Disclaimer: Although sometimes we act like it, and really wish it were so, no, we don't own Star Wars. The Great Flanneled One does. We love you, George... But again, I'm not sure why exactly you'd want them, but Kai and Ele are ours, if you ever do feel the odd urge to use them for something, just ask. Tell us it's the will of the Force and that the midichlorians told you and we'll be fine with it.

Notes: text in italics are thoughts, if they're in /s, they're private thoughts, in :s, they're shared, indicating namely a mental bond between the twins. The colons were not my idea, actually, they're from Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar novels. (if you don't know what those are, just smile and nod)

Sorry it took so long to update, i was kind of busy and ADD. Thanks for the nice reviews, keep them up... please?


CROSSING PATHS

The two girls huddled together in their new room, really not much more than a cell. Kai was now tossing and turning in her sleep, a fever beginning to grip her. Ele knelt by her side, hand on her twin's forehead, trying to calm her and help her through their bond, yet it didn't seem to help. Hajja had beaten her too far this time, and sent them to a Hutt with an even worse reputation. Jabba the Hutt, infamous crime lord of Tatooine, keeper and abuser of slaves, and their new owner. Life was not looking good.

As the dawn arose the next morning, the locked doors of the girl's room swung open to allow in Bib Fortuna to stalk in over the now-sleeping figures. Prodding them awake with his booted foot, he dragged them to their feet and pushed them out the door in front of him. They stumbled along, not having the slightest idea where they were going, only turning where the pale Twi'lek prodded them to go, until they reached a cavernous room which could only be one thing... Jabba's throne room.

Gigantic and slug-like, the humongous Hutt sat on his even larger throne, surrounded by chained slaves and servants. Loud music had just stopped playing, and two scantily clad Twi'lek dancers were carefully edging away from the center of the room, and the space directly in front of Jabba's throne. The twins were thrown down onto the dirty, rough floor, brought to their knees before their master, who just sat there, laughing loudly.

"Hehehehehe... two young ones. Gooooood. We will break them, will we not?"

The court around him twittered in anticipation.

"But first... first we will test them, see if they are broken already. They are to attend to our honored guests."

He nodded towards two cloaked figures in a far corner of the room. When the girls turned to look at them, they could see nothing of their faces, not even what species they were, though they had a humanoid form.

"They will be shown our guest's rooms, but will have to figure everything out for themselves. Fail at all at any task, and I won't be as easy on you as your old Master. Now remove these piles of bantha fodder from my sight."

Two nameless guards yanked them up again, and drug them towards the door, Ele managing to shake them off and walk on her own, supporting her sister's near dead weight on her shoulder. The two robed figures silently fell into step behind them as the would their way through the maze of Jabba's palace. When they arrived at a door on a level far above the ground, away from Jabba's rooms, the guards stepped back, bowed to the guests, and walked off with an air of caution towards the ones they were leaving in the hall. The figures walked carefully around the girls, and holding them out of the way of the swinging door, walked into their guest accommodations, pulling the twins after them.


Once inside, they took off their hoods to reveal that they were both human males. The tall one had long brown hair pulled into an elegant half-ponytail, with a fringe of a beard framing his face, and an odd sense of calm that surrounded him. The shorter, and obviously far younger, had piercing light blue eyes and long, dark, raven-black hair that was brushed close to his head save for a single long braid hanging from behind his right ear. Kai in particular looked up at them in fear, for she was not at all trusting, her life as a slave since birth had taught her that, but Ele was more...curious, looking deep into the eyes of the elder, almost seeming to reach out with her mind to feel these guests they were to serve.

After a moment of silence, the tall one cleared his throat, gesturing towards a chair.

"Sit down. What are your names?"

Now nervous, the two girls stood rooted in place. The tension was almost tangible, as well as the fear coming out of the girls. :We must follow our orders, Kai: Ele sent a message through the bond that their twinship gave them.

:I'll deal with them, they'll regret messing with us, i won't let them hurt you...: came the response. :No, Kai, you're not thinking clearly. And it's...odd... they don't seem like they mean to hurt us. Go sit, and I'll talk with them: Grudgingly but exhaustedly all the same Kai sat down in the proffered chair, obeying her older sister's authority. This time.

