The mission took longer than expected. It was the morning of a new day when Reva returned, in a foul mood and covered in blood.

The other Inquisitors had not taken well to her promotion. Instead of trying to work together, their contempt for her had only increased. Most of the time, they ignored her orders. After she had a difficult time locating the prisoner she was supposed to interrogate, she realized they were actually trying to sabotage her. Reva had only minutes to duck before Seventh Sister slashed at her hard enough to cause a fatal injury.

"I don't care about whatever fancy title He granted you," she sneered, "You will always be a filthy slum rat that has eaten out of the palm of our hands for too long. Mark my words, by the end of this month, you won't have a badge to parade around anymore."

Although somewhat shaken, Reva forced herself to remain calm. "Perhaps it is you who should be more worried about your status by the end of the month," she replied coolly.

Seventh Sister froze. "I am Lord Vader's current right hand," Reva said arrogantly. "What will he say to you if he knows you have been impeding my duties?"

She glared at her. Reva glared back. The two of them locked eyes with each other for several minutes before Seventh Sister broke the contact, looking down at her hands. Reva scoffed.

"Now get out of my way," she muttered. "I am needed elsewhere."

With that, she finally set for Mustafar again.

Wonder if the brat is still alive? She thought to herself. Knowing Vader, he probably wouldn't wait very long before testing her...

As she came out of hyperdrive, her commlink immediately buzzed. Annoyed, she smacked at it, playing the message Vader had left for her out loud.

"Go and check on the girl and make sure she wears her new clothes. Do not tarry, I will be expecting you. Meet me at the female Jedi's cell."

Reva rolled her eyes. "So, the brat lives," she mumbled. She did not particularly want to spend time coddling a spoiled princess, but Vader had made it clear that he expected her to.

Hoping to get it over with as quickly, she knocked loudly on Leia's door. There was no response at first. Annoyed, she knocked louder and faster.

"I already got my breakfast, thank you!" Leia yelled.

She could definitely leave it at that. However, she considered herself a visual learner.

Scowling, Reva pushed open the door and marched in. Leia immediately scrambled to her feet and hid something behind her back. Reva narrowed her eyes at her, suspicious.

"You're back," Leia said. "I thought you weren't coming..."

"Of course I was going to come back, don't be silly. What are you hiding?" she snapped. Leia looked away.

Reva marched over and surveyed the area.

Since she had last stepped into this room, several things had changed. All traces of the flimsy fiber-grown furniture had been removed and replaced with repulsorlift technology furniture. The synthcloth sheets were replaced with steam-pressed dreamsilk ones. The closets were also filled with new clothing, specially selected for a girl of Leia's age and size. Reva raised an eyebrow, wondering when Vader had the time to collect such items.

"Wow," Reva muttered, incredulous. "Didn't really take him as the spoiling type."

Leia watched her silently as she marched over to the closet and began rifling through it, trying to find something to wear. Leia frowned as she picked out a dress and hooded overcoat then started walking towards her.

"I don't want to wear them," Leia complained as Reva held out the clothes towards her. "Why can't I just wear my normal clothes?"

"Don't be difficult," Reva said. "Of course you have to wear them, your other clothes are being washed."

"Why do they all have to be black? Can't he buy me something in a different color?"

"What's wrong with wearing black?"

"Nothing, I just..." Leia sighed. With Reva, it was best to not fight.

"Come here," Reva said. Leia made a face, but obeyed. She sulked as Reva buttoned up the silk dress for her.

"This dress is itchy."

"Well, you're going to have to get used to it."

Leia resisted the temptation to scratch her arms. Although the dress was still very uncomfortable, she could tell that it was expensive, made out of precious chersilk and stitched with scintathread. She had only ever seen ceremonial clothes made of this material when meeting with visiting royalty from Naboo. She wondered if Vader had intentionally chosen it for this reason, or if it was merely a coincidence.

