Two

Chapter 21

Maul was leaving in the afternoon. Something about it made it sadder than usual. Nima sighed as she finished getting dressed and headed outside. He had already finished his meditation and stood facing the lake.

As she approached, she could see his lightsaber in his hands. Then he ignited one of the blades and he moved from one stance to another, moving through attacks and using the saber like a sword. Then he changed to both sides of the blade being ignited. Maul moved with a grace she’d never seen in anyone else. Moving so quickly from one stance to another, it was almost hard to keep up with what he was doing.

At some point he’d noticed her and finished his movements in a defensive stance facing her. The lightsabers deactivated and he started walking towards her.
“You were watching.”
Nima nodded and her face flushed a darker shade of blue. “It’s hard not to.” Her lekku twisted as she bit her lip. “When exactly are you going?”
“I’ll eat first, if you were planning on cooking for me too.”
“I was,” she said, nodding. Nima smiled, knowing she’d have a few more hours with him before he disappeared for his mission. His plan was to arrive at night, so less people would see him.

“Do you want to practice now?” he asked and Nima nodded. He nodded and clipped his saber to his belt before walking to fetch whatever they’d be training with today. She watched him, biting her lip, and then followed. She caught the staff being thrown in her direction and he smiled a little.

She blocked his strike and stepped backwards. Only once, she’d learnt quickly that she couldn’t outrun him and stepping back when she wasn’t dodging only let him back her into a corner. Or in this case, to the edge of the lake. He held back as they exchanged blows, she knew that before but it was more certain now. He moved slower while fighting her, even though he could be harsh and force her to improve after repeated failures.

A misstep meant he had the staff’s end pointing at her chest. He stepped back and let her raise her own again, ready for the next one. Why was he being nice to her? He said didn’t know why but maybe he did and just didn’t want to tell her. It wasn’t likely a Sith would feel bad about being a little cruel to her.

“Ow,” she hissed as the staff hit her wrist. Her own fell to the ground and she looked at Maul.
“You’re distracted,” he said as Nima rubbed her wrist and moved to pick up the staff again. Maul blocked her and she narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you thinking about?”
“It’s nothing,” she lied as she reached for the staff anyway.
“You can’t afford to fight while your distracted,” he said. Before she had a chance to block, he smacked the stick from her hand again and held the staff to her neck. “It can cost you your life.”

“I know,” she said as Maul withdrew and walked around her. As soon as she picked it back up again she turned to block a swipe at her shoulder. She stumbled as he swiped at her legs and she moved to hit his side. Maul dodged easily and for him, he barely had to put in any effort? Stepping back to avoid getting hit on the side of her head, she frowned. He did manage to strike her ankle and she tripped, falling backwards. While managing to block a hit to her chest, he had the staff pointed at her chest again.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked. Nima bit her lip. “It’s obviously important.”
“You.” His eyes widened and Nima kicked his legs from beneath him and scrambled up. Before she could move to hit him, he grabbed the staff and pulled her down too. She let go of the staff to use her hands to break her fall and by then, Maul already had her pinned beneath him.
“Why are you thinking about me?”
“Because you’re good at this, far better than I ever will be,” she said, trying to catch her breath a little. Sparring against him was always exhausting. “And you’re going easy on me. Why?” It took him a moment to answer.
“You won’t learn to be better if you’re always recovering from bruises.” With how long it took him to answer, Nima wasn’t quite convinced that was the real reason why.

“That’s not the real reason,” she protested. She’d received some nasty bruises from him and his training.
“And that’s not all of why you were distracted,” countered Maul. He leaned in even closer and her breath caught in her throat.
“I’m going to miss you,” she said quietly. That was why this time was sadder than the last few times. It wasn’t just being used to him being there, it was that she wanted him to be there. “I know it’s stupid, since you’re a Sith and all but… I know I’ll miss you because I like you.”

She was fairly sure she might have broken him somehow since he didn’t say anything as he just stared at her. Nima just looked at him, at his face inches away from her own as her back pressed against the ground.
“You’re not lying,” he said eventually.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not.” He moved off of her and looked out at the lake. Nima sat up and looked at the abandoned staffs.
“It’s not an attempt to distract me.”
“No, I mean it,” she said as she stood up. She walked over to him and saw the furrowed brow. “I’ll miss you.”

She cautiously reached for his hand and he let her fingers intertwine with his.
“And I do like you.” She’d never really felt like this about someone, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. “I like you a lot, more than I probably should.”
“But… I’m Sith.” Nima frowned. Why would that matter?
“Like you said, the Jedi never really cared, did they? They never helped me escape like you did.” When he turned to look at her, his usually intense gaze had softened but his eyes flitted around as if he wasn’t sure where to look. “And Jedi can’t love, can they? You’ve mentioned before that your emotions are part of being Sith, right?”

“Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power.” he said. He'd left out the last part, a part he'd only mentioned once about chains being broken. She wasn’t convinced that he wasn’t just a slave of sorts for whoever his Sith Master was.
“You use anger to fuel a passion for killing Jedi and destroying the Jedi Order,” she said quietly. The tips of her lekku crossed each other twice and she dared to have a glimmer of hope as his eyes met hers. “Is there space for passion too? For me?” He didn’t say anything, just searched her face and glanced at her hand holding his. His eyes lingered on her lekku twisted around each other.

“I’ll make space.”