Hey everyone! Sorry this took a bit long, but finals are coming up and I've been busy with concerts, rehearsals, papers...all of you college students know what I'm talking about. Anyway, with summer coming up, I should have a lot more time to write and move ahead in the story. Enjoy!

Ayame and Kamuro are mine. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.

Back at the Temple, Kamuro bid his master good night as he went to his room. Ayame thought about going to her room as well, but realized that she couldn't sleep at all. Instead, she went to a sparring room with holographic projectors. Removing her outer robe, she drew her lightsaber and stood in the middle of the room.

"Computer, run program 13f.2, level 5," she said. The training room shimmered into the main hangar bay of the palace of Naboo. As she stood there, she heard a lightsaber turn on behind her. The second blade being activated made her adrenaline pump into overdrive. She turned around, activating her own blue blade. The red and black tattooed Sith stood before her, grinning wickedly. They circled each other for a minute, and then he leaped forward and attacked. Ayame immediately went for the hilt of his saber, looking to put one of the blades out of commission. It took her a mere two minutes of fighting to achieve her goal. She had run this program several times before, having written it herself, and it had taken her 10 minutes the first time. This time, for whatever reason, she was more incensed than usual. Her adrenaline was driving her to attack more forcefully than she normally did, and when she finally stopped, the holographic Sith lay dead on the floor, and only 5 minutes total had passed. Ayame held her pose for a full 30 seconds before moving, just staring at the body on the floor.

"End program," said a gravelly voice from somewhere behind her. She whirled around, raising her saber to defend as the scene changed back to the sparring room, her heart racing. Master Yoda was standing there, just looking at her. Ayame breathed a sigh of relief.

"Master, please don't scare me like that," she said, sheathing her weapon.

"Scared you, did I? That isn't like you, Ayame," he replied, walking slowly forward. He was right, of course. Ayame put her robe back on, and faced her master.

"I'm sorry, Master. I just couldn't sleep," she said, trying to brush off what she knew he had seen. Master Yoda just looked at her, the wisdom of 800 years sparkling in his green eyes. She never could avoid that gaze, least of all when he looked at her like that. Ayame closed her eyes and sighed again, knowing what was coming.

"Killing him again will not change the past," Yoda said.

"Yes, Master," Ayame said softly, hanging her head.

"You must train yourself to let go, Ayame," he continued. "Master Qui-Gon would say the same thing, I think." The mention of the late Master still caused a pang of sadness in Ayame's heart, and for some reason, Yoda mentioning him made it hurt even worse. Ayame forced herself to look at her Master, and was surprised to see that he was smiling.

"You are ready," he said simply, and motioned for her to follow him.

"Ready for what, Master?" Ayame asked, doing as she was bidden. Yoda climbed into his hover chair, and turned it on, hovering to eye level with his old Padawan.

"Follow, and learn, you will." Ayame watched him float away a few feet before chuckling to herself and following. 10 years later, and I'm still his Padawan, she mused as she walked. They traveled in silence to one of the meditation rooms. Yoda sat down on one of the pads, and motioned for Ayame to sit opposite him.

"What happens to Jedi when they die, Ayame?" he began.

"They transform into the Force, becoming one with it," Ayame answered, a bit confused by the question. He had asked her this question years ago, back when she had first become his Padawan. This was one of the first lessons he had taught her.

"A netherworld, there is," Yoda said. "And many are there. For all Jedi, more challenges wait in the netherworld of the Force. Find the way out, and they become truly one with the Force, and able to communicate with us, they can." Ayame stared, slightly amazed.

"Training never does end, does it Master?" she asked, bemused. Yoda merely smiled, his green eyes twinkling with light. Ayame was about to say something else, but a sudden jolt in her consciousness caused her to look behind her, towards where Senator Amidala's penthouse apartment was. Obi-Wan and Anakin were taking action. Had the assassin tried again so soon? Yoda must have sensed it too, because he stood up.

"Continue this later, we shall," he said. Ayame got up, bowed, and ran out of the room.

Why does the speeder bay have to be on the other side of the temple?! Ayame thought furiously as she ran. Her brown outer robe was flapping as she ran, almost knocking over a cleaning droid. Without slowing down, Ayame into the speeder bay, jumped in the one that she and Kamuro had used earlier that day, and blasted out of the hangar, casting her senses out as far as she could looking for Obi-Wan. The first place she went was the apartment, checking up on Padmé. The guards downstairs didn't bother to hold her back, allowing her to jump in the lift and slam the button for the top floor. The doors had barely begun to open when Ayame burst through them, almost breaking them. Two of the guards saw her and pointed to the bedroom. With a nod, Ayame ran in to find Dormé with Padmé and Captain Typho. Padmé was sitting on the bed, looking a little flustered, but unhurt.

