LordDarthYoda - Thanks for the review, it was actually your comment about Aurine changing that inspired the conversation there. Could they have had a messy falling out? It doesn't seem likely. They both need each other, though sometimes they don't like admitting it.

Nuada Silverhand - Thank you so much for the very detailed review! It was a very good read and was generally on the nose. This story has three sort of...phases that don't really work, the Tyra moping, the diplomatic part and then the war. To be honest I don't like the Tyra moping section that much, and if I had to do it all again, I would have had that whole book 2 leave off in a much different manner, mostly because it left me spending a bunch of chapters in this book to clean up the second book's mess, which wasn't great. You're right to say that I probably could have integrated it better into the plot of this book, but I wanted to do a time skip (otherwise I'll be writing 16 year old Sascha forever). Certainly I agree that it was awkwardly handled. Point noted on the spoilers - I'll endeavour to be less specific. As for next book, we're going to spend...8ish chapters on Coruscant, but it'll be a part of two mini arcs that I really want to write and should be entertaining. Otherwise we'll be off world - I think you are right that doing more of the 'heh look how different Jedi are from normal people' is kind of overdone at this point. Great review and please feel free to chime in whenever, or send me a PM!

A/N - Okay, last chapter and then a Epilogue/Preview on Sunday! Phew! This was a looong book!

Anyways, all reviews, follows, and favourites are deeply appreciated as always.

Please enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 64: Celebration

Liberation day, as it had been declared by President Keicho Mollek, turned out to be a beautiful day in the city of Bontha. There were a few clouds scattered in the sky and the temperature was slightly cool, but few in Ubrora would be found complaining. Sascha Whitestar certainly wasn't.

What he could complain about, was limping around on crutches. While it had been explained to him that there was only a limited number of medical hoverchairs on Ubrora and thus they were being reserved for those more injured than he was, using crutches was extremely annoying. And it was especially annoying for him because Nara was floating on a hoverchair not far from him. Should have gotten more injured, he supposed.

He was dressed in his more formal gray and teal robe that had somehow came through the whole war fine. They had been left (along with his Master's emerald robe) in the first house they had stayed at in Ubrora, and they had been retrieved by some well meaning soul and kept safe until now. Sascha was happy to have it back, though Aurine had said that she could have had it replaced if it had indeed been destroyed.

While the celebrations for Ubrora's liberation had been ongoing since the final battle, today's celebration was supposedly special, hence the four Jedi had been requested to be a part of it. Tiplee had wanted to leave Nara behind at the hospital so that she could recover quicker, but she had argued that not being a part of the celebrations would mean that she missed a chance for closure. Tiplee had apparently seen the logic in that, hence Nara being in a hoverchair beside him.

"Everyone ready?" asked Aurine. His Master looked like she was pretty much back to normal, physically speaking. The cuts on her face had almost entirely healed, and she was walking with a barely perceptible limp. She was emotionally back on her usual level as well, joking with him in private and putting on an 'official' face in public.

"I am ready," said Tiplee, as she adjusted her belt. Tiplee's wardrobe was all new – her other robes were either dingy, destroyed, ripped or torn. So a tailor had made her a new set of beige and brown robes with a white belt that apparently wasn't quite the right size. The Rishati was still pretty obviously in the 'recovery' phase of the healing process. She moved around slowly like she was in constant pain, and if Sascha had to guess, she still was. Unlike Aurine's cuts, Tiplee's were still visible on her face, with one particularly prominent cut that he was sure was going to become a scar on her left cheek. Maybe Rishati healed differently, because Tiplee didn't seem concerned about it.

"I'm ready," he said. "Can I discard the crutches for this event? I hate them with a fiery passion."

"How's your knee?" asked Aurine.

Sascha had never had a torn meniscus before, and he planned to never do so again. He could walk, but barely, and doing anything besides limping was likely to re-injure his knee. He suspected it would be another month before his knee fully recovered, maybe shorter if he spent time trying to fix it in meditation. Right now he didn't even have full range of motion in his leg.

