25 BBY

14 Years. 14 more years of friendship and comradery that had existed between Jao and Barriss since they were practically both conceived. A bond so rooted into their auras and mind that it allowed them to comfort each other through the force. Such a bond between two force users in the Jedi order was rare since of their rules with attachments. Although with the recent developments of Ilum, the Jedi order was starting to wonder if this decision to not separate the children early was the right call anymore. Now, they knew it'd be detrimental to both of them if they tried now.

Jao was currently mediating about in the northwest most part of the Gardens. The current section he occupied was a sprawling grassy field with a fountain of a holocron spewing forth water. The time was currently evening as the beautiful orange and red hues of the sun were peaking forth as if they were grasping at the sky. The wavy trees swung about peacefully as the fresh crisp air of Coruscant breathed in all around.

Closing his eyes as he meditated, he'd think aloud, "I'm one with the force…" an image of Barriss popped in his mind and he dug deep into the bond as a small smile crept to his lips. Her aura was blinding to him but serene and calm. Nowadays, thinking about Barriss always seemed to help him meditate better but learned to calm his mind on his own now with the help of some early lessons from Kor Rezla.

"You're thinking about me again, aren't ya JR?"

Slowly opening his eyes, he'd rolled his eyes with a soft smile as he looked upon the appearing 14 year old Barriss. She was… different. Usually she was in her black jedi getup but was in a simple beige and white dress with a white headdress adorning her head. (Imagine Barriss's normal attire but with that color scheme.)

"You look… different today, Barriss." Jao complimented.

Doing a little twirl, "Yep, they're an extra set of robes in case my black ones got dirty. I… hehe… accidentally got too much blood on my black ones during Healing lessons with Luminara."

Cocking an eyebrow up, a face of amusement appeared, "You're learning a tad early as well, aren't you?"

A smug smile, "After Luminara saw the way I-... yanno… with the whole… umm…" pointing at his synthetic right hand.

"Oh yea… you don't have to-"

"After that incident, she wanted to get some personal lessons with me." shifting her shoulders, "About Desmond actually… umm… Ilum."

"Ah. Of course Barriss would want to talk about that…" Jao thought, "How could she not. I haven't spoken to anyone about it except some to Kor Rezla and the entirety to Grandmaster Yoda."

Taking a deep breath, a resigned look on his face spreaded, "What-... What do you want to know…"

Seeing and feeling Jao's hesitation, she'd seat herself closely next to him. Placing a hand on his, she'd give it a small squeeze, "I only heard rumors but… apparently you fell to the dark side, JR."

By this point, the evening sky had hued into an endless expanse of starless night sky. The blank canvas of black that contrasted with the moon light allowed them visibility of each other. While they couldn't see the details of their faces, the bond between the pair allowed them to feel each other's emotions.

A shift of uncomfortability echoed in his presence as Barriss gave his hand another squeeze of comfort. Jao sighed, "Y-Yea… I did."

Then the dread question came, "What happened that made you gone for an entire rotation, JR…" she looked at him as a lamp nearby illuminated her face which was filled with worry. The surrounding area was seemingly shaded in heavier darkness that practically made it impossible to pick out the surroundings. All that was illuminated were him, Barriss and the grass beneath them.

Jao Ren was hesitant to say anything to her but Barriss realized this and scooted even closer now as their elbows and arms were touching. Jao's face slightly blushed pink at this but remained calm. Hands still overlapping each other, Jao started, "I-... I was in some type of Star Destroyer… I think and well actually beforehand I saw your face in the ice for a quick second THEN I was in a seemingly endless corridor or airlock doors."

"W-Wait… You saw me in the ice in the tunnels?" Barriss asked.

Jao nodded his head before continuing, "I remember the eeriness of the atmosphere and the mindless droning of fluorescent lights as the metallic walls felt… wrong." a cold shift in Jao's aura as he shivered, "I felt a hatred ahead of me and when I investigated… I saw Desmond but… he was corrupted. Half of his body was pitch black with a singular red piercing eye a-... a-and…" a light mistiness in his eye now as he looked at Barriss, "H-He killed you… right in front of me a-and it felt so real a-and…"

Warmness. Like a heated blanket wrapped around him in an embrace except it was Barriss who had fully wrapped herself around Jao in an embrace. So homely and comforting, it calmed him as stray tears ran down his face.

