To Rise From The Darkness

by Khalthar

She had always been a Sith, but now, her life would take a course that she NEVER would have believed possible! Now that she has witnessed the elimination of everyone in the Academy, what is a Sith student to do when she ends up in the hands of her ancient enemies, the Jedi? OC/ Leia. Not Slash!

2. Chapter 2

SW2

Author's Notes: Thank you in advance for the reviews. I do enjoy reading those, and I hope that you enjoy reading this fic.

As the newly commissioned diplomatic cruiser Alderaan prepared to enter orbit around Corruscant, an entire battery of alarms sounded off as a small ship dropped out of hyperspace nearly on top of it. Even as the ship's sensors began to identify the type of ship that it was, the large vessel was taking evasive maneuvers to avoid killing the reckless pilot. Out of all of the instantly busy personnel on the bridge, only one person took note of the fact that the strange ship was now drifting without power.

"Captain, are there any life signs aboard that ship?" Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo asked softly.

Puzzled by the question, the officer pulled up the ship's sensor readings. As soon as he did, he saw what had caught the Jedi's attention.

"Affirmative! There are life signs, one human female, very faint. From these readings, I'd say that she might be injured. That's an old Sith Starfighter from near the beginning of the Great Galactic War; if not before." Captain Keldaani replied in surprise.

Something about the vessel and its occupant pulled at the Jedi.

"Use a tractor beam to bring it on board. Let's find out what the rancor dragged in." She ordered with a tight lipped smile. "I'll be waiting in hangar two." She stated as she left the bridge.

Leia had no need to stay to see that her orders would be carried out. The crew of this new ship had been hand picked by her husband, and her nephew. Knowing that they would perform quickly and efficiently, she hurried down to the hangar bay where the ship would be pulled in.

Leia had reached the hangar well before the drifting ship could be safely pulled in by tractor beam. She decided that this was a good thing as she readied her lightsaber. The slight ripple in the Force that she'd sensed had the distinct tang of a Force user about it, and she was not going to take any chances.

The ship was completely without power, and there was no way to force the ship to extend the landing gear without it. Leia Force jumped onto the nose of the Great Galactic War era Sith fighter, while igniting her lightsaber at the same time. Ready for the worst, the Jedi looked down through the canopy into the cockpit of the Sith ship.

Leia had been prepared for almost anything, anything that is except the sight of the sickly, unconscious child that was huddled naked inside the cockpit of one of the most notorious vessels ever to be flown by the Sith. As she stared down at what was obviously still a very young female, Leia realized that there was something not quite right about her appearance, but she couldn't put her finger on it. With a sigh of both relief and frustration, she deactivated her lightsaber and called for the medical personnel.

"I want this hangar cleared of males, now!" Leia ordered in a tone that was long accustomed to command. Sith or not, no female that young deserved to have her dignity stripped from her without even being aware of it.

Within less than three minutes, the young female was out of the ship and on a stretcher, after being covered with a sheet. During a preliminary examination by a medical droid while still preparing the move to the infirmary, one of the healers, an Ithorian female, by the name Dol Gahn rumbled in dismay.

Because they were fairly Force sensitive by nature, Leia was able to pick up on the healer's distress even without the sound.

"Well, how bad is she?" Leia asked curiously.

"She suffers from extreme exhaustion, dehydration, severe overuse of some type of adrenal stimulant, and potentially deadly levels of poisoning from eating Kel Dor emergency rations which are still in her stomach being digested. She is also, completely covered in some type of dried gore that is also highly toxic." Dol Gahn answered.

"You mean that's not her normal skin color?" Leia asked in surprise.

"Certainly not! Humans don't exist in that color to my knowledge." She answered.

Leia stared at the Ithorian healer in shock.

"You're telling me that's human?" Leia demanded in out right disbelief, and then she remembered that the captain had even said that she was human.

Leia turned to look at the Sith vessel with narrowed eyes as if she could pry the secrets out of it by sheer will.

"Take her to the infirmary, and do what you can for her. I want to know who she is and what happened to her. If she was hungry enough to actually eat Kel Dor rations, she must have been starving and desperate." Leia said more to herself than the healer.

The Jedi turned back to investigate the ship that the girl had arrived in. The satchel she had no problems removing, but the pair of gore splattered staves, had to be removed by using the Force. The Jedi could see instantly that they were meant to be and were indeed weapons by the leather wrapped center of each staff where it was meant to be held.

Even after removing the two lengths of rod shaped metal from the vessel, she was unable to so much as budge one of them without using the Force to do so. Seeing that they were covered in the same type of blood and gore that had also covered the girl proved to be another mystery.

How could anyone actually use a weapon that heavy, let alone two of them, and why would they choose one like that? She wondered.

As she turned to head towards the infirmary, a spot of damage on the ships hull caught her eye. This was no damage that could have been caused by blasters or turbo lasers. For one thing, there was no carbon scoring around that gash in the ships armor. For another, the rips and slashes in the hull were too closely matched to have come from multiple hits.

Then her eyes locked onto something wedged in one of the tears in the hull. A closer inspection showed that it was coated in more of the blood that covered the girl. Deft use of the Force yielded the object which proved to be a massive claw from some kind of living creature!

The Jedi Knight was rendered speechless as a dozen questions raced through her mind simultaneously. Knowing that she would have to wait until her unexpected guest recovered before she could get any further answers, Leia gathered up everything she'd found and headed to the infirmary to wait until the girl was recovered enough to speak.

Hours later, the esteemed Jedi had more questions for the girl than she knew what to do with. Investigation into the contents of the girl's satchel had revealed a small pouch containing a dozen or so coins totaling less than two hundred credits, a medical kit filled with the same adrenal stimulants that the girl had obviously used, several standard data pads and another data pad that was crudely, but permanently attached to some type of crystalline material.

Checking the modified data pad for information about the girl, yielded no clues as to her name or origins, but it did reveal something that caused her to immediately call out to her brother through the Force. Knowing that her husband was bringing not only her brother, but also a few other resources that might prove to be helpful, was a strong relief. After all, what lone Sith would stand a chance against a Jedi Knight, aided by an incredibly lucky former smuggler, an intelligence officer formerly assigned to galactic security, who also happened to be a member of the Jedi, and finally her brother, the former Jedi Grand Master!

Leia looked over at the girl lying on the medical bed. One of the first things the healers had done was run her through a sanitizer to remove the toxic gore which had covered her entire body. It had taken three trips through to remove the dried gore from the girl's body and hair. Skin that was far too pale to be healthy glistened a pale deathly white. The IV lines were hooked up to machines that not only filtered the toxins from her blood, but also inserted vital nutrients to help restore her to proper health. The girl's stomach and intestines had been pumped free of the highly toxic Kel Dor food supplies.

Leia shuddered in revulsion at the thought of even smelling that type of food, she didn't even want to think of how it must have tasted, or how desperately hungry the girl must have been to actually eat it, and keep it down!

When the approach of Dol Gahn interrupted her thoughts, Leia calmed her mind and prepared to question the healer about the girl's condition.

"Most important to me right now, is whether or not she's going to live." Leia said as calmly as she could manage.

"Oh yes! Most certainly. She was not as badly poisoned as we originally thought she would be. Somehow her body was mostly taking only what was truly needed for survival. She has a few slight injuries from getting hit by something, but mostly she suffers from severe exhaustion. She has used up all of her reserves during a tremendous effort of some kind." Dol Gahn rumbled in her deep voice as she gazed down at the girl in sympathy.

"Were you able to perform DNA mapping of the sample I gave you?" The Jedi asked hoping that at least one question could be answered.

"Oh, but most yes. In fact, we were able to determine that the blood she was covered in came from at least one hundred different members of the same species as the sample you provided, however, our medical data base contains no information on whatever it is. Here, you may see for yourself a new and never before seen species that is unknown to galactic science." She rumbled as she handed the Jedi a data pad containing a computerized rendition of the creature who had managed to claw apart solid duraloy.

When Leia looked down at the data pad that had just been handed to her, nothing in the known universe could have prepared her for the shock that she felt upon seeing that horrifying image. The data pad clattered to the floor after falling from nerveless fingers, as the Jedi Knight stared in horrified shock at a waif of a girl who had somehow, by some miracle of the Force, managed to survive an encounter with not one, but from the evidence, more than one hundred of the creatures thought to be nothing more than a terrifying legend by most, and extinct by others, known to the Jedi order as the tarentatek.

The ancient nightmare of all Force sensitives, light, dark, trained, and uncontrolled was no longer a mere myth to frighten those foolish enough, or naive enough to believe the legends. They were now all too real, and Leia had the proof lying on the bed in front of her.

Leia Organa Solo slumped to the floor as all strength fled her body. She managed to catch herself on the girl's bed before she fell completely to the floor. From her position on her knees she looked closely at the girl who couldn't possibly be more than nine standard years old.

In her distress she instinctively reached out with the Force, causing a ripple that would be felt by any and every Force sensitive in the system. Sensing the new source of fear, the girl's eyes fluttered open, and immediately began to squint in pain.

