Author Note: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's been a pretty busy weak but I was able to get this one out. Honestly, I wanted this chapter to be a 10k flashback chapter. But all the notes, plans, and ideas that I had would've made it nearly possibly 20k or way more. Hell, it could've been possibly a two part chapter. But I don't really want to do that. Because we are nearing the end of Book 2 and I don't want to have more OC chapters. I want to go along with the events of what has been happening and push on to the end of Book 2 so we can quickly begin book 3.

Thanks everyone for reading this chapter. This chapter is an Arya focused chapter and sorta focuses on her ideology and her own views. Now on the bottom of the chapter there is an explanation of what Arya, Rowan, and Ben's relationship actually is. I am a big fan of show don't tell and I rarely ever used flashbacks or large explanations. But if you guys skipped a couple of chapters or glossed over things. On the bottom of this chapter is me going to explain the characters psychology.

Thank you everyone for reading once again and likewise for following, favoriting, and reviewing. We are nearly up to 80 FOLLOWERS AND I AM SO EXCITED. I remember at the beginning of the year in which I was so discouraged because I updated like five chapters and hardly anyone had read it. But now we're up to the thousands and we keep on going up. Thank you so much everyone!

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Chapter 57

The sound of the wheels cycling along the Earth Kingdom terrain, echoed along Arya's eardrums. The Drill, a large train like machine on wheels. With the size of a whole building, wheels that gobbled up raw dirt and rock, and even a drill aimed from the front to pincer anything in its path…Arya and Rowan were now making their way towards Ba Sing Sai.

This was an important battle. They were with a legion of Fire Nation soldiers, a whole group of Dark Jedi from numerous other academies within the fire nation, and there was even talk of an airborne fleet of blimps to join them during the battle. This was going to be one of the most pivotal battles for this century long war…and hopefully would lead to its end.

She sat along her cot within her room, a pleasurable exception for her due to her rank as a Sith Master. Her heavy dark robes clung to her form as they lightly sagged along the edge of her bed. Lightly pushing away the tendrils of dark red hair as she stared ahead, through the expanse through her window.

Lush green terrain, rows of mountains that could touch upon the sky, and even the steady flapping of birds migrating for a warmer place to go due to the changing of seasons. Sometimes, cooped up within the Fire Nation, she would forget how beautiful this world truly was.

"This world…" She slowly repeated. Tasting the words along her lips like an exquisite wine. Yet, she slowly shook her head. Rising from her seat as her bare hand went to touch upon the dark tinted glass.

No, it was there world now. They could never go back to their old galaxy…they were stuck here, forever. They were marooned down here and forced to live out their lives. Her, her future family, and her future kids. They would have no knowledge of what was truly out there.

Her whole life was spent within Dantooine. She had no real knowledge of who her family was but that was common within the ranks of the Jedi Order. Yet, there would be times where she would wonder where she came from or what else was out there.

Just like Ben, she had stared within those stars as the twin Dantooine suns would set. Their eyes glistening like pilot lights as they would watch ahead as they would plan and fantasize of what was coming. The adventures, the dreams, the hopes. Her lips slowly twisted into one of a smile, Ben.

Her heartbeat quickened, her face quickly flushing as it nearly matched the color of her hair. How long had she been within the confines of the Jedi Academy? Her life, before meeting Ben had felt so strange.

It was almost like an eerie blankness of effects. A sort of cloud or mist that would take over her mind. Eat, sleep, train, meditate and repeat. The structure of her day that would follow. She heeded the trainings of the Jedi, to cut oneself off from relationships and their own natural feelings.

She believed back then that such things harbored truth and greatness. That for her to become a true Jedi, to null her feelings and such would make her better. However, it was never truly hard for her to do such things.

The Jedi never picked up on it. They applauded how Arya was able to cut herself off from the moment and learn how to make analyzed decisions. To Arya, it wasn't cutting off…it was merely who she simply was.

It was hard for her…to truly feel things. Before, she didn't really care about feelings for others. Merely, it was mostly how she cared about being seen towards them. Taking extra care to maintain her reputation and status within the order. Unlike Rowan and Ben who were damned to have their hearts along there sleeve, Arya wasn't born with such things.

Sure, she felt pity at times for when innocents got caught within the crossfire. She felt disgusted when Rowan talked about how the Sith and the Fire Nation were there best chances, but she didn't leave or disagree.

To Arya, all that mattered was to protect those that mattered to her. Rowan her best friend, and Ben…the man she loved. Maybe that was the reason why Arya had slipped back into who she once was during her time within the Jedi Temple. Without Ben, she simply felt nothing. Her life flashing back within the fog.

She didn't care about the Dark Side and mostly just went along with it because…it was merely surrender or die. Her fingers combed through her locks of hair at the strange thoughts that were generating. Why was she like this?

