Hi, This is the sequal to my story: "History's Keeper." It is not necessary to have read that story to understand this one, but it would probably be helpful. Thanks go to REV042175 for the beta, however, all mistakes belong to me.

Oh, and please review. If you're too shy to dropa review, e-mail me. I don't bite. :)

"History's Reminders"

Chapter 1

Jania and Jacen were sick. That's what Leia told Neri when the girl came home from class that afternoon. They had both caught a childhood illness that, although mostly harmless, could be quite uncomfortable. It was also highly contagious and there was no vaccine available. All they could do was let it run it's course.

"You should probably stay with Luke until they are better. I spoke to him already and he agreed." Leia handed Nerinika's bag out the partially opened door. "Here, I've already sterilized your things. It would be best if you didn't even come inside. If you haven't caught this already I would like to spare you."

Neri accepted the luggage gingerly. "Thank you, I think."

"Go on, we can talk over the comm later. Luke's waiting and he said he would have the spare room ready when you got there. Oh, Anakin will be staying with you too. He hasn't caught this yet either. It should only be for a few days." With that, the Chief of State slid the door shut.

"I think I've just been kicked out." Neri said to the empty corridor before slinging her pack over her shoulder and starting down the hall. She'd been staying with Leia and Han for the last two months and she had finally felt like calling the spacious apartment home.

That wasn't an easy thing for her. Sixty years ago she had been in a terrible accident that left her orphaned and on the brink of death. An experimental suspended animation technique had saved her but, thanks to her close association with the Jedi, she'd been hidden away at the start of the purges to preserve her life. Finally found after a lifetime locked away in a basement, the instructions left with her were to contact the Temple. In the New Republic, that meant Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

Fourteen year old Nerinika quickly became friends with Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa-Solo, who had been contacted by the scientists to be with her when she woke. Both were sympathetic to the girl's plight and intrigued by her unique knowledge of a time that even history had forgotten The Chief of State and her brother had taken the girl in and were helping her find a place in the galaxy.

Only days after arriving home to Coruscant Nerinika and her new friends had fallen into a madman's plot for revenge and were drugged and kidnaped as a result. They had awoken in a sealed room inside the depths of the old Jedi Temple, which had been converted into the Imperial Palace after the Purges. Fortunately, their kidnapper hadn't planned on Nerinika's resourcefulness or her knowledge of the temple and they were able to escape. Unfortunately no traces could be found of the kidnapper, who remained at large.

Now, Neri was finally getting her life back on track. She'd started attending classes on Coruscant and was busy filling Luke in on what she knew of Jedi history. Walking down the hall toward the lifts, her mind drifted to the history lessons she'd attended that day.

While she was far ahead of her age mates in most academic areas, having spent much of her time growing up in the Temple Library, Neri knew almost nothing of recent history. She'd been enrolled in a history course that claimed to focus on the last one hundred years of Galactic history. The instructor had started with the present day and worked backward and was now approaching where Nerinika's knowledge was. Unfortunately, the instructor knew very little of this time period. What facts hadn't been erased entirely from the records had been distorted intentionally by both the Jedi and Emperor Palpatine in an attempt to hide events and sway public opinion.

Nerinika rode the lift down to another floor and exited even more frustrated. She marched toward Luke's apartment, which was thankfully near the lift, and rang the chime. She'd only rarely been to the Jedi's apartment. He usually went to Leia's or they all went out somewhere, so her prints weren't programmed into the plate. The response was a recording of Luke's voice saying, "It's open Neri, come on in."

She entered to the sound of dishes clanging together in the kitchen and little Anakin talking very loudly. "Luke? I'm here. Leia told me what was going on."

"I'm in the kitchen," the Jedi called out. Neri dropped her bag on the floor and followed the noises coming from the other room, curiosity out weighing frustration for the moment.

Luke was apparently trying to cook dinner. He did not seem to be doing a good job of it. "What's happening?"

The Jedi dropped the lid on a pot that had flames licking over the top. He turned to her nonchalantly.

"Not a lot, I'm just cooking dinner." Smoke began pouring out of the pan and Neri picked it up by the long handle and doused the flames in the sink. She dropped the pan and jumped up to sit on the edge of the counter. She didn't say a word.

"I thought I would try a new recipe today." Anakin giggled from his space in the corner. He was sitting in a position similar to Neri's.

"Uncle Luke spilled the soup and it caught fire. Then the pan... Cphht urgphh ahhh." Luke's hand found its way over the boy's mouth and the rest of the story turned to incomprehensible mumbles.

"I think we should order in tonight," Luke said and Neri grinned.

"If the choice is whatever is in that pot, I agree. Maybe you should ask Han for some cooking lessons. He's a good cook."

Luke pretended to pout and Neri grinned at him again. The Jedi dumped more utensils in the sink and switched off the warmer. "How was class today?"

Her frustration returned full force at the reminder. "Horrible. The instructor is a moron."

"That's not very nice Neri." He said for Anakin's benefit.

She sighed and said, "No it's not. I'm sorry. I'm just so frustrated."

"I take it the course has made its way to a time frame you are familiar with?"

