He looks like hell, Midori thought, in that endless second before they reached her son. Too pale; too thin, despite all the Enclave's medics had been able to do. Hair too long, caught back by what looked like a stray circuit tie. And the plain hospital tunic and pants looked like they'd been stampeded over by a herd of wild nerf.

But he was alive. Alive, and awake, and... holding hands with a girl? That was new.

"Mom. Dad." His voice was a little deeper as he hugged them; a little older. But mostly just tired. "This is my partner, Asuna. Asuna? These are my parents, Midori and Minnetaka Kirigaya."

What?

Partner sounded like such an innocuous word. To most Humans, even to most Corellians, it was. But Kirigayas were CorSec and Jedi, and neither of those used partner lightly.

This is the person I trust at my back, Kazuto had just told them. This is the one I trust with my life.

What had happened in that game, that their son had decided he had a partner?

The auburn-haired girl bowed, Jedi-formal. "I'm glad to meet you," Asuna said politely. "We didn't talk much about the outside world in ORO, but I know he missed you."

Minnetaka caught her eye, and nodded, even as he reached out to hug Suguha to them as well. "We need to talk. Somewhere that isn't falling down or on fire," he said dryly, turning them all toward the doorway. "What happened down there? It was like a bomb went off."

"No, not a bomb," Asuna shook her head. "Two droideka generators."

What? "There were two droidekas down there?" Midori frowned Guenith's way as the agent caught up with them. Why had her babies been anywhere near Jedi-killing droids?

"Um." Guen scratched the back of her neck, eyes red-rimmed and just a little sheepish. "Actually..."

"Six droidekas," Kazuto said, matter-of-fact. "One other combat droid we'll have to ask Anton about. If we run into another like that, I want to know its weak spots." He smiled at Suguha. "Good throw."

Her daughter recoiled. "How can you say that? Pellegrin is dead!"

Pellegrin? Midori winced, and saw her husband's shoulders slump. They hadn't met the young padawan often, but he'd been a nice boy. One more death on top of the Enclave; it hurt.

"And what you did down there," Suguha was pulling back, face pale, "that was Force Lightning-"

"No, it wasn't," Guen said firmly. "And your master knew all about it. I'll explain. Later."

But Kazuto had already pulled away, face as cool and neutral as Aoi's in the middle of a riot. It chilled Midori's heart.

"You should talk to Rainshadow and the other Knights," Kazuto said, turning to Asuna. "Sort out who's staying, who has to go. I'll touch base with Argo, Lisbeth... and Sasha, I hope. Between us we probably know every midlevel and lower whose knacks are too strong to hide-"

"And first you'll come sit down by the nice lady with coffee for a few minutes." A scruffy redhead draped an arm over Kazuto's shoulder with casual ease. "Before you fall down. Starburst Stream's tough enough on you without a night like the one we've had."

"Klein," Kazuto protested.

"Fuurinkazan's all going, so don't argue." Klein waved at some grinning guys dragging droid parts. "We like flying cargo." He paused, and winked. "Sometimes even legal ones."

"Should I be hearing this?" Guen said wryly.

"You'll get used to them," Asuna smiled, as Fuurinkazan hauled a grumbling Kazuto off. She nodded at Midori and Minnetaka. "Forgive us, but we have to get moving if we want to avoid the Army's attention."

"We've got speeder-buses," the agent stated. "Just make sure people get sorted while we wipe the droid brains."

"Transport should be enough for anyone staying," Asuna agreed. "Those of us who are leaving will need a few things if we want to get to the spaceport without being noticed. Like clothes."

"I know," Guen said practically. "Head for the Chasm and Asteroid Belt Outfitters. Someone I know's set up a lump-sum emergency fund to pay for what we're about to commandeer." She glanced back at a pressure-spray of water and chemicals dousing the hole from above. "Everything's going to smell like smoke anyway. The owners'll probably be grateful we took this stuff off their hands."

