Part 2

She was a shadow. She was a shadow being burned alive by the sudden piercing light. She breathed and solidified.

"I think it worked, Hirina."

Someone lifted her body up.

"We won't be able to tell until we take her out of the room."

She heard sounds but they were from only one set of ears. She felt so profoundly alone and isolated. She'd always been part of a whole, and spent most of her existence able to share her feelings completely knowing that at least one person understood. At least one person knew her. But now she was alone.

"Is he, did he?" She looked at a man that in different circumstances, in a different life she would have loved.

The war had changed everything and everyone.

His normally pale face was ashen, the fire of his spirit seemed to have left. She didn't used to be such a crybaby but weren't tears fitting of this man who had always tried to protect her? Her mind became sharper, no longer under fog. This wasn't an accident, it had been planned.

She ran her hand over his eyes. She had seen so many dead bodies that few were able to affect her like this.

"There was nothing we could do, he was in too deep. He'd given up his personality, his will, to the bond." Her blonde friend said rubbing her thumb on the back of her hand..
"It was like he dissolved."

Or rather the body that used to be her friend, that was someone entirely new.

"Poor kid never even had a last name." The gray-eyed Avi said, guarding the door.

Hirina glared at Avi until she apologized for being so inconsiderate.

He loved me. He loved me so much that he ended up giving up himself to be with me.

Zekaya, that was the name people had called them when they were together, and that was the name she would take in his memory. Zekaya shed the last traces of her youth. Thirty. I'm thirty, so much life wasted.

"We're just lucky that it worked on you." Hirina had promised to protect her years ago, but Zekaya hadn't known until now, just how serious she was about it. Just to have tried to make her one person again, defying-him, must have put her in danger.

"Look, we're got to get out of here, he's gonna know she's awake, and if we want to keep her one person and sane we'd better head beyond the unknown regions," Avi said.

"He hasn't gotten that far yet, has he?" Hirina asked supporting her as she tried to stand.

"I was safe-"

"You're safe because you remind him of- you know and he feels responsible. Back before he changed or maybe your 'unique' makeup makes you immune," Avi argued. "He played both sides of the war, he's not going to be content with his bit of the galaxy, he wants it all. He's beyond Sith." Avi's voice held disgust and regret.

Hirina's eyes changed slightly. "Now you're rambling like I used to."

"Safe from who?" Zekaya asked looking between them. Her friends winced. Then it hit her like an asteroid field.

"No."

Had even the Force betrayed her? He'd made her like this, he'd manipulated her like no one else could have. This wasn't an accident. Her old love had lost himself and died- because HE wasn't who she'd known. He'd used and betrayed her and everything they'd stood for. Everything their friends and family had died for. Something in her broke.

They watched her reaction carefully. She hated Hirina's sympathy but Avi's despair was even worse. She'd given up.

"No." No one argued with her when she was this set never mind when she was pissed. "I'm gonna kill him."

Hirina and Avi looked at each other knowing that she couldn't.

Zekaya's mind wandered through memories as her body flew autopilot.

Dwelling on what she had tried to lock away.

"He's not capable of that! You don't know him like I do!" She'd said vehemently. She wouldn't have been so heated about it if it didn't reinforce her own darkest fears and suspicions lately. Of the changes she didn't want to admit.

"All I'm telling you is what I've been told by people who can't be bought and by my own visions."

"Well they're just fear induced nightmares not Jedi visions."

"And if they're not you're in danger." The taller woman had crossed her arms to resist shaking her.

"He would never betray ME even if somehow he became the darkest Sith ever."

Avi shook her head. "He's not the man you knew."

"The war changed all of us. I am not going to hide from-" She had become flustered.

"You think I like telling you this? He was my master! The man you knew is gone." Avi's eyes said it all. "I just can't let you walk into danger like that. Honoring who he was won't allow it."

Zekaya put her hands over her ears. "No. I have to believe that there is still good in him! I have to."

She'd searched him out then as she did again now. For vastly different reasons. It flew against reason to seek him out now. She couldn't even tell her family she was back to normal. She was probably the only trained Jedi who stood a chance against him in a fight but not even the force could get her to bring herself to attempt to kill him. But for the freedom of galaxy she had to try.

"You will never know peace."

It would be better to be dead anyways.

Avi pressed a few more buttons on her ship wishing desperately that she was even a passable pilot. The shipboard computers kept reminding her that a bunch of good pilots were shooting at her. At least her utter panic was making her fly so erratically that she was a difficult target. She would be screaming if she wasn't already fighting the urge to hyperventilate.

"And this is why sensible people don't deliberately get on the bad side of power hungry force users slash galactic politician." Avi said pushing more buttons that diverted power to the shields. "Especially ones who are good at manipulating people! Some historian I am."

What was that trick that Jedi had shown her?

Avi reversed the forward thrusters, throwing her forward in the cockpit and stalling the engine.

"Meditate." She watched the faster ships pass right by her, going too fast to shoot effectively. Avi took a deep breath and then flipped the switch like it was a fan.

"Come on Come on." The fighters had turned back in her direction. "Come ON!" Tears of frustration leaked out.

There was no place to go, she was betrayed, there would be no sanctuary.

A hundred years from now when people regained their senses in this part of the universe historian and layman alike would say of their dictator- "He seemed like such a nice guy." Even the Jedi were under the soon to be absolute dictator's thrall.

The engine roared pulling her back towards the planet. Avi arched her neck trying to look behind her to get some sense of what direction they were really going.

"Set coordinates to my save point."

She angled the ship so she would bounce off and not burn in the atmosphere.

Even though she knew that when you were about to experience extreme trauma tightening your muscles was the opposite of what you should do Avi couldn't help it. The atmosphere rushed forward.

"Overcompensate by a factor of 3.1. Now."

Avi wished her ship had a hyperdrive engine instead, as her skin felt like it was melting right off.