Secret Rendezvous

Secret rendezvous, she suddenly realized, were only fun when they stayed secret.

Much to Tahiri's dismay, this rendezvous had not stayed secret. She watched in utter shock and dismay as most of the Jedi that were near their age, plus a few non-Jedi that were close friends with Anakin's family emerged from hiding and screaming "Surprise!"

She just didn't know what to say.

Which of course meant that her mouth was running without her actually being in control of it. Though she would never tell Anakin that particular fact.

No, secret rendezvous were nowhere near as fun when they were no longer secret.

So, she looked around, trying to find the one person who knew what her plans regarding this rendezvous were. Finally, she saw her. The girl she had to punch for ruining her plans. Anakin's sister, Jaina.

Jaina was a few years older than her, and had the curves to prove it. Though she was a bit shorter than Tahiri, and perpetually covered in grease, she even now was the subject of glances and looks taking a bit more than a glance.

Tahiri was just glad that she wasn't competing with her over Anakin's attentions; bad enough that she was competing with both Rar twins as a set and Sannah.

She slipped her hand out of Anakin's and stomped her way through the crowd until she stood next to Jaina. Jaina for her part was ignoring Tahiri, focused much more on her conversation with Zekk as they discussed whether purple korsch or green korsch were the better tasting.

Tahiri couldn't stand korsch at all, so she had absolutely zero concern for their conversation. Instead of waiting for a break in it, she pushed Zekk out of the way, tossing him a malicious grin, and said, "I'm stealing Jaina for a bit."

Before either could protest, she grabbed the older girl by the arm and dragged her off into the corner just as somebody turned on some loud, thumping music.

"What's wrong," Jaina shouted into her ear.

For a moment, Tahiri wondered if she should tell Jaina in such a public place but she realized then that with the music as loud as the others had turned it on, she didn't have to worry about being overheard.

"You kriffing well know what's wrong," she finally screamed in response. "I told you my plans for tonight."

Jaina's eyes widened slightly, as her mouth formed a slight "O" shape. "I'm so sorry Tahiri, I had forgotten all about it when we planned for tonight, and I thought you knew we were planning the party when you grabbed Anakin and pulled him away and said that the two of you would be back later."

"No! I didn't! That was what we agreed I'd say so you'd get everyone out of the apartment."

Tahiri could feel the beginnings of a headache, as some part of her wondered why the kids that were raised on the Core worlds liked this thumping music. As Jaina answered her, she realized that she had actually spoken her internal musings.

Waving away that, she then asked, "Well, how am I going to get some alone time with him when all these people are here?"

Jaina shrugged her shoulders, as she replied, "I don't know."

"It's your fault so you have to tell me."

Jaina's lips twitched into a frown. "Why do you want that anyways?"

Tahiri thought that Jaina was just so slow sometimes. She knew that most of their mutual friends knew of her crush on Anakin, and she was fairly certain Jaina's twin brother knew.

Sighing, she screamed at Jaina, "Kriff, Jaina, you know I'm in love with Anakin."

She blinked as she suddenly realized two things.

The first was that the music had stopped about the same time as she had said the word "know." The second was that she could feel Anakin's Force presence blazing brilliantly as always, though this time he was right behind her.

Horror etched itself onto Jaina's face as Tahiri's started burning a bright red, visible even through her perpetual tan.

Slowly, she turned to face Anakin, looking up into his blue eyes, she swallowed. He had a slight blush on his cheeks, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. AMUSEMENT! Her eyes flickered around all of their friends, before settling onto Anakin once again.

He opened his mouth to say something. She just knew that it was something that she did not want to hear, so instead she just quickly shook her head, and pushing past him, darted away.

No, she thought to herself yet again. Secret rendezvous were definitely no fun when they weren't kept secret.

She ran from the room, heading deeper into the Solo's apartment.

She ran past four doors, and darted into the fifth. It was a bedroom, and she sat on the edge of the bed, and covered her face with her hands as tears began to flow.

So, it was there as she sat on the bed, her face covered with her hands, tears streaming down either cheek, that he found her.

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, as he spoke her name, "Tahiri?"

She looked up at him, and blinked through the tears. His face had stilled, his ice-blue eyes actually warm for once, and she found that she just could not look away from him.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded her head slowly. "Y-yeah, I'm okay..."

He grinned, "Good. Uhm..."

She sighed as she watched him, wondering yet again what it was that always seemed to draw him to her. He was the son of the Chief of State, the nephew to THE Jedi Master. What in the Force would he ever see in her. She wasn't even that pretty; especially compared to others, like his sister or Alema.

"I don't know how to answer that," he said.

In horror she realized that once again, she had just spoken the thoughts as they ran through her head. She once again lowered her face into her hands, as she felt tears burning her eyes.

"But, I do have to say that I think you're the the most amazing girl I've ever met."

She blinked, and slowly lifted her head until she was able to see him. With the back of one hand, she scrubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears. She felt her mind, and her mouth, go perfectly still, as if everything about her could not believe what he was saying.

"Y-you... do?" She finally managed to stammer out.

Grinning slightly, he held out his hand towards her. "Yeah, I do."

She smiled, and slipped her slim hand into his, and allowed him to pull her into a standing position. Once there, he wrapped his arms around her, and leaned in close.

"For the record," he said, that grin still tugging at one side of his lips. "I'm in love with you too."

Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 18

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A voice rolled out from the distance, echoing loudly against the dome. "Attention, this is the Galactic Alliance Guard. Pursuant to the War Crimes Act you are all under arrest for suspected treason."

"Kriff," Noelani muttered, her hands squeezing tightly against the railing.

Another shockwave rattled their building, and Noelani pushed inside running down the hall and jumping down the stairwell. She landed with a grunt and then rushed into the room they had set aside for training, and grabbed her combat suit.

Chase was a moment behind her, and yanked his from the hook where they were stored. Anger flared through Noelani as she noticed the empty hook which should have held Asyra'mata's uniform.

Fastening the suit closed, she glanced over at Chase. "So, what's the plan?"

He snorted as he began pulling on his boots. "I was hoping you'd have one."

By this time she was pulling weapons from the cabinets and attaching them to her utility belt or stashing them in various pockets. "I say we get out of the dome, and then follow the Guard back to wherever they're going.

Chase glanced over his shoulder. "How sure are you if that's a good idea or not?"

Noelani turned and looked in the same direction he was watching, to see Jena, Prilla and Huff standing in the door way. Huff's muzzle quivered slightly, and she could see the abject terror in both Prilla's and Jena's eyes.

Noelani frowned for a moment. I don't need this distraction right now.

She felt Chase's attention return to her. "We can't leave them here, and we can't take them with us."

Noelani nodded her head. "Then you're going to stay with them and protect them."

"But you ne-"

"No!" she interrupted him with a slash of her hand. "I can get Asyra'mata out of whatever prison they're holding her in. I need you to watch these three. I need to know that they're safe."

"'Lani…"

She smiled at him wistfully, knowing what was going through his head. He hated the thought of letting her go out there; as much as she hated the thought of leaving him behind.

"I found you twice so far, I'm certain I can do it again," she finally said, a grin appeared on her lips; one that anyone who had ever met a Solo would have instantly recognized.

He stepped closer to her, and she swallowed hard. Suddenly, she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life.

He leaned down, and pressed his lips to hers. Dimly, she was aware of the handful of vibroblades clattering to the floor as she dropped them.

While this wasn't her first kiss, as that dubious honor belonged to Ben—who she now knew was her cousin—it was the first time that Chase had done so.

As suddenly as the kiss began it ended, and he stepped backwards away from her. She blinked her eyes, trying to once again regain control of her thoughts and her heart. Giving up, she glanced over at him. "Chase…"

He shook his head, and gestured towards the door. "Get going. I've got a few more preparations in order to get the kids ready."

"I…" She snapped her mouth shut, not certain what she had intended on saying.

"I love you, Noelani. Make sure you come back to me."

She smiled at him, feeling tears as they threatened to fall. Then she threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. "I love you too."

She dropped from him and went to the children grabbing them into a tight hug as well. "I want you all to be good for Chase, all right?"

"Okay, Mama," Prilla, the youngest replied.

She quickly kissed them each on the head once, checked to make sure she had her blaster and her lightsaber and then left the room at a jog.

She felt tears burning her eyes as she ran towards the main gate. Slowing down, she stopped and quickly worked through a breathing exercise. She couldn't go into that area distracted by thoughts of Chase and the children. She had to focus on the here and now—and trust Chase.

Once her emotions were under control again, she started moving forward.

She heard the sounds of battle first. The blasts of the blasters, the screams of the wounded and dying. Then she was close enough for the smells; charred flesh, discharged blasters, and the acidic tang of low-yield detonators.

She crept towards the edge of the next building and peered around. She saw Evir's soldiers as they slowly fell back away from the advancing Guard unit.

Then odd movements caught her eye. Someone was on the battlefield using a lightsaber.

She throat closed up, and she struggled to gain control of her pounding heart. A single thought slammed through her mind: the Jedi had found her, and were now killing all of her friends in order to take them away from her.

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Jacen smiled as he led his troops into the compound.

His intelligence network had been working for weeks trying to find the location of this group. They had been interfering with his plans concerning the Ferals, and he had finally decided that it was time to stop them.

So, not only was he happy over that, but he was also happy because for the first time since he had killed Mara, he was leading his Forces into battle.

From the front lines, just like his Grandfather had.

He couldn't help but smile as his blade slashed through the insurgents around him.

In fact, it was all he could do to not laugh as he fought on; slaughtering the enemy around him.

Suddenly, there was a surge in the Force. It was a spike of fear and horror which flooded his awareness. He paused, his blade humming loudly even over the sounds of the dying around him.

Stretching out with the Force, he found the source. She was young, trained, and terrified of… Jedi?

Jacen frowned, as he stepped towards the building she was hiding behind. "Come out, youngling. I'm not a Jedi, I won't hurt you."

He saw a moment of blond hair stick around the corner, and another surge of fear in the Force.

Her voice wavered for a moment, "I, I don't believe you."

Jacen grinned. She wasn't as trained as he thought. If she was, she would have known better than to start talking to him. He advanced.

"Why don't you believe me?"

"You're using a lightsaber. You've come to take me away."

He frowned, wondering what she was talking about. After a moment, he decided it didn't matter, she would either be useful to him, or she would die.

He took a number of steps away from the building, and then sprung forward so he could see her clearly.

Her scream echoed back at them, and he savored the fear that flooded the Force. For a moment, she reminded him of Tahiri, but he assumed it was just the fact that she had the same color hair as his potential apprentice.

A snap-hiss startled him out of his reverie, and he suddenly realized that she held a lightsaber, and had it pointed towards him.

He grinned again, wondering just how much fun this would be. As he raised his own saber into a mid-guard, he hoped that she had at least enough training to make this entertaining.

