Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas
A Shift in the Force: Chapter Thirty-Two: Blessed With the Force
AN: There was a lot of crazy stuff going on last chapter, and Talik wasn't really having the best day, but she'll be doing much better this time around.
The figure in Mandalorian armor rested on a nearby roof, too far away to be seen with the naked eye as they fitted the pieces together to form their sniper blaster rifle, shifting so they were lying parallel to the ground, and it was only then that the helmet was removed.
Yellowed eyes looked through the scope, keeping the rifle perfectly steady as their target came into view. They focused their aim on the target, exhaled slowly, and pulled the trigger with one artificial finger.
The screams that followed were like a song to their ears.
The Naberrie sisters were built on miracles, that much Sola Naberrie had been rather painfully aware of as a child, knowing that she and her siblings shouldn't have been possible but were made it almost impossible not to believe in miracles.
But so much had happened in the past year that made Sola wish that more miracles were possible, because misery weighed down on her like the sea was threatening to drown her.
She had been eight months along with her youngest daughter when there'd been an accident at her husband's place of work and she hadn't arrived at Theed's medcenter fast enough…he was gone by the time she'd arrived.
It had been stressful enough to be aware of the fact that her elder sister, for all intents and purposes, was considered to be deceased, but to lose Darred…Sola didn't think her heart could handle much more.
And then her daughter Pooja had been born, and, per regulation, had had her blood tested for a midi-chlorian count.
Pooja's count had been at twelve thousand, with the minimum requirement for a Jedi being seven thousand.
Her blood had turned to ice in her veins.
If she lost Pooja the way her parents had lost Sabé, she didn't know if she'd be able to survive it.
So, when Padmé had suggested that she come to Coruscant with her as she went to discuss several private matters with the on-planet senator for Naboo, Sola had agreed. Maybe it was just that she needed to get off the planet for awhile…or maybe it was because she wanted to speak with someone in particular on the planet.
Sola rocked her daughter gently in her arms. "How are Anakin and Talik?" she asked her sister as she came out of the meeting with the senator, looking deeply annoyed, so Sola thought it would be a good distraction. She remembered the young Jedi padawans from their time assisting in the Battle for Theed. Talik Shala was a hard face to forget; Sola had never seen a Twi'lek with skin that shade of lavender before. "You're still talking to them, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," Padmé said, keeping up her regal accent until they were safe in her quarters and then she made for the bathroom in order to start removing the paint from her face. "Anakin's on a mission with Obi-Wan right now, he was very excited about it, something about it being a bit more challenging…"
Obi-Wan Kenobi…Sola was certain that was the Jedi that Sabé had been so enamored with, though whether or not he'd been aware of that still remained to be seen.
"Talik's concluded her training in the Jar'Kai style, though," Padmé said, before smiling when she noticed her sister's confusion. "It's a lightsaber style, it involves using two lightsabers."
"Sabé's style, you mean," Sola corrected. She understood very little about the Jedi; that was Sabé or even Padmé's area of expertise, if her younger sister's most recent data-chips were to be taken seriously.
"Yes," Padmé bobbed her head in agreement. One rosy cheek was exposed, leaving her to start working on her forehead. "She said the woman she was training under was the same one that taught Sabé and she kept claiming she was trying to kill her."
Sola chuckled softly, minding her daughter as she made soft noises into her shoulder. "Is she into espionage, too?"
That had been Sabé's rather unique skill, she remembered her sister telling her about.
"No, she's training to be a Jedi Healer," Padmé countered, "She's pretty good at it, too. She's always complaining about Anakin getting himself injured."
Sola smiled faintly, waiting patiently as her sister changed into a simple deep blue dress while her decoy acted the part as her in the case that someone came looking for Padmé while they were gone.
"Is your security detail going to be all right with us leaving the apartment?" Sola inquired with a furrowed brow, but Padmé only grinned widely.
Captain Panaka was well aware of Padmé's sneak away attempts, serving as the head of her security for more than five years.
"What they don't know won't hurt them," Padmé had responded before ushering her sister, baby in tow, out of the apartment, taking the lift down to the first level and hailing the first air bus she could find.
