AUTHOR'S NOTE: Last chapter, folks! Bugger of an ending, I know, but I didn't have that much to work with. There was going to be a fifth chapter, but it turned into a whole 'nother story. So, this is it. Damn, I was hoping this one would tide me through 'til KotOR2 comes out for PC. Apparently, I overestimated the time it takes to get a story up. Heh. Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers for the last chapter--Dark Lord Daishi, Tinuviel Undomiel, Blackheart Syaoran, shanesnest, ether-fanfic, gamorrean princess, Yggi, Ermine AKA Tree, and Darkness1. Reviews are the meat and bread of a fanfic writer, but you knew that already, didn't you?

CHAPTER FOUR: DARK HEARTS, DARK FUTURES

Jaden Korr arrived as the battle was in full swing, and tripled the havoc. She moved through the catacombs, cutting a wide swath through Reborn and Jedi alike. Some of the Reborn she spared in return for an oath of fealty, and by the time she made it out into the weak, chilly sunlight of the Valley of the Dark Lords, she had a small entourage and a trail of dead bodies behind her.

She stood on top of one of the highest tomb, weapon in hand, looking down on the battle below. Her opponent lay dead, and she booted the body off the roof, leaning over to watch it fall.

The sounds of battle echoed around the great bowl of the Valley, the stuttering chatter of the Imperials' E-11s, the staticky clatter of lightsaber on lightsaber, the cries of pain and the harsh sound of Force lightning resounding around the Valley until it was all so much meaningless background noise.

Jaden stared down into the battle raging below her, fascinated. Every now and again, a lightsaber would flicker out, and she would feel a soul become one with the Force. She had never stopped to consider it before, how sweet death could taste.

She tore her attention away from the battle and back to her final objective. The Tomb of Ragnos. There was one more person who stood between her and her goal.

Darkness enveloped Jaden as she made her way deeper into the Sith Lord's Tomb, moving lightly on her toes. Her eyes were alert for any movement within the shadows that surrounded her. She felt oddly comfortable here, as she hadn't lately at the Academy. The darkness around her called out an answering echo from within.

Three more dead lay in her wake, and now she stood before the doors. She stretched out a hand, yanking the Force savagely to her will. The high doors gave a groan of protest—someone had tried to seal them off. Jaden frowned, and pulled harder.

They capitulated to her power and creaked dustily open. Jaden paused. She couldn't help but feel that when she stepped through that door, it would become irrevocable. Standing there, on the threshold, she could imagine that she could still turn away, walk out of the Tomb…and everything would go back to how it was before. But stepping through that dark archway, into the heart of blackness…

She set her jaw, stubborn to the last, and took one step forward into darkness. And another, and another…until…

"Ah, it's Kyle's good apprentice," Tavion said, turning, the staff in hand. A mocking little smile was on her full lips, her whole stance challenging. But as her gaze met Jaden's, and she took in the younger woman's appearance—her bloodied and disheveled clothing, the set expression on her face, her eyes, like two black holes into a great void. "Or is it?"

"Your words mean less than nothing," Jaden said tonelessly, saberstaff in hand. The orange blades seemed a little darker, a little sooty, perhaps. Her eyes alit upon the staff in Tavion's hand, and avarice glittered in their empty depths. "Draw your weapon and die with what honor you have left to you," she said.

Orange blade met red. Jaden threw Tavion back, a sullen flame of anger burning in her chest. She nursed the rage and hatred, the sorrow and desperation and greed, strength flowing through her limbs.

Through passion I gain power, the darkness within whispered approvingly.

Tavion surged forward, a sudden flurry of blows battering at Jaden's defenses. The fallen Jedi fended them off with only slight difficulty and aimed a punishing blow to the other human's ribs.

The Sith Witch danced backwards, and Jaden heard her swear under her breath. A cruel smile curved Jaden's lips as she advanced. Tavion snarled and threw away her lightsaber, grasping the staff in both hands. Jaden noted that she held the weapon awkwardly, as though unused to it.

Her smile widened, ever so slightly. A step forward, pivoting neatly on her left foot, spinning the saberstaff flamboyantly as she spun through the movements of the kata, her movements speeding as she did so, the Force running through her in a torrent. She beat Tavion back again and again, and the Witch only barely managed to fend her off.

