Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 13

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Noelani crouched in the burned hulk of a building; she had pushed out with the Force, creating a sort of flattened sphere around her. An imaginary construct in the Force which allowed her to feel all the life in its radius; everything from the smallest bug, to the lumbering feral that was her prey.

This was her twelfth mission to collect a feral, and the first one in which she was the nominal leader. It had been nearly three months of going on raids with others before Gorn had trusted her enough to let her lead her own team out into the wild under-city.

She shifted slightly so she could look out the window with her eyes. She knew that it was not really necessary, but she also knew that it made the others more accepting of her. That it made her seem more human.

On the ground beneath them was the feral. It appeared to have at one time been a human girl, and if Noelani had to guess, she was around twenty standard years old. What was saddest to Noelani was that guessing from the amount of coral growth on the girl's body; she had been a feral for over ten years.

Noelani shuddered at the thought. Having been tortured at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, and knowing that everyday with a coral infection was pain of a similar nature, caused her to feel sorry for the girl.

She tightened her grip on her saber, and glanced over at Asyra'mata. The red-skin Twi'lek had proven that she could be quite helpful on these hunts. Noelani then looked past the girl to see Rosen. He was a large man, bulky and muscular. A former bouncer, he had been helping Evir collect ferals for months now, and was now on her team.

Noelani nodded her head once, and then grabbed the window, and heaved herself out of it. As she dropped to the ground, she thumbed on her lightsaber. With a snap-hiss its brilliant light flooded the area, and the feral groaned.

Noelani landed on her feet, dropping into a crouch as she stared at the feral. It raised its arms, and started ambling forward, its moans growing louder, and beginning to echo with subharmonics.

She now knew that this was the newest phenomenon which Evir was studying, and how the ferals communicated with one another.

Suddenly, the heavy titanium-mesh net slashed across her view, folding itself around the feral. Noelani looked over and saw Rosen lowering the net gun from his shoulder even as she thumbed off her saber.

She grinned, and activated her comlink. "Chase, we've got one. Bring in the boat."

A quick double-click came back to her, and she turned off the device. In the distance she could hear an engine turning over. She knew that that would be Chase with the groundcar.

A tremor raced down her spine, and she frowned; every nerve sizzled to hyperawareness. The Force screamed at her: danger!

Slowly, she spun in a circle, her eyes lifting to watch the buildings around them.

From the floor above their level, windows burst out, and a trio of ferals dropped down. They landed nearly on top of Rosen.

"Rosen!" she called out, as she lifted her saber and thumbed it to life. Without a second's thought she rushed forward, running towards her teammate.

By virtue of being closer to him, the ferals reached him first. Rosen screamed as the first one bit him.

A bright red bolt flashed from the window they had been hiding in, slamming into the feral that had latched its mouth to Rosen's shoulder. Its head evaporated under the impact of the blaster bolt.

As Noelani closed with the ferals, she spoke into the comlink's mic. "Nice shot Asyra'mata."

A quick double-click came back to her, but she pushed that from her mind. She was in the midst of the ferals, her blade slashed in a half arc around her; a wide cut which bisected both of the ferals.

They fell away dead, and Noelani slid to a stop next to Rosen. Turning off her lightsaber, she knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his bald head.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and as his eyes opened, he smiled at her. "Was nice knowing you Noelani… now kill me. Kill me 'fore I become one of 'em.

She felt hot tears burning her eyes. "I… I don't want to…"

"Ya know there's no cure. Now, do it child. Do it while I still have my own mind."

Noelani lifted her saber, placing its hilt on the side of his head. She could feel the sense of wrongness as it flooded throughout his body. Another tear splashed against his cheek as a jagged piece of coral erupted from his cheek.

"Do it!" he hissed at her.

Still crying, she activated the blade. Its thrum sounded loud and oppressive to her ears, pounding against them. The sound told a story of how she had failed her friend.

She deactivated the blade, and the silence crashed in on her. She curled into a ball, her whole body shaking with the tears. Before long, a tentative hand touched her shoulder; thin fingers caressed her hair, after a moment, the hand snaked around her, holding her tight as she cried.

Then she heard Asyra'mata's voice in her ear. "It's all right… everything's fine. You did the right thing."

Then Chase was there, picking her up off the ground, cradling her to his chest. She leaned against him, comforted by his presence. He gently placed her into the groundcar, and within moments Asyra'mata was there again, comforting her.

A few minutes later, she heard something drop heavily into the bed of the groundcar, and knew that Chase had retrieved Rosen's body. Then he appeared in the driver's seat. He reached out and gripped her hand for a moment.

Once he released her, he put the vehicle into motion, heading towards the compound.

With the back of her hand, Noelani pushed away some tears. "H… how did that happen?"

"We just got unlucky is all," Asyra'mata replied.

Noelani shook her head. "No. That's not it at all. They were waiting for us. Expecting us. That's a new behavior that we hadn't seen in the ferals before. The feral colonies are getting smarter."

She could feel the other two's hesitance to accept her ideas. She understood that. She didn't want to think of what horrors a gathering of intelligent ferals could unleash upon those who lived in the under-city. It was bad enough when they were just a mindless, reactive mob.

She straightened slightly, and wrapped her arms around the younger Twi'lek, and smiled at the girl. "Thank you."

Asyra'mata just shook her head, and turned to look out the window. Before long they were pulling in front of the processing station, and Gorn with two of his assistants were walking towards them.

Noelani sighed, and got out of the car, and felt Gorn's annoyance and anger as he saw Rosen's body lying in the cargo area next to the tied up feral.

His hard eyes flickered among them all, before settling onto Noelani. "What's this? Your first mission and you've already have a casualty in your group?"

Noelani stamped down on her annoyance with the older man. "It's the ferals, they did something new. They ambushed us."

Gorn's eyes narrowed as he watched her for a moment. Then he sighed and looked away. "You're not the first to report that today. Get out of here; I'll have to talk about this with Evir."

Her eyes widened in surprise, as she looked over towards Chase. He just shrugged his shoulders, and together they turned away, and headed deeper into the compound. Before long, they were in front of the building that they shared.

The trio walked in, and two short blond blurs rushed forward and grabbed Noelani around the waste. Noelani smiled down at the two sisters, and continued on into the room. In the corner, she saw Huff, the young mute Bothan who had also attached himself to her.

She smiled at him, and waved him forward. He watched her for a moment, a quiver wavering across his muzzle. Finally, he moved forward and wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug.

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Kor huddled in the cramped confines of the transport. They were all being taken to the spaceport, and a set of Jedi ships waiting there to get them all off the planet. There was no doubt now that the Guard had turned against the Jedi.

Kor closed her eyes, fighting the tears that wanted to come as she remembered Master Kam being shot in cold blood by that sadistic commander.

She scrubbed at her eyes with her paws, and then gave her head a quick shake.

The transport rumbled to a stop and the doors swung open. Kor blinked at the sudden influx of light, and stood up and got off the vehicle. She looked up and saw the three transports on the tarmac a hundred meters away, bright spotlights coming from them, roving the ground.

Kor paused, allowing the rest of the padawans to flow around her, as they rushed towards the transports.

She felt something else though. Something urged her to stay behind.

This was her home, more than Bothuwai had ever been.

She had met her best friend, Noelani here. She had learned so much here.

She had met Poll here.

She had lost Poll here.

Part of her still blamed Ben for what had happened, even though she knew that it had hurt Ben as much as it had hurt her. She bowed her head for a moment, as a fresh wave of pain flowed over her; she accepted the pain, comforted by its familiarity.

First Poll had died in those terrible caverns, and then Thann had informed her that he could no longer be her Master. Not for the first time, she felt lost and alone.

