Disclaimer: I still don't speak Scots Gaelic nor Irish Gaeilge aside from a few words ( I do know slightly more Gaeilge though), so if my translations are wrong then blame Google Translate, not me. I also don't own any character that is not my own creation, obviously. Wish I did though. Could use the kind of money Star Wars rakes in. At this point I'm just too lazy to get rid of this disclaimer so it's staying despite getting my point across by now.
A/N: I apologize for being late, but I wasn't entirely sure how to deal with this topic or if I should at all. I'll make up for it with having an extra-long chapter today. This chapter might need to be rated high-T or even M for language and mentions of unpleasant topics. Consider this a content warning: Gràinne has grown up in Medieval Scotland and as such her worldviews are rather, shall we say, backwards. Her statements do not reflect my beliefs nor are they representative of modern Scots in any way, however these views were nearly universal in the 1200s. To ignore them is to pretend that they and the suffering they caused had never existed. Be warned, this chapter will contain extremely offensive statements to some readers and while Gràinne's views on homosexuals are reprehensible in modern society, these were commonly held beliefs in Europe in the year 1207. If you do not wish to read them, I will mark where her segment begins and ends if you want to read the rest of the chapter.
Caibideil 9
Gràinne followed Padmé through the halls of the Senate, introducing her to various politicians and other scum who follow politicians around. Most recognized her as the girl who sent Bonteri to the hospital and just laughed, but others seemed quite interested in her, including the man who seemed to be in charge, Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.
"So you are the firebrand I keep hearing about. You are, Skywalker's Padawan's sister, correct?" Palpatine asked.
"Aye, m'lord," Gràinne answered respectfully.
"Interesting," Palpatine replied with a methodical tone that creeped her out, "I look forward to seeing your future endeavors." He could feel the unlimited potential flowing off of her, and without the corruption of the Jedi to shake her dedication, she would make a fine apprentice, at least until he could get ahold of Anakin. Who knows, perhaps she would be useful to help turn him. She was far more passively powerful than Dooku, and she had no training at all, probably not even having any real concept of what the Force was: a truly blank slate who he could mold as he wished.
Resisting the urge to shiver, she slowly backed away a few steps, while Padmé nervously chuckled, "Excuse her, she's a bit… um… shy?"
"I'm sure Senator Bonteri's coma demonstrates her shyness," Palpatine added in his nasally monotone, "If you'll excuse me, I must take an important call in my office."
"Of course, your Excellency," Padmé replied with a smile. Turning back to Gràinne she added, "You know what, perhaps we should try introducing you to some of Ahsoka's friends. I've heard she's quite close to Senator Chuchi of Pantora. Has she introduced the two of you yet?"
Gràinne shook her head, "I don' nae think so. Name sounds familiar t'ough."
"Follow me then, I'm sure she'd love to meet you." Padmé walked through the various hallways in the Senate to get to the flights of stairs leading to the floor Chuchi's office was on, greeting the Senate Commandos and Clone Troopers they encountered on the way and ignoring the laughter coming from their direction when they passed. Finally they found her door, shut before them but unlocked. "I'll let her know you'd like to get to know her." Padmé smilingly said as she lightly knocked on the door.
Faintly hearing a "Yes!" from behind the door Padmé swished it open, to quickly realize her mistake. Barriss was sprawled onto Riyo's desk with the Senator on top of her with a single foot on the floor, kissing her furiously, hands going everywhere as Riyo's lips explored the Jedi Knight's neck and face. Barriss's head dress and outer skirt were flung to the other side of the room along with Chuchis jewelry and hair ornaments, while she was still wearing her shirt and pants. Riyo's shirt was starting to ride up her torso but she was still fully clothed. Padmé was blushing a brilliant red in her embarrassment while Gràinne was clearly infuriated for some reason Padmé couldn't fathom. Barriss laughingly flopped her head to the side as Riyo worked her way from her cheek to her neck, only to see Padmé and Gràinne, and screamed.
"Come on Barry-baby, I'm not even doing anything that, PADMÉ!" Chuchi yelled, flinging herself off of the Jedi and falling into the floor. Scrambling up and straightening her shirt, she quivered in the shock and humiliation at being discovered. She tried to stutter out, "I-I-I, w-we were, uh, I, de, uh, i-i-i-it's not what it looks like!"
A/N: Offensive Material Begins
Padmé tried to apologize and back out of the room before Gràinne interjected, "Filthy whores! A bheathaichean leasbach! Tha thu tàmailteach! Cha bhuin do sheòrsa ann an comann ceart! Kill yeselves ye filthy animals!"
