Chapter Eleven  


Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether
that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated
can long endure.  --  Abraham Lincoln -- Gettysburg
Address

  I arise from dreams of thee In the first sweet sleep of
night, when the winds are breathing low, and the stars are
shining bright. -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

  Your beauty was the cause of that effect -- Your beauty,
that did haunt me in my sleep . . . -- Shakespeare -- The
Tragedy of Richard III


   'So, this is Coruscant, magnificent,'  Shal'lyindraa
thought as she, Serena, and Kyp walked through the
Imperial palace, and stood at their assigned spot, where at
any time Luke Skywalker would meet them.
  Kyp, Serena, and she had come out of hyperspace over a
black city covered in yellow and orange lights that ran
together, making patterns that Shal'lyindraa did not
recognize.  The entire planet was one huge city, it was
amazing that something like that was possible.
  There had been dark clouds covering a lot of it, and when
they had docked the _Corellian Sunrise_ and gotten on a
transport, the entire expanse of city before them had been
darkened by the clouds.  Recently it had begun raining, and
through the sun roofs in the ceiling of the Imperial Palace,
Shal'lyindraa was able to watch the heavy droplets beat
across the windows.  Lightening constantly streaked across
the dark sky and thunder rolled ominously.
  "You know, Shal, we're lucky we got hold of Master
Skywalker."
  "Yeah, Serena, I know." Shal'lyindraa looked up above
her at the high dome ceiling.  "This place is extraordinary."
  Kyp nodded his head.  "Yes, it is."
  "There's Han, and . . ." Serena squinted, "some other guy."
  Kyp watched as two figures, one Han, the other a dark
skinned, kind-looking man, walked closer, and closer to
them. "Lando Calrissian." Kyp nodded as he recognized the
man.
  "Oh. I've heard of him before." Serena answered, as Han
and Calrissian reached them.
  Serena stepped up, with her hands on her hips.  "And
where is Master Skywalker?"
  "A meeting, kid, he had to send us." Han hugged Serena
briefly. "Lando, this is Serena."
  Serena smiled at the older man, who raised her hand to her
mouth and kissed it.  "The pleasure is mine, dear."
  Han hugged Kyp, and slapped him on the back.  "Lando,
you know Kyp."
Lando nodded. "Yeah, nice to see you again, Kyp."
  "You, too, Calrissian."
  Serena introduced Shal'lyindraa to the two older men.
  Lando kissed Shal'lyindraa's hand. "Nice to meet you,
darling."
  Shal'lyindraa smiled back at Lando. " Nice meeting you,
too."
  Han looked at the small group carefully, for once ignoring
Lando's remarks to the girls. "Something's wrong, am I
right?"
  "Why else would we come here, Han?" Serena asked, her
face turning into a frown. "Something is very wrong."
  Han nodded slowly. "Look, let's talk about it over dinner,
okay?"
  The others nodded, and they set out quickly for a diner.
Once they reached a small restaurant, they found a table and
sat around it.  The table looked as if it were made of a pearl,
and the walls and floor copied the looks of the tables.  It
was a nice place, but not very fancy, Serena noticed as she
studied the aliens and people sitting around them at other
tables.  There were a few windows looking out over the
city, but the heavy rain, much like the rain on Hander,
covered everything but the lights from view.
  Lando smiled. "This is one of the best places to eat in
Coruscant.  This one main computer runs everything,
including the droids. It's really nice."
  Shal'lyindraa's eyes widened slightly.  "That's something
knew."
  "Yeah, but it makes things a lot easier,"  Lando said.
  'One main computer, where have I heard that from?'
Serena frowned to herself.
  "So," Han began, "what's happened?"
  Shal'lyindraa looked down at her hands which were resting
in her lap and took a deep breath.  "The Jedi Academy has
been attacked."
  Han halfway stood up, and slammed his hands down on
the table. "What?"
  "Calm down, Han." Lando said with clenched teeth. "We
don't want too much attention."
  Han slowly sat down; staring evenly into each face that
was looking at him and the others. "What do you mean the
Academy has been attacked?" he partially whispered.
  "It's been attacked by a Star Destroyer.  There were TIEs,
of that I'm sure, but there were also battle droids.  Battle
droids haven't been used since the Old Republic days, just
when Palpatine was beginning his rise in power.  The only
question is: how did the Imperial get hold of a bunch of
battle droids?  Only one student was killed, the others are
fine." Kyp put in, leaning a little over the table.
  "There's something weird about it, though," said Serena,
"the main temple wasn't touched.  All the students fled to
the jungle, because they thought that the temple was going
to be attacked; it wasn't.  All the land surrounding the area
was attacked, except for the battle droids.  But, they didn't
do any damage at all.
   "It's like the man in charge of the attack thought that the
students would hide in the temple, so he was just going to
attack the land around it. But the only problem is, they did
the very opposite."  Han figured out loud.
  Kyp frowned, "We also know who the attacker was."
  Serena looked at him, her face beginning to pale, when
Kyp gave her a reassuring glance.
  Han sat forward. "Who?"
  Kyp sat back. "Get us a meeting with the Inner Council
and we might tell."
  Han's eyes widened, then he smiled. "Really?"
  Kyp nodded, "We might also know a little bit more than
just that, so I believe it would be best if our wish were
granted."
  Serena nodded, smiling. "And, before you get us a
meeting, get us Master Skywalker, please."
  Han leaned back.  "Sure, why not? After we eat, we can
get ya'll some rooms, and by tomorrow you can tell Luke
everything, and he'll be able to get you a meeting." (A/n* I
spelled ya'll right this time ^_^)
  Kyp smiled. "Good."


