Chapter 9
Landing smoothly in the hangar, the family and Anakin hurried off of the cruiser and into Via's room. In her excitement she had forgotten to prepare Via's room for the girl's arrival. Via stood and gaped at her room. Anakin shuffled nervously, sensing the tension in the room. Suddenly, Via started to laugh and all the adults gaped at her momentarily and then sighed in relief. Via said, "Oh Mom! You put back up all the stuff from when I was a baby! Oh I remember these stuffed animals…" Anakin pulled the two adults aside as Via began to rifle through her 'old' possessions. He whispered, "She thinks she's had another room for awhile, so I suggest one or both of you go and throw together a room that a 12 year old might like." Bane and Ventress nodded and dashed out of the room and up the hall to a larger room, that Bane used to use for torture. They used to force to quickly rearrange the furniture and remove the spikes and death lasers. Soon they had scrounged up a bed, a desk, and some lamps. It was all they had for now and until they could get out to buy better accommodation, Via would have to have it.
Back down at Via's 'old' room, Anakin and Via were talking about training and Via perked up at her parent's arrival. She said, "Oh Dad, Anakin and I were talking about training. Can you really use the force to fly?" Bane grinned a little and rose a few feet off of the ground in response. Via screamed in excitement and clapped. He lowered himself and said, "If you become strong enough in the force, almost anything is possible." Anakin looked at Ventress and sent her a private force message, asking her to take Via to her room. Ventress said, "Come Via, I want to talk to you alone in your room. Training is a big step, and there's a few things I want to say." Via hopped up and walked away with her mother. When the two ladies were out of earshot Anakin said, "Okay, to officially start her training you must present her with her lightsaber. Do you have it?" Bane nodded and used the force to pull the thin platinum hilt from the wall. Anakin caught it and looked it over. He nodded and said, "Pure platinum hilt with diamond infusion for durability, and a pink blade. Nice choice." Bane chuckled and said, "Ventress insisted it be pink. I personally thought it should be red but, she wore me down." Anakin laughed. He handed Via's saber to Bane and they started to head for Via's room.
Ventress sat next to Via on the bed, the two were talking about what to do to boys (of course) if they would give her any trouble on her missions. Bane and Anakin walked in and the two women looked up. Via gasped when she saw the glint of the lightsaber hilt in her father's hands. Bane said, "Via, I believe this belongs to you." He held out the lightsaber, with the blade end pointed toward him. Via took it in a trembling hand and squealed. She was so excited that she activated the lightsaber. There was a terrible pause when everybody stared transfixed at Bane. Bane looked surprised as he saw the long pink blade sticking through his chest. Then Ventress screamed, Via deactivated the lightsaber while screaming as well, and Anakin just stood in shock. Bane smiled weakly and then fell heavily to the floor. He laid there unmoving. Ventress rushed over to her husband's side and shook him, she shocked him a bit to see if he responded, she even started to hit him. But it was no use. Via's saber had been set to maximum setting, the blade had pierced his heart, and burnt it to a crisp. Ventress began to sob over her her husband's body and Via started wailing, she threw her lightsaber down and ran out of the room. Anakin just stood and observed sadly, he hated to watch Ventress sob so he walked out of the room, and jogged after Via.