Reunion - Part 2

Zaiya felt her knees weak as she tried to stand. Whatever power he had used on her had her shaken. It was worse than she had thought, he didn't remember her at all! Now… he was gone. She wanted to run after him, beg him to return, to take his hands in hers and tell him she was sorry she had not been able to do anything so long ago. But he was gone. The power of Sidious' abilities to poison his mind were so strong! How could she hope to bring back his memories when he was so lost. Her hearts burned, in both sadness and in hate. Sorrow for her lost friend, anger at the monster that took him… and… maybe a little at the man himself. How could he have forgotten her?! She had thought of this moment, of looking into his face and seeing the recognition in his eyes. But there was nothing! For a moment she had thought she saw something, but he had not recognised her after all. She felt her hearts breaking… The rage within him was so… suffocating. How was he able to live like that? How was he not choking on that hate and misery?

She was left there, cold. Alone and in pain. The physical was nothing, she stood slowly, staring out toward the path he had taken. Did she follow him? No… it… it wouldn't help. Mother Talzin had instructed her to be patient, and that's what she must do. She turned back, blindfold still in place as she tried not to give in to the crushing despair at seeing him like that. The glimpse she had caught when the blindfold slipped, his yellowed eyes, seemingly glowing behind the darkness of his hood, a flash or red and black in the dim light. He was as beautiful as he had always been. No… even more so now. She had seen him in the visions, but like this was something else entirely. There had to be something that she could do, to break him free. For now… she had to check in.


The lodgings weren't the greatest quality, and there was plenty to be missed here, however it would have to do in the meantime. She laid the communicator on the table before her and tapped in the channel she wished to connect to. Zaiya had been in touch during her entire journey, letting her know how each of the missions went, though it had become less frequent and more common for her to talk to Savage and Feral these days. Though they were now in the Nightbrother village, since she had gone, it was technically forbidden for her to contact them, though she had instructed them to hide the communicator she had given them for when they needed to speak.

This time, she was more forlorn to contact them all, feeling the failure seep into her from the floor, as though she were being swallowed in a bog. After a short time, Mother Talzin appeared as a Hologram before her, standing life size before the Sister.

"Zaiya… it has been some time." Talzin's melodic voice cooed. "You have news?"

"...yes Mother Talzin… I… I am finally on Coruscant. I… I saw him." She fought for her voice not to crack. The crushing failure she felt was too painful.

"And…?"

"It's worse than we thought, he didn't even recognise me, he left shortly after we spoke."

Talzin offered no words of comfort, just nodded. "I see. Then we must proceed carefully."

"Is he…" Zaiya swallowed thickly. "Gone completely?" she asked with a tension through her body she had not felt before.

"I do not think so. He did not kill you, after all. If I know anything of Sidious, then I can infer that he would want any weaknesses destroyed. You, child, are the weakness of his apprentice." A smile crossed her lips, her eyes narrow as the Great mother gazed at the sister. Zaiya however was so confused.

"I am…?" She paused. Well, it made sense, she was his friend once, she was as close to him as family. If his master wanted all those old memories purged, then it made sense that she would be the first to die. It also meant Sidious underestimated her. That was something in their favour then. "How would you advise me?" The Nightsister asked, looking up at her matron.

"Carefully, now he has seen you, he will return, his curiosity will demand it. Always be honest, do not give him reason to doubt in you, nor push information on him he has not asked for." Talzin spoke sagely. Zaiya nodded.

"Wise, as always, mother Talzin. I will do as you suggest." She bowed gracefully. The woman bid her a farewell, leaving the girl in only slightly less turmoil. She had to tell Savage and Feral… but she didn't want to harm their hopes. No, she could not dwell on this. Those two needed to believe in her, and by the Fanged God, that's what she would do!

She punched in the other frequency and far sooner, the image of two zabraki boys stood before her, they were nearly at her height now, reaching her shoulder, both bright-eyed and beaming on seeing her.

"It's been ages!" Feral piped up first, excitedly. "Have you been on more adventures?"

