Chapter 5: Facing Truths

A/N: Sorry for the delay between chapters! The last week was full of midterms and essays and so I had little time to write. I'm on spring break now, but I flew down to visit family, so I've still been rather busy.

Anyway, ended up rewriting this chapter several times. Sort of a slower chapter, but I plan to have the next one out much faster. Also a big thanks for the comments and support!

"Momma! Momma look!" Her little legs clambered down the steps as fast as they could. The staircase seemed so impossibly long, but of course, everything appears larger than life to a child. Reaching the end finally, she waved her arms wildly and turned the corner to her mother's room. She very nearly slid into a wall as she did so, her lashaa silk socks gliding over the smooth tile flooring.

Her mother sat on her bed, her legs hung over the side. She looked up from the holopad in her hands with a bemused look on her face as Vaessa rushed through the door, very nearly out of breath.

"My, you're in a hurry."

Vaessa beamed up at her mother, and she held up the holomessage in her hands.

"It's him, it's him!" She bounced up and down until her mother put a hand up.

"Calm down, dear. Who is 'him'?"

"I haven't watched it yet but it's from Kade, momma! He messaged me, just like he said he would!"

Her mother's eyes grew wide. "Kade? I was told he wouldn't…" Her voice trailed for a few seconds. "It doesn't matter. Come, let's see what he's been up to, hmm?"

Vaessa eagerly handed over the device and hopped up onto the bed as her mother started up the message. Slowly, an image started to flicker to life.

Almost immediately, the pleasant smile disappeared from her mother's face.

They'd been staring in silence for the last few minutes, each studying the other's face, poring over every identical detail. Vaessa looked from her eyes to her nose to her lips. The only thing different was the brand she had on her own face.

It was the girl who spoke first. "Okay, so this is weird, right?" She slowly began walking forwards, but stopped when Vaessa recoiled, taking a step back.

"Who are you?"

"Right, right, manners. You can't imagine how much my mother would scold me for forgetting." Clearing her throat, she bowed her head down, her hands rolling out to her sides in an over exaggerated fashion. "Zoenna, of House Valdaire, of Alderaan."

Vaessa eyed her warily. A noble? Come to think of it, that hair should have given it away. And from Alderaan, too. She'd served nobles before, but not there. All she knew of the planet were stories; things her father had mentioned to her as a child, things other slaves had said in her time on Serenno. Still, probably one of the better positions she'd had, though that wasn't saying much.

"You know, I've been away from home for a while now, so maybe I'm mistaken, but I believe it's customary to actually respond when talking to someone."

Crap. She snapped out of her memories and looked up at the girl, Zoenna, and hastily introduced herself. "Vaessa. Rane, that is, of House, um..."

"That mark on your face. It's a brand, isn't it, Vaessa? You were a slave."

Vaessa felt her face flush and looked down, raising a hand to obscure her cheek.

"You must be one of those slaves Lord Zash had flown in, aren't you? Quite the scandal, that was. Tremel was fuming." Zoenna paused, furrowing her brow and deepening her voice as she imitated a man Vaessa assumed must be Tremel. "That woman is destroying the purity of the Sith! This is why you must destroy Vemrin, Zoenna, blah, blah, Baras, blah…"

As she spoke, Vaessa couldn't help but chuckle. "So you don't mind slaves training here?"

"Regardless of my feelings on slavery, and I certainly don't care for it much, you are here on Korriban. You walk where the legends of the Sith once walked. Naga Sadow, Tulak Hord—" she paused to gesture to the tomb behind them, "—Marka Ragnos. If you are here, you are Sith. Anyone says otherwise, slay them where they stand."

Above them, the towering servants of Marka Ragnos loomed, silently observing. Vaessa turned her head up to look at them now. The wind beat upon their stone bodies, but still they stood there, well over a millennia since their master had lived.

With a heavy sigh, she said, "I am no Sith." Throwing her pack over her shoulder, she turned and walked from the tomb. The gravel crunched behind her as Zoenna ran to catch up.

"Travel route confirmed." The skyhopper droid finished punching in the coordinates on the screen in front of him before turning back to the taxi. Immediately, the speeder lifted off the landing pad and took off through the air, the chipper little droid waving after it as it did so.