"I don't think the Jedi are going to like us showing up out of the blue," Sola mentioned.
"It's not like only Jedi are allowed in the Temple," Padmé pointed out, "there are just certain things that are restricted to only Jedi."
The Archives that Sabé had loved so much as a child, was one such place.
"Besides," Padmé said, leaning down to give her baby niece a quick kiss on the top of her fluffy head, "your daughter is Force-sensitive, she has a right to be there."
Sola felt as though she'd been doused in icy-water at the mention of her baby's status as a potential Jedi, and the pair settled into silence until they'd reached their destination.
When Sola stepped out of the air bus, Pooja stirred in her arms to stare at the famed Jedi Temple, from the five large spires to the ziggurat at its base.
"Well, its big, I'll give them that," Sola conceded and Padmé chuckled.
"Come on," she said, taking her elder sister's elbow, "Talik should be in the Halls of Healing…although I have no idea where that is."
It was even more impressive when they made it inside, staring around in awe and Sola forgot that Padmé had never been within. Whenever she'd been on the planet, she had never needed to go to the Temple, it wasn't where Sabé lived anyways.
Luckily for them, a Jedi hailed them after being struck dumb for a few moments.
"Forgive me for interrupting," she said and Sola looked her over, the bronze shine of her skin and the green-blue color of her hair, and the molten gold color of her eyes; she was visually stunning. "But you wouldn't happen to be related to Sabé Amidala, would you?"
Sola assumed she already knew the answer to her question.
"We're her sisters," Padmé informed the humanoid woman helpfully.
"That explains it," the Jedi gave them a half-smile that was more somber than anything else and Sola had to wonder if this was one of Sabé's friends that Talik said didn't believe she was still alive. Though, according to Talik, most of the Temple thought she was a bit mad concerning her beliefs of her master. "You look an awful lot like her."
That was directed towards Padmé, and Sola knew their resemblance was rather uncanny.
"Thank you," Padmé said, brushing back a lock of her hair as she did so, "you're a friend of hers?"
"I –I was," she admitted, extending her hand to them each in turn, "I'm Taria Damsin, we worked together as Shadows."
"I'm Padmé, and this is Sola," Padmé introduced them only to grin when Pooja made fussing noises against her mother, "and that's Pooja."
Taria's eyes glittered as she bent down to waggle her fingers at the baby. "Hello, Pooja," she said with a smile and Pooja hid her face against her mother's shoulder.
"We're looking for Talik Shala," Sola said and Taria arched an eyebrow.
"She's probably in the Halls of Healing," Taria admitted with a small sigh, "that's where she is when she isn't off with Aayla on missions or with Anakin…come on, I'll take you there."
"How is Talik?" Padmé asked Taria curiously. She hadn't seen the girl in almost ten months, not since she'd come to the decision that Sabé wasn't dead.
"She's rather determined," Taria acquiesced, "she's been doing a lot of reading on the Jedi Code lately and has taken to questioning everything…I guess you could say she's taken a bit after Sabé in that respect, and some members of the Council don't like that kind of insolence."
"What a surprise," Sola remarked dryly as they moved forward, her eyes sliding over the younglings that rushed past, so young. It was hard to imagine Sabé like that, or even, potentially, Pooja.
The Halls of Healing were much less majestic than the rest of the Temple, but there was probably a good reason for that.
"Talik!" Taria called out suddenly a young Twi'lek who had been rushing past with a datapad in hand and they turned back, eyebrows arched.
Sola hadn't seen much of the Jedi padawan when she'd been assisting with the Battle of Theed, so she was looking on her with new eyes.
She was a pretty thing with bright eyes in jumpsuit that was dark in color, with matching vambraces of Mandalorian Iron on her lower arms, and a black headpiece on her forehead on which rested a pair of goggles, oddly enough. The dark colors made the lavender shade of her skin more prominent.
"Padmé!" Talik said in surprise, grinning when she saw her, stepping forward in order to wind her arms around the young Queen. "Anakin will be sad he missed you! I didn't know you were going to be on planet!"
