Sorry, everyone for the delay! I've been incredibly busy, had a million other creative ideas, and just generally have been having a hard time lately. I really, really appreciate the feedback. It's wonderful to hear that people are enjoying the product of my insanity. ;) This story should only have a few more chapters to go. Kim's tale is just about as far as I want it to go now, but Sheena still has unresolved issues.

What's In a Name?

Five years since the Purge began. After her encounter with Master Kenobi, Sheena had gone back out into the galaxy with a mixture of determination and despair. She hadn't found Onasi at their rendezvous point then, but she had a new purpose. She knew she had already failed in giving the memory of the Jedi a just representation; she had too much bitterness and anger for that. But she could still make just enough noise to keep Imperial eyes away from Tatooine, a quiet planet that needed to remain quiet until the new hope was ready to take his place. In some ways, she hoped to meet Luke again – maybe even help in his training – but a part of her knew that wasn't her path.

She was becoming stronger than ever. The Force was now a part of her rather than just a tool. None of the assassins or parties sent after her made it out alive. She could feel her humanity slipping away a bit more each day, but it was too late for her. The Emperor had sent her down this path – first with Order 66 and the betrayal, then with making her kill Matri'a with her own hands. Each time she killed an Imperial scout or stole supplies from an outpost, she cared less and less. In order to protect herself, she had to shut out her compassion for her hunters; she didn't let herself dwell on the past…too much guilt.

She meditated and tried to come to terms with her failures and feelings, but, deep down, Sheena knew her Fate would simply lead to death. She only hoped it would have meaning. Maybe she would be remembered a little for her defense against the Empire; unlike seven or so years ago, she wouldn't be remembered for a sunny or sweet personality. The girl who had grown up with her parents in LA was gone.

Eventually, she did run into Liam. Their meeting, unfortunately, hadn't been the most cordial. She had just killed a dozen clone stormtroopers in their bunker when he came around the corner with two more of them! He was mortified when he saw the carnage and even more mortified when he saw how much she didn't care.

"What has happened to you, Sheena?" She remained poised with her lightsaber ready, focused on the twins beside the man. "It's like you lost all the Jedi ethics you used to look up to like some cockamamie fanatic. Now look at you! They weren't even a threat."

"Since when did you become such a patriot, Liam?" demanded Sheena as she relaxed her stance, but she kept an eye on the clones.

"There was a scientist who was able to disable the chip implanted in these clones that forced them to obey Order 66. They wouldn't have harmed you, had you knocked. This line of clones has been discontinued…the stormtroopers are more made up of recruits that can't shoot anything, even if it's right in front of them. These are people, Sheena."

"Why do you defend them? They murdered the Jedi, even the Padawans and Younglings."

"And now you are murdering them…Master Jedi. What are you becoming?"

She didn't have an answer then, and she didn't have an answer now. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had changed, and she had now lost his respect. Sheena had stopped targeting clones and hadn't seen Liam since that day when she left him to find her fate…unsuccessfully, certainly. She tried to help refugees and do her small part in thwarting the Empire. But she didn't have a place anymore. She wasn't evil, but neither was she what could be considered actually good. Killing no longer took effort, which terrified her. The Dark Side was no longer something easily put aside, which twisted her insides into a knot just thinking about it.

"Master Jedi…" She flinched at the title. She no longer had the right to claim to be a Jedi. The woman looked at the girl before her – one of the refugees she was helping relocate to another part of their world, away from the base the Empire had recently constructed. "Can you hold my baby for just one moment. The healer wants to check my arm for infection and Tia seems to like your presence."

Sheena wasn't given the opportunity to answer and suddenly found herself left alone outside the tattered village assembly house with a baby in her arms. The Jedi Knight had never felt more helpless. On Earth, she was an only child and, in the Temple, the most she did was have a few chats with the Younglings. Especially now, she was a killer, not a caregiver. There was a reason she turned down any offers to stay with people.

'Tia' had already dropped off to sleep and Sheena was amazed how the humanoid infant was able to slumber through all this noise. The Knight had finally dared to look down at her charge and she started stiffly shifting her weight back and forth to rock the child…that was how mothers did it, right?

So much innocence and untainted faith. What would happen to Tia? With the trend that seemed to be occurring, she would either grow up under the watchful eyes of the Empire with a new life, or she would die, along with most people who decided to oppose the Empire too much. Sheena couldn't remember what it was like to be that innocent. The galaxy wasn't a place you could keep that, especially if you were a Jedi who had lost everything and watched her friends die pointlessly or betray you.

