Child of Balance

Past Revelation

Ania leaned back in her seat and scrubbed at her face. Hyperspace hummed past the ship in streaks of blue. She tried and failed to ignore the tension that filled the ship. Kit was back in the lounge area. Ezra was in his cabin and Ro was sleeping somewhere within the ship. She wasn't sure where.

    The transmitter lit up as her communication was accepted. A hologram of Jordan and Tolsa appeared. "Ania, are you ok?" Tolsa asked, her eyebrows lifting in surprise.

    "Yes, I'm fine. I don't really know what happened." Ania rubbed her forehead for a moment. "There's a bounty hunter who might come after you. Her name is Cyana Otsan and she's a blue Twi'lek."

    "Why would she be after me?"

    "To draw me out. She gave me five days to find her or she said she'd pay you a visit." Tolsa turned and whispered something to Jordan. He nodded, disappearing from the hologram.

    "Did something else happen?"

    Ania nodded. "She revealed my past to Kit. He won't speak to me now."

    Tolsa sighed. "What about Ezra?"

    "He won't talk to him either. I don't really know what I can do. I don't know anything about his own past with the Empire. I would imagine that has something to do with it."

    "Then ask him. Tell him what he needs to know and then ask him what happened. If he won't tell you on his own terms, it might be time to push it out of him. You know how much I hate saying that."

    "I know. You're probably right."

    "Good luck. We'll keep an eye out for Cyana," Tolsa said.

    Ania gave her a weak smile, before ending the transmission. She took a moment to gather her own thoughts, before ducking back into the lounge area. Kit didn't look up from the workbench. He was fixing something. Sparks flew as he deftly wove the pieces together.

    "I know you're angry, but give me a chance to explain everything," she said at last.

    "You've had every chance to do that since we met."

    "Would you have reacted any other way?" Kit didn't reply. "I thought so. Look, I didn't tell you because I'm tired of always being judged for my past. You didn't tell me anything about yours, so I figured I wouldn't say anything about mine."

    Kit whirled on his seat. "That's different! You were a mercenary for Darth Vader!"

    "Yes, but I left. I joined the Rebellion. I let Ahsoka and Kanan teach me. I became friends with and fell in love with Ezra. I have sacrificed everything to come back from what I did. I was captured and tortured by the Empire for two months. I was almost killed on several occasions! I forced Ezra to kill me and then came back to life! I chose to leave everything behind so that I could learn to control my power," Ania snapped. A strange light seeped from her eyes.

    "That doesn't make what you did right."

    "I never said it did. What I'm saying is that I'm a different person now who makes different choices. I deserve to be seen for the actions I perform now, not the ones that I did then."

    Kit turned away angrily. "You were an Imperial. No one can come back from that."

    Ania was aware of Ezra standing in the doorway, but she didn't face him. She focused her gaze on Kit. "What did the Empire do to you?"

    "Nothing."

    "That's a lie. What did they do that is so bad that you would disown your friend because of a past with them!"