the party she's been dreading is here and she's finally pushed to the point of dealing with her passion. It's not going to be pretty.

"You look..." Commander Fox was speechless when Soniee followed Padme out of her apartment door wearing the dress that was now perfectly fitted to her figure.

"'Mesh'la', would probably be the word you're looking for." Padme smiled. "It's Mando'a for 'beautiful'."

"Mesh'la!" Fox repeated.

"Vor'e, Al'verde," Soniee replied softly, blushing. If her hair weren't done up to perfection she would have liked to pull on her helmet and hide. She was already embarrassed by his scrutiny of her and now she was expected to enter a situation where she would be the center of attention.

He offered her his arm to guide her to the transport like a perfect gentleman. She wondered if all the clones were taught that on Kamino but then bit her lip and looked away from him. She didn't want to think of him that way.

She took his arm. "Vor'e," she said again almost too softly for him to hear.

"It's still raining but there's an awning and it's a closed transport," he rambled.

"Thank you," she managed this time in Basic. She had been fully prepared to ask him to attend the party but now she couldn't get the words out.

"Has there been any news about Ahsoka, Commander?" Padme asked once the three of them were settled in the transport and the pilot had taken off on the short trip from the Senate apartment complex toward 500 Republica.

"She was seen on the lower levels, Senator." He answered her. "General Skywalker and General Plo Koon have each taken a detachment of troops to search for her." He turned to Soniee to reassure her, "Just to stun her and bring her in for questioning."

Soniee nodded, still too nervous for speech.

All too soon they had arrived on the penthouse landing pad and Soniee's heart was hammering harder than ever. Padme exited the transport but just as Soniee was ready to step out Fox caught her hand. "I'll be right here with the transport if you need anything."

It was the moment for her to ask him to come with her. "It's a party. I'm sure I'll be fine?" It was phrased as a question born of her nerves.

He squeezed her hand and she could hear the smile in his voice behind his helmet. "Go on, they're waiting for you."

She nodded and turned to follow Padme but she stopped again at the door to the Chancellor's apartment. "I should have asked him..."

"He would feel even more awkward in there than you do right now." Padme said as she activated the door.

"I know but..." and then she was surrounded by well wishers and had no more chance to think about Fox.

She was introduced to Mon Mothma of Chandrilla who she had briefly said hello to after the Jedi funeral, and there was Bail Organa of Alderaan, and Riyo Chuchi of Pantora, and Lux and a few others. These were the younger Senators and, Soniee noticed, all human or near human.

Chancellor Palpatine welcomed her warmly and pressed a glass of Alderaanian wine into her hand. She sipped at it slowly to be polite. She really had no idea how the alcohol would affect her. She'd never had the opportunity to do much drinking but it did taste nice.

After a while she noticed that the attention of most of the guests had shifted away from her. She was glad in a way but not for the reason. The news about Ahsoka had gotten around and everyone seemed to know her or have worked with her. Though no one would say as much in front of the Chancellor and they all kept up smiles and small talk when he passed by their circles of conversation, Soniee could almost taste the tension in the room.

When she didn't think she could take anymore, she glanced around the room but no one was looking her direction. She located an exit onto a balcony and decided to make a break for it. As she left and saw Lux standing next to Palpatine. The Chancellor was saying something to him but Lux just looked vacant and sad.

There was that feeling again, the one she had hoped was gone for good, and the voice along with it, No peace, only passion. Through passion I gain strength.

Soniee shivered as she stepped out into open air. The rain had stopped but she could still see the lightning rippling through the clouds in the distance as the storm moved on. She looked at her hands and sat on a bench without checking to see if it might be wet. It was mercifully dry. Some droid must have come and wiped down the outdoor furniture just in case someone needed an escape, she thought vaguely and was glad not to have messed up the duchess's, well her, dress.

"Soniee."

She was unsure for a moment whether or not the voice was in her head. She looked up toward the doorway and saw the humanoid shape blocking the light from the party inside. He was in shadow but his eyes still seemed to glow unnaturally. Must have been a reflection from the city beyond the low balcony wall.

"Lux." It was him but... Comfort him through passion. She tried to shake the voice away but it was harder now, it was louder than ever before. "Do you want to talk about Ahsoka?" she attempted to steer the conversation away from the overwhelming desire that was boiling up inside her, but it wasn't going to be that easy.

He didn't answer he only made his way swiftly to sit beside her and cupped her cheek with his hand. "You miss him don't you?"

She couldn't help herself she nuzzled against his hand and brushed her lips across his palm. She would never have been so bold had it not been for that voice urging her on.

"We can, we should comfort each other," he whispered.

Soniee gripped one of the iron bars that formed the back of the bench with both her hands to keep herself from pulling him closer. She couldn't understand why he was suddenly so willing to go along with the voice but she didn't question it. Maybe she should have.

