LordDarthYoda - Yeah we'll be bridging time for a bit, but we'll be in the mission quick enough.

Speechbubbleme - Aww, you are making me blush! I intend to keep it up :).

Mr. Insane - I mean the canon characters won't be taking over, but I feel confident enough in my writing to have say...Anakin show up here and there or Count Dooku etc.

Transformers g1's-Prime- I loved your idea about meeting up with Lyra Erso, especially because I'm rereading Catalyst. I just don't think it quite works out with where the story goes - nonetheless its a fantastic idea and I immediately spent like 30 minutes trying to get Lyra Erso into the plot somehow without having her being shoehorned in.

Bodare2- Getting the grammar/spelling better is certainly my intent - at the end of the last book I was basically writing 4,000 words in 3 days, and the story suffered somewhat for it. Now that I've set a more realistic release schedule, I think the quality of the writing should go up.

A/N - So as you may have noticed, we've done a bit of a time skip, so these next few chapters will catch us up to what has been happening with our Jedi. We'll get through it quickly enough and on to the important stuff fairly quickly.

As always, Please enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Reflections, Part 1

With the two Padawans dispatched to retrieve supplies, Aurine meandered to the small food prep area of the Emearld Dream. She opened the refrigeration unit and perused the stock. Inside the small unit was about what you would probably expect, food, mostly meals that could easily be prepped and consumed with minimal time and effort as neither she nor Sascha tended to be hugely interested in cooking meals. Yet the bottles on one shelf drew her attention. Grabbing one with a label with Aurebesh symbols on it, she grabbed one and popped off the cap with a flourish. "Want an ale?" she asked Tiplee.

The Rishati peered past her and into the fridge, "I'll have some of that Sarconian wine." Aurine reached into the fridge and pulled out the short, clear bottle that had dark mauve liquid inside of it and handed it to her fellow Jedi Knight. Tiplee poured herself a glass, swirled the liquid around and took a cautious sip. "That is quite good, you should try some."

"Wine isn't really my drink," she responded as she took a swig of her ale. The cool refreshing liquid tumbled down her throat, leaving behind a slightly bitter aftertaste. The two Jedi Knights moved into the ship's galley and sat across from each other.

"Are you sure that we should both be drinking?"asked Tiplee

She shrugged indifferently, "This is why we have Padawans, isn't it? So we can partake in libations while they do all the hard work? Besides, this is Domgrin, it's not exactly like an angry mob is going to rush our ship."

Tiplee peered at her for a second, trying to decide if she was joking or not, before settling on emitting a slight chuckle. "I suppose you are right. It is nice to have a slightly older apprentice, I must admit as Nara is far easier to deal with now than she once was. I would wish that Nara wasn't so interested in boys, she gets distracted too easily still."

"At least she isn't distracted by Sascha."

The Rishati shrugged, "I don't believe she was ever interested in Sascha. As I've said to you on multiple occasions, you don't have to worry about those two becoming interested in the other. They have affection for each other, absolutely, but they don't even really flirt very much anymore. Their relationship is and always has been platonic."

Aurine took another swig of her drink, "I submit, Master Tiplee. I was wrong."

"You have been very slow to admit this," she said pointedly.

"It's taken me a long time to be absolute sure that they aren't interested each other. I'm protective of Sascha, especially when it comes to matters of the heart, I'll admit that. But you didn't have to deal with him after he had to break up with Tyra Harker. That's something I very much want to avoid."

The Rishati twirled her glass slowly, watching the liquid swirl in its glass, "What were the events that made you change your mind?"

"Well, first there was the time on Eredenn Prime …"

8 Months Ago, Eredenn Prime

About 8 months ago, She, Tiplee, Nara and Sascha had been sent to the planet Eredenn Prime to negotiate a truce between two warring tribes. The four Jedi had first gone to the leader of one of the tribes, Aris Larit, who seemed open to negotiations as long as they were being conducted by the Jedi. They had then gone to his counterpart Gestav Stresser and asked that he submit to mediation.

