Happy late Mother's Day! I'm doing a bit of freelancing in this chapter, so bear with me!

Stupid Councils

Everyone thought Connan was asleep. True, she was wrapped tightly into her sheets and leaning against the wall. And true, her eyes were closed. But she was no more asleep than Jar-Jar was a Jedi.

They were going home. Home. Strange that Connan thought home instead of Coruscant. This…. this place wasn't her home. This place wasn't even her era. This wasn't her ship, this wasn't her time, these weren't her friends.

"They are so my friends," Connan screamed at herself.

"Are you sure you can keep them that way?" Her mind answered calmly. "We're going to have to leave sometime, and at one point you won't be able to come back."

"I know, I know already!" Connan snarled. "And thanks for the warm reminder."

Connan snuggled into her red sheet, careful not to move her shoulder too much. Even after she'd healed it and Obi Wan examined it, it felt a little sore. It was probably the muscles just tightened. Nothing to worry about.

The door whirled open unexpectedly as Padmé walked through it. She'd switched back into her orange handmaiden robes and had washed away all residue of Tatooine on her face. She walked briskly to the computer panel next to where Connan lay and pressed a red button. A man—the governor of Naboo—appeared on a small hologram.

"The death toll is catastrophic." The governor said. "We must bow to their wishes. You must contact me!"

The hologram disappeared.

Connan scoffed, rolling her eyes and repositioning herself to face Anakin. The boy shuddered as he rubbed his hands over his shoulders. Padmé turned to face the boy and gasped.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her eyes squinting. Connan felt for any injuries on the boy and found none. Anakin shook his head.

"It's very cold." He shuddered once more. Jar Jar kicked the table and muttered in his sleep as Padmé brought out a blanket for Anakin. Connan smiled, hunkering down into her own covers.

"You come from a warm planet, Ani." Padmé explained. "A little too warm for my tastes." She draped the covers of his body and began tucking it behind him. "Space is cold."

Padmé's eyes drooped sadly and she stared at the diamond patterns in the red blanket. Connan felt the urge to break her silence and ask what was wrong. Anakin beat her to it.

"You seem sad." He said.

"The queen is worried." Padmé answered. Connan sighed. "Her people are suffering. Dying." She looked away coldly and growled. "She must convince the senate to intervene, or…" She couldn't finish. "I'm just not sure what would happen."

Anakin looked to the red sheet covering him and pulled his hands out. "I made this for you." He said. Padmé held out her hand to take it. "So you'd remember me." It was a wooden charm, with carvings put in it. There were still traces of dust on the outlines of it, indicating that he'd just finished it. "I carved it out of a japor snippet." He watched Padmé marvel at it. "It'll bring you good fortune." He looked at Padmé expectantly.

"It's beautiful," Padmé smiled. "But I don't need this to remember you by." Anakin beamed. "Many things will change when we reach the capital, Ani. But my caring for you will remain."

"Ooh," Connan thought, a smirk on her face. "Isn't that sweet?"

"I care for you too." Anakin admitted. "Only, I—"

"Miss your mother." Padmé finished. She laid a hand on his shoulder gently in encouragement and sighed. Connan suppressed a small "Awwww," from escaping her lips, stretched within the covers, and fell into a slumber.

-----

Five days. It took them five days to get from Tatooine to Coruscant. Connan was to sick of the Nubian by then, she was about to order her droid to break something in it so they'd have to land on another planet. She stood in the cockpit with the pilot and Anakin, watching as they prepared to land on the senate building.

"Coruscant. The whole planet is one big city." The pilot explained. "There's Chancellor Valorum's shuttle. And look over there! Senator Palpatine is waiting for us."

Connan scoped the landing pad, finding a man dressed in light blue robes. He was staring back at her. Something about his look seemed oddly familiar. The way he stood, the way he looked, the way he waved and smiled as he caught sight of the Nubian. It all sent chills up her spine.

