AN: I updated the first chapter, just because I somehow managed to spell Khorm wrong. It's fixed now.

I apologize, but this is a bit of a filler chapter. However, it is very important to Kieria as a character, and as you can hopefully tell, to her changing perspective on the clones, so I felt it was necessary to include it. I hope you don't mind reading so much of just my OCs, but Bea was so much fun to write. The action and plot will really pick up next chapter, I promise!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, but I do lay claim to Kieria Irrden and Bea Sabrie.

Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible. –Anton Chekhov

Chapter 2

When Jedi Knight Kieria Irrden finally found her former Master in one of the Temple's comfortable chambers made for just such a purpose, the older Jedi was meditating.

Quite used to her master's habits and knowing Bea Sabrie was too disciplined to let herself be interrupted—and more than willing to purposely keep whoever was looking for her waiting as a lesson in patience—Kieria quietly settled herself cross-legged on another nearby padded seat to wait. She studied the older woman for a moment. It had been several weeks since she had last seen the elderly Jedi.

Like herself, Bea was human, but where Kieria was barely approaching thirty, her former Master was past seventy. Kieria had been the last of a long line of Padawans Bea had trained. Her hair, always twisted into a tight knot against her skull, was white-streaked gray with age, and her face was heavily lined. Her fingers were becoming so twisted with arthritis that about the only thing she could solidly grip any longer was her light saber hilt. But despite all of that, she looked glowing and healthy, the Force pulsing strongly inside her small frame, and Kieria smiled warmly.

Setting her own hands on her knees and closing her eyes, Kieria let herself drift into the embrace of the Force as well. Her former Master was quite old, and while perhaps not as strong as the likes of Mace Windu when it came to wielding the Force, Bea was very deeply connected to the Force. Here and now, Kieria could fairly feel the Force gathering in the room, tenderly encircling her Master like an embrace. The younger Jedi was content just to ride on those waves for a few minutes.

And then Bea let the Force ebb away and fixed her gaze on Kieria. "You did not come here to meditate," she said without preamble, and Kieria only smiled fondly at the much older woman as she likewise opened her eyes.

"No, Master Sabrie," she answered, because Bea liked formalities. "I hear you will be leaving the Temple."

The gray-haired Jedi's face didn't change much, but her bright eyes sent a disapproving look at her former apprentice. "You've been spending too much time with politicians again, if you're mincing words," she accused. "Even if you haven't been, you know I know you too well to not see through that charade. Out with it, Padawan." Bea may believe strongly in titles and respect, but not in wasting words.

Kieria's amusement was tamped down by her worry. "They should not be asking you to step onto a battlefield. You belong here," she told her former Master quietly, knowing Bea would sense her concern through the Force.

The gray-haired woman twitched a white eyebrow. "Are you implying I'm old, Padawan?" Kieria knew, even before feeling the ripple of warning in the Force, that it was safest just to keep her mouth shut. "I'm a Jedi. The galaxy is quite short on those at the moment." Rather stiffly, Bea climbed to her feet, bending to primly dust off her robes and straighten the hems. Kieria uncrossed her long legs and stood as well, fairly towering over the other, petite woman. "I volunteered to go. It's been too long since I've been outside these walls," she added as she started for the room's door.

"Bea, you can't," Kieria protested, her worry brimming anew at seeing how stiff her former Master was after sitting. She took a step forward, but was stopped immediately, despite their differences in height, when a crooked finger was shoved into her chest hard enough to hurt.

"Who was the Master, Padawan? I still carry my lightsaber, and I still know how to use it. Have you forgotten those lessons so quickly?" she demanded, voice threatening. Bea finally pulled her finger out of Kieria's chest and continued towards the door. "Besides, I'll be surrounded by a battalion."

The dark blond Jedi caught herself just before her face contorted into a grimace, but Bea's keen blue eyes, fortunately undamaged by age, still saw the wince, and ordered her to speak her thoughts. "A battalion of clones," Kieria commented in disdain, knowing Bea wouldn't leave her alone until she answered.

"Indeed. Much better than droids," Bea said, then paused, studying her former Padawan's face as she sensed something through the Force. "You still don't like clones. But I thought you were pleased with the results of your last assignment with them, to that planet…Aleen?"

Kieria stifled a sigh and shook her head. "Yes, I was...pleasantly surprised on Aleen, but…it is unnatural," she divulged, although she felt her control of the conversation slipping away, as it always did with Master Sabrie.

Said Master stared her down now with the look that had always made her nervous as an apprentice. Actually, she was discovering it still made her nervous now. "Does the Force hold such aversion to them?" Bea finally queried.

The younger woman paused, already knowing her answer, and feeling the disapproval from Bea. "I do not know," she finally admitted.

"Well then, you had better meditate and find out, Padawan," Bea scolded, pointing firmly back to one of the low padded seats, and turned to leave again.

"But they are…identical," Kieria said mulishly, starting to feeling like a child again, and annoyed that Bea always did that to her. "Built and trained just to fight and die, to be expendable. Their genes were even altered to make them less independent, and to follow orders loyally. Doesn't the Force abhor the creation of life just to kill it?"

