Obi-wan felt his brow lower as the Chancellor requested Anakin's presence. The man had inserted himself into the younger man's life since the very first time that he'd met him. Over the years it had irritated him and he wasn't sure why. Now, he suspected that the force had been trying to warn him about the man.
"I'm afraid that Anakin is away on a mission for the Jedi Order at the moment. He may not return for quite some time."
Palpatine tilted his head. "What kind of mission, Master Kenobi?"
"I'm not at liberty to say, I'm afraid. This is a private Jedi matter rather than one of a political nature." Obi-wan gave a guarded smile. He and the other Masters who had come to meet with the Sith Lord were among those with the strongest mental discipline. They knew that they needed to maintain a tight rein over their thoughts in the presence of the man.
"Really?" Palpatine tried to focus on the man then glanced around when he realized that the man had a tighter hold on his thoughts than usual. "Then perhaps you can loan me another Jedi, instead. I feel that with the increased Separatist activity that I'd be safer with a Jedi nearby."
Obi-wan eyed Mace before the darker-skinned Jedi spoke up. "In that case, I volunteer help keep an eye on you, Chancellor. Anything for the safety of the Republic."
Palpatine gave a pleased smile and then said, "Then I accept your assistance."
Kallus navigated the Shadow Chaser through the upper atmosphere of Lothal and flew toward Capital City then headed north to find the town that Ezra had mentioned in his transmission. Heading there, he felt a bit of nostalgia as he looked over the grasslands of the planet. He'd not gotten to see the planet as it was now; before the Empire showed up. It was no small wonder that the planet looked so much more peaceful and serene than the Lothal that he'd seen in the future.
The Clone Wars hadn't made it to this planet. That meant that while the planet wasn't a hub of prosperity like most of the Core Worlds it wasn't stripped of its wealth as it had been in the time that he'd served the Empire on it.
When the ship landed Rex watched on as he completed the shut down procedures and asked, "So, this young man. This Ezra? You said that he's a Jedi?"
"Yes. He was trained by Master Billaba's padawan. He was one of the few who survived Order Sixty-Six. And the stories I could tell about Ezra when he was younger and I was still an ISB Agent. That boy was the bane of my existence at times. In fact, I have the feeling that he and your General Skywalker would have made great friends." Kallus chuckled.
"How so?"
"Just wait until you meet him. And of course, until they meet one another."
Rex groaned at that. "I can imagine."
"Well, I guess we'd best head to town and see if we can locate Ezra. The quicker we find him the sooner we can return to Dathomir."
"So, how will we find him?" Rex asked as he joined Kallus on his way out of the ship.
"Hopefully, he has been waiting and watching for the ship and he'll come and find us." Kallus turned to the techno-service droid and addressed him. "Close the ship up after we've left. Keep watch over it."
"Of course, Master Kallus."
"Well, let's start heading toward the town."
Kallus led the clone beside him toward the town in the distance and started to share stories of when he'd first met the young Jedi that they were here to find. When he described how Ezra had broken out of the detention cell Rex started to chuckle. Yes, this boy did seem to have the same spark that General Skywalker has. He was still snickering when he heard the other man groan just slightly.
"What is it?" Rex looked around and spied a white cat-like creature nearby. It looked as if it was waiting for them.
"Loth-cats. They can be a bit temperamental but I have the feeling that Ezra sent it to find us."
Rex studied the animal from where they stood. "And why is that?"
"Because the boy has always had a strong connection to animals." Kallus shook his head. "Let's follow the cat and see if it does takes us to where Ezra is at."
"We're going to follow a cat?" Rex eyed the other man suspiciously.
Kallus chuckled. "Are you going to stand there and tell me that after all of this time working with the Jedi, that this is the strangest thing you've ever done?"
Rex went to say something but closed his mouth and considered his answer before he finally gave it, "I suppose not. Alright, so we're going to follow the Loth-cat."
The white Loth-cat headed away and towards the small town nearby. Taking care to look behind it every so often to ensure that the two men were still behind it. In the distance toward the mountain range close to the town the clone spotted more Loth-animals. When Rex spotted the gigantic wolves he raised his blasters only for Kallus to put a hand on his arm.
"Relax. They won't hurt us. Not so long as they know we are Ezra's friends."
"You don't seem surprised to see them."
"Let's just say that I've had dealings with some of them before. And I know that I never want to upset them. But in the vision that Kiara's brother had, the Loth-wolves were in it. It was one reason why we were traveling toward Lothal when the purrgil decided to pull us backward through time."