Lifting her head, she stared at the brilliant lights of the closest of the transports, and made up her mind. Moving purposefully, she headed towards one of the maintenance sheds, and with a flick of the Force opened the door.

She slipped into the dark room, and closed the door, waiting.

A few minutes later, she heard the voice of one of the older Jedi calling out, "That's everyone, let's lift off."

Acknowledgments rang out, and Kor could feel a low rumble deep in the pit of her stomach as the starships activated their repulsor engines.

A few minutes later, she heard the transports ignite their ion engines. Before long, the nearly deafening noise had dwindled to a low roar and then was gone all together.

Kor waited another fifteen minutes and then pushed open the door to the maintenance shed. She stared out at the empty starport, and then shifted her gaze to the equally empty Jedi Temple.

Pulling her robe tighter around her shoulders, she began the long walk back to the Temple; oddly happy at the solitude. For the first time since Poll's death, she almost felt at peace.

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Next Chapter

Memories - Epilogue

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Anakin was strapped into the crash couch of his X-Wing, the swirls of hyperspace hypnotic before him. He stretched as much as possible in the cramp cockpit trying to work out the kinks in his shoulders. He glanced down at the console, and noted that the last leg of his trip was over; after two weeks on Obra-Skai he was finally returning to the Jedi Academy on Yavin.

Grinning, he pushed the levers forward as Fiver, his astromech, told him that it was time to leave hyperspace. The swirling tunnel collapsed and the Yavin IV hung before him a blue and green jewel, in front of the larger orange and brown sphere of Yavin itself.

He activated his com and got clearance to land, once that was taken care of he called up his apartment.

His Aunt Mara answered, "About time you should back up, Solo."

He chuckled, long used to her acerbic personality, "I blame Uncle Luke for sending me on these things."

"Well, we've been waiting, and everyone's here, but you should have a package to pick up at the landing field."

The grin still on his lips, he nodded his head, "I understand Aunt Mara, and I'll see you soon, and there should probably be some canapes around."

"Copy that, Solo," she replied with a chuckle and then the circuit shut down.

Still grinning, he dove into the atmosphere, ignoring the squak of concern that came from traffic control. Speeding up, he dropped low, riding just a few meters above the massive trees which covered most of the area. Flowers and leaves blew up in the air, disturbed by the wake of his passage.

Within minutes he was within sight of the Jedi Temple, and traffic control was getting frantic at his speed and the fact that he was ignoring the customary approach patterns. With a flick of his wrist he turned off the comm unit entirely as he circled the Temple itself.

Leveling out, he flashed over the landing area, causing an explosion of colored petals to shower the area. He simultaneously pulled up on his stick and throttled his speed back down effectively flipping his craft over and shedding all its forward momentum.

Righting himself, he once more closed on the landing area at a more sedate pace. Arriving at his designated plot, he gently lowered the fighter to the ground. Pulling off his flight helmet, he looked at the stone bench set beside the landing area.

It wasn't that long ago that he sat there waiting for Jaina to come pick him up. For a moment, he wondered what his life would have been like if he hadn't came back to Yavin.

Even as he thought that, he focused on the person sitting on the bench. She was a slip of a girl in an orange jumpsuit, and had a piece of cloth tied over her hair. As he realized that she was without shoes as usual, he found that his grin had widened into a full smile; and he knew that his life would not be nearly as complete if he hadn't returned.

Pushing open the canopy, he jumped out and used the Force to slow his drop to the ground. The smell of flowers hung heavily on the air and the petals themselves were nearly everywhere; placed there by the aggressiveness of his approach. A strong wind would occasionally gust through them, sending a rainbow's worth of colors fluttering on the breeze.


He closed the distance between them, as he walked, he noticed that she shifted the cloth on top of her head as the wind tried to snatch it away.

Finally he was standing before her, and tossed her a half-hearted grin and a wave. "Hey suspicious person."

She raised her head, a frown on her own lips. "You're late. Way late."

"Sorry that I was a little late," he replied, ignoring her. "But then again, I'm not the suspicious person here."

"I'm not a suspicious person!" She exclaimed as her green eyes wavered between anger and amusement.

He laughed and knelt down in front of her. "What? Sorry, but no matter how you look at it, you're a suspicious person."

"How?"

"It's just everything," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a pout touched her lips. "That's not true."

He patted the cloth. "What's with this, anyways?"

She sighed, and gripped the cloth tighter to her head. "Promise not to laugh?"

"I won't," he said, standing back up.

"You really, really promise not to laugh?"

"I swear that I won't, no matter what happens."

She frowned slightly. "That sounds made up, but it's a promise."

"I do keep my promises," he replied.

She nodded her head, and then sighed. "Well... I went to the barber and asked for a haircut. Then..." She pulled the cloth off, revealing that her long hair had been almost entirely hacked off into a short bob that ended just beneath her ears. "Then I kind of got a lot cut off. He was new, and a Chadra-fan... I don't think he knew that I was a girl."

He couldn't help it, Anakin burst out laughing.

She threw the cloth at him as she pouted. "You said you wouldn't laugh."

His laughing tapered off, and still grinning, he responded, "Well, it's just that with that haircut, you do look kind of like a boy. Next time, take Jaina or Nelani with you."

She sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll do that."

He held his hands out towards her. "Well come on then, let's go."

She reached up and grabbed his hands, and he pulled her to a standing position. "I commed Aunt Mara on my way down, and she said she'd make you some canapes. Also, Jaina, Tenel Ka, Eyrl, Kiori and Nelani are going to be there. They're all there waiting for us."

She grinned up at him, the smile lighting up her eyes as the wind once again tossed flowers around them. "Then we've got to hurry."

As they began to walk towards the apartments in the distance, he smiled down at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "No Tahiri, we've got all the time in the world."

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The time that had stopped slowly starts moving...

... all while holding on to a small fragment of a miracle.

I don't know how long it will take...

But... there's plenty of time.

Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 12

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Ulya watched the image of the human woman. She claimed her name was Zannah, and had in life been the apprentice of Darth Bane.

She knelt, absorbing as much of the information being provided as she could. She found it hard to believe that at one time she hated these devices with such a deep passion. An unfortunate side-effect of her rearing; quickly forgotten as she leaned the lore of the Sith; dark affections which fused mechanical and biological—all done to further her own power.

Finally, she lifted her head and looked around her, the Force vibrated. Something out there was calling to her; a shift in powers that she could use.

She noticed the hologram of Zannah nodding her head, and focused on her again. "Yes, you can feel it can't you. The call. Follow it, find your apprentice. Then, and only then, will you become a true Sith."

Ulya focused on the swirls of the Force for a moment. Then she nodded and focused on Zannah once more. "And if she refuses to come with me?"

"Then kill her. If she refuses, or if you believe she is not worth being your apprentice, then she must die. Your life, your existence, depends on secrecy. Sheer power is fine, but there is a lot to be said about twisting beings to your will through trickery, and making events go your way with machinations from behind the scenes. It may require more patience, but such tactics will succeed where brute force often fails."

Ulya thought for a moment, and then nodded her head. "I understand this."

"Good," Zannah replied sternly. "Then go forth and find your apprentice."

Ulya Tu stood up, her joints popping with the movement, and strode from the room. In a matter of minutes she had left the hidden temple, and began the long journey to where he ship waited for her.

She would find this apprentice.

She would become the Dark Lady of the Sith.

She would have her revenge.

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Tionne stormed through the Temple. She felt anger and frustration working at her. It had been days since young Noelani had disappeared, yet there had been no sign of her in all that time.

In the Force, there were occasional flickers of the girl's presence, just enough to let the Jedi know that she was alive and still somewhere on Coruscant.

Her husband reached out and touched her elbow.

She stopped in her tracks, and turned to face him. Concern lined his face. "Calm yourself Tionne. We know that she's all right."

