DESTINY'S CHILDREN "Out of the Past" Part III of III

By Courtney Kraft


PART III

Psylocke felt an icy chill form in her stomach. She hugged the pillow to
her chest.

"It started shortly after you were born. You father, Red Lammashta," he
scowled at the sound of the name on his lips, "used to be a good man. I
even found respect for him. Then he changed. Evil had corrupted his
heart. He had gone to the Dark side."

"You mean.like the Force?"

"Yes, exactly. I had to convince your mother to leave him while she was
still pregnant with you.but she was foolish. She came back to him after
you were born. He killed her shortly after."

He stopped, and pulled out a tan handkerchief from inside his vest. He
dabbed at his eyes, then blew his nose. "When you were born, Larissa named
me as your godfather. I hid you on Bespin after her death. Then I hunted
Red down. It took me several months, but I finally had vengeance."

"He's dead too." 

"I wouldn't rest until I had put that bastard in his grave."

Psylocke could feel her own shocked tears start to well up in her eyes.

"What does this have to do with Darth Maul?"

Annan crumpled the cloth in his hand. "Darth Maul was Red's father. It
took us years to find out if he'd had any offspring."

"'Us?'"

"The Jedi."

"Jedi." the word slipped from her lips and onto the pillow. "You're a Jedi?"
"Not anymore. That was another life," he paused briefly than returned.

"Since Darth Maul was discovered over forty years ago, we've been looking
into the threat of his offspring or other Sith trainees. It wasn't until
after the clone wars and the extermination of most of the Jedi that we
discovered that Maul had in fact copulated with a woman named Majore
Lammashta, your grandmother. I took it onto myself to get to know her and
learn as much about her as I could. By the time I found her, Red was
nearly a grown man. I had been in hiding for so long. So had my partner."

"Partner?"

"A comrade of mine was helping me in my research. His name was Obi-Wan
Kenobi. He was an apprentice to a man named Qui-Gon Jinn."

Psylocke's eyes lit up at the name. Jinn.

"Darth Maul killed Jinn in battle, but it was Obi-Wan who defeated Maul in
the end." He shook his head. "Maul didn't even know he had a child. What
he had with Majore was just a one-night stand. Obi-Wan asked me to help
him learn more about Maul afterward. Sadly, Obi-Wan was slain ten years
ago by Darth Vader. Vader-"

"I know who he is," she said abruptly. "I want to know why you never told
me this before."

Annan's frown deepened to a stoic expression. He looked up at her once,
then looked away again. "I didn't want you to become like your father.
Obi-Wan and I had planned for you to grow up and become a Jedi. We felt it
best to keep you hidden from the world so Vader wouldn't come an destroy
you as he did the children of all the other Jedi."

She gripped the pillow tightly, her head awhirl by the irony of the whole
situation. "So that's why you tutored me at home, and taught me Kagura,
and kept me form having any normal social life." She gulped. "Is that why
you never showed any affection for me either?! Because you wanted me to
become a Jedi?!"

"No." He looked up again, this time his eyes full of fire. "No.I could
never see you with so little emotion. I saw Red's fire within you.and I
still do. You share in his same dark side, Psylocke. You possess the same
evil, the same rage as your father Red, and as Maul before him."

"You've hated me? You've always hated me! I didn't even do anything, but
you just assumed that I was some evil, horrible monster!"
"Don't-"

"How could you do this to me?! Do you know what kind of loneliness I
feel? Do you know how hard is for me to make friends? You have ruined my
chances of ever leading a normal life!"

Annan stood. "How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice!"

"I'm not a child! Stop treating me like one!"

"Don't you feel it? Don't you feel it, Psylocke? That rage.that.that
evil that hides inside you? That is your heritage. That is your destiny
unless you let me help you."

She jumped up from the bed. "Help me?!"

He slowly walked toward her. "Come with me now, to the Jedi. They can
help you. Let us turn you to the Light before it's too late."

"Get away from me. I'm tired of having everyone choose my destiny for me."

"I can't let you train to be a Sith. It would lead to disastrous-"

"How did you know I was training to be a Sith?" she gasped. Annan didn't
answer. "You've been spying on me too. All these years you've been spying
on me. You know what.if you had just shown me some love.or.or respect, we
wouldn't be here right now."

He reached out a hand for her. "Psylocke," he said calmly. "You don't
realize what will happen if you turn to the Dark side. Come with me while
there is still a chance to redeem yourself."

"You're condemning me for crimes I have yet to commit."

"I'm not condemning you." He touched her hand.

She jerked away. "Don't touch me. You can't tell me what to do anymore."

"Listen to me-"

"Don't tell me what to do! You're not my father."

Annan's hand cracked her across the mouth like a bolt of lighting, sending
her careening down onto the bed. She froze there, her hand over her cheek.

Annan looked down at her, his eyes wide with fury and contempt.

Psylocke tried to hold her hand still as she started to shake. "Get out."
"You must-"

"Get out!" she screamed.

Annan stepped back.

"Don't you ever come near me again."

He looked down at her for a moment before turning away and slowly leaving
the room. Psylocke listened to his heavy footsteps as they moved further
down the hall, until she heard the front door click shut.

She clutched her pillow and pulled it tightly to her face as she finally
allowed the wracking sobs to overcome her.

END PART III


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