7 years later..

"I did not expect to see you again after the day of your sentencing, I thought you had taken the exiled path wandering the galaxy, but here you are, why have you come here?" said Atris confidently as she strode down the walkway to meet a person she did not expect to see again.

They were in a council chamber in the hidden Jedi Academy on Telos located in the Polar region. Atris now 34 had not changed much except for the dark circles were forever present under her eyes. She still wore her accustomed white Jedi Historian robes with her single bladed lightsaber hanging on her belt.

Kyle Surik also 34 had only changed with age. His once short brown hair had now grown and had turned curly as well he had developed stubble across his chin and cheeks. He was dressed in a purple light mesh battle armour.

"Atris, what are you doing here?" asked Kyle in shock at seeing the one person who he had been wanting to see for the last seven years.

"She still looks beautiful as ever" thought Kyle.

"This is my home Exile, so I will ask again why are you here?" replied Atris in the same confident tone.

"I came here for my ship, but I did not expect to find you here as well, especially with all the rumours about the Jedi being virtually extinct, I'm glad your alive though, and happy to see you again of course" said Kyle.

"Spare me your feelings Exile, they are of no interest to me" said Atris coldly.

Kyle winced at the tone of her words.

"As for the Ebon Hawk, it is not your ship, it is Revan's ship, and it was responsible for the destruction of Peragus, if what you say is true that it is your ship then you are admitting you are responsible for destroying another planet" said Atris coldly.

"The Sith destroyed Peragus not me, I have only ever destroyed one planet as you know, and it is something I will never forgive myself for" replied Kyle taking a few steps towards her.

"The Sith, what are you talking about, they were destroyed in the Jedi Civil War" said Atris sounding shocked.

"They are hunting me along with the rest of the Jedi, we need to fight them just like I did in the Mandalorian Wars" said Kyle determinedly.

"The Mandalorian Wars was your choice alone, though I sense you are telling me the truth about the Sith, we Jedi that remain cannot interfere, we don't know what threat we are truly up against" replied Atris.

"The Mandalorian Wars is a choice I would make again, the Republic needed our help, the only choice I would not make again other than Malachor is leaving you like I did, it is one of the many mistakes I forced myself to relive all these years as punishment" replied Kyle going from looking determined to looking disappointed.

"Yet you still left me, and in doing so destroyed everything you and I had, do you know how hurt I was when you told me you were leaving" replied Atris angrily.

"Yes I knew how much you were hurt, I knew how much it hurt as soon as I told you, and I can still see it in your eyes Atris" replied Kyle walking closer to her.

"Stay away from me Exile or I won't be as kind as I am being now" shouted Atris as she swiftly reached around behind her to produce a single hilt lightsaber.

She then activated it producing a familiar blue blade to Kyle. Upon seeing this he realised who the lightsaber belonged too though he was surprised to see that she had it.

"And there I was thinking that you only kept the datapad and crystal that I gave to you, but now you surprise me with my lightsaber as well, I guess you still feel something for me after all" replied Kyle smiling but he did not move any closer to her.

"I have kept it, so that I will never forget that even the greatest Jedi can fall" remarked Atris.

"Although as much as it gladdens me that you kept it after all these years I would like it Atris, because surely you have felt that the force is returning to me, and please at least give me the courtesy of calling me by my actual name instead of that hateful exile name" replied Kyle calmly.

"It is not your lightsaber anymore Exile, and as for the force returning to you, that is a mistake, the force left you and it shall never return" replied Atris coolly.

"Very well then, if you believe I am still cut off from the force then how about I show you that I still feel it" replied Kyle calmly as he levitated a council chair close to where Atris stood shocking her.

"So the force has returned to you indeed, although it will not help you for what is about to come the emptiness is still there within you Exile" replied Atris sounding shocked.

"Yes the emptiness is still within me, a constant reminder of Malachor, but as for what is about to come you know as well as I do that you will need my help for the events to come, whether you choose to admit it or not" replied Kyle looking at her.

"You speak the truth, take your ship and your friends, seek out other Jedi and gather them on Dantooine, from there we will decide what must be done" said Atris.

