Sitting in the temporary recovery room the young padawan stared at the wall without truly seeing it. In less than a month she'd lost her master to some mysterious force related mishap, saved a Mandalorian King, been taken to Mandalore and enjoyed the company of the Mandalorians, and returned to the temple. Now she was learning that every single bond she had ever made had been severed, causing a psychic backlash that had been causing her mental strain and low key force exhaustion.

Seven hundred years. Even among the longest lived species in the galaxy seven hundred years was such a long time.

The news that she had somehow been flung forward in time had shaken her to the core. Gone was everything she had ever known and in its place was a facsimile of the life she had known. The robes were the same, as were the halls, gardens, salles, and the general comfort of the temple. But everything else was entirely foreign to her. Even how the healers that had examined her were just so subtly off that she didn't know how to react at first.

When she'd brought up the idea that the healer wasn't following proper protocol they'd stared at her in confusion. Master Nu, whom she didn't recognize but was apparently a Council member, had shared a look with a Twi'lek master who had come into the room to oversee the other healer. "How?" Was the question posed to her. So, Liera had explained, in detail, how. When she was finished she was disheartened to find that things she was used to doing were either forgotten or had long since gone out of practice.

Once everyone was gone she curled up against the headboard of the medical bed and pulled her knees to her chest. Across the room she could see the bag she had been gifted by Shiona and felt some of her grief ease with the knowledge that she wasn't completely alone.

The door opened and the master healer entered, exuding a quiet confidence and a sense of gentle serenity. It hadn't taken them long to find her in the system, running her dna through the scanner had been simple enough, but she'd been labeled as missing and eventually deceased. Re-opening her file required the Council's permission, which was easily given by Master Nu.

"We've done all we can to ease the psychic backlash and promote healing but you'll have to be monitored for a couple of weeks to make sure you're adjusting. I've made an appointment with the mind healers for you in three days time. Is that alright with you?" Shifting so she was sitting cross legged she nodded.

"Thank you, Master Che." The female twi'lek smiled at her.

"It's always nice to have a patient who actually cooperates." She chuckled. She smiled in return.

"I know the feeling. Cole was always chiding the verde who refused to sit still or go to medical the moment they were injured. I had to deal with some of them myself but they were always kinder to me, probably out of fear of Cole and Shiona." Thinking about it made her giggle. Shiona wasn't the best at hand to hand for nothing. She could easily beat others three times her size while Cole, as a medic, had a lot of knowledge on where to hit someone where it hurts.

"Are those the Mandalorians who helped take care of you?" Liera blinked the memory away and looked up at the master healer. There was clear worry there but a hint of curiosity as well.

"Cole was the chief medic who helped me when I fainted from force exhaustion and Shiona was the warrior who took me under her wing. Jaster, the Mand'alor, and his son, Jango, also looked after me quite a bit. I'm not sure what I would have done without them there." She was grateful they didn't just abandon her because she was a jedi. There was no telling what would have happened to her if they'd left her on that planet in the middle of civil unrest with no means to escape.

"Were you injured at any time, besides the obvious?" Liera hesitated for a moment, not wanting to paint people she considered friends in a negative light.

"During a spar with Jango he accidentally grabbed my braid and pulled it as he fell. I blacked out for a moment and had some trouble with my nervous system for a moment but I was fine a few hours later. It was an accident." She reiterated carefully, trying to convey the truth of her words. She knew how horrified Jango had been when she'd suddenly collapsed, how scared he'd been for her in those moments before she got up to defend him. She didn't want anyone in the Order to have any more reason to distrust the Mand'alor and his people.

"I didn't sense anything wrong with your nervous system and I had a look at your file so I understand what happened." Pulling out a datapad she made a few quick notes. "Did you eat well while you were in their care?" Liera frowned a little. This was starting to feel less like a healers appointment and more like an interrogation.

"Of course. They were very attentive to my nutritional and health requirements. I shared a bunk room with Shiona and she was always sure to keep the lights a lot dimmer than would have been normal for a twi'lek, if only to make me feel more comfortable. Cole also gave me a full check-up the moment I woke that first day." She clenched her hands. "Master Che is there something wrong? It sounds like you're trying to find fault with the people who saved me."

"Peace, padawan, I have nothing against the Mandalorians. I just want a thorough update to your file to make sure we don't miss anything. You've been through a very strange ordeal. You are the first recorded person to travel forward in time and we want a thorough picture of your health to compare to your last recorded check-up. Who knows what happened to have you appear here after so many years." She shook her head incredulously.

Bashfully Liera let her defensive manner fall away and felt a little guilty for assuming the master had been trying to find fault somewhere. "I apologize, Master." The female smiled at her.

"You've been through an ordeal, young one, and there is a reason we have scheduled you for sessions with a mind healer besides the obvious. I took no offense, I assure you." Calmed by her words Liera leaned back again, not remembering when she's leaned forward in the first place.

After asking her a few more questions there was a knock at the door and she brightened sensing a presence she recognized. "Interrupting something, am I?" Master Che frowned slightly but shook her head. She'd just finished writing the last of her notes.

