The lightsabers sizzled like ice on a hot stove. The red blade hacked and slashed with unremitting fury as the defending turquoise blade flew to block each blow perfectly. The wielder of the red blade was an older man with white hair, dressed in all black. The defender was a young girl with beautiful red hair dressed in a dark reddish-brown tunic. Neither spoke, but had to concentrate on the battle going on at light speed. The red blade finally snapped out of the hold in which the turquoise blade had it and came slicing down…
Jiruan sat up suddenly; she was perfectly safe in the pilot's seat of the starship she was flying back to Couruscant. She checked the coordinates and saw that everything was fine. Out of habit, Jiruan looked back to her Master's usual chair, only to remember that Ten-Hi would not be there. She had been killed by the mysterious figure in Jiruan's dream. He had ambushed them on Muunlist and defeated Ten-Hi Tsugimiru. Jiruan would have been there to help, but she had been caught up in negotiations with the banking clans when Ten-Hi was attacked. She had tried her best to get there, but arrived just in time to see Ten-Hi fall after being hit with the Sith's lightning. The Master-less apprentice had called the Jedi's lightsaber to her and ignited it along with her own turquoise masterpiece. The mysterious man had simply shot lightning at Jiruan and when she could safely move the lightsabers from their blocking positions in front of her face, the figure was gone.
Jiruan had not brought her Master's body with her. She kept the lightsaber, though; Ten-Hi had loved her white bladed masterpiece and would have wished it to stay out of the hands of the ordinary. Haunted by a feeling that is should have been her death, Jiruan had not slept soundly since.
The stars whizzed by in a blur of light, blinding the untrained eye. Jiruan stared at the controls, knowing what each did and being glad she knew so much about the mechanics of the ship. Ten-Hi had always let her pilot. The ship came out of hyperdrive abruptly and Jiruan took the controls. She turned on the comlink to hear the random chatter, hoping it would cheer her up.
The Council had requested to see Jiruan as soon as she arrived. She explained what she had seen of the battle. Somehow, she managed to contain herself when she told of her Master's death. The members of the Council were informed while Jiruan was there of a problem on the landing platform; Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, had been ambushed. Her bodyguard had been killed, posing as her. The Council dismissed Jiruan and she found her way quickly to her room. After dropping off her few possessions, Jiruan made her way to the windowed meditation room she had loved as a child. Upon arriving, she sensed a familiar presence using it.
"Anakin Skywalker, is that you?" inquired Jiruan. She stuck her head around the corner and saw a tall, lean form in dark robes standing at the window. He turned at the sound of her voice.
"Jiruan! I haven't seen you in ages," Anakin replied cheerfully. His intense blue eyes didn't appear to be seeing her, though. To a Jedi, he was obviously trying to contain something. The moment passed and Anakin's eyes glistened with mischief as they usually did. He took in the sight of Jiruan; her blue eyes sparkled with intelligence and intrigue. Her pale skin was set off by her beautiful dark red hair, crimson-black cloak and red-brown tunic. "Wow, you've certainly grown up," he added.
"So have you," said Jiruan, looking up at him to emphasize his growth spurt. "How are you and Obi-Wan?"
"Oh, we're fine…" replied Anakin discontentedly, playing with a corner of his dark cloak. "How about you and Ten-Hi?"
"My Master was killed on our last mission," said Jiruan tonelessly. "I'm here until the Council can decide if I am ready to become a full Jedi. That won't come until the politics calm, and with the attack this morning, I think I'll be here a while."
"Attack?"
"Didn't you hear?" asked Jiruan. Anakin shook his head so she explained, "The platform on which Senator Amidala's ship landed was rigged with explosives. One of her handmaidens was killed."
"Is she all right?" exclaimed Anakin, almost before Jiruan finished speaking. She smiled, seeing that he had little patience for listening to statements he already knew would be said.
"I think so," said Jiruan calmly. "The Council received the news while I was there to discuss my situation. I believe Master Yoda, Master Windu, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi and Master Plo Koon were going to discuss the attack when they met with Chancellor Palpatine about the separatists."
"Good, good…" muttered Anakin, obviously him mind working fast. He worked his hands furiously; Jiruan didn't let her amusement show until he began pacing.
"Relax, Anakin," she said through laughter. "If the girl planned and fought a war at fourteen, I'm sure she can take care of herself," she added, grabbing his hand to stop him.
"I know, but-" Anakin started and abruptly stopped. He looked down at the hand Jiruan was still touching. Both felt the Force flowing through their hands, stronger than either had ever felt it before. Thoughts, feelings, emotions and ideas flowed between them, as though their minds were the same. They managed to literally wrench their hands apart at last, and each instinctively hunched inward.
