Chapter 19

Ossus

Zeth sat in the same garden where his sister had gotten married to one of his best friends the night before and looked to the heavens, as he fingered a small object and tryed to find the closest constellation to where he had left his heart. He knew he couldn't see it from Ossus; the Unknown Regions were not visible from this vantage point because they were on other side of the galaxy with the bright Core in the way. The closest he could come was the stars of the planets Ithor, Ord Mantell and five other star systems that formed the rough shape of a large bird.

"Star gazing, Little Brother?"

Her words jarred him back to reality and he turned to watch as she sat down beside him. He weakly smiled as he looked back out to the stars, "They are beautiful, aren't they?"

She took a deep breath and looked up, "I suppose. But you were always the one who couldn't wait to fly off in an X-wing to visit them all."

He met her gaze and smirked, "And you were the one who always reminded me that they looked like a scattered bag of gems, as I recall."

She laughed and for a brief moment as their gazes were locked the Durron twins reconnected. He reached out for his sister and she didn't pull away, but allowed him to surround her with his love and caring. However, she soon pulled out of the mental embrace and quickly looked away.

He took a deep breath and softly asked, "What happened to us, Anakah? We had always been so close growing up. I realized last night when we were singing just how much I miss that."

She didn't look at him and he really didn't expect her to answer him. However, he was surprised when she very quietly answered his question, "I missed you to, Zeth. I don't know what happened." Then after a long moment she turned to him and shocked him again. Her blue eyes so bright, as if she was holding in tears as she took a deep breath and announced, "Zeth, I've finally fell in love."

He grinned lopsidedly and said dryly, "Yes, and you are engaged—" Her expression stilled his words. More seriously he asked, "You don't love Marko, do you, Ana?"

She shook her head and stood up. He watched as she wrapped her arms about her as if she was cold, but the evening was actually quite pleasant for nighttime on Ossus. "Ana?"

She slowly turned and met his gaze, "Zeth, I need someone to talk to."

"You know that I'm here for you, Sis. I always have been. You were the one who severed our bond."

She nodded and looked down at the ground between them. Finally, she said, "If I tell you, you must promise not to say a word."

Zeth reassured her with a smile and patted the seat beside him on the bench. "I promise. And I'll even tell you my secret."

Anakah returned his smile warmly and regained her seat. Then she looked at him and quietly announced, "I'm in love with Valin Horn."

Zeth was too stunned at first to even respond. Finally, he swallowed and incredulously repeated, "Master Valin Horn?"

She nodded and looked away. Then she elaborated, her voice sad, "It happened while we were on Naboo. At first I think he was just drawn to me sexually but we fell in love," she turned and intently met his astonished gaze. "But it would never work between us, Zeth. How could it? He's fifty and I'm twenty-four. His son is only four months younger than me and, to top it off, is married to my sister."

He studied her for a moment then said, "But those aren't real reasons and you know it. What's the real reason you are engaged to Marko?"

She sighed and for a second he thought she was going to close down and not tell him any more. However, she softened her hard stare and said softly, "The real reason it would never work for Valin and me—I'm the Jedi Order's resident whore, Zeth. I even tried to seduce Terrik only a few months ago. How could Valin still feel anything toward me?"

"Has he told you he doesn't love you?"

She shook her head and looked away, "No, but I saw it in his eyes."

"But why are you marrying Marko if you don't love him? You should be going after the one you really love, Anakah. Never settle. You will only be unhappy."

She straightened and Zeth felt her temper momentarily flare. She scoffed, "And you are so well versed in the area of love to give advice."

"Ana, I'm just concerned you are making a big mistake. I don't think Marko is right for you. Maybe Valin Horn isn't either, but at least you love each other."

She stared at him for a long time then responded, "Marko asked me to marry him and I promised him that I would. He's my best friend, Zeth. He asked me after Valin was injured and after he told me that once we got back to Ossus, we couldn't continue our relationship. But now..." She let her voice trail.

Zeth pinned her with a intense gaze and said matter-of-factly, "But that has changed."

"It doesn't matter." She shook her head, "No, Valin still is better off without me. It's just I never thought it would be this hard." She looked at her fisted hands and Zeth lovingly put his arm around her slender shoulders.

