This chapter is mostly bits and pieces since I can't find a way to tie them together better. Secrets are revealed in here. Enjoy…


Their time at Verocia was coming to a close, and everyone –Crusade Squad, Kiki, Rex, and Anakin –was glad for it. The sightings were getting worse along with their nightmares. None of them were getting any sleep, and each day was harder than the last. Kanari tried as best she could to comfort Rex each morning after the nightmares, as she did for everybody.

Ri- the two year old who called Kiki "aunty"- seemed to have a growing fear of Anakin. It would have been comical had the child not gotten so scared to a point of not wanting to be in the same room as him.

Even the children were starting to get affected. They claimed to be seeing "monsters" pass by the windows and through the bushes. "I swear, I saw one!" one child would complain, to the clones. The men would try as best they could to pass it off as their "imagination" or a story they were making up.

Each day brought new facts to squash that notion…

The words "Lizard War" would pass often between two clones as they went about their daily tasks, trying to figure out if the nightmare of three years earlier would relive itself or if they would leave the planet safely.

Captain Rex's "a week at the most" had been bumped up to a week and a half. They all knew that this would end up happening, but even still they had hoped it wouldn't have had to be…

OoOoOoO

The Children's Nightmares:

"Uncle!"

Ridge rolled over in his bed and continued to sleep.

"Uncle, wake up!"

"Mmm…what?" Ridge was not amused that someone would decide to wake him up so early. He looked at the chrono in the corner of the room by the window—the Commander's side. It read 0300 (oh three-hundred hours). "It's three in the morning!" he hissed with annoyance and impatience. Ridge began drifting off to sleep again.

"Uncle, can I sleep here?" Ridge was awake enough to answer.

"No."

"Uncle please!"

Ridge rolled over to see which of the five palace children was trying to prevent him from having a good night's sleep—as good as it would get. It was Limmy, the youngest and shiest of the five. Her pale skin glowed in the moonlight as she looked at Ridge with equally pale, large silver eyes. The children had taken to calling their male superiors "uncle"—a sign of respect on Verocia and its moons. The same went for the females: "aunt" or "aunty".

"Why?" he asked, against his better judgment. He was losing sleep, the nightmares of his brothers keeping him up at night. Although he didn't say anything unless it was to one who would leave after a fit—offering, or trying to offer, words of comfort as they went to take a walk about the palace in the middle of the night—they could see it in his eyes with the dark circles that lined the underside, in the way he stood early in the morning; shoulders hunched and neck slightly bent. When he spoke, it was slower than with his usual speed and brightness.

"I saw monsters in the halls outside my room," was Limmy's immediate answer.

"There's no such thing as monsters," Ridge muttered as he turned toward the window again, rolling away from the small girl.

"Uncle please…I'm scared." She sounded close to tears, and tears were the last things that Ridge wanted at the moment. He heard her hiccup—it could have been a gasp—as he lay there, contemplating her answer. Just at that moment, he felt a cold, spiky chill roll down his spine, and he thought he heard a slight rushing noise in the hall through the open door. His skin grew goose bumps, and at that moment, he didn't want to be alone—no matter that his brothers were a few bunks down. He wasn't about to go to them in the middle of the night and complain of being "scared", they would hate him even more than they already did—although he didn't know why.

Also, he didn't exactly want Limmy going back through the halls at night, on her own. He didn't know what it was he was feeling—he was no Force-sensitive—but it was dark and evil-feeling. He didn't want that darkness hurting Limmy. Besides, he'd grown a sort…soft spot (as you could say) for her, considering how she was the youngest, quiet-around-new-people one of the group—just like him.

"Ok, fine. Climb in," Ridge said a little begrudgingly. He rolled over again and picked up the edge of the blanket, allowing her enough space to crawl into. Just as she got in, he rolled back over to the window.

Her small body was surprisingly warm, and the chill he felt still rushing down his spine from earlier dissipated as she snuggled closer to his back.

"Uncle?" Limmy asked, her breath warm on his bare back.

"Mmmhmm?" Ridge was already falling asleep.

