Alethea was glad when he began to talk again, rather than leaving the ship in empty silence that she had no idea how to fill. To make things better, he was telling her about himself, which saved her from having to ask, something she wasn't certain she would have been able to do. He told her about his childhood, about how the world around him barely existed for the first five years of his life, as a result of his abilities, and subsequently, he didn't talk for those five years. She wondered if, perhaps, his somewhat reclusive nature now was due in part to that.<br/><br/>He continued, telling her about his time in the Jedi, about training under Master Skywalker for a time before he was given to another master and then, when the Yuuzan Vong invaded, another. He then went on to tell her about his training on Dathomir. She chuckled a little when he said that the Singing Mountain clan wasn't used to having a male train among them. "No, I imagine they weren't," she responded, tilting her head a bit, wondering what part of the experience had made him a recluse. Did they exclude him? Rather than ask, however, the words that came out were, "I'm sorry to hear that she was injured so badly."<br/><br/>She was quiet for a moment before deciding that, since he had told her about his own past, it was only fair that she share hers. "I was taken in by the Jedi when I was four. I was found by a Jedi when I was wandering the streets after having run away from the foster home I had been living in. I'd bounced around between a few foster homes by that time, so it wasn't really anything new. Evidently people don't like it when a child can read their thoughts. I suppose it was more because of the fact that I was a child and I didn't know any better, so I had no reservations about bringing up the things I saw, sometimes at less than optimal moments," she chuckled a little. "At any rate, I suppose I was a bit of an odd child anyways. When people found out I 'heard voice' they thought I was crazy, and in some ways they weren't entirely wrong. It was rather taxing to hear the thoughts of anyone and everyone around me at any given time. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish my own thoughts from the thoughts of others," she went on explaining.<br/><br/>"In all honesty, I don't know what kind of condition my mind would be in now if Master Zan hadn't found me when he did," she admitted, staring almost absent-mindedly at a random point in the room. "Anyways. He found me and unlike others, he didn't think I was crazy. He sensed my gift and told me that the Force was strong with me, that he could teach me to use the incredible gift I'd been given. That was the first time anyone had ever called it a gift," she smiled fondly before continuing. "I was so happy to leave that place. To learn to control the voices. I gladly left with him, and he brought me to the temple and I ended up becoming his padawan."<br/><br/>"As promised, he taught me to control my ability, and to put up a wall around my mind when I could not. He taught me a great many things, but that is the thing I am most grateful for," she continued with a smile. "During the war I went where he went, continuing to train with him, and even fought alongside him on a few occasions. I can't say that I am eager to repeat that experience, but I suppose we may find ourselves in a situation where we have no choice, if your vision does indeed become reality," she pushed off the thought and took a deep breath.<br/><br/>"Anyways. That's my life so far in a tiny nutshell," she gave a small smile, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on her face. "You know... I've never really had much of a desire to make friends, and certainly not to talk about my past. But... With you, it's surprisingly easy," she admitted with a half-smile on her face. "I wonder why?" she mused, but shrugged, knowing that it wasn't worth dwelling on, as she would find no answers now.