Tionne sighed, and exhaled slowly, not wanting to vent her anger and frustration on Kam. "I know, Kam. It's just… she could have given me a chance. She didn't have to run."

Kam nodded his head slowly. "I know, yet she did what she felt she had to do. She is the product of both Anakin and Tahiri after all. Once she had made up her mind, there was probably nothing in this galaxy that could have stopped her."

"But why? Why would she run?"

Kam's face darkened slightly as he looked away from her. "Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you have ran away from us, if the Jedi had treated you the way that we've treated her?"

Tionne sighed, and rubbed her face in her hands. "I… you're right of course."

Kam smiled at her, and grabbed her hand in his. "Come on, I'm sure the Council is waiting for us by now."

She nodded, and then spoke again, "I think it's time to go back to Ossus."

He looked at her for a moment. "And Noelani?"

"You're right. She'll be found when she wants to be found. Until then, we can't put off our responsibilities to the rest of the Younglings on Ossus."

Kam watched her for a moment, and then nodded his head. "All right," he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Together they walked the rest of the way to the Council chambers. She nodded as the Padawan guarding the door bowed to them. Then they were in the Council chamber itself.

The rest of the Masters looked at them. For the first time since Noelani's disappearance, Tionne could feel a real smile twitching at her lips.

"Sorry we're late," Kam said as he walked over to his chair. Tionne took hers, and then the meeting began.

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Chase walked beside Noelani, their hands tightly gripped in one another's. Ahead of them was one of the many guards who seemed to reside in Evir's compound. All of those guards were big, burly men; who looked like they might have at one time been trained soldiers.

He felt his mind wandering, trying to make sense of the past few hours. What troubled him the most was that he could not figure out a reason why Evir would want them to help him.

As they entered a room, he shoved the concerns from his mind. He saw Evir in one corner talking to a Chev in a blue lab coat. A large conference table dominated the room, and sitting at it were two more people. A Bothan, who appeared to have mange, and a human, with two distinguishing features; the first a long scar running down the side of his face and the other being a bald head save for a purple top knot of hair.

Their guide nodded to them, and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

Evir looked up from the Chev and smiled at them. "Sit you two and we'll begin in just a few minutes."

He then turned away and continued his conversation. Noelani looked at him, and he just shrugged his shoulders. So, they walked to the table and sat across from the scarred man.

He felt the scarred man's eyes peering at him, as if he was just a bug for the man to squash. Frustrated slightly, he turned and met the man's stare.

The man smirked at him, and Chase looked away, back towards Evir, wondering when the meeting would begin. A few more people entered the room and took seats either at the table or against one of the walls. Chase only gave them a cursory glance before focusing on Evir again.

Finally, Evir walked over and took the seat at the head of the table. He smiled at them; a smile devoid of humor and warmth. Not for the first time, Chase wondered why the man would be doing all of this for them. He wanted to know what Evir was after.

"Well then, shall we begin?" Evir said, as he began looking around at the beings sitting around him. Seeing no complaints, He gestured towards Noelani and Chase. "First I'd like to introduce the two young people who will be responsible for capturing specimens for us for the time being; additionally, they will assist in defending the compound in case of another feral, or Guard, attack. Their names are Chase and Noelani."

Evir began clapping, and Chase noticed a slight blush appear on Noelani's cheeks. He just nodded his head in response.

After a few minutes, Evir began the meeting in earnest, quickly lapsing into odd acronyms which Chase didn't know, and speaking in phrases that sound like some sort of obscene biochemistry course.

To Chase, the meeting ended suddenly. One minute, there was the near constant drone of people discussing things he did not understand, the next moment, everyone was standing up and beginning to disperse from the meeting.

He blinked a few times, and looked over at Noelani to find her chatting with a young woman who was at most twenty standard years old.

Standing, he stretched his arms out above his head, trying to work out the cramps that had settled into his muscles. Then he walked over to Noelani.

She turned towards him; a bright smile lighting up her face. "Chase! Are you excited? We're going to go out and try to find some ferals for Evir in the morning."

Chase nodded his head, flickers of conversation to that affect flashed through his mind. "Yeah… I can't wait."

She giggled slightly. "It'll be all right, we'll be there together."

The next morning, he was woken up by Noelani pounding on his door. After a moment, she pushed it open and jumped on his bed. He lifted his head and noticed that she had already gotten dressed, and was wearing a black tunic, pants and Imperial-style boots.

She grinned, and he was once more stunned at how pretty she was when she did so. "Wake up, sleepyhead. Evir said that he'd have someone here at 0600 to take us to the dispatch center. We've got to uphold our side of the bargain."

Chase pulled the sheets tight around him and sat up on the bed. He eyed her warily, "It's too early to be that chipper."

Laughing, she bounced off the bed and went to his wardrobe and pulled it open. She rummaged through it for a moment, and finally found a shipboard coverall in a dark blue coloring. She tossed it at him. "Get dressed and come down for breakfast."

With a flick of her ponytail she was gone. For a moment, he found himself staring at the doorway through which she had disappeared. Then he shook his head and got dressed.

When he got downstairs, he saw that the red Twi'lek girl, Asyra'mata, was dressed in a shortened version of Noelani's outfit. He sat down beside her as Noelani dropped a bowl of gruel in front of him.

He picked up his spoon, and then frowned at the grey mixture. "Is this food?"

Noelani looked hurt as she lifted her eyes from the bowl she was eating out of. "Of course it is, silly."

He glanced over at Asyra'mata, who was slowly eating her own portion of the gruel. He watched her put a small bit into her mouth, and then saw a shiver race down her lekku.

He sunk is spoon into the mixture, and pulled out a bite. He shoved the spoon into his mouth, and fought back the urge to vomit.

Quickly, he swallowed, and was saved from having to eat more by the annunciator on the front door being activated. He dropped his spoon and quickly stood up. "That must be our guide."

They stepped out of the house, to find a massive human standing on the walkway. He towered over them, and had to outweigh Chase by at least 30 kilograms. He stared down at them, a short look of disgust on his face. "I'm Gorn. You two are my new hunters?"

Chase almost shook his head in defeat as Noelani gave the man a brilliant smile. "Yup. We're the new hunters. I'm Noelani and this is Chase."

The man looked them over, and then shaking his head turned away from them. He walked to the ground car idling nearby, as he called out over his shoulder, "Well come on you lot. The Doctor wants a feral by lunchtime."

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Next Post

Memories Ch 24

Previous Chapter

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A dream...

The day the dream ends...

Like the snow melting away under the spring sun...

Like how people's facades fade as they age...

Like how memories start to fade and disappear in the course of eternal time...

Now the long dream reaches an end...

After granting the final wish...

The one wish...

My wish is...

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The alarm clock started ringing, a constantly changing metronome which Anakin found annoying; the perfect impetuous to drag him out of bed.

Groaning, he opened his eyes, finding his face in a shaft of brilliant sunlight. He blinked twice and then rolled out of the bed, stretching muscles tightened by sleep. Leaving the room, he turned off his alarm clock on the way out, and as he entered the hallway, he could clearly hear the myriad alarms Jaina had set up in her room.

Sighing, he knocked on her door. "Jaina!"

When no answer came, he opened the door and quickly turned off her alarms. Then he turned towards his sister, and frowned. "Wake up, Jaina."

After getting her up and moving, they walked down the hallways towards the kitchen. Jaina looked over at him, a sly grin on her face. "I finally got a message back from Zekk."

He snorted. "Told you that you should send him one."

Sticking her tongue out at him, she darted around the corner and into the kitchen. Over her shoulder she called out, "Brat!"

Laughing, he followed her, to find Mara setting a plate onto the table. Ben was set on her hip, and he cooed as he saw them both.

