Chapter Nineteen: Reunion
In which Padme and Terminus, after so many years, meet up again.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Really loved this chapter. Especially the dynamics between Padme and Terminus, as well as...well, other things. Also, yet another twist that set the story in a new direction.
The main problem with getting to Mara and the others, Padme thought, was the matter of getting past the stormtroopers. Not necessarily because of the fact that, really, they couldn’t fight them - already, Padme knew that that wasn’t the case. She’d already had to do something like that in the past, during Order 66, being able to at least push the clone troopers out of the way if she could, and kill them if she absolutely had to. But if nothing else, they seemed to be coming at them almost in some sort of swarm. No matter how many Padme and Vader took down, more seemed to take their place. Padme could already feel a rising sense of despair in her even though, if nothing else, she tried to hide it. She couldn’t afford to despair. Not now. It was then that she saw Terminus.
Terminus. Locked again in a duel with Mara. Padme didn’t want to think of what had just happened previously if only to lead to this. But nonetheless, she had to at least find some way to put a stop to this.
“Obi-Wan,” she said. She knew, in a way, that it was no doubt stretching, to remind Terminus of a title that he would most likely be trying to bury, but she had to find a way to save him. To help him. To at least save Mara. “Obi-Wan, step away from her.”
Terminus turned to look at her now, a sort of puzzlement radiating from him. And it was then that Padme knew. Why are you trying to prevent me from seeing my daughter? From trying to convert her to my side?
Except, really, it wasn’t the case. Terminus had already done enough terrible things. He couldn’t be allowed to do any more.
“Obi-Wan,” Padme said, “Just…it’s not her fault. If there’s anyone who’s at fault here, it’s me. I failed to save you.” She swallowed; even remembering what happened at Sullust was enough to hurt more than anything else, and yet she had to at least acknowledge the truth. No matter how painful it truly was. “It’s not her fault.”
“Who said it was?” Terminus’ voice - if not for the sudden deepening of it thanks to the vocoder, thanks to the other mechanical enhancements that Sidious had no doubt given him to make up for when Padme had all but mutilated him - and other mutilations that had followed. Terminus had taken many injuries in battle, she had heard - it would have almost sounded, just for a moment, like Obi-Wan’s. Obi-Wan’s, back when he was making some sort of wry observation. Even that reminder was enough to make Padme’s heart ache.
“Obi-Wan?” Mara sounded confused, and more than that, almost angry. “What do you mean? Lady Nemo, what do you mean?”
Padme almost wished that she could answer. And yet there was something in her that almost couldn’t. Don’t tell her. You can’t tell her. It will only break her heart…
And what will break her heart further if not the fact that you lied to her?
It was looking from Terminus to Padme that Mara seemed to at least somewhat put it together. “You can’t possibly be…” She laughed, but it was a despairing thing. “You can’t be Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s…Lady Nemo said…”
“I know,” Padme said if only softly. “But I’m sorry, Mara. He is…he is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
The look on Mara’s face was enough to all but break Padme’s heart. That sheer look of shock, of outrage, and more than that, grief…it was enough to almost wish that she hadn’t had to lie to Mara. But what else could she do, in the end, if only to protect Mara from Terminus?
Some protecting you did, she thought.
Padme turned towards Terminus. “Let her go,” she said. “Let them all go. They’ve done nothing to you.”
“It’s not the matter of them doing anything to me.” A beat. “Mara…more than anything, she deserves a father. Someone to protect her. A proper upbringing.”
“But at what cost?” Padme could already feel her throat all but seize up in that moment. She almost couldn’t speak. “She doesn’t deserve something like this. She’s just a girl. She can’t…”
And even the thought of Mara being trained in the Sith arts was almost too terrible, too heartbreaking, to imagine. He would treat his own daughter, someone he proclaimed to love - never mind that after all these years, she didn’t know if there was still love in him. Even the matter of sparing her at Sullust she was almost uncertain of, at least in the back of her mind - terribly. He would teach her how to kill, how to manipulate - so many things that she was not meant for. So many things that no one was truly meant for, but Mara especially. To think that Terminus would do this to his own daughter, no doubt in the name of whatever “greater good” he was already imagining…
Padme couldn’t imagine it. And it terrified her more than anything else that Terminus could truly do. Because the very thought that he could do something like this to his own daughter - the very idea -
She couldn’t bear to think about it. Because if Terminus thought of his own daughter as nothing more than a pawn to be used against Sidious, then it was a sign that he was well and truly gone.
