AN: Try to listen to the songs I've quoted before/during/after reading the chapters. They're there for a reason. ;)

And if I bleed

you'll be the last to know

– "Cruel Summer", Taylor Swift

In all his years as a Sith, Sidious had learned to never grow too attached to his plans. As great an architect as he was when it came to planning and predicting the moves of others, the universe was constantly in motion. Not everything reacted as he predicted. Plans changed.

Throwing a needless tantrum whenever things didn't go his way was counterproductive. Instead he re-planned, made compromises, took advantage of whatever came of these sudden unpredicted events.

The Padawan had been a welcomed asset. He had planned for his apprentice to fight her, and had expected Maul to come out on top. But the Padawan surprised him with her strength, and with her unexpected anger on top, Sidious had considered letting her kill Maul so that he might take her as a new apprentice.

That thought had lasted but a moment. There was too much light in her; too much defiance. And while the Sith were born in defiance, too much of it in an apprentice would never do. So, he allowed his apprentice to take her; use her for his training. It had certainly worked, for Sidious could sense the growing power in the young Zabrak. He was becoming an unstoppable weapon against the Jedi.

But there was that… attachment issue. Sidious should have known that giving his apprentice a female Padawan of the same age would lead to this problem emerging.

When he'd first sensed the emotions radiating from his apprentice, he'd almost ordered Maul to kill her straight away. A distraction such as her would interfere with his plans. What stopped him was a thought that occurred to him; something he'd considered before, but hadn't acted upon.

As the Jedi had their Trials for Knighthood, so too did the Sith have their own trials. Or rather, one in particular that needed to be performed in order for one to truly embrace the dark side. The Sith Sacrifice.

Sidious had murdered his entire family, sacrificing them in order to gain more power in the dark side. The event had been a revelation, and opened his eyes to just how powerful he could be. But many a time, he had realised that with no connections and no one to care for, his apprentice would not be able to make such a sacrifice.

Until now.

Eldra Kaitis would be his sacrifice. Maul had already promised to kill her on his master's orders, but a promise was just words. He needed to carry it out in order to prove his devotion to the Sith. All Sidious had to do was wait for the perfect moment; wait until Maul cared just enough about her that killing her would drive him so deep into the dark side, he'd never come out again.

And that remained his plan until the Force shifted, and he sensed another presence.

It was small, still growing – and he knew exactly what it was.

It was the third time Eldra had thrown up. Something was wrong.

Added to that, she could sense something in the Force. Something she couldn't quite make out. It felt like a tickle at the back of her neck; there but not completely. Faint, but growing. She couldn't figure out what it was.

And of course, Maul was away on another mission, leaving her alone with the problem. Eldra pushed down the feeling of loneliness that came with the thought. She refused to become dependant on him; refused to feel helpless without him around.

With a sigh, she decided to suck it up and go to Venny for help. The droid would be able to scan her for any illnesses or injuries she could have, and determine whether or not she needed medical attention. Not that she'd be able to leave in order to receive it. Venny would have to play doctor to the best of his ability.

She left her refresher and then her quarters, searching for the droid. "Venny? You around? I've got a vomiting problem you need to help me with. I promise I won't throw up on you. Much." There was no answer. Eldra walked into the main apartment area, frowning.

A second later, she was overcome by a dark presence. A second after that, she realised that the presence felt familiar.

"Eldra Kaitis."

She was suddenly pushed to the floor by the Force, facing downwards. It pinned her down, unrelenting, and Eldra felt her heartrate accelerate in response. So used to the calming presence of the Force, it felt like a betrayal to be at its mercy; to feel so helpless in the face of its raw power. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out.

The darkness felt like it was suffocating her. Eldra latched onto the light inside of her and did whatever she could to keep it burning; thought of her friends, thought of her home, recited the Jedi Code in her mind… All the while the darkness kept closing in, invading her body and her mind. She was like a single candle in a black hole, staring at the event horizon and unable to stop it from sucking away her very being.

Unable to move even an inch, she forced herself to stop struggling and instead waited for her attacker to make himself known. She knew who he was. The dark memory of him had haunted her nightmares ever since her capture.

The Sith Master drifted past her, his black cloak trailing along the floor. With half her face pressed against the floor, it was the only part of him she could see, though she feared to look at his face even if she could.

"What do you want?" she demanded, trying to sound defiant but unable to keep her voice from trembling slightly.

