The mission, as Anakin learned later from Master Windu, would take them to Ryloth, to settle some dispute between warring factions of Twi'leks. Ryloth was slightly oval-shaped, rather than being a perfect sphere, so it did not revolve properly on its axis as it should have, but instead remained perpetually stuck in space. One side of the planet, therefore, was uninhabitable due to its unbearably low temperature; the other side was barren and scorched, as the sun beat down on that land day and night without rest. The only inhabitable section of Ryloth, therefore, was a strip of land between the two extremes. Should full-scale civil war break out, as it now threatened to do, so small was their fighting territory that it would be entirely possible for the entire population of Ryloth to be wiped out. To prevent this calamity came Master Mace Windu and his new Padawan, negotiators of peace.

It was hardly the sort of mission that an esteemed Jedi Master would normally take—for that matter, a Master on the Council would almost certainly never go on missions anyway—but as Anakin's time as an apprentice would almost certainly be finished soon, the Council had decided that his training should continue as normal until Knighthood.

So it was that Anakin found himself, two weeks later, onboard a small, swift transport headed for Ryloth. Windu had assured him that the mission would not take long—as if the ground would burn his feet until he was back on Coruscant, Anakin thought wryly, as though every second on an Obi-Wan-less mission would kill him. Why should it matter? Obi-Wan was dead.

It took only two days to reach Ryloth; although the planet was less than a parsec from Tatooine, their ship was much faster this time. Even as they landed on the sparse, flat section of land that served as a docking bay, Anakin saw through the window a male Twi'lek standing nearby, waiting for them to emerge. One headtail hung down his back, and the other was wrapped around his neck, as was customary for males. A full-length black robe flapped around his ankles in the strong wind as the Twi'lek held up a hand against the sun to shield his eyes. As Anakin and Windu exited the ship, Anakin with a rucksack slung over one shoulder, he approached.

"You are the Jedi sent to help us?" he questioned. He was tall; lines were etched across his face, an undeniable sign of age. It was a stern and solemn face, and yet there was a kind undertone to his deep voice. Anakin felt an instinctive trust surge through him.

"I am Jedi Master Windu," said Windu, and then, gesturing, "This is my Padawan, Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin bit his lip as he shook the Twi'lek's hand. It still sounded so strange…

"Many greetings," the Twi'lek welcomed them cordially. "My name is Ere Nifora. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that the Jedi Order was able to send you. I fear not only for my family, but for all of my people, if war breaks out."

Anakin blinked. He hadn't known they would be meeting with the leader of the Twi'lek people. For that matter, he hadn't even known Twi'leks had a leader. Force, if Windu hadn't sat him down and explained the basic premise, for want of curiosity Anakin could have gone through the entire mission without ever really understanding what it was he was supposed to be doing. Normally he would spend weeks before a mission preparing himself, learning about the different cultures and societies they would be visiting. But somehow, without Obi-Wan, it had never really seemed like a mission at all.

"We will do all that is in our power to prevent a war," Windu reassured Ere. "It would be an unspeakable tragedy, should such a thing occur."

"Thank you for your kind words," Ere responded, bowing his tan head. "If you have no objections, I can lead you to my home right away. It is not far—our cities are quite close together."

He began walking north, and Windu went after him. Anakin looked around for a moment before following; there were tall trees on all sides of them, forming a large clearing barely a half-mile in diameter. There was something oddly peaceful about the place, and Anakin caught himself wishing that Obi-Wan could see it. He knew instinctively that this was a place his Master would have liked. Shaking his head, as though it could be that easy to clear the thoughts away, he started walking.

Ere had been right; it was only a few minutes before Anakin saw the outline of a city rising against the sky. The buildings were, for the most part, only a story high—something Anakin was not used to, having lived on Coruscant for most of his life—and made of some dark gray stone that he did not recognize. Also, where Coruscant's streets were rigidly straight, these unpaved roads seemed to wander wherever they pleased, so haphazardly that it was as though they coincided with the buildings almost by accident.

It was at one of these buildings, in no way outstanding from the rest, that Ere stopped. He opened the door and moved aside to let the Jedi in, then stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

A table, large enough to seat five or six, sat in the center of the large room. The inside of the walls, like the outside, were a dull gray, but these had been decorated by a few colorful holo-stills brightened the room considerably. A glo-lamp hung above the table, suspended by a short wire and spreading cheerful light through the entire room. From here, there were two doorways besides the one they had just entered.

"My hospitality is humble," Ere said, smiling, "but I trust you will find it both friendly and comfortable."

"You are very kind," Windu assured him. "I hope we will not be forced to intrude on your home for very long."

There was a muffled noise from behind them; Anakin turned around to see a young Twi'lek girl of nine or ten looking up at him from behind a door. He couldn't help staring at her; Anakin had never seen a Twi'lek with her color skin. The girl was not blue or green, as was usual, but rather a pure, milky white. As soon as she saw Anakin looking at her, she ducked out of sight.

"Anakin?"