                    *         *          *

  Serena stood out on the small, gray-stone balcony of her
room, it was late at night.  The rain had for now stopped,
but, by seeing the clouds in the distance she knew it would
rain again, soon.  Serena looked out over Coruscant, taking
in deep breaths of the cold air that blew past her and into
her room in the Imperial Palace.  Never being on Coruscant
before, Serena was delighted to be on one of the top floors,
being able to look over all of Coruscant.  In the distance she
watched as large lighting bolts streaked through the sky,
forecasting another heavy shower.
  Serena had finally decided what she would do tomorrow:
she would tell Skywalker that Kayro was her father so he
would understand how she knew, but what about the Inner
Council? Once they were told everything, she knew they
would want to know how she knew.  At least she would
only have to tell the Inner Council and not the entire New
Republic Council, which was made up of representatives
from every planet that was a part of the New Republic.
  Serena heard a light tap on her door seconds before it
swished open softly.  Light footsteps tracked her form to
the balcony and Shal'lyindraa stood beside her.  Neither
spoke, as they both studied the buildings before them, lit up
with millions of small and large lights.  Mostly they were
yellow or a pale orange from the buildings, but there were a
few blinking blue and red lights from the flying ships.
  "So, how do you and Kyp know who the Imperial is?"
  Serena studied Shal'lyindraa's pale face before answering,
noticing the way her blonde hair blew past her smooth face
and bright blue eyes.
  She coughed into her hand, trying to buy some time to
think of an excuse, then shrugged. "Meditating. I saw his
face, and Kyp recognized it from some files he had been
studying."
  Shal'lyindraa looked across to Serena, doubtfully. "I see.
Then that's the only reason we're meeting with the Inner
Council?"
  Serena stumbled over her words, "I have a plan. I'm not
sure if anyone is going to agree with it, but I have to try."
  Shal'lyindraa nodded, not bothering to ask what it was.
She did not want to know what it was.  She pushed her hair
back from her face and tapped her pointed chin with two of
her long, slender fingers.  Her hands could have been called
elegant and they moved with a grace that belonged to a
princess.  "Where's Kyp?"
  "I'm not sure, with Han probably."  Serena said as she
glanced down at her own hands and arms.  The muscles in
her arms were tight because she was putting all her strength
onto them, using them to hold her up as she held on to the
stone railings of the balcony.  They were tanned, where
Shal'lyindraa's were pale, like ivory, exactly like Serena's
mother.  But, Serena's fingers _were_ long and slender like
her friend's.  Serena was not clumsy with her hands, but
they sure did not move so fluidly as Shal'lyindraa's did and
as her mother's had.  The Handerin girl could have been an
actress, or better yet a queen; goddess even.
  "Oh."
  "And his kids."
  "_Oh_."
  Serena smiled, "I can just see Kyp being a father."
   Shal'lyindraa nodded.  "He'd be a great one."
  "Yeah, but I'm not so sure I'd want to be a parent if, every
week, I was off saving the galaxy from some Imperial or
another."
  Shal'lyindraa shrugged.  "Han's doing it, and maybe one
day if given the chance, Master Skywalker will be a father,
I'm sure he wants to."
  "I'd like to, but I can't.  It doesn't bother me too much,
though.  I mean, I'm out training to be a Jedi, and I want to
be a smuggler, I wouldn't have time."
  Shal'lyindraa shrugged again and smiled.  "Han's doing it,
and maybe one day if given the chance, Master Skywalker
will be, I'm sure he wants to."
  Serena smiled.  "I think you're repeating yourself, Shal."
  Shal'lyindraa laughed, "I just guess that Master Skywalker
and Han must be the perfect role models."
  Serena nodded her head and laughed.  "Yeah, I guess so."
  Shal'lyindraa stopped laughing, and her face became
serious again. "Rena, when this is all over, are you going to
get in touch with Talon Karrde?"
  Serena stopped smiling.  "Yes, I am."
  Shal'lyindraa slightly blushed. "Then, I was just
wondering, if -- if I could come with you."
  Serena stared at Shal'lyindraa. "Even if you don't finish
your training?"
  "Yes, I can always return if things don't work out, right?"
  "Well, yes, I guess you could. I'm just surprised you even
want to be a smuggler."
  "I do, I really do, it would be exciting.  Anyway, if the
New Republic needs us, they can contact us."
  "Right, I certainly agree."
  "There's another reason I want to go with you."
  Serena was silent, waiting for Shal'lyindraa to continue.
  After a pause, Shal'lyindraa spoke, "You're the first friend
I've really ever had, except for another person, and I haven't
seen him in so long, it's impossible to reach him.  I was
always a friend with Kyp, but he's always excluded other
people except for you, Dorsk, and me. Yet, even now we're
not that close.  You and I, I think, have something special,
so I really don't want you to just disappear on me."
Shal'lyindraa's hair whipped around her face as the wind
picked up speed around them and the dark, water saturated,
clouds drew nearer.  Neither girls went inside, even as a
streak of lightning flashed before their eyes, blinding them
for only a moment and thunder boomed overhead, echoing
through their bones.
  Serena smiled. "Thanks, Shal, you're real sweet, and I . . .
feel the same."
  "Good, then let's make a deal: we'll never desert one
another."
  There was a pause then, "Never."
  "Okay, good."  Shal'lyindraa looked out the balcony. 'I
wonder where Jonnic is,' she thought silently to herself
before speaking. "I'm worried about the Academy."
  Serena's face took on a troubled look as her voice became
sad and monotonous.  "I am, too. I'm still trying to realize
that Brett is dead.  I didn't know him, but he was training to
be a Jedi.  We shared something in common.  Can you
believe how many people will be crushed by his death?"
  Shal'lyindraa shut her eyes against the wind that was
beginning to pick up speed and strength.  She turned from
the view of Coruscant, and walked into the small room that
Serena was staying in.  "I just want to know how someone
can be so cruel as to attack a defenseless place.  So much
like Alderaan, except, only one person is dead, but they had
no way to fight back. We should have stayed, we should
have stayed."
  "You must be tired, Shal, why don't you go to sleep,
huh?" Serena stepped in from the balcony, and closed the
glass doors behind her.  She watched the long braid in the
back of Shal'lyindraa's head move up and down as she
nodded.
  "Yes, I'll go. See you tomorrow."
Shal'lyindraa stepped out of the room, her skirt flowing
behind her regal form.  Serena shook her head and turned
towards her bed.  She sat down on it and slipped off her
boots.
  The vision she had had, with all the people staring at her,
could that have been the Inner Council?  If it was, that
could only mean one thing: she was going to tell them.  She
would have to.  Serena doubted severely that she would be
punished for being Kayro's daughter, but some of the
