Last time: Oppie announced he was going to go off on his own and Sasha didn't take it well.

Now: Can Sasha and Oppie made amends before he departs?

Chapter 9- The Argument

Sasha didn't bother to join the others for Sabacc. She no longer felt in the mood to play. She just wanted some time alone to think. Sasha headed to a balcony that overlooked the valley. She grabbed her cloak from her room and proceeded to head outside for some fresh air. Once outside, she pulled the cloak tightly around herself and moved over to the railing, leaning against it. She then stared up to the rising moon as the snow continued to fall.

Oppie wasn't telling her everything. She could sense that he was upset about something. He would normally tell her what was bothering him when she asked. But this time he was dancing around the subject entirely. It was frustrating. She was just worried about him and wanted to make sure that everything was okay. And if it wasn't, she wanted to know why so she could help. It was just in her nature. To worry and care for her brothers constantly.

Sasha groaned and let her head drop as she closed her eyes. As she did so, she could hear the door slide open behind her.

"Bit chilly out here, isn't it?" Kitsu said as she moved over to the railing, her buy'ce off but still wearing her armor. The moon was framed by a tuft of snow clouds, and it glowed in the night. She walked over to the railing and rested her arms on it, looking over the valley as well. "Great view, though." The other moon was just starting to rise.

Sasha raised her head up and glanced at Kitsu before looking back to the valley. "It is quite beautiful." She then looked back at her. "How goes the Sabacc game?"

"Would you believe it if I told you that the one with the worst sabacc face at the table was the droid?" She said with a smile.

Sasha chuckled as she looked back out. "I've played a game or two with him. Tac's face is better than mine." After she said that, she felt her mouth pull into another frown.

Kitsu chuckled at that. "Everything okay? You and Op kind of disappeared." She didn't mention that she had caught the small exchange before they broke for the game, or their exits from the kitchen.

Sasha now turned her head completely away from Kitsu. She didn't want the Mando to see her face as she looked up at the moons.

"Oppie wants to travel to the temples alone. Without me or Viran," Sasha started. "Which that's fine. I have no issue with that if he feels better investigating alone. It's just that…" She paused. "He isn't telling me everything. I can sense that something is wrong, but he is avoiding the subject. I don't know what to do."

"A lot has changed for him." Kitsu said, "I guess that makes sense if he wants a little time alone."

"And I understand that too," Sasha nodded. She now turned her gaze to the ground below. "But why does it feel like he is hiding something from us? From me? Did we do something wrong?"

"No, I don't think so Sasha." Kitsu looked at the moon, enjoy the way the snow played with its light. "Do you remember when he went to go find me here on Artemis all those months ago?" She asked.

Sasha nodded before turning her head up slightly to look at Kitsu through her bangs.

"He was so worried about you." She continued. "But more, so worried that he had failed you, I think that's been something that he has lived with for the last sixteen years, feeling like he wasn't being a good mentor to you. Not living up to some image he had in his mind of what a Jedi master and his Padawans should be."

Sasha was silent for a moment. "He is a wonderful master to us. I almost can't imagine who our actual masters could have been anymore if things had happened differently. Because everytime I do, I just see Oppie." She admitted. "I had no idea he felt that way."

"Well, he couldn't let you see that." Kitsu said, smiling, "But ever since '66, he became consumed with making sure you guys were safe, you and Viran." She looked off in the distance as some creature howled in the quiet of the snow covered valley. "That was his life, was making sure that you were safe. Then he comes back, and that's all changed. You guys handled yourselves great over the past year, you faced down Sith without a second thought - and won, and all the dangers you faced with the temples, and suddenly the children he saved that day are now his equals, if not having surpassed him. And you and Viran have started making a life together. So I think he's trying to figure out where he fits in with all that. Now that you guys don't need him, what lies before him?" She suggested.

Sasha felt her jaw slack as she took in what Kitsu said. She didn't… hadn't even realized that Oppie might be going through all of that. Sasha brought her hands to her face, hiding within them.

"I… I had no idea…" Sasha mumbled. "I just treated things like we were back to normal. Kriff." She cursed as she slammed her hands on the rail causing the snow laying on it to shift off.

"Yeah, but his normal was from nearly a year ago." Kitsu said quietly, "So normal for him came as a little bit of a shock, I think."

