Dark Temple Throne Room, Dromund Kaas; 44 ABY

"Are you going to kill me?" The question was calm, almost conversational in its tone, that belied the circumstance.

"Why shouldn't I?" Jaina asked bluntly, "You're Sith."

"You might think I'm evil, but I'm a necessary one." Vestara said, reaching up to run her fingers along the broad edge of the blade. With her other hand, she motioned for Ben to stand down, as he was tensed to intercede. "If you kill me, you also destroy the balance."

"And me," Ben moved forward. "You wanted to know why Dad changed his mind, we can show you, too."

Without waiting for agreement, sensing how close Jaina was to using the weapon, Ben reached out and tapped her temple. The familiar images flashed through his mind as Jaina saw them for the first time. When it was over, she took an involuntary step back and stared at the pair of them.

"Obviously, some of that has already happened," he continued after a beat, "but both of us are needed, Jaina."

Jaina considered it, she really did. The desire to push it forward was strong, but she now understood what had shifted Luke's perspective. Her thoughts drifted to him, now unconscious, being held up from getting medical attention by this stand-off. "Fine," she ground out as she lowered the blade, "for now."

With Cronal gone, the journey out of the Dark Temple was made infinitely easier than entering it had been. There were neither animals, nor stone sentinels left to hinder their exit. They carried Luke and Tamish's body out with them. The Watchers' eyes were empty orbs, black in appearance without a mind controlling them. It had taken an hour to fight their way to the Temple heart, but barely a quarter of that to leave it behind. The Jade Shadow, with Luke Skywalker recovering in the medical bay, rose into the thick atmosphere and headed home.

Jedi Temple Medcenter, Shedu Maad; 44 ABY

Luke had spent his share of time recovering. He'd spent far more time in bacta tanks than he would have liked over the course of his life. With that in mind, waking up in a soft bed of the Jedi Temple Medcenter was a nice change.

"How the tables have turned." Still groggy from the sedatives, Luke cracked his eyes open to see his son hovering over him. "How are you feeling?"

"I think I may have had a run-in with that rancor of yours," Luke croaked, IVs may keep one hydrated, but it did nothing to stave off a dry mouth.

"He's a tough one," Ben smiled, laying a hand on his father's shoulder. "Get some rest."

Ben slipped out of the ward to see Vestara and her Jedi shadow, Jaina, waiting for him. "How is he?" She asked.

"Recovering, but it will take a little time."

The following few days passed quickly. Luke had suffered a concussion and several broken bones, but nothing too serious. He'd been able to cushion most of the impact before he'd been knocked out. He was up and about quickly, and seeing just how fast the responsibilities of his position could back up without constant attention. A week had gone by in no time at all, but he knew that Ben and Vestara were restless. They had done what they sought out to do, but this was no longer the place for them. It didn't surprise Luke when Ben and Vestara entered his office the following day.

"It's time for us to go, Dad." He said without preamble.

Luke sighed. He may have been expecting it, but it did still hurt him on some level that his son wouldn't stay with the Jedi, that his path now lay on a different road. "Where are you going to go?"

"The Maw," Vestara answered. "We need to make sure that no one else finds the Font of Power and uses it."

"And how do you plan on doing that? I hope you don't plan on staying there forever."

"No, but for some time we will," Ben said. "Until we can put in protections like there were on Mortis, so we don't have to stay."

"This isn't what I wanted for you, Ben," Luke sighed.

"I'm doing what you trained me to do, protect the galaxy, just in a different way now." Ben shrugged.

"Vestara," at the mention of her name, her eyes darted up to the Grand Master's own. "Take care of Ben for me."

She understood the unspoken sentiment. Did he approve of their decision to be together? On paper, he wouldn't, but seeing them work together, he did. "I will. I—thank you." A slight smile lit her features.

For one of the first times, he smiled back before continuing. "I do have something for you two, though." At their confused expressions, he reached under his desk and pulled out a data pad and crystal. "I contacted the owner of the ship you two stole," Ben's face flushed at that, "and it turns out he's a supporter of the Jedi. He agreed to let me buy the ship, said something about it being time for an upgrade anyway."

Vestara quirked an eyebrow. "You're giving us a ship?"

"It would be difficult for you to leave the planet otherwise," Luke reasoned.

"Thanks, Dad—" Ben started.

"—And I expect the two of you to visit, when you can."

"We will, Master Skywalker." Vestara paused, "but how are we going to get there now? The ship is already on the planet."

"You can call me Luke, you know."

Vestara paused, as if to consider it, then shook her head. "Doesn't sound right to me."

Luke couldn't keep the smirk off his face when he told them. "I thought Jaina could take you, it would give you three the chance to part on better terms."

