Even when Dakota had thought that he had wanted to be a Jedi he'd never been very interested in the deep history or culture of the Jedi. There was just a lot of information, and Dakota had found himself falling asleep any time someone tried to tell him about the beginnings of the Jedi. For a long time Dakota had just thought that the topic itself was what bored him, but it turned out that it was just who was telling the stories. Jedi's were a lot of things, but riveting story tellers weren't one of them.

One would think that people who wanted children that they took from their families to be interested in joining them would know how to tell a good bedtime story.

Dakota hadn't decided to join Cavendish at the Jedi library because he had wanted to learn more about the people who had raised him. He'd just wanted to spend time around Cavendish. If the choice was his he would suggest that they go have an adventure, but almost as soon as they got to the library Dakota realized that maybe this would be fun and interesting after all.

Though Cavendish definitely wasn't a Jedi, he was extremely fascinated by every little bit of information he could find about them. Cavendish jumped from old broken artifact to old broken artifact like a child at a toy store. When Cavendish was able to find an old, glitchy holorecorder under some rubble, Dakota was pretty sure he had heard him squeal. His enthusiasm was absolutely adorable.

"Why do you like this stuff so much?" Dakota asked with a bright smile. "I thought you guys hated the Jedi?"

"They were a flawed group that had far too much power and influence," Cavendish said. Dakota shrugged, because he wasn't about to argue about that. "But their traditions, their beginnings, it's all so fascinating to see where they came from and think about how they got to where they were."

"Yeah, I guess it is kinda cool," Dakota had never really thought about it before.

Every once and awhile Cavendish would ask Dakota clarifying questions about an artifact that he had found, and it was a lot nicer than Dakota had thought it would be. A true Jedi would probably be disappointed or angry with his answers, whether because he was talking to an inquisitor and the enemy, or because he wasn't portraying the Jedi in a good enough light. He didn't really care though. His answers were good enough for Cavendish, and that was good enough for Dakota.

He enjoyed helping Cavendish, but he didn't have as much of an attention span as the inquisitor did. After several hours Dakota's attention started to wane, but Cavendish was still going strong. Dakota decided to pull out his indigo lightsaber and go through some of his forms. Since meeting Milo he'd barely touched his lightsaber. It had been too dangerous to use it around the kid, and since leaving Povenmarsh he hadn't really been in the mood for using his lightsaber or the Force at all.

It sucked. Dakota hadn't tried to push away his powers and training since he had first left the Jedi. He'd been feeling so lost and depressed. He'd thought that he couldn't use the Force or any of his training unless he was a Jedi himself, and it had taken him a long time to stop thinking that way. After having to leave Milo, just because of something neither of them could help, Dakota hadn't felt very good about his Force-sensitivity.

It was a good thing he didn't have access to Force repressors, because he may have just been desperate enough to use one, which wouldn't have helped anybody.

Dakota still missed Milo, but he was in a slightly better mindset now. He was still a little lonely, but time and Cavendish's company was helping him to adjust and recover.

Dakota swung his lightsaber around as he went through his forms. He got so into it that he stopped paying attention to Cavendish completely. It took him several minutes to realize that Cavendish was watching him. He had a fascinated and slightly concerned look in his eyes. Dakota lowered his lightsaber.

He'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop since they got here. They were friends, but Cavendish had never wanted to just hang out with Dakota. He had to have an ulterior motive of some kind, and Dakota was sure it was going to come to a head sooner than later. Maybe it would be better to just get it over with, but Dakota wasn't ready to let go of this amiable company. He planned on putting it off for as long as he could.

"You want to spar?" Dakota asked. "You can work on those Jedi techniques you've been so interested in."

Cavendish gave him a small smile. "You know what? I would love to." Dakota took Cavendish's orange lightsaber and tossed it over. Like every time that Cavendish was able to hold the orange lightsaber in his hands, he looked so excited and in awe when he saw the orange glow. Dakota doubted that Cavendish would ever get tired of holding his lightsaber, and Dakota would never get tired of seeing his excitement.

Cavendish may not have been raised by people who encouraged his Force-sensitivity, but he was the most passionate person about his Force abilities that Dakota had ever seen.

Normally when they sparred Cavendish would experiment with different old Jedi fighting styles. Dakota had never seen Cavendish fight with his own, natural style, the way that he would if he had to fight for the inquisitors, so he was immediately able to see the difference.

"Hey, you're taking it seriously," Dakota grinned and he blocked Cavendish's quick lunge and returned it with a strike of his own. "What's the occasion?"

"I've been curious about how the double-bladed spinning lightsaber translates to just a single blade," Cavendish said.