"Someone who thinks." Asuna reddened a little, and covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry... I ended up handling a lot of our guild logistics, it could get exhausting when nobody else thought about what we'd need... Thank you." She eyed Suguha. "I need to talk to you. Later." With a parting bow, she hurried off.

"And I need to talk to you right now," Guen said firmly. "All of you." She glanced between the three of them. "The Enclave didn't want this getting out. So it didn't go beyond the Masters and a few people in CorSec. Short version? Kayaba found a way to train Force-sensitives." She took a breath. "Even ones who didn't know they had anything to train."

Midori's hand found her husband's. Father said Kazuto had no talent. That Aoi's son - his grandson - had no strength in the Force. But he acts like a Jedi, and that lump in his sleeve; like Thai when he didn't want to be noticed.... "Kazuto?"

"His training's got some holes in it, but Thai said..." Guen swallowed. "Thai said he's one of the best swordsmen the Enclave's ever seen. He was a clearer. If he wasn't good, he wouldn't still be alive." She glanced toward where auburn hair had disappeared into the survivors. "Asuna's almost as good, and she has at least half of a Healer's training on top of that. Healer Agnei was going to take over her training if she made it out. The tricky part was figuring out who'd help her train them, because you can't split those two up. Not now; not for at least a few months, Agnei said. They're hurt inside. They need each other."

Suguha stiffened. "They're hurt-!"

"I lost him too, Sugu." Guen gulped a breath, and rubbed tears away from wet eyes. "I lost him, and I miss him, and it hurts. But I've lost people before, and... your brother's not trying to hurt you. He smiled because he's alive, and you're alive, and he's trying to keep you that way. He's trying to keep you moving, so you don't have time to think. Because if we stop, if we even slow down..." A tear broke free, painting a wet sheen down the agent's cheek. "Then all we're going to want to do is crawl into a hole and hide. For days. And we can't do that yet." She glanced back over her shoulder, where another load of survivors was coming up the lift. "I'm going to make sure it looks like droids and CorSec did it all."

"Agent Nyx!"

Midori hid a frown. There was pleading, mixed with the pain on Suguha's face. "If that wasn't Force Lightning..." Her daughter shuddered. "What did he do?"

"Talk to Healer Agnei," the agent said firmly. "She saw Master Plo Koon use something like it on Thyferra." She waved a hand, as if spreading out unruly notes. "It's a long, complicated explanation. The way I boiled it down, it is Force Lightning. It's just not Dark."

Midori raised her eyebrows, and stepped closer to her daughter. "How is that even possible?"

"Thai called your son a force of nature." Guen's smile was faint, and bittersweet. "I don't think he was joking."

My son, Midori thought, proud and worried at once. Her quiet, determined son, who'd been told all his life that he would never be a Jedi; that he was expected to aid the Force in more mundane ways, catching lawbreakers and protecting innocent civilians. My son is going to live his life breaking the law. Because he is a Jedi.

Minnetaka reached out and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "How can we help?"

"Tell everybody who's staying, if anybody asks you why you're missing a few hours since the Enclave went up, you were assisting CorSec with inquiries." Guen sniffled, and almost laughed. "Outside of that... Make sure they get the right sizes? It's been three years."


Silica stood in the middle of racks of silk, lace, and frills, curious feather-drake on her shoulder, and didn't know where to look to stop blushing. "I can't- this is silly!"

"You're fifteen. You need some of this." Lisbeth surfaced from a stack of less-frilly undergarments, waving a pale gray bra in triumph. "Come on! I found athletic stuff in your size."


Kirito stamped a foot, and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, a set of boots that fit right.

"Basic black. Why am I not surprised?"

He grinned at Klein, and let the smuggler haul him to his feet. The redhead's jacket was a little brighter than his guild colors, but the crew was recognizably Fuurinkazan again, down to Klein's rakish bandanna over raggedly trimmed hair. It was amazing how comforting that was. "You look better."

"We drop you in a dark alley, we'd never find you again," Klein smirked.

"So, same as always," Kunimittz quipped.