members might not trust her, yet if they did not, Master
Skywalker could always convince them of her innocence.
She was, after all, training to be a Jedi Knight.
  Serena picked up Kyp's lightsaber, which had been lying
on the dresser beside the bed. 'He must have left it here,'
she thought to herself as she turned the cold, silver cylinder
over in her hand and pushed the button to turn on the
lightsaber.  A shaft of white and violet light appeared before
her, causing new shadows to appear in the far corners of the
dimly lit room.
  It seemed like such a long time ago when she had first
begun training by Kyp.  She had once had severe doubts
about the training, but those had faded away quickly.  Now
she was on Coruscant with a lightsaber, although not her
own, in her hand.  She had been so vulnerable then, but now
she felt stronger, as if she could take on all of what was left
of the Empire.  Things had changed since she had last been
on Tatooine, and maybe they were even for the better.  One
more thing was going to change before she could finally
settle down and really start to live.  She would have to leave
the Academy and her Jedi training behind.  Serena could not
figure which she should do.  She had two choices, return to
the Academy and finish her training, or somehow get hold
of Karrde.
  The sooner she got hold of Talon Karrde and found out if
he wanted to hire Shal'lyindraa and her, the better.  The
longer she stayed with Kyp, the closer they would become,
if coming any closer than they were now was possible.  It
had been an obvious mistake on her part to let herself fall
into the cheating hands of love, but she could not change
anything now; it was too late. Because of their night
together on Hander, Serena had given every part of herself
to Kyp; there was no way she could take any of it back.
  Serena stood up, her bare feet touching the white carpeted
floor and sinking slightly into it. She moved the lightsaber
diagonally past her head, and brought it up to her face.  She
probably would not even be able to make a lightsaber before
she left.  That would be a shame, but she and Shal'lyindraa
would return, and then she could complete her training,
including the part of making a lightsaber.  'Unless . . .'
Lightning flashed outside, and the thunder crashed and
rolled through the room.  Serena jumped as the dimly lit
room was lit up with another crash of lightning, this one
closer than the last.  Through the glass windows, leading
out to the balcony, Serena was able to see the gray and
black clouds rolling towards them highlighted by lightening.
The bottom of the clouds lit up in a brownish color as
lightning shot throughout them, but never exited the thick
gray blanket.
  Serena shut down the lightsaber, and put it back on the
dark wood dresser as she heard someone at the door.  The
commodious room that they were in was a part of the older
section of the Imperial Palace.  The walls were white stone
bordered by a dark mahogany wood along the floor, ceiling,
and doors. The floors were covered in a thick white carpet.
The ceiling was painted white, but there were intricate
designs that Serena could not recognize carved into it.
  The door slid open and Kyp walked smoothly into the
room.  Serena studied his handsome form, knowing happily
that he belonged to her just as much as she belonged to him.
He smiled and lightly blushed, but his tone remained neutral.
"I didn't expect you to be up. But I'm glad you are."
  "Shal and I talked for a bit."
  Kyp walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
"About what?"
  "Nothing really," Serena lied. "She just wanted to know
who the Imperial was, and how you and I knew about him."
  "What did you say?" Kyp asked.
  "I said that I had seen him in a vision, and you had
recognized the description."
  "She didn't ask for a name?"
  "No, but I don't think she really believed me."
Kyp frowned and walked over to the bed where Serena was
sitting,  "She didn't ask anything else?"  He stood over her
and looked down at the eighteen year old.  After a moment,
he turned his back to her.
  "No." Serena shook her head as she finished undressing
and slid under the sheets of the bed. "She didn't feel that
great, so I sent her to bed."
  "What was wrong?" Kyp walked out of the bedroom and
into the small bathroom.  By the opening to the balcony was
a small couch, chair, and table. At the foot of the bed was a
small dresser, then the bathroom.
  "The attack on the Academy really got to her, at least
that's what she said.  I think there was more to it . . .maybe
that thing with Jonnic.  I don't know."  Serena heard water
running, then she heard it shut off.  Kyp's tall form walked
back out of the bathroom, which was made of the same dark
wood as the sleeping and sitting room, but instead of having
white walls, the entire walls were made of the wood that
was this time being bordered by the white.
   Kyp nodded, "I see."
  Serena then watched as Kyp sat down on the bed.  Serena
sat up next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder.  She
smiled, sensing his slight nervousness, she guessed at what
to ask next, "Whatcha want to ask me?"  She breathed in
deeply receiving a good nuance of his cologne.
  "Well . . . this has been sorta going on and off in my mind -
-  this question has.  Does the fact that . . . I've killed
thousands, if not millions of people bother you in any way?"
  Serena did not raise her head from Kyp's shoulder, but she
did smile.  "No.  Sure you killed a lot of people, but the
Empire destroyed your life and eventually it led to the death
of your parents.  Your dark past, and what you did then,
matters nothing to me.  I love you.  As a Jedi Knight you
will make up for all the mistakes you made in your past.  I
love you too much, Kyp, for anything like that to bother me
in the least."
  Kyp pressed his palms to his knees and let out the breath
he had been holding ever since he had asked the nagging
question.  "Good.  I love you, too, Rena."
  Serena, slipping her arm around Kyp's, patted his leg.
Serena looked at the white ceiling, and then at Kyp. "Oh,
and Kyp?"  Serena lifted her head off Kyp's shoulder.
  "Yeah?" Kyp asked, standing up and stretching.
  "When we get back to the Academy, can I make a
lightsaber?"
  "Sure, babe." Kyp lightly smiled at Serena.
  "You'll show me how?"
  "Of course, don't worry.  It might take a while, though."
Kyp switched the lights off and for a moment Serena was
not able to see him undress. As her eyes grew accustomed
to the light she was able to make out Kyp's outline
approaching the bed.
  "Promise?" Kyp slid into the bed and Serena nestled up
against his chest.
  "I promise."
  "How long did it take you to build yours?"  Serena asked
as her eyes became heavy.
  "Well, at first I used the lightsaber of a former student,
named Gantoris.  But, after a while I decided to make my
own . . ."
  Kyp was cut off when Serena kissed him.  He immediately
wrapped his arms around her back, unsnapped her bra.  He
pulled her underneath him, stripped them both out of the
rest of their clothes, kissing her all the while, and, as their
bodies melted together, he suddenly, jubilantly, realized that
he wanted to spend forever with this woman.