"Well, I think you should break this off with Marko, Anakah. It's wrong to marry someone you don't love but it's even worse when you're in love with someone else." He swallowed and squeezed the object that he had palmed in the hand still in his lap. He knew he could never do that.

"But, Zeth, Marko is counting on me. He's my best friend I can't let him down. I can't lose his friendship." She met his gaze with a determined one. He realized Anakah was looking for him to tell her that she was right. That her odd friendship with Marko was more important than anything, and yet, her eyes told a different story.

"Ana, but you will lose it anyway if you go through with this. You both will only end up hurt. What is so important that you need to marry him?"

She looked down at her hands and whispered, "He wants me to give him a child."

Zeth was shocked again, "Marko wants kids? When did that happen?"

She brought her eyes up to meet his again, "Yes, for his mother to train. She had told him something that makes him feel like he has to do this. He asked me, Zeth. And I'm honored but now that we are here and Valin is here, I don't know if I can go through with it. But I don't want to disappoint Marko. He—he told me some things and I know how much this means to him."

Zeth couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Ana, that is the most ridiculous reason I've ever heard. First, Marko has to want kids for him self and not just for Danni Quee to give to Sekot. Second, do you realize what you are doing? To your self? To Marko? But most importantly to any children you may have?" He took her hand and held it as he went on. He opened up to her and hoped that she would let him in. "Ana, I know you will do whatever you want. But it's not just all you this time. It's a lot of people who could be hurt from this. And all that will come from this is a lot of pain. Trust me."

She stared at him for a long time and then whispered, "I—I know you're right, Zeth."

Gazing at her intently and trying to discern if she really did believe this or if she only was telling him what he wanted to hear, Zeth let out a long sigh. He only hoped she didn't end up more shattered than she already was.

Suddenly, as if trying to avert his scrutiny, she smiled halfheartedly and asked as playfully as she could muster, "Okay, you know my dark secrets, what's yours? What are you hiding in your hand?"

Zeth smiled and opened his hand to his twin and took the object between his fingers. She peered at what he held in the low light from the moon, stars and the distant garden light. Suddenly, she snapped her eyes to his and gasped, utterly astonished.

"Is that an engagement ring?" she barely choked out.

He grinned and lovingly studied the fiery yellow corusca gem that was in a delicate oval cut and simple setting of white gold.

"Zeth?"

He finally looked at his twin and grinned, "Yes."

He had never seen Anakah look so dumbfounded; finally, she straightened and glared at him, "Well, are you going to tell me who it is for?"

He laughed and pocketed the ring, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

She narrowed her blue eyes, "Try me. I'm more than just a little curious now."

"Okay. I fell in love with an admiral's daughter," he hedged because he had no idea how she would take the identity.

Exasperated, she finally said somewhat dejectedly, "Fine. You aren't going to tell me. I can accept that. I suppose I'll meet her eventually. Or is it someone I already know?"

Zeth studied Anakah for a long moment. He hadn't considered how he was going to break the news to his family. Eventually, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "You aren't the only one in love with someone who would be scrutinized by everyone, Sis. Her name is Cherith Nuruodo-Fel."

She stared at him for a long moment then smiled. "I remember her. She's a spitfire and a good pilot. She suits you."

He grinned at her assessment and laughed, "Suits me, huh?" Anakah nodded and he went on more seriously, lovingly, "She's one of the best pilots I've ever flown with. She's a great leader and has this way of fascinating me and irritating me at the same time. She has an exotic beauty that—" He shook his head and actually felt his face flush when he realized some of his desire bled out into their reconnected bond.

Anakah grinned and wrapped her arm around him, "Well, you always did have this thing for blue Twi'leks."

He glared at her. "Oh, please. I was eighteen and it wasn't me who decided I'd like that dancer; it was our lovable cousin and new brother-in-law, remember?"

She snickered, "That's not how I remember it. I was there. You were all over her."

"I was eighteen, for Force sake and still a virgin. What male wouldn't be all over her? She did have one hell of a body though," he looked away as he remembered what occurred after she led him to her private room above the Courscant cantina.