She saw how Rowan cried when they were marooned here, she felt horrible when she witnessed what the Sith and Fire Nation did to that Earth Kingdom town…but it didn't feel like she was truly doing anything. It was confusing, but only when it involved Ben…did she truly feel a need to act.

Arya's eyes widened, a powerful feeling surging along her mind's eye as the suddenness of the act caused her to nearly reel face first into the window right before she caught herself. Taking a couple of deep breaths as she meshed herself within the force, taking merely moments to find out what she was looking for.

The force bond that Lord Ruin had created between the two of them was severed. There was merely one option…he was dead.

It had taken Rowan merely a couple of minutes, the fire nation princess in tow as she walked by his side. Arya was back to sitting down on her cot as she was able to get a better look at the pair. Princess Azula, brandishing shades of red over her royal fire nation armor. No tendril of hair was out of place, her makeup was pristine as her crown stood along her head.

Arya, she kept her face neutral. She didn't show any emotion towards her. They had worked together before to lure out Ben and team avatar, but after his capture they had split off from the other. Yet, it was Rowan that had changed the most.

He sported light red combat robes. Blending them together with scraps of fire nation infantry armor. His false hand proudly showing with its misaligned amalgamation of flesh and serrated metallic fingers. His hair was cut shorter, the blond slowly reeking off them as grey cuts decorated the once pure yellow.

His eyes, once a bright oceanic blue was now a blazing orange. Orange within red that reeked with the dark side of the force. Before, they were not heavily as immersed. Especially her.

She knew what the dark side could do to people when they allowed themselves to be consumed by it…look at Ben. Now Rowan was walking that deadly and dark path. Even the effects of early Dark Side deterioration were slowly starting to warp him into a being of darkness.

"So, Lord Ruin has fallen…"

Azula's words came from her lips. Not as a question but rather a statement. "Master Ruin…" Rowan spoke. His back going to the wall as he combed through his clumps of greying hair. His teeth gnashing as he locked his head straight up. "Ben, it had to be. That bastard killed our master."

Arya remained silent. Her face remained neutral as she felt within the force. Rowan was honestly mad. It wasn't an act. A part of her was angry, another part was disgusted. During Rowan and Ben's duel she vividly remembered the words Ruin had said during the duel.

He was urging him on, pushing Ben to take Rowan's life in hope that his resurfaced anger would lead him back down to the Dark Side. But Rowan would choose to grieve such a man that would just as easily discard him away for a stronger successor?

"My father was already annoyed that you three let him escape. When we reach the Fire Nation after conquering the city, who knows what will come."

Rowan's eyes instantly lurched up. His body snapping towards the girl in question as Arya already felt it…anger. Rowan's fists were clenched.

Arya lurched up. Ready to stop any sort of conflict as Rowan let out a breath of hot air from his nostrils like a raging bull. She felt an unease of calmness slowly wash down on him. Not because he was calming down, more like it was order.

Like a person that was caught on fire and decided to jump headfirst into the lake. He did it out of necessity. "Princess Azula, I am sure Fire Lord Ozai would greatly appreciate such news after we take the city." Rowan aimed.

Azula slowly nodded along. "Yes, I believe that father would. It would surely wade out the disgusting taste of failure of losing one so important."

With those parting words Azula opened and closed the door behind Arya's quarters. Arya staring at Rowan as he peered at the door. His orange eyes peering into it like heat rays. "Why do we deal with such fools, Arya." He spoke. "Weak fools with no blessing within the force. A woman like her, even with her bending abilities could not match me or you."

"Weren't you the one that said, before that the Fire Nation and the Fire Lord held truth within their words. Don't be a fool Rowan. Azula, she may be conceited and dangerous, but she is also the fire lord's daughter."

"Yes, but her father is a weak leader with no blessing within the force."

Arya's head slightly tilted, almost like the way an inquisitive owl would do. 'Fool, have you forgotten your prior words from before. How you spoke of the Fire Nation and the Sith? Now you wish to openly go against them?'

"I'm just saying that those without the force are weak and can't truly comprehend the greater powers at play." A smile began to dart across his lips. "Someone greater, stronger, and more attuned to what the Fire Nation truly needs should be Fire Lord…no, a king."

Arya's eyes snapped wide open. Lurching herself off her cot as she stared at Rowan. "What are you saying?" She spoke.

Rowan's orange eyes glistened along the edge of sunlight. Glancing at her as she could see the cogs working like gears within his head. She knew before that the dark side warped people. That the pursuit of power, greed, and even lust could warp the greatest of men. Yet, looking upon Rowan right now…

"The Fire Lord, banished his one and only son and has yet to take another wife even at such an old age." He chuckled to himself, a dark smile that stretched lip to lip. His back sliding along the window as he peered at Arya. "The Fire Lord has no sons, only a daughter."

