Chapter 9

Madeline and Michael rushed towards the infirmary as fast as they could when they re-entered the Underground Temple. Though people crowded the way, they moved and parted at Madeline's shouts. That and Selma was draped and injured over her shoulder.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The brunette shouted. A moment later, she was rushing in a straight line towards the infirmary as fast as she could. Michael followed her closely, worry clear in his eyes. Despite the number one rule of a leader to not let people see his emotions, tears were streaming down his face. The same thing was happening with Madeline. Her face was red as she was screaming at the top of her lungs, tears more like rivers flowed from her eyes. The sun was rising over the broken city of love, but the sun was going to be blocked out, due to the fact that fires, small and large, still burned on the surface.

Madeline's lungs burned as she took another breath but she didn't care. She had to get Selma to the intensive care part of the infirmary. Through the Force, the brunette could still feel the blonde master on her back still hanging on. Madeline could still feel the small flame that was dangerously close to being snuffed out, even in the smallest of winds. Fear was pumping through Madeline as she ran through the infirmary. People who were still in there glanced on as the brunette shouted for the chief medical droid to pull out a sustainer.

Thankfully, the chief droid did as he was ordered. Once the sustainer was pulled out and activated, Madeline laid the dying master on it and stepped back. The machine hummed as Selma's vitals popped up, along with her heart monitor. It was slow but still working. Madeline sighed, wiping the tears from her face but the next few words caused a lag of shoulders.

"I do not think that we can keep her stable for very long."

Madeline swallowed the next batch of tears that threated her. "Why not?"

"Her wounds are extensive." He informed the brunette human. The droid pulled up a holograph with a chart of human anatomy. A giant red dot appeared in the diagram's midsection…right where Selma's internal organs were. "The lightsaber, I would assume it was a lightsaber, practically melted her internal organs. I can only guess why she's still alive."

Before Madeline could say something, Adrien came in, his emerald eyes red rimmed with tears. Behind him, Michael attempted to pull him away but the blond model was rooted to the ground. His eyes searched the room, before landing on his mother in a capsule, pale, unmoving and barely alive. His heart-wrenching gasp of, "No! Mom!" was absolutely devastating on Madeline.

"Adrien, please." Madeline attempted to reason with him. "You need to go. There's nothing you can do here."

"Like hell there is!" the boy shouted. Both brunettes were taken aback at the former model's tone. Very rarely did Adrien lose his temper like this. "I'm staying here!"

"The Knight is correct, young Padawan." The droid answered. "Master Selma's vitals are dropping slowly and there is nothing that we can do."

"What…. what about…. what about those bactra tanks?"

"Her wounds are too extensive," Madeline answered, leaning up against a counter to keep herself from fainting. There was something about repeating the doctor's diagnosis….it just made it real. "Not even bacta can save her. I'm sorry."

"I'm not leaving her side." He said defiantly.

Madeline sighed tiredly. "Fine."

The three Force-sensitive kids sat down, watching as their master's (and in Adrien's case mother's) vital signs dropping slowly. Madeline had to lean over the edge of her chair to keep herself from vomiting. Adrien silently cried into his hands, his sobs mingling with slowing heart rate monitor. Michael was the most stoic of the three. Though he had sad eyes and tears brimming in his coffee brown eyes, the boy seemed content with just leaning against the wall, looking moody. Eventually, Adrien had to leave, as Selma's heart rate declined rapidly. Michael soon followed, claiming that he had to make sure that the food got put up in the right place.

That left Madeline alone. In a moment of dramatics, the brunette placed a hand on the glass over Selma's face. The scene played slowly in her mind, Madeline trying to keep her mind from thinking about it but failing.

"Why?" She breathed sadly, knowing that she would probably not know why. "You didn't have to push me out of the way."

Madeline closed her eyes as she melted into a sobbing mess. She didn't notice the soft blue glow that appeared, but she did snap her head up when she felt a warm, gentle pressure on top of her. Her eyes went wide when she saw Selma with a blue aura around her. Madeline glanced over at the heart monitor, which announced the constant slowing of Selma's heart.

