"Got a moment?"

The brash way in which Dana had entered the room indicated to Azera that she did indeed have a moment to spare, whether she wanted to end her meditation or not. Her tone of voice made that begrudgement very clear as a result.

"Come to scold me for taking your precious padawan and emotionally surrogate daughter down the dark path? I thought it was made clear just what the circumstances were."

Dana drummed her fingers while she circled around, finding a different spot within the room to lean against. It was becoming clearer just how much thought had gone into the design of the Vastes, virtually the entire ship reflecting all the energies right back on Azera's meditation spot.

"At this point, it's not the dark path I'm concerned about. I believe she knows not to fall prey to it now."

If Azera had eyebrows, she might have raised one.

"The path I'm worried you'll lead her down is that of miserable, utter failure."

"Oh really? I suppose it wouldn't be the path of debauchery since she's so upset that I'm still rather reserved about her wild carnal needs."

It took a while for Dana to push back those many uncomfortable memories of Maarani in her especially flaming early days. "Trying to form an order of Light Sith is going to fail. It's that simple."

With great exasperation, Azera left the meditative kneel and finally stood up to face Dana. Still keeping the mask on in her presence.

"Let's hear it then. The old Jedi trite whenever some new free thinker comes along with a plan to do something beyond the established."

"It's only repeated again and again because it's true." Dana lifted her hand up, fingers curled in to begin with. "Forming this new Sith ideology is effectively branching into the realm of a new religion. You need a new Code, you need adherent followers, you need a solid basis for the new way of life, social decisions, matters of morality, political agendas."

She raised a finger to indicate each. "You also need to contend with the Sith that won't take to your new ideal. And then there's the Imperials to worry about keeping under control given the past decade of their effort will have gone to an abandoned cause. You also have to consider the inherent difficulty of maintaining a light focus while remaining open practitioners of the dark side."

After all that, Dana took a much needed breath before rounding it out. "That's all before you even make the first move by the way."

The subtle change in Azera's demeanour in that moment said it all. A typical Sith might very well have turned aggressive, issuing threats and declaring such feats were never beneath them. A simply prideful person would have gone on the defensive, assuring that they had it all in hand and would play it all smart as a means of covering the truth of it.

Azera gave it quite a bit of thought, then nodded in agreement.

"I have been thinking on the new code. But, you are right."

Her arms folded in, pressing right against the layers of white leather while she began to pace. "Declaring that I had become a Light Sith, that I would put a final end to the ways of Marka Ragnos back on Katarr sounded so grand at the time. I thought being the Sith'ari meant that everything would happen as I intended it to."

"In this case, I almost wish it could be that way."

That gave Azera pause. It was quite possibly the first time Dana had something remotely positive about her plans. Truly a day of surprises.

"Almost? You still assume I'd want to bring down the Republic as the White Empress then?"

"Azera, virtually every single organized group that begins with the specific goal of being 'in-between' fails almost entirely because of internal collapse. Groups beyond the Jedi and Sith we know that succeed are culturally based, like the Luka Sene or the Baran Do Sages. And even then, culturally based groups can still fail due to a lack of proper harmony within the members."

"And yet, the Following quite literally embrace the nature of being grey, and they've already achieved a lot in helping us."

"And they've already got a splinter group out to destroy them." Dana leaned off her spot at last, maintaining that withdrawn demeanour as well as the cold glare that she kept fixed on Azera.

"I know exactly what it's like to be part of a group that worships a Force deity. The Lady of Balance may be doing a great deal to help the two of you out yes, but I'm not convinced she can or even will truly help you alter the Sith as a whole. And I absolutely will not let you stake Teegs' life on achieving that because of it. Force deities are not all-powerful, and they are not going to shed tears over their mortal followers being slaughtered into extinction."

Azera swallowed to clear her throat, though she didn't want to admit that just for a moment, Dana had actually made her feel intimidated as well. Something had changed in her since their duel some time ago. And she couldn't let her intimidation stand without putting it to the test.

"Really now? I was under the impression your relations had fallen apart considerably. So why do you still feel oh so protective of her? What has you convinced I am going to risk ruining all of my ambitions and plans just to screw her over as well, hm?"

She made certain that Maarani heard the echoes of that last rebuttal especially. Anything to ensure she had a little more backup when verbal blows would inevitably be traded again.

A little surprisingly, but not to Azera's disappointment, Dana backed down from that without a further word. Her departure was swift, cold, and probably a little bitter.

There was barely any time for Azera to even think about returning to her meditation before Maarani herself came in.

"What the hell was all that about?"

Azera tilted her head. "I'm not going to be dethroned as the alpha bitch on my own ship. And no, you don't even have a chance at the title against me, so don't bother."

Up went Maarani's hands for her show of submission. "No argument here. Just don't make Dana leave after what I went through to get her to stick around again, okay?"

"I won't give her extra encouragement, that's all I promise. Now, I know enough about you now to assume you have another reason for coming here."

Seeing that as her invitation to enter fully, Maarani wandered around the meditation space until she found somewhere she felt comfortable standing. "Your friend, Mozin was it? I told him to go to the Jedi for help, just like Sereti asked before I left Coruscant for Telos."

Azera's fingers went to her mask, though even that didn't contain her defeated sigh. "He wasn't there when I went back to check, after the droids had cleared out." She brought her head up and turned right to Maarani. "However much the Luka Sene believe they're doing the right thing, treating my kin of their madness by turning them into vapid, helpless beings is not fair. Zimorr and I helped so many escape because we both knew that."

"But he's not going to the Luka Sene. You said Sereti was there on Katarr, so the Jedi know that Nihilus is gone and there's nothing to worry about anymore. Right?"

At that moment, Azera gestured to the door, waiting until it was shut before removing her mask and setting it aside. No barriers between them.

"The Luka Sene don't care about removing the threat, Tee. They care about setting an example. As far as they are concerned, so long as even one of us exists, no Miraluka can rest easy. Even if the tumours stopped occurring over twenty years ago. If they find out he's out of hiding, they will come for him and they will take him. Do not treat them lightly."

Maarani took it all in stride, including her being unmasked again. Being kissed by her had eased some of the revulsion at least. "Fine, I'm sorry. I only even did it because Sereti asked me to when I first left Coruscant. And that was maybe a week or two after we met so you know how long ago that was."

Being diplomatic didn't stop Maarani from turning back to the sarcasm anyway when she felt like it. "It's not like, say, we have access to a long range communications system that'd let us ask the Jedi to keep Mozin a secret until we get back."

"I am not giving up the codes, Tee. I may care for my kin more than might be usually expected of Sith. But the fact remains that I am Sith, and that means nothing takes priority above my own interests. And my own interests do not include handing vital Imperial codes over to the Jedi, regardless of their stance. It's treason."

The most that got from Maarani was a light shrug. "Fine. Don't blame me for trying. I'm only even asking because Felucia doesn't exactly have much to work with, and we definitely can't go back to Coruscant in this ship. All I want is a viable option."

"We'll sort it out once you've found Yuthura. Until then the complaints stop."

Azera swept her hand down over her long coat as she returned to that meditative kneel, gesturing for Maarani to do the same after. Which took so long that Azera was about ready to reach over and grab the Twi'lek by the shoulders until she stopped her incessant fidgeting before she finally stopped on her own.

"Are you well and truly settled, Tee?"

"Guess you have fancy personal tailors who make you clothes that don't chafe you in-"

"Stop." A calming breath was needed before Azera felt capable of speaking again. "Before we begin, how long do we have?"

"An hour or two, Jayden's keeping watch."

"Fine. If it takes longer than that I blame you and your potential inability to concentrate."

"Maybe I could concentrate better if I knew what this part was all about."

Yet another sigh. It had been quite some time since Azera had thought about the visions herself, but the feeling that she had to address them at last was stronger than ever. At the very least, she needed some amount of closure on the matter.

"While you were on Coruscant, did you lose track of fourteen hours of time at any point?"

Maarani's expression immediately changed. The memory of going to bed in a nice apartment, to waking up in hospital with Koor and the others by her side had become extremely vivid. She hadn't ever put it down to being part of the bond though.

"You too?"

"Partially, yes. In the space of fourteen hours, I experienced three visions that lasted no more than a few minutes altogether." She removed the glove from her left hand and held it out, lightly gesturing for Maarani to take it. "You have experienced three visions as well, though given the other gaps in your memory it tracks that you would not remember them. The fact remains that you are almost certainly the perspective of my three visions, and that means I need your insight on both sets."

