Chapter 17

When Ahsoka Tano opened her datapad the following morning, she discovered that she had received a message. It was from one of her contacts in the Alliance Records Office. This particular contact owed her a favor, and she had called in that favor the previous day after her argument with Ben Skywalker. Ahsoka opened the message with anticipation. It began with a polite greeting, which Ahsoka skipped over. There was only one sentence that she found interesting: "I could find no record of anyone by the name Vestara Khai."

Ahsoka found this concerning. If there was no record of Vestara, then it could indicate that she was lying about who she was. It certainly supported the idea that she could be a spy. However, there were a number of perfectly innocent explanations as to why the contact's search came up empty. Perhaps Vestara's name was spelled differently than expected. Perhaps it was only a nickname. Perhaps her records only existed in a lesser-known database that most people would not think to search. In any case, it was difficult to look up a person without knowing more than just their name. And Ahsoka did not have sufficient grounds to request a proper background check on Vestara.

The Force told her that there was something off about the young woman, but Ahsoka could not tell how bad it was. She wanted to be positive, to believe that she was just being paranoid, as Ben did, but that just was not in her nature. Ahsoka had been through more than her fair share of conflict and suffering in her lifetime, which had forced her to adopt a more cynical view of the galaxy as she grew older. There always seemed to be trouble on the horizon, and she could not help but think that Vestara was a harbinger of the Jedi's next predicament. And Ben would wind up in the middle of it.

Much to Ahsoka's surprise, he had shown up for their scheduled session the previous evening. They had avoided the topic of Vestara, since their earlier argument about her was still too fresh, but Ben had agreed to talk about his date with Nysilla Zabeth. At Ahsoka's urging, he recounted the evening with as much detail as he could. Apparently, it had gone very well up until the very end. The memory of Nysilla's dress, the food they had eaten, and the conversations they had had made Ben smile. But when he got to the part where Nysilla rejected him, Ben turned wistful and more than a little angry.

That was to be expected; Ben clearly felt strongly about her, and her rejection of him had left him heartbroken. Ahsoka suspected that Nysilla felt the same way about him, no matter how much she denied it. She did want to be with him, but she was afraid of having her heart broken again. Unfortunately, there was nothing Ben could do until she decided to face that fear and grant him a second chance.

In the meantime, Ahsoka continued to gently press Ben into confronting his lingering feelings about the events on Dromund Kaas, but he continued to be evasive. He held firm to his belief that he had recovered from the experience and was ready to rejoin the fight against the Sith. He truly believed it, but Ahsoka could tell that it was not true. She could sense a great amount of turmoil within him, such as she had rarely felt since…

Since Anakin, towards the end of the Clone Wars.

It was true that Ben shared a lot of his grandfather's characteristics – self-assuredness, recklessness, compassion. They were what made Ahsoka so fond of them both, and how she knew that Ben would continue to see Vestara, even though she had forbidden it. They were also how she knew that there was no point in trying to stop him, and that he could take care of himself if her suspicions about the girl proved correct. But if they did, there was no telling how it would affect him emotionally.

Another trait Ben shared with his grandfather was an underlying darkness threatening to break free. In the case of Anakin Skywalker, it had succeeded to catastrophic effect. Ahsoka dared not imagine what would happen if Ben's darkness burst forth.

One of the most popular tourist destinations on Coruscant was Monument Plaza. It was constructed around the summit of one of the Manarai Mountains, which made it one of the few places on Coruscant were the planet's natural rock could be seen. In fact, it was regarded as the only place where people could touch the planet's natural rock. The mountain's granite peak extended twenty meters above the plaza and was surrounded by four tall, cone-shaped structures with 360-degree yellow panoramic windows, inside of which visitors could sit and eat or simply admire the view. Towering statues and colorful banners were scattered throughout the plaza, and restaurants and shops were built into the plaza walls. Located adjacent to the plaza was the Manarai, the most exclusive restaurant on Coruscant; and the Galactic Museum, the galaxy's chief repository of important artifacts.

