This was something Jaden missed doing and she briefly wondered why she had stopped. Then again, she had been running around the galaxy but there was something soothing about feeling the rhythmic vibration up her legs as her feet hit the sidewalk at a quick and steady pace.
The masters never understood her need to get out and "commune with nature" as the dark ones would sneer. She was already connected to every living thing, why did she feel she had to interact with the physical manifestations. Because I can, she thought mentally sticking out her tongue.
Every person she passed, she touched in one way or another; light or dark, but when she ran, as she was through the streets of Galactic City, she touched no one, felt nothing, and rejoiced that she could empty her mind and think of nothing. Or in this case . . .
Carth was pissed at her for destroying the Republic fleet.
Aeden was pissed at her for not destroying him.
Well tough shit, boys, she thought. Jaden wasn't done with either of them and they would just have to deal. As would the others. Her time was running short and as she turned a corner - slamming up against the light side of the Jedi Temple - she decided Dustil was as good a place to start as any since he was standing in one of the city's many parks looking up at the bastion of light side goodness. "If you keep doing that," she began in breathy pants as she leaned over, her hands on her hips, "You're either going to get a crick in your neck or attract attention to yourself."
Dustil jumped, turned to her, and jumped again.
"Problem?"
He sighed and shook his head. "Your eyes are reddish-yellow."
Relief flooded though her. Ever since she let it slip that the only reason he was alive was because she had killed the third potential embodier, she was afraid he was pissed at her too. One Onasi was plenty. Jaden looked over her shoulder at the temple. "Proximity."
"But," he looked at the temple then back to her. "I thought you were . . ."
"Whole? I am." For the most part. "But it's still ground zero for the Jedi," Her lip curled. "The light side."
Dustil gave her a curious but laced with panic look as he cautiously stepped back.
"I'm still adjusting to having my dark side back. The swings in alignment are less frequent but just as strong." She reached out, touched his shoulder, and pointed to a bench. "You look like you have something on your mind."
"What do you see?" Dustil asked after sitting quietly for a few minutes.
"Um, building, temple, speeder, person, person, person, autobus – "
"No. As the Force," he clarified in a soft voice.
"Building, Temple," she sneered, "speeder, light, light, neutral, Jedi, Jedi, Jedi," she paused and narrowed her eyes. "Sith," she hissed.
"Are you okay?"
"I will be," Jaden told him as she rubbed her temple. It was still difficult to put her protective barriers back in place.
"That hurt you," he said. The simple statement also contained a question.
She ignored it. "How I feel aside, something is obviously bothering you."
"I had a vision." It took a poke in the arm to get him to continue. He wasn't entirely sure he should tell her what he saw, but he went on. "It was empty," he said gesturing to the temple. "Huge, empty and tainted, no, drenched in the dark side."
Jaden heard the uncertainty and panic in his voice. Closing her eyes, she tapped into his connection to the Force, to her. "The future."
"I got that much. The temple was massive."
"You didn't see a tall kid with kind of curly long hair and a cloak, did you? Whiney?"
"Huh?"
Jaden shrugged off the connection. She knew exactly what he saw. "The temple will be empty several times in the future because the Jedi refuse to act quickly. You know, patch the dam before it breaks."
"Why?"
"Excuse me?"
"What? No, that's not what I meant. Darkness, its strength rivaling yours . . . it was –", he stopped speaking unable to find the right words.
Sensing his concern, she told him, "What you saw is about 3,900 years in the future. You won't make it that long." Dustil gave her an exasperated look. "Come on," she said standing. "I stay here much longer; I'll start picking off Jedi."
As they walked away, the hot, needle pokes of the light side lessened. She knew she would have to cross the threshold of the Jedi Temple soon. After all, the way home – permanently – was in the center of the Room of a Thousand Fountains.
"Why does what you saw disturb you?" she asked as they made their way toward the Senate building and the apartment where she was staying.
