“Ladies, may we have a word with you?” Qui Gon started. He stood in at the end of the sofa, looking at all five of the girls, gathered in the living room. Obi-Wan and Maul stood behind him, watching the exchange.

“What is it?” Karen asked, looking up at Qui-Gon, a smile on her face.

“We wish to know how you know us,” Qui-Gon continued. “It is beyond our reason that you can know who we are.”

“It is hard to explain,” Elli said, looking as if she felt very uncomfortable.

“What is this Star Wars?” Maul snapped, glaring at Elli. She was the one who seemed to know the most about this subject.

“Is it really that important?” Karen asked, standing up and moving next to Qui-Gon.

“Yes, of course it is,” he replied, wondering how she could think it not important.

“You were all in a movie,” Debby remarked, “like we said before.”

“I wish to see this movie!” Maul said, glaring at Debby, watching her shrink down a bit.

“You can’t.” Elli snapped back.

Maul walked over to her, stopped directly in front of her and glared. “Why not”

“It’s not in the theaters any longer,” Karen said softly. The Jedi and Sith glanced quickly at one another.

“It’s also not out on tape yet either,” Kim remarked.

Elli looked at the others girls. “Guess we could show them on the web?” Her expression was less than enthusiastic about this. She shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips. “You won’t be able to see the whole thing, but you’ll get enough of an idea I think.” She stood up and walked into her room, returning a few minutes later with her laptop, plugging it into the phone line and dialing up her ISP.

Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Maul all crowded around her as she sat at the dining room table, waiting for the connection. “This is going to cost me a fortune,” she mumbled under her breath and shaking her head. Kim and Karen took places next to the Jedi, Karen holding Qui-Gon’s arm, all of them watching the screen.

A moment later the screen flicked to life and the ISP intro screen appeared.

“Primitives,” muttered Maul as he leaned forward, looking at the screen.

Elissa entered the address for the official Star Wars site and waited. Then there was a slight gasp from all three of the visitors as they saw their own faces staring back at them from the opening page. She stretched around and looked at them as best she could, “I told you it was difficult to explain.”

“By the Force….” Qui-Gon whispered.

The next day was more relaxed, at least they had no more unexpected visitors. The Jedi spent the morning beginning to plan how they would take the old transport ship apart for parts. Maul spent the time recovering some more, laying on the sofa mostly and sleeping occasionally.

Upon waking up in the afternoon, he found himself alone in the living room. He wondered briefly, if they had left him alone in the cabin, though he doubted it. He got up, needing to move around a bit. He walked over toward the kitchen, he was thirsty and wanted to get some water. But, he stopped before entering the kitchen, standing in the hallway, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Watching. Watching her.

Elissa stood in front of the sink, trimming vegetables for the evening meal. He could hear her humming quietly to herself as she worked. Today, she wore her hair up, or rather partly up. It was so long, that it flipped back down from the clip she used to hold it in place, grazing her shoulders slightly, though the hair was off of her neck. A way only she wore, he noted. The other girls all wore their hair differently, even Karen, whose hair was almost as long as Elissa’s. Somehow, this style suited her.

Maul looked over her figure, lean, strong and agile he remembered from watching her move. He looked out the window and saw the other girls outside on the back porch, talking to the Jedi no doubt. Those women were like every other woman he had met or ever known. They were afraid of him. He could look at them harshly and send them scurrying in all directions. But not Elissa, he turned and looked back at her, Elli as her friends called her. Not for lack of trying on his part. Maul had put even more effort into trying to intimidate her, but she refused to be daunted or at least to act like it. What little he could sense of her, she was intimidated by him, she understood his strength, his power, she just refused to show any weakness. This impressed Maul. He had to admit to himself that he was attracted to her. He smiled slightly and wondered if had met her on Coruscant, would he be attracted to her there? Few attracted him, most women were weak, most people were weak, but he noticed it in women more. Weakness disgusted Maul, and that is what he sensed most of the time. The few women he had sensed that were strong, tended to lean towards the dark side, though Elissa, he decided was more neutral than anything, not entirely light nor dark, rather a unique mixture of the two….

“Are you just going to stand there staring at me?” she asked, not turning around to look at him or even interrupting her work.