"So, I take it he has accepted you as his heir?" Reva asked, interrupting her thoughts. Leia froze. "Congratulations. It looks like you get to live another day."

Leia frowned. "I hate him," she muttered. "I wish he didn't. I don't want to be his daughter."

"It was only a matter of time," Reva mumbled.

"Before what?"

"Before he either claimed you as his own, or killed you."

"I'd rather he killed me."

Reva tried to slip the zeyd cloth coat over her head, but the braids were too big. She ended up undoing them and letting Leia's hair down so it could fit. "We can't always get what we want."

After she was done helping Leia, she inspected the room again to ensure nothing was out of place. Satisfied, she made to leave again.

"Wait."

Reva turned around. "What?"

"Are you going to see Ahsoka?" Leia asked.

Reva raised an eyebrow. Observant little busybody. "Yes, I am, in fact. How did you know?"

"I had a feeling," Leia said, biting her lip. "Please don't hurt her."

"I can't promise that," Reva said coldly.

"Why not?"

"I'm an Inquisitor. It's my job to hurt people."

"Why do you do it?"

"Well, it's the only way to get anything done."

"But you don't have to," Leia's lip quivered. "Can't you just ask people questions without hurting them?"

"I'm afraid I can't," Reva replied.

Leia looked down, her face scrunched up and angry. Reva sighed and turned back around, forcing herself to walk away.

"It's my fault that Ahsoka's there," Leia called out, making her stop in her tracks. "If I didn't ask her to come back for Ben, she wouldn't be here. But she didn't want to make me sad, so she turned her ship around and followed you. I'm the reason she ended up here."

"I see."

A few moments passed.

"Please, don't hurt her," Leia begged again.

Reva made no response, just walked away as quickly as possible. Behind her, she heard little sobs. Irritated, she slammed the door shut behind her and forced herself to continue ahead.

She had never been a particularly sentimental person, that was for sure. Her work did not allow her to be. Occupational hazard. And so she had learned to build walls around herself, to conceal her own emotions, to not let herself show weakness in front of others. Because to cry would be to fail as an Inquisitor. And, knowing the amount of enemies that she had gathering for herself, there would be no sympathy or pity awaiting her, only a mass of angry hands waiting to seize her by the ankle and drag her down to the same hell as them. She would not allow that.

And yet, after all these years, she still couldn't stand to watch runts cry.

Please don't hurt her.

Please don't hurt us.

Master Skywalker-!

Reva grimaced and changed directions, heading towards the first fresher she saw. She immediately slammed the door open, breaking it off its hinges and alarming the Purge Trooper who was washing their hands. Ignoring them, she stomped past them and marched towards a sink, turning it on. She splashed her face with cold water for several minutes before standing up and staring at the mirror across from her.

"Your weakness is showing," she hissed at her reflection. The woman in the mirror glared back at her with a hardened gaze, her eyes colder than a lake of ice. "Do not lose track of your goal. The real target."

Taking deep breath, she collected herself again, and her expression returned to its preferred state. Cold. Neutral.

With renewed vigor, she straightened her shoulders and exited the fresher, ready to pay the Jedi the visit she owed her.

"Did you have a good nap, Sleeping Beauty?"

Ahsoka stirred, finding herself face-to-face with Reva. She yelped and pulled back, hitting her head on the wall. Groaning, she looked up at her. "What...?"

"I take it you've been resting well," Reva drawled, stepping back and circling her. Ahsoka warily eyed her from the spot against the wall where she was chained. "Did you remember to take some time to consider my offer?"

Ahsoka glared at her and struggled against the Mandalorian iron chains holding her, but it was futile. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You know," Reva said. "About joining my side," she smirked. "I was hoping you'd say yes."

Ahsoka turned pale. "I would rather die than become a Sith."

Reva laughed. "A Sith! You flatter me."

"They're all the same to me," Ahsoka scowled.

"And how is that?"

"You kill Jedi."