Vaessa settled into the leather seat as best as she could, but it was difficult to get too comfortable. She examined the wheel in front of her. Why would an auto-piloted taxi need a steering wheel? Too bad, she thought. It'd been years since she'd flown in anything other than a shuttle, and all of those had just been taking her from one owner to another.

Wind rushed over the windshield as the taxi started its journey towards the Academy, and the air blew Zoenna's hair behind her in a swirl of dark curls. She sat with her chin resting in the palm of her hand, and her legs stretched out as far under the dashboard as possible, her feet crossing at the ankles. Her brow arched downwards into her piercing eyes, which intently gazed outwards. Vaessa noted that she seemed so far away, lost in thought somewhere in the red wilds rushing by beneath them.

The speeder tilted upwards as it glided over the crest of the mountain that separated the wilds below from the Valley of the Dark Lords. As the Academy came into view, Vaessa found herself staring at the twin statues outside its entrance – the eternal slaves.

Suddenly, Zoenna spun around in her seat. "You said you're no Sith."

Vaessa sighed. "I did."

"So you think you're still a slave, then?"

"No, I—"

"Either way you're a fool." Zoenna looked away, turning her attention to the landing pad up ahead. The speeder began its descent, slowing to a halt as it landed softly on the ground. When it did, wind kicked up around it, blowing dirt outwards in all directions.

The skyhopper droid buzzed and tried to greet Zoenna as she leapt over the side of the car. She, however, completely ignored him and dusted off her sleeve quickly before briskly walking towards Vaessa, who was still pushing the door open on her side.

"You will die here, you know." Zoenna stared down at her, folding her arms over her chest. "Refuse to embrace the Sith code, and you won't last another week."

Vaessa stood up from the taxi, rising to face her eye to eye. "Is that a threat?"

"It's no threat, it's a fact." She raised both of her hands up and backed off. "Besides, I'd prefer you didn't die."

"What's it matter to you?"

Zoenna scoffed, "Really?" She pointed to her face. "It'll be very difficult to figure this out if you're dead."

"Well good then," Vaessa started towards the ramp that led back into the academy, "because I don't plan on dying."

Her feet moved swiftly, carrying her up into the Academy and back towards Harkun. As she walked, she listened for the sound of footsteps rushing to catch up to her, but this time, there was silence.

It felt surreal, watching his face flicker into view in front of her. It was somehow simultaneously familiar and new. He'd always looked so much older than her, even if it was only a few years age difference, but she knew that despite that, he'd barely been more than a boy when he left. Now he was nearly a man.

Gone were the tender features of before. Gone were the soft cheeks, the rounded chin and the large, inquisitive eyes. His face was longer now, sharper. The contour could be marked in firm lines that drew down into a squared-off chin. His eyes, however, still radiated a gentleness that time could not erase, even with the serious expression that he wore. He was still her brother, she knew that, yet at the same time she knew the boy in front of her was someone she'd never met.

Vaessa sat next to her mother, her tiny legs swinging back and forth as they dangled over the side of the bed. She inched as close as she could to her mother's side, and watched with barely contained excitement as the holomessage began.

Kadeyrn stood before them, but she noticed immediately that something seemed off. He wasn't smiling, and every few seconds he seemed to be glancing over his shoulder.

When he spoke, his voice was often overcome by static. "…sorry it took so long to… last few years have been incredi… know that I love you all…"

She looked up at her mother, but her face was difficult to read. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she seemed more worried than happy. Seeing that was enough to make her start to worry herself. What was her mother so afraid of?

A booming noise echoed somewhere in the distance behind her brother, and he spun his head sharply around. When he turned back, he was visibly shaking.

"…don't have much time. They're here, mother. The Empire is here on Coruscant…"

Vaessa let out a gasp, and her mother raised a hand to cover her mouth. A tear rolled down her face and fell into her lap. Her head was a swirl of thoughts. She couldn't even hear him clearly. Her eyes clenched shut and she buried her face in her hands.

"…in the temple… don't want you to worry, I'll be fine…"

Another blast could be heard in the background, and the image flickered in and out.

"…need you to know… home isn't safe… overheard reports… will reach you soon… get out now."