"Well, you're doing pretty good," Dakota said. Cavendish's brow furrowed, as he might think that Dakota was patronizing him, but he was being completely sincere. Cavendish might not do very well against a master jedi, but any outsider who didn't know the Jedi all that well would likely be intimidated by him and consider him a force to be reckoned with, and that was impressive in and of itself.

"Hey, I'm serious," Dakota assured his friend. "I'm sure if we ever spar with you using your inquisitor lightsaber, I wouldn't stand a chance at all." Dakota had never had very good lightsaber skills, especially when he was sparring with somebody he cared about. He may be pretty good at healing people, but that didn't mean that he wanted anybody he cared about to get hurt..

Cavendish grinned and moved in for another strike. Dakota had always enjoyed sparring with Cavendish, but it was a lot more fun this time. Even Cavendish seemed to be enjoying himself. He tried to act like he was completely serious, but Dakota saw the grin on his face, he heard the little cheer when Cavendish got a particularly good hit in.

They spared for about half an hour before Dakota began to feel really tired. The Jedi would probably be ashamed of him. Jedi were supposed to be in top physical shape, and Dakota had been slacking off quite a bit these past couple of years. He tried to push through the exhaustion, but when his sloppiness nearly resulted in Cavendish cutting his whole arm off, they both decided that it would be best to take a break.

Between sparring with Cavendish and watching him go around and look at all the artifacts, Dakota was exhausted. It had been a long day. He sat on one of the slightly torn chairs lying around and made himself comfortable.

Cavendish looked eager to get back to exploring the library, so Dakota was confused when his friend lingered in the room. There weren't a whole lot of artifacts left in this room that Cavendish hadn't explored already.

"What are you doing?" Dakota asked.

"I thought I would keep you company for a bit," Cavendish said.

"You don't have to," Dakota said.

"I know, but I want to," Cavendish said. He claimed a seat for himself. "The artifacts aren't going anywhere."

Dakota shrugged, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. "Hey, do what you like." He couldn't really tell Cavendish what to do, and he had no interest in trying. Once Dakota started resting he started to doze off really quickly. Every few minutes he would squint his eyes open to see if Cavendish was still hanging around, and he was confused to see that not only was Cavendish there, but he seemed to be watching Dakota curiously. It almost seemed like he was waiting for something.

Dakota eventually slipped into a restless sleep, though it was more of a nap than anything. He woke up feeling like he hadn't slept at all, but his body was stiff, so he knew that he had to have been in one position for a long time.

Dakota hummed slightly as he sat up and stretched. He saw Cavendish sitting in the same spot as earlier. He had a portable computer in his hands and was frowning intensely at the holographic screen.

"What've you got there?" Dakota asked. Cavendish yelped and hurried to cover the screen, but not before Dakota saw a familiar looking planet and system on it. "Why are you looking into Povenmarsh?"

"No reason!" Cavendish said a little too quickly. Dakota hadn't necessarily thought that Cavendish's behavior had been suspicious, but not he did.

"Really?" Dakota frowned slightly. "Come on, Cav, we both know that's ridiculous. What are you hiding?"

Cavendish stiffened and looked incredibly defensive. "Me? What about you? You're the one who was being frustratingly vague about your new friend that apparently isn't liked about the Force."

"Milo?" Dakota narrowed his eyes slightly. "What's the kid got to do with this?"

"You wouldn't tell me anything about him." Cavendish said, and his tone made Dakota start to feel on edge and slightly defensive. He wasn't trying to go out of his way to keep secrets from Cavendish, he was just a little cautious about what information he shared. Cavendish could get obsessed sometimes with proving himself to the other inquisitors, and Dakota felt for him, and he wanted to help him, but Milo had to be left out of it.

Dakota didn't know about the inquisitors, but if the Jedi had ever found somebody who acted as a natural deterrent for the Force they wouldn't just sit back and let it be. Dakota had no doubt in his mind that the Jedi would see Milo and his father as either a threat that needed to be neutralized, or a weapon to be used.

Dakota couldn't imagine the inquisitors being any different. The Empire wasn't exactly afraid of using people to accomplish their goals, and Dakota didn't want that to happen to Milo. He liked to think that Cavendish wouldn't do anything to hurt a kid, but his friend could be incredibly oblivious sometimes. Dakota wouldn't be surprised at all if Cavendish did something that he thought would let him advance with the inquisitors without thinking properly about what the consequences could be.

"So, what, because I don't tell you something you thought it was okay to go behind my back?" Dakota asked. "Why don't you just ask me?"

"You were so vague earlier. What reason did I have to believe that you would be honest with me?" Cavendish crossed his arms. Dakota flinched and drew back slightly. He didn't want to fight with Cavendish about this. He didn't even know why they were fighting in the first place, and yet he couldn't make himself stop.

"Cav, I just..." Dakota began, but he trailed off. He didn't know what he wanted to say. He didn't know if Cavendish would accept anything he said, even the complete truth.

