Lord Darth Yoda - Aurine's both correct and being a wet blanket at the same time. Aurine does have a protective side, one that we've seen manifest itself a couple of times. The only question if she's being too overprotective, or if she's just warning Sascha, "hey, I've seen this happen before, don't you go getting feelings for another girl."

A/N - So we are going to do a timeskip in the chapter, because I kind of need for our characters to age up - I could write 16 year old Sascha forever, but at a certain point, I want to get to things like the Clone Wars and such...its not going to happen anytime soon, but if I don't start moving along, I'll never get there! So this is a bit of a connecting chapter, but we'll be right into our feature mission in the next chapter

Please enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 12: Recovery, Time Passes

Aurine Brynar walked into her favourite refectory in dire need of caf. She was suffering from travel lag – her body was trying to figure out exactly when the sun was supposed to come up and according to her internal clock, that was not supposed to happen for another few hours. The fact that it was morning on this section of Corsucant had left her body feeling very confused. Despite being space travelers for thousands of years, humans were still slaves to their internal clock, and even a Jedi was not immune to being thrown out of wack. She could have taken one of the many over-the-counter drugs that counteracted the effects of travel...but she had forgotten to acquire them before she went to sleep. And now she was paying the price for her mistake.

She figured that the best way to get a start on her day was to get a nice breakfast and some strong caf. She was walking towards the caf dispenser when she saw Sascha already seated at one of the trestle tables. He had a meal laid out for himself (untouched), and he had also set up another meal across from him. Through her pre-caf haze she finally noticed that he was waving her over. Grateful, she pulled up the chair across from her Padawan and sat down.

"Morning, Master."

Aurine surveyed the meal in front of her. The cup of steaming hot caf immediately drew her attention, but Sascha had also picked out a complete breakfast for her. There was a small bowl of her favourite fruits on one side, along with a couple of pancakes that were drenched in a strong, brown syrup. It all looked so delicious she hardly knew where to start, and her stomach started grumbling, demanding that she satisfy it with the delicious foodstuffs in front of her.

"How did you know?"

"I'm just that good," Sascha said with a smile.

Her brain finally caught up to her, "You talked to Luminara, didn't you?"

"I talked to Luminara," Sascha laughed. "She said that you always need a good breakfast after travelling. So I made sure it was ready for you when you got here."

Aurine examined a slice of Calic fruit. The oval shaped fruit was perfectly lime green, indicating that it was ripe. She sliced the fruit in two and then chowed down on one of the halves, "You are just trying to get on my good side, aren't you?"

"Also true," said Sascha as he politely ate his own meal – eggs and muja juice.

Aurine munched some more on the food and spoke with her mouth half-full, "You know that this won't change anything. I'm still going to train you so hard that all you'll be able to do tonight is curl onto your bed and fall asleep."

Sascha nodded soberly, "I know. I wouldn't want it to be any other way." He grinned mischievously, "Also, we should probably be eating in silence, as per our usual tradition."

Aurine winced internally, their silent breakfasts had been a tradition that she'd carried over from her old Master, Nova Trynith, and here she was blabbing on in direct violation of that. Covering her disappointment in herself, she nodded to her apprentice, indicating that the rest of the meal should be consumed in silence. Which it was. Neither Jedi ate quickly. She took the time to savour the sweetness of the fruits that Sascha had selected for her. Her apprentice didn't appear to be in any great hurry either, eating his food at a leisurely pace.

Once they were both done with their meal, Sascha simply folded his hands in his lap and said, "I'm ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To start training."

She smiled, "Sascha, we just ate. We don't need to immediately start running laps right after breakfast. I'll train you hard, but I'm not a monster.

Sascha looked abashed, "Okay. I just wanted to prove that I'm ready for whatever you want me to do."

"I'm pleased to hear you say that, but you'll have to prove it with your actions."

He smiled confidently, "I won't break, Master."

Aurine looked back at her apprentice in surprise. That was a relatively bold statement of intent from someone who didn't make those very often. But there was an aura of confidence around Sascha now, and she got the sense that Sascha's entire body and soul was committed to the Jedi Order. It would be up to her to make sure it stayed that way.

