The behemoth in black armor stood before her. The soulless black eyes seemed to bore into her skull, any and all emotion that the monster might have had were obscured behind them. Idly she wondered if she had known him once. The dark fist that had singlehandedly wiped out the Temple. Though she supposed that it wasn't altogether singlehandedly. Vader was if nothing else the Emperor's lapdog. He was the mutt Palpatine sent on his important errands, the ones that there could be no choice or chance of failure.
It was almost flattering the former Chancellor thought that highly of her; that he had sent Vader personally to take care of her. Or perhaps the hulking Sith had simply volunteered, for everyone knew how much he despised the old Jedi Order. Or perhaps that wasn't common knowledge? It was hard to tell these days, she had been gone for so long…
Kuvira felt a tickling sensation around her neck, almost as if someone had their hands grasped around it. Was… Was he choking her? No, it wasn't nearly enough pressure to block off her airflow, and it didn't hurt in the slightest. A warning then? Telling her to stand down lest she meet the fate of so many Jedi before her. Since when did Darth Vader give warnings like this? All the stories she had heard had painted the picture of a merciless, ruthless, and efficient murderer. He didn't give warnings. So why give her one now? Once more, she wondered if she had known him once, if he had stayed his hand due to some past friendship they had once shared. She supposed it was possible, but she sensed no familiarity under that black suit. Only darkness. Just who was under there?
Despite the threat of the Sith force choking her, neither had made a move. They both stood tall, facing the other dead in the eyes. Vader had his arms crossed in front of him, as if he was daring her to make the first move. Kuvira had her arms behind her, her fingers interlocking as she did her best to give off an air of authority.
"Darth Vader, I can't say I had expected to meet you here. Perhaps if I had, I might have prepared a more fitting introduction rather than running into you here." Her voice was unwavering, but had a sense of faux politeness that she used when she was trying to be diplomatic.
"Playing coy will not help you here. You must know how this will end." His voice was deep and had a metallic quality to it. She found that it fit him, though she had to wonder why the voice changer was necessary.
"I do, with you imprisoned or dead at my feet. You are trespassing here, Vader."
"Foolish girl, I trespass nowhere. This entire galaxy belongs to the Emperor, and I am his sworn servant. Even entertaining the thought, no law or force in this galaxy would stop me from hunting you down, Jedi."
"You forget Vader, I left the Jedi Order years ago, even before you destroyed them. These days I go by a different title."
"So I have heard, but it is a false title for an inexperienced girl who knows nothing of ruling."
"You imperials always assume you're the only power in the galaxy, but your jurisdiction firmly ends at the edge of the Unknown Regions. That's where my word is law, and you Darth Vader are trespassing on Eternal Empire soil, and are hereby sentenced to death!"
There were no more words to be spoken, as both hands rushed to the hilts of their sabers. Red and green flashed as the two warriors ignited their lightsabers, and rushed forward in a clash of wills and strength. It was apparent from the moment their blades met that Vader would overwhelm her with brute strength alone, and that facing him head on would be suicide. How convenient for her then she had never trained on focusing on her strength.
Kuvira broke the clash and took a few flips back, gaining some distance from the Sith. From what she knew of him, his greatest strength was his overwhelming power. However, while he wasn't exactly slow, he certainly was not nimble or graceful. He was ruthless, the type that would take things head on rather than move out of the way. She could work with that.
She saw the next strike coming and move out of the way, the burning red blade seeming to have missed her by mere inches. Taking this opportunity to strike, she thrust her own saber towards him in an attempt to impale him, but he managed to dodge it as well.
This back and forth between them, where they would clash and dodge and roll and strike seemed to drag on for hours, when in reality it covered the span of minutes. For all of her skill, Kuvira knew she couldn't keep this up forever. She had left the order when she had been a Padawan on the verge of Knighthood, and though she did her damnedest to keep up with her training, she had not nearly the experience this monster had. Vader was a fully trained Sith, with countless killed Jedi under his belt. How could she hope to stand a chance?
Suddenly, her eyes spotted and opening in his defense, but he would immediately correct it if she went at him with her lightsaber. In a flash of movement, a pipe just barely broke through the glass of Vader's left eye, leaving it shattered as the pipe clanged to the floor. Kuvira had torn the pipe off the wall of the hallway with the force and had thrown it at the Sith like a javelin. It had met its mark.
Darth Vader's eye was a sickly yellow color, reminding her of sulfur. More prominent however was the scar she could clearly see even from here, running vertically down the middle of his eye.
Her stomach seemed to drop to the floor as she gazed at the scar, transfixed by it as this new information processed through her mind. Now that that pressurized seal of his was broken, she could sense him slightly better too. It wasn't just the darkness there. Buried deep under all of that, there was a vague sense of familiarity there too.