"It was sort of last minute," Padmé laughed when they separated and Taria quietly left. "You look wonderful, Talik, much better than the last time I saw you."
Talik's lips curved. "Thanks," she said, looking down at herself sheepishly. "I've taken after Master Sabé in fashion sense, I think. Black is kind of a threatening color."
"That explains so much about Sabé," Sola remarked dryly and they all laughed as Pooja looked around with wide eyes.
"You're Sola, right? Sabé's other sister?" the Jedi probed and Sola bobbed her head.
"I'm Talik," Talik offered helpfully to Sola.
"I'd gathered," the woman said dryly, "Sabé described you pretty well."
Talik's cheeks flushed mauve.
"How old are you now?" Sola couldn't help but wonder.
"I turned fifteen two months ago," Talik said proudly, straightening her spine. "Anakin just turned fifteen last week."
"I thought Jedi weren't supposed to be prideful," Padmé remarked, elbowing the girl in the side and Talik rolled her eyes.
"There's a lot of things Jedi aren't supposed to be. It'd be easier to list of things that we're supposed to be." She removed the data-chip from her datapad, replacing them both in a locked drawer. "I'm guessing there's a particular reason for your visit because queens are usually quite a bit busy, from what I've heard."
Talik cast a significant glance towards Padmé who didn't even look ashamed.
"It's actually because of me," Sola admitted, shifting her daughter from one arm to the other when the one holding her baby got a bit tired.
Talik arched an eyebrow.
"My daughter Pooja is Force-sensitive," Sola struggled to get the words out, but Talik didn't appear too surprised.
"Inheriting Force-sensitive nature within families isn't all that uncommon," Talik admitted. "One of the masters on the High Council, Master Plo Koon, has a niece that's a Jedi."
There was a doleful hoot from their side and Talik dropped a hand to pat on the astromech's domed head.
"Arthree's been out of sorts since Sabé's mission went south and the High Council declared her killed in action," Talik mentioned, nodding her head towards the R3 unit. "Can I see her?"
Sola felt a bit uneasy, but she handed over her daughter to the Twi'lek. Talik cradled her easily in her arms, leaving Sola to wonder how much experience she had with children.
"I help out in the crèche sometimes," Talik said and Sola guessed the question had been rather clear on her face. "Maybe we should go to a private room?"
It wasn't really a suggestion, though, when she started to walk away, still holding Pooja in her arms, leaving Sola with no other choice but to follow quickly after her.
The somber astromech –a word she never thought she'd use when speaking about a droid– rolled after them.
"This isn't really about your daughter being Force-sensitive, is it?" Talik probed, rocking the infant easily in her arms and it was almost annoying how at ease Pooja was in her arms as opposed to Sola's.
"Well, it is, partially," Sola admitted, holding out her arms for the child and Talik easily deposited the baby in her arms. "But it's mostly that I need a second opinion."
Talik looked from Padmé to Sola before realization dawned on her. "You mean about her coming here to train to be a Jedi."
Sola heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes," she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I would've asked Sabé, but…"
There wasn't really any need to finish that sentence.
"And Padmé says you know her the best," Sola mentioned, a glance flitting towards her younger sister who was strangely fascinated with her impeccable fingernails.
"I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask," Talik conceded, biting the corner of her lip as she did so.
"I'm asking you." Sola didn't think she could possibly be more serious as Talik pulled herself up onto the cot.
Talik blew out a breath through pursed lips. "Do you know why Master Sabé chose to become a Jedi Shadow?"
Sola's brow furrowed and confusion couldn't have been made plainer on Padmé.
"It's not a very revered profession for a Jedi. They delve more into the darker sides of the Force," Talik explained. "Jedi don't like to acknowledge that the Force is a spectrum, not just one of Light and Dark. They also don't like to be questioned, which is why she always rubbed them the wrong way."
Talik could understand Sabé's irritation with the High Council now. Not just anyone could be a Shadow, and no one was as good at it as Sabé was, even Taria couldn't deny that.
