Chapter Text
15 BBY - The Streets of Corellia
Minjeong darts off into an alleyway as she can hear yells behind her from the crowd - yells that she has become way too familiar with in the past couple of years. “Jedi! Stop right there! We’ve got you surrounded!” She can’t help but laugh to herself as she rushes away; there’s no chance in hell that she’ll be caught by some stormtroopers.
Yes, perhaps Minjeong shouldn’t use her abilities so often and draw so much attention to herself but … even after all this time, Minjeong can’t simply just stand by and not help someone in trouble. Which has led her to this situation - Minjeong rushing away from a store where she just helped to stop a robbery and what appears to be the city’s entire garrison of stormtroopers chasing after her. It’s fine, it’s time for her to move on to another planet anyways. She’s spent enough time here. Perhaps she’d go to some obscure Outer Rim planet next, somewhere the Empire hasn’t completely taken over yet. She had always wanted to visit Tatooine, before all of this, with her J-. Fool, she thinks to herself. She’s gone. You haven’t felt her presence ever since that day. She was alone. She shakes her head, needing to focus on getting out of here alive first. She rushes past another corner however, to find herself in a dead end.
Minjeong grits her teeth and turns to run back when she finds three stormtroopers all with their blasters pointed at her stepping into the alley. “Drop your saber to the ground and raise your hands up, Jedi.” They say the word with such scorn that she can only let out a wry chuckle. “Looks like you’ve caught me. I’ll come along peacefully.” She takes in a deep breath, before holding her right hand out, drawing on her connection to the Force, and pushing. With a cry, two of the troopers are flung backwards out of the alleyway, into the hubbub of the busy city streets. Tsk. There was still one left. In a blur of movement, Minjeong rushes up the side of the wall, pushing off of it, and before she lands, kicks out, as her foot slams into the one remaining trooper who was futilely trying to track Minjeong with his blaster. His body crumples to the ground with a sickening thud from the impact of Minjeong’s kick. She doesn’t look back as she rushes off into the streets once more.
She just needs to get to her speeder - once she’s done that, she can make her way to her ship outside of the city and she’ll be able to get out of here. She empties her mind, focusing on the task ahead of her, focusing on her survival when she can feel someone with her connection to the force. No. Something? Something immensely powerful. And it was getting closer. She comes to a halt and turns to look, unable to ignore this presence. The crowd in the street has strangely parted to the sides, letting Minjeong see who exactly is approaching. A black cloaked, masked figure, the mask itself featureless - the only facial features Minjeong can make out are a pair of gleaming yellow eyes.
Minjeong knew she should run, knew she had to, if she wanted to live but she found herself frozen in fear. She had only ever felt like this twice before - once, when she lost her master, and second - when she lost everything; when she had lost her. Her mind races, memories flashing through her mind - her Jimin being held in the air by that masked Monster, holding her inches off the ground. Jimin’s hands desperately scratching at her neck trying to get free. Jimin looking back at her with tears in her eyes, before she holds a hand out towards Minjeong, pushing her back with all her strength. Jimin’s last words to her. “Live, Minjeong.” Minjeong’s own last words to her. “I’ll find you again Jimin. I promise.” Forcing herself not to look back as she runs away, tears streaming down her face as she can hear Jimin continue to struggle behind her.
Minjeong blinks and stumbles one step back, as she finds a tear falling down her cheek. She quickly wipes it away and looks up to see that the masked figure is standing 10 feet away from her. She knows what these are. Inquisitors. She’s heard of them before - the Empire’s own personal task force, specially trained for hunting down Force Users. She doesn’t know where the Empire is getting these force sensitive soldiers to work for them in the first place - but right now that doesn’t matter too much to her. Her hand goes to her waist, grabbing the hilt of her saber, it fitting comfortingly into her hand. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me go without a fight, right?”
The Inquisitor is silent - and in one smooth movement, drops their cape away from their shoulders, and pulls their own hilt into their hands, igniting the blade, revealing a double-sided red saber. And they move into a stance that is … strangely, familiar to Minjeong. She ignites her own blade, the yellow and black light illuminating her face. For a moment - all is still - all is silent - before in a flash, the two fighters leap towards each other, their sabers clashing.
Minjeong has always been proud of her fighting capabilities, but she quickly finds herself on the back foot against this Inquisitor. It seems they have her number - whatever move she makes, whatever feint she tries to pull, the Inquisitor seems to predict her and attack in kind. ..And the longer the fight goes on, the more Minjeong can’t fight this feeling of deja vu. The Inquisitor’s footwork, moving almost as if they’re dancing .. the contrast between the gracefulness of their movement and the force of their swings … Her mind is forced away from these thoughts at the sudden sensation of a burning pain across her right arm as she leaps back just in time to avoid having her arm severed from the Inquisitor’s blade.
Minjeong takes a moment to catch her breath and whispers, not expecting the Inquisitor to answer, “Who are you?” The Inquisitor deactivates their blade, returning the hilt to their waist, before they finally speak. “I was hoping you would come to the realization yourself, but it seems you’ve already forgotten about me, Minjeong-ah.” The voice is modulated but the lower tone, the slower cadence, the way her name falls from those lips … it’s unmistakable who the owner of the voice is. The Inquisitor raises a hand to their face and with a click, lowers the mask, exposing the face underneath - and Minjeong’s eyes are drawn to her - her Jimin - a face she hasn’t seen in years. Her pale, fair skin, now marred by a jagged scar that runs from across her throat to her right eye. Her plump lips, the beauty mark right under it. Those large, brown eyes that had always looked at her with such sweetness and love - now, this horrible, gleaming yellow filled with anger? Hatred?
Minjeong chokes out a cry, looking up at Jimin. “I - how - I looked everywhere for you, I… I thought you were dead.”
Jimin sneers at Minjeong. “Well, I guess you didn’t look hard enough - here I am.”
“How - what - what happened to you Jimin?”
Jimin’s eyes snap towards Minjeong’s, as their gazes meet, Jimin’s cold, unfeeling snakelike eyes staring daggers into Minjeong’s, almost as if she’s peering into her soul, before she scoffs. “What happened to me? What happened to me, Minjeong? I learned to survive . I came to find you , just like you promised me.”
Minjeong barely raises her saber in time as she suddenly finds Jimin leaping towards her again, with her saber activated and the two of them clash once more, but something is different - almost as if Jimin had been holding back before, Jimin now presses forward with more strength than Minjeong can handle, and forces her to one knee, their blades illuminating both their faces. Jimin grits her teeth and gives Minjeong a smile - a terrifying grimace that fills Minjeong with dread and sorrow. “I’ve come to take you home with me Minjeong-ah … and we can be together again.”