Barriss brushed her fingers through her hair as she trotted down the halls of the Temple ziggurat near the base of the High Council Tower.

She had been scouring the Temple for her former Master, Master Yoda, Master Cadus, or a Master in general and was about to nearly give up hope of finding one. But, when a hyper Youngling had mentioned that she'd seen Cadus on his way out the cafeteria having just finished giving them all sweets, Barriss moved with hast, thanking the Youngling in kind.

She hoped the young ones got it out of their systems while there was still light beaming through the temple.

It wouldn't be the first time the children were up and about when they should have been sleeping.

Her Master had forgiven her, but she knew better than to believe there wasn't distrust nor disappointment there. She knew that the Jedi were not absolute, she knew the Council was not absolute despite them thinking so, and she knew it was wrong to act in violence like she had.

For two and a half straight years, she lived in war zones. She seen the worst the war had to offer, seen the worst physical injuries, and the worst mental and emotional injuries everyone had suffered. She seen people driven to madness from all levels of pain.

There had been no peace in letting go, there had been no serenity in knowing the lives transformed into the force.

She still had nightmares of her brave troopers and those brave innocence who refused to fight. They would always be screaming in pain. Missing limbs. Their faces would be burnt. Their eyes would be gouged out. She was hovering over them, trying to keep their hearts beating, the blood sprayed over her head, like a broken dam.

Barriss knew in her heart that she could have saved them. It was through the simplest means she could have saved their lives, by not going to the world in the first place, by not sending them there, and by not going with her men to scout the world in the first place.

It had always seemed so obvious to her.

If the Council only listened to her when she had expressed her caution and misgivings of the High Council, the Clone Wars, and certain Senators being power hungry-those troopers and innocence would still be alive. And, yet the greatest of the Jedi had always taught that the gravest danger was rushing into a conflict headlong, believing they were doing the right thing, when they were merely using their power to take control of others.

The Jedi Order did that very thing with the onset of the Clone Wars.

Barriss was surprised when she spotted Yoda exiting the cafeteria with other Masters and Anakin, followed by dozens of Knights and even more Padawans done with midday meal. She wasn't surprised the slightest by how patiently Yoda listened to each statement thrown out by the nearly dozen prominent Jedi, as much as she was surprised by the sheer number of her fellows exiting.

"Ahhh, young Barriss. A message you have for Master Cadus. Just leaving we were, but come."

Yoda simply gestured into the cafeteria and offered her a place on one of the long tables. Cadus took a seat across from Barriss, nodding his okay to Anakin.

He had nothing to worry about when it came to the younger man.

Anakin was grateful and so relieved the senior Jedi Master trusted him. A few minutes passed and he was able to compose himself into proper Jedi-like serenity.

Yoda's eyes slowly narrowed and the deep furrows on his ancient brow deepened further.

"A squabble between young ones, it is?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to fights, but Deo came into the healing rooms with burns everywhere, and his clothes were slashed to tatters. I believe Aola was in worse or similar condition, but Deo insists that it was a sparring match gone awry with heated emotion. They called each other names." Barriss supplied.

Cadus closed his eyes. "What did they call each other?"

Barriss couldn't believe she was going to say the insults. "Sisseri Deo called her vapebait and Aola called him a moisture boy."

"In these troubled times, no surprise this is."

Cadus crossed his arms over his chest.

Barriss managed to shake her head.

"How bad were the wounds on Deo?" Cadus asked, keeping his tone calm.

"He had wounds all over his face and all over his back. That's not counting the other wounds on his torso and the other marks of contact." Barriss replied, eyes turned towards the ground as she hid her grimace.

Yoda's voice was gentle and understanding. "Young Aola lost her Master, and a great loss it was to us. One of our finest duelists and pilots was snatched away...Recover from this, she did not, nor did some of the more, older, experienced senior Jedi. Young Deo jabs her pain, he does. But, he jabs the pain of us much older, who knew Aola's Master."

