"I knew you'd come for me, Revan," Bastila said, bouncing lightly on the heels of her feet, double-bladed lightsaber balanced perfectly in front of her.

"I won't give up on you, Bastila," Kagi replied, holding his lightsaber in a traditional right-side defensive stance. "I can still save you."

She shook her head slowly. "You are wasting your time. I have seen the Jedi for what they are: weak and afraid. The Sith are the true masters of the Force. You have forgotten that lesson, Revan. Now you must pay the price."

With her left hand, she made a grand sweep of the command center. "Here on the Star Forge, the power of the dark side is at its strongest. This time you will not defeat me!"

Spinning her lightsaber in her hands, she charged at him. The Jedi steeled himself, carefully watching her legs and her arms, for they would betray the direction of her attack.

There!

He brought his shining blade across his body, intercepting her lower red blade. She quickly pulled it away, striking the higher blade toward his head. In an instant, his own blade came back up and parried.

Taking a step back, Bastila spun her lightsaber above her head, the red backlighting of the blades casting a demonic glow onto her face. She struck suddenly, arcing one of her blades down directly at his head. But again, her attack was foiled by his violet blade rising to meet hers in midair.

Risking a counterattack from Kagi, Bastila suddenly broke contact, taking a step back to provide her enough room to backflip away from him, increasing her distance with a push of the Force. She landed on top of the holoprojector plate, the tactical readout of the space battle superimposed over her body and features.

"I see now why Malak followed you," she said, staring through the hologram at him. "Even though you are only a shell of your former self, you are still a formidable opponent." She closed her eyes as a shiver ran through her. "I can't even imagine the power you must have wielded when you were the dark lord. You were a fool to give it all up and follow the light side."

Eying her warily, Kagi moved forward, keeping his senses open for a sudden attack from the flanks or rear. His shining violent blade dispelled the darkness around him as he advanced. "The dark side has consumed you, Bastila. Slowly yet surely, it is destroying you."

She laughed, holding her lightsaber in her left hand as she swept her right arm out to encompass the hologram she was standing within. "The dark side has made me stronger than I ever was before. I have a greater command of the Force than all but the most powerful Jedi Masters. As Malak teaches me the greatest secrets of the Sith, I will unlock more of my potential. Eventually there will be no limit to what I can accomplish with the Force!"

As she spoke those words, she leapt out of the hologram, intending to deliver a surprise blow to her opponent. But he was ready for her, his lightsaber cutting viciously through the air she would have occupied had she not shoved her body out of the way with the Force. She landed on her feet a few meters away, but he was already advancing.

She brought up her lightsaber in a guard that kept the left blade high to her shoulder, right blade low to her side. Kagi's blade shoved her left blade out of line, and then swept down to strike at her unprotected left flank. She quickly intercepted it with her right blade, then took several steps back as she spun, swinging her lightsaber in a full rotation, and bringing her blade down to prevent his own weapon from cutting her feet out from under her.

Utilizing the strength the dark side gave her, she powered his blade up and over until hers was clear enough for her to pull away. She spun around, holding her lightsaber out before her, and the opposite blade came around horizontally for Kagi's head, but the Jedi's lightsaber blocked it. Not hesitating in the slightest, she brought the other end of her blade around, but he ducked under it.

She halted her momentum, brought the same blade back around, but he had already lifted his lightsaber up and over his head, coming down to cross her blade and deflect it. This act had left his front side open, an opening which she utilized by swinging her other blade around to carve open his chest.

But his lightsaber was already there, catching hers and holding it in place by force, locking their sabers together. "You will accomplish only death and destruction," he told her, steadily maintaining the positions of their blades.

"Jedi propaganda," she snapped back, pushing against his blade with all her fury. But for her efforts, she may as well have been trying to push a ship into hyperspace with the power of her breath. "The dark side is only a tool, and Malak will train me in its use. Eventually I will surpass my Master and challenge him. If I am worthy he will die by my hand. Then I will take on my own apprentice and the cycle will begin again. This is the way of the Sith, it is how we assure our leaders are always the strongest and most worthy."

