Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS, Angel, or Star Wars.

Dark Heart III

"Talking"

"Thinking"

The stars shifted back to normal as the starship exited hyperspace. With them came the planet, suddenly looming large before her. Rey paused and looked at Korriban. Ever since the collapse of the Republic, only a few people knew how to find this planet. Of those few, no one dared.

Not until her.

She had to.

The Dark Side emitted out from the planet in waves. All Rey had to do was touch the Force to feel it. Cold, that was what she felt. A cold heat that could burn the foolish and the weak. And it was all centered on the southern hemisphere. A great beast, garbed in dark night, was there, waiting, watching.

That was where he would be.

The comm started beeping as she prepped for entry. Rey activated it and was greeted by a stern older woman. "Rey, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Master Faith," Rey said, surprised. "How—?"

"Liam and Finn contacted the temple, told us what happened. Where you had gone." Her master's anger faded, just for a moment. "Rey, what you're doing is unsanctioned. What's more, it's fucking stupid!"

Strange as it might've been, those words gave her resolve. "Did you know?" Master Faith fell silent. "Who I was?" Rey pressed.

"It was never important."

Never important? It was a question that had haunted her since she could remember. And when it was answered, she had been horrified beyond anything she could imagine. "I'm finishing this," she told Faith. "I'm going to end the Sith, once and for all."

"Rey, if you do this, you will never be the same."

"I know." And she was prepared to deal with the consequences. "Goodbye, Master. I'll see you soon." She cut the comm before anything could be said and entered the planet's atmosphere.

Red, that was the first impression she had of the Sith homeworld. Whether it was the mountains or the dunes, they all had varying tones of red, all to match the color of the sky. But there was no sense of people. No towns, villages, or cities. There were ruins, plenty of ruins, and tombs. But nothing that told her that people lived here.

It was strange. The Dark Lord of the Sith had vanished from the galaxy for the longest time. Many people believed he didn't even exist anymore. But if he had been here, this whole time, he should've been consolidating his power, rebuilding the empire of his forebearers. That required people and structure.

So why was it Rey only sense one person on the surface?

It was odd but it helped her lock in on her target.

She landed her ship on a low plateau. "R5, stay with the ship," she told her droid, getting an acknowledged hum in return. The second her feet touched ground she focused on the hut just across the plateau. At first, it seemed abandoned. But as she approached, a man came out and waited.

Rey knew who it was, had known since she arrived in orbit.

Darth Cordis, the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Her grandfather.

He didn't look like a dark lord. His hair was white with age, matching the wrinkles on his face. His clothes were almost as old but suited to hard work. The glasses he wore would protect him from the sun's light, but they were also two decades out of fashion. If someone else came across him, they would've wondered if this old man was trying to farm Korriban.

But Rey could feel the Dark Side coalescing around him, see those glasses watch her every movement. The great beast loomed over him, eyes watching her. Her hand drifted to her lightsaber. Once battle happened, she would need every second she could get.

The Sith didn't move as she approached, nor did he speak. When Rey finally came to a stop before his door, silence fell between them. It didn't take long for it to feel suffocating. A chill crept up Rey's spine, even though the air shimmered with heat. She would not run away, not from him. Not from her enemy.

"So," the Sith finally said, "you're Rey."

"He knows me?" she thought. He must've glimpsed her through the Force. That was why he was here. "I am," she answered in a strong voice.

"…Well, what time do you call this?"

"…What?" She couldn't help the confusion in her voice.

"You don't call, you don't write, and you don't give me any time to get my house ready for your visit? Is this what you think of your grandfather, that you can just pop in whenever you feel like, after so many years of silence?"

"I…"

He sighed and turned his face to the sky. "Oh, Jesse. Jesse, look at your daughter. How can she treat your father this way? But it's alright, it's fine. I will make do. I'm sure there's something I can make for us that will make her happy." He turned around and went back inside. "And it'll be fine if she doesn't come back for another ten years or so. I'll just be here, hoping she'll come back."

It took Rey a moment to understand that he had gone back inside. She had to wade past all the sudden emotions of guilt before going after him. "What was that?" she asked once she was inside.