"What's this on your back?" She lightly traced a swirling tattoo on his shoulder meant to resemble fire.

"It's fire," Ridge answered, his words slurring slightly. "Don' touch it."

The faint swirling feeling on the back of his shoulder stopped, moving to a thin solid bar on his left arm, and a line of thorns a few inches under it.

"What's this one mean?" Limmy asked, her curiosity seemingly endless.

Ridge didn't answer, he was already asleep. The last thing he remembered before the world drowned out around him was the feel of Limmy's body pressing closer to his back, and the feel of a slight smile spreading across his lips—the first real smile since anyone arrived on Verocia…

OoOoOoO

Anakin tossed and turned in his bed. There was a darkness lurking in the halls of the palace, he could feel it—everyone could feel it, even the Padawans, who had never had to deal with the horrors that the others had to three years before. Anakin shivered at the thought of what had happened at The Lizard War, how he still had nightmares—occasionally, but they happened.

The door opened behind him, and the chill that Anakin had felt all day raced throughout his entire body. Almost instinctively, he curled in toward himself. Her heard movements on part of the large bed behind him, like someone slipping underneath the blankets. A second shuffling was heard in front of Anakin.

"Uncle?" a soft, high voice asked. Anakin cracked his eyes open. His vision cleared as he saw one of the five palace children in front of, kneeling on the bed. "Uncle, can we sleep here?" Another shifting noise behind him sounded. It was most likely the second of the pair that were always seen with each other around the palace halls. They weren't twins, but they sure acted like it.

Just to be sure, Anakin rolled over and met the eyes of Rili, who was looking at him intently, albeit the frightened look in her eyes.

"We saw monsters, Uncle," she said seriously.

"Monsters?" Anakin wasn't quite sure he believed that. Even still, he looked out the window across the hall from his room. He didn't see anything.

"Please, Uncle?" the first one—Shora—asked.

"Mm…fine," Anakin said a little groggily. The two girls climbed under the blanket next to Anakin. He lifted his gaze to the window in his room, directly across from him. He saw something in the corner of the window, but the clouds were blocking the bright moon, preventing him from making out what it was. The clouds briefly passed to reveal…

Claws.

Anakin subconsciously shivered despite the warm blanket, and he felt all of the blood drain from his face. The long claws were connected to a dark, scaly hand, which slowly went down passed the sill, and out of sight, making a faint but noticeable screeching noise.

"Uncle, what was that?" Rili asked from behind Anakin.

It was a moment before Anakin answered. "Nothing, go to sleep, girls." He brought the blanket closer to himself and the small children. The blanket was considerably warmer with Shora and Rili there, but Anakin was okay with that—he realized he had been cold before the girls arrived.

OoOoOoOo

Waking Up from the Nightmares:

Ridge woke up to the sound of snickering coming from above him. He cracked open his eyes, squinting against the glaring sunlight that immediately pervaded them.

"Isn't this just adorable?" a voice from far away said. There was more laughing as Ridge shifted in his bed. The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was wake up, he'd been having such a nice sleep…

Ridge opened his eyes wider since the snickering wouldn't stop. Above him was Edger—or what he could make out of him, his image was blurred. "So," Edger said, a teasing tone in his voice, "how'd your sleep go?"

Ridge scrubbed a hand across his eyes. "Mmm…what?" Everything around him was foggy, and the voices seemed muffled. A similar noise of protest sounded from beside him, small hands hugging his arm. It was then that Ridge woke up.

Limmy lay next to him in the small bed, sleeping soundly except for the noise she made earlier.

Everything that happened the night—or early morning—before came flooding back on top of him, from Limmy's frightened voice to the dark feelings he was getting until her arrival. Ridge's arm was across her smaller body over the blanket. Limmy lay curled towards him. Ridge had trouble remembering why they had ended up like this. The memory lit up in his mind like a flame. Something had crashed.

Ridge was fast asleep beside Limmy, both of them snoring softly. Ridge shifted and turned over against the chill that came back with a vengeance. Limmy moved closer to Ridge's back to stay under the blanket.