  In the middle of the night, Serena sat straight up in bed just
as lightning lit up the darkened room and thunder rumbled
loudly like a huge drum.  She had broken out into a cold
sweat, there had been a dream and now it was flying away.
Serena tried to grasp it as it faded out of her mind like a
gust of wind.
  The rain from outside pounded against the glass doors that
separated the room from the balcony.  The rain trickling in
small rivers down the glass egress reflected from the outside
lights onto the ceiling and walls of the room that Serena sat
awake in, causing spider-webs to dance around her in
yellow fluttering light.  Lightening lit up the sky once again
and thunder clapped before the harrowing lightening had
begun to fade from the midnight sky.  Her dream had had
thunder and lightening in it.  But, that was all Serena could
remember.  The nightmare was gone.
  Kyp was asleep, but he was dreaming, too.  His handsome
face was contorted into a face of indecision and heart-
rendering pain. The rain began to die down, but the
lightening was just as bright as ever, and the thunder was
just as strong and scary as ever.
  Serena's already pounding heart seemed to skip three or
four beats then pick up its pace as she heard Kyp mumbling
words that usually made no sense.  Now they made
perfectly good sense, she just did not know why.
  Kyp, who had been sleeping on his side, rolled over onto
his back whispering the words 'no', and 'I can't.'  Kyp
reached up in the air with his arm, muscles tightened
painfully, but quickly his arm fell back down to the bed.
The muscles of his arm remained tightened though, and his
hand was tightly gripped into a fist.  "Serena, don't do this."
Kyp murmured in his sleep.  "_I_ can't do this.  I love you."
  Serena lay back down, on the other side of the bed, away
from Kyp. Serena did not know what else had been in the
dream, nor the details.  Yet, there had been more to this
dream than just thunder and lightening . . .The pitter patter
of rain finally stopped.


  "No!"  He hoarsely yelled the word out and it burned his
dry throat as if he had been talking for a long time. Kyp sat
straight up in a strange bed.  For a moment he could not
remember where he was, but then he remembered he was on
Coruscant, in the Imperial Palace.  'Was I about to kill
her?'  Kyp asked himself silently as beads of sweat rolled
down his bare arms and chest. _The red sky, the thunder
and, the black lightening had surrounded him as he had
pulled out his blaster and aimed it at Serena._
  Kyp opened his sweat dampened palm.  His arm was
aching, and he did not know why, his hand was aching and
he did not know the answer to that minute problem either.
  Outside the thunder crashed and a flash of lightening lit up
the sky although there was no rain to go along with the
foreboding scene.  Kyp jumped, Serena stayed asleep.
Strange that she had not woken up when he had yelled 'no.'
'Where had the thunder and lightening come from?'  Kyp
wondered silently to himself.
  Kyp watched outside as a bolt of lightening flashed in a
jagged white line down the sky, and was followed by the
boom of thunder.  Maybe he had only been half-asleep
and the thunder and lightening from outside had carried
into his dream.  It sounded weird, but the dream made no
sense, he would never pull a blaster out on Serena, never.
But then, he had never believed that he could kill his own
brother, and looked what had happened to Zeth.  Zeth
had been wiped clean away as Carida's sun had
exploded.  Why?  Because Kyp had tried to save him,
killing his own loving, dear brother had never even
entered into his evil-ridden mind.
  Kyp looked over to the other end of the bed where
Serena slept with no air of peace about her, only
coldness.  Kyp wanted to comfort her, but the dream he
had had . . . would that come true?  And if it did, why
would he ever pull a blaster out on Serena, was she
someone totally different from what he believed her to
be?
  Kyp laid back down, on the opposite side of the bed as
Serena, afraid to get too close to her, for who knew what
the future would bring.  'It might just bring the death of
Serena, because _I'm_ going to kill her . . .'

