"The Duchess of Mandalore." Bo-Katan quickly explained as they arrived at the resistance's makeshift camp, waving her hand in Satine's general direction. She could barely look at her sister and Satine was confused as to why. Satine had tried to speak to her as the small group was led into a small enclave a few side passages away from where they'd collided but Bo-katan had kept on muttering to herself, ignoring her attempts. Another handful of ragged and beaten warriors waited for them, a few Satine recognised from their old home guard that had entered the tunnels along with Bo-Katan and Master Qui-Gon almost a year before, so few remained... But, also a number of new faces greeted them, none particularly pleased by the new arrivals.

"The Duchess...?" A light haired man with a particularly heavy accent echoed, marching after Bo-katan as she charged into the camp. "What is she doing here?"

"Looking for her missing sister, it seems." The Jedi answered calmly, following the small group into the camp, his hand resting on his Padawan's shoulder, every now and then increasing the pressure as if to reassure himself that the boy had really returned. Obi-Wan felt slightly touched at the gesture, he had not expected that his master would have worried about him in his absence but it seemed that Bo-Katan Kryze was not as eager at her sister's arrival as they had hoped.

"What does this mean for our plans?" The man yelled, following Bo-Katan as she paced from side to side.

"Plans?" Satine echoed, walking after her sister, ignoring the glances the weary warriors gave her as they silently judged the woman they had been fighting for.

"We can't let her stop us." The man growled.

"Master, what are they talking about?" Obi-Wan could sense the group's agitation in the Force, some of which had been due to their arrival.

Qui-Gon let out a tired breath. "To assassinate the rebel leader."

"Assassinate?" Obi-Wan gasped, unable to believe such a word had left his master's mouth.

"What do you mean 'assassinate'?!" Satine yelled after her sister, shaking her head, unable to comprehend the words.

"We are going to cut the head off the snake." The as yet unnamed man informed the woman, folding his hands over his chest and narrowing his eyes at the duchess.

"That's nonsense!" Obi-Wan piped in, but a slight increase in pressure on his shoulder silenced him and caused him to look up at his master in confusion.

"We are simply here to give advice and aid with negotiations." Qui-Gon simply answered.

"But killing the leader would just strengthen their cause! Cut one head, another will rise!" Obi-Wan protested, unable to understand how his master could possibly agree with such a plan.

"I know." The older man agreed, sighing tiredly, and for the first time, Obi-Wan noticed the dark rings that had appeared under his eyes since the last they had met. "But we cannot interfere beyond where we are asked to."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth again, but found he was at a loss, knowing that that was what the Jedi council would expect from them but it didn't feel right. His attention fell on Satine, he could see her shoulders shaking slightly, finding it even more difficult to comprehend her sister's plan.

"You can't kill him, Bo!" Satine yelled.

"Open your eyes, Satine!" Bo-Katan shouted back, causing her to flinch at her younger sister's outburst. "We are in the middle of a war! They have been killing our people- your people- and we have been killing theirs! It's the only way to end this!"

"It doesn't give us permission to continue this blood shed!" Satine tried to argue, taking deep breaths to keep her voice level.

"Even if it means we can end this war?! That we could spare a single life?"

"We have to at least try to negotiate with them…"

Bo-Katan stomped her foot in frustration, marching up to her sister so her face was only inches away from Satine's.

"Don't be stupid, Satine! I don't know what 'war' you've been in these last few months but here in the real world? Words won't do us any good! If you can't see that Satine, maybe you aren't the right person to lead us."

"I know that." Satine growled back, staring her sister down, neither Kryze refusing to back away. "But I refuse to become one of them ."

"And what would you negotiate with?" Bo-Katan spat, "your hand in marriage? You remember how well that ended for father."

The sound of skin shitting skin echoed around the small group long after Satine had actually slapped Bo-Katan. The younger sister was too shocked by her sister's action to speak, like many of the silent observers she looked back at the duchess, a-gasp.

"I may not have been on the front lines." Satine hissed, lowering her hand, feeling as it still throbbed from the impact. "But that gives you no right to disrespect me or father. I escaped the tunnels, outran bounty hunters, survived the Scourge, travelled off-planet looking for you , fought in an arena and was tortured by an insane tribe of Mandolrians. I found Luna, our sister, remember her ? and came back here to look for you ."

"I may not have fought on the front lines." Satine repeated. "But I have been trying to help Mandalore the only way I can."

"Well, it wasn't enough." Bo-Katan harshly retorted, each word stinging Satine far more than Balik's whip ever had. "Maybe if you had spent less time looking for us and actually led your people, this nightmare would be over by now."

"Why don't we let the matter rest for the time being?" Qui-Gon's calm voice sliced through the tension with ease. "Take this moment to appreciate that our people have returned to us, alive. The war can spare that much."