Then he darted forward, his blade thrusting forward. She side-stepped as he expected her to, just as he pushed out with the Force.

She flew through the air and slammed into the building across the street. Her body convulsed with the impact and the saber fell from her fingers.

He allowed her to drop, a frown coming to his face.

"That was easy and not fun at all," he muttered under his breath.

He closed the distance, until he was standing over her. He watched her for a moment, that annoying similarity once again at the edges of his awareness; though this time she reminded him of his Allana.

He shrugged the feeling away and raised his saber to deliver a killing blow, when the girl's hand flew up. He braced himself with the Force, expecting telekinesis.

So, he was caught off-guard when the handful of dirt flew into his eyes.

"Kriffing, Jedi," he heard her snarl, and suddenly, he felt a weight slam into his stomach.

The impact knocked him backwards, even as he struggled against the dirt in his eyes; fighting against the urge to rub them as he knew that could scratch the lenses.

Instead he took control of the autonomous functions of his body, and forced his tear ducts to begin operating.

As the dirt began to flow out of his eyes, he found himself grinning. Maybe this will be fun after all.

The girl's saber ignited again, and he brought his own blade around. With the Force guiding him, he inserted it perfectly into the spot necessary to deflect her blow.

Then a blaster bolt rang out, and the girl yelped as pain flooded through the Force. He glanced over and saw that his personal squad had advanced when they noticed his fight. He fought against the urge to send lightning at them for interfering and instead turned back to the girl.

She writhed in the dirt, one hand clasped tightly against the shoulder, which had been discolored, and burned from the blaster.

As he stepped forward, a yell came up from behind him, and he turned that way as two dozen soldiers came running from around a building, their blasters blazing.

He snarled, and began deflecting the bolts. Then he swore as four droidekas rolled up and transformed into their deployed mode.

The voice of one of his squad rang over their personal comnet. "Where the kark did these guys dig up four working droidekas?"

Jacen merely shook his head, as he responded. "I don't know, but we need to fall back so that the heavy artillery can deal with them."

Four double-clicks sounded over the comnet, and he glanced at the ground, to discover that the girl had disappeared. Uttering another curse, he began falling back towards the entrance.

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Chase smiled down at the children as he bundled them into an ancient XJ-15 airspeeder. He didn't like the fact that it lacked anything by way of offensive weaponry or even defenses, but it was the only vehicle he could find which both held them all, and Evir's guards would let him have.

He just wondered how it had survived by the Galactic Civil War and the Vong War.

Shaking his head, he quickly strapped the children in and powered up the systems. A handful of green ready lights flickered into existence, and he pulled back on the stick, lifting the craft up off of its landing gear.

Then he was moving, flying towards the rear entrance of the compound; away from the Guard invasion force.

Away from Noelani.

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 17

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Chase paced in front of Evir's desk. The older scientist calmly sat on the far side of it, watching him, while Noelani fumed in the chair that sat a few paces behind him.

After his third circuit, he stopped in front of Evir's desk. "We need to rescue Asyra'mata."

Evir shook his head. "I'm not going to approve that. The Guard is not something that we want to go up against; even for the two of you."

Noelani stood up and Chase could taste the electrical energy tingeing the air. He turned towards her, as she took a step forward. In amazement, he watched as her hair flickered and flowed, even though there was no air circulation going.

"I'm telling you this a single time," she snarled. "We're going after Asyra'mata, and you're going to give us the help we need."

Evir stood up behind his desk, and leaned forward. "You can go kriff yourself little girl. If you feel like getting yourself and your boyfriend killed over that little Twi'lek tramp that's your death. I'm not following you, nor am I letting you bring the Guard down on what I've built here."

Chase saw her hand heading towards her saber, and reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "That's enough 'Lani. Let's go, he obviously doesn't care about the folks under his protection and is willing to cut them free whenever they're no longer useful."

Evir laughed. "Right you are, young Chase. If someone or something endangers my operation here, I will happily throw it away."

Chase felt the muscles in Noelani's shoulder tense. He gave it a gentle squeeze, and her head snapped towards him. He fought against an instinctive urge to take a step back away from her. Anger colored her face red, and seemed to tinge her eyes even.

He blinked, and her eyes were once again that crystal clear, sky-blue that he admired so.

He tilted his head towards the door. "C'mon 'Lani. Let's go."

She nodded her head, and turned away from Evir. Chase reached down and grabbed her hand, and together they left the room.

Silence reigned over them while they waited for the turbolift. It finally arrived and they both boarded. As soon as the doors closed, Noelani grabbed his tunic and buried her face into his chest.

Startled, he raised his hands up for a moment, before lowering them around her shoulders. "Shh… it'll be all right, 'Lani."

She pushed out of his arms, anger flashing on her face. "How? We've got to get Asyra'mata back."

"Do we know where they took her?"

Noelani turned away from him, her head lowering. After a few moments, she shook her head. "No, I don't. But that won't stop me from finding her. I have the Force after all."

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Tahiri dropped into the seat behind her desk and stared at the datapads that she should be filling out. Bureaucratic annoyances that she despised. Sighing, she waved her hand in the direction of her terminal and it sprang to life. A few hand gestures and the cell of her prisoner was floating before her.

Not for the first time, Tahiri wondered why her daughter was not with the Jedi; and what she was doing with this Twi'lek tramp. Then she reminded herself that the Twi'lek was nothing but a child, even as tension raced down her body, her fists instinctively clenching as memories of the Rar sisters flashed through her mind.

With a flicker of the Force, she sent all the datapads flying from her desk, reveling in the clatter as they crashed to the floor.

A few moments later, Zora walked into her office, her helmet tucked under one hand. Tahiri watched the blue-eyed blonde for a moment. "Can I help you?"

Zora dropped into the seat in front of Tahiri's desk. "Want to talk to me about that Jedi we found in the under-city? And who is that Twi'lek?"

Hesitation flashed through her, as her lips pulled down slightly into a frown. She wanted to take Zora into her confidence, but she still did not trust Jacen, and had no doubt that anything she said to Zora would inevitably make its way back to him.

It would be just another weapon in his arsenal to use against her; to manipulate her.

Deciding, she leaned back in her seat. Better that no one here knows that Noelani is my daughter. "She was my apprentice before I left the Jedi."

"Ah… why did she leave the Jedi?"

Tahiri shook her head. "I'm not certain. I guess she was hurt worse by my leaving than I had expected her to be."

Zora nodded her head. "So, I've been wondering, why did you leave the Jedi?"

Of course we'd get back to this topic. It's something Jacen is dying to know. Tahiri smiled. "It's… complicated, and I don't feel like talking about."

Zora smiled at her, and stood up. "I understand, boss. I'm here if you want to talk."

I bet you would be here. I wonder what Jacen promised her for the information. Tahiri returned the smile, even though she didn't feel it. "Thanks, Zora. Now go on and get out of here. I've got an appointment with our fearless leader in a few minutes."

Zora saluted and then turned away and left the office. The door clicked shut behind her, and Tahiri watched it for a few moments. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. What are you doing down here 'Lani?

Sighing, she pulled the monitor for her console closer and watched the Twi'lek girl they had taken prisoner. Frowning, as she estimated the girl's age at a few years younger than Noelani, she suddenly pushed out of her seat and walked out into the corridor.

A few minutes later, she was standing in front of the cell where the young girl was being held. Tahiri hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the room.

The Twi'lek was lying on the bed—a thin sheet of bare metal jutting out from the far wall; one arm cradled the other, and Tahiri noted the dark, purple of a contusion on the side of her head. She stood there for a minute, and then stepped into the room, allowing the door to close behind her.

"What's your name," Tahiri asked.

The girl continued to ignore her for a few minutes, and Tahiri reached out with the Force, slipping tendrils of herself into the girls' mind, and quickly finding her pain centers. Without a flicker of a thought, pain flooded the girl's mind. A psychic backwash slashed back towards Tahiri and she found herself grinning.

A whisper slid across her awareness; a whisper fed to her through the Force. Mom, why?
Startled, she allowed the Force to flicker away from her control, and instead reached out towards her daughter, only to find nothing.

Sighing, she turned back to the Twi'lek. "So, what's your name?"

The Twi'lek was panting, and finally, she responded. "Asyra'mata. My name's Asyra'mata."

"Good," Tahiri replied, sending warm feelings down through the force into the girl. "You're in a lot of trouble, youngling. That was a restricted section we found you in earlier."

The girl snorted, and laid her head back onto the bed. "It seems most of the Undercity is restricted since the Guard showed up."

Tahiri shook her head slightly. "That still doesn't answer my question."

"Oh? Ask me if I'm really concerned about that—because I know I'm not." The girl's eyes flicked towards Tahiri for a moment. "Are you going to choke me again with that mystical mumbo-jumbo power of yours? Or is it going to be the pain again?"

Tahiri felt her hands clench tightly, and was slightly shocked to discover she had to fight back the sudden desire to yank the girl off of the bed. Instead she spun on her heel and left the cell; followed by the laughter of the Twi'lek.

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Noelani collapsed onto the floor of her room; folding her legs up tight against her chest. Anger, frustration and fear flowed through her; even as the tears slipped from her eyes.

"Why," she whispered, begging the Force to give her an answer. She wanted to know why she was suffering this way; why her family suffered this way.

Why, every time she found some measure of happiness, someone or something came and ripped it away from her.

Pain slashed through her, searing her mind. She bolted upright, and then standing quickly crossed over to the window. Even though the building they were in was underground, she faced the west, and could feel Asyra'mata's pain.

It was a burning agony that wavered in the Force, and with a jolt of horror Noelani realized that it was being caused by the Force.

She screwed a fist against her eyes, and she pushed at the edges of the bond between her and Tahiri. For the first time in what felt to her like forever, Noelani sent a message across their bond: Mom, why? Why are you hurting my friend?

Halfway through the mental sending, an overpowering Force presence slammed itself against her mind. She screamed, and found herself on the floor, her head clasped in her hands, and the coppery taste of blood filling her mouth.

The door burst open, and Chase ran into the room. "Noelani? What's wrong?"

She glanced up at him, and shook her head; instantly regretting it as spikes of pain ran through her skull.

He knelt down beside her and helped her to a sitting position. Gripping the railing of the balcony, she pulled herself upright, and once again glanced towards the west. A cough racked her body, and she leaned over from the sheer force. Opening her eyes, she saw a bright splash of red blood on the floor.

Wiping her mouth, she straightened, and glanced over at Chase who was staring at her with worry shining in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly cut him off.

"I'm fine. The Force will fix me up good as new in no time. But now we've got to go rescue Asyra'mata. She's being tortured."

She stepped away from the railing, the world wavering around her for a moment. Clenching her jaw, she took another step, as Chase stepped in front of her.

"What aren't you telling me?"

She stared at him for a moment, and then sighed. "She's being tortured, by someone using the Force. Whoever it is, is calling me. They want me to go to them."