"How observant," Reva crowed. "You are correct, though." Ahsoka looked away, grimacing.

Reva continued to pace around the room, taking her time. Ahsoka began to feel dizzy after watching her circle back and forth. "Are you going to kill me now?" she asked, impatient. If she was to be executed, she would prefer to get it all over with.

"Only if you say no," Reva replied leisurely.

"Well, I haven't said yes."

"Indeed. So we are at a standstill."

Ahsoka frowned, puzzled. "Why are you so...calm?" she asked. "You usually threaten to kill me. Or cut off my fingers."

"Indeed," Reva smirked. "If it would make you feel better, I could do those things. I still have my old tools. I could threaten to cut off your hand again, or throw you around and torture you for a little bit. But why waste my energy doing all that? I have plenty of time now. You are certainly not going anywhere," she crossed her arms. "I don't have to chase you down or threaten you to make you stay. I quite like this."

Ahsoka glowered angrily at her, and she resisted the urge to laugh. "I'm still not going to join you."

"I think you are being a little ungrateful here," Reva replied. "Haven't I been merciful to you? Provided for both you and your dear friends out of the kindness of my heart? If it weren't for me, none of you would be alive right now. You should be thanking me, if anything, for saving you."

"You're the one who captured and endangered us in the first place," Ahsoka snarled.

"Touché," Reva replied. "But, wouldn't you have done the same?"

"Huh?" Ahsoka asked, confused.

"You are a Jedi, are you not? At least, until you were demoted," Reva observed, and Ahsoka winced. "But, before that...you would have done anything for the ones you cared about, wouldn't you? Even if it was frowned upon?"

"I'm not..." Ahsoka struggled. "Acting upon attachments is not the Jedi way."

"Oh, but you don't obey the Jedi way, do you?"

Ahsoka looked down and did not respond. Reva smirked and walked up to her, kneeling until they were eye-to-eye. Ahsoka stared at her, and she reached up, caressing one of her lekku and moving it out of her face. Ahsoka flinched, not expecting her touch to be gentle. Reva just smiled at her, an unreadable expression on her face.

"I know you miss it," she whispered. Ahsoka let out an involuntary sound of surprise. "Being part of something, something bigger than yourself. You look to the Rebellion to fill that emptiness, Ahsoka Tano. But it will never be the same. It never fulfills you the way you want it to. Am I wrong?"

Ahsoka looked down, trembling slightly.

"You're wrong," she said shakily.

"Am I?" Reva murmured.

Ahsoka did not look back up, for fear that she might agree if she did.

Reva smiled. "You know, I've read up about you," she said. "When I was doing my research on Kenobi and his past connections."

Ahsoka swallowed hard. "And what did you find out?"

"Well, it was hard, since most of the information regarding Anakin Skywalker has been erased by the Empire," Reva admitted. "But I found something curious, something I wasn't expecting. You," she drawled. "The famed fourteen-year-old commander who rose through the ranks and became General Skywalker's beloved padawan." Ahsoka flinched. "You were the pride of the Republic, the poster girl for the Clone Army. A child prodigy. How did that make you feel?"

Ahsoka closed her eyes. "No," she said hoarsely. "I'm not that person anymore."

"No," Reva agreed, "But you miss her, don't you?" Ahsoka inhaled shakily. "You used to lead armies, Ahsoka. Grand battalions. You used to fly ships and fight enemies of the state. You are a fighter, Ahsoka. Not a fugitive. So why are you running around and hiding like one?"

"I still fly ships now," Ahsoka glared. Reva laughed.

"Indeed," she said, "But now they're unmarked, unnamed pieces of junk that were either hastily cobbled together by fugitives or abandoned by the Empire. You used to command squadrons during the most important battles of the Galaxy...and now? You do what, smuggle a few Jedi every few months or so? That's nothing, Ahsoka, not compared to what I know you can do. You have far more potential than you allow yourself to believe," she hissed. "Why hide it?"

