Rushing far away from the Temple, I made my way through the back streets of Coruscant, hoping that no one would see me. When I finally had gone as far as my burning legs and lungs would allow me to go, I dropped to the ground once more. I was now in a dark, scary part of town, and it made me realize just how alone I was.

In that moment, desperation sank in, and took over my senses with a vengeance.

I stared down at the small lightsaber attached to my belt, and wondered.

Would this kill me fast enough?

I reached for it, turned the hilt over and over until my frazzled mind found the ignition button. I gently slid my thumb over it, careful not to ignite it just yet. I rose to my knees, staring down at the shiny metal blade, willing it to extend and just take off my head. When this did not happen, I pressed my thumb down with a strength fueled by anger and desperation. I slowly lifted the blue blade, until it illuminated my flushed face. I held it close to my neck, and felt the heat from the business end. I wondered if I had the skill to do this quickly, to just take off my own head and end the torment for good. But just as I felt it close enough to singe the hairs on my delicate neckline, I heard a familiar male voice call out, echoing in the alleyway.

"Keelee!" it yelled. I dropped the hilt, releasing the ignition from my thumb. Now I was trembling. The voice sounded so much like Liam's, only deeper. Had he become one with the Force, at such a young age?

"Liam?" I whispered hoarsely. Then I heard plodding footsteps.

"Keelee," I heard the voice, closer now. I looked up, darkness and tears hindering my vision, but the presence was as familiar as breath itself.

"Kasen," I whispered, fresh tears flooding my eyes and pouring down my face.

"What… what has happened? My heart feels as if it can't stand to be in my chest. I felt a hundred deaths at once. Is everything all right?" His bright blue eyes searched mine, but I couldn't form words.

I just shook my head. I was trembling violently now. I felt indescribable warmth as Kasen pulled me to himself. He had gotten so much stronger than I remembered, and I buried my face in his soft, light brown robe. Sobs and pain shook my small body, and I felt as if I would fall, had Kasen not been holding me.

"I haven't seen Master Kit in hours," he said, and I felt his heart pounding in his chest. "I don't know what happened to him, but I sense he was a part of what I felt."

I didn't doubt it. Nothing was right anymore.

"Keelee, what has happened?"

I still couldn't speak. I tried my hardest to send him mental images of what I had seen, feelings that had overtaken me in those final moments. I looked up and saw his eyes go wide. I knew that he had gotten them.

"Oh, Keelee," he whispered softly, his voice deep and gruff, with sudden sorrow.

I took the fabric of his robe in both hands and squeezed until my knuckles flashed white. "We shouldn't be embracing like this," I suddenly said.

He pulled back, rough hands gripping my upper arms gently.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, the Masters will not be pleased," I pulled away from him, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Keelee," he whispered, "they are not here."

"Yes, but they sense everything!" Tears filled my eyes again.

"Not everything," he said softly. "They did not sense what we sensed earlier."

"They did," I argued. "They did not wish to scare us."

"Well, what a fine job they have done of protecting us."

"What has become of them?"

"I do not know. I only feel that they are gone." He stared off into the vast expanse above us. "Except for two."

"Two?" My heart pounded. "Just two?"

"Search your feelings, Keelee."

I closed my eyes, and allowed myself to collapse beneath layers of hurt and fear, anger and betrayal, into the core where the Force resided. It whispered to me, with feelings of encouragement and peace. The same feelings Keeloh had sent to me nearly an hour earlier.

I inhaled sharply as I came back to the present. I stared up into Kasen's gentle, yet piercing eyes. "Obi-Wan," I said, exhaling slowly through my nose. "Master Obi-Wan is alive."

"Master Yoda is, as well," Kasen nodded. "But Master Kit… and Master Windu…"

"And Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, and so many other Jedi…" Tears blurred my vision again. I felt the huge disturbance in the Force, making it difficult to sense anything else.

"They are gone."

"Not gone," I scolded him with a wagging, disciplining index finger as Master Windu would have. "One with the Force, they are," I tried to make light of the situation with a terrible imitation of Master Yoda's voice. Kasen smiled, and almost laughed, but I could feel his pain.

For it was also my pain.

"We must find one of them, at least, Keelee," he said. I knew he was trying to be brave. "We must find out what is to become of us, of the Jedi."

"Kasen, I am afraid."

"I will protect you."

And with that, he brushed his lips with a forbidden kiss to my forehead, unlocking the doors that barricaded my prohibited feelings in that I had kept closed for so long.

Before I could decipher my whereabouts, Kasen had my hand clutched tightly within his own, and he was pulling me behind him as he ran. We were rushing through the streets of Coruscant with no place to go, and no one to guide us but the Force.

"Kasen," I said breathlessly, "where are we going?"

"To find a transport," he responded, breathing controlled and voice even.

"How—can you—talk like that? Aren't you—out of breath yet?" I huffed and panted as I tried to keep up with his skillful strides.

He turned back to me, slowing his pace to a walk, eyes twinkling. "You see, Keelee, this is why you never got chosen as a Padawan."

"Spare me your reproach, Kasen Johl, or I will be forced to do something rash."

"What do you do that is not?"

I smacked him. He just laughed, increasing his speed to remind me who was boss.

As much as he tried not to let on, I had always figured that was me.

"Do you think it safe to return to the Temple?"

He turned to face me, alarmed by my question. "Why would you wish to do such a thing? Haven't you seen enough?"

I frowned. "I wish to give my brother a respectful Jedi burial."

"Keelee," Kasen frowned also, "if Anakin is still nearby, he will sense us within miles of the Temple."

"Do not be so sure he is still nearby," I argued. "What purpose would it serve for him to stay, Kasen?"

"Why did he do what he did? None of this makes sense, Keelee." Kasen was slowly but surely getting breathless, so we stopped and rested against a building.

"I know," I spat. "But that doesn't mean we can't go back for Keeloh."

"Are you seriously considering returning there? Do you know how dangerous that could be for us? Do you realize how slim our chances will become of that… that… Sith senses our presence?"

"Anakin is a Jedi," I hissed. "He's just… confused."

"Confused? Keelee, you're confused if you think he has anything to do with us now. In my eyes, Anakin is dead."

Tears threatened to surface again, burning my dry, bloodshot eyes. "You can't mean that," I whispered.

"Of course I mean it!" Kasen pushed himself away from the wall and stalked about in the dark alley. "He is evil, Keelee. You must believe that."

I didn't speak.

"Only an evil man could kill younglings… and with a lightsaber, Keelee!"

I jerked my head to the right, letting the saline sting my eyes. Pain reminded me that I was alive. Keeloh know longer knew such luxuries, if one could call them that.

"Keelee," Kasen's deep voice took on a warmer, gentler tone. I looked up at him, but he was a hazy blur thanks to me crying again. "Keelee, I promise I will take care of you. And we will find somewhere to sleep that is safe, until the morning. When the sun comes up, we shall go to the Temple and find Keeloh, and Liam, and the other younglings, and then we will give them a proper Jedi burial. Is that what you want?"

I nodded, trying to stop myself from crying. I had to get stronger.

He placed warm, rough hands on my shoulders. "Then that is what we shall do."

"I need… shoes…" I said softly, which made Kasen almost laugh. But he noticed the tears brimming at my lids again, and pulled me to himself. This time, I did not push him away, nor did I remind him of the Jedi code.

I was already attached; it was too late for those words now.