Relief swept over Merryn's face, and she offered Jekin a soft smile. Her eyes returned to Linzi and the rest of the officers. Major Fedder looked to all the Jedi and nodded and went to each of them, shaking their hands, murmuring small words of thanks or congratulations. To the Jedi, it must have seemed incredibly awkward. Yet Linzi knew these kinds of 'meet and greets' were commonplace for the desk-bound officers, even combat veterans like Fedder- it was a formality that seemed to be entirely for the officer in charge instead of the men and women he was supposedly honoring. "May the force be with you." He said, somewhat haltingly. He turned to Linzi after a brief exchange of salutes, "Lieutenant."<br/><br/>The major left with the other officers, his work done. It seemed like he had a lot of work to do. Merryn cautiously watched them go and then turned back to the group, "I suppose it's expected. Jedi are not above the law... taking children from their parents would be kidnapping if there wasn't some sort of protocol. The Republic is<em>nothing</em>but meticulous with its book-keeping."<br/><br/>"Well." She sighed, "Let there be no more secrets between us then. We're all in this together. Jekin, Linzi... These are my students. Well... No, not really." The Twi'lek turned to Kailen and Nory, "You made this decision of your own free will." She hoped, she<em> prayed. </em>"We stand together as equals now."<br/><br/>Merryn had longed to see them become knights in their own time, but she doubted they could rely upon the Order now. Speaking of... "Lieutenant. I'm afraid we might not be welcome back at the Temple- even if we were, it do not think it would be wise for us to linger there."