DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc, 20th Century Fox, Timothy Zahn, Barbara Hambly, YKW and the other writers of the expanded Star Wars Universe. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
She dreamed as she slept, her body mending the wounds caused by the Force lightning. She could not even gain enough focus to go into a trance, and it bothered her. So she resorted to sleep, the one thing she could do, and rather well, as she was so exhausted she could not even raise her head.
He stayed close to her the next several hours, and during her moments of consciousness she heard bits and pieces of conversation, mostly between Seth and that other sith lord, Darth Knar. The one with the blue face, if she remembered correctly.
During an hour when she was able to focus, she reached out with the Force to feel for her parents. They were alive and well, even if they were back in their cells. She had managed to disrupt the ritual so badly that it could not have been continued, so for the time being her parents were safe. The raging question was how Vaiya had gotten out of her cell, and would she do it again?
Like she'd ever tell them.
Still, she dreamed. They were lost dreams, mostly about Seth. It seemed as if he were in her mind with her, communicating to her as she slept. At times he seemed so human, the way he talked to her, and at others he was ruthless as he fought to keep her a prisoner. He sent her images, shared the many dreams he had had of her over the years. She felt herself become aroused by the sexual energy of those dreams, unable to control her mind in the realm of the subconscious.
Seth, for his part, waited patiently, staying close by, perched on a nearby stool and waiting for her to awaken. She had taken some nasty burns from his fellow cult members, and while she had deserved them, he found himself feeling bad for her in her pain.
It could almost have been called compassion. Which was impossible. He had no sense of compassion for anyone.
Not even her.
He stood up and approached her, hesitantly at first and then eagerly as a new purpose came to him. Her eyes were closed, and she was lost in the world of dreams, her eyes moving rapidly under her lids. He leaned over her, his breath flowing down over her face. He opened his mouth and let his lips gently carress her cheek.
In her dream, Vaiya suddenly smelled something sweet, like the jungles of Yavin IV after a heavy storm, or some rich perfume from Coruscant. It was intoxicating in nature, like heavy red wine, and she felt the muscles of her body begin to tingle with the thrill of it.
As the smell enveloped her, she could see Seth standing over her, even though her eyes remained closed and she stayed locked in the dream. His mouth moved from her cheek to her lips, and there the smell became a rich taste as his tongue explored her mouth. Her fingers touches his lips, feeling their shape, fascinated by their strength as they massaged her own. The kisses lasted a long time, each one tasting the other, feeling the other, reveling in the closeness in spite of the danger involved. Vaiya felt her body responding, eager to be brought into this twisted dance, but still he kissed her, driving her closer to the agony of sexual lust. His mouth was a glorious place, skilled and firm, yet soft and yeilding against hers. Truly, he seemed to be enjoying what he was doing to her more than she was enjoying having it done. Then, hungrily, he moved to her neck, his fingers slowly pushing away the button-down tunic the Durranians had given her to wear to the ceremony. His mouth moved farther still, and she shuddered in her core, aroused by his boldness, terrified by her own eager responses.
She looked down. His horns gleamed up at her, short and sharp. She reached out and touched his head like any wanton lover, but as she reached, she gained one single moment of sanity and drove her palm along one of the horns, the pain and the blood bringing her out of the dream with startling quickness. She jumped up from the table, urged on by a surge of adreneline, and Seth pulled back, his hand going to the bloodstained horn in confusion. Anger rose on his face as she backed away from him, her bloodied hand, palm ripped open from finger to heel, held out to him to keep him at bay.
"Do you really think that will stop me?" he asked, his voice low.
"It may not stop you, but it will slow you down," she replied, her voice also calm.
He strode closer to her, letting his physical presence intimidate her. He called upon his arrogance and pride to aid him, and he felt as if he grew as his shadow fell over her face. "Do you know what I am? Do you really believe that you can resist me forever? Sure you know that your place is here. This is where you have been called. At the very least, Vaiya, you should be aware that even if you do continue to resist, it will only lead to your death. Is it really worth it? Am I so terrible a price to pay for your life?"
"My life is not my own, nor is my destiny," she said, her voice taking on a nearly supernatural quality. "I am not free to fall into darkness with you, Seth. There is no temptation greater than the grace given to us to resist it. I will not submit, even if it means my life."