"My name is Ele, and this is Kai, my younger twin. How may we serve you?" She bowed stiffly, only barely civil, she did NOT like anyone who would associate with slave owners.

"Greetings, then, young ones. I am Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my apprentice, Xanatos deCrion. We're here as ambassadors from the Republic Senate, trying to deal with the issue of slavery on this planet. I sense that you resent us for being here, having to wait on us, but please, we're here to help you."

Ele still looked suspicious, moving close to her sister. Yet somehow she felt that she could trust the two men, or at least the tall one, Qui-Gon,he had said his name was. But she was distracted by Kai new wave of pain and fever that came flowing out of her. Rushing over to where she sat, slumped over in the chair, she stroked her forehead, trying to pour her own strength into her, help her, relieve the pain... anything she could do. This was her fault, Kai had blocked the blows meant for her, taken them upon herself... she was slipping now, had given too much of herself, now she would pass out for exhaustion. She did this almost every time that Kai was beaten so badly, she should have learned not to overexert, but Kai always felt better afterwards,so it was worth it.

As she had almost let go, falling into a well of darkness, she felt herself caught by a flash of pure white light, warm and supporting, that sang to her and gave her energy. It flowed around her, everywhere, into Kai, healing and numbing her wounds and fever. It was in the guests as well, they essentially glowed, the tall one so bright in a white glow that she could barely see him. He knelt over Kai, pouring his light onto her, giving strength to both of them.


Now more energized, Ele looked around her to see that everyone was surrounded in a blazing, though slightly different, auras. As she had noticed before Qui-Gon was glowing white, by far the brightest of the four. His apprentice, Xanatos, was slightly darker, there seemed to be deep shadows whirling around him, red and black mingling with the white and grey, somehow giving Ele a most uncomfortable feeling. Kai was a fiery red, dark and thick with her pain and anger. Looking at herself, she glowed white, piercingly so, almost to the point of being blinding, though she was tinted with a warm green.

Wrapping around her mind was a powerful entity, sinking in, letting itself be known to the girls, filling their awarenesses with new strength and power. :What is it: she wondered, not knowing if she spoke with her true voice or through this new power. A chorus of millions of voices sang to her, from within her very being. :The Force. We are the Living Force, we are part of you. We shall never release you...: She knew it was true, and glancing at her twin, she saw that she did too, as the auras slowly faded, and she started to feel exhaustion taking her again, but a warm, peaceful tiredness, not the falling feeling she had earlier...

When she awoke, she was startled to find that she was curled up on one of the beds next to a man that she didn't recognize. Wait a second, no, he was the one they were to be waiting on... yes. Qui-Gon Jinn, he said his name was. Funny name, she had never heard anything like it. She sat bolt upright, looking for her sister, until she saw her laying on the bed beside the other one, with the black hair the one that had had the scary aura. She looked far better now, her wounds were healed. :That cant be right, healed? She had a fever last i checked. Kai? KAI: She heard a sleepy mumble from the corner as her sister sat up. :Ele? Where- where are we? Who are these people? WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH US: Standing up abruptly, she was only restrained by the man-Xanatos, his name was, Ele remembered now- as he stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her.

She broke free of his grasp, running over to her sister and throwing her arms around her, yanking her from the gentle grasp of the man holding her.

"What are you doing? Get away from my sister!"

Seeing that her twin was far better, Ele put her in a firm headlock to stop her struggling, and was rewarded with a whack on the shoulder. "Kai! Calm down, Kai, they're going to help us." Her words made no effect, and her sister started to kick out wildly around her, landing some on Ele, some on furniture, as well as a fair share on the still serene Jedi Master in front of the two. Ele realized what she was doing, and knew that if though Kai had healed, somehow, the next beating would likely be lethal.

"KAI! You're attacking guests, masters! If you do anything, likely even a far smaller disrespect than this, you'll get beaten again, and worse this time. Kai, they will have no hesitations on killing you, beating you to death! Kai, LISTEN TO ME!"

