Chapter 2

Satin sat on the sofa holding an ice pack on her swollen eye while Padme took another and offered it to Bo who took it and placed it in her ribs, a grunt of pain leaving her lips as she did so.

"Are you two insane?" Padme shouted, "You went all berserk on each other, you could have killed one another."

"Leave it be senator," Bo said waving her good arm in the air.

"Leave it, how I'm supposed to leave it?" Padme looked at Satine "Satine, what came over you?"

Satine didn't give an answer, she just stared at her friend. There was no excuse for what she had done. She was supposed to preach nonviolence but she just fought, hand to hand with her sister. So many people put their trust in her before to lead them in neutrality during the war that was consuming the galaxy, what would they say if they could see her now?

But on the other hand, after everything that had happened, losing Mandalore, losing Korkie, feeling helpless for weeks it felt good to hit something finally, to let the rage out. She didn't feel like that in a long time.

Satine sighed "I don't know, I guess that the stress has finally gotten to me," she said in a low voice, lowering her head.

"Well during your little brawl I sent a message to master Kenobi, he should be here soon. How are you going to explain it to him?" Padme said.

"By telling the truth," Bo said as she shifted on the sofa, another grunt of pain coming from her.

"Alright, I'm getting you two a medical droid," Padme said and went to a terminal to call for medical aid.

"That was a nice side-kick back there, really caught me off guard," Bo Katan said.

Satine could not help but chuckle "You should have expected that."

"Well, I didn't so congratulations to you," Bo said with a smirk.

The two sisters stared at each other for a long moment, neither saying a word. There was shame and regret in both of their eyes. Satine sighed, she hated this, not being able to do anything, just leaving her home and her people to the mercy of someone like Maul and his brother. But what she hated, even more, was how she let this go this far, the relationship with her sister. They were inseparable once, always together. For a long time Bo even looked up to her, Satine was her older sister, it was her job to watch over her but everything went to hell. It was ironic that all it took for them to be brought together was for their home to be taken over.

Her mind raced with everything that happened once more, trying to find a way how she could have everted it without bloodshed and violence but the more she thought about it the more any idea she got seemed flawed, there always was something that went wrong. Then a voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"What happened to you, were you attacked?" Obi-wan said as he came closer to her, a look of worry on his face.

"No," Satine said shaking her head "No one attacked us, actually we attacked each other."

Obi-wan looked shocked at her. "What, but why?"

"You said you could not get her out of the room or to make her stop feeling sorry for herself, well I found a way," Bo-Katan said.

"By beating her?" Obi-wan said.

"Yes," Bo said as she straightened on the sofa, now directly looking at Obi-Wan. "She needs to clear her head, and nothing clears your head like a fight."

"A fight? Look at you two, you look like you were trying to kill each other,"

"Well, we might have taken it more seriously than I originally planned," Bo said.

"I can see that," Obi-wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at where Bo was holding her hand, it seems Satine really did put up a fight. "Still, I never expected something like this, especially from you Satine."

Satine turned her head from Obi-Wan to the floor. "I know," She did feel guilty but not as guilty as she thought she should be. But what she thought more right now was how this all looked like to Obi-Wan, how would this change how he sees her.

"How bad are your injuries?" Obi-Wan asked her looking concerned.

"Not too bad, just some bruises, maybe a broken rib, I don't know," Satine said dryly. "Padme has just gone to get a medical droid to see to us."

"I still don't understand what could have compelled you to react this way Satine, you never did something like this," Obi-wan said.

"I know," Satine said with a sigh.

"Leave her be Kenobi, there's nothing wrong with getting your frustration out by punching something," Bo said.

"For you maybe, but Satine isn't like you," Obi-Wan said and that made Satine start to think just how much like her sister she actually was. Moments later Padme returned with a medical droid. The droid tended to their injuries, he told her that the swelling on her eyes should be gone in a few days and a similar thing to Bo. When he finished he packed up and left, leaving them with Obi.-Wan and Padme once more.

Padme and Obi-wan wanted to discuss what happened more but there wasn't really much to tell, it was simple, she just lashed out due to the stress of everything. Obi just continued to look at her with concern and a bit of shock while Padme was still annoyed at what happened but Satine knew that she was concerned for her as well.

"I think I'm going to go take a lay down in my room now," Satine said as she got up from the couch.

"Don't strain yourself too much," Obi-Wan said coming close to help her.

"I'm fine Obi, I can walk to my room on my own," with that said she left for her room.

"Remember, if you get stuck inside I will pull you out again," Bo said as Satine left. Obi-Wan and Padme both glared at the other Mandalorian who didn't spare the looks they gave a second glance.

Anakin was walking the halls of the Jedi Temple going from the sparring room to his quarters. On his way remembered his master, Obi-Wan who returned to the temple this morning. Anakin decided to see his master in his private quarters instead.

