At first glace, Stefan Tai'rhi looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him. He stood somewhere between Mira and Megari in height, but was so well proportioned he seemed taller until you had some way to compare. His bright golden hair was still on the short side, though not as short as any of the Mandalorians, and his moustache and beard, a couple shades darker in color than his hair, were neatly trimmed, encircling only his mouth with his cheeks clean shaven. But on closer inspection, the smile lines around his eyes were cut deeper than I remembered, and there were more hints of silver among the gold at his temples. One pure white streak was on the left side of his chin, making an interesting contrast in his beard. Most telling, his blue eyes, the color of a perfect summer sky, had a troubled and wary look, as if they had seen too much.

Then he smiled, and all the little changes disappeared for a moment. The dimple in his right cheek flashed and his eyes went from watchful to warm. He held out his hands to me. I came forward and took them, smiling back, glad he was alive. He kissed both cheeks, and more familiarly, my forehead, then set me back to look me over.

"Jennet, darling…I'm relieved you're looking so well. I've been on the move for the last year when the Jedi murders started…" he glanced around, noting the four Jedi accompanying me and stopped, confused. "I assume you know about that?" At my nod, he looked again at my companions, then wider to include Megari, Canderous and the honor guard.

Everyone was silent, glancing between me, Stefan, and Canderous. The Mandalorians looked suspicious and wary, the rest of my friends puzzled and full of questions.

Canderous was utterly blank.

Stefan smiled at the assembled company in general, dropped my hands and took a decorous step back.

"But how rude of me," he said easily. "I was so pleased to see you I barged in on your friends. Stefan Tai'rhi," he bowed to everyone, and canny as always, offered his hand to Canderous. The swift look to me said he had not missed the protective stance of the Mandalorians, and Canderous in particular.

I had been trying to talk to Canderous mentally since I told the honor guard to back off, but he was blocking me entirely. The very blankness of his face told me how thrown he was by Stefan's sudden appearance. He stared at the offered hand for a long moment, and I was absolutely certain he was going to refuse to shake it. But just short of utterly rude, he clasped it briefly, wrist to wrist, blue stare hard but not yet hostile.

"Canderous Ordo," he rumbled, not quite growling. "I am the Mandalore, and these are my men." He gave their names. Each man nodded shortly, still wary but all weapons were now holstered.

I introduced the rest of the party, and Ladria smoothly came forward to ask Stefan what he knew about surviving Jedi. Stefan gave her a considering look.

"I know who you are, of course, Ladria Windbreak," he said slowly. "The Exile. I was not one of the council, but I was part of the preliminary discussions. If it makes a difference, I lobbied to commute the sentence from exile to in-house restriction." His eyes were sober.

"Not incarceration?" Ladria asked with a gentle smile.

"No," he answered seriously. "You didn't really go over to the Dark Side, you know. You were just lost for a time. Perhaps, in the end, the council unwittingly made the right choice?"

"Perhaps they did," Ladria said thoughtfully. "I didn't, always. I'm still not sure of just how responsible I am for the rip in the Force, or its mending. But whatever the cause, whoever is to blame, it's done. Everyone has paid a price."

"The Jedi in particular," Stefan agreed. "We can only move forward now."

"Agreed." Ladria looked at him gravely. "There is some business left here, but afterwards I am going to go to Dantooine and see about rebuilding the conclave, and finding any survivors. The Sith are still a threat; I consider that Jedi responsibility."

"Absolutely."

I had been listening to this exchange with half an ear. The rest of me was trying desperately to contact Canderous. He was resolutely blocking me, his face still giving nothing away. I touched his arm, wordlessly trying to get him to talk to me. He looked down at me, gave a small tight smile and relaxed infinitesimally. I smiled back. Then his face tightened again when Stefan spoke.

"Jennet, may I have a private word?"

I turned and tried to glare but it failed woefully. I sighed, and nodded.

"Of course."

We moved away from the group, Kex, Dax and Kelborn staying near but out of earshot. Stefan eyed the three large bodyguards, a speculative look on his face.

"Do you want to explain the escort?" he asked gently, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Not especially," I said honestly.

He stood at ease, a trick I knew he used when a situation was unknown. I smiled sadly. I was relieved and pleased he was alive, and remembered all the reasons I had fallen in love with him. He was still charming, sophisticated, intelligent, and genuinely caring about the people around him. He also could be ruthless and cold if need be, but then so could I. He was complex, kind, powerful, not at all pompous as so many higher up Jedi become, and only occasionally arrogant. I had good reasons to love him.

I knew I'd always remember our time with fondness. I was glad for the memories. What gave me the most happiness now, though, was knowing that this extraordinary man had always believed in me, and always will. He and my parents gave me the best gift of all: a happy childhood.

He was Uncle Stefan again. And my stubborn, irritating Mate wouldn't let me in so I could show him that. Men.

"Why were you trying to find me?" I asked abruptly.

He looked a little startled at the question. "When the Jedi murders had escalated to the point the Council fled, I went into hiding, as did most surviving members of the Order. We all kept on the move, trying to keep in touch secretly. It didn't work very well," he said with a depreciative grimace. "I was on Onderon shortly after this happened. I know you well enough to realize you would have already left. It took some time, but eventually I traced you to Nar Shadaa. The trail went cold from there. Your ship crashed, and I knew you'd survived that, but that planet was in chaos two weeks ago. The Exchange decimated, the Hutt dead. I learned that you had been on both the Exchange and the Hutt's hit list for at least a month. All evidence indicated you were dead. But I didn't really believe it."

"So you came back to Onderon?" I asked, trying to follow his thought process.

