Disclaimer: yeah, yeah... I really don't think i have the patience to write this every chapter, so, here it goes: i own this plot, this story and all OCs. I do not own Star Wars or KOTOR (yet...).If you wish to sue me, I'll gladly give up all the money i've been making with this story...i.e., none at all. Have fun!

Author's note: SORRY! SORRY to all the people who started reading this story and spent the last 6 months wondering where did I go. I'm really sorry, but I just plain blocked. Also, I changed the last part of chapter 2 (sorry again...i won't keep on changing what i've already posted, promise!). It was written under pressure and sounded really artificial, i hope it's better now. Anyways, to all of you SAINTS who are still here to this ride, i now present...

CHAPTER 3: Goodbyes

The next morning rose to find Skye fully awaken on her bed. As the first beams of sunlight reached her face she leapt up, anxious for some activity to keep her mind off the chaos within her.

That morning she was to ready her assigned ship for departure. It was her last day in the only place she had learnt to call home, she thought, as she allowed the hot shower water to run through her body, slightly reddening her pale skin.

Looking around as she re-entered her small, greyish room, already in her dark blue Jedi robes, Skye found it difficult to restrain the tears. She was never all that good when it came to goodbyes. Slowly, she sat at her little drawer, looking absentmindedly at the spleen wall mirror in front of her.

"So it is true, then."

Skye couldn't help a sad smile. Even though she hadn't felt her friend's presence, it wasn't at all unexpected.

"Tell me, Skye, is it true? Are you really leaving? I want to hear it… I wanna hear it from you."

Skye felt her heart slump as she saw the tears forming in her best friend's eyes. Unable to answer, she downed her head. Lani was the last person she would want to hurt.

"Oh, Skye, were you not even going to say goodbye? I waited hours for you to show at my dorm yesterday night, you know? I thought… I thought if the rumours were true you'd tell me right away…I guess I was wrong."

"I… I am sorry. I wanted to tell you everything,I wanted to take you with me, but I can't, Lani. I really can't."

"Why, Skye? We never kept secrets from each other, you know I'd go with you to the end of the galaxy, if you asked me to!"

"The… the Council… they forbade me of telling anyone, of speaking it out loud… of even thinking about it, really, and this is not a matter of blind obedience," she added as the Cathar eyes' widened, "any knowledge you have on this matter, any word I may confide to you is enough to put your life at stake, and I can't have that. I'm sorry."

Even though Lani's heart was still aching, the truthful look on her friend's eyes was starting to smooth her. Slowly, she picked a comb and started running it by Skye's long, black, messy hair, a gesture of intimacy they had shared for years. A sweet silence came upon them, as peace settled in their hearts. They were used to communicating wordlessly.

"Well, then, I guess you have to get going." Lani whispered softly as she finished taming her friend's hair into a neat, tight braid. "I won't lie and say I understand you, but I trust you, and I'll support you all the way. But I'll be waiting for some answers when you return!"

"If I return." Skye stated darkly.

"You wish! I swear, Skye, if you only dare to die without explaining all this mess to me in detail, if you dare to leave me without so much as your body to mourn, I'll follow you to wherever you went and kill you again altogether. Very painfully."

Laughing heartily, Skye hugged her dearest companion.

"Gosh, girl, what am I to do without you? I mean. Who else can lift my spirits like you always do? I may very well scan the whole universe before I find such a friend…"

"Nice to know I won't be replaced! Anyway, you weren't planning to leave without a decent breakfast, were you?"

"Please, tell me you didn't just call the cantina's food decent!"

"Well, I do have the last giant chocolate bar Ryan managed to smuggle in hidden in my closet…"

With a giant grin, both girls started their way down the corridor.

……………………….

"You are late, girl! At my age, I do not have much time to spend waiting around, you know?"

"I'm very sorry, Master, I did not know you'd be here… Are you to help me with the ship?"

