Saga -Ruin- OC's, completed

A/N: Reposting as the original thread is chopped up and screwy. I'm once again working on the sequel and people might want to see this story in its entirety so they know what's going on.

Title: Ruin
Author(s): darksideyesplease, FelsGoddess
Timeframe: Post-TPM
Characters: OCs
Genre: Romance, action
Keywords: Jedi, refugees
Summary: A young Jedi and a refugee from the doomed planet Ennth cross paths. One must choose what is the correct path while the other must decide what they want and if it's worth the price.
Notes: I thought up the main plot and she was able to think up some great details to solidify the plot for me. This is going to be mainly original character driven.




-Chapter 1-

Hundreds were in line to evacuate Ennth. Ships had been flown in by the Republic to take those whom could not seek refuge on the orbiting space stations above the planet’s atmosphere.

“You there, you’re on ship number one.” A member of the Republic Navy instructed a resident of Ennth.

The same soldier then pointed a woman holding a small infant to ship number two.

“I’m sorry, sir, no exceptions!” The soldier instructed the man whom was to board ship one.

“But she is my wife!” the man exclaimed.

“No exceptions, sir, I have to follow orders. You will see them as soon as we land on Coruscant. We are running short on time as it is.”

In a couple of hours, the planet of Ennth was expected to go through catastrophic natural disasters as it did every seven years. Geologists from around the galaxy who studied the planet on a regular basis were predicting this to be the worst event in five-hundred years.

“I will be waiting for you at the Capital!” The husband cried to his family.

The separated family was soon ushered along and safely aboard their respective ships, yet the line only seemed to grow larger and larger.

“I don’t think we will have enough room for them all,” a soldier commented to his superior.

“Shut it, soldier! You don’t want anyone overhearing that; you’ll cause a riot.”

“Faster gentlemen, faster!” A young woman’s voice came from behind the bickering soldiers. “We haven’t time for idle chit-chat.”

“Sorry, Master Zafii.” The ranking officer replied, turning back to the large line that stood in front of him.

Zafii didn’t bothering telling them for the one-hundredth time that she was still very much a padawan learner. Instead she used her quick reflexes as a studying Jedi to catch someone’s belongings before they fell to the ground and caused a delay boarding the ship.

“Thank you, young Miss!” The elderly man said surprised but happily.

“It’s no problem,” Zafii replied. “Can I help you aboard the ship, Sir?”

“I’ve got him,” yet another soldier said, taking the man by the arm and leading him up the ramp of the ship.

Zafii’s attire was normal for a Jedi. She wore a white tunic and a brown, hooded cloak over it. In her hair was a padawan braid that was nearly a foot long that extended to the middle of her back. It was a sandy blond, the same color as the rest of her hair that was tied in simple knots as to not get in the way of her work.

She bustled along from ship to ship, making sure everything was proceeding in a timely fashion. She would stop to help mothers or fathers holding infants, or just to comfort toddlers who were crying and their parents were unable to console them.

“All clear,” a Republic geologist gave her a thumbs-up as she checked in with them.

T here were several well respected geologists from all around the galaxy who had agreed to help come survey any seismic activity with their high-tech computers and equipment. Ennth was an anomaly in the galaxy. Any good geologist made at least one trip in their career to observe it.

“I think we have another couple of hours before we even get a tremor.” The geologist reassured the young Jedi.

Zafii nodded but did not reply. She walked away and made sure that the scientists could not overhear her, or anyone for that matter. She quickly reached for her comlink and brought it close to her lips.

“Master,” Zafii whispered.

“Yes, Padawan?”

“I feel something,” Zafii said quickly. “The geologists say everything is fine, but something tells me we don’t have as much time as they say.”

“Are you sure it is not your compassion for all of these people that you are trying to help? There is a sense of hopelessness in the air, I have felt that much. But your mind at ease and concentrate on helping these people out of here.” her master instructed.

“Yes Master,” Zafii reluctantly agreed. She couldn’t shake the feeling, but she wasn’t as in tuned with the Force as her Master was. She could admit that. Zafii had not yet come to trust her instincts as a Jedi. Reacting to her instincts could be irrational. She had heard too many stories about other Jedi acting in such foolish ways.

Several minutes passed and Zafii had taken her Master’s advice to heart. It seemed as though he was right. The more she interacted with the refugees the more the burden lifted from her shoulders. Soon, she had completely forgotten that she had been worried at all.

As she bent over to help an elderly woman with her belongings, she felt a great pain in the pit of her stomach. She then began to see flashes of a terrible image in her head. She dropped the woman’s bag and ran back to the ship which housed the geologists.

“Master Jedi?” They said in confusion as they looked at her panicked face.

“What do you see?” She asked hurriedly.

“Nothing; it is all clear just like before,” one geologist said, looking to his peers for reassurance.

Zafii stepped up into the open cockpit area where they had all of their equipment setup and began hovering over their shoulders. She looked from one screen to another, trying to find what was causing her so much pain.

“There,” she pointed to a screen that showed a rather simplistic graph of the recent seismic activity.

“I don’t see anything,” one geologist said, while several others moved closer to the screen.

Zafii didn’t have time to argue with them. They would figure it out soon enough when all of their equipment was in ruins on ground and they were holding on for dear life. Zafii used the Force to amplify her speed. She ran at a dizzying pace to get to the barricades that signified the very front of the refugee lines.

“We have to get all of these people on these ships now. No more lines!” Zafii commanded in her deepest voice.

“That would be utter chaos. What is happening? Did the scientists find something new?” A Naval soldier said.

Zafii shook her head; she knew it was too late. The ground beneath them began to shake.

“QUAKE!” Several people yelled, causing completely anarchy of the situation.

People stumbled and trampled over each other, causing much more chaos at first than the tremor was.

“Stop!” Zafii yelled, to no use. “Please stop!”

She looked into the distance and near the end of the line she saw the ground shaking even harder. The ground beneath was giving way. Once again, Zafii used her Jedi speed, but this time she had to dodge people along the way.

It seemed to be too late, as she slowed down and began to gather herself, the ground had started to split into a huge canyon. People were falling to their death; some already had. Suddenly, the heat became unbearable. A volcano had erupted at the bottom of the canyon and was spewing lava high into the air.

As people fell to their death, the intense liquid consumed some.

On top of everything else, there was a river nearby that had now been split into two and was falling into the canyon like a broken dam. Several people were hanging onto the newly formed cliff’s edge.

Zafii fell to her knees and began to help as many people up as she could. She felt as though her skin would just crinkle like cellophane from the heat.

More and more people started to lose their grip and began to freefall. She saw the water from the west hurdling their way, but it would not save them from that distance to land in it. Closing her eyes, Zafii began to conjure up every ounce of the Force she had ever felt run through her body. Some of the water lifted from his rushing herd and was now under her control. She whirled it as if she were a Goddess of the sea at the projectile lava bursts, which almost instantaneously turned them into stone.

Zafii could now feel another presence in the Force join her, one she knew to be her Master. He began to use the Force to control the newly formed stones so that people could grab on, saving them from death.

Zafii continued to control enough of the water that the rain of lava had ceased. Then, she heard a faint cry from her left. A young girl had now fallen into the canyon. She used the last of her strength to send a bolt of water to stop the girl’s freefall momentum, which shot her against gravity and back to safety.

Zafii crumbled to the ground, completely exhausted from her use of the Force and the terror she had felt surround her from all of the death. She caught a glimpse of the young girl she had saved. She had a badly broken arm and was crying in agony. No doubt the speeding water sent to save her had broken several bones in her body.

It was then that Padawan Zafii’s head hit the steaming, hard dirt below and she passed out.

_____________

A young man leaned against the bulkhead of the main hold of one of the transports. His little sister was curled against him as he held her in a protective embrace. Soot and ash colored her normally porcelain skin. To the man’s left sat his mother, father and older brother.

Kyn Fuller glanced down at his sleeping sister. Kyra’s dirty black hair hung in a loose braid down her back. Her green eyes had lost their normal sparkle. She was staring at her hands in silence.

Kyn closed his eyes and leaned his head back. His family had lived on Ennth for generations. His father, Tyon, hated the planet, but was never able to leave. His mother wasn’t a native. She came with her father at the age of seventeen to help the refugees. She met Tyon on one of the orbiting space stations and never left. The destruction on Ennth occurred roughly every seven years when the moon that orbited so close it entered the atmosphere. Every seven years, towns were destroyed and citizens died. The citizens left the planet to seek shelter in the orbiting space stations. After the planet calmed, everyone would return and rebuild.

Kyn hated it. He was fifteen. This was the second time he had endured this. He saw no point in returning to the forsaken rock. He was glad his immediate family was able to leave. His grandparents, aunt and uncle had stayed.

“Where are we headed?” his mother, Rayna, asked a nearby officer.

“Corellia, then Naboo, and then Ruan. We’ll hit Coruscant soon enough,” he replied, and then walked off towards the cockpit.

Rayna nodded in thanks, her red-gold hair swishing. Everyone said Kyn looked like the male version of his mother. He suspected they were right. His own red-gold hair was cut short and he had the same blue eyes.

No one else spoke. Some of the refugees would disembark on the other planets; they would not. They were going to Coruscant. Kyra had dreams of attending an acting school on-planet. Cole, Kyn’s older brother, was planning to join the Republic Navy.

Fortunately, for his parents, the Republic Refugee Foundation promised jobs for them. Kyn was looking to finish his schooling. After that, he didn’t know. All he knew was that nothing in the galaxy would make him return to Ennth.

“Did you see what those Jedi were doing?” Kyra asked, breaking the silence, green eyes blinking.

Tyon looked at his daughter, “Yes.”

“Have you ever met a Jedi?” she asked her parents.

“I have, once. I don’t know his name. I was very young,” Rayna replied as the rest shook their heads.

“Did you see the girl? She wasn’t very old,” Kyra observed.

Kyn nodded, “It was impressive. I doubt she’s a full Knight, though. She’s too young.”

“Since when do you know so much about Jedi?” Cole asked.

“I paid attention in school, unlike some big oafs,” Kyn said with a smirk.

“I was surprised the Republic sent Jedi,” Tyon stated. He opened up the bag next to him and pulled out rations for the family. He passed them around to each member.

“Why?” Kyn asked, opening the tray. He wrinkled his nose at the dish in front of him. Military rations were never good, no matter who ran the government.

“We’re out of the way, nor are we a real economic asset,” Tyon stated.

“But they went to Naboo; they aren’t that important,” Cole retorted.

“You forget, had that queen of theirs not called Valorum out, he’d never sent Jedi,” Tyon pointed out.

“Oh, right,” Cole nodded, slightly embarrassed.

“Plus, we are Outer Rim, not Mid-Rim,” Kyn added with a roll of his eyes, “Jeez, Cole, you’re never going to get into the navy if you don’t know star charts.”

“Shut up.”

“Boys, enough. This is going to be a long enough trip without your fighting,” Rayna admonished, “finish your dinner and then we all need to get some sleep.”

The three children nodded and finished their meager dinner in silence. Clean-up was quick and within the hour, the five family members were huddled together in the crowded hold, attempting to slip into the blissful oblivion of sleep.

 

-Chapter 2-

“Help us!”

“Help us!”

“Help us!”

The image of dozens of innocent beings falling to their death into a huge, fiery crater surged through Padawan Zafii’s mind. Her eyes darted in all directions even though her eyelids were closed.

“Zafii,” a familiar voice called out. “Zafii!”

A hand was touching her shoulder as she began to wake up, already aboard a transport in the middle of space.

“Master Tine,” she mumbled with a grimace on her face.

Zafii was lying down on an uncomfortable cot in the small medical bay aboard the ship. She had a splitting headache and the side of her forehead had a black bruise on it that was only becoming darker by the minute.

“You gave us quite a scare back there,” Master Tine said.

Master Tine was a blue Twi’lek and a respected Jedi Knight. His clothes were similar to his padawan’s; white tunic and a brown, loose fitting cloak.

“We should have listened to you sooner. For you to feel that within the Force when I did not, it shows how much you have grown.” Master Tine added.

Zafii attempted to sit up, but this only made the pain her head that much worse.

“The Force,” she cried out in pain, grasping as the side of her head, feeling the nasty lump that was growing for the first time.

She noticed that she was not wearing her own cloak and that her tunic had been seared in several spots from the bursting fragments of lava.

“Sit down,” Master Tine jumped over to try to lay her back down on the bed. “You need to rest.”

Zafii shook her head and regretted doing it immediately, “I… we need to see to the refugee’s. They must be in a terrible shock. They will need council.”

“Those who are aboard are fine and being tended to,” Master Tine interjected, now forcefully laying her back to the bed. “Your concern is to rest. We will be on Corellia soon enough and then we’ll see about letting you resume your duties.”

Zafii laid back, using the Force to begin to block out the pain of her injuries, “Yes, Master.”

It was not in Zafii’s nature to argue with her Master or anyone else for that matter. She took her Jedi training as seriously as any padawan and much more than some Knights.

“Help us!”

“Help us!”

“Help us!”

Zafii opened her eyes quickly after starting her Force meditation after seeing the destruction in her head once again. Perhaps, she thought, she would just let the medical droids tend to her for now.
______________________________________________________________________________
Kyn and his mother walked around the spaceport in Coronet, the capital of Corellia.

“These prices are ridiculous,” Kyn muttered.

“Gouging refugees. Most people don’t know their way around spaceports,” Rayna commented. She pointed to a doorway by a seedy bar. “We’re going that way.”

“We’re going to the city?”

“Yes. I can buy twice the supplies we need for half the costs. Too bad we aren’t going to be here longer or I would take you kids to Treasureship Row,” she said as she led him to the doorway.

“What’s that?”


“Trade center, marketplace,” she explained as they walked through the doorway and into the city of Coronet. Rayna led her son down the unfamiliar streets. Kyn watched in awe as several alien species walked by. He hadn’t seen many aliens on Ennth. He had learned about many cultures at school, but to see them face to face was something else entirely.

“The tall ones are Selonians. Only the sterile females travel about. The short ones are Drall,” Rayna explained as she led Kyn down a side street.

“Mom, have you been here before?” he asked.

“Yes, years before you were born,” she explained, “It’s actually where I met that Jedi.”

Kyn nodded. He followed him mother in silence as she approached a merchant’s shop. It was small. A wirily man stood behind the counter. He was bald and had a black goatee. He gave his mother a dubious look as she approached. He followed her inside and listened quietly as she negotiated for supplies. He was surprised at how tenacious she acted. He’d never imagined his mother like that before.

“Take these, Kyn,” she said as she concluded her business, handing him several boxes, “We have what we need.”

“Already?” he asked as they walked out of the shop.

Rayna chuckled, “Yes, son, already. Give me some credit.”

“Sorry,” Kyn mumbled, blushing. He followed Rayna back through the streets. Corellia was teaming with life. Everywhere men, women and children of all species were walking around. He saw stands on the sides of the streets selling various types of goods and services.

Rayna chuckled as a female Twi’lik ran into Kyn. She ran her hand down the boy’s arm as she apologized. One look from Rayna sent her off.

“Mom!” Kyn sputtered, face red.

Rayna just shook her head. She led Kyn back to the hanger. He spotted the rest of their family wandering outside the ship, stretching their legs before stopping at the lush world of Naboo. Several of the refugees opted to stay on Corellia. Kyn imaged even more would stay on Naboo. After seeing holos of the planet, Kyn was tempted to stay there, himself. After a brief stop on Naboo, the refugees were headed to the agricultural world of Ruan. It sounded boring to Kyn. Luckily, they would only be there for an afternoon before departing to Coruscant.

Kyn and Rayna took the supplies over to their family. Rayna mentioned that they should have enough to last the rest of the trip. Kyn was slightly disappointed. He wanted to explore Naboo some, but Rayna had explained that Corellia was the best location to get the most for their money. In addition to supplies, Rayna had found a small hostel just outside the spaceport to rent for a few hours, allowing everyone to get in a quick sonic shower.

A shrill whistle sounded from the inside of the ship signaling twenty minutes until departure. Kyn and Cole gathered the supplies to take inside the ship. There would now be room on the ship now for the family to share one cabin.

“Is that Kyra?” Kyn asked, motioning with his head as his hands were full.

Kyra was talking to the Jedi whom was first on the scene of the tragedy. It had been a few days since the happenings on Ennth but she still looked as though she had been side-swiped by a military tank.

Kyn set down the supplies and looked to his brother.

“I’ll get this, you go get her,” Cole said.

Kyn lightly jogged over to Kyra and the Jedi.

“Kyra, what are you doing here by yourself?” Kyn asked, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh Kyn, I’m not here by myself; I’m here with Zafii.” Kyra said, as if this was confirmation enough and that he could leave her be now.

“I’m sure she has a lot of work to do, you don’t need to be bothering her. You were supposed to stay with Dad.” Kyn admonished.

Kyra’s bright, happy face began to sour.

“It’s no problem, in fact I am doing my job by talking to her and everyone else for that matter. Sometimes just asking questions and gaining some understanding can be very stress relieving.” Zafii chimed in. “Although you shouldn’t run off from your guardians, young one.”

“I know,” Kyra hung her head low, ashamed. “But you were so neat the other day. I’ve never seen a girl do things like that. I wish I could be a Jedi too.”

“Well, thank you.” Zafii replied, with no hint of a blush though. “It’s always nice to have admirers, I suppose.”

Kyn smiled at Zafii and for the first time made eye contact with the Padawan. The seconds of silence felt awkward, at least to Kyn. He was almost positive that Zafii didn’t notice it though.

“It seems we should be getting back aboard, unless you want to stay on Corellia.” Zafii reminded them both.

Kyra shook her head and scrunched her face as if something stank nearby, “No thanks!”

Zafii genuinely smiled at the young girl. The smile made all of the cuts and bruises around her otherwise attractive face seem to fade into nonexistence. Kyn could feel his heart skip several beats and for the first time in years, he felt butterflies in the pit of his stomach.

“We’ll talk more later,” Zafii promised Kyra. “We have a way to go yet.”

With that Zafii parted ways with them, presumably to go back and meet with her master or to meditate. Kyra initiated contact with Kyn by reaching out and holding his hand.

“Come on, we are going to get left behind. Didn’t you listen to her to?” Kyra asked.

Kyn scratched the back of his head as he came back to his senses. He gripped Kyra’s hand tightly as they climbed aboard the ship to go find the rest of their family.

“Yeah, Kyra. I listened.”

 

-Chapter 3-

Kyra was bored. They were three hours from Naboo. Her parents were sleeping. Her brothers were wandering around the ship. Kyra was supposed to be asleep, but she found it impossible. She kept seeing the images of Ennth’s destruction. She could hear the screams of thousands of people dying. When her family had been fleeing their home, an earthquake ripped through the land. Kyra watched from across the street as her school collapsed, killing at least a hundred. Her best friend’s mother was inside. Ten minutes later, while driving to the spaceport, she saw five buildings destroyed by fire.

She could still hear the screams.

Kyra hated Ennth. She never would see her friends again. She didn’t even know who was still alive. She never wanted to go back.
She stood up and looked over at her parents. They were fast asleep. Kyra slipped out of the room. She wanted to find that Jedi. She was interesting to talk to.
--
Kyn and Cole found their way to the cargo hold of the transport. There was a group of beings seated around a low table. Kyn recognized a deck of sabacc cards and several bottles of liquor. The brothers exchanged looks.
“Look what we have here,” a woman said from the table. Her long, blond hair was slightly curled and framed her face. Her brown eyes were accented with blue make-up and long, dark lashes. Her plump lips looked to be in a permanent pout. Kyn recognized her as a woman his parents would not want him to associate with.
Cole nodded a greeting. The woman crooked her finger for him to come over.
“Young blood. What are you? Solider? Pilot? Farmer?” she asked. She squeezed his sleeved arm, “You’re strong.”
Cole politely smiled, “Solider.”
The woman chuckled, “Maybe one day. Are you joining us?”
Cole shook his head, “No thank you.”
“What about you, child?” The woman taunted, turning to Kyn.
Kyn glared at her. He hated being called a child. He wasn’t a legal adult yet, but he was closer to that than some dumb kid.
“Kyn, let’s get out of here,” Cole said in a low voice.
Kyn turned his glare to his brother. He hated when Cole pulled the big brother card.
“I think I’ll stay.”
“Kyn, you don’t have any money,” Cole said quietly.
“I don’t care,” he growled.
“Come on sugar, I’ll lend you a couple of credits,” the woman cackled as she threw an arm around his shoulders, “Pay me back when you win.”
“Kyn! Cole!”
Kyn stopped walking and ducked out from under the woman’s arm. He rushed over to Cole who had snatched the comlink from his belt.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Is Kyra with you?”
--
Tears were streaming from Kyra’s young eyes as she ran through the ship. No one was out in the corridors at this hour, it would have been after midnight on Ennth. Kyra’s legs were taking her as fast as they could go. It was as if the images in her head were haunting her like a mad poltergeist.

Suddenly two arms grabbed her from nowhere, halting her in mid-stride.

“Told you I’d see you again,” Padawan Zafii smiled.

Kyra seemed startled at first until she came to the realization that she had found the person she was looking for.

“Zafii,” I found you.

“Well technically, I think I found you but I don’t like to get into semantics.” Zafii said, setting the young girl back down on her feet.

“What is a semantic?” Kyra asked naively.

“Force if I know,” Zafii joked uncharacteristically. “It’s one of those words adults use when they want to sound smart.”

Kyra nodded and processed this information as if she was planning to use it later.

“Now tell me,” Zafii said sternly. “Why have you run away from your family this time?”

The two walked through the corridor of the ship until they found themselves in the cafeteria which was empty, except for some cleaning droids. They each took a seat at a steel table that was cold to the touch, sitting across from one another. The only lighting they had was the emergency lights, as all the other bulbs wouldn’t be turned on until just before breakfast.

“I wasn’t running away, I told you.” Kyra explained, holding back tears. “I was looking for you.”

Zafii gazed the young girl for a moment and took her in. She studied her young, troubled face and tried to use the Force to divulge anything the girl might be hiding.

“I find it hard to believe that you have grown so attached to me that you would run crying through the corridors of a strange ship to look for me,” Zafii said with a straightforward and honest tone.

“When did you go off to become a Jedi?” Kyra asked her own question, avoiding Zafii’s. “My brother, Kyn said that Jedi have to leave their families behind to study at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.”

“Your brother is pretty smart,” Zafii admitted.

“Oh I know…” Kyra rolled her eyes. “He only tells me how smart he is every 10 seconds.”

“Well to answer your question, I was taken by the Jedi when I was a baby. Before I could even remember.” Zafii explained.

Kyra’s eyes widened in shock, “They kidnapped you!”

Zafii could not remember smiling so much as she did in the presence of this little girl. She figured she might be able to get a ‘quid pro quo’ with Kyra.

“No, it was a choice my parents made. The Jedi informed them that I was Force sensitive after they had received blood test results from my birth planet.”

“Where were you born?” Kyra asked inquisitively. “I was born on stupid Ennth.”

Zafii sighed, the conversation was going sideways. She knew one of her flaws as a Jedi was her negotiating skills and as much as she hated to think of this girl as just a practice session, every experience was a learning experience, as Master Tine always said.

“Why don’t you answer a question for me?” Zafii asked.

“Then you’ll tell me where you were born?” Kyra asked.

“I’m not sure why it is important to you, but yes if you promise to answer my next question, I will tell you.” Zafii agreed.

Kyra nodded for her to ask her question now.

“Why were you really running? I know you were trying to find me, but there was no reason to cry as you were. You would have found me eventually.”

Kyra hung her head down low, ashamed that she had been crying. She had two older brothers and her mother was as strong as they came. She had never been told it was a bad thing to cry, but she had never seen anyone else in her family ever do it.

“I don’t know,” Krya shrugged.

“I think you know. As a matter of fact, I know you do. I talk with people all around the galaxy. Some are little girls like you who just want to know what it’s like to be a female Jedi. Some others cry and tell me secrets they have never told anyone else and I help them.” Zafii said.

“How do you help them?” Kyra said, almost raising her head high enough to make eye contact.

“A lot of the time, it’s just talking. It’s amazing how comforting it can be to get something off your chest. To not bottle up everything inside and let others know how you feel… To know you are not alone and others have the same thoughts and fears.” Zafii explained.

Kyra wiped the tears from her face, suddenly feeling confident and not so bad about shedding them.

“I was having day dreams about all of the bad things I saw on Ennth. I remember my friends who might not even be alive anymore and if they are, I’ll never see them again anyway.” Kyra explained.

“Your friends are now one with the Force. It was tragic and horrific, I won’t lie to you Kyra. Some of them might have suffered greatly and I know that hurts you a great deal. But I believe in being honest. That way when I tell you that I know for a fact that they can no longer be hurt or feel fear, you will know I’m telling the truth then as well. Those whom have left you are now one with the Force and those who were fortunate enough to live; they will go on to live their lives. They will make new friends and for the most part, they will be happy.” Zafii said, holding out her hand across the table and taking Kyra’s.

“I believe you,” Kyra said.

Zafii stood up and walked around the table and sat next to Kyra. It was not some sort of future motherly instinct that told her to do it, but purely the Force. She put one arm around Kyra and pulled her into her side and hugged her. Kyra wasted no time in throwing both of her arms around Zafii’s neck and once again start crying as she hugged her back tightly.

“Krya!” Tyon yelled.

Kyra was startled and jumped off of Zafii and nearly fell buttocks first onto the floor.

“You had us scared to death!” Tyon continued his mini-tirade, now fully entering the cafeteria.

Kyn and Cole came from the opposite side of the corridor that Tyon had come from and joined them.

“You found her,” Cole said, out of breath.

“Just now, yeah.” Tyon nodded.

Kyn didn’t say a word as the first thing he had seen was not his little sister or even his irritated father. But the young Jedi whose wounds had gone down a considerable amount since the last time he had laid eyes on her. In fact her recovery rate seemed nearly impossible.

“I found her wandering about the halls,” Zafii said, telling a bit of a white lie.

She knew the young girl had been ashamed of the tears she had shed. While Zafii did not see this as a character flaw, she did not know this family that well and didn’t want to give up the girl’s secret.

“Thank you Master Jedi,” Tyon gave a small bow.

Zafii didn’t bothering correcting him. It was late and of little importance.

“Come on you three,” Tyon said to all of his children.

Cole walked over to stand next to his father and Kyra did as well. Suddenly she turned back to the Jedi with her eyes wide.

“You still have to tell me where you were born,” Kyra reminded her.

“I hadn’t forgotten,” Zafii grinned, or was it a grimace. “I was born on Naboo.”

Tyon put his arm around Kyra’s shoulder and began to escort her out. Kyra tried to look back at Zafii for one last look as if she was some side show attraction that she couldn’t get enough of.

“I’ll be right there, Father.” Kyn finally spoke.

When Kyn was sure his family was far enough down the corridor, he turned and looked at Zafii who had not moved from her seat at the steel table.

“Can I,” Kyn motioned to the table.

“By all means,” Zafii nodded.

Kyn sat down across from her and once again he felt awkward silence drowning the room. Just like before he was sure that this Jedi in training was immune to it.

“How old are you, Kyn?” Zafii broke the ice.

“How uh? I’m fifteen, but how did you know my name again?” Kyn asked, amazed.

“I read your mind,” Zafii said, in the most serious tone.

“Really? That’s, uh…” Kyn started to sweat at this idea. “How well can you read minds then?”

“I’m kidding,” Zafii said. “Sorry, I’m not very good with jokes. Kyra might have mentioned you. Although you could have been the other brother. Either way, I had a 50% chance of being right.”

“Cole,” Kyn muttered.

Zafii crooked her head slightly and gave him an inquisitive look.

“My brother’s name is Cole, I mean.” Kyn repeated. “So, um… can I ask how old you are?”

“Sixteen,” Zafii left it at that.

Kyn was amazed she was only sixteen. How could someone do what she did back on Ennth only be sixteen. Although looking into her eyes, he could see the truth.

“Wow, and to think I’m still in school.” Kyn said, avoid Zafii’s eyes.

“Technically, I’m still in school too.” Zafii said, trying to make him feel better.

That dreadful awkward silence was like a noxious smog that could not be avoided and followed Kyn wherever he went.

“You look a lot better than you did the other day,” Kyn said.

As soon as he said it, he knew it was a fatal mistake in a conversation with a female. How could he be so stupid as to phrase it like that?

“That’s not to say that you looked bad,” Kyn rapidly tried to cover his tracks. “I mean…”

“It’s okay,” Zafii gestured her hand in front of him.

A wave of calm filtered throughout Kyn’s body. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to thank her.

“The Jedi Academy is not a beauty school, Kyn.” Zafii reassured him.

Kyn sat there and twiddled his thumbs for a few seconds, trying to think of anything… anything that could prolong this conversation. Maybe this was why Kyra wanted to be around her too? Perhaps it wasn’t just him being a fifteen year old boy? Could it be that she had a particular gift with the Force that made everyone who talked to her feel better?

“So is my sister okay?” Kyn asked.

“She’s fine,” Zafii said. “She just needed to get some things off her chest.”

“She looks up to you.” Kyn informed her.

Zafii grinned but yet again, did not offer even the slightest hint of a blush.

“There are far greater men and women for her to admire. But I’m glad I could be of some help to her. She is incredibly smart for her age.” Zafii offered.

Kyn nodded his head, “Yeah she’s the smartest nine-year old I’ve ever met. But you are too humble, you were great on Ennth. I mean, just amazing.”

“Not amazing enough,” Zafii frowned.

Now for the first time, she now felt awkward and shied away from eye contact.

“Even if there had been a hundred Jedi, you guys couldn’t have saved everyone.” Kyn tried to console her.

The roles were now strangely reversed. Zafii was usually riding the Jedi Code so hard that she would never have been able to blame herself for such events occurring. Her ego or lack thereof would have never allowed it. What happened back on Ennth was easily the most chaotic thing she had ever experienced in her life. Once again, she knew she would have to learn from it and become a better Padawan for it.

“I appreciate that, Kyn.” Zafii said, conquering her demons and looking him in the eyes when she said it. “I think I need to rest, as I imagine you need to.”

Kyn nodded regretfully as Zafii stood first and began to walk back towards the corridor.

“Good night, Kyn.” Zafii said, as she turned back around to face him for a moment.

She reached for her collar and hooded herself and turned back to the corridor when he didn’t respond. The first few steps she took slowly, fully expecting him to say goodnight; when he didn’t, she sped up and continued towards her quarters.

Zafii turned when she heard footsteps clanking on the metal frame of the floor, she turned and faced Kyn.

“Hey, you promised my sister you would talk to her again.” Kyn said.

