Chapter 23 - Zora

Obi-Wan stood outside of the Creches. Qui-Gon had shared his own personal code to get in when he'd needed extra help that one time, and Obi-Wan remembered the string of numbers. As he typed them in to open the door he didn't intend to do anything. He just had to see her.

In the Jedi Temple there were several members who shared a genetic heritage. Once a youngling was considered mature enough that they wouldn't form attachments based on this, they were told about their genetic family links. Master Adi Gallia and Master Stass Allie were cousins. And Tiplar and Tiplee were actually Twins. When Obi-Wan was young he wondered what it would be like to have another Jedi he shared heritage with. Unfortunately for him, Stewjon was a small planet, and few Stewjoni ever tested Force Sensitive.

Obi-Wan walked quietly into the room the younglings played in during the day. "Hello. Knight Kenobi? What brings you down here?" He jumped as the voice startled him.

"Master, I…" Obi-Wan was barely handling his emotions. "I need to see…" Tears leaked out of his eyes. He was sure he didn't look like much of a Jedi knight.

Don put a hand on his shoulder and looked supportively into his eyes. "It's okay. I figured one day this would happen. I'll go get her, but I need you to calm down. You're leaking bad emotions to the Force."

Obi-Wan nodded and wiped his eyes. "Thank you," he said.

Don walked into the other room, and Obi-Wan sat down on the floor. He looked around and saw all the old toys he used to play with when he was a youngling in this very room. One such game, to teach them to recognize their emotions, they would draw a picture of the way they were feeling, using symbols for causes, and colors for category, and intensity. Obi-Wan was sure his picture right now would be a mess. 'Let's see, I'm angry and sad that Siri didn't tell me. That's red and blue. More hurt than mad, though. I do understand why she'd want her to be a Jedi, though. To be raised in the same Temple we were both raised in. I feel happy too, that she is here. That she is mine. That sounds like attachment, but she is my daughter and I couldn't feel bad about that if I tried. I'm also afraid, too. I'm a fa-father! What does that even mean? How am I supposed to do this?'

"Here little one. Someone's come all this way just to see you." Don walked in cooing to Abigail in his arms. "Good work calming down. Here, would you like to hold her?" He sat beside Obi-Wan and passed the infant over to her father's arms.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan whispered. The little one opened her eyes and looked up at him. She seemed to smile. Her eyes were a bright blue, like Siri's, and the position of her eyes looked more like her too. She also had the dimple in his chin and his red hair, which he sometimes felt awkward over. Though on Abigail it was a beautiful strawberry blond he couldn't be more proud of.

After a little while of just staring at his child, he turned back to the Creche Master. "How much do you know? You knew which baby I wanted to see. Said you expected it. Do you know that…"

"That you are her biological father? Yes, I know. I raised you, you know. I'd have recognized another Kenobi without the DNA test." Don nodded.

"DNA Test!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.

"Oh. Uh, yeah. The Healers ran a few tests on her when she first came in. It's all in her file. How exactly did you find out?" Don sounded nervous.

"Anakin had a dream about it."

"Little Ani?" Don asked.

"Yes. I knew they were not just dreams when he talked about them repeating and seeing Bant in them. They were from the Force. So I researched things and found a way to see the visions while he was having them. What I saw was Siri pregnant. She was talking about the fate of her child and her name. I remembered seeing Abi when I was here before."

Don leaned in. "That was tonight?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan used his thumb to stroke his daughter's cheek.

"You know, I'm not supposed to do this, but…" Don looked both ways. He pulled a datapad from his pocket. "I have here the little one's file. I'll share as much as I know. Tomorrow, you can ask the Council and see what more they can tell you.

He pulled up her file and read outloud. "'Abigail Tachi was born in the Temple of Eedit on Devaron to Padawan Siri Tachi.' On the initial paperwork it seems she's listed the father as unknown. She probably didn't want to get you in trouble." Don looked back down to read more. "Ah, here are the DNA results. 'In comparing Initiate Abigail Tachi's DNA with Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, our lab finds them to be related. Based on the samples provided the probability of paternity is 99.99998 Percent.' That is rather high, I understand."

