I considered talking to my father, both telling him what I could do and confirming what Bowen had said about my mother, but I decided against it. I knew it was the truth. I can't say how, but I just knew, and I figured I could spare him some pain by not bringing it up. And if I told him of what I was capable, that too would surely dredge up old hurt and memories and it would just be better not to speak of any of it.

Plus, if I didn't discuss it with him it meant I could pretend it wasn't real and never think about it again either.

I spent the next two weeks much as I had spent most of my life. I went to the library or I went to sit by the lake, then I went home to cook dinner for my father. He never asked why Bowen didn't come around again, which was probably for the best. I was trying my hardest to pretend that everything was the same it had always been and being reminded by my father of the person who had changed it all would have shattered my little lie to myself.

The morning of the festival I woke up in a foul mood. I hadn't planned on attending, but since I was feeling especially perverse, I chose to go and see who I could pick a fight with. I dressed quickly and headed for the door when I saw that stupid handkerchief sitting on the table by my bed.

If you asked me why I picked it up and stuffed it in my pocket, I would not have been able to tell you. I'm still not quite sure. Maybe I thought I might need it. Maybe I believed it would be of use when I was looking for something to strangle certain other women with. Or maybe it represented something I needed to hold on to.

Sure; right. Maybe I had just lost my mind.

Whatever the reason, handkerchief in pocket, I left the house and headed towards the festival. I went alone since my father was already there on duty, working on his day off. Have I mentioned yet how wonderful his job was? At any rate, as I approached and could see all the people dressed up like dolls I felt more and more eager, ready to run into someone on whom I could unleash my fury. That was, until I saw them: three pristine white mounds bobbing in unison slightly above the heads of the rest of the crowd, like evil moons.

Stormtroopers.

There were Stormtroopers at the festival! My heart caught in my throat and I froze in place. I could feel my hands get all clammy. I don't think I had ever been this nervous in my whole life.

I took a deep breath and slowed my pace towards the festival grounds. By the time I got there, the Stormtroopers had disappeared into the crowd. I tried to talk some reason into myself. It wasn't unheard of for Stormtroopers to visit a planet. The Empire liked to keep its fist clenched tight around all the star systems within its jurisdiction; most likely their presence had nothing to do with me. I wandered around, trying to decide if I should go find my father or just go home when I felt a hand grab my arm and swing me around.

I got ready to fight off this person who had the nerve to touch me until I realized I was standing face to face with my father. I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Don't do that!" He released my arm and I put my hands on my hips. "You scared me half to death."

He smiled apologetically at me and then his manner abruptly changed and he looked around nervously. "I think you should go home."

My stomach clenched. If my usually calm and easygoing father was nervous, it meant nothing good. "Oh come on, father. Surely you have enough faith that I won't cause too much of a scene today." I tried to tease but it felt unnatural.

He grabbed my arm and walked me towards the edge of the fairgrounds. "I'm serious, Lana. There are Stormtroopers here." He lowered his voice ominously. "They were looking for you."

Now the fear and uncertainty threatened to overtake me. "Me?" I swallowed against the lump in my throat. Did they know about the rock? The book? How would they have found out?

I pressed my lips together as a name came almost instantly to my mind. The name I had been, for two weeks, trying to permanently eradicate from my memory. Bowen. That bastard sold me out. He was the only one who knew anything about it, and I had been stupid enough to tell him I would have liked to be a Jedi, and undisciplined enough to let him see me lose my temper.

He was going to pay. If I was going down, if the Empire had come to take me away and punish and possibly kill me, I was going to take him down with me.

I pulled free of my father's grasp and stormed angrily back into the melee of people. I heard my father calling my name from behind me and I realized he had begun to follow. I quickened my step, weaving in and out of people, keeping an eye out for the Stormtroopers, lest I be intercepted before I had my way with that arrogant lying bastard.

After a while of searching, I finally saw him. And wasn't that a pretty picture, he was arm in arm with that stupid blonde dog, Mairi. Wasn't life just perfect? They probably set me up. The two of them were a perfect pair. I pushed through the last of the crowd to get to them. I couldn't control my anger any longer and I reached up, put my hands on his back and shoved him from behind as hard as I could.

He whirled around and I saw his face turn from anger to shocked recognition when he saw me. "Lana!" He glanced quickly at Mairi and then back at me.

"Surprised to see me?" I asked angrily. "Did you expect they would have caught me already? Taken me away? Gotten me out of your hair by now?" I could hear my voice rising with each question but I was too far enraged to care.

"Bowen!" Mairi squealed unattractively. "She's frightening me!"

At that moment, my father decided to show up and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away. "Come, Lana, let's go home."

I pulled back and shouted. "Not 'til he and I have it out!" I continued to pull against my father, who was trying to physically remove me from the scene. "You bastard, you said you were my friend!" I tried to ignore the fact that Mairi was cowering behind him now, one hand on his waist, the other on his arm, and the sick feeling it was giving me in the pit of my stomach. I tried to ignore the fact that it was something other than just anger and fear that was fueling my emotions. I tried to ignore the pleas from my father to just come with him. I continued to try and get at Bowen.

"I am your friend, Lana." His voice was strangely soothing and he looked like he was about to continue but before I could be taken in again, I shouted back at him.

"Right! I suppose that's why there are Stormtroopers here looking for me. Because that's what friends do. They sell each other out."

The fear I saw in Bowen's eyes almost convinced me of his innocence. "What? They're looking for you?"

"Oh, save it," I snapped.

"Lana, we must go," my father continued to urge.

I was fighting a losing battle against my father's pull so I decided to force Bowen's hand. "You contacted them, didn't you?"

He reached out an appeasing hand towards me. "How could you even…?"

"No!" I shouted, smacking his hand away and narrowed my eyes. "I'll see you in hell, Bowen," I growled at him before I turned, allowing my father to guide me home.