The mission to capture Aurra Sing ended in failure, but thankfully with no Jedi fatalities. That much at least was a relief, however upon the realisation that Aayla Secura and her master, Quinlan Vos, were missing and had not made contact in a long time, my true fears were then realised. I was unable to ascertain whether or not they were alive, and although I wanted nothing more than to go and track Ayala down, Master Plo encouraged me to be calm and act rationally. Master Windu appeared to already be on the case, taking up the investigation personally in a bid to determine exactly what had gone wrong. I wanted to help, to find my friend Aayla, but I knew that my master was right and that I had to have patience.
In due time, Master Windu was able to locate and contact Master Vos, however it seemed that Aayla was not with him. Through Master Plo, I was able to keep track of the investigation, which proved that Senator Chom Frey Kaa was the financial backer behind the glitteryll smuggling and the cause behind the entire operation. Because of the glitteryll, both Master Vos and Aayla had been captured and then drugged with the substance which caused memory loss, meaning that Aayla no longer remembered who she was. I worried over her fate, and so knowing that I would not settle until I knew every detail of what had happened, Master Plo allowed me to go with him in order to ask Master Vos what he remembered.
Of course, he had no idea who I was when I approached him, many of his memories being still missing, so I respectfully bowed to him in order to explain. "Master Vos, my name is Theca Rouyn. I am a padawan learner, and a friend of Aayla Secura. Please, I need to know what happened to her. If I can find her, then I am certain I can bring her back to the temple so that we can help her. Please, will you tell me everything you remember?" With my golden orbs pleading with Master Vos with the utmost sincerity, I saw a glimmer of his old self in the crooked smile he gave to me, naturally softening towards me. Master Vos had always had a soft spot for me, being a close friend of Aayla's, and it seemed if nothing else, his own instincts recognised me and gentled him in a way. He told me everything that had happened since he woke up on Nar Shaddaa, returning to his home planet of Kiffu, travelling to Ryloth to seek out Aayla as well as the source of glitteryll, causing the death of Aayla's uncle Pol Secura and everything else all the way to the confrontation of Senator Chom Fey Kaa.
Listening and absorbing the information, I slowly processed everything until I was certain I had every detail memorised. "Are you really Aayla Secura's friend? Do you promise to find her and bring her back?" Master Vos questioned me as he studied me, taking in my small stature and rather weak looking appearance as I rose to my feet.
"I already promised Aayla that if she needed me, I would be there for her. She needs me now, and so I will not rest until she is found." Soothing his worries with my determined expression and words, Master Vos nodded his head and relaxed a little into his seat. His eyes were hazy and distant, as if struggling to recall the memories he had lost but was grasping at little more than smoke and trying to hold it in his hand. "You will be alright, Master Vos. There is none as versatile and adaptable as you. I have every confidence that you will recover your memories, and you will remember exactly who you are."
"Right now, I would like to have some memory of you, little one. I want to be certain that I can trust you with Aayla's fate, because…because she feels important to me. I care for her a great deal, don't I?" He phrased it as a question but I was uncertain of how to answer. I had always known that Aayla and her master were close, just as I was close to Master Plo, and had been to Master Bondara in the latter years of our reunion. There were no words for me to give Master Vos the complete reassurance that he could leave his padawan to me, that I would find her and bring her back, and I struggled to provide him with a guarantee that he could trust me. So instead, I reached out and found myself pressing my hand against his forehead and closing my eyes, reaching out through the Force in order to make a connection.
Immediately I felt the effect, sensing the confusion and haze within Master Vos's mind but pushed past it, seeking clarity of some kind. My instincts told me that by finding Aayla, I would find the hope that Master Vos needed, so I looked for her, both in his memories and my own. She was everywhere, deeply hidden underneath the thick layers of the drug that had been forced into him, and as my own memories triggered more of his own, Aayla was soon the only thing either of us could see, and wherever she was, so was I. I was almost always by her side, and my closeness to her gave Master Vos the confidence he needed to entrust me with the task of finding her.
As his hands rose to take mine in his, I let go of the Force and blinked myself awake, meeting the gaze of the slightly wild looking master as he looked at me directly. "Do not fail her as I have, Theca Rouyn." His words were quiet and almost inaudible, shared only between the two of us so that no one else would hear. I took them on with a calm sincerity, vowing to myself that I would not disappoint him as I nodded my head.
"You have not failed her, Master Vos. Everyone gets a little lost sometimes, it is nothing to be ashamed of. You are home, and you are safe. Soon, you will know what it means to be a Jedi once again." Never before had such words of wisdom left my mouth, and behind me, I could even sense the surprise in Master Plo as he observed our conversation. Master Vos laughed deeply then, that expression breaking through the haze of uncertainty just enough that I could recognise his old self once more a final time before I left, Master Plo anchored at my side.
"I am proud of you, Theca. You have done well." He praised me softly, and his words lit a glow within me which I carried like a blanket of warmth, smiling to myself as I dutifully followed after him, eager to begin my mission to locate and bring Aayla home, no matter what it took.