Chapter 6

They walked the halls together, and the other Jedi who happened to pass them stared at them strangely. Who was this knight who had earned the trust of the well-know daughter of Qui-Gon Jinn? And why did the Force swirl around them as if they were protected by the Force itself?

All went well for them until they rounded one corner. His angel gave a little gasp and stopped. He also froze. Sith. Of all people, it had to be Qui-Gon. The man stared at them suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"Kiya? Who is this?"

The girl sighed. "A good friend, father."

He froze. Father. Father. He felt- broken. How could he have done this? How could he have plotted the murder of his angel's father? He moaned mentally in anguish. Until he felt her presence in his mind, comforting him. He stiffened in panic. He hadn't blocked the bond! No doubt now his former master had felt it...

"A friend." He smiled warily. "I see. And why would he hide himself?"

He squeezed the tiny hand in his own apologetically. And letting go, pushed back his hood. Immediately, a lightsaber was held at his throat.

"I see. So you have finally come to make good on your promise. So you try to kill my daughter, coerce her away and get me that way. What have you done to her? How have you brainwashed her?" He swallowed. Force, help! How could he start?

He opened his mouth, eyes on his master, pleading. "Master." He whispered pleadingly. It was all he could get out. The lightsaber wavered slightly, before being held steady once more.

"No, Xanatos, you will have to try harder than that."

"Daddy, please! Won't you listen to him? For my sake?"

He never wavered his gaze.

"Yes, Kiya. The council will as well." He swapped positions, lightsaber now held to his back. "Come. And see who this really is, Kiya."

He have his angel a pleading look, but her face remained calm, and her eyes flashed with determination that was eerily familiar in the misty blue depths. How could he have not seen it before? Blind, he thought bitterly.

They arrived at the council chambers, and he felt the masters instantly tense at the sight of him. "What is this?" The crisp voice of Mace Windu made him want to cringe.

He listened to the flat explanation given to the council, and watched their reaction. His eyes were dull. He knew what he had to do. And he would do it. For her sake. He couldn't be this selfish!

"How do you plead?" The voice that asked him the question sounded weary and wary, obviously expecting the plead for innocence.

"I plead guilty." His voice made a stir in the council. One of shock. He saw Kiya's eyes widen and he turned away. /I'm sorry, angel. I can't live with it./ he saw her eyes fill, and clenched his teeth.

"Then you must be executed." The voice was flat.

"No!" His head whipped around to the direction of the sound, to see his angel wavering on her feet unsteadily. "Kill him and you kill me too!"

He saw the council stiffen. "Release your hold on the girl's mind, Xanatos."

"There is no mind-holding!" She practically screeched. "See for yourself!" He felt her mind open in the Force. The masters decided to humor her, and see for themselves. There were gasps of shock. He had no doubt that they had seen almost everything. Her dreams. Her words.

"See? You kill me and I go with him!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she knelt to the ground, hands clasped. And he felt tears stream down his own as he watched as she pleaded for his life. His good-for-nothing life.

"Please! By the Force, by everything right and clean, please, spare my brother. I can't live without him. I can't stand to live without him. I've been waiting my whole life! Please, don't take this one thing I've ever wanted away from me!"

He heard the council's shocked silence. He heard the clatter of a saber hitting the smooth tiled floors, and looked to see that his master was staring at his daughter, face absolutely ashen and nerveless fingers trembling.

He sank to his knees, head bowed. Why? Why, angel? Why was she, so clean and pure, pleading for his black, stained soul? Why? No! He wanted to be killed! He wanted to leave this miserable life! But then, he realized, again. He was being selfish again. He wanted to leave, wanted to kill her too? He wanted to deny her a brother? And it went back and forth. Which was right?

"He must die, young one. He cannot be turned to the light." The voice of Windu made his heart shatter. He was right. He couldn't be tur-

A scream echoed through the council room. A scream of pain. A scream of torture. The scream of a child being ripped away from his mother. A scream of denial. He felt the blood drain away from his face as he vaguely saw her lurch forward on her knees.

And then everything seemed to be in slow motion. All sounds were dulled, nullified, a mere echo. He saw her grab the lightsaber on the floor and watched in horror as it pierced through her stomach. He vaguely heard the yell of panic, shock, and horror that came from all those present in the council room. He heard his own yell of pain as he felt the bond fray until it was a mere thread.