"They shouldn't be tearing each other apart." Barriss said, tone a little stern.

"Agree I do, but agree, they do not. Always looking and peering, to the horizon yes? Yes, we all do make this mistake, but no more than in our youth."

"We can't let them fight like this."

"It is nothing of that sort. Just one sensitive Padawan and one Padawan who is always getting his pride wounded." Cadus said sternly.

"The dark side you fear, fell to we have."

"I just..." Barriss trailed off, avoiding Yoda's too wise stare so he couldn't see the worm of dread digging into her heart.

"Only if the Jedi Order had machinations for becoming a part of the Republic. If they have taken the guise of protectors, but secretly covet power, refuse to move away from this clogged world and create a new temple, and become too exclusionary and rigid. Your thought of the Jedi Order, becoming a Sith Order will be rooted in fact."

"Only peace and security, do we stride to bring." Yoda seconded.

Barriss realized Yoda wasn't going to be any help, but Cadus was seeing right to the heart of the matter.

Her problem that caused her to go to such an extreme in the first place.

Yoda had nothing better to offer her than more pious babble.

Like she hadn't heard that a million times already.

It was easy for Yoda to speak of such pious garbage. Who had Yoda ever cared about? Deeply cared about? Someone who he would go to the ends of the galaxy to save? Barriss was certain the ancient Master had never been in love nor had he developed any strong bonds in his centuries of living.

Nor had anyone loved him.

If he did, he would know better than to expect Aola to just fold her hands and close her eyes and settle in to meditate on her feelings.

He would know better than to expect Deo to get over his immense pride and not pester Aola.

Barriss couldn't bear to witness what good was left in the Jedi Order be evaporated like the mist of dew during sunrise on a jungle world.

"I would prefer it if the young ones are not injuring each other on purpose in heated confrontations. A few scraps and burns isn't uncommon, but these were battle wounds easily observable by my trained eye. If Deo's face had that much damage, I can't imagine how Aola's face looked." Barriss said in a stern tone, clenching her hands together in order to calm her spiking heartbeat.

"A restless Padawan, you have." Yoda said, eyes twinkling with amusement as he stared at Cadus.

"Restless, you say?" Cadus asked.

It was a testament to his long years of living to find the humor in this the same ways Yoda did, as any other Master would be shaking their head. Cadus studied Yoda with his intense, flinty gaze that could pierce into the hearts of friend and foe alike, though his lips were drawn up in a smile.

"Talisibeth is quite a restless young one, I am certain she can't sit still or focus on her breathing enough to meditate. It bemuses me why she is using Soresu instead of Shii-Cho or Djem So. Aola is more like a pocket and bundle, her styles fit her personality. She needs to work on controlling her anger, but other than that she is the stand out."

"Her impatience has always been alarming, Master Cadus. She has to train with the older kids in all of her classes, and she is battling Padawans who have Masters. Her Master took her right into the war zones and trained her outside of the Temple, I just...I worry about an impatient Padawan in these times."

"Agreed, but the force has brought Master and student together. Under Cadus's guidance, no need to worry there is, of how young Scout and Aola will be raised up into Knighthood."

"He has two Padawans?!" Barriss blanched in shock. "I thought it was forbidden."

"Outdated, such a thought is. Yes, long and old, Jedi pick and choose, have they. Approve of this, two Padawans, I have." Yoda replied.

"And what of this fight, Masters? The beatings Aola and Deo gave to each other?"

"It always takes two to make a fight." Cadus said.

Yoda waved his hand and a training droid approached them from the hallway. "Advanced Jedi Training Droid, first and last were you to see this altercation?"

"I was within three hundred meters of the vicinity where the altercation happened. I was able to see the whole thing. Deo's torso position was taking the classic Djem So stance, his right shoulder was slanted to northeast, with his right hand extended down, clutching his training saber. His feet were further than shoulder width apart. Aola's heart was beating no more than regular, and her left hand was extended forward, clutching her real light-saber, her feet were placed more narrow than Deo's, and she retained a more centered Makashi stance."