"But- "

"No talking." The blonde master ordered gently. "I don't have a lot of time."

Tears fell from Madeline's eyes. "Please don't leave us. We need you to lead us. We'll be lost without out, Master."

"Oh, my dear," Selma's hand moved and was stroking her cheek softly. Madeline grabbed it but her master's hand was not corporeal. "I will always be with you. Besides, it's my time."

"No! You don't have to leave." Madeline begged. "I can't lead."

"Yes, you can." Selma stated. "You have lead soldiers into battle fiercely."

"But the Clones were programmed to follow me! Besides, I've always had a Master giving me orders."

Selma's soon to be ghost smiled softly, sitting down in a chair that Adrien was using previously. "There was a reason why I decided to give you the rank of Knight even though your Padawan training wasn't exactly complete."

"Why?" Madeline wondered.

"Because you two had grown in strength and skill so quickly, I felt that you and your brother had nothing left to learn from me." Selma glanced over at her own body, the heart rate monitor slowing down with more and more of a pause between each beat. "I have a choice to make. Either join the other Jedi in the Cosmic Force or exist in the physical plain as a Force Ghost."

"Which one will you choose?" Madeline asked, hoping it was the former. Then at least, the former Jedi Master would be a peace.

"I don't know." Selma admitted. "But always know, that I will always be with you, Michael and Adrien."

With one last smile, the ghost of Selma disappeared. Almost a heartbeat later (wrong choice of words), the heart rate monitor announced the death of Selma Agreste Turon. Madeline sat there, the only noise being the flatlining heartrate monitor. The chief medical droid walked in, his optics going to the vital signs on the sustainer before turning the machine off.

There was no sound in the room, except for the sobbing of a brunette young woman.

-Line break-

Adrien sat in a secluded room of the Temple, crying his eyes out. Plagg watched on silently, unsure of how to deal with this. The black cat kwami wasn't really good with emotional situations like this. The blond model sobbed harder when he felt something severe completely inside of him. He didn't know what it was, but for some reason, he knew that all it life it was there but now…. now it wasn't.

Adrien knew that his mother was dying. It hurt knowing that he only got to spend time with his mother for a short period of time, and in that short period of time was spent running for his life. She was living in Paris for the last several years, and Adrien didn't even know it. There was a warm feeling that suddenly appeared in the room, causing Adrien's sobs to calm down a little. Plagg, suddenly aware of the presence that entered the room, glanced around, his ink green eyes scanning the darkness. In one corner of the room, there was a light that flickered like a flame. The kwami's eyes went wide as he darted over to Adrien's shoulder, afraid of the powerful being that was materializing in front of him. His power of chaos threatened the atmosphere of the closet when a sudden burst of peace and tranquility, far more powerful than Tikki's power, went through the room.

"Uh, kid?" Plagg whispered as the flickering flame that took shape and color. There was a burst of large mint colored hair that seemed to flow in a phantom breeze, a long cream dress that seemed to fit the person very well, and a powerful aura of peace and calm. Adrien sniffled one last time before wiping his nose and turning his eyes up. But instead of his eyes going wide, they narrowed in anger.

"What are you doing here?" the boy demanded the being that finished materialized. There was anger in his voice, most of it directed at the figure for not telling him about his mother last spring. Adrien knew for a fact that this woman, or whatever she was, knew that his mother was in Paris, but for some reason, she didn't say anything.

"I came here to escort your mother to the Cosmic Force." She explained. "But I thought I would come by to see how you were doing."

"How do you think I'm doing!?" Adrien spat. He normally wasn't like this. But his mother died in front of him and this…. this thing knew it.

"I couldn't tell you." The Daughter suddenly spoke, her voice sad. The tone of her voice caught Adrien off guard, as if she could tell what he was thinking. "Even though I am technically dead, I am still bound by the rules of Fate. I cannot change anything."

