a daydream and the painful reality.

There was no war. The four cadets had stood up proud and tall and accepted their diplomas from the hand of the Duchess. And afterward she had given a speech. "I am so very proud of each of you and must now do something that has been too long in coming." She faced the crowd as fierce and alive as ever. "Today I must apologize to someone very dear to me and make amends by revealing that Korkie Kryze is my true son and heir. Forgive me Korkie. I thought I was protecting you, but as you walked across this stage I realized what a strong and capable man you have become."

Korkie hugged her, "No apology is necessary, Mother." And the assembled people of Sundari cheered.

Later the Duchess waited impatiently while Soniee dressed in her old wedding gown. "Does it fit? Oh I do hope it does. I've just been imagining my son's face when he sees you walk out dressed in it."

Soniee twirled. "I can't thank you enough, Your Grace."

Satine hugged her. "Please call me mother. I went long enough without hearing that name from Korkie. Not that I want to take your Momma's place."

Momma was there too, smiling. "Of course not. We both want what's best for our girl."

Soniee walked down an aisle on the arm of a man in a brown cloak, toward Korkie who was waiting for her, beaming. Amis was standing beside him smiling not at Soniee but instead at Lagos who was standing on the other side of the dais with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and her other hand on her round belly. Soniee looked up at the man who was escorting her up the aisle. Master Kenobi's eyes were moist with unshed tears and she sensed the emotions: love and acceptance and pride.

And afterward there was a feast. Satine sat at the head of the table with Kenobi at her right, holding her hand unashamedly.

On his other side Master Skywalker was telling anyone who would listen, "Twins! That's right! That's what the med droid said."

Padme calm and beautiful as always laid a hand on his arm. "We're going to Naboo after this. I want to get started setting up the nursery..."

And Ahsoka was teasing them, something about finally getting them out of the way so she could be free to go back to Onderon. Lux squeezed her hand and grinned.

Momma was a little way down the table arguing with Fenn Rau about something but it seemed to make her happy.

Amis was fussing with Lagos trying to get her to eat something until her eyes lit up and she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. They both froze in awe, feeling their child kick.

Soniee couldn't be happier.

"This is how it's supposed to be." Korkie wrapped his arm around her.

"Yes it is!"

This feast was nothing like the one in Soniee's daydream, though she was sitting in nearly the same seat at the foot of the long table in the formal palace dining room. Lounging at the head of it was a being as different from the duchess as one could possibly be.

"Are your accommodations acceptable?" Maul asked.

"Quite comfortable, thank you." She gave the Sith a curt nod and took a sip of her wine.

"Our Prime Minister assured me that those particular rooms would be to your liking." He gestured a long fingered hand toward the old man staring at his plate sitting halfway between the two of them at the long table.

Soniee spared Almec half a glance and didn't let on how uncomfortable it made her to see the once grand government leader reduced to a sniveling wreck. "Oh?" She said inquiringly, stabbing a morsel from her plate with her fork and popping it into her mouth. She had no sense that Maul wanted her dead and starving herself proved nothing to anyone, so she decided to enjoy the food that was put before her.

Maul watched her always for her reactions. He seemed intrigued by everything she did and said, probably looking for weaknesses. "The apartments in which you have been settled were once the private quarters of a friend of yours from the Academy."

Soniee finished chewing and took another sip of her drink before she answered calmly. "Oh you must mean Satine's nephew. We were never really close. He always thought he was better than the rest of us."

She laid her hand to the front of her low cut dress. Her crystal lay hidden just below her neckline and it felt warm against her skin. She could sense Korkie standing behind her chair, tense and ready to spring. She could also sense Bo and Fenn standing either side of him, ready to protect him as surely as they would protect Soniee. She hadn't wanted him to come, afraid his emotions would give them all away. For all her worry however she also sensed something like pride from her husband. Korkie believed she was doing remarkably well under the circumstances and she thought he was holding up well also.

"You did more or less grow up together however?" Maul wondered. "Took the same classes, slept in a dorm room just down the hall. Do you think he ever knew he was living in such close proximity to such a powerful being."

