A/N: This story delves a bit into Rebecca's backstory, and brings a little to light about her...inner pain. Enjoy (or cry; it's quite sad. At least I hope it's sad.)! Also, thank you to all who reviewed, faved, followed, et cetera since the last time I updated; it's much appreciated.

EDIT: As of March 17, 2018, I have edited some of the content of this chapter due to future inconsistencies. The line breaks for this edit is now also different due to the recent disappearance of the line break button in the Document Manager file.

o-o-o-o

Chapter 14: Umbara

21 BBY (1.5 months later)

Rebecca deflected an energy bolt with her silver lightsaber, determined to reach her goal with the rest of the Republic troops. She'd been fighting with the soldiers for several days now, trying to take the capital of Umbara with General Tinn. They had finally made it past the capital gates after a lot of carnage, and were now trying to meet up with General Kenobi's troops, who had also forced their way into the capital.

She grimly watched as another clone went down from the constant fire around her, but knew she couldn't help him; he was already gone. The Umbarans were increasingly resourceful people, not just with their weapons, but also with their battle tactics. She estimated that maybe a quarter of the company she was with had been killed, but it was probably a much bigger number.

The smoke surrounded her, making it increasingly difficult to make out the shapes around her. One of them rushed at her, and she reacted on instinct, swiftly flipping the Umbaran over her shoulder and shooting her pistol at his chest, killing him instantly. She knew she should have felt bad about it, but she just couldn't. The war had forced her to fight without remorse for her actions in the heat of battle. When the adrenaline stopped coursing through her veins, she knew she'd feel the regret, but that was then, and this was now.

Her sixth sense started tingling just as she heard the shout, but she couldn't stop fighting; there were too many Umbarans to pause.

"Commander! Look out!" Rebecca never noticed the bomb until it went off, spewing shrapnel and other bodies in the ensuing explosion. As her body flew through the air, she felt the searing pain shooting through her body before it all went black.

o-o-o-o

Four thousand, nine hundred sixty-two deaths.

Four thousand, nine hundred sixty-two wasted deaths.

Deaths that could have been avoided if he'd been quicker to act, realized it sooner, and taken down that monster, who had, of all things, laughed as he'd sliced up Rex's brothers with his lightsabers. Like they were nothing more than simple toys he'd grown bored with. He'd deserved to die.

And yet, when the time came, he just couldn't do it. He couldn't kill Krell, no matter how much he hated the man for using him. For sending his own brothers to their deaths; for tricking him into killing his own brothers.

Rex ran his gloved hand over his scalp as he finalized the casualty report and sent it in to command. He should go down to the medbay to see how the men were doing, but he didn't want to look into their weary eyes and see the disappointment in them. He couldn't put it off forever, though. He had to go.

The first thing the clone captain noticed as he stepped into the 'bay was the chaos around him as various droids and clone medics flitted from clone to clone, doing their best to allay their pain and injuries. Even more than four hours after the battle ended and Umbara surrendered, there were still so many injured men to contend with. His fist clenched at the unfairness of it all.

These men deserved better. They shouldn't have to go through all this pain and suffering. Yes, he knew it was all for the benefit of the Republic, but...he didn't even know for certain if that really meant anything anymore. Maybe it did once, but now...he just didn't know. He wasn't certain about anything anymore.

"Captain!" Rex looked up and saw Kix striding toward him at a breakneck pace. He nodded at his friend and comrade.

"Kix, how are things faring in here so far? Any of the injured being particularly difficult?" At his words, Kix paused and looked at him strangely.

"You mean...you don't know about Commmander Storm, sir?"

Rex's brow furrowed as his stomach churned uncomfortably. Rebecca was...here? He thought that she had been deployed with another company; why was she here?

Rex spoke, trying not to give away his uneasiness. "No, what about her?"

