A/N: This is a direct follow-up to "The Forseen Loss", so ya gotta read that first. Also, this was written for the same LJ community, scifi-five. Hope you enjoy!


The Nightmare

It came every night now. Every single night, she had the same nightmare. And every single night, she woke up in the same terror-stricken state.

After less than a week, she began dreading the nighttime. She'd tried meditating the entire night instead of sleeping, but it was of no help. She couldn't reach her calm Jedi state with this on her mind.

Her only desire was for this to go away. For this to be purged from her mind.

Every day when she saw Jesbra and the memories of her nightmare sprung to mind, she struggled to bury the emotions that it caused deep within her.

Keldu didn't want her to know. Didn't want her to worry.

After a week of the nightmare, Keldu woke up with the same gasp that she'd experienced every night before. And she felt as if it was more than she could take, bearing this every single night.

With a sigh, she rolled off of her sleep-couch and onto her feet. After pulling on her boots and throwing her cloak over her shoulders, she slipped into the hallway, and made her way towards a turbo-lift.

On the way, she had to pass Jesbra's room. Her eyes flicked towards the door, and her heart ached.

She passed the room quickly, and kept going.

Keldu rode the turbo-lift up to the roof of the main part of the Temple. When she stepped outside onto it, she stepped out into rain. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself, and stepped under the downpour anyway. Her hair, face, and cloak were quickly drenched, but she didn't care.

She tipped her head up to look at the clouds.

The clouded sky was far from empty, despite that it was the middle of the night. A number of airspeeders sped along in their various traffic lanes, and Keldu could faintly hear the engines whine over the sound of the rain.

She sighed and closed her eyes, letting the rain wash across her face, mingling with her silent tears.

Too bad the raindrops couldn't quench her thirst for peace and for answers.

A familiar presence appeared at the back of Keldu's mind, and for a moment, she thought it was only her imagination. Her tortured mind had to be playing tricks on her. But when she opened her eyes and turned around, sure enough, there stood Jesbra, making her way across the roof.

Instantly, Keldu wrapped everything up inside.

"Hey," Jesbra greeted softly.

"Hey," Keldu returned.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Hmm, that's an understatement, Keldu thought to herself. Aloud, she answered with a simple, "Yes."

For a long moment, both women were silent and the only sound to be heard was the raindrops striking the roof beneath their feet and the faint hum of airspeeders overhead. After that moment, Jesbra spoke so quietly Keldu was almost unsure she'd spoken at all.

"You seem to lose a lot of sleep lately, Keldu," she said. She paused, and glanced over towards her friend, a concerned and contemplative look plastered across her face.

She simply nodded again, saying nothing.

And here I was thinking I'd hidden it so well, Keldu thought to herself. Her trademark cool, calm mask slid firmly into place to cover the worry she was feeling beneath it. Jesbra was in too close. Keldu was going to have trouble keeping this matter covered.

"Kel, what's wrong?" Jesbra asked.

"Nothing," Keldu replied reflexively. "I just haven't gotten much sleep."

Jesbra's expression changed, and Keldu could tell the other Jedi was very determined to find the underlying cause of Keldu's sleeplessness. "I can tell it's more than that. You've been jumpy, worried, and very anxious."

Keldu sighed. "Am I so transparent?" she asked.

"Only to us," Jesbra replied. "No matter how hard you try, though, the four of us will always be able to see through you."

Giving a snort and a light chuckle, Keldu drew her saturated cloak a bit tighter about her. "Comforting," she said.

A patient silence ensued while the two friends simply stared off into the distance. During the lengthy quiet, the rain began to slowly let up.

Finally, Jesbra broke the silence. "You've seen something." It wasn't a question, but a stated fact. She knew. "Something that scares you." Her eyes, currently a cloudy gray, turned towards her friend. What is it?" she pressed.

Keldu let out another sigh, and her eyes instantly dropped to the ground. "Death," she answered. "I've seen death."