“I did and I did.” Zafii retorted.

“I was wondering, since you are good at keeping your promises…”

Zafii cut him off and answered the question, “Same time, same place tomorrow evening then?”

“Well, I was thinking,” Kyn scratched the back of his head. He had done this a lot lately and he wondered if it would start to scab soon. “You told her you were born on Naboo…”

“Yes,” Zafii answered.

If there was awkwardness before, there were now no words to explain the current situation.

“I just thought, since it was a half a day lay over… Are you going to visit your parents?”

“Goodnight, Kyn.” Zafii said, for the first time her voice was as cold as a glacier.

Zafii turned on her heel and did not wait for him to respond this time. Before Kyn knew it, she was almost 50 feet down the corridor.

“Same time, same place tomorrow then?” Kyn called out.

This time, he was the one who didn’t get an answer.

 

Chapter 4

Kyn had been asleep a matter of minutes when he felt severe turbulence wake him and his entire family up. The ship was shaking and it brought back terrible memories of the quake on Ennth that so many had lost their lives to while trying to board the ship. A voice came over the ships intercom speakers, addressing every portion of the ship.


“This is Captain Tangoh, speaking. There is nothing to worry about. Our computer systems had us about a tenth of a degree off of where we should have been entering the atmosphere. We’ll steady it out and we will be landing just outside the capital city of Naboo, Theed in about ten standard minutes.”


Kyn watched as Kyra made her way through the cramped space of their quarters and cuddle with their mother. The turbulence began to dissipate slowly until there was nothing to be felt but the smooth ride down to the planet’s surface.


“You’re going to like this place,” Rayna told her daughter. “This is one of the more beautiful planets in the entire galaxy. Not what one might expect from a planet so close to the Outer Rim.”


Kyra looked up at her mother excitedly and then to Kyn as if she expected him to add something. He did not. Instead Rayna continued to tell Kyra about all of the green grass and pastures, the waterfalls, and forests dabbled with lakes.


“I wondered,” Kyra said oddly.


“Wondered?” Rayna repeated a tone of question in her voice.


Kyra shrugged, “I thought Naboo must be a pretty place. That girl Jedi was born here.”


Rayna squinted in suspicion at her daughter, “How do you know all that?”


“She told me,” Kyra said proudly, as if a famous person had confided some secret in only her.


Kyn huffed and looked away.


“Have something to add, Kyn?” Tyon spoke, his voice wary and sleepy.


“She only told you because you were nosing and bothering her so much.” Kyn said, a bit irritated.


“She nosed first,” Kyra said defensively.


“I wonder why that would be?”


Rayna stepped over both of their arguing voices, “Enough, children.”


This only irritated Kyn that much more. How often did he have to tell people, especially his own parents that he did not like to be referred to as a kid anymore?


Cole could see the fury starting to boil in Kyn’s eyes and he chuckled aloud, “Mother, you know Kynnie doesn’t like to be called a kid. He prefers young adult, or something like that.”


“Shut it,” Kyn sniped back.


Before their parents could interject there was a buzzing noise coming from the steel door of their cabin. Then a voice came through the small intercom device on the right side of the door where there were also a number pad and a locking mechanism.


“Officials of The Naboo are asking that all passengers please exit the ship so they may address everyone on board at once.” The voice informed them. “Hello?”


Cole jumped up and hit a button on their side of the door, “Yeah, we’ll be out there in a few minutes.”


Rayna stood up, her daughter still attached to her side. “Alright everyone, let’s get presentable.”


__


When the Fuller family exited the large transport ship, they could see thousands of their fellow refugee’s standing in a large grassy area. They were spread out and there seemed to be no order to it all. People were socializing and trying to adjust to sunlight.


It was a gorgeous day on Naboo. There were mountains in the far distance and immediately Kyra had noticed one of the beautiful waterfalls her mother had told her about.


A makeshift stage and podium had been setup to the North of the crowd and behind that they could see the gates and buildings of Theed, the capital of Naboo. There were already several men dressed in maroon uniforms on the stage and they seemed to be acting as security.


“What is this all about?” Cole asked no one in particular.


“Got me,” Kyn said, trying to look between and over people.


“Doubt she’s out here in the masses,” Cole smirked.


“Whatever,” Kyn retorted.


An older man in royal blue robes could be seen walking up the steps of the stage, a datapad in hand. He walked in front of the podium and straightened himself to his full height.


There was no microphone but his voice was magnified, apparently by some device he was wearing on his person. It carried over the crowd, bringing them to a hush.


“Greetings, I am Sio Bibble, Governor of the Naboo and head of the Royal Advisory Council. I am here today to welcome you to our wonderful home. Some of you will only be staying a short time, others will begin their new life here.” The man explained.


Everyone seemed to be giving him their undivided attention. Everyone except Kyn that is. He was still futilely looking for Zafii.


“Queen Amidala is very sensitive of everyone’s situation. Before she became queen, she traveled to distant planets to help refugees just like you. That being said, many of you might be aware of our situation. In an unthinkable attack by the Trade Federation, many of our fellows were killed and even more buildings and homes destroyed. That is why Queen Amidala personally wrote a piece of legislation which was passed just before your arrival. This bill will allocate funds to help rebuild the wrecked parts of his great planet. This is where those of you who wish to stay and make a life on Naboo, will come in. You will be given temporary housing that will meet the needs of any size family. What we ask for in return is your services to rebuild homes, businesses, and government buildings. In effect, at some point you will be helping to build your very own home that you and your family will live in. You will own it free and clear and then be able to pursue the career of your choice.” Bibble read from the datapad.


There was a tiny uproar from part of the crowd; the term indentured servitude was tossed around.


“I understand your concerns,” Bibble spoke up. “But the Bill clearly states that this is an option of anyone wishing to stay on Naboo. You are welcome to try to find your own way on our great planet. We also understand that many people do not possess the skills or physical aptitude to undergo the physical labor of construction. There are many of jobs that will need to be filled. For instance, will need people to make food around the clock.”


This seemed to stop most of the bickering.


“Those of you, whom are interested, please see one of our many uniformed guards. They will be passing out information sheets to more fully explain the process. If after that you choose to stay, there will be paperwork to fill out. Those of you who need fresh supplies, just inside the city walls you will find fresh fruit as well as anything else you desire. Thank you for your time.” Bibble ended his speech.


Hundreds in the crowd began to look for uniformed guards to get information.


“May as well go back to the ship,” Cole sighed. “Can’t wait till we get to Coruscant.”


__


Zafii had several datapads spread out on a table in front of her. She was in a private room in the Theed courthouse. She had been given access to private chambers and droids had been in and out, dropping off more datapads.


She was looking at record after record for public notices of birth on the planet of Naboo, roughly sixteen years ago. Finally she came across the last name Pel.

Zenni and Josia Pel welcomed a baby girl (Zafii Pel) into the galaxy on the 34th day of the ninth month at 21:42 , Galactic Standard Time.​

​

Immediately after finding this, she disregarded the datapad and had the droids begin to bring in any datapads that had any information on Zenni Pel or Josia Pel. Only two datapads were retrieved. The first one talked of the Separatist invasion just about a standard year prior. Josia Pel and Zenni Pel’s named were mentioned in passing as two casualties of the invasion. Zafii did not seem to be affected by this. She simply moved it to the side and picked up the other datapad. It was a full length article by a local journalist from Naboo, written nearly 16 years ago.

Today I sat down with a middle aged couple who live on a small farm about 100 kilometers South of Theed. Their names Josia and Zenni Pel. The couple makes a modest living growing various exotic berries and fruit on their quaint farm.


Fifteen years ago they were married in a small ceremony on the land of Zenni’s parents. After the wedding they soon invested in the small farm they still live on. They also began to try to start a family.


“I told Josia on our wedding night,” Zenni recalls. “I want to have ten children.”


“I was a little worried at that point,” Josia smiles.


Ten children certainly would have been a handful for this couple, obviously if Zenni’s wishes were to come true they would have had to upgrade their housing.


But it was not to be. Zenni experienced let down after let down in the first five years of their marriage.


“We were still young,” Josia explains to me. “I didn’t see the need to go see a specialist. I just thought it would happen when it happened.”


Zenni was not so optimistic about her prognosis. She was an only child herself and had often wondered why she didn’t have a brother or sister to play with as a child. Eventually after their fifth wedding anniversary Josia agreed to go into Theed and see someone about their situation.


“I had planned a very romantic get-away for us,” Josia remembers the occasion of their 5th anniversary. “But by that time, Zenni was just not in the mood to celebrate.”


They clasp each other’s hand as they remember the painful evening.


“I regret acting the way I did,” Zenni begins to tear up. “I just wanted it to have already happened. It just all came to a boiling point that night.”


And so to Theed they went. With credits at a premium, Josia was doubtful for what anyone could do for them. The doctor told them there was hope after all as it turns out. He put Zenni on a non-expensive medication and told them he’d like to see them again in five months.


“Things just were changing,” Zenni explains. “They tested both of us, ran the same tests twice in some situations.”


And then it happened. Days before their 7th wedding anniversary Zenni had discovered she was nine weeks pregnant. The families of both joined for celebration and everyone was elated.


“As quickly as it had come, it was gone.” Josia tells me, as now I see tears in his eyes.


Miscarriage. Miscarriage after Miscarriage for the next seven years. It was obvious that the doctors were on the right track. They had medicated Zenni to the point where she could receive, but to carry to full term was just impossible.


“I told her I couldn’t do it anymore,” Josia grips his wife’s hand tightly, remembering. “The heartache was too much to withstand. Every time it felt like another child had died. I guess in a way that is true.”


“I begged, I pleaded. Just one more try.” Zenni recalls sorrowfully.


And so Josia agreed. Nearing their 15th anniversary Zenni once again discovered she was pregnant. This time and like so many of the times before it, she did not tell anyone else except her husband.


“When we got to 30 weeks, we were very hopeful. We had never been that far.” Josia admits.


They had reason to be hopeful. Zafii Pel was delivered by their doctor at their home, late in the evening several weeks later.


“She was perfectly healthy,” Josia smiles.


“And beautiful,” Zenni adds.


At this point in the interview, after all of the difficult questions I had asked them on this day, I found myself asking the hardest one of all.


“Why, after so many fruitless years of trying… did you give up your one and only child to the Jedi Knights?”


Silence rang throughout the room. I looked into their eyes, the pain still very new for them.


“They told us she was very powerful, very sensitive.” Josia attempts to explain. “They said her potential was rare.”


“Things randomly fell off the shelves,” Zenni remembers. “She was only days old.”


“We knew she was special,” Josia added.


After an hour on the topic of giving up their daughter, they had no better explanation for coming to the decision that they did.


The Jedi do not offer visitation to parents who give up their young to be trained. In the eyes of the Jedi Code it could cause attachment for the trainee, which is strictly frowned upon.


I asked them if they planned on trying to have another child.


“No,” Zenni says. “I will not get to raise her or see her grow up. But I know she will lead an amazing life and be happy. I guess that’s all a parent can really ask for. She’ll always be my miracle.”


Part of me believed Zenni, another part did not. Could the Jedi have used one of their infamous mind tricks on the Pel family? I hate to use the word kidnap, but what is the word for falling just short of that?


I find it hard to believe, seeing the love that these two could have provided a child… after all of the heartache they had endured, that they would so willingly give up their miracle baby.


Another question was brought to my attention by a colleague just before this article was sent to my editor. With no knowledge of family history of Force sensitive people, could it be that the reason why Zafii was a miracle child wasn’t a miracle at all? Perhaps her strong gift with the Force is indeed what kept her alive in the womb? I’m not a Jedi historian and would never want to be, but I guess for some out there, it is a question worth asking.


Zafii sat the datapad aside and stood up from the wooden chair she was sitting in. She showed no emotion as she put the hood of her cloak over her head and walked towards the door. The droids who had been assisting her were waiting outside.


“Would you be so kind as to clean up the mess I left in there?” Zafii asked politely.


“Yes, of course.” One droid responded in its robotic voice.


__


Master Tine sat across from his Padawan in a private chamber aboard the transport.


“I don’t know why,” Zafii said with self-loathing entrenched in her voice. “Why would I try to find out any information about them? Even if they were alive I could not have tried to meet them.”


“It is only natural to want to know where one comes from,” Master Tine explained. “I once tried to find my parents and had every intention on meeting them if I could.”


Zafii looked into the large blue eyes of her Master with disbelief. She had always known Master Tine to be very rigid with his following of the Jedi Code.


“What stopped you?” She asked, discerning from the way he had phrased it that he had never found them.


Master Tine smiled, he truly adored his apprentice. “The same thing that stopped you I suppose.”


Zafii was confused about this. Even if her parents were alive, she told herself that under no circumstances could she try to track them down. Yet, Master Tine had just told her he would have followed through.


“They died just months before I discovered their identity.” Tine explained.


“Great, another thing we have in common.” Zafii sighed, as if she was tired of having so many similarities to her Master.


“Although it was not war, but illness. They both contracted a rare, but highly contagious disease. My guess would be that one came down with it and gave it to the other. Luckily they were living on a planet that had a minimal Twi’Lek population and the disease only affects our kind.” Master Tine said.


Zafii shook her head, “I promise I wouldn’t have tried to track them down Master. I know what kind of complications could have arose.”


“Very well, but you do not have to convince me. As long as you are being truthful with yourself; that is enough for me.”


“I am,” Zafii said, standing.


Master Tine nodded, but remained seated.


“I promised someone I would council them this evening.” Zafii said, turning towards the durasteel door.


“This late?” Master Tine inquired.


“Yes,” Zafii hesitated. “They desire a certain level of privacy.”


“I see,” Master Tine nodded.


Zafii knew she was excused and took a right down the corridor to return to the empty cafeteria.


__



Kyn made his way to the cafeteria, hoping to see Zafii. They were on their way to Ruan, a brief stop. He had no intention of hanging around the agricultural planet. He was itching to see the lights of Coruscant. He had heard that the twinkling lights of Coruscant were indescribable. Naboo was nice; Corellia wasn’t bad, but he was ready to see something different.

“Looking for that Jedi?” Cole asked as he approached him.

“What are you doing here?” Kyn asked, slightly embarrassed.

“Princess Kyra is hungry,” Cole responded with an eyeroll. “Dad doesn’t want her roaming around so he sent me.”

Kyn nodded. He could see Zafii sitting at a table on the far wall. He slipped away from his brother, knowing he would hear an earful about it later and made his way to her table. He sat down across from her.


“Hello.”

“Hi,” she stated, “What did you want to talk about?”


Kyn shrugged, “I don’t know. Did you like Naboo?”

Zafii shrugged, “It’s fine. I’ve been there before.”

“When?”

“Master Qui-Gon Jinn’s funeral,” she responded.

Kyn nodded, acting as if he knew whom she was talking about.

“Are you looking forward to Coruscant?” Zafii asked.

“Yes,” he said with a nod, “Mom says we’ve got temporary quarters set up. I’m anxious to see everything. Have you been all over the planet?”

Zafii shrugged, “Yes, with my Master.”

“You’ve never gone out alone?”

Zafii looked annoyed. “No, I’m not that Skywalker boy.”

“Skywalker? You mean the kid that won the Boonta Eve?” Kyn asked excitedly.

“You know who won some podrace yet you have no idea who the Jedi was who died protecting Queen Amidala and the Naboo?” Zafii asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh, Cole likes that kind of thing. He told me,” Kyn mumbled, mentally cursing himself.

“Uh-huh,” she responded, “but to answer your question, yes the same Anakin Skywalker.”

“Does he sneak out or something?”

“Frequently. Attends races, I hear. I’m sure you and Cole would enjoy them,” she said with a smirk, “His Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi frequently complains about him to my Master.”

“That must be frustrating,” Kyn responded, determine to make himself sound more impressive.

Zafii waved her hand dismissively, “It makes little difference to me. “

They sat in silence for a few moments. Kyn glanced to his right and saw Cole standing by a girl, clearly flirting. Kyn snorted as she walked off in a huff.

“You’d think he’d learn,” Kyn mumbled.

“Your brother has little luck in the romance department?” Zafii asked.

“He can’t keep his big mouth shut,” Kyn responded.

Zafii chuckled, “Most can’t.”

“You don’t have that problem,” Kyn said, “I mean, the whole love stuff isn’t what you do.”

“Jedi do not fall in love or have crushes,” Zafii stated firmly, “Attachments are forbidden. I prefer it that way, especially after seeing what men my age would do to get my attention.”

Kyn had to chuckle at her comment. He tried to ignore the rest of her statement. After all, she was just interesting because she was a Jedi. He didn’t think she was cute or anything like that.

It could be any Jedi sitting there, he told himself. They were just interesting.

 

Chapter 5

The short stay on Ruan was boring and uneventful. To make things worse, Kyn Fuller had not seen Zafii in over two days. The large transport ship had thinned out tremendously with previous stops in Corellia, Naboo, and the last one on Ruan. Yet, no matter how hard he looked he could not locate her. He even asked his sister Kyra if she had seen her about the ship; of course he made sure to do this when Cole was not in ear shot. To his disappointment and to his sister’s, she had not.

They were still quite a ways from landing on Coruscant and everyone was asleep in their family’s quarters. Kyn could not sleep however. He had done nothing but lounged about the past few days and the thought of sleeping without actually doing something was just driving him insane. He stood up slowly from his cot and tippy-toed to the durasteel door. He overrode the automatic opening mechanism and put it on manual so he could open it slowly and not wake up his family.

He looked back after opening the door and everyone still looked sound asleep. He slowly pulled the heavy door shut and typed in the code on the number pad to lock it. He pulled his coat a little tighter around his chest; it was quite cold in the corridors of the transport.

He walked down the hallways made of echoing steel, passing by cabin door after cabin door. He passed the cafeteria, which again only had a few lights on in it. He stopped for a second and peaked in. To his disappointment, Zafii was not there.

He continued walking for several minutes until he could see light ahead. In the light he could see clouds of smoke swirling in it. Someone was smoking, or several someone’s. The aroma of cheap cigars flinted past his nose as he got closer. Then he could hear the sounds coming from ahead. It was the same area he had been in with his brother Cole several nights before.

“Sabaac!” A large green alien laughed, reaching for his credits in the center of a makeshift table.

“Idiot’s Array,” a woman laughed wildly, stunning the green alien across from her.

Another alien, who was apparently the dealer, shoved the credits her way.

There were four other makeshift tables in the room; all of them were hosting a game of sabaac. The woman who had just won the hand, Kyn recognized as the same woman that had tried to get him to play the other night before Kyra had turned up missing.

“Ah,” she said, noticing him in the doorway from across the room. “He came back.”

“They always do,” a rough looking male human who was sitting next to her said.

The woman stood and gestured for him to join the table.

“You can have my spot; perhaps you could give me some beginners luck?” She said.

Kyn looked a little baffled by this. Why would she be willing to risk her own credits to let him play?

“Sit down, kid,” the rough male next to her barked.

Kyn walked over as several beings in the room turned and looked at him. There were a few wry smiles but he tried to look anyone in the face.

“Always a pleasure to introduce someone new to the wonderful game of sabaac.” The woman grinned. “I’m Salue and you are?”

“Kyn,” he muttered.

“Alright Kyn, you ever played before?” She asked, her long, wrinkled hands not massaging his shoulders as he sat in her chair.

“I know the theory,” he said, trying to sound confident.

“Let’s give it a try then, deal it.” Salue said, looking at the dealer.

Kyn was playing with four other people at the table. The green alien, the rough looking human next to him, and two other a humanoids who had blue skin. They placed initial bets and were then dealt the small cards.

After all of the rounds were complete, Kyn smiled and showed his hand.

“23!” Exclaimed Salue, as she bent down and kissed him on the cheek. Her long purple hair wisped him in the face and she smelt like the bottom of a sarlaac pit.

“Let’s raise the stakes,” Salue encouraged.

With that, she reached over Kyn and pushed in all of her credits. Everyone but the green alien across from him immediately said they were out.

“Haven’t even seen the bloody hand yet,” griped the man next to him.

“I’ll give it a go,” The alien nodded. It was obvious that basic was not his ordinary dialect.

He had more credits than Salue but only put in enough credits to call her. Kyn had a bad feeling about this and swore this was his last hand and he would make and excuse and leave. He felt like these people were setting him up.

“Ky- Ky- Kyn?” A small voice said from across the room.

Kyn turned as the small cards were being dealt.

“Kyra! What are you doing out of bed.” Kyn yelled.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and seemed to at least be half way interested in this exchange. Kyra ran over to Kyn’s side, a bit scared of the crowd.

“I saw you leave and wanted to make sure you were alright.” Kyra explained.

“I need to take her back, if you will excuse me.” Kyn said, standing up.

“SIT DOWN!” The green alien said, standing himself.

“How dare you talk to a human like that you filthy rodian!” Salue spat back.

Kyn couldn’t understand. They weren’t even his credits, Salue would surely be able to play with her own credits and take his place.

“The boy needs to sit down and finish the hand as it started. There are a lot of credits on the line here. I don’t want any funny business from you humans. How do I know I’m not being setup here?” The rodian shot back. “And if you talk to me like that again, woman… I will be forced to pull my blaster. SIT!”

“Just…” Salue began, but she looked shaken by the threat. “Just finish the hand Kyn, we don’t want any trouble. She can watch and then you two can leave.”

Kyn gulped but did as he was requested. He looked at his cards and exchanged three of them with the dealer. Kyra watched nervously as her older brother tried to remain calm through all the rounds of play.

“I want to make another bet,” the rodian snorted. “I bet the rest of my credits.”

“What? You can’t do that!” Salue argued.

“Then let the boy fold. I see you have nothing more to bet.”

“That’s the point; you can’t just up the stakes at this point.” Salue looked to the dealer for help.

“Seeing as how I’m the only one in this room who seemed to be able to sneak a blaster by security, I think we’ll play by my rules.” The rodian smiled.

“Fine, just show the cards.” Salue said, frustrated.

The rodian shook his head, “Not until my bet is matched. Trust me woman, you have nothing to offer me.”

“What do you want then?” Salue asked, confused.

The rodian’s eyes traveled to young Kyra. He was staring at something on her wrist.

“That ought to make up the difference!” He exclaimed, pointing at the jeweled bracelet.

Kyra shook her head, “No! My mother gave me this.”

“Looks like it’s been passed down for generations.” Salue said, jealously.

Kyra nodded to let her know that she was indeed right about her assumption.

Salue reached down and looked at Kyn’s cards. He had a sabaac, a perfect 23. She smiled and whispered to him.

“Please, that is all the credits I have. We have this won. Nothing beats a Pure Sabaac. The worse that can happen is we split everything even.”

Kyn looked at Salue, her eyes didn’t seem trustworthy. He then looked at his sister who was now trying to hide the bracelet from view. He couldn’t just let this woman walk around Coruscant with no credits, could he?

“Fine!” Kyn said angrily. “Sabaac!”

Salue raised her arms in victory and wrapped her arms around Kyn’s chest.

“Idiot,” the rodian laughed.

Kyn glared at him.

“Idiot’s Array,” the rodian cackled. “Hand over the bracelet.”

“No!” Kyra yelped and began to run away.

A man at another table held out his leg and tripped her. She fell to the ground, face first. Her lip had been busted open. She began to cry from the pain. Suddenly a large booted foot stepped on her forearm. She screamed even louder as the rodian bent down and ripped the jewel encrusted bracelet from his tiny wrist.

Kyn was made with rage. All he could see were these men hurting his little sister. Blinded by hate, he sucker bunched the rodian who flew backwards and crashed through one of the makeshift tables.

A blaster bolt flew by his ear, just missing him. He felt to the floor and scooped up Kyra. In all of the chaos, he had become disoriented and was now standing in a corner of the room, far from the exit. He had no way to get past the rodian or his newly found friends.

Salue laughed wildy and put her arm around the rodian.

“Taken for a sucker,” she spat, the words stinging Kyn’s pride.

Kyra was holding onto Kyn, trying to hide her face in his robes. The blaster held by the rodian was pointed right at Kyn’s head.

“It would be an awful mess to clean up,” Salue warned her friend.

“Even a bigger one to cover up,” said the rough looking human.

The rodian nodded and handed his blaster to Salue. He then walked over to Kyn, his fist clenched tightly and punched him in the bridge of the nose.

“Brother and sister, bleeding together!” Salue laughed like a crazy woman.

Kyn fell to the floor, holding his face. He could see the blackish, red blood pouring onto his hand. Kyra screamed as she saw her brother in pain. She tried to wipe the blood away from his nose, even though her own lip had been badly cut. Her concern was only for her brother.

It was no use, she could not help him. Suddenly she was pulled away from Kyn and a loud crashing noise was heard. She had been tossed half way across the room and wrecked yet another sabaac table.

Kyn bull rushed the rodian and tackled him to the floor. He threw wild fist after wild fist, most of them missing. Soon there were eight pairs of boots kicking Kyn in the gut, in the face, and on his legs. At first he was able to absorb the punishment with sheer adrenaline and throw a few more haymakers. Alas, he was taken to the ground by sheer numbers.

“Let’s just put this scum in an escape pod and let him starve in the middle of space.” A voice yelled.

The rodian finally made it to his feet and he double checked himself. He found blood on his shirt but was glad to see that it wasn’t his own.

“I’m not done with this kid yet,” the rodian snarled.

They pinned Kyn up against the wall, one person holding each of his arms bound. The rodian landed a few well placed jabs to Kyn’s eyebrow and chin. He reached back for one more blow, but then stopped with his arm wrenched back. He lowered it slowly and turned towards his counterparts.

“I think he’s had enough. Let’s all leave before we are found out.” He said, his voice seemed wary and unlike himself.

“Nah, let’s get him!” The rough looking man said, now walking over to Kyn to get a few shots in himself.

The rodian stepped in front of the man and stopped him in his tracks.

“It’s time to leave,” the rodian repeated.

“Get out of,” said, stopping in midsentence. “He’s right everyone. Let’s leave them be now. They have learned their lesson.”

Salue looked absolutely flabbergasted. She circled around both of them, looking at them as if they were statues in a museum.

“Something ain’t right here,” she grumbled.

She raised the blaster and it was at point blank range to Kyn’s face.

“No! Please!” Kyra cried from the other side of the room.

Salue was not looking at Kyra or Kyn, but still at her two counterparts. They finally turned to face her, but it was a slow, drawn out motion that seemed to be choreographed.

“Show yourself Jedi,” Salue demanded.

A brown cloaked figured entered the room. Their hood was over their face and you could not make them out under it. The group of people parted so that the cloaked figure could walk between them and towards Salue.

“Your mind tricks might work on the rest of them,” Salue laughed. “But not on me.”

The figure raised their head and raised their hands to take the hood down to their shoulders. Zafii’s face was revealed, a stone cold look on her face.

“Zafii!” Kyra cried out.

“Please put down the blaster,” Zafii asked calmly.

“Fat chance,” Salue said.

“Nothing more will come of this if you just put it down now. As you already know, I am a Jedi. You can’t possibly think you stand a chance. Do the smart thing here.” Zafii said.

“Let me get this straight? I put down the blaster and you won’t arrest me once we get to Coruscant?” Salue asked.

“That’s right,” Zafii’s voice was soothing. “You will be able to go about your business and no one will ever need to know about this.”

Amazingly, Salue threw the blaster on the ground and backed up. Zafii did not move. When Salue saw that she was going to be true to her word, she ran to the middle of the room and scooped up as many credits as she could. She then saw the bracelet in the rodian’s hand and went to pull it away.

Before she could grab it from his hand, it flew in the other direction in mid-air towards Zafii.

Salue glared but did not say a word and then ran away down the corridor to hide.

“Zafii!” Kyra said, running towards the padawan.

Kyra wrapped her hands around her midsection and squeezed tightly.

“Come, we need to get you both to the medical bay.” Zafii instructed, leaving her angriest looked of the evening for Kyn.

 

Chapter 6

Zafii watched over the droids in the medical bay as they tended to Kyn and Kyra. They were both in highly advanced beds with tubes and plugs running every which way. The young padawan was severely disappointed with Kyn, although she couldn’t figure out exactly why. Kyra on the other hand, it broke her heart to see the nine year old girl being wiped of blood and her injuries tended to.


“I’m sorry, Kyra.” Kyn muttered for the one thousandth time.


“No, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have followed you. It wasn’t my place,” Kyra sobbed.


Their beds were just feet apart, parallel to each other. Zafii stood up and walked over to Kyra’s right, so that she was as far away from Kyn as possible.


“It wasn’t his place either,” Zafii reminded, “although if it is anyone’s fault it is mine.”


“Huh?” Kyra questioned. “How do you figure?”


Zafii smiled and took a wet rag from the medical droid and dabbed Kyra’s head.


“There is a rule; a rule that is rarely enforced aboard Republic ships and that is no gambling. I should have put an end to it as soon as we left Ennth.” Zafii explained.


Kyn snorted, “If I remember right, you were laying in this very spot after we left Ennth. You couldn’t have done anything.”


Zafii did not respond to Kyn, instead she continued to tend to Kyra. The durasteel door flew open and Tyon, Rayna, and Cole ran into the medical bay.


“My little girl, my son!” Rayna yelled, as she ran to their bed side.


“What happened?” Tyon said, the more calm of the two but visibly shaken.


“Uh,” Kyn muttered.


Zafii stepped forward and confronted their parents.


“Unfortunately not all of the refugee’s aboard this transport are of the utmost character. Your son and daughter were mugged by several intoxicated gamblers.” Zafii lied.


Rayna didn’t seem to like this answer much, “That hardly explains what you two were doing out of bed by yourselves.”


“I’m not a kid, Mom.” Kyn sighed.


“BUT KYRA IS!” Rayna scolded. “And apparently you are not responsible enough yet to take care of her.”


“I was hungry,” Kyra said, trying to defend her big brother till the end.


“I want to press full charges,” Tyon said, determined.


Zafii bit her lip; she knew she should not have lied for Kyn. She had told herself she was doing it for Kyra, but was that anymore truthful than the lies she was telling their parents?


“Unfortunately I was not able to apprehend the fugitives. It was all I could do to chase them off.” Zafii explained.


It was then that Master Tine entered the room. Everyone watched as he gracefully strode over to his apprentice.


“Should have put a stop to those gamblers the first day,” Tine muttered. “How are they?”


“The boy has a broken nose,” Zafii noted. “Kyra here has a pretty nasty cut on her lip and his bruised all over. Besides that, they’ll be fine.”


A medical droid poked at Kyn’s mid section as Zafii was talking.


“Possibly a few broken ribs as well,” the droid spoke up.


