A/N: Three years have passed, Callista is now 18. She has progressed in her training as a healer under Master Azad's guidance.

Her days over the years had been filled with many lessons, but Master Azad had spent a lot of time getting to know her new Padawan. She had become the mother Callista never had. She was a firm teacher, but she was also very gentle. When Callista made a mistake while practicing a technique, her master always showed her what she had done wrong, yet in a caring way. Part of her studies included working a rotation in the Temple infirmary. This generally meant healing minor wounds sustained during lightsaber training. Every now and then there were more serious incidents.

Callista sat in the common room of the quarters she now shared with Master Azad. Calming her mind, she sank into the Force. Her mind was filled with everything that she had learned today. Her Advanced Anatomy class had been studying the skeletal system, and different ways to tell if a bone was broken. She thought back over the day's lecture, which had been accompanied by sobering holos of cases.

"...A broken bone may not be as obvious as a bone poking through the skin." Jedi Knight Inari commented. "There are however, other ways to tell if a bone is broken. If the area is swollen or bruised badly, or if the person screams or cries when you touch the area, those are sure signs that there is a broken or fractured bone..."

Callista could remember the laughter of some of the other Apprentices as they looked at the holos, laughing at the misfortune of the injured. She remembered having been angry that they would laugh at such a situation. What would happen when they had to deal with such a situation? She stopped that line of thought before it went any farther. As she settled her thoughts once more, she felt a wrongness in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

Grabbing her lightsaber and her med kit, she raced out of her quarters, not even having enough time to comm her Master. She pelted down the hall, her lightsaber smacking her thigh as she ran. Skidding around the corner, and entering the room, she sped up as she caught sight of one of the Younglings as she fell out of one of the many trees. How they loved to climb, even though they knew the risk.

Lifting her arms, she tried to catch the child and cushion her with the Force, but she was still not close enough. She watched in horror as the small body fell and lay still. Reaching the child, Callista fell to her knees, immediately checking for a pulse. It was there, week and thready. The child did not have long. Scanning the child through the Force, Callista saw that her lungs had collapsed.

She could do nothing except to ease the child's pain. Carefully lifting her, she pulled the child into her lap. Her eyelids fluttered. "Healer Gseran," she whispered, "I knew it was you..." Her feeble voice trailed off, ending in a wracking cough as the child struggled to breathe. "Save your strength," Callista advised, "You'll be alright." Inside her mind was screaming, She is NOT fine! How can I lie to her?! She shook her head, banishing the thought and looked down just as the child took one last, shuddering breathe and lay still.

Gently lifting the still form, Callista turned and ran out of the room, and back towards the Medical Wing. She knew there was nothing to be done. She did not even notice how the hall cleared as she ran. The on-duty Healer pronounced the child dead-on-arrival.

Callista wandered the halls outside the Medical Wing lost in thought. She was certain that if she had arrived sooner, that she could have saved the child. She was so lost in thought that she did not see the Jedi Master and his Padawan coming around the corner. She ran smack into the younger man, falling in an undignified heap on the floor.

The Padawan helped her up as his Master looked at her with concern. "Are you alright, Healer?" Callista mutely shook her head as she leaned against the Padawan. He could see how distraught she was, so he directed his Padawan to one of the empty meditation rooms. "Ter-lon, in here." He entered after his student, closing the door behind him. Ter-lon guided the young woman to a seat, keeping a steadying hand on her elbow.

The Jedi Master, whose name Callista later found out to be Ainar Algeron, sat down across from her. "Would you like to talk about it?" he asked softly. At first, she shook her head, but sensing his concern, she nodded. Sniffling, she wiped at her eyes, trying to brush away the tears. Ter-lon offered her a handkerchief, which she accepted with a smile.

Haltingly, she described the events of the day, focusing primarily on what had happened only a few hours ago. She still cried as she described how the Youngling had died in her arms. Master Algeron nodded quietly. "You've never experienced death before, have you, Padawan….?" He left the question open, obviously wanting to know her name. "Callista Gseran, Master. And no, I have not…"

Steffan walked through the corridors from the sparring levels, looking for the Padawan. Master Faulkner had suggested to Steffan that he continue her teachings in the ways of the lightsaber.