Then a wave of the Force hit her, knocking her back. Tavion grasped the staff in both hands and yelled something in a language Jaden didn't recognize. She brought the butt of the staff down on the stone floor, hard.

The entire tomb shook. Jaden was knocked clean onto her rear, but rolled smoothly backwards to land solidly on her feet, just in time to leap away from another attack.

Now it was Jaden on the defensive, as Tavion pressed her luck, teeth bared in a mad grimace. Orange blade clashed against dull metal, again and again as the Witch drove the fallen Jedi the length of the Tomb.

Jaden lashed out, her boot catching Tavion in the stomach, sending her staggering back. She dropped her lightstaff, raising both hands, fingers spread, and called on the Force.

Yes!

Red lightning spat from her fingertips, arcing from Jaden to Tavion in a deadly stream of power.

Tavion screamed, falling back.

Again, lightning flew from Jaden's hands, and the Witch fell to the ground, writhing in agony, face twisted, mouth open in a soundless scream of pain.

"This is the pain you have given me," Jaden said quietly. Tonelessly. She called her saberstaff to her hand, keeping her free hand up as she approached, ready to retaliate with another blast of lightning.

Tavion's ragged gasps echoed about the chamber. She glared up at the approaching fallen Jedi with hatred and helpless anger. "I…I will…not cower…as I did before…Katarn," she said, mouth working with rage and fear. "I…will…not." And she spat at Jaden.

"I can respect that," Jaden said. Her free hand clenched into a fist.

The Witch was gasping for breath again, clawing at her throat, the staff lying forgotten at her side. Her legs kicked weakly, her eyes bulging. One final convulsion, and she was still.

Jaden stood there for a long moment, staring down at her. There was no sense of triumph, no rush of unholy pleasure at her victory. There was nothing but an aching emptiness inside her.

The staff was lying on the floor, the torchlight playing across the dull dark metal. Jaden knew well how powerful it was, having been on the business end of that power more than once. The darkness stored within would serve her well, she knew. Well and faithfully, which was more than you could ever say for people.

She crouched, reaching out to pick it up.

"Jaden—no!"

She whirled to her feet, saberstaff out and lit in an instant, cursing herself for not paying enough attention to the Force presence that had been approaching.

Kyle stood there, panting slightly, face set. "You don't want to do that, Jaden," he told her.

"No?" she asked. Her breath was coming fast and short, more from surprise than from the grueling battles she had survived.

"It's not too late," he said quietly, staring intently into her eyes. "This can end now…right here. Just…just come back with me and everything will be all right. I promise."

"No. Nothing will ever be all right again," Jaden countered. "Can you bring Rosh back to life? I know I killed him…I felt him become one with the Force." Her face twisted slightly in disgust. "Death…tastes sweet." She shook her head, pale hair falling over her shoulder. "No, Kyle. I can't." She spun her lightstaff between her fingers, the orange blade humming.

"Jaden…please…"

She shook her head. "Out of my way," she snapped. "Or you're a dead man."

He slid reluctantly into a battle stance, weapon raised in a defensive pose. "Don't do this. This isn't you, Jaden."

"Maybe this is more me than I've ever been in my life," Jaden said, meeting his eyes. Hers were dark and horribly empty, void of any human emotion, the iris and pupil the exact same shade of black. The color of the void between the stars.

Kyle swallowed. This was a situation he'd never been able to imagine. Facing off against his own apprentice—against Jaden, for the love of the Force!—over a damn staff. He wasn't sure if he could kill her. He still wondered if it was truly necessary, if he could have avoided this, noticed the change earlier, or even just done something more when he did notice. Rosh might still be alive, and Jaden…

He ducked under her first attack, replying with a half-hearted thrust. She laughed in his face, the sound jarring horribly with her empty eyes, and spun away. Jaden was a fighter, above all. This was her element. Gore painted her long hair and clothing, the blood of her foes, like some bizarre tribute to those she had killed.

He fended off the orange blade once, twice, thrice, answering with a vigorous riposte that she deflected easily. Jaden had always fought like she lived. Passionately, and with a determination—no, an expectation—that she would win. He had once observed that Jaden walked like she was perfectly ready to go straight through a plascrete wall without a pause.