Jiruan was the first to speak; "Oh my stars…" she whispered.
"That was unexpected," said Anakin pseudo-innocently with a hand on the back of his neck.
"You really do love her," said Jiruan with concern. Anakin bit his tongue; it was the first time he had heard it confirmed by anyone else. He nodded and glanced out the window. Jiruan put her head in her hands for a moment.
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" said Anakin in total seriousness. His blue eyes blazed with a kind of passion that scared Jiruan; it made her feel absolutely sure that he had no qualms about killing anyone who stood in his way.
"Of course I won't," sighed Jiruan, resigned to non-intervention," but when you get caught, I- know- nothing."
"Of course," said Anakin, visibly relaxing and apparently deaf to the second half of Jiruan's statement. She let out a sight of extreme frustration.
"Anakin, do you have any idea what you're taking on?" she half scolded. Anakin looked at her blankly. "If you plan on keeping this a secret, you had better learn how to hide your emotions."
Anakin smiled widely. "Don't make me laugh," he said with too much pride. "They've never dealt with anyone like me."
"Yeah, no Jedi's ever been dumb enough to fall in love," snapped Jiruan. Anakin's eyes narrowed, but Jiruan cut him off before he could speak. "Don't give me that," she said. Neither seemed to realize that Anakin hadn't actually said what he'd been thinking. "If you have my thoughts, then you know that I didn't need mind tricks to suspect you," Jiruan added.
Anakin refused to look her in the eye and confirm the obvious. He was actually amazed that ho one had confronted him about his feelings before. Padmé had been in his mind, heart and soul ever since he had left her on Naboo ten years ago. Jiruan could tell that he was determined to see Padmé before he left Couruscant. Rather than argue, Jiruan searched his thoughts for any other disturbances, which she certainly found.
"You don't know," she gasped softly.
"What?" Anakin said as he popped out of Padmé mode.
"You don't know why they trained you so late," Jiruan clarified.
"Of course I do!" Anakin protested. "They found me late, and they knew they'd need someone with my prowess."
Keep dreaming, Skywalker, thought Jiruan, and then began to explain. "There was a prophecy long ago. I don't know who made it. It says that a Jedi will come and he or she will bring balance to the Force, whatever that means. Anyway, there are two in the Order right now who the Council believes may be their 'Chosen One.'"
"And I'm one of them?" guessed Anakin. Jiruan nodded somberly. He smirked cockily as he asked, "Who's the other one?"
"I am," groaned Jiruan, not nearly as proud of the fact. She and Ankin surveyed each other; both had bright blue eyes, an incredible aptitude for using the Force, skills with a lightsaber and were found at approximately the same age. The only obvious difference was gender.
"We'll see then," said Anakin, very unsure.
"Yeah," replied Jiruan, shifting uncomfortably. A few long minutes passed while both meditated over the "Chosen One." Anakin faced the window with his arms behind his back; Jiruan laid spread eagle on the floor and closed her eyes.
"Argh! This is useless," groaned Anakin restlessly. He let himself flop onto the floor next to Jiruan. She opened her eyes and the two of them stared out at the scene.
"You never had much patience for meditation," Jiruan teased.
"I had better things to do," Anakin explained. "I was sick of dreaming. I didn't come here to stay cooped up inside."
"You have no idea what it's like out there," said Jiruan, eyes closed again and still lying down. "Begging or stealing anything we needed, avoiding rival gangs, ducking random blaster fire…"
"That's Tatooine to a tee," said Anakin flatly. "Just add insane heat in day, insane cold at night, and SAND. Everywhere."
"You slept in a house, don't complain," snapped Jiruan.
Anakin was going to reply, but he sensed his Master coming and decided to save an argument for later. Sure enough, Obi-wan found the two of them, Anakin sitting against the wall the door was on and Jiruan lying in the middle of the room, just as he remembered her. He nodded to Anakin and then just watched Jiruan ignore him.
"You haven't changed, Jiruan," he teased. She smiled widely before kicking her feet over her head and flipping herself into a standing position. She pulled her waist long dark read hair out of her robes' hood and then pulled it out of her face, making certain that Obi-Wan noticed that she was tall enough to look him in the eye.
"Why, Master Kenobi, what a surprise," she joked and nodded in respect.
Obi-Wan groaned, "You really don't have to do that."
"How have you been?" asked Jiruan, totally ignoring his last statement.
"It's been exiting, but I'm afraid I need to borrow Anakin for the evening," said Obi-Wan, and then he explained to his Padawan, "We've been assigned to guard Senator Amidala from further attacks."