***
The way that Padme was talking with him, Terminus thought, one would think that she thought that he had crossed some sort of point of no return. Some sort of line where even the light side could not save him now. But why, exactly?
Mara wasn’t made to be a Sith. At least, that was what Padme was thinking. But really, she wasn’t made for whatever destiny had been laid out for her on Tatooine either. The life of a farmer. The life of someone who woke up day after day, tending the moisture farm, yearning for something more. That and there was so much in her that could be used if only for good. To do what Sidious had promised to do but hadn’t. To heal the galaxy again. The galaxy had gone through so much hardship over the years. If they could at the very least find a way to make it right again, and if they could at the very least find a way to reunite their family again, just as they were meant to be…
To make things right again, Terminus thought, he knew full well that he would do just about anything.
It was in that moment that Padme turned towards Mara. “Run. I’ll be right behind you.”
“No chance,” Mara said. “I’m not leaving you.”
And there was something in Terminus that, if he could, would have smiled. So much devotion in her. She truly was her mother’s daughter.
And then there was something in him that could not help but falter. So much devotion, so much determination. So very much the hint of everything he could have been. Already, he couldn’t help but feel a flare of resentment towards his daughter -
No. Such traits were to be admired, not resented. For all his faults, Darth Terminus was not a petty man.
Padme now placed a hand on Mara’s shoulder. “Mara,” she said, “Do it if only for the others. For all their sakes.”
Silence.
For all their sakes. It had been something that Terminus had tried to impart to Padme for so many years. For the greater good. And something they had tried to impart to Ahsoka, at first with less success - Ahsoka had always been hot-blooded, insisting on all but saving everyone. But even she, after a while, had learned what it had truly meant. Even after all these years, Terminus almost hadn’t thought that it would come back if only to haunt him.
Still, wasn’t that what he was doing in the end? Doing what he could if only for the good of others? For a better galaxy? Was that so terrible in the end?
He could still remember what Master Yoda had once told him. Even those with the best intentions, corrupted they may be. And in spite of himself, he couldn’t help but wonder…was that what was happening to him? Could it be -- ?
No. He was nothing like Maul. He was nothing like Dooku, or the others. They were weak, and they had paid accordingly for their weakness. They were nothing alike.
Mara merely nodded, before turning towards Han and the others. The smuggler looked all but confused at what had transpired, but Mara said, “We’ll talk when we’re out of here. Come on, Han.”
After a while, Han merely nodded and followed her, along with the others. Terminus turned back towards his former apprentice. “You won’t be able to keep her from me forever,” he said.
“And you won’t be able to have her,” Padme said, if only calmly. A beat. “You won’t be able to convert her. She has a stronger will than even you ever had.” A beat. “Only the weak embrace the Dark Side. It takes strength to resist it.”
His own words. What he had said to Maul so very long ago if only to defy him, to rage against fate itself, the Dark Side itself. Now, even hearing them, he could feel the old anger welling up inside him, the desire to, plain and simply, inflict as much pain upon his own apprentice as he could, even as he tried to restrain himself. She’s trying to upset you. She’s trying to distract you. It had to be the case, really.
He didn’t want to hurt Padme, not really. And yet, if he had no choice…
He drew his lightsaber, ignited it. “We’ll settle this as it was meant to be settled,” he said. “Like civilized beings.” A beat. “Are you afraid to die, Padme?” He almost wanted to know. He didn’t want to kill her, and yet if he didn’t have a choice in the matter…
Padme drew her lightsaber, but there was a sort of sadness in her eyes. A sort of sadness, Terminus thought, that seemed to reflect how she had lost someone she had considered dear to her. And for a moment, Terminus almost wanted to hesitate, to stop the duel, but he knew more than anything that though he almost didn’t want to admit it, Padme was a threat if only to the galaxy he wanted to create. A better galaxy. A threat to their family, in a way. If he had to fight her, he would.
And her words rang out almost like the toll of a requiem. “Are you?”
***
The matter of getting out of there was almost easy. Almost, Mara thought, even as they got to the hangar. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Lady Nemo behind, even though, really, it was for the greater good. At least in a way. She couldn’t see what good there was, really, in leaving Lady Nemo behind to Terminus’ “mercy”, if you could really call it that. It was getting to the hangar where the Millennium Falcon was that Mara almost breathed a sigh of relief. They were here. After all this time, they were there. Thank the gods.
She took out her comlink now. “Elizabeth Nerus,” she said, “Threepio - do you copy?”