Finally, Kagi grew tired of the saberlock. Dark side or not, he was still physically stronger than her. He used that strength to shove her blade down toward the ground, but she pivoted her lightsaber around its center, and sent the other blade racing up toward his face. He deftly intercepted the blow with his own glowing blade. "And so you doom yourself to continue the endless circle of death and betrayal."

"No, Revan. It is you who are doomed."

She spun away from their contact, her lightsaber blades a whirling maelstrom of fire and thunder as she struck at him from the left, from the right, from high and from low. But no matter where she struck at him, how hard, or at what angle, he was always there, intercepting her blade with his own, locking their sabers together.

She swung high at his head. He ducked under.

She swung center at his gut. He batted her blade away.

Turning the movement into momentum, she spun and brought the other blade around to the same location, from the opposite side. He batted the blade away again.

She turned to strike his center again, but his blade stopped hers in midair, and before she could move it, he curved up and over to slap her blade away from his left side, shoving her out of line.

Turning it back into momentum, she spun away from him, a frustrated growl emitting from her throat as he slid back into a momentum-freezing stance, legs braced low, arms spread out to either side. The ease with which he was deflecting her attacks infuriated her.

Right, left, low, high. Block, block, jump, block.

She roared in anger, stepping back to begin her assault anew.

But this time, Kagi took the offensive, striking high at her head. She intercepted the blow with her blade, then whirled the double-bladed lightsaber in a complete circle in a frantic effort to weave a defensive web to ward off his fast, punishing strikes.

She got in a counter, aiming the blade controlled by her right hand for his head, but he got his lightsaber in the way, shoved her off, then quickly drifted to the left to intercept the return spin that she delivered. Now he was almost predicting her movements.

Then she realized that he was. Not only that, he was moving far faster than she was. There was a blinding flash of light between them, like a lightsaber energy crystal exploding, then his boot was suddenly in her midsection, the Force powering his kick and sending her flying a half dozen meters away to smash into the holoprojector's control panel. Part of the display flickered and died.

She rolled off of the control panel and into a kneel, brandishing her lightsaber behind her. But as she did so, she noticed that something felt odd about it. Bringing it around in front of her, she saw what had caused the flash of light. Kagi's last attack had split her double-bladed lightsaber in two, and shattered one of the energy crystals that had powered the blade in the useless right half of her double-saber.

Snarling, she threw the ruined half-saber down and shifted the remains of her saber to her right hand, then pushed herself to her feet and spun the weapon around her hand, identical to the way Kagi himself did it.

"You are growing weary, I can sense it," she bluffed. "Your strength falters; the light side is failing you while the power of the Star Forge reenergizes me. Soon this will all be over."

Sensing her desperation, Kagi lowered his blade to his side, and began to pace in front of her. "I do not falter, Bastila," he calmly replied, taking this opportunity to steady his breathing. "You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind until now… Now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."

"Do not lecture me, Revan," she snapped, shooting to her feet and taking the remnants of her lightsaber, still sparking from its severed end, in both hands. "The dark side will always triumph over the light! Malak has assured me of victory. You can't defeat me here on the Star Forge. You can't!"

At her words, Kagi snapped his blade up again, tightening his hands around the metal-studded grip. Her desperation was at its peak; her only choice was to go all-out on her next attack. Deep down inside, he knew it would be their final clash.

And then she was on him, her red blade swinging angrily toward his head. He blocked it, but now that she was down to a single blade, she was able to fight as fast and furious as him. Time to take things up a notch.

He gave ground to her, still perfectly deflecting her lightsaber blows with his own. As she continued to rain blows on him, he waited for his opening. Soon, their strikes and parries began to resemble the twisting blades of a turbine engine, but he had finally spotted his opening.

