When he thought about it, it was quite diabolical as punishments went. Apparently it wasn't enough that Jaden had beaten him to a bloody pulp, so badly that it took Aeden five minutes to assess the damage and find a spot on his body that wasn't throbbing in pain. It took another five minutes to maneuver to his left side to lie in the position that wasn't throbbing in pain.

His back was to the door but it couldn't be helped. He'd learned early in his Jedi training that he needed to protect his back and it was easier then because he had the benefit of the Force to read what was around him. When he was exiled and cut off from the Force, it became a hard and fast rule, one he never broke. Maybe this was another prong of the punishment, not being able to protect himself. And did that really matter? His time would be cut dramatically short if the Jedi Council and Republic had anything to say about it.

Aeden sighed to himself as he kept his eyes closed and breathing slow and steady. It wasn't the pain and discomfort, or the threat of a firing squad that was diabolical. No, that distinction belonged to the chatty, overly saccharin nurse that seemed to flitter in and out of his room keeping up a running commentary on his health and progress in healing. He may have once again been in the silent world of his exile, but he knew how he felt. The Kolto took the sharpest edge off the razors pain. Visas, bless her heart, wasn't a strong Force healer and she tried, but Aeden didn't want to speak with anyone so never told her that her efforts were wasted on him since he couldn't feel – and wasn't connected to – the Force.

" . . . Just between you and me, I don't know why they have a guard on your room. It's obvious you're not going anywhere and I get the distinct impression that even if you tried . . . well there's no reason to being up the unpleasant . . ."

So, no one told you I tried to take over the galaxy? I was the big bad dark lord of the Sith that threatened everything good and wonderful about the Republic.

" . . . I know the one Jedi, Atton Rand, although that woman Jaden, who terrifies me by the way, calls him Jaq, has kept the other Jedi away from you . . ."

She should terrify you. She IS the big bad dark lord of the Sith and apparently the Jedi as well. He tuned out the chattering girl as she tucked and re-tucked the sheets around him. This is just like that stupid essay I wrote when I was 16 and the council called me on it. Only this time it won't be the council to pass judgment, it's going to be the Republic.

". . . Even Admiral Onasi has ordered all personnel away from you except for the med team of course. We are so glad he's okay and recovered. It was touch and go there for awhile but when Jaden went into his room and sealed the door, well that was as close to panic as I've seen General Lavek ever come. Just between you and me, I thought he was going to order one of the men to bring a laser cannon and blast the door open. It was the Admiral's son that convinced him to leave them alone. Well that and the fact that Dustil – who's just as cute as his father, is handsome – proved a cannon wouldn't work. I mean why should it? Dustil tried to open the door with his light saber thingy, and it practically bent the blade. Do they have blades; is that what you call the light part?"

Aeden's head began to pound a sharp beat.

"Oh listen to me going on about the Jedi and their light sabers, like I know anything about all the mumbo-jumbo stuff . . ."

Once again he had the thought, does she know who I am? His headache was spiking into dangerous territory and laying here hour after hour thinking about his punishment and having to listen to this stupid simpering twit . . .

His hand snaked out, viper quick and grabbed the girl's wrist. When he opened his eyes, she startled back, surprised by the pure blue and the depth of annoyance she saw in them.

"Get. Jaden. Now!"


Carth needed answers but pacing his quarters wasn't going to help him find them. He knew he should ask Jaden but he just couldn't bring himself to speak with her yet. He would reach the small kitchen in his quarters and his anger with her would peak. The Republic fleet had been decimated by her hand, the Senate was beside itself in their outrage and disbelief. When he reached the window at the opposite end of his living quarters all he could think about was that he was alive, Zared – although still among the living – was no longer a threat to the Republic and the Sith had been vanquished. He avoided his bedroom at all cost, not even wanting his thoughts to travel down a personal path.

When he had woken in the med bay with Jaden curled beside him, relief had flooded through him. She was alive. They were both alive. The comfort he took from that thought quickly vanished when he realized he could still use the Force and felt the shifts between darkness and light from her. The situation was bad, he sensed that, and he didn't really need to hear her side of the story to know what happened.

Despite his efforts to maintain a professional perspective he realized he missed her even though they were on the same ship, saw each other every day, he missed Jaden; his Jaden, not the Jaden that now belonged, once again, to the galaxy and its Force users.

The Jaden that spent more time in the med-bay than anywhere else. Carth knew she was giving him time to come to grips with what he learned but damn it . . . putting aside the personal, he left his quarters in search of his answers.