"Gràinne!" Padmé shouted at her, utterly dismayed at the girl's outburst. Grabbing her arm she tried to yank Gràinne out of the room as fast as she could, hoping there was some way she could apologize to her colleague for both interrupting a very, intimate, affair and also to try and make up for her ward's abhorrent slurs that she kept screeching at the top of her lungs.
Gràinne was fighting to break out of the increasingly desperate Senator's grip so she could wring their necks. That loathsome creature brought her to this hell? No wonder it was horrible if it tolerated such revolting debauchery. Actually losing the battle against Padmé's surprisingly strong grip, she settled for spitting on the blue bitch and screaming "Faggots!" before Padmé slammed the door shut and locked it behind her. Finally breaking free of the Senator's grasp she tried to go on a rant about that type of sick depravity before Padmé surprised her with a solid backhand across her face, leaving a very noticeable mark and a few cuts where her rings made contact.
"I…" Padmé started, visibly shaking with anger, "will… not… tolerate… THAT. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" She was yelling by the end, barely able to contain her rage and shock.
Gràinne rubbed her bleeding cheek, spat on the ground and turned towards the exit.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Tae find Séamus!" Gràinne snapped, "I'd rather be with 'im than some fag lover!" she hollered before turning around and storming into the stairwell.
A/N: Offensive Material Ends
Positively seething, Padmé grabbed a vase and chucked it at Gràinne's head, narrowly missing, "Your village was right! You are just a demon-spawn!" Gràinne was already gone, livid the whole walk up the stairs. Padmé walked back to the door to Riyo's office and listened. She could hear the poor girls crying.
She knocked again, only to hear Riyo's voice crack out, "Haven't you done enough?!"
Padmé cringed and decided it would probably be best to just avoid her for a while. She would definitely try to find some kind of apology to make up for this. Perhaps a nice all-expense paid vacation for two? No, that might be interpreted as a bribe if it got out. Maybe just a cake? No, not even all the cake in the galaxy could make up for this. Monthly cake deliveries though? Her mind was running a million parsecs a minute as she tried to figure out a proper apology for both barging into an extremely compromising period of intimacy and having your companion start yelling homophobic slurs. This was certainly one of those times where political training probably should have come in handy but really, really fell short.
Meanwhile in Palpatine's office he ordered his Senate Commandos to not allow anyone in, locked the door, shut the windows, and threw up his hood. Pressing a button on his chair he brought up two holograms, one of his apprentice Tyrannus and one of General Grievous. How his disguise had held up as long as it had for Grievous, he had no idea. Whether the cyborg was genuinely this stupid or if he was pretending not to notice Palpatine had little concern, the fool followed orders without question, that alone proved his continued usefulness, for now at least.
"Tyrannus, Grievous," he began, "A new opportunity has presented itself. The sister of Skywalker's apprentice would be a useful pawn in our endeavors."
"Master?" Dooku asked, kneeling, "What exactly are you planning?"
"A replacement for your assassins, apprentice," Sidious snarled, still infuriated over the betrayal of taking Ventress as a true apprentice and the humiliation of the Savage Oppress incident, "One far more loyal to me."
"My lord," Grievous answered, "What do you request of me to do?"
"You will send a small strike team to Coruscant to capture the young Togruta woman known as Gràinne MacGuffin." Grievous looked up slightly, not saying anything. "I know it's a rather odd name, but I don't pretend to understand primitives. She is a powerful lump of clay waiting to be molded into a tool most useful to us."
"As you wish, my lord," Grievous replied with a bow, "I will assemble a team of assassin and commando droids immediately." With that, the cyborg general disconnected.
"Master," Dooku began, "I shall see to it this new assassin is brought into the fold."
"I trust you will," Palpatine replied, "For now though, you must lead full offensive on the Shili system to distract Republic forces and weaken the defenses of Coruscant and spread the Jedi thin. This MacGuffin is taking shelter with Senator Amidala in the Senate District."
"Of course my Master," Dooku replied with humility, "The attack will be sprung within the week."
"Good." Palpatine answered, "I would also have you lead the attack personally, Tyrannus. The offensive must be as convincing as possible."
"As you wish, Master." Dooku's hologram faded and Palpatine lowered his hood, opened the windows, and unlocked his doors. Notifying the guards that he was now able to accept visitors if need be, he sat at his desk, smiling a wicked smile.