He shrugged. "I've never had a vision like that before."
"Don't you mean ever," she corrected. When his shoulders hunched at her careless tone she sighed. "You weren't meant to see it."
"I figured that much out," he snapped. "So why did I?"
"You know," she began with narrowed eyes, "I don't need two Onasi's pissed at me. Your father is more than enough." Jaden saw so much of Carth in Dustil's mutinous stubborn chin she wanted to laugh. "Alright," she sighed with a faint grin. "You weren't supposed to see that – or anything else for that matter - because you're not supposed to be a Jedi." Panic began creeping back into his eyes. "Or a Sith."
Frowning, he asked, "What do you mean?"
"Look, despite what that idiot Uthar told you, you really kind of sucked as a Sith."
Dustil's frown deepened and he mumbled something she chose to ignore.
"You only joined the Sith because you were angry with your father. You thought he had abandoned you."
"And the Jedi?"
"Besides the fact they, the council, will never let you become one, you're a descendent of those that buried the keys. It's not allowed, in agreement with the original accords."
"But Dad – "
"Never officially joined the order and the light masters would have stepped in and stopped him because he held a part of me."
"But you're a Jedi!"
"No, I'm THE Jedi. The Grand Master, a Jedi Lord. There won't be another one for oh 3,900 years." Her sarcasm wasn't lost on him; she could see him recognize that his vision and her statement were intertwined. "And he'll be short and green."
Dustil held the door to the building open. "What about the others? Atton, Visas," he paused. "General Zared."
"Atton was a Sith Assassin because all he had known growing up was hatred. When he learned of his tie to the Force he rejected it and killed the messenger. Visas did what she needed to survive. When she joined Zared, although dark as he was, she didn't follow him after he defeated Kreia because she loved him. The Sith, like the Jedi, find love distracting and useful. It's an emotion that can be powerful and easy to manipulate." Jaden stopped abruptly, her foot poised above a small step that led to the elevator lobby.
~~ Do you see now, Child, why we cautioned you on your feelings for the Admiral? ~~
"Jaden?"
She shook herself free of her thoughts. "What was I saying?" She asked hoping Dustil wouldn't ask if she had used Carth all along. Had she?
"You were talking about Visas."
"Yeah. Anyway, in order to keep her feelings, she knew she had to reject what Zared stood for and return to her home, a neutral world that would allow her to heal." She avoided Dustil's gaze. "As for Zared," Jaden shrugged, "He was a powerful Jedi, lived and breathed it, just as he did being the Sith'ari', but he questioned the wisdom of both philosophies." She stopped in front of her apartment door. "Aeden lacked the blind devotion to their beliefs. For that he was always a step apart."
"Then why did he follow Revan to war?"
Because he thought it would fix what was wrong with him. "At the time, he believed it was the right thing to do. He walked away from his seat on the council, put his faith in . . . me." And I let him down. "He hadn't realized that Revan had already begun her fall to the dark side and had only asked because of his ability to get others to follow him."
Dustil shook his head, but when he went to ask the logical follow-up question, why didn't he recognize Revan's fall, Jaden turned to the door and opened it.
"Atton may have the title of Jedi Knight, but it's always been an unspoken agreement that he stay on the fringes of the order. He's the instrument of the council that will do their dirty work. So, technically, you could say, he's not part of the order. Visas will return home and help her people as she always wanted to do." She turned and looked at him. "The council," she began," will never allow you to become a Jedi because you were a Sith. Prodigal Knights," she added with a reference to Revan, "are no longer allowed, you know?" He nodded. "Leave the order; finish your stint with the Republic Navy." Jaden didn't add that his experience with all three would be vital to rebuilding the Jedi Order for the future. She'd let Atton have that fun task.
"Jaden, I know you . . . love my dad and if you're worried you might have manipulated him in some way, don't."
~~ Perceptive little brat, ~~ the dark masters chuckled at her immediate distress.