Gestav had agreed to mediation, but only if they Jedi would prove themselves 'worthy.' He had offered them two choices, single combat to the death against him, or, if the Jedi would survive a night on the frozen tundra of Eredenn Prime in winter, he would admit that they were worthy. In theory, an easy choice, in practice, surviving even one night, which would last almost eighteen hours, on the frozen tundra of Eredenn Prime would not be easy, even for a Jedi. The bitter cold was an obvious problem, the other problem were the large predators native to the planet, predators that could pose a threat even to four Jedi.

It got even harder when Gestav had demanded that they take off their cold-weather gear and wear just their robes and cloaks. Nara had tugged on Tiplee's robe, asking her to challenge Gestav in single combat, assuming probably that her Master could have defeated but not killed Gestav. Tiplee had brushed her apprentice's hand off of her and handed her cold-weather clothes to the chieftain and everyone had reluctantly followed suit.

Four of the tribe's warriors led them out into the middle of the frozen plains and then left them alone. If the Jedi survived until sunrise, they could use a communicator and Gestav himself would come and pick them up.

"We are being left out in the cold to die, Master," said Sascha forlornly, watching their guides drive away on their speeder.

"I'm already frozen," said a shivering Nara Nalto, slinging her brown cloak around her as tightly as possible. Though one might assume that the lekku of a Togruta were sensitive to cold weather, they actually handled the cold fairly well.

Tiplee, clearly unconcerned, pointed at a far away ridge line that was off in the distance, "We will look for caves near that ridge. If we can get out of the wind, the weather will be more tolerable."

Sascha muttered, "Great, it will take longer for us to freeze to death."

Aurine silenced her apprentice with a glare. This was a time to stick together and display solidarity, not a time for dark humor. "Huddle close, and we can keep the worst of the winds away. Use the Force to give you warmth, but don't overdo it. We can't afford for anyone to collapse."

Sascha and Nara shared a private look. Since Ubrora they had continued to be close, and continued to be more touchy-feely than Aurine had really wanted. Whenever she would bring up the question to Sascha, he would look at her, confused, asking what specific actions she objected to. She had tried to suggest that he may be falling into the same trap that he had with Tyra, but her objections had fallen on to deaf ears.

Still as the Jedi grouped tightly together, Sascha and Nara conspicuously attached themselves to their Masters instead of huddling close to each other for warmth. By the time they had gotten halfway to the ridge, Aurine felt like she had become an icicle. She was just using enough of the Force to keep her body from collapsing from the cold, something she had some experience with. Aurine tried to assist Sascha in his quest to keep warm, taking the brunt of the gusts of wind that came across the frozen plains. Still, he was struggling to remain warm. Yet, he was too dogged or perhaps too frozen, to complain.

By the time they reached the ridge line, both Jedi Knights were supporting their apprentices, Nara physically clung to Tiplee like a mother would cling to a child, both physically and through the Force. Sascha had totally sapped himself over the past few hours, and if they hadn't gotten out of the hellacious winds, he almost certainly would have contracted hypothermia sooner rather than later.

Tiplee had gone and searched for shelter, finding a little secluded area that was protected by a formation rocky ridges, which would allow them to be safe from the worst of the winds. The Rishati built a little fire, cobbling together what little kindling she could find. It probably wasn't the warmest of fires, and it always seemed to be in danger of petering out, but it felt like an inferno when you sat next to it.

Knowing that the Padawans badly needed a rest, Aurine had suggested that they sleep close to the fire. She had assumed that common sense would prevail, and that the two of them would curl together and let their body heat warm each other. Yet the two of them had stubbornly resisted getting physically close to the other. That was twice today that they had been given an excuse to be physically close to each other but stubbornly resisted doing so.

Finally, a half-asleep Nara Nalto had gotten up, thrown her brown cloak overtop of a mostly asleep Sascha Whitestar, and cuddled tightly with him. Aurine was half certain that Nara hadn't even consciously made the decision to go over to Sascha, and that it was merely a survival instinct. Aside from making sure that the two Padawans' cloaks were covering them both, she and Tiplee had let the two Padawans sleep. The two Jedi Knights waited out half the night, using the Force to persuade the predators of Eredenn Prime that they were not the meal that they were looking for. They were fortunate that none of the predators seemed particularly hungry and that Tiplee had a strong knack for communicating with feral creatures.

Hours later, the two Padawans had awoken and they had done something that Aurine had only assumed had occurred in holodramas. The two sleepy Padawans, curled tightly together for warmth, had taken one look at the position that they were in and then both of them had shouted in horror, scrambling as far away from the other as their small enclosure would allow them to.

