Emerald Dawn

by SparkleAnne

It isn't easy being a beacon of the darkside of the force...especially when you're only 10 years old... This is the sequal to my story 'The Will of the Stars'

Emerald Dawn

Five children sat huddled around a space heater that was sprawled out in pieces on the floor in front of them, each trying to figure out how to re-assemble it so that it would provide them a little heat in the otherwise heat-less common room. Each child was bundled up in thermal wraps, but the coldness of the air on Hoth was unforgiving. These children lived in a colony of outcasts and rebels who were on the run from bounty hunters and Imperials that used the abandoned rebel base as their home. One of the children reached forward and took hold of a few of the smaller pieces of the space heater, and fit them together as if they were pieces to a puzzle. The other kids looked at her in amazement, as if she had performed some sort of miracle in front of them. She simply bit her lower lip and continued to assemble the heater, pausing only to swipe strands of her brown hair out of her eyes. As she concentrated on putting the heater together, the noise that the other children made around her did not distract her, as her emerald colored eyes stayed focused on the task at hand.

She was so absorbed in re-assembling the heater, that she didn't even sense that there was someone else that had approached the tiny group. The newcomer hovered at the door, not sure if she should call the girl out of her reverie. She studied the small exacting movements that the girl made with her fingers, making what seemed impossible, possible. The newcomer frowned as she watched her niece work, sad at the fact that the girl's mother was not around to see the mechanical genius that her daughter had become. The girl paused for a moment, and looked up to see her aunt standing there. A smile slowly crossed her face. The girl blinked, and her emerald colored eyes turned brown. The other children noticed this as well, but they didn't flinch or even question the change in their friend's appearance. Because they had grown up with the child, and though it wasn't quite normal, they were well used to it. They knew that this girl could change her appearance reflexively.

The girl's hands were covered in grease that had spilled from the gut of the heater, but she didn't seem to notice as her left hand freely swiped another strand of hair out of her eyes, leaving a smudge over her right side cheek. The girl's aunt immediately took a piece of cloth out of her pocket and wet it with her saliva, and then strode over to her niece and wiped the grease away from the girl's face, once again revealing the child's star-shaped birthmark. The girl blushed bright pink. She then pushed her aunt away, looking around at the other children, who were attempting to show a little respect and trying not to laugh. The girl's hair turned red, causing her aunt to briefly pause and look at the girl in sorrow.

Aidia watched as the Sith lay her sister's baby on the ground, and then turn away from the child. Aidia stepped forward and gathered the child in her arms despite the fact that the Sith had a blaster pointed straight at her. Evadne looked desperately at Aidia, the look in her eyes as she glanced at her child said a thousand things. Aidia shut her eyes tight so as to not let the stinging tears escape. She reopened them as the cries of the child in her arms broke through the howling of the wind that swirled around them. A fog had descended on them, and Aidia had to do all she could to keep Evadne and the Sith in her line of sight. She choked on the thickness of the air. Suddenly it was very cold. She looked down at the infant, whose face was red from crying. Aidia realized that she must have been holding the child too tightly, so she released her grip, but only slightly as she didn't want to lose this child… Her only link to her sister… Aidia glanced back up at her sister.

Evadne's red hair whipped around her face. There were a million questions and fear that raced through Aidia's mind. She didn't want to die, and she certainly wouldn't have wished to extinguish the new life that she held in her arms…but she didn't want to see her sister go… Tears blurred her vision as she kept her eyes trained on Evadne. With a flash of lightning Evadne was gone… The last thing she saw was a shimmer of her sister's red hair…

"Oh, Aidia," the girl's soft voice snapped her aunt out of her day-dream. "You're thinking about my mother, aren't you?" The girl stood up from where she had been sitting and hugged her aunt. Aidia let the girl hug her, but still, something about how the girl had looked almost like her mother, sent chills up Aidia's spine.

"Yes, Kemryi." Aidia's voice quivered at the thought of her dear sister. When her sister was taken away by the Sith, Aidia had sworn that she'd tell her niece, who was born only minutes before, all about her mother, and she did her best to keep that promise. Kemi half-smiled, and then turned towards the other children, holding out the now repaired space heater.

"Here. That should do it. Ryma, go plug it in to see if it works." Kemi said. The girl called Ryma stood up and stepped forward to take the heater out of Kemi's hands, and the other children sat around, waiting to see if it worked. As Ryma plugged it in, heat filled the room, and Kemi let out the breath she had been holding in a huge sigh. She had been hoping against hope that it would work correctly and not blow up, as her latest project had done when she attempted to add power to it. Her thoughts wandered to that project, and she wondered if Aidia had found the scorched pieces of old appliances laying hidden under her bed. Kemi turned to look back up at Aidia, and the look on her aunt's face told her that she had indeed found the burnt experiment. Aidia pulled her niece aside.

"Listen, Kemryi, I don't care if you wish to build or fix things, but I do care that you take the initiative to properly dispose of them if you need to." Aidia said. "Now, come, we need to talk." Kemi looked at her aunt to tell if she was being serious or not, but when she saw the look of sadness on her face, she knew that she shouldn't hesitate. She quickly nodded to her friends and followed her aunt down one of the ice corridors of the re-built abandoned rebel base that they called home. "Kemi, I'm scared about these dreams that you have been having lately…" She watched Kemi's eyes flash fear. The girl glanced downward at her feet. When she looked back up, the look of fear was gone.

"Aidia, they're nothing…really." Ten-year-old Kemryi told her aunt. Her fingers reflexively grasped the star shaped charm that hung around her neck as a remembrance of her mother. Aidia noticed this and frowned.

"Give me that necklace. I've told you a million times that it's dangerous to have anything that belonged to your mother. It could lead him right to you." Aidia said. Kemi defensively tightened her grasp on the charm so that it cut into her hand, drawing blood. Kemi did not flinch at the sight of her blood streaked hand as Aidia attempted to pry the necklace out of the girl's grasp. "If that Sith comes here looking for us, you will be putting not only us in danger, but all of the other families that live here as well. Do you wish to do that?" Aidia said. Kemi rolled her eyes. She just wanted to get off this planet…

Kemi slowly released her grip on the charm and sadly let Aidia unclasp the necklace and take it away from her. "It's not fair, Aidia." Tears filled Kemi's eyes and threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. "It's just not fair." Aidia reached forward to hug her niece, but the girl shied away from the display of affection.

"Tell me about your dreams Kemi." She spoke softly so as to comfort the child. Kemi shrugged off her aunt's attempts to comfort her, and shook her head, frowning.

"I told you already that it's no big deal." Kemi whispered. She looked down at her bloody hand. "I'm going to the med-bay." She said as she walked past her aunt and down a long corridor. On the way, she passed her friend Tyne. She saw that he was crying, so she stopped to see what was the matter. "Tyne, why do you look so sad?" She said as she took a handkerchief out of the chest pocket of her thermal suit and offered it to the boy.

"They've found us." Tyne's voice was eerily low and soft. Kemi's eyes flashed a look of horror.

"Who has found us?" She asked, not even wanting to hear the answer. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. She knelt down by her friend, and put her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. She knew that this could only mean one thing… That they would have to leave the only place that many of them knew as home, or risk death or imprisonment.

"The remnants of the Empire. There was a probe droid spotted just north of here, and an Imperial cruiser is hovering just above the planet." Tyne frowned. "I hear that the Jedi on Yavin 4 will be sending a transport ship to pick us up." Mixed feelings flooded Kemi's mind. She didn't know if she should be happy to be getting off of Hoth and going to the planet of her birth, or if she should be scared that their lives were in danger. She studied her friend's sorrowful expression. "They will be here shortly, you'd better go pack."

Kemi looked at him questioningly, not sure if she really wanted to take the next step towards something so uncertain. Of course her friends and the rest of the small community would be there to support her, but something just didn't seem right. She was scared. She had wanted to leave a few moments ago, but now that it was no longer a choice, she was terrified. Kemi detoured from her path to the med-bay and headed towards her room, where her aunt met her with her suitcase in hand.

"I assume that you know." Aidia said as she handed her niece the suitcase. "We will live on Yavin 4 for awhile under the protection of the Jedi until a new location can be secured for us."

"How did they find out?" Kemi said. She took the suitcase and popped it open. She then took all of her clothing and stuffed them into it. She noticed the necklace with the star-shaped charm that her aunt had just taken from her sitting on the dresser drawer. She swiped it and stuffed it into her pocket. For some reason, she thought that it was something very important that would lead her to find her mother.

"All we know is that there was a probe droid that we intercepted, but it had already sent its collected data to the Imperials. It was too late…" Aidia said.

"Who were they looking for?" Kemi asked.

"We aren't sure, but finding one of us means that we are all in danger since we are all in hiding." Aidia reached forward and shut Kemi's suitcase. "That's all that we have time to pack. Come on, let's go. They have already prepared the land speeders to take us to the transport ship."

Kemi sighed as she glanced around her room for the last time. She felt a little sick. This was the only place she had known, and now, she was being taken from it. The whole community was being forced to flee for their lives. Aidia nodded sorrowfully at her niece and then started walking down the nearest corridor that would take her to the place where they had docked the land speeders. She hoped that it wouldn't be too cold to use them. Kemi picked up her suitcase and followed her aunt, and the two were joined by the others as they walked down the long frozen tunnel to the docking bay. Kemi bit her lower lip and tried to pretend that she wasn't scared.

When they reached the loading dock, Tyne's father took their suitcases and tossed them onto the nearest land speeder. Kemi then walked towards the land speeder that the other children were in, and took her seat in between Ryma and Tyne.

"So what's next?" Kemi asked the other children. "Will we stay together, or will everyone be separated?" Kemi frowned at the thought. She really hadn't ever done anything without the others being there. She didn't ever think that anything would ever be any different than what she had grown up with. She didn't think that it would ever change, and now here she was staring down the barrel of change. She gulped and swallowed. Her stomach threatened to knot.

"My father says that we will be moving to Endor." Ryma said matter-of-factly. "My father has been studying the forest moon for a long time, and he says that it's about time that we up and moved." Ryma frowned when she studied the look on Kemi's face. She scooted closer to her friend. "I'm sure that everything will turn out okay for you, Kemi." Ryma put a comforting arm around her friend. "We are all on the run, and this day would have come sooner or later. Think about it; there's no way that we could have all stayed hidden together for longer than we did." Kemi nodded. They had certainly been together for a long time; at least ten years.

"Yeah, Kemi, it won't be so bad. We'll get to expand our horizons." Tyne smiled at Kemi and playfully swatted at Kemi's red hair. "Think about it. We'll be living for a few days on Yavin 4; the home of the Jedi Academy. Maybe they'll let us watch the Jedi in training." Tyne stood up and pretended that he held a lightsaber. He then had a mock-duel with an invisible enemy. Kemi rolled her eyes.

"That's not such a great idea, Tyne. We wouldn't want you to get any ideas. You're no Jedi. You might hurt yourself." Ryma laughed. Kemi couldn't help but crack a smile. Tyne flushed bright pink, and sat down.

"I don't know much about the Jedi Knights. My aunt seems to get uptight whenever they are mentioned." Kemi said. "I don't understand. I think that my aunt is hiding something from me, and I mean to find out what it is." Kemi turned around and looked towards the land speeder that her aunt had boarded. "I think that the Jedi may have known my mother. I mean to ask when we get there. Do you think that the driver of the transport will be one of the Jedi?" Kemi asked as she turned back to look at Ryma.

"There's a good possibility of it, Kemi." Ryma said. "Only one way to find out. Ask when we board."

Kemi swatted playfully at Ryma. "I could never do that! I'd get so tongue-tied." Kemi said as she folded her hands in her lap and wondered when they were going to start moving. As if answering the girl's unspoken prompt, the land speeder began to move, picking up speed as it left the dock. All of the children pulled their head gear over their faces so as to not catch frost bite. Kemi turned away from the other children and looked back towards the other land speeder that carried their parents and their belongings. She frowned as the rebel base slowly went out of sight as they moved away from it and towards the unknown. She had to shield her eyes from the reflection of the sun as it glared off of the snow-covered ground. She closed her eyes and tried to reflect on anything but what was happening. She just didn't want to think about it.

"Are you okay Kemi? You seem distant." Ryma's voice snapped Kemi out of her daydream. Kemi opened her eyes and turned to look at Ryma. The girl's cheeks were red and tear streaked.

"What's wrong Ryma?" Kemi asked. She put her arm around Ryma and leaned forward to listen to what Ryma would say.

"I'm scared Kemi. Nobody knows who these Imperials are after. What if it's my Dad and I? I wish that they'd just get off our backs. It wasn't my Dad's fault that he had to drop his cargo when he ran into trouble. He would have died if he hadn't. But the Imperials don't care; they'll sick bounty hunters on you any chance they get." Ryma explained.

The speeder slowed down as it came upon the transport ship. Kemi looked at the towering ship and frowned. She hadn't space traveled since she was an infant, and wasn't so keen on the idea of doing so now. She sighed and unbuckled herself. "I don't think that the Imperials are after anyone specifically. The last time I checked, we're all on the top priority list of people they'd like to see dead." Kemi said. Kemi stood up and followed as the other children filed out of the speeder. Kemi drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes… A flash of bright orange and yellow burned in her mind's eye, and her eyes immediately snapped open and grew wide as she looked in horror towards the speeder that the adults were riding in. She let out her breath as the other speeder started to slow to a stop near the speeder that they had just exited. Kemi grabbed hold of Ryma's arm and both girls started to walk towards the other speeder.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the land beneath their feet. Kemi dove to the ground, dragging Ryma down with her as a shower of debris from the obliterated speeder came down around them. Kemi covered her head and a few other smaller explosions went off around them. She hazarded lifting her head for a glance at the transfer ship. Tyne stood at its hull, staring at the space where the other speeder had just been a few minutes ago. His mouth was gaping open, as he stared in disbelief. Someone from inside the transfer ship had come out and lead Tyne into the ship.

"Hey, come on." A girl's voice came from above where Kemi and Ryma lay on the ground. Kemi glanced up at the girl. She had on an orange suit, and had brown flowing hair and eyes the color of Corellian brandy. Tears clouded Kemi's vision as she looked back at the speeder. As if the girl could read Kemi's thoughts, she spoke up. "It's too late for them. It looks as if there was a thermal detonator in that speeder. All in it are dead. Come on, we have no time. We need to move quickly and get out of here now." The girl stepped forward and held out her hands, one to Kemi and one to Ryma. Kemi took the hand offered and the girl helped her to stand up. Both Kemi and the girl then pulled Ryma to her feet. Ryma was still in a state of shock, so the two of them dragged her into the ship.

"Fasten your crash webbing, all of you. We're going to have to rocket out of here. Those Imperials aren't going to let up." The girl said as she went to shut the door. "Is this all of you?" Kemi looked around; all of the other children were on board. She frowned and hid her eyes in her hands as she began to silently sob. She didn't even get to go back to see if anyone had survived the explosion before the transfer ship rose above the ground commotion and shot into space. Everything seemed to have happened so fast.

When Kemi lifted her head from her hands, she noticed that the new girl was staring at her. Kemi wiped some of the tears from her eyes. She stared into the girl's eyes and saw herself in their reflection. The girl held her gaze, her eyes transfixed on Kemi's. Kemi broke the gaze and looked down at her arm, which had accumulated black ashes from the explosion. She brushed off what she could and then extended her hand to the girl.

"My name is Kemryi Darkstarr, but everyone calls me Kemi." Kemi said. The girl took her hand and shook it. Kemi took out the necklace that was her mother's that she had slipped into her pocket earlier, and put it on, carefully tucking the star-shaped charm under her ragged shirt.

"Nice to meet you Kemi. My name is Jaina Solo." The girl said. She then wiped the ashes that had transferred from Kemi's hand to her own on her orange Academy suit. She then turned to the other children. "You will all stay on Yavin 4 until we can contact any other family members that you may have." The kids' faces brightened a little despite the fact that they had all lost their primary care-takers. Kemi just frowned. She wondered where she would go. Her aunt was now supposedly dead, and she had no clue where her mother was.

"What about poor Kemryi? She has no family." One of the other children spoke up. Kemi looked away. She suddenly wanted to fade into the background. She wished she had the power to disappear. She didn't want to see Jaina's reaction to that statement, so she turned to watch the man who was piloting the ship. His blonde brows were furrowed in concentration as he maneuvered the ship out of Hoth's airspace. As if he knew that the Imperials would try to contact him, he reached for the comlink before it buzzed. This caught Kemi off guard at first until she remembered that the rescue ship was from the Jedi Academy.

The comlink buzzed to life. A female's voice came on. "Unidentified freighter, you are in illegal airspace. Prepare for boarding, or you will be shot down." Kemi's eyes widened at what she heard, but the blonde headed man didn't even flinch.

"We are only flying through." The man spoke into the comlink. "There will be no trouble." He explained.

"Repeat, we will shoot you down if you don't prepare for boarding." The thick-toned female voice on the other side of the comlink chimed in again. Kemi suddenly didn't feel so well.

"There is no need to board this ship. The ship is marked with an Imperial insignia. It is one of your ships." The man said. Kemi held her breath.

"Sorry for the inconvenience. We mistook you for another ship. We see your Imperial insignia. It will not happen again." The female voice said. Kemi let out her breath and unbuckled her crash webbing. She then slowly moved to the copilot's seat and sat down. The man looked over at her and winked, and then turned back to pressing buttons and pulling levers to get the ship away from the planet and on its destination route. Kemi looked out the forward viewport at the Imperial cruiser that hovered to their direct port side. Another ship appeared to the star-board side.

Kemi's grip tightened on the chair that she sat in. "Watch out! There's another ship on the other side!" Kemi spoke up. The man nodded and then turned towards Kemi.

"They won't bother us." The man said. "If you don't mind, I'd be better able to concentrate if you were not in the cockpit at this moment. When we get clear of all of these ships, I'd be delighted to call you back up here, Kemryi."

Kemi's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe that this man knew her name. She let her mind wander to try to figure out how this man knew her name. When she drew a blank, she quietly slipped out of the copilot's seat and back towards where the others sat. Ryma looked up at Kemi as she came and sat back down where she had sat only moments before.

"Don't take what Corla said to heart." Ryma said. "You know that deep down she really is as scared as all of us. Nobody knows if she has any surviving family either." Ryma folded her hands on her lap. "What did you talk to Luke Skywalker about?" When Kemi looked at her questioningly, Ryma explained that Jaina had told them that the Jedi Master was piloting the ship.

"I didn't know that I was talking to Master Skywalker." Kemi said absentmindedly. "I was only up there pointing out the fact that we are surrounded by Imperial cruisers." Ryma raised her eyebrows.

"What are we going to do?" Ryma asked.

"I think that it's been taken care of. Master Skywalker used some sort of mind trick on the Imperial that came over the comlink. I think that they'll leave us alone." Kemi said.

"You got to speak with Master Skywalker?" Tyne chimed in. It seemed as if he had been half-listening to their conversation since Kemi came back. "Did he have his lightsaber?"

"I didn't really notice, Tyne. There were much more important things to be minding than whether or not he had his lightsaber. You know, such as we were about ready to be shot down." Kemi said. She looked towards where Jaina had taken a seat between Corla and Jordan. The three of them seemed to be absorbed in conversation. Kemi sighed. She peeled off her thermal jacket and placed it in the chair behind her.

"Kemryi, it's okay to come back up here. There's something that I'd like you to know before we get to Yavin 4." Luke's voice came from the cockpit. Kemi looked at both Tyne and Ryma before she stood up to go back to the cockpit. Both children smiled at Kemi to encourage her to move forward. Kemi walked back to the cockpit and seated herself in the copilot's chair, and then looked at Luke expectantly. She wondered what he was going to tell her. She hoped that it had something to do with her mother.

"Good day Master Skywalker." Kemi said when she felt comfortable enough to break the silence that had covered her like a blanket. Luke nodded at her in greeting.

"I sensed that you wondered how I knew your name. You are correct to think that I will tell you something about your mother. She spent some time with us on Yavin 4 as she was searching for her sister and her identity." Luke said. He paused for a brief moment to read the plethora of thoughts, questions, and concerns that flooded Kemi's mind. "She was a beautiful young lady, part of the royal family of Bespin. When she came to Yavin 4, she was pregnant with you. She had told me that your father died in a fire that wiped out a whole village of Jedi. His name, I believe, was Rhannon Darkstarr."

Kemi nodded. Her aunt had told her some of this story. "Did you know my father?" Kemi asked. Her aunt really couldn't answer any questions that she had had about her father. She frowned when Luke nodded a negative.

"I hardly knew your mother. She and your aunt Aidia are a bit of a mystery to me. While they were with us at the Academy, I learned that the girls were supposedly sent into hiding because their father wanted to kill them like he did their mother. The ship that your mother was on crashed on Corellia. The ship that your Aunt Aidia was on made it to Kashyyyk, though she was a prisoner of the Empire for awhile."

"What happened to my mother? Why did she leave me?" Kemi blurted out. When she realized that she sounded a bit impatient, she apologized.

"No need to apologize. I thought that your aunt would have told you." Luke said. "Well, your grandfather kidnapped your mother. She actually willingly went with him to save both you and your aunt's lives. This means that she willingly took a step towards the dark side of the Force." Luke paused a moment to draw in a breath.

"Is she still alive? I have been having dreams about her since I was very little, so I think that she is." Kemi said.

"As far as I know, she may be alive. Which leads me to the next topic. There is someone at the Academy that you need to meet." Luke said. He watched Kemi's face light up. "It's not your mother."

"Oh…" Kemi frowned. She had hoped that they had found her mother. "Who is it then?" She didn't know of anyone else that would have wanted to see her.

"You'll see." Luke said. He watched Kemi flash him a puzzled look. He sensed that she wasn't very keen on surprises. "We're almost there right now." Kemi looked through the viewport. She had been so distracted by talking to Luke Skywalker and the others, that she failed to realize that they were indeed moving towards Yavin 4. She frowned at the thought. She felt so stupid, but dismissed the thought when she saw Yavin 4 looming in the viewport. Luke picked up the comlink and contacted planetary defense. Soon they were cleared to land.

When the ship set down, everyone exited. There was a small party that came to greet them. Kemi stood by Luke, ready to meet whoever it was that Luke wanted to her to meet. In the party that had come to greet them, was a woman, and a boy and girl. The boy's facial features were like those of Jaina's. Kemi caught his eye, and he smiled at her and extended his hand. "Hello. My name is Jacen Solo. You must be Kemryi Darkstarr." Kemi wondered how he knew her name. He put his hand to her cheek, cupping it. "Girl, I know your name because you have the mark of the royal family of Bespin. The Empress's Star." Jacen said. Kemi was shocked that Jacen had seemed to be able to read her thoughts. "Uncle Luke told us about your mother. She did a brave thing." Jacen then took hold of Kemi's hand and started to drag her away from the group. Kemi looked back at Luke to see if it was okay for her to go with Jacen, and he nodded an affirmative.

"Go ahead and go with Jacen. The person that I wanted you to meet isn't out here." Luke said. He then took Jacen aside. "Go find Kiya. I told her to be out here, but obviously she had something more important to do."

"She might be in the temple." Jacen said. He then smiled at Luke and turned back towards Kemi. "So, do you go by Kemryi, or do people call you differently?"

"People call me Kemi."

"Okay, Kemi. This person that Uncle Luke wants you to meet is Kiya." Jacen said. "We think that she may be related to you." Kemi was shocked. She didn't know anything about any other relatives that she might have. "Now, as we are looking for her, there are lots of things that you need to know about her. Uncle Luke discovered her among the Jawas of Tatooine. She has the Empress's Star on her cheek. That's why we think that she's a relative of yours. The only problem is that she doesn't remember anything about her past."

Kemi frowned. "Does she know where my mother is?" Kemi asked. She wasn't sure if she should be excited about meeting this supposed relative or not. All that she really had wanted to accomplish was finding her mother. Kemi followed Jacen as he headed toward a massive stone structure that was covered partially in moss and vines. Jacen walked on as if he hadn't heard Kemi's question. Kemi made note of this wondering if there was something that he was purposely not telling her.

"Stay out here and I'll go see if Kiya's in there." Jacen said as he slipped into the temple, ignoring Kemi's question. Kemi opened her mouth to protest being left alone, but closed it when she noted that the Ryma and the others were headed in her direction. Tyne came up beside Kemi and took a seat on one of the steps of the pyramid-like temple. Ryma stood quietly beside Tyne.

"What's going on Kemi?" Tyne asked. Kemi frowned and wished that the look on her face hadn't betrayed her feelings of confusion. Her thoughts wandered to her mother, who was missing in action. Though she had not really seen her mother in her life, she had continued to have dreams about the woman, and she wondered if her mother ever had dreams of her. Her thoughts then centered on her aunt. Kemi fought back the tears that had begun to glisten in her eyes. She hadn't even had the chance to go back to see if her aunt had survived. But, somehow, Kemi knew in her heart that she'd never see Aidia again. She was very grateful for what her aunt had done for her. Kemi had known most of her life that Aidia could have abandoned her as an infant, but instead had chosen to rear her as her own. That made Kemi's heart ache even more.

"I don't want to talk about it." Kemi looked away and towards the setting sun. The sky was splotched with misty tints of pinks and purples. Kemi had never seen anything so mystical. She closed her eyes, letting her mind wander back through the past…

"Aidia, what makes the sky turn different colors?" Six-year-old Kemi asked as she sat alongside her aunt near their thermal camp. The two of them had decided to take a mini-vacation of sorts, and had wandered about a half mile north of their encampment in the rebel base. Aidia knew that they shouldn't wander more than a half mile because that was the farthest that they could go and still see the rebel base. She feared that if they wandered out of direct sight, something horrible could happen to them. Not only were there ice creatures and avalanches to worry about, there was the ever-present fear of being discovered. Even at the age of six, Kemi had sensed the fear in her aunt's mind. It hung like a choking thickness in the air, and it frightened Kemi.