Kix sighed warily as he answered his captain. "During the battle, Commander Storm got caught in an explosion and was evacuated from the battle in critical condition. We got her because our ship was the closest to her position at the time. The medics that were present did all that they could, but...well, she just got out of surgery, and we're not sure if she'll make it. It could go either way for her at this point, and her injuries are just so severe. I'm sorry, Captain."

Rex's mind went blank at the implication of the medic's words and the unspoken word searing his mind.

Dying.

In the year that he had known her, even though she was a strong, capable warrior, he had easily forgotten one crucial detail: she was not immortal. She was not invincible. It was so easy for him to see her strength that he had pushed aside the fact that even she was not immune to the disasters of war.

But now, it was glaringly obvious. She might be dying while he stood there. She could have died, and he would have never known about it if he hadn't come into the medbay when he had.

"Take me to her," he finally choked out amidst his shock and the tightening pain in his chest. He blindly followed Kix through the 'bay, not really paying attention to what was happening around him as he thought of Rebecca Storm. When Kix finally punched open the keycode to her door, he was not prepared for what he saw.

Rebecca Storm lay still on the bed, skin pale, with a breathing mask over her mouth, and bandages covering various burns and injuries on her arms, upper body, and face. She looked so weak. She looked like she was already dead.

After all he'd been through, after all he'd lost, it looked like he was going to lose her, too.

Rex stepped into the room, not even noticing that Kix had left, and collapsed into a nearby chair, too emotionally compromised to see straight, let alone think properly. He ran his hand tiredly over his face as he watched his friend fight for her life, albeit quietly. Unable to keep himself composed any longer, he closed his eyes and finally let the tears silently slide down his face.

How could I let this happen?

o-o-o-o

Rex stared at the wall in his quarters dejectedly. It had been a week since the capture of Umbara, and the Resolute was one of several starships left to guard the planet in case the Separatists attempted to re-take it or the Umbarans rose up in retaliation again.

But he couldn't let go of what had happened on Umbara; how foolish he had been during the battle. Because of his refusal to act, so many lives were lost. He couldn't forgive himself for that mistake. He couldn't treat those deaths like they had never happened.

A knock on the door interrupted his musing. Rex took a moment to mentally prepare himself before opening the door to the last person he expected to see.

"Hello, Rex." Rebecca Storm smiled uncertainly at him as he felt his mouth drop open in disbelief. Amidst all the work on the ship he had to do, he had spent most of his time keeping his bedside vigil by Rebecca, waiting for her to pull through, since the medics had decided that she was going to be fine. When he had left several hours ago, she had still been in a coma, though her wounds had healed nicely. Apparently she had just gotten discharged.

"Could I...come in?" Rebecca asked, eyes darting to Rex's with a touch of uncertainty written across her face. He didn't know why she was there, but he knew that he didn't want to be without her in that moment. Nodding his head, he stepped back and let her in before closing the door and walking over to sit on his bed.

Looking closely, he saw that she hadn't fully healed yet; she was limping slightly and wore some bandages on her arm, as well as sporting a few bruises and not-yet healed burns on her face, but her violet eyes still shone brightly with life. She wore her regular attire of clothing with dark colors, like her brown jacket and black pants. She held herself with a cautious air, as though not quite sure why she had come.

"Is there anything you need, Rebecca?" Rex asked patiently, his mask of calm sliding over his face once again. He didn't want her to see him the way he was feeling then.

"I...heard what happened to you while you were on Umbara, and I thought you might want to talk." Rebecca said nervously as she wrung her gloved hands together.

Immediately, Rex froze. No, no, no. He didn't want her to know how bad a mistake he'd made during the battle. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he cared what she thought of him, and he didn't want their friendship tarnished by his decisions. And yet...he looked into her eyes and saw that, maybe, just maybe, she understood his problem. Leaning back from where he was seated on the bed, he tiredly ran his hand over his head as he began.

