Talon looked around at the various multitude of plants that were in the room. She took note of the streams of water that murmured and burbled as they cascaded downwards. In front of her was the Jedi, Master Leia, the woman who had brought her here where she now had a name, lightsabers, including one that had belonged to Lord Vader before he became Lord Vader. There was lots of food here, and she now had clothing to stay cool in heat that rivaled the lava caverns she had occasionally been to. She was not only allowed to use furniture, but was under instructions to do so! So she didn't have other students to curl up with and share body heat to stay warm in the constant cold… but then she didn't need them because she could set her room so that it wasn't cold! She had been among these Jedi for a few days now, and she had only been hurt once. The Jedi Master who had hurt her had actually punished himself for hurting her! Not only did these Jedi keep taking her fears away from her, but they also took the pain she had become accustomed to as well. It was an immeasurable difference between what she had always been told would happen, and what was actually occurring.

Talon looked down at Master Leia who was kneeling in front of her. Warm brown eyes that were filled with concern looked back at her, and that was when she noticed something. A single look at Leia's belt showed her that a lightsaber was conspicuously absent, yet all five of hers were present and in place. It was something that showed her that even here, in her mind, Master Leia had no intention to ever hurt her.

Talon could feel that this was something her Master wanted. She didn't really understand or know why her Master wanted this Bond, but then… that didn't really matter. What she knew for a fact was that Master Leia had never once punished her, even when she had clearly disobeyed instructions. Instead, Master Leia taught her though explanation rather than pain. But one thing Talon would never be able to forget was the way Master Leia had moved to stand in front of her while protecting her from a Jedi so powerful that he was still alive after facing both Lord Vader and Lord Sidious! It was with these thoughts in mind that Talon made her decision.

Leia felt Talon come to some type of decision, and while she had suspected that the girl would decline solely based on past experience, she couldn't be entirely certain because Talon was far too compliant to actually voice any objections. Whatever decision Talon had come to, Leia knew that there were no doubts or misgivings about it, and she couldn't help but wonder at that.

"I want to have a Force Bond with you Master Leia." Talon said softly.

Leia gaped at the image of Talon in stunned surprise for a few seconds, before she pulled the girl forward into a firm hug.

"Thank you Talon; I promise you, that I'll try to make sure you never regret this." Leia said firmly.

Master Leia was holding her tightly in another one of those things she had called a 'hug'. She wasn't being hurt… neither of them were, but she could still feel her Master shaking while a very strong emotion that she wasn't familiar with filled the Jedi's mind. That was when she also felt something she was familiar with. Master Leia had called it 'friendship'. Talon wanted this feeling, she actually hungered for it because it was much better than the hate, anger, disgust, revulsion, or lust that had always been directed at her on Korriban. This emotion… this emotion was right, and what made it even better, was that it was Master Leia who was giving it to her. Talon started to simply sit quietly and allow her Master to hug her, when she remembered that it felt better when you received a hug. Placing her arms around Master Leia made that feeling of friendship get stronger. Pulling her Master more tightly to her made her feel some level of friendship towards her Master; she couldn't explain it, but it was there.

Leia knew that Talon was starting to experience what friendship felt like for herself. It wasn't much, and it wasn't very strong, but it was a beginning! She held on to Talon for a few minutes before slowly releasing the girl. It was time to begin.

"Talon, I am going to leave your mind now. I'll need you to keep your eyes closed and focus on me. I will be doing the same while I focus on you, and draw on the Force to create the Bond between us." Leia said before leaving Talon's mind.

Finding herself back in her own mind, Leia looked at her apprentice for a moment to be sure that the girl was following her instructions, before she closed her eyes and began to concentrate on Talon's presence while drawing on the Force. Following the instructions that Master Tionne had given her, she began to use the Force to pull her mind together with Talon's. Drawing them closer, twisting them together and merging them, was much different than entering Talon's mind where she pushed her thoughts into Talon. This wasn't like opening herself to the Force so that she could receive thoughts and emotions. She was purposely linking their two minds so that a permanent Bond would exist between them.

Talon could feel what her Master was doing, and it was very different from anything she'd ever felt before. It wasn't anything like having her access to the Force controlled by a Wielder, nor was it like what she felt when someone entered her mind. It was more that her mind was being drawn towards that of her Master, so that the two were almost… but not quite mixing together.