Anakin's spirits almost jumped right through the ceiling of the Jedi Temple. Jiruan gave him a short yet fierce look as though telling him; "Don't open your mouth.." Both knew that it would certainly incriminate him. Anakin nodded respectfully and bade Jiruan goodbye as he left with Obi-Wan.
Jiruan sank slowly down to the floor. She tried to see what her Master would have done, but no one had ever dealt with anyone like Anakin. Like she'd said earlier, no Jedi had ever fallen in love before. Jiruan almost wished that she wasn't sworn to secrecy, but knew it wouldn't help any. The Council had been acting strangely toward her ever since Anakin had surfaced. It was as though they weren't trusting Anakin or Jiruan until one of them was proven as the Chosen One. Jiruan was rather frustrated with the distrust towards her; she had never been as reckless or uncontrollable as Ankin. He had been caught sneaking out of the Temple, disregarding Council mandates and participating in illegal races in the lower levels of the planet, among other things.
Resigned to meditate later, Jiruan left to get some food.
"What the-!" Jiruan exclaimed hours later. She'd been sleeping, but woke in a cold sweat, sensing something very wrong. Grabbing for her cloak, she rolled out of bed and raced to the balcony. She arrived just in time to see a bright yellow speeder with a familiar crew in fast pursuit of another speeder. She sighed heavily, thinking she shouldn't expect anything less.
Jiruan was on her way to the meditation chambers once again the next day when she saw Anakin next. One had to pass by the stairway to the High Council meeting room to reach the meditation rooms. Jiruan stopped outside the landing when she realized from the chatter that Obi-Wan and Anakin were inside with the Council.
"Track down this bounty hunter, you must, Obi-Wan," she heard Master Yoda say.
"Most importantly, find out who he's working for," Mace Windu added.
"What about Senator Amidala? She will still need protecting," she heard Obi-Wan ask.
"Handle that, your Padawan will."
Jiuran's breath caught in her throat. Are they crazy? she thought to herself. Or is it a test…
Her thoughts kept her from hearing the rest of the discussion. When she stopped picking her mind apart, Jiruan saw that Anakin and Obi-Wan had come out of the meeting room and down the stairs; Obi-wan had left and Anakin had just realized that Jiruan was there. With a look of absolute childish jubilance, he bounced over to Jiruan and dragged her to their favorite meditation chamber.
"What's up?" Jiruan asked as she brushed off the static cling from her cloak.
"I have my first assignment on my own!" he exclaimed wildly, doing all he could not to bounce off the walls.
"Congratulations," said Jiruan calmly with her arms crossed. "What is it?" she asked, playing along and hiding her disappointments that Anakin hadn't anticipated her question or realized that she already knew.
"I am to escort Senator Amidala back to Naboo and then act as her protector," he replied officially, reciting what the Council had told him.
Jiruan knew he was expecting an answer so she managed to say, "That must seem very good to you."
"Seem?" repeated Anakin. "It's perfect!"
"Perfect because it's your first mission of because it's with Padmé?" Jiruan hissed.
"What?" coughed Anakin, caught off guard. "Both, I guess," he recovered, running a hand through his hair nervously.
"Have you completely lost it?" shouted Jiruan as she smacked Anakin across his face and stopped his reflexive blows back at her. "The Council isn't stupid'; they'll figure you out eventually. Don't help them do it sooner than they will already!"
Anakin used his old of her arms to push her down. He stalked over to the other side of the room and said, "Dammit, Jiruan. You're the only person who could possibly understand."
"Why the hell would I understand you blatantly breaking the code?" said Jiruan, leaning back on her hands.
Anakin turned around and explained, "Everyone here has known each other forever. The only love they know is sibling and parents' love. No one here could understand what I feel. You've seen the outside world. You know how to be in love. Hell, I'll bet you're the only person in the entire Temple who's not a virgin."
Jiruan threw him the deadliest look she'd ever given anyone. "Never- speak- of- that- again," she snarled, clearly stating each bitter word.
"What's the big deal?" asked Anakin as though commenting on the weather.
"It's none of your business. Make it yours, and you'll dig your own grave," said Jiruan in a voice so cold it could have frozen Mos Eisley.
Anakin stared at her as she gathered her robe and stood up. Jiruan returned his intense gaze silently and crossed her arms fiercely.
"Why is it such a fuss?" asked Anakin. "I don't understand."
Jiruan sighed, exhaling deeply. "You wouldn't," she said calmly. "No one could ever know what it was like for me before the Temple."
Anakin raised and eyebrow and added sarcastically, "Because slavery is such a wonderful life."
"Like I've said, you had food, you had shelter and you had your mother," said Jiruan. She meandered over to the window dreamily.
