On the other side of the Galaxy.

            The ship hummed merrily on it's way through hyperspace. That did not phase one of its occupants though. He was too lost in thought to even care. In his hand was a piece of flimsy. On it, the text only version of a letter from one of his most dear friends. As he thought about the words and their implications his hand clenched into a fist. Crumpling the flimsy into a tiny ball.

            He sagged onto his bunk. 'So this is how it is to be with us. You chose and acted for what you thought was best and now I have to pay for the consequences of one night of indiscretion for the rest of my life.' He thought as he laid down. 'Not the best news that I've ever gotten before bedtime, but . . .' his thoughts trailed off as he drifted into a troubled slumber.

            It was rather bright here and dry and windy. They had taken shelter in the shade cast by a rusted out AT-AT. It was him, his brother, and all the others from the mission. He glanced around once more. "Wait a minute, where's Tahiri?" He asked no one in particular.

                His brother answered. "She should be coming over that dune any time now." They both stood. Just after they got to their feet, she crested the hill. It looked as if she were running from something. "It's no good. She'll never put enough distance between her and it." As if on queue, another figure crested the dune, wrapping its arms around Tahiri's shoulders. They could make out her lips moving.

                The man looked at his brother in realization. "It's you; she's calling for you."

                "You know I can not answer. She refuses my aid." With that he fell to the ground panting. "I haven't enough time to play around. You need to help her Jasa. Of all the people in the galaxy, you are the only one who could possibly understand what she's going through."

                "Anakin I couldn't."

                His blue eyes flashed. "You can and will bro." A cloud of black bugs flashed overhead. "She is cracking apart. If you need to know what an insane Jedi can do, I suggest that you speak to Uncle Luke. It will happen to her, quite needlessly I might add, if you do not render aid." He collapsed flat to the ground. "Please." He faded from view.

                The entire scene faded from view ever so slowly, to complete darkness. In the center of this darkness was a multi-colored light. It contained every color of the rainbow and then some in an awe-inspiring technicolor swirl. He did not have to ask what this amazing sight was. He already knew. Just as he already knew whom the figure was near the base.

                He walked closer. "What?"

                "No time to explain bro." He was sifting through the darkness at his feet. "I know it's here somewhere." He paused, scrutinizing the ground harder. "Ah, here it is." He reached down and touched a finger to something on the ground. Turning quickly he placed the finger on the older man's lips. "This is what she's missing, it's her…", a wind suddenly picked up roaring loud enough to drowned out his next words.

            He woke up with a start. His legs tangled in the covers. A sticky film of sweat coated him. His lips were buzzing as if he had just been kissed. But the worst thing was that he had a splitting headache to go with the heartache given to him by the letter that was now laying on the floor, crumpled into a tiny ball.

            The beeping of the comm. added to the pounding in his head. He reached to the nightstand a flipped a switch. "Here." He croaked through dry lips.

            "Hey sleepy, you going to come relieve me up here or what?"

            He glanced at the chrono and groaned. "Sorry Aunt Mara, can you give me ten minutes to clean up?"

            "Sure. You had a rough night?"

            He thought back to the letter and the first part of the dream. "You could say that."


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


            Back on the 'Falcon...

            They had finished their mission at Bakura and decided to take a detour. Tahiri had been slipping more and more since the first leg of their journey. There hadn't been any surprises waiting for them here, but Jag and Jaina had stopped by one day while they managed to both have some time planet-side. When Tahiri had caught sight of an ornament that Jag had been wearing she had gone crazy.

            Jaina shook her head. Since then they had kept her sedated and restrained to the bed. The latter because she had been trying to mutilate herself and the former after she had broken free of one of the restraints. She looked down and smoothed back a stray strand of the blonde girl's hair. A silent tear made it's way down her face. "We've lost too many already, we can't lose you to T." She whispered.

            She went and sat at the end of the girl's bed. Her mother and herself had been taking turns keeping watch on Tahiri. Mainly because they were the only one that really knew the girl. Not to mention the fact that many thought that she should be launched into space with out a vacsuit for what she had done to Jaina that last psychotic episode she had.

            Jaina shuddered at that memory. Tahiri had turned ferocious. The girl's blade sprung to her hand ignited and she had lunged for Jag. Jaina had did the only thing she could, threw her closest body part between Jag as she her own violet blade to bear. She rubbed her arm in at the thought. "Good thing that I had started by deflecting some of the blow with the force, or I wouldn't have an arm right now," she murmured to herself. The fight went on for quite some time before Tahiri had collapsed.

            Jaina had not once hit the girl. Deflecting blows only. But that did not get her away unscathed, she had been put into a bacta tank due to several wounds that she had considered minor. There were many between the two squadrons that resented that, Jag included, and believed that the girl needed to be brought to justice.

            Jaina sighed in disgust and pulled her mind from those memories. She needed someone to talk to. Someone with perspective. She reached within slowly and found that person. He was at the controls of the 'Shadow.

            "Jasa, we need to talk."

            She felt him give a tired smile. "Do we really have the time?"

            "I know I do," she caught a small sense of loss from him, "what's wrong?"

            "Nothing. I just...it's Tahiri isn't it?" He purposely redirected.

            "Yes." There was a wealth of sadness in that one word, "she's leaving us."

            "What happened?"

            "She flipped out. We fought until she collapsed. That was two days ago. We've been keeping her restrained and sedated since yesterday."

            She didn't have to say anymore Jacen locked on to the sequence of events in her mind for the full story. "So you're heading for us. Why not take her back to Cighal?"

            "You know that answer as well as I do."

            He 'sent' her some coordinates. "We'll be in this sector in three days. It will take us several days to map it."

            "We'll meet you there."

            Her eyes snapped back open. He had broken contact to avoid her questions on what was bothering him. She shook her head. "Typical," she muttered.

            The door hissed open and Leia came in. Jag close behind her. "Go get some rest, Jaina." She watched the young lovers leave. Then she went to the door and cycled the lock.