TITLE: Dark Portents

AUTHOR: Master Yo-Gurt

ARCHIVE: SithChicks, Fanfiction.net, my page at The Hidden Realm , (http://darkpine.net/HiddenRealm/mm/my.html), all others please ask.

CATEGORY: AU, h/c, angst

PAIRING/CHARACTERS: Mace/Danya, m/f

SEQUEL/PREQUEL: Sequel to "Beyond what we are"

STATUS: complete

RATING: NC-17 for sexual contents and violence

WARNING: Graphic violence, rape

SUMMARY: Mace and Danya have to come to terms with the aftermath of a brutal attack on them

DISCLAIMER: All bow down before God Lucas and provide him with revenues from his SW universe till the end of the world as we know it!

NOTES: This is very dark, so if you are squicked easily, stay away. Muchas smoochas to my beta Nia!!! All the chocolate-covered Jedi and , especially, gladiators, to you!

FEEDBACK: PLEASE, I’ll die without it! At quigon_jinn21@hotmail.com

// thoughts //

It was a rainy day Master Windu and Danya Jaydin, his Padawan and lover, woke up to. The rain pelted the window of their bedroom. As leader of the Council Mace Windu was afforded quarters that overlooked on of the many gardens of the Temple, and the breeze that came in from the open window smelled like fresh, cut grass. Danya was still fast asleep in the arms of her Master, and not wanting to disturb her, Mace slowly turned and put her head down onto the pillows that lay crumpled on her side of the bed.

For some reason Mace couldn’t get enough of the sight that the young woman presented to him: her dark-blonde hair was cut in the traditional Padawan-buzz with her braid casually laying over her chest. Her skin was smooth and had a slightly brownish hue. Danya wasn’t as tall as many of the other Padawans, she only reached up to her Master’s shoulder, but what she may have lacked in height she more than made up in strength and agility. He knew she prided herself in her athletic abilities which she had honed over the years with him and when working out with her fellow Padawans. Her nose was that typical of her clan, the Jaydins, small but long and a bit aquiline. Although her eyes were closed right now Mace always wondered at the brilliance of that hazelnut-brown shimmer and the almost constant laughter he could see in them, particularly since he had become her lover. She was so joyful and eager to learn, drink up life, follow his instructions and lessons as well as soaking up knowledge from any source made available to her. Some of her unique techniques she had practiced on him in bed last night he was certain came from either adapting something she had read about in books or maybe even watching others perform. His Dany a voyeur? He wouldn’t have put it past her, he thought with a smile on his lips.

Last night had been a night of passionate make-up sex, although the actual occasion for it had been less than desirable. They had argued, as so often ever since they had committed to an intimate relationship six months ago. Argued about the same damn thing that always was liable to heat up their tempers: Mace’s wish to make their relationship official, and known to the Council.

Danya was strictly against any such move on his part. She was afraid it would hurt his position, his standing within the order, but most of all she saw them being separated as Master and Padawan if their relationship became known, something he knew she was deadly afraid of. Mace knew she wasn’t entirely wrong in her assessment of their situation, but to him it had started to simply feel wrong! Not that they were acting against what tradition dictated to them — that they were not to become involved as lovers as long as they were teacher and student to one another. No, the fact that they practically had to play out an elaborate charade any time they were outside their quarters felt unnatural in light of their committed feelings for each other. It grated on his nerves to have to act the distant, if caring Master to this young woman, and for her never to let the world around them see how much they meant to one another. He’s had enough of the curious stares whenever he smiled at Danya just a bit too flirtatiously, imparted too kind words on her during their training or studies, moved too close next to her when they walked the Temple halls. People other than his friends had begun to notice a change in him that they were at a loss to explain because the reason for Mace Windu’s new-found contentment was to be kept in a dark back corner where nobody would even find out about it.

Only a few friends knew about what these two really meant to each other: his first Padawan, Depa Billaba, his close, if sometimes very stubborn, friend Qui-Gon Jinn, and Danya’s closest friend, her fellow Padawan Tamandua.

Screw the Council, screw the Code! Wasn’t that what Qui-Gon tended to throw into his face each time he made some comments about the inappropriateness of his relationship with Obi-Wan? The Code. Perhaps it was time to rethink certain provision of that hallowed tenet that made sense in the way the Jedi conducted their training and saw their purpose for the good of the Republic, but that was truly out-dated when it came to interpersonal relationships within the Order.

Mace sighed and rolled onto his back, his eyes closed and he was about to let his mind descend into one of his favorite morning meditations, when his mouth was suddenly covered by a pair of luscious, wet lips. A hungry tongue demanded entrance to his mouth and when he made the mistake to smile into the lips that so coveted him, the tongue made short work with his defenses and darted in to caress his mouth.

//EEWWWW! Dany, I haven’t yet brushed my teeth or anything! Don’t you mind …?//

Danya disengaged from her lover, only to leisurely sit up and crawl over the prone man, straddling his groin and feeling his growing erection brushing up against her vulva.

"No, I don’t mind, my love, and if you have learned anything from last night you better not move your lazy butt away from me!" He caught her arms and drew her down for another kiss, this time matching her tongue’s eagerness with his own.

"Dany, you’re absolutely impossible, dear. I can’t do it NOW?!" She choose to ignore the pleading look of her lover and freed her arms from his grip, propping her upper body up on is chest, her hands firmly resting on the smooth muscles of his pectoral girdle.

"Would you please shut up and let me take care of that, oh venerable Master?" She smiled benevolently at him, and he started to draw in air through gritted teeth as her hands pinched the buds of his chest. Mace closed his eyes once more — he knew when Danya wanted to please him, either physically or when she challenged him intellectually (from which he derived enormous satisfaction), he better gave up and surrender to her plans. At times her seemingly insatiable sexual appetite became a bit too much for his taste, but right now, feeling rested and having his olfactory sense pleasured by the brisk morning air, he felt like — Why not?

The first session of the Council he was scheduled to attend wasn’t until later this afternoon, and their light saber training was a good three hours in the future, so they had plenty of time before their daily duties demanded their full attention.

Mace felt the blood rush into his groin as Danya bend down to suck at his nipples, teasing them with her teeth, biting them hard. His large hands were placed around her hips, and his fingers started to map the warm skin along her thighs, leaving no inch of it without his attention. His penis was fully enlarged by now in anticipation of what was about to come soon.

Danya was quite an expert rider of mounts of all kinds, but her most favorite mount had turned out to be him.

While she still bit and sucked at his chest, Danya had commenced to grind her hips down into his, a move that inflamed his hardening cock more and more, and with one hand he began to part the lips that protected the entrance to her body, his fingers soon finding his desired target, her clitoris, and starting to circle it with his nails.

"Yes, more, my love, rub me , finger me … so good" He did as he was bid, simultaneously feeling her secretions starting to flow and prepare her for her mount of him.

When she finally took him he could feel his cock sheathed by strong, contracting vaginal muscles, milking him for all he was worth. He fit into her like hand into glove, easing her rising and falling movement on him by steadying her hips with his hands, slowly increasing their rhythm as he felt his climax get closer and closer. As he came into her he didn’t say her name — he thought it over and over again until she, too, threw back her head, her braid flying behind her back and tickling his calves, her mouth shouting out her pleasure as loud as she could as she rode him hard, her muscles spasm around his cock, the sheer bliss of her orgasm shared with him as he had shared his with her. And how fortunate that they had quarters a bit off the beaten track, Mace thought with a smirk on his face.

When at last they were all spend, Mace reached up to Danya and drew her down onto his chest, placing a gentle kiss first onto her forehead, then her nose and finally her lips.

"Thank you, my Danya. Make sure you never let me forget how much I love you, my one!" Another kiss parted her lips and for a last time he took a sample of the taste that was so distinctly her.

They then lay together in peaceful silence, no words necessary to tell the other how much he was needed. Until …

The com-panel on the bedroom wall chimed up and the voice of Master Tiin was heard on the other end of the line. He sounded more than a bit concerned!

Mace gathered the bed sheet around his waist and moved over to hear what was so important that it couldn’t have waited until that afternoon’s session of the Council.

"Windu here. Is something wrong, Master Tiin?" He waited for a second, then repeated his inquiry to the hesitant Tiin.

"Saesee, what is it?" Mace shortly turned to his Padawan who had got out of bed to freshen up a little bit in their bathroom.

Cocking an eyebrow Master Windu tapped onto the grit of the companel, getting a bit impatient with his colleague.

"Tiin! If you won’t spit out whatever is bothering you …" At last he got his answer, and it was of a nature that he had prayed to the Gods would never happen.

"Mace … Master Grendale has been … killed" There was another long silence on the other end of the comlink, and Mace wished he had a chair to sit down.

"How? Why didn’t I …" He bit his tongue. Why hadn’t he felt a disturbance in the Force caused by the passing of another Jedi Master? He was only too aware of the reason — he had been occupied with Danya!

"What happened, Tiin? Do you know who did this?"

His fellow Council member on the other end knew only too well, and after another telling pause he finally told Mace what he wished had never become a reality.

"Rehma Nokal, he has returned to the Temple. He is very disturbed, the only thing he kept talking about was how his Master, Dessa, has died, how you are responsible for her death, how he would … " A deep sigh was audible through the circuits of the panel, " … exact revenge upon the person whom he holds responsible for this — you, Mace!" Tiin finished and again silence was all that was left within the room.

