Lord Darth Yoda - Another one of your insanely accurate predictions comes true.

thejoker122 - They didn't, unfortunately.

Speechbubbleme - Don't worry, I always got choked up writing this chapter (I hate killing off my characters, especially the ones I like). There's a few emotionally charged chapters coming up, though perhaps not as out and out sad as this one.

A/N - Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and all that good stuff! We're heading into a few of my favourite chapters that I've ever written, so I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing.

Please enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 45: Reaction

"I'm saddened beyond words to hear of the death of Lirri Boikana. From the little I knew of her, she seemed like the type of leader that this planet desperately needed. I can only hope that her sacrifice, her bravery strikes a chord with the average Ubroran and rouses them from their slumber. Maybe now, the planet will rise up and throw off its shackles."

-From the Journal of Pravin Ecalt, twenty nine days in to the Invasion of Ubrora

Shortly before the death of Lirri Boikana

"Come on you sleepy Togruta, time to wake up."

Nara groaned, pulled her covers tighter and turned to her side, away from the voice, "Just five more minutes," she said sleepily.

She had been having such a nice dream. In her dream, she had been in a nice, upscale cantina and there had been a score of cute Togruta boys all buying her drinks and vying for her attention. Sascha was there too, of course, but he was just sitting across from her in the booth, clearly very amused by what was going on and not at all jealous of the attention she was receiving. The perfect platonic friend.

One of the male Togruta stood and walked towards the booth. Sascha, knowing how to get out of the way when required, quickly made an excuse and scurried off. Nara stared openly at the tall, handsome Togruta, who smiled softly at her. Of her various suitors, she had liked this one best, she liked his dark red coloured skin, she liked his nice white and dark blue montrals, perfectly formed even though he was only just entering adulthood. Broad-shouldered and graceful, he had a nice leanness to him, and he made her heart beat faster just by smiling at her.

The handsome Togruta stopped at her booth, let a hand brush softly against her shoulder and she shivered in pleasure…

…and then she woke up.

"Nara!" Someone outside knocked on her door loudly, "Wake up!"

"Go away Sascha!" she shouted. If she could only have five more minutes, she was sure she could get back to her dream and start kissing that handsome Togruta…

Apparently, she wasn't going to get five more minutes, as Sascha opened the door and entered her room, eyes closed, "Nara are you decent?" he asked.

She groaned, "Please Sascha, you know I sleep fully clothed, like any good Togruta." She slept in her normal robe, like most of the Jedi that she knew. That was how she had slept as a youngling and how she slept now. Old habits died hard.

Her nose picked up on something that smelled good and she felt her mouth salivating in preparation for eating a meal. She turned over on her side to see Sascha holding a plate of meat rolls. The rolls were clearly processed and had been recently reheated, but her stomach obviously didn't care. "I made breakfast," Sascha said, "Though I'm not sure how you can eat meat for breakfast."

"Hello? Carnivore here. Meat equals delicious. Better than all these vegetables that give me indigestion."

Sascha smiled faintly, and left the plate on her dresser, "Sure, whatever. Have your meal and then join me downstairs, we should make use of this time that Lirri is buying for us."

Right. The war. Nara flopped back into her bed and all the pain and the hurt and the loss of the last few weeks all came rushing back to her. Tears welled in her eyes and her chest heaved with a little sob. She desperately wanted to go back to her dream, where her biggest worry was which of the handsome boys she wanted to kiss first, instead of this…this nightmare.

After a moment she regained control of herself and checked that Sascha hadn't seen her little breakdown. He hadn't. Nara sighed in relief. This war was so hard on her, she hated that she had become so weak and emotional. She didn't want Sascha to worry about her, well, more than he clearly already did. She had never been under such constant stress before and she had been experiencing so many nightmares, nightmares about Ubrora being engulfed in flame. But the one nightmare that had stuck with her was the one where she woke up and she was entirely alone. No Sascha. No Aurine. No Master Tiplee. No Ubrorans. Just a completely empty planet, a nightmare in every sense of the word, a nightmare that represented her fear of being alone. In comparison, that dream about hunky Togruta boys had been absolute paradise in comparison. Nara thought that she had a little resolve left, but she was quickly running out of it, and she didn't know what was going to happen when it did.