"I figured it was the one place you'd come back to eventually. I knew you had a lockbox still, and the last traces of Miranne and Drake were here. I was hoping to leave you a message at the bank. I do have the other key you know, and access to the box."

"I'd forgotten about that," I said with a small smile. "All right, I know how. But you didn't say why."

"From the look on Canderous's face, I'd say it doesn't matter why, now," Stefan said gently. "You're alive, and someone loves you. Better than I could, I think." At my startled look, he said quietly, "I am Jedi. I checked auras. His and yours…well, it's nothing like I've ever seen before. I can't give you that. I think maybe I always knew it, or I would never have let the Council bully me into leaving you."

"I hated you for a while," I said, smiling. "I got over it, though."

"I was never good enough for you," he said seriously. "I never made you my first priority, and I allowed you to make me yours. I told myself when I left it was to protect you, and largely it was. But I think I knew even then we were building a dream on a cloud with no real foundation."

"It was a nice dream," I said sadly.

"You have a better one now," he pointed out. "You were wiser than I, and fought it. I was the ruthless bastard that broke down your wall."

"If you hadn't, I wouldn't have been ready when I met Canderous," I said, and grinned. "So thank you for being such a jerk."

"You're welcome, my lady," he grinned back, a little sadly. "But tell me…are you happy?"

"Oh yes," I said, and my smile widened.

"Then I'm glad. But really, Jennet…a Mandalorian?" He looked more bemused than disapproving.

"He'd kill you slow if you ever let on I'd told you, but he's a softie, really," I said laughed. "At least when it comes to me."

"Well, it's all right then," he touched my cheek. "When is the wedding?"

"About a month, I think," I answered. I wasn't surprised he'd deduced that much; Stefan had always been good at reading people. "As soon as the Mate trials are over."

"Mate?" He looked startled at that. "Well, it explains a great deal. I'd heard of Mandalorian Mates, but thought perhaps it was a myth."

"You had?" It was my turn to be startled.

"I didn't join Revan and Ladria during the wars, but the Order learned as much about the Mandoa as they could at the time. It was a footnote in one of the histories we'd uncovered. But it's interesting that it seems to be true."

"Oh, it's true," I said, a little more forcibly than I had meant to. "We share thoughts, and fighting ability…it's amazing, really."

"I'd love to talk to you about it sometime. But now, if we don't rejoin your party, I suspect your Mate will tear me to pieces. Has he listened in?" he asked curiously.

"No. He's been blocking me since I told him who you were."

"Ah. Well, let's go put his mind at rest, shall we?" He offered me his arm, and I took it.

We walked back to the group, who were chatting quietly. Canderous stood, arms crossed, utterly still. I disengaged from Stefan and went over to him, standing on tiptoe to kiss his shoulder. He wouldn't unbend enough for me to reach his cheek. I understood, but wanted to kick him anyway for his stubbornness.

"Mandalore," Stefan said formally, "You are fortunate in your Mate. And she, I see, is fortunate in hers. I understand congratulations are in order?"

Are you sure, Wildcat? Came his thought, and I resisted the urge to elbow him sharply.

Yes, you big jerk, I thought back, with an inward smile. I let him feel that there was no deception, no regret. I felt him relax, and offered a hand to Stefan.

"Yes, thank you, Master Stefan," he answered, just as formally. "Will you join us when we set a date?"

I was surprised at this, and sent him a suspicious look. He smiled.

Don't think too much of me, Wildcat. I'm honest enough to admit I don't mind rubbing his face in it some.

I schooled my face so the laughter wouldn't show.

"If I can, I will, gladly," Stefan said with a brilliant smile. "You can reach me by my personal datalink."

He gave the information to Canderous, Ladria, and the rest of the Jedi present, promising to keep in touch. An invitation was extended by all to join us in the shopping trip, but Stefan refused charmingly, saying he had business elsewhere. I barely managed to contain a sigh of relief. I was relieved Stefan had escaped the Sith Jedi hunt, and he would always be family. But right now, I was simply glad to have had some closure.

"I will try to find the rest of the surviving Order," he promised Ladria. "When you're ready, we'll meet at Dantooine. And Jennet…do think about training," he turned to me. "I know that as the Mate of the Mandalore you will have much to do, but I can see your progress has likely exceeded even my estimation of your talents."

"I'll think about it. I have been thinking about it, in fact, for a while. I still don't know how I feel about it. And we have a lot to do; we're trying to gather the Mandoa survivors," I had finally gotten Canderous to unbend enough to allow me to slip my arm through his. He placed his free hand over mine and smiled down at me, then looked at Stefan.

"I've left it up to her about Jedi training," he rumbled. "She's needed with the Mandoa, yes, but the Sith are a threat to us all. I know her strength and talent, I've not only seen it, I've lived it, through her."

Stefan nodded, and we wound up the departing pleasantries. All the proper things said, Stefan bowed again at everyone, and left. I turned to Canderous.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, leaning down to kiss my cheek.

He's a lot more forgiving than me; I would have beat the shit out of him, or, more likely, challenged him for you. He just stands aside and is glad you're happy.

He's a good man, I answered. But more than that, he knows a hopeless battle when he sees one. He saw our auras and knew that he stood no chance anymore.

It's just…he didn't fight for you. This time, or against the Council. I'm not sure if that makes him better, or just an idiot. I wouldn't have let you go without a fight. There was a pause. I vote idiot.

I gave an inward laugh. Maybe. I'm just glad he's alive for you to fret about.

I'm not fretting.

Sure, I thought skeptically.

I don't fret. You fret. I brood. And snarl.

Of course.

And glower, he said, demonstrating.

I laughed, and kissed him, and he grinned back.