Dark Lady of the Sith - Notes: One of this fanfic’s hardest aspects to write is the relationship between Nadia and Max’ Veers. I really like the char of Veers, as small a part as he plays in the movies (what does happen to him, exactly? He disappears after Hoth!), but found, as I re-read my older version of the story, that he became too nice on some occasions and too unconcerned with his duty. I’ve tried to put him back on track, whilst at the same time leaving him in the awkward position of being Nadia’s eventual lover. It’s a strange tale, but I like it.

In this conceptual scene, Veers calls Nadia to his quarters under official pretences, and surprises her when he reveals his true intent.

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Nadia watched the General as one might watch a man of an unstable disposition - he seemed to be acting in a completely contradictory manner to that which he usually did, and this threw her off balance. She could not read him at all, and she felt suddenly as if marooned on an island amidst a tumultuous ocean, waiting for the uncertain future to happen - waiting to see whether the sea would swallow her whole, or just die away and leave her in peace.

He rose from his desk and stepped slowly round it. Nadia panicked and stepped back, and then back again, until she hit the wall.

He followed her at his own gentle pace, unhurried and leisurely; “Why do you flee from me, Starglider?” he asked.

She looked down at her feet and felt her heart race, “I’m not sir.”

“Then what do you call this ‘shrinking away’? This scuttling back across my office? I never asked you to move.”

“Sorry, sir.”

He stared at her in silence for a moment and tilted her chin up to face him, “Lord Vader is a very fortunate man to have such a talented young prodigy at his disposal. I shall tell him such, even if he refuses to see it.”

Nadia’s brow contracted - talented? What was he talking about?

“Ah, you look perplexed,” he noted, smiling briefly at her, “You still have much to learn about life under my wing. I do not praise where praise is not due, I do not give constant nods of approval to work done, no matter how well, nor do I go out of my way to indulge my crew, for they should always do what is expected of them. It should not be a thing in need or praise. You think I have treated you harshly these past months, and that I have not given you credit when you feel you have warranted it, but it is all for a reason. I do not want to make you like some of my colleagues, child - I do not wish for you to become soft and self-indulgent, looking from whence your next pat on the back shall come.” He shook his head, “I do not work like that…”

She swallowed and managed a small nod, “Yes, sir.”

He looked down his nose at her again, “You puzzle me,” he said, tilting her head to one side, then to the other, “You are so serious and grave. I fear Lord Vader has made you grow up rather too fast.”

“Sir?”

“You do not understand - why should you? You know no different to the life you have lived.” He finally dropped his fingers from her chin and sighed, clasping his hands lightly at the small of his back. He then just stared outright in silence.

Nadia stared back, shifting uneasily on her feet.

“I respect you. I’ve watched you grow up, haven’t I? For you have grown a lot from when you first set foot on my ship. You’re a little taller, but it’s in here” - and he tapped her temple - “that you have matured the most.”

She started at his touch but had no room left to retreat, so settled with turning her eyes to the floor.

“In fact,” he continued, lowering his tone of voice to a level that sent a strange thrill through Nadia’s veins, “I fear that I have come to admire you too much.”

She inhaled slowly, feeling a strange tautening of the air about her, like the stretching of an elastic band, being pulled out, out, out… She rose her eyes to his and stared at him, feeling her body begin to shake beneath the tension.

“Why do you tremble?” he asked, lightly touching her at the shoulder, “Are you unwell?”

She swallowed, damning herself, “I’m just…” Her words faded in her maw, tumbling back down her throat as she allowed herself to be consumed by his stare.

The General raised his brow, waiting for the lost answer, “Just what, Nadia?”

She closed her eyes - she liked it when he called her by her name. So few people did. Even her master settled with the aloof nickname of ‘young one’.

She licked her lip, dithering; “Just…” she murmured, unable to find any words with which to answer without exposing her affection for him.

He smiled again, “Just nervous, I gather. And I do not blame you - look at me, standing over you like your master stands over us all. You do not need another man overshadowing you such all the time, I am sure.” He stepped back and returned toward his desk, and Nadia felt her stomach drop back to reality with a rather disappointed thud.

“I would like you to remain on my ship, if that is your master’s pleasure.”

Nadia met his eyes and could discern there a slight flicker, a faint signal that suggested to her, in the words that remained unsaid, that it would be his pleasure, too.