He sneered at her. "Such brave words for a martyr. But what is your cause? That phony God of yours? Perhaps you've picked the wrong one. Sith knows there are many of them to pick from."
Vaiya shook her head, her hand lowering. She did not retreat from him any farther, but stood her ground--or rather, sat it, because she was still weak from her burns and she had to find a nearby stool and sit down before she fell down. "He is the right one. No other god claims what He does."
"Oh, really, and what is that?" he sneered.
"To be the only way, the only truth, the only God. No other god claims that title. Who else other than the true God would dare make such a claim?" She looked at him, as if seeing right through him. "You believe in Yejion, Seth. You know He is real."
Seth sneered. "How insightful. But just because you believe something exists doesn't mean that you worship it. Yejion abandoned me a long time ago. Now my own cult seeks to abandon me, if I fail again. That is why you must understand, Vaiya. Too much is riding on this union. I will not allow you to resist me much longer."
She smiled at him. It was a gentle, almost friendly smile, as if she hadn't seen him in a long, long time and wanted to make him welcome. "Seth," she said, her voice nearly tender, "if you are so convinced that so much rides on me, why don't you try things my way?"
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You said Yejion had abandoned you. Are you so sure? I am here now, and I am here as His servant. Perhaps He sent me to bring you back to Him."
Seth's sneer widened, and he showed his teeth in contempt. They gleamed like fangs. "I doubt that very much. Besides, where was your God when you fell before? If He meant for you to be anywhere else but here, He could have saved you. But He abandoned you as well, allowing my brothers to strike you down."
Her face clouded at that, and she looked away, struggling for an answer. He pounced again, unwilling to let her regain her defense.
"All of your learning, just to be let go at the first sign of trouble. It's almost amusing, but I find it to be a sick joke." Then with lightning speed, his tone turned soft, cajoling. "I would never do that, Vaiya. I would never leave you in time of trouble. I would be your servant--"
"Only if I give you what you want," she replied, her eyes coming back to him with new strength. "You are no better than them. They sought to destroy me, and then blame it all on you. They seek to bring you down, Seth, and replace you with another. It's been staring you in the face for decades, and yet you stay! Why do you stay? You are not wanted in this place any longer! But if you come with me--"
"Be quiet!" he roared. Vaiya's jaw snapped shut, and in the rumbling calm that followed she maintained her composure.
"You said I was your destiny, Seth," she said in a very low voice. "Perhaps I am, but not in the way you think. You know you have been tricked, used, wronged. You know that things lie in your heart that you desire to use again. Your body tells you that I am here to serve your lust, but your heart knows better. You know the truth, Seth. And you will see it before this is over, that I swear."
He glared at her for a long moment, and then turned and left.
This was impossible.
Mara stared down at her hands. She had never noticed that they'd been hardened and wrinkled with age until she saw the hands she had had maybe thirty years ago.
Luke was experiencing the same thing, and she didn't blame him. After that Darth Seth had swept Vaiya way, and after the sith lords had restored whatever drug they had put Larin on to his system, they had turned to the Skywalkers. But in their short reprieve from attack, they had had a chance to see the results of the ritual.
They were young again.
Not children, not teenagers. Perhaps if the ritual had been completed Mara and Luke would have been as young-looking at Cal had when he'd come to the Jedi Academy. But it had not been completed, and their youth of thirty years had been restored to them.
Mara gazed at her reflection in awe. Luke's eyes had widened as he gazed at her, amazed. She was sure her look mirrored his own as the face she had seen all those years ago in Jabba's Palace, the face of a young Jedi Knight not quite hefting the mantle of knighthood rightly, stared back at her. She had never thought of Luke as old until she saw him again as the youth she had fallen in love with.
It felt as if they had gone back in time, but the moment ended too soon, and they were separated, each placed in their old cells. Maybe by now Cal would get the point. Of course, if he did, that meant sure execution for both of them.
Mara found that she truly was not worried. Maybe it was the Force keeping her calm, gently nudging her toward her destiny, which was only right, as well as completely inevitable. Or maybe it was this newfound religion that Vaiya and Luke had shown to her, a solid, deepening faith in grace and providence.
