We May Have All Come on Different Ships, But We're in the Same Boat Now (ZAY)

[Akirapryde]

Zay smiled for a moment. It was brief and timid, and for Ni, a rare glimpse in to Zay's heart. As quickly as it surfaced, it was buried under years of conditioning. "How can you tell....." she asked then halfway through realized what the answer had to be. "Your one of THEM," she added as she suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Master had always warned me of Jedi. That they couldn't be trusted. That they speak lies and hide behind their twisted views of how right and wrong should be."

She looked down and shook her head, "I learned that not all of that is true." She looked up at Ni as she added, "you don't appear like that."

Her hands moved across her knees as if trying to find some lost thing. "You speak of such strange things." She moved her to eyes to watch her hands. There was shame in her heart as she continued. "To want someone. Master Merrick never shared me. I guess in that I should be grateful. But I never once considered having a say. He commanded and I obeyed. He was to be pleased and I was to please. That is just how it was. To want someone...it wasn't my place. I was to be used at his whim and he made very good use of me."

She looked up to Ni, "it got to the point that I would get jealous of girls like you. But at the same time, I felt like if I did my role right, girls like you wouldn't have to suffer." Her eyes watered once more. "I can't even tell you why, but in my heart it is true," she said truthfully