There was some lip twisting from Maarani, her eyes narrowing as she listened and thought it over. "Huh, sounds less like you 'need' my help, and more like you 'want' my help."

"Tee, I swear if you somehow twist this into a crack about wanting your body, I will hit you. Hard."

Maarani put her hands right back up, using the gesture to adjust her lekku afterwards. "Sorry. When you said visions, I was just trying not to actually laugh. Because predicting the future is just so unbelievably stupid on so many levels. Not like anyone can foresee what happens thousands of years down the line."

"Well I have a theory in this case, but first I'd rather you know what I've seen, and us both to know what you've seen if we can find those memories. Which means you shut up and kindly do as I ask."

"Alright alright." After a deep breath, and sitting up as straight as she could, Maarani placed her hand on Azera's and closed her eyes.

That was soon followed by Azera curling her fingers in while she focused her mind, her breathing slowing considerably to draw herself closer to the Force itself.

"I'm going to take us back through them in reverse order. The first is what leads me to believe you are key, and thus requires the most discussion that might distract from the others. After you have witnessed my visions, follow through, seek out any memories that they bring to the surface. Logic is irrelevant, whatever comes to mind."

It took a little while for Maarani to notice anything after the guidance concluded. For once, she actually did make an effort to keep her mind clear, and especially avoid thinking of anything that would make her smirk or snicker. Including the temptation to remark on how she was actually being quiet for a change.

And then, she finally began to glimpse the first of Azera's visions.

"You're in grey robes, fighting a Togruta…"

"My master, Darth Lasidia. For a while I grew concerned that it was not the death she had asked me to give her. Now I believe it is more plausible."

"But why grey robes? Are we meant to integrate with the Following at some point?"

"Theories later, Tee."

The vision faded from her mind at that point, not that there was much else to discern from it. Anything beyond the scope of the fighting pair was far too blurred for her to identify anything that could provide more context for the event itself anyway.

In its place soon appeared the vicious expression of Lasidia, notably without colour or any real definition of the skin. More as if she were simply looking at the shape of her head, moulded from some material she couldn't quite describe.

While it didn't reveal anything relevant to the vision itself, it did give her insight of a different kind. "This is how you see the world? Just plain shapes and sources of energy?"

"I can lecture you on Miraluka vision to your heart's content on Felucia. For now, can we move on?"

Maarani took the opportunity of that vague vision fading to even out her breathing again. It was the first time she had seen Lasidia for herself, and finally having a face to the nightmare of a bloodthirsty Togruta hunting her down was anything but comforting.

Shortly after, the second vision from Azera came through. She looked rather much like she did at that time in the present, though there was far more red to her outfit, and the mask looked entirely different. The fiery ruins surrounding her only added to the feeling of dread she had looking at her

"You mentioned something about a Red Empress, I think? Seeing a lot of red here, including the lightsaber. And what's with the mask"

"The Red Empress is what I was originally destined to become, as a dark Sith. And the mask lends credence to my theory, so if you will…"

"Right, focusing on my side again."

After more thought, she came to perceive what looked distinctly like the Lady of Balance, albeit with an uncharacteristic expression of anger to her face, as well as leather straps on her lekku. The five lightsabers were the most confusing of all however, two of blue and green each from the ranks of Jedi, and then the blood-orange blade that looked entirely out of place.

"I'm going to assume there's more to this than our divine friend having a mood swing and deciding to go all whirly-twirly with lightsabers to be a big show-off."

That time there was no demand from Azera for silence, at least not for a while. Now that she actually had something new to make sense of, she was taking great care and patience in studying the image from Maarani's mind for every detail.

"I'm beginning to feel my theory is becoming more and more valid by the minute. Alright, prepare yourself for the last one. And please, no outbursts."

Even with her eyes closed, Maarani still rolled them. The nagging was starting to wear thin on her.

And proved to be entirely pointless when she perceived the apparent first of the visions, her eyes flicking open in a panic as she nearly leapt out to grab Azera's shoulders in a frantic outburst.

"Why didn't you tell me about that one before!?"

"Tee-"

"I'm lying on the ground with Lasidia and that man from the island standing over me! How am I not supposed to be upset?"

When the panic wore off, Azera calmly adjusted her coat, and brought her hand around to lift Maarani's right.

"Look at your hand, then the vision."

Even with the initial panic passed, it took her a little while to do that. When she eventually did, the point became clear.

"No scar. So, what then? Nothing is set in stone?"

Azera nodded quietly. "After I defeated Nihilus, I spoke directly with the Lady of Balance. She told me a great deal about the nature of scrying the future, how it is far less a matter of literal prediction, and more about drawing meaning from metaphor and implication. She asked me to help you unlock the visions, and to work with you on determining what they mean. That and some other predictions of her own."

"Such as?"

That much required an inhale before beginning, Azera already guessing what the reaction would be like. "When the gates of wisdom are cast open, the innocents will cry out, and be laid silent by fire. There's a bit more to it, but I think that sums up the kind of metaphor this works on."

"Yeah, the awful poetry kind. And by the way if you're set on ruining our marriage, just sit me on a couch and make my ears bleed with hack writing." She reached up to feel around her ears at that. "Well, bleed internally since they're not shaped like the ears of basically any other humanoid species in the galaxy for whatever crazy evolutionary reason…"

"Can I get on with the actual interpretations now?"

Before nodding, Maarani made a big show of readjusting her legs to avoid the cramp that was developing in her feet from sitting on them for so long, which ended up with her in something more of a slouch that looked far too sultry to be remotely meditative. Not that she cared.

Expectedly, Azera sighed in her usual distraught tone. "Going with the second one to begin with, because they aren't necessarily in chronological order, the fact that my vision showed the Red Empress with a mask of tears leads me to believe it demonstrates some kind of combination of our personal darkness. I can't put a reason to the five lightsabers, but the Lady did help us conquer both our undesirable halves."

"Did she? I'm pretty sure it was your soul-sucking mentor that did that to me."

"That's not the point- Tee!"

What started as idle stretching of her arms had led Maarani towards lying on her back instead. A position that required her to lift her head when turning thanks to her lekku.

"What? You don't have a bed in here, and this is going to take forever to get through, so I'm getting as comfortable as I possibly can."

"Last I checked, you didn't like kissing me, so don't bother using the mind link as some kind of elaborate excuse to snog under the guise of saving time…"

Maarani rolled her eyes while also rolling over into a crawl that brought her face to face with Azera. The earlier rush from her brief panic against the tedium of listening to way too much talking left her wanting anything other than what amounted to a long lecture.

"I won't make up an excuse then. No undressing, no touching below the neck unless it's the back, just making out with your hideous burned face. Yes or no, hm?"

Azera went very quiet at that. All of the excess teasing, objecting and jabbing Maarani did had made her feel comfortable believing there was no actual attraction to worry about. Either she was still teasing, or the assumption had become incorrect at last.

She wanted to expand upon and discuss the rest of the visions properly, but if that was not going to feasibly happen anyway…

"Not a word to the others? As well as your promise that you will hear out the rest?"

"Just between us, and when we're done with Felucia. Hell, leave it until we find Yuthura and she can help with it."

Even though it reminded Azera of the deeply troubling confrontation ahead, one she was definitely not looking forward to, it clearly wasn't on Maarani's mind. And anything not on her currently horny mind would most likely be ignored.

"Fine."

She didn't even get a chance to close her mouth fully from that before Maarani's lips latched on in a move that threw her to the floor just behind. On reflex her hands went right to the Twi'lek's sides, almost throwing her off as part of that reflex before she stopped herself.

It wasn't until her legs slipped out from underneath her thighs that she really felt Maarani's form pressing in. For all the cracks about her weight, it was only now that she could really tell just how much of that was in fact muscle when those arms slid in under her back to pull her right in close.

At some point, she stopped thinking about how heated she was feeling still in the coat while they mashed together, or the fact that she felt a leg settling between her own.

The block on Maarani's mind wasn't faltering, but it was definitely becoming less relevant to their bond by the moment, allowing that fleeting exchange of feelings beyond the physical. Like the mind link, but on an emotional level of its own.

An exchange she had only ever experienced twice in her life before. And this time, she actually did want more.

All it took was reaching up to Maarani's cheek, and very lightly guiding her away for some much needed breath, and a chance to speak.

"Ashla damn it I'm properly bisexual now, aren't I?"

"Wow, you really have some of the worst mood killing lines. Or would it be best?"

"Shut up Tee. You wanted this."

