Abandon a Friend

"He considered the warrior woman. "You"ve thought about this."

"At length," she agreed. "Jaina is dealing with her loss by taking charge. This is a good response, one that returns to her a measure of control. But in detaching herself from her pain, she is also losing an important balance within herself." Her face turned grim. "I have seen what a leader who lacks this balance can become. We must watch her carefully."

Zekk looked away. "You"ll have to do the watching. I"m moving on."

"You would abandon a friend?" she demanded.

"As you abandoned Jacen?" he snapped back.

Nothing in Tenel Ka"s face acknowledged the hit. "I know you didn"t mean that," she said calmly. "But I also know that if Jacen were in danger of sliding into the dark side, I would want to do whatever I could to pull him back."

This was the first time any of them had put their concern for Jaina into words. For a moment they were silent, sobered by the grim possibility.

"And what if she can"t be pulled back?" Zekk asked. "I"ve taken that path, and I know what a Dark Jedi can do. If it comes to that, someone will have to stop her."

"By any means necessary," she agreed, once again giving voice to their fears.

"And I couldn"t do that. No matter what, I just couldn"t do it."

"I see." Tenel Ka turned her gaze straight ahead. "Then you are right to go."" ( 138-9)

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