Well, I am on the last day of my vacation, and I thought I might post Chapter 5 while I'm thinking about it. I am glad this hotel has Internet access.

I'm thinking about changing some of the chapters that I have posted now. I'm beginning to think that there is something lacking in my writing. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it is nagging at me. If anyone has any ideas, please post a review or e-mail me. Thanks!

I saw Revenge of the Sith today! If any of you have the chance to see it, see it. I thought it was very well done.

shanesnest: Wow.Very intuitive. You're right on all counts. Oh, and I wanted to say, thank you very much for your reviews. I look forward to reading them.

O Polemarch: But the frying pan was more fun!

Jack Milo: I can see why you would say that I have Rosh's personality wrong. But there's a couple of reasons why I portray Rosh the way I do. First, it is almost certain that the incident with Tavion and Ragnos would have had an effect on him. Whether the change is for the better or for worse is up to the author, I suppose. Second, do you want to see the same interpretation of the characters for every story? The Jedi Knight category would get boring really fast if that were the case.

Coruscant – Jaden's apartment

Kyle and Rosh were speechless, to say the least. Kyle's eyes were closed as he digested this new information.

"Wow," Rosh said finally. "That's quite a story."

Jaden smiled weakly. "Well, so now you know how weak I am."

Kyle's eyes snapped open. "You're hardly weak, Jaden. Very few people could have resisted the temptation to use the Holocron. Even a Jedi Master would've had a difficult time—"

Jaden stood and paced the floor. She waved her hands about helplessly. "But…I could've done something other than running."

Kyle frowned. "What could you have done?"

"I could've destroyed it!"

"Would you have?" His words stopped Jaden cold in her tracks. "Seriously, think about it. Would the Holocron have let you destroy itself?"

Jaden wrestled with the idea for a few moments, then shook her head. "No."

"You couldn't destroy it. You certainly couldn't take it back to the Academy, like you were ordered to do. So the only option was to run."

Jaden began pacing again. "Maybe I got away, but I can still sense it." She shivered and rubbed her arms. "I have this temptation to go back and take it for myself." She pressed her fingers against her temples. "I can't stop thinking about it."

Kyle stood up. "Well, you're not alone now. Rosh and I will help you." Rosh rose also.

Jaden glanced at Kyle. "You and Rosh aren't immune to the Holocron, either."

"There's strength in numbers," Rosh said. "We can keep each other accountable."

"All the accountability in the galaxy won't help us if one of us falls!" Jaden snapped.

Kyle tried to calm her down. He quoted, "'There is no emotion…'"

Jaden took a deep, slow breath. "…'There is peace.'" She stayed quiet for the next few minutes, wrestling with her feelings.

Kyle walked over and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Fear is going to work against us here, Jaden. If you let it paralyze you…you're already lost."

"Yeah, and it's not guaranteed that you're going to fall, Jaden," Rosh added. "Anything can still happen."

Jaden nodded slowly and exhaled. "Okay. Let's go find the artifact."

Rosh shuffled his feet. "Um..." Kyle and Jaden turned to look at him. "Would it be unreasonable for us to get something to eat first? 'Cause I'm kinda hungry."

Jaden shook her head. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"Actually, he has," Kyle put in. "He's improved a lot."

Rosh grinned cheekily. "More handsome, more charming..."

Jaden scowled and poked Rosh's stomach. "More hungry."

He shrugged. "Well, what can I say?"

"Nothing." Jaden turned Rosh around so that he was facing the door. "Just walk out the door."

When they were outside, Kyle turned to Jaden. "You never said whether you were hungry or not. You are okay with eating now, right?"

Jaden shrugged. "I am hungry. Yeah, let's eat."

Kyle pointed to the apartment. "Do you have any food in there?"

"If I did have food in there, we wouldn't be out here. We would be in there, eating it."

Rosh looked baffled. "No food?"

"Don't worry. I know a couple of good restaurants in the area."

Jaden led the way to a turbolift. As they walked, Jaden whispered to Kyle, "Are you sure he's changed?"

Kyle nodded. "Don't worry. You'll notice the difference soon enough. He's serious when we're on a mission, but in between missions or when we're alone, he tends to regress back towards his older self."

They reached the turbolift, and Rosh entered first.

"Good," Jaden mumbled before entering the lift car. "I don't need a happy-go-lucky Rosh right now."

They took the turbolift several levels up to the upper city. From there, they only needed to cross a walkway to the next building to find the restaurant.

"'Duros' Delight?'" Rosh read from the sign. "Are you serious?"

"Do not judge a restaurant by its name," Jaden replied. "They have the best food in this district."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Humans can't eat Duros food, Jaden."

"Trust me on that. I speak from personal experience," Rosh muttered.

"They don't cook just Duros food. They have food for us humans, too. And it's good." Rosh still looked suspicious. "Look, Rosh, I've been here several times."

"What if they changed management while you were at the Academy?"

Jaden rolled her eyes. "And I thought I was paranoid. Seriously, the place doesn't look any different. And I recognize the serving droid. It's the same one from when I came here before."

"But what about—"

Kyle put a stop to the banter with a simple, "Good. Let's go."

Surprisingly, the food was simple, yet tasty.

"Jaden, you're a genius," Rosh said in between bites of his mynock sandwich.

"One hour after I try to bash your head in with a frying pan, you say I'm a genius?"

Rosh reconsidered his statement. "Well, notice that I didn't say that you were a genius all the time."

"Duly noted," Jaden said dryly.

"Now you two kids be nice to each other," Kyle said with mock sternness.

Rosh set his sandwich down carefully. Jaden eyed him warily. Rosh folded his hands on the table and looked back at Jaden. "Now, there must be something nice that I can say about you." Jaden threw a wadded-up napkin at him. Rosh caught it before it flew past him.

"Tsk, tsk. Throwing things at the table."

"So, Jaden," Kyle interrupted. "How did you know this restaurant was here? Did you and your family live around here or something?"

Jaden stiffened. Her mental shields went up, and Kyle and Rosh were suddenly unable to sense any of her feelings.

"Did we trigger a bad memory?" Kyle asked gently. Jaden nodded. "Care to talk about it?"

"I would, actually. I've known you guys for a long time, and I doubt you will take lightly what I'm about to tell you."