She had long black hair held back by a single ribbon that changed color. Her eyes were like the deepest waters. Her skin was practically flawless. Her figure, to kill for. Her voice, like a symphony to the ears.

She was the single most popular human singer in the galaxy, and she had only risen to prominence in the wake of what were known as the Clone Wars. Rumors said she was possibly Force-sensitive, but most dismissed it as idle gossip for the simple fact that if she did have talent to use the Force, the Jedi would have most certainly snatched her up and she'd be out in the battlefield with the others, not singing for the masses.

She looked in the mirror, and smirked to herself.

What most people didn't know was that the rumors weren't rumors at all. She used to be a Jedi Knight, but she gave it up to pursue her dream.

Xion Heartsong, or as she was called among the public "Knight Symphony" nodded to herself as she finished getting ready for yet another concert. It was hard being a popular singer...everyone and their grandmother wanted you to sing for them for hours. And she refused to lip sync to a recording.

"Ms. Knight? They're ready for you," said her assistant, a nervous Twi'lek girl.

"Thank you. Let's go knock their socks off," said Xion cheerfully.

Once she was on that floating stage, she lost all sense of time. She was in her zone, and she wouldn't stop singing until the stage lowered itself and the lights dimmed. Her manager had to schedule intermissions, because he found out the hard way she wouldn't stop unless she knew it was time for a break.

It happened on the way to yet another concert. As neutrals who did not cater to one side or the other, the ship that Xion had her manager purchase for their use in getting around one planet to another for her career, she had a great deal more freedom than most chartered vessels.

Namely in that they could stumble across a battle zone and be allowed to leave unscathed, provided they proved that they weren't carrying the enemy first. It had yet to happen, mostly because Xion could hack into Jedi transmissions, thus alerting them to hidden battle areas... but it was still a risk. Her manager didn't ask how she knew the code into the secret transmissions, but the crew was grateful for it. Some of the merchant vessels had run afoul of a battle between the Republic and the Separatists and found some of their cargo seized by one side or another.

Without warning they were seized by a passing battle cruiser from the Separatist's side.

Xion and the others lined up and waited for the boarding party. It was the agreed upon strategy in case they were captured by unknown vessels.

It wasn't like they needed someone to stay behind on the ship... Xion's presence had provided enough of a surprise for anyone stupid enough to try and hold them hostage.

It was a strict secret among the crew that Xion had a blade similar to the light sabers that the Jedi and Sith favored. A blade that could unlock anything, no matter how advanced it was.

She called it a Keyblade.

Xion held back any feelings she had upon seeing the Sith presence on her ship. The Millennium Star was her ship, and she detested Sith even before she went into her own form of hiding.

For all the Jedi were wise, they could be incredibly stupid at times.

They followed their captor's instructions, mostly because they knew the routine. If things looked to be dicey, then Xion would help them escape. She was incredibly protective of her crew.

In the holding cell...

Xion was perfectly calm as she leaned against the wall. Odds were Dooku would inspect the ship, find nothing of note, and release them in due time. All they had to do was be patient and not cause a fuss.

Meanwhile, her mind drifted back to her days in the Jedi Temple. Specifically the final ones, before she "resigned" as a Jedi Knight.

Her outcry over the barbaric actions of Knight Vos had earned her a stay in a place many younglings avoided like the plague. It meant that the council had doubts about her ability to use the Light Side, and feared she might go Dark.

Going "Dark" seemed to be the ultimate fear of all Jedi. Which was patently ridiculous to her.

If being Light meant casting aside her own humanity just to become an emotionless drone, then she wanted nothing to do with it. At the same time, she refused to join the Sith...she had heard rumors of a Sith Master that was as deceitful as he was terrifying.

So when she was finally released, and given a stern warning not to give into the temptation of the Dark Side again, she went to the library.

It took her a full month to find the forms, and a week to find her official Jedi code number.

In simple terms, the bureaucracy of the Temple declared her "dead, but still active".

Which meant that she was officially dead in the eyes of the Council (because she was turning away from their teachings), but she was active enough to still support it.

Unofficially, she had resigned from the Temple and thus her status as a Knight.

What little she found out through the net was that according to an official casualty list for the Republic, she had been killed in action...but a discreet check confirmed her ID was still very much active until her body could be recovered.

Hearing the alarms, Xion sat up.

'Now what? Don't tell me they were stupid enough to declare they abducted us on route?' thought Xion irritably.

Apparently Dooku was arrogant enough to hold her for ransom, along with her ship. Everyone thought her a piece of flash that they could use as leverage.

Hearing the familiar hum of the light saber, Xion had enough. She drew her Keyblade and unlocked the door herself...startling Skywalker.

He stared at her and the weapon in her hand in disbelief.

"How did you do that?"

"Practice," she deadpanned. She was far too calm, and it was clearly worrying the war veteran. With ease, she opened all the doors revealing her crew and friends.

"Guys, looks like Dooku was stupid enough to hold us for ransom, so the Jedi decided to save us. Don't know why they bothered," said Xion. Hearing the agreeing snorts of those around her, she could feel Skywalker's confusion.

Oh she was going to enjoy this.

Skywalker followed them, more than a little confused and baffled, as Xion calmly used the Force to deal with anyone getting between them and their ship. Once on board, she destroyed the one thing holding it in place with a lightning attack.

By that time, he had finally copped on to the fact she wasn't a normal hostage.

"Who are you?"

Xion smirked and gave him her ID number. Her Jedi ID number. She wondered how long it would take him to find out she was a former "dead" Jedi.

"Miss Xion, we're ready for take off."

"All crew members, be ready for a fight just in case. If Dooku was stupid enough to try for a ransom, he might try to get us back," said Xion.