A loud crash from outside woke the both of them up. Limmy snapped her eyes open and looked around frantically. "Uncle, what was that?" she asked, the earlier fear present in her voice again.

Ridge's heart beat picked up as he looked through the window from his bed. "It's probably just some kids playing a prank, go back to sleep." Ridge turned his back to the window and set his arm across Limmy, hugging her slightly.

"Is it the monsters again?" Limmy asked, her voice shook, not from tears, but from pure terror.

"I honestly don't know, kid," Ridge said, regretting it immediately. Limmy squeaked and shrunk under the blanket. Ridge sighed and sat up, pulling Limmy into his lap. "Listen, kid," Ridge said quietly. Limmy looked tilted her head back to see him. "Even if there were monsters, I wouldn't let them get to you, alright? No need to be afraid." Ridge hoped his tone was soothing enough to quell the seven-year-old's fears.

"Okay," Limmy said, nodding her head. Another crashing sound assaulted their eardrums, along with a more muffled noise—a shout. Limmy flinched and curled herself into a tight ball, tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

Ridge also felt like hiding away, but he stayed stock-still and held Limmy even tighter. He couldn't shake the dark feeling that he felt inside his chest, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. He wanted to go outside to see what the problem was, but that would mean leaving Limmy alone, and he wasn't sure if he could do that. The guards outside will take care of it, Ridge thought unconvincingly. "Hey Limmy," he said soothingly.

Limmy sniffed and looked up. "Mm?" She rubbed and eye.

"Do you like lullabies?" he asked softly. Limmy slowly nodded her head. "Good," Ridge said brightly, but still quietly—he didn't want the others to wake up and hear what he was about to do. "I think I know some lullabies, would you like to hear one?" Ridge asked. He cradled Limmy in his lap, swaying back and forth gently.

Ridge didn't think his voice was very good, although others had told him he had an amazing voice (but they only knew that when they snuck up on him).He'd never sung to anybody, or for anybody. It was always quietly and when he was alone. Limmy seemed to calm down as she sniffed and listened to the lyrics.

"Hush lapseni, manna nukkuman, lapseni…" Ridge sang softly. He didn't know what exactly the words meant, they weren't in basic, but he'd heard a woman sing it to her crying child one time, after a battle, and the song stuck in his head. He rubbed Limmy's back as she slowly fell into an uneasy sleep. Ridge went to sleep soon after.

Ridge sat up in bed and looked around at the smirking faces around him—excluding Cord.

"This is beyond adorable," Edger said, smirking and crossing his arms. Someone hit his arm. "What? It is," he said in his own defense.

Limmy began waking up. "Uncle?" she said, rolling over to face Ridge. "Oh, good morning, Uncle," she said sleepily, but smiling. "And good morning uncle," she greeted, not looking at any of the clones in particular.

"And how did this come to be?" Jax asked, motioning to the still groggy Limmy in Ridge's bed. Ridge sighed.

"She came to me and said she saw some monsters, so I let her sleep with me during the night," Ridge said, half shrugging a shoulder. He involuntarily shivered slightly at the memory of the dark chills that had rolled down his spine early in the morning. "She was probably just having nightmares," he said, much against the actual reason.

"Uncle?" Limmy sat up in bed. "Are the monsters gone?" She pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Yeah, they're gone," Ridge said, rubbing her head affectionately. Limmy smiled.

"Good, let's go find aunty!" She hopped out from the covers with a new found energy that hadn't been evident earlier. She came around the bed and tugged on Ridge's arm playfully. "Come on!" she said, pulling harder. "Let's go see if we can wake her up!"

"Alright, alright! I'm coming." Ridge stood up and walked out of the room, little Limmy tugging his hand.

Rex gave Ridge a small smile that spoke thousands of volumes. Good job, kid, it said. Ridge felt a swelling in his chest, a feeling he was not used to. He did not get praised often. Rex nodded curtly before turning to go suit up for the day.

The entire time, Limmy didn't say anything about the singing.

OoOoOoO

Anakin rolled over in his bed, turning away from the light that came through the door Rili and Shora had left open the night before. Two small bodies moved closer to their primary source of warmth as Anakin basically pulled the blanket off of both of them.