"Not at all, Grand Master." Liera started slightly before she forced herself to remember this was not the Knight she remembered from her own time. He was much older, his force presence denser than she remembered.

"Recognize me, you do. Afraid, I am, that recognize you I do not." There was almost a melancholy about him when he admitted to not remembering her. She felt a pang of sadness but carefully released it into the force. Seven hundred years was a long time. Even Wookies, one of the longer lived species, only lived to be an average of four hundred years old, though Jedi Wookies were known to live to six hundred. It was no wonder he had forgotten her.

"That's alright, Master Yoda. I don't think we ever really crossed paths that much before. You were still a Knight then and were away on missions quite a bit. I was also found primarily in the halls of healing for my initiate years, before I was taken as a padawan by Master Paldrel." She smiled.

"Speak with you, the Council wishes. But only if you are well. Questions, have we, about the Mandalorians and how you came to be here. A mystery, this is." Oh, she remembered that style of speaking. It was nice to hear something familiar.

"Agree, do I, if allow it does Master Che." The master's ears perked up and it won her a small chuckle of amusement. Master Cher looked conflicted, as if she didn't know whether to laugh as well or to scold her for being rude in some way. Master Yoda stalled her by turning to the chief healer for her verdict.

"She's in perfect health besides some damage to her mental scape. As long as she takes it easy and doesn't use the force too much she's free to go. I'll have someone speak with the quartermasters to find her a place to stay and some replacement robes." Liera sighed in relief and sent a wave of gratitude toward the master healer. The female looked at her in surprise before she gave her a gentle smile. "Will you be leaving your things here? Or would you prefer to take them with you?" Liera looked over at the bag Shiona had gifted her and hesitated for a moment.

"I'd like to take if with me, if Master Yoda doesn't object." His green head moved back and forth, his ears flopping slightly.

"Take it, you may. Wait outside I shall." With that he turned and went into the hall so that Liera might change back into her robes.

Attaching her lightsabers to her belt and picking up her bag she left the room and bowed to the small master. She was ready to face whatever they might throw at her.

[Jango]

Looking down at his comm he scowled again. It had been three whole weeks since Liera had been dropped off at the jedi temple and they had heard nothing since. Cole had brought up his concerns with Jaster, that maybe the jedi had taken her comm, while Shiona had started to take out her frustration on her training partners. Even some of the verde had asked him how she was doing and he'd had to tell them that he didn't know.

It was worrying.

But Jaster had asked him to wait for her to make the first call, to let her get reacquainted with her home and grieve her father figure's death.

The waiting was driving him nuts. He hadn't wanted her to leave in the first place and now they hadn't heard from her. It was suspicious, dammit! For all they knew they could have blocked their comm so she wouldn't have contact with them. Even if Jaster had wrangled a promise from their Master of the Order that she'd be allowed to comm them whenever she wanted.

Sitting on his bed he bit out a small curse and hit the call button. He'd had enough waiting and he was really worried!

The comm rang.

Once.

Twice.

His heart beat in his chest with anticipation and fear.

"Jango?" Her voice was like a sweet bell and he felt a rush of relief flow through him. She'd answered!

"Lie'ika! We've been worried about you." He growled before he could stop himself. "Why haven't you commed?" There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"I'm so sorry, Jango. I was busy with my healing sessions and being tested by the Masters. Apparently when you've been declared dead a lot of your old assessments are declared invalid, although they keep them for record keeping purposes." Jango's brows rose.

"You- what? Dead!?" There was a quiet laugh on the other end of the call but it sounded almost… nervous. He let out a frustrated sigh. "What happened Lie'ika?" An even longer silence.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you…" He scoffed.

"I'll believe you, Lie'ika. You're no liar." She laughed again but this one sounded even more anxious. What had the jedi done to her?

"Jango, you asked for my birthday once and I only gave you the day, remember?" He blinked in confusion.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"My birth year is 229 ARR." He stopped dead, staring at the comm in confusion as he did some quick math and translated the number into the Mando calendar.

"What the fuck?"

"That was my reaction too, minus the cursing." Oops, he hadn't meant to peak out loud.

Wait.

"You're… you're serious?" Silence. "How!?" He choked.

"We don't know. They think it has something to do with a Force Nexus and the old temple I was visiting. Apparently that temple had a tradition of using the crystals of deceased jetiise in their murals, a way to keep their spirits alive and allow them to live on in the home they'd always loved. When the Nexus… I guess exploded would be the right word, when it exploded I was sent forward in time. Somehow." Jango was speechless. How the hell did you even fathom that kind of thing? Being torn from everything you knew and loved. Hell, it'd happened to him but at least he had the Haat'ade.

Seven hundred years… things on Manda'yaim had changed so drastically since then…

"Jango? I'm so sorry." Twitching he pushed his existential dread away and focused on the comm.

"For what? You obviously didn't know before or you would have told us. I already told you that you're not a liar, that I believe you." Even if it was really fucking weird.