Despite herself, Aurine laughed. Nara looked less than amused as she brushed some of the snow off of her montrals and swung her cloak around her again, "Alright, which one of you decided to push us together? My credits are on you, Master Brynar."

"Actually apprentice, it was you that started snuggling with Sascha," said Tiplee.

Sascha snorted, "No, I don't believe that. Nara only snuggles with cute Togruta boys."

The Togruta nodded enthusiastically in agreement, "Yes, exactly!"

Aurine stepped forward, "I'm sorry to say that it's true. Nara, you got up and threw your cloak around Sascha. Then you continued to cuddle with him for the rest of the night."

Nara put her head in her hands while Sascha managed a look of disgust. Tiplee seemed confused, "Why are you both embarrassed? Was that not the optimal sleeping arrangement, sharing body heat for warmth? You both had multiple layers of clothes on," she pointed out. "Would you have preferred to have gotten frostbite?"

"I guess…," admitted Sascha.

"I just can't believe I would do that," said Nara. "I must have been sleepwalking," she decided.

"Will the two of you play nice together while we take a brief rest?" asked Aurine.

"Yes, Master," replied Sascha quickly, snapping back into professional mode.

The two Jedi Knights showed none of the prudishness that the Padawans had, snuggling together with little complaint. Aurine actually thought the Rishati was a nice snuggling companion, she would have preferred a statuesque man of course, but the surprisingly warm Tiplee wasn't bad either.

A couple of hours passed by, and when the Jedi Knights awoke, they saw Sascha and Nara had made a little tent out of their cloaks so that they could shield themselves from the worst of the wind. Without their cloaks, the two of them had to sit very close to each other to keep warm, but they didn't seem to be uncomfortable with it as they might have been previously. The two Padawans were talking quietly, eyes scanning the horizon when they noticed that their Masters were stirring.

"How is it going," inquired Aurine as she sat beside her Padawan, throwing her cloak around the both of them. Tiplee replicated the manoeuvre with Nara.

"Not dead yet," said Sascha, "and I think I'm even getting the hang of maintaining my body temperature with the Force in this cold. I thought I mastered it back at the Temple, but you can't simulate freezing cold, even in the refrigeration unit."

"We're sharing the load," said Nara, "By working together we are able to keep warmer without exhausting ourselves."

Sascha leaned over and patted his friend softly on the back, "See, I told you that our bond is good for something." There was no doubting that the two Padawans shared a strong bond in the Force, which was half the reason that Aurine worried about them becoming romantically involved with each other. She had seen Nara and Sascha function more like one being than two on many different occasions.

"It's good that you two are learning," said Tiplee.

"We learn quite slowly, I think," said Nara. "While you were asleep, we actually decided we need to apologize to you."

"For two things actually," said Sascha.

The Togruta nodded, "First off, the two of us shouldn't have doubted you, Master Tiplee. We should have realized that you would have had a plan to keep us safe. I just…couldn't see why you'd agree for us to be left out here. I thought you signed our death warrants."

Tiplee stood in front of the seated Jedi, "I'll tell you my reasoning, Padawans. You must see the problem from the perspective of Gestav Stresser. Do you think he was an evil person? The type of person that would knowingly sentence four Jedi to their deaths over this dispute?"

Both Padawans shook their head, "He seemed mean, but not malicious," said Sascha.

"He was looking to save face in front of his tribe," said Tiplee. "And by exiling us for a night he would satisfy the hardliners in his tribe. He will say that he did everything in his power to stop the mediation. He can even say that the Jedi chose to spend a night in the elements over fighting him and that we proved our strength by surviving for a night and thus we are worthy of respect."

"And thus we can negotiate a new treaty," she added.

"And you knew that we would be okay in these conditions?" inquired Sascha.

"Maybe not knew, but strongly suspected. I knew that if we could get to the ridgeline, we'd be okay. The hard part was getting there."

"Thank you for explaining, Master," said Nara, bowing her head politely.

"You are welcome, Padawan."

"What was the second thing you wanted to apologize for?" asked Aurine.