“For the moment,” Elizabeth Nerus said. “We’re in the main hangar across from the ship.”
“Thank goodness that you’re okay,” Mara said.
“You also. What about…what about Lady Nemo?” Elizabeth Nerus’ voice was almost tight with anxiety.
“She’ll be on her way,” Mara said. “She…she’s just holding Terminus back. We kind of ran into him.”
Elizabeth Nerus took a deep breath. She seemed, at least to Mara’s ears, almost like she was trying to at least convince herself that what Mara was saying was true, that really, Lady Nemo was going to be all right. “You’d best hurry.”
“That’s the plan,” Mara said.
Ada, meanwhile, turned to Han if only in disbelief. “You came in that thing? You’re braver than I thought.”
Han rolled his eyes. “Nice. Come on!”
“He’s right,” Mara said. “We can argue later. Now come on, let’s get going.”
It was then that they rounded the corner, at least attempting to stay out of sight, before the troopers saw them and began blasting. It was just in time that Mara managed to at least dodge the blasts, as well as fire back at the troopers. Han then turned towards her. “Let me take it from there,” he said, “You get them to the ship.”
“Han,” Mara said, almost amazed, “Are you insane?”
Han grinned. “Comes with the territory, sweetheart. Now come on!”
Mara turned towards Ada and the others, and they ran for it.
***
Padme had fought her old master before on Sullust. She didn’t think that she would, once again, face him, at least like this - she supposed that it was a testament to how times changed. Long ago, they wouldn’t have thought that they would become enemies. She could still remember what she had said to him, long before Ahsoka had died, when something like Ahsoka dying was just a nightmare, and the idea of the Empire rising was, to say the least, almost unthinkable. We’ll always be all right, you and me and They’d have to work really hard to separate us.
Except now, at least in a sense, they were separated. And more than that, they were dueling again. She managed to at least repel Terminus’ blows well, as well as put in some defensive moves of her own, but whatever Terminus was learning - he was strong, Padme could not help but think. Very strong. She didn’t think that he would get that strong in her absence. And yet here he was.
Then again, Terminus was always learning. Every Force user was always learning. Even with what Qui-Gon had taught her, Padme thought, she suspected that it was just the tip of the iceberg in regards to Force techniques.
She reached into the Force towards Mara and the others. She could feel Mara’s anxiety, as well as the others’ - Vader’s guilt at leaving her behind. Don’t be afraid, she told them. You’re doing the right thing. Believe me on this.
We’re in trouble. Mara, this time. They’re blasting at us -
Use the bridge controls.
Right. Gotcha. Thanks.
Just keep going. Even in between the strokes of Terminus’ lightsaber, Padme continued reaching towards Mara and the others. Just get to the ship. I’ll be there soon, I promise.
I certainly hope so.
“You believe that you can protect them for long?” Terminus’ voice was smooth, soft, almost emotionless. Or it would be, at the very least, if it wasn’t for the fact that Padme swore that something honestly trembled behind it.
“Yes,” Padme said.
“You would die to protect them?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Padme said. “You were a good man, Terminus. You still are, in a way. You don’t have to keep doing what you’re doing.”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Terminus’ lightsaber met Padme’s again. “I’m trying to do what’s right.”
“But this isn’t the way,” Padme said. “Killing all these people. Burning all these planets. Do you really think that that’s the right thing to do?”
“That was not my design.”
“Not all of it.” Their lightsabers clashed again. “But this is wrong, Terminus. I don’t…it doesn’t matter whatever reasons you’ve presented. All of this is wrong.”
Silver and red continued to clash. Padme was almost reminded, at least almost, of their old sparring sessions, when Obi-Wan was first teaching her to use a lightsaber, but this, really - this wasn’t the matter of teaching. It was a whole mix of emotions - anger and grief and rage and hatred and love all mixed in one.
The Echani had it as part of their philosophy that in battle, one’s true emotions and intentions were revealed. That in battle, all words were swept away, to be replaced with actions and emotions alone. Padme supposed that in a sense, it was true here. Because words were all but inconsequential in that moment. All that really mattered was the matter of actions, and emotions - all of this suppressed grief and confusion and anger that she had kept inside. And yet there was also the matter of love - because Terminus had been a good man once, even though he had forgotten.
