Obsession

Feelings part 3: Transmission of fates

It was early in the morning, only minutes after the Mandalorian doctor and blacksmith connected Maul's new legs to his body. He only stumbled once he first got out off of the operating bed. He was returned to the height he was before everything happened to him. For some reason he felt closer to the dark side when he looked at himself in a mirror, flashbacks of his training flooded his mind. He had let everything happen because the force made him do it. As Maul let the dark side fuel him once more, he heard a whisper in the force. It had called him and beckoned him. It was the soft, tempting side of the force. One that enraveled and sung soft loving lullabies to younglings and promised safety to all. He had let it also it fuel and fill him. He may have began in the dark side, but the light was too important to him now for him to let it go. He took the blue lightsaber from his side and he looked at it. It called him with the power of the light side and with the memories of Obi-wan. Placing the peacekeeping weapon at his side, he walked to the Sundari Palace hall, we he knew the Duchess was waiting for him.

Maul quietly walked into the hall and he saw Satine looking out of one the windows. Silently, he walked over to her and she jumped when she saw him next to her also looking out at the city.
"Oh, Maul. You're back, I didn't heard you come in. Did the give you slippers or add pads to your new legs?" Satine joked and Maul huffed. Satine turned to the back end of the hall facing a door.
"Follow me Maul." Satine said calmed from her joke and started walking towards the door. Maul followed her quietly, his footsteps didn't seem to make a sound on the tile floors. His steps were in sync with the Duchess, hiding the noise of his steps.
They entered into a small projection room. Maul was wondering what could possibly be so important on this recording that Satine thought Obi-wan would want him to see. She started the recording and Obi-wan appeared. No matter how much of the dark side Maul had in him, no matter how much he tried to make himself seem strong, the sight of Obi-wan saddened him. His face dropped when he saw the hologram and his hearts ached.
"Satine, I'm sending you this transmission to warn you. The Temple has been attacked and we fear that we lose it to this newly created Empire." The hologram of Obi-wan spoke and Satine looked over at Maul. He looked like he was in some nightmare. For the second time, she saw him scared, but she could see the yearning the Sith had for the Jedi.
"I fear not many of us will survive. I am here with Master Yoda and only a couple other force wielders. The clone were commanded to kill every and all Jedi and force wielder they see. I hate to say it, but we are surrounded and I know not all of us will survive." Obi-wan's hologram went on and Satine watched Maul. The sadness on his face was undescribable.
"Satine, I know what I told you 9 years ago, but I need you to find Maul and I beg of you to take care of him. He will be sad and confused and he will need some kind of guidance. I can only hope Savage is with Maul when you find him." The hologram went on and both Satine and Maul were silent listening to message.
"If Savage isn't with him... I can only imagine how Maul must be feeling, but I'm sure through out the time he wasn't with you, that he was with Mother Talzin. I know that she will comfort Maul, but after what she gave me," The hologram of Obi-wan showed him pulling a vial out of his pocket. Maul looked confused at the small bottle and walked closer to the hologram trying to make out the details.
"After she gave me this potion, I don't trust that she will led Maul down the right path. When she gave it to me, she said that Maul would be the death of me and of others and if I didn't want that path, that I should take it." Obi-wan's eyes stayed on the vail for a moment than looking back up.
"Something in me is telling me to take it, even after Savage's warning to not take it. It could be anything... for all I know it could be poison. People don't call her the Great Mother for no reason. I don't want to hurt Maul, but it seems like every path we go down one of us is hurt. I can only hope that this one will cause him less pain and suffering. I have to admit... if I do survive this Empire, this decision will haunt me for the rest of my life and I don't know if I'll ever be able to face Maul again." Obi-wan pocketed the vial and rubbed his eyes from forming tears. He took a deep breath and looked straight into the holocomm.
"Now Satine, if you do find Maul, this part of the message is for him and him only." Obi-wan said and Maul paused the message and spoke softly.
"Get out." Maul hissed to the Duchess
"What?" Satine asked not hearing what he said clearly.
"You heard Kenobi. The rest of this is for me and me only. Get out!" Maul snapped at her and she looked as if he didn't shout at her and she calmly walked out of the room.
Satine looked back into the room sadly at Maul she respected Obi-wan's wishes and stayed out of the room.
Once Maul was sure Satine wasn't going to try and listen in he played the recording.
"Maul..." Obi-wan spoke as Maul watched the hologram carefully. Studying the holograms every movement not wanting to miss anything. Obi-wan took a deep breath calming himself before continuing.
"I'm so sorry for what I must be putting you through again. I left you once for 10 years and you still held me in your hearts and mind, and here I am again leaving you. Although, this time since you're seeing this... I won't be returning to you. In what ever way I died, by clones, Anakin. or by this new Empire, please Maul, let Satine take care of you. I know it hurts and it will for a while to not have me next to you..." Obi-wan paused shutting his eyes tightly and Maul could hear clones quietly talking in the background. The Jedi rubbed his eyes wiping the tears away.
"I am always with you, Maul. In the force. Now, I don't know if you have Savage with you or not. But if you don't, don't worry my love, don't slip back into insanity, you are strong Maul, stronger than me. I know Savage was close to you. Your first apprentice and your first known brother, both Savage and I brought you through many struggles. But listen to me Maul. Don't seek out revenge for us. Hatred and not forgiving and forgetting is what brought us here. Because I couldn't forget is what led me to saying all those nasty things about you. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. If you seek anything Maul, don't let it be revenge. Let it be the need to free the galaxy from the Empire. No one deserved to be ruled, we all deserve to be free to do what ever we want and to love who we want." He stops quickly and the voice of a clone can be heard clearer than before.
"Hey! Who's in here?" A clone shouted into the room.
"I love you Maul. Do not forget that. No matter what you do, I will always love you, no matter how much we fought with each other. Protect the galaxy as if I were the galaxy. Goodbye Maul." Obi-wan spoke quietly
"Kenobi?" Maul hardly heard his own voice come through the transmission before it quickly turned off.
Maul stood the staring at where the hologram was. His mind processing everything that Obi-wan said in the transmission. It was him forgiving Maul and saying goodbye. Maul wanted to cry again, he couldn't stand Obi-wan saying goodbye the first time on the ship, he could hardly contain himself now. Once he was sure he could contain his emotions, he walked out of the room looking as calm as ever. When Satine saw him, she didn't know what to think, she could only see a small hint of sadness in the Zabrak's expression on his face.
"Maul?" Satine broke the silence between them
"Thank you Duch... Satine for showing me the hologram. I needed to hear it." Maul confessed to her and she walked closer to him.
"Maul, Mandalore is under constant threat of the Empire, we have no army here on Mandalore. I was hoping that you would stand beside me and help protect Mandalore and make Mandalore stronger." Satine spoke and hoped she wouldn't regret what she was asking of Maul.
"You're asking me to build you an army?" Maul asked Satine, whom he always saw as a pacifist, now the Mandalorian who was asking him to build an army for her.
"If we have any chance of surviving against this Empire, we need something the Empire will not want to fight. You will hold a position that only I have power over you." Satine explained to him holding her fear for the future in her own mind. Maul thought for a second, she was asking him to build her an army and telling him that he will be second in command. She was asking him to protect Mandalore, a planet that Obi-wan once loved.
"Kenobi loved this planet once and from what I heard he did everything he could to protect Mandalore from all threats during the Clone Wars. If Kenobi thought this planet was worth fighting for, than I will fight for it as well." Maul said to her and Satine's worries only grew as she knew the next step was to either convince Death Watch to join them or get Maul to be the new leader of Death Watch.