"I can limp. That's about all I can do, but I can limp."

"You can limp around for the ceremony, then back on the crutches," said Aurine.

Sascha did a little fistpump as he put the crutches to the side.

"I wish I could limp," pouted Nara. "I'm confined to this chair for another two days," she said unhappily.

"At least you got to swim in the pool for an hour," he pointed out.

"I don't like to swim," Nara said as she crossed her arms across her chest defiantly.

He suppressed a laugh. Over the past few days Nara had seemed to revert back to the defiant, hardheaded young Padawan that she'd once been. But he knew that it was just from not being able to move around much. Her surgical sutures had been removed yesterday, so she was starting to get some mobility back, but Doctor Jarvis had rejected all of Nara's pleas to let her do more physical activity. So Nara pouted about it. But meant that Nara was confined to her hoverchair, which wasn't the worst thing in the world (it did look rather comfortable) for the immediate future.

"Okay, let's go," said Aurine.

The four Jedi filed out of their temporary quarters, the three ambulatory Jedi followed by Nara. They had to walk slowly so he could keep up, but fortunately they weren't going very far – to just outside of the building that had once hosted the banquet that had welcomed the Jedi to the blanket. An event that seemed like it had happened eons ago.

As the Jedi walked that short distance, they could see that temporary bleachers and grandstands had been set up along the roadway. The stands were absolutely packed as far as Sascha could see – he doubted that there was a single Ubroran that was not either a part of this parade or part of the crowd that was watching it.

It didn't take long for one Ubroran to notice the Jedi making the walk towards their destination. And shortly after that, the Jedi were approached by a swarm of Ubrorans. Sascha instinctively dropped to his Master's side, the position he would take up if they were going to be in a fight. He chided himself slightly for being so cautious, but he does feel better with his Master in good position to protect him.

As the mass of Ubrorans approached Tiplee held her hands out and spoke in a loud, clear voice, "We are happy to greet you, but please give us space."

The Ubrorans, without words, made a partial circle around the Jedi, keeping a fair amount of space between themselves and the Jedi.

"Thank you," said one Ubroran, who dropped to his knees and prostrated herself before the Jedi as if he was venerating them.

"We don't..." said Aurine.

"Thank you," said another pair of Ubrorans, who mimicked the first Ubroran, also prostrating themselves in front of the Jedi.

"You don't need to," started Tiplee.

But the trend had already been started. First small clumps of Ubrorans started bowing to the Jedi, then more and more did, until the whole crowd had supplicated themselves to the Jedi.

Then the Ubrorans started a simple, powerful chant.

"THANK YOU."

"THANK YOU"

"THANK YOU"

"THANK YOU"

The words were so loud they reverberated around the nearby buildings, creating a sort of echo chamber that made the chants grow even louder and louder.

"THANK YOU"

"THANK YOU"

Sascha felt tears rolling down his face as he started to cry.. Never in his life had he felt such an outpouring of emotion. In the Force, all he could sense was the sincerity (and yes the thankfulness) that the Ubrorans had four all four of the Jedi. It was overwhelming. So instead of fighting it, he gave in.

He carefully sunk to his knees, protecting his injured knee as he did. Then he joined in with the chant.

"THANK YOU"

"THANK YOU"

Soon after he joined in, both Aurine and Tiplee followed suit, adding their voices to the rising chorus. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nara lower the hoverchair so that she too was on the ground. Her voice too was added to the chorus.

"THANK YOU"

"THANK YOU"

The crescendo built. Sascha was no longer saying thank you, he was shouting it. He was refilling his lungs only to exclaim again.

Rarely, if ever, had he felt himself get so swept up in something that was far bigger than himself. He had never had a religious experience in the way that true believers of religion sometimes spoke about. This was...pretty darn close to a religious experience. It was just so emotional, so powerful, so spontaneous. No one could have planned it, and if someone had, it would have come off as hokey, and over the top. Only as a genuine outpouring of thanks from the Ubrorans to the Jedi could this moment have worked the way it did.

