Here's the third fanfic from last week's update to the Fan Fiction Archive.

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Balance Point by Amidala_Skywalker

Summary:

Set after novel, Dark Journey, Tenel Ka struggles with her decision to accept her birthright, the Hapan Crown. Who can guide her through this dark time?

Excerpt

In shadows, there is light. In strength, mercy. In duty, sacrifice.

I believe that inside one, there are two. A balancing.

I believe we create our own light and our own darkness – and that in the universe and the Force exists a grey, an essence that is good, bad and neither at the same time. Through that impartiality, we create our footsteps. We trap ourselves in our own cells. We create our own happiness. We decide our own right and wrong.

We kill ourselves slowly, gently.

I believe the trap is to trust that there is only one side to a surface, that the angles have become curved.

I believe that consequences should be decided before actions. That innocence should be claimed before guilt. That youth should never be lost before age.

I uphold the principles of honour, loyalty, and obligation. I realise the significance of what was entrusted to me. Know that I did not ask for this sacrifice, but that it cannot fall to another.

My responsibility weighs upon me. It is the heat on my shoulders, the nightly suffocating pressure on my chest and the weariness in my bones come morning. It is also my voice and my tool. It is a part of me that I never wanted. It is the part of me that calls for judgement. It is my little voice that demands.

It thinks it has won. I have made a decision I thought I would sooner regret than accept. Know that it was never my only choice. Know that freedom of choice makes life more individual, unique. Fact. But a promise is a vow that should not be broken.

My birthright is my burden and my promise to life and each breath.

In dark periods, there must be light. In night, there must be stars. I believe that there is no balance without contrast.

There must be grey. There are more sides to my struggle.

I must find personal balance.

Read more here.