Council Chambers, Shedu Maad; 44 ABY

They'd arrived at the Temple early in the morning. Vestara appeared to have slid into a healing trance of her own, though Luke hadn't thought her injuries were so severe. He'd sent them to the medcenter and asked to convene the Council of Masters. There, Luke had outlined what had happened since he'd left Shedu Maad in the middle of the night. The Masters had been quite taken aback when he'd said that Vestara shouldn't be imprisoned.

"And it is your position that she shouldn't be put in the detention center?" Master Cilghal asked.

"It is," Luke nodded. "Since we last spoke, I believe the Force has shown me that she has a destiny."

"A destiny doesn't necessarily equate to a good thing," Octa Ramis pointed out, the last fight she had with the pair fresh in her mind.

"I believe this one can be, under the right circumstances." Luke said. "Regardless, we will need her against Cronal. He has the potential to be more dangerous than Abeloth. He desires nothing for the control she was after, so the damage he could cause is something we can't predict."

"What of this daggerz power?" Saba asked. "Could it be used against him?"

"Perhaps," Luke conceded, "but we have no way of finding him until he strikes. By then, he will have recovered."

"Then let's start a search for him," Jaina Solo-Fel suggested. She was here in person, most likely along with her husband, after word of Luke's disappearance had reached her. "But I want a guard on the Vestara girl, I still don't trust her."

Knowing that his reputation was largely what prompted the other Masters to agree to not locking Vestara up, he agreed to the guard. It would be better to be safe than sorry. "Why don't you do it, Master Solo?" He asked.

"Me?"

"Vestara already escaped once, if you think she may do it again, then it would be best to have you there to stop her early on."

Jaina agreed, not looking forward to spending time in the same room as the Sith girl. "Fine."

Jedi Temple Medcenter, Shedu Maad; 44 ABY

Time went quickly, the healing trance Ben had been under abated on the third day, much sooner than it had taken him to recover the last time he'd been in this room. This time, however, he was glad to see Vestara in the bed next to his own. He still ached. Looking down, Ben lifted his medical gown to see the scar he knew to be there. It was a good two feet long, but looked completely healed over. Vestara had pushed her limits in helping him. Had she not been there, Ben knew he would have died on Mortis.

"Good morning, Ben." Jaina's voice called from a plasticast chair at the head of the room by the door. "How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic," he said in mock enthusiasm. "I only mostly died that time."

"You'd better be 'fantastic,'" a now-awake Vestara chided. "I didn't burn through my reserves for just 'good' or 'fine.'"

Jaina didn't comment, but narrowed her eyes at the waking Sith.

"Not polite to stare," Vestara muttered without looking over at the Jedi Master.

"You don't get polite," Jaina countered. "You lost that courtesy after Coruscant."

"Jaina," Ben scolded, "play nice."

Her eyes softened as she looked over at Ben. "Don't take this the wrong way, Ben, but until you snap out of it and start thinking clearly again, I don't give a damn what you have to say."

Ben sighed. "Could you go get Dad? I need to talk to him."

"He's already on his way."

The drawn-out silence lasted until the door slid aside for Luke. He'd tried to spend as much time as possible at their side, but the search for Cronal had become a top priority. The Ten Knights were recalled, and they, as so many others, had begun a search for the former Emperor's Hand. As he walked in, he felt the chill in the room, Jaina certainly hadn't lightened up after her vigil over the pair. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, I'll take it from here," he said. "Why don't you go visit Jag?"

Clearly not wanting to leave her charge, Jaina reluctantly slipped out the door, but not before sending one last glare at Vestara.

"Nice to see the welcoming committee for our glorious return," Vestara muttered after the Jedi Master left.

"Your actions on Coruscant are still fresh in her mind," Luke said. "Did you really expect her to react any differently?"

"What ever happened to Jedi serenity?"

Luke ignored the retort in favor of kneeling beside Ben's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Ben sat up a little straighter, "but what happened? The last thing I remember was the arena."

"Cronal escaped after wounding you."

"Then we have to go after him."

"You're in no position to be going after anyone just now," Luke shook his head. "Besides, we don't know where he fled to. There are any number of places he could be hiding."

"Perhaps I could find him . . . " Vestara thought out loud.

Ben arched an eyebrow in question and Luke looked over to her. "What do you mean?"

Vestara thought about it for a few more seconds before answering. "Ship was able to find those strong in the Force, especially those in tune with the dark side."

"Like he found your Tribe?" Luke immediately berated himself for calling it 'he.' The Meditation Sphere was not a sentient being. "We don't know where it went after Abeloth lost control."

"It would most likely return home."

"Kesh?"

