The sun was sinking behind the choppy Couruscant Skyline of skyscrapers and high flying traffic, giving the city an amber-crimson glow. The low, rounded senate building was covered in the shadows of the other structures. The Jedi Temple rose up with the mightiest of the governmental offices; despite the fact that the Jedi and their High Council were technically under Chancellor Valorum and the Senate, everyone knew that the Jedi ran the galaxy, even if it was unintentionally.
Mace Windu was returning from a meeting with the Chancellor about Trade taxation when he took in this sight. He looked up at the Temple; its lower levels were made of stones whereas the higher looked more modern. It had been added to as the number of Jedi had grown. Mace Windu sighed contentedly, for his home was certainly the most unique on the planet.
Suddenly, he sensed something was not right. Mace's senses directed him immediately to a small girl playing near the bottom of the stair-step. She couldn't have been more than eight by the looks of her, but there seemed to be no parent around. Mace Windu started over to the pale little girl with dark red hair, but she glanced back quickly and got up to run.
"Don't be afraid," said Windu gently. "Where are your parents?"
"I don't have any," said the girl. "I don't need them." She turned to look at him through brilliant, bright blue eyes and twirled a lock of dark red hair around her finger.
"Where do you live, dear?" Windu asked again.
"Here," she said simply. Mace cocked his head to the side; could this be a Padawan? She couldn't be, he knew all of them. She seemed to know his confusion and gestured toward the street.
"Are you an orphan?" Mace asked.
"Don't know," she sighed. "I've been on my own here for as long as I can remember. If I do have parents, they don't care about me. No one's ever tried to find me, like they did all my friends."
"Where are your friends?" asked Windu, intrigued by this insightful little girl.
"Adopted, arrested or dead," said the girl harshly. "Are you trying to make me a statistic or are you asking because you genuinely care about kids like me?"
Windu looked intensely at her as only a Jedi could. She was one of the wisest non-Jedi to whom he had ever spoken, regardless of her age. "What's your name, young one?" he asked.
"Jiruan," she said quietly.
"Come with me, Jiruan," said Windu. "I believe I know a way to help you."
"Who are you?" she asked with a sneer.
"You may call me Master Windu," he said majestically.
Jiruan gasped," You're Jedi Master Mace Windu! What do you want with me?"
Windu smiled and beckoned her onward.
Hours later, Jiruan was tucked into her first actual bed. The Jedi Council wasn't sure what to do about her but decided to keep her in for the night. Ironically, she was too suspicious of the circumstances to sleep. Her unease was due to a quasi guilt trip. She hadn't lied to the Jedi Master about anything; he just hadn't asked about everything. Jiruan had actually come to the Temple as a last resort. She was hoping they could help her find answers. Jiruan regretted one thing about being abandoned: she didn't know the history of the Force in her family. As far as she knew, the Council always wanted to know parentage before training a child as a Jedi. It had been Jiruan's secret dream to be a Jedi, but she hadn't thought herself capable until lately when objects and occasionally people started flying around when she had a nightmare.
"Natoku, you where right," Jiruan whispered. Natoku was her dearest friend who had died from stray blaster fire a year ago. She was the first one of Jiruan's friends who had thought Jiruan could be a Jedi.
"If only you could see me now."
The High Jedi Council met later that week in the evening. The room usually bright as the living Force, was candlelit and gave the best view of the artificially lit city.
"Master Windu, what is the case of this outsider you have found?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi, leaning his tall head forward.
"Highly unusual, this situation is," added Yoda objectively.
"Do you wish to have her tested?" asked Yarel Poof, bending his long neck down almost to eyelevel.
"I am not yet certain," said Windu thoughtfully. "Jiruan is one of the most observant people I've ever seen, regardless of her age. I fear she is too old, though…"
"She has no worldly connections?" inquired Plo Koon.
"She was abandoned by her parents and her friends, through one way or another, are gone," replied Windu.
"Then test her, we shall," said Yoda finitely.
The masters sensed before they heard someone coming down the hall. Twenty-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobe slid to a halt in the doorway. He and his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn had just returned from a mission on Malastar.
"Please excuse my interruption, Masters," he said, bowing his head slightly. "My master thinks you should see what's happening down the hall. It's about the orphan."
Mace Windu rose immediately as Yoda activated his hover chair. The other Masters remained seated as the situation did not require an entire council. Obi-Wan led the two Masters to the doorway of Jiruan's room where Qui-Gon stood, watching in amazement. He bowed his head and moved aside for Windu and Yoda to see.
Jiruan was sound asleep, apparently having a nightmare. Anything not nailed down was flying around the room in fast, random motion. She flinched a split second before each collision as though she was not reacting to but causing them.
"Be required, the tests shall not," said Yoda, using the Force to stop an object from knocking his hover chair. "Strong with her, the Force is. Learn control, she must."
"Master Qui-Gon, we await your report. Leave your apprentice to calm her," said Mace Windu, ahd he and Yoda left them to return to the Council. Jiruan's eyes popped open a moment after they were gone and everything fell to the floor. She bolted upright and gasped for breath as though she had been running.
"See that she is all right, Obi-Wan," instructed Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan nodded and Qui-Gon left in the direction that the Masters had. Obi-Wan ventured into the room.
"Who are you? What do you want?" shouted Jiruan the moment she saw him. She gathered herself up at the head of the bed with a look of absolute fear.
Obi-Wan chuckled, "Don't be afraid. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. What's yours?"
"Jiruan, but why do you care? None of the rest do," she replied icily.
"The rest?" inquired Obi-Wan. "I though you hadn't met anyone here yet."
A look of relief spread across her face. "You're a Jedi?" Jiruan asked calmly, softening.
"Except for you, everyone in the Jedi Temple is a Jedi or in training to be one," said Obi-Wan gently, controlling his amusement at this little girl. "What did you think I was?"
Jiruan refused to meet his eyes and pretended she hadn't heard him. "How old are you?" she asked stiffly.
"I'm twenty," he replied, remembering how he had asked similar questions every time an apprentice visited the temple. "How old are you, Jiruan?"
"I'm an orphan, I don't know!" she replied as she laughed away the tension. "Some of the older kids that found me said I'm about eight."
Obi-Wan was very impressed with the maturity of this eight-year-old. Most at the Temple were too stuck up to be of interest to him. Jiruan, on the other hand, was beyond them all in ability and modesty. She started surveying her hands in near amazement.
"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked.
"They're smooth…" said Jiruan. "They were so rough when I got here. How long have I been sleeping?"
"A while, I would guess," replied Obi-Wan. "I arrived with my Master yesterday and you've been out cold until now."
"This is the first time in nearly a week that you've woken," said Mace Windu in the doorway. Obi-Wan rose immediately and bowed. Jiruan hesitated but decided to do the same. Windu smiled at her.
"Thank you, Master, for your kindness," she said as she stood up. "I feel bad that I've taken advantage of all this. I insist you let me pay you back in labor."
"That will not be necessary, Jiruan," said Windu with a chuckle at her ploy to stay. "The Council has noticed your unique talents."
"Talents?"
"You are very gifted, Jiruan," said Windu. "The Force is unusually strong with you. Had your birth been registered at a Republic hospital, you would have been brought here early. It is incredibly strange that you have some conscious ability in the Force with no instruction."
"What does that mean will happen to me?" asked Jiruan cautiously.
Mace Windu walked over to her and knelt down to her eye level and said, "Welcome to the Jedi Order."