CHAPTER-5

Another month passed away. Controlling the child got ever more difficult. Maul would often find himself in a pure mess after all the work. When the child started growing its first teeth, the droid started dancing. Maul was happy beyond everything. Sidious too was happy. Soon the child would start walking and using the force. Soon she would be trained. The body of Plagieus was dealt with. It was chopped up by the assassin and put into a bag. This bag was sent to his home planet in the same ship. Of course the results were amusing for the Sith; terrifying for the Jedi. The Munns were outraged by this. They almost announced a war on the Republic. The Jedi sent two of its best negotiators to dilute the situation.

The child once tried to stand on its own but fell immediately. The droid would record everything. From the time it had entered the palace to now, the droid would record everything. Whenever he would sit down to meditate, Maul would see visions. Perhaps the force wanted to let him know something. He didn't know what it was. All he saw was her fighting a bunch of Jedi and holding her ground. He even saw her fight Sidious and defeat him. He was proud of this. He also saw a vision of her standing in the Jedi temple, seated in the place of the grand master. He didn't know what it meant but he hoped it would be good for the child.

-oooooooo-

Another month passed away. Maul started having few nightmares. He would see her in the middle of a raging battle letting out a large black force lightning and fainting. Another time he would see her battling the most dangerous Sith lords of all the time. He would see her hold her ground against them only to be stabbed in the back. He would often brush it away and consider it as a joke from the force's side. The child had started to stand for longer times successfully. She would often crawl towards him and pull his clothes. Whenever he would bend she would try and hold his horns. Maul would gently push her. One day when she was playing with her toys, Maul called her, "Vader, look here." She didn't respond. Maul called her again but she didn't reply. He then called her again, "Aarya." She turned immediately and crawled towards him. Maul just saw as she stood up with his support and look at him with those blue eyes. The eyes held every innocence Maul couldn't see. He then grabbed a toy using the force and gave it to her. She then took it and went back to playing. After an hour or so Maul caught her lifting her hand towards a toy. The toy started shaking. He was delighted; she was trying to use the force. He looked at the droid who had already recorded it. He sent the clip to his master. Sidious was delighted.

-oooooooo-

Another month had passed. She started to stand without support. She would often try to walk and would fall often. But she managed to get herself up again. She never would give up easily. Maul tried feeding her some solid food but she would try and grab the food from him and try feeding himself. Sidious tried feeding her once but she would never let him. She tried and grabbed the bowl from him and tried feeding herself. The result was pretty amusing; she poured the entire thing on herself. This made Sidious himself laugh. She would just start spooning nothing in the bowl. Maul then tried cleaning her but she would go and try doing that too on her own.

"She would end up killing all the Jedi if she continues this." his master joked.

"Oh she indeed is going to do that, master." He replied.

She tried wiping herself but made it a bigger mess. The droid then came forward and grabbed a towel. It then wiped the child, with initial resistance. She cried and started a scene. But the droid would have nothing. It cleaned her and fed it. Though it tried to grab the bowl again, the droid used its own tactics to make sure she never got it. Later she slept and the master and apprentice conversed with each other.

"So Maul, have you thought of visiting your home planet?"

"No master."

"Hmm, how do you like Naboo?"

"It indeed is beautiful master."

"You seem slightly afraid."

"I don't get you, master."

"You are waiting for the discipline, aren't you?"

"Yes master." Maul said bending on one knee. Suddenly he felt the blue lightning lick his body. He was in pain. He was lucky for the fact that the child was in another part of the palace. The blue lightning licked his insides. They suddenly stopped. Suddenly the aggressive strikes of twin red blades began. Maul escaped almost all strikes but would get cut at different places. He reached out for his blade. It flew to him. He then fought back only to be defeated by the master. He was on his knees again. He was panting. Sidious laughed as he told, "Good, good. You have still maintained your fighting skills. But you need to improve."

"Yes master."

The two then walked to the hall. Sidious left for his diplomatic meet in Coruscant. Maul was alone in the hall. The droid then walked in and saw the injuries he had. It then suddenly started working on it. "Leave it." Maul said.

"The child would get afraid."

"I shall cover it."

"For how long?" this question hit maul like the lightning. For how long would he be disciplined by his master? It was a pain anyway. It was this pain which fuelled his anger and hatred. This fuelled his powers. The self conflicting thoughts had begun to surface again. All those years of torture only to train him as an assassin. Then it struck him, what about the child? If Sidious used all those methods to train an assassin, then the amount of torture and pain the child had to endure in order to become a Sith was unimaginable. She would suffer. And Maul would be the witness. Or would he? The child was the chosen one; there was no doubt in that. But why does everything tragic happen to the ones who are destined to greatness only? Was this a joke by the Force? First it had to be separated from its parent and sibling, now it would be a machine. Anything under the training of Sidious would either be his asset or his weapon. What destiny did the force hold for it? By the time he came to the present the droid had finished dressing the wounds. He then walked towards the room where the child was. It had begun sleeping through the entire night long ago. He stared at it. He just hoped that he would be alive to see her become a Sith lord.

She was indeed a very talkative one. She would go on uttering syllables and even try to pronounce some words. She would talk for five hours or so. Maul would be the one who would often get stuck with her for the conversations. The droid would escape saying it needed to clean up the mess. He never had a burning desire to kill the droid. It would often escape whenever it had a chance. Maul soon became the child's favorite.

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