He found Radha in the cantina, sitting in the corner watching the soldiers with curiosity. When Carth sat across from him he didn't acknowledge him except to say, "If this was the Gehenna, the men would be brawling and boasting about their latest conquest. Or that of their emperor."

"He's not their emperor anymore, he never was. Did he know he was also the embodiment of the Force?"

Radha's eyes widened and a faint smile creased his lips as he turned his attention to Carth. "I wondered how long it would take for you to seek me out. No, I don't believe he ever knew or figured it out. At least not until the end. Milady was his blind spot," he said quietly then chuckled when Carth frowned. "She is the one, the embodiment of the Force." At Carth's nod he added, "Yet despite it all, and knowing what she is, I see it is difficult for you to accept that she is also the leader of the True Sith, our Empress."

"Your . . . Empress destroyed my fleet," he snapped.

"She destroyed her own as well," Radha shot back in a lowered voice. "What is it you are looking for Admiral? Evidence of a crime so the Republic can try to punish her for protecting what is hers from what is hers?"

Carth sat back and drained part of the glass of Corellian Ale at his elbow. Well hell, he thought, nothing like putting a fine point on a murky idea. "No. I'm trying to figure out why Zared didn't go to Coruscant when he had Jaden and two of the keys. The fleet was at Telos so there was nothing to really stand in his way of destroying the Jedi temple and getting the remaining key."

Radha studied him a moment before tipping his head to the side. "Curious that you concern yourself with that rather than be glad the home world of the Republic goes unscathed."

"I fought beside General Zared in the Mandalorian wars. I know his thinking, how he strategizes a battle."

"Yet he has not been himself of late, has he." Radha drained his glass of brandy and motioned for another. "Admiral, Jaden sent the key to the Jedi masters knowing they would defend it with their lives. Zared understood this as well so there was no reason to go the temple on Coruscant; at least not until the Republic fleet had been destroyed."

"So what, as a way to punish Jaden he would make her watch while he broke his promise not to destroy the Sojourn and everyone on it?"

"You in particular, but that's beside the point. The dark side, regardless of the power it or its users wield, is like a child. When it doesn't get its way, it throws a tantrum. You know all this, so are you trying to justify what she did, or what Zared has done."

Carth pinched the bridge of his nose hoping to hold back the headache that threatened to be a doozy. "What happened?"

"Jaden used her most powerful weapon, I suppose, her knowledge. She goaded him, drew first blood so to speak by dropping whatever shield she had against that much dark side power. I think the simplicity of her action surprised him. Zared didn't believe she was that powerful to begin with, powerful enough to manipulate the dark side – his dark side - into attacking him by using the light side key." Radha watched him closely as Carth frowned and rubbed his temple.

"It was shortly after that that Zared asked about the legend of the keys and the six that buried them. It was the first time he had clearly associated you and the others with the keys. Shortly after that I came to realize what some of the artifacts, tablets, really meant. Of the six there are three, of the three, there is one."

"Jaden."

"I won't pretend to know what happened between you two, but as I told her, I am old not feeble and still have some of my faculties," he said with a faint smile. "I felt the shift in the Force, the power swirling around was quite remarkable. It was shortly after that had begun that Zared stormed back into the conference room and attacked the orb atop the light side key."

"She was with me, in the Force. I was returning the rest of the power she'd given me when she restored my life." Carth scrubbed his hands over his face. "Zared knew she would be most vulnerable then. Or the dark masters told him," he said on a sigh.

"Most likely, yes. When I reached her, she was in a deep . . . trance I guess you would say, almost like she wasn't there. From what you just told me it explains why I had to tell her what was happening. I'll assume you've been told the rest." When Carth nodded, he added, "Admiral, what are you going to do?"


Home. Home, home, home, home, home. Jaden took a large, exaggerated step over the line that had kept her from the Valley of the Jedi.

"Hee, hee, hee," she giggled with a huge grin as she did a quick hip-shake boogie before taking two quick steps, jumping forward before planting her feet to surf about fifty yards before she leaped, did a quick flip and stuck the landing with a precision that would have pleased even the pickiest of judges'.

Then she skipped.

All the way to the massive doors of the temple. When they didn't open she slammed her fists to her hips and frowned. It wasn't unexpected but it was disappointing.

~~ I was told I left the water running, ~~ she mumbled thinking of what Carth told her when she had sent him here to fulfill her promise to Morgana.