"When the sun goes down, it makes the sky turn different colors." Aidia answered absent-mindedly. She had grown quite used to Kemi's questions, and wondered when she'd have to explain some of the bigger questions that she knew the child would ask sooner or later. Aidia scanned the horizon with her macrobinoculars, looking for any sort of trouble. Finding nothing to concern her, she looked down at her niece, who was looking up wide-eyed at the sky. The child's mouth was pursed in a circle, as if she was voicing a silent oooh. The setting sun had painted the sky shades of vibrant violet, orange, and pink. Aidia could feel the sense of wonder and excitement emanating from the child's being. She had always loved the expression in her niece's eyes. Aidia saw the galaxy in the child's eyes…and Kemi somehow sensed that…

Tyne crept up closer to her and beckoned for her to sit down as well. Kemi remained standing, a bit on the defensive. Her eyes flashed a shade of purple that was present in the setting sun. She swallowed as a thought crossed her mind that she was being uncharacteristically judgmental. She knew that Tyne was only trying to be of some comfort, like he had been all of her time on Hoth. She just felt uncharacteristically on edge.

"I know that something is bothering you, Kemi. I can see it in your eyes. Will you tell me what's wrong?" Tyne moved a little closer, invading her personal space. Kemi stepped back a little, not sure why she suddenly had the urge to run. She had an overwhelming sense that she needed to be alone for awhile. She looked around the temple and noted that a dense jungle surrounded it. "Kemi?" Tyne's voice seemed to quiver with concern. For some reason, it sickened Kemi. She had to get away…

"I need to be alone." Kemi didn't give Tyne a chance to ask any more questions before she bolted into the jungle. She didn't look back to see if Tyne or Ryma were following. She ran until the sounds of their shouting grew faint, and then stopped to look around. Trees and shrubbery cast shadows about her, and moss blanketed the forest floor. She found a decaying tree stump on which to sit. She needed some time to think things out…to figure out how she was going to get off of this planet and on her way to finding out the location of her mother.

Darkness was starting to reach forth over the forest. Kemi shivered and suddenly wished that she had thought twice before running. The sounds of shouting had long since subsided and she wondered if everyone had forgotten about her. She bit her lip. There was no way that she was going to go back and face the questions that she knew would come. She wondered what everyone would think of her. This was so unlike her… She frowned as she looked at her torn shirt which was barely enough to keep the coldness that she was now feeling out. She suddenly wished that she hadn't left her thermal jacket in the ship. She stood up from her seat on the tree stump, and started to run in place to keep the chills out.

There was a rustling in the bushes behind Kemi, and she spun around to face whatever monstrosity would come out, ready to bolt if she sensed any danger. The first thing that Kemi saw was a flash of red. She didn't know what to make of it, so she stood still and drew in her breath. Kemi saw a hand reach forth out of the bushes to clear away the path through which a young girl stepped. The girl paused when she saw Kemi, a mixed look of confusion and terror crossed her eyes. Kemi stood still, not sure how to react to this person. The flash of red that Kemi had seen had been the girl's fiery-red hair, which on inspection Kemi noted was braided into about fifty braids that hung tightly around the child's head, framing her chubby cherubic face.

Somehow the girl looked vaguely familiar. The girl didn't advert her emerald colored eyes as she sized up Kemi. Kemi held her gaze, not sure if the slightest move would frighten the nymph-like girl that stood before her. As Kemi studied the girl's face, she noticed that it was marked with the Empress's Star. Her hand reflexively touched the star on her own face. The girl also seemed to notice this because she took a step towards Kemi.

"Who are you?" The girl spoke up. Her voice was soft, not quite silvery as Kemi had expected, but somehow it seemed to fit. She walked a circle around Kemi. Kemi didn't think that the girl could be any older than six-years-old. She remained silent, as the girl picked up a stick from the ground and held it at arm's length. "Bantha got your tongue?" The girl spat out and then dropped the stick. "Afraid I was gonna hurt you with that stick?" Kemi raised an eyebrow and covered her mouth, too afraid that she'd offend the nymph-girl by laughing.

"Settle down a little, okay?" Kemi said as she took a step backwards to show that she meant no harm. "My name is Kemi Darkstarr." The girl seemed indifferent to the name…not that Kemi thought it would be any different. Kemi extended her hand towards the girl, hoping that the girl would trust her enough to know that she meant no harm. The girl stared blankly at Kemi's hand, and somehow Kemi could sense the hesitation in the girl's mind. After a few minutes of staring at Kemi's extended hand, the girl stepped forward and took hold of it. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Kemi said.

"Came to be alone." The girl said. It sounded shockingly familiar to Kemi.

"I guess that you'd be Kiya." Kemi said. The girl tensed a little, but then seemed to calm down a bit. The tight grasp that she had had on Kemi's hand loosened a bit, as if she was ready to run off at any sign of danger.

"You must be one of the Jedi students." The girl said, not quite as taken aback as she had been only a second earlier. Kemi thought that the girl was very intelligent for her age.

"I'm no Jedi, but my parents were." Kemi said. "In fact, for a second, you kind of reminded me of my mother." Kemi took a few steps, and the girl walked with her, not seeming to want to let go of her hand. "Err… You reminded me of images that I've had of her in my dreams. You see, I never really knew her. She was kidnapped only minutes after my birth." Kemi stated when she got an odd glance from the child, as if there was finally something that the child did not comprehend. She frowned. She had just admitted something that had haunted her for her whole life to a complete stranger as far as she was concerned. "Hey, let's get back to the temple. I'm sure that they will have dinner on the table about now." Kiya nodded in agreement, and as if her stomach had overheard the comment, it rumbled. Kiya blushed and put her free hand on her tummy, patting it.

Suddenly there was a rustling in a bush about twenty feet from where the two girls stood. Both children froze, not sure what to do. They listened quietly, hoping that whatever it was would go away. Both girls looked at each other, both sharing a common thought…run! Suddenly a droid emerged from the bushes. Before the children could run, the droid had its blaster trained on them.

"Ah! Two for one." The bounty hunter droid's menacing mechanical voice emanated from its voice grill. The droid's memory register clicked and whirred as it recognized the girl that stood beside Kemi. "I shall personally delight in escorting you back to your makers, KY 145." Kiya squirmed when she heard this. Kemi was confused. "And you…" the droid pointed the end of its blaster towards Kemi. A flash of light came forth from the droid's humanoid body, causing Kemi to shield her eyes with her hand. Her eyes had become custom to the darkness of night, and the brightness of the beam temporarily blinded her. The beam of light bounced off of Kemi's face and the droid used the reflection of the light rays to profile the child. Its blaster stayed trained on both girls as the droid checked its database of possible identities.

"The infamous Darkstarr child. You have had a high price on your head since you were born. I almost had you at Hoth, but you slipped from my net. We'll see if you will live up to your destiny." Kemi swallowed. She didn't know what the droid was referring to, but she knew that she was in trouble. She swallowed again when the full realization that it was she who the bounty hunter was after on Hoth came to mind. It was she who had betrayed the location of the hidden colony. Her eyes darted around her surroundings, looking for any possible way of escape, but all she could see was the droid that loomed in front of them. Think…think… She had to get them out of this mess. For some reason, she couldn't bring any bright ideas to mind… Her stomach knotted.

Luke had been standing at the front of the amphitheater, addressing the Jedi students that stood in front of him concerning one of the children who had come to Yavin 4 from Hoth when something in the Force seized his mind. Some of the other students perceived a feeling of sheer terror that seemed to echo through the Force.

Jaina looked over at her brother and then back at her uncle. "I have a bad feeling about this. I think that Kemi might be in trouble."

"It's just like Uncle Luke said. He thinks that Kemi is like a beacon to the dark side of the Force. Wherever she goes she'll be hunted, and her presence in the Force will give away her location." Jacen said. "Wow! I'd hate to have that reputation." They looked at the other students, some of them were rushing from their seats towards Luke Skywalker, while others sat on the benches, not quite certain as to what was going on.

"Let's go find her." Jaina said. "I think that Kiya might be out there with her." The twins stood up and ran from the amphitheater. "Let's take speeder bikes." Jaina patted her lightsaber reflexively, just to make sure that it was still clipped to her belt.

"I'll meet you at the speeder dock. I need to get my saber." Jacen said as he took the tunnel that led to the sleeping quarters. As Jacen reached his room, he immediately stepped over a few animal cages to get to the place where he kept his saber. He noticed the mental stirrings of the many creatures that were housed in his room. "I'll be back to feed you guys in a little bit." Jacen said as he grabbed the lightsaber and raced back out of his room, being careful to shut the door as to not let any stray pets out. When he reached the speeder dock, he saw Jaina tinkering with the controls on her bike.

"I've run the pre-run check on the bikes, so let's get clear of here. Check your brakes one more time just in case." Jaina said as she revved the engine on hers. She flipped a few switches on the bike, and checked the braking-system to make sure that it was up to par. Jaina waited as Jacen jumped onto his bike, did the last-minute check, and both sped out of there. As they traveled through the jungle, Jacen following Jaina's lead as she used the Force to guide them, Jacen couldn't help but wonder what type of trouble that they were about to come up against. His thoughts centered on Kemi. When he had returned from inside the Temple to find that she had run, he figured that she had done so because of the sudden changes that she had to face. In similar circumstances, he probably would have wanted to be left alone as well, so he hadn't thought to follow her. Now that he sensed that she was in danger, he frowned at the thought that he could have prevented it if he had followed her. Or at least he could have been there with her to protect her…

Kemi stepped backwards, and pulled Kiya behind her so as to shield the girl from the line of fire. The droid kept its blaster trained on the girls, and set it to stun. "You cannot escape this time, child." The droid spoke up. The droid swiveled its arm extension while calculating a possible shot. Kiya screamed out and fell to the ground behind Kemi. Kemi turned for a split second to catch a glimpse of the girl as she fell, then she turned back towards the droid. A flash of anger coursed through her veins as she clenched her fists, ready to do some damage. Her eyes narrowed. Then the anger subsided, replaced by concern as she turned back towards Kiya.

"Please let me attend to her." Kemi pleaded as she looked desperately at the motionless girl. She frowned because as she looked at the droid, she noted that it did not appear to be equipped with any emotion registers. The droid moved forward and grabbed Kemi by the arm. Pain shot up her arm. When she recovered from the shock of the pain, Kemi tried to wriggle loose, but it was no use. "Let me go!" She screamed out, hoping that someone would overhear and come to her rescue. The droid twisted her arm to keep her from protesting even more. Kemi grimaced with the pain that it caused.

"That is impossible." The droid said. "Do not attempt to get away, or I will be forced to hurt you, reward or not. They want you alive. That doesn't mean that I cannot torture you." The droid released its painful grip on Kemi's arm, and she rubbed her raw skin. It pushed her forward towards the bushes from which it had first emerged. Behind the tall shrubbery was a small cargo ship. A light from the ship illuminated the space around it, as far as Kemi could see. This could be a good thing…she thought. If anyone came looking for them, they would have no trouble spotting the ship. A bleep from the droid opened the doorway to the cargo hold of the ship. "Get in." Kemi slowly walked into the ship, hoping to buy herself some more time if she went slowly. Another droid emerged from the ship and rolled past them. It returned a moment later carrying Kiya. The droid wheeled itself up the ramp past Kemi, and out of her sight. It later re-emerged and took its place behind Kemi, pushing her further up the ramp. Kemi closed her eyes, and tried to pretend that she was elsewhere… She wondered what was going to happen to both herself and Kiya. She searched her mind, still trying to figure a way to escape. Having Kiya unconscious was not going to be a big help. She wondered how she was going to move Kiya without drawing too much attention to herself. Like she hadn't done so already… She balled her fists and then relaxed them. There had to be some way out of this…

The wind started to blow, and Kemi took a deep breath. It seemed as if this would be the last time that she would get to breathe in the crisp fresh air of the Yavin 4 jungle. The wind whipped her red hair into her face. She spat it out when it got into her mouth. The ship's hull was illuminated with light that was pouring from the head of the droid behind her. As she walked towards the inside of the ship, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the shiny hull of the ship. She stood frozen in place as she watched as her hair turned raven-black and her eyes changed to a shade of emerald green. The droid behind her emitted a garbled sounding beep, and pushed past her as if it didn't recognize her. Suddenly it came to her…if the smaller droid failed to recognize her, then maybe she could get away. She looked down towards the ground and noticed that there was oil leaking down the ramp. She stooped down and put her fingers in the grimy black liquid and smeared it onto her face, covering her star-shaped birthmark. She knew that there was no way that the bounty hunter would leave without its bounty, so she figured that if she could get away, she could tell the others about the bounty hunter and then they could rescue Kiya. She smiled at the thought of her little plan.

She jumped down off of the ramp, and looked around for the bounty hunter. When she didn't see it, she panicked. She figured that with her luck, the droid was probably watching her and would guess her little plan before she'd get a chance to execute it. She crept over to the shrubbery beside the port side of the ship, keeping herself low to the ground so that she wouldn't be spotted. She really didn't want to leave Kiya inside that ship, but she didn't see what other choice she had. She turned towards what she thought was the way back to the temple and then got up to run. The light that had been so generously supplied by the little droid and the ship's interior blinked out, leaving Kemi in complete and utter darkness. She paused as her eyes attempted to adjust to the blackness.

As Jacen and Jaina came upon the scene, sirens began to wail, and both of them heard shots being fired…. Jaina slowed her bike to a stop, and sat to listen. Over the purr of both bikes, she could hear the throbbing sound of an engine nearby. She then turned to Jacen and grinned. "There's a ship nearby. Sounds like it's equipped with a twin-engine, possibly a cargo freighter."

"A ship? How did it get past planetary defense?" Jacen asked as he watched a strange-looking insect crawl on top of the tip of his shoe. The glowing insect changed to the color of his shoe. It would have blended in almost perfectly had it not been glowing. Jacen killed the engine to his bike and slowly climbed down off of the bike, being careful not to squash the insect. The insect inched off the tip of his shoe and onto the jungle floor. It turned green to match the leaves onto which it crawled. Jacen made note of the strange new insect, so that when he had time later he could come back to study it more closely. He then turned his attention back to his sister, who had taken her night glasses out and was peering through them.

"They must have some sort of cloaking device on the ship. Something to make it invisible to planetary radar." Jaina said. "Which means that we are dealing with someone who is used to getting past planetary defense. I'd guess that it is some sort of bounty hunter." She lowered the night glasses, turned off her bike, and disappeared into the nearby shrubbery. As she re-emerged she looked gravely towards Jacen, though she knew that he couldn't see the look on her face because of the engulfing darkness of the night. "It's a bounty hunter droid. There are two droids there. The bounty hunter is on the port side of the ship. There isn't any light there at the moment. I suspect that they have turned it off so that Kemi and Kiya can't see where they are going." Jaina whispered.

"Did you see Kemi or Kiya?" Jacen asked from where he squatted on the ground.

"Kemi's moving in our direction, but I don't think that she knows that we are here. If we surprise her, she might scream. That would alert the droids to our presence, and that's not a good thing. We need to try to knock off those droids, and we can't do anything to the ship as I sense that Kiya is in it. Any suggestions?" Jaina whispered.

"Uh…" Jacen stammered. He scuffed his shoes on the ground, kicking up dirt. Another of those glowing creatures illuminated the ground near his foot. Suddenly he had an idea. He reached into the pocket of his Academy suit and pulled out a small clear bag. He reached down and scooped up the creature and shut the bag tight. He poked a hole in the bag with his pinkie finger so that the creature could have some air to breathe, and then sent calming thoughts to the little creature, assuring it that it would not be harmed. He then searched the ground for other such creatures to put into the bag.

Jaina observed her brother for a little while, watching as the bag that he held started to illuminate his face and shed bits of light onto his body. "Jacen… This is no time to be collecting pets…" Jaina said. The light from the bag disappeared as Jacen stuffed the bag into his suit.

"If we need some light, we can use this. We won't need to switch on our sabers to provide light." Jacen whispered. He looked up at the sky, and then back over to where he last saw his sister. "I don't think we'll need this for long. Looks like it's almost dawn." Jacen heard his sister shush him, so he listened intently to the eerie silence that had just broken. The blare from the sirens that had been wailing earlier was terminated. There was a rustling sound that came from the bush from which Jaina had previously emerged. The twins froze, both with hands on their sabers as they prepared for the worse. Something emerged from the shrubbery and stood before them, but didn't seem to see them. Jacen hesitantly reached for the bag in his suit, hoping that Jaina would reach for her saber if what they saw wasn't good. As he pulled the bag out of his suit, the light fell upon the being that had emerged from the bushes.

Kemi stood still, as if in shock. It took a moment to register who it was that stood before her. She shielded her eyes from the light that poured from the bag that Jacen held. Though it wasn't a brilliant light, it still hurt her eyes as they had adjusted to the pitch black. The twins stared in amazement as Kemi's hair changed from the black that it was, back to the red to which they were accustomed to seeing.

"They've got Kiya." The girl said, panting. She seemed to have been holding her breath, trying not to give her location away by breathing. All three of them ducked down as a search beam shimmered in the area above them. Jacen looked up and sighed, wondering how they were going to get out of this mess.

Tyne and Ryma watched as the Jedi students filed out of the amphitheater, in twos. Both children entered at the same time, wondering if the meeting that had just occurred concerned their friend Kemi. As they watched the students go off in their own directions, Luke Skywalker stepped up beside them.

"To answer your question; yes, we talked about your friend Kemryi. If you two will follow me, there is something that I need to speak with you about." Luke said as both children turned and stared up at him, mouths agape. Luke turned and walked back into the amphitheater, and Tyne and Ryma followed him solemnly. Something about the Jedi Master's countenance told them that what they were about to hear would not be good news. Both children took a seat on the nearest bench.

"What I just got done telling my students is that there is an armada of ships hovering above the planet, and they are all after your friend Kemi. We are under siege. The students are preparing to defend the temple and its surrounding areas." Luke said.

"Why are they all after Kemi? What did she do to them?" Ryma asked.

"Your friend Kemi is an heir to the throne of Bespin, which makes her a very powerful bargaining chip in the political games that have been going on between non-Republic worlds. What adds more power to the bargaining is that Kemi was the child of two Jedi," Luke explained. Both children looked blankly at him, as if not fully comprehending what he had just said. "Her mother, when I knew her, was a very skilled Jedi. Though Kemi is untrained in the ways of the Force, her potential is great. This is a beacon that attracts the dark side of the Force. They want Kemi now before she is trained, so that they can teach her their ways." Luke paused briefly and then went on. "Kemi was born with the ability to do things that it took her mother years upon years to master, yet to her they come reflexively." Luke turned to look at two of his students who had just entered.

"Master Luke, Jacen and Jaina are not in their rooms." One of the students spoke up. Luke acknowledged him with a nod, knowing already that the twins were in the jungle with Kemi.

"Thanks for the information." Luke said as the two students left. Luke then turned back towards Ryma and Tyne. "You have two options; either you come with me to get Kemi, or you can stay here with your other friends." Luke stood up.

"I'm going with you." Tyne said.

"I think that I'll stay here," Ryma said, frowning. "Where are Corla and Jordan?" She wrung her hands nervously. She wasn't really sure that she cared what happened to Kemi anymore. In fact, she was angry that her family had been torn apart, and she now felt that it was all Kemi's fault. She looked away from both Tyne and Luke.

"Ryma," Luke gently put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "I know that you think that all of this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Kemi. I won't push your decision, but I hope that you'll come to see that Kemi didn't kill your family. Corla and Jordan are in their rooms. Feel free to visit either of them." Luke then turned back towards Tyne. "Let's go."

Jacen's body was starting to ache from maintaining a crouching position. He looked at the bugs in the bag, noting that their light seemed to be dimming. He sighed, knowing that he should probably let the captives loose. "We don't have very much time until I have to set these guys free." Jacen whispered. Kemi looked at the creatures crawling around the insides of the bag and fought back an impulse to gag. She hoped that he would release the bugs somewhere far away from her.

"That means that we may have to activate one of our sabers for light, unless we can somehow convince these droids to turn on the ship's exterior lights." Jaina said. Kemi watched as another sweep of the area was done with the search beam. She stood up a few moments after the light passed over them, so as to not be visible. The light coming from Jacen's bag blinked out, and she heard the rustling sound of him releasing its contents.

"Kemi, what are you doing?" Jaina half whispered, half squeaked. She was afraid that because Kemi was standing, their location was being compromised. "Duck! The beam's coming back around!" Kemi squatted down just in time as the ray of light cut the air above her.

"I'm going to get Kiya." Kemi said as she parted the bush in front of her and scooted through the gap that she had made before either of the twins had time to object. Keeping low, she ran over to the hull of the ship. Immediately the ship's lights blinked on, casting the shadows from its surroundings. Kemi shielded her eyes. Both Jacen and Jaina watched in horror as Kemi wandered straight into the path of the bounty hunter droid. Kemi paused, like a deer caught in a car's headlight.

"Run Kemi!" Jaina shouted out as she activated her lightsaber. Jacen did the same, and both charged toward the droid. The droid grabbed hold of Kemi and held her in front of itself.

"Disarm yourselves, or the girl dies." The droid voiced mechanically. Both Jacen and Jaina looked at each other, trying to figure a way out of the situation. "Do as I say."

"You will let Kemi go." Jacen spoke to the droid, trying to put to practice the mind trick that his uncle had taught him. Jaina placed her saber on the ground in front of herself, and then nudged Jacen to do the same.

"That won't work on a droid, Jacen. It has no mind…no heart…" Jaina said eerily. She watched as her brother put down his weapon. Both were prepared to recall their sabers at any moment. The second droid came up behind them and prodded them forward with its blaster. Both noted that because the droid held Kemi so close to itself, they would not be able to succeed in calling their sabers back without Kemi being shot. They stumbled forward at the pokes of the smaller droid, wondering how they could get themselves out of the situation without bringing harm to themselves or Kemi.

"Please let them go." Kemi's voice was remarkably calm, to the amazement of both of the twins.

"That is impossible." The droid's response came. Kemi clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Her eyes flashed anger as she glared at the droid that was behind the twins.

"You have no need for them. You came for me and Kiya, and you have us. So, let them go…" Kemi repeated. The droid that held her captive tightened its grip on her shoulders. Suddenly Kemi felt hot. She looked around herself with widening eyes, wondering if she was about to faint, or if she was sick. She felt some sort of burning liquid dripping down her arms, and oozing down her legs. She held back a scream of pain. The droid released its grip on her and she turned to face it. That was when she realized that the fluid had been liquid metal. Somehow she had emanated enough heat to smolder the droid's metallic body. She quickly stumbled away from the disabled droid, only to become a target for the other droid. Somehow she knew what she was supposed to do…somehow she knew her growing power…

"Jacen…Jaina…duck!" Kemi screamed as she ducked the first shot that it fired and then painfully raised her left hand towards the droid that had just fired on her. Jacen and Jaina jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the bolts of lightning that shot forth from Kemi's extended hand and hit their target square in its chest armor, melting it on contact. Jaina looked up at Kemi from where she had landed on the ground in horror. She had only seen this kind of power coming from the dark side of the Force. Kemi turned away from the twins and stalked towards the ship, apparently not as surprised as the twins were at her newfound power. She returned a few moments later with Kiya in her arms. The child had just recovered from the stun bolt.

"Let's get out of here." Jaina said as she recovered from the shock, and walked over to help her brother up. As they turned away from the ship, it self-destructed. As they started to walk away from the scorched wreckage, Luke pulled up with Tyne in a land speeder. He beckoned for them to get in.

"Hurry, we don't have much time. There is a whole armada of ships looming directly above this planet, and they are all after our friend Kemryi." Luke extended an hand to Kemi to help her aboard the speeder. He could sense the change in the child. He pulled her into the seat beside him as the others climbed aboard. "Kemi, you need to learn to control your impulses. I know that you can sense that you have gained a new sort of power, but you must be careful about using it, or it will possess you." Luke warned. Kemi looked at him with a semi-confused expression on her face. Jacen and Jaina turned towards the spot where they had put their sabers down and recalled them to their hands before they boarded their speeder bikes and took off.

"Okay, let's get out of here and back to the temple. It's nearly dawn, and I'm sure that everyone could use a little rest before the attack. We'll rest in rounds, some of us will nap while the rest of us take watch." Luke explained. Kemi yawned, nodding in agreement. It was as if her body had finally realized that she hadn't been asleep for a long time. She rubbed her aching back and curled up beside Tyne, hoping even to snooze a little before they reached the temple. As she shut her eyes, the sun appeared over the horizon, casting eerie shades of emerald green where the light reflected off of the jungle trees.

Tyne cradled Kemi's head in his lap, stroking her hair as she rested. Though he was afraid, having Kemi close by seemed to comfort him a little. As long as she was in his sight, he figured that she was okay. He took off his thermal jacket and wrapped it around her shivering form. He watched as the shadows in the jungle seemed to all disappear as the sunlight fell on each of them. He frowned, looking down once again at his friend. He wasn't certain that he was clear on the reason that all of these people were after Kemi, but he was certain that he would do everything in his power to stay by her in all of the trouble that would come. As he stroked her hair, he contemplated everything that he had just learned. He knew that she was some sort of Royalty as he had overheard Jacen talking to her about the funny star-shaped mark that she had on her cheek. He bent over a little closer to examine it as she rested. It didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary to him because it was something that Kemi had had for as long as he could remember her.

Kemi's eyes fluttered open when she felt Tyne touch her cheek. She immediately sat up straight. She blushed with embarrassment to think that she had been so tired as to have fallen asleep with her head in his lap. Their eyes transfixed for a moment, neither of them speaking until the speeder made a halting stop.

"I…." Kemi stuttered, "I'm so sorry." Kemi stood up and exited the speeder quickly, not exactly sure if she should trust the funny feelings that she had for Tyne. Tyne got off the speeder and followed directly behind her, wanting to let Kemi know that she shouldn't be sorry.