Padme had told me this morning about what happened between the duchess and her sister. She was shocked but honestly, he was more amazed than surprised, he knew that the duchess was a strong woman in more than just politics, she was Mandalorian after all. Anakin studied some of the Jedi histories as most padawans did and he knew about the wars between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, even after thousands of years the fight was still not over between the two groups so that Bo-Katan brought Satine here to Coruscant, the center of the Republic and the Jedi Order was the thing that actually surprised him.

When he came to the door he knocked and entered seeing Obi-Wan sitting at a table looking at a data tab. "Hello Master, back from your visit," Obi-Wan stayed in Padme's apartment during the night to watch over in case something happened again.

"I did and I have no doubt that Padme already told you about it."

"She did actually. Who would have guessed that your girlfriend had it in her, all that talk of pacifism and she end up kicking the crap out of her own sister? I got to say I'm impressed," Anakin said with a small grin.

"This is no time for jokes Anakin and she is not my girlfriend," Obi-Wan said firmly.

"Sure she isn't," Anakin said grinning. The Jedi master chose to ignore his former padawan and get to the point.

Obi-Wan sighed "Still no news from the council?"

"No and I don't think they will do anything without hard proof that Maul is actually there," Anakin said in a now serious tone.

"We need to find a way to help Satine and her people."

"I know master, I would take the 501st to Mandalore right now if I could but."

"You can't defy the wishes of the council and the Republic." Obi-Wan put the date tab on the desk "This is all my fault, everything Maul does is on my shoulders."

"You can't blame yourself for his actions. Maul is a monster and we will find a way to stop him. We will find a way to help the duchess."

"I wish I had your enthusiasm about this," Obi-Wan said.

"Well then stick close to me and it might just rub off on you," Anakin said and Obi-wan could not help but chuckle.

"Maybe it will."

Satine had spent the last several days recovering from her fight with her sister. She was having lunch with Padme, it was nice, they were just having a meal and chatting. It was then when she noticed that she has not heard or seen her sister for at least two hours.

"Padme, where did Bo say she was going?"

"I think she said she was going to see how her men are doing and to check the ship," Padme said and Satine nodded. Even now Bo acted like a leader. The few Mandalorian soldiers that survived the escape attempt stayed on the ship when they were brought to Coruscant. The two continued to talk until they heard the sound of heavy buts entering the room, Satine turned to see her sister walking in, a fighting staff in each hand.

"What are those for?" Padme asked raising an eyebrow. Considering what she knew of the younger Kryze sister, she had a good idea what those were for but she asked nevertheless.

"We know that Satine has not forgotten her hand-to-hand fighting skills but we still need to see how good she is with weapons. We will start with blunt ones and move from there."

Padme stood up from the chair, glaring at the younger Mandalorian. "I will not allow this in my home. I will not let you harm your sister again."

Bo took several steps towards the senator, looking her right in the eyes. "I will not harm her, this is just training. You saw that it works, we might not be able to retake Mandalore but I can at least get her mind off things with this," Bo said raising one of the staffs.

"No, I will not allow this," Padme protested.

"There nothing for you to allow, this is her choice," Bo-Katan said looking at her sister.

Satine was conflicted, she didn't know what to say. On one hand, she still cared about her ideals, the ones she preached for years, the ones she wanted to be accepted by her people but on the other hand, Bo was right, what happened did help her clear her mind a bit. Maybe one practice session would be too bad, having some self-defense training could never hurt. Satine looked into the teacup she was holding seeing her reflection, then the reflection turned to one of Korkie and guilt gripped her heart. She put the cup down and stood up, looking at her sister.

Bo smiled and tossed her one of the staffs, Satine catching it easily in her right hand. "Good, let's begin," Satine followed her sister to the middle of the apartment, it was roomy enough for them to practice. Padme just watched them with a worried expression as they took their positions. "Begin," Bo said and Satine threw the first strike which her sister easily blocked.

Bo then retaliated with several fast strikes that Satine blocked, Satine could feel her muscle memory kicking in. More strikes came and Satine blocked them again. Her sister grinned and Satine then went on the attack. She first threw a low strike towards Bo's leg but after it was blocked she threw another higher towards the shoulder.

Satine could feel the sweat going down her forehead, it had been years since she trained like this, while Bo looked like this was of no effort at all. Satine attacked again and she almost hit her sister on the head but then she felt as her feet were swept from under her and a second later she was laying on the floor, Bo's staff pointed at her face.

"Not bad but not good either," Bo said in a serious tone. "You will need to get better. Pick up the staff," Satine looked at the fallen staff to her right. She outstretched her hand and grabbed it. Bo took several steps back as Satine got up from the floor. The two sisters looked each other in the eyes. "Again," Bo said and Satine attacked.