Hi, guys. So, I'll begin by saying, this fanfic had a great run. I'll admit that I got really distracted from it at times, but it keeps a special place in the organ that pumps my blood. I had a lot more ideas for this, but with college, some other fanfics, and a novel I'm working on, I felt the best thing to do would be to wrap this up. So, here we are. Enjoy!

Hope blocked Ezra's blade and pushed against him. She was still nowhere near his level, but sometimes, sometimes, when she sparred with him, she felt like she was getting closer and closer. "Keep your blade up," the jedi reminded quickly as he attempted to sweep her feet out from under her.

She didn't let him. Hope jumped, thrusting a foot out and nailing her master in the stomach. He didn't give much of a response, but the kick was enough for him to deactivate his lightsaber and offer a break. Hope grabbed a rag and wiped the sweat from her face before gulping down a bottle of water.

"You're getting better," Ezra began. "One of these days, you could beat Kasari."

Hope ran her fingers through her hair that stopped short of her shoulder. "Master Bridger," she said, her tone dead serious when she asked the question that had been eating at her all that day. "Where is my master?" Ezra stopped drinking water. "She just told me that you'd be training me today and didn't tell me anything else. Is she mad at me?"

Ezra sighed. "Hope, calm down." He stretched his arms. "Kasari does this every year."

"Huh?"

The Jedi pulled a jacket on. "When she found you, do you remember anyone else?" Hope looked back in her memories. There had been a blond lady, right? She had only been around five years old when Kasari found her and she got a new home. "Her name was Dunan," Ezra explained. "She was Kasari's master." Hope said nothing, nervous of how this conversation was going. "When she died, it hit Kasari hard… She died today three years ago."

Kasari knelt beside the headstone that bore her master's name. The landscape was unchanged from her last visit and the one before that and the one before that. Tatooine never changed. Always burning hot. Always bare. Always covered in sand.

When Dunan died, her former padawan didn't know where to bury her, or what Kasari could find of her anyway. A major explosion left only hand and a pile of ash that was quickly scattered to the wind. Dunan had never seen the sandy planet as home. If Kasari were to guess, she would assume that the destroyed Jedi temple on Coruscant had been her master's home. So, she laid her master to rest in the best place she could think of: next to Obi-wan's small hut on Tatooine.

"Hey, Master," she said to the head stone. "It's been a long time." She sat in silence for a long moment. "I uh… I guess you know that I've taken a padawan. Hope, you remember her, right?" Silence. "Of course you do. Well, she's a good student. A lot easier than I was back then."

"Umm…" Kasari thought about what else to say for a minute. "We're pulling together a new Jedi order. It's kind of slow, but Luke is good at the organization with this. I wish you lived long enough to see it, you would have been really happy." Her voice cracked, but she kept speaking, trying to keep from breaking down. She babbled on about anything she could think of before she took a deep breath in and began saying what was really on her mind.

"My padawan, she's focused, but I'm scared." She laced her fingers together. "The empire is gone, it's over, so I guess I shouldn't be afraid. It's just… What if I teach her wrong? What if what happened to Anakin happens to her? I didn't ask any of this when I took her in, which was stupid of me, I know. It's like suddenly, I'm not ready for this."

The headstone gave no response, and Kasari sighed, annoyed with herself that she'd lost control. "I miss you… I could really use your guidance right now." Kasari drummed her fingers on her knee. "Hey," she said as though Dunan was alive and next to her. "I never said anything, but I could always feel you wondering if you were a good master. You were great, Dunan. I'd be lucky if I could be a teacher like you."

She sat there for a long time. She didn't know how long, but eventually she rose and dusted herself off. "I should be getting back. I didn't explain anything to Hope and I left her with Ezra. I think I should take him off Hope's hands. Ezra's just as reckless as you remember." Kasari looked at the headstone one more time. "Good bye," she concluded as she turned away and made her way to the ship.

About a year ago, Kasari tracked Hope down. The girl had been happy to see her, since she remembered the rescue from slavery and the piggyback ride that lead to a ship, which lead to her adoptive parents. The family was lucky to be on a trip during the annihilation of Alderaan. After that, they had stayed on Coruscant and formed a life there. Kasari managed to find them after the empire's fall.

She revealed that she'd sensed Force sensitivity in Hope and offered her a chance to become a Jedi.

Hope thought about all of this after her training. She could feel a pull in the Force, signalling that her master was close by. She thought more about it, and the more she thought, the more she realized that she didn't know Kasari as well as she should have. She never asked about her master's past or her master's master. There was too much pain in that area.

"Go ahead and ask," a voice said. Hope flinched and scanned the room for the speaker. "Kasari can take it. It may hurt, but she's strong." Then, any unfamiliar presence was gone, vanished.

A knock on the door echoed through Hope's quarters. "Hope, I'm back," Kasari's voice said. Hope waved her hand and the door slid open. "Sorry I took so long," her master apologised, stepping into the room. "How did training go?"

"Fine," Hope replied. "Master Bridger said that I'm getting better." Hope smiled slightly. "He said that I might be able to beat you one of these days."

Kasari laughed. "One of these days, Hope, I believe that. It might take Ezra a few more years to beat me in a duel." She tilted her head. "I sense you're troubled. What is it?"

Hope wrung her hands. "I um… I was wondering what you're training was like. A-and your master."

Kasari took a breath in, and pulled up a chair with the Force. "Where to start…" She tapped her foot on the ground thoughtfully. "My master's name was Dunan. When I met her, I didn't trust her and I had concussion, so some of the story might be a bit hazy."

So, that's about it. I killed off Dunan, who is somewhat to an extent me, and I'm okay with it. I feel a hollow place in my heart occasionally, but I fill it with more characters to kill off! Writer joys!

Funny thing, in the novel I'm working on, I couldn't help it and I named some background people Kasari and Dunan. So, if in the future you see those names in a book (at least I hope I can get published) you'll know it was me!

Special thanks to everyone who stuck with this! You're the best! Please review for my last chapter. May the Force be with you!