~~ Child. ~~

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled as she crossed her ankles and sat down in the dirt with her back against the doors. This is what she needed, maybe more than the rest and meditation. Sure, she couldn't get in the temple, but she could feel the energy that warmed the stones seep into her bones.

~~ Child, what are you going to do? ~~

~~ About what? ~~

~~ The son of Isano. ~~

~~ Which one? The son of Isano or the son of the son of Isano. ~~ Thinking on it, she decided it sounded like a bad horror movie title, and grinned.

~~ Do not get smart with us! ~~ The dark masters snapped.

Jaden shook her head. ~~ I'll handle it. ~~

~~ How? His voice will be heard in the Republic Senate. You do not rule there as you do the True Sith. ~~

~~ Would it kill you to have some trust? ~~

~~ When it comes to you? Yes. ~~

Jaden frowned.

~~ Stop. Both of you, ~~ the light masters admonished. ~~ Child, we are concerned. We warned you about becoming attached to the others when you left. We fear your feelings for them may interfere with what must happen to restore balance. ~~

~~ I know what needs to be done. ~~

~~ Do you? If you truly understood, the usurper Zared wouldn't be alive. ~~

~~ And you just can't stand that, can you. ~~ Jaden sighed. ~~ It served no purpose to destroy Aeden other than to satisfy your . . . pissiness that you couldn't control him either. ~~

~~ Child - ~~

~~ I don't want to argue, ~~ she sighed. ~~ I came here to gain control of the swings in my alignment, not discuss the short comings of the dark side - ~~

~~ Careful, little girl. Do not forget you are descended from those that buried the dark side key. ~~

Jaden waved the interruption away. ~~ I need to return, ~~ she told them as she saw Kwyn Lavek approach her quarters through the Force. ~~ Trust me. I know what I'm doing. ~~


Jaden shook off the slight dizziness she always felt when going in and out of the Force as she stood and went to open the door.

"I need to know why," Kwyn stated without preamble before he nudged her aside and entered her quarters.

With a raised brow she turned to him. "Being awfully brave, General Lavek, aren't you?"

"I don't care who or what you are. I don't care if you smite me down in a hail of lightning. I want an answer. I want to know why Visas, Atton, and Canderous are okay with this. I want to know why Master's Lyret and Shan –"

"Bastila's no longer a Jedi Master," she interrupted, but then held up a hand when he narrowed his eyes.

"- Why they're huddled in the conference room on a holo with the rest of the Jedi Council. I want to know what I'm supposed to tell the families of the men you . . . obliterated!"

It's a good thing I went home, she thought as she felt the dark side surge forward at being questioned. "Sit down, Kwyn."

"Answer me!"

She cocked a hip and raised a brow. "Visas and Atton are descendents of the six whom buried the keys just like Carth, Dustil, Aeden and I. Call it innate understanding of the stakes if balance isn't restored to the Force.

"Canderous? He's a Mandalorian. Besides owing me his life, bloodshed is like breathing for him.

"As for the Jedi, well I imagine they are trying to figure out what to do. Too bad for them they're all idiots and assholes that don't yet realize they're wasting their time because they have no say in the matter."

Jaden raised her hand and used the Force to shove him into a chair. "I thought Carth was dead, Kwyn, and if I hadn't heard his voice I was coming after you and the Sojourn next for letting him say the words." She nodded slowly when she saw comprehension dawn in his eyes. "That's right. Zared may have promised not to destroy the Sojourn. Me? Flick of the wrist and it was history." She took a deep breath and sat opposite of him.

"You'll get no explanation because as the embodiment of the Force I don't do explanations," she narrowed her eyes, "ever." After a short breath she went on. "You're a good man, Kwyn; a good friend and compassionate commander. Half of me despise men like you. Your compassion makes you weak and the weak don't deserve to lead." Jaden reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're not the only one that lost good men today," she whispered just before she allowed him to see what she carried.

The crushing weight of grief and misery stole his breath and had him dropping his shoulder in an effort to avoid her touch, but Jaden wouldn't be denied. Cries of anguish echoed around him, light or dark, Republic or Sith, indistinguishable in their shared suffering at the loss of loved ones. He saw the tear streaked faces of wives and mothers, the anger and hatred of husbands and fathers as they grappled with the loss. And he felt Jaden's amusement that she had caused so much suffering and he felt her own torment that she couldn't help heal the pain those left behind now carried.

"You're just going to have to trust that the part of me that admires your compassion will take care of the lives that were lost."


