Thanks for the review, ewan's girl
Athena, thanks. Glad you like Brimar (almost :))
Thanks, Farore. Umm… I don't know if this particular Sith appears later but you will see her in this chapter.
A/N: I did a small rewrite of chapter 13, more precisely of Obi's parting with Telliko. Reread it if you wish.
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A ship came out of hyperspace and was approaching a planet fast. Mace Windu, piloting the ship himself for the old times' sake looked at the viewport again and for the tenth time thought that he would never understand these Raingers. What in the stars drove them to live this far away from everyone of their kind. He could understand the advantages of quiet time, full of serenity and contemplation, but he could not understand life without virtually everything modern technology had. He could understand time spent in isolation, he could not understand life spent like this.
The nav. computer indicated receiving the landing beacon's signals, and Mace steered his ship down from the orbit. A few minutes later the ship landed smoothly, and the Jedi Master stood up, stretching with pleasure. The trip here wasn't too long, compared to some he had had in his youth, but still this wasn't exactly the center of the galaxy and he wasn't exactly young anymore. He looked into a mirror and winked at his reflection.
Opening the landing ramp he strode down it confidently and to the nearby house rising from the rocks that surrounded it. No one had come out to meet him, but perhaps they just were too busy. He opened the door to hear loud talk and child's excited cries. He must have walked right into the family row. Mace shook his head in wonder. This was so much unlike the Temple's sedate and ceremonious life it seemed he was in another universe.
A tall man with platinum-blond hair – Razor Rainger – leaned for a moment out of the door Mace suspected led to the house's kitchen, judging from the smells, which immediately assaulted him. Something pungent crept into the swarthy Jedi's nostrils, and he sneezed.
"Sorry," the man's voice called from the kitchen, though Mace couldn't be sure what he was apologizing for. "I'll be right there."
Windu crossed his arms over his chest and waited. A little girl ran out of one door with a happy squeal and immediately disappeared behind another.
"Aerial!" her father yelled, and a small tornado whizzed past Mace and dived into the kitchen.
~'Aerial'?~ Mace quietly wondered. Apparently the Raingers kept the tradition of giving meaningful names to their children.
Finally the older Rainger showed up, still mixing something aromatic in a little clay bowl.
"Hello, Master Windu. Temple dwellers are no often guests of late. What brings you here?"
"You and your family live separately out here. We hoped you could provide us with a different perspective."
"I am at your disposal. Follow me."
Razor showed his guest to the drawing-room and left for a second to get rid of his bowl. Returning he sat down onto a low divan and prepared to listen.
"As you might know there was an incident last year involving the Sith." Mace paused, gauging the other's reaction. The blonde nodded in affirmation. "The Sith was destroyed by a Padawan…"
Razor raised an eyebrow but withheld his comments.
"…We believe there was another Sith present – still is – a Master or an Apprentice we could not determine. But recent events showed that perhaps there is more than one fully trained Sith."
"What makes you think so?"
"A Sith has killed a Knight…"
"But why do you think this is not the same Sith whose presence you detected before?"
"That Padawan had felt the Sith's presence while he battled Maul and he assured us this new person is not the one he had sensed then."
The man scratched his head in thought.
"And now you want to know if WE sensed something. This must be pretty important to bring you all the way here."
"It is. We can't let the Sith rise to power again."
~Or maybe you just don't like to be bested.~ Razor thought, looking directly at Windu. "I'm afraid I can't be of any help to you. Neither me nor my wife have sensed anything out of ordinary. We have detected, of course, the general darkness clouding over the galaxy, but nothing defined."
"But you are not that far from Coruscant. Have you really sensed nothing?" Mace insisted.
"No, nothing. Besides we were somewhat occupied," Razor motioned in the general direction of the kitchen where his daughter was supposed to be. He then stood up, showing the conversation was over.
Mace stood up as well. "Well, thank you for your time. By the way, where is your wife?"
"Oh, she went on an errand. Should be back soon."
"All right, say hello to her from me. Thank you again."