Barriss sighed.

The training droid would start talking about the nuances of each of the Seven Styles of light-saber combat, the weather, and certain degrees within the room before it began to describe how Aola and Deo got into the conflict in the first place, not including how the fight progressed and ended.

"Advanced training droid, may you tell us who provoked the fight? Who said what, what happened, and who initiated it? We do not wish to keep you far from your duties for too long."

The training droid beeped, in a way that was amicable.

"Aola left her room with her R2-D2 Astromech Droid model, her now deceased Master Kyobuna bought her, who she affectionately calls Arto. Padawan Deo was waiting for her outside of her room, and he approached Aola in the hallway. Prior to this young Aola spilled juice on Deo and disassembled the training light-sabers of at least a dozen Padawans who provoked her along with Deo. Given his race's inclination towards pride, Deo had to avenge his shame in front of his peers, and Aola fed off of him. They went into one of the sparring chambers to have at it."

Cadus sighed as the droid finished.

"We have a prideful and antagonistic Padawan hopeful who is almost seventeen, and a sensitive, but foolish orphaned Padawan who is only ten years old. A ten year old Padawan who's second master disowned her. Shame on the master. Should we have them battle in front of us to settle it once and for all?"

Yoda blinked, shaking his head. "Advanced, Aola's skill is. Master Kyobuna trained her well. A fine duelist and swordsman expert Kyobuna was, even refreshing my memory at times. Deo would only give into his anger, which Aola would take advantage of, actual battles and war zones, has Aola been...Where the dark side flourishes...Even...I...Must kill in such an environment, or killed, I will be..."

"We shall give both a chance in the tournament?"

"Ideal, I believe this."

"In that case I will speak with Aola, she is my Padawan and thus my responsibility. She won't be fighting with Deo again or causing you and the other healers undue strain." Cadus said, tone still calm.

"I will let them know, thank you. They will appreciate that, Master." Barriss said, relief palpable in her tone.

Cadus nodded. "I can prevent Deo getting the other Padawans to help him fight her. I just hope I am able to before the hot headed tempers of youth get the better of everyone. I don't need my Padawan sending the whole next generation to the infirmary."

"Thank you for seeing to the heart of the matter, Master Cadus and Master Yoda. I will keep watch of Hanna Ding and the older Padawan hopefuls. I will relay this to the other healers and Master Unduli as well. We'll keep a watchful eye on all of them." Barriss bowed her head slightly.

The Jedi Temple was regarded as the greatest nexus of force energy in the Republic. Its towering ziggurats and symmetrical design focused the force in the same way a light-saber's emitter focused the crystal into energy.

The Temple was supposed to be a fountain of light. But, Barriss wasn't so sure if that was true now...Aola, Deo, and this whole generation were being raised as warriors, not diplomats or keepers of peace. In place of shining the bronze busts, statues, and studying, they were learning to kill.

So wrapped up in her thoughts, Barriss continued her quick strides down the vaulted halls of the Temple until she hit something solid that knocked her over. A powerful grip halted her descent, weakened her knees, and forced a breath to escape her lungs as she was brought upright.

Strong! So strong! Who can be-


Her awareness sharpened, and she came back to the muddled reality around her.

"You all right, Barriss?" Anakin asked.

He looked at her with a somewhat blank expression, his flesh hand gently clutching her own.

Anakin! When did he and how did he-

"Can you stand?" Anakin ventured, expression going from observing to searching.

"I was spacing out and getting sidetracked with my thoughts, my apologies for bumping into you." Barriss said, gently removing her hand from his strong grip, and massaged her forehead.

"Nothing to apologize over, it was an honest accident. Maybe you would prefer to talk about what is on your mind, rather than brooding about it? I'm pretty sturdy, but there are hyper children running around thanks to Master Cadus and I giving out sweets."

