AN: The Darth Maul comic can be found on YouTube.

Sometimes it's hard to find

my way up into the clouds

– "breathin'", Ariana Grande

Maul meditated in his quarters, preparing himself to fight the Jedi Padawan.

Or rather, Eldra Kaitis. He felt that the Twi'lek had earned enough respect for him to use her given name.

He doubted his master would approve. Lord Sidious respected no one, simply because there was no one worthy enough to demand that respect; no one in the galaxy who could match his power. But even if there was, Maul doubted that his master would respect them. He would sooner destroy them.

Maul wanted to destroy Eldra; he wanted to fulfil his destiny and take revenge against the Jedi. Every time he doubted himself, he would remember what he had found at the Sith Temple. He would remember seeing the bodies, breathing in their ashes and feeling every single one of their deaths at the hands of the Jedi.

But even that memory was starting to grow weaker. Instead his head was filled with the memory of fighting her, and before that, fighting alongside her. The possibility he'd considered before, discarded when he'd been attempting to keep his hunt a secret, danced through his mind once again. The thrilling prospect turning her to the dark side and making her an ally; an assassin under the Sith's control.

There was certainly enough anger in her. And her cunning, her strength, her defiance… They were all the traits of a Sith.

He had a startling thought, that perhaps they were also the traits of a Jedi; that Jedi and Sith were more alike than he realised. But he buried that thought immediately.

Maul rose to his feet and called his lightsaber to his hand. For the time being, he would only use her for training. And if later there was a chance she could be turned, then he would have to do so carefully. If his master suspected him of attempting to train his own apprentice with the goal of supplanting him…

The droid appeared outside his room. "You summoned me, master?"

"Prepare the training room. Has the Padawan eaten?"

"No, sir. She refused to consume the meal I gave her."

Maul narrowed his eyes. "Refused?" He hadn't considered that she'd refuse to eat and therefore deprive him of a worthy sparring partner.

"She didn't say so outright, but considering she threw the food at my head, I put two and two together."

The grip on his lightsaber tightened. "Prepare the training room, anyway. I will teach her that it would be wise to keep her strength up."

The droid nodded and left. Maul took a few moments to prepare himself before he too left, making his way to Eldra's room.

She was sat in the middle of her bed, meditating. He felt a surge of excitement, the same feeling that had taken him off guard when he'd first laid eyes on her. He wondered if he'd always have that feeling before fighting her.

He ignited one end of his lightsaber and pointed it at her. "Get up. It is time for our first training session."

Eldra opened one eye. "I haven't eaten. Don't you want me at top form before we have our rematch?"

"The droid informed me that you refused your meal," Maul snarled. "If you wish to fight me without your strength, then that is your choice. But you will still fight me regardless. You will soon learn that I will not go easy on you."

The Padawan opened her other eye and glared at him. "You can't force me."

He growled. "These comforts you have can be taken away. If you wish to be treated like a slave, then by all means, I will treat you as such."

"Stop pretending I'm anything but a slave to you!" Eldra snapped. But she grabbed her lightsaber and stormed past him. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

She spun on her heel, crossed her arms and waited for him to lead the way, the glare never leaving her face. Maul glared back, before leading her to the training room.

The room was large and contained all sorts of equipment, both advanced and ridiculously simple. Lord Sidious had spared no expense in ensuring that his apprentice would receive the training necessary for his role as a Jedi killer.

Eldra paused in surprise, and took a moment to observe her surroundings.

The droid was still in the room. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel, and several platforms appeared; some from the walls, others rose up out of the floor. Maul nodded his approval to the droid; he wanted to be challenged by the terrain as well as the Padawan. The droid nodded in return before disappearing through another door.

Maul sealed the door behind them to ensure Eldra couldn't escape, before he walked into the centre of the room. "Prepare yourself. I may not wish to kill you, but I cannot guarantee that I won't strike you down by accident, should you misstep."

"So nice of you to be considerate." She followed him, and when she was stood before him, ignited her lightsaber.

The rush, the thrill… It all came back to him. He smiled, and waited. This time, he would let her be the first to strike.

After a few moments of silent anticipation, she did.

Her movements were controlled, fuelled by a fury he didn't think a Jedi was capable of. And yet, she wasn't fighting as well as she was on the Moon of Drazkel.

It was still exhilarating, fighting her once again. And like before, he could sense her fearlessness, her resignation. An acceptance of her fate. But perhaps, that was what felt off. He was the one initiating every move, every jump was made by him with her following… Apart from the first strike, she was using Form III, Soresu; only reacting, defending, making no attempt to counterattack.

And that enraged him.

He strengthened his attacks, knocking her around and bearing down on her harder until he had her on the floor. She struggled against him, holding her weapon with only one hand. With one final, brutal strike, he knocked the lightsaber out of her grasp, sending it flying across the room. It switched off when it clattered to the floor.

Eldra gritted her teeth. There was a scorch mark on her arm where his lightsaber had gotten too close to her, and her body was dotted with bruises.

She was beaten, defeated, with the marks to prove it. Seeing her in such a state should have given him great satisfaction.

It didn't.

Maul pointed his lightsaber at her. "You are beaten."

Eldra stared up at him. "Go on then. Finish it. Strike me down."

So, that was what she'd been hoping for; that he would forget about her purpose in the heat of battle, and kill her. She'd been longing for escape through death.

"You have no weapon," he said. "Killing a Jedi with no lightsaber is a hollow victory."

She reached behind her and called back her lightsaber, but she didn't ignite it. "There. Happy now?"