“If I wish,” he replied. Stepping towards her, he watched her continue to work, cutting and peeling the carrots and potatoes. He wondered how she had known he was there. He had made no sound. But as he walked toward her, he saw a reflection of the doorframe in the window over the sink. “Tell me you dislike it when I look at you?”

“No more than you, when I look at you, I suppose.” She tossed another potato into the bowl.

Maul stood right behind her now and looked at her more closely, how she worked, how she stood, how her hair bounced as she cut the vegetables. He had a sudden irresistible urge to touch her. He took one finger and ran the back of it down along the nape of her neck, feeling her soft hair and smooth skin. It was part of her he could easily touch, and a part that invited his touch, an erotic part. A soft, discreet, flow of energy passed between them, surprising him and obviously her as well.

She jumped back away from him, dropping the carrot and grabbed her neck with her free hand, staring at him with wide-open eyes.

He looked deep into her blue eyes for the first time; blue, the color of the H’ya blossom of his native Iridonia. Why this thought entered his mind, he didn’t know. It had been years since he had been to Iridonia. It was a part of his past, something that was unimportant, to be forgotten, or so he had thought. He put a slight smile on his face, as he wasn’t sure really how to react, and bowed to her slightly. “My Lady.” He turned abruptly and left her alone in the kitchen, wondering what had just happened.

He quickly walked outside to the front porch and stood for a few moments, staring at her Jeep, then he started pacing the length of the porch. He needed to think, needed to meditate on what had just occurred.

He had never felt energy like that with a woman, with anyone for that matter. It was from the Force, that much he knew, but it was a soft and gentle energy. It felt good. He cursed and swore in his native Zabrak. Was this the same thing that Qui-Gon had mentioned the day before, regarding Karen? He still wasn’t sensing the Force fully, as he did before encountering that Force storm. He felt that in regards to the Force, he was smothering under a blanket. He could still sense it, sense others, yet it was shrouded, not fully revealed as things usually were. If not for that, he knew he would understand better what had just happened.

At least he was not alone in this, he reminded himself. He had overheard Obi-Wan complaining to Qui-Gon about the same thing. About that same haziness that he himself felt. Perhaps it was something with this planet that caused these problems. He couldn’t be sure.

He looked up into the sky and watched the Monsoon storm clouds start rolling in. The blue of the sky reminded him of Elissa again, her blue eyes. In the known galaxy, blue eyes were rare. Indeed most of her features were rare, light skin, light reddish hair, blue eyes. Even among humans she was in the minority. Maybe that was why he was finding himself attracted to her? No. He shook his head as he began pacing again.

He had seen, had been with many beautiful women. No, it was her that attracted him; her personality, her strength of character and her intelligence. Her physical beauty was part of it as well, he had to admit, but it was more than just that. She was also attracted to him. He had known that from the morning he woke up in the cabin. This was not that unusual in itself, many women were attracted to him. It was the fact she liked him, she knew who and what he was and still, she liked him and was attracted to him. She was different and she intrigued him; something that had never happened to him before.

Maul reluctantly ate dinner with everyone, though he would have preferred to stay alone in his room rather than listen to all the mindless chatter that occurred at a table full of women and Jedi. Though, he admitted to himself, he didn’t mind being near Elissa. He sat at one end of the table, as far from everyone as he could get, staring at his food while he ate, pretending to ignore them while he listened carefully. The more information he had the better. His interest perked up when Debby brought up the subject of the dark-side of the Force.

“Yes Debby, there is a path to the dark-side,” Qui-Gon began, looking thoughtful and serene. “It is a journey, like with the light-side of the Force. The path of the dark-side is the quick and easy path to power. It is more seductive.”

Maul almost choked on his stir-fry as he looked over at the Jedi Master in disbelief. Quick? Easy? There had been nothing quick or easy about his training nor about being a Sith Lord. Over fifteen years of training, training under Lord Sidious, always learning, always working, never relaxing for a moment lest he be punished severely. “More seductive I will grant you, Jedi,” he paused. “However, as far as quicker and easier - I think not!” He turned and looked at Obi-Wan, having sensed his disbelief. “And what do you know of being a Sith, Padawan?” He watched Obi-Wan’s face turn blank. “Though, you did taste of the dark-side once,” Maul smirked, “and did you enjoy it?”

The apprentice’s face turned red from embarrassment and anger. Apparently he remembered all to well the incident Maul was referring to in the Theed generator station.

