*** Coruscant, Four Days Later

Lanelle Caine waited patiently, or at least seemingly so, outside of Coruscant Security's Headquarters. She was masking her irritation while waiting for Nejaa Halcyon to finish saying goodbye to his wife, Scerra. It didn't seem to be enough for the Corellian Jedi to simply live away from Coruscant and abide by their own rules, but they had chosen to flaunt it as well. Obviously, the man felt that whatever news Coruscant Security had wasn't good, so she assumed to make it easier on the woman, he was sending her back to their hotel. From their affectionate display, Lanelle thought they were acting like they'd be separated for weeks, instead of just a few hours.

Stealing a glance back at them, she quickly turned away, nearly blushing. Perhaps he was comforting her, but did he need to do it in public? Lanelle sighed, focusing on clearing her thoughts. She wasn't being entirely fair to the man; he was a good Jedi Master, good even, for a Corellian.

Finally, he sent his wife off in the hover taxi and joined Lanelle on the stairs. He offered no sheepish apologies, and barely gestured that they enter the building. Lanelle did not know the man well, but even she could see that the last few days had begun to rob the life from his normally bright green eyes. Lanelle didn't want to think about what she must look like, but she was missing only a padawan, not a son.

Only missing a padawan? She was kidding herself, no matter how hard she tried to not get attached to Helaine, she was, much deeper than she ever should have allowed. Not because of any rules forbidding such attachments, master and padawan bonds were meant to be strong. It was because she knew she would never see Helaine to Knighthood. In preparation for that eventuality, Lanelle had tried to get her to develop a relationship with the Force instead of her Master, but Helaine had other ideas.

At first, she had seemed like an ideal padawan for Lanelle: quiet, unobtrusive, and probably destined to be a créche master. So Lanelle had taken her on, but at the bonding ceremony, she got the feeling that she would never see her to Knighthood. Helaine had sensed it as wel, though she said nothing, but she cried in her sleep their first night as Master and Padawan. And many nights after that.

After that, Helaine had taken a sudden greater interest in combat, soon excelling in it. Lanelle said nothing about her padawan's change of interest from the creche to battle, nor did she try to divert her from it. She had set her path, as well as the kind of Master she was meant to have.

Lanelle nodded her thanks to Nejaa as he opened the door for her and led the way into the security building. There had been little news about her padawan's whereabouts. All they found was her robe, tunic, and lightsaber. For Valin's, all they could find was his lightsaber, in close proximity to Helaine's. Strangely enough, her clothing wasn't found anywhere near it. She got the feeling though that Helaine and Valin had been chasing trouble, which was usual for them.

It had been four days since she had gone missing, and it had taken forty eight hours for the security officers to even decree that she was missing at all. After two days more, they had finally contacted the Temple again with what a plausible scenario Lanelle shook her head, all she knew was that her padawan was okay, and not being blocked from the Force. She could hardly help worrying though. Jedi had disappeared for months recently, with only a ghastly holograph of their corpses sent to the Council, with a note questioning the power of the Force next to him. Sometimes carbonite statues were shipped, but the Jedi was already dead. It was assumed that the killer was the missing Sith, because he seemed to catch them with relative ease. Lanelle wasn't sure what to think, but she was certain that whoever he was, he attributed to the upcoming darkness Master Yoda kept referring to.

They were quickly ushered into a small conference room, where two women and a man already sat with the officers. Holding whom Lanelle assumed to be her husband's hand, one of the woman's eyes widened at their arrival. "The Jedi are involved in this?"

The other woman, with dark brown hair, glanced up sharply, her deep blue eyes strangely familiar. The officer answered, "We believe that two Jedi Apprentices were kidnapping victims as well."

That didn't help the woman at all. "Who or what can capture Jedi?"

Nejaa stepped forward. "It's not impossible, madam, but we believe it may have been an accident."

The officer cleared his throat and gestured for the two Jedi to sit down. As soon as they were seated, he placed his hands on his desk. "You've all been called here for the same reason - your connection with the missing persons. We have sufficient evidence to believe that the cases are all related." He took a deep breath. "We also have reason to believe that they were taken by slavers."

Lanelle straightened her back, showing no other signs of shock. Nejaa didn't seem surprised at all. The others in the room were devastated. The dark haired woman glanced up at the officer, her shoulders sinking. "What can be done?"

"Wait, for now, Madame Trillium. As far as we know, only your two children, Ammon Daelanie, and Valin Halcyon have been reported missing, but they probably picked up a few more victims. Slavers tend to go for people who have no connections, that way they have little chance of being traced."

Lanelle lifted her head slightly in surprise, Both of Madame Trillium's children? That meant her padawan had met a sibling. While Lanelle stiffened, Madame Trillium's color drained from her face as she regarded the officer. "M- my two children, Officer Nehor?"

He blinked. "We assumed that Helaine and Taren were both your children..."

"They are," She cut in quickly, casting her gaze to the Jedi. "I did not know my daughter had been taken."

Nehor nodded. "If they find out they are related, they will try to use Taren against her. Do you believe she would fold?"

Madame Trillium stiffened, cocking her head toward Lanelle. "Ask the Jedi."