Thousands of people visited the plaza each day, and hundreds were usually present at any one time during the day. On this particular morning, Ben Skywalker and Vestara Khai were among them. Ben had left the Jedi Temple early that morning, afraid that Ahsoka might try to intercept him to keep him from seeing Vestara. They had arranged to meet at Monument Plaza at Vestara's request. She had done some research on places to visit, and this had been at the top of every list.

After eating breakfast at one of the restaurants, they were now walking through the plaza. Vestara looked around, marveling at everything. "Everything here looks brand new," she observed.

"It kinda is," Ben responded. "When the Yuuzhan Vong occupied Coruscant, they destroyed this whole place. After the war, it all had to be rebuilt as close to how it originally was as possible."

Vestara's face fell. "That's terrible. How could a whole species have such little regard for beauty?"

"Beauty had nothing to do with it. They destroyed it and pretty much everything else on the planet because it was made of metal. They thought anything that wasn't natural was an abomination. And they killed everyone who used technology for being, as they said, 'infidels.'" Sorrowfully, he added, "Trillions of innocent people died in that war."

After a moment, Vestara asked, "Anyone you knew?"

Ben shook his head. "Not personally. I was only a baby. But my uncle's best friend died when the Vong destroyed their first planet. And my cousin died fighting them not long after I was born."

"Your cousin? How old was he?"

"Only sixteen." That shocked Ben more than it ever had before, because it was the first time he had realized the fact that he was older than Anakin Solo had had the chance to be.

Vestara gasped loudly. "That's terrible! I'm so sorry to hear that. Was he a Jedi, too?"

"Yeah."

"I can't imagine what your family had to go through." She paused for a moment before asking, "Why did you choose to become a Jedi? It sounds way too dangerous for me."

That gave Ben pause. He had never really thought about it before. He was forced to think back to his childhood when he first began his Jedi training. What had made him decide to be a Jedi? "I don't know," he answered. "Mostly because of my parents, I guess."

"What do you mean? Did they force you to be a Jedi? Or did you decide to do it because you wanted to be like them?"

Ben found that question tougher to answer. Thinking back on it, he could not remember ever actually deciding to become a Jedi. To the best of his knowledge, he only knew that he was going to be a Jedi because his parents had told him he would. Maybe they had forced him. But that could not be true. Surely, they would not have made such a drastic decision for him unless he had also wanted it.

After giving it some thought, he responded, "I wouldn't say 'forced,' but I guess I felt pressured. Since I inherited my Force-sensitivity from them, I guess there was an expectation that I use it to help people. Plus, being a Skywalker, there was also an expectation that I…" he paused to search for the right words, "carry on the family legacy, you know?"

Vestara followed that up with two more questions. "So, you're only a Jedi because of who your family is? Didn't you ever have a chance to explore yourself and figure out who you want to be?"

Ben stopped walking, and so did Vestara. She was looking at him expectantly, waiting patiently for his answer. Finally, he spoke the truth he had only just realized. "No, I didn't. No one ever asked me what I wanted." He stared dolefully into space, wondering how differently his life could have looked. He did not notice the slight smile that tugged at the corner of Vestara's mouth.

"Well, what do you want?" she asked.

Shaken out of his reverie, Ben turned to face her. "I already have what I want. I'm glad to be a Jedi."

Her smile vanished faster than a podracer. "Really? You didn't look very glad when you were arguing with Master Tano yesterday."

"That was just a disagreement."

Vestara raised an eyebrow. "That looked like a lot more like a fight than a disagreement."

Ben sighed and conceded, "Okay, yeah, she and I haven't been on the best of terms lately. But that doesn't mean I'm not happy being a Jedi. I get to travel to neat places, help people in need… carry a laser-sword; that's definitely a plus." He gave Vestara a wide, playful smile, which made her laugh. He, in turn, began to laugh with her, and they both resumed walking.

A moment after their laugher had died out, Vestara said, "Call me a cynic, but it seems to me that being a Jedi is too much trouble."

