A single pinprick of sunlight was all it took to rouse Fen the next morning. She sat up with a start, as always, sweat beading on her forehead, despite the early morning chill that left small clouds of mist rising from the river into the air, only to be eradicated by the rising heat of the sun. Yawning, she rolled her shoulders, stiff against the tree digging into her back. She staggered to her feet, stretching and stumbling over roots towards the bag that contained the bit of food they had left. As the sun warmed her back, she turned, tiling her chin up towards the few rays of sun that peaked through the thick canopy, smile spreading across her face as she warmed.

Around her, the forest was slowly awakening, she barely needed to lean into the Force to sense the depth of life here, millions of insects swarmed below her feet, birds were just beginning to sing in the trees above, a few larger animals slinking back into deeper shadow. The weight of life was reminiscent of what Coruscant, what home, had felt like. Fen allowed herself to collapse back to the ground, cross-legged, munching on the stick on nondescript protein that the Imperials called food. The Force pulled at the back of her mind as she ate and after a moment, she answered.

Letting out a breath, Fen cleared her mind of everything but birdsong and sunlight and reached outwards, grasping for the Force. Anger and fear clung to her, a dark, oily residue, tainting the bright light of the Force. Fen poked at it in her mind, pulling on the chord of that darkness, following it into the back of her mind, a string through a labyrinth. Darkness pressed around her, memories and sensations she did not want to face. For a few more heartbeats, she pressed on, the pressure on her heart increasing with every moment.

She felt something and flinched, rising from the pool of the Force, drenched in it, her eyes snapping open. Hera stood in front of her, brows knit with concern. Fen felt a flash of crimson irritation, she didn't need Hera's worry or her pity. "Are you alright?" Her hand pulled away from Fen's shoulder.

"I'm fine." With an effort of will, she snuffed out the anger. Hera cared about her, the thought etched a small smile on her lips. "I was just meditating."

"Isn't meditating supposed to be calm? You looked scared." The remaining sparks of anger threatened to bust back to life.

"I was just trying to figure something out, the Force took me a little further than I wanted to go." Fen attempted an effortless shrug as she finished her sad excuse for a breakfast.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Hera looked over her shoulder as she spoke, eyes towards the clearing where the other girls had rested, anxiety rolling off of her in waves.

"I found something, I'll have to look a little harder. Are you okay? What happened after I left? That twi'lek girl is dead, I assume."

Her words must have come out harsher than she intended because Hera spun around. "Her name was Sotna, and yes, she died, thanks for all your help with that."

"I...I'm sorry." Fen stuttered, looking anywhere but at Hera, shoulders hunching, retreating from unexpected conflict.

"You should be." Hera snapped, wrenching another ration from the bag, ripping it open with enough force to send the bar flying through the air. Her mind whispered at her to run with a voice like clattering chains, but another, bright, new, and angry part of her was ready to take a stand. Fen grabbed for that newer sensation, stomach turning at the idea of hiding yet again.

"Why? I can't heal, it's not something all Jedi can do. It's not my fault she got hurt and besides, she didn't want my help anyway." Fen leaped to her feet in an easy motion.

Surprise rolled off of Hera, unprepared for retaliation. Fen savored the emotion for a moment; she had teeth after all. Her brief buoyancy was deflated as Hera responded not with anger but confusion. "Not all Jedi can heal?"

Wrangling with her frustration, Fen tried to even her tone. "No, it's not… it wasn't very common, you have to have a kind of aptitude for it."

"What do you have an aptitude for then?"

Casting off her rage felt like fighting cobwebs, but she tried nonetheless. "Empathy. I can sense other people's feelings, thoughts sometimes too."

"Oh."

"What?" Fen snapped, losing the fight momentarily.

"It's nothing. I just thought maybe…"

"That I would have a more useful skill? Or maybe you through someone who could read minds would be a little more tactful?" Fire burned beneath her skin, disproportionate to the offence, but she rode with it rather than cower before Hera's disappointment. Her voice clipped and harsh, she continued. "We should probably get moving." Not waiting for a response, she turned and walked towards the girls.

"That's not what I meant." Hera said from behind her, Fen didn't turn around. Hera had no notion of what the Force was capable of, no idea what Fen herself could do. Well. She would show her one way or another. Fen reached for the Force again, pulling it into herself until she could feel the turn of the universe. Then she stepped out onto the high riverbank where the other girls were waiting.