Pressing a button on his comms, he brought up an image of Master Yoda, "Our intelligence suggests the Separatists are planning an attack on the planet Shili. Perhaps a discussion on tactics for a defense of the planet and subsequent counter-attack would be in order?"
"Of course, Chancellor," Yoda replied. Palpatine utterly despised that little green imp but he would be his own undoing soon enough. "Assemble in your office within the hour, we will."
"I look forward to it." He most certainly did not, given that while he was more than capable of hiding his Force signature even passively, to hide in plain sight from the entirety of the assembled Jedi Council at once actually required effort on his part. He would spend the next hour meditating for just such effort, minimal though it was. All in the name of Darth Bane's grand plan.
Riyo had led her girlfriend to the parking levels of the senate and offered to drive her back to the Jedi Temple, "I'm so sorry, baby."
"Are you sure you're in a state to drive?" Barriss asked, noticing the tears still streaming down Riyo's face and feeling the rage, humiliation, and hatred swirling in her beloved.
"I'm fine," Riyo lied, putting a hand on Barriss's tear-stained cheek, "All I care about right now is making sure you get home safe without any more incidents." She leaned in for a quick kiss and opened the passenger door for her before hopping in the driver's seat. Normally she could just have a droid chauffer her around, but she was too angry to think straight and even consider the possibility. This in mind she probably needed a droid to drive more than ever but she wanted to drive to the Temple herself. Besides, flying actually relaxed her; rare statement though that was. She pulled out of the parking levels and soared off towards the Jedi Temple.
Not wanting to risk being caught again, Riyo simply hugged Barriss when she had landed in the Temple hangar, but surprisingly Barriss gave her a quick peck on the cheek before muttering a quiet "Thank you, I love you," and turned away, walking towards her quarters. Her tears started to quietly flow again, despite her attempts to keep them back.
Watching Barriss walk for a moment, Riyo muttered, "I love you too," and started the speeder up again to return to the Senate. She barely noticed the taxi speeder landing in front of the Temple.
A/N: Gràinne's section Begins
Gràinne knew she was right and didn't understand how Padmé could tolerate that. It was absolutely revolting! She saw Barriss running teary- eyed through the hallway as she walked in the Temple. Taking the opportunity she stuck out her leg, tripping the Mirialan Jedi and causing her to fall on her face. She gave Barriss a swift kick to the gut, "Disgustin' vermin!"
A/N: Gràinne's section ends
Coughing from the kick to her stomach, Barriss stumbled up and looked around, several Jedi were staring now. She wanted to defend herself but couldn't risk starting an incident, she ran. Running into the nearest lift she pressed the button for her floor and sunk to the floor, bawling. When the lift door opened, she bolted out of the lift to her nearby dorm, running right past her old master.
Luminara was shocked to say the least. Her former Padawan, happy and at peace for the past few weeks since her knighting, bolting past her with tears streaming down her face and locking herself in her room. That was the last thing she expected to find on her way to grab a salad. Ditching her endeavors for lunch in favor of something far more important, she knocked on Barriss's door, hearing the girl's crying through the metal door. "Barriss? Do you want to talk?"
"Go away!" Barriss managed to croak out, flopping her face back onto her tear-soaked pillow. For a moment, Luminara considered leaving her Padawan, former Padawan, be until she heard the words, "It's not like you would care! You never cared about anything!"
That stung. She had always tried to be distant to avoid getting overly attached, but had she really seemed that cold and unavailable? Had she really spent years making Barriss feel abandoned by the one person who was supposed to be there to guide and support her? Was she really that bad of a Master? Luminara made up her mind, "I'm not leaving until you open this door, Barriss."
The younger Mirialan Jedi responded with some Mando'a curse she had probably picked up from the clones, or Ahsoka if she was being honest with herself, she was always a bad influence on her otherwise perfect apprentice. Somewhat annoyed, Luminara glanced at the lock. Barriss was supposed to have changed her combination by now, but with the events of the past few weeks she may not have found the time. Trying the old passcode for Barriss's room, 98273651-8, it worked flawlessly, and the door swished open, revealing the sight of Barriss curled onto her mat, face buried in a pillow. The sight was painful for her to look at, but Luminara walked in uninvited and closed the door behind her. Sitting beside Barriss, she cradled the younger woman's head as Barriss moved from crying into her pillow to crying into her former Master's lap.
"Barriss," Luminara said softly, dropping all sense of distant professionalism she had always tried to maintain, "I know I've never been as good of a Master as I could have been, but I…" she paused, looking for the right words, "You've always been the closest thing I've ever had to a daughter. I want to help you; I want to be here for you. I want to make up for being cold and distant all these years. Just tell me how."