"Yes." She looked slightly worried at the prospect. She'd worked so hard to keep the location of the planet secret, but now it seemed like it would be impossible to keep. They needed to stop this Cronal before he could supplant Abeloth as the 'Bringer of Chaos.' She pursed her lips. "Ben and I need to go alone."

"Absolutely not."

"Dad—" Ben started.

"—I'm not going to let the two of you go off on your own again," Luke insisted, shaking his head in conviction. "If you leave, I'm going with you."

"I won't lead the Jedi to my homeworld so you can slaughter them." Vestara protested.

Ben could see this would only lead to one end, which would serve no one but the being they wanted to hunt down. "What about a compromise?"

They both looked at him skeptically, neither side willing to cede their points. Vestara was the first to give voice to her doubts. "And how exactly do you propose that?"

Ben looked to his father. "If we all took the Shadow, would you let us put in the coordinates and erase the computer log afterwards?"

"You expect me to just ignore a world full of Sith?" Luke asked, they knew he didn't want to deceitfully agree to anything now and have tension later.

Vestara narrowed her eyes. "There are innocents there who would be caught in the purge the Jedi would bring."

"There's a bigger threat than Sith, Dad," Ben ignored Vestara for the moment, they needed to work something out soon. All this arguing could be done later, en route.

Luke thought about it. Even without knowing the exact coordinates, the travel time would give the Jedi a good idea of where the planet was located. "Very well, we'll do it your way."

"When do we leave?" The door had opened again for the last part of the conversation, this time to a petite Jedi Master. "You're not leaving me behind," Jaina said, it came out as more of a statement of fact than a demand.

Vestara rolled her eyes, but Ben shrugged. "If you agree to what Dad did, then you can come."

"Agree to what, exactly?" Jaina asked, looking over at the Grand Master.

Luke explained the deal, to which she was understandably loath to agree to. "We're not allowed to find out where this planet full of Sith is?" Her voice took on an incredulous note, "Look at the damage they've done already."

"The leadership is gone," Vestara pointed out. "If you don't agree, they we won't take you."

"Try and stop me."

Ben wedged himself between the two women. "This is wasting time. Jaina, yes or no?"

Jaina looked over to Luke, who'd elected to not get involved with the argument. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod. "Fine," she huffed. "You've got a deal."

Preparing the Shadow took little time, loading Jaina's StealthX took more time than anything else. Vestara had gotten back her original lightsaber and some properly fitted robes. Ben's recovery had been miraculous. In a few hours after waking, he felt like his old self again, well his old new self. It was one thing he was beginning to appreciate, he'd never liked medcenters. It was practically a Pavlovian response with him at this point.

Leaving Luke and Jaina in the main cabin, Ben and Vestara went to the cockpit. Once they'd left, Jaina rounded on her Uncle. "Why did you agree to this?"

Luke waved her to be seated. "Cronal is the bigger threat at this point," he explained. "Ben and Vestara were able to find Mortis, so they may be able to pull off another miracle."

"But a planet of Sith—"

"—Will be dealt with in time. Vestara was right about that, they've lost their leadership." Luke's mind drifted back to the last time he'd gone to Beyond Shadows. "I'm not even sure they're the real threat anymore. I'm more concerned with the one that helped me against Abeloth before."

"What if he's part of the Tribe?"

"He's not," Luke sighed. "What we know of the Tribe would never let someone like that join them."

Jaina frowned. "The Tribe is still a threat."

"But not now, and we gave Vestara our word."

"She wouldn't keep a promise to us, why should we with her?"

Luke leaned back in his chair, it was a good question, one he'd have asked himself a week before. Somehow, events on Mortis had begun to change his mind. What exactly had done it was unclear. His vision of his father, Ben's support, or Vestara's own actions? "I don't know," he admitted.

Jade Shadow, Hyperspace; 44 ABY

On the third day, Jaina found her sitting alone in the galley. It was still early, so Luke and Ben were probably still asleep. She silently cooked herself a meal and sat across from the former Sith apprentice, who looked somewhat tired. Jaina had barely left her alone the days before.

"Why do you hate me?" Vestara asked quietly, but it came out quite loud in comparison to the silence they'd been under moments before.

Jaina looked up at her. "You tried to kill my parents, niece, and betrayed the Jedi. You're a Sith."

"Did you hate your brother?" Vestara's voice was oddly detached, not the confrontational attitude she normally had.

Jaina ignored the question and went back to eating. After a few beats, Vestara tried again. "I take it you don't believe in redemption, Master Solo."

"You can't redeem someone who doesn't want to be," she said without looking up.

"I wanted to be."

"Not enough, apparently." Jaina retorted bluntly.

"No, I suppose you're right," Vestara agreed. "I'm not that person anymore."

Giving a short barking laugh, Jaina shot her a disbelieving glance. "You might want to try that on someone who can't see you with the Force."

"Alignment isn't the only gauge of a person."