Talon sensed and felt her Master almost struggling with the Force in order to form this Bond between them. Talon used a technique that she had been taught on Korriban and began pulling a vast amount of the endless energy of the Force to her. Then she began to funnel that energy to her Master.

Within mere minutes of starting to form a Force Bond with her apprentice, Leia knew that she wasn't going to be near as successful at as she had read about. Forming such a bond wasn't anywhere near as simple or as easy as the records made it seem. Maintaining a connection to Talon while controlling enough of the energy of the Force wasn't at all easily done, and she had to strain her concentration to accomplish it. Suddenly, Leia felt Talon doing… doing something. She didn't know what it was that Talon was doing, but it actually made it harder for her to maintain a connection between them. Then Leia experienced a blast of power from somewhere. Her strength in the Force was suddenly magnified to an incredible degree, and everything became almost easy! No longer straining, she was able to hold Talon's mind and twist it into hers so that their Force presences started to become mixed. That was when she recalled the warning about forming such a Bond. Actually mixing the Force presence of Force users could make them indistinguishable from each other and cause some serious problems when even a single thought could not be determined who it had come from. Leia quickly stopped the process of Bonding and opened her eyes.

'I hope this worked.' Leia thought as she looked at Talon.

'I hope so too Master.'

Talon's mouth hadn't moved, but Leia had still clearly heard that response. Surprise mixed with the happiness of success as she pulled her apprentice into a hug. 'I could not have done this without you Talon. Thank you.'

Talon heard the words in her mind, and she felt a very strong emotion emanating from her Master. Strangely though, her Master was not in her mind, yet she could hear the Jedi's thoughts almost as if they were her own. The only difference was, those words had come forth in Master Leia's voice.

'Yes Master.'

'Good.'

Talon heard an answer from her Master before she'd even stated her reply. 'I can hear Master Leia!' She thought in awe.

'I can hear you as well Talon. This is exactly what I was trying to accomplish. Now, from what I understand, it will take some time and practice for us to avoid using this Bond so that we aren't hearing each other's every thought. We can make this work Talon; it will just require some effort.' Leia replied in gently humor.

'What is the emotion you're feeling right now Master Leia?'

'It's called happiness, Talon. Have you ever felt like this before?'

'No Master Leia, but I like it… at least I think I do.'

'Believe me Talon; you do like it! But… from now on, I want you to call me either Master or Leia… but not both. I am not only your Master Talon; I'm also your friend and friends call each other by name… not their rank; understand?' Leia chided gently.

'Yes Master.' Talon thought quickly.

Leia pulled back with a sigh of mild annoyance. She wasn't irritated at Talon, because the girl couldn't help being the way she was. No she was irritated at who had caused Talon such a timid demeanor. Being angry at Talon for something that wasn't her fault wouldn't help anything, and she knew that.

'Talon… it's true that I am a Master Jedi now, but you are my Apprentice. What that means is that you are the only Apprentice I have! That rank gives you the right and privilege to address me by my name… which is Leia. There are some whose speech patterns are very formal, so they will always address me as 'Master Solo', but I would like it a lot if you would call me Leia sometimes.' She thought as she looked at Talon.

Leia searched that small round face with eyes that glowed in a golden hue. In spite of what she could see, the one hundred and seventeen centimeter girl in front of her posed no threat and she knew that. It made no difference that Talon's saber skills outstripped everyone in the Order. It didn't even matter that her telekinetics were more advanced than she had thought possible. What actually mattered was that Talon was completely submissive in regard to doing any thing that might be asked of her.

Leia knew that Talon was compliant to a fault. She would do exactly as asked, unless she had a fairly good reason for her disobedience. What ever else she was going to teach her Apprentice, Talon needed to be more assertive in her everyday dealings. In Leia's opinion, it wasn't self confidence that the girl lacked, because Talon knew what she was capable of. Taking on twenty-six remotes would even have made her brother hesitate, but Talon hadn't. Leia knew that Talon had even thought about any possible danger to herself before leaping to that boy's defense, because there hadn't been time. Then, after saving the life of a youngling, she had expected to be punished for it. That was part of the problem… no… that was most of the problem! Talon expected to be brutally punished for almost any reason, any infraction, and any disobedience.

