Last time: Sasha and Viran talk. Kait checks on Oppie.

Now: They go 'home' for the first time in decades.

Chapter 29- The Jedi Temple

Fifteen years on the run. Nearly six years of time lost. And the last three and a half years of living with their family on Haven. That was how long it had been since Sasha, Viran, and Oppie saw the Jedi Temple or set foot inside of its grand halls. Now they stood at the base of the steps that led up to the front entrance of the temple. And it looked exactly the same, but it felt… different. It felt… empty. Before the Jedi Temple was full of such life and the Force. Now, it felt like an empty shell that only had distant echos of the past. That feeling sent a shiver down Sasha's spine, it made the temple feel cold and, almost, unwelcoming. However, despite the emptiness that now accompanied the structure, the Force still flowed strongly through it like a beacon in the dark.

Sasha stared up at the tall temple spires that glistened in the morning sunlight as the memories of living at the temple came back to her. She remembered standing in the temple gardens outside looking up at the spires and thinking they were taller than some of the largest skyscrapers on Coruscant. She remembered watching the Jedi Starfighters as they flew out of the hangars, off on missions and adventures she only dreamed about going on. And she remembered Master Yoda hosting classes outside on Coruscant's nicest days and staring out at the city scape as it stretched out for kilometers before them.

As she looked at the spires now, they still seemed quite tall, but smaller at the same time. And the airspace around the temple seemed deadly quietly as no starfighters or gunships or speeders were landing around the temple. Even the parking area that was designed for speeders to park at for the tour was still far enough away from the front steps that no ships were passing overhead. But the rest of the temple looked unchanged too, as if nearly twenty years hadn't passed, and as if the massacre of the Jedi Order had never happened.

"You okay?" Viran's voice pulled her from her thoughts and frozen state.

Sasha looked at him to see a worried, but understanding expression on his face. "Yeah, it's just… strange being here again."

"I understand," Viran said, softly. "It's been a very long time."

"It has," Sasha trailed off for a moment. She looked back at the Temple. "Do you remember that day?"

"When we left?" Viran asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

Viran nodded. "I kind of do. I remember us gathering on the landing platform and loading into the gunship." He smirked. "I remember how excited I was to ride in a gunship for the first time. And I remember when 66 happened. But that's really it." He paused for a moment. "Do you remember?"

"Yes. I remember it all now. It's all coming back to me," Sasha stated, heartfully. "It feels like it was yesterday, but also thousands of years ago too. And it feels… wrong?" She said that with a bit of confusion. "Like we shouldn't be allowed back here. But I feel like we are finally coming home too. I don't really know,"

"I understand," Viran agreed. "It's a lot right now. Especially after everything that has happened. We are married Jedi knights, with a child, and dressed in our robes." He gestured to his Jedi robes that he was wearing. The three of them had decided that if they were going to set foot in the temple again, they needed to look the part. The two of them and Oppie were Jedi after all. They had every right to walk into the temple wearing their robes with their sabers on their belts. "And we are here with our Mandalorian brother and his Sith wife. This is not what the Jedi Order would have wanted. They would have blown a gasket if they could see us now." He chuckled at that. "But they are not around anymore to tell us no."

"I know that," Sasha said, looking at him then down at Lana in the stroller he was pushing then back to the rest of their family as they were still climbing out of the rental. "It just feels foreign to me, being back here after everything."

"It'll be okay," Viran said gently as he took her hand and gave it a tight, comforting squeeze. "And you're not alone in this."

"Thank you," Sasha said, giving him a sweet smile, squeezing his hand in return.

A few steps behind them, Kait and Oppie were walking side by side up the broad steps. Kait was looking upward at the incredible pyramid, the towering spires, trying to keep her mouth from gaping at walking up these hallowed steps. Oppie was taking in the same view, remembering days past when these steps had been filled with Jedi and Republic functionaries carrying out business for the government and the war. It was so empty, so devoid of life. And despite the bustling city around them it seemed so very quiet. Kait reached for Oppie's hand, gently holding it feeling how nervous he was beside her. He glanced down at the hand and squeezed it back before looking back up the steps towards the doors. She had to admit he looked quite dashing in his full Jedi robes.