"Always at your service."
Mace Windu went out of the house, accompanied by the girl's shrieks from the kitchen and his own disgruntled thoughts about the futility of this trip.
As soon as the ship took off a woman came forward to lay her head against her husband's shoulder, knowing that Windu would not see them. Her blond hair mixed with his as they watched the Jedi's ship shoot into the atmosphere. When the ship turned into a speck against the deep-blue sky Razor turned to his wife.
"Did you get it back, Dorah?"
"Yes, I did." Dorah reached into an inner pocket of her black flowing cloak and drew out a crystal that sparkled brightly in the sun.
"It was really foolish of Tarrus to think he could steal our family Holocron and even more ludicrous to think he could sell it," the man commented, brushing his hand over the jewel while dark anger lit his eyes. "What has become of him?" he added casually.
"He lived long enough to see his own dismembered body."
"You are the greatest, my little beloved Sith," Razor murmured into his wife's hair.
She squirmed in delight.
"What did Windu want?"
"Oh, I guess he wanted me to give away my own wife. Ridiculous!"
"No, I'm serious, what did he want?" Dorah looked into his eyes with concern.
"He wanted to know if we noticed another Sith around here. I said no."
"Why, you, shameless liar!"
They both laughed.
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.Anakin Skywalker walked back to the Temple thinking if what he had done was right. He could not understand what made him act like he did. The Chancellor was a good man and as trustworthy as anyone could be but… Perhaps it was this 'but' that kept the Padawan from telling Palpatine about Obi-Wan's father.
Or maybe it was because telling someone – anyone – would have broken the privacy. This little mystery was some kind of a link, connecting Anakin to his Master, making them closer. And he didn't want anyone to intrude.
But why would he think about Palpatine as an intruder?
The boy stopped and looked at the box of candies he carried. It felt good to have them. He opened the box and took out one sweet. Stuffing it into his mouth he resumed his walk.
He hadn't told, so what? Had he broken the trust between himself and Palpatine? No, he didn't think so.
On the other hand, if he had told he could have broken Obi-Wan's trust.
No, he had done the right thing.
With this reassuring thought he stepped under the protection of the Jedi Temple. His Master should be at their quarters by now, Anakin mused. They could have a lunch together. Obi-Wan had promised a breakfast together, but the Council… An unbidden anger rose in Anakin's heart. It seemed the Council always wanted to keep him away from those he wanted to spend time with. The boy hastily quelled the anger, storing it somewhere deep inside himself lest someone detect it.
He went to the quarters he shared with Obi-Wan and was about to key in the code when Bant approached.
"Hello, Anakin," she said. Something in her voice made him pause and look at her quizzically.
"Hello, Master Bant."
"I was looking for you."
"W-why?"
She was a healer – aside from being Obi-Wan's friend – and her looking for Anakin could be because she had bad news about his Master who was renowned for his getting into trouble.
"It's Obi-Wan…"
So he was right, his Master had gotten into something… again. Anakin paled as his fingers unconsciously clasped the box he held tighter.
"He's at the Mind-healers'."
"What?!" He must have heard wrong!
"The Council sent him there…"
Before she could finish the sentence Anakin was running down the hall to the lifts.
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Shadows shifted briefly, filling the abandoned building with fleeting whispers. The night's coolness permeated the structure mixing with stark emptiness of life spent and forgotten, of death waiting around the corner. The building was living its last – days? months? No one knew. And no one cared. Wind howled in huge creaks of the walls, jumped through open windows that yawned like eye-sockets of a skull – the building was just a skeleton of what had once been here. The ubiquitous shadows moved and arched in the chaos of darkness – all but one.
A watchful eye could, if one wished, glimpse a shadow that was just as dark, just as ominous as everything around it yet it stayed unmoving in the gloom. The sound of breathing this shadow produced could barely be heard even in the silence-struck abandonment of the building. The penetrating wind seemed to have no effect on the mute figure that stood wrapped in voluminous cloak of the color of night.