"Atris" shouted Kyle as he walked over to her.

"What now Exile?" replied Atris annoyed.

He took her hand in his but this did not change her expression.

"I will be back when all of this is over, and I will make things go back to the way they were before the Mandalorian Wars, I promise you" said Kyle looking into her eyes.

"Leave me Exi-Kyle, I have nothing more to say to you" said Atris angrily as she pulled her hand away from his and started walking back across the walkway towards her private chambers.

Kyle Surik walked away from her but when he reached the door he stopped.

"I know you still love me Atris, even if you don't know it yourself, I may have abandoned you all those years ago, but I'm not giving up on you" thought Kyle.

He opened the door to the prison where his three friends were being held hostage. His new master Kreia an old woman dressed in a brown Jedi cloak which covered her eyes and was missing her left hand, a reminder of her battle with Darth Sion on board the Harbinger at Peragus, A human male with black hair dressed in black trousers, a white shirt, and a black waistcoat called Atton Rand a former smuggler and pilot who he had met on Peragus, and to his surprise of meeting in the Telos Restoration Zone the Iridonian mechanic Bao-Dur who now had a mechanical arm in place of his left arm.

"Did you find what you are looking for?" asked Kreia mystically.

"There is a Jedi here by the name of Atris, nothing else you need to know about" replied Kyle not wanting to reveal too much about Atris to his crew.

"Very well, she obviously has some connection to your past, as it would seem, given your tone with me, but now is not the time for such discussions, we will talk more on the ship" replied Kreia as a loud groan came from the force cage next to her as Atton slowly stood up.

"What's with Atton, he looks out cold?" said Kyle moving to check on Atton.

"I'm fine Kyle, just tired that's all" replied Atton sounding exhausted.

"Well you can sleep on the ship, lets go" said Kyle.

"I'm sorry General, I must have been knocked out from the crash, I have failed you, wha-what is this place where are we" said Bao-Dur.

"Shh, not here, we'll talk on the ship, you never know who is listening" replied Kyle.

"Very well General, lead the way" said Bao-Dur.

The Ebon Hawk took off from the Telos Polar Academy and departed the planet. Meanwhile Kyle sat in the cockpit with Atton thinking to himself.

"If that is your choice then so be it, just leave me alone, go off to fight in the war, but things will not be the same when you come back" said Atris pulling away from him looking hurt and going to sit on her bed.

"If that is your wish, then I shall follow it" replied Kyle going to the door and then turning back to look at her.

"Atris, just know that no matter what happens, no matter where I am or what I am doing, I will always love you, till the day they burn my body and I am one with the force, I will love you, forever and ever" said Kyle before finally leaving the room.

"Would things be any different if I had just listened to her, we would still be together, I would never have lost my connection to the force, or do what I did at Malachor" thought Kyle.

"We could have even been married" thought Kyle thinking back to one particular conversation with Atris one one sunny afternoon.

They were sitting on the bed in his room on Dantooine, both of them were smiling before she started to speak.

"You know Kyle, I couldn't be happier with my life right now" said Atris happily.

"And why is that my love?" replied Kyle smiling.

"Well I'm officially a Jedi Master and Historian, my new padawan is showing a lot of potential to be a great Jedi, and more importantly I'm here with you I couldn't ask to be anywhere else" replied Atris turning to look at him and placing her hands around his neck.

"What if one day I were to make you even happier, by lets say marrying you" said Kyle turning serious.

"You serious Kyle, you do know we are Jedi right" smirked Atris.

"Atris Surik, imagine being called that for the rest of your life darling, and what if I say I am serious Mrs Surik" replied Kyle teasing her on the last part.

"Maybe one day that'll happen Surik, you just keep dreaming and see what happens" said Atris who started to laugh slightly.

"Well I'll keep that in mind for one day Atris" replied Kyle as he started to laugh before capturing Atris's lips in his.

"I will find my way back to you my love, one way or another" thought Kyle as he and Atton got up to join the crew in the main hold of the Ebon Hawk.