A/N: Everyone who has every reviewed. thank you! When I checked my reviews, I literally fell off my chair in shock! My close friends have always said this story was good, but I thought they were just saying it. I love you all! *says thank you again and gives everyone billions of cookies*

"Master?" Stella shouted, not sure whether to be thrilled or horrified.

The Jedi, minus Anakin, all ran to the man's side.

Obi-Wan pressed his hand against the man's neck, and then bowed his head.

"He's dead." The Jedi Master announced.

Silently, Anakin, Ferus, Siri, Obi-Wan, Padmé, Amaraki, and even Stella bowed their heads.

A loss of a soul was always a cause to mourn.

***

As the small group departed, Stella stayed put.

When Obi-Wan looked back at her, she piped up,

"Where will I go?" she queried in a small voice.

Siri and Obi-Wan exchanged a look. "Do you have any family here?" he asked.

"No. I have no one." she responded.

"Master, maybe she could come with us." Anakin said.

Obi-Wan turned to look at his Padawan, "What would we do with her? She can't be trained as a Jedi she's too old."

"So was I. Have you even given her a Midi-Chlorian count?"

His Master sighed, "No." then he turned to Stella, "You can come with us."

She smiled, and the group started back to the Cruiser.

***

Anakin was messing around with a broken droid he had found on the ship, when Stella walked in.

She was very shaky and her eyes were huge.

"Is it supposed to go this fast?" she asked in a strangled voice.

Anakin had to laugh. "You've never been on a ship before, have you?" he asked, amazed.

"No." She admitted. "The small land speeders sometimes, but never anything like this. I'm not sure I like it." She sat down.

"Personally I'd rather be piloting." He said, setting the droid down.

"Piloting? Is it hard?" Stella inquired, cocking her head curiously.

"Not really. In all honesty, I could fly before I could walk!"

They laughed, and then grew into an awkward silence, Anakin poking at his droid, and Stella watching her feet.

Then finally, she asked him a question. "Tell me about the other people onboard."

Anakin set his droid down again, and appeared to be thinking. "Well, there's Obi-Wan, the one with the beard. He's my Master."

She flinched at the word. "You're a slave? Then why'd you rescue."

Anakin cut her off. "No, I'm not a slave. I'm a Jedi."

Her eyes widened. "A Jedi? Wow!!!" She was thoroughly amazed.

"Siri, the blond, she's a Jedi too. She and my Master have been friends since they were Padawans."

"Padawans?" She asked, wrinkling her nose. "What's a Padawan?"

Anakin laughed. She thought his smile was absolutely gorgeous. "A Jedi apprentice. I'm a Padawan, too."

"Oh."

"Anyways, yeah. Siri's pretty sharp. She likes to do her own think. Kind of reminds me of Qui-Gon."

She just stared at him. "Uh, different story. Siri saved me from the Spice Mines on Kessel, but that's also a whole other story."

She wrinkled her nose again, "But slaves work there."

"Yes, I used to be a slave. But that's another story I'll tell you later."

"Okay."

"So, and then there's Siri's Padawan, Ferus. He's. well, we don't get along. We have never gotten along. But Jedi don't have enemies. He's my fellow Padawan and I can't look at him in any other way."

Uh oh, he looked angry now!

"And what about the other two? Are they Jedi too?" She asked, eager to change the subject.

Anger, love, and confusion flashed on Anakin's face.

Oops, wrong question!

"No. Padmé is a Senator from Naboo." His face softened as he spoke of her, and Stella grew jealous.

"She used to be the Queen. I met her on Tatooine when I was nine years old."

She didn't like hearing him talk about her. It gave her heart a funny feeling. "And the other guy?" She asked, casually.

His face grew angry. Stella was fascinated by all the different expressions the young Jedi had!

"Amaraki. well, he's worse than Ferus." His face twisted in pain and anger. "He's Padmé's fiancée."

Though she knew it was wrong, Stella felt her heart leap.

