I woke up for the second time with an aching back, due to the horrible lack of bedding in the women's dormitories. I swore to myself I would find something more comfortable today, and to back up my resolve, put a note in my datapad to remind me.

The thought of much needed bedding made my brain go into a sudden panic mode. I had to get up before Revan decided to adventure off again.

I tugged on my shoes and immediately stumbled half-asleep through the hallways to the cockpit, not needing to change clothes as I had slept in my robes. I would have to put 'add more substance to my wardrobe' to the datapad, today, as well.

The main hold was empty, which led me to believe Zaalbar was off again on his own adventures. Who knew he moved around so much?

I walked into the cockpit, already planning what I would say to Revan, only to find the metal room heartlessly empty.

Well, almost.

"Where's Reva-lora?" Even after weeks of practice, I still wasn't quite used to stopping myself from saying her name. Others had seemed to stop noticing.

Carth peeked out from behind the pilots seat, the stray lock of hair on his forehead bobbing up and down as he moved. "She left early this morning. Said the council wanted to see her again," He frowned. "Alone."

I heaved a sigh that quickly turned into a yawn and plopped down into the seat next to him. "Ruh roh. You don't sound too happy about it. Got something against the Jedi, soldier?"

He surprised me by answering immediately, instead of giving me the whole 'I don't trust anyone' excuse speech he usually did. "Not at all! But the fact that the Jedi Council would call in a Republic soldier to talk to them about business that's so private it can't be discussed, well that, that bothers me."

I waved a hand as if it were the most uninteresting news in the world. "Oh, whatever. It's not that unusual. Dantooine is it's own little cluster all on it's own. You think these small town people want more rumors spreading around? One day word gets out a Republic soldier is meeting the council in private, the next day people will think she's Darth Bandon in disguise."

"Darth who?"

"Nevermind that. The point is, if she had been called into the Coruscant council, then that would be something to bark about. But this is Dantooine. No one cares about Dantooine. Compared to other Jedi training facilities, this could be considered an accidental blot on the galaxy map." I shrugged, "The council here is great, but not Master Yoda great. So don't get all upset if they want to talk to the leader in the quest for Bastila. It doesn't seem that weird to me."

In my opinion, he looked a mixture of mildly grumpy and pouty, like a child being denied a candy bar. "I don't like being left out of the loop."

I began picking morning crust out of my eyes. "Oh, come on. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you eventually. Imagine if you were always kept in the loop, Carth. You'd know all kinds of things you didn't want to know."

He crossed his arms, clearly unimpressed. "Like what?"

I got up and stretched, groaning when my back popped. "Oh, I don't know. Thing's like..." I sat back down, "I'm probably going to need some tampons soon. Have we got any?"

That just dived into a conversation about what a tampon could possibly be. Apparently in the Star Wars universe, woman toiletries were called by other names. Of course, once I explained what it was, he understood immediately, even if he did blush a little. I mean, the man had been married. Rivers of red were nothing new, even if a bit uncomfortable to talk about.

I stood up. "Well. Not that this conversation hasn't been enlightening, but now that I know the proper name for the things, I might as well go shopping. I've got to get some new clothes and a decent mattress, anyway."

His eyebrows creased. "Would you take T3 with you? He's been acting strange lately. Maybe take him to a repair shop to see if there's a problem."

I frowned. "Strange? What do you mean strange?"

He became thoughtful. "Well... This morning, he gave me a rather rude comment about my flight jacket..."

My eyebrows raised in shock. "Really? What did he say?"

He looked entirely perplexed. "He told me orange was an ugly color... And then he mentioned how my jacket made him have to repair his photoreceptors."

I bust over laughing. "I told him yesterday that he ought to start developing a sense of fashion. Who knew he'd take my advice so quickly?"

He frowned his grumpy three-year-old frown. "I like my jacket, thank you very much." He fidgeted slightly with the zipper just then, "It's a classic."

I abruptly stopped laughing and nodded very approvingly. "Yes. Classic. Very you."

He didn't seem to know if he should take the comment as a compliment or an insult.