Sasha sighed and dropped her head. "Then what should I do? Cause even if he doesn't think it, we…" She hesitated. "I still need him. And his guidance and wisdom. His teachings."

"The night Kyr woke up, Op and I talked a little." She said, with a slight smile. "I reminded him of all of that, but the shock of all this is still so recent. I think it's on him, Sasha, to figure this out for himself, to figure out where he fits into it." She laughed a little. "You know what's funny?" She asked.

"What?" Sasha asked, looking at her.

"Op and I had almost this exact same conversation last year, here. He was worried about you, and trying to figure out how to help you, when it was, and ended up being, your battle to fight. I think it's the same for him in this, just that this time the enemy he's facing is himself, and he just needs to wrestle with this a while and figure it all out." She said. "You guys are so alike."

Sasha felt a smile pull at her lips naturally as she realized the similarities. "I guess we really are. I suppose that happens when you are with someone for sixteen years. You rub off on each other. Or as the old Masters might say: Like Master, like Apprentice." She said with a chuckle. "Thanks. This helped. A lot."

"I'm glad I could help." Kitsu said with a smile. "I think, though, he probably needs to be reminded that even if he isn't necessarily needed as a Master anymore, he's still needed as a friend." She said, quietly.

"Or a brother," she mumbled to herself. "Yeah, you're probably right," Sasha said with a nod. "I'm going to go talk with him." Sasha started for the door. She stopped and looked back at Kitsu. "Thanks again." She flashed her a smile before disappearing inside.

Kitsu followed the younger Jedi in, away from the cold, to go see if she could be dealt into the current hand.

Oppie was sitting on the floor in his room, facing the window that looked over the snow laden valley trying to meditate. The lights were out, and the world outside quiet, the snowfall aglow with the lights from the rest of the stronghold. Down the hall and downstairs he could still hear the sabacc game going on, though it was muted since his room was relatively distant. It was a beautiful scene, and so peaceful, so serene, so safe, sitting here. For once he and everyone he cared about was safe, and he didn't know how to process that.

And he felt so on edge. His talk with Kitsu nights before had assured him that he had a place here, but had also put words to what had made him feel so uneasy, and thinking more on it he had realized another facet of his discomfiture, almost so obvious he had not even thought about it. His time as a Padawan had been mostly defined by the Clone Wars, and while Master Redika was no warrior, no Skywalker or Obi-Wan, treading a generally more peaceful path, they had been needed in the fight against the Separatists as much as any Jedi. And so Oppie had gone into battle against the droids, leading the clones at his General's side and on various missions by himself as well. Immediately following that he had run with Sasha and Viran, and kept running for fifteen - no, sixteen years now. And while they had adjusted to that life and, truely, had many happy memories together, the ever present threat of the Empire had always loomed.

And yet here in this stronghold, his family's stronghold, both past and present, they were safe. The Empire so distant on this beautiful, snowy night, that you could almost forget they existed. For nearly twenty years Oppie had been fighting and running. He only had vague memories from when he was a youngling and first year or so as a Padawan, around his eleventh year, when he had last had peace like this in his life.

He should be happy. He was happy. He didn't relish the constant danger of all these years past, not in the slightest. But he didn't know how to process this; what this all meant, what it meant to truly be safe and at peace, to be able to let his guard down. And the fact that he felt so much discomfort at this only made him even more aggravated at himself.

And his argument with Sasha chafed at him. In their trio he and Viran were the ones to butt heads if it ever came to that, it was rare that he and Sasha had any kind of disagreement, and he could probably count on one hand the number of times they had argued like they had in the kitchen earlier. He was frustrated, because she was annoyed with him for not letting her know why he was unsettled when even he couldn't really understand it, let alone put words to it. And she seemed to interpret that as that he was hiding something.

The question she asked about herself from days before rang through his head; Why am I like this? When Sasha had asked the question, the answer for her had been obvious to him. But as they repeated in his head, asking the same question of himself, none of the vague answers that came to mind satisfied him. And most of the answers, to why he could not find peace in peace, genuinely worried him.

There was a soft knock at his door, and he could sense Sasha's presence there. He hesitated for just a second, and got up, his knees a little stiff. He moved across the room and flicked the lights on before opening the door to see her standing there. She looked nervous as she put on a very tiny smile. She seemed to have cooled off from the last time he saw her, and literally too as she was wrapped up in her cloak.