Chase frowned. "Then, wouldn't it be a bad decision to do so?"

Before she could respond, a shock wave rolled over them, shaking the building, and sending a fine mist of dust rolling out from the dome's ceiling.

"What was that," Chase asked.

Noelani looked off towards the main gate, a plume of smoke becoming visible in the distance.

"I'm not certain, but it doesn't look like its good news…"

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Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 16

Previous Post

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Chase followed behind Noelani, occasionally stealing glances at Asyra'mata. It comforted him somehow that the young Twi'lek was as confused by Noelani's actions as he was.

He thought back to what he had seen: a Guard unit slaughtering the Ferals; ruthlessly and without provocation or mercy. He personally, did not see anything wrong with it; after all that's why they had been in this sector of the Under City.

Yet, Noelani had reacted badly. Her hands had clenched the railing until she shattered the plasteel that it had been made from.

Sighing, he tried again. "Noelani?"

She stopped suddenly, and he stumbled to keep from running into her.

She spoke without turning to face him. "You think I'm something of an oddball don't you? You think this was about the Ferals?"

He glanced over at Asyra'mata for a moment. She shrugged her shoulders, letting him know that he was on his own. "No, 'Lani, I don't think that at all. I was just wondering what you were thinking."

"That was Mom."

"What?" Asyra'mata cut into their conversation.

Noelani glanced over her shoulder at the Twi'lek for a moment, and Chase saw tears streaking down her face. Instinctively he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him in a hug.

Her body shook slightly as she fought against the tears. "That was Mom who was leading those Guardsmen."

"How do you know?" he asked.

She barked a short, brittle laugh. "I'm a Jedi remember? I'd feel my Mom in the Force anywhere. Yet she felt odd, as if she was hiding something; something that she was ashamed that she had done."

"What could it be?"

She lowered her head to her chest. "I don't know. All I know is that her Force presence felt dark… dirty somehow."

Noelani's body tensed suddenly in his arms, and he frowned down at her. She pushed away from him, her lightsaber igniting in the gloom of the undercity. "We're under attack."

Blue stun bolts ripped out from the dark and struck Asyra'mata.

The girl yelped in pain as she dropped to the ground. Chase's blaster rifle was up against his shoulders within seconds. The bits and pieces of yammosk that were in his brain were feeding him details about where the stun bolts had come from.

Looking down the barrel of his rifle, he centered the finder on the spot, and squeezed the trigger. A bright red bolt of energy was spat from the end of the rifle. A feminine cry of pain came out from the darkness.

Then suddenly there was a second lightsaber shining.

Their attackers stepped into the light, and Chase realized it was the Guardsmen from earlier. One of them spoke. "You are all under arrest."

Noelani's body was hunched over slightly. "For what?"

"Pursuant to Galactic Alliance Code 75124.4Aurek, you are trespassing. The Guard has annexed this entire section as part of our training compound."

Chase barked a laugh. "Jeez, 'Lani. Why is it that whenever I'm with you, someone is trying to arrest me?"

He could almost sense the amusement from her.

Then the Guardsmen with the lightsaber took her helmet off, and Chase felt his stomach flip. He knew that Noelani had said her mother was in that squad, yet he hadn't really believed it. He had thought that Tahiri's Master was too good for that; that she was better than joining the Guard.

Tahiri stepped forward, her blade held low. "Come on, Noelani. Don't do this. Come home with me."

Noelani shook her head. "You ran away from me. You left ME." She gestured towards Chase an Asyra'mata. "I found myself a home."

Tahiri sighed and then nodded her head. A blaster bolt erupted from one of the Guard's blasters. Noelani's blade shifted and batted the bolt back.

Then Tahiri was there. Her blade slashing in; the attacks aimed at her daughter were fast and furious. Chase stared in shock for a moment, and then ducked down behind a desk. Lifting up slightly, he sighted along the gun and pulled the trigger. The bolt caught one of the soldiers in the shoulder and she spun around and dropped to the ground.

The attack seemed to wake up the remaining two Gaurdsmen, and they began pouring blaster bolts into his desk. He cursed and hunkered down. A moment later, he lifted his head up, and saw that one of the soldiers was pulling Asyra'mata away from them.

"No!" He screamed at her, and fired three times in that direction, haphazard shots. The soldier hunkered down slightly and continued pulling Asyra'mata away. Then the other soldier threw something at him.

He glanced down, and felt his eyes widen in shock. Sitting at his feet was a small-yield explosive device. "Kriff!" he muttered as he jumped away from the grenade.

From the corner of his eye he saw Tahiri kick Noelani in the stomach, knocking her down through a hole. Chase raised his blaster and fired off a quick shot, amazed as it struck Tahiri in the thigh.

Noelani's mom dropped to the ground, clutching her leg, and Chase glanced over at the doorway that Asyra'mata had been taken through. He frowned for a moment and then dropped through the hole, chasing after Noelani.

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Noelani felt Tahiri's kick to the stomach. The wind rushed out from her in a whoosh, and suddenly she was falling.

She slammed into something hard and unyielding and heard her saber skitter off into the darkness. Her chest burned, and she suddenly remembered that she had to breathe.

Her first gulp of air, burned and she rolled over coughing, as tears sprang to her eyes. They were tears that had nothing to do with the pain in her back and stomach, and everything to do with the fight that she had just had.

She struggled to up until she was on her hands and knees and then lifted her head, looking up at the hole in the ceiling through which she had fell. A shadow crossed over it and a moment later, someone landed with a thud on the ground next to her.

Reaching out with the Force, she latched on to her saber and pulled it to her hand. Once she felt the metal hilt hit her palm she activated it to find Chase getting to his feet.

He blinked in the sudden light, and glanced up. Giving a quick shake of his head, he grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards a door. "Come on, we've got to run."

Noelani was startled, and stumbled after him, as she looked up at the hole. "But what about Asyra'mata?"

"She was captured."

Shock reverberated through her, as she stumbled to a stop. "Captured?"

"Yeah," Chase replied, pulling her arm again. "We've got to move."

Then a wave of concussive pressure slammed into them, flattening them both to the ground.

Noelani lifted her head, and found herself once more wrapped in Chase's arms. Hearing returned with a sharp ringing in her ears, and she shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

After a minute or two, Chase stood and glanced over where the hole had been. Noelani looked that way, and discovered that it had been enlarged and the floor beneath it was filled with smoking rubble.

Noelani stepped forward, and began to pull the Force to her, intending to jump up through the hole.

"Wait," Chase called out to her.

She paused, and glanced over at him. "What?"

"What are you planning on doing?"

She felt her face twisting into a scowl. "I'm going to go after Asyra'mata."

He shook his head. "They're probably already gone, but we know who they were and where they're probably at. Let's go talk to Evir." She frowned at him, and he stepped forward, holding his hands out towards her. "Please, 'Lani."

Sighing, she lowered her head, grief slammed into her, and she dropped to her knees, her hands covering her face as the first of the tears formed in her eyes. "I don't want to leave her…"

Chase dropped down beside her and wrapped her in his arms. "We're not going to. I promise; we'll get her back."

She lifted her face from her hands and looked into his eyes. Slowly, she nodded.

He smiled and she felt her heart jump in her chest. "Good, now let's go make some plans on how we're going to get Asyra'mata back."

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Asyra'mata felt herself being dragged down a hallway. A black bag was over her head, hiding her surroundings from her. She strained her ears, trying to hear anything that could help her escape.

Then the movement stopped, and she felt herself being lifted up and then tossed. She curled up, trying her best to protect her head from the inevitable fall.

Then she slammed hard into the floor. She coughed, and the bitter-chalk taste of blood filled her mouth.

A moment later, she felt the wrist restraints being released, and with a profound sense of joy, she yanked the bag from her head.

Blinking in the bright glare of the lights, she looked around, and found the door. Standing there was one of the Guard soldiers who had attacked them. She was not much taller than Asyra'mata herself was, and had long bright blonde hair—and she looked exactly like Noelani.

The deep pain of betrayal slashed at her.

"Noelani?"

An odd emotion flickered across the soldier's face. "No. But hopefully we both will be seeing my daughter soon enough."

Asyra'mata spat a mouthful of blood at the soldier.

It landed on her thigh; a bright red in direct contrast of the black body armor. The soldier looked down at it for a moment, and a look of anger and hate formed on the blonde's face. Asyra'mata felt something picking her up, and as her feet left the ground, she found it hard to breathe.

A gurgle escaped her lips and the sound seemed to snap the woman out of her reverie. Asyra'mata dropped to the ground, coughing once again as she tried to gulp down air.

The blonde spun on her heel and left, the door closing with an echoing finality behind her.

She crawled into the corner, and curled around her legs. Intently, she stared at the door; waiting for her chance to escape.

---

Next Post

Jedi Adept: A Path In The Dark -- Ch. 15

Previous Post

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Evir stood over them, his cold eyes flicking between Noelani, Chase and Asyra'mata. "I need you three to go to area 4 and clear out as many of the Ferals as you can find."

Neolani frowned at the request. "We're not trying to capture them now?"

Evir shook his head. "No. The group in Area 4 has mutated slightly; and for whatever reason they've become even more aggressive and virulent."

Noelani glanced over at Chase who merely shrugged his shoulders. Focusing back on Evir, she replied, "Okay, we can do that."

Evir smiled broadly. "Wonderful. See Gorn, he'll provide you with maps and a transport."

Evir turned away from them, leaving their house. Noelani watched the closed door for a minute, and then shook her head. She allowed her gaze to flick between Chase and Asyra'mata. "Well, we have a job to do. Let's get ready."

The two nodded and headed upstairs. Noelani looked towards the door for a moment. Something was bothering her, a niggling sense of wrongness in the Force. She frowned as she tried to focus on it.

Finally, the wrongness left, and she shook her head, sighing. Then she went upstairs and got into her own jumpsuit. It was as much battle armor as jumpsuit. After what happened with Gorn she had insisted that everyone on her team have them.

A knock on the door drew her attention and Asyra'mata stuck her head in. "You ready, Mom?"

Noelani frowned at the younger Twi'lek. "Just because I put up with that from Prilla and Jena doesn't mean that I'll put up with it from you."

"I understand," Asyra'mata replied even as she grinned maliciously. "Of course, I do have to know… should I call Chase 'papa?'"

Noelani felt a blush burn against her cheeks. "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

Asyra'mata laughed, as she turned and left the room. "Sure you don't, Mom."

Noelani frowned at the door as it closed; part of her terrified that Asyra'mata might be right. Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention and she shifted that way—to find herself staring at her own reflection in a mirror.

For a moment, she could have sworn it was Tahiri watching her out of the black body armor. Her eyes seemed to flicker between green and blue, and Noelani got lost in them. A shiver raced down her spine, even as Noelani thought, I wonder what mom's doing right now.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Chase stepped into the room. He too wore the black body armor, and she felt a blush flash to her cheeks as he stood just inside of her doorway.

