Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anne sat at a street side bar, on the lowest level of Coruscant. At least, the lowest level that’s available to the public. Anne had a vague idea of the under under city, where the planet covered in city was maintained. As a Jedi, she knew that this isn’t where she should be. In fact, if she was ever caught here, the punishment could be to be removed from the order completely. Yet she sat there, drinking ales while the busy dark Coruscant street was loud with foot traffic of all types of people you could imagine.

How did she end up here? This is a question she often thought while sitting there, staring at her beverage. Many answers came to mind. She wanted to get away from the order, getting away from the bureaucracy and the politics that Jedi have fallen into now that the war has begun. She wanted to see what the common people were like; the Jedi were a minority after all, a very rich one at that. She just wanted to be herself. Being a Jedi came with so many rules, so many dos and don'ts. She knew that they were created to prevent a Jedi from falling to the dark side. She didn't really care all that much anymore, she was tired. Although the true reason she sat there was one that she wouldn't admit, not even to herself.

Time passed slowly in the shuffle. She watched the countless different species of people shuffle about through the the dark yet simultaneously artificially bright atmosphere down here. Even during the daytime, the sun hardly ever saw the bottom due to being surrounded by impossibly tall architecture. She always came at night anyways. She pretty confident about what would happen if she was caught not being there for her Jedi responsibilities.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, something caught her interest on the streets behind her. A menacing looking person in all black with glowing green eyes. They were covered head to toe in what looked like armour. It was hard to tell because they were staying on the darker side of the street in the shadows.

Anne got up, paid her tab, and left to catch up to this figure of interest. She dressed to make sure that nobody recognized her as a Jedi. She wore a large dark brown cloak that went all the way down to her ankles. It was baggy enough that her lightsaber under the cloak wasn’t visible. She would look shady if not for the fact that almost everybody in this area looked shady.

The hardest thing about following the green glowing eyes was the crowd. Coruscant’s surplus population made it so that every corner of every street was covered in people. She struggled her way through the ocean of people just barely keeping track of who she was following.

Suddenly the figure disappeared into an alleyway that was covered and completely shrouded in darkness. Normally you would need to bring a light into the alleyway but this mysterious person must have night vision of some kind. Anne used her Jedi senses to tell her where to go in the darkness. The black figure walked down a steep flight of stairs into a building. Anne was hesitant to follow. Even with the force, being slightly inebriated in near pitch black made going down the stairs a little scary for Anne. Who knew what would be waiting for her at the bottom if she did fall? But being a Jedi, Anne knew how to overcome fear. So she made her way down.

Luckily she didn’t fall. At the bottom, she found a button that opened a horizontally sliding door. She hesitated, wondering if this was a good idea. It could be dangerous, especially in the state she was in. Staring at the metal door covered with little indented lines, she made up her mind. She was a Jedi! Nothing could stop her from doing what she needed to do. She doubted this was someone's home but she would feel really bad if it was.

She opened the door.

The first thing she noticed was that there was music playing. This was weird considering she couldn't hear it at all when she was directly on the other side of the door. The inside looked like a mix between a diner and a bar, with server droids carrying drinks on trays. Interesting looking people sat at booths. Everyone here seemed to be carrying a blaster of some kind. Not uncommon for this part of the city. She scanned the room looking for the person she was following. She couldn’t spot them anywhere.

Suddenly she got nervous. What if this had been a trap? Maybe this hadn’t been the smartest idea. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice the older bald man approaching her.

“You new around here?” He said looking her straight in the eyes.

“Y-yeah.” Was all she could muster.

Suddenly a voice came out from behind her. Startling her half to death. She wasn’t used to being snuck up on.

“She’s with me.” A distorted, androgynous voice said behind her.

The man in front of her stared at the figure behind her. Anne whipped around to see that she was face to face with the person that she had been following. Getting a better look at the black armour, she could see they were covered in weapons and tools. Vibra-blades, blasters, a grappling hook, and many more things that she couldn’t tell what they were.

“I told you to stay with me!” They said in a firm voice.

“I-” She tried to speak.

“No excuses. Now come sit.”

Anne had no idea what to say. Something about the way they were talking gave her an idea of what this place was. But she did what she was told and so she sat at the table that they had guided her to. The man who had talked to Anne sat with them.

“Been a while since I saw you here Black Kyber.” The man addressed the person in black.

“Coruscant hasn’t changed since I was last here. It’s nice coming home for a visit.”

Anne’s brain swam with the information. She knew the name Black Kyber. They were apparently the deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy.

“Uh oh.” Was all Anne could think.

“So. What’re ya doing with this fresh cut here?” He said with an intrigued smile.

The green eyes looked at her. Then back at the man. they sighed.

“This is the adopted Zygerrian princess, Tila Zottern. I’m doing a job for her father. Apparently she wanted the taste of the life of a bounty hunter.”

There it is, the confirmation Anne was looking for. This is a bounty hunter’s guild. Where bounty hunters accept new bounties and get paid for completed ones. This place was swarming with wanted criminals looking for jobs. If she could bring the Republic to this place she would be a hero. The biggest problem she had was that she didn’t understand why Black Kyber was covering for her. The thought unnerved her.

“Looks like the princess here isn’t used to the environment, heh. Not as pretty as it sounds from your little castle window.” The man gave her a toothy grin.

She knew that her thoughts must have been showing on her face. She had to salvage this quickly.

“N-no I’m fine.” She had to stay consistent. “Ok sure this isn’t exactly what I was expecting b-but I’m still happy to be here.

“We’ll see how long you last.” He laughed.

Black Kyber cut in. Anne thanked them silently.

“We’re here looking for jobs, the hardest you’ve got as usual.”

“Of course, of course. The best for you as always.” The man laughed again. Anne was getting sick of this guy’s voice.

The man showed Anne and Black Kyber a list of bounties. Instead of going for the highest paying bounty, Black Kyber chose the job that seemed to be the most interesting. This didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary to the man. Anne decided at that moment that she should leave as soon as possible.

“Well, we should get going, the bounty won’t hunt itself.” She said, giving the fakest smile imaginable.

Both of them stared at her, the man rolled his eyes. She could feel the green eyes piercing into her skull.

“Yes. We should go.” Black Kyber said matter of factly.

The man looked at them both, thinking about saying something but then stopping.

“Don’t be a stranger, Kyber.”

The two of them exited the guild into the pitch black alley. Walking up the stairs, Anne was shaking. She hoped that the bounty hunter didn’t notice. As soon as they reached the top, Anne had to ask.

“W-why did you help me, in there?”

Black Kyber stared at her.

“Can I ask you something?”

“S-sure.”

“Why was a Jedi at a bar drinking booze?

Anne’s jaw dropped. She had been caught the moment she left the bar.

“How did you-”

“My goggles detect heat signatures. Kyber crystals give off a very specific heat signature.”

Anne’s heart sank. She should have known. She should have at the very least been more cautious.

“You- You still haven’t answered my question.” More than ever, she needed to know.

…

“I don’t fight Jedi or Sith.”

It was Anne’s turn to stare.

“If a fight between you and the guild members had broken out, things would have gotten messy and I would have had to leave. Could’ve hurt my reputation.”

Anne found it hard to believe, but she could understand not wanting their reputation to be hurt. She knew that most of being a bounty hunter was about reputation. It’s how they found their work. But Black Kyber had one of the greatest reputations out of all bounty hunters if not the greatest reputation.

“Really? You were that worried about your reputation?” Anne asked in disbelief.

She swore she could see those green eyes glow even more intensely.

…

“I found you interesting.”

…

The silence was deafening. It lasted for a good 30 seconds but for Anne, it felt like an hour.

“What do you mean?” She finally managed to choke out.

“A Jedi drinking alcohol in the dark depths of Coruscant. Far from the Jedi temple. It’s intriguing isn’t it?”

This was not something Anne wanted to talk about, and with a bounty hunter no less. Suddenly Anne’s shock and fear turned into anger. How dare this criminal talk to her as if she was some science experiment! She had to bring this bounty hunter to justice and she was going to do it right there and then! She ignited her lightsaber, lighting up the alley.

“Does your no fight rule include when a Jedi attacks you?” She scowled.

The criminal tilted their head almost judgingly. Anne took this as a yes. She pointed her lightsaber closer to the criminal.

“I’m taking you in to the nearest station!” They didn’t move.

…

The hum of the lightsaber filled the silence in the air. Anne started shaking again.

“I-I said move!”

Their head tilted even farther to the side, looking Anne dead in the eyes. Anne had had enough, she lunged at Black Kyber.

…

The fight lasted 15 seconds. Anne was conscious but she couldn’t feel her body. She lay on the cold hard ground, looking up at the person who had defeated her. Her lightsaber was still on, several meters away from her. She could hear her heart beating. She thanked the force it was still beating. Almost every muscle in her body was paralyzed from whatever weapon they had hit her with. The same weapon that had so easily parried her lightsaber, sending it flying. They walked over to the lightsaber and turned it off. She couldn’t even turn her head to see it happen. With the lightsaber off everything went black. Everything but a pair of glowing green eyes. Suddenly a pain ran through her and the rest of the lights went out.

Chapter Text

Marcy did not have Black Kyber kidnapping a Jedi on her agenda for when they went to Coruscant. She expected to visit her old foster home, their first bounty hunting guild, and then an old friend while getting a new job. She did not expect the job to come with a Jedi attached to it. Yet here she was, in the cockpit of her ship, holding a Jedi captive. She didn’t even know what to do with the Jedi. All she knew was that she wanted some answers.

Black Kyber really hadn't liked what what she was about to do. Honestly, neither did she. But, she was confident in her heart that the Jedi wouldn't respond to an icy cold bounty hunter. Would she respond to the small young woman that was Marcy Wu? Despite not being Black Kyber, she did share a body with the fearsome bounty hunter. Maybe that would be enough to level the difference or maybe it would be to her own detriment. She did know that the Jedi's goal in the galaxy was to protect those that couldn't protect themselves, aka the weak. Maybe it just didn't matter. This Jedi certainly seemed unconventional.

Marcy had always been fascinated by the Jedi, and by association, the Sith. From a very young age she wished she had the force. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t. So when it seemed like the universe wanted her to be forgotten, she crafted an identity so strong, even the Jedi would know her name. At least her fake name. Marcy knew that the name “Marcy Wu” wasn’t quite intimidating enough for anyone to take her seriously. So she took her love of Jedi culture and came up with the name “Black Kyber”.

Now there she was, flying through space on her way to Black Kyber's next job. The Jedi on board her ship should be waking up any minute now. She didn’t have any of Black Kyber's bounty hunting gear on at the moment. If you saw her now you would think that she’s a regular citizen of Coruscant, not that she technically wasn't as Marcy Wu. Her life was just a bit more complicated than that.

The relationship between her two halves was simple. Marcy Wu was a boring nerd with obnoxious hyper fixations and absurd interests, she'd read out entire libraries before in the the span of maybe a week or two. Black Kyber was cool and awesome and everything that Marcy was not, which is why she kept her two identities apart. That is, until now. She cursed her personality for bleeding into Black Kyber's. She’s decided that it would be best to talk to the Jedi as Marcy Wu and not Black Kyber. Maybe if she talked to the Jedi like this, then she would be more open to conversation. She hoped the whole “being kidnapped” thing wouldn’t be too much of a turn off from conversing.

Whatever the case may be, she decided that now was as best time as any to go check on the jedi. She turned the ship on autopilot. Then she got up and left the cockpit. Making her way through the relatively large ship for a single bounty hunter, she wondered what she should say.

“Hey there, remember me? I kidnapped you-” She muttered to herself. “Nonono. something to ease her in, something to-” She got cut off by her arrival at her games room. The same room that held the Jedi.

Marcy held her breath, looking at the door. She had never felt this nervous for anything and she didn’t know why. She didn’t want the Jedi to hear her muttering to herself in case she was awake. She took a deep breath, and awkwardly made her way in.

The Jedi was awake, sitting on the chair, pinned down by the metal cuffs around her limbs that connected her to the chair. The Jedi looked at her groggily as she walked in her direction. Marcy paused before making her move.

“Hi I’m Marcy.” she said, extending her hand as if she expected the Jedi to shake it.

The Jedi looked at her in disbelief.

“O-oh right, your arms are pinned. I forgot, haha.” She said with anxious laughter.

Stupid Marcy! She thought to herself. Now the Jedi’s going to think you’re weird. The Jedi did, in fact, think she was weird. The Jedi opened her mouth to speak, it took a few seconds for words to escape it.

“Wh-who?” She asked meekly.

“I just- I just said my name right?” Marcy said, confused.

“N-no but-”

“Oh right! I haven’t told you yet!” she said, face palming. “So, obviously I'm not Black Kyber. We're just... roommates”

The Jedi continued to stare, a look of confusion creeping on to her face.

Suddenly she realized her own possible innuendo. "nonono." She rapidly waved in hands in embarrassment. "I mean we share a room up here." She pointed to her head. "I'm not saying I have a dissociative disorder… I'm pretty sure."

The Jedi's silence was killing her.

“Well, u-um. What’s your name?” Her confidence dropping a bit.

The Jedi’s head lowered about as far as it could possibly go.

…

“Anne.” A small voice could be heard from the Jedi.

Marcy looked at Anne with interest and a bit of sympathy.

“Anne Boonchuy.” she said with a defeated finality.

…

“Hi Anne, it’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry to keep you here. I don’t usually mess with Jedi like this but you just seem so… different.”

Anne didn’t move her eyes off the floor. Marcy felt pretty awkward.

“Well- how about I come back later and see how you feel then.”

Anne didn’t respond.

“Okay, I’ll- I’ll talk to you later.”

She turned around to leave. Before she left the room, she noticed Anne glancing at her. Marcy looked back to look at her. Anne looked away again. Marcy sighed. Then she left.

Marcy paced her ship for what felt like an eternity. She found herself staring at her custom built ship interior. The whole thing was branded to her image. The black walls with neon green stripes running through them. The lighting was moody and the air was tight, just the way she liked it…

So maybe Marcy had been having second thoughts about her career lately. So what? It’s not like she could go back and rewrite her life. She had chosen this path and there was no going back. She paced through her weapons room. A room filled with every device meant for bounty hunting imaginable and they all were designed to fit her brand. She paced through her prison chamber where she kept her bounties until they needed to be dropped off. The idea of putting Anne here had never crossed her mind. Anne was not a bounty.

All she could think about while she paced was what this Jedi’s deal was. Was she even a Jedi? Nothing about her seemed very Jedi like. She seemed to have a temper and wasn’t the most rational. Everything about Anne pointed to the fact that she wasn’t really a Jedi. Everything except for her lightsaber, which Marcy was keeping in her weapons room for the time being. Maybe she had made a mistake. Maybe this person had found this lightsaber randomly and just carried it for defense. If this was the case, then Anne was about to face her wrath for wasting her time.

However, if Anne wasn’t a Jedi, then why did she follow Marcy? Any regular citizen knows that you should always mind your own business and not stick your head where it doesn’t belong. Was it just due to the alcohol? Then again, Anne shouldn’t have been able to hold her own against Marcy for even just a few seconds, if she wasn’t a Jedi.

Questions like this swirled around Marcy’s head until she’d had enough. She was going to get some answers whether the Jedi wanted to or not. She walked back the way she came, back to her games room. It was the one place on her ship that she didn’t make to fit her brand. It was a place to get from the crushing loneliness of being a bounty hunter without an equal.

Marcy entered the room for the second time today. Anne was in the complete opposite position than what Marcy had last seen her in. She was looking forward with her head tilted slightly up. Her eyes looked completely unfocused and her face looked blank with expression. She looked over at Marcy as she made her way towards Anne.

“Hi again.” Marcy said, this time more firmly. “I need some answers. Otherwise you're going into the cold abyss of space.” It wasn’t a threat she intended to follow up with. But the “Jedi” didn’t need to know that.

Anne looked at her. Then she nodded her head solemnly. Marcy couldn’t help but feel that she was being a bit overly dramatic. Unless Anne really wasn’t a Jedi. Then she was screwed.

“First question. I’ll try and start out easy. Are you a Jedi?”

Anne hesitated, then she let out a small hollow chuckle.

“I thought you said you were going to start with an easy question?” Anne asked with pain in her voice.

Marcy’s brain swam faster than it had ever swam before. If Anne didn’t know how to answer it, or didn’t want to answer the question, then that means she must have at least been a Jedi at some point in her life. But if she was no longer a Jedi, then the answer would have been obvious. Marcy could only come to the conclusion that Anne was still a Jedi. Or maybe Anne is hesitating because she knows what would happen if she wasn’t a Jedi. But that would make her response even weirder. Anne pondered for a second.

“Yes, yes I am.” Anne said, doubtfully.

Marcy looked at her, bewildered. She waited for Anne to elaborate. She did not. Marcy knew that she would have to prod further.

“Do you like being a Jedi?”

A strange look appeared on Anne’s face. She looked at Marcy with wide eyes of desperate confusion.

“I-I don’t know?”

Marcy was getting tired of these vague answers. She needed the truth, now. Anne was just too fascinating. Anne spoke before she could ask another question.

“Why? Why are you so interested in me?!” She said with a sad, annoyed curiosity.

Marcy didn’t know if she wanted to tell the truth. She knew if she did, it might make Anne more willing to talk.

“Ok, ok. I’ll tell you. But only you if you tell me what your deal is.”

Anne nodded in a resigned manner. Marcy sighed, knowing that if she didn’t talk, she would be a massive hypocrite.

“The truth is… There hasn’t been a job that’s interested me in forever. I’ve literally become too good at what I do. The only reason I continue looking for jobs is because of my reputation. If it wasn’t for that then I’d-” She was cut off by Anne’s incredibly incredulous stare. Marcy didn’t know why but it made her tremble.

Anne continued staring for an eternity until she decided to break the silence.

“You have two identities, right?”

“Y-yeah, but.”

“Nobody knows that your two identities are the same person?”

“Yeah…” Marcy didn’t like where this was going.

Anne rolled her eyes.

“Just get rid of the Black Kyber one.”

Anne said it like it was so easy, like it wasn’t an entire half of her. Marcy glared back at Anne, gritting her teeth.

“You first.” She said with an intensity she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Anne glared back at her, mimicking Marcy’s face. Their heads locking in the most important staring contest of their lives. It lasted for minutes before Anne had to drop her glare blinking the dust out of her eyes. Then she looked back at Marcy with a determined look on her face.

“Maybe I will.” The bitterness out of Anne’s voice was palpable.

Marcy didn’t know what to say. Anne had won the argument. But Marcy couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to be a Jedi. Marcy had received the short end of the stick at birth, but Anne had everything that she had always dreamed of. And she was willing to throw it away, just like that! Her entire reason for everything that she had ever done in her life, and Anne wanted nothing to do with it! Marcy was fuming. She slammed her fist on the table in front of Anne. Anne flinched.

“You’re pathetic!” She said with extreme malice. “You wouldn’t last 2 seconds without the Jedi there to hold your hand! This just proves my theory that the force doesn’t choose who gets to wield it. Because if it did, then it would have chosen me and not you!” She screamed in Anne’s face. Anne looked petrified.

Marcy stormed out of the room.

Chapter Text

Anne wanted to scream. She wanted to take back the words that had poured out of her mouth. But Marcy had already left. She knew that there was no going back because she had meant it. The words that had come out of her mouth were completely natural. She hadn’t said it just to spite Marcy. She was no longer a Jedi and she could feel it.

She was terrified and alone.

Meanwhile, Marcy was fuming. She was pacing around the cold interior of her cockpit, unable to relax for a second. She wished that her heart would stop racing and for her brain to work properly even for just a second. One thing was for certain, she was going to toss Anne off of her ship the first chance she got. She never wanted to see that-... She choked on her own rage. The planet for her next job was coming up. They would be there in about half an hour…

Part of her was still curious about Anne. The other half never wanted to see her again. It took her 5 minutes to make up her mind. She needed to know, otherwise it would drive her insane for the rest of time. She stormed off towards the traitor.

When Marcy arrived, Anne had a desolate look on her face. One of fear and regret. She didn’t care. She took the small blaster that she was carrying and put the tip of it to the side of Anne’s head.

“Why.”

Anne didn’t flinch, she didn’t even seem to mind it. She just looked at Marcy with somehow even sadder eyes. The silence was uncomfortable.

“I wasn’t a very good Jedi.”

Marcy had to bite back her laughter. Anne’s answer was so stupidly obvious. Marcy growled.

“Anne, how old are you?”

She flinched at the mention of her name.

“Twenty.”

“How? How did it take you so long to leave?! How long have you been drinking for? Do the Jedi know how bad you suck? Why didn’t they kick you out?!

…

Anne let out the biggest exhale Marcy had ever seen. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to steady herself. She did her best to look Marcy in the eyes.

“Ok. But it’ll take a while.”

Marcy cursed herself on the timing. Their approach on the planet was imminent. Anne’s departure from Marcy’s life would have to wait. Marcy needed to be there for the landing on the planet’s surface.

“Uh, ok just- I just need a sec to land the ship.” She ran back to the cockpit of the ship, just as it came out of hyperspace.

The lush green and blue planet loomed before her as they made their way towards the planet's surface. A small planet called Amphibia. The trip down only took a few minutes. She landed on flat ground, a little bit away from the city walls. After she landed, she sighed, preparing herself for whatever story Anne was about to tell. She walked back to her prisoner.

Anne looked at Marcy as she entered the room, with that same resigned look on her face. Marcy sat down in a chair at the same table that Anne was tied at.

“Okay, spill it.”

Anne took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. Then her head came back down and settled into an unfocused look that seemed to go straight through Marcy.

“Being raised by the Jedi was… Difficult. I tried so hard to fit in. I loved the Jedi, I loved what they stood for. I wanted to bring peace and balance to the galaxy. I even thought that I had a chance because I was strong with the force…”

“What happened?”

“…Someone close to me in the order left. I was so ashamed to admit that it destroyed me, I-I lost myself. I never asked for help, I never talked to anyone about it, I just let myself rot.”

Anne took a second to Breathe. She was shaking.

“All I ever wanted was a friend. Not just a friend, someone who I could tie my life to. Someone who I could trust to be there for me anytime and I would do the same for them. That person… she left me." Tears started welling up in Anne’s eyes. “Some of the Jedi tried talking to me about it b-but it never seemed to change anything. It didn’t change how I felt. I was so alone, I-I needed to get away. I started wandering the bottom of Coruscant when I was sixteen. Something about it-it felt like I fit in. There were no expectations down there, I could be lonely in peace.”

Full on tears were escaping Anne’s eyes at this point.

“Then when I turned eighteen I started going to bars. It was… Amazing. There were so many people there and they were willing to have nice conversations and-and…”

Anne broke down crying, choking on her own tears.

“I-I’m s-s-sorry… You’re right about me. I’m pathetic! I should have left a long time ago. I’m just a coward. A coward and a hypocrite”

Marcy could only stare as Anne broke down into tears. A creeping dread crawled across her stomach. She could feel the rage she had felt from Anne disregarding the thing that she had always yearned for, into an empathy that unnerved her to her core. The existential dread of loneliness. The inability to trust anyone to have your back except for yourself. They were both truly alone.

“Marcy.” Anne must have noticed that she was deep in thought. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I don’t know.” She admitted. She didn’t know what to do anymore. She just felt empty.

Neither of them spoke for an eternal minute. The buzzing sound of the lights made her aware that she would have to get them replaced.

“I’m sorry.” Marcy felt guilty. “About what I said. I’m sure you would have made for a great Jedi, if you were given the chance.”

“W-what.” Anne asked, with a look of disbelief.

“I mean it. Maybe if you were around better Jedi, things would have worked out for you.” Marcy could feel her face falling.

She stared at Anne, knowing that what she was going to say next could change her life forever. It was her turn to let out the biggest exhale of her life. She leaned back.

“Anne um-, I-I understand how you feel about being lonely. I’m not very good with people and the status I’ve earned has made it impossible to trust anyone around me…”

“What are you-” Marcy cut her off because she needed to say it.

“Anne, can I trust you?”

“Trust me with what?” Anne’s face twisted with confusion.

“With anything… You have every reason to hate me right now. If you wanted to you could leave and reveal my identity to the whole galaxy if you wanted to. I wouldn’t stop you.”

Anne’s face turned from confusion into curiosity.

“Why did you reveal yourself to me? It doesn’t really make sense.”

Marcy sighed. “You’re right it doesn’t make sense… I guess I was just tired of hiding, and I wanted to talk to you as a person, not as a pair of creepy glowing green eyes.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Anne didn’t look convinced.

“I… Want to trust you. If I could trust you-, you could stay here on the ship with me. Only- if you wanted to, of course! I wouldn’t force you to!”

Anne’s mouth dropped. The words had come pouring out of her mouth. Her deepest desire. A companion. She had finally found a kindred spirit.

Anne looked like she was about to explode.

“Are… Are you asking me to join you?”

“…”

“What are you, a Sith?!” Anne had the most insane expression Marcy had ever seen on her face, and Marcy had seen a lot of insane faces.

Anne stared Marcy in the eyes before releasing a breath that she must have been storing.

“What would we um… What would I do?”

Marcy thought about it for a second.

“You could stay here on the ship when I’m going out as Black Kyber. Then we could go out only when I’m in my Marcy mode.”

“Or…?”

“Or I could teach you how to be a bounty hunter.”

Anne gave Marcy an unamused glare.

“You want me to become an outlaw.”

“I want your life to have purpose! I don’t want you sitting at a bar, drinking your life away! Also the cool thing about being a bounty hunter is that you get to choose your own code of ethics! Nobody can tell you who you are.”

Anne thought about it for a second.

“What about you? Would you be casually committing murder while I’d be trying my best not to suck as a person.”

“Well, um, I can adapt!”

“Really, just like that? You’d be willing to change your code of ethics just for me?”

Anne was giving her the side eye. She was sure that Anne would be crossing her arms if she could at the moment.

“Yep! I’m always up for a challenge. Not that I really had a code of ethics to begin with but I’d be willing to learn!” She said, cheerfully.

Anne’s eyes fell to the floor, she looked like she was contemplating. Marcy internally pleaded that Anne would say yes. She wanted a companion so badly, she could feel the desire vibrating in her bones. Anne gave a small little sigh before returning her eyes to Marcy.

“I don’t hate you, I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone, except for myself I guess. I don’t blame you for any of this. I was the one who was being stupid following you in the first place haha.” She gave a nervous chuckle before locking eyes with Marcy with the most serious look she had ever seen from the ex-Jedi.

“You can trust me. I… I believe you’re a good person Marcy. I don’t believe that anyone’s a bad person anyways.

Marcy’s eyes widened with anticipation.

“I’ll join you. But only if you stick to your word.”

“Yes! Wooo!!! Let’s goooooo!” Marcy’s excitement from all her built up anticipation had finally burst.

Anne watched in bewilderment.

“Um, Marcy. Could you unbind me please.”

“Oh! Right!” She clicked a button on her invisible wrist control panel. The binds holding Anne down opened. Anne stood up, she rubbed her wrist and tapped her foot to her heel.

“Sorry about that. I just got swept up in the excitement of having a new friend haha.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say we’re friends exactly yet. All you’ve done is kidnap me so far.”

Marcy felt sad at Anne’s words but she could also understand it. She would have to earn Anne’s friendship the old fashioned way. Whatever that way was, she didn’t know.

“Let’s go get that bounty!”

Chapter Text

Anne needed a new look. Marcy had convinced her that the full body cloak she was wearing before wasn’t a good look. Neither were the street clothes Anne would wear under the cloak. Luckily by some small miracle, Marcy had some spare clothes that could fit Anne. This was despite the fact that Anne was nearly a head taller than Marcy. The clothes weren’t ideal and they made Anne feel a little too much like a sith. She half expected, when she looked in a mirror, that she would see a pair of yellow sith eyes staring back at her. Instead she was met with her usual brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail and her usual hazel brown eyes which matched the skin tone of her face.

The outfit was black, because of course it was. Marcy didn’t seem to own anything that wasn’t black besides the small touches of glowing emerald green she would see here and there. The only clothes that would fit her were the ones that Marcy had purposefully made baggy to conceal weapons. So basically the same thing Anne was wearing before, just a lot fancier and pitch black. 

A very noticeable feature of her new clothes is that there were places to hold weapons in every conceivable place that Anne could think of. There was a holder on her back clearly meant for two swords of which you would be able to reach over your shoulder and unsheathe both weapons at the same time. Anne was much more of a mono wielder.

The outfit unnerved her nearly as much as the role she had agreed to. “As long as Marcy agrees to uphold her end of the deal, then everything should be okay.” Anne tried to calm her nerves, “Everything's going to be ok, Everything's going to be ok.” The mantra did little to help the feeling that she was going down a dark path.

“Hey Marcy.” Anne approached Marcy in the games room. Marcy was sitting at an arcade game machine, waiting for Anne to be done. She had already changed into her Black Kyber outfit with the creepy voice modulator.

“Are you ready?” Marcy asked in a neutral tone.

“Uh, not quite. I’ve decided I’m not bringing my lightsaber to any bounties.”

“Why not?”

“Cause um, I think it would be pretty disrespectful to the Jedi if I did. I’m just not comfortable using it for a selfish purpose.”

Marcy nodded. Her mannerisms while in the suit were really beginning to creep Anne out.

“You need a weapon.”

“Yeah I know. Do you um, have anything similar to a lightsaber I could use?”

Marcy looked Anne up and down before giving a small nod.

“Yes.” She beckoned for Anne to follow her.

“Marcy, do you have to act like that when you’re in costume?” Anne said while the two of them walked through the ship. Marcy stopped and stared at Anne.

“My name is Black Kyber. Do not confuse me with her.”

“Ah.” Anne said, slowly regretting her decision.

“Do not call me a 'she'. That information is strictly confidential.”

“Really? Why?” Anne said, curiosity holding on to her.

“Knowledge is power, Anne. A lack of knowledge is fear. The less people know about me, the less human I am.”

“You can be a she without being human.” Anne grumbled.

“You know what I mean.” Black Kyber glared at her.

Anne decided that she would call them Kyber. Easier that way. Not out loud of course.

They reached the weapons room. It was a black room like the rest of the ship, with glowing green lights highlighting the weapons on tables.  A thin band of green light separated the walls from the ceiling. A full on black bodysuit lay haphazardly on top of one the weapon display tables. Before Anne could ask about it, Kyber had already read her mind. 

“An invisibility suit, the worst purchase I’ve ever made.”

“Why’s that?”

“Sucks the enjoyment out of my job, it makes stealth too easy. It’s also not good for my reputation. Invisibility is for cowards and warfare.”

“Why’d you buy it then?”

“It was expensive and the technology is brand new. It’s more of a status symbol than anything.”

“Do you plan on showing it to anyone else?”

… 

“No.”

She didn’t know what else to say. The logic was beyond her own.

Kyber hit a button on her wrist and a wall panel opened up, revealing loads of different looking swords illuminated in a green light. Anne felt intimidated by the display.

“You may have whatever you want.”

Anne stepped forward, trying to get a better look at the swords on the piercing glowing green wall. One of the swords caught her attention immediately. It was a small hilt that looked indistinguishable from a lightsaber. Anne knew it wasn’t because she couldn’t feel the kyber crystal.