Jaina settled into her customary spot, and looked at a jar. She pulled it towards her, and unscrewed the cap, sniffing its contents carefully. "Oh! This is a new jam isn't it?"

Mara smiled, and Anakin was slightly amazed at how well she had recovered in the past few weeks.

Too soon, Anakin found himself running behind Jaina, as they threaded through the crowds on their way to the Temple. Panting, he ground out, "How exactly did it come to this again?"

"That's just because Aunt Mara's new jam was so good," she replied with a giggle. Then she looked down at the chronometer attached to her wrist. "If you don't want to be late, we've got to run faster"

He sighed and tried to run faster.

They stumbled into the classroom just as the morning bell went off. Jaina looked around with a gloating smile on her face. "We made it."

Anakin slowly went over to his seat and collapsed into it. "Next time we're running late, don't eat so much. You can eat Mara's jam whenever you want."

Jaina settled into her seat next to his, and nodded her head. "Yeah... you're right... I can eat her jam whenever."

Smiling, he leaned towards her slightly. "Well, just make sure you eat that jam for her next time as well."

Jaina shuddered, her eyes squeezing shut in remembered pain. "I... no, you eat it."

"I'm allergic to jams."

She looked at him, a dubious expression on her face. "I've never heard of such a thing before..."

Raynar and Kiori walked over. "Hey!" Raynar called over. "What are you guys talking about?"

Anakin looked at his two friends. "We're talking about Mara's special blend jam."

Kiori's eyes opened wider in shock and fear. "Th...that's still around?"

"So, you've had it to," Anakin responded.

Kiori nodded. "Once. I went over while Jaina and I were working together on a project for Master Horn, and Master Skywalker served it to us."

"I see," Anakin replied.

"What?" Raynar cried out, looking between the three of them. "What's this jam all about?"

"There are some things that one is better off not knowing about," Anakin said, as the two girls quickly nodded their head in agreement.

Suddenly, Kiori slapped her hands together. "Oh! I almost forget... Anakin guess what."

Startled slightly, he looked up to see the bright smile on her face.

At the first break, he ran down the steps, and into the courtyard garden. Panting, he began looking around. He took a few more steps, heading deeper into the garden courtyard.

Then he heard the sound of someone stepping on the gravel behind him. "Anakin?"

He felt himself smiling. "I figured you'd come out here."

"Yes," she replied. "I'm back at school today."

He continued to look at the distance. "Why not keep skipping. You're going to have to repeat the entire year's worth of work."

"I don't like people who say such things."

He turned around and found Nelani standing there. She was dressed in a set of Jedi robes, her hands clasped in front of her and a bright smile on her lips.

"Long time no see," she said, her eyes dancing with happiness.

"Yeah," he replied as he closed the distance between them. When he got close enough, he rubbed at her hair. "I'm happy for you Nelani... that you can come to school again."

"Anakin..."

"Hey, let's celebrate again at Poltx; to celebrate you getting better."

"At times like this...." She lowered her head, and when she lifted her face towards her again, tears lined her eyes. "At... At times like this.... I can cry right?"

"Yeah," he replied nodding his head.

"Anakin!" she exclaimed, and grabbed the front of his tunic, burying her face in it. Her shoulders shaking as she cried into his chest. "I... I never wanted to die... I didn't want to say goodbye... I don't want to be...alone...."

Anakin wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest. "When you want to cry you can; since you've been strong all this time."

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Anakin sat on the thin mat. Across from him was Tenel Ka, and setting out the boxes of food was Eyrl. Once the food was put out, she threw her arms forward and grinned brightly

"Please, eat up!"

Anakin gathered up his share, and began eating. "I'm just happy you two managed to get out of the medward before the term ended. Weren't you both supposed to be knighted?"


"Yeah," Eyrl answered. "Even Master Cilghal was surprised. She said it was something of a miracle that we got out as early as we did. Right Tenel Ka?"

Tenel Ka nodded.

Anakin frowned at something Eyrl had said. It tugged at the jumbled mess of his memories. Miracle?

Eyrl continued speaking. "Yeah, though we're going to have to wait a while longer before we can get knighted. Master Skywalker thinks we might have missed a bit too much of this terms lessons. Right Tenel Ka?"

Tenel Ka nodded.

Anakin looked at her for a moment. "What exactly is your plan after you're knighted? Are you going into one of the government service programs or are you going to become a Jedi?"

Tenel Ka shrugged. "Government service has no appeal to me."

Anakin snorted. "Why not? I think you'd be good in the diplomatic corps."

She frowned and then reached over and slapped her hand onto the top of his head. "Ow!"

Eyrl giggled slightly. "Anakin, did you ever find your missing friend?"

"Tahiri?" he said with a slight sigh. "She said we weren't going to be able to see each other again, so I guess she left. She might have even gone back to Tatooine."

Smiling sadly, he picked up his plate again and once more began to eat.

--------------------------------

After he had been released from training for the day, Anakin strolled through the shopping district. As he turned every corner, he still half expected someone to come jumping onto his back and screaming out his name.

He was surprised at how much he missed her exuberance.

"Solo?"

Startled, he spun around to see who had called his name. For a split second he thought it was going to be Tahiri, instead it was Mara. "A-aunt Mara?"

Amusement twinkled in her eyes, as she tilted her head slightly. "Ah? Did you mistake me for someone else?" Then she twirled a strand of her red hair around one of her manicured fingers. "I can understand the eyes, Solo, but the hair is not quite right."

"Ah... no... it wasn't that..." he replied, scratching at his own hair. "Besides, she'd never call me 'Solo.'"

A sad look appeared in her eyes, as she nodded her head. Then she pointed towards a building across the street. "Let's go over there."

He followed her finger, and saw Poltx. Nodding his head, he followed her to it, and soon they were seated at a table across from each other.

After they had ordered, he looked at her. "I'm happy that there's no long term effect from the accident."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, Cilghal was surprised as well. She even went so far as to call it a miracle." She looked down at the table as their teas were placed in front of them. A frown touched her lips for a moment, before she smiled again. Finally, she lifted her face to look at him once more. "Anakin, do you have any idea where Tahiri is? It's been bothering me, and I know Jaina is worried as well. Kriff, even Ben liked her. It's just not the same without her around."

Anakin lowered his head, and wrapped his hands around his cup, enjoying its warmth against his hands. He felt another pang of heartache, as what Mara was saying stirred up conflicting emotions. "Aunt Mara... I... I remember now."

"Huh?"

"About what happened all those years ago... Why I lost my memories... The last day of my training session, just hours before I was supposed to leave on the Falcon... my friend..." He clenched his teeth before continuing. "We were on the river... and she fell in, and got pulled away... when I got to her she wasn't breathing... Uncle Luke found us at that melted temple and then asked me what happened and then I was waiting to go back to Coruscant.

"As I sat on the bench waiting for Dad, Jaina came by. She... she didn't know what had happened and I... well, I took my frustrations and anger out on her. Then I fled with Dad back home. I don't remember much after that, and it's not until a year ago that my memories really begin again.

"I know you're just being considerate about my feelings when you didn't tell me about the accident. One day you did ask me about one of the Temples, to see if I remembered what had happened.

"That's why you asked... and I assume that's why the Temple was razed. Because.... Because that girl... my friend.... Her name was Tahiri Veila. Tahiri.... She's... she's not here anymore.... One with the Force as Uncle Luke would say."

He clenched his jaws together and dropped his head. He felt his body shaking slightly; as he fought the tears that he knew would come if he let them.

Mara gently touched his hand, and he lifted his head to look at her.

After a moment she spoke. "You can be a bit dense sometimes, you know that Solo? That girl... Your Uncle had a state of the art medical center built here because of her. She's not dead, but..."

