-Hella-

Her breath came in heaving gasps, the white blankness of her aura suddenly giving way to the patterns of life, though, and emotion. Anger blossomed only to be instantly sublimated into shock and then into awe for the way I'd ended the fight. Fear overlaid the whole, fear over having so nearly been killed—and so easily!

"What do you want from me?" Jaesa whispered, so quietly Nomen Karr wouldn't hear her.

"To set you free." While Jaesa looked at the floor, I motioned Quinn to get Nomen Karr on his feet. Let him feel his loss—and let her feel it, too.

Her mouth twitched as she stared wide-eyed into space. "Was it all a lie?" she asked, her voice unsteady.

"Was what a lie?" I asked.

"He-they always said the Light was stronger. That that was why I could see to the heart of those who were…Dark. But I-I couldn't defeat you…"

She's asking me for guidance. We're so very, very close to ending this as I wished it to end…

"Is the Dark Side stronger…?" It was a treacherous little question; you could tell she thought so by the squeak in which she uttered it.

I didn't have to say anything. Nomen Karr, on his feet and between two armed guards, broke in, clearly desperate to reverse the harm, unaware that harm was all he could do, now. "Jaesa, you haven't completed your training! You mustn't let her deceive you!"

"I hardly think you're one to talk about deception, Master Karr," I declared, prowling to stand behind Jaesa, peering at him over her shoulder. She's mine, fool. Anything you say from this point onward only serves my ends.

"When you have fully communed with the Light Side of the Force, no Sith will be your match," Nomen Karr pleaded.

"And yet you were a Jedi Master with more years of 'communion' than I have years of life, and I defeated you." Nomen Karr's jaw tightened. "I've carved my way through every single Knight and Master the Jedi Order has thrown at me." The words were soft, reassuring even. This close, I could feel the tears building up in her—metaphorically, of course. "This is an old pain you feel. None of it from what has transpired today."

Jaesa turned, her eyes bloodshot, cheeks and nose rather red. She took the remark as it was meant: 'come, little sister, and tell me what's the matter.' Before speaking, she reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears, clearing her vision of all obstruction. "All my life I've put up with lies and deceit. I thought the Jedi would be different." She turned the rest of the way around, slowly, until she faced me, her eyes darting across my impassive features. "You've…shown me otherwise."

"Am I any different?" I asked.

"At least…you're honest about what you are. About what drives you," she answered after a moment's thought.

Nomen Karr's silent wail of horror was music to my ears, as was the sense of something dark and heavy falling across Jaesa's aura. Something in the mire seemed to unknot, to loosen, like hair coming down after a long night of being done up in uncomfortable hairpins. I forced myself to radiate warm reassurance, the idea that I was beckoning her to the Dark Side, but I was honest about it. I wasn't tricking her: I was simply holding the door open. And she would perceive this through our newly established bond—which immediately yanked tight, as if she'd suddenly reached out and clutched at it, like a life preserver suddenly cast to her.

"You exposed Master Karr for what he is. Zylixx too…it's your power that reveals a person's true nature. The fear," her voice trembled as her aura began to pulse, this time with stronger, more definite emotions. There was still much fear, but that will work itself out with time, "you inspire forces truth to the surface. I want that."

The break happened, not loud, not extravagant, just 'tch' and I knew in my guts, through the bond we'd struck, that little Champion of the Light Miss Jaesa…no longer existed. Now, there was this girl before me, bearing the same name, wearing the same face, but ready to be molded as I saw fit. When she opened her eyes, they'd begun to take on faintly amber tones: she hadn't slipped to the Dark Side. She'd thrown herself into it, desperate to escape the trap into which she felt she'd been ushered.

It was exactly as I told Master Yonlach: she won't fall for my machinations, she'll dive in headfirst.

Nomen Karr shattered and it was lucky the soldiers were on their toes, or he'd have thrown himself at Jaesa and I, using his teeth since his hands were bound. Jaesa staggered back, shocked by the violent motion, restrained through it was. I raised an arm, passing it between Jaesa and Nomen Karr, giving him a look of deep distaste, finding his attempt uninspired. Clichéd. Pointless.

And Jaesa responded positively to the surety I radiated. "I shall teach you what you wish to know."

"As your apprentice?" Jaesa asked, confirming my sense that she was one who needed someone to lead her. It's her upbringing.

"If you like, though I have not, myself, completed my—"

"It doesn't matter," she cut in, her big eyes fixed on me, almost trustingly. I say 'almost' because, whatever her failings, she was a smart girl and smart enough not to trust anyone without some reservation. It was wise and I applauded the wisdom.

