Hey Fellow Force-Sensitives, Foundlings, and Fans!

I hope you all are doing well.

So about that last chapter, if you couldn't tell I unloaded on a few things that drive me crazy. Ahsoka being expelled by the council (Ugh), and Mace Freaking Windu. Don't get me wrong. I'm not attacking The Samuel L Jackson, or saying that his character was poorly written. The opposite. It's a fantastically flawed character that really does fit. But ugh, open your eyes, Mace!

But isn't that what it's all about? Movies and books that are so well written that you either root for the main character or want to slap them in the face, not bothering to even think that "it's just a story," because it never really is.

Also, shout out to those still sticking with me on this one. I know I was bit off the grid there for a while, and I'm sorry for that. So thank you to all those who stayed with it, and who continue to leave reviews. Definitely means a lot.

Right. Chapter 13. Enjoy.

Chapter Thirteen

The moment she entered Tython's atmosphere, she felt that same pull she did from years ago. Kyra didn't stop at Sentinel Fortress. She flew past it, right on to the Forge. And the pull got stronger the closer she got to it. In fact, it was so strong that the turmoil she'd been experiencing was taking a back seat to it. She landed the 'Guile at the base of the stairs, and knowing Flesh Raiders were in the vicinity, quickly hopped out of the cockpit, and made her way over to the mountain side. The passageway was still there, at least fifty meters off the ground. Not beyond reach for a force enhanced jump. Well, one of Kyra's force enhanced jumps. She didn't even need to sink into the force anymore. It was always there, always with her. It no longer took any focused effort to tap into it. She didn't even need to close her eyes. She flexed her legs and then shot upwards, soaring right towards the hole in the rock face, and landing inside.

The tunnel was cool and dark. No light was present inside. She sniffed the air and sensed no foul smells coming from within. If there were flesh raiders in the vicinity, that would have given them away. But inside all she smelled was damp rock. She ignited her saber, lighting up the darkened tunnel, and made her way inside. The passageway had many twists and turns, luckily it didn't go on for very long, as she had only been walking for a minute until it opened up into large cave. And this one large cave was the source of the pull. She walked into the middle, her lightsaber illuminating the walls of the cave, particularly the far wall. She froze, her breath catching. In front of her was an intricately designed mural painted in gold, white, black, and gray. It depicted three figures, the middle figure was a tall, older looking man, dressed in black, with a pointed hat, and long white beard, whose hand was open and upward, as if he was executing a force push. The figure to the right, was the only figure that looked menacing. He was also dressed in black, his skin white, with painted red lines going vertically over his two black eyes. His hand was clenched in a tight fist. The third figure is what drew the most attention from Kyra. In fact, as she walked closer to the painting, she found that the pull was emanating from this figure on the left which was of a beautiful, blonde-haired woman, dressed in white, with some sort of bird resting on her shoulder. This woman had in her hand held sideways in front of her, palm facing inward.

Kyra, closed her eyes, and sank even deeper into the force, and doing so caused her to gasp. This cave was full of the Force, as if it were a beacon for it. Kyra reached deeper, trying to sense what was behind the wall, but found nothing. The power she was sensing was coming from the mural itself. What in the world?

Each person in the picture had a large golden circle around their head, and a smaller gold circle around their hand that they held up. She stepped right up to the female figure, eyeing it up and down, scanning it for answers.

"Why have you called me here?" she whispered. "Will you help me?"

There was no response. Kyra shook her head. What was this all about? She took one step closer and put her hand on the woman's sideways hand. "Please help me," she said.

Not yet, Child.

Kyra flinched as she heard the words. Words that were not heard with her ears, but within her own head.

"Please, whoever you are, I need help now. The galaxy is in tearing itself apart, the order is failing, and I am lost."

You are not lost. You already know the way.

Kyra felt the force presence leave the cave. And the pull was gone. The cave was empty except for her now. She leaned her head against the painting, breathing deeply.

Those weren't the answers she wanted. But were they the ones she needed? Just to trust her own instincts. She shook her head, and let out a deep sigh.

Okay.

She exited the cave and saw that a horde of Flesh Raiders were awaiting her return. She let out a short groan. I'm not dealing with this today. She knelt down on the very edge of the hole, fifty meters above the beasts who stared at her with hungry, grotesque eyes, drool dripping from their wide jaws. She called upon the force, breathing it in deeply. Instantly, she was Alight. She opened her eyes, the world now viewed through a blue hue. She lifted her hands in front of her face and saw that they also had a sapphire tint to them, luminescent wisps of blue smoke wafted off of her skin.

The flesh raiders took a step back. She leapt down, channeling the force into her fist on the descent down, she slammed it into the ground as she landed in a crouch mere meters in front of them. THe impact sent a shockwave outward, and knocked dozens of them off their feet. She sucked in a deep breath, pulling from the force-imbibed planet itself. Something must have changed even more with her, as the flesh raiders began backing away. They remembered her from years before. She wondered if they had told stories about the blue-eyed demon that slayed hundreds of their people, and brought down the mountainside on hundreds more. Even their animalistic instincts told them not to trifle with this one. They slowly turned their backs on her, and trudged away.