"Anakin, I appreciate the kind gesture, but I am not quite sure if that would be appropriate on our behalf to be so...Open with each other."

Barriss was aware that their were Knights and Padawans watching them every so often whenever they passed.

Anakin either didn't notice or didn't care, because he spoke as if they were alone.

"You look like you are being drowned in a heap of sorrow right now, Barriss. This isn't like that time years ago when you were being pulled downstream."

"I just had to get turned around so that I could strike at the gairk."

Anakin's eyes pierced intensely into her own.

"I don't want rehearsed and formalized Jedi responses. No, you weren't calling for help. No, you didn't ask me to come in after you. You shouldn't have to Barriss, we're supposed to be comrades. We are supposed to be family, according to the Jedi Code...I shouldn't need a reason to save your life."

Barriss replied, keeping her tone even.

"What are you thinking helping me after what I did? How can you even speak to me and look at me without contempt? Back then I understood you a little better because of your selfless coming after me, but I promise that you won't have to worry about doing it again for me."

She started to walk away from him, but Anakin was taller and kept pace with her easily.

"Don't misunderstand me or my intentions, Barriss Offee. I was furious, angry, and livid at your betrayal and what you did to Ahsoka. I am still furious every time I think about it, but I also know you were manipulated even if you had no inkling that you were. I know it came down to the Jedi Council either standing up or tucking their tail in, and they did the second with Ahsoka and you. They broke her heart. They broke every foundation she stood on. They broke every foundation you stood on. In the end you were just in pain and you wanted the war to stop, you wanted the Jedi to be a sign of hope again, and you are just tired."

Barriss tried not to, but she ended up chuckling softly.

Her laugh was no longer restrained like it had been years before.

"I don't know whether I should laugh or cry right now. I know you forgive me, I can feel it, but..."

Anakin looked down at her. "Are you able to forgive yourself, Barriss? Will you forgive yourself?"

She laughed again. "The force has always been strong with you, young Skywalker...Your potential unlimited...But, you are peering deep right now."

"Would you rather have me be ignorant of your feelings that you have been trying to hide, and wish for me to tell you to suppress them like every other Jedi would? Your own heart has been broken by this war, why do you try to hold this line when you are not capable?"

Barriss crossed her arms over her chest.

Anakin wasn't going to let it drop.

"You would like that, wouldn't you? I tell you to shut your mouth and suppress your emotions, but I have never been conventional and I don't plan to be now of all times."

Barriss looked away, struggling to keep her voice even when she spoke.

"It is my fault. Because of me the Jedi could soon be put under the command of the Supreme Chancellor. I went too far to one side to try to see if I could do something, but I lost my balance, and I fell because of my foolish pride."

"The Jedi being put under his command was inevitable. It couldn't be avoided or prevented, and you can't put that on yourself. You were never balanced to start with. You've been trained in the light side for your entire life, then you fell to the dark side, that isn't balance."

"But..."

Anakin shook his head. He wouldn't even be speaking to Barriss, but Cadus and his teachings opened his eyes to a lot.

For the first time since he became a Jedi, Anakin felt a clear clarity that hadn't been there prior, a clarity Barriss had sought, but couldn't find.

A clarity she was still fighting to find.

"You found yourself being dragged down by the current. You could see the bottom of the well, but you fell in because you lack the necessary strength of will. Once your pleas weren't heard by the Council your heart broke and you plummeted into that well of darkness, and it wasn't until Ahsoka and I got through to you in those battles that we could pull you out."

"You are much wiser than I am...How...How could I fall to the dark side and embrace it while you recognize it for what it is and its dangers..." Barriss looked to the side, eyes shading with sadness.

Anakin turned his attention to the other apprentices running around the Temple, remembering Cadus's own lessons, why he knew the dangers of the dark side, and how he could recognize the dark side for what it truly was.

