Home Coming (Aria Sihin)[Fin]

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade had lost track of time in his travels of the galaxy. He had seen many things that had changed and few that hadn't. All and all it was quite different from the way he remembered it. The Imperials ruled the galaxy, the Jedi seemed extinct. Yet out of all of this he had seen one familiar face although that face went by a different name. Miranda Tarkin how odd that named sound to him especially when he put a face with it.

All and all Blade felt he had learned very little of the new Universe he occupied. He had only found one other sith and no Jedi. Was it up to him to jump-start the teachings of the force once again he had to wonder to himself. If such a task did lay before him it would be a long hard road to travel. He hoped he didn't have do it alone. He needed guidance and a friendly face it was for this reason he decided to head home.

Agamar was what Blade considered his home. Agamar had nothing to really do with why he considered it his home, no it was what waited for him on that planet. On that planet was a person he considered family a woman he loved with all his heart. Aria how he had missed her while he was away.

His Ship landed a mile or so from the cabin they had made into a home. It was the nearest clearing he could find to land in. He didn't want to have to walk that mile, no he wanted to be in his masters arms at that moment. He set out almost immediately only gathering things he needed that where of importance. The sun was just rising on Agamar as Blade set out on his mile Journey home.

[Aria Sihin]

The axe sliced through the wood like a lightsaber through durasteel. Over and over again the resounding crack of wood echoed the immediate area. When she had originally started this chore, several birds had chirped relentlessly in protest. The noise was disturbing their rest! The young woman that was the cause of such distress paid them no heed and eventually the chorus died down.

Abilus was covered in perspiration. Agamar was unusually hot this day and the cool morning breeze had tricked the Sith Master into wearing something warmer. Her defined arms were now bare all the way up to the shoulders and the now filthy tank top was riddled with splinters.

Raising the axe above her head, she paused and narrowed her eyes as a presence she hadn't felt in months hit her like a fist. Slowly she lowered the axe, sliding the handle between her curled hand until it touched down against the ground. He was back. What to do?

She commanded him to stay but he openly defied her. It was something he had to do but Abilus told him that nothing was out there for him any longer. It was foolish to go but he did. There was no stopping him once a notion took hold of him. He would just have to learn the hard way and although she conceded, Abilus never forgave him for leaving.

CRACK

Down came the axe again as she returned to her work. Life around here had not changed since his departure, nor would it with his arrival.

[Blade Bacquin]

The sound of wood being cut soon came to Blade's ears. He didn't expect Aria to come running once she felt his arrival. Actually he was more expecting her to come trudging after him to kill him or at least give him a good beating. Instead it seemed she had decided to go with the business as usual route making no fuss either way about Blade's arrival.

Blade soon came around a bend on the narrow path he was walking and the cabin came into full view. It was even more fixed up now it seemed then it had been when he left. Aria must have been working hard to keep herself occupied with out the charms of Blade to keep her company he commented to himself. Although he knew that statement was far from true.

He spotted Aria almost immediately taking a moment away from the axe to stake the logs she had cut neatly. Even from where he stood he could see the beauty in the sweat-drenched face of Aria. He wanted to say something charming and witty to get her to turn his way but he couldn't think of the words to say. Instead he went with a safer route in his words as he slowly approached her.

"Darth Abilus." Blade dropped to one knee before Aria. "I Have returned my master." His head slumped down towards the ground not making eye contact with her.

Although it seemed outwardly he was giving all the sith traditions respect. Underneath the exterior Blade couldn't help but laugh mockingly in his head about this approach he choose. It certainly wasn't in his character to act this way no doubt Aria would think he suffered some Brain damage.

[Aria Sihin]

CRACK

The wood split evenly down the middle, causing the two halves to tumble towards the ground. She wiped the sweat from her brow and then regarded her wayward Apprentice as if seeing him for the first time with a implacable gaze. The muscles in her neck grew taut. It was Blade's only warning before the wooden handle of the axe smashed into the side of his face, the force of the blow splintering the equipment in two.

"How dare you proclaim your devotion to me and the Sith teachings when you left my side!" She snarled, looming over him like a viper ready to strike again. His absence had hurt her much deeper then the teachings. Abilus had allowed herself to love him and his betrayal had slowly encased her heart in ice. It was uncertain just how cold it had become and if her Apprentice would be able to melt the damange he had caused.

