Thal-ion confessed she was right about them sticking together.  So long as they did so...no matter what happened...or where they ended up...or even when...they would be fine.  He smiled up at her grateful for the comfort she offered him.<br/><br/>"True," he admitted quietly, and then looked down after feeling his face flush once more from staring too long into her eyes.  It was only then he realized his own cup was empty.  He placed a hand over her own, and it lingered there...soft...tender, and yet filled with strength.  He didn't even realize he was massaging the back of her wrist ever so slowly.  Master Skywalker had sent them on this assignment together, and someplace in the back of Thal-ion's mind was gratefulness that Skywalker had paired him with Alethea.  Were he to try and explore this moment; he would have been lost...for no such moment had ever occurred before meeting his partner.  He had no frame of reference for it...save perhaps those rare times he saw Lady Skywalker with her husband, or Kam with Master Tionne.<br/><br/>He stood up, and gave her a smile of reassurance and thanks.  When he started speaking again; his voice was more his own...no longer filled with grimness, but curiosity.  His hand still covered her own a moment longer before he removed it slowly, and faced her fully.<br/><br/>"I wonder why this event," he began with his eyes looking quite thoughtful...as if he were exploring that which was to come, and yet bent on some other mystery within the recesses of his subconscious.  "I mean, there are plenty of events in history to which someone might want to explore by opening a temporal portal...assuming that is what this storm is somehow, but why the Blockade of Naboo?  Why this particular event?  And, for that matter, who would do such a thing?  So far as I know, the Alliance does not have the ability to make such gateways.  To be honest, I have never even heard of anyone exploring such an option.  I find myself quite curious as to this focus.  There is a purpose to it, and I doubt it is for studying history."  Thal-ion Serr fell silent as he started pacing slightly while stroking his smooth chin with his right hand.  "To open such a thing....the implications...the sheer possibilities of what someone could do if it were to be controlled.  It is almost too much to fathom.  I mean, think about it.  What if someone wanted a different outcome at say the Battle of Endor between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire?  What if someone went back in time with an entire extra squadron of star destroyers to further ambush the Rebels?  There might not have been a New Republic later on...the Empire might have won, and there might not now be a New Jedi Order.  Could that really be the purpose of the station and the storm...to alter time?"