She pushed Maarani back enough to lean up herself, awkwardly working her arms free of the coat, and then loosening the vest that she wore underneath. A gesture of her hands freed the boots from her feet, leaving her in the white bodysuit alone.

Maarani wasted little time herself, chest heaving as she threw the jacket off, and then loosened her shirt just enough to yank it free over her head and lekku. There was maybe a centimetre thick of fabric in total between them both by then.

"You're right, I did want this. From the moment I met you. In some weird, twisted way." She came right back down over Azera, pushing her to the floor once again. "And before you ask, it's shrapnel scars."


Just under an hour later, Jayden broke from her trance in monitoring the ship's controls to the sound of Maarani making her way up the stairs.

She only needed one look at her face, and the uneven way her jacket was sitting to guess just what had happened, if not with some amount of disbelief.

"Just like that?"

Maarani looked at her, then out across the hyperspace window ahead, then to her chair as she sat down. And sniffed lightly. "She told me not to say anything, though I might as well tell her now that Jayden knows." She tilted her eyes up to make clear to Jayden what she was on about. "But, yeah. Just like that."

The disbelief remained for Jayden while she sat back up, thought about it for a little longer, and eventually settled on a playful nudge to Maarani's shoulder with matching smirk. "Dana will probably go berserk. But, good on you."

"Honestly I'm more worried about what Izan will say. Because of that Zeltron vibe thing he probably already knows."

"He'll get over it."

Once settled in the pilot's seat, Maarani got to work on preparing for the drop back to normal space, tilting her head about in the meantime. "Oh, and please don't let Cecile hear about it. She hasn't called me a slut in months, and I want to keep it that way. I like her being nicer."

"To be honest, I think she took you giving her free will very seriously. She's changed a lot from when I first encountered her anyway."

"Right, you weren't there for the early days when she thought I was sex crazed and thought Carmen was an inexperienced child. And when I just had to make a crack about her being an assassin droid in disguise."

"Which ended up saving your life. Dana did mention that last bit."

Maarani just shrugged. "I guess. On that note, how are you holding up?"

Jayden took a deep breath to be clear on what she would say. "I'd say her healing is a lot stronger since the hospital. Last time I was rasping even after she fixed the cracked rib. Now I feel like I'm breathing better than ever."

"Good. From what mom told me, the air itself on Felucia is amazing to breathe. Even for allergenics. If you don't mind humidity."

"Mires is primarily marsh and swamp. I'd be right at home."

Maarani cracked a smile at that, albeit with the caveat of being reminded just how long she had kept Jayden from home. That thought soon passed as she began the drop itself. "Here we are."

While the Distant Star always had a shipwide rumble to it when dropping from hyperspace, the Vastes practically flowed from it with grace befitting the design. Not so much as a jolt as they came out just beyond orbit of Felucia at last.

A quick switch flick brought the intercom to life. "You four down there, we've arrived. Get your snacks and whatnot, because there is nothing we can safely eat down there. In fact a lot of the plants will try to eat you, Izan."

"Why the hell are you calling me out?"

"Because you're not a droid and you don't have a lightsaber. Pretty sure it takes more than some blaster shots to stop these kinds of plants. Anyway, we're not allowed to harm the plants because of how they're tied into the Force, so just don't go near anything that looks like it has a digestive system"

She switched it off after that while looking to Jayden. "So, seeing as Sith won't go to Felucia, and neither will Czerka, Blue Squadron was never posted in this sector and Dana has been on Coruscant the past thirty years, how's your Jungle Felucian translation?"

"What?"

"I know the Order of Felucia visited the Temple back in the day from what mom told me, so you must've at least met some of them, right?"

"Maarani, I was maybe seven when they stopped coming to the Temple. I was still going on hunting trips with Canderous Ordo and a lot of other Mandalorian kids, not learning how to converse with giant Felucians on the rare chance I'd pay them a visit."

"Alright, I guess we'll have to hope Cecile for some obscure reason has it in her translation matrix. If she can even make the right sounds."

The following examples of Maarani trying to imitate the Felucian language through choking gargles and gruff noises made Jayden cover her face with her hand.

"Please, don't actually do that if we meet them."

Maarani's coughing fit that followed got in the way of her nod in agreement. "We'll figure…" She coughed a few more times until the choking sensation passed. "It out. Check my heading while I find us a good spot to land."

The descent went smoothly, passing through the various atmosphere layers with ease until they reached scanning height. From there, it was just a matter of waiting for the ideal zone to settle at, which came in the form of an area of sparse undergrowth, and none of the much larger plants for some distance.

Nothing had moved outside the landing area by touchdown. Even after a full check on all the systems, there was no sign of any activity from the Felucians themselves.

"Guess if they did hear and see the ship coming in, they don't know who owns it."

Jayden hummed in concern. "That may be so, but they're far from isolated on this world. Might want to think about how we explain Azera's presence on the likely chance they recognize her instead."

"Truth should be enough, right? They should be able to tell she doesn't have the aura of a warmongering pinnacle Sith Lord anymore surely."

"Yes but it's always possible to badly explain the truth. They might just assume she's deliberately dialling her powers back. Sith have done that to conceal themselves before. And that's if we even find a way to communicate with them."

Maarani shrugged while making the final check on the ship systems. "I'll discuss it with her then first. In person."

She gestured with her eyes again to indicate who she was speaking to, though that in turn made her notice Azera hadn't said anything at all since the end of their make-out. Putting more focus into keeping their minds separate after letting them mingle like that didn't seem likely.

Before she could reach her on the descent down through the ship in search, Dana caught up to and pulled her aside instead.

"Teegs, we need to talk, now."

Azera's side of that earlier conversation was still clear enough in Maarani's mind to make her roll her eyes. "I get it, you still don't trust Azera enough to leave her be. But I think she's right in that it's my business to take care of now. So please, spare all of us the tedium of saying what we all already know you're going to say."

Dana frowned, opening the door to the medbay and closing it behind them after, making a point of checking to be sure they wouldn't be disturbed.

It didn't take long for Maarani to catch onto the fact that Dana was more concerned than bothered, which in turn made her feel concerned as well.

"Teegs, I didn't want to ask this in front of Jayden. And please, understand that in this one case, I am strictly asking as a trained psychologist, not your mentor or friend or whatever."

Maarani swallowed. She wasn't going to be obstinate and yell at Dana for once. "If you're asking if Az and I actually had sex, then no. It was touching and kissing with minimal clothes, that's all."

Dana's expression visibly shifted to worry for a few moments, before she forced herself back to that professional state of mind. "And you initiated it."

"Yeah?"

From there, Dana's demeanour changed altogether as she began pacing about, her arms clenched across each other while she struggled with the issues in mind. It took a little while for her to speak again.

"Did she consent immediately? What happened?"

Maarani tightened her lips a little. It was becoming obvious Dana was onto something deeper. "I didn't force myself on her. I got close up, asked her, and after a while she said yes. And she was the one who started the undressing mind you."

"Teegs, I'm not concerned with you making out with her." Dana's pacing continued a little longer, thinking through the matter, exploring every possibility. "Has anything else happened like this with her? A mood shift, starting to agree with you when she might have been argumentative before? Anything like that?"

"Well, back on Dalchon when we were cuffed together, we were really ripping into each other verbally and then…"

Many of her other conversations with Dana filtered back into memory. All drawing towards the conclusion Dana herself had become concerned about given the look she now had.

"Oh, shit. Dana I… I'd never…"

At that, the failing professional attitude vanished from Dana as she caught Maarani in a tight embrace, doing whatever she could to brace her from the guilt that was already starting to emanate from her.

"I'm sorry Teegs. I didn't think you'd fall for her so quickly. I should have acted sooner."

Maarani drew a few sharp breaths before she felt ready to lighten that tight hold. Unintentional or not, the whole matter had shaken her deeply.

"It's been getting stronger, hasn't it?"

The solemn nod from Dana said it all. "Even with the training, I noticed enough to be worried. But not soon enough."

Slowly, she eased from the hold to put Maarani at arm's length, uncertain of what to expect when she came clean, but feeling the need to all the same.

"Remember when I told you about Suroni's plan to destroy the Jedi after her mental death? How it involved your father?"

A nod was the only response.

"Teegs, to put it plainly, the plan was for your father to pass on his empathic powers into someone strong enough to use them on the Sith, without being completely corrupted by the dark side. And it worked." The mixture of emotions from herself caused her to well up briefly. "Just on the one Sith neither of us wanted it to."