Quai Gon appeared in the cockpit after a moment, preparing Anakin on what he was to do.

"You are to stay with the Queen until we've met with the Council." He said. "Senator Palpatine will take care of you."

Shudder. Connan couldn't suppress it. She closed her eyes and shook her shoulders out as she groaned. Quai Gon stared at her quizzically.

"Nothing," She lied. "Now, Æliesha will be in there, right?"

"Yes, Æliesha is fine," Quai Gon answered. Connan took out her flute.

"Who's Æliesha?" Anakin asked.

"She's my dog. I'll introduce you to her once we land." Connan ran her hand through the boy's hair. "Once we finish with the Council."

The ship landed and the ramp opened. Connan stepped out and pressed the flute to her lips. She blew through it.

"Æliesha? Are you there? I'm back!" She sang through the flute. She placed it in her pack and stood next to Obi Wan and HK-47 as they left the ramp.

Unfortunately, Obi Wan went straight to Senator Palpatine. Connan followed uneasily and bowed after Obi Wan and Quai Gon. The two stepped back as the Queen approached the Senator.

"It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty." The Senator said. Connan cringed, almost stepping backward.

"Where have I heard that voice before?" She asked herself wearily. The Senator continued.

"With the communications breakdown, we've been very concerned. I'm anxious to hear your report on the situation." He started. Connan scowled. She didn't like him. Something out of him was so…. Dark Side. "May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum."

The man standing next to Palpatine began talking. He seemed much friendlier, though more monotone, than Palpatine.

"Welcome, Your Highness. It's an honor to finally meet you in person." He bowed his head.

"Thank you Supreme Chancellor." The Queen stated. The Queen began to walk away.

"I must relay to you how distressed everyone is over the current situation. I've called for a special session of the senate to hear your position." The Chancellor started. Connan crossed her arms as the crowd began moving away.

"I'm grateful for your concern, Chancellor." The Queen bowed her head.

"There is a question of procedure, but, I'm confident we can overcome it." Palpatine added. Connan sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Ah," she thought, "politics. Can't live with it, can't rule the galaxies without it."

"I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately." Quai Gon exchanged glances with Connan and Obi Wan while speaking to the Chancellor. "The situation has become much more complicated."

"It always does, doesn't it?" Connan rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Anakin whirled around from the group and stared intently at Quai Gon. The three Jedi stared back, disappointed looks on their faces.

"He doesn't know what the Sith are, does he?" Connan whispered.

"No one has ever needed to know for a thousand years." Obi Wan hissed back.

"Well, they're going to have to relearn." Connan scowled. Padmé ushered Anakin back to the group and left the three Jedi and the Chancellor alone.

-----

"He was trained in the Jedi arts." Quai Gon reported. Connan rubbed Æliesha's head thoughtfully. The hound growled affectionately. She stared at the faces of the Jedi Council. "My only conclusion can be that it was a Sith Lord."

The Council gasped unnecessarily. Connan rolled her eyes.

"How do you know it was a Sith Lord?" She asked. "The Sith never travel alone. He could be an apprentice."

"It's impossible. The Sith have been extinct for a millennium." Said the strange alien next to Yoda.

Connan burst out laughing. Even Æliesha "woofed" a couple of laughs.

"You can never get rid of the Sith, guys." She informed. "They always have a way of coming back."

"I do not believe the Sith could have returned without us knowing." Windu theorized.

"You expect too much of yourself." Connan countered. "The Sith can return in many forms, as many times, for many eons as they want."

"Hard to see, the Dark Side is," Yoda nodded.

"We will use all of our resources to unravel this mystery." Windu concluded. "We will discover the identity of your attacker."

"What mystery?" Connan asked, suddenly very frustrated. "There's no mystery. It's a Sith. The Sith are back. They're like gizka: you never know when they'll turn up or how many there are."

"Do not argue with the Council, Connan." Obi Wan advised.