However, he soon shook the bittersweet memory away and looked at his twin again. "Cherith is nothing like that. She may be exotic but she has an innocence about her and she has spunk. In fact, spitfire, as you referred to her, isn't exactly the word I'd use. She's more like a sand panther. I seldom ever get the upper hand; although," he flashed her a mischievous lopsided grin, "I'd never let her know that."

"She sounds perfect for you, Little Brother. But why the doubt?" Anakah reached out and took his hand.

He became serious and straightened up, as he looked out at the twinkling heavens, he said, "She's half Chiss. I know that she loves me. And I would give my life for hers. But would I be accepted by her people? The Chiss haven't ever really trusted the Jedi and I'm human. You know the Chiss. And would she be accepted by mine? She's not just half Chiss, she's also the daughter of one of Mom's old boyfriends."

Anakah scoffed, "Why wouldn't Mom and Dad accept her. They and the Fel's aren't exactly enemies. It is true what you say about the Chiss, but times have changed, Zeth. We have three Chiss Jedi for Force sake and two of them serve the Ascendancy. Besides, she's half human, remember? I think things will work out fine." Then she grinned, "So, when are you going to propose?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. I just decided three days ago to buy the ring. I had a feeling, I guess, that this is what I had to do. But really, it's too soon. We've only been serious for two months and that includes my time here. But I know she's the one, Ana. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her and only her."

She intently gazed at him and sadly said, "Then you should. True love is rare, Zeth. Trust me, I know."

He swallowed and placed his arm around her again as she held him. She looked up at the stars and he followed her gaze. Through the growing reconnected bond between them Zeth sent, I love you, Sis.

She didn't look at him but instead rested her head on his strong shoulder and sent back to him, Thank you, Little Brother. I love you too.

Nothing else was exchanged between them. They sat staring at the stars while they held each other and allowed the bond between them rekindle and grow strong as it had been before Anakah had changed all those years before. Neither one realized just how much they had missed their twin—their other half.

X

Coronet, Corellia

He moved through the apartment in total stealth, dressed in black and hood of a black cloak obscuring his face. After finding his hiding place in a darkened corner of her bedroom near the refresher door, he waited. He thought about his sister-in-law and couldn't help but smile. She was as beautiful as her sister, but unfortunately she also inherited too much of her parents' infuriating idealism.

The shower turned off and suddenly he tensed, applying more pressure on the grip of the small but deadly blaster in his right hand. Then through the door of the 'fresher came the strains of an average singing voice singing an old Corellian lullaby. He callously smiled and thought, How appropriate. However, as she neared the door, he was suddenly all business again.

It would have been reasonable to assign this nasty part of the plan to one of his thugs, but this was too important to trust to anyone else, especially after the failure on Naboo. Besides, he decided it would be very pleasurable to rid the galaxy and himself of her annoying over bearing presence.

The door slid open and he stepped out of the corner, he very much wanted her to know who killed her. She moved through the opening and stopped dead when she saw him.

"Hello, Myri," he greeted her as he deliberately ran his eyes over her body which she had only covered with a towel that did very little to hide anything. He suddenly felt the old stirrings of desire that drove him nearly mad six years ago, but he quickly swallowed it down.

"Pader." Myri Antilles Dello met his smugness without any fear. Of course, this wasn't the first time the Director of Corellian Security had a blaster pointed at her pretty brown-haired head. "So, I see you've finally lost your mind," she said dryly. "I'd put that thing away before you hurt yourself. You're way out of your league with me, brother dear."

He chuckled bitterly and responded, "See, that's your problem. You underestimate your opponents, someday that's going to get you killed."

She began to move towards the dresser ever so slightly, almost microscopically. "Stop." She did and he went on. "Over there instead." He motioned with the blaster toward the bear wall opposite the refresher and the dresser in which she no doubt had a hold out blaster hidden.

She obeyed and she leaned against the wall as he instructed her to. She acidly scoffed, "What is it now? Are you drunk again or are you just plain stupid? I should have told Syal about what a sleaze ball you are years ago."