They were only six hours from landing on Coruscant now, and Kyn had to be regretting every second of his little sabaac game at this point.


“Well, I’m staying here.” Rayna announced. “Tyon, Cole, go on back to bed. I’ll take it from here. As for you Master Jedi, thank you for your help.”


Both Tine and Zafii gave slight bows as they left a mother to tend for her young.


**


The transports were only 25 percent capacity at this point as the fleet neared the atmosphere of the capital of the Republic, Corsucant. This time as the ship containing Zafii, did not experience any unnecessary turbulence as it began its descent.


Zafii lingered in her cabin for a few moments, knowing they would be touching down in a matter of minutes. She had packed up her few belongings hours ago. Mostly it consisted of a change of Jedi robes and a few unimpressive grooming devices. She triple checked everything, making sure she had not left anything behind. When she was sure she had everything in a small carrying bag, she exited her cabin with the intentions of meeting with Master Tine.


When she went by his cabin, it was completely cleaned out and he was nowhere to be found. She decided to go to walk towards the medical bay one more time on the large transport ship and check on Kyra. She knew, unless by chance, this would be the last time she ever saw Kyra. Zafii knew it would mean a lot to the young girl to say goodbye. Although Zafii did not want to admit it, it would also mean a great deal to her.


It was a feeling that she was not interested in inquiring about anymore than she had to. She felt protective of Kyra. She always felt protective of the innocent, which was the way of the Jedi after all. But never could she remember feeling such a bond with one single individual before.


Zafii came to the entrance of the medical bay and the doors shot open after she entered a code on the side panel near the door. The droids were in the process of transferring both Kyra and Kyn to mobile beds so they could be kept for more observation on Coruscant.


“How are they doing?” Zafii asked a droid as she entered the room.


“They seem to be doing much better, livelier since their mother has left to go gather their belongings.” The droid answered. “They will be held overnight once we land.”


“Do we know where we will be living yet?” Kyra asked innocently. “Maybe you could come visit after we move in, Zafii.”


Zafii smiled and walked towards the girl’s mobile bed, which Kyra was now lying on.


“Maybe, but I will probably not be on Coruscant for very long. I’m sure the Jedi Council will have another important mission for my Master and me.” Zafii explained.


“Oh,” Kyra hung her head. “I just don’t have any friends here.”


“You have us!” Kyn reminded her.


Kyra shot him a dirty look, “And because of you, I have this.” She pointed to the cut on her lip.


Kyn did not even bother mentioning that if she had stayed in bed like she was supposed to, she would not have been hurt. He was not foolish enough to make this point in front of Zafii, he was already on her bad side.


“I actually came to say goodbye. This will most likely be our last visit together. You will start a new life at school here on Coruscant and make many new friends. As for me, a Jedi’s life is very buys and very time constraining.” Zafii said.


“Goodbye? But you will have to be here sometimes? This is where you live, isn’t it?” Kyra asked, very worried she would never get to see her new Jedi friend again.


Zafii gave a grimacing smile, “I live in many places. I live where the Council tells me to live. Yes there are times a Jedi stays on Coruscant, but it is just a stopping ground of sorts. It’s more of a centralized meeting place for us to gather once we have completed one mission and are ready to begin another.”


“I see,” Kyra said, a small tear began to trickle from her left eye.


Kyra tried her best to hide it, but it was no use. Zafii leaned over her and her soft index finger traced the young girl’s face until his was under her chin. Zafii lightly raised her head so that their eyes can meet.


“Okay, if it means that much to you.” Zafii smiled.


“You mean you’ll come and visit us in our new home?” Kyra asked excitedly.


Another tear came out, but this one seemed very joyful.


“When I have the chance… yes.” Zafii promised. “I can’t say when that will be.”


“Great!” Kyra exclaimed. “I will have to think of something fun for us to do!”


Kyn rolled his eyes, “I hope you like imaginary blue milk, Jedi Zafii.”


Zafii raised her brow and looked in Kyn’s general direction. “If that is what is on the menu.”


Completely put off, Kyn turned his head away. Suddenly, Kyra’s small arms were wrapped around Zafii’s midsection.


“I think I have broken ribs now,” Zafii joked.


“Zafii?” Kyra said, still holding on tight.


“Yes?” Zafii questioned, as she didn’t know what else to do, so she wrapped her own arms around the girl.


“When you go off on your missions, will you be really careful?” Kyra asked innocently.


Zafii patted her on the back and pulled way so she could look Kyra in the eyes once more. “If I was not careful, I wouldn’t be a very good Jedi… would I?”


Kyra smiled back at her, her young brown eyes beaming in admiration. The ship then jostled and it was apparent that they had just landed.


Kyra did not know when she would see her role model again, but she hoped every hour of every day that they were apart, that it would be soon.

 

Chapter 7

There was no time to rest. As soon as she had step foot back inside the Jedi Temple, Zafii was notified that she was to appear in front of the Jedi Council at 09:00 hours. She looked at a digital chrono nearby and decided she didn’t have time to freshen up or splash some water on her face. Instead she began her ascent up to the top of the temple.

Padawan’s and knights alike were bustling about the hallways, in and out of doors. Zafii passed by the library and saw several younglings studying. Before she realized, she was standing just outside the door of the council chambers. She was escorted by Master Windu who seemed to be running late into the circular room.

As Master Windu took his seat next to Master Yoda, Zafii stood in the center of the room surrounded by the Masters of the Council.

“Master Tine updated us on the events that occurred on Ennth shortly before takeoff.” Windu said, starting the proceedings.

Zafii did not speak, this was not a question and she knew more was coming.

“Impressive were your feats, yes?” Master Yoda asked, staring at her.

Zafii took a breath; recalling the horrors she had been witnessed to on Ennth wasn’t something she could so fondly bring back to her mind’s forefront. She used the Force to calm her, she knew everyone in the room could sense her doing so.

“I’m not exactly sure I would consider it a feat, Master Yoda.” Zafii retorted finally.

“I see,” Yoda nodded.

The Jedi Master to Yoda’s right, Ki-Adi Mundi spoke up. “How exactly would you classify your actions on Ennth then, young padawan?”

“Necessary.” Zafii said simply.

“Indeed,” Windu nodded, impressed more with her now than he had been when he first heard Master Tine’s report on Ennth.

“It was nothing short of a tragedy, unfortunately there was nothing more we could do. The Force was the only ally that day for us. No one else could have helped.” Zafii explained.

Yoda looked to Mundi and then to Windu before speaking directly to Zafii once more.

“Sent more Jedi on the mission, you would have?” Yoda asked.

“I think we were properly staffed to execute the mission, we just didn’t act fast enough.” Zafii said without hesitation.

“Master Tine also informed us that you felt a disturbance in the Force before the events transpired.” Windu cut in. “Had the others listened to your warnings, perhaps things would have moved faster.”

Zafii did not speak or move. She did not even offer a shrug to the Jedi Master.

“Certain of this, you are.” Yoda pointed out. “Sense your feelings, we can.”

“Although your loyalties to Master Tine won’t allow you to undermine his authority.” Mundi pointed out.

A quizzical look came over the padawan’s face. She was utterly baffled to why they were tearing down your barriers and interrogating her in such a manner.

“Passed a trial on your way to becoming a Jedi Knight, you have.” Yoda informed her.

“You are wise and powerful beyond your years, young one.” Windu agreed. “The Council is in full agreement; you are ready to become a Jedi Knight.”

Zafii was taken aback but tried her best not to show it.

“I’ve only been under Master Tine’s tutelage for a little over four years now.” Zafii reminded them.

“You’ve also learned a great deal in that time,” Mundi reminded her. “We believe you are ready for more of a leadership role. Your instincts have always served you well; it’s unfortunate that some do not take your instincts as seriously as they should.”

“So that’s it?” Zafii asked.

Yoda shook his head, “One task remains. Clarity of your lineage you need. Trust in the Council you must learn.”

Zafii once again found herself confused, had Master Tine also informed them of her research about her parents.

“You are to discover everything you can about your family. We feel that for you, this is an important issue.” Windu instructed. “You are to leave immediately. You are to take as much time as it takes. You will know when you are to return to Coruscant and then you will come before us once again.”

“I will know?” Zafii asked.

“The Force will guide you, but you already know that.” Mundi nodded.

“The next time you step foot in the Jedi Temple, a Jedi Knight you will be.” Yoda added.

Zafii stood before the Council and bowed graciously.

“May the Force be with you,” Master Windu said.

“And with you Masters.” Zafii replied before taking her leave.

As she began her descent, Zafii began to wonder many things. Why would this be her final trial to becoming a fully-fledged Jedi Knight? As far as she ever knew, she trusted the Council. They had never given her a reason not to trust her. And the way they talked of Master Tine, even though they didn’t want to say his name directly as one of the people who would not listen to her premonition, she could sense their feelings just as well as they could sense hers. In just a matter of minutes she had grown wary of the Jedi Council, something she would have never thought possible until they actually had broached the subject themselves. What did they know? What would she find on Naboo? She had found every public record available about her parents and there wasn’t much to speak of. Was their more? The only way to find out would be to go straight to the Queen herself. She was sure that certain things about the Separatist attack a little more than a standard year ago had caused Naboo to seal certain records from wandering eyes.

Her concentration was broken as she entered the hangar bay. A young padawan’s voice was growing louder and louder as he spoke to a service droid.

“No, that one goes here and that one goes there! Sheesh!” He rolled his eyes.

He was dirty and disheveled, his robes, hands, and face covered in black grease. It was the young celebrity of the Jedi Temple, Anakin Skywalker working on a transport.

“I swear my protocol droid is more useful than these service droids.” Skywalker grumbled as he turned a tool in hand and began inspecting something else once the droid had figured out what it was doing.

Zafii stepped fully into the hangar bay and motioned towards an astromech she was familiar with, “R7, come on.”

The astromech bleeped and blooped as he raced from its stationary position against the wall to join his old friend.

“Belop boop!” R7 chimed, as it rolled just behind Zafii.

“Want to go to Naboo with me?” Zafii asked the droid.

The astromech hummed and chimed and shook a little bit and she took this to mean yes. They approached a starfighter that had already been fueled up for her trip and well as equipped with a few changes of garment and grooming supplies. R7-Z3 was hoisted up into his navigator position.

“Naboo?” Skywalker’s voice carried.

The young padawan began to walk over towards Zafii’s fighter.

“You’re going to Naboo?” Skywalker repeated the question.

Zafii stood a good six or seven inches over Anakin in height, “Yes.”

“What’s going on? No more trouble with the Separatists I hope? The Queen isn’t in trouble is she?” Anakin rambled.

Zafii shook her head, “Nothing like that. I’m actually going there to complete my trials to become a knight.”

Zafii wasn’t sure why she had told him this, yet it had slipped out.

“A knight huh?” Anakin frowned a bit, as he polished a metal part in his hand with a dirty rag. “A little young aren’t you?”

Zafii raised a brow at him, “You’re one to talk.”

“Sorry, I just didn’t think people got out of this padawan thing until they were like… an adult.” Anakin backtracked.

“I guess I matured faster than most.” Zafii retorted.

Anakin turned around as she said this, looking back towards the ship he had been working on.

“NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” Anakin yelled at the service droid.

Anakin ran back towards the ship and Zafii watched as he hit himself upside the forehead in frustration. She shook her head at his antics and primed the starfighter for takeoff.

“Ready, R7?” She asked.

“Boop Beep!”

And on little sleep and no real rest, Zafii and R7 were off to Naboo just like that.

**
The apartment was small, but it would suit the Fuller family’s needs. It had three small bedrooms, one refresher unit, kitchen and sitting room. Cole stayed long enough to drop off his belongings, and then left for the Republic Military Testing Center. Rayna took Kyn and Kyra to the closest school and enrolled them. Tyon set about unpacking.

The first week was hectic for the family. Cole was accepted into the Republic Military Training Academy. He had already passed most of the basic education tests back on Ennth. He left at the end of the week to stay at the Academy’s campus on-planet.

Rayna began working at a local diner. She loved talking to the various customers, relating tales of travel and sights unseen. The refugee committee helped Tyon obtain a job at the Jedi Temple, fixing fighters and speeders. He didn’t mind the work. The Jedi were mostly considerate and quiet.

At the end of the week, Kyra found herself sitting on a bench on a rooftop park by the Jedi Temple. She was waiting for her father to finish his shift. Kyn sat next to her, reading a comic adventure on a datapad. Kyra’s legs swung back in forth in boredom. She had hoped to catch a glimpse of a Jedi, particularly Zafii, while waiting for her father.

“How much longer?” Kyra asked impatiently.

“He said he’d be done at 1600,” Kyn responded, not looking up.

“What’s that over there?” Kyra asked, pointing to a tall building down the way.

“500 Republica. All the important people live there,” Kyn explained after glancing up to see where she was pointing.

“So the Jedi live over there and the senators live over there,” Kyra concluded.

“Mhm,” Kyn mumbled.

“Hey, kids,” Tyon’s voiced called from behind. Kyra hopped off the bench and hugged her father.

“Did you see any Jedi?” she asked excitedly.

Tyon chuckled, “All the time, but not the one you met.”

“Oh,” Kyra said, glancing back at the Temple, “Well if you see her, tell her I said hi.”

“I will, now come on, let’s get home,” Tyon said to his children and led them towards his used speeder in the park’s lot.

“Can I drive?” Kyn asked.

“Absolutely not,” Tyon stated, “not with your sister here.”

“Fine,” he grumbled.

 

Chapter 8




Naboo, the birthplace of Zafii Pel. She knew little about the place, other than it had recently been under attack from the shady Trade Federation and that fellow Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn had been killed by a mysterious Sith.


Officials were a little surprised to see her once she had landed, but she was warmly greeted.


“Come to check on the progress of the refugee’s have you?” One official asked.


“Not exactly,” she replied.


She had explained to them that under orders of the Jedi Council, she needed to speak with someone who could grant access to the data surrounding the attack on Naboo a little more than a year prior.


“I would have thought the Jedi would have those kinds of things in their archives.” Another official said.


The first official spoke up once more, “Come, we will take you to Theed Palace. Queen Amidala is currently the only one who can unseal those records. I’m sure she will be more than willing to hear your case; she has a soft spot for the Jedi since the invasion.”


With that, Zafii and R7 were escorted by speeder to Theed Palace where she was to have a meeting with the elected Queen.


Theed Palace was almost mythical in its elegance. The ceilings were high and lofty, the pillars made of the finest marble. So this was the capital of her home planet, Zafii thought.


“I’ve just commed Captain Panaka. He says Queen Amidala would be more than happy to meet with you. She’s just had a cancelation in her plans and can meet with you immediately.” The first official indicated.


“Excellent,” Zafii nodded.


The throne room doors were open when they walked past, yet no one was in there. Instead Zafii was lead further back to a smaller room, which was a more private meeting space for the Queen and a guest of her choice.


“R7, stay out here.” Zafii ordered.


The droid beeped and nodded his entire framework that was his body. The second official, whom had been escorting her, opened the door for her and she stepped through the threshold. The door was closed behind her and she stood still, waiting for the queen to acknowledge her.


“Please, sit.” Queen Amidala said.


“Thank you, Your Highness.” Zafii bowed and then walked over to a chair across from a dark, wooden desk that Amidala was sitting behind.


“This is an unexpected pleasure,” Amidala smiled. “What can I do for your Knight Pel?”


There was a silence in the room. She had spoken to royalty before, but it was never a personal issue. She wasn’t sure how to word this.


Amidala was young, yet had an intimidating look. She certainly looked every bit of royalty. She personified the beauty of the planet; with her ceremonial makeup and a white dress that looked every bit as complex to wear as it must have been to make. Zafii calmed herself with the Force and reminded herself that this wasn’t personal; it was a task, a trial.


“I was recently here on Naboo, on a lay over from one of the refugee ships.” Zafii began, but then stopped.


“I see,” Amidala said and urged her on. “Everything is going quite well. The influx in population in combination with the treaty we put in place has really stirred the economy and it has been only a week.”


“That’s,” Zafii looked for the right way to steer the conversation back in the correct direction, “excellent. Actually, my Queen… I was born on Naboo myself.”


Amidala nodded, “We haven’t had many Jedi Knights come from Naboo in recent history, to my knowledge. It’s nice to know our planet is well represented in the Jedi Order.”


“Thank you,” Zafii smiled. “Actually the reason I’m here today is because when I was here for the lay over, I decided to look up my parents. To find out whom they were and how they were doing.”


Amidala said nothing but nodded; as if she could see where this was going.


“Unfortunately I found out they were killed in the invasion last year. There wasn’t much more and I was wondering if perhaps there were some records not available to the public about the attacks. Perhaps more information about their deaths is in there, or even where they took up residence prior to their untimely death.” Zafii explained.


Amidala again said nothing; she seemed to be studying the young Jedi.


“I understand that the records must be classified and for good reason I’m sure. I just thought maybe since the Jedi were so influential in helping our home planet, that maybe…” Zafii cut herself off. She didn’t know where she was going with that comment.


Amidala nodded and stood from her chair, “Of course. Anything for the Jedi. We owe them the highest debt of gratitude.”


Zafii joined her in standing, taking it that the conversation was about to end, “Thank you my Queen. This means a lot to me.”


“Pel…” Amdiala recited her name. “I take it you kept your given name after the Jedi took you in?”


Zafii nodded.


“Pel…” Amidala repeated. “I knew a Pel family. A man and woman. I don’t think they had any children though. I remember they would come into the city and sell fruits and berries they grew out on their small farm. They were very gracious and grew the tastiest fruit.”


Zafii smiled, “That very well could be them, I suppose. There was only one other thing I could find about them. According to a local journalist who wrote an article on them some years ago, they lived on a small farm growing fruits and berries.”


“Article?” Amidala looked at her quizzically.


“Yes, a man by the name of Hep Naugzi interviewed about… me. He couldn’t understand why after so many years of trying to have a child, why they would give me up to the Jedi Council.” Zafii explained what she remembered about what she had read.


“Naugzi,” Amidala shook her head with a smile that could have been confused as a frown.


“You know him?” Zafii asked.


“Indeed.” Amidala confirmed. “He retired years ago from active journalism. He wrote a lot about Naboo but also was published around the galaxy. He’s somewhat of a dreadful man. He came out of retirement after I was elected, just to share his opinion on how moronic the people of Naboo were for electing me. I also hear he has quite a vendetta against the Jedi. I hear he has won awards in certain sectors for his work condemning them.”


“Does he still live here on Naboo?” Zafii asked.


“Yes, past the lake country. He has the big house. They are all big, but his is the biggest. He comes from a considerable amount of money. Never had to work a day in his life, but did. I guess you have to give him credit for that at least.” Amidala smiled.


“Thank you,” Zafii bowed.


“I’ll tell the private library they should be expecting you then.” Amidala returned her bow.


“My Queen,” Zafii said as she rose from her bow and turned on her heel to leave.


**


The sealed records revealed nothing. Zafii and R7 looked for hours, searching for key terms and names but nothing ever surfaced besides the public report that Zafii had already found a week prior. She knew that it couldn’t have possibly been that easy. She should have known better. It was obvious that the Jedi Council knew better, that’s why they had deemed this her final trial to be knighted.


“Come on R7,” Zafii motioned as they left the private library.


Zafii thanked the two officials whom had been escorting her all day and asked if she could borrow a land speeder. After helping R7 into the speeder, she hoped in the driver’s seat and they were off.


Dusk was upon that hemisphere of Naboo and Zafii could never remember seeing such a physically beautiful planet in her life.


“And to think, R7, I was born here.” Zafii said, wind whipping through her hair.


In the distance they passed mountains and waterfalls. In a hundred mile stretch on Naboo, you could seemingly see ever beautiful natural wonder the galaxy had to offer. There were not volcanoes, craters, or sand storms here. Only the things those most sought after could be found on this heavenly planet.


Dusk turned to night and the stars were in full affect overhead. They had just exited the lake country which was more exotically exquisite than she could have imagined.


Queen Amidala was right; there were several large, expensive homes in the lake country and just past. But when she saw what not a home was, but could only be described as a castle, she knew it must be the home she was looking for.


As they approached, Zafii slowed down noticing there was a drawbridge and a moat surrounding the castle. It didn’t look that old though, as if only installed in the past decade. She turned the speeder off and hopped out and stood in the moonlight as it reflected off the moat’s light bubbling water.


She placed her hands on her hips and took in her surroundings and wondered if she should come back in the light of day. She decided to reach out with the Force and see if there was any noise coming from within the castle.


Zafii could hear music; in fact it was very loud. She was surprised she wasn’t able to hear it before fully tuning into the Force. The sound of a champagne bottle being uncorked pressed in her ear.


“Well, someone is definitely awake in there. I think they are having a party R7.” Zafii commented.


Without so much as a warning, Zafii used the Force to leap towards the castle. She arced high in the air and began to free fall at an amazing speed. Just before she landed she slowed her body down and landed without a hitch. She dusted off her cloak and motioned for R7 to stay in the speeder.


She could definitely here the loud music now. It was so loud in fact that it was nearly vibrating the windows. Zafii approached the door and knocked loud enough so that one might hear her over the ballroom type music.


She knocked again, and again, and again. Finally the door crept open. An elderly man with a roundish figure was standing on the other side.


“Do you have an invitation?” He asked grumpily.


“I must have lost it,” Zafii smiled up at him.


“Then I must have forgotten that I invited you. Good evening!” He said as he slammed the door in her face.


She knocked again and the door flung wide open this time. The elderly man pushed a button on the wall next to the door and the music came to a screeching halt.


“Invitation please!” He announced. “Can’t get into one of my exclusive parties without an invitation.”


Zafii did not ask, but simply stepped over the threshold past him and into the main room of the house. The furniture was nice, but dated and somewhat dusty.


“I must have it somewhere in these dreadful robes.” She said, pretending to pat herself down for it.


“Ahhh!” The elderly man griped as he slammed the door and walked past her looking for his glass of champagne.


“What are we celebrating, again?” Zafii asked.


“The fiftieth anniversary of my first ever Galactic Journalist of the Year Award, of course!” He announced, chugging down a glass of expensive champagne before pouring another.


He then pointed up to the wall and Zafii noticed several impressive looking plaques surrounding the upper walls. They circled around the large family room as if there were no end to them.


“Congratulations once again,” Zafii admired.


“Yes, yes,” he scoffed.


“Mr. Naugzi,” Zafii said slowly.


“How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Hep!” He blurted, chugging his second glass of champagne.


“Hep, remember last time when we talked about Zenni and Josia Pel?” Zafii asked.


Hep squinted at her suspiciously, “Of course I remember. Don’t believe the rumors do you? Think I’m losing my memory do you? Of course I remember. What of it?”


“I was just wondering if we could continue that conversation, perhaps start from the beginning. My memory isn’t as acute as yours I’m afraid.” Zafii explained.


“Yes, yes!” Hep motioned for her to follow him. “Let’s sit and drink.”


Zafii sat down in a large cushioned arm chair, exactly where Hep had directed her. Hep did not sit down, however. He had disappeared by a small bar and seemed to looking for something a bit harder than champagne.


“Yes, this ought to do it.” Hep said confidently.


He grabbed two small glasses to go with a bottle containing a dark brown liquid.


“I remember you don’t like ice in yours.” Hep announced.


“You remembered.” Zafii smiled, taking the empty glass from him as he sat down across from her.


“I never forget what a lady likes to drink, especially one as fair as you.” Hep flirted.


He poured them both a generous offering of the strong spirit and he sat back in his chair, relaxing.


“Ah yes, who were we talking about again?” He asked.


“Zenni and Josia Pel. You wrote an article about them sixteen years ago.” Zafii reminded him.


“How could I forget? That article won me three of those.” Hep said, referring to the plaques on the wall. “Yes, they were a sad little couple. Of course the editor here on Naboo wouldn’t allow for the whole article to be published. It was more than a fluff piece of the locals. No, he didn’t want me defaming the Jedi. He never liked that much. Everyone else published it though. They respect me so much, they didn’t even need the video evidence I had ascertained.”


Zafii pretended to drink some of the dark spirit and then set it down on a nearby table.


“Video?” Zafii asked.


“Of course, I had a droid record the entire interview. They agreed to it before hand, of course.” Hep explained.


“Hep, I refresh my memory. Why so much disdain for the Jedi? I mean, I know why I don’t like them.” Zafii prodded.


Hep sat up in his chair, a shocked expression covering his face.


“Are you serious? I’ve told you this story at least a thousand times. I remember telling you when you were but a wee girl on my knee. Anyway, you know I had a younger brother. Yes, I had always wanted a younger brother to play with. When I was eight years old, I had all but given up on the idea. My mother and father were always out at their fancy parties, didn’t have time for me. All I had were the droids and the holo to keep me company. Then finally my father got caught.” Hep shook his head.


“Caught?” Zafii questioned.


“Well, not literally… But when the wench of a maid turned up pregnant, it was all the proof my mother needed. But he was still my brother, even if only by my father. I still was excited to have him. My mother of course, she forgave my father but not before having the young maid arrested on some trumped up charge. It was always curious to why my father wanted real help and not cleaning droids. I guess we know the truth now.” Hep reminded her.


“I forget… what happened to your brother?” Zafii urged him on.


Hep’s lip curled in anger as the memory came back to him, “The damn Jedi, that’s what happened. Apparently he was Force sensitive. My mother was all too happy to give him away to the Jedi when they came knocking. Why wouldn’t she be? Everyone knew what my father had done and it made my mother look like the fool. So there went my dreams of having a younger brother to look out for. Then what happens? Oh… I went undercover after I won that very first plaque over there. I had enough money to do it. I sought my brother out and he was nearly grown. It was the first time I had seen him in fifteen years. What did the Jedi have him doing? He was stuck on some Force forsaken farm planet. He was special enough to rip away from his family, with their lies… But hardly good enough to become a real Jedi. He didn’t even have a lightsaber, what a tragedy. I hated my mother for giving away my baby brother when I was young. As an adult I realized it was the Jedi’s fault. My mother knew how badly I wanted a brother and she loved me, I know she did. Why would she let the Jedi take him? I remembered overhearing the conversation years later. That’s when I realized the Jedi had come to my parents and used their mind tricks on them. They did the same thing to that young couple, the Pel’s. They STOLE their son… or was it a daughter. Either way, they stole that child from them and made them suffer until the day they died because of it.”


It was apparent now that Hep was out of breath and out of energy from talking about all of this. He looked at Zafii one last time before dozing off in the armchair. Zafii took the full glass from his hand and set it on the table next to him.


Zafii walked with great stealth through the house until she found a datapad that was hooked up to a private server. It took her a few tries, but she was able to hack the password and gain access. She put in a search for Pel.


A few seconds later, several files came up on the datapad screen. One was a written text file, the one she remembered reading a week ago in the public records library. Then she found what she was looking for. The extension of the file told her it was a holovid. She found a pair of small headphones in a drawer and put them over her head and inserted the male end into the datapad itself.


“Did they make you give away your baby girl, Zenni?” Hep’s voice could be heard, but he was nowhere to be seen.


Zenni looked like and older, more disheveled version of Zafii. She had an arm around her as she cried, presumably Josia’s.


“Do you remember actually wanting to give her up or did they force you to do it?” Hep asked the question again.


“We told you,” Josia sobbed, but the video was still focused on Zenni.


Zenni was a mess; her right hand covering her face, her left hand cradled the womb in which Zafii had been created.


“They kidnapped her, didn’t they? They kidnapped her and told you if you said anything there would be consequences!” Hep demanded the answer.


“I didn’t want to give her away. I felt… pressured.” Zenni sobbed.


“I knew it, I knew it!” Hep said with a celebratory voice. “Trust me, the Jedi will pay for their crimes against you. I will make them pay!”


The holovid disappeared and Zafii restarted it. She watched it five more times before leaving Hep Naugzi to sleep.



**


For the Fuller family, things were finally starting to feel like home. The last of their minimal possessions they were able to bring were placed in their proper spots in the apartment. Kyn and Kyra had both made acquaintances at their respective schools, and much to the rejoice of the entire family, Tyon had received his first credit deposit from his job at the Jedi Temple.


“I think this calls for a nice family night out,” Tyon announced.


Kyra jumped for joy and Rayna was also pleased to be getting out of the apartment and being able to do something as a family. Kyn wanted to get out of the apartment as well, but he was more interested in exploring Coruscant on his own.


“I’m just not comfortable with you roaming around the planet just yet,” Rayna had told him several times when he’d asked to venture out.


The entire family, minus Cole who was at the academy dressed in their finest robes and Tyon even called for an air taxi to pick them up.


“Can we go see a holo-vid at the Cineplex after dinner?” Kyra asked.


“We’ll see how full we are after dinner,” Rayna said, as they hopped on board the air taxi.


“And how tired,” Tyon yawned.


“None of that,” Rayna said as she jabbed him with an elbow to the ribcage.


“I’ve been working all day.” Tyon said defensively.


“And what do you think I’ve been doing?” Rayna reminded him.


The dinner was enjoyable. They were a little overdressed for the restaurant they picked but they didn’t care. Finally it seemed that the homesickness they had all been feeling was beginning to lift.


After dinner and waiting on their air taxi to arrive, Kyn noticed the Cineplex high rise a few buildings over. There was a large screen playing clips of the latest holovids that they were offering.


“Oh, I’ve been wanting to see that one.” Kyn pointed to the screen which was currently showing a clip of a high-tech action movie.


“I don’t think that one is appropriate for Kyra.” Tyon reminded him.


“I’m tired,” Kyra yawned.


Tyon smiled, this was the best news he had heard all night.


Kyn rolled his eyes and sighed.


“Do you want to go Kyn?” Rayna offered.


“What? By myself?” Kyn asked, surprised.


Rayna looked at Tyon, “Give him enough credits to see the movie and to get a taxi home.”


“What do you think they pay me over there?” Tyon said, outraged.


“Please,” Kyn said. “I haven’t done anything by myself in weeks.”


Tyon shook his head but handed his son enough credits so he could enjoy the rest of the evening by himself.


They all boarded the air taxi together but Kyn got off at the Cineplex and the rest of his family returned to the apartment. Kyn stood in front of many smaller screens that were placed outside of the Cineplex and took note of all the different choices he had.


Each holovid had a different rate, based off the popularity of the film. He noticed that the vid he wanted to see was priced higher than all the others and was also rated mature, with identification required.


“I don’t want to see any of these others,” Kyn muttered to himself.


“Why not come see a race with me down at the tracks?” A female voice said.


Kyn recognized the voice; he also recognized the grotesque feeling in the pit of his stomach when her finger gently rubbed against his shoulder.


“What do you want,” he said defensively, turning to face Salue.


“Jumpy, aren’t we?” She laughed.


