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Chapter 10

Early the next morning, directly after breakfast, Obi-Wan and Stass were in the living room, making battle plans. Acacia and Kadalia stood a little ways away, watching as their Masters pored over maps of Utapau, deciding on the best routes to get to the best place to wage the battle.

"One decisive battle is what we need," Stass said. "One to sweep away all of the Emperor's bounty hunters and mercenaries. If we don't have one, solid, decisive victory, Palpatine will be able to send in reinforcements."

Obi-Wan nodded his agreement. Then, "Wait, you mean, they're not clones?"

Stass and Kadalia shook their heads. "No," Stass answered. "Palpatine removed the clones shortly before we came here. Apparently, they were needed in other, more important areas of the Galaxy. It's the Outer Rim, so there's an abundance of mercenaries and bounty hunters, even a few droid warriors, all willing to 'keep the peace' for a few credits."

"More like a few hundred," Kadalia muttered.

"Or a few thousand," Acacia added.

"Either of you planning on a career in such?" Obi-Wan asked lightly.

Both of the girls struggled to keep smiles off their faces as they shook their heads. "No, Master Obi-Wan."

"Good," Stass nodded at the two of them. "Poluna will probably wake up soon. You two go and prepare a bottle for her."

Kadalia nodded. "Yes Master." Turning to Acacia, she added, "Trust me, you do not want to deal with that child when she's hungry. She has exactly no patience."

"Sounds like someone I know," Acacia whispered back, thinking of her brother. And her best friend.

"Whatever," Kadalia said, rolling her eyes. "Come on. I want to talk to you anyway."

As Acacia had learned the previous evening, the whole Autumn-on-Naboo color theme applied only to the living room. The kitchen, on the other hand, was decorated like the ocean. The walls were all painted sea green and the appliances, from the refrigerator to the counter in the middle, were varying shades of aqua blue. The kitchen made Acacia think of Naboo as well, but in a different way than the living room did. It made her think of Naboo in the summer, with sparkling waters and rolling hills.

It looks like this now, she thought. And she wondered what Anakin and Padme were doing, if they were right now swimming in these same vibrant colors.

But then she pushed the thoughts of her brother away. She was on a mission, after all. Now was not the time to get her head all muddled by concentrating on him. Besides, Anakin was perfectly safe. For once. It was herself - and Obi-Wan, Kadalia, and Stass - who she needed to worry about.

"So," Kadalia began, as she prepared the bottle. "How's Anakin? Did he... Well, you know."

"Huh?" Acacia asked. "Oh you mean, is he alive. Yeah, he's fine, totally fine. I guess you didn't hear, did you"

"Hear? About what?"

And so, with a proud smile on her face, Acacia told Kadalia how her brother had saved the entire Jedi Order all by himself.

"Wow," Kadalia said when Acacia had finished. "That's amazing."

"I know. It sounds kinda weird because I'm younger than him and everything, but really, I am so proud of him."

Kadalia laughed while she checked the formula mix boiling on the stove. "Well, you should be. I can't imagine how Master Obi-Wan must feel."

"I think he's pretty proud, too."

"So where is Anakin now?"

Acacia paused a second before answering. Though the Council knew the truth about Anakin and Padme's marriage, they had not yet allowed the information to go any farther, and Acacia wasn't sure if she was allowed to tell Kadalia or not.

But her friend waved away her worries. "It's fine. I understand. The Council still has their secrets."

Acacia smiled with relief. "Between you and me, I think they have even more now."

Kadalia nodded, but she didn't smile. "Yeah, they probably do. Grab that bottle on the counter will you? We've gotta pour this stuff in so it'll cool a little before Poluna drinks it."

"Sure," Acacia said. She grabbed the baby bottle on the island and carried it over to the stove. There, Kadalia very carefully poured the warm liquid into the bottle.

As Acacia capped it, Kadalia added, "Sometimes I think they have too many secrets."

Acacia looked at her friend, eyebrows furrowed. "Who? The Council?"

Kadalia nodded. "Yes. I mean, we're all Jedi right? Shouldn't we get to know more of their secrets?"

Acacia frowned. "I don't know. Often, in the War, clones were on a need-to-know basis, with only the Generals and Captains knowing the full plan. I think that's the way it is with the Council."

"But we're not clones. So why aren't we allowed to know more?" Kadalia lowered her voice to a hiss to ensure that their Masters didn't hear.

"I... I don't know, Kady." Acacia shook her head. "What's brought this on, anyway?"

Kadalia sighed, slumping back against the counter. "I don't know. It's just that... me and my Master, we've felt so alone out here. I know it wasn't the Council's fault that we couldn't reach them, but, at the same time... Caisha, even now I'm not completely sure what we were even doing in Glova. It just seems like... like there's always more secrets, more lies. Not even the Council - the Jedi, the ones who are supposed to be the good guys - will tell you everything."

Acacia nodded. "I get what you mean. With Palpatine and everything... well, it makes you wonder who you can really trust."

Kadalia nodded. "Yeah."