Anakin heard footsteps fall quietly on the carpeted floor. "See? I told you he was asleep!" a female's voice said.

"Wow, your master must be a deep sleeper, then," another girl's voice said.

Ahsoka walked closer to Anakin's bed. "Master, wake up!" She shook his shoulder. "Don't you want breakfast?"

"Maybe he needs his beauty sleep," Danda said cheekily. Ahsoka snickered at her friends joke and continued to shake Anakin.

"Mrrrmm…Go away Ahsoka!" Anakin snapped, not appearing from under the blanket.

"Master, come on! Waaake uuuup," Ahsoka said, poking Anakin in various places.

"D- it, Ahsoka! Just let me sleep!" Anakin growled.

"Uncle, d- it is a bad word," a little voice said from under his blanket.

"What the—" Ahsoka pulled up the blanket in front of Anakin, revealing Rili.

"Good morning!" she said brightly.

"Rili, if d- it is a bad word, you shouldn't be saying it," Shora said from behind Anakin.

"Neither of you should be saying it!" Danda said from the door. She crossed her arms and leaned against the frame.

Shora popped her up from behind Anakin. "I'm hungry," she announced to no one in particular. "Let's see what's in the kitchen!" She jumped off the bed and raced through the door, nearly knocking into Danda on her way out. Rili raced close by behind her.

"You coming master?" Ahsoka asked from the doorway.

"Maybe later, Snips," Anakin said, his voice muffled under the blanket. Ahsoka sighed and walked out the door.

OoOoOoOo

The next morning, Kiki ignored the incessant knocking on her door. She moved farther under the blankets. It was the first night without nightmares, and she wanted it to last as long as possible.

The door opened seemingly of its own accord, and bright yellow sunlight came in through the wide window from across the hall.

"I told you she was in here!" Limmy stage whispered.

"T-this is the General's room!" a clone Kiki couldn't identify said. She was too tired to try and figure it out.

"So?" Limmy asked in all innocence. "Aunty, where's Ri?" Limmy asked, skipping to the bed. She dragged a reluctant Ridge in behind her.

"I don't think I should be—" Ridge began, but kept quiet when he saw that Kiki was sleeping.

"She's right here," Kiki answered giving up all hope on getting more sleep. Kiki lifted up the edge of the blanket to reveal little Ri sleeping with the tip of her thumb in her mouth.

Ri squeezed her eyes tight and turned away from the light filtering through the door, pressing her face into Kiki's chest. "No!" she said.

"She said she saw monsters last night," Kiki said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Are you coming to breakfast, aunty?" Limmy asked, crawling onto Kiki's wide bed.

"Maybe later, Limmy," Kiki said, pulling the blanket up again. Limmy pouted, but quickly got over her momentary sadness.

"Okay! Uncle, let's go exploring!"

"Exploring?" Ridge asked, allowing himself to be dragged yet again by Limmy.


Secrets:

Rex knew he wasn't the only person who noticed how friendly Kiki and the queen were. It was as if they had known each other their entire lives. At first, Rex had entertained the thought that they could be related, but quickly squashed it. If Kiki were actually related to the queen, she most likely would have stayed at the palace instead of becoming a Jedi to perform her royal duties. That was Rex's reasoning, anyway.

Another thing Rex didn't fail to notice was Kiki's late…behavior. He knew exactly why she was acting the way she was, but every little sign he saw of her ailment startled him. Yes, the recent probability—although small—of a second Lizard War scared all of them, but she'd been acting stranger and stranger each day, and it was starting to show.

Pale sunlight flooded through the large windows and spilled across the island in the kitchen. Just- after dawn was becoming Rex's favorite part of the day. Then, he felt he could clear his head of whatever nightmares had plagued him the night before. It was quiet and cool, with a seemingly natural peaceful air around it. Rex sighed almost-contentedly and looked down at his usual bowl of soup before him. If he knew how to safely work the stove top, he would heat it.

Kanari strolled into the kitchen, humming quietly to herself. She went to the nearest cupboard and started pulling out a few bowls.