Jaden followed the young nurse down the corridor of the med-bay. Aeden had been isolated from the rest of the patients and had a guard on his door. The young girl had been keeping Jaden updated on his condition and suspected it was the nurse's way of staying close to him. Carth had ordered his isolation so Aeden didn't draw too much attention. Besides the Republic, she knew Master Lyret had been in contact with the Jedi Council. It was nothing she didn't expect and like she told Kwyn, the council would meditate on a course of action.

Yeah, yeah, you do that, you gutless wonders, she thought of the council.

When the door slid open Jaden saw Zared standing by the bed, his shirtless back to her. The pants he'd pulled on sat at his hips unfastened as his harsh labored breathing sounded in the quiet room. Scars she had caused through lightning and ripping her power away from him appeared across his back. His birthmark, the opposite of hers was an ugly throbbing welt.

He deserved it, all of it and more for what he did to you, what he took from you.

Jaden ignored her own dark voice. What had been was irrelevant at the moment as she acknowledged she couldn't bear to see him hurt.

~~ You cannot interfere, child. ~~

Jaden ignored her master's blended voices but couldn't ignore the stiffening of Aeden's muscles the moment he realized she was there. He slowly turned his head, his blue eyes pinning her to the spot where she stood. She wasn't certain what she had expected to see. Anger certainly, defiance maybe, hatred probably but his eyes held all and none of those emotions or thoughts. His eyes, the beautiful blue that had held laughter, could seduce with just a look, or terrorize with their coldness were drained. In that moment she understood what true weariness was and it surprised her to feel uncomfortable at the thought.

Carefully, he picked up the shirt at the foot of the bed and held it up. "You owe me a shirt," he said, his voice quiet and rough from disuse. The garment was in tatters, char marks along the ragged edges of rips and tears in the material and on the cuffs.

Saying nothing, she watched as he slowly and methodically made his way around the foot of the bed, using the railing for support. When he faced her, he backed up, placed a hand on his diaphragm and took a slow painful breath. Letting it out slowly, he placed both hands on the bed and sat – or more likely – let himself fall to his butt. The normally simple act seemed to exhaust him.

"Have you come to gloat?"

"No."

"Finish what you started."

"No."

"You know, you told me I didn't understand the dark side –"

"Stop."

"- Maybe you were right, but then I never got to the part where you ground your enemy under your boot heel –"

"Stop it."

"- To the razor's edge of death only to deny him that luxury –"

"Shut up."

"- So you could turn him over to the other side and watch from the sidelines as they –"

"Damn it, Aeden."

"- Drop him down some deep pit to rot in his own filth!"

She was to him in two strides, her hands framing his face. "Shut the hell up," she began in a harsh whisper as she rested her forehead against his. "I couldn't do it, you bastard! They told me one of you held my heart and the other held my soul and I would have to choose, to sacrifice one of you. I can't and I won't. You saved him, Aeden and in doing so you saved me."

"Wow, aren't I the magnanimous bastard."

"I couldn't do it," she whispered one more time as she took a quiet breath reached up to brush his black hair from his eyes.

She shook her head. "It may seem like I can mete out punishments, but I can't."

"Not your job?"

There was so much cynicism in his tone it had her snapping out, "I'm about to be out of a job!"

It was almost childlike, the way they glared at each other until something lifted in her when she saw him struggle against the grin. It wasn't sneaky or malicious, just a bit of ridiculous humor sliding under his shield of self-protection.

"I guess that's why you have the Jedi council, huh? They do the work of punishing those that break the rules." The humor faded from his eyes to be replaced by uncertainty. "So now what? Prison? Exile again? They won't let this go. I've murdered thousands, destroyed shipyards – "

"And routed several enclaves of Sith."

"Darling, stupid isn't a good look for you." The familiar phrase was out before he realized it.

They watched each other for a few moments as memories of other times he told her those exact words chased each other through their thoughts. Then they grinned simultaneously and the shift in Jaden was profound.

Aeden felt it too, and the breath he expelled released the tension in his shoulders and around his heart. He reached out and pulled her close, drawed her between his legs as he moved his arms around her.

"Jaden," he began not quite able to get his mind around the fact he was alive. He should be dead. He knew that, yet here he was, sitting on a bed onboard the most powerful of the Republic's warships.

"For years," she told him, "I blamed you. I blamed you for ripping away a part of me, creating the wound in the Force, in me, at Malachor V. Everything that happened after that . . . I blamed you for that as well because I couldn't stop it. You severed the link to my strength and then the dark masters took advantage of that.

"Standing in the rotunda," she told him as she moved out of his arms to wandered the room, "in the temple on the Sith home world, when you sent Revan after Carth, I came to realize that it wasn't your fault.