"No! I don't care! I don't want to do anything, I don't want to be a good little slave, I-"

Mortified at her younger twin's unnatural outburst, Ele started to reach for anything she find- and found the power that surrounded them, that had spoken to her, told her it was called the Force. She reached deep into it, found its peace, and sent it out to Kai in heavy waves. "Relax..." Astonishingly, Kai suddenly quieted and hunkered on the floor. Qui-Gon looked at her in surprise, a sober expression on his face. Now fearing what she and her sister had done, she fell immediately to the floor, bowing low.

"I'm sorry for her behaviour, she can't control herself sometimes, I do the best I can, please don't hurt her, punish me instead, just don't hurt my little sister, please-"

She was silenced by a strong arm pulling her and her sister up onto the bed next to Qui-Gon. He took off his long dark brown robe and wrapped the two in it, then turned to face them.

"You did nothing wrong. The slavery here is an evil thing, we wish we could do more to end it. I do not wish for either of you two to be hurt again. But tell me," Ele quivered in fear, "Tell me how you calmed her there. It is something that few can do, and a young girl such as yourself, with no training... this is almost unheard of."

He placed his large hands on her temples, closing his eyes, then did the same to Kai. After a minute, he withdrew his hands, a thoughtful look on his face. Nervous now, Ele huddled into the edge of his robe, the thick soft wool giving her some small comfort. Kai sat silently, still looking slightly stunned. Watching her sister carefully, she didn't take her gaze away as she spoke in a quiet voice.

"What-what is it, Master Jinn?"

At that, she noticed Xanatos' head jerk up in the corner of her eye. He looked surprised at that, she didn't know why.

"Calm down, Padawan, she doesn't know what that means to us, she didn't mean a Master in that way, that's how slaves are forced to address everyone. I suppose a bit of an explanation is in order."

Xanatos, nodded once, bowed, and sat back down, still alert. Qui-Gon turned back to the two girls to find Ele gripping even tighter to his robe. /What was this with small, cute, and vulnerable creatures clinging to his robe? Really, almost anything that needs help that I've met hangs on to the robe for their life- but it's fine, rather endearing, especially from these poor little girls. I hope i can help them, there's something I sense in them- I'm doing it again, they're all looking at me expectantly, and I'm staring off into space again, and the hurt one, Kai, is starting to reawaken, and I'm not sure that's a good thing, the little one kicks hard.../ He rubbed his shin absently where the girl had it it, then suddenly found a hnd at the bottom of his robes as well. He nearly withdrew, for it was Kai gently clinging to him now, but he said nothing, only comforted her the best he could as she continued to hold on to his robes.


"Tell me, have you ever heard of the Jedi?"

Both of the two nodded meekly. "But not much," Kai mumbled, "Only stories." finished her sister.

Qui-Gon sighed. The stories were almost always insanely exaggerated, of either perfect beings that could fix anything, all powerful god-like figures, or demons that used their deadly powers to warp the minds of others and control their lives. Hopefully the girls hadn't heard too much of the latter. "What- kind of stories have you heard?"

"A lot of things." from both, in unison. Definitely twins. "Jedi are people who go on adventures and use the Force-"

"Save people-"

"Fight with lightsabers-"

With that, Kai stopped abruptly and looked down at the belt on the waist she was leaning against. "Lightsabers-"

Ele twisted around to where she could see what Kai was staring fixedly at. "Are you-"

Kai was far more certain about it. "You're a Jedi. That's your apprentice," she pointed up to Xanatos, "and you're here to free the slaves."

He nodded quickly, smiling at the expectant face. "Well, you're correct in two of your three guesses. Yes, I am a Jedi, a master, and yes, Xanatos here is my Padawan learner. But we are not here to free the slaves, I am sorry. However, what you have heard is true, or at least for the most part. Tell me, what do you know of the Force?"

"Not much, it sounds cool, though. Think of everything we could do! We could save all the slaves, kill the Hutts and Jabba and everyone who's hurt us- and I could protect you, Ele, and no one would or could ever beat us again- but we could have revenge for all the pain they've caused us, make them suffer like we have-"

"No." Her sister cut in. "That is not what the Force is for. It's too- light. Pretty, not for pain."

Astonished at her understanding of that simple fact which so few seemed to grasp, Qui-Gon looked down at her, still huddled into his robe, smiling gently. /She would be a great Jedi, she is obviously compassionate, and for one who has never really heard much of the Force before, she seemed to have a good understanding of it. Her sister, too, she does not totally see the lightness of it, but can obviously learn to use it. Yes, the Force essentially sings from the young girls. I wonder if we can help them.../

"How do you know this of the Force? Indeed, you seem to grasp a good idea of it."