"Bomata, Kanari," Rex greeted in Verinese. He was becoming more comfortable around Kanari—something he was glad about, or else Bliz's incessant teasing would never stop.

Kanari jumped and dropped a bowl on the clean, dark counter, making it clatter before she placed a hand on top of it. "Oh, sorry Rex!" she said, spinning quickly. Her accent was more prominent when Rex startled her—which tended to be often—and Rex felt a warm tingle light up his spine. "Bomata," she said, bowing ever so slightly.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Rex said hastily. His eyes drifted down to his soup on their own.

"It's okay," Kanari said cheerily. She continued pulling ingredients out of cupboards. "So," she said, "what kind of flamjas would you like today?"

Rex froze. Kanari had never asked him what he wanted before. His silence seemed to amuse her. "Yes, I'm asking you," she said, smiling brightly in such a way that made Rex's insides melt.

"Oh, um…" Rex stumbled for a moment, his face beginning to bloom into varying shades of pink. "Can you make the fruit ones that you made a few days ago?" He rubbed that back of his head sheepishly.

"Sure!" Kanari hummed while she worked, a sound that made Rex feel sharp electricity run through is veins.

A few minutes later, Kiki walked in, looking tired, but hungry. "Good morning, Kanari. Rex," she said, rubbing an eye. "So, what's for breakfast?" She sat down at the island, still looking quite tired.

"I'm making ovotsi flamjas. Rex chose them," Kanari said, mixing ingredients in a bowl.

Kiki raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she asked. "I see you've come to love Kanari's cooking, Captain," Kiki said teasingly.

Rex's face went from light pink to dark red in a matter of seconds. "N-no sir! It's not like that! I—"

"Relax Rex! I'm only teasing," Kiki said, giggling.

Just then, Queen Makoria walked through the door. She waved of Rex's salute before he even got up. "It's too early in the morning for that," she said, hiding a small yawn behind her hand. Makoria's jet black hair—much like Kiki's—flowed down her back in waves reaching her waist, and she wore loose-fitting pants and a top instead of her royal regalia from the days before.

Rex's eyebrow shot up to his hairline—he couldn't help it. Kanari caught the look and gave him a half shrug, half smile, and half eye roll, as if to say this is our queen in the morning.

"And good morning to my favorite sister," Makoria said, giving Kiki a tight hug.

Rex froze.

"You did it again, Your Highness," Kanari said from the stove. Makoria's eyes widened.

"Oh, Kiki I'm so sorry," Makoria said. "I'm so clumsy all the time I—" Her gaze locked onto Rex.

Rex's blood went from frozen to rushing powerfully and loudly through his veins.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Makoria asked, giving Rex a look that said he wouldn't be able to deny it.

"N-no Your Highness," Rex said, moving to stand and make a salute again. Rex's thoughts strayed to Kiki's first secret—one that he had sworn not to tell. Now, he had to heavy secrets to carry on his shoulders, both of which made him extremely nervous. Yet again, Makoria waved his salute off. Rex sat down and looked at Kiki's waistline, not intending to. He could see pale blue skin peeking through a shirt that should have been perfectly form-fitting for her.

It was starting to show.

"Besides," Kiki said. "I'm your only sister." She drew small circular patterns on the table top.

"Don't say that! That's too much depression in the morning," Makoria said.

"Wait, you're her sister?!" Kiki, Makoria, Rex, and Kanari all spun to the voice at the entryway.

Anakin stood completely rigid, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open.

"Oh no," Makoria said under her breath.

"How come I didn't know this?" Anakin asked walking into the kitchen.

"What's it to you who I'm related to?" Kiki snapped defensively.

"This kind of revelation completely changes the mission! Does the council know?" Anakin couldn't help but glare at Kiki.

"What kind of dumb question is that? It was the council that brought me to the stupid temple in the first place! Why do you care anyway? It's none of your business!" Kiki snarled.

"You do realize that there are many missions we could have gone through safely if you had—" Anakin began. Kiki froze, her violet eyes growing dark.

