I do not own the Wheel of Time, nor any of the main characters. They belong to TOR, and are the product of the genius Robert Jordan. I am simply one who was dissatisfied with the ending given in A Memory of Light, and the lack of questions answered, so I decided to answer some of the burning questions myself.

Thank you Kitkitmaria and Dean9909 for you valuable edits!

Chapter Twenty One: Decisions

The midafternoon hour had come and gone, and Setalle Anan had still not had anything to eat. She had been stuck inside, answering the Brown Ajah's questions for hours, and it was still not over yet. No one had believed who she had been- Martine Janata. She had a feeling that even when the Brown sisters were done with her, that the questioning would still go on from other sisters. She had been a fool to come back, and expect to just be Healed based on her word alone.

When she had heard that Nynaeve Sedai had discovered how to heal Severing, she had not hesitated to run back to the White Tower. What woman in her right mind would want to live without Saidar? She had lived with that constant beckoning of the Source, like the sun's promise of warmth and light, but she hadn't been able to embrace it on over twenty years. Even after twenty years of practice, she still had a hard time not breaking down in tears when she thought of what she had lost.

She had gone to Illian, to look for Jasfer, after the Last Battle, only to find that he wasn't there- none of her family was. Every question she had asked had led to only more questions. No one had seen Jasfer in over a year and they no idea where he, or her children, had gone. It troubled her greatly and it was in Illian that she decided to go back to the White Tower for this new Healing. If she could learn to Travel, the way the other Sisters did, then she could make her search that much faster. It had seemed like a wonderful idea- until now. She had given detailed answers to the Browns, the Whites, the Greens, and even some Reds, and they still questioned her. The Amyrlin, Cadsuane Sedai, had even asked several questions that only she could know. What were they waiting for?

"You claim that one of your last acts as Aes Sedai was channeling the Silver Arches for Tarna Feir, as she was raised to Accepted. If that is true, what happened during the testing?" Serafella Sedai asked. Setalle had known her, when she had been in the Tower, had consulted with her on a few things, but she hadn't remembered Serafella being in the testing chamber.

"What happened? Nothing out the usual happened, Serafella Sedai. If memory serves me correctly, you weren't even in the chamber at the time. The only odd thing, if it can be called odd, was that Tarna Feir didn't show any emotion. Most novices are at least upset by the things they see in the testing, but Tarna was emotionless. When the Amyrlin, Tamra Ospenya, poured the last goblet of water over her and put the ring on her finger, the look on Tarna's face was cold and arrogant." She was growing weary of this questioning, and her stomach was not happy to miss the afternoon meal.

"Would you excuse us for one minute?" Serafella Sedai asked as she gathered the rest of the Aes Sedai. Setalle couldn't see the weaves, but she could only surmise that they had had channeled a ward against listening. Her stomach grumbled loudly and she was starting to get really irritated at how they had been treating her. Had she ever been this haughty as an Aes Sedai? Surely she had treated people better then she had been treated! She couldn't really remember how she had treated those around her when she had been an Aes Sedai- it had been a lifetime ago. She had been so caught up in her studies of angreal and ter'angreal that she hadn't had much time for anything else. It had been the Kin, and marrying Jasfer, that had taught her how to treat people. She had learned by example.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Aes Sedai breaking apart and coming back to her.

"We are convinced that you are who you say you are." Said Serafella, her tone even and cold.

"But, we are unable to help you in the way that you wish." said Callil Sedai. She was of the White Ajah and pure logic all the way. Setalle hadn't known her from the past, but that hadn't stopped her from attending this meeting.

"If an Aes Sedai attempts to heal severing in a woman, that woman is left weaker in the Power than she was before. The only way to regain your previous strength is to have an Asha'man heal you." Callil Sedai continued.

"We can have a Gateway made for you to the Black Tower, with orders for one of the Asha'man to heal you, if you wish. For now we will have a servant bring up a tray for you. You must be hungry after all the questions." That came from Bellidine Sedai of the Green Ajah, another woman that Setalle hadn't known during her time in the Tower.

Setalle could feel her anger starting to rise, as the Aes Sedai continued to talk. They couldn't Heal her, but they had insisted upon questioning her for hours? And to top it all off they thought that they could order the Asha'man to do their bidding?

"Thank you, Aes Sedai." was all that she could say. She was afraid to say anything else lest she tell these Aes Sedai what she really thought.

"Once you have been Healed you will not have to go through the testing to become Aes Sedai again. That was our reason for questioning you as much as we did. There have been many women who have been stilled for punishment of crimes. Now that it is known that stilling can be healed, we must make sure to not inadvertently heal one that was stilled for her crimes." Bellidine Sedai said, as a servant came in with a tray piled with steaming food. Behind the first servant came another with a tray full of teacups and a pot of tea.

