"You know what you must do." the barely lit woman said before the house Diachi symbol returned over the projector. The pit in his stomach got deeper as he turned to Pre who looked as concerned as he was feeling.

"You gave your word" Vizla said in a somber tone, "you MUST follow through on it"

Jaune nodded in stoic silence as he turned to leave, Cardin was never one of Jaune's closest friends but he knew the man, and that was why he knew where he needed to go now. And who he needed to bring with him

…

Blake was on her way to the spot she and Cardin had set up for their emergency meetings. The small shack they had first made love in back when they were still following their fathers around. She did a few laps around the moon making sure she wasn't followed. Her family's yacht was distinct but the odds of anyone thinking to track her into Xiao Long Territory were slim.

She touched down outside the shack and waited a few seconds before flashing the guiding lights in the sequence they had agreed to. Soon Cardin came limping out of the shack with his arm in a sling and his leg wrapped. Treating the wounds he got from the shotgun meant he wasn't wearing his armor but that was okay since Blake rushed over to him and wrapped her arms gently around him pressing her ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat. "We need to go NOW" Blake said, stopping when she heard Cardin's heartbeat stop for a moment.

Looking up she saw that his face was a mournful one. "I have brought shame on my family," Cardin said on the verge of tears. "There is nowhere we can go to get away from that.

"My father will take us in" Blake replied, trying to again pull Cardin to the ship only for him to stop her.

"I can't let my crimes come down on your house, Clan Diachi may not be the strongest house but they would go to war and they would be ruthless, my life is not that many others." Cardin said.

Blake leaned back into the large man fighting her own tears, "Tai, we can go to Tai he will take us in and house Diachi will not go to war with the supreme dragon and his hounds over one son." Blake said praying to all she held dear that she was right.

Again she pulled at his hand and again Cardin pulled back but this time he pulled hard and limped forward sweeping his arm and putting Blake behind him. Blake looked up and saw what Cardin had seen.

On the boarding ramp of her family yacht stood Jaune in his full armor and Pyrrha Nikkos next to him. There was a cruel silence in the air as Jaune and Pyrrha stepped down the ramp, Pyrrha's simple boots making no noise next to Jaune's armored ones as each clunk, clunk, clunk. Down the ramp like the ticking of a timer getting closer to going off.

"Cardin winchester, by command of the Jedi Order under the authority the Galatic senate you are under arrest for the murder of Yatsuhashi Diachi" Pyrrha said as she stepped off the ramp and moved around three steps for Jaune's left.

Cardin looked right past her and locked his eyes on the pistol on Jaune's right thigh, it was strapped low and near his ready hand. "And why are you here?" Cardin asked with his own hand, nearing the gun on his own hip.

"I swore an oath to clan Diachi that if anyone interfered with Yatsuahsi's matches they would be brought to justice" Jaune said. "But all that means is that you have to face justice for your crimes, clan Diachi is a just one. They may understand your situation if you tell them everything."

Cardin shook his head in rebuttal. "I caved in her son's chest with her in the front row. I can neither ask nor do I deserve her mercy" he said with a calm grace that worried Jaune.

"Don't do this" Jaune said as Pyrrha went to take a few steps closer to the two of them trying to put herself between the two men seeing what was about to happen.

"Jedi don't step…" Jaune's warning was cut off by Cardin's hand moving for his gun before she could get between them. Pyrrha's reflex went up as she activated her lightsaber trying to deflect the shot that Cardin fired only to miss when his shot went wide to the right. Looking at Cardin she saw the hole that had just been burned into his chest. Looking back she also saw Jaune still holding his blaster from where he fired it. Pyrrha froze at that moment.

Somewhere in her mind she was sure she knew what to do. And yet now she doesn't know. What Jaune did was legal, but was it right. Her brief crisis ended when she heard Cardin's body crash to his knees before Blake caught him and held him close as she laid his head in her lap.

Pyrrha saw the tears in Blake's eyes as she tried to get some kind of a response from the dead man, no, from the dead boy in her arms. She was muttering something but Pyrrha couldn't hear her when Jaune broke through to her. "JEDI!" he shouted, snapping her focus back to him.

"Jedi, what were you doing!" Jaune yelled. "Why would you ever do that?" He asked, referring to the fact that she had been trying to get in the middle of a gunfight.

Pyrrha stepped closer to Jaune blocking his view of Blake just as the distraught woman was heard crying out in a loud scream. "YAIM'OL DE KYR'AM!"

The sound of a blaster firing filled the air as Jaune's eyes went wide and he reached out, throwing Pyrrha aside as the stunned Jedi turned as well to see Blake's lifeless body falling over Cardin's, the blaster still in her hand.

Now it was Jaune's turn to freeze as Pyrrha asked him what Blake had said. "In a confused voice he answered. "It means to be returned in death, she was asking him to wait for her in the afterlife"

Pyrrha noticed that something about that part had bothered Jaune so putting on her best Jedi face she said. "I will notify their families, you should go home"

Jaune nodded and turned to leave as he was heading for the space port when he realized that he couldn't call for a ride to his house since he no longer had a front door.

Getting out his communicator and contacted Tai. " Jaune, what's going on?" Tai asked, seeing the look on Jaune's face. Jaune did his best to hide the pain of losing friends but Tai must have known what happened by now. He would have seen the news, and Pre probably told Tai about Jaune's oath.

"I need a ride and I need somewhere to stay," Jaune said somberly.

"I'm on my way," Tai explained.

…

The flight to Tai's compound was hard, they discussed what happened and Tai did his best to console Jaune about what he had done. It wasn't much now but it was a start. Tai had also told Jaune that house Xiao Long was slated to face house Schnee tomorrow.

Jaune knew that that meant, and it explained why people were all celebrating at the compound. Tai was going to die or kill Adam tomorrow and either way everyone wanted this night to be remembered with joy. Everyone except for Tai's wife and children who were notably absent.

Jaune would have tried to join in but he was feeling too drained from the day and the night that followed. As Jaune made his way to the private sector of the house he saw Yang on her communicator with Kali fighting her own tears, she looked at Jaune and he wished he could see anger in her eyes, that would make it easier for him to not go to her tonight. But he saw the same pain he had in his own as Yang slowly approached and wrapped her arms around him.

They stood there for a few minutes both just taking comfort in the presence of each other. They stepped back half a stride and pressed the forehead together. A position that was more intimate to their people than most.

They held their keldabe kiss for long enough that they noticed a few other people enter and leave the room not wanting to interfere with whatever was happening. They separated and without a word went to their rooms. Yang to her room and Jaune to the guest room.

Jaune took off his armor realizing he left his helmet back on Blake's ship and cursing himself for being so stupid. Setting the armor down next to the bed he set down the battle belt with his pistol on it and climbed into bed.

He tossed and turned, never finding comfort. He saw too much in Cardin and Blake. Too much of him and too much of Yang. he briefly thought about what he would do if he lost her like Blake had lost Cardin but in the end he couldn't do it. The idea was too painful.

Jaune tossed some more when he heard a knock at his door. A part of him wanted to call out for whoever it was to come in but he didn't have that in him so he simply stood and headed to the door.

Jaune no sooner opened the door than Yang threw it open and threw herself into his arms pressing her lips into his passionately as she kicked the door shut. Jaune managed to get some air and was about to say something when Yang pressed her hand over his mouth with the ring she was wearing in his plain view.

There was a pause before Jaune understood her message and snaked his arms around her kissing her just as passionately as she kissed him fighting with her shirt while she did the same.