Kiki shot up out of her chair. "Shut up Anakin! You have no right to—"

"Guys, guys please!" Makoria said, walking between the two of them. "No fighting right now. I know we're all tired from lack of sleep, but quarreling isn't going to help, especially when there are children around." She pointed to Rili, Shora, and Limmy, all of which were hiding behind Anakin's legs.

"How did you not know that Aunty Makoria and Aunty Kiri were sisters? Everybody knows that," Limmy said. She pulled Ridge in with her, who also had a shocked look on his face.

"Kanari, are you almost done with those flamjas?" Makoria said, trying to change the subject.

"I only have a few done," she answered, putting a plate in front of Rex.

This is certainly a lot to take in, ridge thought. Wait, that means she's a princess!

"If you didn't know that aunty is a princess, that's pretty sad. Everyone on Verocia knows that," Rili said, climbing onto the tall chair at the island.

"Rili!" Kiki hissed. "Sure, go ahead and tell everyone in the galaxy my secret!"

"Including the one about the b—" Shora began. Kiki clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I was being sarcastic, and they're called secrets for a reason," she said, an annoyed tone obvious in her voice.

"Is it okay if I already told some of my uncles that you were a princess?" Shora asked. Kiki groaned. "Well, I don't think it matters now. They didn't believe me."

"Now we do," Marik said from the doorway.

"Do we have to call you your highness instead of General now?" Edger asked.

Kiki looked up to see all of Crusade Squad crowding around the entryway to the kitchen. Isn't this just great, Kiki thought sarcastically. "Call me 'you highness' and I'll kill you," she said. "So Kanari, when is that food going to be finished?"

"I'm almost done, you can come take some now, if you want," she said. Kiki gladly accepted the slight distraction.

Jax, the last to come in, took a little longer to process the whole thing. He sat quietly at the table while everyone else chatted. To think that all of this time, he'd had feelings for a princess instead of a regular Jedi general. Kiki never acted like royalty; she yelled, she swore, and she hit whoever annoyed her. Jax felt his blood run cold through his veins. What is she found out about his feelings for her or—as Edger called it—crush? Jax didn't know what powers Kiki held over commoners and soldiers such as himself.

"Hey," Edger whispered to Jax. He flicked his eyes over to Kiki, then raised an eyebrow, smirking.

Jax glared. There were times when Edger acted as Jax's best friend, and he was grateful for that, but there were others when he was just a plain nuisance. Jax decided then and there that he would do everything in his power to keep Kiki from finding out about how he really felt for her. It doesn't matter anyway, I'll see a pretty woman from another planet and then I'll forget about this petty thing for the general , Jax thought unconvincingly.

OoOoO

Ri's Special Gift:

Ri rolled the small ball to Marik, who caught it and rolled it back. Ri laughed.

Makoria looked fondly at Ri for a moment before going back to her conversation with Anakin and Kiki over the newest threats from the Separatists.

"I swear I could hang Dooku for this," queen Makoria said. "What have we done to him to deserve this kind of treatment?"

Kiki chuckled. "That's Dooku for you."

Anakin was beginning to get used to Queen Makoria's informal demeanor. She was like Kiki, in a way—minus the cursing and death threats on his life. Something Anakin had not been able to get used to was the fact the Ri was afraid of him.

Ri stood up and ran to Kiki's leg. "Hi aunty!" she said jovially.

"Hey there Ri, how are ya?" Kiki said, bending over to pat Ri's head. She giggled and ducked her head.

"Hey Ri, do you want to build a block tower with me?" Marik asked from the floor. Ri vigorously nodded her head and ran back to Marik, tripping when she reached her toys.

Anakin didn't understand why Ri only had a fear of him, and not anyone else. He pushed the thought to the back of his head as he looked at the holo-map of the planet of Verocia. On one side, there were seventy-two moons, all varying in size and shape. A few miles out, in empty space, was a Separatist ship, just beyond the line that marked the Outer Rim from the Mid Rim. Verocia was so close to the Outer Rim that some of its moons were less than a mile from actually being in it. Most lazy sailors marked Verocia as Outer Rim as well. On the other side of the planet was a Republic fleet.