Kyn noticed she didn’t have any of her rough alien friends around this time.


“Look, I wanted to apologize for what happened on the transport from Ennth. Those guys put me up to it, I felt like my life was endangered. I didn’t know what else to do.” Salue explained.


Kyn glared at her and shook his head, “I have no reason to believe you.”


“True,” she smiled wickedly at him. “I notice you have a handful of credits there. Care to make a wager?”


“With you? Hardly.” Kyn spat.


Salue laughed, “Good boy, but not with me. This is legit. There is a big race tonight in the Undercity. There is a guy they say is the best. He’s ruled the circuit for years, he’s undefeated. I heard there is some daredevil Jedi challenging him tonight.”


“I don’t think so,” Kyn said, walking towards a computer terminal.


He had decided to just buy a ticket to the cheapest showing so he could get away from Salue.


“Look, I’m not the bookie, Kid. I just thought I would make it up to you and show you a good time since I saw you out here. But if you don’t want to go, I’m not going to twist your arm.” Salue said snootily.


Salue began to walk away slowly. Kyn watched her for a few seconds and then finally called out.


“Who’s the Jedi?” Kyn asked.


Salue stopped immediately and slowly turned to face him, a devilish grin on her pale, white face; her short blue hair covering half her face.


“Ever heard of Anakin Skywalker?” Salue asked.


“Yeah the little kid who won the Boonta Eve race last year.” Kyn said knowingly.


Salue nodded and walked towards him, “Well they aren’t racing pods, but I heard he was working on something really fast. He sneaks out at night and races from time to time. Hopefully if the little tyke can manage to get out of the Jedi Temple tonight, we will have a very interesting race on our hands.”


Kyn looked at the credits his father had given him and decided that a race involving a Jedi in the middle of the night on Coruscant would have to be more action filled than any holovid.


“Okay,” Kyn said, defeated.


Salue smiled and took his arm with hers and she escorted him down into the lower parts of the city. It took them over an hour of walking, but finally arrived where a large gathering of people were hovering.


“This must be the place.” Salue said, trying to look between excited bodies.


“This is the track?” Kyn scoffed.


“What did you expect? This is the underbelly of the capital of the Republic.” Salue laughed.


Salue pointed towards a large, blue alien who was taking credits and passing out small hand written vouchers.


“Get your bets in, race starts in 5!” The blue alien roared.


Kyn hesitated; he was a bit weary of walking into a large group of people with Salue around.


“Just give me the credits,” Salue said.


Kyn slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the credits and handed it to her reluctantly. Salue smiled wickedly and walked towards the blue alien. She had a short conversation and soon she was walking back with their wager voucher and two small holo-monitors.


“What are these?” Kyn asked, taking one of the monitors for himself.


“So we can watch the race silly. You don’t think they just go around in circles do you? No, they fly all around Coruscant, sometimes into the middle of traffic. There are spots they have to fly by and everyone can see so no shortcuts.” Salue explained.


“Who did you bet on?” Kyn asked.


“Skywalker,” Salue said, adjusting the settings on her monitor.


“But you said the other guy always wins!” Kyn exclaimed.


“Skywalker is getting odds, if he wins our winnings will be triple than if we just bet on the favorite.” Salue said knowingly.


“I’d rather take the sure thing,” Kyn muttered. “And it’s my winnings I believe.”


Salue looked up, her smile turning sour.


“So selfish… You wouldn’t even know about this to win anything if it weren’t for me. As I see it, if WE win, I should get a finder’s fee.” Salue retorted.


Kyn didn’t say anything. He knew at best he would be splitting his winnings with Salue. She was devious and he should have never fallen for it.


As he was regretting his decision to accompany her, the race started. The two racers flew around Coruscant in modified speeders. They were neck and neck for most of the race, weaving in and out of traffic, dodging buildings and each other.


“Come on!” Everyone was yelling in the crowd, cheering for their racer to win.


The race had turned physical as the two racers were bumping each other’s side with their respective speeder. The finish was close but it looked like Kyn was about to be out of the small amount of credits he had allowed Salue to wager.


“That’s it,” Kyn said in a defeated tone.


He set the monitor aside and shook his head in frustration. He was surprised to hear Salue begin to cheer and jump up and down in place watching her monitor. Kyn ran over to her side and watched with her as Skywalker had apparently used some sort of turbo boost that had been installed on the speeder and he zoomed past his opponent, winning the race.


“YES!” Kyn yelled triumphantly.


Salue dropped her monitor and hugged Kyn, wrapping her wormy arms around his neck. She kissed his cheek and Kyn felt violated.


“Let’s go get your money.” Salue advised.


The bookie seemed pleased with the finish. Mostly everyone had bet on the favorite and while those he did pay out were for more money, it was obvious he had taken a profit. Salue handed him the voucher and he in return handed her a fist full of credits.



She walked over to Kyn and offered him all of the credits. Kyn took it without hesitation but then handed half back to her.


“What’s this?” Salue asked.


“Finder’s fee,” Kyn nodded.


“Oh you are the sweetest kid,” Salue said, taking the credits and kissing Kyn on the cheek again.


The two of them walked away from the dispersing crowd as they counted their winnings.


“Have fun tonight, honey?” Salue asked in her best attempt at a sultry voice.


“It was… interesting. I’m glad we won though.” Kyn smiled.


“Tomorrow night then, why don’t we meet by the Cineplex again and I’ll show you a real good time.” Salue offered.


Kyn was hesitant. He had regretted coming with her at first, but the thrill of winning had but that on the backburner.


“I don’t know.” Kyn sighed. “This was the first time I was allowed out on my own, I don’t know if I could…”


Salue laughed, “Ah, will mommy not let you come out and play?”


“Fine!” Kyn shot back. “I’ll be there.”


Salue once again had that wicked smile on her face and she allowed her hand to trace the jaw line of his face.


“See you soon then,” she purred.

 

Chapter 9

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Two times a week Kyn was sneaking out of his family’s apartment and meeting Salue.

Sabaac, betting on races both in person and across the galaxy, as well as gambling on simple rolls of a chance cube were the names of the games. Some nights Kyn and Salue lost but most nights they won. Kyn was always careful not to bring too many credits with him so he wouldn’t be tempted to get reckless and lose it all.

Through all of their triumphs, Kyn not only began to feel more comfortable around Salue, but actually like hanging out with her. Maybe it was because she treated him like more of an adult than anyone else did. Whether it was in school or at home, Kyn always felt like he was being talked down to.

On his time on Coruscant he had now turned sixteen standard years old and was beginning to resent those people in his life that wouldn’t let him grow up.

As for his gambling partner, Salue; she had won herself enough credits that she actually looked as decent as could be expected. Her robes were new, she took daily showers it seemed, and she wore makeup to hide several tiny scars that littered her face and neck. She had even paid to have a fancy hairdo and now blond streaks ran through her naturally light, blue hair.

Kyn had won a considerable amount of credits but living at home, he knew he couldn’t flaunt it. Sure he would like to go out and buy an air-speeder and he almost had enough for a brand new model. But alas, how would he explain it to his parents?

Finally he broke down for Kyra’s tenth birthday party. He knew his parents could not afford much for her and that she was lucky that they were throwing her a small party with some of her new classmates. He knew the perfect gift for her.

Kyra always wanted to watch her style of programming on the one holo-set they had in the living area of the apartment. Kyn was always frustrated to see her in front of it after school. After considering a small holo-set for her own room and looking at the newer models and the price tag attached to them, he decided a used set would be easier to lie about.

He passed a place in the lower city every night when he snuck out that looked like it sold used everything. He was able to procure a working holo-set that was just the right size for Kyra’s small bedroom.

Kyn had clumsily wrapped it and it was sitting in the middle of the dining room table with the rest of her modest pile of gifts the day of her party.

One by one, Kyra’s little classmates were dropped off at the apartment. Most of were human kids but there was a small togruta girl there as well. After everyone arrived, Rayna assembled the girls in the living area and introduced a few games for them to play. After she was shot down ten times, she gave up and let them run wild throughout the apartment.

Kyn decided to stay out of the ruckus and helped his mother and father in the kitchen with the final touches on the birthday lunch.

“What did you guys get Kyra?” Kyn whispered.

“Some book chips and hair accessories.” Rayna murmured back.

“I hope she likes it,” Tyon grimaced. “We couldn’t get her much. The utility bills here are outrageous.”

“120 credits for electricity, it’s unthinkable.” Rayna agreed.

Kyn grabbed some vegetables and started to chop them up and display them on a large plate.

“I’m glad most of her little friends brought gifts,” Rayna said, motioning towards the dining table.

“I noticed your clumsy wrapping, Kyn.” Tyon pointed out. “What did you get her?”

Kyn gritted his teeth. He knew this was the time to “come clean” because he didn’t want to do it in front of the rest of the party.

“Don’t get mad,” Kyn prefaced.

“Uh oh.” Tyon shook his head, setting down the knife he had been working with.

“Maybe you want to step away from the knife,” Kyn joked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Out with it, young man,” Rayna demanded.

Kyn held up his hands as if he was surrendering and began to look for the words.

“Okay, like I said. Don’t get mad please. I know you will but here it goes… I’ve been sneaking out two times a week when everyone goes to bed. I found a job in a factory, helping clean for a few hours. I’ve been saving my money and I bought Kyra her own used holo-set for her room.” Kyn explained.

Rayna looked at Tyon and there was a long silence. Suddenly the front door opened and it was Cole.

“Cole!” Kyn exclaimed. “You were able to get away from the academy after all?”

Cole nodded and walked in with a wrapped present of his own and set it on the table. He then hugged his mother.

“So, what’s going on?” Cole asked.

“Kyn was just telling us how he’s been deceiving us and sneaking out of the house to work.” Tyon snarled.

“Uh oh,” Cole chuckled. “Could be worse I guess. I mean, he could be sneaking out to rob people.”

“While it’s nice that he wants to work,” Rayna shot back. “To lie to us Kyn… What if something happened to you and we didn’t know where to find you? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to not let us know where you are at all times?”

Kyn rolled his eyes angrily, “I’m not a kid!”

“You are as long as you are under this roof.” Tyon’s fist hit the kitchen counter hard.

“We will talk about this later; we aren’t going to ruin Kyra’s party. And you are quitting that job.” Rayna said.

“I can’t,” Kyn said.

“This is why your grades at school haven’t been up to snuff since we got here. You used to be an honor student and now you are barely passing. I lied to myself and said it was you adjusting to your new home. I’m done making excuses for you, Kyn!” Tyon said heatedly.

“Guys,” Cole pointed to the girls reentering the living area.

Everyone fell silent but the air was still saturated with the remnants of the argument.

“Cole!” Kyra said excitedly and ran towards her oldest brother.

They exchanged a quick hug and then Kyra seemed to remember her school friends were watching and became embarrassed.

“So Kyra,” one of the little girls spoke up. “Is that Jedi going to be here today?”

“Jedi?” Kyn asked, the word slipping from his mouth before he had thought it.

“Yeah, Kyra said she had a great friend who was a Jedi and that she was expecting her here.” The little girl smirked.

Kyra looked at the girl crossly, “I never said for sure she would be here Tia! I never said that. I said that it sure would make a great birthday present if I got to see her.”

Tia rolled her eyes, “Does she even know it’s your birthday?”

Kyra looked stumped, it was true that she had never mentioned when her birthday was to Zafii.

“Great friend to not even know when your birthday is.” Tia giggled, looking at the other girls for a reaction as well.

“She’s a Jedi,” Kyn said, walking into the room and standing by his sister. “She knows it is Kyra’s birthday because she could read her mind for an easy piece of information like that. I’m sure she is busy though.”

“Too busy to come to a party of a girl that only talks about her Jedi friend?” Tia shot back.

“That’s enough young lady,” Rayna stepped in.

“Sorry ma’am.” Tia said with little sincerity.

“It’s okay, now would you girls like to eat so Kyra can open her presents?”

The girls cheered in unison as they gathered at the dining room table and greedily grabbed at the food. Kyra didn’t seem hungry however as she sat down in an empty chair in silence as everyone else ate.


**

No matter what she did, Zafii could not stop the weeds from growing in the large garden outside of the residence that once belonged to her parents.
After finding their Will, Zafii learned that she was the rightful owner of the small house in the countryside outside of Theed. She had not used the Force in the six months she had been living in the house; not to clean the house, not to grow the exotic fruits that her parents once did to make their living, or for anything else.
Her lightsaber was hidden in the bottom of an old chest in her parent’s bedroom, along with her Jedi robes. She found that she fit perfectly into her mother’s old clothes that were hanging in the closet.
On her first day, she had taken all of the clothes, even her father’s, down to a small freshwater brook and cleaned the stale air smell out of them.
The only thing that she had that reminded her of the Jedi Temple was R7, whom she liked tremendously. She just didn’t have the heart to shut him down. He seemed to understand her dilemma and helped her out around the house where you could.
There were no electronic doors to unlock or navigating for him but his other, lesser-known utilities came in handy from time to time.
“R7, have any ideas on how to stop weeds from growing?” Zafii asked, as she pulled up a handful with her fist.
R7 tooted something at her, but she wasn’t listening. She had spotted a small but ripe, purple berry clinging to a vine. She reached out and picked it and black juice began to trickle out onto her fingers. Zafii looked at R7 and smiled before taking a small bite out of the berry.
She savored the flavor and she was amazed at how much juice was contained in such a small berry.
“It’s wonderful R7, we did it!” She said excitedly. “We actually grew something. My parent’s used to grow these all the time. The pictures I found inside… the gardens were full of these.”
R7 shimmied in place, showing how excited he was for his friend.
Zafii took another bite and the berry was gone but the sweet taste lingered in her mouth for hours.

“Come on, buddy.” Zafii said, standing from her squatting position near the ground.

R7 followed her back towards the house and ran a quick diagnostic scan on her.

“Bleep boop beep!!!” R7 chimed.

“What?” Zafii said, turning to face him.

R7 then produced a holo projection of a graph. Zafii kneeled down to read what it said and it had to do with her weight.

“Oh,” Zafii said. “Yeah I’ve lost a little weight.”

Zafii had lost more than a little weight. She had always been tone from her workouts but still on the thin side like her mother. From R7’s limited scan though, he could tell it was borderline malnutrition at this point. Her toned muscles had all but disappeared. Her stomach was in a sunken state and her face was dangerously hollow around the cheeks.

“I just wanted to make it on my own. I wanted to catch and grow all my food for myself, like my parents did. I think that’s what this was about. That’s why the Council sent me here, wasn’t it?”

Zafii couldn’t be sure, even after six months on Naboo. She never knew exactly what she was supposed to be enduring for her trials but she figured it wasn’t supposed to be easy.

“You saw for yourself though, the fruit is beginning to ripen. I’ll soon be back to looking normal.” Zafii promised R7.

R7 swiveled his head as to say that wasn’t good enough. He then brought out his jets, fired them up, and took to the air.

“R7!” Zafii called out. “Where are you going?”

The droid bleeped and blooped something that she couldn’t understand but did not stop.

It was nearly an hour later when he turned back up. Zafii walked outside from the house and gave him an exasperated look.

“And where did you go? Leaving me all alone?”

R7 then opened up a front compartment on his robotic body and two large fish fell out.

Zafii roared in laughter as the two fish gave weak flops as they neared death.

“You caught me dinner huh? Well I would have liked to see that.” Zafii said, gathering up the fish with her bare hands and bringing them inside.

 

Chapter 10

Naboo’s sun was directly overhead and that with the combination of blue skies and fluffy white clouds made it yet another spectacular day on the planet. The streets of Theed were lined with local vendors and people buying from them.


Some vendors were selling crafts and homemade pottery, while others were selling fresh meat and fish. Still others were selling their specialty fruits and nuts.


Zafii Pel was among these vendors and assisting her was R7-Z3, her trusty astromech. She couldn’t believe how busy she was. Everyone who passed seemed to want to buy some of the gorgeous, red bingerberries she had grown. She was scooping them into large brown sacks and handing them out and taking back a small amount of credits in return. She was also selling an assortment of large melons which were nearly as popular as the berries.


The young padawan was filled with pride. She now felt like she had some sort of otherworldly bond with her parents; parents she couldn’t remember. This was how they had made their living, provided for themselves, and had planned on providing for her.


The sun wore on and eventually dusk began to settle. It had been a couple of hours since the streets of Theed had been bustling, but Zafii didn’t want to bring anything back with her to the house. While her parents would have undoubtedly seen this as a very successful day, she still had a few bags of berries left and two melons that were destined to go unsold.


“I think it’s time to start cleaning up, R7.” Zafii sighed.


She sat the fruit aside and began to fold the tables up which had been displaying the fruit.


“Come on, hurry up.” A young boy said to his even younger sister as they walked by Zafii’s stand. “This is when you can get stuff for cheap.”


“I’m tired,” the young girl whined.


“That’s because you haven’t eaten,” the boy pointed out, holding a single, small credit in his hand.


Zafii immediately stopped what they were doing and motioned for R7 to stay put. She began to follow the young children from a distance. They finally stopped at a stand where a middle aged man was cleaning up.


“Hey Mister, how much for those fish?” The boy asked.


“7 credits a piece,” the man said, without looking at him.


“7? That’s the normal rate isn’t it? It’s the end of the day, they’ll just go bad.” The boy pointed out.


The man stopped what he was doing and looked at the two of them, “I have a freezer you know. I’ll be back out tomorrow and sell it for 7 credits then if I don’t tonight. Or maybe I will eat it for dinner myself.”


“Come on,” the young boy said, frustration in his tone.


Zafii followed them once again and listened in on their conversation. Again, they had no luck. When they had reached the end of the street, the two children turned around with their heads down and began to walk home.


“You kids need something to eat?” Zafii asked.


They looked at Zafii very suspiciously.


“We’ve never seen you here before.” The boy said.


Zafii smiled, “That’s because I just had my first harvest come in. I have some left over fruit if you want it.”


“I only have this,” the boy said, holding out a single credit.


“Keep it,” Zafii said, showing them the way back to her little nook.


Zafii hadn’t realized how far they had walked but finally she could see R7 in the distance.


“R7, where is the fruit?” Zafii asked.


R7 bleeped and blooped happily and showed her some credits.


“Oh… you sold the rest of it?” Zafii sighed.


The young girl began to cry and her brother wrapped his arm around her shoulder.


“It’s okay, we are used to it.” The boy reassured Zafii and began to lead his sister away.


“No!” Zafii exclaimed. “Wait… do you have a home close by?”


“We live just outside the walls here,” the boy answered.


“Are your mother and father waiting for you to bring back dinner?”


The boy nodded, “Well just our mom. Dad died on Ennth before the ships took off.”


“Oh,” Zafii paused. “You are some of the refugees from Ennth?”


The only thing Zafii could think about was little Kyra starving on the streets of Theed, her face hollow and her eyes void of any energy.


“I might be able to help you out, could I perhaps meet your mother?” Zafii asked. “Don’t worry, I’m not really a stranger. I’m actually a Jedi Knight, I’m doing a little undercover work here on Naboo.”


Zafii flashed them her lightsaber from under her cloak.


They both looked excited, yet lethargic and they beckoned Zafii and R7 to follow them. It was a rather short walk but Zafii could immediately see why the mother had sent two small children to find food. She was in no condition to walk. It was obvious she had been sacrificing for her children so they could eat more.


“Hello,” Zafii said hesitantly.


The woman smiled weakly but did not answer. Zafii had to wonder how this could happen, right under the Queen’s nose. Perhaps this family had been left out in the cold from the legislation the Queen had passed before the refugee’s arrival. It had been one year since the refugees had arrived from Ennth and all reports seemed to be good but it obviously was not for this particular family.


Zafii pulled out the fistful of credits she had earned that day and set it on the ground in front of them.


“We can’t take all that.” The boy said, astonished.


“You can and you will. It is not mine anyway.” Zafii reassured them.


“You stole it?” The girl asked.

Zafii shook her head, “No I did not steal it. But I have no use for it. Jedi have no possessions, especially possessions that would do others well.”


Zafii then crouched down and put her hand on the forehead of their mother. She closed her eyes and drew upon the Force to aide her.


It was like a shot of adrenaline to the woman and she was able to get to her feet on her own.


“Now, please go with your children and find some food. You need to eat as well.” Zafii instructed.


The woman looked at her, awestruck. She nodded and hustled her children back within the walls of Theed to find something to eat.



**


Kyn stepped outside and covered his eyes from the Coruscant sun. School had just been let out and he was waiting for Kyra to join him so they could board the school’s transport bus together for a ride home.


“You’re a hard kid to find.” A familiar female voice purred in Kyn’s ear.


Kyn looked at some of his classmates pass by him with odd looks on their faces and he knew that Salue must be behind him. He turned to face her and noticed that she was dressed in expensive clothes and was wearing what looked like designer makeup.


“Wow,” Kyn said. “You look good.”


“Haven’t I always, Kyn?” Salue laughed, drawing unnecessary attention to herself.


She had once again dyed her natural blue hair, this time she had crimson red highlights in it.


“It’s been a while, you quit showing up to our little get-together’s .” Salue pointed out.


“I’ve been busy.” Kyn noted, readjusting his school supplies in his arms.


Salue noticed this and smirked, “I can see that. But for six months? I know you have to be missing the action.”


“I’m fine,” Kyn said.


“AHHH!” Kyra yelled from behind Kyn. “HELP, HELP, HELP!”


“What is her problem?” Salue asked.


“You beat her up and tried to rob her, remember?” Kyn sighed. “Kyra, it’s okay. It’s not the same lady.”


“YES IT IS!” Kyra screamed, now many school age children were gathering around.


A school administrator then ran into the middle of the ruckus.


“What’s going on here?”


“This lady tried to rob us before, now she’s back.” Kyra explained.


“Excuse me,” the administrator started in. “Who are you?”


“None of your damn business.” Salue growled.


“You are on school district property, so unless you have business here I would advise you to leave.”


Salue glared at him for several seconds before looking back to Kyn. She began to walk backwards and blew a kiss to him.


“Big race tonight… You’ll know where to find me.” Salue winked.


The school administrator then tugged at Kyn’s arm, “What was that all about? Who is that woman?”


“She’s no one.” Kyn said irritably, pulling his arm away violently.


“I’m sure,” the administrator shot back. “If I see her here again on your account, I’ll be contacting your parents.”


“You won’t,” Kyn snapped back.


“Excuse me?”


“You won’t see her again… Sir!” Kyn said.


The administrator did not respond and walked away, motioning for the students to break up.


“What was she doing here, Kyn?” Kyra asked.


“I don’t know. I think she’s stalking me.” Kyn lied.


“She wants to find where we live and try to rob us again.” Kyra said, overdramatically.


“Stop,” Kyn said, beginning to walk towards the transport. “Don’t be dumb.”


“You’re the one being dumb if you’re talking to her. Zafii saved us from her and her goons once. But she’s not been around for a year for all we know. I don’t think she will be there to save you again.”


“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”


Kyra snorted in laughter as she walked beside him, they were now boarding the transport and looking for a seat.


“You want to see her just as badly as I do. Do you think her Jedi senses will tell her when you are trouble and you are trying to do just that… Hoping she will come and save your skin again?” Kyra made up wild accusations.


“Where do you get this stuff? Honestly!” Kyn muttered, sitting down next to her.


“Zafii Fuller,” Kyra said, covering her mouth up.


“What did you say?” Kyn asked, turning beet red.


“You really should empty your datachip’s trash better. I found your little love note to her when I was trying to play a game a few weeks ago.”


Kyn was angry, very angry.


“Sounds like you were snooping around, more like it!” Kyn accused.


Kyra shrugged, “All this time I thought I was being silly… hoping a Jedi would be my friend. But you actually want a Jedi to be your girlfriend!”


Other students now began to gaze over at them, overhearing their conversation.


“Shut it!” Kyn warned under his breath.


“Okay, I won’t talk about it anymore. I’ll just tell mom and dad you were talking to that lady. Maybe she’s your girlfriend. I must say Kyn, you could do better. Not much better, but better.” Kyra said.


“You are turning into a little brat, just like those girls you hang out with.” Kyn fired back.


“Those kinds of comments won’t get you anywhere. I want to know the truth about that woman, or I will tell.” Kyra demanded.


Kyn shook his head; he couldn’t believe his ten year old sister was blackmailing him.


“Fine, but not here.”



**


Zafii was standing in the smaller bedroom of the two that were in her parent’s old house. This was to be her room. There were things in here for girls of all ages. It was almost as though they had decorated this room with new things that Zafii might have liked in different stages of her life if she would have just been a normal kid. There were stuffed animals and plastic dolls. There were posters on the wall of superstar musicians from around the galaxy, as well as an assortment of clothes.


One piece of clothing in particular had caught Zafii’s eye the very first time she had stepped foot in the house. She had washed it in the spring nearby, along with many of the other clothes in the house.


It was a bright red dress, one that would fit below the shoulder with no strap. It was the type of gown that an elegant woman might wear to a sophisticated party or ball. Although she had no way to prove it, Zafii was sure that her mother had made this gown.


Zafii turned and looked in a full-length mirror that was on the backside of the bedroom door. She saw a conservative, well mannered Jedi Knight staring back at her. Her face was pretty with youth but it was obvious that good looks and style were not an important part of her life.


She closed her eyes as a tear trickled down her left cheek.

“Zafii, Zafii, get out here.” Josia Pel urged her.​

​

​

“No dad,” Zafii said embarrassed. “I look ridiculous.”​

​

​

“I’m sure that can’t be true. You are beautiful and so is that dress your mother made. That’s a match made in Heaven if you ask me. Come on sweetie, your mother is dying to see.”​

​

​

Zafii finally opened the door to her room and her beauty was radiant. She was wearing the elegant red gown her mother had made by hand for her. She was wearing just the right amount of makeup and her sandy blond hair was tied up in beautiful braids.​

​

​

“Well?” Zafii blushed.​

​

​

Josia ushered her into the living area of the house and Zenni gasped.​

​

​

“My baby, my baby, my baby!” Zenni ran over to her and hugged her. “Oh, I’m sorry I’m going to ruin your dress.”​

​

​

“You won’t ruin it,” Zafii said, pulling her mother back and hugging her. “You could never ruin anything.”​

​

​

“Looks like you’ll be the luckiest guy at the dance,” Josia said to Zafii’s date.​

​

​

“Yes sir,” the date answered in a garbled, unidentifiable voice.​

​

​

Zafii had not even realized her date had arrived; nor did she care. She was looking into her mother’s eyes.​

​

​

“Thank you for this beautiful dress,” Zafii said. “Thank you for everything.”​

​

​

Zenni shook her head, “No, thank you for being my daughter. I love you.”​

​

​

Zafii’s date took her by the arm, but she couldn’t take her eyes off her parents. He was leading her out the door to a carriage.​

​

​

“Take good care of her,” Josia called out.​

​

​

Zenni blew her daughter a kiss as Josia wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder.​

Zafii opened her eyes and was once again looking at the Jedi in the mirror. She had been fantasizing about what it would have been like to have a night like that with her parents, one night.


With tears running down her cheeks, Zafii pulled her brown Jedi cloak over her head and threw it on the floor. Next she opened her tunic and disregarded it to the floor with her cloak. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She then kicked off her boots and slipped out of her pants, again onto the pile on the floor.


She shivered a bit from her skin being completely exposed to air and she reached for the red dress that was lying in the bed. She slipped it over and found that it fit perfectly.


“How did she know?”


Once again, Zafii looked at herself in the mirror. She did not look anything like a Jedi now. She looked like she should be on a politician’s arm at an opera or fancy dinner restaurant.


“It’s beautiful, mom.”


Zafii slipped the dress off and delicately folded it to take back to Coruscant with her. She slipped her Jedi robes back on and held the folded dress in her hands. She took one last look in the mirror before leaving the bedroom.


She did not look like a Jedi Knight…


She was one.

 

-Chapter 11-

Credits in hand and fully dressed Kyn was impatiently waiting in his dark bedroom for his father to turn off the holo and go to sleep. He didn’t understand it; his father rarely stayed up this late. He was always tired from work and would doze off soon after dinner. Of course, he had to stay up late tonight.

“I’ll never make it on time to place a bet,” Kyn muttered to himself, looking at a digital chrono on his nightstand.

Finally there was silence coming from the living area. He heard his father’s footsteps getting closer and then passed by his room. Kyn listened closely for the bedroom door to shut. He waited a few extra minutes before tip-toeing out of his own bedroom. With his hands outstretched to make sure he didn’t knock anything over, Kyn made it to the front door.

He knew now he’d never be able to make it on time on foot and didn’t want to waste credits on an expensive cab ride to his destination, so he had decided to swipe the keys to his father’s speeder.

“They’ll never know I took it.” Kyn reassured himself.

With that, Kyn jumped in the driver’s seat of the speeder and turned it on; all the while cringing hoping the noise would not cause anyone to notice. Although why would they? He was in a large parking garage and no one would assume he wasn’t supposed to be driving it.

Soon he was zooming through the Coruscant skies with the wind blowing through his reddish-gold hair. He squinted as the wind hit his eyes and he looked for the safest spot to park his father’s speeder. He knew the area he was about to meet Salue in would not be adequate if he wanted to return it in one piece.

Kyn slowed down and parked and hoped out of the driver’s seat. He took a quick look around to make sure that the area wasn’t too shady. He felt mildly comfortable and headed off on foot the rest of the way to the cantina where Salue would be waiting for him.

“Kyn…” a young voice cried. “Don’t leave me.”

Kyra had jumped from the backseat of the speeder and was racing towards Kyn. She was in her nighttime robe, ready for bed by the looks of her.

“What the…”

“I knew you were going to try to meet her tonight, I wanted to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble.” Kyra explained, now at Kyn’s side.

Kyn looked at his wrist chrono and sighed. There wasn’t enough time to take Kyra back home and even if he did, she would undoubtedly go straight to their parent’s room and tell on him.

“I am just making a little bet, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.” Kyn said.

“I don’t trust that woman.” Kyra said.

“Neither do I but she is the reason you have your own holo in your room. Just don’t say anything. After the race is over on Nar Shaddaa we will be on our way.” Kyn said, hustling her to follow him.

“Nar Shaddaa?” Kyra asked inquisitively.

“It’s being simulcast at a cantina here. You can place bets with the local bookie and collect your winnings, it’s pretty convenient. You can bet on a lot of other things besides just the local stuff this way.”

The siblings walked down the ally of the lower city of Coruscant. They got some strange looks, mostly because of the way Kyra was dressed not so much because of how young she was. There were other young children of all species out that night on Coruscant, getting into only the Force knows what.

