Luke's head was spinning. Callista. The pain of her loss still burned deep
inside of him. Mara's presence had buried it, but had never really
dispelled it, though with her in his life, ha had managed to forget.
But now those carefully constructed mental shields that had concealed his memories of her for so long were crashing down around him. For the sake of his sanity, he had always assumed that she was dead, but in his heart he knew that she was not. He knew he would have known the instant she had disappeared from the world of the living.
Regardless of whether she was living or dead, he had believed that she was lost to him forever. Mara filled the void she had left behind, filled it perhaps better than Callista ever had. But Callista was his first love, and he knew that as much as he might try to deny it, he was still very much in love with her.
And now, by some strange twist of fate, her apprentice had appeared seemingly from out of nowhere to kill him. Coincidence? Perhaps. But Ben had never believed in coincidence, and Luke tended to agree with his teacher. There is no such thing as coincidence. There is the Force.
Though even that seemed lost to him now; his mind was in such turmoil. He took a deep breath. Before he did anything else, he had to calm down. He reached out into the never-ending stream of life that was the Force, and eased himself into its flow, feeling himself become soothed. He opened his eyes.
He realized that his feet had unconsciously carried him to one of the Botanical Gardens of the Imperial Palace, a place he often went when he felt troubled. He walked over to one of the marble benches and sat in the shade of one of the many Hapan kinito trees that lined the paths here. The thin gold leaves rustled softly in the wind, a sound that calmed him further. He finally felt clear-headed enough to think rationally.
He knew that the first thing he needed to do was to find Mara and apologize, assuage her doubts, assure her that she was still his all and his everything. He knew how she felt about Callista. She had never forgiven the woman for hurting him, and probably never would.
He sighed. Even after all these years, he still missed Callista. One of his best students had given her life so that Callista might live on.but when she found that she had lost her ability to use the Force, she had left him to find it again. After that, he had thought that he would never love again.but Mara came along, told him to stop being a melodramatic fool and gave him the love that Callista couldn't.
Now it seemed that Callista had regained her powers. But Luke had a sinking feeling in his heart that they were not powers of the Light side of the Force, but of the Dark, the quick and easy way, and, perhaps, the only way for Callista.
* * *
"Well, who the hell is she?" Leia snapped over her shoulder at the NRI agent who was frantically trying to keep pace with the diminutive Chief of State. "You have two names to go on: Fayrelle and Callista Chad. I want all the intelligence information you can dig up on them as soon as humanely possible. This was a direct threat on Master Skywalker's life, and I want it neutralized immediately!"
"Yes, ma'am! We'll get to work on it right away," the agent scurried away, looking relieved.
Leia continued down the hall towards the high-security area of the prison. She absently waved her I.D. at the checkpoint, and stopped briefly to confer with the guards. "Have the ysalamiri come in yet?" she asked.
"The shuttle's just bringing them over, ma'am," one of the men answered. "Had some trouble finding as many as you wanted, but we managed."
Leia nodded. "Good." She glanced down the hall. "I'd like to speak with the prisoner."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but she's under heavy sedation until the ysalamiri get here, as per orders of Senator Fey'lya."
Leia sighed. Of course Fey'lya would get himself mixed up into this. "My authority overrides his," she explained patiently. "I would like to see the prisoner."
The guard looked uneasy. "Ma'am, she's considered extremely dangerous-"
"I will assume responsibility for the danger," Leia said crisply. "Wake her up and let me in to see her."
The guard hesitated, but pulled out his comlink. "Randit here. Take the sedation off of high-security prisoner D. She's got a visitor." There was a burst of static and a tinny reply. "I know, but the order came directly from the Chief of State herself.no, she's standing right here.yes, that's right.okay. Randit out." He clicked off the comlink and looked up at Leia. "They're removing the sedation now. She should be awake when we get there. If you'll follow me."
"I would like to speak to the prisoner alone." Leia's voice was icy. She saw him stiffen and begin to turn, but she snapped, "That's an order, soldier."
"Yes, ma'am," he said miserably. He pointed down the hall. "Third door on the right. I'll key the door to enter when you get there."