[Blade Bacquin]

He should have expected it but the axe handle caught Blade by surprise. The total force of the blow broke the handle into two and knocked Blade sidelong into a portion of unchopped wood. The left side of his face and lower lip now had a nice streak of blood running across it. His left eye started to swell almost immediately. Blade coughed spitting some blood from his lip onto the ground.

"I love you to Aria, how wonderful it is to see you."

He was speaking sarcastically as he reached up and touched his now bloodied check. Blade felt he probably deserved most of that blow to the side of his head. He tried to put on a smile then but it only came out as a grimace.

"Yes I left and I said I would come back. I did come back as I promised. No galaxy as Pitiful as this one could keep away from you for long. You also know I would have taken you with me but you didn't want to go claiming there was nothing to see."

All his words where true and to the point. At least he wasn't trying to lie his way thru this one. Even if he hated to admit it Aria was right when she stated there was nothing really to see. This galaxy was falling apart just like the last but he did find a place for himself in it and place for Aria if she wanted to go. Blade began to push himself up from the ground then.

"I would embrace you in a big kiss but I'm afraid you might hurt me even worse." a giant bloody grin hanging on his face.

[Aria Sihin]

The trickle of blood that ran down Blade's cheek momentarily caused Abilus' eye contact to break. Her face softened, but it wasn't long enough for her Apprentice to notice.

She plowed the other end of the axe into the tree stump. "I told you there was nothing for you out there. And now your training has suffered for it."

[Blade Bacquin]

"I have kept up with my training while I was away so you don't have to worry there."

Blade was trying to ease into what he really had to say. He certainly didn't want another crack accross the skull from Aria. He had indeed seen the new world but what he saw truelly had him concerned.

"As for whats out there your right there is nothing there but thats what scares me. It isn't right Aria something needs to be done."

[Aria Sihin]

"The Rebel Alliance seeks to free all sentient beings from the tyrannical grasp of the Empire who rules over the galaxy," she said while stacking the freshly cut wood into a neat pile. "As followers of the Sith teachings, unless we side with them, we are as good as dead as the Jedi. To remain hidden keeps the teachings alive. That is what needs to be done, Lucid. Nothing more."

[Blade Bacquin]

"Well where I'm from the rebels won the war and they where no more tolerant of the sith then the Empire is."

It would be hard for most to believe but Aria knew Blade was not from this Universe. In his time the Rebels had won and the Jedi where a group once again. Yet here things where so different, force users where hunted and the rebellion was still being waged.

"So I don't see me siding with them, there no better then those they choose to replace. As for remaining hidden to keep the teachings alive, how exactly does one hide ones secret until death to keep it alive Abilus?"

Since she was using Blade's title of Lucid he would use hers. She wanted to play the master and student routine so be it Blade would play along.

"Master Abilus there is a time and a place for the sith to rise again but we can not do it hiding for ever. Weather we are a religion or an Empire like the days of old we cannot remain oppressed. Fear is the allie of a sith, yet it is not emotion we should show it is one we should exploit."

[Aria Sihin]

"The numbers are against us, Lucid." Abilus looked up at him and sighed as she rose from her squatted position. "Fear means nothing when the populace is controlled by that emotion through the Empire. And if they are not allied with them, then they ally themselves with the Rebellion. Both want us destroyed no matter who is in power."

Blade had not changed. She was hoping the regrettable truth would finally sway him to stay at her side and follow the teachings of the Sith as was meant to be. The venture had only clouded his vision further, which made her heart ache.

She balanced the sizable load of firewood in her arms and began to make her way inside the cabin. "Ever the fool, Blade," she whispered sadly.

[Blade Bacquin]

"Are you even listening to what I have to say Aria? What do you think I want to step up and challenge the empire and the rebels all at once? I do not play cards by showing my hand to everyone. I do not want to go out with a two man army against an empire Aria."

No Blade's plan was a simple one that would not reveal what Aria and Blade where right away. No it was best to work in the shadows and behind the scene but not hiding and cowering in fear like Aria wanted to do.

