A/N: I put both halves of chapter 5 back together, so for those who are confused, this is a new chapter.
Chapter 7
Siri slowly drifted back to consciousness and before she opened her eyes, sensed a change in her environment. Before opening her eyes she used the Force to sense for any nearby danger. Satisfied when she found none, she opened her eyes and carefully sat up.
She was in a simple bedroom that had a small dresser, mirror above the dresser, closet, nightstand with a basin and pitcher, and a cot with a thin blanket. She could sense Han and Chewbacca on the other side of the door, still sound asleep.
The door to the bedroom opened and the light was turned on, revealing a figure in a black cloak. Siri's hand automatically went to her lightsaber, only to find that it wasn't there.
"Our leader wishes to speak with you. Please come with me." The cloaked person said.
Siri cautiously stood up. While the Force did not warn of danger, this person smelled of the darkside. Seeing no other option but to comply, Siri followed n the cloaked person to the living area where seated in a chair waiting for them was a person who was wearing a pale yellow dress, complete with a white cape, and a white hood that covered her face.
The black cloaked figure bowed to the woman in white. "Milady."
The woman in white nodded and then gestured for the black cloaked person to stand beside her and then spoke to Siri. "What is your name?"
"Siri Tachi, milady."
"I hope you have found your accommodations adequate."
"Yes, milady. I thank you for your hospitality."
"Least I could do after your ship suffered irreparable damage. You and your companions are lucky to have survived in one piece." The woman in white paused briefly before continuing. "However, you and your companions can't be allowed to leave."
"What? Why?" Siri said, stunned.
"We can't risk being revealed." The white cloaked woman stated simply.
Siri sensed there was more to it than that as she used the Force to try to find out what she had stumbled into. They weren't Sith, nor were they Jedi. Siri frowned, no, that didn't make sense, she could sense those who radiated darkness and those who simply radiated light. She couldn't get a read on the leader who was tightly locked up. They certainly were not the line dancers, a group that both Sith and Jedi found intolerable.
"We will not be held against our will." Siri responded.
"No, but once you see what we do here, you'll want to stay." The white cloaked woman stood up. "Come."
Curious, yet still on guard, Siri followed the woman out of the apartment.
~*~*~
After some time meditating, Nev-Kwellen rose from his meditation spot in his bedroom and headed for the door. He stopped himself from activating the door as he heard what sounded like a heated argument on the other side. Enhancing his hearing with the Force, and masking his presence to make it appear that he was still meditating, Nev-Kwellen listened in.
"…missing!"
"So you automatically assume that I had something to do with it?" Woren responded.
"The Orcin Council believes that your loyalties are not what they appear to be. Even members of the Jedi Council have grown concerned."
Woren lightly chuckled. "Ah, suspicious maybe because I took a Sith apprentice as my padawan? I can see how that can cause unrest."
"It has nothing to do with your padawan. Your tendency to show up at private meetings, conversations and voice things that later prove to be true and to say things that lead to a new train of thought while seemingly innocent has a smell of something rotten. Not only that, but I also know of that secret meeting you had with members of the Shadow Watcher clan."
"It was a harmless meeting." Woren responded.
"A meeting that was not approved by the Orcin Council!"
"As a member of the Orcin, I have my rights."
"It doesn't mean that you can abuse those rights!"
"My loyalty is with the Chosen and will always be with the Chosen. What you and the Orcin Council fail to understand is that there are things that need to remain hidden until the appointed time!"
"This is not over, Woren! As soon as Anakin and Kenshin return, we will let them determine where your true loyalties lie!"
Nev-Kwellen backed away from the door after sensing the other presence leave their quarters. Waiting a couple of minutes so that Woren wouldn't think that he had been eavesdropping, he finally left his bedroom, quickly making his way out of the apartment.
~*~*~
Raven finished updating the files of the patients that she had been assigned and placed the datapad copies to the side. She stretched her arms and then picked one of the updated files off the stack and read it again, deep in thought. There was something she was missing, something familiar that was important.
She back tracked through the file to the woman's first pregnancy and frowned when she read a summary of the events leading up to the birth and the birth itself. Using the Force to reexamine her memory of the tests she had done, she noticed something that she had missed. After rewriting her summary of the woman's latest checkup, Raven went to Healer Bant's office and found her finishing up some file work of her own.