"What makes you say that?" asked Ben.

"Well, it sounds like you mainly just deal with pirates and smugglers, settle arguments, and do the government's bidding. And in return, you don't get gratitude; people are always blaming you for something."

Ben frowned, silently acknowledging that she was right. For as long as he could remember, people were distrustful or critical of the Jedi. Mostly, it was due to the fact that the Jedi wielded mysterious magical powers that the average person did not even believe in. This created a false perception that the Jedi believed themselves to be superior to everyone else. Also, it seemed like everyone felt that the Jedi were creating problems either by meddling in things that are not their business, or by not dealing with things they should have been. And it certainly did not help when Jedi turned to the dark side and made the other Jedi look bad. In this regard, Jacen Solo had caused a lot of damage to the Jedi's reputation – his uncle's, in particular.

"Am I wrong?" asked Vestara.

"No," Ben responded, shaking his head. "It really is a thankless job. But not always," he added, brightening up. "Every once in a while, you get to do something truly good, something that makes people happy. It's those rare moments that make it all worthwhile." He turned to look at Vestara and gauge her reaction to this. To his surprise, she was frowning. "What, you don't agree?"

For a moment, she looked away from him and said nothing. Ben could tell that she was carefully considering her next words, which he viewed as a bad sign. Finally, she said, "No offense, but I think it's hypocritical for the Jedi say they're keepers of the peace when they're fighting a war."

Vestara was not alone in that sentiment, Ben knew. People had been debating the Jedi's wartime role since the Clone Wars. "Well, we don't want to fight this war, but it has to be fought."

"I think you'll find that most people don't agree with that."

Ben stared at her with increasing suspicion. "Do you think that?"

Vestara stopped walking and turned around to face him, arms crossed. She kept her face completely neutral as she responded, "What would you say if I did?"

"I'd say you don't know anything about the Sith!" He said that a little louder than he had intended, but he did not care. He was tired of people questioning the Jedi's motives in this war. If he had to raise his volume to get through to Vestara, then he would.

Her flinch was almost imperceptible, but it was enough to let him know that she had his attention. Coolly, she said, "I just don't understand why you feel the need to go to war with them. What did they ever do to you?"

That did it. After what the Sith had put Ben through the previous year, he could not stand Vestara's ignorance. He felt his blood begin to boil, and it took every bit of self-control he possessed to keep his anger in check. He grabbed Vestara by the arm and led her to the nearest park bench. "Do you really want to know what they did?" he snapped.

Vestara answered by sitting down on the bench, looking expectantly up at him. He sat down next to her and began to tell his story.

In that moment, Vestara was very proud of herself. She had done what she had set out to do – bring out the anger in Ben. It had not been easy; she had had to guess what might make him angry and then smoothly steer their conversation in that direction. Unfortunately, her attempt to bring out feelings of dissatisfaction with the Jedi had been unsuccessful, at which point she had begun to fear that she had set an impossible task for herself. But when she questioned his hatred of the Sith, he took the bait.

She had hoped to avoid the topic of the Sith, fearing that listening to hateful rhetoric about her people would make her angry enough to slip up and blow her cover. But she had prepared for this possibility, nonetheless. She was confident that she would be able to handle whatever lies or Jedi propaganda Ben spouted her way.

But she could never have prepared herself for the story he told. A story of innocent men, women, and children snatched from their homes in the middle of the night and brought to a new planet against their will. A story of hard slavery in horrible conditions, of violence, rape, murder, and monsters who delighted in other people's suffering. And a story of bodies stripped naked, left to rot in a warehouse, and then fed into furnaces to generate power.

Vestara was glad that she had been sitting down; otherwise, she was sure she would have fainted from the horror. As Ben told the story, she stared open-mouthed at him, failing to hold back tears. Ben, on the other hand, showed no sign of sadness – only anger. And he just grew angrier and angrier until he was practically growling.