"Kemi! Slow down!" Tyne cried out when Kemi started scaling the steps inside the Temple two at a time. She spun around and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Tyne reached out for her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what's wrong." Kemi shrugged off his attempt to confront her and turned towards the passageway that would take her back to the room that she had been assigned for her stay at the temple. As she walked down the passage, she went straight past Kiya. The girl stared at Kemi as she walked by, and when Kemi had passed, Kiya turned back towards where Tyne stood.

As Kemi rounded a corner, she saw Corla standing in the doorway of the room that she and Ryma had been assigned. Kemi nodded in greeting and watched as Corla returned the greeting with a glare and a frown. "What's that look for Corla?" Kemi asked, wondering if she had done something wrong.

"There will be a massive attack on this planet, and they are all after you." Corla bit her lip and frowned, as if she didn't believe what she was saying. "Ryma told me that Master Skywalker said that you are the reason that our families were murdered. That bounty hunter was after you and you put us all in danger." She drew in her breath steadily and then went on. "I'll never forgive you."

A new flood of tears streamed down Kemi's already tear-streaked face. She couldn't understand why her friends were turning against her. She watched as Ryma stepped up beside Corla and patted her on the back in a comforting gesture. Ryma spoke next. "We don't want you around us Kemi. Please tell Master Skywalker to assign you another room." Ryma then shut the door in Kemi's face. Kemi turned and ran off in the opposite direction from which she had come. She didn't care to see anyone at the moment. She found a promising place to rest and curled up. Because she was so tired, her sobs only wracked her body for a few moments before she drifted off into a fitful slumber. She didn't take notice of the fact that the star-shaped charm on the necklace that she wore had started to glow a florescent green color…

Both Jacen and his sister followed their uncle back into the now vacant amphitheater. Jacen silently sat down to think. His forehead was furrowed in concentration, causing creases and lines to run along the top of his face. "Uncle Luke, there is something that happened while we were out there with Kemi." Jacen said, cupping his chin in his hands. He looked up at his uncle in time to see him raise an eyebrow in anticipation. Luke said nothing, but in his silence, he encouraged his nephew to continue. "Kemi possesses power that I have never seen in a light-sider." Jacen said.

Jaina sat down beside her brother and waited to see what their uncle would say. When a few minutes of silence passed, she spoke up. "Even though you say that she is untrained, I have seen that she is very capable of using the power that she possesses for the dark side. There was a sort of energy that emanated from her." Jaina added.

"Yes, she melted that droid that had attacked us, and then bolts of lightning shot forth from her hands." Jacen said. "I've only heard of something like that from stories that you told us about the Emperor in the days before our birth." Jacen fidgeted with his Academy suit and pulled out the bag that he had used for the bugs that he had found earlier. A slight smile crept across his face as he realized that one of the little creatures was still in the bag. He reached in and pulled it out, letting it crawl along the bench where he sat.

"I can see why she would be considered very valuable to the Sith." Jaina said. She looked from her uncle to her brother. "Jacen…this is no time for playing…" Jaina said abruptly. Jacen picked up the bug and stood up.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to put this little guy in a cage." Jacen said to the frowns of his sister and uncle.

Kiya watched as Tyne walked down the hall at the opposite end of the room. She paused when she heard a high-pitched pulsing sound. She followed the sound down the hallway that she had seen Kemi walking down earlier. She listened when the pulsing sound stopped and then started walking again when it started back up. As she walked past one of the many doors that lined the hallway, the door burst open, frightening her. Kiya peeked into the room and saw that there were two girls inside. She was afraid that she had made too much noise and had startled the girls.

"Hello there." The speaker had brown hair and greenish-blue eyes. Kiya looked at her cautiously. "Who are you?" Kiya noted that neither this girl or the other girl in the room could hear the high-pitched humming. She smiled at both of the girls. The girl leaned back into the room and called to the other girl. "Hey Ryma, come and see this cute little girl standing out here in the hall." Kiya could see the other girl look up and smile at her.

"She must be one of the students here." Ryma said from where she sat on her bed. Kiya nodded and reluctantly entered the room. "Look at her. Isn't that the same mark on her cheek that Kemi has?" Ryma asked as she stared at Kiya. "Are you related to Kemryi Darkstarr?"

The humming noise distracted Kiya so much that she had an itching feeling that she just needed to find out what was causing it. She didn't care to talk to these two girls, so she yawned and acted like she was tired, rubbing her eyes with the back of her right hand.

"She can tell us tomorrow because it looks like she's sleepy." Corla said as she smiled sweetly at Kiya. She then lowered her voice to a softer tone. "You should get to bed." Both girls watched as Kiya walked out of the room and further down the hall.

As Kiya continued to walk, the humming sound grew louder and louder until it was nearly deafening. She covered her ears, rounded a corner, and came upon Kemi's sleeping form. As she stepped closer to Kemi, searching for whatever it was that was emitting the humming, her eyes settled on the glowing charm on the necklace around Kemi's neck, and found that the noise seemed to be coming from it. Kiya looked at the girl and wondered what she should do next. She bent over the girl to study the charm, careful not to wake Kemi as she reached for it. Golden rays of light shot forth from the star as she cupped it in her hands. Frightened, Kiya dropped the charm and stumbled backwards. Her eyes were attracted towards the point where the rays of light converged into the shape of a rectangle, forming a portal on the wall a few feet from where she stood.

Suddenly a shadowy figure emerged from the portal. Kiya took a few more steps backwards until she bumped into a wall where she stood transfixed. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. The pitches of the humming rose so high that Kiya feared that her eardrums would bust, and then subsided into a deadly silence. Kiya wondered why all of the commotion hadn't awaken Kemi or at least caused someone else to come to see what was happening. Kiya decided that she didn't want to stick around long enough to get the answer to her question, so she tried to run, but found that she couldn't move her legs at all. They had become like lead weights, keeping her stationary. The sinister phantom knelt for awhile over Kemi and then turned its attention to Kiya. It pulled a small ball shaped object from inside of its flowing robes and pointed it at Kiya. She closed her eyes as a red light swept over her face.

"Job well done, KY 145." The figure said to Kiya as he pulled the hood of his robe away from his head. Kiya found herself staring at an older man with white hair and deeply set eyes that were color of a star-less midnight sky. Kiya looked over at Kemi helplessly, hoping that the girl would wake up and scream for help. It was then that Kiya realized for the first time the strange significance of the star shaped mark on Kemi's face that was identical to the one on her own. Kiya squeezed her eyes tightly shut as memories that had for so long lay dormant come flooding back from the recesses of her mind, frightening her even more. The first thing that she remembered was that she was never any younger than she was at this point in her life.

They had lifted her from the gel-like liquid that had been her home for as long as she could remember, and had carried her quickly to a refresher unit. She felt their hands moving over her head, fingers working with water to wash away the gel from her ears and off of her head. She heard the sound of running water and the hushed tones of whoever it was that was washing her. Whoever was washing her emitted soothing sounds, and she relaxed slightly. When the gel was removed from her eyelids, her eyes fluttered open. Everything that the girl saw was bright and new, and she giggled with delight as the first thing that caught her eyes was the emerald colored walls in the room that surrounded her. She then looked at the person who had been washing her, and saw that it was a woman with red hair, a star-shaped mark on her cheek, and emerald green eyes that matched the room. The woman held a towel in her hands which she wrapped around the girl.

The girl watched two other women and a child entered the room. Both of the new women looked like the one who had been washing her, and the child looked like a younger version of them all. The woman that had been washing her smiled and spoke to the others, but the girl couldn't understand what was being said. Whatever they were saying didn't seem to matter to the little girl, as she stared transfixed at the child that had entered with the women. The child held up a mirror for the girl to look into. As she stared at her own reflection in the mirror, she saw that she had the same red hair, green eyes, and star-shaped marking on her face that she had noticed on everyone that she had seen thus far. The child put her hand on the girl's forehead and suddenly the girl could understand what the child was explaining.

The child stared at the girl with sympathy in her eyes, but her mouth did not move as she spoke. "Don't worry about what they are saying. You will understand everything in time. I was picked only a few days before." The child then helped the girl to stand up. "I am KY 134. And you are KY 145." The child said without emotion.

The women came forth and placed their hands on KY145's head, and knowledge was transmitted. When this was through, a man entered the room, dragging another woman forcefully behind him. He studied KY145 for awhile and then nodded his approval. He left the same way he had entered.

"Who was that?" KY145 asked. She was repulsed by the man, and felt sorrow for the woman.

"That is our creator. And the woman that he had with him is the master, and we are the copies." KY134 explained. "All that we know about her is that she is being held captive."

"Why don't you find out more about her? That woman looked very sad. Does anyone talk to her?" KY145 asked, a worried expression crossing her face.

"We aren't allowed," came the response, "we must stay within our own pod, and do what our creator tells us." The child said absentmindedly, placing her own hands on KY145's head to finish transmitting the information.

Kiya's eyes snapped open and flooded with tears as she looked down at Kemi. Somehow she knew that the woman that she had seen the day she was picked was Kemi's mother. She felt sick to her stomach when it dawned on her that the only reason that she had come into existence was so that this man that now stood before her could find Kemi. She knew that he was evil, and she made it her vow to do all that she could to protect Kemi. At that moment Kemi opened her eyes and screamed…

Before Kemi had screamed, Jacen had sensed that she was in trouble. Images and words from what was happening as seen through Kiya's eyes bombarded Jacen's mind. He had seen what Kiya had remembered as if it were a drama that was playing in the recesses of his mind. As he ran towards the place that the screams were coming from, he passed Tyne along the way. He grabbed hold of Tyne's arm and before Tyne had a chance to object or to question Jacen's motives, they were both running at a break-neck pace towards the trouble. When they rounded the corner and saw what was happening, Jacen pulled his lightsaber out of his belt and switched it on. Tyne ran for the nearest light switch and turned it on so that the room was immediately illuminated. The man glanced up at both boys, and then back down at Kemi, who had taken advantage of the momentary distraction and had scooted across the room on her hands and feet as far away as she could to get. He reached out his left hand towards her.

"Come with me princess." The man beckoned. Kemi backed away even further, standing up so that she could run the first chance that she got. "I have your mother." Kemi froze and looked doubtingly at the man, not sure if she should trust him.

"You lie." Kemi's voice came sounding cold to all that were in the room.

"You know in your heart that what I say is not a lie, no matter how painful it might be to you." The man stepped towards Kemi, and she backed up a little more, bumping against the wall that Kiya was against. "Come with me. I will take you to your mother. I know that you've been dreaming about her and that you want with all of your heart to see her."

"H…how… did… you… kn… know… about… my…d… dreams?" Kemi stuttered, her tongue tripping over her words. The fact that this person, whoever he was, knew about her inner thoughts and wishes and was using them against her disturbed her greatly, and caught her off guard. "What have you done to my mother?"

"I do not have the time to stay here and chat with you, child. This is your last chance, I will not ask again…" The man stepped forward five more steps, closing the gap between the two of them. "If you do not come with me, I will kill your mother."

Kemi hesitated for a second. If this man was telling the truth and really did have her mother, she didn't want to make him mad. The fact that the man was so close made her very uncomfortable, but she couldn't scoot back any further. She wondered if she should just go with the man. It may be the only chance that she'd get to see her mother. She hesitantly stepped forward a step. The man opened his arms as if he was going to embrace her.

"Don't go Kemi." Tyne shouted out, this caused Kemi to hesitate again. The man turned his back to Kemi and glared at the boys as if issuing an unheard challenge for either of them to oppose him.

Jacen moved closer to the man, and crouched into an attacking position with his lightsaber held out in front of him. The blade of light hummed gently. "You have no business here." Jacen called out.

The man seemed to consider this, and he grinned evilly, turning back to face Kemi. "I do have business here. I am going to take the girl to her mother." He looked her in the eyes and she could see the darkness and evil that lay within him. Her eyes widened with fear. This caused him to laugh, as he reached forward to place both of his gnarled, bony hands on her shoulders.

As soon as he touched her, pure energy radiated from her, sending an electric shock through his body, and surrounding him with white light. He recoiled, glared at her, cursed under his breath, and backed away. "Fine, have it your way," he yelled at Kemi, and pointed a bony finger towards her, "but remember that you belong to me." This caused Kemi to cringe. She was perplexed because she had not willingly caused the energy to strike the man, it had just happened when he had touched her. As Kemi was recovering from the shock of what had happened, the man spun around to face the boys again, raising his hands and sending bolts of energy towards them. Jacen immediately deflected them with his lightsaber.

The man turned back towards Kemi and shot a bolt of energy from his hands at her. This caught her off guard and she was unable to defend herself. The energy overpowered her and she fell to the ground. He then turned back towards the boys. "I will be back for her. You will not be able to keep her safe forever." He then looked at Kiya. She shrunk back from his icy stare.

"Leave her alone." Jacen shouted as soon as he realized the man's intent, but it was too late. The man had disappeared in a whirlwind of emerald green light, and he had taken Kiya with him. Both boys immediately ran over to Kemi to see if she was okay. Tyne helped her to stand up, and then let her lean on him for support. With his left hand cupping her chin, and he wiped away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks with his right hand. He helped her walk over to a chair so that she could sit and rest for awhile.

"Who was that?" Tyne asked as he looked Kemi straight in the eyes.

"I… I… d… don't know." Kemi said, still trying to recover.

"That was Kemi's grandfather. He is a Sith." Jacen stated point blank.

"Kemi's not safe here. We need to take her to Master Skywalker right away." Tyne said. "You saw how powerful he was. He penetrated this Academy without anyone knowing. He kidnapped that little girl. He said that he will be back."

"He took that little girl because she was one of his creations, a clone of Kemi's mother. Her purpose of existence was solely to find Kemi, and open the portal to let the Sith in once she did so." Jacen said. Both Kemi and Tyne looked at him, shocked. "Now, there's something different about this clone… she had emotions… she had her own personality… probably something that she developed while she was separated from her pod. I don't think she knew what she was doing when she opened that portal…"

"Kemi's not safe here." Tyne interrupted.

At that moment, Luke Skywalker entered the room, followed closely by Jaina and several of the other Jedi students. He immediately turned his attention towards Jacen to hear what the boy had to say about what was going on. "I felt a disturbance in the Force and came as fast as I could." Luke said. "Jacen, I have seen what you saw."

"The Sith has found a way to enter the Academy unseen, Uncle Luke." Jacen said. "I don't think it's safe here for Kemi until we can find out how he did so. I suggest that we try to run that blockade that has been set around the planetary field and get her out of here before he comes back and succeeds in taking her." Jacen drew in his breath slowly and switched off his lightsaber.

"I believe that the Sith cannot touch Kemi with his own hands because she is more powerful than he is." Luke said. "She has to go with him willingly."

"That makes sense. When he touched Kemi, I saw the energy flow from her into his hands and engulf his body." Jacen said. "It was as if her energy drained him."

Kemi stood up from where she had been resting. "I don't want to be special. I want to be a normal ten-year-old. I don't want to spend my life running from my past." Kemi said as she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I have no other family than my mother and my grandfather. I need to face that and move on." She stared at the ground and nervously scuffed her shoes against the stone floor. "Tell me this… If I didn't have these powers, would my grandfather still want me so badly?" Kemi frowned. Tyne came forward to comfort her.

"I am not sure Kemi," Luke said, "but remember this…you are still a part of the royal family of Bespin, and even though Bespin is no longer ruled by a monarchy, there are many things on that planet that belong to you."

"And what about my mother? I've had dreams about her for as long as I can remember." Kemi paused for a second and then went on. "If she is being held captive by my grandfather, I need to rescue her." Kemi said as she reflexively reached for the star-shape charm that hung on the necklace around her neck. She grasped it and held it tightly in her clenched fist and then released it. It was the only thing that she had that was her mother's.

Luke watched her as she grasped the necklace and then let it loose. "That was your mother's. I remember accompanying her on a search for the possible meaning of that key." Luke said.

"It's a key? Do you know what it opens?" Kemi asked.

"No, we never found out what the key was for because your mother found your aunt. Once she found your aunt, she seemed to forget about the key and her search for its meaning." Luke said. "I know who can tell you the key's significance. Your mother and I traveled to Nal Hutta, the home world of the Hutts." Kemi didn't flinch at the name of one of the most despised families in the galaxy because she didn't know of them.

"If they can tell me anything about my family, then I'd be grateful." Kemi said. "I want to go see these Hutts."

"Kemi, they are very dangerous, and they don't have the best track record with Jedi. In fact, if they catch a Jedi, they will feed him or her to their pet Rancor." Luke said. Kemi still did not flinch because of her inexperience, but the Jedi students around her cringed.

"My mother left this necklace and key so that I'd have it. I think that I owe her one to discover what it means." Kemi said. "Will you take me to Nal Hutta?" Kemi looked Luke in the eyes. "It may be the key to discovering where Kiya and my mother are. If it is, would I dare pass up the opportunity?"

"We'll have a bit of trouble getting past that blockade, but it's worth the try. Let's go check to see what the air space looks like. We'll see if your grandfather's ships are still hovering above the planet." Luke said.

One of the other Jedi students walked in. "Master Luke, the ships that were above the planet are no longer there. But there is a ship with the markings of the New Republic that is now hailing us. Shall I tell them to patch the signal through to your comlink?" The young padawan asked. When Skywalker nodded an affirmative, she turned and left the room. A moment later, Luke's comlink buzzed.

"Skywalker here." Luke spoke into the comlink.

A feminine voice came over the comlink. "Hey Luke, I just finished negotiating a treaty in the Meridian Sector, and thought to stop by with some information about some potential new students that I found for your Academy while I visited Dathomir and Dantooine."

"You're clear to land Leia." Luke spoke back into the comlink, he signaled for one of the other students to go to the command center and signal the clearance. "I'll let Jacen and Jaina know that you are on your way. I'll see you in a bit. Luke out." Luke turned from Kemi towards Jacen. "Go find your sister. Your mother is here, and I'm sure that she wants to see both of you. Please don't say anything to her about that Sith infiltrating our defense… She'd have my head." Jacen nodded and then strode out of the room.

Luke then turned to Kemi, "I wasn't expecting my sister to drop in, so our trip will be delayed for a short while. She won't stay long, but I need to talk to her about the information that she was negotiating. It involves some planets that are still part of the Empire that seem to be teetering close to leaving, and may need the protection of the New Republic and as Jedi, we are sworn to their defense." Luke said. "In the mean time, you might want to get yourself some breakfast from the mess hall." Kemi nodded and both she and Luke went their separate ways. Tyne caught up with Kemi.

"Kemi, I want to go with you on that mission. I want to be able to protect you if something happens." Tyne said. "I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you…if any harm ever came to you…" Tyne drew in a breath and then let it out to relax himself. "What happened today has scared me already." Kemi stopped walking and looked Tyne in the eyes.

"I know that you care about me, but I don't want you to get into any more trouble. You've seen already that I have a Sith after me, and I know that you have a price on your head. I don't want to be the reason that you are found." Kemi said. "Really, I appreciate your concern, though." She then continued to walk, leaving him standing there pondering what he should do next. She paused at one of the windows to watch as a ship came in and landed. She saw both Jacen and Jaina rush out to greet the lady who stepped off of the ramp. Several other Academy students followed the twins as well as their uncle Luke. As she watched, tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill over onto her cheeks except the fact that she choked them back. She watched as the twins hugged their mother and found herself thinking about her own mother.

Tyne didn't know what to think or do. He wanted to protect Kemi from anything that might harm her, but he knew that she had a point about there being a price on his own head. If he followed Kemi, he'd risk getting captured himself, and he knew that his doing so wouldn't be of any help to her. But still, he didn't want to see her walk blindly into something for which she wasn't prepared. He watched her as she stared out the window, wondering what he could possibly tell her to change her mind. Or maybe…he thought…that shouldn't be his plan at all… He joined her at the window and watched the small welcoming committee at the ship.

"I'm going to ask if I can get a ride on that lady's ship to Kessel." Tyne said. "A few years ago, I overheard my father say that I might have a relative that was held prisoner in the spice mines there. I think that I'll follow that lead and see if I can't find anyone who might be related to me there." This seemed to catch Kemi off guard. Tyne

watched her as she bit her lower lip and furrowed her brows in concentration. He knew that look, but he thought it better to wait for her to speak first.

"I'm really glad," She said, not turning to look at him, "I hope that it works out for you." Her lower lip quivered as she watched the welcoming party come towards the door nearest the window that they had been staring out.

"Hey listen, if you don't want me to go, tell me." Tyne said as he took hold of Kemi's hand and pulled her away from the window. "I won't leave you." Tyne said as he used his hands to clear away the tears in her eyes.

"But…" Kemi opened her mouth to protest, but Tyne interrupted her.

"Shhh." He smiled at her. "No need to say anything. Now, what do you say to a little bit of breakfast and maybe a nap afterwards? You know, those black half-circles under your eyes aren't very attractive." Kemi frowned and then playfully swatted at Tyne.

"You don't look so great yourself." She said. Both of them watched as the welcoming group entered and departed through another hallway.

Kemi stared at the food that was placed before her. The liquidy slop before her didn't look very appetizing. She frowned at it, hoping that maybe if she stared at it long enough it would either disappear on its own or somehow become more appealing. She spooned some of it up and inspected it as it dripped back into the bowl as she overturned the spoon. She turned her attention to some of the Jedi students that were eating around her, watching as some of them directed their spoons with the Force. There were spoons, bowls, and juice cups floating in mid-air. She watched them with intense curiosity, forgetting for the moment how gross the food before her looked. She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts, and when she re-opened them, her bowl was floating in front of her. It rose a few feet to where it was just out of her reach as she stood to try to retrieve it. She glanced around to see if it was any of the other students that were perhaps playing a prank on her, but no one else but Tyne seemed to be paying any attention. He just stared at her with his mouth agape.

"Are…you…doing…that?" Tyne asked as he stood up to get a closer look at the bowl as it hovered. Kemi blinked in disbelief, wondering how she was supposed to get the bowl down from where it was hovering. She climbed up onto the bench where she had been previously seated and reached for the bowl, but her insistence only seemed to complicate things as the bowl dodged her attempts to grasp it as it rose even higher in the air. By now, most of the other students were watching her and laughing. She blushed bright pink. Several of the students lost their concentration, causing dishes and silverware to clatter to the ground, adding to the chaos. Other students re-directed their exercises trying to bring the bowl down.

Amid the sounds of shattering glass and clanging silverware, Kemi placed one foot on top of the table and mounted it, hoping that the misbehaving bowl would stop its ascent. Two of the students left the room in a rush to get Master Skywalker so that some order could be restored. Suddenly a hushed tone blanketed the room. Kemi froze, wondering what was going on. She felt sort of out of place standing on top of the table, but it was too late for her to get down.

"You must learn control." A feminine voice spoke up. Kemi turned to see who had spoken, blushing an even brighter pink when she saw that it was the twins' mother. "It's okay, come on down." Princess Leia stood before her with outstretched arms. Kemi looked at her for a minute and then jumped down from the table. At that very instant the bowl dropped and shattered as it hit the floor. Tyne immediately started to gather up the broken pieces that had landed anywhere near where he stood.

"I'm so sorry." Kemi stooped down and started to gather the fragments that were scattered all over the stone floor.

"Don't worry about it." Leia stepped forward, knelt down, took the shards of broken glass from Kemi's hands, and set them on the table. Hearing that it was no problem, Tyne stopped picking up the glass and took a seat.

"You're Jacen and Jaina's mother right?" Kemi asked; Leia smiled and nodded an affirmative.

"That I am." Leia said as she sat down at the table beside where she set the broken glass. "My brother told me that you are searching for your mother."

"Yes, and our first stop will be Nal Hutta." Kemi reached behind her neck and unclasped her necklace. She then held it up in front of herself. The star-shaped medallion caught light from the lamps above and refracted a rainbow of colors that fell in spontaneous patterns all over the room. "This was hers." Kemi then put the necklace back on, rubbing her eyes to try to stay awake. "My mother left it for me to discover what it means." Kemi traced the markings on the necklace with her pointer finger.

"It's very pretty." Leia said, watching Kemi run her fingers over the intricate symbols that were etched into the charm. "You must really miss her."

"I never really knew her," Kemi said as she looked Leia straight in the eyes, "because she was kidnapped the day that I was born." Kemi frowned, her mind wandering to her aunt for the first time since the accident. Through all of the hustle and trauma that she had witnessed, she hadn't had time to grieve her aunt's death. "I miss my aunt. I'll never see her again, and it's all my fault." Her eyes were dry from all of the crying that she had done.

Tyne leaned in closer to Kemi and put his arm around her back pulling her closer to himself so that she could lean into him. "It was not your fault. Don't you ever believe that." Kemi crossed her arms over her chest, not quite believing what Tyne was saying.

"It was me that the bounty hunter was tracking on Hoth. All of you would have been safe if I hadn't been there." Kemi said. "I'm the reason that your families were killed."

"That's not true …and you know that it's not. Don't give up Kemi; nothing lasts forever. I'm sure that sooner or later our colony would have been discovered even if you weren't there." Tyne said. "My life has been better because I came to know you." He pulled her closer and embraced her. Kemi blushed and pushed away from Tyne. She wasn't sure what her future would hold and she didn't want to put anyone, let alone Tyne, in any more danger.

"The boy is right." Leia said. "Don't blame yourself for something that was out of your hands. You have no control over what happened in the past. Focus on the present." She stood up from the table when she noticed Jaina walking towards them. When she reached the table, Jaina held out brown robe to Kemi.

"Uncle Luke told me to have you put this on." Jaina said as Kemi took the robe from her. Kemi took a moment to examine the robe and then looked at Jaina questioningly.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Kemi said as she took the robe from Jaina and unfolded it. "I don't understand why I need to change clothing."

