Disclaimer: I wish I could take credit for creating Star Wars, but alas, I am not George Lucas, and I have no intention of getting sued.

Summary: As Qui-Gon, Anakin, and Bant protect the Republic from Darth Sidious, another Sith Lord emerges – Qui-Gon's presumably dead, former apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. Can the Jedi save the Republic, or is it already too late? The third story in the Jedi Trials series.

Author's Notes: You cannot possibly imagine how much happier I am with this new version of chapter five than I was with the first one. Just take my word when I say that this story will be much, much better than what I had originally planned. I am so happy to be writing again!

Also, thanks for all the reviews I have been receiving. A couple of you have been asking if there's any chance that Obi-Wan will turn back to the light. Unfortunately, I can't say anything without spoiling the story... Sorry! You'll just have to read it and find out.

Revenge and Regret

By Kekelina

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Chapter Five: Qui-Gon's Request

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"I agree with Master Mundi. Masters Yaddle and Unduli should be given this task."

"Mmm," Yoda meditated. "Strong, they are, in the Force. A good team, they will make. What say you, Master Yaddle?"

Yaddle closed her eyes for a moment, consulting the will of the Force. The Council watched her, feeling the Force flow around her. The Force had felt tainted and clouded since the discovery of Darth Sidious, but now, as it filled the Council Chambers and Master Yaddle, it felt pure, strong, and vibrant.

"Agree, I do," she replied with quiet strength as she opened her large, yellow-green eyes. "The will of the Force, it is."

Master Windu nodded his head in concordance with this statement, as did many others. The future was clouded, but the Force was resilient. It would guide the Masters to their foe.

"Then there is no more need for discussion."

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Word spread quickly throughout the Temple, so it should've been no surprise to anyone, least of all Yaddle, when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn showed up at her door.

His calm exterior said otherwise, but she could feel his desperation for the need to do something. Feelings like these were unbecoming of a Jedi, especially a Master of his stature. Desperation, through a series of other emotions, led to the dark side.

"Hello, Master Jinn," she greeted, pursing her lips so slightly it was almost unnoticeable. "Do for you, what may I?"

Qui-Gon bowed respectfully. "Master," he began softly. "I heard you were leading the search for Sidious."

Her ear twitched as she nodded, her eyes never leaving the human Jedi's face, which was covered with more facial hair than usual, giving his already roguish appearance a more maverick look. "True, it is." He radiated fatigue even as he stood there. When was the last time he slept?

Here, he hesitated, as one who has something important to say or ask does when he or she cannot find the right words.

Yaddle gently prompted him. "Yes?"

Something foreign flashed in Qui-Gon's eyes for a nanosecond as his shields faltered. Then they were up again, so quickly Yaddle could almost suspect she had imagined the pain she saw and felt in Qui-Gon.

However, she did not imagine it; Qui-Gon Jinn was filled with hidden pain.

She became wary. It was dangerous to carry such emotions inside, locked up behind a wall that was only so strong. She knew the circumstances in which the pain had developed, of course; everyone did. However, that didn't make it any less of a danger to not only Qui-Gon, but also the entire Jedi Order. Pain turned to hate, hate to revenge, revenge to death.

Only by accepting and releasing his pain into the Force could Qui-Gon successfully overcome it.

"Master Yaddle, I was hoping I might be able to accompany you."

At this, Yaddle frowned, deeply disturbed by his request. "On probation, you are," she reminded him, pointing one of her green fingers at him. "Leave the Jedi Temple, you cannot."

"Yes, I realize that, but I feel that the Living Force is telling me that I must go."

"Humph," she replied. "Telling me this, the Living Force is not."

"The Force – "

"Too much pain you carry, Qui-Gon Jinn," Yaddle interrupted. "Clouded your judgment, it has." She stared hard at him to make her point while he neither denied nor accepted her accusation. She would not let him join the mission. To stay at the Temple and meditate, he needs, not to chase down a Sith Lord. "Come with us, you will not."

