Chapter 18 A Love Revealed.

Zak's comlink beeped, "We haven't found him yet, Master." Zak replied, thinking it was Obi-Wan and wondering why his master had not just connected with him.

"It's Ferri; Master Kenobi says you should come back now." Ferri answered.

"Is he sure it's safe?" Zak asked.

"Yes, he wants you back here, now." Ferri informed him.

Zak shook his head, "Alright, but I don't know how he expects me to protect Boba if I leave these guards." He answered.

"I don't either; but you know how it is, never question your master." Ferri said.

"Alright, I'm on my way." Zak finished, "Tell, Master Kenobi I will be there shortly."

"We'll be waiting for you." Ferri told him and ended the transmission.

"It sounds like Master Kenobi is no longer concerned about your bounty hunting friend." One of the guards observed.

"Maybe he just thinks you're not smart enough to find him." Zak replied, "I wish you luck in your search."

"Yeah, I'll bet; all bad, isn't that right?" Another guard surmised.

Zak smiled at him, "You should be a Jedi; you just read my mind." He answered as he turned away from them to make his way back the way he had come.

----------

"I think the wisest course of action is for the Jedi to sweep the building; I am sure we will succeed where the Clone guards fail." Mace suggested.

Yoda stroked his chin, "Perhaps wait we should until Anakin's apprentice returns. Find him he might." He replied.

Mace nodded, "Anakin, have you tried to connect with him?" He asked.

Anakin hit his forehead with the heel of his hand, "How could I be so stupid? I should have thought of that." He answered, "Give me a moment."

He retreated to the far end of the room, sat down, closed his eyes and reached out, "Ferri?" Ferri's shields were clamped down tight. "Ferri, let me know you're alright." He felt his Padawan's shields lower just a bit, "I'm fine, Master." "What are you doing?" Anakin could feel Ferri's hesitation, "I'm alright; I'll return soon." "NO, you will return now; and since I am convinced you have Boba Fett, you will bring him along with you." "I can't do that, Master." "You WILL do it; do you understand? .Ferri? Ferri Cortis, answer me." "I understand; but I still can't return, not yet." "You will regret this." "Yes, I know; sorry, Master."

Anakin broke the connection; when he opened his eyes, Obi-Wan was grinning at him, "It's not funny." Anakin protested.

"It's no fun where your apprentice is defiant, is it." Obi-Wan replied.

"No; yeah, yeah, I know, what goes around comes around." Anakin answered.

"Yes." Obi-Wan agreed and then looked at him seriously, "We should discuss this with the Council."

"What?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, I believe this is something we should discuss in private." Obi-Wan continued, "Not Ferri's defiance; that is between the two of you."

Anakin nodded, "Oh, yes, you're right; it's Jedi business." He concurred.

The guards sent to find Boba entered the courtroom and Gemma burst into tears; Breha put her arms around her, "No, my darling; it is alright, do not cry." She said soothingly.

"I'm sorry, sir, we lost him." One of the guards reported.

"Lost him? How could you lose him?" Hannon demanded.

"The boy is clever; he gave us the slip." The guard replied.

Hannon shook his head, "His Jedi friend is probably helping him; where is he?" Hannon asked.

"That other apprentice contacted him and told him to return to Master Kenobi; he should be here." The guard answered.

"Well, he's not. And that means he is in defiance of the law; I want this building searched…." Hannon began.

"Pardon me, Examiner, but you do not have the authority to order anything. Your job is to question suspects, not order manhunts." Breha pointed out.

Hannon's face turned red as he faced her, "He was in my custody when he escaped; had it not been for the interference of the Jedi, he would not have gotten far." He retorted.

"Had it not been for the Jedi, he would be dead." Breha countered, "But then, that is what you would have preferred, is it not?"

"Excuse me; but I am in charge here. The fact is, he did escape; and now we must find him and bring him back into custody. That does not mean dead, Examiner Hannon, is that understood?" Mon Mothma intervened, "And to that end, I am authorizing only the Jedi to search for him; your men will stand down."

"Thank you, Vice Chancellor." Breha said politely.

"Yes, well, I have no wish to see the boy dead; that would serve no purpose." Mon Mothma answered.

"Oh I see; you would rather humiliate him with a public trial and send him to the Maker knows where. It would be better for your image would it not?" Breha replied angrily.

The Vice Chancellor sighed, "That is not what I meant at all." She countered, "I am not ruthless, Breh."

"Umm…excuse me for bringing this up, but where is your apprentice, my brother?" Anakin asked as they listened to the exchange between the Queen and the Vice Chancellor.

