Five days.

She'd been at this five days with nothing to show for it but exhaustion and a head full of Jed-Eye sayings (and information, and fascinating bits and pieces of a Universe she would probably never see). Staring at that flat bottomed ball was becoming an irritant, though she smoothed that thought over and let it go as soon as it popped up. She would make progress, no matter how difficult it was. There was nothing she couldn't do--it was just a matter of mind and will.

Arha reminded herself, for the seventy-thousand-five hundred and eight-seventh time since she had begun, that she was not born to this Force. The rules were different, the way she looked at the Universe was different, and she was redefining herself in that new light. So, frustration generally meant she needed a break, but she refused to quit.

Not tonight.

( Determination always pays. )

A couple of days had passed since Sherry had been forcibly dragged to the medbay by Roxie and been proven wrong about her state of self. She briefly remembered petting a big, golden dog, but not before she had sat down outside her father's room and fallen asleep. It hadn't been her intention, exactly; she had thought of an excellent plan to get him to lie down and nap as per her mother's wishes. But, her eyelids had won out against her, and she'd woken up in her room.

That was embarrassing. She really needed to stop falling asleep in weird places. The windows outside her room were dark, which meant she needed to stop closing her eyes every time they opened for more sleep. Who knew how badly she'd thrown off her up-at-seven-in-bed-by-nine schedule? Sherry looked up at ceiling and patted the approximate place the thing in her was. Lots of questions swam around in her mind, the foremost being, "How did this happen?" followed closely by, "What is it?"

( I never give you my pillow. )

After coming back from interrogation, Katara was more than subdued, and hardly said a word. The fact that she'd not only made the wrong decision and had almost committed a crime of passion was bad enough, but she'd gotten closer to losing who she was again. Aang hadn't been here to make her see how wrong it was, and knowing the only thing that had stopped her was her need to help people was of little comfort. The worse part was she wasn't even sure she'd been able to kill the Yeerk if they had caught up to it: what would she do if Aang needed her? What if it got bad enough that she hesitated and this time she lost him for good?

Exactly how long could she go without having to make that decision?

"I wish I knew," she said softly to herself, hands tucked behind her head, staring at the ceiling. "I really wish I could talk to him about this."

Luke sat in the observation deck, watching the light of multidimensional space reflect in the silvered fittings of his lightsaber.  His blue eyes were alert and focused, watching the cylinder and listening to--something else, something beyond that.

Then, his hands came up, and the lightsaber sprang away from his lap and hovered in midair in front of him.  Slowly, it slid apart into its component pieces, each perfectly in line.  Luke surveyed them all, checking power pack, light, green crystal, and emitter.  A lightsaber was the distinct weapon of a Jedi and was their life; he instructed those just building their first lightsabers to have great care for them, and keep up with their maintenance regularly.  If if failed at a critical moment, it could mean not only the life of the Jedi wielding it, but the lives of many others as well.

Tobias didn''t exactly know *how* to feel. He was glad the chaos of the trial was over, but he had to admit he'd enjoyed the chance to get a little action for a change. Not that he enjoyed seeing a civil war being fought, mind you. He just hoped no one had died needlessly-he didn't know for sure yet.  He was glad for the fact that he hadn't had to take any lives during the whole thing.

He only wished that he didn't  keep drifting back to thinking about his own predicament with his parents and Ax every time he had a free moment.

He preened, perched on the back of a chair in the living area, trying not to get a headache again thinking.