It occurred to her, then, to reach out, to find a solution other than killing him. To try to waken something in him which would make killing unnecessary. Not hard, surely. Enough to remind him of himself, what he was before he was deceived. Shee asked quietly, 'By the way, what is your name? You never told me.'

His eyes met hers, cold but profound. She was suddenly disturbed by the control and certainty in them. 'You knew my name before we ever met. Were told it when you came to seek me. Darth Odius'

She shook her head, holding his gaze. 'That's your title. I'm asking you your name. Your real name.'

"Darth Odius. It's who I am.'

'I don't believe that. You were someone else, before you were a Sith Lord.'

'That person no longer exists. We all change as we grow.' Disconcertingly, he smiled. 'Who would you have been, if the Jedi had never found you? If you'd grown up on your homeworld, with your parents. Known their love, the things they wanted you to be? Does that person exist?'

'That's different.'

''It's very different. I was old enough to choose.'

She found himself unaccountably looking away.