Disclaimer: Chapter two of From one Exile to Another. I do not own Star Wars. This author supported by the Star Wars Unlimited Fan Club.
TELOS ACADEMY:
"And I looked back." said Caleb, standing in the doorway with his double bladed light saber activated. "Exile," whispered the Handmaiden as she collapsed in to unconscious.
"Exile, I knew you would come here. The dark side has compelled you to, just as she said you would. I can sense your hate strike me with it!" Atris' attention was now on Caleb, the Exile, her eyes burning with anger.
"I do not walk the path of the dark side and you know it!" stated Caleb, "And I will not strike you down. Where is Kreia, Atris?"
Atris screamed and jumped into the air, swinging her crimson blade down on Caleb as he rolled out of the way barely missing her attack. He swung his cyan blade up to meet hers and then swung his own blade down at her legs.
"You cannot win Atris! What has happened to you?" "I have seen truth!" cried Atris as she ran towards her meditation chamber.
Caleb ran after her, but stopped in front of the Handmaiden, still unconscious on the floor. Her dead sisters were also in the room; in his mind he could hear the echo left by their deaths.
How they confronted Handmaiden, how she refused to fight them and how they attacked her, then how the Handmaiden struck them down with tears in her eyes.
He opened his eyes and glanced down at the Handmaiden once more before looking up at Atris' chambers and running after her. When he entered the room, he could not see her anywhere.
Carefully, he shut his eyes and opened himself to the force. Then, he could sense her, hiding in the shadows.
She leapt at him with fire in her eyes. He parried her attack and swung at her blade, cyan smashed into crimson as her blade was shattered at the power of the light within his light saber crystal. Atris sank to her knees as Caleb brought his blade to her neck, "Kill me, you know as well as I what you must do."
"I will not kill you, Atris. What happened to you? Where is Kreia?" asked Caleb. "She is not here, she goes by the name Darth Treya. She, she showed me the darkness I hold inside myself! How slowly I fell, how I never knew I had! These holocrons, they are Sith! Their teachings infected my very soul! Destroy them and then destroy me!"
"Atris! For the last time! I will NOT kill you. But, I will destroy the holocrons."
There was hissing and force lightning from the holocrons that struck Atris as she screamed in agony, "Atris, where is Darth Treya?"
"You know where you must go, and what you must do." said Atris. "Malachor." breathed Caleb. "Yes, she is there, she plans on killing herself there!"
"Bu, but, if she does that," "Yes, Caleb, it might kill you, if you are bonded to her in the way she said. And if she kills you, the force will die from the echo. Caleb you have to kill her!"
"I really don't understand if she kills herself, I die and the force dies. But, if I kill her, all will be set right." "Caleb, she hates the force, the way she plans on killing herself would kill you too, but if you kill her it would not be the same." stated Atris,
"Now, go, save the galaxy, that's what your good at isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so, it was what Revan was good at as well." said Caleb with a chuckle. "Well, he isn't here right now is he? So get going, and thank you for saving me."
Caleb walked out of the meditation chambers, back into the main hall, where the Handmaiden lay. He knelt down to her, and felt her faint heartbeat. With tears in his eyes he whispered, "Please, please don't leave me. I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I love you, with all my being."
He could feel her fading away, so he quickly and gently placed his lips against hers, as he used the force to save her. The force flowed from Caleb into the Handmaiden.
A tear rolled down his face and landed on hers. Slowly, he felt her heartbeat steady along with her breathing. Then he felt her slowly return the kiss. His eyes opened in shock and he pulled away, she had tears in her eyes.
"Caleb?" she whispered barely able to speak the pain was too great "I thought I lost you." he said. "For a minute there, you did."
She smiled up at him and he returned it with a grin that warmed her heart, "What happened?" he asked her gently. "Kreia, she told me she killed you! I thought you were dead," she said tears streaming down her beautiful, flawless face, "I thought if I brought her to Atris, that she would bring the Sith to justice! But, but Atris was a Sith! And my sisters, they, they,"
She was shaking so he gently held her, rubbing her back, as she sobbed into his shoulder. A few minutes later she was able to continue, "I was so scared, I thought you were dead."
More tears streamed down her face, "Shhh, its OK. I'm here now. She won't hurt you anymore. I won't let anyone hurt you."
He gently wrapped his arms around her and she laid her head on his shoulder, her sobbing slowing and coming to a stop eventually. He gently rocked her in his arms as she calmed herself, "Exile. Caleb, what happens now?" she finally said, still against his shoulder.
"I have to go to Malachor V, I have to kill Kreia before she kills herself, me, and the force."
"But everything is touched by the force, if she kills it then," "You know why I must kill her then." He said giving her a gentle squeeze.
"Caleb, I want to fight beside you, like my mother fought beside my father during the Mandalorian Wars. I want to know you, all of you. I love you," she said, hugging him harder.
"My name is Brianna, I am a Jedi, and I love you Caleb Veers."
Caleb sat in shock at her revelation, then a smile came to his face, "Brianna," he said letting her name roll of his tongue, "you would forsake your vow to Atris, just to be with me, to fight alongside of me, to love me?"
"Yes, there is nothing I want more." she said.
"Then, Brianna, Jedi Guardian, servant of Atris no more, let us face the future, together." She smiled and he did as well. He leaned in to kiss her on her lips it was gentle and chaste.
Needing air, Brianna slowly broke the kiss; her dark blue eyes meet his light brown. She saw his love for her in his warm eyes, as she ran her hand through his dark brown hair that lay a few inches above his shoulders. "I love you too." He said softly.
Caleb stood up and then offered her his hand to help her up. She gladly took it, but when she tried to stand, her legs gave out from under her and she fell down to the floor with an, "Oomph!"
"Are you alright?" He asked her.
"I'll be fine." Brianna said as she tried to get up again with the same results. "Here," he said bending down wrapping his cloak around her and scooping her up into his arms, one around her shoulders and one around her knees supporting her gently.
"When we get back to the Ebon Hawk, I want to have someone look at you, you're hurt."
"OK," she said softly, silently admitting she needed help. As he walked out the door with her in his arms, she took a final look at her dead sisters and buried her head in his shoulder.
He held her closer, as they went outside into the cold, snowy exterior of the academy and made there way to the Ebon Hawk.
TBC… please review