That breakdown that she had a few days ago still weighed heavily on her mind. She had actually lost her temper at another Jedi, a friend, her best friend and when she realized that she had…gone away, almost, like her consciousness had departed her body. The next hour or so of her life was just a blank space in her memory. From talking with Sascha, she learned that she had curled onto the floor of the refresher and cried uncontrollably for almost an hour. The only person that she had responded to was Sascha. No matter how horrible this war had gotten, it still seemed that their bond was holding. Maybe it was the only thing keeping her going.

Nara clambered out of bed and started gnawing away at the meat rolls that Sascha had left for her. While it certainly wasn't the best produce that Ubrora had to offer (needed more spice), she wasn't going to complain, especially as it had been hand delivered to her room still nice and warm. She was lucky that Sascha was here with her, his little kindnesses like preparing this meal were, well, they were keeping her sane. He was a true friend, and she wasn't sure where she'd be without him.

She stripped off her old robe and went to the closet to select a new one. One of the great ironies of this mission was that she was finally getting a nice choice of wardrobe. Her old robe had been destroyed and several older Ubrorans had donated these custom made, more colourful robes as a way of supporting the war effort in their own, unique way. She quickly perused the colourful robes before settling on one of the less vibrant ones.

She actually liked the Ubroran-style Jedi robe that had been given to her, it was made of softer material (Jedi made robes didn't bother with anything more than the most utilitarian of fabrics), had a nicer cut (accentuating some of the good parts of her physique) and the nice blue colour made her purple skin look nice. Yet, when she looked in the mirror, all she saw was a tired Togruta staring back at her.

Quietly she went down the stairs and into the main part of the house. In the main hallway Sascha was programming instructions into the small, circular, housekeeping droid, clearly struggling with the unfamiliar design. "You don't need to do that, you know," she said.

Sascha looked up at her and then back at the droid, "Thought I might accomplish something nice for our host, considering she is doing us a massive favour today."

"I suppose. I'll be in the other room, meditating. Feels like forever since we just sat and meditated together."

Sascha glanced up at her, "Feels weird that you are the one suggesting a meditation session."

"Must be your influence," she laughed.

Sascha smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked so tired today, it almost seemed to radiate off him in the Force. He was being strong, quite possibly just for her, but she knew him well enough to know that his strength, much like hers, was on the verge of failing.

That delightful thought in mind, she pulled a large pillow off of one of Lirri's recliners and laid it underneath her. As she settled into a comfortable position, she started her mental checklist for meditation. Meditation had never come easy to her, she would admit that, but she had always been able to find inner peace. Except today. Today it was completely elusive. Whenever she tried to look inside of herself and find that little place of peace that she had always possessed, it wasn't there.

Her frustration was just about to boil over when she felt Sascha's soft touch on her shoulder. Through that small physical connection, Sascha poured patience and understanding, and almost immediately her frustration flowed out of her. Nara reached out with her eyes closed and touched him on the wrist, sending gratitude through that connection.

She could sense Sascha getting ready to join her in meditation and she was thankful for it. Sascha always led their meditations together, partly because he had an affinity for meditation and partly because he was just better at it than she was.

She was about to drop her mental shielding to allow Sascha in when she felt a cry of distress echo through the Force. Immediately she honed in on the cry, trying to decode who it was from. Quickly, she surmised it wasn't from her Master, and with a little more effort she decoded that it hadn't come from Aurine.

The two Padawans came to a similar conclusion at the exact same time, "Lirri!" they both shouted. They bounced to their feet, collected their weapons and were out the door in seconds. With the cry of distress and now pain echoing through the Force, the Jedi used it as a homing beacon as they raced through the streets of Bontha.

"We should stop at HQ, and collect reinforcements," puffed Sascha.

"We will get their quicker if we go directly," she said through deep, sucking breaths. Without the Force to power through her fatigue, Nara knew that she couldn't exert herself this much. But the Force was with her, for now.