"Not only that, they don't know anything. The things they think they know are so far wrong..." She jumped off the counter and began to pace. "She said the Corbion insurrection was settled when the resistance bombed the main palace. That's not true. Yes, they bombed the palace, but there was no one there. It was an accident. The aircraft carrying the bombs crash landed on the palace. The leaders were already signing the treaty when it happened. The bombs were on their way to be dismantled. Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan mediated that one."

"What did the instructor say when you told her this?" Luke had finished piling the sink full and was wiping off a counter.

"She accused me of making up stories. She said the history books were never wrong and how could I know what happened anyway." Neri turned her back to the wall and fell against it heavily. "I wanted to tell her the truth, but she wouldn't have believed me anyway."

"You are probably right," her friend conceded. "It sounds like you handled the situation well, though."

"Yeah, very maturely. I sat down and let everyone laugh at me." She let her head thunk against the wall and rolled her eyes shut. "It's just so hard."

Luke handed the cloth to Anakin who started wiping down everything he could reach. The Jedi wrapped one arm around Neri's shoulders. "I know it's tough. It's hard when you know stuff and can't tell people why. Things will get easier though, it just takes time."

Intrigued, Neri raised her head and focused her eyes on her friend. "That sounds like a lesson that was learned from experience."

"You know my story. When I was growing up I frequently knew things I shouldn't have known. When someone asked me why or how, all I could do was shrug and say 'I don't know.' Now I realize that it was the Force, but not then."

"I don't know what I would have done without Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to help me when I was little," Neri confessed. "That sort of thing hardly ever happens to me anymore, but it scared me sometimes when I was little."

Luke gave her shoulders a squeeze and pulled her up from the wall. "Come on, I don't know about you but I'm starving. Let's order some dinner."

After the meal, Neri headed to her new room to settle in. Luke had tossed her luggage in before they ate, but Neri hadn't been inside yet. The entire apartment would take some getting used to. The Solo's apartment had knick-knacks and children's toys everywhere. There were dents in the walls and stains of the floors. Those rooms felt like someone's home. Luke's apartment had none of those things. The walls and floor were clean and aside from some nondescript artwork they were bare. The furniture was simple but far too clean. This place felt like a museum. Neri was afraid to relax for fear she'd get something dirty.

Not that Luke was a particularly clean person. He wasn't messy, how messy could one person be? But he did make his fair share of messes, as evidenced by the disaster area the kitchen had become. Still, the entire place felt clean and new, the kind of place where you are extra careful not to get anything dirty; Neri didn't like it much.

She walked slowly down the hall, trying to learn the way well enough so she wouldn't turn into the wrong room by mistake. Luck was with her and her room was the first one in the hallway. She was disappointed when the door slid open, however. Aside from a bed, a desk and a chair, the room was bare.

The bed had been made with fresh linens, though and the desk held a brief welcome home note from Luke. Neri picked up her bag from the floor and began to unpack her clothes. Near the middle of the bag she found her old droid LU-43 and gleefully activated him. The little droid lifted on its repulsors and hovered slowly around her head, orienting itself.

"Hi Ellyoo. We're in Luke's apartment for a while. Jania and Jacen are sick and Leia didn't want us to catch it too so Anakin and I are staying with Luke."

The droid beeped a question at her and Neri looked around thoughtfully. "I don't see why you can't explore a little. You'd certainly liven things up and there's no Jania to take you apart here. Just stay out of Anakin's reach, he's as bad as his sister about taking things apart."

Ellyoo beeped in query and Neri giggled. "No, Luke won't mind you running around. He's always got Artoo running around. He understands, trust me."

Ellyoo warbled and Neri gave him a little shove toward the door. "Go on, if you're going." She understood his trepidation. She'd run into a lot of people who disliked her friend running about on his own. Elyoo had been her friend for years and she often forgot that many people just saw him as a tool. The little droid hovered momentarily, then extended a manipulator arm in front of the sensor plate and rushed out the still opening door.

Neri laughed and walked over to shut the door, then flopped on her bed. The mattress was soft and springy and she bounced several times before settling. Her mother's trinket box was poking out of her bag and she reached down to retrieve it.

Dragging a chain out from under her shirt, she used the gold key that dangled from it to unfasten the lock. Opening the lid, she closed her eyes and inhaled the faint forest scent that wafted out. Even after fifty years, it still smelled like new wood. Inside were a dozen things she had collected. A few notes from her parents and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, her mothers ring, the broken fragments of crystal and a stack of holochips all beckoned her with sweet and bittersweet memories. She lifted the small stack of datachips out of the box and laid it on the bed.

One by one she activated the chips, displaying their holographic images before arranging them around the box. One flickered slightly as its power cell neared depletion and she snatched it up and switched it off. Quickly, she plugged it in to recharge. The data wouldn't fade while the power cell was drained, but she couldn't bear the thought of being without any of the images for even a short period of time. They were all she had left, besides her memories.

The fading image was the only one that she didn't remember the exact moment it was taken. This one was of her mother. A slender woman with long brown hair in a plait down her back, wearing brown Jedi robes. She was laughing at something just out of sight, her bright blue eyes sparkled and her head was thrown back in glee. She had just turned twenty.