"You didn't know how strong the Mass Shadow Generator was, you didn't know how strong your connection to the Force truly was, you didn't know how all those lives lost would overwhelm you. You just didn't know."

"But you did," he said taking her hand when she wandered close enough to the bed to snag. He wasn't going to question the need to touch her, to have some connection between them.

"No, I didn't," she whispered the admission. "That's just it. I knew the history and that I was the embodiment of the Force and what I was supposed to do. Maybe it was my own arrogance, my unassailable belief in the power of the dark side that kept me from going further into the archives and realizing there was three of us. The masters kept that from me. I understand why now. They figured, since I was the one chosen, I didn't need to know about you or - ," Oops, she thought. When his eyes narrowed she silently added too much information

"Excuse me? Three of us? There are three embodiers?"

"No. There are three potential embodiers - a descendent if you will - one for each of the keys. We talked about this, it's part of the accords that were written millennia ago. One leaned to the light, the other toward darkness and the third was neutral." He didn't need to say anything to make her want to squirm. "Light, you leaned to the light."

"And you . . ."

"His name was Naxel," she blurted out as he continued to watch her. Sith'ari or Jedi, it didn't matter. Jaden realized why he was powerful and had others following him to war. It was those damnable blue eyes that had you saying things you shouldn't. "I learned of his existence when I learned there were three of us." She shrugged as if it was nothing. "He died . . . painfully," she told him in a soft, dark voice as the memory brought a smile to her lips. She blinked it back and brought herself back to neutral alignment.

"None of it matters, Aeden. The point is, although I helped the Zabrak create it to help Revan defeat the Mandalorians and the Jedi, I didn't know how powerful the Mass Shadow Generator was. Its energy, along with the strength of the Force on Malachor V, overwhelmed us both and when you severed your link – "

"You mean when I was cut off – "

Jaden swallowed back the snap of anger. "To cut someone off from the Force is to kill them, to cut them off you must disconnect them from the Midiclorians that reside in their cells and since the Midiclorians are a microscopic life form that reside in all living things, then you have to kill them. Then, someone is truly cut off from the Force. Dead, over and done with, non-nutritious worm food, not even a wisp of memory since memories are living breathing things in the Force. Your connection was," she waved her hand, "short-circuited and as it searched for a link it drained other's of their connection to the Force."

"Vrook and the other masters called it a wound in the Force," he said with a wince as he carefully tried to lie on the bed, she reached through the Force, found his pain and eased it.

She nodded, "Aeden, like I said, I knew the pieces of the puzzle but I didn't realize how they all fit together until it was too late. By then, the dark masters had manipulated Kreia into turning you to their side. They used you to advance their agenda and I could do nothing to stop them."

He traced his thumb over her hand. "Why do I feel like I should apologize?"

"'Cuz you like me . . . cupcake."

He smiled but it held a hint of sadness, as if he knew and was resigned to his fate. "I'm sure Admiral Onasi and the Republic would love a piece of me."

She thought of Carth, "You're right, they would. Carth will understand – it may take a bit of persuasion – but I think he's already coming to it on his own." She hoped as Aeden snorted. "The council will have no choice in the matter." She tipped her head. "Are you going to question this as you questioned so many things in the past?"

"Is that why you were chosen and I wasn't? I question everything?"

"No." she said thinking of the altered time line. "Your destiny lies along a different path." When she started to rise she found his grip tighten and tug her back to his side.

"So which one was it?"

Jaden smiled, leaned in to kiss him lightly before resting her head against his. "Funny thing about the heart and soul; sometimes they're so intertwined you don't know where one starts and the other ends." Which one saved the other in an effort to destroy her.


Jaden paced the corridor outside Carth's quarters trying to gather the courage to knock on the door. Ironic, considering her dark side was ready to kick the door in, literally and make him talk to her. They would be arriving at Coruscant in two days and she was tired of being shut out. Even the voice had found a way to silence itself from her. Yes, he could still use the Force, she just never figured he find a way to block her. Oh who was she kidding? She didn't want to know what he was thinking or feeling. It terrified her so she made no effort to find the voice in the Force and breach that barrier. Which, she thought shaking her head, was why she was still pacing the corridor instead of kicking the door in. You could open the door yourself . . .

With that childish thought she marched to the panel and rang the bell. It took precious moments and she could feel the darkness edge its way forward with impatience. Blowing out a deep breath she calmed herself. "Open the damn door Onasi; I know your standing on the other side!" Okay, so much for balance.