Leia nodded. "Thank you." She walked down the hall and stopped at the door he had indicated. It snapped open with a hiss, revealing the girl's inert form lying on the hard prison bunk. As Leia entered, she began to stir. The door snapped shut again, and Leia took a seat in the single chair in the tiny cell. She looked down at the girl coldly. She wasn't exactly sure why she had come; after all, she didn't really believe that she could find anything out from this girl that the NRI couldn't. But she'd felt a burning desire to confront her brother's attacker since Mara had come home the night before, tense and upset and without Luke. She hadn't said a word to Leia, but she knew that this girl had done more than simply attack Luke. Luke himself hadn't returned home until very late, and Leia wasn't sure if he'd even spoken to Mara. There was something very wrong here. She knew what Han had told her: that the girl's name was Fayrelle, that she thought that Luke had murdered her mother, and that she was under the tutelage of someone named Callista Chad. Leia knew that the probability of this being the same Callista that Luke had known all those years ago was very low.but obviously, he didn't agree with her. Leia felt a momentary pang for her brother. He had just begun to settle down with Mara.and now this. Was he destined to always be alone?
Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open. Leia was started at how blue they were. And how familiar. Where had she seen eyes like that? She felt as if she'd seen this girl somewhere before. She gave herself a mental shake. She'd never met this child in her life. She forced a pleasant smile. "Hello, Fayrelle."
"Who.who are you?" the girl whispered, looking around. "Where am I?"
"You're in the high-security area of the New Republic Detention Facility on Coruscant. I am Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State. I've come to ask you a few questions."
Fayrelle sat up and backed herself up against the wall. She looked terrified. "What happened? Why am I here?" Her face clouded. She looked as if she were about to burst into tears. "Did I do something bad again?"
Leia fought to keep her face impassive. What in the hells.? The girl had gone from a fierce predator to a lost child, reminding her heart-rendingly of her own children at a younger age. Sternly, she told herself to stop being ridiculous. This girl had tried to kill her brother. "Yes," she answered carefully. "You did. Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
The girl shook her head slowly. "No." she whispered.
"Well, then, I'll tell you," Leia said, struggling to keep the bite from her voice. "You broke into a wedding celebration in the Imperial Chapel, and attempted to kill Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Three civilians were injured in the melee, though none critically, and 21,000 credits worth of damage was inflicted on the Chapel itself. Ring any bells?"
The girl gaped at her. "I.I did that? Oh, no." Her brimming eyes finally overflowed and she began to cry in huge hiccupping sobs. "Calli, Calli, why'd you make me do that?" she wailed.
Leia watched this with interest. Either this child was a remarkably good actress, or she was being controlled by an outside source. She bit her lip. There was one way to tell, and she really wasn't as good at that kind of thing as Luke was... She reached tentatively into the girl's mind. And was thrown back, gasping, at the twisted, whirling vortex that gyrated there. She stared at the girl. She hadn't done that to herself, she knew. Someone had deliberately torn huge chunks of memory and personality from this child's mind, and replaced odd pieces of other things, creating a huge, twisted mess of thoughts and feelings that were barely her own. After a moments hesitation, Leia reached out gently with the Force and softly caressed the girl's mind, calming and soothing her like she would her own children. That was all this girl was, she told herself stubbornly. An abused, misguided child.
Slowly, Fayrelle's sobs ceased and she looked up at Leia with bright blue eyes. "You're much nicer than Calli," she said, sniffing. Suddenly she clapped her hand over her mouth and looked around fearfully. "Oh, I didn't say it, I didn't say it, Calli, I didn't say it!"
"Shhh." Leia whispered, reaching out and smoothing back the girl's hair. "Don't worry. Calli isn't here."
Fayrelle shook her head wildly. "Yes, she is! Calli is everywhere! She sees everything I do, no matter where I am, and if I'm not good, she.she." The girl burst into tears again.
At that, Leia abandoned all thought of forcing information out of her like she was a criminal, and instead put all of her power into comforting her like the child she was. She knelt by Fayrelle's bed and gently held her until she had cried herself out. She reached into a pocket of her jumpsuit and took out one of the self-cleaning handkerchiefs that Jacen had gotten her for her birthday last year. She handed it to Fayrelle, who took it with a whispered, "Thank you." She blew her nose and sheepishly handed the cloth back to Leia, who put it in her pocket and smiled reassuringly at the child. "How old are you, Fayrelle?" she asked curiously.
"Ten," she sniffed. "I think, anyway. Calli found me when I was little, so she doesn't know."
"I know you're frightened, Fayrelle," Leia said gently, "but I have to know if I'm going to help you: who is Calli? Is she the same person as Callista Chad?"
Fayrelle nodded solemnly.
"But who is she, Fayrelle?"