Bant looked up from her work and Raven handed the file to her.
"I recommend that Senator Skywalker be induced into labor as soon as possible. She has developed a rare, deadly condition and it's already affecting one of the twins. I can treat the condition, but in order to do so without jeopardizing the twins safety, she needs to be induced."
"Displajorak disorder?" Bant said as she finished reading the summary on the file.
Raven nodded her head. "Yes. She showed early signs during her first pregnancy, but did not advance due to her firstborn being born premature. While putting her on bed rest has prevented the twins from being born to early like her firstborn was, it has allowed the disorder to advance significantly. For some reason, Force sensitive twins also accelerate the condition, according to recent research."
"I will assemble a group of healers who have had experiences with rare disorders, but they will need to be updated on the new research and properly prepared." Bant said, handing the file back to Raven. "Would we have time to summon Healer Trogue here from the south Temple?"
Raven shook her head. "I wish, but we can't risk communications due to the Sith presence outside the asteroid belt. We would have to send a one man ship out to deliver the message and that will take to long. I will like to have her induced in five days or less. I will need to run a couple more tests and prepare my team. I don't have enough data yet on the twin who's already having minor problems."
"Very well. Let's not waste anymore time then." Bant responded.
~*~*~
Kev-Kwellen knocked on Orain's door and then waited patiently for a response. He peered around him, wondering if he should have come when it was night instead. The door slid open before Nev-Kwellen talked himself out of seeing Orain.
"Come on in and have a seat." A voice called from inside.
Taking a deep breath, Nev-Kwellen quickly entered and the door slid shut behind him. He walked into the living area and sat down on the couch that was in the room.
Orain came out of the kitchen with a cup of tea and set in on a side table next to a chair. "Would you like some refreshments? Tea perhaps?"
"No thanks, I'm fine." Nev-Kwellen answered, his whole body tense.
Orain nodded his head and sat down in the chair. "So what brings you by?"
"I…How well do you know Woren?" Nev-Kwellen said.
Orain took a sip of his tea before answering. "Well enough to know to be wary of him."
"Why? What is it about him that causes you and others to be on your guard around him?" Nev-Kwellen asked.
Orain took a long drink from his tea and then set it down on the table. "But he is not the reason why you are here."
"Originally no." Nev-Kwellen admitted.
His face taking on a more serious look, Orain spoke. "The story goes that Woren and his twin brother Toren arrived at the Temple the same day that Obi-Wan arrived. The twins were apparently found hiding in one of the yearly cargo shipments. No one knows what planet they came from, what happened to their parents, no background history at all, not even a last name. Woren's brother died about a year or so after they arrived at the Temple. At this point, Woren was already becoming friend's with Obi-Wan and soon became Obi-Wan's shadow, following him every where he could.
There were several incidences during those years that were dismissed because of lack of proof, but I, along with Bruck Chun, Bant Eerin, and Lance Halycon had doubts. The first incident occurred the day Obi-Wan attempted to drown himself. After Xanatos and Bruck had rescued Obi-Wan and everyone was following them out of the garden, Lance had turned back to look at the pond that Obi-Wan had been rescued from and heard a rustle from a tree that overshadowed the lake. In between the branches Lance saw Woren's face appear briefly. Later he told us that there had been a nightmarish look to Woren's face, not one of horror, but one of intense hatred.
We didn't believe him at first and dismissed it, thinking his eyes might have been playing tricks on him, especially since Woren arrived at the medcenter several minutes later looking very concerned. Several months afterwards we had a campout trip outside the Temple, Woren was with us. Everyone was asleep when a few hours later Bruck woke up because a night critter had scrambled over his face. After he had checked to make sure the critter was gone, he saw Woren standing on a mound several feet away from them. Bruck was chilled to the core as he felt a darkside energy floating around the encampment. The center of the darkside energy was Woren.
Bruck fell back to sleep and when he woke up that morning he used the Force to scan Woren's aura, but found no trace of the darkside about him. Three years later it is believed Lance caught Woren in the archive where the forbidden holocrons are stored. It was in that section of the archive where Lance was found, dying. Before dying, he managed to utter one word to Bant who had been working in the healer's wing that day. Woren."