One could easily mistake the figure for a statue if not for occasional subtle glint of two eyes scanning the perimeter of the room.
He could stand like this for hours – even days – if need be, not showing any sign of the impatience building inside him that was slowly molding into anger. He was careful to keep this anger in check, to keep it concealed but easily accessible. Anger was an instrument he perfected. It was a tool and a weapon. The one who made him wait too long risked to taste his fury.
What could be so drastic, so urgent to call him out to this building, he wondered, knowing he would not get any answers until the meeting takes place.
But where was the blasted Jedi?
He moved his fingers slightly as though channeling his displeasure into them and throwing it off. A faint whine of engine filled his ears.
~Is the Jedi so stupid as to land right here?~
But no, the whine gained distance then died away. Heavy silence filled his ears again.
Minutes tickled by…
"My Lord?"
He didn't – quite – flinch at the faint sound. Another shadow shifted to approach him. Anyone else would have missed him, would have overlooked his presence, but the Force-users didn't really need eyes.
"What is it you wished to inform me of?" he asked coldly, showing in his tone the volume of his displeasure with the other's lateness.
The figure in front of him shrank visibly. "I'm sorry, Lord Sidious. The Council's assemblies lasted all day and… it proved to be, er, problematic to leave the Temple at such an hour…"
"You should have thought of it before making an appointment," he stated sharply.
The other shadow shrank even more and bowed its head.
"Forgive me, Master. But the news is too important… I suppose you know who Obi-Wan Kenobi is…"
Sidious huffed loudly and this was the only sign of exasperation he let on, but it was enough.
"Of course, why wouldn't you," the Jedi quickly rectified. "He came to the Council this morning and told some… striking things about… about his father."
"What is it to me? I don't care who was that man who conceived the…"
"It were you."
At any other time such impudence, such incredible boldness of interrupting him would have been severely punished but not this time. Silence fell heavily over the two as Sidious reeled in shock trying to comprehend what the other had just said.
Silence stretched. The Jedi seemed curious to know what the Dark Lord thought of it. He would not let this fool sense his unease.
"Is this all you wished to tell me?" he asked in a plain voice, masking every feeling he might have.
"Y-yes, My Lord."
Two eyes sparkled with curiosity but immediately lowered under the stern glare of the Sith Lord.
"Return to the Temple before your absence is spotted."
With a polite bow – and a surge of disappointment in the Force – the Jedi blended into the shadows, leaving Sidious to contemplate the news in solitude. The Dark Lord stood motionless for what seemed like hours.
~My son?~
He could not believe it. He had had a son once… long ago. But he was dead along with his mother – wasn't he? They had both died in that crash… An old forgotten pain rose in his heart quickly molding into the fury.
She had run away from him – from HIM!
She had hid their son!
Almost unconsciously he threw his hand out, finding an outlet for the crushing anger he felt and admired the writhing and crackling flow of blue lightning.
She had betrayed him!
She had stolen his son from him!
The walls started to char, and he watched in furious fascination mixed with dark content as the lightning leaping from his wrinkled crooked, seemingly frail, fingers scorched everything around him, reduced everything – stone and wood – to ashes.
He imagined her face against the darkness before him and… faltered.
Sidious looked down at his fingers as though asking what was wrong. Another wave of anger mounted inside him, and he released another barrage of bluish-white fire.
She had escaped him… again. If she hadn't been dead he would have killed her himself now. She had played a trick on him, made him believe they were dead. She had tricked the Lord of the Sith himself! If not for that trick he would have found them – and his son would have been beside him now.
The very air around him burned with anger filled with crackling electricity.
The woman he had loved had stolen his son from him! He could not forgive it – he could not forget it. She had given the boy to the Jedi.
"Jedi!" he spat into the darkness.
The hated breed – and his son, his flesh and blood was one of them, was the one who had killed Maul. But maybe it was not too late yet? Maybe he still could have him at his side?
Maybe Obi-Wan Kenobi could be turned back into Avayn Palpatine?
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