"To congratulate you, of course," said the Sith. His voice was unlike anything she'd ever heard; like he was using the dark side of the Force to speak. She wondered what he actually sounded like without it. "Have you told my apprentice the good news yet?"

"And what good news is that?" she spat back.

He chuckled. "That he is to be a father, of course."

Eldra froze and felt her blood turn to ice.

No.

It wasn't true. He was lying.

And yet, the Force screamed that it was the truth. The presence she could feel but couldn't quite make out… The fact that she'd been throwing up…

She was pregnant. With Maul's child.

The emotions raged within her. Joy that she had created life, had done something she thought as a Jedi she would never get to do. Fear of what would happen to her, and subsequently to the child, when Maul found out. Anger that she was to be a mother in such bleak circumstances…

And anger at the Sith Master stood before her.

Because the one thing that screamed the loudest within her was determination. She suddenly knew with every fibre of her being that nothing was going to hurt her child. Not Maul, not this Sith Lord… She would die before anyone touched her baby.

She felt her inner candle flare brighter, fighting harder against the black hole of the dark side that surrounded her.

"If you hurt my baby, I swear-"

The Force pushed her harder against the floor. She found herself struggling to breathe.

"I have not intention of killing you, or the child," said the Sith. "I have other plans. You see, your child would be born from both the Jedi and the Sith. It would hold such a power that has never been seen before. A fine candidate for a Sith assassin, don't you think?"

Eldra couldn't speak due to the pressure he was forcing on her. She tried to fight against his hold, but the Force betrayed her and kept her pinned.

"And after the child has been born, I will have no more use for you," the Sith continued. "My apprentice will dispose of you."

Her vision blurred. She was crying.

The thought of her child being taken… It shattered her. And then there was the thought of Maul not only killing her, but going along with his master's plan. The time they had spent together, since their bond had taken an unexpected turn…

It meant something to her, as much as she hated to admit it. And she could sense that it meant something to Maul, too. But would it be enough for him to turn on his master?

She already knew the answer. No. He was too devoted to the Sith; too certain that this dark path was his destiny. Plus, she had no idea if he even wanted to be a father; if he would even care that he had a child. For all she knew, he would give the child the same upbringing he himself had at the hands of his master.

That possibility hurt even more than the thought of his master taking the child.

Footsteps vibrated across the floor. "Until the next time, Eldra Kaitis. Do not damage my property before I can come and claim it."

The apartment door shut behind him, and only then was Eldra released.

She shot upright, gasping for breath. Her muscles ached, and she couldn't even stand; she could only manage to pull herself onto the sofa with some effort. The silence of the apartment helped calm her nerves somewhat, but she knew it was only temporary. She was in the eye of a hurricane. It was only a matter of time before Maul returned, and then… Then…

There were footsteps behind her and Eldra tensed up until she realised they were the familiar mechanical ones of Venny. The droid's presence relaxed her.

"Eldra, are you alright?"

What a loaded question.

Still reeling from the revelation, she said, "Scan me. That sleemo told me I'm pregnant, and I need to know if it's true."

"Can the Force not tell you that?"

"Just do it!"

He scanned her without further comment. It didn't take him very long, and the results came back right away.

"You are indeed pregnant," he told her. "From what my scanner tells me, you are two months along."

And it hit her all over again.

There was no room for dependency. There was no room for feelings of helplessness. She was going to be a mother, and her first priority was to protect her child at all costs. Even if she needed to protect the child from their father.

Something had shifted in the Force.

Maul couldn't tell what it was. The Force had felt a little off since he'd left Coruscant two months before, and had continued to feel slightly different for the entirety of his mission. Now that it had finished and he was returning home, he could tell that something had definitely changed.

The second he stepped into the apartment, he knew his master had been there.

"Eldra!" he cried out. Her name passed through his lips without thought.

He tried not to panic, but couldn't stop the feeling from creeping up on him. His master hadn't given the order, but then Maul had been away on a mission so Sidious could have killed her himself, only Maul would have felt it if she'd died…

The sudden urge to tear everything around him apart overwhelmed him. There was a chance that she was alive but that Sidious had taken her, only he could feel her in the apartment, but then what if it was a trick by his master to make it only seem like she was there when she was instead miles away getting tortured and Maul was wasting time, he needed to find her and breathe in her scent to assure himself she was OK…

She appeared from the direction of her quarters. The way she carried herself seemed different, but that didn't matter. Maul was hit with a wave of relief and hurried over to her. He needed to feel her against him after many weeks apart, but when he reached out for her, she stepped back.