Ziarah waited as she watched the Jedi meditate on what was affecting her daughter once more. This was the second time that this strange illness seemed to have affected her in less than a month. The first time it had lasted nearly a week then it went away. But after a week of being back to normal she'd fallen ill again three days ago. The doctor hadn't been able to find a cause for the state that she was in. She could coax her to tend to certain biological matters and sip on some broth but her daughter didn't really seem to understand what was going on or even know who was with her. In the twelve years that she'd been a mother to her second child she'd yet to come across anything like this.
When the doctor couldn't give any answers Ziarah had instead asked the young Jedi who had found his way to Lothal less than about a year ago to come. Once he took up residence on the planet near the town he'd stumbled upon her daughter when she'd had a outburst of force energy in a fit. He'd then begun to spend time with her. Much like an older brother would. Oh, she knew that he wasn't nearly old enough to be a master but he was a Jedi. She hoped that when the Jedi eventually left, as they always do, that this time the Jedi would deem her daughter worthy enough to be taken to the temple on Coruscant. That is where she needed to be. Some place where another force users can teach her what she needs to control her abilities.
When the Jedi looked up the mother waited for him to say what was going on. When he spoke, however, he seemed to be just as lost as the doctors had been.
"There seems to be a great disturbance in the force surrounding her. I've never seen anything like it."
"Could you ask the rest of the Jedi? Maybe they have."
Ezra furled his brow at the question. He knew that the Jedi still had the Order in this time but he'd been working hard to not draw their attention. He wasn't sure what he'd say to them if they found him. But he also didn't want to draw the attention of the Sith in this time period. Which is the only reason why he first approached the young girl when he'd come across her several months ago. He didn't want the Sith to find her, either.
After a while, it became clear that the woman standing near the doorway waiting for him, whose husband was out fighting for the Republic at the moment, expected him to give some mystical answer for her daughter's ailments being the source of many of the girl's issues. The mother, especially, would push until the girl would lose her control. That wasn't how you teach to control the abilities that the force can offer.
"I do have friends who are coming here today." Ezra didn't mention that they wouldn't be from the Jedi. He'll just allow the woman to make her own assumptions. "And I'll be leaving with them."
"But-"
As the woman went to speak again they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Ziarah turned to head back to the living space with the Jedi and opened the door to find a small Loth-cat there with two men. One with a military style crew-cut that made his light hair nearly undiscernible and the other with blond hair and a beard.
"Kallus, I see you got my message, there," Ezra chuckled as the loth-cat sauntered into living space. The cat rubbed against the young man's legs and waited for him to reach down to scratch behind his ears. After being satisfied with the affection it was given the cat then continued toward the small bedroom where the twelve year old girl was lying in a near-unconscious state.
"Well, I do know you." Kallus chuckled and turned to Rex. "Rex, this is Ezra."
When the young man heard who the other man was his eyes widened before he then gave a broad smile. He'd never thought that he'd be able to see the clone in his prime.
"Sir," Rex gave a curt nod.
"Please, come in. I'm Ziarah Dume and welcome to my home." She then turned back to Ezra. "So I assume that these are the people that you mentioned would be coming today." Ziarah motioned for the men to step further into the home.
"Yes. If you don't mind, I'd like to speak with them in private for a little while." Ezra had a lot of questions but he knew that he couldn't ask any of them in front of the woman.
"I need to go to the market, anyway. Especially while you are still here with Kiara. I'll only be a short while."
Ezra nodded and saw both a look of surprise as well as what looked to be concern on Kallus's face. "Take your time."
When the woman was gone Kallus spoke up, "Dume?"
"Yes. I'm pretty sure that I've somehow found Kanan's family. They had a son who went to the Jedi temple on Coruscant. They think I'm here from there, too."
"What's wrong with Kiara?" Kallus asked with concern.
"I'm not sure. The girl just suddenly went ill to the point of barely being conscious more than two weeks ago. After nearly a week she went back to normal for yet another week. But three days ago she slipped back into this ill and docile state. I was afraid that she'd been located by the Sith so I've been staying here this go round." Ezra motioned for the men to have a seat.
Kallus, instead leaned against the wall as he thought. "The timeline that you've indicated would match the times when we've been here. When the girl was fine, that would have been the same timeframe that it took for us to fly from Coruscant to Dathomir. Then once Kiara left the ship to go to the temple on the planet and the two of us came here, her younger self slipped back into this state that you indicated."