"At first, it seemed like Umbara would be like any other battle, even if their technology was more advanced than ours. We were all doing fine, until General Skywalker was called away and Krell took his place. Then it all started going wrong. Everything we ever did under his command, was because he wanted us to die. Every last one of us, so the Republic wouldn't be able to take the planet. And I was a fool." He couldn't keep the self-loathing tone out of his voice as he went on, barely noticing the soft creak of the bed as Rebecca sat next to him while he continued to rant. "I knew what he was doing was wrong, but I was too short-sighted and trusting to believe he'd intentionally try to betray us. A Jedi would never do that. But I ignored everything until it was almost too late. Until I almost let two of my own men get wrongfully executed and murdered my own brothers. How could I have been so stupid?!"

As he finally finished, he looked over at Rebecca and was surprised to see her sitting back against the wall, with her eyes closed and tears rolling down her cheeks. As she opened her eyes again, he was immediately thrashed by the sheer and utter pain in them. He thought that she would hate him for what happened; he knew that she thought family was extremely important in life. But she didn't look mad. She just looked...heartbroken.

Rebecca turned her head toward him, and he was not prepared for what came out of her mouth next. "Yeah, well...you're not the only one, I'm afraid."

Rex's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?" She...she couldn't really know what he'd been through on that planet, could she?

Rebecca sighed sadly, swiping her hand across the tear tracks on her face, and asked him a question. "I never told you about Violet, did I?"

Now Rex was even more confused. First, she said that he wasn't alone in his pain, and then she completely changed the subject. That was...confusing. Nevertheless, he decided it might be better if he just played along for now.

"No. Who is Violet?"

Rebecca let out a bitter laugh as she answered, face etched with pain. "More like who was Violet, actually. Violet was my older sister and my best friend."

Rex got the feeling that there was more to this story than she was telling him, based on the conflicting emotions on her face. "What happened to her?"

"She died," Rebecca said shortly, voice tight with concealed emotion. Looking at her, he saw that her eyes were getting glassy, as though she was going to cry again.

"I'm sorry," Rex said, and he truly was. He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to lose family members. However, she seemed to get even more upset as he spoke, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. She shook her head as she began to stare at the wall across the room.

"You shouldn't be, though, Rex. She...wasn't well at the time."

Rex looked at Rebecca quizzically. "What do you mean?"

Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment, as though she were composing herself, before speaking again. "Violet and my mother had...always had problems for as long as I can remember, but it was normally just about trivial things, like who should wash the dishes. But, when my sister turned thirteen years old...that's when the trouble began. Violet thought that she should be entitled to make her own decisions and forge her own path away from our mother's legacy, but my mother was protective of Violet, and kept refusing to. Eventually, it ended in a big fight when Violet was fifteen, and she left to make her own life at the Kalifan Capital. When I went to visit her, though, she seemed...different. Like, oh, I don't know, like...some of her light was going out or something. I was only thirteen, though, and I didn't think too much of it. But looking back now...now I can see the signs of Violet's descent to a darker path in life."

Rex tilted his head quizzically. "A darker path?"

Rebecca nodded solemnly as she continued. "Yeah. Anyway, after that visit, she disappeared for a few months, and when she came back, she...she wasn't the same." Rebecca seemed to be struggling for more words as she tried to continue. "She...well, to put it bluntly, she...she killed our mother in cold blood. Said she was doing to set me free from our mother's trap, and that she was protecting me with her power." At her words, tears started to trail down her face again. "And right afterwards...she literally burned our hometown to the ground, along with practically everyone living in it at the time."

Rex was shocked. He had never expected anything like that to happen to his friend. He knew she'd been through a lot; he just didn't realize what she had really been through.

"Did...she get what she wanted?" Rex spoke carefully, trying to gauge Rebecca's reaction.

She chuckled sadly. "In a way...she got more power, but she also wanted me to come with her and join her, and when I refused, she decided it would be better if she killed me rather than try to keep me alive. I got away, though," she spoke up quickly when she saw Rex's face darken with anger, "I got away, and I tried to rebuild my life, but I just couldn't let her keep destroying so many innocent people. She started building a criminal empire and going by the name 'Pyra,' too. And I...I killed her."