Inexplicably, Lanelle found herself looking away. Madame Trillium had her padawan's deep blue eyes, and she did not want to face the slight envy in them. It was easy to assume that Helaine's parents did not exist when she didn't have to face them, that her own... she shook her head firmly of those thoughts, and cleared her throat. "Helaine would never, she is far too stubborn." She paused. "And we have no proof the slavers even know she [i]is[/i] a Jedi, they haven't blocked her from the Force."

Nehor spread his hands. "Perhaps they are confident they can hold her without resorting to that."

That didn't help the scared parents at all. Nejaa raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call it confident." He jabbed his thumb into his chest. "I'dcall it stupid." Leaning back against his chair, he folded his arms. "If they were smart, the first thing they'd do with Jedi captives is kill them if they have no ysalamiri." Madame Trillium winced, and he nodded to her. "Sorry."

He paused for a breath. "But obviously they haven't, which means one of two things. One, that our slavers don't know they have caught Jedi, or two, they are stupid enough to think they can handle them." Nejaa smiled. "Either option works to our favor. As long as our apprentices have the Force, they have the upper hand."

Sudden relief flooded from the others in the room through the Force, holding steady as Nejaa continued to discuss the matter with Officer Nehor. His approach was logical and purposefully optimistic, and obviously coated with Cor-Sec views. He was known to have worked with them a lot, as well as his son, Valin. Truth be told, of the two padawans Valin would be the most useful in the situation.

Lanelle bit back a sigh, not wanting to think about the situation in to which Helaine had been thrown. Her brother was there, someone she was never supposed to meet, and the closest thing she had to supervision was a Corellian apprentice, known to be a bit of troublemaker, especially with her padawan. Not that she didn't trust her padawan...but a Halcyon...

Nejaa glanced at her and shook his head, as though he were answering her thoughts concerning Valin and Helaine. While he explained to the Delanies how Master Yoda would be able to track the apprentices, Lanelle straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. It took a lot of control to keep her cheeks from flaming. It was one thing to show even the slightest bit of emotion to non-Jedi, but to a Corellian Jedi, it was even worse.

Catching her gaze from the corner of his eye, Nejaa winked at her. Bristling, Lanelle smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from her pants. Corellians.

***

Danae Trillium spent most of the meeting in silence, stealing cautious glances at the two Jedi Masters. Her curiosity toward the woman, Lanelle Caine, was much greater than she should allow, because she had learned that she was her daughter's master, and had taken her place in Helaine's life. Danae studied her face, seeing no signs of worry, just pure, maddening calm. Did she even care that Helaine was missing at all?

Master Caine must have sensed her watching her, because she turned her head, meeting Danae's gaze. For a brief moment, she thought she could see echoes of her own pain and frustration in them, but only for a moment as the Jedi Master glanced quickly away. Master Halcyon seemed to notice, sparing a quick look for her, which seemed to agitate her. Danae smiled slightly. Strangely, Nejaa was more of what she'd pictured as a Master for Helaine. Partly because he seemed much more lively, and mainly she supposed it was because he was a man. Helaine had always been a daddy's girl.

Danae closed her eyes, remembering the few months she'd had with her infant daughter. Helaine had developed stranger anxiety at much too young an age, she had known who her parents were, and rarely let others hold her. She missed her father while he was at work, and knew the instant he came home, sometimes crying for him before Danae even knew he was there. It didn't take a high midichlorian count for Danae to know she had born an exceptional child.

She and her husband, Terrance, came from average families, though Danae was directly related to Duchess Rothschild, she did not come from the noble line. They were independent and proud, with Terrance running his own shipping business and she a seamstress' shop. But perhaps they had been too proud in their normalcy, for the Force had chosen to give them one of its rarest gifts, and most terrible of curses, a Jedi child.

It didn't take long for the Jedi to contact them. The first time they had asked for Helaine, she and Terrance had given a firm no. She was their daughter and they intended to raise her. The Jedi, however, were persistent. They said that she would always feel that something was missing in her life from an undeveloped Force talent, that her attachment to her parents was dangerous, and could only grow stronger. She could also develop telekinesis that was random and impossible to control, particularly when her emotions were unstable. These were extreme cases, of course, but it worried her and Terrance.

Finally, a member of the Council, Ki-Adi Mundi, had come from all the way from Coruscant. He informed them that Helaine's training was crucial to the future of the Galaxy, which was hardly surprising, considering Danae thought most Jedi were. Master Mundi was persistent though, speaking vaguely of a dark future that she was needed to aid with. Danae and Terrance had agreed then, knowing that it would be best for her. But oh how Helaine had cried when the Jedi had taken her away...

Danae stiffened, feeling tears touch her eyes. For months afterward, she could still hear it, causing her to wake up at times and even go so far as to check Helaine's room. It'd been empty for years now.

"Madame Trillium?" Officer Nehor asked gently, causing Danae to raise her head. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, but his question caused the tears to flow. Sina Daelani wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "Do you want to go out for a moment?"

Danae shook her head, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "No, I'm okay."

Officer Nehor studied her carefully. "You're certain?"

"Yes," Danae replied, straightening her shoulders. The Naboo were well known for strong endurance, she could handle this.