Ahsoka emerged from the refresher feeling five times lighter and ten times more relaxed than when she'd walked in. As comfortable and protective as the warrior's garb Bo-Katan had given her was, it was a relief to switch into a fresh pair of clothes. The outfit she now wore was a repurposed grey officer's uniform she'd pilfered from the barracks. She'd done away with the badge, belt, and boots, and slashed off the clothing's sleeves using her lightsaber leaving a pair of smooth scorch marks.

"Honestly," Ahsoka had thought to herself at the time. "It's like they intentionally design these clothes to be uncomfortable!"

But thanks to her modifications, and also perhaps the fact that this was the first pair of fresh clothes she'd worn in a long time, wearing such an outfit was made somewhat bearable. Upon stepping into the barracks, she saw Maul sitting on one of the lower bunks. He'd long since switched out of the Mandalorian armour into his standard black tunic, and with his eyes closed, he'd seemed to have adopted a meditative stance. Despite her better judgement, Ahsoka approached the former Sith apprehensively.

"I didn't know that Sith meditated."

Without so much as opening his eyes, Maul responded to Ahsoka's comment- his voice measured, but with undertones of rage.

"You'll find that there's a great deal about the Sith you don't know."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Like what?"

Maul couldn't help but chuckle at Ahsoka's question.

"You know as well as I do that I am no longer a member of their order. But in any case, the Jedi would have told you nothing about the Sith beyond the fact that they are to be feared. The fools... too afraid to even know their enemy."

"That's not true. As a Jedi, I learnt about the Dark Side, and how it can corrupt us if we are not mindful of our-"

"'Corrupt'?!" Maul echoed incredulously. "Is that how you see it? Tell me, Lady Tano, do you know where all who wield the Dark Side derive their power?"

"Their passions," Ahsoka said as she sat down on the bunk adjacent to Maul's. "The Sith draw on their passions for their strength. And that gives way to fear, anger, and hate."

Maul's eyes flicked open.

"You have it half right. Though… I suppose I cannot fault you for that. You have been conditioned to view the Sith through a very specific lens. Would it surprise you to hear that much like the Jedi, the Sith also live by a code?"

It certainly had surprised Ahsoka- a fact she didn't want to admit to Maul.

"A code of what? Murdering, stealing, and destroying?"

Maul smirked.

"So they didn't even teach you that. How willfully ignorant."

"…alright, fine, I didn't know the Sith had a code. But… what kind of code could the Sith possibly live by?!"

"'Peace is a lie, there is only passion'," Maul recited, his voice growing in intensity with every word.

"'Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.'"

Maul paused for effect, and his voice diminished to almost a whisper.

"'The Force shall free me.'"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"Impressive performance," she sneered. "Perhaps you should consider a future reciting Mon Calamari poetry!"

"Mock them all you want, Lady Tano, but these are no mere words." Maul said contemptuously. "This is the code by which the most powerful man in the galaxy- and our greatest enemy- lives by. You would do well to understand it."

"What's there to understand? That 'code' just proves my point. The Sith reject peace in favour of their passions, just so they can seek greater power. And they're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that end. Though I can now see where your ambitious delusions come from."

Maul shook his head derisively.

"Once again, you only see half the picture. The Sith do not 'reject' peace. Instead, they acknowledge that peace as an ideal is impossible. To live is to be in conflict, against others and against oneself. No matter who you are or what you believe, there will always be those who oppose you. 'Conflict' is merely the natural consequence of this opposition. It is an irrevocable part of life itself, and the Sith wouldn't have it any other way."

"Maybe it is overly idealistic to seek some kind of everlasting peace. But that doesn't make the pursuit of peace pointless!"

"What makes peace a desirable goal in the first place? It is conflict that forces us to better ourselves. It is conflict which requires us to progress and adapt and overcome adversity. Without that adversity… without conflict… there is only stagnation. If not for conflict- if not for the Clone Wars- would you still be the warrior you are today?"

"No, I wouldn't. But many Mandalorians think as the Sith do. Do you know what happened to them?! They destroyed each other. Endless war turned their planet into an inhospitable hell. There was no 'progression'. Only destruction. It took Satine- the woman you murdered- to turn Mandalore away from its violent ways, and during that age of pacifism, the people thrived. At least, until you came along and sparked yet another war."

Maul shook his head.

"Perhaps those 'pacifists' did not fight amongst each other, but their life was not devoid of struggle. The very planet they'd turned barren and lifeless became a source of adversity for them. Though maybe there is some truth to what you say. Without conflict, there is stagnation. But too much conflict yields only destruction."

Had Maul just agreed with her? Ahsoka could do little to hide her surprise from the Zabrak.

"Must you act so shocked? You forget, Lady Tano, that I am no longer a Sith," Maul said.

"But you still draw on the Dark Side. You rely on your passions to give you strength."

