Last time: Oppie talked with Kitsu about all that has changed, and he finally reconnected with Kyr.

Now: Is everything truly back to normal?

Chapter 7- Back to Normal?

After Oppie had told her that Kyr had woken up, Sasha made it a point to go and check on his progress. Standing by his bedside, she scrolled through a datapad as she looked over the readings on the monitors beside the bed. He was improving nicely and was showing no signs of difficulty which was really good. Sasha still couldn't believe that she had successfully brought him back to life. She had tried to see if she could bring the power back, but it gave no result. She also remembered how tired she was after using it. She had been exhausted already from folding space, but saving Kyr's life had taken the remainder of her energy. And then she went on without sleep trying to keep him alive and heal Oppie. She admitted that she may have gone too far, but in the end, they were alive and alright. So it was worth it.

The monitors beeped as Sasha tapped away on the datapad. She then heard a soft moan. Glancing down, Sasha noticed Kyr was coming too. Sasha lowered the datapad and smiled down at the waking Mandalorian.

"Easy," Sasha ushered as she checked one of the monitors while he opened his eyes.

"Sash'ika?" He asked, blinking. He grimaced. "I bet you're a strict doc." He said with a pained sigh.

Sasha chuckled. "No, don't worry. How are you feeling?"

"Ever fought a mudhorn?" Kyr asked back, tiredly.

"I'm afraid I have not," Sasha replied. "I assume they are not the easiest to deal with?"

"I've never fought one either, but I feel like one rammed me. A few times." Kyr said.

Sasha frowned at that. "Your injuries were quite serious. Even though you are recovering, you are still in no condition to go anywhere just yet. But please let me know if the pain gets worse."

"Well that's good, I didn't feel like going anywhere anyway." He chuckled at his joke, and then grimaced in pain. "The pain just got worse." He added.

Sasha felt her brow crease as she set the datapad aside and grabbed a scanner. She carefully ran it over his body.

"It doesn't appear that you have opened any of the wounds," Sasha explained. "But I suggest you take it easy. I will give you some medicine for the pain."

"'Was a joke doc," he said. "Glad my funny bone and humerus are still intact." He chuckled, again, and then grimaced, again. "I see you inherited Op's sense of humor."

Sasha glared at him as she set the scanner aside. "I'd smack you if you weren't already so injured. But I am glad to see you feeling well enough to joke." She then frowned. "You had us all worried."

"Yeah, I had me worried, too." He replied.

As if on cue, the doors to the medbay opened to reveal the rest of the party. Oppie, Viran, Kitsu, and Illara all strolled over to Kyr's bed.

"Look who's up," Viran said with a smirk as he rounded the bed and sat down on the stool beside Sasha and Kyr.

Oppie hung back a bit since he had already gotten to speak to Kyr, as Kitsu pushed forward to grab his hand. "Good to see you awake vod." She said with a smile.

"You too. Thanks for the save." He said looking at Kitsu and Illara, having vague memories of her form rocketing down to the rock shelf and beating off the last of the stormtroopers before they apparently escaped.

"Yeah. You need to thank Sasha though." Kitsu replied, glancing at the younger woman. "She pulled your shebs back from the brink."

Sasha blushed slightly at that as she rubbed absentmindedly at her now healed shoulder. "It was nothing. I just did what I had to. We couldn't lose you after we just got Oppie back. So… yeah."

"Well thanks doc." Kyr said, "I'd have missed my shebs."

That earned a chuckle from Sasha. "No, thanks needed. We are just glad you are alive and well."

"You're just lucky you had jetii magic there to heal you vod." Kitsu added. "You lived up to your callsign for a minute or two there."

Kyr gave her a strange look at that. "Really?"

"Yeah." Kitsu said, quite seriously.

Kyr looked back at Sasha and regarded her with more respect. "Thank you." He said a little less flippantly.