"You cannot place the blame solely on yourself, Callista..."

He stopped where he was and listened to the conversation that was going on. After he heard it for a while, he understood the anguish that was coming from her. The young one that passed today. 'They told me about it when I arrived earlier. I'll let Ainar counsel her on this matter. We can reschedule the lesson.'

"Master Karrde?"

'Oh, well then', Steffan thought as he heard Ainar's voice and opened the doors to the meditation room. They were gathered in a small circle and Steffan noticed that Callista had been crying for a long time.

Callista started when she saw Master Karrde enter the room. She had completely forgotten about her lesson that afternoon... Looking between Master Karrde and Algeron, she thought a minute. "Master Algeron, May I be excused? I was scheduled for a lesson with Master Karrde." He paused. "Are you sure it's wise, after what happened today?" She thought a moment. "Yes, I think so. It will help me refocus as well."

Steffan nodded, remembering how focused she had been during their sparring session all those years ago.

Callista rose from her seat, quietly thanking Ter-lon. She bowed to Ainar. "Thank you, Master for your counsel. It is greatly appreciated. You have given me much to think on." She turned and left the room, following behind Steffan.

"Something new today, we're going to try," Steffan told her as they entered one of the rooms. Behind him he could hear Callista tossing her cloak aside and the snap-hiss of two lightsabers coming to life. He turned around and noticed the second lightsaber she had constructed.

"Confident enough to learn the two-saber form?" He asked as he looked over her stance.

"I am," she said back to him.

Steffan liked the tone, but he had something else in mind for this round. "Put them away," he told her as he turned and began to open a cabinet.

"We're not training with the lightsaber today?"

"We are practicing swordplay today," Steffan said as he removed two poles from the cabinet and tossed them to her. She caught them and started to test them. "I had these made back on Cataan," he said as he pulled two more out and pulled the hood of his robe over his head. "The weight and balance are just like that of a lightsaber."

"Aren't we worried about injury?" Callista asked as Steffan walked around behind her.

"Only very, very minor," Steffan said as he pulled out a blindfold and started to put it over Callista's eyes. "And only if you strike with exceptional force. We will be safe, child."

"And the blindfold?"

"Your lesson," Steffan said as he lowered the lights in the room. "Your opponent might employ any number of things that would distract you. Your eyes can deceive you in the middle of a fight if they do that. You must learn to open to the Force not just like you have been, but by concentrating your other senses."

"Okay," she said as she started to relax herself and resumed her fighting stance. Steffan nodded once and assumed a fighting stance of his own. "When you are ready." She moved as soon as Steffan finished saying the word, but he easily blocked with one of his weapons. Before he could counter with the other, though, she flipped out of his range but rebounded for another strike as soon as her feet touched the floor.

'Interesting,' Steffan thought to himself as they kept blocking and countering each other through the exercise. 'I've given her openings, but she's not taking them...not keeping me from taking obvious ones either.'

Callista stumbled slightly as yet another of Steffan's strikes got past her defense. 'What is wrong with me?,' she thought. Her concentration was usually much better than this... She stopped cold in the middle of the sparring match, trying to calm her mind. That was a mistake. She only partially succeeded. In a single moment of clarity, she sensed Steffan behind her, preparing to strike.

Whirling around to confront him, their weapons locked as each fought for the center. She disengaged, taking a sweep at his ankles. Over-extending her reach, she stumbled and landed hard on her knees. In the split second it took her to assess her location, he took the advantage.

Hearing a rustle as he moved toward her, she reached out with her weapon in a blind attempt. She found only air. Her confusion was soon replaced with surprise as she felt the cool wood of Steffan's weapon against her throat, and his voice soft in her ear.

"If this had been real, you would be dead by now. You need to remain focused and aware at all times."

