* Chapter 14 *

"No!"

That was the last thing she remembered; someone screaming—no, her screaming. And now she was here—wherever here was—lying on her back. She was waking up—except she did not remember falling asleep. Had she been asleep? Either way, how could she have gone from screaming to waking up? Had she been having a nightmare?

She could not remember. In fact, she could not remember anything. She did not know who she was, where she was from, or how she had come to be here. An image appeared in her mind's eye; a tall boy with light skin, sandy brown hair, and ice-blue eyes. The sight was accompanied by a feeling of… what was the word? Heat—a comfortable heat. Was this a memory? Did she know this boy? Was he related to what was happening to her?

Eyes still closed, she tried to recall the details of the nightmare. At first, all she could remember was the screaming, so she focused on that. She had the distinct feeling that she had been doing something else while she screamed; she had been moving—running. Yes, her legs had been moving. And so had her arms. And in her hands, she had been gripping something… round… metallic… glowing. There had been color—blue, she believed—and heat radiating from the object in her hands. It had felt good because… why?

Because it had been cold. She remembered now—she had been outside, in the cold. There had been snow… and smoke… and fire. Why had there been smoke and fire? She could not remember. But there had been something else—someone else, covered head-to-toe in black. Except for their eyes, which had been glowing red. She was disturbed by the sight of the figure in her memory, but, in the moment, she had reacted to it by screaming. Had she been afraid of it? Angry at it? Upset by it?

Whatever the reason, she had screamed at the figure and had run… toward it? Why had she run toward it? She focused harder on that moment, trying to answer that question. And then she remembered something else—something that had happened after the screaming. She had been hit by something—by… nothing. That made no sense. Something had to have hit her; she could remember feeling the vibrations… intense vibrations. For a split second, she had felt like her body was exploding.

And now she was here—wherever here was—lying on her back. Slowly, she began to process the sensations that were being transmitted to her brain. She was cold… and naked… and the surface she lay on was hard. Everything was quiet. Everything was dark. No, wait—her eyes were closed. Tentatively, she allowed her eyelids to flutter open. Wherever she was, her surroundings were dimly lit with a colored light—red. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could begin to make out details.

She was in an enclosed space—a room, maybe twelve or fifteen square meters, with a metal ceiling and three metal walls. The fourth wall was… what was it? It was glowing red—was it the room's sole light source? No, she could see now that the bright red band around the edges of the ceiling was a long, continuous light. Then what was the red wall? She focused her attention on it. Only then did she notice the red-and-black silhouette of a figure standing in front of it. She was immediately drawn to the figure's red eyes, which glowed brighter than everything else in the room.

Panic suddenly flooded into her as she recognized it as the figure from her nightmare. With a gasp, she instinctively recoiled from the figure and tumbled off of the surface she had been laying on. Pain lanced through her as her naked body hit the hard metal floor. Despite the pain, she scrambled backward across the floor until she hit the rear wall. Suddenly self-aware, she pulled her legs up horizontally against her body and folded her arms across her chest in an attempt to preserve her modesty. At least, she tried to; something was holding her wrists together. Some kind of metal cuffs. But why was she cuffed? She pushed that question aside for the moment and focused on bending her arms to cover as much of herself as possible.

The figure approached with the unsteady gait of someone whose legs were injured. A hint of pain marred the satisfied smile on his face. And then he spoke. "Welcome back, Tahiri."

Tahiri. She rolled the name around in her head for a few seconds before remembering that it was her name. Tahiri Veila. With that realization, her memories slowly began to trickle back, but not in chronological order. She saw the handsome boy again, in a jungle temple. And then she remembered his name: Anakin Solo. Again came that feeling of comfortable heat, and she now had a word for it: love. She was in love with Anakin. Does he know where I am? she thought to herself. Is he coming for me?

There were gaps in her memory that she could not yet reconcile. But they would have to wait. She focused on trying to remember who this man was. It took her three heartbeats to remember that he was a Sith—whatever that was. Two heartbeats later, she remembered that the Sith were her enemy. Another heartbeat, and she remembered that she was a Jedi. No, used to be a Jedi. Why am I not a Jedi anymore? she asked herself.

And then the man's name came to her: Darth Caedus. No, wait—that's not right. Darth Caedus is someone else. She could not yet remember who Darth Caedus was, but she did remember that this man was Darth Hatus. Her thoughts returned to her last memory before waking up in this room. She had been running toward Darth Hatus, holding… her lightsaber. Remembering her weapon, she reached down to where she usually had it clipped to her belt, but felt only her naked hip. She then recalled that she had been running toward him with the intent of using her lightsaber to kill him. And then he had attacked her using… what was it called? The Force. That was what had caused the intense vibrations.