“Did you feel the power surge through you Jedi?” Maul taunted. “Did you not feel more powerful than you ever had before?” Maul sneered at the Padawan.

“Enough Maul!” Qui-Gon ordered. He looked at both men and shook his head. He sat up straight in his chair and took a deep, calming breath. “Master Yoda tells us that ‘fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; and hate leads to suffering.’ Once we give into fear and stop having faith in the living Force, we start down the path to the dark-side.” He glanced at all the girls.

Kim, Karen and Sandy looked interested and nodded along, muttering among themselves how true it was, that they understood it. Debby looked a little reluctant, but indicated that she understood.

Maul sat there smirking and shaking his head, but he didn’t say a word. They would never understand the truth, he told himself. Why bother to argue the point?

“And is this always true Master Jinn? Does fear always lead to anger and anger always to hate and hate always to suffering?” Elissa asked, breaking the silence at the table, looking intently at the Jedi Master.

Qui-Gon looked at her thoughtfully. “Yes, it is always true.” He put down his napkin, placed his hands together and rested his chin on them. “I sense that you are doubtful though, Elissa.”

“I think that’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard.” The look on her face was serious.

The other girls gasped and looked at her with shocked expressions and Obi-Wan gave her a troubled look. She glanced at Maul who suddenly had an even bigger smirk on his face. The Jedi also noticed Maul’s reaction.

“I am not influencing her, Jedi.”

“Why do you say this Elissa?” asked Qui-Gon.

“Because it’s not true,” she said. She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “You have pointed out one path from fear to anger to hate to suffering, but aren’t there other paths?” She paused, as if waiting for a reaction. “I’m afraid of being mugged walking to my car from work. That makes me angry.” Qui-Gon nodded. “It could also make me more aware of my surroundings, to be more cautious or park my car in a better location. It could induce me to take some Tae Kwon Do classes or to buy a gun. It could also make me decide to ask my cute co-worker to walk me to my car, starting a relationship. It could ….”

“I understand your point Elissa.” Qui-Gon sighed. “But my comment is still true.”

“Master Yoda’s comment,” she pointed out. “And how can that be? How can you say it is always true, if it doesn’t work with what I just said?”

“She has a point there, Jedi,” remarked Maul in his best mocking tone.

Qui-Gon pursed his lips together and thought for a moment. “In your example, fear of being attacked makes you angry enough to do something about it. That anger makes you hate what could happen to you and whoever might do something to you. The fact that you must change something, because of this fear, makes you suffer.”

Elissa made a face. “That’s a lot of reaching there, Qui-Gon.” She shook her head. “My point is that fear can lead to many other outcomes besides anger, which in itself can lead to other outcomes than hate. And all hate does not lead to suffering.” She glanced around the table. “Besides, from what you just stated, change means suffering as does learning something new.” She watched the Jedi nod their heads. “Does that mean the Jedi believe stagnation and ignorance are good?”

Qui-Gon paused for a moment, blinked then glanced at his apprentice.

“Fear, anger and hatred are all natural emotions… are they not?” she asked looking at Qui-Gon, then Obi-Wan, then Maul. All nodded in agreement. “Isn’t the lesson more about how we handle these emotions, rather than worrying about going to the dark-side the moment we feel fear or anger?”

“We’re not going to get anywhere with this conversation,” remarked Obi-Wan. He stood up and started to clear the table. She obviously could not see the simple truth and logic of the Jedi. He didn’t believe this was the time or place to discuss it though. Especially not in their cabin or with the Sith here. The girls, disliking the argument, also quickly got up to help. Qui-Gon remained, staring at Elissa, trying to understand her. He liked her and respected her, but he though she was difficult; posing troubling questions. Questions he couldn’t easily answer.

She simply smiled at them and then turned to look at Maul. He gave her a slight, approving nod.

After dinner, the others went for a walk along the road, to the small lake at the end of town, leaving Elissa alone to watch over the Sith. Maul returned to the living room to watch some of this television that the others had talked so much about. He sat on the couch, put his feet up on some pillows on the table and he clicked the remote, surfing through the cable channels over and over. Obviously American popular culture didn’t impress him much. He held his other hand over his stomach, somewhat protectively. Though mostly healed, the wound still hurt him, something he would never admit to though. He pushed the pain to one side.