"Tell that to the lives being lost on the surface." The accented man accused. "Let's finish with the preparations, Bo-Katan." And, with that said, he began to march away, a number of the other warriors following him without a second glance at the duchess.

"Bo…" Satine reached out to her sister, her voice soft, apologetic for her actions but she couldn't comprehend why her sister would resort to such brutish means to end this war. But then, just as Bo-katan had no idea of what Satine had been through this last year, neither did she with regards Bo-katan's own turmoils.

"Satine…" The younger, war-tried girl shrugged away from her sister's hand, taking a step back so all Satine could do was awkwardly lower her hand. "I'm happy you are alive, Satine, I truly am, but I wish you could have stayed lost a little longer."

Satine's breath hitched at her sister's parting words, before she turned to follow the man without sparing her a second glance. Satine straightened up, holding back the tears that threatened to spill. She turned, her breathing hollow after her confrontation and her gaze fell on Obi-Wan, who looked on her tormented face with sympathy. An irrational urge overwhelmed her, to run to him, for him to hold her and give her strength. But then her eyes fell on the older Jedi as he walked towards her with an air of calm and the feeling vanished.

The time for such indulgences was over.

Now that they had found his Jedi master and her people she had to be strong, alone. They each had to fall back into their respective roles of Padawan and Duchess and nothing more.

They could be nothing more.

"I have no right to speak for your sister." Qui-Gon said calmly, looming over the young woman, Satine had never realised how much taller the man was in comparison to Obi-Wan and herself. "But these last months have been difficult on her, she has been forced to grow and make difficult choices…"

"It has been difficult for all of us." Satine countered, her voice wavering.

The Jedi nodded his head in understanding. "Why don't you two get me up to speed? I feel it is the doing of the Force that the two of you have found our group at such a pivotal moment."

Master Qui-Gon was silent for a number of minutes after the Padawan and Duchess had finished telling their story, or most of it, certain parts they'd chosen to keep to themselves.

"I feel the Force has sent you one trial after the other." The Jedi sighed, massaging his brow. He had hoped that his rule-abiding Padawan would have followed his orders and returned to Coruscant, keeping the duchess in safety at the temple until the war's end. But the Jedi could not find it in himself to reprimand his wayward apprentice. He could feel it in the Force, the boy's intentions had been nothing but good, and that he had grown beyond what the master could even fathom. The war had forced the two of them to grow, just as it had Bo-Katan, but where it had caused the latter to waver in her morals, it had only cemented them within his Padawan and the duchess.

It truly was mysterious how the Force worked- three youths had been dropped into the same war but the choices they'd made had led them on completely different paths. Yet, at the most vital point, it had allowed all their journeys to overlap, once again.

Obi-Wan politely nodded his head, having been the one to tell most of their tale, Satine had sat beside him on the makeshift stools the camp utilised, her fingers entwined under her chin, her eyes far away as she was deep in thought.

"Who was that man?" She finally piped in, her eyes still unfocused and distant.

"Kyo Vizla." Qui-Gon explained. "He says he has a brother captured by the Rebels. He's a good strategist, but his ideas can be a little dangerously too extreme."

"And does this little group take orders from my uncle? General Kane?" Satine finally raised her head to see the Jedi shake his, solemnly.

"They used to provide the general with intel from the inside, but they formed their own fraction some time after you released your video."

"So why are you still with them?" Obi-Wan inquired, confused as to why his master had chosen to fight alongside a splinter group rather than with the main forces.

"A whisper in the Force told me," The master explained to his Padawan. "I have dissuaded them from a number of their more radical ideas."

"When will they execute the leader?" Satine asked, her voice so low it was barely audible.

"Tomorrow evening, they've got a tail of Sokka Tat. They know he plans to leave Keldabe and head to Sundari to instruct his men there."

Satine nodded her head, not particularly surprised that her once potential brother-in-law had been the rebel leader all along. He had been cold enough to murder his own brother, he wasn't beyond insiting a war.

"So that means we have one day to foil their plans." Satine looked up at the Jedi and Padawan, determination steeling her eyes.

"I would highly advise against it." Qui-Gon began but Obi-Wan shook his head at the older master, sighing knowingly.

"Trust me Master, once the Duchess gets something in her head there's no changing her mind." And with his words, Satine couldn't help but smile thankfully at the man. Even with his master present he still had her back. The Padawan answered with the softest of smiles, one that, if you hadn't known the man for years, would have easily been missed. But, as Qui-Gon saw this wordless exchange between the two, he inwardly suspected a deeper layer had been laid to the story they had told him, one they had chosen to keep to themselves.

And another chapter done! We are now drawing ever nearer to the end of this fic after so many months! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the update, next one will be up next Tuesday :D