Kuvira's eyes widened and she took a defensive stance, watching him inspect the damage to his visor. It was minor aesthetic damage when one got down to it, but the damage had been done, and she could see the pure hatred and anger burning in his one revealed eye.
In a brief haze of revelation, she mouthed his name. "Skywalker…"
The city seemed to thrum with life as the billions of sentients that lived on the planet went about their daily lives. Countless people littered about the jewel of the galactic core. They felt safe here, she knew. To most people, Coruscant seemed untouchable from the war that waged on in the stars. There were still signs, if one knew where to look. The squads of clones that guarded integral facilities were one hint, and the constant addresses by Chancellor Palpatine on the holo-net were another.
Kuvira sat in an open air garden in the Jedi Temple, sitting in a meditative position, but her head was tilted towards the sky. It was all open sky above her. How many people on this planet could say that they were privileged enough to see through the smog and speeders? Not even a fraction of Coruscant's populace lived and worked under such a sight, such was the nature of the city planet. Layers upon layers of concrete and durasteel, built over millennia. Suyin was never fond of living here, Kuvira knew. She had been a free spirit, and so idealistic. Her master would have taken the shining spires of Alderaan over the sprawling slums of Coruscant any day…
She needed to stop thinking of Suyin in the past tense. Su wasn't dead she just… Wasn't here right now. Gone, just like everyone else.
Tilting her head forward, Kuvira couldn't help but sigh. She had thought perhaps staring at the clouds might help her thoughts flow more easily, but they were still so focused on Suyin. Where was she now, Kuvira wondered? Where had she made her home amongst the endless stars, while she left her Padawan here on the ground?
No, dwelling on Suyin would bring no good. It would only make her bitterness fester, and prove that she had been far too attached to her master. Former master.
As Kuvira sat in the tranquility of the garden, attempting to let the force soothe and balm her, she couldn't help but wonder why? How could Suyin leave the order in a time like this? The Separatists kept the war at a stalemate; countless people were dying every day. Whenever she and Suyin took to the battlefield, it had felt like they were making a difference. That they were helping to end the war, and helping to save the Republic!
But Suyin had never seen it that way, she knew. She had always seen it as continuing the cycle of violence, and that she felt absolutely abhorred whenever she had to be sent out on such a mission. Suyin had hated the war, and she hated participating in it even more. Her master had begun to disagree with the council more and more, viewing them as becoming increasingly militarized, that the Jedi Order wasn't what it used to be.
And then she just left.
Couldn't she see that despite her misgivings about fighting in the war that the galaxy needed her? That because of, rather in spite of, her views she was essential to the Jedi Order? That she could do so much good here, be the heart and soul of the order when no one else would? Couldn't she see that she needed her…?
Kuvira bit back tears as she began to realize they were starting to slip from her eyes. She had always been lauded as a model Jedi in-training when she was younger, but now look at her. Letting her emotions and her attachment to her master get the better of her… In a sense, she felt like damaged goods. There had to be some truth to it, or why else would her master have so callously cast her aside?
As Kuvira wallowed in her grief, she hardly noticed the pair of footsteps that grew close to her, only reacting when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder. Her head whipped around in surprise, mortified about being caught in such a private and emotional state. There were fresh tear stains on her cheeks, and her eyes were puffy and red from fruitlessly trying to hold back her tears.
"Be careful, Padawan. I could sense you from halfway down the hall, who knows what some of the masters would think?" It was a well-meaning jest, but one sprinkled in truth. The mouth it had come from was skewed in a lopsided grin, though she could tell it was a bit forced. Not that she could blame him. Kuvira wasn't the only one to have lost someone important in the past few days. She just hadn't expected to find Master Skywalker here of all places. From what she had heard, he wasn't the meditative type.
"Master Skywalker." She bowed her head in respect. "I apologize; I was trying to meditate and I… Let my emotions get the better of me." She admitted.
"I can see that." He replied, sitting down next to her and getting into his own meditative pose. "I understand though. Do you mind if I join you?"
Not daring to say no to such a respected Jedi Knight, Kuvira simply shook her head to indicate her consent. She wasn't getting anywhere meditating as it was, so what was one more soul to distract her?
"I never was that big a fan of meditating." Skywalker quipped as he closed his eyes. If Kuvira had been the disrespectful type she might have rolled her eyes at that. Everyone knew that. "My master always seemed to manage it so effortlessly, while I never had much luck with it. Always just fell asleep."
"If it's any consolation, I haven't been having any luck with it either recently." Kuvira replied sympathetically.
Master Skywalker nodded in acknowledgement. "My master always said to stop focusing on everything when you close your eyes, to stop being so hypersensitive to the world and your thoughts. To just let the force sweep you up and thrum around you…" He paused as if contemplating something. "You've lost your master recently haven't you, Padawan…?"
