Author's Note: This chapter's a bit long, but I think it's worth it. I made all of Jaden's history up. Jaden's history is not given in JA. No, this chapter does not explain how she created her first lightsaber, and I don't think I'm going to try to, because frankly, I don't know how Jaden could do so. Oh, and if I got the detail about Kyle's mom wrong, I do apologize.

6-9-05 Edit: Made some major revisions to this chapter. Much thanks to snackfiend101 for beta-reading this chapter for me.

6-9-05 2nd Edit: I forgot to put dividers in.

snackfiend101: I want to thank you for your reviews. They make my day.

shanesnest: Oh, about Jaden knowing Kyle and Rosh for a while: I was referring to the time Jaden spent at the Academy w/Kyle and Rosh.

Lord Destroyer: I could've sworn Corran Horn (or was it his partner, Iella?) ate a mynock sandwich in I, Jedi. I would have researched it except that I threw my copy of I, Jedi away because it was falling apart. I thought mynock sandwiches were canon in the GFFA. Hm.

Coruscant – Duros Delight restaurant

"My family is very old. My ancestors were some of the original inhabitants of Coruscant, before it turned into a planet-city. I'm told that when other beings came to Coruscant to settle here and the cities started growing exponentially, land became scarce. My family owned much property, and they sold it off, a little bit at a time. Combined with the profits from the construction company they ran — as you would probably guess, buildings were in high demand as the cities expanded — my family eventually became very rich. So much, that to this day, my father remains one of the wealthiest men on Coruscant."

Jaden lowered her head. "When I told my mother that I wanted to join the Jedi Academy, she became very emotional. She did not want me to leave. She wanted me to stay and help administrate the company. She said that if I left, she would force Father to disown me. Mother – and I, too, I suppose, was very harsh with some of the things we said."

When she had finished speaking, Jaden fell quiet, as if exhausted. "I'm sorry, Jaden. This must be difficult for you to talk about," Rosh said quietly.

Jaden looked up and shrugged. "It is, but I suppose it's time for me to talk about it."

Kyle had a question. "So you left home and came to the Academy, despite what your mother said. Did your family disown you?"

Jaden looked away. "I don't know. I haven't been in contact with them since I came to the Academy."

Rosh felt sorry for Jaden. She spent the last two years estranged from her family, wondering if she would ever speak to them again? Wow. "Well, maybe after all this is over, you can go try and make things right with your mom. I'm sure that she feels differently now, if she's anything like you."

Jaden smiled weakly. "You don't know my mom."

"If I had an opportunity to make things right with my mother, I would take it," Kyle put in.

Jaden looked at him quizzically. "You weren't on good terms with your mother?"

Kyle leaned back in his chair. "I never knew her. She died when I was young."

Jaden bit her lip. "I can't comprehend what that might be like...never knowing your mother." Kyle stared off into space.

"Trust me, despite your mother's...shortcomings, having her in your life is a gift."

Jaden lowered her head as she considered his words.

It was approaching nighttime when they left the restaurant. The Jedi decided to call it a day, and they headed back to Jaden's apartment.

Jaden eyed the other two. "Were you planning on staying here tonight?"

Kyle shrugged. "Yeah, I know you really enjoy Rosh's company."

Jaden smiled sweetly. "Of course. I enjoy Rosh's company as much as I enjoyed cleaning this apartment."

"Oh, ouch. She's brutal tonight, isn't she, Kyle?"

Kyle just sat on the other sleepcouch.

Jaden pasted a thoughtful look on her face. "Actually, cleaning the apartment wasn't that bad. It was filthy beyond belief when I first saw it. I thought it would never be clean again. The work to make it better was long and difficult. But now, it's quite nice, and I enjoy staying here."

Rosh blinked. "Did you just say something nice about me? Who are you, and what have you done with Jaden?"

"Don't look so shocked, Rosh. I can show a little consideration from time to time."

"It's just so novel." Rosh's retort didn't miss a beat. "At least give me time to get used to the idea."

"Har de har har. You're very funny, Rosh."

Rosh made a face. "Yeah, I seem to have a knack for that kind of thing."

A voice echoed through Jaden's mind.

You weren't serious when you complimented him, were you?

"Get out of my head," she snapped automatically.

Kyle twisted around to look at her curiously. "Jaden?"

Remember all the times he annoyed you before?

"That's not your concern," she replied coldly.

You should've killed him on Taspir 3.

For a brief moment, her vision went black. Then she regained consciousness. She was lying on the floor. Rosh and Kyle were kneeling beside her. Concerned looks were on their faces.

Jaden's head felt as though it were being squeezed in a vice. "Ouch," she mumbled.

"She's coming around!" Kyle leaned closer to her face. "Jaden, can you hear me?"

She blinked a few times. "Yeah." Rosh blew a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I'm all right." She started to sit up, but Kyle pushed her back down.

"No, you aren't. Not yet."

"No, really," Jaden insisted. "This isn't the first time this has happened." Kyle studied her for a long moment, then allowed her to sit up slowly.

Jaden rubbed the back of her neck - she seemed to have a habit of doing that after she regained consciousness - and asked, "How long was I out?"

"About an hour." Jaden went still.

"That's a new record. After about the fifth time, I started timing it."

"And how many times has this happened before?" Kyle questioned.