Sasha gave him a small, reassuring smile. "Of course. Like I said before, it was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing, Sash," Viran pointed out. "I had only ever seen one other person do what you did and that was… that was Dracul. Of course what you did was different, but still. Sasha…" He paused. "Where did you learn that red lightning ability? Cause after you used it, you brought Kyr back. It was incredible and… terrifying."

Sasha was at a loss for words at that moment. She slowly moved away from the bed and turned to face the monitors, not wanting to meet anyone's gaze.

"Wait, she brought me back from the dead like those… undead you told me about?" Kyr asked, breaking the silence.

"Not… not exactly," Sasha mumbled. "Dracul's power allows him to bring back the dead, but they are not exactly… alive. That red lightning he attacked Oppie with on Chikara… he was trying to kill you then, Op." She glanced over toward Oppie before turning her gaze away. "If he succeeded you would have died and then he would have brought you back as one of his undead soldiers. But that heart piece you were wearing saved you. I only know this, because Viran and I have seen what he can do first hand." She gulped as the memory plagued her mind. "However, when we went back to search for clues as to what happened to Oppie, I found the broken holocron. The lightning was just… existing in it. I touched the holocron remains and it zapped me. At first I thought nothing of it, but when Kyr was lying dead and I failed at trying to bring him back with basic chest compressions. It just came to me. I focused on the power and the next thing I knew… Kyr was breathing again. I haven't been able to summon the power since." She then went silent, still not looking at anyone.

Oppie stepped forward. "Sasha, that's-"

"So awesome!" Kyr exclaimed, then grimaced in pain from the exclamation.

Sasha and Oppie both looked at Kyr, surprised by his response. Viran didn't know what to say to that. He just looked at Sasha with a worried yet impressed expression.

"That's pretty extraordinary." Op said, finishing. "I guess it is nice to know that that power can be used for good."

Sasha then looked to Oppie with the same expression. She was almost expecting to be reprimanded for using such a power. But his reaction left her speechless.

"Yeah, if we can travel around with some jetii that can bring me back from the dead, sign me up." Illara said, elbowing Kitsu.

"But like I said, I tried to see if I could summon it again and it didn't work," Sasha reminded them. "It also drained me of so much energy to do it. I'm actually surprised I went on for as long as I did after without collapsing."

"Believe me, all of us were surprised too." Kitsu said with a chuckle.

Kyr had lain back drowsily, trying to stay awake but failing to do so.

"You guys mind if we visit with Kyr for a few?" Kitsu asked as she regarded the younger Mandalorian.

Sasha nodded. "Just make sure he gets rest." She said as she turned her attention to her patient for a moment. Oppie regarded his brother for a second before leaving to follow.

With that, Sasha headed toward the exit of the medbay, knowing fully well that Viran and Oppie were right behind her. Once in the corridor, the door slid shut and Sasha slowly turned toward Viran and Oppie. She folded her arms across her midsection as she regarded them.

"How are you two okay with what I did?" She asked, her voice serious.

"Sasha, you saved Kyr's life," Viran said, a little thrown off by her statement. "Doesn't matter if you used that power or not, you were a hero out there."

"But that… it was an ability that was used by a Sith," Sasha said, uneasy.

"Sash, we use the same powers as the Sith every day, they were Force pushing us around just like we were in those fights." Oppie said, "It doesn't matter what powers you use, it's how you use them." He stepped forward and put an arm on her shoulder that had not been injured, even though the other was healed. "You didn't use that power to resurrect someone against their will to use as your slave, you brought someone back to save their life. That is not evil, that is the light if ever there was some." He looked her seriously in the eyes, "beware the darkside, always. And ask the question of if you're doing the right thing whenever you use your gifts. But If there was ever someone I would trust to make that call correctly, it would be you."

Sasha stared at Oppie before glancing at Viran.

"He's not wrong, Sash," Viran said as he too stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

Nodding slowly, Sasha turned her gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back at them.

"Thanks," Sasha said as she dropped her arms from her waist. "That had been bothering me since I did it, even though it did bring Kyr back." She then smiled softly. "I don't know what I'd do without you two here to guide me."

