The Clone Wars: One-shots

Realization (P3)

Context: Asajj's former master was Ky Narec, who taught her the ways of the Jedi before dying to pirates. With this loss, Asajj's emotions spiraled out of control, leading her to the Dark Side.

Flashes of the past and future engulfed her mind. A young boy on a sandy planet. Triumph. Lightning. Ancient Sith and magick. Darth Maul. Obi-Wan and his master. Lightsabers clashing. Anakin Skywalker. Clones shooting Jedi. A black suited Sith. Deep, mechanical breaths. Maniacal laughter. A ship as large as a moon. Entire planets exploding. Silence. Millions—billions dying.

Asajj yanked her hand away so forcefully that she fell backwards. She struggled to get air. The pounds of her heart echoed in her ears and shook Asajj to her core. She was shivering, and all she saw was red. The darkness was eating her from the inside out. Tears blurred her vision, sobs shuddered out of her. It was too much. It was all too much.

A blue light shone through her tears.

"Asajj."

She wiped her awe-struck eyes as she took in the man she thought she'd never see again.

"Master Narec?"

He was there, right in front of her. He looked the same as he did when she was a child, but surrounded by a faint glow.

"W-why are you here? How are you here?"

He shrugged. "The Force works in mysterious ways, Asajj." He waved his arm around, and all the torches lit, giving the room a soft orange aura.

"But you died. I saw it—I felt it. You died in my arms. You shouldn't be here. You can't be here."

Master Narec didn't say a word. He walked over to the pedestal instead. His hand reached towards the Sith holocron.

"Don't touch that!" She jumped to her feet. "It's filled with nothing but darkness."

His lips twisted, and he cocked his head at her.

"Almost like you are," he noted.

"That's different."

"How can you be sure?"

She paused.

"I held it. It showed me things I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. The evil that holocron holds is more cruel than anything I've ever done or will ever do."

"When one is consumed by rage and tunes into the Dark Side, any evil doing can be possible for them to commit."

"You don't understand—"

"No, you don't understand, Asajj. As your master, it pains me to see how far you've fallen from your way. I expected much more from you."

She scowled at him. None of this was her fault. It was not her fault he died, that she turned to the Dark Side. It was the only way, the only road she had left to follow. He'd become selfish. Arrogant. This wasn't her master anymore—not the one she remembered.

"It isn't my fault you died! I had no other choice. This path is my destiny, master, whatever you may think of it." She grabbed her one lightsaber and activated it. "Now get away from the holocron."

Once the secrets of that holocron are revealed to her master, he would be beyond pleased. No matter how much it pained her to do so, she had to take the holocron.

"I'll ask you one more time. How can you be sure you don't hold as much darkness as this holocron?"

Against her wishes, he picked up the holocron.

She launched at him with all her strength, expecting her old master to grab his saber and block her, or use the Force to stop her.

But he didn't.

He was sliced in half. His eyes went wide. He fell to the floor, the holocron tumbling out of his hands.

She couldn't breathe.

"No . . . No, no no." Tears pooled in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry. Please—" her voice cracked. "Don't go again."

His body began to fade.

She scrambled to try to grab him—any part of him—before he faded, but all that was left was his robe.

She sobbed and wailed. Pounded her hands against the stone until they bled. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! It was her fault. He was right: she held as much darkness in her heart as the holocron did, and that scared her more than anything. She didn't understand the visions fully yet. Maybe she never would.

She sniffled, rubbing her nose before pushing herself up and swapping her own robe for her master's. She can't mourn him. He was already dead. That might have not even been him; the Force works in mysterious ways.

She had understood one thing already, however. The secrets of this temple should stay within its walls.

Asajj reached into the pocket of her old robe for her holoprojector. Instead, the Jedi Holocron came out but without its usual blue glow. After a moment of careful consideration, she turned on her lightsaber, the blade shooting straight through the holocron.

She didn't dare touch the other holocron; she had already seen enough from that. It was time to go visit her master.

~~~

Yayyy! This took longer than I expected :') There may be a pause in uploads, as school is picking up again and I have other personal endeavors to pursue.  I hope you enjoyed and that your autumn/fall is going well so far! Happy Halloween :D