She buried her face into his robe even deeper, if that was possible, looking suddenly embarrassed. When she spoke, it was in a soft whisper. '

"They told me. I saw it myself."

Blinking, the Jedi Master pulled her head out of the folds of dark cloth and looked her in her dark brown eyes. /She can hear the midichlorians speak to her? At such a young age, with no training/

"When was this?"

The young one tried to turn away, but his firm hands wouldn't let her.

"You think I'm crazy, hearing things. That's what they've said before, they say we're both mad, when we sense things, but this time I saw it, I heard them, I really did-"

Qui-Gon released her face, stroking her hair. Looking at Kai, he saw that she was upset as well, she had obviously suffered this too. They had sensed things, she said, and no one here would have accepted it- if they had been born in the Republic, they would have been taken immediately to the Temple to be trained as Jedi. Perhaps they still could take them...

"No, of course not, not at all. You surprised me, it appears that you two both have what might be considered Jedi traits. The voices, they were likely what we call midichlorians, they can tell you of the Force itself. It is unusual that you should hear them at such a young age with so little training, but- I sense that the two of you are very strong in the Force, if the world was perfect, you would be being trained as Jedi right now. You say that you sense things as well?"

"Yes." Both of them answered at once. "It's like a sense that-"

"Something is going to happen-"

"Or is happening-"

"Or that what someone might be thinking."

The two shared each others thoughts, they most likely shared a strong bond through the Force. Incredible... Qui-Gon had to think about it for a while before he came up with an answer.

"You two are very interesting, a mystery. We can investigate this tomorrow, test your abilities. But for now, the two of you look dead tired, likely from your healing earlier. You should sleep soon."

Ele looked up suddenly. "Do we have to leave? I don't-"

Kai reached over and whacked her on the shoulder. "Of course we're leaving, we're strong, remember? We don't need these Jedi to take care of us, we've dealt with anything that comes our way before, we can work together. C'mon, let's go, sis." She jumped off the bed, pulling Ele with her, who looked back at the Jedi hopefully. Qui-Gon looked at the two, chuckling slightly. They were quite a duo, even though he didn't doubt that they could deal with quite a bit, even for their few years, but still-

"I do believe that you can stay with us tonight, remember that you are indeed to be waiting on us. No, you don't need to, but i would feel more comfortable with you here. We have plenty of blankets on the bed, and there is a large couch that you can sleep on. You'll be safer here."


:Kai, listen to him, will ya? We can trust them. Please, Kai? It'll be more comfortable, anyways.:

:Oh, i just wanted to really hear what you thought, you have good intuition.:

:As do you, Kaikai, you're even better at sensing people's thoughts. So you'll stay:

:Of course. These blankets look soooooft...:

The two smiled, and, accepting the blankets that the Jedi were handing them, went over to the couch, laid them out, and then jumped up on it, curling up together, and almost immediately fell asleep. The Jedi soon followed suit, weary from their travels.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Ele woke up disoriented, confused, she didn't recognize where she was. Looking around for Kai, she saw her curled up at the far end of the couch. Seeing that, she remembered the events of the past day, and started thinking about all she had heard. Reaching out, almost instinctively, she sensed this new Force, and used it to probe around her. Two were asleep- Kai and the Padawan, Xanatos, who somehow gave her an unpleasant feeling- but Qui-Gon was still awake. Sensing his restlessness and concern for the girls, she silently got up off of the couch and snuck over to the bed where he lay under his robe and blanket. Pulling herself up, she wormed her way under the robe, curling up beside him.

Feeling the warmth beside him and the movement of the bed, the Jedi looked down to see the little girl, ruffling her soft, short-cropped hair. Soon, after sending waves of reassurance and calm through the Force to each other, the two fell into a deep peaceful slumber.


Dum dum DUM DUM dum dum DUM dum dum DUM... I love SW.

We'll update again soon...and everyone say hi to Qui!
And to Xani...everyone loves him...

Keep the reviews coming!

-Jinn Twins