Nara started to outpace Sascha, who was struggling mightily just to keep her in sight. She considered slowing down, but decided against it. Lirri needed immediate help that much was clear to her, and if she could get there quicker than Sascha, she would.

The Togruta was rounding a corner when the sensation from Lirri changed. Now it felt like she was reaching out…and saying goodbye.

"Nooo!" she yelled in the middle of the street.

Behind her, she heard Sascha make a similar exclamation.

Then, with a shudder in the Force, Lirri's presence faded.

Nara, gasping for breath in the middle of the roadway, sank to her knees, feeling tears coming to her eyes. She's gone, she realized. That means…she died.

That thought was like receiving a particularly hard punch to her stomach.

Lirri died because we weren't there, she raged at herself. Another innocent life swallowed whole by the war. Another loss under the watch of her and Sascha.

Except this loss was the most painful yet.

She was going to continue recriminations at herself, when she felt a hand clasp hers, "Come on Nara, get up," said Sascha. "We can't focus on…what happened. We need to make sure that a rescue mission isn't launched for a person that is…gone."

She yanked her hand away from his, "Dead. You can say the word, Sascha." She kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to open her eyes to a world that was this cruel, this hopeless.

"She's joined the Force, like we all will at some point, Nara."

That platitude broke something inside of her. Her eyes snapped open, and she grabbed a hold of Sascha's collar and started yelling directly at his face,pressing her nose right into his cheek, "How can even say such a thing? Lirri died! She didn't join the Force, or whatever lie we are taught to regurgitate at the Temple. She died! We'll never hear her laugh again! We'll never see her improve her ability in the Force! Lirri wasn't even twenty-five years old! And now she's gone forever!"

She then broke down, sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the street on this unfamiliar world, during a war that she wasn't even sure was worth fighting anymore.

Sascha held her close for a while she sobbed. Then as the flow of tears ended, he spoke to her quietly, confidently, "I will mourn for Lirri. But we have a job to do, a role to play. If Lirri is watching over us two right now, what do you think she'd want us to be doing?"

Nara sniffed, and wiped away some of her tears, "Since when did you get so strong, Sascha?"

"I'm not," he admitted, "I'm just doing what I can right now. Then when I've done everything I can, I'll just curl into a ball and cry. You'll be welcome to join me."

Feeling numb, but knowing that Sascha was correct, she let him pull her to her feet, "Come on, let's get to HQ. Everyone there deserves to know."

Sascha forced a smile, "There is my tough little Togruta," he said, punching her lightly on the shoulder.

Nara didn't feel like a tough little anything at the moment, but she was going to try to act like a Jedi, act like she was above the day to day emotions of the people around her. It would be a front, a lie, but it would allow her to do something other than just sit here in the middle of the road and cry. "Let's go. You lead."

They arrived at the resistance headquarters together. Inside, there was a flurry of activity, with Arslan and Ovans obviously trying to prepare some sort of mission. Arslan spotted them first, "Sascha, Nara! So good to see you! I tried to raise you at Lirri's home but no one was answering."

Ovans rushed over to them, looking beyond worried, "We are in a little bit of a crisis at the moment. One of our attacks went wrong and Lirri…well, Lirri was left behind. We're preparing our rescue mission right now. I'm sure you'll want to lead."

Nara looked downward, a lump forming in her throat. How could she possibly tell these people what had happened to Lirri? She found herself glancing at the door in a sort of a strange 'fight-or-flight response. She was lucky that her partner had more composure than she did. Sascha spoke, his voice betraying some of his pent up emotion, "If you are looking to rescue Lirri, you can cancel the mission."

The Togruta glanced up to see the stunned look from Arslan and Ovans and every other Ubroran that had overheard Sascha. "I don't understand what you are saying, Master Jedi," said Arslan, a hint of dread in his voice.

"Lirri Boikana is no more." After Sascha had said those dreadful words, Nara searched for, grabbed Sascha's hand and squeezed. He squeezed right back.