There was a pause, in which Adrien took to consider the being's words. He learned from being Chat Noir that there were things that you could do to prevent certain things. But what was done was done. It's what helped Akuma victims get through the healing process. They couldn't help what they did while under the control of Hawkmoth. It was difficult to rationalize this though. But if what the Daughter said was true, then there was absolutely nothing that he could've done.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, My Lady." Adrien apologized, embarrassed by his actions. "It's just hard to actually accept this."

"I understand." The glowing deity said. Plagg flew out of nowhere, circling the deity. The Daughter held out her palm, which the black cat fairy landed on. "You must be strong Adrien. The Inquisitorial Matron and Hawkmoth will use your anger and sadness against you. But you mustn't let that happen."

Adrien nodded but something tingled in the back of his skull, a thought that never went away. It was a question that refused to let him be. "Do you know the identity of Hawkmoth?"

The Daughter's hesitance was answer enough. "I do not know for sure. The Dark side of the Force clouds everything, making it impossible to see."

"Right." The young boy muttered. He wiped his nose with his sleeve, rubbing the last remaining tears away. "I'm gonna go find Ahsoka. I need some advice."

The Daughter nodded silently, her mint-green eyes glistening with sympathy. "Of course. May the Force be with you, Adrien Agreste."

That was all she said before flickering out. Adrien stood, making his way through the temple. It was slightly difficult since majority of the people had crashed in the main foyer and the surrounding room. So, he had to be careful not to step on anyone. He doubted that Madeline or Michael would be asleep. They were probably going through the same gambit of emotions as he was, probably a million times more powerful. Adrien felt a little jealous that the twins got to spend more time with his mother than he did, but those feelings were dashed when he realized that his mother saved them. And that she never forgot about him, even when she returned to her life as an alien peacekeeper.

Adrien made his way to the upper levels, sighing at the lack of bodies sleeping on the floor. The Council Room was just up ahead, a light flickering underneath the door. Praying that Ahsoka was in there, the blond model made a wiping motion, commanding the door to open. It did, the silent whooshing sound it made echoing throughout the silent temple. He didn't find the Togruta female in there, only Michael, who sat in one of the chairs that made up a circle. The brunet boy stared sadly at the center of the floor, his brown eyes seemingly staring off into nothing. Michael's elbows were resting on his knees, his hands holding his head up as sat there quietly. Tears fell from his face silently, a testament to his grief about the lost of Selma Turon Agreste.

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture Madeline." He muttered, clearly unaware about who was in the doorway.

"Actually, I'm not…." Adrien trailed off when the boy glanced his way.

"Oh. Sorry Adrien." The boy apologized half-heartedly.

"It's fine." The blonde boy assured. "I was looking for Ahsoka. Do you know where she might be?"

"No, I don't." He answered. Michael kept his eyes lowered, focused on the Starbird that was etched into the stone floor probably long before either one of their families were born. "I'm sorry about your mother Adrien. I wish there was something that we could've done to help."

"We can't help what was already set in stone." Adrien muttered, repeating what the Daughter said to him almost automatically. At this, Michael glanced up at the other boy, his coffee brown eyes suddenly glinting with recognition, as if he heard those words before.

The brunet swallowed, blinking before ordering, "I think Ahsoka's in the War Room. If she's not there, check the Mediation Room."

"Okay. Thanks Michael." Adrien left, leaving the brunet boy to stare into oblivion. The blond boy passed the infirmary, where Madeline still sat, still weeping silently. Adrien continued on, not wanting to disrupt the girl's mourning. He walked a little further until he came to the War Room, where he found the Togruta studying a hologram of the star ship.

She's obsessed, Adrien thought. Then again, from Madeline told him about Ahsoka's past, the young woman was a trained soldier at the age of ten. It was both shocking and slightly disturbing. He sighed as he cleared his throat softly, waiting a moment before walking into the room. The Togruta's electric blue eyes were still focused on the image in front of her. It took about five minutes for Ahsoka to notice him.

"I'm sorry for your lost." She whispered. "Master Turon was a great leader, and even greater master. No doubt you will follow in her footsteps."

That made Adrien debate himself. "What if I don't want to follow in her footsteps? What if…. what if I don't want to be a Jedi?"