The ally became dingier and darker as they proceeded. Finally a funky looking neon sign told Kyn that they had arrived at their destination. A bouncer outside stopped them at first but when Kyn handed over a few credits to him, he let them enter.

“Kyn!” Salue’s voice greeted them as they entered.

Kyn reluctantly hugged Salue as she embraced him and kissed his earlobe.

“What the…” Salue said, noticing Kyra.

“That’s what I said.” Kyn answered. “She stowed away in the back of the speeder. Trying to keep me out of trouble.”

Salue giggled, “That’s what I’m here for, sweetie. But as long as you’re here…”

Kyra seemed very frightened of the situation. The crowd around them was none to pleasant and she held onto Kyn’s hand tightly as they made their way to their seats.

“I was afraid you would be late, so I made a bet for both of us,” Salue said.

They sat down at a round table and Salue motioned to the bar tender for drinks.

“But you don’t know who I wanted to wager on.” Kyn pointed out.

“Don’t trust me instincts, Kyn?” Salue frowned.

“I’m sure we’ll do fine,” Kyn admitted.

“That’s more like it; positive attitude.”

An underfed Twi’lek waitress made her way over and put down three shot glasses in front of them. The liquid in each glass was a bright purple with something that looked like glitter in it.

Kyn and Salue drank theirs quickly as Kyra picked hers up and inspected it.

“I don’t think so,” Kyn said, reaching out and taking his sisters glass, downing it in one.

Salue smiled as she watched the older brother being protective of his sister.

There were several holoscreens stationed around the cantina; all of them were tuned into the simulcast of the race on Nar Shaddaa.

“Who are we pulling for?” Kyn asked.

“Number 9,” Salue smiled.

“Force!” Kyn exclaimed. “He’s a 100:1 shot!”

“Just think how rich we will be after he wins. I’m telling you Kyn, I have a feeling. I know him.”

“You know him? How?”

“Let’s just say we used to… date.” Salue laughed out loud.

Kyn knew what dating meant when it came to Salue and it was not something he wanted discussed in front of his innocent, little sister. Finally the race was on and all eyes were on the holos. People were sipping their drinks and pounding the tables, cheering on their racer.

“Come on 9!” Kyn yelled.

Salue stood up, crossing her arms looking tense. She bit her lip as the number 9 racer started falling far behind.

“Come on 9!” Kyra said in the same tone that her brother had.

Kyn shot a look to his sister and smirked, at least she was enjoying herself even if he was about to lose.

It was only seconds later when their wager went up in flames, literally. Number 9’s engine ruptured and the speeder was on fire.

“Ah!” Kyn groaned.

“Damn,” Salue punched the table.

“How much do I owe you?” Kyn asked, pulling out credits.

“I actually, um,” Salue stammered.

Kyn looked at her; he knew this routine.

“Don’t have enough to cover your own bet… That’s fine, I guess. I’ll cover you this last time.”

Kyn’s shoulder was then pushed abruptly and he looked up and saw a very angry Rodian staring at him.
- Show quoted text -

“Do I know you?” Kyn asked.

“I would hope so,” he said through a translation device attached to his mouth.

“All you Rodian’s look alike, sorry.” Kyn said offensively.

“Maybe I should refresh your memory?” The Rodian replied, pulling out a blaster and digging it into Kyn’s head.

“Trying to rob me again?” Kyn asked, acting as if he were not intimidated in the least.

“Just collecting,” the Rodian shot back. “Your woman here wagered five-thousand credits… for each of you. That’s ten-thousand total.”

Kyn smiled, “I can add, thank you. I don’t have that much on me. I’ll have to bring it to you tomorrow.”

“Or I can just follow you home and you can give it to me tonight.” The Rodian replied.

“Impossible.”

“Oh, don’t say that.” The Rodian said, cocking his head.

“Just give him the credits, Kyn.” Salue begged.

Kyn pushed the blaster away from his head and looked at Salue.

“I can’t believe I was dumb enough to fall for your act. Took you a year but you finally put one over on me. This will be quite a little score for you and your gang?” Kyn said, staring at her.

“My gang?” Salue replied.

“Yes, your gang. You are the one who tried to set us up on the ship; you are the one pulling the strings now. This Rodian does what you say, not the other way around. Isn’t that right?”

Salue laughed evilly and began to stalk Kyn, walking around him in circles. “You should have figured that out before now. Either way, I still get your credits.”

Salue pulled out a vibro-dagger and grabbed Kyra by the arm and held it to her neck.

“Let go of her,” Kyn demanded. “I’ll give you every credit I have. Just don’t!”

“Ah, so your bravery diminishes when your sister is in danger. I just love chivalry in a man. Maybe that’s why I liked you Kyn. Either that or you were so easy to take advantage of.” Salue said.

Salue began to trace the blade around Kyra’s neck, teasing death. While she was distracted Kyn reached into the belt of his pants and pulled out a blaster of his own.

Without warning Kyn shot the Rodian in the arm which sending him flying through a table and knocking him out. The blaster was now pointed directly at Salue; it was a pure hostage situation now.

“Are you quick enough to shoot me before I dice her, Stud?” Salue laughed, picking Kyra up with unforeseen strength and holding her up to head level.

“Put it down, Kyn.” A soothing voice said.

Kyn glanced behind him, but no one was there.

“Put it down, I’m here now.” The voice said, even more soothing than before. “She’ll be okay. I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise.”

Kyn couldn’t explain it, but he tossed the blaster on the ground. “Now let her go and we will go get your credits.”

“Just to make sure you know I mean business,” Salue said, as she started to carve a giant gash in Kyra’s forearm with the blade.

“No!” Kyn yelled.

For a second it was as though the entire cantina stood still. Everyone was watching the interaction but it was as if they had been frozen. Then everything speeded up again, much faster than normal. Salue had been flung backwards and crashed against the wall, dazing her. Kyra had fallen into the arms of a cloaked stranger.

“Zafii!” Kyra yelled, looking into the eyes of the hooded figure.

“Let’s go!” Zafii demanded of Kyn and he did not argue.

The three of them were now running down the dingy ally back towards Kyn’s speeder.

“This way,” Zafii said, pointing to her own transport.

“I have to get my father’s speeder. He’ll kill me.” Kyn explained.

“No, that vile woman and her Rodian slave will kill you.” Zafii reminded him.

It was such a rush. Zafii had been thrust back into their life just like that. Kyn and Kyra had not seen her for over a year and now here she was, saving their skin.

“You take Kyra then,” Kyn said. “I’ll meet you back at our apartment complex.”

Kyn knew Zafii wanted to argue with him but there was no time and she agreed to his request. He heard his sister call out his name as the two girls took off without him.

“There he is!” Salue yelled.

Kyn had just got his speeder in the air when he felt two blaster bolts fly by his ear. He jerked the steering mechanism and almost flew into oncoming traffic as he gained altitude.

He could see Zafii and Kyra several kilometers in front of him as they neared the apartment complex. He breathed a sigh of relief only to gasp when he saw their speeder go out of control as it began to enter the garage of the complex.

“Zafii!” Kyn yelled. “Kyra!”

He could see sparks flying in the air as he flew in behind them into the garage. Their speeder was still mainly intact but something had happened to cause them to crash.

Kyn parked and ran on foot towards them. When he approached he saw that Kyra was conscious but bleeding from her forehead.

“Are you okay?” Kyn asked, picking her up and removing her from the speeder.

“Zafii,” Kyra cried. “She just passed out for no reason. I grabbed a hold of the steering wheel and tried to save us.”

Kyn put her down and rushed to Zafii’s aide now. She was unconscious, but alive.

“Did someone shoot at her?” Kyn asked.

“No, nothing like that.”

“Zafii, wake up!” Kyn shook her, then realizing it wasn’t a good idea.

He picked her up with a little more effort than he had shown for Kyra and drug her away from the flaming speeder.

“Get away from it, it might explode.” Kyn instructed.

Kyra ran to her brother’s side as he began to check for a pulse on Zafii.

“Is she… is she okay?”

“Yeah, I think she just got knocked out from the crash.” Kyn said.

“No, I told you. She passed out before.” Kyra retorted.

Kyn shook off her words and picked Zafii up into his arms. Her dead weight was tremendously heavy enough though she was not that big.

“We have to get her up stairs.” Kyn said. “Go ahead of me and open the doors.”

Kyra did as her big brother said and they rushed their Jedi friend up to their apartment.

 

Chapter 12

Kyn had no choice but to tell his parents the whole truth about everything. He was forced to come clean about his gambling, how he had endangered Kyra on multiple occasions, including on the transport from Ennth, and his lie about leaving for a midnight shift job.

It had been three days since Zafii and Kyra had crashed. Tyon, Kyn, and Kyra had taken Zafii back to the Jedi Temple in the morning and Kyn had to confess in front of several Jedi Knights what had transpired.

The Jedi took in Kyra to their medical ward, as well as Zafii, to clean her up. Kyn was not scolded by the Jedi Knights; they left that to his parents.

“You are grounded for the rest of your life,” his parents had said multiple times.

He deserved to be and he knew it. How foolish could he have been to trust Salue and get in so deep with her? His biggest worry was that she would find him sooner or later and make him pay up. Or that the Rodian would find him and return the favor for shooting him.

Kyra had been allowed every day after school to stay with her father in the hangar of the Jedi Temple until he was off shift. After he was off for the day, they went down to the medical ward so that Kyra could visit Zafii, who was still severely concussed.

Kyn on the other hand had not been permitted by his parents to do any such thing. Finally, after seeing the guilt in his eyes, his mother Rayna spoke up at dinner.

“I want you to get cleaned up and put on your best clothes. Take all the credits you have and buy yourself a taxi ride over to the Jedi Temple. Go visit that girl and see how she is doing for yourself. I want you to keep just enough of those credits to get back home. The rest of it I want you to donate to the Jedi Temple so they can give it to a worthwhile cause.”

“Ask for Master Tine,” Tyon added. “He’ll be expecting you.”

Kyn did not speak but nodded as he poked at his food. He had not been able to look any of his family members in the eye for three days now.

After dinner, Kyn did exactly as he was instructed. He was going to obey his parents word for word from now on, he had promised himself. He had thought he was an adult, but looking back over the past year he realized how childish he had behaved.

He felt guilty putting on his best clothes and expensive cologne; gambling winnings had paid for all of it. He threw the thought aside and walked back through the apartment, promising his parents he was done with his foolish ways and walked outside.

After waving down an air taxi and paying up front, they were off towards the Jedi Temple.

“They don’t let just anyone in there,” the Bothan taxi driver said as they pulled up next to the stairway entrance.

Kyn didn’t respond and exited the speeder. He walked in and notified the Jedi security that Master Tine was expecting him. After a few moments of communicating on comlinks, Kyn was permitted to enter the Temple.

After several minutes of waiting, he recognized the blue Twi’lek walking towards him. He shook hands with Master Tine and introduced himself.

“Yes, Kyn.” Master Tine responded kindly. “Your father is one of the best mechanics we have. This way then.”

Master Tine led Kyn through the Temple and finally after several minutes they arrived at the medical ward.

“She is still a little woozy, but I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you.” Tine reassured him.

Kyn did look nervous, perhaps that’s why Tine had made this comment.

“My sister said she passed out behind the wheel for no reason at all. Do you know why now?”

Master Tine shook his head, “Unfortunately no… A similar fate beheld her on Ennth. I have my theories but for the time being, I will keep those to myself.”

The Jedi Knight then took his leave and left Kyn to enter Zafii’s private room. He knocked softly and heard a voice from within.

“Come in.”

The door shot open and Kyn stepped in.

“How are you?” Kyn muttered, standing next to the door.

Zafii waved him over, “Come closer, I don’t want you to have to speak loudly.”

Kyn stepped over to her bedside and noticed she winced as she finished her sentence. Obviously her head was hurting to the point that any loud noise was bothersome to her.

“My parents gave me permission to come see you,” Kyn whispered.

“Since when do you need your parent’s permission? I thought you were all grown up?” Zafii said, attempting a joke.

Kyn blushed and sat down on a steel stool that was next to the bed. He looked over her. She was in much the same condition that he had first met her in. Her face was severely bruised and she had small cuts littering it. There was even a small circular burn mark on her cheek that seemed to be in the process of healing.

“What happened?” Kyn asked softly.

Zafii shrugged, “I don’t remember. I’m sorry, I endangered Kyra.”

Kyn shook his head, “I was the one who did that. You saved us… again.”

Zafii smiled but did not speak.

“You’re amazing; I mean… you were amazing.”

“I think you’ve told me that before.” Zafii reminded him, closing her eyes.

“Must be true then… Is the light hurting your eyes?”

Zafii nodded and with this, Kyn walked over to the dimmer on the wall and turned the lights in the room down low.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Zafii responded.

Kyn took his seat next to her again and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Let me ask you this,” Kyn began. “How did you know we were in trouble again? I mean this is the second time you’ve made an opportune entrance and saved our necks.”

Zafii seemed to think this over for a moment, “The first time, I know what happened. I was simply making my rounds on the transport when I overheard the commotion.”

“And this time?” Kyn asked.

“I felt it; I felt it in the Force. The same way I had felt on Ennth before everything went so wrong.”

“Ennth? What do you mean?” Kyn asked, this was news to him.

Zafii shook her head, “I don’t know, Kyn. I just felt a great disturbance in the Force. I tried to warn everyone, even Master Tine but I was told to settle my feelings. Just minutes later… well you know what happened as we were trying to get the ships boarded.”

“Yes, I remember how amazing you were.” Kyn blushed as he said the words.

“I don’t remember it; I passed out right after that too.” Zafii sighed.

“I’m still confused… I mean on Ennth that was a big natural disaster. I’m not Force sensitive but I guess I could understand how you would see something like that coming. But to know Kyra and I were in trouble a few nights ago.”

“I was on my way back from Naboo. I was nearly at the Jedi Temple… Then I felt it. It was as though… I’m not sure but I felt it. The Force guided me to you. I knew what was happening from a kilometer away while I was still in the speeder. I could see the cantina as if I were standing in it. That’s when I began to act. I called out to you with the Force and I think you heard me.” Zafii explained.

“Yes!” Kyn exclaimed, before lowering his tone remembering it hurt her. “I did hear you. You told me to put down the blaster.”

“That’s really all I remember. I know I entered the cantina and we left together but it’s all in pieces after that.”

More silence overcame them. Going over the events in her head was one thing but saying it out loud had made Zafii wonder even more about why she was able to sense Kyra and Kyn when they were in dire need.

“Your braid,” Kyn said, touching her hair before pulling away after realizing what he was doing. “It’s gone.”

“Master Tine came in and knighted me yesterday.”

“You… you’re a Jedi Knight then?” Kyn asked, surprised.

“Yeah, shocker huh?” Zafii joked, smiling and wincing at the same time. “That’s what I was off doing for a year. The Jedi Trials.”

“Ah,” Kyn stammered. “So you weren’t just ignoring Kyra’s request for a year then?”

Zafii frowned, “I tried to break ties with her but I didn’t have the heart to do it. I thought I had explained to her though…”

She stopped when she realized that it was him complaining for his own sake, rather than his sister’s.

“I can’t explain it; I care a great deal for her. I’m sorry she was disappointed for so long.”

“I get the feeling though, you care for a lot of people… a lot of beings… a great deal.”

Zafii nodded, “I wouldn’t be much of a Jedi if I didn’t. Caring, compassion… it’s central to a Jedi. Attachment is what we must avoid. Fear of loss is a path to the dark side.”

“So you do not fear her losing her life?” Kyn asked, a little confused. “Because it doesn’t seem that way.”

“I fear for the loss of any innocent being. However I do not let that fear control my actions.” Zafii explained, but then began to ponder her most recent actions.

Again an awkward silence overtook them. Kyn rubbed his own hands in nervousness as Zafii looked to the opposite wall.

“Anyway, I just want you to know.” Kyn said, standing up. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for my family. I can never repay that debt.”

“It’s my job.” Zafii said, turning her head to face him.

“That may be,” Kyn nodded. “But I just realized what my job is.”

Kyn watched Zafii in her medical bed; all beat up and bruised as a puzzled look came over her face. He knew at this point he could never let anything happen to her.

“You are all cut up and bruised and why? Because of me… There is no two ways about it. And I’m truly sorry for that. I promise you though; I’m never going to let anything happen to you ever again.”

Zafii smiled, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Kyn. I’m a Jedi and my cause will take me to worlds you would never be able to reach in time to save me… if you could even know I was in trouble.”

Kyn had begun to walk towards the door until she had said this. He then walked back to her beside and stood over her.

“I’ve done a lot of lying over the last year and all of that guilt has made me grow up a lot in the last three days. I imagine I will keep growing up from here on out. But if it is in my power to protect you, I will. That is no lie.”

Zafii reached up with her right hand and brushed his cheek; this sent a chill down Kyn’s spine.

“I’m the Jedi here, remember?”

“For everything you’ve done, Master Jedi…”

Kyn took her hand from his cheek, closed his eyes and kissed her fingertips. He then turned on his heel and left without as much as a glance back towards her.

 

Chapter 13

Kyn was studying a datapad quietly in his Galactic History class along with the rest of his classmates. They were preparing for a quiz and the teacher had given them a few extra moments to look over their notes.

A loud ring then enveloped the classroom that made several students cover their ears. Someone had turned on the intercom system in a rush. As the screeching noise died down, everyone could hear heavy breathing. Everyone, including the teacher, was looking up at the speaker as if it could give some sort of physical indication of what was happening.

“We need everyone to immediately evacuate the school in an orderly fashion. Teachers, please stick to your predesigned evacuation routes. Lead your students out in single file lines. Thank you!”

The intercom turned off and Kyn’s teacher stood up from behind her desk and put her arms up in the air to quiet down any impending commotion.

“You will all follow me. Single file now.”

Kyn pocketed his datapad and everyone else began to gather up their personal belongings.

“No time for that. Single file!” The teacher ordered.

Kyn was bumped and shoved, much to his irritation. He was sure this was just a drill of some sort.

When all of the students were crammed together as best they could in a single file line, the teacher opened the door and led them out into the hallway.

Kyn noticed that none of the other classes coming out of their rooms were in such a tight formation. Instead it was absolute chaos.

“Get down!” An older student yelled, as he came running around the corner of the hallway.

He had jumped to the ground and a red blaster bolt had flown by him.

Screaming ensued. Kyn began to push his way through the crowd. Everyone was running away from the direction the blaster bolt came from, but Kyn was inching nearer. He had to find Kyra and he had to find her now.

Kyn found his back to the wall and he peered around the corner as the rush of students began to clear some. He saw three more blaster bolts being fired, but did not see whom they came from or whom they were directed at.

With a great leap of faith, Kyn ran full speed across the hallway and found the cover of another wall, trying to get a closer look.

“Don’t try to follow us,” a gruff male voice said. “Just show him what we left him.”

There was an explosion and Kyn felt a massive amount of heat generate from the direction of the gruff voice. The suspects had thrown a thermal detonator to cause the explosion to assure no one could follow them.

Kyn ran from the direction of the fire as it began to engulf that part of the school.

“Help! Over here!” A senior student cried. “He’s been shot.”

Kyn ran over and found a girl he recognized from a few classes. She was helping the school administrator, who had the confrontation with Salue a few days previous.

“I’m okay, get yourselves to safety.” The administrator said, his concern for the students.

“Let’s lift him,” Kyn told the girl. “Can you manage that?”

The girl nodded, “I think so.”

Kyn reached down to help him up and made sure to steer clear of his injured arm.

“He can’t put as much weight on the left shoulder, so you get under that side. I’ll carry the bulk of his weight on this side.” Kyn instructed.

Students were still running past them although it was becoming fewer and fewer, none stopping to help. Kyn and his classmate began to slowly walk the administrator down the hallway, away from the fire and to the nearest exit.

“Fire brigade ships,” the girl said, motioning her head towards the window.

“I hope no students were hurt.” The administrator mentioned, wincing in pain.

“Just hold on, sir.” Kyn said. “Let’s try to pick up the pace, that fire is still growing and we don’t need to breathe this stuff.”

They finally made it to the exit. After some trouble getting the door open, they were in the clear and the three of them took a much needed breath of fresh air.

“Let’s lay him down here,” Kyn instructed.

They were on the southwest side of the school on the bottom floor. No one else was waiting on this wing of the school as it wasn’t a predestined evacuation point for any classroom. They laid the administrator down on the ground and something fell out of his pocket.

“I’ll try to wave down one of the emergency vessels.” The classmate said.

Kyn crouched down and picked up what had fallen out of the administrator’s pocket. It was a holo-communicator.

“That’s… that’s what they wanted you to have.” The administrator explained.

“Me?” Kyn asked, looking astonished.

He nodded and Kyn stood up and turned the holo on. A transparent, prerecorded image of Salue appeared in his hand.

“Hello, Kyn. I surely do hope that you haven’t forgotten about the credits you owe me? I gave you 96 hours and I haven’t seen you since our little… scuffle. I’m sad to say I got tired of waiting. I always was a little impatient. I suggest you find a way to give me the 10,000 credits you owe me. Kyra will be waiting for you. I’ll let you figure out where. Oh and you should have taken out Blanco when you had the chance. He has been dying for some revenge for the blaster bolt you shot into his arm. I think he might just take it out on your little sister. See you soon, Kyn.” Salue blew him a kiss as the transmission jolted and faded out.

Kyn threw down the communicator down in a savage anger. It shattered into dozens of pieces on the concrete ground.

“What happened?” A local man said, getting out of his speeder. “Is everyone okay?”

“This man’s been hurt over here.” Kyn’s classmate said, waving him over.

The man ran over and looked at the administrator’s injury.

“I have some first aid in the speeder, let me go get it.” The man said, turning around to find his speeder gone. “Wait… where did it go?”

He looked up and saw his speeder flying in non-traffic lanes in the distance. Kyn had stolen it and was on his way to the bar that Salue and he had frequented.

After a few minutes of flying, Kyn recklessly parked the speeder and left it running in neutral. He ran inside, nearly breaking the cantina’s door down.

“Where is she?” Kyn demanded.

There were only a few patrons this time of day in the cantina. The barman was cleaning glasses behind the counter and only shook his head.

“So they got her?” The barman asked.

Kyn kicked a chair out of his way and ran over to the bar. “Where is she?”

“Look, she told me to give you this. I didn’t really know what she was planning. Sorry, kid.”

Kyn grabbed yet another holo-communicator from the barman.

“Watch that outside; I don’t want any more to do with this.”

“You still have my blaster I left in here the other night?” Kyn asked.

The barman nodded and reached underneath the bar and slid it to him.

“I was going to sell it,” the barman explained. “That’s what I usually do in a situation like the other night, but you seem like a decent kid. Good luck.”

Kyn took his blaster and stuffed it in his belt. He un-tucked his white button down shirt and threw it over the handle. He then rushed back outside and turned on the holo in his hand. Once again Salue appeared in the palm of his hand.

“Good job, but I guess anyone could have figured out to come here. Nonetheless, you should be alone now. That’s exactly the way I want it too, Kyn. I don’t want anyone else showing up. You come alone or Kyra is going to be dropped a thousand feet to the Coruscant lower city. Now listen up. Bring the credits to the old Bothan church. You’ll find Kyra waiting for you on the upper spire near the bell… that is, if you have the credits. Once you pay up, you can put this all behind you and I promise you will never see me again. You are a good kid, Kyn. I’m sorry I had to use you, but you just made it so damn easy.”

Kyn did not wait for her to blow another kiss to him; instead he crushed the mechanism with his bare hand. He jumped back in the stolen speeder and took off to the high skies of Coruscant, trying to locate an old church with bell. He knew it had to be somewhat tall for Salue to mention an upper spire. Kyn also knew this was a trap and Salue wanted to be found so she wouldn’t make it too hard to find.


**

Master Tine was carrying a tray of food through the Jedi Temple towards the medical ward. He passed and greeted several other Jedi before arriving at his destination. He opened the private room which Zafii had been staying in the last four days.

“Zafii?” Tine questioned.

Her bed was empty.

He looked to the dresser by the medical bed.

Her lightsaber was missing.

**

Kyn was sure he had found the location that Salue had meant to lead him to. He flew from a distance around the spire that contained an old, large bell. He did not see any sign of Kyra or Salue up there. He decided to start from the ground floor to make sure he was in the right place.

“I guess,” Kyn shrugged, looking at the writing on the sign.

It was in a language he didn’t recognize. The church looked like it had been abandoned for many years. The doors were made of an old wood and opened easily. He found himself at the bottom of a staircase. This was obviously not the main entrance to the facility. He wanted to go up however, so this was a place to start his search.

He drew his blaster and held it in a position to fire. He slowly began to ascend the stairs, hoping that the creaking wood would not alert them to his arrival.

The other negative to this whole situation, other than actually not having the credits to pay the ransom, was that Kyn had no idea how many people were actually in Salue’s gang. He knew he would have to deal with her and Blanco but the voice he had heard at the school was neither of theirs.

Kyn had made it to the fifth floor when he took a bad step that caused a loud noise that rang throughout the stone enclosure surrounding the staircase.

“Well they know I’m here now.” Kyn muttered to himself.

“Oh Kyn!” Salue laughed devilishly. “Our heroic stud is here to save the day. Do you have my credits?”

Kyn was tired of lying and he didn’t have a better plan, “I donated everything to charity, Salue. You will never see a single credit. You may as well give it up now unless you want to add murder to the list of charges.”

There was a male laugh now, coming from high above, “Too late for that, kiddo. I saw some of your little classmates burning after the explosion. It was great.”

“KYN!” Kyra yelled.

“Shut up!” The gruff male voice yelled.

Kyn could hear bone on flesh as they hit Kyra.

“DON’T TOUCH HER!”

Kyn began to run as fast as he could up the stairs. His adrenaline was pumping but running up twenty-five stories would wear out even the most well conditioned athletes.

As he neared the upper spire, he saw the fat, dirty man he had sat next to at the Sabaac game over a year ago. It was his voice, Kyn had heard in the school. It was him who had hit his sister just moments ago.

“Hold it there.” He said, holding his own blaster at Kyn.

They were only feet from each other, both pointing deadly blasters.

“Just hand over those credits and I’ll go get your sister for you.”

“I told you already. I have nothing.” Kyn said, gritting his teeth in anger.

“That’s too ba…”

Kyn had shot him before he could finish his sentence. The large man stood there for a moment and looked puzzled as if he didn’t know what had just happened. There was a large searing gash in the middle of his forehead from where Kyn had perfectly aimed the bolt.

The largest member of Salue’s gang then began to wobble on his feet before falling sideways through the shoddy wood railing and down twenty-five stories.

Without a moment of hesitation, Kyn kicked the last door open that stood between him and the upper spire: between him and Kyra.

“Kyn!” Kyra yelled.

Blanco shot his own blaster, but with his left hand. It was obvious his normal shooting hand was his injured right arm, as his aim was well off. Kyn’s blaster rose and without even trying to take cover; he shot Blanco in both knee caps.

“BLANCO!” Salue screamed in anger. “You hurt my Blanco!”

Kyn began to look for a place to hide when he saw the size of Salue’s gun. It was a heavy repeater, something that Kyn could not contest with.

He ran back down stairs a bit to take cover.

“That’s fine. Run like a coward. I’ll just blow her apart!”

Kyn peeked through the door and saw that Salue now had the gun pointed at Kyra. The gun was so heavy in fact, that Salue had to hold it against her hip just to aim it.

Everything seemed to stop all at once. Kyn saw his life with Kyra flash before his eyes. Green blaster bolts had began to churn out of the heavy repeater at a blazing speed that not even slow motion could stop fast enough.

Kyra was dead and there was nothing Kyn could do to stop it. Salue had savagely destroyed his little sister’s body.

“NO!!!!!” The word was agonizing to yell as the green blaster bolts hurled over and over towards Kyra’s young and tied up body.

Before Kyn saw the first bolt hit, Blanco had pulled himself together enough to shoot Kyn in the upper arm, knocking him to the ground.

Kyn’s eyes never left Kyra. Her eyes, even though they were several yards away from each other, were locked on him as well.

Everything sped back up in an instant. Salue’s gun blew up in her hands, burning her badly and sending her body flying backwards into the large bell, making it ring.

The green blaster bolts arced into one another in an amazing display. They fizzed out into nothingness just inches from Kyra. Impossible…

Suddenly Krya was untied and standing… alive.

“Zafii!” Kyra cried, her emotions running wild.

Zafii fell to her knees as Kyn watched the amazing Jedi Knight save them once again.

“KYN!” Kyra yelled.

Zafii face planted into the concrete floor of the spire.

Kyn jumped to his feet, the pain of the blaster injury to his upper shoulder not yet being felt. Was it the adrenaline of the situation or the annoyingly loud bell that seemed to block out the pain for just a few moments? He ran to Zafii and he and his sister tried to revive her.

“What is wrong with her?” Kyra sobbed, crying uncontrollably now.

“OH MY GODS!” Kyn screamed, holding a defenseless hand up.

Salue, who had been burned severely from the exploding gun, was in mid-air with knife in hand, lunging for Kyra.

Zafii opened her eyes and somehow found a way to be sitting on her backside instead of lying down. She used the Force to push Salue back.

It was a reckless use of the Force, barely controlled by the young Jedi Knight. Salue flew backwards through a stained glass window and into the streets of Coruscant, far below.

Zafii winced in pain and lowered herself slowly to the concrete. The fetal position seemed to comfort her.

“Kyn…” Kyra cried. “What’s wrong with her?”

Kyn shook his head. She seemed so powerful one minute and completely helpless the next. All Kyn knew for sure was that they needed help and that he had a lot of explaining to do and not only to his parents this time.

 

Chapter 14

“I’m sorry,” Mace Windu said, putting his hand up to stop any more argument. “We have to take him in for questioning. We have two people dead: a Rodian who will never be able to walk again, and a report of a stolen speeder, conveniently parked below.”

Rayna’s face was one of shock as two Jedi Knights took Kyn into custody atop the church spire.

“If you wish it, we can take your daughter to the medical ward with Knight Pel and get her cleaned up.” Mace offered.

“I…” Rayna stammered. “I suppose… yes.”

“Very well,” Mace motioned to another Jedi, this one younger than the ones who had led Kyn away in binders.

Kyra cried out for her mother but Rayna assured her she wasn’t in trouble. The Jedi nudged Kyra alongside Zafii’s medical capsule.

It was then that Master Tine arrived on the scene. He cautiously walked up to Mace Windu and Rayna.

“I came as soon as I heard word,” the blue Twi’lek said.

“You were the first to report Knight Pel missing from her private medical quarters?” Mace asked.