"Hey, you ready to go? Me and Asyra'mata have been waiting for you downstairs."

Noelani blinked and glanced at the chrono by her bedside. She frowned as she realized that she had been up here changing for nearly forty minutes. "What happened to the time?"

Chase chuckled. "Not sure, you seemed pretty out of it when I stepped into the room. Is everything all right?"

Noelani shook her head again, and walked towards the door. "Question for another day I guess. We need to go take care of those ferals now."

Chase smiled at her. "Sounds good to me."

He held his hand out towards her, and she grasped it as she headed downstairs.

A few hours later, Chase set their speeder down at the outskirts of their assigned area. Noelani jumped out of the speeder, and stretched out with the Force, trying to find any ferals in the region.

"Anything?" said Asyra'mata.

Noelani shook her head. "No. I can't feel any in the Force."

Chase chuckled. "Then I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

Noelani sighed as she reached back into the speeder and pulled out her blaster rifle. "That's gonna take so long though."

Chase laughed. "Of course it is. Now, let's head North-west first."

Asyra'mata spoke up, "Why that way?"

Chase looked over at Asyra'mata, and replied, "Well, it looks cleaner that way."

Noelani smiled and wrapped the strap of the rifle over her shoulder. She then reached back into the speeder and pulled out a helmet. According to Evir, it was Stormtrooper surplus armor from the Galactic Civil War that he had purchased and then painted back. Yet, as she pulled the helmet down, she wondered once again just who Evir really was. It wasn't often, but occasionally she'd get a bad feeling from him.

"'Lani?"

She blinked and then shifted her head so she could see Chase through the helmet's visor—only to find that he had his helmet on as well. A pang of disappointment sliced through her.

"Something wrong?"

"No… I was just thinking."

She watched his helmet for a moment.

"Gotcha," he replied and then gestured towards the North-west.

She sighed and then started walking in the direction he pointed. Her eyes scanned the dimly lit alleyways and streets, picking out landmarks the way Tahiri had taught her a lifetime ago.

Asyra'mata walked on her left with Chase on her right. She knew that both of them were scanning their surroundings the same way she was. She could feel their focus in the Force, and her helmet had small view screens on it which showed her what they were looking at.

After an hour's march, Noelani called for a break. She pulled off her helmet, her hair sticking to her forehead. She glanced at the other two, and shook her head. "I don't think there's anything in this area."

Chase looked around, a frown on his face. "I don't know… I, I kind of feel like we're being stalked."

Asyra'mata shrugged her shoulders. "If you want to stay, I'll stay, if you want to go, I'll go. You're leading us Noelani; it's your decision. But I do find it odd that there are no sounds here. Almost like all the creatures have fled the area."

Noelani nodded her head, and was about to tell them that they should pack it up, when the Force wailed in warning.

She spun around, and pulled her saber in one smooth movement, the blade's snap-hiss shattering the peaceful silence which reigned over the abandoned undercity.

A chunk of rock flew from an upper window and shattered near them, showering them with shards of ferrocrete. A moan from behind them alerted them to the presence of ferals, and Noelani turned that way to find a dozen of the creatures ambling towards them.

"Kriff," Chase muttered under his breath. "We were suckered into a trap."

Asyra'mata snorted in sarcastic amusement. "You don't think?"

Noelani sighed as she rushed forward. "Less talk; more freeing these poor souls from their pain."

Then she was in the midst of them. Brilliant red bolts of energy flew over her shoulders striking the ferals, as she sliced them down with her lightsaber. Yet she felt safe—she knew that neither Chase nor Asyra'mata would shoot her.

Within moments, all of the ferals were dead, and she stood in the center of the gore. Frowning for a moment, she knelt down beside one of the corpses, and broke off a chunk of the coral in order to get a better look at the face.

It was a child, a few years younger than she herself was, around Asyra'mata's age; and it was a child she recognized. It was Threll.

Noelani looked up and over at Asyra'mata. She could feel the young Twi'lek's shock and grief in the Force; a palatable feeling that resonated with Noelani.

"I'm sorry Asyra'mata."

She shook her head quickly, her lekku twinning around themselves. "He made his choices."

Noelani nodded and glanced past her to where Chase was scanning the buildings around them. "That doesn't mean that we can't grieve."

"When the mission's over."

She stood up and walked over to Asyra'mata, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're not older than me?"

Asyra'mata chuckled. It was weak, and filled with pain; but it was a chuckle.

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Tahiri gripped her saber tighter in her hand, squeezing the shaft of metal as hard as she could. She didn't like being down here. It felt oppressive and dead; feelings which affected both her Tusken upbringing and the implanted memories of being born in a Yuuzhan Vong Crèche.

She glanced over at Zora for a moment, and then raised her hand and gestured forward sharply. Zora raised her rifle and slowly moved forward.

As the rest of her squad advanced, Tahiri took a moment to look around. This deep in the bowels of the city-planet brought back other memories. Memories of the war and the two missions where she infiltrated the deep undercity of Coruscant, when it was the Yuuzhan Vong homeworld.

A quick click rang out on her comlink, and Tahiri lifted her head and advanced with more purpose. A few minutes later she found Zora and the other girls standing on a railing overlooking a lobby.

Beneath them, huddled together in the darkness, was nearly a hundred of the Ferals.

Tahiri stood in shock for a moment. She hadn't expected to actually find a group of the creatures. After blinking for a few minutes, she glanced around, and made a circle motion. She watched as her squad spread out around the railings.

Then there she heard the distinct clicks and whirls of their weapons powering up.

The first discharge was loud and echoed for a moment before the rest of the girls poured terawatts of energy into the unsuspecting Ferals.

Tahiri watched, and a chill raced down her spine as she picked up a new sound. It was an inhuman wail of pain and terror; one that reached deep into her mind and seemed to plant itself there.

Then silenced descended upon the chamber--interrupted for a moment by the ticks of cooling weapons.

Tahiri walked forward, and gripped the railing to look down and see the death she had just ordered on unsuspecting, living creatures.

She glanced down and instantly had to bit her tongue at the scene beneath her. She closed her eyes and quickly said a prayer to Yun-Shuno on the hope that the Ferals would be taken care of in the after life.

Then the stench of burnt and charred flesh and coral reached her nose and she had to fight back the urge to vomit. She clutched her hand over her mouth and took a step back away from the railing.

Noise on the upper level drew her attention and she lifted her gaze. In the shadows she could make out three figures, what appeared to be a male and female human and a female Twi'lek.

As she stared at them, the female human stepped forward and into a beam of the dim lighting.

Tahiri's heart jumped in her chest. Standing up there was her little girl; her Noelani.

Emotions flickered across the girl's face: disgust, sadness, pity and disappointment.

Then just as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone again.

---

Next Post

Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 14

Previous Post

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Tahiri stood in the observation blister above the operating theater. Zora stood a few steps behind her, as Tahiri had assigned the young private as her assistant. Yet Zora was not the focus of her attention. What she was focused on was the doctors operating on the feral beneath them.

She frowned as she felt the feral's pain radiating through both the Force and her nascent ability to sense the Yuuzhan Vong's shaped lifeforms. She blinked, disturbed slightly by the distorted echo that the feeling caused in her soul.

Glancing quickly at Zora, she said, "What exactly are they doing today?"

In the glass reflection, she saw the young girl pull out a datapad and quickly began to read. A pang of guilt and sadness washed over her quickly; once more this young girl reminded her of her own daughter. For a moment, she wondered where Noelani was; what she was doing, if she was being a good apprentice to Tionne.

Zora's reply drew her from her ruminations. "They're testing the feral's innate telepathic ability. From my understanding the docs want to know how much the collective feels when a single feral is under intense stimulus."

Tahiri frowned at that; it reminded her of a similar experiment that the Jedi had carried out on a Killik just a few short years ago; specifically, experiments that were performed on a Killik of the nest that she had begun to form a joining with.

She glanced over at Zora. "So, that means there's another feral in the same colony somewhere under observation?"

Zora nodded her head. "Yes, it's a few sectors away, but we have a Guard research unit monitoring them for reactions."

Tahiri turned away from the window. "And we have a mission today?"

Zora pressed a few commands into her datapad. "Yeah. We're to go out and patrol sector A and destroy any ferals that we come across."

Tahiri glanced at the younger girl. "Destroy? Not capture or restrain in some way?"

"Nope. The orders say we're to kill them."

Tahiri sighed, and then walked out of the observation chamber. A second later Zora followed her, the girl's heavy boots falling loudly on the linoleum tile. Tahiri glanced down at her own bare feet and sighed.

Then shaking her head she walked towards the area of the building where her squad's quarters were. Zora went into one room, while she entered her own and quickly donned the Guard uniform. Straightening up, she stepped lightly into the heavy combat boots, getting used to their weight as she strapped her utility belt back around her waist.

Anakin's saber hung at her hip, a comforting weight. She caressed the hilt with the Force and felt the tiny bit of Anakin that was at the heart of the weapon's living crystal.

Then she confidently strode out into the hallway. A few minutes later Zora and the rest of her squad appeared; hidden and anonymous in the full body armor of the Guard. Tahiri frowned for a moment, some part of her instinctively not liking the uniform, despite the fact that having grown up a Tusken, covering every inch of skin was almost second nature.

She shook her head, and slipped her own helmet over her head. Data swarmed across the interior of her visor, and Zora's voice sounded close and intimate from the helmet's speakers. "You all right, boss?"

Tahiri nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The squad turned and headed towards the lift at the end of the hall.

Within a half hour they were patrolling the undercity. The black armor they wore glinted coldly in the dim light. Yet from within the confines of the helmet, Tahiri was able to see clearly—almost as if it were the middle of the day. The squad moved with precise steps. Zora walked on her right, Lys and Sera, the other two members of her squad, were on her left and in front of her respectively.

As they moved through the area, Tahiri noticed something: there was no one around. On a planet with the population which Coruscant boasted, she found it amazing that there was literally no one there.

She reached out with the Force, hunting for someone and felt only a slight tingle a short distance away. Frowning, she stopped walking and closed her eyes, and then she stretched her Force powers further.

It felt odd to her. Not right. It felt like an abomination; something almost aware, yet almost a Yuuzhan Vong biot. Underneath everything though, there was a strong set of desires; animalistic urgings to eat and mate.

Zora's voice whispered in her ear, "Boss?"

Tahiri's eyes snapped open, and she shifted her head to find Zora's helmet looking towards her.

Then she lifted her head and looked to the west, where she could feel them. Raising her arm, she pointed. "We need to go that way. There are some ferals over there."

After a moment's hesitation, Lys spoke. "Yes sir."

The other three began jogging in the direction Tahiri pointed, and after taking a deep breath, Tahiri began chasing after them.

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Noelani stood on the balcony right off her bedroom. She lifted her face, and watched the dome ceiling for a moment. Sighing, she wished she could see the stars. She missed them, and all that they represented.