Silver. Red. Silver. Red. And as they dueled, Padme reached into the Force itself, letting it all simply go. Letting all of the rage leave at least for the moment, the grief, the pain - letting it flow into the Force, letting the Force itself guide her actions. She could only pray, in the end, that she was making the right decision. And it was then that she knocked Terminus to the ground. The Sith Lord was not quite human, not really, so his groans of pain sounded more mechanical than anything else, and yet even to Padme’s ears, at least in that moment, they sounded far too painfully human. She drew her lightsaber away now, looking down at the Sith Lord’s prone form, before deactivating her lightsaber, hooking it to her belt.
“Obi-Wan,” she said, if only softly, “It doesn’t have to end this way. Believe me on this.”
Terminus stumbled to his feet now. “Why did you take my daughter from me?”
“I didn’t want to.” And that was the truth. If there had been a way, Padme thought, she would have had Mara - and Ben - raised with their mother, as it was meant to be. Perhaps found a way to help Terminus if only so he could raise them as well. And yet there was no other way, if only to hide them from the Empire. They couldn’t suffer their father’s fate. They couldn’t become Sith. And they couldn’t end up like the other Force Sensitives, the other Jedi, and whatnot that the Empire had all but hunted to extinction. “I wanted her safe,” she said.
“And your son.”
“Son?” Terminus’ voice, at least to Padme’s ears, sounded almost like thunder.
“I didn’t want to keep any of this from you,” Padme said, “But I had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
“Not in this case. I swore to protect them,” Padme said, “Even if it meant from you.”
It was an almost terrible thing to think about, having to protect Ben and Mara from their own father. And yet it was the truth. Their father - he would most likely either kill or torture them into conversion, not necessarily save them. It wasn’t that Terminus was a cruel man - at least, compared to the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin who destroyed for the sake of destruction, he was far from the worst evil that the Empire had to offer - but he was blinded. And to think of Mara and Ben both suffering the consequences of that blindness…
Padme doubted that she had ever felt that much honest rage from Terminus. Even during the Clone Wars when they had heard reports of Maul’s return, she doubted that she had ever felt him that angry. Even on Sullust, she couldn’t say that she had felt him that angry. Still, she thought, it wasn’t as if it were unjustified.
“It doesn’t have to end this way,” she said. “Come with me. Come with us. You can see Sabe, Mara and Ben again. Please.” Please, she thought, come away with us. It doesn’t have to end this way. It can’t end this way - please -
Silence.
“I’m sorry, Padme,” Terminus said. “But I doubt that’s possible.”
And the duel resumed in that moment, silver clashing against red, even as Padme felt the grief coming to her eyes again. Pure emotion, flooding into her eyes, grief and guilt and anger and yet, even amidst that, love for the man that Terminus had been, though not the man that he had now become.
***
It was later that Mara and the others ran into Han and Chewbacca again. Mara was almost about to ignite her lightsaber, fearing that it was stormtroopers again from the sound of the footsteps, only for Han to say, “No need to panic! It’s just us.”
Mara lowered her lightsaber, sighed in relief. “What kept you?”
“Let’s say that holding off the stormtroopers took a little longer than we thought. You?”
“We took a wrong turn,” Mara said. “We should probably get to the Falcon.”
“And hope that Kitster and Lady Nemo got that tractor beam out of commission,” Han said, “Or it’s going to be the shortest trip we ever had.”
“We already got the tractor beam out of commission,” Vader said. “There’s no need to worry.”
“Well, that’s good. Now we just have to get the others, and we’ll be on our way.”
It was in that moment that Sabe, Owen, Beru and the droids emerged. Mara sighed in relief, before running towards Owen and Beru, throwing her arms quickly around the both of them. “Thank the gods you’re both all right,” she managed to say.
“You too, kiddo.” Owen looked her up and down. “You look like hell. What were you doing?”
“Garbage chute, remember?” Mara said. “That and…well, I ran into Terminus. Lady Nemo’s in trouble; we have to go get her.”
“Yes,” Vader said. “We should.” There was a sort of solemn quality in his face in that moment. “We can’t simply abandon her.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Owen said. He sighed. “Don’t know how good a blaster’s going to work against Terminus. For all intents and purposes, it’s going to be like taking down a rancor with nothing but stones.”
Vader looked at Owen if only in curiosity. “Why would you even want to do that?”
“It’s a metaphor,” Owen said. “Come on. Let’s go and find her.”
Mara knew that she couldn’t disagree with that. After all, if they failed to save Lady Nemo, if they at the very least even faltered a moment in terms of finding her -
“Follow me,” she said.