Or maybe it was the fact that she detected the familiar presence of two young Jedi Knights, crawling through the ventilation shafts above them. Mara smiled to herself. All the time she had spent training her Jedi skills, and all she had really needed was to brush up on her cat-burgalar tricks.
One was on top of her. The other had gone after Luke. Mara pressed her mind upward, gently, not wanting to break Derrin's concentration but not wanting him to give himself away, either. He had learned well how to shield his mind from others, but at this close a range, and with Mara's new Jedi senses, she could hardly miss that there was someone there, even if his identity didn't become clear until a direct probe. Gingerly, he lifted his lightsaber and Mara saw the tip of the blue blade gleaming through the metal. She gingerly stepped out of the way as the metal liquified in the heat and Derrin cut a nice sized escape hole. Mara reached up with the Force to pull the torn scrap away, and allowed Derrin to reach down and grasp her hand. Careful not to touch the still burning edges of the hole, Mara lifted herself with the Force, and found herself face to face with the young Jedi. He was a little worse for wear, and he could use a bath, but he was calm and in control of himself. Mara gave him a small smile, ample reward for his bravery. She had always thought that a Jedi must be given some sort of heavy test before taking the mantle of Knighthood, but Derrin seemed to be one of those who gained it simply by being consistent.
Derrin took one look at Mara and nearly dropped her. What happened? he sent.
Long story, she grinned, her green eyes dancing with amusement as she lifted the metal panel back into place and let the liquid metal seal itself shut again. Nice job, by the way.
Derrin just nodded, staring at her, dumbfounded. Mara had long since known that he had a bit of a crush on her, but seeing how she had looked at his age was a little too much for his hormones, and it took him a few seconds to regain his composure. Down a bit, Drianna was having the same reaction to Luke, although hers was hardly hormone laden.
Luke was grinning with sheer amusement. What kept you? he asked.
"You're lucky we're here this soon," Drianna whispered. "If the Order of Yejion, or however you call them, hadn't demanded that we be given a transport, we might not have gotten here at all."
Mara started down the shaft. "Well, we'll all get stuck here permanently if we don't move soon. The first thing we have to do it find Vaiya. Have you two spotted her yet?"
"No, but we've tried to find her," Derrin whispered. "Wherever they've got her, it isn't in the detention cells. I suspect," he added, looking back over his shoulder, "that they're holding her somewhere higher in the station."
"Station," Luke whispered, turning to him. "Is that where we are? A space station?"
"Something like it," Drianna explained. "It's privately owned, nothing public. And it's rather a unique design--almost like a giant bell. The underside has a huge opening with all these catwalks stretched across it. I just get the feeling it wasn't designed for nice purposes. Like the owner--Cal--likes to toss people into space. The lower levels, about the first three decks, are all ship ports. But it still doesn't look very friendly."
Mara nodded, considering. "It will only be a matter of time before they know that we're missing," she said. "I suggested we try a head-on attack. They won't be expecting it. Maybe we can knock down their internal communications in Cal's throneroom or whatever while he's scurrying around in the lower levels, trying to find us, thinking we're going to escape. We'll also knock out whatever tractor beams or forcefields they have that are keeping all their ships in."
Luke murmured in agreement. "Meanwhile, you two will find Vaiya and get her loose. Once you have, head on down to a ship and get out of here."
"But what about you?" Derrin rasped.
"Don't worry about us," Mara assured him. "We can take care of ourselves."
Drianna looked at the two Jedi Masters, and then at Derrin. "I guess we'd better split up soon," she said. "They can't find us all together."
"Right, you head on down that shaft. Mara and I will go this way. And get out of these tunnels as soon as you can. It won't take them long before they figure out we used them as an escape route and lock them down."
As the two Jedi Masters parted ways from their younger cohorts, Luke turned to Mara. "You know, it kind of reminds me of the first Deathstar," he said.
"How?" she asked.
"Ben went to knock out the tractor beam so that we could escape. He didn't know it, but in the meanwhile Han and I went to rescue Leia." He paused. "This just feels like the same thing."
Mara looked at him, hard. "That was when Ben was killed, wasn't it?" she asked softly.
Luke nodded. "But he had his reasons for dying. He chose it, even."
She considered his words. "And what about us? Do you think we are choosing death by doing this?"