------------------------------------

A Dream....

I'm seeing a dream...

A dream of the person most dear to me, sitting by my side.

He talks to me. He lets me hear about so many things. There are so many stories that he tells me...

A story about his sister who he met again after seven years.

A story of a girl that was a fish.

A story of a strange girl who would appear in the Temple's courtyards every day.

A story of a girl who fought her own demons.

And a story about a childhood friend who he met every day in the shopping districts.

A dream...

I'm seeing a dream...

A dream of being by my dearest person.

A daily life that repeats; pieces of dreams comes one after another and fill my heart.

Just like the seasons change. From winter to spring to summer to fall and back to winter.

--------------------------------


Anakin walked behind the nurse, his emotions flashing from one end of the spectrum to the other. Fragments of memories were jumbled in his head, the most prominent of which were parts of the conversation he had just had with Mara.

Finally, the nurse stopped and pulled open a door. Anakin paused, not wanting to look in. Then he stepped forward. The room was dominated by a bed, an array of medical scanners and equipment were attached to the wall by the head of the bed. The far wall from him had a wide window which allowed streams of the afternoon sun to fall on the bed.

Lying there, her features highlighted by the sun, was Tahiri. Her hair was longer than he remembered, and her chest lifted and lowered slowly and evenly with her breathing.

He stepped forward, and noticed that her hand was clenched tightly around a small doll. He took another step, and recognized the doll as the one he had given her.

Slowly, mechanically he crossed the room to her bed. Then he fell to his knees and dropped his head to her bed, resting it gently on her shoulder.

--------------------------------

Time passed slowly; Anakin visited daily. On occasion Nelani or Tenel Ka or Eyrl or Jaina would visit her with him. It was a firm part of his routine, as important to him as training ever was. He helped care for her, washed her hair, massaged her legs, but most of all he talked to her. He told her stories and anecdotes and the trials he was going through in order to complete his training.

While not exactly happy, neither was he sad. Tahiri was in front of him, there every day, just as he was there for her.

One day, while washing her hair with Jaina's help, Jaina paused for a moment. She frowned down at Tahiri's still form. "What happened to her necklace?"

Anakin frowned as he looked at her neck. The necklace was gone, and thinking back he realized that she had never had it on.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure, I don't remember seeing it."

Then with that said, they returned to washing her hair.

--------------------------------

Anakin sat on the bench across from Nelani. In her hand she held a sketchbook and a chunk of charcoal. Her hand moved with deft strokes, creating a skritching sound from the paper.

She lifted her eyes for a second. "Have you ever wondered if you were in someone's dream?"

"What's that?"

She paused in her drawing. "It's a 'what-if' situation." Her head titled slightly to the side. "For example, the person whose dream it is can grant a single wish. Originally in the dream the one thing the person could do was cry, but the person never gave up waiting."

She lowered the pad to the flat of her lap, and then continued speaking. "Then... then there was a small chance. The wish is kind of like a present that's been given to her for waiting so long. After all, that person has waited year after year. That way she'd be capable of granting any one wish. Saving a sickly girl... saving someone who got hurt in an accident... even healing the hurt friends...."

"Isn't there only supposed to be one wish?"

"I don't know what she wished for, but maybe... what if it was 'I want my dearest person to always be smiling?' Maybe it was a wish like that, and for that to come true, everyone around that person would have to be having a happy life too..."

Anakin lifted an eyebrow as he watched Nelani. "How are you able to think like that?"

Quickly, she began shaking her head. "I don't know..." She focused on him for a moment, and then lifted her eyes towards the sky. Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's just a thought I've had ever since I got better."

------------------------------------

As was his custom, Anakin was sitting next to Tahiri, telling her about his day. As usual, she lay there, her eyes closed, not responding to anything he said.

The door opened, and he looked that way, to see Tenel Ka stepping into the room. She paused in the door way, her grey eyes boring into his.

He stood up, and allowed Tenel Ka to take the seat by the bed, while he prepared tea for them both. Glancing quickly over his shoulder, he asked, "You're not with Eyrl today?"

She remained silent for a long heartbeat; finally she bowed her head slightly. "Anakin... I am certain that she is still waiting for you." She looked up at him, as he turned to face her. "Go find her. Go find her, the way you found me."

Anakin frowned for a moment. "Find her?"

"Yes. I am certain that it is something that only you can do. The only person who can keep the promise, is the person with whom the promise was made."

As Anakin watched her, she lowered her head and once more began watching Tahiri.

"Where is she waiting?" he asked.

--------------------------------

I loved the scenery that flew by.

Spring.

The forest vibrant and life waking up.

I loved running through the forest, leaving behind my footprints in the moist ground.

Summer.

I loved the heat and warmth as I moved through the woods; all hints of the winter hidden by the dense foliage of the canopy.

Autumn.

The world begins to wait. The Forest closes begins to close in upon itself, readying for the long cold winter.

Winter.

The first biting chill wind. Going to the mountains, catching the snowflakes as they fall.

And then it's back to Spring.

The season of new life. The season when the flowers flare in a riot of colors.

I loved the scenery that flew by.

But, like a puddle frozen in winter, so my time has frozen.

I was always alone; all the while seeing the same scene repeated day after unending day. I was always alone while viewing the same unending night...

--------------------------------

He walked through the forest, heading deeper into it. He stumbled forward, and broke through into the clearing which housed the melted temple.

Looking around, he advanced forward slightly, and then he looked up at the sky. Sighing, not entirely certain what he was doing here, he began looking around.

And that was when he saw it.

A small parcel, aged, tossed away into the brush. He frowned, wondering why he had never seen it before. He picked it up, and with a start he realized that he had seen it before. It had been something he had bought. Carefully, he opened it up, and sitting inside was a necklace.

The pendant was a brown smooth stone, with a silver wire wrapped around it to hold it to the thin metal chain.

As he looked at it, in his mind's eye he saw Tahiri standing there, holding up the chains, as she said, "Yes, I do. It was a present from someone and means a lot to me." Then there was another time when they had discussed the necklace, and she had asked, "Do you remember when you gave this to me?"

Tears flowed down his cheek, as he crumpled to the ground. I never gave Tahiri the necklace. I never did...

As he cried, all the memories came slamming back, forcing him to realize all the things that he had done in his effort to forget his pain.

I never gave it to her, he thought. Instead I choose to believe that I had. I chose an illusion over reality. I forced away my sadness; I couldn't face it. I accepted the illusion that put me at ease, and I did it just because I didn't want to hurt anymore. I did it because I didn't want my heart to break any more than it already had.

He lifted his head and looked around. Everything around him felt surreal and altered. He looked down and realized that he was a child again; no more than eleven years old. He stood and walked back down the path. Before long he arrived where the city should have been, instead it was the woods of the past.

He continued on, through the path, up the slight hill until he came to the forbidding edifice which is the Jedi Temple. Feeling dwarfed in his childhood body, he entered the Temple through the wide hanger doors, and found her sitting on a stone bench. Her bare feet swung in time to a melody she was humming. Her green eyes flashed with happiness as she looked up at him. "You're late Anakin."

He nodded his head. "Yeah. This time I was really late."

Her smile was slightly bitter. "I don't think I want to play today though. I'm a bit tired from waiting."

"Did you worry that I might not come?"

She shook her head. "Nope. We promised, remember?"

"Tahiri," he said, as he lifted the package and held it out to her. "Here."

She looked at it for a moment. "What's that?"

"I said I had something to give you," he replied.

She sprang from her seat and rushed towards him. When she arrived in front of him, she took the package; her smile was brilliant as she looked down at it.

He held out his hand towards her. "Tahiri?"

She lifted her head.

"Come on. Let's go."