And they headed towards the distant hallways of the Death Star, just across the hangar bay, where Lady Nemo and Terminus dueled.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Really loved this chapter. Especially the dynamics between Padme and Terminus, as well as...well, other things. Also, yet another twist that set the story in a new direction.
The main problem with getting to Mara and the others, Padme thought, was the matter of getting past the stormtroopers. Not necessarily because of the fact that, really, they couldn’t fight them - already, Padme knew that that wasn’t the case. She’d already had to do something like that in the past, during Order 66, being able to at least push the clone troopers out of the way if she could, and kill them if she absolutely had to. But if nothing else, they seemed to be coming at them almost in some sort of swarm. No matter how many Padme and Vader took down, more seemed to take their place. Padme could already feel a rising sense of despair in her even though, if nothing else, she tried to hide it. She couldn’t afford to despair. Not now. It was then that she saw Terminus.
Terminus. Locked again in a duel with Mara. Padme didn’t want to think of what had just happened previously if only to lead to this. But nonetheless, she had to at least find some way to put a stop to this.
“Obi-Wan,” she said. She knew, in a way, that it was no doubt stretching, to remind Terminus of a title that he would most likely be trying to bury, but she had to find a way to save him. To help him. To at least save Mara. “Obi-Wan, step away from her.”
Terminus turned to look at her now, a sort of puzzlement radiating from him. And it was then that Padme knew. Why are you trying to prevent me from seeing my daughter? From trying to convert her to my side?
Except, really, it wasn’t the case. Terminus had already done enough terrible things. He couldn’t be allowed to do any more.
“Obi-Wan,” Padme said, “Just…it’s not her fault. If there’s anyone who’s at fault here, it’s me. I failed to save you.” She swallowed; even remembering what happened at Sullust was enough to hurt more than anything else, and yet she had to at least acknowledge the truth. No matter how painful it truly was. “It’s not her fault.”
“Who said it was?” Terminus’ voice - if not for the sudden deepening of it thanks to the vocoder, thanks to the other mechanical enhancements that Sidious had no doubt given him to make up for when Padme had all but mutilated him - and other mutilations that had followed. Terminus had taken many injuries in battle, she had heard - it would have almost sounded, just for a moment, like Obi-Wan’s. Obi-Wan’s, back when he was making some sort of wry observation. Even that reminder was enough to make Padme’s heart ache.
“Obi-Wan?” Mara sounded confused, and more than that, almost angry. “What do you mean? Lady Nemo, what do you mean?”
Padme almost wished that she could answer. And yet there was something in her that almost couldn’t. Don’t tell her. You can’t tell her. It will only break her heart…
And what will break her heart further if not the fact that you lied to her?
It was looking from Terminus to Padme that Mara seemed to at least somewhat put it together. “You can’t possibly be…” She laughed, but it was a despairing thing. “You can’t be Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s…Lady Nemo said…”
“I know,” Padme said if only softly. “But I’m sorry, Mara. He is…he is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
The look on Mara’s face was enough to all but break Padme’s heart. That sheer look of shock, of outrage, and more than that, grief…it was enough to almost wish that she hadn’t had to lie to Mara. But what else could she do, in the end, if only to protect Mara from Terminus?
Some protecting you did, she thought.
Padme turned towards Terminus. “Let her go,” she said. “Let them all go. They’ve done nothing to you.”
“It’s not the matter of them doing anything to me.” A beat. “Mara…more than anything, she deserves a father. Someone to protect her. A proper upbringing.”
“But at what cost?” Padme could already feel her throat all but seize up in that moment. She almost couldn’t speak. “She doesn’t deserve something like this. She’s just a girl. She can’t…”
And even the thought of Mara being trained in the Sith arts was almost too terrible, too heartbreaking, to imagine. He would treat his own daughter, someone he proclaimed to love - never mind that after all these years, she didn’t know if there was still love in him. Even the matter of sparing her at Sullust she was almost uncertain of, at least in the back of her mind - terribly. He would teach her how to kill, how to manipulate - so many things that she was not meant for. So many things that no one was truly meant for, but Mara especially. To think that Terminus would do this to his own daughter, no doubt in the name of whatever “greater good” he was already imagining…
Padme couldn’t imagine it. And it terrified her more than anything else that Terminus could truly do. Because the very thought that he could do something like this to his own daughter - the very idea -
She couldn’t bear to think about it. Because if Terminus thought of his own daughter as nothing more than a pawn to be used against Sidious, then it was a sign that he was well and truly gone.