"I don't want you to break. But we are going to spend a substantial amount of time working on things that you are not good at, and I won't give you a break like I usually do. This is going to be serious training."

"Good."

"But first, we have to get you back into shape," she remarked wryly. "I don't want be the Master that has a fat little Jedi as their apprentice."

"I'm not fat," Sascha said defensively, "Though I am certainly out of shape."

Aurine used a wipe to clean off her hands, "Well, lets get started on that problem then, shall we?"

"I'm going to be sore tonight, aren't I?"

"Yup," Aurine said cheerfully.

Sascha grinned, "I'll follow your lead Master. Whatever you want me to do."

Over the next few weeks Aurine pushed the hell out of her Padawan. It was almost as if she had become a drill sergeant. But not only did Sascha thrive under her training, he excelled under it. Even as she trained Sascha as hard as she knew how, Sascha remained the upbeat, personable young man with the wry sense of humor that she had come to know as one of her closest companions.

His growth was truly a pleasure to watch. It didn't come in obvious ways, it was more subtle than that. Sascha seemed to have found a level of confidence in himself that suggested that he was finally happy with his life, in his role in the Jedi Order. While before, Sascha would often groan and complain about doing things that he didn't necessarily enjoy, now he seemed to work to find little thing within these tasks that he enjoyed.

Sascha Whitestar was growing up, right in front of her eyes.

Quietly, she made time for him to reconnect to each of his friends when they returned to the Temple. His friendships, several of which he had damaged over the previous month, seemed to have were repaired without too much difficulty. The only thing that really changed was that Nara seemed to occupy a special place in his hierarchy of friends. She was the person he wanted to hang around with, and the Jedi he wanted to collaborate with, if given the chance. Their flirting continued to be annoying, but they seemed to have gotten kind of bored with it, and it had become somewhat toned down.

They were still playful with each other, but she figured that they would eventually grow out of it as they got older. Given that life as a Jedi was so serious, it was nice to have someone to just relax with and play games, or watch the holonet. While she still monitored their relationship, it appeared they had clearly formed boundaries between each other as well, if either felt even slightly uncomfortable, they could just raise the tone of voice just slightly and the other would take the hint and stop.

But that was the only drawback with Nara and Sascha's friendship. True to Tiplee's beliefs, the Togruta and her Padawan were excellent partners, their relationship was a truly beneficial one. Nara seemed to have benefited the most, evolving into a young women right in front of everyone's eyes. While it appeared doubtful that Nara would ever tone down her exuberance, she had at least seemed to be able to moderate it now.

As a few weeks passed, Sascha caught up to his previous level of training, and then quickly surpassed it. He was still behind many of his peers his own age, but at the rate he was improving, she didn't think it would last for very long. While her apprentice was not particularly talented in the ways of the Force, and he would never be amongst the best duelists in the Jedi Order, he continued to develop as a decent defensive fighter, his work in form three, Soresu, was coming along nicely.

After a while, she eased off the intense training and let things go back to normal, content that Sascha didn't need her to oversee every moment of his training, he could do large parts of it on his own. For her, it was a display of faith, of confidence that said that despite what had happened, that Sascha had her trust. It was something that she didn't want to talk about through words, but through actions.

A couple of months after her last mission, she finally received another assignment. This time her mission was from the Council of Reconciliation, one of the theoretically less prestigious of the Jedi Councils, not that she cared. The mission was simple, oversee some security concerns of a large and complicated trade deal between two hostile corporations. It didn't exactly seem like it would be the highlight of her career, but both sides had asked for a neutral party AKA, a Jedi, to oversee the security of their meeting at Toryaz Station in the Kuat system and she had been assigned. The only question was whether she wanted to take her Padawan on this mission. However, after she considered it, she easily came to her decision.

