"If you would rather not, I can find another partner," Qui-Gon said.

"The Council will understand."

She gave his hand a pat and reached for the teapot. "No, Qui-Gon. Yoda is right, as he always is. And if there is a threat to the Temple, I want to help. Now have some tea." She felt the pot. "It's still warm."

"Let me," Qui-Gon said quickly.

"No," Tahl said sharply. "I must do things for myself. If we're going to work together, you have to understand that."

Qui-Gon nodded, then realized she couldn't see him. He would have to get used to this new Tahl. She might have lost her sight, but her perception was stronger than ever.

"All right," he said mildly. "I'd like some tea."

Tahl reached out for a cup. "Don't you know what I've been up to these past weeks? Training exercises. I'm working with the Masters to develop my hearing, sense of smell, and touch. I've already made some remarkable progress. I had no idea how sharp my hearing could be."

"And here I thought it was your tongue that was sharp," Qui-Gon said.

She laughed as she steadied the cup with one hand and began to pour.

"And Yoda arranged a surprise for me. An unwelcome surprise, I must say, but don't ever tell him. He — "

"One centimeter to the left!" A musical voice rang out from behind them suddenly. Startled, Tahl spilled the tea on her wrist.

"Stars and galaxies!" she cried.

Qui-Gon handed her a napkin. He turned to see a droid roll into the room. It had the silver body shell of a protocol droid, but Qui-Gon could see that other features had been ineluded. Extra sensors were built into the head, and the arms were longer. Now they shot out and took the cup from Tahl.

"You see, Master Tahl, you spilled the tea," the droid said.