/ / / / /

While it turned out the farmer's market in the hangar next to ours was a much better variety than the smuggler's shack the lying Twi'lek who sold me my robes had, it was not to be said that the setup was much different. Half-broken boxes of junk lay strewn in piles all around the various shops set around. Much finer junk than my first experience on Dantooine had, but still junk, mind you.

"Dee-dee deet bree?" Asked T3, who had been strolling comfortably alongside me. If a droid could get comfortable or uncomfortable, anyway.

"Those?" I looked to the getup some old wrinkled-looking farmer had. "Those look like oranges. It's a fruit."

"Dwee-woo bareep!"

I laughed. "Well, ugly color or not, they taste delicious."

We continued walking. The "tiny corner" Revan had told me was full of farmers markets was not quite as tiny as I had expected, with five different shops taking up the space in between landing pads set up for freight ships.

"You know, it's a shame droids can't eat."

"Dwee?"

"Yeah! Eating is probably one of my favorite past times, so long as the food is good. Taste is an amazing thing."

T3 made a sound that distinctly sounded like a shrug would on a human.

We walked into a tent one of the farmers had up and were met with boxes full of various parts for a variety of mechanical machines that looked like useless garbage to the unknowing eye. I thought I might have recognized some of the parts from my time with Boc, but I wasn't sure, and thinking about Boc or Gadon or even Zaerdra made my heart ache in a strange stomach-churning kind of way. I immediately made a turn to ignore that side of the tent.

The other side of the shop was full of boxes of things one might expect to see if you were moving out of your house. Clothes, trinkets of things, even some small items of furniture.

I turned to the farmer who owned the shop, who was watching in a worried kind of cautious way from his seat near the doorway. "Are you moving?"

Something inside him seemed to release itself at my question, like a man who has traveled for many miles without sleep or drink. "No," He said, in a voice full of exhaustion and hopelessness. "My family... We were raided not that long ago by some Mandalorians we didn't know were camping on our land. They took everything of value and left us with only a broken moisture vaporator and a couple slices of stale bread. I have to sell everything. Everything. Without our moisture vaporator, we can't produce enough credits to feed ourselves. That bread won't last a day in my house."

I shook my head at his tragedy. "That's horrible. Did they totally smash your vaporator, or is it fixable?"

He shook his head, too, but sadly. "There was hardly anything left to salvage. The good parts are for sale, too," He pointed at the boxes I had seen earlier. "They're over there, if you're interested."

I sighed and turned back to the boxes of clothes. There was nothing extraordinary or special about them, just simple farmer clothes. I looked on and on to find anything I could possibly like, and halfway through searching, decided that even if I didn't find anything I would give him some money anyway. Luckily, however, I found something that did catch my eye. It was a beautiful, but very simple (I was sure I could sew it myself!) pale blue off-the-shoulder dress. One glance and I knew it would look horrid on me. But it was the best-looking thing in the bin, and I wanted to help the man running the shop while still making him feel like he earned it.

I snatched the dress and walked up to him. "How much?"

There was a certain wist in his eyes, like he was sorrowful and happy all at the same time to see the piece of fabric. "Now I... I couldn't possibly put a price on that. That was my wife's wedding dress."

I suddenly felt awkward holding the thing.

"Many years she saved up for that. Happiest day of my life, when she married me. I don't deserve her."

I held up the dress and took a closer look at it. From first glance, it was a very simple design. But now that I was looking closer, I could see there was delicate waves of beading down the sides. Fitted on the right person, this dress could probably be very beautiful.

The farmer shook his head. "But I can't keep it. Can't keep anything, anymore." He sighed, "20 credits."

I looked at him like he was crazy. "20 credits? Are you kidding me?"

He seemed alarmed at my sudden change of mood. "Well, I... I s'pose..." He looked at the dress more carefully, like maybe there was something in it that he had forgotten. "I s'pose 15 credits could-"

I threw my arms in the air, the dress flailing around. "15! Are you kidding? I'll give you 800!"

The man nearly fell out of his chair. "E-e-eight hundred?!" He stammered. "That would buy us a new moisture vaporator ten times over!"

I practically threw my credits at him and marched out of the place before he could say anything else.

Walking into the next shop, I asked T3, "He was nice, don't you think?"

"Bee-dee-deet breep. Dee-deet dee!"