"For crying out loud, stop victimizing yourself!" Anakin exploded. Jiruan looked at him blankly, so he explained, "We're the only two who know what life is like outside the Temple so if anyone will ever understand you, it's me. Your past makes you unique enough, so why do you keep trying to isolate yourself?"
Jiruan could have sworn steam was coming out of her ears. She hated that he was right. "Have fun on your field trip," she said bitterly and stalked out of the room.
Jiruan did not go with Obi-Wan, Captain Typho and the handmaiden Dormé to see off Anakin and the Senator. She was still as displeased as she could be without considering it anger. The Council, in Jiruan's opinion, had recognized that Anakin was ready for the trials and chosen the most appropriate: his feelings for Padmé Amidala. He would need to overcome his emotions if he wanted to be a Jedi.
Anakin wasn't the only thing bothering Jiruan. The Council was reacting to him by treating Jiruan with the same restrictions and, it seemed, punishing her for his mistakes. She assumed that the Council wasn't letting her become a full Jedi yet because of him. It was as though they wanted to see who was the true Chosen One before letting either one excel.
To keep her mind off of the mess her life was becoming, Jiruan often took to monitoring the political situation. It was, after all, the reason the Council gave for not letting Jiruan rise to the level of Jedi Knight. She sat in on the senate meetings and watched the childish bickering. They were hopelessly divided about creating an army. Every now and then, Master Yoda or Master Windu would also observe. When they did, Jiruan did all that she could to give off the image of a true Jedi, hoping that they would notice her maturity and patience.
If she was not watching the Senators argue and name-call, Jiruan was meditating. It was when she was leaving the meditation chambers hallway when she saw Obi-Wan on his way out. "Leaving so soon?" she asked as he approached.
"Yes, I'm off to Kamino," said Obi-Wan. He beckoned for Jiruan to walk with him, apparently to his ship.
"I've never heard of Kamino," said Jiruan, almost jogging to keep with his pace. "I though I'd at least heard of most star systems."
"Well, according to the records, it doesn't exist," explained Obi-Wan. "According to the center of gravity, however, it should still be there."
Jiruan slowed her pace while trying to process what she'd just heard, but sped up again to catch Obi-Wan. "That's disturbing," she mumbled.
"Very," added Obi-Wan. They had reached the hanger by now. It was a rusty amber color from the setting sun and red lights above. A causeway went down the middle and there were ships on either side in pits on the causeway. Obi-Wan chose a small ship and began readying it to go. Jiruan also hopped into the pit.
"That's not the only thing bothering you," she said firmly, as she attached the fuel line.
Obi-Wan sighed, "I am anxious to find this attacker not only for Senator Amidala's sake, but also for Anakin's. I do not think it wise to send him to the most beautiful outer rim planet with a beautiful woman who has been on his mind since he started training."
Jiruan nodded knowingly and explained how she believed it was indeed the trials; Obi-Wan agreed and told her how he believed Anakin was not yet ready. "How so?" Jiruan asked, stopping her work momentarily.
"You know he lacks patience," said Obi-Wan, checking the engines. "He's too brash and doesn't think before acting."
"Did you?" asked Jiruan harshly. She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. "I… I… that wasn't…"
"You sounded like Anakin," Obi-Wan stated for her. "I'm beginning to think there's something to that idea of-"
"I have to go!" said Jiruan, not having heard a word Obi-Wan had said. She climbed back to the causeway and made her way to her room. Only then did she collapse on her bed. It had been as though Anakin had jumped into her mind and put an angry tone on the words she'd meant so innocently. Jiruan had known since she'd met Anakin that they were connected, but she hadn't any idea what it meant until recently.
A thought suddenly hit Jiruan that had never occurred to her. What if I don't have parents? She realized Anakin had been conceived by midichlorians; what if she had, too? The kids on the street had found her when she was about four and she had no memory of anything before then. If her calculations were right, that was the year Anakin had been born. Their connection as well as similarities made it seem like they were two halves of a once whole person…
"You're crazy," Jiruan told herself, but denial only made the feeling stronger. It was as though the connection had been opened when they had brushed hands. As she and Anakin had discovered the day before, both were strong with the Force and skilled with a lightsaber. There had been more, though; Jiruan had never let it show, but she was also tempted as Anakin was by the Dark Side. He had been right when he said she'd been in love. She'd seriously considered for an evening that the Dark Side would not restrict her as the Jedi Order did; however, she had realized as soon as she'd sobered up that a Sith could have no attachment even to her Master, little less a lover.
Banishing the thoughts as she always did, Jiruan closed her eyes and fell asleep with the setting sun.