He snickered again as he stepped closer, but he refrained from touching her. She was a very accomplished police officer, after all, skilled in personal combat. He knew she was planning her escape by the subtle way her eyes would flick around the room. But oh, how he wanted to touch her, instead he sneered, "Ahh… come on, Myri, you and I had it good for awhile. Didn't you call me your best fuck ever? Our wild, mindless trysts between your sheets or mine, remember that? Me cheating on your sister, you on that poor sap you married and right under their noses. It amazes me sometimes how Syal became Chief of State and how Brad became a CorSec detective."

"Leave Brad out of this!" she nearly screamed at him.

He only smiled broader, "Touchy. You're still blaming yourself for his tragic and untimely death, huh?"

He could tell he hit the precise nerve that would make her about as dangerous as a sleeping whisperkit by how pale her face became. Myri and Pader hadn't had a long affair, but it was a wild one. At least, until he left Corellia where his fleet had been stationed and went back to Coruscant to be the poster-boy husband Syal needed to get her elected Chief of State. Syal, in her typical blind nature never expected a thing between her husband of over ten years and her beloved younger sister. However, eventually Myri's guilt over what she had done with her sister's husband ate at her until she broke down and told her husband of four years, Brad Dello. Brad had been a CorSec Academy classmate and after being partnered together for several years he and Myri gave into the mutual attraction they felt and were married. Myri gave birth to a son, who was now six, two years after their wedding. Brad was killed during a shake down of a gang of thieves not three days after Myri told him about the affair with her brother-in-law, leaving her with their two year old son to raise. She never stopped blaming herself for what had happened.

"Go fuck yourself!" she screamed at him and for a second he seriously thought he underestimated her. Her brown eyes flashed and she looked as if she was coiled enough to strike at him. He had to end this here and now. The ultimate mission was too important to risk blowing it on his personal revenge.

Dryly he responded, "Sorry, physically impossible." Then he gripped the blaster firmly, then the marksman took aim and fired. "Good bye, Myri." He watched as she slid down the wall to a crumpled hump on the blue carpet. A smoking hole between her wide brown eyes and the trickle of blood from it was the only marks on the daughter of galactic heroes. With a crazed look of satisfaction on his face he put the blaster back into its holster and said, "Or maybe it's good riddance, sister dear." And with that he pulled the cowl back up over his head and made sure his face was hidden within the shadows as he left the apartment. He was on his way to carry out a much more important part of the mission which he hoped would be just as enjoyable. Upon his departure he hummed the same old Corellian lullaby Myri had earlier.

X

Outer Fringes of the Corellian System, Star Destroyer Trepidation

Cassie woke up from the pain induced black out and gasped. She never knew she could be in so much pain. Her arms were pulled up and behind her to the point of dislocation. Her legs were similarly stretched back awkwardly in an unnatural position. Her left hip she knew was dislocated and was now actually numb. She had long ago lost count of how many days she hung in the device. She didn't know the fates of the Fels or her uncle but she would wish them dead over enduring the pain that she'd been in for so long. The worse part was that she couldn't focus. She couldn't connect with the Force because of what lay within a small chamber of the metal collar she was wearing around her painfully stretched neck.

She knew what the Vongformed creature was—a yuumiri. The two centimeter Force absorbing worm-like animal was one of the last creations by the Yuuzhan Vong during the war in hopes of defeating the Jedi. Yuumiri contained the Force repelling DNA from the ysalamiri. Conventional science, as it did with much of the unique biotechnology of the Yuuzhan Vong, studied it and figured out how to employ a great deal of the technology such as the translating devices, tizowyrm and yuumiri to a modern society. Even the Jedi had developed a lightweight armor for Apprentices to wear during lightsaber training from the vonduum crab armor. The yuumiri was used by law enforcement to help them detain Force-users who broke the law. Although, no Jedi had ever worn the device, it had been used on occasion to detain others such as renegade Jensaarai, who had were arrested for breaking the law. In fact, it had been a Jedi strike team who had used it the very first time. The animal was held in a small chamber and could be placed anywhere on the Force-user's body to repel the Force. Usually the neck collar was the device used most.

However, even without the connection she still was able to use the breathing techniques her mother had taught her. Until she would breathe in too deeply and trigger the Yuuzhan Vong torture device that she was within to mercilessly shorten its binders, bringing the white hot pain raging to consume her.

