The next day I stirred in the chill of the morning, and felt an arm around my waist. I stiffened, reaching my left hand down for where my lightsaber was still hooked onto my belt. I pulled it out, resting my thumb where it needed to be, and rolled away from my attacker, igniting the lightsaber and holding it high into attack position over my head. My "attacker" jerked awake, leaping up and igniting his own saber, green blade glowing, casting our shadows against the building we stood next to.

"Oh, it's you," I breathed.

Kasen's blue eyes were wide. "Are you crazy?" He hissed.

"No, you scared me," I snapped. "What were you thinking, sleeping next to me?"

"I was… protecting you," Kasen blushed furiously now, extinguishing his glowing blade and clipping the hilt back to his own belt.

I almost laughed. But then he walked over to where an old, deactivated trash-compacter droid sat, reached into a parked, white speeder, and produced a tall, shiny pair of brown boots.

"For you," he smiled. They looked about my size, maybe slightly larger, and I eyed them up before stepping into them. I wiggled my toes experimentally, and to my surprise, they fit perfectly.

"These are oddly familiar…" I frowned curiously.

Kasen's eyes flooded with guilt.

"Kasen…"

"I went to the Temple this morning, before you woke up," he told me.

Now I was angry. "You went without me!" I rushed at him, fists flying.

But he was stronger and faster than I, and grabbed both of my wrists. He stared me in the face. "Keelee, relax. I found your shoes. Anakin is nowhere to be found, and neither are the white-armored soldiers you spoke of before. It's completely deserted… other than the… bodies." When he spoke the last word, he squeaked a little, as if he were choking up. I caught a wave of sadness as it rolled from him with frightening intensity, a moment of vulnerability that the average Jedi wouldn't have noticed.

But this was Kasen, and I was Keelee. We were beyond that sort of acquaintance.

I watched in dismay as tears flooded his blue eyes, and suddenly I was frightened and hurt all over again.

"Did you see…"

He nodded, crying openly now. The choking sobs that escaped his lips tore my heart out. "Oh, Kasen," I said softly.

I opened my small arms, and he stepped into their circle, clinging to me as if I could save him. My heart caught in my throat, and now a new emotion slammed and pinned all the others down.

I hated Anakin.

I wanted to hunt him down, skin his once-beautiful head, and wear his scalp on my Jedi robes like a trophy. Then I wanted to show him what he did, bleeding, before taking his lightsaber from him and cutting his own head off with it.

I bit down on my tongue, and tried to stop this flow of thoughts before Kasen sensed anything. He was too overwhelmed with grief to notice anyhow, I was sure of it.

I had to be strong for him, if nothing else.

I stroked his dark, loose, wavy curls and tried to whisper words of comfort in his ear. "There is no death," I quoted one of Yoda's favorite axioms, "only the Force."

"Keelee," he said; his voice gruff with emotion. "We have to go, now."

I nodded in obedience, letting him take my hand and lead me once more.

It took us two hours to reach the temple on foot, which made me wonder how Kasen had traveled so far before I was awake. But then I remembered the speeder, and realized he must've gone to where Kit had left it behind. He must not have slept, I thought. I shouldn't have. It only made me dream…

As we reached the grand steps, the familiar spot for reading or meditating in the sunshine, I squeezed Kasen's strong hand with my small, trembling one. He squeezed back, gently, and I heard him inhale deeply.

"Ready?" he whispered.

"As I'll ever be," I replied softly.

Then he put his arm around my waist and helped me up the stairs, for I felt as if I were going to faint. We stepped into the entryway, and I saw the damage.

All of the events I had been trying so hard to shut out came back in a torrent of images. My heart seemed to stop in that moment and I clutched a hand to my chest.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Keelee?" Kasen asked.

I just nodded, swallowing hard.

I closed my eyes and allowed Kasen to guide me past all of the familiar corridors. I felt him turning, and knew we were headed to the younglings' training room. I knew what we had come here to do, and I was going to be strong. For Liam, for Keeloh, and now, for Kasen – I would be strong, and brave, just as Keeloh had been.

We stepped into the room, where the floor was covered in bodies. All of the beautiful Jedi children, such promise, such bright futures… they all lay in motionless heaps on the temple floor.

Tears threatened to come again, and despite my efforts to be strong and silent, sobs wracked my chest and tightened my throat. I clung to Kasen, holding onto him as if the floor were falling out from beneath me. That's what it felt like, anyhow.

After much more crying and heartache, I had finally pulled it together, and Kasen held me close as we walked about the room. We looked at each other knowingly, and walked out of the room to find a burial box. We knew it was the right thing to do.

Pushing two of the floating bins into the younglings' room, we sat Liam, then Keeloh, inside their metallic walls.

I made sure my actions were stiff and respectful, but refused to show emotion. We covered the bodies with a thick, black blanket. We knew we couldn't stay and watch, so I turned my head as Kasen started the pyre, and then we watched respectfully, somberly, as the flames grew before our eyes.

My heart caught in my throat; I remembered Qui-Gon's funeral.

"I wish we could've done this for all of them," Kasen said softly as the flames crackled with no regard for what they were burning.

Just as the smoke began to rise, and the flames intensified, Kasen and I rushed to escape through the rear exit. He and I both knew we weren't allowed to stay, for fear of being caught, or worse – being found by Anakin and his metal men.

I coughed forcefully, willing the lump in my throat to leave, but at a glance I noticed Kasen's face was wet with tears. I felt his heart break next to me.

It was truly over for us.