Lost Jedi:
The Aftermath of Tenstarri

Disclamer: I do not own Star Wars, and the very idea makes me cry. I do own Tason and Jace, though, so that makes it a little better. A continuing thanks goes out to Brittany for editing (although I don't think she ever got the chance to edit this one, I did it on my own, so forgive me for any errors) and to Dan for being constant inspiration.

Chapter Three

The Unwelcome Visitor

Tason sat cross-legged on the cold floor of her apartment. Her outfit for the club was replaced with oversized grey pants and a pale yellow shirt. Her sleeves were pulled up, and she was doing the best thing to take her mind off of anything: tinkering.

In front of her was a jagged mass of silvery metal. Bolts and wires lay scattered around the area. A small, but important looking box sat on the stout table next to her.

Tason laid down her tool and sighed. Her progress on the contraption was moving slower than she had expected. After staring at the metal heap for a long while, she started to put away her tools. She was about put the metal apparatus away, when a noise she rarely heard rang through the room.

It was the entrance buzzer, or as her neighbors sometimes called it, the doorbell.

Tason hesitated, and stared at her door. The buzzer sounded again. Her blank stare turned into a scowl.

"Hold your eopies," she growled. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Tason reached the door, and opened it a few inches. She glanced through the space. A pair of deep brown eyes stared back at her.

"Hello," Jace said cheerfully. Tason slammed the door shut.

"Tason! Please open the door," Jace shouted, his voice muffled. The girl ignored him, and began sliding her jumbled mass of metal across the floor. It clattered noisily, droning out Jace's demands. However, through the noise, she heard one sentence clearly: "I know who you are."

Tason stopped pulling the contraption and listened. Jace was silent, so she walked over to the door. She didn't open it, but just leaned against it.

"What do you mean 'I know who you are'?" she asked warily.

"I know your name is Tason Ninde," he began. On the other side of the door, Tason closed her eyes and braced herself. Jace continued.

"I know your seventeen years old. I know everyone thinks you're dead. I know you are familiar with a certain Boro Soxan who was killed four years ago. And I know you are a Jedi."

Tason wrenched the door open. Jace, startled, looked down at her. A piece of hair, exactly where her Padawan braid had been, fell onto her face. Her eyes, to either side, were icy.

"Not anymore," Tason snarled slowly. She stared viciously at the Jedi for a long time. Then, much to his surprise, she stepped back and motioned for him to come inside. Jace pulled his robes closer together and stepped lightly over the threshold.

"Have a seat," Tason said, although the invitation was not at all welcome-sounding. Jace shook his head.

"I'll only intrude a while longer," he insisted politely. Tason stepped into her living area, muttering something that sounded liked "you bet you will" under her breath. She sat down on her sofa roughly, and then stared at him intently.

"Well?" she asked after a few moments. "What do you want?"

"I want to know your story," Jace replied simply. To his displeasure, Tason gave a loud and hearty laugh.

"You're going to have to work a little bit harder for that one," she said, grinning. Jace stared at her indifferently, and then shook his head slowly. At the end of one sway, his eyes caught sight of the jagged metal Tason had dragged to the other side of the table.

"What's that?" he asked with strange interest. Tason moved in his line of sight and nudged the silver mechanism under the table with her toe.

"None of your business," she snarled sharply. She scowled at him for a long moment, and gave a sort of snort and nodded towards the door. "I think you're interrogation is over..." Her voice faded out. She tilted her head and gave Jace the strange stare she had given him numerous times already in their short acquaintanceship.

"Latimer," the Jedi answered. "Jace Latimer. And I don't think I'm through here." Tason smirked. Unbeknownst to Jace, she cautiously reached out, feeling for his thoughts. However, he was staying as clear headed and closed off as she was. She figured he knew and pulled back.

"Then do tell me what you feel you need to accomplish," she said, her tone becoming more agitated, forged and proper by the second, "and I will try my hardest to help you." She gave a fake smile and watched for a sign of frustration from the man. He remained emotionless as he replied, and Tason was disappointed.

"I need to know where you've been, how you've been hiding," He hesitated, then completed his thought, "and if I can trust you."

"You obviously feel you can trust me or you wouldn't have come here," Tason retaliated.

"I came here because everyone in the world, except you and me thinks, that you are dead, Tason!" Jace said loudly. "I came here because you are a Jedi, and you belong back with the Jedi Order."

"Don't you dare tell me where I belong," Tason barked, her eyes wild and icy. She stepped up to Jace, the top of her head only coming to his chin. She looked up dangerously into his eyes. The pair stared at each other, one tolerant but perturbed and the other plainly infuriated.

"You've overstayed your welcome," Tason finally snarled softly. Jace nodded.

"I will be going to the Council," he informed her, "and explain the situation to them." He made his way towards the door.

"Fine! Go tell the Council!" Tason threatened. "I've hidden under their noses long enough to know that there's entirely nothing they can do!" Jace gave her one final glance, the exited the apartment.

Tason slumped onto her sofa, feeling the rage slowly trickle away from her. She put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes miserably. She knew that was far from the last time she would see that Jedi.

Even though it was just edging into the afternoon, Tason felt a horrible weariness waft over her. It was beginning to sink in how comfortably she had spoken about the order and the past she had sworn to forget. How there had been something in Jace's final glace that made her stomach writhe. How she knew that her life, her real life, had come back to her head on, and she just wasn't prepared for it.