"The empire controls the fear you are right Aria. So the sith should once again control the Empire. Only this time we play it smarter then Palptine and Vader. They showed their cards to soon by making their faces public. We work behind the scene and we will have more power then either of them."

Of course he hadn't exactly told Aria what he had found that would help him achieve this goal. Yet Blade new exactly where he could find his little puppet tied to the Imperials. Her face was so clear to him but her name Miranda was so foreign.

[Aria Sihin]

The door slammed closed without another word from Abilus. Blade just didn't understand, or didn't choose to understand. She didn't want the power that he craved. To rule the galaxy, her aspirations were never set that high. The only purpose in life was to kill her Master, assume the mantle of Master and then pass on her teachings. The galaxy could go to hell for all she cared.

[Blade Bacquin]

"You want to stay hidden then, well I hate to tell you Agamar won't be safe forever Aria. One day the empire will come knocking or maybe even the rebellion if they can pull there act together. Where will you run then Aria."

Blade was yelling through the door now at her. He knew Agamar was far from safe. He also knew there was only a handful of planets a sith could hide on forever unnoticed by the galaxy. The majority of those Planets Blade would not go due to his past.

"There are only a few place one such as yourself can go to hide forever. Five Planets to be exact that I know of where the Empire will never step foot. I know where all five are but I can not go with you to the majority of them."

Blade's voice showed fear for once about the planets he spoke of. They where all Planets rich with sith history. Two out of the five he was Banished from by the sith of the old. One he plainly refused to step foot on. Yet another he wasn't even sure if it existed anymore. That left one planet he could follow too rather it was a moon.

[Aria Sihin]

Blade's incessant bellowing went without a response. Even the cabin refused to creak.

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade didn't continue to talk he stood there silently staring at the door for a Minute. He thought about kicking in the door for a moment but then decided against it instead he reached for the door handle and turned it. It was open; it was just like Aria to ruin Blade's fun of kicking in the door.

Blade walked in the door in complete silence avoiding eye contact with Aria. He approached their small table and then reached into his leather coat. He pulled a single piece of paper out and laid it face down on the table. He then sat down on one of the chairs at the table.

He didn't speak a single syllable he just sat there staring out a nearby window. The paper that was upside down on the table was a bit tattered and torn. On its face side was a sketch artists picture and a reward amount for the Capture of one Blade Ice. Blade then looked to Aria with almost a depressed look on his face.

"I did bring you something Aria." Blade's hand pointed down at the paper on the table. Yet his eyes showed he was not happy about whatever present lay on the other side of the paper.

[Aria Sihin]

She poked and prodded at the logs until the fire burned well. The wood cracked and popped under the weight of the heat.

"A present?" Silence. His tone was of resignation. This was no present. She tensed visibly before standing, sliding the poker back into the cylindrical holder.

Abilus stopped halfway as she recognized Blade's image. A step further she could read the warrant for his arrest.

"You fool!" She snatched the paper and crumpled it within her fist. Abilus was irate and hissed, "Your hubris has brought death upon us now with your actions against Tarkin! Now we'll never be safe! The Empire will not stop until you are dead! She'll make certain of that!!!"

[Blade Bacquin]

"So you have heard of her then?"

Blades demeanor did not change he was still serious when talking with Aria. Blade knew what Miranda was or at least could be. From his short encounter with her he doubted she was aware of her own potential though. He himself had not taken the wanted poster to seriously except in regards to how Aria would react to it. He knew Aria would not understand no matter how much he tried to explain it to her, he would always be the fool that warranted there deaths.

"My pride had nothing to do with it though Aria. My longing for a familiar face of the past did."

He didn't expect Aria to understand right away what he meant by that. The Tarkin name was not one he expected to find on his journey to Coruscant. At least not a living breathing Tarkin, he had expected all the Tarkin's to be dead. It was by accident even that he had found this one Miranda. It was still surprising how much she reminded him of Dalethria.

"I found a face I recognized only problem was she wasn't who or what I thought she was. Although I admit now to you this was not my first mistaken identity for Dalethria."

It was a name he had mentioned a few times to Aria when he had talked about where he had come from. Blade hadn't talk much about his past and when he had it had usually been about Dalethria his former master and woman he had loved. It was that love that had separated him from her in the end, it was that love he could not live with it.