"How can the Force dislike anybody?" Cavendish said. "And why would it put you in danger?" Dakota was still cautious about opening up to Cavendish about this, but he couldn't help but relax slightly. He knew there was something weird about all of this, but at least for a moment he could tell himself that Cavendish was just worried about him.

"Well, the Force can like people, can't it?" Dakota raised an eyebrow at his friend. "That's what Force-sensitives are." He tried to push back the nervousness he was feeling about telling an inquisitor about Milo. He could trust his friend to not hurt Milo, at least not on purpose.

"Well, it's like that, except, you know, completely different." Dakota took a deep breath. He could do this. "While we can influence the Force by pulling it in, Milo kinda pushes the Force away. He doesn't even try to do anything, it just kinda happens. Weird things happen around Milo, and when he's around someone who has the Force, it gets even weirder."

"When you say weird, do you mean-" Cavendish looked cautious.

"The first thing that happened when I met Milo was my lightsaber went nuts and activated itself," Dakota pushed his sleeve up to show Cavendish the small burn scar he got. Cavendish had been frustrated and concerned earlier, but now he looked scared, but also a little intrigued. Dakota didn't like that look of intrigue.

"Why would you be friends with somebody that was a threat to you?" Cavendish asked. Dakota raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm friends with you, aren't I?" Dakota asked. Cavendish stiffened and looked like he'd been struck.

"That's different." Cavendish said quickly.

"Except it's not," Dakota said. "You're the one who's always reminding me how big a threat the Empire is to me, and you work for them." Cavendish squared his shoulders and looked on edge. "I'm not going to ask you to leave the Empire, I would never do that. I know how much your work matters to you."

"But I wouldn't hurt you!" Cavendish said. "You know that. Whether it's intentional or not, this boy put you in danger. For all I know, your life could have been in danger just because you were in the company of your friend, and that's not okay. That boy is dangerous."

"Wha-hang on," Dakota felt a chill go down his spine. "Cav don't be ridiculous."

"I don't think I'm being ridiculous," Cavendish said coldly. "How much time did you spend around the boy, and how many times did you get hurt?"

Dakota hunched his shoulders slightly. "A few weeks, and...I lost count."

"That's not healthy, Dakota!" Cavendish said loudly. "What if that boy came across somebody else who is Force-sensitive?"

"He won't," Dakota said. The reason why the Murphy's lived at Povenmarsh was because it was out of the way and nobody was around.

"He came across him," Cavendish pointed out.

"That's 'cause his sister dragged me in." Dakota said.

"So they intentionally endangered you." Cavendish said.

"No!" Dakota was frustrated. He was starting to get a pit in his stomach. "Cav, they're good people,"

"Many people said the same thing about the Jedi, and the galaxy is a better place without them," Cavendish said.

Dakota stiffened and automatically reached for his lightsaber. Before either of them understood what had happened Dakota had activated his lightsaber and was aiming it at Cavendish. They both stared at each other in shock for a few long, tense moments.

"What are you doing?" Cavendish asked. His voice was mostly even, but he was still slightly nervous. It took all of Dakota's self-restraint to keep his hand steady.

"The world wouldn't be a better place without Milo," Dakota said quietly. His voice shook.

"That wasn't what I meant," Cavendish said. "I'm just saying that it might be best for everybody if a threat like this is properly taken care of."

"And you seriously think the Empire is the best group to do that?" Dakota asked. Cavendish grimaced but didn't answer. "Cav, they'll make a weapon out of him, and I can't let that happen."

"And you would honestly fight me for it?" Cavendish said. Dakota tried to stand firm, but his resolve was wavering. He couldn't fight Cavendish like this, but he couldn't let the Empire get their hands on Milo. Cavendish was incredibly stubborn, and it would take a lot to get him to change his mind.

Dakota knew that part of the reason why Cavendish was so cautious about Milo's relationship with the Force was because he was worried about Dakota. However, he couldn't forget the intrigue in Cavendish's eyes. This was more than just Cavendish being worried about him. Dakota was positive that at least part of Cavendish's motivation was ambition based. He wanted to be respected, and Dakota couldn't ignore that if Cavendish brought someone like Milo in to the Empire it could make his career.

Dakota was worried that the only thing that could convince Cavendish to not take in Milo was to convince him that there was a better opportunity for him. There weren't many things that the Empire would want more than a potential weapon to use against any remaining Jedi, but it just so happened that Dakota had one of those.

Dakota deactivated his lightsaber and tossed it aside. Cavendish looked even more alarmed than he did when he'd had the weapon aimed right at him. "What are you doing?"

"Giving us both what we want," Dakota held his hands up slightly. He gave Cavendish a small smile. "I want Milo to stay out of this, and you want to be acknowledged by the other inquisitors. Well, there's nothing that the Empire wants more than Jedi, and, hey, I'm right here."

