A strange expression crosses Syal's face. "Who's Jysella?"
Ben's eyes once more focus on the here and now. "She's my girlfriend. I was meeting her for lunch, when something happened."
Valin frowns. "Girlfriend? Aren't you a Jedi? And what were you doing meeting her way out here?"
Ben shakes his head, as if trying to clear it. "Yes, my girlfriend, and yes I am a Jedi. But I wasn't meeting her out here; I wasn't even on this planet. I was on Coruscant."
The three share a look, and Nyche steps up as Syal goes to ask some more questions. "I'm certain that we all have questions we want to ask the Master Jedi, but for now, he could probably use something to eat, and to go see a medic."
The look she shoots Valin and Syal leaves no room for argument, as Ben slowly nods his head. "Yes, something to eat would be wonderful, thank you."
Syal rushes off to find something esculent, and grabs some fruit from the picnic basket. She takes it back to Ben, and as she hands it over asks a question. "What's your name?"
Between bites he answers her question. "Ben, Ben Skywalker."
She smiles at him, a large one, which reminds Ben so much of Jysella's. "I'm Syal, and that's Nyche and he's Valin."
Then lowering her voice to a whisper so Nyche can't hear, she asks another question. "I thought Jedi weren't supposed to form attachments or have relationships like that."
Ben frowns at her question, wondering where she dredged up that tidbit of information. "That was the Old Jedi Order, when my dad rebuilt the Order after the Purges; he saw no reason to not allow attachments."
Ben watches as the three of them once more share a look, confusion evident on all of their faces. Finally Syal voices their confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Ben looks between the three of them. "Vader? The Empire? The Purges? Even the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Most of this is school-age galactic history."
Valin shakes his head, to show that they still don't know what he's talking about.
And Ben once more questions his sanity. Valin looks between the two girls once more. "Let's take him to my dad; he'll know what to do."
With nods all around, they get back into Valin's speeder and head back into Coronet.
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The home of Nejaa & Scerra Halycon, Coronet, Corellia.
Valin lands the speeder in front of his house, and quickly jumps out, even as they are entering the home, he is calling out. "Hey Dad!"
"In here."
Valin leads the group through a formal sitting room, into a more family oriented den. Sitting at a duvet are a distinguished looking man, and lovely woman, Ben looks closer at the man, as he resembles Master Horn. Across from them is another middle-aged man, wearing a high-necked tunic, with a green logo on the breast. Valin walks over to the pair on the duvet. "Dad, we found someone in the woods."
Then looking back towards Ben, he gestures that he should come forward. "Ben Skywalker, meet my parents, Nejaa and Scerra Halycon, and a family friend Rostek Horn. Mom, dad, Mr. Horn, may I present Master Jedi, Ben Skywalker."
Ben absently notes the scared look which passes between Valin's parents, but most of his attention is focused on Rostek. He looks the man up and down, having seen multiple pictures of him over the years, Ben clearly recognizes him. Yet he is decades younger than he should be, then he has any right to be.
"How can this be?"
He can hear Nejaa behind him. "How can what be?"
He points towards Rostek. "Him, he's young."
Ben doesn't realize that he's about to faint, that seeing Rostek Horn at thirty-nine, when by all rights he should be well into his nineties is just one more thing than his brain is currently prepared to handle. As he starts to fall, he can feel Valin's hands reach out and grab him, lowering him gently to the ground.
Then unconsciousness claims him. Gives him a respite from what he's suffering through, gives his overloaded brain time to process everything that's happened.
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Dooku's Hanger Bay, Geonosis
Anakin Skywalker fights with single-minded ferocity. He started this battle with two borrowed blades, one of which has already been sliced in two. He powers his blows with his anger and fear. An anger directed at the Sith before him for trying to kill Padme and Obi-wan, a fear due to having left Padme out on the sands while chasing Dooku. Yet for all his skills, for all the power he places into every blow, the old man he's fighting matches strike by strike, playing with him. Anakin fights in near silence, his blade a blur, trying, hoping for an opening, while Dooku fights in equal silence, batting away Anakin's blade as if he's not trying.
And that's because Count Dooku is not trying.
Finally beginning to tire, Dooku goes on the offensive again, and quickly slides his blade beneath Anakin's guard. A quick lift of the blade leaves Anakin screaming in pain and shock as his sword arm falls to the ground. Dooku smiles and Force pushes Anakin on top of Obi-wan.
As Anakin lies on the ground; the shock of having an arm suddenly cut off renders him unconscious. As he drifts in that deep pool of blackness, he receives a vision of a man, a few years older than himself, with ginger hair, fighting a dark monstrosity wearing a suit of black armor and a twirling cape. Their sabers locked the blue of his contrasting sharply with the red of the monstrosity's saber. What it means, he does not know, but he feels a connection to the man, an interlocking of fate, and he wonders when they will meet.
He wonders if when they do, will they be friends or foes?