Anakin looked back up to see Rim trying to climb on top of Marik. When their eyes met, she hid behind Marik's back. Anakin sighed and looked at the holo-map. When their eyes met, she hid behind Marik's back. Anakin sighed and looked at the holo-map. He sensed something in the child, but he couldn't tell what it was, or whether it really mattered. She seemed to always know when he was around, sometimes before he even walked into a room.

"Well, it's better if we get this over with without any confrontation from the Separatists," Kiki said, reaching for her glass of juice. Her hand knocked into the side of her glass instead of grabbing it, and the cup fell off the holo-projector.

The glass didn't hit the ground, though. It was being held up by the Force—but it wasn't Kiki or Anakin.

Ri looked up, hands held out and splayed before her, a bright smile on her face.

Ri was using the Force.

Queen Makoria stood still for a moment before slowly bending over to pluck the glass out of the air, placing it back on the holo-projector. She sighed. 'I was hoping it wouldn't come to this…" she said quietly.

"Wait, you knew?" Kiki said, whirling on Makoria. "How long?"

"I guess ever since she was born. I always knew there was something special about her." Queen Makoria smiled sadly and bent over to pick up her niece.

Kiki's head was racing—as was Anakin's. The last thing she wanted was Ri being taken to the Temple to be trained as a Jedi. She knew that Anakin would tell Obi-wan the first chance he had. She watched him as his face went from wonder to deep contemplation. "Don't tell," Kiki said immediately.

"How am I not supposed to tell the Council?" Anakin snapped.

"By keeping your mouth shut!" Kiki glared at Anakin. "This is none of your business, anyway. Just pretend it didn't happen."

"I can't just pretend that this didn't happen!" Anakin said loudly. He looked at Ri, which made her cower and hide try to hide her face in Makoria's dress. Anakin's face softened a little. "Kiki this is important. She could be in danger if she stays here and she's a Force-sensitive—"

"What danger?" Kiki interrupted him heatedly. "You should let Makoria take care if her own niece's issues."

"The danger being that we have Separatists right outside our doorstep!" Anakin yelled, waving to the large windows.

"Whatever," Kiki seethed. "You are not telling the Council about this! She does not need to go to that Temple."

Anakin couldn't believe what Kiki was saying. She would actually risk this child's life because of some vendetta she had against the Council. Everyone knew that—although she almost never disclosed her reasons—she had a certain dislike for the Jedi order, to a point where she wished she wasn't Force-sensitive. She was rude to the council, and her ideas about the Jedi code would influence the younglings at times. She was spontaneous, unpredictable, and acted more on her emotions than on better judgment—all of which were the opposite qualities of a good Jedi.

It was no wonder the Council hated her.

"You can't let your personal feelings get in the way of what Ri needs," Anakin said, trying to reason with Kiki.

"And since did you know what Ri needs? Since when did you do anything unless it was for yourself?" Kiki yelled.

"Please Kiki…" Queen Makoria said quietly. Kiki sighed.

"Besides," she said, considerably calmer now. "You can't take her until you get permission." She turned back to the map, effectively ending their conversation and cutting off anything else Anakin had to say.

Ri whimpered and squirmed, making Makoria put her down on the floor. She ran over to Marik and crawled into his lap.

"It's okay kid," he said to her quietly, rubbing her head. "You wanna build that tower now?" Marik didn't seem too shaken by the fact that Ri was Force-sensitive. He'd spent a lot of time with her since they landed on Verocia, he could have already known.

Ri looked up into Marik's always-smiling eyes. She relaxed and started building blocks around Marik's thigh. Although she was Force-sensitive and could sense the feelings of others and the near future, she did not see all of the pain and suffering that would come upon them in only a few days…


Finally done with this chapter! Words in this: 5,578. I'm not very good at revealing secrets; I'm normally the kinds of person who just says it straight out, no matter how disturbing it is. ^^" This chapter wasn't just for secrets about Kiki, there was also Jax, Ri, and a little bit about Crusade Squad and how they act. Languages used: Haitian Creole, Greek, Finnish, and Japanese. Until next time!

~AAx