"No. For my ignorance… the Dral'han." He froze. Of course she'd be trying to catch up with history. If he had been thrown into the future he'd want to know what happened to everyone he knew too.

"You didn't know?" He asked carefully.

"No, it was after I'd… disappeared. But that's no excuse for my ignorance. I realize now just how much animosity there was between the jetiise and the mando'ade. I'm even more grateful now that you all came to accept me so readily. That can't have been easy for you." He grit his teeth, wanting to grind them but forcing himself not to.

"We aren't the mando'ade of old and you aren't the one who harmed my people. There's no debt between us, we're friends aren't we?"

"Of course we are, Jango. And I'm sorry to drop this on you suddenly. But there's… not really any good way to tell someone you've traveled through time, is there?" He snorted.

"Not really. Do the jetiisse do this often?" She laughed and it sounded lighter than earlier. He counted that as a win.

"I'm the first recorded case. So there's been a lot of visits to the healers and questions by the masters here. I've become a mystery to unravel." There was a moment of hesitation. "I've asked to continue as a field medic and they're discussing options right now. Once I'm done my mind healing sessions they said they'll look for a master to complete my training. I'm a little nervous about it." Jango hummed, contemplating how her current situation must feel.

Probably like when he'd lost his birth parents and had been taken in by Jaster.

"It's going to feel weird at first. I don't think being a jetii is going to change that." If anything it might be even more strange. "You'll probably call them the wrong name or expect them to do something you're used to, only to have them do something completely different. But once you get to know them you'll stop comparing them to your old buir and learn to rely on them."

"Is that what happened with you and Jaster?" He wasn't surprised she knew they weren't blood related. It wasn't a big deal to them as mando'ade.

"Yeah. I was only eight at the time so it was a pretty big change. But eventually I learned to respect and care for him as my buir." She was quiet for a moment.

"Thank you, Jango. You're very brave to share that with me. Not everyone can open up like that." His face burned at the praise and he was so glad it wasn't a holocall. "Oh! I have to go. Have a-"

"Wait! Do me a favor?" She stopped speaking for a moment.

"What do you need?"

"Call Cole and Shiona, they're getting worried about you." There was a small muttered curse in Mando'a on the other end of the call and he grinned.

"I will call them tomorrow during my rest period, promise. May we meet again, Jango." His shoulders sagged. He wanted to ask her to stay on the line with him. But he knew she had responsibilities.

"Soon, I hope." He joked instead. She laughed and it was a joyful sound.

The call ended.

Jango sat there for a time, thinking over everything he'd been told.

He had to tell Jaster. This was way too big to keep to himself.

[Jaster]

Letting out a large sigh he filed the last of the paperwork for the day and looked at his datapad for any messages. There were the usual suspects and he leaned back in his chair with a grimace. He didn't really want to confront Cole or Shiona about their them they'd just lost a child, even if she wasn't there's to lose. Although there was one silver lining in all of this, although he wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed it yet.

Cole and Shiona had been spending more and more time together. It started with asking each other for updates at meals and slowly he started to notice them standing together during meetings. He'd never seen them speak to one another before Lie'ika came, not outside of combat or training at least. Knowing both of their pasts he hoped they'd be able to overcome whatever hang-ups they still had and got together. They were well matched, after all.

His comm rang and he glanced down at it.

"Hey Jan'ika."

"Hey, buir. I just got off the comm with Liera." From the slightly guilty tone in his voice he guessed that she hadn't been the one to call. He let it slide for the moment.

"Oh? How is she." If he knew then he could update Shiona and Cole so they'd stop pestering him to go back and 'rescue' her. She was with people who would take care of her, place she chose, he wasn't going to forcibly remove her from a loving home.

"She said she'd been seeing healers for some mind thing and was being tested by the masters so they knew where she was skill wise." Sounded about right. "Oh yeah and she's fro seven hundred years ago." Jaster stopped, staring at the comm as if it were an alien creature that had suddenly perched on his wrist.

"What?" He croaked. Jango chuckled. "Don't mess with your buir, Jan'ika." He grumbled.

"I'm serious. Apparently the jetiise are studying her cause she's the first time traveler they've ever met. Something to do with a bunch of lightsaber crystals and a force thing? She used a word I'm not familiar with." Jaster hung his head. He'd been hoping to have a restful day. And his kid had just dropped a bomb on his already tired mind.

"What the fuck?" Jango cracked up and started to laugh.

"That's what I said!"

"How the fuck am I going to tell Cole and Shiona?" He could practically hear the shrug in his kid's voice.

"Hell if I know. Maybe start with telling them she promised to call tomorrow?" Jaster let out a heavy sigh. He needed a damn vacation.

Mando'a;

Verde- Soldiers, warriors.
Buir- Parent, father.
Jetiise- Jedi plural.
Mando'ade- Mandalorians
Dral'han- The Annihilation, also called the Mandalorian Excision, was a preemptive attack on Mandalorian space by the Republic, led by the Jedi.