“My replica lightsaber. Nearly perfectly mimics the function of a lightsaber.” Marcy had caught where Anne’s attention had gone. “The only problem with it is the weight and that it can’t cut. Instead it discharges an electrical pulse into your target’s body, leaving them paralyzed.”

“Is that what you used against me?!”

They nodded. “Not this exact one and the ones that I use look a lot less like a lightsaber. I can’t have people knowing of my fascination for the Jedi.”

Anne nodded back. “Does it come in any colour other than green?”

Kyber nodded again. They walked over to the wall and picked the not-lightsaber off the wall. They twisted a dial on the light saber and then turned it on. It was a bright Jedi blue. She could hear the hum coming off of it. They then passed the blade to her. Immediately she could tell what they meant about the weight. The blade was clearly not pure energy. There must have been something solid in there keeping the blade in place. It was barely noticeable but the stark contrast of no upper weight versus a bit of upper weight was going to take adjusting to.

“Thank you.”

“No worries.” They waved their hand signaling it wasn’t a big deal. “Are you ready now?”

Anne nodded. The weight of what was happening has finally properly settled in. She took a second to swallow. “I’ll leave my lightsaber here then.” They nodded. “Ok I’m ready. Let’s go.” She took a deep breath.

The two of them walked to the entrance of the ship. Kyber hit a button on the wall. The door in front of them folded forward until it hit the ground of whatever planet they were on. Blinding white light forced Anne’s eyes to readjust from the moody lighting that was most of Marcy’s-  Kyber’s ship. The two of them stepped onto the planet. Anne expected the ship to be inside a city already. Instead, the ship was on a flat plain with a cliff that led down to shallow water. Anne took a second to breathe in the humid fresh air. She noticed the city surrounded by water. The walls were enormous and the castle was even larger.

“Is now a bad time to ask what the bounty actually is?”

The bounty hunter looked at her. “I don’t know yet. We have to go meet the king.”

Anne stared back at her blankly. “You don’t know? But I thought you were only doing it for the job?”

They shook their head. “I’m more interested in the planet. I’ve been looking for an excuse to come here for a while now.”

“Ah.”

They started walking towards the city and beckoned for Anne to follow. Made their way down the small cliff into the water. Anne couldn’t be more thankful that whatever boots Marcy has given her, appeared to be waterproof. Trudging through the water was still annoying.

“Why didn't we land inside the city?”

“The city has no landing pads. They rarely get space travelers.”

“Ah.” Anne’s mind was swimming. “What is this planet?”

“Amphibia. A small planet with a hierarchy of three species. The Newts, the toads, and the frogs. There are also the Axolotls as well but they don’t really have their own distinct society. It’s known for its extremely large predators. In fact those predators are so dangerous that it’s one of the reasons why Amphibia is off of anyone’s radar. The city that we’re going to is called Newtopia. Its main species are the newts.”

“Huh.” Anne responded, so incredibly intelligently. “So, how do you know so much about it?”

“I read a book once about it. There’s so much lore here, I’m looking forward to learning more.”

Anne nodded. Finally they made it to the entrance of the city where a large gate was wide open. They walked up a small ramp into the city. The city was… Oddly quiet. Kyber was the one to point it out.

“This isn’t right.” Anne could swear that she heard a tone of nervousness in that weird voice modulator. If Marcy in costume felt nervous then so did she.

The streets were empty, there wasn't a person in sight. Kyber started walking and Anne followed, even though she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. It looked like the place had been evacuated hastily. There were things thrown on the ground and vendors that looked open if not for the lack of a person to run the stand. There were no lights coming from any of the houses.

“Maybe we should come another time.” Anne muttered.

“I want to know what happened. We’re going to the castle.”

They walked up the largest staircase Anne had ever seen. Even larger than the steps at the Jedi temple. The environment would have been incredibly peaceful if not for the incredibly unnerving aura enveloping the city. As they made their way to the giant gates of the castle, Anne realized that she could see someone. Marcy must have seen them as well so they picked up their pace. As they approached, the guard seemed nervous and very apprehensive.

“We’re here to see king Andrias.” Marcy spoke up.

“R-right! Right away!” The Newt spoke timidly before scurrying off somewhere.

Suddenly the gates opened with a loud rumbling sound before going still. The loud sound contrasted with the silence made the tension in the air feel even tighter.

“Why didn’t they ask us who we were?” Anne whispered to Kyber.

“I’m hoping to find that out.”

They made their way into the castle. Unlike the rest of the city, the castle actually had a population inside of it. For some reason, every newt that saw them froze in place and stayed as far away from them as possible. Anne was really not liking this. She wanted to turn back around but Kyber wouldn’t let her. A blue newt in a fancy pearl dress approached them. She seemed different from the rest of the newts.

“I presume you two are here to see the king?” The newt asked in an apprehensive but stern manner.

“Yes.” Kyber responded neutrally.

“Follow me.” She walked in a brisk dainty manner away from them. Kyber and Anne followed as instructed.

They made their way through the castle towards what Anne assumed to be the throne room. Two giant looming doors appeared before them. The newt swung them open in one simple motion. They walked forward through into the throne room before the blue newt decided to stop a few meters from the king.

“Your majesty, you have visitors.” She said to a giant figure of a newt in front of him. He was certainly the king, large enough to crush Anne with one stomp. Everything about him was regal, his size, his throne, his crown, his outfit, everything. He looked grim. The blue newt stepped off to the side.

“Thank you, lady Olivia.” The giant Newt’s voice echoed through the room. Lady Olivia gave a small bow. “I am king Andrias, ruler of the throne of Amphibia for a thousand years. What is your purpose for coming before the invasion?” King Andrias addressed the two of them.

Anne blinked in confusion. “What invasion? Is that why the streets are empty and everyone looks afraid?” Before she could say anything, Kyber responded.

“You created a bounty. We’re here to collect it.”

It was the king's turn to give them a confused look, before releasing a massive sigh. “Ah yes, I did give out that bounty, didn’t I? I apologize for the confusion. But you see, you’ve come at an unfortunate time.” He said with a grave look. I would suggest you leave as quickly as possible, before the invasion starts.”

“What invasion?” Anne said, quickly.

Before Anne could get an answer, a pink Newt dressed in shiny metal armour burst into the room, panting.

“Your majesty, they’re here!” the pink newt said, looking up at the king desperately.

“Do not close the gates, do not engage.” The king said, strictly.

The newt nodded.

“Woah, what?! Who’s here?” Anne asked in fear.

The king looked gravely at them. “The Separatists.”

Chapter Text

7 years ago

“Mmmm, 5 more minutes.” Sasha muttered sleepily.

Slowly, her wits joined her as she woke up in the darkness of her room. She sighed deeply, knowing that if she didn’t get up now, she would miss out on her only lone time for the rest of the day. She turned on the light beside her bed, illuminating the room. Her room was small with the usual grayish beige look that the Jedi used as their aesthetic. She had bookless bookshelves. Reading wasn’t really her style no matter how much her master encouraged it. She got up and did her morning ritual, putting her Jedi robes on and sanitizing herself. She was ready to get up and go for her morning walk around the temple.

The young Jedi poked her head out into the corridor. As usual, there was nobody out there besides the few masked white and gold trimmed temple guards that wandered the hallways at all times. Sasha didn’t mind them and they didn’t mind her. She only cared if there were any other Jedi in the temple who might see her. Not that she was doing anything wrong, she just really didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Luckily the guards were silent and stoic as usual. The time that she got up was well before sunrise and well before the temple became alive.

She made her way down the hallway, letting herself slip into her own thoughts. Today she would tell Anne her darkest secret. Her best friend would have to understand, she needed her to understand. If she didn’t… Sasha couldn’t do this without her. The future possibilities of what could happen began falling into her brain. The dreadful possibility that she could lose Anne made her breath hitch as she stumbled through the hallway clutching her chest. She was spiraling too far to notice the small green figure approaching her.

“Ok, are you?” a familiar voice called out, snapping Sasha out of her pit of despair.

“M-master Yoda.” She stammered out, looking down to see the small, green, pointy eared Jedi looking up at her with a look of concern on his face. “I’m fine,” she said, unconvincingly.

“Hmm. Join you, may I?” he asked with a serious look on him.

Her nervousness turned into a slight terror. She couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t know who she really was, nobody but Anne.

“No really I’m good.” She lied through her teeth. “Do you have somewhere you need to be at?”

Master Yoda gave her a small chuckle.

“Those in need, always where I need to be.”

Sasha began sweating knowing she wasn’t fooling him even slightly. She needed to come up with something convincing, fast. She gave a small fake exhale, pretending like she was about to admit the truth.

“The truth is… Anne’s birthday is coming up and I don’t know what to do for her.”

He looked at her incredulously, seemingly straight through her. She swallowed but her mouth was dry. Then after what felt like an eternity, his face returned to a neutral slightly sad expression. She had a feeling that he knew somehow. She didn’t know that mind reading was a power he had.

“Care for her a lot, you do. Difficult it is with feelings, not knowing how to express them.”

Sasha nodded slowly.

“Very important it is to communicate your feelings. Dangerous it can be, keeping it on the inside.”

She swallowed again. She prayed that there was any way out of this as she looked around.

“Hmmm.” He appeared to be lost in thought. “Somewhere I have to be, right you were.” He seemed to have taken pity on her and left, walking away slowly with his cane.

She waited until he was out of sight before releasing the real exhale she had been holding in the entire time. She decided that her alone time would best be spent in her room and so scurried off back the way she came. Her room didn’t treat her any differently, in fact the tight space only made her anxiety worse.

The morning came too quickly, despite Sasha’s internal pleading. Her morning meditation alongside Anne made her stomach churn. Whatever calming effect it was supposed to have was completely wasted on her. The day kept on going by without her, lost in her bubble of dread. Finally came the half an hour break at lunch, her chance to speak to Anne. Her nerves were molten lava, hotter than the cruel surface of Mustafar. She approached the light beige robed girl cautiously.

“Anne, could I speak to you… privately,” she said in a hushed voice.

Anne gave her a blank but concerned look. “Um, sure. Are you alright Sash?” She picked up on Sasha’s tense body language immediately. Typical Anne.

“Just… come over here.” She guided her friend over to the edge of wide open commons within the temple. She made sure she was far enough away from anyone’s ears but Anne’s. She took in a deep breath before she spoke to Anne.

“What’s wrong Sasha?” Anne’s concerned face was far more noticeable now.

“I need your help.” Sasha said with scared certainty in her voice.

“With what?”

“With… Me.”

Anne gave her a blank look. “You need help. Like not just with something else but with…” She trailed off with a disturbed look.

“Yes.” Sasha said, trembling.

Anne was always there when she needed something, even if she didn’t seem to want to do it. Small things, like pranking the other Jedi padawans by placing food on their chairs. It was a waste of food but the reactions were priceless. Sasha never was very good at being the pretty perfect Jedi that Anne wanted to be.

“Anne… I’m-I’m losing my mind here. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be a Jedi.” Sasha grasped onto Anne’s arms and held them tight.

“What?! Why not?!” Anne grew an expression of horror.

“Because I-I have this feeling in my chest. I can’t ignore it any longer. The Jedi teach against what I’m feeling right now and I-” Sasha cut herself off going into a deep stare past the girl facing her. Suddenly her eyes snapped into Anne’s. “Listen to me Anne. Think of all the things we could do, just you and me out in the galaxy together!” She said with a commanding desperate voice.

Anne looked at her stunned for a few seconds, before shaking her head and backing out of Sasha’s intense grip. “You think I’m going to come with you, leave my whole life behind because you have an evil selfish part of you that you can’t ignore.” She said in a sad, hushed whisper.

Sasha’s shakiness intensified. “Anne, that’s-that’s not… That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean, Sasha?” Anne said, clearly upset. “If this part of you isn’t truly evil then-then the Jedi can help you!” It was Anne’s turn to sound desperate.

Sasha’s face dropped. “I don’t want anything to do with the Jedi.” She said through gritted teeth.

Anne glared at her. “Then I-I don’t want anything to do with you. I’m done letting you control me, Sasha.” She said simply and sharply. Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Sasha with nothing but her own thoughts.

Sasha stood there with nothing but shock and dread. That feeling quickly gave way to anger. She didn’t need them. She didn’t need anyone! She was going to find her way regardless. The Jedi had failed her for the last time, Anne was the last straw.

She screamed, punching the piller closest to her as hard as she could. It cracked through the diameter of the piller under the power coming from her rage. The rest of the Jedi in the courtyard stared at her, including her master. Jedi master Shaak Ti began making her way towards her, quickly with an annoyingly concerned look. Sasha couldn’t care less that they were concerned now that she had lost it. If they weren’t concerned enough before, then they didn’t deserve to be concerned now.

So she ran. She ran out of the commons, using the force to boost her speed as much as she could. She was always powerful for a Jedi, even more powerful than many of those older than her.

“Sasha, wait!” Her master cried out as she made her way to the top of the temple, to the edge of the temple outdoors.

She stopped at the edge of the temple, looking down at the endless expanse of the city planet. She looked back at her master who had stopped a few meters away from her.

“Sasha, I can help you. I understand what it’s like to be angry, we all do. Your feelings are natural. Please, let me help you.” Shaak Ti begged her.

Sasha thought of her life leading up to this moment. The fear she had felt when her previous master had left the Jedi. She was angry at him before but now she understood. She thought about how happy the padawans around her appeared to be. She could never understand it, they were all products of being abducted from their families and being indoctrinated into a cult without a choice. She thought of Anne’s words, ‘I’m done letting you control me’. Was Anne never truly her friend to begin with? Maybe she was just taking pity on Sasha out of kindness. She glared at her new former master.

“I’m done with this stupid order. I’m done being the Jedi’s pretty plaything. I’m done being used!” She said with immense vitriol and spite.

She jumped down the steep side of the temple into the abyss of Coruscant.

Present day

Sasha stood at the top of the control bridge of her own personal separatist dreadnought. Her bright red, separatist branded armor contrasted with the dull grey walls and glowing sick green lights surrounding her. Several battle droids stood at glowing green panels, working the ship. She was barely conscious of the hum of the machinery around her and the beeps coming from the control panels being used. She stared into the glowing blue abyss of hyperspace, lost in thought.

Sasha loved being a Sith. She loved the power, the control, everything that came with it. Well, Mostly everything. There was… a certain aspect that she wished she could change. She didn’t like thinking about it and preferred that the feeling go unnamed. She learned that the thing that she silently yearned for, and being a Sith, just don’t mesh together. “Fine. I can live without it. How many people get to have their very own army? Not many.” Sasha considered herself lucky. Not even the Jedi could have given her this power.

“Our arrival is imminent. Our forces are prepared for the siege.” The monotone voice of the tactical droid snapped her out of her thoughts.

She gave a small unamused look at the boxed head droid for startling her before giving a response. “Thank you, I’ll be right down.”

The worst thing about tactical droids is that they feel like robots, not droids. She could appreciate the personality built into her B1- series battle droids. She liked their funny voices and the fact that they were all so incredibly stupid, it made her feel like a genius, like she needed to be ruling them. Tactical droids on the other hand… They reminded her that she was the only living being on the ship. A stark reminder of the desire that she just wished would leave her alone already.

Suddenly, the dreadnought exited hyper space, heading towards a small, life filled, green and blue planet called Amphibia. Her ginormous, looming ship stopped before the planet's gravitational pull. She left the command room and hastily made her way through the grey corridors towards the hanger bay. The impossibly large room was filled with transport ships, vulture droids, and many other droids getting prepared for the siege. She knew that it wasn’t going to be needed for war. But she needed enough of her forces to prevent any thoughts of resistance from the inhabitants of the planet. She made her way to her ship.

The ship itself was gray with a red trim that matched her armor. It had a sharp triangle shaped base with two triangle wings on either side that each pointed on a diagonal. The ship was designed to have every side of the ship slope into the singular point at the very front of the ship. She even designed it so that she could ram into other ships without sustaining any damage to her own. She didn’t really need that feature, the weapons covering nearly every inch of the ship were more than practical. But she had always had a flair for the dramatics.

She pressed a button on her wrist, signaling that the invasion was commencing. She hopped inside her ship and headed towards the planet's surface alongside her intimidating convoy. She enjoyed the feeling as her ship ripped through the atmosphere shooting down towards the surface far ahead of the rest of her forces. The lush color of the grass and the water reminded her that there really was life besides her. She rationally knew that there was always life out there, but on the ship it was easy for her to feel…

“Shut up brain.” She growled to herself in the cockpit of her ship. She begged for the persistently annoying thoughts to just leave her be.

Her ship aimed for the balcony of the white, stone castle. She told the droid assisting her ship to leave it hovering just parallel to the balcony. She pressed a button on her dashboard and the triangle glass cockpit window above her opened up in two towards the wings. She hopped from her seat and precariously made her way down the thin top of her triangular ship. She made her way with the effort and grace that could only have come with the many years of experience under her belt. She hopped with one foot from the tip of her ship onto the balcony with perfect precision.

She made her way into the castle with a militaristic stance, holding her arms behind her as she slammed open giant doors leading into, what had to be the throne room without even moving a finger. She marched toward the king prepared to make her-

Anne Boonchuy stood in front of the king. The confidence and composure that she had entering the room drained from her body. She wanted to scream.

Chapter Text

Anne stared at Sasha in horror. Sasha, her once best friend, the only one who she had ever truly been able to call a friend, now stood in front of her. The 20 year old women stared at each other in deep surprise with an aura of anguish. Time had clearly taken its toll on both of them. Sasha was the first to rip her eyes off of the other. She recomposed herself and addressed the king. Anne’s eyes followed Sasha’s.

“King Andrias?” Sasha asked in a commanding and cold voice that made her spine shiver.

The king nodded.

“I’ll skip the formalities since I can see that you’ve received our message. This planet is now under separatist control. Any attempts to resist will receive the swift punishment of death.”

The new Sasha had to have been the most terrifying thing Anne had ever seen. Sasha’s blood red, once shiny armour with a single shoulder pad adorning the separatist logo made Anne feel sick to her core. Combine that with Sasha’s facial expression, her long, wild blonde hair, her tone of voice, and the several scars lining her face and Anne felt like her whole world was collapsing in front of her. She hardly had the awareness to notice that Sasha was walking straight towards her. Sasha grabbed her by the wrist and glared into her soul.

“Anne Boonchuy. What in the galaxy are you wearing? Why are you dressed like a poor man’s Sith, hanging with a bounty hunter?” Her words were cold and bitter. A reminder of her last moment with her former best friend, walking away… Sasha slapped her. The warm sharp pain woke Anne up from her daze. She looked at Sasha, feeling even more resigned than she had felt with Marcy. The galaxy seemed to want to continue to kick her down, further and further until there was nothing left to kick.

“Get away from her.” Black Kyber spoke or maybe it was Marcy speaking, Anne could only hope. They spoke while unsheathing their duel swords. She wondered if they were capable of taking on Sasha. Part of her hoped they weren’t.

Sasha looked unamusedly at the black bounty hunter. “Black Kyber right?” Before they could respond, Sasha flicked the hand that wasn’t grappled onto Anne’s wrist towards Marcy with a push. The fearsome bounty hunter went flying with an extreme speed knocking straight through a stone pillar. Anne’s breath hitched. She was certain that if Marcy wasn’t wearing armor at the moment, then she’d be smashed into a bloody pulp. The Sith that stood before her wore a deadly glare. “It appears we have some catching up to do.” Sasha looked around the room at the other people gathered around them. “Someone, show us to my room. It had better be a very nice room otherwise someone is losing their head. Also, show Black Kyber to their dungeon cell. You people have those, right? I’ll be having a chat with them later. Strip them of their armor, I’m sure they’re got plenty of weapons under there”

Anne glanced at the once fearsome bounty hunter, making small movements on the ground in clear, silent agony. At least they were still alive. Lady Olivia came walking over towards her and Sasha. “Follow me,” the pretty blue newt said, with an unreadable voice. Sasha didn’t let go of her as they made their way through the castle following Lady Olivia. It didn’t take long before they made their way to a door that was significantly smaller than the throne room doors. “Everything has been prepared for your arrival, Darth Volcanus.” She then scurried off, leaving the two of them alone. The name sucked the breath out of Anne and her grip on reality loosened further. They made their way inside.

In contrast to the throne room, the room was almost humble. It was still incredibly nice with a fancy bed surrounded in curtains, very fancy furniture, an incredible view, and a very nice carpet. Anne was worried that Sasha was about to explode as her Sith name suggested. Instead she let go of Anne, walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. She beckoned for her to come closer. Anne rubbed her wrist and obliged.

“So. Wanna give me some answers?” Sasha’s eyes weren’t quite as angry anymore but they still pierced through her soul.

Anne took two deep breaths while Sasha waited patiently. “Y-you’re a Sith.” Her teeth chattered at her own statement.

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Duh. I thought that was pretty obvious. This isn’t about me.” She furrowed her eyebrows. “This is about you. You still a goodie-two-shoes, Jedi?”

The question made Anne’s legs give out from under her. Her breathing started getting shallower and increasing in speed. All she could think about was how much of a screw up she had been. How ignorant she had been to Sasha’s issues until it was too late. Her arms curled around her legs as she tried to crush herself to death. She thought about how she walked away from Sasha. That decision had haunted her for the rest of her life so much so that the memory replaced itself with a never ending dread that couldn’t even always be placed. It was always Sasha. The girl had never left her. She had drilled a permanent hole inside Anne’s psyche.

Suddenly a hand gently placed itself on Anne’s shoulder, anchoring her to reality. Anne looked up to see Sasha kneeling down to her with a gentle expression that Anne hadn’t seen in forever. Suddenly she remembered how to breathe. She slowed herself down with deep breaths and the world turned back to normal. Sasha looked down at her curled up state with an annoyingly compassionate expression. “I’m guessing it’s not going well.” She didn’t respond. “Wanna talk about it?” Sasha sat down in front of her and crossed her legs like a Jedi would. She wondered if she was somehow on death sticks and tried blinking the sure fire hallucination away. It did not go away. The Sith waited patiently.

“Just leave me alone,” she said, weakly.

Sasha frowned. “I can’t do that, Anne.”

“Why not? You-you hate me. Please just… torture me or something already.”

Sasha’s eyes grew wide in surprise before narrowing into a deep scowl. She stood up and looked down on her with a sad anger. “What the hell happened to you?! What happened to the eternally bubbly and optimistic Anne who always believed the best in people?! Where did you go, Anne?!” She grabbed Anne’s shoulder and stared into her eyes. Tears were forming around Sasha’s eyes, betraying her furious look.

There was nothing but silence. She couldn’t avert her own gaze. The staring contest lasted what felt like an hour. Anne was the first to break, as usual.

“I failed you.” The hushed words came broken out of her mouth. “I’m sorry.” Sasha retreated quickly away from her. Her own gaze fell to the floor.

Sasha’s mouth was held agape. “You’re telling me, that you’ve been blaming yourself for me leaving, for the past seven years?!” Real anger was rising in her voice. “You do know that I was going to leave regardless if you came with me or not?!”

More silence.

“I should have known. I should have helped,” Anne’s deathly tone continued.

“But you didn’t, did you?!” Sasha’s voice burst out. “Even if you did know, what the hell would you have done?!” She bared her teeth like a rabid animal.

“...I don’t know.”

“Then stop blaming yourself!” Sasha yelled like it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy.

Anne stared up at the Sith, the woman who had just slammed her new acquaintance through a solid stone pillar. “Why? Why do you care, Sasha?

“Because you were my best friend, damn it!”

The realization hit Anne like a speeder crashing into her own personal hell. The reminder of Sasha threatening to kill people without a hint of exaggeration in her voice. Sasha wanted things to go back to the way things were between them. Where she would use her for her own personal enjoyment. The many pranks, the disobedience, the way Anne would do anything for Sasha out of a fear of losing her only friend. She suddenly had the realization that maybe the Jedi had a point about her attachments being dangerous. She glared at the Sith. “I’m not in the mood to be used, Sasha.”

Sasha’s look of concern warped into a dark expression. “You’re not a Jedi anymore.” Anne looked away in shame. “I can gather that much. So let me ask you, Anne. Who are you?”

She contemplated the question for a second or two. “I may not be a Jedi anymore, but at least I’m not evil like you.” She said, with the strongest resolve she could muster.

Sasha’s face changed as if she’d just been shot, before it returned to a false neutral expression. “You and your moral high ground. It’s funny that you still have it considering.… You know, it came entirely from the Jedi. Have you seen yourself lately? The Jedi clearly didn’t treat you well. Why do you let them control your life?”

Anne glared at Sasha, but a trickle of doubt made its way onto her face. The truth was that she didn’t know. She didn’t know who she was without the Jedi. She didn’t even know what planet she was born on. Still, she couldn’t let Sasha know that she had a point. She refused to be anything like the monster in human clothes that stood before her. Suddenly it occurred to her that she was still on the floor. She stood up. “If you think that I’d ever be anything like you, then you’re dead wrong, Sash!” The pet name made Sasha flinch.

“What about the bounty hunter that you were so casually hanging out with?! I can see you’re still wearing their clothes.”

Anne looked down at the black fabric covering her body. Even her hands wore black gloves. She had forgotten that she was dressed as such and she had forgotten why she was even here in the first place. “At least she- they… Anne realized her mistake but it was too late. “They said that they’d change for me.”

Sasha looked at Anne blankly.”What do you mean, ‘she’s willing to change for you’?”

“They’re not going to kill as long as I stay with them.”

Sasha’s face scrunched up into a displeased look. “What makes you think that they’re going to keep that promise?”

The obvious answer that Anne wanted to say was that Marcy was lonely, like her. However the obvious response that came to her mind was that the bounty hunter was lying about that as well. Yet again, Anne didn’t know the answer. She was quickly realizing that in her depression, her internal logic was short-circuiting. She had always prayed for the goodness of people and trusted others if they gave her even a slight reason to. Her resolve was waning, her world was crumbling. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so hasty to leave the Jedi. Even if she didn’t belong there, at least they had tangible ideals.

Sasha took Anne’s deep thought in silence as an answer. “See Anne, this is why you need me. I can help you get back your identity. I know how much you value friendship and I hate to see you like this.”

Anne didn’t have a response. Sasha sighed.

“Listen Anne. Just stay here and think about it. I’ll come back and check on you, ok?” The concern in Sasha’s voice made her want to throw up.

Sasha left the room and Anne to her thoughts as she promised. Anne stood there, staring at the closed door.

Marcy woke up with a groan. She felt noticeably lighter and more exposed than she had when she was last conscious. She was no longer seeing through the eyes of Black Kyber. She looked down. She had been stripped of her gear, wearing nothing but her sweat shirt and leggings. The cell she was trapped in was dim and grey with solid metal bars and rock surrounding her. The only light came from a dim yellow light source from somewhere in the hall before her. The ache she felt from the impact of the pillar permeated her entire body. She knew she needed medical attention and she was sure she wouldn't get it.

The irony of her predicament didn’t escape her. She was only here because she attempted to protect Anne. She couldn’t tell if she regretted it yet. Anne was only here because of her. She had stripped Anne of her identity and then talked her into becoming something that she so clearly isn’t. ‘What are you a Sith?’ The words bounced around in her brain. Maybe she wasn’t any better than the person who had injured her so badly. Maybe she really was just a lowlife scum like Anne suggested. Maybe her reputation never mattered if her feelings betrayed it. Maybe this is where she belonged…

She sat there in silence, absorbing the darkness. The silence was broken by the sound of heavy footsteps. Maybe someone was coming to put her out of her misery. The Sith who had injured her walked into view and stared at her as she sat inside her cage. She walked over to the bars and leaned against them in a sinister, casual manner. She was holding some sort of large, yellow bioluminescent mushroom that she tossed to her feet, illuminating the bottom of her face in a yellow glow. Marcy could appreciate the dramatic effect.

“So this is the infamous Black Kyber.” The Sith said with a prideful sneer. “I’ve gotta say, I’m impressed. Convincing Anne Boonchuy to leave the Jedi and become your little sidekick is no small feat.”

“I never told her to leave the Jedi.” Marcy refuted.

The Sith looked thoughtful for a second. “Maybe. But whatever you did to her snapped her out of whatever illusion the Jedi had trapped her in.”

“Who are you?”

“The name’s Darth Volcanus.” She said pridefully.

“Who are you to Anne?”

“A friend she abandoned long ago because she couldn’t realize that the Jedi are a toxin, spreading through the galaxy like a disease.”

Marcy couldn’t respond to that. She didn’t know what the truth of the Jedi was anymore.

“Now it’s my turn. Who is Anne to you?” Volcanus asked.

Marcy’s shoulders slumped even further than they already were. “She was going to be a friend.”

“A friend?” The Sith grew a mischievous smile. “I didn’t know that the deadliest bounty hunter would want a friend.”

Marcy’s head fell, the irony of what she was about to say nearly made her laugh. “My name’s Marcy… Black Kyber is dead, you killed them.”

Volcanus’s face turned into a manic look of pride. “Well then traveler, I guess we don’t have any reason to talk. I only came here to speak to the galaxy-famous bounty hunter.” With that she walked away in a powerful stride, bringing back the light she had brought with her.

Marcy was left alone again. She waited for the vermin.

Chapter Text

Sasha paced the halls of the castle, lost in the shuffle of her mind.

She had Anne within her grasp. The girl was lost and she was here to be her guiding darkness. Anne would soon learn the full value of the darkness and desire. She knew that once Anne got a taste, she would become addicted faster than a poor person dying of hope in a casino. Her biggest hurdle was that Anne was more stubborn than a Wookie when it came to moral crap.

The annoying thing was that she was only supposed to be on Amphibia for a few days in order to secure the planet under separatist control. Sasha knew that her master, Count Dooku, would be unforgiving if she decided to disobey his orders. Her lack of agency was one of the few things that she hated about being a Sith. She tolerated her lack of control because it gave her immense power that she couldn’t find anywhere else. Surely he would understand if she told him why she needed to be on the planet for a while longer. Surely the war could wait.

It had been a few hours since she had last seen the girl. The sun was already setting over the horizon as dusk creeped in. She decided that now was the best time to revisit her soon-to-be-apprentice. The idea of having Anne under her wing made her giddy, the rule of two be damned. It’s not like Dooku cared about it to begin with, having her as an apprentice when he already had a master.

She opened the door with an easy gentleness. She wanted to make sure that Anne knew she was on her side. Anne was leaning on a window sill, staring into the orange sky. She didn’t seem to have noticed her entrance.

“Hey.” She approached Anne carefully.

Anne’s attention turned towards her. She wore a sad expression.

“You ok, Anne?”

Anne wore a pensive look. Then she turned her attention back to the window. “I think you already know the answer, Sasha.” Her voice wasn’t bitter like she expected. Instead, her voice was blanketed in a deep regretfulness, a yearning for a simpler time.

She made note of the expression and decided to begin her conquest of Anne. She walked up close next to her by the window. Anne shuffled her feet in discomfort. “I’m sorry.” She said with sincerity. She meant it, she hated not being friends with the lovable goof. Even if that goof didn’t really exist anymore.

“For what? For leaving the Jedi?”

“Hell no.” She said with a playful sneer. “Are you sorry that you left them?”

“I miss knowing who I am.”

“Did you really know who you were with them?”

Anne didn’t respond.

“I didn’t think so. I’m sorry we’re on different sides, I’m sorry that I left you.”