"Well, I'm here to help you alright, but not with that pile of screws. It's been a while since I last had some practice, anyways… your mother's little utility droid always kept everything running smoothly."

"My mother's droid?"

"But of course! We travelled together, I told you that already. My, if yat your age you're already that forgetful, at mine you won't even know your own name! I was with her in the journey to defeat Malak. Good old days, if you ask me..."

Skye was amazed. "Would you... would you be willing to tell me something about her?"

"Well, some stories I've already told you - wich ones were about her, is up to you to find... If you think about them, you''ll find you know much already. Anyways, you'll find more about her as you go. As I see it, words are nothing - it's when you live things that you learn them. You have a lot of your parents within you, and there's where you'll find them. Nowhere else."

"Can't you tell me a bit more? How was she? And my father? Did you know him too?"

"Didn't you hear me already? I've got nothing else to say, girl! You really are stubborn - just like your mother. She was always asking questions, too, always wanting to know more... She would never leave a business unfinished. It was actually annoying..."

The girl was drinking every word. The old Master saw the twinkling in he eyes and couldn't help but to smile.

"I guess you're really the same. You won't leave me alone until I tell you everything, will you? Oh well..."

The smile in Skye's face widened, and she sat across the Master, ready to listen. Just like when she was little and he used to tell her stories she found too funny to be true...

"Like I've said, your mother was incredibily stubborn and curious, even for a woman. She was the only Jedi I've ever known whit a sense of humour, but she was also the type of person who made you stand up and salute with just a glance. Just by looking at her, you knew she wouldn't be disobeyed. And, when she wanted to, she could be scarier than Vrook himself! She had a strenght like I've never seen - she never said no to a challenge, and she always had to have the last word. But what really made her a great leader was none of those things. She knew how to make the right decisions and she stood by what she thought was right, but still she was always ready to listen to every single one who followed her. She belived in us so much she made it impossible for us to decieve her... And she cared for us, and for everyone else, as only the true leaders, the best of people care. In the end, that's what made people love her so much."

"Like... like my father did?"

Bindo gave her a questoning look, but continued.

"Yes, your father loved her very much. I think it astounded him the way she had so much to deal with and still took the time to take care of those around her. You see, your mother was really strong, but very weak a the same time. Her weakness was to see other people in pain, but she turned that into a strenght, by giving all she had to help them. That was her sense of justice: to do what wold be best for the people, even if it wasn't what was written on the law books. That is what better defined her - and that is what I hope has passed onto you. That is why I know you must go in this quest, to learn this love, to find it in your mother and in yourself... And any more I shall not say. You must hurry and ready everything, if you want to leave before midday..."

Skye remained silent for a second, before she raised herself and helped Master Bindo to get up.

"Thank you, Master, for everything. Thank you for all you've taught me in these years, and thank you for giving me the chance to go find my parents. I know the council would never let me go if it wasn't for you."

"Ok, ok, I get the point, you can stop the sugar already! Go on, you have work to do!"

And with this goodbye he went out, leaving Skye alone in the hangar to process all the new information as she jumped into the ship to find her small utility droid, a smart T3-O7 she had bought on Onderon five years before, already busy.

"Hey, buddy! What's left to be done?"

"Beeep-Beee-Beee-Beep"

"well, I guess we better hurry, then..."

The following hours, they spent them totally immersed in the mechanical works. Near lunchtime, one of the old Jedi Protocol Droids appeared with a huge bag containing all of Skye's belongings, as well as with her meal. After all was ready, it was an exausted Skye who sat at the cockpit and started the engines.

"Ok, T, this is it...ready?"

"Tee-Tweet!"

And off they flew; looking back one last time at the Enclave, Skye found that, among all the sadness, fear and confusion, a tiny star of hope and even excitement was making its way into her heart...

What could possibly be waiting for Skye in Telos? Some more old characters come into action, and, little by little, the truth about her parents will unfold... Stay tuned, i PROMISED it won't take this long again! READ AND REVIEW, everybody! I'd really love some feedback!