"And it didn't end there!" he concluded. "There are other slave camps just like Dromund Kaas throughout the galaxy! We only know where a few of them are, and they're too well-defended for us to attack them without innocent people being collateral damage! That's why this war needs to be fought! Because if we don't stop the Sith, they're going to enslave the entire galaxy!"

It took a moment for Vestara to realize that Ben's terrible tale had finally come to an end. Her first thought was that it was not true – could not be true. The Sith would never be that cruel. Yet, what reason would Ben have to lie, particularly in such detail? After another moment of collecting her thoughts, she spoke in a hoarse whisper. "But it doesn't make sense. Why would they do such a thing?"

"Because they don't care about anyone but themselves!" Ben answered. "All they care about is power! And they think people without it deserve to be treated like animals! Slaughtered like animals!"

She wanted to tell him that none of it was not true. But how could she tell him that without revealing that she herself was one of the monsters he spoke of? Instead, she thought of everything she wanted to say. The Sith do care about other people – friends and family!

A voice in her head responded, Love and friendship are weaknesses that can be exploited. Your first loyalty is to the Sith.

The Sith don't care only about power!

All you want is to rule the Sith. That is the only reason you accepted this mission.

The Sith don't treat other people like animals!

Those without power exist only to serve those with it. The Sith are destined to be the masters of the galaxy.

Vestara felt as though she were caught in a whirlwind, spinning so fast that all sense of direction was lost. There were too many thoughts and emotions flying through her head – horror, denial, betrayal, confusion, sadness, realization, panic, anger. She decided at once that she needed to be alone to try to make sense of them all, and her eyes fell upon the public refreshers at the nearby edge of the plaza. Saying a quick "excuse me" to Ben, she stood up and hurried towards the women's refresher, trying her best to appear composed. She must have been doing a poor job of it though, for people gave her concerned looks as she passed.

It was not until she entered the refresher and found it empty that Vestara allowed herself to break down. Tears streamed down her face and her breath came in heaving sobs. Leaning over one of the sinks, she stared at her reflection in the mirror and saw that her makeup was running. She turned on one of the faucets and splashed water on her face, washing the remaining makeup off while simultaneously calming herself down. She took deep, controlled breaths until the world stopped spinning and her thoughts slowed down enough for her to process them one at a time.

She refused to believe that the Lost Tribe would do the horrible things Ben claimed to have seen on Dromund Kaas. They would not have killed innocent children – not without a good reason, that is. They certainly would not have raped anyone. And they would not have treated the bodies of the slaves so indecently. But could the same be said of Darth Hatus' New Sith? Perhaps the Red Sith created by the Sith Orb were ingrained with the same ruthlessness as the ancient Sith in the stories she had heard. Or perhaps Hatus and his three apprentices had instilled that behavior in them.

Speaking of whom, Darth Volatis had told Vestara that Dromund Kaas had housed a manufacturing plant and that the Jedi had destroyed it for no reason. Now Vestara realized that that had been a lie to cover up the atrocities of the Sith. Volatis had also lied about the reason for this mission. She had claimed that it was about getting revenge for the attack on the Sith base and dealing a blow to Jedi morale. But it was really about revenge for her death at Ben's hands. In fact, Darth Hatus probably did not even know about the mission; nor did any other Sith, for that matter. And Vestara's promotion to Sith Saber was likely an empty promise that Volatis never intended to uphold.

Which means I've gone to all this trouble for nothing! How could I have been so foolish? Vestara knew the answer to that, of course; she had been so focused on her aspirations that she had been too blind to see that she was being tricked. Like so many Sith before her, her desire for power could very well be her undoing.

So, where do I go from here? she wondered. Do I complete my mission? She still had a chance to kill Ben and avenge the Sith's losses on Dromund Kaas. But, after what Ben had told her, she was no longer sure if they deserved to be avenged. She could kill him just to hurt the Jedi, but she did not feel like doing that, either. It would not make much of a difference; he was just one Jedi, after all. Besides, she had begun to take a liking to him.

