Sands of Time
By Jemmiah
**********
"I'd like to know exactly what our chances are of being successful on this matter."
Gil Vedral turned his green-grey eyes from the quietly spoken Jedi Master with the neatly trimmed beard and long hair tied at the back to the smaller figure, that of a dark haired woman of middle stature and a serious expression on her face. Gil could understand that. It WAS a serious affair.
He considered his words, taking a brief sip of the caf that the woman - Evla her name was - had made for him. Caf wasn't really his thing but out of sympathy for the clearly worried lady he now faced, he had agreed, knowing that it was perhaps her only way of being helpful in a situation that was well beyond anyone's control.
"I think it could go either way in all honesty." He said finally. "I know that's not what you want to hear but I always think it's best to be as truthful as possible in situations like this. It's sometimes better to prepare for the worst just incase it does happen."
The woman looked away, plainly distressed and Gil felt a pang of sympathy for her. For both of them.
"We have to look at all the facts. What we have is a ten year old girl with no parents, no siblings and until a couple of months ago no relatives whatsoever. The reason that she was allowed to remain in the temple is because of the high regard that people have for the Jedi. The circumstances were unusual but I think in the end she was allowed to stay because it was felt she would benefit from a secure and stable upbringing rather than one we could not guarantee."
He sat back, twiddling his thumbs as he thought what to say next.
"Ideally she should have gone back to Corellia, but Coruscant has arguably the best facilities for just about everything in the galaxy. That and the fact that the young lady in question went on record as expressing her wish to stay with you. She's been with you what, a year or so now? That's all in your favor. She likes it here and she is happy."
"But?" Evla asked him bleakly.
He nodded at her. "Her uncle feels that as a Corellian she should be brought up on Corellia, with his own children. As the brother of her dead mother he has an outstanding claim on the girl. Corellian law is fairly strict on that sort of thing."
"I hardly think that Corellian law is relevant in this." Qui-Gon replied archly. "Not seeing as how Jemmiah is living under our protection on Coruscant."
"That's exactly what I have been arguing." Gil smiled gently at him. "If her uncle wants to play the patriot card, let him. I don't think that will sit well infront of a group of Coruscant judges. Corellian law is a sort of legal minefield unto itself."
Evla looked at the carpet, noticing the spot that Jemmiah had recently spilled the ink on and which she had unsuccessfully tried to cover over. She'd been annoyed with her carelessness at the time; now she would cheerfully have given over the whole floor surface for inking if it meant that this time tomorrow Jemmiah would be back permanently with her.
"Don't talk to me about Corellian law." Evla mumbled. "I know all about it. This is the same law that says that the legal age for girls to have sex is fourteen. It allows girls and boys to marry at fifteen! This is the same legal system that says proven attempted suicides are not to be resuscitated!"
"These laws that you have singled out are being looked at very carefully by the internal legal bodies on Corellia." Gil shrugged. "They are looking to do something about the legal age status. The law on suicides is as old as the planet. That doesn't necessarily make it right to keep it, I suppose. Having said that I'm not really here to pass judgement on Corellia's legal technicalities. The facts are straightforward. There is a strong argument that says that the family and cultural requirements that she would get from the Mathers family is of paramount importance. Weigh that against the care the child's been getting from yourselves and the jedi as a whole, and most importantly of all the wishes of the girl herself and you also have a reasonable case. It's like I said earlier," he sighed as he watched the woman's face fall, "it really could go either way."
"You think Jemmiah's wishes will have a strong bearing on the case?" Qui-Gon persisted.
"Undoubtedly so. The people reviewing this case aren't ogres. They are there to try and make the decision that's in the best interest of the child."
"So," Evla insisted in a voice that was far more calm and steady than she was actually feeling, "What happens if the people involved in deciding think that financial wealth is more important than a loving home?"
"There's nothing to suggest that the Mathers wouldn't love the girl." Gil said tentatively. "I'm sure that if the worst happened from our point of view that Jemmiah would be well taken care of."
"He wants to take care of her money, more like." Evla said through lips that barely seemed to move.
"I really cannot comment on that either." Gil replied as tactfully as he could. "He does seem like a genuinely kind man whose only wish is to have his family together with him under one household."