~~ Shut up. ~~
"He can't be too angry with you. My sister Mission; that's her place. Dad," he pointed to the door at the far end of the hall, "lives right there." Dustil walked back to the elevator and just before the door closed, gave her a brilliant smile.
Jaden sighed. "I'm an idiot."
~~ Yes. Yes, you are. ~~
~~ Shut up! ~~
It was either the constant loud pounding in her head or incessant buzzing that roused Jaden several hours later, and it was probably just as well since she wasn't really sleeping. Once she was alone, Jaden stripped away every barrier she had erected since defeating Aeden and let the Force rush in. It was painful, overwhelming, but necessary she realized too late. Trying to absorb what she was in bits and pieces was futile. She was the Force, and that's what she needed to be.
If she had done this sooner Jaden would have realized that Carth was less than fifty yards away and hurting. When she had started to reach to him, her abilities were violently turned back on her.
~~ NO! ~~
The masters held her pinned in place as she struggled against the only thing more powerful than herself. It wasn't until she ceased her struggles that they released her.
"Bastards," she mumbled to the Master's as she shrugged off their power. Reaching the door, it opened to Canderous dressed in his full Mandalorian armor, HK in assassination mode and T3 alternating between spunky and worried whistles.
"I don't know how they did it, but the Jedi got Zared off the Sojourn and have taken him to the temple."
Aeden had walked this long hallway to the Council chambers many times over the years. First as a Padawan, a Jedi Knight, then a Jedi Master, and the last time as an outcast, the exile. The last time he had no escort. Unable to use the Force, there was no need. This time though he was surrounded by soldiers, at his request, something the sergeant clearly was questioning every time he turned around to frown at him. Without the escort, Aeden wondered if he would have made it this far.
Visas had come to visit, which he didn't really want despite the fact he still held very deep feelings for her, but she was trying her best to ease his pain and he was selfish enough not to pass that up. He suspected Jaden would be the only one who could truly undo the damage she had caused. He desperately wanted to see her again, but didn't want to ask for her. I still have some pride left, he thought, despite its tattered nature. But it was shortly after Visas had gotten there when the two Jedi, Padawans' if he wasn't mistaken, had shown up demanding to take him into custody so they could take him to the Council for judgment.
He probably shouldn't have laughed at them, or told them the council couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag let alone pass judgment, but he had, which pissed them off and being the younglings' they were one thing led to another. He had just finished relieving one of them of their light saber and had used it to defend himself from an attack when General Lavek walked in with a squad of Republic soldiers. . .
"What the . . ." Aeden heard over the high pitch hum of blasters being charged when, with a flick of his wrist, he disarmed the other young Jedi, catching the hilt of the saber in his left hand.
"You two need to practice your training," he said quietly. "It won't look to good for you when the council learns you just got your asses handed to you by an invalid just up from his death bed." After absently handing the sabers to Kwyn, he started to collapse and was surprised when the general reached out and caught him. Visas took over helping him back to the bed.
"I'll repeat, what the hell is going on?" Kwyn asked.
"The council sent us to return him," one of the boys pointed to Zared with as much disgust as he could, "to the temple."
Kwyn looked at the two young men for a moment. "They sent two kids to take a Master Jedi – "
"He's no Master Jedi," one of the boys snapped.
"- fine, former Sith'ari or Emperor of the Sith if you prefer, to the temple."
"To justice, for the murder of our brethren."
"Kid," Aeden said shaking his head, "if you haven't heard this yet, listen closely. The Jedi don't believe in killing their prisoners, so if you're hoping for some bloodletting you're on the wrong side of the Force."
The events became a blur after that, since the scuffle had weakened him sufficiently that he had to concentrate on keeping his head on his shoulders. The ensuing argument about who he belonged to for punishment only added to the pounding in his head . . .
