Plo Koon sat back in the seat of his ship and looked out at the hyperspace tunnel. It always calmed him to focus on it, and he could use some calm given recent events.

The better part of a week had passed since Master Depa Billaba and her Padawan Caleb Dume had returned from the Christophsis system, without their cruiser. Their report of the battle had unsettled everyone who heard about it and raised more questions than they had started with.

Only Padawan Dume had seemed to come out of the fight unbothered. Of course, with his own face-to-face interaction with the Inquisitor, nearly every Padawan and Youngling had come up to him at least once asking about the Sister. From what Plo Koon had heard, he never said much on the matter, but only reaffirmed his belief that she was not Ahsoka Tano.

The Knights and the Masters were not so convinced as he was. Master Yoda had talked with Caleb one-on-one and got the same answer that everyone else did, but it didn't seem to sway the minds of the Council. Depa had only shared that she was more uncertain than ever as to what should be done about the Sister. The Jedi Masters were still divided.

Plo Koon, apart from the debate of the Council, wished that there was some hard and fast proof about her identity. He, like Master Yoda, did not want to make another false move concerning Ahsoka's loyalty, but until it was proven one way or the other nothing could be done to solve the problem. All the Jedi Order could do was watch for her and wait for her next strike.

If only someone had seen her in the past few months. If there was proof that the Inquisitor and Ahsoka were separate people, in separate places at the same time, then the arguing would subside and tensions would dissolve quickly. As it was, the former Padawan had not been seen since she had walked away from the Order. No one knew where she was.

It broke Plo's heart to think that someone so joyful could possibly have become so dangerous. More and more pictures were popping up from around the galaxy, and in all of them, the Sister looked as menacing as Master Kenobi and Master Billaba had said she was. If it was possible for anyone to have been born looking like a Dark user, then the Sister definitely had been. The red skin added quite the touch to her armor and lightsabers.

Although he hadn't voiced any of his thoughts, he knew that there were ways to prove the identity of the Inquisitor. If they managed to get a DNA sample they would find answers almost immediately. It would be easier if the Sister was human, because their hair had a tendency to fall out during fights, but she was a Togruta. The only sure DNA they would be able to find were blood samples, and no one had managed to injure her that badly yet.

The monitor beeped at Plo Koon, and he prepared to drop out of hyperspace. He was arriving at the Birren system, located in the Inner Rim. Supposedly, there was a force-sensitive child down on the surface of the planet and Plo Koon had been sent to retrieve them.

He couldn't help but think about the time he had gone to Shili to meet Ahsoka for the first time. It had been a close call, and a dangerous encounter with the pirates, but he had managed to bring her safely to Coruscant. If only he could do the same for her now.

He shook his head and jumped out of hyperspace. He needed to focus on this child right now. He had to ignore his protective instincts. It was difficult, especially now, but there was no choice at the moment.

Plo Koon flew down to the landing pad next to the Great Hall and deactivated the engine. He walked down the ramp and checked in his ship, eager to finish the mission and return to the Temple. In five minutes, he was pulling the hood of his robe over his head, and walking down the streets of Birren. He followed the faint Force signature to the outskirts of the capital city, away from the hustle and bustle of the daytime rush.

The houses here were little more than shacks, held together by rusting bolts. The other houses were elaborate, and had all sorts of decorative Birren regalia, but not these. These were huts and were hardly appropriate places for Younglings.

He walked forward until he came to the house the signature was leading him towards. He knocked on the door, and a male Twi'lek answered. He had a tan skin tone and wore less than admirable clothing, but this didn't bother the Jedi Master. He had seen worse.

"My name is Master Plo Koon," he began. "I've come to see your child."

The man nodded and let him in. When the door was shut, he turned to the Jedi Master. "Thank you for coming, I was beginning to worry about her safety."

"Where is she?" Asked Plo, and the man walked into the next room.

"Here," he answered, and Plo Koon followed him.

A woman, presumedly his wife, was seated on a crate playing with a young girl that looked just like her. The woman was also a Twi'lek and had orange skin. So did her child, although her facial features resembled that of her father's. When Plo Koon walked in, the child turned to stare at him. He could feel her Force signature much more strongly now, although it was still fainter than most.

"Her name is Lura, and this is my wife, Kyala," said the father. "I am Duran."

The mother, Kyala, smiled weakly, but the daughter, Lura, looked at the Jedi with the same wonder that Ahsoka had so long ago, although Lura wasn't nearly as afraid as she had been. It pained Plo Koon to see that look again, but he hid his feelings and spoke aloud. "It is good to meet all three of you," he told them, before kneeling on the floor next to the child.

Lura didn't quite know what to make of the Kel Dor at first. She knew that he was different and she recognized, subconsciously, the Force inside of him. She was still cautious though. Lura didn't know Plo Koon yet and didn't quite trust him at first. Well, as much as a two-year-old can trust anyone.

Plo Koon studied the child before speaking to her parents. "When did she first start showing signs that she was Force-sensitive?" He asked.

