"There's somethin' about you I'm likin'

Bit too much, is a bit frightenin'

Got a bit of bite to you like python

Got a bit of fight to you like Tyson

All my things sound like they sin

Never planned to be in like I'm in

How you could put this cherry on this cake and make it icin'?"

Normani – "All Yours"

Osha couldn't shake the coiled tension in her dumbstruck body. It wound its serpentine hold around her limbs and torso making it impossible to think the impossible for hours.

Mae was alive.

Her twin sister was alive and responsible for assassinating two Jedi masters in cold blood.

The pungent afternoon air on Olega cooled her heated face. She kept pace with the Jedi who stalked through the dusty streets past mercantile shops and a few boisterous cantinas far from the Jedi Temple. A Jedi Master she hadn't seen in nearly two decades was having his lifeless body prepared for cremation as they searched for clues about Mae.

Her sister had taken the yellow leaves from the bunta tree —a tree from their long lost home planet —and created a poisonous elixir to aid her killing spree. The shock of it all pressed down on Osha's shoulders. An ache of shame nestled at her nape too.

Sixteen years.

Sixteen years since she rested eyes on her other half. The anger and cold bitterness that numbed her so long ago because of what Mae had done to their family and coven gripped her movement making her muscles tight. She wanted to see her sister desperately to make sure it was all real. But she wanted to throttle her too. Beat the bones out of her selfish body. Hell, she was still in a tizzy over reconnecting with Master Sol, her father-figure and savior, the man who kept his promise to protect her after the fire burned down her home-world fortress. She couldn't ponder the ebb and flow of clashing emotions for too long though. They were on a mission to find the nearest apothecary that sold bunta leaves. It had a short shelf-life for potency and Yord's Padawan narrowed it down to a shop located on a busy market square with heavy foot traffic. It was the most logical spot to begin their search.

Yord's young Padawan had done reconnaissance for them earlier. The man posted up inside the shop was not the regular known shopkeeper, and the Padawan ascertained he was Mae's partner-in-crime. The plan was for Osha to enter the shop and pretend to be Mae, get a confession from the suspect so that Sol could record it, and then suss out Mae's location. All without causing harm to innocent civilians wandering the area in case the stranger turned violent. She ran scenarios in her head of how she'd react once they captured her sister. None bode well for her twin.

Master Sol slowed his stride toward the apothecary and turned to her. Those kind eyes still showered her with quiet affection. He kept a reserved manner probably to keep her from freaking out at the circumstances.

"Are you ready, Osha?" Sol asked.

His calm stoic nature gave her courage to face the task at hand.

"I'm ready."

The Jedi watched her stroll into the crowd away from them. She blended in well looking like a salvage worker who just clocked out and sought a place to drink and hustle a new gig. Her neck swiveled to observe if anyone odd followed or watched her too closely.

She stopped in front of a garment-vendor's open-air shop and lifted her repair droid Pip from the snug holster on her hip, and stuck him on the front pocket of her meknek uniform.

"I hope you guys can hear me," she said into the top of Pip's head.

She purchased a long black shawl from the two-horned gray-skinned garment vendor and carefully draped it around her body and head. It covered Pip completely and she tossed a long lose end over her left shoulder. Inhaling a deep breath, she crossed a wide-open street and headed directly for the apothecary.

Her mouth became dry and she tried accumulating enough saliva to keep her tongue loose and voice from cracking. The apothecary had a wide clear window and she took a quick glimpse inside. She couldn't see anyone at first until she noticed a shadowy figure moving in the back. Standing taller, she slowed her pace and took another galvanizing breath. Osha kept her face neutral and entered the shop.

A strong odor of boiling peppery herbs struck her nostrils first before other scents caught her attention. The shop looked orderly if not a bit dust-laden from customers tracking in the powdery red dirt from the street. There was no sign of Mae anywhere, and the shop was devoid of customers. Scanning the layout again, she clocked the suspect carefully.

The man in the rear of the shop wore dark goggles and held something in his hand. A piece of fruit. Osha cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Hello," she said.

The stranger looked up.

Under the ill-fitting charcoal-gray tunic, trousers, and goggles, Osha couldn't discern what she was dealing with or what type of relationship her sister had with the man. Playing it cool seemed to be the right move in that situation and she waited for him to acknowledge her.

"Oh…hello."

"Hi."

Osha grimaced internally. She sounded unsure of herself and struggled not to fidget. Keeping her composure, she watched him take off the goggles and walk toward her. As he drew near, she noticed the intensity of his jet black eyes scrutinizing her. She flicked her gaze all around his face, preferring not to look directly at him. Her nerves ratcheted up and her feet started rocking back and forth. She stared at him to keep her focus but dammit! He kept moving around, slithering closer to her. Nothing bulky showed through his tunic and she was relieved that he carried no weapon on him. He appeared a good eight to nine inches taller than her from the quick guestimation she made sizing him up from the step-down floor section he stood in. One step up and he would be directly in front of her. She needed to keep a sizable distance between them in case he tried a sucker move with a hidden blade. He just wouldn't stop that slow lazy amble toward her and it brought a shiver to the back of her neck. She couldn't break eye contact with him again without looking suspicious.