"Damn that's a lotta steps." Kyr said wryly from beside Cien. She glanced up at him and despite the trepidation she felt, she couldn't help but smirk, ever so slightly. Kyr was in his full armor, as cleaned and polished as it ever was, which was to say it was still a little grimey. Cien had opted to wear very simple clothes for this venture. Her black skirting and a very dark red blouse. Her gold circlet belt hung at her hips, though, and she had her saber hanging there just like her Jedi brothers and sister. She felt unease, looking up at the temple. Oddly she felt a stain of the dark side here in this place, aside from the lightside that seemed to begrudgingly ignoring her. The darkside that competed for the aura of this place both welcomed and unsettled her. She realized the last time a Force user might have stepped foot in this temple may well have been another Sith, finally enacting the awful end result of a plan mellennia in the making, that she herself had once sought as deeply as any other Sith. She suppressed a shudder as Kyr stepped closer and took her hand as well.

"Well, shall we?" Viran asked, looking at everyone in the family.

"Yes," Sasha said as she took the first step and ascended the steps to the main gates of the Jedi Temple. Viran followed shortly after her. Oppie was at their side with Kait, with Kyr and Cien trailing right after them.

After a few moments, they all ascended the steps and reached the large open area in front of the several meters tall door. There was a small group of no more than six others of various races from Twi'lek to Human and ages from a couple of young children a little older than Lana to an elderly couple. In front of them, talking excitedly, was a gentleman with a short beard and long brown hair dressed in robes that resemble the Jedi, but were different enough to not be Jedi robes. If one had to guess, this man was their tour guide. He glanced over at their party before doing a double take. He smirked in an amused, but almost annoyed manner.

"I'm guessing you are my final group?" He asked before chuckling.

"Yes," Viran answered, raising an eyebrow at him.

"And I see you dressed the part. Fans of the Jedi, are you?" The tour guide asked.

"You could say that." Oppie said.

Behind them Cien smirked, slightly, and Kyr elbowed her in the arm to keep her quiet since he caught the smirk and was chiding her to keep quiet with his own smirk.

The tour guide snorted as if he had heard that answer before from previous tours. "Okay, well glad you folks were able to make it. And now that everyone is here, we can begin." He put a hand to his chest. "I'm Trevor and I will be your tour guide for your journey through the Jedi Temple. Now how many of you have taken this tour before or been to the temple before?" He asked the group.

No one in the other group of people moved, but Sasha raised her hand without a second's hesitation. Viran and Op did the same a second later.

"You all have taken this tour before?" Trevor asked, not believing them.

"Not exactly. But the three of us have been here before," Sasha replied. "A very long time ago."

The tour guide looked at them confused for a moment before he looked to the sabers on their belts and realization dawned across his features. "Are you an actual Jedi?" He asked, stunned.

"Yeah." Oppie replied, a little sheepishly.

Trevor's jaw dropped to the floor as he stared at them in awe. The others in the group also looked at them just as equally stunned. After a moment, a grin broke across his face as he came over to them now bursting with energy like a fan meeting celebrities.

"This is so amazing! I have so many questions. How are you even here? I thought all Jedi were wiped out. Did you actually grow up here? How did you survive the purge?" Trevor rambled off eagerly.

Sasha couldn't help but smile as she raised a hand to get him to slow down. "It's a bit of a long story, but yes. We used to live here and yes, we did survive the purge long ago," she answered. "But today, we are just here for the tour."

"But we will be willing to answer any questions you have," Viran said, kindly.

