AN: Happy New Years!

Bobafitx: Thank you for your review :) the reason why I am stalling this much is because of the power imbalance in their relationship. Boba did kidnap her while she is to some extent still his prisoner. Given that in story time we only had 8 days pass (give or take a day) it feels a bit too early to go down that route fully. It will be talked about and the power imbalance will be addressed and sorted down the line, but it does involve some setting up and a more solid formation of a trust basis.

It was storming still on Teth. Grumbling Struhn looked away from the window he had been staring out from. The street leading out of the town were now slippery and fatally dangerous slopes. No way to get out without using a ship or a speeder. Which no one had done so far, the noise and the shaking of the buildings would have not been easy to miss. No one would dare to do something this risky after what had happened.

Though, none of the inhabitants here had dared to walk even ten feet into his vicinity.

Frankly, he could not even blame them. Altharya was gone and they all had done nothing. No help, no messages to him while he was in surgery! They all knew that as soon as he was done, he'd have gone after her.

Did anyone say anything? No! They did a day later! When Boba Fett had already left the system!

Well, they all could forget the medical station. Closed. Would never be opened again and they all had known that would be the consequence. Apparently medical care no longer ranked high among their priorities.

Fine by him! There were enough doctors out there who would love to settle here. At least he had a medical degree and could start in any respectable institutions! Something he had hoped to do once Altharya had gotten her powers more under control so he could write a recommendation for a university in the corporate sector. They could have moved there and maybe forget that ten years of hiding had ever even happened.

Struhn stared into his half-empty glass on the table in front of him. The cantina was deserted with only him and its owner who wordlessly scrubbed that same glass clean. Eight days… It had been eight days since he had called Renstan frantically, failing to explain what happened until after thirty minutes of stammering he had finally pressed forth that Altharya was gone. Kidnapped.

As soon as he had coherently put down the events of the evening before, Renstan had assured he'd be on his way, but that he was in a different galactic arm entirely. Would take a few days…. Great. What was Renstan even doing in deeply controlled Imperial space? One would have hoped that the Empire would hamper his more foolish suicidal tendencies. Apparently not!

Seemed like this was going to be like the old days.

Not something he had particularly missed.

The door to the cantina swished open, revealing a cloaked and soaking wet figure stepping in. As drama inclined as ever. Nothing had changed in that regard. Somehow it was comforting to know that certain things would never change. Even after ten years on the run from an Empire breathing down their necks.

Almost comical. If only that man had bothered to contact them at all! Especially when Altharya's powers had manifested suddenly after he had been assured that the Force was weak with her.

Weak… his ass.

Tell that to his poor heart when he had walked in on the three spectral tookas running around their apartment, while she had taken a nap. That marked the first attempt to contact Renstan on his end, only to receive the shortest answer in all their years of knowing the other that such a thing is not possible with a youngling.

The smashed holocom had been not worth it, but not taking him seriously when it came to these things had been infuriating when they met and it had only gotten worse over the years. Last attempted holo-call had been after Altharya's fifteenth nameday. After Soren had left with his parents for the Rebellion and he had not been sure whether to follow or not.

Something he never told her about. Not that she would have understood why he decided not to join. A rebellion was no place for children, especially for ones like her. Born and raised to fight wars… No. He had seen and met one such group of men like that. Never again.

"Long time no see," he spat at the approaching former Jedi Master.

Renstans' steps faltered, the cloak clenched tightly in his hands.

"Indeed," he replied hesitantly throwing a suspicious glance at the cantina owner.

"I am gone. Alcohol is in the upper cupborads," the old Zeltron shrugged throwing the cleaning rag over his shoulder and left through a door leading to his apartment.

"Since when do you…," Renstan sounded surprised but for once he had the sense to bite his tongue before continuing.

This was not the time for such insipid topics.

"Took you long enough," Struhn jabbed a finger at the chair opposite him.

"You know how long hyperspace takes," Renstan sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Still," he flashed the Jedi his teeth which made the other swallow audibly.

"Why are you so angry?" Renstan sounded confused looking like an animal caught in a light.

"Do I need to tell you?" he snapped jabbing at the empty seat again.

"Would be helpful," Renstan hissed, eyes narrowed, finally the Jedi friendliness gone.

Good. Meant that the man he had known for all those years was not dead yet.

"You promised you would stay in contact," Struhn snapped grasping his glass with whatever cheap alcohol they were given.

"The Rebellion…," Renstan sighed before shutting his mouth promptly.

"They were here, you know," Struhn crossed his arms for once feeling smug that he had the high ground in this argument.

