Brinna's lack of sleep was catching up with her as the Hawk approached Dantooine and she began to prepare for landing. She stifled a yawn as she flipped the appropriate switches and hit the appropriate buttons. Carth had not returned and she did her best not to think about the rather bad ending to their latest conversation. But then when had any of their conversations really ended on a good note? The man was so frustratingly stubborn that it made Brinna want to tear all the hair out of her head.

"Good morning," a voice said, breaking into her reflections on Carth. Bastila walked into the cockpit and took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "Where's Carth?"

"What am I, his keeper?" Brinna asked grumpily. "I have no idea where he is."

Bastila studied her with a look that Brinna decided to call "Jedi condescension". In spite of the look, Brinna had to admit that she had pretty much bitten Bastila's head off for no real reason. She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes before reaching behind her head and gathering her hair into a tail and tying it back.

"I'm sorry," Brinna apologized. "I just haven't had much sleep in the last couple of days."

"You're not the only one," Bastila sniffed.

"I know," Brinna said, exasperated. Bastila was impossible and Brinna didn't know why she'd even bothered trying to apologize.

"When we land, I must meet with the Council. The rest of you should wait here while I'm gone. I would suggest that you try getting some rest. The Council may have need of you yet."

Brinna turned her face away from Bastila and allowed herself the indulgence of a sour expression. So far her experiences with the Jedi had been so trying that the last thing she really wanted was to be at the beck and call of the Council.

"Whatever's necessary," she told Bastila.

The landing on Dantooine was smooth and Bastila was up and out of her seat before the ship had even fully touched down. Brinna felt her sense of grouchiness increasing as she watched Bastila disappear from the cockpit. She only hoped that she wouldn't run into Carth on her way to the women's bunks or he'd probably find himself on the receiving end of her ire, whether he actually deserved it or not.

Fortunately for her, T-3 was the only inhabitant of the ship she saw on her way to the bunks. She entered quietly and was glad for making the effort as she immediately saw that Mission was still sleeping. Brinna's heart tugged sympathetically as she looked at the teen. Mission must have been emotionally exhausted after having witnessed the horrors of the previous day. Brinna would make a point of speaking to her later that day to make sure that Mission was all right.

With a soft moan of appreciation, Brinna lay down on her bunk. She had been convinced that the prim and proper Bastila would leave her own bunk so neat that Brinna's slightly disarrayed bunk would look like a complete mess in comparison. To her surprise, it seemed the great Jedi was something of a slob. Her bed looked as if kath hounds had got to it, it was in such disarray. Brinna couldn't refrain from smiling smugly as she looked at it.

Not so perfect after all, she thought.

The bunks on the Ebon Hawk were a lot more comfortable than the bunks on Brinna's ship and though comfort alone hadn't been enough to coax her into sleep the previous night, it was now. By the time she opened her eyes again, she felt incredibly refreshed and was in a much more charitable frame of mind.

Mission was no longer in her bunk and Bastila had not yet come to rouse Brinna, so she assumed that Bastila must still be meeting with the Council while everyone else cooled their heels. She was glad about this as it would give her time to make use of the Ebon Hawk's facilities to clean herself up.

When she was finished, she wandered out into the main room of the ship, tying her damp hair back as she walked. Mission, Zaalbar, and T-3 were all there but Carth and Canderous were nowhere to be found. Mission was toying listlessly with a food packet while Zaalbar studied her with concern.

"Hey," Brinna said softly as she seated herself next to the Twi'lek.

"Hey," Mission responded.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Mission said with an unconvincing attempt at a smile.

"No, you're not," Brinna said, firmly.

"How do you know?" Mission asked, rather belligerently.

Brinna was actually gratified by this response. The spunky Mission was still there, she was just currently buried underneath an understandable layer of grief.

"Because you're not eating. I have yet to see you have a problem with that," Brinna told her.

Mission sighed and pushed the food away from her, studying her hands for a moment before she looked up at Brinna. Her eyes were bright with tears and Brinna reached out and covered Mission's hands with one of her own. Mission took a shaky breath.

"I can't stop thinking about Taris," she told Brinna.

"I know," Brinna said, squeezing Mission's hand. "It must have been horrible for you."

"It was," Mission said, grimly. "I mean, you know it wasn't exactly a paradise but it was home, ya know? It wasn't perfect but it still wasn't easy to watch it being blown up like that. I think about all the people I knew…Gadon…the Beks… It's just hard to accept that they're all dead."

"Death is never easy to accept," Brinna told her. She knew that from experience.

"I just have nowhere to go now. I mean, Griff ran off to who knows where and now Taris is gone. I'm more thankful than I can say that Big Z's still with me, but I've lost everyone else I know."

"I'll take care of you, Mission," Zaalbar said, his voice tinged with protective ferocity.