The servant poured tea for all of the Sisters and for her. Setalle carefully sipped the hot tea while waiting for the food that the servants were preparing. It made sense to want to be careful, but all Sisters knew what it looked like, to the mind's eye, to see severing and burning out. She knew what it looked like from her previous life! One was a clean looking cut, the other looked more snapped and almost as if the ends had been singed. She understood the reasoning, but it still angered her that they had wasted so much time.

At long last one of the servants handed her a plate piled high with cuts of beef, cheeses, and sliced fruit. She began to eat the food while holding the plate, and the Aes Sedai drew chairs up to join her.

"I would like to know what you have been up to, all these years, Martine! Tell us everything." Serafella asked, and Setalle sighed. Lunch would be a slow process with telling everything that she had gone through in the past twenty years. Swallowing a lump of cheese, she began her tale.

Jimorn of the Jarra sept of the Charenn Aiel sat outside of Wise One Amys' tent near Rhuidean, hands folded with his spears at his feet. He had walked the entire way from Shende Hold when the Wise One Sorilea had found out he could channel. He had not understood the request from Sorilea, as every man who could channel had the ji'e'toh to go off to Shayol Ghul and try to kill the Dark One. That purpose was gone now that the Car'a'carn had resealed the Dark One in his prison, but he still had the right to go off alone into the Three Fold Land and die. Why was the Wise One withholding his right to die with much ji?

He continued to sit in perfect stillness as he watched the buzz of Aiel move about in Rhuidean. The endless fog that he had heard about was no longer there and thousands of Aiel moved freely about, either making repairs, planting seeds, or off on their own jobs. He would have liked to help with the rebuilding of Rhuidean; there could be no greater honor then to help rebuild the great city. He had been training to be a Thunder Walker, a Sha'mad Conde, for the past year when they had heard of the call for spears to guard Rhuidean. Every Warrior society was anxious for their turn to protect and guard Rhuidean, and now it looked like he would never get the chance. If he couldn't fulfill his ji'e'toh by protecting the holy city, why were the Wise One's waiting so long to allow him the honor of dying? He had already accepted his fate, as had his mother and father. There had been tears shed in private, when he had told them of what he could do with Saidin.

He had been hunting a capar when the animal had turned to charge at him. At first Jimorn had stood his ground looking the animal full in the face, not blinking. He had held his spear in both hands, ready to thrust it in the stomach of the capar as soon as the animal was close enough. The hot sun was beating down; sweat dripping down his brow as he concentrated. His adrenaline was pumping through his veins, as he controlled his breathing. The capar was running fast at him. Suddenly he heard a snort at his left side, and a moment of panic hit him. This capar was not alone; it must have been out hunting with its mate. He turned his head a fraction to see what was beside him, and then it happened. The second capar was only feet away from him, racing at Jimorn leaving little room for him to act. He threw his spear at the closest capar, hitting it right between the eyes. The capar screamed as the spear hit and Jimorn turned back to the other capar that had been further away. Except that it wasn't as far away as Jimorn had thought. The capar was on top of him before he had a chance to reach for a second spear and tackled him to the ground. The sharp tusks on the capar began to stab into his stomach, and Jimorn reached his arms out to push the animal off of him. Instead, a ball of fire raced from his fingertips burning the capar where he stood. The animal began screaming as the flames engulfed him. The last thing he remembered, before passing out from the blood loss, was the smell of cooking meat.

He had woken up in his tent, with no recollection of how he had gotten there. All he knew was that he was ravenously hungry. Before he could sit up to eat, Sorilea and Surandha walked into the tent.

"Good, you are awake. " Sorilea had said, as she walked into the tent. "You are very lucky to be alive, thanks to Surandha."

"How?" was all he could say. His throat was so dry.

"We saw the smoke, and Surandha has been trained in the new form of healing. That is not important, though. We must speak of what you did out during your hunt."

He had completely forgotten about what had happened during his hunt, until Sorilea had brought it up. That fireball had come out of his hand. That could only mean that he could channel.

"I channeled." was all he could say. He knew what that meant. It was his toh to go and spit in Sight Blinder's eye, but there was no Sight Blinder anymore. How could he possibly meet his toh?

"It would appear that you did. We will go to Rhuidean and speak with the Wise Ones about this. Much has changed and we must discuss what this means."

And so he sat, waiting for the Wise Ones to finish with what they were talking about, to allow him the chance to go off and die with ji.

"Jimorn?" a voice asked, and he looked up to see an apprentice standing at the tent's opening. "The Wise Ones will see you now."

He stood, leaving his spears at the entrance of the tent and followed the apprentice inside.

The interior of the tent was darker then the outside and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust. Once they had adjusted, he saw Sorilea, Amys, Bair, and Aviendha sitting on the floor with the brown skirts fanned out before them.