At Rebecca's final sentence, silence enveloped the room as Rex processed her words. She...killed her own sibling.

Just like he had.

"You killed her." Rex's voice was dead in the cabin.

Rebecca nodded slowly. "It had to be done. She would have killed so many more people, and she would have never changed. It wasn't in her." She sounded a lot like she was trying to convince herself instead of Rex.

Uncertainly, Rex extended his arm around Rebecca as her tears continued to fall, pressing her into his side. Though stiffening at first, she relented and leaned against her friend.

"Why did you tell me this?" From the way she'd been acting, Rex assumed she definitely didn't like to talk about her sister. And yet, she had decided to tell him.

Rebecca sighed as she lay her head on his shoulder. "Because you need to know you're not alone in these things, and that I'm here for you. Honestly, though, I had hoped that I wouldn't have to tell you."

"But you did anyway."

"Yeah...I did. And...I needed to talk to someone about it. I'm glad it was you, though."

"I'm glad, too." For a few moments, silence enveloped the couple. Then Rex spoke up again. "Does it ever get easier?"

Rebecca looked up at him, the top of her head brushing his chin as she locked eyes with him. When that happened, time seemed to stop for the clone captain. All that he could see was Rebecca. Unconsciously, his eyes flicked down to her lips, then back to her violet eyes. It struck him then how truly beautiful she was. Not just on the outside, but on the inside, too. And he didn't know what to do about what he was feeling right then.

"No, I don't think it does." Her head nestled itself underneath his chin as she tiredly spoke, as though life itself was draining away her strength. Rex suddenly felt uncomfortable and flustered. What this was, it was...troubling to him. It was unknown. He needed to put some distance between the two of them, to give them something stable to stand on again. Rex went to remove his arm from around his friend, but her hand shot up and stopped him. Her eyes connected with his again as she tilted her head up, showcasing the tears filming her eyes. "Please...just hold me?" Her voice was wavery and vulnerable, as though she was afraid he'd leave her. Sighing, Rex knew he couldn't say no to her. Not anymore.

Rex's pain was still there. Maybe it always would be there. But right then, with Rebecca leaning up against him, the pain seemed to lessen, and his chest felt lighter. Whatever this was, even if it was unknown, it seemed to help him. Pulling her closer, Rex basked in Rebecca's soothing presence. He didn't have to say a word, and neither did she. Both already knew what the other was thinking.

o-o-o-o

(Fours years ago)

The blizzard continued to pelt away at her, getting worse and worse as the flakes hit her skin, feeling more like blaster bolts instead of snow. The wind whipped furiously around her as she continued to trudge through the forest, desperate to find her sis-no, that monster, and put a stop to her for good this time.

Up ahead, she could see a dark light coming from a clearing, it looked like. She picked up the pace, but kept going quietly, so as not to alert her enemy. Edging to the edge of the clearing, she saw her. Pyra herself, the black cloak covering her rustling in the wind and snow. She was kneeling in the middle of the clearing, where she had created a glowing black circle around herself, decorated with symbols of magic. Black lightning crackled and simmered from the circle, and Rebecca looked around the witch, searching for her weakness.

And there, outside of the circle, she saw it stabbed halfway through the ground: the Dark Blade of Scrios Bas, the First Dark Magician. She couldn't believe it; victory was practically at her fingertips. She couldn't believe that her own flesh and blood would be so stupid as to leave her most prized possession out in the open for just anyone. It was almost over.

And when it's over, you will regret it for all your days, a voice sounding suspiciously like Dakota Farthing whispered in her ear. Rebecca pushed that unbidden thought away; there was no time for thinking. She had to...to do what she had come to do.

Kill the witch Pyra.

