Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Present Day (two years after the conclusion of chapter seven)
Her skin was soft like velvet, her lips moist and pleasant. Everything was perfect. They sat against the base of a shady assari tree, on the soft grass that blanketed the vast Room of a Thousand Fountains. Ache suddenly pushed against Bide's chest and pulled out of the kiss.
"We shouldn't be doing this," she objected. Her eyes, a blue as deep as the waters of the ocean, glistened with regret.
"It feels right," Bide protested. He stroked her cheek with his right hand and smiled.
"But the Code forbids it—it's wrong!" Ache grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her face. She began to stand up
"But it feels right," he repeated. He clasped his hands over her shoulders and pushed her back down. She yelped in surprise.
"Ow! Bide!" Her deep blue eyes were now wide with surprise. The qukuuf adorning her face, a trademark of her Kiffar heritage, stretched as her facial expression changed from regretful to surprised.
"Don't ignore your feelings, Ache. Don't you love me?"
"I… I don't know what I feel."
"Yes you do. Don't fight your emotions!"
"'There is no emotion; there is peace,'" she said hesitantly.
He looked into her eyes.
Hopeless. Unworthy.
Bide rose to his feet, staring distantly at the great waterfall, the treasure of the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He heard the rustle of grass, and felt a hand gently touch his shoulder.
"It isn't you, Bide. It's juuaahh!"
Ache's apologetic words were lost in the sound of her gasping and gurgling as she struggled to breathe. She grasped at her neck, trying to remove hands that weren't there. Bide turned around just as she fell to the ground, flawless golden hair splayed outwards, struggling for only a moment longer.
Now, to play the part.
He knelt down beside her and shouted her name, asking what was happening. He looked into her eyes one last time. He couldn't help but smile as the look on her face—final and eternal—begged a question he felt obligated to answer.
Bide gently rested her head onto the soft grass and rose to his feet, false tears streaming down his face.
"Because you tempted me."