The second of the two connections hit Maarani harder for what it meant, but unlike the first it didn't result in an equally strong reaction from her. She wasn't at fault in that case, but more importantly it came with the assurance that Dana was in fact on her side in the matter at last.

"So you really don't hate Azera?"

"She was right. You've reached a point where you can start handling matters yourself, including her loyalty." Dana relinquished the hold altogether, folding her arms up once more. "You just had to know exactly what was going on in that regard, the kind of power you're dealing with. It makes breaking the block in your mind all the more important now that your potential is starting to grow out around it."

Maarani just nodded repeatedly. It was still so much to make sense of. And even with the potential answer within reach, she felt so very lost as to what she had to do next.

"What do I tell her? I can't just leave this for after we're done here."

Yet again, Dana returned to her pacing for thought. "She knows that you're an empath. And I think for now it would be better to not bring up the actual plan that caused this. That part has to come after, when we can properly discuss and resolve the distrust it will bring up."

She finally ceased her pacing when the rest became clear to her. "Tell her that we've both realized what's going on, and that if she's willing I will try and train her to shield herself from your empathic presence as much as any Sith possibly could. The rest is up to you. As hard as it is, you'll have to try and keep your own feelings under control around her."

"Right, completely stoic, and definitely not getting up in her face wanting to mash lips and tits. I can do that."

The exchange meant they were the last to depart the ship by quite a while, the other four having already assembled nearby, Cecile included. Azera was notably a bit further out from the others.

"Dana, think you can help keep some distance?"

"On it."

The brief time between leaving Dana's side on the ramp and reaching Azera gave her just enough time to really appreciate that she was on Felucia at last. It exceeded what she had been told of it in stories, beyond the visual splendor. A real sense of tranquility was abundant. Rather conveniently exactly what she wanted for the time being.

A cautionary glance over shoulder later, and she was as close to Azera as she now felt comfortable, staring over that mask while it glittered in the sunlight.

"I am so sorry, Az."

"I know. I had a pretty strong guilt attack too."

There wasn't any bitterness in her voice, no giving Maarani the cold shoulder. From her point of view, arguing would simply be a waste of time.

The lack of blame didn't keep Maarani from turning her head away in shame, mostly away from the others, but still enough from Azera herself. "I always find a way to screw things up huh? The blaster on the table, sleeping with a murderer's daughter."

"Tee, you'd know if I was upset. Stop tripping over yourself trying to apologize." When that didn't provide assurance, she sighed and turned to Maarani directly. "I think both you and Dana are forgetting that it's not actually mind control. I would have objected if I was actually uncomfortable or unwilling. That's not something you need to worry about."

"I still needed to apologize." Maarani took her turn to sigh. "Shooting people is the end of it, and I try to make sure they have it coming. Forcing myself on someone is very different, and I never want that on my conscience. Okay?"

Azera shrugged, her arms unfolding. "Back at the warehouse I was just annoyed with you, so I exaggerated being a prude to annoy you back. It really isn't as big an an issue as you clearly think."

Before she could say more, she went quiet and began lifting her hands to either side of her head cautiously.

Maarani took notice immediately, only able to cast a glance at the others before she saw the Felucians approaching them from the forest line as well.

Many carried spears with their secondary arms, but none were pointing them at anyone in particular, including Azera.

In total, nearly a dozen painted in blue formed a half circle at a respectable distance from the Vastes crew. Once the pair rejoined the group, Azera keeping her hands visible, many of the Felucians looked to each other in subtle motions.

"Cecile, now's the time for your convenient translation programming to be a thing."

Cecile's eyes flickered while she looked to Maarani. "This language is far too obscure to have ever been included in my databanks, Mistress."

"Oh, well that's great."

When the glances ceased, Maarani moved to the front of the group slowly, keeping her own hands clear of her hip where her lightsaber remained in full view. "Yeah, so it turns out none of us understand or speak your language. On the slim chance one of you understands us though…"

She looked back to Azera with a shrug, then to Jayden for hopeful backup when her explaining went wrong, and then back to the Felucians.

"There's a very good reason why our Sith friend isn't shooting lightning or doing other dark brooding things. She's helping me on a search for a Jedi called Yuthura Ban."

The second wave of glances, and what she soon realized were deep whispers between the Felucians, ended with one of them stepping forward. He turned his spear up and set the hilt to the ground, while his other arm curved around, the large sucker-hand extending towards his chest as part of a gesture.

"We recognized her markings on your face, Twi'lek. I speak and understand Basic. I will converse for you. I am Jekrok."

His pronunciation of the words was indeed guttural, but far more controlled and structured than Maarani's poor imitation. More importantly, it was clear enough to not raise concerns about misinterpretation.

"Right, yes, that's good. I'm Tegama." Maarani made another quick glance around to the others. "Dana and Jayden are Jedi." She gestured to them both in turn. "Izan's is, a friend. And she's-"

"We know the mask of the White Terror, Kiarna."

It took a lot of concentration for Azera to avoid curling her fingers inward. The feeling of not wanting to damage an unexpectedly calm situation was strong with her.

Maarani was quick to follow up for her sake. "Complicated story short, she's not really Kiarna anymore. Like I said, less of the broody killer and more of the moody…"

Even if Azera didn't have eyes, she could feel that piercing cold stare focusing right down on her.

"She's not evil, basically. We all promise that she won't harm the balance here. I just need her for this, okay?"

Jekrok briefly looked to the others, then nodded. "We sense no deception, but know that we will act swiftly if that changes. Please, form into pairs. The path to the village is dangerous to offworlders without proper escort."

Shortly after, the Felucians began to disperse, gathering along a thin part of the treeline where Jekrok had moved to.

"We all really appreciate the trust. Thank you."

Maarani rather hastily took Azera's hand when she began to relax again, bringing her towards the front of the group.

By the time it came Izan's turn, he was left at the back of the line with Cecile and one other Felucian behind them as they all set off down the path.

"Can't complain too much I guess. Won't get eaten by plants now."

"I feel rather redundant on this mission as well, Izan."

On the cusp of calling her out on that, he went quiet instead. "Since when do droids get insightful?"

"It is not a matter of insight. When have you not felt redundant?"

He felt like she had used all four limbs to backhand him at that moment. "Great, this is exactly why I stuck by Maarani's side in the end, isn't it? She's even got a new person to trade insults with."

The walk itself to the village wasn't long, but the amount of times they had to stop or lean down while the Felucians pacified any particular plant that looked their way added quite a bit of time to it. Further along, half the group left the trail altogether upon hearing a roaring beast in the distance. Not long after they could hear other Felucians racing to join them on that presumed hunt.

Towards the end of the walk, the foliage became a lot thicker as larger trees began to take over from the vibrant plant life that dominated the surface.

Amidst a dense tangling of the larger trees, they finally arrived at the threshold of the village. The ground area was dominated by a firepit that was unlit at that point, with several bowls of various dyes encircling the firepit on rocky pedestals. The actual dwellings extended well up into the tree around them. Some Felucians were visible as they crawled between the various structures, using all of their larger limbs to do so while carrying items with the smaller hands.

More of the Felucians escorting them departed, clambering up the trees at great speed that was impressive to witness. Before long, others returned, including one painted in red.

There was an exchange between the shaman and Jekrok in their native language, before the latter turned to the group again. "She says she will converse with you, Tegama, directly. The others who are not Sith are welcome to make themselves comfortable. The Sith will remain here under observation."

Maarani quietly nodded, trying not to glance at the shaman too much again. It was still hard for her to not notice that there wasn't really anything that differed her from the other Felucians, aside from the red markings and the mask covering her face of course.

"Sure. Staying here is fine. Where I can see her."

She looked over her shoulder to the others, who after some amount of eye gestures opted to follow Jekrok elsewhere. The rest of the Felucians remained to watch Azera with scrutiny.

The shaman in the meantime stepped closer to Maarani, then extended her left arm out. The large appendage curled in for a few seconds, then relaxed out as she lowered it down.

At the same time, Maarani herself heard the familiar rumble in her ears of the Force at work.

You share mind-bond with this Sith. You have her scent on your body. She is of value to you?

"Yes, and I'm really glad this is between the two of us right now. Like I said, she's not going to bring the dark side here, there's nothing to fear from her."

She is only half of problem. Source is dangerous. One who would fight for source can be even more dangerous. Move in unforeseen ways.

Maarani clicked her tongue, her hands starting to clench at each other. "Right. And I guess the fact that I still have a Force presence even if I can't use it is the problem? Because I do understand that. I won't lie that not having control has kinda scared me pretty recently."

