AN: Hello! We are here and this is a thing that is happening! See, this is up a lot faster than interlude 1 went up. Meant what I said about a shorter break this time guys.

Quick facts: This is all pre-Displacement. Unlike the other interlude, it's got a lot of Ketros, because it's Zinnia centric, and Ketros is a large influence in Zinnia's life. Cough gay cough. For the record, I refer to her only as Michelle in this. It's not our Protagonist Michelle, this is Ketros. She's getting referred to as Michelle because the body switch hasn't happened yet, and this is mostly from a young Zinnnia's perspective, and she wouldn't refer to her best friend by her last name. That would be weird. Trust me, I'm not confused, I've got her down as Ketros throughout the outline of this.

On a random note, while I really like FF dot net's formatting better than AO3, I really wish that FF didn't have chapter title limits. Because I know this one Star Wars author of AO3 that does like, three line title for every chapter and they're so beautiful. If I could get away with that shit, I wouldn't be here pulling song lyrics out of my ass I MEAN specifically choosing them to definitely relate to a chapter and totally not selecting a song for an entire part just because I think that one specific line will make a really deep chapter title. That's not what's happening. That would be weird.

Also fun fact in one of the parts I do some really creative butchering to the song lyrics in question in order to get one specific line to match up with an exact chapter. Mostly because the line mentions something that a character loses in that chapter, I'm pretty sure it'll be horrifying for you all, and it makes me giggle anytime I see it in my outline. I think I'm a delight.

Also yes, Ketros did go by the nickname of 'Chelle around her friends, and yes Michelle will probably get saddled with it as well. No, she's probably not going to be thinking with portals, and come part 3 Earth's going to be old memories for her. Considerably less references will be made, and the ones left will not be the highest comedy ever. I'm talking weed jokes.

I'm actually talking the ultimate weed joke, which I have absolutely just done because it makes me happy inside, and honestly the set up I use had to have existed in canon, it's only fair I hand it to the only person in the universe that can properly appreciate it. Michelle's going to be muffling a lot of snickers in part 3. Ketros is very disappointed in her. And no I'm not telling you what the ultimate weed joke is, all I'm saying is that you'll know it when you see it, and I'll drag it out until it stops being funny, and then I'll keep going anyways because I can and I want to.

This interlude is Zinnia centric, and addresses the last bits of her specific circumstances that I haven't brought up yet. Fair warning, it is entirely based off of EU stuff, and not something confirmed in canon yet. Or probably ever. But is hasn't been disproved, so that's good enough for me. Hey, I know I'm not the only author that's playing fast and loose with what's canon and what's isn't. How many of you consider Xanatos to be canon? He's never shown his face outside of the EU. But we put him in anyways. Note, I love Xanatos and he's an amazing character, and one of these days I'll get around to writing something where he plays a large role in it and also has Tensions with Obi-Wan because that's never not fantastic to me. I've gotten off topic. The point is, I've got some EU stuff thrown in here, it'll be explained after the chapter.

For the record, Zinnia and Neria don't actually have last names. This is because I can't think of one that fits them. So I'm handwaving it by saying that in their culture, last names just aren't a thing. Like the Inuit, part of their culture is that everyone only has one name, so the Canadian government assigned them numbers, which was super fucked up. So that's not happening here, Neria is just Neria, Zinnia is just Zinnia, and we're leaving it at that.

Also, for the record. On the tenth, I received an anonymous review from a guest. I immediately removed it for being disgustingly islamophobic. Fun fact. Most Muslims? Aren't terrorists! In fact, in North America, you're most likely to be murdered by a Christian white boy that somebody told no to, so they decided to shoot up a building. That's your average terrorist. And the phrase 'Allahu Akbar'? Literally is just a religious phrase. It's the Islamic equivalent to 'Amen'. Basically, that kind of racism is completely unacceptable. Also, fun fact! Part 3 introduces a new character, who joins the main cast. Guess what, she wears a hijab. The entire time. Because I'm loosely basing her homeworlds culture off of muslim culture. And she's not a terrorist, because it's almost like Islam has a very low rate of extremism, and it only looks high because it's one of the largest religions in the world. And said extremists are blatantly contradicting the Quaran. And the only reason they became such a problem is because they were funded by the American government during the Cold War, because the Taliban were founded by conservative Islamic extremists who objected to the communist government giving women full rights, and supporting scientific and medical advances. And the American government objected to the communist government over anything else, so they backed the Taliban. Seriously. Everything happening in the middle east with ISIS and whatnot right now can be traced back to America. Basically, I'm not tolerating any sort of discriminatory bullshit here. You're not funny. Think before you speak.