Tine nodded, “Indeed. I was bringing her some lunch and noticed she was gone. I don’t know how she could walk let alone make it all the way here.”

“According to initial reports from the boy and the girl, she did a lot more than that.”

“How so?”

“The girl,” Mace began.

“Kyra!”

“Yes… Kyra was kidnapped from her school about twenty kilometers from here. We have Jedi on the scene gathering information but there is no doubt a kidnapping took place. Apparently, they lured the… Kyn here for some reason.” Mace explained.

“A ransom,” Rayna reminded him.

“Yes, that’s what they said. We now have two dead and another gravely injured and we have recovered a stolen speeder that was reported to have been taken just outside of the school.” Mace finished.

Master Tine rubbed his chin in deep thought. He remembered the Fuller family and had a glimpse of both Kyra and Kyn as they were escorted away.

“Do you have a theory on all of this, Master Tine?” Mace asked. “I know you have been pondering over your former padawan’s illness for several days now.”

Tine shook his head, he had nothing to offer. He needed to talk to Zafii first and from the looks of her; he didn’t know when that would be possible. Never before had his padawan ever shown any signs of illness but over the last year she had passed out at least three times.

“Mrs. Fuller, “Mace began. “You are welcome to accompany me to the Jedi Temple were you can wait on your daughter to be released from our care.”

“What about Kyn?”

“There are no charges yet. We need him to answer questions but yes, he is in the custody of the Jedi for now. If everything matches up with the other reports we are hearing, it’s possible he could go home tonight.”

“Possible?” Rayna gasped.

“I’m sorry I can say no more until the Jedi Council has all of the information. Please, come with me.”

**

Kyn sat in a room private room within the Jedi Temple. He thought it looked like a conference room and assumed that the Jedi must not do many investigations within the Jedi Temple itself. The temperature was comfortable and the room was nicely furnished. It would have been more comfortable had Kyn not had his wrists bound.

Two Jedi had been asking him the same questions over and over, obviously trying to see if his story ever swayed or changed. He had admitted to gambling for the past year with Salue as his counterpart and that he had stolen the speeder from the civilian.
- Show quoted text -

“What about the large man with the blaster hole in his head?” One of the Jedi asked him.

“Yeah I shot him but what was I supposed to do? It was self defense. The guy has to have a rap sheet as big as Coruscant.” Kyn said defensively.

“What about the Rodian then?”

“I can honestly say, in that situation, that the Rodian shot first.”

“And the woman we found splattered all over the street?” The second Jedi in the room asked.

Kyn shrugged, “You’ll have to ask your Jedi Knight how she pulled that one off. She was firing at me and almost killed my sister. I’m not proud to admit it but there was nothing I could do but watch. Luckily Zafii saved the day.”

The two Jedi looked at each other with grave looks upon their face. They stood up and thanked Kyn for his time and they walked out of the room, leaving Kyn alone. Mace Windu was outside of the conference room waiting on the report.

“He claims it was self defense.”

Mace looked at the blaster door as if he could see through it to look at Kyn.

“Do you believe him?”

The two Jedi looked at each other and nodded, “Yes Master, we do. We could not detect a lie, either through the Force or by our interrogation techniques.”

Mace sighed heavily and punched in a code to open the blaster door. It shut behind him and the Jedi Master approached Kyn. With a flick of his wrist, Mace had loosened the binders on Kyn.

“You are free to go,” Master Windu stated. “All the reports match up and the civilian, after being told what happened, has decided not to press charges for the theft of his speeder.”

Kyn rubbed his wrists and stood up, “Can I go see Zafii then?”

Mace held out his hand and stopped Kyn from walking past him.

“I would suggest you take greater care. I can sense your attachment towards Knight Pel.”

“Luckily for me I’m not a Jedi. I can be attached to things.” Kyn reminded him.

“While that may be, I would think you would care for her well being. She is very sick and it’s obvious she has some sort of bond with you. Whether it is by accident or by her own doing, there seems to be a connection between the two of you.”

Kyn squinted in confusion as he looked at the Jedi Master.

“Are you saying that when I’m in trouble, she senses it? That’s why she always seems to be there?” Kyn asked.

“I think you have figured that much out for yourself. No one yet knows the whole truth to this situation, not even Knight Pel herself. At least I would hope that she wouldn’t keep such things from the Council. Regardless of why or how, she has always been there for you. That’s why I’m cautioning you to be more vigilant if you care about her well being.” Mace explained.

Kyn did care for her well being and Mace had to know this. Otherwise they wouldn’t be having this conversation. There was no use in arguing with an esteemed member of the Jedi Council however and Kyn knew he was lucky to get off with no charges.

“Your mother and sister are with Master Tine now in the medical ward. You can go join then now, young Fuller.” Mace instructed.

Kyn nodded and walked out of the room, heading towards the medical ward of the Jedi Temple.

“Remember what I said,” Mace called out, as Kyn walked away.


**

Rayna hugged her son tightly as he joined them in the corridor outside of the main entrance of the medical ward. Tyon then uncharacteristically gave his son a hug and then Kyra joined in.

“You’re all patched up.” Kyn noted to Kyra.

“These Jedi really are amazing,” Tyon noted. “I don’t want you to think we aren’t mad at you, Kyn. We truly are but this isn’t the time or place for that. Mostly I think what I’m saying is, we are glad you and Kyra are alright.”

“Thanks,” Kyn smiled.

The four of them sat down to wait. They continued to wait for some time. The family minus one son sat quietly, not really knowing how to conduct themselves as several Jedi walked past them, both behind and in front.

They were in a rather large open area of the Temple, so everyone who passed by could easily see them and they stuck out like a sore thumb. Eventually Master Tine and a Jedi Healer named Braca walked towards them.

“What’s wrong with her?” Kyra blurted.

“Don’t be rude, Kyra.” Rayna said, reining her in.

Master Tine smiled, “It’s quite alright. That’s exactly what I said to my friend Braca here.”

“Several times in fact,” Braca, whom was a green Twi’lek female noted with a smile. “It seems that Knight Pel is has suffered several stroke-like attacks, multiple times over the past year or so.”

“A Stroke? She’s a little young for something like that isn’t she?” Tyon asked, wrapping his arm around his wife’s shoulder.

“Stroke-like,” Braca corrected him. “I’m sorry if I am vague but it is only because I have never seen anything quite like this before. It seems as though it is actually the Force that is triggering these attacks on her brain.”

“It makes sense,” Kyn said, thinking back. “She was really amazing that day on Ennth, remember? Then again in the cantina a few nights ago and then today.”

“Kyn,” Master Tine spoke up. “I gather that you know a little bit about Jedi.”

“I’ve done some independent studying in the past.” Kyn nodded.

“The reason I’m asking is because you might be aware of what Jedi are normally capable of. Of course every Jedi is different as far as how connected we are with the Force and how well we can use it. Some Jedi, such as Master Yoda are extremely gifted and we have scientific evidence to why that is. That fact of the matter is that Zafii was never seen as a particularly powerful student. Gifted, yes but everyone including her always knew that her potential to control the Force was limited.” Tine explained.

“I see,” Kyn said with a hint of confusion in his voice.

“I saw what happened on Ennth, I was actually helping her as best I could. I know what she did that day was amazing and far beyond anything I could ever expect from any single Jedi. However I did not see the other two occurrences. Were they just as amazing as her display that day on Ennth?”

Kyn nodded, “To a lesser scale… just as impressive though. I thought Kyra was dead. I felt her die, the grieving for her had already begun in my heart. I saw the blaster bolts hurling towards her and nothing was there to stop them. Salue was nearly at point blank range…”

Everyone held their breath at Kyn’s words, waiting for him to finish.

“The bolts then arced in all different directions, almost as if they were shot at each other and then they disintegrated.” Kyn finished.

Tine looked at Braca and the Healer could only shrug.

“I have no more explanation for you than I did a moment ago. You guessed this much Master Tine but now we have confirmed it. I would bet anything that it is the Force, at least her using it in high volumes that is causing whatever these… strokes are.”

“Can we see her?” Kyra asked, her little hands covering her mouth in horror.

Tine nodded, “Only for a moment though. She is still very groggy.”

The Fuller family began to walk towards her private room but Tine asked Kyn to stay behind a moment.

“I’d like to speak to you alone.”

Braca took this hint and she escorted the three members of the Fuller family into the room. Kyn rubbed the back of his neck, trying to calm his nerves. These private talks with Jedi Masters were beginning to wear on him.

“I’ve already spoke with Zafii briefly about this just before we came out to brief your family. I think it only fair to explain my theory to you as well as you are very much a part of it.”

Kyn nodded, urging the Jedi on.

“There is an unexplained bond between the two of you; you and Zafii that is.” Tine hesitated before going on. “Sometimes you see it with two Force users; it can be so strong sometimes in fact that they can read each other’s thoughts from far distances… even help the other out in times of need by sending out Force waves. I must admit, I’m a little confused at how this could have happened between the two of you.”

“Master Windu mentioned something about that. He said he thought Zafii could tell when I was in trouble.” Kyn added.

“While the question of ‘why’ is intriguing, no doubt I’m not sure that it is entirely important at this point. Even more mysterious is how. I have not run any blood tests on you obviously but I’d be willing to bet my knighthood that you are not the least bit Force sensitive.” Tine said.

Kyn blushed, he almost felt like this was an insult.

“Obviously only a small majority of beings are Force sensitive when speaking of the entire galaxy. So it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I just wonder how in such a short time that Zafii has developed this bond to you. There is only one other conclusion I can draw. I don’t know you too well but I would never think it of Zafii.”

“What are you getting at, Master Tine?” Kyn asked.

Tine smiled and hesitated once more, “You and Zafii are not romantically involved are you?”

Kyn was thrown back by this line of questioning. Of all the things he expected to be asked today, this was the last thing.

“Believe me, Master Tine. As much as I would like it, I know she is not allowed to do that sort of thing. Master Windu accused me of being attached to her. I don’t know how that can be true as I got on pretty well the last year without seeing her. All that aside, I know she doesn’t feel that way about me… No matter how I feel.” Kyn explained.

Tine nodded, “No need to be defensive. It was only a question and I had to ask. Zafii also denied being romantically linked to you and I would know if my former padawan was lying to me.”

“How would you know?” Kyn asked, curiously.

“It’s not so much knowing when she is lying but just knowing that she never lies, at least not about herself or her feelings.”

Kyn had to admit to himself, he was a little disappointed. He knew as well as Zafii did that there had never been anything romantic about their get-together’s even though he would have liked that. Though the way Master Tine explained it, it felt as though Zafii had no interest of it ever occurring either.

Master Tine then excused himself and pointed Kyn in the direction of Zafii’s room. Kyn joined his family and saw Kyra and Zafii holding hands.

“Hello Kyn!” Zafii said, smiling.

Kyn was a little confused. He had been told she was groggy but she didn’t seem to be. In fact she seemed cheerful. He quickly shook this feeling off, noting this was a good thing.

“How do you feel?” Kyn asked, now standing next to his sister at her bedside.

“A lot better now. Being around people always makes me feel better. I guess it’s my lot in life.” Zafii answered.

Rayna spoke up, “Kyra why don’t we give Kyn and Zafii a few minutes? We’ve taken enough of her time.”

Kyra seemed saddened by this but heeded her mother’s words.

“We are going to grab refreshments,” Tyon told Kyn. “We’ll be back to get you and then were going straight home.”

Kyn nodded and he watched his family leave and the blaster door shut behind them. He turned to face Zafii now, who was laying her head on her pillow instead of sitting up.

“Feeling okay?”

Zafii winced, “Dizzy spell.”

“Want me to leave?” Kyn asked.

Zafii shook her head and then immediately regretted doing so as she grabbed it in pain.

“Just want to sit here quietly?”

Zafii closed her eyes and smiled but mindfully did not nod her acceptance to this suggestion.

They sat in silence and Kyn watched as she dozed off. He watched her sleep for several minutes before his parents came back for him.

Even with the bruises, scratches, and her fat lip… Kyn still thought she was beautiful.

 

Chapter 15

Zafii stared out of her bedroom window in the Jedi Temple. She was recovered to the point she could sleep in her own room. Unfortunately, it also gave her time to think, specifically about Kyn and Kyra. She did not understand why she felt drawn to the two of them. Kyra reminded Zafii of herself. She did not know why. Zafii never looked for trouble, yet Kyra seemed to find it, even if it was all Kyn’s fault. Zafii cared deeply for the girl, almost like a sister. She did not want any harm to come to the girl.

Kyn was a completely different matter. She didn’t know if she simply cared for him by association or she actually liked him. He was kind, funny and exciting. He needed to learn more about the world. She knew he was trying to impress her. She wasn’t stupid. Regardless of all the rules about attachments, Zafii understood the basics of romance. She had never been tempted. She would not risk the anger of the Jedi Council. They must already be assuming certain things and she wanted to assure them that they were not true.

Zafii left the Temple later that day. She wandered around Coruscant frequently, just to be with the people. She felt that she was able to relate to other beings more if she spent time around them. Zafii walked around for an hour. She ended up at the park on the top of a building by the Jedi Temple. She could hear voices from behind a thicket of trees. A grin spread across her face.

“Kyn! Cole! Catch me!” Kyra’s voice called through the trees. Zafii could hear laughter from the three. She recognized Kyra’s bubbly laugh, Kyn’s deeper rumble and Cole’s low chuckle.

Zafii appeared through the trees. Kyra, who had just jumped from low wall and onto Cole’s back, whipped her head around to see Zafii. Zafii wondered how the girl knew she was there.

“Zafii!” Kyra called as she scrambled down from Cole’s back. She raced over to the Jedi and threw her arms around her waist.

“Hello, Kyra,” Zafii responded with a smile. “Having fun?”

“Yes, we’re waiting for dad to get done at the Temple. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes,” Zafii told her. Kyra continued to ask about how she was doing and if the doctors had been treating her well. Zafii glanced at Cole, who was giving her an odd look.

“Come on, Kyra,” Cole said, “let’s go gather your books. Dad will be here soon to get you and Kyn.”

Cole left Zafii and Kyn alone. Kyn shoved his hands in his pockets and bit his lip nervously. Zafii could sense agitation rolling off Kyn in waves.

“I see Cole is back from the Academy,” Zafii said.

“No. He’s actually leaving for training in two days. He’s been meeting us here for the past few days to spend time with Kyra,” Kyn answered.

“And you.”

“Yeah, that too.” Kyn stared at her. She shifted uncomfortably. His eyes seemed to stare right through her. Zafii gulped, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“How are you feeling?” Kyn asked a moment later.

“Oh, I’m okay,” she mumbled.

Kyn’s brow furrowed. He tentatively lifted his hand to her forehead. His fingertips brushed the large lump on the side of her head. A jolt rang through her skin, as if she had been shocked.

“From the… incident?”

Zafii blinked twice before responding, “I’m fine.”

“Can’t you use a Jedi healing technique to make the swelling go down?” Kyn asked, face lined with concern.

Zafii shrugged, “Sometimes it’s better to leave reminders.”

Kyn looked embarrassed, “I see.”

She stared at him. He was taller than her now. His shoulders were growing broad. He had the faintest hint of facial hair. It wasn’t enough to amount to anything, but it was a start. Zafii had finally had time to do something about her old padawan braid.

“I see you changed your hair.” Kyn pointed out.

Her dirty, blond hair was now shorter in the back and in the front she sported bangs. A small lasso of hair lay over her forehead and she also had two braids in the fashion of the Naboo Queens to show her heritage. It was a very exotic hairstyle, unlike what Kyn had ever seen her wear.

“Thanks for noticing. In fact that reminds me of something.” Zafii began.

“Yeah, what’s that?”

Zafii hesitated but finally worked up the nerve. “It was something Master Tine told said. He can’t explain it and neither can I. But you are not Force sensitive… not even a little bit. Yet somehow I’m always able to tell when you are in trouble. It’s like a sixth sense or something and I can’t control it. I just show up.”

“Are you looking for a thank you, because I certainly do appreciate you saving my skin for the… what is it? Fourth time now.” Kyn laughed.


“A thank you? No, that’s not what I’m looking for Kyn. I’ve been thinking and I know you like me.”

Kyn blushed and his eyes widened in tremendous embarrassment. He did not respond.

“That being said, I’m a Jedi Knight now. I’ve passed the trials set forth by the Jedi Council and my life will become even more complicated as I get older. There is an uncertainty in the Force right now; all the Jedi can feel it. That’s why I have to be even more conscious of my job.” Zafii explained.

“Can I just stop you right there? Why do you have to be a Jedi?” Kyn asked.

Zafii looked at him incredulously. “Are you serious?”

“Dead, which is what you will be if you keep being a Jedi. The healer said that it had to do with you using the Force. They said you were having strokes or something like them at least. One day you are going to end up dead after you save someone.” Kyn explained his theory.

“I disagree. You see I do not think it is the Force or my use of it that is causing the… illness.”

“Then what do you think it is?” Kyn asked, hoping against hope.

“You.” Zafii said flatly.

“I see.” Kyn frowned.

“I think it is this bond or whatever you want to call it. There is a connection between us; I guess there is no doubting it now. Not even Master Yoda can explain what is happening to me but I think I am the only one who can decide what is best for me.” Zafii continued.

“And what is best for Zafii Pel?”

“The best thing for the both of us is if we never see each other again.” Zafii said, swallowing hard as she said it. “I’m sorry Kyn.”

“Are you? If you don’t like me, that’s fine. I can take the truth; you don’t have to sugarcoat it for me.” Kyn responded defensively.

“Sugarcoat? Again, how can you be serious? Do you think I was saving your life for my health?”

“No! Apparently you were doing it in spite of it.” Kyn remarked, looking away.

Zafii could see a single tear forming in his left eye and it was obvious he was too stubborn or too petty to show it.

“I didn’t want it to be like this Kyn. I really like your family and I wish we could have all remained friends for a long time. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want.”

Kyn shook his head, “Then leave it behind, the Jedi lifestyle. If you don’t use the Force then you won’t get hurt. That’s what I know!”

“I can’t, Kyn. You know I can’t. I’ve been a Jedi my entire life. My parents gave me to the Jedi even though all they had dreamed of was having a child for fifteen years. They knew this was my destiny and I have to fulfill that.” Zafii said.

Kyn turned around and began to walk away. Zafii watched him sadly, wondering if it would truly be the last time she would ever see Kyn… and Kyra.

Suddenly Kyn had turned on his heel and was facing Zafii again.

“You say that your parents gave you up but they always wanted a child? You were their destiny and yet they gave you up. Why can’t you make a choice for yourself and not someone else.” Kyn argued.

“Kyn, don’t make me respond to that. Your argument is flawed.” Zafii pointed out.

“Stop that! Stop talking like a Jedi and talk like a girl… a woman! I get it: you are smarter than me. You are worldlier than me. I get all of that but at least I can choose and I know what I want. I want you Zafii. I have since the moment I set eyes on you.” Kyn shot back.

“Fine, you want me to talk to you like a woman?” Zafii huffed, her nostrils flaring. “You say you want me to make my own choice but what you really want is for me to choose you. You want your choice. You are a very selfish boy, Kyn Fuller. You know nothing of selflessness. I have no doubt in my mind that you are capable of love, even unconditional love. That is something I do not have to offer, at least not in the same way you can.”

Kyn did not know what to say, he was utterly stunned by Zafii mini outburst.

Zafii calmed herself and continued in a more soothing tone, “This is my choice, Kyn. The Jedi Council did not make it for me and I will not allow you to change it for me. This is my final decision. Our bond, however we are attached, I’m breaking it.”

Kyn rubbed his eyes in front of her and then looked up at her. His eyes were red with emotion and his lips were pursed.

“I guess I have no recourse then. If you never want to see me again then I guess we never will.”

“I never said I wanted this.”

“You have a flaw in your argument as well. While you can choose to ignore the bond, I find it hard to believe you can just break it with simple words.” Kyn retorted.

“I just did, Kyn. I just did.”


**

Hours had passed and Kyn’s dinner was still sitting on the table, growing colder by the second.

“I’m worried about Kyn,” Rayna commented, as she frantically cleaned the apartment. “He’s been locked in his room for hours and it’s not like him to pass up dinner.”

“He’ll get over it in time. It was his first real crush; it hurts. I’m sure you can remember your first crush.” Tyon pointed out.

Rayna nodded, “Of course, I know that. It’s just he’s my son and I guess it’s just natural I worry about him.”

“I’m sad for him to,” Tyon said. “But let’s face it, the girl was a Jedi and they are forbidden from pursuing those kinds of relationships. It was never going to end well.”

The two of them hadn’t noticed but Kyra had entered the room and overheard their conversation.

“What wasn’t going to end well? What’s wrong with, Kyn?” Kyra asked anxiously.

Rayna gave a weak smile to her youngest child and walked over to her and took her hand. Rayna led her daughter to the couch and sat her down.

“You’re scaring me,” Kyra said, looking at her mother than her father.

“No reason to be scared,” Tyon said from across the living room.

“It’s just that Kyn is upset about your friend Zafii.” Rayna explained.

“Did something else happen to her?” Kyra asked, her eyes widening in fear.

“Nothing like that,” Rayna said. “Apparently he shared his feelings with her and she didn’t take it so well. I don’t know everything but he said it had something to do with what Master Tine told us at the Jedi Temple the other day. About them being… connected.”

“So she doesn’t want to be Kyn’s girlfriend? Big deal, I could have told him that.” Kyra giggled.

“She told Kyn they have to stop communicating; somehow it has to do with the Force that is making her sick… I’m not sure, no one is really. But that just means you probably won’t be seeing her too much anymore, if at all.”

Kyra looked at her mother as if she were crazy. Just because Zafii didn’t want to see Kyn anymore didn’t mean that they couldn’t still be friends. But then it dawned on the young girl. Perhaps Zafii did like Kyn back and was scared of ruining her status with the Jedi if she were to have a boyfriend… or worse yet, fall in love.

With the realization that her mother was probably correct, Kyra stood up and walked to her bedroom and locked the door.

“Great,” Tyon muttered.

“We had to tell her, better now than later.” Rayna said.

Tyon sighed, “Oh I agree but I still hate to see my little girl all upset. Kyn is older, he can take it. It’s a good growing up experience for him.”

Rayna smiled and stood up and walked over to her husband and hugged him, placing her face on his chest.

“I know you love them all equally as do I but you always did have a soft spot for her.” Rayna pointed out.

“She’s the youngest, that’s all.” Tyon said, clearing his throat.

“They are all growing up so fast. I’m so glad we have all three of them, even though we don’t get to see Cole all that much. It would kill me if we had given her up and didn’t know where she was in the galaxy.”

“It was never an option,” Tyon said firmly, hugging his wife back tightly. “I would have never allowed it, not in a million moons.”

Rayna nodded, tears flowing from her closed eyelids as she thought about an alternate present day.


“Kyn, you’re going to be late for school again.” Rayna called out. “Cole is outside waiting to take you.”

“I’m not a kid,” Kyn yelled from the fresher. “I can go to school by myself.”

Rayna did not answer him but instead focused on clearing the table of Kyn and Cole’s breakfast. She sat down a fresh plate just as Tyon walked in the door from his graveyard shift job.

“I hope you’re hungry.” Rayna said cheerfully.

Tyon shrugged with a low gruff in his voice as he sat down at picked at his food.

Ten years he had been like this. When they first met he was outgoing and exciting. When Cole was born he was the perfect father; even more so when Kyn came along a couple of years later. He took them to see local races on Ennth and had once even saved enough money to take them off world to an event. He did everything with his two boys.

But he had changed ten years ago and Rayna had to admit, so had she. Sometimes Cole would ask why they had done it, he was old enough to remember them coming to their home. Kyn however, he was too young and probably could not recall the visit that day at all or the emotions that ran through the family soon thereafter.

The family of four had welcomed a fifth member into the galaxy. Her name was Kyra Jaine Fuller. She was exactly what Rayna had always wanted and in many ways, what Tyon had always dreamed of as well. They loved their sons but as a young couple who were newly married they had always spoken of a daughter. That day had finally come. After several days in a medical facility Kyra was brought home to her awaiting, loving family.

It was only a few short weeks after that when two Jedi Knights arrived on the Fuller’s doorstep on Ennth.

“We’ve been made aware that your daughter is extremely Force sensitive.” One Jedi Knight said.

“Of course this is a tough decision but the Jedi would raise her, teach her the ways of the Force and eventually she would be a peacekeeper, the same as us.”

“You mean child abductors?” Tyon spat.

The talk continued and the Jedi reasoned with the Fuller family and eventually they agreed to give Kyra over to the Jedi. She would spend a few more months with the family so that she could be properly nourished by Rayna but then she would be off to Coruscant.

The day she left, Tyon changed. The whole family did.

“KYN, GET OUT OF HERE AND GO TO SCHOOL.” Tyon said, pounding his fist on the kitchen table.

**

Kyra sat in a meditation chamber in the Jedi Temple, concentrating deeply. Suddenly she felt the presence of someone soothing and trustworthy. She turned herself around, still sitting on her backside and faced her.

“Zafii! How wonderful to see you again. I hope your trials were successful?”

Zafii entered the room and sat down next to her younger friend.

“Indeed they were.”

“I’m glad, you were gone quite some time.” Kyra noted.

“Almost a year.” Zafii nodded.

“So then, what is the verdict? Is it official?” Kyra asked.

Zafii flashed her the right side of her hair, the padawan braid which was once down past her shoulder blade was gone.

“You have to be the youngest Jedi knighted in years.” Kyra said, feigning jealousy.

“Something like that.” Zafii said. “I have a question for you.”

“Yes, Zafii?” Kyra looked at her, anxiously.

Zafii looked for the right words as she hesitated.

“Now that I am officially a Jedi Knight, it is my choice if I want to take on a padawan leaner. I was wondering if you would like to fill the role.”

Kyra stood up, her excitement swelling. The youngling quickly remembered her place though and kneeled down in front of her would be master.

“It would be an honor, Master.” Kyra said, fighting back a smile.



Rayna held Tyon even tighter in their living room on Coruscant.

“Every time I see her, I’m so glad we didn’t make the other decision.”

“There was never a decision to make.” Tyon reassured her.

 

Chapter 16

2 years later… (28 BBY)

The Coruscant Landings apartment complex was old and sections were crumbling. There was a lone maintenance droid that was in charge of all three-hundred apartments in the facility and it was older than the building itself, it seemed.

Once again the lift wasn’t working so Kyn was forced to walk ten flights of stairs to his apartment. This wouldn’t have been a problem other than the fact that he was coming off a sixteen hour shift.. He had just ‘celebrated’ his one year anniversary at Big Loluh’s Air Taxi and Accommodations.

Flying people around Coruscant all day and all night might not seem like too taxing of a job as you get to sit down all day. The fact was Kyn would have preferred to be on his feet a little more. Sometimes he thought his back would one day just refuse to straighten and he would forever be in a hunched over, sitting position.

His back was aching as he read the 10th floor of the complex. He looked at his wrist chrono and he rolled his eyes when he saw that the sun would be rising in a matter of minutes. He pulled out his keycard to unlock his apartment door when he realized it was ajar. He pushed it open slowly and saw a blond haired, young woman standing in the small kitchen.

She was waving a towel over the stove trying to lessen the effect of the smoke coming from the burning food. Kyn saw her notice him out of the corner of her eye and he braced himself.

“Oh. Hi, Kyn.” She said, still waving the towel.

The only thing Kyn noticed her wearing was a long shirt that barely covered her backside. He could only hope she was wearing something under it.

“I’m cooking breakfast for Cole. Do you want some?” She asked.

Kyn threw down the keycards to the apartment and his speeder on the counter and shook his head. Her name was Gynni and she was Cole’s long distance girlfriend of three months.

“Cole!” Kyn yelled.

“Yeah?” Cole’s voice came from behind the door which contained a small fresher.

“When is your leave over again?”

Cole walked out a few seconds later and walked past Kyn to the kitchen and sat down to a burned breakfast.

“I told you, I can stay with mom and dad.” Cole reminded him. “And I have one more week before I have to head back.”

“Time is just flying by,” Gynni said woefully, throwing her arms around Cole’s broad shoulders and hugging him from behind as he picked at his food.

“No, that’s fine. I’m not here as it is.” Kyn muttered, crashing on the used, dirty couch.

Kyn tried to close his eyes but he could feel the aura in the room. He looked over in disgust as he saw the half dressed Gynni on his brother’s lap kissing him.

“Please tell me you guys are actually using the guest bedroom when I’m gone. I do occasionally eat here you know.” Kyn spoke up rudely.

“Kyn, you work like a mad man. I see how much you make in tips on your double shifts. You could get a better place than this. Turn it into a real bachelor pad and invite some women over.” Cole said between kissing Gynni.

“I’m not going to waste a ton of money on rent when I’m barely here.” Kyn said.

“Cut back at work,” Gynni suggested.

“Then I couldn’t afford a better place. I’m happy here. If you want a better place to fool around, then move out of your parents place.” Kyn told her.

“That wouldn’t be very smart. I mean Cole is hardly ever around as it is.” Gynni said sadly.

“Whatever…” Kyn muttered. “I’m going to bed. Will you two kids try to keep it down?”

They didn’t answer Kyn as they were now too involved with each other’s lips. Kyn had noticed a difference in his brother since he had joined the Republic Navy. Not that that was a bad thing but it was a little annoying sometimes. Cole was much more confident and outspoken. He just figured that’s what the military did for people.

The fact of the matter was Kyn didn’t want a better place. This was his lot in life for now and he could accept that. He didn’t even like thinking about it but he had absolutely no aspirations, no goals in life. Well… maybe one.

But there was nothing he could do. They had not been in contact for two years and it was impossible to impress a Jedi. Kyn figured it was hard enough to impress just a regular girl, let alone one that was a Jedi. Nothing he ever did or became would be enough to sway her. Nothing could make her love him.

Zafii was too good for him and he knew it. He reminded himself of that fact everyday and beat himself up for it. Yet the beating of this idea into his head did nothing for his ambitions to be better. What use was it? She would never again come to him; she would never again seek him out for any reason.

He had shut himself off from his family for the most part. He only saw his parents on birthdays and holidays now and he couldn’t remember the last time he actually had spoken to Kyra. He requested shifts on these days, knowing he could use it as an excuse to leave family functions early.

At the end of the day, Kyn knew he was depressed. In a way he actually preferred it. Why did he deserve to be happy? He deserved the bad karma for almost getting Kyra killed so many times and for making Zafii sick.

As for Cole’s suggestion of bringing women back to a bachelor pad… Kyn wanted absolutely nothing to do with that. What would be the point? They could never be as intelligent, as kind, or as great as Zafii. If it was Zafii or nothing, he chose nothing; he couldn’t settle for anything less than her.