***
The way that Padme was talking with him, Terminus thought, one would think that she thought that he had crossed some sort of point of no return. Some sort of line where even the light side could not save him now. But why, exactly?
Mara wasn’t made to be a Sith. At least, that was what Padme was thinking. But really, she wasn’t made for whatever destiny had been laid out for her on Tatooine either. The life of a farmer. The life of someone who woke up day after day, tending the moisture farm, yearning for something more. That and there was so much in her that could be used if only for good. To do what Sidious had promised to do but hadn’t. To heal the galaxy again. The galaxy had gone through so much hardship over the years. If they could at the very least find a way to make it right again, and if they could at the very least find a way to reunite their family again, just as they were meant to be…
To make things right again, Terminus thought, he knew full well that he would do just about anything.
It was in that moment that Padme turned towards Mara. “Run. I’ll be right behind you.”
“No chance,” Mara said. “I’m not leaving you.”
And there was something in Terminus that, if he could, would have smiled. So much devotion in her. She truly was her mother’s daughter.
And then there was something in him that could not help but falter. So much devotion, so much determination. So very much the hint of everything he could have been. Already, he couldn’t help but feel a flare of resentment towards his daughter -
No. Such traits were to be admired, not resented. For all his faults, Darth Terminus was not a petty man.
Padme now placed a hand on Mara’s shoulder. “Mara,” she said, “Do it if only for the others. For all their sakes.”
Silence.
For all their sakes. It had been something that Terminus had tried to impart to Padme for so many years. For the greater good. And something they had tried to impart to Ahsoka, at first with less success - Ahsoka had always been hot-blooded, insisting on all but saving everyone. But even she, after a while, had learned what it had truly meant. Even after all these years, Terminus almost hadn’t thought that it would come back if only to haunt him.
Still, wasn’t that what he was doing in the end? Doing what he could if only for the good of others? For a better galaxy? Was that so terrible in the end?
He could still remember what Master Yoda had once told him. Even those with the best intentions, corrupted they may be. And in spite of himself, he couldn’t help but wonder…was that what was happening to him? Could it be -- ?
No. He was nothing like Maul. He was nothing like Dooku, or the others. They were weak, and they had paid accordingly for their weakness. They were nothing alike.
Mara merely nodded, before turning towards Han and the others. The smuggler looked all but confused at what had transpired, but Mara said, “We’ll talk when we’re out of here. Come on, Han.”
After a while, Han merely nodded and followed her, along with the others. Terminus turned back towards his former apprentice. “You won’t be able to keep her from me forever,” he said.
“And you won’t be able to have her,” Padme said, if only calmly. A beat. “You won’t be able to convert her. She has a stronger will than even you ever had.” A beat. “Only the weak embrace the Dark Side. It takes strength to resist it.”
His own words. What he had said to Maul so very long ago if only to defy him, to rage against fate itself, the Dark Side itself. Now, even hearing them, he could feel the old anger welling up inside him, the desire to, plain and simply, inflict as much pain upon his own apprentice as he could, even as he tried to restrain himself. She’s trying to upset you. She’s trying to distract you. It had to be the case, really.
He didn’t want to hurt Padme, not really. And yet, if he had no choice…
He drew his lightsaber, ignited it. “We’ll settle this as it was meant to be settled,” he said. “Like civilized beings.” A beat. “Are you afraid to die, Padme?” He almost wanted to know. He didn’t want to kill her, and yet if he didn’t have a choice in the matter…
Padme drew her lightsaber, but there was a sort of sadness in her eyes. A sort of sadness, Terminus thought, that seemed to reflect how she had lost someone she had considered dear to her. And for a moment, Terminus almost wanted to hesitate, to stop the duel, but he knew more than anything that though he almost didn’t want to admit it, Padme was a threat if only to the galaxy he wanted to create. A better galaxy. A threat to their family, in a way. If he had to fight her, he would.
And her words rang out almost like the toll of a requiem. “Are you?”
***
The matter of getting out of there was almost easy. Almost, Mara thought, even as they got to the hangar. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Lady Nemo behind, even though, really, it was for the greater good. At least in a way. She couldn’t see what good there was, really, in leaving Lady Nemo behind to Terminus’ “mercy”, if you could really call it that. It was getting to the hangar where the Millennium Falcon was that Mara almost breathed a sigh of relief. They were here. After all this time, they were there. Thank the gods.
She took out her comlink now. “Elizabeth Nerus,” she said, “Threepio - do you copy?”
