Nox and Charris looked up from the unconscious apprentice. They had both felt it, the surprise and agony that had shot through the Force and slammed into her. Nox gave him a sad smile as she picked up the sleeping form with the Force. "It would seem the bond between Master and Apprentice is very strong indeed."

Charris nodded, "Agreed. However, I wonder what happened to the Master to cause this reaction."

"As always, my friend, you cut through the meat and go straight to the bone." With a small bow to Charris, she turned and departed for her office with her charge. Once there, Nox laid Zentiira on the couch and allowed herself to worry. She and Kennayil had been friends since his final trial as an acolyte. While she was attempting to figure out exactly what she had sensed before Zentiira passed out, her holocom began chirping.

At first, she did not recognize the man that showed up. He was human, with graying hair, and the rank of admiral on his shoulder. "Darth Nox, Admiral Kellus of the 70th Reclamation Brigade." Her eyes widened slightly with recognition. The 70th was under Kennayil's command, scouring the galaxy for any hint of the first Force users of the infant Galactic Republic.

"Speak freely, Admiral."

"Yes, my lord. Thank you." The admiral cleared his throat, clearly not comfortable with having to report his news to her. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, my lord, but Lord Kennayil has been severely wounded. We have him in a kolto tank and are inbound to Korriban."

A sharp intake of breath from the doorway caused Nox to look up. Chrensha, Kennayil's half-sister, stood there with her helm in her hands. "Tell me who did it." Her voice was calm, but Admiral Kellus flinched at the suppressed cold fury in her tone. "I want their hide." Nox could feel the boiling rage beneath the surface of her guest.

"We are looking into that right now, but my medics report that the damage was done by a lightsaber." Kellus did not bother to hide his anger at this news.

Nox's eyes narrowed in anger. "Send what you have for now, and keep me updated. And if anyone starts giving you static, contact me immediately." Kellus's eyes lit with fire at having support from a Dark Council member. He nodded acceptance of the new orders, and signed off. She looked up at Chrensha, sadness and pain filling her eyes. "When they get here, I'd like to hire you to ensure he makes it safely to the Med Center."

Chrensha nodded absently as she seated herself across from Nox. "This isn't the first time my brother has been stabbed in the chest." Seeing the surprised look on Nox's face, she explained, "When I first found him, I followed him to a meeting with Zentiira. Her master was there and stabbed him through one of his hearts." She looked over at Zentiira, "He'll need you soon, so hurry and wake up." Her voice was barely a whisper and edged with pain.

He was floating in a grey mist, an image of the galaxy suspended before him. As he stared at the image, he realized that it was a map of the currently operating governments. The Republic areas seem to glow a warm red color. The Imperial side was glowing dark blue. There was a sudden flash of light that momentarily blinded him. Now there were three maps. The one on the far left showed itself to be all red. As he watched, a dark void consumed it. It broke the Republic and scattered it into chaos. Eventually the void removed itself, and the red reformed; however, it was much less than it was. The same thing happened on the far right, except that the galaxy was covered in blue. The main difference was that the Empire never formed back up and faded to black. The middle one seemed to fare better. It was an amorphous balance of red and blue. As the void entered into the galaxy, it was halted and rejected before it could cause much damage.

He reached out to touch the galaxies and fell. Images flew past him. He could tell they were glimpses of the future, each one moving closer to his time. After what felt like an eternity, one image holds before him. A large zabrak male with light red skin was standing next to a human female. He was wearing the robes of a Sith, his lightsaber hanging from his belt. He appeared to be taking a crown from someone. The woman beside him was dressed in Drummand Kaas finery, looking at the male with affection. Just as the image fades, he spots something in it that shocks him to the core.

Back in the grey mist, he finds himself wondering what it all meant. But first, he needed to find a way back. Looking around there was nothing but a seemingly endless grey mist. Despair began to set in. How was he supposed to save the galaxy if he cannot even pull out of a meditation? Eventually he became aware of a soft sound. He turned slowly trying to locate a direction. As he moved closer, he realized that the sound he was hearing was a voice. It was feminine, and sounded like it was in pain. Then another voice took over. This one was stronger, urging him on, pleading in its tone. He continued to follow the sound of the voices. Sometimes more than one, and at others, it was just the first one. He was growing tired now. Ever so tired. It was time to rest.

