63

Asajj Ventress?

The sight of the Sith apprentice made Saedii go rigid. Froze her to her core as she took in the scowling expression on the assassin's face.

Ventress looked different than the last picture Saedii had seen of her. No longer dressed in black, she wore simple travel clothes, similar in style to what Phee was wearing herself. Short pale hair, nearly silver in the sunlight, hung over her left eye while the other side had been kept close to the scalp.

A low buzz erupted as Kalth engaged his lightsaber. He took a step in front of Saedii, holding the blade before them.

"You," he snarled.

At his reaction, the Batch suddenly raised their blasters. Saedii pulled Omega behind her, wishing that she hadn't left her lightsabers upstairs.

For her part, Ventress merely looked amused at Kalth's display of prowess. "Put that away before you hurt yourself, boy."

"Saedii, do you know her?" Hunter asked, voice tense.

But it was Echo who answered, "That's Asajj Ventress. Count Dooku's apprentice."

"She's a Sith," Kalth spat.

Ventress chuckled. "Hardly. My old master never recognized me as his successor. I'm no more a Sith than the two of you."

Kalth flinched.

"Hurt you, Asajj will not," Yoda said calmly. As he moved, Saedii noticed that he had a pronounced limp. Something about his gait was wrong.

"Right." Kalth's blade didn't lower an inch.

"Would you lot put those away?" Phee was looking wryly at the Batch, like they were embarrassing her. "Master Yoda and Asajj are here at my invitation."

"Your –" Saedii noticed the familiar way that Phee stood beside them. The ease with which she said their names. And a jarring realization struck her. "Phee, you know them?"

"Sure do. Now why don't you all put those weapons down so we can go inside and chat?"

It wasn't possible. How would Phee, a pirate, know a Jedi Master and a Sith apprentice?

By the set of Kalth's jaw, he didn't want to talk.

Saedii reached a hand out and gently lowered his lightsaber. Master Yoda's eyes were on her – wide and expectant. A look that Saedii recognized from her years at the Temple. A look that begged her to trust him.

At Saedii's move, the Batch finally lowered their weapons, as well.

Unease skated down Saedii's skin as they stepped back inside. Gently, she nudged Omega towards Hunter, away from the lithe form of Ventress as she followed behind them.

Master Yoda moved slowly. Short, rasping breaths tore from his chest as he limped inside, face pinched in concentration. And Saedii was shocked yet again as Ventress slowed and lowered at his side, grabbing onto his arm.

"Thank you, my friend," Yoda said as she helped him into a chair at the kitchen table.

Concern flashed in her eyes, though was gone as soon as she noticed Saedii looking. A harsh look was quick to take its place.

"Master, what happened to you?" Saedii asked as Phee went to Tech's side, whispering something in his ear.

Master Yoda bowed his head. "Part of my story, that is."

Ventress leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. At her side, the double lightsabers Saedii had attributed to her were gone, replaced with a single long hilt.

"Know of Darth Sidious, you do?" Yoda asked.

Saedii nodded. "Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi fought him on Coruscant. He defeated them."

"Yes," Yoda agreed. "A powerful adversary, he is. Underestimate him, did we all."

Echo readjusted his stance. He and Crosshair hadn't stopped staring at Ventress once. Their hands still lingered over weapons at their sides.

"Challenged him, I did, after Skywalker and Kenobi's defeat. A more dangerous duel, I have never faced." Yoda's face fell. "Nor a more humbling defeat. Grievously injured, I was, when Ventress found me on Dagobah."

Ventress's expression remained stoically agitated as both Saedii and Kalth turned to look at her.

"You saved him?" Saedii asked her, surprised.

"Yes." The reply was flat. As if Ventress braced herself for judgement.

"Why?"

Those cold eyes took her in, lingering along the scar on her cheek. "I have learned a great many things since I was betrayed by my master. The most important is that there must be balance in the Force – a darkness for every light. And Master Yoda is the contradiction to Darth Sidious's evil."

It was no secret that Master Yoda was the most powerful of all the Jedi. At over nine hundred years old, he knew things that most Jedi Masters would never learn. Had mastered nearly every form of lightsaber styles and won thousands of duels. As Dooku's apprentice, Ventress would have known this, too.

"If we have any hope of defeating him, we needed Master Yoda alive," Ventress insisted.

Kalth glared at her. "And we're just supposed to believe that you had a change of heart? You fought against us in the Clone Wars – against Skywalker and Tano and even Master Yoda."

"I did." Ventress was unapologetic. "But the Force has brought me down another path."

He scoffed.

"Help me, Ventress has," Yoda said gently to Kalth. "A great ally, she has become."

The coolness in Kalth's expression faltered.

"Your injury is from Sidious?" Saedii asked, getting back on topic.

"Yes." Yoda yanked back the hem of his robe, revealing a wooden peg where his right leg used to be. The skin just above it was mottled with thick, jagged scar tissue. "Nearly killed me, Sidious did."

"Master Yoda suffered a terrible injury to his spine," Ventress said coldly. "On Dagohbah, with limited medicine, I healed him as best I could, though the injury still plagues him. It's a miracle he can even walk at all."

"Not a miracle." Yoda turned a gentle smile on the stern assassin. "Saved my life, you did."

She waved off his gratitude. "Still, he is in no condition to fight. That is why we've kept out of Skywalker and Kenobi's Rebellion."

"You knew?" Saedii demanded.

Yoda's lips thinned, but it was Ventress that answered, "Of course we knew. Everyone in this damned galaxy knew. But there was no place for us there."

"Scared to see Skywalker and Tano again?" Kalth asked.

"Hardly," Ventress sniffed.

