Disclaimer: I really, truly, utterly do not own Star Wars. George Lucas does and I, personally, can't believe he'd treat his own property so badly that I had to write this fic!

A/N: For those of you waiting to characters like Tenel Ka, Sannah and Zekk to show up: it won't be long now! I promise!

Chapter II: Regression

"Tionne?"

The pearly-haired humanoid whirled at the young feminine voice behind her. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place who it belong to. "Yes – Tahiri! I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Tionne! Haven't I been here long enough yet for you to know my voice?" Tahiri laughed, but Tionne was studying her. The musician caught every nuance and change in all vocalizations, and something about Tahiri wasn't right. Her voice was slightly out of synch with her normal pattern. And the faint accent that betrayed her homeworld, which had vanished over the years was back. She was also dressed in her old Academy uniform, a bright orange jumpsuit, which she had stopped wearing three years ago after moving up out of that level. "I was just looking for you to ask you when Anakin was coming back from his trip to see his parents on Coruscant."

Tionne froze. Coming back from . . . in addition to the fact that Anakin's dead, Coruscant has been taken over by the Yuuzhan Vong! "Um, there isn't really a – a set time."

Tahiri's face fell. "Oh, well. Oh, and I was looking for Master Ikrit all over the Great Temple this morning – did he go into the jungle to meditate? I know he does that sometimes, and then I went looking for Anakin to see if he could find Ikrit, but then I remembered Anakin was gone, so I went looking for you."

The musician thought carefully about her answer. "I – I believe Master Ikrit is on a mission, searching for several artifacts Master Skywalker wanted him to find."

"And he left without saying goodbye? That's not like him," Tahiri cocked her head. "I mean, Ikrit's usually so responsible and always makes sure Anakin's okay before he leaves – oh, that's it. Anakin isn't here, so Ikrit must have left right away when Master Skywalker asked him to. That's what I would do, anyway, if Master Skywalker asked me. Did Ikrit take the Sunrider or the Lore Seeker? Or that one ship Jaina was thinking of altering so it fit him?"

"He – he took the Sunrider, I believe."

"Thanks, Tionne!" Tahiri called over her shoulder as she raced away, blond hair flying.

*

"KAM!!"

The other Jedi whirled around as his wife threw the door to their quarters open and shut it quickly behind her. "Tionne, what happened? Is something wrong?"

"Tahiri. She's completely forgotten Anakin's death, Ikrit's death, and the loss of Yavin 4. I think she's blocked out everything concerning the Yuuzhan Vong – she thought Anakin was on a visit with his parents on Coruscant, and she was wearing that bright orange jumpsuit some of the younger classes wear. She hardly fit into it, but that didn't seem to stop her."

Kam stared at the other Jedi in astonishment. "I knew . . . I mean, I knew we were going to have trouble with Tahiri, but I never expected this! How far back has she regressed?"

"At least three years, if not more. We're going to have to warn the other students to watch out for her. Do we want to try to snap her out of this or – ?"

"I think we may have to play along to keep her mind intact."

Tionne sighed. "I was thinking much the same thing myself. If Anakin's death has thrown her off this badly what would happen if we told her, all over again, that he was dead?"

Kam linked his fingers with Tionne's. "We'll just go slowly. Don't aim for a quick snap out – just try to update her slowly, year by year. And if she thinks it's different years, she won't question why Anakin's been gone so long. We'll eventually reach the Yuuzhan Vong, and then . . ."

"Then Anakin rescues her when everyone else gave up on her, and she sticks to him like a burr again, and then we have to tell her he's dead. Have her live through that hell again," Tionne finished. "She's so young, Kam. Anakin was her oldest friend, her only anchor in this maelstrom, and they were in love," when her husband shot her a surprised look, Tionne just laughed. "Kam, do you really think I could have missed something that obvious in two of my oldest students? I've known Tahiri as long as she's been at the Academy. They would have been fine, Kam – but now he's dead and Tahiri might as well be."