Denali decided not to say much about her conversation with Danik to Padme. Something in her gut told her that it wasn't a good idea, that it would just cause unnecessary worry for the Senator. Padme was already in enough danger as it was, the last thing she needed was to have this piece of information thrown at her. This was a lot to take in. It couldn't have been true. The Jedi were good. They were defenders of the Republic. How could the news of her leaving the Order have such an effect on how the universe viewed it's military generals and war heroes?

As she was walking, lost in her thoughts, her shoulder suddenly hit something hard and she fell back. Denali hadn't even seen them coming, and apparently they hadn't seen her coming, either. Her rear end hit the ground hard and she let out a gasp of shock. 

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I-" 

"No, it's fine. It's okay." Denali said. "I should've been watching where I was walki-" She stopped mid-sentence when she finally looked up and saw just who ran into her. An enormous smile appeared on her face and the man that knocked her down extended his hand to her. "Gerg? What are you doing here? I thought you gave up on the Rancor Slayers." She said as she took his hand. He helped her up and gave her a hug, which she returned more than willingly.

"And I thought you were a Jedi. But from what I've heard, things have changed. Dramatically." The Nautolan man replied. "I mean, I'm not complaining or anything. I'm sure you had your reasons for leaving the Order-"

"I was expelled, Gerg." She sighed. "I don't know why everyone thinks I left...but I didn't. Master Windu convinced the Jedi Council that I was just a problem waiting to happen. I figured you should know the truth, since Danik would probably kill every Jedi he saw if he found out otherwise." 

Gerg was speechless. The older man just stood there, his hands on her shoulders and his mouth hanging open. His dark glowing eyes were wide with shock and he remained motionless for a moment. Denali didn't try and wake him from his shock stupor. Instead, she just looked at the ground. She was too ashamed of herself.

Maybe the Council was right. Maybe she was just a problem waiting to happen. Hell, she was a problem that already  happened. What had she been thinking when she took on two padawans? When she ran away from the Council after needing them most? She could've gone to the dark side during that whole 'red eye' incident and turned both her padawans in the process, or worse- She could've killed them. Everyone had so much faith in her, they believed in her. If what Danik told her was true, then it was all her fault that the Republic was losing its hope for the Jedi. It wasn't the Council's fault that she had been expelled.

It was her own.

"I...I'm so sorry, Denali." Gerg finally spoke up after a minute or two. Before she could stop him, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a warm hug. Slowly, gradually, she hugged him back and all the old memories of her with him as a child flooded into her mind. All those times he helped her with target practice, saved a spot for her next to him at the dinner table, always gave his dessert to her if she was having a bad day.  Whenever Zendara and Zeffan would give her a hard time about something, Gerg was always there in save the day. In a way, he was more of a brother to her than Danik was or ever would be.

"It's alright." She muttered into the fabric of his long black coat. "I'm not as great as everyone believes. They made the right decision."

"But the Order-"

"Gerg, please." The slight beg in her voice was obvious and he immediately shut up. There was a time and place for everything that needed to be said, but right then wasn't the time or place. Especially if her friend was planning on ranting about how terrible the Jedi Order was and how talent could've slapped them all across the face and they wouldn't have felt a thing. Because in his eyes, that's practically what happened. And it only made her feel worse. "I really don't want to hear that right now." He nodded in understanding, then slid his hand in hers and gave her a small reassuring smile.

"Okay." The alien man said. "But the least I can do is try to make you feel better, especially after I ran into you and knocked you on your butt."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" She asked him with a small grin and squeezed his hand.

"I know exactly how, come on." He said with a gleeful chuckle and lead her down the hall.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Anakin, stop!" Obi-Wan yelled as he raced after his previous padawan down the hall of the Jedi Temple. Saying that Anakin was in a bad mood would've been an enormous understatement. A fatal mistake, really. And Obi-Wan needed to get him under control before he got himself kicked out of the Order, too. This obvious display of anger was a terrible idea and if Obi-Wan didn't calm him down soon, Anakin was going to pay the price. "Stop right now!"

For once in his life, Anakin Skywalker finally obeyed orders given to him and he stopped in his tracks. His hands were balled up in fists at his sides and he shook slightly, but at least he was taking a moment to think about the actions he wanted to take. And letting Obi-Wan catch up to him.

"Thank you." Obi-Wan huffed as he caught up to the younger man. "Now, what in the name of the Force do you think you're doing? You can't just run in there and yell at all the masters. Take a second and think about what would happen to you if you did." Anakin sighed at his master's words, but he did have a point. Being a Jedi and showing this much anger was unheard of. The Jedi Knight needed to stop and take a deep breath. Yes, it was terrible that the bounty hunter escaped. But he wasn't going to be able to do anything about it if he was expelled from the Jedi Order for showing so much emotion.

"You're right, Master. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Obi-Wan told him, finally regaining his breath. "Just relax. I know that the bounty hunter got away and we both know who it's after. But we can't help her if you do something stupid. I'm going to speak to the Council alone and get this all sorted out." Anakin's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to object.

"But, Master-"

"No 'but's and no exceptions. Right now you're a ticking time-bomb that could explode at any moment. You're in no place to speak to the people in charge with the possibility that you'll run your mouth and say something we'll both regret. You go and try to track down Padme's ship. Hopefully we'll be able to find out where she and Denali were headed."

Then Obi-Wan walked down the hall and entered the Council Chambers.