Renstan's eyes widened just as his jaw slackened, but not enough to make his mouth drop wide open. For a moment, he said nothing, only rubbing his jaw. Obviously thinking. Thinking hard about what he had just been told. Weird. Frankly, Struhn would have thought that he had known and approved. Coward….

"That cannot be true," he muttered, "Organa helped us escape. There is no way…"

"Oh go on," Struhn hissed, "Tell me how you did not know."

"I truly didn't!"

He felt himself deflating. Renstan was not someone to lie about these things. Damn… it would have been better if he had a history of lying. But no! His fingers were twitching as his chest tightened underneath his tunic as the urge to throw his glass against the wall manifested more clearly in the alcohol induced haze. Someone was responsible here. And this someone was going to catch a fist to his jaw.

"If you had bothered to contact us all those years," he spat slamming the glass back down, droplets flying onto his hand.

"Are you seriously pinning this on me?" Renstan's eyebrows knitted together furiously.

"You were with them, were you not?"

"Do you truly think I would have allowed this?" Renstan asked sounding almost sad now.

"How would I know? When was the last time we talked?"

"Are you still angry that I doubted you on what you apparently saw?" Renstan's eyebrows now had shot up to his receding hairline.

"I know what I saw and the amount of times things displaced without her touching anything occasionally…"

"She never showed telekinetic powers," Renstan waved off.

"Did you read her file?"

"No? No need to since it had been already decided that she'd be assigned to AgriCorps come her thirteenth nameday!"

"So? Vader obviously found something that got him interested!" he snapped.

At least Renstan had the decency to look down for a moment.

"Organa had assured me that her file had gotten destroyed," he mumbled putting his head into his hands.

"Either he didn't," Struhn held up a finger when Renstan snapped his head up, eyes flashing in outrage, "or, the Empire has better slicers than the one who had wiped the systems."

"Say you are right," Renstan admitted gritting his teeth audibly, "And we missed something in the temple…"

"I am right," Struhn interjected tapping a finger on the table, "You know I would not have contacted you if I wasn't sure…."

"Struhn," Renstan sputtered out desperately, "I know. But that has never been heard of!"

"Your point?"

"Illusions…," Renstan sounded lost, "even if she truly had the gift. I could not train her!"

"Because of what?" Struhn hissed.

"How would I train her in these things? Maybe the basics, yes, but… I could go so wrong with that!" he griped.

His head was already pounding. That self-griping… the twitching away from anything slightly risky… it was like being back in the war. How could someone not have learned from all their mistakes? Hadn't they hashed this out countless times?

"I know what you are about to say too," Renstan didn't even let him say it, "I learned. But sometimes you have to be cautious, especially about training someone. You can go wrong so quickly…"

"I taught her for years," Struhn said suddenly feeling more tired than ever, "Don't you think I would have a hunch how to approach any of it?"

"The Force is not…," Renstan was shaking his head again, "It is not so simple…"

"Can't be too different from teaching a completely new concept?" Struhn raised an eyebrow.

"How do you approach something that is so intimately personal to yourself?" Renstan fired back, sniffing his nose.

Was he… Oh. That had never happened before.

"You blame yourself," he stated leaning forward to stare at Renstan more closely.

Watery eyes, cheeks blotchy red and his robes were crumbled. Not the perfect Jedi anymore. As if he had been that before, but… he knew the man better than maybe even the Jedi Order. Everything was crumbling around him and now he was realizing how wrong they both had been.

"Should have sensed it," Renstan quietly admitted, "There was always something I sensed… but I thought…."

"You thought what you had been told to think," he finished for him, "I had to move our hiding spot once. Remember that incident with the tookas?"

Renstan huffed a dry laughter, now rubbing his left eye viciously.

"The spectral ones? I remember."

"Every time we returned from the sea, these things happened. So once I moved us to the mountains it all stopped," he explained.

"Oh," Renstan looked to the ceiling.

"You see?"

"You probably did more than we ever did," Renstan muttered still not looking back at him yet.

"She seemed surprised that she was allowed to approach me at all times," Struhn sighed.

"All these years…," Renstan looked at him now, "The Jedi failed. In all ways."

Struhn did not know what to say. It was true. The Republic was gone, the Jedi were the official culprits and the Emperor had too much control for anyone else to know better. A truly biting irony. If it wasn't miserable for everyone, he'd have laughed.

"You saved her though," he shrugged looking at the doors hoping it proved some consolation for Renstan.

He had paid for all the alcohol and the medical bay was never to open again. There were things he needed to show Renstan. Altharya's apartment was not too far away from his own, her own little space. His apartment had gotten too small for the two of them and he really had not wanted to keep her completely dependent on him. No…, not when he had hopes for her.