'A Master should always be addressed as Master. If you aren't sure of someone's rank then call them Master as well. It keeps them from hurting you if you always show lots of respect.' Talon answered.

'I can see how that would be true Talon, but that would only apply back on Korriban… in the Sith Academy. That isn't the case here.' Leia replied after deciding not to press the issue.

Leia's attention was drawn to the ceiling as a chime sounded signaling that a meal was now being served. 'Come on… let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry, so you've got to be famished!'

Talon nodded her head and got up to follow her Master as the woman led the way to the cafeteria.

"Talon! There you are. Come sit down and have breakfast with us."

Leia froze in mid-step as she gaped at the young boy who had called out to her apprentice. 'Breakfast? It was just after lunch when Talon and I started forming our Bond.'

"So where were you last night? We looked for you at supper, but you didn't show up. You didn't get in any trouble for taking out that ISD did you?" A young girl named Chargon demanded.

"No she didn't… even though that isn't the way the simulation should have been handled! She and I were occupied using an old Force technique. We started just after lunch yesterday, and apparently we lost track of time, because I thought this was the chime for last night's meal." Leia answered.

"In that case, you should join us too. Welcome to our little group! I'm Selar Kyriin the ring-leader of this proud little bunch of ragtag misfits. We may not look like much, but we are Green Wing! We're the best group of student pilots in the Order, and one day, we'll even be as good, or maybe even better than Rogue Squadron!" Said a swarthy young boy who stood up to bow with a smug grin on his face.

It wasn't surprising that Leia took an instant liking to the boy. The way he acted reminded her a lot of Han. She could tell right away that he was more than a little cocky, maybe a touch of arrogance, but a lot of confidence in himself, and in his friends. She knew that such confidence would help Talon if she was accepted into the group, and from the way it sounded, she was well on her way.

"I'd love that Selar; my apprentice and I are both starving! I'm Leia Organa Skywalker Solo… I've just realized how much of a mouthful that is." Leia said before finishing in a mutter.

"Well then you should certainly join us. I'm Chargon Kayla also Green Three," Said a human girl with red wavy hair down to her waist, and bright green eyes. "This is Deilaani Mantros, Green Two," she gestured to a red skinned Twi'lek girl, "and her twin sister Karlaani Mantros, Green Four."

"Then there's Risaa Darklighter, (Human with black hair to her shoulder blades) Green Five. Crystal Kyraa, Green Six." Chargon pointing out a grey skinned Twi'lek girl. "Teilaan Kar'maani, Green Seven," Pointing out a Cathar girl. "Vara Masaan, Green Eight," Pointing out a young Togruta boy, "and Krenn Kellso, Green Nine." She finished with a gesture to a Nautolan boy.

"Welcome to Green Wing Master Solo, but we can't forget Talon who is now Green Ten, and the best of the student pilots I've ever seen. So now that our Flight is back together again, let's sit down and have some food and words." Selar suggested easily.

"Sounds good to me." Leia smiled as she sat down at the table.

"Here Talon, you can sit next to me." Deilaani said pointing at a spot to her right.

Talon took a seat next to Deilaani, while Leia sat on the opposite side of the table, next to Selar. She knew that there were those who would have been scandalized in the Old Order, but now things were different. In this Order the Jedi sought to establish themselves as both friends and family to the students they taught. It fostered a type of atmosphere that was more conducive to learning than in the Old Order because there was no competition. Everyone was allowed to learn at their own pace, and everyone was encouraged to find out what they did best.

Leia was somewhat surprised at just how readily this rather disparate group seemed to accept Talon. She could see right away that they were very tightly knit, but didn't have any qualms about accepting others. That much became obvious when Pleena entered the cafeteria, came right up to the table and without even asking simply sat down next to Talon, before greeting her. She in turn, was given rather enthusiastic greetings by several of the others at the table who showed that they actually knew her when they called her by name.

Leia watched in mild surprise as Pleena was happily included in the discussions at the table. She herself was addressed on several occasions, and rapidly came to the conclusion that this was exactly the group that talon needed. They would offer an unbiased companionship, allow her to learn what friends are, and help teach her that there was more to life than simple training. The more individuals that she had helping Talon, the better off the girl would be. Perhaps this would allow her to lose some of her fears of the Jedi, Leia doubted it, but one could always hope.