"Hey," Sasha said. "Can we… can we talk?"

"Sure," he said, opening the door a little wider and gesturing her in.

Sasha entered the room, taking it all in, before turning to face Oppie.

"I wanted to apologize," Sasha started. "For earlier."

"Me too, I'm sorry." Oppie said contritely in the awkwardness of the room.

Sasha tugged at her cloak, pulling it a little closer to herself.

"I was just worried," she continued. "And all I wanted to do was help you. But I should have been more aware of how you were feeling."

"Thank you. And I know, I just… I am having trouble figuring it out for myself, I don't know quite why I'm feeling so unsettled with all of this." He said, frustrated at himself.

She nodded. "I think I do, and I understand why you do. I would probably feel the same if I were in your shoes."

He frowned a little at that. He was having trouble articulating the thoughts to himself, maybe an outside perspective had figured it out? "Oh?" He said, questioningly.

"Kitsu broke it down for me," Sasha explained. "It all made sense once she did."

"What did she…" He trailed off, thinking back to the conversation they had had at Kyr's bedside. "About where I fit in with everyone?"

"Yes, that," Sasha said with a nod. "Op, we still need you. I still need you around. You may no longer be our mentor, but you are our friend. Our brother." She took a step closer to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Having your guidance and wisdom and smile around makes everything feel like home to us… to me. So if you need time to sort things out that is more than alright, but please don't shut us out or push us away. And if something is wrong, please let us know so we can help."

He stood there, stunned, and blinked rapidly while she had talked. He had never been their Master, they had never been his Padawans, but having Sasha say that he was no longer their mentor, to actually put that in words, stung in a way he had never really thought it would. In one sentence she had completely ended their relationship that he had built between her, and Viran, over the last sixteen years and irrevocably changed it to something else. Not something worse, maybe even something better, but that foundation of his life crumbled away.

He swallowed, "Thank you, I know I can always depend on you guys." He said a little vaguely, trying to keep himself in check.

Sasha had met his gaze with a smile before seeing the look in his eyes. She dropped her hand slowly as she frowned up at him.

"What? What's wrong?" Sasha asked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I just," He swallowed, "just trying to deal with all the changes lately is a lot. I just need some time to process all of it." He said, finally.

Sasha nodded slowly, but the look on her face said that was going back over everything she had just said to him, trying to find her mistake.

"I don't believe you," Sasha said in a shaken voice.

Oppie looked away, "I've been fighting for twenty years Sasha, since I was eleven, first the Clone Wars, then the Empire." He paused. "I'm just tired, so tired, and I don't know where to go from here. I'm proud of you and Viran, but if you don't need me as your mentor anymore, I don't know where I fit with you guys, or any of this." He admitted.

That did it. Sasha staggered back as if she had been punched. That is when she realized what her error was. Sasha placed a hand to her chest and turned away from him.

"Oppie, that's not what I…" she trailed off.

He looked up at her, "Yes it is Sasha, that part of our lives is over now." He said as he looked away again. "I know what you were saying Sasha, but that's what you said."

Sasha shook her head. "No! That's not what I meant at all! Your place is still with us. With your family," Her voice was edging on yelling. "Don't you dare think otherwise." Tears were brimming in her eyes from the emotions she was feeling.

That flared his anger as he took a step back from her. "My place? Don't I get to choose that?" He said angrily. He left unspoken the thought that she had disavowed him as their mentor, and was now trying to order him?

"No!" She groaned. She then turned and punched the wall in anger. Her fist hit the wall with a sickening smack as if something popped. She cursed under her breath at the pain now coursing through her hand. However, that all seemed to calm her down as she slowly slid to her knees, silently sobbing. "No… that's not what I… I'm sorry… " Her voice trailed away, unable to form anymore words. Her hand was bruising from the hard punch she had just given the wall. It was her scarred hand from Vestora. "I'm sorry…"

Oppie wiped his face with his hand and sat down on the bed, looking down at his hands clasped in his lap. "I'm sorry Sasha." He said. "I'm sorry I'm messing this up. I know what you meant. I'm sorry."

