Chapter Two

Siri jolted awake. Her eyes flashed open, and she sat upright. What? She looked around, and saw that she was in a room, not a bacta capsule. The walls were stylish, homely colors, matching the colors of the carpet and such. The room made her feel at home, at peace, in the arms of tranquility.

She got up from the bed she was sitting on, and walked out into the small hallway, and found herself in a tiny kitchen, connected to a small living room. This reminded her of…

Her quarters.

At the Jedi Temple.

"I'm home?"

Obi-Wan was sleeping in his quarters, dreaming of peace throughout the galaxy. A dark cloud swept over his dreams suddenly, and his galaxy of peace became a hive of blazing planets and exploding courier ships.

He snapped awake. Where had that come from?

Obi-Wan decided to try some meditation. He had always hated meditation when he was still a Padawan at the temple, but now, he had learned to enjoy basking himself in the Force. As soon as he opened himself up, he felt a familiar presence. One that shouldn't be there.

Siri. But she was dead! He probed farther. There was no doubt about it. It was definitely Siri.

"What in blazes?"

She was dead. How was this happening? She'd never heard of something like this in all her life. It crazy; preposterous. Siri paced back and forth in her quarters. What was going on? She vaguely remembered being in a bacta tank, and a face, oh, that face…it was recognizable, and yet, evil. As soon as the memory had come to her, it was gone, just like that.

She was scared. Siri Tachi never got scared. Then an idea came to her.

Yoda. Yoda would know what was going on. She went over to wall, and put on a dark brown cloak, and put the hood up. She didn't want anyone recognizing her.

She made her way to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, where Yoda liked to spend his time and meditate. As the portal opened before her, she felt brought back to the past. Her memories of this place flooded her. As she walked through, she almost tripped over Master Yoda, already standing at the door, waiting for her.

"Oh, Master Yoda, I didn't know you were there!"

"Mmm…" said the old Jedi Master.

"Master, um, we have a problem."

"Indeed, Jedi Siri. Dead, you are," said Yoda. "Noticed your presence come back to our world, did I." Siri's took a deep breath to maintain her calm. "Master, what is going on?"

"Know the answer, I do not. Come, to the Council, we will go."

"Yes, master," she said, pulling up her cowl, and following Yoda out of the large room.

"Masters, I felt a presence," Obi-Wan said. "A presence that should most certainly not be there," he continued. The other council members looked at him oddly. Their stares betrayed no emotion, as was their custom. The council never let anything slip, always keeping their emotions in check, so as not to offend or reassure the speaker. Obi-Wan, only recently being granted the rank of Jedi Master, still felt a little uneasy sitting on the council.

"A…presence," Mace Windu stated sharply. "And, who would this presence be?"

"Master Windu, I don't know. It doesn't make sense. I felt the presence of the Jedi Knight, Siri Tachi," Obi-Wan stated, bristling at the though. Obi-Wan's thoughts wandered to the last moment he had with her, when she was dying in the cockpit of a bounty hunter's ship. She had given him her warming stone, and he still carried it with him always.

"Obi-Wan, that is absurd. Siri Tachi has been dead for almost a year." said Mace Windu, his tone very critical. Obi-Wan sensed the disapproval of the other masters at him. Just then, Master Yoda, and a hooded Jedi Knight walked into the chambers. Obi-Wan's senses surged. The Jedi Knight was Siri. However, none of the other masters seemed to have noticed.

"Friends, a situation, we have," Yoda started. At that, the Jedi removed her hood. There stood Siri, with shoulder length blonde hair, and blazing blue eyes. The Council Members gasped.

"Master Yoda, what is this!" exclaimed Mace, rising to his feet. Master Yoda shook his head. "Know, I do not, but presumptions, I have."

"And these would be…" This from Obi-Wan. "A clone, I believe she is. Managed to bring this Siri back to life, using the Force to bring her spirit back from it's Netherworld, someone has."

"Is that possible?"

"Only suspicions, I have, but yes, legends there have been."

"Master Yoda, what exactly do you suggest we do?" Mace Windu said. Siri stepped in. "I was thinking that I would continue being a Jedi. I clearly am capable of being the Jedi I was. I remember everything, and I feel exactly the same," she said matter-of-factly. Obi-Wan looked keenly at her. She looked exactly like Siri, and sounded like her.

"Siri, we will decide what your fate is to be," said Mace, his face very stern.

Siri's eyes flared. The brilliant bright blue they had been suddenly went to a deep navy. Obi-Wan vaguely remembered that Siri had had faulty membranes behind her eyes. When her emotions changed, the electricity from the emotions-processors of her brain flew toward her eyes, causing the changes in color of her iris.

"Master Windu, believe I do, that Siri is right. Here she is, and nothing about it we can do. To deny her the right to be a Jedi, unfair would be. However, training she needs to make sure she is up to it."

Obi-Wan saw Siri suppress a cry. He knew she was thinking that she did not need training.

"I elect Master Kenobi to help condition Jedi Tachi," said the Cerean, Ki-Adi-Mundi. "I second it," said Adi Gallia, a Corellian Jedi, the daughter of two ambassadors. "I," continued Yaddle, a Jedi Master of the same species as Yoda.

"I don't really think that that would be wise…" Obi-Wan said, his voice trailing off, remembering his history with Siri. He had loved her, and the thought of a renewed romance was tempting. Then he remembered their promise to each other, made on the mission that Siri had died. Best friends, he had said, and she had agreed. They were best friends from that point on. But then, when she was dying, he could tell what she was thinking. She was thinking of love, her love for him. So what was it? Lovers, or best friends?

Women so confused Obi-Wan. He shook his head in confusion.

"I believe that you would be a good conditioner. You did a wonderful job with keeping Knight Skywalker in line, and he has turned out to be a great Jedi. I think you could train with Siri for a few weeks," said Ki-Adi, and Mace nodded. "It's settled then," he said, and got up and walked out of the chambers. The other masters filed out after him. Obi-Wan just sat there, dumbfounded. He looked up, and saw Siri staring at him.

"It's settled then," said Mace. Finally. About time. It took everything she'd had to just keep from looking at Obi-Wan. She'd noticed that he was also avoiding her eyes. When everyone had left, she finally dared to look at him. He was basically unchanged, except for a few scars, and a different hairstyle. The long, almost-shoulder length hair was gone, replaced with a combed-to-the-side-look. An improvement, in her eyes.

"Are you ready to start?" she asked, smiling. He looked up, and she saw confusion in his eyes. She cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied. "Let's go."