She watched his hand for a moment, and then nodded her head. "Yep."

Then her small hand slipped into his, and together they walked towards the setting sun.

---

Next Chapter

Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 11

Previous Post

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Tahiri glanced around her, and reached into her desk to pull out a small device. She set it on top of her holonet station, and pressed a small button on its side. The light flashed yellow, then red, before finally settling on blue.

Smiling, Tahiri entered a string of numbers into the terminal, and a few moments later Leia's face appeared in the air before her.

"Tahiri," the older woman exclaimed, obviously happy to see her.

Tahiri smiled. "Hello, Leia. I hope that Jacen's little attack didn't hurt either of you?"

Leia shook her head, a bitter smile flashing across her lips. "No worse than anything else he's done to us over the past few months. How are you?"

Tahiri sighed slightly. "I'm inside."

Leia's eyes widened slightly. "You are? The Guard?"

Tahiri nodded her head. "Yes. I… I just wanted you to know right now, that I'm going to do what it takes to make Jacen trust me. So despite what you hear in the future, please remember that I love you and Han both, all right?"

Leia frowned for a moment. "I'll remember, if you promise me that you won't forget who you are; and that if you feel like you're starting to, that you'll come and find us. We'll always be here for you."

Tahiri felt a tear slice down her cheek as she smiled at Leia. "I promise, and thanks."

Suddenly a loud chimed sounded throughout her room. She reached out with the Force and felt the barest hint of Jacen on the far side of the door. Then she looked down at Leia's face on the screen. "Jacen's here. I'll try and contact you later, but I doubt I'll be able to."

Leia nodded. "I understand. May the Force be with you."

Tahiri smiled and shut off the holonet and then waved her hand at the door. It snapped open, revealing Jacen standing there in his black Guard uniform, complete with flowing black cape. She looked at him, her eyes flicking up and down instinctively, and then she smiled. "Jacen, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

For a second, the grin on his face seemed to falter, but it was so fast, that she was not certain she truly saw it. He stepped into her quarters, and the door behind him closed.

"I just came to tell you that I have your first assignment," he said as he held up a small datachit.

Tahiri reached out with the Force, and it flew from his hand to hers. She shoved it into the appropriate slot on the desk terminal, and a map of the undercity appeared. Frowning, she let her eyes flicker around the map, and then she touched the attached file.

She quickly scanned the executive summary and gasped aloud as the implication of what she had read sunk in. She read it a second time.

The ZAITA project concerns the forced evolution of Vong Life in effort to better patrol lower levels. We believe that we can utilize the slave-seed coral infected sapients, commonly called Ferals in the lower levels, as a wide-area defense network. If successful, we can then utilize these Ferals on other worlds. In worse-case scenarios, the creation of a plaque which renders the population of worlds currently in an open state of rebellion into mindless automata is still an effective use of resources.

She then read it a third time, a part of her appalled that Jacen would even consider such a course of action. After her third read through, she lifted her head, to see him still standing there at ease, a grin touching one corner of his mouth, lifting it slightly.

"So," he began. "What do you think?"

Tahiri watched him for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. "I think I'd need to see how effective they are first."

Jacen nodded his head. "Well, as far as we can tell, our preliminary efforts have not really yielded a productive attack force. On the other hand, they are effective guards, and share a sort of common bandwidth on which they communicate."

Tahiri sectioned a portion of her mind off, shoving the horror she felt at Jacen's words into that hole, and then slamming the door. Emotions such as those would give her away to Jacen, and that was a risk she was unwilling to take; especially with him so close, and she without an escape route.

"So, what exactly is my mission again?"

He grinned. "Collecting Ferals and other specimens for the scientists in that particular division, as well as patrolling the lower levels. We've had some troubles with a subversive group hiding down there. I'm giving you a half platoon to command. That's five squads total. Four for you to direct, and then a fifth that will be under your direct command. On the datachit is the information about your soldiers."

Tahiri waved away the background information file, and pulled up a second file showing a roster of soldiers. She nodded her head, and looked at him. "Sounds good. When's my next lesson?"

He grinned. "That depends on how good you are at this task."

Then he spun around, his cloak wrapping around his body, and strode from the room. She watched as the door closed down, and then sighed, quickly scanning the information about the soldiers Jacen had just assigned her.

Sighing, she stood up and stripped out of the tunic and shirt she had been wearing. Dropping the clothes in a pile on the floor, she walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a Guard duty uniform. It was similar to the clothes she normally wore, except that these were all black.

She wrapped the belt around her waist, getting used to the array of gadgets that a soldier wore on it, and then hunted for a place where she could connect Anakin's lightsaber. Finally, she pulled off the glow, and tossed that on her bed, and in the space created snapped the lightsaber to the belt. Her hand caressed it, and she could feel the sympathetic thrum from the lambent at its core.

Then she snapped her name plate, and rank insignia onto her jacket, just above the heart. With a quick glance in the mirror, she strode from the room, and took a lift to the lowest level it traveled. Then she went down four more flights of stairs, finally ending in a series of hallways that dripped with water.

Frowning, she advanced, her fingers once more seeking out the familiar reassurance of the lightsaber at her hip.

She arrived at a metal door, and pressed her hand against the plate next to it. Green light shone brightly for a moment, and then disappeared as the door rolled open. Tahiri stepped through the doorway, and found herself in a small room. Another door was on the far side, but there was no activation plate this time.

Confused, she stepped forward, closer to the second door, when the first door rolled back shut, plunging the room into darkness.

Startled, she snapped her blade of her belt, but before she could ignite it, a blue light came on, and flashed over her. She felt her skin crawl for a moment, before a tone sounded. Then the lights came back on and the second door opened once more.

Slowly, Tahiri advanced, to find a Guardsman standing at attention on the far side. Encased in full body armor, Tahiri could only tell that the Guardsman was humanoid and female. The guard snapped a salute. "Commander Veila. Welcome to ZAITA section."

Tahiri nodded her head slowly. "Right and you are?"

"I'm Private Zora Rekim, sir."

Tahiri sighed. "Take that silly hat off, so I can talk to you normally."

She could feel Private Rekim's Force presence tense. A sudden onslaught of conflicting emotions, and Tahiri guessed that standing orders required them to always keep the helmets on.

Finally, her need to obey orders won out, and the girl unsnapped the line feeds to the helmet. With a hiss, she pulled the helmet off her head, and shook out her blond hair. It was cropped as long as the military restrictions would allow. Then she lifted her face and focused on Tahiri with her calm, blue eyes.

Tahiri felt her chest constrict, and for a moment she saw Noelani's smiling face.

"Commander?"

Zora's voice sounded different when not filtered through the helmet. It sound young, hopeful and with just a trace of a Coruscant accent.

Tahiri blinked a few times and then shook her head. "Sorry about that Zora, you just reminded me of someone for a moment. And please, call me Tahiri. This 'commander' nonsense annoys me."

Zora frowned for a second, and then nodded her head. "Yes sir."

Tahiri sighed, and gestured down the hallway. "I assume you're here to take me to my quarters, and get me introduced to the appropriate people?

Zora nodded her head, and put her helmet back on; turning her youthful voice into the mechanized substitute which the vocoders on the helmets produced. "Yes sir. If you'll follow me, the squad room is down this way."

The girl turned, pivoting on her left foot, and walked down the hall. Tahiri smirked slightly, as she fell into step two paces behind her.

Arriving at one of the doors, they stepped into the room. It was set up like a lecture hall, a raised dais at the front of the room, closest to the door, and then seats with desks in front of them on tiered levels in a half circle around the dais. Her eyes flickered out across the group, noting the predominance of humans; especially, young blond female humans.