"We'll take care of each other, just like we always have," Mission said, smiling rather sadly at her Wookie friend.

"You haven't lost everyone else, Mission. You haven't lost me. I'm not going to turn my back on you now. I'll take you wherever you want to go. Or you can stay with me and I'll be happy to have you. I could always use another hand or two on my scouting missions," Brinna told her.

"You're really amazing, you know that?" Mission asked, shaking her head and smiling at Brinna. "I've only known you for a few days but you've already saved both me and Big Z. You're a true friend."

"I'm very glad to have you and Zaalbar with me," Brinna told her. "You've both been a lot of help on this mission. Bastila would not have been found without your help."

"That might have been for the best, don't ya think?" Mission suggested, with an impish grin.

Brinna laughed out loud. "Ah, there's the Mission I know!"

"Just don't tell her I said that," Mission said. "I asked her if she's ever used the Force to do anything less than honorable and she annoyed me with her conceited response so I egged her on a bit and I swear that she used the Force to trip me! She claimed that I must have stumbled but I never just fall flat on my face for no reason."

"You can't be serious!" Brinna said, looking at Mission in amazement.

"I am! Big Z was there and saw the whole thing!"

"I think Mission's right," Zaalbar told her.

"She may have a stick you-know-where but I don't think she's as perfect as she likes to think she is," Mission told Brinna.

"Maybe we just need to give her a chance," Brinna said, reluctantly. Secretly, she felt pretty much as Mission did but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was maybe being a bit unfair to Bastila.

Mission looked at Brinna as if she'd suddenly sprouted a second head. "Um, hello, have you met Bastila yet?" she asked.

"I think you're a bad influence on me," Brinna said, with a laugh.

"I'm a bad influence on you? That's kinda sad, don't ya think? You're what, about forty and I'm only fourteen?" Mission asked, mischievously.

"Forty!" Brinna cried, indignantly. "If I had Force powers, I'd Force Trip you myself! I can't believe you even said that! I'm only twenty-eight, thank you very much!"

"Oh, sure, you laughed at Carth when I gave him a hard time."

"It's only funny when you tease Carth about his age, not me!" Brinna told her, in mock-outrage.

"What are you saying about me?" Carth asked, emerging from the direction of the cockpit.

"She said it's only funny when I tease you about your age," Mission said helpfully.

"Thanks for the support," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Brinna

"I can't help it if that's the truth," Brinna told him, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Besides, she said I'm forty!"

"What does that make me, ninety?" Carth asked Mission.

"Something like that."

"Ah, the ignorance of youth," he said, his mouth quirking at the corners.

Brinna studied him incredulously. Was this the same man who'd been so tense and angry the previous night? He looked over at her and must have read something in her expression because his gaze became rather apologetic.

"Geezers," Mission replied, with a grin.

"I don't blame Brinna for being mad anyway," Carth told her. "She hardly looks forty, Mission."

"How can I tell? She is twice as old as me!"

"If she's forty, she's the youngest, most beautiful forty-year-old I've ever seen. Hell, she's one of the most beautiful twenty-eight-year-olds I've ever seen," Carth said, smiling. A second later, he seemed to realize just what he had said because his face went red and he quickly left the room with a mumbled excuse.

"Well then," Mission said, turning to Brinna with raised eyebrows.

Brinna was too busy gaping in the direction of Carth's retreating back to respond immediately. She felt a blush creeping over her own cheeks and her heartbeat quickened. Mission made a kissing noise, causing Zaalbar to roar with laughter and Brinna flushed an even deeper shade of red.

"He didn't… What he meant was…" Brinna stuttered.

"Yes?" Mission asked, propping her chin on her fist and staring up at Brinna.

But Brinna couldn't think of how to finish what she'd started to say. She could hardly think straight as it was, she was still so shocked about what Carth had just said—shocked but very gratified, truth be told.

"I better go see what Canderous is up to," Brinna finally said, leaping up from her seat and running from the room like a blaster bolt. The sound of Mission's and Zaalbar's laughter echoed in the corridor.

She found Canderous in the equipment bay, using the tool bench to work on his vibroblade. He looked up as she entered and grinned at her roguishly.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

"Uh… I have no idea," she said, with a far too exaggerated shrug of her shoulders. "I didn't hear whatever it was they said."

"Right," Canderous said, looking at her with a doubtful expression.

She flushed again and changed the subject. "I didn't know there was one of these onboard. It'll certainly be handy."

"I'm finished here, if you want to use it," he told her.

"Thanks, I think I will," she said. She retrieved her blade and a couple of upgrade parts she'd found on Taris and carried them over to the bench. Canderous stood nearby, watching her as she worked.

"You're pretty skilled for a scout," he told her.

"Are you saying you thought I wouldn't know how to handle a weapon?" she challenged, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, grinning once more. "I've seen you in action. You're very impressive."