Dale rolled his eyes; the tank amused by the lighter fighters. "You think we'll look enough like trouble trying to look decent to keep real trouble off our backs?"

"I hope so." Kirito shrugged into a black longcoat, and sighed. "Cloth." Not his familiar leather armor, light and impossibly tough, treated with the alchemic recipes strict Jedi would never use and solo players couldn't afford not to use. Not even regular leather. Damn it.

"Yeah, yeah; live with it like the rest of us," Klein shrugged. "It bites."

"Does it ever," Harry One grumbled. "We're going to get Lisbeth and the rest of the armorers set up soon, right?"

"Blaster would go right through this stuff," Issin agreed. "I feel naked."

"And there isn't even an Ethics Code to save us," Kirito deadpanned.

"Oi!" Klein ruffled his too-long hair. "Wait, right... Dynamm?"

Kirito's eyes widened, as Fuurinkazan's pirate moved in with mini-vibroshears and a wicked grin. "DNA," the swordsman objected. "Cell traces-"

"Sweat, blood, burned skin?" Klein shrugged. "Anybody does a serious sweep of this mall, they'll find us anyway. Sit."

Fearing for his ears, Kirito sat.

Vrummm. Snip. Whine...

"There!" Almost smirking, Klein stuffed cut black in Kirito's pockets, then hauled him back up and dusted off his shoulders. His smile bent a little, serious and thoughtful. "Damn. You look like you belong in a spaceport now."

His head felt oddly light. Kirito had to half-shut his eyes a moment. Space. Real space, not the game.

The last time he'd left atmosphere for real, he'd panicked. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened, only that it'd been dark and lonely and Suguha had been so scared.

He never wanted to scare her like that again. Suguha was a Jedi, and fear led to the Dark Side; but more than that, she was his sister. He didn't want to hurt her. He'd tried to go into space again, he'd tried to get past that crippling fear...

But he couldn't. No matter what he'd tried.

Until the ORO beta.

It wasn't easy. The first few times he'd tried even riding a shuttle that dipped out of atmosphere and back again, his sheer level of panic had almost set off the NerveGear's safety logout. But he'd known his body was on Corellia, no matter where his mind saw he was, and that had been just enough to keep the fear from blacking him out.

I can do this, he'd thought, after that first terrifying test run. I can do this, I can learn to face the void again.

And then Kayaba had locked them in, and panic wouldn't log you out anymore.

I can do this.

Klein weighed him with a look. "You going to be okay?"

"I have to be." Kirito took a deep breath. "But maybe I shouldn't be flying the first time we break orbit."

The redhead sighed, and bumped his shoulder. "You'll be okay. Come on! Let's get this traveling circus on the road. Just wait 'til you see-"

"Asuna." Eyes wide, Kirito headed for her.

White blouse, loose and flowing. White half-gloves protecting her hands. A cream jacket trimmed with dark blue, above a darker blue skirt; fashionably long in back, short in front to show off sheer white leggings.

Next to her, I'm a stormcrow by the cresting waves.

Well, this was one crow who didn't mind a bit. The view was awesome.

...Funny, that throat-clearing off to the side sounded familiar.

That's Mom. And Dad. And Sugu.

...Why do they all look like someone grazed them with a stunbolt?

Klein rapped a knuckle on the top of his head.

"Ow!"

"Shake your head, your eyes are stuck," the smuggler grinned. "And you're giving your folks a heart attack. How old are you?"

"Seventeen, I think?" He glanced at Asuna, who seemed caught between a blush and a giggle. Then at his family, who ranged from the pure disbelief on Sugu's face, to surprise, to outright amusement in his father's set of shoulders. "Is something wrong?"

"Son," Minnetaka said gravely, looking behind himself, "I think we're going to have to have a talk."

Looking behind, why-?

Oh no. There was Lisbeth in red and silver. Silica, blushing bright pink in her long green coat, Pina curled on her shoulder like an exotic bird. And Argo, with a wicked grin gleaming from under her dark gray hood.

What do I do?

