"I haven't found anything."

Kazu kept his head down, not knowing what to expect. A heavy silence hung around the table with the only noise in the diner coming from the staff working in the back. The seconds ticked by slower than they ever had and he finally looked up. Saa'na's face bore worry and fear. Tycho and Xinnaa stared at him with no expression. So'lia wasn't even looking at him.

"Guys… say something."

"…Koz…" Xinnaa eventually said. "How much… how much have you had to drink tonight?"

"The only drink I gave him was non-alcoholic…" Tycho said. "But… Kazu… if you really didn't want to tell us that badly…"

Kazu opened his mouth to say something but could barely make any noise other than the occasional guttural squeak.

"Man…" Saa'na said. "That's gotta be one of the least thought-out fantasies I've ever heard. How much time did you spend coming up with that?"

"It's not…"

So'lia continued to say nothing but kept her head down, her eyes closed. She started frowning.

"I mean" Xinnaa said. "I knew there was a possibility you wouldn't like me like I liked you, but you don't have to lie about it. You could just tell me, you don't have to make up some Sithspit about a past life and being in love with a princess."

"I'm… not… I'm not lying…"

"No… I'm sensing you actually believe this," Tycho said.

So'lia's frown started becoming a scowl. She began humming quietly in a disapproving tone.

"You know…" he continued. "Some dreams can be incredibly realistic. I remember one time waking up thinking I'd flown to Malastare, hiked through the trees, and came back to where my master and I were staying on Corellia. But you've been scouring the archives for… years. Kazu… at some point you have to realize… sometimes… a dream is just a dream. Have you ever thought the reason you couldn't find anything was because there was nothing to find?"

"It… It…"

"This has been driving you for years, Kazu," Saa'na said. "To be chasing after fantasies and dreams, especially for so long… it's not healthy. It borders on delusion."

So'lia's humming turned into growling.

"No wonder you didn't want to talk to the council about it," Xinnaa added. "And I thought my problems were bad. You're on course to explode more than I ever did."

Kazu sighed and stood.

"I don't know why I thought this would go any differently," he said quietly. "You know what? I don't need any of you. There's someone out there who does believe me," he continued, walking away. "He'll help me find her."

"Koz…" Tycho said as he got to the door.

"No! You've all said enough… especially you," he responded, pointing to So'lia. He walked through and disappeared into the darkness.

"Can't say I was expecting that," Tycho said, looking in the direction Kazu left.

"Maybe we should've talked to a master or two about him," Saa'na said. "He could've gotten the help he needs."

"I did talk to Tailfack. I couldn't give him the whole story because we didn't fully know what we were dealing with though. I say we go back and tell him what we know now, see if he has—"

So'lia raised her arms and pounded the table hard enough to rattle the plates and glasses, cutting Tycho off and making them all stare at her.

"You're all terrible people."

"So, you—" Saa'na started.

"Silence, sister," she interjected. "I have watched the three of you for far too long question that boy's actions, worrying about his mental health, expressing your concern for his well-being, asking him to open up and let you in on what he was doing. And after years of patience from the two of you," she continued, pointing at Saa'na and Tycho, "after deciding that no matter what we'd be there for him, after agreeing that we couldn't let him down, after you come into the picture and get him to soften with your affections toward him," she said, pointing to Xinnaa, "after all of us weathered his moodiness and stubbornness… he finally gets the courage to tell us. And what do you all do? You call him a delusional liar. You let him walk away thinking his only four friends in this entire galaxy believe him to be chasing absurd fantasies, driving him into the hands of… SOMEONE… who says they believe him."

The three of them remained silent and motionless, staring at her.

"Shame."

# # #

Khondo sat at a table, smiling with his hands clasped.

"Have you ever had the prettiest little bow you just couldn't wait to put on a box and make the whole package perfect?" he asked as Aldreck walked into the room.

"Are you okay, sir?"

"Quite okay, Aldreck. Having probed young Starskimmer's mind, I find him to be much more interesting than I originally assumed. He believes himself to be a reborn prince from some sort of mythical kingdom in another galaxy. This only furthers my notion that he's lying to himself about not wanting power or glory though. After all… if I thought I was once royalty or a renowned war hero and it all got stolen from me, I would do everything I could to return to that life. But… he denies wanting them back and sets his attention elsewhere."

"Where might that be, sir?"

"Toward love, sickening as that might be," Khondo said, rolling his eyes. "The boy yearns for that useless emotion."

"You think he'll join you if he's promised a lover?"

"Not just any lover, it would seem. He is looking for a specific person…"

Khondo stood, walked over to a nearby window and put his hands behind his back.

"Whether or not what he believes is true does not concern me. Starskimmer is walking right into my hands. He will join me, become my apprentice… and when he realizes that I have no idea where she is, or even care, it will be too late for him to turn back."

# # #

"No, you cannot pull the 'from a certain point of view' card on this one," Tycho said while the four exited the turbolift and walked back to the ship they arrived on. "Kazu thinks there used to be some magic kingdom in the past that got destroyed by an evil sorceress. He thinks he's some mythical prince who was reborn on Sorgan. He thinks he needs to find other mythical princesses, one of whom he was supposedly betrothed to."