"Oh I have so many to ask, but I will hold them for the tour," Trevor said, backing away from them, still smiling. He cleared his throat and gestured to the temple doors. "Welcome all to the Jedi Temple. This was a place of living and meditation to the members of the Jedi Order long ago. Thousands of Jedi used to walk these very halls until one day the Jedi Order was wiped out when the former Emperor spread the rumor that the Jedi had betrayed the Republic and were ordered to be executed. However, there were rumors that many could have survived." He gestured to Sasha, Viran, and Oppie. "These three are living proof that not all Jedi were killed. But this temple has remained abandoned since that fateful day. Today I will be showing you through the temple, into various rooms and areas that were sacred to the Jedi. However, the temple did sustain damage that has ruined many areas making them unsafe to tour despite our best efforts to clear them and fix them for this tour." He looked back at the group. "Any questions?"

"What kind of damage?" Kyr asked. "All the reports on what happened here that evening were very fuzzy."

"Parts of the temple were badly destroyed in an attack the night of the purge. Pillars fell and caused holes in the ceiling in certain rooms as well as knocked entire walls out. But I assure you that the majority of the temple is still in good shape," Trevor answered looking at Kyr. He did a double take at first when he realized he was a Mandalorian, but said nothing about it as it was obvious he came with the Jedi in peace. "Any other questions?"

No one spoke up.

"Alright, follow me and I will lead you all inside," Trevor said, turning to the door.

The doors opened to lead them all into the Jedi Temple revealing the large corridor that led deeper inside. Trevor started walking ahead of the group, everyone started following.

"I have a question," Oppie asked after a moment, "what is your background with the Jedi?" He asked their guide.

"It's an interesting story. When I was a young boy, I lived here on Coruscant and looked up to the Jedi Order. I was a fan you could say. I actually went to school to learn all about the history of the Jedi. However, the order was destroyed and I went into hiding myself as I became a target too for being a scholar and historian of the Jedi," Trevor started as they walked through the corridor. "I then stayed at a temple on Jedha where there were Guardians of the Whills. I learned under them for years. Only in the past few years did I return to Coruscant and decided to start these tours as a way of preserving the Jedi legacy."

"Thank you for keeping the order alive in your own way." Oppie replied.

Trevor flashed him a smile over his shoulder. "Of course. And please, at any point on this tour if I am incorrect about anything, you are free to correct me. I want to make sure this tour is as accurate as possible," he said.

"If you're sure," Sasha said timidly.

"One hundred percent sure," Trevor said, wholeheartedly.

"Alright," Sasha nodded. "Please continue."

Trevor led them all into the main hall of the Temple. There were scorch marks on the pillars that remained untouched. But the floor and carpets were cleaned thoroughly as if they hadn't seen any action. Sasha frowned heavily at the sight of the marks as her heart thudded in her chest.

"What happened here?" An elderly man in their tour group asked, gesturing to the marks.

Trevor's smile was gone now and he looked at the pillars seriously as they came to a stop in the middle of the walkway.

"The night the Jedi were killed, the clone army attacked the Temple. No one saw what actually transpired here and all footage was erased from the security cams. But a statement from the late Senator of Aldeeran confirmed that Jedi were being killed by the clones," Trevor explained sorrowfully. "And when I first entered this temple, there were many signs of the struggle and the Empire had done a poor job of cleaning up the messes that were left behind. Thankfully, any corpses were removed, but I found discarded lightsabers, blasters, and cloaks in a couple areas around the temple. It looked like Vader and Palpatine failed to gather all of them." He flashed an apologetic glance to the Jedi.

"How many?" Kait asked, looking around the scene. It struck her that it looked like so many crime scenes she had been at. Around her the three Jedi were silent, looking at the scorch marks and the symbol of what each of them meant. A fallen Jedi.

"How many… what?" Trevor asked for clarification. There were many possible answers to such a vague question.

"Sabers." She asked, "just curious."

"Ah, only four," Trevor answered. "They were of various styles and designs. Two of them appeared to be a match set. The other two appeared to have belonged to possibly two younglings as the hilts were on the smaller side, but I'm not completely sure who used to own them. I put them on display in the training dojo we will visit as I was unsure of what to do with them properly as I am no Jedi."