The Padawan looked quickly at Windu; his Master's face was questioning, waiting for a reply to whatever question had been asked. Anakin swallowed, trying to make up for his blunder.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, gesturing vaguely to the door behind him. "I wasn't listening, I—um—there was—there was a girl—" He broke off, fully aware of how lame he sounded. Fortunately, Ere only smiled again.

"My youngest daughter," he explained. "Her name is Aiin, and she is very shy. Hopefully she will grow more comfortable to having you around during your stay. My other daughter is away for the moment, but she should be back soon." There was silence for a moment, then, as though suddenly remembering something he had forgotten, Ere said, "I've prepared a room for you to stay in. If you will follow me…"

He led them through the other door in the room, opposite where Anakin had just seen the girl, through a small but neatly-kept kitchen, and then into another room beyond that, with two thin cots side by side its only furniture.

"The refresher is just off the kitchen," Ere said as he showed them into the room. He looked as though he was about to say something more, but a voice from the rest of the house called out suddenly, "Papa!" Ere quickly excused himself, leaving the two Jedi alone in the darkened room.

Anakin slung his small rucksack off his shoulder and onto one of the cots. Neither he nor Windu spoke, and suddenly Anakin missed terribly the normal cheerful banter that would have filled the room, had things been normal. He had never realized before how much of Obi-Wan there was in his life; every tiny crack, Obi-Wan had filled, and now that he was gone Anakin was forcefully aware of how little he had left. The quiet seemed to fill the room almost tangibly, and Anakin was privately relieved when Windu spoke.

"Mr. Nifora has asked us to speak with the leader of the Bainyeta as soon as possible," he said.

"The what?" asked Anakin intelligently, turning to face Windu and wondering just how much he had missed.

"Bainyeta," repeated Windu. "It means 'life' in the Twi'lek language. From what I've been told, it seems that more and more Twi'leks—and they call themselves the Bainyeta—have been demanding that the entire species be moved to another planet. They say that it is impractical to expect a growing population to live in such a small and potentially unhealthy environment."

Thinking back to all he had read about Ryloth, Anakin felt that he rather agreed with these Bainyeta people. "So who's fighting it?"

Windu gave a casual shrug. "Mostly traditionalists, but there are those who believe that another planet would simply be too hostile. Female Twi'leks are prized as slaves all over the universe, and it would only be that much simpler to get to them and break up the population for good."

Anakin blinked, feeling slightly let down. "That's what they're going to start a war over?" he asked disbelievingly. "That's it?"

A knowing smile touched the corners of Windu's mouth for a moment. "Far greater wars have been started over far less," he chided Anakin gently, and then continued. "Mr. Nifora is a strong supporter of the latter position; he wants us to negotiate terms of peace, as well as permanent settlement on Ryloth, before anything drastic occurs."

Anakin nodded, then yawned abruptly. He tried to hide the action, but of course Windu saw.

"Are you tired?" he asked. Anakin shrugged noncommittally; the question sent a thrill of surprise through him. It had never occurred to him that the stolid Jedi Master could worry about him; up until now, it had always been Obi-Wan's job to do that. Of course he was tired—Anakin had reasoned that since he could not sleep without nightmares, it was better to sleep only when absolutely necessary, but his body disagreed with this fervently. He had not taken the time to train himself to need only a few hours of sleep before plunging headlong into the new schedule, and it showed.

"Get some rest," Windu told him. "You'll need to be alert tomorrow, when we speak with the leader of the resistance." With that well-meaning order, Windu left the room, unaware that he was to be blatantly disobeyed. The price of sleep was not one that Anakin was willing to pay.

He did lie down, one arm curved under his head on the pillow, but only for a few moments, and he was careful to keep his eyes open. Then, deciding that he had "rested" long enough, Anakin slid off the bed and pulled a datapad out of his backpack. If he had time to himself, he would spend it catching up on all that he had neglected to learn earlier.

He selected the correct system, then Ryloth itself, and began reading about the planet's early history, set on getting up-to-date with this stuff. However, he had only reached Ribok's attempted annexation of the Twi'lek planet a couple hundred years ago before he became aware of another presence in the room. At first, Anakin assumed it was Windu, but when he looked up he saw something white flash backward through the doorway, and he laughed.

"It's all right," he called, grinning in spite of himself. "Come in."

Nothing happened for a moment, then two dark eyes appeared around the wall. They froze where they were, curiosity warring with timidity, and in the end curiosity won out. Slowly the girl walked out of her hiding place toward Anakin. She had on a simple blue dress, and she wore a pendent with a polished blue stone strung on it.

"You're Aiin, right?" said Anakin, trying to break the ice. "Your father told me."

She nodded, moving to sit next to him on the floor. "You're the Jedi," she asserted with childish solemnity.

"One of them," Anakin amended. "My—" He stopped; he couldn't say it, no matter how he tried. "Master Windu is out there with your father, I think." Eventually, he promised himself, eventually he would call Windu Master. Just once more would he reserve the title for Obi-Wan, and then he would move on. With that feeble excuse, he gave himself a mental jerk and forced his mind to the present, to the girl beside him.

