He didn't want another Master, Obi-Wan thought in despair. He wanted Qui-Gon.

They had walked to the far side of the lake without Obi-Wan noticing.

Here there was a small cove where Bant loved to wade. She stepped into the water, smiling as the coolness washed over her ankles.

"Tell me about Melida/Daan," she said. "No one knows what happened there. What was it that made you commit to their cause and leave us?"

Obi-Wan froze. Perhaps it was the trace of the smile on Bant's face as she asked the question. Perhaps it was the way the light hit the water, or the way her silver eyes gazed at him trustingly. Perhaps it was the amount of life in that small moment, so beautiful that it blinded him.

He could not tell her about Cerasi. With so much life around him, how could he speak of death?

Obi-Wan was suddenly at a loss for words. He had never had trouble talking to Bant before. But what could he say?

On Melida/Daan, I saw a friend die in front of me. I saw the life in her eyes flicker and dim. I held her in my arms. I felt another beloved friend turn his back on me. A comrade in arms betrayed me. And I betrayed my Master. A string of betrayals and a death that has marked my heart forever.

He could not say any of those things. They lay too deeply in his heart.

When this is over, I'll tell her. When we have time.

"But I want to hear about you," he said, changing the subject. "You look different. Have you grown since I saw you?"

"Maybe a little," Bant said, pleased. Her short height had always bothered her. "And I'm eleven now."