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A/N: This is dedicated to Litbe, who left me one of the nicest reviews I've ever received on one of my one-shots and asked me to write another Male Revan fic. I was in the mood to write something a little darker, so I went with a fallen Lord Revan, post KotOR, as he faces what every Sith Master must face – the moment when his apprentice challenges his rule. The problem? His apprentice is also his lover.

Bastila Shan versus Darth Revan. Here you have it.

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I Love to Hate You

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She moves like a spirit, like lightning. Faster than he can blink, half a meter of blazing crimson energy terminates inches from the skin of his throat. He doesn't even have to turn around to know that she's smiling, all but drunk on the dark power that radiates out from her, echoes out of him – the dark symphony of the Force.

"You knew this would come, Master."

He nods solemnly, his golden eyes glinting through his Mandalorian mask in the pale starlight that filters through the windows of the Star Forge. With a flick of his fingers, he calls the hilt of his lightsaber to his hand. A sword of scarlet flame slides into existence, deepening the shadows cast by the hood of his robe.

She laughs wickedly. "Even now, you cannot bear to strike me down. Our love has blinded you."

"There is a fine line between love and hate, my apprentice."

He wheels 'round, faster than she would have thought possible, and lightning spears fly from his free hand. She catches the assault with her blade, but the sheer power of the Sith lightning sends her staggering.

Her eyes glow yellow, like a serpent's. "I see you yet retain some of your strength, Master."

He does not gratify her with an answer. He simply raises a black-gloved hand, and the lights die in their lonely chamber of the Star Forge.

Her voice drops to a trembling whisper. "Do you truly wish to die alone in the dark, my love?"

Deep red shadows spill like blood across the floor of the training room. The silhouette of Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, shimmers like a specter in the dark. He angles his blade for the attack.

"Ah, I see," she says. "Then I will oblige."

She whirls forward, scarlet saberstaff crashing into an overhand chop, spinning back, slashing with great violence. She snarls with rage as he deflects the blows almost effortlessly. Again she attacks, flipping overhead, her blade ripping towards his neck, but once again he weaves like a shadow out of her path. He is fueled by the darkness. She moves to pursue him, slashing at his heart, but then he isn't there.

Too late, she realizes he has shifted behind her.

Darth Revan's blood-red blade pierces straight through her chest. She gives a choked cry, and then she collapses face-first.

For a long moment, she simply lays there on the cold metal floor, gasping the last shreds of her life out. Pain wracks her wound, burning pain. Her heart falters against the damage dealt by Revan's blow. Her breathing emerges in haggard, agonized gasps.

She looks up at him, eyes stinging with unshed tears that glitter in the light of her Master's sword.

"I thought you…" She gasps. "You – you loved me too much… too much to hurt me…"

"There is a fine line between love and hate, my apprentice."

But the fight is over now. He extinguishes his blade, sliding the hilt back on to his belt. He kneels down beside his love, and she fixes him with a distant gaze that seems to see right through him.

She reaches up with one pallid hand, fingers trembling, to remove his mask. It slides off easily. He would never show it, but part of him is glad that she can gaze upon his true face before she passes on.

She squeezes his hand, and the ghost of a smile plays on her lips.

"You did love me," she whispers.

He nods. "Of course I did."

She closes her eyes, and then her hand goes slack.

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