A/N: A long time in waiting but an incredibly important chapter to get correct. Enjoy.

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Untold Lies

"Crimelord," Pietr said, bowing down on one knee. The Crimelord looked down on the man and told him to rise.

"Yes?"

"Communication from your mercenary Jedi; she wishes to speak directly with you."

"Put her through." The Crimelord gestured with one long hand and Pietr obeyed. Llywen's image flashed in the middle of the throne room and she kneeled, her head bowed, before speaking.

"I have the child," Llywen said, her yellow eyes flashing.

"And Keilana?"

"The bounty hunter is unharmed, Mistress."

---

"Nobody is answering the hails, Luke," Mara said, turning in her seat. Her jade eyes were hazy; she hadn't slept since Jax had disappeared. "What if something has happened to them, too?"

"Considering the odd situation, it is entirely possible." Luke was leaning forward on a low table, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. He didn't look up at his wife as he spoke; his hair curtained his eyes. "I've hardly been able to feel Keilana and now Kyp's and the twins' presences have dimmed as well. I'm surprised Leia hasn't become hysterical."

As if on cue, Leia Organa Solo came bursting through the doors.

"Luke! Has something happened with the mission…again?" Her eyes were puffy and red, evidence that she had been crying. "Jacen's presence spiked and then fell dark and I can't even feel Jaina."

Han entered a few moments later and stood as a silent shadow behind his wife. He placed a large hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her and looked at his brother-in-law.

"What's going on, Luke?"

The Jedi Master glanced at the older man and sighed. "I don't know. I don't understand any of this."

The room fell silent as Luke held Han's gaze. Mara continued her attempts to contact the mission and Leia simply stared at a spot on the floor.

"You can't keep doing this, Luke," Leia said at length. "I want my children back."

"They're adults now, Leia."

"They're barely eighteen."

"They've seen more than most people their age, Leia. The twins are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Besides, Kyp and Keilana are there with them."

"I don't trust Keilana," Leia said forcefully. "And I can't believe that you do."

"She's earned my trust."

"Dammit, Luke! She tried to turn you in for a profit!"

Luke fell silent and cast a dark gaze on his sister. "She's a mother too, Leia."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Have you not stopped to think that her child is missing as well?"

Leia paused. "I'm still not sure I see the relevance of the point."

Luke sighed and shook his head. "I'm only saying that it is entirely possible that they are out searching for Jax and are therefore incommunicado. Depending on how close they are to the child, Keilana could very well have made the executive decision to cut out all comm use."

The princess seemed to think about Luke's explanation before sweeping her head slowly from side to side. "Do you believe that, Luke?"

"What else is there to believe? I hardly believe that Kyp and Keilana could have happened across something they can't defeat. They're both strong and with the twins there to help them…" He simply trailed off. It was obvious that Luke was trying to convince himself as well as his sister.

"You have too much faith in them, Luke."

"Sometimes faith is all that you can have."

---

Keilana opened her eyes and suddenly wished that she hadn't. The room was full of light and the mirrors on the walls only magnified it to a blinding level. And it was hot; hotter than Keilana could stand. Groaning, she tried to roll onto her side to see if the others were near. Kyp lay unconscious not three feet away and the twins were nowhere to be seen. After a moment, Keilana sat up and cried out in pain. She was covered in bruises and could hardly move without excruciating pain ripping through her body. Her captors had not been gentle.

Lying still, Keilana allowed her eyes to adjust to the light—it was difficult despite the implant. As she did this, Keilana tugged at the bindings that held her hands behind her back. They did not budge nor did she expect them to. Muttering curses in Mandalorian, Keilana sat up again—more slowly this time—and started to study the space she and Kyp were in.

The room was small, that much was clear, and there was no obvious exit. Each wall of the octagonal room was covered from floor to ceiling with a single large mirror that simply reflected everything. The room felt thousands of times bigger than it actually was. The source of the light was directly overhead and Keilana did not even dare to look up for fear of blinding herself permanently.

