"Ah, Maul, what a welcome sight," I threw my arms open wide and let out a sigh of relief. The fact that the fierce looking Zabrak was glaring at me in annoyance only made me feel all the better.

"Oh, yes, Sister. He looks pleased to see you as well," My elder sister, Sabra, pointed out sarcastically as she entered the room behind me.

"Perhaps not, but I'm glad to see him," I told her truthfully. I had stopped near a table and began pulling out the pins holding my hair tightly and painfully in place.

"I can't imagine why," Sabra grumbled from her place at the door. She never was fond of him. Not even when he was very young and just beginning to transform into the formidable beast he is today. I, on the other hand, had always been more fascinated than startled by his appearance and demeanor.

"Because he isn't them. He doesn't parade himself. He doesn't sell himself. He doesn't have to. Unlike politicians and Jedi, he doesn't need trickery and dressed up words to be powerful," We had just come from a party with our father, Senator Palpatine. I had always hated those functions. It always felt like people were hiding themselves behind politeness and fancy clothes.

My father chuckled at my comment and rested a hand on Maul's shoulder as he passed him by. "You should feel lucky, my apprentice. It is quite rare to receive such a compliment," I could hear the amusement in his voice.

With my hair freed from it's restraints I ran my fingers across my aching scalp. Sabra laughed openly at me, clutching her infant son to her chest.

"Aren't you a sight to see," She taunted as I patted my now very wild hair. It was sticking up in all directions and I knew I would have to soak it for a long time in order to restore it to it's normal state. "Children would run screaming," Sabra insisted.

"Perhaps some, but not yours," I playfully crept up to her, my eyes set on Casta, my nephew. He squealed in delight and reached for me. I scooped him up and spun him around.

"No, Casta is a fearless warrior," I held him up high and he giggled. "Aren't you?" I kissed his cheek as I brought him back down and danced over to where Maul was standing silently and as stiffly as a statue.

"See?" I held Casta up to Maul and couldn't help but laugh as the small child shrieked and reached towards the Sith's face. "He loves him! He doesn't have a fearful bone in his body," Every time Casta had visited our home since his birth he has shown great interest in Maul, though Maul would never acknowledge it.

"That's enough," Sabra snatched Casta from my hands and held him protectively to her chest. "He is a child. It is not that he is fearless, it is that he doesn't know any better," I felt irritation begin to creep up my spine.

"What? Are you afraid of him?" I taunted my retreating sister.

"Of course I am! Why aren't you? He could kill us in cold blood and feel not an inkling of regret," My sister's anger was boiling over. This was the sort of outburst I was accustomed to, as we did not share many opinions.

"But he wouldn't. He is on our side after all. There is no reason for us to fear him," I reminded her.

"Besides, you like us, don't you? Or at least me," I flashed a smile at Maul over my shoulder, knowing he wouldn't respond.

"It is best that he has no feelings towards you at all. Attachment often leads to weakness," My father chimed in from his desk on the far side of the room.

"Then what does that say about you?" I questioned with a sly smile. He returned it gracefully.

"It is possible for attachments to fuel power. Your death would destroy and strengthen me, and for as long as you, your sister, and Casta are alive, I am only more motivated to crush my enemies and create a better world for you to live in," His explanation was rather confident.

"You make a conflicting argument," I pointed out.