Forget Me Not

38

Maul was gone, and everyone had suddenly realized it.

The frozen room burst into life, and all at once, everyone was chasing the runaway, who, as I had predicted, was making a break for the smashed window. Cad had wisely disappeared, leaving us to catch him another day. The clones, swarming like a giant white wave, raced after Maul, joining with the Mandalorian guards as they attempted to surround him. The Jedi stuck out their hands, using the Force as they tried to block his exit. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and I attempted to run him down.

But just at the final light of day spluttered out, he reached the window, having evaded all of our attempts to stop him. His muscles coiled, preparing him for the leap to his freedom. But, in a flash of blue light, he was stopped short in his tracks, collapsing as a stun bolt struck him. Everyone turned to see the bearer of the weapon, and everyone was stunned to see that it was none other than the pacifist duchess herself, Satine Kryze. Her fists were white as she gripped the clone's blaster, her unseeing eyes fixed to Maul. Even after a Republic clone and a Mandalorian guard had made certain he was incapacitated, she didn't lower the gun. It was only when Obi-Wan touched her arm that she shook herself from her stupor and ran to me, throwing her arms around me and sobbing in a manner fit only for one who had endured the keenest of survivor's guilt. I held her close, murmuring my sincerest apologies and whispering my sweetest comforts.

"Don't ever do that to me again," she said tearfully, pulling back and examining me at arm's length. "You broke my heart by giving yourself first to the Sith and then to Maul. But I never had the opportunity to say thank you. You saved my planet and my people twice, and I don't care that it was you who caused so much destruction to it. I had no idea it was the Sith that were making you do those awful actions, but I never doubted you. Sacrificing yourself for my people only served to prove that my trust was well-founded."

I looked away, embarrassed by her praise. "I'm so sorry, Satine. I did such terrible things, but I did them because I-I couldn't lose Obi-Wan. Then the Jedi caught me, and they were so convinced that I was the one behind all of it that they were willing to torture me for how to stop it. I couldn't take any of it anymore, and Maul offered me a way out. I accepted it, but I didn't think broad enough to consider your feelings."

"The Jedi were torturing you?" she breathed, her eyes wide with disgusted disbelief. "That is a whole new level of lowness that I cannot condone, no matter how necessary others would deem it." Her disbelieving gaze had hardened to one of righteous fury as she glared over my shoulder at a very uncomfortable Mace Windu.

Even the glow of the newly-risen moon couldn't conceal the shame on his face as he approached me humbly, his dark eyes darting between mine and the ground. "Skywalker," he started, then cleared his throat, "it's a pleasure to see you again."

"That's the best you can do?" Obi-Wan spluttered, coming to stand by me, fists clenched. "You torture him just to cover over your own mistakes, and –"

"Kenobi," Mace interrupted, putting his hand up, "please, allow me to explain."

Obi-Wan audibly gritted his teeth but mercifully remained silent.

Mace swallowed thickly before gathering the courage to begin speaking again. "We made a mistake, Skywalker. We were wrong to torture you, every time, but I would ask that you hear me out."

I held his gaze for as long as he would hold mine. "The Separatists attacked Mandalore – a neutral planet that had requested Republic aid – so suddenly and so inexplicably that you were desperate to find out why and more desperate to stop it. You dehumanized me, considering me a Sith, and therefore felt justified in using any method so that you could obtain necessary intel. You had a reputation to uphold and a planet to protect, and you thought the only way to do so was to torture me. I get it."