Also, wisdom teeth coming out is a surgery dumbass. Nobody does it on laughing gas, you need to be completely put under with an anesthesiologist.

Anyways, asshole anons aside (why do I keep getting those?), enjoy!

Interlude 2: Truth Be Told

The garden was full of toddlers.

This wasn't entirely unusual, as the garden was close to the creche, and it was just a general fact that it would usually have multiple children of varying ages running around it. This time, is was around fifty toddlers, from a few different clans. Needless to say, it was extremely loud. The handful of Masters supervising didn't seem to mind, due to the fact that they usually worked with children, and they were all extremely adorable.

Most were playing in groups, but one girl was alone, sitting on the edge of a shallow creek, and idly kicking her bare feet in the water. She was watching the other younglings play, not so much with envy, but with a quiet interest. This was fine, as she preferred to be alone anyways.

Her solitude was quickly broken with another child running up to her and grabbing her in a hug.

"Gah! What!?" The girl yelped, pushing the other kid off. The child beamed at her.

"Neria! You looked lonely, I'm cheering you up!"

"...Who's Neria?"

"You are, silly!"

"Um… no I'm not. I'm Zinnia. Who are you?"

The other kid scowled.

"Neria, don't pretend. You know we're friends."

"But I'm not Neria!"

"But you look just like her!"

"You're weird. Leave me alone." Zinnia muttered, shoving the child away and returning to dipping her feet in the water. The other child gave her a long, questioning look, before running off again.

About ten minutes later, the child returned, dragging along another girl.

"See! Look! There's this girl that looks just like you, it's so cool!" She said, looking at her friend. Zinnia sighed, looked up-

And came face to face with… herself?

No. There were some small differences. The other girl's hair was slightly longer, and black opposed to Zinnia's brown, and she was wearing slightly different clothes. But beyond that, she was identical to Zinnia.

"Woah, you weren't kidding 'Chelle. Hi! I'm Neria! Sorry my friend bugged you. You look just like me, that's so cool!"

"Hi. I'm Zinnia. ...Have we met before? You feel kind of familiar…"

Neria shrugged.

"Dunno. Feels like I know you, but I don't think we've met before…"

"Maybe you guys are twins?" 'Chelle suggested, grinning a bit. The girls exchanged looks.

"...That… sounds right." Zinnia said slowly, feeling that it was true.

"I don't think so. They'd tell us, right?" Neria said, frowning slightly.

"Nah. The masters usually keep siblings apart, even twins."

"Sounds like something from a story though. Long lost twins."

"Y'know what? I'm gonna go ask." Zinnia said, getting up. She ran across the garden over to her creche master, and tugged on his robe to get his attention.

"What is it Zinnia?" He asked, leaning over with a smile.

"Do I have a twin sister?"

The masters smile faltered slightly, before recovering.

"No, why would you ask that?"

Zinnia frowned.

"You're lying."

"Why do you say that?"

"I- I don't know. I just know that you're lying. Neria is my twin, isn't she?"

Zinnia didn't wait for a response, and instead returned to 'Chelle and Neria.

"Yup, we're twins."

Neria gasped.

"Oh my gosh! We are!? That's so cool!" She exclaimed, before grabbing Zinnia in a hug. After a surprised moment, Zinnia hugged back. It didn't take long for the other kid to join in as well.

"Yay! I helped my friend find her sister! And sorry for mistaking you for Neria, Zinnia. I'm Michelle. Let's all be friends!"

Within a few minutes, the three children were happily playing together, running around, laughing and shrieking. None of them noticed the two masters watching the trio.

"Well that's odd. Zinnia's usually my anti-social one. I'm glad she's making friends though. Those two yours?" Zinnia's master asked, looking over at the woman beside him. She smiled.