"What you are wearing was fine for Hoth, but the weather in Nal Hutta is very different." Jaina said. "You'll be traveling to a planet that is the hangout of many spies and some of the most unpleasant members of this galaxy, and you don't want to be wearing anything that would make you stick out, so with this you'll blend right in." Jaina smiled. "Trust me, what you are wearing right now is not something that those on Nal Hutta would wear."

"Luke's right." Leia said, "You don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to yourself. Especially since you've got a Sith after you." Kemi excused herself from the table and left to change clothing.

As Kemi slipped her right arm into the sleeve, she noticed that the star charm on her necklace had started to glow. She hastily threw on the robe and unclasped the necklace, flipping it over in her hands, trying to discern why it was gleaming. As she touched it, it began to emit a golden color and she heard a humming noise. Thin beams of gold shot forth from the charm and landed on the wall in front of her. She froze, staring at the scene that was slowly unfolding before her. First there were a series of characters that projected onto the wall. Kemi watched as each of them flashed in front of her, but she had no clue as to what they said.

There was a knock on the door, but Kemi didn't answer it because the flashing images transfixed her. "Kemi, are you done changing? May I come in?" Leia's voice came through the door. Kemi stood still and didn't respond. Leia knocked again. Getting no response, she pushed the button and the door slid open. As Leia stepped through, she noted that the girl stood at the far end of the room and was staring at the wall in front of her. Leia approached the girl, but Kemi didn't turn to acknowledge her. Leia watched the symbols and the colors that were mesmerizing the girl. A glint of recognition crossed her face. She remembered seeing symbols like these when she was aboard Jabba's barge. She remembered how one of the dancing girls had taught her to read the symbols for the short time that she had been Jabba's captive. This was before Jabba decided that it was best to keep her chained at his side.

Leia read the symbols, becoming as transfixed with interest as Kemi had. The symbols told the story of the Royal family of Bespin starting at a time before even Leia herself was born. The story began with a young man named Wilhelm who was the heir to the throne. He married a woman named Aurora and they had a daughter named Amaris. It was recorded that Amaris was engaged to a young Jedi-hopeful named Seth Darren, and both settled on the planet Alderaan to raise a family. The symbols further said that two children were born to the couple while they were on Alderaan. The children were named Evadne and Aidia. The symbols went on to say that the children and their mother were later forcefully transported back to Bespin by Seth Darren so that he might take the throne. It was there that they were held against their will on Cloud City, which was at the time owned by the Hutts.

All of the light that had radiated from the necklace was suddenly sucked back into it and the room was once again back to how it had been. Kemi snapped out of the daze that she was in and turned around to see Princess Leia standing beside her. There was a pause of silence before either of them spoke; each trying to process the information that she saw.

"Did you understand any of that?" Leia asked the girl. Kemi nodded a negative.

"It was very pretty, but I don't know what any of the writing meant. It was a language that I have never seen before." Kemi said as she stretched her arms and legs which had become numb from standing there so long. "When that started projecting, I saw hologram images of people along with the writing, so I paid more attention to the images. Most of them I've never seen before, but I recognized one of them as that man that tried to attack me earlier."

Leia raised an eyebrow at the mention of images. "I didn't see images," she sat down, trying to remember what exactly she had seen, hoping to replay it in her mind. She wondered what all of this meant, "but I can tell you that the writing that we saw was Huttese, which makes sense since the etchings on the front of your necklace are also of the same origin." Leia went on to explain. "What I saw was writing that told some of your family history."

"That information put what I saw into perspective. One of the images did look like what my aunt Aidia would have looked like as a child." Kemi said. "And this means that the other child was my mother." Kemi smiled at the thought.

At that moment Jaina walked in. There were grimy brown smudges of some sort of liquid splattered all over the girl that contrasted the bright orange of the Academy suit that she was wearing. Rebellious strands of her brandy-brown hair hung loosely around her face, having had escaped the pony tail that Jaina had hastily pulled her hair into.

Jaina Solo looked from Kemi to her mother and then back at Kemi. "Are you ready to leave?" Jaina asked; she didn't give Kemi time to respond to the first question, "I won't be going with you as Uncle Luke said that he needs me to stay here to supervise the repairs on one of the transport ships. Seems that the hyper-drive has gone kaput, and this is the ship that they are going to use to take Ryma, Corla, Jordan, and Tyne to the home worlds of their relatives or friends." Jaina said. "Your mission to find your mother sounds exciting, Kemi, but I can't let the others down when they've been promised transports."

"I thought that Tyne was going to be coming with us." Kemi stated as she began to walk towards where Jaina stood.

"That might very well be the case." Jaina said as she leaned against the door. "Uncle Luke didn't say anything about that. While he is gone, Tionne and Mara Jade will be in charge of the Academy."

"Tell your Uncle Luke that we have added another stop on the route." Leia said as she looked from Jaina to Kemi and back. "Tell him that we need to go to Bespin." Leia smiled briefly at her daughter, waiting for a response. Jaina nodded an affirmative and then walked out of the room.

"It's a shame that Jaina won't be accompanying us, but I am very proud that she is keeping her promise to your friends." Leia said. "She's very handy when it comes to fixing things. Fixing ships is her forte." Leia walked towards the only window in the room. "Are you ready to go?"

Kemi followed Leia's gaze to the window and noticed a look of distant reverie, almost distinct sorrow, on the woman's face. She stepped closer to Leia, but did not speak in respect to Leia's privacy. Kemi looked out of the window, trying to see what it was that seemed to make her so sad.

Leia remembered that when she was nine, she had slipped away from the palace before sun-up to watch a rare sunrise that was to occur that day. She had listened with interest to the conversations of the servants around the palace when they had chattered all of the day before about what was to occur in the morning. She wandered as far as the bridge between Aldera and the mainland, and then stopped for a moment by one of the pedestrian benches that overlooked the water below. Leia closed her eyes; breathing in the calm of the atmosphere around her. For once, she really hadn't told anyone where she was going.

She wanted to be quite free of any guards that would have most definitely been assigned to chaperone her. She then walked past the bench towards the left side of the bridge, sitting down on the ground and hugging her knees to her chest. Her eyes were heavy with sleep so she let them drift shut. The sounds of the lake surrounded her and she imagined the glimmerfish that were most likely swimming under the bridge. She listened very closely for their splashing among the soft swishing of the waves. The sound of laughter broke her reverie. Leia opened her eyes to see a woman walking towards her with two small children. The little brunette girl was skipping circles around the woman, and the slightly older red-head, was walking behind, doubling over in laughter every few minutes.

She figured that the small group probably was also out to view the sunrise. They sat down at a bench not too far away from where she sat, and everyone grew silent. Assorted shades of green spread across the horizon as the sun rose. Closest to the sun was almost florescent green; followed by pastel green. Darker shades of green speckled the places that the sun rays hadn't illumined. She heard the ooohs and aahs of the other children, and couldn't help but to voice her pleasure as well. So this was what was called an emerald dawn…

Suddenly the mood changed. A man stormed up to the others and started arguing with the woman. Leia sat unbelievably still; frozen in curiosity mixed with fear of the scene she was seeing play out in front of her. She watched as the two girls looked on in horror, tears streaking their chubby cheeks. It was then that Leia noticed the star shaped marks on both the children's and the woman's cheeks. The man forced the woman and children to go with him, threatening them as they left.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Kemi remained still. After a few minutes in complete silence, Leia snapped out of the reverie. She blinked as her eyes began to refocus. She didn't want to relate what she had remembered to Kemi because she needed to have some time to think it over.

"I'll let you finish getting ready." Leia said as she nodded briefly at Kemi. "I'll be in the amphitheater with Luke." Leia said as she turned and strode towards the door. "If you need anything between now and then, just buzz Luke's comlink. This button will patch you directly through." Leia said, gently placing her finger on one of the buttons on the door-side console. Kemi made note of the button, nodding as Leia walked out of the room.

Kemi peeked out the door and watched as Leia headed down the corridor to her right. Figuring that she hadn't anything else to do to get ready, but not quite wanting to follow Leia to the amphitheater, Kemi started down the corridor to the left. She didn't really pay much attention to the doors on either side of her that she passed because they were of no interest to her. As she approached the end of the corridor, a mechanical humming sound reached her ears. She perked up a bit and smiled. Here was something that at least she was familiar with. She slowly approached the door from which the sound was emerging and leaned closer to listen. She was quite surprised to hear the sounds of nature mixed in with the mechanical sound, so she assumed that the door led outside. Pressing the button next to the door, she stepped through it as it opened. Her right hand shielded her eyes from the brightness of the sun as she continued to press forward. She noted that the humming noise that she had been following was the sound of a ship's engine.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noted the make and the model of the ship. She slowly walked towards it, taking in any information that she could observe by sight. The ship was an onyx black Action IV Transport with an Old Republic insignia, which dated it back to the times of the rebellion. It was about 100 meters long, which was slightly smaller than any other that Kemi had seen while on Yavin 4 and it reminded her more of some of the downed ships with which she'd toyed on Hoth. White carbon scoring marred the hull of the ship, signifying that it had seen some sort of space fight. Kemi reached forward to run her hand along the white streaks, but was disappointed to find that she wasn't tall enough to do so. She was so intrigued that she failed to notice the petite figure that was perched atop the ship.

"You like ships?" The figure spoke up, causing Kemi to start. Kemi looked around, but didn't see anyone. "This one's been a little of a mystery to me. I've checked all of the vitals, but diagnostics are telling me that everything is fine. I know that it's not right. There is something not quite up to par here." Kemi stepped back and looked up to see Jaina Solo. Jaina smiled slowly and jumped down from her perch.

Kemi listened closely to what Jaina was explaining, her eyes returning to the carbon marks on the hull of the ship. Jaina followed the girl's gaze. "You're wondering about the white streaks aren't you?" Kemi raised an eyebrow, wondering if Jaina was reading her mind, but ruled out that thought. She knew that Jaina wouldn't have asked the question if she'd really read her mind.

"It's carbon scoring." Kemi said. "This ship has seen a fight or two." Jaina did a double take; she hadn't expected Kemi to know much about ships.

BANG!

Sparks started to fly from the cockpit of the ship. It was Jaina's turn to raise an eyebrow. She rushed over to a wooden box that was sitting in one corner of the room, pulled several instruments from it and then headed into the cockpit. Kemi grabbed the box and followed Jaina up the ramp. Smoke bellowed from the ship, coming from the control panel. Jaina flashed Kemi a 'this is not good' glance and then grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher. She pulled a ring from the extinguisher and sprayed the console down. Liquid foam flew everywhere, thoroughly soaking everything within several feet of the console, including both of the girls. When the fire was out, Jaina looked at the mess and sighed.

"It seems like we won't be going anywhere any time soon. When are you leaving?" Jaina said as she sat down in the pilot's chair. Kemi shrugged and then plunked herself down in the co-pilot's seat. Both chairs were covered with plush slip-covers. She glanced around herself, finding that the controls surrounding her were points of interest.

"This ship has been modified." Kemi said matter-of-factly as she reached forward and cleared some foam from some of the buttons in front of her. "Who put in the weapons system?" She had common knowledge of ships because when she was little, she had entertained herself with old holocrons about ship parts. The holocrons had been left over from the ship mechanics who had worked at the rebel base before it had been evacuated.

"That was one of my projects." Jaina smiled. "I convinced Uncle Luke to buy this ship so that we could use it to transport supplies to and from the Academy and to take small groups of Academy students on outings. He was concerned that the ship had no sort of defense, so I promised that I'd install one."

Kemi whistled softly to herself; she was impressed. Jaina went on. "I also installed shields and worked on making it capable of entering the atmosphere. You know, this type of ship generally cannot enter the atmosphere." Jaina beamed. "I've made it fully capable of standing up to near anything that can come up against it. You know that these types of ships aren't generally very practical for anything but highly guarded convoys unless they are highly modified."

"I see that you've also installed a nav computer. Didn't this model usually only operate with an astromech unit?" Kemi asked as she stood up to examine some of the other controls and the blue plush carpeting that covered the walls. "I also like the overhaul that you've done to the inside of this ship. It feels almost homey in here."

"Yeah, for awhile we used an R2 unit, but I thought that it would be better not to depend on one." Jaina explained. "I'm glad that you like the décor. That was my mother's doing actually. I could have done without it, but I'm sure that the other students like it." Jaina took a cloth from a nearby compartment and began to wipe the foam away. After a few minutes of wiping, she stood up and walked towards the ramp. "I'll be right back. I need to get a few things to get this cleaned up and to fix what I can." Kemi nodded at Jaina as she walked down the ramp.

Kemi then walked over to the tool box and poked around in it a little. She looked carefully at the scorched paneling around the console and then pulled several instruments from the box. She sat down on the floor and began to pry at the paneling, popping several pieces of it off, and laying them in a pile beside herself. She studied the wiring of the console to see if she could discern where the fire had started. After a few minutes of looking, she found a connection that had not been wired properly. She carefully pulled the two wires apart, gently untwisting them from around each other.

As Jaina walked back up the ramp, Kemi was still tinkering with the wiring. Jaina moved into a position where she could watch what Kemi was doing without distracting her. Kemi's brows were furrowed in concentration as she connected wire to wire, being careful not to mix up the order of the wires. After a few more minutes, Kemi looked up and smiled. "That problem is fixed. You shouldn't have any more fires." Kemi sensed that several other people had come outside and were standing directly in front of the door. She knew who they were without having to get up and go look. Somehow she didn't feel as if she was quite ready to leave. The first person to walk up the ramp of the ship was Jacen.

"Hey Kemi! How many storm troopers does it take to change a glow panel?" Jacen asked as soon as he was within sight. Kemi flashed him a puzzled glance, not quite sure if this was a trick question. She looked to Jaina for a visual cue, wondering if she should take the question seriously.

"Jacen, we don't have time for this," Jaina rolled her eyes, "you're about to leave aren't you? Why don't you tell Kemi all of your jokes while you're traveling?" She then winked at Kemi. "I don't envy you." Jacen made a face at his sister.

"I don't know." Kemi shrugged after she had thought a little. "How many?"

"Two!" Jacen said happily, "One to change it and the other to shoot him and take all the credit." He then burst out laughing. Kemi raised an eyebrow; she wasn't accustomed to anyone joking about anything as serious as storm troopers. She grabbed the seat before her to hoist herself up from where she'd been crouching. By the time Jacen shuffled forth to help her, she'd already gotten up. He stood before her clumsily, scuffing his feet, not quite sure what to say or do next. Luke boarded the ship at that moment, coming up to see what was going on. He smiled his niece and then turned towards Kemi and Jacen.

"It's time to get out of here." Luke said. "Leia and Tyne are waiting in the ship." He then turned back to Jaina. "If you get this thing fixed up before I get back, have Mara Jade fly the others to where they need to go. I'd like for you to accompany her so that you can keep an eye on the instruments and mechanics." Jaina nodded and then watched as her uncle turned and walked back down the ramp.

Jacen placed an arm around Kemi's shoulder. "Okay, here's one for you…" He flashed her a big grin as they both started to follow Luke. "What side of an Ice Creature is the furriest?" Jacen paused at the bottom of the ramp and Kemi bumped into him, nearly taking him down with her as she stumbled. Kemi blushed and then straightened back up, standing at attention. They started to walk again.

"The outside." She said, giggling as she watched Jacen's mouth drop open.

"Hey, no fair!" He exclaimed, turning to face Kemi. "You knew the answer."

"Yeah, that's one that I've heard a million times. Remember that I lived on Hoth for all of my life?" Not giving him time to answer, she stepped forward and continued walking towards where Luke was standing. Jacen followed quickly after her. Kemi clearly baffled him, but her mysteriousness was what he liked the most about her. All three of them went back into the temple, passing through corridors and gaining the admiring gazes of many of the Academy students as they continued to walk towards the place where Leia's ship was docked. As the group came to the rooms where Ryma and Corla were staying, Kemi paused momentarily by the door, wondering if she should knock to inform them that she and Tyne were leaving. As she raised her hand to the door, it creaked open on its own. Kemi stepped inside and Jacen watched her from the corridor. He rushed in immediately when he saw Kemi turn white.

"Kemi!" He rushed forward and circled his arms around her shaking form. His eyes darted around the room, trying desperately to see what was wrong. There was no one else in the room and Jacen's mind reeled, wondering where the two girls who had previously occupied the room had disappeared to. His eyes finally alighted on thin scorched lines in the wall behind the beds. The lines, that were clearly burned by a lightsaber, formed the letters to the words 'SURRENDER KEMRYI.' Jacen held onto Kemi as her knees gave way beneath her. Jacen guided Kemi over to a couch in the room and helped her to sit down. Kemi started to hyperventilate; her eyes growing bigger as she stared at the scorches in the wall. She put her head between her knees and leaned forward.

There was commotion outside the room as several of the Academy students rushed towards Luke Skywalker. "Master Skywalker," one boy breathed heavily due to the fact that he had run from halfway across the temple, "the boy has been taken from his room."

"Tell Tionne and Mara Jade to gather all of the students into the amphitheater." Luke said. "Inform them that there's been a breach in security." He walked into the room where Kemi and Jacen sat. As Luke entered, he saw that Jacen was rocking back in forth with Kemi in his arms, trying to soothe her. He looked at Jacen until the boy looked up at him and caught his eye. "Take Kemryi to the ship. We need to get on this journey as soon as possible. I have no doubt that the Sith has taken Kemi's friends captive." Luke said to the boy. Jacen stood up and then pulled Kemi up after him. The girl drudged forward, like the walking dead. "As soon as we find the Sith, the sooner we can free Kemi's friends."

Kemi was too upset to notice the small white and blue astromech R2 unit that had rolled up beside her, or the tall golden protocol droid that stood behind it. She was laying down in a back room in Leia's ship. Her eyes were squeezed shut to block out the world around her; tears formed at their corners and rolled down her cheeks. She didn't even think she cared about what was happening any more. The R2 unit reached an extender arm towards the girl and poked her left foot. Kemi jumped slightly, her muscles tensing. She had not expected anyone to bother her. With her eyes still closed, she kicked her feet. The R2 unit rolled away from the girl's kicking feet and towards her mid torso. Again, the droid extended its arm and poked at the girl. This time the protocol droid noticed what the R2 unit was up to.

"Artoo Detoo, leave Mistress Darkstarr alone." See Threepio's mechanical voice emanated from his voice grill. "The girl is not a nerf, you need not poke at her as if you were herding nerfs." Threepio's voice had a worried tint to it. Kemi opened her eyes only a crack to see what the droids looked like. The first thing she caught sight of was the golden glimmer of the bigger droid. "You've got the wits of a Bantha." Threepio noticed that Kemi had opened her eyes. He placed a metallic hand on top of Artoo Detoo and flailed the other hand around as he spoke. "Excuse him Mistress Kemryi. I believe he has a wire that is faulty. He is constantly malfunctioning."

For a moment Kemi seemed to forget about her problems. She sat up and swung her feet around to the floor to have a better look at the two droids. The R2 unit rolled away from Threepio. At that moment the door depressurized and slid open as Jacen Solo stepped through. "Artoo and Threepio, let Kemi alone." Jacen said to the droids as he sat down on the couch next to Kemi. Artoo emitted a shrill beep and rolled out of the room. Threepio followed him, apologizing another time for being a bother. Jacen watched as the door hissed closed and then turned back to Kemi.

"Sorry if they were bothering you." Jacen said. He took a seat on the bed beside her. He then smiled at Kemi, but his expression suddenly turned to that of concern. "Hey," He scooted closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders affectionately. She didn't respond to him, but instead stared blankly in front of herself. "Kemi?" Jacen stood up and put both of his hands on the girl's shoulders as if to shake her awake. Jacen waved his hands directly in front of her face to see if she'd snap out of it, but all was to no avail. He quickly rushed out of the compartment to get some help.

The room in which Kemi found herself was in the recesses of her mind. She seemed to be in the jungle of Yavin 4 once more, but all of the jungle sounds and colors faded into the background. The only colors that Kemi really noted were the tan-brown of the robe that she wore and the blindingly white of the dress of the lady in front of her. She stared directly at a lady, taking a moment to register what was happening. She studied the features of the lady, noting the beautiful flowing white dress in which she was enrobed. There was a fierce wind that blew around the both of them. The lady clutched an infant, who had brown hair and emerald green eyes, to her breast. There were tears in the lady's eyes and the infant wailed loudly and uncontrollably. From where Kemi stood, she could see the Empress's Star on the cheeks of both the lady and the baby. The lady's red hair whipped around her as it flowed wildly in all directions.

Kemi stepped a little closer to the lady to get a better peek at the infant that the mysterious lady held. As the infant's eyes changed from green to brown, it finally dawned on Kemi what she was seeing. She stepped even closer to the lady, who in turn backed away slightly. A look of horror crossed the lady's face as Kemi tried to advance again. Kemi stretched her hand out to the woman, but she continued to back away. The lady looked longingly at the infant that she held.

Kemi looked on in confusion as the lady turned around and handed the infant to an invisible phantasm that seemingly stood in front of her, but Kemi couldn't see who it was. Kemi watched as the baby was enveloped in a cloud of onyx-black as it left the hands of its mother and placed on the ground by whatever force had previously held it. As the lady walked away from the baby, the blackness followed her. Suddenly there was a flash of blindingly bright white light that surged from the body of the lady and flowed into the infant. The lady didn't seem to notice it at all.

The lady turned suddenly and stared directly at Kemi. "Come to Bespin, my child."

Kemi snapped out of her daydream to find everyone standing over her. No one spoke for a few moments, each wanting to give her some time and room to breathe. She looked at them all, not really focusing on one particular person. Her face was void of all expression. "We need to go to Bespin." She said in a seriously monotonous voice. She noted that Tyne seemed to shiver at the manner which she was speaking. She blinked her eyes, straightened up a bit, and repeated her request. No one seemed to question the sanity of her request. Luke stepped away from the rest of the crowd and immediately went to the cockpit to set the coordinates for Bespin. Both Tyne and Jacen moved towards the doorway as Leia stepped forward and crossed to the bed.

Leia sat down on the bed beside Kemi, resting her folded hands on her knees. "Do you feel up to sharing what you saw?" Leia asked softly, not caring to push the subject. She scooted a little closer to Kemi and started to smoothly stroke the girl's hair, trying to soothe her. She could tell by the expression on her face that whatever it was that Kemi saw had upset her. Kemi opened her mouth to say something, but shut it quickly as no words seemed to come to her mind. "It's ok; you don't need to say anything right now. Take a deep breath and just be still." Kemi leaned into Leia as she continued to stroke her hair. Kemi's mind wandered as she thought about what it would have been like if her mother wouldn't have left her. Would her mother have stroked her hair as Leia was doing now? Kemi inhaled slowly and held her breath for a few minutes before letting it out.

"You're thinking of your mother, aren't you?" Leia's spoke softly again. Kemi nodded silently. She was confused by what she had seen. What was the meaning of the white light that had shot forth from her mother? What was that chokingly thick blackness that had drifted around both herself and her mother, but then had followed her mother?

"What do you know about darkness and light?" Kemi asked suddenly. This took Leia off guard at first.

"What do you mean?" Leia asked, trying to get an idea of how to formulate a possible answer.

"Well, when my mother left me, there was a cloud of blackness that engulfed both of us for awhile." Kemi said, not even sure if how she was explaining herself made any sense. "I mean, it was like a black mist-like phantasm. When she let me go, the blackness carried me for a moment before placing me on the ground. Then it left me and went back to my mother."

"Go on, I'd like to hear more about what you saw." Leia prompted.

"Well, there was a beam of white light that shot straight from my mother's heart to and into mine." Kemi said. Luke stepped back into the room at this point. Leia nodded to acknowledge his presence, but then looked back at Kemi. What the girl was explaining was very interesting to her.

Leia repeated what Kemi had just said so that Luke could hear. Luke stood at the doorway and nodded as he listened to Leia. Jacen then spoke up, voicing his view on what Kemi had just shared with them.

"Well, the white light represents all that is good and right. It is the light side of the force, the energy that flows through, from, and around all beings in the universe. The blackness that you saw was the dark side of the force." Jacen said.

"I think what you saw was the dark side presence of your grandfather. That would make sense as it was he who took you away from your mother and placed you on the ground." Luke said. "What makes even more sense is the fact that from what you have said, it seems that your mother had transferred all of her powers into you. Your mother had inherited power from her father, but its full effect was dormant in her. She had to learn about the Force. From what she shared with me before she was abducted, I gathered that it had taken her years upon years to train in the ways of the Force. She must have transferred all of her knowledge and control of the Force to you right before she left. That would explain why you are able to do many things that it would take a padawan learner years to master. These things come reflexively to you. An example of this is how you can change your appearance at will. If I or Jacen did something like that, it would take a constant focus to keep up our appearance."

"That would also explain the incident with the bowl in the mess hall." Leia added. "I had noticed that you seemed to not be aware that you were causing it to float. This means that you were not even concentrating on making it float."

Kemi stood up. Her legs were starting to cramp and she had an overwhelming urge to walk around. "If no one minds, I'm going to join you all in the cockpit." She said as she walked towards the door. Jacen, Leia, and Luke stayed behind, but Tyne stepped forward and joined Kemi as she walked to the cockpit. Kemi plopped herself down in one of the chairs and watched as the white streaks of the star lines of hyperspace tore past the ship in a dazzling display of light. She stood back up and looked at the navicomputer to see how much longer they would have until they'd reach Bespin. The white streaks of hyperspace disappeared as the ship slowed down.

She stretched a little, letting a yawn escape. Tyne watched her intently as she twiddled her thumbs a bit impatiently. She peeked at the holomap and saw that they had just entered the Bespin System. She made note of the fact that the Bespin System contained three planets and an asteroid field. She quietly pushed a few buttons on the holomap so that it would display some facts about the area which they had just entered. She wanted to learn as much as she could about Bespin and its surroundings. She had remembered reading about it while she was on Hoth. It had held her interest while she was on Hoth because she could only find one holocron which contained very little information about it. She watched through the viewport as the ship flew past Miser, Orin, and the asteroid field Velser's Ring. Her face lit up in delight as she watched as some of the bits in the asteroid field refracted light into a rainbow of colors.