Damn the Fetts. Every time they screwed with his life. First the father, then his Clones and now his son! Why was he being punished? What crime had he ever done to them? That galaxy had a bad sense of humour.

"I did," Renstan sighed, "Honestly I thought that she'd be able to live like a normal citizen… that her powers were too weak to ever show or be of any interest."

"How…," he pinched the bridge of his nose, "well it is all in the past now. Our objective is to find her and you," he jabbed a finger at Renstan who swallowed deeply from his glass, "will need to train her."

Renstan held up his unoccupied hand in defeat.

"As you say," he muttered.

"I know you know Soren, the Zeltron," he started looking at Renstan whose head snapped up in recognition.

"Yes, his parents are worried sick," Renstan sputtered, though he was frowning at the change of topic, "You know where he is?"

"I found his body," Struhn heaved out just as Renstan's face fell sharply.

"Where?"

"At the temple nearby. Also where I found the bodies of the Rebellion and other bounty hunters," Struhn explained, "and I found hair."

"Hair?"

"Altharya's hair. Why was the Rebellion here? With Soren of all people!" he demanded jabbing the finger on the table.

"I cannot answer that and I told you that already!" Relion whispered shocked, eyes flitting around the room.

He didn't want to be here right now. Too bad, he was and he was going to listen and provide answers! Whether he had them or not, he would see.

"You sure?" he hissed standing up towering over the Jedi, "Are you sure?!"

"How would I have known?" Renstan scrunched up his face in annoyance while firing back.

Oh… now he was invested? Took him long enough!

"Aren't you with them?" he threw back.

"I…," Renstan groaned in frustration, "Struhn, I get you are angry. But why at me?"

He pinched his lips before he could blurt out anything he'd regret. For ten years he heard nothing from his closest friend, maybe someone who could have been more. But no…, lying low had never been in his blood. Always at the front lines.

They both had failed on so many levels…

"I…," he pressed forth, "She is gone… Soren is dead… Rebels were there. What do you think happened?"

"Vader put out a bounty," Renstan slowly said setting the glass down, "I knew about it, but I was ordered to stay put. Any movements on our part would just tell them where she lived… I told… Force," his face blanched stark white.

"You what?"

"I told Soren," he gripped the hair on his forehead, "What have I done…"

Oh no… he fell back onto his chair.

"Don't tell me he took some Rebels and…"

"Went to Altharya? Yes, but… why?" Renstan questioned pulling at his hair, "I do not understand."

"They were close friends," Struhn explained, "I never told his parents and Altharya didn't even mention it to me!"

"That bounty specifically mentioned Force-sensitive."

"I guess he pieced a lot together and," he had to rub his eyes that were starting to burn, "his parents didn't like the Jedi at all. Always blamed them in the beginning."

"Why you never trusted them?"

"Yes," he shrugged, "Did they ever trust you?"

"Me? No, but Soren… he seemed fascinated."

"How so?" he cocked his head.

Strange. Soren seemed to be more interested in those who had big guns and not someone who could not even hold them for long with pure muscle strength. What had changed in… oh. Six years? Stars he was getting old. They all grew up so fast.

"When he realized what I was…am, he started to shadow me and then ask questions. I would have thought that he had accepted me by the time he suddenly left."

"That was when he took the rebels to Teth…"

"Probably also alerting Fett to that," Renstan helplessly concluded, "I can't imagine what he was trying to do."

"What?"

"Save her?"

He huffed. Somehow he doubted it, but then again he hadn't seen Soren in six years. What would he know?

"What else? He didn't seem like someone who would use lethal force just to get rid of a threat," Renstan shook his head fervently in his denial.

"Neither to me. But he is dead. Killed with one clean shot through the heart."

"Fett?"

"There were many bodies in this temple. Time of death are all within all of their error of margin."

"Damn…"

"I suppose we have to do a call to his parents," he realized, "Poor them. First the daughter, now the son."

"They died," Renstan jerked his head up, eyes fixing him in place, "When I dropped out of hyperspace I got the message."

He blinked. That… Soren's parents had been capable people! Just, he could not fathom that they died. Though, he had to close his eyes to squeeze the corners of his eyes, many good and capable people die in conflicts. Something he should have been used to by now.

"How?" Struhn could not quite conceal the horror sneaking into his voice.

"The Empire," Renstant muttered darkly.

Nothing else could be said to that.

"What do we do now?" he asked quietly the Jedi who was looking like he wanted to wail at the injustices of the galaxy.

A sentiment he could understand.