He twisted to his left, spinning a full circle and bringing his lightsaber toward her midsection. But she was expecting that, and her own lightsaber twisted in to block his. She quickly pulled back and struck at his back, forcing him to bring his lightsaber down into an awkward block. To rectify that situation, he twisted completely around, his lightsaber still in contact with hers, then spun it away to strike at her left shoulder.

Stealing one of his moves, she blocked his blow, then quickly forced his blade up and over. Knowing that he would be able to block her if she disengaged her saber and struck at his exposed torso, she slid their lightsabers up, then kicked him squarely in the chest with her hard boot.

The breath flew out of his lungs in a whoosh of air, but he managed to flip in midair and land on his feet. She rushed in while he was disoriented, switching her lightsaber off as she grabbed his right wrist and pulled it out of line, her other hand snaking up and wrapping around his throat, fingers tightening like bands of durasteel.

Using her superior positioning and leverage, she leaned her own body forward, forcing him backwards and over, until it was her own hand clasped around his throat that kept him from falling to the floor. With her left hand, she began to turn his wrist, trying to bring his still-activated lightsaber down on his own head.

With the light of his own lightsaber glowing in his eyes, Kagi lifted his right leg and kneed her in the back with all his strength, breaking both her grips on him and sending her rolling past him a few meters. Kagi leapt back to his feet, struggling to catch his breath and find Bastila.

She was already on her feet, running at him. Before he could bring his lightsaber around to strike at her, she jumped up, kicking him hard in the chest with both her feet. The impact knocked the lightsaber free of his hand, and also knocked him back several feet.

He quickly rolled up to a crouch, and as she ran at him, his right leg shot up, and his bent knee slammed into her stomach, flipping her over him to land hard on her back. Turning to face her, Kagi held out his right hand and his lightsaber leapt into it. With a smooth snap-hiss, the violet blade ignited and began its fatal arc down toward her head.

But she had called her own lightsaber back as well, and as his was coming down, hers came over and ignited, albeit a tad slowly. She managed to spare herself from losing her head, but the last three inches of his lightsaber had burned through the floor grate, and cut a gouge into her left shoulder.

Her left hand came up, behind their sabers, and she slammed him off of her with a powerful shove from the Force. She leapt back to her feet, spinning her lightsaber around her hand before swinging hard at him. He met her blow, their blades sparking and hissing inches away from his tunic. He forced her blade over, but instead of continuing the saberlock, Bastila withdrew her blade, causing him to stumble forward.

Seeing her chance, she swung as hard as she could at his legs, hoping to take him down. But his reactions were too quick, and he leapt back out of range. Then, as he stepped back in and swung at her midsection, she brought her saber back down and blocked it.

In an unexpected move, he stepped in even closer to her, his blade pushing her arm up and away as he turned to keep proper control of his weapon. They were close enough to be physically touching now, his back pressed against her.

Before she could react to his move, he inverted his grip on his lightsaber, turned it so that the blade pointed down toward them, and thrust backward, toward both of them. The lightsaber shot past him, missing with inches to spare, but the sharp crackle of lightsaber meeting flesh, accompanied by her sudden gasp of pain, told him that he had not missed her.

A pained whimper escaped her lips as her fingers loosened on the handle of the lightsaber. It fell from her hands, the blade retreating into the hilt as it did so, and clattered noisily against the floor grate of the control room. Her arm fell limply to her side.

His heart heavy with what he had just done, Kagi pressed his thumb down onto his own lightsaber's activation plate, and the amethyst blade retreated into the handle. He turned as an unconscious sigh came from Bastila, dropping his lightsaber to the deck and going to a knee, his arms sliding underneath her as she began to fall. He caught her in midair, lowering her gently to the floor.

"No, this is not possible," she muttered, then coughed weakly. "You have rejected the dark side, you are a weak and pathetic servant of the light. How can you still stand against me? Why can't I defeat you?"

He didn't answer immediately. Propping her head up against his knee, he ripped away the burned tunic over the wound he had inflicted. It was deep, but thank the Force, it missed any vital organs, and didn't penetrate all the way through.

