AN: I apologize for the uber long absence and I thank you for your patience. A lot of things contributed to my absence but don't worry it looks like I will be able to upload new chapters on a more regular basis now. Oh and as a reward for your patience here's chapter 3, a nice long chapter that needed to be split in two!

Chapter 3: Not. Our. Mandate.

Obi-Wan was impressed Captain Typho was taking his job as the Senator's chief of security with all the seriousness the position deserved. He left the main entrance to the apartment complex in Typho's capable hands confident that they would have no trouble from that direction. That made his job easier, a fact for which he was grateful. He had the feeling that he was already going to have his hands full with Anakin and the boy's unpredictable emotions. Although Obi-Wan was confident in skills as a Jedi, he'd rather not have to deal with possible assianation attempts from two different directions as well as his padawan's raging hormones. Even a Jedi was entitled to an occasional lazy day.

Obi-Wan reentered the Senator's apartment and he could tell that Anakin was up to something. His greeting and apparent nonchalance about the fact that he did not think Padmé 'liked me watching her,' only served to confirm what Obi-Wan suspected. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin was never very patient and he did not doubt that Padmé would do anything in her power to rid herself of the extra security. Knowing what he knew Obi-Wan probably had no right to be surprised to discover that Anakin would use her for bait. Moreover that the Senator would willingly volunteer for such stupidity, yet it still shocked him.

"You're using her as bait??!" He exclaimed momentarily loosing the calm veneer of a Jedi Master that he had been attempting to cultivate for years now. For some reason having Anakin as an apprentice did not help his efforts.

"It was her idea..," Anakin explained in a rush. "Don't worry; no harm will come to her. I can sense everything going on in that room." He finished more calmly.

"It's too risky…" Obi-Wan continued still overly excited. He paused and forced himself to take a deep breath. "Besides, your senses aren't that attuned, my young apprentice." He continued in a steadier tone. He added that last remark out of habit.

"And yours are?" Anakin retorted catching on to Obi-Wan's sarcasm.

"Possibly."

Anakin rolled his eyes at that moving away from Obi-Wan and towards the apartment's balcony. Obi-Wan followed content to let the silence lie between them for a while. For all the trouble Anakin caused him, Obi-Wan had to admit that they were a well matched pair. Where Anakin lacked experience, Obi-Wan had plenty from his years with Qui-Gon. In situations where Obi-Wan tended towards caution, Anakin possessed enough of the exuberance of youth to spur his master into action. They understood each other. After all it was not that long ago that Obi-Wan had been just like Anakin – an exuberant padawan trying to impress his master. Or, more accurately, an adolescent stuck in that awkward stage between boyhood and manhood trying desperately to prove how much of a man he had become.

Obi-Wan just wished Anakin could do that without involving the Senator.

"You look tired." The Jedi Knight observed studying his apprentice's features. He did not like how worn and pale the boy was looking.

"I don't sleep well anymore." Anakin admitted forthrightly, he knew better than to hide anything from his master, especially when Obi-Wan was being direct.

"Because of your mother?"

"I don't know why I keep dreaming about her now. I haven't seen her since I was little."

"Dreams pass in time." Obi-Wan told him, hoping that what he said was true. Anakin had been dreaming about his mother for weeks now, Obi-Wan had refrained from saying anything so far out of respect. The boy's nightmares had been increasing in intensity steadily. Most nights Obi-Wan woke to the sound of Anakin whimpering and murmuring things in his sleep. It was a delicate subject between the two, one that Obi-Wan wished that they could discuss.

"I'd rather dream of Padmé. Just being around her again is… intoxicating." Anakin announced a faraway look in his eye that alarmed the Jedi Knight. He had feared that something like this may happen, the combination of hormones and the presence of the Senator was having a disastrous effect. Obi-Wan had hoped – in vain it seemed – that he would not have to deal with this particular situation. Or at least if he had, that Anakin would have picked an easier girl to avoid and forget than the Senator.

"Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin, they betray you. You've made a commitment to the Jedi Order…," Obi-Wan cautioned as best as he could without sounding like he was lecturing the boy. "A commitment not easily broken…and don't forget she's a politician. They're not to be trusted."

Inwardly Obi-Wan winced. He had entered lecture mode without meaning to and naturally Anakin rose to the occasion. The young man immediately began to protest Obi-Wan's opinion and rattled by the boy's stubbornness Obi-Wan found himself drawn into an argument yet again. He tried to caution Anakin about trusting politician's and their gift at twisting the truth to suit their needs, specially the Chancellor. Obi-Wan noticed on several occasions that Palpatine never made a deal in which there was not something beneficial for him. Before the argument was in full swing it was interrupted by a disturbance in the Force coming from the Senator's room. Anakin whipped around to stare at his master sharply.

"I sense it too." Obi-Wan replied and for a while it was the only sensible thing he could bring himself to say to his young and impetuous padawan.

Lyyr sat in the meditationchamber trying to clear her mind of all distractions, especially those caused by emotion. Particularly those emotions regarding the task that laid before her. After giving her this assignment Master Windu gently advised her to take the time and meditate before embarking upon her first solo mission. Lyyr has accepted her master's advice although she knew that he gave it out of concern that she may fulfill her mandate a little too well.