When it slid open he stood in the opening effectively creating a barricade in front of her.

"We need to talk," she told him as relief, fear and warmth skittered along her spine. He was so damn handsome. And so damn distant.

"Or what? You mind trick me into believing your version of the truth?" He narrowed his eyes, "Make me forget altogether?"

Her eyes darkened and her fingertips itched with power ready to be unleashed. "No." She turned to leave.

"Wait," he said with a gusty sigh before he stepped back to allow her entrance.

Jaden declined his offer of a drink and waited for him to settle on the couch. "Lay it on me."

The . . . resignation in his tone tore at her heart. Anger she could have met with anger, but this utter lack of caring . . . "Are you waiting for some excuse?"

He shrugged. "Excuse, explanation, apology. Let's have it."

Jaden chuckled and shook her head. "You're doomed to disappointment, Onasi."

"What, no I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry you saw me start the Mandalorian war that lead to Revan's involvement and your part in her fall to the dark side that lead to Saul . . ."

"That's enough!" She snapped. "I am sorry you saw all that and I won't apologize for my part in it, but before you go on with your version of events perhaps you should know that it was Mandalore the Ultimate who came to me. He wanted the war against the Republic.

"It was Revan who came to me seeking knowledge of the dark arts because the Jedi couldn't satisfy her need to learn all there was to know."

"Oh frack that! You expect me to believe you had nothing to do with any of it?"

"Of course not, but I never set out to intentionally start a war, or make her fall, or tell Saul Karath to kill your wife and take your son. You'll remember Zared had already taken part of me by that time," she sneered.

"So that makes it okay?"

His outrage was so powerful; she felt she could taste it. "Of course not." Jaden turned away from him and took a deep breath. "You saw only one side of the choice. You saw only the lure, the seduction of the power of the dark side.

"What you didn't see," she turned back to him, "is the reward and accomplishment that comes from doing what you believe is right.

"There is a choice," Jaden said, her voice turning seductive and husky as she held out one hand, a sphere of power floating above her palm, its dark, glossy finish hypnotizing in its enticement. "Will it be instant, a rush of pleasure that leaves you craving more and more until you will do almost anything to get it, keep it, horde it as if it was the most vital thing in your life."

Her words were hypnotic and it didn't take much to weave an enticing spell around him. Carth stood, walked to her and found himself, almost as if in a trace, reaching for the black sphere of power.

As quick as she had conjured it, it was gone and she held out her other hand. In it was a small opaque pebble, no, a seed.

"Or do you choose the path that while just as powerful, requires hard work and sometimes difficult decisions to grow and reap the rewards at a future time. A power that can be sustained through dedication to a greater goal."

Jaden closed her hand and stepped away from him. "I may offer the power, keep it in balance, but I don't make the decision or choices on how it's used." She shrugged. "That's left for the sentient beings."

Silence stretched for a few moments before Carth shook his head. "What a load of Bantha shit."

"Excuse me?" she asked her voice and eyes darkening.

"Oh please," he rolled his eyes. "I catch the embodier of the Force in a lie and you go all Darth Jaden on me."

"Tyr! It's Darth Tyr."

"It's not just the sentient beings of the galaxy that use the power you offer, the Force for their own purposes. They may make the initial choice, but in order to keep the balance you preach about, you have to offset what they do."

"What are you talking about," she snapped, nervous about what he would say next.

"You're right, I saw what you did, I saw that dark side of you, those choices that others had made," he stepped forward forcing her back. "I also saw your eyes," and he had he remembered now, "I saw your fear, the devastation in them as your power, what I held was returned to you. You didn't want to take it back because you were afraid of how I would react."

"I didn't want it because you could die, you idiot!"

"But I didn't," he said continuing his calm journey forward, backing her to a wall. "I remember that moment, the flash in your eyes before I lost consciousness."

When her shoulders bumped the wall she swallowed hard and tried to move away, but he brought his arms up and caged her in. Seeing the wariness come into her eyes was heady stuff. Lowly Carth Onasi was making the most powerful . . . being nervous.

"You were afraid I would go to my death thinking the worst of you. After everything you have done; returning Dustil, letting me see Morgana one last time, watching over the voice, watching over me."

But the pall of all the death and destruction she had caused, now and in the past, hung between them.

Jaden took a shallow breath and ran her thumb over the dent in his chin. "It breaks my heart; the pain I see in your eyes. How do I fix this?"

Carth kissed her brow and stepped back. "You can't."