Nev-Kwellen crossed his arms over his chest, "I can see why no one would believe you guys, you're chasing something that has no foundation to build on. Were you ever suspicious of Reeft?"
Orain drank the rest of his tea before responding. "No, he fooled all of us."
"Ah, but Obi-Wan and Woren had suspicions and they didn't tell anyone else. It wasn't until Obi-Wan left for the Sith Temple that Woren went to Dooku and told him of their suspicions." Nev-Kwellen revealed.
"How does that prove that there is no darkness in Woren?" Orain said.
"Simple. There may have been a Force ghost of a Sith Lord hanging about. Really, you Jedi need to kill Sith Lords more efficiently."
"But how could there be a ghost of a Sith on this planet? This planet was thoroughly checked by the Jedi who first came here." Orain responded.
Nev-Kwellen shrugged, "The Sith must have attached himself to a Jedi, probably one who only had limited training."
Orain stood up and headed for the communications console.
"That won't do any good. If the Force ghost was still on this planet, I would have discovered it already." Nev-Kwellen shrugged. "One of the first things I did on my arrival here was to check for any Sith ghosts. Not all Sith check or thoroughly check for Force ghosts, but I for one prefer not to run into a Sith ghost. Live Sith are bad enough."
Orain looked back at Nev-Kwellen, a frown on his face.
"Checking for Sith ghosts every so often should become more of a priority for you Jedi. Sith ghosts are not to be taken lightly."
The sound of a door closing, caused them to turn their heads to the door that led into the apartment. There stood Drengin, his face pale.
"There's a Sith ghost here?" Drengin said, fear in his voice.
Orain went over to Drengin and gave him a comforting hug. "No, there isn't. Go ahead and start your meditation exercises, I'll be there shortly."
"Yes, Master." Drengin answered and headed to the spare bedroom.
After Orain sensed Drengin go into a meditation trance, he looked back at Nev-Kwellen. "Sith ghosts are not common."
"Many Sith ghosts are powerless and tormented and less likely to interact with the living world. The more rare Sith ghosts who still hold onto some power and sanity are the ones who interact with the living world and as a result are more dangerous." Nev-Kwellen explained. "Quarters 158B room c still holds a trace of a powerful Sith ghost."
Orain sat down heavily in the seat he had vacated. "That was Obi-Wan's room." He shook his head. "But others have lived there before and after him so it couldn't---"
"The trace is about 14 to 15 years old." Nev-Kwellen interrupted. "You and your friends were coming to the wrong conclusion." He stood up. "Woren deserves an apology."
After Nev-Kwellen left the apartment, Orain swore in huttese and then headed to the communications terminal.
~*~*~
The corridor Siri and the white cloaked woman walked through was simple in style. Windows the size of a head were spaced out along the right wall directly over their heads, letting in light and a warm, gentle breeze. The whole left side of the corridor was dedicated to housing the inhabitants of the people who followed the white cloaked woman.
After several minutes of walking, the corridors twisting every so often, they came to a large round chamber with an open roof. Inside there was, flowers, plain patches of grass, and trees. There was a sound of a water fountain coming from the chamber's center and the path they were now walking on was compacted dirt.
The walk toward the center of the chamber took longer than it had looked, causing Siri to re-estimate the size. They walked past the white marble fountain and turned left at a fork in the garden. They traveled through a similar corridor they had left and entered a doorway marked with a dark purple symbol that was vaguely familiar to Siri.
"This is the rehabilitation part of the enclave." The woman in white spoke. She walked over to a banister that crossed the room and stopped at a set of stairs that descended down to another level of the building.
Siri peered over the banister and saw a small group of human girls between the ages of five and ten playing a came of ball under the supervision of two adult humanoid women.
"This is one of our classes, and as you can sense, there is much darkness in their auras." The woman in white looked at Siri. "Currently we have 200 children between the ages of six months to seventeen years old. Thirty percent are humanoid, and 98% are girls. The teachers here are former pupils of mine who have found their way back to the light. Nemiraa, the woman you saw upon waking, has only been here a short time and still has much healing to go through."
Siri sucked in a breath, the implications of what was going on here setting in. "You're snatching children from the Sith Temple." She looked at the woman next to her.