Those sultry eyes burned into her retinas and caused her breathing to slow down. Had he turned her into prey that quickly?

"Hi? Hi…you alright? You're back so early," he said.

Think. Quick. Say anything. Keep him talking.

"I wanted to see you."

Ugh! No…that sounded weird. It wasn't a gruff bossy tone that she imagined Mae would use like when they were children. His eyebrows rose up in confusion.

"See me? Oh…Mae…uh…are you okay? Did the poison work?"

There! They had him. He admitted to using poison with her. Where was her sister?

"You're acting so strange…"

He tilted his head to the side and those hypnotic eyes narrowed. A fluttering in her stomach signaled for her to stay focused on gleaning any information he gave up now. The steam from the bubbling pots throughout the shop gave the warm undertones in his tawny skin a moist sheen. His hair was tousled in messy black waves that were so glossy that they looked wet. It was obscene to be a vicious murderer and look that attractive.

"Wait…you killed Torbin without the poison. He will be sooo pleased…"

Why couldn't he be still? His body moved like the dance of a slow waltz, gliding forward on the balls of his feet, ready to spring on her if she didn't stay alert. She kept a hand on the stun blaster under the shawl. Sol allowed her to carry it for her protection. In the blink of an eye his head lifted to scrutinize her attire barely a foot away. He glanced at her lips and back to her face and she would swear on a holy book of Brendok that he wasn't the same man as before.

A trickster.

The stranger had become a changeling right before her besotted eyes. His gaze mimicked quicksand and she spiraled down into the pit of its murky, dreamy depths. A wolfish smile curled his delectable lips and she wanted to pivot and flee. His hold on her turned her body sluggish and unfocused like drinking Nightshade wine for the first time on Coruscant when she left the Jedi order. She lost hold of herself. Her breath...her limbs...and the deliberateness of it was uncanny.

Take control! Quickly!

"No…I used it. I just wanted to thank you."

She still sounded like a poor representation of her sister. Osha chose to gaze at the puffiness of his lips to keep from drowning in the covetous pools of his eyes. She would surely fold like bed linen soon. Focusfocusfocus.

She gripped the stun blaster tighter.

His eyes dragged down her entire body like she was naked and waiting for him to ravish her right there on that dirty apothecary floor. She tingled from the top of her head and down between her thighs not knowing if she needed her fight or flight instincts to take over…or that other primal thing she hadn't done in so long and craved. Fucking.

He openly eye-fucked her, watching her mouth speak words as if he never saw anyone do that before. Every inch of her face was scrutinized by him, like he was storing it to memory. She bounced in place on her heels awkwardly not knowing what else to say.

His rapacious gaze settled on her parted lips before he stepped up to her, crowding the space between them until he towered over her, his warm breath touching her skin. He smelled like the peppery floral scents swirling around the shop. His side-swept hair tempted her to touch it, wondering how the texture would feel rubbed between her fingers or falling down on her face lightly brushing against her cheeks.

He knew a secret about her. Those dark eyes twinkled with the knowing.

Busted.

"You look…exactly like…her…"

His breathiness on the last word made her eyes well up with tears. It was too intimate, too suggestive of something deeper than her twin sister. His words said one thing to her, but his eyes were speaking another language. He knew her…knew about her…no…this was something else…

Something tiny and insistent gnawed at her core where the remnants of the force rested within her. Mother Aniseya, Mama, had taught her long ago about the Thread of Destiny. One could pluck at it and use it at will over time. The Jedi described the force in similar terms although in a more conservative and dogmatic fashion. Mama said she and Mae were part of the Thread…one made into two, and they were always supposed to be together.

This stranger plucked at her internal Thread and it sparked a desire that was beyond carnal. Soft feathery threads clasped at the electrical impulses in her brain. Cloyingly seductive. Shadowy. Dark.

Passion. Lust. Rage.

His Thread intertwined with hers and braided their spirits together like Mama's silky midnight black fingers on her locs after wash days with Mae. Oh, how she missed Mama and Mother Koril.

Spice creams.

The emerald green forests of Brendok.

The giant bunta tree with its dazzling yellow leaves…

Yellow leaves…bunta—

Osha blinked, snapping herself from his mental hold. She whisked the stun blaster out and aimed it between his sinister eyes.

She blinked again.

The stranger threw his hands up all wide-eyed and shrank back from her like a frightened coward trying to cover his tracks. Yord stormed in brandishing a lightsaber with Sol on his heels. Osha stayed back by the entrance, confused as to what happened.

Cowering and meek, the stranger gave up Mae like a double-crossing Hutt in the outer rim territory. He shared no real information about who taught her sister how to fight like a Jedi and the only useful tidbit was that she would return for something later. The Jedi stomped past Osha at the entrance. She paused to take a final look at the stranger.

The meekness had vanished.

With his back straight and eyes blazing into her, the stranger stirred something primal and transcendent in Osha.

He was forbidden fruit she was not supposed to taste.

But she wanted to.