The curves of my mouth twitched up. "No, his vocal chords weren't malfunctioning. He was stuttering because he was shocked. It happens to tons of people."

"Dweee..."

/ / / / /

By the end of me and T3's shopping trip, I had found two good tank tops - one black, one grey, and both of them had the logo of some farming company - and a pair of decent-looking shorts. I was glad for this, because I wasn't sure if Tatooine would have a clothes shop, and I didn't think wearing my black "Ajunta Pall" Jedi robes would help keep me from the three blistering suns the sandy planet had.

I also asked all the shop owners if they had a mattress that would fit my bed on the Ebon Hawk, and I was directed to a man who sold me a thin blanket-like piece of cloth he promised would make my nights ten times more comfortable. For the price of 40 credits, I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out, even if it did seem a bit unrealistic. Who knew. Maybe there was some kind of Jedi Force Magic inside of it.

When I got back to the Ebon Hawk, the sun was just making its way behind the hills in the distance. From my spot in the luxurious landing pad, most of the scenery I might have seen if I was standing out in the fields was drowned out behind the tops of the training center. Nevertheless, I stopped to stare at the beautiful sky.

I wondered what my little sister was doing. I wondered if my grandmother was okay. I missed my cat. It seemed strange and lonely to me that I could now look up and know my family wasn't under the same sky.

The ache from the memories of a life that was gone was nothing compared to the ache in my belly. A loud roar announced the realization I hadn't eaten all day.

"Dee deet bree doo."

I snickered as me and T3 made our way into the Ebon Hawk. "Yes. We humans have internal systems that vocally alert us if we're about to malfunction. In this case, I'm hungry. My stomach is about to malfunction."

I walked into the women's dormitory and put my new items on my bed. Mission wasn't there. It occurred to me that she had been MIA all day.

Probably out with Zaalbar or something... I thought, making my way to the cargo hold.

After grabbing something that looked suspiciously like a deli sandwich from the food storage, I walked into the main hold and found Revan passed out on a chair. Her head was tilted back over the head rest in an uncomfortable-looking position that made her snore very loudly. A tiny drizzle of slobber was seeping out the side of her mouth.

Looking at her in her sleep, you'd never guess she was one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the galaxy.

I chuckled a little and sat down on the seat on the other end of the bench-like chair system and ate quietly while she snored.

"It's a good thing we've got Rev here to snore like this. She'll scare away anything that tries to attack the Hawk."

T3 did not get my humor. I laughed anyway.

Right as I stuffed the last bite of sandwich into my mouth, Revan's head suddenly turned very fast to look at me. I jumped a little, completely unprepared for such a sudden motion. Then I saw that her eyes were still closed.

"Rev?" I asked, mouth full of food.

The arm closest to me twitched and she jumped a little, her head turning to the other side like it had a moment before.

I dropped the wrapper my sandwich had been in, thoughts of cleanliness long forgotten. "Rev..?" I asked again, reaching for her.

As soon as my fingertips grazed her arm, I was thrown backward violently into the wall behind me by some unseen force. The air rushed out of my chest and my stomach heaved unpleasantly. I hoped my food wouldn't come back up.

I was held there, a foot off the ground, against the wall. It felt like an elephant were sitting on my chest.

I looked down. It was an extremely odd feeling to see there was nothing holding me against the durasteel wall panels, and yet there I was, strung up against them like a rag doll.

Revan was standing now, looking directly at me, one hand held out in front of her like she was loosely holding an invisible cup. She took one slow step forward and flicked her wrist just the slightest bit. I flew upward and hit my head on the ceiling. I groaned as the feeling of my brain rattling in my head caused the world to warp. As soon as my head hit the ceiling, my body hit the floor, the invisible force holding me up now gone.

My ribs shuddered at the sudden impact, and as my head hit the floor, I accidentally bit my tongue. Blood filled my mouth.

I carefully moved my left leg to get up, and winced a little when pain shot through my ankle. Sprained, probably.

My neck suddenly felt claustrophobic, like I had a scarf on too tight. I gasped as the uncomfortable tightness turned into painful closure. I looked up at Revan, one elbow holding up my torso and the other searching my throat for the choking object that was not there.

"Rev..!" I gasped.