She found Sascha near the library, helping a young Twi'lek Initiate with some finer aspects of meditation. Many teachers at the Temple found Sascha to be a good mentor to the younger Jedi, so it was not unheard of to see him working closely with a Jedi much younger than he was. Not wanting to disrupt his lesson, she merely waited by the door and watched Sascha end his lesson. Sascha noticed her at the door and acknowledged her with a quick nod, indicating that he was just wrapping things up.

"So, Initiate Enul'chori do you feel that you understand the precepts of meditation better?" he asked his student.

"I do, Master…Padawan Whitestar, thank you for being patient with me…and for demonstrating me the techniques that I had trouble with."

Sascha smiled fondly at the blue-skinned Twi'lek, "You have to remember to slow down your thoughts, Initiate Enul'chori, you want to do everything so quickly, meditation requires patience of mind. Frustration is your biggest enemy. But it is one easily defeated!" Sascha checked his chrono, "Now don't be late for your galactic politics class, I don't want Master Leem to be angry with me."

"Thank you, for the lesson," said the Twi'lek as he bowed quickly before scurrying out of the room.

Aurine watched the young Twi'lek dash past her with an amused look on her face, "Does Master Leem even know how to be angry?" Maks Leem, a Gran, was one of the more beloved teachers in the Jedi Order, and probably hadn't been angry since she was four years old.

"I don't think she does, but the Initiates don't know that," Sascha remarked wryly. He bowed politely to her, "What can I do for you, Master?"

She ignored his question, "How did the lesson go?"

"It went pretty well. Meditating is hard for any ten year old, but Mister Enul'chori is still grappling with the basics. I think he's actually afraid to meditate."

"Any theories why?"

Sascha smiled, "I think that he wants to save the galaxy so badly that he considers a moment of meditation a moment that he cannot be a hero. I need to get him to see that he needs to find balance within himself first, before he can be the galaxy's most famous Jedi Knight."

"A good theory. You missed your calling, Padawan, you would have made a fine psychiatrist."

"I didn't miss my calling," Sascha replied quietly.

"No. You didn't," she said proudly.

Her Padawan bowed his head fractionally, acknowledging the praise. "Master, I know you didn't come here just to have this discussion, so could you kindly get to it?"

"Blunt words, my apprentice."

"I'm right though."

He was right, of course. But she didn't necessarily want him to know that. "Walk with me, apprentice."

Dutifully, Sascha aligned himself just off of her right shoulder and matched her pace as she walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple, with no particular destination in mind. "I have been given a mission, Sascha."

He nodded, "I'll get started on research support for you," he said politely. Sascha must have noticed that she said 'I have a mission' and not 'We have a mission.' But despite the fact that he must have been disappointed by her not taking him on the mission, he hadn't reacted...at all to the news. That impressed her. She had previously overheard him saying that being left behind on a mission was a fate worse than death. Then to turn around and not bat an eye when that exact fate was offered to him was impressive. It may have swung her decision, if she had not already made it.

"You're coming with me, Padawan."

Sascha's eyebrows rose, but beyond that he did not react, "…and if you would give me the information on the mission, I'll get started on research."

"I think I'd like to talk with you before we get started on mission planning,"

Now Sascha seemed confused, but he nodded anyway. "I want you to know Sascha, that your performance over the past few weeks has been exemplary. I know I don't go out of my way to praise you very often, but know that I am proud of you." She placed a hand softly on his shoulder, "I am proud to be your Master."

Sascha looked up at her with his deep brown eyes, "I am proud to be your apprentice, Master Brynar."

She smiled, feeling pride welling in her chest, "I want preliminary research on Toryaz station on my datapad in an hour. I want you to pack as if we may not return to the Temple for some time, I have a feeling that we may not be back for many months."

Sascha nodded soberly and she could almost see him cataloguing what he wanted to bring for such a long-term trip. "Are we taking the Emerald Dream?" he asked. The Emerald Dream was Sascha's ship, which had been given to him by the people of his homeworld, Sluis Van. It had taken undergone some rather extensive repairs after being just about shot out of the sky on Balmorra, but it had been back to working condition for some time now.