“You’re not sorry that you left, you’re sorry that I didn’t come with you. That’s not an apology.”

Sasha opened her mouth to object but no words could escape her.

Anne continued to silently stare out the window for a while longer. “Sasha, do you know who you are?”

She was taken aback by the question. Of course she knew who she was! She had found her purpose in life, she had made the galaxy her purpose. How could Anne ask such a thing? It’s not like she would have become a Sith if it wasn’t her true calling in life. It had been her decision to become a Sith, right? Sure she didn’t initially have the intention of becoming one but when her soon to be master offered her the perfect opportunity, she seized it with the desperation of a dying child. Maybe that wasn’t an apt metaphor, she didn’t have to accept the offer. ”Yes Anne, I do.” Her voice cracked..

Anne’s look of yearning turned into sympathy as she turned to look at Sasha.

The look filled Sasha with rage. “I know who I am! I don’t need your misplaced pity.” She growled.

Anne’s look returned to sadness as she turned her attention away from her.

Something stirred inside Sasha’s heart. Anne’s sadness meant something to her. In that moment, she understood the yearning, the nostalgia.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get upset with you.”

“Of course you did, you’re a Sith. That’s all Sith ever do. They let their unhappiness get the better of them.”

“You think that Sith aren’t happy?”

“They wouldn’t be Sith if they were.”

The frown on Sasha’s face fulfilled Anne’s prophecy. She was losing her grip on Anne. She needed to do something to reaffirm her beliefs, quickly.

“Happiness is fleeting, power is eternal. Anne, I could give you power, I could give you everything.”

Anne’s eyes glanced at her’s. “I think you have that backwards. Besides, that’s a lie. You couldn’t give me happiness.”

“It comes with the power.”

“No.”

They were at an impasse. Anne’s stubbornness was grating on her. She was used to getting what she wanted. The structured, restricted nature of being a Jedi never worked for her. She decided that verbally convincing Anne was at a dead end for now. Instead, she decided that getting Anne comfortable with her was the best option currently. “You’ll be staying here.”

She had finally managed to catch Anne off guard. She received the girl’s full attention. “What?” She asked in disbelief. “Isn’t this your room?”

“Yep, you can sleep with me if you want. Think of it like a sleepover.”

Anne’s face contorted into an ugly frown. “You’re delusional if you think that things are ever going to be the same as they were between us!”

“I’m not trying to make them the same.”

“Of course not. You want even more control over me than you had before!”

She restrained herself from arguing further. This wasn’t helping, she needed Anne to calm down. She took a deep breath, mimicking the action of a Jedi, encouraging Anne to do the same. Anne did not comply. “Listen Anne, I get that you hate me. You don’t have to like me and I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m just telling you that this is the way things are now, whether you like it or not. It’s not like you have anywhere else you can go.”

“I’m supposed to be bounty hunting with Black Kyber.”

“Black Kyber is dead.”

Anne grew a look of abstract horror. “You’re lying.”

Sasha’s face turned into an ugly prideful smile. Unlike Anne’s sadness, removing any sense of hope that she had left for a life outside of Sasha gave her immense joy. She shook her head. Anne’s breathing grew heavy and shallow. “She didn’t survive her injuries. Not that I feel bad for another scum bounty hunter dying.”

“She wasn’t scum.” Anne said, shaking. “At least she wasn’t horrible like you.”

Sasha sighed and rolled her eyes. “If you’re not going to sleep in the nice bed with me, I’ll get a mattress for you on the floor.” With that, she walked out the door.

She walked throughout the hallways of the castle, trying to find a newt to meet her demands. Finally she came across the blue Newt in a dress who had directed her to their room before. “I need another sleeping arrangement in my room. Everything for a bed but the frame.”

The newt looked at her with a tired expression. “When you sent that message of the coming invasion, you couldn’t have possibly also mentioned the sleepover?”

Sasha glared at the newt's moxy but part of her couldn’t help but admire it. The newt did not back down from Sasha’s intense look. “What’s your name?” She asked the aquamarine newt.

“Call me Lady Olivia.” Her expression did not shift.

“Alright Lady Olivia. Have that bed made in my bedroom in half an hour or else your head will be parted from your body. I assume you have basic survival instincts.”

Olivia’s eyes furrowed. “Yes…”

“Andrias may be your king but you will refer to me as your lord.”

“Yes, my lord.” The words came out of Olivia’s mouth more naturally than Sasha thought they would. Maybe she was used to changing leaders or maybe she just didn’t care.

Regardless, Sasha admired the Newt. She was clearly someone who was reliable, even during a time of difficulty. Sasha wished she could be part of her army but she knew that her master would never allow such a thing. A small part of her felt ugly at the fact.

The rest of the night went by quickly. Anne’s bed was made in under 20 minutes. She was impressed by Olivia’s punctuality. She even wondered if she had needed to issue the threat. Lady Olivia certainly seemed to be used to getting things done. Anne refused to speak another word which was probably for the best. She didn’t feel like arguing anymore.

Droids from her recently arrived army had already begun making their way throughout the castle. They were there to make sure that no Newt even had thoughts of resistance. She enjoyed watching the newts squirm in discomfort as her battle droids marched the halls. She decided to end the day there. She would get this planet organized for complete separatist control tomorrow.

Anne hadn’t even bothered trying to escape much to her delight. She could feel Anne’s stubborn will slowly draining from her being replaced by something much more malleable. She got into bed and watched Anne slowly crawl into her own that lay on top of the carpet. Everything was peaceful, everything was perfect. Her siege on Amphibia had been infinitely more prosperous than she could have ever dreamed. Being honest with herself, she couldn’t care less about the planet. It was just another part to add to the machine of war of which she was sure the Separatists would win. From what she could gather, the Republic was disorganized, spread thin, and bureaucratic. Unlike the Separatists, the Republic didn’t put nearly as much effort into numbers as the Separatists did. Which Sasha found odd considering they were supposed to be the major controlling faction of the entire galaxy!

Soon Anne would be hers and she would have everything that she could have ever dreamed of. She woke up in the middle of the night to check up on the girl. Anne was still there, her face even looked peaceful. Sasha got out of bed and gently made her way to Anne’s mattress. She crouched all the way down so that her arms rested on her knees and gazed at Anne’s resting face. Part of her hated seeing the girl so helpless, so lost. Another part of her couldn’t have been more thankful that she was delivered on a silver platter to her before anyone else could get to the poor girl. She didn’t dare touch her out of fear of waking her up.

She went back to bed and fell into a pleasant dream. She couldn’t recall when she woke up.

The next day was a blur, a mishmash of things that she needed to do. She didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with Anne as she wanted. She would get plenty of time to convince Anne to join her later. Unfortunately she still had to talk to her master about it first. Amphibia didn’t have any form of holoprojector so she had to bring her own.

She found an empty room and had a B2 battle droid bring in a holoprojector large enough for the full size of a human. She knelt on one knee and the blue image of her master stood before her.

“What needs to be brought to my attention, apprentice?” Count Dooku said in his usual deep, cold, and calculating voice. He rarely said her name, not even her Sith one. She understood it as a power tactic.

“An acquaintance from when I was a Jedi has appeared on Amphibia and is in my possession. She’s strong with the force and has already abandoned the Jedi. I wish to turn her into my apprentice.” Sasha said, her usual authoritative voice was lacking around her master.

“Anne Boonchuy?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Sasha nodded.

“Darth Volcanus.” Sasha flinched. “We don’t need another Sith. Three is already more than enough.”

“That stupid rule doesn’t matter! She wouldn’t turn against me.” She said, desperately.

“I see that I have not taught you well enough. If you truly sense darkness in her heart, then you know that darkness can turn against you. I presume she doesn’t like you at the moment?”

“... No. But once she learns our way she’ll understand me. Please, just let me have this!” She unashamedly begged like a child.

Her master pondered. “You have three weeks. If she has not turned by then, your new mission will be to kill her. Your responsibility as a Sith comes first and I will not let her occupy your mind lest she tempt you to join her.”

She grit her teeth. The idea of killing Anne weighed on her mind as a parasite. The gloom of Anne no longer existing made her eyes haze and her skin sweat. She hoped it didn’t come through on the hologram. Master Dooku stood there as serious as ever.

“Report your progress to me in a week.”

With that, the hologram turned off. The absence of white noise filled the room with a dreadful lack of ambience.

The haze didn’t go away for the rest of the day. Walking into her room with Anne inside felt like entering a graveyard. Anne either didn’t notice how grim Sasha felt or chose to ignore it.

“Anne.” She said, sharply. That got the girl’s attention. “Listen, this isn’t cute anymore. The path you're going down is going to get you killed. You’re going to die alone and scared. I get that you hate me but I don’t hate you! I’m only offering you to join me because I want to give you a way out. Please Anne, I’m trying to help you!” She was on the verge of tears.

Anne’s face was that of an angry unamusement. “You think that without you or the Jedi, that I would be alone forever, and yet you killed the one person who I finally found a connection with.” She was seething. The words dripped out of her mouth with the viscosity of poison. “You can go to hell, Sasha. I’m ok with dying alone if it means I’ll never have to see you again!”

Anne’s words rammed through her as if she had just been impaled by her own ship. Her mouth was dry, words banged against her rib cage. She had underestimated how much Anne meant to her, her old best friend. She remembered how they would play together as children, how Anne’s kindness and whimsey had been so powerful even Sasha had been infected by it. Now she was cold. She shouldn’t have told Dooku. Anne’s blood would be 100% on her hands, she imagined her face drenched in it.

Before Anne could notice, Sasha bolted out of the room, tears running down her face into her mouth and onto the floor. She ran through the grand hallway of the castle far enough so that Anne couldn’t hear her despair. She did nothing but sob for minutes, maybe even an hour. It took her ages to notice the figure standing near her. The instant she noticed, her reflexes kicked in. She turned on one of her red lightsabers and swung it faster than the eye could see towards the figure's head. She stopped only a few inches away from Lady Olivia’s face. The Newt didn’t so much as flinch. She was holding what looked like a box of tissues. Sasha stood there in shock, her lightsaber illuminating the newt in a red glow. Its hum blanketed the silence. Once she regained her senses, she turned her lightsaber off.

“I can see your relationship isn’t going well.” Olivia said, simply with her posh accent

Part of her wanted to scream and kill the Newt. She took a couple of tissues and wiped her face.

“She won’t l-listen to me.” She said under small sobs. Her chest heaved and her eyes stung. She felt pathetic for a Sith.

Lady Olivia gave her a gentle and caring look. It didn’t feel like the look of pity that Anne had given her earlier, it felt genuine.

“If there’s any way I can help, let me know.”

The statement stunned Sasha. It didn’t make sense for this royal Newt who belonged to a planet of which she was conquering.

“Why?” She choked on her tears.

“You wouldn’t like the answer.”

“I don’t care.”

Lady Olivia studied her face. “You remind me of someone I know, someone who I care deeply for. You’re both loud and abrasive and much like her, I know a good soul when I see one.”

The sentence knocked the wind out of her. She struggled for air, heaving greatly. Lady Olivia noticed and sprung into action, leaving her alone for a minute. She returned with a glass of water and offered it to her.

Sasha didn’t take the water. “You’re wrong.” She choked out, swallowing the dryness in her mouth. “You’ve seen what I’m like, I threatened to kill you. You should know who I am.” She poured her heart out.

“Yes I’ve seen what you can be like and I’m not suggesting that you’ve done good things.”

“Then why are you-?”

“Because I’m looking at a girl who was clearly never given the chance to properly grow up, crying her eyes out because she’s in anguish over the mistakes she’s made.”

Sasha was yet again frozen in shock.

“Here take these.” Lady Olivia handed her the box of tissues and glass of water. She didn’t argue, she was still processing what she had just heard.

By the time her mind returned to her, Lady Olivia had already left. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as she attempted to process what had just happened. Her processing failed and she decided that it would be for the best to just go to bed. She would figure it out in the morning, maybe. She tried doing deep breaths as she made her way back. She felt lightheaded by the time she made her way into the room. Anne was already in her bed by the time she got inside, the blanket covered her head.

She drank the glass of water quickly. It was cool and refreshing, making her realize just how much she missed having fresh water after months of living off of stored water inside her dreadnaught. She put both the empty glass and box of tissues on top of a cupboard that was far enough away from her bed. She did it almost as if to claim that they weren’t hers.

She climbed into bed. It took hours before she could fall asleep.

The next day was the worst day of her life. Anne was gone. She wasn’t just gone, it was as if she had completely disappeared off the face of Amphibia. The only trace she had left were a few droids that had been short circuited somehow. Sasha didn’t think Anne even had a weapon on her. The girl had been extremely adamant against blasters in the past and Anne wasn’t carrying her lightsaber. Then again, Anne had clearly changed since they were friends. Sasha cursed herself for not being more careful.

She knew that Anne couldn’t have left the planet due to the massive blockade blocking the planet. Besides, no ship was even stolen, not even Black Kyber’s. Sasha and her army searched Newtopia top to bottom for an entire week and came up completely short. There’s no way she could have gotten past the huge amount of ships crawling with droids which blocked the entrance to the rest of Amphibia. She threatened every member of the castle to tell her where she was. Nobody would or could tell her where Anne had gone. Marcy was still in her cell, as per usual.

Sasha’s despair grew with each passing day, her heart filled with lead.

Two weeks remained.

Chapter Text

Anne’s escape from the city was neither flawless nor elegant. She ran throughout the castle in every which way, trying to remember where the exit was. She ran into many battle droids that she quickly eliminated with her blade before they could alert anyone. At the very least, stealth was a skill she had learned long ago. She was forced to learn it in order to sneak away from the Jedi temple so she could spend her nights alone and not in a cramped bedroom.

She ran through the deserted streets, avoiding droids, making her way through alleyways while hiding in shadows. She didn’t look back. She had meant it when she told Sasha that she never wanted to see her again. Every sickly sweet word that had come out of the Sith’s mouth had convinced her to leave more and more. Her only goal was to get to Marcy’s ship.

Marcy…

Anne felt terrible for the bounty hunter. She was so close to having a chance at redemption only for her life to be taken away too soon… The thought of Sasha’s actions made her blood boil. She couldn’t believe she was ever friends with that psychotic, twisted, manipulator. Her gut wrenched as she neared the city walls.

The massive gates to the city had closed since Anne had entered so she would have to scale them instead. Climbing up the staircase of one of the towers that was a part of the wall was unthinkable. She needed to get creative. Fortunately for her, the Force was the perfect tool. She touched her palms to the surface of the stone walls and suction cupped them using pressurized air from the Force. With her hands attached to the wall, she did the same thing with her feet as well. She crawled up the side of the wall with all her might. It drained her. She had never done something so strenuous requiring all of her concentration. Finally, after what might as well have been a hundred years, she reached the top.

She panted heavily atop the wall from the stress of the climb on her body and mind. The ache of her muscles wasn’t nearly close to the ache she felt from overexerting the force in such a stressful situation. She took a few minutes to recollect herself, staying low to the hard surface of the massive stone wall. With the wall scaled there was only one thing left to do; go down the other side, make her way to the ship without being spotted, get on board somehow, then escape using the invisibility suit. Okay maybe “one thing” didn’t really accurately describe her plan.

With steady, yet deep breaths, she got to her feet and looked down the other side of the wall into the shallow water below. If she weren’t a Jedi, a fall from that height would have been the death of her. Fortunately for her, she had the Force. Even more fortunately, there was a solid, giant piece of red coral that could be easily climbed down. She was tired from using the force so much already, so she made her way down. The darkness concealed her as she climbed the maroon piece of lanky coral, the rough surface wearing on her already tired hands. In that moment, she couldn’t have been more thankful that Marcy’s choice of clothing was black.

As her boots touched the surface of the water, there was a small splash. It was far too loud for Anne’s liking as she made her way through the long stretch of water, staying as close to it as possible. Moving like a shadow, she watched the giant separatist ships that loomed over her get bigger and bigger. She climbed up the small sandy cliff towards the large, intimidating, black ship. Yet again, Marcy had blessed her with leaving the ship incredibly close to the edge of the water, far closer than where the separatists had landed their ships.

She spotted droids on patrol with flashlights attached to their heads, scouring the area. Luckily the Separatists hadn’t the foresight to guard Marcy’s ship. She ran up to the ship and pressed in the pass code that she had seen Marcy use. “Knew that would come in handy,” she grunted as she ran up the ramp. Thankfully it was quiet, much like everything else Marcy had owned. Inside the ship, the door closed behind her and the lights around her lit up in response to her entrance, bathing her environment in a green hue.

She made her way to the weapons chamber. The ominous ambience of the ship matched Anne’s somber mood. Where before it had unnerved her, now it fit her like the very black gloves she was wearing. It almost felt funny the way that Anne felt more comfortable in this environment then she had for years with the Jedi. She entered the room full of deadly weapons. There were only two things she cared about here: her lightsaber and the invisibility suit. The full body suit was detail-less making Anne feel that she was meant to wear something over top of it. Fortunately the suit seemed to adapt to fit her perfectly. That made sense considering the expense of it. Somehow, despite the suit fully covering her face, she could still see perfectly. She put on the rest of her bounty hunter clothes over top of the suit. Success! Even her clothes were invisible: she couldn’t see her hands that wore the black gloves, nor the lightsaber that was now clipped to her belt.

She didn’t bother trying to fly the ship. Not only would she have been immediately shot down, she would have been challenged by her non-existent piloting skills. No, she would have to survive on this planet.

Making her way outside the ship, she snuck past the droid army that covered the entrance to the rest of the planet. She still had to be extremely cautious. While she couldn’t be seen, she definitely could be heard. She creeped silently next to the giant droid armadas while staying as far away from the guard droids as possible.

Finally, after an eternity, she passed the last of the droid ships and began making her way down a dirt road that Anne hoped would lead her to a settlement. For hours, she walked along the dirt road in the dead of night alongside a flat stretch of ground. Slowly, the ground took shape into a more forested area. Now, Anne hadn’t seen many trees in her life but the similarity to those at the temple were enough for her to recognize them even in the near pitch black. Overall, it was easily the darkest experience of her life and the only way she could even see the ground beneath her was from the glow of the full blood-red moon above her. It did little to help calm her nerves.

Though the moon was by far the largest body in the sky, it wasn't what amazed her the most. Anne marveled at the immense amount of bright, twinkling stars in the sky, many varying in colour. She only knew what stars were, thanks to long conversations with Sasha that delved into the immensity of the universe … “Nope, nope, not going there,” she desperately tried to claw back the memory. Her attempt was useless, of course.

Thinking about the bright stars brimming with life, it hit her then just how far away she was from home. Although, what was home anymore? The concept of home had been taken away from her. It felt foreign. Maybe the stars could be her home. Being on this alien planet, she quickly realized just how much she didn’t belong on the grey concrete constructs of Coruscant. The Coruscantis were lucky if they even saw a single star from the planet in their entire lifetime thanks to the immense light pollution. Yet here she was, happy to be among the stars.

Once she got comfortably far enough away from the separatist invasion, she decided it was good enough to turn off her invisibility suit and take off the part that covered her head.

Slowly, the adrenaline from her escape was wearing. She was left with nothing but the dark and her own exhaustion. At least there wasn’t silence and she appreciated the sound of wildlife chirpings around her. Living on Coruscant, she didn’t have much experience with nature, only being familiar with the gray and neon architecture. It helped distract her from her own spiraling thoughts. Of course those thoughts still came in a jumbled mess. Thoughts of Sasha, the Separatists, the Jedi, Marcy, her own stupid mistakes, all moved throughout her brain like a wave with the consistency of gelatin. No thoughts stayed for long as she was getting more tired by the minute. She felt like she was going to pass out any second now.

Over the crest of a hill, Anne saw new shapes take form. Dark triangles grew as she drew closer, slowly turning into small buildings unlike any she had seen before. By the light of the red moon, she could see several buildings with small windows that were open to the night air, clustered around a central square. She turned her invisibility back on and stumbled towards the nearest building, found what she thought was a safe corner, and immediately lay down and fell asleep blanketed by her cloak.

When she woke up she was surrounded by black and mumbling voices. Her brain fog lifted and she remembered that the dark covering her face was her cloak. She froze. The mumblings grew silent when she moved. After she had stayed still for a few minutes, the conversations around her returned.

“What is that thing, Mommy?”

“I don’t know honey, stay away.”

“It’s some sort of faceless monster,” another voice said.

“We should kill it before it wakes up!”

“Quiet, you’ll wake it,” someone hushed them.

With that, Anne had had enough. Her invisibility suit must have stopped working sometime during the night. She took off her mask and attempted to run straight for the nearest forest. She failed miserably when she realized she was surrounded by a small crowd.

“Oh crud.”

The Newts, and a few other species that Anne wasn’t familiar with, backed away from her, with fear in their faces. Standing, she easily towered over them, being a head taller than the average adult Newt. The other species were even shorter.

“No no, I’m not a monster!” Anne pleaded. “Please! I’m tired and lost. I just need help. I landed here on my ship a few days ago and now I’m stranded.”

“It’s an alien!?” someone shouted.

Maybe it’s here to abduct us!”

“It could be a harold for a full planetary invasion!”

The irony of those words made Anne grimace and feel like throwing up.

Someone pushed their way through the crowd towards her. “An alien, eh?” The stranger put a glove to her chin in a pondering manner. Anne couldn’t tell if she was a newt or not as she covered head to toe in clothing in a much different fashion to the rest of the people surrounding her. “How’d you like to join our troupe?” She said with a grin, her eyes hiding behind a pair of purple sunglasses, and her neck draped with an orange scarf.

Everyone gasped, including Anne.

“Yes, yes, I get it. Everyone just leave the poor alien alone.”

The crowd muttered to themselves as they reluctantly dispersed leaving Anne alone with the purple sunglasses. The stranger held out a gloved hand. Anne bent over and shook it, bewildered.

“The name’s Renee Frodgers. I run an acting troupe. We go from town to town in our caravan and put on a performance for money. Looking at the person who was half her size, Anne could only stare at the black hat on the top of her head that looked like it had a stem.

“You want me to join your acting troupe?” Anne said slowly, picking each word out from her mouth.

“Yep, you could be a big star, kid! We’ve been struggling a bit financially and having someone as exotic as you will sell big tickets! Whatta ya say? Wanna be a big shot?”

Anne gulped, the idea of putting herself on stage was a surefire way to get herself caught. “Sorry Renne, I’m not really looking to put myself in the spotlight.”

She pondered again. “Hmm, I get it. Stage fright is a big issue. How about this: you join us in our caravan and we’ll slowly work on getting you up onto stage. How about it, kid?”

Anne had to think about it. It really was the perfect cover and even included food probably. Her stomach grumbled at the possibility of food. The only problem was that Anne was a terrible liar. She really did not like even stretching the truth. Perhaps it was a remnant from her time with the Jedi, but then again, it really could be a perfect opportunity.

“Um, what direction are you going?”

“We’re heading straight towards Frog Valley.”

“Is that away from Newtopia?”

“Yep, the opposite direction. Why? You got some sort of problem there?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Anne chuckled nervously.

Renne shrugged. “Well not to worry, we won’t let anything happen to you.”

Anne breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem. By the way, what’s your name, stranger?”

“Oh it’s um, Anne, Anne Boonchuy. I’ll join your troupe as long as I don’t have to act. F-for a while I mean!”

Renee snickered. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you private acting lessons myself!”

“Oh, thank you,” Anne chuckled nervously.

Renee gave her another grin. “Come on. I’ll show you to the caravan.”

With that, Anne followed Renne through the town which was significantly smaller than Newtopia. Everything felt like a significant down grade although Anne could appreciate the rustic look of the place.

“Our show doesn’t start for another half hour if you wanna watch.”

“Ah um, no, I’m ok thank you. I don’t want to bring any attention to myself… y-yet, I mean.”

“Ha! I get it. Don’t want to show yourself till the big reveal. Give yourself scarcity and demand. I like it!”

“Y-yeah,” she chuckled nervously yet again. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude but um, are you a newt?”

Renee placed her hands on her knees and laughed. “A newt! Wow you really are from outer space! Luckily for you, if I were any other frog I’d be deeply insulted!” Renee kept wheezing, lifting up her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes.

She’s a frog. Anne took note.

“Do I look like I have a tail?!”

“No.”

“Exactly, that’s the easy way to tell the difference. Do you know what an axolotl is?

“Kind of.”

“They’re similar to frogs except for the antenna they have coming out of their faces.”

So that’s what that other species was that was among the newts. Anne was thankful to have her very own guide. Finally they reached the caravan. It was a row of five different wooden structures with wheels underneath. Anne had not understood what a caravan was but now she could appreciate the craft of them, each with their own special design and paint job.

“This one’ll be yours.”

Anne stared at the caravan in disbelief. “You mean I get the entire thing?”

“Well you’re big enough for one aren’t you? Besides, you're going to be a main attraction, a superstar!”

Anne gulped, guilt crept across her heart. “I don’t know what to say… Thank you so much!”

“Eh no biggie. I’m sure you’ll more than make up for it.”

“Yeah, heh.” Anne gave a nervous chuckle. She knew that she would have to make up for their generosity in some other way. There was no way she was going on stage.

She stepped into the caravan, ducking her head so as to not hit her head on the doorframe. Her brown hair touched the ceiling but at least she could stand comfortably. There was a single small bed that definitely wouldn’t fit her. She didn’t mind, she was just grateful for the hospitality. The rest of the room contained an interesting purple carpet pattern, a cabinet, and a single small table and chair. It wasn’t much but it was livable.

Again, Anne felt guilty for taking advantage of them like this. Then again, maybe Sasha was right about Anne’s morals being fabricated by the Jedi and - no, Sasha couldn’t be right, the girl was clearly twisted, wasn’t she? Anne began panting heavily as she thought about herself in relation to the Jedi. The Jedi weren’t lying to her, were they? No, the Jedi were good, they had to be good. They were peacekeepers after all. Then why were they in a galactic war? The idea of Sasha being right twisted her gut. She could feel her sense of self collapsing like that of a dying star folding in on itself. Before she could spiral any further, she heard a knock on the door.

Her self awareness returned to her. She realized that she was lying on the floor, sweating profusely. ”Coming!” she said with a weak shout.

She opened the door to see Renee Frodgers standing outside with a concerned look.

“Are you ok?” The frog said.

“Y-yeah.” Anne said, weakly.

“Really? You don’t look like it. These wagons don’t have any sound proofing and I heard a thud all the way out here.”

“Oh.”

“Does it have anything to do with Newtopia?”

Anne froze before meekly shaking her head. “I’m fine, really.”

Renee frowned. “Alright, I’m not one to pry into other people’s business. Maybe you can use some of that emotion on stage.”

With that, the frog left.

The rest of the day went by agonizingly slow. Anne was miserable. Renee tried giving her acting lessons after the performance was over but Anne was not having it. She couldn’t concentrate on anything besides clinging onto the extremely fragile state of her self belief. Renee noticed this and tried to subtly get Anne to open up… which only ended up making her sadder because of its reminder of the Jedi way.

Finally, as the sun went down, she climbed into bed. Her feet dangled off the end of it but she didn’t care. Her lack of sleep from the previous night caught up to her and she drifted into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

8 years ago

Anne and Sasha’s legs dangled precariously off the side of the top of the Jedi temple. The dark night sky in front of them was illuminated by the neon city below. From where they sat, they could see the curvature of the planet since the temple was designed to be the tallest thing on Coruscant. The loud sound of the traffic filled the air despite being kilometers away from them.

Anne didn’t want to be up here. In fact, she had protested quite a lot. But, when Sasha made up her mind, Anne couldn’t say no to her. So there they sat, the two padawans stared into the horizon. Sasha’s desire to do so had been mysterious to her. The girl had never been one to share intimate moments.

“I hate this world,” Sasha said bluntly while looking up into the cold abyss of space.

“What?” Anne was taken aback by the statement. “Sasha, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why not? It’s true.”

She didn’t know how to respond. Sasha looked at her.

“Do you know what a star is, Anne?”

“No.” She might have heard the word before but she wasn’t sure.

“In space, there are thousands of suns the same as ours. They burn so brightly that you can see them from anywhere in the galaxy as tiny specks of light, but they only come out at night.”

“Why can’t we see them?”

Sasha had a sad, frustrated expression. “Light pollution.”

“What?!” Anne asked in disbelief. “How can light pollute? Isn’t light supposed to let us see better?”

Sasha shook her head sadly. “The artificial light we have here obscures the beautiful natural light out there. It makes me wonder why the Jedi chose this planet if the light side is supposed to be natural. Unless it really represents what the Jedi are really.”

“W-what?” Anne stammered.

Sasha sighed. “You know what, forget I said anything.”

“No Sasha, this is serious. What do you mean?”

Sasha’s face scrunched up. “Maybe the Jedi’s version of 'the light’ isn’t natural.”

Anne gasped in shock. “We’re peacekeepers, Sash! We help people! How is that not natural?”

Sasha took a minute to respond. She looked into the distance with a cold look on her face. “You’re right, Anne. Let’s go back. I don’t want to get caught up here.”

Anne wanted to say something but she couldn’t think of what. As they headed back in silence, she realized that Sasha was implying that the Jedi may have been lying to them. The thought made her ill.

Anne woke with a gasp. She sat in darkness, panting. If only she could have normal nightmares, not this cruel reminder of how oblivious she was to the signs of the path that Sasha was going down. Now, more than ever, she was confused. Why did the Jedi claim a planet that was void of nature as their home? Her sense of right and wrong was swinging in a rickety balance. Someone in her life was a liar and she couldn’t tell who. Her head hurt from the terror.

The next day, Anne did her best to put on a performance. Not on a stage and not for a paying audience, but for the frogs who were providing her with shelter, food, and water. She did her absolute best to convince Renee that she wasn’t suffering nearly as much today as she was yesterday. Of course, Renee didn’t buy her performance. An actor knows a faker. Still, Renee didn’t press her on what was going on in her mind which Anne was grateful for. So she repaid her by doing her best to pay attention to whatever lesson Renee was trying to teach her. She was thankful for the distraction. Acting even seemed fun, although it was essentially lying for money. Maybe lying was a good thing? She couldn’t tell anymore.

The day passed by slowly. She helped out everywhere that she could. If someone needed something, she would get it for them. If an actor needed help rehearsing their line, she would help them. Rinse and repeat. There was a charm to the monotony, not having to worry about her world getting shattered again every step of the way. Eventually she found herself on the road again. At least this time it wasn’t by foot. She sat in her wagon and watched the world move slowly around her, even fooling herself into believing that she was relaxed.

Eventually, after hours of travel they reached another town. Again, Anne sat in her caravan during the performance and Renee taught her important lessons about acting and being on a stage. She was taught lessons about confidence, how to captivate your audience. Apparently you need to put a piece of yourself into every role that you perform otherwise you won’t be convincing even if you're playing the role of a villain. Anne shuddered at the lesson.

It took them nearly a week until they had made it through the mountains into frog valley. Anne had learned a great amount of Amphibian culture and what nature could look like in general. It was incredible to her how a world so natural could have so much order. This must have been the balance of the force that the Jedi had always taught her about. “Why Coruscant?” The question clung to her head like a parasite. She learned about lakes, swamps, mountains, toads, how there were large bugs and small bugs. So much information, making her feel like a child again. She wasn’t sure if she liked the feeling or not.

