The Exile paused, glancing left and right down the hallway. For the moment it was abandoned and she breathed a sigh of relief. She padded silently into Bao's room, shutting the door behind her. There was a marked difference in his space, the room itself was virtually identical to her own but where he lay was surrounded by various pieces of medical equipment. His upper body was wrapped in layers of gauzy dressings but his face was virtually unscathed. Sensing movement in her peripheral vision she turned quickly but was met with only a mirror.

The sight was disturbing.

The left side of her face was swollen and covered in bruising, from her brow bone to her chin. Her dark brown iris was surrounded by bloody red broken vessels and the lid was blackened around it. Reaching upwards, she began to pull some of her straight dark hair over her face until she could bear to look at it.

Satisfied, she continued on, finding a small, ivory stool near his side. She sat and leaned in close, whispering "I don't know if you can hear me…but it's over…you did it, the generator is destroyed…" She leaned back once more, aching to take his hand, to touch him for the first time but also fearing that she would disturb his injuries. She reached forward, brushing the exposed tips of his fingers with her own.

"I never thought I would ever have to worry about hurting you," she murmured, smiling ruefully. She withdrew her hand and folded it in with the other on her lap. She allowed her eyes to drift wistfully over his unconscious form. Every angle, every muscle appeared to be carved from smooth, dusky stone. He was a wounded angel to her and she longed to look into his warm, brown eyes again.

She shook her head.

"What are you doing?" she thought, "When he wakes up he's going to do one of two things, leave you or become your student. There is no emotion, there is peace…"

As she struggled with her own ruminations the door burst open, admitting a harried looking Shaelas followed by the majority of her crew. "I am so sorry," said the flustered Selkath, "I tried to honor your request but the moment that I revealed that you had regained consciousness they demanded admittance. Your droid threatened to remove my entrails! The Mandalorian promised to wear them as a belt! I didn't know what to do!"

She chuckled in spite of herself, "It's alright Shaelas, I should have expected as much after three days. I apologize for their…over-enthusiasm but I must say that I am impressed that you managed to hold them off for as long as you did."

"[Statement: Master, by 'holding off' do you mean 'sobbing hysterically' for ten minutes before we could extract directions?"

"Good to see you too HK," she laughed, "And yes, whatever works."

"[Statement: You are a cunning one, well played Selkath."

Shaelas looked as perplexed as was possible for one of his species. "Be that as it may," he replied, "But this room is currently off limits to all visitors. The energy in this space is specifically attuned to his healing requirements. The presence of other sentients is disrupting it."

"I'm so sorry," the Exile said, rising as quickly as her protesting body would allow, "I had no idea, I just wanted to see for myself."

"That's quite alright, Mistress," Shaelas said kindly, "When he comes out of sedation it will be quite alright to visit but until then might I suggest that you adjourn this meeting to your suite?"

"Of course," she said, "It's just next door everyone." She motioned towards the exit and they began to file out ahead of her. With their backs turned she was free to move as slowly as the pain would allow.

They crowded out, angling towards her door but Mical fell back. She wiped away all traces of discomfort from her features and affected the most normal gait as was possible. He stopped and faced her, his pale blue eyes awash with concern. "Surely such stoicism is unnecessary at this point, Master?" he asked.

"Stoicism? Don't be silly, under the circumstances I think I've fared pretty well." she replied calmly. She couldn't fool him. Her young Padawan was tied to her in a very different way than the others. He reached forward, gently moving the hair away from the battered side of her face, frowning.

"I assume this bruising extends to a few other places?" he asked softly.

"A few…" she admitted.

"I have developed something in our travels," he said, carefully lowering the strands back in place, "a balm that may help. I will check with the Selkath, if they feel it will be of use and it does not conflict with your treatment the I will see that you have a supply of it."

"Thank-you Mical," she said, smiling gently, "I would appreciate that very much."

He flushed with pleasure and turned, linking one arm into hers, supporting her back into her room. Once inside she took a quick head count of those present. Three were missing.

"Where's Atton, Mira and Visas?" she asked.

"The Hawk took one hell of a beating, Princess," Canderous replied, "Your pilot has been busting his tail since we got here. Mira went to get him when she heard you were awake."

She nodded, "And Visas?"