"We are. I talked with the technicians and they said that it is in perfect condition. It's your ship, we might as well use it." She continued in a lighter tone of voice, "Though for all the trials and tribulations you've put me through I've decided I will fly it to Toryaz station. That is your punishment – you will have to watch me fly your ship"

Sascha grinned, "Fair enough, Master. All I want is to be by your side."

Aurine ruffled his hair affectionately, "That is all I ask, my Padawan. See you in an hour."

Almost a Year Later, Jedi Temple, Coruscant.

Sascha shook his head in frustration as the end game screen popped up on his holodisplay, indicating his defeat. "I almost had you that time, Master," he said ruefully.

Truth be told, he almost had, realized Aurine Brynar. They were back at the Temple for a well-deserved rest after many months away on various missions across the galaxy. Having been bereft of the facilities of the Temple for a long time, she and Sascha had decided to celebrate their return by playing one of the fleet commander games that were available at the Temple.

Her Padawan was a strong tactical thinker, and as he aged and got more comfortable with himself, he was growing into a commander that could even rival her. She could see that one day, maybe even one day soon, that he would surpass her as a tactician, though perhaps only when it came to fleet tactics. Army tactics were her forte and there were few in the galaxy that she would consider her equal. Fleet tactics she was not as strong in, and that was where Sascha excelled. Every time they played, he would find a new wrinkle to throw at her, and the one he had used this time had been just short of spectacular.

Knowing her Padawan as well as she did, she knew that he preferred solid, defensive strategies, and thus she would often array her forces in a greedy fashion, knowing that Sascha was not inclined to want to punish her for that. This time was different, right from the get-go, Sascha had harassed and harried her forces away from tactically significant areas, and while he kept his capital ships in a tight, defensive formation, he let his Starfighters and corvettes have a huge amount of tactical freedom, which he used to cause havoc with her ships.

Not used to this sort of strategy from her Padawan, Aurine had been put on the back foot for much of the encounter. Eventually, she had spotted the one opening that he had given her, and made him pay for a touch of sloppiness. Sucking him in to a fight he thought he could win with his Starfighters and remaining corvettes, she had cleverly hidden her own corvettes and then unleashed them when he least expected it. There was simply too much room between his capital ships and his raiding force and she had taken advantage of it. If he had been more decisive, less defensive, he would have eventually pulled her forces apart and won. But he hadn't. This time, at least.

They spent at least half an hour discussing the various tactical missteps that he had made, and by the end of the lesson, she could tell that she had just added one more trick to his ever growing arsenal. It was almost a shame that he'd likely never have a use for such proficiency in fleet tactics.

At the end of their conversation, he shook his head, "I really thought I was going to win that one," he said.

She laughed, "Sascha you are seventeen, you wouldn't even be allowed in most navies - you aren't supposed to be able to command as well as that."

He nodded, "I know. And it's not like I'll need to worry about commanding a fleet anytime soon, as I'm pretty sure we won't be going to war with the Republic's almost non-existent fleet. Best I'll ever get to do is command some Judicial forces"

"Unless the military creation act gets passed, as it seems to be always threatening to do." The military creation act had been around in various forms for what seemed like hundreds of years. The Republic did not have an army and the navy that it maintained was tiny. Theoretically, the ships of the defence forces of the various charter members of the Republic could be used for military actions, and several systems were more than willing to lend them out, if given appropriate compensation. The fact that the Republic didn't have a navy was fine by Aurine, the Republic was so dominant, that it seemed impossible that any force could rise up and challenge their supremacy. Still, some politicians wanted a big, shiny fleet to command and would never stop in their efforts to get one made. The Naboo crisis had only strengthened those beliefs, as the blockade of Naboo could have easily have been ended by sending the fleet to Naboo and crushing the Trade Federation fleet.

"We might need a navy to track down the renegade ships of the Trade Federation military that didn't come in to be decommissioned," Sascha commented.