I smiled for her. "If it doesn't matter to you, then I won't deprive you of what you ask. Very well, my apprentice, I shall teach you what you wish to know. Of life. Of the Dark Side. Of combat. Whatever you wish."

It was like setting a feast before a starving woman, so much freely given, knowledge previously outlawed, attention that seemed more personal and less professional.

"I am…honored, my lord," Jaesa bowed her head, her aura pulsing with powerful devotion.

"Hella," I declared simply. "My name is Hella, and I encourage you to use it."

The offer of informality elicited a wavering giggle. "You know…suddenly I feel a-a sense of purpose. Something I can count on. But…what about…Master Karr?" Unease flickered across her aura. He was, after all, part of her life for a time. She clearly felt she owed his fate some attention.

"He'll be taken to Dromund Kaas, to my master, Darth Baras. We'll let the two old goats have their feud and settle it themselves. As you said yourself: their vendetta with us as pawns had innocent people caught in the crossfire. It's high time they had it out face-to-face."

Her aura sparked, as though surprised I'd remembered what she'd said. "Isn't that…a death sentence?"

"Nomen Karr has fallen to the Dark Side," I responded soothingly, "he may best Baras. He may not. Perhaps they'll even decide their feud is worth preserving and hate one another from opposite sides of the galaxy. Who can say?" I was tempted to say more, but held my tongue. The temptation to talk too much is a chronic Sith failing.

Jaesa giggled, probably at her mental image of Baras (as a faceless Sith) and Nomen Karr glowering at one another from opposite ends of an astrogation chart. It didn't really matter, I don't think, what happened to Nomen Karr. She simply felt she ought to care, for propriety's sake. "Not I."

"Nor I," I agreed.

This was too much for Nomen Karr: the rage vanished, snuffed out, leaving him a broken shell, almost empty, devoid of spunk or spirit, muttering broken fragments of what should be indignation but which lacked…well, I've already said it.

It's been a very productive day.

"Captain, please clear your men. You may return to the ship whenever you are ready. We shall be along later, Jaesa and I."

"Of course, my, lord." Although Quinn's aura fluttered with stifled curiosity, he gave no indication for a non-Sensitive to pick up on.

Jaesa needs a few moments, and I called for them not a minute too soon. No sooner had Quinn vanished from sight, taking all his troops with him, then Jaesa walked over to Nomen Karr's chair and sat down on it, her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands.

The breath she drew was shaky, and the gulp that followed clearly audible.

I gave her my back, affording her some privacy in which she could pull herself together. Finally, though, and it took some time, she spoke: "I do look forward to learning your ways."

"I look forward to teaching you. Shall we return to the ship or would you like a little more time, here? Vette will want to cheer you up, I'm sure, and she can be a bit…overwhelming."

Jaesa got to her feet and came to stand near me. "Who is Vette?"

"My Twi'lek," I answered, taking Jaesa by the arm in a big-sisterly fashion. "She offsets Captain Quinn nicely—you met him briefly, the one who escorted you to me, earlier."

"Ah. And are there others?" Nervousness. Fear of being judged, fear of being found wanting…fear of being forgotten or shunted to the side. Fear of competition for her role of 'apprentice.' And a dark certainty: let there be competition. She would find a way to crush it.

"No, just the three—well, four now counting you—of us. A small, select band," I answered.

Jaesa's aura unknotted a little upon learning there was no competition at the moment. Weariness suffused her.

"What you need most is a hot shower. And some rest," I declared sympathetically, "and perhaps a hot meal. In that order, I think."

"A hot shower sounds marvelous," she admitted wanly.

"Then it shall be so. You must tell me where your things are and I shall have them fetched. But first we must report to my master—he will be eager to hear how this has all panned out."

"Are you satisfied with the outcome, my master?" she asked nervously.

"I am very satisfied with the outcome, Jaesa," I answered benevolently. And she would sense the truth of it, I'm sure.

-Jaesa-

My emotions roiled uncontrollably, but part of me seemed elevated above them, apart from them. Detached. Objective. I felt…strange, as if that killing blow had somehow severed me from everything and that I was just waiting to come back down. But I didn't have to land where I started, if I didn't want to…I didn't have to be who I'd started as.

"What do you want from me?" I asked her, voice only a little louder than a whisper.

The lightsabers turned off and she drew herself out of her ending stance. She didn't look at me, but answered clearly, if a bit out of breath, "To set you free."

