Kazu exited hyperspace directly in front of the rainforest planet Morak and scanned for lifeforms outside of the planet's major settlements. It didn't take long for it to come back that there was a signature near the northernmost part of the planet, near a temple.

Don't want to get too close, he thought as he checked for places to land the beat-up, old starfighter he had borrowed for the mission. A few minutes later, he found a sizeable clearing about a kilometer or two away from the temple and began his descent. Once he touched down, Kazu climbed his way out of the ship and gave a deep sigh as he took his lightsaber off his belt and held it.

Darkness… it's heavy here, he continued thinking, starting for the abandoned temple. After what felt like an hour or two, Kazu found himself in front of his destination and reached out through the Force.

She's in there quite a ways… Wait… There's… a second presence… not quite tangible, he thought, tightening his grip on the lightsaber before walking in.

# # #

A lone, blue female Twi'lek sat hunched over a chair that overlooked the grand hall of the temple. Her arms were crossed.

"Can't stay here forever. Can't keep running. Can't stay. Can't run. I could… no… they'd never accept me back. He… he could… no… shouldn't. I shouldn't…. Can't stay… Can't run…

"There you are," came a voice causing the Twi'lek to look up. A ghostlike apparition shrouded in a black hood walked toward her. "Dear child, did you think you could run? You can never hide from me."

"Leave… leave me alone," she whispered.

"Oh but my dear child, who else would seek you out? Who else would even speak with you? It's not good for you to be alone."

"Others… there are… others," she breathed.

The apparition gave a low and slow laugh, walking up and sitting on the ground next to her.

"Others? Dear child, no one but me has ever come to visit you. No matter where you go, there I am. Ever since you left the Jedi Temple all those years ago, wherever you've gone, I've come to find you. Have you ever wondered why that is?"

"Leave me alone."

"They don't care."

"Stop talking to me," she cried, burying her face in her arms.

"They don't care like I do. If they cared, they'd have found you by now but they haven't have they? They haven't even sent someone to look for you after you ran out on them. Does that sound like someone who cares for you?"

"You're lying."

"Am I?" How long has it been? Who else but me have you seen?"

"It's… a big galaxy… Yeah… big galaxy."

"Please stop lying to yourself dear child," the apparition said, standing. "No one has come for you because no one but me cares," it continued, reaching out to her. "Why don't you come with me? I can certainly help you become more powerful than those Jedi could. They weren't going to train you to your full potential. After all, weren't you overwhelmed by the amount of power they made you suppress? Isn't that why you left? Because it was so much to handle?"

"Stop lying and leave me alone!" she shouted, rising from the chair. "You have no idea why I left! I could always go back!"

"Dear child," the apparition replied, starting to pace. "I do know. You got a taste of the power and potential they wouldn't let you have. You felt you could never measure up to their expectations with the abysmal level of power they were letting you use. You were useless to them and you know it. Why would they ever take you back? If you come with me, I'll teach you how to harness that power and let you discover your full potential."

"You're wrong," she whimpered, sitting back down. "They'd take me back."

"Would they? After your little display, I wouldn't hesitate to wager they'd get rid of you the second you walked into that temple."

"My breakdown… it was a little… inappropriate."

"Putting it lightly. You see, they wouldn't want you alive, not with the amount of power you have at your disposal. You'd be a threat to them. But if you come with me, you'll be a threat to much more than them."

"Maybe… maybe I should… maybe you're right."

Just then, the apparition turned toward the sound of running steps echoing through the temple.

"Hear that? Footsteps in the distance, coming closer. Dear child, stay here and deal with whoever it is and I'll come for you afterwards.

The apparition disappeared and Kazu immediately entered the Grand Hall.

He stopped and looked at the Twi'lek.

"Are you… Xinnaa Gat?"

She looked at him with sad and tired eyes. He was the first person to have come near her, to have even spoken to her apart from the apparition. She closed them for a few seconds.

"What if I am?" she asked, opening her eyes and crossing her arms.

"If you are, my name's Kazu. Kazu Starskimmer. I'm an initiate from the Jedi Temple. They sent me here to help you."

"Here… to help?"

"Yes, the council has sent me to find you and bring you back."

"Bring… bring me back? What would they do?"

Okay, Koz… he thought. Whatever happens next hinges on what you say. Remember you once had the trust of a queen. You used to command her guards. You used to use lies as weapons for her.

"They just want to talk to you," he said, walking closer. "They're concerned for you."

"My breakdown…"

"Was a doozy. I've read about it, watched the vids on it," he said, slowly coming closer. "But we all have bad days. I had a really bad one not too long ago," he continued, smiling. "The council… they helped me through it."