                    *    *    *

  His face was an ashen color, and his hands were
clenched onto the arms of the black chair he sat in.  He
had just returned with the Vengeance, but would be
leaving soon enough.  Kayro watched his son's face,
wishing silently to himself that he was strong enough in
the Force to be able to do that.  It was Darien, not he,
that had read the minds of some of the lesser students to
find out where the more powerful students were from; it
was Darien now, and not Kayro, who was trying to enter
someone's mind once again to see who had died after the
failed attack on the Academy.  Kayro called it a failed
attack because not all of the students had died, that much
was obvious to even someone as weak in the Force as
Kayro.
  "One . . ."  The single word came out in a biting,
venomous tone.  A rush of exhaled air followed it as
Darien broke his concentration.  "One died.  I am a little .
. . _angry_."
  "Who?"
  "A man from Chandrila named Brett who had a
girlfriend and little sister there.  They both lived."
  "But their hearts are broken, be a little optimistic,
Stenner."
  Stenner replied dryly, "Optimistic does not register in
my mind as a word.  By the way,"  Darien's black eyes
narrowed into dark slits, "I took from that girl's mind a
picture of three people.  Teenagers.  Their names were
Kyp Durron, Shal'lyindraa Ta'ao some blonde girl, and
the next girl was Serena Maldrin, but do you really
believe me to be blind enough to not notice my own
sister?!"
  "Ah, yes, I failed to tell you.  Your beloved elder sister
is alive."  Kayro said nonchalantly.
  Darien thrust himself out of the chair he had been sitting
in and took five long strides before reaching Kayro's
desk.  He slammed his hands onto it and glared down at
his father. "_Failed_?  You _failed_ to tell me that she
was alive?  After _all_ these _years_!"  With an angry
groan Darien pushed himself away from the desk and
began to stalk the room, walking from side to side, one
hand in a tight fist and the other on his forehead.  "I
_sensed_ it, months ago.  I _sensed_ her coming.
Somehow, when I was thirteen, I just _knew_ we weren't
rid of her.  She's come to take revenge."
  "Revenge?"  Kayro allowed himself a cold laugh,
stopping Darien Stenner in his tracks.  "She isn't even
fully trained!  Obviously she has forgotten all that Belle
taught her when she was young.  We have nothing to fear
from the girl, after all she will join us."
  "_Join us_?"  Darien laughed this time.  His arms flew
up in the air over his head and fell back to his sides,
tightened into bloodless fists.  "You old fool!  She was
with Kyp Durron, the Jedi Knight!  The most powerful
Jedi Knight in the galaxy next to Luke Skywalker!  In my
lifetime I've never seen a man use a lightsaber so
fluently! Do you know how powerful he is?!"
  "He hasn't completed his training either."  Kayro spat
out bitterly, "I have a plan that you will not be a part of.
I don't want her to know you are alive.  She knows that I
am the one in charge of the attacks, but she is blind to the
fact that you are alive.   She can't _sense_ you even
though she is stronger in the Force than both of us."
  Darien whirled around and began his pacing once again,
only once having to push his black cape out of the way.
"Curse the day our ancestors were taken over by the
power of the Force.  It has ruined everything, if only
Serena hadn't had the Force!  She would never have
been taken to the Academy and trained in those accursed
ways!"
  Kayro muttered, "If she had never been born . . .  No
need to think of that."  Kayro lifted his gaze from the
black top of his desk to Darien's pacing figure.  "My
plan: By the time the powerful Jedi that we lured off the
Academy return to Yavin Four, you and I shall have
another weapon, a better one than the droids . . . this one
will be a Jedi with the power of life and death in her
lightsaber blade."
  "Serena?"  Darien asked wearily, stopping his pacing
and edging closer to Kayro's desk.
  "Yes.  I with my minimal power in the Force will lure
her over to our side.  She will rid us of as many Jedi as
she can before they join together and kill her."
  Darien slipped his black leather gloves on, ready to
depart from Kayro's presence.  His icy smile turned the
marrow of Kayro's bones cold.  "And her first target will
be that worthless little blonde girl . . . and since I must
admit I am a bit jealous of her lover, Durron, we'll have
him killed next."