Leia saw instantly the terror contained in those gold colored eyes. Any doubts of the darkness within the child were instantly quelled when she saw those eyes. Her Jedi training protested against the mere presence of a Sith, but both her extensive diplomatic training, and her instincts as a mother were roused by the stark terror that she felt blasting from what was currently a helpless child.

"What's your name?" Leia asked as gently as she could manage.

"I... I don't have... They didn't. They sometimes called me Talon." The girl stated weakly.

"The... Where? Are they?" Talon struggled to ask weakly in a tone filled with fear.

In spite of all her past experience, all her Jedi training, in spite of everything she knew to be right in the universe, Leia couldn't stop her heart from going out to the girl upon hearing the sheer terror contained in those few desperate attempts to find out if any of the living nightmares had followed her here.

Instantly, the mother in her took over. It was the side of her that would defend her children no matter what the cost might be; the side that would face any nightmare real or imagined; the side of her that was able to still a child's fears with a few simple words.

"Shhh. Hush, you're safe here. Rest now and sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." Leia said softly as she released waves of soothing energy through the Force.

Both Dol Gahn and Leia could see the girl fighting to stay awake, certain that nowhere in the known universe was safe from the horrors that she'd seen and endured, but after fighting a grueling training session for two full hours before being forced to fight a running battle for nearly eighteen hours, all the while drawing heavily on the Force had taken a massive toll on her strength, and those golden colored orbs fluttered closed once more.

Leia turned and sat back heavily against the girl's bed. It was then that she noticed Dol Gahn looking at her with a strong level of concern.

"Are you all right Honored Jedi? You look as if someone has just struck down your entire herd." The Ithorian healer asked her worriedly.

"To be honest my friend, I feel as if someone just struck down my entire herd. That. Those creatures that she faced." Leia gestured at the fallen data pad. "Until a moment ago, I was sure that they were nothing more than an old and nearly forgotten legend that was used to frighten children at the Jedi temple. I... I've seen ancient depictions of them and read descriptions of what they can do, but to know that a creature exists that is not only immune to the effects of the Force, but also actively hunts those that are sensitive to it, and especially those that are trained in its use, is like finding out that your worst nightmare has been brought to life." Leia replied in a shaky tone.

Dol Gahn slowly reached down and picked up the data pad to look at the screen and the specs that were displayed there. "Do you truly know what this creature is then?" She asked more out of scientific curiosity than anything else.

"Oh yes, and so do you. It's called a tarentatek, and it preys on Jedi and Sith alike." Leia answered flatly.

Dol Gahn gaped at her friend of the past week. She swallowed hard as she tried to come to terms with something whose legend had always been used to warn misguided younglings into obedience. No adult truly believed that such a menacing evil could ever really exist, but here she held in her hand the proof that it really did exist, and worse had brought great fear, harm, and nearly death to a youngling. There was obvious sympathy in her brown eyes as she looked over at the resting child. A silent vow to the powers of Light and Goodness to ensure the youngling's health flew through the healers mind as she laboriously stood back up. She laid the data pad on the nearby workstation before turning back to her other duties.

Leia tried to regain her composure as she reviewed what she'd learned about the mysterious Sith that had been dropped in her lap. The child had obviously gone through something few beings could face and emerge unscathed. She knew that while the physical scars were almost nonexistent, the emotional scars on the other hand, could well prove crippling to the girl. Deciding that a proper Jedi style Force examination was in order, Leia turned and knelt by the girl's bedside.

Leia closed her eyes as she took a moment to focus her mind and calm her thoughts before opening herself to the endless energy of the Force. Feeling the girl's presence nearby, she began to move her mind closer to that presence. Then suddenly, with far too much ease to suit the Jedi Knight, Leia was inside the girl's mind.

Leia was viewing the girl's memories from the child's own perspective. Countless memories flowed past her mind's eye, and not a single one of them were anywhere near pleasant. The endless fear that she had constantly lived in permeated each and every one of those memories. The constant, never ending training, endless humiliation of being ridiculed for everything. The girl had often been punished for no reason at all except to satisfy the sick pleasure of her Masters. Clothing had rarely been allowed to any of the students. It was with a very heavy heart that Leia noticed that far too many of them were female. Then, Leia noticed that even the child's few great successes had been callously degraded. There were the countless lessons regarding the Jedi, their cruelty, their hatred of the Sith, the numerous wars in which the Sith had been nearly wiped out and forced into hiding. Lies built upon still more lies. It made the Jedi sick to realize just what had been perpetrated on this girl.

Leia watched through the girl's own eyes as she had been forced to develop and use a twin staff technique, in addition to every one of the other known forms of lightsaber combat. Leia knew instantly, that the girl's saber skills would be unmatched by anyone within the Jedi order. By the same token, the girl's telekinetic skills were also impressive. What truly troubled Leia though was the complete and total lack of mental shielding that normally went with Force training.

Curious about that Leia delved only a little deeper into the girl's mind. She didn't like having to resort to these methods, but she needed to know what type of threat this Sith represented. Then she found what she was looking for. Her Kel Dor Master had taken up the habit of raping the girl's mind repeatedly several times a day, every day. While the physical bodies of human and Kel Dor were completely incompatible for sexual relations, the Sith Lord had obviously found a way around that, and by forcing his way into her mind, he had done to her there, what he couldn't do to her physical form. She saw that while on most occasions he'd been alone, on far too many others, he'd had several other Sith Masters with him.

Leia was revolted, disgusted, sickened, and enraged by many of the memories she found, but the final key to the lack of mental shielding was when the girl had once tried to block one of the Masters out of her mind, hours upon hours of very mild Force lightning had left the girl in unrelenting agony afterward.

Leia became angry at herself for invading where she had no right to be, but now she knew some of what she had to deal with. Leaving those memories behind, she focused instead on the most recent memories.

There Leia saw the entire ordeal from beginning to end. Seemingly endless hours of striking out at a never ending flood of living nightmares that wanted nothing more than a fresh meal. The girl had lived her entire life in a state of constant fear that bordered on terror, only to have that fear elevated into something beyond any nightmare she could imagine.

Through the Force, Leia saw and felt what the girl herself never had. The Jedi experienced it for herself as the Sith child released herself completely to the Force, holding nothing of herself in reserve. Leia felt and saw everything as the Force took complete control of the child's body and did what was necessary for the child's survival.

Everything from the incredibly slow metabolic rate, to telekinetically wielding the massive weapons that the child had become accustomed to.

Leia withdrew from the girl's mind and sat back to think about what she'd learned. Talon wasn't the child's name, but more of a title that was only occasionally bestowed on the girl by one of her now dead and devoured Masters. Leia shook her head as she thought about the impossibly strong connection to the Force that the girl had achieved. It was something every Jedi was taught to work towards, but also something that few, if any, had ever actually attained.

In a sheer desperate bid to live, the girl had given up everything she had and was to the will of the Force, and the Force had prevailed.

As the Jedi studied both the girl and the memories from the girl's mind, she remembered the pained squinting. Realizing that this child had never been exposed to normal levels of light, Leia used the Force to adjust the lighting controls to a much lower level.

With the lights lowered to what would be considered a dim but romantic style candle light, Leia raised herself from the floor and resumed her seat in the nearby chair to wait for whichever came first, Luke's arrival, or the child's awakening.

She ached all over her body. Every muscle she had, felt like it was on fire. For that matter the very air seemed to be on fire as hot as it was. She was tired and weak, and not sure what she had done, or worse, had not done in order to be punished like this again. With a mixture of dread and fear she opened her eyes to the lighting that was dim by normal standards, but still bright to her darkness accustomed eyes.

What she saw around her was totally unfamiliar. With a worried frown, she sat up slowly and took further stock of her surroundings. She was in a small alcove on the softest and most comfortable bed she'd ever seen. To her right sitting in a chair watching her intently was an older woman whose long brown hair had tints of grey. The female was wearing clothing of the purest white that she'd ever seen. Looking down at her own miserable self she saw that she was also clothed in something white that had left her arms free and bare.

Not sure where she was, she tried to remember how she'd gotten here. Drawing a total blank only raised more questions in her mind. She knew that asking a question showed ignorance, and ignorance was failure, and that meant punishment, but she had to know.

Leia remained silent as she watched the girl sit up and try to take stock of her situation. She seemed to be doing okay until she spoke.

"Do... Do you know who... who I am?" The girl asked her timidly while cringing slightly away from her.

Leia frowned a bit at that question, not sure whether the girl was asking if she'd introduced herself, or if she was asking if Leia could tell her who she was.

Seeing the woman frown, she knew she'd made a serious mistake. A reaction like that had always been followed by torment. She quickly scrambled as far back into the alcove as she could get hoping that the pain wouldn't be as bad as it had the last time she'd made such an infraction.

Leia felt the wave of the girl's fear through the Force.

By the light! She has to be strong in the Force to broadcast like that! Leia thought.