"Shhh…" leaning back to look him in the eyes, their faces mere inches apart, "I am here. It was just your trial, Jao." a stupidly smug smile reappearing, "It's gonna take a lot more than some smelly Desmond to kill me, JR." butting heads together, "You know that."

Sighing, "Yea… I know… that's when I fell Barriss… him killing you caused me to fall to the darkside."

Although Barriss felt JR get calmer, she'd stay in position as she'd whispered tenderly, "Jao… Did anything else happen?" pulling back from the embrace to rest herself closely next to him again.

Jao Ren sighed deeply before confessing, "When I was fighting Desmond and killed- well I guess defeated the specter? Ghost? I don't know but when I activated a lightsaber into his gut…" he shifted uncomfortably once again, "I-It was you I killed… My anger to kill Desmond had made me kill you instead…"

After these words echoed into the wind, the silence among the two was palpable to say the least. A small grimace on Barriss's face slowly spreaded as she clearly was troubled by such news. I mean, who can blame her when you hear that your closest, most reliable friend is the reason you died. Barriss wanted to be strong for Jao and JR could easily sense her mood in the force. When they were around each other, there were no barriers among them and he could feel her hesitation and sadness now and it gnawed at his heart. He had to find a way to reassure HER now but he had come preplanned in case this happened.

"B-But I promise I never will! I-..." shifting his shoulders, "I care about you too much… yanno?" reaching into his inner robe pocket he'd made, he'd pull out 2 beautiful silver necklaces with a small bronze holocron as its embellishment, "S-So I uhh.. asked Kor Rezla to do me a solid and get me something to help remind you of me when we inevitably part. He got us these…" his face is bright red now, "Hope you like it."

To say Barriss was stunned would be the biggest understatement, she was positively flabbergasted by the heartfelt gesture that came from a boy who was brash and brave. Her mouth fell agape as her eyes quickly became mesmerized. The only words she could mutter out were, "I-I-It's beautiful…"

Placing his down on the grass to take her necklace and reach around her neck to clasp it on. The necklace would gently fall around to her chest as she slowly reached a hand to look at the embellishment before realizing, "B-But wait won't-... yanno… the Council and other Knights get mad and break us apart forever and forbid contact if they see these personal possessions?"

Jao nodded before saying, "T-That's why when we become Knights, we should announce our relationship/friendship to them. If we can survive our Padawanship and become Knights then isn't that proof that it isn't a bad thing?"

Barriss couldn't lie with the soundness of that logic. If they could be secretive about their close friendship then prove that their type of relationship doesn't cause the inability to do their job as Jedis then it could cause a profound wave in the Order.

"So let that necklace be proof first that I would NEVER do anything to harm you… okay?" looking kind of awkward and red in the face as he scratched behind his head.

"And ummm proof of how much I care about you as well, of course." a cheesy smile appears on his face now.

Another ginormous hug found its way enrapturing Jao Ren Paul by Barriss Offee as streaks of tears flowed down her face. She buried her face in the neck of his robe as her arms wrapped tightly around his torso and Jao felt the overwhelming emotions of his best, closest friend: Pure platonic love for him. Tearing up now as his gaze looked upon the night sky that was now starry and filled with a full galaxy of stars. The endless expanse of starless night sky now but a distant memory as the area surrounding them was perfectly illuminated. The twinkle of stars, the distant sounds of night life, the full moons of Coruscant fully reigning above in its luminescent glory; it truly was alive again. The suffocating darkness had been beaten back.

They stayed like this for an indefinite amount of time in complete and utter silence before Jao asked Barriss, "So… we should probably be-" before he noticed the soft snores of the Mirialan Jedi. A simple thin-lipped smile appeared before he'd pick her up in a princess carry as he slowly made their way back towards their sleeping quarters.

A/N: Whelp we have only one more Chapter before they start the Pre-Clone Wars Arc! Most of this will consist of training lessons and showing the difference between Kor Rezla's training and Luminara'sTraining.

If you enjoyed today's chapter as well as the rest so far, remember to like and follow! Anyways, have a kickass weekend!