Luke grinned at her. "You know, Mara, the younger you get, the more serious you get. I think I liked you better a little wrinkled."
She playfully poked him in the ribs. "Watch it, Skywalker, or you're going to find yourself floating home."
"Whatever, Han."
"Shut up." Then she grew serious again. "Do you think we're going to die?" And she suddenly looked fightened. In spite of their warnings to Derrin and Drianna to get out of the ventilation system as soon as possible, he stopped and reached for Mara, holding her close.
"Are you afraid of dying?" he whispered.
"No," she replied, and then more lightheartedly, "I mean, who wants to live forever? It's just..."
"What?"
"I just don't want you to die before me."
Luke pulled her closer. This newfound youth that they had been given was nothing compared to what they already shared. But it felt good to hold her with a bit more strength. "I don't want you to die first, either," he said, his voice very serious.
"Then let's make it a pact," she said, pulling back a bit.
"What pact?"
"No matter what, we go together."
Luke frowned at her. "There is no way that we can be sure we'll be able to keep that pact, Mara." Then, he said, "What is it?"
She frowned, her eyes sliding away from him. "Just a feeling," she said. Something distant, very distant, but frightening nonetheless. She shook her head. "I don't know. Ask me again sometime. But for today, we will keep this pact. If you go, I go."
He nodded. "Then I guess neither one of us had better go, then." He grinned, his old farmboy grin, and he felt her heart lighten. "Come on, let's take our own advice before we wind up making royal Jedi idiots of ourselves."
"I thought Jedi Masters were immune to making royal idiots out of themselves," she said, a touch of her old sarcastic nature flaring up.
"You of all people know that isn't true. I mean, look at me! I married you, didn't I?---OW!"
Vaiya knelt in the middle of her room, her mind in a heavy meditation. She had failed before, failed badly, and all because she let her emotions get in the way.
The farther she walked down this path, the more she saw how the Jedi were not so wrong in what they had believed about the Force. Emotions were wonderful, beautiful things, and gave sentient beings them most pleasure in their short lifespans. But they were also capable of the worst treachery. If she had simply trusted like she knew she should have, and not have let Larin's mere presence distract her, they would all be out of this mess by now.
Then there was Seth. She could not figure him out. He seemed so out of place here, so unlikely to have been chosen as the leader of this manic little cult that so obviously didn't like him. How could he have survived for so long with this emptiness, this doubt? How could someone so entrenched in the dark side maintain such heroic virtue, and keep his hands so free from blood? Maybe that was why they hated him, because of the goodness that was still deep inside him. It was rising, like some deep festering wound, ready to explode. They feared it, they feared him, and yet they plotted against him, hoping to overthrow him. They wanted to use her as an excuse, his final failure--all their waiting just for him to have picked the most unlikely female Jedi in all of the galaxy. She resisted a slight surge of pride--while giving birth to a destroyer was the last thing in the world Vaiya would willingly do, the thought of giving into Seth was not so far beneath her.
That was the mystery. That was why he thought she was the one.
It amazed her, how well she knew him from just their brief encounters. As if she had always known him on some level, maybe through the Force, or just from their minds touching. Her parents had had a similiar experience when they had decided to marry---
Vaiya jerked herself from the meditation and shuddered. That was truly impossible. She had to go on to something else. This meditation wasn't working. She needed some good old fashioned prayer.
She needed another chance.
"Oh great Yejion," she whispered, "I offer to you my freedom, my memory, my understanding and my will. All that I have and all that I cherish, You have given to me. I surrender them all to be guided by Your will. Your grace, Your love, and Your wisdom are wealth enough for me. Grant me these, and I ask for nothing more."
She repeated the prayer several times, each time bringing her closer to her focus. She would be given another chance. She was weak, and she was flawed, but she was humble and she could admit it. Only grace was going to get her out of this. Sure, she had all her Jedi skills and her powers, but without Yejion to guide her, she was lost.
Her mind went back to Seth, briefly, as she returned to her bunk, knowing that what she needed most at the moment was some rest. She knew that he would not destroy her, and she would not destroy him. Their paths were linked somehow, even if just for these few days. Whatever happened, he was not her enemy, no matter how strong the fear became.
She just hoped he would realize it, too.