Tyne wondered what Kemi was thinking. He cautiously approached her, not so sure if she wanted company or not. Not that it really mattered, he thought, he could be perfectly content just standing back watching her. "We're almost there, Tyne." Kemi said as she looked at the navicomputer again. "In fact, Bespin should be appearing in a matter of minutes." As she spoke, the ship completed its hyperspace jump, and sure enough, Bespin loomed in the viewport. Around it were many moons. Directly in front of them, partially blocking their view of the planet loomed Drudonna, a greenish colored moon. Its twin, another green sphere, H'gaard was slowly drifting around to the other side of the planet and was partially out of view. "Did you know that Bespin has a twelve hour rotation cycle?" Tyne nodded a negative. He had never been as interested in the planets as Kemi was. She continued. "That means that there are two full days followed by two full nights. How's that for a good night's rest?" She giggled. Tyne rolled his eyes.

Suddenly the com unit buzzed to life.

"This is Cloud City Control…please identify yourself and state your intent." The voice on the comlink said. Kemi reached forward and picked it up with one hand and signaled for Tyne to go back and get someone with the other. At that moment, Artoo Detoo rolled up behind the chair in which Kemi sat, causing her to start. She turned around and looked at the R2 unit curiously. She hadn't noticed that both it and the

protocol droid had been in the cockpit the whole time. She figured that they must have been powered down because they had made no noises to give away their presence.

"Unknown ship…please identify…" Static took over the transmission, blocking out whatever else the airspace control man had said. Kemi looked around curiously. She had no clue what the name of the ship was, and she knew that it was information that she needed to give over the comlink. Just then Luke came into the cockpit and took the comlink from Kemi, giving a nod of thanks.

"Cloud City Control…this is the shuttle Ninevah…requesting permission to land. We're friends of Lando Calrissian." Luke said as he looked out the viewport and pushed some buttons. Luke turned to look over at Kemi. "Looks like it's going to be dark when we land, so I think that the general consensus is that we will all get some rest and meet after we freshen up." Luke said. "Then we can figure out why we are here. How does that sound?" Kemi nodded.

"Sounds good to me. I haven't gotten much sleep lately." She said as she watched Luke run the pre-landing checks and prepare the ship for landing.

"Do me a favor and go tell everyone in the back to strap in, and then come back up here." Luke said. Kemi arose from where she sat and moved back to the other room. When she got there, she saw that everyone must have figured that they were ready to land and had already strapped themselves in. She turned around and walked back into the cockpit and took the empty seat beside Luke. She took the crash netting and buckled it so that it fit snugly across her shoulders.

"Shuttle Ninevah…you are clear to land…" The voice on the other end of the comlink said. "Please proceed to docking bay 14-A."

"Got that. Shuttle Ninevah out." Luke said as he hung the comlink back in its holder. He fastened his own crash webbing and then pulled a few levers to override auto-pilot.

As the ship broke into Bespin's atmosphere, the first thing that drew Kemi's attention was a structure that hovered among the clouds ahead of them. The structure was emitting a stream of light which circled around it, every-once-in-awhile lighting the sky directly between itself and their ship, blocking the view of the structure momentarily. At first it seemed little more than a dot in the sky…Kemi wondered if it was some sort of little beacon, but as they drew closer, the structure grew bigger and bigger until it was towering over them. As the ship came closer to the structure, Kemi unfastened her crash webbing moved to the front left side of where Luke sat to get a better view. Kemi looked at the structure in awe, wondering what purpose it served. Luke followed the girl's view to see what exactly had captivated the girl's curiosity, and noted the interest that she took in the structure.

"That's fairly new. This is the first time that I've ever seen the structure, but I knew that it was in the planning the last time I was here." Luke said as he continued the pre-landing check. He watched the girl with interest out of the corner of his eye. "Lando's always doing something to attract tourists."

"What is it?" Kemi asked, following the beam of light as it made its way towards the ship again. She looked around, noting that their ship was not the only ship around. There were smaller ships swarming around the structure, weaving in and out of the space between it and the Ninevah like drone bees.

"It's a guide tower that serves as a warning sign that one is too close to the Tibanna gas mining projects." Luke said as he guided the ship away from the tower so that they didn't get too dangerously close. "If a ship this size gets too close to the mining drones, there could be a deadly collision. Ships that small don't look like they could be very dangerous, but with their special armor, they could easily slice holes right through the hull of this ship. The drones are programmed to follow intricate pathways through the mining zone so that they do not crash into each other. Lando takes tourists to the tower in smaller ships because he knows the pathways of the drones and he knows how to navigate the dangerous path."

"Oooh…" Kemi glanced back at Luke when she could no longer catch view of the tower. "Can we see it up close?"

"We could check into the tours. I'm sure that Lando would be glad to show us around." Luke said. "You need to take a seat now, we're ready to dock." Kemi slipped back into her seat and fastened her webbing.

The view from the window in Kemi's room looked directly out towards the guide tower, and that's where Kemi was standing when Luke walked in to inform her that the tower was closed for repairs. Kemi frowned, turning to look at Luke only momentarily before focusing her attention back towards the tower.

"I do have some more information for you about that place though…" Luke said, reading the disappointment in Kemi's countenance. Kemi didn't turn towards the Jedi Master. "It's called the Star Specter on account of the eerie shadows that are cast about it when the sun hits it at certain angles." Luke continued, "Lando says that his men are doing all they can to fix it for visitors. Who knows, it may be back in business by the time we find out why your mother would have us come here."

Kemi half-smiled and turned to watch Luke as he left. She took off her brown robe, revealing her tattered thermal suit beneath it. She then folded the robe, and lay it on the chair next to the refresher unit. She walked over towards the window and took one more look at the Star Specter before she closed the curtains to shut out its light. She carefully removed her thermal suit, slipped on the sky-blue nightsuit that Jaina had lent her, and climbed into the bed. Being very exhausted, she fell straight to sleep, not minding the fact that the bed was a little soft for her liking. By the time that Tyne came and knocked at her door, she was fast asleep.

"Kemryi." Kemi awoke to the sound of someone calling her name. She remained in bed, listening closely, not quite sure if she had really heard anything or if it was only a part of her dream. There was a minute of silence, then the voice once again beckoned. Kemi pushed the sheets back and placed her feet on the cold metallic floor. She frowned at the freezing sensation that bombarded her body and immediately stood to grab her thermal suit. She donned the suit and walked cautiously over to the door, wondering what was so important that it warranted interrupting her sleep. She wondered if someone had found her mother. She yawned as she reached the door and pushed the button to open it. The door whooshed open and Kemi looked around seeing no one there. She stepped out and looked to her right, but saw nothing. She then looked to her left and saw a woman who was wearing a white robe and was walking away from her.

"Mother?" Kemi stepped further out of her room. The lady turned and beckoned for Kemi to follow her, but she didn't slow down so that the girl could catch up. At that moment, the charm on Kemi's necklace started to glow, but Kemi didn't pay it any mind because she was too involved in following her mother. She struggled to keep up with the woman and wondered where she was taking her. "Can we slow down a little?"

After a series of twists and turns, the woman finally slowed down enough to climb the ladder into a small ship. Kemi paused for a second, debating whether or not she should go back and share the good news with the others that she had found her mother. She paused at the bottom of the ladder, wondering if it really was safe to get into the ship with her mother. She looked around for a minute and noted that no one else was around. "At least tell me where we are going so that I can tell Master Skywalker."

"We're going to the Star Specter. Didn't you wish to see it up close?" The lady finally spoke. "While we are there, we'll have time to talk." Kemi let down her guard and smiled. There were a million questions that she wanted to ask. "I left everything that meant anything to me when I left you and my sister behind."

"Hold on a minute," Kemi spoke up. "I thought that the Star Specter was closed to the public for the time being."

"I've been given authorization to enter. You know that I own the Star Specter. It was my idea to build the tower as a signal to warn ships away from that area. There had been so many crashes before it was built that the area around it is nearly a graveyard." The lady explained as she pushed a strand of her red hair away from her eyes.

"Hold on, I need to go back and tell my friends that I have found you and that I am with you." Kemi said as she stepped away from the ladder.

"They are asleep right now. You wouldn't want to wake them would you? Your friends would probably appreciate at least another hour of sleep."

Kemi paused for a moment and thought about what her mother had said. She felt a bit uneasy but didn't want to give her mother the impression that she was not interested in talking. Kemi then climbed the ladder and took the passenger seat next to her mother in the small two-passenger aircraft. She watched as her mother ran pre-flight checks. The engine of the ship hummed to life, and they took off towards the tower. There was silence for the first part of the flight because Kemi didn't really know what to say to her mother. Instead, she turned her attention towards the guide-light of the Specter. She watched as it sliced through the black cloudiness of the midnight sky as it made its warning rounds.

"Why did you leave me?" Kemi finally voiced the question that had eaten away at her for so long. She kept her eyes trained on the Specter while she waited for her mother to answer. She wondered how much of what her aunt had told her had been the absolute truth. She then dismissed that particular thought because she knew that her aunt had been a very trustworthy woman and wouldn't have lied to her. She wondered if her mother knew that Aidia was dead.

"I had no choice…" The answer came after a long delay. "My father would have killed you and my sister if I defied going with him." Kemi's mother frowned, tears glistening in her eyes and streaking down her cheeks. Kemi suddenly had the urge to reach forward and embrace her mother…to tell her that everything was going to be okay now that they had found each other…but she kept to herself. "I didn't want to leave you…you were my life. But I knew that he would keep his word and kill you if I did not go with him. I always knew that somehow we'd be together again." Kemi seemed to be satisfied with the answer because she settled back in her seat. "There is so much that we need to catch up on. Tell me, where did Aidia take you to live? Did you remain on Yavin 4? Did you train as a Jedi?"

Kemi felt a little bombarded by all of the questions that were being directed at her. She took a deep breath and tried to sort out her answers amid her own exhaustion. "Well, for starters, I grew up on Hoth. I lived with Aidia and several other families in hiding, though I never quite understood what we were hiding from. I found ways to entertain myself. I spent my time watching holocrons and learning about the universe. I wanted off that ice cube so badly." Kemi's attention was caught and held by the worker drones that were buzzing around their ship. She held her breath when she remembered what Luke had said about the drones causing ships to crash. The woman didn't seem to notice Kemi's obvious anxiety.

"And did you train as a Jedi?" The woman asked. Kemi half-nodded a negative, too distracted to be paying full attention. Kemi's eyes changed from brown to ebony, a visual sign of her nervousness.

"Is this ship small enough to pass through?" Kemi asked.

"Oh, yes." The woman gave a bemused laugh. "Did you think that I didn't know about the drones?" The ship passed through all of the drones untouched. "I know a great deal about the Specter because I designed and own it." Kemi let out the breath that she'd been holding. As the ship docked in the small landing area near the tower, both of the passengers got out.

"You own this?" Kemi's gaze was drawn upward to the hugeness of the spire that stood in front of them. Her mother took her hand and led her towards the door to the tower. Kemi's mother pressed the button and the door whooshed open. She immediately started to climb the series of steps which led to the top. Kemi followed behind her, pausing to read the words that were engraved into the bleached-white stones that formed the walls of the interior. Kemi's mother continued up the steps.

There is no anger; there is calm

there is no ignorance; there is knowledge

there is no passion; there is serenity

there is no death; there is the Force.

Kemi ran her fingers along the intricate etchings of each of the letters that formed the words. She paused, puzzled as to why it would be carved into the stones of this lighthouse. Her mother's voice drifted down the steps to where Kemi stood. "Those are the words to the Jedi Code. It's the law of the Jedi Knights that I learned from your grandmother." Her mother rounded the spiral corner above her and went out of view. Kemi hastened to follow, wondering what secrets the rest of the tower held. The next thing that caught her eye was a star-shaped symbol that was cut into the wall. It reminded her of the birthmark on her own cheek.

"Look, it's the Empress's Star!" Kemi exclaimed. She put her palm into the indent in the wall.

"That's the crest of your family, Kemryi." Evadne Darkstarr's voice came from above. Kemi decided to try to ascend the rest of the steps in a hurry because she really wanted to talk with her mother. She wanted to know everything that happened in her mother's life from the time when she was on Yavin 4 that fateful night. She also had so much to share. Kemi continued to ascend the steps, wondering how much further she had to go. Her legs were starting to ache and she wondered if she should just pause and take a break. She leaned against the stones of the wall to her left and was baffled to find them rather warm. In her mind, she thought that the stones should have been cool. She wondered if it had anything to do with the heat that she figured the beacon of light generated. As she continued up the stairs, she wondered how many more steps she had to go. Up ahead, she could see the flashing of the beacon light. Laser beams of light danced around the walls above her, creating a spectacular light show.

As she reached the top of the flight of stairs, she immediately noted that something seemed out of place. Losing her balance, she stumbled forward as a wave of nausea washed over her. Around the beacon to the lighthouse stood several other women and a few children. All of them looked alike. Kemi turned around to run back down the stairs, but one of the women stepped forward and grabbed hold of her; gripping her securely. Kemi's eyes darted around wildly, searching for another way out, but all she could see were the vast glass windows that surrounded them. She wondered if she'd be able to break through any of them. Her eyes then settled on a door which she figured led out to the encircling metal parapet that she had seen earlier before she had entered the guide tower.

"Ah, at last we meet again Kemryi Darkstarr." The Sith stepped forward from between a group of the clones. "This time you cannot escape."

The clone that had caught her up slapped a hand over Kemi's mouth to keep her from screaming. Kemi started to gag. The flashing light from the beacon made her dizzy. One of the other clones stepped forward with a cloth that was soaked in chloroform. Kemi struggled to get loose, but found that it no use. The rag was pushed into her face. Kemi tried to hold her breath, but that only made things worse. Her lungs screamed for air and she began to grow weak. She choked as she inhaled the sickeningly sweet smell of the chloroform-soaked rag. Her eyelids grew heavier as she lost the battle to stay conscious.

Tyne couldn't sleep. He stood up from where he had been sitting in a reclining chair in the bedroom that he shared with Jacen Solo. Jacen had fallen asleep in his clothing because he hadn't felt like changing. Tyne looked out the window and noted that it had started to rain. He frowned and went to go shut the air vent by the window. He flipped the switch to shut the vent and walked over to the window. He looked out the window, watching the flashing of light coming from the Star Specter. He hoped that it would be open sometime before they left because he knew how interested in it Kemi had been and he hoped that she would have the chance to go there. Tyne pulled the curtains closed and then turned and walked towards the door. He quietly pressed the button and the door opened. He stepped outside and walked over to Kemi's door. He knocked softly at first, giving her time to come to the door. When a few minutes passed, he knocked again; this time harder. After a few more minutes, he pushed the button to override the lock on the door. When he entered Kemi's room he noted that she wasn't there. Alarmed, he immediately went to inform the others.

When Kemi awoke, she found herself tied up. There was a girl hovering over her that looked like all of the other children around her, but this girl winked at Kemi. Kemi immediately recognized this girl as Kiya. "Shh!" The girl put a finger over her mouth. "I'm going to get you out of here." The girl took a small knife out of her pants and began to cut at the ropes around Kemi's legs. When several of the other children came close, the girl turned her back towards Kemi and hid the knife behind her back. When the others left, Kiya leaned over a little closer to Kemi. "If something happens and I get called away, make a dash for the door to the parapet. You'll find it open. It's where I've been hiding." Kiya said as she continued to cut at the rope. "I'll try to provide a distraction so that no one sees you." The girl said matter-of-factly as if it was a sure thing that her plan wouldn't misfire. Kemi nodded.

Several of the ladies started to walk their way, so Kiya dropped the knife into Kemi's lap and walked away, pretending that she was making her rounds just as all of the other clone children had been programmed to do. Kemi did her best to pretend that she wasn't almost free. As the others came closer to her, she huddled in fear, afraid that they would see the slashed rope. Everyone walked past her. When the coast was clear, Kemi wriggled so that the knife fell beside her and she picked it up between the bound palms of her hands and brought it up to her mouth. Taking it in her mouth, she began to work at slitting the rope around her wrists. When she was done, she let the knife fall into her lap and began to tear at the rest of the rope around her wrists with her teeth.

When her hands were free, she picked up the knife and quietly started to crawl towards the door inch by inch because the clones were still making their rounds. When she reached the door, she opened it and crawled out. Hearing a commotion from where she had come, she stood up and jammed the knife into the controls on the door, causing an electrical malfunction that she hoped would hold the clones out for awhile. She cautiously made her way around the parapet and away from the banging commotion at the door.

"That was close." Kiya's small voice barely rose above the hubbub, startling Kemi. "I don't know how much time we've bought with the door being jammed, but I think we have enough time to make a plan. First, there's something that we need to do." The girl came closer to Kemi, so Kemi bent down so that she could hear Kiya's plan. As Kemi bent down, Kiya's eyes immediately focused on the star-shaped locket that hung from Kemi's necklace. The child reached up, yanked it off Kemi's neck, and then ran to the railing at the sides of the parapet and dangled the necklace over it. Angrily, Kemi stormed after the girl.

"Give that back to me." Kemi demanded. "It's my mother's." Kiya scooted backwards away from Kemi because she knew that Kemi would overpower her if she didn't stay as far away from her as she could. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Kemi caught Kiya and tried to wrestle the necklace out of the girl's hands. Kemi dug her fingernails into the girl's arm, trying to get her to drop the necklace. Both of the girls fell onto the metal grating on the flooring of the parapet.

"You…don't…understand…" Kiya choked as they rolled around on the floor. She kept a death-grasp on the necklace, and the charm cut into her hand. "This necklace…it's no good…" Kiya was out of breath, but Kemi didn't seem to want to listen. Suddenly part of the metal grating gave way, and both girls slipped towards the chasm below them. Kemi grappled for and caught hold of a piece of the metal railing, stopping her free fall. She looked over to Kiya and reached forward, grabbing her arm before she could fall through the hole. Kemi's grip slipped a little and both girls slid dangerously close to the hole in the grating. Clouds swirled around them as the wind picked up. Kemi didn't know how much longer she could hold on. Kiya's legs dangled over the abyss.

"Hang on, Kiya!" Tears filled Kemi's eyes as she lost her focus on the necklace and instead focused on Kiya's face. "Don't let go!"

"Look, over there!" Tyne exclaimed as he pointed towards a beam of golden light that shot straight up from the left side of the parapet that surrounded the Specter. Luke, Jacen, Leia, and Tyne boarded the ship that Lando lent them so that they could go anywhere, including to the Specter, without being afraid of being shot down by airspace control or being torn apart by the drone workers that surrounded the Star Specter.

"Our friend Kemi is generating that light, so that's where we'll find her. Though I've always known that Kemi is like a beacon that attracts the dark side of the Force, I never thought that I'd get the chance to see the actual light that the girl radiates." Luke said as he ran the final pre-flight checks and watched to make sure that everyone fastened their crash webbing. Both Tyne and Jacen leaned forward from where they sat behind Luke and Leia in order to better see the light. Leia sat down in the copilot's chair next to Luke and fastened her crash webbing.

"I know it's a bit scrunched in here, but the sooner we get over there, the sooner we can return with Kemi and get out of here." Luke said back as he noted that Leia didn't seem to care for the cramped space of the ship. Luke piloted the ship closer to the Specter, being cautious around the drones that came perilously close to the ship.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Leia said as she watched the drones crossing to and fro in front of the viewport. "There's something about this situation that's making me very nervous. Those drones are coming awfully close. Are you sure that this ship is small enough to pass through?"

"Lando's been running this ship through here ever since the first days of the Specter's construction, so I'm positive that it's small enough." Luke said. "But I know how you feel." Luke maneuvered the ship between several of the bigger drones. As they passed under the drones, Luke and Leia got a good look at their mechanical components. "We just need to stay on the pathway through the minefield so the drones do not run into us." Luke nodded towards a map to his right which lay directly in front of Leia. She leaned forward to get a better look at the map which showed the pathways of all of the drones in the area which they were traveling.

Kiya's body ached from the strain on her arm. She twisted her other arm around and grabbed hold of part of the grating that remained stable. Suddenly the whole tower started to quake violently. Both girls did their best to hold onto whatever they could, including each other. The necklace slipped from Kiya's grasp and fell into the abyss below. At that moment, the jammed door exploded and the Sith stepped through.

"Foolish child…you thought that your pitiful little tricks would stop me." The Sith's voice boomed. "The day that you were born, your mother unwisely said that you would be more powerful than I." The Sith grinned evilly. "It cost her her life."

Kemi's stomach knotted as she realized that her search had been in vain. "Noooo!" She shrieked. Tears flowed freely from her eyes. Her arms were growing weaker and she felt as if she couldn't hold on any longer. The Sith stepped forward and grabbed hold of Kemi's arm. Kiya screamed out in pain as Kemi's hands began to burn her. Kemi looked at her in a panic and then looked back up at the Sith. The Sith began to laugh evilly.

"That will not work now, child." Kemi noticed that there was a ship hovering nearby, and she sensed that it was her friends. "Did your aunt ever tell you how her mother died?"

"The light disappeared." Tyne said as he looked harder towards the point where he had last observed it. Both Luke and Leia saw something which caught the light as it fell, but paid no mind to it.

"Luke, we need to get over there now!" Leia exclaimed as she pointed towards the gap in the parapet and where the two girls dangled. "The Sith is up there with the girls! Hurry!" Leia hurriedly unfastened her webbing and strode towards the air hatch above where Jacen and Tyne sat. "You need to get under them so that I can grab them." She said as she placed one foot on the side of Tyne's seat and boosted herself up towards the hatch. She operated the latch on the door and pushed it open. Luke maneuvered the ship so that he was directly below the two dangling girls. Leia's hair whipped around in the wind as she pulled herself up out of the ship and steadied herself to stand on its top. She turned towards the hatch where she had just come from. "Jacen, tell your uncle to try to pull up a little closer. I'm not close enough to reach them." Leia had to scream because the blowing wind muffled her voice. The ship rose a few more feet, but still Leia was not able to reach the girls. She was close enough to read the expression of pain on Kiya's face, but she wasn't close enough to reach up and pull her down to safety. "A little more." Leia shouted down.

The Sith pulled Kemi closer to him. She wrenched in pain and her grip on Kiya slipped. "No!" Kemi screamed as her grip slipped even more. The Sith raised Kemi up higher by her arm. Pain shot throughout her whole body and her fingers flared open, releasing their hold on Kiya, sending the girl into a free fall. Leia saw Kiya begin to fall, and she used the Force to slow the girl's decent until Kiya fell right into her arms. Leia guided her to the hatch and then looked back up as Kemi was being pulled back onto the parapet of the tower. Below her, Jacen and Tyne tended to the burns on Kiya's arm from where Kemi had been holding onto her.

"Raise the ship to the level of the parapet." Leia shouted down as the Sith managed to drag Kemi away from the hole in the grating, and back towards the door which led into the tower. When the ship was level with the grating, Leia grabbed hold of

it and pulled herself up onto the parapet. As she did so, she noticed that the metal onto which Kemi had been holding had smoldered where the girl had touched it. She drew her blaster and held it in front of herself as she started walking away from the void in the grating. Leia leaned against the cool stones of the tower and listened. The Sith and the girl were not in view, so she looked around, figuring that they had entered the tower by the door ten feet in front of her. She cautiously approached the doorway.

Kiya winced as Jacen applied salve to her burned arm and then wrapped it in gauze. "The Sith is lying to Kemi." She said as she cradled her arm to her chest, wrapping her other hand around it. Jacen scooted forward to better hear what the girl was saying. "He told her that her mother is dead, but I know that the opposite is true. Her mother is still alive…but just barely…and I know where he is keeping her and the others." Kiya explained. "If we can get Kemi away from the Sith, I don't think he'd be able to locate her again. It was the necklace that acted as a beacon and attracted the Sith to her in the first place."

Luke, who was listening to the girl from his place in the pilot's chair, nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier." Luke scratched his unshaven chin thoughtfully. "That's why the Sith found Kemi's mother and aunt so easily. I have a hunch that Aidia knew that the charm on that necklace was something other than a keepsake."

"That explains why she did her best to keep it away from Kemryi." Tyne said as he moved to sit up with Luke in the seat that Leia had formerly occupied. "There wasn't any trouble until the day that Kemi found it."

At that moment the ship shook violently as something struck its port side. Sirens began to wail and lights began to flash inside the ship. Jacen pushed Kiya into the seat that she had been standing in front of, and then helped her to buckle her crash webbing. He then ran to the cockpit to see if his uncle needed help. Tyne walked back to where Kiya was and strapped himself into the seat beside her, looking around nervously, wondering what was happening.

"Hold that thought, both of you." Luke said over the com.

Jacen's voice came over the in-ship com frequency. "Hold on back there," there was a sense of alarm in his voice, "…the drones are attacking the ship… We're going to have to pull away from the tower." Both Tyne and Kiya covered their ears as a deafening roar rose above the commotion, drowning out whatever Jacen was saying. The ship again rocked violently, causing the lighting to falter and fail, leaving them in utter darkness…

Leia heard the screeching sound of metal colliding with metal and she turned to see one of the drones crash into the hull of the ship. She watched in horror as several more drones careened wildly towards it just before it pulled up and out of the way. She could sense the terror and panic coming from the ship. She drew a deep breath and calmed herself. Her attention was drawn away from the ship as she heard a scream that came from inside the tower. She scooted closer to the door and peered inside to get a better idea of what she was up against. She noted the position of everyone that she could see in the tower, and raised her blaster higher before she made any move to enter the door. Noting that the cylinder that held the light beacon blocked her view partially, she hoped against hope that there weren't too many more people in the room.

