Sorry everyone. We moved house, and since none of us who moved to this new one are big on talking over the phone, and we all have mobile phones, we decided that we wouldn't get a landline phone. So we are waiting on the internet. We moved on the eighteenth of November. So I spent the time updating. Lol, anyway, enjoy the next chappie.

Chapter 9:

Luminara tried not to fidget in her seat as their shuttle set down gently in the landing bay on Aridus, a planet she had wished strongly to never return to. But she had a job as a Jedi Master, even if it meant returning to the place where she was tortured for over two weeks. Xanatos was too dangerous to leave to just one Master-Padawan pair, and she knew him best next to Obi Wan.

Bariss seemed to sense what she was thinking, and laid a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "It'll be okay Master. You're not alone this time." Luminara saw something flash in her apprentice's eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, padawan. The Council thought that only one Jedi would be necessary, and I agreed. I won't be so careless next time."

She unbuckled her crash webbing and stood. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Something was going to happen in this confrontation… and it was creating a ripple in the Force.

Making her way to the hatch she disembarked, with Obi Wan and their padawans following behind.

Sighing, Bariss lay her head down on the lumpy pillow of her bed in her second rate motel room. As they were traveling under cover they weren't afforded a proper room as delegates of the republic.

Their day had been long. Hunting Xanatos, questioning people without actually seeming to question them, while it was Jedi work it didn't make it any easier.

Through half closed eyes she viewed her master. She was laying on her own bed, dead to the world. This trip had drained her mentally and emotionally, and it was only just starting.

Obi Wan walked through the door. "We got some good information from an old lady. It seems that she saw Luminara running out of an old building."

Luminara didn't look up, just waved her right hand 'continue' while her left rest across her eyes.

He looked at her with concern, but masked his voice with a careful air of nonchalance. "So I was think that we could take the rest of the day off and go to a fancy restaurant, maybe hirer a stri-"

She looked up at this. "That's enough Obi Wan. I get it. 'Get up.'"

He looked her over, from the legs that barely managed to support her, to the arms that hung listlessly at her sides. The shoulders that slumped in exhaustion and the eyelids that drooped. Finally, he shook his head. "No. You aren't going. You need your rest. Me and Anakin will take care of things tonight. If we can find him we'll wait until the morning, when you can handle it."

Luminara looked up harshly at this. "You think he won't know if you find him? If you wait he'll just use the time to escape."

Obi Wan met her gaze evenly. "Then we'll just take him on alone. Luminara, you're too tired. You'll be putting yourself and us in danger by coming along. Now get some rest, don't be stubborn. We'll all wait until tomorrow, okay?"

She glared at him, but nodded anyway and settled down to get some sleep.

A good night's sleep saw them all up the next morning, trekking through the urban jungle. They were on their way to the building where Luminara was kept; it was a long shot but it might provide clues to Xanatos' current whereabouts.

Obi Wan pointed to an old building, made from some kind of red clay that seemed native to the planet. "That's where you came from, according to the old lady," He looked at Luminara.

She gulped, fighting back memories, and nodded. She walked boldly up to the front door and went to turn the door knob, when a cold, suave voice sounded from behind them.

"Back for more are we, Master? So soon? That's good because I have a bone to pick with you." She turned around with the others to see their quarry standing behind them.

TBC… Dun dun duuuunnnn…. I had to. Sorry. But I wasn't in the writing mood this morning and I kinda didn't want to make my chapters THAT uneven. Expect a long one sometime soon. Read and Review!