"AHHH!" she screamed as her right shoulder finally popped out of joint, making a sound even more sickening than those of the Embrace of Pain.

"Oh, my dear Cassie," she suddenly heard the voice that would come and torture her mind while the Embrace of Pain tortured her body. The Sith Lady seemed to know a lot about Cassie and her fears and angers. She had spent hours leering and picking at Cassie. From everything from her Mother's death, to her lack of telekinesis and the jeering she endured while a child, to why no one cared enough to rescue her. Cassie knew she was being broken in spirit as much as in body and she really didn't know how long she could hold out. "You could end all of this right now. I would release you and you would never feel this pain again."

Cassie opened her swollen eyes and tried to focus on the figure before her. However, all she could see of the face was the contrast blur between the red of her hair and the paleness of her face. "Never," the word barely was audible.

"I'm sure your mother told you never to say never."

So, Cassie thought bitterly, it's going to about Mom this time. But she didn't say anything aloud.

Erida went on, "Come, it's been a week. Surely, you are tired, thirsty and hungry by now."

It was true. She was extremely tired and she knew she was on the verge of dehydration. One of her keepers made sure she had just enough water soaked into a sponge every several hours to ensure she wouldn't perish completely. But she knew she wasn't far, she couldn't even make saliva anymore.

However, she would die before giving into the very real temptation of giving herself to the Sith. "I'll…die…first," she breathed.

"But why waste yourself so foolishly. Your mother wouldn't what you to do that. She died so that you could live," again, the soothing but mocking voice.

"My—my…mother…wouldn't…what me…to follow…you."

"Shame that your mother died such an untimely death." Erida drawled. "But it does seem that you are the only one who cares that she is dead."

"No," Cassie tried to focus her eyes again on the woman, "we all care…You killed…her."

"Of course, I had her killed. I tried to kill your father too. However, I really do believe your father could have saved your mother. If he really wanted to, of course." Erida then moved closer, Cassie could almost see her evil sneer, "But maybe he didn't want to, because oddly enough he nearly died protecting his lover, when he couldn't protect your own dear mother."

"No!" she gritted out. "You are just…AHHH!!" she ended in another scream of pain as the Embrace sensed her subtle movement and clinched its bindings. The agony kept up for over three minutes and Cassie nearly passed out from it. But it stopped just before her pain hit her threshold and stayed there.

Erida's scoff seemed to be coming to her from klicks away as she finished Cassie's thought, "…saying that? I'm afraid not, my dear. Your father was seen with someone you know every well, in fact. A dear friend, I believe. It seems he has decided your mother's memory means nothing to him."

"You…you…lie…" she whispered breathlessly.

The Sith sadly shook her head, "If what I say is not true, why would he have had an affair with his partner on Naboo? Why would he have risked his life for hers by throwing himself onto a bomb, when he couldn't, or rather, wouldn't do that for your mother?"

Cassie must have looked at her incredulously because Erida smiled leeringly, "Yes, my dear child, Anakah Durron seems to find your father's bed rather comfortable. Maybe, he wanted to get rid of you too. It was he who recommended you for this mission. Who knows, maybe he's been decorating his bed with your friend for years. You know of her reputation."

"No! Father, how could you?" she screamed and tried to lash out in her fury. But she wasn't lashing out at the Sith, in her mind she saw the man she had blamed for her mother's death. She never could understand how her father couldn't have saved Tahiri from death. Her parents had been faced with greater forces in the past and won. Bail had helped her come to terms with her mother's death and her accusation that her father should have prevented it, but now she understood the real reason he didn't save her. He wanted her dead. No wonder he never wanted anything of her mother's around. He gave it all away or sold it at a common rummage sale as if she had meant nothing to him. Now she knew why. How could her father lower himself to sleep with that floozy? Suddenly, she never hated her father more. This time the Embrace of Pain didn't pull her tighter as she moved in it. Instead, it became lax and Cassie screeched, "I hate you!"

Cassie never saw the genuine smile of success that crossed the face of the Lady of the Sith or the scowl that soured the face of the young girl sitting in the corner. All that consumed Cassie in that moment was pure fury and hate which she gave into without any concern that they were of the Dark Side. In that moment she would have killed her father for what he did to her mother.