"There's nothing of a mystery about it!" Connan said louder than before. "Master Windu, can't you trust Quai Gon enough to know he tells the truth? What about that thing most Jedi always say? 'Search your feelings, you know it to be true.' What about me? I know more about the Sith and all of you in here combined. I can tell my Sith from the rest of the world."

"Jedi Revan, we will discuss your priorities in a moment." Windu snorted.

"It's Connan." Connan spat, backing up. Æliesha gave off a warning growl.

"May the Force be with you," Windu said to Quai Gon and Obi Wan. They bowed. Connan crossed her arms and sighed. Obi Wan turned to leave, yet Quai Gon stayed where he was.

"Master Quai Gon," Yoda started, "more to say, have you?"

Connan smiled, knowing the topic of the next conversation.

"With your permission, my master, I have encountered a vergence in the Force." He stated.

A pause from the Council.

"A vergence, you say?" Yoda asked.

"Located around a person?" Windu inquired.

"A boy." Quai Gon insinuated. "His cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have seen in a life-form, aside from Connan." Connan paled.

High concentration of midi-chlorians? What did that mean?

"It is possible he was conceived of the midi-chlorians." Quai Gon continued.

"Ah, possible Jedi Revan was conceived of midi-chlorians, too, then, is it not?" Yoda pointed at the Jedi with her dog.

"Someone needs to tell these people about the mynocks and the gnarls, if you get my drift." She whispered to Æliesha. The dog nodded her head.

"Yes, but this boy is from this era." Quai Gon explained.

"You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force." Windu assumed. "You believe it's this boy?"

"I don't presume to—" Quai Gon was interrupted.

"But you do." Yoda cut in. "Revealed your opinion is."

"I request the boy be tested, Masters." Quai Gon stated.

"Oh. Trained as a Jedi you request for him, hmmm?" Yoda asked.

"Finding him was a will of the Force." Quai Gon clarified. "I have no doubt of that."

The Council exchanged glances, all toward Windu. The Master sighed, staring at his palms.

"Bring him before us, then." He sounded as if he had just got his arm cut off with a lightsaber. Heh. Like that'd ever happen to him.

Quai Gon bowed and left.

"Now, Jedi Revan." Windu finally stuck his attention to the woman. "It seems we now have to test a boy to be a Jedi. Will you allow us to help you after we've come up with a conclusion about him?"

Connan sighed, closing her eyes so she could roll them freely. All the Council's attention was on her. She smirked.

"Sure, whatever. I was hoping to get to watch the Senate debate, anyway." She patted her Kath Hound on the head. "Let's go get good seats, okay, Æliesha?"

-----

Connan found good seats near the top of the dome right when the session began. The Chancellor's seat sat out in the middle as he addressed the Senators.

"The chair recognizes the senator from the sovereign system of Naboo." The Chancellor announced. Palpatine stood and ushered his system's chair into the center so everyone could hear and see him.

"Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate, a tragedy has occurred… which started right here with the taxation of trade routes and has now engulfed our entire planet in the oppression of the Trade Federation." He summed up the problem in one sentence.

The Trade Federation section stood.

"This is outrageous! I object to the senator's statements!" The Trade Federation called.

"The chair does not recognize the senator of the Trade Federation at this time." Valorum called.

"To state our allegations, I present Queen Amidala, recently elected ruler of Naboo, who speaks on our behalf." Palpatine instructed. He sat and Queen Amidala stood up.

Connan squinted at the girl standing before the chair. Connan nodded. Yup, this was Padmé. The decoy was no where to be seen.

"Honorable representatives of the Republic, I come to you under the gravest of circumstances. The Naboo system has been invaded by the droid armies of the—" She was cut off.

"I object! There is no proof!" The Trade Senator shouted. "This is incredible. We recommend a commission be sent to Naboo to ascertain the truth."