Faintly, she could hear Azera's inhale through the mask.

The shaman conversed with some of the others for a while before returning to the telepathic link at last. The change of position appeared to be more relaxed at least.

You speak with honesty, even in confession of flaws. This we respect. But the path to the one you seek on our world is sacred. We will let the mystic one decide if you are both pure enough to walk the sacred path.

After another glance to Azera, Maarani solemnly nodded. "We both really appreciate this, shaman. If it doesn't work out in our favour, I promise we'll leave, no tricks or protests."

"Tee."

"Az, we can still go to the Following for help. Coming here was never a guarantee for success, and for once I'm okay with that."

She looked back to the shaman, keeping that honest smile about her. "It's very humbling to be given the time and consideration of our request so readily. Whatever it is we need to do to prepare for seeing the mystic one, we're ready for it."

Azera clenched her arms tightly, muttering under her breath. "Yeah, I bet if it involves the two of us in body paint walking past everyone you'd jump at the chance."

"There's a difference between the two of us, and everyone else, Az. I was not comfortable doing what I had to on Ketaris, and that was close enough."

It still gave her pause enough to think it over, and then bring it up with the shaman. "It doesn't involve paint of any kind, does it? For all I know Az has skin allergies because she doesn't ever expose it, and that wouldn't be a great way to end before we begin."

Rather than responding again, the shaman waved her arm in front of Maarani's face, spoke to one of the others accompanying her, and then promptly went back up the side of the tree.

The Felucian in question motioned his arm to the pair while nodding his head elsewhere, making the intent clear.

"Well they're not telling us to leave Az. Sorry about the allergy thing."

Azera muttered again under her breath while cautiously following their latest guide alongside Maarani. "For the record, I simply prefer being covered up entirely."

"I'm not criticizing that Az. I don't go around in tight dark leather with my midriff and cleavage out, do I? I'm not the kind of Rutian Twi'lek who shows it all off and can't take a fall without making it oh so graceful even when it's impractical. And I don't have a weird accent either thank you very much."

All Azera could do was shake her head in disbelief. "What the hell are you on about?"

"I'm just pointing out that the only time I haven't been in a jacket, pants and boots around you is when I was in a flight suit. Sure, I get a little heavy with the flaming lesbian deal, but I'm not showing my body off all the time as part of trying to allure other women, am I?"

"And how does your lack of a notable accent fit into that?"

"I dunno, I guess I've just started to notice yours through the raspy throat." When that just made Azera turn her head away, possibly in shame, she put on a small smile and reached her hand out. "It's nice. Haven't really heard it from other Miraluka."

"Then you haven't met any from Dakkan clearly. There's a lot of 'ahn' in how we talk, just like with the name."

Maarani snickered, despite her efforts to not react to that.

"Oh shut up already."

It wasn't too much longer before their guide stopped anyway, turning to them and gesturing his arm to a passage that descended into the rock below the tree. The only light came from traces of luminescent fungus that had congealed over the rock itself.

Dark enough for Maarani to let Azera take the lead instead, given the low light meant nothing to a Miraluka's perception.

It didn't stop the occasional rock trip for the former. "Guess it figures the 'mystic one' is tucked away in some deep cave. But still close enough for the shamans to come visit. Still, wouldn't mind a torch or two."

"I don't think entering the domain with lightsabers out would be taken well, regardless of reason. There should be at least one torch on the Vastes anyway."

"I'll make do, not worth going all the way back for it when we're this close. I just kinda figured that because the surface is so bright at night…"

Her attention was taken entirely by the space they entered at last, far better lit than the tunnel thanks to a cluster of glowing crystals that was suspended by a cluster of roots entwined around it. That in turn gave her a good view of the floor that had been carved and painted in the vague shape of a giant flower. The room itself was otherwise unoccupied.

"Okay, they would've said something if we had to do a specific thing to request that the mystic one appear. See anything?"

After a shrug, Azera stepped a little closer to the centre of the room, carefully lifting her hand in a non-threatening manner. "The Living Force is very strong in this place. It isn't the core of Felucia's energy, more like a pool that it seeps into. I don't think they'd send me if it required a Force user's presence to activate."

"Right, so we're just waiting here until-"

From behind Maarani came a series of glittering orbs of pink light, wafting around both her and Azera until they reached the centre of the room. There they began circling around the centre of the flower pattern into a growing cylinder of sorts as more came through.

It was quite obviously the prelude to the arrival of the mystic one, though Maarani's mouth was open for entirely different reasons than awe.

Before long, a chair in the shape of petals sprang up, upon which a being took form as the energy surrounding the chair coalesced at last.

At the end, a very thin, barely humanoid creature of green had materialized, her large magenta eyes fixed right on Azera.

In a flash, she lashed her tongue right at the Sith, extending far beyond what seemed possible to where it looked as if she could lash right past her head.

Just before contact, Azera had whipped up her lightsaber, bringing the blade to bear just shy of disintegrating the tip of that tongue.

It was all over within a moment, the being retracting her tongue with a small chuckle.

Having previously been in disbelief at what she was seeing, Maarani turned to shock at Azera's reaction instead. "What the hell are you doing!? You've got a freaking mask on! And you are literally the one who said-"

Azera exhaled, and then very carefully lowered her lightsaber, sheathing it afterward. "Tee. She's not really here."

The being laughed at that, uncrossing her legs and standing up, her arms going out to either side in a showy pose. "You are most perceptive, eyeless one. Do not fear, little Twi'lek, for we are far from done."

As many questions as there were abundant, Maarani still put her hand to her face with a deep groan of exasperation. "Great. She's an amphibian that appears from pink sparkly light. And talks in rhyme. This is so sissy I think I'm going to be sick."

It took several breaths for her to even feel capable of lifting her head back up. And even then she felt far from ready to actually get on with why they were there. "You're not going to give us riddles that test our worth and point us to where we find Yuthura as well, are you? Because please, don't do that."

The being laughed again, practically skipping over towards Maarani with how she walked. With a slight tilt of her head, she lifted her hand and waved a finger right through her forehead, demonstrating what Azera had meant aptly.

"Orphne is the name, I know this is not the time for a game."

"Again with the rhyming."

After a shrug, Orphne stepped away from Maarani to glance over Azera instead.

"One who follows in the ways of the Sith, yet so quiet and calm-"

"If you say 'like a Bith', we're walking out of here."

Orphne pouted, then stepped away again to return to her chair. "The Felucians do not send outsiders here often. They know the strain it takes to visit them so far from my own home, a world very distant from here."

"In other words, stop complaining because your time is valuable."

After glancing to Maarani again, Orphne nodded with a wry smile. "It seems you are both perceptive, in your own ways. But then, duality is the very basis of your bond, mm?"

She noted the way both reacted to that, then continued. "The Felucians entrust me to be their judge, for they have been deceived before. Such is the nature of those who are in harmony with the Living Force. Like any being, it is capable of compassion and care, it can be taken advantage of."

Her eyes darted between the two again, studying them further. It had gone beyond surface level reactions, probing how the Force flowed around them both. Every spark of light, every grain of darkness. It became quite apparent just how turbulent and scattered their alignments were, so many instances of good and bad intent all conflicting into a mess that should have sent others into madness.

"And yet, I have never met an individual who is so unpredictably, grey. Let alone two at once." That time when Orphne stood up, the whimsy and lightness in her stride was gone. Her curiosity was piqued, but so was her concern. "A Grey Sith that seeks a Jedi for the sake of helping another, truly an unexpected development."

By then, Azera had ceased gripping her coat, drumming her fingers along her arm instead.

Still unfazed, Orphne looked to Maarani once more. "A Grey Jedi who seeks purpose when she already has so much thrust on her. What keeps you from truly deciding the path you will take?"

Maarani grew tense. She could tell Orphne was reaching for far more than the easy, obvious answers with her question. But not just how much the strange being really knew.

In the end, she relented to the inquiring stare. "Every time I've decided I want to be something, everything goes wrong. People die, and I always feel guilty for it."

So many good people are going to die.

It was an incredibly faint whisper, but still enough to make her whip around in surprise, expecting to find the visage of the Lady of Balance behind her. Instead, the tunnel entrance stared back at her.

In that time, Orphne had returned to her chair, lifting her hands out to either side, an orb of light appearing on each.

"Tegama'Arani of Ryloth, your virtue is honesty, and your fault is pain."

A strangely formed rock painted in various colours appeared over the right hand.

"Azera Vass of Dakkan, your virtue is compassion, and your fault is fear."