The chant itself wasn't complicated or catchy. It was just a simple phrase repeated over and over again. But it was that repetition that added power to it. Each repetition showed how thankful the Ubrorans were to the Jedi (and the Jedi to the Ubrorans).

For a while, Sascha wasn't sure what was going to happen first, his voice failing or the chant ending. But eventually the chant started to lose its power, and after a few more repetitions, it faded completely, leaving behind only silence.

The silence stretched for at least a minute and was probably more. He used it to think of the Ubrorans that had given their lives so that he, Sascha Whitestar, could have this moment. He also thought of the Ubrorans that were still living, several of which were now heroes. Arslan, the dedicated backbone of the resistance. Sekac, the quiet but dutiful hunter that had destroyed many droids and had spent much of his time in the resistance teaching his fellow members how to improve their aim. And Ovans, the always outspoken Ubroran that he had frequently clashed with. Thee Ubrorans he would never forget.

Tiplee stood, and broke the eerie silence, "Myself and my fellow Jedi are deeply touched by this spontaneous gesture. I know I will remember it until my dying breath. But you don't need to thank just us. Please spend the time to thank all of those that volunteered to join the army or joined the resistance. Please thank those that could not fight but volunteered in other ways, whether it be monitoring enemy troop movements or treating injured resistance fighters. These people should not be ignored. Your freedom was not bought by the Jedi. You bought your own freedom with your sacrifices. Kindly remember everyone who contributed, not just us."

Sascha poked his Master in her side and she got the hint and helped him to his feet. All around him, the Ubrorans that had supplicated themselves were slowly getting back to their feet as well. Sascha looked to his Master, wondering what they were going to do now. To get to their destination, they'd have to push through a crowd of Ubrorans.

The Jedi started walking slowly towards their destination, and the sea of Ubrorans simply parted to give them room to pass. It was an oddly surreal experience, as the four Jedi passed through a sea of quiet, solemn Ubrorans. Some quietly said, "Thank you," as they passed, while others were silent. Sascha tried to make eye contact and nod at each Ubroran that thanks him, but he found that wasalmost impossible, so every few steps he bowed his head slightly and said, 'thank you,' to the crowd.

Though it took them a while to do so, the four Jedi eventually made their way to a raised platform that had been set up for them. As they approached they were met by President Keicho Mollek, who bowed slightly, "Welcome, Master Jedi. Sorry for the...unforeseen delay."

"It was no problem at all, President Mollek," said Tiplee, speaking for all four Jedi.

"Can I show you to your seats?" asked the Ubroran leader, who seemed to strike the right balance between solemn and energized.

Tiplee gestured to the Ubroran, "Please do. I'm sure you'd like to get things underway." The Jedi were led by President Mollek towards a group of seats on the front of an upraised platform. Already seated were Pravin Ecalt, his father Ravar, Ovans, and Arslan. Pravin was dressed in a military style dress uniform, while his father was wearing what Sascha would guess at being Ubroran designed clothes, the splashes of colour across the chest were just so...Ubroran. And Arslan, well, Arslan clearly had not picked out his own clothes for this occasion. Dressed in a tight shirt and pants combination that overemphasized Arslan's middle aged physique, the shirt was a garish blue and gold number with a high, military inspired collar. The shirt was unflattering to say the least and it stood out amongst the the well dressed people around him.

Sascha sat next to Arslan, with Nara on his left hand side in her hoverchair. He nodded a greeting, "Hi, Arslan."

The Ubroran pulled at his collar, which did seem to be rather tight, "I need to start following the Jedi school of fashion, these clothes are just too tight."

"Well, maybe you can start a new fashion trend," said Nara.

"Of all the things I will accomplish in my life, I don't think that will be one, Master Jedi," commented Arslan drolly.

