So what do you think? That was my first ever flashback scene. It went on slightly longer than I'd anticipated, but it still worked!

A question. How do I mark changes of time/place etc…? I put in some stars but they didn't show up.

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"Sure, you are?" said Yoda, leaning forward to scan Jard's face for signs of deceit.

"Positive Master." Jard replied, "Not a thing." Yoda leaned back into his chair with a sigh.

"How is that possible?" Master Ki-Adi-Mundi asked, "For him to have no recollection of anything beyond that point in time?" Jard bristled.

"I remember Master Yoda pulling my mask off!" Ki looked at him. "Master." Jard hurriedly added, remembering his place. "But before that, nothing."

"Hmm, many things, can the Force do to a mind. Impossible, nothing is." said Yoda.

"I agree," said Master Windu. "It isn't so strange that he doesn't remember anything."

Yoda looked at his old friend gratefully. Mace respected him, and he respected Mace. They had been through a lot together. Yoda had trained him from when he was just a youngling, and now he was a senior member of the Jedi Council! No one except Master Yoda rivalled the dark skinned Master in the style of the lightsaber. How fast the years passed.

He was jolted out of his reverie by Master Adi-Gallia.

"Well if he can't remember, then what is the point of even seeing him? Expel him and be done!"

Jard blanched visibly. He stood, trembling, in the middle of the hall, as the council around him burst into uproar. Yoda banged on the ground with his staff, but to no effect. He sat down heavily in his chair, and stared at the boy, shutting out the entire world but Jard Dooku…

"ENOUGH!" The word echoed around the chamber. Master Windu was on his feet, his face terrible to behold in his anger. "Is this what the great Jedi council has come to? A squabbling band of layabouts who would expel a defenceless young boy from the order? Fie on you all! Bring your emotions under control, you ignorant savages!"

"Windu!" Yoda snapped sharply, "Control yourself, you must! Anger is the path to the Dark side!"

Mace Windu took a deep breath and sat down again.

"My apologies, Master Yoda, and to you, my friends. This is a dangerous time for the Jedi Order. Still do there remain some padawans in the clutches of the Sith."

"Very serious, your accusations are. To accuse a fellow Jedi of ignorance, very grave, this is. For remember," and at this he addressed the entire council, "There is no ignorance-"

"There is knowledge."

Yoda started. He glanced round sharply. Jard was sitting in the middle of the council area, cross-legged in the meditative position. He was floating about an inch off the floor, and Yoda could feel the Force flowing through the boy like an electric current. He was in such a deep trance that Yoda doubted Jard had heard the words he had just spoken.

Yoda suddenly felt a tremendous amount of shame course through the council. He could understand their feelings. Early padawans always retreated into the Force when they felt threatened. It was a habit that stemmed from learning the basics of the Force. It was hammered out of them later in life, when they were apprenticed to a Master. If a padawan felt the need to go into a trance in the council chamber then there were some serious problems that needed fixing.

Yoda turned back to the council.

"See do you?" he said softly, "the pain caused by others disputing over you? Frightened, this boy has been. Terribly. Captured, he was, by a Sith lord of such power, able to storm this temple, he was. And then, to the dark side turned, and back again. Then, when return he does, spurned he is, by other members of the council he swore allegiance to!" At this, he threw a cold look at Adi Gallia, who looked down at her feet.

Yoda turned back to Jard.

"Jard," he said gently, reaching out with the Force. "Come back, will you?"

The boy frowned slightly, then his eyes shot open. He dropped to the floor with a crash, and then scrambled to his feet, like a panicked Bantha.

"Masters!" he exclaimed, "I beg forgiveness! It was unforgivable to enter the Force in the presence of the council! I-"

"Jard, it's all right." Windu patted the padawan on the shoulder. "It was unforgivable of us to treat you like we did. Rest assured, it won't happen again."

"Agreed." Confirmed Master Yoda. "And now, turn we must, to the matter of your membership to the Jedi Order."

Every council member sat visibly straighter, all wanting to know Yoda's verdict. Yoda smiled to himself, it was touching how much this council valued his opinions. He had been in the order for 700 years, and only recently (200 years ago) had he become a senior member of the Jedi Council. In that time, he had seen stronger masters than himself live and die, all of them having a shorter lifespan than him. The longest friend he had had lasted for 200 years, before he too had died.

"What about the trials?"

Yoda looked across at the only other member of the Jedi council that even remotely came close to his age. Mistress Yaddle gazed back at him unblinkingly. She was the only Jedi, apart from Mace Windu, who could meet his stare without looking away after twenty seconds.

"The trials, you suggest?"

"Yes, the trials." Yaddle replied. "Vastly minimised, they must of course be, but prove if he is still a Jedi padawan, it would."

Yoda shared a sideways glance with Mace.

"What is your opinion, my friend? The trials, should he take?"

Windu closed his eyes for a moment, gathering the Force around him to make the decision. Then he opened them, and addressed the assembled Jedi.

"What is the council's opinion?" There were nods of agreement. "Then it is settled."

Mace Windu stood, and proclaimed the council's decision.

"The boy, Jard Dooku, will face the Jedi Trials!"

And in the antechamber, listening hard, Tel-Aura gave a gasp.