Chain Reaction

Chapter 13 - Anger

Paige

Thunder cracked from above as Paige leaped from the tall rock she had just climbed. She finally perfected how to use the Force to reorient her gravity, which meant she could walk on walls and upside down on roofs now, but for a limited time. It exhausted her tremendously. She rested for a moment after she landed from the leap, placing her hands on her knees, she panted for breath. She had been running and falling from that rock for what seemed like days already. And it had a height that could pierce the sky. Whenever she reached the top, the X-wing she had crashlanded would look the size of her fist. When she had jumped off the high ground, she used the Force to land gracefully. The sound of thunder echoed again, a storm was brewing, the clouds above were turning a darker shade of grey.

"Excellent." Dooku said.

Paige straightened as his apparition drew nearer to her.

"You are almost halfway through your training, child."

Paige smirked, she was now close to her finish line. She wiped a sweat off her brow and swung her arms, hyping herself up. Something in the back of her mind bothered her though, after this, after her training. She did not know whether to go back to the First Order or the Resistance. If Rey had succeeded-- no, when Rey succeeds in finding Luke and bringing him back to the Resistance base, then she would have nothing to go back to there. Since the First Order had sent out for a bounty for bringing her back then she figured she'd be welcome there. However, Snoke would know...

"Do I detect confusion?"

Her head snapped up as she heard him ask.

"Confusion?" She repeated. He couldn't have read her mind.

"You cannot hide what your eyes tell."

He stepped closer towards her and stared into her eyes, trying to decipher what she was hiding.

"Tell me" He said, half-implying a command with his voice.

Paige did not know how to confide in her own father. She'd trusted him so far to let her train him, but could she tell him her thoughts? They must seem petty to him, a Sith Lord. For him, it must be absolute. He would most likely make her go back to the First Order. But, he did have higher hopes for her, he did say he did not want her to be cast in a corner. He wanted much more. The question was what did that mean for her to do.

"I... I think..." She tried to say, but words would not come out. She was nervous, honestly.

"Child" Dooku said "Are you frightened?"

Paige could feel her lower lip tremble, but no. She would not show weakness. Not in front of him, or anyone for that matter. She bit her lip to hide her fear. She really shouldn't be afraid of him, he was only a ghost, he could not do anything to her. But, he was, is her father. And what he thought mattered to her. In the end, she wanted to be honest and nodded in response to his question.

She was surprised to hear him laugh. His laugh was not menacing, like what she had expected Snoke's to sound like. Maybe it was because he was his father that he did not laugh evilly. It was... gentle... genuine. It was not even intended to mock her. And she thought she must have been so lucky, to have seen a Sith convey a happy expression. She tilted her head to the side.

"What's so funny?" She asked him.

His laughter died down into a smile.

"Tell me what you are afraid of. It can't possibly be me."

"I'm afraid of what you'll think of me when I make my choice where to go after I finish training. And I'm confused because I don't know where I want to go exactly afterwards. It... It's like... I... I feel like I'm in front of a fork in a road. I don't know who I'm supposed to be. I'm not trapped, but I'm... lost." She remembered her conversation with Rey with that last word, and the connection she felt with the girl. She did not expect to speak all the words she just did, but once her mouth opened it had started to form words and she couldn't stop, and she did not want to stop anyway. Saying those words, telling him how she felt, it felt good.