"Probably own and operate the best cantina in the Outer Rim with far less excitement in your life." Oppe replied with a smile.

Sasha and Viran laughed at that.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Viran agreed with Oppie's comment.

"Thanks guys," Sasha beamed.

Viran sat with Sasha and Oppie at the huge dining room table. They had decided to grab a small bite to eat and just enjoy each other's company for a bit while Kitsu and Illara were still busy visiting with Kyr. It was so nice to have these moments of peace where they could relax together and enjoy a simple meal as well as stories. It reminded Viran so much of the good old days before they had to escape Vestora and many of the systems that came before it.

"You know, it's strange," Viran voiced after a moment.

"What is?" Sasha asked as she poked at her food with her fork.

"It feels like yesterday we were enjoying a peaceful meal on Vestora together," Viran reminisced. "Crazy to think how much has changed since the last time we did that… did this." He gestured to them at the table.

"When was the last time we were together like this?" Oppie asked, wondering. "The ribs? Two or three days before…" He trailed off, not sure how to refer to what had happened. "Before that Jedi showed up?"

"I think so," Sasha wondered the same. "I actually think it was the night before, but it's all kind of a blur. So much happened after that so quickly."

Viran nodded in agreement as he took a bite of his meal.

"So what was the most fun you had with the temples?" Oppie asked, curious, "I know a lot of them were hard, but which was your favorite?"

Sasha and Viran exchanged a glance.

"You wanna go first?" Sasha asked Viran before taking another bite of her own meal.

"Sure," he said then took a swig of his water. "There was this one temple a few months into us running around. The temple was in the outskirts of a distant town. Well we landed as near as we could and went to go investigate. However, as we were finishing up, several pod racers shot by us. Apparently the temple was in the middle of a pod racing track and a huge race was happening at that very moment. So we got sideline seats to it. It was really incredible."

"Yeah, and really loud," Sasha groaned. "My ears are still ringing."

Viran chuckled. "Oh yeah. Well what was your favorite?"

"Definitely that forest moon where we finally got to relax for a bit off of the ship for the first time," Sasha said with a smile. "The weather was perfect there and it was so tranquil. Plus the locals were just so cute and curious about every little thing we did."

"I'm still sure that one pickpocketed me," Viran remembered the small fuzzy creature that was obsessed with his belt. "But yeah that place was nice."

"How many did you guys visit?" Op asked.

"Uh… I lost count, but I know you've got them written down, Sash," Viran said glancing at her.

Sasha nodded. "Yeah, I have several datapads full of the information from each temple we visited as well as Kyr. But totaled out we visited thirty-two and that's including Chikara plus Kyr's twenty-four or so makes it about fifty-six temples. What I'm still trying to figure out is why the temples were placed on the planets they were built on and what they all mean. All I have gotten thus far is a strange pattern in the stars based on the coordinates and locations across the galaxy we visited. It could be a constellation but what planet has a constellation like it in it's night sky, I do not know. It's just one big jumbled mess."

"You guys never figured out who built them?" Oppie asked, and thought for a second. "I guess if they're so old it makes sense that they wouldn't exactly have a big sign with an artist's signature on it."

"Yeah, that still remains a mystery," Sasha said with a sigh. "I kind of wish we could have figured it out, but…" She glanced up at Oppie. Viran followed her gaze. "We needed to bring you home first." She smiled lightly. "Now that's why I have been going through these datapads. Maybe I can figure something out, but so far it's been nothing but a dud."

"Could I have a copy?" Oppie asked intrigued. "There has to be more to it." He left unspoken the thought that all of those temples couldn't have been setup just to bring him back, could they?

"I can put a copy together for you," Sasha nodded. "It might help to have a fresh set of eyes to look at it."

"I know I took a look at it, but even I'm stumped," Viran admitted. "So be our guest, Op."

He nodded and took a drink. "So you said the denizens of that forest moon were cute? Like, how?"