Slipping his left hand under her head, he held her close to him as he laid his other hand over her wound, discreetly calling upon the healing powers of the Force. "The dark side is not stronger than the light," he answered her, his voice thick with the knowledge that he may have just sealed her fate.

She took a shallow breath, and coughed again. "Yes, I see you speak the truth," she breathed. "I am no match for you." A tear broke from her right eye, running down her cheek and curving underneath her chin. "Please, for the sake of what we once shared, do not make me suffer. End my life quickly. There is no other way."

"No," he hissed, not stopping in his efforts to heal her with the Force. "I could never kill you, Bastila."

"What other choice do you have? I have fallen to the dark side; I am…" She gasped painfully. "…an apprentice of the Dark Lord himself! You cannot let me live."

"I was redeemed, Bastila. So can you be."

"You were a special case. The Council had–"

Supporting her head on his leg again, Kagi pressed his left index finger to her lips. "Shh, try not to talk. Save your strength."

She gulped painfully, closed her sickly yellow eyes, and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes to stare up at the determined face of the former Dark Lord of the Sith, her eyes were once again their natural slate grey color. When next she spoke, her voice emerged as a haunted whisper. "I was supposed to protect you from the dark side."

"You did protect me from the dark side, Bastila. And you did far more than that."

"How? What?"

"You loved me."

She trembled slightly in his arms, and for a moment he panicked, fearing that shock had set in. Then, he realized that he could sense her emotions again through their bond, and it was the tumultuous state of her emotions that had caused the shiver, not her physical condition. "It's true I possess feelings for you," she said quietly. "But what was the cost?" She swallowed hard, and took a ragged breath. "Please, this is too painful… End it now, quickly. There is no other way."

"There is another way," Kagi persisted, reaching around to take her left hand in his own and squeeze it tightly. "I love you, Bastila. I will not abandon you." Then he released her hand, and slipped his own back under her head.

She looked at him again, astonishment shining through the pain in her eyes. "You…love…me…? I… There was a time I yearned for and dreaded to hear those words. I loved you too, but I could never face who you were." She searched his face with her eyes, searched his soul with her mind, but she could find no trace of the evil that had been attributed to him. She saw only fear, but she knew the fear was for her life.

Suddenly, the sharp pain of her lightsaber wound vanished, replaced by a dull throbbing sensation. But at least she knew she wasn't dying. She knew that he had preserved her life, the same way she had preserved his so long ago. The thought brought tears to her eyes.

"Malak knew how I felt," she told him, choking past the emotion clogging her throat. "Any part of the light that was within me would be extinguished when I killed you. But what good is love? It cannot save me from the sea of blackness I am drowning in. I have betrayed everything I ever believed in. How can I atone for that?"

"Love can save you from the darkness, Bastila," Kagi said, satisfied that he had stabilized her. "It saved me. And it will save you, too. But I have to kill Malak. Will you help me?"

"How would you be able to trust me?" she asked, reaching up her right hand and softly brushing it against his cheek. "How do you know the dark side won't make me betray you again?"

His own hand came up, wrapping around hers and holding it gently. "I trust you, Bastila," he said quietly. "If you turned on me, I would willingly give you my back to strike at."

"You play a dangerous game. I could end your life with a single stroke of my lightsaber."

"I know you won't. Because I love you, Bastila, and I believe in you."

"You are brave. Many would say foolish." She sighed, and took his right hand in both of hers. "But you are also right. The dark side has lost its grip on me. I cannot raise my blade against you. You will go on to defeat Malak, of this I have no doubt. You will have gone from being the Sith Lord himself, to the savior of the galaxy."

She hesitated, and looked up into his serene face. Tears glistened in her eyes. "And… and you said you loved me. This may not be the best time to say it but…"

Freeing her hands, she reached up her left and grabbed the neck of his tunic, pulling him down toward her. Her hand then shifted to the back of his head, pulling him even further. She rose toward him as best as their positioning would allow, and suddenly, they were connected physically, with the touch of their lips. Her right hand slid up his chest and wrapped around his neck, holding her in place, at the same time that his arms slid around her waist.