They all looked scared, scared of her. She didn't need to be an empath to know that. Their fear wilted the bloom of her new-found anger. This wasn't what she wanted. Before she could reassure these girls she wasn't going to eat them for breakfast, Hera marched out of the forest, her face set. "Let's go girls." They looked almost as scared of Hera as they had of her.

It took several minutes into their forest walk before Fen realized, from her position at the rear, that there seemed to be several fewer twi'leks ahead of her than their ought to be. Perhaps there fear might be something more than just a girl dying. The twi'lek nearest to her kept shooting glances, unable to decide between rage and terror.

Nearly an hour of traipsing through a jungle steadily increasing in temperature, Fen finally worked up the courage to tap the girl on the shoulder and simply ask her questions, rather than continue to build up increasingly horrible scenarios in her mind. "Hey," the girl jumped alarmingly, "What's your name?"

She gave Fen an accusing glare before answering, as though Fen had walked over and slapped her in the face. "Neesha.:

"Neesha, hi, what happened last night? After I left?"

"Do you mean before you tried to kill Sotna or after?"

"After." Fen paused, looking down as though perhaps the dirt would have the words she needed. "I...I'm sorry about that."

Neesha gave her another glare. "After Sotna died, Hera kicked Iania and her friends out of the group. They're probably dead thanks to you."

"How..Why did Hera kick them out?"

"I think you know why."

"I'm sorry, I really don't." Fen said, unwilling to send her ideas out into the open.

"You. We all wanted you gone. Hera said no." Fen's eyes moved to Hera's lekku, swinging in the distance at the front of the group. Hera had chosen her over her own people. A number of emotions threatened to overwhelm her at once. Neesha ceased to be a concern, the girl stared at her in revulsion for a moment, but Fen didn't notice. Hera cared about her, more than she could have hoped, she wanted to start skipping or break into song for a brief and glorious moment.

An unwelcome thought drifted into her mind, a dark cloud on the horizon. Hera was mad at her. Did she regret her choice? Had she hoped that Fen would be more useful to the group, to her own efforts in the rebellion? Had she defended Fen because of her abilities, had that been why mention of her talents had disappointed her? Wafts of indignation drifted up from inside of her, something burning deep below. She would prove Hera wrong, she would be useful. The Jedi had watched her powers grow with a hint of fear behind their placid faces. She was sure she could find something in her abilities to impress Hera, to prove to her that she was useful, she was worth the sacrifice of Hera's priorities and possibly her principles.

With a deep breath, Fen called out to the Force again, allowing it to fill her. As she walked, she tried to examine it, to hold it up to the light and see the fabric of which it was made. Threads of darkness extended through the tapestry, woven tightly. Could she remove them? For a moment she pondered, biting her lip. If anything, she felt more powerful than before, but at what cost?

There was an element of risk in using the Force like this, but now she knew the power of anger, how easily it could dominate. She would not allow herself to be overcome so completely as before. She would just have to take care that this darkness did not spread. Fen smiled as she wrapped the Force around her as a cloak. She would show Hera her power. She could do this, she would find some way of using her abilities to help. Carefully, she reached out for Neesha's mind, sensing the chaos of emotion and trying to unwind it all without notice. She would start here, with the mind of this girl, her mental tapestry with the same threads as a human, but with an unfamiliar melody she could not track. It would take time, but one way or another, Fen would learn.

Hera fumed her way through the forest, unsure whether she was more angry at Fen or herself. No, perhaps she shouldn't have said what she said, but Hera was equally convinced Fen had also been overreacting. Maybe she had hoped that Fen's aptitude had been destroying enemies with a snap of her fingers or something, but didn't deserve to have her head taken off for that. Everyone knew the Jedi had been a strange and secretive little cult, was it so surprising that she didn't understand the nuances of their power? She sighed as she swatted aside another branch in her path. The forest stretched out all around them, green-gold leaves shimmering in the filtered sun. It was a lovely scene, but she was having trouble enjoying the sounds of the birds and the kiss of warm air on her face. At any moment, a monster could emerge from the depths, the Empire could come running out of the bushes or a TIE fighter could spot them from the air.

Briefly distracted from her simmering internal argument, she tried to calculate how much further they would have to travel before she could call her father. Perhaps in a few more hours, if they saw no sign of the Empire and nothing ate them all before that. Behind her, the girls remained silent, not even discussing how much they hated her. She thought she could almost feel them thinking it, as though she were Fen or something. She had betrayed them all completely and then pissed off her only remaining ally within less than twelve hours. The sooner this jungle stroll was over, the better.