Such a small, simple movement. And it stabbed him in his hearts.

It was unlike her. He wanted to grab her regardless of her resistance, but something in her eyes stopped him. And the Force… The shift he had felt converged around her, and there was another presence he could sense. It was new, but not in the way Eldra's had felt new when he first met her. It was new in that it hadn't existed until recently.

"Eldra, what is it?" he asked. "Is something wrong? My master was here… I can still feel him. Did he hurt you?"

"Why do you care if he did or not?" she replied. "You'll kill me one day on his orders, and don't pretend that you won't."

Maul clenched his fist, but couldn't argue against her. It was true that when Sidious gave the order, he would cut her down without question. But it would tear him apart to do so, and he wanted to tell her that. Something stopped him.

"Eldra, please tell me what happened?" He reached out to her again, but she flinched and took another step back. She looked afraid. And he hated that she did. "Eldra?"

She looked him in the eye and said, with a flat tone, "I'm pregnant."

For a moment, it didn't register what she'd said. Because children and families were something he'd never given a single thought to; something the Sith shouldn't have. In that way, they were like the Jedi, only the Jedi considered family attachments to be a path to the dark side, while the Sith considered them a weakness and a distraction.

But then her words slowly sunk in. Eldra was pregnant. He had fathered a child with her.

And for some reason, it terrified him. But he couldn't understand why.

"We should have been more careful," Eldra continued. "We should have taken precautions. I guess it's understandable, that neither of us would consider using some form of protection. It's not like either the Jedi or the Sith ever think about these things… But after months of fooling around, one of us should've… I should've…"

She looked just as scared as him. He still didn't understand his own terror, and didn't really understand hers. But he wanted to comfort her, an urge that felt alien to him. He didn't act on it though – didn't think she would welcome any kind of attempt, after her initial reaction to him – and instead focussed on what had driven him to call out for her in the first place.

"My master was here. Why?" But he already suspected.

Eldra barked a laugh. She still looked afraid, but something else drowned it out. Determination. "He came to "congratulate" me. And by "congratulate", I mean he came to rub it in my face that he intends to use my baby as a living weapon against the Jedi, have you kill me when I'm no longer useful as a baby-making machine, and that there was nothing I could do about it."

On the one hand, it made sense. The child would be strong in the Force; not only were both its parents Force-wielders, but one was a Jedi while the other was a Sith. Such a parentage was bound to produce a powerful offspring, no doubt about it. It made perfectly logical sense that Sidious would want to use the child for his own purposes. And it made perfectly logical sense that Eldra would serve no purpose afterwards.

On the other hand, his master's intentions terrified him out of his mind.

He couldn't find his voice, so Eldra kept talking. "I've been patient, waiting for an opportunity to get out of here, but I can't wait any longer. I have another life to take care of. Maul, I need to get out of here now."

His hands snapped out and grabbed her in an instant, as if he expected her to run away from him at that moment. The thought of her presence no longer being there, being unable to sense her… It was bad enough when he had to leave her to go on missions, but at least he could return to her. The thought of her being gone forever…

"No," he growled. "Your place is with me."

Her expression didn't change. "Then come with me. We can escape him together. You're his captive, just like me. You didn't choose this life. You don't have to stay in the dark; you don't have to suffer for a power that will never be worth it. We can get away from him, go to the Jedi and tell them-"

At the mention of the Jedi Order, Maul's grip on her tightened. She dared to try and sway him? She dared to try and lead him away from his destiny? "I am a Sith Lord! This is my destiny! The Jedi deserve to pay for what they have done to my Order, and I will never go to them for… for help! I am staying here, and you are staying with me!"

What he didn't say was that even if they tried to escape, Sidious would stop them. And he would make them wish for death.

Eldra struggled out of his grip, spun on her heel and ran into her quarters. Maul didn't bother to chase her down; he knew she had locked him out, and wouldn't want to see him anytime soon. With a roar, he crumpled a nearby chair in on itself using the Force. He didn't acknowledge the mess he'd made; the droid would clean it up later.

Maul sunk down onto the sofa, and for the first time in his life, he felt helpless. And he didn't even know why.