I do not own the characters created by George Lucas

Vataloni's View

Vataloni held up her new lightsaber she had fashioned for herself and grinned. She was quite pleased that she had managed to make it so quickly.

It was by far better then the last one, though Vataloni had a hint of guilt with the making of it. Her new weapon was a double-sided lightsaber, with a blue crystal. She felt bad, for it was her last Master who had given her the idea in the first place.

It was supposedly said that his old apprentice had a double-sided lightsaber and it worked exceptionally well.

It shouldn't matter now though, Vataloni thought to herself, standing up and putting her tools back into their shelving units, That apprentice was killed a long time ago. What was his name… Maul? Something along that line anyways.

"Vataloni?"

She looked up to see Anakin strolling into the Weapons Assembly room, his hands clasped behind his back.

Vataloni still hadn't taken much of a liking to him, but there wasn't anything she could do. Obi-Wan said he would hopefully be ready to take the Jedi Trials, whatever those were, and be on his way.

"We are having a meeting with Chancellor Palpatine," he stated, picking up Vataloni's new weapon and eyeing it curiously.

"Who?"

"Chancellor Palpatine."

Vataloni's eyes widened and she rolled them with annoyance, "I heard you the first bloody time you said it, who is he?"

Anakin looked at her as if she was a Wookie with four heads, "Wh-Who is Chancellor Palpatine? God, I know you're a Sith and all… But I would think your kind would know who he was."

"I am not a Sith!" Vataloni snapped furiously, slamming her wrench down on the metal table in front of her.

"Tut tut," Anakin laughed, slowly levitating her lightsaber down to the table, "Only the Sith use anger… Jedi's learn to control it."

"Don't lecture me," she spat, tossing her wrench into an open drawer and using the Force to slam it shut, "I get enough of those from Obi-Wan."

Anakin chuckled and Vataloni let out an exhausted sigh. The past few weeks had been murder on her. First, she had to prove how skilled she was with her capabilities of the Force to her new Master, which meant hours of drills that Vataloni used to do when she was younger.

Then came drills on her maneuvers with lightsabers. Of course, she was only given a training one, since Obi-Wan had disposed of her old weapon and the new one wasn't ready yet. She proved to be extremely talented in Obi-Wan's eyes when she demonstrated her skills with a lightsaber. She was very proud of how she did on that part of the testing.

After drills came lectures. Many, many lectures on the Jedi and what their kind does. Vataloni found them all rather boring, but she somehow forced herself to listen.

Vataloni picked up her new weapon and fastened it to the thin, leather belt that hung around her waist as Anakin led her out to the Jedi transport vehicle.

"Ok," he sighed, stepping onto a large, rectangular ship, used only for commuting between the Jedi Temple and the Senate, "Chancellor Palpatine is… well… the Chancellor. He used to be a Senator from the planet Naboo."

Vataloni noted that Anakin's voice cracked as he said Naboo, but she chose not to call him on it.

"He's a good man," Anakin went on, looking out the window as speeders whooshed over top of the transport, "And an excellent listener."

"I take it he's a friend of yours," Vataloni mused, raising a curious eyebrow.

"On a professional basis, yes," Anakin stated, making Vataloni laugh loudly.

"What!"

Vataloni giggled and could no longer keep it in, "Like you at that Senator from Naboo are… Just a professional friendship? It seems like you and that Padme woman were a little cozy last night."

Vataloni watched as Anakin's jaw dropped. She had seen the two last night in one of corridors of the Jedi Temple, sucking each other's faces off with great content.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Anakin said nervously, his voice cracking again.

"I won't tell," she chuckled, patting him on the arm as the transport slowed to a stop at the docking area, "Unless you provoke me."

"That's blackmail!"

Vataloni winked at him and hopped off the ship, feeling very confident. She felt at ease around the Jedi, and she found that she could speak her mind freely. When she was with her old Master, she worried about being scolded after she would say something.

"Took you two long enough," Obi-Wan scolded as Vataloni and Anakin stepped out of the elevator.

"Princess had a little out burst," Anakin teased, "About all of your lecturing. I had to wait until she was finished, Master."

Vataloni shot him a glare, "You know I saw the strangest thing last night-"

"But we're late," Anakin said quickly, "Who else is supposed to be coming?"

"Only the people who are important," Obi-Wan sighed, looking at Vataloni and Anakin with aggravation, "And both of you need to now keep your tongues at bay. We have no room for sarcastic comments today."

"Yes Master," Vataloni and Anakin droned, looking at each other and smirking.

"Because I know you aren't as quiet as you let off," Obi-Wan chuckled, looking at Vataloni and smiling. She liked his smile. It was warm and comforting in such a new place.

"What is this meeting about Master?" Anakin asked as the three of them walked towards a dark grey set of doors.

"Political junk," Obi-Wan said, exhaling deeply.

"You don't take an interest in politics Master?" Vataloni inquired, stuffing her hands into her tan coloured cloak.

She was beginning to miss her Sith uniform. It was much more… lighter then the Jedi one. The material was very thick and difficult to move quickly in.

"I prefer to stay out of them," Obi-Wan replied as the doors slid open, "I'm not but a simple Jedi."

Anakin rolled his eyes and Vataloni smirked.

"Ah, Master Jedi," an elderly voice, "Early as usual."