                         *    *    *

  A predawn silence had taken over the city planet of
Coruscant.  A gray-blue misty haze covered the black
buildings that arched high into the sky.  Through the thin
fog the sky was a soft opalescent violet, and the once
bright white and gold stars were slowly fading into the
brightening sky.  A soft breeze passed the balcony and
into infinity.
  Below the balcony the blue hued fog turned darker and
darker until it was black and nothing but imaginary
monsters lurking in its shadowy depths could be seen.
  The first ship passed by, a small craft, made even
smaller by its loneliness.  But, above, more cris-crossing
lanes of ships were forming, these larger than the one
that had passed by the Imperial Palace.  Their lights
broke through the haze and turned it into an eerie green
fog instead of blue-gray.
  Serena sighed as she felt Kyp's senses awakening.  She
lowered her head and brought her hands up to her face
and shuddered for no apparent reason.  Serena let her
hands drop to the stone balcony as she lifted her head up
to the slowly growing lanes of traffic that had never fully
emptied during the night.


  Kyp Durron awoke early the next morning.  The sun
would not rise for another half hour.  Serena was not in
the bed, she was already up and dressed.  She was
standing out on the balcony, awaiting the rising of the
sun and the warmth it would bring.  Kyp silently watched
her.  He watched her honey-brown hair blow in the cool
morning breeze, reminding Kyp of the night on Hander
where she had seemed like an angel to him.  Kyp
watched her as she put her head in her hands for a
moment; her shoulders shuddered.  All of this was silent,
and he was not sure if she were crying or not.  Serena
then lifted her head back up, and up, to look at the purple
colored sky, where, hours before, there had been a rain
storm, with thunder and lightening. _Black lightening
and a red sky._
  Kyp got out of the bed in the Imperial Palace and
dressed.  Five minutes later he was outside standing
silently by Serena.  Serena looked up at him.  Afraid of
him, afraid that if he touched her she would recoil from
him and run.  Had she dreamed the same dream?  No,
that was impossible.  No one could do that. _Black
lightening and a red sky._
  "I dreamed last night,"  Serena said after ten minutes of
unbearable silence.  She had actually dreamed twice.  The
second time she had woken up from the same dream the
sky had been a dark gray and the sun would be rising in
an hour.  Serena had known that she would not be able
to sleep, especially since then she had recalled the entire
dream, all the colors, all the agonizing feelings,
everything. _Black lightening and a red sky._
  Serena had climbed out of bed, making sure she did not
wake Kyp, for during the night she had rolled over in her
sleep and he had wrapped an arm around her waist.
Surprisingly her movement had not woken him, and she
had gone on to taking a shower, hoping that would
somehow erase the memory of the reoccurring dream.  It
had not.
  "I did, too."  Kyp said as he saw the first rays of the sun
show over the tall buildings of Coruscant for now he was
able to ignore its beauty.  "It had black lightening."
  "You were going to kill me . . ."
  "But I couldn't."  Kyp finished.  "We shared a dream."
  "Strange.  Will it come true?"  Serena asked.
  "I hope not."  Kyp said, walking back into the room,
leaving Serena outside.  For now, just thinking of the fact
of killing her made him not want to be near her.  If the
dream were to come true, would he ever have the guts to
kill someone he loved so much?


