Now

"Captain Sato." The voice was clipped, and she looked up at its owner. Yellow eyes, a face greyed by black veins. When he smiled, his teeth were yellowed and pointed. "It has been a long time."

She remembered those eyes, and the darkness within them. "And yet I'm still pretty and you somehow got uglier." Her hands were secure behind her back, but she thought she might be able to short out the energy shackles.

"Asami? Sweetheart!"

Asami's blood froze. She turned her head, the right side of her face burning from an old memory. She stared at the man standing in the hatchway. "Dad?"

Six years ago

The ship shook, thick smoke billowing from the engine room. Asami slid down the ladder and ran pell mell through the ship. It shook again, but without the engines they were dead in space. She covered her mouth with her arm and pushed blindly through the smoke.

She heard the hum before she saw the flash of red, dropping to the deck and rolling out of the way. Sith? She knew transporting those Jedi had been a bad idea.

A green glow moved through the smoke, connecting with the red. Light flared as red and green connected. Blue ignited nearby, the distinctive sound sending a chill down her spine. Green parried red, blue spun across the engine room, and Asami crawled under the smoke towards the engine.

Bypassing power through the weapon systems, Asami quickly restored the engines, and activated the air filtration systems. The sounds of the battle had stopped, and she had her hand on her blaster as the air cleared.

The two Jedi lay on the deck, a Miraluka woman on top of her Togruta friend. The Sith stood over them. He lifted his saber to finish the job and Asami fired her blaster without thinking. Both bolts were deflected, and the Sith turned to face her. His eyes were yellowed, and black veins ran across his pale face. He waved his hand and Asami flew into the wall.

"Wait!"

That was her dad's voice. Asami lifted her head to see Hiroshi Sato approach the Sith.

"That's my daughter, spare her, please. You have the Jedi, and my droid manufacturing plants. As promised."

"What are you doing?" Asami was lowered from the wall by the Sith. She held her side and stared at her father in disbelief.

"The Republic is weak, corrupted. It killed your mother. Its collapse is inevitable." Hiroshi approached her. "But with the Empire, we can be free." He held his hand out to her.

Asami reached for it, then turned suddenly and disengaged a safety on the engines. Scalding hot steam blasted her in the right side of her face, filling the room. Lightning crackled and everything went dark.

Now

Hiroshi was thinner, his hair gone white. One of his eyes had been replaced by a cybernetic implant, and another stuck out of the back of his neck. He walked with a limp and the whir-clack of artificial limbs. "It's so good to see you, Asami."

A rush of emotions flooded Asami. Betrayal, anger and bitterness. Sadness. Pity. "Is this the freedom your Empire gave you, dad?"

"You took good care of our ship."

"My ship." She couldn't look at him anymore. Six years. Six years of nightmares, of looking at herself in the mirror and being reminded that her father had betrayed both her and the Republic.

"While this reunion is quaint…" The Sith clasped his hands behind his back, looking steadfastly at Asami. "Time is running out for your Jedi friends to come for you."

"I haven't seen them in months. But they'd gladly pay you back for the last time we saw you."

"No, not them. I want the other one. As strong in the force as a dozen Jedi."

Asami's eyes widened.

"Yes, I think you know who I mean." The Sith knelt, taking Asami's chin between cold fingers. "This so-called Avatar of the Force."

"You won't get to her. She's smarter than that." She knows better, Asami thought. No matter what she felt about Korra, she knew that Korra couldn't return those feelings.

But thinking about her was a lot easier than looking her father in the eyes right now. For three years, she and Korra flown together and fought together. Asami had learned more about the Force and Jedi than she'd ever thought she would.

In her totally-legitimate-not-in-any-way-illegal-I'm-totally-not-a-smuggler-business-dealings, having a Jedi around had proven both frustrating and helpful. She'd gotten past more security checkpoints then she could point a blaster at, but she'd also lost out on a lot of credits. Mostly due to guilt and wanting to make a good impression with Korra. At least that's how it started.

The Sith stood, turning towards the hatchway. "Maybe she is not as smart as you think she is."

Asami's gazed followed the Sith's as two figures stepped through the hatchway. Korra was wearing a new robe, dark blue with white highlights along the sleeves, and battle armor underneath. She ignited her saber, the blade casting a blue glow onto dark skin.