Panic bloomed in her chest when Tia suddenly opened her eyes and looked around, but her eyes from then on seemed glued to her guardian. Cautiously, Sheena shifted the baby's weight to her left arm and reached up with her right hand; the baby latched onto her finger with her tiny fist. The movement continued the Jedi's state of shock. The trust seemed to soften her stone heart a bit.

"You're going to be a very brave little girl, Tia, and when you grow up, you won't let some Empire rule your life. You'll be a fighter. But you'll also be a good person. Always remember that. A just fight loses its glory when you've lost yourself."

It was true. All she did anymore was go through the motions of rebelling against the Empire. There was no glory, no lasting or significant fuzzy feelings in thwarting their plans.

Another refugee suddenly raced up to her, panting from exertion.

"Master Jedi, in the old storage facilities… One of our scouts spotted the Dark Jedi that was here last week. At least he thinks it's the same one. Please, our people aren't ready to begin running for our lives. Stop this man before he hurts anyone."

"Is it the man I described?"

"To the letter. It's him, all right."

Sheena nodded, still staring at the infant.

"You say he was skulking around the storage facilities?"

"Yes. The scout said he was entering building number 4."

A shadow passed across the hall and disappeared.

"Great. Now I'm seeing things."

Then she saw the shadow again, passing into a room down the hallway. Was it the Dark Jedi? Was he leading her into a trap? Regardless, this had to end. Alone, Sheena slipped after the shape; however, when she looked in the room, it was empty. Then, ahead, the shadow appeared again. This was getting ridiculous.

"Come out and fight, you coward!" she bellowed. "You destroyed my life. You and the Emperor! You will not hurt anyone again, if I have anything to do with it. Come and face me!"

She bolted into the next room to find a storage room that included a cage, large enough for a number of live animals. A black cloak was on the floor in the back of the cage. What, did he melt? She thought she saw a data pad sticking out from under the cloak.

She reached out with the Force. There were no Force traps, no Force users in the immediate area, and the latch holding the cage open was secure. Even if it did slide close, she would be able to open it easily, since it was a simple lock. Resolved, she entered, but, as soon as she bent down over the cloak, the cage door slammed shut. It didn't worry her; what worried her was the force-field she suddenly discovered.

Then, a familiar face appeared at the doorway.

"Hello, Sheena."

"Liam! Please, unlock the cage. We must catch the Dark Jedi. We have to kill him. Now."

Liam shook his head sadly and she noted his clone companions coming up behind him.

"I'm sorry, but it has to be this way, Sheena. I can't let you go down this path, killing out of pure anger."

"That man almost killed you! He killed dozens of civilians and injured countless more, and you're going to let him get away and leave me stranded here?!"

Sheena glared through the bars as she held onto them. As the clones went to check the hallway, Liam stalked towards the cage.

"You used to be a good person, Sheena! You wanted to survive and protect people; now, you don't care about the damage you leave in your wake as you follow the vendetta you have against the galaxy. Someone needs to knock some sense into you, but I haven't got the time."

"You left me, Liam. You partnered up with your clone friends and left me to travel the galaxy on my own."

"After what you did to those clones, I couldn't look you in the face. And I would have only been a distraction…or so I thought. You know how I felt about you, but you're a Jedi."

"I was a Jedi," she sniffed. "I know longer claim that title. I would not tarnish their name. All I can hope to do is take out as many Imperials as I can and make as much as I can before going out with a bang."

"Why?"

She pressed her face against the bars.

"Because, in my darkness, I still found something worth protecting and I don't care what happens to me anymore. It's too late for me, Liam."

"No, it's not," he said harshly, looking behind when gunfire rang through the hallway. He wasn't alone. What had Onasi been up to lately? He looked back at the caged woman and backed away while checking his gun. "It's not too late for you, Sheena, and some day I'll show you."

With that, he charged out of the room and out of sight.

The gunfire got closer and Sheena desperately looked around the cell for a way out. While it was closed easily enough, it appeared to require some sort of computer passcode in a terminal about ten feet away for the force-field. Well, this was just inconvenient. A dark presence suddenly came within reach of her senses through the Force and she panicked. She couldn't be caught! Not by this man, not now. She couldn't give up Luke and she couldn't bear to be captured by the man she had been hoping to kill herself.

A small grenade-like device on her belt caught the rogue's attention. No one knew how to break through it, so she would be safe for a while, at least. But for how long? It didn't matter. It had come to this. She took the grenade out and waited. Let him see his failure.