"Sit, Jimorn of the Jarra sept of the Charenn Aiel. You are welcome to my shade." Amys said formally, her eyes giving nothing away. He had never really felt nerves before, but it was hard to not feel nervous with four Wise Ones staring at him. They knew what he could do; they knew that he would be a danger to have around. He knew what he must do, why couldn't they just let him do it?

"Sorilea has been telling us about your recent discovery." Aviendha said. Jimorn tried his best to not look Aviendha in the face, lest he embarrass himself by turning red. It was hard not to stare at Aviendha, even if she was a Wise One. She was the most gorgeous woman that he had ever laid eyes on. If things had turned out differently for him, he might have found the nerve to try and catch her attention. Who knew, maybe she would have laid a bridal wreath at his feet one day.

"Yes Wise one. I can channel. I channeled a weave of fire to save my life." Jimorn made his face hard, and made himself look at their faces. He was not afraid to die; they should know that he accepted his fate. "As the law says, I should be allowed to go off into the Three Fold Land to battle and die."

"That's not exactly what the law says, Jimorn." Sorilea interjected. "The law says that a man who can channel must go and battle Sight Blinder, but we have since learned what really happens to those men we sent to the Blight- they become Samma N'Sei. The Aiel have great toh to the Samma N'Sei- one that we will meet soon. That is not why we wished to speak with you, Jimorn. We cannot allow you to go off and die."

"With all due respect Wise One, it is my toh. I must meet my toh and keep those I care for safe."

The hair on the back of his neck tried to stand on end as he spoke the last words, and the Wise One's faces all broke out into smiles. What did they want him to do?

"You will meet your toh, Jimorn, but not in the way you think. No longer is the taint on Saidin. The Car'a'carn cleansed Saidin, making it safe for men to channel. Our problem is that we have no one among our people that can teach you to channel. That is why we wish you to go to the Black Tower for training." Bair said

Leave the Three Fold Land? He had promised himself that he would never leave again, after helping the Car'a'carn.

"Wise One, what purpose will it serve? You wish me to become a wetlander and learn wetlander's ways?" he found it hard to disguise the disgust in his voice at the thought.

"Not become a wetlander, Jimorn, to learn to channel safely. We will need men who know how to channel safely, who can go to the Black Tower and learn and then return here to teach other men. You will not be the only one that goes, I am sure of it, but you will be the first. Go to the Black Tower and learn all that they can teach you, then come back here and teach the others that will come in time."

"The ways of the Aiel are changing, Jimorn." Sorilea added, "We cannot continue to allow men who can be an asset to the Aiel to continue to die in vain. You will be the first to make the journey of becoming asorencar sai n'andiane- an Overseer of Saidin. You will be the first to come back and teach other men who can wield Saidin."

Jimorn's head was spinning with this new revelation. He had never dreamed that this would happen. What could he say, though? No one said no to the Wise Ones, especially when they had made up their minds.

"It will take me weeks, if not months, to walk to the Black Tower, but I will set out immediately, Wise Ones."

"That won't be entirely necessary, Jimorn. We will make a gateway near Cairhien, and from there you can walk to the Black Tower. You will need time to clear your mind, to think about your destiny, but we do not require you to walk months to your destination. A few weeks will suffice." Aviendha said, and Jimorn knew that this was it. The Wise Ones had decided how he would meet his toh to his people, whether he liked their reasoning or not.

The gateway stood open on the Traveling Grounds at Tar Valon. Setalle had spent the rest of the afternoon talking with various Sisters who were curious how she had lived for so long. She had been sure when leaving for Tar Valon, that she would become Aes Sedai again- to feel the embrace of Saidar. After spending the day with the Aes Sedai she wasn't so sure that was what she wanted any longer.

She had known that Aes Sedai were vain and full of themselves. She was sure that she had been the same when she had been an Aes Sedai. She had watched how Joline, Edesina, and Teslyn had acted around Matrim Cauthon- how they had treated those around them. The actions of Aes Sedai had been confirmed by her treatment when she had arrived. She had been treated as a liar and a criminal; assumed guilty until she proved herself innocent. Did she really want to be a part of this life again?

She looked at the waiting gateway, which led to the Black Tower and breathed in deeply. Whether she became an Aes Sedai again or not didn't change the fact that she wanted to leave Tar Valon immediately.

She walked through the gateway and to the other side. Before her lay an extensive black wall only about three feet high. Behind the wall she could see many buildings and hear the noise of people moving about their daily chores. She was immediately greeted by an Asha'man, who bowed quickly.

"How can I help you, madam?" said the man who only wore a sword on his collar. That meant he wasn't a full Asha'man yet, he was a soldier of some sorts.