"Yes, Michelle and Neria. They're nice, they should be good company for yours. Zinnia and Neria are twins, right?"

"Yeah. Not sure how, but Zinnia figured it out. She's got a gift for just… knowing things."

"Huh. Might be something to keep an eye on."

"I'm already doing it, yeah. I worry about her, y'know? She's a blunt kid, and tends to just blurt out everything she knows. Makes it hard to bond with the other younglings. I mean, she's a good kid, just not good with other kids."

"Yeah, I've had a few kids like that. At least she seems to be making friends now? So that's something."

"That certainly is something."

Across the garden, Zinnia, Michelle and Neria continued playing, oblivious to the attention of their masters.

A few months later, Zinnia's creche master sat down with the four year old.

"Zinnia, I've noticed you don't really get along with your clanmates." He said bluntly. Everything the man in question tended to do was blunt, and the honesty tended to endear him to his young charges.

"Nah. They all think I'm weird, cause I can know things when they can't. So I don't play with them. Michelle and Neria are my friends though!" She said, perking up slightly.

"Yes, about that. There's a free space in their clan, and their master has offered to take you in, if you want. To be with your friends."

The young girls eyes grew almost comically wide, clearly floored by the offer.

"You- you mean I can be with Michelle and Neria? All day!?" She yelped, excitement starting to shine through her usual surly demeanour.

"All day. I'm guessing you want to move?"

"Duh. Can I get my stuff now? I'm getting my stuff now."

And with that, the little girl sprinted off to collect her things, not bothering to wait for permission. Which, really, had been pretty much what her creche master expected.

Zinnia had fit in much better with a new clan.

Her new creche master had been given a full run down on the girl's personality by her old master, and her typical moody nature had melted away with the presence of friends, replaced with an open, cheerful disposition.

Not that it was perfect.

While she was no longer completely isolated, there was still a definite divide between her and the rest of her crechemates. Zinnia's tendency for immediately calling out lies was still very much something she did, and while she was slowly gaining subtlety, it was still… unnerving.

And, after reviewing some files, it became clear that Zinnia's knowledge wasn't uncanny. It was completely impossible.

One of the options was that Zinnia had somehow gotten her young hands on a ridiculous amount of information. Which seemed unlikely, as quite a few times she had been able to recognize she was being lied to, but not unable to tell what was actually the truth.

The other option was the Force. As always with Jedi who had problems that couldn't be explained. In all fairness, it made sense to blame confusing things on the Force, as roughly seventy five percent of the time it was the Force.

Hence Zinnia being tested by the Council, with her crèche master waiting outside.

After around two hours, the young girl came back out, accompanied by Master Windu, whose expression was slightly more serious than usual.

Oh boy.

"Zinnia dear, can you sit on the bench over there for a moment? I need to talk with Master Windu." The crèche master said quietly, giving the little girl a warm smile. Zinnia shrugged, and wandered over to the bench in question, apparently tired enough to not bother questioning things.

"So?" The crèche master asked quietly, stealing a glance at the oblivious child.

"She's got a Force ability. Perfect lie detector. She hears a lie, she knows. Mind you, she just knows that she's being lied to, what exactly the truth is isn't part of things. Still, it's a powerful ability. Keep an eye on that one." He instructed, before returning to the chamber.

Sighing, the crèche master turned back to her charge, and went to escort her back home. The poor kid was in need of a nap.

Unfortunately, despite being excellent with younglings, Zinnia's crèche master had one fatal flaw, in that she was an unrepentant gossip. And one with the tendency to happily brag about the children under her care to all of her friends, and anyone that would listen. And this situation was no different.

Needless to say, within a week almost the entire Temple knew.

"So… you've got a Force ability." Michelle said, sitting down beside Zinnia. She didn't respond, which was probably a good sign. If she wanted to be left completely alone, her reaction to being joined would have been considerably angrier. And, knowing Zinnia, probably would have involved some incredibly low blows in an attempt to make Michelle go away. As she tended to do when upset and wanting to be left alone.