Looking up at her captor, for that was what she now knew he was, she demanded, "What did you do to me? Where are my clothes?"

"They did not survive," Hatus answered. "I will have a new outfit delivered to you later. As for you, I saved your life."

"You tried to kill me!" she spat back.

"Which is not what I wanted," he replied coolly. "Hence, I saved your life."

Tahiri seethed. She did not want to think that she owed her life to this villain, nor did she want to imagine what he might have done to her while she was unconscious. Unbidden, more memories came back to her—horrible memories of physical and psychological torture at the hands of monsters. The Yuuzhan Vong. They had done things to her. She did not remember all of the details yet, but what she did remember caused her to tremble with terror.

Hoping to distract herself, she decided to keep the conversation going. "Where am I?" she asked, although she could guess easily enough from her surroundings.

"You're in a prison cell," Hatus answered, "in the new Sith base on Latru."

Latru. That name sounds familiar. Wait, I remember now. That's where I was when I tried to kill Hatus. The next memories to return pertained to this world. She saw snow falling on a city with cobblestone streets and happy people being kind to one another. She saw mountains and a river. She saw an elegant palace and an old man wearing a crown and a kindly smile. She saw fire and rubble and people crying out in pain and grief. And she saw figures in black armor emerging from a cloud of smoke to terrorize the people.

"What did you do to the Latruans?" she asked, knowing that she would not like the answer.

"You mean those who survived?" Hatus asked, and Tahiri felt the urge to pummel the smirk off his face. "They work for the Sith now. But don't worry; they will not be harmed as long as they're productive."

It took a long moment for Tahiri to comprehend his meaning. The Latruans were now slaves of the Sith. She could not access all of her memories of her time with the people of Latru, but she knew that she cared about them deeply. To hear that they had been enslaved filled her with despair. Why didn't I do something to help them?

And then she remembered that she had. She had fought the Sith when they came for the Latruans. She had fought Darth Hatus himself, alongside two men. One of them was the kind old man, who was wielding a scepter with a blue lightsaber blade protruding from the end. King Cresta. And the other man was… Master Skywalker! They had both been with her when she had been knocked unconscious.

Suddenly concerned about her comrades' fates, she asked, "What did you do to the king? And Master Skywalker?"

A devious smile spread across Hatus' face, which Tahiri took as a bad sign. He answered, "King Cresta is alive, if only to ensure the cooperation of his people. His grandchildren are alive, as well, to ensure his cooperation. And as for Luke Skywalker…" He paused for dramatic effect, and as his smile grew, Tahiri's hope plummeted. Hatus did not need to finish the sentence, but he did anyway. "I killed him."

Tahiri knew she should have felt grief or anger. She knew that Luke had been significant to her, but she could not remember in what way. Without her memories of him, all she could feel was a light sadness, and she hated it. How hard did I hit my head? Returning her attention to Hatus, she asked, "And what are you planning to do to me?"

Hatus' smile faded somewhat, as though disappointed that he had not gotten the reaction to Luke's death that he had been hoping for. But he maintained his composure and answered, "I don't plan on doing anything to you. As long as you cooperate, that is," he amended. "You, Tahiri Veila, are going to serve me as one of my new Sith apprentices."

The statement was so unexpected, so outlandish, that Tahiri could not suppress the urge to laugh. "You're joking. What makes you think I would join you after everything you've done?"

"You've served the Sith before, and the dark side is still within you. I'm confident that you will serve us again."

She froze. Something about that statement struck a sensitive nerve, although she did not know why. "You don't know what you're talking about. I would never turn to the dark side."

Now Hatus was frowning in confusion. "You can't protect yourself by lying, Tahiri. I know all about your troubled past, including your apprenticeship to Darth Caedus."

Darth Caedus – the name that lurked in the back of Tahiri's mind. But the person attached to that name continued to elude her thoughts. She knew one thing, however; she had never served him. He's lying, she told herself. He's trying to manipulate me. It's not true.

Then a wave of memories crashed upon her consciousness. She could see Caedus now, as well as another man—Jacen Solo, Anakin's brother. No—there was only one man, and he was both Caedus and Jacen, for they were one and the same. Tahiri gasped in disbelief. Jacen turned to the dark side? No! He would never! But the new memories had taken hold and she could remember that it was true. She could see him now, on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, giving the order to open fire. Beyond the forward viewport, turbolaserfire from his ship penetrated the atmosphere of the Wookiee homeworld, Kashyyyk.

And she had been standing next to him, watching as the mighty forests were ignited and consumed by an inferno. That memory sparked more memories in which she spied on the Jedi Order, murdered an old man, tortured a teenage boy, and fought people she knew to be her friends, all in service of Caedus. As the memories sank in, she felt as though she was being crushed beneath their weight, and she had to fight the urge to be sick.