Brinna was pleased by the compliment. In spite of the fact that Canderous was a Mandalorian who had worked as a bounty hunter for a depraved crime lord, she found that she liked him. He wasn't exactly her definition of goodness but he was tough and affable; even more so than Carth was when he was in one of his peevish moods.

"You're no slouch yourself," she told him.

He nodded in acknowledgement of her compliment and leaned a hip against the workbench. "Where's the Jedi princess?" he asked.

"Gone to speak with the Council. She should be back anytime now," Brinna said, distractedly as she added an energy projector to her blade. She maneuvered it into place with a satisfied smile, holding the blade out to Canderous. "There."

"Fine work," he said, inspecting it carefully before handing it back over to her.

She set it aside and leaned against the other side of the bench, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Canderous. "You know, I couldn't help but notice that you never really got wounded while we were fighting," she said.

"My cybernetic implant," he told her. "All Mandalorian warriors have one. It gives me regenerative powers so that my wounds heal quickly."

"Ah," Brinna said.

"Not that I have much need of it," he said, smiling slightly.

"Of course not," Brinna responded, smiling back at him.

Carth walked into the room and looked at Canderous with a hint of dislike. His eyes then flickered over to Brinna, but he didn't hold the gaze for long and she found herself studying her boots as well. It was ridiculous that they were acting like a couple of shy teenagers but Brinna had no idea how she should act in the aftermath of his comment.

"Bastila's back and she's looking for you. She's waiting outside the ship," Carth told her.

"You'd better answer the royal summons," Canderous said, with a snort.

"I'm on my way," Brinna said, pushing off from the bench and heading toward the loading bay. As she passed the two men, she noticed that Carth shot the Mandalorian a dirty look before he followed her.

"You don't like him much, do you?" Brinna found herself asking Carth.

"And you do?" he asked, staring at her in disbelief, all awkwardness between them apparently forgotten.

Brinna shrugged. "I don't like what he's done in the past but I'm not going to allow that to influence my judgment. I'll reserve my judgment until I've had a chance to see his actions first-hand."

"That's generous," Carth muttered.

"Is it?" she asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Not everyone is pleasant on first acquaintance. Sometimes you have to look past that and get to really know someone before you can get a feel for what type of person they truly are."

The significance of her words was not lost on him and he flushed slightly. Before he had a chance to say anything more, though, they were through the bay and walking to Bastila, who was waiting impatiently.

"The Council wishes to speak with you," she announced.

"Me?" Brinna asked, staring at Bastila in disbelief. Of all the things she had expected to hear, this one had not appeared anywhere on her list.

"Yes," Bastila said.

"Isn't that a little unusual? What do they want?" Carth asked.

"That is for the Council to discuss with Brinna. You can come if you like but you'll have to wait outside the Council chamber for us," Bastila said briskly.

Brinna saw Carth bristle and she really couldn't blame him. After all, who was she in comparison to him? Though she was certain it was his paranoia and not his ego that had caused his reaction, she couldn't understand why they'd want to talk with a no-name scout like herself as opposed to an important war hero like him.

Though he was clearly not pleased, Carth followed Bastila. Brinna's mind was working overtime and she found herself lagging behind the two of them. As she walked through the enclave's inner courtyard, she was suddenly stopped by a young Jedi who berated her for not wearing her Jedi robes.

What the…Brinna wondered, as she stared blankly at the girl.

"Um, I think you're mistaking me for someone else," Brinna said, as politely as she could. "I'm not a Jedi."

The girl apologized and said that her Jedi Master often told her that she was too hasty and that she needed to exercise better control over her emotions. Brinna couldn't help but wonder if maybe there was a whole legion of arrogant Jedi. So far she'd met two and both of them were among the most pompous people she'd ever met.

Nodding her acceptance of the apology, Brinna continued in the direction she had seen Bastila and Carth taking. Though they were out of her sight, Brinna found that she could not rouse herself to hurry after them. She couldn't get over her encounter in the courtyard. The girl was the third person to have mistakenly thought that Brinna had some sort of command of the Force and she found that the coincidences were beginning to make her a little uneasy.

She found Carth waiting outside the Council chamber door. He studied her quizzically as she passed but she just shook her head and continued on into the chamber. Four Masters dressed in differently-colored robes stood studying her gravely as she entered the room. Bastila watched soberly, nodding her head encouragingly at Brinna as she hesitated to enter the room. Brinna sensed tension in the air and though she did not know its source, she could not shake the feeling that it had something to do with her.

The Masters introduced themselves to her and told her that Bastila had observed that she had some aptitude with the Force. One of them mentioned that they were considering her for Jedi training and Brinna couldn't have been more surprised if they'd all drawn their lightsabers and attacked her. She looked at the Master wide-eyed and heard the one named Vrook protest this announcement.