Finally, she lowered her face and turned back to look into her bedroom. Curled up on the bed was Huff. The young Bothan had not taken to sleeping in his own bed, and would routinely find his way into either her room or Asyra'mata's.

"Hey Noelani."

She turned back to the balcony and saw that Chase was standing on his, watching her. She found herself blushing, as she walked to the railing closest to him.

"Hey yourself."

"Do… do you want to talk for a while?"

Noelani grinned and quickly nodded her head. She looked into her bedroom for a moment, wondering if Huff would wake up if she opened the door. Deciding it wasn't worth the chance, she took a few steps backwards and then pulled the Force to her, as she jumped.

She landed on his balcony, and he wrapped his arms around her, steadying her.

Smiling, for what seemed to her like the first time in ages, she wrapped her own arms around him, and leaned her head against his chest.

Surprise raced through her. She felt safe and comfortable in his arms; almost like she belonged there.

It scared her.

The feeling created a deep, cold knot of abject terror that raced up and down her spine. She blinked and wondered about it; quickly realizing that she was afraid that Luke Skywalker would appear and take him away.

Her fear was that she would lose him to the Jedi.

The same way that she had lost every thing else in her life that she had considered important.

He ran his hand over her hair, and she sighed. A moment later tears sprang to her eyes, and a shudder raced through her body.

"Shhh," Chase whispered into the top of her head. "It's not your fault. There was no way you could have known they'd change how they attack."

"I know… but it's not just that. I've been having bad dreams… nightmares really."

"What is it?"

"Remember the day we first came here. How I told Asyra'mata about my mom and the Jedi? How you thought it wasn't everything?"

Chase frowned and slowly nodded his head.

"Well, the person who took my Mom away was Luke Skywalker. He mind-rubbed her so that she wouldn't remember me being born or even her being pregnant." Noelani felt a shudder race down her spine. "In my nightmares, I feel him coming after me, and yanking those that I love away from me, stripping them out of my life; one person at a time."

She pulled away from Chase, stepping closer to the railing, and leaned out over it, once more lifting her eyes to the ceiling, and wishing for the stars.

After a few moments, Chase put his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to worry about it. I'm here and the Jedi can't keep me away."

Noelani turned back to face him, tears burning her eyes and blurring her vision. She nodded her head slowly. "I know… and that scares me too."

-------------------------------

The Festering Wound dropped through the atmosphere of the Jeedai homeworld. She could feel the light side of the Force permeating the entire environment. It sickened her.

Yet the Dark Side of the Force drew her here. It wanted her here on this world. As her ship settled to the ground, she closed her eyes, and focused on the swirling energies which became the future. Everything told her to simply wait; that what she was searching for would come to her.

She left the ship, the living implants which were the sign of her rank before learning of the Force writhed in almost ecstasy at the taste of this new world.

Ulya Tu just walked forward, following a whirl of the Force. Suddenly she realized that she was no longer alone. She watched as a young infidel, a Bothan if her memory served her, was standing in a doorway of one of the buildings.

The Bothan hissed at her. "What are you doing here, Vong?"

Ulya Tu's mouth twitched in amusement. "I'm waiting." She polled the Force, trying to determine if this creature was the one she was here to find. No, she's not the one. After a moment, she continued speaking. "What are you doing here youngling?"

The Bothan's eyes narrowed. "I… I'm just here."

"Then we have nothing to fear from one another, do we?"

"This world belongs to the Jedi. You shouldn't be here."

Ulya Tu laughed slightly. "I see no Jeedai here. Only a scared little girl, hiding from the galaxy that she believes treated her wrong."

The Bothan bared her fangs. "I'm not scared."

Ulya Tu walked closer to her. "Oh, but I think you are. I can taste the fear rolling off of you. You burn with it in the Force even."

Ulya could feel the shock rolling off the young girl. A shock which quickly shifted to anger.

"What do you know of the Force?"

Ulya Tu smiled. "More than you ever dreamed possible, youngling."

Ulya Tu closed her eyes, and stretched out with the Force; once more hunting for that call, that awareness. She felt it, a dim, far off wavering in the Force. It was a call that told her two things. The first was that she must wait here for her apprentice to come to her.

Second that she needed this young Jeedai trainee.

Ulya Tu opened her eyes, and reached into a pouch attached to her armor at the waist. She pulled out a wad of blorash jelly and threw it at the young Bothan. The jelly struck the girl and bound her in place.

Fear and anger rolled off her, a wailing in the Force. Ulya Tu grinned and closed the distance between them. Then she placed a finger against the girl's forehead and pulled the Force to her.

With a flash of bright lightning, Ulya Tu scrambled the girl's neural synapses. She knew enough about infidel biology to know that the girl would survive, though she'd be comatose for the next few weeks.

Still grinning, she turned around and made her way back to the Festering Wound. Her apprentice would come to her, and somehow, in some way, this young Bothan would help her bind her apprentice to her, and to the Dark Side of the Force.

---

Next Post

Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 13

Previous Chapter

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Noelani crouched in the burned hulk of a building; she had pushed out with the Force, creating a sort of flattened sphere around her. An imaginary construct in the Force which allowed her to feel all the life in its radius; everything from the smallest bug, to the lumbering feral that was her prey.

This was her twelfth mission to collect a feral, and the first one in which she was the nominal leader. It had been nearly three months of going on raids with others before Gorn had trusted her enough to let her lead her own team out into the wild under-city.

She shifted slightly so she could look out the window with her eyes. She knew that it was not really necessary, but she also knew that it made the others more accepting of her. That it made her seem more human.

On the ground beneath them was the feral. It appeared to have at one time been a human girl, and if Noelani had to guess, she was around twenty standard years old. What was saddest to Noelani was that guessing from the amount of coral growth on the girl's body; she had been a feral for over ten years.

Noelani shuddered at the thought. Having been tortured at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, and knowing that everyday with a coral infection was pain of a similar nature, caused her to feel sorry for the girl.

She tightened her grip on her saber, and glanced over at Asyra'mata. The red-skin Twi'lek had proven that she could be quite helpful on these hunts. Noelani then looked past the girl to see Rosen. He was a large man, bulky and muscular. A former bouncer, he had been helping Evir collect ferals for months now, and was now on her team.

Noelani nodded her head once, and then grabbed the window, and heaved herself out of it. As she dropped to the ground, she thumbed on her lightsaber. With a snap-hiss its brilliant light flooded the area, and the feral groaned.

Noelani landed on her feet, dropping into a crouch as she stared at the feral. It raised its arms, and started ambling forward, its moans growing louder, and beginning to echo with subharmonics.

She now knew that this was the newest phenomenon which Evir was studying, and how the ferals communicated with one another.

Suddenly, the heavy titanium-mesh net slashed across her view, folding itself around the feral. Noelani looked over and saw Rosen lowering the net gun from his shoulder even as she thumbed off her saber.

She grinned, and activated her comlink. "Chase, we've got one. Bring in the boat."

A quick double-click came back to her, and she turned off the device. In the distance she could hear an engine turning over. She knew that that would be Chase with the groundcar.

A tremor raced down her spine, and she frowned; every nerve sizzled to hyperawareness. The Force screamed at her: danger!

Slowly, she spun in a circle, her eyes lifting to watch the buildings around them.

From the floor above their level, windows burst out, and a trio of ferals dropped down. They landed nearly on top of Rosen.

"Rosen!" she called out, as she lifted her saber and thumbed it to life. Without a second's thought she rushed forward, running towards her teammate.

By virtue of being closer to him, the ferals reached him first. Rosen screamed as the first one bit him.

A bright red bolt flashed from the window they had been hiding in, slamming into the feral that had latched its mouth to Rosen's shoulder. Its head evaporated under the impact of the blaster bolt.

As Noelani closed with the ferals, she spoke into the comlink's mic. "Nice shot Asyra'mata."

A quick double-click came back to her, but she pushed that from her mind. She was in the midst of the ferals, her blade slashed in a half arc around her; a wide cut which bisected both of the ferals.

They fell away dead, and Noelani slid to a stop next to Rosen. Turning off her lightsaber, she knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his bald head.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and as his eyes opened, he smiled at her. "Was nice knowing you Noelani… now kill me. Kill me 'fore I become one of 'em.

She felt hot tears burning her eyes. "I… I don't want to…"

"Ya know there's no cure. Now, do it child. Do it while I still have my own mind."

Noelani lifted her saber, placing its hilt on the side of his head. She could feel the sense of wrongness as it flooded throughout his body. Another tear splashed against his cheek as a jagged piece of coral erupted from his cheek.

"Do it!" he hissed at her.

Still crying, she activated the blade. Its thrum sounded loud and oppressive to her ears, pounding against them. The sound told a story of how she had failed her friend.

She deactivated the blade, and the silence crashed in on her. She curled into a ball, her whole body shaking with the tears. Before long, a tentative hand touched her shoulder; thin fingers caressed her hair, after a moment, the hand snaked around her, holding her tight as she cried.

Then she heard Asyra'mata's voice in her ear. "It's all right… everything's fine. You did the right thing."

Then Chase was there, picking her up off the ground, cradling her to his chest. She leaned against him, comforted by his presence. He gently placed her into the groundcar, and within moments Asyra'mata was there again, comforting her.

A few minutes later, she heard something drop heavily into the bed of the groundcar, and knew that Chase had retrieved Rosen's body. Then he appeared in the driver's seat. He reached out and gripped her hand for a moment.

Once he released her, he put the vehicle into motion, heading towards the compound.

With the back of her hand, Noelani pushed away some tears. "H… how did that happen?"

"We just got unlucky is all," Asyra'mata replied.

Noelani shook her head. "No. That's not it at all. They were waiting for us. Expecting us. That's a new behavior that we hadn't seen in the ferals before. The feral colonies are getting smarter."

She could feel the other two's hesitance to accept her ideas. She understood that. She didn't want to think of what horrors a gathering of intelligent ferals could unleash upon those who lived in the under-city. It was bad enough when they were just a mindless, reactive mob.

She straightened slightly, and wrapped her arms around the younger Twi'lek, and smiled at the girl. "Thank you."

Asyra'mata just shook her head, and turned to look out the window. Before long they were pulling in front of the processing station, and Gorn with two of his assistants were walking towards them.

Noelani sighed, and got out of the car, and felt Gorn's annoyance and anger as he saw Rosen's body lying in the cargo area next to the tied up feral.

His hard eyes flickered among them all, before settling onto Noelani. "What's this? Your first mission and you've already have a casualty in your group?"

Noelani stamped down on her annoyance with the older man. "It's the ferals, they did something new. They ambushed us."

Gorn's eyes narrowed as he watched her for a moment. Then he sighed and looked away. "You're not the first to report that today. Get out of here; I'll have to talk about this with Evir."