I wished I hadn't wasted that breath. As soon as the word left my mouth, it felt like all the air inside my body was shriveling up, closing my blood cells and shrinking my lungs.

There was no expression on her face. As my body raised to level with her, I stared into her unseeing eyes. They looked darker than I'd ever seen them before. Whereas her eyes were normally crystal blue, they were now nearly black. I realized, with the worst spine-paralyzing trickle of fear I'd ever known, that I wasn't looking into her eyes. I was looking into the eyes of the nightmare she was having; a nightmare I couldn't see or help her escape from.

With all the might I could muster, I pulled in one forceful breath of air. "Revan!" I cried hoarsely.

At her full name, she gasped and staggered back as if I'd just slapped her. I fell to the floor and landed hard on my knees.

Coughs came out before more air came in. For what felt like an hour, I sat there, coughing and gasping and hurting like I'd never known before. T3 rolled up to me and beeped sporadically. I waved his words away and patted what passed for his head as gently as I could, mostly because I was afraid any noise would startle Revan again and send her into a force rage.

I looked up, trying to settle my breathing. Revan had fallen backwards on her backside with her arms wrapped around her in a tense kind of cage.

I crawled towards her. "Rev," I breathed hoarsely.

Her eyes, crystal blue and startled, frantically searched my face. She searched, I knew, for answers. For peace. For calm in the storm in her mind. What kind of hell had awakened inside of her just now?

I rested a hand on her knee, partially to stabilize her and partially to steady myself - the world was still a bit warped. I wouldn't have been surprised if I had a concussion.

"It's okay." I rasped. "It's okay."

A strangled sound like a tiny cry of help released itself from her throat.

I crawled to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hoping the gesture was comforting and not triggering of more bad memories.

I had no idea what had just happened. A second ago, I was eating a sandwich. Now I had bruised knees, a sprained ankle, an abused throat, and possibly lung damage. Not to mention my tongue was still bleeding. And my ribs were probably bruised, as well.

In retrospect, I realize I probably should have ran at the first chance. If she had gone into some kind of mental stupor and gone all Darth Revan again, I doubt I could have survived it.

But looking at her, crumpled on the ground with an expression on her face that clearly stated she had no idea what she had just done, how could I leave her? She, who had no control over her own mind. She, who had been taken away from a life she chose - albeit the life she chose may not have been the best - and stripped of her memories for the greater good of the Jedi.

No. I couldn't leave her. Even if she were to kill me, how could I have left at that moment?

So instead, there I sat, with my arm around her and my wounded voice trying to whisper comforts into her ear.

Many minutes we sat on the floor, gently rocking back and forth to keep ourselves together. After some time, her arms released their tense hold on herself and her head drooped down to her chin. "What happened?" She whispered.

I had never heard her sound so vulnerable. I thought it was very out of character for her.

"Nightmares. At least from what I can tell." I answered.

She scrambled away from me and stood up. She took in a deep shuddering breath, ran her hands through her hair, and then asked, "How did I...?" She was staring at her shaking hands.

I used all my energy to heave myself up onto the chairs we had previously been sitting on.

I looked at her. I mean, really looked at her. For the first time I wasn't seeing the strong, vibrant, and mildly irritating woman known as "Alora". I was seeing the heart of the Sith Lord that no longer was; I was experiencing the broken parts of her that may never come back to form.

She deserved to know the truth. I understood that much.

I sighed deeply and held my aching ribs, as if that would help them from falling apart. "Do you want the truth, or the whole truth?"

She dropped her hands and looked at me in speculation, pondering for the first time if there really were things she didn't want to know. "I want the truth." She said, hesitating before her next statement, "All of it."

I bit my lip. Maybe I could go without full-on telling her she was Revan, destroyer of worlds. Who knew how it would change things?

I stared at her, processing my thoughts before I answered.

"Okay." I said. She tensed, waiting for me to continue. "It's why the Jedi brought you here." I said.

She slowly sat down next to me, carefully, as if the chair would break if she were too fast.

"You're Force Sensitive. It means things like this are bound to happen. The Jedi know this. They brought you here to train you so this kind of stuff wouldn't happen. But it's kind of super secret business, because you're too old for training. But I'm sure they explained at least some of this to you yesterday."