"What do you think their excuse will be when they do something similar or worse? You are not the first Jedi to disagree with the High Council or their doctrines, and get violent about it."

Moving one hand through her hair in a nervous gesture her Master would have recognized instantly, the shorter woman spoke.

"I would rather they do not follow in my footsteps. Once they get to my age, they will realize that they can't offer any real help in galactic affairs. But I...We...People who were born before and after us, didn't realize this until it was too late."

Looking up, she met Anakin's intense gaze.

"Ever since I came to this Temple...The very first time I stepped foot in this Temple, Master Yoda, Master Windu, and Master Mundi all hassled me. I was ten, too advanced in their eyes to begin Jedi training. Do you know why they said I was too advanced? Do you know why Jedi take infants instead of waiting?"

Barriss blinked, staring deep into his intense eyes, remaining silent as he spoke his piece.

"It is because I was born a slave. I endured hardships and pain. I know all of the emotions, from happiness, joy, fear, sorrow, all the way to anger and rage. I know what it is like to suffer and see others suffer. I had a mother, left her, and I missed her dearly. I was happy when Cadus and Qui Gon returned with her before we went to Naboo..."

Anakin took a deep breath, sighing almost.

"The children raised in this Temple, who become aspiring Jedi will never be able to confront the darkness in the galaxy or in that which deeply lie in themselves. They've been sheltered from the darkness of this galaxy and anything that pertains to it. They do not even know their own parents or wish to know them. The Jedi are not their family-they have families, somewhere in this galaxy, but how many of them even care enough to remember or go visit them?"

"What are you saying, Anakin?" Barriss asked, brow arched.

She had similar thoughts and still did, but to hear them coming from the Hero with No Fear was something close to nerve wracking.

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest, staring into the daylight. "Perhaps we should speak outside of the Temple. I think we...Well, I will probably get too blunt and honest for anyone to tolerate it in here for too long with what I have to say."

Barriss was more than confused and concerned hearing that. "I am concerned hearing that, and I have duties here in the Halls of Healing."

"Then we shall pick up where we left off some other time, Barriss."

"I can't just leave, Anakin."

"I know. You have very exceptional healing and medical skills. They need you here."

"But I don't want our conversation to end..." Barriss tried to explain how she felt, but couldn't get it out properly.

"Then, come with me."

"I can't."

"Become a Sentinel. You can perform your duties here at the Temple and have your own house to sleep in when you are done."

Barriss stared at Anakin, at a loss for words.

"What?"

"Become a Sentinel. I plan to."

"And leave the Temple?"

"Why not?"

Barriss furrowed her brow, genuinely surprised. "Why would I?"

"Why would you not?"

"Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin smiled a little, he did enjoy getting a rise out of Barriss since they were children.

"While I do not agree with what you did or understand why you did it, I do empathize with you. I was upset, I still will get upset because Ahsoka meant so much to me. Now, I would rather listen to you vent and get your side of the story on the situation and what drove you to make the choice...So I know just why you did what you did, Barriss Offee. Ahsoka spoke up for you, she gave me your reasons...She defended you and your actions in the end..."

Anakin's face radiated power, his eyes glinting.

"I want to hear them from you. I want to hear what made my splendid Padawan lose faith in the Jedi Order, besides most of the High Council not defending her...I...I have to know."

Barriss was speechless for a long time. She finally remembered she was able to speak, and mustered the strength to do so.

"I am severely, so severely flawed. I was too sure of myself and too sure of what I was pursuing. Even when I fell to the dark side I was so confident, I cast aside what my motivations were in the first place and fell to my pain and anger. I was lost..."

Anakin considered her words. They certainly resonated inside of him, and the current conditions among the Jedi and the Council in this time was a bit unsettling, with many off on their own far from Coruscant because they were so sure of themselves.

But, like Barriss...

They were all lost and scrabbling in the darkness.