Sascha chuckled politely, "How have you been, Arslan?"

"Oh, pretty good I think. I don't know what to do with all this...time on my hands now. People have been telling me to run for mayor and while I'm flattered by the attention, I don't know if that is the right fit for me."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Arslan. Just take some time to relax before you jump into anything," he said. "You deserve some time to yourself."

"I was thinking of going off world for a while," Arslan said quietly. "I think I might want to see Coruscant. See what all the fuss is about. Might be an interesting vacation."

"It's very different from here. But I think you'd enjoy it."

Nara poked him in the ribs, "Quiet, the parade is starting."

Truth be told, Sascha didn't pay much attention to the parade. Sure it was a spectacle of all Ubrora had to celebrate, with dancers and fireworks and flocks of singers all pointing to the gloriousness that was Ubrora, but he felt strangely detached from it all. He really felt like the real ceremony had take place minutes earlier and this was some sort of bizarre sideshow to it all. Of course he applauded at all the correct times and seemed to pay attention, but his mind was really elsewhere.

Off to his left, he could see that Nara was doing much the same thing as he was, just kind of on autopilot eyes focused in the general area of the parade, but not really focused on anything in particular.

But both Padawans had been trained to sit and be polite, so they sat and were polite. It really wasn't the worst thing to be sitting outside during a beautiful day. Especially as no one was trying to kill him, or his friends. Put in those terms, Sascha actually quite enjoyed being bored for an hour.

As the parade petered to a halt, the main square just outside in front of them filled up to capacity. It looked like almost all of Bontha was present (or at least all of it that could fit into the square.) To Sascha it was all just a blur of colours, it was difficult to pick out individuals beyond the ones that were close to the stage.

President Mollek rose from his seat and moved to a small podium that he could speak from. The holoscreens in the square all showed the Ubroran leader, giving everyone a chance to get a good look at their leader, despite the distance from him. Sascha also noted that there were no security features on the podium. He supposed that President Mollek really had no reason to fear for his safety, but it was something that separated Ubrora from many Republic worlds.

President Mollek started to speak, and Sascha mentally tuned him out. Sure, he was paying attention enough to catch the broad themes of the speech. Mollek talked about reuniting Ubrora, and mending both the world itself and the fissures that had occurred between families. The politician talked about how joining the Republic would usher in a new era of prosperity for Ubrora, but only if they would prove to be up to the challenges they would no doubt face. Blah blah blah unity. Blah blah blah new chapter in Ubrora's history. Same old, same old. It wasn't a bad speech, but he'd heard similartoo many times by now for it to hold his full attention.

Something that did get his attention was being mentioned by name.

"At this point, I'd like to ask that Sascha Whitestar and Nara Nalto join me at the podium for a special unveiling."

Sascha looked over at Nara, who seemed equally confused by the request. But she used the control stick on her hoverchair to move herself towards the podium. Sascha followed, limping along behind her.

Mollek acknowledged them with a brisk nod before turning his attention back to the crowd, "These two Jedi were a common sight in this city over the past few weeks. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their efforts in this city."

The crowd applauded politely, and Sascha acknowledged the applause. Yet he felt that Mollek's little introduction had done a disservice to those he and Nara had fought with.

President Mollek continued, "While I am pleased that these two Jedi are standing here beside me today, we must also take the time to remember those that were lost in the fighting. To do that we must make something permanent, not something temporary. Something that will last the test of time. Something future generations will see and understand."

Sascha looked over to Nara, who offered him an almost imperceptible shrug. It seemed like neither Padawan knew where this was going.

President Mollek gestured to an open space that had been left on the platform, "So last week I asked permission for a statue to be made of a specific heroic young woman that was taken from us all too soon."

Sascha knew where this was going. His knees went weak, and he had to fight to maintain his balance. Nara reached out and grabbed on to his hand. He held on to her hand and squeezed it hard.