She was an unattainable star. She could have lived a thousand years ago and be nothing but a distant, untouchable memory. She was an obsession.


**

Gynni and Cole had decided to leave Kyn’s apartment and go out shopping.

“I’m going to let you buy me something really sexy and I’ll wear it for you tonight.” Gynni purred in Cole’s ear.

“Thanks?” Cole laughed.

The two walked into a women’s clothing store and Cole felt himself blushing at the fact that he was the only male in the place.

“Loosen up, Cole.” Gynni laughed. “Guys come in here all the time.”

“To try things on?” Cole joked.

“That’s better,” Gynni chuckled. “But who really needs to loosen up is that brother of yours. I say we clean up his apartment when we get back and we throw a big party tonight. When he walks in, he’ll have no choice but to join in on the fun. I have a couple of girlfriends who would like him.”

“How do you know they would like him?” Cole asked, naively.

“Because they’ve all told me how cute you are.”

“Really?” Cole said, now sounding much more interested.

“Don’t get any ideas, Stud! But he is your brother and you favor each other. So I’m sure if they like you, they’d like him too. And as they can’t have you, they’ll have to settle for the next best thing.” Gynni explained.

“I don’t know.” Cole, rubbed the back of his neck. “About a party that is. Kyn might be pretty steamed.”

“What about this?” Gynni said, holding up a thin, black piece of lacey cloth that was trying to pass itself off as clothes.

Cole’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he thought about Gynni wearing what she was holding.

“I’ll let you buy me this... only if we get to throw Kyn a big party tonight.”

Cole not-so-reluctantly agreed.

**

Kyn arrived home late that night from a normal shift. He had asked for another eight hours but Big Lohul told him that there just wasn’t enough work for the night. When he pulled into the parking garage of Coruscant Landings he noticed there was an unusually large amount of speeders there. He knew for a fact that at least half of the apartments were no longer in use in the building.

“Someone must be throwing a party.” Kyn said to himself.

He thanked the Force that the lift was once again working. Although it was a bit of a jerky ride to the 10th floor, it sure beat the stairs. When the lift reached its destination, Kyn quickly realized that the party must be on this floor.

In the distance he could see his apartment door wide open and smoke billowing out of it. It was not smoke from burnt food or a house fire. Instead it smelled like the cantina’s that Salue used to drag him too.

Kyn was a bit shocked when he saw a young man and woman stumbling out of the doorway of his apartment, laughing and holding onto each other for dear life.

“COLE!” Kyn yelled.

There was literally no open space in the entirety of the tiny apartment. If air was visible, it would not have been on this night. People were chest to chest; rear-end to rear-end trying to move about. Drinks of assorted colors were being passed around in plastic cups.

“COLE!”

Kyn felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see a tipsy Gynni standing there.

“Hey bro! How do you like your party?” She asked.

“What are you talking about? My party?” Kyn asked, his voice highly annoyed.

“We thought you needed to loosen up,” Gynni informed him. “Have my drink.”

“No thanks, I value my immune system.” Kyn said, turning away from her.

He was now in search of Cole. He found him outside on the tiny balcony.

“Sorry,” Cole muttered.

“I think we are the only two here that aren’t completely sloshed.” Kyn said. “What the heck were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” Cole admitted.

“Obviously.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to have a little bit of fun. Mom and Dad are worried about you. To be honest, I am too.”

Kyn looked out into the Coruscant night, trying to block out the loud music and screaming voices from inside the cramped apartment.

“There is nothing to be worried about.” Kyn said seriously.

“If you say so,” Cole shook his head.

“Wow, they do look-a-like.” A female voice said obnoxiously loud.

“Told you,” Gynni’s voice rang.

Gynni threw herself into Cole’s arms and kissed him sloppily.

“I’m Tarah, Gynni has told me everything about you.” The girl introduced herself.

“Highly unlikely.” Kyn retorted.

“Wow, you’re smart too. Don’t use big words, I’ve had a few too many to drink.” Tarah replied.

Kyn shot Cole a look as if to say, are you kidding me?

“Wait, what did you say?” Tarah asked.

“Nice to meet you,” Kyn said, trying to brush her away.

Kyn walked back into the party, trying to lose the scantily clad brunette. Suddenly Kyn found a drink shoved into his hand. He finally gave in and downed it in one.

It was the first drink of that nature he had had since hanging out in the cantinas with Salue. The liquid quickly boiled Kyn’s blood and he became slightly dizzy.

“Those are great, huh?” Tarah asked. “I’ve had seven so far. Or was it nine? I can’t remember.”

Kyn didn’t answer. He only stared at Tarah and reached for another drink. She wasn’t Zafii but she was attractive… at least physically.

“So you drive an air taxi, huh?” Tarah asked, not sure if she had remembered correctly.

“Yeah,” Kyn replied, his throat was on fire from the drink.

“It’s a little loud in here, want to go show me?” Tarah asked.

“Yeah.”

Tarah took Kyn by the hand and led him to the lift. They took it down to the parking garage, all the while she was leaning on Kyn to keep her balance.

“Oh, is it this one?” Tarah asked, running over to a newer model speeder that obviously belonged to someone at the party.

Kyn shook his head and pointed at his speeder which was company owned. ‘Big Loluh’s Air Taxi and Accommodations’ was painted on the side of it in horrible pink paint.

“Let’s get in.” Tarah suggested.

“I shouldn’t drive,” Kyn said, trying to hold down a burp in his throat.

Tarah hopped in the passenger seat and patted the driver’s seat, enticing Kyn to join her.

Kyn sighed and opened the driver’s side door and plopped down next to her. He stared at the steering wheel, avoiding eye contact with her.

“Are you being shy?” Tarah asked, scooting closer. “That’s cute.”

Kyn closed his eyes when her hand touched his clothed knee. His eyes remained closed when he felt her wet lips kiss his earlobe.

“Just pretend it’s Zafii; just pretend it’s Zafii.” He thought to himself.

He felt her lips getting closer to his own and he reacted. He jumped out of the speeder and began pacing back and forth.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like me?” Tarah asked, slowly getting out of the speeder herself.

“I guess.” Kyn said, rather rudely.

“Is there someone else? I bet there is. You don’t want to cheat on her.”

Kyn shook his head, “There is someone but it’s not like I can cheat on her.”

“Oh,” she purred. “Tough luck in the love department? That’s okay.”

Tarah put her hand on Kyn’s chest and tried to nuzzle up to him.

“I can’t.” Kyn said.

“What’s her name?”

“Zafii…”

“You’re in luck. My name is Zafii too.” She smiled and began to kiss him fully on the lips.

Kyn grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her away. “I can’t.”

This was the final straw. Kyn had completely embarrassed her now. She slapped him across the face and made a rude gesture to him and walked back towards the lift.

“Fine! Gynni said you were a loser but sheesh!”

Kyn did not respond. He simply got back in his speeder and fell asleep in the backseat.

 

Chapter 17



Zaffi had been stationed on Almania for the last several months. She had thought about taking
on a padawan before leaving Coruscant but just didn’t feel the right connection. Unfortunately,
before she could continue her search, the epidemic had begun to break out on Almania.

She volunteered immediately to join a group of healers and scientists to go to the planet. No
cure for the disease had been established. In fact, it was so new and so little was known about
it, it had yet to be given a scientific name.

However the locals had already came up with a name when Zafii and her counterparts arrived.
They referred to it as the yeenzo in their native tongue. It’s translation the painful death.

As a Jedi Knight and a peacekeeper, Zafii’s role was simple: Comfort the dying and console the
living. This was her specialty if she ever had one. To simply be with people, to keep them in a
state of calm and peace. It all came very naturally to her.

The illness was an airborne pathogen. Because of this, anyone who was not infected had
to wear breathing apparatuses at all times when he was not in a controlled environment.

The disease itself was very painful to watch someone go through, even more so to experience.
Large boils accumulated on the skin all over the patient’s body. They itched and burned
tremendously but to scratch the infected area was almost instant death. If the sores were to
break open, after the initial puss fell from the wound, the blood flow was too hard to stop.

Families watched as loved ones perished, day after day and Zafii was witness to it all. While
she cared for every single person she talked with, she was ashamed to admit that she was
getting used to the misery that surrounded her.

**


Traffic was unusually heavy. Kyn had made a considerable amount in tips. He was currently
chauffeuring two shady looking individuals from one of the many corporate buildings to another.
One was a human male; tall and lanky with scraggy grey hair. The other was a Twi’lek with
green skin. They were clearly rich; both were wearing expensive clothes. Kyn could hear them
talking about some major contraband deal. It was a multi-million credit deal.

Kyn had an idea. He missed Zafii. He wanted to hate her, but he couldn’t. He needed to put
himself in danger without planning a way to escape. He knew it was stupid. He knew it was
selfish. He did not care. He was a lowly hover cab driver, for Sith’s sake! He didn’t have an
honorable, good job like Cole. He wasn’t a promising student like Kyra. He was Kyn, the kriffing
taxi driver!

“Driver, change of plans. Take us to the docking bay on Penn Street. I need bay number 4562,”
the Twi’lek said.

“Yes, sir,” Kyn responded. He changed lanes and drove off to the docking bay. It only took
fifteen minutes to arrive. The human handed him a large commission.

“Hey, kid,” the human said.

“Yes, sir?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you listening to our conversation. You want to make some quick
credits?”

“I suppose.”

“Good. Come on.”

Kyn ignored the voice in his head telling him to turn back. He turned off his cab, set it to
autopilot so it would return to the garage and followed the two criminals to their shuttle.

**

Zafii was in an established clean room, taking a break from her counseling. She was trying
her hardest to meditate but she was continuously interrupted by mental pain and anguish.
She couldn’t explain it. She was used to the misery that surrounded her on Almania.

I need your help.”

Zafii’s eyes shot open. She looked around but no one was in her small, private bedroom with
her.

“Zafii, I need your help.”

“Who is this?” Zafii said through the Force.

“Zafii, can you hear me? I’ve prayed to the Gods that somehow you would hear me.”

“Kyra? I can hear you, Kyra.”

“Zafii…”

**

His shirt was torn. The sleeves were gone. A large sweat stain covered its back. His hair and
face were dirty. The knees were ripped from his pants. Kyn had never worked so hard in his life.
As soon as the criminals’ shuttle had arrived on their large freighter, the Next Chance, they
had put Kyn to work organizing the shipment of spice and weaponry.

A loud clang ran through the ship and Kyn was knocked off his feet. He landed on the floor,
banging his head on the wall. Well that should get Zafii’s attention, he thought. He pushed
himself upright and glanced at the other man in the storage hold.

“You alright?” he called.

The man glared at him and grunted. Kyn shrugged and stood up. He moved to continue working
when emergency klaxons filled the air. A voice over the intercom called for those aboard to take
evasive action.

They were under attack.


**

Zafii landed her starfighter outside of the apartment building she last knew the Fuller’s to live at.

“Stay here R7.” She said.

Zafii took the lift up to the Fuller’s apartment and buzzed herself in to make her arrival known.

“Thank the Gods!” Rayna exclaimed. “Tyon, it worked!”

“What’s going on?” Zafii said. “Where is Kyra?”

Kyra came running down the hallway and nearly knocked Zafii over with a thunderous hug.
They separated and looked into each other’s eyes. Kyra was taller, much taller than she had
been two years prior. She was now a young lady.

“I can feel the Force within you. I heard you halfway across the galaxy.” Zafii said.

“I’ve been calling for you for days. Kyn has gone missing!” Kyra explained.

“The Jedi won’t help us. They say he hasn’t been missing long enough to be considered a
missing person and the fact that he is legally an adult.” Tyon added.

Zafii stepped into their apartment and tried to take everything in. She had left Almania in a rush
with hardly any explanation to her team where she was going. Now she was back on Coruscant
and had no idea how she would ever explain this to the Council.

“Perhaps he is not in trouble?” Zafii pointed out.

“This isn’t like him. He never came home. He lives on his own now and Cole was visiting him.”
Rayna began to explain. “I don’t know what to think but Kyra says she knows he’s in trouble.”

“Kyra?” Zafii said her name, looking at her.

“I can feel it,” Kyra said. “He’s my brother and I know he’s in trouble.”

“I don’t understand though,” Zafii said. “The bond between us. If he were in trouble…”

Rayna shook her head, “Can’t you see? It’s not a bond with Kyn. It’s Kyra. Every single time
you showed up to save Kyn he was not alone. Kyra was always with him! Kyra does have the
Force and I’ve always known that. The Jedi wanted her but we refused them twelve years ago.
There is no bond with Kyn. There is a Force Bond apparently between you and Kyra though.
I’m not a Jedi, you can figure that out later I suppose. Can you help us?”

Zafii didn’t know what to say. All this time she had shunned Kyn and his family because of a
bond they believed existed. Now that she knew the bond was with Kyra, it all seemed rather
silly. Perhaps she was truly afraid that her destiny was to be romantically involved with Kyn,
which would cost her, her spot in the Jedi Order.

“I need a lead,” Zafii stated. “Where do we know for sure he was last at?”

“He works for Big Lohul’s Air Taxi.” Tyon said. “You have to call in to be picked up from
their service.”

Zafii nodded and looked at Kyra, “Reach out and feel the Force. Go ahead… close your eyes.”

Kyra did as she was told.

“Do you feel him? Is he still alive?” Zafii asked.

“I…” Kyra’s eyes shot open and she looked at her parents. “I hope so…”


**

Kyn found himself crouching in a doorway, clutching a blaster to his chest. They were being
boarded. He didn’t know if it was a Republican ship or other criminals. He honestly did not care.
Kyn pressed himself against the frame of the doorway. He could hear metal scraping against
metal as the boarding clamps locked into place. He didn’t want to kill anyone, but he knew that
he’d shoot if he had to.


Blaster shots rang through the air. Kyn gripped his blaster tightly, waiting for the fight to come
his way.

The freighter shook. Kyn gripped the doorframe to keep himself upright. He could hear shouts
and screams of the others on the ship.

Suddenly, a body landed on the floor in front of him. It was the Twi’lek criminal he’d see days
before with a smoking hole in his chest.

Kyn decided it was time to run. He turned and dashed to the back of the ship. In most vehicles,
Kyn knew that’s where the escape pods were located. Kyn didn’t know what part of the
he was in, but it had to be better than here.

“Where do you think you’re going, runt?” the human’s voice called. Kyn ignored him and kept
running. The man shoved a repulsor cart toward Kyn. It slammed into the back of his knees and
sent him to the floor.

“Where the hell do you think you are going? You brought these people here!” the man snapped
as he marched over to Kyn. He kicked him in the back, causing Kyn to groan in pain. The man
grinned and kicked him again.

“I didn’t lead anyone here,” Kyn ground out as he rolled away from the man.

The man lunged for him and grabbed his shirt. He pulled him closer and then punched him. Kyn
flinched and swung one arm around to dislodge the man from his shirt.

“You’re pathetic,” the man ground out. “You’re going back to steal my Ryll!”

“I don’t want your spice!” Kyn spat as he scampered away from the man. He tried to grab his
blaster, but it was gone.

The man pulled out a knife and threw it at Kyn. Kyn went to jump out of the way, but the ship
rocked. The sound of screeching metal filled the arm. Kyn and the man were thrown to the
ground. Kyn rolled to his feet quickly and ran to the escape pods.

Again the ship rocked and Kyn was thrown off balance. He found a stray blaster and picked it
up.

“Pirates!” Kyn spat, looking at the viewport.

Suddenly blaster bolts were being fired at him from behind. Kyn took over behind a doorway,
his blaster held high waiting for another opportunity to shoot. Blaster bolts flew through the
open space of the doorway and he gulped. She wasn’t coming. He wasn’t the key, he realized
that now. He now knew he would die on this ship, never seeing Zafii again.

Suddenly the blaster bolts began coming from the other direction, back through the doorway
Kyn was hiding behind. His head became fuzzy, knowing the end was near now. They had him
surrounded.

He could hear groans coming from the original direction. His opponents had been hit with
blaster bolt. His eyes regained focus and he saw a green light dancing in the air coming closer
to him, deflecting each bolt with amazing precision.

There she was, Zafii. She had come after all. She took cover on the opposite side of the
doorway, looking at him.

“I’ve never told anyone this,” Zafii said, using the Force to throw things at the remaining men
shooting at them. “But I think you are a total idiot!”

Kyn didn’t respond but used this opportunity to get a couple of shots in of his own.

“And I’ve never said I love you before.” Kyn said, firing away.

“Again,” Zafii said deflected bolts. “You truly are an idiot.”

Zafii pointed to an opening past the doorway and Kyn took it, walking back towards the action instead of retreating. He now hid behind a stack of cargo. Zafii soon joined him and now
they were right next to each other. She held up her lightsaber and without even looking at the
blaster bolts was able to redirect them at the original shooter.

“You’re amazing,” Kyn said. “I knew you’d come for me. I knew this would work.”

Kyn reached and cupped the back of her head and drew her near. Blaster bolts were flying
past their cover yet he still found the time to passionately kiss her. It was what he had been
dreaming about for three years. Initially Zafii kissed back, angrily. There was a sense of
closure in the way her lips responded to his and then she broke away.

“I came for you because of Kyra. The Force bond is with her, not you; you… arrogant little boy!”

Kyn was shocked by her words and even more so when he saw her stand up and ignoring her
cover. He could tell by the sounds coming from down the corridor that she was mowing them
down.

Once more the ship rocked and the ceiling above them began to breach.

“This ship is going to tear itself apart,” Kyn yelled.

“Over there, EV suits. Get one on!” Zafii commanded.

Zafii covered Kyn by deflecting several pirate blaster bolts. Kyn fumbled with the EV suit but
after a minute or so he was finally able to get it on.

“Now fly boy, your turn to cover me!” Zafii yelled.

Kyn jumped into the middle of the corridor wearing his EV suit and began to shoot at the pirates
like a mad man. No one was going to hurt Zafii!

“I got them!” Kyn said, enthusiastically.

“Way to go,” Zafii shot back sarcastically.

She was now wearing an EV suit as well. If the ship did start to tear into pieces before they
could make it to an escape pod, they would at least be able to breathe.

“We have to get out of here now. Any planet or moon will do.” Zafii instructed. “Do you know
where the escape pods are?”

“This way,” Kyn pointed.

Before he could start leading the way the ship did what it had been threatening to do for the last
several minutes. The roof tore off and flew into space and Kyn was sucked out into it.

“Kyn!” Zafii’s yelled was muffled by the EV.

The bottom of the ship then ripped apart right at her feet, leaving her standing on the edge of a
ship and outer space. The only thing keeping her glued to this spot was the Force.

Zafii had not realized it how close they were to a small planet when she had docked on the
ship. Kyn was not only floating in space, he was being sucked by the planet’s gravitational pull
towards a very hot and deadly atmosphere.

The ship itself was now on a collision course with the planet as well. The motors were now
dead and the gravity would take everything it could envelope.

Planting her feet solidly, Zafii closed her eyes and with her right hand made a thrusting motion
towards the remaining part of the ship. With her left hand she made a cupping motion and
flexed her arm with every fiber of strength she owned.

Simultaneously she was Force pushing the ship away from the gravitational pull of the planet
and Force pulling Kyn back to her.

How could this feat be accomplished? Maybe one or the other by the most powerful of Jedi but
not both at the same time.

Kyn was helplessly reaching out towards Zafii as he fell to certain death. His body jerked in free
fall and he thought his back was broken. He was now miraculously being pulled away from the
planet and to a ship that was moving away from him.

“A little help here,” Zafii muttered. “If anyone is listening.”

She continued to Force pull and Force push simultaneously. She could feel Kyn slipping
from her grasps. It was too much. She had to let go of one and concentrate on the other.

A decision was made without even thinking about it. She let go of her control of the ship and
turned and made a pulling motion with both of her arms, reaching out with everything she had to
pull Kyn towards her.

It was as if he was shot out of a rocket, sent hurling through free space. He tackled Zafii on
accident and even though the slope of the ship was going against them, they flew up the slope
from the momentum. Kyn was on top of Zafii, they were lying on the floor of the burning ship.

“I love you.” Kyn said, out of breath.

“Get us to an escape pod. The ship is going to crash into the planet.” Zafii said weakly.

Kyn stood up and pulled Zafii to her feet. Her body was limp and Kyn was forced to carry her
dead weight. Finally they made it to the escape pod and closed the blast door.

“Where are we going?” Kyn asked. “Zafii?”

She weakly opened her eyes. “Anywhere… just… do it now. Call the Jedi Council once we
land.”

With that, Zafii fell over onto the small, cramped floor of the escape pod and they were
jettisoned out into space.

 

Chapter 18

It was a standard week before the Jedi were able to safely transport Zafii and Kyn back to Coruscant after their crash landing. Kyn was in pretty good shape, physically. Mentally, however, he had been beating himself up over his foolish actions.

Zafii had passed out from an overuse of the Force. Her body was just unable to handle the power she was capable of conjuring. Unlike previous times though, this time she had not woken up a few hours later.

Jedi Healer Braca and Master Tine had been assigned to bring Zafii back to Coruscant. Master Windu had not so subtly hinted during a Council session that it was up to Tine’s discretion whether he wanted to bring Kyn back as well.

Master Tine was not as cordial towards Kyn as he had been in the past but he let him grab a ride back to Corsucant with them. He needed to know what was happening and Kyn was a piece to that puzzle. Tine cared for Zafii too much to let this mystery go unsolved.

Unfortunately, Braca still had no answers.

“The only difference is I don’t think she is going to wake back up this time.” Braca had noted. “She is in a very deep vegetative state. I’m afraid that there might have been severe damage to parts of her brain.”

“What does that mean?” Tine had asked on the trip back to Coruscant.

“It means she’s in a coma, Boonte.” Braca responded.

“Don’t we have ways of waking her up?”

“There is a chance if we did that… she would be in such unbearable pain the only decent thing to do would be to kill her.”

“How do we know she isn’t in unbearable pain right now?” Tine asked.

“I can monitor that by her brain activity. She seems to be in a state of peace.” Braca explained.

“What about the theory that people in a coma can hear what is going on around them? Perhaps I could speak to her; we could monitor her brain activity then.”

“I see no high level brain function happening as of now. I’m sorry Boonte, it would be a terrible waste of time.”

Master Tine wanted more than anything to save, Zafii. He would do whatever it took but he also trusted the wisdom and experience of his fellow Twi’lek, Braca. If she said there was no use, then he had no other alternative than to believe it.

Once they had landed on Coruscant, Master Tine quickly explained the situation to Kyn. After dodging a few emotionally charged questions by Kyn, Master Tine ended the conversation and told the young man that it would be for the best if he forgot about Zafii and got on with his life.

**
Master Tine didn’t know who he was talking to when he had told Kyn to just forget about Zafii. How could anyone forget about, Zafii? Kyn had asked himself the maddening question in his own mind. She was the most thoughtful, giving, self sacrificing person he had ever met. Her only flaw was that she over extended herself. Other than that, in Kyn’s eyes she was perfect.

He kept trying to think of how he could save Zafii. If he could just get her to wake up, he promised he would leave her alone and never force her to become involved in his life again. As he thought up irrational plan after irrational plan, he had arrived back at his company speeder in the exact spot he had left it over a week ago.

Kyn hopped in the driver’s seat and saw that he had a message. When he first heard the voice, he knew who it was: Big Lohul!

“Kyn, you thieving little rat! If you were going to quit, the least you could do was give me back my speeder. Instead you disabled the gps and now I can’t find you or it. I will be pressing charges, you can count on that.”

He hit the steering mechanism in frustration. The voice message from Lohul was just the icing on the cake. He decided he would take the speeder back to Lohul and hope against hope that he wouldn’t press charges.

After an hour of begging Lohul’s forgiveness, he was thankful that Big Lohul had only fired him and wasn’t going to have him arrested for theft. Lohul even offered up one of his more trustworthy driver’s to give Kyn a lift home.

Feeling bad enough, Kyn thanked him but refused and he paid his own way to his parents’ apartment. When he arrived, Rayna initially hugged him but then became increasingly annoyed with his actions.

Tyon, on the other hand, was furious.

“You’re not a kid anymore! You can’t just go around doing these sorts of things. You need to grow up and grow up fast!” Tyon yelled.

“I know…” Kyn muttered.

“Do you!” Tyon raged on. “Because of you a young woman is in a coma and will probably never wake up again. You say that you care about this woman, yet you have continually put her at risk over the years.”

“I know but it was never on purpose before.” Kyn tried to explain but it was no use.

“But this time it was?” Kyra asked, walking in the apartment from school. “Did you go and find trouble on purpose, Kyn?”

Kyn looked at his feet. He was too embarrassed to meet his sister’s stare.

“Kyn!” Kyra repeated. “Did you?”

Kyra’s voice had dropped to a barely audible whisper as she asked the question again. Kyn was still unable to look his baby sister in the eyes. Tears began to fall down Kyra’s face as every second passed that Kyn hadn’t answered.

His silence was answer enough for her.

“You disgust me!” Kyra spat.

“Kyra…” Rayna tried to interject.

“NO!” Kyra yelled, throwing her school bag across the room. “I HATE HIM!”

Rayna tried to hug her youngest child but was thwarted. Kyra walked over to Kyn, heavy footed and began to slap him repeatedly in the chest and face.

Kyn did not try to deflect this onslaught, he knew he deserved it. It was Tyon who grabbed Kyra from behind and held her arms.

“That’s enough, sweetie.” Tyon pleaded.

“I HATE YOU!” Kyra reaffirmed. “SHE’S TOO GOOD FOR YOU! SHE WILL NEVER HATE YOU THE WAY I DO!”

She then broke free from her father’s firm grip. A glass vase that was sitting on a table across the room shattered inexplicably as she ran to her room and locked the door.

Kyn nodded his head, almost as if he were delirious. “I deserved that.”

“You deserve a lot,” Rayna said. “But not that. We still love you, son. We all love you and nothing can ever change that.”

Kyn shook his head, “Maybe but people can change. Relationships can change and I’ve just ruined two of them. She will never forgive me. Zafii was her hero.”

Tyon nodded, “Zafii is a hero. Kyra loves her for that. There is no doubt about it. She may never fully forgive you but you need to forgive yourself and be that changed person you are talking about.”

**
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Another year had passed and Zafii was still resting within the confines of the Jedi Temple medical ward. She had shown no signs of recovery and was being fed and essentially kept alive by machines.

“Intend her to live this way, the Force does not.” Master Yoda said sadly, looking at the young Jedi Knight lying in her bed.

“It is the will of the Force,” Master Windu said solemnly.

“In agreement the Council is, inform the family we should.”

“Family? Knight Pel’s mother and father were killed years ago on Naboo.” Windu reminded Yoda.

“The Fuller family.” Yoda corrected him.

Windu didn’t like the idea but nodded.

“Tell the Fuller family what?” Kyn said, walking in with Master Tine.

Mace cleared his throat, “It is the decision of the Jedi Council that we let Knight Pel become one with the Force. Her condition is not getting better and never will.”

“You can’t,” Kyn said.

“The decision is made, young one.” Windu shot back.

“Feelings of greed you must let go, young Fuller.” Yoda said wisely.

“I won’t let you kill her!” Kyn exclaimed.

“Us kill her? I was under the impression that was you who had done that.” Windu argued.

“Master Windu,” Yoda reprimanded his fellow Council member.

“This will be the last time you ever set foot in this temple, Fuller.” Windu glared. “Say your goodbyes.”

Master Tine was shocked by Windu’s tone of voice but Kyn only stared at the Jedi Master with hatred. Master Yoda and Windu left and Kyn and Tine converged to Zafii’s bedside.

“Your family was here last week,” Tine stated.

Kyn did not respond. He only looked down at Zafii, tears welling up in his eyes. He gently took her hand in his own.

“I’m so sorry.” Kyn whispered.

“I’ll leave you be.” Tine nodded and closed the blast door behind him.

He kneeled down so that his head was at level with Zafii’s horizontal body. His eyes were red with sadness and he touched her sallow fingers to his cheek.

“I can’t let them do this to you.” Kyn whispered. “I know you’ll come around some day. It hasn’t been enough time.”

Zafii continued to lay motionless on the bed; if it weren’t for the small vein in her throat pulsing, she would have looked dead. She was now thinner than she had been on Naboo, her cheeks hollow.

 

Chapter 19

Kyn waited outside of his old school on Coruscant as he had done the day previous. He had been unsuccessful in spotting his sister Kyra before but he was back today to give it another go. He saw a couple of girls he had not seen in quite some time but recognized them to be friends of Kyra’s. He watched them closely, hoping Kyra would be behind them.

Unfortunately for Kyn, she was apparently not intending on joining her friends on this day after classes had let out. He continued to look through the crowds of bustling students going to different transports and socializing.

Then he saw her; she was with a boy who looked to be fifteen or so. Too old for Kyra, that was for sure as far as Kyn was concerned. But he couldn’t be concerned with that, not today. He couldn’t play big brother after a year of not speaking with her.

He walked through the crowd to get closer to her but he didn’t want to interrupt her and her new ‘friend’. His wish was to speak with her alone and in private. Watching from a small distance he watched as the boy kissed Kyra on the cheek. Anger began to boil up in Kyn but he had to restrain himself. Kyra was obviously blushing as the boy walked away and waved goodbye to her.

“Kyra,” Kyn yelled. “Kyra!”

Kyra had heard him and she was spinning in circles looking for the voice that had called out her name. Kyn saw the resentment in her eyes when she spotted him.

“Oh,” she muttered.

“Kyra, I know you hate me.” Kyn started.

“I don’t hate you, Kyn.” Kyra retorted, the tone in her voice did not lend to her statement.

“Want to catch a late lunch with me and catch up?”

“I eat lunch at school.” Kyra informed him.

“An early dinner then. Caf, tea, whatever you want.” Kyn said quickly.

“Fine.” Kyra agreed reluctantly. “Where is your speeder?”

Kyn coughed, “We’ll have to catch a cab. I don’t actually have a speeder anymore.”

“You don’t have any transportation?”

“I didn’t say that.” Kyn said. “Come on, let’s go.”

They found themselves at a little café that was fairly empty. They sat in the corner and Kyra ordered a cup of soup and tea. Kyn only asked for water.

“So what is this all about? You know you could have just bought me something really expensive if you’re trying to get on my good side.” Kyra started when she saw that Kyn didn’t know where to begin.

“Would that have worked?” Kyn asked.

Kyra shook her head, “Not a chance. You don’t think I’ve become a spoiled little brat in just a year?”

“I didn’t figure so but some of your friends...”

