A/N: Hello there! First I have to say, my summaries suck so if you clicked on this story thanks for giving it a chance! I've just finished the Fate of the Jedi series so naturally I have muse. As a whole i'd give the series a B- or B. It had it's great and good moments but also it's bleh moments. HOWEVER. The ending of Ben/Vestara (while probably completely rational) was not acceptable! I wasn't happy with it at all. I was going to make an AU ending to Apocalypse, which i still might, but I decided for this story instead. I can't promise there won't be spoilers so just in case consider this a SPOILER WARNING. if you haven't finished or plan to read the FotJ series.

Vestara Khai raced through the dense jungle, her light brown hair sticking to her forehead as she brushed aside another tree branch. The humidity in the hair meant that after running the first few meters she was sweating profusely. Now she had lost track of how far she had traveled into the overgrowth or how much fluid she had lost.

This would be so much easier if I hadn't lost my lightsaber she considered, but there was no time to dwell on it. Although she could not hear her pursuer, she knew they were there and if she slowed down even for a second it might be the last thing she did.

Leaping over a fallen log she went into a roll as she landed and dashed to her right instead of standing. Stowing herself under a mix of rocks and small plants she withdrew herself from the force until she was just a small spec. She quieted her breathing and simply waited.

Sure enough, she heard someone moving along the trail she had ducked away from. As she suspected it wasn't their footsteps that gave them away, so it had to be a force user or someone who stepped in humanely quiet. It was the sound of cloth brushing against the leaves and branches that alerted her to someone's moving presence.

She didn't dare let out a sigh of relief as the sounds grew fainter. Instead she began a counter in her head. When it had finally reached twenty minutes Vestara extended her sense in the force, reaching for any sign of life larger than a bug or common animal. When she felt none, the Sith woman cautiously rolled out from under her hiding place. Cautiously she stood, dusting the dirt off of her.

At twenty years of age Vestara Khai looked even more stunning than four years ago when she first ventured into the galaxy. Her light brown hair, though dark with sweat currently, extended past her shoulders to her mid back. The painted markings covered her sharp facial features and the small scar she bore was barely visible. Still despite her beauty she now had the look of a hardened and experienced woman beyond her years. There would be no more fooling people into thinking she was an innocent sixteen year old girl.

Her hands moved about her belt doing a quick reconnaissance of what she had left. CommLink, crushed. Lightsaber, gone. Well she had made it out of these situations with less before.

Vestara finally took the time to take in her surroundings. As she had suspected she was well into the dense jungle and it was all she could see in every direction. Glancing up at the sun she tried to judge how many hours of sunlight she had while keeping in mind that her pursuer was most likely still in the jungle somewhere.

Deciding to go for a better look she jumped on to the nearest and lowest branch and took a look around to see if her attacker was anywhere to be seen. Seeing and sensing nothing she decided to venture higher until finally she had a good look of the jungle. Not to mention it gave her good protection among the more leaves.

Her eyes took in the area, it seemed that the best direction to go in would be East. The jungle seemed less dense in that direction and –

Before Vestara could finish her thinking she felt a large force collide with her and knock her off the tree. Falling through the sky she felt two arms around her and realized it was a person. As the ground grew closer faster she used the Force to disentangle their bodies and then aid her as she somersaulted into a smooth landing. Normally a fall such as that would shatter every leg bone in a person's body but to a jedi, or in this case sith, it was nothing.

She had barely looked up when her attacker came flying at her again. With no time to act she felt herself pinned against the moist jungle ground, her chest heaving as she breathed hard.

"Ben?"

There was no use trying to hide her shock in the force as it was written all over her face. His hair was longer, but still that flaming red of his mother, and his features were chiseled, but the same sky blue eyes stared back at her though their gaze was hard and focused.

"I think Jedi Skywalker is a better response" his tone lacked that playful youth that Vestara was so used to and his lack of reaction showed that he wasn't as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"You're the one that's been chasing me on this planet?" she questioned, the initial shock leaving her features though her mind was still putting it together. The fact that he was firmly pinning her to the ground was the first indicator that it wasn't a friendly reunion.

"I've been chasing you for four years actually" he replied tilting his head, "But specific to this moment, yes, it's been me."

The was a brief flash of sorrow in the sith's eyes but she quickly removed it. This was the first time in a long time she had thought about her actions and the events four years ago, when she departed Ben and his Jedi family. She hadn't forgotten him but rather forced herself to stuff it into a side pocket of her mind and lock it away along with the emotions associated with the memory. Now she felt them all flooding back but refused to let the dam break.

"If you wanted a second date all you had to do was ask" she replied, her teasing tone doing nothing to soften his expression. "So why have you been chasing me for four years Jedi Skywalker?"

"I'm a Jedi, you're a Sith. It's my job to make sure you don't threaten the galaxy" despite the finality to his words, Ves didn't believe them for a moment, or at least that they were the full truth.

"Well then what are you waiting for? End the threat" her voice was cold as she stared up into his eyes. Silently searching for a trace of the sixteen year old jedi boy that had stolen her heart and when she found none, a piece of her broke inside.

"There's more ways to diffuse a threat than killing someone. Not that you would know" he finally spoke.

"Like turning them to the light?" she sneered.

For the first time his eyes dropped and Vestara immediately regretted her words. "No…I learned from my mistake. It only took about twenty times" his eyes returned to hers, the steely coolness back in them. "Besides I have my own motives."

Vestara quirked a curious eyebrow, "A personal vendetta? That's not very jedi-like, Ben"

"Jedi Skywalker" he corrected. "You're coming with me, Saber Khai."

"Lady Khai, actually" she corrected with a prideful grin. She still felt glory at being announced a Lord at age sixteen by Ship. It was one of the memories she still clung onto and had not locked away.

Ben's gaze simply darkened, "A Sith Lord. Maybe I should just kill you then."

Vestara had to resist a shiver at the way his words came out. If she had not recognized him she would have doubted this was the same Ben Skywalker that she met four years ago in the Maw. There was something different about him, maybe it was just experience. "What happen to you Ben?"

Her tone was considerably softer and surprising even herself she opened herself to the force, attempting to embrace him only to feel his essence retract from hers and another piece of her heart silently falling apart at his words.

"You happened."

A/N: annddd there's the first chapter! I usually write more than this and I was planning to, but I just felt like that was a fairly strong way to end the opening chapter, don't you? Kindly review and review kindly (: thoughts, comments, creative criticism is always welcome.