After just a moment, they separated to breathe, but they did not release each other. She breathed deeply of him, her lips still barely in contact with his. "I love you, too," she whispered against his mouth. "With all of my heart."

"You are no longer afraid to love?" he asked quietly, staring deep into her eyes.

"After this? No. Nothing could make me feel safer than to be loved by you."

They parted slightly more, and he helped her to sit upright. As he smiled down at her, a glint of metal from the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she held out her hand toward it, drawing his lightsaber to her. She turned the weapon over in her hands, staring at it carefully.

"You built a new lightsaber," she said, running her fingers along its polished surface. She paused as she touched the securing collar around the activation plate, her brow furrowing. "This…metal… Is this the neural disruptor from Taris? The one I was wearing?"

"It is," he nodded, running his fingers along the rough material. "It's there so that I am forced to touch it whenever I would draw my lightsaber. And when I touch it, I remember you, and remembering you will keep me on the path of the light."

She looked up at him again, saw the love on his face, the love for her, and her vision swam once more with tears. How could she have even considered that he was still Darth Revan when she had met him again on Taris? She closed her eyes and laid her head against his strong chest. His arms encircled her in his protective warmth, and just for a moment, everything in the universe was perfect.

Then she opened her eyes, knowing what laid ahead for him. She turned her head up within his embrace, blinking away her tears. She knew that their perfect moment was coming to an end, but she also knew that they could have it again; that knowledge was the only thing that allowed her to say what she knew she must.

"You should go. Malak awaits. This isn't over yet, for any of us." She took a deep breath. No matter how much she knew she had to say it, the prospect of being away from him hurt her, deep inside. "I should stay here, though. If we face Malak I am afraid his dark presence will overwhelm me. It would not be wise to expose myself to such temptation."

He gently kissed her forehead. "I do not believe that Malak can overpower the strength of our love. But as you wish…"

Behind them, heavy bootsteps could be heard. Bastila began to push Kagi's lightsaber into his hands, but he shook his head once; he could read the aura of the interloper, and knew exactly who it was.

"Whoa," the voice of Canderous Ordo echoed around the silent room. "Guess I missed the party. Care to fill me in on the intricate details, Revan?"

Instead of answering the direct question, Kagi stood up, helping Bastila get to her feet as well. He waited until she assured him that she could stand on her own, then turned toward the Mandalorian. "Stay here and guard Bastila, Canderous. Protect her with your life."

The warrior nodded, hefting his repeating blaster rifle. "You don't have to tell me twice."

Nodding in return, Kagi turned and laid his hands on Bastila's shoulders. "While I am gone, use your Battle Meditation. Turn the tide in favor of the Republic."

She nodded. "Yes, that would be for the best. You don't need me to defeat Malak, anyway, but you have to hurry. Once I turn the battle in the Republic's favor, we won't have much time to escape the Star Forge before it is destroyed." She held his lightsaber out to him on the palms of her hands.

He took the lightsaber, smiled at her, then walked toward Canderous. He stopped a few feet from the Mandalorian, picked up his cloak from off the floor, and pulled it on again.

As he started to walk past Bastila, she held out a hand to stop him. He turned toward her and took a step forward, allowing her to touch and inspect the cloak. She reached up both hands, brushing her fingers delicately over the soft fabric that made up the cloak. Slowly, she looked into his eyes, hers questioning.

"Yes," he replied with a nod. "This is the cloak you had made for me. Mission gave it to me en route to Korriban."

Bastila smiled. Standing up on the tips of her toes, she kissed him quickly, then stepped back, and resumed the position she had used for her Battle Meditation before he had arrived. As she readied herself to slip into the trance, she looked across the distance at him. "Good luck, my love. And may the Force be with you."

"I don't need the Force," he whispered, knowing she had already gone into the meditation trance. He looked to his lightsaber as he activated the glowing amethyst blade, then glanced back toward his love.

"I have you."