Getting control of her expression she schooled her features and adopted her diplomatic mind set. Leia smiled inwardly as she recalled the countless jokes that Han had made regarding what he called her Sabaac face.

"Relax. You're safe here. I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to let anyone or any thing hurt you either. I just want to help." Leia told her softly in as gentle a tone as she could manage.

The girl eyed her with mistrust, as her eyes darted around rapidly seeking some type of escape route or hiding spot.

"Why would you want to help me?" The girl asked warily.

"Because I'm a Jedi, and that's my job." Leia answered.

At the word Jedi, the girl's eyes had shot wide open in terror as everything came rushing back to her in a flood of continuous nightmares. The memories that flooded her mind didn't stop her from acting though as she used the Force to launch herself out of the alcove and into the back corner of the infirmary.

Leia had to instantly clamp down on her Force sensitivity as painful waves of fear crashed through the Force to slam through her mind. Even so, looking over at where the child had landed, she could almost see the waves of terror radiating from the child.

Knowing what the girl had been through proved to be a huge factor as Leia remained seated and didn't move a single muscle while watching the girl.

Leia focused her mind on sending a wave of calm through the Force, and was stunned at just how effective it was until she remembered the girl's complete lack of mental defenses.

She cowered in the corner wondering how she had fallen into the hands of the Jedi. She had been taught her entire life that the Jedi were the enemy, that they would enjoy killing any Sith, and all Sith very slowly without hesitation. She'd been taught that the only question that would need to be answered was how long it would take you to die, when the Jedi got their hands on you. Looking around she saw that her weapons were no where in sight, nor was there any thing that she could use as a weapon.

Suddenly her fear was almost gone for some reason that was unknown to her. She slumped to the floor in relief.

Leia watched the wary child with concern. As terrified as she was, and as strong with the Force as she was, she could be exceedingly dangerous being backed into a corner like she was.

"Take it easy now. Okay? I'm just going to do something to prove that I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, I think you've had enough of that to last a lifetime." Leia said quietly.

Slowly Leia reached down and unhooked her lightsaber from her belt. She didn't stand up or otherwise move from her seated position except to look down at what she was about to do.

With slow, careful, and deliberate movements, Leia opened her lightsaber and removed both the power cells and the focusing crystal. Then she carefully laid all of the components on the workstation beside her, before looking back at the girl still trembling in the corner.

She stared at the Jedi in shock. The Jedi had just taken her own weapon and disarmed it herself! It had to be a trick; there were other weapons in the Jedi's arsenal. She knew that the Force held many abilities that she didn't have and didn't understand, strangulation being among them.

In spite of the soothing aura of calm that she was sending out to the girl, Leia could still see and feel the near mindless state of fear that the girl was in, she knew that it was going to take all of her skill as a diplomat and her experience as a mother to calm this child down before the situation became critical. Then she got an idea.

"I think I know of a way to prove that I have no intention of hurting you. I want your permission to enter your mind, in that type of connection you know that we can't lie to one another right?" Leia spoke slowly in a soothing tone hoping to get past at least some of the fear the dominated the girl's mind.

She stared at the Jedi in disbelief. So great was her surprise at being asked, that for a very brief instant she actually forgot to be afraid.

She nodded her head numbly, knowing that she could no more stop the Jedi, than she'd been able to stop her Masters. But what happened next, was something she never expected.

Instead of being forced to envision her body being used in whatever manner her Masters had desired, she was being shown a room that was filled with countless streams of running water that cascaded down a series of step like structures. Plants of nearly every color imaginable were spotted around various points of the room as a warm golden white glow surrounded everything with a brightness that she'd never seen before. She found herself sitting on a circular platform clad in clothing exactly like those the woman was wearing. Looking around in surprise at this vision that the Jedi had created in her mind, she saw her weapons, including the lightsabers she had taken from the academy sitting beside her.

In surprise she looked over at the Jedi who was seated on the opposite side of the large room, and saw her laying aside her disassembled lightsaber.

"I told you that I won't hurt you, nor will I try to cause you any pain even in here." The image of the Jedi told her.

"Why are you doing this? Why would a Jedi want to help me?" The girl asked disbelievingly.

"Because I once had a friend who was like a sister to me, in fact she married my brother so she was my sister. I came to love her very much after she became a Jedi. She had once been a very powerful assassin for the Sith, she was the Emperor's Hand to be exact, and even though she's gone, I know she would want me to help you." Leia answered honestly.

One thing she did know about mental visions like this, was that you could never hide the truth from someone once they were a part of you mind. She could feel that the Jedi had deliberately dropped her guard and was being completely open with her.

Unlike the countless occasions when her Sith Masters had entered her mind, there were no feelings of disgust, hate, derision, or lust. Instead there were emotions that she'd never experienced and had no words for.

In her mind, she looked over at the Jedi, wanting, needing, desperately needing to believe that for once in her life she had no reason to be afraid, no cause to expect more pain.

The image of the Jedi slowly stood up, walked over to her and sat down. The girl held still not knowing what to expect as the Jedi enfolded her in her arms. The girl felt a warmth rush through her mind that she couldn't describe. In confusion she looked up at the Jedi that held her.

"What am I feeling? What are you showing me?" She asked in uncertain apprehension.

Leia smiled down at the child she held wrapped in her arms. "It's a touch of a feeling called friendship. It's something that sometimes happens when you are with someone that cares about you. For now, until we know more about you, I will be that someone. If you need something, or want to know something, you have only to ask. I won't ever punish you for asking a question, understand?"

In her mind the girl nodded, even as the Jedi was pulling out of her mind. She kept her eyes closed, trying to hold on to both the vision of the room, and the feelings she had experienced there. Finding herself back in her own body once more, the girl could still feel the Jedi's arms around her, and somehow she felt that for once she could relax.

Leia had opened her eyes to meet her brother's questioning gaze. She gave him a light smile to show that she was fine, but still kept her arms wrapped protectively around the Sith waif.

Luke calmly studied the girl in his sister's arms. Even though the girl was now a great deal calmer than she'd been when his X-Wing had docked with this ship, he could still sense a strong undercurrent of fear pervading the girl's entire psyche. Curious, the former Grand Master made a slight probe at the strength and source of the fear.

"Don't!" Leia snapped as she stood up and moved between the girl and her brother.

The tone that his sister had used was one that was accustomed to instant obedience, a tone that was infused with almost two decades of royal usage, and a few more decades of command, one that she'd almost never used with him before now and it captured Luke's attention instantly. As his sister released her hold on the girl, she had opened her eyes, and even in the dim lighting, Luke could see that amber glow that denoted the strong taint of the dark side.

Luke instantly snapped his eyes to his sister for answers, but kept his focus on the girl.

"Do not probe her mind in any way! She has absolutely no defense against it, none! She has no mental shielding to stop her broadcasting, and she's been tormented into leaving herself open for anyone, and I do mean anyone that wants in. We've got eight-year-old initiates that could probably dominate her mind. She's also been taught that Jedi are even worse than the Sith." Leia informed her brother firmly.

The last thing she needed was to have to try earning this child's tentative trust all over again.

Luke frowned slightly at the child that literally cowered behind his sister for protection. He of all Jedi knew that Leia hadn't received the full range of training in the disciplines needed for mental communication, and the fact that she had accomplished it with this girl, told him that she really didn't have the usual amount of defensive barriers found in a normal mind, because she'd sometimes had difficulty establishing such contact with him.

Luke switched his full attention back to his sister.

"What else can you tell me about her?" He asked.

"For right now, all I am going to say is that she's under my protection. Remember when I was interrogated by Vader? Well, what she's been through makes that seem like a very pleasant memory by comparison!" Leia answered bluntly.

Luke's jaw dropped as he stared at his sister in surprise. It wasn't often that she was even willing to mention the horror of what had happened to her in that cell aboard the Death Star, so for her to say that it was pleasant compared to what this girl had been through, was really saying far more than her mere words expressed.

Leia reached over and picked up the data pad from the work station. She was unable to suppress a shudder as she thought of the creatures the girl had faced. Without a single word of warning she handed the data pad to her brother.

As Luke glanced down at the screen, he froze. The data displayed on the data pad made it clear that it was mapped from a DNA sample, and even had the sampled section highlighted to demonstrate the accuracy of the dimensions. The chill that ran down the Jedi Master's spine was not something he was accustomed to.

"Where did that sample come from?" He asked in a dead tone.

"I pried it out of the hull of the ship she arrived in. She faced more of them than I really want to think about right now, but after being in her mind, I know one thing for an absolute fact. My meeting her was the will of the Force. I've given her my word as a Jedi that I would keep her safe, and that's exactly what I intend to do!" Leia stated firmly so as to leave no doubt of her conviction.

The former Jedi Grand Master nodded to himself as he pondered this information. So often the will of the Force was nearly impossible to decipher, but the absolute confidence in his sister's tone as she spoke of this one fact, helped to dispel some of the doubts that he had.