Shock registered on Ovans and Arslan's fur lined faces. "I am not sure what you mean, Jedi. Sekac said that when he left Lirri, that she was alive," said Arslan.

Sascha braced himself, "She's dead, Arslan. Nara and I felt it in the Force."

Arslan sat down in the middle of the room, clearly stunned. All around them, the conversations that had been going on had died down. Now there was only silence in the headquarters. "You are sure?" asked Arslan, "Could she just merely be hurt? Sekac said that she was wounded."

She spoke up for the first time, "Lirri is dead, Arslan. We wouldn't say something this…dire if we weren't completely sure."

A few of the other Ubrorans in the room started crying. Arslan put his hands atop his head as he sat in the middle of the room, distress evident in his expression.

Ovans though, reacted much differently. He got right in Sascha's face, and started screaming at him, "It should have been you two that died! How convenient for the both of you that you just happened to not be on the mission that got ambushed by those armored thugs. Was Lirri standing too much in your sun, Jedi?" Ovans threw a wild haymaker of a punch at Sascha, which he easily avoided.

"I'm sorry you think that way, but its not true," Sascha said evenly.

"I'll show you who is sorry!" yelled Ovans, launching another punch at Sascha. This time Sascha grabbed Ovans' arm, used it to take him to the ground, and restrained him. "Let me up," yelled Ovans.

Sascha spoke, his voice now starting to crack with emotion, "You think I don't mourn for Lirri? My heart feels like it's going to rip itself in half. Lirri was more than just an influential leader. She was a fellow child of the Force! She was my sister! Don't you dare tell me that I sacrificed Lirri because I would trade places with her in a heartbeat!" His voice became quieter, more insistent, "But I'm going to do what I know she would want us to do. I'm going to keep fighting. She sacrificed for us. I'm not going to let that sacrifice be in vain."

The quiet room absorbed that speech from Sascha without anyone making a sound. "I'm not going to let that sacrifice be in vain either," she added. It had felt to her like the next thing that was said into the silence would make or break the mood amongst the resistance fighters, so she was going to be the one that said something. It was what Lirri would have wanted.

Arslan shakily got to his feet, "Me neither."

Still being held down by Sascha, Ovans muttered, "Me either. Now let me up." Sascha helped Ovans back to his feet, and looked surprised when the Ubroran embraced him with a quick hug, "I'm sorry I said those things," said Ovans.

"It's fine. We all deal with grief in our own way," replied Sascha.

"Someone needs to go tell her family," said Arslan quietly.

Nara unintentionally bit her lip. She had always begged off from visiting the families of those who had lost their lives fighting for the resistance. Sascha had always been the Jedi that had went to help console the families, that was something that he could manage to do, given his emotional strength. Somehow, she wasn't sure that he'd be able to manage that same level of emotional stoicism that he had previously.

"Sascha and I will go," she said.

Sascha caught her eye and nodded approvingly, adding, "Arslan, you should probably come with us too. There should be at least one Ubroran."

Arslan nodded. Ovans scuffed some dirt off of his clothes, "I'll keep things together here." The Ubroran paused, "I'll also tell Sekac what happened. He'll be crushed, but it's better that he hear it from one of us."

"I appreciate that, Ovans," said Sascha, complimenting the being that just half a minute ago was screaming in his face.

Arslan walked over to her and Sascha, "We should go now, before her family finds out from another source. We owe her family at least that much."

"Let's go then," she said.

It was a very quiet walk through the streets of Bontha for her, Arslan and Sascha. She tried not to think about what they were doing, how they were going to bring heartbreak to an entire family. Every time she wanted to stop, to make some excuse not to do this, she found confidence in both Sascha and Arslan. Sascha's shoulders were tense, and Nara could tell that he was going to hold on to his emotions just long enough to have this conversation with the Boikana's before breaking down. Arslan...well, he had clearly been

"Let me take the lead," Sascha said quietly but confidently. "If Murgo is there, we treat him like a father, not like an enemy, understood?"

Arslan looked like he might object, but he swallowed the objection when they rounded the corner and saw the Boikana home. It was a home pretty much like any other in Bontha, except maybe a little larger. The lights were on, meaning that her secret wish that Lirri's family wouldn't be home was unlikely.

