The Sith shuttle carrying three Jedi padawans flew slowly over the wreckage of a destroyed world.

Or, rather, three former padawans.

Bastila Shan sat quietly in the center of the shuttle, cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed. She listened through the Force, seeking out the last remnants of the once-vast population.

"I was going to come back," Juhani whispered, her voice carrying through the silence. "I was going to change things. Make it better. If I had followed Revan the first time instead of staying behind, perhaps—"

"No, Juhani. Do not blame yourself." Belaya's hand tightened on Juhani's, Force rippling between them in comforting waves. "There is nothing you could have done."

"I waited too long. Wasted too much time hesitating."

"Stop." Bastila's voice cut across them both, sharp and demanding. "If there is any blame to this tragedy, it lies with me."

"How?" demanded Juhani. "How is it your doing that Malak rampaged across the galaxy, destroying what he could not claim? How is it your doing that so many millions of lives were lost?"

"I and I alone am responsible for Revan's death. Without that loss, without the mindless rage of a mourning Sith lord, Taris and Telos would have been captured and not destroyed."

The shuttle fell silent, the only sound the faint hum of its engines.

They flew on, past jagged towers torn down to half their height, past whole sections where nothing remained standing at all, past rubble and ruin and death.

So much death.

It echoed in the Force, dark and cold and empty. Juhani screamed, tore her hand free of Belaya's and stalked the shuttle, slamming her forehead into the window to stare out. Her world, her home. As much as she hated it, she had also loved it.

And now it was gone.

She'd meant to return. But by the time she learned where the power to make that change could be found, it was already too late.

"We could leave," Belaya whispered, sensing something of her mood. "They would not chase us."

"They would," Bastila said, softly.

"They would chase you," Belaya said, scornfully. "But not us."

"Perhaps." Bastila said, then fell silent.

"Where would we go?" Juhani asked, tearing herself away from the view of destruction below. "Where could we go? Into hiding? Live as outcasts? What would that help?"

Belaya shrugged. "We could be together and free. Does that count for nothing?"

"Not when there is a galaxy yet to be reshaped." Juhani's voice kept dropping into a snarl, though she didn't intend it to. "Not when we could be so much more."

"Korriban, then? You would have us join the Sith in truth?"

Juhani turned away, waving a hand to indicate the destruction below. "This happened because there remained no voice of reason within the Sith leadership. If we allow the angriest to set the path, if everyone with greater vision were to walk their own path, then what is left? Nothing but self-perpetuating violence, with no purpose, with no end. Revan had vision, Revan had purpose, Revan had an end in mind. Without him, the Sith would have been pointless."

"And you?" Bastila asked. "You imagine yourself to be the next Darth Revan?"

"No. I will be the first Darth Juhani."

"Will you join Malak?"

"Perhaps for a time, but our paths do not lie along the same axis. He follows Revan's path. I will follow my own."

"And I," Belaya said, catching Juhani's hand in her own, "will walk it with you."

They both turned to look at Bastila, who still sat with her eyes closed. "And you?"

"I have a mission of my own," she said, without moving. "I am to bring you wherever it is you wish to go, then seek out another who could hold the key to Revan's recovery."

"And if we wish to accompany you?" Belaya asked. "If we would continue on your path a little longer before we seek our own?"

Bastila opened her eyes for the first time, smiling faintly. "I was hoping you'd ask."

In the heart of a dead world, whispers echoed in the emptiness. Whispers of the past, and whispers of the future.

The blind and the deaf walk together. Despair and hope become one. Hope and despair united rise and together fall.

Those who hear the whispers do not listen, those who listen do not understand.

Author's Note:

And that's that! Hope you've enjoyed this, let me know if you have any questions, I struggled a lot with this epilogue and if there's anything I forgot to wrap up please let me know. I can always add more.

There is a sequel planned, but not any time soon. Like, don't expect it this decade. So I've tried to make this satisfying as a standalone even if I never end up continuing.

Thank you so much for reading! If you have the time, I'd love to hear what you thought, but I understand that people are busy and it's a lot more effort to think of something worthwhile to say than just to read and fav. ;)

Best wishes!

~Asviloka, March 2020