It probably wasn't the best trait for a Jedi to have, but nobody was perfect, and in the long run, being a dick to be left alone when you want to be alone isn't really the worst character flaw in the world to have. Just means more potential apologies.

...And Michelle was ruminating on her friends personality quirks instead of actually talking to her about the thing she had meant to talk about. She was the best friend ever. Ten out of ten.

"From the gossip I've heard it's a pretty rare ability. You're going to be drowning in masters. Makes the rest of us look bad."

"Thanks Michelle, twist the knife some more why don't you." Zinnia snapped, although her tone wasn't really angry. Tired and irritated were closer to the emotions she was giving off.

"Look, it's not like it changes anything. You've always been like this, the masters just confirmed it."

"Confirmed it and told everyone. Not happy about that by the way."

"You wanna talk? What parts are you not happy about?"

"Thanks captain therapist. So it all started with my mother." Zinnia deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Michelle stayed silent, waiting for Zinnia to open up.

"...I don't like that everybody knows that I've got different abilities. I don't like that there's going to be different expectations for me now. And that so many masters are going to want me as their padawan."

"...Generally, that's a good thing."

"Yeah, but none of them want me as their padawan. They just want to be the ones to train the kid with the special shiny powers. Gonna be really hard to weed out someone good from all that."

Michelle sighed, shifting to sit closer to her.

"You're going to be incredibly picky about this, aren't you."

"Yup."

"Alright then. Well, no matter what you choose, I'm here for you." Michelle said, slinging a friendly arm across Zinnia's shoulder. It was returned, and the two younglings spent a long moment just sitting there, arms around each other.

"Zinnia! Zinnia oh Force guess what, guess what, guess what!" Michelle yelled, slamming open the door to her friends room. For some strange inexplicable reason, Zinnia was surprised by the sudden loud entereance, and reacted by jumping, narrowly avoiding sending the machine she was working on crashing to the ground.

"What? I'm programming Neria's unholy backlog of projects that need code to work. Seriously, I am trying so hard, but she just can't figure out how to do her own damn code, it's ridiculous!"

"...Last week you literally got confused about the difference between a wrench and a screwdriver."

"It's confusing, those are confusing things. What do you want?"

"Right! Guess what happened while I was totally not skipping class to help Seha break rules!"

"...Seha wanted you to help her break rules." Zinnia said, eyebrows raised to silently call bullshit.

"I can hear your disbelief, it's silent but I hear it. That hurts me. Hurts me right here. She's on a medical leave, no sparring on pain of angry healers. I was helping her blatantly flout those rules because she's a fanatic and I'm just terrible. Anyways! Some knight dude came in and kicked Seha out cause injuries, and we sparred and it was awesome and he didn't have a padawan but now he does because he decided to take me as his padawan! Totally on a whim! Can you believe that!?"

"Did you get an adult male clone and not tell us?" Zinnia deadpanned, although a grin was pulling at her lips. Michelle's unimpressed look in response was absolutely worth it.

"Okay you being not funny at all aside, I'm a padawan! I am an actual literal padawan and everything is amazing, and I'm not even in trouble because we fudged the times a little and claimed that I was totally only skipping class just for the whole padawan thing, and I never helped Seha flout medical procedure. Because that would be weird. Ha ha. Ha."

"Let me be proud of you, shut up and hug me you hooligan."

Michelle promptly shut up, and grabbed Zinnia in an enthusiastic hug.

After a moment of hugging, Zinnia pulled back, and flicked Michelle's new braid.

"I'm glad you've found a master 'Chelle." Zinnia said warmly, grinning.

"Now it's just you left that needs a master."

"...I'm telling Isaac you said that."

"He doesn't count, he's too young, he can't have an apprentice. Be an apprentice. I'm very excited, talking is not my best trait right now."

"I'm definitely telling Isaac that you said he didn't count."

"And I'm telling you to shut up, and also you're deflecting. What is your supposed criteria for masters anyways? Because you've had like, at least a hundred offers. Maybe more. And you tell them all to piss off."

"I chase them off with my sparkling wit and winning personality."

"Zinnia. Seriously. What's the wait? Do you… do you want to age out into the agricorps? Because… I'd miss you, but if that's what you want to do-"

"No. Maybe? I don't know. I don't want to go into the agricorps, but I don't want a master that I don't like. You get it?"