Perhaps she could move forward with her more recent plan to turn Ben to the dark side. She was sure now that he would never join the Sith after what he had seen them do, but he could still do damage to the Jedi Order. That would at least help the Sith win the war. But Vestara was no longer sure she even wanted them to win. Ben had just said that if the Sith won the war, they would enslave the entire galaxy the same way they had done on Dromund Kaas. As weak and chaotic as the galaxy was now, would it not be worse under Hatus' rule?

And then Vestara wondered how much the Lost Tribe knew about these slave camps. Surely, if they knew what atrocities were occurring, they would not stand for it. Their alliance with the New Sith was already very unstable. If Vestara returned to Kesh told the Circle of Lords what Ben had told her, they would move to usurp Hatus and his followers and reclaim the galaxy themselves.

Or would they? Like Ben said, the Sith were obsessed with power, and Hatus had plenty of it. He had an army, a fleet of warships, and a Sith artifact that granted him unlimited power. Without them, the Sith had little hope of conquering the galaxy, which was the only reason the Lost Tribe had agreed to join Hatus. Even if they knew about the slave camps, they might still follow him out of their desire for power. Vestara did not want to believe that her people would stoop so low, but she knew in her heart that they would do it.

That led to the most terrifying thought of all. If the Lost Tribe isn't going to do anything about it, then maybe… maybe I don't want to be a part of it anymore.

Merely thinking those words made Vestara start crying again. She could not believe that she would even consider such a thing. Would she really abandon her home, her family, her lifelong dreams? Let a decade of grueling training and fierce competition go to waste? Dishonor two hundred generations of ancestors who had died waiting for the chance her generation had been offered?

Even if she did, what then? Where would she go? What would she do? She knew nothing about the galaxy beyond Kesh. The money Volatis had given her would run out before long, and then she would be broke. She did not have any skills other than fighting, so her job options were severely limited. And she would spend the rest of her life being hunted by the Sith, who would brand her a traitor.

Perhaps she could turn herself over to the Jedi. If she provided them with valuable enough information about the Sith and warned them about the impending attack, maybe they would grant her amnesty or place her in witness protection. But that would mean betraying the Lost Tribe and everyone she had ever known. She could end up being responsible for the destruction of her home and culture, as well as the deaths of her people, including her parents. That guilt would hurt her more than Sith torturers ever could.

Vestara realized then that she could never leave the Sith, no matter how much she wanted to. She was in too deep. She had no choice but to go along with whatever heinous acts the Sith performed. She had to complete her mission, regardless of whether or not she would be rewarded for it. It was her duty to eliminate any threat to the Sith's rise to power.

"Are you okay?"

Vestara jumped in surprise. She had been so immersed in her thoughts that she had not noticed another woman, who appeared close to her age, enter the refresher.

The woman, startled by Vestara's sudden movement, flinched and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Vestara shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes as she did so. "No, it's okay. I'm just…" She trailed off, unsure of how to explain her emotional state.

"Do you need help?"

"No, no, it's not like that. I just heard a really sad story, and it affected me more than I thought."

"Ah." The woman nodded slowly in understanding. "I'm sorry to hear that. Well, if you do need anything, let me know."

Vestara nodded her thanks and turned back to the mirror. As she washed her face again, the woman went into one of the refresher stalls and closed the door. When she had finished, she came back out and washed her hands at the sink next to Vestara, who was reapplying makeup from her handbag. For a moment, they were both silent. Then, as the woman dried her hands and was about to leave, Vestara suddenly blurted out, "This is going to be awkward, but can I ask you a question?"

The woman stopped and turned around to face her. She had a slightly bewildered expression on her face, but she smiled as she answered, "I guess you may."

After taking a deep breath, Vestara asked, "What do you know about the Sith?" She knew it was an odd question to ask a stranger, especially one who had just walked in on her while she was crying. But Ben's account of his experiences with the Sith had left her with so much doubt that she felt like she needed to hear someone else's opinion – particularly a non-Jedi's.

The woman's face morphed from confusion to surprise to sadness to anger. After a moment, she replied bitterly, "I know that they're monsters who have done horrible things."