She met them at the foot of Rude Awakening. Jaina hadn't originally intended to hold on to the ship, but it was sturdy and reliable. After being repaired, it was in as good condition as it had ever been. With some work, she could have it as customized as the Falcon. Jag hadn't been entirely enthusiastic about it until she impressed upon him the advantages of a private ship, and the promise of turning the Void Jumper barracks into a suite. Jaina was putting the final touches of an enhanced antenna array on the infiltrator when she heard them approach. Turning, she couldn't help but sound slightly shocked when she saw them. "Luke just told me," she wiped a smudge of grease off her hand. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

Figuring out what she was talking about, Ben blushed slightly and shook her hand. "Um, thanks Jaina."

"You remembered everything?" At his nod, she inclined her head to the boarding ramp. "Go grab a bunk, we'll be ready to leave in a few minutes."

After Ben was out of ear-shot, she turned to Vestara, who may have been smirking, but Jaina couldn't tell with the scar. "I guess I should say welcome to the family."

"You sound so enthusiastic, Master Solo."

Jaina moved in closer. "If you hurt him, I will end you."

For the first time Vestara thought she saw the making of what had brought her brother to the dark side, Jaina could be intimidating for someone as short as she was. "I never wanted to hurt him, though I have in the past," Vestara said, "but I think we have a chance now to move forward together."

Family had been important on Kesh, loyalty to them was highly regarded, so long as it was in tandem with the goals of the Tribe. Maybe it was that feeling of belonging she missed, but before Jaina could react, Vestara pulled her in and hugged her. After a short pause she let go, a slightly stunned Jaina before her. "I won't hurt him."

Picking up her bag, filled with clothing and other things she thought she'd need, all generously donated by the Jedi, she walked up the ramp.

Jaina watched her go. Did she trust the girl? No, she didn't. There were some things that were too ingrained to forever be purged. Caedus' mark on her would always have her questioning, but she knew that what she thought didn't really matter. She'd told Luke that he shouldn't underestimate love, maybe that was all Ben and Vestara needed, it wasn't her place to judge, lest it become a problem for the galaxy. If it did, become a problem that is, Jaina would deal with that when the time came. For now, she had a ship to fly.

Abeloth's Planet; 44 ABY

By now this approach was becoming familiar. The pinnace set down beside the Rook. Ben still was wrapping his head around the fact that they now owned a ship, and a rather nice one at that.

"I suppose we're home," Vestara said from beside the viewport. It sounded odd, having a place to stay, even if all it amounted to was an abandoned planet and a ship.

"For now," Ben agreed, "Our guardianship of Abeloth's world begins."

"We shouldn't call it that," Vestara snapped, more harshly than she meant to. She still nursed a healthy hatred for the deceased Force entity. "It doesn't belong to Abeloth, not anymore."

Jaina couldn't help but listen in as she checked the controls to make sure everything was in order.

"Any names in mind?"

"Vestara's Retreat?"

Ben just rolled his eyes at the grandiose response. Vestara managed to keep a straight face when she'd said it, but cracked under his look. "Mortis was supposedly modeled after this place, right?" She asked. "So how about Mortis Prime?"

"At least it'll keep your ego from getting too big." Ben thought about it, "I like it, actually."

Jaina refrained from commenting, though she kind of liked it, too. She'd make sure to mention it to Luke when she got back, not that they could really tell anyone such. She wholeheartedly agreed that no one should come here. Who knew what other things lay here, waiting for someone to corrupt? The planet was a large one, the Font and Pool couldn't be the only things on it. As it was, she still felt uneasy leaving Ben and the girl, Jaina reminded herself that she should probably start using Vestara's name, at least to keep things genial in the future.

Unloading what they'd brought only took a few minutes. They actually suspected that their ship would have pretty much anything they'd need, at least for enough time until they felt they could safely leave the planet, with the sites secured.

"This is it," Jaina said, goodbyes were always awkward, so she tried to keep it as short as possible.

"I'm sure we'll see you again, soon," Ben smiled. Vestara made a point of looking anywhere but at Jaina for a moment, which instantly made her suspicious.

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ben said, "but the Force does seem to have a habit of bringing us together, you don't really think that this will have been the last crisis in the galaxy, do you?"

Jaina couldn't help but think of the fractured governments, thus far unknown location of Kesh, and of the hidden Sith Luke had encountered Beyond Shadows. No, there were definitely going to be other crises, and as the Sword of the Jedi, she would be on the forefront. "No, I suppose not, but aren't the two of you staying out of it all?"

"I never said we'd help, only that we'd see one another again. I can't tell you the future, at least not anymore, but not everything that happens boils down to Sith versus Jedi."

"Seems that way sometimes," Jaina murmured, looking back to her ship.

Vestara finally looked up. "Goodbye, Master Solo." She shook Jaina's hand before stepping back to Ben.

"Bye, Jaina." Ben embraced his cousin briefly.

She might not agree that they should stay here, but she couldn't linger forever. After all, Jag was already on her about their abridged honeymoon. Jaina thought she'd suggest Sakuub, it was a beautiful world, and she could do a little exploring in the process. "Goodbye, Ben, Vestara."