"Shut up, all of you," he said pressing his fingers against his temples. At least the pounding eased when Visas touched his shoulder and he was equally thankful for the perky nurse who appeared with a shot of Kolto. "I haven't been this popular since I jumped out of that tree on Master Kavar," he mumbled as he stood from the side of the bed. "You want a piece of me," he said pointing to the young Jedi, "The Republic wants their shot." He turned to Lavek. "You know as well as I do, the most the council will do will exile me once again –"
"Don't be too certain of that," one of the kids mumbled.
"- so, if you and Admiral Onasi want your crack at me, then you need to make sure I get to, and back," he added, "from the Jedi Temple."
It took a few moments, but Kwyn nodded once and ordered the squad crowded into the small room to escort him to the temple.
Maybe he was feeling better since he was finding it pretty comical to watch the other Jedi milling about the great hall move out of the way. Or maybe it was giving directions to his escort on where to go for him to face judgment. He supposed there was a chance that the Council would imprison him, make him work in the archives as punishment, like they did when he was a Padawan, but he doubted that would be the case. At least he hoped that wouldn't be the case. Even when he wandered through the Sith archives on the home world, he thought it a fitting punishment for those that misbehaved. Nothing like a little mind-numbing boredom to make you think twice about one's bad behavior.
Aeden had expected the stares, the whispers, the looks of disbelief. What he didn't expect was to find Master Vandar standing in the middle of the hallway in front of the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He could hear the roar of the water as he approached and wondered briefly if Kreia was right and they had truly gone silent after Nihilus had attacked Kataar, stripping it of the Force and destroying much of the Jedi council who had met there.
"An escort of this nature is unnecessary Master Zared," Vandar said when the small group reached him.
He heard the outraged gasp of the two Padawan's as they limped forward.
"I beg to differ," Aeden said quietly as he glanced behind him.
Before the two young men could say anything, Vandar silenced their protest by raising his hand. He studied Aeden for a moment.
"You won't find what you're looking for," he said softly.
"I thought perhaps – "
"She would leave me with . . . something?" He shook his head. "Her punishment for my crimes is the shell you see before you, so if you were hoping to strip me of the Force. . ." he shrugged. "Now, let's get this over with so the Republic can . . . execute their punishment as well." He nodded to the sergeant and stepped around Vandar as he continued for the council chambers.
Even knowing who she was, and the things Jaden had done for him, Canderous was still skeptical of the Force and its motivations because, well of whom she was, and the things Jaden had done to the Mandalorians. She had brought them the chance to gain the greatest honor and glory by pitting them against the Republic and she had nearly destroyed the Mandalorians by seducing Revan with the power of the dark side. He briefly wondered if Jaden would have let Revan finish them off if Zared hadn't taken part of her power.
Now he was struggling to keep up with Jaden as they marched through the streets toward the Jedi Temple. She had either slowed down those around them or was using some type of Force Quick March, because they were making record time from one end of the city's main promenade to the other.
"How did this happen?" She demanded as they wove their way through the pedestrians.
"According to Atton, two Jedi showed up at the med bay demanding to take Zared into custody. They tried to remove him by force, but Zared managed to disarm them," he paused and gave her a pointed look, but she ignored him.
"Did he hurt anyone?"
"No, and why don't you know that?" She continued to ignore him. Finally, not to be denied, he grabbed her arm. "Why don't you know that?"
"Careful, Mandalore, my largess only goes so far," she snapped with a flashing glare
He wanted to ignore her, but he could feel every scar she healed come back. Feel every ache she eased return tenfold. He let go and watched her continue her climb up the steps of the temple. A hairsbreadth away from the threshold she stopped. "Where are the keys?"
"Still on the Sojourn," Atton told her as he met her at the entrance.
She nodded once and crossed over. Immediately, the walls of the temple began to vibrate. It couldn't be helped. At least she didn't have to worry about all three keys being here. That might bring down the house, literally. "What the hell happened?" she demanded of Atton as they crossed the great hall while several Jedi scrambled out of the way.