The first of his senses to come back informed him that someone was on him. Then he could hear the soft crying. Someone is crying? Why? His eyes felt like they were glued shut. After is fifth attempt to open them they finally cracked. The light was blinding at first. But slowly, the images started making sense. A familiar set of markings on the most beautiful head came into focus. She was lying across his lap, her shoulders moving in the rapid up and down of someone crying. Reaching out his hand, he laid it on her in an attempt to comfort her. At his touch, she froze.

He attempted to ask her what was wrong, but all that came out was a soft croak. Her head snapped up and looked at him in surprise. She jumped up to her feet, leaned over him and planted the most passionate kiss she had right on his lips. His body responded in the typical fashion, which made him frown. I can't lift my arms to hold her and you wanna get some. Figures. When she finally pulled back, she was smiling but the tears were still falling.

"Wh-wha. Why, you, cry, babe?" Kennayil hated the way he sounded. His normally deep voice was nothing but a whisper of its former self, and he could barely make words.

"Because you died! Not, but three minutes ago. They tried to resus you, but nothing worked. I thought I had lost you forever." Each sentence was punctuated with sniffles, but she never stopped smiling. They both felt the questioning probe through the Force that was quickly followed by surprised elation. Kennayil could hear what sounded like a herd of bantha running down the hall towards his room. When the door flew open, he smiled at his sister. His voice still only a whisper, he said, "Hey Chren. You know, you make a tremendous amount of noise for a hunter."

Chrensha said nothing as she practically flew to her brother and grabbed him in a fierce hug. Through the Force he could feel her grief, relief, and joy in a mixed up jumble. One of the nurses came in shortly after and chastised the hunter for her antics and reminded everyone that this is a hospital, not a playground. Nox grabbed the nurse and firmly, but gently led her out of the room. When she came back in, she shut the door and locked it.

"Well my friend. You sure do know how to make an entrance." Nox's voice was cool and controlled, but the smile she was trying to hide kept twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"H-how, long?" His voice was stronger now, but still barely more than a whisper.

"How long were you out? Almost two weeks. The 70th rushed you here to Korriban, and we've been doing our best to keep you alive. The Council almost found out you was here, and sent a couple of assassins your way. The fools forgot that all assassins report to me, and most of them are 100% loyal to me as well."

Kennayil grinned. He needed to get his physical strength back and quickly. Looking at Zentiira, who had managed to try her tears, he reached a hand out to her. "I'll need you nearby for a while. Find my other apprentice and get him here as well. He's going to help with my physical recovery."

Chrensha shot a warning look at her brother. "Don't you dare even think of overdoing it. I don't have to kill what I shoot big brother. And you don't have to have legs." The growl in her voice promised dire consequences if he failed to listen.

Laughing Kennayil tried to sit up. He only managed due to the help of Zentiira. He was panting from the effort, but it was worth it. It got his blood flowing and cleared his mind. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. And you'd have to beat Al to the shot anyway. Of course, his words were more along the line of sniper rifle and my rear, but the meaning was the same."

This caused the women to laugh. Zentiira looked at the man she loved, unable to stop staring in wonder. Stars, I thought I had lost him again. Coming to a decision, she reached down and stroked one of his cheeks with the back of her hand. When she spoke, there was such honey in her voice, the other could hear it dripping to the floor, "If you think that you are ever going on another mission without me, I'll kill you myself. I love you too much to go through this a third time."

Any response he had was interrupted by a knocking at the door. With a wave of his hand, Kennayil opened the door. Several soldiers, including officers came walking through followed by the tallest human he'd ever seen. One by one, they came to his bedside, saluted and deposited a memory card on his bed next to him. The tall one was the last, and he deposited a datapad. Admiral Kellus came in a moment later, saluted then walked next to his bed. "Sir. The 70th realized that if we didn't find you something to occupy your time after you woke, and then you'd end up driving the staff up the wall. So, we took it upon ourselves to ensure your compliance with proper healing times."

Kennayil could not stop the laughing if he wanted to. The pain in his shoulder from the rapid movement brought tears to his eyes, but he still laughed.

[To be continued…]

A/N: Just so you know, I'm not happy with the way this chapter turned out. So please, don't be surprised if you come back and find it has changed. As always, please review. Even if you're just a guest, let me know what you think. I take criticism well as long as it's not the "Get a life, you sux." Then I'll just ignore you. .

May the Force be with us all.