It took a few months before she ran into Skywalker again, but when she did, he no longer looked like a lost puppy.

"You're a Jedi like me. Why aren't you on the front lines?"

"Former Jedi. The Council doesn't like to tell people, but there is a form that allows you to formally resign. Officially my status is 'dead, but still active'."

Skywalker stared at her incredulous.

"How can you be 'dead, but still active'?"

She shrugged.

"I guess the Council really doesn't like it when Jedi opt to live their own lives without being forced to suppress their emotions all the damn time. I know I was tired of their lies after what Vos did, and they claimed I was 'going Dark side' because I dared to question his methods on the battle field. Once they let me out of the room, I looked for a way to resign, hence my current status. I'm not going back," said Xion flatly.

Skywalker's eyes went hard.

"They claimed you were going to the Dark side because you openly argued against Vos after the massacre?"

"I can tell you where to find the form. I've heard rumors that one of the Knights secretly got married, and if that's true it's going to be a battle between love and duty. If I were that Knight, I'd resign but stay on the active roster after coming clean. Otherwise they're leaving themselves open to the Sith," said Xion. She suspected Skywalker himself was the one who secretly got married, because he was the first in a long time who came into the Order too old to be properly brainwashed.

She had similar circumstances...she appeared at fourteen and her ability in the Force was too strong for them to let go. The fact she had some serious amnesia and her emotions were naturally dull made it easier to bring her in.

Skywalker made sure to memorize the form number, and to look up his own Jedi ID code. But first he was going to talk to Padme about resigning so he didn't have to hide their relationship, while staying on the active rosters.

Xion wasn't surprised in the least to hear about the "scandal of the millennium". A well loved and well known Knight had resigned publicly so he could come clean about marrying one of the popular Senators and not get yelled at by the Jedi Order.

Surprisingly, there was very little, if any public outcry about the idea of Skywalker and Amidala being married. No, the only ones complaining about it were the Jedi themselves.

Xion was rather gleeful to note that the Skywalker/Padma pairing had taken over every single tabloid. They found it rather daring to note that while Skywalker had resigned as a Knight, he was still on the front lines as a member of the Republic's Jedi force. He was still considered a Jedi by the public, but it was clear that the Order was scrambling to come up with an appropriate response to such a massive breach of protocol. If they didn't handle this carefully, it would give a major blow to public relations.

"You did this," said Sarah, her Twi'lek assistant.

"Of course I did. I had the feeling he was the source of the rumors that one of the Jedi had married in secret, and with how much power he has, he'd attract the Sith like flies to honey because he was teetering between love and duty. That's the last thing the galaxy needs," scoffed Xion.

"I gotta admit, it's nice not being the source of the tabloids gossip column. I like boys, thank you very much."

Xion grimaced at the reminder. Because she never showed much interest outside her music, the vultures of the tabloids loved to speculate on her love life.

Still, it was nice to tweak the nose of that stuffy council.

Xion couldn't help it. She was grinning rather mischievously.

Sarah sighed.

"Of course you would find the fact Skywalker pretty much opened the floodgates hilarious."

Most of the younger generation, those that reached the stage of Jedi and didn't like the stuffy atmosphere of the Order, had followed her example and found the forms with Skywalker's help. Suddenly there were more than a few Jedi who had cut ties with the Temple, mostly because they were tired of being forced to the front lines for a battle they wanted nothing to do with. Some of them even agreed with the Separatists, which stirred up a hornet's nest of its own.

Xion had only made things worse by publicly helping the newly freed Jedi find work in the private and public sectors. Some she even hired.

The Order found themselves at a major crossroads, because a good chunk of the Jedi who left did so to get married and have children of their own, which was a major No-No.

For centuries uncounted, the Jedi had been considered monks of a sort, which wasn't that far off. The issue was that they took the potentials so young that it was almost impossible for them to find work outside the Temple. The brainwashing went deep.

Xion grinned as she saw her manager.

"Is it time?"

"You're enjoying this mess you started far too much," he complained.

"It's about time they got a wake up call!" said Xion.

"Yes, yes. You do realize you have an appearance with Senator Amidala in ten minutes, right?"

Xion rolled her eyes.

Padme Amidala was one of THE most popular senators in the Senate. She was also a staunch supporter of the Republic. As such a tag-team of the two was sure to get some major publicity. In light of the mass-resignation from the Jedi Temple, she was one of the few who was actively working to bring the 'monks' into the work force.

Most of the senators didn't really care about the sudden disarray of the Jedi, even if the timing was terrible. To them, it was obvious what the outcome would be.

The Jedi would go crawling back to their temple and things would go back to the way they were, minus the odd Jedi who actually succeeded.

Which was why Xion arranged this publicity stunt with senator Amidala, who had a known interest in the Jedi and had even married one.

They were going to make sure that the number that crawled back to the temple was a lot lower than the Council was hoping for. Especially for those who had left in order to pursue the dream of marrying and having children.

"Ms. Heartsong? It's a pleasure to meet you in person, especially for what you did for my husband."

"Likewise, Senator. Let's just say I had a personal interest in irritating the hide bound fools of the Council," said Xion, shaking Amidala's hand.

Thanks to the fact they had come out about being married, Amidala no longer had to conceal the fact she was also pregnant. The doctor had told her she was carrying twins, a boy and a girl. Needless to say it had set the gossip mongers into a feeding frenzy.

Padme had nightmares of what might have happened if she had tried (and failed) to keep the children a secret, especially once their parentage came out. Especially what it could have done to her husband Anakin long term.

Resigning from the Temple had lifted an enormous weight off him, and even the odd whispers of the High Councilor were having little to no effect.

People knew about their relationship, and more importantly they accepted it.