She almost stopped herself but thought that she may as well make a complete fool herself, seeing as she was already halfway there. “And is it your pleasure, sir?”

He liked that, she could tell he did. His eyes sparkled at her, rewarding her for her audacity and he closed the space between them again. “Yes, Nadia,” he said when but a foot apart from her, “It would be my pleasure.”

She felt his hand reach up to touch her at her jaw line, fingers tracing the contour of the bone down to her chin and back again.

He watched how she reacted, saw her close her eyes in bliss and sigh, and then stooped to her, sliding his arms beneath hers and kissing her hard.

Nadia clutched onto him as though she never wanted to let him go - she couldn’t quite come to terms with what was happening and what he had done, yet she could not say that she hadn’t wanted this for the Force knew she had. Her affection toward him had been gently simmering in her heart for so long, its prospects of fulfilment in his person had looked dim, yet now she had him.

After the General had drunk his fill of her, he parted his lips from hers and rested his face against her cheek. Nadia continued to hold him, unable to bring a single word of thanks or elation to her lips, so overwhelmed was she.

“Oh, my child,” he whispered, rubbing his cheek against hers and holding her tight, “My beautiful child…”

She swallowed, her heart pumping so furiously she thought it would burst. She wanted to say something to him, yet still her voice was restrained by her burning passion.

“Nadia,” he said, drawing back so that he could look into her eyes, having to pry the reluctant girl away from his body, to which she held herself so firmly, “Nadia… forgive me, how uncouth a gesture that was… I should have at least given you some warning.”

He studied her flushed features and watched a breathless smile rise on her face.

“She smiles,” he whispered, “Then she is not offended?”

She shook her head, finally managing a short “No,” in response, and fell back forward into his breast, nestling herself there. The General’s hands clasped over her back and rubbed her body tenderly.

“I love you, Nadia,” he said at length, resting his chin over her head, “Force help me, but I do…”

“I’ve loved you for so long, sir…” she replied, managing to reserve enough breath for this discourse, “But I haven’t had the nerve to say so.”

He chuckled a little. “But I have noticed. I thought my imagination were construing it to taunt me, but, no, it was not.” He kissed her brow, “Oh, Nadia, what am I to do? I cannot tell anyone, I cannot court you for we are colleagues, for we are professionals needing to work together…” He looked at her sadly, “Do you know what I am talking about? If you truly wish to love me, that is, to --”

“Of course I do,” she interrupted ardently, “I would never let you go if I had my way now.”

He smiled again, but it was tinged with sorrow. “One day, when this war is over, maybe we can be together. For now, there is little I can do to console our feelings...”

She shook her head. “What can be wrong with it?”

“I’m a General, you are an apprentice, not just to Lord Vader, but to me.” He gestured at his broad chest, “Besides the fact I could easily be your father, I would be seen to be abusing my position. And abusing you.”

“But you’re not.”

“That doesn’t change how society views things. You‘re still so young, and --”

“Well, damn society…”

He chuckled. “If it were only that simple.” He gathered her up in his arms again and kissed her lightly on the lips, “As long as I know that you love me in turn - that is what has been troubling me, the fact that my love might be unrequited… that I might be an old fool with a schoolboy crush on a very young lady.”

“Well now you know,” she said.

“Yes. And how long before your master knows, too? And Captain Svenson?”

He felt Nadia’s body bristle at the mention of the man; “Ah, that hurts your pride…” he mused.

“I hate him.”

“Hmm… I noticed.”

“You can’t approve of him yourself, sir?” she asked, leaning back to give him an astonished glare.

“No,” he replied, “I do not… but we all must tolerate our colleagues.” He drew her in for one final kiss then pried himself from her arms, “And now, you must go. I have detained you long enough.”

“When will I see you again?” she asked as he set himself behind his desk once more.

He sighed, steepling his fingers and staring blankly at his paperwork. “Nadia,” he finally said, “Do not think me unfair, but we cannot go around holding hands - it is not an option.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said quietly.

“I know. Just be aware that I am trying to protect us both - you especially. I have risked a lot coming this far…” She watched him as he mulled over all this in silence for a while longer.

“I cannot live like this forever,” Nadia whispered as the lull dragged on, drawing his eyes back onto her.

“I know,” he conceded, “Just please, for your own sake, be careful. I will let you know when I can next see you on a more personal note, like this… but for now, just take care. We are both treading dangerously.”