His mother straightened, and broke the stalemate by striding forward to wrap him in a hug. "How long have they all been chasing you?" she murmured in his ear.

"Erk?" Kirito managed.

"That long, huh?" Her hug tightened, comforting; then eased. "We'll have to find some nice boys for the others." She backed off enough to wink at him. "That, and I need to let them know what partner means to a Kirigaya."

That sounded good. If a little scary. "Are we set to go?"

"Almost." Asuna stepped out of the shop to hand her blaster to a wary CorSec agent in a slouch hat. "You too, Klein."

"Aww..."

The blond agent gave him an even warier look. "We're going to incinerate all of these."

"Can't have Army serial numbers floating around, right," Klein sighed, handing his over. "We'll just have to find the right guy in a back alley... what? What'd I say?"

Groaning, the CorSec agent slunk off.

Minnetaka chuckled quietly, watching the agent retreat. "You're Grasscutter's crew, aren't you? I think I like you already."

Fuurinkazan's attention snapped to him. "What do you know about Grasscutter?" Klein frowned.

"Mostly that you never started blasting if you thought you could talk your way out," Minnetaka stated. "And that you got my son out of some very tight spots." His smile was bright with mischief. "I like smugglers who think before they fight. They tend to live longer." He shrugged. "But we can talk more after we're clear of here."

"And we should get clear, fast," Argo nodded. "We're the last group that's going to be disappearing. Anyone else still here can trickle out with the rescue crews-"

Somewhere outside, transparisteel smashed.

"Sorry!" A rangy guy in a firefighter's outfit gave a sheepish shrug as they swarmed out the shop door. The rest of his team was staring at the droideka arm now lodged in a shelf of jewelry cases, and heaving heartfelt sighs. "My fault."

Shoulder to shoulder with Asuna, Kirito told his racing heart to calm down. "It's okay," he called out, eyeing how CorSec and willing help had strewn droid parts around to make it look as though half the fight had taken place up here. "That looks good. Good scatter of debris."

"There's a good scatter of debris?" his father murmured, shaking his head as they walked.

"If it looks right, yep," Klein agreed. "Trust me, we've seen a lot of them."

"But I bet they don't get to wreck places often." Lisbeth scanned the shattered shop cases with a mechanic's practiced eye. "There's an art to it... huh."

Kirito blinked, then deliberately strode on, with a swirl of his coat to draw away watching eyes as she pounced. If Lisbeth had seen something in there she wanted, he wasn't about to stop her.

We're leaving Corellia. We're leaving home.

And we might never come back.

Together again, they strode out an alley door into dawnlight.

The sun. There was a lump in his throat as Kirito looked over the glow tinting everything subtle gold. Lau and Nanami were waving Silica in toward their speeder, and there was a white hover-truck for the rest of them. This is real...

"Hey." Agil stepped around the corner of the truck, pulling down the sliding hatch on a cargo compartment half-filled with kitchen appliances. "I'd like you all to meet my wife, Kathy."

From the driver's seat a blonde woman waved, her smile a mix of joy and determination.

"Ma'am," Kirito said, joining the ragged chorus of hi and glad to meet you.

"Don't worry, I know you're all gamers." Kathy eyed them. "We can talk more later. You haven't had nearly enough coffee to face people yet."

On the one hand, ow. On the other... well, yes.

"Coffee later," Agil said, waving them into the crew compartment. "For now, we've got snacks."

Food!

They had the hot sandwiches divvied up and half-devoured almost before the truck lifted. They weren't quite as good as Asuna's sandwiches, Kirito thought, but then what was?

Warm; almost too warm, with this many people jammed into too few seats. He was snuggled up almost on top of Asuna. And nobody was shooting at them.

Huh. Odd not to have a hard lump of armor under his head when it dipped down onto her shoulder. Kind of nice, though...

Zzzzzsnore.


I knew marrying into the Kirigayas would change my life. Minnetaka felt his wife breathe against him as they watched over their children. But not like this.

