Thanks again to Lady Xianghua for the beta.

Chapter 2

Kas'shen stepped into the neatly kept and spacious room, expecting to find him there. Odd, it seemed to her, that she couldn't find him anywhere. If she had counted correctly, it was the sixth time she had tried to look for him in his room for the past two days. Frustration was beginning to chew on her nerves and she gripped her lightsabre tighter.

"Kavar?"

She bit on her lip when she got no response. Kas'shen walked further into the room and stood beside the couch in the small living room. With a sigh, she closed her eyes for a moment and turned to leave.

But she stopped immediately when she saw him.

Kavar walked into the room while reading a datapad and his face was contorted with concentration--if she hadn't known him for such a long time—and a slight hint of frustration.

"So, the master has finally decided to come out of his hiding. Splendid." Kas'shen purposely added more sarcasm to her tone to imply her irritation. Her master stopped abruptly, and despite his attempt to not show the difference on his expression, Kas'shen saw his green globes grow darker.

"Kash." The tone in which he spoke her name was different too. He sounded like he was choking slightly on the name, and Kas'shen frowned at him. The Master turned away his head, and refused to look at her in the eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Kas'shen moved forward to the desk and placed a datapad on it. "You told me to hand in the report regarding the incident on level-64, sector 257, remember?" She spun around and crossed her arms on her chest. "I've been looking for you for the past two days. Coruscant's not a small place, you know. Where have you been?"

Her master took the datapad from the table and started reading it. All the time when he was in the room, he never looked at her face. "Thank you, Kas'shen." The young woman was perplexed. Kavar had never called her by the full name unless they were in front of other masters, but she said nothing. "I've been rather busy lately. The Council has many things to do, and I don't have time to see anyone else." When he finally looked up at her, she saw that the colour of his eyes never changed back to the warm, light green she was always used to. Instead, his eyes were cold, and hard.

"The next time you have something to give me, and can't find me, you can just leave it on my desk, Kas'shen."

She tried not to appear hurt at his sudden distance from her, and choked back her questions. "Yes, Master."

When he said nothing else, Kas'shen lowered her head and walked towards the door. "I'll be leaving you to your work then." She stood there, hoping for answer, but he never gazed up from the datapad, and simply gave her a nod.

Something had changed in him. She could feel it, but she didn't understand why, and it hurt her.

"Quick!" Revan ran into her room and stuffed something into the secret compartment on the floor—which Kas'shen thought only she knew about. The black-haired woman clambered onto her bed and was absolutely out of breath, though she tried very hard not to appear like it.

Just as Kas'shen was about to ask what was happening, Nisotsa and Barielle, two younger Knights ran into her room.

"Revan! Where is it?" Nisotsa was able to breathe out.

Revan widened her silver-grey eyes innocently and asked sweetly. "What are you talking about?"

Kas'shen looked from one girl to the other, and her brows were furrowed in puzzlement. The black-haired Knight on her bed was breathing calmly, unlike when she had just burst into the room. The innocent look she gave the two girls was very genuine, and Kas'shen was able to stop herself from laughing just in time.

Barielle pursed her lips at Revan, and placed her hands on her hips. "Master Kavar's datachip. Where is it?"

Revan brushed away a few strands of hair and jutted out her lower lip. "What datachip? I don't have Master Kavar's datachip on me."

Kas'shen admired her friend's ability to lie so smoothly.

"Revan…" Nisotsa started warningly.

"Do I even want to be here? Sleep-over party?" Malak walked into Kas'shen's room with a raised eyebrow.

Nisotsa scowled at him. "Can you get that woman to give us what we want?"

"What datachip?" Revan climbed off the bed and pulled Malak over to cover her. "I told you. I don't have it!"

Malak took a glance at the girl behind him and with silent communication between the two, he understood what she wanted. "If Revan says she doesn't have whatever you want, then she doesn't." He smiled at them. "Shouldn't the two of you be in Master Vrook's class? You know what happens when you're late."