Sasha didn't raise her head to look at him. She remained on the floor, clutching her hand, as she cried. She also didn't provide him with a response either. It was almost as if she lost her own voice in the moment.

He got up from the bed and went to her, "I'm sorry," he said quietly, no longer angry, worried she might have injured herself. He leaned against the wall beside her and slid down to sit next to her. "I'm sorry Sash, I just…" He paused, closing his eyes. "I've been fighting all my life, and now that we're at peace, now that we can rest I don't know what to do with myself. It's making my skin crawl to be here and not have to worry, not have to worry about myself, or you and Viran, and it should be the other way around." He rubbed his face in his hands. "And that's what's bothering me. I'm a Jedi, and it's supposed to be the opposite of that, and I'm afraid of what that means for me." He confessed, finally voicing his frustration. "No matter what there would come a time when you guys wouldn't need me as your mentor, when you would be my partners in all this instead of the younglings I needed to protect. And honestly that happened a long, long time ago. Just that when you said that was when it hit me that it was real, on top of everything else that has happened." He felt like trying to give her a hug, like all those years ago when she would have the nightmares, but it didn't seem appropriate right now. "I'm sorry I'm messing everything up."

Sasha sat there listening to every word he said. She cleared her throat and reached up to wipe her face, wincing as she was trying to do it with her bruising hand. She slowly lowered her hand and rested against the wall.

"I'm sorry, too," she croaked. "I shouldn't have said what I said. I never meant to hurt you, Op. I'm sorry…" She lowered her gaze down to her hands. The right one was trembling, but to be fair so was she. From the cold, from crying. From everything. "I just… I'm going to miss you when you leave. It's been so wonderful having you back. But… I understand. I truly understand now…" She cleared her throat again.

"You didn't say anything wrong, and anything that wasn't true." He said quietly. "I'm not going away forever. And I'll always be here for you guys." He added. "But I just need to sort things out. Someplace where I can have some quiet time to think." Just then, as if to punctuate his point, and excited outburst from the sabacc game broke the quiet of the moment. "Some place where I can understand all of this and let it catch up to me. And I need to understand the temples, I need to understand why they were set up so that… so that you guys could bring me back."

Sasha nodded as she sniffed. "Just please be careful." She then gestured to her hand. "Unlike me."

"If I have to be." He said quietly with an awkward smirk, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Sasha huffed slightly as a smirk pulled at her lips. "I wish you and Kyr would stop saying that. It only makes me worry more about you."

"Kyr says that?" Oppie asked, a little surprised.

"He did," Sasha said then shuddered. "Then the next time we saw him, he was dying."

"Oh." Oppie also remembered the last time he had said that was their last conversation before he disappeared. "I'll be careful." He promised.

She finally looked up at him. "Thank you." He could see that there were still tears sitting on her cheeks and her face was puffy from the crying, but she seemed to be in better spirits.

He reached his arm across her shoulder to bring her in for a hug. Sasha wrapped an arm around him as he pulled her in. Her bruised hand remained in her lap and her head resting against his shoulder. They were facing the window, and outside the snow had stopped falling, leaving a glistening white blanket over the forest and the valley outside, reflecting the bright light of the moons like a clean, untouched canvas. Oppie considered it for a moment, as he sat there with his sister, and blinked back some tears of his own as he realized that their relationship had indeed changed forever, but they had a blank slate with which to build something anew.

"How's your hand?" He asked, finally, seeing the bruise asserting itself.

"Umm…" She looked down at it. She carefully turned it and then tried flexing her fingers. She winced. "It hurts. A lot." She chuckled lightly. "That's what I get for punching a wall."

"Let's go get you a cold pack." He said getting to his feet, and offering her a hand up. "I can return the favor for all of your ministrations last week." He smiled.

Sasha looked up at him and sighed in defeat. "Okay." She gave him her left hand and he carefully pulled her to her feet. "By the way, what are we going to tell Viran? Cause…" she raised her bruised hand. "This might be a little hard for me to hide."

Oppie held back a chuckle. "Tell him the truth. Or tell him we were sparing and I accidentally hit your hand with my hilt."

Sasha chuckled as a smile appeared on her lips. "I have time to figure it out. But he might believe the latter option since you have done that to me before." She said as they left Oppie's room to go get her that cold pack.

*wipes tears* Review!