Sascha walked up to the front entrance and rang the chime. Nara legs felt uncharacteristically weak, and her fight-or-flight reflex was telling her to run. She controlled that sensation, but it almost failed her when Parv, Lirri's brother, answered the door. "Can I help you?" he said, clearly wary.

"May we come in?" said Sascha.

"Lirri isn't here," said Parv, confused.

"We need to talk to you, and if your mother or father are home, then we would like to speak to everyone."

Parv froze, "This is about Lirri isn't it?"

Arslan walked forward, "Yes, now we'd prefer to tell this to everyone at once, not everyone individually. Now, can we get inside?"

Parv didn't move, "It's about Lirri, but Lirri isn't here. Why don't you just tell me why you came?"

Sascha took a deep breath and was about to respond when an older Ubroran came to the doorway. Seeing that it wasn't Murgo, Nara could only come to one conclusion, that this was Lirri's mother. "What is going on out here?" asked the Ubroran.

"These people are with the resistance," said Parv, taking the arm of his mother.

"We have something we'd like to talk to you about," said Sascha gently.

"Then come inside, please," said the Ubroran.

The small group headed inside the house, which she was already familiar with. Lirri's mother waved at the dinner table, indicating that everyone could sit, but she, Sascha and Arslan stayed standing. "My name is Sena, by the way," said the older Ubroran.

"I'm Sascha, and this is Nara and Arlsan," replied her friend.

"What brings you to our house today?"

Sascha closed his eyes for a short second before speaking, "I'm afraid that I have some bad news to deliver. Lirri…passed away today, leading resistance..."

Sascha was interrupted by a bone-chilling wail from Sena, who collapsed to the ground like she didn't have any bones. Parv's face showed his distress, but he held on to his mother and tried to comfort her as much as he could.

"I'm so sorry," said Sascha, his voice breaking, "I didn't know Lirri for very long, but I was proud to call her a friend of mine."

"She was very special," she added, her heart broken in half, watching Sena and Parv's world come crashing down on them.

The house was silent except for the sobs of the two Boikanas. Into the grief, spoke Sascha his voice calm, considered, but still emotional, "If there is anything we can do for your family, please do not hesitate to ask."

Parv managed to break off his crying fit for a moment to look up at all three of them, "Thank you. As you can…" the Ubroran wiped his face, "…understand, we would like to grieve alone."

Nara reached out and put a soft hand on Sascha shoulder. He nodded to her in appreciation of that gesture, and all three of them turned to leave.

Which was exactly when Murgo Boikana walked in.

"What is going on here!" yelled Murgo.

Nara froze.

Sascha, fortunately, did not. He bowed his head respectfully to the new entrant, "I'm sorry Mayor Boikana, but I felt it necessary to deliver some bad news in person."

It didn't take long for Murgo to process what those words meant and who was missing from this scene. "Where is Lirri? Where is my daughter!"

Sascha visibly floundered as Murgo advanced on him, so Arslan did what she should have done and stepped between the two. Arslan held out his arm to stop Murgo, "Sir, Lirri…was killed in action today…"

"What!" yelled Murgo, brushing Arslan aside to stand directly in front of Sascha, "This is some sort of ploy, isn't it? Something you convinced my daughter to do for your resistance to gain sympathy?"

Sascha swallowed hard, and a few tears appeared on his face, "I only wish that were the case."

Murgo's head snapped around, taking in the expression of his family and the obviously emotional intruders. Realization dawned in his eyes all at once. Murgo raced to his family to comfort them.

Nara was crying. She hadn't realized thatshe had started crying, and she had only become aware of it when she felt something wet started dripping down on to her hands. Sascha was bravely holding back tears, Arslan looked stricken and emotional, but wasn't crying. Without any sort of signal, Arslan and Sascha came and wrapped their arms around her.

Eventually, everyone came together.

Friends and enemies.

Family and strangers.

Ubroran and alien.

They all grieved together, remembering who they had lost.

And how things would never be the same again.