Seeing her discomfort, a wicked smile returned to Hatus' face. "Yes, you certainly proved your loyalty to the Sith many times over. Which is why I believe you could serve us again in a similar capacity."

"No!" Tahiri snapped. "I'll never join you!" She hoped that she was projecting more strength and conviction than she felt. If I could turn to the dark side once, who's to say I wouldn't do it again?

As though he had read her thoughts, Hatus responded, "You already joined the Sith once. Why? What made you turn to the dark side?"

That was a good question, one that Tahiri found herself asking, as well. Why would I turn to the dark side? Why would I do such horrible things? She plumbed the depths of her mind in search of the answer. Memories began to resurface at a faster rate. Some of the memories were bad, such as the acts she performed as Caedus' Sith apprentice or the horrors she had experienced during the Yuuzhan Vong War. On the other hand, some of the memories were good, such as her training at the Jedi Academy, her adventures with her friends and fellow Jedi, and a kiss shared between her and Anakin. That last memory was particularly pleasing, and it triggered other memories of the boy she loved.

It did not take long for her to realize that something was wrong. All of her memories of Anakin were of him as a child or a teenager; she never saw him as an adult. A chill crept down her spine as she questioned why that was. The answer was there—she could feel it—but it remained buried, clinging to the far recesses of her mind. Tahiri had an inkling that her brain was choosing to keep it buried because it wanted to protect her from the pain it would bring. She ignored the premonition and reached for the elusive memory. Whatever it contained, she needed to see it. After much resistance, the memory finally released its grip and floated to the forefront of her mind.

Tahiri was in what appeared to be an endless cave made of black coral and lit by bioluminescent organisms. Then she remembered that it was actually the interior of the Baanu Rass, a Yuuzhan Vong worldship orbiting the planet Myrkr. She was there with sixteen-year-old Anakin, Jacen, and several other young Jedi on a mission to kill the Jedi-hunting voxyn creatures. Hordes of Yuuzhan Vong were closing in on them, and Anakin, having been severely wounded and knowing he would not be able to escape, stayed behind to fight them off and give the rest of the team a chance to escape. He wanted to give Tahiri a final kiss, but she tearfully rejected him, saying that he would have to return for it.

And that was the last time she had seen him alive.

It was as though she had lost him all over again. All of the grief and despair she had experienced after his death came flooding back, and she began to cry. Anakin Solo, the love of her life, was dead—taken from her far too young. For sixteen years, Tahiri had mourned and suffered through the continual repercussions of his sacrifice, never able to move on, despite her best efforts. That day—that dreadful day—had been the day her life had been ruined.

"Your thoughts betray you," said a cold, loud voice. Startled, Tahiri opened her eyes to look at Hatus. Through the tears in her eyes, she could see the satisfaction on his face. "I should have known. You turned to the dark side because of Anakin Solo."

Hearing that beautiful name uttered by Hatus' foul tongue sparked a red-hot rage within Tahiri. With a primal scream, she lashed out with the Force to try to wring the Sith Lord's neck. But the instant she drew upon the Force, she was racked with excruciating pain. For a long second, her body convulsed as electricity surged through her. When it stopped, she collapsed face-down on the cold metal floor, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. It did not take her long to realize that the electricity had come from the binders on her wrists, most likely in response to her attempt to use the Force. If she tried to do it again, she suspected that she would be met with the same response.

In other words, she was powerless.

As the pain subsided, she became aware of the laughter reaching her ears. It was Hatus, apparently delighting in her suffering, which made her even angrier.

"You see?" he asked. "You even have the temper of a Sith. All that anger, all that grief, it would be enough to drive even the most sanctimonious Jedi to the dark side." Adopting a gentler tone, he continued, "Believe it or not, I understand your pain. I fell in love too, once, and I learned the hard way that love leads only to suffering. It turns out we're more alike than either of us realized."

As tears continued to roll down her face, Tahiri fixed Hatus with a defiant glare. "You're wrong. We are nothing alike. I'm not insane like you. I never enjoyed hurting people. And I know that love leads to good things, but you will never understand that." With every word she spoke, Hatus' smile faltered bit by bit. Good, that means I'm getting to him. "Do you want to know why I really turned to the dark side?" she asked. "It was because Caedus promised to teach me how to flow-walk so that I could see Anakin again. He told me that I could change what happened to him, that I could save him, but he lied. I could change events while I was in the past, but those changes don't carry over into the present. He used my love for Anakin to manipulate me into doing horrible things. Because that's what Sith do; they lie and make promises they never intend to keep so that they get what they want. Which is why I know you're just going to do the same thing."