Kyra couldn't help but stifle the smile that grew on her lips. At the mere thought of it, she could summon a world of force power. She shook her head. What have I become? And what is my purpose?

She walked around the 'Guile, inspecting it to make sure the mindless beasts didn't damage it all. Evidently, their only concern was flesh as there wasn't even a scratch on it. She entered the ship and flew it back to Sentinel Fortress, landing in the exact same spot they had years ago. She grabbed a hammock, a bottle of wine, one glass, and walked out of the ship. She only wanted to go to one place.

Moments later she was resting in a hammock, high above the crashing waves of Tython's oceans, a glass of Alderaanian Red in her hand, and her cares were far away. She didn't realize how much she needed this. Time to herself. Time away from the war, and away from the order.

She missed him, though. She would always miss him. She wished he was here. But she poured herself another glass, the bottle nearly gone already. She had seen Holodramas where characters would drink away their pain or the fears or their sorrows. She thought she'd give it a try. And at the moment, she felt fantastic, finding everything totally fantastic. There was a kriffing war going on and here she was, on Tython, getting drunk in a hammock. My fellow Jedi are dying, clone troopers falling by the thousands and I'm here drinking wine, perfectly at my leisure. She laughed out loud, a big full-bodied laugh, that after a few seconds turned into body wrenching sobs. She turned to get off the hammock but found her balance had been compromised, so the unstable hanging bed flipped over, dumping Kyra onto the rocky ground, landing unceremoniously on her hands and knees. She stayed there, crying, tears falling onto the rocky ledge. What the hell was she doing? Once again, she was failing as a Jedi. She was the worst Jedi ever. Unbelievably powerful, but couldn't do anything right. She couldn't even keep Ahsoka in the order. And how many clones had died fighting alongside her? She was terrible. She should turn in her saber, and leave the order for good. I mean what kind of Jedi falls in love with her own master. She broke the code. She didn't belong here.

Then she heard the sound of an approaching ship. She couldn't see it just yet, but she recognized the sub-light drive sound, an ETA-2 Interceptor. Sure enough, a blue and silver starfighter came tearing through the air. It passed by at a high velocity, made a U-turn, slowed down, and then skimmed across the waves in front of her, the pilot tilting the ship so that the starboard wing dipped into the ocean, tracing a path through the water. Kyra knew it was Aedan. She could feel him. And she knew he could feel her presence as well.

The starfighter zipped over the temple, and then settled down inside the fortress. Kyra slowly got to her feet, her head still spinning. She wanted to go to him, wrap her arms around him, and cover him in kisses. Actually, she wanted to do more than that. A lot more. But she could hardly stand up straight, much less navigate a column of steep stone stairs. "No, I can do it," she said out loud, and prodded along the ledge, leaning far to her right, making sure she stayed away from the left side of the cliff. She put her hand on the wall, and decided to take a quick breather. She did not remember this ground being so uneven. She resumed her determined path to greet Aedan as he exited the starship, she was looking forward to the big hug she was about to give him. Just as she made it to the top of the stairs, Aedan was there, wrapping his arms around her.

"Oh," she gasped, her knees buckling in surprise. Luckily, his reflexes were not dulled, and he caught her in his strong arms. "How did you get here so fast?" She asked.

"Kyra, are you okay? What's wrong?" Aedan asked sharply.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chill, Master," she said as her head lolled backwards in his arms. "I'm doing great. Everything's great here. How are you?"

Aedan narrowed his eyes, and then brought his face closer to Kyra's. In response, Kyra pursed her lips, her hands going to his face. Aedan sniffed, drew back, and then surveyed the ledge. He saw the empty wine bottle and the glass next to the hammock, and knew exactly what had occurred.

"Really, a whole wine bottle?" He asked.

Her features slowly morphed into defensiveness, "What, you haven't dranken, er, drinked, uh...consumed a bottle of wine before?"

Aedan frowned.

Kyra did not like that frown so she reached upward with both finger tips and pushed the edges of Aedan's lips upward. Then she took both hands and rubbed them against his furrowed brow, trying to smooth out the tension. The task turned fascinating as his brow never stopped wrinkling, so she kept trying to smooth it out, a smile marked her face as she tried with her left hand, and then tried with the right, and then did this several more times.

"Kyra, why did you come here?" Aedan asked, concern plain in his voice, "Why did you run away?"

Now Kyra was the one to frown, as well as pout. "At least pretend like you're happy to see me?"

Aedan groaned, "This is serious. What's going on?"

"Yes, this," Kyra moved her hand back and forth between both of them in dramatic fashion, "Is serious." She then hiccoughed, and drooped her head down. "I've formed an attachment to someone. To a Jedi. To my master. I would rather my master be safe and happy then complete a mission. How can I be a Jedi?"