"Find Altharya," he firmly stated, clenching his left fist, "I just hope she hasn't been killed yet by Vader…"

Right, he had not heard then… if he even had gotten over his reservations about traversing the world where legality was never asked about.

"The chatter in the bounty hunter crowd is that Boba Fett was seen in the corporate sector with a girl in tow."

Renstan's eyes snapped immediately to him, finally looking him straight into them. Clearly trying to process what he had been told.

"What do you mean?"

"Vader has other problems on his heel now than a force sensitive medic trainee from Teth," he shrugged.

What would he know the reasons? All he heard were rumours and speculations. If only the rumours included whereabouts. Corporate sector was huge! Thousands of star systems! Every system in it had a colony! They were looking for a needle in a haystack! At least those rumoured problems had a tendency to stick around for months if not a year.

Enough time to look.

If Renstan decided to stick through with it. Which might be a problem.

"So…," Renstan's eyes suddenly shone, the brown sparkling in the electric light of the cantina.

Damn him to all hells that there were in this galaxy. He was doing this again. Making his stomach flutter and his knees weak.

"We might find her," he finished for him, shooting him a half-hearted half-smile.

There was no energy for anything else. Not right now.

"Can you leave your station here just like that?" Renstan had furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at him from underneath his eyelashes.

Clear disapproval.

"They had one condition for me to remain and treat them here," he shrugged, "Nothing happens to Altharya and they were expected to step in. Did they? No. If they want to complain they can take it up with the dust we will leave behind."

This time the reaction was a raised eyebrow while Renstan chuckled.

"I suppose my ship is large enough to get most of your equipment with us," he conceded leaning back in his chair.

"Good," Struhn felt himself grinning.

"You wanted to show me something?" Renstan slurred as they stumbled towards the closed med-bay.

"Aye," Struhn mumbled, fumbling with his key card in his pocket, "Altharya made it."

"What do you mean?" Renstan frowned tugging at his collar.

Skin flushed while he blew out a long breath, cheeks blown up. Even after this long, he still could not tolerate two glasses of tihaar. How could he survive in a rebel base, where the booze probably flowed like water down a waterfall. To live dangerously means to live short. Some would celebrate a month longer with excessive partying.

He had seen that happening more than once.

If only he could return to Christophis and visit his parents. It had been so long, twenty years almost. Would they even welcome him? After the last words… he shook his head. What had been said, had been said. He had drunk too much.

That was it.

"She made it when we got here," he sighed finally sliding the card into the reader, "I don't think I can explain it appropriately."

Inside, he switched on the lights. For Teth he had a relatively clean and large apartment. Not as large as what Renstan was probably used to from the Jedi temple. But it had been enough for him and Altharya for years.

"Well," Renstan shifted awkwardly on his feet as he closed the door behind him, "I don't think I ever thought…"

Oh stars, would he please shut up? This was why… Never did he think! Or just forgot about others until things were right in his face. Clueless, like all the others in his Order.

"What did you think then?" he snapped.

"I thought," Renstan swallowed heavily, "That you would join the rebellion when she came off age. I waited and then Soren and his parents joined with news that you were established medics on Teth!"

"I did what I thought was right," Struhn hissed moving to the room where Altharya used to live until her move, "Joining the rebellion would mean sure death for her. Do you think I would let that happen? Or risk it for that matter?"

"You grew to care for her," Renstan muttered.

What? Wasn't that obvious?

"Of course?" Struhn dropped his arm, frowning at Renstan.

Had he seriously just… questioned forming attachments? Blowing out a loud breath, he just stared at Renstan who looked away in the end. He of all people?!

"Forgive me," Renstan looked lost now pulling his brown robe off, "That was stupid of me."

The 'yes' was on his tongue, would have been like old times if he had said it. All tease and smirks. But the old times have not been for a long time. So he kept his mouth shut to simply stare mutely at Renstan.

"What did you want to show me?" Renstan asked, looking away.

"Just go in," Struhn pinched the bridge of his nose.

Somehow it felt invasive to show him what Altharya had put together. But… she was gone and Renstan needed to see that they were not looking for a Jedi Youngling anymore.

"That is…," Renstan gasped out, "Those are my meditation beads!"

"She kept everything, you know," Struhn stated leaning against the door frame, "Standard grief process. After three years she moved past it. But she kept it, to remember she said once."

"I see."

"Will you help?" Struhn threw him a raised eyebrow.

"What do you think? Of course. We start in corporate sector?"

"Yes. Matra IV seems promising. I know someone who might help us," Struhn felt himself grinning.

"How you know these people…?"

"You really do not want to know."

"Consider that question shelved away then."