"Keelee, Keelee, what happened?" Kasen was shaking me, holding clumps of my once-beautiful hair in his hands.

My eyes fluttered open. Nova was pressing a wet cloth to my forehead; Yahni was standing watch for… something? Kasen was still holding my fried hair.

"I… got so tired… saw things… defending myself…" I knew I wasn't making sense. I had decided, upon seeing Kasen and Yahni so worried, to lie and say I must've been hallucinating, unaccustomed to such extreme desert heat.

But Kasen would know better, wouldn't he?

I bit my chapped lower lip.

"Did you think your hair was attacking you?" Kasen asked incredulously.

Instead of answering him, I burst into tears.

"Oh, Keelee," he sighed, kneeling beside me on the cool cavern floor. Nova walked away to freshen the cloth, but Yahni continued to pace in front of the entrance.

Kasen continued to stroke my face, and then my hair, gently. He lifted a large chunk of it and pinched it between index finger and thumb.

"Is it bad?" I winced, suddenly regretting my moment of impulse.

"It's not long," he shrugged.

I lifted my left hand to touch it, feeling the singed edges at the end of what had been silky hair. Now it was dirty, and felt grimy between the sand-dust and now-frayed splitting ends. I didn't know if anyone had ever tried to cut their hair with a lightsaber, but I decided that it was not the weapon's purpose.

"You are still beautiful, Keelee," Kasen said softly, carefully.

I didn't dare look at him; instead, I stared at my boots.

I heard a quiet, sniffling sound, and suddenly felt compelled to lift my eyes.

Kasen's back was to me, sitting perpendicular from me on the floor. But his broad shoulders gently shook, and I knew he was crying again.

And this time, I felt responsible.

The result was a twisting in my gut, a mixture of guilt and sadness that made me angry all over again.

Thankfully, Kasen had moved my lightsaber, somewhere I couldn't see.

I turned to my left, scooting close to Kasen. At first, he didn't move, but after a moment of my breathless silence he weakly extended his arm.

I took the opportunity to cuddle closer to him, allowing him to rest his arm about my shoulders. He moved slightly, and I froze, but he simply placed his cheek on the top of my head.

I felt the cool droplets that had fallen from his eyes as they mixed in with the other mess that used to be my hair.

Rage boiled inside of me, exploding like the holograms of volcanoes from the planet Mustafar I had seen so long ago.

Rage at myself, for being unable to do anything, rage at the Masters for teaching us impossible doctrines, rage at Anakin for ruining our lives.

Is he really heartless?

My angry, restless heart screamed a loud yes! But I was still uncertain.

Then I remembered my quest to find Obi-Wan, and also our duties in town.

"Kasen," I said softly, "we have to leave."

He nodded dumbly, pulling his arm up and wiping his nose with his sleeve.

I stood up, and offered him a hand, but he shook his head.

"That's my job, remember?" he responded.

At least he can still pick on me.

………

I held Kasen's right hand with my left, partially to guide him and partially to keep my left hand out of reach of my Jedi weapon.

Kasen had allowed me to have it back, considering our circumstances, but warned me that if I started hallucinating again, I would have to tell him so he could remove it once more from my reach. I had agreed, begrudgingly, and hoped for the best.

But out here in the heat, with all of the watchful, cynical eyes of Mos Espa's traders and vendors, I wondered just how strong I could be.

We arrived at Lana's tunic trading post just after the suns had risen in the cloudless sky, and she smiled at us in greeting.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show," she said, handing us each a basket.

I raised my eyebrows in curiosity, but Kasen spoke first.

"Are we late?"

"No, no, not late. But these business deals do not always turn out the way I wish them to." Lana's dark eyes were full of sadness, guarded sadness that made me wonder how a person could survive in such a place.

"We would never steal from you," I said quickly.

The sad, dark eyes were back, searching mine. I kept my gaze steady, unyielding.

She nodded. "Good, good. Now go help Jovin in the back."