"A few months ago," Kyala answered, "she started yelling and began to squirm her way out of my reach. We were in public, and she had never acted that way before." She scooped up her daughter in her arms. "A few days later, one of the men that we saw there was arrested. We weren't sure what was going on, but it happened again, twice in the past month."

Duran took over the story, sitting next to his wife and child. "She seems to have incredible instincts, about the people around her. Every time she's done this, someone we saw with her there had been arrested. Then she started to move things without touching them, and we started to worry. We brought it up with the doctor because we didn't understand it at first, but he told us that she might be Force-sensitive, and told us to call the Jedi."

Plo Koon nodded. It was a lot like Ahsoka's story, in a way. She had also been keen on knowing who was dangerous at a young age. It was cruel, in a way, to have to meet this child with the mess that was going on in the war.

"May I see her?" He asked, and the parents looked at each other. Eventually, Kyala set her daughter down on her feet, and Plo Koon reached out a hand to Lura.

The girl stared at his hand, then at his eyes. Plo Koon stared back at her, undeterred. Sometimes, the Younglings needed a minute to decide if they wanted to trust people at first, and Plo Koon was used to this. He did not move his arm, but let the Force flow through him, so Lura could feel it. The young Twi'lek would not understand what she was feeling, but she would still feel it.

After a few seconds, Lura walked towards Plo Koon and laid her soft hand in his. He closed it gently and felt the child's Force signature. She was definitely the child he was looking for, but he wanted to see what she was capable of before anything else.

He pulled some stones by the shabby fireplace towards him and Lura and laid them between the two of them. Lura looked on at the rocks, fascinated by the new toys to play with. Plo Koon reached out a hand and lifted one of the rocks without effort, and he looked at Lura. She turned her gaze from the stone to him and back again before he set it down and rested his arm.

"Your turn, little one," he told her.

Lura stared at him again, then looked at the rock. Plo Koon wasn't sure how much she had understood him, but even without words, the child was old enough to play. Mother and Father never played with floating rocks before, even when she tried to. She looked at the stone and didn't move her eyes for over a minute. Kyala and Duran didn't really know what to make of what was happening but watched without speaking.

After a while, Plo Koon lifted Lura's arm with his finger, gently. He knew it would be easier for her to channel the Force if she had a way to focus on her intention. Lura didn't resist and held her arm in the position Plo left it in. She looked at the rock some more and thought about how, last week, the rock had risen high enough that it was at her eye level. All of a sudden, the rock began to float, and Lura's parents gasped.

Plo Koon smiled under his breathing mask. She just needed a bit of help, but she was already somewhat in tune with her abilities. The child laughed, and the rock flew higher. She had someone to play with now!

"Your turn!" She spoke, for the first time since Plo Koon had entered the house. "Your turn, your turn!"

Plo obliged, and he lifted three rocks at once. Lura lost interest in her own rock. and let it fall as she reached out to touch the other three. She grabbed one of them, and Plo moved the others around in a circle. Lura laughed again and clapped her small hands, and she swiped at the stones. She didn't catch them, but she giggled as they danced around her.

"So she's not sick?" Duran asked, holding his wife close. "That's normal for...for you Jedi?"

"Lura is not sick," Plo Koon affirmed, and he lifted more rocks to entertain the child. "As she learns to control the Force, this will become natural for her. She will be able to do much more than just lifting stones."

"But she has to go?" Kyala asked, her voice breaking. "She has to leave?"

Plo Koon sighed and let the rocks fall in Lura's lap. This was always the hard part, convincing the parents to let go of their child. He turned to them.

"At the Temple, she will learn to use the Force and to protect other people with it. She will be kept safe until she is able to defend herself, but here, away from protection, she is in danger."

"Danger?" Duran asked, pulling his wife close.

"There are people who would take Lura, and train her to hurt people instead of helping them," he explained. "Pirates have tried to steal Younglings before, and sometimes, they succeed. The longer she stays away from the Temple the more likely it becomes that someone will try to kidnap her."

Kyala turned pale, although with her orange complexion it was difficult to tell. Duran stiffened up and trained his eyes on his daughter. Lura didn't quite understand what Mother and Father were saying to the strange man, but she could tell it wasn't good. She stood up and ran to her parents, and Duran picked up his child and balanced her on his knee.

"Can't we wait?" Kyala asked, laying a hand on her daughter's shoulders. "Just give us another year with her, and then she can go."

"Kyala," Duran told her, putting on a brave face. "The longer we wait, the harder it's going to be. We can't wait for someone else to find her and take her."

Kyala stared at her husband, frightened that he would even suggest such a thing. She wanted to tell him that she would never let anyone touch, much less kidnap, Lura, but she knew that it wasn't true. She couldn't protect her daughter, not forever. She couldn't fight pirates.

Her eyes scanned around the room, hoping that another solution would pop out of thin air, but she couldn't find any. All she could see was Master Plo Koon. She knew, she knew that it was for the best, but she didn't want to let her daughter go. Not yet.

She didn't have a choice, though. Kyala knew it. Defeated, she asked the Jedi, "Do we need to do anything for her before she leaves?"