                    *         *         *

  Shal'lyindraa unhappily opened her eyes and sat up in a
bed. A small bed in a small white room with sunlight
spraying through the glass doors. Outside, Coruscant
was beginning to stir with life.  It was stirring with life
she did not want to be around.  She could not stand it
here; she preferred the quiet jungles of Yavin Four.
  The sun was rising, and there were only a few clouds in
sight.  Yesterday had been sad and depressing.  There
had been the attack on the Academy, and the
thunderstorms on Coruscant had not helped anyone feel
better.  However, today promised something else,
something knew.  Hopefully, something good.
  Shal'lyindraa swung her legs over the bed and stood up,
stretching her stiff muscles. She fumbled with her hair
until it came loose from the braid it had been in, falling
over her shoulders like a golden waterfall.  Shal'lyindraa
quickly brushed through her hair and gingerly braided it
back, leaving a few strands to surround the sides of her
face.
  The young Handerin stifled a yawn as she pulled on an
informal white dress, white boots, and walked out of the
room in the Imperial Palace, the center of the New
Republic, somewhere she would have never dreamed to
spend the night in, let alone walk through.  Shal'lyindraa
figured that Kyp and Serena would not be up yet, in fact,
as Shal'lyindraa gazed down each hallway that she
walked through, she realized that barely anyone was
awake.
  'Must've woken up earlier than I thought. So, I have
time to kill,' she thought to herself.  Shal'lyindraa took
the turbolift down a few floors and walked through a
smaller hallway, passing a few people on the way.
  The first tap cafe Shal'lyindraa saw, she entered.  It
resembled the one she had eaten in the day before: high
ceiling above her with windows surrounding her.  She
saw a bar before her with a lone man sitting at it.
Shal'lyindraa walked past the empty sand-white tables
and sat three chairs away from the older man.  The man,
with brown hair and eyes, looked up at her, then looked
back down at the meal before him.
  Shal'lyindraa ignored him, and received the attention of
the waiter setting up the tables.  She ordered her
breakfast and looked out one of the windows to her
right.  The sun was streaming through the window, but in
the distance the seventeen-year-old noticed dark clouds.
  "Hey."
  Shal'lyindraa turned to her side, and saw the man
looking at her.  He was not as old as she had thought in
the beginning.  He was in his early twenties.  It was the
man that had spoken, and he was waiting for her to
respond.  Shal'lyindraa smiled lightly.  "Hi."
  The brown haired man, leaving his breakfast, sat beside
her.  "I'm Micht."  He held out his hand.
  Shal'lyindraa took it warily and shook his hand.
"Shal'lyindraa."
  "When I first saw you for a split second you reminded
me of someone I once knew.  But, now looking more
closely at you, you are way different.  You look too kind
and graceful to be her."
  "Great pick-up line, but it won't work,"  Shal'lyindraa
said coldly.
  Micht held his hands up in the air as if surrendering.  "I
was telling the truth.  I didn't mean to offend you."
  Shal'lyindraa smiled unsteadily and did not talk for a
moment.  Sensing no bad intentions from the stranger she
decided it would be best to apologize.  "Sorry.  I was just
being careful.  Tell me, who did I remind you of? _If _ I
reminded you of anyone."
  "Well, Serena, but that doesn't matter."
  Shal'lyindraa raised her eyebrows at the familiar name.
"Oh.  I see."
  The man at the bar, one with a narrow face and close
set eyes, put Shal'lyindraa's food down before her.
"Want some cafe?"  Micht asked, "You look pretty
tired, like all of Coruscant is resting on your shoulders."
  Shal'lyindraa took her fork and poked through her
food. "That would be nice, and I _feel_ like the entire
_galaxy_ is resting on my shoulders."
  Micht looked at her as if he were truly concerned.  He
ordered a cup of cafe for her.  Micht was good-looking,
rather comely.  "Now, why is that?"
  "Well, " The waiter set a cup of a dark liquid before her.
Shal'lyindraa picked up the warm mug between her
hands and smelled the steam rising from it. She took a
long sip.  "I guess you could call them family problems.
My cousin is in debt, big time. He has no way to pay it
back.  The weird thing is someone owes him double the
money he owes this other person. But the person who
owes him the money won't pay him."
  The brown haired man nodded. "That's not good luck, I
must say."
  "No, it's not.  The fact is, I'd help, but I have no money.
Now some people are after my cousin and uncle because
they can't pay off the debt."
  "Kid, the truth is, I know exactly what you're talking
about.  It happened to me once, but I got out of it.  I
only have one thing to say, and that's never get yourself
into that problem. You see what it leads to, so don't
borrow money, and don't let anyone borrow money from
you."
  Shal'lyindraa nodded, not feeling any better. "Yes,
you're right I'll take your advice, but . . . I only wish you
had some advice on how I could get him out of it."
  The man shrugged. "That's just it, I don't have the right
advice. I could tell you what to do all day long, but it
wouldn't help, it would probably even make things
worse. Sorry."
  Shal'lyindraa stood up and dug some credits out of the
pocket on her dress.  She threw them on the table by her
uneaten food; she had now lost all of her appetite. "Yes.
Well, thank you."
  "You're welcome, but I just wish I could help you
more."
  Shal'lyindraa smiled.  "It's okay, if you knew something
you could say to help me, I know you would.  By the
way, what was this Serena's last name?"
  Micht shrugged, "Dunno, everyone who knew her
called her either Serena or Sere."
  "What did she look like?"
  "Brown hair, beautiful green eyes with gray in them.
She was beautiful.  But, she didn't use her beauty, in fact,
she had pretty lips and a great smile, but I only saw her
smile once.  Once!  She never showed feelings on her
face."
  Shal'lyindraa's smile grew.  "She's here you know."
  "Serena?"
  "Yeah.  Serena."
  Micht smiled.  "I'll have to find her, then."
  Shal'lyindraa nodded.  "Yeah, find her."  Shal'lyindraa
said as she walked out of the empty restaurant.
  "Shal! Shal." Kyp ran up to Shal'lyindraa and spun her
around to face him.
  "Kyp." Shal'lyindraa placed her hand to her chest. "You
really scared me. I --"
  "No time." Kyp interrupted. "We have one hour until
the meeting.  We gotta tell Master Skywalker everything
before the meeting. " Kyp pushed his dark hair out of his
eyes.  He smiled down at her. "Come on, we have to get
ready."
  Shal'lyindraa grabbed Kyp's hand, and ran with him
until they reached a small closed door.  Kyp opened it
and they stepped into a small room with five chairs and a
table between them.  Sitting in the chairs were Serena,
Luke, and Leia. Shal'lyindraa looked over at Serena's
tightened face.  She sat beside her year older friend and
watched her, giving Serena a curious look.
  Kyp pulled up a chair from the corner of the room
