"I told you she was up to something!"

"Corran, calm down," Wedge said.

"She can't just upend the entire Jedi mission without talking to anyone."

"You mean without talking to you?"

"She should have at least discussed it with Luke first."

"Oh, come on, you know Luke is the last person she tells anything to."

"That's true," Luke said. "Wedge is more likely to know first."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm surprised Leia isn't more furious," Corran said.

Luke looked over Corran's shoulder into the living room where Leia was talking to Han and Winter and Mirax. "She isn't thrilled. But she isn't shocked either. Maybe she knew something like this was coming?"

"From who though?" Corran asked. Luke shrugged.

The apartment door slid open and Jaina and Camie came into the living room. "I didn't know you were on Coruscant," Corran said.

"I decided I had to see the spectacle in person," Camie said.

"We were in the gallery," Jaina added.

"Oh." Corran followed them as they crossed the room to talk to their mothers.

"It's a good point though," Wedge said when Corran was on the other side of the room. "If Leia knew, someone told her and it almost certainly wasn't Brianna."

"Do I need to know?" Luke asked.

"Also a good point."

The door opened again and this time Iella came into the apartment. "Were you in the gallery too?" Wedge asked.

"I was working."

"Oh." Iella crossed to the back of the room to join Leia. "You remember that NRDI staff member we ran into a couple weeks ago?" Wedge asked.

Neither of them had brought that up to anyone else. "I do." Wasn't part of the point of retirement that he didn't need to know what everyone else was doing?

"Oh, you all better have saved me some food!" Brianna walked in and went straight to where Tycho, Wes, and Hobbie were huddled around a platter of vegetables, chips, and dip. "Perfect."

"I guess we'll have to put taco night on hold," Wes said.

"What? Heck no, let's do it next week."

"You just made a pretty big time commitment to a Borsk Fey'lya to work out how the Jedi are supposed to work with the Republic," Tycho.

"I'm really good at multitasking," Brianna said, grabbing a chip. "Besides, he's not so bad. He's gonna get a pet lizard you know."

"A what?"

"Yeah, you should definitely tell everyone."

Wedge and Luke looked at each other. "A pet lizard?"

"I wish I was that good at multitasking."

"There's no way he's getting a pet lizard."

As Brianna continued her raucous, and possibly fictionalized, account of her interactions with the senior Bothan, Luke's gaze wandered back toward the front of the room. He'd almost missed her entirely. A young woman, probably close to Brianna's age, was standing quietly near the door. Her hands were folded in front of her and she was turned just enough toward him that he could see a lightsaber dangling from her right hip. "Jaina," he asked as she walked past him to open the refrigerator, "do you know who that woman is? I think she came in with Brianna."

Jaina opened a drink for herself. "Oh, that's Brianna's friend Elena. I think Camie's met her before. She was sitting with us in the gallery."

"Lots of new things today," Wedge said as Jaina walked away again.

"I suppose I should go say hello," Luke said. She appeared interested in another area of the room as he approached. He tried to probe her gently with the Force. He didn't get kicked back. But he didn't get let in either. "Hello," he said.

She gave him a small nod. "Hello."

"You're Brianna's friend Elena, right?" He offered her his hand. "I'm her father, Luke."

"Yes. I…know who you are."

Right. Of course she did. "Is there anything I can get you? A drink, or…?

"No. Thank you."

"Oh, hi!"

Elena stiffened and had a slight look of horror on her face as Wes bounded up to say hello. "Hey, do you wanna come over here? We've got -"

"Hey Wes."

"Oh, hey Luke. Hey -"

"Wes, I think Wedge had something he wanted to tell you. Over there."

"What?"

"Yeah, why don't you go see what he wanted?"

"Oh. Right, yeah. I'll see ya later."

Elena lowered her shoulders just a bit as Wes hopped off again. "That's Wes," Luke said. "He's like a really friendly puppy. He's harmless though."

"Good to know."

"Ah, well, if you need anything, you can just ask, anytime."

"Thank you."

Luke gave a nod, then walked back to the kitchen island where Wedge was hiding a grin behind a glass of whiskey. "Did you rescue her, or did you rescue Wes?" Wedge asked.

"Probably some of both."

"How you doing, you all good?" Brianna asked, leaning up against a wall.

"Just fantastic," Elena said. "Though, it is getting a bit hot in here."

Brianna took a glance across the room. "Yeah, he's pretty mad right now."

"Not doing a very good job of hiding it."

"He's always like that."

"I suppose I should make my exit."

