to do. I have to get my sister back into Republic space, where she'll be safer, and I have to stop the True Sith.

I bet one of your questions is why I didn't take anyone. You see, I know I'll be able to survive the trip. I've fallen before, seen the worst the Dark side has to offer, and I turned them down, thanks to you. I know I can fight the pull of the True Sith. Any other Jedi couldn't. Anyone else might be pulled into becoming a hostage or a tool. And Carth, I can't lose you like that.

Remember that I love you. I'll always be with you Carth. I know you'll want to follow me, but I need you to keep the Republic strong. If it falls, everything is lost: us, the future, the Force.

If you really need me back, here is this: In five years, I should be back. But if I'm not, then we have a major problem. I'll need you then, as many as you can bring, and frack the risk of falling. If it's taking me that long, things are about to go badly anyway.

Believe me, if I could stay with you, I would. I love you so much, Carth. I'll try not to get myself killed, because the only thing I want is to see your face again.

Yours forever,

REVAN

P.S. – Your first clue is this: Cheap food, cheap stuff, on this planet you can't get enough! (Don't laugh at my rhyme!)

---

~And so it begins. Revan is gone, the Exile is her sister, and Carth is alone.

Please continue reading.

Gracias.

xIgnoranceIsBlissx