Sasha beamed as she then went on to recount the tale of the Ewok folk. Viran sat there smiling at her as she talked with such excitement and energy over the cute, bear like creatures. She was just as cute as those creatures were. They sat there recounting more tales of adventures as they lost track of time, but gained new, fond memories together.

Oppie awoke in a cold sweat, and folded his arm across his face as the last vestiges of the nightmare faded from his memory. A strange mixture of Order 66 mixed with almost losing Sasha and Viran on Chikara. Master Redika had lain on the stone surrounded by the Rangers of the 94th, while Dracul held Sasha and Viran hostage.

He folded the covers out of the way and sat up on the edge of the bed, wiping his face. It was the middle of the night, and he got up, making his way to the small bathroom in his suite. Once there he turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face, before making his way back out to the desk and sitting in the chair.

The datapad caught his eye, where he had left it. It had been a few days since Sasha had given him the copy of the data, and he had spent his spare time looking through it. At first out of curiosity to get a mental picture of the adventures they had been on while he was gone, but then becoming more and more intrigued with the mystery of the temples themself. All of the temples were recorded in exquisite detail, thanks to the imager capturing all of the temples and the pictures Sasha, Viran and Kyr had taken of the stelae and anything else interesting they had found. The most intriguing thing was how accurate each temple had been. From Chikara, and spreading across the network, each temple had accurately depicted some event that had come to pass. And the temples themselves had to be millenia old. Far back in ancient times, whoever had constructed these had had perfect visions of whatever events might unfold, no matter how mundane or extraordinary the events were when their visitors finally came.

And the thing that stymied him was that the path seemed laid out just to ensure his own rescue from that place, that world between worlds. Or, at least, to ensure that Dracul had not been able to make it back? Could Dracul, as dreadful as he was, have been the entire reason for this construction, perhaps, to ensure he was defeated before he rose to power?

Oppie sat in the darkness running it over in his mind again, not making any more progress than he had for the last few days thinking about it.

The thought flashed through his mind to go talk to Sasha and Viran, they were sharing a room down the hall, but that thought of disturbing them made him feel uncomfortable. For all the time they spent together, for all the reassurances he received, he still felt out of place, unsettled with how much everything had changed without him.

He rubbed his eyes and cleared his mind. For all the planets that had sought refuge on for the last decade and a half, he had always settled into the role of local security, the local police in whatever town they were in, just like Viran would settle into the space port, and Sasha would work, and later run, the various cantinas over the years. He supposed in a way it harked back to his Jedi upbringing, wanting to serve in law enforcement, as a protector, as an arbiter, as someone who served justice. It was also a nice perk that it meant he would have direct access to any threat of Imperial forces looking in their direction. But overall, he liked the job. And in that time he had investigated many crimes, most of them small and petty, one or two more serious cases. So he started approaching the temples in his mind like a crime scene.

He had all the 'evidence', such as it was. How were they connected? The same builders, building them for an unknown goal, though either to bring him back, or stop Dracul, or both.

Other than Chikara, and that certainly didn't count because of the circumstances, he had never been to one of the sites, he hadn't had a chance to feel any echoes in the Force. And that was a way he had cheated in some of his investigations, to meditate in the Force, and peice the clues together. But that usually only worked when he had been able to go to the scene and investigate it, get his own impressions of it, to feel the space.

He activated the datapad and brought up the galactic map again with all the locations, and the lines were drawn connecting them as Tac had calculated. They looked related, but… off. No discernable pattern. But they felt related, and he couldn't quite figure out how.

But maybe if he visited, he might feel something, his presence in the Force, even just his intuition might pick up on something, but where to start?

Arbortarum? He considered that for a moment. They had not been able to investigate that planet at all. They hadn't had a chance to look around much before they found the cave with the portal that afforded him his escape, and then, from there, they had to make such an abrupt exit there had been no chance to look around, to investigate.

And there was also the hermit there, who had provided them some interesting details. They had not had a chance to talk to him much either, even though he was apparently from whatever order had been responsible for all of it.

The spark of an idea came into his mind, and the more he thought of it, the more confident he felt that it was the right course.

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