With nothing more to say, Jaina ascended her ship and the Rude Awakening rose into the atmosphere, fading behind the clouds as it reached higher. Ben and Vestara watched until they felt her Force presence wink out as her ship jumped to hyperspace.

As much as they knew what they wanted to do, actually starting was the hardest part. They found, much to their dismay, that the only site that survived was the Font of Power. The cavern beneath the Pool of Knowledge was buried, ruined and destroyed by Cronal in an act of wonton destruction. It was there that the Mortis Dagger was entombed, should it ever be needed again. Surprisingly, no one really argued against the Dagger being brought here, such a dangerous weapon could fall into the wrong hands, otherwise, and what better place to hide something than on a planet only a handful know exist?

In the Daughter's Palace on Mortis, one of the crystals had shown them how to fashion crude golems, guardians for sacred sites. Creating them would take time, and experimentation to make sure they wouldn't attack either of them, as the ice-Jedi or stone guardians had done, but they could do it. After all, time really wasn't much of an issue now. Neither really could grasp the idea that they could live as long as Abeloth had. Ben, especially, didn't want to consider that he'd see everyone he knew die, see his father and cousin submit to time.

At the end of the third day after they'd arrived here, Vestara dragged Ben to a cliff overlooking the ocean. They'd already begun building a tomb to seal the Font, laying stone slabs with the Force. The golems would come later. The view from here was spectacular, the light glinted off the water as the sun was setting in the distance. Ben couldn't help but think it beautiful, and he saw a similar expression mirrored in Vestara's eyes. They watched the star sink lower in the sky, steaks of red and orange dominated.

"Did you mean it?" Vestara asked, breaking the silence.

"Mean what?"

"Us. Being together." She sounded nervous

Ben let some of his happiness of being here wash over her, easing her nerves. "Yes."

"There's a ceremony on Kesh, it was around before the Sith came, but it's still practiced," she explained, but it felt to her like she was rambling. "At least it was when I was younger."

Looking down at her, he furrowed his brow. "Ceremony?"

Vestara reached down to her belt, to the Shikkar he hadn't noticed she brought with them. It was the same one she'd taken on Kesh during the ambush. Black and white swirled in the glass dagger. She held it up, grabbed one side of the blade and motioned for Ben to do the same. He mimicked her, their hand clasped around the dagger. "I love you, Ben Skywalker."

He leaned over and kissed her before responding. "I love you, too, Vestara Khai."

Twisting the blade sharply and jerking it down, the glass sliced two parallel cuts into the palms of their hands. Ben winced in pain, but Vestara held his hand flush to her own, their blood dripping down their wrists. In a much shorter time than humanly possible, they pulled their hands apart to see them fully healed, only the remnant of blood remaining. Ben understood that in more primitive cultures, the mixing of blood was a binding act, no doubt the lineage of the ceremony.

Looking slightly embarrassed, Vestara brought up the blood-stained blade. "Normally the Shikkar would be melted down in a forge, but I think I have something a little better." She waved her hand over the Shikkar, the air rippling in heat as she utilized what they'd learn in the cavern beneath the Pool to melt the glass. Keeping it floating with the Force in a molten mass, two globs of the opaque material out. Keeping her focus on levitating everything, she shaped it into a tube, connecting the ends to form a loop. Understanding, Ben did the same with the second bead, taking control of it from her, shaping it as she had done. With the two bands still malleable enough to form-fit, they moved them onto one another's fingers. Even shielding themselves from the worst of it, the heat burned, but it would be healed soon enough, leaving a permanent reminder of their commitment behind should the rings be removed.

The sun had dropped below the water line, twilight fallen on this part of the planet. They may not have access to the future anymore, but neither of them really cared. They came though their trials together, and neither of them was going anywhere. The galaxy, at least for now, was in balance.

Author's Note: Finally finished! I honestly hadn't intended on this story taking on such a life of its own, but it just seemed to keep growing. I've got to be honest, though, I seriously considered killing off each of the characters at different points, especially in the final fight, but I know if I were reading this, I'd be pretty unhappy with those endings. So instead, this is more or less a happy ending. However, for those of you who want a more poignant end, go on to the next chapter. It is an alternate version to this.

As you might have guessed, there is an idea of a sequel, but I haven't started writing anything. Like this story, I'd actually have to finish all or most of it before posting anything. If you're wondering, it does have a title, Paragon, and I do know a general idea of what I would want to happen. This story was more or less getting them to what their destiny is supposed to be, the next one would be actually trying to keep everything in balance. You can probably guess who one of the villains would be (I kind of left it as a loose thread on purpose). All that being said, there is absolutely no time frame on that one. It took me nearly two solid months to write this. I started in November last year, but couldn't quite figure how to end the last chapter (the potential of a sequel played into that), so I left it alone before going back and rereading everything to see how to finish it. All that was with a lot of free time that I no longer have. So, for now, consider this a stand-alone story.