beside Luke and sat down in it.  Shal'lyindraa caught
Serena's gaze and gave her a questioning look.  Serena
smiled slightly, or rather tried to smile.
  Shal'lyindraa looked over at Luke Skywalker then
looked at Leia, the newly appointed Chief of State.  The
still young looking woman was obviously worn out from
endless political meetings and no sleep.  Yet,
Shal'lyindraa could still see that she had plenty of energy
stored up in her, which had to come from the Force.
  Shal'lyindraa could immediately tell that Luke was
worried. It was obvious to tell through his expression.
He was staring intently at Serena -- who was trying to
look everywhere but at him.  He seemed to know that
this all boiled down to one person, Serena.
  Since it was obvious that Serena was not going to start
off, Kyp cleared his throat and began to speak, " Master
Skywalker, we have some -- bad news."
  Luke nodded, "The Academy has been attacked, yes, I
know."
  "And Brett?" Serena asked meekly.
  Luke nodded again, this time an even greater sadness
swept through his eyes. "Yes.  I felt it all."
  The Chief of State looked at her brother, and rubbed his
back with her hand. "Oh, Luke.  I'm so sorry." she
whispered in his ear.
  Serena sat up straighter. "I know who it is, Master
Skywalker, I know everything . . ."
  Luke brought his head up and stared her straight in the
eyes. "You do." he stated. Luke Skywalker stood up, and
held his hand out to Serena; he helped her stand up.
"Let's go for a walk and talk about it."
  Serena glanced at Kyp and chewed on her lip for only a
split second.  Kyp nodded to her reassuringly, and she
followed Luke out of the room.  The door shut behind
Serena, trapping her outside with Luke.
  Serena followed Luke as he strolled through the white
halls with high ceilings; these halls included large
windows starting at a foot from the white floor, going up
and up, until two feet from the ceiling.  At one point
Luke stepped out onto a balcony with Serena a few steps
behind him.  Set upon the balcony were tall, metal poles
which led up to large luminescent circular bulbs that,
even in mid-morning, were alight.  She stood beside him
at the edge of the stone balcony and looked down.
Below her she was able to see small ships flying back and
forth, all of them looking harmless and unimportant.
Before her was an endless expanse of buildings, an ocean
of edifices.
  "Tell me Serena, are you going to tell me everything
that you have been hiding."
  "Yes, Master Skywalker. " Serena spoke guiltily.
  Luke nodded. "Go ahead, then."
  "Well, the Imperial that we're fighting now, the one that
attacked the Academy." Serena's voice almost broke.
"This Imperial is my--my father, Kayro Inin.  I've been
going as Serena Maldrin most of my life, but it's really
Serena Inin. I know that my father has four or five Star
Destroyers. I don't know how or why, but he has this
way of getting whatever he wants; so if he wanted more
ships, he could get them."  To think that her father was
someone so cold and sadistic hurt Serena.  Her own
father.  Kyp's father may have been dead, but at least his
father had been a good man, speaking against the
Empire.  Her father was a part of the Empire.  He was
evil, he thrived on the pain of others.  How could her
father be like that when her mother had been so kind and
generous.  Always giving, never receiving.  Never.
Serena's chest tightened as she felt tears form in her
eyes, she blinked them away.  Her father, her own flesh
and blood, wanted to kill.  Wanted to kill every single
person of any importance to the New Republic.  Even if
he did he would feel no guilt.  Guilt, feelings of any sort -
- any sort but hatred --could not be found in someone
like her father, Kayro Inin.  What had made him so cold?
How could anyone be like that?  How could he kill so
easily?  How could he take a life in his hands and destroy
it, plus the lives of others, in one single second?  All it
took was a split second, the time it took for the red hot
laser beam to leave the blaster and blow a hole through
the victim's chest.  How could her father kill so easily?
  Serena dispiritedly continued once she noticed Luke
looking at her with concern in his blue eyes. "I would
have told you everything sooner, but I'm afraid of him.
He knows everything . . . and when he finds out I'm not
dead and that I'm not on Corellia or Tatooine, then he'll
come looking for me, I know he will. He probably
already knows where I am," Serena shivered even though
it was warm outside and there was no breeze for the
moment.
  "If he finds me, he'll kill me, or do something worse, I
just know it. But, when the Jedi Academy was attacked .
. . I _just can't_ stand it anymore. He had no right to do
that. He deserves to die, and I'd like to be the one to cut
his heart in half when the time comes."
  Serena spoke with such venom in her voice, that it
surprised Luke enough for him to stop breathing for a
moment.  Luke widened his eyes, as a gust of wind
buffeted his light brown hair across his face.  Luke
remembered back to the time when he had talked to the
spirit of Ben Kenobi on Dagobah after Yoda had died.
He had then figured out that Leia was his sister, but he
had also been confronted with the fact that Vader was
truly his father and he would have to kill him.  Luke at
first had refused, and then sadly agreed.  He had had such
a hard time realizing the fact that he would have to kill
his father, Luke could not imagine how Serena could
want to kill her father so badly.  Luke looked away from
her angry but tired face.
  Serena began to speak again, this time her voice was
filled with weariness instead of anger.  "Kyp and I want
to appear before the council, Inner Council that is.  I
don't want to have to tell this story to hundreds of
people . . ." Serena's voice trailed off.  She sighed and
pushed the hair that had been blown into her eyes away.
She started back up again after a moment's pause. "I
have a plan."
  Luke nodded. "Han told me about your wanting a
meeting with the Inner Council, and there is going to be
one soon. You can go on and tell them what you like, but
remember you don't have to tell them that he is your
father. Just say you know it from a vision, I can back it
up. It's up to you."
  Serena turned her back on the view of Coruscant. "I
understand."
  "Then we had better leave.  The council meeting will be
underway soon enough. Let's get Shal'lyindraa, Kyp, and
Leia, and we can leave for the meeting."
  Serena stepped behind Luke as they walked back into
the enormous building and began walking back to the
room they had been in.  'I had better do this all right,
and I had better be careful. Now he will be bound to
know about me and if I don't complete my mission then
I'm dead,' Serena thought wearily.



(A/n* this is one of my favorite chapters, the dream thing
and all to me are very cool! But, parts - and I mean parts
- of it won't make sense until Dark Side Crystal. I
also love it when Darien finds out that Rena is still alive!
*evil grin* he _does_ look very cute, then, of course!
But, then, sadly, he is nothing compared to Kyp. *^_^*
misato101@aol.com)