"They also don't approve of her relationship with her family…they're not exactly forward-thinkers." Talik cast a significant glance towards the pair.
"Speaking as a Jedi, yourself," Padmé chuckled.
"I was raised to have an opinion and go against the grain." Talik's nose was in the air and she barely pulled off the arrogant look.
It made Sola smile just a bit. Talik was a bit more like Sabé than she'd originally thought.
"But, honestly," she said, sobering up a bit, "I think the Jedi Order would have to change quite a bit before you'd want to consider letting your daughter join them."
That couldn't help but surprise the pair of sisters.
"Really?" Sola's eyebrows arched.
"What were you expecting?" Talik inquired dryly. "Me trying to convince you to let the Jedi Order abscond with your baby?"
"Well, I don't know," Sola admitted a bit awkwardly, "maybe a little."
A smile warmed Talik's face and then she sighed. "Master's a great Jedi, you know," she said, "but I don't think she's really been happy here for a long time."
Sabé had always chafed against the Jedi Order's Code, Talik only really thought that Sabé was truly happy when she was near her friends or Talik and Anakin. It was the people in the Jedi Order that she cared about, not the Order itself. And sometimes Talik couldn't help but wonder if the High Council, if Yoda, had been aware of that.
Talik shook herself out of her thoughts to give the pair a smile. "Keep your daughter," she said to Sola. "This isn't a life you want for her."
"I think Sabé would be proud of you."
Talik's fingers roved over the smooth surface of one of her vambraces, allowing a smile to adorn her lips.
They were standing outside of the Temple now, where Talik had escorted them in order to see them off, and Sola had opted to stand a bit away from them to give them a semblance of privacy.
"You think so?"
It was strange to look on Padmé and Sola and see so much of Sabé on their faces; in some ways it was almost painful.
"Of course!" Padmé squeezed her shoulder kindly. "You've accomplished so much even without her to guide you."
Talik's smile faltered slightly. Sabé had always been rather prepared on that front. That one day Talik would be without a master had always been a possibility to her and she had prepared for it well in advance.
"Talik!" came a sudden call and both looked up to see a blue-skinned Twi'lek approaching. "I went looking for you in the Halls of Healing, but they said you'd gone."
"I'm just escorting the Naberries out," Talik said, smiling at her makeshift master. "Padmé, Sola, this is Aayla Secura, she's one of Master Sabé's friends."
Aayla was dressed similarly to Talik, Padmé couldn't help but notice, though the woman's was far more exposing, with her midriff clear to say, and in a lighter brown and lacking a sleeve down one arm.
Sola nodded her head, stepping forward slightly to incline her head as Aayla's eyes widened in surprise.
"You're Sabé's sisters," she realized, remembering the name Naberrie as being Sabé's birth name.
Padmé waved helpfully. "Sabé mentioned you…a lot actually. And someone named…Kit?"
"Kit Fisto," Aayla agreed, her tone just a trifle too fond but Talik wasn't going to mention it. "Yes, we're very close." She winced. "I mean, we were very close."
Padmé felt to the woman who had grown up with her sister; believing that Sabé was truly gone must have been very painful for Aayla.
"Do we have a mission?" Talik asked with a furrowed brow.
"Yes, to Ganthel," Aayla said, looking away from Padmé with an expression much like someone who had seen a ghost and towards Talik, "violence has broken out and the Council has asked that we calm the masses."
Talik rolled her eyes. She cared very little for what the High Council thought. The only council of the Jedi that Talik considered to have any authority over what she did was the Council of First Knowledge. Sabé's seat had sat vacant for three months until Taria Damsin was elected to replace her, and now Talik didn't really fall under their scope of control, not being a Jedi Shadow or being currently apprenticed to one.
"Oh, before I forget," Padmé said suddenly, pulling a box out of the bag she'd been carrying looped over her shoulder. "I have something for you. Happy birthday."
Talik took a box in exasperation. "You didn't need to get me anything, Jedi don't really celebrate birthdays."
"Sabé would've gotten you something, wouldn't she've?" Padmé prodded.