He scrambled forwards on his knees and reached for the girl's limp body. He felt everyone freeze. The tears streaked down his cheeks anew as his scream of deprive net echoed throughout the room. He looked down at the pale face of his angel.

"No, no, oh angel, what have you done?" He moaned. "Why? Why?"

She struggled in pain to breathe. "I can't do it, Xany. I can't live without you. I will go with you." Her voice was weak and frail.

He gritted his teeth and opened the bond fully. He felt her presence course through his mind and stagger, stumbling in pain.

...

She felt herself slipping, but carried on. She reeled through his mind frantically, searching for the center. She clutched her stomach in pain and winced at the blood that came away on her fingers, sticky, warm, and wet.

She finally found the center. The dark, looming shields, that held the blackness within. She gathered what was left of her strength and beat with all her might against the shields. They shuddered and cracked.

She gathered all of the light and love and forgiveness she had to give and hurled it against the shields.

One moment they were there, unyielding, the next moment, they were gone. She stood for a moment, dazed, then stumbled her way through the wreckage, the remnants cutting and bruising her feet, her legs, her hands and knees where she fell from stumbling over one of the pieces.

She finally fell and crawled the rest of her way towards the center. She found the force-signature and crawled weakly towards it. It was like an engraving in marble, in his mind.

She crawled into it. It was covered, the indentation of the engraving, filled with dirt, grime, filth, grease, all mingled into a thick, black slime. Tears streaming down her cheeks from the pain, she scraped away at the filth, scraping away all of the gunk as best she could, revealing the white surface of the bottom.

The blood from her stomach and knees and hands pooled, running in a stream down the engraving. She slumped, exhausted, and watched weakly as her blood slowly filled the signature. Whatever her blood touched became bright, white and unsullied, clean and pure. The darkness hissed and crumbled, disappearing.

And she smiled weakly and let her eyes close. Her job had been done.

...

He gritted his teeth as he felt her work, and when she was done, he reeled inwardly from the light headiness that accompanied the light. He looked back down at his sister. His angel. And saw that her eyes were closed, the sweet smile that he loved on her face.

And he let out apt he most heart-breaking scream in the world as he felt the bond snap, her presence fade. He rocked back and forth, cradling the body in his arms, feeling the warmth slowly dissipate.

And he fainted from the pain, falling forwards, his body sheltering hers amidst the blood and tile.

...

The council stood in shocked silence. They felt her work, watched her progress through his mind through the Force. Watched as the light flooded the dark mind, watched as she did the impossible and brought a dark Jedi back into the light.

Some of their eyes were filled with tears. Master Yoda's head was bowed, his eyes glistening in sorrow.

How could they have been so harsh? Mace's hand found its way onto Qui-Gon's shoulder. And he crumbled. The impassive swords master of the Jedi temple crumpled to the ground in pain, tears streaming down his cheeks as he rocked back and forth. His precious daughter. His son. Gone.

Until they all looked up at the sound of a stir.

...

Xanatos felt himself slowly regain consciousness, and he sat up weakly, trembling in grief, pain, and fatigue.

And his eyes shot open at a movement in his arms. He looked down at his angel's still figure, and was shocked to see the wound in her stomach gone. He frantically looked for her amulet, and found it intertwined with his own. Both of the crystals were glowing brightly.

And her eyes shot open. Wide. Green, to amber, to misty blue. He stared. Surely he was dreaming, hallucinating from grief. Until he saw the smile on her face.

"You didn't thank me, insolent brat."

He let out a shaky laugh and then gripped her tightly, sobbing in relief.

"Angel. My precious angel." He whispered. She hugged him back, and he felt her soft fingers comb through his hair. So soft. So good. She smelled clean and fresh, and he smelled the shampoo in her hair and smiled softly. Oh, to smell it everyday. He ran his shaking fingers through her hair. And watched her face as she smiled brightly. She leaned forward and kissed every one of his tears away, and kissed his cheeks and his forehead. And ended with a sloppy one to his nose with an impish giggle.

He smiled and reverently kissed her cheeks as she cooed and rested her head on his shoulder. He felt a hand in his shoulder, and looked up through aching, red eyes at the face if his master.

"My son." The words made his heart fill with a promise, forgiveness, love. And the three knelt together on the floor, hugging and crying in joy. The masters were smiling unashamedly through tears at the sight.

And a few more streaked down their cheeks at the little girl's words.

"I love you!"