"Yeah, I don't have reason to doubt," Obi-Wan commented.

"It also says this. 'After giving Padawan Tachi several options, including keeping custody of her daughter, Siri Tachi chose to relinquish custody to the Order.' I'm afraid there is no more information about her mother. I understand Siri chose to leave the order anyways."

"Yeah." Obi-Wan looked down. "She did say she wanted her to be a Butt Kicking Jedi Knight." Obi-Wan laughed.

"Yes, that sounds like Siri, doesn't it." Don laughed as well.

Just then a little girl appeared in the doorway. "Mater Don. I have-ta go." She then wiggled to express more firmly what she meant.

Don sighed. Then he muttered, "I told those Padawan Volunteers not to give them so much to drink before bed." He raised his voice to say to the child, "It's Okay. I'll be along in a sec." Then he looked down at Obi-Wan who nodded.

The Creche Master got up and followed the youngling into the refresher. Obi-Wan looked over and noticed he left his datapad on the floor. He picked it up to put it on a table, out of harm's way, when he noticed the infant's file was still open on the screen. At that point the temptation to keep reading was too strong. Obi-Wan glanced down at the page.

Below the paternity results there was a note: "It is a decision of this High Council that these results not be shared with Padawan Kenobi…"

Obi-Wan's heart started to beat faster. He looked back at Abigail. 'They're not going to let me see her, are they?' And the thought of her being taken from him made him clutch her harder. The infant started to cry, and Obi-Wan reacted on his instincts. Holding both his baby and the datapad, he stood up and ran from the room.

Obi-Wan stopped a good distance away from the Creche and rocked Abigail to soothe her, and think. "I'm sorry little one. If I take you back, I'll never see you again. If I don't, they're going to come after us. Shh, shhhh, shhhhhhhhhh," he soothed. "We have to go away from the Temple for a bit."

Obi-Wan turned towards the entrance where he knew he could find a speeder. He thought about going back for Anakin, but he didn't think he'd have the time. 'He's probably still sleeping off the medicine anyways. Besides, it's not like he's in trouble. Master Qui-Gon will take care of him.'

Obi-Wan reached the speeder bay, and, being extremely careful, he piloted out into Coruscant air traffic.

After a while he pulled over to figure out where to go next. "Let's see what is on this thing." He picked up the stolen datapad, meaning to look for a map app, or something like it. Instead he looked back at the page of Abigail's file.

"It is a decision of this High Council that these results not be shared with Padawan Kenobi. This decision was made at the request of his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn."

Obi-Wan stopped reading and he threw the datapad out of the speeder. His emotions bubbled over the top. Now, he was feeling angry. He felt Qui-Gon reach out through their training bond and he snapped.

'You knew!' he growled. Then he ripped the bond from his own mind. It hurt like cutting a part of himself out, but he couldn't trust the man on the other end anymore. As he turned his attention back to his daughter, he sobbed.

"Zora, Zora." Michi waved his hand in front of the woman's face. "Nar Shaddaa to Zora."

"What?" Zora snapped as she slapped Michi's hand away.

"I was just saying Brutes is offering two for ten."

"And."

Michi remained silent. Zora's stare was unbreaking, and eventually he began to pull away from her.

"I won't be lowering us to a bunch of dank farrik to keep up with competition. If Brutes wants to belly crawl for scraps, I'll send Atchie and his boys to make it permanent." Zora was silent for a moment, then she jumped up and Michi ran. "What are you waiting for? Go! Get out of my sight!"

When Michi was gone, Zora took a moment. Her hand reached into a pocket sewn deep into her garment and pulled out a small stone. She held this stone and closed her eyes. "Don't forget who you are," she mumbled to herself as she closed her eyes.