Arya's eyes widened in alarm as she began to understand what he was getting at. "You'll aim for the throne?"

"I'm actually shocked that the Fire Lord's bloodline has not already been mingled with the blood of Dark Jedi." Rowan said.

He turned once again to face her. "Think about it, honestly." He stretched his finger through the roof, then around almost like he was signifying the expanse of the world. "We can have it all…you'll be by my side ruling with me. We'll have an army of Dark Jedi and legions of Fire Nation soldiers. Nothing would be able to stop us."

He spoke the words with a calm but manacled glee. His heart throbbing as all Arya could do was stare at him. What was the right answer? Take the power and the greed at full force and rule over the world…or was there another option, an option that lied within the light?

Yet, she slowly shook her head. Both for Rowan's proposal and for her thoughts. There was no way to go back to the light. Her foresee within the force after falling to the Sith and crashing upon this world has been splintered. She could hardly witness visions the way she did, but she knew enough that if she did try to walk the path of the light, the road was filled with dark waves and a deep fog that could not be seen through.

All she can do now is keep moving forward. She had already allied with the Fire Nation and the Sith. It would be wrong for her to simply give it up for a future she could not pierce. "What of Ben?"

Rowan's face instantly twisted. His features tightening. "What about him, he's a Jedi Knight that has pledged service to the Avatar." She turned back towards Rowan. Her green eyes going towards his own orange once again. "There is always another choice. We can always leave the Sith and run away with Ben…we can leave this war behind; it will just be the three of us again."

Rowan laughed. Chuckling to himself. "Really, you honestly believe that it would be that easy?" He spoke. "You think that Ben is willingly going to abandon the girl and his new comrades?"

He watched Arya's lips tighten. The way her scowl deepened as Rowan smirked to himself. "You won't ever truly have Ben until she's gone." He pointed down at her lightsaber. "You know what must be done. If Ben truly does love you in the way you love him…"

Rowan stopped speaking for a second, driving his fingers on his false arm forward. Squeezing them into a metallic fist as the grinds of biological false flesh and mechanics made a horrific amalgamation of sound. "Drive your lightsaber through her chest…you will never have him as long as she is in the way."

He watched as Arya's features darkened. The way her chest slowly rose, the way her fingers sunk into the base of her palms. The way her eyes narrowed at him. Yet, she kept that neutral face, but it was her other features that betrayed her.

'Oh, Arya. You naïve fool…but I do love you so.' Rowan thought. He slowly walked away from her, already knowing how such a simple sentence was going to eat her up inside.

Before, he didn't truly know how deep her affection for Ben truly did went. She loved him for no rhyme or reason. She begged for his attention, his love, his touch. The thoughts caused Rowan to let out an inaudible growl.

The woman he loved was fighting for the attention of some bastard child of Mandalorian blood. Speaking of Mandalorians, Rowan raised his glance. He could hear the pounding steps of metal. He could hear the way she moved through the halls.

Azula hired her for a couple of gold coins, from what he heard within the Fire Nation she was a great bounty hunter, even though she was so young. But when she found out that Ben was going to come…she said it was on the house. He watched as the Mandalorian Armor glistened under the harsh yellow lanterns as she pushed forward.

Her name was Cindra, and Arya assumed that she was born from this world. But like them, her parents or grandparents came from the galaxy…but was likewise marooned here with no hope of ever returning.

He didn't know what she was after, or what Ben had done to her. But he didn't care…the quicker he was dead, the quicker he would have his Arya. He smiled, thinking of her by his side, each dressed in regal clothing as a golden crown balanced upon his head.

He would be king…rather emperor of this world!

Yet, if he had Arya by his side, everything would be okay. That was why he instructed her to kill Ty Lee, the noble girl. Honestly the plan would work out if Arya killed anyone of Team Avatar, but it was easier to give Arya anger towards Ty Lee, almost like notching an arrow and aiming it at the source.

Her anger and jealousy, dark emotions that would give her greater strength within the force. Rowan's lips loosened into a gleaming smile. Ty Lee would die, and Ben would be thrown back into that berserk like rage of his. He would try and kill Arya and she would realize where she stood within their relationship.

Then she would crawl back to his side…where she rightfully belonged. Maybe seeing the bloodlust within Ben, all his anger directed towards her, just maybe that would be the wakeup call she would need. With a faint chuckle he continued down the path, there was much more planning to be done and he wished for this invasion to be swift and efficient.

Within Arya's room…she sat back on the cot. Her lightsaber within her hands. Her emerald eyes sticking to the hilt as she observed the weapon.

Unlike Ben, her and Rowan had kept the lightsabers they had built when they were children. They had merely replaced the once pure Adegan crystals with Synthetic focusing crystals of there own shaping.

Arya thumbed the activation switch. The crisp and hum of the bloodshot blade bathing her features as she stared into it. She glared into the eye of the weapon, the crystal was strong and hummed with immense power but after each ignition…the weapon felt wrong.