"Jewish Guilt." The Sith sat at ease in a chair by the window. "I learned it by watching Willow's parents. I'm surprised she hasn't tried it on the younglings." His shaded eyes found her. "Or has she?"

"It…that…that's not why I'm here."

"Of course," he agreed. "Come, Rey, sit down." He gestured to the nearby chair. Strange as it might've been, she did as she was told. This was not going how she thought it would, but she couldn't protest it. "So, how did you find out about me?"

She didn't know why but the words just poured out. "My team helped free some Noghri slaves and brought them back to their homeworld. After we arrived, the elders realized who I was, said he could smell my bloodline. Then he called me Lady Cordis." It had been the moment the galaxy shifted to her. She wanted to refuse, to say that the elder was lying. But there was something that made sense. It felt right. And that scared her even more.

"And so you came here to put an end to the evil Sith who set the galaxy into chaos, hm?" Darth Cordis asked. He gave it a moment before smirking in amusement. "I hope you weren't expecting a dark castle that you would have to storm." His granddaughter suddenly found the ground much more interesting. "You were, weren't you."

"…It made sense when I thought it," she muttered. She certainly wasn't expecting this minimalist cottage. There were all the necessary things to live but that was it. Not a hint of luxury in the place. The only thing that stood out was the lightsaber hilt over the fireplace. And yet, it felt comfortable, a place that could held memories if she had been here before.

His laugh was a warm thing, the kind an old person would give when watching a child go through life. Rey found herself smiling back. Then she stopped herself. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She couldn't forget that.

The old man's smile faded. Suddenly he looked his age. "You didn't come here to kill me or destroy the Sith. Not at first." She rose in protest but stayed silent at his gesture. "You can't lie to me, Rey. I can feel it radiating from you through the Force. You have a question."

She did. It rose slowly from her heart, bringing all the lonely moments she waited on Jakku with her. When she spoke, her voice almost broke. "Why didn't you come get me? If you knew who I was, why did you leave me behind?"

His expression turned somber. "I didn't leave you behind, Rey. I thought you had died with your parents. The first time I knew you were alive was when Faith and Buffy found you on Jakku. That moment resounded through the Force and reached me." He smiled and it broke his somberness. "I've been watching from afar ever since."

Somehow, that made sense to her. Now that she thought about it, the beast had always been there, watching her. "But why? Why didn't you come for me?"

"For what? To bring you here to live amongst the dead and ruins?" It wasn't a sharp retort, yet she fell silent all the same. "You were happy, Rey. You had your life. What kind of person would I be to take that away from you?"

The kind of person who would take her here, teach her to be a Sith. The monster who crippled the galaxy and then set it aflame. The man who nearly wiped out the Jedi Order in one swoop, destroying their temple in the process. Those were answers she could've given him.

But she didn't say anything. For Darth Cordis, that was answer enough. He didn't press her for her thoughts. Instead, he leaned back into his chair. "Could you tell me about your life, Rey?"

The question baffled her for a moment. "I thought you were watching me."

"I didn't see everything. Besides, I think it would sound better from I heard it from you." His smile had a kindness to it that urged her to speak.

And Rey did. The words were slow at first, but they grew in strength. She told him about her life on Jakku, how she had found Buffy and Faith's ship crashed in the desert ("Buffy was driving, wasn't she?" he has asked), found them still alive and helped them fix the ship. In that time, they discovered Rey could use the Force. So, when they left, they took her with them.

She talked about her time in the temple on Naboo, how she made quick friends with other Padawans, like Finn, Tara, and Liam, and people outside the order, like Wes Summers and a pair of smugglers (which was a story by itself). She happily remembered the day when Faith took her as her Padawan, just as happily as the day when she became a Knight. Together with her friends, she strived to do her part for the galaxy.

She talked about the adventures she had gone on, the people she had helped. And when prodded, the trouble she had gotten into. That part made the old man smile ("Don't worry, kid," he told her. "You get it from me."). The more she talked about it, the more she found herself smiling too.

This was nice. She felt as if she was just spending time with her grandfather, catching up and letting him know what's happening with her. She had seen others do that with their grandparents, like Wes with his, but this was the first time she had done it. She liked it.

