DISCLAIMER: *glomps Cin and retakes the Ring* Ha! My One Ring of Unlimited Copyright Privileges! Yes! *Garen Muln swats me and steals the Ring* Argh! No!

I don't own Star Wars. *sulks*

By the way, sorry for making everyone cry with the last chapter! I bawled too writing that, if it makes you feel better!

This one's Cin-Zara centric again.

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She knew vanity was discouraged among the Jedi. It lead to pride, which evidently lead to the dark side. But she was a teen girl- she was allowed to be self-conscious about her looks.

Her formally pretty looks, now marred by scars across the right side of her face.

Zara reached up, lightly running her fingertips over the pink scars over her cheek. The worst were centred around where the bones in her face had broken almost four months ago, although there were more on her forehead and chin. Those ones the healers said would eventually fade. It was the ones on her cheek that most worried her.

She knew she had no right to complain. Obi-Wan had been suffering through physical therapy on his arm after the sling had been removed. The other teen complained the therapy hurt worse than the actual wound at times. Zara had seen Obi-Wan in therapy once, and had nearly cried when she sensed her friend's pain through the Force. Master Jinn had sat with him the entire time, trying to ease the pain although there wasn't much he could do.

Scars on her face weren't such a big deal. Or at least, that's what she was supposed to think.

"What, are you afraid you're going to forget what you look like if you leave the mirror?" Cin came to the 'fresher door, leaning on the wall. His eyes twinkled with gentle amusement as he observed his Padawan. Normally, the gentle teasing would be enough to make Zara laugh, although today...

"I wish I could forget what I look like," she muttered.

Cin looked hard at her, his amusement fading into seriousness. "What's wrong?"

"This is!" Zara gestured irritably at her reflection in the mirror. "These hideous scars!"

"Zara...." Cin hesitated, obviously not knowing what to say. "You know the healers think the scars will fade away."

"Not these ones!" Zara turned back to the mirror, looking at the deep scars on her cheek. "These won't fade. I'll never look the same way again!"

"Padawan, you know what the Order thinks about vanity-"

"This isn't just about vanity!" Zara took a deep, shaky breath. "Everywhere I go now, people stop and stare at the scars on my face. No one sees me, they just see these horrible, ugly scars. Even in the Temple, the first thing people see is my scars. They all look at me like I'm some kind of monster and I hate it! Even you, I know you look at the scars a lot! No one sees me as a normal girl, or even a normal Jedi anymore! All people see is scars, and they either feel sorry for me or avoid me entirely!" Losing control over the tears of frustration, Zara tried to brush past her Master and leave the 'fresher, only to feel his strong arms encircle her and pull her to his chest. She struggled to make him let go for a few minutes before giving up, resting her head on his shoulder and letting her angry tears flow out.

Cin held her for several minutes, letting her release her pent-up emotions, before gently pulling her back to look him in the eye. "Is this what all this is about? People treating you differently because of some scars?"

Shame flooded her heart that she would be so upset over such a trivial manner. Zara glanced down and away from Cin's penetrating gaze, shrugging. She was surprised when Cin hugged her again. "I'm sorry, Padawan."

"Why're you sorry? This isn't your fault," mumbled Zara into his tunic.

"I should have known you wouldn't be upset over something like vanity. Is it everyone who's treating you strange or just some people?"

Zara shrugged. "Most of 'em, Master. Even in the Council chambers last week while they were determining whether I could return to active duty, I noticed Master Gallia and Master Poof were staring at my scars, and Master Biliba too."

"Does... does it really look like I'm staring at your scars, Padawan?"

Zara hesitated. "Sometimes. I mean, some days you seem to be able to ignore them and treat me like normal, and others... it's like it's all you can focus on, and then you start thinking about Nar Shaddaa again and... It's hard enough having to live with this on my face, always reminding me of those weeks of hell whenever I look in a mirror, but when you start thinking about it too it just..."

"Shh." Cin held her close, running a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, Zara. I... I guess I'm just not used to the scars yet." He pulled back slightly, resting his forehead against Zara's brow and staring her in the eyes. "In time, I'll quit seeing them. So will the rest of the people who know you. And as for the rest... I don't know what to say about that. I can only hope that the scars will fade away."

"Yeah, I guess." Zara looked down, away from her Master's stare. "It just hurts now..."

Cin's fingertips gently traced the outlines of the scars. "It will hurt for a while, Padawan. People will look at you strangely, because they're not used to seeing these scars." He brushed a kiss over the scars. "But it will get better. Either the scars will heal, or people will just get used to them. And eventually, even the hurtful comments and reactions you get now won't hurt as badly." He placed another kiss on her forehead. "Honest."

Zara managed to smile at Cin. "Thank you, Master." She reached forward and tightly embraced him, burying her face in his neck.

Cin gave her a tight squeeze. "Any time, Padawan." Draping an arm over Zara's shoulders, he led her out of the 'fresher. "Care for a sparring match?"

Zara nodded. "Sure. Maybe I'll even be able to hit you this time!"

Cin laughed. "One of these days, Zara."

Zara couldn't help but smile. Cin might not know it, but his words had done more to help her than he knew. She impulsively gave him another hug as they were getting ready to head out of the apartment, feeling him return it, even if he didn't quite know what she was hugging him for.

She would get over the scars, even if she had to live with the reminder of her suffering for the rest of her life. As long as she had Cin to help her, everything would be all right.

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Not bad, considering I wrote this at 1 a.m. I'm actually quite proud of it. :) It's a really good thing I don't have classes tomorrow...

New story up! Nanashi-Angel and I are collaborating on "Castaway". You should check it out. Because I said so. :)

Quick question: Would people be interested in seeing a crossover with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in Middle Earth or Narnia? I just want opinions right now...

Thanks for reading! Please review!

Xaja