"Hmm," the older Jedi mused, tapping her cheek thoughtfully with a twisted finger, once again pausing her walk towards the door. "Perhaps. But does the Force hold the intentions of the creators against the creations themselves?" she wondered aloud, waggling an eyebrow at Kieria, who frowned in thought. "Life is still life, Kieria, despite its' origins. I, for one, like the clones. Much smarter than droids. Can hold a reasonable conversation with them. And they're courteous. I'll be spoiled rotten by the time I return. It will be like a vacation." She reached up and patted Kieria's cheek as she started to leave the room.

"You trust them that much?" Kieria called after her Master, a bit confused. She trusted Bea's judgment above nearly all other Jedi, and the realization that her beloved Master truly trusted clones was a stopping revelation for Kieria. Had they truly been apart so much in the last year that she had missed that?

But that was the wrong thing to say, and the younger woman knew it as soon as the words left her mouth. Bea turned back around and frowned at her, and Kieria braced herself for the coming storm.

"Silly Padawan, you always did have trouble trusting anyone besides you, didn't you," she mused, hands on her hips, finally realizing the depth of Kieria's problem. "If I had known I hadn't smacked it out of you, I would never have allowed you to take your Trials," she berated, marching back into the room and snagging Kieria's arm with a grip strong enough to make her wince.

And Master Sabrie forcibly sat the younger woman back down and gave her a lecture about letting go, surrendering control, and trusting in the Force until Kieria had a headache.

XXXXX

Hours later, Kieria stood in the Temple's shuttle bay, hands clasped together within the sleeves of her cloak, watching as the blast doors of a LAAT/i gunship slid shut between her and her former Master. She kept her face pleasant and calm, but in truth, seeing petite Bea standing among the towering clones set unease blooming in her chest. The short Jedi looked terribly out of place between the hard white plastoid and the blaster rifles. As the gunships' engines rose in pitch and it lifted off the ground, Kieria let her brow furrow in a frown, turning in place to watch the ship soar into the darkening sky until it was indiscernible from the thousands of other craft flying nearby.

Hands still within her sleeves, Kieria left the shuttle bay, heading back into the Temple proper. Night was falling, and a slight breeze stirred her loose hair as she walked, lost in thought. It wasn't that she feared her old Master couldn't defend herself; far from it. There was still a headache beating out a tempo behind her eyes from her lecture, and her head was still smarting from when she'd grown impatient and Bea had smacked her with her hilt. Kieria was more concerned about the clones' safety around Bea than the older Jedi's.

But she had seen first hand what the Separatist droids could do to a body, having set foot on many war torn planets in relief missions over the last year and a half while the War had raged. Her Master might still be able to take care of herself on the sorts of assignments they had handled before the Wars started, but she feared Bea did not fully comprehend the situation she was walking into, and with only the clones at her side. Clones that Kieria had seen killed far too easily by droids, sometimes. Perhaps against a small force, Bea would prevail, despite her age, but should she find herself in a larger battle...Kieria did not wish to dwell on the possibilities. She was forced to trust the Council's judgment. Breathing in deeply through her nose, Kieria willed the fear and unease away, trying to concentrate on Bea's recent lecture about trusting the Force. Her former Master's insight into the clones had given her much to think about.

She had just exited the shuttle bay and reentered the Temple proper when her wrist comm beeped and, grateful for the distraction, Kieria stopped walking and lifted her wrist in front of her to answer it. The channel was voice only, but she recognized Mace Windu's voice immediately.

"Kieria Irrden," Master Windu said sedately. "Please come to the Council Chambers immediately. We have a situation that requires your immediate attention."

"Immediately, Master Windu," she responded, keeping her voice as neutral and calm as possible, though she suspected some of her eagerness slipped out. The comm call ended, and her pace quicken in the direction of the Council Chambers.

Despite her lingering worries about her former Master's safety, Kieria was pleased at the prospect of a new assignment, and it would be a good distraction from thinking too much about Bea. Since the Wars had broken out a year ago, the last three months had been her longest sojourn at the Temple. A month after she had returned from Aleen, she'd spent several weeks distributing medical supplies with an under-staffed Republic relief team on Phindar after storm surges had caused flooding that was among the worst in the tropical planet's history. But since then she had remained at the Temple, teaching both lightsaber techniques and giving lectures to older Padawans about the planets she had traveled to. While she loved the grand halls and always felt at peace here, and certainly enjoyed teaching, Kieria also greatly enjoyed her off-world work. She liked to be kept busy, especially out in the galaxy, where help was needed. If she spent too much time idle at the Temple, she began to grow restless.

The dark blond woman suspected the reason she had not been sent out again since Phindar was because the current class of Padawans she was teaching level two dual lightsaber forms to was coming along very smoothly. And she was developing a bit of a rapport with a male Twi'lek youngling named Riyn, who was adopting two-handed fighting with as much ease as she had. With so many Jedi gone, finding adequate teachers was becoming more difficult, as was pairing Padawans to Masters, and Kieria suspected Master Yoda was hoping she would finally choose a Padawan for herself, but she wasn't sure yet if she was ready for that step. Whatever had happened must be very important indeed to have them pull her away from that.

AN: I apologize for not having Wolffe appear in this chapter, but we saw everything at the end of Sky of Stars and in the first chapter from his point of view, so I needed to give Kieria some thinking time. He's in the next chapter, I promise!