"Hey, Anakin," Tahiri said in a tone that tried to be upbeat. "It's been a while, hasn't it?."
She spoke these words before the memorial of Chewbacca, who had died at the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War nearly two decades prior. The reason that she was addressing these words to Anakin Solo was because his lightsaber had been buried up to the hilt by his father, Han, after the war ended about a decade and a half ago.
"Jag told me I shouldn't come here alone, that I should at least have a squad of stormtroopers to help me out in case any Mandalorians came after me," Tahiri explained as if she were just having a casual conversation with Anakin. Her tone continued to waver, as if she were on the verge of losing all composure of her emotions. "I told him that it was more important for me to be alone for this. He and I argued about it, but, in the end, I won."
She couldn't help but break into a nervous smile. "He still thought that he could make me compromise; that I should go with someone like Jaina or even Lowie. Someone I'd be comfortable with, who would've remembered you with me. I told Jag, 'Still no. If any Mandos come my way... they'll have hell to pay.' Heh, I just realized that rhymed."
Tahiri let a moment pass by, as if Anakin's spirit refused to say anything to her.
What little mirth in Tahiri's expression evaporated, and her tone became completely somber as she continued. "I wonder if I should have even come back here. I feel guilty, you know. I guess everyone does; I think they call it survivor's guilt. But it isn't just that I feel bad that I lived and you died, Anakin. It's that I feel bad that any part of me thought it would be a good idea to come back here after what... after what... Darth Caedus did here." She spat the name out like poison.
During the Second Galactic Civil War, Caedus began a worldwide fire via orbital bombardment of Kashyyyk. And Tahiri felt guilty for that because, at the time, Caedus was grooming her to be his apprentice, and one of the ways he ensured her loyalty was by using the Aing-Tii technique of flow-walking to travel back through time. With that technique, Tahiri could see Anakin again... before he died during the Mission to Myrkr.
"When that bastard was alive," Tahiri continued, "he used my memories, my love, for you, like he was a spice dealer. And, oh, boy, was I junkie. I was a junkie lookin' for my next fix, and that fix was seeing if I could make things better. That maybe I could have even brought you back; but it was a lie. It was all a lie. Nothing I could have done could have fixed what happened; no one could have tampered with the Force enough to alter the timeline."
Tahiri allowed herself a breath to keep herself from breaking down into uncontrollable sobs. "You know, I thought I could have moved on without you. I thought merging with Riina all those years ago would have strengthened my sense of self and help me finally end my grieving for you, Anakin. But I was wrong. I was so wrong. And if it hadn't been for your baby cousin, Ben, pulling me back from the dark side, I would have been completely consumed.
"Then I thought that leaving the Jedi Order would help me give me more time to heal. But as time went on, and I really started to think about it, I wondered if I could ever get over you. The trauma that Caedus left in his wake certainly didn't help me.
"But then your actual brother, Jacen, came back into our lives! And as if that weren't enough to leave my emotions confused, Daala's Mandos attacked us, and I wasn't even a Jedi anymore than I was a Sith! And because of that, I tasted the dark side.
"I tortured someone, Anakin. I used the dark side when I did that. And it didn't stop there; I lured a bunch of cops and Mandos into a trap where they could have died. Hell, from what I heard, I think one of the Mandos and three of the cops did die. The others barely escaped; and it was my fault!
"But you know what the scary thing about it all is? I don't even feel guilty about what I did. I feel scared that I don't feel guilty, but I still don't feel guilty if that makes any sense. I justified it to both myself and the Jedi, Seff Hellin, who thought that what I did was wrong, even if it meant that my actions helped save the Jedi with me.
"I thought about going back to the Order, maybe to repent for everything I've done. Your Uncle Luke is a very forgiving man, Anakin; and I know the rest of your family would be able to accept me."
Then she fully broke out into a full sob as she sank to her hands and knees. "But I can't accept myself back to them!" She didn't even try to formulate anymore words; she just cried.