"Join you, we could not. A vision, I had, after my fall to Sidious," Yoda explained.

The Batch had been silent throughout this exchange, though Saedii could sense their unease as they stood nearby, listening. Hunter had a protective arm around Omega's shoulders, and one hand resting on his blaster. Just in case.

"Plo's fate, I have seen, as the Sith Lord," Yoda said quietly, green eyes back on Saedii. His eyes softened. "And your fate, little Saedii."

"Mine?"

"Defeat Darth Vader, you must."

Plo's pleading voice echoed in her mind, Kill me. Set me free. It must be you. The same thing he begged for every night. The same nightmare that kept her awake.

Kill him. Her master.

"Hang on." Hunter stepped forward now, coming to stand beside Saedii. "Why does it have to be her? She's done enough for this galaxy. I won't let her give anymore."

Deep sadness passed Yoda's face. Ventress snapped, "The Force works in mysterious ways. Yoda saw that Saedii would be the one to face off against the Sith lord. That she is the only one that can kill him. It is not our place to question, but to prepare."

"We won't let her."

Crosshair took a step closer. A silent display of support for Hunter.

"Terrible, this fate is. And wish it upon you, I do not," Yoda said quietly. He rubbed at his wooden leg. "But fall, Vader must, to free the galaxy...and himself."

Set me free.

Plo's words. Whispering in her ear.

Chills raced down her spine. Had these dreams been more than dreams? Had it been Plo begging her help from beyond the grave? Or maybe it had been her own Force vision – a push towards her own destiny?

But what if the Force was wrong?

Saedii couldn't be the one to defeat Darth Vader. She wasn't strong enough – not now, not ever. The broken pieces that she'd tried to piece together after her imprisonment had shattered in the wake of Teth's destruction. There was nothing left of her with which to fight.

"The Force has shown us our part in your journey. The two of us will train you – both of you," Ventress added to Kalth's deepening scowl. "You have been dealt a terrible loss on Teth, but it will be our duty to teach you to balance the Force."

"How are you going to do that? You're not even a Jedi," Kalth pointed out.

A wicked smile tugged at Ventress's lips. "Balance requires both sides – darkness and light. I am here to teach you how to channel the Dark Side without letting it corrupt you."

Use the Dark Side?

The one time Saedii had ever used the Dark Side, it had consumed her. Taken over every part of her body and her soul, twisting it into something dark. She'd killed Amp with it and nearly killed Krell. Had felt damn near invincible.

Out of control. She'd been unhinged. Untethered.

"No," she said at once, wrapping her arms around herself. "I won't do it. The Dark Side is evil. There is no good that comes from learning to use it."

"Wrong you are, little one. As was I for too long." Yoda's head dropped again, and this time, there was shame in his face. In his eyes.

Ventress explained, "Your Jedi order once taught both sides of the Force, until a few hundred years ago, when the Council deemed it too dangerous. Now, it will be our job to teach that once again. To help you find that balance."

"Wrong it was, to change. Exist, both Dark and Light must," Yoda agreed.

Kalth didn't look happy. "What if we don't want to learn the Dark Side? What if we're done fighting? We've already lost enough."

Yoda's ancient eyes met Saedii's. "Done are you, little one?"

She hesitated. Torn between her fear, which bade her to run and hide, and her desire to free Plo from the limbo that had trapped him. Torn between the part of her that was wounded and broken, and the memory of her that was a Jedi still – defiant and unwilling to quit.

By the look on Kalth's face, he was waiting for her answer, too.

Finally, Saedii admitted, "I don't know what I want."

Hunter frowned. Ventress rolled her eyes.

But Yoda softly told her, "Time, you have, to decide. Wait, we will."

"And where do you play into all of this?" Echo demanded, shooting a dark look at Phee. Tech took a little step closer to her.

"Asajj reached out to me a little while after Saedii and Omega were taken," Phee said, not backing down from the hostile expression on the guys' faces. "They knew Saedii would get free, and I promised to let them know when she made it back to Pabu."

"You sold her out?" Crosshair hissed.

"She kept us appraised," Ventress said in the exact same tone. "And in return, we passed along important pieces of information from our own contacts."

"What kind of information?" Hunter asked.

Phee stared him down. "The kind that allowed you to rescue Omega from Wayland."

The defensive set of Hunter's shoulders loosened just a bit. One arm reached back, brushing gently across Omega's head, who was watching the whole thing with rapt attention. Ventress, especially, seemed to pique her interest.

"Believe what you will, but we are not your enemies. Master Yoda and I want to see the Empire dismantled – same as all of you. And we are willing to do our part to see that end," Ventress said, looking at Saedii. "Are you?"

Crosshair was murdering Ventress with his eyes. Even Echo quipped, "She's done her part."

"Not yet, but she will."

Grimacing, Yoda got to his feet, waving off Ventress as she reached for him. "Decide, you must, Saedii and Kalth. Time, you may have, though not much. Rest upon you, many lives shall."

Ventress was purposefully ignoring the weight of Crosshair's glare as she added, "Phee has a place for us to stay – off island. Away from the other Pabu residents. When you've come to your senses, she will know where to find us."

Saedii couldn't meet their eyes as they turned for the doors. Couldn't meet the disappointment that she knew would be waiting when she did –

Cold, hard fingers gripped her upper arm. Before Hunter could react at her side, Ventress's voice hissed in her ear, "I sense your fear, so I will tell you what my master would have told me years ago. You can either let your fear get you killed, or you can live to see its end. The choice is yours."

Then, with one last flip of her hood, Ventress followed Phee and Master Yoda out the door and disappeared into the sunlight.