Windu looked at Danya who by now had returned to their bedroom, dressed except for her boots, and was looking anxiously at her Master. Mace returned her look, he had told her about the case of Master Dessa Mohr and her apprentice, Rehma Nokal. She knew what he had done in this particular case — remove Rehma’s Master from the Temple for disobeying the Council’s direct wishes. What she did not know, though, was how far the sanctions had gone the Council had imposed upon these two lovers. And if it would be up to him, she would never find out!

"Master Grendale… how was he …" The involvement of the older Master was, at this time, a puzzlement to Master Windu. Nokal had no business with Grendale, as far as he knew they had never met.

"Mace, Nokal is mad! He talked about paying you back for all that you have done to him, and Grendale … he simply was at the wrong place, at the wrong time. He approached the man, tried to talk to him. Nokal must have felt threatened, he used the Force against him to get him out of his way, Grendale hit his head in the fall that ensued. It was an accident, Mace, and right now we are not sure exactly where Nokal is."

That was bad news indeed! A lunatic on the prowl after him, having probably turned to the Dark Side, only the Gods knew how far.

Tiin continued with his report to Windu.

"My Padawan found Master Grendale, she said she was sure Nokal had still been nearby when she arrived in the Central Courtyard."

"I want a meeting of the Council at once, Tiin! See to it that as many of the Councilors as possible report to the Council chambers! I … the Council needs to take care of that man".

Mace switched off the com-panel and again looked at his Padawan who sat on the bed, concern darkening her hazel eyes.

"Master, this guy, this Nokal — wasn’t he the one who wasn’t allowed to stay with his Master after it was discovered that …". She broke off, giving Mace the opportunity to join her on the bed, taking her hand into his.

"Yes, Dany, I made the decision that he and his Master were to be separated, at all costs". He looked down onto the hand that all of a sudden felt so fragile, so utterly vulnerable to him.

"They would not … no, could not deny their love for each other, and instead of accepting a new Master, Rehma decided to join his Master on Lergana, where she was forced to go into exile rather than being completely ostracized by the Jedi".

This case had created quite a stir within the Temple, for obvious reasons. Apart from Master Mohr and her Padawan there were other pairs who more or less openly went beyond Jedi convention and engaged into intimate, physical relations with one another. Some of them, like Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi, were simply too valuable for the Order to impose the Council’s wrath upon them. One pair had chosen to leave the Jedi, much to the regret of many of the Masters. And then there were those who were suspected, but never proven, to have crossed that all-important line between Master/Padawan and lover relationship. And now Mace and Danya belonged to that category.

Mace knew what Danya was thinking right now: that this could easily happen to them, too. That she would loose him and get a new Master if people would discover her relationship with him. His hands caressed his Padawan’s and he gave her a quick kiss onto her nose.

"We’ll be fine, Dany, don’t you worry. The Council will have to decide what to do about Nokal, but I’m sure he’ll be no danger to us. Trust me, love!" With that he stood and went to the fresher to get dressed for his meeting with the other members of the Council.

When he came back to the bedroom again his com-panal blinked, indicating a message had been left for him. Tiin had been able to locate eight of the twelve Councilors. Good, that would make nine with him, Mace thought — enough to give him the votes to end this aggravating affair once and for all!

**********

When he came into the Council chamber his colleagues were already assembled and waiting for him. They took their places, and to everyone’s surprise they saw Padawan Jaydin enter the chamber as well, respectfully bowing to the gathered Masters and taking her place behind her Master’s chair.

Master Gallia was the first to take the opportunity to speak, starting the meeting off on a sour note.

"I see Master Windu has deemed it necessary to include his Padawan in this emergency session. I am at a loss to see what the young woman could be learning from being here with us. Surely she must have other business to attend to …"

Mace glared at Gallia, his mood already tense because of this snipe at him by one of his most critical colleagues. As evenly as possible he turned in his chair to address Adi, coldly smiling at her while he did.

"Master Gallia, surely Master Tiin has briefed you as to the reason for this meeting?" She nodded and Mace continued.

"Then no doubt you are aware that a threat against my person, indeed any member of this Council, is also a threat to the lives of those closely associated with us — our Padawans." He kept looking at her, and she slowly nodded her consent.

"It may then not be too presumptuous of me to include my Padawan here, since whatever measures we will have to take against the threats Nokal has made will, by default, have to include her. His threats were made against me. My Padawan is sworn to give her life to protect her Master. It follows that if he tries to strikes against me, she will be in as much danger as me!".

Adi Gallia sat back in her chair, silently fuming but having to agree with the logic of the Council leader.

Master Windu swept the room with his eyes, taking in any reaction from the other members that were present. Nobody said a word, so he continued.

"His threats have to be taken seriously, he already has killed, if only by accident, one of ours. We cannot allow him to remain free and a danger to others. I suggest that we send three teams of Jedi Masters with their Padawans out to apprehend him while Master Yaddle will inform the Coruscant security authorities of our operation. No need to get them involved unless Nokal endangers any civilians. Do you agree?"

Mace looked expectantly into the round of faces, waiting for his fellow Jedi to come forward with their opinion.

"It will be difficult to track him down, Master Windu! I have initiated a cursory Force-sweep of the Temple grounds — Nokal is no longer here. And to locate him on Coruscant …" Master Koon ‘s concerns were well-founded. Coruscant was the ideal hiding place for anybody who wished to disappear from sight. But they all knew that wasn’t exactly the case here. Rehma Nokal had a target he wished to find and destroy, and that target was Mace Windu.

"I know he’ll be looking for me again. And I also know the favorite spot his Master used to take him as a young boy. The Force will lead us to him, but we can save a lot of time if we start our search for him right here". Master Windu pointed his finger to a section on a holo-map that he had called up from a computer file.

The map showed the Green Sector of Coruscant, very close to the Temple district. Green Sector was one of the affluent sections of the City Planet, and as such sported as wide variety of gardens and other small, protected remnants of Coruscant’s once teeming wildlife. Windu zoomed in on one particular location and asked Master Poof to try to locate Nokal through the Force, using that location as a sort of focal point for his efforts. Indeed, he was close to where Mace had suspected him to be.

After a few more details were decided upon, a team consisting of Masters Windu, Koon, Kotchal and their respective Padawans was on its way to apprehend the wayward Jedi.

**********

Despite its name and the breathtaking beauty of its parks, Green Sector had its dark alleys and passage ways, mostly behind the upper class apartment towers they were serving.

Having reached their location, the three Masters split up to make their search more efficient. They were sure that Nokal was no threat to a pair of highly trained Jedi. Besides, a certain element of surprise was on their side as he was unlikely to suspect such a swift reaction to his appearance at the Temple. The Jedi Council wasn’t known for its ability to act swiftly to a given situation. Except this time. Don’t ever mess with its leader, or you have a very swift reaction alright!

Mace and Danya were the first to run into Rehma. They found him in one of the gardens and when they made their presence known to him, he leaped like a rabbit, surprising his pursuers and taking off into one of the alleys. Both Windu and Danya had a bad feeling about the situation, he was clearly trying to lure them into the maze of bystreets and secret passages to loose them in. But this was their chance to end the danger he presented, not only to them, so they followed him into a badly-lit alley that turned out to be a dead end.

Steam pipes rose up high towards the roof of the buildings that defined the confines of Rehma’s last stand. Trash lay strewn about, a large dumpster stood open and overflowing with trash.

Their pursuit had taken almost an hour and it had started to drizzle, a rather rare occasion for Coruscant, even more so for the rain actually making it to the ground levels they found themselves at. It made the pavement glisten with moisture slick to the unwary foot. But at least they had found their enemy.

**********

They had him cornered and, technically, they had him outnumbered. High walls surrounded them, one looming up high in Rehma’s back so that Mace and Danya were blocking his way out of the cul-de-sac. Master Windu and his Padawan cautiously approached Rehma, light sabers drawn and switched on. Just as their opponent had his saber ignited which glowed in an angry deep purple.

It was the first time Danya actually set eyes on the man who now appeared to be such a mortal threat to her Master, perhaps even herself. He was tall, about the height of her Master, prim and having kept himself in good shape after having left the Jedi. His age must have been in his mid-thirties, although Danya couldn’t be sure how long he had been away from Coruscant and the Temple. His hair was a dark brown, cropped short to the skull, almost as if invoking the Padawan buzz he must have sported as Dessa’s apprentice. He bore himself with great confidence which made him a dangerous opponent but Danya felt as though there was a great sadness emanating from him; it wasn’t dark per se, but it felt so wrong in a man she had no doubt must have been quite a striking and brilliant apprentice in his days. But those were observations best filed away for future reference, not important to the situation at hand, and Danya’s focus moved back to Rehma.

"Windu, you think you can take me back to the Temple? Then you’re a greater fool than I thought you would be!" The wayward Jedi started moving against Master and Padawan, his eyes darting from one to the other, never failing to note subtle shifts in his enemies positions.

"Rehma, don’t be that stupid! If you won’t come with us you’ll die out here. We know you killed Master Grendale accidentally! Don’t make us do this, Nokal, I know you …"

No matter where on Coruscant one found himself — to survive in it’s bowels like here took special skills, something Mace doubted Rehma possessed.