She saw that the Sith still held Kemi by the arm, and had backed her against the wall nearest the staircase. He called his lightsaber to his free hand and ignited it, holding it so close to the girl that it singed her clothing. "Scream again and you die," the Sith threatened, "I killed your grandmother by plunging this same lightsaber into her chest. I'll not hesitate to kill you as well." He released his grasp on Kemi and pushed her against the wall. She slid to the floor, scraping her back against the wall, too frightened to move. The Sith turned off his lightsaber and prodded her with its metal handle. "Get up!"

The tower started to quiver, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Kemi shielded her eyes and looked down as she pulled herself up from the floor. As she got up, the Sith slapped her across the face. "Soon you will die, and I will possess what pitiful powers you hold." Kemi cupped her stinging cheek in her hand as she narrowed her eyes. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, but said nothing. The Sith grabbed hold of her arm again and pressed his nails into her skin, drawing blood. Kemi looked down at her bleeding arm and shivered. The tower began to shake even more, this time stones dislodged from the ceiling and fell to the ground around her. Several of the clones who were standing nearby were struck down by falling debris. The Sith sneered at the girl. "Is that all you can do?"

Leia took the distraction to enter the room. "Let the girl go." She called out, her blaster trained on the Sith. "One false move and I'll shoot." Leia moved closer to the Sith, keeping her blaster trained on him. The Sith turned and reached towards Leia's gun, ripping it out of her grasp as he called it towards himself. He then used the Force to knock Leia back out of the door. As Leia stumbled backwards, she caught herself before she could stumble to the ground. She used the Force to send some of the stones shooting towards the Sith, hoping that they would catch him off guard. The Sith simply raised a hand and the rocks changed course, shooting back at Leia.

Leia unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it, its humming blade casting a lime-colored shadow about her face. In a split second, she had reduced the rocks to shards that shattered around her.

"Hold on to something!" Kemi shouted as she looked up at the cone-shaped ceiling of the tower. A low-pitched rumbling sound assaulted their ears. Leia grabbed onto the frame of the door and held tight as more of the stones from around the ceiling fell to the ground around her. She stepped back into the frame to protect herself from falling debris. Kemi struggled free from the Sith's grip and raised both of her hands towards the ceiling. A fierce wind picked up and howled around her, knocking the stones of the ceiling down until the blackness of the night sky shone through. She shielded herself from any stones that fell anywhere near her by simply looking at them. As Kemi watched the stones fall, she moved any of the ones that came dangerously near Leia with the Force.

"Let's get out of here." Kemi called out as she moved away from the Sith who was momentarily stunned at the display of the child's power. "The tower's going to fall!" Kemi ran towards and grabbed hold of Leia's arm and jerked her back onto the parapet. They both glanced around desperately for the ship. Suddenly Leia caught a glimpse of it.

"The drones are still attacking it! I don't know how long its shields will hold." Leia said as she pointed at the ship. Leia pulled a comlink out of her pocket to page Luke. As she did this, the Sith stalked towards them with his lightsaber held high. As Kemi watched him, the wind picked up again, ripping the saber from his hands. She smiled as he looked at her uncertainly, for the first time, fear crossed his eyes. The saber fell into the abyss below them, to forever float in the atmosphere. The tower continued to shake violently as Kemi turned her attention away from the Sith for enough time to be of some aid to the faltering ship. She focused on the drones, gently nudging them away from their collision courses with the ship. The ship drew nearer to the tower as the shaking continued. Kemi turned to see the Sith run back into the tower. She frowned, not knowing what he was up to, but she didn't pay him much more attention as the ship approached them. Both she and Leia held onto the railing of the parapet and used it to guide them out to where the ship was hovering.

Leia stepped down onto the ship first and then turned around to assist Kemi. As they inched their way towards the hatch, they heard a low penetrating rumble. They turned back towards the tower in time to see its bottom layer of rocks begin to crumble under an unseen weight. Leia pushed Kemi towards the hatch, making sure that the girl found her way inside before she, too, jumped in.

"Let's get out of here," Leia said as she strapped herself into an empty chair, "the tower is going to collapse!" Tyne let out the breath that he had been holding, relieved that Kemi was safe. The marks of worry creased his face as he noted that Kemi made no move to strap herself in. As the ship began to rock with the impact of stones that the falling tower spewed at them, he reached forward and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist to keep her from slipping away.

Kiya stood between Jacen and Tyne in the meeting room as she explained the significance of the charm on the necklace that Kemi had worn. Kemi was not among them as she had gone off with Leia to talk with Lando Calrissian concerning any inheritances that she held on Bespin.

"How do you know so much?" Tyne was puzzled. He leaned against the whitewashed wall of the meeting room that they had chosen. Kiya fidgeted a little before she answered, wondering if what she was about to say would cause the boy to pass judgment on her.

"I am a clone. One of a thousand that were created to track the Darkstarr child, who is the heir of the powers of Lord Darren." Kiya sighed. Tyne stepped back, not quite sure whether or not to trust Kiya. "It's not something that I am proud of." Kiya added, noting Tyne's uneasiness. "I am different from the others because I can feel. I have emotions."

"Why should we trust you?" Tyne frowned. "It was you that led him to Kemi, then, wasn't it?" He sized her up with his icy glare.

"I could not help it. All of the clones have been programmed to seek out the signal that the charm emits when the heir wears it. This is something that no longer warrants our worry as I destroyed the necklace." Kiya explained. "I will guide you to where Evande Darkstarr and your friends are being retained."

"Where are they?" Tyne demanded.

"They are on Dagobah. When Lord Darren learned that the Darkstarr child had slipped out of his grasp, he set up base on Dagobah and then set out to pick up her trail. He followed it all of the way to Yavin 4 where he found me and used me to locate Kemryi." Kiya said. "His plan is to feed off of her power and use it to destroy her." Both Luke and Jacen listened intently to what the girl explained. "And now that the necklace is gone, there is no tracking device."

"That means that it's a good idea to get Kemi off of this planet as soon as we can, correct?" Tyne asked as he looked towards Luke. Luke nodded an affirmation.

"The Bespin that your mother knew when she and your Aunt Aidia lived here is not the same as it is now." Lando explained as he punched a few buttons on the holomap, "Cloud City did not exist back then, and it is believed that there was actually a mass of land." The projected image showed a jagged purple-colored blotch where the land mass was believed to have resided. Lando went on with his explanation of what he knew of the history of the planet. "This is only a story that I have heard, but there may be some truth in it. The myth goes that the Royal family of Bespin ruled this land for many millennia until the day that a powerful dark-sider came into power and took over the kingdom." Lando said. "It is said that this dark-sider had a wife who protested his reign. When he discovered her plan to leave the planet, he murdered her and destroyed what land there was. It is said that there were two children who escaped the destruction. They were supposedly the young princesses."

"Well, that sounds true. Kemi's mother was one of those children." Leia said. She turned for a second away from Lando to watch Kemi, who stared out of the window at the swirling clouds. Kemi had pressed both of her hands to the glass and stood there silently watching.

"I'm afraid that there isn't much that I can offer the girl." Lando said. "We didn't find much of anything as we excavated the remains of the land. Most of the land that the Sith destroyed is present in the asteroid field Velser's Ring. If any of you would be interested in investigating, I can arrange an escort to take you up there."

"I don't want anything," Kemi broke her silence as she turned away from the window and looked Lando straight in the eyes; her soft brown eyes piercing his. "You cannot offer what I desire." She spoke in a low, almost whispering tone. Lando looked helplessly at Leia, not sure what he could say to the girl that would be of any comfort to her. Leia nodded to acknowledge his questioning glance, but remained silent.

Leia walked over to the girl and hugged her. "I know that you miss your mother." Kemi pushed her away.

"What do you know of that?" Kemi walked over to the chair by the window and slumped down in it. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window. "You have your family… Master Skywalker, your children, your husband… I have no one but my mother. I don't even know her." Kemi frowned. "What do you know of that?" Leia followed Kemi and stood beside her when she sat down.

"I know more than you think I do." Leia said as she pulled up a chair and took a seat beside her. Kemi kept her gaze on the swirling clouds outside of the window. Her eyes followed the fluffy whiteness of the clouds as they twisted and turned in the surrounding deep blue atmosphere in front of her. "Do you want to talk about it?" Before Kemi had the chance to respond, Lando spoke up.

"Ladies, if you'll excuse me, I've got to oversee the clearing of the wreckage of the Specter." Lando said as he saw what time it was. Kemi turned towards him and frowned, tears flooding her eyes.

"I'm so sorry." She buried her head in her hands and sobbed. She hadn't meant to destroy the lighthouse. "Nothing that I do ever goes right."

Lando walked over to where Kemi sat and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't fret about it. It can be rebuilt." Lando said in his best comforting tone. "Hey, there. Don't spill your tears over it." Lando gave her shoulder a quick squeeze to let her know that it was okay. She smiled at him and wiped away her tears. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off." He said as he turned from them and walked out the door.

Kemi turned back towards the window, not quite wanting to talk to anyone at the moment. Closing her eyes, she reached out with the Force. First she felt the motherly presence of Leia, who was seated beside her. She reached out past the room in which she was and felt Luke, Jacen, and Tyne's presence a few rooms over. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled to relax her tense body. She slouched down further in the plush chair, letting her muscles relax. In her mind's eye, she reached out and brushed the desolate remains of the Specter. An intense sorrow filled her mind and slowly seeped into her spirit. She could sense Leia's empathy as these feelings flooded her mind, but she tried to block her out. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her. As she reached deeper among the ruins of the Specter, she suddenly recoiled. Opening her eyes, she quickly stood up.

"What did you see Kemi?" Leia asked. Kemi looked away, not really wanting to talk to Leia, let alone anyone else at the moment. She was relieved when she turned to see Jacen and the others standing at the door.

"Hey Kemi," Jacen said when he caught her eye. He walked over to her. "What do you call a cross between an astromech droid and an invisible man?"

Kemi studied Jacen's straight face, but she could tell that he was trying his hardest not to start laughing before he delivered the punch line of the joke. She held back a grin of her own, glad for the bit of relief with which Jacen was unknowingly gifting her. She sat back down in the chair behind her, trying to think of an answer that could be as witty as the question. She bit her lower lip, and her brows furrowed in concentration. "Hmmm…"

"Don't think about it Kemi, that takes all of the fun out of it." Jacen said as he watched the girl. "Do you give up?" Jacen asked after giving her a few minutes. Kemi nodded a negative, but Jacen went ahead with the answer anyway. "A cross between an astromech droid and an invisible man would be called an Artoo-Seethrough unit." Jacen watched Kemi's face as she comprehended the joke. She grinned at him, thinking that the joke didn't seem as bad as the others that she had heard.

"Not bad…not bad." Kemi said as she shifted in her chair. She winked at Jacen to show him that she appreciated the cheering gesture. She put her elbows on her knees and cupped her chin in her hands. Tyne sat down in a chair next to Kemi and put his legs up on the small table in front of them. Kemi raised an eyebrow, wondering where Tyne's manners had gone. She then glanced over at Luke to hear more about what he and the others had been discussing.

Seeming to read her mind, Luke spoke up about what they had discovered. "Kiya tells us that the Sith is keeping your friends, and maybe even your mother, on Dagobah." Luke explained. Kemi perked up at the mention of her mother; sitting up straight and leaning more in Luke's direction. "I figure that everyone could use some time to pack up and visit a refresher before we depart, so let's meet in the docking bay in an hour and a half." As Luke said this, his comlink beeped. He reached down and unclipped it from his belt and pushed the receiving button.

"Skywalker here." Luke spoke into the grill plate of the comlink.

Jaina's voice came over the comlink. "Uncle Luke, there are ships hovering above the Academy that have failed to answer the hails that we've sent." She said. "Mara has declared an emergency and Tionne is gathering everyone into the amphitheater."

Luke pressed his lips together until they turned white. "I need you to help account for everyone." The Jedi Master told his niece. "Tell Mara to use other frequencies and try to hail the ships a few more times. If they still don't respond, raise the level of planetary defense." Luke paused for a moment, carefully weighing his choices.

"It's a negative Uncle Luke. There is still no response." Jaina said after a few minutes. "Tionne reports that there are a few students missing. I'll be going out with her to locate them."

"Tell Tionne to inform the others to stay put in the amphitheater. It's best if she remains with them to keep them calm. Tell her to use the calming techniques that I taught her if she needs to. Have Mara go with you to look for the ones who are missing." Luke took a deep breath and looked at his sister as he waited for his niece to acknowledge what he had just said.

"That sounds like a good plan." Jaina came over the comlink again. "Mara wants to know if you'll be coming back any time soon." Luke could hear some garbled background commotion coming over Jaina's end of the com. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, weighing the pros and cons of going back to the Academy or staying with Kemi on her mission.

Luke took a step closer to Leia. "Jaina, tell Maura that I'm on my way. Sit tight until then. Skywalker out." Luke said as he pushed the button to terminate the frequency. He looked up from the comlink. "Leia, I'm going to go back to the Academy to help them there. I don't know what's going on over there, but it sounds serious."

"Be careful Luke, it may be a diversion." Leia cautioned. "Should we wait here for you to return?" Leia questioned. Luke nodded a negative. "Will you be taking the Ninevah?"

"No, you'll need that to continue your mission." Luke said. "I'll borrow one of Lando's ships." Luke pushed several buttons to open a new frequency on the comlink. The device beeped several times before a familiar voice came over the com. The com started to crackle so Luke turned away from the others so that he could get better reception.

"Calrissian here."

Luke paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Lando, there's trouble at the Academy. I'll need the use of another ship because Leia will be taking the Ninevah out to Dagobah."

"You can use one of my ships, buddy, and I'll do a little more than just that. I'll personally send some of my agents to escort the Ninevah to Dagobah. What's going on over at the Academy?" Lando asked. "Would you like some back-up?"

"Meet me out at the Ninevah shortly. We'll discuss the options then. The others are going to refresh." Luke said. "Thanks in advance. Skywalker out." Luke clipped the comlink back onto his belt. He then turned back towards Leia and the others, who were waiting for him to explain the situation. "I'm going to meet Lando at the ship to discuss a few things. Meet us down there when you are ready."

Kemryi studied the image of the imp in the full-length mirror that lined the wall in front of her. The room was dim because the lights were malfunctioning, so she had to lean very close to the mirror to make out any details in the flickering lamplight. She frowned as she squinted at the mirror, noting the new freckles that had appeared on her nose. She wet a tissue and scrubbed at them as if they were dirt. Sighing, she wrinkled her nose as she discarded the tissue. She had been in the sun more in the past few days than she had ever been during her time on Hoth. She missed Hoth with its chilled weather and thought-provoking snow-falls. Looking past her own reflection, she reminisced about the times when she sat at the window seat in her suite at Hoth and watched the snow gather on the ground. She remembered how pretty it was to see the flakes glisten as they reflected light upon their descent.

Refocusing on her reflection, she noticed how ratty her hair had become. Taking a complimentary brush from the countertop, she ran it through her hair several times like she remembered her Aunt Aidia doing when she was little. She then walked over to the mechanism that would style her hair. She sat down on the chair underneath it and pulled its cap down over her head. She closed her eyes, relaxing to the massaging touches of the mechanical fingers. She felt her hair being gently lifted away from her head as the machine intricately wove it into a stylish pattern. Her mind wandered to the distant past. Kemi frowned as she recalled the last moments that she had shared with her aunt. She was saddened by the fact that she hadn't listened to her aunt's warnings about her mother's necklace. She now realized just how dangerous it had been in her hands. She wondered why her aunt hadn't gotten rid of it. Perhaps there was a reason why her Aunt Aidia had chosen to hang on to something that she knew could be potentially dangerous to both herself and to the niece that she was protecting? Perhaps she hung onto the hope that it would somehow lead her to Evadne? Or that it would lead Evadne home to her.

The mechanical device finished braiding her hair and she pulled the cap off of her head. She opened her eyes and glimpsed up at the mirror. Someone was in the doorway. She froze as chills went up her back. It took her a moment to discern who it was. Letting out a sigh of relief, she remained facing the mirror, watching the figure as it stepped forward.

"Come on bright eyes, everyone's already at the ship." Tyne said as he gazed at Kemi's reflection in the mirror. She stepped away from the machine, pocketed the brush, and nodded. "What's with the lights in here?" Tyne stepped back, not taking his eyes off of her reflection. She turned to face him and he moved out of the way to provide the space for her to move out of the refresher unit.

"Guess the generator is faulty." She shrugged. "I could hardly see myself in that mirror." She covered her nose with her hand so that Tyne would not see her annoying freckles.

Tyne smiled at her as she stepped into the light. "You look fine." Tyne said, eyeing her hand on her nose. "What's wrong with your nose?"

"Nothing." Kemi said quickly, blushing.

"Why are you holding it?" Tyne looked at her curiously. He looked for any signs that would tell if she was hurt. "Are you ok?" He whispered as they started walking in the direction of the docking bay. He couldn't take his eyes off of her hair; he watched as it turned from a shade of light auburn to a beautiful brown that near matched the color of her eyes at the moment.

"I'm fine." Kemi looked down at her feet and let her hand fall to her side, quite apprehensive about the fact that Tyne had focused more on her nose when her hand was on top of it. "It's nothing."

"Were you trying to keep your nose from falling off?" Tyne grinned at her, playfully putting his arm around her shoulders. She looked away from him and kept silent as they started walking. As they neared the ship, Kemi saw that Kiya and Jacen stood at the end of the ramp. She scanned the rest of the docking bay to locate Master Skywalker and his sister. They were near another ship, and bits of their conversation drifted her way.

"…must be careful. This monster has obviously been seduced by her attention… he will stop at nothing until he possesses her…back to the Academy with me…" Kemi strained to hear what Skywalker was saying, but start-up roars and choking sublight engines blocked out bits of the conversation.

"We'll be fine…" Leia said matter-of-factly, looking up to see Kemi and Tyne coming. She stepped closer to her brother and said something that Kemi didn't catch. Kemi watched as Skywalker handed his sister a cylindrical item and then uttered something else out of ear shot. Leia took the object from her brother and clipped it to her belt, concealing it in the folds of her white robe. Leia smiled as Kemi approached.

"Are you ready to go?" Leia asked as she stepped towards where her son and Kiya were standing. Kemi nodded and followed, not sure as to what to say to Leia. She knew that the princess was giving up a lot to help her find her mother and the others. She also knew that there was trouble at the Academy and that Jaina Solo was amid the storm.

"Don't worry about my mother." Jacen whispered as he came up to Kemi and put his arm around her shoulder. "She's tough. My sister takes after her in that aspect."

Kemi raised an eyebrow, "Do you always go around reading other people's thoughts, or are you just reading mine to annoy me?" She asked. "I thought that Jedi weren't supposed to do that. Don't you guys have some sort of rule against that?" Kemi felt a little violated, but she didn't feel like making anything more of it. She stepped away from Jacen and went up the ramp to the ship to be alone for a little while before they left.

As she entered the back room of the ship, she noted that she was far from being alone. In the corner of the room stood the golden protocol droid that she had seen earlier and standing right smack in front of the makeshift bed was its astromech counterpart. The protocol droid seemed to be powered down, so she approached the bed quietly as to not alert it to her presence. As she did so, the astromech R2 unit emitted a low-pitched beep to acknowledge her. It slowly rolled towards her, opening one of the doors on its chassis to unfold its extender arm. She watched it curiously as it approached. The droid then emitted a low almost sad sounding beep which made Kemi wonder if the droid could tell that she was feeling a bit down. Kemi sat down on the bed and let the droid come closer. It placed its extender hand softly on her lap as if to comfort her.

"You know how I feel don't you?" Kemi was surprised to hear her own voice, but even more surprised that she was talking to this droid as if it were a person. She wondered if it really could tell that she was a little sad. "I can't seem to do anything right." She said with a sigh. "I wrecked that beautiful light tower, my friends have been abducted because of me, and now I have snapped at Jacen." The droid emitted a sympathetic moan. She leaned a little closer to it and extended her hand. The droid rolled backwards a couple of inches and beeped in surprise; not quite having had anticipated that Kemi would reach out. Kemi jerked her hand away. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Artoo's beeping woke up his metallic counterpart. Threepio stuttered to life, straightening himself from his slumped position as he powered up. He emitted a few blips and beeps before coming to full attention. "Good day Mistress Darkstarr." Threepio said as the lights in his eyes flickered on. Kemi studied Threepio's golden metallic body wondering what kinds of gadgets and gizmos made him tick. Artoo emitted a series of clicks and whirs followed by a shrill, high-pitched scream that sounded like metal scraping against metal. It was as if he knew that the thought of disassembling his protocol friend had crossed the girl's mind. Kemi covered her ears as it grew louder. Threepio flailed his arms and toddled towards his friend.

"Artoo-Detoo, what has gotten into you?" There was worry in the protocol droid's voice. Kemi watched as the protocol droid bent over and tapped his astromech counterpart on the head, and noted that one of the bulbs that back lit Threepio's eyes had blinked out. Obviously Artoo had noticed too because he warbled something at his friend. Threepio raised a hand to his eyes. "Oh my. I can't see!" Not wanting to hear a bunch of whiny complaints, Kemi quickly hit Threepio's power switch. Artoo blipped out something that sounded like a question.

"Don't worry, I can fix him." She said while searching around the room for some tools. Finding a toolbox, she rummaged through it until she located something that would work to her liking and then walked back over to where Threepio stood slumped. Artoo gurgled a few more things, but Kemi ignored him for the time being so that she could concentrate. She opened up Threepio's eye piece and removed the old bulb. Holding it up to the light, she turned it over several times so that she could have a good look at it, before bringing it down and flicking it with her fingers several times. The wiring in the bulb appeared to be rather new so it confused her that it could have malfunctioned so soon. She wondered if it was a dud. Walking back to the toolbox, she rummaged through it and pulled out a replacement bulb. Taking the bulb with her, she stood before Threepio and pushed it into the empty socket, slipping the cover piece over it so that it clicked closed.

Artoo whistled as Kemi threw Threepio's switch. The protocol droid powered up, emitting a few clicks and whirs as he straightened himself. "Good day Mistress Darkstarr." Threepio said. At that moment Princess Leia walked up the ramp. She looked from Kemryi to the two droids and back. "Good day Senator," Threepio purred, "it's so good to see you. Might I remind you that you have a conference scheduled today? You requested my services as a translator as you revisit the Meridian Sector to re-emphasize the treaty that you signed with them a week ago."

Leia stood still, looking perplexed for a minute because Threepio's reminder had caught her completely off-guard. She hardly ever forgot about conferences, let alone ones as important as this one was to her career. She had come aboard the ship, seeking Kemryi to tell her about the daydream that she had had about the girl's mother, and now she was staring a time conflict straight in the face. She nodded at Kemi, letting the conference slip from her mind for the moment. Leia walked over to the couch and motioned for the girl to join her. As soon as Kemi had seated herself and had quit wiggling, the Princess spoke.

"I grew up on Alderaan, a peaceful world with no planetary defense." The princess leaned in a little bit closer to Kemi. "The planet was destroyed by a powerful superweapon without warning. Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader were behind its annihilation, and I was the reason why it was destroyed." A tear welled up in the Senator's eyes as what she had so long tried to forget came to surface. She had thought that the time she had explained the story of the planet's death to her youngest son, Anakin, would be the last, but here she found herself again, struggling to lay the details on the table. "There was nothing that I could have done. In a flash, my whole world was gone…literally."

Kemi wondered where Leia was going with this. "I was about nine years older than you are, and I thought that I had everything under control." Leia said, thinking back. "But, before any of this happened, there was a young couple that lived there. They had two small children, both of them little girls. One of the girls had beautiful red hair and the other had dusty brown hair, and both of them had the same birthmark which graces your face. Kemi raised her hand to her cheek to touch the Empress's star as she thought of the implications of what Leia was telling her. The princess went on, "Their father was a powerful man who was feared by many. No one dared to associate with the girls or their mother because of his rage. One day the children and their mother came to the bridge side to watch an emerald dawn while I was there."

"The children seemed to be pretty happy until he showed up, demanding that they return to their abode." Kemi listened intently to what Leia was explaining about her mother's family, all the while trying to make connections in her mind as to what had happened in her mother's past and her own past. "He controlled every aspect of their lives, and they hardly were ever out of his sight. I don't know if he was always like this, but I don't think that he would have been, or their mother would have never consented to marry him." Leia said. "But that's beside the point. The children that they had were very special indeed. Both children were force-sensitive, but it was the eldest girl who displayed the most potential. The eldest girl, your mother, was also the heir to the throne of Bespin. Since your grandmother was of the Royal Family of Bespin, it was natural that her eldest daughter would someday be the matriarch. Your grandfather's plan was to hold his wife and children captive and force your grandmother to rule the planet to his liking. He succeeded for awhile until one day your grandmother revolted. It was then that he killed her." Leia said as she recounted what she had been taught in school. She was no longer recounting from her dream. She then took a deep breath, continuing with what she had learned from her brother.

"Your mother and her sister were separated and were supposed to meet back on Kashyyyk, but your mother's ship crashed. This is where she met Rhannon Darkstarr, your father, who was training to become a Jedi. His mother was a great Jedi Master named Mim Darkstarr. Luke told me that your mother would always get very emotional when she told him what happened to your father and his mother and everyone else in the village. It seems that your grandfather had tracked your mother to the village and had destroyed everything in it…people included. Your mother miraculously was not present at the time of the massacre."

"Your grandfather went as far as to hunt both your mother and your Aunt Aidia down and kidnap your mother. The fact that your mother was pregnant at the time didn't faze him at all. In fact, he used it against her; causing her to go into premature labor so that he could force her to go with him." Leia paused for a moment to give Kemi time to soak in the information. "My brother assumes that your grandfather realized his mistake and began to track you down because you are the next heir. He killed your aunt, he may have already killed your mother, and he will stop at nothing until he possesses you."