She'd certainly done that!

She motioned to her Imperial soldier, who spoke several inaudible words to the ones that lurked out of sight.

"Was it all a lie?" I asked, surprised by the shake in my voice.

"Was what a lie?" she responded practically.

It felt strange asking her for answers…but at the same time, of everyone in this room with whom I've had any meaningful contact she's never lied, never tried to hide what she is. She's been honest. She might be Sith…but she's honest. She didn't start the fight…I did. She didn't kill me when she easily could have, when she had every reason.

Everything I've learned about her kind is wrong. Or maybe she simply defies anyone who tries to classify her. I want that. "He-they always said the Light was stronger. That that was why I could see to the heart of those who were…Dark. But I-I couldn't defeat you…" I looked her in the eyes, a tiny fragment of myself hating my next question, "Is the Dark Side stronger…?"

Master Karr broke in, and I resented him for it. I hadn't asked his opinion: I was all too familiar with it. For once, I felt the strength that the resentment brought, the strength to question, to defy. "Jaesa, you haven't completed your training! You mustn't let her deceive you!"

The Sith snorted. "I hardly think you're one to talk about deception, Master Karr," she declared haughtily, moving to stand near—but not too near—my shoulder.

I approved: you tell him, Sith. She has the arch disapproval down to an art. And there's something innate to it that I never saw on Alderaan, something that makes it more effective and impressive.

"When you have fully communed with the Light Side of the Force, no Sith will be your match," Master Karr bleated. The same old Jedi line. So why did I have no comfort in peace? No sense of security in tranquility? Why couldn't he stop her? Or her sadistic monster of a master?

The Sith didn't disappoint me: she had her answer ready. "And yet you were a Jedi Master with more years of 'communion' than I have years of life, and I defeated you." Master Karr tensed. Who said Sith can't ague sanely? "I've carved my way through every single Knight and Master the Jedi Order has thrown at me." She sniffed softly. "…this is an old pain you feel. None of it from what has transpired today."

It took me a moment to realize that the last two sentences were directed, kindly, to me. I found her looking at me, her expression still impassive, but with the beginnings of sympathy. I didn't feel insulted by it. Rather, it seemed to be an invitation to share what was on my mind, whatever was on my mind, without needing to censor myself. For someone who has always had to watch what she said, for one reason or another, being invited to speak freely was a gift. "All my life I've put up with lies and deceit. I thought the Jedi would be different. You've…shown me otherwise."

"Am I any different?" she asked, which was ridiculously fair of her.

I did think about it before answering her, although the answer came readily. "At least…you're honest about what you are. About what drives you." Which is more than so many can say. If this…is falling to the Dark Side…it's not so bad. "You exposed Master Karr for what he is. Zylixx too…it's your power that reveals a person's true nature. The fear, you inspire forces truth to the surface. I want that."

Oh, I want that. Desperately.

Master Karr reentered the conversation at that point, raging incoherently as he fought against the soldiers who'd got him on his feet. If they hadn't been prepared for the acts of a madman, Master Karr would surely have broken free of them and come at me.

I glanced at The Sith, who raised her arm between him and me, as if that single limb would be all the protection I needed from the crazed fallen Jedi. I found I wasn't afraid of Master Karr. Rather, I felt a detached sort of disdain. There was poetic justice in all this and, for once, I found myself in appreciation of the galaxy's sense of irony.

The Sith didn't let Master Karr's interruption derail the conversation, "I shall teach you what you wish to know."

"As your apprentice?" I asked, hopefully.

She smiled at this, the first time today I'd seen her do so. It was indulgent, but not coddling and, perhaps, a little rueful. Now that the fight was over, she seemed to be returning to a more…approachable…a more human state.

"If you like, though I have not, myself, completed my—"

"It doesn't matter," I cut her off. If she's an apprentice, it is by choice. And I sometimes think a Sith apprentice isn't quite the same as a Jedi Padawan.

This time she chuckled softly. "If it doesn't matter to you, then I won't deprive you of that. Very well, my apprentice, I shall teach you what you wish to know." My emotions buoyed up and, for once, I didn't try to beat them back down, "Of life. Of the Dark Side. Of combat. Whatever you wish."

Whatever I wish? The thought of such freedom in picking the direction of my instruction was overwhelming. It was like being offered the whole galaxy.

"I am…honored, my lord." That was how Sith liked to be addressed? That was how her Imperial addressed her, too, so it must be appropriate.

"Hella," she responded simply, "My name is Hella, and I encourage you to use it."