"Tell us more about how you fought with the other bounty hunters!" Savage interjected. Zaiya could not help but smile, taking a seat, cross-legged as she began to explain. She told them of her time with the Mandalorians, and about things Hondo had said, Feral always laughed when she did impressions of the funny Pirate, or her Mandalorian friend. Savage's eyes glittered with excitement at the story of the battles, how she fought with her magic and how the bounty hunters fought cleverly and were able to drop their enemies efficiently. The skill and power he saw as something to be admired, it seemed. The girl enjoyed telling them the stories of the adventures she went on, and the people she met. It was a moment of relaxation, of feeling at home. Even if she was so far away, she was at home when she was with them. Of course, there was only one thing missing…

"I… saw your brother today." She told them finally. The boys looked shocked.

"Really?!" Feral cried loudly.

"Where is he?!" Savage demanded. She looked away for a moment and sighed.

"It seems that the man that took him, also took away his memories." She explained. "He is… in a lot of pain." The elation turned to horror at the revelation and she held her hands up quickly.

"Don't worry!" She added hastily. "Mother Talzin has told me how I can remind him. It will take a little time, but I will be able to find him again. He is in this city, I just… have to be patient." She shrugged.

"We've been patient! We have been waiting for so long!" Savage grumbled, folding his arms in a huff.

"Is… is he going to be okay?" Feral's big eyes were full of sadness and worry.

"Of course he will, little brother." She smiled sweetly, covering her own fears. "He is the strongest of all of us, he will be alright, we just need to be ready for when he comes back to us." This seemed to assure Feral and he nodded, looking more determined than ever.

"But… what if he has betrayed us…?" Savage asked with a frown. Zaiya's own brows furrowed at this.

"No, there is no way. I would never believe it." She insisted, the boy seemed hesitant, but finally sighed.

"Well, if you say so, it must be true." he muttered with a resolute expression. Her own smoothed into another gentle smile.

"I always promised I would bring him back, and I intend to keep that promise." She told them, reaching out to touch the hologram, as though she were touching their faces, as she had done when they had last seen her in person. "We will all be together again, soon. I can feel it." She smiled, and the boys returned it, soft and sweet, they would grow out of these little chubby cheeks and become men, she would savour them being little sweethearts until then.

Eventually she had to end the communication, and freshen herself up, she was exhausted and needed to sleep. After dressing in a simple slip, she fell into bed, asleep only moments after laying down.


[You appear agitated.] Droned the droid to his left. TD-66, his training droid. The only one that knew him other than his Master. Or so he had thought. Maul's jaw tensed. He sat in the training room floor, trying to meditate. Though it wasn't working. Why couldn't he focus? Why was the droid staring at him?

"I am not." He replied, though the edge in his voice was obvious even to him. He brought a hand up to his face and rubbed his temples just below his horns with a small groan. His mind had been wild since the appearance of that… girl. The vision of her, on her knees, white hair braided and mussed from the hood, the wide blue eyes staring up at him with an expression of-

[Your heart rate has increased.] TD-66 stated in an emotionless voice. [Are you ill?]

"No." Maul hissed through grit teeth. He did not like the way the droid was staring, was he going to report the changes in behaviour to his Master? Though his Master so rarely checked on the droid anymore and there was a question he wanted to ask. Did he trust himself to know the answer? What if it was something he didn't want to hear?

[You are very tense.] TD-66 added. Yes, he just needed this running commentary of his own symptoms right now.

"What do you have in your databases about memory loss?" The question fell from his lips before he could stop it. There was a pause before TD-66 answered.

[There are many causes for memory loss. Some of these include: vitamin B-12 deficiency, sleep deprivation, use of alcohol or drugs and some prescription medications, head injury or concussion, lack of oxygen to the brain, certain types of seizures, mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and dissociative disorder, emotional or psychological trauma, thyroid dysfunction-]

"Enough." Maul interrupted, his hands brought up to his mouth in thought. So… it was possible he had lost some memories. He'd certainly endured significant injury over the years, but it seemed more than that. Trauma? What could possibly be so traumatic that he would have forgotten it? No, that was ridiculous. But even this one question branched off other questions. He could not ask his master, too many questions would be… problematic. No… this would have to be something he solved on his own. He stood. For now though, he needed to clear his mind. He turned to the droid. "Run training program 121." He instructed, grasping his saber in his left hand. He would figure this out somehow.