But it couldn't last. She had to remind herself of that. No matter what they may talk about, she was still in the same room as Darth Cordis. He was a Sith. It was her duty as a Jedi to end him,

As she trailed off and her hand lingered over her lightsaber, the old man's smile faded. "You still want to kill me." It wasn't a question or an accusation.

"I have to," she told him as she came to her feet. "You caused so much chaos, could still do it. You're a Sith." She unclipped her lightsaber. His lightsaber was out of physical reach but that didn't much to the Force. She would only have a second before it would reach his hand.

He sighed as he came to his feet. "And we didn't even get to the point where I ask if you had a boyfriend I had to terrify."

Rey knew what he was trying to do. The fact that she liked how Ben Solo could handle himself in a firefight (and how he looked) was not going to distract her. But as she looked at the old man, she found it harder than she thought. This was her grandfather.

Yet, she had to do this. It was her duty as a Jedi.

Just as her thumb reached the switch, the old man said, "Before you kill me in what I hope is a swift way, can I have one last request?" She paused and then nodded. He held his arms, still weaponless. "May I have a hug from my granddaughter?"

It was no trick. She heard the honesty in his voice and through the Force. And it awoke the same feeling in her. Her lightsaber fell back to her side as she stepped forward. She wasn't sure who hugged who first.

And she didn't care.

Pressed against his chest with his arms encircling her, it brought back a memory long forgotten by Rey. A sense of warmth, protection. That she could be safe in his arms. The last time she had felt that had been…

With her parents.

His arms shifted upwards, taking her head in a gentle, yet firm grasp. "Know what I've done," Darth Cordis whispered into her ear.

The Force surged through, bringing with it so many memories and sensations. All she could do was surrender and fall into the Force.


Since he first arrived in this strange new galaxy, Xander's life had been nothing but pain and misery. He didn't even know if his friends had come here too, not until later. At first, he resisted the pull of the Force, just trying to survive in the arid wasteland that was Korriban. But the longer he was there, the more he found himself paying attention. By the time he was taken away, he had some idea of how to use it.

Of course, Sidious was glad he could, if only for proper usage. The Sith might've called Xander his apprentice, but it was clear he wanted a monster, someone so broken they had no choice but listen to his commands. In the midst of all the training and pain, Xander made himself a promise: he would not break before that man. He would not be Sidious's monster.

Sidious wanted him to break, though. He taunted Xander with the knowledge of his friends, where they were and how they were doing. It was mixed with his torture and spoken with a mocking pity. But Xander would not break. Oh, he hated the man and wanted to kill but he would not break to do it. Sidious said he was training his apprentice, so that was what he would be.

But the more he studied the Force, both the Light and Dark Side, the Sith and the Jedi, the more he found something particular. All of it, the fighting, the history, seemed to be set in a cycle. The two orders would clash, dragging the Republic into the conflict too. The Sith would press the Jedi to the brink, perhaps even coming close to wiping them out, only for the Jedi to come back and emerge victorious against their enemies.

Only for the Jedi to step back, craft new laws that would rescind their power and curb the temptation to fall to the Dark Side. It would work, at first. But then a Jedi would fall, become a Sith, and the cycle would start all over again. What was happening now was no different. Sidious thought that the culmination of his plan would wipe out the Jedi and leave him in the best position to take control. But as Xander knew, the assholes-that-be would allow some Jedi to get out and survive, training the next generation so they would take the fight back. And no one saw anything wrong with this.

There was plenty wrong done on both sides. Sidious was only too glad to tell him of the Jedi's arrogance and unwillingness to see where they made mistakes. But the Sith followed the Dark Side, and they didn't do it for the sunshine and roses. And the rest of the galaxy didn't care, not even when the bodies piled up. They were too busy with their own games. The Republic was a good example. Too bloated, too filled with corrupted senators and businesses to do anything.

Something drastic would have to be done. A hard shock that would sweep through the galaxy, getting everyone's attention.

And he would have to be the person who did it. But in order for it to happen, he would have to become something his friends would never want to see, what Sidious wanted him to believe he should be.

