Hey all! Thank you for the reviews, I do appreciate them! I kept on second guessing with how Grievous might exactly react with the scenarios in this chapter but overall I think I did a good job of characterizing in the end... I expanded a little bit more on his past and I hope all those years of fandom and research pulled off xD Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter! As usual, please review/give feedback so I know how I'm doing :)

Innocence is Blind

Chapter 3 War Within the Warlord

"We caught this child and we wanted to confront you about this issue because our orders were to only eliminate any surviving adults," one of the four droids explained. "We're not sure how to deal with this one."

"Let…" Grievous cleared his throat. "Let me deal with this personally. Leave and continue with your security duties."

Obediently, the droids turned around and marched out of the General's Quarters, leaving the two souls alone. Oftentimes, when he said to leave it to himself and there was another person in the room, the unfortunate being was murdered. So the droids had a good feeling of what was going to happen to the poor child.

Grievous listened carefully to make sure the droids really were gone as he heard the metal feet echo. A few moments went by and soon enough, he couldn't hear them anymore. Then he looked directly into the orphan's eyes.

She gasped and took a step back, not expecting such an intense but not malevolent gaze. However she quickly recovered and retaliated with another stare. His golden eyes entranced and fascinated her. In her short life of five years, she had never seen a more haunting yet beautiful pair of eyes.

Without warning, he picked her up and held her out in front of himself. For a fleeting second, she thought he was going to kill her but quickly saw this wasn't the case. Grievous' grip was firm yet nonlethal. He walked over to his chair where he sat earlier and promptly deposited her in it.

"Oh, this is comfy!" she said. "I like this chair! Thanks for letting me sit here!"

The cyborg didn't reply. He stood only a few feet away from her.

"Child, what is your name?" he asked.

"My name is Celia Halcyn," she answered bubbly.

"Did you follow me? And tell me the truth…"

Her smile dimmed slightly because she knew she had gone against his orders to stay behind at her home. Her blue eyes averted from his form but then quickly glued back to him a few seconds later.

"Yes," Celia confessed, "but I followed you because I didn't know what else to do. My parents are dead and I thought if I went with you, I'd be safer!"

"That's where you are gravely mistaken, girl," he sneered. "You will not last a week by my side. In fact, I'm ready to tie you to the remains of your home so that you stay there without pestering me!"

"Please let me stay with you! I'm a good girl!"

"Why do you insist on having me as your guardian? I just conquered your planet and my soldiers killed your parents. If anything, you should be terrified of me! Besides, I am a general. I'm not a baby sitter."

"But…"

"No more." Grievous placed his hand over her mouth. "Silence. I will not fight with a little girl about this foolishness."

"I'm five!" She talked through his hand.

"Do not correct me. Now enough." He drew his hand back. "I'm going to call the droids in and you will let them take you back to your home."

Celia was immensely saddened by his persistent unwillingness. She began to breathe heavily and cry. Her face turned red.

"But… Who will take care of me?"

"I don't know."

"I'm gonna die! Please, don't let me die!" She sprang out of her seat and grasped one of his hands. "Please, help me!"

Grievous wrenched his hand free of her hold. He had never personally killed a child her age and he felt he was going to do it any second. Despite his ferocity, he had a certain code of honor towards his enemies or the spawn of his foes. He thought it was lowly to kill anyone younger than a teenager since they were so innocent and impressionable. Instead of killing them, they should be converted and made useful for his agenda. Yet he had never instituted this principle amongst his soldiers or mentioned this to his lords.

"No, no, no!" he said as his anger began to peak. "Clearly you do not understand the meaning of 'no'!"

Fearfully, Celia jumped back into her seat. Visibly, she began to shake and this was the most terrified he had seen her so far. She cradled herself as she sat in the seat, refusing to look away from Grievous. Her large blue eyes looked like flawless sapphires as the tears lit them up.

Memories came flooding back to him once more. It couldn't be at a more convenient time. Except this time, he wasn't reminded of Kalla. Now, Grievous was reminded of the orphaned Kaleesh children whose families had been murdered by the oppression of the Huk.

He recalled how their faces were etched with cuts and their skin had turned calloused and irritable from the ashes they hid in. They looked like walking skeletons as starvation and plague ravaged them. In essence, they were living ghosts that somehow managed to survive the horrors of the invading insectile race. Yet not many of the broken orphans had recovered: many had died of grief, starvation and their wounds. Quite a few times, when Grievous and his old Kaleesh comrades rushed to an assaulted village to aid survivors, children had died in his arms.

The Kaleesh warlord saw the tiny graves he dug as he looked into Celia's eyes. Even though she was Human, she had the same look of fear and hopelessness as the alien younglings. And it began to grow increasingly disturbing and painful as long as he gazed on her.

Forcing himself to break the stare, Grievous turned his back on her. Celia sat silently and anxiously, waiting for almost anything to happen.

"Celia," he said, "since you are only five, I will try to explain this as simply as I can to you."

"What?" Some of her fear melted away and was replaced by a sensation of mystery.