"What happened?" Ayame asked. Padmé, still in shock, pointed to the far wall. Ayame followed her gaze and was surprised to see two kouhons lying cut in half on the floor. Her eyes then shifted to the destroyed window. With a bit of a sigh, Ayame checked on Padmé for a few minutes, and then bolted back to her speeder to look for Obi-Wan and Anakin. She was flying around one of the seedier districts when she saw a green speeder zoom by with someone on top of it. With a jolt, she realized it was Anakin. She wrenched the speeder around and took off after them. Not too far behind, she saw Obi-Wan following as well. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. She wrenched the speeder around and followed Obi-Wan. He parked his speeder in an alleyway and started running after what Ayame figured was Anakin. They stopped outside a club and Ayame finally caught up with the two of them.

"Try not to lose it," Obi-Wan was saying, holding out Anakin's lightsaber. "This weapon is your life."

"What's going on?" Ayame said as she jogged up.

"Master Ayame," Anakin said, slightly out of breath. "The assassin went into the club." He pointed to the entrance. Ayame nodded and allowed Obi-Wan to continue.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're going to be the death of me?" Obi-Wan said as the three of them walked in.

"Don't say that, Master. You're the closest thing I have to a father," Anakin protested.

"Then why don't you listen?" Obi-Wan replied. The three stopped and looked around the club. It was packed full. There were various sporting events on the three large screens in the back, and patrons were enjoying their drinks.

"Do you see him?" Obi-Wan asked, only loud enough for them to hear it.

"I think he is a she," Anakin replied. "And I think she is a Changelum." Obi-Wan nodded, and the two Masters tensed a bit.

"In that case, be extra careful," Obi-Wan said. Ayame immediately cast her senses out, searching for someone who didn't belong. The problem was, they were in a seedy part of town, and many people here probably didn't belong. "Go and find her," Obi-Wan said, taking Ayame by the hand and starting to walk away.

"Where are you going, Master?" Anakin asked, confused.

"For a drink," Obi-Wan replied. Anakin sighed slightly, and walked away, looking around as he went. He looked a little conspicuous in his black leather tunic and lightsaber hanging from his belt, but Ayame and Obi-Wan trusted him. The two of them sat down at a bar and ordered drinks. A young man sitting next to Obi-Wan looked at him.

"D'ya wanna buy some death sticks?" he asked, his voice surprisingly gravelly for someone so young.

"You don't want to sell me death sticks," Obi-Wan said. Ayame felt a slight nudge in the Force and saw Obi-Wan wave his hand. She grinned. Force Persuasion was not usually an acceptable way to convince someone, but in this case, he was helping this young man turn his life around for the better.

"I don't wanna sell you death sticks," the boy said.

"You want to go home and rethink your life," Obi-Wan nudged again.

"I wanna go home and rethink my life." As he echoed Obi-Wan's words, he sounded a bit confused, but he got up and left. Ayame looked at Obi-Wan, who shrugged. Despite the two of them having a drink together, they were both on alert. Both of them were following Anakin's movements, ready to spring the moment he was in danger. Sure enough, as he passed by them, a sudden jolt in the Force alerted them. Obi-Wan jumped up, and in a split second, he drew his weapon and cut off a woman's arm. Ayame looked down and saw a blaster in her hand. This had to be the assassin. Deactivating his weapon, Obi-Wan and Ayame helped the woman up.

"Jedi business, go back to your drinks," Anakin said to the now-silent crowd. They went out the back door into a deserted alleyway to interrogate the assassin.

"Do you know who it was you were trying to kill?" Obi-Wan asked as they set her down on the ground.

"It was the Senator from Naboo," she said, grunting in pain.

"And who hired you?" Ayame asked, standing behind Obi-Wan.

"It's just a job," the assassin replied.

"Who hired you? Tell us," Anakin said. When she didn't answer, he demanded, "Tell us now!"

"It was a bounty hunter called..." and she was cut off by a dart piercing her neck. The three Jedi looked behind and up, just in time to see someone in Mandalorian armor fly away with a jet pack. They looked back at the assassin and watched as reverted to her true form.

"Weeshanit...sleemo," she choked out before collapsing. She was dead. Ayame turned and searched the skies for a sign of her killer, but there was nothing to be seen.

"Toxic dart," Obi-Wan said, pulling it gently from the body. Ayame sighed heavily. Their only witness and assassin was dead, just as she was about to give them the information that they needed. Anakin contacted the local authorities and had them remove the body. Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to the Sentator's apartment, and Ayame returned to the Temple. By now, the sun was rising, and she was tired. I guess it's meditation for me, she thought as she parked her speeder. But a shower first. Obi-Wan and Anakin would have to report to the Council on this tomorrow. The best thing would be to get the Senator off of Courescant. But how? She wasn't going to just take this lying down. The military creation act was important to her, and she had been fighting it furiously for the past several months.

This wasn't going to be easy.