New Chapter up. Things are going to start getting interesting for Vala! Thanks for reading and enjoy.
Vala controlled her emotions until she was on her way to Coruscant. She was the only Force sensitive on the shuttle, so she allowed herself to feel the anger she truly felt on Tython. The part that stung the most had been when she realized that Darth Marr had been right. He'd told her that saying she was released would cause her nothing but suspicion and mistrust, but she hadn't listened. She hadn't believed her own people would treat her with such scrutiny.
Sure, maybe the first few weeks might have been rough, but they would be more relieved about her safe return, then the reasons behind it. She had been wrong. If she could be wrong about this, what else was she wrong about? More importantly, what else was Darth Marr right about?
Had this been the Sith's plan all along, to push her into questioning her own beliefs, then release her into a situation which would only push her further away from the Jedi?
The only problem with that idea was Marr would have no idea if releasing her would result in Vala turning to the Darkside. She knew how valuable a captive she was, considering her lineage. So did Marr.
Just because she had been taught about the Lightside of the Force, doesn't mean it's all good and the Darkside is all bad. The people she thought she trusted would have her believe light vs. dark was good vs. evil, but was this belief actually true?
Vala was so confused it made her head hurt. She leaned back in her seat and soon fell asleep. Thankfully, she didn't dream.
When Vala arrived on Coruscant, she checked in with her father, like usual. He wasn't on the planet, at the moment, being on assignment for the SIS. Next she tried to contact her grandfather. He had been in a meeting, but she arranged to meet up with him for dinner at his apartment. She usually stayed with her father when on Coruscant, but she sometimes stayed with Grandpa Malcom when her father was off on assignment.
If she were being honest with herself, she didn't really want to stay with anyone. She was too angry at the world in general to be good company, but she didn't want to make anyone more suspicious of her by deviating from her normal routine. Maybe if she could convince Grandpa Malcom she was back to normal, everyone else would back off. She had a full day before she was scheduled to meet up with the Jedi younglings, so she had only one day to convince her grandfather she was alright.
Since she had a few hours to kill, Vala headed to the speeder pad by the spaceport and flew over to the ruins of the Jedi temple. She often went over to the ruins to meditate on the site of so much death and chaos. She found focusing easy in the place with such distinct Force signatures.
Fortunately, Republic security had managed to clear out the last of the Imperial presence in the ruins, so Vala felt safe enough climbing up and around the rubble to her favorite spot. She folded her legs under her, calmed her mind and relaxed.
After about a half an hour, Vala stopped her meditation, confused.
When she meditated on her previous trips to the ruins, she could always feel the presence of the Jedi lives lost during the sacking of Coruscant. She'd focus herself on their courage and sacrifice. This time was different. She could still feel the Jedi, but she could also feel the Sith. She could feel their desire to fight, to eradicate the Jedi, but she could also feel their fear and pain when they died. She could also feel the anger from the Jedi fighting in the battle. The jumble was enough to make her short of breath.
"What is happening to me?" She asked herself quietly. She leaned back on her elbows and did her best to sort out the mess of Force presences in her mind.
Both sides had felt the same emotions. Anger, fear, exhilaration...it was all there, on both sides. She had always been taught the destruction of the Jedi temple had been a one sided massacre, but how could that be, since she was feeling exhilaration from the lightside presences and fear from the darkside. Honestly, if she wasn't skilled at determining the difference between the light and dark, she wouldn't know which side was which, from the Force alone.
"Marr did this to me." She said, though even her rational mind was rejecting the statement. Marr hadn't tortured her, drugged her, or treated her with anything but respect the entire time she had been held captive. All he'd done was talk to her, make her think about things in a different way. Jedi were supposed to be open minded. Why were Marr's words messing up her perspective so much?
As she sat in the ruins of one of the largest Jedi temples ever created, Vala began to realize that maybe more than just her perspective had changed. Maybe she, herself, had changed as well. Was it possible the Force was more than she had been taught by her grandmother and the other Jedi? Was their reluctance to bring her back into the fold not so much a matter of not trusting her, but simply because they knew she'd learned the truth.
Vala sighed, getting to her feet and brushing the dust off her robes. As she headed to her grandfather's apartment, she realized she already knew what she had to do. She just had to discover if she had enough courage to do it.
Dinner with her grandfather had been nice enough, but something was off about their conversation. He greeted her enthusiastically, but when they chatted over dinner, the topic wasn't the same as it used to be. Before, he'd talk with her about almost everything, including the state of the Republic and some of the non-classified projects he was working on. This time, however, he only talked about her, the Jedi, her father and grandmother, anything but the Republic. He said nothing which could be considered sensitive.
Apparently, he didn't trust Vala anymore than everyone else in the Republic or the Jedi.
After dinner, Vala excused herself and returned to her father's apartment, telling her grandfather that she had some things to prepare before taking over charge of the younglings in the morning. He understood and wished her goodnight with a tight hug and kiss on the cheek. She promised she'd holo him again soon, though she had a feeling that was a lie. If she followed through with her plans, she wouldn't be speaking with her family again anytime soon.
Instead of heading to her father's apartment, she headed to the spaceport. More specifically, to a shuttle bound for Nar Shaddaa. She'd been to the smuggler's moon several times and she knew she'd be able to easily find a less traceable mode of transportation for hire there. No doubt her family would eventually figure out where she'd gone, but hopefully by then, it would be too late.
To Be Continued...