"Miranda is her I know it Abilus. Well at least her incarnation in this lifetime. Do you understand what that could mean Abilus?"

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus laughed with much mirth, "You want me to believe that Miranda Tarkin, the shining jewel of the Empire, could be a glorious Sith?"

Her lips curled into a sneer as she leaned forward, "She is the granddaughter of Grand Moff Tarkin, one of the closest advisors to the Emperor before his death. To even conceive of having a member of his family be Force Sensitive is madness. He would have killed her at birth."

She balled the warrant between her hands and tossed it on the floor. “Regardless of your motives, you’ve doomed us Apprentice. We’ll have to leave Agamar incase the Inquisitors followed you.”

[Blade Bacquin]

"Your wrong Aria, it aint often I get to tell you that but in this case you are wrong. I will tell you why you are wrong."

Blade was sure that Miranda had the abilities they just needed to be unlocked. Why Moff Tarkin would not of had her killed was an even easier question to answer. He did not have Dalethria or Nav killed off whichever one was the true Tarkin Blade wasn't sure. But they where both force sensitive and lived, which was part of the reason why Blade was, convinced Miranda would be too.

"He wouldn't have killed her off and all you have to look at is all the facts as to why. Number one all force testing was outlawed by imperials with the exception of a few of their elite groups the hands and the Inquisitors. Those groups had.. I mean have the ability to go out and find force sensitive people.

Their job is only to destroy those they cannot control and turn those that they can. As for the Hands they where the elite of the elite. Top advisors of the emperor and by some accounts at least where I come from students of the dark arts. Most where very skilled assassins and adept at reading peoples minds. Moff is a grand title to be sure Aria but hand is even better."

Blade smiled slightly at that point. He knew this only from his old history the new history could have been different but Blade Highly doubted it due to the similarities he did encounter while he was away. He felt the empire was ran much like it had been ran before.

"Think about this the Tarkin's could theoretical control the empire with a force sensitive descendant. Moff Tarkin and his son controlling the military and his Grand daughter controlling the emperor’s decision-making. That is to say if Moff Tarkin even knew his grand daughter was force sensitive.

There is one other possibility Aria and that is Moff Tarkin had no history of the force in his Bloodline so why even check. Perhaps she gained it genetically from her mother’s side. All I really know for sure is the Tarkin family did have one force sensitive person in it's family where I come from."

Blade smile grew just a little wider with out losing his seriousness. Dalethria or Nav was that force sensitive person belonging to the Tarkin's. Blade want to make sure it was Dalethria that came out and not Nav. He needed Miranda to experiment with and he felt a new age of the sith could rise.

"Dalethria was a Tarkin and a sith master, Aria."

He finally revealed Dalethria's Heritage to Aria. Something he wasn't sure he would ever do. Mainly because he wasn't sure if Dale was the real Tarkin or if Nav had been. He had never mentioned Nav to Aria and knew he probably never would. He hoped Nav lay dead in the ashes of the past and Dalethria was all that remained.

"As for us needing to run and hide I don't totally disagree. However as I have mentioned already there are only a few places we can hide that the empire will not follow. Places only sith can go to unharmed."

[Aria Sihin]

Her head spun with all the nonsense that was coming out of Blade's mouth. It was like listening to a broken record. Dalethria this, Dalethria that, Dalethria a Sith Master, Dalethria a Tarkin. Abilus didn't care!!! That whore's name was nothing but a plague in her relationship with her Apprentice! She would cherish the chance to find this other dimension just to kill that wench and shut him up!

"What you prattle on about is nothing but speculation! Who cares what Grand Moff Tarkin was or wasn't thinking at the time of his granddaughter’s birth! It's this reality that matters! Haven't you realized yet that there are very few similarities? Your Dalethria is dead. Fawning over Miranda is nothing but a foolish quest."

Then her eyes widened in realization, "Or is that what you want? You want what you wish you had with her under the guise of using her to gain power..."

It was a troublesome thought. Blade leaving her to attempt to sway Miranda and train her to take power within the Empire as a Sith. But what then? Would he fall for Tarkin and attempt to kill Aria? The last part didn’t upset her as much as the former. A fight with Blade was expected by Sith law but to allow her heart to feel love and be betrayed by a ghost of his former life was an unbearable thought.