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A soft knock sounded on the door. Outside, Bethany waited, a composed and gentle expression on her face, though within, she was concerned... no, concerned didn't quite cover it. Bethany was worried. Too many things were happening to quickly on Lianna, and the woman on the otherside of this door seemed to be the crux of so much...

The largest concern was not with the events surrounding her, but with Eliena herself. She'd shut herself up, avoiding speaking with anyone for too long now. Bethany knew how she would feel in this same situation... she had been the cause of deaths before, and even though she knew there was nothing more she could have done, those events still haunted her. But those deaths had never been of children. The mental and emotional blow this must have been....

Bethany sighed softly, biting her lower lip.

"Actually, I was hoping that there was something I could do for you," came the soft reply.

Bethany slipped inside, sliding the door closed behind her. She was immediately struck by Eliena's posture, the limp and dejected movement, what little there was. She managed not to frown, but just barely. She moved on quiet feet across the room, hesitating, but for only a moment, before sinking down onto the floor beside the bed.

"Eliena," she started, then paused. So much had happened, so much had gone wrong for this woman. How could she help? What could she say to really prove to her that none of this was her fault? That none of the blame lay with her? She could talk for a century and still that would not change anything, would it? It wouldn't change how Eliena felt, and that it was clear she blamed herself.

"It's not your fault," she said softly. It was simple, and to the point... and it was true. That was all the Jedi Master had to work with now. The Truth.

"Oh Eliena," Bethany sighed softly.

"You cannot take responsibility for the actions of others," she said softly. "You came here for peace. They brought chaos. You did not bring it. In truth the blame may lie with us. It our duty to protect those here, and we have grown so complacent that we could not."

She stopped suddenly.

"Nothing I can say will change the way you feel, but know at least that we do not blame you." Again, she sighed.

"There is no way to 'win' in war. Everyone loses," she said at last. "I have offered you help before, and I will offer it again. Whether that help is merely to step back and allow you to do what you need to do, or to help you do that.... I will do what I can."

Bethany was silent for a long moment. Thoughtful, not frowning, but neither was she smiling.

"I have never been in your situation my friend," she finally said, standing up to move across the room. "And frankly, I do not envy you the choices ahead of you."

With unconscious grace, she slipped over to the window, verdant gaze flicking outward, even as her words clearly reflected the inward nature of her thoughts.

"There has never been a time where I felt forced to give in to my hatred or my fear to save my life or the life of those around me. I never felt that I could achieve more by living than I could have by dying. Nor have I ever felt the immenint stirrings of a fight that was completely unavoidable. Yes, there were times that the circumstances of a fight were taken out of my hands, and there were times I had no choice but to fight.... but it was never like this. I have been prepared to die, rather than kill, but perhaps I am a coward for being unable to kill and then live with the consequences."

Slowly, Bethany turned back to the winged woman on the bed, a thoughtful expression flicking over her face. It moved between that and some sort of sadness, something far greater than the simple personal sadness of the young woman.

"I have thought that going to a battle and being truly prepared to die.... is bravery. Perhaps your way is braver. Not knowing if you will live or die, but being prepared for the consequences either way... and still going. That is an aspect of bravery that I feel I will never face. As I would rather die than face myself in the mirror after I had allowed myself to kill." She spoke softly, as much to herself as to Eliena.

Slowly, she reached down, fingers unclasping the delicate silver hilt that always hung from her belt. The intricate designs in the whitest of metals played over the weapon's hilt, the whole piece in perfect proportion to Bethany's small hands.

"A lightsaber is a weapon of a Jedi Knight. While a Jedi you are yet not, I will teach you what techniques I can in the time we have, those that will apply to other weapons that call a sword their father. If you would wish, I will teach you how to fight as a Jedi in the time we have."

The grave expression on her face told Eliena more than her words could. How unorthedox this offer was. And perhaps how deeply in trouble it could land Bethany with the Jedi Council. The gravity also expressed one other thing though. That Bethany did not care.

"I can try," she said softly.

"It isn't like learning a mathematic equation, or a recipe to a cake. There is no formula, which makes attempting it dangerous. But there is no higher good, nothing greater than loving someone like that Eliena."

Bethany smiled gently. "In some ways, it is much harder than fighting someone. It is fighting someone, without fighting them. It is trying to find their true self within the lies that they have wrapped around themselves, within the pain they have tried to use as a shield. Within the hatred they wish they felt, and within the fear to be anything else. You cannot attack her with a weapon, only your words. Defend, against her attacks, but never bring the offensive to her, or everything you say to her will be worthless."

She paused, mind shifting back to her own memories. As a padawan, bringing Link back to the light as he teetered on the edge. Constantly being the tie for Darron to the light. Her padawan Bane, and keeping him in the sunlight as his old master fought to bring him back. Aidan, the sith knight who had tried to kill her, instead returning with her to the temple on Theed. And one of the most difficult, Aslyn, the Sith Master- eventually her dearest friend, long dead now. Bethany sighed, glancing back at Eliena.

"The key, is having more faith in her that having fear for your own well being. Can you do that?"

It was clear as to why she couldn't simply say then destroy it. There was too much potential for good, or so someone might have told her. Bethany didn't see it that way. There was potential for control, yes, and that control could be benevolent or dark and malicious.

"In some ways, that key is like the Force," she said softly. "It in and of itself is neutral, a key to unlocking some greater power that can be used for good or for ill. It is not the room or the key itself that cause the evil, it is the person using it." It was clear that she was mostly thinking out loud, there was no doubt in her mind that Eliena already saw this.

"Even if the person with the key is good, using it for the right reasons, eventually doubt, even fear, might sway that person toward using it to control in unnecessary ways, or even to hurt. There is no promise of good related to that, no matter the owner. The temptation is too great. I can almost hear a voice saying 'but it is for their own good that I do this, they simply cannot see it.' And that frightens me. Because like the Force, even those with the best intentions can turn it to darkness, when used for the wrong reasons."

Bethany shook her head, walking back to the window. "There is no way to destroy it, is there?"

Though perhaps she thought she heard Bethany attempt to calm her, nothing came from the Jedi Master. She waited in calm silence while she ranted, screamed, emotionally flung herself around. Not a word came from the other woman, just watching dolefully as Eliena's anger grew.

She didn't even seem to react as the sword came flinging toward her through the air. She knew it was coming, had felt the intention just a heartbeat before the action, and still, made no movement.

The sword pulled up short, as though moving through a solid mass rather than the air, slowing and then stopping, less than an inch from Bethany's face. Calmly, the Jedi reached out, plucking the sword from the air where she had held it with the Force.

"Lesson two," she said very softly. "When you let someone else's words anger you, you have let them defeat you."