Vestara's heart sank. She had been desperately hoping for a more optimistic response to help allay her fears. It then occurred to her that maybe this woman had formed her opinion of the Sith based on biased or untrue stories and knew nothing about what they were really like. "Well, that's what the stories say," she responded, "but how do you know they're true?"

For a while, the woman cast her eyes downward, looking as though she were considering how to answer. After what seemed like several minutes, she looked Vestara in the eyes and said, "I know they're true because I was one of their victims."

That was the last thing Vestara had expected to hear. In her periphery, she saw in the mirror her eyes widening and her jaw dropping.

"Have you ever heard of Dromund Kaas?" the woman asked.

Vestara nodded. "That's the story I just heard. Is it really true?"

"It depends on what you've heard. But I can guarantee that the truth is much worse." She spoke with a tone that clearly said that she did not want to give any details.

And so Vestara did not ask for any. She simply said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize…. I shouldn't have asked."

To her surprise, the woman responded, "Actually, I'm kinda glad you did. I think it's important that more people know the truth." She gave Vestara a weak smile and added, "I'm Nysilla, by the way."

"I'm Vestara." As she introduced herself, she realized that Nysilla's name sounded familiar, but she could not remember where she had heard it before. Continuing their conversation, she said, "The thing is, a lot of people might not accept the truth. Where I'm from, everyone thinks that the Sith are…" she hesitated as she pondered how to word her thoughts, "that the Jedi are evil and the Sith will make the galaxy better. But after what I've heard today, I'm not sure if I agree with them anymore. And if I tell them that, my parents will kick me out and everyone will hate me."

Nysilla looked at her sympathetically. "I wouldn't want to be around people like that. I guess you only have two options: keep quiet and feel like an outsider the rest of your life or move somewhere with nicer people."

Vestara already knew this. "But my… community doesn't let people leave. If you leave, then you're a traitor, and you'll be punished."

It was Nysilla's turn to look shocked. "What kind of community is this?"

It took a moment for Vestara to come up with an acceptable answer. "A very old one that cares a lot about ancestry and tradition."

Nysilla did not seem satisfied with this explanation, but, thankfully, she did not press Vestara further. "Well, then, I don't know what to tell you, except that they're wrong. The Sith are evil, and I have the scars to prove it."

Vestara tried hard not to imagine what kinds of scars she had or how she might have gotten them. "That should never have happened to you. I don't think I could have been strong enough to go through that."

"Honestly," said Nysilla, "I wasn't strong enough either, at least not by myself. I don't think I would have survived as long as I had if not for Ben."

Vestara's ears perked up at the mention of Ben's name. Suddenly, she remembered where she had heard Nysilla's name before; Ahsoka Tano had called her that when they had met the previous day. And then, with a jolt, she realized that this must be the Nysilla she had been referring to! It was an amazing coincidence… or the will of the Force. Vestara wondered what Ben's relationship with her was, so she asked, "What do you mean? Who's Ben?"

"He was the Jedi who got us all rescued. But we didn't know he was a Jedi, at first. He claimed he was just a moisture farmer who had been kidnapped like me. We became friends really fast. Over time, we got closer and, eventually, we were…" She trailed off, trying to find the right word. She began to smile, as though recalling a particularly happy memory. The suspense gnawed at Vestara.

Finally, Nysilla continued, "I fell in love with him. Even in that horrible place, surrounded by monsters and death, we found happiness with each other. He gave me the will to survive." Her smile faded and she turned her head to stare into space. "When I found out who he really was, I didn't take it well. I thought I knew him, but it turned out he'd been lying to me the whole time. After he got us all rescued, I told him I never wanted to see him again."

Inwardly, Vestara sighed in relief, although she did not understand why. Half-heartedly, she said, "That's too bad. You deserved better than that."

Nysilla gave a mirthless laugh and responded, "I'm not so sure anymore."

Vestara felt an unexplainable pang of alarm upon hearing that. "What do you mean?"