Barriss's breath caught in her throat as she lifted her face to her former Master, smiling painfully down at the broken, neglected little girl she would always see her as. How had she been so blind? She would make up for all the past neglect and abuse now, and forevermore.
"I can't tell you what's wrong Master," she said, slipping back to her days as a Padawan. How could she ever tell her? What could she tell her? That she was not only shattering the Jedi code into a million pieces but also violating a Mirialan cultural taboo? Her Master was always harsh with punishment and hypocritically slow to forgive. Here she was demanding answers and forgiveness as if a few words could make up for the near decade of emotional neglect, just telling her to ignore the traumas of war and to ignore and trust her feelings?
"Barriss," Luminara pleaded, "Tell me." She noticed a slight tear in Barriss's shirt, "Barriss, what happened here?" Had she been assaulted? Was that why she was afraid to say anything? Did she need to take her to the medical wing for an emergency rape kit? A pregnancy test? She lifted the hole to notice a sizeable welt and bruise forming on her stomach. Why had she not defended herself? Did she not have her lightsaber?
"I…" Barriss choked, not wanting to admit her crimes but also having to tell Master Unduli something just to get her to leave her alone. "Gràinne tripped me and kicked me in the stomach."
"What?!" Luminara was shocked. Obviously, she knew about her clobbering Bonteri into the pavement but that was for a reason, not just out of the blue. "Why?"
This was where Barriss didn't want to cooperate anymore, "I don't want to say."
"Barriss," Luminara pleaded with her, "I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."
"I can't."
"Barriss…" Luminara repeated, "Help me to help you."
"You'll just be angry."
"Barriss, you may be a knight now, but I'm always here to be your guide. Tell me what happened. Why did she attack you?"
Barriss was trembling, afraid of how Luminara would react. Would she yell at her? Drag her in front of the Council for being in a forbidden relationship? Would she expose Riyo? No, she couldn't allow that one to happen. She didn't care what happened to her so long as Riyo stayed out of harm's way; she'd be willing to take the full brunt of her former master's wrath as long as she didn't expose her girlfriend. "I…" she started, her voice shaking, "I'm…"
"It's ok Barriss," Luminara cooed, trying to soothe her.
Taking a deep, shaky breath she finally admitted, "I'm gay. That's why Gràinne kicked me, why she was harassing me, and insulting me. She said the most horrible things to me and I just…" she started crying again as Luminara's fingers ran through her hair. "She found out and didn't see me as a person anymore."
Luminara hurt seeing her apprentice in this kind of pain, both physical and emotional. The news that Barriss even had a sex drive was surprising but not by much. "That's horrifying," was all she could say.
Barriss sniffled, wiped her tears and continued, "And I know it's stupid but something in the back of my mind thought it was Ahsoka. I know they're different people but seeing my best friend's face spitting on me, hitting me, throwing slurs at me. It, it hurt."
"I can't even imagine." Luminara replied, pulling Barriss into a hug, "But, how did she find out?" She couldn't imagine Barriss doing anything near to Bonteri's mishap, not to mention how it would be somewhat creepy to try and go after her best friend's twin sister.
"She…" there was no point in hiding anything now, "she and Senator Amidala walked in on me and my girlfriend." Luminara's eyes went wide. Did she just say "girlfriend?" As in, she had a secret relationship for Force knows how long girlfriend? "I know you're going to drag me in front of the Council and have me expelled now. I don't care anymore."
"According to the rules set in place, I have to." Luminara answered honestly, with Barriss lowering her head in shame, sensing her Master's disappointment, "But I could have it simply slip my mind." At this, the Jedi knight lifted her face to look at Luminara in shock. Her eyes were bloodshot after all of her crying.
Had she really just suggested throwing the Code out the window? For her? She was, thankfully, no Anakin Skywalker by any stretch of the imagination. Why would she do this? "Don't do that," Barriss choked, "Don't give me hope, I can sense your disappointment. You're completely disgusted with me."
"Barriss, I'm not disappointed that you're attracted to women," Luminara corrected her, "and I am certainly not disgusted by you. What I am disappointed about is that you gave into your urges when Jedi are supposed to be celibate…" she paused. Time for a little honesty herself, "And because I might owe Kenobi dinner."
"You had a bet?!" Barriss yelled.
"It was originally started as a joke!" Luminara defended, "All masters do it at some point! At least, that's how I'm going to try and weasel my way out of it."