"I lost track after sixteen. If I had to make a guess, I'd say I've lost consciousness like this about, oh, thirty times in the past two days." Kyle and Rosh looked at each other. "Which is the reason why I can't sleep. Every time I fall asleep, the dreams start. If I stay awake, that voice talks to me."

"What voice?"

"The one that tells me to assimilate the Holocron's knowledge."

Kyle sat back on his heels. "It's a wonder you've managed to resist for this long, considering what we felt."

Jaden looked at Rosh, then Kyle. "Why? What did you feel?"

Rosh explained. "There was this big cloud of dark energy surrounding you. We could see you, but we couldn't sense your presence. After about a minute, it disappeared, and we could sense you again, but you were still unconscious."

Jaden drew a shaky breath and exhaled. "I…­I can't continue anymore."

"Yes, you can," Kyle insisted.

"I don't have the strength. I'm too weak. I can't hold out much longer! Why do you think I sent a message to Master Skywalker?"

"You have the Force. Use it."

Jaden looked away. "I'm not sure I should. It's too dangerous."

Kyle put a hand on Jaden's shoulder. "Jaden, I stopped using the Force at one point, too. In the end, it all worked out for good, of course, but I might've saved myself a whole lot of trouble if I hadn't given it up."

"But what about —"

Kyle shushed her. "Not right now, Jaden. Your emotions are running raw with lack of sleep. You need to get some rest."

He released his grip on her shoulder. A strange tingling sensation spread from the spot where Kyle had rested his hand, bringing with it an oily lethargy. Jaden's eyelids drooped and her breathing slowed. She would have fallen backwards if Kyle and Rosh hadn't caught her.

The two men combined their powers to levitate Jaden onto a sleepcouch. When she was settled for the night, Kyle caught Rosh's gaze.

"We need to keep watch over her," he said quietly. Rosh nodded.

"I'll take the first shift. I'll wake you in five hours, or if anything goes wrong, of course."

Rosh looked at his chronometer again. 0216 hours, Galactic Standard Time. Three hours and twenty-one minutes until he was supposed to wake Kyle. He glanced at Jaden. She hadn't moved since they had lifted her up to the sleepcouch.

A Pazaak deck lay in front of him. Idly, he flipped one card over. +6. He chose another random card. +1, bringing his score to +7. How lucky for him.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose. Rosh stiffened. He looked up and scanned the room. Nothing was there. At least that he could see. His hand moved to his lightsaber.

Dark energy wrapped itself around his mind. Suddenly he couldn't sense anything. The Holocron! He tried to resist, but he was losing already. Rosh tried to stay awake. Jaden needed him. He had to protect her.

He was aware that if he lost this battle now, there would be nothing to stop the Holocron from persuading Jaden to fall to the dark side. Desperately, he attempted to build a resistance to the dark side, but it was too late. Rosh slipped over the edge into unconsciousness.

"Rosh. Rosh! Snap out of it!"

Rosh was startled awake when someone slapped him. Blearily, he opened his eyes and blinked. Kyle took him by the shoulders and shook him until his teeth rattled.

"Wuz' goin' on?" Memories came flooding back. "Jaden!" He shook free of Kyle's grip and leapt to his feet.

Jaden was gone. "She's after the artifact?"

Kyle's expression was grim. "I'm afraid so."

The two exited the apartment, ran down the hallway, and clattered down the stairs as if a krayt dragon was after them, heedless of the noise they were making. Outside the complex, Rosh stopped.

"Wait! We don't know where Elan Jorus's apartment is!"

Kyle frowned. "You're right. Jaden never told us exactly how to get there."

The Coruscant nightlife was still in full swing, and plenty of beings were roaming the streets. "Start asking people if they've seen her," Kyle ordered. They split up and began questioning the bystanders.

"Have you seen a human female running past here a while ago? Brown hair, green eyes? No? Thanks. Excuse me! Have you seen — Okay! Sorry! Put away your blaster. I don't want any trouble. Uh, pardon me, sir —"

Rosh found news of Jaden first. "Kyle!" He pointed south. The Jedi took off.

They had to stop and ask for directions several times. Twelve blocks later, they were in the heart of the destitute ninth Twi'lek district, standing at the door of Elan Jorus's apartment. The door was locked.

"Not like that's going to keep us out," Kyle stated and proceeded to cut through the lock with his lightsaber. The door opened noiselessly. It was dark inside. Rosh remembered when he and Kyle had first entered Jaden's apartment. He was not anxious to be attacked with a frying pan again. Rosh closed his eyes and stretched out with the Force. He glanced at Kyle.

"She's not in the front room. I can't sense anything from the back room."

Kyle frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Rosh snorted. "Hm. I wonder why."

They stepped inside and commanded the lights on. The door on the far end was closed.

"Locked," Kyle said with disgust as he inspected the door. "You think she would've learned by now —" The door opened of its own accord.

Jaden whirled around from where she was standing in the middle of the room. Her eyes had turned ebony black. Her lips twisted into an evil sneer when she saw them. She was holding — no, cradling the Holocron in her right hand. It glowed with an eerie red light. Her left hand shot out and the power of the dark side enveloped the two men, encasing them both in a stasis field. Jaden smirked.

"You're too late. The Holocron is mine."