The door slide closed soundlessly behind him as Mace Windu reemerged from Jibril's room. He looked to his two comrades. Adi had taken a seat on one of the couches opposite of Qui-Gon. The two had been talking quietly but fell silent as Mace entered the common room again. Both stood up slowly, expectant looks on their faces. His face was drawn as he crossed the room to his fellow Jedi Masters. "I could not get her to tell me where Xanatos has taken Obi-Wan—if she even does know. She's not making much sense of anything."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes briefly, trying to gain some of his focus. He needed to find his center in order to think. He wandered away from Adi and Mace and moved to the bedroom door. The only person who may know where they could find Obi-Wan was right on the other side yet she was refusing to tell them anything. Qui-Gon wanted nothing more then to break down the door that separated them and demand that she tell him everything. Every moment that they stood here wondering, was another moment that Obi-Wan slipped further and further away from the light.
Adi's voice floated over to him from across the room. "She has been in denial for so long. It is finally catching up to her." Qui-Gon snorted. All this anguish she was feeling she had brought on herself and now she was going to drag her son down with her. Qui-Gon would be damned if he let that happen. "She's committed horrible atrocities, things that went against her nature and all in the name of motherhood."
The entrance to the apartment slide open and a dozen of the governess' civil guards entered the apartment followed by the formidable Governess Valene herself. The groups guards stepped aside to let their ruler pass, her pale gaze immediately falling on Qui-Gon. "You must be slow, Master Jinn. I believe I ordered you off my planet. Not only do ignore that order but you assault a citizen."
Qui-Gon was about to argue the point, saying that Jibril approached him and had drawn her weapon first but Adi beat him to the punch which was ultimately for the better as Qui-Gon's patience with this entire planet was thread barren and all his diplomacy was long gone. No matter what the situation was, Valene would find some way to turn it around to fit her needs.
"Governess, the Jedi have a right to be here as one of our students is missing on your planet and an investigation needs to be held on the death of Master Anny."
"What is there to investigate?" Valene asked incredulously, "The woman tried to kill me and when she failed, she took her own life to avoid the consequences of her actions."
"We do not believe that Master Anny could be capable of such a thing. It's not of her nature." Mace countered but Valene waved off his logic.
"She was a spy for the Tenedos." She glared at the three Jedi masters who stood before her. "I should have seen this coming from the start. The Jedi Order has always held a grudge against Attica because we refuse to give into your beliefs."
"You have no proof of any of your accusations." Mace started calmly.
"You will take a child from the arms of his mother, why should I think you have any moral objections towards conspiracy with our enemies and attempted murder?"
The debate died abruptly then but it wasn't because of the outrages statement that Valene had made but a great surge from the force that suddenly moved through the room, stunning everyone in the room with its power. It was a warning from the force. Something was happening. Mace turned around to look at the door to the bedroom where he had left Jibril only moments ago. The bulk of the surge was coming from that room.
The dark skinned Jedi master crossed the room in several long strides. He pressed his hand against the panel beside the door but nothing happened. In his mind he cursed Jibril for locking it. He pressed the palm of his hand against the door, trying to pick up clues to what Jibril was doing on the other side with the diluted bond the two had. He could just feel whispers of emotion: depression, regret, longing, desperation. He needed to get to the other side of the door.
Mace took several steps back, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt. He thumbed the activator of the weapon bringing the purple blade to life. He ignored the angry shouts from Valene as he plunged the business end of the weapon into the door, cutting around the edges. He kicked in the door and rushed into the bedroom, followed by Qui-Gon and Adi.
The first thing he saw was his former padawan laying to one side of the big bed. He eyes were closed and her hands laid, folded over her stomach. To any unknowing on looker it would appear that she was sleeping peacefully but the force sensitizes in the room knew otherwise. Mace was at her side in an instant. Giving her a quick once over he determined that she was in some sort of self induced trance, using the force to cut the thread that held her in this living world. He frowned at this. Using the force to end one's own life was going against all the teachings of the temple. He was even sure that the citizens of Attica had policies against it. Something like that could only be of the dark side. Xanatos must have taught her how she could use the force in such a manner, hoping one day she would use it on herself.
She wasn't gone yet though. She was weak, her heart was beating painfully slow but she was still alive. He was grateful for that small miracle. He centered on trying to snap her out of the trance. He grasped one of her hands, ignoring the chill that had began to set in her skin, the Jedi master closed his eyes and focused on the once vibrant bond that had withered over the years from neglect. He treaded along the bond slowly, fearing that any sudden actions would break the already fragile hold he had. It wouldn't be a smart approach to barge into Jibril's mind in her current mental state.