Fleeing the law. Fleeing the Army at the very least, with a group of strangers, a daughter wounded to the soul, and a son returned from the very jaws of death.

He's different.

Intellectually, Minnetaka knew he couldn't have expected anything else. It'd been three years. And Master Golia had given them all too many stark details on the history Kayaba had trapped the ORO players in. It hadn't been like the Stark Hyperspace War, blowing up and over in a year. It'd been a long, hard, brutal struggle between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire, and the survival rate of those involved had been... grim.

Ten thousand players. Only six thousand survivors.

And it wasn't just death their son had faced. The Sith Empire had been a place of almost unimaginable cruelty. Torture, murder, slavery; bioweapons that made the afflicted into cannibalistic madmen. All of those had been normal to the Sith. Accepted tactics. Because the philosophy of the Sith was power. Those who had it were everything. Those who didn't, were insects to be crushed under a Sith's black boots.

Kazuto walked into that. As a game.

There was no way anyone could have known what Kayaba would do, or that the Republic would tear itself apart in a real war. None of this was Kazuto's fault.

And yet part of him just didn't know what to do. He'd lost a shy fourteen-year-old son who hid from the world and the Jedi behind a computer screen. He'd gained a seventeen-year-old who walked like a seasoned spacer, critiqued how to wreck a mall, and didn't so much as blink when the building he was in was on fire.

Not to mention, who'd apparently been right in the middle of a fight with combat droids where people had died, and wasn't even shaking afterward. Who did that?

You know who. Just look in a mirror. It's been years, but... if you had to, you would.

Force, what do I do? I want to take care of my son. I just... don't know how...

"He's a good kid."

Minnetaka raised a brow at the young lady in gray a few seats away. That wasn't the kind of thing girls usually said about the object of their romantic affections. Not to mention, Argo hadn't tried to squeeze into this row with Lisbeth. "You're not after my son at all, are you?"

"Aw. But chasing Ki-bou is fun!" Argo glanced Lisbeth's way to make sure the younger girl was drowsing, then grinned, all fond mischief. "Like I said, he's a good kid. He helps people out of jams, and a lot of them haven't been lucky enough to find another guy as good to help. Lisbeth and Asuna are good friends. Makes it easier on them if they think there's someone else putting her fingers into the mix." She chuckled. "And Ki-bou always knew where to find a good bath."

"He helped you out of one heck of a jam, that's for sure." Agil leaned back over his seat, tall and dark and tired as Minnetaka felt. "That first planetary guide..."

"What else could I do? Kayaba'd dropped us in the middle of his war. If we didn't start putting the pieces together and find the damn Sith, we were all going to die." Her smile was gone, face haunted by something Minnetaka didn't want to name. "I knew it was risky. I didn't expect... that. Why did he do that?"

"Nobody expected that." Agil shook his head. "That's the only reason it worked."

Minnetaka felt Midori shift beside him, and asked the question he knew was on her lips. "Expected what?"

"Um. Long story." Agil's jaw worked, as if he tasted something bitter. "First month, a lot of people were scared. They thought the beta testers were holding out on them. Turned out in that first boss fight, Kayaba'd changed things up, so the betas didn't know much more than the rest of us. Kirito... well. He got the idiots' attention. Outed himself as a beta tester, and made it damn clear how much things had changed since Opening Day. Saved a lot of people, in the long run." Brown eyes met Minnetaka's. "But it left him playing solo. A lot."

Minnetaka held his gaze, drawing on a reserve of will he hadn't needed in years. It was easier than he'd expected. He didn't want to think ill of the dead, but the fact that Master Golia had told his partner Kazuto could use the Force, and not his son's family - if the man weren't incinerated, they'd be having words. "How bad was it?"

Agil almost squirmed. "He handled it."

I never doubted he could. "You look a little young to remember the Stark Hyperspace War," Minnetaka observed. "I was in it."

That had Argo's full attention. Interesting.

Agil coughed. "Kirito never mentioned that. We didn't talk about the outside world, much."