Her eyes widened in surprise, as she looked over towards Chase. He just shrugged his shoulders, and together they turned away, and headed deeper into the compound. Before long, they were in front of the building that they shared.

The trio walked in, and two short blond blurs rushed forward and grabbed Noelani around the waste. Noelani smiled down at the two sisters, and continued on into the room. In the corner, she saw Huff, the young mute Bothan who had also attached himself to her.

She smiled at him, and waved him forward. He watched her for a moment, a quiver wavering across his muzzle. Finally, he moved forward and wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug.

-------------------------------

Kor huddled in the cramped confines of the transport. They were all being taken to the spaceport, and a set of Jedi ships waiting there to get them all off the planet. There was no doubt now that the Guard had turned against the Jedi.

Kor closed her eyes, fighting the tears that wanted to come as she remembered Master Kam being shot in cold blood by that sadistic commander.

She scrubbed at her eyes with her paws, and then gave her head a quick shake.

The transport rumbled to a stop and the doors swung open. Kor blinked at the sudden influx of light, and stood up and got off the vehicle. She looked up and saw the three transports on the tarmac a hundred meters away, bright spotlights coming from them, roving the ground.

Kor paused, allowing the rest of the padawans to flow around her, as they rushed towards the transports.

She felt something else though. Something urged her to stay behind.

This was her home, more than Bothuwai had ever been.

She had met her best friend, Noelani here. She had learned so much here.

She had met Poll here.

She had lost Poll here.

Part of her still blamed Ben for what had happened, even though she knew that it had hurt Ben as much as it had hurt her. She bowed her head for a moment, as a fresh wave of pain flowed over her; she accepted the pain, comforted by its familiarity.

First Poll had died in those terrible caverns, and then Thann had informed her that he could no longer be her Master. Not for the first time, she felt lost and alone.

Lifting her head, she stared at the brilliant lights of the closest of the transports, and made up her mind. Moving purposefully, she headed towards one of the maintenance sheds, and with a flick of the Force opened the door.

She slipped into the dark room, and closed the door, waiting.

A few minutes later, she heard the voice of one of the older Jedi calling out, "That's everyone, let's lift off."

Acknowledgments rang out, and Kor could feel a low rumble deep in the pit of her stomach as the starships activated their repulsor engines.

A few minutes later, she heard the transports ignite their ion engines. Before long, the nearly deafening noise had dwindled to a low roar and then was gone all together.

Kor waited another fifteen minutes and then pushed open the door to the maintenance shed. She stared out at the empty starport, and then shifted her gaze to the equally empty Jedi Temple.

Pulling her robe tighter around her shoulders, she began the long walk back to the Temple; oddly happy at the solitude. For the first time since Poll's death, she almost felt at peace.

---

Next Chapter

Memories - Epilogue

Previous Post

---

Anakin was strapped into the crash couch of his X-Wing, the swirls of hyperspace hypnotic before him. He stretched as much as possible in the cramp cockpit trying to work out the kinks in his shoulders. He glanced down at the console, and noted that the last leg of his trip was over; after two weeks on Obra-Skai he was finally returning to the Jedi Academy on Yavin.

Grinning, he pushed the levers forward as Fiver, his astromech, told him that it was time to leave hyperspace. The swirling tunnel collapsed and the Yavin IV hung before him a blue and green jewel, in front of the larger orange and brown sphere of Yavin itself.

He activated his com and got clearance to land, once that was taken care of he called up his apartment.

His Aunt Mara answered, "About time you should back up, Solo."

He chuckled, long used to her acerbic personality, "I blame Uncle Luke for sending me on these things."

"Well, we've been waiting, and everyone's here, but you should have a package to pick up at the landing field."

The grin still on his lips, he nodded his head, "I understand Aunt Mara, and I'll see you soon, and there should probably be some canapes around."

"Copy that, Solo," she replied with a chuckle and then the circuit shut down.

Still grinning, he dove into the atmosphere, ignoring the squak of concern that came from traffic control. Speeding up, he dropped low, riding just a few meters above the massive trees which covered most of the area. Flowers and leaves blew up in the air, disturbed by the wake of his passage.

Within minutes he was within sight of the Jedi Temple, and traffic control was getting frantic at his speed and the fact that he was ignoring the customary approach patterns. With a flick of his wrist he turned off the comm unit entirely as he circled the Temple itself.

Leveling out, he flashed over the landing area, causing an explosion of colored petals to shower the area. He simultaneously pulled up on his stick and throttled his speed back down effectively flipping his craft over and shedding all its forward momentum.

Righting himself, he once more closed on the landing area at a more sedate pace. Arriving at his designated plot, he gently lowered the fighter to the ground. Pulling off his flight helmet, he looked at the stone bench set beside the landing area.

It wasn't that long ago that he sat there waiting for Jaina to come pick him up. For a moment, he wondered what his life would have been like if he hadn't came back to Yavin.

Even as he thought that, he focused on the person sitting on the bench. She was a slip of a girl in an orange jumpsuit, and had a piece of cloth tied over her hair. As he realized that she was without shoes as usual, he found that his grin had widened into a full smile; and he knew that his life would not be nearly as complete if he hadn't returned.

Pushing open the canopy, he jumped out and used the Force to slow his drop to the ground. The smell of flowers hung heavily on the air and the petals themselves were nearly everywhere; placed there by the aggressiveness of his approach. A strong wind would occasionally gust through them, sending a rainbow's worth of colors fluttering on the breeze.


He closed the distance between them, as he walked, he noticed that she shifted the cloth on top of her head as the wind tried to snatch it away.

Finally he was standing before her, and tossed her a half-hearted grin and a wave. "Hey suspicious person."

She raised her head, a frown on her own lips. "You're late. Way late."

"Sorry that I was a little late," he replied, ignoring her. "But then again, I'm not the suspicious person here."

"I'm not a suspicious person!" She exclaimed as her green eyes wavered between anger and amusement.

He laughed and knelt down in front of her. "What? Sorry, but no matter how you look at it, you're a suspicious person."

"How?"

"It's just everything," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a pout touched her lips. "That's not true."

He patted the cloth. "What's with this, anyways?"

She sighed, and gripped the cloth tighter to her head. "Promise not to laugh?"

"I won't," he said, standing back up.

"You really, really promise not to laugh?"

"I swear that I won't, no matter what happens."

She frowned slightly. "That sounds made up, but it's a promise."

"I do keep my promises," he replied.

She nodded her head, and then sighed. "Well... I went to the barber and asked for a haircut. Then..." She pulled the cloth off, revealing that her long hair had been almost entirely hacked off into a short bob that ended just beneath her ears. "Then I kind of got a lot cut off. He was new, and a Chadra-fan... I don't think he knew that I was a girl."

He couldn't help it, Anakin burst out laughing.

She threw the cloth at him as she pouted. "You said you wouldn't laugh."

His laughing tapered off, and still grinning, he responded, "Well, it's just that with that haircut, you do look kind of like a boy. Next time, take Jaina or Nelani with you."

She sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll do that."

He held his hands out towards her. "Well come on then, let's go."

She reached up and grabbed his hands, and he pulled her to a standing position. "I commed Aunt Mara on my way down, and she said she'd make you some canapes. Also, Jaina, Tenel Ka, Eyrl, Kiori and Nelani are going to be there. They're all there waiting for us."

She grinned up at him, the smile lighting up her eyes as the wind once again tossed flowers around them. "Then we've got to hurry."

As they began to walk towards the apartments in the distance, he smiled down at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "No Tahiri, we've got all the time in the world."

--------------------------------

The time that had stopped slowly starts moving...

... all while holding on to a small fragment of a miracle.

I don't know how long it will take...

But... there's plenty of time.

Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 12

Previous Post

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Ulya watched the image of the human woman. She claimed her name was Zannah, and had in life been the apprentice of Darth Bane.

She knelt, absorbing as much of the information being provided as she could. She found it hard to believe that at one time she hated these devices with such a deep passion. An unfortunate side-effect of her rearing; quickly forgotten as she leaned the lore of the Sith; dark affections which fused mechanical and biological—all done to further her own power.

Finally, she lifted her head and looked around her, the Force vibrated. Something out there was calling to her; a shift in powers that she could use.

She noticed the hologram of Zannah nodding her head, and focused on her again. "Yes, you can feel it can't you. The call. Follow it, find your apprentice. Then, and only then, will you become a true Sith."

Ulya focused on the swirls of the Force for a moment. Then she nodded and focused on Zannah once more. "And if she refuses to come with me?"

"Then kill her. If she refuses, or if you believe she is not worth being your apprentice, then she must die. Your life, your existence, depends on secrecy. Sheer power is fine, but there is a lot to be said about twisting beings to your will through trickery, and making events go your way with machinations from behind the scenes. It may require more patience, but such tactics will succeed where brute force often fails."

Ulya thought for a moment, and then nodded her head. "I understand this."

"Good," Zannah replied sternly. "Then go forth and find your apprentice."

Ulya Tu stood up, her joints popping with the movement, and strode from the room. In a matter of minutes she had left the hidden temple, and began the long journey to where he ship waited for her.

She would find this apprentice.

She would become the Dark Lady of the Sith.

She would have her revenge.

-------------------------------

Tionne stormed through the Temple. She felt anger and frustration working at her. It had been days since young Noelani had disappeared, yet there had been no sign of her in all that time.

In the Force, there were occasional flickers of the girl's presence, just enough to let the Jedi know that she was alive and still somewhere on Coruscant.

Her husband reached out and touched her elbow.

She stopped in her tracks, and turned to face him. Concern lined his face. "Calm yourself Tionne. We know that she's all right."

Tionne sighed, and exhaled slowly, not wanting to vent her anger and frustration on Kam. "I know, Kam. It's just… she could have given me a chance. She didn't have to run."

Kam nodded his head slowly. "I know, yet she did what she felt she had to do. She is the product of both Anakin and Tahiri after all. Once she had made up her mind, there was probably nothing in this galaxy that could have stopped her."

"But why? Why would she run?"

Kam's face darkened slightly as he looked away from her. "Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you have ran away from us, if the Jedi had treated you the way that we've treated her?"

Tionne sighed, and rubbed her face in her hands. "I… you're right of course."

Kam smiled at her, and grabbed her hand in his. "Come on, I'm sure the Council is waiting for us by now."

She nodded, and then spoke again, "I think it's time to go back to Ossus."

He looked at her for a moment. "And Noelani?"

"You're right. She'll be found when she wants to be found. Until then, we can't put off our responsibilities to the rest of the Younglings on Ossus."

Kam watched her for a moment, and then nodded his head. "All right," he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Together they walked the rest of the way to the Council chambers. She nodded as the Padawan guarding the door bowed to them. Then they were in the Council chamber itself.

The rest of the Masters looked at them. For the first time since Noelani's disappearance, Tionne could feel a real smile twitching at her lips.