She frowned as she wondered if Jacen had done this on purpose. A subtle swipe at her issues with the Jedi, and the fact that they had taken her daughter away from her. No, she thought to herself. The fact that Noelani is my daughter is known only by the Council and Ben. I doubt Jacen has learned that. This is because they took my apprentice away from me. He's probably watching to see how I'll react.

Sighing, she took the two steps until she was standing in front of the dais. Zora took a seat on the lowest level, next to three other girls, removing her helmet because they were in the briefing room. Tahiri looked over and saw that they were all blue eyed, and blond haired, and that they all had the same unit patch next to their rank insignia. In an instant, she knew that this was the four that comprised her own squadron. She knew that Jacen had done that to keep her on edge, to keep her emotions roiling, to keep her confused, hurt and resentful; especially towards the Jedi.

She was not that surprised to find that it worked.

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Next Post

Memories Ch. 23

Previous Chapter

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The rain pelted down on him, cold and harsh. He shivered, and closed his eyes; almost happy to be done with everything. Just a few more centimeters and then he would not have to worry about anything anymore.

Then something heavy dropped down into the creek bed; mud and rain water splashed over his face. He lifted his head and opened his eyes as he looked up. A girl was standing over him, her brown hair sodden and limp, but he could easily make out the dozens of braids.

"Sannah?" he muttered and then collapsed back down to the ground.

The world turned black all around him.

Awareness seeped back with the soft sounds of a woman's singing. There was something familiar about the voice and the tune, yet Anakin could place neither.

Carefully, he sat up on the mat that he had been laying on and looked around. A crude wooden table sat a few feet from him, and on the corner closest to him was Tahiri's doll.

Lifting his gaze from the doll, he looked around again, and realized that he was in a tree. Someone had carved out one of the massive trees, and turned it into an effective living space.

A white linen curtain sectioned off the area with the mat from what he assumed was the rest of the home. It was from the far side of it that he could hear the singing.

Suddenly, she stopped singing, and Anakin could feel her attention focus on him for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Anakin. Did I wake you with my singing?"

Anakin frowned for a moment. "Uhm… where am I?"

"Hold on a second, Anakin. I'm warming up a bit of blue milk for us."

"Ah, okay," he replied, even as he thought, who is she? She knows my name.

A few moments later, the curtain was pulled aside, and Anakin could see a kitchen and a closed door. The girl, who was a few years older than Anakin was, stood holding a tray. On the tray were two steaming mugs and a selection of biscuits. He looked at her, her hair was braided, much the same way that Sannah's always was, but in the light of her home, Anakin could tell that that was really the only similarity between the two.

She set the tray down on the table, and handed him one of the mugs.

"Well, Anakin. I see you've wondered back to Yavin IV. What do you think of all the growth that's happened since you've been away?"

He blinked twice, and found himself frowning for a moment. "Uhm… but how do you…"

"Know you?" She responded with a chuckle. "Well, I'm Eelysa and I may live in a tree, but I do have a holonet connection. Besides, I was a Jedi Knight before you ever came to the Junior Jedi Academy."

Anakin felt his frown deepen at that comment. "But you don't look old enough."

She laughed, and he thought how much he liked that sound. "Age has nothing to do with being a Knight. You of all people should know that much."

Anakin felt his cheeks start to burn. "Sorry."

She waved her hand in his direction, and took a sip of her own mug of milk. He followed suit.

With a clink, she set her cup back on the table, and looked at him. "You've grown up a lot since I saw you last. That must've been six, seven years ago now. Are you close to finishing your training?"

He hung his head, shame filling him. "I've not changed at all…"

"What?"

"I've not changed. I've not grown up. If someone's hurt, all I can do is stand there and watch. I'm weak. All I do is watch…. I couldn't help Jaina…" He covered his face with his hands, as the first of the tears began to flow. "I couldn't help Nelani, Tenel Ka or even Sannah… They were all waiting for me…" He clenched his fists, struggling against the pain and emotions that welled in him. "And I just forgot everything. And Tahiri…"

Eelysa laid a hand on his head, brushing it against his hair.

"And Tahiri," Anakin continued. "I couldn't do anything for Tahiri. All I did was forget our promise. All I do are the same things… over and over again… I'm…"

She grabbed his hands, and squeezed then. He looked up at her, to find her staring around her at the house. Confused slightly, he lifted his head, and looked at the ceiling and walls.

"Trees are funny things," she said. "Did you know that they have rings inside of them that tell their age?"

Anakin shook his head.

"Every thing that affects them, from drought to fire to pests to freezing weather; year after year the tree records that in those rings. It's a sign to those who know how to look for it of that tree's strength. I think humans are like that as well. The more trouble they go through, the more pain they suffer, the stronger and kinder they can get."

Anakin lowered his eyes again, as tears once more started to flow.

He could feel her kind smile directed at him. "If you've made a promise with someone, make sure you keep it."

------------------------------------

Anakin woke the next morning, his back hurting from the strange bed he had slept in. Sitting up, he looked around once more, thinking that the tree house looked even odder in the morning light than it did the evening before.

Glancing down at the table, he saw the datapad with a message indicator flashing on it. He picked the device up, and it came to life. Quickly, he scanned the simple lines recorded there:

Anakin, I'm off to perform my morning exercises. If you're hungry, you can eat what's in the food preserver.

He dropped the datapad back onto the table, and went into the kitchen. Opening the preserver, he found a package of meat rolls. The same brand which had been Sannah's favorite.

After he had eaten, he grabbed up the little angel doll and left the house. He quickly got his bearings, and began to walk through the woods. He had a specific destination in mind; the melted temple.

As he walked, he remembered a portion of that last conversation he had had with Tahiri: I'm sorry Anakin, I... I don't think I'll be able to meet you anymore.

The more he walked, the more memories of Tahiri invaded his mind. All the times he had seen her, walked with her, talked with her, or teased her since his return.

Finally he arrived at his destination.

He stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the blasted, melted ruins of a Temple. Then he walked to one of the melted columns, and leaned against it. After a short while, he sat down on the ground, his back to the column.

He lifted his head to the sky, staring at the clouds as they drifted by. "I did promise I'd meet you here again, didn't I?"

------------------------------------

He heard his alarm clock begin its insistent tone. Frowning, he tossed the covers off and sat up on the bed looking around. I don't have training today, why did I leave that turned on?

Sighing, he got out of bed and quickly dressed. He stepped out into the hallway, and heard the thumps of someone running from behind him. Anakin spun in place, to find Tahiri there, a wide grin on her face as she raced up to him.

"What… what are you doing here," he asked her.

She giggled at him. "I'm a part of the family, right? Where else would I be?"

"Yeah, that's right," he replied, as he began to make his way towards the kitchen.

She skipped beside him, her every movement an expression of exuberant energy. Suddenly, she paused and spun towards him. "Today, Mrs. Mara is going to teach me how to make her cookies."

He snorted in amusement. "Aunt Mara's wasting her time there."

She frowned and stomped her foot. "That's not true."

"I remember the last time you made cookies. They were like stones."

She blushed, and spun away from him. "That was because I didn't know what I was doing, but today Aunt Mara will be teaching me."

He smiled at her. "Well, just don't give Aunt Mara too much trouble."

Tahiri tossed him a brilliant smile over her shoulder. "It'll be okay." Then she was rushing around the corner into the kitchen.

He followed at a more sedate pace, to discover Jaina and Mara already there; Jaina half-dozing as usual rather than eating.

"Good morning," Tahiri called out as she dropped into her place at the table.

Jaina bobbed her head, and Anakin laughed. "You've begun training again? You sure do work hard."

Jaina's head wavered for a moment. "Yeah… I work hard." Then her head fell forward to the table, and she was lightly snoring.

Mara spoke from the kitchen. "Tahiri, once everyone's had breakfast we'll work on those cookies, all right?"