Suddenly, her vision started flickering. Nausea overwhelmed her and Sheena fell to her knees. The room was swimming. Movement caught her eye and disappeared. Then it happened a few more times before getting clearer. It was like a window – but the angle was odd – and she was about to find out where it led.

"What happened to the workaholic Kim I used to know? At least we don't live in the X-Mansion anymore."

"Screaming distance away. And we're on call all the time. Come on, we need a real honeymoon, not the two nights at a cheap hotel two minutes away from the Mansion. Those students will love the break from us. And you promised me. I say we take a trip, Jake…somewhere secluded but not too exotic."

"So…the Yukon?"

She snorted.

"Hardly. Canada doesn't sound bad though." Jake looked over at Kim as she scrubbed at her hair with a towel, still attempting to dry it after her shower from twenty minutes ago. He couldn't help but smile just staring at her as he leaned against the bedroom doorway. She suddenly paused. "What?"

In a split second, an explosion ripped through the house, sending both of them flying. The bedroom windows and mirrors shattered, sending glass soaring everywhere.

"Kim, are you okay?" he called.

"I think so."

Before they could figure out what had happened, another blast hit the structure. This time, part of the roof caved in and a large beam hit the young man on the back of the head.

Jake found himself unable to move, falling through endless darkness. Even so, he could faintly here Kim's voice, far away.

"Jake! Jake! Don't do this to me again, Jake! Wake up! Please, wake up. Don't leave us. Don't leave me. Wake up, you coward! Jake, this is it not the honeymoon you promised me. Wake up before they decide to search for us. Just…" He felt pressure on chest and heard a soft sob, but it stopped before too long.

Kim suddenly caught sight of her reflection in a large shard of the shattered bedroom mirror and she stood abruptly in shock to get out of its view. That hadn't been her reflection. She knew that face. She used to wear that face. Sheena Lerann. But she hadn't heard anything about the Jedi for years. Now was not the time.

She stepped into view of the shard again and locked eye contact with her old self, who seemed equally as shocked. Sheena looked tired, scared, and battleworn. The light had gone out in her eyes.

More glass broke and several masked men in black with military weapons started crawling through the shredded window.

Sheena stared in shock at the vision, devastated that she couldn't do anything.

"No," Kim pleaded to an unseen foe. "Please, just leave us alone. Get off! Stop…!" Her scream was muffled as she called Sheena's name.

But there was another figure there, unconscious, and she knew who it was. Dear lad. Sheena swallowed nervously, hoping this would work. She had to save Kim. And Jake had always heard her, no matter what. She reached out with the Force.

"Jake, you have to wake up. Jake, she needs you. Jake!"

The man's eyes popped open and he sat bolt upright, grabbing for his cell phone. As the vision began to fade, Sheena got one last look at her dear old friend's face. Other than a few scrapes, he looked well. He had a ring on his finger. Sheena kissed her hand and blew towards him with a shaky breath. She hoped he was happy. She missed him sorely, especially now. Back on Earth, life had been crazy and boring, but she had still loved it.

By the time Jake extracted himself from his destroyed house, the X-Men had already arrived and surrounded the attackers' getaway vehicle. Kim would certainly be grateful now that he had insisted on living right next door to the Mansion. In the bustle of extracting the soldiers from the van, a gunshot sounded from inside. Jake raced to the open door and looked in the back seat. Kim was there with a gun in her hand and a dead Griffin beside her. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"He pulled out the gun and I grabbed it," she said softly, her emotion barely masked. "It was him or me."

Jake helped her from the SUV and pulled his wife into a hug. While her face had given no indication of fright, she was trembling.

"I'm just glad you killed him in defense and not out of spite," he whispered, breathing in her calming scent. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. We have a mess of repairs to do on the house, probably. Griffin mentioned something before about a boss. Do you think more will come?"

Jake smiled cockily.

"If they do, you and I will be ready."

The vision was gone and someone was coming. She could sense the Dark Side. She knew who it was. She would recognize that feeling, even after all this time. It was the Dark Jedi who had set her up to kill her first innocent in order to save Liam – the first time she began truly doubting herself. He was coming for her now.

"You want me?!" she cried, pulling the pin on the amber grenade. Maybe she could catch him in it as well. "Come get me!"

She should have never started killing. It was too easy now. If not for the unlikelihood of her survival through this, she would have maybe tried to change her ways. But it was too late.

He appeared, a dark figure in a black cloak, and she dropped the grenade.