"If he cared so much then why has he taken so long to speak up?" Demanded Evla.
"Because," Gil said patiently as he embarked on an explanation he had already given several times over, "The family was on their annual vacation, and they weren't searching for a Jemmiah Gleshan. They were searching for an Angeline Gleshan because that was what the late Thena Gleshan told her brother she had named the girl."
"I don't believe that." Evla shook her head. "He only wants to keep hold of her estate."
"It would make sense if he did." Shrugged Gil, not wanting to be dragged into a debate on personalities. "She can hardly run it for herself, can she? One day, whatever happens in the courts tomorrow, she will have that estate for herself. It will be a nice place to live - out in the open air and the countryside, nice weather, good area, acres of land…"
"You sound like a salesman." Evla said icily.
Qui-Gon hushed her with a gentle, pleading look, knowing that the bickering that Evla was intent on would achieve nothing in the long run except maybe persuade Gil that he was arguing for the wrong side.
"I'm sorry, this has been a very trying time for us all." He offered by way of an apology.
"I quite understand." He levered himself out of the chair, placing the cup back on the table. "I don't imagine it's been any easier on Jemmiah either."
"She seemed to be keeping her spirits up." Qui-Gon answered. "Until today that is. I think it's just hit her that if things don't go according to how we hope then she's looking at this evening being her last night with us. I think it's scared her to know that the sands of time have just about run out."
Gil shook Qui-Gon's hand and then cautious of the reception his gesture would be met with offered his hand also to Evla, who politely accepted. "I'll see you at the courts tomorrow. Please…" he met Evla's unhappy gaze. "Please try to get a good night's rest. For what it's worth I really wish you the best of fortune."
Qui-Gon followed Gil over to the door to see him out.
"Thanks for all your help." He smiled thinly. "I appreciate your efforts on Jemmiah's behalf."
"Where is the young lady? Getting some sleep?" Gil asked.
The jedi master lowered his eyelids and reached out with the force.
"No," he replied sadly, "she's behind the bedroom door listening to every word."
********
Once Gil had left and Evla had decided to make a start on washing, Qui-Gon ventured to knock on the door of Jemmiah's bedroom. He knew she was awake. He'd sensed that much from when Gil was still in the apartment. Her emotions seemed to waver violently between complete and total control to fear-driven nausea.
The room was dark, but the moment he requested the lights on he saw her sitting staring unblinkingly up at him from the edge of her bed.
"What are you doing in the dark?" he asked, confused.
"Evla doesn't like lights on after a certain time." She shrugged at him. "I didn't want to upset her seeing as this might be my last night here."
Qui-Gon sat himself down next to her on the bed.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." He smiled.
"I think I've run out of hope." She muttered so that he had to strain his ears to hear her.
"You once said to me," Qui-Gon took her chin in his hand, "that as long as there was hope there wasn't anything that couldn't be achieved. Do you remember that? I can't tell you how impressed I was to hear those words from someone your age."
"They seem kinda hollow right now." Jemmy replied. "I'm just so scared that I can't think straight."
"Hey," he pulled her into a hug; "there's no need to be scared."
"But I don't want to leave." Jemmy implored him, using her round eyes as best she could. "It just doesn't seem right that I have to do something like this because someone else wants it. I've spent half my life being told what to do. It's so unfair."
Qui-Gon felt the arms tighten around him.
"I don't want to live with uncle Kelik. He reminds me of…" she thought carefully for a while, searching for the right word, "what are those lizardy things that change color when they try to blend in with their background?"
"Chameleons?" Qui-Gon supplied.
"Yeah, he's like one of them. He seems like a different person depending on whom he's with or where he is. How can you trust someone who isn't what they say they are? At least you and Evla are always the same."
"Thanks, I think." Qui-Gon chuckled.
"And I'd miss Obi-Wan."
"You'd have your cousins there."
Jemmy sighed so deeply that Qui-Gon could actually feel it.
"I know." She moaned. "But they're not Obi-Wan."
Qui-Gon brushed the long hair over one shoulder. "You need to get some sleep."
"No." Jemmy shook her head, her eyes straying over to the toy Gundark with one eye that sat at the end of her bed. She somehow doubted that Uncle Kelik would let her take him with her.
"What I need is a miracle."
