Chapter Text
Chloe ducked beneath the swipe of the crimson blade of plasma, allowing it to pass so close that it nearly singed her hair, before immediately bringing her own lightsaber upward towards her opponent, who quickly danced out of reach.
The masked figure wielding the red saber chuckled.
"You're getting faster," they said. They were clothed in long, flowing, black robes, and their face was covered by a small helmet, which was covered by a hood. "Have you been holding out on me?"
"I guess I could ask you the same question," Chloe replied with a smirk, sliding into her preferred stance. She relaxed her muscles as she held her saber pointed diagonally downwards in front of her slightly crouched body. "I'm pretty sure I could've dodged all of your strikes in my sleep." The figure shrugged.
"Maybe I'm just not very skilled with a lightsaber," they replied. Chloe frowned.
"Humility isn't a trait I figured the Sith put much emphasis on," she said. The figure chuckled again.
"I suppose they don't," they said. "I am a bit of a strange one." Chloe saw as the figure's stance relaxed, their guard dropped, and she took her chance, immediately lunging forward, thrusting her emerald saber towards their abdomen. The figure reacted instantly, swatting Chloe's saber away as she jumped backwards. Chloe continued to follow her, forcing herself to breathe evenly as she moved through various sweeps and slashes and thrusts, all of which were in vain as the figure parried them with apparent ease. Chloe brought the saber down in a hard, overhead slash, which clashed violently with her opponent's.
The two stood locked in place, the green and red light of their blades reflecting off of the Sith's mask.
The Sith made a feint towards Chloe, pulling their lightsaber away and spinning before bringing it around in a horizontal slash. The movement caught Chloe off guard, but the attack was slow, much slower than someone with such an impenetrable defense should be able to manage, Chloe knew. She easily dodged it.
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"Why what?"
"Why are you holding back?"
"As I said, I've little talent with a lightsaber," they replied with a soft, quiet chuckle. Chloe shook her head.
"No. You blocked all of my attacks like they were nothing. And ever since I started chasing you, back on Coruscant, all of our encounters have been the same. You…" Chloe paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the Sith. "…you aren't trying to kill me. Why?" Again, the Sith shrugged.
"Why would I want to kill you?"
"Because I'm a Jedi, and you're a Sith," Chloe replied. Now, the Sith outright laughed.
"And you Jedi say that only Sith deal in absolutes," they said.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing," they replied. The Sith let their shoulders fall slightly as a heavy sigh escaped them. "But the world is not so black and white, as you might wish to believe."
"Murder is, though," Chloe countered, her face hardening.
"It's only murder through your eyes," they replied.
"You killed an innocent, defenseless Senator!"
"No," the Sith replied softly. "I didn't kill him."
"I saw you…"
"You saw what you wanted to see, which fit easily as a result of some very unfortunate circumstances," the Sith said with a sigh. "I was trying to save him."
"What?" Chloe replied, incredulous. "Why would you do that?"
"Because…" the Sith replied, "…the bill he was proposing in the Senate was very important to me… and to a great many people I care for."
"Then who killed him?" The Sith shook their head.
"It doesn't matter. They're dead now, too," they replied.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Why would I lie?" Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but then she paused. She was about to say, 'Because you're a Sith.' Somehow, though, that didn't quite seem right. Nothing seemed right about this person. "If there's one thing I can tell you for sure about Sith, it's that freedom is one thing we value above nearly all else."
"And you didn't ever try to kill me because…?"
"Why would I want to?"
"Because I'm trying to kill you," Chloe said slowly, not entirely sure what this person wasn't understanding about the question. They chuckled.
"True," they said. "It's been quite fun, actually."
"Who are you?" Chloe asked, positively baffled by this person who stood before her. All her life, she had been told that the Sith were evil, yet Chloe could sense no trace of anger or hatred in them. The Sith tilted their head, observing Chloe skeptically.
Then, they deactivated their lightsaber and clipped it to their belt. Chloe frowned again as she watched the Sith reach up and pull the hood away from their mask, before leaning forward and sliding the mask off. Chloe gasped at the sight when they looked up.
Facing Chloe now was possibly the most beautiful woman she could recall seeing in her life. She smirked at the Jedi's dumbfounded expression.
"Not what you were expecting, huh?" She said as she strode slowly towards Chloe, whose heart began to beat furiously in her chest. The woman's steely blue gaze locked with hers, and Chloe swallowed nervously as she approached.
"I…"
"You asked who I was," the woman said. "No one's ever cared before." She held out her hand. "My name is Rebecca, but I'd really prefer you called me Beca."
Chloe didn't know how to react. Her still ignited blade pointed at the ground, her arms limp at her side. She reached out with her free hand slowly. Beca took Chloe's and gripped it tightly as she shook it.
"You know, the polite thing to do when one introduces themselves is to respond in kind," Beca said.
"Chloe…" Chloe whispered. "My name is Chloe." Beca smirked.
"Nice to meet you, Chloe," she said as she brought Chloe's hand up, bowing her head slightly as she kissed the top of Chloe's hand lightly. "I hope to see you again. Maybe next time we can find some other means of entertainment instead of you trying to kill me."
Beca winked before turning and replacing her mask on her head and pulling the hood over it in a quick, smooth motion and walking off, leaving an awestruck Chloe behind.
She deactivated her lightsaber and placed it on her belt, before bringing the hand that Beca had kissed up, looking at it with a curious wonder. She held that hand tightly in the other, looking up to find Beca long gone now.
"Oh no," she said, suddenly realizing the situation she had just been put in, as if Beca's departure had lifted the dreamy haze that had settled over her since her unmasking. "Master Yoda is not going to like this…"