"They all expect it, you and me." His other hand found the slit at the front of her skirt and slipped underneath it to rest on her bare knee.

"We can't," she gasped and her eyelids fluttered shut. There is no peace only passion.

"You think they don't have their lovers here on the planet?"

Soniee remembered the kiss she had witnessed between Padme and the Jedi Knight.

"What happens on Coruscant stays on Coruscant." His hand dropped between her knees and eased slowly a centimeter at a time up her inner thigh.

She grasped the bar tighter and with the heat and electricity gathering in her hands it felt as though the metal softened and bent slightly. Through passion I gain strength. "Lux, we barely know each other."

Her head dropped back exposing her neck to him and he ghosted a line of kisses from just below her ear to her collar bone. "We should get to know each other better." He chuckled and it was his voice but ... it wasn't. It was the laugh that had been echoing inside her head.

"Lux, this isn't you." She realized that she was rooted to the spot, as surely as if beskar straps were binding her to the bench. She could move but whatever this thing was it wasn't going to let go of her until this was resolved.

And there was that laugh again, using Lux's voice but somehow not him. "You have a choice." He kissed her throat again, Lux's lips. "Give in to passion and draw from it strength and power or..." His hands, Lux's hands, were poised, one between her legs the other warm through the fabric over her breast. "Use your power to push me away."

She imagined him writhing while the energy coursed from her fingers, engulfing him. Then she saw him suspended in the air, clawing at his own throat while her invisible hands throttled him. And then a vision of the simple act of pushing him, sending him over the wall and tumbling down to the ground far, far below.

"So what will it be, kriff me or kill me?"

For one horrible moment, Soniee wondered if this was the real Lux, if he had always had this darkness inside of him and he'd been the one tempting her all along. But, no. The darkness had been there long before she met him and the real Lux was still in there somewhere. It might be his hands and his lips but this was not his will. If she gave in she would be betraying him as much as she would be betraying Korkie, using him to increase her own power.

But the alternative... She couldn't hurt him much less kill him. She looked into his eyes hoping to see Lux looking back at her. The eyes were glowing yellow. She'd seen that somewhere before, but she couldn't place it.

She made her decision. "I'm sorry, Lux. Forgive me." With effort she took her hands away from the bar she'd been clutching and gently placed them on either side of Lux's face. Then she closed her eyes and kissed him.

He or whatever it was that was controlling him responded, deepening the kiss.

It was exactly as the voice had promised, an intoxicating serge of power flowed through her. The voice laughed in triumph but there was something else, perfect clarity of her surroundings, laid out like the schematics of a data pad or a ship's engine in her mind. And with that knowledge she was in control of the situation again.

A detail about the balcony had escaped her before, a plant stand, just a narrow pedestal with a large vase perched on the top of it. If she could push him directly at it with the precise amount of force it would stop him from going over the balcony railing. She could push him away but with minimal damage. She couldn't have seen it before, but now it seemed obvious.

One more kiss on the cheek, "I'm sorry about this too, Lux, but trust me." She closed her eyes and breathed out a long breath to steady herself. Then she pushed him with the Force.

He flew exactly where she had anticipated that he would. He struck the pedestal and sat stunned at the base of it. He looked up at her confused but mostly unhurt. "Soniee?"

She breathed a sigh of relief, still trembling with the power and her own success at outwitting the voice. If only she had considered the vase in her calculations. It rocked and looked as if it would go tumbling over the balcony railing and then it rocked forward again, teetered precariously, and came down on top of Lux's head with a crash.

Soniee sat, stunned, but the idea of curious senators coming to check on the noise got her moving. The adrenaline was still pumping through her but there was nothing she could do but collapse next to Lux's unmoving form, and try to see if he was okay.

Senator Organa was the first to arrive on the scene, "What happened here?"

"He kissed me and I pushed him away." The garbled rendition of the truth tumbled from her as she reached out for Lux's wrist to check for his pulse.

Then they were surrounded by party-goers and her story circulated. A droid was called for with a stretcher to take him to the med center. Lux was breathing but seeing him like that reminded her of Korkie after her last brush with her dark side. Maybe it was just unsafe for her to get too close to people.

Padme came and put an arm around her while they watched Lux being carried away. "You said, he kissed you and that you had to push him away?" she asked. "That doesn't sound like Lux."

"It wasn't," Soniee answered. She looked around at the curious faces and found Palpatine staring at her. His expression was grudgingly impressed. That's when she saw it, that yellow glow in his eyes.

She swallowed. "I'd like to leave now."

And then Commander Fox was pushing past the others and holding out his hand to her. "Excuse me. Miss Ordo wants to leave." She gave him her hand and he whisked her away.

okay i hate this chapter. it was hard to write. important to the story but i'm glad it's over and i can move on. next one will be more fun.