She nodded as she felt him move away from her. Standing, she removed the blindfold. Her face burned with embarrassment at letting her focus slip so much. She bowed to him, and putting her weapons away, she departed.

"What do you think?" Ainar said as Steffan entered the room. "She has skill," Steffan said as he noticed Ainar looking over the review of the sparring match. "But I think her true skills will actually be with her studies as a healer."

"I believe your right," Ainar thought as he nodded softly at some of her moves during the bout. "And you suggest."

"She's learning a great deal from Manna," Steffan told him. "But I think her skill could be stronger still in that area. Perhaps, if you can arrange it, she could get introduced to Arie. Who knows, Arie may like sharing some of her knowledge with a student again." Ainar shook his head and placed the padd on the table. "You know how she's been acting...trying to remove the Jedi from her life."

Steffan nodded and picked up the padd Ainar had been reading, "I know that, but out of us all you're still her closest friend."

"That may be so, but she's somewhat distanced herself from the Force, I can't even sense her like I used to without trying." Steffan circled the table and handed Ainar the padd again, "Look at her grades from the medical sessions, the Temple hasn't seen this kind of healing potential in years, with the correct training...she can be just as good as Arie." Ainar took the padd from him again and read over it, "She's good, I'll give you that. But you really think we can wake the Phoenix in Arie? You think she'll like the idea to train again?"

"Oh, if I know you right old friend, you'll convince her like you usually sweet-talk the Senate" Steffan said grinning and patted him on the back. "Now let's get upstairs, I heard they were serving nerf-stew." Ainar smiled, he had asked the staff put that on the menu years ago when he was a padawan. "I second that."

"Still concerned over the spar?" Steffan asked as he sat down with Callista at the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

"I am," she admitted as her cheeks started burning again. "I am...ashamed of my performance. I could not focus that I thought I would. I believed that I would be able to shut aside my feelings of the death of that young man, but I was wrong." Steffan pondered this for a moment, and pulled a blindfold out of his tunic. "We will attempt something."

"Here?" Callista asked in surprise as she stood up with him.

"Yes," Steffan told her as started to put the blindfold over her eyes. When he finished, he stepped out in front of Callista and pulled a small piece of wood from his vest. "A simple exercise this time. In my hand, I hold a piece of wood. You will find it hard to hear where I move it with the sound of the fountains. But if you listen to my words and focus as I give you the instruction, you might achieve the goal of striking the wood. Keep your hands to your side. Are you ready?"

Callista nodded and Steffan kept his eyes on her and probed her in the Force to test how well she would focus as he instructed. "Focus the mind," He began to tell her. "Cleanse the soul...channel the powers...now, release that with is negative. Find and keep sight of your target." He could feel her intensity as she began to open herself up to the Force. "Keep repeating what I have said in your mind. Mind and body as one, the strength of your heart is also the heart of your power. If you follow it and believe in what you do to be right, then you will not fail."

He kept his eyes on her as he felt everything tighten inside of her, and waited for the right time before he felt her come to her peak in the Force. "Strike!"

In that moment, she moved faster than Steffan had seen her before in their training sessions together. Her hand had went to her lightsaber the instant that Steffan had given the command, and activated it while she swung it out towards her target. The blade snapped the wood just high enough for Steffan to feel the heat of the blade.

Callista returned her lightsaber to her belt seconds after Steffan's command and removed the blindfold to see where her stroke landed.

"Excellent work, Padawan," Steffan said with a smile as he handed her the remains of the wood. "What I have given you was the instruction that my father began giving me when I was but a boy, in the hills outside my home. I found myself able to focus more clearly on my goal, and I hope you will be able to make use of it."

She stood there, gazing down at the pieces of wood in her hands. The release she had felt in that moment was extraordinary. She had never experienced anything so powerful. She gazed up at him with a look of wonder. "Is it always like that?"

Steffan nodded softly as he looked at the amazement on her face. "That was only the beginning."

"Why did I not experience this before?"

Steffan considered that as he sat back down in front of one of the fountains. "I was once told that in order to truly experience the flow of the Force, you could only release yourself to it, complete surrender. You cannot force it through you. You learn this in meditation. But in combat, it is not so easily attained."

