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surged through him as his mind finally released restraints he
    didn’t even know he’d been running with. One after another flicked off like
    dominoes, and for the first in in who knew how long did he truly breathe in a
    breath of clean air.
    The lizard gore was gone and he was himself again…just
    himself, and that pile of clothes that was now well out of sight might as well
    be a Jedi robe for all he knew. Nothing unauthentic was now here to prick his
    mind out of the illusion, and that gave him the clarity to realize that something
    had to change. He didn’t run the same mental calculations again, knowing how
    they’d come out, but he chose to pursue the gut feeling and let it soak into
    him, with it becoming ever more clear that Star Force wasn’t on the path it
    needed to be. He wasn’t on the proper Jedi path, and he didn’t know what it
    was, but for the moment, here on Dagobah, he was himself again.
    Paul stayed under those roots in the water for a long
    time, thinking without analyzing and getting a better sense of who he was
    rather than what the situation demanded of him until a very soft pitter patter
    of feet walked up in front of his position, almost inaudible amongst the sounds
    of the forest, until a slender, pale pair of feet stood a meter in front of his
    face with the genetically altered bright red and orange toenails of a Clan
    Angry Chipmunk Archon he immediately recognized despite not being able to see
    above her ankles through the roots.
     
     

 
     
    Those feet slid into the water, followed by the rest
    of Riona’s slender, pale body as a small wave washed over Paul’s face. She
    didn’t say a word, vocally anyway, and repositioned herself in the mucky little
    hot tub alongside him, pulling a strand of wet hair out of her eyes. They both
    held still and silent for nearly a minute, with a wry smile on Paul’s face.
    Eventually she tapped him on the head with a finger, telling him to drop his
    Kgat.
    Paul let go of the mental invisibility psionic, which
    blocked him from sensing or receiving from anyone else as well as hiding
    himself.
    So who are we hiding
    from? she asked, eyes peeling and looking around the perimeter of their
    little puddle rather than at him as if there were a real threat.
    The galaxy,
    he replied after a long pause.
    Cozy spot. You
    come here a lot?
    Do you usually
    make house calls naked?
    This is a house?
    Doesn’t look like it. More like a slimy mud hole.
    Is there
    something you need?
    Riona smiled, finally turning her eyes to look at his,
    with both of their mouths still under the water line. I was going to ask you the same thing.
    Because I came
    back to the ship?
    Word is you’re
    pissed. What’s going on?
    Paul frowned. Who
    said that?
    A few Archons
    you passed on the way out. They said you were raging so hard they could feel it
    in your aura.
    Paul turned inward for a moment, searching his
    memories. If I was I didn’t even notice.
    Hence the raging
    part.
    And you thought
    a naked you would cheer me up?
    No, I saw your
    armor and clothes laying back there so I decided to follow suit. What are we
    doing here?
    I needed to get
    away from everyone.
    So why do we
    need to get away? she pressed, amending his ‘I’ into ‘we.’
    To clear my
    head.
    And that means
    getting naked and dunking yourself in a mud hole?
    Oddly yes. This
    is the cleanest place I could think of, but even it took some time before I
    felt like myself again.
    What’s wrong,
    Paul?
    Something I need
    to figure out for myself, he said half apologetically.
    Alright, she
    said, not taking offense. Paul felt the water move as she repositioned herself,
    then her face was in his and she kissed him underneath the waterline.
    What are you
    doing? he asked when she pulled back.
    You can either
    tell me what’s going on or we’re going to make out, she said, kissing him
    again.
    Sweet, he
    said, pushing her back slightly with his arm. But I don’t take well to threats, he added