A Sith.

No matter how he thought it through or tried to come up with alternatives, there was nothing else. Not with the way the galaxy.

So, he committed himself to his own plan and walked into the Dark Side with a straight back and a head held high. He became Darth Cordis.

Of course, there was always the chance that the Jedi would prevail and destroy the Sith on their own. With the Slayers in their ranks, he was sure they would change for the better this time. When Sidious sent him to kill Dooku, he could've taken the man out with a rifle at a distance. Instead, he confronted the man with the lightsaber he nicked from Sidious and a datacard filled with information about Sidious, the Sith as they were, and their plan.

"Why would you do this?" asked Dooku with saber in hand and ignited.

"You're one of the best duelists that came from the Jedi," Xander answered with his own saber at the ready. "Seemed like a good idea on how to test myself."

"Hmm, confident. Let's see how long that lasts."

"Before we begin, I just wanna say thank you."

He paused and considered the blind man. "For what?"

"Teaching Faith, being someone she could respect and listen to. She doesn't have a lot of those when I knew her."

His eyebrow raised in surprise. "You're him, aren't you? The friend that was missing." The only answer he was given was the clash of sabers.

As the war started, and Xander was placed in charge of the CIS, he began his own moves. He had been given a blessing in disguise when he came across Andrew who somehow managed to retain his memories of this galaxy. He used those memories to turn the war into the CIS's, and in turn his, favor. And while this happened, he moved in the shadows, gathering what he needed to end the war on his terms.

He took no apprentice of his own, despite what Sidious might've thought. There weren't any acolytes either. Any Dark Sider he had, he sent them out to cause chaos and die. That was it. And all the while, he blunted Sidious's effort to groom Skywalker into a Sith. That caused Sidious to lash out but he always considered the pain worth it.

There were sacrifices. There had to be sacrifices. Xander regretted lying to Gunn and leading him into that ambush. But he had to die so the Republic could win the battle and give him cover to take the necessary information. Illyria, she didn't react when he trapped her in that tomb. It was almost as if she knew what he was doing and accepted her fate.

But there were two sacrifices Xander regretted. He didn't know Andrew had slowly been going insane due to events going different than in his memories. By the time Xander found out, it was too late. All he could do was put Andrew out of his misery. His apologies meant nothing when he watched sanity return to Andrew's eyes just before they went dead.

As for the second, it shouldn't have happened. Everything was happening like he knew it would, yet the wrong people came after him. But it did and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

They stood below the cliff, looking up at him. The Slayers, all of them, supported by the remains of their army. They had come, for him.

"Xander!" was their hopeful cry once they saw him.

It wasn't supposed to be them here. The Jedi High Council should've taken the bait. Not the Slayers. "You guys are a long way from Coruscant," he remarked in a calm voice. It was all he could do not to scream. "Figured you'd be busy."

Vi stepped to the front. "Xander, we don't need to do this," she pleaded. "Surrender your lightsaber and come with us."

"So I can be held before the Senate and condemned to death?" he asked.

"We won't let that happen!"

He knew she wouldn't, they wouldn't. Now that they had found him again, they were elated. Their joy shone through the Force. He was tempted to stop and go to them.

But he couldn't. In the end, it didn't matter if it had been the Council or the Slayers who came. The end result would still be the same.

Yet, there was something he could do here. He looked at each of the Slayers and said their name. It was a long list and he hadn't seen them in a long while. But he remembered each of them and spoke their names perfectly. Once he was done, he knew they were listening.

"You are my girls, and I love you," he told them. "I'm sorry." Then he raised the communicator and gave the order.

What happened next was necessary.

He still wept once it was all over.

With the Republic and CIS crippled, having lost their armies and the means to replicate them, Xander had been sure it would be enough to make the galaxy to stop and consider their situation, with the Jedi guiding them to a better way.

They didn't. Neither side wanted to end the war, not officially. And the Jedi were too focused on searching for him, doubling down on what they believed was right. In spite of what he had done, nothing had changed. A shock wouldn't be enough. If they wanted to keep playing this game, then he would knock the board off the table.