Ahsoka sighed beside him. "I know how you feel, Adrien. I do, honestly. After I was accused, I thought that I could never be a Jedi again, or put my faith in the Force. But I learned that that part will always be apart of me, no matter how hard I desired it not to be." She paused, turning to him. "Whether you wish to turn your back on your heritage as a Jedi or not is up to you. But remember this: you can distance yourself from your heritage but you cannot fully get rid of it."

Adrien let that sink in a little bit. He really didn't want to become this Jedi Master, but he felt that, in his heart, that was what his mother would've wanted. Ashoka was right about one thing: he can't distance himself from his power. His sensitivity to the Force was something that was deep in his blood, something he was born with.

There was no way to get rid of it.

The two of them sat there, Ahsoka staring at the hologram, Adrien staring at his Miraculous. Ahsoka rubbed her head, a headache making itself known. This was too much, even for her. There was no way that they could possibly defeat the invading force. One of their most skilled warriors was just killed, meaning the leadership role was now a power vacuum. Ahsoka didn't want to lead, that time was past. And though the Togruta knew that the young human beside her was a superhero, she had doubts that he was used to leading an army into battles. So, that left Madeline or Michael. Both humans had the potential to lead an army, since they were commanders in the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic. If Ahsoka could, she would've chosen Madeline over Michael. Despite a ton more brash than her twin, Madeline had a sense of surety about her that Michael didn't have. And even though the young woman's plans weren't always the smartest plans, she always seemed confident in them.

Ahsoka took a breath and turned to the boy next to her to ask his opinion, when she saw she was alone. The door to the War Room was slightly ajar. The Togruta figured that the young boy left while she was deep thought. So, she returned her attention to the star destroyer before another long, loud, and frustrated sigh came through her nose.

Why don't you go and get some sleep Snips? She could almost hear her master say. Ahsoka couldn't help but huff a dry chuckle and a small smile. You'll be able to focus better when you've had some shut eye.

"I don't think that I could sleep even if I wanted to, Master." Ahsoka found herself muttering to herself. "There's too much at stake."

We've dealt with worse odds before. Her master seemed to reply.

"Okay." She relented. "But only for a few minutes."

Ahsoka turned off the console before turning to leave. She stopped dead in her tracks when she suddenly spotted a small man with a cane and a bright red shirt standing in the doorway. The Togruta grabbed her chest, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heartbeat.

"I'm sorry to startle you." The old man apologized. He stepped to the light, revealing a face that could've been from Mykapo (his accent was similar to the planet) but from what Selma had said, there weren't any other people form their galaxy on this planet.

"It's fine." Ahsoka assured. She straightened, thankful that her heart stopped racing. "Do you need anything?"

"Actually, I was just looking for you, Master Tano." The man informed her.

"Oh?" Ahsoka was surprised by that, too surprised to correct the title given to her by the man.

The man nodded. "Before she left, Selma gave me her Miraculous."

Ahsoka's brow markings furrowed in confusion. "Selma mentioned the Miraculous before. But she never really explained what they were."

"They are pieces of jewelry infused with ancient power." The man answered with a vagueness that only old, mysterious men seemed to hold. "Selma's Miraculous was the Bee Miraculous, one that she had in her possession for longer than most Miraculous holders. In this time of chaos and death, I am not really sure if it would be wise to give another person the responsibility."

"Well, when you put it like that, I would suggest that you hold off on choosing," Ahsoka suggested hesitantly. "But that's just me."

"I appreciate the input, my dear." He said before turning and hobbling out of the room. Though the man knew her name, Ahsoka was all too shocked to ask for his name. So, she just watched the man hobble out of the room. The Togruta just shook her head before she headed towards her quarters. Almost as soon as she entered, the young woman collapsed on the bed, exhaustion taking over her suddenly. She didn't even fight the sleep, only embraced it. Soon, she was a lightly snoring young woman, trapped in the arms of sleep.