"More than likely with yours; he is blocking me." Obi-Wan admitted, "Now who's gloating?"

"I'm not gloating, I was just curious, that's all." Anakin replied, trying to hide his satisfaction.

"Right; your mind is an open book, Anakin." Obi-Wan told him, "You're gloating."

"Alright, so I'm gloating." Anakin conceded, "I suppose we had better find our defiant Padawans."

"Yes, before Hannon and his men do. I'm not quite sure how long the Vice Chancellor can control them." Obi-Wan answered.

----------

Zak shook his head, "I don't believe this; do you know how much trouble we're in?" He asked.

"Yes." Ferri answered, "But what did you expect me to do?"

"You're a Jedi; you should have taken him back." Zak replied.

"Is that what you would have done?" Ferri wondered.

Zak sighed, looked Boba and shook his head, "I don't know. But we aren't just in defiance of the Jedi, we are breaking the law, Ferri."

"Excuse me, but isn't that the same law that wants to convict me of something I didn't do?" Boba asked.

"You don't know that will happen; you have to trust in the system." Zak answered.

"Well, the system tried to cave my ribcage in and slashed my face; I don't care much for the system." Boba replied.

"The system didn't do that, Boba; Acken abused the system when he hit you. And now, he will pay for that." Zak argued, "Why couldn't you have trusted us to find the real assassin?"

"I'm sorry; maybe I should have. But it would be better if I just…" Boba began.

"He wanted to be shot." Ferri revealed.

Zak turned to regard his friend again, "What? Why in blazes would you want that to happen?" He asked.

Boba stared at the floor, "I don't know; I just didn't want to end up in some prison colony light years from here." He explained.

"And what about your family; your friends, what about…?" Zak wondered.

"I know; what about her. She'd be better off without me too; they all would be." Boba answered with a sigh.

"It's not fair for you to make those kinds of assumptions. Your family would be heartbroken; they would never stop searching for you." Zak told him.

"And neither would your friends." Ferri added.

"I know; I guess I just didn't think it through. But now that I'm out, I can help find this guy." Boba said.

"No, absolutely not; whoever he is, he hates you with a passion." Ferri informed him, "The best thing you can do is turn yourself in and let us handle this."

"Well, I'm not turning myself in; that's out of the question." Boba replied.

"Boba, think about what you're saying; as long as you're free, that assassin can do whatever he wants because you can be implicated. Someone else could die." Zak pointed out.

"Someone else did die while I was in the detention center and they still blamed me." Boba argued, "At least this way, I can try to find out who hates me enough to do this."

Zak sighed and shrugged, "Alright, have it your way; but now Ferri and I are on our own. If we go back now, we will both be arrested for helping you." He said.

"I guess it's just the three of us, then." Boba replied, "What about Dena and Ell; can we get them to help?"

"Maybe, but I don't think it would be fair for us to drag them into it." Zak answered.

"Yeah, you're probably right; how did you find out about us, by the way?" Boba wondered.

"It was Dena; she didn't know what to do, so she came to me, and then we told Zak together." Ferri told him, "And then the apartment you were using was traced back to the Vice Chancellor; it didn't take long to find out it was Ell who had actually leased it."

"Yeah, Ell; she's a good friend. We didn't ask her to do that; she just did." Boba replied.

"Boba, it's not right what the two of you are doing; Dena is a Jedi." Zak said.

"I know; and believe me, it's tearing her apart." Boba admitted, "But her family would be so disappointed if she had to give that up."

"Probably; but you can't keep this a secret. Either someone else is going to find out, or the guilt of keeping it a secret will destroy both of you." Ferri answered, "Master Skywalker told me that's the nature of secrets."

"You're right, I guess; when this is over, I'll let her know it's finished." Boba decided.

"When this is over, I think the two of you should meet with Master Yoda and Dena's master to talk about it." Zak suggested.

"No way; that will just get her in trouble." Boba replied with a shake of his head.

"Believe me, she's already in trouble; she loves you, and just because you decide to end it, does not mean she can just stop." Ferri answered.

Boba hesitated as he weighed Ferri's words, "Yeah, I see that now; but I have to get out of this mess first." Boba said.

"Then we need to draw our assassin out." Zak said thoughtfully.

"And how do we do that?" Boba asked.

Zak and Ferri smiled at each other, "By dangling the right bait in front of him." Ferri answered.

"You mean me." Boba surmised.

"Yes." The Jedi apprentices answered together.