But after a while, the crying stopped... abruptly, at that. And that was because of the sound of a rifle being cocked several meters behind Tahiri.
She froze where she was; how did she not sense the danger to herself? Was she that absorbed into her own self-pity that not even her Force-senses could warn her that there was someone, a Mandalorian most likely, coming to take her captive or, worse, kill her?
"You won't have to worry about anyone accepting you back, witch," a familiar, and threatening, voice said from behind her. "Now stand up, hands over your head, and turn around slowly. Don't you think about reaching for your lightsaber; otherwise, this is gonna get a lot more painful for you than even I intended."
Tahiri gritted her teeth, but she did as the threatening man demanded. When she finally turned to face him, she saw that he was, indeed, a Mandalorian with a carbine pointed directly at her chest.
And as Tahiri got a good look at his helmet and armor, she found them just as familiar as his voice.
"You know, hearing you say you didn't feel bad about torturing me makes this a lot sweeter than I thought it'd be," the Mando said.
He then reached one hand up to remove his helmet, and then Tahiri's eyes widened.
It was the merc she tortured back on Coruscant all those months ago. Now he was looking back at her with a malicious grin.
"Yeah, that's right," he said, his tone as self-satisfied as his smile. "I'm all fixed up from your handiwork. And now that you get to look me directly in the eyes, I can finally-"
The sound of a blaster shot rang out through the forest around them. Both Tahiri and the Mando seized up.
But it was the merc who dropped prone to the ground, a smoking crater in the back of his head.
And right behind where he stood was yet another Mando, their own smoking blaster still pointed in Tahiri's direction on account of where the dead merc was.
When this new merc, who had yellow striping along their armor, finally lowered their blaster, the Mando said, in a male voice, "You're welcome, Jedi."
He then turned away and headed back toward the treeline.
When Tahiri finally recovered from her surprise and bewilderment, she called out, "Hey, wait!"
The Mando stopped in his tracks and turned back to face Tahiri as she caught up with him.
"Why'd you do that?" she asked him. "Why'd you help me? Why'd you kill one of your own?"
"It's part of my job," the merc said. "It doesn't matter to me who I kill to accomplish it." He turned away again.
"Wait, wait," Tahiri said as she stepped in front of him, cutting him off from going any further. "What is your job exactly?"
"To protect you, Miss Veila," the merc replied stoically. "I was hired by Jagged Fel to watch over you."
Damn you, Jag, Tahiri thought contemptuously.
"Now, if you'll let me continue to do my job," the merc said, "I can return to the forest and watch over you from there."
"I'm still not done with you," Tahiri said. "How long have you been watching me? Were you tailing me since I left Bastion?"
"Yes."
Tahiri sighed in frustration. "If I told you to go home, would you do it?"
"You're not the one paying me."
"I'll take that as a no. Look, can you at least take a day off or something? I'd really like to be alone today, and I'd prefer not to be watched by a professional stalker."
"Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to have let my friend back there end your life; from what he told me about what you did to him, I'd have done the same in his place."
"In that case, why'd you take the job if you knew that you might have had to kill your friend?"
"A job's a job, money's money; things like sentimentality and friendship are roadblocks to what really matter in life."
"Which is what to you, exactly?"
The Mando didn't answer her question. Instead, he said, "Head of State Fel is paying me a hefty sum to keep you alive, more than what Rhal or Daala would have been willing to pay. So if you wanna make my job more difficult than it already is, it makes no real difference to me. Now you gonna let me pass?"
Tahiri looked him over before she said, "Just one more thing."
The annoyance in his voice was obvious. "What?"
"I'm not a Jedi; not anymore."
"Wouldn't matter to someone like Daala."
Tahiri didn't say anything before she finally stepped out of his way and let him walk off.
"I didn't get your name!" Tahiri called back.
"No, you didn't," he replied. He said nothing more before merging with the treeline.