Blowing out her frustration, Keilana tugged at her bindings once again and looked at Kyp as he started to stir. Before he could open his eyes, she instructed him not to.

"You'll blind yourself, Kyp," she said under her breath; she was sure the room was bugged. "And the last thing we need at the moment is a blind Jedi."

"I'd get along well enough with my other senses," Kyp retorted as he sat up, his eyes barely open. After a moment he asked: "Where are we?"

"I…don't know." Keilana said. "In some kind of torture device I would assume. Either that or someone's cruel idea of a holding cell."

"It could be both," Kyp said, squinting. Keilana frowned but didn't say anything.

After a moment of silence, Keilana asked Kyp to turn around so that she could get a look at his bindings.

"Those aren't coming off anytime soon," she concluded.

"I didn't think so," Kyp said as he turned back to her. He regarded her for a moment before asking: "How are you holding up?"

Keilana shook her head. "I'm falling to pieces, Kyp. I can't sense him; I can't feel if he is in pain or if he is fine. In fact, I can barely touch the Force here. It's worse than Geonosis."

Her influence is crossing the galaxy… Keilana shook her head, trying to rid her mind of her grandfather's words. "Something powerful is dampening the Force, Kyp, but, somehow, it feels unintentional…"

"What do you mean?"

Keilana shook her head slowly. "I don't know. I just don't get the feeling of oppression here, just simple suppression as if the Force…" Keilana trailed off.

"As if the Force what?"

"I don't know, Kyp. I don't understand any of this."

The two were silent for a moment, their sight downcast in an attempt to shield the brightness of the mirrors. Just as Keilana looked back to Kyp, her mouth open as if about to speak, one of the mirrors in the ceiling slid to the side and the twins—Jacen then Jaina—fell through. Jacen grunted as he landed on his shoulder and barely had time to roll out of the way so that his sister did not fall on top of him. Kyp and Keilana exchanged glances before crawling at the best of their ability to the siblings. Jacen had been stripped down to the waist, his fresh tattoo red and bleeding as if someone had been prodding it roughly. Fresh bruises discoloured his abdomen and back and it was obvious to both of the adults that the young man was in a great deal of pain. Jaina, who looked no better than her brother but still fully clothed, grimaced and sat up first. It was instantly apparent that she was indeed the less injured of the two, for Jacen simply laid on his chest, his back arched in order to put little pressure on his bruised stomach. His eyes remained shut in a silent grimace.

"What happened to you two?" Keilana asked softly, her gaze lingering on Jacen.

Jaina drew in a shuddering breath as she shook her head. "Terrible things," she said softly. "They didn't touch me as they did Jacen but they made me see things, horrible things. I saw Coruscant burning and heard the screams of young children as the Temple blazed the brightest of all." Tears sprang to the young woman's eyes as she squeezed them shut. "They didn't even ask me any questions…"

Keilana's distaste for the girl was momentarily forgotten as she sat back on her haunches, pity in her eyes as Jaina continued to speak.

"What do they want from us?"

"I don't even know who they are, Jaina," Keilana lifted her shoulders in a shrug as her eyes went to Jacen. "What did they do to him?"

"Kicked him around, mostly. One man rubbed at the script on his collarbone until it started to bleed as he made crude remarks. That's when they showed me the images. I recognized the woman who did it but I could not put a name to her face even though I feel as if I should. She was a friend but her name was somehow…displaced." Jaina shook her head. "When I came to they had Jacen stretched out on a rack as they asked him questions about…" she looked at Keilana "…about you."

"Me?"

"They said their boss was very interested in you."

Keilana's breath caught in her throat.

"What is it?" Kyp said, forcing his eyes off of Jacen.

"The Arm," Keilana said softly. If not for the tone of the woman's voice, Jaina would have laughed out loud.

"Who?"

"A crime organization. They offered me the Skywalker job as well as…" Here Keilana trailed off, her eyes drifting to the floor.

"As well as what?" Jaina asked, suddenly suspicious.

"As well as the Trigen job."

"What?"

"You heard what I said, Solo," Keilana said, an edge creeping into her voice. "Trigen had a bounty on his head and it was offered to me. That's the original reason behind my interest in this mission."

"I knew it," Jaina said dangerously. "I knew you had an ulterior motive to joining the mission."

"I'm not going to try to explain myself," Keilana responded calmly. "I was offered a bounty and it intrigued me so I asked to be allowed to join you three. Your uncle, though suspicious, allowed me to come along and I now believe that he meant this as a test to my loyalties."

"I'd say that you failed miserably," Jaina snorted. "Does he know who you are?"

Keilana drew in a sharp breath as her eyes widened despite the brightness of the room. A smile crept across Jaina's face as Kyp studied the two women.

"What are you getting at, Jaina?" Kyp said after a moment.

"It's a simple question, really," Jaina said with a shrug that was almost nonchalant. "Does my uncle know who you are?"

"He knows that I used to be a bounty hunter, yes, but so does the rest of the Academy. What are you implying?"

"I think you know," Jaina said darkly. The tone of her voice made Jacen momentarily forget his pain as his eyes opened slightly, his gaze shifting between the two women.

"Calm down," he croaked. The others did not know who he was talking to.

"I think you have to explain it to me, Solo," Keilana said softly, dangerously, as she rocked back on her heels.

"Does my uncle know who your father is?"

Keilana's eyes narrowed to two dark slits.

"Yes." Keilana's answer was simple but her tone deadly. Even without the Force, Kyp could feel the darkness within the woman break against the walls she had constructed; it had been growing since Geonosis.

"Who else knows?" Jaina's tone, though not as harsh as Keilana's, was dangerously close.

"What does it concern you, girl?" Keilana was on her feet ready to fight despite the bindings that held her wrists together.

Jaina stood as well, her eyes on fire.

"Jaina, stop," Jacen said, his voice rough. It seemed as if he had been screaming.

"I will not stop," Jaina spat. "Don't you even care about who she is?"

"No," Jacen said. "No, I don't care. She is Keilana, that's all that matters." His sister's anger flared and Jacen grimaced. "Jaina, beware the darkness…"

"Shut up about the darkness, Jacen, I can handle myself!" Kyp stood, wary of the tone Jaina's voice had taken. The young woman gave him a harsh glare before turning back to Keilana. "How many others know about your heritage?"

"What does it concern you, Solo?"

"Because I don't want a bloody Fett running lose in the Academy!" Jaina screeched, the mirror's shaking momentarily. Jacen stood, too, despite his injuries, and stared at Keilana. "Because I don't want any further harm to come to my family! You Fetts have done enough to hurt us!"

"Don't you dare place the blame on me for what my father did to your father, Solo. It was never personal, you know. My father's personal battle has always been with the Jedi. Han Solo was just a job and a big payoff."

"You don't deny it then," Jacen said, his voice almost a whisper. "You don't deny that Boba Fett is your father."

"No, I don't," Keilana said at length. "And why should I? I am certainly not proud of it, but it's not as if I had any choice in the matter. I got away as soon as I could but the damage had already been done." Keilana seemed to resign as she collapsed to the floor, her legs crossed, her head bowed.

"And what of your son?" Jacen's voice was haunted. He had built a pedestal for Keilana and she had shattered it in less than a second.

"He holds my father's name…my name," Keilana said with a tone of further resignation. "I could not let him grow without a surname and I would have died before giving him the name of his father. I hate my mother more than my father for what she did to me so I was left with few options—Jaxon Fett."

Keilana could not believe she admitted this so openly but she no longer cared. She had lived with this burden on her shoulders for too long and she had to get it off before she was crushed beneath its weight. She was done lying to those she had grown to love.

The three Jedi and Keilana remained silent for a long time. No one moved and no one dared to look at each other, afraid of what might happen. Jaina's anger still flared while Kyp's pity for the woman caused his gaze to eventually settle on Keilana's back. Jacen's eyes had travelled to the floor as he attempted to reconcile with himself and Keilana simply stared at one of the mirrored walls without seeing it. She felt nothing.

After a time—hours? minutes?—one of the mirrored panels slid to the side and a blue-skinned female stepped into the room followed by several very large men. The grin she gave the Jedi was feral.

"How nice it is to meet you all again," she said, her voice smooth. Jaina's eyes narrowed as soon as she noticed the woman.

"I heard you had betrayed us, Llywen," she said darkly. Llywen du Kiins simply smiled wider, her sharp teeth glistening in the intense light of the cell.

"Not so much betrayal, Jaina, as realizing there was a better deal. I am still Jedi but here I can rid the galaxy of scum one bounty hunter at a time." Her golden gaze focused on Keilana. "Starting with the biggest thorn and working my way down."

"You cannot win while your soul is tainted by the dark side," Jaina said, her voice pained, her words so much like Jacen's. She and Llywen had been friends, once upon a time. They had shared secrets and victories; they had laughed together and they had wept for fallen comrades.

"My soul is no more tainted than yours, Jaina," the Fin Ghula said. "I have not given into the darkness. Instead I have found a new power in the raw Force, a power Skywalker has kept from us for he fears losing his control over his Jedi."

Kyp growled, drawing everyone's attention. "Luke has held no one back, Llywen, as you believe he has. He is cautious in what he teaches for he knows the corruption of the raw Force even if it is not originally used for a destructive or dark purpose. He fell as far as anyone and he came back to us more knowledgeable and cautious about his lessons."

"This from the World Destroyer," Llywen said, her tone amused. "You know better than anyone how good it feels to let loose and to feel the raw energies course through your veins, yours and yours alone to control."

Kyp grimaced as if fighting off his answer. "Yes, Llywen, I do know how it feels and for a time you feel invincible and so…powerful." Kyp shuddered and Keilana looked up at him. She could see the battle that raged deep inside his mind, the battle for control, for peace. "But it does not last and in time it will begin to corrupt. I can already see the taint that has settled around your shoulders."

"Enough!" The alien said, gnashing her teeth. "You talk and preach, Durran, to those who have touched the raw Force but you are blind to the corruption in those closest to your heart." She pointed at Keilana and all eyes fell on the woman. "I know you can feel the darkness that grows in her. How long before she can no longer hold it at bay?" Llywen tilted her head to one side before straightening her back, her tail flickering above her head. "Come, the Crimelord waits."

She motioned to the four guards who rushed forward, each with a heavy piece of cloth in their hands. The three Jedi tried to evade them by ducking beneath the men's heavy arms and slow reflexes; Keilana, who had remained on the floor, was the only one who did not fight. For the moment she did not care where the men would take her or what they would do on the way; the Crimelord wanted her alive so she did not have death to fear. As soon as she was blindfolded and on her feet she looked to the side, barely sensing Kyp through the Force.

"Don't fight them, Kyp," she said softly. The room fell silent and she could feel seven sets of eyes on her. Straightening her shoulders, she sighed. "The Crimelord wants us alive otherwise we would already be dead."

"But allowing them to blindfold us?" This question was from Jaina.

Keilana simply shrugged.

"I'd do it, too." She looked at Jaina despite being unable to see. "And I have."

With that, Keilana followed where the guard led her, her chin held high—all traces of the wreck she had been just moments before had disappeared.

---

Keilana and the Jedi were led, blindfolded, into the large throne room. It was quiet and empty except for the Crimelord, the four members of the Academy, Llywen du Kiins, and Pietr. There was silence until the Crimelord moved in the throne and gently started to speak.

"You cannot believe how long I have waited for this day to come, Keilana."

Keilana tensed, caught off her guard. She knew that voice; it was the woman from her dreams. The sounds of the muttering Jedi went unheard as she turned her face towards the throne.

"No…" Keilana said under her breath. She could sense the Crimelord's smile as the woman spoke again.

"Yes, my child."

"He told me you were dead." Keilana's voice was quiet, dangerous, and the three Jedi started to grow anxious, each unsure of what was going to happen. While they had sensed something was odd about the situation, they certainly hadn't expected a female Crimelord, nor had they even suspected that Keilana knew this woman.

"I have always had a knack for cheating death. Pietr?" She gestured to her assistant and he stepped towards Keilana. Keilana's muscles tensed, ready for a fight, and was surprised when the blindfold fell away instead. Blinking, she looked at the woman and shook her head slowly.

The Crimelord—as she called herself—had golden hair that curled as it reached her waist, held back by a silver filigree circlet that seemed out of place in the stone cavern that surrounded them. Her skin was porcelain and flawless making her age impossible to tell and Keilana could hear the Jedi gasp as their blindfolds fell away as well. The woman was beautiful and exquisitely dressed in a gown of crimson silk. But none of those features were what drew Keilana's attention. She cared only for the eyes—the eyes that had haunted her for so long. They were two spots of green so clear Keilana was unsure the woman had irises at all. But for all of their intensity and brightness, the woman looked at her four captives without seeing them. The Crimelord was blind.

The great hall was silent for a long time as the two women studied each other. The Crimelord brought one hand up to support her chin and Keilana immediately realized that the woman's left arm was almost completely gone—all that remained was half of her upper arm, the end decorated with an intricately woven cap of silver, gold, and precious stones.

"Why have you done this to me?"

"To protect you, Keilana. Your father did a shoddy job of sheltering you from the evils of the universe and I am here to make it all right. You no longer have to fear death or pain for I will keep you safe against my breast from now until forever." The woman grinned widely and Keilana stepped forward. The guards eyed their mistress, unsure of what to do and Keilana noticed for the first time the two large canines that rested by the Crimelord's throne. They looked up from where they slept and bared their teeth at the bounty hunter. Keilana stopped where she stood halfway between the Jedi and the throne, unwilling to draw any nearer to the large hounds.

After a moment of studying the Crimelord, she laughed, the mirthless sound filling the hall.

"Why would I come to you for safe keeping? You out of all the people in the galaxy?"

"I fear you have little choice in the matter, my darling," the Crimelord said with a slight smile. She shifted in her throne but did not rise. "However, you will have time to decide if you will come to me willingly. I do not want to harm you but if you choose not to comply I am afraid that your decision will be made for you and it will be painful."

"You can do nothing to hurt me," Keilana said defiantly, even as two guards took her elbows and a third pulled a piece of cloth over her eyes. Lifting her chin and standing her ground as the guards started to lead her away she smiled despite the difficulty of the expression. "And I will never let you harm me again. Kamino was the last straw and you are dead to me no matter what you try to pull. You are as dead as Dad told me you were."

"We will see about that, my child," the Crimelord said as Keilana allowed herself to be led from the hall.

---

Once they were back in their cell of light, the three Jedi turned on Keilana, all of them asking questions at once.

Keilana tilted her head and frowned. "One at a time, please. I can't understand anything any of you are saying."

The Jedi paused and, after looking at each other, it was Kyp who asked the first question.

"What was that back there?"

"The Crimelord," Keilana answered simply. She seemed to be in a strange mood, one Kyp had not seen for a long time. Her walls were up and her stance, though seated, was defensive and ready to strike at a moment's notice. She then laughed, the sound holding no joy. "A woman."

"Well…yes," Kyp said, furrowing his brow. "But she knows you and you her."

"Of course," Keilana said, a frightening smile on her face. Kyp gave her an odd look, as did the twins. They all thought her delirious.

"I don't follow," Jacen said.

Keilana laughed again, the sound painful and grating in the three Jedis' ears.

"Jacen, she's my mother."