Everything was going great, although she knew it wouldn’t last. Her lies would catch up with her sooner or later. She would have to leave before then or risk facing the consequences. Her plan was to leave during one of their performances where most of the town would be distracted. The only problem with her plan was, on the off chance she ran into a civilian, she wasn’t sure if she could get away without anyone knowing she was there using a Jedi mind trick. The most important part of a mind trick was having clear desire and decisiveness. You had to sound and act convincingly. These were very much qualities that Anne felt she lacked.

Finally the day came when she would have to make her move. Renee was getting dangerously close to forcing her on stage. She felt sorry for the frog. Renee’s acting lessons had made Anne into a significantly better liar. Lying had now come so naturally to her that she wondered if it was really a natural state of being. Anne was like an actor, morphing into a different role. Her worry was that she wouldn’t be able to morph back.

Once the performance began, she poked her head out of the caravan to make sure her surroundings were void of people. No one was around. Good. She snuck out onto the trampled dirt ground. The feeling exhilarated her. She hadn’t touched solid ground in a week. Unfortunately for her, the caravan had parked in the very centre of the village. She made her way in the opposite direction of where she could hear the play being performed. Everything was going perfect. There were no people for kilometers in every direction. As she made her way through the village, she could only hope that- she froze.

Walking down the same road she was, Renee and two large frogs each carried large sacks that were completely full. The frogs noticed her and froze as well. Nobody moved an inch until Renee started talking.

“Anne darling, what are you doing outside your caravan?”

“I was just going for a walk while everyone was busy with the play.” Anne lied, mustering her confidence. ”What are you doing?” She asked accusingly.

Renee looked uncomfortable for a moment before she sighed. “Listen Anne, the plays just don’t pay the bills like they should. The arts are the dreams of so many of us frogs but the people just don’t appreciate them like they should. Me and these fellas were just taking what we deserve.”

Anne’s heart dropped out of her chest. “You were stealing.” She trembled.

“Didn’t you just hear what I said? We need the money! How do you think we’re going to keep on feeding you without it?”

Anne had had enough. She shook her head violently. “S-stealing is wrong. Put it back.” She was heaving.

Renee sighed. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Put her back in the caravan, boys. If she resists, rough her up.”

Eyes wide, she realized what was happening as the two giant frogs approached her. They were only giants relative to a frog. They were roughly the same size as her if not a bit smaller. Not wanting to pull out her lightsaber, she breathed and prepared herself for direct combat. One of the frogs grunted at her and sharply raised his chin signaling for her to move.

“No.” she said with the most defiant tone that she’d had since Marcy kidnapped her. Her sense of right and wrong may have been in flux, but she would always believe in standing up to bullies.

The other frog slammed his fist into his palm. A clear sign of what was about to go down. Before either of them could make a move, she struck first. She crouched down and shoved her palm into the chest of one of the frogs, putting the Force into the blow. The massive frog went flying, skidding across the ground. He released a large grunt of shock and pain. The other frog looked at her with wide eyes, before collecting his senses, and swinging at her. Anne dodged the blow with grace and pushed her palm up to meet the frog's chin. The frog went flying and landed on top of the other one with a loud thud. Both were out cold.

Renee watched in horror as the two intimidating frogs were swiftly dealt with. Anne glared at her. Renee gulped, dropping the bag of money, and ran as far away from her as possible. Anne let out a sigh, releasing her adrenaline. At least her second real fight had gone better than her first. Suddenly, the realization of what just transpired hit her. The people who were sheltering her for the past week were thieves. The food that she was being fed was bought with stolen money. She fell to her knees.

“Why?” she sobbed. “Why can't I do anything right?” Misery washed over her, wanting nothing more than to curl up into a ball and scream.

The only thing that stopped her from doing so was her need to leave and get as far away from civilization as possible. Her trust in people was gone, left with nothing but a cold, sad, dejected feeling. She walked away from the scene of the crime with a hobble, making her way to the canopy of trees that she could see in the distance as she had originally intended.

She walked throughout the forest for hours, luckily not running into any dangerous wildlife which Amphibia was famous for. Not knowing which way she was going, she walked over tendrils coming off of trees, climbing overtop of giant solid red plants and massive boulders. The beauty of nature surrounded her. Yes, this was where she was meant to be. At least she couldn’t disappoint or be disappointed by anyone in the thick jungle. There were small bugs climbing everywhere. She couldn’t help but be envious as she watched them move in their grouped formations, carrying something in their tightly knit group. Finally, she came to a small cave. Feeling her aching bones, she limped inside. There were bugs everywhere inside. So many in fact, she decided to have a few to eat, since she was starving. Surprisingly, the bugs didn’t taste that different to the food she had on Coruscant. Considering herself fortunate, she bitterly laughed at the irony of the word.

That night, she experienced a thunderstorm in a way she never had before in her sheltered home on Coruscant. Nature came crashing down as she could only sit and watch, huddling in the far corner of the cave, watching the pouring rain while lightning struck so close to her that the outside was blinded in a white light. The sound of the thunder was deafening, louder than any sound she had ever heard before. She could have sworn she had gone deaf if not for the continuous sound of rain pouring and the crash of a tree falling through its own canopy.

Finally, the downpour began to slow as the morning sun began to rise. Once the rain had completely stopped, she decided to head into the wilderness and make note of her resources. She came across a lake, knowing she would have to use that to drink from. She wasn’t sure how she would make the disgusting water slightly more drinkable. She foraged around for things that seemed edible. She prayed that she wouldn't run into anything poisonous. Maybe she could find a book that could-… She remembered where she was and how she had sworn off society. She would have to figure out things on her own.

The rest of the day was uneventful, besides the aftermath of the rain shower last night. Where there was once dirt there was now mud, lots of it. Avoiding it the best she could, she ate some bugs that she already knew were safe to eat. She even drank straight from the lake despite knowing how terrible it was. Part of her knew this couldn’t last. She wasn’t built for this. She would slip up and get injured or sick some way or another. There was no way she would be able to get better after she got hurt. She’d basically be an injured animal that would be better off being put down.

Finally, night came so she went back into her cave and rested against the cold hard surface of the rock wall. Her stomach didn’t agree with the unfiltered water she had drank today. Maybe she wouldn’t wake up in the morning from something bad she had eaten today.

“That would be a shame…” she whispered to herself as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

When Darth Volcanus came to Marcy’s cell, threatening to hurt her unless she divulged where Anne had gone, Marcy responded slyly. “Aw, I didn’t know that a Sith would want a friend.”

Volcanus erupted before her, yelling, swearing, calling her worthless, threatening to kill her. It was quite cathartic for Marcy. When the Sith collected herself enough to see that Marcy had a grin on her face, she stomped away in frustration.

Marcy knew she’d be back and there she was, an hour later, threatening Marcy with the thought of excruciating pain. She knew pain, the threat didn’t even do so much as make her flinch. However, she could tell that the Sith’s patience was growing thin and if she deemed that Marcy wasn’t useful anymore, seeing how angry she was, Marcy was as good as dead.

“I don’t know, she didn’t tell me. She didn’t even visit me,” she said, simply.

Volcanus looked at her with a look that was a cross between shock and anger that resulted in her looking mad. “You. Don’t. Know?” She ignited a lightsaber, igniting the room in a red glow, without breaking her thousand-yard stare.

She pressed herself against the cold wall of the cell, her heart rate increasing. “N-n-no. But I can help you find her!” she pleaded.

The Sith’s expression morphed into a purely angry look but at least she didn’t seem to be enveloped in madness anymore. “I don’t need your help,” she seethed, though her actions didn’t quite match her words. Turning off her lightsaber, the Sith marched off to her next victim.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the familiar darkness covered her again.

It would be a couple days before she would see anyone again, besides the occasional servant who would bring her appalling, but edible food and water. She had a feeling that the food being that bad was a request directly from the Sith Herself. A terrible boom of footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. Maybe a pet rancor had come to finish her off. It’s not like she’d recovered from her previous injuries in any way thanks to the nil healthcare she had received. The footsteps became louder as they grew closer. She held her breath. What came before her was the opposite of what she’d expected.

“Hello, Marcy.” King Andrias had a solemn expression on him.

A million thoughts raced through her mind at once. Why was the king here? Was he even allowed to visit her? How did he know her name?

“H-hi,” she sputtered out.

“We live in grave times, Marcy. I’m sorry for your predicament. I would help your injuries if I could, but alas, I’m not allowed.”

She was left speechless for quite a few seconds. “H-how do you know my name?

“Oh, yes. Volcanus told it to me without any context. It took me a while to realize who she was referring to.”

“Why are you here?”

“I came here to check on you. You seem upset, much more than just a physical injury. It’s always sad for me to see a broken soul.”

She averted his eyes in shame. “Did she threaten to kill you too?”

The king grew a slight smile. “Yes she did. Until I reminded her that she needed my help for her goals of conquering this planet. Needless to say, she was quite upset.”

Marcy couldn’t help but chuckle. “Do you know where she went?”

“Nope.” It was weird hearing such a casual word out of the head royalty’s mouth. “Do you?”

“No, but I told her that I'd help her find her.”

“Did she accept?”

“No.”

“But she didn’t kill you.”

“I guess not.”

He gave a dark chuckle. “I see.”

She couldn’t quite figure him out. It didn’t make sense to her why the king would even think of a bottom feeder such as her. “Is that really the only reason you came to see me? Just to check on me?”

The king gave a small laugh. “Not trusting are we? It’s understandable. Your partner did decide to leave without even saying goodbye.”

“How would you know?” Marcy said spiteful with a curious edge.

“I had a hunch.” The king shrugged.

Marcy was out of words.

“I’ll come back to check on you if you’d like, but I can leave you alone if you’d rather.”

She hesitated. “Are you even allowed down here?”

“Darth Volcanus doesn’t care what I do as long as it doesn't impede on anything she’s doing. I can come back tomorrow if you’d like.” He addressed her as if she were a distressed child.

“Yes. Yes, your Majesty, I’d like that. Thank you.”

He gave her a soft smile. “Call me Andrias.”

She smiled back. Then, he gave her a wave and walked away. The interaction left her with a warmth that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

True to his word, Andrias returned the next day. Their conversation was mostly uneventful which was perfect for her. The small talk and banter helped keep her afloat. Eventually the conversation changed into backstory. Marcy told her story of how she started as an orphan and then made her way up to being the most feared and respected bounty hunter of all time. Andrias paid keen awareness to her story. She appreciated him immensely. She told him of how she dreamed of being a Jedi, how meeting Anne completely flipped that dream on its head. He nodded solemnly when she mentioned that. He seemed to have a similar experience to do with crushed dreams of his own.

“Let me tell you a tale of how I was betrayed, much like how Anne betrayed Volcanus.” He said with a sad hint of nostalgia. “The truth of Amphibia is that once upon a time, our civilization used to be connected to the rest of the galaxy. Not only that, we used to be a major trading faction at the heart of the galaxy’s commerce. When I was an eft, I even went to another planet and met the inhabitants of that civilization. The experience was breathtaking and I’ll never forget it.

Marcy had too many questions to count. ”W-wait how old are you? Why isn’t this in any books that I’ve come across? What happened to this place?” She knew that asking so many questions was probably rude but she couldn’t help herself.

Andrias gave a jovial laugh. “Well you see, Marcy, I’m over a thousand years old! I’m not surprised you haven’t read about our grand history. It appears that the rest of the galaxy forgot about us. ‘What happened to this place?’ Well let me tell you.”

Marcy leaned in closer with anticipation.

“There once was a time where every species in Amphibia lived in complete harmony. Frog valley and the toad towers didn’t exist because we all lived together here in Newtopia. There were still villages elsewhere, but if you wanted to live life to the fullest, you lived in Newtopia. The reason for our power and our fame was thanks to a magical artifact known as the calamity box. It was a mystical artifact of limitless power, shaped like a mere music box.” He chuckled in reminiscence. “There were droids walking around the city. We could power an entire fleet of spacecraft just from the box. It was beautiful. Then one day, right after I’d become king, one of my best friends stole the box.

Marcy gasped. “No!”

He sadly nodded. “Not only that, my other best friend let her do it.”

She gasped again.

“After that, we were isolated to this world. Our space fleet still rusts after a millennia of not being used. The droids that were once useful for day to day activity slowly rusted into scrap metal.”

She didn’t really know how to respond to the story. Tears formed in her eyes. “How could she?!”

“I’ll never know. I never saw her again.”

“Do you know where the box is?”

“If I did, I would stop at nothing to get it back. I do believe that it’s still on this planet.”

Marcy shot out of her seat only to be reminded of the immense damage done to her body. “Ow, ow ow ow.”

Andrias gave her a concerned look. “Woah there kiddo, slow down. You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine,” she said, in-between pain. Her knees wobbled beneath her. “When I get out of here-” A sharp pain cut her off. Andrias looked like he wanted to physically comfort her. “Ngh. When I get out of here… I’ll help you get back that box, whatever it takes. I’m very good at-” She grunted in pain again. “-finding things.”

Andrias gave her a concerned smile. Thank you, Marcy, but I won’t let you help me if you continue hurting yourself.”

Marcy sat back down with a feeling of dejection. She just wanted to be out of this stupid prison. If she could just make it back to her ship, she had amazing medical equipment there.

“Listen kiddo, I’ll take you up on your offer if I can convince the separatists to release you. You're much nicer than my old ‘so called’ friends. How about this? You can work directly for me and I’ll make you royalty. How does that sound?”

The prospect of being a princess popped into her head which sounded absolutely amazing. She shook the thought out of her head. Andrias wasn’t her dad. Sure he may have been the closest thing she had ever had to a father figure, but she had only known him for two days.

He seemed to notice her thoughtful expression. “You’ve never had a parent before have you?”

She trembled. He was dangerously close to figuring her out.

He looked sad at the idea. “I’m so sorry, Marcy. That isn’t something I would wish on anyone.” He stroked his beard in thought. “How about we talk more about this once you're out of that cell. There’s no point in daydreaming. Trust me, I’ve done it a lot.”

She believed him, nodding solemnly at his words.

“Marcy.” His tone shifted into a more serious one. “You can’t tell anyone about what we just discussed. No one else but us can know about the box. It’s a relic of the past and a reminder of my greatest failure. This is an extremely private and personal mission. Can you keep it a secret?

She nodded. “Yes sir! You can count on me! Trust me, I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Thank you, Marcy, truly. I have to go now. I wish I could stay longer, but alas, I have important tasks to attend to. I can’t keep my role as king waiting. I’m not sure when I have the time to see you next. I’ll be sure to stop by as soon as I can. I’m going to do my best to get you out of there.”

“Thank you. I’m so sorry that you had to lose so much.”

“Hm. It was a long time ago. I’m thankful that I now have a friend who knows what it’s like to lose as well.” He chuckled with bleeding sadness. “I’ll talk to you later, Marcy.”

“I’ll see you later, Andrias.” she said, wearing the most genuine smile of her life.

She didn’t see him the next day, nor the one after. He wasn’t even the next proper visitor that she got.

Darth Volcanus walked in looking far more worn down since she last saw her six days ago. The Sith looked nearly as tired as Anne did when she had first met her. Volcanus looked at her with an intense stare. She hadn’t brought her dramatic lighting this time, causing her face to be blanketed in darkness.

“Are you really as skilled as your reputation states or is that just talk?” The Sith asked her with a tangible bitterness. “How could one single injury destroy you if the rumors about you are true.”

Marcy felt her stomach squirm. She didn’t want the Sith to know a thing about her, but it might be her only chance of freedom. “The injury didn’t scare me out of being a bounty hunter, it just made me realize that it’s not what I want to do anymore.”

“Why?” She demanded.

“At first, I took jobs because I needed to in order to survive. I was driven to make my way in this cold galaxy. After a while, I realized that I couldn’t stop. I was bound by the expectation I put on myself and by the galaxy itself. I was too big to quit. It was Anne who made me realize that I could do something because I wanted to, not because I had to.” She paused.

The Sith nodded at her to continue.

“Despite what Anne told me, I was still in denial about how I felt. I tried making her into something else. Someone like me.” She paused in shame. “I don’t like who I am anymore. I want to be someone else. Getting slammed into that pillar was just a wakeup call.”

Volcanus seemed to ponder for a second before a small smile grew on her face. She took a physical key that she had kept clenched in her fist and opened the door to Marcy's cell.

“You wanna be someone else?” She said with a smirk, extending her hand towards Marcy. “How would you like to be a Separatist?”

Marcy's mouth went dry.

Chapter Text

From as far back as she could remember, Sasha Waybright always needed to be the one in control, whether it be people, places, situations, anything. Why did she feel this need, this urge? Maybe it came from being abandoned by her master at a young age. Maybe it was a leftover from whatever genetics she had inherited from her birth parents. Whatever the case was, she didn’t care. The Jedi would never give her what she needed. They always talked about surrendering yourself to the Force and giving in to the endless flow of life. The thought sickened her. How could anyone surrender themselves to anything in this insane galaxy without, at the very least, a fight?! No, she would grab the force by the wheel and make it bend to her whim!

This was what made her gravitate towards Anne Boonchuy. Anne was stubborn much like she was but in a completely different way. Sasha couldn’t help but admire the girl’s tenacity and love for the Jedi even if it conflicted with her secret loathing. The best part about Anne was that she was stubborn but always eventually gave in to Sasha’s wishes. Without fail, Anne would complain about whatever wacky hijinks Sasha wanted them to get into and then would always eventually concede to Sasha’s will despite her protests. The dopamine that Sasha got from it was marvelous. Being able to control the stringent Jedi gave her hope that the galaxy wasn’t as untamable as the order suggested.

Now in the present day, Sasha wanted to bomb the hell out of the castle for allowing Anne to escape. Would it help her current predicament? No. Would it actually impede quite a few of her goals including finding Anne? Probably, yeah. Sasha had been taught how to kill very early on as a Sith. Initially, it felt… wrong , but she accepted it because this is what it took for her to realize her dreams. After her training, she’d been released onto the battlefield like a wild charhound, mowing down clones. It felt sickly good, like she shouldn’t be doing it, which is exactly why it felt so right. She was above the confines of any sense of morality, she was free, she was in control.

Then there was Marcy. Marcy, much like Anne, gave up everything and … for what?! Marcy had the whole empire of the underworld at her fingertips and she casually gave it all away because she didn’t feel like it anymore?! What in the absolute hell?! The things Sasha could have done with that reputation…. She shuddered to think of the lost potential.

At least her plan was going smoothly. If she could convince the ex-bounty hunter to join her, convincing Anne to join her should become far easier as well. The jailed girl’s face was barely noticeable, sitting on a wooden bench on the far wall of the cell. Though, she had enough light to see that Marcy was clearly uncomfortable at her proposition. Why would Marcy care? It’s not like she was ever on the Republic’s side. She stared at Marcy, waiting for a response.

Finally, she got one. “I’d be happy to help you find her. I just don’t know why you’d want me working for you,” Marcy asked with confusion.

She sneered in response. “You don’t know why I’d want the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter working for me? Hell, you could be working directly with me. You could even still be friends with Anne once I find her.” That got a reaction out of Marcy. Her eyes grew wide in surprise as she looked Sasha directly in her eyes.

“Really, you-you mean it?”

“Yep. I don’t see why you would turn down such an offer. It’s not like you have anywhere else to go. Sounds pretty good to me.”

Marcy’s face appeared to suggest something different. She looked deep in thought for a solid minute. ”Okay, I’ll join you,” she finally decided, giving a deep exhale of air. “I just need one thing.”

“Hm?” Sasha lifted an eyebrow having been caught off guard. “Okay, shoot.”

“What’s your name, your real name?”

She inhaled sharply and gave a small chuckle. “That’s a bold question.”

Marcy’s face remained stagnantly defiant, reminding her of Anne. “I need to know if we’re going to work together.”

She gave a deep sigh. “Sasha Waybright.”

Marcy extended her hand, inviting Sasha to shake it. “Marcy Wu.” They shook.

Sasha took a step back.

“What would you want me to do after we find Anne?” Marcy asked.

“Anything you want.” She responded casually. You could be a general, a tactician. Hell, you could be anything really, as long as you’re helping out our cause.”

“Sure,” she paused for a moment, “sounds good.” Sasha could hear a tinge of pain in Marcy’s words.

She blamed it on her physical injuries, which reminded her that she still had yet to give Marcy some well needed medical attention.

She sighed, “Come here.” Since Marcy obviously couldn’t walk, Sasha scooped her up like a child and carried her in her arms. To anyone casually looking at them, it looked like she was holding a dead body, if not for Marcy’s wincing. 

“Let’s get you to a medical bay.” She looked down at the small, fallen bounty hunter that was killed by her own hands.

“Take me to my ship. I have a good medical bay there.” Marcy said, weakly.

“The Separatists have a good medical center of our own.”

Marcy gave a small chuckle. “Not as good as mine.”

Sasha pondered Marcy’s request. On one hand, it could be dangerous to let Marcy on her own ship again. On the other hand, with Marcy’s current state, there’s no way she could do anything until she was healed enough to walk. Maybe with a careful watch, it would be okay. “I’ll have a couple MagnaGuards bring you to your ship to make sure nothing happens to you.”

“You mean, to make sure that I don’t fly away.” Marcy snickered.

“Yes that too.” She responded, dryly.

With that, she dropped Marcy off with a couple of Magnaguards that she had direct communication with. The second Marcy was good enough to walk, she would know.

Next on her agenda for the day was the meeting with her master. She’d been dreading it all week and the walk to the designated meeting chamber filled her with absolute dread. She did not want to tell the Count that she had lost the girl. Having never failed a mission before, she had never faced the consequences of such. Stepping into the room, she pressed a button on the holographic device, stepped back, and knelt before the blue image of her stern master.

“How is your quest going to turn the former Jedi?” he asked.

“There’s been a complication, my master,” she averted his eyes.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Anne Boonchuy has run away and her whereabouts are unknown.” She did her best not to tremble as a knot formed in her throat.

“You lost the girl?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Yes, if I could just have more time then I-”

“Sasha.” He cut her off with a frigid sternness that she had never heard from him before.

She froze. This was way worse than when he used her Sith name.

“My master only tolerates your existence because you're strong, you get things done. Until now you have served your purpose to our cause excellently. Now, if your usefulness dwindles, I’m afraid of what my master will see you as. A nuisance perhaps? A glitch in the system of the Sith? You must choose, Darth Volcanus, what you value. That friend of yours is making you soft, weak, a disappointment. Choose wisely.”

Every stinging insult from her master made her wince in pain. Was that really all the Sith saw her as? A thing to be used? Of course she was meant to be useful, she was supposed to be good at what she did. She had failed them. A part of her wished she could be more than just useful. Another part of her told her to shut up.

“This does not change our arrangement,” he cut off her thoughts. “If you can not find her in the next two weeks and convince her, you will track her down and kill her.”

“Surely, we can figure something else out. She’s powerful in the Force and would make a strong asset to our organization! Please!” She pleaded. “I need time to convince her! I know she’s stubborn but I have ways of getting under her skin. My plan requires more time with her.”

Her master contemplated her request, filling her with a sliver of hope. “Her stubbornness is what makes her dangerous to the Sith way. I do not want that stubbornness infecting you, my apprentice. The longer you spend with her, the more time she will have to get into your head.

“She’s already in my head!” She finally admitted. “I can’t get her out. If that makes me disappointed then so be it.” She gritted her teeth. “ I’m going to get through to her. My will is far stronger than hers. If I can just spend more time with her, I know I can turn her. She was already so close before, she just made a rash decision. She will bend to my will, I swear it on the Sith code!”

She must have gotten through to her master because he continued to ponder. “Fine, I don’t like that she’s in your head but there’s nothing that can be done about it for now. If you can find her within the given time, I will give you a week longer to convince Anne Boonchuy to join us. However, if you do not succeed even after the extension, the punishment for breaking your oath will be severe. Do you understand?”

She nodded gravely. “Yes, master.”

“Good, do not report back to me until you have found the girl or the two weeks have passed and you have yet to find her.”

With that, the transmission ended. Sasha’s heart was pounding out of her chest. Did she really want to be so disposable? If her use ran out… No, her use would not end, she wouldn’t let it. She was going to make the Sith proud and bring Anne over to her side even if it was the last thing she ever did. 

She spent the rest of the day flying across the continent of Amphibia looking for Anne. Logically, she knew that she wouldn't find the girl this way, but what other choice did she have? Her soon to be apprentice could be just about anywhere by now. Maybe Marcy could have some insight on how to find her. How does anyone find anyone who doesn’t want to be found on a planet, let alone the entire galaxy?

Eventually, as she always did, she gave up and went back to bed. At least she felt slightly less terrible today than she’d felt for the past week. She had one last hope with Marcy.

The next day she received a visitor who gently but firmly knocked on her door. She knew that there was only one person in this castle who would possibly dare interrupt her day. She opened the door to see Lady Olivia standing there, prim and proper as usual. 

“Hello, my Lord. The King has asked that you meet with him in the throne room so that you may discuss important matters.”

“The King knows that only I am allowed to schedule appointments around here,” she replied, forcefully.

Lady Olivia sighed. “Yes, I am well aware. I even tried convincing him of that myself. He insisted that the matter that needed to be discussed was too urgent to wait for you to talk to him.”

Sasha scowled at her but immediately regretted it. Of course, the newt was only a messenger and was faced with the extremely difficult task of asking her to do something, especially since she’s been less than kind to anyone all week. Not that Sasha was ever kind though she felt a small twinge of sympathy for the newt. Of course, the newt’s idea of her being some sort of little girl in an adult's body was absurd. It’s not like the newt had ever seen a Sith before. Most people couldn’t comprehend just how better Sith were than everyone else. Her mood softened. “Thank you. Since it's urgent, I’ll see him.”

Lady Olivia gave her a small bow, holding her skirt, and then hurried off.

Her conversation with Lady Olivia after she had run away from Anne, crying like a little girl, had never left her. Before that moment, she didn’t know that she was even capable of crying, let alone being able to bawl her eyes out. She knew she was weak because of that, something only a few weeks ago, she would never admit to herself. The fact that the newt was empathetic enough to comfort her in her most vulnerable moment had left an impression on her so strong she couldn’t even be upset by it. Being a Sith, running on high emotions came natural to her. What didn’t come natural to her was pure, unfiltered sadness.

The King had better have a damn good reason for summoning her.

Upon opening the door to the throne room, she immediately noticed that the king was standing up next to his throne. She hated the fact that the giant size of the newt had an intimidating factor of his own. She couldn’t help feeling small in comparison. It also didn’t help that she did technically need him for Amphibia. Honestly, she couldn’t care less about this stupid planet anymore. She just wanted to find Anne and leave.

King Andrias noticed her entrance and looked down upon the Sith, straight into her shocking light blue eyes. She had always felt ashamed about her eye colour, asking a long time ago to her master why she couldn’t obtain Sith yellow eyes. Apparently not all Sith have them. Only those who are pure hate incarnate can merit them. The knowledge made her feel like a fraud.

“Ah, greetings, Darth Volcanus. I apologize for the summon. This simply cannot wait.”

“What do you want?” she scowled bitterly.

“‘What do I want?’ What about what I can give you?”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Cut the rancor shit. I’m not in the mood for games.”

He chuckled. “I’m not here to play games, although I do enjoy a good one here and there.”

He was acting far too jovial for her taste. “Spill it before you lose a hand!”

“Alright, alright.” He lifted his hands slightly in a mock surrender. He chuckled with a tinge of nervousness. “As you’ve already guessed, I have a proposition for you, an exchange.”

She knew that’s what he wanted but was still taken aback by his audacity. “What could you possibly give me that I couldn’t just threaten out of you?”

He looked at her for a moment, his face took on a more adult look. “Willingness. That’s something that you cannot force. You cannot pry it out of someone, you can only ask for it. I know that you’ve already learned that lesson with Anne.”

Sasha’s mouth went slack. The audacity, the boldness, the, the…. How could this newt think that he had any sort of leverage on her?! She clamped her mouth shut and felt her blood rush to her head. How could he dare use Anne as an example?! How dare he mention her biggest mistake?!

She ignited her lightsaber and pointed it at him. “You have 5 seconds to explain yourself.” She was deadly serious, no more playing around.

“I will work with you to secure Amphibia for Separatist control. I will make sure that there is absolutely no resistance.” He sounded surprisingly calm, infuriating her even more. “I will assure my people that the Separatists are heroes and are here to help. I will do all of this willingly for you and your cause. We do not have to be enemies.”

His words conflicted her, continuing to point her lightsaber at him. “Why? What do you have to gain? What do you want?”

He cleared his throat. “There is a prophecy that involves the three of you.”

Sasha froze as time appeared to be still. “What?” She asked while holding her breath.

His serious face turned stern, reminding her too much of her master. “Listen Sasha, there are a lot of things I know about you.”

“Wha- how did you-” He left her speechless from the mention of her name.

“I will not ‘rancor-shit’ you, Sasha.” The expression sounded wrong coming from his mouth. “I know what kind of a person you are. I know how smart and observant you are. I would not dare attempt to lie to you. Which is why I’m going to tell you the truth, whether you choose to believe me or not.”

She could hardly breathe, words caught in her throat.

“The truth is, we’re not so different. We both have wild ambitions, unfulfilled dreams, and will do anything to accomplish them. Everything I’m about to tell you, I’ve already told Marcy, however I did tell her not to tell anyone else, not even you.” He gave her a mischievous grin. “She doesn’t doesn’t know what kind of person I am, she’s not like you.

Sasha hated that her body was shaking. She hated how little she could do to stop the flow of exposition that was upending her power.

“I will join the Separatists in order to fulfill my greatest need. The prophecy that you are a part of will fulfill that need and will bring Amphibia back to its former glory. Once upon a time, this kingdom was very similar to the Separatists in terms of galactic power. We were rivaled only by the Republic themselves!” he boomed. She could feel the energy resonating from the giant, grinding against her skin. Suddenly he got quiet and somber. “The calamity box. It has the ability to harness the power of the three gems, each containing what might as well be unlimited power. It was stolen, leaving this empire to collect dust. We faded into obscurity, a fossil of the past. I know It’s somewhere on this planet. In over a thousand years, I haven’t found it.”

Sasha did her absolute best to recollect herself. She could hear her own pulse going far too fast. A Sith of her status should not fear, yet here she was, the second time in a week feeling like her own skull is being torn off. “You want me to find it,” she tried to look composed.

“I want the three of you to find it. That is what the prophecy says. The three of you will return Amphibia to its former glory.”

She grabbed her right arm in order to try her best to stop shaking. “Why would I do that? Why would I give it to you? This could turn the tide of the war for us.”

Andrias gave her a grin. “Oh it absolutely will, I completely agree, however, you don’t have the infrastructure in order to harness it, nor do you know how to make it work.”

She was constantly being backed into a corner and she hated it. “Maybe I won’t do your stupid little prophecy! I don’t have to do a thing you want, old man!” She tried her absolute best to turn this battle of words to her advantage.

“Hmm…” he sarcastically pondered. “You’re right. You don’t have to do anything. But there’s one last thing it can do that may interest you.”

He looked at her, waiting for a response. She gave him no such satisfaction.

“It has the power of persuasion, the ability to make someone willing. A complete oxymoron that’s possible with its power. I understand that this is something you may be interested in?”

Again, her heart felt like it was desperately trying to escape her chest. “Y-you’re lying.”

He shrugged. “Maybe,” he said with a deceptive smile, “but would it really hurt for you to find out?”

She thought about it, she really did. She so badly wanted such an easy solution to her problem, but she couldn’t let this newt have any hold over her.

“You’re right about one thing,” she steeled her will. “You and I are similar, which is how I know a liar when I see one.”

“If you don’t want to believe me yet, fine. But, just know that when you find it, my offer still stands. If you bring it to me, I can make all of your wishes come true. Amphibia, Anne, the Sith, unlimited power, all for a small favour if my assumptions about the prophecy are correct.”

Andrias last few words gave her an idea. It was simple really. “Ok fine, you have a deal, but I'm adding something to the bargain.”

“Hm?” King Andrias lifted a brow.

“If I have not come across the music box by the time I’m done with this pitiful mudball, I’m taking your head with me, and leaving your body to rot.”

This had the opposite effect on him than she had hoped. A small wheeze of air left his mouth and then a small, genuine smile escaped his lips. He knelt down on one knee and extended a hand close enough for her to shake it. It could easily crush her like a bug. “You have a deal,” he beamed.

Sasha, furious at the interaction, did not shake his huge hand. She simply got up and stormed away. The interaction had left her shaken and confused. There was a prophecy about her, Anne, and Marcy?! What the hell? She scoffed at the idea. Like she’d fall for crap like that. What was he gonna do next? Tell her that the stars in the sky predicted her future? What a scumbag. He would've made for a good Sith. The fact that he knew her real name was disconcerting. Maybe he heard it somehow by listening to Anne and her conversations? That would make sense.

She decided that she wouldn’t go out on her sky expeditions to find Anne today, finally admitting to herself that she should just wait for Marcy. Although, perhaps Lady Olivia would prefer her to keep her flying routines since her restlessness caused her to walk around the castle, randomly destroying things. She destroyed priceless tarps, ancient vases, and anything that she could see. She punched walls, Force pulled cabinets over, causing mass destruction thanks to her feeling of helplessness which she really, really hated.

Next day, she got a message from her magna-guard saying that Marcy was healthy enough to walk. What the hell was that medical tech that she had on the ship?

Chapter Text

Anne stalked an obnoxiously loud frog through the woods, keeping to the branches of the thick canopy, obscured by the darkness of the night. The frog with a single eye walked through the dangerous jungle of trees, singing his heart out while playing what sounded like an instrument that used the compression and decompression of air for sound. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world, or maybe he was drunk. She didn’t judge.

There were two problems for her due to the frog's presence. For one thing, did his being here mean that there was a civilization nearby? She really didn’t want to move after she had just found a good source of clean drinking water. The second problem was that he was heading straight for her den. The word made her chuckle, making her feel like a wild animal. Of course that feeling was probably true at this point. Her appearance certainly helped promote it. Her once nice, perfectly clean, black, loosely fitted outfit was now caked in mud. Her skin was sweaty from the humidity and her once tied back brown hair now sprang open in its full curly, bushy glory. Leaves and twigs filled her hair from her time pushing through low hanging branches. One of her boots had gotten hopelessly trapped in a thick bog created from the down poor the other night. At least one boot was better than no boot.

She refocused back to the frog who was casually making his way towards what she hesitantly but protectively called home. There was no way she’d let him near her food that she stored for later. There was only one way that she was going to get this frog out of her territory. Fear. It wasn’t the Jedi way, but luckily for her, she wasn’t a Jedi.

She made her way from branch to branch hopping elegantly, making sure each one would hold her weight before she chose to leap. Gracefully and stealthily, she made her way to a bush right next to the singing frog, just out of sight. Intentionally, she rustled the bush while crouching down, preparing to make her grand entrance.

He stopped playing music. “H-hello?” He trembled with some sort of thick accent. “Who’s there?”

Anne took that as her cue. Slowly uncrouching from behind the bush, she towered over him at over twice his size, giving him a piercing glare.

He dropped his instrument, his face engulfed in terror. “Ah! No, no, no, no! Don’t eat me! Nooooooooo!” With that, the frog hopped away as fast as his little legs could take him.

Making sure that he was gone first, she finally let out the breath that she had been holding in. The sound that frog had just made rang through her ears. She didn’t know she was capable of creating such primal fear. It was another point for Sasha, not that it mattered. She didn’t plan on talking to anyone ever again, good or bad.

Hoping that frog was a fluke, she walked back to her den, having given up on her night foraging. Today was her third full day out in the wilderness. She learned quite a surprising amount of things about her instincts which helped her to not die. She realized quickly the more colourful something is, the less she should eat it. She also found lots of bugs which were surprisingly tasty, as well as a good water source that spewed clear, frigid water out from the ground. It was some of the best water she’d ever tasted.

Unfortunately, her hope for solitude was quickly proven unfounded. It wasn’t long before a small pink frog wearing a hat with goggles, came hopping into her general area. She scrambled to get away but she wasn’t quick or quiet enough. As she scrambled up a tree, the pink frog stared at her with fear in his eyes. She could tell he was doing his best to be brave while she hung in the shadows beneath the canopy. 

He took out what looked like a two-pronged stick with an elastic band on top, connecting the prongs. He scooped up some mud, compacting it, and put it on the elastic and drew it back towards him. Now, she wasn’t an expert on physics but it didn’t take her long to figure out what the tool was meant to do. Releasing the tension, he flung the mud in her direction. She ducked, the shot just barely missing her head. She would’ve been impressed at the accuracy if her presence being known wasn’t so terrifying.

She turned around and began bounding from branch to branch away from the frog in the opposite direction of the den. She knew the forest well enough by now to find her way back. Annoyingly, her attacker gave chase with surprising agility. He had an annoying advantage over her in being small. He didn’t have to worry what branches might give out beneath him unlike her. Every branch she lept to had to be absolutely big enough to support her weight. He took shortcuts that she couldn’t take, zig zagging from branch to branch. In an instant, she came crashing down. She had chosen a rotted branch.

Sun gleamed in thin strips around her while she cascaded down alongside the dead wood that failed to hold her weight. Time came to a crawl and her breath appeared to move faster than time itself. The ground drew closer and closer, her breath caught between her teeth. Not a second too soon, the Force caught her fall. Time resumed.

Lying on the cold, wet, leaf littered, forest floor, she sharply panted. The pink frog climbed down one of the giant trees and hopped over. She didn’t like the concerned look on his face. She tried to stand up and run but her legs betrayed her. He approached her, slowly and cautiously, reloading his projectile as he creeped closer. It occurred to her that he may have thought that she was badly wounded, which would make sense for any other creature. She found the strength to stand up again but she was sick of running.

“Stop following me!” she cried out in anger.

He froze, staring at her with wide eyes, mouth agape. “You can talk?!

“What difference does it make?! Just leave me alone!”

“But… you’re a monster.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yep, I sure am.” Bitter sarcasm oozed out of her mouth.

She was about to turn away when a loud crashing noise came from somewhere close by. Both of them froze. 

“What was that?” The boy asked, cautiously.

Suddenly from behind the thick brush a giant creature burst through. The massive red monster towered over her being over twice her size. It screeched a horrible cry. For a moment there was a standoff, nobody dared move.

That was until the frog screamed, “RUNNN!!!”

The monster held one of its colossus scythes for hands up in the air, getting ready to strike. She held her ground.

“What are you doing?!” He asked while panicking. “Get out of there!”

She brought her lightsaber to her hand, igniting it just as the scythe came down on her. She swung her blade to match its own, chopping it clean off the beast’s body. It screeched in pain from its lost limb, scurrying as fast as it could go away from her. She stood there while her lightsaber hummed, watching it disappear into the foliage. The frog’s mouth was agape yet again. The white noise of the lightsaber blanketed the silence between them. The severed monster limb casually rested on the ground next to her feet.

“What are you?” he asked in a hushed awe.

“I already told you, I just want to be left alone.”

He made no indication that he was going to oblige her request. In fact, he seemed like he wanted to get closer.

“Are you a goddess?” He looked up at her with wide innocent eyes, his feet inching towards her.

She snorted, retracting her lightsaber, not being able to help but laugh at the absurdity of his question.

“I’m a nobody.” She said unconvincingly. Just-just… leave me alone, please.

His wide eyed expression gives way to confusion. “Um… How can you be a nobody? You just dismembered that mantis like it was nothing,” he said simply.

She really didn’t like that he had a point. “Sure, okay. Maybe I was a somebody, once, kind of. But I’m not anymore. So. Just. Leave. Me. Alone!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, scaring off nearby animals. She panted from the stress she was putting on herself.

She didn’t like the look of dejection that appeared on the small frog's face. Somehow after everything, that was the most painful reminder of how far she’d fallen.

“As long as you don’t don’t eat anyone, I won’t bother you.” He turned around slowly and walked away with a slump.

Sympathy for him whirled in her stomach, telling her that she was making a mistake. “I’m sorry,” she croaked out.

He stopped, turning around slightly.

She breathed. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you. I really shouldn’t have… I-I’m-, it’s just…” The words were catching in her throat. “I’m not okay.” She finally admitted, not just to the frog, but to herself.

His eyes went wide, radiating sympathy. He walked over to her and stared through her eyes into her soul. “Wanna talk about it?”

She froze. Who the heck was this creature? “But you-, you thought I-…”

He sighed. “Yeah I know. First I thought you were some sort of monster, and then I thought you were a goddess. But now I can see that you’re a person, like me.” He pointed to himself.

His sweetness caught her so off guard, she felt she was going to collapse. She did her best to hold her ground.

“How long have you been out here by yourself?”

She hesitated. “Three days.”

“Three days?!” he asked in disbelief. “Where did you live before?!”

Shrugging, she replied,“ A building. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“So what are you doing out here?” His exasperated tone lessened.

“Running away.”

“From what?!” he said, looking around panicky.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Her head sank. “It-it’s personal.”

“Oh… Okay.”

Tension grew as an awkward silence blanketed them. Before either of them could say a word, a suspiciously familiar blue, one-eyed frog burst from out of a bush.

“There they are!” the blue frog yelled, pointing at her.

Suddenly a whole group of colourful looking frogs burst out of the foliage. Four of them tackled her to the ground. She would have moved or done anything to prevent this predicament if she wasn’t too busy being in shock from being yet again betrayed. Before her senses could return to her, at least ten different frogs had tied her up using extremely tight rope that covered her shoulders all the way down to her ankles. The course material rubbed against the back of her hands in an almost painful way. The rope covered up her lightsaber so she couldn’t grab it even with the force. The idea of using the Force to turn it on came to her mind but she shot it down out of fear of stabbing herself.

She looked over at the pink frog that betrayed her only to watch an old orange frog speak to him. “Haha!” He said pridefully. “You caught the monster! Sprig, I’m impressed.” He spoke with a drawl in his voice.

She was shaking with rage from the indignity of it all. Being bound to the ground was the least of her anger.

“N-no, I didn’t mean to-” Sprig said desperately.

Seething with rage, she cried at the frog who betrayed her. “I can’t believe it! I wanted so badly to believe there was one good person out there!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. “I’m sick of being betrayed! I’m sick of being pinned down! I’m really, really sick of being told that I’m something that I’m not !”

With her last word, a giant blue shockwave of pressurized air burst out of her, mangling the ropes off of her and sending the frogs flying. She stood up short of breath and ignited her lightsaber. Nobody dared approach her, nobody but one.

Sprig approached her, his legs trembling. He watched her carefully making small steps in her direction. She glared at him, prepared for another trick.

“Sprig!” the old frog cried out. “That thing could kill you. Come back here!”

“She’s not going to hurt me,” he replied cautiously.

“Really?! After what you just did to me?!” Venom laced her words.

“I know- I know that what I did was wrong, b-but you have to believe me! I didn’t want them to capture you. I knew they were coming to get you but I-...I forgot to tell you” He hiccuped. “-After you chopped the mantis’s arm off. Everything was happening so quickly a-and I…” His breath was getting quicker and quicker. “I should have told you…” He was on the verge of hyperventilation, tears were forming around his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He choked out in a hushed sob.

The anger she felt drained from her body, gazing at the crying little frog, her cold heart finally melted from years of self-abuse. Turning off her lightsaber, she rushed over to comfort him. He flinched, causing her to do the same, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. Of course he hadn’t meant for this to happen, he couldn’t have possibly known that he would gain her trust. He hadn’t even known that she could speak. Slime emitted from his cold body onto her as she wrapped her arms around him, which only seemed to make him cry harder. She could tell that every other frog was staring at her. He met her embrace with his own.

Everything was silent besides the sound of Sprig’s cry. Suddenly she couldn’t take it anymore, she started crying as well. They sat there in commiseration and nobody moved an inch.

That was until the old frog came up to her and Sprig, looking at her with an embarrassed apprehension. He looked at Sprig who was held tight in her arms before looking into her teary eyes.

“What… Who are you?”

“My name’s Anne Boonchuy… I’m from outer space.” A weak smile formed on her face.

It took minutes for Sprig to stop crying and for them to let go of each other. After seeing that she wasn’t an immediate threat (and too dangerous for them to deal with), most of them left. All that was left was her, Sprig, the old frog, and a very nervous, well fed toad in a fancy outfit.

The toad spoke. “Well Plantars.” He spoke with a drawl as well. The way he carried himself and by the sound of his voice, she knew a politician when she saw one. “What do you plan on doing with this… thing?”

She immediately didn’t like this guy.

“Human. I’m a human.”

“Right, right.” Despite his nervousness, he still had the gaul to be dismissive.

“We can take care of her, right Hop Pop?” Sprig responded.

Hop Pop, the old frog, spoke cautiously. “I’m not sure, Sprig… Maybe it would be better for her to live out here. It’s clearly where she wants to be.”

“No!” Sprig shouted frantically. “She told me that she didn’t live in the wild before. She was only out here to hide from someone.”

Hop Pop’s face morphed into a look of horror. “What are ya… What’re ya hidin’ from?” He chuckled nervously.

She didn’t want to scare them, but they deserved to know.

“The Separatists.”

“The what now?!” Hop Pop asked.

“Your planet is being invaded by someone of the same species as me.”

The three of them gasped.

“She wants me to join her… which I’m not going to do because she’s a horrible person.”

“I-I better warn-” The toad muttered.

“There’s no need.” She cut him off. “They’ve already invaded Newtopia.”

She heard a collective gulp.

“Is that what those flying thingies were that passed over Wartwood?” Hop Pop asked nervously

“…Yeah.” Of course that’s how Sasha was looking for her. At least it made it easier to not be seen.

Silence befell them, none of them knowing how to respond.

“But, don’t worry. She won’t care about you as long as you don’t have anything to do with me.

…

“No.” Sprig said firmly. I won’t let us take the coward's way out!” He said, staring intensely at Hop Pop.

“Sprig, I understand how ya feel but I won’t let this family come to harm.”

There was a silent communication between Sprig and Hop Pop. She felt like she was intruding on something private.

“I agree, Hop Pop.” Sprig said stubbornly. “But I won’t let her get hurt out here either. You know there’s no way anyone who didn’t grow up out here could last more than a week.”

Hop Pop sighed, not wanting to argue with what must have been his grandson. “It’s too dangerous Sprig. I won't let you an Polly get hurt.”

She watched the back and forth between the two. Sprig was right of course, there was no way she could survive out here for too long. An infection was bound to kill her sooner or later. On the other hand, she could sympathize with Hop Pop. She wouldn’t want to put anyone else in danger either. She’d always felt that way which was probably why the Jedi never let her on the battlefield, not that she’d wanted to anyways. Finally, after listening to their back and forth debate, she made up her mind.

“If you let me stay with you, I’ll guard your family with my life. I won’t let the invader push me around anymore, I promise. “

Hop Pop looked between her and Sprig, an uncomfortable realization dawned on his face.

He sighed, “I guess I can’t really argue with that anymore. It would be wrong of us to leave you to die,” Hop Pop conceded.

“I still don’t trust this… thing, but If you’re gonna be livin’ in our town, you better protect it as well,” the Toad, a presence she had forgotten about, spoke up.

She nodded. ”I will.” 

With that he humphed and walked away with his cane, grumbling to himself. Now, It was just the three of them.

“I guess we should be going back home, then.” Hop Pop broke the silence. They started heading out of the woods. 

“Hey Anne.” Sprig spoke. “How did you do that crazy blue magic thing?! That was super cool by the way.”

“Yeah, I’m not actually sure. The Force doesn’t usually look blue like that.”

“Could ya stop speakin gibberish?” Hop Pop asked. “You gotta actually explain this Force thing before ya speak so casually about it.

“Um, I don’t really feel like explaining it fully yet. But it’s sort of like magic, except it’s tied to nature.”

“How is magic not tied to nature?” Sprig asked reasonably.

She clamped her hand over top of her forehead. “Yeah I definitely don’t have the energy for this.”

They walked the rest of the way back to the Plantar’s home in silence.

Chapter Text

Anne’s sleep in the Plantar’s basement wasn’t much better than what she got sleeping in the cave. She couldn’t help but be paranoid after her last bit of hospitality that she received from a stranger. But then her paranoia caused her shame after having cried while holding the little frog boy in her arms. Besides, unlike Renee, the Plantar’s didn’t have anything they could possibly gain from this, and no money making schemes that she could see. Paranoia and shame, the cause and effect created a great deal of stress and a blow to her sleep.

At least the basement was cozy. It wasn’t pristine like the castle bedroom, or even meticulously crafted like her caravan was. The walls were a mixture of dirt and stone brick. Barrels, boxes, a single broken wooden wheel, a random mossy tree with a glowing green mushroom all made up the place. The most important part by far in the basement was the furnace, a relatively small metal container filled with orange glowing heat that spilled warmth into the room and the rest of the house.

Finally, at some point in the night, she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she saw was a wide eyed frog child staring at her as she woke up. He scampered out of her way as she began to shift. How many hours of sleep did she get, a few, a couple? She could feel the bags under her eyes. She sat up, still at least a head taller than the frog.

“So uh, you probably already know my name, but I’m Sprig!” he said with a cheerfulness that contrasted with his seconds-ago skittishness.

“My name’s Anne,” she held out her hand with a wobbly smile.

He took her hand and shook it covering her hand in an oozing slime. She did her best not to show how weird it felt.

Sprig casually cleared his throat, then suddenly burst into questions. What are you?! What’s a ‘hoo-man’? Where did you come from?! How do you have powers?! What’s that weird magic stick thingy you used to defeat the mantis?! Why do you only have one boot?”

Being bombarded with questions left Anne speechless. Sprig seemed to want to know her entire history. Not that she could blame him for his curiosity.

“Sorry if that’s too many questions. Hop Pop’s told me I can be overwhelming.”

“Is he your grandfather?”

“Yep! I live with him and my younger sister Polly.”

“What about your parents, where are they?”

Sprig froze, his pink face turning white.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to-” she really should have thought before asking such a personal question.

“No, it’s okay. If I get to ask you questions then it’s totally fair that you do the same. They passed away when I was young,” he said with a nostalgic sadness.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her head sinking.

“It’s okay, I barely remember them anyways.”

“I don’t think that makes it better, but at least you knew them.”

That caught his attention.

“I never met mine, I left them when I was too young to remember.”

“Sprig’s mouth went slack. “What do you mean you ‘left them’?!”

She sighed, getting ready to tell her frustrating and embarrassing tale.

“I was born with something special in my body called midi-chlorians. They allow me to sense and use a form of magic called the force. I’m what’s called ‘force-sensitive’. Whenever someone gets recognized as force-sensitive as a child they get sent to a specific planet and join an order called the Jedi. The Jedi trained me how to use the force.”

“Wait, your parents chose to leave you?!” He asked in disbelief.

She nodded, “It’s common practice.”

“That’s insane! No wonder you were so miserable.”

“Not all Jedi dislike it, in fact most are understanding of it, the good ones are at least.”

“So are the Jedi supposed to be their new family?

She gave a shallow laugh. “The Jedi don’t really do family, not getting attached to people or things is kind of their whole deal.”

Sprig froze before exploding like a time bomb. “What?! How can you not get attached to anything?! I get attached to  e v e r y t h i n g ,” he said with the most drawn out, intense expression she had ever seen. “I’m attached to my family, my best friend, the birds, the trees, the bugs, the townsfolk even if they don’t like me very much, and literally everything else. How could you not love this world?! It’s beautiful .” He said with a whimsy and a sparkle to his eyes.

“I don’t know, dude. I felt the same way for a while until it was drilled out of me.” Wow, it had been a while since she said ‘dude’.

Sprig gasped excitedly. “I have an idea! What if I taught you how to be whimsical again!” His enthusiasm was infectious.

She smiled nervously. “Sure but, um, I don’t think I should be outside while Separatist ships are still looking for me.”

“I thought the invaders were looking for you in the air, not by sea?” he asked, quizzically.

“They’re called space ships because they’re ships that go through space.”

“Ohhh. Yep, that makes more sense,”he admitted. “I haven’t seen one in the past three days, but they were super common last week. Everyone thought that the world was coming to an end. Maybe they gave up?” He shrugged unconvincingly.

“I doubt it. Maybe she’s looking for me another way.”

“Who is she?”

“...Sasha Waybright. She used to be my best friend until she turned to the dark side.”

“Woah, what’s that?”

“It’s like the light side which the Jedi use, except they act on all of their worst feelings.”

“Sooo, why does she want to find you?”

“She wants me to join her so we can be friends again. She’s seriously messed up in the head.”

Sprig grew uncharacteristically quiet for a second before a thought dawned on his face.

“Oh shoot! I totally forgot, I was supposed to invite you upstairs for pancakes. They’re probably cold by now. Sorry.”

“What’s a pancake?”

They made their way upstairs so that Anne could discover her first feeling of whimsy with the joy of pancakes. She wasn’t optimistic, these ‘pancakes’ just sounded like dough and sweet bugs.

“Hop Pop, why didn’t you remind us about the pancakes?” Sprig pouted to his grandfather who had just finished eating alongside a small little purple ball with flippers, a face, and a tiny pink bow that Anne could only assume was Polly. The tiny frog had stuffed herself so full she looked like an overly inflated ball on the verge of losing her breakfast.

“Well Sprig, I heard you two having a nice conversation downstairs and I didn’t want to interrupt ya.”

“Wait, you could hear us?” Anne asked, mildly disturbed at the breach in privacy.

“Oh, yeah.” Sprig jumped in. “I probably should have mentioned, this house has absolutely no soundproofing. You can hear anyone from practically anywhere.”

“Oh. Okay,” Anne responded uncomfortably.

She sat down at the breakfast table staring at the tall plate of pill bug pancakes that nearly reached the top of her head, sitting down. She set one of the pancakes down in front of her, poured on some sweet sticky syrup (that she was assured was amazing), took her cutlery, and neatly put a piece of pancake into her mouth. Suddenly she was hit with a sensation that she could only describe as a heavenly bliss. The dough melted in her mouth in an almost creamy sensation. The pill bugs gave a little burst of flavour and sticky syrup blanked the whole thing in a holy sweetness. It was the best thing she’d ever had.

“Good, right?” Sprig said with a satisfied smile.

“Yah-” she could barely speak, having thrown practically the whole pancake into her mouth.

“Hey, wanna go to the beach?!”  

She swallowed the rest of the pancake quickly, nearly choking on it.“Sprig, I really don’t want to get caught.”

“Anne’s right, her going outside right now is too dangerous. Besides, the town’s people are still afraid of her,” Hop Pop said.

“But, if Anne doesn’t go outside ever she’s going to go insane and probably become evil anyways.”

She was in the middle of grabbing another pancake when Sprig made his bold claim, causing her to drop her cutlery which held a pancake onto the table. Anne shot Sprig a glare. He didn’t seem to notice. She quickly resumed bringing the pancake home.

“No buts,” Hop Pop denied Sprigs begging. “Anne’s on lockdown until we’re sure this Sasha character is gone.”

She flinched at the reminder that Hop Pop had heard her entire conversation, which reminded her that she needed to ask him something.

“Hey um, sir, what should I call you. I probably shouldn’t call you Hop Pop.”

He thought about it for a second. “Call me Hopediah. Anyways, after this hearty breakfast, I need to have a good lie down. I know I can’t keep ya here, Anne, but can I trust you not to leave the house?”

“I promise I won’t. Thank you so much for the pancakes and the rest of your hospitality, Hopediah. These were the best things I’ve ever eaten and I’m not exaggerating.”

“Thank you Anne, I appreciate it. Also hearing Hopediah come from your mouth sounds wrong somehow. Probably cuz ya sound young. You can call me Hop Pop.”

“Okay, Hop Pop.”

He nodded, then slipped off to go take a nap.

She sat there in silence while she and Sprig ate pancakes. They were about half way down the stack when Polly broke the silence.

“So you two are gonna sneak out right?” she deadpanned.

Sprig and her both stopped eating with a fork of food in the air. She was surprised by the sound of the baby frog’s voice, not knowing that someone that small could be so nonchalant.

“We’re… we’re not going to do that. I don’t break promises,” Anne responded.

“Did you promise to be friends with Sasha forever?” Sprig asked so innocently she couldn’t tell if he was trying to be rude. By his previous behaviour, she guessed no. It didn’t make his statement any less insensitive.

“I-I … she was the one who left me. She broke our promise, not me.”

He seemed satisfied with her answer. “It couldn’t hurt to go out for half an hour. Trust me, Hop Pop’s a deep sleeper. He even sleeps with his eyes open which only looks slightly terrifying.” He gave her a thumbs up. “Wait, Polly, why do you care?”

“I was just saying what you were thinking. Also I think it would be funny if you got caught.”

Sprig frowned, “We wouldn’t get caught.”

“Not if you give me some of the good stuff.”

He groaned, placing a hand over his face. “What do you want?”

“Ten chocopede bars paid up-front, thank you very much.”

Anne was fascinated by the exchange between the siblings, but she was equally annoyed that her decision was being made for her which reminded her too much of a certain someone….

“Sprig, I’m not doing this, you can’t tell me what to do. I’ll go out eventually I promise. Maybe Hop Pop can spread the word that I’m not a monster in town by proving that I haven’t eaten anyone.”

“Aww, okay. What do we do in the meantime? Wanna try one of Hop Pop’s pain peppers?” He asked cheerfully.

“Uhhh, his what?” 

Sprig walked over to a barrel that had some sort of red liquid spilling out from under the lid. He took the lid off revealing some plants that were stewing in some kind of juice. The aroma emitted from them was nauseating. She could feel her eyes burning.

“So hot, they’ll make you wish you were dead.”

Anne could only watch with immense concern as Sprig took out one of the peppers and touched his tongue to it. Suddenly his mouth erupted in flames which was the last thing she expected from a frog. He ran around and screamed, attacking his tongue, and tried to douse his pain with water before finally giving up on the floor and asking for ‘someone to just kill him, please’. Then he got up like nothing had happened, with a smile.

“Okay, your turn.” He offered her the pepper he had just touched with his tongue.

They spent the rest of the day playing board games. At least it was a form of entertainment she was familiar with, perhaps because the games were old and the Jedi love old things. They paused their games several times as Sprig quickly performed the chores he needed to do here and there. The environment felt so familiar, and again, perhaps because the Jedi also loved keeping busy. She couldn't help but feel estranged despite the familiarity.

“Do you miss being a Jedi?” Sprig asked with a mild seriousness while rolling a pair of dice.

“Sort of, not really, it’s complicated. Part of me really wishes that Sasha never left and we were still in the order together, but at the same time… I can’t say our relationship was healthy. I was an anxious and naive child which aren’t really Jedi qualities, but I don’t know if that was just because Sasha left.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve never experienced a friend going bad but I know I’d feel terrible.”

She nodded in solidarity. “It’s funny, I wanted to be a Jedi so badly but because of my own fear of not being one, I ended up leaving the order. I don’t know whether to laugh or be sad.”

“Why not both?”

“Yeah that’s… probably the most realistic thing to do. You’re pretty smart, you know.”

“Thanks, I just say whatever comes to my mind. People tell me that I’m rude but I’m just being honest.” He shrugged.

“I like that you’re honest, it’s a good trait to have.” She gave him a smile.

“You never told me what happened to your boot.”

“Oh yeah, it got caught in mud so thick, not even the Force could pull it out.

“You also never told me what the Force is.”

She paused, having to think long and hard about how to explain it in simple terms a young frog could understand.

“Do you know what gravity is?”

“Yep!” To demonstrate he leapt towards the ceiling and fell back down.

“That’s a type of force, but with a small f. The Force with a big F is like that except it exists in pretty much everything, living and nonliving. It’s an energy that Force-users have the ability to manipulate and control with our mind, giving us control pretty much over our environment to an extent.

Sprig’s eyes went wide. “Wooow… that’s so cool,” he was enamoured. “I wish I could control stuff with my mind. Do you think that maybe I could use the Force?”

“Maybe, it’s hard to tell when someone’s not tapping into it.” She shrugged.

“So you’re saying there’s a chance?!” he asked hopefully.

“Yeah, dude. Anyone could be really. The only way you can know if someone isn’t is with a blood sample.”

“I’m gonna go try and lift a rock with my mind, be right back okay!” He rushed up the wooden stairs, out of the basement.

She sat there patiently, deciding that now was as good a time as ever to try meditating….

Seconds later, Sprig brutishly opened the hatch and clambered back down the stairs into the basement.

“It didn’t work,” he said with a frown. 

“Dude, it takes time and concentration. You tried for what, like five seconds, ten seconds? Besides, nobody gets it on their first try. Okay maybe I did, but I’m an exception.”

Sprig thought about it for a second before humphing and falling down cross-legged. “Well I’m gonna keep on trying every chance I get.”

“Okay dude, just remember that there’s a pretty high likelihood that you won’t be able to.”

His shoulders sagged and his eyes filled with tears.

“There’s also a chance that you could be?” She shrugged, trying to not break the little boy's heart too much.

He seemed satisfied with her compromise and so they continued on with their game.

She was sad that dinner wasn’t nearly as good as breakfast. In fact, she would describe this food as actively repulsive. Living bugs were better tasting than this. She was so incredibly shocked at how Hop Pop could make such a meal that she was morbidly curious as to how he did it.

“Thanks- Hop Pop… for the meal.” She did her best not to eject every bite as soon as it touched her tongue.

“Mmm, I appreciate your politeness Anne, but I can tell ya don’t like it. I say it’s better to be honest than to give false praise.”

“I wasn’t…” her dinner came back up, bloating her sealed mouth with a somehow even more pungent flavor. She ran to the nearest toilet and lost all of it, feeling both relieved and embarrassed at the same time.

“Hmm, maybe I should update my recipes,” she heard Hop Pop say as she neared the table. 

She wasn’t hungry anymore.

Her second night's sleep in the Plantar household was significantly better than the first. How much all of the Plantars seemed to value honestly took a weight off of her mind. She was also starting to rethink the way she thought about the Jedi after spending so long being so strict about being one, even militant. Maybe they were a lot more relaxed than she realized, Master Yoda always seemed to be. Maybe joining the war wasn’t their choice either. She wouldn’t want anyone to suffer because she sat on the sidelines either. Maybe one day, she’ll give them another chance. For now, she was happy to be attached to the charming frog family.

Chapter Text

It took another two days until Anne was allowed outside, nearly having been two weeks since she’d run away from Newtopia. She’d spent that time hanging out with Sprig, trading stories back and forth. She told him how she had been defeated by the fearsome bounty hunter known as Black Kyber, who then turned out to be the odd eccentric human known as Marcy Wu. She learned of Polly and Hop Pop. Polly, who was mature for her age and craved violence? It was beyond her why anyone would want such a thing. Hop Pop was protective, overly so according to Sprig. Anne could understand the old frog's desire to keep Sprig out of trouble, despite Sprigs pleas.

 No more space craft had been seen flying overhead for about a week now. The dreadful paranoia that Sasha had found a new, more efficient way of searching for her creeped in and out of her head like a particularly nasty and inedible bug. At least it meant that she could go experience the great outdoors again. After all, if Sasha was no longer searching for her in the sky, staying indoors wouldn’t be much safer anyways.

She’d been trying to wake up earlier and earlier in order to match the Plantars sleep schedule. Hop Pop liked to get up at the crack of dawn and do his morning ritual of weeding his crops. She hadn’t noticed it before, but the family she was staying with had massive amounts of farm land. She did her best to help lower the workload of Hop Pop but he still insisted on doing work, because it was good for his strength. He still appreciated the bending over that Anne did for him, taking a load off his old back.

She walked through the fields of vegetables removing weeds and picking veggies that were ripe pre-harvest season. Hop Pop asked if she could remove some impossible to lift rocks with what he called her ‘magic thingy’. She was happy to oblige and she used her lightsaber to cut the rock free from the dirt. He oohed and ahhed as she seamlessly lifted the rock with her eyes closed, using the Force to guide her. She’d never really been able to fully grasp how special her ability to tap into the Force really was until now.

Today, Sprig had told Anne that he’d show her the true beauty of the nearby countryside. But first Hop Pop wanted to show her the market to properly introduce her to the town’s folk.

“Woah there, Bessie. I know you’re hungry for some mushroom snacks but if you go too fast we’re gonna get a ticket.” Hop Pop talked to the snail carrying their wagon with a chuckle.

Bessie the snail was an amazingly intelligent creature, brimming with personality. She was purple, large, and slimy, and big enough to carry Anne’s weight which surprised her. She had a giant, beige, spiral shell that she could curl up into and eyes that stuck out on antennae which could retract back into her head. Majestic, beautiful, Bessie was so much more than just an animal. Hop Pop, the previous day, had given her a book that contained Bessie’s backstory. She was happy to say it caused her to weep with every spectrum of emotion. The best thing about Bessie was her chirp.

She let out a small chirp of approval when Hop Pop mentioned snacks, slowing down at his request.

“Wait, you guys have tickets?” Anne asked, surprised at how advanced of a concept it was in this small underdeveloped town.

“We’re not lawless, Anne.”

“Right, sorry,” she said, feeling embarrassed about her assumption.

Before they could get to the market, they first had to stop at a shop called the Grub & Go. She’d never been in a general store before, having been pampered by the Jedi most of her life. There were so many different products to choose from. The variety amazed her, watching Hop Pop hum and haw over the near infinite selection. She had no idea if all the different brands and labels were really different but he certainly seemed to think so. They were currently standing before a shelf full of yellow and brown bottles labelled ‘mustard’. She had no idea what that was.

“Come on Hop Pop, let’s just grab one and go.” Sprig whined, “I have to show Anne true beauty .” There were those sparkles in his eyes again.

She couldn’t help but crack up at his corniness. Not that she didn’t like it.

“Hold your dung beetles, Sprig. Choosing the right product takes time and effort. Now, I don’t want you growin’ up lazy. You gotta choose carefully otherwise you'll get scammed.”

“I thought scams were only for shady back alley dealers?”

Hop Pop sighed, “Nope, Sprig. Even those ya really want ta trust can scam you.”

Anne winced in silence.

“Hey guys!” Polly came bouncing down the aisle holding something massive above her head. Anne hadn’t even noticed she was gone. “Look what I found!”

As the polliwog neared, she carried a candy bar nearly twice her size. Anne had already heard Hop Pop scold the little girl for her sugar addiction too many times to know what the old frog’s response would be.

“Polly Petunia Plantar! Put that back this instant. We’re not getting it, and that’s final!”

Fake tears began spilling out of Polly’s eyes. “B-b-but please Hop Pop. Sprig is a-always talking about making Anne whimsical again. Th-this is what I need to find my sense of joy again.” She burst into tears.

The amusement that she got from seeing Polly being so passionate about the giant candy bar quickly faded and was replaced by annoyance from the entitled brat. Of course she would use Anne’s isolation to crave her addiction, she was just a baby after all.

“Polly, that’s rude! Give me that.” Hop Pop snatched the giant bar away from her. He gave Anne the look of a silent apology.

She returned it with a forgiving one.

When they arrived at the market, Anne instantly began recognizing familiar faces. Every frog she passed either averted their eyes or gave her a terrified stare. She didn’t like the familiarity of terror nor did she like being on the end of it that Sasha was on when they reunited at the throne room. The comparison made her queasy.

She walked up behind the Plantar stand that had apparently existed for generations and sat on the ground, trying her best not to look at any of the passing frogs.

“Hop Pop, this place is upsetting Anne. I think we should probably go now.” Sprig said.

“The townsfolk just need time ta get used to her is all. Besides, she needs to learn how to socialize as well.”

She looked at the frog and his wisdom. He was right, if she ever wanted to re-adjust to society, she’d have to talk to people. The thought terrified her. It was hard for her to believe that she was once upon a time an extroverted social gal. Although her ties with Sasha made making other friends difficult. The memories made her flinch and she slammed her forehead into the solid dirt ground trying to shut off the flow of bad thoughts.

“Woah, Anne! Do you need to go home?!” Sprig asked, concerned.

She removed her head slowly in a daze. “No, I’m okay. Got nothing to do with being here. Just a bad memory.”

An elderly lady, and strikingly violet frog, came walking up to the stand. “Howdy, Plantars! Oh, and you too, monster, I guess.”

“Are you seriously being rude to the magic wielding alien?!” Sprig asked, shocked.

“Hush Sprig, don’t be rude to the customer.” Hop Hop whispered nervously to him. “Now Sadie, what can I do for you today?” He interlaced his fingers apologetically.

Sadie stared directly at Spig with a blank look. “Yep.” She turned her attention to the veggies for sale, picking one up. “I’ll take this here wide gourd, Hopedia.”

Sprig’s frown deepened. Suddenly he lept up onto the tarp that covered the stand above Hop Pop who froze in terror. “I won’t be rude to her as soon as she stops being rude to Anne!” Sprig shouted, pointing at Sadie.

That got a few stares from other frogs who realized what was going on. Anne swore she could see Hop Pop’s soul leaving his body. Sadie looked up at Sprig with an annoyed, disappointed look.

“Now listen here, Sprig Plantar. You may have spent the past few days with this creature but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to like it. You know what Hopedia, I think I’ll pass on this stand today. Try to control your son next time.” She passed the gourd back to the still frozen stiff Hop Pop.

With that, she walked away with a frown. The rest of the staring frogs dispersed, a few of them grumbling.

Sprig’s shoulders slumped. The tarp he was standing on suddenly gave in to his weight with a tear, causing him to fall on top of Hop Pop who still hadn’t moved.

“Dangit, Sprig!”

Sprig and Anne were soon dismissed after the incident. Hop Pop told them he needed to repair the stand, but she could tell he needed some time alone to let off some steam. Luckily, the place where Sprig could show her ‘true beauty’ wasn’t too far away from the Plantar’s stand.

Walking under the thick canopy of trees again, Anne couldn’t help but feel estranged once more in what she thought might be her final resting place. So many changes in her life were happening so rapidly. She could only hope that the Plantars would finally allow her to settle down somewhere for good. That was, if Sasha didn’t catch her. Maybe Sasha really was her best option if it meant not having to live in fear anymore. The thought was numbing.

“Are you okay?” Sprig asked with a concerned look on his face.

“I…” She nearly lied about her feelings out of habit. “I’m not sure. Thanks, dude. I appreciate it, really.” She said, a warm smile creeping up her lips. “I”m not sure I’m ready to talk about it yet.”

“No problem! I’m always here to talk as long as you need,” he replied chipperly.

She chuckled. “You know, dude, being here is like the exact opposite of being with the Jedi. I was so afraid to tell them how I felt.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because-” she huffed. “-The Jedi are so cool! They shouldn’t have to deal with stuff like ‘depression’ and ‘anxiety’. I wanted to be one of them so bad, but I-I… I’m not good enough to be one of them.”

Sprig stopped, looking up at her with a confused expression. “Anne, I… don’t mean to be rude, but that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“What?”

“How can anyone be cool and not have feelings!?”

“Yeah, they’re like the nicest people imaginable, but...”

Sprig inhaled deeply through his nose, clasping his hands together next to his chest. His face was a mixture of stern concern, and disbelief. He stayed like that for a few seconds before breathing out and releasing his pose.

“Okay, so on the outside they probably looked perfect, but on the inside…” he put his palm where his heart was. “They probably have issues just like you.”

She stared at the child who was making her rethink the way she thought about the entire order.

“But-but that’s-… Why wouldn’t they tell me?”

“Maybe cause they thought that’s what it meant to be a hero, just like you did?” He casually shrugged. “Also, most people aren’t comfortable with talking about their problems in public.”

“Have you ever thought about becoming a therapist?”

He looked at her, confused. “What’s that? I'm just telling you stuff that Hop Pop’s told me, as well as some stuff that I’ve thought about.”

“Well, I just want you to know that you’re like, super mature and smart for your age.”

He shrugged again. “Probably because of me and Polly’s upbringing.”

Her mood soured remembering what happened to their parents.

“Speaking of being mature, I think we should ignore this sign,” he pointed at a crude wooden sign that was nailed to a tree with the word ‘DANGER’ scribbled in what was most likely blood.

She found it incredible how engrossed she was in their conversation to notice the glaring sign.

“The spot I wanna get to is just over there.”

She looked at where he was looking and noticed the most beautiful opening in the woods. A patch of sunlight glistened on a patch of moss which bordered a stream with a waterfall pouring into it. She looked back at the sign.

“I don’t think we should be here, Sprig. We should go somewhere else.”  

“You have magic powers! We’ll be fiiine.”

“Just because I have the Force doesn’t mean I go looking for danger.”

“But the greatest place in all of Amphibia is right there!” He gave her the biggest pleading eyes imaginable. “Please, all I wanna do is show you around and leave. It’ll only take a few minutes. What could go wrong?”

She knew that a lot of things could go wrong, but she couldn’t say no to his pleas. She already felt bad about how badly his attempt to defend her had gone earlier. Besides, he really was just looking after her and they were practically there already.

“Alright Sprig, just for a bit. But if anything goes wrong we’re getting the heck out of there.”

“Woohoo!” He put his arms in the air and wore a big smile.

They both started walking towards the waterfall. As they neared it, Anne could hear the rushing water get louder and louder like a symphony to her ears. The opening in the forest was even more beautiful up close. The waterfall rock wall glistened and gleaned, reflecting the sunlight coming down from the heavens above. Fungi, and what was apparently called lichen, clung to the wall in such a way that was so amazing she could hardly believe it wasn’t put there by someone trying to create the perfect stage decor. The light reflecting off of the mist created a stream of colourful holograms which Sprig told her were called rainbows.

“Wow,” was all she could say.

“I know, right?! I like coming here just to unwind. I count myself lucky that I was born on such an amazing planet.”

“How long has that ‘danger’ sign been there?”

“Oh that? Yeah, it definitely wasn’t here last week.”

A high pitched shriek pierced the air, making both of them freeze.

“Uh, what was that?” Sprig asked.

Suddenly, a white, lanky creature with red eyes and white bristling fur, burst out from behind the waterfall at an incredible speed! It towered over them on its hind legs baring its massive sharp teeth.

“Use the Force, Anne.” Sprig whispered to her.

She wanted to, she really did. There were only two problems. One, she wasn’t sure if her mind trick would work on a wild animal, and two, it wasn’t her fault that she actually found it cute. She’d rather not hurt it if she could avoid it.

It pounced.

Before it could sink its teeth into them, she picked up Sprig and bolted as fast as she could.

Hot on their trail, it would have caught them if not for her fullest use of the force as she dodged and weaved through the thick forest at an extreme speed, still keeping Sprig glued to her shoulder.

“Do something!” Sprig yelled.

“What does it look like I’m doing?!” She responded exasperatedly.

“Do what you did to the mantis!”

“That thing’s way too cute to dismember!”

“It’s trying to eat us!”

“Didn’t you tell me that you get attached to ‘everything’?!”

“I was exaggerating!”

She hadn’t noticed, but she must have instinctually been going back the way that they came. They burst out of the forest near to the market with the giant mammal still in hot pursuit. She couldn’t let this thing near the frogs or their blood would be on her hands. She’d have to do something she’d never done before.

She stopped, the abrupt halt of momentum nearly sending Sprig flying. The beast prepared its attack, standing on its hind legs ready to pounce. She held out her hand, willing the Force to come to her. The creature lunged.

Sprig hopped off her shoulder right before it could devour her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the sharp teeth.

…

They never came. She opened her eyes. The animal had stopped right in front of the palm of her hand. She could feel the energy flowing between her and her attacker. Suddenly a flood of information passed between her and it. The mammal was a mother protecting her babies. She’d had to move home after her last cave collapsed. Anne brought her hand to her snout and gently caressed it. Then, she touched her forehead to the mama.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered gently. “I’ll make sure no one goes near your babies again.”

She scratched behind her ear causing the wild animal to chirp and pur. She let go.

The untamed animal gave her one last look, before scurrying back into the forest back to her den. Part of her wished that it didn’t have to go.

“What the heck was that?!” Hop Pop shouted, snapping her out of the moment.

Suddenly it occurred to her what just happened. She noticed the crowd of frogs that had gathered around her, mouths gaping at what had just transpired. She smiled at Hop Pop.

“We talked it out. As long as we stay off of her property, she’ll stay off of ours.”

Even Sprig was at a loss for words.

A massive yawn made its way out of her mouth. A wave of exhaustion hit her with a similar feeling from when she went home with the Plantars for the first time.

“I gotta go take a nap. Who knew using the Force was so tiring.” She chuckled sleepily.

“Alright Sprig, Take her home, would ya?” He gave her a kind but confused smile.

“Will do, Hop Pop!”

The walk home was quieter than she expected.

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked me any questions yet.”

“Oh, I have so many questions.” His posture slumped a bit. “I guess I just feel bad about what happened.”

She looked down at him and his small frog child body. “Dude, it’s okay. I agree that next time we should listen to a danger sign, but…” she shrugged. “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.”

“What was that?”

“Force sharing. An advanced technique done by the Jedi that I’d never even tried learning before. It allowed a shared connection between me and that animal. She learned everything about me and I learned everything about her.”

“Woah… Wait, how did you know you could do it?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t. I just knew that’s what I needed to do.”

The rest of the day was uneventful, peaceful even. She watched the sun set on the stunning planet while sitting on the porch. She ate dinner with Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly. She didn’t care how vulgar the food was. For once, she felt at home. Everything was good

That was until the next morning, when a panicked Frog came through the door with a terrified look on his face asking Hop Pop to bring her down to the town square. Confused, she and Hop Pop took Bessie back into town. Sprig and Polly were strictly not allowed to come. The ride there was unnerving to say the least. There was a chance that this didn’t involve Sasha, a chance that she would have to protect the town from something else. She doubted it.

When she came into the town square, she was not met by Sasha. Instead, she saw a girl with black hair lying against the town statue.

“Marcy???” Anne ran to the girl’s side and felt for her pulse. She was alive.

Chapter Text

Who was Marcy Wu? That was a question that she’d refused to truly ponder for a very long time. The simple answer was that Marcy Wu existed to serve Black Kyber. She was nothing more than a servant to them, an extra convenience when Black Kyber’s presence drew unnecessary attention.

Now, Black Kyber was dead. Yet here she was, in the servitude of the past choices made by the bounty hunter, held prisoner thanks to their unfortunately similar qualities to Marcy Wu. Who was Marcy Wu? She wished she knew. Even then, part of her… no, most of her wanted to craft a new identity separate from Marcy if only so she didn’t have to answer that question. She was afraid she'd get an answer that she didn’t like. 

Thoughts held her mind in place while her medical bay helped get her body back up. If she ever needed something that her body wouldn’t allow, the Magna-Guards were there to help… and to make sure that she didn’t do anything anti-Separatist such as, but not limited to, blowing up a Separatist dreadnought. There was something so chaotically freeing about not having a self-imposed purpose anymore.

Now if only she could find a reason for living. That would be nice.

Her central nervous system had nearly been broken beyond repair. She counted herself lucky that she didn’t have to experience the beyond embarrassing venture of being carried around Amphibia by one of Sasha’s minions. She spent part of the day awake but most of it under in a deep sleep in order to not experience the unpleasantries of what her treatments entailed. Laying on her med unit, she got to experience the wonders of her nerve and tissue regenerators as her body underwent surgery while she was unconscious. Medical technology truly was a miracle of science.

It wasn't long before she could move the next day. As soon as the Magna-Guards learned of her refound mobility, Sasha was on her ship within three minutes. Marcy had decided to spend her last few moments before their trek lying down.

“I really should get at least a month’s worth of rest.” She said only half jokingly to the Sith.

Sasha rolled her eyes. “You can rest while we discuss how we’re going to find her.”

“Um, brain activity doesn’t really count as resting. It actually takes energy to-”

Sasha cut her off with a cold, hard, unamused stare which Marcy couldn’t help but be amused by.

“So, what am I doing wrong, Ms ‘I can find anyone’?” Sasha asked incredulously.

“Well, how are you looking for her?”

“I've been scouting out the planet with vulture droids as well as on my own ship.”

Physically face palming, she couldn’t believe the incompetence of Sasha’s method.

Sasha’s body language morphed into that of an exasperated, desperate anger. “What?! What am I doing wrong?!”

Marcy took a deep breath before she could try to calmly explain the stupidity of the Sith’s plan.

“Okay, so you know how Anne’s a person.” She did her best to not sound condescending.

Sasha’s eyebrows furrowed indicating that she’d failed on that front.

 “Anne’s not omnipotent and she can’t just survive anywhere. She’d probably need help from towns in order to live, towns which could probably tell us if they’ve seen her. I bet that if we went to the nearest town, they could point us in the right direction to find her.”

Sasha’s annoyed look was replaced by a blank stare. “There’s no way they could just tell us where she is. I mean, there has to be some problem with relying on these… aliens to help us. 

Marcy could tell that Volcanus didn’t like admitting when she was wrong. She wasn’t surprised even slightly at the Sith’s prejudice.

“Yes Sasha, these ‘aliens’ are the only way we’re going to find Anne.”

“You do not get to use my real name when addressing me.” Sasha growled.

“Ok ‘Darth Volcanus’,” she made sure to make Sasha’s Sith name sound as lame as possible.

“Okay, that’s it! I am not working with you if you’re gonna talk down to me! I own this relationship. I own you.” A dark seriousness flowed through her words.

“That wasn’t our agreement. You need me to find Anne,” she said, as a tremble ran through her from the Sith’s tone.

“Oh I need you all right.” Sasha said, a sick smile appearing on her face. “Just as much as you need me not to kill you.” In order to accentuate her point, she ignited her lightsaber overtaking the dim green glow of the room, casting it in red. “If you won’t cooperate, then you’re more useless than a lone battle droid and you know how disposable those are.” Her voice was sickly sweet with an undercurrent of rage. “You will refer to me as Lord Volcanus, understand?” Her tone turned deadly serious again.

“...Yes, Lord Volcanus.” Marcy said, leaning away from the lightsaber pointed at her chest.

“Good,” she said simply as if she wasn’t just threatening Marcy’s life. She turned off her lightsaber. “Let’s try this again, and if I hear a morsel of snark, there will be consequences.”

She nodded weakly.

“So. We go to the nearest town and threaten them to tell us where Anne went?” Sasha asked.

“We don’t need to threaten them-”

Sasha gave her an intense stare, her mouth twitching.

“-because they’ll already be afraid of us just by how we look. If we’re too intimidating we’d probably send them into shock which wouldn’t help us.”

Sasha seemed to ponder this for a moment.

“Fine. Then, where do we go from there?”

“If she’s not there, which I doubt she is, we figure out all of the different methods of travel that she could have taken and narrow them down. The travel routes on Amphibia are pretty linear so her options are limited. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s made her way into Frog Valley by now if she’s found a way to travel by wagon.”

Sasha, sorry, ‘Lord Volcanus’ looked at her with a frustrated look, which confused her, or maybe that was just her default look.

“Since you have it all figured out we’re leaving.” she said bitterly. “Get your gear on, meet me outside.”

Was Sasha jealous of the fact that she wasn’t an idiot?

“You’re not worried that I could backstab you?”

“If you so much as lay a finger on me, I’ll pop your head open like a Meiloorun fruit. Betrayal only makes me stronger, so please, be my guest.” Sasha gave her one last manic grin before heading out of the ship.

She released her breath, her heart pounding. Who knew Sith lords could be so stressful?

Getting up was a shaky experience. She could walk, just not very well. Her pride told her that she didn’t need crutches but her knees told her otherwise. Then it occurred to her that she didn’t own crutches. Had they really prepared for every scenario except for this one? She cursed Black Kyber for their lack of humility.

She made her way slowly but surely to her weapons room that also doubled as a closet, clutching every surface she could to help prevent her from falling. She did own casual citizen attire, but there was no way she was going to stand next to Sasha Waybright without having an intimidation factor of her own, although her current state might make that a bit tricky.

The first thing she noticed was that her invisibility suit was missing. She slapped her hand over her forehead in disbelief of her own stupidity. Of course that’s how Anne got past the Separatist ships. She wondered if the ex-Jedi knew about the less than good charge of the suit. She’d probably found out by now.

She put on her heavily padded black gear, her weapons, and her tools. Rocket boots, grappling hook, wrist rockets, flamethrower, pocket blasters, explosives, and stun swords. She brought everything minus the helmet which contained the soul of Black Kyber within it. Of course, Black Kyber wasn’t literally dead. She was sure that if she put on that helmet, Black Kyber would be back as if she’d never pronounced them deceased. Their voice, eyes, and mind were all held within its confines, ready to be awakened.

The helmet stared at her from the armour set on the wall. Its green eyes taunted her, telling her that she would never be someone without it. She’d never tried spice before, nor had she ever tried gambling. She’d heard that their addictive vices led people to ruin. Was Black Kyber her addiction? Maybe back when Marcy Wu was still broke, back then Black Kyber served a purpose. Now they were just a reminder of her empty life.

She tore her eyes off the helm and grabbed a disintegration rifle, disarming it so that it could be used as a walking stick. 

She made her way down the hatch of her ship. Reaching the bottom onto the solid planet ground, she’d never been appreciative of fresh air quite like she was now.

Volcanus was waiting for her, leaning on a Separatist Sheathipede-class transport ship that had its entrance down. She beckoned for Marcy to follow her into the blue and grey ship.

The interior was nothing fancy. It was practical at best. It clearly wasn’t designed to comfortably transport living beings. There were small handles that hung from the ceiling but no seats, and you couldn’t even lean on the walls which were uncomfortably designed to hold deactivated battle droids for charging. The air smelled of metal and battery acid, and the lights were dim.

They stood in awkward silence while the ship took off.

“You’re a lot more pathetic than I expected you to be. I thought you’d be more like Jango Fett, though I never met the guy,” Sasha shrugged. “Maybe he was just as lame as you.”

She hung her head in shame. “They were cooler than Jango Fett, they were everything the rumours said and more. They were everything that I’m not.”

“Right…” Sasha gave her a confused, apprehensive stare. “When you said that Black Kyber was dead, I didn’t think you meant quite so literally.

“I didn’t. They’re only dead because I want them to be.”

Sasha exhaled, squeezing the bridge of her nose, and looking down. “I definitely didn’t expect you to be so weird.”

She rolled her eyes, “says the tsundere.”

“What?”

“You’re obsessed with Anne.”

“I am not!” Sasha exclaimed a bit too defensively.

She didn’t push any further out of a healthy fear of death.

“...So what if I am?” Sasha admitted.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just not what I expected.” She gave the Sith a weak smile.

Sasha looked at her, eyes unreadable.

The ship landed before either of them could say another word. The hatch opened, sunlight poured in. They’d landed in the middle of a town square. Newts and axolotls gaped at them with fear as they walked onto the stone brick ground. Marcy was happy to be off that stupid ship.

“Alright everyone, Your attention is required! Sasha commanded the crowd that had formed around them, standing a ‘safe’ distance away from them.

Of course, there was nothing these people could do if Vulcanus or even herself wanted to hurt them.

“We’re on a mission to find another person of our kind. Have you seen them?” Sasha asked with a cool edge to her voice.

The crowd murmured amongst themselves.

“If anyone has any information it would be in your best interest to speak up now .”

The crowd went silent.

Sasha sighed. “I guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

She used the Force to pull a newt into her Clean, pale hand, clutching them by the neck, and holding them high above the ground.

“ Tell me what you know. ” The darkness radiating from her tone caused Marcy’s skin to crawl.

The newt choked on their own terror, trying and failing to utter any coherent words. Then, they promptly proceeded to faint.

Sasha gave the newt an unimpressed look before tossing them aside like a doll. She clearly wasn’t having a good time with how weak willed these people were.

“Could someone else please tell me what they know?” Sasha asked with a strained, false kindness.

It took a second for an older gentleman newt to step out of the crowd and speak. 

“The being you are looking for went with a traveling theater group. ”he said with a tired look.

“See.” Sasha looked around at the other people. “That wasn’t so hard was it?” she said with a cold smile. “What direction did they go in?!” Her tone sharply returned to a deadly seriousness.

“F-frog valley,” the old newt stammered.

“Come on Marcy, we’re done with this crummy town!” She marched onto the ship.

Marcy gave a sigh and hobbled in her direction.

“So, we go find that traveling theater group?” Sasha asked her after the ship door closed behind them.

“Yeah, although I’m guessing Anne’s already left them by now if she’s even slightly smart.”

“She’s not dumb.” Sasha’s seriousness gained a hint of nostalgia and a sprinkle of yearning.

…

“If you don’t mind me asking…” Sasha gave her the look of a cornered animal. “What happened between you two?”

Sasha’s face morphed back and forth between a look of sadness and anger. Her fingers curled in and out like she couldn’t quite decide which way she was going to kill Marcy. Finally her face settled on a mixture between the two and she looked her in the eyes.

“We wanted different things in life. She wanted to be a Jedi and I didn’t, it was as simple as that… I just don’t understand why she won’t join me now that she’s not a Jedi.”

“Do you dislike that she loved the Jedi?

“…No… it may have been short-sighted but I liked how passionate she was, even if she wasn’t very brave. The Jedi mistreated her and her passion and it makes me sick.”

A realization hit her gut. Sasha didn’t know the truth, Anne never told her.

“…I felt sorry for her when she told me why she left the Jedi.”

Sasha froze. “Why?”

“It was because you left.”

Sasha’s face turned ill with shock. She averted Marcy’s eyes.

“She still cared about me.” Sasha muttered to herself while looking at the floor with wide betraying eyes.

“I’m sorry.” 

“It-it doesn’t matter.” Sasha said shakily, her breath getting shallow. “I just need to get this relationship under control. Everything’s fine, everything’s…”She trailed off, her eyes never leaving the floor. She wasn’t talking to Marcy.

“Sasha.”

That seemed to snap her back to reality. “I thought I told you-” Her voice wasn’t angry, but instead sounded more like a cry for help.

“I know what you said but I need you to listen to me. I am going to do whatever I can to help you get her on our side, okay?”

Sasha started shaking rapidly. “It won’t be enough.” Tears started forming around her eyes.

“She’ll listen to us eventually.”

“No it’s-…” She started crying full on drops of tears. “If-if I don’t find her and convince her-… within the next two weeks, three if-if I find her-... I-I… I have to kill her.” She finally managed to choke out between sobs. “She won’t listen-... to me.”

Marcy stared at her, what Sasha had said weighing on her with a harsh reality. Anne was as good as dead. If she would rather run across the continent away from Sasha than join her, despite the fact that she wasn’t even a Jedi, what chance did Sasha have in her given timeframe? She didn’t want Anne dead either. Not after she’d found a kindred soul in her. 

It also occurred to her that she felt sympathy for the Sith. Pity bubbled in her stomach that she refused to let show. Never in a million years did she think that she would feel this way for a Force user and this was the second time! The Force clearly did not make one happy.

She needed to help the Sith for both of their sakes. They would need to come up with an unconventional plan, one that Anne couldn’t deny. Marcy realized that it was up to her to convince the ex-Jedi.

“Lord Vulcanus, I have a plan.” It wasn’t a good plan per say, but it was feasible, a last resort. This had to work. If it didn’t, Marcy could only assume that she wouldn’t live much longer.

This would work. It had to, for all of their sakes.

It took another few days to find her. They’d tracked down the traveling theater group and learned where Anne had parted ways with them.

Then, it was a matter of stealth.They crept into the town in the early hours of the day, avoiding curious eyes, they located the most ostentatious house. Inside, they found a quaking mayor toad. The mayor didn’t hesitate to give up her location and keep his lips tight. It was clear that he valued his own skin above everyone else’s. 

Sasha clearly wasn’t happy about her lack of control, but she remained unnervingly quiet most of the time, contrasted with what she was like pre-mental breakdown.

It was time to enact the first part of the plan; Marcy had to act half dead, which granted wasn’t hard. She already felt the part. She stripped herself of her weapons and armour, and in bright daylight, she hobbled without her walking rifle to the town statue, promptly collapsed, and waited for her saviour to bring her back to health.

Chapter Text

Pretending to be asleep for so long was enough to cause her to genuinely drift unconscious. There was something so soothing about the way Anne was holding her, a feeling of affection that she’d never had before. She almost felt guilty. The runaway Anne certainly didn’t seem lost by the firm but gentleness of her grasp.

Opening her eyes, Marcy was greeted with a strange sight: Anne Boonchuy and a small pink frog loomed over top, staring at her. Anne was on her knees attempting to match the frog's height. They were in a rustic basement of some kind.

Anne noticed she was awake with a caring but apprehensive look to her eyes.

“Marcy, I’m so glad you’re alive… What happened? How-how did you get here?!”

Anne’s concern for her warmed her heart. She moved slowly and groggily to sell the idea that she was still badly injured. Her back was nearly fully healed besides a constant minor ache, but Anne couldn’t know that.

She chuckled hoarsely. “I’m good. Just wanted to find you.”

“Where’s your weapons!?” A loud, garish, feminine voice filled the room.

Marcy looked to see where it was coming from only to notice a tiny purple… polliwog?

“She doesn’t have any, Polly.” Anne said, clearly irritated.

“You said she’s this cool, awesome bounty hunter who kills people for fun! I don’t see it.”

“I never told you those things!”

“You told Sprig that… inside the house with notoriously bad insulation.”

Marcy wondered how the baby knew such words.

Anne turned her attention back to Marcy, ignoring the annoying polliwog. “Sorry about her.”

She could see Polly pouting, irritated from being ignored.

Marcy smiled at Anne, “No worries.”

“Hold on a second.”

Anne stood up and walked over to where a tea set sat on a short table. She poured a mug full of steaming hot tea. The beautiful aroma filled the room with an amazing smell. Tea was something she was all too familiar with being part of her obsession with the Jedi.

“Drink this,” Anne held the cup filled with herbs beneath her face while attempting to prop her up with her other hand.

She feigned a sharp pain from Anne’s hand on her back.

Anne flinched with an empathetic fear in her eyes.

She drank the tea. It was bitter, but soothing, clearly handmade. It wasn’t as perfect as some of the most expensive teas that she’s bought. It felt good, truly authentic, made by Amphibians for Amphibians. Perhaps the most authentic thing she had ever done… Unfortunately her own goal undermined that perfect feeling.

The stiffness that she was carrying felt like it was being washed away.

“Wow, this is really good.”

Anne smiled at her, taking the mug back and laying her back down.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye, the polliwog bouncing away up the stairs with a disappointed, bored look.

“You didn’t answer Anne’s question,” the pink, boy frog said with an untrusting edge.

She made note that he could be an obstacle for her plan. It was obvious by their body language that they were already close. She’d taught herself long ago visible and audible social cues. It wasn’t something she was born with, but it was necessary when dealing with scoundrels and outlaws. She was impressed by Anne’s social skills, being something that she had once attempted to learn but gave up gradually over time.

“Darth Volcanus had me locked up but I managed to escape. After you left, she was so focused on finding you, Anne, that she forgot about me,” she chuckled.

Anne frowned. “Why was she so desperate to find me?”

She gave a deep breath. She had to sell this perfectly. This was what everything hinged on.

“She misses you, Anne,” she said in a small voice. “She acts all tough, but it’s obvious she’s lonely.” She said without a lie or a hint of irony. “Turns out, she’s not that different from us.” She gave another small chuckle.

Anne’s frown deepened. Her face warped into a mixture of shock and fear.

“She-she… she nearly killed you! She told me you were dead! Are you seriously being empathetic with this-this… monster?!” Anne was quaking.

Marcy gave a meek smile. “Let me guess. She told you that Black Kyber is dead?”

Anne looked confused. “Yeah?”

“Well, she didn’t lie. Black Kyber is dead. I’m never doing bounty hunter stuff ever again,” she coughed.

Anne gave a blank stare before slapping a hand over her forehead in disbelief.

“Also, turns out that pillar wasn’t really all that solid. I was laying there, moreso in shock of being thrown than anything.”

“I don’t buy it,” the frog said with untrusting eyes. “Anne told me you were this crazy cool bounty hunter and then you just gave up?! By the sound of it, you’re working with Sasha, aren’t you?!”

Internally cursing the frog for his acute awareness, she needed to get him on her side.

“No, no, it’s not that I gave up. I just didn’t want to be a bounty hunter anymore. You were right Anne, it’s not what I want to do with my life. And regarding Sasha, I know what it’s like to have a messed up sense of morality. I get it, morality is something that is taught and can be changed. I told you that about myself, right Anne?”

Silence filled the room.

“Marcy,” Anne’s voice became hushed. “How did you find me?”

“I asked around the town closest to Newtopia if they’d seen you. They told me about the traveling theater group.”

“And how did you pass out in the same town that I’m staying in?”

She gave a sad laugh. “Oh, I passed out in most towns on the way.”

Anne’s face turned from apprehension to pity. “I’m sorry. I wish I’d realized that Sasha wasn’t telling the whole truth to me. I should have rescued you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m here now and I’m in your debt.”

Anne grew uncomfortable. “You don’t owe me anything, Marcy.”

“Of course I do. Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn’t found me?”

Anne hesitated, then sighed. “Alright, just don’t hurt yourself for me. Please.”

The small frog continued to stare at her with suspicion.

“Who’s your friend, Anne?” she asked.

“Oh! This is Sprig Plantar. He’s super cool. I think you’d like him.”

She extended her hand for him to shake it but he refused.

“She seems a liiittle too pro-Sasha to me,” Sprig said.

A dark, unsettled look approached Anne’s face. She seemed to be pondering something. She then sat back down and curled into a ball, stuffing her head into her knees.

“I don’t want to hate Sasha,” Anne’s voice was muffled and hushed. “I don’t like who she’s become and I really don’t want to become like her,” she said, shaking.

Marcy sat up, putting on her best show of pain, and crawled over to comfort Anne, putting her hand on her shoulder. Anne looked up at her with red eyes and a wet, soggy face.

“Maybe we can find a peaceful solution to all of this,” Marcy said, soothingly.

The seed had been planted.

She remained lying down for a few more hours in order to sell that she really was injured. She’d made it clear to Anne and Sprig, the small frog boy, that the care they had given her was just what she needed to be up again. She was just really thirsty.

Marcy had no qualms about her deception. This was just another detail in her long history of dirty deeds, being one of the less egregious things that she’s done in her life. Besides, this was a matter of life or death. If Anne only knew what would happen to her if she didn’t give in, maybe she would acquiesce. Unfortunately, ‘maybe’ wasn’t good enough. Any uncontrolled variable was a recipe for disaster. Marcy knew that all too well from over years of painful mistakes.

Walking up the stairs into the wide open living room and dining room, she saw something that instantly caught her attention: a music box. With three colourful gems, blue, green, and pink on top and beautifully made. It sat casually on top of a short wooden cabinet, next to a gnarly wooden wall. She could hardly believe her eyes. It couldn’t be the real thing, could it? These frogs wouldn’t just leave such a precious thing out in the open just begging to be stolen. Maybe they just didn’t know what it was? That was the most likely scenario. She’d have to inspect it later, having a job to fulfill. She could already see the look of joy and approval from the King if it was the real deal. It made her giddy to say the least.

Anne landing with a family was a wrench in their plans. She could already tell, based on the frog boy, that Anne had landed in a sturdy, moralistic household. She’d have to check with the guardian of the family to confirm her suspicion.

Hop Pop was kind, but with a nervous distrust. It was easy to see what a good frog he was. She couldn’t blame him for his fear of her and his love of his family. He was an easy frog for her to respect for his love of his family; she made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t let Sasha hurt them.

Sprig was another issue.

The frog child was less than okay with her. It seemed that every move she made was put under scrutiny by Sprig. What did it take for him to trust her? Sure, he was right in his assumption of her but that didn’t mean he was justified in being so suspicious.

The frogs (minus Polly) were certainly the biggest wrench thrown in her plan. Anne being isolated could have reduced the time needed to convince her to well under a week. Unfortunately, the frogs' influence reinforced Anne’s prior existence of morals and made her apprehensive towards Marcy.

Anne was sympathetic towards her empathy for Sasha. It was clear to her that Anne thought this was just another aspect of Marcy that needed to be corrected. She had stated she would change for her, but couldn’t help but feel slightly insulted that Anne viewed her so much as a child. She may have been a little lost but she still had dignity!

She made the excuse of needing fresh air and walked far enough away from the house in order to contact Sasha without any listening ears besides her own. A mini hologram of the Sith appeared from a holoprojector that lay in her palm.

“How is Anne doing?” Was the first thing that came out of the Sith’s mouth.

Marcy couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. Unconventional Sith indeed.

“She seems happy. She’s even got her own found family.”

Sasha’s brows furrowed. “Have you begun the process?”

“Yep! She’s more sympathetic to you now. She even said that she doesn’t want to hate you!” Marcy said with glee, giving the Sith a thumbs up with her free hand.

Sasha shifted uncomfortably before her face grew an uncomfortable and unsteady smile that couldn’t quite hold its form. “Good. I want results in the next couple of days.” Sasha’s face settled into a gloom.

Marcy nodded and then the transmission turned off.

She was well aware of their given time limit. They had two given weeks left thanks to Sasha’s master’s extension.

Time went by slowly in the farmhouse. Time moved forward despite Marcy’s desire to stop it. She mentioned further admiration of Sasha, that did not go unnoticed by the pink frogs scrutiny. Hop Pop even tried to shush him but Sprig wouldn’t back down. Anne was clearly torn in half, a fraction of her old self.

Eventually, her and Sprig’s bickering grew out of control.

“Stop it!!!” Anne cried out and quickly ran out of the house.

Sprig ran to chase after Anne. Marcy attempted to stop him but couldn’t in her true feeble state. Luckily, Hop Pop was there to stop him. She attempted to leave too but was blocked by the old frog, equally.

“I need to go talk to her!” She pleaded with the patriarch of the house.

“What she needs is some time away from you two and what you two need is to figure things out! You both are driving everyone insane! Neither of you are allowed to leave this house until you sort out your differences.”

Wasted time. This was wasted time! She needed to be with Anne!

Hop Pop would not budge from that door. She considered the window. Unfortunately breaking and exiting may cause her to be kicked out permanently. She gritted her teeth and stared at Sprig. He stubbornly stared back.

“You said you were going to change for Anne!” Sprig pointed his finger accusingly at her.

“Not everything about me needs to change,” she opened her arms up, exasperatedly.

“Just admit it! You’re on Sasha’s side!”

“Why does it matter to you?!”

“Ha! So you admit it?” he asked smugly.

“No! Why does it matter to you if I am or not?”

“Why would I care if you’re on the side of someone who’s clearly evil?!”

“I know what evil looks like. Sasha’s not as bad as Anne thinks she is!”

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it ! You never denied my claim. You’re totally on her side!” Sprig hopped around taunting her with a smug grin.

Marcy’s face flushed with an undignified rage.

“If I could interject,” Hop Pop intermitted with laced fingers and a nervous face. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what politics you have Marcy, but it’s pretty obvious that you have-” he cleared his throat again. “-other motives for being here.”

Marcy’s blood froze. Had she really been that obvious?

“Yeah, you’re like the least subtle person I’ve met. Kind of disappointing.” Polly said, sounding bored.

How had she been caught already?! She was normally really good at this! Sure she’d never really worked with regular civilians before but they couldn’t be that different from her usual political clientele, could they? No. There had to be another explanation.

Had she accidentally been avoiding jobs that could have prepared her for this one because she’d deemed them too ‘easy’? Was she just incompetent because she was no longer Black Kyber? Was she destined to be useless compared to the legend that she made from scrap?

No. She wouldn’t accept it. She couldn’t.

She’d panicked, the only reasonable explanation. A rushed job. Marcy Wu had failed spectacularly, not for the first time. Blood rushed through her veins, her brain on the edge of collapse.

“If it makes you feel any better-” Hop Pop voice snapped her out of own head. “I think you still have a chance with Anne.”

What?

“ What ?!” Sprig asked in absolute shock. “How could you say that?! How could you let Anne go back with that- that monster ?!”

“Now listen here, Sprig. I get that you care about her, but she is not family.” Hop Pop’s meek voice turned stern. “I know how hard it is for you to let go. If we interfere with whatever is going on between them, our family could be put in jeopardy and I will not let that happen. Family comes first, Sprig!” 

Sprig held back tears, staring at Hop Pop with betrayal. 

“Sprig, I’m sorry.” Hop Pop reached out to comfort Sprig.

Sprig rushed upstairs without a word, leaving Hop Pop to comfort nothing.

Marcy had to push her shame away knowing that the patriarch trusted her.

“Yer goal is havin Anne join Sasha and her army?”

She nodded.

“If I help you, can you promise you and her will leave our family alone, even if it doesn’t work out?”

Her throat went dry. She couldn’t tell the truth, the truth that she didn’t know what Sasha would do if Anne wasn’t on her side. Sasha was broken enough as is.

“I promise.”

He nodded. “I’ll talk ta Sprig, make sure he understands.”

“I need to go talk to Anne.”

“No.”

She was taken aback by the frog’s statement after he said he’d help her.

“Wait for Anne to come back. If ya keep pesterin her, she’s not goin’ to listen to you.”

She wanted to ignore him so badly, but she knew in her heart that he was right. Wow, she really wasn’t in the right headspace for this. She hated feeling useless, she hated not having any control. No wonder she felt sympathy for the devil.

She nodded reluctantly.

Waiting for Anne to come back was agonizing. Every second brought her mind closer and closer to snapping. At least she still had the music box to keep her company. Hop Pop had been upstairs talking to Sprig for a while now. She could hear their chatter clearly as if there wasn’t an entire floor between them. Choosing to ignore it, she stared impatient at the door.

Finally, it crept open slowly. Anne stopped to stare at Marcy, before coming inside, and shutting the door behind her.

“Hi.” Marcy held her hand up meekly to suggest that she meant no harm.

“Hey.” Anne said uncomfortably.

An awkward silence passed between them.

“Could we um, could we talk?”

Anne hesitated for a moment, and then beckoned for Marcy to follow her out the door.

She followed Anne until they reached the top of a hill next to a crumbling cobblestone wall that overlooked the farm. Anne sat down and rested her back on the wall. Marcy followed suit.

“What’s your deal with Sasha, Marcy? Please be honest with me. I’m sick of being lied to.”

Marcy hesitated, weighing her options. “Me and Sasha… we started talking after you left, and-and…” she looked at Anne with guilt, “-we became friends,” she admitted. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t think you would like me anymore.”

“Then why did you run away?”

“Sasha she- she’s been going crazy because you left. She’s so paranoid now that she didn’t trust me enough to help find you. But now I have,” she smiled.

“You want me to go back to her?”

“She needs help, Anne. You’re the only one that can do that. Please.” She clasped her hands together and stared the former Jedi in the eyes with a plea. “Didn’t the Jedi teach you to help people?”

Anne became solemn, lost in thought. “She did this to herself. I’m not a Jedi.” She got up to walk towards the house but stopped. “You can stay with us or you can go back to Sasha. I won’t force you to choose,” she said without facing Marcy. She kept walking.

Marcy followed.

She’d given up on her mission for now and focused on befriending Anne instead. The new task was a weight taken off her shoulders but also furthered the creeping dread she’d already had that they were both doomed.

That’s fine. Everything’s fine. Things would play out like they should. It was out of her hands. Maybe the best course of action was to be more forceful in which case that would have to wait for Sasha.

All she could do was help around the house, with pest control, and hang out with Anne. Sprig didn’t help her anxiety, staying unnervingly quiet around her, choosing to ignore her existence. She was used to being ignored, though this time she didn’t have Black Kyber to do something about it. She pretended not to care, like it wasn’t getting to her nerves.

She talked with Sasha again, sharing how she’d done the best she could. Anne did seem to be more open to persuasion now and seemed less stubborn than she did though Anne had walked away from her, so maybe it was just wishful thinking. Still, Marcy didn’t tell Sasha the ways in which the mission had gotten control. Sasha seemed okay but a little impatient, exactly what she’d expected.

The dinners were her favorite part of the day, despite the incomprehensibly horrid food. She had had lovely chats with Hop Pop about their shared interest in agriculture, a topic which was one of the many interests she’d studied on a whim. He knew more than her of course but that only made it more fun.

She couldn’t appreciate enough, him helping her with her other motivation without bringing it up once. Besides Sprig, everything was perfect. Anne was coming around to her and made sure her hard work didn’t go unpraised.

That all changed on the fourth night when the door slammed open. 

Darth Volcanus stood in the doorway several days earlier than she should have been. Her face was vicious, her eyes that of a wild, frenzied animal.

Marcy waited for her head to explode.

Chapter Text

Too much. It was too much! She was losing her goddamn mind. The pain Sasha felt while Marcy paraded around Anne was unbearable. She didn’t know why she’d agreed to let Marcy take over. This was her job, not that know-it-all’s who can’t keep her mouth shut!

She had to see for herself. She had to know what Marcy’s tactics were.

Sneaking onto the frog’s property on the edge of the town was a cinch. The house clearly didn’t expect silent predators. Under the star-lit sky, she peaked her eyes through the window into the warm household, watching Anne, Marcy, and the frogs eat a meal together. Her stomach threatened to heave from seeing Anne again.

The walls were thick enough so she couldn't make out what they were saying, only a mumble coming through. What she saw was enough. Marcy was having a deep, excited conversation with an old frog, not even looking at Anne.

That bastard! She knew that Marcy wasn’t right for the job! If she was in there, Anne would be receiving one-hundred percent of her attention at all times. She cared for Anne! This fool clearly did not.

She had to do something. She had to be there. Anne was going to die and Marcy wasn’t even looking at her.

Not. Even. Looking at her!!!

She stormed around to the front of the house and slammed the front door open! Marcy bumbled into her view like the idiot she was, her mouth wide in shock at Sasha.

Sasha ignored her. She didn’t have the time to discuss why the raven haired girl had failed cataclysmically. She walked straight at Anne, dead set on her goal. This would all be worth it once Anne was by her side.

Anne stood up, still in that surprisingly fitting black outfit, face a mix of surprise and anger. It made the Sith mad how Anne could look at her like she was the villain, like these frogs weren’t driving her closer and closer to death. She was trying to save the girl’s life! She wouldn’t let her be killed! She wouldn’t…

She marched over to the former Jedi and reached out to grab her by the wrist.

Anne lurched back before she could lay a finger on her.

An unpleasant rage roared in her stomach. Her breathing grew shallow. She could feel her eyes twitching. The darkness that was always there consuming her grew heavier, twisting into something indescribable.

“You are coming with me right now! End of discussion .” A concoction of malice and fear poured through her words.

Anne’s face turned into unbridled fear, but she did not respond.

If there was anything she hated more than being stood up to, it was being ignored. Anne couldn’t even take her seriously enough to snap back, to give some snarky response. The indignity made her breathing worsen.

“Leave Anne alone!” An annoying pipsqueak, little brat of a pink frog jumped up onto the table and pointed an archaic wooden weapon at her.

She turned her attention to the boy, her fingers itching on the hilt of one of her lightsabers, feeling grateful for something to tear to shreds and ease her mind of pain.

Before she could act on it, the elderly frog that Marcy had been talking to stepped in front of her and fell to his knees.

“Please!” He cried. “Don’t hurt him!. I’m the one who raised him. If you’re gonna hurt anyone, hurt me!”

She looked at the pathetic old frog, a smile creeping up her face.

“ Okay .”

She raised her finger tips and channeled her hate to them. A blinding, blue electricity coursed out of them, slamming into the frog, sending him flying.

“Hop Pop!!!” Everyone else but Marcy screamed, who only observed in an obnoxious horror.

Anne flung herself in the direction of where the frog landed. He wasn’t moving. His heart must have stopped. Oops.

Anne stumbled atop the dead frog and attempted Jedi taught resuscitation on him. She put her mouth to the frog’s, breathed a few times, then moved to pump his chest.

Stupid ignorant Anne. Couldn’t she see the significantly more important matter before her?! 

She attempted to walk over to the curly haired brunette but was stopped by Marcy’s hand on her wrist. Her whole body shuddered at the touch, twisting and contorting her already fragile heart.

“Sasha, you’ve gone too far! She won’t listen to you now!” Marcy cried with desperation.

“ I’ll make her listen !” she screamed back.

Everything up till this point had been under her control. She needed to show power, real power. Anne would listen then! That’s what the Sith had taught her and they had never failed her before. Power was the solution to every problem. Power gave her control!

She marched over to Anne, as the younglings backed away from her with pure, unadulterated fear. Good.

The fact that Anne cared more about this frog whom she’d have to have known for less than half a month insulted her to no end. She was Anne’s best friend, not these stupid frogs!

Anne desperately brought her mouth to Hop Pop as she tried ever so hard to bring him back to life. It was terrifying, she was horrified beyond belief. She could hear Sasha manic scream in the air but forced herself to ignore it. She pressed her palms to the grandfather’s chest and tried hard not to break his rib cage but it was difficult with adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Sweat dripped from her face onto Hop Pop’s. She barely registered the footsteps growing louder behind her.

A firm, human hand on her shoulder brought her back to the situation, back to her .

“Stop ignoring me!!! These frogs don’t matter!”

Anne looked up at the one who she once considered friend, the one who was wearing the emblem of the Separatists of which were causing chaos across the galaxy. Sasha, no, Darth Volcanus was nothing but an annex of the terrors of war. The death toll, the famine, she was an extension of it, misery incarnate.

Calling her a monster didn’t cut it. The blood red Sith was a plague, a mistake of nature. There was nobody here to stop her rampage, nobody but Anne.

She slapped the Sith’s hand away from her and made Volcanus go crashing through a wall of the house with a simple push of blue energy and the Force.

Her frenzied mind was frantically yelling at her with one goal in mind; kill the Sith. She could save everyone. She understood now, being a hero wasn’t about wanting recognition, it was about helping others. She would make sure that Sasha would never hurt anyone else ever again.

Everything else became mute as she made her way in the direction that the Sith had been flung, igniting her lightsaber.

Everything was going to shit and Marcy couldn’t help but feel that was all her fault or at least preventable! She hadn’t predicted that the ex-Jedi would go off the rails, glow with an immense blue that resonated with the same coloured gem on the music box, and walk towards Sasha’s ragdoll body with her ignited lightsaber.

She chose to ignore the fact that the music box was basically confirmed to be the real deal at this point.

None of this was a part of her calculations. None of this was meant to happen!

No doubt about it, Anne wanted Sasha dead .

Well at this point, it was either Anne or Sasha, and her short lived apprentice clearly wasn’t going down without a fight.

It made her sick how useless she felt in this situation. The whole point of becoming Black Kyber was to gain an ounce of control and now she had basically nothing, no weapon that could help in this situation.

It took her back to her time sitting on the cold damp streets of Coruscant whilst she wasn’t allowed inside her orphanage because her ‘caretaker’ wanted his alone time. The time spent hoping that someone, anyone would take pity on her as she sat, slowly dissolving into a dull nothingness as the people on the streets walked by the six year old without so much as a glance. She might as well have not existed.

Then there were the days when the older children at the orphanage would pick on her because she was the smallest, the weakest. There was no comradery towards her from their shared, unfortunate life, only a solitary feeling of loneliness. The Rule there was that in order to have friends at all, the hazing process was to ridicule her, the weakest link.

Now, without Black Kyber, she had to do something right for once in her life. She’d failed Anne and she’d failed Sasha. She knew she had to help. It was her responsibility to make things right. She refused to stand by while her world went to hell!

Hop Pop . The old frog wasn’t dead for long enough, she still had a chance.

Sasha should be proud, maybe she should be jealous. She absolutely hated that the only things she could feel were terror and disgust.

She could hardly register the ache in her body as Anne walked towards her with yellow Sith eyes peeking through a glowing blue, which matched the energy dying her hair.

The prophecy . The thought took her by the throat. She was so sure that Andrias was a liar… No. She wouldn’t accept it. It-it couldn’t be real!

It didn’t matter at that moment. Anne was going to kill her. Her best friend, who’s heart was as pure as a kyber crystal, who wanted nothing but to help people, was about to slaughter her out of revenge.

Anne’s approach drew nearer and nearer. She looked like she was savouring Sasha’s fear, soaking herself in it. Suddenly Sasha felt a tinge of empathy to those she’d made to feel the exact same. It was sick, Anne was sick, this wasn’t right. She wanted Anne to be her apprentice but not like this! This-this wasn’t Anne.

She tried to plead but nothing came out, her mouth ran dry.

Anne towered over her like a true Sith and brought her lightsaber up to strike down on the fallen girl. As long as she’d known Anne, she’d never known her to have an offensive style of combat. Anne had prided herself on her usage of lightsaber form two. She never struck first… until now.

Anne brought the blue lightsaber down atop of Sasha like a guillotine.

She managed to snap out of her stupor just in time to guard herself with both of her red lightsabers in a cross. Anne’s blade clashed between them! The sound of lightsabers grating against each other had never sounded so painful.

Sasha’d never learned the art of defense before. She always preferred striking first to swing the momentum of a fight. This wasn’t a fight. A fight required a two way attack. Sasha realized there and then that there was no way she could ever bring harm to Anne. She was a terrible Sith! Her master was probably just looking for a reason to be rid of her. The realization hit just as hard as the weight of Anne’s blade.

 Anne didn’t let up, pressing her blade down atop of Sasha’s, bringing the three blades closer to her chest. She could feel the heat radiating off of them. If she didn’t do something quickly, she would be eviscerated by Anne’s overwhelming strength. Sure Anne was strong but this was ridiculous. The brunette had never been stronger than her.

Her arms pinned against the ground, she made one last effort of survival. She thrust both her blades alongside Anne’s to the side, turning off her own and quickly rolling to the side. She could hear Anne’s blades scrape against the ground. Righting herself, she quickly stumbled into a stance that gave her a chance of survival. She could feel Anne’s saber barely missing her side.

Anne was heaving as if she were out of breath. That didn’t make sense, the dark side of the force always gave more energy, not less. It must have been that crazy blue energy acting as a fast burning power. A solid idea popped in her head. She just needed to tire Anne out. Easier said than done.

Anne charged once again with the grace of a bantha. Her swing came at Sasha with no form, no expertise, just anger.

Sasha blocked hit after hit at such a slow speed that an outsider wouldn’t guess that the two of them had any experience at all with lightsaber combat, their experience with their current roles being to their detriment.

Anne was draining but so was Sasha. Having written off a defensive style as lame, Sasha’d never considered how difficult the style actually was.

Suddenly Anne gained a burst of power! A strike from Anne’s lightsaber sent one of her own flying. Anne reeled back far quicker than she had before. The next blow caused her other lightsaber to meet the same fate as the other. The strength of the blows had bent her limbs in unnatural ways causing Sasha to shriek.

The blue drained from Anne, leaving her with nothing but a body quaking with rage and eyes as yellow as the brightest molten lava. 

Sasha was unarmed, facing a heaving Anne who donned a wicked smile of righteousness. She wanted to run, to anything! All she could do was stand, her legs frozen as if in carbonate, and wait for it all to end. Unfortunately a realization popped up in her head before it could.

This was her fault. She had done this to Anne.

“Maybe she’s better off without me.” The thought prepared her for the end.

She closed her eyes.

…

…

The blade didn’t come. The hum of Anne’s lightsaber hung steadily in the air.

“Anne, stop! Hop Pop’s alive!” A small trembling squeaky voice cried out before her.

She knew that voice. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the small pink frog that she had wanted to murder only minutes prior standing before her, being the only thing stopping Anne from slicing her.

Anne looked at him in shock. The hatred in her eyes slowly diminished, the yellow with it. Then she turned her attention back to Sasha who still wasn’t convinced that her life was saved, especially by the pipsqueak frog.

Anne’s brain felt like it had been dipped in gunk. It felt like she hadn’t slept in a week. Her skin was dry, itchy, burning. It hurt. Everything hurt. She needed to…

Hop Pop.

The world faded into view, Sprig alongside it. It looked like she was about to strike, Sprig stood before her lightsaber. If she’d swung, she could have… Tears fell from her eyes, salt water stinging her raw skin. She wanted to cry out but no sound could escape her throat.

Then she noticed the Sasha that stood before. The Sith looked totally and utterly defeated, a far cry from when she’d barged in the house earlier. Sasha’s face was filled with a hint of self pity and a dash of regret, but mostly just looked sad. She met the girl’s eyes for what felt like an eternity but lasted only a second.

Her eyes darted back to Sprig who stood before her with palms wide open, face pleading her to stop. An oxymoron, It didn’t make sense why Sprig would want her to stop. Didn’t he want Sasha to pay for her crimes against his family as much as Anne did?

Hop Pop’s alive.

It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. Sasha’s intent was clear.

“Please Anne! You’re stronger than this.” Sprig said desperately.

No, he’s wrong. She clearly was never better than this. That’s why the Jedi hated her. That’s why she left, before the Jedi could kick her out themselves.

“Anne,” the sound of Hop pop’s feeble voice coughed out behind her.

She slowly turned around to meet a shaky Hop Pop who looked like he’d gained thirty years of age being held by a Marcy who looked on the verge of a panic attack.

“Hop Pop!” she cried with a feeble and hoarse joy.

She was thankful her voice came out at all.

Her arms enveloped the old frog in a hug, being careful not to crush him. It felt so good that he was here, that he could live out the rest of his natural life, that Spig and Polly wouldn’t be orphans…

Her wet face turned into a waterfall of tears. She couldn’t believe that Hop Pop was almost gone. It would have been her fault. She swore that she would protect them! But no, her body had stuck to the floor, like it was covered in a hot adhesive. Her body had worked too slowly for her mind. Hop Pop had taken the role of protector against the mad tyrant and nearly paid the ultimate price.

Her fault. It was her fault. The Jedi deserved to have her gone.

Suddenly a warm, five fingered hand rested on her shoulder, snapping her out of her head.

“I'm sorry ,” Marcy said with a genuine, deeply sympathetic, and tired tone.

Why should she be sorry? She must have brought the Sith to her doorstep. What did she expect? That Sasha would gently bring her out of the house and Anne wouldn’t resist. She couldn’t be too mad. It was still her fault that-

In the span of a millisecond, a stream of electricity coursed through Marcy’s palm in through Anne’s body.

…

Chapter Text

6 years ago.

The only separation between Sasha and the cold black void of space was a blue force field which kept the oxygen and artificial gravity in place, the only border between life and death. Sasha and Count Dooku stood in a hangar bay on a Separatist dreadnought. It was Sasha’s first time off of Coruscant and she couldn’t help but be nervous at the oblivion.

“What do you see, my young apprentice?” Her master for the past half a year asked.

“I see stars.”

“Good,” he gave a slight smile. “What else?” His face returned serious.

“Nothing.”

He chuckled. “No, there is definitely something. Describe it.”

“It’s dark.”

“Yes. Yes it is. Far more dark than light.”

She nodded.

“I understand that the light can be tempting to gaze at. The stars are beautiful aren’t they?” her master asked.

“Yes,” she said hesitantly, not knowing where he was going with this.

“Do you know what a supernova is?

“No.”

It is the death of a star. An ancient primordial being exploding with the last ditch effort of creating more light. What remains after a star explodes?”

“Darkness.”

His smile returned. “Good,” he nodded. “This is the truth of our universe. The Jedi would have you believe that the light is greater than the dark. It is a trick, an illusion created by its eye-catching nature. Everywhere you see light, know that it is sparse compared to the black that surrounds it. The dark always comes first and will come again. This is the natural state of all things, living or not. This is why you must embrace it.”

She nodded in return. The oblivion gained a less frightening quality at her master’s words. It was beautiful, even. If she could embrace it, if she could create it, she would no longer be at its whim. Instead, she’d be on its side and return everything to its natural order. This was the ultimate control. This was what she wanted.

“Is it difficult?” she asked.

“No. All you must do is listen.”

So Sasha listened. She closed her eyes and the darkness swallowed her whole.

The dark of the night sky pierced through everything: the heart, the soul, hiding away details and beauty. The red moon was the only source of light casting everything in a bloody red. At least the shimmering stars were nice.

Sasha’s heart was void as Marcy caught the limp Anne in her arms. For once, the stares of fear from those around her did not make her feel in control. Control was now something she was fresh out of. Having spent so long trying to desperately claw it back from an increasingly steep and slippery surface left her tired and confused. Her life felt like an amusement ride, going every which way, up and down, left and right, trying desperately to find something that felt right. She thought that the Sith had done that for her, that this was her place. Hatred of her now uncertain existence spewed through her blood like toxin.

“Sasha.” Marcy brought her out of her head.

Ah yes, the name that she should hate, yet now it felt right. Anything else would be a lie. She would need to earn it back if her master would let her.

“What do we do now?” The black haired girl sounded afraid.

What could Marcy fear? It wasn’t her head that was about to be put on a stake for failing the Sith. Hell, the only Sith who even knew about her involvement was Sasha…

Crap.

Another rush of hatred boiled her guts. Marcy being afraid of her should have given her joy. Hell, she should be ecstatic at the fear she was creating, but it only widened the empty, growing void consuming the hatred rushing through her. Everything was so far gone that the word ‘wrong’ didn’t cut it. She was standing over top a split in the seams of reality that threatened to swallow her whole.

“S-Sasha?” Marcy stammered out.

Right, the question. What did Marcy seriously expect her to come up with? It wasn’t Sasha that found Anne nor was it Sasha who came up with the plan. There was nothing left, no cards in the deck, no more gears to expand the machine. Nothing but that stupid… box.

The box! The one that Andrias must have planted inside the house. She wasn’t blind. She saw it the instant she entered the frog’s home. The whole thing gave her a headache which did not help her current mood. She felt desolate enough without the king’s lies.

But what if it was real…

“Marcy, grab the music box,” she said as intensely as the void that she was feeling would allow.

“W-wha-”

“You know what I mean!” She snapped at the girl who looked like she could fall apart at a touch.

“What about Anne?”

“Give her to me.”

“No!!!” The pink squeaky toy screamed but made no advance towards her as Marcy handed Anne over into her brittle arms.

She looked over to see the pink frog who looked like he was about to burst into tears. The old frog who she’d snuffed the life out of had a clear look of terror but also of mild resign. She understood that feeling, that acceptance, from when Anne had nearly killed her. At that moment, her death felt natural, neither right nor wrong, just another time the galaxy swallowed someone whole. Just because she was the catalyst of death didn’t mean that she had control of it. It would come one way or another. She had a feeling that killing didn’t give her control, it probably never had. The disconnect between her and the Sith grew larger and larger, consuming, consuming, consuming, consuming…

…

“Sasha?” Marcy stood before her holding the music box, looking concerned.

She couldn’t even be mad at the tone. How long had she been standing there? It only felt like a few seconds. She looked again at the frogs to see the kid having his arm held by his grandfather. His fists were balled as tight as they could go and his face looked to be holding back tears as he refused to look anywhere but the ground.

She breathed, trying in vain to release some of the tension holding herself down.

…

“Let’s go.”

The walk back to the ship consisted of silence and dread. Anne’s limp body weighed like the entire Separatist army bundled up in her arms.

Suddenly as she approached the ship’s hatch, she became aware of her terrible choice of transportation. It was completely unfitting of Anne; she could only hope that the resting soul in her arms didn’t wake up in the blanketing red light of the ship. She had to put Anne over her shoulder in order to hold onto one of the handles hanging off the ship’s ceiling. Marcy held the music box with one arm under her shoulder.

Marcy put on her gear that was contained in a fancy black bag sitting in the corner of the ship while neither of them spoke a word. Sasha couldn’t make herself look away as Marcy dressed into herself. Sasha wished she could do the same.

…

“Why did you… How did you know about the music box?” Marcy asked with a hoarse voice. 

Sasha snorted in sick irony at the question. “Didn’t you know? The king is a two-time scoundrel. He told me about the box.”

Marcy tensed in shock, her eyes wide. “N-no that doesn’t… He told me nobody else knew. He said to keep it a secret. Why would he…”

“Marcy, why did you become Black Kyber?”

Marcy’s shock turned to confusion. “What does that have to with-”

“I think it’s why he lied to you.”

Her face turned sad. “I needed money. I grew up poor.”

Sasha looked at her, knowing that there was more to the story. Andrias must have seen something in her that he could use.

“Is that the only reason?” Sasha asked.

“Marcy hesitated. “No… I didn’t like being nobody. I didn’t like being ignored…”

The answer instantly became apparent.

“The king wanted you to feel special. He needed you to believe that he trusted only you to get the job done. He never cared about you, Marcy. He only wanted whatever the hell this thing is. He even made up some story about a prophecy to get me on his side. Which is insane!” She threw her hands up in the air, channeling her last spoken word. “ I don’t need to feel special! ” Her voice cracked. “I don’t…” 

Sasha saw Marcy grow silent. She must have understood the truth.

…

“What did the king tell you, besides the prophecy? Why did you want me to grab it if you didn’t believe him?” Marcy asked.

Sasha didn’t want to tell Marcy her helplessness, her need for this to be real, her final gambit. Unfortunately she knew why Marcy was asking. If Andrias was playing the former bounty hunter then what’s to say that he wasn’t also conning the Sith. After all, he was already lying about the prophecy, right?

“He told me that the box had an ability besides power. He told me that it could get Anne on my side without changing her too much…”

She didn’t like the concerned look that Marcy was giving her.

“I know it’s probably a lie! I know that Andrias wants something from us and he’ll do anything to get it. He probably just wants his freedom. I just don’t know what game he’s playing…” She hesitated. “I-I don’t care ! I don’t care about what he wants . If there’s a chance this is real… I’ll take it. I need this to be real!” Her voice suddenly gained a burst of anger that left as quickly as it came.

Anne stirred in her sleep.

Sasha was exhausted. Her emotional instability drained her further into the pits of hell. The darkness, what was once a friendly void, now felt cold, lonely, and impossibly distant.

Marcy’s concerned face became pity which was an apt way for her to feel at this moment.

Sasha was once a predator, the monarch of the jungle. Now she was reduced to a caged, starving animal desperately retaliating at her abusers only to receive an electric shock from sticks.

“Sasha… Maybe if you leave the Sith then-”

“ I can’t leave the Sith !!!” Sasha screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. Her body quaked with rage and fear. “ I’m not like you and Anne . I can’t just leave! You think it’s so easy to leave when things get tough, wh-when you want something that your current life-style doesn’t allow. Well this isn’t a life-style! This is who I am !” She screamed, her voice becoming hoarse.  Her heaving increased in speed, getting shallower and shallower.

Of course that’s when Anne decided to wake up.

A small groaning sound could be heard over her shoulder, nearly causing Sasha to jump out of her skin. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Marcy…” Anne mumbled.

No, no, no, no, no, this wasn’t supposed to be happening! She needed Anne to wake after she used the music box. They were not scheduled to arrive at the castle for another fifty minutes. Sasha’s breathing returned at twice the pace; she worried she’d hurt Anne in her panic so she set the girl down on the floor, praying that they didn’t hit any turbulence.

No part of Anne was moving except for her eyes slowly peeking open. Marcy’s electric shock must have halted most of Anne's nervous system.

“Anne?” Marcy asked apprehensively. Sasha also wondered how awake Anne really was.

“Where… where am I?” Anne’s voice was barely legible.

Anne groaned in discomfort as if she only noticed the cold, hard, metal floor now.

Sasha’s heart squirmed watching Anne be so upset and she didn’t want this to be her fault. She wanted to be able to shift the blame to anyone as she always did. Her heart wasn’t in it this time. She couldn’t deny the truth.

“Anne…” Sasha's voice came out almost as quiet as Anne’s. “Everything’s going to be okay.” The words left a dry and sour taste in her mouth. The claim was as hollow as Sasha.

Anne’s squirming increased into a panicked jerk. The girl’s eyes fluttered open and she tried desperately to get away from Sasha. Marcy tried to calm Anne down by putting a hand gently on her but it only seemed to make Anne’s panic worsen. Anne slapped Marcy’s hand away. Her panicked breath became unmanageable and ended up pressing her back up against the empty droid station on the wall.

“Please Anne…” Sasha wanted so badly to comfort her.

“ No !” Anne screamed as loud as her deathly voice would allow. “ Stay away from me! I won’t go with you, I won’t- ”

She was cut off by Marcy crouching down and applying another shock of electricity from the palm of her hand to Anne’s chest. The invisible shock glove on her hand was Marcy’s contingency in the case that Anne struggled too much when it was time for her to go to the Sith.

The frozen look of discomfort on Anne’s was the final straw for Sasha’s gut. She began to heave, feeling everything that she’d eaten that day coming back up. She ran to the otherside of the ship, away from Anne. Marcy watched in horror as Sasha erupted in an undignified mess of repulsive sludge. The smell only sickened Sasha more so she continued heaving until her stomach and throat were dry. She glared at Marcy to stop looking and at least she seemed to acquiesce out of politeness, turning her head away from the disaster. 

The ship smelled of vomit.

Neither of them said a word after that. The only sounds left were the hum of the ship and Anne’s sleeping breath. Sasha made sure to stay far clear of Anne lest she made her wake again.

Sasha jumped down from the back of the transport ship onto the castle balcony, just like she had when she first arrived on this wretched planet. The difference now was Anne cradled in her arms and Marcy with shaky legs trying to mimic her action. The black armoured girl made a calculated jump landing with one foot on the coral trimmed handrail, then springing that leg to land firmly with two feet on the balcony floor. Sasha’d be impressed if it wasn’t so pitiful, not that she herself was any less pitiful at this point.

She began marching through the hallway meeting the grand doors to the throne room. The sight would make her ill if she could possibly feel sicker than she already was. red moon beams shot through the stained glass window onto the aquamarine tiled, shiny floor, illuminating the artificial light from the mushrooms in a bloody hue. She'd contacted the king on the way to the castle and told him of their up coming visit. He towered over them, sitting upon his throne decorated with shells and lies, looking as regal as ever with a smug grin as he looked down upon the humans. Maybe it was the music box Marcy was holding, not that it mattered.

Sasha wanted so badly to wipe that shit eating grin off his face but had no ability, no power to do so. Her stomach groaned in anguish.

“The box!” Andrias threw his hands up in the air in celebration before bringing them back down, clasping them together in greedy anticipation. “Just as I remember it. I knew that prophecy had merit,” he said with glee. He stood up and took a few steps towards them, making him far too close for Sasha’s liking.

Spit lurched out of Sasha’s mouth involuntarily and she gave dry gags. “Whatever,” she croaked out as soon as she stopped heaving, wiping her chin free of spit. “Does it work?” She said, her teeth gritting together. “Does it do everything you say it does?”

She didn’t know why she was asking. If he had lied before he was just going to lie again. The words seemed to spill out automatically in a desperate need for affirmation.

“Oh yes,” his smooth deep voice reverberated through her bones. “You see those three gems?”

She looked at the box that Marcy was holding like it was a bomb that could wipe out a planet. It had a blue, a pink, and a green gem on it. The hue of the blue gem looked suspiciously like the colour that Anne turned.

She nodded cautiously.

“Those three gems represent the three parts that make up all sentient life, heart, wit, and strength… soul, mind, and body. No person could live without all three. This is where the prophecy comes in, you see. The three of you each represent one gem. You can probably guess which. You may have even seen these powers inside of you manifest already.”

She gulped, causing his smug grin to increase in strength.

“Pass me the box and Anne’s mind, body, and soul is yours.”

It sounded impossible, far too good to be true. She hated that it sounded plausible. Anne’s powers: heart, wit, and strength, it lined up. Anne was heart, Marcy wit, and Sasha? She was strength. She clenched her fist as fear and giddiness danced through her.

“Why did you lie to me?” Marcy’s sad words cut through her thoughts.

The king's face turned into a convincing apologetic look of pity. He could almost be mistaken for fatherly. “I’m sorry Marcy. Trust is a scarce resource these days and when you’ve lived as long as I have… well, let’s just say, I’ve seen enough backstabbing for a lifetime. Please Marcy, I’ll do anything for my people.“ His words sounded genuine.

Sasha’s fist clenched tighter. He was so good, he sounded so real. A thousand years is a lot of time to perfect the art of facade. She turned around to see Marcy quaking, her apprehension giving way to pity. She wanted so badly to scream out the warning signs that Andrias was a snake, that there was nothing to pity. But she didn’t. She needed Anne. Anne trumped everything, every other need she could have. Anne was the star to Sasha’s void. Even if the star didn’t burn forever, at least she still burned.

Marcy silently looked at Sasha for permission to hand over the box. It felt like the wrong decision but there were no other cards left to play. It always worked out in the end right? She always got what she wanted. Sashas would be back in control soon enough. She held out her shaky hand toward Marcy to give the box to her, and traded her with the limp Anne. Now the situation was in her hands, not the king’s.

Andrias’s eyes grew wider with antsy, impatient anticipation. If this didn’t work, Sasha would take great joy in forcefully ripping that smile off of his blue face.

She had only begun her trek towards the bastard before Marcy’s soft, weak voice stopped Sasha in her tracks.

“Sasha…”

She turned around carefully as if some demon was about to pounce on her. What lay before her was far worse than her imagination. Anne stood in front of Marcy, staring Sasha down with a look of anger and confusion. Her body sagged and her face held no joy, no glimmer of the old Anne remained.

“Don’t worry,” Sasha turned around as the king spoke. “The girl doesn’t need to be unconscious for the box to work.”

“What’s he talking about?” Anne said, her voice nervous and faint.

Sasha didn’t know how to respond. No amount of reassurance would be enough here. Anne would be absolutely furious if she knew what Sasha was about to do. So she did the only thing she could do. She walked towards the king, music box in hand. Her steps weighed down from her guilt. The short walk felt like a kilometer long trek. Andrias’s look of greed grew and grew, being more vile than any amount of vomit Sasha’s illness could produce.

She placed the music box in the king’s widespread, massive, blue palm. His kingly body loomed overtop of hers.

“You want to understand what’s going on, Heart?” The king asked as he walked back over towards his throne.

A giant pedestal rose up from the castle floor. Instead of being lavish, it looked functional, some form of ancient technology embedded on the sides of it. This must be what the king needed in order to control Anne. Sasha’s fingers itched at the prospect. Life was finally going to go her way and all it took was unlimited power. She could relax knowing that the Sith were right.

Three beams of colourful light - pink, blue, and green - shot down the sides of the pedestal after Andrias placed the music box on top. His smile intensified.

Suddenly the ground began to rumble and she could feel the floor moving upwards like an elevator. Every stained glass window burst from the change of pressure with a terrible, crashing noise. She could hear the mass destruction of architecture as the castle lifted into the air! The wind howled through the open windows turning the room bitter cold.

“What did you do?!” Sasha screamed in terror, not because of what was transpiring but because of what wasn’t. Anne remained the same.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too quick to judge,” he said with a smug voice that boomed overtop the wind.

Frog shaped droids began pouring into the room on jetpacks.

“You did know I couldn’t be trusted. You really thought you could have everything that you wanted. Look where that got you.” 

A confused rage bloomed inside her gut faster than she could think. The petals of anger shriveled and died just as fast as they came. She fell to her knees, and watched a puddle of tears form on the floor beneath her face. The wind whipping against her face was just more salt to her wound.

“It’s a pity,” he said. “I expected more out of you three.”

She looked up to see him holding a giant black canister that looked like it could have been ripped straight out of the Separatists advanced weapons vault.

“Not that it matters. It’s not another mind that they crave.”

She didn’t have time to understand what the king was saying as he threw the canister to the floor in front of her. It made a horrible noise on impact, and instead of rolling like she thought it would, both ends of the capsule widened and a black metal goo began rapidly spilling out. The substance was odd and unnerving; it both looked like a liquid and tiny pieces of metal.

She wanted to move, to get out of the way as it approached her with purpose, like it has homing onto her. Her legs would not budge and her arms would not lift. The black substance began crawling up her arms and legs, stinging as they clung to her. It was cold and not at all wet. Then the true pain began. Parts of the goop began stabbing into her like a thousand little knives. She shrieked in agony, writhing around trying desperately to get it off. It only took a dozen seconds before her sight was engulfed in black and her full body was covered. She wished she could cry out for somebody to help but it was no use. There wasn’t even a point.

…

Suddenly the pain stopped. She expected to go unconscious, but she did not fade. Instead her sight began to return, blanketed in an orange glow? Then she felt it, her body moving on its own. The true horror hit her when she realized she couldn’t move her own body. She could feel that the lower half of her face was the only thing not covered in black.

Her eyes stared at Anne and Marcy without Sasha’s consent. 

“Ah. The infamous calamity trio. How nice it is to finally meet you after all these years. ” It sounded like a dozen voices coming out of her mouth including Sasha’s. “ I think it’s time we eliminate the two of you.”

Her sight locked onto Anne.

Chapter Text

Pain, then black. When she woke the first time, her mind moved at a crawl. The only figure who registered was Sasha. Terror, fear, then blackness.

Anne’s eyes opened slowly, her eyes blinking, not properly adjusting to the bright, artificial light. It was blinding. She wished it would be black again. That was simpler. Where was she? She expected the dull lighting of a Sperarist ship like the first time she woke up, not whatever this was. Her sight slowly began to return. She noticed she was being held, and had to shift her head and squint to see the human who was cradling her had black hair. She wanted to get away desperately from both Marcy and Sasha but knew she stood no chance against either of them. If she struggled, it would be a never ending loop of pain and black.

Anne saw Marcy and she silently pleaded to be put down, and to her surprise, Marcy complied.

Anne stood on two wobbly legs. At least she could stand at all. She tried to process her surroundings but her senses weren’t complying. She could make out in the blur a giant figure of… the king? Was she in the throne room? That wouldn’t make sense. Why would Sasha bring her here? She looked at what she assumed were windows, noticing they were dark. 

She heard Marcy say something but it was muffled to be understood.

Then someone else appeared before her. Anne noticed the blond hair, and everything became clear. She was standing in the Amphibian king’s throne room, and she was staring at Sasha Waybright.

Sasha stared back at her with those piercing bright blue eyes, so, so unfitting of what she’d done.

What had Sasha done? Anne wished she could remember. The events leading up to the black were blurrier than her vision. All she knew was that the girl standing before her had done something terrible.

She didn’t register what the king was saying, too fixated on the villain before her, until she heard the words ‘girl’, ‘need’, and ‘unconscious’. Wait, was she meant to be unconscious for a reason? Was she the cause of the three of them being in the throne room?

“What’s he talking about?” She needed to understand; nothing was adding up.

She knew nothing of the king. She couldn’t even remember his name. He seemed nice in the short time she’d known him. But, he was also distressed from being invaded by…

…by Sasha! 

A flood of memories and emotions washed through Anne’s skull, threatening her to collapse from the pressure. She relived the hatred she felt towards Sasha, the terror she felt when she realized what she was about to do, and the relief she felt when she learned that Hop Pop was still alive. She had to clutch her cranium in fear of it spitting open. The emotions lashed against each other in massive waves, bashing for dominance over Anne’s mind. The effect left her frozen in place, wishing that something would stop or at least distract the incessant and unrelenting ear splitting noise.

“You want to understand what’s going on, Heart?”

Who was the king speaking to? Who was this Heart? Why did Sasha give him Hop Pop’s family heirloom? The old music box wasn’t something she’d given a second thought after Hop Pop had made an offhand remark about it. 

A pedestal rose from the ground in a mechanical fashion. Okay, not the weirdest thing she’d seen in the past five minutes. The king placed the music box on the pedestal, and it started glowing. Again, it could be weirder.

She should have waited a few seconds before deciding on the level of weirdness.

The darkened, stained glass windows lining the throne room shattered. The ground rumbled and felt like it was shifting beneath her feet! The pressure felt the same as when Marcy’s spacecraft was descending onto Amphibia’s surface. Except this time it wasn’t landing. It was taking off! It was the perfect distraction from her sense of madness: more madness! It was overwhelming. It was too much. Understanding what was going on was impossible.

Marcy cowered behind her, and Sasha was frozen with fright in the most distinctly non-Sasha way possible.

Yup, she had lost it. She was trapped in the most insane fever dream.

A giant black canister rose up from the floor, directly next to the king. He grabbed the side of it with one splayed, giant, coral blue hand, gripping the object that was nearly twice the size of a human. Sasha, who was closer to the King, stood frozen. 

Anne should have expected that the next set of events would be even more bonkers than the last, and yet … she was taken completely by surprise when Sasha was engulfed in a black, viscous fluid, causing her to kick and scream. It was horrible, everything was horrible. Anne hoped she would wake up soon from this fever dream. No matter how angry she felt towards Sasha, she knew this was wrong. Even this Sith girl didn’t deserve to be tortured. A small twinge of pain from the past began rearing its ugly head. A time that refused to be forgotten.

Sasha’s scream halted abruptly and her body went limp. The black around her began shifting into something more solid, more of a dark, purplish gray. It started to resemble a suit of armour distinct from the armour that Sasha was already wearing, leaving her mouth exposed. Three large yellow eyes, and seven smaller orange eyes formed on the helmet which had horns resembling an axolotl. There was one last sideways vertical eye of her chest plate. A large maroon cape formed out from her shoulders.

The king stood behind with what looked like a nervous anticipation. Yet another thing that was completely bonkers, but whatever. 

Suddenly, Sasha’s- its body jerked upwards. Anne could no longer consider this thing Sash; she didn’t know what it was. It seemed to test its limbs in a sitting position, cracking its neck like it hadn’t moved in forever. It pressed its arms to the ground for support and steadily rose like a toddler testing out the ability to walk for the first time. But this thing was no toddler. It bore a vicious, evil grin as it stared in her direction: a grin that was distinctly different from Sasha’s.

“Ah. The infamous calamity trio. How nice it is to finally meet you after all these years. I think it’s time we eliminate the two of you.” The voice was a bone chilling chorus of separate voices including Sasha’s.

“Wait!” Anne shouted, holding her hands up in a time-out. All eyes turned to her.

She needed to breathe. If she was going to die, she could at least know why. The wind howled around them. 

“Ooo, Heart wants to beg. Let’s hear it.” Not-Sasha said with wicked glee.

“I-I don’t understand. Why are you calling me Heart? Why would you want me dead? It’s the Separatists who wronged this planet!”

“Hmm, good point. Perhaps we’ll kill you last,” they said, putting their finger up to their chin in mock contemplation.

Anne’s heart dropped. Sasha was terrible but at least she wasn’t trying to kill her!

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Anne. We need to go.” Marcy said, her voice meek.

Marcy’s voice was nearly just as shocking as her hand. Through all the chaos, Anne had forgotten why she was here. Marcy had betrayed her. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. She knew Marcy was close to Sasha. She’d just prayed that the lies ended there. But no, of course they were working together. Marcy betrayed her, the nice king was evil, and Sasha was now doubly evil. She could feel herself trembling and tears began rolling down her face.

“Anne-”

“N-no!!!” she screamed and slapped Marcy’s hand away. “I won’t- I-I won’t let you hurt me anymore!” A full on waterfall began pouring from her eyes.

“I’m trying to protect you,” Marcy pleaded.

“Were you trying to protect me when you betrayed me for Sasha or when you brought me here?!”

“Yes!”

“How? How were you trying to protect me?!”

Before Marcy could answer, the thing that wasn’t Sasha interrupted.

“Well, this has been interesting…” they said in an observing manner with their head resting on their curled fist.

Anne paused her anger to look at the inhabitant of the body of her once best friend.

“Now, I think it’s time we end things. Don’t you agree, Andrias?”

“Yes, my lord,” the king responded and the frog-shaped droids with glowing red eyes raised their arm cannons, pointed directly at Anne and Marcy.

Marcy was beyond tired, emotionally and physically. Not only had she not fully recovered from her blunt force trauma, she was so, so tired from being out of loop. Knowledge is power and she was certified powerless. She couldn’t imagine how Anne must feel. At least Marcy still had her gear, and Anne’s.

“Anne, catch!” She shouted as she threw Anne’s lightsaber towards her.

Anne seemed more startled by Marcy than by the droids. Fair enough. She still caught the lightsaber regardless and ignited it as second nature. Her body took on a stance that Marcy had seen before, that of a real Jedi Knight. It was as if the weapon had reawakened something inside the former Jedi.

Marcy whipped out her dual pistol blasters and turned on both green, circular, wrist shields.

They’d done so just in time. The droids opened fire. They covered each other’s backs with Anne blocking laser blasts with her lightsaber and Marcy blocking with her wrists. Marcy took out one, two, three, four droids in the span of a second with her pistols, making sure never to drop her guard. It felt like old times, but without Black Kyber. She could hear, from Anne’s side, the Jedi  deflecting blaster bolts back at them.

All things considered, It felt like it was going well, but the droids just kept pouring in.

“Anne!” Marcy shouted over the firing blasters. “We need to leave!”

“You expect me to trust you?!” Anne asked incredulously.

“This isn’t about trust! I don’t want you dead!”

“Andrias. ” Marcy would hear the thing’s multi-layered voice clean through the violence. “ This is taking too long. Finish them.”

“As you wish.” The king’s voice boomed. “Frobots, stop.”

On command, every one of the droids halted their attack.

“I suppose I shouldn’t have underestimated the champions no matter how frail the two of you are. Frobots! If they try to escape, shoot them.” With that, he ignited a thick yellow lightsaber half the length of his height. “Let’s have some fun,” he said with a grin.

He slammed his energy blade into the ground tip first, somehow resulting in a yellow projectile barrelling out of the sword towards them. Anne was quick to move but Marcy wasn’t quite so lucky. The energy beam singed her back, her legs too slow to carry her out of harm's way. She lay chest first, her hands pressed against the cold floor, desperately trying to get up. At least her back armour had protected her, but she could feel it melting slightly against her skin.

“It appears there’s a weak link.” Marcy could hear the king’s smug smile.

She wanted to fight back; to do something, anything, but be useless. Her arms trembled from the strain she’d put on them from fighting the droids. She could hear massive footsteps drawing near. It brought her back to the cell when she thought he was a rancour. No, this was much worse. Suddenly a black boot stepped into view from the corner of her eye.

“ Stop! ” Anne shouted.

The king’s footsteps halted.

Anne stood before Marcy, feet planted in place, determined not to let the king approach further. It was an odd feeling, one she had only felt once before, when she stopped the white carnivore from slaughtering the frogs. Yes, Marcy had wronged her. Yes, she had brought the devil to her doorstep. But she didn’t deserve this! She didn’t deserve to die, and if she did, it would be Anne’s fault.

“Now why would you do that?” The king taunted with a playful sneer. “This girl has done nothing but wrong you. She brought you to your death! Why don’t you do something more useful like…” he paused for dramatic effect, “run for your pitiful life?”

“No,” she said, beginning to quake, and mustering what remained of her courage. “Marcy wronged me. I won’t deny it. But… this isn’t how you hold someone accountable for their actions.” The realization pained her. She could feel the tears swelling in her eyes. She couldn’t help but glance at the taken-over thing holding Sasha hostage, who stood to the side of the room, out of the fight.

It was odd. It was as if she could finally feel the lightsaber's true meaning in her hands. She so wished she could have felt it sooner. Is this what it meant to be a Jedi?

“They probably have feelings just like you,” Sprig’s voice echoed in her head.

“A Jedi wields a lightsaber not out of love or hate, but because it is our duty to protect,” her master’s voice followed.

Maybe it was the absurdity around her, maybe it was the regret she felt when she realized what she’d nearly done to Sasha, or maybe it was because Marcy had given her the ability to defend herself. It didn’t matter. For the first time, she felt clarity.  Anne was not going to let Marcy die. She stopped quaking and stood her ground, staring Andrias in the eyes.

“Suit yourself,” he said, and brought the giant lightsaber down upon her.

Anne felt her power swirling inside of her heart, begging to be let free. Why was she, a Jedi, chosen to be Heart? What did it mean? Not only did she block his blade, she parried it so hard that the force ripped it from his hands sending it flying across the room. He stumbled back in shock.

“You- you’re not supposed to know how to do that!” The king bared his teeth at her.

“Then you don’t know anything!” She heard her own voice sounding godly, double layered upon itself.

“Anne, we need to get out of here.” Anne looked to see Marcy slowly rising to her two feet.

She could probably defeat Andrias now, but she could feel her limit with exhaustion waiting in the corner. They’d be overrun eventually.

“How?!”

“The windows!”

Anne understood immediately. It was a long way down, but it was their only means of escape.

Andrias recollected himself quickly. “Frobots, stop them!”

Within a second, Anne had Marcy in her arms. She willed the strange energy to protect them and catapulted the two of them out the window faster than the droids could respond.

Apparently that was too much for her body to handle. She could feel her consciousness slipping out away from her, as the wind whipped against her face. The last thing she recognized before she went dark was that they were falling, a very, very long way.

“Anne!” Marcy cried out desperately.

She hadn’t realized that escaping the castle would be strenuous enough to knock Anne out cold. Now, they were freefalling towards Newtopia at an alarming rate. Her only hope was her rocket boots, but she’d have to be careful. She couldn’t propel her body upwards too fast or else her body would smush like a pancake from the conflicting forces.

A more pressing issue were the frog droids, ‘frobots’ as the king called them, flying at the two of them, catching up to them at an alarming rate. Soon enough they’d be close enough to shoot.

She held Anne’s chest with her arm, turning on her wrist shield. She flipped her body so that she was facing the frobots and her back was to the ground. Counting eighteen frobots, she identified patterns in their formation and the most efficient way of taking them out. It’s not like this was the most difficult thing she’d ever done… well, except for the fact that her back hurt like hell, there was an unconscious sleeping girl in her arms, they were falling toward the ground, and she was dead tired. Luckily, the fear of death was there to wake her up.

She took out one of the explosive charges that she’d brought. It was tiny, no larger than her palm. Size didn’t matter. She threw it upwards and watched as it made its way towards their chasers. The droids would be within firing distance in three… two… one… She shot the impossibly tiny explosive and took out eight droids with a fiery blast. Only ten left.

Unfortunately this proximity also meant that the remaining droids were able to fire back. The one nice thing about being shot at by droids is that they’re usually quite predictable. She ignited her rocket boots, propelling herself even faster towards the surface of the planet, dodging and weaving her way through the rain of fire. Grabbing a pistol, she fired back taking out two droids in two shots.

She could tell based on the horizon line that they were approaching the planet's surface and fast! How did they get so high?  Whipping around, she could see that they were close to being a splatter on the shallow ocean surrounding the city. She began leveling out just in time as they were meters away from the water, the cold emanating from the liquid onto her. Four droids didn’t turn quite quickly enough and exploded into pieces from the impact. 

The remaining four kept up the chase, spraying water everywhere from their high velocity and blaster fire. It was difficult to dodge the lasers when she couldn’t even see her attackers. She only had her knowledge of their attack patterns to keep her and Anne from being fried.

Soon, upon reaching the flatland at high speeds, she thought of a plan that was so awful that it might actually work. It could also very likely kill both of them. Her past self would have been horrified at the idea. Her present self was too desperate to care. This was a risk she’d have to take.

She flipped her body around yet again, her back level to the ground, and turned off her rocket boots. She tucked one arm around her head to prevent the worst rug burn the galaxy had ever seen, still tightly holding Anne with the other. Sure enough, she made contact with the ground. Her back screamed in protest from its previous injuries, causing her to nearly black out. She couldn’t black out. She still had to protect Anne!

She squeezed her eyes shut, protecting them from the dust and grass flying everywhere, praying that the frobots didn’t hit them. At least she still had her shield activated. She skidded for what felt like an hour, her body armour barely protecting her from the immense stress put on it. She knew the tree line was coming and desperately hoped that she stopped skidding before her head made contact.

Slowly her momentum stopped, no doubt the harsh ground helped with that. Still squeezing her eyes shut, from the agonizing pain, she waited for the remaining frobots to catch up. One, two, three, four large explosions could be heard behind and above her as they slammed into trees. And with that, she promptly fainted. 

Chapter Text

Ok so change of plans. I'm doing my rewrite as its own separate fic.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66648508/chapters/171939739

you can read it here.