"I'll be curious to see them." Oppie said quietly. Sasha glanced at Oppie with a slight frown before looking back to Trevor.

"Of course," Trevor said as he started walking again. "This way then. We will pass the youngling area and the large mess hall before we get to the training dojos."

Oppie glanced around the space, remembering so often passing through here, surrounded by other Jedi, other younglings, other masters and padawans. There was an air, an aura of what had happened that lingered over the place. Their echoing voices and footsteps in the hall only made it seem like a greater disaster, and he could almost feel the spirits of the fallen around him. "Any idea how many clones passed away in the attack?" He asked as they continued.

"The way the Empire phrased it, it sounded like hundreds gave their lives. My guess is that it may have been several hundreds, but no official number was released," Trevor answered. "However, knowing how strong the Jedi and the clones were, I wouldn't be surprised that neither side went down without a fight if the scorch marks weren't obvious of that."

Oppie just nodded. He knew the 501st had been the ones to attack that night. He had worked with some of them during the war. Overall they had seemed like an extension of their General, Skywalker, and had been a pretty afiable, independant and fun group of clones. He hid a shudder thinking of them raging through these halls, for the loss of the Jedi but also the clones he had worked with.

Sasha gently patted Oppie's arm as she passed as the rest of the group followed Trevor. The look on her face that she gave him was that she shared the same thought as he did. But she said nothing.

Trevor continued the tour through the main hall and down a couple of corridors until they reached the youngling section. As they entered into that area, Sasha and Viran both slowed as they recognized everything. Not a thing had changed since the last time they were there. It still looked exactly the same, but it was no longer filled with childish laughter or chatter. It was quiet.

"This is the youngling area. The future Jedi used to live here. All of them spanned ages from as young as three to as old as thirteen. By the age of thirteen, the majority of them would get chosen by a Jedi Knight or Master to become Padawans," Trevor explained as the group slowed to a meandering pace. He looked through the group to Sasha and Viran as they were the only ones really looking around longingly. Oppie was looking around the space wistfully as well, remembering his own time as a Youngling, before he had become Master Redika's Padawan and he had grown up here. It seemed like so many lifetimes ago.

"May I ask, how old the three of you were when you last walked the halls of the Temple?" Trevor asked.

Viran came out of his daze and looked at Trevor. The others in the tour group are also looking towards them. "Sasha and I were ten. We were younglings who actually lived in this area the last time we were here."

Trevor nodded, trying to hide a frown. He then looked at Oppie. "And you?"

"When I was nearly sixteen. My Master and I returned to the Temple to take a group of younglings to acquire their lightsaber crystals. That is how Sasha, Viran and I first met." He explained. He unconsciously had his hands clasped under the sleeves of his robes, just as Master Redika had when last they had stood in this room.

"I see," Trevor said, nodding. "Would you like to look around? I normally just move the groups through this area, but this is a very rare tour. We can spare a few minutes to look around before we need to keep moving."

"Thank you," Sasha said unconsciously as she started walking towards the youngling quarters. The rest of the group decided to follow her example and take a look around themselves. Viran followed Sasha with Lana.

Sasha walked down the corridor as if she had done it a thousand times, which she had, and came to a stop at a door. With a flick of her wrist, the door slid open to reveal a small bunk room with two bunk beds. The beds were neatly made as they always had to do that before they could leave their room for the day. And at the foot of the bunks were four chests that were used to hold items and tools for learning while clothes were hung in the closet in the corner of the room. This was Sasha's old room.

Slowly, she entered the room and walked over to the bunk she used to sleep on. She ran her hand over the dusty sheet of the top right bunk. She used to share this room with three other youngling girls, who, like the rest of the Jedi, were long gone.

"It looks the same as mine," Viran commented from the doorway. "I had no idea this was your room."