"Sorry we're late," Kam said as he walked over to his chair. Tionne took hers, and then the meeting began.

-------------------------------

Chase walked beside Noelani, their hands tightly gripped in one another's. Ahead of them was one of the many guards who seemed to reside in Evir's compound. All of those guards were big, burly men; who looked like they might have at one time been trained soldiers.

He felt his mind wandering, trying to make sense of the past few hours. What troubled him the most was that he could not figure out a reason why Evir would want them to help him.

As they entered a room, he shoved the concerns from his mind. He saw Evir in one corner talking to a Chev in a blue lab coat. A large conference table dominated the room, and sitting at it were two more people. A Bothan, who appeared to have mange, and a human, with two distinguishing features; the first a long scar running down the side of his face and the other being a bald head save for a purple top knot of hair.

Their guide nodded to them, and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

Evir looked up from the Chev and smiled at them. "Sit you two and we'll begin in just a few minutes."

He then turned away and continued his conversation. Noelani looked at him, and he just shrugged his shoulders. So, they walked to the table and sat across from the scarred man.

He felt the scarred man's eyes peering at him, as if he was just a bug for the man to squash. Frustrated slightly, he turned and met the man's stare.

The man smirked at him, and Chase looked away, back towards Evir, wondering when the meeting would begin. A few more people entered the room and took seats either at the table or against one of the walls. Chase only gave them a cursory glance before focusing on Evir again.

Finally, Evir walked over and took the seat at the head of the table. He smiled at them; a smile devoid of humor and warmth. Not for the first time, Chase wondered why the man would be doing all of this for them. He wanted to know what Evir was after.

"Well then, shall we begin?" Evir said, as he began looking around at the beings sitting around him. Seeing no complaints, He gestured towards Noelani and Chase. "First I'd like to introduce the two young people who will be responsible for capturing specimens for us for the time being; additionally, they will assist in defending the compound in case of another feral, or Guard, attack. Their names are Chase and Noelani."

Evir began clapping, and Chase noticed a slight blush appear on Noelani's cheeks. He just nodded his head in response.

After a few minutes, Evir began the meeting in earnest, quickly lapsing into odd acronyms which Chase didn't know, and speaking in phrases that sound like some sort of obscene biochemistry course.

To Chase, the meeting ended suddenly. One minute, there was the near constant drone of people discussing things he did not understand, the next moment, everyone was standing up and beginning to disperse from the meeting.

He blinked a few times, and looked over at Noelani to find her chatting with a young woman who was at most twenty standard years old.

Standing, he stretched his arms out above his head, trying to work out the cramps that had settled into his muscles. Then he walked over to Noelani.

She turned towards him; a bright smile lighting up her face. "Chase! Are you excited? We're going to go out and try to find some ferals for Evir in the morning."

Chase nodded his head, flickers of conversation to that affect flashed through his mind. "Yeah… I can't wait."

She giggled slightly. "It'll be all right, we'll be there together."

The next morning, he was woken up by Noelani pounding on his door. After a moment, she pushed it open and jumped on his bed. He lifted his head and noticed that she had already gotten dressed, and was wearing a black tunic, pants and Imperial-style boots.

She grinned, and he was once more stunned at how pretty she was when she did so. "Wake up, sleepyhead. Evir said that he'd have someone here at 0600 to take us to the dispatch center. We've got to uphold our side of the bargain."

Chase pulled the sheets tight around him and sat up on the bed. He eyed her warily, "It's too early to be that chipper."

Laughing, she bounced off the bed and went to his wardrobe and pulled it open. She rummaged through it for a moment, and finally found a shipboard coverall in a dark blue coloring. She tossed it at him. "Get dressed and come down for breakfast."

With a flick of her ponytail she was gone. For a moment, he found himself staring at the doorway through which she had disappeared. Then he shook his head and got dressed.

When he got downstairs, he saw that the red Twi'lek girl, Asyra'mata, was dressed in a shortened version of Noelani's outfit. He sat down beside her as Noelani dropped a bowl of gruel in front of him.

He picked up his spoon, and then frowned at the grey mixture. "Is this food?"

Noelani looked hurt as she lifted her eyes from the bowl she was eating out of. "Of course it is, silly."

He glanced over at Asyra'mata, who was slowly eating her own portion of the gruel. He watched her put a small bit into her mouth, and then saw a shiver race down her lekku.

He sunk is spoon into the mixture, and pulled out a bite. He shoved the spoon into his mouth, and fought back the urge to vomit.

Quickly, he swallowed, and was saved from having to eat more by the annunciator on the front door being activated. He dropped his spoon and quickly stood up. "That must be our guide."

They stepped out of the house, to find a massive human standing on the walkway. He towered over them, and had to outweigh Chase by at least 30 kilograms. He stared down at them, a short look of disgust on his face. "I'm Gorn. You two are my new hunters?"

Chase almost shook his head in defeat as Noelani gave the man a brilliant smile. "Yup. We're the new hunters. I'm Noelani and this is Chase."

The man looked them over, and then shaking his head turned away from them. He walked to the ground car idling nearby, as he called out over his shoulder, "Well come on you lot. The Doctor wants a feral by lunchtime."

---

Next Post

Memories Ch 24

Previous Chapter

---

A dream...

The day the dream ends...

Like the snow melting away under the spring sun...

Like how people's facades fade as they age...

Like how memories start to fade and disappear in the course of eternal time...

Now the long dream reaches an end...

After granting the final wish...

The one wish...

My wish is...

--------------------------------

The alarm clock started ringing, a constantly changing metronome which Anakin found annoying; the perfect impetuous to drag him out of bed.

Groaning, he opened his eyes, finding his face in a shaft of brilliant sunlight. He blinked twice and then rolled out of the bed, stretching muscles tightened by sleep. Leaving the room, he turned off his alarm clock on the way out, and as he entered the hallway, he could clearly hear the myriad alarms Jaina had set up in her room.

Sighing, he knocked on her door. "Jaina!"

When no answer came, he opened the door and quickly turned off her alarms. Then he turned towards his sister, and frowned. "Wake up, Jaina."

After getting her up and moving, they walked down the hallways towards the kitchen. Jaina looked over at him, a sly grin on her face. "I finally got a message back from Zekk."

He snorted. "Told you that you should send him one."

Sticking her tongue out at him, she darted around the corner and into the kitchen. Over her shoulder she called out, "Brat!"

Laughing, he followed her, to find Mara setting a plate onto the table. Ben was set on her hip, and he cooed as he saw them both.

Jaina settled into her customary spot, and looked at a jar. She pulled it towards her, and unscrewed the cap, sniffing its contents carefully. "Oh! This is a new jam isn't it?"

Mara smiled, and Anakin was slightly amazed at how well she had recovered in the past few weeks.

Too soon, Anakin found himself running behind Jaina, as they threaded through the crowds on their way to the Temple. Panting, he ground out, "How exactly did it come to this again?"

"That's just because Aunt Mara's new jam was so good," she replied with a giggle. Then she looked down at the chronometer attached to her wrist. "If you don't want to be late, we've got to run faster"

He sighed and tried to run faster.

They stumbled into the classroom just as the morning bell went off. Jaina looked around with a gloating smile on her face. "We made it."

Anakin slowly went over to his seat and collapsed into it. "Next time we're running late, don't eat so much. You can eat Mara's jam whenever you want."

Jaina settled into her seat next to his, and nodded her head. "Yeah... you're right... I can eat her jam whenever."

Smiling, he leaned towards her slightly. "Well, just make sure you eat that jam for her next time as well."

Jaina shuddered, her eyes squeezing shut in remembered pain. "I... no, you eat it."

"I'm allergic to jams."

She looked at him, a dubious expression on her face. "I've never heard of such a thing before..."

Raynar and Kiori walked over. "Hey!" Raynar called over. "What are you guys talking about?"

Anakin looked at his two friends. "We're talking about Mara's special blend jam."

Kiori's eyes opened wider in shock and fear. "Th...that's still around?"

"So, you've had it to," Anakin responded.

Kiori nodded. "Once. I went over while Jaina and I were working together on a project for Master Horn, and Master Skywalker served it to us."

"I see," Anakin replied.

"What?" Raynar cried out, looking between the three of them. "What's this jam all about?"

"There are some things that one is better off not knowing about," Anakin said, as the two girls quickly nodded their head in agreement.

Suddenly, Kiori slapped her hands together. "Oh! I almost forget... Anakin guess what."

Startled slightly, he looked up to see the bright smile on her face.

At the first break, he ran down the steps, and into the courtyard garden. Panting, he began looking around. He took a few more steps, heading deeper into the garden courtyard.

Then he heard the sound of someone stepping on the gravel behind him. "Anakin?"

He felt himself smiling. "I figured you'd come out here."

"Yes," she replied. "I'm back at school today."

He continued to look at the distance. "Why not keep skipping. You're going to have to repeat the entire year's worth of work."

"I don't like people who say such things."

He turned around and found Nelani standing there. She was dressed in a set of Jedi robes, her hands clasped in front of her and a bright smile on her lips.

"Long time no see," she said, her eyes dancing with happiness.

"Yeah," he replied as he closed the distance between them. When he got close enough, he rubbed at her hair. "I'm happy for you Nelani... that you can come to school again."

"Anakin..."

"Hey, let's celebrate again at Poltx; to celebrate you getting better."

"At times like this...." She lowered her head, and when she lifted her face towards her again, tears lined her eyes. "At... At times like this.... I can cry right?"

"Yeah," he replied nodding his head.

"Anakin!" she exclaimed, and grabbed the front of his tunic, burying her face in it. Her shoulders shaking as she cried into his chest. "I... I never wanted to die... I didn't want to say goodbye... I don't want to be...alone...."

Anakin wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest. "When you want to cry you can; since you've been strong all this time."

------------------------------------

Anakin sat on the thin mat. Across from him was Tenel Ka, and setting out the boxes of food was Eyrl. Once the food was put out, she threw her arms forward and grinned brightly

"Please, eat up!"

Anakin gathered up his share, and began eating. "I'm just happy you two managed to get out of the medward before the term ended. Weren't you both supposed to be knighted?"


"Yeah," Eyrl answered. "Even Master Cilghal was surprised. She said it was something of a miracle that we got out as early as we did. Right Tenel Ka?"

Tenel Ka nodded.

Anakin frowned at something Eyrl had said. It tugged at the jumbled mess of his memories. Miracle?

Eyrl continued speaking. "Yeah, though we're going to have to wait a while longer before we can get knighted. Master Skywalker thinks we might have missed a bit too much of this terms lessons. Right Tenel Ka?"

Tenel Ka nodded.

Anakin looked at her for a moment. "What exactly is your plan after you're knighted? Are you going into one of the government service programs or are you going to become a Jedi?"

Tenel Ka shrugged. "Government service has no appeal to me."

Anakin snorted. "Why not? I think you'd be good in the diplomatic corps."