"I also think he's a Sith." Anakin added.

She looked up at him in confusion. "A. Sith?" she queried.

"A Sith is. ah. well, opposite of a Jedi. While Jedi use the Light Side of the Force to fight for good, the Sith use the Dark Side to fight for themselves. They're power-hungry."

She stared at him. "The Force?" She asked, uncertainly.

Anakin laughed. "Let's just say the Force is what makes a Jedi powerful."

"But I thought power meant you were a Sith?"

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Never mind." He said.

"I think I'm going to go meditate." Without saying more, the Padawan walked away, leaving Stella to think about everything he had just taught her.

***

"What I want to know is why do I felt such a strong connection to the Force through Amaraki?"

Obi-Wan and Siri were discussing the events that had happened on Ryloth.

"Hadn't you noticed it before?" She asked.

"No, I hadn't. I only noticed for a brief second. Did you not feel it?"

"I felt something. But Obi-Wan, you never know! It could have came from the purple one for all we know."

Obi-Wan chucked at his friends humour. "Her name's Stella." He corrected. "Maybe we should test her for Midi-Chlorians."

Siri stared at him as though he had gone mad, "Obi, you know she's too old! Master Yoda nearly didn't accept Anakin when he was nine, and Purple-Girl."

Obi-Wan shot his friend a Look.

"Stella, I mean, is nearly nineteen!"

Obi-Wan sighed. He knew his friend was right. "I don't know. Maybe it's Qui- Gon speaking inside of me, but I feel something from her. She's going to go far."

Siri laughed. "Yes, possibly, but not as a Jedi. Now, Amaraki. Why did he have a lightsaber? Did you sense he was lying? Force knows I didn't pick anything up."

As Siri prattled on, Obi-Wan's mind wandered. What was it about that Twi'Lek?

***

Anakin had told Stella he needed to meditate, but honestly, he didn't feel like talking to her anymore.

He was now wandering around the ship, looking for nothing in particular. What he found surprised him.

It was Ferus, and Padmé!.

The young man was sitting down on a bench, speaking with the senator.

When he saw Anakin approach, the talking immediately ceased.

"hi." The Padawan said.

Anakin bowed politely. "Hi. And Hello, Milady."

Padmé closed her eyes briefly. "Anakin, just call me Padmé."

He nodded. Well, it was better than Senator Amidala.

"So." Ferus said, sensing tension between the couple.

They looked at him. And he recognized a look of sadness in their eyes. "What's wrong, you two?" he asked, suspiciously.

Padmé's eyes darted away, and Anakin retorted: "I have a question, what were you talking about before I came along?"

Padmé turned sort of red.

"Amaraki." Was Ferus's simple answer.

With that, the man left, leaving Padmé and Anakin in an awkward situation.

***

The two were silent.

It wasn't a comfortable silence, either.

Padmé looking at her feet, and Anakin staring out the window.

Neither of them knew quite what to say.

Anakin was the one who broke the ice.

"I hope I didn't mess things up between you and" he paused, "Amaraki."

There was a forced smile on his face.

Padmé didn't even look up.

Anakin continued to stare at her. "Well, I'm sorry." He said tenderly.

With a sigh, the Senator stood up and fled the room.

Anakin plopped on the bench, and began to bang his head against his hand.

He was so busy muttering to himself, he didn't even notice a tall figure standing in front of him.

***

"Hello, Anakin."

The last word was said in a tone that indicated the person was obviously not happy to see the Padawan.

Anakin looked up to see Amaraki standing in front of him.

His bright green eyes were raging, and his eyes narrowed. But he had a smile on his face.

Not the nice kind, the kind you would expect to see on your enemy's face right before he attacked you.

Immediately, Anakin stood up and ignited his lightsaber.

"Put that thing away." Amaraki demanded.

Anakin did nothing.

"I mean it! Why would you attack a defenseless person?"

Anakin just stared at the other man.