And with that thought the Embrace of Pain released her and the keeper of the device removed the yuumiri collar. Erida stepped closer and said, "Don't worry, my Apprentice, you will get your chance to kill those who disgraced your beloved mother."

Cassie opened her grey-green eyes and surrounded herself in the refreshing power of the Dark Side that rushed into her and gave her strength, "Thank you, Master."

X

Ossus

He was running along the darkened corridor of a spaceship. Bail instantly recognized it as the same tunnel of his last dream. He immediately felt the anxiety and the pain in the Force and pure evil of the Dark Side.

When he found himself on the observation catwalk overlooking a large wardroom of the old Star Destroyer, he franticly looked down to try to find Cassie and the others. The clash of lightsabers came to him and he moved around the circular balcony looking through the mist until he saw the lighted shafts of two lightsabers come together in battle.

The mist lifted and he watched in horror as the battle unfolded. However, unlike the previous vision, there wasn't any cloaked figure nor were the Chiss present; instead locked in vicious battle was Cassie and a man dressed in Jedi robes. He couldn't see the man clearly enough to identify him, but somehow he knew that he knew him. He tried to scream but no sound came out. Cassie was radiating Darkness and it terrified him to watch her in battle with the figure that felt so familiar. He screamed her name again, but still nothing.

Then it happened, Bail couldn't even blink or move as he observed Cassie back flip away and come around to hold out her hand. To his amazement the other fighter flew across the room, losing his lightsaber along the way. Cassie laughed a bitter sound that caused him to shudder. Then before he had enough time to even recover from the surprise of her doing something telekinetically, she moved in for the kill. With a cruelty he had never seen before, the woman he loved lifted the blade and easily swung it, removing the head of the familiar figure.

Bail came out of his meditation screaming, "No! Cassie!"

"Bail?" came the far away sound of the other person sitting in the mediation chamber. Bail looked over at his red headed older cousin and Ben went on to ask, "What did you see?"

He shook his head as if to clear it of the terrible vision. "I—I don't know. But I know I need to stop it." He jumped to his feet and Ben followed him to the standing position.

"What do you have to stop?" Ben's handsome face was pinched in concern but his voice was soothingly calm, "Bail, maybe you should tell me what you saw."

Bail peered at the older man and sighed in frustration. Running his fingers through his long hair, he responded, "I think Cassie has falling to the Dark Side. I need to find Zeth and get out of here. I won't wait another minute for the so-called Masters to squabble over what this vision meant like I did the other one. I warned Uncle Kyp that I wouldn't sit around if I had another vision." He headed toward the door and concluded. "And if Zeth doesn't think he's ready to go back the Han Solo, I'll go myself. I have to stop these thugs and find Cassie." He never waited for Ben to reply, he simply left his cousin staring at him taken aback.

Within minutes he was outside the quarters Zeth had been assigned to. He wanted to be gone before morning. After the third time of ringing the door buzzer, he cursed an old Hapan curse and turned to rush down the hall, pulling his comlink from his belt as he went. Before he had a chance to key in Zeth's frequency, the younger cousin rounded the corner with his twin sister beside him.

"Bail? What's up? You look terrible," Zeth said in a lighthearted voice, but Bail felt his cousin's concern.

"I had another vision."

"Like the other one?" Anakah asked.

"No," Bail swallowed. "Worse. I think she may fall to the Dark Side or maybe already has."

The Durron twins looked as if Bail had just slapped them, "Cassie would never fall to the Dark Side, Bail," Anakah said and gave him a reassuring smile. "You know that."

Bail looked from one twin to the other and dryly replied, "Any of us can fall, Ana. Any of us."

Zeth nodded solemnly and turned to his sister, "Ana, tell Dad and Mom that we left for the Fleet and that we'll let them know when we get there."

She looked from Zeth to Bail and said, "Okay. And I'll let Uncle Jacen and Aunt Tenel Ka know too." She then quickly hugged her brother and then Bail. As she moved away she said to both of them before quickly departing down the corridor of the dormitory, "May the Force be with you both."

Both men said in near unison, "May it be with you, too."

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A/N: the creature yuumiri is a creation of my own which I've borrowed from my other epic, Dragon Call.

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