"Well it was almost an ambush. According to the deck guard when the Jedi boarded they were dressed as soldiers. Two of the Padawan's' went for the keys, but Radha turned them back. Who is he again, because according the guard in the room; he brought them to their knees with little more than the thought."
"Radha is not important. He did his job. Tell me about Aeden."
"Not much to tell as I know it. He disarmed the other two Padawan's, and then very precisely dissuaded them from getting up. He agreed to come here as long as General Lavek provided the escort."
Jaden shot him a sharp look as they approached the lift that would take them to the council chambers.
Atton shrugged. "I came in at the end, so I don't know everything that happened. He was pretty wiped out by the time I got there." He looked behind him when the fountains they passed shot to the ceiling. "Jaden," he grabbed her arm and stiffened against the heat that began to burn. "He thinks the Jedi are only going to exile him again, that once that's done then the Republic will get their shot at him, while he's standing against a wall. That's why Lavek agreed to the escort."
She shrugged him off and looked down. "You should have that looked at," she said before turning into the lift.
Atton looked down and saw the blisters on his palm. Shaking his head, he followed her into the lift and accepted the Kolto bandage Canderous handed him. He wasn't a good healer; he knew that, so the extra help would aid his own abilities. "Was that really necessary? I'm on your side you know," he said.
"I don't have time to play with you Jaq. I'm pissed – "
"Really? Could have fooled me," he snapped.
"- and in no mood to put up with your . . . wise cracks." When the lift stopped, she blasted the doors open and with a confident stride covered the short distance to the chambers. Atton thought she was magnificent as he followed her through the doors.
Zared stood in the center of the chambers, hip shot to the right; his shoulders slightly rounded giving the appearance of insolence. The dark shaggy hair and half tucked shirt only added to the look. And despite every barrier she possessed, Aeden's pain arrowed right through her. She suspected that was the only thing holding him together at this point.
"I respect the views of the Republic, and they will be taken into consideration, however this is a matter for the Jedi Council – "Lyret began and found his words parroted back to him by a small statured man in a military uniform.
"I respect the views of the Jedi Council, and they will be taken into consideration, however this is a matter for the Republic Senate –"
Jaden stepped beside Aeden. "Mine!"
"How dare you? You have no say in this matter. He has massacred hundreds of Jedi in his personal vendetta against this council for exiling him! He belongs to the Jedi."
"He belongs to the Republic."
Jaden turned at the sound of Carth's voice behind her. "He belongs to me," she snapped. It was only the briefest of a flicker, but the pain that leapt into his eyes was enough to take her breath away.
~~ Child . . . ~~
She turned away and stepped in front of Aeden. She took his shackles in her hand and began to concentrate.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly knowing she was hurting. When she didn't answer he began to pull his hands away. "Look at me," he told her in a harsh whisper. When the cuffs fell from his wrists she stepped away then looked up. Her gaze was cool, hiding the conflict she struggled against. "Jaden," he said then left the rest unsaid when her eyes narrowed in warning.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lyret demanded.
The inner turmoil turned to icy rage. In the palm of her hand, a small ball of lightning began to form. Zared recognized her intent and grabbed her arm, forcing the power she was about to unleash on Lyret to discharge to the floor to rumble beneath their feet.
"Now you defend them?"
"They'll just breed more, remember?"
"Milady –"
"Jaden," Carth said stepping up to her. "Let him go." It was unsettling to see it, the shift from dark through a maze of confusion to the Jaden he knew, the light side. "Let him go."
Jaden frowned at Master Vandar, Carth, and then she looked at Aeden and found him ashen. The moment she brushed him off, he went to his knees, gasping for breath.
"Who do you think you are?" One of the other masters demanded.
As Carth and Atton helped Zared back to his feet, Jaden snapped, "You cannot hope to ever comprehend who I am." She turned away from the small group. "They belong to me."