But when you kill her, you'll kill yourself, too. Rebecca immediately locked that thought away in her mind, not wanting to be distracted. What did Dakota Farthing know, anyway? Sure, she'd been through some stuff, but so had Rebecca. Just because Dakota was the Phoenix Magician didn't mean she knew everything.

Just the important things. Rebecca didn't care. It had to end, right then and there. She didn't care...she didn't. All that mattered was helping her people.

Crouching down low, Rebecca crept silently into the clearing. Pyra's back was to her, so she wouldn't see her unless she turned around. The sword was forty feet away...then thirty...twenty...

At ten feet from the sword, Rebecca saw a crackle of movement out of the corner of her eye and leaped to the side. A good thing, too, because black lightning suddenly struck the spot where she had been only a moment ago. Pyra flinched and turned around to face her enemy. Rebecca was not ready for the punch in the gut at seeing her again, face-to-face.

Rebecca hadn't seen Pyra in person since she had burned down her hometown and killed her mother over three years ago. The thought spoke again in her mind, This is your sister, no matter how much you deny it, but Rebecca pushed it aside again. She just had to get through the next moments, and then...then everything would be fine. It had to be.

Pyra looked...well, terrible. The color had leeched from her normally tanned skin, giving it a pale, sallow color, which was a stark contrast to the long, dark hair whipping around with the blizzard wind. A glass pendant in the shape of a wolf hung on her neck from a chain, glowing in a white light as it whipped with the wind. Her face, which had once been beautiful, looked hollow, with her features sunken in like a corpse, with dark shadows under her eyes. And her eyes...her dark eyes locked onto Rebecca's, forcing her to read the story in the eyes of the diabla. She couldn't look away.

And she saw...complete and utter pain and hopelessness within the madness, and a heartfelt plea that was saying, Kill me now, please.

Well, Rebecca would just have to grant that wish. That was what she was there to do: her duty.

Then the young dark sorceress's eyes hardened, locking away the vulnerability, and her face twisted into a hideous sneer as she raised a hand to shield her eyes from Rebecca's aura of light, apparently, according to Pyra. The black lightning crackled and hissed as her eyes glowed with an insane light.

"Well, the Lone Wolf is here to end me, I see." Pyra's voice grew harsher with anger in every word. "I figured as much; after all, a person willing to betray her own sister is willing to do anything that had once seemed to be against her moral code. Such a hipocrita."

"Oh, you're one to talk," Rebecca scoffed, looking at the older girl with hate in her eyes. "You're the one who went against everything she ever knew for the sake of power."

"That power was meant to be used to protect you, girl!" Pyra screeched, midnight blue eyes literally glowing in a red tinge. "And I didn't betray anyone; my eyes were opened to the light, unlike you! It was your fault!"

"My fault?!" Rebecca said incredulously, wondering how she could have ever even remotely thought of this...thing, as her best friend. "I didn't ask for you to do that; I didn't ask for you to kill everyone and everything! I never wanted that; it was all on you! And this ends now!"

With that cry, she lunged for the sword and grabbed it by the hilt before her enemy could react. For a moment, she was stunned by the power she could feel emanating from the blade. For those few seconds, she could see why Pyra had been tempted to grasp it. But she was better than her. And it had to end then and there. With all her strength, and silently pouring all her magic into breaking the strength of the sword, she pushed the blade further into the ground and forced the hilt to the side, snapping the sword in two in the process. Immediately, the black lightning ceased and Pyra began to scream violently with a banshee cry that could have split the planet in two (if her magic circle wasn't already trying to do that). Falling to her side, Pyra began to writhe as the power and spirit of the First Dark Magician left her and dissipated rapidly into the slowing winds.

Rebecca looked around, waiting for the catch. Snow continued to fall, but, since the wind had ceased, there was a beauty to it. The forest was peaceful again as the dark magic left once more. Things seemed to be all right, but she knew that it wasn't. It never could be, not until she ended things. Permanently. And the only way to do that...was with what was left of the Dark Blade.