Sascha looked chagrined, "Well, we kinda wanted to apologize for being so silly when it came to sleeping arrangements. We should have been comfortable enough to sleep together for warmth, instead of being afraid of being together."

"We shouldn't have overreacted," said Nara quietly, "Any Jedi should be able to work together in serious situations like this."

Sascha picked up from his friend, "We are both just…trying very hard not to become attached to each other. We know that we are close, emotionally at least, so physically we've tried to keep each other at arm's length. That's why we don't ever practice non-combat with each other anymore, because we might end up rolling on the sparring mat with each other…getting up close and personal if you want to put it that way."

"And I used to really enjoy practicing grappling holds with Sascha," said Nara her tone subdued, "He's a good teacher. But we sacrificed that because we both thought it might jeopardize our friendship." Nara clenched her fists in frustration, "It's just hard, we don't want to get too close to each other, so that feelings don't emerge, but we are missing out on the benefits of being close at the same time. I don't know what the balance is supposed to be."

Aurine didn't know what to say to that. She knew that on some level that the two of them had drawn boundaries between themselves, but she never saw it as being harmful. Boundaries were supposed to be good things, and she had applauded the maturity of both Sascha and Nara to draw them. But was being paranoid about attachment possibly holding them back? She didn't know. She'd never thought about it.

Tiplee knelt in front of the two apprentices, "A strong bond between two Jedi is a rare thing. It is up to both of you to decide what you will make of it. It is good to see you set boundaries, but it seems to me that you are making them out of fear, rather than for any good reason."

"Shouldn't we fear attachment?" asked Sascha.

"No, be cautious of it, be aware of it. But don't fear it. Fear is something a Jedi should never embrace."

Nara reached over and gave Sascha's shoulder a friendly tap, "Okay, we'll try. Thanks for the explanation, Master Tiplee."

"I actually have a question to ask of both of you." The Rishati took a deep breath, "Could you, should the situation demand it, sacrifice each other if it was the right thing to do?" Sascha looked stricken by the question and looked downwards. Nara clenched and unclenched her fists, staring forward intently.

"I don't know," said Nara finally.

"I would hope I could," said Sascha.

The Rishati leaned forward and touched both Padawans on their forearms, "I hope it is a decision you will never have to make. But remember attachment is not about love or even romance, it is about placing one person above another, valuing them higher than any other person. In the Force, we are all equals, each of us are luminous beings and it is a mistake to forget that."

"We will remember," Nara promised earnestly, earning a nod from Sascha in support.

"May I ask a more personal question, Master Tiplee?" asked Sascha.

"Of course, Padawan Whitestar."

"Could you sacrifice your sister if need be? I know you are close, being related by blood. Forgive me if the question is too personal," he said deferentially.

"It is not too personal, Padawan." Tiplee paused for a long second before replying, "I love my sister. She is my twin. We came into this world together and we are linked in a way that most will never be. But if the situation called for it…yes, I could make the necessary sacrifice. In that way I reject attachment, even though I am proud to say that I will always love my sister." Tiplee's face showed emotion for a second, causing Nara to lean over and embrace her Master lightly.

"Could you sacrifice me, Master Tiplee?" asked Nara, "If the situation demanded it, of course."

"Only if it was the absolute last option, apprentice."

"Isn't that kind of like attachment," pointed out Sascha.

"In a way," allowed Tiplee.

Aurine, feeling rather left out of this conversation jumped in, "As Masters, we took a vow that we would see you become Jedi Knights, and that we would protect you. It is, in a way a sort of attachment. But would you prefer to have a Master that protected you at all costs, or a Master that treated you like just another person?"

Sascha paused, considering, "I think it would be best if there was a balance between the two."

"Balance is always the way, Padawan," she said, pulling him in for a friendly embrace. Sascha didn't resist, didn't pull away. That was something she liked about Sascha, he never seemed too shy to actually show affection towards her. And as he grew older, he grew more accommodating about acquiescing to her displays of affection.

Nara pointed at the horizon, "Look, the sun is up! We made it through the night."

Smiles greeted that pronouncement. As Sascha and Nara celebrated quietly, Aurine watched them together. Yes, thought Aurine Brynar, there was no better way to pass the night spent on frozen tundra than surrounded by friends and enjoying a meaningful conversation. It was almost too bad that it had to end.