"That's understandable. We hardly ever interacted outside of classes," Sasha said smiling softly. "And I'm not surprised all of our rooms were similar. Millions of younglings have gone through these rooms over the generations. It just feels so strange being here again."

"Yeah," Viran nodded. "Do you think any of your stuff is still here?"

"I don't know," Sasha admitted as she turned her attention to her old chest. She opened it and found a few data pads, a training saber, and a singular stuffed animal that was covered in as much dust as the rest of the room. Sasha picked up the toy and smiled at it.

"What is that?" Viran asked curiously.

"It was my toy from when I was Lana's age. It was the last and only thing I had from my parents," Sasha told him. "When I was brought here, I never let it go as it brought me comfort. But when I was older, I put it in here so it would always be safe." She dusted off the plushie to reveal a poggin, a creature that was known to live in wet, cold climates. It was still in great condition. "I guess it's fate that we would reunite, my old friend." She said to herself as she stood up. She turned to Lana. "Here, take good care of him."

Lana, who had been uninterested in most of the tour, looked up at her in curiosity. She then lit up at the toy. She opened her arms up to take the poggin. "Happy," she said, naming the toy. Sasha blinked at that.

Viran smiled at her. "Happy? Is that his new name?"

"Ye," Lana said, hugging the plushie close to her.

"It's not new. That was his name," Sasha said, shocked. She then smiled sweetly. "I'm glad he is keeping it."

"Anything else you want to grab?" Viran asked her as he smiled up at Sasha.

"Just this," Sasha said, snagging her old training saber. She attached it to her belt. "We could use it for Lana when she is older. Now want to check out your old room?"

"There's nothing there worth looking at," Viran said with a shrug. "I didn't have anything of real interest."

Sasha walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Let's go look."

He sighed then nodded. "Okay."

Viran turned the stroller out the room and headed down the corridor. Sasha took one last look at her old room before following her husband out, wiping the tears that escaped as she remembered all of the time she had spent in this room with her old friends.

"So this is where you grew up?" Kyr asked Oppie as he stayed with him and Cien to let Sasha and Viran have a moment to revisit their old home.

"Yeah." Oppie said, looking around. "Lots of other younglings were here with me." He said, looking around the space as his own memories came back to him.

"Pretty spartan." Kyr said, looking around. "Though kind of fancy, to, in its own way." He observed.

Oppie shot him a bit of a smirk before he started walking towards some of the training rooms. Kait followed closely at his side, looking around the space in wonder, and Kyr looked around the place curiously. Cien looked about the place with an emotion that was hard to read.

"These were the training rooms." Oppie said, looking in the space. "Master Yoda used to teach us in these spaces, along with several of the other Masters and Knights. This was the first room I got to handle a training saber in." He said.

"Where's the blaster range?" Kyr asked, a hint of humor in his voice.

"No blaster range." Oppie replied with a smirk. He looked over to Cien, who was inspecting the place as if she had her own thoughts and memories. "What do you think, Cien?" He asked. "I imagine this is very different from your temple."

"Not so much." She replied, quietly. "It had the same idea about it, shared rooms, a common area like that." She gestured back to the large space behind her. "Only darker, I suppose." She said, in a slightly troubled manner.

Oppie frowned, but upon thinking of it wasn't so surprised that the two temples would have approached it in a similar way.

"Which room was yours when you were here?" Kait asked, trying to change the subject a little and lighten the mood.

"Hmmm." He said, looking at the corridor that Sasha and Viran had disappeared down. "Down that way, I had new quarters when I became a Padawan, though. Maybe we'll get to see those?" He suggested with a smirk, before continuing to look around the room, his face falling to a more troubled expression. This space was clouded with the Darkside. Something terrible had happened in here, and he could imagine all too well what it was.

"How long did you study here?" Kait asked, trying to picture a young Op playing in this space with other 'younglings'.