"The dark side corrupts everything and everyone it touches," she jabbed a finger. "If you think you control it, then you're only fooling yourself."

"Alone, you'd be right," Vestara really wasn't sure why she was talking to the Jedi Master, Jaina Solo-Fel had made her feelings abundantly clear. Still, something drove her to ask and start this conversation so she continued it.

"Alone?" Jaina asked in spite of herself. She definitely didn't like the Sith girl, wouldn't trust her further than she could toss a Hutt without the Force.

"Ben . . . helps." Vestara admitted. "He makes sure I don't become like the thing we fought against."

"And you're telling me this because?"

Vestara shrugged slightly. "You're Ben's family. I don't want him to have to choose sides."

Jaina appraised the girl before her. She sounded sincere, but Jaina had already been tricked once already. Luke may be willing to give her more leeway, but she was not to be trusted. "How very generous of you."

"Selfish, as well," Vestara admitted. "You're going to have a great role in the future of your Order, Jaina. The future hasn't been changed so much as to prevent that."

Jaina wasn't exactly sure what the Sith girl was implying, but she was starting to listen and that was a bad thing. When one listened to Sith, they wormed their way in to control you. She abruptly set her food aside and walked out, a resigned Vestara in her wake. Jaina hadn't planned on a destination, but looked up to see herself at Ben's door. She hadn't gotten a good chance to talk with her cousin alone since he'd returned. She keyed in an override code and slipped through the portal. Inside, still quite asleep, her cousin was covered in a light sheet. She took a chair across from him and gave him a nudge with the Force.

He jerked up with a start, hand reaching for his lightsaber and eyes scanning the room for threats. When he saw his cousin, his assessing expression gave way to a confused one. " . . . Jaina? What . . . what are you doing here?"

"We need to talk, Ben," she said, "about you, about the girl, about your so-called 'destiny.'"

Still waking up, and now ornery because of it, Ben gave her an annoyed look. "This couldn't have waited for me to get up on my own?"

Jaina shook her head. "I need to talk to you alone, and when you wake up on you own, you're always with the girl."

"She has a name, you know."

"Why do you trust her?" Jain ignored his jab with ease.

"Why do you care? Do you really think anything I could say would convince you?" Ben put his lightsaber back on the nightstand and rubbed his eyes. "You've already made up your mind."

"Why do I care? You're family, Ben," Jaina let out an exasperated hiss. "She's just using you."

"Maybe she will be yours, too," Ben ventured, wondering if his father had told anyone of just how far along his relationship with Vestara was.

"Do you even hear yourself, Ben?"

"You once thought she could be redeemed through love," Ben pointed out.

Jaina have a sharp nod. "Then she betrayed us and nearly killed my parents."

Ben slid to the edge of the bed, his legs dangled off. "She's not the same person she was then."

"That's what she said, and I see no reason to believe her."

A faint smile played over his features, more wistful than joyous. "Ah, she's trying to mend fences for me, though I think she may have said more to you than she should have. It wouldn't have gotten to you otherwise."

"What does that even mean? Talk to me Ben." Jain could hear her voice rising higher than it should have, but Ben's calm composure set her on edge for no apparent reason.

"Fine," Ben conceded. "I'll tell you as much as I can, but it won't mean anything if you're unwilling to listen."

She gave him a hard look, but dropped her head in agreement. He talked about the duality of the Force, how balance required both light and dark. The way they were changed by the waters, made different by the power. Jaina didn't comment throughout, listened to what he had to say, forcing herself to not immediately judge it on her own terms. He left out mention of the vision, he still felt that it shouldn't be kept secret unless necessary. When he finished, she still had another question. "None of that explains why you trust her."

"For the same reason you trust Jag, I love her."

"Sith will use their emotions to get what they want." Jaina pointed out.

"Then it depends on what she wants," Ben countered, "and what I want."

Jaina was still skeptical of what they viewed as 'destiny,' but was she so different? She was the Sword of the Jedi, a title that had shaped her decisions more than once. Could she give them another chance? Uncle Luke seemed to be. That did bring up something Vestara had mentioned earlier. "She talked about my future with the Jedi, what did she mean?"

Ben shifted uncomfortably. "That was something she shouldn't have said, but surely you've guessed the implication?"

Her silence and stare gave him enough of an answer. "Dad won't be around forever," Ben began sadly. "You'll take up the reigns as Grand Master when he passes it along."

"Why would she tell me that?"

"You'd have to ask her, though I think you know," Ben gave her a knowing look. The room rocked gently, a signal that they'd existed hyperspace. "It would seem we've arrived at Kesh."

Author's Note: Kind of an echo of Chapter 16, I just couldn't come up with another realistic way for them to talk. At least Jaina is more confrontational than Luke was.