“I have different friends than the ones you remember, Kyn.” Kyra shot back.

“That’s good. You have a boyfriend too?”

“If I do?” Kyra asked in between sips of tea through a straw.

“That’s fine,” Kyn lied. “He looks a little too old for you is all.”

“Don’t start,” Kyra warned. “You haven’t been there as a brother for me in a long time. You can’t just come back in and start telling me who I can date. Mom likes him anyway. Dad… not so much.”

“You’re right but you also had something to do with that. You asked me to not speak to you anymore. For good reason but still…”

“And yet here you sit, right across from me.” Kyra glared. “What do you want, Kyn? I have a feeling you didn’t hunt me down at school just to badger me about my boyfriend.”

“So you admit, he is your boyfriend then?” Kyn said, trying to break the tension.

“Kyn…”

“Fine, I have news about Zafii.” Kyn stated seriously.

Kyra’s eyes widened and for the first time she didn’t look angry or annoyed at the sight of Kyn.

“She is getting better? She is awake? I just saw her last week.” Kyra rambled.

“Not exactly.” Kyn said, holding up a hand to slow her down. “The Jedi are going to pull the plug. They are going to let her die.”

Kyra’s eyes had turned from that of hope into sheer horror. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“She told me that the Force bond is with you, not me. I understand that now. I also understand she is a Jedi and would never want anyone, especially someone irresponsible and dumb like me.” Kyn explained. “But I have to try to save her. I know you have the same bond she has. That’s why you care about her so much and you don’t know very much about her. None of us really know who the real Zafii is.”

“What are you going to do, Kyn; something foolish and reckless again?”

“I need you, Kyra. I need your Force bond with her and I think she would wake up. She has always been there for you, always. I think if somehow you got yourself into some sort of danger that…” Kyn was interrupted.

“This is why you brought me here? You brought me here to ask me to risk my life to save, Zafii? You know I would save her if I could, that is the least I owe her. But you are… I don’t even have words to describe you, Kyn. You are despicable! No, that isn’t harsh enough but we are in public and I’m not going to get into it with you ever again.” Kyra said, standing up from the booth.

“Kyra, wait. Let me explain.” Kyn pleaded.

“If Zafii were here, she would tell you that you have to learn to let go. I don’t want her to die but it is too late for that. I’ve spoken with Braca and Master Tine more times than you. I see them every week when I go and visit her. She isn’t there anymore, Kyn. GET OVER IT! Zafii Pel’s body may still be technically alive but her soul, her Force presence… it’s gone.” Kyra explained angrily.

“I don’t believe it.” Kyn said. “I can feel it.”

“You don’t know anything. You are dreaming a fool’s dream. I am the one who has the bond with her, remember? I can’t explain it and neither could Zafii. No one knows for sure why exists but it does. I haven’t felt her in the Force for a long time now. Even before I knew what I was feeling, I could feel her from that day we left Ennth. The last year since you did what you did… nothing.”

Kyn was crying now and tears had also come to Kyra’s eyes but the emotion did not leak into her voice.

“Please don’t,” Kyn begged.

“I’m sorry, Kyn. Zafii is dead and it is time for her body to rest in peace.”

With that, Kyra turned on her heel, tears gushing down her face and she walked away.

Kyn watched his little sister walk away for the last time. He knew in his heart of hearts this was the last time he would ever see her and that perhaps he would never see any of his other family members again either.

Even with Kyra’s harsh words, Kyn still didn’t believe. He couldn’t give up on Zafii. If Kyra wouldn’t help him he would just have to find the right group of people who would.



**


A Trandoshan male, a Rattataki female, and a mustached human male sat around a dingy table in a small, dark room. The only light in the room was hanging over the table and had a small flicker to it.

The three of them had arrived at the table separately and none of them knew each other from a stranger on the street. They sat in silence and waited on the person who had called them here.

The wooden door opened a fourth time and Kyn Fuller walked into the room.

“Thank you for coming,” Kyn greeted. “As you might be guessing right now, I am the one who invited you all here tonight.”

“What is this?” The Rattataki woman asked. “I don’t have time for kid’s games.”

Kyn threw down a handful of credits onto the table.

“No games here,” Kyn retorted. “You get 50% now, 50% when the job is done.”

“What is the job?” The Trandoshan hissed.

“Barran, you were an elite spy for your government until you were wrongly accused of being a double agent.” Kyn said, his words directed at the Trandoshan.

Barran stared at him, wondering how he knew this information. He was a spy years ago but he had never revealed his true past to anyone since he had arrived on Coruscant.

“Selma,” Kyn said, looking at the Rattataki. “You were a great healer until you were unjustly prosecuted and lost your license.”

Again, Selma was wondering the same thing Barran was. How did this kid know all of this?

“And Yates, yes I know even about you, Yates. You are the most dangerous person in this room and probably the quickest draw in the galaxy with a blaster. Hopefully your services as a gunslinger won’t come in handy but I have a feeling you will be a valuable asset nonetheless.” Kyn explained.

“Now that we all know each other,” Yates said. “What’s the job?”

Kyn nodded, “You are all the best at what you do, respectively. I was wondering though if your life wasn’t getting a little mundane. Perhaps taking the odd job here and there just isn’t enough for you anymore?”

“Get on with it,” Barran growled.

“I want you all to help me kidnap a Jedi Knight.” Kyn admitted.

Yates laughed, “A Jedi Knight? They won’t come easily but it can be done. What system are they in currently?”

“This one,” Kyn said seriously. “She is right here on Coruscant in the Jedi Temple as we speak.”

“So we have to wait until she leaves?” Selma asked, thoroughly confused.

“She won’t be leaving. Not one her own anyway. We have to break into the Jedi Temple and take her.” Kyn said.

The three henchmen laughed, banging the table in delight.

“So you are just trying out your standup routine then?” Yates asked. “Good show, kid.”

Yates stood up to leave and as did the other two. Kyn then threw down the rest of the credits on the table.

“Fine, 100% up front. Just help me.” Kyn pleaded.

“You’re serious?” Selma asked, looking into his eyes.

“This operation isn’t what you think. It is not politically motivated. It is personally motivated. The Jedi in question is currently in a coma and has been for quite some time. The Jedi are ready to let her become one with the living Force. I just can’t let that happen. I want to take her away from here, far away from here. I will pony up the credits to have her medical bills paid so she is taken care of by a group on the Outer Rim.” Kyn explained comprehensively.

“Ah,” Selma smiled. “So this is a mission of love, is it?”

Kyn nodded.

Selma looked at the other human and the Trandoshan. “What do you boys think? Shall we do it in the name of love?”

“I have been a bit bored lately,” Barran admitted.

“I’ll do it on one condition,” Yates said. “You keep my share of the credits and use it to pay for her medical bills.”

“I agree,” Selma nodded.

Kyn had never imagined he would meet such a great group of lowlifes.

“While I appreciate the sentiment, I think I will be taking my share. I have a family that I also love.” Barran said.

“Fair enough,” Kyn nodded. “Thank you.”

 

Chapter 20

The plan was simple enough. Yates would fly Kyn’s YT-1200 ship in proximity of the Jedi Temple. Not too close of course, they didn’t want to draw attention. He would wait for the signal and he would land in the hangar that Tyon usually worked in, knowing that it would be empty that day. If everything went right, they would be able to load Zafii on board of the ship the instant Yates landed it and they would be off to Bakura where Kyn had already arranged for her to receive long-term medical care.

Kyn had used all of his savings on the used YT-1200 and prepaying the facility on Bakura a full year in advance on Zafii’s medical bills. He didn’t know what he would do to continue to pay them after one year but he would figure something out, he always did.

Selma would accompany Kyn as they infiltrated the Jedi Temple. They would be dressed in Jedi robes and Barran used his sources to get the proper clearance codes to get through all of the doors they would need.

“Are you sure of the layout, Barran?” Kyn had asked, as they planned aboard the parked ship.

“Of course, I have the technical readouts of the entire Jedi Temple on my terminal. I’ll be on the ship with Yates and I’ll be in direct contact with you through your comlink. If you get lost I can track you and Selma inside the temple and lead you in the right direction.” Barran reassured him.

“And you’re sure your father won’t be working on a ship in his hangar bay today? If you are headed to that platform and I have to land somewhere else, it could get messy.” Yates spoke up.

Kyn nodded, his father was currently helping out another mechanic with a ship and the last he had checked, his father’s work platform was clear.

“We still haven’t discussed what we are going to do if we get caught.” Selma said. “We will be unarmed.”

“You might be…” Yates laughed.

“You’ll have the safety of the ship,” Selma reminded him. “If Barran tells you we have been caught, you two can hightail it off world.”

“It’s a risk,” Kyn admitted. “If we get caught we will be imprisoned and Zafii will die. We have to succeed, that’s all there is to it.”

The plan was on then. They decided to do it in the middle of the day when there would be the most activity. If they were to try it too early or too late, they were afraid someone might become suspicious of their movements. With more people they could blend in easier.

Midday came and Selma and Kyn were both cloaked and hooded as they walked up the steps of the Jedi Temple. Kyn couldn’t believe how hot he was underneath the tunic and cloak as the sun beamed down on them.

They reached the large front doors of the temple where those knowing the code could tap it in or guests could be let in by the guards, if they were authorized to do so. They did not look at the two men guarding the doors but instead went right to the keypad on the right side. Kyn typed in a passcode with confidence.

It didn’t work.

“They are looking at us.” Selma whispered.

“I missed a number.”

“Well… don’t.”

Kyn retyped the number that was written on his hand. He had several passcodes written in the palm of his hand and because of that, they were small and hard to read. The second attempt was correct and they were able to proceed.

“That was easy,” Kyn whispered.

Selma’s eyes were wide, her nerves obviously were running wild. They walked through the crowded corridors, their heads held low so that Jedi passing by would not recognize them as intruders. A buzzing noise was in Kyn’s ear and then he heard Barran’s voice.

“I see that you’re in. You need to walk straight for a while and then turn to your left. I’ll tell you when.”

Kyn listened but did not respond. He led the way and Selma followed. Soon they came to a staircase and they stopped at the foot of it.

“Yes, keep going straight. Go up the stairs.” Barran reassured him.

If anyone had been watching them, it would have looked rather odd: Two people stopping at a staircase as if they weren’t sure how to scale it and then proceeding up them.

“Okay stop.” Barran said a few seconds later. “This is your left… your other left.”

“You’re going to get us caught,” Selma whispered.

Kyn did not respond and the two of them continued to walk. This corridor was empty; no one could be watching them now.

“Wait,” Barran said. “I need to disable the security feeds. They’ll know you’re not supposed to be going into this next door.”

After a few seconds, Barran gave them the okay after he had rerouted the feeds to loop.

Kyn typed in the passcode more slowly this time as no one was watching them. He wanted to make sure he got it right. A wrong code might signal a warning. Again, Barran’s codes seemed to be legit as the blast door opened for them.

“Alright, I’m returning the feed to that hallway.”

Several more corridors and doors later and everything seemed to be going smoothly. They were at the entrance of the medical ward and now they were again surrounded by people. Healers and padawans were shuffling around, taking no notice to the two newcomers.

Kyn walked towards Zafii’s private room. He knew for a fact that it didn’t have a passcode on it so he had told Barran to not even worry about finding one.

“Okay, Kyn listen.” Selma began before they opened up the door. “We have to be extremely careful when transporting her. I don’t even know how that will be possible, we are going to get questioned when we transport her out of the room.”

Kyn pushed a button on the keypad for the door to open but it didn’t budge. Kyn pushed it again and noticed a small red light flickering. He then read the text that was flashing above it: Enter Passcode.

“I thought you said!” Selma said irritably. “We have to go before we are discovered. Barran will have to acquire the passcode and we will come back.”

“No…” Kyn said. “Who knows when they will let her go? There is no time!”

Suddenly an astromech came flying around the corner. Its base black with green siding. It was squealing and bobbing about in front of them.

“It’s alerting the Jedi!” Selma exclaimed.

“Wait… No it’s not. That’s Zafii’s droid I think. R7 is that you?”

R7 pushed passed both of them and plugged in to the wall. Once where the text had read ‘Enter Passcode’ it was now scrolling something else.

The Jedi have pulled the plug. Zafii is dying and they’ve locked the door.

“R7, we are here to save her!” Kyn blurted, much too loudly. “We want to take her to Bakura so they can keep her alive until she wakes up. Can you help us?”

R7 jiggled his entire body happily and the blaster door shot open. Kyn and Selma ran in the room and to Zafii’s side.

“Her heart rate is really low, Kyn.” Selma said. “They’ve left here to starve to death.”

“How could they do this?” Kyn said, his voice cracking.

“Sometimes this is what happens when a family decides to pull the plug. She only needed sustenance to stay alive. Her heart beats and her lungs breathe on their own.” Selma explained.

“We’re her family!” Kyn shot back, speaking of the Fuller’s.

“She only has a little time left. We have to get her hooked back up.”

“But they’ve taken everything away. We’ll have to rush her to the ship and use what we have there.” Kyn said.

“She’s dehydrated, she’ll need water now.” Selma said.

With that, Kyn ran out into the hallway to a fresher and got a small cup of water and darted back into the room. Selma was holding Zafii up and they carefully put the water in her mouth and worked it down her throat, making her swallow it.

“That’s going to draw A LOT of attention.” Selma said, referring to Kyn’s rush through the corridor’s.

“Let’s go,” Kyn said.

With that they began to push the wheeled bed towards the doorway. It was so much heavier than Kyn had imagined. They got the bed into the corridor and were amazed no one had seen them yet.

R7 knew what they were thinking and he released his fire extinguisher from his body. The smoke like substance filled the corridor.

“We need another way out, Barran.” Kyn said into his comlink. “That way we came is… blocked.”

R7 then ran to a computer terminal and set off a series of alarms. Water started gushing from the high ceilings of the temple. The three of them raced with Zafii on her bed through the corridor. Selma was holding Zafii’s mouth open, letting droplets of water fall into her mouth.

“Make a left here; it will lead you to the hangar bay. You’ll be on the opposite end but you should have access to your father’s landing platform. We are landing there now!” Barran announced.

They did as Barran said and the bed nearly toppled over in their rush. Kyn pushed the bed to a halt when he saw a tall, dark figure standing in front of them.

“So, I was right.” Mace Windu said. “You came for her. I told Master Yoda and the rest of the council you would but they didn’t believe me.”

“Please, Master Windu.” Kyn said heaving, his lungs out of breath. “I’m going to take care of her.”

“That’s not your decision.” Windu retorted.

They were several feet from each other; Mace was standing in front of the door they needed to go through to get to the hangar.

“I have the intruders,” Mace said into his comlink. “We are at position…”

He was interrupted as R7 had turned on his jets and flew at him. Windu reached for his lightsaber but amazingly, R7 had hit him in the shoulder causing him the drop the Jedi weapon. Selma and Kyn grabbed the bed by its head and pushed it as hard and as fast as they could, running into Windu and knocking him up against a wall. R7 opened the door for them and they were now at the opposite end of the hangar bay they needed to be at.

There were mechanics everywhere and they had caused quite a scene. Everyone was looking at them but luckily it seemed no Jedi were near.

“Let’s just go!” Kyn yelled.

They pushed the bed as hard as they could and zoomed down the hangar.

“Come here!” Mace said, reaching out for R7.

The Jedi Master had pulled the droid out of his plug-in and the blaster door shot closed, leaving R7 in the hands of a rather irritated Jedi.

“Damn it!” Kyn said, as they ran through the hangar. “Thank you R7!”

No one was impeding their progress. For all the mechanics knew these two people pushing the bed, were indeed Jedi Knights. They had received no alarms in the hangar bay. R7 was smart, he had done this on purpose knowing that an alarm in this area would close off the hangar from any ships entering or leaving.

“Smart droid!” Selma smiled.

“Definitely takes after her.” Kyn said, as they continued running. “There it is, I can’t believe we did it.”

Barran was outside the ship now. He ran towards them and helped by pulling the foot of the bed. They neared the ramp of the YT-1200 and began to roll the bed up it with some difficulty.

“What’s going on?” A young padawan asked.

No one answered the padawan as he watched suspiciously.

“Yates! Take off now!” Kyn yelled into the comlink.

The ship lifted off the landing platform, the ramp still down and they had not even secured Zafii yet.

“Get us the hell off world!” Selma yelled through the ship’s corridors to the cockpit.

As Selma secured Zafii’s bed and began to use the outdated machines to hook her back to life support, Kyn got a glimpse of something near the Jedi Temple.

“Get near the temple!” Kyn yelled to Yates.

“Are you mad?” Yates asked.

“Just do it!” Kyn shot back.

R7-Z3 had flown through a window, some several stories high and was flying through the air thanks to his jets. The droid landed on the closing ramp and joined everyone else on the ship as they raced to get to hyperspace.

“You’re one crazy droid,” Kyn said, kneeling down to touch his dome.

R7 made a noise that sounded all too much like a child’s laugh. Kyn then turned his attention back to Selma and what she was doing for Zafii.

“Is she going to make it?” Kyn asked the ex-Healer.

“I think so but we really don’t need to put her under anymore stress. Once we get her to Bakura she should be okay.” Selma nodded.

With that they began to make the long journey to the far reaches of the Outer-Rim.


**

It had taken days of space travel but Kyn and the rest of the crew landed near the facility on Bakura. Kyn took a heavy breath as the ramp lowered and they prepared to transport Zafii into the facility. Healers were waiting for them and took over for Selma and they immediately began to hook up better equipment to her.

“If you all want to stay here, I’m going to go say goodbye to her.” Kyn announced.

His three allies nodded and Kyn and R7 began to follow the facility officials who were tending to Zafii. They entered the facility and Kyn could immediately see that his credits were being well spent. The facility was top notch, so much in fact that he was surprised he wasn’t asked to wear a clean suit just to enter.

“You say you don’t have her medical records?” The head administrator asked, reintroducing himself to Kyn.

“No…” Kyn muttered.

“That’s fine; we will run every test on her to make sure she is not allergic to anything and those kinds of things.” The administrator nodded.

“And you are fine with the situation?” Kyn asked.

“As I told you in our first meeting several weeks ago, we do not care about the Republic. You are our customer, Kyn Fuller. You pay us. We do not dislike the Republic per say but we do not hold by their rules, nor do we yield to the Jedi. She will be well taken care of here, as long as your payments are kept up to date.”

“I still have a year, right?” Kyn asked.

“Yes, you have prepaid for one standard year.”

“I’ll be back in half that time with another year.” Kyn said confidently.

“Very well,” the administrator smiled. “I understand if you are in a hurry to leave, Mr. Fuller. If you wish to say goodbye I can pull my team from the room for a moment. She seems to be in stable condition. The Rattataki did a decent job with her, considering what she had to work with.”

Kyn nodded and the administrator showed him to Zafii’s new private room. The team of Healer’s were still tending to her, hooking her up to more machines than Kyn could imagine.

“Flowers will be changed out daily,” the administrator said. “That will leave a nice scent for her to smell.”

“Can she still smell? And feel? And think?” Kyn asked.

The administrator smiled kindly, “Oh, I think so. I believe she can still hear you too, Mr. Fuller. If there is anything you would like to say.”

The administrator then motioned for his team to leave the room and he followed them out, leaving Kyn and Zafii alone.

“What have I done?” Kyn asked, walking to her side.

He cried as he saw the new feeding tube already inserted down her esophagus. He held her hand, it was more pale and thin than he had ever seen it.

“Kyra hates me and if you weren’t a Jedi, you would to.” Kyn said, wiping tears away with his free hand. “I deserve it. But you are going to live, Zafii. One day, I know you will wake up. One day.”

Kyn pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket.

“I didn’t spend all of my savings on that ship and this place,” Kyn admitted. “I used a little bit on this.”

Kyn opened the box and inside was a small golden ring, with a green stone set in it.

“The guy promised me it was a green crystal, the kind they use in lightsabers. Of course it is much smaller…” Kyn twirled the ring in his hand as he spoke. “I thought you might like that. It matches your eyes and your blade.”

Kyn walked over to a small set of drawers that were at her bedside. He opened up the top drawer and set the ring down inside. He then pulled off Zafii’s lightsaber hilt from his belt and set it next to the ring.

“Just in case you need to wake up and go save Kyra.” Kyn tried to laugh but cried more instead.

R7 had been sitting quietly in the room and Kyn had forgotten he was even there. Somehow the droid looked sad even though there was no way he could feel the emotion.

“Just so you know, Zafii. If it weren’t for R7 we would have never been able to save you.” Kyn said, walking back to her bed, taking her hand back into his own. “I hope to the Force that this is what you would have wanted me to do. I hope I did a good thing. I promise I will be back to see you.”

Kyn thought about kissing her hand but decided he didn’t deserve it. He tucked her hand back onto her chest and began to walk towards the door.

“Come on R7,” Kyn said.

The droid did not move.

“R7?” Kyn asked. “Do you want to come with me? It’s the least I can do. I’ll make sure to keep you powered up.”

R7 turned his domed head and looked at Kyn through the black marble that was his eye. His little head turned slightly back and forth.

“No?” Kyn asked.

R7 scooted over towards Zafii’s bed and took a defensive position.

Kyn smiled, “I wish I could stay too, buddy. I’ll see you too then, when I come back.”

R7 nodded his entire body to show Kyn that he understood. With that Kyn left Zafii’s room on Bakura, promising himself that he would see her again very soon.

 

Chapter 21

9 years later… (18 BBY)

Lieutenant-Colonel, Cole Fuller hadn’t seen his family in three years. He was so happy that he was able to get a few days leave so that he could attend his sister’s 22nd birthday. He was downright surprised when his Admiral had granted him the requested leave but he wasn’t going to ask any questions. They even gave him an Imperial ship to fly home with.

Tyon, Rayna, and Kyra no longer lived on Coruscant however. After the end of the Clone Wars and the downfall of the Republic, Tyon and Rayna took their savings of over ten years and moved to Alderaan. There were whispers that Alderaan was still friendly to those who supported the Republic and the defeated Jedi.

They lived in a quant cottage near the mountains. It was a nice change from the city-world that was Coruscant. Kyra had taken up art in her years at school on Corsucant and had become quite good at it.

Some days all she did was sit outside and paint the glorious mountains of Alderaan. Even though Cole was away on duty all the time and they had no knowledge of where Kyn was on a day to day basis, they were happy.

“That’s beautiful, sweetheart.” Tyon said, now standing behind Kyra as she painted in the pasture outside of their home.

“It’s coming along,” Kyra said humbly.

Tyon smiled and watched his daughter do what she loved for a long while that day.

Rayna and Tyon had asked her what she wanted to do for her 22nd birthday. All she wanted to do was paint. Paint and be at peace.

Today however, she was not painting the mountains or fields of Alderaan. Instead she had taken to a portrait.

“I think that’s how she would look today.” Kyra said, sadly.

“I think so,” Tyon nodded.

A ship zoomed overhead, it was Imperial class.

“That must be Cole.” Kyra said.

“I certainly hope so,” Tyon noted.

Indeed it was Cole. Rayna ran outside and hugged her oldest child before the other two had the chance. Soon they found themselves in a big family hug. It was as close to perfect of a birthday present as Kyra could hope for. The only thing that was missing was Kyn and Zafii.

The afternoon turned into dusk and the family sat inside for a dinner that was much too big for the four of them.

“It’s great that your home, Cole.” Kyra said.

“Yeah, home is where your family is at. Because if this is home, it’s funny that I’ve never even been on this planet before today.” Cole noted.

“It’s been three years. I thank the Force everyday that you survived that dreadful war.” Rayna chimed in.

“Let’s not talk about that now,” Tyon smiled. “We have precious little time with you. Any chance you might be starting a family of your own, Cole?”

“The dating prospects are kind of slim on a Star Destroyer.” Cole laughed.

“It will happen one day.” Rayna said, reassuringly.

The conversation continued as dinner wrapped up. Eventually Rayna surprised Kyra with a cake even though she had said previously she did not want one.

“I’m not a kid anymore.” Kyra smiled. “I didn’t need a cake.”

“Everyone gets a cake on their birthday!” Rayna scolded playfully.

There was a buzzing noise coming from Cole’s chrono.

“Blast it! I have to run out to the ship really fast. They are trying to get a hold of me.” Cole announced.

He put down his fork and ran outside to see what was going on.

“I suppose we should wait for him before we sing happy birthday.” Tyon mentioned.

“No… no singing.” Kyra buried her hands in her face.

“Yes, everyone gets a song too.” Rayna patted her on the back.

Several minutes passed while Cole was out at his ship checking on the urgent message. The three of them sat quietly not knowing what to say. After all it was only the three of them all the time. They had already heard everything the others had to say. The nearest neighbor seemed like they were a parsec away.

Then there was a knock at the front door.

“I know this doesn’t feel like home yet,” Tyon shouted, walking to the door. “But you don’t have to knock in this house, son.”

Tyon opened the door and the butt of a blaster rifle hit him in the forehead, knocking him unconscious. Rayna screamed as she witnessed this.

“Kyra, get out! Go to the back door!” Rayna yelled.

“I can help! I’ve been practicing the Force.” Kyra screamed.

“NO!” Rayna yelled, pointing.

“That’s her; she’s the one we’re looking for.” The lead storm trooper said.

Rayna charged at the five storm troopers who had entered the house. She lunged at them like a cheetah protecting her young. The storm troopers all fired upon her at once and sent stun bolts at her. All five stun bolts hit her simultaneously, knocking her out.

Kyra ran to the back of the small cottage and tried to open the back door. It was locked however and she began fumbling with it.

“No need to stun her.” The lead storm trooper told his men. “She’s the one he wants dead. Blast her!”

Kyra dove into the fresher to avoid the blaster bolts. She crawled into the corner of the small tub and hid her face as if she was trying to not witness her own death.

Snap-Hiss!

A green blade of light erupted from behind the storm troopers. The figure holding the weapon jumped in the air and somehow landed in front of them. The hallway was narrow and the doorway more so. How could anyone have jumped and fit through? Their blaster rifles were all cut in half with a single swipe. A few Force pushes later and only one storm trooper remained alive.

“Go back to your emperor. Tell him the girl is dead.” The voice commanded.

“I’ll go back to my emperor. Tell him the girl is dead.” The storm trooper stupidly repeated.

“Be gone.”

“I’ll be going now.” The storm trooper nodded.

Kyra rushed passed the mysterious figure, never looking at them. She found her mother first and checked her pulse. She was alive.

Tyon was in the midst of pushing himself to his feet. He saw Rayna on the ground and ran over to her.

“Rayna!” He cried.

“She’s alive, Dad.” Kyra assured him.

“What about Cole, what happened?” Tyon asked.

“He’s in his ship stunned… by these same troopers no less. They have been looking for Kyra,” the voice of the savior said, entering the room. “After raiding the Jedi Temple they knew who every registered Force sensitive person in the galaxy was. They tracked his ship to get to you.”

“Zafii!” Kyra squealed, jumping to her feet and hugging her. “I thought you were dead. All these years, I thought you were dead.”

“I would be if it wasn’t for Kyn. He saved me.”

“I’m going to go check on Cole.” Tyon announced.

“I’m here.” Cole said walking through the front door, his face red with anger. “Is anyone hurt?”

“Your mother, she’s unconscious.” Tyon said.

“I’ll go get my first aid supplies.” Cole said.

“No time. We need to get her and get off the planet immediately.” Zafii said. “We need to clean up the evidence that a light saber was used here.”

Tyon nodded and ran to pick up all the pieces of rifle that littered the ground.

“Cole, can I borrow your blaster?” Zafii asked.

Cole nodded and handed her a pistol. Without warning she shot each of the four dead troopers in a convenient kill spot. No one asked what she was doing. They all knew she was making it look like there had been a struggle and that only the one storm trooper escaped.

“Let me get the medical capsule in my ship for mom.” Cole said.

Zafii nodded and Cole ran to go fetch it. As Cole went back to his ship, Kyra and Tyon threw several articles of clothing and a few other possessions in a large suitcase.

When Cole returned, Zafii used the Force to levitate Rayna onto the medical capsule and to carry her safely to Cole’s ship. As they made their way outside, R7-Z3 came flying after Zafii. He was holding a small bag of Zafii’s things.

“R7, we are being tracked.” Zafii informed him.

R7 chimed and doodled and rolled up the ramp of the ship and Cole joined him in the cockpit. Cole sat down at a terminal and began to search for the computer code that was tracking the ship’s coordinates as R7 plugged-in. Meanwhile, Tyon and Kyra tended to Rayna while Zafii primed the ships engines.

When Rayna was resting comfortably, Kyra and Tyon joined everyone else in the cockpit.

“Zafii… how? You were in the coma and then the Jedi let you go?” Kyra asked.

“Not exactly… It’s true I have been in a coma for the last ten years. Apparently from what I was able to gather before I left to come here… Kyn kidnapped me from the Jedi Temple and paid for my extended hospitalization. Like I said, he saved my life. It was you in danger that I felt in my coma and I was able to wake up. I tried so many times to wake up but my body would never let me. Finally I pushed through the last barrier and here I am. I knew the self proclaimed emperor was looking for you. I think I’ve known for quite a while now. I felt your demise and our Force bond was what woke me up.” Zafii explained.

Kyra looked at her father. She had never forgiven Kyn for putting Zafii at risk which had led to her coma and what she thought for so many years… her death.

“I’ve never seen that ring before.” Kyra pointed to Zafii’s left hand.

“Kyn gave it to me; the stone is cut from a lightsaber crystal. He put the ring in a drawer next to my bed.” Zafii said.

“But… you were in a coma?” Kyra said, confused.

“Yes… I was.” Zafii nodded.

“Then how do you remember that?”

Zafii shrugged, “I just do.”

Kyra nodded and looked at Tyon and then Cole.

“If the Empire ever discovers that I’m not dead, then Kyn will be at risk.” Kyra announced.

“I agree and if I they find out I’m alive, we all will be.” Zafii said.

“Let’s go find Kyn, before the Empire does!”

Cole nodded and the ship lifted off Alderaan’s surface. He began to punch in some coordinates to get them to a safe spot for now. As they exited the atmosphere the hyperdrive computer informed Cole that the jump could be made anytime.

“May the Force be with us all.” Zafii said as R7 whistled and the ship jumped into hyperspace.


The End

 

So far I'm only through chapter 10, but I wanted to point out some of my favorite parts:

Chapter 4

This is a neat idea. Seems like the government could use it to take advantage of the refugees, but with Amidala in charge I am sure that won't happen.

Very interesting....

Wise words from Master Tine.



Chapter 9

I would like to have seen that as well!



Chapter 10

Not so wild, I think