"Are you sure that you're up to this?" Luke asked her lightly, knowing what she had implied.

"I know that I'm asking a lot here Luke, but I have to try, and I don't think I need to state the reasons why." Leia said heavily.

Luke frowned slightly as he studied his sister. His wife Mara had long avoided the dark side and eventually joined to fully embrace the tenets and teachings of the Jedi; and in their final moments both Vader, and Jacen had died while trying to help those they loved. For all three of them, for their memories, they would both try.

"Well, if you're going to keep her, then the first thing we'll need to work on, is teaching her not to be so afraid all the time, or at least not to broadcast it so strongly." Luke told her with a grin.

Leia grabbed her brother in a firm heartfelt embrace. Even though she knew that what she was about to take on was going to be incredibly difficult, she also knew that it might prove to be more than worth it.

The girl gaped at the two Jedi in shock as they hugged one another. Only once, and that being just moments before, had she ever felt the touch of another living being that hadn't turned out to be the cause of excruciating agony. The comforting feeling of the Jedi's arms around her was something that she couldn't get out of her mind, and an intense longing for more of that feeling flooded her being as she watched the two Jedi hug each other.

Releasing her brother, Leia turned back to the girl, only to find the child gaping at her. She couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the girl's confusion.

"It's called a hug, and I think it's something that you'll come to enjoy once you get used to it." Leia told her. "By the way, I'm Leia, and this is my brother Luke. You told me earlier that they called you Talon, is that your name?"

"They only started calling me Talon after I started fighting with the twin staffs. They said that I would rend my enemies and become the Talon of the Sith. Only the Masters and the Wielders had a name, the rest of us were just called whatever they wanted to call us at the time." She answered timidly.

Luke felt his heart sink at the girl's words; realizing at that moment, that she'd been raised with less compassion than most people showed their droids.

Leia knelt down on the floor next to her placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Well, since you seem to have earned the right to be called Talon, would you like to use that as your name?" She asked gently.

When the girl nodded, Leia smiled warmly at her. "Talon it is, then. Come, let's see if we can find you something to wear, although I doubt that we have anything on board that will fit properly, half starved as you are, I'm sure we can still find something for you to wear." She continued taking Talon by the hand and helping her to her feet.

It wasn't until she was standing up that Leia noticed the sheen of sweat that coated the girl's entire body. She hadn't noticed it before because of the dimmed lights, but now that she was standing, Talon's abnormally pale skin clearly showed just how uncomfortable she really was.

There wasn't much that could be done about the heat without readjusting the temperature for a fairly large number of beings; however she could get Talon to a set of quarters where she could at least be comfortable, even if it meant extra clothing for others.

Leia stopped at a storage locker on the way out of the infirmary, and opened it to return what little was there to Talon's possession. She felt Talon's body tense behind her when the girl saw her pulling out the various lightsabers contained within. With out a word Leia passed both the lightsabers and a proper belt back to the young Sith. Leia felt her brother's curiosity when she used the Force to move Talon's twin staves out of the locker.

As soon as her weapons were in reach, Talon eagerly reached out and grabbed one in each hand. Both of the Jedi could feel waves of mental tension dissipate as soon at the girl got her hands on the twin metal rods. Luke noted that strangely, receiving the four lightsabers had done very little to allow the girl to relax even a little. That the two staves had done so puzzled Luke greatly.

Leia reached into the locker and pulled out the now cleaned cloak that Talon had brought with her. While the thick wool like cloth would be unbearably hot for the girl, it would be much better than the thin medical covering that she currently wore.

With all of our medical knowledge, why hasn't someone come up with a hospital covering that lets a patient keep their dignity and modesty? Leia thought with some mild irritation as she dressed Talon in the cloak. Leia made sure to pull the hood down low over the girl's eyes to help alleviate some of the brightness she'd encounter during the walk to the section of the ship where the Jedi living quarters were housed.

Leia pulled the satchel out of the locker and turned to face Talon.

"Would you mind if I put my lightsaber in here for a while? It doesn't quite fit on my belt the way it is." Leia asked her lightly.

Talon swallowed hard as she glanced back at the workstation where the Jedi's lightsaber still lay in a partly disassembled state. Then she looked back to the Jedi and nodded uncertainly.

A swift wave of Force power swept the lightsaber components into the satchel, and Leia sealed the case once the parts were safely inside.

"I'll carry the satchel, so you can hang onto those." Leia said to Talon indicating the dual staves. Once again Leia had to smile at the look of surprise that resulted from such a small act of kindness.

Luke noted all of this with interest. Obviously his sister had gained a lot of information while inside the Sith's mind. The question that plagued him however, was how much did she really know about this Sith?

Luke followed the two quietly as Leia led them straight to an unoccupied set of quarters. He watched as Talon stopped in the doorway and stared stupidly at the luxurious opulence inside.

Thick soft carpeting covered the entire floor in a light tan that was almost the same color as the stone flooring that she was used to seeing. Lots of soft thick cushions were placed neatly on nearly everything to provide a comfortable cushion wherever it was needed. Everything had been done in rich warm tones of tan and gold color, and unlike anything she'd ever seen on Korriban, there was nothing harsh or cold about any of it.

"Come on in, Talon. Make yourself comfortable." Leia told her pleasantly after placing the girl's satchel on the room's workstation.

"This. This is yours?" Talon asked in stunned disbelief as she continued to stare at the various creature comforts that were available. Not even the personal quarters of Darth Magus had been as nice as the room Talon was now looking at.

Leia laughed lightly at the surprised tone in the girl's voice.

"No, it's not mine exactly. This ship is the new Jedi Diplomatic vessel. Here we can host various negotiations for different worlds in a truly neutral ground, so that neither of the dignitaries or representatives involved feels that they are at a disadvantage. But we also have a section of living quarters that are separate from the rest of the ship so that we can relax among ourselves. We have a large communal meditation hall, training room, and cafeteria for interacting with our fellow Jedi, but we also have private space here as well. You can use these quarters while we are on board. Through that doorway is a sleeping chamber and a refresher, and this door leads to a small private meditation chamber." Leia told Talon gently.

Luke watched the girl intently as she stood there in the doorway gaping at his sister in shock. What had caught his full attention was that fact that as stunned as she obviously was, Talon had not released her hold on her weapons through the Force. Luke was perplexed by this because normally, it required a lot of concentration to maintain a telekinetic hold on any object, and here this child was maintaining such a hold on two objects and apparently doing so without any conscious effort.

After several seconds of staring at the Jedi with a dumbfounded expression on her face, Talon stepped into the room. The thick carpet felt warm, and soft on her bare feet. She looked around for a place to set her staves down and decided to lean them against the wall.

Both of the Jedi gaped in surprise when they heard the stressed durasteel walls groan from the strain of supporting such a large weight that was counter to the way the walls were designed.

"Just how heavy are those things?" Leia asked in surprise.

"1000 kilograms each. The Masters told me that I have to use them until I'm skilled enough to receive my own lightsaber." Talon answered as she removed the heavy staves from the wall and laid them on the floor.

"I... I was never allowed to try to build one of my own." She added lowering her head in shame thinking that the two Jedi would then demand that she give up the lightsabers that she had gathered for survival.

"That's not important right now, Talon. Everyone learns at a different pace. One day you'll construct your own lightsaber; until then, you may train and study with my sister or I, until you are ready." Luke told her quietly.

The shocks and surprises just kept coming. One minute she was witnessing the gruesome death of everyone she'd ever known, and the total destruction of the only life she had, and the next, she was being handed more possibilities than she'd ever dared to dream of. The prospect of living without being in constant pain and fear filled the girl's mind with a distant glimmer of something approaching hope as she looked at the two Jedi.

Knowing that Talon was extremely uncomfortable in the current environmental settings Leia went over to the controls and not only lowered the lighting, but also the temperature as well.

As the lights dimmed dramatically, Talon reached up and removed the hood of her cloak, and once more those disturbingly gold irises could be clearly seen glowing unnaturally with the flow of the darkside of the Force. Then the ventilators kicked in and a wash of deliciously cool air swept through the room causing the temperature to drop swiftly. Both of the Jedi shivered from the sudden temperature change, but Talon simply removed her cloak completely and gave a large sigh of relief after being released from the oppressive heat.

Talon walked over to the workstation and began removing the four lightsabers attached to her belt. Then she took a deep breath to steady herself and turned to face the two Jedi.

"What's going to happen to me now?" She asked worriedly.

"Well, one of the first things that we're going to do is get you settled, and then I thought we might sit down and enjoy a meal together and get to know more about each other. How does that sound?" Leia responded.

Before Talon could answer the question, her stomach did that for her by rumbling loudly at the mere mention of food.

Luke burst out laughing at the sound of the surprisingly loud noise coming from the midsection of such a small girl.

"The last time I heard anyone's stomach sound like that was when Chewbacca went a full day without eating anything!" The Jedi Master said still chuckling. "Come on Leia, we can get her settled in later, right now it sounds like she's hungry enough to eat a whole bantha."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, besides; we'll need to introduce her to Han and the others." Leia said in agreement.