Her power is derived from that sword of hers, girl. The more pain and devastation created, the more power the First Dark Magician's spirit receives and transfers to her, feeding off the chaos and turmoil. It also sustains her life force, so even if you fatally wound her, the sword will keep her alive, using her negative emotions to fuel her life. You must break that blade so the Dark Magician's spirit cannot possess you like it did her when she grasped it, all those years ago, and so the power will be cut off from her. Then, you must take what's left and kill her with it. It's the only way to get permanent peace and safety. Understand? Or do you wish for her to continue slaughtering the rest of your magical kind?

Rebecca remembered that conversation with Daku. She knew he was right, but she also knew he had his own agenda for telling her that.

All that matters is taking care of the current threat, right here and now. Just do it.

Hefting the jagged Dark Blade (more like a Dark Dagger then, actually) in her hand, Rebecca approached Pyra, who was still reeling from the current loss of most of her dark magic, lying on the ground. She breathed shallowly, in and out, her eyes opening to see Rebecca. Strangely, though, as Rebecca stood in front of her, she didn't retaliate. That vulnerability the younger magician had seen before was then etched on Pyra's face. Crouching down, Rebecca looked at her worst enemy.

The moment of truth.

Then Pyra spoke, a strange softness to her gaze. "Well, aren't you going to do it, hermana?" Her wolf pendant seemed to glow even brighter with those words.

Rebecca's jaw clenched in anger at how effortlessly the witch called her by that endearment. She wasn't allowed to do that anymore.

"I'm not your sister," Rebecca growled out, anger tinting her vision red as she stabbed in ex-sister in the ribs. Immediately afterward, it was as if everything was clear again. Rebecca looked at the witch again, but she didn't see the monster. She saw her sister.

What have I done?

Rebecca hurriedly pulled the dagger out of Violet's side and flung it to the ground as she gathered her sister up in her arms, pulling off her own cloak to try to stem the bleeding, trying to keep the tears from falling. It couldn't be happening. It couldn't end. Not like that. But it was too late. As her tears fell on the older girl's face, Violet's breathing grew more shallow, but her hand shakily came up and caressed the younger's face one last time. Through the tears, Rebecca could see the faint hint of a smile before Violet's eyes closed for the last time and her hand fell limply to the side. Her pendant glowed more brightly as she did so and turned midnight blue.

"No, not like this," Rebecca breathed out, wishing with all she had that she had made things right, that she could have looked at things like Dakota had. But she didn't, and then the price was being paid.

Pressing her older sister's body closer to her own as her heart broke, Rebecca began to sob. She wanted to take it back. She wanted to go back. She wanted to say goodbye. She wanted to say that she had always loved her. She wanted to say she was sorry. But it was too late.

Nothing in the past can be undone.

o-o-o-o

A/N: So...was anyone expecting that to be part of Rebecca's past? I hoped that flashback scene was pretty heartbreaking for you, and that you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. Don't worry if you were left with more questions than answers, though, because they will all be answered in due time.

I've also started thinking about giving my main OCs character theme songs. Rebecca's theme song is "Brothers," by Hans Zimmer from the movie Pearl Harbor. You might (or probably will) want to listen to that to get a feel for her (and it'll probably make you cry, too). You can also listen to the rest of the soundtrack; Hans Zimmer was a genius at scoring it.

hipcrita=hypocrite; diabla=devil; hermana=sister

Scrios and bas are words I got from Google Translate; they mean destruction and death in Irish. Hey, I needed something for the Dark Magician guy's name, and I wanted to be unique. Also daku is Japanese for "dark," just to give you a heads-up.

I warn you, though, after this chapter, my muse sort of got burned out regarding chapter ideas, so it may be a while before I manage to update again (also, I still have my grueling college class to work on. Blech.).

So, anyway, reviews are food for a fanfiction writer's soul! Please leave a review on this chapter (I'd really like to know what you think about this one, since it's basically my biggest chapter!)!