Another similar, but not identical rock appeared over the left hand.

"Take these to the shaman. She will examine them, and grant you your request. When you locate the one you seek, present them to her. She will help you both overcome your flaws."

Still a little distracted by the sudden whisper, Maarani awkwardly stepped forward, staring at the rocks. "If you're not here, how are we supposed to-"

She nearly gasped audibly when the respective rock was dropped onto her hand. It was definitely tangible unlike Orphne herself.

Seeing that, Azera moved forward to receive hers, a little skeptical about the rocks being used as tokens but raising no complaint.

"The Force moves around you both with a power I have not witnessed in many cycles. It is your duality that surpasses all who have come before. Remain united, and may your goals always be for the good of the galaxy."

For all of her incessant complaining, that last gesture touched Maarani deeply. So much so that she nearly stumbled over her words from a sudden feeling of inadequacy.

Before moving to leave at last, she finally came down to what felt right to say.

"May the Force be with you, Orphne."

Orphne nodded with that smile of hers before dematerializing into the energy she had first appeared as. Complete with bright pink sparkles.

The two looked to each other briefly, then made their way back up through the tunnel.

"So, Tee, what had you spooked back there? Aside from Orphne."

"A warning from the Lady of Balance, about as vague and non-descript as you'd expect. I'll explain when we're done here."

When they eventually returned to the surface, Jekrok and Dana were waiting there instead, with the shaman on approach.

"You two okay? Apparently it's only meant to take a couple of minutes at most."

They looked to each other once again, Maarani giving a little shrug. "Well, not to brag, but we do seem to be the centre of a lot of attention lately. She wanted to know more, so we obliged. Really convoluted story, Jekrok."

He stepped aside to make way for the shaman before speaking in response. That time there was no resumption of the link, merely a gesture with her hand that indicated for an answer.

Both brought out the rocks given to them, which was apparently enough to convince the shaman without further question.

A small exchange between herself and Jekrok followed, after which she left the way she had come. Jekrok returned his attention to the three in the meantime.

"She has granted all in your crew permission to journey along the sacred path, as each of you desire."

"Great. I suppose now would be the time to explain what exactly the path leads to then?"

Jekrok slowly nodded, glancing between them all. "The end is a natural grove, through which any being may communicate with those who have passed beyond. Regardless of whether or not they possessed the ability to retain their consciousness within the Force. A number of Sith have been contacted in this manner before."

Azera slowly folded her arms again, nodding as well. "Only the absolute pinnacle of Sith have done it themselves, only the big names. Aside from Ludo Kressh who apparently found a different way to retain his identity, from what my master told me of her journey to Korriban anyway."

The silence it brought from the others made her shift around a little. "Point is that they won't generally appear when asked for, so I can understand why other Sith would try to contact strong but not notable predecessors. In any case I don't think Ajunta Pall is the reason we are here so there's no-one for me to seek out."

Dana shrugged not long after. "I've got nothing lingering to settle with the original Dana Lauran, she did what she could for me and I respect that. And I have no interest in meeting any of the rest of Nomi Sunrider's era of Jedi."

For Maarani it was rather obvious, though after the other two she felt as if she needed to say it out loud anyway. "Either my parents or my brothers then. They were all close to Yuthura one way or another. I suppose being dead means any one of them could have watched her path to wherever she went."

She looked at Azera when the uncomfortable, but unavoidable issue became apparent. "Az, you're coming with me on this, okay? Either they've been watching over me and know you're different, or now is the time to make it clear. Okay?"

"Do you really want me there for a reunion that's nine years due? This is not about getting their approval for your girlfriend, Tee."

Maarani chewed down firmly on her lip. It was hard to argue when Azera was very much bringing up valid concerns, and more importantly was the one to have them. It went far further than simply responding to them from Dana or herself.

"You're right, because I don't need their approval. I haven't needed their approval in a very long time, and I want them to know that." She let out a tense breath, putting that dormant resentment aside for when it was time to release it. "And you might as well be there for the whole conversation, instead of just my half of it anyway."

With little more to be said, Dana gave a light shrug. "I'll go ask Jayden and Izan. Cecile and I will go back and check on the ship afterwards. Agreed?"

"Fine. Aside from stray insects I don't think anything will get inside though." Once Dana had left, Maarani put her face to her hands for a moment's breath, only looking to Jekrok when she really felt ready to depart.


"Three weeks firing a mining laser at its cranial core did the trick. From that they figured out how much explosive material to use, and since then sarlaccs haven't been a problem on any Mandalorian world."

Maarani glanced over at the spires in the distance that had prompted that uneasy conversation. She wasn't one to judge the ways of the Felucians, but simply throwing any who went dark to the local sarlacc still made her stomach twist. Rumours that had spread from what few excavations there had been on such beasts had haunted her long after her time in ground survival training.

Less bothered was Azera, who shrugged the whole matter off. Despite being the one effectively walking the line that kept the Felucians from attempting to throw her in as well no less. No-one would doubt that 'attempt' was the right word either.

"Just another effective example of why my master was so very right to ban studies into using Sith alchemy on creatures. Creating beasts of such unsustainable devastation is the mark of an idiot through and through."

"Are they actually Sith beasts?"

"Do you really want to believe that sarlaccs developed to what they are through natural means?"

That made Jayden quiet for a little while at least. "Wouldn't surprise me to be honest. But you're probably sick of hearing me retell stories Canderous told us on hunting trips."

Maarani sighed with a slight hint of annoyance. "Jayden, to be very clear, I respect Mandalorians and all, you know that. I've just already heard a lot of stories about Mandalore the Preserver's adventures beyond what he did on the Ebon Hawk. We get it, you knew him personally as some mentor figure, and now you get to talk to him again by coming to this grove I guess."

Jayden took the point graciously. Given they were close to their destination it seemed fair to answer anyway. "I was on Coruscant when my father died, back home on Mires. Barely sixteen, preparing to fight for the right to marry my husband, and before I understood my own use of the Force. I was ready to give up on becoming a Jedi, and he wasn't willing to argue about it. I want to rectify the bad note we left each other on."

Despite the obvious encouragement from Azera's head movements, Maarani kept her side of the matter silent.

It fell to Azera herself to keep the tedium of the lengthy walk from setting in further. "Perhaps he respected your capacity to decide your fate. I can think of far worse ways for a final conversation to go than simply choosing to disagree and being done with the matter."

"Maybe. I've just always assumed that he was feeling weaker at the time, and didn't want to aggravate his condition. Which means a lot might have gone unsaid." She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Not like anything relevant then holds weight now I suppose."

It wasn't long after that the flora around them notably changed. The glow of the plant life became far more colourful and vibrant, and more varied in colour. The density of the foliage began to increase as well, especially further on to a point where the masses of plants had formed a near-neon wall of leaves and stems.

Azera drew a slow breath as she really took in the sensations emanating from the area ahead of them, concealed behind that natural barrier.

"I can feel the Force breathing, almost see it even." Slowly she removed the glove from her left hand to stretch it out, passing it in front of her face to better feel the flow of energy washing over them all. "It's such a polar opposite to Katarr, in my dreams as well as my time there physically. This is true living energy."

After a deep breath, she moved her hand around towards Maarani, offering to take hers in turn. "Tegama. Before we enter the grove, I would ask something of you."

Cautiously, Maarani reached out her hand. The change in Azera's tone was impossible to miss, to a point where her rasp behind the mask sounded softer. But given the benevolent nature of their visit so far, she chose not to take it as a bad sign.

At the moment their hands clasped, her rugged blue fingers intertwining with those pale fingers of Azera's unblemished hands, she felt a glimpse of that serenity that had taken hold in her partner's mind. A momentary reminder of the block that kept her from experiencing it fully, but one she chose not to take as painful, merely inconvenient.

What was clear was the intent of that question to be asked. Given, explained and argued for without words, just feelings and emotions between them.

The bitterness that had taken hold slowly relinquished its grasp on her intent, until it was gone altogether by the draw of her next breath.

"I'm ready. Time to learn the course to Yuthura, and put Kiarna's legacy to rest."

Jayden took a quick glance around, then carefully sat down amongst the foliage that came rather comically to neck height. The mood was hardly about to shift from quiet serenity though. "I hope you find the resolution you need, Maarani."

After their Felucian guide pointed out a small gap in the barrier, Maarani herself took the lead towards it, her fingers tightening around Azera's on the way.

The passage through the barrier itself was close, but fortunately brief, soon giving way to the grove itself.