He opened his mouth to object, but Yaddle cut him off again.

"Trust my judgment, you must."

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"Have you heard the news, Padawan?"

Anakin looked up from the droid he was rewiring to face his Master. His stomach dropped in a very un-Jedi-like manner. Lately, there had been a lot of news around the Temple – too much for Anakin's liking, and all of it bad.

Needless to say, he was getting sick of funerals.

Yet Bant was smiling, so this news couldn't be bad, could it? Not so close to his twentieth Life Day…

"The Senate has voted. Your friend Amidala is the new Supreme Chancellor."

"Kriff, Master," he swore, letting out a faux breath he hadn't been holding. "I thought you were going to tell me wild banthas were running amok in the Temple!"

Bant laughed. "Is that likely to happen?"

"Anything is possible," he said mysteriously, went back to tinkering with the droid, then added, "Can you imagine if Master Yoda or Master Yaddle got stepped on?"

"Anakin!" his Master exclaimed, slapping him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Master, but they're so…so short and…well, I just think it would be funny to be walking along the halls and come across a Yoda hotcake…"

"Oh, Anakin…" Bant muttered, head in her salmon had as she tried to fight off giggles. "What will I do with you?"

"I don't know," he replied with a grin. Suddenly becoming serious, he put his hand on her arm. "It's good to hear you laugh, Master."

Bant immediately fell silent, and he inwardly groaned. Way to kill the mood, Skywalker, he berated. Kriffing idiot…

But then, Bant placed her hand on his arm in a likewise fashion and adopted a small, not-sad-yet-not-happy smile. "It's good to laugh again. With help from the Force…and from you, I am finally able to move on from my grief." Color rose to his cheeks. He had felt utterly useless during her grieving. How had he possibly helped her?

"How do you do it, Master," he asked quietly. "How do you move on after losing two of your closest friends? When my mother died, I was so angry I almost murdered the Sand People."

It was a story he had never told her; no one in the Temple knew, except Qui-Gon…and perhaps Yoda. The grief had consumed him, shaped him into a horrible monster teetering on the edge of the dark side. If Qui-Gon hadn't pulled him back… How did one conquer such grief on his or her own?

She rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Because they are in the Force, and the Force is in me. My friends are in me. Just as your mother is in you… If you concentrate, you can feel them."

The answer was so simplistic, yet she said it with such meaning that if felt like a sudden revelation, not something that had been drilled into every Jedi's head since he or she had arrived at the Temple.

Struck by this, the pair sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. Then, Bant checked the chronometer on her wrist. "You have time if you want to visit the Senator…I mean, Chancellor."

Anakin shrugged. He hadn't spoken to Padme since Tatooine; a few more days wouldn't hurt. Since he had overcome his infatuation for her, he no longer felt the need to be with her every possible second. Qui-Gon had been right; his feelings for her had been impairing his judgment.

"Maybe some other time," he replied, returning his attention to the broken droid in front of him, which his friend Tru Veld had given him after he had accidentally (according to Tru) broke it. It was common knowledge that Anakin was an excellent mechanic. "I'm sure she's too busy being congratulated by senators right now. Besides," he added with a teasing grin, "I wouldn't want to miss my meditation time."

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Together, Jedi Masters Yaddle and Luminara Unduli meditated in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, stretching their minds through the Force, hoping to catch even the smallest sense of the Sith Lord so they could bring the deadly being to justice before the Jedi Order was brought to ruin.

At the same time, several plans were being formulated by several different people, Jedi and Sith, on opposite sides of the galaxy. A Master sneered at what he had foreseen; an Apprentice smirked at his own cunning, and a desperate man consulted the Force.

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The Other Author's Notes: Yay for being done with the first of the new chapters! Doesn't it flow much better? I think so. There's more excitement to come soon, so keep reading. Questions? Comments? Predictions? Hit that little button in the corner.