Maul chuckled at Ahsoka's statement.

"I find it humorous that the Jedi demonise their own passions so vehemently. Were there not people you were passionate about protecting?"

Ahsoka nodded hesitantly.

"Yes… I guess there were."

"But such attachments are frowned upon by the Jedi, aren't they?"

"They are, but I was never an ideal Jedi."

"Or perhaps the Jedi were never an ideal order."

Ahsoka couldn't help but agree with Maul's sentiment.

"I did feel that by trying to control and suppress their emotions, the Jedi became colder and more distant to the concerns of everyday people. And… I guess passion itself is neither good nor evil. What really matters is where it's directed. Looking back, I did draw strength from my passions. As did my master. But we always used that strength to serve others."

"Your misguided sympathy for the weak aside," Maul began, "Surely you see my point. The Jedi Code confines while the Sith Code liberates."

"So you say," Ahsoka responded, thinking back on his words. "'Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.' What exactly does that mean?"

"We are all bound by chains. Held back from our full potential by restrictions placed upon us by others and ourselves. Ultimately, the Sith desire victory to break free of such limitations, whatever they may be."

"Like your obsession with Master Kenobi. You wanted to kill him so you could be free of your obsession."

Maul scowled.

"That is not quite right… but close enough."

"You believe Master Kenobi has wronged you in some way," Ahsoka said, clenching her fists as she thought back on her memories with Anakin and Obi-Wan. "But nothing that happened to you was his fault. You blame him for the years you spent suffering on Lotho Minor, but Obi-Wan was simply defending himself- you know, after you killed his master in front of him. You blame him for robbing you of a place at Sidious' side- but we both know that even if you'd killed Obi-Wan, your master would have thrown you away the moment he found a replacement."

Maul's eyes flared up and his expression soured.

"It… it was his fault. He was the one who-"

"No," Ahsoka said, meeting Maul's rage with her own glowering eyes. "The Sith- Sidious- they are the ones who took everything from you. They used you. They manipulated you. It was they who sent you after Obi-Wan to begin with!"

Maul let out a brief growl through gritted teeth. It did not stop Ahsoka, whose voice had adopted a disgusted, venomous tone.

"Deep down, you know I'm right. You knew Sidious was out of your grasp. But you didn't want to admit that to yourself, did you?! So instead, you decided to take your anger out on a more attainable target. You decided to take your anger out on Master Kenobi, causing the deaths of countless innocents in the process!"

In a slow and terrifying motion, Maul stood up, his form looming over Ahsoka.

"What do the lives of the innocent matter to me? Their deaths are their own fault. They died because they were weak."

"Then I guess the same could be said about your brother and mother?!"

As soon as the words had left her mouth, she sensed hostility from the former Sith. Instinctively, she sprung to her feet and adopted a low, defensive stance.

"Impudent brat!" Maul snarled, raising his fists. He would not kill her. But he would teach her the price of such insolent audacity.

"'Their deaths are their own fault,'" Ahsoka parroted. "Those were your words, not mine."

"Silence!"

Maul threw a punch aimed at Ahsoka's head. Reflexively, Ahsoka deflected the blow with her right hand and immediately struck at Maul's neck with her left. The strike landed, and Maul staggered back, growling. Channelling the Force, Maul threw Ahsoka backwards against the wall, holding her there as the fingers of his outstretched hand closed into a fist.

"I have tolerated your foolishness long enough," said Maul, his voice simmering with fury.

She collapsed to her knees, seemingly still shaken from the impact. Maul rushed forwards, but before he could strike, Ahsoka ducked behind him and delivered a series of quick blows to his side. Seemingly undeterred, Maul swept low with his durasteel leg, causing the unstoppable metal to crash against Ahsoka, knocking her to the ground once more. For a moment, she considered summoning her lightsabers from the footlocker at the base of the bunk she'd slept in. But if she did that, Maul would do the same, and the fight could quickly turn bloody.

"You might have had a chance in a lightsaber duel," said Maul, as if reading her intentions. "But without your weapons, you are nothing!"

Ahsoka tried to pull herself up only for the side of her head to be crushed against the ground by Maul's mechanical heel. But even as she struggled in vain to escape, her resolve remained unbroken.

"I know you care about them," said Ahsoka, wincing slightly as Maul's robotic limb pressed even more tightly. "I can feel your grief, your… powerlessness."

Maul leaned forward, his towering form more intimidating than ever.

"Powerlessness? From where I'm standing, you are the one who is powerless."

"But between us, I'm not the one who feels that way. You are. You've felt powerless all your life. The only way you can feel powerful is by exerting what power you do have on those weaker than you. Why else would you waste time chasing Kenobi when you could have sought vengeance against the man who was actually responsible for your suffering?!"

"You dare question my power?! It was I who won the reverence of the galaxy's greatest warriors by slewing their leader. It is I who commands the largest alliance of crime syndicates the galaxy has ever seen. I assure you, Ahsoka, that I am far from powerless."

