Chapter 5: Coming to Terms

Jan slammed her hands on the console in front of her. "You're going to go in there and see her this time." They were making a supply run to the academy. They did this once a year if they were available. That way the old hauler who usually made the run could have a vacation. "It's not as if you're going to have to worry about Luke being here to ask you why you left again..."

"I'm not worried about that any more Jan. I just haven't dealt with other issues just yet."

"Give me a break Kyle. It's been five years since you put her off here. Purge that, you made me escort her and give Tionne your explanation. Every time since then that we've dropped supplies here, you never come off the ship. I have yet to see her come to meet us either."

"She is respecting my wishes."

Jan narrowed her eyes. "Fine then, if you wish to be left alone then you land this crate on your own." With that she left Kyle to brood alone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Avingale slowly descended the stairs on the outside of the Great Temple. She had been told that her and two others were to unload the shuttle. She had protested to Kam but he would have none of her defiance. She gave a brief smile to herself. He still thought her a child. If only he knew the true facts of her race or the fact that she knew more of certain past events than his wife did.

Her smile faltered. That was why many of the younger students shunned her. They sensed it. The older ones stayed from her by virtue of her seeming status as one of the younger. She let out a frustrated sigh. So she was in the same mess she had been in in previous lives, she had no friends.

A glint in the atmosphere caught her attention as she finished descending the stairs. The glare off the ship's sides let her know that this wasn't the Lightning Rod. It was also entirely too bright for it to be the 'Crow. Old Peckhum was on vacation and it looked as if Katarn and Ors were off on a mission.

On one hand she was relieved. She did not want to face him again before he was ready for it. Not that the incident at their fist meeting was her fault anyway. Her suspicion was that if they hadn't met at that time the situation would have been avoided and neither of them would have any memory of who they had been. The force had seen fit to render it otherwise.

The other half was saddened. Jan and herself had formed a tenative friendship on the rare occasions that the duo had made trips here. Avingale was glad for that. They had never had the time to previously and that caused much heartache for all parties involved. Not that they had been together long before it was time to find her own apprentice.

Lost in thought as she was, she did not sense the presence on the ship until it had come into a much clearer view. It was one she should have felt coming from the other side of the system. Him. It was him on the ship and she would be with him.

She stopped mid-stride, half way across the landing field. He was not ready to face her yet, but here the time came. Pushed on them. She nervously finished taking up posistion with the other two trainees that were assigned to duty this morning. They noticed her discomfort.

One had the decency to keep quiet. But the other, "What's to be nervous for? I mean we get shipments on a regular basis." "I would appreciate it if you would mind your own business. It is a long story that I haven't the time to relate right now." She replied coolly.

The others began to whisper and she counted to three. "Yes. I'm the one they warned you about," she started without taking her eyes off the ship, "the one who feels too old and looks too young. That knows much and shares little. Well I'm sharing now. You'd both do well to remember that things that are not wish to be over heard are better left unsaid...aloud."

The self-satisfied smirk was still on her face when Kyle caught sight of her. 'She's obviously very pleased about something. Though I hope it isn't about seeing me again because I have a few choice words...' His thoughts trailed to a halt when he saw the smile melt from her features. Then he felt that curious tingle and knew that they both knew what the other wanted to say.

"You know that this is very unnerving."

"Well it isn't exactly my fault that our training bond had been this deep in the first place." She shot back at him.

"This wouldn't be happening if..."

"Please just drop it. I was delirious at that point in time. If I had been in complete control we would only be having serious feelings of deja vu. But what is, is."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

He sensed her smile again. "Care to work that frustration off after dinner tonight?"

It was his turn to smile. That was all the assent she needed. She bowed her head in acknowledgement.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jan came into the cafeteria. She didn't hesitate a moment getting a tray and heading for the lone figure at a corner table. "Care for some company?" She asked as she sat.

Avingale looked up a little startled by someone coming over to eat with her, but she smiled when she saw who it was. "Sure you can, though I don't know why you want to eat here."

"It has to be better then the dry rations on the ship." She took a bite and grimaced. "On second thought..."

"I did warn you." Avingale stated pointing her spoon at Jan. She slurped a little of the soup. Then a wistful look crossed her features. "My Master used to be unequaled when it came to cooking. He could work wonders with a ships rations." She paused for but a moment as if contemplating her next words. "Has Captain Katarn made anything for you?"

Jan thought about it for a second. "Once after we dropped you off here. He didn't seem himself and he realized it after I complemented him on the excellence of the meal."

A throat was cleared behind Jan. Avingale looked up to see Kyle there. Apparently displeased with the fact that they were talking of him. "Speak of them and they appear."

"We have an appointment, do we not?" He spoke, rather unintentionally, in an ancient and formal verbal pattern. The kind that was reserved for unruly Padawans.

Avingale smiled. "Excuse me Dia, you're welcome to come watch." She wiped her mouth and got up from the table. Noting her former Master's glare at her choice of address for Jan. "Shall we? The sooner we start the less of a crowd we will attract."