She frowned and then reached over and slapped her hand onto the top of his head. "Ow!"

Eyrl giggled slightly. "Anakin, did you ever find your missing friend?"

"Tahiri?" he said with a slight sigh. "She said we weren't going to be able to see each other again, so I guess she left. She might have even gone back to Tatooine."

Smiling sadly, he picked up his plate again and once more began to eat.

--------------------------------

After he had been released from training for the day, Anakin strolled through the shopping district. As he turned every corner, he still half expected someone to come jumping onto his back and screaming out his name.

He was surprised at how much he missed her exuberance.

"Solo?"

Startled, he spun around to see who had called his name. For a split second he thought it was going to be Tahiri, instead it was Mara. "A-aunt Mara?"

Amusement twinkled in her eyes, as she tilted her head slightly. "Ah? Did you mistake me for someone else?" Then she twirled a strand of her red hair around one of her manicured fingers. "I can understand the eyes, Solo, but the hair is not quite right."

"Ah... no... it wasn't that..." he replied, scratching at his own hair. "Besides, she'd never call me 'Solo.'"

A sad look appeared in her eyes, as she nodded her head. Then she pointed towards a building across the street. "Let's go over there."

He followed her finger, and saw Poltx. Nodding his head, he followed her to it, and soon they were seated at a table across from each other.

After they had ordered, he looked at her. "I'm happy that there's no long term effect from the accident."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, Cilghal was surprised as well. She even went so far as to call it a miracle." She looked down at the table as their teas were placed in front of them. A frown touched her lips for a moment, before she smiled again. Finally, she lifted her face to look at him once more. "Anakin, do you have any idea where Tahiri is? It's been bothering me, and I know Jaina is worried as well. Kriff, even Ben liked her. It's just not the same without her around."

Anakin lowered his head, and wrapped his hands around his cup, enjoying its warmth against his hands. He felt another pang of heartache, as what Mara was saying stirred up conflicting emotions. "Aunt Mara... I... I remember now."

"Huh?"

"About what happened all those years ago... Why I lost my memories... The last day of my training session, just hours before I was supposed to leave on the Falcon... my friend..." He clenched his teeth before continuing. "We were on the river... and she fell in, and got pulled away... when I got to her she wasn't breathing... Uncle Luke found us at that melted temple and then asked me what happened and then I was waiting to go back to Coruscant.

"As I sat on the bench waiting for Dad, Jaina came by. She... she didn't know what had happened and I... well, I took my frustrations and anger out on her. Then I fled with Dad back home. I don't remember much after that, and it's not until a year ago that my memories really begin again.

"I know you're just being considerate about my feelings when you didn't tell me about the accident. One day you did ask me about one of the Temples, to see if I remembered what had happened.

"That's why you asked... and I assume that's why the Temple was razed. Because.... Because that girl... my friend.... Her name was Tahiri Veila. Tahiri.... She's... she's not here anymore.... One with the Force as Uncle Luke would say."

He clenched his jaws together and dropped his head. He felt his body shaking slightly; as he fought the tears that he knew would come if he let them.

Mara gently touched his hand, and he lifted his head to look at her.

After a moment she spoke. "You can be a bit dense sometimes, you know that Solo? That girl... Your Uncle had a state of the art medical center built here because of her. She's not dead, but..."

------------------------------------

A Dream....

I'm seeing a dream...

A dream of the person most dear to me, sitting by my side.

He talks to me. He lets me hear about so many things. There are so many stories that he tells me...

A story about his sister who he met again after seven years.

A story of a girl that was a fish.

A story of a strange girl who would appear in the Temple's courtyards every day.

A story of a girl who fought her own demons.

And a story about a childhood friend who he met every day in the shopping districts.

A dream...

I'm seeing a dream...

A dream of being by my dearest person.

A daily life that repeats; pieces of dreams comes one after another and fill my heart.

Just like the seasons change. From winter to spring to summer to fall and back to winter.

--------------------------------


Anakin walked behind the nurse, his emotions flashing from one end of the spectrum to the other. Fragments of memories were jumbled in his head, the most prominent of which were parts of the conversation he had just had with Mara.

Finally, the nurse stopped and pulled open a door. Anakin paused, not wanting to look in. Then he stepped forward. The room was dominated by a bed, an array of medical scanners and equipment were attached to the wall by the head of the bed. The far wall from him had a wide window which allowed streams of the afternoon sun to fall on the bed.

Lying there, her features highlighted by the sun, was Tahiri. Her hair was longer than he remembered, and her chest lifted and lowered slowly and evenly with her breathing.

He stepped forward, and noticed that her hand was clenched tightly around a small doll. He took another step, and recognized the doll as the one he had given her.

Slowly, mechanically he crossed the room to her bed. Then he fell to his knees and dropped his head to her bed, resting it gently on her shoulder.

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Time passed slowly; Anakin visited daily. On occasion Nelani or Tenel Ka or Eyrl or Jaina would visit her with him. It was a firm part of his routine, as important to him as training ever was. He helped care for her, washed her hair, massaged her legs, but most of all he talked to her. He told her stories and anecdotes and the trials he was going through in order to complete his training.

While not exactly happy, neither was he sad. Tahiri was in front of him, there every day, just as he was there for her.

One day, while washing her hair with Jaina's help, Jaina paused for a moment. She frowned down at Tahiri's still form. "What happened to her necklace?"

Anakin frowned as he looked at her neck. The necklace was gone, and thinking back he realized that she had never had it on.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure, I don't remember seeing it."

Then with that said, they returned to washing her hair.

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Anakin sat on the bench across from Nelani. In her hand she held a sketchbook and a chunk of charcoal. Her hand moved with deft strokes, creating a skritching sound from the paper.

She lifted her eyes for a second. "Have you ever wondered if you were in someone's dream?"

"What's that?"

She paused in her drawing. "It's a 'what-if' situation." Her head titled slightly to the side. "For example, the person whose dream it is can grant a single wish. Originally in the dream the one thing the person could do was cry, but the person never gave up waiting."

She lowered the pad to the flat of her lap, and then continued speaking. "Then... then there was a small chance. The wish is kind of like a present that's been given to her for waiting so long. After all, that person has waited year after year. That way she'd be capable of granting any one wish. Saving a sickly girl... saving someone who got hurt in an accident... even healing the hurt friends...."

"Isn't there only supposed to be one wish?"

"I don't know what she wished for, but maybe... what if it was 'I want my dearest person to always be smiling?' Maybe it was a wish like that, and for that to come true, everyone around that person would have to be having a happy life too..."

Anakin lifted an eyebrow as he watched Nelani. "How are you able to think like that?"

Quickly, she began shaking her head. "I don't know..." She focused on him for a moment, and then lifted her eyes towards the sky. Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's just a thought I've had ever since I got better."

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As was his custom, Anakin was sitting next to Tahiri, telling her about his day. As usual, she lay there, her eyes closed, not responding to anything he said.

The door opened, and he looked that way, to see Tenel Ka stepping into the room. She paused in the door way, her grey eyes boring into his.

He stood up, and allowed Tenel Ka to take the seat by the bed, while he prepared tea for them both. Glancing quickly over his shoulder, he asked, "You're not with Eyrl today?"

She remained silent for a long heartbeat; finally she bowed her head slightly. "Anakin... I am certain that she is still waiting for you." She looked up at him, as he turned to face her. "Go find her. Go find her, the way you found me."

Anakin frowned for a moment. "Find her?"

"Yes. I am certain that it is something that only you can do. The only person who can keep the promise, is the person with whom the promise was made."

As Anakin watched her, she lowered her head and once more began watching Tahiri.

"Where is she waiting?" he asked.

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I loved the scenery that flew by.

Spring.

The forest vibrant and life waking up.

I loved running through the forest, leaving behind my footprints in the moist ground.

Summer.

I loved the heat and warmth as I moved through the woods; all hints of the winter hidden by the dense foliage of the canopy.

Autumn.

The world begins to wait. The Forest closes begins to close in upon itself, readying for the long cold winter.

Winter.

The first biting chill wind. Going to the mountains, catching the snowflakes as they fall.

And then it's back to Spring.

The season of new life. The season when the flowers flare in a riot of colors.

I loved the scenery that flew by.

But, like a puddle frozen in winter, so my time has frozen.

I was always alone; all the while seeing the same scene repeated day after unending day. I was always alone while viewing the same unending night...

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He walked through the forest, heading deeper into it. He stumbled forward, and broke through into the clearing which housed the melted temple.

Looking around, he advanced forward slightly, and then he looked up at the sky. Sighing, not entirely certain what he was doing here, he began looking around.

And that was when he saw it.

A small parcel, aged, tossed away into the brush. He frowned, wondering why he had never seen it before. He picked it up, and with a start he realized that he had seen it before. It had been something he had bought. Carefully, he opened it up, and sitting inside was a necklace.

The pendant was a brown smooth stone, with a silver wire wrapped around it to hold it to the thin metal chain.

As he looked at it, in his mind's eye he saw Tahiri standing there, holding up the chains, as she said, "Yes, I do. It was a present from someone and means a lot to me." Then there was another time when they had discussed the necklace, and she had asked, "Do you remember when you gave this to me?"

Tears flowed down his cheek, as he crumpled to the ground. I never gave Tahiri the necklace. I never did...

As he cried, all the memories came slamming back, forcing him to realize all the things that he had done in his effort to forget his pain.

I never gave it to her, he thought. Instead I choose to believe that I had. I chose an illusion over reality. I forced away my sadness; I couldn't face it. I accepted the illusion that put me at ease, and I did it just because I didn't want to hurt anymore. I did it because I didn't want my heart to break any more than it already had.

He lifted his head and looked around. Everything around him felt surreal and altered. He looked down and realized that he was a child again; no more than eleven years old. He stood and walked back down the path. Before long he arrived where the city should have been, instead it was the woods of the past.

He continued on, through the path, up the slight hill until he came to the forbidding edifice which is the Jedi Temple. Feeling dwarfed in his childhood body, he entered the Temple through the wide hanger doors, and found her sitting on a stone bench. Her bare feet swung in time to a melody she was humming. Her green eyes flashed with happiness as she looked up at him. "You're late Anakin."

He nodded his head. "Yeah. This time I was really late."

Her smile was slightly bitter. "I don't think I want to play today though. I'm a bit tired from waiting."

"Did you worry that I might not come?"

She shook her head. "Nope. We promised, remember?"

"Tahiri," he said, as he lifted the package and held it out to her. "Here."

She looked at it for a moment. "What's that?"

"I said I had something to give you," he replied.

She sprang from her seat and rushed towards him. When she arrived in front of him, she took the package; her smile was brilliant as she looked down at it.

He held out his hand towards her. "Tahiri?"

She lifted her head.

"Come on. Let's go."

She watched his hand for a moment, and then nodded her head. "Yep."

Then her small hand slipped into his, and together they walked towards the setting sun.

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