Note #2:
The story takes place after Chapter 2 of KOTET.
Note #3: THIS is why one size doesn't fit all (same KOTET story for all classes)!
Attira was standing by
the Fury, looking at the landscape of mountains. Malavai
approached her, and saw something on her face he had seen only once
before: on the worst day of their lives. Back then he had been the
cause. Now? He didn’t know.
“They treated me like
a stranger,” she said. “Like I didn’t belong.” Another tear
rolled down her pale cheek. She looked up at him. “We build a home
on Dromund Kaas. We got married on Dromund Kaas. I gave birth to
Nil’awr on Dromund Kaas. We planned future on Dromund Kaas. Yet
they treated me as if I was there the first time; a short-time
visitor.”
She silenced for a
moment. He couldn’t find any words.
“I’ve been
rejected, again,” she whispered. He knew what she meant: her
parents had abandoned her like a stranger. Now the Empire treated her
like a stranger, too. Her own words. “I am not seen as a Sith. Or
someone from the Empire. I’m treated like a separate entity. Like a
potential enemy, who could become an ally for a while.”
Another tear slid down
her cheek. His heart was breaking at her pain. He wished there was
something he could do, but he had no idea what that could be.
She turned to him; her
tears of sorrow turning into tears of anger. “Is that what I have
to suffer?” she barked. “Five years of my life stolen. And now
I’ve been thrown out of my own home! Why? Due to my absence?”
“They see you as a
head of another state, my lord,” he said quietly.
She snorted. “I don’t
want another state! I want to defeat the enemy, and then go home!”
She turned away to look at the mountains again. “This is not some
kind of empire I’m building here,” she growled. “This is a
bunch of deserters and defectors from the Empire and the Republic.
Nothing more. Once the common enemy is gone, we go back to fighting
each other. The Jedi will return to their goal of total Sith
annihilation. What will I do then, hmm?” She looked at him again.
“Where will I go? Where will you go? You’re still Imperial. I’m
— apparently — not any more. Even Vowraun treats me like a
stranger, and addressed me ‘commander’. Vowraun! The Sith I
consider the closest thing to my master!”
Malavai wasn’t sure
she was more furious or more morose. He knew for certain she was
hurting, but had no idea how to help alleviate her pain. It was as if
her parents abandoned her again, but this time it was the Sith
Empire. It pained him. She had done so much for the Empire; she
deserved more than this.
On the other hand he
knew it was not lack of respect towards her. It was because Acinia
saw her as equal, not a servant.
Malavai smiled
slightly. His very own Sith always considered herself to be in
service of the Empire. She thought of it as her duty. Now she
was...homeless. Duty-less. His smile faded away. He knew all she
wanted was to be done with Valkorion and his insane offspring, only
to return home to start rebuilding it. She just had learnt that home
didn’t want her back. That she had no home.
That also meant he
didn’t either.
“Maybe you can build
a new home,” he suggested quietly.
The look she gave him
made him take a step back. “Not you too!” she shouted, gesturing
angrily. “I don’t want to hear any more word about that nonsense
of destiny and taking that foul seat! You hear me?!”
“Yes, my lord,
forgive me,” he said but his words were drowned by her rage.
“I want the enemy
destroyed! Utterly and completely annihilated, so that they aren’t
a threat any longer. I want them to burn. I don’t want their
disgusting throne or worthless empire of people who wait drooling for
their droids to wipe their bottoms or narrow-minded cretins praying
to a serpent! You hear me?!”
She suddenly silenced,
eyeing him suspiciously. “If I’m rejected as a citizen of the
Empire, and not allowed to return, what will you do?
Where will you go?”
The question gave him a pause. His place was by her side. He was her
husband. It was his duty to stand by her, and serve her.
But his service was first and foremost to the Empire. All his life,
and it had never changed. For years, serving her and serving the
Empire was one and the same. Would he face a choice of serving either
his wife, or his Empire?
As he stood there opening his mouth, closing it, opening again, and
still not finding words to answer her question, her suspicious look
first turned into furious, and then sullen.
“Betrayed again,” she whispered dramatically, leaning on the
railing, and looking back at the mountains.
“Never,” he said firmly with conviction. “Never!” he
repeated, shaking his head.
“If they force me to do what I don’t want to do, and if they
don’t let me go home, you will have to make a choice,” she said
dryly, not looking at him.
“My duty is where I am sent. But my home...my home is where you
are.”
She pushed away from the railing, straightened, and walked away
slowly, not looking at him. He knew he had blown it, but he had no
idea how to fix it. Instead of support, all he gave her was one more
stab in her already severely pierced in many places heart.
Calling himself an idiot, he thought he should understand better what
she felt. He’d feel the same if he was not considered Imperial any
more, and treated as a temporary guest in the city he had grown up
in.
He wanted to fix it. He had to fix it.
He had no idea how to fix it.
He watched her tiny figure walk away, feeling he had failed her.
Again.
She stopped by the plank to the Fury, turned, and seemed to
wait for him. He quickly walked toward her. Her eyes were dry; her
face was resolute and expressed confidence. When he was a step away,
she grabbed the strap on his chest, pulled him close, and said softly, “I’m sorry,” before giving him a passionate kiss.
He hugged her, and returned the kiss. Then he whispered, “You are
the Wrath, my love, everything will be exactly as you wish.”
She gave him ‘you’re right about that’ smile.
This is how he liked her.