He had been the same, but since speaking with Cadus and learning everything he could from the older man, Anakin felt that darkness and fog lifting that had been hovering over him for so long. The same things that bothered Barriss, played a major role in Count Dooku's decision to depart the Order, the Republic, and there have been hundreds of millions more long before the Count to do the very same thing.

Because the Republic was corrupt, because the Jedi Order was too exclusionary or rigid, helping a corrupt regime maintain their power or expand it.

Because, the Jedi's teachings were incomplete, and they truly were, but not in the way those who defected thought in the past.

Because the Jedi killed without hesitation or mercy.

The Jedi Order became a military power bent on ruling.

Bent on controlling their members from infancy into adulthood.

"Don't forget Anakin, you are a hero to many."

How could he ever forget that?

His mother had been the first to say it, the first to know that he was capable of bringing hope to those who didn't know what hope was, or have it in the first place. What his mother, and everyone else who had such ideals for that matter, failed to explain, was how much he would suffer bringing hope.

How his suffering became hope for others.

"A hero to many, but a monster to some I am sure." Anakin said, tone and expression solemn as he accepted that fact.

"Good and bad people fight for the Republic and CIS. Good and bad people are on both sides of the conflict, neither side is an absolute of good or evil. Everyone has their reasons for fighting and not fighting, it takes courage to stand by ideals and beliefs." Barriss remarked, managing to get Anakin out of his distracting thoughts.

Almost as if she was reading his mind.

"And, that is why you took such extreme action...And, that is also why we must continue this conversation and speaking to each other." Anakin said, voice between urgent and excited.

"Yes, that was one determining factor. I cannot kill a good person fighting for the CIS if they themselves are not evil like some of their Council and Generals." Barriss replied, and she held a small breath she had taken just a few seconds ago before she closed her eyes.

Everything inside of her compelled her to take Anakin up on the offer to speak more in private, but her Jedi training quickly came to forefront and tried to shove the idea aside as foolish. To open up and bear her feelings and soul to Anakin wasn't the most...Pleasing thought, but it was the only one that made sense.

Pushing the mental blocks of her Jedi training to the side, Barriss opened her eyes and exhaled softly, letting her gaze drift into Anakin's.

"As for speaking more in private I will have to take you up on that offer. I just hope you have a place suitable that won't attract so much attention. When you say, speak in private, I take it very serious Anakin, and it should just be you and I."

"Fair enough. Just the two of us. I have the perfect spot."

Anakin wondered if Cadus would be upset if he walked into his home and seen him sitting there with Barriss chatting it up, but dismissed it altogether after a moment of deep thought. It wasn't in the man's nature to make a fuss. Cadus wouldn't mind either of them being there, so long as they took off their boots or shoes before walking in, didn't make a mess, and had his permission to be there in the first place.

Anakin was certain he had the older man's permission since that is where he studied, but the same couldn't be said for Barriss.

How was Cadus going to react to him asking if Barriss could come over so the two of them could speak in private?


The efficiency of the docks was nothing short of superb, given recent events within the Capital, and yet the place was thronged with chaos, clogged with noise, and jammed by the sheer number of docking ships, freighters, cruisers, transports, and the floating cranes that moved about to meet all of the demands.

It was also a place for living passengers, just not for the peasantry of Coruscant, but those a little better off, and the greater galaxy at large, catching cheap rides on freighters or transports outbound, thousands and thousands of species looking to escape the chaos and tightening security of the galactic capital.

Blended into the organized chaos, Padme and Dorme walked along, dressed in simple brown tunics and breeches, the garb of normal, poor refugees. They walked side by side to the shuttle exit as they approached the dock and walkway that would take them to one of the gigantic transports.

Captain Typho, Jar Jar, and Sio Bibble stood waiting for them at the exit door.

"Be safe, Sio Bibble and Jar Jar." Captain Typho said with genuine concern.