"...I guess? It kind of makes sense. I don't know. Look, I just stopped in to share the news cause I knew your classes were done by now. I have to go get my stuff and get moved and all, okay? I'll see you sometime tomorrow. Bye!"

And with that, Michelle left Zinnia's room, heading for her own.

Zinnia thought about following her, but decided against it. She had programming to finish. Michelle would be fine without her.

And maybe a bit more distance would help her with getting through the massive Force-damned crush she had been developing on her best friend.

Zinnia was, technically speaking, not supposed to be doing what she was doing.

At that moment, she was supposed to be doing the same thing most of her agemates were doing, specifically sleeping, as it was sometime after midnight. Instead, she had decided she was too restless to sleep, and snuck out to go wandering in the Temple. Wandering had turned into laying around in a deserted garden, enjoying the cool night air.

And her restlessness was totally not from her being lonely. It definitely wasn't because Michelle, Seha and Neria were all busy with Padawan stuff while she was stuck with Isaac. And is absolutely was not because she specifically missed Michelle.

...Yeah, her crush was getting worse. Fantastic.

"Hello."

At the quiet greeting, Zinnia yelped, scrambling to her feet, and staring at the Master in front of her with wide eyes.

The woman was tall, with long, golden blonde hair, and by most standards probably qualified as quite pretty. Despite this, she had a serious set to her face, and her eyes were… strange. Zinnia was fairly certain humans could not have completely black irises. Probably creepy to most, but Zinnia found it kind of cool.

Still, she was clearly a master, and Zinnia was clearly breaking curfew.

"...Hi." Zinnia said slowly, fairly certain she was about to be in a great deal of trouble.

"You're Zinnia, right? I've been meaning to talk to you. Please, sit." The master said, her tone polite as she sat down on the grass, gesturing for Zinnia to join her. Despite this, it was clear that she was not going to be accepting of any arguments.

Zinnia sat down beside her.

"I've been keeping an eye on you. Dozens of prospective masters, all refused. Why? With your gifts-"

"Because that's all anybody ever cares about. They just want to train the kid with the special ability. I don't wanna be someone's freaking trophy."

The woman nodded, an understanding look on her face. That was new.

"That's fair. What I was going to say, is that with your personality and abilities, up to and including your lie detection, I think you're best suited to a… less conventional path as a Jedi. I've been keeping an eye on you for some time."

Zinnia paused, giving the woman a considering look.

"...What are you saying?"

"Zinnia, do you know what the Shadows are?"

"...I- I mean- everyone's heard rumours, sure. They- they're not. Y'know. Actually real. ...Are they?"

"Trust me Zinnia, they are very real. And on that note, I also trust you understand that this is not a conversation that should be repeated to your peers."

"Yeah, assumed that. Also what the hell."

"Language. Listen. I've been investigating your work. You're a brilliant programmer and slicer, you can swing a lightsaber better than most people your age, and you've shown an insightful side that is incredibly rare in hormone riddled teenagers. That, combined with your natural immunity to lies, means that you would make an incredible Shadow. That is, if you're willing."

"...Are… are you trying to get me as a padawan?"

"Not necessarily. There's a handful of us without padawans that would take one right now, I just happen to be the most experienced. I could introduce you to the others if you'd like, let you make your own decision. The Council's already approved you joining us, if you choose to."

"You're a Shadow? What's it like?"

"It's… different for me. I'm the head of the Shadows, you see. I don't have much field work anymore. I assign the missions, monitor the mental state of all the others, arrange for training, and keep an eye on people inside the Temple who are considered at risk of falling. For the record, you won't be a Shadow right now. You'll be trained as a standard Jedi padawan, possibly with a few extra lessons here and there. You won't start actual Shadow training until you're a senior padawan at the least. For safety and all. It's generally a bad idea to let children too close to darkness, for some weird reason."

Zinnia snorted, mentally pegging the master as the kind of woman who enjoyed dry humour. Zinnia could respect that. And her blunt way of talking wasn't hurting either. Clearly, she took Zinnia seriously. And she had made a point of mentioning all of Zinnia's skills, with her lie detecting not being the first and only thing brought up.

