Obi-Wan had expected Asajj to continue to be typically headstrong. He hadn't expected to be halfway to the Loornu Institute when he got a comm message from the Jedi Temple. He also hadn't expected the traffic to be so heavy on the way back. By the time he reached the inner halls, he was trying to hurry in the most dignified way he could, plain brown robes billowing out behind him as he walked.

There was no way to be gracefully late to a meeting of the Jedi Council. The doors slid open and Obi-Wan held his breath.

In the middle of the room was Asajj, council members staring her down critically. Fortunately it was not a full meeting of the Jedi Council, but with Yoda and Mace Windu in attendance, the two most intimidating members were there. Saesee Tiin stared her down less critically, his hands knitted in front of him; Plo Koon was relaxing back in his chair. Windu was leaning forward, hands clasped in front of him, and Yoda was merely clutching his walking stick with an air of serenity. Stass Allie was actually smiling graciously. Body language alone made Obi-Wan sigh in relief as he snuck into the room, trying to make his way to his chair.

Asajj didn't notice: in fact, she didn't even raise her head. She was kneeling in the center of the chamber, head bowed. It was a powerfully subservient gesture. From the roughness in her voice, it was obvious she had been talking for awhile. "...And I realize that it is not my place to ask for favors. But all I can ask for is to make it quick."

Yoda's hands knit around the edge of his walking staff, readjusting momentarily before the small Jedi Master hopped down from his chair. Asajj kept her head bowed, eyebrows knit as she tried to keep her breathing calm. But as Yoda drew closer she did flinch as if bracing for a blow. The rest of the Council seemed to be engaged in a silent conversation - glancing back and forth. Windu's expression was inscrutable as always, but he gave a very small nod that Plo Koon echoed; Stass Allie relaxed back into her seat and her smile grew a little kinder.

And Asajj waited patiently, still wincing quietly. After a few very long breaths, her eyes opened, and after a few blinks she looked towards Yoda out of the corner of her eye. "You... aren't going to kill me?"

"Hmm. Kill you, why should we?"

"I..." Asajj gaped a little in surprise. "I've killed countless Jedi. I've lived almost my entire life serving the Dark Side. I deserve to die for what I've done."

Yoda tapped his walking stick on the floor a moment in thought before smiling. "About what you deserve mercy is not. Forgiving, the light is, as merciless as the dark. Your first and most important lesson, this shall be."

"Master Kenobi." Obi-Wan jumped a little as Mace Windu addressed him. "If you are prepared to vouch for this woman, the Council is willing to officially accept her as a ward of the Jedi and pardon her of her crimes. Are you willing to testify that her return to the Light is genuine?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"Then satisfied, this Council is." Yoda nodded sagely, and Asajj slowly raised her head, eyes wide. "Dismissed, you are. Set straight later, the details will be." At the wave of the Grand Master's wizened green hand, the rest of the Council stood, each of them immediately launching into their own separate pieces of business. Asajj herself remained crouched in a low bow, not getting up until Obi-Wan offered a hand out to her.

"I wasn't quite expecting that," she admitted, sounding somewhat flustered.

"Master Yoda has a talent for the unexpected." It took a few moments for Asajj to relax enough to return his gentle smile. "Though, speaking of which - I thought you were going to take at least two more weeks to recover..."

"It needed to be done." Her shoulders were already starting to shake lightly in pain, and Obi-Wan reached out to rest a hand on her upper arm in a silent gesture of sympathy. With the council chambers now eerily quiet, they turned to leave together, and he was sure to match her slow and somewhat pained pace. She let his hand slip down a little, taking it and lacing her fingers in-between his own. It was a dangerous move to walk so boldly, but he knew which corridors were quiet and deserted at that time of day.

They walked in silence for awhile before Obi-Wan gently squeezed her hand, catching her attention. "I was coming to see you, actually. I have something of yours." As he reached into his robes to find an inner pocket, her eyes widened curiously. "Truthfully, I shouldn't have taken it. At the time I acted out of petty retaliation, and for that, I apologize. Now I've come to realize how much this must mean to you."

Gingerly, he pulled out a small metal cylinder - a lightsaber of plain and practical make. A rough leather band wrapped around the handle, still stained with sweat. It was unassuming, but incredibly precious, from the way Obi-Wan gave it to her delicately and the way she accepted it as if it were so fragile a mere breath might tear it apart.

"Master Narec's lightsaber. ...Thank you." Her voice shook momentarily with emotion before she gave a small smile and half-laugh. "I tortured you for weeks, and you apologize to me for taking a weapon you used to fight your way out?"

"Well, I suppose when you put it like that..."

"...it's no wonder I came to think all Jedi were terminally stupid," she teased slyly before looking back down to the lightsaber in her hands and then clutching it to her chest for a moment. Silently, she reached down to clip it on her belt. It was just as plain and practical as the rest of her clothing: in fact, with the patch over one eye and scars still up and down her face, it was very easy to assume she was just another smuggler instead of someone so talented in the Force. But the lightsaber seemed as if it belonged at her hip, in sharp contrast to the showy curved Sith lightsabers everyone had come to associate with her. Obi-Wan noticed this, and smiled gently at her. She smiled back.

"Do you have enough time for a walk?"

"Yes - I think I do."