Intricate flowers lined the whole space, swaying out of the way of their feet as they very gently made their way further in. The very air tasted sweet, and carried a cooling breeze that soothed every part of their being.

Azera's mask dropped to the soil with barely a sound, covered over by her deep inhale while she looked over the grove uninhibited.

"I can't believe Sith have come here and used this place for selfish means. To stand in the middle of splendor incarnate and not be affected…"

Her voice went quiet as she felt the change in the Force, the impending arrival of a being.

Not long after Maarani felt it as well, her hand gripping tighter as she turned to where the sensation was strongest.

Before long, from the very air formed a being bathed in soft blue light, very much transparent, and yet appearing in such clarity and refined detail that he might just as well be standing there before them.

After two long breaths, Maarani finally found her composure, releasing Azera's hand at last.

"Papa."

For an impossibly long moment, father and daughter gazed at each other, not a single flicker of the eyes between either of them.

When the need to breathe caught up to her, Maarani broke eye contact and half turned, her hand moving to her chest as she began to heave for air. All of the emotional turmoil within was returning to the surface.

In that same moment, Masadar moved his eyes to Azera, lacking reaction or implication.

Azera swallowed, then promptly turned around to make her way back to the edge of the grove, leaving the two Twi'lek quite a bit of space to themselves.

Maarani came close to the point of tears, something she barely staved off after several sharp breaths. The gradual feeling of comfort, culminating with seeing that ethereal hand passing right over her shoulder brought her composure back once more.

At last, she made herself turn and face her father. Aside from the obvious, he looked just as he did on the last day she had seen him. Standing tall, wearing his Jedi robes, looking at her with every bit of love and pride he had for her.

"I came here, ready to be upset with you. To tell you how much I was hurting all those years without you. That I realized how easily I could move on because you were already barely in my life when you were still around. And you know what?"

Masadar nodded slowly, then lifted his hand to her face. Unable to touch it, but still able to cup his hand around her jaw in that reassuring manner nonetheless.

"I know, my dear Tega."

Another inhale, and Maarani finally let the tears flow. Her face went right back into her hands as she let herself go through the motions, while also trying so very hard to keep it from affecting Azera as well.

It took a few minutes for her to calm down, several breaths after shuddering in the draw until her body recovered from the ordeal.

It also left her with little idea as to what could possibly be said next. Asking for the way to Yuthura seemed too hasty, and all the other questions she had pondered on for so long now escaped her at that crucial moment.

Then again, above all else, there was one she had most of the answer to, but nothing clear and defining.

"You know, I think I deserve to know why it took me fifteen years to start using the Force, when I was supposed to be a Jedi prodigy. Not how Dana put it mind you." She swallowed quietly, but remained calm that time, holding the look with her father. "It's to do with the Lady of Sorrows, isn't it? That Sith Lord that everyone just left in my brain while I kept her crystal hidden. Almost funny that they still don't know about it."

There was no deflection, no exasperated attempt from Masadar to turn the subject, just simple acceptance of the question.

He gestured to begin walking, his movement never disturbing the flowers, while Maarani's only made the slightest brush with them as they bowed out of the way.

"Do you remember the day I rescued you from that mountain ridge?"

"My hands were bleeding from the rock face I was clinging to. I never went back there after that."

Masadar went quiet for a few moments, thinking it over a little, then looked down to his daughter. "You are the only one who knows exactly what happened in the Cave of Sorrows, but it will be some time before you are capable of recalling those events, through training and meditation. The damage she did to your mind in those following weeks was terrible."

He gave her time enough to process that much before expanding on the matter a little more. "Even before your mother became pregnant with Masaka, we all knew you were the one to take after myself. And like myself at your age, we had to train you separately from other Jedi children for safety. Hence why you were home on Ryloth virtually all of the time to begin with."

"Funny, I don't remember any training."

"I'll get to that." They had crossed a fair distance by then, but the grove was expansive enough to give them plenty of space to walk around yet. "We didn't consider how far your curiosity would take you, and more importantly we were simply far too lax. Climbing out in the mountains alone is well beyond what any parent could possibly allow. Trying to find that balance of freedom and safety is something we failed to achieve."

Maarani sighed quietly. "You don't have to keep apologizing. I haven't un-gotten over it just because I started crying. And yes I know that's not the right way to say it."

Masadar just tilted his head a little before resuming again. "We realized something was terribly wrong when the nightmares brought on violent reactions. By the time we got you to Coruscant, you were comatose. It was harrowing enough before we even found out who was causing them, losing a child to something we felt we could do nothing about."

"Yeah well, I guess that's another reason for my no kids policy to stay then." Maarani couldn't even smile at that, and the look she got for it made her chew her lip in regret. "Sorry."

"From that point, I don't know what exactly was done to free you of the growing influence of the Lady of Sorrows. All they would say was that she could not be safely extracted, and that to keep her from spreading to other Jedi over time would require dampening your connection to the Force. And that in turn meant suppressing your knowledge of how to reach for it. Imbuing you with Suroni's blood was a final precaution that I enacted alone, after the fact."

"They?"

That time, Masadar motioned for a pause in their walk, even turning to face her as he contemplated whether to answer her question at all. In the end, he complied.

"Suppressing the Lady of Sorrows required a Sith ritual, and as such required those who were familiar with the dark side to perform it. Your mother, Yuthura Ban, and Visas Marr were three of the five involved. She never spoke to me of the other two, though I suspect they were former Sith with allegiance to no-one but themselves."

It made Maarani think about the stranger briefly, though she dismissed that thought with a small shiver. "Visas didn't mention anything like that when I met her on Ketaris. And to be honest I don't even know where she is now to go ask about it."

"I suspect she will return when needed."

At that he began to walk back the way they had come, waiting for Maarani to catch up once more. "We never stopped planning and developing ways to free you of her influence when the dampening inevitably wore off. There was no interrupting or delaying the training of Jedi Knights that would soon be guarding the Republic, as we assumed. So instead, we let the research into technology work towards an answer, while I trained and prepared for a day where I would take you from Ryloth to a safe world. Somewhere I could train you to resist her influence through the power of your own will. But, obviously…"

"I think I would've taken being trained on some backwater planet of nothingness over the Republic Starfighter Corps if given a choice. But that's all meaningless now anyway."

Maarani brought her arms up across her chest, holding tight as she thought over everything at length. "I guess that's just the irony of fate at work. I wanted you in my life more, and I would've had far too much of that if things went differently. Hell, just imagine what it would've been like if Lasidia began her attack when she was ready to fight the Jedi on a frontal war, and I wasn't ready to come save the day as some extremely convenient counter-force to it all."

Masadar frowned a little. "I don't recall you ever paying so much attention to the stories I read to you those nights that you'd become genre-savvy. They're weren't exactly intended to be great works of literature."

"Well, there's a lot about me you've missed out on, isn't there? I'm just saying however things went, it'd probably still be bad. Just not as bad as they did turn out." She glanced over his ethereal face again, and seeing no disapproval decided to keep up the more upbeat approach. "Sorry, I'm not actually trying to guilt you for being away so much. I just wish there were more nice memories. Such as coming out I guess, which would be kinda awkward now after showing up with my actual Sith girlfriend instead of just a Lethan Twi'lek with tattoos and you wanting to intimidate my supposed boyfriend."

After a smirk, Masadar broke out into a soft laugh as he thought back to that memory in full. "I should have stepped down from the Council, for your sake if nothing else. Now, I can only hope that this will not be the last nice memory we can share together, Tega."

"Well unless there's another empath in the Jedi Order no-one told me about, I guess I'll be meditating a lot to train with you. Speaking of..."

"Yes. I was thinking of returning back to why you came via your own tattoos anyway."

A small gesture of his hand conjured up several dozen points of soft blue light that gradually formed into a vague map of the galaxy. The lights highlighted all the major stars while a haze gave it shape to work from. Shortly after, lines began to appear between several of the points, leading in towards the centre of the galaxy itself.

It didn't take too long for Maarani to begin recognizing the depicted stars, and thus the course she needed to follow.

"Huh, it's only a couple of hours from Coruscant. So she went around the galaxy only to go a few dozen lightyears away?"

"Not quite, my dear."

Another gesture from Masadar adjusted the starmap for a clearer view of the last part of that course, the haze taking on a more distinctive shape as a result.

"Right, she's in well past Empress Teta, where all the core storms begin. Almost as bad to navigate as warp space. Or the Maw near Kessel. Or the ice fields of Sorost" She tightened her lip. "Actually I can think of a lot worse places to navigate through, this shouldn't be too bad."

