As ill fated as I was at the current moment, I couldn't help but feel close to the fiery red head that was pursuing us. I had seen her somewhere before; that I was certain of, but where and when was a whole other story. Like a drunken man on his way home we ran through the caves, trying to lose the angered sith. All our attempts were flawed until we lost her in a large labyrinth of tunnels full of deceiving lights.

I took a seat against a cool wall in a wide cavern which was dimly lit by purple and yellow crystals which littered the walls, the ground and the roof. The hooded fellow, who I was following, paced to and from a small creek and back, mumbling inaudible words to themself.

I saw this as an opportunity to clarify a few things.

"Why'd you kick me off the cliff?" I asked, digging my heels into the soft ground.

The hooded fellow stopped pacing and turned their attention to me. Kneeling, they pulled back their hood and revealed their identity.

"Mical?"

Mical nodded slowly and solemnly. His eyes betrayed no emotion, as with the rest of his face. "Cakey, I did it to save you?" he finally said.

"Save me?" I asked, furious, "kicking me down from a cliff is now classified as saving a person?"

Mical shook his head, "That's not what I mean…"

Another thing just clicked in my head. Mical has blonde hair, blue eyes… blue puppy eyes. "MIC'?!?"

Mical fell back onto his hand. "How do you know that nickname?"

I shrugged, "After you saved me, I had a dream… No, it was too realistic. More like, what you would say, a vision."

Mical looked at me astonished, "I had no idea you were so strong in the force." Mical took a data pad out and did something to it then returned his attention to me. "Jakkie, do you know who's pursuing us?"

I shrugged, "Some angry red head?"

Mical ignored my sarcasm and continued, "She was your mother's best friend. A very strong and tall woman, by the name of Pepper Jones, who was easily angered easily. She, in particular, didn't get along with your father. We thought, originally that this had to do with her hatred of men, but we later discovered that jealousy…"

Mical gasped very loudly. I sat there, looking at the end of a red light sabre coming from his chest. Behind him, lit by the glow of her light sabre and the crystals around us was the pursuer. She wore pitch black robes as well as a glowing purple necklace. When I looked at that I got this eerie feeling; something about the necklace wasn't right.

She looked at Mical, who had now turned to face her, with devious yellow eyes. Letting out a small laugh she pulled her light sabre away and Mical's body fell lifeless to the floor.

Once it had made contact, she turned her attention to me.

"You have nothing to fear Miss Rand…" She deactivated her light sabre and held out her hand to me, "I'm your aunty Peppermint."

I reluctantly took her hand and she pulled me up. She shook my hand and then let go and took a step back. She looked me over a few times, thought to herself, then started to pace. How she was acting intrigued, yet scared me at the same time.

She noticed my fear and shot a smile to me.

"Jakkie, you look just like your mother," she continued, putting a finger to her chin, "Green eyes, dark features… It's just your hair. I suppose you got that from your father."

I nodded.

"You see, your mother and I go way back. We were only a few years younger than you when we met on Coruscant. I bet you didn't know that."

I nodded again.

"You're a very quiet girl. Tell me, do you know who killed your father that fateful day?"

How did she know about that? I thought to myself. "Yes, a group of Mandalorians killed him."

Pepper clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I'm afraid you've been told wrong," she ignited her light sabre again and stood there, her face lowered as she spoke. "The Mandalorians didn't kill him; I did."

The world froze at the words "I did." I didn't know whether to run or whether to make this witch pay for killing my father, but it felt like I had all the time in the world to make that decision. I counted the beats in my heart as I waited for Pepper to stab me, just as she stabbed Mical, with her light sabre.

One...

Two…

Three...

I hadn't seen him. I had presumed he was dead, but I guess that he still had enough life in him to buy me some time.

"RUN JAKKIE!" Mical yelled to me as he used his light sabre to cripple Pepper by slicing off her foot closest to him.

"AHH!" She scream at him, using all the force she could to stab him with her weapon.

I didn't stay there to watch the onslaught of anger Pepper had; I ran.

I still had no idea which way to go but I felt that I was going the right way. I stumbled over numerous rocks; no stumble big enough to dampen my focus. My eye sight being blurred by the crystal covered walls, I ran and ran for what felt like hours until I could run no more.

I took a seat on the ground and rested my eyes…

A bright light was belting down on my face. I could feel that I was moving, but how I did not know. Suddenly afraid that I had slept I attempted to jump up, only to discover that I was being carried. Frightened I looked up to see an unusually focused face with long blonde hair. It took a moment to click in my head.

"Tetriana?" I asked, shuffling in her arms to get comfortable.

She nodded and dropped me. I fell onto my butt in the long grass. I mumbled thanks as I got up.

"I suppose you can find your way from here, or Shen will find you," she said, and she walked away.

I nodded and watched her wander off. Even with her back turned, she still had a diffused dark glow around her, one that was vaguely familiar. Shaking my head away from such thoughts, I took in the surroundings, hoping to decide on the best route back to the enclave. There I would tell them of Mical and Pepper.

Suddenly remembering something, I threw my hand into my pocket and pulled out the contents: A silver crystal and a viridian crystal. And right on cue, behind me a familiar voice called to me.

"CAKEY!"

"PAT!" I yelled back, running to Shen.

We shared a brief hug before I handed him the silver crystal. He looked at it then to me, a little confused and surprised at the same time.

"Why are you giving me this?" he asked, tossing the crystal from one hand to another.

"It was for your birthday, thought, I s'pose I'm a day late," I replied, putting the viridian crystal back into my pocket.

Shen nodded and we started to walk back towards the enclave. Along the way I told Shen of the conflict in the cave, he listened intently and only made one comment.

"I'm glad you made it out alive," he said to me, just as I had finished telling him.

While Jakkie returned the enclave, Mical, just barely alive and having his light sabre kicked away from him, laid on the floor, beaten and bruised by Pepper.

"So you think you can protect her? You're still weak," Pepper said, hopping around Mical's body.

"Listen, you don't have to do this. You're such a good padawan, it's only Pepper's ghost controlling you," Mical pleaded.

Pepper laughed and knelt down so that she was face to face with Mical. "Your apprentice doesn't exist anymore. I bid you farewell old friend, hopefully there'll being enough of you to heal my leg."

Pepper stood up and used her force will to drain the life from Mical, cackling while she did it