Kemi studied her feet for a moment, letting her emotions wash over her. A chill went up her spine and she shivered at what she had to face in the near future. Perhaps she should just run as far away from this problem as she could get. She wasn't sure she wanted to face her grandfather, especially since he seemed to have it in for her.

"Will you do me a favor, kid?" Leia said as she drew the girl closer to herself in an embrace. Kemi leaned into Leia's shoulder and listened closely to the Senator's request. "Don't take everything into your own hands. In the end, it may cost you everything that is near and dear to you." Tears welled up in Leia's eyes as she contemplated her last sentence. "Now, let's get going."

Kemryi nodded solemnly, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat. A tear trickled down her cheek.

Jaina Solo shook her fist in challenge at the Star Destroyer that loomed overhead. Darkness was creeping across the horizon, and she could see the ship's lights. She was standing on the roof of the temple in her uncle's favorite meditation spot, having had come up there to get away from the chaos and confusion that reigned below. Most of the other students were panicking as they sat in the auditorium, and Jaina didn't want to deal with their questions and doubts. Earlier, as she had ascended the hidden staircase, she tried not to let their running around and worried talking bother her. She had more important things demanding her attention. Tionne and Mara Jade had found the lost students, and they were safe in the amphitheater. Jaina heaved a sigh of relief at this thought as she knew that her uncle's main concern lie in the wellbeing of his students.

As if in answer to her challenge, a reddish energy bolt sizzled across the sky, charging the atmosphere around Jaina. She spun around in shock and watched as it hit the ground at a distance from where she stood. A plume of smoke rose from the trees. She could hear the crackle and popping sounds of a fire in the distance. Recovering from the initial shock, it took a moment before the full realization of what was happening dawned on the girl; planetary shields had failed. She shivered at the thought that crossed her mind next: their attackers had disabled planetary defense.

Jaina gasped as the temple sirens blared out in warning. She reeled around and dashed back inside. What she thought had been chaotic before turned out to be a bit of an understatement as she observed what was going on in the temple now. Some of the students pushed past her screaming, and she had to quickly dismiss several thoughts that crossed her mind. First of all, why where these students here if they ran screaming at the first threat that came their way? Second, what happened to whoever it was that was supposed to keep order? Jaina ran into the amphitheater looking for either Tionne or Mara Jade. Not finding them there, she detoured for the control room. Upon entering the control room, she found both Mara and Tionne hovering over the console. She raised an eyebrow at the expressions on both women's faces.

"What's going on?" Jaina's voice came softer than she had expected. She cleared her throat and restated her question in a louder voice. Both of the women looked up at her a bit startled.

"We don't know how they've done it, but planetary defense in on the blitz. The ships above us have cracked the code to the system, and we've been trying to re-activate it." Tionne said. "It's not responding. Mara or I will have to go out to the bunker and try to reactivate it manually."

"I think the bolt struck somewhere near there." Jaina said. Mara raised an eyebrow this time. "Do you think that they scrambled the operating frequency?" Jaina pondered. "Perhaps that's how they were able to fire upon the bunker."

"What were you doing out there?" Mara questioned, ignoring Jaina's musings for the moment. "We are under a shut down. You know that it's standard procedure to be in your room preparing for an attack."

"You saw where the bolt hit?" Tionne interrupted. Jaina nodded an affirmative. "Then it seems that our theory is correct. Our next move would be to get out there and try to reactivate it before the ship above sends out scouts." Tionne continued. "By the looks of it, we don't have much time."

Tyne was strapping himself into his seat when Kemi returned. Looking up, he immediately noticed the worry creases that ran along her forehead. "What's wrong?" He asked. She looked away from him, not really sure what to say. So many thoughts were careening through her mind and she really hadn't the time to sort them out.

"I don't want to talk about it." Kemi said as she took the seat in front of him. She silently strapped herself in and took interest in gazing out the window. "It's nothing that you did or anything like that. I just need some time to myself to reflect." She said as she saw look of concern on his face. She really didn't want him to pry anymore.

At that moment, Jacen walked into the ship plopped down in the seat next to Kemi. He seemed very much alive, and she wondered if he could even tell that she was feeling kind of gloomy. "Hey Kemi," He winked at her and she wondered what he had up his sleeve. "Tell me, what's the difference between an AT-AT and a stormtrooper?"

Kemi rolled her eyes. This one seemed easy enough. "I don't know. Is it the fact that they both can walk crush you dead at the first step?" She said. She knew that her reply wasn't funny enough to be the real answer to the joke, but at this point she really didn't care. She just wished that she could disappear. Jacen scooted a little closer to her.

"One is an Imperial walker and the other is a walking Imperial." Jacen smirked. He leaned in even closer. "I know that there are a million feelings going through your head and heart right now. I'm not trying to be aggravating." He whispered.

"Well, you're doing a pretty good job of being aggravating anyways. I know that you're just trying to cheer me up, and I appreciate that. It's just that we're about to start a journey that I want to take with my whole heart. I don't feel that I have the means to be able to take it on. There is potential for a lot of pain, and I don't know if I should face that. But, this is the only way that I'll get to see my mother. If it all fails and something terrible happens, just seeing my mother would make it all worth while. Plus, I have to think about my friends who have been kidnapped because of my grandfather's vendetta." Kemi explained.

"Kemi, don't feel that you have to do anything that you don't want to do. If you don't want to go through with this, we can rescue your friends without you. I understand that you have a lot on your plate, and it would be perfectly okay if you needed to just walk away from all of this. No one would hold anything against you." Jacen explained. Tyne nodded his verification, and unfastened his crash-webbing. He hovered above Kemi, aggravating the hell out of her. She hated when people stood directly over her because it invaded her privacy.

"What about my mother?" Kemi tried to hold her tears back, but it didn't work. "I want to be with her. I can't walk away from the only chance that I may ever get to see her. I'd hold everything against myself if I didn't at least see her."

"Whatever you decide, you can count on our support." Tyne said as he patted Kemi's back. At that moment the ship hummed to life around them. "It'll be okay."

"I'm up for an adventure! Let's kick off this rescue mission!" Kemryi said as she turned her gaze one last time towards the skeleton of the once majestic guide-tower. Her eyes followed the drones as they darted back and forth attempting to contain the floating debris a safe distance from civilization. She heaved a sigh and let her heavy thoughts and feelings slide off her back. The ship's engine purred to life and within seconds it lifted off the ground, followed closely by an escort ship.

Kemi decided that this would be a good time for a short nap. As Kemi nodded off in her chair, Jacen and Tyne watched her sleep.

"We have contacted your uncle and he's on his way. I hope he can make it through that blockade. If not, he's in for a bumpy ride. He may not be able to enter the atmosphere if that patrol up there doesn't let down. I'm afraid that the situation has gone from bad to worse." Tionne said. "If we can get planetary defense back online, we might have a fighting chance."

"Jaina, go find Tenel Ka and your brother Anakin and meet me in the amphitheater. Tell anyone else that you see to prepare to fight." Mara Jade said as she grabbed her lightsaber from where she had laid it and quickly exited the room. Jaina stared at Tionne for a minute before it dawned on her that she was to be part of the task force that was to be sent to re-activate their only hope for survival. She turned to leave, but something stopped her. She hesitated, wondering why her legs didn't want to move.

BOOM!

The impact of the blast knocked Jaina off her feet. She struggled to regain her balance amid falling debris. She ducked under the console and braced herself for another strike. At that instant the com unit crackled to life. She couldn't see Tionne through all of the smoke and dust, but she could hear the woman answer the com.

"Tionne here."

"This is Skywalker. From the looks of it, I may not be able to penetrate this blockade. Has the armada made any attempts at contact?" The comlink crackled as it searched for a better frequency.

"Negative. There has been no response to our hails either." Tionne said. "Planetary defense has been knocked out. They've made no attempts at landing thus far, but it's our guess that it's not far off. We don't know why they are attacking." Tionne took a deep breath before continuing. "We've just received a blast to the compound. Damage is at a minimum, but that doesn't mean that they won't target it again. As far as I know the temple has not been besieged as of yet."

BOOM!

Jaina ran from her place of cover and didn't look back. Tripping out of the control room, she stumbled down the hallway to find her brother. Upon finding his room, she entered but was not surprised when she didn't find him there. Giving up on looking for him for the moment, she decided to go to Tenel Ka's room. Tenel Ka was in her room, crouching with her saber lit waiting for an intruder. Jaina caught her off-guard and she swung her saber. With lightning-quick instinct, Jaina's own saber flew to her hands and parried the blow. Surprised, Tenel Ka switched off her saber.

"I'm sorry. I did not know it was you." Tenel Ka said as she came closer to Jaina.

"Have you seen Anakin?"

"The last time I saw him, he was in the mess hall talking with the others." Tenel Ka said. "What's going on?"

"The ships above us have failed to identify themselves, and it's clear that their intent is hostile." Jaina said as she looked out the window. The view afforded her an opportunity to glance upward. Since it was getting near dark, she could see the red bursts from the ships' gunners. Apparently there was something that had caused them alarm because by the looks of it they had released both their scout ships and their gunners. She backed away from the window and re-joined her friend.

BOOM!

Tenel Ka lost her balance and fell into Jaina. "Mara wants us to go to the bunker to re-enable planetary defense. We need to find Anakin and get to the amphitheater right away." Jaina helped her friend re-gain her footing and both of them hurried out of the room. On their way, they met up with many of the other students. Without pausing to talk, Jaina simply told them to prepare for an assault.

Upon arrival, Luke quickly assessed the situation and switched all power to the ship's deflector shields. He had arrived just in time to see scouts and gunners burst forth from the hull of several of the assault ships that hovered directly above the planet. He decided to take his ship around to the other side of the planet where the other ships had seemed to neglect their guard. It seemed that all of the focus was on the Jedi Academy because the smaller ships headed straight for it. Luke hoped that they would be able to get planetary defense back online as soon as possible so that they could prevent some of the ships from entering the atmosphere.

As he prepared to land, he attempted to contact the Academy. Static was the only response he got. He hoped that the situation down there was better than the one that was unfolding above the planet. He glanced around the controls for any signs that the ship had any sort of cloaking device. Not finding anything, he held his breath, hoping that none of the ships would discover his whereabouts.

Leia reviewed the last of the check-list that she had to complete before landing. As the ship came upon the planet, she walked back to the passenger area to inform the others
of their arrival. Kemi woke up and blinked twice. Her green eyes changed colors as she did so. They were now a becoming shade of gray. Her hair then changed from it's normal brown tint to a shade of red. Kemryi stood up from her chair and stretched. She hated sitting for prolonged periods of time. She looked out of the window and noted that the starlines of hyperspace had disappeared.

"We're above the planet." Leia said as she walked back to the cockpit. Kemi followed Leia back to the cockpit to see how things were going. Something was beeping insistently. Leia walked to the instrument panel to check the readings. She looked up and beckoned Kemi to come sit beside her.

"These are the coordinates that Luke gave us, but the navicomputer does not recognize them. Luke said that this might happen because Dagobah is not on any of the star charts that it uses as a reference." Leia said as she sat down. "I've been trying to disable it because that beeping is starting to annoy me. I know where we are going so it doesn't matter that the navicomp doesn't know." Leia flipped several more switches. The beeping subsided but a red warning light continued to flash. "Luke said that we're in for a bumpy ride. The climate on the planet will disable all of our instrumentation, so we will be flying into the atmosphere blind. It will take all we've got to keep the ship upright."

"But how will we do that without the instruments?" Kemi asked, eyeing the panel as the Senator continued to flip switches. Leia paused for a second and then turned to look at the girl.

"With the Force," Leia said, "everything can be done. We just need to calm ourselves and let it guide us." Leia smiled as she completed her task. "Now, that reminds me…" Leia reached up and removed a cylindrical object from one of the overhead compartments and handed it to Kemi. The girl took it and turned it over in her hands several times. Kemi knew that it was a lightsaber, but she had never really looked at one this close. Sure, she had seen the other kids practicing with them at the academy, but she'd never held one in her hands. She gripped it and found that her hands fit around it perfectly.

"My brother gave this to me before we left. It belonged to your mother." Leia continued. Kemi stepped away from Leia and switched it on. The blade hummed to life, lighting up the cockpit.

"Thank you." Kemi didn't know what else to say. Besides the cursed necklace that she had lost, this was the only other thing of her mothers that she had ever held. She switched the saber off and clipped it to her belt. "I'm not exactly sure how to use it, but maybe my mother can teach me after we find her."

"That sounds like a good plan. I know that your mother trained under one of the finest Jedi Masters in the galaxy." Leia winked. "I'm sure that this is not the only thing that she will teach you." Leia looked from Kemi to the viewport. The hugeness of the boggy planet filled the screen. "Go tell the others that we are preparing to land and then get back up here and strap yourself in as fast as you can." Leia said as she started pre-landing procedures. Kemi got up and ran through the cockpit door to the back of the ship. She stood there nearly breathless with excitement for a couple of minutes before she spoke up.

"Strap yourselves in because we are going to land now." Kemi said. No sooner than the words left her mouth, she was back up in the cockpit strapped into the copilot's seat. Kemi watched in silence as Leia flipped switches and turned other mechanisms. The dense bog got thicker as they entered the atmosphere of the planet.

"Where do you suppose he can be?" Tenel Ka called back to Jaina as she raced along the corridors of the temple. "We've looked just about everywhere for Anakin and he's nowhere to be found." Her red braids jumped up and down around her neck as she ran, coming unbraided in the frenzy. She didn't really notice, and had she noticed, she really wouldn't have cared.

"Let's just go to the amphitheater without him." Jaina yelled. As the entered the amphitheater, both girls were surprised to see Anakin already seated alongside Mara Jade. They both quickly took seats on either side of them. Anakin shot them a 'what took you so long?' glance which received a glare from Jaina and a puzzled look from Tenel Ka.

"It was hard to find you, this is a fact. And here you are ahead of us." Tenel Ka explained her bewilderment. "Where were you?"

"This is no time for idle chit-chat." Mara cut off the conversation as she stood up and turned on the holomap. A three-dimensional projection of the bunker appeared in front of them. Jaina leaned in closer to make out the details of the map as Mara tapped a few buttons to demonstrate what she was about to say. "Here is the location of the control panel housed in the bunker." A blipping green light appeared to pinpoint its location. "You task is to penetrate the bunker and manually reactivate the controls to planetary defense. It seems as if the blasts from the ship have only frazzled the satellite, so manual reactivation is possible." Mara explained. "There are only two ways into the control room, and if the scouts have landed, they will probably be swarming around the main entrance. If this is the case, there is a less obvious back entry through the temple. You must be careful not to let anyone see you come from that way. If you are spotted, this will give them direct entrance into our Academy. We will set up defense around that area, but since it leads right inside the temple, this is one of the downfalls. We cannot let them gain access to the inside of the temple." Mara warned. All three children nodded and stood up to get a closer look at the holoprojection.

More sirens began to wail out their protests and the ship careened through the foggy atmosphere. Leia reached up quickly to disable each of them as they sounded. The ship rocked back and forth violently as Leia struggled to keep control. All of the force-wielders that were aboard the ship used all their might to try to calm its decent. Kemi shuddered as she heard the snapping and cracking of tree limbs as the ship decimated them. After the bumpy ride, the ship came to a deafening halt. More alarms sounded to notify the occupants that the landing had disabled the ship. Leia looked at the ship's diagnostics sadly, and the five of the ship's occupants groggily walked towards the nearest tree, carrying their belongings.

"The ship will need repairs before we can leave. Perhaps we should scout the area for ship parts." Leia said. "There are many ships that wrecked on this planet. Finding parts should be quite easy."

"Who will stay with the ship and our belongings?" Tyne asked. "By the looks of it, there doesn't appear to be anyone else around, but there are probably wild animals here." Tyne said as he turned himself in a circle so that he could observe all around. Kemi dropped her stuff and then slumped down at the base of the big tree under which they had come to rest. The nap that she had taken while in the ship didn't seem to be doing her any good. She frowned as she put her head in her arms and stretched to lie on her side, entwining her legs with the roots of the tree.

"Kemi and Jacen can stay here." Came Leia's answer. "It seems that Kemi might be too tired to stand guard herself, so Jacen can be on watch while she gets some rest. If any wild animals come this way, Jacen will be able to handle the situation, I'm positive." Leia said as she winked at her son, acknowledging the fact that she knew he had a knack of dealing with animals of all shapes and sizes. Leia and the others went off in search of any signs of wrecked ships or of the captive party. As time passed, Kemi fell into sleep, deeper than she had ever had before…

Entangled within the tree at which she slept was an evil presence greater than anything that had been known with malevolence so powerful that it fed on the very essence of the slumbering girl. The more Kemi slept, the deeper she plunged into the abyss.

BEGIN DREAM

A man robed in black walked up to Kemi. "Ah the new student is here. I have been waiting for you for a long time. I am Master Darren. I will be your teacher. I will let you chose what you'd like to learn this class. I can teach you history, saber training, or new ways to use the force." The hooded figure said. "So, what will it be?"

Kemi looked around for Jacen, but she didn't see him or any of the others around. She looked at the man curiously, but felt no fear towards him. Kemryi nodded at the man as she stood up. "I'm not really sure what I want to learn." She said, then she stopped to think a little. "Perhaps I can learn to control the Force a little better." Kemi said to Master Darren.

"I find things happen to me that I really don't like," she went on, "for example, when I ate in the mess hall at the temple, my bowl hovered above me without me being able to make it come back down. I was really embarrassed. I know that it was me who was making it float; I just don't know how I did it. I don't even know how to make it stop
either." Kemryi said.
"Who are you, child?" The robed man asked Kemi. She then remembered that she had not properly introduced herself. If this man was to train her in the ways of the Force, he needed to know her identity. It seemed to be getting darker where they stood, but when Kemi looked around, she saw that she was in a cave within the roots of the old tree at which she had rested.

"My name is Kemryi Leanndra1 Darkstarr," Kemi said, "You can call me Kemi for short." Kemi studied the roots of the cavern. She thought it odd that there was no greenery around. "I just want to learn how to control this power inside of me." Kemi said. "So, what are we going to learn first over here?" Kemi asked. Slowly the roots of the tree gave way to a running river and many piles of rocks. Kemi blinked, wondering how they had gotten there all of a sudden, but dismissed her curiosity.

"See those rocks? Move them into the river." Master Darren ordered. Kemi looked at the rocks...it all looked easy enough... She succeeded in lifting them towards the water with the force, but then something strange happened...all of the rocks came hurtling at them. Kemi threw herself to the ground, but not fast enough to evade one of the lower rocks, which hit her in the arm.

Seven of the rocks came hurtling at Master Darren but they disintegrated to dust just before they reached him. " Okay... I think we need to work on that." Master Darren raised his hand and twenty more rock came flying to him. "This time don't think about any thing but the rocks, and will the Force to raise the rocks, don't try to compel the Force to raise the rocks, trust me it doesn't work."

"What happened?" Kemi was puzzled. She thought she had been doing fairly well. The man ignored her question and pointed towards the rocks. Kemi looked at them cross-eyed and then made a face. She grimaced at what a fool she had made of herself. Kemi turned towards Master Darren and then turned back towards the rocks. She then struggled and lifted one of the smaller rocks and motioned it to go back into the water from which it had been taken.

"Now try it again." Master Darren closed his eyes and clenched his hands low in front of him. Drawing upon the Force, he reached out and grasped two-dozen small stones from the nearby river. He knew that skill was just as important as power if not more so. After all, one's strength did not matter if one could not wield it. The stones floated smoothly into the air to hang at different levels centered around Master Darren, then they began spinning in perfect circles of alternating directions. Master Darren set each pebble at a different height and speed, forcing himself to maintain control of every single rock constantly. Soon the dark-clad figure stood at the calm eye of a whirlwind of stones.

Kemi watched the whirling rocks that Master Darren was focusing on controlling and shook her head. She then used the Force to hurl another three rocks into the spinning whirlwind. She watched for a second, wondering if he would be able to maintain control of his rocks and also control the rocks that she put in.

Master Darren's brow furrowed as several objects flew into the web of Force he had woven to create his whirlwind. The disturbance was sudden and distracting. Gritting his teeth, he fought for control while the whole circle of stones became chaotic and erratic in its movement. After a moment, Master Darren had sweat beading on his face, but he seemed to have worked the new stones into his web in a disorganized and staggered pattern. Then Master Darren fell to his knees under the strain of concentration and the whirlwind eroded into corrupted elliptical spins before scattering randomly across the ground. He remained crouched on his hands and knees shaking with the exertion of his effort. The girl seemed to be more powerful that he had estimated. Raising his head to snarl at Kemryi, perspiration dripped from his face as his eyes burned in anger.

"How dare you! What was the meaning of that?" The man shouted. Kemi backed up a bit, but something about the anger of the man drew her more to him. She felt his power. Master Darren used the Force to replenish his strength. He smiled….she was nearly under his control… "Now try again."

Kemi picked up the nearest rock with the force and used all her strength to hold onto it with her mind. She felt as if this was going to drain everything out of her, but then she felt that she had to do it. The stone lifted smoothly and then went over to the water and dropped in with a huge ker-plunk. She then focused on another and then another and suddenly every free rock within a mile radius was floating at them and towards the
water under Kemi's direction... When she realized what was happening, that her pull was too strong, she let go and every rock dropped to the ground.

Jacen felt something strange, but he couldn't put his finger on it. There was some sort of power coming from the tree at which Kemi slept. He didn't know what to think of it, but he knew that he'd better wake his friend and have her move. He gently tapped the girl on the shoulder, but she didn't respond. Growing more alarmed at each tap, he started to shake her. Still she didn't respond…

Jacen closed his eyes and focused on Kemi, seeing what she saw in her dream. Initially he recoiled from the shock of the evil that penetrated her, but he probed deeper, knowing that his friend's life could be at risk. Concentrating, Master Darren began his whirlwind of rocks again, spinning each pebble separately. Suddenly, he felt the presence of a light-sider. He chose to ignore Jacen for the moment. He was engrossed in feeding off of the energy that radiated from Kemi. He was about to attempt the exercise again, but his head whipped around to stare at Kemryi as the stones he had been practicing with flew in her direction. He grinned evilly as he tested the strength of the girl.

Jacen's eyes widened as he saw the mass of rocks floating above the young girl. There were millions of them, rocks, stones, and pebbles of all kinds. The mass must have weighed hundreds of tons. Jacen's eyes widened in astonishment as his mouth fell open in a gape. It should not have been possible. No Force-wielder was that powerful, even the legends never spoke of such a feat. Jacen looked at the Sith Lord to see if perhaps he was helping the girl, but he was not. Yet there was the sight right before him. Jacen could feel the Sith Lord's hatred for Kemi seething because he was harshly disillusioned of any notion that he was greater than this girl.

Jacen began to reach up to touch the marvel when the stones all came raining down from the air. He saw that the floating sea of stones was centered mostly over Kemryi, and that there were enough of the pebbles that she could very well be crushed. In that split second, Jacen made a decision. He chose to risk his life. A burst of Force sent him surging forward in a lightning-fast sprint and he pulled Kemryi to the ground and covered her a moment before the cascade crashed down on them. Jacen projected as potent a Force push above his body as he could create, trying to deflect the onslaught as he screamed in warning.

"Wake up Kemi!" Then the rain of stones ended and they were still alive. Jacen pushed to his knees. Stones rolled from his back as he stared down at the girl before him as if she had just performed a miracle. It was not far from the truth. The impact of Jacen's body as they tumbled to the ground was enough to jolt the girl awake.

END DREAM

Kemi's eyes snapped open and she saw Jacen hovering over her. "What's going on?" She asked. Her body ached wherever it had touched the roots of the old gnarled tree. She shifted her weight and reached for a branch so that she could pull herself up. She secured her fingers around the nearest branch and pulled with all her might. The branch snapped off in her hands and she dropped it as a searing pain shot up her back. She felt something hard against her foot. Struggling, she tried to push herself up off the ground. Jacen stepped further forward and offered her a hand. Kemi grasped the boy's hand and both struggled to pull Kemi up. The pain returned, but this time it shot up and down her left leg. Jacen let go when he saw Kemi flinch in pain. Glancing down at her leg, she found that the hard object that she'd been leaning against was a rebel root that had somehow entangled her. Jacen's eyes followed hers to her trapped leg and he stooped down to help her free herself.

"We have to get away from here." Jacen said as he put his arms around Kemi's leg and pulled it towards her torso. He gritted his teeth and panted, wondering how her leg could have gotten wedged so far under the root. Both children were exhausted from the pulling when finally at the last heave, Kemi's foot came loose. As she stood up and hobbled away from the tree, Kemi saw that it looked hollow.

"Why?" Kemi stepped closer to the tree to inspect it, noting that it was indeed hollow. The tree peeked her curiosity and she wanted to explore further. "It's just a hollow old tree." She saw a place big enough to walk into, and disappeared inside. Jacen hurriedly followed her, protesting all of the way.

"There is something evil about this tree. It's steeped in the dark side of the Force." Jacen said as he cleared some brush away from where it hung too close to his face. "Coming in here was not a good idea." Jacen touched Kemi's shoulder hoping that she'd turn back, but to no avail, so he followed her deeper into the cave. His other hand rested on his lightsaber, which was fastened to his belt. "Let's go back. I don't like this." Jacen said as the darkness lay heavy on his chest, overwhelming him. Kemi turned and looked at him with disgust.

"Go back if you want. I am not keeping you here." She snapped in a voice that was so unlike her. She then turned and walked a little further until she could no longer see where she was going. She then stepped into the total darkness, letting her hands feel along the damp innards of the tree hollow. "But if you're going to stay, can you at least switch on your lightsaber? It's darker than heck down here." Her voice grew more shaky and uncertain as she walked on. Jacen lost sight of Kemi as she walked several feet in front of him. He nodded warily as he drew out his saber and switched it on. He wanted to make sure that Kemi didn't get hurt, so he chose to follow her into the deep evil emptiness that radiated from the tree-cave.

