Luel never even saw it coming. One moment, she'd been awake, aware, contemplating his question, and then she collapsed like every bone in her legs had simply vanished. He scrambled to get a hold of her, thankful that the busy corridor meant that several hands were close by to help keep her from faceplanting herself into the floor.
He picked her up, she was not a large person, and carried her back to the only place in the Temple that she was apparently familiar with, the hospital wing. Was this why she'd decided to leave them? Did she think so little of them that she thought her only way forward was to sever her ties with them and marry someone she felt would take care of her? They were here to do that and they'd do it happily. If she had been injured during the Battle of Rakata Prime...
"Ah. Sarah Onasi returns to us again." One of the shadows disgorged a large, turquoise male twi'lek and Luel measured the master's statement. Firstly, the name the healer chose...he called her by the name she'd given Luel...with the addition of a surname, an oddly familiar surname, one that resonated... And that the master sounded less than surprised to see her return. "I heard she was summoned back to us."
"Onasi?" Luel should be able to place that name... He rested her on the bed that Wyon motioned to, a little unbalanced when the master only made certain that she was comfortably positioned. He did no exam, he checked nothing...
"Her heart is set to marry Carth Onasi. A man who will be an Admiral before the year is out. A man who will be pinned with the Cross of Glory in the same time period. A great man who has lost much in his life."
"But she..."
Wyon settled his bulk on a stool next to her and simply stared back at Luel. Surely it wasn't selfish to think that she should stay with them, even though that was the hint that Luel got from his reply. He understood that the man being described deserved a lot from them, respect, support...but did that mean he deserved one of them, when that meant she would turn her back on them...leave them?
"I am not the one who makes that determination, Luel. She does. And I suspect you will find her resolve to be awe inspiring."
"Why aren't you doing something to help her?"
"There is nothing more I can do to help Sarah Onasi. The damage that was inflicted on her is...significant. The layers of it run deeply, too many have meddled with her, often counter to each other. Too many honest injuries. We are afraid to break into that. I refuse to try."
"I..." Luel stood beside the bed, staring down at her. She was a Jedi, the air around her sang with the Force. He could feel the lightsabers she carried...three...no, two...of them. She carried an unset crystal on her, somewhere, as well. This was a loss beyond him. "Am her counsel, Wyon, and I don't even know why she needs one yet. The Council wanted me to meet her before I was told...whatever it is I am supposed to be told. Surely she doesn't need me simply because she is injured and is trying to leave the Order. That is your calling more than mine." He'd been brought here to Coruscant to serve as Amasri Idarn's counsel, her defense against...something.
"No, she needs you because she has committed grievous crimes."
Grievous crimes. Luel extended his hand in her direction. In spite of the fact that she was out cold, she was still heavily guarded, and all he could get off of her were hints, flashes of muffled darkness. Bad things, terrible things had happened around her and she'd had an active hand in many of them. But what was missing was the taint of truly grievous crimes. "Which, if she truly has, the Force has seen fit to forgive."
"So you say. That's between you, her and the inquiry. I'll just give testimony about how her medical problems might have contributed to her actions and how much they affect her ability to be questioned and aid in her own defense now."
For it to even be brought up meant that it did have a place in this, whatever this is. Luel frowned, resting his fingertips on the edge of her bed and tried to glean whatever information there was to have. She was not a young one, she'd had plenty of time to get herself in deep trouble, but the Force stubbornly and loudly loved her. She'd been chosen for something, he just didn't know what it was...but he was certain it had been a long time in the making. And now, right in what he sensed was the middle of it, she wanted to leave the Order. Surely she didn't think that would work?
He sensed one of the masters come up behind...below...him and he looked down. This one was Master Vandar, he was not from the Temple, but from the Dantooine Enclave. And Amasri...Sarah...was not from the Temple, had not been trained from it, according to her. That meant she had a good chance of being from the Enclave. Was she yet another example of the often questionable Jedi that they produced? But they'd apparently fronted the assault on the Star Forge, provided the leadership and strike team, although the details on that were few and vague. They'd provided the same against Revan's flagship...
"Ah, Sarah." There was a depth of regret in the master's voice and Luel sighed. He didn't know the ins and outs of the Dantooine Enclave well enough to defend one of its members, but now...there was no more Dantooine Enclave, and he'd have to. There was no one else for the job. "You are Luel Antresian, I presume?"
"I am Luel. You are one of her masters?" Well, at least he was here. At least he seemed to still be somewhat involved. At least he was still alive. It was more than Luel could say about the others. Perhaps it was better that way, but.
"I am one of Amasri's masters." The tiny master affirmed, and the switch between her names was very, very deliberate. Luel caught it immediately.
"But not one of Sarah's."
Vandar paused for a moment before he rested his clawed hand on her forehead. "Indeed, Luel. Not one of Sarah's. And there is a large, large difference between Amasri, Sarah...and Revan."
Luel's blood ran cold and he stepped backwards, shaking his head. Surely...not. Revan was gone. Revan was dead...wasn't she? No, the Enclave had always used the word gone. Never dead. Their strike team had been the one to board Revan's flagship, their reports had been the ones that the Temple had relied on...
"This is Revan?" He was shocked by how calm his voice was. He was supposed to defend Revan? The Butcher? The worst traitor to the Republic in their generation?
"Amasri Idarn became the Revanchist. And the Revanchist became Sarah...who became Sarah Onasi." There was a wealth of sadness and guilt in Vandar's voice, somehow, somewhere, there was so much more going on here than he even began to grasp. And if he was supposed to stand before the Council and defend her, he'd need to know it all...and quickly.
"She was part of the team that the Enclave sent to board the Star Forge?" He had to get on track here, he had to start focusing on what would become important during an Inquiry.
"Sarah destroyed Malak so that we could destroy the Star Forge. She ended it, Luel. She ended it the right way. She knew exactly what she was doing when she did it. I'm here to try to help her. And in doing that, help you. She deserves what she can make out of the rest of her life. And Captain Onasi definitely deserves it...he'll break without her."
That was nothing that Luel understood...he vaguely recognized the name and felt he should know it better than he did. He'd just never really given any thought to defending someone like Revan, and had most certainly never considered actually defending Revan herself. "Why did she do it?" He finally asked. It was the first question that the Inquiry was going to ask and it was his first question as well. Why, why, why?
"Why did she go to war? Or why did she fall after it?" Vandar hopped up onto the stool next to her bed and poked at her nose with the tip of his claw and got utterly no response. She was out cold, far far away from them.
"Yes." They were both questions that would be asked. The first, even he could argue and argue effectively... Revan had gone to war to protect the Republic. Even her worst detractors gave her that. She'd disobeyed her masters to go do it, she'd manipulated and lied, attempting to hide her actions under the dubious umbrella of the Mercy Corps, she'd committed harsh acts...and then atrocities, but everything she had done had all been focused on that goal. Until it had all come crashing down and she'd turned on the very Republic she had fought to uphold.
Vandar snorted, dropping his long ears in thought. "One, I can answer. Amasri was a born warrior, just like the Mandalorians she went up against. It is so much a part of her that it will never be obliterated, even now, broken as she is...she still fights. We could no more change that than we could change the Force. She is what she was always meant to be. We tried to teach her to measure, to weigh, to contemplate...but we got a measured, contemplative warrior instead of a reckless one." He hopped down, leaving her where she rested, to return to Luel's side. "As for the other...I do not know. Amasri should have been the last to fall, not the first one. She was going to be the one to remove the taint that Exar Kun had left us with in the eyes of the Temple. Our redemption. Our gift to the Order. And it all went so terribly, terribly wrong."