"I cannot take care of you. I can't make it any clearer or obvious. My job is to conquer the galaxy. I…" He turned around. "I have to do it and I want to do it as well." Grievous was not accustomed to making himself so blatantly meticulous. He was forcing himself to be patient because she was not a bumbling droid. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mr. Grievous," Celia nodded.

"Before I go on, let me ask you something: why are you insistent on having me as your caretaker?"

Truthfully, even the girl didn't know why. When she heard his metal feet clank against the street in the moonlit darkness, she somehow knew to take a chance. All Celia knew was that she needed help and needed it now. Even though it was in the form of a large mechanical man, it didn't matter. She was blind to his appearance. Celia did hear about his infamy only briefly in everyday life in her home, but it never really did register in her fragile mind.

"I don't know," she said softly. "I'm telling the truth! You believe me, don't you?"

He shook his masked head, not even going to try to think about her rationale. She was a child and children were illogical. And they were innocent, helpless and always wanting to extend a hand in friendship and happiness…

"Regardless," the General resumed, "I do not have the time or the resources to look after you. Besides, my lords would not like it if they found out I was taking care of you…"

He could not focus as long as he was looking at Celia. All he could think about was the countless young dead cut down so mercilessly and soullessly during the Huk War. His emotions began to run a little loose and soon enough, Grievous was starting to become flustered.

"Dammit!" he vented, slamming his fist into the table that stood behind him.

"Did I say something wrong?" Celia asked. "Can I make it better for you?"

No. He refused to let a child get to him. If anyone got a hold of this, both his allies and foes would see him in a dim and demeaning light. For the sake of victory, he couldn't let his vicious portrait be tarnished by an orphan. Many years of training, hardship and the spilling of blood, sweat and tears had gone into molding him into the feared entity that he now was.

At the same time, Grievous kept an extremely confidential tab on his past. A few times, he almost became an orphan too when he was young boy. There were times when his stomach was empty for days. He once saw one of his old childhood friends being ripped to shreds by the Huk warriors. As a necessity of the awful war, his father had taught him to kill to survive and defend his family. And the cyborg's own father became one of the many dead in time.

Celia studied Grievous. Her eyes were unblinking and she felt the urge to go up to him and see what was wrong. But she was afraid of being yelled at or even struck now. The friendly child refused to remain inactive in any form.

"Mr. General Grievous Sir?" she asked timidly. "Are you okay?"

He was so absorbed by the conflict within him, the General didn't even hear her. The half droid could only think about the potential scenarios and their consequences. To his reluctance and disgust, he found his heart softening slightly over this matter. For the first time since his reconstruction, he was confronted with a tough decision where he truly didn't know what to do.

"Mr. Grievous?" Celia repeated. "Can you hear me? I want to know if you're okay!"

Her voice sliced through his thoughts like a lightsaber tearing away flesh. Reptilian eyes looked at her with a softness no one had seen in a long time. Grievous felt wretched and loathly. He refused to acknowledge the tiny flame of mercy that licked at his icy heart.

"Celia Halcyn," he said, "do you know what you're getting yourself into? I'm giving you one last chance. If you know what's good for your own life, you will go home. I am only being extraordinarily patient because you are only a little girl."

"Is this a trick question?" she cocked her head to the side.

"No. I am being completely serious. Well, do you?"

"I would go back to my home because you keep on telling me too, but I don't have one anymore… And I know you're going to be very mad at me."

Grievous sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. His eyes shut. Seconds later, he reopened them and drew his hand back.

"I have decided to let you stay with me," he announced. "But…"

The sorrow and uncertainty Celia bore melted away miraculously. Her whole being lit up and her frown morphed into a huge and sunny smile. She leapt out of the chair and threw her arms around one of his metal legs, hugging him.

Grievous nearly fell over in shock. He stood awkwardly: this didn't happen to him at all in his new existence.

"Thank you so much!" she said gleefully. "I'm so happy! Can we be friends?"

"Celia, listen to me," her caretaker said.

The Human child tilted her head up to face Grievous but didn't break the embrace. She looked quite puny and only stood a little under halfway up to his thigh.

"I will only take care of you until I find someone who will permanently adopt you," said Grievous. "And I will immediately start the search. But for now, because you'll be my charge, you must obey me."

"Okay!" Celia nodded her head.

"Alright, then let me go."

She took a few steps back, releasing him in the process. Already, Celia seemed to be a new person. Her lovely and angelic smile prevailed. Then she giggled playfully.

"Can I have a piggy-back ride?" she pleaded.

"Absolutely not," the cyborg folded his arms across his chest.

"Okay!"

"You must remember to listen to me and be on your best behavior, Celia. Can you do that?"

"Yeah! Like I said, I'm a good girl!"

"I'll hold you to your promise then." Grievous turned around and began to walk away. He then paused and looked behind to her. "Now follow me. I'll take you to your new room."

"But, Mr. Grievous, I'm not tired!"

"Just call me 'General Grievous'. The 'Mr.' bit sounds ridiculous."

"Can I just call you 'Grievous'?"

"Whatever…" He rolled his eyes. "Now do you want me to show you your room or not? Or would you like to sleep inside the engine room? Better yet, why not the hangar bay beneath a starfighter?"

"I want a bed!"

"Then I suggest you follow me… Now."