"Be careful Kemi." Jacen called as he stepped around a corner. As the light from his saber illuminated the place, both of the kids caught sight of the shivering figures of several others huddled together in a corner. The shivering forms shrunk from the brightness that had been introduced into their dark world. There were three of them all-together, and Kemryi recognized them immediately despite the mud that was caked everywhere on the children. Even in the dim light that the saber cast, the children looked bedraggled and malnourished. There was an overwhelming sense of sorrow that emanated from them.

"We need to get them out of here." Kemi said to Jacen as she pointed at the other children. The sorrow clung to both Kemi and Jacen, making it difficult to breathe. "Let's get them back to the ship where they can refresh." Kemi stepped forward, blocking the blinding light from the faces of her friends.

"Who or what was keeping them in here?" Jacen asked. "We need to move quickly before we find out the answer." He reached forward with his free hand and helped Ryma stand up. Kemi helped both Corla and Jordan stand up.

"Come on!" Kemi said as she turned around, pulling Corla along with her. Jacen stayed back as the other two kids passed him, and then he also hightailed it out of there. Jacen switched off his lightsaber when he no longer needed it for light. No sooner had he done that, the weapon flew from his hands. A feeling of dread crossed his mind.

"Something's not right." Jacen called out, but everyone walked on as if controlled by some energy outside of themselves. When they stepped out of the tree, everyone fell forcefully to their knees except Kemi. She remained steady on her feet; the pull of the Force didn't seem to affect her. Nearby, Leia and the others were also down on their knees. Scattered around them were the ship parts that they had gathered. Everyone looked at the dark-clad sith in horror.

"At last we meet again Darkstarr child." Sith Lord Darren hissed through clenched teeth. "I have tested you and know your weakness." He moved closer to her and she stepped backwards. "This time I will win." He yelled at her. "I have all of your friends under my control." He pointed at the others and laughed evilly. "I have prepared for this all of my life and now I will possess you as I did your mother."

Kemi's eyes widened at the mention of her mother. "Where is my mother?" She called out. "I want to see her." The sith grinned and laughed.

"Your mother is dead. She died long ago." The sith sneered.

"That's not true!" Kiya screamed out from where she knelt. "Kemi, don't believe him. He's just trying to gain control over you." The sith turned to the clone-child and

sent a searing bolt of electricity at her, causing the girl to wretch in agony. Kemi rushed forward to be by Kiya's side, but a Force push kept her at a distance. She turned back towards the sith and glared.

"Have compassion!" She cried out. "My friends have done nothing to you. Let them go!" Breaking through the Force push, she bravely strode over to Kiya and helped her to stand up. The sith glared, angered at Kemi's ability to undo the control which had kept Kiya on her knees.

"What a pity that you told the girl that her mother lives, because now I have the pleasure to bring the woman here and kill her in front of her daughter." The sith scorned Kiya as he laughed evilly. His words were daggers to Kemryi's heart; she swallowed hard as they sank in, enveloping her in their overwhelming desolation. The sith activated his lightsaber as another woman staggered zombie-like towards the group.

BOOM!

The blast rocked the temple, throwing everyone off balance and dissipating the holomap, blinking light and all. Ceiling dust fell down around them, powdering their hair and orange Academy suits. Jaina sneezed as she swiped at the dust on her suit. She hadn't gotten the chance to look closer at the location of the controls before the blast, but she had a good idea as to where they were located as she'd been with her uncle to inspect and maintain them before.

"That was too close for comfort." Anakin said.

"This is a fact." Tenel Ka said as she also wiped off the dust from her clothing.

"I will be taking the others to the basement; I'm unsure of the stability of this old temple. If it collapses, we will all be joining you in the bunker." Mara said.

"Let's get going!" Jaina shouted over the reverberating sound of another blast that seemed to be further away than the last. She strode towards the amphitheater door and dashed out, hoping that the others were behind her. She stopped short as she got to the main entrance of the temple. Staring out the windows, she saw that the militants of some unknown group were marching towards the temple. She figured that they had the intent to surround and then penetrate the temple. Wide-eyed, she turned back towards the others. "Looks like we're going to have to resort to plan B right away." She said. Both Tenel Ka and Anakin stumbled up to the windows and glanced out for a split second before they were off again, dashing after Jaina, towards the tunnel leading to the bunker. They reached the top of the hardly-used metal staircase that would lead them to the entrance to the tunnel, which was in the basement. All three of them clattered down, wary of the narrowness of the steps and the clanking sound of their boots on the metal as they descended.

When they reached the entrance of the passageway, Jaina stopped short and turned towards the others. She lifted a finger to her lips and made a shushing sound as a reminder that they had to be very quiet in case there were soldiers already inside the bunker who might hear them. As they walked down the tunnel, it grew more and more narrow causing them to have to walk through single-file. Jaina took the lead, with Tenel Ka bringing up the rear. The deeper they walked into the tunnel, the closer the ceiling got to the floor. Pretty soon, they had to crawl on hands and knees in order to go on. When they reached the end of the tunnel, Jaina noted that there was metal grating that blocked their entrance to the bunker. She wondered if Mara or Tionne knew anything about this.

"Move back," Jaina said as she fumbled in the darkness to unclip the lightsaber from her belt band. "I'm going to have to cut us out of here." The others scooted back about ten feet as the girl wielded the saber and switched it to life. The humming blade illuminated the small space around them, sending a quick splash of heat bursting backwards through the tunnel. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she leaned close performing the exacting cuts to free them. The metal became molten at the blade's caress. When she was done, she switched off the saber and used its metal handle to tap the sliced piece out of place. It landed on the opposite side with a clank that made Jaina and the others shudder. Surely that had been heard…

Luke finally found the switch for the ship's cloaking shield and toggled it on. As he flew closer to the darker side of the planet he whistled softly. From above, he surveyed the grounds below. Smoldering fires and pockmarks in the land from where the attacking ships had blasted at the planet caught his eye and he frowned. Whoever was attacking certainly seemed to be aiming to distract or destroy. Luke couldn't tell which. He ran a scan of a patch of land below him that was dotted with trees and prepared to land. The surrounding trees and shrubbery would give his ship adequate cover from anyone who may be surveying the land from above. As Luke landed, a single thought occupied his mind. He wondered if he had done the right thing in leaving his sister and the others. Something seemed terribly wrong…

Kemi suddenly felt very much alone even though her friends were all around. She felt terribly lost and she didn't know if anyone would make it out of this confrontation alive. She certainly wasn't going to give in, but that meant that she would probably have to die. This scared her, but she would do it if she must. The sith laughed again as he read her thoughts.

"That's right, child. You are alone." He strode towards her mother with his saber and held the blade close to the woman's chest. "You face this terrible secret alone. It's too late to save your mother; she's as good as dead. But if you come with me, I may consider sparing your friends." The sith sneered. Kemi's eyes darted around helplessly searching for something…anything that she could use to distract the sith. Her eyes came to rest on several boulders that lay to the sith's side. Honing in on the Force, she lifted the rocks and hurled them at the dark lord. He turned away from her mother and struck them down with his lightsaber while jeering at her. "You must do better than that pitiful child."

The sith turned towards Evadne Darkstarr and plunged his saber into her chest. With that, Kemi's hopes and dreams sunk. Her heart seethed with anger and hatred for the man. In striking her mother he had taken away everything she had worked so hard to find. Kemi's lightsaber leapt into her hands hissed to life as she drew her breath sharply. She had never used a lightsaber before, but it didn't matter to her. Her goal was to kill her grandfather. She rushed towards him in her anger, ready to strike him down.

As Evadne fell to the ground, the mind-controlling grip that the sith had had on her slipped and she began to remember the day that she had been forced to choose the lesser of two evils… In the girl, she recognized the baby that she had been forced to forsake. Tears streaked her cheeks as her memories flooded back. She remembered that she had struggled with the thought of leaving her daughter to the unknown, but she had wanted Kemryi to live in hope that one day the girl would bring about the end of the terror that her grandfather had caused.

As Kemi careened towards her grandfather the sith re-focused his attention. He held his saber high and with a flick of his wrist he knocked the saber out of Kemi's hands. He swung at her but she halted in time to miss the strike. She backed away, but her grandfather advanced, holding out his hand to her…exactly as he had done for her mother so long ago.

"Come with me. It is your destiny to take your mother's place. I have no need for her as you are more powerful than she." Lord Darren called as he stepped closer. "Do as I say, or you will also die. I have no time for games."

They could hear the sound of their own breathing in the silence that followed the reverberating of the metal grate piece. Jaina held her breath and hoped that her heartbeat really wasn't as loud as she could hear it in her ears. Suddenly a bright light flooded the crawl space. Balancing on her knees and one hand, she shielded her eyes with the other hand. An armored hand reached through the light and grabbed hold of Jaina. The others scooted back in the tunnel as Jaina was yanked out of it.

"Come out of there." A mechanical voice commanded. Tenel Ka and Anakin each crawled out only to have their hands cuffed behind their backs and to join Jaina who was backed up against the far wall with a pistol aimed at her chest.

"Your task force is pitiful. Troops are on their way to siege the temple. Pretty soon everyone will be under our control." One of the storm troopers said as he ushered all three children into a utility closet. He then hit the button on the side of the door to seal it shut. A crease of worry crossed Anakin's face. His eyes followed the contours of the door as he searched for the access panel to the controls. When he found it, he frowned seeing that it was in disrepair. He then threw himself against the door, hoping to jar it. He stopped when he realized it was in vain. The door was not budging. He looked over at Jaina who had somehow already wiggled her hands out of the cuffs. Jaina was good at getting out of messes like that. He was happy that she was here with him. She then walked over to him and helped him out of his. He then pulled out his lightsaber, but the despite the heat that it generated, the door was not going to melt as quickly as he'd hoped. Jaina quickly motioned for him to turn it off, stating that they didn't want to draw any more attention to themselves until they were sure it was safe to try to get out. Jaina then turned to Tenel Ka and helped her out of her handcuffs.

"What now?" He asked after catching his breath. He looked from his sister to Tenel Ka and back. Tenel Ka shrugged. "Any bright ideas?" Then it hit him. Why didn't he think of it earlier? He walked towards the control panel and examined the door's wiring. "I think that I can hotwire this thing to open." He said as he pulled out a blue and a yellow wire. He then started to tinker with them.

Jaina was deep in thought. "I still haven't figured out who they are or why they are here." She said. "I just hope that the other students can ward them off until Uncle Luke can get here. Wait a little longer before you really start analyzing those wires, Anakin. We still don't want to draw any attention to ourselves. We need to let them think that we're locked up in here for as long as it takes until we hear something from Uncle Luke or the others."

Luke exited his ship, taking with him a tarp to throw over it. As he spread the canvas tarp over the ship, he listened closely to the forest sounds and the sounds of combat in the distance. He could hear the ships above firing, and the mechanical sound of blasters firing as well as the humming of lightsabers. We wondered why the students were outside of the temple at all and why Mara and Tionne had not gathered them inside the amphitheater. He started to walk towards the temple, but then he changed course to head for the bunker. He knew that if things were as bad as they looked, someone should be trying to re-enable planetary defense. As he approached the back entrance of the bunker, a ripple in the force told him that his niece and nephew were somewhere near. He hid in some bushes and took a minute to probe the bunker with the force. He touched the minds of several guards around the main entrance and also a few that were placed near a utility closet. He felt that they were not there to harm anyone…only to cause a distraction. Something didn't seem right. Even though the attackers were destroying everything, they had yet to kill anyone. Luke bit his lip as he thought, wondering if he had made the right choice to leave his sister and the others to fend for themselves on Dagobah.

He then touched the minds of the three children who were locked inside the closet. The first mind that he brushed was his nephew Anakin's. There was only one thought that preoccupied the boy's mind, and that involved hotwiring the door to escape. As he reached out and brushed his niece's mind, jumbled thoughts of an escape plan that she had been trying to form entered his mind. She knew that they'd better wait it out. Luke felt a surge of pride for his niece. He was glad that she was using her head and thinking rationally. He quickly sent a flood of the force in her direction to let her know that he was nearby. He touched Tenel Ka's mind long enough just to figure out who she was. He had been expecting to find that the third was either Tionne or Mara Jade.

Evadne could see where Kemryi's saber had fallen, and she reached for it with what little strength that she had left. Blood poured forth from the wound in her chest and etched a trail in the dirt as she dragged herself towards the weapon. Pain surged through her body with every inch that she drew nearer.

Kemi's eyes grew wide with fear as she backed away from her grandfather. She reached out to call her saber back to her hand, but the attempt failed. The closer her grandfather came, the weaker Kemi felt. Her eyes started to droop with a sleepiness that was starting to overcome her. She tried to fight it off, knowing somehow that if she fell asleep, it would be her end. She stepped backwards until she backed herself right up against the tree with the evil presence. As soon as her shoulder blades touched it, she could feel herself becoming entangled in its branches as a bright light encircled her. It was the same white light that she had seen radiate from her mother and herself in a dream that she had once had. It was the light of energy…that seemed to be draining from her this time. Kemi struggled, trying to wrench her body from the grip of the monstrous tree. She watched in horror as the energy's light gushed towards her grandfather as if he was sucking her very life force. Her knees locked and her legs felt as if they'd give at any moment, but the tree held her stationary.

Kemi's friends also watched helplessly, not quite believing what they were seeing. Vine-like branches wrapped around Kemryi's arms and legs, holding her fast. It was almost if the tree were alive. The longer Kemi stood against the tree, the more that its branches wrapped around her slender form. Tyne didn't know whether or not to watch. He cared very deeply for Kemi and seeing her entrapped like she was bordered on the unbearable. He tried with all of his might to move, but he couldn't even stand up because the power of the force held him still. He wanted so much to be able to reach out for Kemi or to call out encouraging words, but he remained speechless, unable to move his mouth. A tear of compassion slid down his cheek and came to rest on his chin.

Beside Tyne, Jacen knelt, also motionless. He racked his mind, trying to come up with some sort of way to break free of his force restraints. He had never before witnessed the force being used to confine. He saw Kemi's saber knocked forcibly from her hands, and with his eyes closed, he had tried unsuccessfully to call it to himself. It was if the force around him had been deadened so that all of its energy could focus on Kemi and her grandfather. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Kemi's mother crawling towards her daughter's lightsaber. He hoped that she would reach it in time. He wondered how it was that she could move while everyone else seemed relatively motionless. He tried to reach out to the others surrounding him, hoping against hope that he could read their minds. That hope was shattered when he found nothing but a vast emptiness when he probed. His eyes came to rest on Kemryi once again. He noticed that streaks of white peppered the girl's hair, as if she was aging prematurely.

The more Kemi struggled the more entrapped she became until she could struggle no more for the pain that wracked her body. Kemryi squeezed her eyes shut to keep out the burning numbness that shot up and down her body and seemed to dance around her limbs… The light that surrounded her was still so blindingly bright that she could see its radiance through her closed eyes. Her head pounded in protest. She felt as if she'd surely die…

Jaina looked up from where she'd been sitting in the closet cross-legged with her hands propping up her head. She had been deep in thought when her uncle had reached out and brushed her mind. "Uncle Luke is here." Jaina said. "I felt him."

"That means we can bust out of here now, right?" Anakin said as he stood up from where he'd been sitting. He'd been entertaining himself and Tenel Ka by floating around some spare droid parts using the force and getting the occasional glare from his sister. He eyed the wiring on the door.

"We should sit tight. Uncle Luke should be in here shortly. He'll take care of anyone who might be on guard." Jaina said. She could already hear the muffled sounds of blaster fire and a lightsaber swinging in defense. Moments later, the door was opened from the outside by their uncle.

"That was strange." Luke pondered. "The guards didn't put up much resistance." He looked away from the children for a moment while he gathered his thoughts. "I don't like this one bit. This is starting to look like some sort of set-up." He turned back towards Jaina to question her. "Have you heard from the others at the Temple?"

Jaina bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "No word." She said. "I don't know what's going on over there." She suddenly realized that she couldn't hear the sounds of combat that she'd heard earlier before they'd entered the bunker. "Something's wrong." She stood up and followed the others out of the closet. As they neared some windows, she stopped to peek outside and to listen. She was startled by the eerie silence outside. Nowhere could she see any signs of the attackers or of the temple students. It didn't take the Force to tell her that something was amiss. "We still need to enable planetary defense." She stated matter-of-factly, now keenly aware of the mission on which Mara and Tionne had sent them. Luke stopped dead in his tracks. He walked towards the entryway of the bunker and out into the surrounding forest. Anakin and Tenel Ka followed closely behind him making small talk. Jaina brought up the rear, remaining silently aware of her surroundings, noting anything that seemed to be out of place. There really wasn't anything out of place at all, but something about how everything was eerily still disturbed Jaina. She felt as is something was just around the corner, brewing, and waiting to happen. She didn't like that feeling. She felt a stirring in the force that seemed to be just ahead, but she wasn't sure who or what was causing it. This troubled her greatly, but she didn't speak up about it because surely if it was something harmful, her uncle Luke would have said something.

"Let's see if there are still ships hovering above us. Enabling planetary defense will help us to get rid of them. But if we enable it and all of the ships have landed already, it may backfire on us if we need to make a quick getaway from the planet. That's not a chance we can afford to take. We don't want it to shoot down our own ships." Luke said. Sensing that someone or something was nearing them, Luke quickly put his finger to his mouth in a shushing motion to warn the others to quiet down. It was a presence that Luke hadn't felt in a long time. He needed to know if his instincts were correct, but he didn't want the others following for the moment. He used the force to spread some nearby shrubbery so that the children could hide in safety in case anything potentially harmful happened to wander by.

"I don't want you to fight unless absolutely necessary." Luke told the children. "You should be safe here. Hide yourselves well and put up a cloaking field around yourselves." He then motioned for the others to go ahead and hide while he assessed the situation. Jaina, Anakin, and Tenel Ka took cover in the brush while Luke scouted ahead a distance. Jaina held her hands up to project the cloaking field through the force as the other children huddled down in the shade of the bushes, peeking out only occasionally to be sure that there was no one watching them.

As Luke walked further into the surrounding forest, he watched the sky and determined that most of the ships that had previously been hovering above the planet had disappeared. He didn't know if they had left, or if they had landed on the planet. He figured that it wouldn't be any use to enable planetary defense now because there were no ships to shoot down. He pushed that thought to the back burners of his mind so that he could concentrate on the task at hand. He continued to walk until he came upon a clearing. In the clearing were the two light-clad figures of Yoda and Anakin Skywalker. Luke sat down on a nearby stone to join them. He knew that there was something important going on or they would not have summoned him.

"What is it? What is happening here?" Luke asked the two figures. "I feel that I was wrong to leave the others to go to Dagobah and fend for themselves." Luke said. "I don't understand the implications of what is going on right now." He admitted. Then he listened in silence for whatever advice would be given to him. Yoda's wizened voice came first.

"Have worries of your friends on Dagobah you do. Far in your mind you must put these. Face the dark side did your friends, and succeed they did. Dead is the Sith Lord that stalked the Darkstarr family." Yoda said. "Stranded they are, and go to them you must." Luke took in the information that the old Jedi master gave him with a sigh of relief. "Nurse back to health the Darkstarr child you will, but train her in the ways of the force you must not. Far more powerful than any dark-sider she is."

"I don't understand." Luke voiced his confusion. "She's just a child. She must learn the ways of the light side of the force so that she doesn't turn to the dark side. I can make sure of that at my academy. I will teach her myself if I have to. If she is as powerful as you say, she would be a great asset to my academy and to the light side of the force."

"Heed Yoda's advice, Luke." Anakin Skywalker spoke up. "This child is the next generation of the chosen. Her midiclorian count is far greater than mine ever was. The force is already manifesting in her. This is something that you shouldn't mess with. She will be trained when her time comes, but not by you or anyone else in your academy."

"Keep her hidden you must, or find her the dark side will. Always hunted she will be." Yoda said. "Nothing we can do for her to take away this curse." He waved his hand to dismiss Luke. "Now go you must because need you your friends on Dagobah do. Take care of the academy and return things to their proper balance while you are away we will." Even though there were a thousand questions in his mind, Luke turned back and headed in the direction that he had come. When he came to the place where the children were hiding, he called out to them. Jaina was the first to stand up.

"Anakin and Tenel Ka need to go back to the academy and see what happened to Mara Jade and Tionne. Jaina, you need to come with me." Luke said.

The Sith Lord was so absorbed in draining Kemi's energy that he didn't see Evadne reach out and take hold of her daughter's lightsaber. Evadne gathered enough strength and struggled to stand. Pain wrenched through every bone in her body as she pulled herself up by grabbing hold of a nearby boulder. As soon as she was upright, the saber hissed to life and illuminated Evadne's face. She turned, with renewed strength, and hurled the weapon at the dark lord. Caught off-guard, Lord Darren reeled backwards as the saber burned through the robes that he wore and straight through his heart. This broke his concentration in the force. The white light that he had been draining from Kemi poured back out of his body like acid. His skin started to deteriorate as every ounce of energy seeped out. The energy funneled into Evadne, throwing her off-balance. She tripped backwards and fell down. The branches of the tree that held Kemi immobile recoiled, as if they had also been sprayed with acid. They slowly started to release their chokehold on the girl, dropping her to the ground unconscious as they unwound themselves from her body.

The others, released from their stationary prisons, ran towards Kemi and her mother. Jacen stayed back to be sure that the Sith was really incapacitated. He watched as the man's body rotted beyond recognition and then suddenly it was nothing but bones. Calling his saber to his hands, he ignited it and sliced through the robe several times until he was satisfied that the Sith would not rise again. Among the ashes and bones was Kemi's lightsaber, calling it to himself; he clipped it to his belt so that he could give it back to her when the right time came. He then turned towards the others who were slowly gathering around Kemryi.

Evadne pulled herself along the ground towards her daughter's motionless form. Sitting next to her, she pulled Kemi into her arms and laid her hands on the girl. Her hands started to glow with the release of energy as the white light flowed back into Kemi. Evadne held Kemi until she no longer had the energy to keep herself upright. Gently laying the girl to her side, Evadne rested on the ground next to her. Leia noted that Evadne's wound was still bleeding so she asked Kiya and Corla to get some medical supplies from their downed ship. As the girls ran off and climbed aboard the ship, Evadne's breathing grew shallower.

"What can I do for you?" Leia asked as she approached the dying lady.

Evadne waved her away. "Take care of my baby. Tell her that I loved her and that I will be in her heart always." Evadne said, her voice cracked and she winced in pain as if speaking was too much of a drain on what little energy she had left. "Tell her to be brave and to not forget the kindness that you all have shown to her."

"Hold on for Kemi's sake." Jacen said. "She has been wanting to talk to you for all of her life." Tears filled Evadne's eyes as she flashed a pained expression at the boy.

"My eyes grow heavy…it is my time to go. There is nothing I can do…" With that Evadne kissed her daughter. Her last breath escaped her mouth as she looked at Kemi's face…

"No!" Jacen yelled when Evadne's body collapsed over her daughter's. Corla and Kiya came with the medical supplies, but Leia gently waved them away with tears in her eyes. She rushed over to help Jacen pull Kemi out from under her mother's body.

"She gave her life so that her daughter might live." Leia said, trying to comfort Jacen and the others who were crying.

A couple of days later, Kemi's eyes fluttered open. The first thing that she saw was the mechanical hand of a med-droid who had just placed a cold compress on her forehead to bring down her temperature. Leia also hovered over her, assisting the med-droid. "Kemi, can you hear me?" Leia asked when she noticed that Kemi had opened her eyes. Kemi nodded an affirmative. She tried to sit up in bed, but hadn't the energy.

"I want to see my mother. How is she doing?" Kemi asked, but was saddened by the telling look in Leia's eyes. Leia took the cold compress off of Kemi's head and helped her to sit up for a little while, propping pillows behind the girl.

"She didn't make it. We brought her body back here with us though." Leia said. Kemi wasn't really sure where 'here' was. She turned her head away from Leia to reflect for a while. Motion outside her window momentarily distracted her from the pain that lingered in her body. There were puffy clouds in the darkness outside her window. Lights shown brightly every now and then as they bounced off the walls of the room. Kemi sat up straighter for a better look and saw millions of black shadow-armored drones flying around in the darkness. The bouncing lights were their headlights. They appeared to be flying towards a destination that was out of her view at the moment. By the looks of it, they appeared to be very busy.

"Do you want to have a better look?" Leia asked, taking advantage of the momentary distraction to lighten the tension in the room. Kemi nodded and Leia pushed a button. Seconds later, several more med-bots came in. "She would like to stand up and look out of the window." Leia told the droids. They each put a supportive hand around Kemi and lifted her to her feet. With their assistance, she slowly made her way to the window. What she saw delighted her. The Bespinian lighthouse tower that she had damaged was being rebuilt and by the looks of it, it was nearly complete. She smiled. Leia spoke up again.

"In another couple of days the light from the tower will be in working operation." Leia said. She then took a deep breath before continuing. "Your mother is buried in that lighthouse." Leia said. "I'm sure that she would have loved it. Its beacon casts its light all over the planet to keep people safe. That was what your mother lived and died for. She gave up her freedom so long ago so that you might live and be safe with your aunt Aidia." Leia put her arms around Kemi as the girl stared at the lighthouse in wonder. "She gave her life to keep you safe…"

As both of them continued to stare at the lighthouse, dawn was beginning to break over the magnificent clouds of Cloud City. Emerald green light spewed forth and blanketed the planet, bouncing off the reflective shards of metal on the drones. All eyes stared in wonder at the sight that they were beholding. Never before had the planet Bespin had an Emerald Dawn…

1 Greek Mythology reference to tale of Leander and Hero. Hero held light at top of lighthouse tower for lover Leander to swim across channel. One night the light went out and Leander drowned. When learning of Leander's death, Hero threw herself from the tower to her death in the waters below.