"I did not choose this," she said under her breath. Her words were snatched by the sweeping wind, barely finding their way to his ears.
When the pain dawned over his face, she averted her crimson gaze to the dusty ground. In the darkness swathing them, the deep red colour of her lightsaber glowed like hot iron and veiled the tears she could barely contain.
His drawn expression etched itself into her mind and she knew she would never be rid of the memory of the grating hoarseness that his voice echoed with. "You have your own will! No one is making you do this but yourself." A sodden, desperate hope entered Ben's voice. He outstretched a grimy, shaking hand. "Be free. Follow me, beside me, I can help you."
She ground her teeth. Pain crested in her chest and not even the shadow could hide her heart rending. "I know."
Confusion played over the man's distraught features. She took a breath, knowing he would never understand. It hurt. She did with that emotion the only thing she knew.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Vestara met his cobalt eyes a final time. For one long moment, it was just him and her; light and dark, wavering on the balance. Pain, life, memories, even love, every single aching second of their lives leading to this moment… to this place… It all flashed through their bond in a matter or heartbeats.
Briefly, she wondered why she had been chosen this fate by the Force. She noticed the subtle shift behind his eyes when he realised.
His sob cut through her frozen heart. "Why?"
"It is a part of me," Vestara Khai said before launching herself forward.