"See," Anakin hissed to Obi-Wan, "We weren't late."

Obi-Wan glared at his apprentice and Vataloni looked past them to see a man robed rather elegantly standing at a desk in front of a huge window. He was rummaging through some papers.

He looked old, yet his body stature did not give him off as an old man. He must have been in his early fifties or so.

"Mind you," he laughed, looking up at Obi-Wan, "Senators are more like the drama queens of the planet… Meetings always do tend to start… late."

He paused mid way in his sentence when he caught sight of Vataloni. She felt his gaze linger on her, even as Obi-Wan began to speak to him.

His look, the sternness of it was somewhat familiar in Vataloni's mind, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was.

"Taking on a second apprentice, Master Obi-Wan," he asked suddenly. Obi-Wan looked back to Vataloni and nodded.

"Yes."

"But I thought it was a rule each Master had one student," Palpatine stated, his eyes still on Vataloni.

"Well they should both be finished with me soon," Obi-Wan explained, "They are both very talented… It won't be long before they face the trials."

"Would they mind going down to the second floor to greet some arriving senators?" Palpatine asked, looking back to Obi-Wan finally.

Vataloni and Anakin bowed, then quickly left.

"He hates me," Vataloni whispered as they stepped onto the elevator.

"He doesn't… hate you," Anakin laughed, "He was just… suspicious I guess. It isn't normal for a Jedi Master to have two apprentices."

Vataloni nodded, but in her mind she knew something wasn't quite right with how Palpatine first looked at her.

Obi-Wan's Observations

"So," Palpatine chuckled, "Where did you find her?"

Obi-Wan looked up at the Chancellor and frowned. He didn't quite understand why Palpatine was taking such an interest in Vataloni.

"She came to us as a Sith apprentice," he explained, "Her Master left her, and she seeked guidance. Master Windu and Yoda were very open to her training."

"Odd…" Palpatine sighed, turning his back on Obi-Wan and looking out the window, "That the Jedi would take on a Sith so lightly, wouldn't you say?"

"I would hardly call her a Sith," Obi-Wan said firmly, "She has barely contains any Sith traits. I wouldn't call her a Jedi yet, but most defiantly not a Sith."

"Would you say her Master failed on her?"

Obi-Wan frowned more. What could Palpatine possibly know about the Sith and their ways. Things weren't adding up.

"I'd say her Master was foolish to let her go," he said finally.

Palpatine looked back to him with one eyebrow raised, "She has skills then, I take it."

Obi-Wan nodded his head, "Skills well developed for her age."

Palpatine smiled smugly and the door opened. Mace Windu strolled in, followed by Yoda, his apprentices and the senators that were summoned for the meeting.

"Ah," Palpatine said pleasantly, "Let's get down to business then."

Everyone took a seat, save for Vataloni and Anakin. They stood behind Obi-Wan respectively and listened intently.

Obi-Wan could care less about the goings of the Senate. He paid attention to when Palpatine talked about the rising Separatists threats, but after that, he sort of zoned out.

Why was Palpatine so nosy about Vataloni? He shouldn't be worrying about Jedi affairs, so Sith affairs for that matter. He should keep his mind in politics, where it belonged.

Palpatine's Point

"We are starting to worry about your protection, Chancellor," Bail Organa of Alderran stated, "Many attacks have been based around people working closely with you."

"If it is acceptable," Mace Windu piped, "We can station a Jedi on patrol, though we have very little to spare."

"That is not necessary," Palpatine said calmly, "The Jedi are keepers of the peace in a troubled Republic... Let them stay to their job, and allow my guards to do theirs."

"Chancellor?"

One of Palpatine's guards suddenly appeared on a hologram on his desk.

"What? I'm in a meeting captian."

"We have a bit of a situa- AAAH!"

The hologram went fuzzy, then disappeared.

"We'll look into it Chancellor," Anakin piped, nudging Vataloni. Palpatine nodded and watched them walk towards the door, but he had a feeling they didn't need to go much further.

The door was suddenly blown off and the young Jedi were thrown backwards.

Palpatine groaned in annoyance. Could they have just one meeting where somethign didn't get blown up?

Senators screamed and dove behind desks as driods rolled in, setting up in place and loading their blast sheilds up.

"Oh for..."

Palpatine ducked out of the way as lasers skimmed his side. Hehid under his desk and peered over to see the Jedi with their lightsabers drawn, sending lasers shots back at the driods.

His eyes wandered over to Vataloni with her own double-sided blue lightsaber. She was doing quite well, Palpatine noted, but then again, she should for her age and all the training she's been through.

She twirled forwards, slowly advancing on one of the droids. Smiling as it began to back up, Vataloni called for Anakin. Palpatine watched as the young man made his way over to her and she whispered something in his ear. He frowned, then stood in front of her. To Palpatine's surprise, she put her lightsaber away and shut her eyes.

Suddenly, the driod in front of Anakin stopped shooting. It looked down at it's blasters, and they fell off. The blast shield disappeared and the driod suddenly couldn't move.

The other driods stopped firing to see the driod's metal head suddenly lob to the side and disconnect from it's body.

Palpatine understood finally, Vataloni had used the Force to literally take the driod apart, piece by piece.

An interesting tactic. Very interesting.