"As early as I can remember until I was about eleven and a half or so." Oppie answered, "I still remember the day I was called before the council and I met Master Redika for the first time. I was training in that room over there when I got the call. I was so excited, I knew what it was for. I was nearly jumping out of my skin trying to keep from letting my excitement show."

Kait smiled, now trying to think of an 'excited' Oppie as a young kid being called to meet his new master, and graduate to being a Padawan.

"Mom and Anna always wanted to check up on you, while you were here." Kyr said quietly. He had his buy'ce off as a sign of respect walking these hallowed halls, and they could see a soft smirk on his face. "Mom kept track of you somehow, she was so excited to hear when you had become a Padawan, she wanted to send those sabers and the robes." He said, gesturing down to the sabers that hung off Op's belt. "I think it was Master Redika that politely refused the idea. She fumed for a month over that."

"Our mom talked with Master Redika?" Oppie asked, very surprised.

"Just the one time." Kyr answered. "I'd completely forgotten about that, I think I came home from my Agoge training a few weeks after and Anna told me that's why she was acting a little out of sorts."

Oppie glanced up at that, a slight, slight pang of jealousy for the thought of Kyr having his own dedicated training, but being able to take breaks to see his family. To know his family. But Master Redika had been like a father to him, so in a way he had gotten a family of his own in replacement.

After a moment, Sasha and Viran returned with Lana and a couple new items in tow.

"Is there a gift shop here?" Kyr asked, bemusedly.

"No," Sasha chuckled. "Just found a few items of ours that were still here. We thought they would be perfect for Lana."

"And we thought since they were still here, being unused. They would be better suited finally coming home with whom they rightfully belong," Viran added.

Oppie looked like he was about to argue the point, when he thought the better of it and shrugged. "That's great that those were still here." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was surprised to still see them at all," Sasha admitted.

"Should we get back to the group?" Viran asked.

"Yeah," Sasha said, nodding.

They all moved back into the main corridor to see the rest of the tour and Trevor had regrouped. He looked over at them.

"Everything okay?" Trevor asked carefully.

"Yes. Thank you for letting us look at our old rooms again," Sasha said, gratefully.

Trevor smiled. "You are more than welcome. Shall we continue?"

"After you," Viran said, gesturing ahead.

The tour continued to walk along passing the large mess hall as Trevor said they would. He explained how the Jedi used to gather there for meals and down time. And after a quick glance inside, they continued along until they reached their next stop. All along the way, Trevor told them tales he had heard about the Jedi. A majority of them were true and some were before their time in the Jedi Order. Their next stop was a large training dojo that was once lined with fighting dummies and practice weapons, but now was emptied out. And high up in the room was an observation balcony that looked down into the room.

Sasha and Viran remembered standing on said balcony with other younglings watching as padawans, knights, masters and their apprentices spar on countless occasions. Oppie remembered training in this very room, having been one of the Padawans sparring. One of the first places where Master Redika had taught him a hard lesson about having patience, and not being so hotheaded.

"This is one of the training dojos in the temple. Jedi would come in here to train and spar to improve their skills," Trevor explained. "When the Clone Wars broke out, all of the dojos were converted to incorporate training to deal with battle droids and even users of the darkside. But this was a very common place for most Jedi to work out and gain strength even before the war." He looked at the group. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Everyone just gave a shake of their head.

"Alright, then we shall continue this way," Trevor said as they walked out of the room and down the hall. "We are now headed towards the padawan quarters and my favorite rooms in the entire temple, the Room of a Thousand Fountains."

They continued along for a short while before turning a corner that opened up into a dormitory corridor.

"This is the padawan quarters," Trevor said. "These rooms were close enough to the training dojos and classrooms that the padawans used frequently. But they were also close to their masters quarters. Now these are not all of the padawan's rooms. There were half on this side of the temple and half on the other side."

"Would it be okay if we stopped by his room?" Kait piped up with a nod towards Op as he glanced at her.