Soniee clasped her hands together in her lap. No one had ever called her a powerful being before. "I was instructed never to let anyone know."

"Ah yes. Your... Buir did not wish for anyone to know of your powers?"

She nodded. "Yes. She didn't want the Jedi to find out about me and carry me away to their Temple."

Maul's smile widened. "A wise woman indeed. So you kept your powers a secret from everyone even when you and your friends rescued your duchess and put your corrupt Prime Minister in prison?"

Almec was just reaching for the salt hoping not to be brought in to the conversation when Soniee levitated the shaker almost out of his hand and drew it toward herself. When it was in her own hand and she had seasoned her own food she answered. "Especially not then. There was a Jedi Padawan assisting us to free the duchess. She would have gone blabbing back to Coruscant."

He nodded. "So you never told anyone and no one ever discovered the fact." He paused and then templed his fingers and tilted his head. "Not even your lover?"

Soniee froze, fork half way to her mouth. She took a moment to collect her thoughts and remember the lies she had already told. Almec was staring at her now too and she could feel Korkie behind her tense. She set down her fork and her hand went again to the crystal under her dress as she attempted to calm both herself and her husband's mind before she spoke. She hoped her words were tinged with grief and not guilt. "Amis. Yes. He... he did suspect. It wasn't till we were alone here in Sundari after all the other cadets had left the Academy, that he confronted me. He said somehow he'd always known that I was special but he said I shouldn't hide it. That I should use my powers to help people."

"Touching." Maul frowned. "So did you, use your powers for good?"

"Yes."

He was interested again. "Please continue."

"I - I," she tried to think of how to spin the tale. "Amis and I found out about the attempt to rescue the duchess so that she could get a message to the Jedi. I didn't want to do it. Amis said it would be like the time we had rescued her before and that if I was ever going to help and use my powers that this was the time."

Maul was listening intently but there was someone else she could sense who was hanging on her every word. She looked over the Zabrak's shoulder and saw the soldier who's helmet shared the same ring of horns. He had taken a step forward and though she couldn't see his eyes beyond the t-shaped visor she knew they were boring into her.

"Go on." Said Maul.

"We followed the Night Owls to the hanger and joined in the shoot out. I was afraid. I screamed and Amis... He looked back to see if I was okay. They shot him. And I just ...I didn't know how... I just shoved them away. One of them hit the wall and the others... a jet pack exploded and they..."

"It was you!" The voice came from the helmet of the man behind Maul and the Sith turned to look back at him.

"That's right you were there the night of the attempted escape, Gar. It was you who brought the wayward duchess back to me." He turned forward again in his chair to address Soniee. "Have you met Mr. Saxon, my dear?"

Soniee felt the emotions swirling around her. Korkie remembered the horned helmet and started to move forward. Next to him Fenn Rau was also seething but he put out a hand to remind Korkie to stay back. And this Gar Saxon, whoever he was, seemed ready to tear Soniee apart. She couldn't guess why.

"No, I don't believe I have." She tried to keep her voice level. She had seen him of course during the battle. She wouldn't soon forget that helmet. She remembered when he and the other soldier had flown off with the duchess. He had called back to the one man left on the platform. He had pointed at Korkie who was lying on the ground. Finish him! Her eyes widened.

"I didn't see her do it but it must have been her." Saxon spat. "My brother never came back. I left him to finish a job and he should have been right behind us. When we found his body, he had taken a blaster shot to the chest but thats not what killed him. Not a sign on him that anyone had touched him, but his throat was mangled. Only time I've seen anything like it is when you've throttled an enemy, Lord Maul. Had to be a Force user who killed him and she's just said she was there."

His words brought it all back, the fear and the anger and the raw power she had felt in that moment. Thankfully she remembered not to mention Korkie's name, but she had risen from her seat without even realizing what she was doing. "I would do it again in a heartbeat if it would bring Amis back!"