Tonight she would leave the temple and peruse the lowest levels of Coursant in search of those who hunted the innocent. Recently the Council became aware of a certain traders steadily increasing profits, despite the fact that all he traded in was essentially space junk and although it may have gained him quite a revenue in the Outer Rim. Here in the Interior his wares were looked down upon. Therefore, the fact that he continued to make a profit despite the lack of enthusiasm in his goods piqued the Council's curiosity. A preliminary investigation only served to confirm their suspicions. The trader and his partner (a noted smuggler) had organized a human traffic ring, right under the Order's watchful gaze. Moreover, their chosen targets were young girls stolen from the streets and sold as pleasure slaves to the highest bidder regardless the species of the buyer or the girls for that matter. Slavery was illegal in the Republic. To have such an institution operating not only in the Interior or but on Coursant, flaunting the authority of the Jedi, was unacceptable.

The Council had debated for quite some time over who they would give this assignment to, for although the investigation had proved the Jedi's suspicions it was not enough evidence to bring the one responsible to trial. They needed more…ideally they needed to catch them in the act of abducting someone. Such circumstances immediately narrowed the possible candidates. Eventually Master Yoda had decided that this was the perfect mission for Lyyr to cut her teeth on. To Lyyr's surprise Master Windu had agreed immediately.

She was not surprised, however, when Windu pointedly suggested that some solitary meditation before embarking on her assignment would be beneficial. Lyyr sensed what he really meant. He was hoping that it would help her to restrain herself when she finally caught up with the men she was hunting. Mace wanted to be sure that Lyyr had herself and her emotions completely under control before setting her loose. Not that Lyyr could blame her master for his concern. After all the similarities between Lyyr's own past and the current situation, it would be easy to believe that she would allow such similarities to cloud her judgment. Though she was annoyed that Windu did not trust her enough to keep herself in check, Lyyr was not the same girl she had been on Tatooine. Despite the aggravation she felt at Mace's insistence, Lyyr did not begrudge the time spent in meditation.

Lyyr could unequivocally claim that the time she spent in meditation were the most satisfactory moments in her life. She relished the feeling of being empty of all those pesky problems she usually thought important. Moreover, she exhilarated in the warmth and comfort she felt while communicating with the Living Force. Yet, perhaps what made this time all the more special for her was that in meditation Lyyr had found a way to communicate with her father.

The first time Qui-Gon appeared before her Lyyr was convinced that the years spent under the scorching heat of Tatooine's suns had managed to fry what little brains she possessed. She had first seen the flimsy blue shadow-form shortly after the battle of Theed. Lyyr has presumed that it was nothing more than her grief and regret playing tricks on her. She assumed that once she left Naboo and the shock of Qui-Gon's death faded that such mirages would cease to occur.

When she woke one night, startled out of dream where Qui-Gon had been begging her not to ignore him, to find the fading image of the man standing at the foot of her bed Lyyr began to wonder if her eyes really had been playing tricks on her. After that she began to imagine she heard him talking to her and this flickering blue shadow with Qui-Gon's face was continually lingering on the edge of her vision. These occurrences plagued her waking or sleeping for two and a half years. Windu sensed her growing agitation and frustrated by her refusal to confide in him, Mace suggested she meditate on the problem.

Even in the light trance she was in now, Lyyr could feel herself smile at the memory.

That day, in the very moment Lyyr had reached a deep trance Qui-Gon appeared before her with an exclamation of relief. He quickly explained to her what was going on as Lyyr valiantly fought the urge to panic. For a few moments she had been convinced that she had finally slipped into insanity. Qui-Gon reassured her that such was not the case.

That had been five years ago. Now whenever Lyyr was in meditation Qui-Gon appeared to her. Though his appearances were not limited to only those times, he had a habit of dropping in and out of her daily routine without warning. Lyyr suspected that he enjoyed surprising her.

In the past five years Lyyr came to know her father very well, better than most would have suspected. The only other person who could possible know him better would be his former padawan. She knew that he was greatly disturbed by the rumors surrounding the former Jedi Count Dooku. He may have been disturbed by them but he also made no move to discredit them either. Lyyr believed that Qui-Gon knew or guessed at something vital, something the Council had not or could not see. Yet he had no way of telling them therefore he kept the information to himself. It irked Lyyr that he could not tell her and let her inform the Council, though she understood why. The Council had no reason to believe her; moreover she couldn't claim to have discovered the information in a vision. Not when two of the most powerful Masters in the Order where having difficulty seeing into the future. She frowned at the predicament shifting her weight into a more comfortable position.

"Don't let it worry you child." A ghostly voice comforted her.

"Easy for you to say Father, you're dead."

"Disrespectful whelp," he chided with wry amusement coloring his words. She felt herself smile even as his figure became visible to her inner eye.

"So they are finally giving you an assignment of your own."

"Master Windu believes that I will be an enticing prospect for the slavers." Lyyr told him thinking the words knowing that he would pick them out of her mind. She felt her features twist into an expression of disdain. "He also believes that it shall not be difficult for me to detain them."Her sarcastic tone did nothing to hide the pain in her words.

In order to detain the slavers Lyyr believed that she would have to lure them into a compromising position. When Windu first outlined her mission to her, Lyyr had the feeling that the slaver was a firm believing in testing the merchandise before selling. In that moment Lyyr knew the exact means by which she would capture her quarry. She also knew that that was the only way she would be successful in her mission. Mace must have sensed some of what she felt for he had told her to use any and all means at her disposal.

"Oh my dear one, this will be painful for you."

"Better I feel pain in order to protect innocents from suffering a worse fate."

"You are very brave Lyyr."

"No Father, I am very much a coward." She admitted, momentarily giving into her own fear even as a tear made its way down her cheek. To her utter surprise she felt a hand whip away the errant tear then someone lovingly placed a kiss upon her forehead. She came out of her trance moments later with the sensation of Qui-Gon's touch lingering on her skin. Feeling comforted and reassured Lyyr left the meditation chamber ready for her mission.

To be continued…