NOW you can get excited Yoshi.
Mya sat quietly in Shinova's room working on levitating a stack of books. Ever since the day she'd pushed her to the brink, Shinova had been cold to her. The deafening quiet was too much to handle. Her mind kept wandering to Aulduin, wondering if he was okay.
"Mya?" Shinova stepped over to the apprentice. She had a worried look on her face. "You don't look like you feel well."
The young girl looked up at her and smiled sadly. "It's nothing. I was just thinking."
"About what?" The older woman sat on the meditation pad across from her.
Mya sighed and lowered the books to the floor. "I miss Master Aulduin."
"Aulduin? He was your Master?" *I know that name,* Shinova thought. "What was he like?"
"He's sweet and considerate. A wonderful Master." Mya paused and looked at her thoughtfully. "He's about your age."
*No, it can't be.* "His surname wouldn't happen to be Sunstar, would it?"
Her eyes brightened. "Yes! Do you know him?"
"It's possible. Tell me about him?"
Mya smiled and began to tell the story of how she met Aulduin and she became his apprentice. It made her happy to see Shinova smile. The two of them grew closer in the knowledge that they both knew Aulduin Sunstar.
When Mya finally left, Shinova remained seated, staring off into space. So many memories were coming back to her, memories of training, of the Jedi Temple, of her old friends, and especially Aulduin. She smiled slightly as an image of him speaking to Mace Windu presented itself. Aulduin's lips moved silently, then curled up in a broad grin. Windu chuckled at whatever joke had been told.
But, along with the good memories came painful ones. She remembered the Jedi who had come to take her son off to begin his training. She remembered standing there, waving good-bye, with her husband just beside her. Then, the image seemed to morph into one of Aulduin. He was not smiling now, in fact, he looked distressed. Then she felt it, all over again... the shock. The deep, empty feeling she'd first felt when she'd learned of her son's murder. She stood and walked to the window, tears blurring the fine points of light that were the stars. There, she saw Aulduin face again, years older. "Alderaan's gone," he was saying. "Completely destroyed. There was nothing we could have done."
Shinova laid a hand on the cool transparisteel. "Aulduin," she said softly. Her arm trembled. Her muscles tensed. She gritted her teeth as tears an down her face. Before her eyes played a scene of her last meeting with the Jedi Master. A flash of blue-green that was her lightsaber, a beam of white that was his. She closed her eyes tightly, but the scene would not leave her. A familiar feeling welled up inside of her. It was anger, that unthinking, unfocused rage that came back to torture her whenever she thought of the Jedi. She felt as though she were hanging by a rope over a deep sea of hate. Rather than try to fight it, she surrendered to it. Almost of its own accord, her hand drew back, curled into a fist, and lashed out against the transparisteel, hitting hard enough to split her knuckle down to the bone.
The pain brought Shinova back to grim reality. She grimaced as she cradled her injured hand in her good one. She turned to leave, then stopped and looked out the window again. "Hear my words, Aulduin Sunstar," she said aloud. "If you dare to come and face me, you will join your late, pathetic Order. That is a promise."
Zaia awoke alone, again. She was tired of this whole situation. She had to do something. Dressing quickly, she exited Ignatius' room and moved quietly down the hall.
As she passed her brother's room, she could hear him still pacing back and forth. He was like a caged animal now. She didn't dare knock for fear of loosing her head. Ted was almost too far gone. Hopefully, she was going to fix that. She continued on to another section of the deck.
Two stormtroopers stood beside the door as she knocked. It slid open to allow her to pass through before closing behind her, locking her off from the rest of the ship. She reached out with the Force, trying to find him.
"It isn't polite to just stand there in the doorway when you've been invited in," he said pointedly.
She followed his voice deep into the shadowy recesses of the room. He was lounging on his bed, a predatory smile on his lips. "Utsanomiko," she said sullenly.
"Ah, yes. Lady Zaia, sister to my apprentice, Ted. What can I do for you?" He rolled onto his side, his robe falling open to expose his bare chest. Tapping the bed beside him, he said, "Sit. I won't bite... yet."