Maybe that was why she relied far more on her connection to the force and her own abilities. She missed the pure green plasma that made up her first lightsaber blade, and she wondered if Rowan missed his own deep blue…yet the thought caused her head to slowly shake. No, he didn't.

Rowan and she were Sith, and such memories of the past would not aid them…all that mattered was the future and the path they needed to walk. She rose from her cot, lightly patting off her robes as she readjusted herself. A great battle was coming, and she would need to have her mind concluded.

She would use her hate and anger towards the girl…she would impale her with this bloodshot blade of hers. Then, Ben whether he liked it or not would be hers. They would either find their place within the Sith or out within this world.

Because he was the one that was able to cause her heart to beat…for her to feel real emotions, to feel something then this dreadful melancholy she had swam in for years. She didn't know if it was love, it felt wrong, but she didn't care.

With those parting words she glanced outside. She could see the large wall that surrounded Ba Sing Sai. Now, it was time for action. She strode out her door as she and Rowan were preparing for one of the biggest battles of this century long war.

Unknown to them, another group was coming to oppose them. Along the terrain, Haru's battalion of Earth Kingdom troops and team avatar rode along with the other…a final stance against an ever growing darkness.

Author Note

Thank you for reading this author note. This is for people who are either confused or do not understand the relationship that Arya, Ben, and Rowan have. So, as the author I will best describe to you what I've been doing and writing within the chapters.

Ben Section

During Book 1, this was mostly Ben's POV on what his relationship with his friends were. They were all a big group of friends and a family (This he described to Katara) during chapter 6 if I recall. Yet, during this scene he flashbacks to his difficult time during the order. The other Jedi looking down on him, Kreia finding him and secretly training him after she completed Revan's training, and the growing darkness within him.

But through the help of his friends, Arya and Rowan. He began to feel less alone but not enough for him to stay behind to continue his training, and he decided to follow Meetra, Malak, and Revan to the Mandalorian Wars. This is where the tale ends for Ben. He views Arya and Rowan as his friends, a second family that kept him safe and kept his head straight when he was trying to become a Jedi Knight. Even though he dueled and bested them when they were children with his new abilities and realized connection to the force, he desperately cared for them and wished the best. He grieved for them once he believed they were killed. Ben loves his friends and regards them as a second family.

Rowan Section

Rowan never cared for Benjamin. Him and Arya knew each other for years and behind the Jedi's back he allowed himself to have feelings for Arya. They were both prodigies within the Jedi Order and they each were told of what they were going to become. Rowan gave into his pride and lust for power at an early age, he believed he would one day rise to either weaponmaster or Grandmaster of the Jedi Order.

Within this pride the Jedi never picked up on it, allowing it to grow and warp him as years passed. Rowan and Arya would remain friends, but Ben would later arrive. The interloper that would unintentionally steal Arya away from him. Rowan due to his friendship and belief that Arya felt bad would tag along with Ben. Due to Ben's poor social skills he would believe that they were all very good friends when in reality Arya was the only one that cared for him while Rowan secretly hated his guts. Within the chapters that Rowan is in, he displays his hatred for Ben. Only bringing him along for Arya, wishing that he was dead, and was even glad that he left for the wars and wished he remained dead.

Rowan wants power. He is an extremely jealous, possessive, and vindictive person who has truthfully allied with the Sith for his own gains (Even though he tells himself they are just, and the Fire Nation are the strongest). Rowan loves Arya, but hates Ben.

Arya Section

Arya's issues reside within the core of her own being. Taken into the Order at a very early age she was slowly taught distancing oneself from emotion is a good thing. Yet, Arya never had an issue with this. Arya has issues feeling anything. While the Jedi believed that she was merely good at cutting herself off from the day to day tribulations that shouldn't concern a Jedi, Arya didn't do it by choice...she merely did it because that was all she could do. Arya, has Psychopathic tendencies.

During her and Ben's youth she became obsessed with him because around him...she felt things. Ben doesn't know this and thought they were just really good friends, he didn't realize the sinister nature of the situation. Arya doesn't love Ben, she's obsessive and possessive over him. She wants him to be hers and only hers, that's why she holds such hatred towards Ty Lee and Rowan uses this against her.

Arya also never truly cared for the world. Merely stating "This world" in other chapters to separate herself from it. Merely, she only cared for the safety of the world and joining Team Avatar later because Ben was on the team. She didn't care for there goals, she merely was annoyed that she was manipulated by the Sith and wanted to be back with Ben once again. That's why she pledges to kill Ty Lee, because to her she's merely an obstacle in Ben's affection and removing her makes it easier.

Thanks for reading once again and I hope you guys enjoyed this explanation of what the characters true relationships and loyalties lie in. Have a good day!