"Does anyone want to rest for a minute?" She asked some time later as they passed a small brook, silver fish-creatures swimming by, reflecting the sunlight . She received silence and cold stares.

"We're fine." One of the girls said, arms crossed against her chest, as though she too couldn't wait to escape the present company.

"Fine then." Her voice came out tight and cold. Furiously, she kept walking, leading the group ever deeper. The silence pressed down against her, feeling burning eyes on her back.

"Look,"Hera snapped abruptly, spinning around and hissing at the nearest twi'lek. "I'm sorry okay. I'm sorry about Sotna and Iania and the others. I couldn't do what you wanted me to do. I had to make a choice."

"You did what you thought was best." Sarcasm dripped from the girl's voice. The one behind her simply glared. "We just didn't think the daughter of Cham Syndulla would choose an off-worlder over her own kind." She spoke fluidly in Ryl.

"The galaxy is more complex than just them against us." Hera retaliated in the same language. "She's suffered too, been a slave too. Should I just abandon her because it's convenient? All I want to do is help people, all I've ever been trying to do."

She gave a bitter laugh. "Well, you sure didn't help Iania."

"She wasn't going to back down and you were all going to follow her!" Hera said, her voice rising, almost to a shout. "I couldn't just let all of you go into the forest alone."

"So you're fine with sending just a few girls into the forest alone."

"I would rather not have sent anyone away, Iania forced my hand."

"Well, if that's what you want to believe."

"It's not about belief." Syndulla stubbornness had risen from the depths, temporarily casting aside her own doubts and regrets. She would defend herself. "I was not going to have you all walk out into the forest with no way out."

"So you're happy with sacrificing three to save one."

"No. Don't twist my words. I'm not happy about it obviously." Hera snapped, casting her eyes back and saw Fen watching her, suddenly aware they were speaking in a language she couldn't understand. "But I would do it again." Would she? She wasn't sure, did it even matter what her choice would be? She just had to make the others believe the threat. Her father whispered approvingly in the back of her mind.

The girl didn't respond as they kept walking. She had seen no sign of the Empire, perhaps they were safe. She looked back at Fen again, but perhaps wait just a little longer, to be on the safe side. She put her comlink back in her belt, wondering what she would say to her father. Would he even be glad to see her? Would he be proud of what she had done? Either way, the answer didn't please her.

Fen appeared beside her with a ghost-like suddenness. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." A look into Fen's bright blue eyes undid her, anger evaporating in an instant. "I don't know what the Force is really like I guess."

"Neither do I really." Fen smiled looking up. "I feel the living Force everywhere, but the rest of it, the cosmic part, that's all a little beyond me too."

She didn't know what Fen was talking about, but Hera smiled anyway. You can't do this, a little voice in her head whispered. She will be the death of you and your ideals. However, she argued back if they left Ryloth, as was their plan they would leave the distinction between, the choice behind Fen and the twi'leks behind… maybe it would all work out. Her heart ached, to leave home so soon, but it was the best way, the way she could have what she wanted.

Reckless, Hera grabbed Fen's hand, swinging at her side, twisting their fingers together. For a moment, she thought Fen would pull away, her hand jerking instinctively from physical contact, but she held on. The look in her eyes was fathomless and Hera allowed herself to drown in them for a moment. A small smile played around the corner of Fen's lips, pulling Hera's eyes down, something inside of her lurched, desperate to be closer, but she resisted, not in front of everyone, Fen wouldn't appreciate that.

Would they understand now why she had done what she had done? Probably not. She kept walking, Fen's hand swinging in hers until it was too hot for even that physical contact. It was time to call her father. Slowly, she entered the frequency for distress, hoping Cham hadn't had reason to change it since the last time she memorized it.

"My child, you're alive." There was an edge in his voice, she would have thought it relief if she had know he cared about her wellbeing as separate from the rebellion.

"Yes father. Fen and I escaped, we freed some prisoners as well. We're in the equatorial forests, can you triangulate our position and come get us? I think we've managed to loose the Empire by now."

"I will send a team as soon as I can. Stay where you are."