She hesitated, then looked up at Leia with wide blue eyes. "Calli is the most powerful woman in the universe, and she's going to take over the galaxy."
But now those carefully constructed mental shields that had concealed his memories of her for so long were crashing down around him. For the sake of his sanity, he had always assumed that she was dead, but in his heart he knew that she was not. He knew he would have known the instant she had disappeared from the world of the living.
Regardless of whether she was living or dead, he had believed that she was lost to him forever. Mara filled the void she had left behind, filled it perhaps better than Callista ever had. But Callista was his first love, and he knew that as much as he might try to deny it, he was still very much in love with her.
And now, by some strange twist of fate, her apprentice had appeared seemingly from out of nowhere to kill him. Coincidence? Perhaps. But Ben had never believed in coincidence, and Luke tended to agree with his teacher. There is no such thing as coincidence. There is the Force.
Though even that seemed lost to him now; his mind was in such turmoil. He took a deep breath. Before he did anything else, he had to calm down. He reached out into the never-ending stream of life that was the Force, and eased himself into its flow, feeling himself become soothed. He opened his eyes.
He realized that his feet had unconsciously carried him to one of the Botanical Gardens of the Imperial Palace, a place he often went when he felt troubled. He walked over to one of the marble benches and sat in the shade of one of the many Hapan kinito trees that lined the paths here. The thin gold leaves rustled softly in the wind, a sound that calmed him further. He finally felt clear-headed enough to think rationally.
He knew that the first thing he needed to do was to find Mara and apologize, assuage her doubts, assure her that she was still his all and his everything. He knew how she felt about Callista. She had never forgiven the woman for hurting him, and probably never would.
He sighed. Even after all these years, he still missed Callista. One of his best students had given her life so that Callista might live on.but when she found that she had lost her ability to use the Force, she had left him to find it again. After that, he had thought that he would never love again.but Mara came along, told him to stop being a melodramatic fool and gave him the love that Callista couldn't.
Now it seemed that Callista had regained her powers. But Luke had a sinking feeling in his heart that they were not powers of the Light side of the Force, but of the Dark, the quick and easy way, and, perhaps, the only way for Callista.
* * *
"Well, who the hell is she?" Leia snapped over her shoulder at the NRI agent who was frantically trying to keep pace with the diminutive Chief of State. "You have two names to go on: Fayrelle and Callista Chad. I want all the intelligence information you can dig up on them as soon as humanely possible. This was a direct threat on Master Skywalker's life, and I want it neutralized immediately!"
"Yes, ma'am! We'll get to work on it right away," the agent scurried away, looking relieved.
Leia continued down the hall towards the high-security area of the prison. She absently waved her I.D. at the checkpoint, and stopped briefly to confer with the guards. "Have the ysalamiri come in yet?" she asked.
"The shuttle's just bringing them over, ma'am," one of the men answered. "Had some trouble finding as many as you wanted, but we managed."
Leia nodded. "Good." She glanced down the hall. "I'd like to speak with the prisoner."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but she's under heavy sedation until the ysalamiri get here, as per orders of Senator Fey'lya."
Leia sighed. Of course Fey'lya would get himself mixed up into this. "My authority overrides his," she explained patiently. "I would like to see the prisoner."
The guard looked uneasy. "Ma'am, she's considered extremely dangerous-"
"I will assume responsibility for the danger," Leia said crisply. "Wake her up and let me in to see her."
The guard hesitated, but pulled out his comlink. "Randit here. Take the sedation off of high-security prisoner D. She's got a visitor." There was a burst of static and a tinny reply. "I know, but the order came directly from the Chief of State herself.no, she's standing right here.yes, that's right.okay. Randit out." He clicked off the comlink and looked up at Leia. "They're removing the sedation now. She should be awake when we get there. If you'll follow me."
"I would like to speak to the prisoner alone." Leia's voice was icy. She saw him stiffen and begin to turn, but she snapped, "That's an order, soldier."
"Yes, ma'am," he said miserably. He pointed down the hall. "Third door on the right. I'll key the door to enter when you get there."
