"It's so…desolate," said Talia in a sudden wave of despair, as she looked from the Palace gardens to the city of Iziz below. The ivory towers were blackened with soot and blaster fire, and even from a distance, she could see the piles of corpses and shattered rocks scattered along the still-smoking streets. Entire buildings had been blasted and turned to rubble from the bombs of the Basilisk war droids and Onderon fighters. "Such a waste," she moaned sadly.

Kavar folded her in his arms from behind as the sun set, stroking her hair thoughtfully. They were alone in the garden, undisturbed by the exhausted guards.

"Cities can be rebuilt," he said. "All that matters is that it's finally over."

"I know that," Talia murmured. "But it doesn't stop the sick feeling I have, seeing it torn apart so violently. I never wanted this to happen."

"I'm just glad that you weren't a casualty of the destruction. Watching you duel with Vaklu today was maddening. I had to constantly control my desire to intervene."

"Maddening? You don't know the meaning of maddening," she said in chastising tones. "I sat in the throne room practically all day, wondering where you were, or if you were even alive. That was maddening."

"I suppose I should be flattered that you spent most of the day thinking about me," he said with a faint smile. Then, more seriously, "Although I don't like the thought of having caused you pain."

"Pain is an occupational hazard in this job, it seems," she said with a shrug.

They paused for a moment, and Talia closed her eyes. Kavar lifted his arm, pointing to the horizon.

"Look," he said, "that sunset is nearly perfect. Sort of poetic; a beauty that no destruction can touch."

"It's been my experience that perfection only occurs the moment before darkness returns," Talia said, somewhat cynically.

"Now, your majesty, you don't really believe that," said Kavar, ruffling her hair playfully.

"Not when I'm with you, I don't," she said softly.

"Tell me what you talked about with Auren Vale after I left."

In the pitch black room, a single ray of clear moonlight fell across the bed where Kavar and Talia lay cuddling peacefully, both exhausted by the recent events. Talia rested her head on Kavar's shoulder, and she could feel the rumble of his vocal chords as he talked.

"Well, she had questions, as I had expected. But one thing surprised me; she didn't seem resentful or angry at all about her exile. She simply accepted it."

"Why did that surprise you?" Talia said, curious.

Kavar sighed, the way he did when he was feeling thoughtful.

"Because she was so furious the day we passed sentence on her," he said. "She stabbed her lightsaber into the center stone on Coruscant, leaving the room before we could even say anything further."

"She's had a long time alone to think about it," said Talia.

"I always wondered what would have happened if we had just told her the truth," Kavar exhaled somewhat mournfully.

"And what was the truth? Didn't you say before that you weren't sure what had happened?" Talia asked pointedly.

"We weresure how it had happened. It was the result that confused us," Kavar clarified. "She believed, with our help, that the Council had cut her off from the Force, taken the ability from her. It is a punishment reserved for only a few, and so she was understandably angry. But the truth… the truth was that she cut herself off from the Force, in the horrible massacre on Malachor V. She always made strong connections to others, and we guessed that it was the weight of so many lost friends and allies that did it. It left an echo in her, a sort of endless black hole in the Force. In some ways, her condition is a lot like the techniques of the Sith that now pursue her."

"That's awful," Talia said quietly. "I feel sorry for her."

"I did too," Kavar replied. "But we had to exile her. It was too dangerous to allow her to continue with the Order. The possibility that she would unwittingly pass on the lessons of Malachor was too great. We thought that it would bring about the death of the Force."

There was silence as Talia thought about the story.

"Are you so sure that would happen?" Talia said, puzzled. "Maybe there is something to be learned from her. I don't claim to understand the details, but it sounds as if this woman has survived pain and sorrow on a level that few can imagine. In her could lie the key to true understanding."

"I don't know," Kavar said. "Perhaps. Either way, it seems that we will find out soon enough."

"What do you mean?" Talia asked, looking up at him.

"I meant to tell you earlier, but somehow the timing never felt right," he said, holding her closer. "I made a promise with the other surviving members of the Council that we would meet on Dantooine once the Sith threat had revealed itself. By striking openly at last, I think it is time. Auren said that she was on her way to gather the other Masters, and that she would be at Dantooine as well when she had finished."

"So you're leaving, after all," Talia said as she rolled over onto her back, trying unsuccessfully to hide the ache of her fierce disappointment. "When do you go?"

"Don't worry, I still have several months," he said, reaching out to touch her face comfortingly. "But we must try and stop this Sith threat, for all our sakes. It's my responsibility, and I must hold to it."

Talia breathed in, steadying her fluctuating emotions.

"I suppose I should have been prepared for something like this," she said with a hint of irony. "There's always a bigger battle to fight. At least I still have the coming months."

"But I'll be back this time, you'll see. At least this time I have something worth fighting for," Kavar soothed, caressing her. "And when I return, I'll… well, I'll be staying for good."

Talia turned her moonlit oval face up to him, her expression unfathomable.

"Do you mean it, Kavar? Do you really mean it?"

"Someone has to help you rebuild Onderon," he said. "And the more I'm around you, the more I realize that this is how it's supposed to be. You make me feel… whole, somehow."

Talia bit her lip, trying to phrase the question on her mind.

"I know this may seem silly, but… would you ever consider…"

"An even more permanent arrangement?" Kavar said, smiling knowingly. "I had thought to make it more of a surprise, but since you asked…."

Smiling incandescently now, Talia expressed her overwhelming joy with a silent kiss.