"Uh, actually, they couldn't make it. I did get the chance to message Ben, and he'll probably show up later, but Han was in the middle of something when I got your message so I came in my old X-wing." Luke told his sister.

Leia shook her head in exasperation.

"Let me guess, the hyperdrive again?" Leia spoke amusedly.

She was not surprised in the least by her brother's affirmative nod. Leia knew that no matter how many places they might live, for Captain Han Solo, the only place that would ever actually be home for him was the Millennium Falcon.

"Well, since it's just going to be the three of us, what would you like to eat?" Leia asked Talon.

"I... I don't understand what you mean." Talon replied nervously as she cringed back away from Leia.

Leia was about to elaborate when suddenly it hit her. The girl probably didn't know what kinds of different food was available, and was probably more than glad to eat whatever was put in front of her, why else would she have eaten not one, but nearly a dozen packets of Kel Dor emergency rations?

"Don't worry about it, Talon. Just understand that we won't feed you anything like that that last meal you ate." Leia said with a light smile.

Leia went to the data terminal and placed an order for a meal to be brought in by droid. In the meantime she went about setting the table for three.

When Leia finished setting the table she knew that she had to do something about the information that the girl had in her possession. Talon had gone over to one of the chairs and was standing by it while trying to watch everything at once. Leia walked over and knelt down in front of the girl.

"Talon, I'd like to talk to you about the modified data pad in your satchel. Do you know what kind of information it contains?" Leia asked softly but with a not quite hidden urgency.

Leia's tone of voice caught his attention instantly. Luke could tell not only from her tone, but also from the sensations that he was receiving through the Force, that there was something Leia wanted very badly.

"I think that's what the Masters were using to teach us from." Talon answered uncertainly. "I took it so that I could try to keep learning to wield the Force even though I wouldn't have anyone to teach me anymore." She continued in a small voice, certain that she was going to be punished for her audacity.

"That's what I mean Talon. Now that you're here with us, we'll be happy to teach you more about the Force and how to understand its ways. But the real reason I'm asking about it, is because I think that there might be some information in there that we may not have, so I would like to have our records keeper go over it in detail to see if there are any differences." Leia told the girl earnestly.

Luke could tell that his sister was holding something back, but the near urgency in her tone said that she thought the data contained in that satchel was vitally important.

Talon had no clue as to why the Jedi was asking her, the satchel didn't belong to her anyway. The only things that were ever hers were the few training weapons that her Master had given her. So without really understanding what was being asked of her, Talon nodded her agreement.

Leia let out a breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Thank you Talon! I only hope that one day you'll truly understand what's happening here today." Leia said with heartfelt gratitude.

Leia knew that she hadn't been completely honest with the girl about the information in her possession, but she hadn't been dishonest about it either. Nonetheless, Leia intended to make certain that Talon was well rewarded for the contribution of knowledge that might be made from the information she'd brought with her.

"I know from what I read that it contains the knowledge about techniques of the Force from both the records of the original Sith Lords and the Jedi archives during the Exar Kun war. I didn't have time to figure out which was which though, because I was sure that the Guardians were already closing in on me. But, I did see a reference to a map with the location of a collection of holocrons with the actual knowledge of the ancients." Talon said quietly.

"I don't suppose that you know the general location of where those holocrons might be, do you?" Luke asked cautiously trying not to get his hopes too high, while trying to master his excitement at the possibility of the full restoration of the Jedi archives.

"I've never been that deep. From what I saw on the map, it's far below the cavern tombs where the Guardians live. We can't get past them. I don't know how I'm still alive." Talon said with a fearful shake of her head.

"Guardians? What are they?" Luke asked curiously.

"I think she means the tarentatek. Luke, they were everywhere! I saw her memories, she fought her way through dozens, even hundreds of them, and there were several times that number still roaming free after she managed to escape. They slaughtered everyone but her." Leia put in quietly.

"This isn't something that we can to deal with right now, but if there is a chance of finding functioning holocrons, then we'll eventually have to make an attempt to retrieve them." Luke said more to himself than anyone else.

Before anything else could be said, the door chime sounded announcing the arrival of the droid bringing in their food.

"Thank you CP-56. Can you tell me if there are any tailor droids on board?" Leia asked as the droid placed the food tray on the table.

"Of course Madam, I myself am quite capable of performing in that regard; however I am not programmed for fashion design, therefore I would need a predesigned pattern to complete any custom construction, but any needed alterations are well within my abilities." The droid answered.

"Excellent! I'll need you to return in two hours to create a set of Jedi robes for my guest." Leia ordered.

The mouthwatering smells of well seasoned nerf steaks smothered in a tan colored sauce, and various vegetables drew Talon over to the table. She stared silently at the viands in front of her. Never in her life had she seen such a large amount of food at any one time. She thought that the stuff on the plates was food, but it wasn't anything that she could recognize. Normally, she and the rest of the students at the Sith academy were given a single packet of emergency rations and told to make it last them the entire day, on rare occasions they had sometimes been given two. Now she stared at more food than she'd be allowed in days, and this caused her stomach to rumble angrily.

Hearing such a loud gurgle coming from such a small girl, Luke laughed again.

"I think we need to give our small hairless Wookie here something to eat before she takes a bite out of the table." Luke joked as he began placing fairly large portions of food on each of the plates.

Talon looked over at Luke before looking back at the table. When the girl started checking out the wooden construction of it, Luke would have sworn that she was actually considering trying to eat it.

"This can be food?" Talon asked uncertainly.

Both Jedi froze as they stared at Talon in disbelief.

"No, the table can not be food, Talon. My brother was trying to make a joke. He never did have a very good sense of humor. Go ahead and sit down, I know you're hungry." Leia told her kindly.

"That? That's for me? All of it?" Talon asked pointing at the plate of food in front of the chair she was standing by.

When both of the Jedi nodded their heads, Talon hesitantly climbed in the chair after seeing that the Jedi expected her to sit in it, and started using her hands to tear her way through the food on her plate with a speed that would have put a starving Hutt to shame.

"Whoa! Slow down Talon! Hey, look, no one's going to take it away from you, okay? Besides, you'll make yourself sick eating that fast. Just slow down and when you finish that, then you can have more if you want." Luke nearly shouted when he saw the girl try to cram a fourth of the steak into her mouth at once.

Not wanting to be punished for disobedience, Talon did as she was told, although she did watch the two Jedi warily as they each sat down on either side of her with Leia on her right and Luke on her left. Then they fixed their own plates before they too started eating.

"Talon, stop for just a second please. You need to use the tableware. If you don't know how, just watch me and I'll demonstrate. It's more polite, doesn't make a mess, and you end up getting all of the food in your mouth instead of on your clothes." Leia corrected the girl.

Talon watched carefully as Leia cut up her food using the knife and fork, and then did her best to duplicate the procedure. It wasn't as easy as it looked, but Talon was able to make some use of the dinnerware, and did her best to imitate the two Jedi sitting on either side of her. Although both of them had noticed it, neither of the two Jedi commented on the fact that Talon held her fork in the same way that a first time student would grip a lightsaber.

She couldn't believe how slowly they were eating. On Korriban, the Masters had always made them eat as fast as possible so they could resume their training. The ability to observe what was going on around her had helped her avoid being punished on a few occasions, and Talon was putting this skill to use now as she saw that the Jedi were taking the time to enjoy the meal. She tried to match the rate at which they were eating, but it wasn't easy. A lifetime of near constant hunger pangs, pain, and fear were not easily overcome.

She was just putting one of the last few bites in her mouth when she saw Luke's arm stretch towards her plate. Thinking that her food was about to be taken from her, Talon quickly shoved the rest of her food in her mouth and tried to swallow it whole.

Luke dropped the slice of nerf steak on Talon's plate as he moved around behind her to help the now choking girl.

"Take it easy, relax. Here just hold still for a second." Luke told her before he used the Force to perform a makeshift Heimlich maneuver.

"That's one of many reasons that you shouldn't try to eat so fast Talon." Leia said as the girl finally managed to get the food in her mouth chewed well enough to swallow without choking this time.

Talon nodded her head while she caught her breath. When she was able to breath again she looked down at her plate and saw the second steak that Luke had placed there. Her stomach gurgled happily as she began to cut it into smaller bites to eat in the way that she'd seen the Jedi do.

By the end of her third helping, Talon had slown down considerably. Both siblings could see that she was going to forcibly stuff herself until she burst, or there was nothing left if they didn't stop her.

"Talon, that's enough for now. If you eat any more you'll get sick, and if you get hungry later, we'll get you some more. Right now, I'd like to talk to you about the levels of your training." Leia said firmly.

Talon nodded her head as she slid the now empty plate away from her. There was still food left on the platters, and she kept her eyes focused on it.