Cavendish looked frozen with shock. After a long moment his shock wore off to a look of absolute terror. Cavendish wasn't the kind of guy who wore his emotions on his sleeves, so it was odd to see him so expressive at any given moment.

"No," Cavendish said breathlessly. He closed his eyes tight and furrowed his brow. "No, Dakota, absolutely not!"

"Cav, it's fine-" Dakota tried to say, but Cavendish cut him off.

"No, it's not," Cavendish snapped. "You're trying to turn yourself in to the Empire because you think it's the only way that I would leave your friend alone. Nothing about that is okay." Cavendish started pacing around anxiously and Dakota just watched him quietly. He felt like he had seriously screwed up.

"Cav-" Dakota began, but Cavendish wouldn't listen to him.

"I thought I'd made it clear that you matter to me," Cavendish said. "I haven't turned you in to the Empire yet. What could possess you to think that I would suddenly change my mind?"

"I don't know," Dakota sighed. He was so tired. "I just...I don't know." Dakota saw Cavendish as a close friend, but they barely knew each other. In some ways, they trusted each other with their lives, but in other ways they barely felt comfortable talking to each other.

Cavendish groaned and put his hands over his eyes. He looked as exhausted as Dakota felt. "I won't turn you in...and I won't do anything to the boy either."

"You...you won't?" Dakota asked. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, but he really was.

Cavendish pulled his hands away from his face and gave Dakota a wounded look. "If I were to turn the boy in, it would be because I know you wouldn't stay away from him, even though it would be for your own good. I would do it because it's the only way I can think of to keep you safe from him. If what I want is to keep you safe, why would you think that I would hurt you by turning you in?"

"You want to be successful and acknowledged." Dakota said. "We both know that turning me in would do that."

"There are many ways for me to gain the respect I deserve," Cavendish huffed. "I don't need to betray my only friend to accomplish that."

"It's the easiest way," Dakota pointed out. He didn't know why he was still arguing. It wasn't like he wanted to be captured and killed by the empire. He just wanted to understand what was going through Cavendish's mind. He wanted to understand his friend.

"I don't mind hard work," Cavendish puffed his chest out ever so slightly. He was proud.

"Yeah, I know," Dakota let out a short laugh. "You know, I wasn't trying to put you between a rock and a hard place, I was just trying to help."

"Normally I appreciate your help," cavendish sighed. "But not when it comes from a place of self-sacrifice. You deserve to be safe and happy as much as the boy and I do."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Dakota said. He didn't exactly have low self-esteem or anything, but he would put his friends above himself every time. It had taken him some time to get past the Jedi's teachings about avoiding attachment, but he hadn't even thought about reconsidering what the Jedi had taught about putting the needs of the group ahead of the needs of the individual.

Dakota thought that there should be balance in everything, but he hadn't done too much to find balance for himself. That was something he would have to figure out. Maybe Cavendish could benefit from some balance too. They could help each other.

"You're really okay with not taking Milo in?" Dakota asked.

"I told you I don't want you to be hurt, and clearly doing anything to Milo would do just that." Cavendish said. "So he'll be left alone, but I also expect you to stay away from him until we find a way for you to be safe."

Dakota sighed. "You drive a hard bargain, Cav. Fine, we'll be careful about this."

"We'd better be," Cavendish said. "Now, I don't know about you, but I've had enough of the Jedi library for now."

"Yeah, I'm done being around Jedi stuff." Dakota said. It brought out the weirdest parts of both Dakota and Cavendish. "You got any inquisitor work going on right now?"

"Not right now," Cavendish said. He was usually really disappointed and discouraged when he didn't have work, but he sounded surprisingly okay with all of it. Cavendish seemed just as ready for some true personal time as Dakota was.

"You know, there's some mid rim planets that I've been thinking of visiting," Dakota said. He rarely went to core planets, as that was where the Empire was, and since going on the run he'd spent most of his time on outer rim planets. It would be nice to see the rest of the galaxy, especially if he could travel with a friend.

"It would be interesting to see the state of the Empire on planets further out of the empire's control." Cavendish smiled. "You know what, let's do it. Let's explore the galaxy!" Dakota punched the air excitedly. He knew that sooner or later Cavendish would be called in by his inquisitor superiors, but until then he was all Dakota's, and he was going to take advantage of every second.

This was going to be fun.


A/N: I'm not completely content with this chapter as an ending for this story, but I really have no idea what else to do with it. This whole story is more like an overgrown one-shot with an open-ending, so I'm going to go ahead and call this it for this story. I hope you enjoyed this, because even though I got a little frustrated with writing a longer story about these characters, I did like to explore the characters in this universe.