"He knew. Though maybe not all the details," Minnetaka admitted. "I was only in it on the edges. And I don't regret it. I never would have met my wife, otherwise." Regret losing the family he'd had before the war - yes. Always. But the dead were dead, and he had children to think of. "Still, I've seen people panic and riot." He was not going to shudder at the thought. Jammed in the way they all were, Kazuto wouldn't have to be a Jedi to feel it. "How bad?"

For a long moment, Agil looked at him, as if trying to add anyone named Kirigaya up in his head all over again. "He headed people off before it ever got to a riot. You should have seen him. Teenage kid, nobody should have taken him seriously - but he'd just killed Illfang, and he walked like a guy even a bounty hunter wouldn't cross. I'd never seen anything like it, and I'd run the Dicey for two years."

Midori chuckled against Minnetaka's side. "And we thought he was just picking up my bad habits."

Minnetaka felt warmed, and just a bit proud. "I'd say sorry, love, but I think I should have taught him a few more."

"Hmm." Midori leaned her head on his shoulder, and winked at Agil. "What my husband isn't saying is, he wasn't officially in the war." She smiled. "He was a blockade runner."

Agil blinked. Rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

Argo was grinning. "Edge of the war, huh?" She gestured with both hands. "An edge here, an edge there?"

"Something like that," Minnetaka admitted.

"...I thought you guys were CorSec," Agil got out.

"CorSec, scoundrel... you know how it is," Midori said casually. "Your partner ought to be your friend, first. And if you can't trust the guy smuggling in your bacta, who can you trust?"

Minnetaka's ears were red. He just knew it. "Did I look that sappy when I first saw you?"

"Yes," Midori said firmly. "Yes, you did."

Heh. Well, at least they knew their son was serious. "I got out of that line of work after I got married," Minnetaka told them. "Though sometimes I think it was a lot more honest than negotiating for corporations. I thought about going back to freighting a few years ago, but..."

Argo nodded, as if fitting the pieces together. "Ki-bou couldn't fly."

"What, seriously?" Agil blurted out.

"He tried." It'd cut Minnetaka to the bone. Kazuto wasn't being stubborn. He wasn't trying to get attention, no matter what some of the school instructors thought. He just couldn't leave atmosphere without passing out. And no one could figure out why.

Because we believed Seta. Minnetaka almost winced, thinking of his traditional, stubborn father-in-law. And Seta said Kazuto was under the threshold.

If Kazuto was strong enough to be trained now, if he'd always been strong enough to be a Jedi-

Then he remembers. Damn it. Minnetaka suppressed the urge to beat his head against the back of his seat. Honored Father-in-law, you were an idiot.

"Minnetaka?" Midori murmured.

"You start training Jedi young to protect them from Dark emotions, right?" Minnetaka pointed out. "Because if you're strong in the Force, you remember things. Even if you're just a baby."

"You do?" Agil gripped the back of his seat, obviously interested.

"Mostly just emotional imprints," Midori informed him. "You have to be really strong in the Force to remember anything from when you were... very young..." She paled. "Oh no."

"If he remembers the pirates," Minnetaka took a deep breath, "then it all makes sense."

"Pirates," Argo murmured, stroking her cheek.

"Kirito hates pirates," Agil said grimly. "One of the only things that makes him lose it. What happened?"

"Let's just say, he has a good reason not to want to be in space again. Ever," Minnetaka said, just as grim. "How in the galaxy did he make it through ORO?" The whole game was about hunting down the hidden Sith Lord. Kazuto was a clearer. He had to have left Coruscant.

"He's got a stubborn streak a system wide," Argo shrugged. "I know Fuurinkazan helped him out. You should talk to them."

Yes, he should. Though maybe after he'd indulged in some target practice, so he could talk to Healer Agnei without resorting to veiled threats of what he'd ensure happen if she ever held out on him about his children again. Agnei and Thai had been absolutely candid about the dangers Kazuto had faced, how many narrow escapes he'd had, and the names and faces of those who seemed to consider his son an ally. But they hadn't breathed a word of Kazuto training as a Jedi.