"Better settle in girls." Hera sighed as she ended the call, leaning against a tree. "It's going to be a while before someone comes to get us." Everyone followed suit, unwilling to stand any longer in the heat that was swiftly becoming oppressive.

Her father surprised her yet again. It was not long at all before a shuttle began to descend, sunlight reflecting off the windows. It was also at that exact moment Fen leapt to her feet, eyes staring into the forest. "What is it?" Hera drew her blaster.

"The Empire, I think, well, a couple of humans in any case." She drew her blaster as well, stalking forwards to lean against a tree. As she waited for the soldiers to emerge, the shuttle landed, her father stepping out. She did a double take, staring at him, there, in person. In her shock, Hera missed the stormtroopers stepping into view. Fen, however, did not, nor did most of the others.

Hera and Cham reacted half a second later as blaster bolts flew towards their ship. Hera noted one of the men leaning to talk into his complink. She fired a shot, missing. "Fen, you can't let that trooper call the others!" Fen reached out her hand and the man rose into the air, comlink falling from fingers now occupied with grasping his throat. With the other hand, she shot him in the head, light blazing in her eyes, framed by furious brows. Hera took stock and aimed at the next man, and then the next.

In a collection of furious moments, it was over. For once, they had had they advantage of both numbers and surprise on the small platoon of troopers surveying the area. Another couple of minutes and the shuttle was rising back up into the air, speeding away while the horizon was still clear.

"She's a Jedi." Cham was staring at Fen, who sat opposite them in the long middle room of the shuttle.

"Yes." Hera clenched her jaw, for a moment, she had forgotten the reason she had kept Fen's powers hidden from him. No longer.

"How long have you know?"

A spring-loaded trap of a question if she had ever seen one. Fen was not making eye contact from across the aisle, instead staring out the narrow patch of noon-day sky that could be seen through the open doors of the cockpit. Quickly, Hera weight her options, neither were ideal. Was she so unobservant she had failed to notice a Jedi, something the other girls would call her on, or had she lied to her father this whole time, depriving him of a valuable asset for his rebellion.

She knew her answer. "I've known since I met her." Her father stared at her, orange eyes narrowing.

"And you failed to see the importance of this kind of information?"

"I didn't think the abilities of my friend were particularly relevant at the time." She placed emphasis on friend, hoping he would clue in that she wasn't an asset.

She was disappointed almost immediately. "You willingly hid valuable information from the rebellion." His voice had turned deadly and no one was looking at them anymore, but Hera was passed caring about his approval. She had to be.

"Yes, I did. Fen's a friend, not a tool for your vendetta against the Empire. She's not a weapon or a soldier, she's just a girl."

It was the second time today someone had laughed in her face. "You are more foolish than I gave you credit for it you think she is not either. She is a weapon by her very nature."

"You're wrong, the Jedi tried to strive for peace." They had failed miserably, but that was beyond the point she was trying for.

"They turned themselves into weapons and soldiers for the Clone Wars, they invaded and conquered our home. Or have you already forgotten? You are deluded by this girl if you think she can be anything less than what she is." He turned his attention to Fen briefly and she met his gaze, eyes wide.

"I will not let you use her Father."

"As long as she is on Ryloth, she will help us defend our home against the invaders she brought here. It is the least she can do."

"Then we are leaving." Her father fell silent for a blissful, nerve-wracking moment, still staring at Fen, who looked back, as if afraid to turn her gaze from a predator. Slowly, he turned to her and Hera braced for impact.

"You would choose her over your own people, over me?" He didn't believe her commitment, not yet.

The same choice, all over again. But this time, it wasn't just for Fen. An older, deeper grievance sprung forth, argument long formed. "I am choosing to go and I choose to take her with me. I have had enough of your version of rebellion, enough of the ends justifying the means. I cannot stay here any longer and be the person I want to be, the person mother would have been proud of. I need to find my own way to fight the Empire. I want to bring hope to oppressed people beyond Ryloth because just us, all alone, is never going to work. This rebellion has to spread, to become bigger than any one person if it is to succeed. And I am going to make that happen." She was standing by the time she was done talking, thoughts and emotion having blended together so fully she wasn't even fully aware of what she had said. But it seemed to have had an impact, for a moment, her father was silent.

"Very well. But if you go, you are no longer a part of this rebellion, you are no longer a part of this family."

"What family? What's left besides you and your pain?" Tears threatened, but she held her ground. "No father, I am going and nothing you say will change my mind."