Callista looked at him askance. "And why is that?"

"In battle, there can be so much going on around you. If you try to focus too much, especially on one opponent, you will not sense another approaching." Steffan said as he looked at the fountain. "What you have to learn is what the Jedi, Corran Horn, thought of as a 'sphere of responsibility'. Pilots would call is situation awareness. Do you understand me so far?"

She nodded. "I practice it sometimes in my Healer training..."

"Exactly," Steffan said with a smile, coming to his next part of the subject. "That was part of the lesson that I wanted to present in the sparring room. You see, wanted to know if you could apply that in the spar. I realized that you hadn't considered that aspect of it. Because you were focused on me, what you didn't sense was that there was another swordsman in the room as we fought."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Wh…what?"

"If you could have attained the release and expansion of your senses, I have no doubts that not only could you have stood better against me, but possibly two fighters," Steffan said as he looked at her. "But what I realized is that Master Faulkner and I do not always teach on the same level. Your skills remind me of my daughter, Andrea's. But I have trained her differently than you have been. And for that, I do apologize."

She blanched at thought of what might have happened had that been a real fight... "So why the second swordsman, if he did not enter the fight?"

"He did," Steffan told her. "He and I traded off at different time during the fight. We both fought on a level where you could have possibly defeated us."

She looked down, lost in thought. "Is it possible for a rematch perhaps?"

"

It is," Steffan said with a smile. "However, as skilled as you are, I truly believe that your calling is the healing arts. Not all of us are warriors, Callista."

"But even healers must be able to fight..."

"Aye they must," Steffan told her. "You have to be prepared." He smiled as he looked back at the fountain. "But it is my true hope that the taste of battle is something that you don't have to experience."

"I should probably go find Master Azad, she's probably worried sick about me...Is there anything you would suggest for keeping my focus?"

"Always listen here...and here," he told her, pointing to her head and her heart. "That is where your soul and the Force commands. And that is all the Force asks of you. Follow them, and believe what you feel to be the right thing."

She smiled briefly as she nodded. "With your permission, Master Karrde, I think I will go to bed early. It's been a long day. Could we schedule the rematch for two days from now?"

"Whenever you feel you are ready," Steffan said as he bowed. "And if you will excuse me, I too much leave for a meeting of the High Council."

She bowed in return. "Fair evening, Master." She paused. Steffan started on his way, and then turned to look at her. "I'm sensing something else you have on your mind."

"Would it be advisable for me to practice the two saber form?"

"Usually, one would master combat with just one lightsaber," he told her. "Only the more advanced swordsmen would make a choice to wield two lightsabers. Not many move to the point of control of the Force to wield the lightstaff. That is why you have probably never seen one in use."

"Usually?"

"I'm quoting what I know of the Old Order," Steffan said as he turned and walked back to her. "Records are sketchy at best of that time of individuals who wielded two sabers. What is known is that not many felt the need to, though they possessed the skill to do so. I, myself, have wielded two in battle before. But I choose to use my own." He pulled it from his belt to show to her the detail.

She took it carefully, admiring the craftsmanship. She saw alien script inscribed around the hilt. "Cataani script?" she asked.

"Ancient language of my people. Still spoken mostly for histories," he said as he traced the words, saying them in his own tongue then translated for her. "'Forged in light to vanquish the dark.'" He sat down and let her continue to look at it. "On the mantle in my home rests my father's sword, handed down my line since it was first forged. It has the same saying."

"It's beautiful…" She handed back the saber and bowed once more. "My apologies for keeping you from your meeting, Master…"

He nodded softly. "My father believed that even though there is peace, a warrior should already be ready. An old Cataani proverb: 'To my friends, I wish nothing but absolute happiness. To my enemies who wish for my blood, I will send you to whatever god you wish'" He stood, clipped the weapon back to his belt and bowed. "No apologies necessary. I always enjoy teaching history."

Smiling, she departed, and returned to her quarters.