"The delegates of Malastare concur with the honorable delegate of the Trade Federation." Said another senator as their section floated to the center. "A commission must be appointed."

"The point—" Chancellor Valorum was cut short as his bureaucrat jumped in, whispering something into his ear. Connan raised an eyebrow and spotted Palpatine talking to Padmé. Connan watched the woman's eyes widen, though her face remained expressionless.

"The point is conceded." Chancellor Valorum sighed disappointedly. Connan scowled. She hated bureaucrats. They always held the true power. "Will defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?"

"Oh, don't you dare do it." Connan whispered to herself. Æliesha snorted her concurrence.

"I will not defer." The Queen began getting testy. "I've come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now." She stressed. Connan smiled.

"I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee." She snarled. She took a long, deep breath. "If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed." Connan raised an eyebrow, and Æliesha whined in confusion.

"I move for a vote of no confidence… in Chancellor Valorum's leadership."

Connan choked, toppling over onto herself.

"I didn't mean do something like that!" She whispered. "It'll take even longer to resolve things without a chancellor."

The Senators began shouting and chanting to themselves.

"Vote now! Vote now! Vote now! Vote now!" They screamed. Valorum sat in his chair in shock.

"Order!" The Bureaucrat cried. A look of fire in his eyes. Connan leaned against the wall and slammed her fist into the side.

"Æliesha," She said, after sighing to calm herself. "Why do I get the feeling that this Senate is becoming more Dark Side than the Republic needs?"

-----

Connan was called back to the Jedi Council chambers. She entered the room with her hound at her side.

"We have finished our conclusion on the boy, so now we will get you in touch with your Council. Tell us who they are." Windu ordered.

"Let's see…. Zhar, Dorak, Vandar, and… well, Atris is the only one left." Connan said. "Yes. Zhar, Dorak, Vandar, and Atris. Oh! And Donella Segora, please."

Yoda nodded, and all but five of the Council members left the room. Those five sat in their chairs and crossed their legs, as if meditating.

"We will attempt to summon those you asked for, and you can confer with them on your situation." Said the same alien that was with Yoda and Windu at the beginning. Connan nodded.

The five members started glowing a bright blue color, and five new faces entered the room, tinted with the blue Force-glow. Zhar, Dorak, Vandar, and Atris all stared at Connan with contempt, as if she'd gotten herself into something again, while Donella, a tall blonde woman with Matukai Robes and a large scar reaching from her right eye to the bottom left part of her lips was confused.

"What am I doing here?" She asked, staring at the other four. "It's not like I was on any Jedi Council. I was exiled before that could happen."

"Are you still on about that?" Connan chided, smiling with a huge grin. Donella glowered at her.

"Yes I am still on about that! I may be Light Sided, but that doesn't mean I can't be steamed for injustice." The Exile crossed her arms.

"We will discuss that later." Zhar resounded. "Now we must talk about the matter at hand."

"My thoughts exactly, Master Zhar." Atris said. The air became stuffy the second she opened her mouth. "What kind of trouble are you in this time, Revan?"

"That's Connan, Ate, and it wasn't my fault this time." Connan accused. "It's that big purple blob's fault."

"Just like it was Bandon's fault back in the Academy days when the whole battle chamber was painted a dark red, to make people think that the Sith had taken it over?" Atris barked.

"Now that was my fault." Connan admitted.

"Just like the time it was Malak's fault that all the tame tu'kata in the Enclave wore Atris' whole wardrobe and make-up?" Zhar added.

"I guess that one was my fault, too." Connan crossed her arms.

"What about the time it was Bastila's fault that Master Vrook had to start wearing a comb-over?" Donella inserted.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! I've done a lot of bad things! Thanks for the guilt trip here." Connan spat. "I just need help getting back home."

"Yes, you do seem to be about four thousand years in the future." Donella rubbed her forehead. "How did that happen?"