"Yeah, that's cool. We'll catch up. Hey, let's go to that rice ball place in section thirty-two, you know the one with the seafood?"

"You're eating here."

"Yeah, but you're not. Come on girl, food is life."

"Very well."

"Awesome. You can find your way out?"

A small smile touched Elena's lips. "I found my way in."

"Ha! That's what I like about you. I'll see ya later."

Luke and Wedge had finally migrated out of the kitchen and into the living room. Most of the crowd had thinned out, leaving just the people who lived on this floor and Corran. Luke had watched Corran hover near Brianna for about fifteen minutes while she ate her way through the remainders of snack platters, and he waited for people to leave.

"Are you going to explain yourself?" Corran asked.

Brianna looked up from her seat on the couch. Luke wondered if she was going to go direct or be coy.

"No."

"You had no right to do what you did."

"I don't work for you either."

"The Jedi have a responsibility to protect democracy. You can't just throw that out without even discussing it with anyone."

Brianna stood up and started pacing around the room. "Protect democracy?! What are we doing, guarding polling stations? When was the last time you, or any normal citizen, voted for anything around here? Half the member worlds in this 'Republic' aren't even democracies. What exactly do you think we're protecting?"

"We are protecting representatives' ability to vote freely!"

"By taking on a bunch of busy work fixing border disputes and whatever else they want to whine about? We're not people's babysitters and we don't need to tell them what to do. We have an actual job and maybe we ought to do it."

"Who says we can't do both? Aren't you always the one talking about multitasking?"

"Even if we, collectively, could do that kind of multitasking - and I highly doubt we, collectively, can do that - just because we could doesn't mean we should have to do what other people can do. People have lives."

"Sometimes, sacrifices are required."

Brianna laughed. "Oh please, you haven't sacrificed a damn thing."

"I've put my life on the line far more times than you ever have."

"Yeah? Big deal. When was the last time you've had to sacrifice something and live with it?"

Luke suddenly felt like everyone was looking at him. They weren't. Wedge was. Everyone else was transfixed by the shouting match.

"You've gotten to do everything you wanted. Be a pilot, take a sabbatical, do training, be a Jedi, all on your own timeline whenever the hell you wanted to and everyone let you do it. Do not talk to me about 'sacrifice'."

"You can't just do whatever you want! Other people are working -"

"I am the only person working to make sure we don't keep repeating mistakes!"

"You are obligated to discuss -"

"I. Don't. Work. For. You."

"You aren't in charge of anything!"

Iella stepped up to the war. "Corran," she said gently, "you need to calm down."

Corran looked at her. "Iella, with all due respect, this is Jedi business and it doesn't concern you."

Luke and Wedge exchanged a glance as Iella stepped further in between Corran and Brianna. "For your information, what led up to this hearing was my idea so it very much does concern me. With all due respect to you."

"Wait, this hearing was your idea?"

"No. What initially generated Fey'lya's interest was something that was my idea."

"And what was that, then?"

"That," Iella said, "is NRDI business to which you are not entitled."

That answered some questions. Luke noticed Brianna had stepped back. He'd never known her to back off from an argument before.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Corran asked.

"You can keep doing whatever you were doing before. What you choose to do as an individual Jedi is up to you."

"And you're not going to tell me what this thing is?"

"If I ever have occasion to tell you, I absolutely will."

Corran nodded. "Well, then I hope you know what you're doing." And he left the apartment.

Iella stepped out of her apartment and saw that Luke was already in his usual place on the hallway couch. He almost always was as she was on her way to work in the mornings. "May I join you for a moment?"

Luke shifted down a cushion. "Please."

Iella sat. "Oh, I don't want to interrupt your journal writing."

"It's okay." He closed the book. "I was taking a pause anyway."

"Wedge told me that's been really helpful for you."

"Oh, it has been. The physical writing of letters is surprisingly meditative. But it also forces me to stop and think more fully about each thought I have, since the writing is slow. I may have to stop soon, though."

"Why?"

Luke flipped through the book. "I'm almost out of pages. I don't have another one."

"Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift from a diplomatic mission I went on for Leia a few years ago. I have no idea where I would get another one."

"Well, I'm sure something will come up," Iella said. Luke nodded and shrugged. Iella wondered what Luke might have been writing about. "You're not upset about yesterday, are you?"

"It wouldn't really serve any purpose if I was."

"That doesn't mean you couldn't be."

"I just hope Corran isn't too upset with you."

"Eh, he'll get over it," Iella said. "It's hardly the first time he's been mad at me."