The woman accompanying her wasn't Jinora, her Padawan. She was a taller woman, with hair white like snow. Her lightsaber was a similar shade of purple as her lipstick, and she wore robes of white and red. Her skin was lighter than Korra's, but a little darker than Asami's.

"Asa-Captain Sato, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I think." Asami stared at the two force users. She didn't know the other woman at all, but her presence made her uncomfortable. It wasn't like the roiling darkness inside the Sith, but it wasn't the kind of calm light or bright fire that she associated with Jinora and Korra, either.

The Sith seemed to recognize her. He looked surprised, and for only a brief second, afraid. "Lord Lomea. This is a... pleasure."

"Ah ah, manners, Lord Zaheer. I am, after all, your better." Lomea waggled a single finger. "It's Darth Imperius, now. And you will show me the proper respect."

Darth Asami mouthed. Korra's expression was momentarily sheepish.

"You have strange allies, Avatar." Lord Zaheer said, his attention turning to Korra. Lomea didn't seem to react to his slight, but the air in the cargo bay began to feel suffocating.

He held his arms out, and all around and above them, red lightsabers flared to life. "I did not come alone either. But if you surrender, I promise to let your friends go."

Korra held her hand away from her side, a second lightsaber flying from belt to hand, it's blade as blue as her first. She grinned cockily. "Fifteen to two hardly seems fair. Maybe we should wait for you to get more back up."

"Asami, I'm so sorry." Hiroshi crawled on his knees towards her. He reached for her face, for the burn scars on her right cheek. "Is there anything I can do to…"

She turned her head so he couldn't touch her. "Just...help me out of these shackles, and maybe we can talk."

Lightning shot from Imperius's hand, and Zaheer sent a wave of force to knock her off balance. His apprentices moved in, a whir of red blades countered by blue. Korra fought three men at once, weaving her body through the air, her lightsabers like extensions of her own arms. She parried two Sith with one blade and a third with the second.

Zaheer focused most of his attention on Darth Imperius. She caught his lightning in her hand and threw it right back at him. "You moved against the Dark Council. You are a traitor to the Empire."

"The Empire and the Republic are two sides of the same coin." Their lightsabers clashed. "Both must fall, for something new to rise from the ashes. Your Jedi friend is the key."

"Well. You're not entirely wrong." With a sweep of her hand, she flung Zaheer back. "She is but one part of the puzzle, and you will be swept under the rug of history, forgotten."

Behind Zaheer, Hiroshi suddenly darted forward, a vibroblade in his hand. The Sith turned, slashing with his lightsaber and severing Hiroshi's head from his body.

"No!" Asami charged heedlessly forward, firing a blaster at Zaheer.

"Oh, enough." Lightning struck Asami, launching her into the air. Zaheer turned back to face Imperius, only to barely block a blur of blue as Korra surged forward and struck with all her strength. It was enough to push Zaheer back several feet as their lightsabers locked.

He saw the fury in her eyes, and he laughed. "I should have done that to begin with. Give in to your anger. Hate me. Use that hate to fuel you!"

Korra kicked him away, then lept forward. He recovered, rolling out of the way as she cut through the air where his head had been. She turned, her motions a blur, each strike more powerful than the last.

Imperius studied her as she fought, mentally filing the information away for later. Allies and enemies were often interchangeable for her. Absently, she pushed away the last of the Sith apprentices with a flick of her wrist, then strode to where Asami had crawled. The captain lay on the ground, cradling her father's head in one arm.

"You're holding back. You can't hope to win if you keep holding back." Zaheer parried another blow, then flipped back. He landed in a crouch, looking up at Korra as she stood in front of him. The world seemed to warp in a bubble around her as she moved closer, the Force rippling out in shockwaves with every step.

Prying Asami's hands from around Hiroshi's head, Imperius forced her to stand. Asami blinked her eyes, returning to the here and now. She looked at the Dark Lord in confusion. "I don't understand."

"The Force is neither dark, nor light, Captain. The Force just is. The Sith wallow in darkness and the Jedi are blinded by their light, and they are both made weak. True power comes from striking a balance. I'm afraid the Avatar is about to lose that balance, and not even I wish to see what that looks like."

