This will be Zia's last story peoples. Thanks to Wayne and everyone else who reviewed the other two. Not that there were many of you.
XX
Zia sat in her room, trying to shake the images from her head. A year later, she still woke sweating from nightmares. She wished they had killed her that day they caught her. It would be better than this.
She stood and exited the room. The corridor was empty. She was glad. More people were talking to her, but no one liked her except Luke. And the nightmares plagued everything; her life was a walking nightmare. She hated it. Jedi mercy. What an irony. If this was mercy, she would rather be dead.
She passed through another empty corridor. She always chose the empty ones, even if they meant she took longer to get to a place, in this case the mess hall. That was always full. She couldn't avoid that.
She chose a seat right in the corner, as usual. Her table was always empty, and she liked it that way. It wasn't so much that she disliked people, but that she didn't want to get close to anyone, just in case.
She ate quickly and left, even though no one stared anymore. She already was used to been alone, but she was lonely all the same. Animals were her only companions, apart from Luke. At least animals didn't talk to her.
She sat outside, trying to lose herself in the peace of the jungle. She had felt increasingly anxious for the last few weeks. Luke put it down to her insecurity, but she wasn't so sure.
Suddenly there was a rumbling noise, like ships… large battleships landing. She heard an almighty crash as the trees were knocked over and the peace well and truly broken. She rushed inside to tell Luke, but he was already on the way.
"Zia," he said. "What happened?" Zia paused a moment before answering.
"Battleships. Three of them landed near the Enclave." Luke's face grew grim.
"Lets go find out what they want." Luke started towards the ships, but Zia held out a hand to stop him.
"I think we're about to find out."
A messenger flanked by two armoured mercenaries, all three armed to the teeth, came towards them and the crowd of Jedi gathering behind them.
The messenger smirked at Zia. "Zia Toran. Nice to see you again." Zia made a face.
"Can't honestly return that, Zhara." Luke glanced at her, confused. "I'll explain later," she muttered. Zhara smirked.
"We left on bad terms last time, Zia. Should catch up someday." He roared with laughter. She scowled.
"Just tell us what you came here to tell us." Zhara shook his head disapprovingly.
"Always making assumptions, Zia. But this time, you're right." He cleared his throat. "We demand that you give us the Sith Zia Toran for justice to be done."
Zia's face cleared of all emotion even as her hands shook with anger. "There is no Sith here." She said as calmly as she could. Luke glanced at her, concerned.
"I'm alright," Zia hissed to Luke through gritted teeth. "I'm in control." Luke looked doubtful but turned back to the messenger
"If you do not hand her over by sunset, we will attack your Enclave and take her anyway. Good day." The messenger smirked and left. Relief flashed through Zia's eyes. She had been so close to losing control.
She didn't speak while she went inside, people peering at her curiously. She hated been stared at. Hated it. It made her want to revert back to her Sith self, make them regret…. Luke came up to her.
"Come on Zia," he murmured softly, his hand on her shoulder. Zia nodded and let him lead her away.
"Is it that bad?" he asked when they were alone. She didn't need to ask what he meant. She nodded.
"All the time." Her voice came out as barely a whisper. "All the time. I can't do anything normal without feeling…" she squeezed her fist and Luke nodded.
"I'm sorry, Zia. This is torturous for you, isn't it? Living." She nodded.
"I wish they'd killed me," she whispered for the first time. "It's so hard to rein her in, keep her down. Pretend to be something I'm not." There was silence.
"You are a Jedi, Zia. These doubts are natural…" Zia smiled crookedly.
"No they're not," she said. "Others don't struggle every day; have every waking moment penetrated by a nightmare." She fell silent, and Luke struggled to think what to say.
"Well, maybe… you'll recover," he finished lamely. Zia snorted.
"It's been a year, Luke. Nothing's changed. I'm still on the edge of control, walking on the blade of a knife every day. I can't stop myself when I fight, that's why I never carry a weapon." She glanced at the place on her belt where her lightsabre had hung. "You remember what happened when we sparred."
Luke just nodded. He remembered all to well what had happened. She had lost control, ended up sobbing on the floor. He didn't want to see what she had seen. It looked too horrible to bear.
Zia sighed. "Don't feel bad Luke." Luke didn't answer, still absorbed in his thoughts. "Well, the story with Zhara. I promised to tell you, and I think you'll find it very entertaining." She cleared her throat and her eyes seemed to look past him. He watched her, waiting for her story.
"It was so long ago. A year after I turned. You wouldn't believe how feral I was by then. I was more like a Sith than a dark Jedi. I was a Sith, killing without mercy. Sarah's face stopped disturbing me. That was after she fell on my blade and died…
"Anyway, I hired a bounty hunter to help me hunt someone down. I would have done it myself, but my prey was very clever. I needed someone else to close in on him, trap him in a pincer movement. I hired Zhara.
"You have to understand, Zhara is no mere messenger. He is an accomplished bounty hunter with no morals whatsoever. He is like I was as a Sith. We worked well together.
"Anyway, we found him and trapped him. I needed this person alive, and Zhara knew that. He hated me, wanted to spite me. Still does, obviously. He got there first and killed him. I arrived a minute later and we fought… he had trained against Jedi before, see, so he knew kinda what to expect.
"But I was no Jedi and I almost killed him. That was when the security police arrived and I had to clear out. I left the body where it was, a corpse was no good to me. Zhara was imprisoned and charged with his murder- which he was responsible for- and I got away and never thought about it again.
"I heard he escaped and didn't particularly care. But he obviously hates me still, and wants me dead. That is my crime, for him. I have a lot of crimes; everyone wants me dead for something. Killed someone's relative, brought down a business. I keep my head low these days.
"I know how he found out I was here. The senators and their aides blabbed, it was all over the holonet… but I'm not going to pay for his humiliation. This time it really wasn't my fault."
Zia watched him as he struggled to grasp what she was saying. "You mean, you weren't responsible for one measly crime?" he joked weakly. "I'm disappointed." Zia didn't laugh.
"I'm serious Luke. I will not pay for a crime I did not commit." Luke stopped.
"I know Zia, I know. Don't worry, we'll think of something."
XX
Please R&R peoples!