His wife was a CorSec slicer. His daughter was a Jedi apprentice. Who in the galaxy had they thought he'd leak any of this to?

I need to know. And not just because I'm an upset father.

Getting off the planet was only a temporary solution. If they wanted to stay alive and out of clone hands, they had to identify their enemy.

Though off the planet is a good start. "Do any of you have an idea what we need to stay on the run?" Minnetaka swept his gaze over everyone awake. "Ships, supplies?"

That got a few traded glances. "I've got a good idea what we'd need in ORO." Agil grimaced. "Kind of a couple thousand years out of date."

"Lucky for you, I've been in the spacelanes a little more recently," Minnetaka said wryly. "Midori?"

She already had one of her secure computers up and running; some kind of data-gathering agent, by the look of it."Checking your contacts to see who hasn't been arrested lately. And what's in port that we might be able to buy."

"I love you," Minnetaka breathed. He gave Argo and Agil a determined look. "Let's make a plan."


"The beach?" Anton said, aghast.

Kathy Mills' voice over his commlink had an almost visible grin. "Why not? If you were in trouble, would you go to the beach?"

"Well... no," the Jedi was forced to admit.

"Exactly!"

That was actually a valid point. Shaking his head, Anton followed the rest of their ragged caravan down to the smoothed sand parking lot. "I'm not looking forward to this."

Agnei's eyes were still red, but she gave him a determined wink as she looked up from her resting patients. "You don't like the beach?"

"I've hardly been to it often enough to dislike it. It's simply... I've had to conceal my identity as a Jedi once or twice for a mission. It was never pleasant. And this threatens to be far more long-term." Anton sighed. "I suppose that may be easier for the survivors. They never knew they could be Jedi in the first place."

Agnei was quiet as he circled to find a spot. "...That's not entirely true."

A pilot's discipline made him set down first. "Excuse me?" he asked once the engine was winding down.

"Half of those who gained their training in ORO were on record with midichlorian levels high enough for acceptance into the Enclave." Agnei folded her hands in her sleeves, giving him a weighing look. "Asuna's count is over twelve thousand."

"Over twelve-!" Anton sat up straight in his seat. "Why wasn't she in the Enclave?"

"The Yuuki family heads a large corporation. They didn't need a Jedi in the household. I doubt her parents even told her she had the ability." Agnei shrugged. "I know Argo's parents did tell her, but they wanted her to be old enough to decide for herself which path she wanted to take." Brown eyes closed, almost in pain. "It's in their medical files. Why do you think Thai had to destroy the entire Enclave? It wasn't just to save us."

Anton's heart seemed to skip a beat, as he put the implications together. "You knew of Corellians who could have been Jedi, but aren't."

"Oh, hundreds," Agnei nodded. "Thousands, if you count the whole Sector. Though we seem to have scooped up a very high proportion of Corellia's younger potentials in ORO."

Thousands. Anton took a deep breath. Never tell a Corellian the odds. "Why? There were so few of us, we needed your help!"

"How could we give our children up to people who'd tell them they could never love someone?"

It could have been an accusation. But Anton could see the pain in her eyes. The grief. Her brothers and sisters in the Enclave were dead, and she had loved them.

As I did mine, Anton admitted, trying not to think of a youngling with a bright grin and tousled hair. "How can you do that? How can you be attached, and not risk Falling?"

"You can't," Agnei answered. "No one can. To love is to risk. Grief and anger can damage the strongest of us, and sometimes all you can do with a heartbroken Jedi is knock them senseless until you have enough medics to sit on them." It was almost a smile. "Anton, the Corellian Order decided a long time ago that the real danger wasn't attachment. It was possession."

Heresy. And yet... "I don't understand?" Anton said carefully.

"People aren't things," Agnei clarified. "They have their own minds, their own wills, and their own lives. If you love someone, that love is yours; never force it on one who doesn't return it. If someone you love dies, grieve. If they're in danger, act. If they fall to Darkness... remember that you are still a Jedi, and do what you must."