Asami turned to look at Korra. She had Zaheer cornered now, raining down a flurry of saber strikes and force powered kicks. The air was warping around her, and it was frightening. She still didn't know what an 'Avatar of the Force' even was, but if this was what it looked like, she was afraid for Korra. The darkness in the cargo bay was so oppressive. Korra was really the only family she had left, and she was about to lose her.

A well-timed counter disarmed Zaheer, literally. He fell to his knees in front of Korra. "You know what you must do. End me and unleash your terror on the galaxy."

"Korra! Don't!" Asami grabbed Korra's wrist as the Jedi lifted her sabers up. Her heart pounded in her chest as Korra turned her head to look at her. Her eyes seemed clouded, azure turned yellow. Asami fought the impulse to run."This isn't you. Please, come back. This isn't you!"

"Asami…?" Korra's eyes started to clear. She clicked her lightsabers off and lowered her arms. "You're okay! I was so scared, I thought..." A pained expression crossed her face, and she gently touched the right side of Asami's face. "Your scars, they got worse."

"I'll live," Asami replied, leaning into the touch. "I just...thank you."

"I think you were the one that saved me."

"Touching." Darth Imperius stepped past them. She stepped on Zaheer's chest, forcing him onto his back.

"You don't understand. She has the power to turn everything to ashes."

"You are the one who does not understand." She pressed harder with her foot, then looked at Korra. "You know I can't let you have him. He knows too many secrets."

"I'm not going to let you kill him, either." Korra's grip tightened around her hilts.

"He will face justice. He can go before a tribunal, which I can assure you will be incredibly unpleasant. Or he can die here, now, by my blade. Painless."

"Torture or death?" Asami asked. "That's Sith Justice?"

"He killed your father. And you want to grant him mercy? Do you have a better suggestion?"

"Carbonite. And then give him as a present to a Hutt." Asami folded her arms. "I'm sure one of those slugs would like to have a Sith Lord on display."

Imperius pointed at Asami. "I like the way you think. Get him out of the way, and gain a favor with the Hutts." She lifted her hand, and Zaheer floated into the air.

"Wait." Korra hung her sabers on her belt, and held out her hand. "We don't have to just… part ways. We worked well together. Remember Nar Shadda? This could be the start of something good. A way to finally stop fighting and have both our peoples live together in peace."

The Dark Lord quirked an eyebrow. "And shall we dance together in fields of flowers, while Twi'leks in pretty dresses play a jolly tune?"

Korra pursed her lips. "You know the next time we meet it might not be under such friendly circumstances?"

"It shall be a day when the stars themselves tremble."

Asami unfolded her arms once the Sith was gone. She felt exhausted. "I'm never of any use when dealing with Sith."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your father." Korra put an arm around Asami's shoulder. She still felt a queasy sensation in her stomach. How far she'd nearly fallen. Master Tenzin would be so disappointed. "But if you hadn't been here…"

Nodding, Asami stepped away from Korra. She had to tend to her father's body. She didn't look forward to it. But before she could get very far, Korra caught her wrist. "Let me do it. You shouldn't have to."

She looked at Korra for a long moment. "Okay. You know, the sad thing is, I don't even know why it hurts so much. Not after everything he did. I can't forgive him."

"I know. But you still loved him."

It was hours before they got back to Asami's ship. Neither spoke much. Asami had too much on her mind, and Korra spent most of that time recentering herself. She sat down in the cockpit, next to Asami, and waited for the pilot to talk first.

"...how did you end up working with a Darth, anyway?"

It wasn't what Korra had expected her to ask about first, but she went with it. "Long story. She's kind of weird, though. Radical, for a Sith. I think some day she's going to make major changes in the Empire."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Asami looked skeptical. "Because that kind of sounds like what Zaheer wanted."

"Change isn't a bad thing, Asami." Korra put her hand over Asami's. "Neither is learning from your enemy, or trying to teach them."

"So where should we go?" Asami swallowed a lump in her throat as she stared at their hands together.

"You've been through a lot and I've spent the past few weeks scouring the galaxy for you. I'd like to go some place where we can relax, forget about everything for awhile. Feel safe again."

Asami keyed in a course. "I think I know exactly where we can go. But what do you want to bet you get a council summons. You've probably got a lot of explaining to do to Master Tenzin."

Korra made a face. "I already learned never to bet with you."

"I win your robes in a sabacc game one time..."