And there it was. He had come to console her and convince her everything was going to be fine. He hadn't even bothered to learn her name before coming here. "Kuvira." She replied with a slight edge to her voice. "My name is Kuvira. And yes, my master has left the order."
"Suyin, was it?" He asked, and Kuvira nodded her head in confirmation. "Yeah I remember her… She was one of the ones always getting on my case when I was a Padawan myself."
"She never was the biggest fan of you, Master Skywalker." Kuvira replied dryly. "I recall her ranting once how Master Kenobi could have reared such a reckless Jedi."
"That's probably warranted." Skywalker admitted with a laugh. "I do what needs to be done, even if it's not particularly safe."
"I can admire that.
The conversation fell into a lull, and it became clear that neither knew what to say. It dawned on Kuvira that Skywalker had not come here with a game plan in mind, and was likely here in a spur the moment decision brought on by guilt. It was Kuvira that broke the silence.
"Your Padawan, Ashoka Tano, she was expelled from the order?"
He looked like he had been slapped in the face with the grimace that threatened to take it over. "She was framed and the council decided to expel her. Once she was cleared they offered to take her back." He said hotly. "But… yes, she left."
So it was still a sore subject then. She could relate to that at least. "I worked with her once or twice. She was a good padawan. Even Master Suyin thought so."
"You two were close, weren't you?" Skywalker asked.
Kuvira recoiled slightly, feeling the question had come out of nowhere. "I- She was my master, of course we were close."
"You know what I meant, padawan."
Her cheeks flushed red with indignation, to be called out so effortlessly… It took but one look to see that there wasn't any scrutiny or judgement in his face, only a keen desire to know more and understand. Perhaps her master hadn't given him enough credit?
Sighing, she replied. "I was born on Onderon. When I was barely old enough to run, my parents abandoned me and left me on the streets. I was orphaned and I didn't know how to fend for myself, and everyone thought I was a freak for my powers. I almost starved to death."
They were painful memories, ones she didn't like reliving, but she felt the need to justify herself somehow. "Master Luminara found me one day, and she realized I was force-sensitive, so she brought me here to become a Jedi. When I was old enough, Suyin chose me to become her padawan and I… And I came to think of her as the mother I never had."
Kuvira squeezed her eyes shut as the tears threatened to come rushing back. "I know attachments are frowned upon, but I can't help it. This amazing person saw some worth in me, the orphan, and practically raised me as her own. Suyin meant everything to me and then she just… Abandoned me like I meant nothing to her! All those years, and I was nothing more than just another student, that represented an order she could no longer be a part of. So she cast me aside like my own parents did…"
She felt the tingling sensation of salty tears dripping onto her cheeks, and she realized she was crying once more. Damn it. She was supposed to be better than this. "If she had just asked-" Kuvira chocked out. "If she had just asked, I would have gone with her without a second thought."
All throughout her tirade Skywalker had been listening intently, no judgement on his face, only concerns for a teenager that had just lost the most important thing in the world to her. "Do you still want to leave the order to go to her?" He asked softly.
"No! Yes? I don't know…" She bemoaned. "I don't know what to think anymore. Suyin left because she hated the war, she abandoned her duties because of ideals. She abandoned the people… And she abandoned me. I don't know if I could do that."
Skywalker nodded in understanding. "If you could believe it, I know what it's like to want to leave the order for someone you love." He replied, and Kuvira's head whipped around in shock. "Hey don't give me that look, it's true. The Jedi aren't as perfect as we try to make ourselves seem. We're people too, under it all. We have our own vices, our own hobbies. And we can fall in love despite ourselves, be that loving a parental figure or otherwise."
Kuvira couldn't have predicted their conversation swerving in this direction. That the Hero With No Fear was admitting to such a thing. "Kuvira, I won't lie. This hurt, it will not get better. It will continue to gnaw at you until all you can feel is bitterness and pain. Don't let it. Being a Jedi isn't worth that."
"Are you saying…? I should leave the order?"
"I'm saying to not let your duties make your emotions unimportant. They are. Most younglings are brought here so young… They don't know anything else besides the order. The Jedi Order is such a good thing, but I know how stifling it can be sometimes. If you really feel you must, go after your master."
"I… If I let, I wouldn't do it for her. I couldn't. She abandoned me. I'm damaged goods. That bridge has been burned."
"Then if you must, do it for yourself. There's so much galaxy out there, so many things to see. Wouldn't it be nice to see it rather than staring out of the garden skylight?" Master Skywalker slowly stood up and stretched, as if for sitting for such a short period of time was stifling to him. "I'm not saying to leave the order, and I'm not saying to stay. I'm just saying that you're young, you have such a big burden placed on your shoulders, and to do anything you can to not let it destroy you. Think about what I've said."
"I will Master Skywalker… Thank you."
"If nothing else you have something else to meditate on now. And please, Master Skywalker makes me feel so old. Call me Anakin." He strolled out of the room with a smile on his face.