"I need to see Damer Flinn, Soldier. If you could lead me to him, I would appreciate it."

"My name is Fiyl, and my title is Guardian now. The Lord Dragon wished us to learn the final lesson, and we have taken it to heart. Come, I will take you to Asha'man Flinn."

Final lesson? What could that possibly mean? She decided to put it out of her mind and concentrate on the task at hand. She was so close to being able to channel again, but was it what she really wanted?

Guardian Fiyl led her through hard packed streets. Setalle couldn't help but marvel at what she was seeing. From all accounts she had expected shacks, the smell of unwashed bodies permeating in the air, and a look of complete chaos. This was nothing like what she had expected. There was organization, the streets were dirt- true- but they were clean. The smell of flowers filled the air from the goodwives' gardens, and she could hear the noise of hammers on anvils in the nearby blacksmith's shop. This was a prosperous town, not some hovel like she had heard.

Guardian Fiyl led her to a plain building and knocked at the door. Setalle couldn't help but watch the surrounding area. Children ran around, playing games of tag, spinning hoops, and other children's games. It all seemed so normal, so peaceful. This was not at all what she had expected the Black Tower to look like.

The door opened to reveal a weathered looking man, with small wisps of white hair sticking out everywhere. He wore the black coat complete with sword and dragon pin. "Can I help you, Guardian Fiyl?" he asked.

"This lady asked to see you, Asha'man Flinn."

The old man looked Setalle up and down without any evident expression, then silently ushered her in. She walked in, trailed by Guardian Fiyl. Obviously it was standard protocol to stay with a visitor until they had proven that they meant no harm.

"What can I do for you, madam?" said the old man. Despite his creased, weathered face and white hair, his back was straight and eyes clear. No one would ever be able to assume that he was a frail old man. If they did, she had no doubt that he would quickly put them right- probably with a nasty weave of Saidin.

Without a word, she handed him the parchment from the Amyrlin. She didn't know what the proper procedure was and had no idea how this should be handled. Asha'man Flinn took the paper, and silently read it. She knew what it said, as Cadsuane had written it in her presence.

To Whom It May Concern.

I request your assistance in a delicate matter. The woman who bears this note is a former

Aes Sedai who burned herself out over twenty years ago. We have questioned her, and

have discovered that her claims are true, and that her Stilling was not a punishment

rendered for any crimes. The White Tower would be extremely grateful if you would be

willing to heal this woman, restoring her ability to channel. The White Tower thanks you

for your services and help in this matter.

The Flame of Tar Valon

The Amyrlin Seat,

Cadsuane Melaidhrin

Asha'man Flinn finished reading the letter, then folded it up and placed it in his coat pocket. He looked her up and down.

"I've never been one to force my Healing on anyone, not even one that comes bearing a letter from the Amyrlin. I would be happy to Heal you, my dear, but to be honest you don't exactly look like you want to be Healed. Most women that I've Healed from severing are in tears of joy, or at least look excited, but you have a look of a woman that doesn't want this."

How perceptive this old man was. He had quickly come to the heart of what was really bothering her. The idea of being able to embrace Saidar again appealed to her; it was an incessant beckoning in the back of her mind that she wasn't able to touch, but becoming an Aes Sedai didn't hold as much appeal to her anymore. She had learned how to treat people, been treated horribly by those who thought themselves better than her. She couldn't go back to that life again. The Tower expected much from those who associated themselves to it. She had a family, children and hopefully grandchildren one day. If she was able to channel again she would outlive them all, watching her great-grandchildren grow old and die. How would Jasfer react when she came back, with the ability to channel and looking younger and younger as time went on? Could she really watch her love grow old and die? The man who had rescued her when she had burned herself out, nursed her back to health with a gentle hand? But the question remained what if she never found her family, what then? Her family had made her a better person, a caring person who wanted to help without the hidden motive for gain. Even if she decided that she wouldn't return to the Aes Sedai, she would still be able to channel and the possibility that she could eventually begin to think herself better than those around her was very real.

"You are very perceptive, Asha'man Flinn. I have had many good years of not being able to channel and now that I've had time to recollect, I'm not certain that I want to channel again."

"It takes certain strength to admit that you are happy the way you are, that you have come to realize that you are better without than with. If you are sure that you don't want healing then I will put your name and description in my records, just in case you change your mind later. " his eyes sparkled as he said the words and Setalle knew that this was the right course of action. He had given her the option of returning, if she changed her mind. She didn't need to be an Aes Sedai or have the embrace of Saidar to feel whole again. She had found something else to make her whole, and she needed to find them.

* check out another author, here on Fan Fiction. He's writing a piece based on the story I'm writing. It's good! www dot fanfiction dot net/s/9171259/1/Seven-Sisters