The red painted sky of Coruscant reflected in Yan Dooku's eyes. "It was a horrible mistake." His silken voice trembled, as he stared down in the unlit pyre, and the thin body lying there. The room was empty except for the two bodies, one frozen motionless and dead, the other wishing to be.

"I didn't mean for it to be like this." Good-byes were never sweet, but this one was agony. The Jedi Master moved to fetch the torch that would carry his apprentice off to the world of the eternal.

All was not right though. The body on the pyre flinched. Qui-Gon wasn't dead.

He was terrified. His master was slowly walking towards the torch on the wall. Qui-Gon tried to cry out, tried to scream to stop him, to tell him...but his throat felt too raw to choke out words. His eyes were open but he couldn't blink, the strange paralysis holding him tighter than a Wookie's embrace.

Dooku lowered the torch to the pyre and Qui-Gon yelled into the force with all his might, but his voice could not be heard. Instantly he felt flames creeping under him, beginning to consume him with their angry red tongues. They lapped at his flesh, like hungry creatures until all around him was inferno. It seemed he was breathing the fire itself; his chest burned with each sobbing gasp.

Silent screams vibrated in his throat as he felt his hand scorch. The cruel irony was wrenching inside...or had the fire reached there too? Dooku's grief-drenched eyes were on him and he wished he could cry to him. But the only sound around him was the spitting, crackling fire. Oh, his hand!

He pulled it away with a yelp as time and reality returned. Somehow, he must have thrown his hand a little too close to the fire as he dreamed. Instinctively his burnt finger went to his mouth, and he sucked them ruefully as he re-established his surroundings. Childor? He was still on Childor. He was in the forest. It was morning. Tahl was gone.

He pulled his fingers out of his mouth, feeling childish. They weren't badly burned, only slightly scorched. The boy clicked his tongue, disapprovingly. *Scared of the nightmare, were you Jinn? Some Jedi.* He rolled onto his stomach with a wince. His shoulders hurt. Everything felt sore, pulled out of place. And he couldn't sleep without some haunting ghost of the darkness he had felt in the cells. Some twisted torture carried on even still after he was out. For Conn, Qui-Gon was learning, painfully, meant to make him sore for a *long* time after the wounds healed.

Coughing was agony with his sore chest, so he took a few sips of water to ease his throat, before sitting up. He was really beginning to feel better despite the ache. Instead of feeling maddeningly weak, Qui-Gon felt his body mending, his strength slowly returning. Simply being around the valiant standing, beautiful tree's was healing him better than the scanty medical attention. He needed the air, the freedom after the scarring stuffy prison that had been his hell. Had he gone to a hospital, with its bland sterile rooms, he would have surely lost his sanity. He needed *this.*

Qui-Gon had a nice fire going by the time Tahl returned. He glanced up at her, slightly irritated that she hadn't told him where she was going before leaving. His tone reflected that.

"Where have you been?"

Tahl's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright with a smile. "Places."

He leaned close, smiling, irritation dropped as he sensed her excitement. "What sort of places?"

"Upstream." she said, helping herself to an energy bar. "Mm-" Tahl paused, chewing. "Beautiful little pool up there. Fish, and stuff..it's really lovely."

"Ooh-Tahl! Can we-" He stopped speaking abruptly, the expression on his face suddenly alarmed. He raised a finger to his lips and listened intently for a few moments. His eyes scanned the trees around him uneasily. Finally he turned and whispered to Tahl. "Can you feel it?"

Tahl, too, paused. Immediately she knew that all as not right. The constant chatter of the native birds was gone. The forest was empty and eerily silent as if it's inhabitants knew something the Jedi didn't. Then she felt it, a soft ripple of a disturbance, like a chill breeze across her face.

Seconds passed and a noise like thunder crashed from a distance. The whirring noise echoed through the woods. Next came the far off shrieks of the birds as they took flight from their perches. The ground beneath the two rumbled slightly, as the noise got louder and louder. Then it receded back down to a hum, as if it were moving farther away.

Finally, quiet.

Qui-Gon's eyes were wide with a terror Tahl had never seen in him. She heard his breathing quicken, and see tremors flit across his shoulders. His voice was very small when he finally found it. "W-what...was...that?"

"I don't. -"

Qui-Gon leapt to his feet and took off running. Tahl stared after him for a moment, stunned. Then she too, threw herself to her feet.

"Qui-Gon!" she yelled, leaping after him. She had always been faster than he had, and he was still pretty weak from the ordeal. She would catch up soon. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon had other intentions.

