Date: Monday, May 13, 2002 9:23 PM "I know you are angry and in many ways are justified. Yet, I never said your father was right in his actions. Taking a life is never easy, and should only be done if you have no choice. Clearly he had a choice and he was wrong." "He took a life ... he got what was coming to him and he deserved it. Octavia shook her head. "Your actions were out of anger and hurt. Do you wish to kill me as well because of the injury I've done to you in your eyes?" "Darn right." Octavia felt the truth in the girl's words. "I am sorry to hear that, and I hope in time your desire changes ... if not then if I'm to meet my death at someone's hands, I hope it is yours." "How honorable of you," Victoria spat with disgust and sarcasm. "Victoria, I will not get into a verbal fencing fight with you. If nothing else, I'm glad to see you are where you are loved and safe. I wish you the best in all you do." Her eyes seemed to soften a bit. "We each have different paths to walk. One day, perhaps they will cross and we can be friends." Octavia paused and removed a small chain from around her neck. A small purplish stone was encased in silver. She handed it out toward to Victoria. "It was my grandmother's, I would like you to have this, if nothing else, as a memory of a family that once stood for honor and caring." Victoria took the necklace and noticed the stone seem to sparkle with a life of its own. "Perhaps ... one day we could be friends ... or so-called family ... if you changed your ways in the Force." Octavia pushed herself off the wall then lowered her head briefly. "The day I turn from the light side of the Force, Victoria, is the day I die. My path is clear on that." She bowed to Victoria. "I should not keep you any longer, young one. May the Force be with you." "If that is what you choose, so be it. Later." Victoria turned on her heel and walked down the hall. She found Tara and Topaz waiting around the corner for her. Octavia stood there for a few moments before she turned to look down the direction her niece had taken. Octavia stood there, calming herself before she entered the room where the other Jedi were. Victoria turned the corner stopping when she saw Tara. "Guess you heard, huh?" "No, I would not intrude upon your conversation and privacy. But from the looks of you, it did not go well?" Tara inquired. "It went," was all Victoria said. Tara nodded at the necklace in Victoria's hands, "What is that?" "Something she gave me. Said it belonged to her grandmother." "Then it is something you should value...Family is everything, Victoria. You are part of mine now and you are the world to me and to Jacen, but Octavia could still be there...she could prove useful to you at some time in the future." "Yes, no doubt she will prove useful to me in the future." Tara smiled, "Then you should cultivate a relationship with her to that end." "I should," she stated . Tara smiled freely and began to walk side by side with Victoria back to the room, Topaz following behind. "Well then, you will need to get to know her quite well...her strengths, her weaknesses, her desires and hopes, what her fears are, her likes and dislikes." Tara paused. "You must know everything you can about your subject be able to think like them in order to predict their reactions and movements." "I already know what one of her weakness are," Victoria said with a glint in her eye. "Oh?" "Yes, a fifteen year old Jedi brat named Medenna LaRose." Victoria smiled wickedly. "And me." Tara chuckled softly, "Then you must get to know this fifteen year old as well." ~*~*~ Octavia entered the room and walked back to the window, her thoughts were full of her latest conversation with Victoria, she knew that she had lost her. She was fully Tara's now. Alida joined Octavia at the window. "The talk did not go as you wished?" "It went better than I could have hoped, but … no, not the way I wished," Octavia said softly. "Trust in the Force, Octavia, it will show you what you need to do." Octavia nodded slowly still staring out the window. Her leg throbbed, and her heart ached. "Medenna is right, young one. If there is nothing else, you need to rest." "You disagree with me about her, don't you?" Octavia turned to look at the Jedi master. "It appears to be a complicated situation," she said. "Hours ago, she was cutting you down and taking you away -- most likely, to the Imperial Forces." "They would have turned me loose." Octavia stated flatly. "The Emperor seems to have other plans for me. For now, I'm safe from him. In her own way, she was saving my life. Xanatos would have killed me sooner or later. All to get back at Qui-Gon." "Xanatos knows only two things, Octavia: power and revenge." "Power he has, revenge he desires." Octavia smiled at Alida. "You are right, I should rest. I hear words that are not mine." She patted Medenna on the shoulder and nodded at Zuren. "Goodnight Masters." "I will make sure she rests." Medenna said following her. Zuren nodded. "Goodnight, Octavia. Medenna." He looked to Alida. "Are you still glad you came out of hiding?" She sighed. "The galaxy is a very different place, Zuren. But I do not regret it." "She has a defiant sprit, Alida. But she is also is open to ways we would never look at," Zuren stated. "It will help her, but it will get her into trouble, too. We need to watch her." "Octavia?" she asked, "She has great potential, Zuren." "Both of them. That girl keeps calling her Master, and I sense Octavia has accepted that title regardless of her standing with the Jedi, or the fact that she will never be Medenna's Master." "Which should be cause for concern," she said softly. Zuren nodded. "Yes, perhaps it's just because she's tired. We will watch." "We?" she asked. Zuren nodded. "You don't think I'm going to stay here, do you?" She chuckled. "No, I certainly don't think that's a good idea." Alida sat down, eyeing the fresh bandages on his leg. "Have you ever been to Yavin?" "No, but I've heard of it." He returned her chuckle. "I think we need to rest, too, it's been a long four days." She nodded and went to get him a blanket. "Rest well, Zuren." ~*~*~ Tara studied Victoria, "Victoria, do you wish to handle something for me?" She smiled as Victoria turned her attention toward her. "The bounty on Mira Lexor's head." Tara paused. "I want her dead." "Why do you want her dead?" Victoria asked, puzzled. She remembered the kind things that Mira had done for her when they met on Telos. Tara frowned. "She is a threat to any Force user...ANYONE who would experiment on people or Force users is a threat…neither of us are safe from her....she would experiment on us if she thought it was to her advantage, or she could gain from it. We must protect ourselves and our people...besides...her relative will only go after your aunt...so will she....if you wish to claim your aunt as your territory, you will have to make certain no one else touches her....you must make it plain she is YOURS. The only way to do that is to eliminate anything and anyone who would stand in the way." "What about the Emperor?" Victoria asked Tara smiled, "What about him?" "He wants her, he stands in my way." Tara chuckled, "He wants her alive, he has his own purposes...he is stronger than you should mess with, so therefore you must manipulate his people without it being brought back to you ... killing him is a bad idea....well, attempting to ...neither of us would succeed." Victoria nodded in understanding. "Nothing will be traced to me." "Good. Be certain of it...now, what about Mira?" "How do you want the bounty to read? Do you want her brought to us alive or proof of her death instead.?" "I want her dead body dropped at my feet." Tara looked directly at Victoria, "Any other proof could be false, a body is irrefutable … body part or object can be obtained without their death." "Very well then, how high do you wish the bounty to be?" "100,000 Credits for the death of Mira Lexor. It must not be traced back to me, you, Shardakour or any of our people or worlds." "It will be done." Tara nodded and lapsed into thoughtful silence, trusting in her apprentice.
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