What came next, would take years to achieve. But he was patient. Smokescreens would be needed, something to distract the Jedi. He took on students, taught them where to begin, and left them to find him again. The Rule of Survival, he called it. Nothing but a lie. Each would-be apprentice fell too easily to the Dark Side and focused more on getting power than searching for him. All for the Jedi to find and deal with. Luke Skywalker had come the closest but even he was killed by the Jedi.

His work was not something he could've done alone. There were others who believed the same as him, that a great change was needed. Perhaps not to the degree he believed but they didn't need to know that. Getting Ahsoka to follow his belief was a great step. All she really wanted was something she never dared to speak, kept hidden away: the chance to pay back the friend who betrayed her.

Once Xander gave her that, she was his. Not his student, he had too much respect for her to do that. They were partners, perhaps even friends. He was saddened to hear how she died on Zygerria helping a slave revolt. But she had made her choices and he didn't interfere. It was thanks to her that he set up that ambush for Angel and his other hunters. It was the last step he needed.

He trudged through the forest, leaving footprints in the snow behind him. The darkness between the trees would've been unnerving to anyone else. Yet the forest stood bright in the Force to him. Xander knew where he was going, just as he knew what would happen next.

He came to a stop, his shades pointing straight ahead. "Come out," he ordered. "I know you're there."

The Jedi emerged from the shadows. Twenty in all. They encircled him, preventing any easy means of escape. Angel and Spike stood at the front, along with Kennedy. The vampires were regretful but determined. The Slayer was just determined. "This has gone on long enough, Darth Cordis," Angel said.

"I'll say," he remarked. "It took you this long to actually find me. And with such a large group too. Should I be flattered?"

Kennedy tensed at the mocking tone. Her hand drifted down to her saber. Spike snapped a hard look at her, stopping her short. "You've got one chance, mate," the blond vampire told Xander. "There doesn't need to be a fight."

"Oh, but there does. Can't you feel it?" he asked. "That urge? The desire to mete out revenge for what I've done? Your friends are drenched in it. They don't want me to surrender. They want me dead." His shades glanced over at Kennedy. "Don't you want me dead, Kennedy? For all that I've done?"

"Yes." Her answer wanted blood and she was eager for it. "This ends tonight."

He felt Ahsoka shift behind him. She was ready to do her part. So he gave his three friends from the good days one last look. "Alright," he declared with resolve. His saber all but leapt into his hand and activated. "Then come."

And the outcome happened as he expected. Without the Republic or the CIS to hold them together, chaos swept through the galaxy. Petty warlords took the opportunity to gain more territory and become more. Crime syndicates expanded their reaches and their influences. Old grudges had the chance to spill new blood.

The Jedi were affected too. With the loss of their temple, and the majority of their people, what was left of the Order was a handful of Knights and many Padawans. Buffy, Faith, and Willow were left to take charge. What they taught, he knew, was not typical Jedi training. And he knew with Buffy at the forefront, they would act instead of react. Instead of being seen as wizards in ivory towers, people would now see the Jedi as they were supposed to be: peacekeepers that went out and fought evil wherever they found it.

Just like he had planned.

And where was he when all this happened?

On Korriban, hiding away.

But all his efforts didn't mean he hadn't lived. There was plenty to read in this galaxy as there were shows to watch. Even though they never knew who he actually was, there were still people who he talked to and enjoyed spending time with. He even worked as a smuggler alongside a man named Han and his Wookie partner. Dangerous moments, but they were fun. And he was glad that his friends were safe, for the most part.

In the midst of all this, his plotting and lying and hiding, something else had struck Xander: he could leave behind something else other than his being a Sith. A child. His child.

Once the notion planted, it took hold and wouldn't let go. He took a secret trip to Kamino, posing as a wealthy man concerned about his legacy and commissioned an unaltered clone of his own. Only when it came time to supply the material, he also provided something he had kept long hidden: a hair of Cordelia Chase, the woman he could've ended up being with if things had gone differently.