Mollek continued, "The stonesculptors will be working on it for a few more weeks, getting every detail right, but I would like to present a memorial to Lirri Boikana, one that commemorates her sacrifice and those that fought beside her."

After a moment of delay a holographic projection appeared on that empty space on the platform. It was a statue of Lirri Boikana, as he had suspected. But he had not expected the way it would look. Lirri was dressed in Jedi robes like that ones she had worn after he and Nara had told her that she was Force sensitive. Lirri was posed in a classic Jedi manner, just like many of the statues that lined the outside of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, legs shoulder width apart, holding a lightsaber aloft above her head. It was like looking at the Jedi legend that she could have been.

No, he corrected himself, it was like looking at the Jedi legend that she was.

Sascha felt hot tears sliding down his face, but he wasn't ashamed of them, he didn't try to hide them. He just held on to Nara's hand and squeezed it as if it was the only thing that would allow him to keep standing.

As the crowd applauded appreciatively, Sascha turned to face Nara. His friend was openly weeping, letting tears fall just as freely as he was. He knelt next to her on shaky legs and brought her head towards her shoulder, letting her pour her tears out there.

As the applause died down, Nara let go of him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said in a weak voice.

Sascha looked back up at the calm, impressive looking visage of Lirri Boikana, "She would have loved it," he said.

Nara wiped away some of her tears, gestured towards the podium, "I think the President wants you to say a few words."

"I don't know what I would say."

"You'll find the words, you always do," she said.

"I'll do it as long as you are right there with me," he said as he stood.

"Deal," said Nara, extending her hand so that they could move to the podium together. One human, limping slightly on an injured leg, and one injured Togrtua in a hoverchair. Two best friends.

Mollek noticed them approaching and said, "I believe our two Jedi would like to say a few words." Then he nodded to Sascha.

Sascha took a moment to collect himself before speaking, "I'm going to keep this short," he said. "I think its natural to look at what I'm sure will be a wonderful statue of Lirri Boikana and see it as a testament to what Ubrora lost during this conflict. But Lirri was an optimist at heart. She was someone who was always pushing to see a better future. So while I do think that we should remember Lirri, and all those that we have lost, it is important to not be weighed down by that loss, and to create a Ubrora that she and all the others that are no longer with us would be proud of."

While the crowd applauded politely, Nara pulled discreetly on the sleeve of his robe. He leaned over so he could hear Nara better, "Mention being friends," she said, just loud enough for him to hear.

Sascha bobbed his head in understanding. Ending a speech was always the toughest part, and now Nara had given him an idea of how to do that. "It's always...hard...to lose a friend. And I considered Lirri to be one of mine. But, during my time here, I've come to realize that even loss teaches us a necessary lesson. It teaches us that life is precious and can be taken away from us at any time. A cynic would tell you that you shouldn't make friends, that life is so fragile that you shouldn't commit yourself to caring about people, because losing them can only bring hurt and suffering. But I would say to that person, that the person who does not suffer, does not lose, and only cares about themselves, that is the person that is truly lost. So we must take this loss of Lirri Boikana and others like her and channel that energy forward in our lives. We must redouble our commitment to our friends and our allies. For only then can we say that we truly lived like Lirri did. I thank Lirri Boikana for teaching me this lesson. And it's a lesson I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. Thank you!"

As the crowd applauded, he and Nara took one last glance towards the holographic form of Lirri Boikana. It was undoubtedly going to be a powerful reminder of loss and hardship, but he also hoped that people would see it as a source of hope, of pride, of how the little guy stood up to impossible odds and won the day.

Sascha walked back towards his Master and met her halfway from her seat. She held out her arms for an embrace and he accepted it, not hesitating for a moment. He held on for a couple of long moments before letting go.

"I'm proud of you Padawan," said Aurine.

"I know," he replied quietly.

"You've grown up a lot haven't you?"

"I still have lots of growing to do," he said honestly.

"Let's do it together, Padawan."

"I can't think of anything else I'd like to do, Master."