The two girl's eyes widened at that and they ran out of the room with horrified expressions. Revan laughed and taunted the two girls, telling them that they were in for big trouble.

The young man towered over Revan and his lips were pursed in a very, very thin line. Malak was not amused by her antics, and his eyes pointed it out very clearly. Suddenly, he swatted her at the back of her head.

"What did you do now?"

Revan yowled in indignation and pouted in mock-hurt at his question. "Why is it always my fault?" She slapped him playfully on his chest. "They were trying to acquire something that was not theirs!"

"Like what?"

"Kavar's datachip." Kas'shen finally spoke and reached into the hidden compartment. "And I don't want to know how you found out about this compartment." She gazed sternly at her friend, who was trying to avoid Malak's glare and failing miserably to look innocent, for once.

The older woman placed her hands on her hips and mock-pouted even more. "What? No thanking me? Sheesh." Then she laughed. "Alright. Remember to give it back to him. I found it on the library floor and I think he dropped it. You should've seen how close it was that that two psychopaths nearly got their piggy hands on it."

Then she grinned mischievously. "For all you know, it might be a recording of Kavar bathing!" Her grin grew wider. "Full view!"

Malak groaned in annoyance and pulled her out of the room by the collar. "Bye, Kassie. See you at dinner." He tugged at the collar when Revan yelled in protest. "We have some serious talking to do here."

Kas'shen smiled at the two friends and shook her head. Revan waved goodbye while trying to free herself from Malak and the door closed with a hiss.

The young woman stared at the datachip blankly, while the pain from before assailed her again. It pained her to see him so cold towards her, and she couldn't understand what she had done. Maybe I said something wrong, or insulted him in some way.

She traced the edges of the chip with her thumb, and looked closely at the labelling. "One of his recordings…he always records his thoughts before his assignments."

Out of disinterest, she slid the chip into her drawer and stared at the desk for some moment before blinking and shaking her head again.

Kas'shen left her room, and headed towards the training room.

Revan groaned as she leaned her forehead on her hand. Kas'shen watched her roll her eyes at the tall man sitting beside her at the dining table and nagging away. The black-haired woman huffed and stuck out three fingers to indicate how many hours Malak had been lecturing her about the proper ways of a lady and all that jazz.

Kas'shen smiled softly, and turned her attention to the other tables, where most of the Jedi Masters and senior Knights sat. She scanned the tables for a sign of a certain brown-haired Master, but didn't find him.

Odd, he doesn't miss his meals…

The platinum-blonde woman stood up and walked over to one of the tables, and politely asked Master Atris, who usually sat next to Kavar during meals.

"Master Atris? Have you seen Master Kavar?"

The white-haired Master looked up at her and smiled softly. "No, Kas'shen. I haven't seen him all day. He's left for Dantooine, did you not know?"

Kas'shen's expression registered surprise at that. "No…no, Master Atris. I think he was in a hurry and forgot to tell me." He left without telling me... Why?

The pain stung her again and she thanked the master before leaving for her room. Revan and Malak were too engrossed in their arguments to notice their dejected and troubled friend leave.

"I shouldn't be so emotional about his treatment towards me." She whispered to herself in her dark room. "I'm a Jedi. I shouldn't feel bad."

Kas'shen chewed on her lower lip and frowned. "But why the sudden change? He'd never leave without telling me…"

Then her desk caught her attention.

She scooted on her bed towards the piece of furniture and pulled out the drawer that she had left the chip in. The young woman stared at the chip for a very long time before taking it out and finally plugging it into her console.

Just like I said what it was… just some reports.

However, boredom didn't stop her from watching the report. She took in every movement, every gesture, every facial expression, and how his lips moved when he spoke.

Kas'shen still couldn't understand the feelings she felt towards him.

But she forced herself to be used to it.

She had to.

She was a Jedi.

And a Jedi Knight at that.

The report stopped and Kas'shen sighed before she reached out to eject the chip.

But then another imaged flickered onto the screen. And Kas'shen's eyes widened in shock.