"Why didn't you ask Corran to do…whatever it is Brianna is doing?" Luke asked. "I don't need to know what she's doing. I'm retired, right? I shouldn't need to know what everyone else is doing."

Iella smiled. "That's true. For…what I had in mind, Brianna was just the better option. She's smart, she's quick, she's really good at figuring things out. Not that Corran isn't any of those things. But he can also be very…rigid in his thinking of how things are supposed to be. Brianna is more, shall I say, innovative. Ready to challenge people. She's very good at telling people 'no' when she thinks they have a stupid idea. And if you don't assume too much, she'll actually explain why she thinks what she thinks, instead of only insulting you."

Luke chuckled. "But she told you 'yes',"

"Well, I did have to sell it. I figured out just enough of her to…illuminate the right incentives."

"Well, good," Luke said. "I'm glad she's found someone she trusts."

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," Iella said. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually trust anyone."

Luke sighed. "I suppose that's my fault too."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. She cares a lot more than she likes to let on. And she loves you very much. In fact, one of the reasons she said yes to me was so no one else came asking you."

"Really?"

"Leia got asked first and she said you 'weren't available'."

"She did?!"

Iella laughed. "That was Brianna's reaction too. It was my idea to ask Brianna. Which Leia wasn't thrilled about, but I convinced her not to stop me either."

"Yeah, we wondered what Leia knew," Luke said. "I guess it sounds like you have things under control."

"To the extent that anything is controllable, I suppose that's true."

"I just…you know…I don't - I don't want her to turn out like me."

"You're not so bad, you know."

Luke laughed a bit. "Yeah. I mean -"

"I know what you mean," Iella said. "I don't think you have to worry too much. She isn't you."

"No," Luke said. "She isn't."

Iella keyed into the usual classroom. "Hi Sen."

"Hey boss."

"Where is everyone?"

"In the practice space," he said, nodding toward the side door as he stood up. "They just went in. Apparently Brianna has her training plan for those two."

"Oh good."

"And a training assistant."

"A training assistant?" Sen opened the door for her. The rest of the analysts were gathered off to the side watching while Brianna explained to Sir'ren and Visalia what they would be doing. Off to the other side was the same woman Iella had seen at Leia's apartment the night before.

"I assumed you knew who she was," Sen said.

"I was told last night that her name is Elena."

"I take it you didn't get her the long term visitor's badge then."

Iella took a closer look and sure enough, Elena had a badge pinned to her sleeve. She suppressed a groan. "I will take care of this."

"You got it boss." Sen went to join his colleagues.

Iella turned her attention back to Brianna's training, where she and Sir'ren were now having an argument.

"It's a Sith practice!"

"Ugh. We've been over this. Unless you're maximizing personal power, there's no such thing as a Sith practice. This is basically just a juiced up version of a Jedi Mind Trick, and you've been taught to do that, right?"

"That's not the same thing."

"Of course it's not the same thing. The Jedi Mind Trick is arguably less ethical. So I don't know what your problem is."

"What's a Jedi Mind Trick?" Valah asked.

"Excellent question," Brianna said. "A Jedi Mind Trick, as it is colloquially known, is a low level technique that allows a Jedi to redirect another person, a non-Force user. You can direct them to say a particular thing, do a particular thing, pay attention to a particular thing. It's most often used against minor obstacles so the Jedi in question can continue doing whatever else they were doing."

"That sounds pretty handy," Divin said.

"The way the technique is taught, it really only works on people who are 'weak minded.' If you try it on someone more strong willed, it won't work. Case in point: shortly before the Battle of Endor, my father was trying to get into Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine to rescue some friends. He chokes out a couple of Gamorrean guards, then meets Jabba's majordomo, Bib Fortuna. He tries the trick on Fortuna, saying he needs to speak with Jabba, and he is happily escorted to the main audience chamber. He tries the trick on Jabba and is laughed straight down into the rancor pit."

"That doesn't sound unethical," Kyra said.

"What I'm trying to teach here is a technique that is designed to be used against other Force users, people who could, theoretically, fight back. Which is exactly what we're doing. Masking is being used against us, so to counter it, we have to know it and understand it. The Jedi Mind Trick, on the other hand, is specifically designed to be used against people with the least capacity to fight back."

"But, it's used so you do not have to have a fight," Visalia said.

"If the person is such a simpleton, maybe you should be able to get through without a fight anyway."

"Have you ever used it?" Kyra asked.

"No, it's boring." Brianna turned back to Sir'ren. "Now can we get started?"