-Line break-

Phoenix Squadron leader June Sato sat in his personal quarters, his mind occupied by different things. There was a lot of things that were happening too fast for the leaders of the Rebellion to keep up with. Senator Organa was having little luck trying to convince the Senate to take the T-7s off the market. That and he was having trouble recruiting members to build the fighting force the would hopefully overthrow the Empire slowly. Ahsoka was still missing, having not answered any of the transmissions sent by the Mykapo male and many of the other squadron leaders.

Despite the major road blocks that have appeared in the past few weeks, there were a few that helped Sato's very low spirits. Hera Syndulla, one of the best pilots they had in the fleet so far, had taken on another crew member. According to the Twi'lek pilot, the other crew member was a former Jedi Padawan, who, understandably, was drowning in alcohol when he joined. The daughter of the Ryloth freedom fighter had said that she would get back to the Rebellion as soon as she could, when the unknown man was asleep. Several of the other rebel cells had reported a steady incline of membership, with thorough background checks for those new members. Others though….

There was nothing more stressful than trying to be one step in front of an army that was better trained, that had the better strategists and that were a ton more brutal. Of course, the Rebellion already had some issues with cells gone rogue. Saw Gerrera, for example, who was leader of the Onderon team had already put together a crew to fight against the Empire in their own ways. It was something that Senator Organa had been trying to keep from happening but despite his best efforts, the Onderon freedom fighter just will not listen.

"Commander Sato," a voice brought the Mykapo man out of his thoughts.

"What is it, young man?" He asked softly.

"Senator Organa wishes to speak to you." The soldier answered almost robotically. Sato and the soldier exchanged a salute before the young soldier left to do his duties. The commander left to deal with the call, hopefully the Senator of Alderaan had some information about Ahsoka. Phoenix Squadron could sure use some help with the Empire on their end of things.

Sato made his way to the communications room, every soldier his passed saluting him. But the man only just nodded in return. He was going to have grey hairs before long.

The communications room was bustling with activity. Senator Organa was present, via hologram, next to the center console. Several other members of several other cells were there, including Hera Syndulla. Sato cleared his throat to get the others' attention.

"Excellent," The Senator stated. "Now this emergency meeting can begin. Our last communication with Fulcrum was troubling to say the least."

"What is the status of the Invasion?" Commander Sato questioned. As far as he knew, he has received no communication from the Togruta regarding the situation on the primitive planet. Last thing he ever heard of the female, was that she was stopping at Alderaan to refuel and to let the Senator know where she was going to be. Sato was a little furious when he learned that the former Jedi was disobeying his (and by extension Bail's) orders but he also remembered that there were several other Jedi on the planet. The anger dissipated when the commander realized this. He hoped, with everything he had, he hoped that once the invasion was taken care of, then the three Jedi would lend a hand.

"That's the thing." Captain Syndulla said. "The Empire is apparently jamming all transmissions. There's no way for them to get a message out, so we really don't know."

"The last message I received, the Empire was just arriving and initiating its first wave of attacks." Admiral Ackbar, the leader of the Christophsis cell, said. "The Empire has jammed all communications after that, making it impossible to contact Fulcrum."

"We need to find a way to get a message to them." Sato found himself say. "They need to know that we support them."

"They need more than support." Hera stated with such emotion it made Sato feel bad. "They need help. Supplies, fire power."

"Captain Syndulla, you may have a point there." Senator Organa pointed out. "If you would so kindly do a supply drop, that would be amazing."

"Of course, Senator." The Twi'lek agreed.

"Come by Alderaan as soon as you can to pick up the supplies." He instructed. A moment later, the meeting was finished and the leaders of the Rebellion blinked out. Sato sat in quiet as he racked his brain, feeling very ashamed at the way he behaved at the meeting. But no matter what happened, it was his duty to follow protocol. The Empire didn't need to know about the size and strength of the Rebellion's fighting force. Not yet, at least. Thankfully, though, Captain Syndulla and her new partner took up the mantel of supplying the city with supplies.

Unfortunately, as he was just sitting down for lunch he realized something. If the communications on Earth were cut, then how would the people know that they had someone coming to bring them food? How would they create a rendezvous?

But being the cynical person that he was, he shrugged it off. They could figure it out. He had his own rebel cell to deal with.