Next chapter up. Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Marr paced back and forth in front of Vala's holding cell. He'd allowed only one day to pass since their last conversation. After a full day of feverish contemplation about her entire world, he sensed the girl was ready to start considering new ideas. She was confused, but clear minded enough to listen and think.

"On Balmorra, it was clear you were willing to die to save the people on that transport."

Vala nodded. "I was."

"Why?"

Marr could sense yet more confusion from his question. The Jedi even gave him a look to match. To her, self sacrifice seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary and she probably found it odd that he'd even ask why she'd considered it.

"Because part of following the Lightside of the Force is to protect others."

"At the cost of one's own life?" Marr asked.

"Yes, at the cost of one's own life." Vala repeated with a nod.

"Those lives you were willing to exchange for your own, do you think they are thankful for your sacrifice? Do you think any of them have awakened at night, troubled by the Jedi lives lost for their escape? I understand many Jedi died during the evacuation."

"Some of them." Vala's voice was soft, almost a whisper, after a considerable pause.

Marr took a few more steps, then stopped and turned to her fully.

"Does it bother you to know most of those people probably haven't thought about those who sacrificed their lives for theirs? Not once since it happened."

Vala paused again, thinking or possibly just dreading having to talk about this topic. Marr waited patiently.

"Jedi are trained to not fear death."

"True, but that doesn't mean you wish to die. It doesn't even mean you're ready to die. Death comes to us all in time and is nothing to fear, this is true, but don't you deserve to live just as much as those Balmorran citizens and Republic soldiers? It is a belief of some that Jedi are born to sacrifice themselves. They are almost expected to sacrifice themselves in some noble way. I believe that is the true reason your order is not allowed to fall in Love or have families. A Jedi would be much less likely to allow themselves to die, if they had something truly worth living for. Is a life existing only to die for the greater good really a life worth living?"

Vala was silent.

"All those Jedi died in that factory. Your master died. You were willing to die. All so a handful of people could live on, not caring that others died to save them. It's noble, but pointless. This is why the number of active Jedi goes down every year. Too many willing to die for a cause, but not willing to love to continue the Order. Too willing to save lives, but not willing to make them."

Marr took a few more steps, allowing the silence to hang in the air.

"You are not allowed to love, but not allowed to live, either. I do not understand the Jedi mentality in this matter." He paused and approached the forcefield to Vala's cell. "And from your silence, I don't think you understand it, either. You're too young to not wish to live. It must have been a terribly difficult situation for you, choosing to die."

"I was doing what was right." Vala said.

"Right for yourself or right for others? In life, even good people are allowed to make selfish choices. It does not make them evil."

Marr's holo began to chime, pulling them out of the very intense moment.

"I must leave you now, but I encourage you to think about what I've said. Your life is just as valuable as another, even if you've been taught differently."

Marr turned without waiting for a response, leaving the room.

Vala was returned to her holding cell. She ignored her meal, even though she hadn't touched her previous meal. She curled up on her cot, wrapping her arms around her legs.

She'd made the right choice, at the time, sacrificing herself for the people on that transport. In hindsight, however, she was having second thoughts. The more she thought about how narrowly she had escaped death, the more she thought about how much she wanted to live. There was just so much she had yet to experience in her life. She was not ready to die and she had almost willingly thrown that life away.

The conversation she'd had with the Sith about the Jedi code came back to her. Particularly about the true passion they had spoken about and how Jedi never got to experience the emotion. The emotions she sensed in the Sith as they spoke on the topic intrigued her. They were the first and only emotions she'd felt clearly from him.

Vala was scared now. Very scared. She didn't want to die at the hands of this Sith. She wanted to live and experience all the things life had to offer. Surely the Jedi code wasn't so rigid that it would deny someone from having experiences, right?

Without really realizing it, Vala began to cry softly. She wanted to go home to her family. Not the Jedi, but her real family. Her father and grandfather. The people who still treated her like a person and not some tool for the Republic. Even being around her grandmother, who often treated her as a Jedi more than a blood relation, would be better than being locked in this cell.

She cried softly for almost an hour, then fell asleep, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

To Be Continued...