"Yeah!" Tahiri called out, lifting her hands above her head. As she lowered her arms, she turned towards Anakin. "You'll eat them right?"

"Absolutely not," he shot back.

A scowl appeared on her face. "Well that was blunt."

"Today's will be different," Mara called from the kitchen. "Right?"

"Yeah. That's right," Tahiri replied.

He smiled at her. "Well then, if it looks good, then I guess I'll eat it."

She began to smile. "Really?"

"IF it looks good."

"Yeah! I'll do my best," she replied, her face a brilliant smile. "So look forward to my cookies, okay?"

With a start, Anakin jerked awake. He looked around himself and realized that he was still in the courtyard of the melted temple.

Frowning, he lifted his face towards the sky once again. "Guess I'm still really here then…"

He snorted in amusement, as he looked around him again. "I remember doing this when I first got here. Of course, I had a bench that time…"

Smiling, he looked down the path he had come. Unbidden, Tahiri's words once more rang through his head: But what I really like is when the person I'm waiting for comes. Then I can be glad that I was waiting.

He lifted the small angel doll, holding it in front of his face as he memory of another conversation with her fought through his mind again: I think that if you loved me, then I could love you. Forever.

He felt himself smiling. "I still love you…"

Then from behind him, he heard a voice; her voice; as Tahiri said, "Me, too, Anakin."

------------------------------------

He squeezed his eyes shut tight. "Then why did you say we can't meet again?"

"Because I'm out of time," was her reply. "Today… today, I'm here to say good-bye."

"I'm here to give you what you left behind."

"So…. You found it?" He heard an odd sadness in her voice.

"Yeah," he responded. "With some trouble. Lots of trouble." Then he stood up, and slowly moved around the column.

As he cleared it, he saw her. She stood half a dozen paces away from him, her hands clasped in front of her chest. He felt his heart pound harder in his chest.

"Thank you," she said as he handed her the doll. She looked at it for a moment, and then clutched it tight to her chest.

"You're late," Anakin said.

A wistful smile appeared on her lips. "We're allowed to come whenever we want to to our school, remember?"

"That's right."

"Yep."

Anakin sighed. "We were able to meet again."

"Yep."

"Is this really good bye?"

"Yep."

He felt himself getting angrier at the unfairness of things. Automatically, his fists clenched by his side. "You can't stay here forever?"

A touch of sadness entered her voice. "No."

"I see," Anakin replied. "Then…then at least tell me your third wish. I did promise to give you three after all. So," He struggled to keep his voice even; to keep the tears from falling. "At the very least, let me grant that last wish."

"That's right," she said, her face falling slightly as she looked at the ground. When she looked up again, she had a smile on her lips and a glimmer of a tear in her eyes. "Then for my last wish… Anakin… Please forget about me."

Anakin felt as if the Falcon had just crash landed on his heart.

Tahiri continued talking. "Please, just think that I had never existed. Yes…" Her tears begin rolling down her face, and her body hitched with a sob. "Please… just forget me…"

A harsh wind began blowing around them, tugging at their clothes.

Anakin fought to gather control of his emotions. Finally, he found his voice. "Are you sure? Is your wish really for me to forget you?"

She looked up at him, the tears still flowing freely down her cheeks. "But I don't have any more wishes now…I was able to eat so many of the canapés that I was never supposed to be able to eat again. So… so please just forget me."

Anakin clenched his teeth and then rushed forward, wrapping her in his arms. He was almost surprised that she was so much shorter than he was. It felt like he was holding a 10 year old in his arms.

Her voice wavered, "Anakin?"

He began petting her hair, as he hugged her tight against his chest.

"I'm not a child, you know." She almost sounded indignant.

He chuckled. "Yes you are. You go running off on your own and cause all sorts of problems for people. What's worse is that you try to shoulder all these burdens by yourself." He paused for a moment, and felt a tear race down his right cheek. "You're not alone. I won't accept that wish." Another tear fell on his opposite cheek. "I can't grant it."

"Anakin…"

"There's no way I'd be able to forget about you!"

"Then I know what I want my last wish to be. My last wish is…"

He loosened his grip slightly so he could look down at her. She smiled, and opened her mouth to say something more. Just then the trees around them shook with a violent blast of wind; leaves raced around him. Even though they stood so close, even though he could see her lips moving, he could not hear any sound come from them.

"What did you just say, Tahiri?"

A weak smile graced her lips, and he pulled her into another tight hug.

"Anakin," she said. "Is my body still warm?"

He looked down at her, noticing for the first time the faint blue glow that surrounded her.

"Of course it is," he replied.

"What a relief."

Another wind whipped around Anakin, and suddenly, he was no longer holding her. He blinked in surprise, as he looked around. In the muddy ground, he could see his tracks, and he could see where she had been standing. Yet she had left no tracks, neither arriving nor leaving.

He dropped to his knees, staring at his hands that had been holding onto her. Finally, he used them to cover his face, as the tears began to flow, and his shoulders began to shake.

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A dream.

I'm seeing a dream.

The same normal day, over and over again…

Waiting for the same morning, and then returning to the same dream.

Red, white, cold, warmth, sadness, and then the day starts all over again.

From years ago… I knew it from years ago.

While floating through the endless dream…

While waiting for the dawn that won't come…

I'm sitting at the same place… a crowd without noise… Emotionless people walk by…

Nobody notices the small child sitting all alone on the bench.

She's waiting for someone…

…Someone she knows won't show up…

For someone she knows won't show up for years and years…

I was waiting for years.

Waiting for the dawn that wouldn't come… inside my dream.

But…

--------------------------------

Anakin sat on the bench. It was the same bench he had waited for Jaina at just a few short weeks ago when his father had dropped him off on Yavin. The rich warm fragrances of that day have been replaced by the pungent odor of the night blooming plants of the rain forest.

Yet none of that affected Anakin.

His hands were clasped together between his legs, his back curved, head bowed. If the Jedi Temple had been more into the trappings of religion, one could have assumed him a young monk deep in prayer.

But the Jedi are not concerned about the trappings of religion. Despite the mysticism inherent in their Order, they are very pragmatic and practical people.

Anakin sat like that, because he could not think of a better way to sit.

He was numb; heart broken; a smoldering pain, held deep in his chest, resting lightly on his stomach.

It just made sense to his body to assume that position, when his heart felt as crumpled and curved.

Then he heard the crunch of a boot on the gravel that was spread around the bench.

Jaina's voice intruded on his dark thoughts. "Anakin?"

He looked up at her, and she gave him a weak smile, even though there were tears lining her eyes.

"I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Sorry," he replied. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

Slowly she shook her head. "That's supposed to be my line."

He slid off the bench, and knelt in front of her. "Jaina… I've been depending on you so much… I've been nothing but a spoiled brat."

She knelt in front of him, her hands clutched over her chest. "It's the same with me…I said some mean things to you…"

"Jaina… I… I have to…"

She interrupted him. "Now we're even."

"Even?"

She smiled, and bopped her head. "Yup."

"Even, huh?" A weak smile appeared on his lips. "Did any news come from the medcenter?"

"No."

"I see…" Anakin looked down again.

"Anakin," Jaina began, wiping a tear from her eye. "I'll get stronger."

"Yeah…"

She frowned for a moment. "You look sad."

He shook his head. "That's a trick of the light."

Then she was hugging him. "It'll be okay, little brother. We'll be strong together."

She released him, and he watched her for a moment. "No Krakana."

"It's a promise."

"Yeah."

"And if you break the promise…"

Anakin felt himself grinning despite the pain in his chest. "I'll buy you a strawberry parfait."

She quickly shook her head. "No… not even strawberries will allow me to forgive you if you break this promise."

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