Finally, Amaraki reached out to deactivate the Padawan's lightsaber.

Anakin, thinking quickly, slashed down.

But to his surprise, Amaraki was quicker. Before he even realized it, his own lightsaber was in Amaraki's hand!

Calling upon the Force, Anakin tried to pull it back.

But to his great surprise, Amaraki held up a hand and Force-pushed Anakin.

The young Jedi fell on the bench, and then used the wall to help him do a backwards somersault and land behind Amaraki.

But the man was swift.

And before Anakin had landed, he swung the lightsaber, barley missing the Padawan.

Anakin reacted, and pulled the Force into him.

In a moment, his leg kicked out and it was Amaraki crashing into the bench.

Then Anakin presumed to call his lightsaber back to him using the Force.

A gasp was heard behind him, and turned to see Padmé hovering in the shadows.

***

"Tell me about your past." Obi-Wan urged.

Stella thought for awhile, and said in a timid voice, "I, I don't know."

"what do you mean you don't know?" Obi-Wan asked, baffled.

"The only thing I remember is from just seven years ago. My childhood, everything, I can't remember it." She looked distant, almost as though she wasn't there in mind.

Obi-Wan thought about this.

"Do you know what happened before then?" he asked.

He knew he was interrogating the young Twi'Lek, but he needed to follow his instincts. Qui-Gon would have been proud of him.

"How could I know what happened? I don't remember!" She could feel herself grow defensive. Weren't Jedi supposed to be peaceful?

"Okay. Sorry, Stella. I'm just curious. May I take a sample of your blood?"

Her eyes fell open, and she looked at him warily. "Why do you need my blood?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Well, I want to perform a Midi-Chlorian test on you." The Jedi said.

"A Midi-Whatsa huh?"

Obi-Wan laughed at her reaction. "It's to see if you're Force sensitive."

Without realizing it, Stella blurted out the question Anakin didn't answer; "If the Force gives a Jedi power, and Sith are power-hungry, than doesn't that mean Jedi and Sith are alike?"

She expected him to back away from the question, but instead, he answered her directly and honestly, "Sith and Jedi are not really that different. We just live for different reasons, and use different sides of the Force."

"So, why are Sith your enemies?"

Obi-Wan pondered this, and then answered, "Jedi don't really have enemies. Rage is our enemy. Once we kill the rage, our enemy is no longer."

Stella wrinkled her nose, "But everyone has enemies."

"Not everyone. Now can I take your blood?"

she sighed, "I suppose so."

***

"Anakin, you. did attack him earlier!" Padmé's voice was nothing but a shocked whisper.

"Padmé, this is more than what you saw!" Anakin protested.

Ignoring him, the Senator pushed passed him and ran to help Amaraki up.

"What was that all about?" Amaraki asked.

"Don't blame this on me. I was only defending myself." Anakin deactivated his lightsaber.

Padmé looked at them, unsure who to believe. "Amaraki, in your words, what happened?"

Anakin started to protest, but she silenced him. "You'll get your turn."

Amaraki glared at Anakin. "I came into this hall looking for you. Anakin was there. He saw me, and grew angry. He ignited his lightsaber, and there was nothing I could do! I was defenseless!"

Anakin was shocked. Amaraki was twisting the truth so far, it would have snapped if it were a rubber band. Surely she could see through him!

But, the former Queen merely nodded. She turned to Anakin, "Now, your side."

"I was sitting on the bench after you left, and Amaraki came along. For defense, I ignited my lightsaber. Last time I was alone with him, he attacked me. Anyways, he took my lightsaber away! He had quicker reflects than Master Obi-Wan! So, I tried to use to Force to call it back to me. He used the Force to push me against the bench! So I used it to somersault and landed behind him. I kicked him, and called my lightsaber back."

Padmé's gaze fell upon each of their faces. Who was telling the truth?

"Which one of you is lying?"

No one spoke up. The choice of who to believe was hers alone. Now was a time where love and trust would have to reign.