"'Snatching' is such a harsh word for what I am doing. Rescuing is the proper word." The woman in white chuckled. "Don't worry, I haven't been aiming at any of the children the Jedi have in their care. In fact, I've been adding to those numbers. My great grandfather built this enclave with the purpose that it be used to reeducate and counsel those who have been trained from infancy in the dark arts. The location of the enclave was lost, but I rediscovered it during my travels."
"Why keep my companions and myself from leaving then if we're on the same side?" Siri responded.
"It is a matter of precaution. The Jedi have similar precautions in place, just not as strict like the Temple on the planet within the asteroid field has been." The woman responded.
To Siri's credit, the only show of surprise on her face was a tiny twitch of her eyebrows. "How do you know this?"
"My brother went there once on a mission our father had assigned to him." The woman in white moved away from the balcony to a grey stone bench in a corner of the room and sat down. Siri sat down next to her. "Our family has always known the locations the Jedi have hidden theirselves."
"Why hasn't your family ever joined the Jedi then? We could be working together." Siri responded.
The woman in white shook her head. "It wasn't time yet. Our existence had to remain a secret. There are a select few in the Jedi Order who do know about us, but have been sworn to secrecy."
"Had?"
The woman in white drew back her hood, removing the shadows that concealed her face. Curly, dirty blonde hair, streaked with bits of silver, danced over the woman's shoulder. Her hazel eyes were warm and sharp, but revealed that life for this woman was one of hardship. "My nephew is now among your ranks. I'm sure you know him."
Siri studied the woman's features carefully and then shook her head, having drawn a blank. The woman smiled and then Siri knew. "You're Anakin Skywalker's aunt!"
"Yes, I'm Tala Skywalker."
~*~*~
Laying on the ground, the tears having dried on his face, Anakin searched within his memories to find the last memory he had before the memory block had been put in place.
He found himself in the slave quarters he and his mom had lived in before she was killed. Entering the building he had lived in, he saw his father, mother, and younger self in the living area.
Shmi held Anakin tightly in her arms as she walked about the small slave apartment and then back to Kedrick who was standing against the wall, watching them with a forlorn expression on his face. "There has to be another way we can hide ourselves. I know that we've already discussed this but…can't you think of some other way?"
Kedrick shook his head, "No, this is the best way. It is far away from the Sith and low enough on the social ladder that no on will spare much of a glance. I'll need to place memory blocks and create false memories so that the wouhls will totally lose the scent since I can't keep a protective barrier around both of you from very far away. It will also make your life as 'slaves' look a lot more believable."
Anakin turned as much as he could in his mother's arms and reached out his arms. "Dada!"
Kedrick managed a weak smile and took Anakin from his mother's arms. Anakin wrapped his little arms around Kedrick's neck and stared up at Kedrick's face. Kedrick kissed Anakin's forehead as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "Watto will be good to both of you and will protect both of you like you are his own kin."
"What if the Sith do find us?" Shmi asked.
"I'll plant a word code that will break the memory barrier and allow you to use your full skills to fight the Sith. Hopefully the Sith won't find you. There will also by a fifteen year timer on your memory block that will break it. Once it breaks, you are to take Anakin to the Jedi Temple in the asteroid belt. They will be able to help Anakin remove his memory block. Also, if I find it necessary, I'll place the family lightsaber in Watto's possession to keep it safe." Kedrick answered. He brushed a tear off Shmi's cheek.
"You're acting like we'll never see you again." Shmi said.
Kedrick rubbed Anakin's back and walked over to an old raggedy couch and sat down. "I don't know what the future holds Shmi, it's always in motion. I can't delude myself by just hoping for the best. I have to also prepare for the worst."
Shmi sat down next to Kedrick, the springs of the couch groaning in protest to the weight. "I know."
"I'll come check on you two when I can." Kedrick promised. "Maybe, if the Force wills, I can bring you two out of hiding early."
Shmi nodded her head and then rested her head against his shoulder. "Please, let's just get this over with."
Kedrick sat Anakin onto the floor and then knelt down next to the couch while Shmi lied down. "I'll miss you."
Shmi smiled up at Kedrick, "I will too."
Kedrick lovingly stroked her cheek with his thumb and kissed her on the lips. "I love you." Closing his eyes, Kedrick placed his hand on Shmi's forehead and used the Force to make her go to sleep before he began his work on her mind.