"But I'm pretty sure that the Council is the one place Palpatine has not managed to infiltrate."

The other girl chuckled wryly. "Let's hope."

Before Acacia could reply, both girls heard a piercing whine coming from Poluna's room. Acacia turned to her friend. "Is it ready yet?"

She tested the bottle on her wrist and shook her head. "No, it's not quite cool enough. Uh... how 'bout this? You go get her and I'll grab some ice to try to cool this thing down a little."

Acacia giggled. "You think that'll work?"

Her friend flashed a grin. "Let's hope," she said again, and Acacia hurried off to get the screaming baby.

As she rushed down the halls, the walls changed from soft blues and greens to sandy tans and light browns, with the occasional dash of pink here and there. This time, the warm hues reminded her not of Naboo, but of her home planet, Tatooine. The night before, she had closed her eyes, standing in the room she'd been given, a room of tawny ochre and light brown. She'd spread her arms and breathed in, imagining she could feel the air of Tatooine and smell the scents of her father's moisture farm.

The fantasy had not lasted long, and she had gone to bed feeling more homesick than she'd felt in years.

Arriving in Poluna's room, she ignored the colors on the walls and went straight to the crib, picking up the baby in her arms. Poluna quieted almost immediately and Acacia smiled at the baby as she carried her back to the kitchen.

She thought of her own brother's children. They'd be born in only a few months. She wondered if she'd be there to see the birth.

And then, with the coming battle, she wondered if she'd be alive to see them at all.

She pushed the thoughts away as she came into the kitchen, forcing a smile for her friend and the baby. "Did the ice work?"

Kadalia nodded. "I think so. Let's see if she notices a difference."

Acacia handed Kadalia the baby, and watched as her friend shifted Poluna in her arms and held the bottle to her small, puckered lips. Poluna latched on immediately, sucking happily away. Kadalia looked over at Acacia and winked. "Success!"

Acacia laughed. "Looks like it. She's really downing that thing," she added, when a quarter of the bottle was gone only seconds later. "What's in it that she likes so much?"

Kadalia rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Don't ask."

Acacia laughed. "OK, I won't."

As Kadalia finished feeding the baby Utai, Acacia pulled herself into a sitting position on the counter and looked around the kitchen, thinking again of her room and her thoughts of Tatooine the night before. "You know, uh, I thought Utai lived in caves and stuff. But this house," She gestured around the room with her right hand. "It's really nice."

Kadalia nodded. "Most do live in caves and stuff. But if you'd known Poluna's parents, you'd understand. They weren't average. They were just... I don't know, different." Kadalia shrugged and sighed a little, and Acacia decided not to press the subject any further. Clearly, the deaths of Gabrianne and Adrianno still weighed on her friend, and she didn't wish to upset her anymore.

A few moments later, Poluna had downed the whole bottle and she burped contentedly. Kadalia handed the baby to Acacia, saying, "Come on back to my room. There's something I want to show you."

Acacia nodded and followed her friend. Kadalia's room was more pinkish than Acacia's, but even if it had been the exact color of the Tatooine sand and sunshine, it wouldn't have caught her attention the way Kadalia's prize did.

"Stars and galaxies, Kady," Acacia murmured as her friend brought it out. "Is that Grievous' cape?"

Kadalia nodded, rushing over to close the door behind Acacia. "Sure is. I found it while I was exploring a few days after we got here."

Acacia laid Poluna down on the bed, then knelt on the floor by her friend to examine the cape. Its gray outside and red-violet interior were just as she remembered. As she reached inside the pockets of the velvety material, Kadalia nodded. "The lightsabers are there. I checked for them myself. I don't know whether or not that's all of them, but there are at least four."

Acacia nodded, remembering her own promise to herself only a few weeks before, when she'd thought that she would be the one to retrieve Grievous' "trophies." Not that she was upset that Kadalia had been the one to do it, but, now that the prize was in front of her, she wasn't sure what they should do about it. "Have you shown it to your Master?"

Kadalia shook her head. "No. Grievous killed one of her closest friends." Kadalia pointed to the lightsaber in the leftmost pocket. "She's under a lot of stress right now, you know? Plus, she was a lot closer to Poluna's parents than she wants you and Obi-Wan to know, and I know she's still grieving a lot over them, no matter what she says. I just... I don't wanna make things worse. Especially not now, with the battle ahead."

Acacia nodded. It was the students who were supposed to learn from the teachers, but occasionally, it was the apprentices who had to protect the Masters. "I understand. So we keep it a secret for now?"

"For now." Kadalia agreed. "I'll tell her later, maybe after the battle."

Acacia nodded again. As she brushed her fingers over the cape one last time before Kadalia hid it away again, Acacia felt her heart burning with hatred for the being who once wore it. Her logical, Jedi mind told her the emotion was useless. After all, she knew he was dead - stars, she'd skewered the monster on her own blade.

And yet, she hated him so much, she wished she could be in that moment once more. So she could kill him again. And again. And again.

Acacia shivered from the coolness of her own hatred and pushed the evil thoughts away. Even though she knew they would only come back again.

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