Chapter Text
Of all the people Mace had expected to be standing in the empty Council room overlooking the city as the sun set, Sajaun Ka was by far on the bottom of the list. “What a welcomed surprise.” He'd said despite the shock.
“Hello, Mace,” Sajaun said, gently turning from the view to greet him. Her eyes were tired, though, and there was pain in the slope of her shoulders as he embraced her.
“What's wrong?” Mace asked, gently leading her to one of the seats, “Plo said nothing of you being in pain when he came back.”
“I- I suppose I'm taking Obi-Wan's loss hard.” Sajaun said finally with a half-hearted shrug, “It's been a long time since I've had a leaning bond snap. Only fade away in recent times.”
Mace's breath caught in his throat. They hadn't told her. Force, he's entirely forgotten that she and Kenobi shared a Force bond like Obi-Wan and Anakin did. Yes, Anakin's reaction to the blocked bond had served to sell the deception, but he had entirely forgotten that it would affect Sajaun as well. He couldn't even imagine the terror and pain.
“Sajaun, he's not dead,” Mace said softly.
“What?” Sajaun murmured, looking at him like he'd lost it, “I felt-”
“You felt the Force inhibitors activating.” Mave explained slowly, “We had him fake his death for a mission. Doing so blocked his bonds abruptly.”
Sajaun went still and stiff under his hands, “You what.”
“It's just for a little while. The reaction of his death by those around him sold the con.” Mace said carefully as Sajaun straightened.
“ How could you. ” Sajaun whispered in a tight voice, “His padawan is unstable. A blow like this could ruin him!”
“Skywalker is an adult Knight with a padawan of his own!” Mace pointed out, frustration rising, “We had to stop this plot!”
“And what did the Force say?” Sajaun demanded, “What did your shatter points show?” The question stopped Mace in his tracks. It must have shown on his face.
“You didn't look.” Sajaun summarized bitterly, “You didn't even look or ask. You just did!” She drew away from Mace and shook her head, her gaze moving around the golden room, “It's worse than I thought. Force, how did it get this bad?”
“We did what we had to do," Mace said firmly, clinging to how necessary the choice had been.
“No. You did what you thought you needed to.” Sajaun corrected quietly, “These choices are not the Will of the Force. They're your choices.”
“We're at war. These sacrifices are necessary.” Mace argued back.
“And what about after the war?” Sajaun challenged, “Think Mace. If you make these choices, where does it end? Who's to say that they are the right ones? And if you believe they are right, then what's stopping you from doing them in peacetime? It's a slippery slope.”
“I know, okay?” Mace snapped, “I just- I can't see .”
“You can't see what?” Sajaun asked, tone hard.
“I can't see my shatter points clearly anymore. It's murky. Like standing in a room of mirrors.” Mace finally admitted, “It's been happening for the last few months, and it keeps getting worse and-”
“And it's like you're blind.” Sajaun finished softly, coming to his seat again, her harsh anger fading.
“The others don't notice it. They think it's the war hardening them. But I see it. Feel it. We're getting blinder.” Mace whispered his observations and fears to Sajaun as she sat next to him, rubbing his back soothingly, “But you knew that.”
“Yes.” Sajaun said gently, “You're getting so blind you thought this was okay.”
“How do we make it better? How do we make it clearer?” Mace asked, watching Sajaun stare out at the sunset.
“I don't know if we can.” Sajaun said finally, “It's like a storm. We can't run from it; the time for that has passed. The only way out now, is through.”
“That doesn't sound pleasant,” Mace commented.
Sajaun snorted, “No, it's not.” She looked away from the twilight and back at him, “If there's another way, I'll find it. But we must consider now that this will only get worse before it gets better.”
“How much worse?” Mace asked, trepidation growing.
“Well, the last time, they just about wiped out the Order.” Sajaun said bluntly, “So pretty darn bad.”
“Oh, so we could be talking about genocide,” Mace said, trying not to stumble over the word or thought. War was one thing. Eradication of the Order was another.
“Yes, we could.” Sajaun nodded slowly.
“And what happens,” Mace asked, slowly breathing and shuddering in his chest. “If you fail?”
“I suppose none of us would be around to know,” Sajaun said grimly.
Mace swallowed hard. He supposed not.