There are wounds that don't heal

       "An incredible loss for the Order it is," Master Yoda's voice echoed softly from the high vaults of the funeral hall in the Jedi Temple. "An outstanding Jedi knight Tahl was. We will all miss her".       Qui-Gon took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and swallowed the lump in his throat. The hood of his cloak covered his head and almost half of his face. He stood in the front row and watched as Yoda lowered the coffin into the crypt by Force, and after that a bright yellow light beam vertically penetrated the air to the ceiling. Qui-Gon had to restrain himself from looking away from that light.       The procession ended, and the Jedi knights began to leave the hall. After all, Yoda left the hall, casting a sad glance at Qui-Gon, and then quietly closed the door behind him. Qui-Gon remained standing motionless near the crypt, looking at one point in front of him. A deathly mournful silence filled the hall.        Qui-Gon flinched when someone carefully touched the sleeve of his robe.       "Master," Obi-Wan called softly, who had been standing behind him all this time.       Qui-Gon gently withdrew his hand and silently took a step forward, not even looking at his padawan. Obi-Wan bowed his head sadly and obediently, retreating to the exit. He understood that his master needed to be alone right now.       When the door closed quietly behind Obi-Wan, the Jedi allowed himself to look out the high and narrow window of the Temple. The leaden gray sky of Coruscant was visible behind it, and it seemed that even it shed its tears today.       Qui-Gon knelt down in front of the carved slab of the crypt and gently, almost lovingly, ran his hand over the exquisite patterns. A terrible pain squeezed his chest like a vise, making it hard to breathe. It forced him to clench his teeth and close his eyes. It would seem that some time had passed since Tahl's death, but the bitterness and grief that gripped the Jedi were so great, as if she had just breathed her last in his arms. And Qui-Gon only got worse after returning to the Temple.       "Why?" Qui-Gon asked himself. After all, he and Tahl recently confessed their feelings to each other and promised to always be together... And now Qui-Gon could not let her go, even after giving the last honors to the Nurian Jedi, piously observing his own oath.       He remained sitting by the crypt with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed. The Knight concentrated and tried to find in the Force a movement, a fleeting presence or an echo of his beloved's voice. Qui-Gon felt her, hoping to find solace in her for a while, and the Force gradually responded to his desperate call...       And here again are the familiar landscapes of the New Epsolon. A city engulfed in fire, and columns of smoke blocking the light of both suns. Qui-Gon stood on a steep canyon cliff not far from the city limits and looked with horror at the burning capital. He stood alone on the hill, his Jedi cloak billowing in the wind, and his eyes watered from the smoke coming from such a distance. What has happened to the New Epsolon since the Jedi left it? Now there is no trace of the former planet that found peace with such difficulty.       The fire moved from the Workers' districts to the central district of the Civilized Ones. Somewhere far away, an explosion thundered and threw a new column of black smoke into the air. "Fuel tanks at the spaceport," Qui-Gon thought. He could only imagine the panic and chaos in the city among ordinary Epsolonians, and it made him feel sick.       "There's nothing you can do to help them," a soft voice said from behind the Jedi.       Qui-Gon's heart beat wildly as he recognized him. Tala. She came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her in shock and met her green eyes with golden sparks, veiled with a whitish veil of blindness.        "Tahl..." The Jedi could only exhale when the rest of the words stuck in his throat. Now he realized that it was a vision sent by her.       Tahl approached him and put her finger to his lips.        "Don't say anything," she whispered. Her voice sounded exactly like when Qui-Gon, with a monstrous thirst for revenge and hatred in his heart, stood with his light saber raised over Balog, Tahl's killer. On that fateful day, he was on the edge, one step away from falling to the dark side. Grief from the loss of his beloved completely clouded Qui-Gon's mind, forcing him to completely forget about Jedi values. Only the obsession with retribution remained. And only Tahl's voice, sent with the help of the Force, brought Qui-Gon to his senses and saved him from a fatal mistake.       "You saved me then," Qui-Gon replied in a cracked voice, taking the Nurian woman by the hand and gently squeezing her. "I don't know who I would be now if it weren't for you..."        Tahl understood exactly what he was talking about. Her eyes shone with warmth and love. They looked into the very soul, blind, but seeing everything. Tahl slowly hugged Qui-Gon, pressed her head against his chest.       "I couldn't do otherwise, dear Qui-Gon," the Nurian woman replied softly, and the Jedi sensually hugged her in return. "The very Force binds us, and even after death I will always be with you".        "I know".       With these words, something inside Qui-Gon seemed to burst again. The Jedi only ran his hand down her back and pressed her head closer to his chest, resting his chin on the dark top of her head. He knew she was right. Just as he does not want to let Tahl out of his silent, pain-filled and desperate embrace now, he will never allow himself to forget her, and will love her until his last breath.       He turned his head in the direction of the city mired in a monstrous fire. "And what about the New Epsolon?" The Jedi asked quietly after a while.        "It'll never be the same again," Tahl echoed. "Everything has changed for this planet..."       Qui-Gon just nodded, shifted his gaze and met Tahl's green eyes. The whole world was being destroyed and burned to the ground, but he no longer cared about the planet that had broken his heart forever. And yet they were very similar. No matter what, the New Epsolon will recover and regain peace, but a scar from the civil war will remain in its history. It's the same with Qui-Gon: he can accept Tahl's death, but any memory of her will cause great pain. There are wounds that don't heal...