Her hand was raised. Almec was cringing. Her guards behind her were moving forward to hold her back, and Maul's face was absolutely jubilant. Saxon's hands went to his throat. She was going to finish him just as he had ordered his brother to finish off Korkie...

And then a quiet voice echoed in her mind, Soniee, this isn't you. Let him go.

Gar crumbled to the floor, coughing He ripped off his helmet trying to fill his lungs with air.

Soniee dropped back down into her chair and felt a hand descend gently on her shoulder for just a moment before her guards stepped back into their places once again.

Maul looked a little disappointed. "You have a lot to learn, my dear."

Soniee had no idea afterward how she made it through the rest of the courses of the meal. Maul spoke of his plans for the planet and the system. He also hinted at his desire to train her. He complemented her control and focus and her ability to hide what she was when she needed to stay hidden. He lamented, however, that she didn't have what it took to finish off her enemy when he was in her grasp. She could sense him chipping away at her resistance. It was emotionally exhausting.

All the while the soft voice, Korkie's voice, was whispering to her mind through the Force. She held on to that like a lifeline. When the last course was finished, her guards led her out of the dining room and Soniee practically collapsed into Korkie's arms.

"You think you can manage to get her back to her room, kid?" Bo asked.

"Of course I can. And I plan on staying with her." Korkie answered.

"Going to have a look around?" Fenn asked Bo.

"As long as we're here, might as well see what we're dealing with."

Fenn nodded. "I'm with you then."

Bo laid a hand on Korkie's arm before they went on their scouting mission. "We'll come around and check on you in a while. And don't worry we'll knock first."

"Thank you." Korkie watched them go and then with his arm around his wife he led, without even really needing to pay attention to the direction.

"I'm so glad you're here with me." Soniee whispered.

"I am too."

"Kiss me, Korkie." she said almost pleading.

He was still wearing his helmet and did not dare take it off until they reached their destination.

"I will soon, Love. We're almost there."

As they reached the door, she grew impatient, leaning back against the wall and pulling him against her. He responded and even as one hand went to the panel to enter the code and unlock the door, his other hand pealed off the helmet. He kissed her but then thought he heard something from down the hall they way they had come and looked back over his shoulder. Before he could see if anything was wrong she had reached up and turned his face back toward her own.

Korkie tossed the helmet into the room as soon as the door swished open and aimed both of them into the chamber's welcoming sanctuary. With both hands he began to work on getting her free of her gown, even before the door had fully shut and locked behind them.

An almost euphoric Gar Saxon knocked at the door of the Sith Lord's chamber.

"What is it?" Maul called out from within.

"My Lord, it's... something I need to show you."

Maul opened the door for the soldier. "This had better be good or next time I'll finish the job myself."

Gar wavered slightly and then held up his arm indicating the holo projector in the gauntlet. "Oh this is good, alright." He started the recording and they saw the girl and her guard arrive at her bedroom door.

"So she had a fetish for men in uniform. She's already proven this with the clone."

"No. It's not that. Look." Gar made ready to pause the image at just the right point in the recording. The young man turned to look be hind him and... "There! Don't you see? It's the Kryze boy. He may have grown out the hair and beard but I'm certain that it's him. She's been feeding us a line about the other boy all this time. This is the one she's trying to protect."

Maul didn't really care. So what if the Duchess took in a brat off the streets and tried to raise him up to be her successor. No one would ever sponsor the boy's claim to take over what Satine had been too weak to hold on to. He grabbed Saxon's arm to shut off the image, and maybe break the arm to make the man pay for interrupting his privacy when the recording started up again. The boy was pushing the girl's gown off her shoulders and something on a chain around her neck caught the light, just before the door shut in front of them.

"What was that?" Maul roughly twisted Saxon's arm the played back the recording again. He paused it at the point when the necklace because visible. "No," he said quietly. "It can't be. But where ever did she get it? Poor thing, probably has no idea what it is."

"What?" Gar bit back a scream of pain as his arm was twisted into an even more uncomfortable position.

"It seems Miss Ordo has discovered a Kyber crystal. We must ask her how she acquired such a priceless gift."