He had only gone about 20 yards when he skidded to a stop and bolted up a tree. Tahl stared. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but it wasn't this. The girl paused under the massive tree, squinting up at her friend. He was shinnying up quite quickly for someone still healing; his feet seemed to find the right holds naturally. It had to be almost impossible to hang on with his hand wounded as it was, but her friend was almost halfway up.

"Qui-Gon!" she called again. "What in sith hell are you doing?!" Either he couldn't hear her or he was ignoring her. Probably the latter. "Get down here this instant!" Tahl was all but screaming by now. Fear choked her. One slip and he was dead! What did he think he was doing?! She craned her neck to see, but he had disappeared into the thick canopy. A few moments passed and she looked frantically around at the branches.

Very slowly a leaf drifted down through the still air. Tahl watched it as it danced downward, spiraling elegantly and twisting on its way. It floated, then came to a rest at her feet. She stared at it for a long moment.

"I saw it."

Qui-Gon's voice nearly made her heart stop. Tahl closed her eyes and turned toward the sound. "Qui-Gon Jinn. I'm going to kill you." Apparently he had climbed partially down, and then taken the last descent as a free-fall, landing noiselessly beside her.

"It's small ship, fighter, by the looks of it." He blew out a breath, releasing his fear. "Definitely not friendly. It was skimming the trees, Tahl. Any idiot knows not to fly that low. It was looking for something. Or, shall we say, someone."

"That was probably the stupidest stunt you've pulled to date."

"They know we're here!"

"It was totally reckless!"

"Would you let it go? I knew what I was doing!"

"It was dangerous and stupid."

Qui-Gon's eyes flashed. "What-are you my master now? Did you not just hear me?! I said I knew what I was doing!!"

"What if you had fallen?"

"I wasn't going to fall. I'm a Jedi too, remember?!"

"You're not all healed Qui-Gon, are you * forgetting * a couple days ago you almost died?"

"Only wishing I could!!!" he snapped back, turning away.

Her striped eyes widened slightly and welled with tears. She took a tiny step backward, faltering.

Qui-Gon sat down on the huge tree root, his back to Tahl, his arms crossed angrily across his chest. Silence stretched between them. The girl stared at his back, at the ugly scars. The image blurred. His angry words echoed in her ears. She hadn't...meant... Tahl's eyes stung and she felt as if her throat were filled with fabric.

"Qui-Go-" she began, but her voice cracked. Tahl gave it up, and tried to even her breathing. She heard him sigh.

Very slowly, Qui-Gon stood, drawing himself up to his full height, a stance she hadn't seen in a long time. He took a few steps toward her, and then stopped, towering over her with his

full presence. He suddenly looked very imposing, very...strong. He stared down at her, his hair falling across his forehead as he angled down. His hands found hers.

Tahl looked up, a tear falling across her face. Her friend seemed taller than she had known before, but still, Qui-Gon was very close. Ever so slightly, she could feel the soft flutter of his breathing stir in her hair. His hands moved up from her own, to caress across her cheek, his fingers tracing the tear.

His voice was a whisper. "Please don't cry..."

Tahl ducked, avoiding his eyes, and gave a small choked sound. Before she knew what she was doing, she was leaning into him, resting her head against his chest. Her arms carefully threaded around his back, pulling her friend closer.

"What is it?" Qui-Gon breathed into her hair, hugging her back.

"I don't know anymore, Qui..." Tahl confessed, her voice muffled as she held onto him tightly.

"Mm...?" She hadn't called him Qui since they'd been ten. "What don't you know?"

"You." she breathed. He felt the warm moisture on his chest. "I don't know how to handle things anymore. I don't know what will hurt you. I don't know how to help you. You're so different." Her voice suddenly angry. "Why did they make you different?!"

Qui-Gon was taken aback by her bluntness. He didn't have the vaguest idea of what to say. So he just held her.

"Sorry." she whispered.

"Why?" He looked down at her, puzzled.

Tahl shrugged. "I don't know..."

Qui-Gon looked down at her, his almond shaped eyes flickering. "I'm sorry too." he breathed, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry too..."

In summer I can taste the salt in the sea,

There's a kite blowing out of control on the breeze,

I wonder what's going to happen to you

You wonder what has happened to me

Thanks to all you readers for sticking with me! I know this part took a bit longer to get out, and I apologize for the delay… anyway, you know what Qui needs now, don't you? A BIG CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE! Stay tuned to see if he gets it… ^_^