"But what are you compared to Sidious? You're nothing. And that makes you feel weak. You don't blame the weakness of your mother or your brother for the fact that they are gone. You blame your own weakness. You blame yourself."

Ahsoka screamed in pain as Maul's metal leg applied an even greater amount of force. The fury in Maul's voice cooled into an icy, emotionless tone.

"If not for the fact that you still serve a purpose… if not for the promise that I made… I would have killed you here and now. Remember that."

The former Sith then lifted his leg from its position against Ahsoka's head, and left the barracks without another word.


Maul stood on the command deck of the Fire Hawk, staring into the swirling blue of hyperspace having lost himself in his thoughts. Had his fit of rage undone all the effort he'd put in to secure Ahsoka's allegiance? Would she even be willing to work with him, let alone trust him, after he'd attacked her like that? Maul shook his head. What did he care? If Ahsoka would not join him, he would find someone else. But who else? Who in the galaxy had such remarkable potential? He couldn't simply replace Ahsoka. If she turned on him, how could he possibly stand against Sidious?

But beyond the possibility of losing such a valuable ally, another thing nagged at Maul. She was right. As much as he'd denied it, as hard as he'd tried to push away the truth with his sheer force of will, Ahsoka was right. Maul wasn't strong enough. When faced with the unmatched power of Sidious, he'd first lost his brother, and then lost his mother. If he was more powerful, maybe he could have saved them. Maul's expression had turned to one of anguish and distress- the light in his eyes fading and the rage dissipating. He was grateful, at least, that no one was around to witness such weakness. But he was pulled from his thoughts upon hearing Ahsoka's voice behind him.

"It isn't your fault."

Immediately, Maul adopted his typical cold, emotionless demeanour, but continued to stare out into hyperspace in silence. He heard Ahsoka take a step forward.

"You see weakness as a personal failing," she said. "But it isn't. Everyone has their moments of weakness. Nobody is truly invincible."

As much as the former Sith tried to steady his voice, his response came out shaky and uncertain.

"Even after everything I'd done… after everything I'd built… all it took was Sidious to make it all come crashing down. He slaughtered my brother in front of my eyes, and I did nothing. And then, when he and his pets came for my mother… I tried to fight… but I wasn't strong enough. I…"

He let out a sharp breath.

"I was weak."

Maul heard Ahsoka take another step forward.

"No. Strength doesn't come from having power. It comes from being able to push past failure, no matter what it takes. I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" she said, grimacing slightly in anticipation of what she would say next. "In spite of all you've done, you do have one admirable trait. You do not allow your defeats to break you. No matter how far you fall, you always climb back up. It isn't your political power, lightsaber skills, or Force abilities that make you strong. It is your relentless, unquestionable determination."

Maul turned to face Ahsoka, scoffing with a slight grin.

"That's quite a compliment for someone you once called a 'monster'."

She shook her head.

"You aren't a monster. I mean… you don't have to be. You could let go of your hatred… your rage. Or, failing that… just… direct them towards the right person."

"That isn't the kind of thing a Jedi would say," Maul said. "Perhaps there is hope for you yet."

"I… suppose I'm not a Jedi. I suppose I never was- not completely. My passions... my emotions... they're a part of me... whether I like it or not."

There was a silence as the former Sith considered what to say. Or rather, how to say what had been on his mind.

"Lady Tano, I…" Maul winced, as if the words he spoke were physically painful. "I apologise for my outburst… and for attacking you like that. It was short-sighted of me. I would hope that it does not come in the way of our partnership, and… I will make an effort to control myself in the future."

Ahsoka nodded gratefully.

"Your apology is accepted. And I'll remain by your side so long as you honour our agreement," she said, flashing Maul a playful smile. "Violent disagreements aside, we make a pretty good team."

"If you are referring to the capture of this vessel, then yes, I suppose you're right. Though without my plan, it would have been all but impossible."

The former Jedi raised an eyebrow.

"And what about my flying?!"

"Your flying was… adequate… I have already said words to that effect."

"'Adequate' is one way of putting it! How many starpilots do think could have done that?!"

"…Fair enough. Perhaps you do deserve some of the credit. Though in fairness… you were flying my ship."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"You're impossible, you know that?"

In response, Maul smiled- but for the first time Ahsoka had seen, the expression held neither malice nor mockery. It was a smile of genuine sincerity. She knew she couldn't let her guard down- their recent fight had proven that fact- but part of Maul's demeanour and attitude had struck a chord with her. He reminded her of Anakin, albeit only in some small way.

"So, care to tell me where we're heading next?" Ahsoka asked. And for some unexplainable reason, she felt a bone-chilling dread upon hearing Maul's response.

"Mustafar," Maul said. "We're going to Mustafar."