A few moments later, a calmer Zora opened the door to Krayn's meeting room and walked in. "Boss," she addressed the T'surr crime lord.

"Ah Zora, my pet. How come I've never taken you for a night on the town?"

Zora closed her eyes in a well practiced move to prevent her from rolling them. "You know me boss. I'm so focused on making a profit. No time for such fun." Her voice was serious.

"Oh, well that's what makes you my favorite. One day Zora. I'll figure you out."

"I'm sure you will," Zora smiled slightly.

"How goes business? Is that next shipment ready to send?" Krayn asked.

"Yes, I prepared the itemized cargo lists on the server." Zora answered.

Krayn motioned and a Holo-screen materialized in front of him. "Good, good. Gender, Age, Training. You almost make them sound like real people." He laughed.

"Only to better serve our clients. They will find it easier to locate a slave that matches what they're looking for."

"Of course," He laughed again. "You know the markets, don't you."

"Yes. We are having a little trouble with Brutes on the western front. He's been offering a discount to attract more customers. I was going to suggest sending Atchie to rough him up."

Krayn gave a very deep belly laugh. "Ooh, you know how to tickle me. Alright Atchie will show him what interfering in my business brings him."

Zora looked up in shock. Krayn looked at her confused for a minute. Then there was a pang sound as a Jedi knight slid down a chain from the ceiling that the lights hung on. Another practically flew down the banister and three more appeared behind the large doors that leave the room.

"Sir, I have a warrant for your arrest." The first Jedi said.

Zora gasped and confusion crossed her face.

"You are all under arrest. Put your hands up!" The other Jedi shouted. Zora glared as the one closest to her bound her arms in cuffs and led her out of the room.

"I don't know what you want. I'm just an ordinary business man," Krayn said to the unamused Jedi.

Beside him, a crook was obediently switching their server with the one prepared with fake data.

Down the hall Zora let out a piercing scream. The crook gulped and handed over the real server to the Jedi who smiled at him.

"Siri, oh Siri. I'm so glad your assignment is finished. I've missed you. You can come back to the Temple now and…"

Zora screamed.

Adi jumped back in shock.

"No! No. You can't just declare this finished. Krayn is a Kriffing Fierfek! I came here to take him down, not just disrupt his business."

Adi blinked. She had never heard her Padawan use such language, and to hear her now, it was shocking. "That's what we came here for. We have a full warrant to arrest everyone on sight and seize the estate."

Zor- Siri rolled her eyes. "Yeah, the fake data in the processor is going to stand up in court."

"We don't need more evidence. A team of Jedi were lucky enough to get into one of his facilities on Saki. The evidence they gathered, when combined with what you sent us, will be enough to prosecute. He's going down. Whatever we gather today is a bonus. Now, you're going to have to wear those cuffs for a little longer, but once we're on the ship… Siri?"

"I don't know if I'm ready to go back." The woman seemed to shrink into a little girl. She looked up at Adi, a weak look few others had seen before.

"A lot has happened since you left. Master Yoda has a new idea. He wants to… Hold on."

Adi's comm was ringing. "Gallia here. Master Windu, what is it?"

"Kenobi…," he mumbled. The rest was too low to hear.

This had Siri's attention. She stood with her back straight and her eyes wide open. When her Master looked up to her she asked, "What's wrong with Obi-Wan?"

Hello

I really didn't intend these parts to be this long, lol. I guess you're going to have to wait until the next chapter to see what else I have in store.

This chapter begins before the last one ends, but I don't think it needs a chapter heading. You should be able to follow it still.

There isn't a lot on Wookieepedia for Krayn. I would've loved to see a quote. My aim in writing him was to make him creepy.

As Zora, Siri had to act a certain way and do things she otherwise wouldn't, but she's a pretty tough cookie. It won't be easy for her to magically go from Zora to Jedi knight, but hopefully she'll have the support she needs.