"She's gone," Mical replied gently, "The destruction of Malachor triggered a series of visions within her. She was compelled to return to her home world, to look upon the surface one more time. She has extended her apologies and has promised to return."

"I understand," she said, "Visions can be a powerful thing."

"Yeah, well she's not the only one who's taken off," came a voice from the doorway. She turned to face Mira and Atton as they entered. Beaming she gently embraced them both, stopping at Atton and looking him in the eye.

"I hear you're been working overtime on the Hawk lately?" she asked.

"Yeah well, I needed to keep busy and this isn't much of a Pazaak town," he drawled.

"Don't overdo it, ok?" she said, "There's plenty of us to help out and Bao Dur will be up again soon."

"Gotcha chief," he said, in mock salute but his eyes betrayed his exhaustion. She gave his forearm a gentle, supportive squeeze.

"Now," she said, facing Mira, "What's this I hear about someone taking off?"

"Onasi," she replied, "He's gone. Took off to the Outer Rim by himself just after we arrived. Left some Admiral Shan in charge."

"Bastilla Shan?" she asked incredulously, "Did he say why?"

"Sorta," she replied, "After Malachor he told us that he'd had visions of someone dear to him. Someone who's in trouble…trapped beyond the Rim, so he went. Also, you should know that he took T3 with him."

Revan.

She felt joy rise within and she wished them both the best inside. "I see, well T3 was more his than he was ours anyhow but I have to say that I'm going to miss the little guy," she said, "I am glad to see you're all here. Perhaps we should take this opportunity to discuss what comes next?"

Settling in she spent the next hour asking each individual present what their wishes were. Mandalore felt that he had spent far too much time away from his men and was planning to return to Dxun as soon as possible. HK was set in his programming and vowed to stand by her no matter what the circumstances. She formally offered the opportunity to become Padawan learners to Atton and Mira and they accepted, joining the ranks with Visas.

"What about Bao Dur?" Mira asked.

"Like you, I will offer Bao the chance to join you all as a Padawan learner. If he accepts then he will complete his training with you and aid in the rebuild of the Jedi temple. If not then he is free to choose his own path. In the meantime, I suggest you take this time to relax and enjoy the beauty of Manaan. We will be here until we are all capable of travel again. Then I suggest we head to Dxun so that Mandalore might rejoin his men. It is also an excellent site to learn and train before we undertake the monumental task of the temple rebuild. Who knows, we might even be helpful." she said, winking at Mandalore who nodded slowly in response.

Again the door opened, "I am sorry to disturb you Mistress, but your physician has arrived. Now that you are awake he would like to conduct a full examination and administer some tests."

"Of course Shaelas," she replied, "Ok, we'll leave it there for tonight. Please go and enjoy yourselves, you've earned it." As she spoke her eyes locked with Atton's and she could see that he had caught her intention.

"Very well," Mical said, herding the others towards the door, "Good night Master, we will return in the morning."

"Good night, everyone," she replied.

They all filed out into the hall but Atton remained behind. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him and he raised his arm, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Look…" he began, "There's no easy way to do this so I'm just going to say it. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know for all the fighting with Mical, for being so jealous of his time with you. I just wanted to tell you…" he trailed off.

She smiled at him, "What brought all of this on?"

"You were right about that old witch," he replied, "She took things in me that were small, controllable and pushed them so hard that I thought I was going insane. I was jealous of him and half crazy over you. With her gone I feel like I'm back in charge so I just wanted to apologize and say thanks. Thanks for putting up with it and taking me on as a Padawan."

"That is the best thing I've heard in a long time," she said quietly, "Have you spoken to Mical at all?"

"Yeah, we made nice a couple of days ago and he's been helping me out on the Hawk. He's a smart kid, he's picking it all up pretty fast." he said.

"And you feelings are…clear?" she asked delicately.

"Yeah," he said, "Look, I'm not saying that you don't fill out a dancer's costume nicely and all but you're my Master now and I think I can live with that without going crazy."

"I am so glad to hear it," she said warmly, "I promise that when I'm out of here we'll work on defending your emotions. Considering how good you are at protecting your thoughts it should be easy. I don't want anyone to ever do that to you again."

"Thanks," he said, meeting her eyes and she could see the depth of his sincerity, "Ok, I'm leaving before this gets all awkward. Good night."

"Good night, Padawan."