"The big purple blob wouldn't let go of my hand and I woke up here. You're part of the Force, you should know what's going on." Connan explained. "So, what's going on?"

"The left hand doesn't always know what the right hand is doing." Zhar said.

"What?" Connan asked.

"Force, Connan." Donella pouted. "We're on the Light Side of the Force, we can't tell what the Dark Side does."

"You mean that the big purple blob was Dark Side? Then how did it pick me to take it? Why did it send me here?" Connan asked.

"The 'big purple blob' is not a living entity," Dorak informed.

"Someone must have sent it to get you." Vandar added.

"Wait." Connan put a hand in the air. "So someone made the big purple blob go after me to send me here. Why?"

"Someone on the Dark Side must want you to do something there. Or maybe someone on the Light Side needed you there and dabbled with the Dark Side to get you." Zhar explained.

"Whatever it is we don't know how to reverse it." Donella crossed her arms.

"What!" Connan started. "So I'm stuck here? What about Carth? What about the old Republic? What about the Ebon Hawk? What about Carth!"

"Well, I suppose the person may send you back whenever he or she wants you to leave." Dorak rubbed his chin. "But thus far we don't know if it's true."

"So that it then. You're going to leave me four thousand years in the past with no one but a rusty old droid and Æliesha." Connan rubbed her hound's head.

"You always could catch on quick." Atris snapped. Connan glowered.

"You will make it back to your time, Connan." Vandar encouraged. "The purple blob you saw is a Force power called the Byssual, a Rodian word meaning 'time spacer'. It doesn't last forever."

"Well, that's a relief." Connan sighed.

"But be careful." Donella urged. "We don't know what would happen if you died here."

"Please! Me? Die? Only of old age." Connan waved her off, smiling.

"One more thing before we leave," Dorak instructed. "You must journalize everything that happens to you here."

"You will need it for sanity's sake later on." Zhar finished.

"Fine, then. Leave me here." Connan spat on the ground, then paused. "Wait. How is HK-47 here? I left him on the ship back in Korriban."

"This droid has survived the ages." Donella said. "Ask him about it. It's too convenient that he showed up on the same planet you were at."

"Yeah, yeah. You're getting an earful when I get back with you, okay?" Connan promised Donella.

"Sure," Donella agreed. "And Connan?" She said.

"Hmmm?" The woman asked.

"Remember the more connections you make here, the more it will be—apparent—later."

"Apparent? What's that supposed to mean?" Connan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can't say any more." Donella said. "And this Council is running out of mental energy. We must leave."

They were gone. There was no flash, so slow descending in to the sky, and no melting into the background. There were there and then they weren't. Connan's arms went limp at her sides.

"Well, good-bye to you, too." She mumbled.

"Listened to your conversation, we did." Yoda mentioned.

"I figured." Connan curtly replied.

"We understand your frustration, Jedi Revan." The alien sympathized.

"Oh, really? You've been raked across time to another era with no hope of getting back anytime soon before?" Connan called. "And the name is Connan Frai, if you don't mind." She crossed her arms and looked away. Æliesha brushed her head gently across Connan's leg. "If I'm going to be stuck here, I'm staying with Quai Gon and Obi Wan, okay?"

The five exchanged glances. "Allow it, we will." Yoda nodded. Connan bowed.

"Will you please retrieve Master Quai Gon, Padawan Obi Wan, and the boy?" Windu asked. "We will now tell them what we've decided on the boy's fate."

-----

Well, it's longer than I expected it to be. I'm on chapter 32 and I'm 1:33:04 of the way through. I can't believe it, but I'm almost done.

SUMMER IS HERE! I'm sorry, but I have to mini-rant. I'm gonna be a freshman! WHEE! I'm excited! I get a whole summer of updates! I promise I'll do two a week most weeks so I can get like a fourth—maybe more—through the second movie before school starts again.

Please review, guys! I really love to read what people think of the stories, even if they're criticizing. n.n