Sir'ren had been taught the Jedi Mind Trick years ago. He'd never had occasion to use it. What Visalia said had always been the rationale. Avoid violence. Still, though. But, learning masking to counter it had some logic. "Yeah, okay."

"Fabulous." Brianna Force-pulled two practice sabers from her backpack and tossed one to Sir'ren. "Circle drills."

Sir'ren ran through a few turns of circle drills and corner calls.

"Very good." Brianna stopped in front of him. "Now, keep your eyes closed and focus on me. Can you sense me in the Force right now?"

"Yes."

"How about now?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"And, how about now?"

"Ye -" Sire'ren frowned and resisted the urge to open his eyes.

"Well?"

It was like a disembodied voice talking to him. "No."

"Very good. How about now?"

And now she was back. "Yes."

"Okay. I am going to do that again, but very slowly. As I'm doing it, pay close attention and describe it out loud."

"Out loud?"

"Yes. Out loud. Here we go."

Sir'ren felt his brow furrow as he concentrated. "It's like you're fading away, becoming transparent. And now you're sort of being replaced by a gray, puffy cloud. The cloud is made of, I don't know, it looks like conjoined sets of double doors. It's still fading. And each set of doors is…is rolling in on itself. And now it's gone."

"Okay. Now I'm going to do it in reverse. Describe it, if you would please."

"The cloud is fading back in. The doors look like they're rolling outward… You're fading back in now. There you are."

"Excellent! Well done, you can open your eyes now. Vis! Come on over here." Sir'ren took a deep breath as Visalia joined them. "Vis, can you sense Sir'ren in the Force right now?"

"Yes."

"Good. Sir'ren, give it a go. Vis, you tell us if it works or not."

"That's it?" Sir'ren said. "That's all I get?"

"Yeah, it's fine, just give it a go. See what happens."

"Well, I don't think I'll be able to actually do it."

"Do, or do not," Visalia said. "There is no try."

"That's what bad teachers say to shame their students for failing," Brianna said.

"You really don't like Master Yoda, do you?" Sir'ren said.

"Well, he is a bloody liar. Are you ready?"

"I'm just saying, it won't be very good."

"Of course it won't be very good. It's your first time trying it. By the time you get to the hundredth time, we should see some progress. But you can't get to the hundredth time until you do it the first time. Which will probably suck. So. Get started."

Sir'ren took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. He tried to imagine what he described before. As if the Force around him were the bits of cloud and he could actually turn the pieces around on themselves. It seemed too chaotic to do all at once. He moved methodically around himself, turning piece after piece after piece. It was slow, as if the Force didn't trust him to do what he was doing and each piece only turned reluctantly. He lost track of how it was taking.

"Well?"

"I think, maybe?"

"How 'bout it Vis? Can you sense him?"

"Um. Yes."

Sir'ren sighed and opened his eyes.

"Outstanding, well done. One down, ninety-nine to go. Next!"

"I can't tell if there's anything happening or not," Sen said.

"The sparring is pretty great though," Dom said.

"I've watched her teach before," Iella said. "It's hard to tell until the other person actually gets it." Brianna was alternating exercises between Sir'ren and Visalia, and interspersing each with a bit of light sparring with Elena. The morning was nearly gone. "Why don't we break for lunch?" Iella called out.

"Excellent idea! Food is life."

Sir'ren and Visalia came back to the group. "You look beat," Sen said. "Does it work?"

"I don't know, I've got ninety-one more tries left," Sir'ren said.

Iella walked over to where Brianna was putting her practice sabers back in her backpack. Elena quickly excused herself. "It's always fascinating watching you teach," Iella said.

"I like seeing people get it," Brianna said. "It's fun."

"Elena seems like a good teaching assistant."

"Oh yeah. She's my friend. She's cool."

"I see she has a long term visitor's badge."

"Yeah, that was easy. Melki's a superhero."

"Yes, Melki is very helpful," Iella said. "You are not authorized to do that."

Brianna looked up from her backpack. "Oh. Ummm. I could…"

"No, she can keep it," Iella said. "I will fix it. Do you know what would happen if that transaction were to be audited?"

"It's cool, you can just tell 'em it's my fault."

"There is not one single person in this building who would hold you responsible or accountable for that. I might be spoken to, but that's about it. Melki would probably get fired."

"Oh. So…"

"I will fix it. Don't do it again."

Brianna stared. "Check." She threw Iella a sloppy salute then ran off to join the others for lunch.

Iella sighed. "Definitely not Luke."