"Her vitals are stable, ankle in a brace with some bacta cream for the swelling," a doctor in the neighboring town said to Flint and Alda as he scribbled some stuff in a clipboard. Alda was sitting up in a cot. They were in a small, rural hospital.

"And him?" Alda asked as she pointed to Synyc laying down in the spot next to her. He'd been slipping in and out of consciousness.

The doctor walked over and took a quick glance at a small, blinking machine next to his head. "Vitals are stable. Aside from a lot of scrapes, he should be okay," Flint and Alda looked at him like he was insane so the doctor hastily continued. "It is common for the Zeltron species, when exposed to electric currents, to take greater damage for a shorter period of time than others."

"So he won't be down as long, but while he is it'll be worse than average?" Alda asked for clarification.

The doctor nodded,"Exactly. He will be perfectly fine," he walked back over to Alda and Flint, handing them a small device with a big, red button. "If you need anyone to come help, ring that buzzer. I'll just be down the hall."

"Thank you, doctor," Flint said.

He nodded and smiled as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"You need to go pick up Evander," Alda said.

Flint nodded and fumbled with the tracker he was holding, then started walking backwards to the door. "Right, I'll be back as soon as possible."

Jolie was sitting down in her now dismantled and destroyed house. She'd helped the locals put the fires out. It was just her now.

She had rummaged through a few bins that had survived the flames and packed some clothes for whatever journey she was about to go on.

Reinha was waiting out front for her, laying in the grass and soaking up the sun before it began to set.

Jolie smiled and gave her a pat. "Ready?"

The animal gestured to her back with her long nose, giving Jolie the signal. She walked over and got on, resting into the usual position on her back.

Jolie tried to pull her away from the house and back to the field they were in earlier, but Reinha had other ideas.

"No, come on! You promised!" Jolie moaned.

Reinha snorted in amusement and launched into full gallop in the direction of the town, despite to Jolie's whining.

"Evander? Evander, you there?"

Evander's eyes fluttered open and he rubbed his head. The pain hadn't faded yet.

"What's up, Flint?"

Flint's voice traveled across the weak signal on their comlinks. "Yeah, the tracker isn't working. The signal is too weak. Where are you?"

Evander looked around. The sun was setting and he couldn't exactly describe where he was. "Yeah, I don't know. I'm leaning against a tree if that helps."

He could almost hear Flint's frustrated eye roll. "I need more than that if you can."

"I'm between the house and the town you guys went to."

"Okay, that helps. I should be-" the signal crackled out into silence just as a stroke of lightning crashed down to the ground in the distance. Pounding rain immediately followed.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "At least it'll clean me up," he said to himself sarcastically as he dug into his pockets. A smile spread across his face as he pulled out his set of ear buds, completely intact. With that, he disappeared into the calm, serene world in his head; filled with music and peace.

        Alda knew that all logic told her Synyc was and will be okay, but she hated seeing him like this. Such a kind, selfless, brave yet still foolish boy was hurting. He saved us, though. Even if it meant experiencing Force Lightning first hand- and without warning.

She got down, careful on her ankle, and walked over to the side of his bed. Sure enough, he was still out cold. Breathing and present in the Force, but still out. The doctor has cleaned up his face to avoid infection. All that remained from the battle was some scrapes and surely some bruises tomorrow. She also suspected he'd have a few burns from the lightning.
I wonder what he's thinking...

She brushed back a piece of his unruly hair and smiled. "You saved him. You saved us all."

Alda could've sworn she saw the corners of his lips tug up into a faint smile. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before going back to her own bed and lying down. Sleep was calling her name loud and clear.

        Evander expected to be woken from his trance by the headlights of his ship, but instead it was the thundering of hooves. Suddenly he saw a four legged, furry animal with giant, floppy ears, a long head, and a long neck come barreling towards him.

It was her.

The pair came to an abrupt stop at the sight of the ash covered, beat up young man. Some dried blood was on his arms and cheeks.

"I figured you'd made it to the hospital," Jolie said.

"Nope," Evander replied.

She and the creature walked over a bit and Jolie looked him over. He now saw she'd changed a lot. First off, she was barefoot. Secondly, she was wearing a simple black dress that went a little past her knees. Thirdly, it was clear that she hadn't cut her hair once- except for the sides which were shaved. It was all tied back into a long braid that went down to her tail bone.

"Badass hair by the way," he said with apparent admiration.

She fumbled with her words,"Uh, thanks." She patted Reinha sling the front of her shoulder and the animal laid on the ground. "Need a ride?"

         Flint had returned after an hour of searching for his friend to find he'd made it to the hospital himself. Well, not all by himself.