Knowing her intentions, he still didn't raise his weapon against her. But he closed his eyes and allowed himself to imagine it; imagine killing her.

He saw himself driving his lightsaber into her gut. He saw the tears rolling down her cheeks as she took her last breaths. He saw her lightsaber fall to the floor, never to be used again. He saw her eyes close as she slumped lifelessly to the ground. And as he stood over her body, triumphant, he felt…

…empty.

He thought he would feel satisfied, fulfilled, even in his imaginings. But there was nothing. Instead of feeling more certain of his destiny and the roll he would play in his master's plans, he felt the opposite.

Maul hadn't foreseen this. Perhaps if he killed more Jedi, killed them for the rest of his life… But as he imagined that, the feeling increased until it was so vast it felt like it was swallowing his soul.

Would he have to do it for real?

His eyes opened, and Eldra Kaitis was alive again, staring up at him. She hadn't even taken advantage of his momentary lapse.

As he stared down at her, he contemplated making his thoughts reality. Just to see if the feeling was real or not. But as he lifted his lightsaber, the feeling increased tenfold, as if in warning. It was like the Force itself was telling him that if he struck her down, the emptiness would stay with him for the rest of his life.

His hands began to shake violently.

With a roar of anger, he spun and threw his lightsaber across the room. It sliced through two platforms before landing, extinguishing itself on impact.

He stood staring at it, taking in deep breaths.

Maul couldn't contemplate what had happened; what he'd discovered. If he couldn't get any satisfaction from killing Jedi, what he'd been training for his whole life… then what purpose did he have?

Eldra ached all over.

The plan had been simple; she wouldn't eat, throw the fight and hope the Sith would be worked up enough to kill her. Of course, it wasn't that simple. He'd restrained himself, though not without a moment where he'd clearly contemplated the notion.

What surprised her was his actions afterwards. Throwing his own lightsaber away, and then roaring with anger that she quickly realised wasn't aimed at her, but himself.

His back was turned to her. It would be so easy to cut him down.

But he hadn't done the same. She'd been without her weapon, and he'd refused to strike her. Granted, he had no intention of killing her anyway, but still… And there was also the lingering fear of his master, of what he would do to her if she killed his apprentice.

Eldra put her weapon away and heaved herself off the floor. Her reactions gained no attention from the Sith, so she walked across the room to what appeared to be a medical unit. The scorch on her arm needed tending to.

She pulled herself up to sit on the unit before taking a closer look at the burn. It wasn't that bad; she'd seen worse in the training rooms at the Temple. All it needed was a bacta patch.

Before she could begin to look for one, the Sith appeared before her. He reached into the cupboard next to her, his face coming too close to hers for her liking. If he noticed her disapproval at his proximity, he didn't show it. After rummaging around, he brought out a bacta patch. Eldra looked him over; she couldn't see any wounds or injuries that would require a patch…

Maul suddenly took her arm and held it out. Eldra was too shocked to react or pull it back, and could only watch, speechless, as he applied the patch to her wound.

So many questions tumbled around in her mind, but she couldn't find her voice in order to ask them. And she couldn't bring herself to make any snarky remarks.

The patch applied, Maul stepped back and held out his hand. His lightsaber flew to it without fail. "When you are healed, we will fight again. I highly suggest you eat the food that's given to you."

And then he left the training room, not even bothering to escort her back to her own quarters. She supposed he didn't need to; it wasn't like she could escape.

Retreating back to her room could wait. Eldra allowed herself a moment to think over what had happened.

He wasn't what she imagined a Sith would be like. Well, he looked the part, and mostly acted the part, too. But he had moments; little ones that showed her there was more to him than that. He was like a bounty hunter with a code; a profession that wasn't noble, but some chose to have their own sense of honour, even if it was twisted.

She wasn't about to proclaim him a paragon of virtue by any means. He was still a Sith; still a monster. He'd made his intentions to murder the Jedi very clear. But he'd also allowed her to defend herself when they were under attack, and had then given her a fair fight. He'd refused to strike her down without her weapon. And while she was practically a slave to him and his master, she'd heard what most of the other buyers at the auction had planned for her. Her current circumstances were almost paradise compared to the other options.

Eldra still planned on escaping. She just had another way of doing it; one that wasn't clear, but had a rough starting point.

In her early apprenticeship to Master Ori, the woman had talked down a gunman who'd threatened to shoot up a crowded market on Lothal. She had done so without anyone firing a single shot, all because she'd sympathised with him. By understanding why he was doing it and reasoning with him, she'd convinced him to turn himself over to the local security forces peacefully. He hadn't been a bad guy; just an ordinary man who'd been hurt too many times, and thought the only option was striking out at the world that had been nothing but cruel to him.

If she could begin to do that with Maul, see if there was anything in him worth sympathising or reasoning with…

Eldra held no delusions. It wouldn't be as easy as her master made it look, and it wouldn't be as quick. But she had limited options, and her survival – along with possibly the survival of the entire Jedi Order – depended on it.

AN: Due to the lack of response to this story, I'm thinking about taking it down in order to potentially rework it. But I'm not sure if I will yet or not, hence the update. I don't know if people aren't reading it because it centers around a one-off comics character who not many people will have heard of, or because it's not that great. If it's the latter, then it'll definitely need reworking (but I'll probably try and rework the story anyway if it's the former, to try and get people interested).

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if this story suddenly disappears, don't panic. I'll repost it again. Also, I may need a beta reader to bounce ideas off of, so if anyone is up for it (or knows of any Star Wars beta readers), then let me know.