“For the moment,” Elizabeth Nerus said. “We’re in the main hangar across from the ship.”
“Thank goodness that you’re okay,” Mara said.
“You also. What about…what about Lady Nemo?” Elizabeth Nerus’ voice was almost tight with anxiety.
“She’ll be on her way,” Mara said. “She…she’s just holding Terminus back. We kind of ran into him.”
Elizabeth Nerus took a deep breath. She seemed, at least to Mara’s ears, almost like she was trying to at least convince herself that what Mara was saying was true, that really, Lady Nemo was going to be all right. “You’d best hurry.”
“That’s the plan,” Mara said.
Ada, meanwhile, turned to Han if only in disbelief. “You came in that thing? You’re braver than I thought.”
Han rolled his eyes. “Nice. Come on!”
“He’s right,” Mara said. “We can argue later. Now come on, let’s get going.”
It was then that they rounded the corner, at least attempting to stay out of sight, before the troopers saw them and began blasting. It was just in time that Mara managed to at least dodge the blasts, as well as fire back at the troopers. Han then turned towards her. “Let me take it from there,” he said, “You get them to the ship.”
“Han,” Mara said, almost amazed, “Are you insane?”
Han grinned. “Comes with the territory, sweetheart. Now come on!”
Mara turned towards Ada and the others, and they ran for it.
***
Padme had fought her old master before on Sullust. She didn’t think that she would, once again, face him, at least like this - she supposed that it was a testament to how times changed. Long ago, they wouldn’t have thought that they would become enemies. She could still remember what she had said to him, long before Ahsoka had died, when something like Ahsoka dying was just a nightmare, and the idea of the Empire rising was, to say the least, almost unthinkable. We’ll always be all right, you and me and They’d have to work really hard to separate us.
Except now, at least in a sense, they were separated. And more than that, they were dueling again. She managed to at least repel Terminus’ blows well, as well as put in some defensive moves of her own, but whatever Terminus was learning - he was strong, Padme could not help but think. Very strong. She didn’t think that he would get that strong in her absence. And yet here he was.
Then again, Terminus was always learning. Every Force user was always learning. Even with what Qui-Gon had taught her, Padme thought, she suspected that it was just the tip of the iceberg in regards to Force techniques.
She reached into the Force towards Mara and the others. She could feel Mara’s anxiety, as well as the others’ - Vader’s guilt at leaving her behind. Don’t be afraid, she told them. You’re doing the right thing. Believe me on this.
We’re in trouble. Mara, this time. They’re blasting at us -
Use the bridge controls.
Right. Gotcha. Thanks.
Just keep going. Even in between the strokes of Terminus’ lightsaber, Padme continued reaching towards Mara and the others. Just get to the ship. I’ll be there soon, I promise.
I certainly hope so.
“You believe that you can protect them for long?” Terminus’ voice was smooth, soft, almost emotionless. Or it would be, at the very least, if it wasn’t for the fact that Padme swore that something honestly trembled behind it.
“Yes,” Padme said.
“You would die to protect them?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Padme said. “You were a good man, Terminus. You still are, in a way. You don’t have to keep doing what you’re doing.”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Terminus’ lightsaber met Padme’s again. “I’m trying to do what’s right.”
“But this isn’t the way,” Padme said. “Killing all these people. Burning all these planets. Do you really think that that’s the right thing to do?”
“That was not my design.”
“Not all of it.” Their lightsabers clashed again. “But this is wrong, Terminus. I don’t…it doesn’t matter whatever reasons you’ve presented. All of this is wrong.”
Silver and red continued to clash. Padme was almost reminded, at least almost, of their old sparring sessions, when Obi-Wan was first teaching her to use a lightsaber, but this, really - this wasn’t the matter of teaching. It was a whole mix of emotions - anger and grief and rage and hatred and love all mixed in one.
The Echani had it as part of their philosophy that in battle, one’s true emotions and intentions were revealed. That in battle, all words were swept away, to be replaced with actions and emotions alone. Padme supposed that in a sense, it was true here. Because words were all but inconsequential in that moment. All that really mattered was the matter of actions, and emotions - all of this suppressed grief and confusion and anger that she had kept inside. And yet there was also the matter of love - because Terminus had been a good man once, even though he had forgotten.