Good one. Lie of the Year.

He stopped just in front of Xinnaa.

"Whatever happens, I'm sure they'd just be—"

"Whatever happens… consequences…" she interrupted.

"Hold on," Kazu replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I never said anything about consequences or punishment."

"They'd kill me wouldn't they!?" she yelled, brushing his hand off of her shoulder. "I showed too much power, they'd have to!"

Get control back. Get it back now!

"No!" he yelled back. "They're not going to—"

"Shut up! I'm not going back! And I'm not going with him!"

She tried to pull Kazu's lightsaber out of his hand but he wouldn't let go. The two struggled, vying for the weapon. He stepped forward, she stepped back. She advanced and their legs became entangled, causing both of them to fall onto the floor, still fighting for the lightsaber. Suddenly, the blade ignited and Kazu felt an odd sensation in his abdomen, mixing hot and cold. He looked down and saw the green blade penetrating his stomach and looked up at Xinnaa who had a shocked look on her face.

Nice one, dumbass.

# # #

A man with long, dark hair and a goatee sat in a chair situated in the middle of an otherwise empty, tiny stone room. He opened his eyes, stood and left the room where another man was waiting for him beyond the door.

"How'd it go?"

"Still a bit stubborn but I was making headway," the man said as the two walked. "That is until some initiate barged in. I can only assume the Order found her and sent him to see how he'd fare against her. I stayed to watch."

"And?"

"The boy chooses his words very carefully, almost as if he knows their true weight. There was a kind of power to him I have never sensed before. But he is also uncertain of himself, unsure of his place in the universe."

The man stopped to look out a window at an electrical storm in the distance.

"I can use him."

Kazu opened his eyes and stared at a white ceiling before attempting to heave himself up but could only strain his arms on the rails of a bed he was laying in and rolling on his side. Seconds later, a short Chadra-Fan wearing the robes of a Healer scurried in.

"Ah, I thought I heard you moving, young Starskimmer," he said.

"Master Nuz," Kazu grunted. "How did I get here? The last thing I remember was—"

"Getting impaled by your own lightsaber?"

"I'll never live this down."

"Don't be too sure, Starskimmer," Nuz said as he continued to scurry around the bed and picking up a datapad. "Not a lot of Initiates such as yourself manage to be impaled and then saved by the subject of their trial."

"Xinnaa saved me?"

"Look, look," Nuz said, grabbing a mirror and holding it up to Kazu's face, allowing him to see her sleeping in a chair next to the bed. "She has not left since she brought you here. Tailfack has ordered her not to be disturbed until your release."

"How did…"

"…she save you?" Nuz asked, finishing the thought. "According to her," he continued putting the mirror down and looking at Kazu, "she closed the holes with a portable torch she had taken with her and forced Bactade down your throat. The portion of your stomach and other tissue that was destroyed by the blade has regrown. You will always have scars on your back and abdomen though."

Kazu reached down, feeling his stomach and came to where lightsaber had penetrated him. He felt the tightness of the burn from the torch.

Ironic.

"How soon can I get out of here?"

# # #

"Young Starskimmer feels himself a failure," Grand Master Kianmar Tailfack said before a council chamber that was, for once, missing none of its members.

Tailfack's words stayed with the council who had remained silent in contemplation until one of the masters spoke up.

"But he passed. He found Gat, stopped her from losing herself to the Dark Side, and brought her back."

"More like she brought him back… unconscious…" another master replied.

"All the same," the other said. "It was an open-ended mission, he could have only failed by not finding her."

"He did allow himself to get impaled with his own weapon," another pointed out.

"Only after trying to talk her down and stop her from killing herself."

"So, it was a botched success," a third replied. "How many of us can't say we haven't had at least half a dozen of those? Some of our greatest masters have experienced those. Even Skywalker!"

"So, Master Tailfack," A fourth said. "Where do we go from here?"

"Starskimmer has expressed a desire to be an archivist."

"Say again?" the first asked.

"He feels that with all the knowledge he's gained from perusing the historical archives, he can help other Jedi with their missions. I see no reason why we cannot allow him to do so."

"Do we let him keep his lightsaber?"

"True he was impaled by it, but he never let go," Tailfack said. "And while I do sense self-doubt in him, I have never felt him to be suicidal or self-destructive. I say we let him keep it. And who knows," he continued. "He may understand that he did not fail. Continuing with training at that point may be highly unorthodox and irregular but Master Kuma has pointed out Skywalker. We must remember he started his own training years past the proper age. Only time will tell what becomes of young Kazu Starskimmer."