Masadar smiled warmly at that assurance. "I realize you never wanted to be a pilot, but you have great skill with it nonetheless." He brought the starmap back up to give her a good view of the course as a whole for memorization. "It is my belief she was seeking out Tython, though she could only find one of the early Je'daii colonies. Tython is still concealed to even those of us who walk in the Force itself."

Maarani had committed the course to memory by then, and made the rough calculations for the planet's galactic coordinates as well. "No point sticking around to go check for it then."

When the starmap began to dissipate she swallowed to clear her throat, then glanced over to where Azera was still waiting patiently. She didn't want to leave just yet, but what Jayden had mentioned left her with the strong desire to not end things poorly after all she had resolved.

"So, father, are we going to talk about my girlfriend, or have you been watching her enough to realize she's not Kiarna. It isn't even a matter of being convinced here."

That brought significant pause to Masadar, his good mood fading a little with a deep sigh. In the end however, with some further glances, he motioned towards Azera at last. "There is nothing to discuss, Tega. You are your own woman, and I am proud of that fact on a constant basis. My opinion in the matter is just that."

When Azera approached at last, slow about the matter, she kept her arms tightly folded. Every part of her body language made it clear she was still avoiding putting attention on Masadar himself.

"Tee, I assume you have the location and we can go."

Maarani nodded, looking to her father for a while. "Yeah, I'll get it in the computer as soon as we return. It'll take a day or two to get there."

"Good. Lead the way then."

After a long breath, Maarani glanced to the ground, then began to walk forward. On the way she took hold of Azera's hand again, gently leading her back the way they had come.

They didn't get much further before Masadar spoke up again.

"Azera, before you leave."

Still on the defensive, Azera very cautiously turned, bringing herself face to face with Masadar at last.

As his form began to slowly dissipate into the air, he furrowed his brow and folded his arms, making his voice quite a bit deeper, intended for intimidation.

"Take good care of my daughter, or you'll have to answer to me."

Maarani caught on her breath, her chest heaving as she watched him fade away altogether, a few more tears rolling from her eyes at the sudden wrench of her emotions.

Azera was rather less impacted, idly gesturing towards her mask until it flew back to her hand. "He finally addresses me just to act tough when he's not even capable of following it up?"

"Az, he…" It took a few more bracing breaths for Maarani to speak. "He told me he always wanted to do that when I brought my first boyfriend home." Just before the mask went back on, she moved in close to Azera's face, almost touching foreheads. "He was giving approval. For us."

"Tee. The sacred grove where the dead come to speak with us of all the places in the galaxy is the one least suited for another make out session. That and Jayden is still waiting for us to depart."

Several seconds passed before Maarani pulled her face away, trying not to look disappointed when the mask finally went on. "I wasn't gonna make out again. I just wanted that moment to be special."

"It was awkward, and I have no idea what to make of it just yet. Now, may we leave?"


Some hours later, the Vastes made its departure from Felucia at last, starting on the course back towards the galactic core, and the much-needed end of the journey.

Something that Maarani had relegated to Izan very quickly, allowing her time to rest in her quarters. And more importantly wait for when Azera would inevitably come by to see her.

She was in the middle of examining her scarred hand when that happened, twisting it around to look at both sides. For some reason it felt right to do so seated in front of the make-up table, which was devoid of any actual make-up equipment save for the mirror. All she was focused on was comparing it to the vision she had been given.

"I can't heal scars, Tee."

"I'd have noticed if my back was suddenly smooth y'know."

Azera made her way over to that table, drawing up a second fold-out seat next to Maarani which she made herself comfortable on. "You could always have the cartilage replaced with grafted bone if it's a bother."

"I was just thinking about that vision. I know you believe they're metaphorical and all, but I guess I got paranoid. But you know what? There's no scar on my hand in that vision."

The sigh from Azera was quiet, not so much of defeat as it was of acceptance. "Even if they're not metaphorical, I'm not inclined to believe that they are exact in detail. Prediction is not a perfect science, or magic for that matter, however you look at it. A scar that wasn't present before doesn't mean the future is suddenly changed."

"Does that mean it's still likely you're going to turn Red Empress and the Lady of Balance will have to stop you then?"

"No, because I already explained the metaphor of that vision and how it is so very unlikely to be a depiction of actual events."

"Alright fine, just don't start up with the metaphor chatter just yet."

Azera sighed indignantly before going silent, even turning away from Maarani a little.

All that did was provide her with a view of the side of her head, until she looked at the mirror and saw how they appeared side by side at last.

"Y'know, I gotta ask. Why are there mirrors on a Miraluka ship? If nothing else is provided, why these? Aren't they entirely useless to you?"

That brought Azera back slightly, pondering the question. During that, she reached up to remove her mask again, that time setting it down on the table gently. "It's to do with how I recognize lightsaber colours. That technique I used to bridge our minds directly, it's derived from a similar technique that allows me to perceive the light spectrum through someone's eyes."

"Sounds rather disorientating. And rather freaky if I'm suddenly blind but can still feel my eyes moving about under someone else's control."

"That's not how it works at all Tee. Why do you always assume the worst about simple things like this?"

"Because that's the easiest way to goad you into demonstrating."

Azera's lips twisted as much as they could given their state. There was no getting out of the demonstration after that.

"I suppose I might as well see what this tattoo business is all about. Close your eyes until I'm ready."

Her hand moved up behind Maarani's head, under her right lekku notably, the fingers touching down in the region between the two tentacles until she had a solid link.

"Alright, you can open them."

Maarani did just that, feeling nothing out of the ordinary with her eyes. No tingling, and definitely no twitching about.

Azera gasped a little when the gaze returned to the mirror at last. For the first time in a very long while, she was seeing what her own face looked like to everyone else, in addition to the face of Maarani herself.

"I didn't expect you to be that shade of blue. Nor did I expect such intricate markings."

"Copied from Yuthura's. I never thought to ask how a tattoo artist had access to a portrait image of Sith inking though."

She watched while Azera began to lift her other hand up, very slowly touching along her scarred face. The way her mouth hung open just a little began to sting deeply. For all her casual remarks about the state of her face, she hadn't considered that appearance might just have started to matter more.

"I must be so used to this state by now… How could you possibly find this face kissable?"

"It's not easy when your lips are mostly gone. But I'll give you a tip right now on prettying things up."

There was no hesitation or question before Maarani reached around to the back of Azera's head, and in a few tugs pulled the tie from her hair free. It bounced down around her neck, and after some gentle finger combing came around to frame her scarred, eyeless face in sandy blonde.

Azera didn't react for a while, just touching around her hair, so entirely unaccustomed to it hanging loose when not cleaning it. And yet, it was no longer a bother to leave it in that state.

"You don't like it tied back?"

"Probably awkward to say, but seeing Jayden with her hair down turned me on. Usually I can't stand hair, hence tattooed eyebrows, but this…" She brushed along the curvature of her hairline again. "Just works."

"I see. In this case I really do, funnily enough."

When Maarani's gaze turned to her directly, providing Azera with the ideal look at herself, she found herself breathless. The memory of what she had once looked like conflicted so very much with her current state that it left an anxious feeling in her chest. Things were changing more and more in her psyche, more of the cold layers peeling away, bringing out more of who she had been long ago.

"Tee. Should I… Should I look into facial reconstruction?"

Maarani frowned a bit at that, then closed her eyes as she felt the hand drifting away from the back of her head. When she opened them again after the link had faded, her hands came around to hold Azera's shoulders.

"Not for my sake, please. The last thing I want is to feel like I've coerced you into something you didn't actively want, again."

"Alright. I'll think about it then. In the meantime…"

She loosened the coat from her shoulders once more, and not long after the vest was off as well, leaving just the white bodysuit again.

Immediately Maarani began to blush out of concern. "Az, I'm really trying to keep calm and stoic."

Azera just smiled. "I know."

With a gesture of her hand, the fastener on the back of her bodysuit came down, allowing her to pull the front off her arms and chest in a smooth motion until it draped down around her waist.

That light blush of concern from Maarani turned a very deep blue. "Uh."

"No questions." Azera went in for the kiss that time, grasping around the lekku while she shifted around and started encouraging Maarani towards the bed, letting her jacket fall away in the process. That time, she ended up pinning the Twi'lek down, her short locks dangling around her face. "I don't feel inhibited anymore, Tegama."

With a tilt of her head, and a nervous laugh, Maarani finally caved and began fumbling with her shirt as well. "Fine by me."