"Sure," Saa'na said, "but So does have a point. From his perspective—"

"His perspective doesn't matter, Sa! This isn't like me saying Xinnaa here 'flies among the stars' if I've blown up her starfighter with the cannons of my capital ship, no offense by the way," he added.

"None taken."

"Reincarnation is not a thing," he continued. "Not unless you're a powerful Sith tapping into the Dark Side of the Force. Otherwise… it doesn't happen. Magic does not exist, despite what primitives and some people refusing to acknowledge the Force might think. People like the original Sith or the Witches of Dathomir may have called their work sorcery or magic but they were still wielding the Force."

"Fine then," Saa'na said as they reached the ship. "Since you seem to have all the answers, where is he?"

"Probably on the ship he won," Xinnaa said. "I don't really care where. No… I hope his nav computer miscalculates and he jumps into a supernova."

"I told you he's never shown the slightest amount of romantic interest in anybody," Tycho replied. "Now I guess we know why… But…" he sighed, looked down, and pressed his fingers against his head. "He's going to Tatooine."

"I hope he falls into a Sarlacc pit. I hope he pisses off a Hutt. I hope that scughole walks into a cantina, says the wrong thing, and gets shot in the—"

"Shut the kriff up, no you don't," Saa'na said. "Why is he going there?"

"He said it was something about research. I don't know if he meant this or something else."

"So now what? Do we head to Corstris, wait for him to get back, and try to get him to talk to us?" Saa'na asked.

"No," So'lia responded. "We follow."

"She's right," Tycho said. "We gotta… we gotta go save Kazu from himself."

# # #

Kazu entered Tatooine's atmosphere, heading toward the coordinates written on the paper he had found by his computer. Soon, he found the area, touched down and left the ship to find himself in front of what looked like an abandoned moisture farm. Briefly using the skills he still had, Kazu reached out through the Force and felt no life. Shrugging, he looked at the moisture evaporators and the setting suns before descending the steps into the dark farmhouse. He reached the bottom and, despite his eyes adjusting to the lack of light, found it to still be too dark. Humming a tone as if he didn't know what else he was expecting, Kazu took the lightsaber off his belt and ignited it. The green glow gave off enough light for him to start searching.

Room by room, Kazu searched. He found some broken equipment, a few pieces of worn out furniture, and a room full of broken glass. Coming back in to the main living area he scanned the room one last time before closing his eyes and sighing. He hit the wall next to him but instead of a solid sound, he heard a hollow echo. He looked at the area and started knocking, figuring out the edges of whatever hole he had found. It wasn't very big. He glanced at the lightsaber.

Could destroy whatever it is if I just jam it in, he thought.

He reared back and elbowed the hollow portion. It indented and cracked. He did it again. And again before it started to come apart. He pulled the pieces apart and found a metallic sphere. He grabbed it and examined it. The thing didn't look like any explosive device he'd seen but there was a button. He pressed it and tossed it in front of him. It lit up and produced a small holographic projection of a woman.

"How might I serve you?"

A holocron…

Kazu stepped forward and looked at the sphere.

"What information do you have to share?"

"Within my databanks is everything known about Khondo Shogar."

Records within the temple on him were sparse, merely documenting his position on the Council, his disagreements with Tailfack, and his expulsion. I knew someone had to have deleted them. But… why hide them out here?

"…where is Khondo now?"

"Searching… searching… His last known location was on the planet Chenowei."

Perfect.

Suddenly, Kazu heard voices outside. He grabbed the holocron and pressed the button to switch it off, pocketed it before heading back up the stairs and extinguishing his blade. He reached the surface to find that night had come down and saw the voices belonging to Tycho and Saa'na who were walking toward the house. So'lia was by Tycho's ship and Xinnaa was lurking by his.

"Why are you all here?"

"Koz, we care about you," Saa'na said.

"And we're concerned," Tycho added. "You just walked away and came here, of all places, by yourself. Did… did you find what you were looking for?"

"Why do you care?" Kazu asked, walking past them toward the Edge. "You'll just say I'm making things up again. Or call me a liar," he added, glaring at Xinnaa who shot a sour look back at him.

"Kazu," Tycho started. "Come back with us to—"

"No!" He yelled, turning around to face him. "I know what I know! I know my past! I know what I am! I know who I love!" He turned around. "I have a shot to find everything I've been looking for. I'm taking it," he concluded, getting on the ship.

He made his way to the cockpit and brought the ship to life. He hovered a bit to get clear of the four of them and zoomed into space. He checked how long it would take to get to Chenowei.

Enough time to hear more of what's on the Holocron.

He pressed the lever to take him into hyperspace and shot away.

# # #

"Well, that could have gone better," Saa'na said, watching the ship fly away.

"Yes," So'lia agreed.

Xinnaa started walking toward the three of them with a datapad in hand.

"You get it on?" Tycho asked.

"Yeah," she replied, looking at the device. "Tracker's working fine."

.