"First I need to apologize for entering your mind while you were unconscious. But what I really want to know about is how you learned to use a pair of staves in the manner that I witnessed from your memories. That would translate to a form of lightsaber combat that I don't think anyone has ever heard of before. Can you tell me about it?" Leia asked softly.

Leia knew that Talon had been treated callously throughout her entire life, and that a few simple acts of kindness had seemed to help earn the girl's tentative trust, but she knew that it wouldn't take much to violate that trust, so she knew that she was walking on very delicate ground with the girl. There was no way that either she or her brother could resort to the level of cruelty needed to force the girl's cooperation. That was a path that led nowhere but the darkside, and needless to say, neither of them would ever willingly take a single step down any such path.

"What does that mean?" Talon asked in a confused tone.

"What does what mean?" Leia countered.

"Apologize. I don't know what that means." Talon answered softly.

"That means that Leia knows that what she did was wrong, and that she feels bad for doing it. It also means that she doesn't want you to be angry at her for doing it." Luke said after struggling to come up with an explanation that might make sense to someone that had never heard of kindness, compassion, friendship, mercy, or love.

"For someone to enter your mind without your permission is wrong, and that is what I'm apologizing for." Leia explained.

"The mind of a student must always be open to any Master for any reason." Talon cited by rote in a small voice as she looked down at the table.

Leia reached over to take the girl's chin in her hand and lifted her head to make eye contact. Looking in to those glowing amber eyes, Leia could see the turmoil of mixed and conflicting emotions contained in the girl's mind.

"Not anymore, Talon. From now on, they need to have your permission, understand?" Leia said softly but firmly.

Talon wasn't sure that she did understand this, but she nodded her head anyway.

"Good! Now, can you tell me about the twin staff technique?" Leia asked in a gentler tone.

"What do you want to know?" Talon asked with some hesitation.

"Everything." Leia said simply.

"It's called Whirlus, or Way of the Wind, or The Speed Form." She began. Then, Talon began to hesitantly explain the principals of wielding two staves or a pair of double bladed lightsabers. As her explanations continued, Luke began asking questions about the difficulties in learning the techniques. It wasn't long before both Jedi realized that after having completely Mastered the other seven forms of lightsaber combat; Talon's Sith Master had decided to force the girl to develop and pioneer an eighth form of lightsaber combat that no one in the Jedi order would know how to defend against.

"How many others were they teaching to use this new lightsaber form?" Luke asked heavily.

"The Masters insisted that we were all going to master the Whirlus form before any more of us were granted the trial of constructing our lightsabers." Talon answered.

"But if you not only mastered the form, but developed it, then why didn't they let you try to build your own lightsaber?" Leia asked puzzled.

As soon as Leia asked the question, both Jedi felt the almost overwhelming sense of shame that flooded the girl's mind as Talon looked down at the table.

"Because I never learned how to hate, or summon the rage which are the true weapons of a Sith." Talon answered in a humiliated whisper.

Upon hearing that answer both Jedi siblings exchanged a look that said each of them were thinking the same thing. It was Luke that spoke first.

"It's true that without anger and hate that you'd never make a very good Sith, but I believe that you might make an excellent Jedi, and if you'll let us, we'd like to teach you." Luke offered.

"You need to understand though, that the ways of the Sith and the Jedi are very different, Talon. We Jedi do not hurt others or cause them pain unless we have no other choice. Do you think that would be something you can live with?" Leia asked in a firm tone as she got up from the table and walked over to the workstation.

Talon couldn't understand it. Her entire life, she'd been taught that the Jedi were cruel even beyond the means of the Sith. Yet, neither one of these Jedi had tried to hurt her. The female had even stopped the male from entering her mind, something that as painful and terrifying as it had been, was still something that she'd come to accept as normal. Instead of pain, there were promises of protection, instead of punishment, there was explanation. It made no sense to her; she didn't believe that they were trying to deceive her, because they were both being open enough that she could feel the truth of their offers.

Not knowing what else to do, Talon put her head in her hands to try to think. Everything was so confusing. These couldn't be the Jedi that she'd been warned about. After all, hadn't Leia dismantled her lightsaber to prove that she wasn't going to cause pain? Wasn't she allowed to keep her weapons, even the lightsabers that she'd never had the right to even practice with? Even now, wasn't her stomach hurting from eating more food than she'd ever seen for six people?

Talon's confused thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of many objects clattering onto the table. When she looked up she saw the parts from all four of the lightsabers that she brought with her from Korriban laying on the table.

Her confusion was evident in her golden eyes as she looked up at Leia questioningly.

Leia calmly resumed her seat next to Talon and spread out the parts of her own now completely disassembled lightsaber in front of her.

"Okay, Talon. Since you know how to use a lightsaber, even better than I do. Let's see if you can assemble one after watching me." Leia said with a light smile.

Talon gaped at the Jedi. Too stunned to even think at the moment, she could only continue staring with her mouth hanging open as Leia slowly began putting her lightsaber back together, while making sure that Talon could see every step of the process. When she was finished she ignited the lightsaber, letting the blade of blue energy plasma glow brightly in the dim lighting. Then she deactivated it and laid it aside.

Talon swallowed hard as she reached a shaking hand towards one of the casings to a single hilt lightsaber. As she stared at the parts in front of her she saw Luke pull out his own lightsaber and open it. In seconds, the former Jedi Grand Master had a collection of parts in front of him as well.

"Go ahead; I'll do it with you." Luke encouraged her.

In a seeming daze, Talon reached for the Force to give her strength. Both Jedi were instantly amazed at the level of connection that the girl was able to achieve. What neither of them realized was that the very weakness that would allow anyone with even limited training to enter and then dominate her mind, became a tremendous asset when it came to opening herself to the Force. With no defenses, no shielding, and guarded thoughts to impede its entry, the Force flowed into Talon's mind with a strength of connection that few had ever or would ever achieve.

Seemingly of their own volition, Talon's hands began to move. Dropping the casing, her left hand picked up the harnessing chamber, while her right hand reached for and grabbed the energy modulator. After connecting the two, Talon picked up the emitter array and attached that as well. Then she slid the components into one half of the case that she'd picked up earlier. With those in place, Talon snatched up one of the crystals and placed it in the emitter, before attaching the focusing lens. After adding the power cells, Talon made a minute adjustment to the lens before she picked up the other half of the case and closed the lightsaber up. Laying the first one aside, Talon proceeded to assemble the remaining three lightsabers in short order before laying them aside as well.

Both Jedi looked at her in surprise as Talon suddenly seemed to become aware of herself once more.

Talon sat there staring at the lightsabers in front of her. She was sure that she had cheated and would be punished for it. Leia had told her to put one together, but hadn't given her permission to use the Force to do it. Talon hadn't meant to use the Force that way, she'd only meant to draw some strength from it, but now, she was sure to suffer for her actions.

As Talon sat at the table waiting for a punishment that would never come, Luke reached over and picked up one of the lightsabers. Upon ignition, the brilliant red blade flashed into existence and hummed with the fury of barely contained energy.

When the girl finally looked over at him, Luke gave her a grin.

"Very well done! The method that you used made it a lot easier to get the parts in the case; it's almost the same way I first assembled mine." Luke told her while leaving out the fact that he'd had to learn the methods of construction from a Force ghost, or that it had taken much longer to actually build his rather than simply assemble it.

"You. You're not angry at me?" Talon stammered in disbelief.

"No, Talon. You did it right, and even if you hadn't, the only punishment would have been that you would have to try again later. For now these are your lightsabers to use while training. Later, you can choose a color besides red, and you can earn the chance to actually build ones that are uniquely yours, rather than just reassemble someone else's." Luke said gently.

Luke shut down the Sith weapon and quickly rebuilt his lightsaber. More than three decades of practice let him cut the assembly time down to mere seconds. He couldn't help but smile at the look of awe on Talon's face as she watched. It had been several years since he'd worked with a half trained student. He almost laughed as he sardonically realized that Talon was literally half trained. He grinned slightly as he realized just how interesting things were going to be at the academy when Talon got there.

The door chime sounded once more as CP-56 announced his arrival. Luke left using the excuse of checking on Han's progress with the Falcon in order to give Talon some privacy while having her clothes made.

An hour later, Talon was standing in front of a mirror looking at the clothes she was wearing. Solid white and composed of a satin like material, the robes had been made from several of the medical coverings that were on board the vessel. Thermally speaking, the robes would do nothing to keep the person wearing them warm, but given that Talon was accustomed to the rather piercing cold of Korriban's underground caverns, there was no problem with it.

While Talon was getting a set of new clothing made and fitted to her, Leia had spoken with Captain Keldaani. According to the Captain, it had been an absolute miracle that the ship's power had lasted long enough to bring it out of hyperspace without crashing it into something sooner. The Captain also informed her that The Alderaan had entered orbit and that she could take a shuttle to the surface at any time. Leia gave instructions to refuel and repair the small craft to as near factory condition as possible.

Just one more piece of proof to show her that Talon's presence was the will of the Force.

