Jiimo left the day after the new prisoners returned

Jiimo left the day after the new prisoners returned. The parting was unusually painful. It is a dangerous galaxy out there now. We get news of death and destruction every day.

Yesterday, two days after Jiimo left, the Jedi Council decided that the galaxy needs Master Sual and Fang more than the Temple does. They left after breakfast today. Lunch and dinner were unbearably lonely without them. Zefel doesn't talk much.

I think of the seemingly empty Temple as I wander to Zefel's place in the Room of a Thousand Fountains after the younglings. Every functional knight, master, and padawan is outside of the Temple with the exceptions of most of the Council, some healers, the freed prisoners, and me.

I can't understand why I haven't been chosen yet. Are people so afraid of taking a padawan who has lost her first master? Or is it simply because no one stays at the Temple long enough to choose a new padawan?

I suddenly realize that I have been hearing soft voices, which isn't unusual in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, but the voices are coming from Zefel's place and I can hear crying, too.

I stop. Should I leave her or see who she is talking to? I think I need to at least make sure it is Zefel.

I walk as quietly as I can and look from across a pool.

It is indeed Zefel. She is crying about something with a young, brown-haired adult human male. It looks like he may be crying, himself.

I leave before they can see me.

My first impression is unfair to Zefel. She has gotten into trouble before for looking older than her age and being attracted to boys. I hope that isn't happening here. That's the last thing she needs.

My second thought is very bad for me as a Jedi. I am jealous of him. I am sure she is telling him more than she does me.

I must not assume things, and I must not be jealous. That's a lot worse than grieving for Oreti and Dorn.

"Akite!" Zefel calls out.

I return to her. She is wiping her eyes and sniffing. "This is Kep Osirai."

He stands and bows. He isn't quite as young as I thought, or maybe it's just his tired eyes.

"He – oh, you tell her." Zefel sniffs again.

"I was captured at the Battle of Geonosis, like your friend."

"I'm sorry," I say. My heart leaps, however. Zefel has finally found someone to talk to who might "understand." I notice that he is not wearing a lightsaber.

They try awkwardly to talk to me. Finally, I politely leave the two of them and return to my room to meditate.

I think Zefel is going to be all right with Kep Osirai.


"So," I begin when Zefel sits beside me at breakfast. I don't see her new friend anywhere, so I think I'm safe in asking her about him. I turn to her. "Kep Osirai."

"What about him?" she asks and fills her mouth with food.

"Well, anything. Who is he? Besides being a prisoner."

"He's a knight." Her food seems to be taking up an unusual amount of her attention.

"Does he have a padawan?" I press.

"He did."

"What happened?"

"They were sent to take a Geonosian city. Not the one we were in. They got separated and overwhelmed."

"Oh, so you can say something worthwhile about him." I cross my arms. "What'd you talk about?"

"Prison. Whatever." She looks at me and says sharply, "Do I have to report everything I do to you?"

I am shocked speechless. I probably have heard that tone from her before, but never directed at me, Fang, Jiimo, or even Dorn. I am going to tell Master Yoda that this friendship thing is not working out.

"You know what's wrong?" Zefel asks, her tone still harsh. "You're upset that I'm talking to someone besides you and Fang. You're jealous. Well, I've been talking to plenty of Jedi."

"I have, too," I protest, though I've only really talked to the two who shared my ship on the way back from Geonosis and Master Yoda, and she touched on exactly what was wrong. "But I wish you would talk to me a bit more. We used to talk all the time."

"Well, that was before all this." She looks away with a vague, distracted expression.

"Zefel." I was angry with her a second ago, but now I feel as much affection for my friend as ever. "I lost my master, too."

"You never show it.

"Would you prefer I cried all day?" I ask. "Come on, Zefel. I do cry. You've seen me. I feel lonely. I wish there were someone to help me. There isn't, so I wait. You should've seen what I was doing at first, before Fang came. Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling pain in my leg that should have healed days before then, and looking for stupid shatterpoints… So, Zefel, I'm not perfect. I just found out how to be happy. Playing with younglings. I love them."

"So what do I do?" Zefel asks.

"I don't know yet. Maybe you need to get out of the Temple."

"I need a master first." She takes another bite of food. Then, she shudders. "We're all going to die," she whispers.

"We all will someday. We're all mortal, even Master Yoda."

"Soon, though. There's nothing but blood and tears ahead."

"Do you have to be so depressing?" My temper is beginning to fray.

"Something terrible is going to happen to the Jedi," she whispers. "I don't know what, but whenever I look to the future, I feel it. Jedi will kill Jedi."

My skin is prickling, but I try not to show it. "In all our thousands of years, whenever there's war, Jedi kills Jedi. I believe that and that something terrible is happening."

"But this will be worse than ever before."

"Zefel, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you really seeing bits of the future?" Usually, only masters can do that.

"I don't know." Her clear blue eyes seem clouded and frightened. "I think Yoda thinks I am."

Every hair on my body must be standing up. I can only hope that Zefel is exaggerating or misinterpreting what the Force shows her. It showed me hope. "I don't know, Zefel," I admit. "But I do know that, no matter what is coming, we have to keep going."

She nods, but her eyes do not look any happier.