The Kaminonans didn't know anything about it, not until it was too late. And he refused to let them terminate. The first time he took his son in his arms, he just knew that his name was Jesse. But as much as he wanted to be the father he should've been, better than his own, he knew Jesse had to be kept secret, distant. He only dared to reach out to the boy after the war had grinded to a halt. They wrote and talk via commlinks but the times they actually met face-to-face were few and far between.

It was enough to have Jesse choose his own path. Despite having a connection to the Force, he did what Xander wasn't able to do and walked away from it. He made his own life, finding happiness in trading scavenged goods, even marrying and having a child. Each time Xander reached out to him, he could feel the love Jesse had for his family thrumming through the Force.

Then he heard the news: Jesse's ship had exploded while leaving Jakku's orbit. There were no survivors. Most people would've thought that it was an accident. Xander wasn't most people, and he knew a hit when he saw one.

So he came out of his hiding and started searching for answers. In his search, he tore through the criminal underworld, leaving shockwaves in his wake both in the galaxy and through the Force. The Jedi thought it was his attempt to remind them he was still alive. They never even crossed his mind. All he cared about was finding the answer to his question:

Who touched his son?

He got his answer from Boba Fett, all but tearing it out of him and leaving Nar Shadda a wreck in the process. And he found where that order came from: Exegol.

Darth Cordis was silent as he made his way through the ruins. He could hear the cultists murmuring in the background as they watched his every move. Their unease, their uncertainty, hovered over their minds. These Sith Eternals had believed one thing for so long. And now, he contradicted their beliefs just by walking by.

He didn't care for them, or what they thought. His focus remained on the withered man strapped to the machine. "Hey, boss," he told Darth Sidious. "You're looking rather pathetic today. Have you tried getting some sun?"

It wasn't Sidious, not really. It was just a clone's body while his soul weakly latched onto it. The connection Sidious once had to the Force was so weak, he couldn't even push his former apprentice away. "So, how long were you planning this?" Darth Cordis asked as he walked around the machine. "I have to assume since the war. You were searching for some kind of immortality, or at least some way to come back from the dead. Hmph, sounds like you wanted a backup plan, right?

"But it's not going like you had hoped, is it? I can feel your desperation, Sidious. This is your tenth attempt to take hold of a body. You don't know why, but I can tell you." His shaded eyes watched the old man and smirked. "Would you like to know?"

"Tell…me…" the old man rasped.

"It's simple, really. You've been calling on the Dark Side to fuel this transference. But the Dark Side doesn't recognize you as the Dark Lord of the Sith anymore. Remember? You were succeeded, by me."

Those yellow eyes found strength in their hatred, glaring at him. "You are…no true Sith…"

"Eh, true enough to be recognized as such," he remarked, still walking around the machine. "But you're right. I never really considered myself a proper Sith. Of course, you were too blinded by your greed and petty sadism to realize it." He paused and smirked just enough for it to be seen. "Didn't you ever realize that the only time I called you master was when I killed you?"

He gave Sidious a moment to consider that before he continued to walk. "I'll admit, all of this was well hidden. I never would've thought to look for it. Of course, then you went and made a mistake." He stepped behind the machine, out of sight of everyone. "You touched my son." All the rage and heartbreak he carried since the news rang true in those words.

Sidious must've known what was coming next. "He wasn't…supposed…to die—"

"But he did." His saber ignited and he struck the machine down, killing Darth Sidious all over again.

The Sith Eternal watched through it all. Only when he walked away from the corpse did they approach. "Our way has been misguided and the true Lord of the Sith has come to correct us," their leader proclaimed, kneeling before Darth Cordis. "Command us, my Lord. We, the Sith Eternal, are your servants. What would you have us do?"

His answer was swift. "Die."

He had left no one alive on Exegol. In a day, the Sith Eternal were wiped out to the man. After that, he went back to Korriban, back to his self-imposed exile.

It was a decision Xander had made when he committed to this path, that the Sith would die with him. There would be no apprentice to covert his power or to take his life. He would remain on Korriban, tending to its wounds in the Force, until the day he died. That was his chosen reward for all the chaos and destruction he had wrought to the galaxy.

To be a ghost on a barren world, never seeing his friends again.