Now, every strike was calculated, purposeful. Every movement had been stripped to the bare essentials so there was not a wasted gesture or turn, every attack designed to deliver the most damage in the most inconvenient possible way. It was like fighting a droid, but a droid who'd fought you before, and knew all your tricks, because you'd taught them to her yourself. A droid that learned swiftly, even in the middle of a battle, and knew how to improvise and use her surroundings to her advantage.

She cut in high, an attack that would have parted his head from his shoulders, had it connected. She was really, genuinely, trying to kill him. His heart sank a little lower as he dropped into a crouch to avoid the blow. That surprised her. Inspiration struck, and Kyle exploded out of his crouch, hitting her solidly in the stomach with his shoulder, knocking them both to the ground.

All the breath went out of her lungs in a surprised whoof, and he winced inwardly to feel a rib or three of hers snap under the force of the blow. But immediately, she was struggling again, her face twisted with effort and rage and frustration.

He had the wrist of the hand that held the lightstaff firmly captured and smashed her hand against the floor until she released her grip. Her free hand went immediately to his throat, and he jerked, surprised.

Force, she has a strong grip!

He let go of her other wrist to grab at the hand that was now determinedly attempting to strangle him…and now she had both hands around his neck, thumbnails digging painfully into his skin, and he only had one hand free to try to loosen her grip.

Dammit!

In retrospect, knocking her to the floor had probably been his first mistake, followed closely by failing to pin both her wrists and knock her out immediately. But Kyle wasn't thinking that clearly anymore. Darkness encroached upon his vision.

He managed to wrap his fingers around one of her wrists, feeling the fragile bones grind painfully together, and yank it aside. Then he moved on to her remaining wrist, wheezing painfully for breath.

Then a herd of banthas ran him over.

Or at least that's what it felt like to him. He flew backwards, crashing painfully through a pillar and leaving a nice big dent in the wall. He slid to the floor, momentarily stunned, trying to clear his vision.

There was Jaden, back on her feet. The staff was in her hand, leveled at him.

"I'm sorry, Kyle," she said quietly. Her saberstaff flew to her free hand and she clipped it back on her belt without looking.

He groaned, shifting his limbs. In his mind, he lunged at her, wrestled the evil thing from her hands…in reality, he gasped in deep breaths of sweet air and couldn't move.

"This isn't the end," she went on, grounding the butt of the staff on the stone floor. "Oh, no. This is just the beginning."

He saw a beam of red light fly from the head of the staff and strike the ceiling. Saw the ceiling crack alarmingly and start to fall. He tried to gather in the Force and hold it back, but his consciousness was scattered and hurting and shocked and he couldn't muster up the power to hold it back completely…

He did, however, manage to keep himself from being injured too badly. After a moment's assessment, he used the Force to throw the heavy blocks aside, clambering painfully out of his makeshift tomb. Jaden wasn't there.

But Luke Skywalker was.

He was somber as he helped Kyle down from the pile of rocks. "Where is Jaden?" he asked.

Kyle frowned. "You didn't run into her?"

Both sets of eyes, brown and blue, were drawn inexorably to the jagged hole in the wall of the tomb. Daylight was a dim flicker beyond. "Oh," said Kyle cleverly.

"I misjudged her," Skywalker said, shaking his head. He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his closed eyelids tiredly. "But there is still some good in her," he continued finally, "though it remains buried underneath the darkness." He looked at Kyle. "You will go after her?"

Kyle nodded, massaging his aching neck. "Yeah. She's my responsibility." He shook his head, looking down. "Two students…gone…maybe I shouldn't be teaching anymore—I mean, I haven't exactly been an exemplary Jedi myself—"

"Even Yoda and Obi-wan lost apprentices," Skywalker reminded him sharply. "Do not judge yourself by one failure. If a student is determined to fail, there is very little a teacher can do to prevent it." Sharp blue eyes pinned Kyle. "We do what we must."

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. That too." He turned and started slowly for the door. He wasn't sure he'd be able to slip through the crack Jaden had made in the wall, and he was hurting too much to really want to try.

"Kyle."

"Huh?" He looked over his shoulder.

"I hope for your success. May the Force be with you."