"Thank you, Captain. I am sure we have nothing to worry about." Sio replied, his voice thick with gratitude.

"Mesa make sure to speak to the bosses!" Jar Jar put in quickly.

Padme smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Jar Jar. I hope you will convey my feelings as you always have, as well as Queen Jamillia's."

"Yousa not coming with us? Yousa better spoken than mesa, Gungan bosses like straightforward speaking of yousa and Queen Jamillia."

Padme moved back so she could see everyone. "There is some business Dorme and I must attend to here before we return."

Dorme gave a nervous smile and nodded.

Sio Bibble spoke up. "In regards to the Delegation of 2000..."

Padme met his gaze, her lips drawing down. "We won't speak of that matter here and now, that is a discussion that needs to take place on Naboo."

"Of course, caution is our friend." Sio answered, but inside, he was churning, struggling to handle his mounting anxiety.

The fact Padme and Jar Jar threw in their lot with Bail, Mon, and other Senators in standing up against Palpatine, could very well threaten Naboo's existence, and their own for decades. It was clear to the older man that Palpatine, the Delegation, nor the Republic itself could be trusted at this point.

Palpatine was drunk with power, and his majority was granting him more. He didn't even need that majority anymore, not with the recent amendments.

"Me make berry nutsen boopjak. Them-sa longo nutsen palos smilin." Jar Jar said, foregoing any basic, a clear sign to all he was nervous.

Padme frowned inwardly.

She had been the one to suggest the course against Palpatine, even if Bail Organa through his hot headed temper, put more drastic things into play along with Mon Mothma who couldn't control her own power hungry tendencies.

"The Delegation of 2000 is crazy and they're all pals. You made a very crazy and big mistake." Padme echoed Jar Jar in basic.

"My hep all-n youse. My nosa hep them-sa. Daysa ate-a nutsen." Jar Jar firmed his voice, struggling to get the goofy fear out of it, that he never could quite hide even after two decades of training to be a stoic diplomat.

He didn't want Padme to think he was cautious of her.

"Thank you, Jar Jar." Padme smiled in gratitude.

"Boss Nass will hopefully listen to me about disa mui nutsen. Our world is in trouble, he should know after Ventress attacked this last time." Jar Jar said, tone thick with emotion as he strode forward.

"I face a similar challenge as Jar Jar. I hope Queen Jamillia is receptive to this. The time for sitting down and going back and forth is over...We must take action and have resolution with all of our decisions. We cannot rely on the Republic." Sio said, noting Padme tensed just a little at the mention of everything not going smoothly.

He bowed his head a little, following after Jar Jar.

Padme, Dorme, and Typho watched Jar Jar and Sio disappear into the crowds of the vast spaceport.

"I hope Jar Jar doesn't say anything foolish to make Boss Nass upset or doubt our intentions." Typho said.

The mere fact that he would speak so openly concerning the Gungan showed Padme how much her guard had come to trust and rely on Jar Jar as much as her.

"I'd be more concerned about Sio doing something rather extreme, than Jar Jar saying something foolish to Boss Nass, even if he was banished a long time ago." Padme replied.

Typho shook his head. "With any luck our reciprocation and rapport that has been built since the invasion of our world by the Trade Federation will carry us through."

"Like minded people coming together. We've built a planetary defense with a combination of our technology and Gungan technology. I think we can all come together." Dorme noted.

Padme and Typho turned to regard her, but neither had the heart to tell her.

Neither really disagreed with Dorme's assessment on the surface.

Gungans and Naboo were both stubborn, strong, and independent thinking and more than willing to trust their own judgment above that of others, whatever their position and experience.

But, since they joined the Republic that changed.

They more or less delegated, and while it was a grand time, everything that was good had to come to an end.

As the trio moved back to the speeder bus, Padme focused on a critical fact.

Jamillia wasn't the most headstrong, and could be weak willed depending on the situation.

It was not a comforting thought.