"Master Sabé is special like that," Talik snorted, but she didn't bother to deny that Sabé would've gotten her a gift. Sabé was sentimental.
She removed the lid only to laugh. "A blaster? Just wait until I tell Master Obi-Wan!"
Aayla gave a brief smile and Padmé grinned; She'd heard many stories from Anakin about how Obi-Wan found any weapon besides the lightsaber to be uncivilized.
"Thank you," Talik hugged Padmé tightly, "I'll let Anakin know that you stopped by, he'll be so jealous."
Padmé laughed, her eyes glittering. "I'm sure our paths will cross again. Soon, hopefully."
And then Sola gave Talik one last thank you before the two women and the one baby left the Temple entirely.
"I didn't realize Queen Amidala was on-planet," Aayla remarked when the air-bus bearing them had lifted off.
Talik secured the holster containing the relatively light-duty blaster pistol to her thigh. "Neither did I."
She could sense where her substitute master's thoughts were drifting, so she spoke up in order to distract them both: "So…Ganthel?" she inquired. "Are we going alone?"
"No," Aayla smiled, winding an arm around the padawan's shoulders as they walked back towards the ziggurat. "Master Miro Daroon and his padawan Tiplar."
Talik couldn't stop the smile that wormed its way onto her face. Tiplar was one part of a Mikkian Jedi twin pair. It was almost unheard of to have siblings with identical midi-chlorian counts enter into the Jedi Temple. Relatives, sure, but siblings? Unlikely.
Luckily it was easy to tell Tiplar and her sister, Tiplee, apart, because even though they bore the same tendrils floating around their head –much like seaweed in the reefs of Naboo– and an identical tattoo on their foreheads, Tiplar's skin was a yellow-green shade whereas Tiplee's was red.
Talik had spent an awful lot of time with the sisters, training against them both when Anakin wasn't around.
Thinking about Tiplar made her feel a little warm, but Talik disregarded the feeling; she had other things to worry about.
It wasn't really common practice for Anakin and Obi-Wan to end up locked up in some dark cell, but Obi-Wan couldn't help but sense it was about to be the start of a growing trend.
"Anakin?" He called out for his padawan when it became clear that he could no longer sense him. Usually that only meant two things: either he was dead, or something had dulled their Force connection. In this instance, Obi-Wan was going to go with the latter, especially since their captors had injected something into them before throwing them into the cell.
They'd been sent to initiate peace talks with the spice dealer syndicate on Kessel known as Obdia, but something had evidently spooked the dealers, or else they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
"Here, Master," Anakin groaned to his left and there was barely enough light to make out Anakin. The fact that he –like Talik– had opted for darker colored robes didn't make it any easier to see him.
But what surprised him was a third voice, a disgusted groan in a rough voice that rang with familiarity.
"Ugh, 'master'? Don't tell me they locked up a pair of Jedi in here, I may be sick."
The voice was female, but not much else could be ascertained other than where in the darkened cell it originated.
"Who are you?" Obi-Wan demanded, unable to keep a note of curiosity out of his voice.
"Someone who's biding their time, evidently," came the dry response, "but I'll humor you, Jedi, just this once."
And then there was the sound of something shuffling –undoubtedly the woman pulling herself upright– and then they stepped into the dim light.
Obi-Wan was certain that his heart had dropped into his stomach and Anakin openly gaped.
The woman standing before them had a spiraling black tattoo that spread down one side of her neck to curve over her shoulder, with hair dyed red and black, half of which was cropped short close to her skull, and piercing yellowed eyes, of which he knew to associate with the Sith, but not with the face they resided on.
"Sabé?" He could barely breathe.
"Mistaking the student for the master is rather amusing." Not-Sabé gave a devilish smirk that looked so out of place on Sabé's face. "My name is Carina, Darth Carina, if you will, my master is dead, and soon, you will be too."
AN: I won't lie, I really love writing Carina, I've been building up to her for so long. And the Obi-Wan v Carina is going to span months, no lie. It's going to be great.
In other news, Talik is doing better and has some fantastic fashion sense ;)
As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