For a long moment, Hatus did not respond. The two of them simply dueled in a vicious staring contest, each waiting for the other person to break. But it would not be Tahiri; she was certain of that. Agreeing to serve Caedus had been a mistake, one for which she had been paying for the past few years, and which she would never make again.

Finally, the corner of Hatus' mouth flinched, almost like a smirk, and then he turned around and hobbled toward the cell door. The red energy barrier deactivated to allow him to pass through and reactivated as soon as he was clear.

As soon as Hatus had vanished from view, Tahiri squeezed her eyes shut and began to quietly sob. She cried for the tragic memories that had been restored to her and the shame and grief that accompanied them. She cried for Luke, whom she had failed in her mission to protect. She cried for the people of Latru, who had done nothing wrong to deserve the wrath of the Sith. She cried for Gratbûr, which she had only just begun to consider her new home before being destroyed. And she cried for herself, having once again fallen into the clutches of the Sith. And this time, she did not think she would escape.

After what felt like several hours, the door to Tahiri's cell opened again. It was not Hatus, though; this time, it was a Red Sith, bringing a bowl of what appeared to be stew and a set of clothes. As hungry as she was, Tahiri opted to get dressed first. The outfit consisted of a simple tunic, pants, and boots, not unlike what she had seen some Latruans wear. She realized that it must have been salvaged from the ruins of Gratbûr. The thought of wearing clothes that had been stolen from someone who was likely dead gave her pause, but she supposed it was better than staying naked.

It occurred to her that, since she had accepted King Cresta's offer to stay on Latru, she likely would have worn clothes like these for the rest of her life, had events played out differently. As it was, she figured she was about to spend the rest of her life in this outfit, anyway. The Sith guard removed the binders from her wrists so that she could put her shirt on, warning her that there were more guards nearby in case she tried anything. It was not necessary, however, as Tahiri had given up the desire to escape, knowing that there was nothing left for her outside the cell. She finished dressing, although she did not put on the boots. Even on the cold metal floor of her cell, she still preferred to go barefoot.

The guard then put the binders back on and handed her the bowl of stew, which turned out to be a foul-smelling blend of boiled milk, soggy bread, rancid meat, and flavorless fruits and vegetables. Tahiri had to pick bones out of it before she even dared to try it. It tasted as revolting as it looked. She wondered if Ben Skywalker had been forced to eat this vile concoction every day during his captivity on Dromund Kaas.

The guard stood just outside the cell, watching her eat. Only after she had forced down the last of the stew did he come back in to take the bowl away. Then, he left, and Tahiri was alone once again. Soon after, fatigue overcame her and she lay down to sleep on the metal slab that served as a bed. It was cold and uncomfortable, but she was so tired that she fell asleep anyway.

When she woke up the next morning, her entire body ached. Another guard brought her breakfast, which turned out to be more stew. After that, Tahiri was left alone for several more hours with nothing to do but ruminate on her dire circumstances and the tragedies and poor choices that had led to them. When she heard echoing footsteps drawing nearer, she assumed that it was yet another guard bringing her yet another bowl of stew.

To her surprise, however, it turned out to be two guards dragging a third figure by the arms. They stopped in front of Tahiri's cell, deactivated the energy barrier, and tossed the new prisoner inside to crumple face-down on the floor. Without saying a word, they reactivated the energy barrier and left Tahiri with who she presumed to be her new cellmate. He was tall and thin, dressed in clothes similar to hers, and he had wavy brown hair that flowed past his shoulders. Groaning, he pushed himself up off the floor as gracefully as he could with binders joining his wrists. He stood to face Tahiri, giving her her first good look at his face. He was a human, roughly the same age as her, with light skin and a thick beard that matched the color of his hair. What stood out to her the most were his ice-blue eyes.

When his gaze met hers, a sudden shock ran through her as though she had been stabbed in the heart. Those eyes… She quickly took stock of the rest of his face, noting the subtle features visible beneath his hair and beard. As she recognized each one, she felt as though a dagger was being twisted inside her flesh. No. No, it can't be.

The man had been looking at her for only a second before those beautifully disturbing eyes widened in recognition. "Tahiri?" he asked. An excited smile spread across his face. "Is it really you?" He quickly took two steps in her direction, causing her to take three steps away from him. In response to her terrified expression, he paused, his smile faltering somewhat. "Tahiri, it's me—Anakin!"

WHAAAAAAAAAT?!

Yes, I went there. I'm taking a big risk with this latest story development, but I think it will be good for Tahiri's character arc.

Thank you for reading this chapter! I will post the next chapter in two weeks. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in your reviews or private messages.