Leia gave instructions to have the Sith fighter delivered to the Jedi enclave, after the liftoff coordinates were logged. Before preparing to leave the Alderaan, Leia had Talon spend some time in the refresher to get the smell of the sanitizer off of her. Leia was really shocked that she'd had to show Talon how to use the refresher and everything in it, including the follicle remover. Talon had then explained that at the Sith Academy they had been provided nothing but sani-wipes to clean them selves up with. Leia had been mortified that she had to explain the purpose of underclothes to the girl before she put them on. While Talon was getting dressed, Luke sent her a message through the Force saying that he would join them shortly. After the girl was dressed; Leia tried to do something with Talon's hair, and it took the Jedi more than an hour to deal with the tangled and knotted mess of hair that had never seen a brush. She was a little surprised that the girl made no complaints about having her hair pulled, and even though she tried to be careful, Leia was certain that some of it had to be painful. Once she finished with the girl's hair; Leia gathered Talon's meager belongings and made ready to leave.

Talon kept the hood of her cloak pulled low over her eyes to shield them from the bright lights in the corridors. Even so, she still passed many people who greeted both her and Leia cheerily.

When they got to the shuttle, Leia began stowing their belongings for the trip to the surface. Leia had already packed her luggage on board earlier, so she was mostly dealing with a safe place to store Talon's satchel with its now precious contents. After stowing the satchel, Leia showed Talon where to put her staves so that they wouldn't endanger the shuttle by rolling or shifting around.

Leia piloted the shuttle down herself, and let Talon have the co-pilot seat. Talon stared out through the polarized view port in silent awe as they descended towards the surface of Corruscant. The gleaming spires of the planet wide city stretched to nearly impossible heights, and even large speeder cars looked like mere specks in comparison.

The sense of awe and wonder that Leia felt flowing through the Force made her look at the massive city from the perspective of someone who had never seen it before. While she did appreciate the beauty of natural landscapes, she did have to admit that there was a type of elegant almost surreal beauty to the scene below.

When Leia landed the shuttle on the pad of the Jedi complex, they were met by Saba Sebatyne who waited to greet Leia while she disembarked. The Barabel ruffled her scales in surprise when she saw Leia guiding what appeared to be an apprentice out of the shuttle.

The lights on board the ship had been painful, but this level of light was incomprehensible to Talon. Even with the hood of the cloak pulled down over her eyes to help block out most of the light, she was still squinting as her eyes watered in pain. Unable to see more than a step in front of her she had no choice but to go where Leia's hand on her back led her.

Master Sebatyne looked at the youngling curiously. She could easily sense the waves of tension, fear, discomfort, and pain rolling off the child, and she was sure that Leia could sense it as well. Why there would be fear in the youngling when she was now in the very heart of the Jedi order puzzled Jedi Master greatly. This was the primary temple, home of the Jedi council, a safe haven, a sanctuary for all to come to when in need of solace, and yet this youngling was afraid? The Barabel wondered if it might have something to do with the pain and discomfort that she felt emanating from the student. She could see that the hood of her cloak was pulled so low that vision must be almost completely blocked, and the steps were hesitant, as if she were unable to see her footing.

Deciding that questions could wait until after the youngling was properly cared for, Master Sebatyne stepped forward to greet the two.

"This one is pleased to see you again Jedi Solo. She has questions that can wait until the youngling is no longer suffering." The Jedi Master said looking at Talon's cloaked figure with concern.

"Thank you Saba. This is Talon and I really need to get her inside. She's never been exposed to this kind of light and heat before." Leia responded as she began guiding the blinded girl inside the temple.

Inside the temple of the Jedi complex, the lighting was still painfully bright, and the oppressive heat had lessened only slightly. Talon's breath was coming in short gasps as she fought to breath in what felt to her like one of the lava caverns of Korriban. Beneath her thick cloak she was sweating profusely and was beginning to feel light headed.

Talon felt Leia's hand guide her to a stop. Then Leia readjusted her cloak so that it was no longer wrapped around her so much, but was still positioned to provide some relief from the intense light.

As soon as Leia began adjusting the child's cloak, Saba saw that the youngling's thin clothes were soaked in sweat. The Barabel wasn't sure if the sweating was caused by the fear, but she did know that loosing that much of the body's fluids could be dangerous.

"We should take her to the infirmary. This one does not like to see a youngling in such distress." Saba intoned.

"My thoughts exactly. There we can get her into environmental settings that she can be comfortable in while we get some quarters set up for her. I also want the temple's medical technicians take a look at her; she's recently been through a rough time and will need some rather extensive counseling." Leia replied heavily.

The Barabel looked at Talon again, noting that the girl was starting to walk in an unsteady manner.

The Jedi Master now had enough information to realize that the youngling was not in very good condition at all. Saba didn't hesitate as she swept the child up in her arms to carry her to the infirmary. She felt the girl go completely rigid and sensed a wave of near terror sweep through the Force.

"Easy little one. This one will carry you so that you do not exert yourself." Saba told her quietly.

"Relax Talon, Saba's a friend. She's going to carry you to the infirmary where we can get you taken care of properly. I'll be right here with you the whole way." Leia told her while laying a hand gently on Talon's shoulder and sending soothing waves of energy through the Force.

As lightheaded and dizzy as she was from the heat, Talon still recognized the voice of the woman who she now considered to be her Jedi Master. Afraid of being punished for disobedience, Talon did as she was told. With one arm over the reptilian Jedi's shoulder and the other hanging free, Talon made sure to keep her staves out of the way so as not to trip anyone.

Saba could feel the sweat drenched robes of the child in her arms. She had no clue as to what type of planet the child came from, but she knew that the temperatures here among the upper levels of the spires were fairly mild by most standards; therefore she knew that it had to be someplace very cold.

"Put your thoughts at ease, it is not so far now." Saba said reassuringly.

The heat aboard the ship had been intense, but here, she felt that there had to be an entirely new word for this kind of heat. It was almost like a physical thing bearing down on her. Then she had to fully close her eyes as sweat began to run into them.

Talon heard Leia give some commands to someone else, but couldn't make out the words. Then, she was being placed on a soft surface of some kind, and a cooling gust of air washed over her body. It took several minutes for Talon to realize that she was no longer seeing a red blaze through her eyelids. She used her shoulder to wipe the sweat away and squeezed her eyes open just a crack.

Seeing that the lights were now at a level that she could at least tolerate. Talon sat up and switched her right hand staff over and held both of her staves in her left hand, while she pulled the hood of her cloak off of her head.

"Why don't you put those on the floor so they won't be in the way while we get you taken care of?" Leia asked her with a pointed glance at her staves.

Talon nodded and let her two weapons ease to the floor, and left them there while she looked around. She still felt lightheaded, but that was beginning to pass now that she was out of the heat.

Master Sebatyne stared as Leia reset the environmental controls over Talon's bed to a level that was near freezing. She knew that here in the infirmary, each bed had an overhead ventilator that could create a small area suited for nearly any type of oxygen breathing life form while nearby intakes would recondition the surrounding air to match standard settings. Thus a Jawa would be able to rest comfortably in a bed set to duplicate the hot and arid conditions of Tatooine while the wampa strapped the next bed was just as comfortable in their own micro environment. It was a fairly expensive setup, but one that kept all patients in the best possible spirits to promote healing.

The Barabel turned her attention from the controls to Leia.

"This one thinkz you've set those controlz to be almost as cold as Hoth!" Saba intoned as she ruffled her scales.

"Not quite, but they are set to be as cold as Korriban, because that's where she's from." Leia answered.

Saba snapped her attention from the Jedi Knight to the child still sitting in the bed appraising her silently. Eyes glowing with the color of liquid gold looked back at her from a face that was all too pale.

"She is Sith?" Saba questioned instantly as she placed her hand on her lightsaber hilt.

Leia sighed heavily. She'd known that this would be hard for many to accept, but she was also determined to see it through.

"Not exactly and not anymore. She's here with us now, so that she can learn the ways of the Jedi instead of those adhered to by the Sith." Leia said in simple explanation.

"And you are certain that Master Skywalker knowz of this?" Saba questioned irritatedly.

"Yes, I do." Luke answered as he entered the infirmary wearing a grey civilian styled flight suit and a noticeably empty hook on his utility belt where his lightsaber usually hung. "I'm aware of some of what the girl has been through, and from what little I've seen for myself, I'm convinced that what she will experience while she's here will bring her around to embrace the tenets of the order. It's going to be an exchange of information. The order will teach her about our way of living and doing things, and she will teach us a few things as well."

"This one can understand about teaching the youngling our skillz, but what does she have to teach us?" Saba asked with narrowed eyes.

Luke grinned at the Jedi Master as he made his reply. "I'm sure that you saw her carrying a long staff in each hand, right? Well, apparently she can use both of them in a fight."

Master Sebatyne sissed in surprise. "At the same time? That is something that this one would like to see." She said in appreciation.