"Mommy asleep?" Anakin asked as Kedrick finished.
"Yes Anakin." Kedrick kissed Shmi one last time and then turned to his son.
Anakin stood up and walked over to his father. "You go away?"
Kedrick picked Anakin up and hugged him close. "Yes." Tears fell down his cheeks and a sob caught in his throat when Anakin wiped his cheek with his still baby soft hand.
"Me go with you." Anakin said.
"No, you need to stay with your mother. There are things I need to do that I will feel better doing knowing that you and your mother are safe." Kedrick replied.
"No, you sad." Anakin responded with a frown.
Kedrick tried to smile. "I love you and your mother very much, it will hurt to be apart, but it would hurt far more if something bad was to happen to you and your mother."
Anakin kissed his father's cheek. "Me love you daddy."
"I love you too, son." Kedrick kissed the top of Anakin's head and then placed his hand on Anakin's forehead, sending him to sleep so that Kedrick could do what must be done.
~*~*~
Nev-Kwellen was practicing his last kata in training room C when he sensed Drengin enter the room. This is new. He always does his best to avoid me. Finishing up the kata, Nev-Kwellen went over to one of the benches that he had placed a clean towel on and wiped the sweat off his face, arms, and chest. After putting his tunic back on, he looked over at Drengin who was watching him two benches away from him. "It must be something good to convince you to approach me."
Drengin eyed Nev-Kwellen carefully. "Is the Sith ghost really not on this planet anymore?"
"Orain told you the truth, the Sith ghost has left the planet. I am sure that Anakin checked the planet too for any Sith ghosts before landing on the planet." Nev-Kwellen replied.
"Okay." Drengin stepped forward two steps. "Did you really defend Knight Woren? I overheard Orain talking to Bruck over the communications console."
"Eavesdropping now are you?" Nev-Kwellen said with a smirk on his face.
Drengin scowled. "Just answer the question."
"Okay, okay. Yes I did." Nev-Kwellen answered.
"Why?" Drengin said, returning his face to an emotionless mask after using the Force to rid himself of the negativity that was building inside him.
Nev-Kwellen sat down on the bench and shrugged his shoulders. "I think he's gotten himself stuck between a rock and a hard place because he's hiding things that need to be hidden. He told someone he was having an argument with that, quote 'what you and the Orcin Council fail to understand is that there are things that need to remain hidden until the appointed time' endquote."
Drengin crossed his arms over his chest. "So I'm not the only one eavesdropping on conversations here."
Nev-Kwellen rolled his eyes. "Funny."
"So what do you think this rock and hard place is?" Drengin said, getting back to the subject.
"Based on what Orain told me and the little facts that I knew and Orain didn't, I believe Woren knows things that Obi-Wan has revealed to him but not to anyone else." Nev-Kwellen responded. "But how that relates with some of the accusations towards him, I don't know. The person he was arguing with said something about him showing up, apparently uninvited from the tone of it, to meetings and voicing things that turn out to be true and also leading people onto new trains of thought. He was also accused of having a secret meeting with the Shadow Watcher clan without the approval of the Orcin Council."
Drengin blanched, "Someone spied on us?" He sat down on a bench next to the one Nev-Kwellen was sitting on.
"Relax, I don't think you'll get in trouble for it." Nev-Kwellen told him.
"But still, it's a black mark on the clan's record. It's not easy being in the Shadow Watcher clan. The expectations are much higher than normal clans." Drengin replied
"Well we'll just have to fix that then." Nev-Kwellen declared. "We need to find out what Woren is hiding without him having to tell us what it is."
Drengin looked at Nev-Kwellen in disbelief. "Are you serious? What do you gain out of this scheme of yours?"
Nev-Kwellen smiled. "You still don't trust me, do you?"
"Well…" Drengin paused for a moment, "not completely."
"Now that is completely all right. Who would ever think we're working on solving something together if everyone believes that we can't possibly work together because we don't trust each other?"
Drengin grinned. "Okay then. But I will still report you if I find you doing something that'll put the Jedi in danger."
"Deal." Nev-Kwellen held out his hand and Drengin shook it.
"So where do you think we should start first?" Drengin asked.