"I'll just stand, thank you," she replied coldly. "I've come to ask a favor of you."
He held up a finger. "Let me guess. You want me to stop training Ted." The smile grew larger.
She frowned slightly. "Yes. He has become abusive and angry. He is no longer my brother."
"Tsk. Sorry, sweetheart. That's the whole point. He's supposed to be abusive and angry. That's the essence of the Dark side."
Sighing, she lowered her head. "Look, I'm willing to do anything to make you stop."
An eyebrow lazily raised. "Anything?"
"Within reason." She glared at him.
"No, you said anything." He crawled across the bed to her. "Sit here with me." He pat the bed again.
She crossed her arms and huffed as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Now, now," he said as he sat up beside her, sliding an arm around her waist. "That's no way for a Lady to act."
She rolled her eyes. "Where did you think that that up?"
The smile didn't even flicker. "You certainly are a feisty one."
*Oh brother,* she thought. *Is this THING complementing me?*
He clinched his chest and hers. "You wound me, fair Lady." He expected her to pull away or slap him. When she didn't, he grinned and squeezed her breast.
"Look, Utsa..." she began, but he quickly cut her off.
"Call me Miko," he said in a sultry voice as he leaned close to her, his lips brushing across hers.
Though her mind was screaming "no", she could not resist pressing in to kiss him. There was something seductive about the Dark Lord. It made her want to be naughty.
His body covered hers as they lay back on the bed kissing. Her arms slid around his waist and held him tight. He pinned her against the bed as he began to trail kisses down her neck to her chest.
A buzzer went off in the room. Miko growled in frustration, but ignored it. He continued into her cleavage.
"Utsanomiko, I know you're there." Wong's voice came from the intercom.
He angrily ripped himself from Zaia and hit the call button. "Yes, Lord Wong." His voice was laced with venom.
"There is a problem. I need to speak with you immediately."
Miko sighed. "Of course." He shut the comm off and looked over at where Zaia was laying on the bed. "I do hope we can continue this sometime. Right now, however, there are *other* pressing matters I must attend to. You are free to stay and wait for me."
But Zaia's adrenaline rush had left her. She was thinking clearly again and she frowned as she stood. "No. I won't stoop so far as to sleep with scum like you."
The corners of his mouth turned down, his brow furrowed, and he grit his teeth. An angry scowl distorted his normally handsome features. Zaia paled and took a step back, one hand reaching for her lightsaber. Before she could draw it, Utsanomiko suddenly stepped in, grabbed her wrist with one hand and wrapped the other around her throat. "Then you listen to me, woman," he snarled. "And listen well. You no longer have a say in what happens to your brother. He is mine, he *belongs* to me. I say what he does, what he thinks, and who he will be close to. Understand?" Frightened, she nodded. He turned and practically threw her out the door and into the corridor. "Good. Return to your quarters or wherever you are staying now, and do not come back. If you do, you will be punished. Severely." Before she could speak, he turned and left.
Shaken, Zaia began the walk back to Ignatius' room. She rubbed her wrist where the Sith had grabbed her, wincing slightly at its tenderness. As she walked, she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. She turned a corner and a figure came into view. It was a woman, dressed all in black, walking towards Zaia at a steady pace, hands loosely clasped behind her back. She surrendered little in height, but seemed to make up for it with her *presence*. Zaia sensed her as if she were a deep cauldron or full of sadistic anger, restrained by a thin veil of civility. As they passed each other, the woman looked deeply into her eyes.
Zaia nearly gasped in shock. She felt as though she'd been pierced by an arrow made purely of suppressed hatred. As the other woman continued on, Zaia stopped and turned, staring at her back. She felt as though she'd made a new enemy, without even meaning to. Her lips pursed in thought. This woman looked familiar. She'd seen her somewhere before. Tapping her chin in thought, she tried to put a name to her face. What had it been?
Kelly Antilles felt the redhead's eyes on her. Rather than turning back and sparking a confrontation, she continued down the hall. She reached out and sensed the other woman's confusion and nervousness. Her fear was strong. She smiled darkly and kept on walking.
Stupid.