She took all this in with reverence at my words. "So that's what that was all about..." She muttered softly.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." She deflected. "But if you're right..."

Suddenly she stood up and practically ran out of the room towards the ramp. I frantically limped after her. "Rev! Rev! Where are you going?"

She didn't answer. And as soon as the ramp was down, she was flying out of the Ebon Hawk like there was no tomorrow. I limped outside to try and follow her, but I wasn't stupid; I wasn't going to be able to chase her in my condition.

She flew past Carth and Mission, who were just outside the Ebon Hawk and looked like they were about to walk inside. They both awkwardly stumbled out of her way, Mission giving a, "Hey!" And Carth blurting out a surprised, "Alora?"

I watched as her figure retreated into the distance. I wondered if she would be alright.

Carth turned towards me. "What was that all about?"

I looked at him, my mind far off into places he could not reach. "I don't know, Carth. But I think I will soon find out."

/ / / / / /

I lay on my uncomfortable bed, my entire body screaming for me to do something about it's injured condition.

"If they had Kolto Tanks here, I'd ask for one. But I don't think they do. So stop your groaning." I told my body. It didn't listen.

My eyes wandered over to the bounty I had collected earlier from the farmer's market. In the small accumulated pile I knew there was a thin blanket-like device I had bought that was supposed to make my bed more comfortable. But it was all the way on the other side of the room. At the pain level I was in, the rations I would need for the journey across the room were far greater than what I currently possessed. I decided to stay put.

Mission walked in some short time later with a sandwich in one hand and a pazaak deck in the other. "Wanna play some Republic rules?"

I watched enviously as her uninjured body walked seamlessly across the room. I briefly wondered if I would ever be able to walk as smoothly again.

"I don't think I even have the energy to lift my hand to play." I told her.

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought all you did was go shopping today."

I made a pathetic whimpering sound and replied, "I thought so, too, Mission. I thought so, too."

She shrugged and sat down on the floor next to the things I had bought. "So what kind of stuff did you get?" She asked as she started rummaging through the pile.

I had barely opened my mouth when she squealed, "No way! You bought a nocturnal outlet converter!"

"A what now?"

She lifted up the sad-looking blanket for me to see. "These are way comfortable! And super expensive! Where did you get it?"

My mind couldn't process that the thing she was holding in her hands could possibly be expensive somewhere. "Uhh... I got it at the market. It was like 40 credits. Cheap, in my opinion. Why? What's it do?"

She stood up and walked over to me. "Get up and I'll show you!"

I sighed and groaned at the thought of having to move, but my curiosity got the better of me and I lifted myself from my uncomfortable position on the bed.

She lay down the thin blanket so it was even over the bed and asked me to lay down again. I did.

"Ugh!" I complained. "This is even more uncomfortable than before, if that's even possible."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "That's because it's not on, whiny."

She pulled out a magically-appearing tag from the bottom of the blanket and clicked a button. Within the lapse of five seconds it went from feeling like I was laying on rocks to laying on a memory foam mattress.

My eyes widened. "Woah."

She nodded. "I know. You should let me borrow it some time, you know, if you ever decide you like sleeping on a bed that feels like durasteel."

I snickered. "How about you just borrow my bed if I'm not here?"

She smiled. "Sounds good."

I let out a breath of pain. "If you don't mind, now, I'm going to try and heal."

And for the first time since arriving on the Ebon Hawk, I had a restful sleep.

/ / / / / /

I awoke to being shook by strong arms. My body protested and I started to sit up when a hand clamped over my mouth. I started to panic, but then my eyes adjusted to the low lighting and I saw it was Revan who had been shaking me from sleep. I stared at her with questioning eyes. She held a finger to her lips for silence and then motioned for me to follow her.

I got up as quietly and I could and crept behind her out of the room and into the cargo hold. She closed the door behind us.

"You were right." She said softly, even though I was sure no one would be able to hear us.

I was still in a sleepy stupor. The alertness I had felt when in a panic at having my mouth covered had gone and I was tired once more.

"About what?" I asked.

She sat down on one of the cargo bins. I did the same.