She would be beautiful when she was older, there was no doubt about it. Even now, her features showed the first traces of true loveliness. Anakin could see the faint curve of her high cheekbone beginning to appear, and her eyes, almond-shaped and the rich color of chocolate, stood out against her white skin like two dark gems lying in the snow. They were wide with interest now as Aiin looked at him, as though observing a foreign species. Actually, Anakin realized, it was entirely possible that she had never seen a human before.

"What's your name?" she asked with sudden boldness. Anakin told her, and Aiin repeated it back to herself silently, mouthing the syllables. Without knowing why, Anakin felt himself drawn to her. The walls he had built around himself at Obi-Wan's death to keep others out suddenly and inexplicably collapsed, and when Aiin scooted closer to look over his shoulder at the datapad, her shyness evaporating swiftly, Anakin somehow did not mind at all.

"I've seen one of those before," Aiin told him, referring to the datapad. "Papa has one, but you know, he doesn't let me touch it." She hesitated, then asked, "Could—could I see it? For a little while?"

Without a qualm, Anakin handed it to her. It wasn't as though Ryloth's political history was all that exciting. Aiin turned the everyday object over in her hands, looking it over with innocent fascination. "What can you do on it?"

Anakin leaned over her shoulder to touch a few spots on the datapad's screen in demonstration. "Well, mostly they're just for reading," he explained, "but there's other things you can use it for." He gave her a quizzical look. "Don't you have datapads on Ryloth?"

"Oh, lots of people do," Aiin assured him. "They're just more expensive here, Papa says, so I'm not allowed to have my own. Neither is Raana."

Anakin must have looked puzzled, for Aiin quickly elaborated. "Raana's my sister," she said. "She's nice to me most of the time, but once in a while she gets really bossy. What other things?"

The Padawan blinked, trying to think what they were talking about now. "Oh, the datapad. Well…" Anakin reached into his rucksack again and pulled out a gamechip. Playing hologames was one of those things that was technically frowned upon by the Council, but widely practiced among the Padawans anyway. It had become a habit of Anakin's to throw the chip into his pack automatically when he went on missions; until now, he hadn't even realized he had it with him.

"Ever played a hologame before?" he asked Aiin, who shook her head. Anakin grinned again. "Then you're in for a treat."

For the next hour, Anakin busied himself by showed Aiin how to play HoloSquadron 3, which was the only HoloSquadron game out of the five to be released for datapads as well as the full HoloGame system. The Twi'lek girl was surprisingly good at it; she had, Anakin thought to himself, the potential to become a very good pilot later in life.

Being around her was comforting in a way Anakin had not thought possible. Aiin was so young; she knew nothing of tragedy and nothing of pain. This innocence inspired in him a sort of superfluous protective instinct; this must be, he thought as he watched her play, something like what a father feels toward his daughter. It made him want to keep her innocent for as long as possible, to hold at bay whatever might threaten her. It made him feel like…like Obi-Wan.

"Anakin?"

The Padawan looked up hastily, shaken out of his reverie. Windu was standing above him, watching the two of them sitting together with a look of subdued amusement.

"Mr. Nifora has kindly offered to share his evening meal with us," Windu told Anakin. "If you two have quite finished, I suggest you take advantage of his generosity."

Anakin nodded wordlessly, and as Windu left, Aiin stood and handed the datapad back to him.

"You'll like what's for dinner," she told Anakin brightly. "Raana's a really good cook. Come on, you can sit next to me!" Aiin clasped his large hand in the both of hers and pulled him toward the door. Anakin followed obediently, and as they walked side by side through the kitchen, Aiin looked up at him with sweet adoration in her gaze. Anakin, a bit unnerved, felt compelled to say something.

"That's a pretty necklace," he managed finally. Aiin smiled, and one hand moved to caress the stone in what was obviously a practiced motion.

"I know," she said matter-of-factly. "Somebody gave the crystal to me, and Papa showed me how to put a hole in it so I could wear it around my neck." She rubbed her thumb against the smooth surface again—the light glinted on the facets, and something powerful and familiar struck Anakin's mind. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking down at the gem around Aiin's white throat.

"Can—" Anakin swallowed; his throat had suddenly gone dry. "Can I see that for a second?"

Aiin shrugged carelessly and pulled the chain over her head, dropping it in Anakin's palm. He turned it over in his hand with fingers that shook, looking for some defect that would tell him he was wrong and finding nothing.

"Anakin, what's wrong?" Aiin asked concernedly. Abruptly, Anakin shoved the pendent back into her hand and straightened.

"Nothing," he said shortly. "Nothing's wrong." He looked over at the door that led to the dining room, then back at Aiin. "I—I'm not hungry now. I'm going to rest for a while."

Looking slightly crestfallen, Aiin nodded and went on without him, while Anakin hastily retreated into the darkened room beyond the kitchen and fell onto the bed, trying to ease the furious pounding of his heart. It's impossible, he told himself sternly, but no, there was no mistaking what he knew so well!

Whomever that ilum crystal had once belonged to, at some point, it had been cut to fit into a lightsaber—a lightsaber the same color as Anakin's.