He was almost to the other side of the bond when suddenly there was a violent shove that held him back from entering Jibril's mind. The force of the thrust stunned him but he pushed the feeling away. He had to stay focused on getting through to his padawan. He tried advancing again but was once again met with resistance. Frustration began to rise in him. If he still had the strong bond that he once shared with Jibril it would have been easy to get past her defenses but now he was considered a stranger.
//Jibril, let me in.// He spoke in a calm even tone.
//No…// The reply could barely be heard. She sounded forlorn and weak, ready to cross over to the other side.
//Jibril, you can't end it like this. He is not worth killing yourself over.//
He thought he heard the faintest sound of a laugh but he could have imagined it. //This is not because of him. I knew that Xanatos wasn't the same since he returned from that last mission. I was just in denial.//
The bond went silent then and for an instant panic rushed through Mace as he thought that she was gone but that was pushed aside by relief as her voice returned. //I'm doing this because I hurt the one person that I vowed I never would.//
//Killing yourself will only hurt him more.// Mace tried to reason with her. He could feel that they were running out of time, the bond was becoming strained and her voice was becoming increasingly difficult to hear. //Jibril, you can make it up to him.//
If she made a reply he couldn't make it out. Her hold on this life was about to snap. Mace moved quickly, ignoring his earlier resolve to not burst into his former Padawan's mind, he rushed at her mental shields with all his might and shattered them. All at once he was swamped with the intense emotions she was feeling: Her anger towards Xanatos. Her love for her son and the disappointment in herself for causing him so mush pain and confusion these past few days. Her regret for her past sins.
The emotions were accompanied by flashes of memories. Some of them went back as far her time as an initiate at the temple. He recognized a few of the scenes. The day that he took her on as his padawan learner soon after his last padawan, Depa had reached Knighthood. He could feel her pride as they stood before the council and Mace vowed to teach her in the ways of the force till she was ready for knighthood and Jibril in turn vowed to obey him as her master and remain at his side.
More memories flashed by of during her padawanship. He saw the times when Xanatos was first coaxing Jibril with the idea of them having a relationship of more then friends. He saw the day that she had come to him and told him that she was pregnant with Obi-Wan and then the ugly scene in the council chambers when they were figuring out what to do with the child. Mace could not help but cringe slightly as he watched the cold words that were spoken and the angry body language. The beginning of the rift that had become wedged between them.
Mace moved past the memories and intense emotions and focused on the task at hand. //Jibril!// He reached out and grasped her life force just as it was about to flee from her body. She struggled in his grasp, thrashing against his hold on her to be free of this world.
Mace held firm to her and began pulling her back to this side of the living.
Mace opened his eyes and looked down at Jibril. The young woman's eyes flew open. She sat up in the bed and began coughing and gasping for air. Mace's hand was still grasping her and he placed the other on her back. Jibril suddenly shoved him away from her and darted to the other side of the bed, her green/blue eyes flashing with anger towards him. "Why did you do that?!" she demanded her voice tight with rage. "Why couldn't you just leave me alone? I was almost home…" He voice died down as the tears began to slide down her face. "I was almost home." She whispered.
Hours later, Mace had put Jibril to sleep by a force suggestion, mostly to keep her from trying to hurt herself again but not before she explained to Governess Valene that everything that Xanatos had told her about the Jedi and their son was a lie. Valene wasn't happy with the prospect of being a pawn to Xanatos. She returned to her mansion to discuss her upcoming battle plans with her generals but not before ordering that the Jedi be off her planet by morning or she would find much harsher means of punishment.
Qui-Gon sat in a cushioned chair out in the common room, the data-pad from the side of Jibril's bed in his hands. On the data-pad Jibril had given the location of where Xanatos had taken Obi-Wan. The Jedi Master stared out one of the picture windows in the room at the night sky of Attica, his thoughts were centered on young Kenobi and what lies that Xanatos could be planting in his mind. It wasn't going to be easy to bring Obi-Wan back. From what Jibril had already told them about what she and Xanatos had told Obi-Wan so far, he would not exactly be thrilled by them coming to get him.
Adi walked through the hole that had once been the door that separated the bedroom from the common room and crossed the room to where Qui-Gon was. She sat in a chair opposite him. "Mace is going to take Jibril back to the Temple. She's going to need a mind healer." She paused for a moment as though she expected him to comment but he gave none. "You and I will be tracking Xanatos and Padawan Kenobi. So, you should get some rest." Again there was no reply.
With a sigh, Adi stood up from the chair and was about to walk back to the bedroom to check on Mace and Jibril when Qui-Gon spoke, "He's not going to come back to us easily." He stated quietly.
Adi crossed her arms and looked down at the ground thoughtfully, "True. But he will come back to us. You just have to get him to listen to you, Qui-Gon." Qui-Gon looked up at her with a questioning look, wondering how she could be so sure. Adi smiled slightly. "I'll see you in the morning, master Jinn."