"I would rather die a Rebel than betray my people. I don't care how much the Dark Side has to offer, I don't need power."

"Oh, but do you really?" Reva asked. "Have you ever truly considered what opportunities that joining the Dark Side could open up for you? You Jedi always believe that there has to be a right and a wrong way to everything, but in your narrow-mindedness, you lose sight of what's in front of you. Why deny yourself that power, when you could instead take it for yourself?"

"You don't know what kind of consequences that power could lead to-"

"Oh, but I do," Reva said. "And as far as I'm concerned, there are none. There is nothing stopping you from using that power to do exactly what you want, except for yourself. I am not your greatest enemy, Ahsoka, you are. I know you have desires just like every other person does. Why do you keep holding back from yourself?"

Ahsoka began to feel sweat beading on her forehead. Reva took out her lightsaber and played with it idly. Ahsoka stared at it balefully, missing her own sabers and wishing she had kept them with her. "I'm sure you miss this, don't you?" Reva crooned. "Not those black market junk toys that you waved in my face, but the real deal. The weight of a real lightsaber," she sneered. "See how mine is heavy, because it is made from real metal. Built to destroy worlds, to cut through metal, and enforce the will of your Path."

Ahsoka trembled.

"You long for this, miss it even. You wish that it was you wielding this. Do you want to hold it?" Reva held it up to her, and Ahsoka looked away. "It's okay, you can touch it. I won't tell anyone."

"No," Ahsoka said automatically.

"No?"

"I can't," Ahsoka gritted her teeth. "That is the same blade that has killed my people."

"Aw," Reva said, her voice dripping with mock-disappointment. "I think red would look good on you," she said.

"No." Ahsoka closed her eyes. She refused to engage any further.

Reva sighed and stood back up, looking down at her. As an experienced interrogator, she knew when a target had finished opening themselves to negotiation.

"You don't...have to do all this."

"Do what?" Reva asked, feigning ignorance.

"Pretending to be nice...trying to get inside my head," Ahsoka stammered. "I know you're just saying it so I will join you. I'm not stupid."

Reva stared at her indifferently. "And what of it?" she asked coldly. "What do you think I have to gain, pretending to be nice to you?"

"I don't...I can't presume to know why you are doing this, but it's not going to work."

Reva looked back at her, casting a cold glance over her. Ahsoka did not meet her eyes.

"Mm, what a shame. I guess I just couldn't change your mind, huh?"

Ahsoka took a deep breath before responding.

"I...I'm sorry for what the Jedi did to you," she panted, and Reva's expression hardened. "But I can't in good faith join the Inquisitors. I could never harm my own people. Even if it gave me the kind of power I wanted...it wouldn't mean anything if I couldn't use it to save the ones I loved, and I know for a fact that they would never accept that kind of help from me. So I cannot accept your offer. But...I am sorry."

Reva laughed darkly. "How kind of you."

"I'm sorry."

"What a truly self-sacrificing Jedi you must be, trying to sympathize with me," Reva spat, her voice dripping with poison. "Do you want me to cry now, because of my sob story? Are you pitying me?"

"I...I don't mean it that way," Ahsoka stammered, "I just...I'm sorry. For what happened."

"I'm afraid your sympathy comes too late." Ahsoka bowed her head. "But don't worry. You don't have to listen to me."

Ahsoka frowned, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just the messenger," Reva said coolly. "It doesn't matter if you agree to join me. Because he is the one who will be deciding your fate."

"Who?" Ahsoka asked.

Reva stepped aside smoothly.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but darkness. Then the dreadful, eerie sound of breathing that grew louder as it approached her. Ahsoka shuddered.

"Anakin," she whispered.

Vader emerged from the darkness, not a minute too soon. Ahsoka shivered and inhaled sharply.

"Hello, sister," he drawled. "I see you are finally awake. Let us not waste time, for we have much to talk about."