"Evander! You're okay!" He exclaimed thankfully as he jogged into his room.

He was laying down on a cot with a dome shaped, clear machine covering the top of his head.

"Mostly. Minor concussion," he quickly seemed to wake up and his eyes pleaded for an answer,"Is Synyc awake?"

Flint shook his head, but didn't seem too grim. "Not right now, but he was awake for about ten minutes a little while ago."

Evander smiled,"That's progress at least."

Flint nodded,"That kid really is something," he looked behind him out into the hallway and began to back towards the doorway,"Um, I'm gonna find Jolie."

Evander nodded and then closed his eyes again, drifting into sleep.

Meanwhile, Flint rushed down the hallway after a young woman with the same blonde hair he saw earlier.

"Jolie!"

She turned and looked at him for a split second before looking at the ground. "Yeah, sorry about pushing you earlier. I know what you meant now."

"Don't say that. You had every right to want us gone. Let's just forget about it, okay?" Flint smiled.

Jolie smiled too, but felt guilty when she remembered the Sith Holocron she now possessed but had no intention of revealing. "Good. For now I'm just gonna see how they are."

"Okay, just promise you'll talk to us about this all?" Flint's expression was desperate.

She sighed,"Yeah. We can talk tomorrow."

Flint nodded and kept walking to go clear his head. More had happened in the last few hours than his whole life prior.

Jolie nervously walked to Evander's room first. Slowly peering around the door, she saw he was asleep. I like him better when his mouth is shut. She chuckled quietly to herself, but quickly shut her own mouth when his eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, uh- come in," He stammered as he sat up, the dome moving with his head.

"How do you feel?"

He shrugged best he could. "I feel fine, but I know I'll be stuck here a few more days."

She nodded,"Could be worse."

"Yeah, I could be dead thanks to your friend." He glared at her with a slight smirk.

She took a step closer, becoming defensive and her anger rising. "You are you ones that intruded on my planet."

"Oh, really? You were talking casually with a Sith Lord! And excuse us by the way for coming  to help you!" By now they were both raising their voices, not even caring that they're in a hospital.

"I wasn't even in trouble!" She crossed her arms.

"Are you blind?! Do you even realize what the Force was telling us?"

She backed down when she heard the Force mentioned. "What are you talking about?"

"I had exactly three visions of you turning to the Dark Side and turning on us. That being said, it was clearly the will of the Force that we come here to chase Dooku away!"

She considered this for a moment, her mind immediately going to the Holocron she had in her bag. "Maybe you're right. Either way, I hate the fact that you're here. I want you all gone."

He laughed,"You're a bad liar. Trust me, I know what I'm talkin' about."

She was silent and took three cool, collected steps towards the bed. Her anger and strength grew with each step and her eyes swelled with fury. "All three of you treated me unfairly in some respect, but you were just mean. You ridiculed me, didn't listen to me, and just hated me! For no apparent reason!"

A wave of guilt returned to Evander, as guilt usually did. He was hoping she wouldn't bring that up. He was silent for a moment, avoiding her harsh stare.

"Well?" She asked expectantly.

He sighed and took a breathe. "I'm gonna tell you something that very few people know. Not even my apprentice." Her expression calmed down and she sat down in the chair next to his bed. "When I was a padawan, me and my master were on a peace mission to a rural, outer-rim planet. We needed to settle some pointless civil dispute. Long story short, uh- she was..." he choked up just thinking about what happened, let alone telling that fateful story. He forced the tears to not show on his eyelids. Collecting himself, he continued. "She was killed by pirates in an ambush... saving me."

Jolie's whole presence in the Force did a one eighty. Her vengeance and hate dissolved into empathy and intrigue. "I'm... I'm so sorry-"

"I'm not done," he took another deep breathe. "I pretty much spiraled down into a self absorbed black hole for a long time. The Council didn't know what else to do so they sent me to pilot school; by my request. When I had a purpose I was able to forget for a little while. Unless I was sleeping, though. That day replayed in my dreams most nights for years. They saw my condition after I graduated and sent me to be reassigned, but I can't blame them. Me and Alda were the founding members of Crew 7. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have made it."

Jolie spoke softly,"That's horrible. I had no idea... but how does this affect this whole situation?"

"You're were just like her." He looked over her gentle face, blonde hair, and deep green eyes. "Wise, smart, but quiet. It's like she came and just reentered my life. I didn't want to face that part of my life ever again." He couldn't bear to even look at her in the eye. "I should never have acted the way I did. I'm so sorry, Jolie."

She didn't know what to say until he opened his eyes. All she could sense from him was anxiety and a longing for forgiveness.

She smiled and spoke softly, the calm after the storm. "It's okay."