Leia nodded. "Thank you." She walked down the hall and stopped at the door he had indicated. It snapped open with a hiss, revealing the girl's inert form lying on the hard prison bunk. As Leia entered, she began to stir. The door snapped shut again, and Leia took a seat in the single chair in the tiny cell. She looked down at the girl coldly. She wasn't exactly sure why she had come; after all, she didn't really believe that she could find anything out from this girl that the NRI couldn't. But she'd felt a burning desire to confront her brother's attacker since Mara had come home the night before, tense and upset and without Luke. She hadn't said a word to Leia, but she knew that this girl had done more than simply attack Luke. Luke himself hadn't returned home until very late, and Leia wasn't sure if he'd even spoken to Mara. There was something very wrong here. She knew what Han had told her: that the girl's name was Fayrelle, that she thought that Luke had murdered her mother, and that she was under the tutelage of someone named Callista Chad. Leia knew that the probability of this being the same Callista that Luke had known all those years ago was very low.but obviously, he didn't agree with her. Leia felt a momentary pang for her brother. He had just begun to settle down with Mara.and now this. Was he destined to always be alone?
Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open. Leia was started at how blue they were. And how familiar. Where had she seen eyes like that? She felt as if she'd seen this girl somewhere before. She gave herself a mental shake. She'd never met this child in her life. She forced a pleasant smile. "Hello, Fayrelle."
"Who.who are you?" the girl whispered, looking around. "Where am I?"
"You're in the high-security area of the New Republic Detention Facility on Coruscant. I am Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State. I've come to ask you a few questions."
Fayrelle sat up and backed herself up against the wall. She looked terrified. "What happened? Why am I here?" Her face clouded. She looked as if she were about to burst into tears. "Did I do something bad again?"
Leia fought to keep her face impassive. What in the hells.? The girl had gone from a fierce predator to a lost child, reminding her heart-rendingly of her own children at a younger age. Sternly, she told herself to stop being ridiculous. This girl had tried to kill her brother. "Yes," she answered carefully. "You did. Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
The girl shook her head slowly. "No." she whispered.
"Well, then, I'll tell you," Leia said, struggling to keep the bite from her voice. "You broke into a wedding celebration in the Imperial Chapel, and attempted to kill Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Three civilians were injured in the melee, though none critically, and 21,000 credits worth of damage was inflicted on the Chapel itself. Ring any bells?"
The girl gaped at her. "I.I did that? Oh, no." Her brimming eyes finally overflowed and she began to cry in huge hiccupping sobs. "Calli, Calli, why'd you make me do that?" she wailed.
Leia watched this with interest. Either this child was a remarkably good actress, or she was being controlled by an outside source. She bit her lip. There was one way to tell, and she really wasn't as good at that kind of thing as Luke was... She reached tentatively into the girl's mind. And was thrown back, gasping, at the twisted, whirling vortex that gyrated there. She stared at the girl. She hadn't done that to herself, she knew. Someone had deliberately torn huge chunks of memory and personality from this child's mind, and replaced odd pieces of other things, creating a huge, twisted mess of thoughts and feelings that were barely her own. After a moments hesitation, Leia reached out gently with the Force and softly caressed the girl's mind, calming and soothing her like she would her own children. That was all this girl was, she told herself stubbornly. An abused, misguided child.
Slowly, Fayrelle's sobs ceased and she looked up at Leia with bright blue eyes. "You're much nicer than Calli," she said, sniffing. Suddenly she clapped her hand over her mouth and looked around fearfully. "Oh, I didn't say it, I didn't say it, Calli, I didn't say it!"
"Shhh." Leia whispered, reaching out and smoothing back the girl's hair. "Don't worry. Calli isn't here."
Fayrelle shook her head wildly. "Yes, she is! Calli is everywhere! She sees everything I do, no matter where I am, and if I'm not good, she.she." The girl burst into tears again.
At that, Leia abandoned all thought of forcing information out of her like she was a criminal, and instead put all of her power into comforting her like the child she was. She knelt by Fayrelle's bed and gently held her until she had cried herself out. She reached into a pocket of her jumpsuit and took out one of the self-cleaning handkerchiefs that Jacen had gotten her for her birthday last year. She handed it to Fayrelle, who took it with a whispered, "Thank you." She blew her nose and sheepishly handed the cloth back to Leia, who put it in her pocket and smiled reassuringly at the child. "How old are you, Fayrelle?" she asked curiously.
"Ten," she sniffed. "I think, anyway. Calli found me when I was little, so she doesn't know."
"I know you're frightened, Fayrelle," Leia said gently, "but I have to know if I'm going to help you: who is Calli? Is she the same person as Callista Chad?"
Fayrelle nodded solemnly.
"But who is she, Fayrelle?"
She hesitated, then looked up at Leia with wide blue eyes. "Calli is the most powerful woman in the universe, and she's going to take over the galaxy."