"Absolutely." Trevor said, stepping aside and gesturing down the hall.

"Thank you." Oppie said, a little uncomfortable, starting down the corridor with Kait at his side.

"Sorry, I'm just curious." Kait said quietly to him. "If you don't want to, we don't have to."

"No, it's fine." Oppie said dismissively, continuing down the broad corridor. "This whole place just brings back a lot of memories. This hall shouldn't be so empty." He said absently. "For thousands of years it was filled with padawans of all ages, hurrying to lessons or to meet their masters, or training." He said as their boot steps echoed off the stone walls and the closed doors. Some of which were ajar in their tracks, and there were blaster pockmarks and carbon scoring here and there, everywhere.

Kait reached out and took his hand. "Maybe one day it will be again?" She suggested softly as they walked together.

"Maybe." Oppie said in reply, glancing at the door of a padawan he had been somewhat friendly with, one of the few others he would have considered friends.

"Maybe Lana, Roselyn and Noah can come here to study as some of the first of a new generation. And you can be the one to train them." Kait continued. "And you can also be the one to let them go home and visit their families." She added.

Oppie smiled at that. "Perhaps." He started, "but if I did that, who would be your partner when you're out solving crimes?"

Kait smirked softly. "Maybe we could do that during summer vacation when all the kids go home." She stated.

Oppie nodded and stopped before a door. "This is it." He said.

Kait waited a few heartbeats until Op keyed the door opened, and walked in. She looked around with a furrowed brow at the room. "This is it?" She asked. There was a single neatly made bed against the wall. A window that let in a streamer of light, and a small cabinet that had a few books neatly arranged on it. "So when you said I couldn't go in your room because it was messy, is it because there was, like, a sock laying on the floor or something and you consider that horrifying?" She asked incredulously. She remembered her own room from when she was almost sixteen, and it had been filled with old toys, new clothes, posters, pictures, sketches, her terminal where she did her school work, everything from the full life of a former child turned teenager. Her room had been the same teenage mess that all of her friend's rooms had been.

Oppie laughed under his breath. "No." Usually he had a datapad askew on his desk or something in addition to an errant sock. "This is a Padawan's room, we just didn't have much." He walked over to the cabinet where there were a few study books neatly arranged. There was a small slip of parchment sticking out of one of them, and he remembered he had left that there as a bookmark to resume his reading when he got back from the Kyber crystal trip with the younglings.

"Hmm…" Kait said, looking around. It almost made her sad how devoid of life this had been for him to grow up in, just how ascetic his life had been. And it suddenly made sense how tentative he was in all things, if this was his upbringing. She knew it had been limited, but not this… empty. She walked over and hugged his arm where he was looking at his books.

He glanced down at her, then back at the books, then back at her. "What'd I do?" He asked, not quite sure why she was hugging him, even though it was quite welcome.

She shot a glance up at him. "Nothing." She said.

"I have to admit." Oppie said. "It is strange standing here in my Padawan room with my girlfriend."

She laughed at that. "So scandalous Jedi Knight Xiv." She teased as she let go of his arm and looked around the room while he stayed inspecting his books. "We could try out your bed while we're here." She joked.

"Nah, I slept on it for years, it's really uncomfortable." Oppie replied over his shoulder, leaning down and looking at the books.

She shot him a slightly incredulous glance over her shoulder before shaking her head.

"I think I'm going to take these." Oppie said, carefully taking the stack of books. "I never got to finish these two, and they might be good study material for the kids when they get older."

"I'm sure that'll make you their favorite uncle." Kait replied dryly.

"You think?" Oppie asked, "I thought the cookies would do that." He stated with a smirk as he took a step towards the door.

"Op." Kait said as she walked towards the door.

"Yes?" He inquired.

"You're weird." She said teasingly as she stepped through the door.

He cast one last look at his old room of his Jedi upbringing, and how empty it was, but still filled with memories. Then turned to follow his girlfriend. "Yeah, I know."

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