With a sudden step forward Rehma moved towards Mace’s position, and the Jedi Master quickly raised his saber to deflect a well-placed swing by his attacker. Mace glanced over to Danya, saw her move in on their opponent from his back.

//Be careful, Dany, He’ll know where you are!// Mace’s attention shifted to the man in front of him again as he once more barely escaped the energy beam threatening to come down onto his head in a mortal arch. He stumbled backwards, a mistake he only realized too late, and Rehma’s booted foot caught him right in his chest.

Mace felt the cracking of ribs in his right side, and a searing pain shot through him within seconds of the impact. He remained standing, but was on shaky footing for a brief moment. His breathing became painful, labored. He coughed, then felt a warm taste of blood in his mouth. When he wiped his face with the sleeve of his tunic to dry the sweat off his forehead, the fabric turned the alarming color of blood. Another cough, this time the blood spilled onto his hand.

He sought his Padawan, trying to warn her of her attacker’s strategy.

"Dany, watch out, he’s …"

Too late Danya saw Rehma whirl around towards her; her attention had been on her Master, her lover. He was wounded, in pain — she needed to draw Rehma away from him.

The blade of energy made agonizing impact with her thigh, burning/searing deep into her muscles. She went down, but still desperately held on to her light saber, trying to defend herself. Then a placed kick by Rehma against her arm and her weapon flew out of her hand, landing on the grit of a drainage pipe before clattering down the long shaft. Danya cursed and gritted her teeth to block out the pain from her leg wound — to no avail.

Satisfied to have disarmed Windu’s Padawan, Rehma once again shifted his attention towards the Jedi Master, who could but retreat and defend himself.

//Danya? … Dany, are you alright?// he tried to reach her, his fear for her sharpening his focus on his enemy.

//I can’t stand up, Mace, … I cannot help you, oh Gods, I can’t …// Mace felt her focus on the present waver, crumpling just as her leg did beneath her.

In a desperate move he fixed his opponent with his eyes and parried his oncoming barrage of blows, now him being the one driving Rehma in front of him. He grazed his left arm, eliciting a sharp hiss from the retreating man in front of him who let his light saber sink slowly to his side, as if to concede defeat. Nothing could have been further from the truth as rehma lifted his arm and appeared to reach out to the other Jedi. For a long second both men simply looked at each other, and then …

Mace felt his chest being compressed as if in the grip of a steely embrace. Surprise was evident on his face as Rehma’s right hand seemed to reach for him, his fingers slowly squeezing shut around an invisible object — Mace’s chest. Using the Force Rehma crushed the Master’s ribs even more, their pointed, sharp edges boring into his right lung, deflating it. Letting go of his light saber, Master Windu fell hard onto the wet ground, coughing in a useless attempt to clear the collecting fluid out of his lungs. His left hand pressed against his right side, he managed to get up onto his knees, his face distorted by pain that threatened to cripple his thoughts … then another kick, this time to his chin, and Mace toppled over onto his side, not able to move — he was held down by invisible Force bonds Rehma used to keep him immobile.

"Now, great Master, I believe we have a winner, haven’t we?" The former Jedi sneered and gave Mace another punishing kick into his injured ribcage. He felt darkness descending upon him, after what felt like an eternity he reached out to Danya through their bond.

//Dany, get out … somehow…get Koon … love!//

His eyes closed, he was about to sink into oblivion. But Rehma wouldn’t have any of it! A quick look at Danya who tried to crawl away from the steam pipe she had fallen against. She wouldn’t go anywhere he noted with great satisfaction. And there was something else he had picked up from the fallen Master.

"No … nooo, you two are … lovers?", he sounded incredulous. He came closer to Windu who lay semiconscious on the pavement.

"The great, the ever so righteous Mace Windu who kicked me out of the Temple for having loved my Master too much?" He turned towards Danya and smiled, as if to engage her in a conversation with him.

"Has your precious Master ever told you about me, about what he did to me and my Master?" Letting his eyes wander back and forth between his crippled opponents for a brief moment, he continued.

"The Council was about to exclude my Master from the Jedi, kick her out just as they tried to get rid of me … six years ago. Hm, that is a mighty long time, gives you time to think about what went wrong, you know, Mace?" He slowly paced in front of Windu while fixing his eyes onto the young woman before he continued.

"You see, Dessa and I, we were close, wouldn’t let them tell us not to be, so she had to leave the Temple and went to that rotten planet and got sick with Brekka fever. And you know what, little girl? She begged the Council, she begged Mace, to let her come back to the Temple to seek out the healers. They wouldn’t let her! They said it would violate the Code to let her back, even for that!"

Rehma’s voice was thick with re-surfacing emotions and he almost choked but immediately regained full control over at least that kind of emotion. He now looked down at Mace, then crouched in front of him so he could look into the fallen man’s face.

"You know what happened then, Mace? She died … I was there. She died while I held her, biting her tongue bloody because she couldn’t control the convulsions any longer! She died … like a dog BECAUSE OF YOU!" His hand lashed out and closed around Mace’s throat. The Jedi Master was powerless to stop what was happening and second by second he felt closer to the Force. He was certain this maniac would finish him off now. Nothing to be done. But Rehma had decidedly other plans for the two of them.

He laughed sardonically as a diabolical thought crossed his mind, and when he stood up again he grabbed the back of Mace’s tunic, sitting him up against a nearby wall, clipping Windu’s discarded light saber to his belt to be safe from any unpleasant surprises. He slapped him in the face once, and slowly Mace regained a faint thread of consciousness. He looked up at the man before him, deep regret in his eyes for a life thrown away for passion and, consequently, revenge.

"If you kill us now, Rehma, you’ll have every single Jedi on Coruscant after you!" He tried to shift his weight to his right to allow his uninjured lung to breath more efficiently, but he still was immobilized by the Force.

"You little shit, Mace! As if killing you two would bring my Dessa back. Ha, I will be much kinder with you than you were with me, Mace — I will share some hard-learned lesson with you tonight. By the time your precious Jedi will find you and your little whore I will be far away".

He turned towards Danya who still tried to crawl away from where she had fallen, and in three long strides he had crossed the distance to her. He yanked her to her feet, laughing and pressing her hard against an adjacent wall to fixate her in place.

"So, you’ve given yourself to our dear Master Windu here? And I bet you swore to him he’ll be your only one, right? Ever?" Rehma met the struggling woman’s eyes — they were dark with fear, pain, and helplessness. With a last effort she spat into his face, but he only laughed again as he cleaned his face with his sleeve.

"Ooooh, we have a feisty one here, eh Mace?" Rehma pressed her even harder against that wall.

"But how will you ever know he’s the one, true love for you if you don’t have a basis for comparison?"

"No, Rehma … don’t hurt her … please, you don’t need to do this." However, Mace’s pleading fell on deaf ears.

"Oh but I want to, dear Master! I want to give you the pleasure of enjoying this lesson in pain, Mace. Just as I had the privilege to share my Master’s pain in the end. You see, after all those years of the Jedi teaching me, controlling me, now I feel like it is my duty to share with you what I have learned out here, away from your perfect little world of the Code. And what better subject matter to share with the two of you than the one I’ve become quite an expert in … one you made me an expert in, Mace — pain, in all it’s never-ending glory!" Rehma looked straight at Danya now.

"And who could assist me better with this than you, little girl!" The man’s coarse laughter rang painfully in Danya’s ears, a dark foreboding of what was about to come.

Desperately Mace mustered his remaining strength and tried to forestall Rehma’s plans for his Padawan.

"Rehma, please … if you have to, take … me …" He coughed painfully, grimacing as he did.

"Oh, so sorry, Mace, but I don’t swing that way. Hm, and just to think you let that Jinn fellow up your ass!" He looked at Danya once again whose eyes stared at him in wild fury.

"Oh, you didn’t know? Your Master hasn’t done your little sweet ass yet?… My, my, my, let me show you some double pleasure then, little girl!" With that he quickly turned her away from the wall and stepped behind her, ripping her leggings down to her boots, bending her forwards and holding her head in place with one hand as he kicked her legs further apart. Danya could hardly stand, so he held her up with the Force.

Mace could but look on in horror, unable to intervene, to move even an inch, feeling blood rushing into his right lung, his vision becoming less and less able to distinguish detail in front of him. He tried to plead with Rehma for a last time.

"Leave her … alone! Please! I can … I will talk to … the Council!"

"Oh yes, indeed you will, Mace! After I’ll be done with your little girl here I doubt you can keep your affair with your Padawan whore a secret much longer." Rehma turned to Danya again, freeing his enlarged member with his free hand.

"So, … how would you like to start, my dear?" His hand then parted Danya’s cheek, exposing both openings to her body to her assailant. The last of Danya’s controls were going, fear taking over where calm should have prevailed. But the prospect of her impending fate combined with her fear for her Master’s life had shattered her.

"Please don’t … don’t do this … " In the back of her mind the word "help me … Master!" materialized, but she was still able to suppress them before her Master could pick up on them. She knew she was on her own with this man who so hated her Master and, by default it seemed, her. Tears started to show up in her eyes and Mace couldn’t do anything but sit and watch, coughing up more blood, the pain almost being unbearable, but the agony of seeing what was about to be done to his lover even more excruciating.

Rehma placed his cock in front of Danya’s vagina and with one brutal shove he inserted himself into her. Hard. And again. And again.

"Master, … Mace, oh Gods, Mace …" she whimpered, her tears streaming down her face.

//Don’t … don’t fight him, Dany … won’t … hurt as much. I … love you// Mace wanted to close his eyes but wasn’t able to.

"No, no, no, Mace — I want you to see how much fun we’re having here! Hey — are those tears of joy, little girl?" Once more Rehma shoved in mercilessly, without second thoughts, sweat beading on his forehead.

//Mace, I can’t … I cannot, Mace …//

After a few more thrusts he extricated himself from the sobbing woman, only to continue his perverse torture. Spreading her cheeks wide his penis found her anus and teased it for a few seconds. Even without a direct mental connection he could feel how horrified the woman had become of what was about to happen to her.

"Oh, good! We have ourselves a virgin. Mace — you never took her ass? Hm, what a shame — she’ll enjoy this, I just know it!" And with one savage thrust of his cock he invaded Danya’s rectum, entirely unprepared as she was.

Danya screamed! But instead of passing out from the pain, Rehma was in her mind, keeping her from taking refuge in unconsciousness.

//Darling Danya, don’t you just love it when I fuck your ass? You like that, hm? Don’t you, love? Nice … lube is so overrated// With a smug smile Rehma noticed the shock when Danya realized that he imitated her Master’s voice to make her experience even more memorable.

She cried out as her rectal muscles tore, blood slowly trickling down her legs as Rehma pushed further and further into her …

//You love it, don’t you? Say it, Dany … I love it, Master!// The voice she heard in her head was that of Mace!

Another scream as Rehma retracted and once more rammed into her body. As she turned her head she could see her Master slumped against the wall he was propped up against, eyes held open by her rapist.

"Master" she almost choked at her tears.

Mace heard his lover’s screams, saw her tears, her face spasm in agony as she was sodomized — he looked at her and slowly shook his head in negation of what he knew was happening inside her mind.

"No … Dany, not … me … I love … you … don’t fight … it" Finally, as if in slow motion the Jedi Master slid onto his right side, a rivulet of blood leaving the corner of his mouth as darkness was finally allowed to claim him, and at last he closed his eyes.

"That … * push in * … was good … * push in * … little whore". A last thrust into Danya and Rehma came inside her, biting his lips to keep from screaming out loud himself. He too much enjoyed to listen to her screams of pain.

With one quick motion he pulled out of the Padawan and used the hem of her tunic to wipe himself clean before he straightened his shirt and fastened his pants. With another laugh he shoved Danya to the ground and started to make his way out of the alley, but not before turning to them a last time to savor his victory.

"Thank you — both of you! I believe you two will talk about my little demonstration of tonight for quite some time to come. Au revoir, dear Master, little girl!" He bowed mockingly and then was gone in a flash.

**********

It took Danya a few long minutes to compose herself again, to stop her crying, to dissipate whatever of the pain she could into the Force. She was bloodied from her waist down, felt the stickiness of the semen that leaked from her anus and combined with half-dried blood that had been the result of Rehma’s savagely rough penetration of her.

Danya was half in shock. She looked over to her Master, tried to feel him through their bond — he was barely alive.

With strength born out of determination she crawled to Mace who lay still against the wall on his side, blood still pooling underneath his mouth. He was still breathing, irregularly, rattling — she knew that if she couldn’t get help fast he would die within her arms. Just like Dessa had in her Padawan’s!

Feverishly she searched his belt for his comlink. Yes, it was there, and she called Masters Koon and Kotchal. While she waited she cradled her lover’s head in her lap, bending over the unconscious form of her Master, rocking back and forth and trying not to snap. Not yet, not until she could be sure he would be helped.

When their rescuers finally arrived at the scene, Danya at last let go of her feeble control and was overcome with severe shock, retreating to a place in her mind far, far away from any harm by others.

**********

It took the healers more than seven units to replace the blood Master Windu had lost on the street and during emergency surgery to remove splintered rib fragments embedded into his lungs.

After four hours he was declared out of danger and transferred into Bacta for another 48 hours.

After that it was the ICU for him in which he finally regained consciousness, much to the relief of the assembled healers and Council members.

The moment he opened his eyes, however, the gruesome picture of Danya’s rape flooded back to him and he immediately closed them again. The images wouldn’t go away, no matter how he tried to let go of them, so he decided that for now unconsciousness would serve him better and he let himself fall back into that dreamless realm of nothingness.

**********

For the fourth day Depa Billaba sat silently next to the bed of her Master, her friend who rested uneasily, but at last having broken a fever that had been caused by an infection to his damaged right lung. For a long time she simply held on to one of his hands, feeling for his pulse once in a while, shaking her head in disbelieve at what had happened.

She thought about the man he had been just a few days ago. Never before had she seen her former teacher so content, so full of life and vibrant with the Force. She had been one of a selected few people Mace had trusted enough to impart to them his true relationship with his Padawan.

Now questions about Rehma would likely include those dealing with the motive for his attack on Mace and Danya. Depa knew that Rehma had found out about Mace’s relationship with his Padawan; it had led to the particular viciousness of his attack on the two Jedi. Before Danya had been released from the medical ward, she had asked Depa to accompany her to her quarters, during which the young woman had told the Councilor about what Rehma had talked about and why he had done what he had.

If knowledge of their relationship became public throughout the Temple, the repercussions would be severe: Windu himself had been the one who had ordered Rehma Nokal dismissed from the Order because of his intimate relationship with Dessa Mohr, his Master. Mace would no doubt be accused of hypocrisy, preaching one thing and doing the opposite, casually disregarding his own and the Council’s rules when it served his own purposes. A charge like that could easily end his position on the Council, if not also as a member of the Jedi. To abandon him entirely would be too costly a price, even for the Jedi, since Master Windu was a highly skilled diplomat, had an extraordinary understanding and connection to the Force, and was a well-liked teacher.

Danya Jaydin was an entirely different matter. Most likely she would be separated from him, given a new Master even though that would be a risky move that late in an apprentice’s training. But to stay together with Mace — no, that would not be tolerated any longer. Her assenting to a sexual relationship with her Master would be chalked up to her well-known tendency to do what other people wished her to do, not what was in the best interest for her. And what Padawan would even dare to say no to a Master like Windu?

No, their situation within the Temple was perilous, and Depa wondered for how much longer her Master would be able to keep up with this charade he and Danya were forced to play. Especially now that the pressure on the two was coming from more than just one source. Rehma was out there, somewhere — and he would tell the Council everything! What a shame — she knew it was true love that bound Mace and Danya together and not the so often present infatuation she and other Masters witnessed in other Padawans.

Depa placed Mace’s hand back onto the bed and stood up to stretch her legs, wandering over to the large window of the room that overlooked the central courtyard of the Temple complex. Why did it have to come to this, she wondered as she followed a pair of Gerenuks flying gracefully by. Why couldn’t these two be as happy and free of care as those two birds out there?

"If we were like those Gerenuks, I’m quite sure allocations would have given us an aviary to live in!"

Startled a bit by the suddenly interrupted quiet of the room, Master Billaba turned around to look at Mace who was struggling to sit up in his bed. She immediately was at his side, helping the man up and propping a pillow behind his back.

"Mace, I thought you would remain sleeping till the cows come home to roost!" She broadly smiled at her teacher and friend, and he couldn’t help but smile himself at the somewhat mangled expression he had taught his former Padawan such a long time ago.

"You obviously don’t know anything about cows, Dee!" He smiled at her and Depa chuckled. He hadn’t used his nickname for her since she had become a Jedi Knight. She took his hand again and squeezed it lightly.

"I haven’t heard that one in …" Abruptly Mace had retracted his hand and put it to his eyes. Unless she was mistaken Depa could have sworn to have heard a short sob coming from her former Master.

"Mace? What is it?" She grew concerned. This sudden change in mood was alarming to say the least.

When he let his hand fall down onto the blanket again, she could see the tears that filled his eyes.

"I cannot get that picture of Dany and Rehma out of my mind, Dee! I can still hear her screaming, see her cry, and I … I couldn’t do a thing to help her! Nothing … nothing" He silently shed more tears and eventually covered his face with his hands again. Depa was surprised and saddened to see her Master like that. To her he always had been the center of calm in her more than turbulent life; to see him broken like this was beyond her experience, but she swore to herself to do anything in her power to help Mace through this ordeal that had inflicted such pain on him. She moved to sit next to him on the bed and took the weeping man into her arms, soothing him by gently stroking her hands up and down his back.

"Shh, shhh, Master … Mace, it will disappear, you will be able to forget! The healers can do a mind sweep, I can help you with this" She put her hands onto his shoulders and made him look at her.

"Master, everything will be alright again! The Force will see to it, you must believe in that! Your Danya does, you know" She finished and kept looking at the man opposite her.

"She wasn’t here, was she? How is she, Depa?" Mace blinked, running the back of his hand over his face to dry off the tears. He was almost afraid to learn about Danya’s condition.

"No. She was practically catatonic for the first 48 hours after we found you two. She only recovered from the worst shock very slowly, Mace. She wanted to be with you, but the healers thought it best for her to wait until you both would be better." Depa again touched her teacher’s hand lightly in a gesture of comfort.

"She is doing better now. She’s home, with her friend Tamandua. Mace, you should see him. He practically has moved in with Danya to keep her company and take care of her. He’s doing her a great deal of good right now". Depa laughed at the thought of the over-protective young man. "For all intents and purposes he has made her his pet project to keep her memories at bay!" Depa sighed and then continued.

"Her … physical injuries have healed completely, even those caused by … " Mace closed his eyes again, images of his bleeding Padawan resurfacing in his mind, eliciting a reflex to vomit which he could barely suppress. A look into Mace’s face told Depa not to continue this particular line of thought. He turned his face towards the window as she continued to speak.

"Well, physically she’s alright, but her mental state is an entirely different matter, Mace." Depa tugged at his sleeve to make him face her once more.

"She will need time before … she will be able to be together with you again, Mace. A lot of time! She knows it wasn’t you who did this to her, but that son of a bitch mimicked your voice inside her head while he … " She stopped, sensing the turmoil these memories where causing in her Master.

Quietly he finished for her what she had been about to say.

"I know, Dee, I could feel him inside her mind. I know … what he did to her. Where is he now? Has he been brought back to the Temple?" Mace dreaded to find out he hadn’t, and the look on Depa’s face told him his suspicion was correct.

"No, he is still out there. When Masters Koon and Kotchal found you, their sole concern was your and Danya’s survival. We are pretty sure he is still here on Coruscant, we just cannot trace him in the Force any longer" She looked tired and Mace nodded that he understood.

"He will likely come back, some day. What am I to do, Dee? So often recently, and now even more, I have thought it best to confront the Council with the truth, to make an end to this deception Dany and I are forced to uphold. And for what?"

He looked out of the window once more, trying not to let his emotions overcome him again.

"Mace, the mood in the Council is very dangerous right now! More than half of its members have spoken out in favor of even more restrictive measures against Masters and Padawans who become involved with one another, this incident with Nokal only gives them fuel for their witch hunt. Master Rancisis and Ki-Adi are amongst them, and they will call for your head if they found out about your situation right now!" Her concern for her Master was unmistakable, her warnings more born out of love for him than anything else.

Mace remained silent and Depa returned to the chair next to the bed, spending the next few hours helping her friend to start his long, painful journey to come to terms with his raging feelings of guilt, anger and hate for Rehma. Meditation didn’t come easy for either of them, and the silence in the room was deafening. How he wished he could be together with his Danya.

**********

It had been five days now that Danya had been released from the healer’s ward to return to her and her Master’s quarters. She was busy in the kitchen, preparing a little something to eat for herself and Tami who was keeping himself occupied with dusting off a long row of books Master Windu considered one of his most precious possessions. He was almost done when the young woman called for him to join her at the table, so he stepped off the small ladder he had used to reach the top of the books and headed for the kitchen (he found anybody who used the Force for such trivial matters as dust removal to be grossly misusing their Gods-send gift!). Holding his duster in one hand and balancing one of the books in the other, he slowly came over to join Danya for their meal.

"Hey Dany, have you ever had a closer look at those "books" your Master keeps?" He sat down at the table, plopping the volume down and flipping it open to the title page.

" ‘Comments on the nutritional importance of trace elements in Aquafila nabooensis for the swamp life on Naboo Prime’. Hm, sounds pretty boring if you ask me", he remarked and instantly turned a deep shade of red when he saw who the author of this treatise had been — Mace Windu! Oops, he thought, and put the book aside.

"Yeah, botany is one of my Master’s interests, although ever since he took up his seat on the Council he’s been too busy doing politics to indulge into this hobby any longer." She smiled a bit, but soon her face returned to that façade of pain that had become her companion ever since her dreadful encounter with Rehma. She handed Tami a plate and he helped himself to the fried Cassis Root and the warmed-up Bana meat Danya had found amongst some left-overs in their cool storage.

Her plate remained almost empty. She never had been a great eater — now she simply didn’t have any appetite at all, a fact both the healers and her friends had noticed with some concern.

Tamandua finished the bite he had taken of the Bana before he continued with their conversation.

"So, I take it you’ll have another meditation session this afternoon with Master Yaddle? How is that going?" he was truly interested and not merely asking to be polite.

"Well, yes, I do, even though … ". She sighed and put her fork down again, pushing her plate away from her. She just couldn’t force herself to eat even this, although it had been one of her favorites.

"Tami, I’m so afraid to … loose my Master! I don’t know what I should do when he comes home and wants to resume … well, our relationship." She now played around with the piece of Bana until Tami took his fork, speared the morsel and brought it right up to her mouth.

"Open!" he ordered, and trying to suppress a smile Danya dutifully opened her mouth and took the bite.

"Good! See, Master Windu will not even consider to bed you if you’ll be nothing but a stick figure!" he chuckled, and Danya ruefully looked at her hands, having turned a bright red in her face.

"I suppose not", she said and Tami tugged on her Padawan braid.

"Hey! Don’t you think he knows what you’re going through right now? He won’t force anything onto you that you don’t want", he sounded out with conviction yet cast a slightly quizzical look at his fellow Padawan, as if to say "at least I hope he won’t".

Danya had grown up with Tamandua ever since she was brought to the Temple, and knew what thoughts he didn’t dare to say out aloud.

"You’re stupid if you even think he would ask anything of me I don’t want, Tami! He is not that kind of Master. But …" , and again she trailed off before she finished her thought, just when they heard the door chime sound. Danya looked at her companion and stood up to open the door.

It was Master Billaba — and she had brought Mace!

**********

Danya was surprised to see her lover standing in the door, seemingly waiting for her permission to step inside. These were his quarters as well as hers — what was that all about?

"May we come in, Padawan Jaydin?", Depa asked in a warm, careful tone, while Mace stood next to her, simply looking at his Danya, a smile playing around his mouth.

"Yes. Yes , of course" she said, almost out of breath, taken aback and puzzled beyond anything.

Master Billaba and Mace entered the living room, and for the first time noticed the other Padawan in the room.

"Hello Tami, I hope you are doing fine? I’ve heard how much time you have taken to take care of Danya these last few days. For that you have my sincere thanks, Padawan!" As Master Windu addressed the young man he slightly bowed towards Tamandua who had stood up from his chair and made himself busy collecting his robe. The young man registered the gesture with both slight amusement and great pride and he slowly made his way to the door. It was clearly time for him to leave for the evening.

"Thank you, Master Windu, I am well, and I am truly glad to see you up and about again!" He smiled at the Master sheepishly.

"I think Danya‘s timing of her dinner preparation couldn’t have been better. If you will excuse me, I need to study up for Master Soh-Loh’s asteroid navigation class tomorrow morning". He quickly turned towards his fellow apprentice and threw her a reassuring smile. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Dany. And remember what we talked about!".

He went to leave, bowing towards the two Masters and left his friend in the company of her lover.

There was an awkward silence for a few couple of seconds before Danya revived and flew to hug Mace around his neck.

"Mace, oh Mace, I’m so glad you’re alright again! I was so afraid you wouldn’t make it through this nightmare!" She caught his face into her hands and gave him a tentative, light kiss. Mace was tempted to return her affectionate gesture, but held himself back, mindful of the warning he had been given by Depa.

For a long while after they disengaged from their kiss they simply stood in the middle of the room, looking at each other, searching for signs of hesitation in the other’s eyes, unsure of what would happen to them now.

Depa moved to the table, checking out the food still on there and took a piece of Bana.

"Hmmm, Dany, this is well-prepared Bana, and I should know how hard it is to prepare this stuff. I certainly had my share of burned Bana while I still was Mace’s apprentice!" She laughed and watched as Mace and Danya finally broke their strange tableau and moved to sit on the sofa, where Mace very gently took both her hands into his.

"Yes, I thought I give Tami a bit to put around his ribs …" Immediately she stopped herself, recalling the injury of her Master. Damn faux pas!

"It’s ok, Dany, don’t worry. You really think a little slip like that will make any difference to me? No, oh Gods, no … Danya, I’m so sorry for what you have had to endure!" Mace had drawn her closer and enveloped her in a tight embrace, needing to feel her, if not yet her mind, but at least being able to show her that he knew how much she had suffered at the hands of Rehma.

"Master, I’m sorry, I should have been able to help you better. I should have …" And with one big sob all her bottled up emotions spilled out into the open, she wept with her head close to her Master’s shoulder, her tears soaking his tunic and face which she feverishly kissed in between sobs.

Like that they sat for many long minutes. Depa had taken a seat at the table, her mission here was not yet done.

Quietly, but loud enough for Danya to hear her, she called on the Padawan. Danya looked at the other Master with tear-blurred eyes, not knowing what would come next.

"Danya, I think it is time for your meeting with Master Yaddle. If you’re ready I will bring you to her." As both women left the apartment Mace remained seated on the couch, alone with his thoughts about his Dany and their future together.

**********

The following days and weeks were hard for both Mace and Danya. Outwardly they seem to have resumed their normal, daily lives of teaching, Council sessions, practice drills of Katas and light saber routines, meditations.

Since both their light sabers had been lost, it was a nice divergence for both of them to sit together in the evenings and "race" one another in building new ones for themselves. It was a conversational piece they kept teasing each other with, even in public, and their fellow Masters and Padawans merely looked amused at their friendly rivalry when it came to the finesse of light saber construction.

Yet their evenings together were also the hardest time for them, despite the little divergence they allowed themselves. That time had been their private, "quality" time of cuddling, exploring, love-making and quite, simple "listening" as they called it. Listening to each other’s heart beat, their thoughts, the sounds that were brought into their quarters by the wind or rain pounding against the living room window. That particular aspect of their lives together was hardly there any longer. No matter how much patience Mace showed with his Padawan, she didn’t seemed to get any closer to work through that mostly psychological, mental block that prevented her from enjoying her lover’s embrace and his caresses. There were nights when Mace had decided to sleep in his Danya’s old room to give her the distance from him she seemed to need so much these days, not to speak of nights.

The situation was brought to a point one day when Danya was out in one of the gyms for her by now daily Kata exercises. She hadn’t done them on a daily basis before, but now it seemed to help her stay focused, away from those memories about her encounter with Rehma, away from the guilt she felt for not being able to be there for her Master as was expected of her — as a Padawan, but more so, as his companion. Right now, she felt she was a pretty lousy catch, and she wondered why Mace kept endangering his position on the Council by remaining her lover. He would be so much better off without her right now!

It was during one of those days when the world seemed to uncontrollably close in on her that she had sought out the gym to practice.

The large hall was pretty much deserted for all intents and purposes, the only other occupants were Master Jinn and Obi-Wan, going through a rather involved movement called the Chuan. Danya held and paused for a short moment to watch Master and Padawan execute one difficult move after the next. She and Mace had been talking about her being ready for the Chuan soon. But that had been before everything was changed in their lives by that "bastard" — that’s all Danya could think of him, and Master Yaddle had, for the time being, agreed that that kind of "giving the beast a name" was alright to do for now.

How graceful Obi-Wan and his Master were, their bodies moving in uncanny harmony that came from not only being tied together through the bond between Master and apprentice. There was more between them, what exactly Danya didn’t know, but it was a treat to watch them practice.

After a few minutes she let out a big sigh and returned to her corner of the gym to continue practicing some moves with the light saber. Not always her own Master was available for these exercises, and Danya was used to doing them together with other Masters and fellow Padawans, whoever was available at the time.

However, right now she was alone, so she set out to go through the movements of the first level Wind exercise on her own.

She was right in the middle of her routine when she felt a tap onto her shoulder. It was Obi-Wan who apparently had finished his work with Qui-Gon a few minutes ago.

"Hello Danya, I see you could use a partner for this exercise. Mind if I try it with ya?" He flashed her a broad smile that immediately disarmed most of the defensiveness she might have harbored inside against intrusions from somebody wanting to be "helpful". Yeah, that was the operative word — "being helpful". Danya has had so enough of that crap from the people around her!

"Obi-Wan … aren’t you exhausted from what you did with your Master right there? I watched you two. The Chuan, well, you know it’s something that only the senior Padawans attempt because of its demands on your body and control of the Force." She stopped briefly, looking at him quizzically.

"Don’t tell me your Master has send you over here to be "helpful"!" Dany almost sneered the last word, and was about to turn away from Obi-Wan, but the young man was more determined than to be brushed aside like that.

He took her arm and moved in front of her.

"Jaydin! I have come here on my own accord because I would appreciate some more work-out! You have to know — Qui-Gon is an old man and can’t keep up with me any longer". He grinned at his Master who of course had heard the little snide remark, but after all his years together with Obi-Wan Qui-Gon was quite used to his Padawan’s kind of humor, so he simply laugh and continue to put his training gear in order.

"And no — I don’t want to be "helpful" since that seem to be such a bad thing to you. I intend to pound the Sith out of you, Dany! So, what’ya say? Are you game?"

As he finished he got one of the training sabers that hung on the nearby wall, and waited until Danya had exchanged her own light saber with a training one herself. Still being slightly skeptical of his intention, Danya smiled curtly at her challenger and made herself ready for the ensuing duel.

"You’ll regret this, Kenobi! I’m more rested than you. You won’t know what came over you" And without another word she charged towards him, saber ignited and held high above her head.

Obi-Wan had scarcely time to respond, so fast was her initial move, but soon he found his own footing and their battle was in high gear. Give and take, Danya driving Obi-Wan back to the opposite corner of the gym, while he bravely tried to block and parry every of her moves. When he had opportunity to charge against her himself, those attacks were short-lived thanks to Danya’s persisting attacks on his weaker right side. After a good 15 minutes of dueling both combatants seemed to lose strength, Obi-Wan much faster than Danya, and for her last swing with the saber all he could do to avoid painful impact with his left shoulder was to execute a flip over her head and land right behind her back.

"Well, looks like I’m not quite beaten yet, Dany! Come, you can do better than that, little girl!"

Those last few words made Danya snap! Rehma had persistently called her that while he had assaulted her. She was on Obi-Wan in a flash, pounding the defending Padawan with her weapon until he stumbled and fell onto his back — but she wouldn’t let off a bit. Danya kept hitting her saber hard, aiming for Obi-Wan’s head, the latter desperately holding his saber overhead, trying to deflect some of the worst moves by the woman.

"Danya, stop! I give up, you’ve won! … Dany, …. Damn, what is it with you?" His words didn’t seem to make any impact on her, she didn’t seem to hear them and simply kept moving around the fallen Padawan, aiming her saber at Obi-Wan’s head, his arm, his legs …

"Padawan Jaydin! DANYA! Stop!" A strong hand was gripping her right wrist as she was about to swing another blow down onto Obi-Wan’s head, and in a fraction of a second she was spun around unceremoniously and came face to face with Master Jinn, who had come to his Padawan’s help.

"Padawan, what happened here? Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon was looking from one to the other, saw his Padawan standing up painfully; apparently he had sprained his ankle in the fall. He fixed his eyes onto the young woman, probed her mind just enough to see why she had so badly snapped. He looked at Obi-Wan over Danya’s shoulder.

"Obi-Wan, can you walk? How bad is your ankle?" Obi-Wan gingerly tested his right foot and nodded that it wasn’t that serious at all.

"Good! Go and get Master Windu here at once! Hurry, and tell him it’s urgent. I don’t care whether he’s in a meeting or not. Tell him Danya needs his help. Now!!" The urgency in Qui-Gon’s voice was unmistakable.

Without another word Obi-Wan took his gear and headed out of the gym, still slightly limping, proof that he, too, wasn’t invincible.

Qui-Gon looked at Danya for a long moment after his Padawan had left the hall. He knew this was going to be a hell of a situation to fix.

"Padawan?", he tried but Danya wouldn’t look up to meet his eyes. He tried again, got the same reaction. After the third time he started to loose his patience just a bit, so he took her chin into his large hand and made her face him.

"Danya! What happened here just now? Why did you want to pound my apprentice to a pulp?" He saw an unholy mixture of pain and fury in the Padawan’s eyes, a very bad thing for any Jedi to allow to surface that easily without it coming under control immediately. No answer was forthcoming, so he tried to draw her out of her reserve by stating what he thought was wrong.

"Is it because he called you "little girl"? Is it that?" Her eyes sparkled as she heard those words again; they were too close to what Rehma kept calling her when he raped her.

//I’ll be damned if I tell you that!// Her shields were tightly in place and she wouldn’t butch if her life depended on it. But she also realized that it was wrong to disobey a Master so openly as she did right now, and all she could do was sink to her knees, bowing her head, the picture of abject misery.

"Master Jinn, I ask forgiveness for my failure to reign in my emotions, but I also ask you to not inquire any further. I …" She hesitated — what should she tell him that didn’t sound deceptive or false to his ears?

"I will meditate on my short-comings in this area, Master, and I will not allow another disruption to take place during my involvement with my fellow Padawans. I truly hope my action have not injured Obi-Wan, Master" She sounded sincere, but so absolutely lost that Qui-Gon was hard pressed not to take her up from the floor and hug some sense back into her.

Master Jinn realized that he most likely wouldn’t be able to get anything out of this young woman short of using the Force to further probe her mind. He was almost tempted to do so, even if that meant a great breech in privacy for Danya. But in the end he decided to wait for Mace. She was his Padawan, more so she was his lover and thus much more liable to open up to him than to a stranger. At least that’s what Qui-Gon was hoping for.

**********

Master Windu indeed had been in one of the Council’s sessions when Obi-Wan was allowed into the Council chamber and requested that he immediately accompany him to the training gyms. The session was postponed, and Obi-Wan was hard pressed to keep up behind the Councilor who was literally flying down the hallways and down the stairs to reach the training area.

When he arrived in the hall the incident had taken place in, he was appalled to see Danya lying prostrate in front of Master Jinn, still as a corpse and not moving a muscle. Mace ran to his Padawan, brushing Qui-Gon aside and kneeling onto the floor himself, scooping up his apprentice who started to shiver as he took her into his arms, enveloping her in his robe while he rested his chin on her head.

"Dany, oh my Dany, what happened? It’s good now, shhh, shhh, I’m here, Dany!" Mace was trying to soothe her mind by reaching out to her through the Force, attempting to connect to his Padawan through their mental link that existed ever since their first night together.

He almost recoiled in horror at what he found: her mind was tortured by seemingly never-ending replays of Rehma’s assault on her. He saw himself, or rather how his Padawan had helplessly witnessed his slow descend into unconsciousness; saw himself being cradled in her arms as she had tried to stay with him to save him from death. Her whole mind revolved around that traumatic event. He tried to call her name in her mind, but the instant he did, Danya started a soft scream, begging him to stop. All he could do was simply holding her, brushing his hand over her hair, letting her acoustically hear he was there and that there was nothing to fear any longer. After a while he looked up at Qui-Gon and silently voiced "How?", which prompted the other Master to look at Obi-Wan.

"You haven’t told him yet?" Qui-Gon was astonished about the apparent negligence of his Padawan.

"Master, there wasn’t time for me to do so. Master Windu was insistent to come here immediately after I told him Danya had … ‘snapped’ ". Obi-Wan looked miserable, how else could he have described to Windu what had happened to his Padawan?.

"It’s alright, Obi-Wan. Please bring Danya back to her quarters, I will have to talk with Master Windu" He slightly smiled at Obi-Wan to reassure the young man. As Mace helped Danya up from the floor, he felt her almost clinging to him, as if she didn’t want to let go of him.

"I’ll be with you very shortly, Dany! Now, go with Obi-Wan and wait for me in our quarters". Mace let his finger gently run over her cheek and she calmly a bit as she looked at him, nodded, then bowed to both Masters and followed Obi-Wan out of the gym.

It was time for two friends to talk, and what Qui-Gon had to say to his former companion needed some tact.

"Mace, I know how hard the situation with Rehma has so far been for you and your Padawan. I believe she is doing all she can to get over her trauma, but I am wondering if help by people who aren’t as close to her as you are will be enough to prevent her from giving in to her feelings of hate and …"

Windu whirled around at that accusation thrown into his face.

"Qui-Gon, are you telling me I’m neglecting her well-being? I have done what I can to be there for her, we have gone through meditations to ease the burden of the memory that she carries, and don’t for a minute believe I’m callous in letting her try and work through this herself!"

He was clearly upset, and started to pace the floor, arms crossed in front of his chest. Qui-Gon knew that in some instances it took a long time to heal wounds that refused to close themselves.

"Mace, what I’m saying is that she doesn’t need to see Master Yaddle or anybody else, but that you yourself need to spend more time with her. More time than is possible with the responsibilities you have in the Council right now!"

Boom — that hit home! Mace dropped his arms and came to stand right in front of his friend’s face, about to say something harsh, but then thought better of it and simply let out a big sigh of frustrated energy.

He walked over to a bench right next to a wall and sat down, throwing his hands up in the air in utter frustration.

"So, great Master Jinn, and pray tell what do you suggest I do now? Step down from the Council?" Even though, now that he thought about this possibility, Mace was only too aware that if it took that much he would not hesitate to do it for his Danya.

Qui-Gon sensed that Mace’s suggestion wasn’t as far fetched as it had sounded in the first second, so he sat down next to him and put a hand onto his shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

"If that is what you need to do … yes, step down from the Council, only temporarily. Somebody else can take your place for a short while. The Jedi, I am pretty sure, will not cease to exist simply because Master Windu took some time off to take care of some deeply personal matters. They will understand, they all sympathize with your and Danya’s situation, even if they don’t know the whole truth about the two of you." For a long moment Mace remained silent, merely staring down onto the floor, letting Jinn’s words sink in. It sounded possible, it sounded logical, and he knew if he wanted to save his Padawan as much as himself, he better do exactly what his friend had suggested.

"And who do you think will take the vacant place on the Council while I’ll be absent, temporarily, hm? The Council needs twelve members for a quorum, the Code …" A tiny snort escaped him, and he noticed a mischievous little grin on Qui-Gon’s face.

"I believe my Obi-Wan has teased me long enough that I could be one of those "exalted" twelve that decide the fate of the Jedi and, dare I say, the Republic?" Another huff from Master Windu who sighed, but this time more as a sign of relieve. He shook his head in mock resignation, a tiny laughter playing around his tired eyes as he looked at his friend again.

"I think they will love your company, even if it’ll be for a limited time only! I don’t know whom to pity more — them or you, old friend!" With that Mace stood up and held his hand out for Qui-Gon.

"It’s a deal, then, and I’ll promise not to aggravate Master Rancisis too much!" With a hearty laugh Qui-Gon reached for Mace’s hand and stood up, and together the two men left the hall.

**********

Coruscant didn’t have many localities left that still were able to support any of the original wildlife the planet once was so famed for.

Now it was called the "City Planet " or the biggest cesspool of the known galaxy, despite, or as some would undoubtedly argue because of, the fact that it was home to the Republic’s Senate and the main Temple of the Jedi. Almost all its beauty had been sacrificed for the sake of more, better housing for the ever-growing populace, and to accommodate visitors from far and wide.

Although the Temple provided its occupants with a certain measure of closeness to the Living Force through its variety of gardens, they could never match the breathtaking beauty and gracefulness that was found in the refuge of Tajefar, on the opposite side of the planet.

As promised, to himself and to his friend Qui-Gon, Master Windu had stepped down from his leadership of the Jedi Council temporarily to have more time for his Padawan’s and his own personal healing from their ordeal at the hands of Rehma Nokal. Five months had passed without a sign or word from him, the Coruscant authorities as well as Jedi Security were sure Nokal had gotten what he wanted from Windu in the first place — revenge for the, in his very skewered vision of events, death of his Master, Dessa Mohr.

Although the physical trauma his rampage had left in both Mace Windu and his Padawan had healed some time ago, the mental and psychological ramifications were still felt by both of them. Especially Danya had a hard time to cope with her rape and with regaining trust enough to engage in an intimate, loving relationship with her lover, Mace.

Since he had left the Council Mace had spend numerous days with his lover, trying to help her overcome her trauma by simply being together with her, helping her through mental exercises, indulging her in her new-found eagerness for hand-to-hand combat. He had no doubt that her "obsession" with martial arts reflected her unconscious efforts to cope with her irrational, utterly unwarranted guilt of not having been able to help her Master efficiently during their first encounter with Nokal. She never talked about that night when she was rendered powerless by her opponent, when she was more than just physically broken and humiliated by the outcast Jedi. Mace didn’t object to her new, intense training schedule, if anything it forced him to pay closer attention to his pupil and gave him time to guide her through these exercises designed for her to sublimate her feelings into the Force.

What he had been unsuccessful so far with was to help her overcome her fear of physical closeness with him. She endured his embraces, his fleeting, loving caresses of her face, his attentive little kisses on her nose and mouth, but she certainly shied away from truly enjoying them. No matter what Mace tried — the ghost of Rehma’s abuse and torture of Danya was always there with them, daunting his small attempts at breaking down those barriers Danya had erected around her soul to protect it from any more harm.

He literally was at his wits end on the day they had decided to spend some time away from the Temple and in close connection with the Force, Living or otherwise, not that there was a great difference in its various shades of appearance. Tajefar Refuge was the ideal place for such an endeavor, so Mace had packed a few things to eat and drink, a few warm blankets and one of his favorite meditation texts before he had claimed the next best speeder, taking his surprised Padawan and sped off away from the Temple.

They had found a cool, shady place next to a small brook and spread their blankets on its bank. As they lay there, listening to the bubbling water, Danya couldn’t help but wonder at the myriad of shapes and figure that she was able to distinguish in the clouds that were slowly drifting by them. Cloud cover was virtually unknown on Coruscant except for the immediate surroundings of places like Tajefar where the water evaporation of the existing plant life provided the necessary moisture for clouds to form.

Danya lay still and was in reverie of a particularly shaped cloud when the sound of her lover’s voice startled her out of her contemplative mood.

"Dany — what would you do if tomorrow I’d go before the Council and tell them that you and I are lovers?" The surprised young woman next to the older Master turned her head to look at the man beside her. A frown, Mace knew, was about to form on her beautiful face, but before Danya could open her mouth, Mace carried on with his conversation.

"I know the Code is strict on the subject of an intimate relationship between a Master and an apprentice. I know my fellow Councilors would reject me for pursuing such an idea. But I also know that if I would be given the choice between retaining my privileges within the Council, even to simply belong to the Jedi, or to pledge my love, my devotion, my commitment to the person I love, I will always chose that person … above anything else!" To himself Mace prayed to whatever Gods there were that he’d never actually would have to make such a choice, but if … A bit more somber he asked Danya that question.

"Don’t you believe I would do that?" As he lay on his back, arms crossed behind his head, he turned his head to look at his Padawan. Her eyes were closed, as if she was afraid to look at him as he so renewed his declaration of his love for her?

"I would give anything to be together with you, my Dany, why will you not believe that?" He tried a smile as she at last let her eyes sweep over him, but couldn’t quite prevent a frown from appearing on her brow.

"Master … we, we have talked about this so often, and more than once you have told me you’d respect my wish not to go before the Council. I do not want you to make that kind of sacrifice for me, my love! How could I ever ask something like that from you? As much as I may want to, and you know that! The Council needs you, the Jedi need you, Mace!" She propped herself onto her elbow and reached for him, her fingers gently brushing against his cheeks as she continued. "And if you’re honest — you need them. We both belong to them, they are all we have, all we are …" She tried to smile, but her mouth simply wouldn’t make that simple adjustment. So she turned away from Mace again, looking at the clouds once more.

"See that one? Doesn’t that look like a …" Mace wasn’t interested what she saw in the clouds right now.

"Danya, don’t you understand? The reason why we were so much hurt by what that bastard did to you, to us, is simply because he can use his knowledge about us against our best interests. If the Council knew, Rehma couldn’t …" She curtly cut him off in mid-sentence. "Rehma would simply find another way to hurt us!" Danya fell silent again, angry at herself for being so forceful, so stubborn on this subject. But what else could she do? To ask her Master to give up his position within the Temple for her? No, she wouldn’t do that.

"Mace, oh my sweet Master, why can’t you let us simply forget about Rehma, about the Council … about everything! Please, I just want to feel you near me, that’s all I want and need right now, my love. Please!" She pleadingly looked at Mace, her hand tentatively running over his brows, then down to his chin until he gently caught it in one of his large hands this time.

"That’s what I want, Dany! Nothing more than that, but we can’t have any of that if we keep hiding like two criminals, if we have to fear somebody will denounce us at any minute so as to cause harm to us.

I want us to be together, my Dany, I need you, so much I need you and miss you when I cannot be …", he trailed off to press a warm, loving kiss onto her palm. Danya didn’t retract her hand as she so often had done in the past when Mace had made any attempts at intimacy of even the most superficial kinds with her.

Her hand stayed, and Mace rolled over onto his right side, facing Danya who had closed her eyes and held still. Very gently Mace let his mouth wander from her palm to her wrist and then just a bit further down her forearm. He felt her shiver, just as she had always done when he started to initiate their sexual interludes in the past. Now he knew he had to be very careful with whatever he did with her; Mace felt she was like a silken spider’s web — delicate and easy to destroy with a casual, careless touch but also strong and unpredictable, each thread connecting to something new, each touch causing it to waver and shimmer with beauty despite its fragility, an ephemeral creation that could break at the slightest false move.

But now she held still, her breathing increasing ever so slightly.

//Mace, I … want to be yours again … but I’m … afraid!// Her mind spoke clearly to him, but he dared not answer back in kind lest he frightened her with his voice in her head, so he simply whispered his response.

"I love you, Danya Jaydin! I love you as I have not loved anybody before in my life, and I wish I could make everything undone that has hurt you so. Oh my Dany … I miss you so much!" While he spoke he had moved closer in small increments, always looking for signs from her that his closeness was not wanted by her, but never sensing that he was intruding or frightening her.

He slowly got up to sit cross-legged on the blanket, a position she soon followed suit, so they sat face to face, their knees touching, their hands gracefully intertwined with one another. For long moments they sat like this, their finger tips touching, but just barely, trying to amplify this slightest of connection with one another. Both had closed their eyes as their hands met in mid-air, palm to palm, putting a bit of pressure against them so they could feel the other’s warmth, sense the Force flowing through this almost feeble connection between them, letting thoughts wander back and forth between them as they entered a state of light meditation.

//What can you know without fail?//

//That which is mine//

//How can something be yours alone?//

//By birth, when I create and shape something new//

//Can you share something you own?//

//I can since the Force gives me choice//

//How do you make your choice?//

//I examine, I compare, I evaluate — I chose!//

//Who would you find worthy of your choice?//

//Forever the one who gives me joy, who gives me knowledge to make it possible for me to chose — you!//

//You chose to share your own, with me?//

//I chose to share what I have created and thereby is my own — the love you have in you for me!//

//Then part of me is yours already!//

//Your are part of me//

//If I hurt … //

//I hurt as well. If I weep …//

//I weep with you!//

//We are one, … my love! My own!//

"My Dany, my love!"

As Mace whispered those last words he opened his eyes again and extricated his right hand to caress her with the barest of touches, his joy of her allowing him to do so shining in his eyes. She knew how much she was giving him at this moment, how much he needed her — and how much she needed to know again that it was alright to be touched by a lover in that special way.

It was now her turn to take his hand and bestow kiss after kiss into his large, calloused palm, along his long, but oh so gentle fingers, her tongue flicking out as she started to suck at each one of them.

"Dany? What are you …"

//If you need to talk, my love … please — talk to me like this!// And with that Danya leaned over, draping her arms around her lover and seeking his mouth with her lips. Mace was puzzled, surprised, alarmed by this sudden change in Danya’s mood that all of a sudden seemed to have allowed her to jump over her own shadow of fears. Was this real, he wondered.

//I want this, Mace, as much as you do. I need you, my love, I want to try … for you who would give up your life for me!// Still hesitant Mace returned her embrace of him, and his hands felt her warm back, her smooth breasts for the first time in oh so many weeks. She leaned into his touch, and let her hands slide underneath his tunics to reciprocate his explorations of her skin.

Mace still wasn’t convinced, though, that they were doing the right thing, and he reluctantly stopped his hands to once more look at his Padawan.

"Danya, I will not force you to this, I don’t want to hurt you with my desire or my …" But before he could finish she had him on his back, laying next to him on the blanket, her legs entangling themselves with his, urging his hips and groin to make closer contact with her pelvis.

"My lover, please, I want this, I’m sure. I know you will never hurt me. Help me do this, for me … for us!" Her fingers opened the front of Mace’s tunic, and started to lightly touch his dark, already slightly sweaty skin. Giving up at last Mace let his head sink back onto the grass, opening his mind to hers, letting her do the exploration first, letting her lead the way.

Her fingers were followed by her mouth in swift succession, trailing longing kisses down his neck, along his collar bone, over to his nipples and then to his stomach. He whispered her name, his only wish now being able to return her favors in kind. He so needed to touch her again, so long had he had to live without this intimate closeness.

//Yes, my love, touch me as you wish to. No objections, no fear … // Like a mantra she repeated these words inside her head as he turned onto his side again, pushing her down onto the blanket, effectively reversing their positions. Now it was his turn to fiddle around with the buttons of her tunic - //stupid fastenings!// - until he was able to touch her bare skin beneath the clothes, feeling the soft, velvety hairs along her arms, the hardness of her by now erect nipples, the little wrinkles around them as he stroked them gently and soon his hands moved further down on her, still monitoring her for any signs of objection, or fear — but there was nothing but acceptance, and pure longing. His fingers dipped into her belly button, describing a circle on the inside and then wandering off to her flank, caressing her side, reaching underneath her leggings to stroke her thighs and inner legs, until …

//You sure you want this, Dany? I don’t …//

//Shhh, Mace … I. … LOVE. … YOU!// Her mouth found his once again, and her tongue made short work with his lips; he opened his mouth and sucked in her tongue, slightly biting it while his hands came up her thigh once more and slowly wandered between her legs. To his great amazement he found her already wet and swollen, her eager pushes into his exploring fingers making his moves even more urgent.

//Want you, my love, … so much! Hmmmm … //

Yes, he wanted her too, and he carefully draped himself over her body, one hand trying to get rid of her leggings, the other gently squeezing her breasts and pushing her tunics away from her body.

His more and more urgent moves were answered by her likewise urgent thrusts with her hips while her hands took off his tunics and unfastened the band holding his leggings up.

Where his hands had been, so his mouth was soon after, and when, after many minutes of licking and tasting her muscles and slightly biting her skin, his mouth found her spot between her legs Danya went almost limp with pleasure.

Not entirely sure whether this was a reaction of pleasure or trepidation, he send waves of assurances to her through their mental connection, inquiries she answered with feelings of joy, and happiness for the first time in months!

//Danya, I so much love you, my Dany!// And for the first time in many weeks his voice in her mind, his calling her name didn’t cause anguish as before. Instead Danya felt herself almost overwhelmed by a feeling of safety and of simply being loved, and she willingly opened herself and her body to her "long-lost" lover!

//Mace, I … I love … you!//

The act of him entering her was accompanied with a feeling of the Force singing around the two of them, entering both their minds, taking them away from the worldly cares and freeing them to be within one another. Their final climax was not long in the making, but the feeling of utter contentness, of love expressed this way, of unshakeable trust between them — that feeling of being One once again was staying with them long after their actual release had claimed their vocal chords from their screams of pleasure.

For almost an hour after completion Mace and Danya simply lay in each other’s arms, holding each other, re-playing the sequence of their love-making to lengthen their mutual afterglow. They both were content and when Mace asked her whether Rehma had been there with her when he had made love to her, to his great relief her answer was no.

"No, he wasn’t there, neither in my mind nor in my heart. I can’t say he won’t be there any longer at all, but for today, for now, only you, love, only Mace was there" And with the last of her spend strength she pushed herself up to give him a kiss onto his forehead, just like he used to do so often.

"Wanna stay out here tonight and let the Temple be damned?" Mace asked with a broad grin on his face.

"Yes, oh yes, Master — let the Temple be damned for tonight!" They both laughed, bundled themselves up into their blankets, as close to one another as they could, and soon fell asleep under the watchful guidance of the Force.

TBC