So that's her name. I found myself laughing nervously, my headache back in full force, "You know…suddenly I feel a-a sense of purpose. Something I can count on." And it was true. True, and wonderful to just say what was on my mind. "But…what about…Master Karr?" There is that. He's a dreadful hypocrite, but he did remove me from one unhappy situation even if only to put me in another…and now I'm here. I'm here, and the shackles are gone…

…suddenly I was very glad for Lord Hella's steady presence. Otherwise, I might just fly into a million tiny pieces.

"He'll be taken to Dromund Kaas," she answered, "to my master, Darth Baras. We'll let the two old goats have their feud and settle it themselves. As you said yourself: their vendetta with us as pawns had innocent people caught in the crossfire. It's high time they had it out face-to-face."

I nodded agreement for a moment before the full impact of what she said hit me. Well, first I realized those were my almost exact words from the message inviting her to a face-to-face chat—the one Master Karr talked me out of—and then what her statements actually meant. "Isn't that…a death sentence?"

But was that really so inappropriate? How many people had died because of him, needlessly? I didn't think she cared about 'innocent people' but about the inefficiency involved with their being in her way. I could appreciate the pragmatism.

And if it wasn't a death sentence…well. So many others had suffered because of him, why shouldn't he suffer, too? 'Balance in all things,' isn't that the Jedi way of thinking?

"Nomen Karr has fallen to the Dark Side. He may best Baras. He may not," Lord Hella answered, only mildly interested in her projection, "Perhaps they'll even decide their feud is worth preserving and hate one another from opposite sides of the galaxy. Who can say?"

I imagined Master Karr and some faceless Darth scowling at one another via holo, griping and threatening harm or retribution while nothing ever changed. "Not I," I admitted with a hesitant laugh.

"Nor I," Lord Hella agreed.

Master Karr suddenly fell silent, the fight abruptly gone out of him.

"Captain, please clear your men," Lord Hella directed, "You may return to the ship whenever you're ready. We shall be along later, Jaesa and I."

"Of course, my lord," her Imperial soldier responded briskly. Within moments, the room was empty except for Lord Hella and myself. I walked over to the chair Master Karr had occupied and dropped into it, my head in my hands, my thoughts beginning to buzz like angry flies.

When I finally looked up, I found Lord Hella had turned her back to me, but seemed attentive, as if waiting for a sign that I'd had the time I needed to recollect myself. With company, but without a true audience. "I do look forward to learning your ways," I declared, a little thickly but earnestly as I got to my feet.

"I look forward to teaching you," she answered solicitously. "Shall we return to the ship, or would you like a little more time, here? Vette will want to cheer you up, I'm sure, and she can be a bit…overwhelming."

Curiosity piqued. "Who is Vette?"

"My Twi'lek," Lord Hella answered, taking me by the arm, rather as an older sister might do. "She offsets Captain Quinn nicely—you met him briefly, the one who escorted you to me, earlier."

Captain Quinn. So far, my only real impression of the man is…well, vague, little more than a uniform on a well-programmed droid. A droid who enjoyed watching his Sith superior in action. "Ah. And are there…others?" I'm comfortable with Lord Hella. I've no opinion about her Imperial Captain. She speaks fondly enough of this 'Vette' character…but who else is there? Anyone I should worry about? The idea of being sunk into an established crew, of being 'the new girl' again made me shudder.

"No, just the three—well, four now counting you—of us. A small, select band."

That was a relief. I'd hated being the new girl with the Jedi. I was too old. I was an outsider. I'd hated it.

As if she sensed my thoughts, and maybe to some extent she did, she continued, "What you need most is a hot shower. And some rest, and perhaps a hot meal. In that order, I think."

The idea of hot water, a soft bunk, and hot food made me keenly aware of my body, not just my emotions. I was sweaty, both with the hot sweat of combat and the cold sweat of…I don't know. My hair felt damp and unpleasant and my robes smelled sort of musty. "A hot shower sounds marvelous."

"Then it shall be so," she chuckled, "You must tell me where your things are and I shall have them fetched. But first, we must report to my master—he will be eager to hear how this has all panned out."

"Are you satisfied with the outcome, my master?" I asked nervously as we stepped out into the humid Hutta evening.

"I am very satisfied with the outcome, Jaesa," came the easy answer, before she directed us towards her speeder, which would take us back to Jiguuna, and her ship…

…and the rest of my life.

-END-

Author's Note: That's the end of it! Thank you to all my readers and special thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and/or favorited! I appreciate the support!