Elissa, already on the other end of the couch with her computer, punched away on the keyboard, ignoring everything else around her. Her boss had called her earlier in the day, Maul remembered the heated conversation she had had with him, complaining about being called back into work from her vacation. Elissa had not been happy, she still wasn’t happy. Now she sat, reviewing her files and he sensed this was the last thing she wanted to be doing.

Maul, still flipping through the channels, occasionally looked up at Elissa, watching her work, curious as to what exactly it was that riveted her attention so fully. Finally, he pulled himself up and leaned towards her, looking over her shoulder. Spreadsheets? Numbers? “I thought you were playing a game?” he commented, his front horn brushing deliberately against the long reddish-blonde hair, hanging over her ear.

“Nope,” she replied, as she brushed her hair back behind her ear and out of the way, before continuing to enter numbers. “Well water levels and irrigation data.”

He sensed her desperately trying to disregard his being so close to her and he looked at her with a wry smile on his face. “How interesting.” He sensed her rising anxiety.

“Enthralling.” She laughed. “But, I have to testify on these numbers tomorrow, so I had better get them right.”

“So that is what you do to earn all that money?” he said, inching ever closer to her.

“Yeah, I’m rich, you know!” She joked and continued entering numbers from her notebook.

“Your friends seem to think you are,” he ventured, as he touched her hair ever so slightly, feeling the soft strands roll between his fingers. A wave of nervous energy ran through her, breaking her concentration. He grinned, enjoying it.

“That’s just because I budget better than they do.”

She turned to look at him to find him staring at her, looking deeply into her blue eyes. Blue the color of the H’ya blossom of Iridonia.

“You surprised me, arguing with Qui-Gon like that.” He gave her an appraising look. “Not many will disagree with a Jedi Master.”

“Not even when they are wrong?”

“No.” Maul shook his head slightly and reached up, touching her face very lightly, just with his fingertips. “Besides, they are never wrong. You are not like the others, Elissa. You are … unique.” He smiled. “I also find you quite attractive,” he whispered. Then he backed off and waited for her reaction, teasing her.

Elissa sat there, rather stunned by his compliments, blushed as she tried to return to her work and ignore how closely this Lord of the Sith was sitting to her. She took a deep breath to clear her head. Instead of returning to irrigation formulas, she found her mind wandering to the subject of Darth Maul and what his kiss would be like.

“You do not want that Elissa.”

She blushed again. Damn, his mind reading was annoying.

“I suppose it probably is. I never thought of it that way.”

She glared at him, angry with him and his attitude. “What does it matter to you what I think, Maul? My thoughts are my business, not yours!”

“Even when they concern me?”

“If I don’t act on it, what the hell do you care?”

He suddenly took a hold of her face with one black hand, and moved it closer to his. She saw him flash a devilish grin as he pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her, hungrily, passionately for a very long moment, biting her lower lip ever so slightly as he pulled back. Then he pushed her back against the sofa. “Now that you know what my kiss is like Elissa,” he smirked, “now are you satisfied?”

No. She was anything but satisfied. His kiss had been exciting, seductive, stronger than anything she had ever felt before. It made her breath hitch and her face flush. It was delicious yet strong and made her feel alive. Very alive. She wanted more. But, she also saw the arrogant expression on his face, angering her. She wasn’t going to admit that she enjoyed it to him. She blinked and took a deep breath hoping to clear her mind. Closing her computer, she stood up and looked down at him. “That was nothing special,” she lied.

His expression was a mixture of annoyance and surprise. Then his dark lips formed a slight smile as he finally sensed she was lying.

His look angered her even more. It embarrassed her that he obviously sensed the truth about how attracted to him she was. Did he also know of the sheer amount of time and money she had spent on her obsession with the Star Wars character? Someone who wasn’t even real? But now, he obviously was real and sitting in front of her. Smirking. Finally, Elissa could stand it no more and she walked out of the room, went to her bed and lay down, wishing she could hide. Suddenly she was very grateful at having to go back to work the next morning.

Elissa left early. Very early, 5 a.m. to be exact. She had told Kim that she would be gone for at least two days, maybe three. She didn’t see the Dark Lord watching her walk down the driveway in the early morning light. She didn’t notice him standing in the window watching her load the Jeep or drive off. She didn’t hear the Sith Lord speak a few words of Sith magick, protecting her on her journey down to the city.

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