"I can't believe you!"
"Can we focus on your problem for a minute? With that bruise we should take you to the healers immediately. You might have gotten some internal damage."
"Fine," Barriss begrudgingly accepted, "But don't think you're off the hook for this!"
Luminara smirked, "I wouldn't have it any other way." She was lying, Barriss knew she was lying, and she knew Barriss knew she was lying, but any opportunity to help her former Padawan get through this trauma was well worth being lectured by her former student on gambling, even jokingly. Helping Barriss stand up and put her shoes back on, they walked back to the lift. Pressing the button for the medical bay, Luminara couldn't help but ask, "So…"
"So… what?" Barriss countered, knowing what the next question could be.
"Are you going to tell me who she is?"
"Nope."
"Not even a hint?"
"Why, do you have a bet for that too?"
"No, simple curiosity."
"Well then be curious."
Luminara pondered for a moment… "Ahsoka?"
"Eww!" Barriss exclaimed, "Master! I met her when she was barely fifteen and I was almost twenty! That's disgusting!"
Luminara shrugged, "Well you were never much of one for friends, at least friends that I knew of."
Barriss groaned, "If you must know, she's not a Jedi."
Luminara nodded… paused… "A Senator? Seems to be a lot of that recently."
Barriss blushed, "Maybe?"
Luminara smirked as the door opened, "Alright then, keep your secrets. And actually let them treat you this time."
"Yes Master," Barriss nodded, walking towards the healers, "Are you not coming?"
"I have a few things to take care of at the moment, I'll be back as soon as I can." First thing's first, find Gràinne and make her suffer. Revenge wasn't the Jedi way of course but justice most certainly was. She would make Gràinne apologize to her perfect padawan and if she was seriously injured, she'd lose a few teeth as well. Then her stomach growled, looking at her chrono she sighed irritably, ok first thing's first: food, then making Gràinne pay for hurting her surrogate daughter.
Gràinne however had been snatched by Obi-Wan. It was agreed that he would see to her Jedi training should she accept a place in the Order and as such needed to endear himself to her as much as possible. Oh the debates had raged for days! She would be by far the oldest initiate in over a thousand years but with midi-chlorian counts almost as high as Anakin's there was no way they could risk Dooku and his agents grabbing her for the Sith. It would be nearly as destructive as if Anakin went to the Dark Side. Obi-Wan shuddered at the very thought of that possibility. The Council was to assemble in the office of the Chancellor as he explained to Gràinne who had apparently just come from the Senate and met the man only an hour ago.
Being among the last to arrive along with Master Saesee Tiin, who parked beside him, they took the lift to the Chancellor's office. Waiting for them were Masters Yoda, Windu, Ti, Fisto, Plo Koon, Mundi, and of course the Chancellor himself. "Ah! Masters Kenobi and Tiin. How nice of you to join us. Hello Gràinne."
As they began to discuss tactics and politics, very little of which Gràinne understood, the young Togruta was understandably bored out of her mind and began to fiddle with the random machines around them. Pressing an innocuous button brought the image of a slender bearded man in what looked like some kind of fluffy robe sipping tea.
"MASTER!" Dooku exclaimed as he quickly bowed, "Forgive my perceived insolence but we had already discussed the attack on Shili, what more could we… oh…"
Frozen in shock, slack-jawed, and half-ready to kill the Chancellor immediately, the entire Jedi Council and the apparent Sith Lord Sheev Palpatine stared in shock at Count Dooku, in a bathrobe, on Palpatine's speed-dial, and calling him "Master."
Dooku grew an evil grin, "Good luck explaining this one, Sidious." His visage faded, and nearly a dozen lightsabers ignited and pointed at Palpatine's face.
Palptine held his smile, his panicking, terrified smile as he thought Ok, damage control Sheev. Damage Control is your middle name! Sheev Damage Control Palpatine! "Well that was a lucky guess wasn't it?"
None of the Jedi even flinched.
"Nothing?"
"In the name of the Senate of the Galactic Republic," Windu countered, "You are under arrest, my lord," ensuring he said the last two words with evident sarcasm.
Knowing there was no way he could take on ten Jedi by himself, four or five probably, but not ten, Palpatine sighed in surrender. "The Great 1000 Year Plot of the Sith, brought crashing down by a little girl pressing a button on my comms."
With that, Palpatine was taken into custody without a fight and a massive investigation would be launched into just how much of the Republic's leadership was involved with the Separatists.