"The Jedi. You were right. They called me here to train me." Her eyes flashed up to mine. "I didn't tell them about what happened. And they didn't ask. It's as if they had no clue. So I just walked in and told them I was ready to be trained. That I would accept any help they would give me." She stared at the hands in her lap almost sheepishly. "I think I practically begged to them for help. I'm sure they caught on."

I shrugged. "What does it matter? They are willing to help you and so you should take the help. It's clear you need it."

She gave me a half-hearted glare and looked about ready to retort something very Revan, but stopped when she glanced at my broken body. "You're right." She sighed.

"Hey," I started. "Who are you and what have you done with Rev? She's much more spirited than this."

She rolled her eyes. "The nightmares ate her."

I punched her in the arm. She seemed startled at the sudden action and stared at me in wonder. "Well, beat them back! You're much too cranky to be taking their crap."

She laughed a little. "It's not them I seem to be beating up."

My smile went a little stale. "It's okay." I really did mean it. But the horrifying pain in my throat protested otherwise. "Just try not to do it again, alright?"

She frowned into her lap. I knew why. She hadn't planned to do it the first time. How could she stop a second time?

"But here - look at me," I told her. She did. "Life happens. These things are a part of life. They happen. And if it happens again, I'd rather it be me you beat up than someone else on the ship." I stopped and thought for a second, "Well. Maybe Canderous, if he's being a butthead. Then you can totally beat him up a little bit for me."

This time she did laugh, and from the heart, like she meant it.

After awhile she stared at me. Eventually she said, "You know, you're not like I thought you'd be. When I first met you, you seemed like a stuck-up stupid brat."

I gave her a look of mild offense. "Well, gee, thanks. NOW what do you think of me, your highness?"

She thought for a moment. "You're... Kind. At least kinder than I thought you'd be."

I shrugged and smiled a bit. "And you're much more cranky than I thought you'd be."

She frowned and slapped my arm, but her eyes were teasing.

"So did the council say anything I should know about?" I asked.

She looked lost for a moment in thought, then it seemed like she had apparently found something of interest in today's memories. "They... Well, Vrook said something. I can't stop thinking about it. It left me with a strange feeling."

"Tell me." I pressed.

"He said... Well, he said, "Are you certain that Revan is truly dead? What if we were to train this one and the Dark Lord were to return?""

I would have laughed at her horrible impression of Vrook's voice, had I not an inkling as to where she was going with her thoughts.

"And I can't... I can't help but feel..."

"Like he was talking about you." I finished.

She was silent.

Perhaps there was simply no more to say, for neither did I speak.

The silence lasted for a long time. My body eventually went numb from being still for so long. I reveled in the release from pain.

"There's something bigger going on." She said softly. "I don't know what it is. But it doesn't feel right. It feels like... Like there's something I'm supposed to be doing right now, but instead I'm here. And that's stupid, because I'm just a scout for the Republic. They didn't have me on any mission, so there's nothing I'm supposed to be doing that should be so important to make me feel like this."

"Are you sure you just didn't leave the oven on back at whatever you consider home?"

She gave me a look. "Very funny. But I'm being serious."

I sighed and nodded. "I know. Let's just focus on the task at hand, though, for right now. Okay?"

She heaved a huge sigh of frustration. "Now you sound just like Carth!"

I put a hand to my chin in a thinking pose. "Huh. You're right. Maybe we're related somehow. We are both from Telos, right?"

She became stiff all of a sudden. Rigid and distant. "That reminds me." She said, the old crispy tone to her voice back. "You said you're from Earth."

I hadn't heard the cold in her voice for what seemed like so long, it almost seemed foreign. "That's right."

Her eyes narrowed. "I've been to Earth. There's nothing there but dead rock. So the question stands: Where are you really from?"

I pressed my lips together. "Hmm. And here I thought that just a second ago we were actually starting to become buddies." I sighed, "Well, Rev, I hate to disappoint you, but I really am from Earth. I wasn't lying about that part."

She searched my eyes and my face for signs of deceit. Apparently she found none. "How? If you truly aren't lying, then how?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you had the wrong Earth or something."

She glared at me. "I will get the truth out of you. Whether you know it or not."

"Somehow, Rev, I don't doubt you."