Silver. Red. Silver. Red. And as they dueled, Padme reached into the Force itself, letting it all simply go. Letting all of the rage leave at least for the moment, the grief, the pain - letting it flow into the Force, letting the Force itself guide her actions. She could only pray, in the end, that she was making the right decision. And it was then that she knocked Terminus to the ground. The Sith Lord was not quite human, not really, so his groans of pain sounded more mechanical than anything else, and yet even to Padme’s ears, at least in that moment, they sounded far too painfully human. She drew her lightsaber away now, looking down at the Sith Lord’s prone form, before deactivating her lightsaber, hooking it to her belt.
“Obi-Wan,” she said, if only softly, “It doesn’t have to end this way. Believe me on this.”
Terminus stumbled to his feet now. “Why did you take my daughter from me?”
“I didn’t want to.” And that was the truth. If there had been a way, Padme thought, she would have had Mara - and Ben - raised with their mother, as it was meant to be. Perhaps found a way to help Terminus if only so he could raise them as well. And yet there was no other way, if only to hide them from the Empire. They couldn’t suffer their father’s fate. They couldn’t become Sith. And they couldn’t end up like the other Force Sensitives, the other Jedi, and whatnot that the Empire had all but hunted to extinction. “I wanted her safe,” she said.
“And your son.”
“Son?” Terminus’ voice, at least to Padme’s ears, sounded almost like thunder.
“I didn’t want to keep any of this from you,” Padme said, “But I had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
“Not in this case. I swore to protect them,” Padme said, “Even if it meant from you.”
It was an almost terrible thing to think about, having to protect Ben and Mara from their own father. And yet it was the truth. Their father - he would most likely either kill or torture them into conversion, not necessarily save them. It wasn’t that Terminus was a cruel man - at least, compared to the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin who destroyed for the sake of destruction, he was far from the worst evil that the Empire had to offer - but he was blinded. And to think of Mara and Ben both suffering the consequences of that blindness…
Padme doubted that she had ever felt that much honest rage from Terminus. Even during the Clone Wars when they had heard reports of Maul’s return, she doubted that she had ever felt him that angry. Even on Sullust, she couldn’t say that she had felt him that angry. Still, she thought, it wasn’t as if it were unjustified.
“It doesn’t have to end this way,” she said. “Come with me. Come with us. You can see Sabe, Mara and Ben again. Please.” Please, she thought, come away with us. It doesn’t have to end this way. It can’t end this way - please -
Silence.
“I’m sorry, Padme,” Terminus said. “But I doubt that’s possible.”
And the duel resumed in that moment, silver clashing against red, even as Padme felt the grief coming to her eyes again. Pure emotion, flooding into her eyes, grief and guilt and anger and yet, even amidst that, love for the man that Terminus had been, though not the man that he had now become.
***
It was later that Mara and the others ran into Han and Chewbacca again. Mara was almost about to ignite her lightsaber, fearing that it was stormtroopers again from the sound of the footsteps, only for Han to say, “No need to panic! It’s just us.”
Mara lowered her lightsaber, sighed in relief. “What kept you?”
“Let’s say that holding off the stormtroopers took a little longer than we thought. You?”
“We took a wrong turn,” Mara said. “We should probably get to the Falcon.”
“And hope that Kitster and Lady Nemo got that tractor beam out of commission,” Han said, “Or it’s going to be the shortest trip we ever had.”
“We already got the tractor beam out of commission,” Vader said. “There’s no need to worry.”
“Well, that’s good. Now we just have to get the others, and we’ll be on our way.”
It was in that moment that Sabe, Owen, Beru and the droids emerged. Mara sighed in relief, before running towards Owen and Beru, throwing her arms quickly around the both of them. “Thank the gods you’re both all right,” she managed to say.
“You too, kiddo.” Owen looked her up and down. “You look like hell. What were you doing?”
“Garbage chute, remember?” Mara said. “That and…well, I ran into Terminus. Lady Nemo’s in trouble; we have to go get her.”
“Yes,” Vader said. “We should.” There was a sort of solemn quality in his face in that moment. “We can’t simply abandon her.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Owen said. He sighed. “Don’t know how good a blaster’s going to work against Terminus. For all intents and purposes, it’s going to be like taking down a rancor with nothing but stones.”
Vader looked at Owen if only in curiosity. “Why would you even want to do that?”
“It’s a metaphor,” Owen said. “Come on. Let’s go and find her.”
Mara knew that she couldn’t disagree with that. After all, if they failed to save Lady Nemo, if they at the very least even faltered a moment in terms of finding her -
“Follow me,” she said.
And they headed towards the distant hallways of the Death Star, just across the hangar bay, where Lady Nemo and Terminus dueled.