The only light she saw tonight was that which ringed the high flat stone that the body was placed on. Her eye were glued to the unmoving husk on the stone. Tears would not come though. She was done showing that kind of weakness. Instead she would show strength, such that the woman standing just behind her would be able to draw from it.

            The events leading to this were all a blur to Tahiri. She could remember the searing pain she felt at the ghostly kiss she'd received. There was a gap there between that moment and leaving to retrieve the subject of her stare. Then another gap between flying the assault shuttle and being here now. The more she tried to recall, the more it slipped away from her like the smoke from the torches into the night.

            She was broken from her attempted reverie by a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's time to begin." came the nearly inaudible whisper. With that she took a steadying breath and stepped into the ring of light, "Anakin ..." The rest of her words were lost to her. She knew that she said them, but they did not register. Her mind was too busy reliving the events she spoke of to notice.

            The pain. Anytime she attempted to remember herself it came, acidic and directly on her nerves. The sheer relief when she saw him. The great fear when she realized that it wasn't her in control but the brainwashing. Her gasping relief at regaining control in time to avoid decapitating him. Their take off and subsequent crash. Her admission to him that she would willingly die with him. Finally making it to a real ship and getting out of there. Then her mind skipped back. She remembered exactly what he'd said to her. 'I love you.' It seemed to whisper on the wind and surround her as she finished speaking.

            Leia noted the stricken look that crossed Tahiri's features and placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder. The raw pain that greeted Leia's gaze brought a surge of sympathy out.

            The look on his mother's face steadied her. It said, 'I understand.' A sad but grateful smile crossed Tahiri's face. She stepped back into the shadows and continued her reverie with a steadying hand on her shoulder.

            She closed her eyes as the sight of the next speaker. It was painful enough to see him on the bier, but to have a living facsimile before her. That was pure torture. She stayed that way. Listening to voices come and go. When Kyp's voice faded, she opened her eyes.

            Master Skywalker stood there with a torch. He had asked her if she would like to do the deed. She remembered shaking her head and gave a quiet reply, "As his Master it really falls to you. I would be honored don't get me wrong, but everyone here believes that we were just good friends."

            As he lowered the torch, his reply floated to the surface. "Some of us know Tahiri. Some of us know."

            A wistful smile crossed her features. What he was doing now was a symbol of letting go. She was not quiet ready for that yet.

            The flames towered into the night. The occasional popping and cracking sending showers of sparks free into the night air. Her mind wandered as she watched the soothing flames lick higher. The dancing waves of heat reminded her of her desert home. She lost track of time while her thoughts wandered.

            The whole time she was reminiscing she heard the phrase that had saved her. She got to the one moment that they had had together about the time Master Skywalker stepped up to the rest of the family. He met her eyes.

            Lost in thought as she was she mistook him for Anakin. "If only I'd realized..." She did not realize that she had whispered those words that she was but a hairs breath away from kissing him. but then two things happened, Leia's hand gripped her shoulder a little tighter and Luke said, "Realized what, Tahiri?"

            A credit to her training and the partially integrated Yuuzhan Vong memories, she did not flinch or blink. Just pulled back calmly and allowed her eyes to refocus. "Just lost in thought Master."

            "You didn't answer my question Tahiri."

            A faint tremble entered her voice. "Ask me again sometime." She turned on her heel and walked back to the refugee camp. Behind her the wind picked up. It did not disturb the ashes.

~ . ~ . ~

            It was dark here. darker than she could remember it ever having been before. Inky black and as thick as molasses. She waded her way through it, toward a tiny pinpoint of light in the distance. She stopped to catch her breath and it was still several hundred meters off.

            That's when she heard the whispers. "Riina where are you? Come back please. NO! You can't have her, she is ours."

            The young woman's heart lurched at the pure desperation in the voice. The flood of painful memories. She was stolen from her parents, taken by infidels at such a young age that she had all but forgotten the sound of her mother's voice...Her father denying the right of the intruders.

            "Don't listen Tahiri, the voices tell half-truths." Anew voice put in, one that caused a soul wrenching that set her trembling. The light grew nearer to her. "Love, please. For the sake of things to come, you must try to heal your mind."

            She collapsed to her knees. The pain became too intense. "NOOO! I...you ...we...funeral." she stammered as she clutched the sides of her head in an effort to close out HIS voice. "You're not real!"

            The hands that touched her were soothing as they helped her to her feet. "I will not lie to you, in a way you are right." The apparition pulled her into a close embrace. "But if we were anywhere but here I wouldn't be able to this." He tilted her head up and proceeded to kiss her.

            She broke off gasping. Not so much from lack of air but at the stinging vortex this action created deep inside. Her eyes turned to glittering chips of jade. "Don't ever do that again." her voice dripped acid.

            "There is pain either way you go. But which ever way you decide, you will come out of it stronger." The image frowned, "There isn't much time left for us this night. I have something I need to show you." He held out his hand.

            She took it carefully and for the first time noticed that the general vicinity was recognizable. It was the Great Temple. The cold stone felt good under her feet. The inevitable question came, "Why are we here, Anakin?"

            He didn't answer. Instead he just kept walking, then he reached the top step and sat resting his elbows on his knees. "Mainly because this is where we spent most of our time together." he shrugged his shoulders and shifted to rest his chin upon his hands. The light on the horizon began to shift and bend. "You might as well take a seat, this will take a minute."

            She settled next to him, watching the picture begin to form. It was ...her? It had to be it looked too human for a Yuuzhan Vong, the scar on the forehead matched her and the fact that she carried a light saber.

            "What's..."

            "Watch." was all he said to her.

            The scene that unfolded turned her blood to ice. Oh yes it was her, but just everything was so wrong. Her voice was soft and menacing. Her eyes screamed mad darkness. She screamed denial, "That's not me, its Riina!"

            "Ahh, but they are one and the same 'Ri," Came the soft and unnecessary reply as the vision continued on.

            She was chasing someone. It was a Jedi. They were in some cobbled together station. "That's the ..." she started but paused as the vision of herself caught up to the youngster.

            'The last...' Riina began. Tahiri didn't her another word though, the young man in the vision turned to meet the saber coming at him his blue eyes flashing with stubborn determination. Blue. The same color as Anakin's, as Master Skywalker's...Ben. It was the only person in existence that it could be.

            Tahiri pulled in a shocked breath and turned her bright green gaze on Anakin. He was gone.

~ . ~ . ~

            She woke up without a sound. The vision slipping to the far corners of her mind and trampled into a figment of her imagination by a part of her locked behind durasteel walls. She slipped out of bed. Ever so carefully and quietly she dressed and padded on bare feet out to the cramped living quarters.

            Her path took her to the last place most of the Jedi would go to, Anakin's pyre. She slipped onto the stone carefully. She pulled a bottle out of her pocket. Little by little, she put some of his ashes inside. When the bottle was near full, she capped and sealed it. Then she slid off the rock.

            The stars glittered. She raised her eyes to them and blew a kiss. " That's yours, my love, where ever you are." She turned on her heel and headed back to the refugee camp. The wind picked up. It blew the ashes up in a whirling eddie. They gained more and more height, eventually separating into smaller and smaller particles. When the dust reached the clouds in the upper atmosphere, it settled.

            The next morning it rained.