"I ran into him just a couple days ago. I thought seeing him again would make me angry, but it didn't. It only made me remember all of the good times we had. I felt… I don't know how to describe it. I thought I was over him, but I'm not. I'm still in love with him." In response to Vestara's shocked expression, she added, "Yes, even after he lied to me. I don't really understand it, either.

"Anyway, he took me out to dinner, we talked, and I realized that he was still the same person I fell in love with. When he asked me out on another date, I wanted to say yes, but I panicked. As much as I want to be with him, I'm not sure if I can ever trust him again. I mean, I want to trust him. My head is telling me no, but my heart is telling me yes. I just… I don't know what to do." She sighed and rubbed her fingers over her eyes as a sign of unsurety. "What do you think?"

Vestara was caught off-guard by that question. She was surprised that a stranger would ask a question like that. Then again, this entire conversation stemmed from her asking Nysilla an unusual question. Since Nysilla had answered her question, Vestara decided it was only fair that she return the favor. "I think your relationship won't get very far without trust. You should stay away from him."

"Even if I regret it for the rest of my life?" asked Nysilla.

That question gave Vestara pause. She thought about her own dilemma and could not help but draw parallels to Nysilla's. Her head was telling her to stay with the Sith, but her heart was telling her to leave them. Staying was the safest and, probably, smartest option. Yet, if she did so, would she not regret it for the rest of her life? "Maybe," she said, half to herself, half to Nysilla.

After that, neither woman spoke for a few minutes. Finally, sensing that their conversation had run its course, Nysilla said, "Well, it was nice talking to you, Vestara. I hope everything works out for you."

"Yeah," replied Vestara, nodding. "You, too."

They exchanged good-byes and Nysilla left the refresher. Vestara stayed behind to finish applying her makeup. As she did so, her mind raced. When she had first met Ben at the nightclub, he had told her that he had just been dumped by a girl he had once been close to. She now knew that he had been referring to Nysilla. He had not so much as mentioned her after that, although Vestara could tell that he had been heartbroken over her. Knowing now that Nysilla might want him back made her angry, although she could not explain why.

Perhaps it was because of her mission. Yes, that must have been it. If Ben and Nysilla ended up getting back together, it could derail Vestara's plan to turn him to the dark side. She needed to make sure that did not happen. She hastily finished with her makeup and hurried outside. There was a chance that Ben might have been waiting for her outside the refresher and Nysilla may have bumped into him as she was leaving.

Luckily, that did not appear to be the case. Ben was still sitting at the same bench where Vestara had left him, staring pensively at the ground. As Vestara hurried over to him, he looked up and stood in surprise. With a concerned expression on his face he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

She nodded and answered, "Yes, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I upset you. I shouldn't have told you about Dromund Kaas."

"No, no, it's okay. It's my fault, anyway. I shouldn't have brought up the Sith."

Ben shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have lost my temper. I should have just let it go."

Vestara opened her mouth before she had even thought of a response. "Well… how about we just forget it and get on with our walk?"

A relieved smile tugged at the corners of Ben's mouth as he said, "Yeah, sure, that sounds good."

Ben continued to lead Vestara through Monument Plaza, occasionally breaking the silence between them to make small talk. But Vestara did not pay much attention. She was too busy keeping an eye out for Nysilla. After several minutes without any sign of her, Vestara decided to relax a little bit. Even if Ben and Nysilla did run into each other, it was unlikely that they would reconcile so easily. And even if they did, and Vestara's plan to turn Ben to the dark side was thwarted, she could still complete her original mission by killing him – and possibly Nysilla, too.

Thank you for reading this chapter! If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in your reviews or private messages.

Writing this chapter turned out to be very mentally taxing. Therefore, I've decided to take a break from this story to relax and recharge. The next chapter may not be posted for another few months, for which I apologize. I want to thank those of you who have been patiently following this story. It's getting to be much longer than I had planned, but I promise that we are getting close to the exciting parts! For more details on writing this chapter, see the latest update on my profile page.