Epilogue

After they returned to the Jedi Temple, Keilana was silent for a long time. She spoke only when she needed to and, though she was friendly with Kyp, he could see the pain that filled her eyes whenever he was near. However, Kyp did not regret the decision he had made. There was nothing else he could have done short of killing her and while Keilana claimed to be thankful for that, he knew she would remain quiet around him for a long time.

At first Keilana refused the cybernetic replacement offered to her, claiming that she could learn how to do things with her right hand. However, after only a week without the arm, Keilana gave in and had one constructed. Luke, though worried about the young woman and her brush with the Dark Side, had chuckled when he heard the story from Ganner.

It was on the day she was to receive the prosthetic and just before the surgery that Luke Skywalker came to see Keilana for the first time since she had woken up. She looked up from her blankets in surprise as the Jedi Master strolled into the infirmary before her eyes narrowed in accusation.

"What kept you?" She snapped, the words coming out more harsh than she had intended.

"I do not have an excuse, Keilana," Luke said calmly as he drew up to the side of her bed. "I simply have not found the time to visit since you awoke. I came to ease your mind while you were still sleeping and I ordered for the Healers to keep you unconscious until the conflict inside you had calmed but since I have been busy, please accept my apology."

"No, you have no reason to apologize," Keilana said, waving a dismissal with her one hand. "Instead, I'm the one who needs to apologize."

Luke's brow raised in surprise. "For what, Keilana?"

"For everything," she said with a shrug.

"How do you mean?"

"I've created so much turmoil within the Academy since arriving and have set people against loved ones without any intention of doing so. I've started more trouble than I'm worth and I've brought people into near death situations caused by both myself and others. I nearly killed Kyp and the twins as well as myself and my son in my complete and udder hate for the woman who gave me life." She paused, remembering how she almost took her mother's prooffered hand, how she almost gave into the longing she denied. Shaking her head slightly, she continued to speak. "I nearly tore Kyp in two when I unintentionally forced a difficult decision on him, a decision which I do not blame him for. I told you there was no good left in me and yet you took me on and tried to find the light in so much shadow. If not for Aena, Master Skywalker, you would have succeeded. Now I fear we are simply back to square one."

"No, Keilana," Luke said after she finished. "We are not back at the beginning. I must confess that I did see this darkness in you from the start but I also saw a beam of hope, a glimmer of goodness and righteousness that was trapped behind the web you weaved to keep it at bay. Your father made you suppress the beam as he trained you to kill but it always remained, no matter how much you tried to banish it.

"Now, I cannot say that I do not blame you for your trip to the Dark Side. Had you listened to my teachings and had you embraced them as I told you to embrace them, this would not have happened." Keilana snorted and Luke stopped, giving her a questioning look.

"What about your fall? Don't think I don't know about it."

Luke sighed and shook his head. Looking at Keilana, he suddenly smiled. "You remind me of myself, in some ways. When I fell, I was young and foolish with little formal training and a lot of anger. I had tried to suppress the anger through the years and rather than releasing it as I should have, it tangled up in my gut and became a knot that started to twist me from the inside out. Like you, I snapped and when that happened, I had no one but myself to stop me and, I must say, it felt good to let the anger and the raw power of the Force course through me as it did. I, unlike you, was not lucky enough to be surrounded by friends when I snapped and so my anger continued to flow. Had it not been for Kyp," Luke stopped and shook his head as if to ward off a protest that did not come. "If not for Kyp I feel as if you would have fallen so far that no one would have been able to save you, not even yourself."

Luke touched Keilana's injured shoulder lightly. "You cannot forget the scar this darkness has given you, Keilana. The loss of your arm symbolizes your momentary loss of control and how close to death you came. Do not say," he held up a finger as Keilana started to argue, "that you have come close to death before. Everybody has a brush with death at one point or another, and I'm sure that you've had more than your fair share. However, the death you nearly experienced would have been a waking death. Your body would have still been alive and your mind would have remained alert but the torture in your soul and the anger that would have boiled your blood would have been worse than any other death you might have experienced. Your death would have been the blackening of your soul and the loss of your free will as you fell victim to darkness, pain, and anger. Nothing in this galaxy is worth falling to those depths for."

Dropping his hand Luke watched Keilana as she digested his words. What he had said was harsh, it was true, but he had seen friends fall to those depths and he had experienced them for himself. He did not want that pain for anyone else.

"I know that you are upset with Kyp and pained by his decision but he knows better than anyone else what you experienced. He is a valuable friend and I wouldn't want you to push him away for saving your life. For saving your son's life." As Luke spoke those last words, Keilana looked up at him. She had not been allowed to see her son since the mission had returned and it would be some time before Luke allowed for them to meet. He could still sense the darkness boiling in Keilana's mind and he wanted to make sure it was gone or suppressed before mother and child met again. He had not told Keilana the vision he had seen but the fear and pain it evoked was enough to make him cautious—Keilana's son, if touched by darkness, could bring pain and suffering to the galaxy wide and Luke was afraid that Keilana's episode had already sent the child down that path. He did not know that Keilana had had a similar vision.

Keilana's question brought Luke back from his thoughts.

"How is he? Jaxon, I mean."

"He is well, Keilana, and mostly healed from the ordeal."

"What do you mean?"

"His eyes remain green and I do not think they will ever return to the colour they were before."

Keilana seemed to deflate as she sunk into her pillows. "But he is fine otherwise?"

"Perfectly healthy and happily playing with Ganner's patience."

This brought a slight smile to Keilana's lips but nothing more.

There was silence between the two until a young apprentice Healer came to take Keilana to her operation.

"I'm sorry, Master Skywalker," the red-headed boy said. Luke shook his head and smiled, assuring Gil that nothing important had been interrupted. "Then if you do not mind, I am going to take Keilana to have her prosthetic placed."

"Hold on," Keilana said as Gil started to unlock the wheels. The apprentice looked from Luke to Keilana and back again. The two adults ignored him as they held each other's gaze. "I…I just wanted to thank you, Luke. For everything. I…Jaxon…I don't know what would have happened…"

Luke smiled and shook his head. "I understand, Keilana, you don't need to explain. Despite some of your more reckless traits, I assure you that it has been my pleasure."

Keilana smiled at her bed sheets, her eyes wet.

"I…thank you."

Luke smiled kindly and held the woman's eyes as Gil rolled her away. It was not until the gurney had rounded a corner and Keilana was lost from sight that he moved. Tucking his hands into the opposite sleeves of his robe, the Jedi Master turned slowly in his spot and set off to return to his apartment and pregnant wife.

As soon as he arrived, Luke went to Mara and held her close.

"What's this for, Luke?" She asked, gracious but confused.

"Nothing." He paused. "Everything. I would risk the galaxy to protect them, Mara."

"Who?"

"The students, the Jedi." He paused. "My children."

The End