Rey snapped awake with a protest on her lips. It died when she saw she wasn't in that cottage but her own room in the Temple. She was back on Naboo. But how?

"You're awake."

She turned towards the voice and saw Anakin Skywalker waiting by the door. The old assurance of him being there washed over her. All Jedi knew him, affectionately calling him the Old Man. Even though he left the order, Anakin still taught the younglings how to wield a lightsaber. He was their first teacher and he would always look out for them.

"Master Skywalker? How…?"

"Poe and Ben contacted Liam. They found your ship drifting through space after your hyperdrive died, with you unconscious." His lips quirked up in a dry smile. "The Falcon apparently had to tow it back here." His humor faded as he reached for the commlink and whispered a few words.

Rey didn't need to ask what he had said. She could already guess. And she was proven right not five minutes later. The three leaders of the Order entered her room and made her spine go stiff. Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane, and Willow Rosenburg all looked at her as if they were trying to decide whether to hug her or start shaking her. The fact they wore their old age and wisdom with grace added to the effect.

It was her master who broke the silence. "Rey, you scared the fuck outta us."

"I know." She couldn't look them in the eyes.

"You went after somebody that was much stronger than you, someone that could've killed you. What were you thinking?" she demanded.

But that wasn't the question Rey wanted to answer. She found the strength to look up and meet their eyes. "Did you know?" she asked the three Masters. "That I was Darth Cordis's granddaughter?"

For a moment, all they gave was silence. But then Buffy spoke. "No. When we found you on Jakku, we knew who you were right away: Xander Harris's granddaughter. That is who we brought back with us, who we taught. That is who we know," she declared with the utmost surety.

"But you never told me."

Willow knelt down so she was eye-level with Rey. "Because you never asked, Rey," she said in her kind manner. "We knew that you wanted to know who your parents were but not once did you ask about your grandparents. If you did, we would've told you about Xander, who we remembered him as."

If she hadn't gone to Korriban, she probably would've listened to all the tales they had. But now she was focused on something. "And you never would've told me about Darth Cordis?"

"No, because that's not who Xander was. Darth Cordis is the mockery of the man we knew."

"Maybe not as much as you would think." The words came out in a mutter but they were still heard. The Masters waited, wanting to hear what she had to say. "He did something to me, before I was knocked out. He showed me his memories, what he had done, why he had to do it. Where things went wrong." She looked at the Masters. "He had been betting that the High Council would come after him once he revealed himself. The trap on Korriban had been for them."

Horror crossed the older generation as they realized what that meant. Instead of the Council, the rest of the Slayers had gone to Korriban, where they were slaughtered by the clones and slaughtered them in return. "Why?" Buffy asked. "If he knew they were coming, why did he kill them?"

"He couldn't stop. The plan wasn't just to get rid of the Council but the rest of the clones. The plan was the Slayers be forced to take charge of the Order and bring an end to the war." But instead, the Slayers were killed and the Order became so focused on chasing after him. Rey saw the acceptance starting to creep through their eyes and had to say something. "He regretted it."

"…Say that again, Rey," Faith told her.

"He regretted killing them. When they found him, he called the Slayers out, by their names. All of them. He told them, 'You're my girls, and I love you. I'm sorry.' Then…he gave the order."

A long-buried memory rose in their minds. When they found Kennedy after the slaughter, she had mentioned that Darth Cordis had said something but couldn't remember what. Was that what he meant?

A question amongst too many questions. "Even if he did that, he still killed them and destroyed Coruscant," Buffy declared. "You shouldn't have gone after him, Rey. He might've used to be your grandfather but he's still a Sith."

"He's the last one." Rey's words silenced the room again. She spoke into that silence. "The years he spent crafting his plan to destroy the Republic, he also spent them hunting after Sith artifacts and knowledge, destroying it all. He wiped out an entire cult that would've done anything he wanted because they followed the Sith. Now that his work is done, he won't leave Korriban."

"Oh great, so he'll become so strong in the Dark Side, we wouldn't be able to get close enough to kill him," Faith grumbled.

Rey shook her head. "No, that's not what he was doing." It wasn't just memories she had been given. It was intent and means as well. Those provided so much context on what he was planning and what he was doing. "He's going to spend the rest of his life stripping the Dark Side from Korriban."

