The next few moments were a blur. An incredibly vivid blur. The Jedi unlocked their blades. Aly fought panic and swung her lightsaber at the Zabrak. But he had already sidestepped to the left, attacking Ocoidum first as the greater threat. In a terrifying moment she saw the Sith swing his 'saber at her master in a deadly swipe, knocking her off balance and then kicking her in the stomach with such force that she was flung several feet off the roof, dooming her to a several-hundred feet plunge to the ground.

It couldn't have taken more then a couple of seconds, but, Aly saw it in slow motion. She was paralyzed with shock and fear. The Sith, however, was not thinking in slowed time and Aly barely had time to duck the crimson blade that was hurled at her head. She was still in shock and her concentration was weak, so the erratic movement caused her to waver in her balance and drop to the surface below her feat. Her lightsaber slipped out of her grip and crashed on the balcony below with a metallic clatter. Aly allowed herself to fall and then, without thinking, steadied herself with her now free hand and swung her legs in a Ground Round Kick, swiping the Sith's legs from underneath him. Before she slid down the roof the padawan had a chance to Force shove the Sith before he was able to regain his footing.

Aly fell to the balcony, using the Force to cushion her fall, and watched as the Sith grabbed a momentary hold of the railing and then fell the rest of the way to the ground. Aly scampered to her feet and darted to the railing, only to see the Dark Lord land roughly, but safely, not too far from the form of her master who seemed to be struggling fruitlessly to move off the ground.

Hesitantly, Aly opened the bond and reached out to Ocoidum. Pain filtered through the older Jedi's tight shields. There was another emotion there, one that Ally had never felt from her master: fear.

A paralyzing feeling of dread spread over her as she watched helplessly the Sith start to stock toward Ocoidum. The red blade flashed, followed by a muffled yelp of pain, and Aly felt the bond snap and break, causing her head to spin crazily as nausea inched its way up to her throat until she could taste bile in the back of her mouth.

As the Sith lifted his ugly head to peer at her with his haunting yellow eyes, Aly's Jedi training was fighting a desperate battle against her personal feelings. Aly Baveric, Jedi Knight in training, knew that she had to run. Grab the child that was no doubt still huddled up in the dark corner where they had left her, and hide. Hide until she could figure out an escape rout and then get away from this dreadful place. This cursed planet. But Aly Baveric, padawan and friend to Oke Ocoidum, wanted nothing more then to get down to the ground and avenge her master's death. She would fight him until one of them was killed. All of her instincts screamed at her, pulling her right and left until she could do nothing but stare at the Sith. Surely he would come after him now. However, he never did.

Aly could have sworn then, or maybe it was just delirium from her emotional overload, that the Sith's voice said in her head, You win this time, Jedi. But soon enough we will return to take what is ours. There will be another.

Another what, Aly didn't know. At the moment, though, she didn't care. For a moment all that mattered was that the Sith strolled over to an area thickly covered with underbrush, protracted a slick, black speeder bike, and zoomed off in an unidentified direction.

The world came back into focus slowly, as Aly's vision still swam from the impact that the snapping of the bond had caused. The padawan reached for the familiar comfort of the training bond. A training bond that was no longer there.

Aly sank against the cold wall of the tower, guilt, grief, shock, and tiredness crashing into her body like a merciless title wave. She drew her knees in, hugging them tightly, and dropped her head into her arms as ragged sobs wrecked her body.

It was a hellish nightmare, simply not possible. Her master couldn't be dead. She simply couldn't. It was impossible! She shut her eyes tightly and bit into her lip until it bled. The adrenaline of the fight was gone and she didn't have any strength to gather herself together.

There is no death there is the Force.

That all too familiar line of the Jedi Code did nothing to sooth her. If only she hadn't tried to take that opening and let her master handle the situation. If only her foolish pride hadn't gotten in the way. Now she knew why her master liked Jan Lin better then her. Why she was prouder of Jan. Jan was the kind of padawan and Jedi knight that her master wanted. Aly had often wondered why in the Force had her master chosen her, especially after such a padawan as Jan. She was obviously not good enough. Not worthy of being Ocoidum's padawan. And tonight her actions had spoken for themselves. She had failed. As a padawan, as a Jedi, and as a friend.

Aly wasn't sure how long she had stayed there. Time ceased to exist. What brought her back to the galaxy was a low shuffling sound from the entrance to the balcony which drew steadily closer. She looked up sharply only to find a girl no older then five staring at her with great green eyes.

"Where's 'd bad man?" the child questioned timidly, stuttering slightly.

"He's g-gone," Aly replied, sniffling.

"Gone?" the girl asked hopefully.

Aly nodded and stood, ignoring the dizziness she was subjected to due to the sudden change of altitude.

"You gonna leave me here?" Aly could feel the panic rising in the girl. She also felt the way the Force surged around her. The Force was strong with this one. She would try to get permission from the Council to let the girl train with the Jedi. If for no other reason then for the simple fact that if the Sith wanted her then she would be better kept away from them. "No," Aly replied softly. "I'm going to get you off this hell of a planet. What's your name?"

"Bay'me'wi."

X3 X3 X3

Aly tore her gaze away from the pyramid which stood in the transparensteel case as though it had never been touched, awaiting its time to release its awesome darkness, and looked over at her padawan who was studying an intricate engraving in one of the walls of the tower chamber. "Bay'?" Aly called gently.

Bay'me'wi looked up slightly surprised. Her master never called her by her nickname. "My padawan" was the established endearing term between them. "Yes, Master?"

'Do…Do you remember this place?"

The girl's eyes darkened and she looked away briefly. Then she nodded. "It's the darkness of this place. I don't remember much detail."

Aly almost laughed. She remembered every detail of that night, though she desperately wished that that part of her life could be erased from her memory.

Bay' chewed lightly on her bottom lip before asking cautiously, "this is where your master died isn't it?"

Aly nodded. "I was the Jedi padawan who brought you to the temple." The knight protracted a Force dampening cube capsule from the folds of her cloak and activating her lightsaber destroyed the transparensteel lid with one clean stroke. Using the Force she lifted the pyramid from where it stood and guided it into the capsule. The lid closed over it with a soft hiss snap.

Bay', who had been watching attentively, spoke then. "Do you miss her?"

"Every day," came the simple reply.

Bay' walked over to Aly's side in an attempt to comfort her. "There is no death, there is the Force."

"You are right, Padawan." Aly looked down at the girl at her side and a realization hit her.

After she had come back from that fateful mission Aly had considered leaving the Order, yet, once the first bouts of grief and shame had been washed away by time and support from her new master who guided her through her last four years of training, she had decided to condemn herself to a less cruel punishment: she would never take a padawan. That way she would never fail anyone who trusted her wholeheartedly again.

And yet...when the time came she had been drawn to the young girl whom she had brought to the temple all those years ago.

"Come, my padawan. Let's get ourselves out of here."

"Yes, Master."

Maybe, just maybe, the Force was giving her a second chance to do things right.