Honestly, she was hitting pretty much all of Zinnia's requirements. Not to mention the quiet feeling of right in the Force.

…Yeah, screw it. If Michelle could do these things on a whim, then so could Zinnia.

"Sounds fair to me. Yeah, I'd be down to try being a Shadow. Er, if you don't mind training me, that is."

The woman surprised Zinnia by smiling, the expression small but warm, and turning her solemn look into something kinder.

"Not at all. My name is Ria Ardous. I'd be honoured to have you as my Padawan, Zinnia."

AN: Goddamn I hate writing small children. Note to self stop doing that.

Okay, so exposition. In the EU, the Shadows are a subset of the Jedi. Their job is to basically keep the Jedi accountable, and to prevent the dark side from gaining a foothold again. Basically, their job is to stop the Sith. They're super good at it. However, to really fight an enemy you need to understand it, so as a general rule the Shadows are sitting pretty firmly in the grey, while staying firmly aligned with the Jedi and the Republic. In a galaxy that (supposedly) doesn't have the Sith, they act as the Order's spies. Notable members of the Shadows included Quinlan Vos, and his master, Tholme. During the Clone Wars, obviously they were pretty damn busy, and were posing as turncoats to infiltrate the Seperatists, working to find the Sith Lord, and keeping an eye on Jedi who seemed to be straying a bit too close to the darkness.

All in all, the Shadows are pretty damn cool. Their existence is kept quiet however, to the point that most of the Temple isn't sure if the Shadows are real or not. Generally speaking, the only people who know exactly who is a Shadow and who isn't is Ria, due to being the boss, and the Council. End of story. This is for their own safety, as if a threat did arise (and the Shadows are always assuming one will) and it had knowledge of the Jedi, it would obviously target the people specifically trained to take it down. Hard to do that if you don't know who the people are.

So, luckily for Michelle, Zinnia is actually in a perfect position to be assisting in the fight against Palpatine. And as Ria's apprentice, once Zinnia's knighted and inducted into the Shadows for realsies, she's got a lot of trust, and will have a fair amount of lee-way to say 'hey there's a situation too delicate to even explain but I need to do this/take this/ect and I need you all to not question me great thanks'. It'll come in handy. On the flip side, Zinnia's going to spend a lot of time in the Clone Wars being away from the rest of the cast, considering that her abilities make her a natural at gathering information, and that's kind of in high demand. And if she passes the occasional tidbit of knowledge along to just Michelle, well, nobody really needs to know that.

Seriously, it is ridiculously helpful to have somebody on your side that can provide reliable information 100% of the time. Clone Wars Zinnia is getting really ripped from carrying her team.

And yes, Zinnia's issues around her Force ability and people's reaction to it does help her bond with Anakin, mostly due to them both understanding what it's like to feel pressured over high expectations, and being unsure if they can meet them. Also, they both have flirted with the dark side.

Fun fact: In that Displacement spinoff that's still in the works? Division? Zinnia is one of the few surviving characters from Displacement. She… isn't doing great.

On a completely unrelated note, I like to go into my Star Wars writing with a philosophy of anybody can turn to the dark side, if put under enough pressure. Interpret that as you will.

Also, Ria absolutely has a fucked up backstory, which involves her weird eyes that Zinnia and Coltin are both unnerved by. It's not that they look bad per say, people being freaked out by them isn't their brains going 'hey that's weird', it's their old buddy the Force lowkey going 'hang on something's not right with that person'. Because something is very much not right with Ria. Aand she's a tertiary character at best, so I can't bring it up, because she tends to guard that secret with her life. I'll probably just do a bonus one shot about it? Or slip it into an interlude. Interlude 3 is kinda disconnected from the rest of the story too, it's just there to show a Michelle in her late teens, between part 2 and part 3. And to introduce a character that is needed in Division. Gotta love cross planning.

Anyways. See you all in a bit when part 3 comes up! Chapters should start to get a lot longer, the outline gets more complicated as the plot thickens. Honestly, part 1 and 2 were set up, shits getting REAL now.