Aedan huffed. And Kyra mimicked the sound in hyperbolic fashion, flopping her arms to the sides. He placed one arm under her legs, and one arm under her upper back. "Wrap your arms around my neck," he said gruffly.

"Now we're getting somewhere," she murmured, and did as he asked. This brought her face right into his neck. She inhaled deeply. Pursed her lips and pressed them into his neck. He lifted her up off the ground, and slowly walked down the stairs. She held onto him tightly, continuously pressing her face into his skin. Halfway to the 'Guile she fell asleep.

Aedan was worried about her. Not necessarily about her being inebriated, although that was a slight problem, especially if she got sick before he could inject the proper medication into her. Thank Vokara Che for coming up with that serum a few years ago. He was worried about the fact that Kyra came here at all, and decided it was a good idea to drink an entire bottle of wine by herself. Running away, or running from her problems was not something Kyra did. Aedan blamed himself. This was his doing. He sneered at nobody, at everybody. This was his fault.

He boarded the 'Guile with Kyra in his arms, and immediately brought her into the small med bay in the back of the craft, and gave her the anti-intoxication injection. This would at least prevent her from having a hangover in the morning, but her throwing up was still a very real possibility. He stayed in the medbay with her, sprawled out on a seat next to the bed.

Aedan awoke the next morning and saw that Kyra was still fast asleep. She seemed to be fine, so he got up, walked into the galley, and made some caf. He brought one mug into Kyra, and set it down on the stand next to her bed. He knew this would wake her up shortly. Kyra still couldn't resist a good cup of caf. He sat down once more, and watched her sleep. What was he going to do with this one? He knew he'd crossed the line with their date night. What had he been thinking?

He knew what he'd been thinking. He wanted to do something special for the woman he loved. Aedan sighed, and took a sip of the strong caf. There was that word again. Love. What an abstract concept. An untenable idea. But what were concepts and ideas compared to truth. And the truth was there was nothing that mattered more to him than the woman sleeping in front of him. As a Jedi, a Master no less, that was a problem. The order should be the most important thing to him. His duty as a Jedi should take precedence. But it didn't. Wasn't he smarter than this? Didn't he pride himself on being wise? On thinking logically?

The thing that confused him the most was that anytime he meditated, anytime he reached out to the force for answers, it told urged him towards Kyra. Anytime he questioned it while meditating, the force would send the equivalent of a smile through the connection as an answer.

It felt as if the Force wanted him with her. Unless, his own infatuation and feelings were clouding his judgement, and he was fabricating the whole thing.

How could he possibly know?

"Master."

The voice startled him out of his reverie, and he looked and saw Kyra was blinking her eyes rapidly, trying to wake up. She yawned, and then glanced around the room. "Where are we? And why don't I feel absolutely terrible?"

"We're on the 'Guile," he answered, "And I gave you something for the sickness that I knew was coming."

"Thank you," she said.

"Kyra, are you okay? You had me really worried."

She looked down. "I'm sorry, Master. It just all became too much. Ahsoka being betrayed and abandoned, and then leaving without saying goodbye. The war. The death. The bombing. And then," she swallowed. "Everything with you."

Aedan nodded. "You know I'm going through the exact same dilemma, right?"

"Are you?"

Aedan grabbed the bridge of his nose, "Yes, how can you not see that? And we can figure this out together. It's better if we talk about it, and not go running off alone."

"I know, that was stupid," she admitted. "I guess I just needed some time to myself."

"And you thought that time should be spent getting drunk?"

Kyra bit her lip, and shrugged. "Not my finest moment."

Aedan chuckled. "What am I going to do with you?"

Kyra stiffened, eyes widening. Her face going completely serious. She opened her mouth to speak, and then clamped it shut. She blinked several times, and then let out a quick breath. "What now, Master?"

Aedan was still reeling from whatever it was the Kyra just went through. Force, if he could just read her thoughts. He just wanted to be with her. Spend time with her and see her happy. It seemed like she hadn't been happy since...

Don't even think about it, Aedan.

But it would mean the world to her.

You have a mission to complete.

A mission with a dead end at the moment.

It could pop up at any moment.

Right, and then we'll go after it.

But If the Order finds out

Aedan shook his head, and sighed. He knew he was only kidding himself. There was only one path to take. I can't believe I'm doing this. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Yes, Master," Kyra said, hanging her head, "I'll see you back at the temple."

"We're not going back to the temple."

Her head popped up, "We're not?"

"No," Aedan said, dragging his hands down the front of his face. "No, we have to make a quick stop at a vineyard. We're all out of wine since you drank the last bottle."

Kyra gasped, and shot out of the bed, colliding with Aedan, nearly slamming him into the bulkhead. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Yes, you take the 'Guile, and I'll take the Eta 2. I'll see you there."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said, still hugging him.

"You are going to get me in so much trouble."

"They won't find out."

"Force, I hope not," he said, "I'll see you on Chandrila."