Neri switched off the image and set it aside. The one she picked up next showed herself, as a child. Barely three years old, she was nestled in the arms of a large man wearing a white tunic. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as he smiled at her timidity. Uncle Qui-Gon had just brought her back to the temple and she was frightened enough that she refused to leave his side. His apprentice had captured the image.

A half dozen more were held fondly, then switched off and placed back in the box. After a moment, she gathered everything together and closed the clasp on the box. It would stay locked until she opened it again, as the key was genetically coded to her touch alone. She supposed her mother would also be able to operate the lock, but that wasn't likely to happen.

Having spent as much time as she could handle in the past, Neri dropped her knapsack on the bed with a thunk and began sorting the contents. Clothes - all clean thanks to Leia - went in the dresser drawers. Her handful of datapads were stacked on the small desk. Her little box was reverently placed on shelf above the desk. A few other trinkets were scattered about the room, then the sack was empty. Her entire life took only ten minutes to unpack.

Ordinarily the day would have ended in the common room playing a game of some kind with Anakin and the twins. Now, she was unsure what to do with herself. Finally, she found her school files in the pile of datapads and began working on her assignments. As irritating as the class may be, It would be required for her to get into a standard school.

In the old days, she would have received a certificate from the Temple instead of having to go through the public schools. She had surpassed her classmates at a young age thanks to the tutelage of her many Jedi friends. Eventually, her parents had agreed that the public classes were a waste of time and they had allowed her to study at the Temple instead. Now, even if she had obtained the certificate, it would no longer be worth anything.

Neri sighed wistfully and easily wrote out the answer to the essay question that had been posed to the class. After reading back over her work, she quickly deleted the entire piece. She'd written it from her own memory, not from the book. According to the lessons, her answer was wrong. Groaning in frustration, she diligently found her own class notes and settled in for a long night.

Luke had finally put Anakin to bed and took the opportunity to check on his other charge. He hadn't seen Nerinika since just after dinner, thanks to Anakin's bath. Now, he ventured from the back of the apartment to search for her. The door to her room was closed and he hesitated to knock on it. If she was in there she probably didn't want to be disturbed. Instead, he quickly searched the rest of the apartment. It really wasn't that large and he soon determined that she must be in her room.

In his travels, however, he discovered he had a third boarder. The little droid LU-43 was snooping around his cupboards when he entered the kitchen.

"Hello there," he greeted the little droid. It ducked out of the cupboard and floated up to examine his face. "I had wondered when I was going to see you again."

The little droid beeped warily and Luke laughed. "Of course I'm not upset. If I didn't want you around I would have told Neri. You're welcome to do whatever you like, though I would recommend staying inside the apartment unless Nerinika is with you."

The droid buzzed around the Jedi's head a few times, then chimed happily. "You like to be called Ellyoo, right?" An affirmative beep. "Is Neri in her room?"

The droid hesitated, then offered a noncommittal sound. With a cheery noise, it flew out the doorway and straight for the controls to the girl's door. Before Luke could say a word, Ellyoo had the door open and was warbling happily.

"I didn't mean go find her!" Luke called, walking to the doorway. He paused there, not sure if she would mind him being in her room.

Neri laughed, turning away from her desk, which was strewn with datapads. She patted the little droid, who cooed happily. "Ellyoo is a library droid. His primary function is to help people find the thing they needed as quickly as possible. He doesn't always understand the difference between a question and a request."

Luke smiled gently. "Well, I'm still sorry to disturb you."

She shook her head. "It's alright, I was finished anyway."

A silence followed during which Luke continued to stand in the doorway and Neri sat at her desk, half turned around in her chair. Neither one looked directly at the other. For some reason both felt suddenly uncomfortable.

"I only wanted to make sure you were settling in," Luke stepped inside the room and glanced around. "It looks like you are..."

Neri offered him a one-shouldered shrug. "I don't have much settling to do. I guess I've never been one to collect a lot of stuff. I suppose that's a good thing. If I had collected much, I wouldn't have it now anyway."

Another bout of silence followed this statement. It seemed surprising that Neri was comfortable enough with her experience to speak so casually about it. After all, less than a month ago she had been with her family in a world that made sense. Now she was stuck here, her entire life gone. At least when his world had been turned upside down he'd had something familiar to fall back on.

"Well, if you need anything, I'm just down the hall. I put Anakin to bed, you don't have any classes tomorrow, right?"

"Nope. I've got a few days free."

"They how would you like to accompany me to the Imperial Palace. We're trying to restore it an we could use your advice."

She looked at him, puzzled. "Why would I know anything about the Imperial Palace? I slept through that, remember?"

Luke smiled at her sadly. "We are restoring it to what it was before it was the Imperial Palace and you are the only person we have been able to find who saw it before."

"Me?" She thought it over, but something wasn't quite connecting. The answer was obvious, however, and she shuddered at the thought. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said, "The Temple..."

He nodded mutely. "I know it will be difficult for you, but you are the only person who can help."

Her imagination conjured up a million horrible things that she might find if she volunteered herself for this, but she knew she would have to face it sooner or later. "Okay, I'll do it."