He shook his head, uncertain how to reply. "I've seen parents' love for their children. How... how could even a Jedi ever...?"

"That's why we are an Order, and not simply Force-using families scattered and alone," Agnei said firmly. "If one of your family Fell, you contacted the Enclave for help." Her lips pressed into a thin, pained line. "And you kept them from harming the innocent until help could get there. Any way you had to." She chafed her arms, as if driving off a chill. "We aren't that different, Anton. Not where it counts. No matter what the Council might say."

That wasn't an entirely comforting thought. "I'll have to consider that," Anton temporized.

"So will I," Agnei nodded. At his look askance, she almost rolled her eyes. "You didn't think all the ways of Coruscant would have to disappear just because you're surrounded by crazy Corellians, did you? Our Enclave..." She had to stop a moment, and breathe. "They're gone, too."

"You're right." Anton felt a bit chilled himself. "Neither your Masters nor our Council saw this coming. We were simply fortunate enough to be in a position to escape the cataclysm. We..." Heh. Jedi were never supposed to use this phrase. "We simply got lucky."

"Somehow, I doubt it was luck that our survivors fought free when they did," Agnei said grimly. "Remember what Asuna and the others said? They knew they were running out of time."

Anton almost whistled. "And if they learned of Jedi ways as they were taught in that ancient War, when the Sith were common opponents - they may have been able to see through the darkness that clouded us."

"Maybe," Agnei agreed. "One way or another, we're alive. If either of our Orders had all the answers, then..." Her voice was ragged with unshed tears. "Then we wouldn't be here, lost in the shadows."

"No," Anton said quietly. "No, I suppose we wouldn't." He rose from his seat, glad the ride had finally given him enough time to finish healing his knee. "I don't know how familiar you are with Corsucant, but we're allowed to have friends. I'd be honored to count you among them."

That won him a weary smile. "And I'd be honored to accept."

Stepping forward, Anton hugged her.

Oh, but it was good to be held. Warmth, and arms around him, and a heart as sore as his own...

Curiosity brushed at him, like a giggle caught in bubbles. And there was silence where there should have been conversation amongst the injured.

Oh no.

Reluctantly raising his head, Anton stared toward the back of Agnei's large speeder turned improvised medical carrier. Sunlight was flooding them from the east, and no few young survivors were gathered around, obviously there to help patients and supplies out. Including Silica and her feathered friend. Who was giggling at them.

For some reason, that giggling didn't seem to be nearly as disconcerting as the smiles on the young girls' faces. A sort of smile he actually knew, from long-ago days as a youngling himself.

Awww, they're so cute!

...He was doomed.

Agnei cleared her throat, gently disengaging herself. "We'll have to consult further on the subject later, Knight Gelis. I do want to know if your knee gives you any more trouble."

"Yes, of course, Healer Salleth," Anton answered, disconcerted. Consult had made some of those giggles audible, and the way even wounded patients were ducking their heads and whispering at each other... doomed. :You did that on purpose.:

Agnei winked at him. Silica blushed, and made herself busy helping people unpack the supply cases.

He could hear the giggling spreading to other groups forming around the rest of the caravan. Along with the whispers. Argh. :Would you mind telling me why you did that?:

:They're teenagers, Anton. You know as well as I do, there's only one thing on most of their minds.: A soundless chuckle. :If they can giggle about us, they won't be as scared about what happens next.:

And they had every right to be scared. He was scared. But too much fear would paralyze them all. :A sound tactical maneuver,: Anton allowed, following her down the stepped bumper in the back. His boots crunched softly on white sand. :You are a sly, devious, risk-taking Corellian, and that was utterly evil.:

:Now, now.: Agnei glanced back at him, eyes bright with suppressed laughter. :Jedi don't believe in revenge.:

:Revenge, no,: Anton commented, heading for the growing gathering of weary survivors. :Payback, however...:

For a moment, Agnei's hand brushed his. :Bring it on.: