Work Text:
As if woken from a nightmare, Devon shot up. It was the middle of the night, on a planet she cared little to remember the name of, it's two moons bathing her in ethereal silvery light as she rested among the ruins of the planet's long gone rulers, camping near a steady stream of water. Her head ached as her hand clutched her chest, burning with pain from an unknown source. Her breathing was rapid, her lekku were shaking and her eyes frantically searched her environment for any clue to what led to her condition.
And then it was gone. As quick as it came, the pain vanished. In it's stead, she could not find relief. Only a feeling she would describe as little else but emptiness spreading through her entire body. She just lost... something?
And with growing horror, she realized.
Not something. Someone.
"Master?!" - the word left her lips faster than she could will herself to stop it.
He hadn't been her Master for years at this point. He had nothing left to teach her. She hadn't even seen him since that day. When she closed her eyes, she could remember the encounter still. The words he spoke had been yet another scheme to bring doom upon their enemies, but if she focused, she could remember the look on his face. Sorrow, hope, desperation and pride all at once. Somehow, in that moment, she knew she'd never see him again. She could feel it through the Force. A part of her back then wasn't willing to accept that. He had survived so much. They had survived so much.
And yet, through the Force, she knew what she felt was true. Her body was still half asleep, but her mind was wide awake.
He was gone.
"Maul..." - she whispered, as if she was afraid that saying it made it true.
Her hands reached for her face. When they reached her eyes, she could feel something wet.
She was crying?
A voice in the back of head insulted her for showing such weakness. It sounded eerily similar to a Zabrak’s. She was glad no one was around so see such folly.
More tears streaked her cheeks.
She was being ridiculous. "Pull yourself together." She thought, only to cry harder.
Why was she grieving a monster? She had seen firsthand how he cut down guilty and innocent alike. How bodies and minds broke before him. The chaos left in his wake. She remembered his teachings and the hate it instilled in her. Lightsaber burns, sprained bones, nightmares, she recalled it all.
She was a Jedi once. Before him. A proud warrior of justice.
And now?
The serene light of the twin moons had reached it's zenith, and in the silvery reflections they cast in her nearby stream, she saw herself.
Her body had grown strong over the years, forged in the ashes of her enemies. Muscles developed through rigorous exercise. Her senses tuned to their finest, and her connection to the Force immaculate. Her natural Twi'lek beauty notwithstanding, she was terrific, in every sense of the word.
She turned from her reflection towards herself. She looked at her hands, instinctively flexing her wrist. In an attempt to steady herself, she commenced the same ritual she had so many times before. Starting from the tips of her finger she traced her eternal reminder of him. The Sith tattoo emerging from her hand, running along her arm, until it vanished behind her shoulder.
She was still crying. As she closed her eyes, she accepted it. It was alright. She was a Jedi no longer. He had turned her into something else. Something stronger. Someone who was not afraid to feel. Someone who embraced their emotion, and so she grieved. She wept for him. For what he lost. What she lost, too. For everything that had been taken from them.
In her despair, she reached out her hand. What was she reaching for? His hand, to lead her away from this? She could not say what she imagined.
In the end, all she knew was what her hand actually caught. Her fingers clutched the cold metal, and with the press of a button, she was encased in the crimson light of her saber. This, too had been his once upon a time. Until he had entrusted her with it. A tear fell upon it, immediately fizzling out like rain.
She switched into one of the stances they practiced and closed her eyes. Like this, she could almost imagine Maul at her side, training like they had done years ago. But he wasn't there. He would never be again.
She breathed in with a whimper.
Now she had lost him, too. Just like her old master. Like the whole Order. Another irreplaceable loss in her life, carving a hole into her soul forevermore.
The galaxy didn't care. The planets moved on, the stars kept shining regardless, the Empire still ruled, and the Rebellion was in shambles.
Her vision grew clouded once more. Not with sadness or tears, but with something burning hotter. Anger. Hate. She could feel her lust for revenge blazing like a furnace-
Was that their fate? To be forgotten? Scattered amongst the stars?
"No." - Devon refused, almost screaming.
As long as she still drew breath, they still mattered. Even a single member could carry on the mission. As long as she was still here, they would not, could not be forgotten. For she was what remained. They lived in her. He lived in her.
That was who she was.
Maul's legacy.
And that was enough.