They couldn't believe it. If Rey was being honest, she had a hard time believing it. "But Korriban is a big planet," Willow protested. "It's the homeworld of the Sith. The Dark Side has held claim on it for thousands of years. And he's only one man. He can't do it all…" She trailed off as she realized just what that meant. She wasn't the only one.

It was Rey who said the words. "It's his penance, for all everything he had done against the galaxy, and you."

No one said anything. Their whole world, everything they thought they knew, had been turned over again. Darth Cordis might not have been the monster they had thought. "Perhaps we all need to collect ourselves and think on what we've learn," Anakin suggested. "Rey is probably still tired and could use the rest." Rey was about to protest but stopped when she caught his look not to argue.

"Yeah, you're right, Anakin," Faith said. She looked at her old padawan one more time. "I'm glad you're still alive, Rey."

"Same here," she replied, matching her master's smile. After her guests had left, she noticed a small bag against the windowsill, something that wasn't there before. A note fell out and a holo-messenger. The paper felt rough in her hands and the writing was small. But she could read it all the same.

Jesse sent me this when you were four. You were having a hard time falling asleep so your mother played your special song while he rocked you in his arms. It was the only proof I had that you lived. Now let it be a reminder of who your parents were.

Rey's hand trembled as she played the holo-messenger. The figures were small and blue, but there was no doubt she was looking at her parents. They looked at her child-self with such love, she could feel it. A song played over the image, played by a flute. It was whimsical, provoking thoughts of old stories and adventures.

For Rey, it reminded her of an old dream. Finding an ancient forest, the likes she had never seen before, and being able to explore, to find everything it held. It was the dream of a child who wanted to see the world.

And it was her dream because of the stories her parents had told her.

She felt the tears well up in her eyes as the song came to an end and the image vanished. She cradled the holo-messenger close to her heart. "Thank you, Grandfather," she whispered.

Through the Force, she felt something shift. The beast was watching her. As it had for a long time. When it heard her words, it bowed its head and stepped back. She didn't need to wonder what it was. She had already been told.

End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.

When it came to Rey and her heritage, I didn't really think she was descended from anyone. My theory was that she was Anakin reincarnated. The similarities were all there and just couldn't be ignored. Raised on a desert planet, good with machines, and innately talented with the Force? Seemed right to me.

But with her being Palpatine's granddaughter, I thought "Why not use that to my advantage?" So instead of being descended from Darth Sidious, she's a descendant of Darth Cordis. It's a little different but only after some thought.

The Noghri's sense of smell is something I picked up from the Legends side of things. If they're able to figure out that Leia was Darth Vader's daughter by smelling it, I figure smelling out a granddaughter wouldn't be that hard for them. As for their respect to Darth Cordis, he helped them out of a bad spot with honest intentions.

In fact, this whole chapter was done to show Xander's side of things. He had a reason for what he did and things affected him just like they did others. If you think about it, his plan to wreck the galaxy is akin to a wildfire. Sometimes, one has to tear, or burn, down the old growth so new life can take root.

There were some thoughts about the Jedi learning of his plan, just hints and a codename. It would be dark and foreboding, until Willow finally heard about it and realized that the name was just Klingon for wildfire. She would've realized that her friend wasn't completely gone. But as fun as that would've been, I couldn't find a place to work it in.

Tales of the Empire hadn't come out when I wrote this, so Barriss's situation was still unknown. Maybe she would've gotten out of jail and returned to being a Jedi, maybe she would've become a civilian. Either way, she would not have expected an Ahsoka who was willing to kill her for what she did to her.

Regarding Jesse and who his mother technically was, I do think it would've been Cordelia instead of Anya. Yes, they broke up because of a bad situation, but they did manage to patch things up before going their separate ways. Perhaps if Xander had come to visit L.A., they might've noticed how things were different between them.

The tune at the end was Rey's Theme. I wanted to bring it into the story along with the sense it conveyed. Don't know about everyone else, but I always imagine walking through a forest when I heard it.

I'll see you all next chapter!