"That will have to wait until later. If she's in my infirmary, then obviously, there is a reason for it." Cilghal rumbled as she came in.

The Mon Calamari appraised Talon critically as she approached. As a medical technician and a Jedi Master, Cilghal had specialized in healing both with science and through use of the healing techniques of the Force.

This time, Talon was aware of being hooked up to intravenous units to speed up the rehydration process. She didn't say anything as she was treated for malnutrition, and vitamin deficiencies. But when the Jedi healer brought her a glass of a thick nearly gel like fluid that was obviously not water, Talon looked up at Leia questioningly. When the Jedi nodded, Talon started drinking the stuff.

Thick, slightly sweet, but salty and bitter at the same time, it was mostly bland, and at luke warm temperature would have made almost any sentient being with a sense of taste gag in revulsion. Having been forced to live on whatever emergency rations were the cheapest at the time and therefore not always made for humans, Talon was decidedly not picky about what she put in her stomach to quell her hunger or thirst, and as long as it remotely resembled some type of food or drink that she was familiar with, she had no qualms about consuming it.

Leia suppressed a shudder as she watched Talon drain the glass of electrolyte gel without any qualms. With a slight shake of her head, Leia realized that Talon had to be thirsty after sweating the way she had.

"Do you want some more?" Leia asked in a kind tone while internally dreading the answer.

After Talon nodded timidly, Cilghal turned to get another serving of the much hated substance.

"Finally, a patient that knows what's good for her!" Cilghal rumbled happily while she watched Talon drain the second glass of thick fluid.

"Hah! That's what you think Cilghal! I think her taste buds might be burnt out, because. . . ." Although she had started out making a joke at the healer's expense, Leia now paused and looked at Talon thoughtfully.

"Because of what?" Cilghal demanded.

"Because she was rendered unconscious after eating Kel Dor rations." Leia answered quietly.

The Mon Cal Jedi blinked and huffed in surprise before fixing Talon with a hard look.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that even the smell of their food was noxious to humans." She said turning her attention back to Leia.

"It is. But she consumed enough of it that her stomach still had to be pumped after a flight from Korriban." Leia answered.

Cilghal didn't say anything as she began examining Talon with both the medical sensors and the Force. She saw that Talon was trying to watch everything that she was doing, and the Jedi Master made no attempt to hide any of her actions. It was when the healer started using the Force to examine Talon's state of general health that she noticed something odd.

The girl had gone completely rigid and her vital signs elevated way beyond normal as a wave of fear and expectant tension flowed through the Force. Cilghal stopped her exam and looked at Talon curiously as she held up a hand to forestall any comments from anyone else.

"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" Cilghal asked softly.

Talon's bottom lip trembled as she debated whether or not to answer the question.

"Go ahead Talon, tell her the truth." Leia prodded softly.

Talon hesitated for a brief moment then nodded as she looked down at her lap.

"That... It... I always get hurt when the Masters come in. Except when. . . ." Talon trailed off as she glanced at Leia.

Not quite sure what to make of that comment, Cilghal made a tentative probe at the child's mind. When she encountered no resistance, she took that as an invitation and entered slowly.

Once inside Talon's mind Cilghal found an image waiting for her that rocked her to her core with revulsion. In pure angry disgust she wiped the image away and quickly replaced it with one that was more morally acceptable to her principals.

Once again, Talon found herself in a room filled with countless streams of water cascading down step like structures. That same warm golden white glow surrounded everything, and she was dressed in the robes that Leia had given her to wear.

In her mind, Talon gaped in fear when images of the other three Jedi appeared. Sliding off the small platform she'd found herself sitting on, she backed away from the four Jedi.

"Relax, Talon. We're not here to hurt you." Leia told her gently.

Suddenly Talon found her staves in her hands, while at the same time the lightsabers of the Jedi vanished in flashes of light. She saw the image of Leia walking slowly towards her. Memories of previous encounters with multiple Masters flashed through her thoughts, as Talon dropped her weapons and huddled on the floor in a fetal position.

An onslaught of pure terror crashed over the four Jedi with the power of an exploding star. The images of the Jedi staggered as they were nearly overwhelmed by it.

Talon curled up as tightly as she could. She'd been through this before and she knew, just knew what was about to happen. A whimper escaped her lips as she felt someone's hands pulling her into a sitting position. In desperation she shut her eyes trying to close out the image in her mind, but it didn't work. Then she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her in a way that she'd only felt once before.

Shaking from panic and fear, Talon looked up into Leia's eyes as the Jedi smiled at her.

"Talon, I told you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, and I won't. We don't do the kinds of things your Sith Masters did, and to be honest, if I could get my hands on them right now, I'd kill them for doing those things to you." The image of Leia told her.

Talon could feel the honesty in the Jedi's words, just as she could feel the concern of the other three Jedi that were in her mind.

In her mind, Talon froze as one of the Jedi began exuding a wave of calm that drowned out her fear. She knew what was happening, but she couldn't do anything about it. She wanted to be afraid. Being afraid of the Masters at the Sith academy had saved her life many times, and now she wasn't being allowed to be afraid.

"I'm sorry to have to do that to you Talon. But I need you to be able to listen and understand what we're doing here. We're here to help you, not hurt you. I'm not sure exactly what your Sith Masters did to you back on Korriban, when they forced their way into your mind, but here no one is allowed to force their way into another person's mind! I know that you believe that you have a reason to be afraid of us. You have a right to be afraid, but you don't have to live in fear. We are not going to hurt you. Not in your mind, and not physically either. Do you understand?" The image of Luke spoke in a kind but firm tone.

Talon nodded hesitantly even though she didn't believe it. She wanted to believe what the Jedi had told her, oh how she wanted to believe it, but what she'd learned from past experience wouldn't let her believe it.

Suddenly the images of the Jedi and even the room vanished instantly as she was left alone in her mind.

Talon gaped in surprise as she opened her eyes to see Luke apologizing to the other Jedi for forcing them out of her mind.

"You sensed what she was feeling. I'm sorry, but there is no way that I'd willingly put anyone through that kind of trauma. I don't care what they've done, no one deserves that." Luke said heavily as he looked each of the others in the eye one at a time.

"This one can not accept an apology when it is not deserved. This one would have to be both blind and stupid not to know that great harm has befallen the youngling inside her own mind. She also knows that you did what was needed for the young one's safety. It painz this one greatly to know that even here, of all places, one so young would have reason to be so afraid." Master Sebatyne said sorrowfully.

"Master Sebatyne is right, Luke. You have nothing to apologize for. I think that as much as you needed to do that for your conscience, she also needed you to do it to show her that we are not like those she knew before! So do not apologize when there has been no wrong." Cilghal rumbled approvingly.

"Do you see Talon? We are not like what you've been taught. I know you don't believe it yet, but one day perhaps, you'll be able to see the truth for yourself, and when that day comes, you won't need to be afraid anymore." Leia whispered to the girl she held in her arms.

Talon didn't know what to say or do. Never before had anyone protected her from such things. The pain, misery, humiliation, and horror of being forced to envision and feel her body being repeatedly used by others, sometimes many at once, for their own twisted reasons was something she'd had to live with her entire life. Now, she was being told that she would never have to live through such an experience again.

For the first time in her life, tears formed in Talon's glowing amber colored eyes. She had no words for the emotions that welled up in her mind, because she'd never experienced them before, but it wasn't more than a few seconds before those tears were accompanied by choked sobs as she cried for the first time in her life.

Leia held the girl as her tears escalated first into actual crying and then into heart rending sobs. She, more than anyone knew what Talon had been through. As a mother, Leia had seen her children face more than a few fears and dangerous situations, but nothing that compared to the continuous nightmare that this child called her life. She knew that she could calm the girl's tears with just a small amount of Force usage, but she also knew that doing so wouldn't help.

Leia knew that what she held in her arms wasn't someone who had mastered every known form of lightsaber combat and then developed another, nor was it a Force user who had managed to do the unthinkable and single handedly fight their way out of a literal army of tarentateks. No, at this time she knew that she held a small girl who had been forever alone in the universe, and was now sobbing out an entire lifetime of her misery, fear, anguish, and relief. She knew that it would be best to just let the girl cry herself out, and release the emotional turmoil that had been pent up for so many long and miserable years.

Cilghal nodded both to herself and to Leia, letting her know that as much as the child needed her physical rest; mentally, she needed this even more. She let her hand rest on Leia's shoulder for a brief moment before heading off to have some things made for the child so that she would be able to tolerate the local environment.

Talon didn't know what she was doing. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before; all she knew was that she couldn't stop. She'd seen this type of thing happen to some of the other students at the academy a few times, and each time, that student had been executed as being unworthy of being called a Sith. Now she was doing it and she couldn't stop, moreover, she didn't want to.

Leia continued to hold Talon in her arms until the girl had cried herself to sleep. Once she did, Leia eased her down gently. Moving silently so she didn't wake the now mentally exhausted girl up, Leia left the bed and motioned for both Luke and Saba to follow her.