Ezra tilted his head. "Wait, younger self? But she's a Valour, not Dume."
"She changed her name when she joined the Empire. But the Kiara back there in the bedroom is the same one you met in the future. And is Kanan's sister."
The young Jedi looked confused. "Why didn't she tell us then when we all worked together at the temple here on Lothal? When we all went back to the cave of the Loth-wolves?"
"She had her reasons. But the important thing here is that it appears that when she's been out of the Shadow Chaser that her younger self seems to be suffering from it." Kallus put a hand to his chin as he thought. "It could be that having two of the same person in the same time period causes negatives affects to the original individual in this point of time."
Rex didn't know much about time travel. Did anyone? But the other man's explanation caused him to think about him, as well. "If that is the case, then now that you aren't in the ship, could we expect that your younger self may be suffering the same effects that the girl is?"
Kallus's brows went down. Yes, the likelihood was there. And he wouldn't have anyone there who would really care for his younger self if he was severely ill.
"Wait, why would the ship have offered any kind of barrier to the affects of the duality?" Ezra asked in confusion.
"It's a long story. But maybe if the affects weren't there when the older Kiara was in the ship, perhaps taking the younger one there could help her."
"Well, getting permission to take her there shouldn't be a problem since her mother has been practically begging me to take her to Coruscant with me."
"Yes, I know all about the Dumes and their..." Kallus paused to find a tame way to refer to Kiara's parents. "Their opinions of her force abilities and what they feel should be done about them."
"What about you? Rex is right. If this is happening to Kiara then it is likely happening to your younger self, too."
"I know." Kallus sighed. "But it will take a while to get back to Coruscant even if we went straight there."
"Would you know where you are at?" Rex looked a little uncomfortable but asked as he thought back to those whom he knew back on Coruscant. "If you do, I may be able to contact a friend to find... well, find you."
The former agent looked at the clone over before saying, "Can you trust your friend to keep... me... from being found by anyone else? If the wrong people found out about our coming from the future, I'm not sure what would happen if our younger selves were harmed or killed in this time period while we are here."
"Other than my brothers and the general? There is likely few others whom I would trust more," Rex assured as he crossed his arms. When Kallus gave a nod the clone started to walk to the door. He'll need to get back to the ship to send out a transmission.
"I'll tell Tac you are on your way back." He then added, "And thank you." He then told Rex where he lived back when he was fourteen, nearing fifteen soon. An address that he hadn't been able to forget in all of these years regardless of how he'd tried. An address that spoke to how alone he'd been.
Rex gave a smile before he left the small home that they'd been led to by the Loth-cat. When the man was gone Ezra chuckled.
"I don't think I really pictured how different that man became as he got older. Does he know about... What does he know about, so far?"
"Yes, he knows that we know his future self. And that we are friends." Kallus then chuckled. "I even beat him repeatedly playing dejarik to prove that I know his strategies better than he does."
Ezra shook his head. "Poor Rex. I'm sure that wounded his pride a little."
"Just a bit." He then looked toward where the Loth-cat had disappeared to when they came in. "Now, about Kiara. I think we should get her to the ship as soon as possible to test our theory about the ship being an area that can block the- whatever it is that is causing her to be affected by Kiara's presence in this time."
Ezra still wanted to know about more about why the ship may be a safe from the issues of their duality. "So why shouldn't she be affected while on the ship?"
"In the future, Thrawn had hired some scientists to work on creating a weapon that could suppress the force. After he disappeared with you and the purrgil, Kiara's... father... took up the research and had the scientist to pick up where Thrawn's had left off. The Shadow Chaser and the Ghost were both fired on by a modified torpedo with the concoction that they came up with and it has created a force suppression bubble around the ships."
"So, where is Kiara now?"
Kallus frowned. "She and General Skywalker remained on Dathomir to study at an ancient temple while Rex and I were sent here to retrieve you."
"Skywalker? As in Ahsoka's Jedi master? And Rex's general?"
"That would be the same one," Kallus confirmed. "Now, lets see about getting Kiara back to the ship so we can test my theory. Then once we see that, we'll have to decide what to do next."
Ezra nodded and got up to lead the other man to where he knew that the girl, who was now eight years younger than him, was unconscious. After learning that she was the younger sister of his Jedi master he'd started to think of her as his own younger sister. Which meant that he was concerned for her now that she seemed to have fallen ill. But if the issue was the fact that there shouldn't be two of her in the same time, then they needed to figure out a way to get himself and the other two back to their own time. After all, he was due to be born in only a few more weeks.