After their overreach at Naboo, the Senate had moved to take away the battleships from the Trade Federation, wisely concluding that a business that was reliant on trade did not need massive military ships to guard its shipping. Still, not all Trade Federation commanders had volunteered to bring in their ships to be decommissioned, or have their ships stripped of turbolasers and other weaponry. Some had scuttled their fleet in protest, some were probably being hidden by the Trade Federation, and several had gone rogue, creating a pirate fleet that had battleships under their control. Not exactly a pleasant thought.

"Not a problem you need to worry about, Padawan."

Sascha nodded and stood up from his terminal, he had grown slightly in the last year, though he was still below average height. His growth was more obvious in another sense; he had grown less childish, more aware of what his responsibility as a Jedi Knight would be. It made him more sombre in public, but he still had his sarcastic sense of humour that he would unleash from time to time.

Their time together since his recovery had not come without trials, but neither had they had the dramatic moments of their first two missions. Their first two missions had been outliers, really, what they had been doing for some time now was more standard. Important work, surely, delivering medicine to planets, negotiating peace treaties and providing security to trade agreements were the core of what Jedi like Aurine did. She was a peacekeeper first and foremost, rarely did she have to ignite their lightsaber, which suited her just fine.

"Have you seen Nara since you got back?" she asked. It would have been months since he had last seen his friend, though they had probably been swapping messages over the Holonet, just to stay in touch.

Sascha looked confused for a brief moment before responding, "She's not at the Temple right now, so no."

"Do you know when she is getting back?"

"Why would I know that?" he asked, confused.

"I thought you might want to keep track of your friend."

Sascha shook his head vehemently, "I think that would only lead to attachment, Master."

Aurine frowned, but respected his decision, "As you wish, Padawan."

Her Padawan clearly sensed that the issue was not settled, "Master, I'm friends with Nara, and I know you aren't always comfortable with how we act with each other, but if I started keeping track of her and sending her messages on missions, I'd be thinking of her, when I need to be thinking about me. That's what I've learned about attachment. It wasn't just that I was physically attracted to Tyra, it's that I spent time ever day thinking about her. That, more than anything led to me becoming attached to her. I'm not going to make the same mistake with Nara."

Aurine smiled, sensing that Sascha had found a sort of balance with his emotions. It was all well and good to be attracted to girls, because, well, he was still human and that was natural. What mattered was balance, and knowledge that you were bound first and foremost to the Force and the Jedi Order and second to your emotions. "You have grown wise, my apprentice."

Sascha shrugged self-deprecatingly, "Perhaps I have, but I don't feel all that wise. I made a mistake once, and it cost me my best friend. I now know how to manage my emotions better, and this is just part of it. Nara knows this as well. I think we are both very comfortable with our friendship."

"What about Tyra, have you heard from her?"

A flash of pain rippled across Sascha's youthful features, "No."

"Do you know if she's done her mission?"

"I don't know…and I don't want to even look it up."

"You're afraid to find out," she speculated.

Sascha looked downwards, "Yeah."

"Do you want me to look for you?"

"I'd prefer you didn't. I'm confident that she's alive...I'm pretty sure I would have felt her..." Sascha swallowed hard, "...die."

She laid a hand on Sascha's shoulder, "I'm sure she's alive, Padawan."

"I...just...if Tyra was here...I don't even know what I would say to her." He sighed dramatically, "It's just that I'm happy with myself for really what feels like the first time in my life. But Tyra's this sort of wildcard in my life. Will I be able to be friends with her again? I feel like I'm over my feelings for her, but that is easy to say when she's not here..."

"She still means a lot to you," she said, somewhat surprised. It had been a long time since the name 'Tyra Harker' had been broached by either of them.

Sascha's chin lifted, "She always will...I hope."

Aurine was about to reply, when she heard a voice come from behind them, "Hey Sascha!"

She quickly identified the voice as belonging to Trigg, and when she turned, she was not exactly surprised to see Doro beside the stocky Padawan. She gently shoved her Padawan towards his friends, "I see that some of your other friends are here, go have fun for a while, Sascha."

Sascha bowed insultingly low, "As you command, my Master."

Aurine rolled her eyes and left the three Padawans to their reunion.