Brinna turned to look at Vrook, who began to talk to his colleagues about Malak and Revan. It seemed there was some sort of dissension among them for they debated for a moment about whether or not Brinna should be trained. Vandar, the diminutive Master, said something about Revan's death and the necessity of stopping Malak.

"Can we be certain that Revan is truly dead?" Vrook asked, directing a penetrating stare at Vandar.

Confused, Brinna glanced from one Master to another and then looked at Bastila. Tension was evident on the young Jedi's face and Brinna could have sworn that Bastila was avoiding her gaze, although to all appearances she was merely looking respectfully at the Masters.

It was finally decided that the Council needed to further discuss things in private and they instructed Brinna to return to the ship, telling her that they would send for her when they next wanted to speak with her. Brinna was anxious to ask Bastila what was going on but the Jedi left as soon as they stepped out of the Council chamber, saying that she had some business to which she needed to attend.

"What did they want?" Carth asked her, as she stared at Bastila's retreating form.

"I don't really know," she said, turning to Carth with a confused expression. "They said something about considering me for Jedi training but not all of them seemed to think it was a good idea. They sent me away so that they could discuss it in private and told me that they'd send for me when they want to see me again."

"They said they're considering you for training?" Carth asked incredulously.

"Yeah," she said, her own voice filled with disbelief.

Neither of them said anything further as they returned to the ship. Carth disappeared into the cockpit immediately and Brinna went directly to the bunkroom, hoping it would be empty. To her relief it was and she sunk down onto her bunk, toying with her blanket as she thought about what had just happened.

Inexplicably, her mind turned to the previous day and Bastila's telling her to get up into the gun turrets to hold off the Sith fighters. Brinna had found herself wondering how she had known how to operate them when she'd never done so before, but now she found herself wondering with an even greater sense of amazement how Bastila had known that she could operate them.

Just what is going on here? she wondered. A sense of unreality was beginning to set in and she found herself staring at the floor unseeingly.

She'd wanted to be alone but now she decided that she'd better go find someone to talk to before her own thoughts drove her crazy. As she walked through the ship, she could hear Mission, Zaalbar, and T-3 in the cargo bay. Canderous was nowhere to be seen. Without really thinking, Brinna headed for the cockpit.

"Hi," she said quietly to Carth, who was sitting in the pilot seat with his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands.

"Hi," he said, his voice muffled. He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face before straightening up and looking at her.

"Is Bastila back yet?" she asked.

"No," he said, turning to stare blankly at the ship's controls.

There was a heavy silence in the room and then Brinna sighed and said, "I won't talk about the subject you don't want to talk about if you won't talk about the one I don't want to talk about."

"Deal," Carth said, turning to her and flashing a smile.

Brinna felt herself relax and she stepped around the co-pilot's chair and sat down. Night had fallen outside and the cockpit was dim. Carth's face was partially shadowed and Brinna couldn't decide if she thought this was a good thing or a bad thing. It seemed she spent entirely too much time admiring that face.

"So, are you going to sing me another song or what?" Carth asked her.

His voice startled her but his light words made her relax even further. She sank back into the seat, kicking her boots off and curling her legs up under her.

"I don't know," she said, with a smirk. "I'm not sure you deserve to bear witness to my prodigious singing talent."

"I've already seen what a great dancer you are," he teased. "You should really take your act out on the road. I think you'd be a big hit."

She shot him a dirty look. "Damn you. I can't believe you just brought that up again. I thought you said you'd never speak of it again."

"Nice try," he told her. "I never said anything like that and you know it."

"Yeah but I was hoping you were dumb enough to believe me."

"Not a chance, sister."

Brinna smiled and leaned her head back against her seat, closing her eyes. "Fine," she sighed. "Since you've been so nice to me, I guess I could reward your good behavior with a song."

"I knew it would pay off," he said, in a satisfied tone.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, shaking her head. "You obviously don't know sarcasm when you hear it."

"Or maybe I just choose to ignore it."

"Maybe I'll just choose to ignore you," she shot back at him.

"Then why did you come in here?" he asked, playing his trump card.

"I got lost?"

"You disappoint me. Surely you can do better than that."

"I was hoping you might sing for me?" Brinna asked, trying hard to contain her smile.

Carth laughed. "Just as soon as you do that audition dance for me again."

"Then we seem to be at an impasse," she said, leveling a gaze at him. She gave in to the temptation and allowed the smile to spread over her face.

"Are we? I was actually hoping you might consider letting me hear you sing again," he said seriously.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," he told her.

She was unreasonably flattered by the request, by his taking an interest in her. Between this and his inadvertent comment from earlier in the day, she couldn't help but be absurdly pleased. She told herself that she should really be on her guard but the past two days had been so awful that she simply didn't have the strength.

"Okay, I'll do it. But you have to promise to never again broach the subject of the audition," she said.

"Deal," he said.