For once, Anakin was not the first one up the next morning. Instead, he was awoken by a hand on his shoulder shaking him gently. He had not fallen asleep until very late the previous night, and now his body clung desperately to slumber. The hand shook harder; Anakin rolled over and blearily uttered something that sounded like, "Ummph."

"Anakin, wake up," came Master Windu's voice, cutting into Anakin's sleep-drugged existence like a blaster bolt. "The Bainyeta want to see us now."

With a fantastic yawn, Anakin sat up and made a wild grab for his tunic, lying on the floor. He moved quickly, knowing if he gave himself time to relax he would simply fall back asleep. Windu watched him dress with concern in his gaze.

"How did you sleep?"

Anakin shrugged, wondering privately what the consequences would be for lying outright to a Jedi Master on the Council. "Fine. Why?"

Windu did not answer right away, and Anakin spoke again, hoping to get off the topic of his sleeping habits as he pulled his cloak over his shoulders. "So, are we trying to persuade them to stay here, or what?" he asked. Windu led the way out the door, and Anakin followed.

"Today," Windu replied, "we are only listening."

The livable part of Ryloth remained in a state of perpetual dim daylight, and its inhabitants simply closed their windows and turned off the lamps when darkness should have come. Even though it was early morning, it was perfectly bright outdoors; Anakin blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes to the light and keep up with Windu at the same time.

They must have walked at least a mile before Windu even slowed his pace. As they walked, the houses grew fewer and farther between, until the Jedi had left the town completely and entered the forest surrounding it.

Dead leaves crunched underfoot; from somewhere, Anakin heard a goshawk scream and flap away at their approach. They had only breached the first few yards of the forest when a voice came suddenly from behind them.

"Master Windu—"

Anakin whirled, taken by surprise; Windu, far more aware of his surroundings than the Padawan, did not seem perturbed in the slightest. Before them stood a young Twi'lek woman, blue-skinned, with a knowing little half-smile on her face.

"I'm glad to see that the powers that be on Coruscant consider our predicament worthy of their attention," she finished. "Ryloth is often overlooked by those who are not spice miners, although I can assure you that our problems are no less important."

Windu nodded in acknowledgement. "The Council would be greatly in the wrong to dismiss your planet so easily," he said pleasantly. "However, you are, I presume, aware of the fact that the Jedi can take neither side in this argument? We are only peacemakers, not mercenaries."

The woman gave an impatient wave of her hand. "Yes, I know," she said abruptly. "So I must plead my case before you, is that it? Very well." She motioned for them to sit down on a rotting log a few feet away, and took her place easily on the ground. Her jaw was set firmly, her eyes hard. Anakin was given the very forceful impression that, whatever it was she believed in, she would fight for it with all her heart and die for it if necessary. It was not an unfamiliar look; he had seen it several times before, and always in the faces of rebels, for they were the ones who needed this strange strength if they were to succeed in their impossible quests.

"My name is Hayla," she began. "Hayla Dae'on, and I have lived all my life on Ryloth. Even since before the time of my birth, Ryloth's population has been growing exponentially."

Anakin's fist closed around the lightsaber at his side as she spoke—his thoughts wandered back to the ilum crystal around Aiin's neck, thumping against her chest with every step. Concentrate, he told himself, attempting to focus on Hayla's words, but Anakin had never been good at diplomatic affairs even when he was wide awake.

"I can easily sympathize with your position," broke in Windu to her list of complaints, "but it seems to me that moving the entire population would be an extremely difficult task, if not impossible."

And Hayla was off again, rattling off numbers and statistics and ideas, as Anakin listened with only half an ear, doing his best to look interested while not understanding a word she said. Maybe Master Windu was right—maybe he should get some sleep, just lie down for a moment when they got back to the house, and maybe his dreams would leave him be, just this once…

Suddenly Windu was standing up, politely taking his leave, and Anakin hastened to follow suit. Hayla looked distinctly dissatisfied, as though she had expected the Jedi to hasten to arms for her cause, but as far as Anakin could tell, nothing much at all had come of the meeting. The two Jedi left the small clearing walking side by side, and when they were out of earshot, Anakin had to speak.

"That was their leader?" he asked. "Just her?" From Windu's description, he had created a mental image of several large men with blasters across their backs. The Master shook his head.

"She was elected to speak with us, but she is not the only leader of their group," he answered. "From what I have been made to understand, there are several that are considered leaders in this scheme." He paused, as though considering. "But it will fail, no matter how dedicated they are to it."

This caught at Anakin's attention. "Why?" he asked. Windu never stopped walking as he replied.

"Because the Twi'lek people have only made this place their own for all the hardships they must endure with it. Someone gets lost in the snow, someone dies of thirst in the desert—that is the price they must pay. All the rebels are young, because the young only consider momentary happiness, while those who have lived here for decades understand the worth of something considered worthless by everyone else." Anakin looked straight ahead of him, but he could feel Windu's heavy gaze upon him as the Master spoke again. "They would say that it is better to suffer for something that you love."

Anakin did not reply, and they walked the rest of the way back to Ere's home in silence.

Aiin was waiting outside as they approached. Windu went inside, presumably to give Ere an update, and the girl ran up to Anakin.

"Where were you?" she demanded. "I was waiting for you to wake up, and then I found out that you were already gone!"

Anakin shrugged guiltily. "I had to go meet with someone," he said by way of apology.

"What for?"

"Just to talk."

Aiin made a face. "I thought Jedi got to fight with laser swords," she complained. "Don't you do any of that?"

Ordinarily, Anakin probably would have just taken the lightsaber out, shown it to her, and put it away. But it felt like forever since he had been given the opportunity to use his lightsaber, and with a sensation of recklessness and mild excitement, Anakin grinned and knelt down to meet her eye level.

"You want to see what I can do with my laser sword?" he asked. Aiin nodded, her eyes wide with anticipation. Anakin had a feeling that showing off for a nine-year-old might earn some sort of disapproval from Master Windu, so he led Aiin to an empty space behind her house, with scattered trees around them. It wasn't the most secret of locations, but at least it wasn't out in the open either.

With a flick of his wrist Anakin took the lightsaber from his belt and activated it, taking care to keep a safe distance away from Aiin. She gasped as the blade extended from its hilt with a hiss, then cried out in delight as he began a mock battle with some invisible opponent, leaving split-second trails of light as he sliced his weapon through the air. Afraid that Aiin would grow bored, Anakin stopped after only a few katas—he needn't have worried.

"Do it again!" the girl pleaded, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, please—"

Anakin looked down at her lovely little face, shining with enthusiasm and wonder. Force, I am going to get in so much trouble for this…

Again, he knelt beside her. "I have a better idea," Anakin propositioned. "Do you want to try it?"

He didn't have to ask twice; already Aiin's small hands were clasped tightly around the hilt of his lightsaber as she pulled it toward herself. Anakin almost had a heart attack.

"No, wait, wait!" He took it from her quickly, fumbled with it for a moment as he switched the power setting down, then handed it carefully back to her. Now the worst she could do was give herself a third-degree burn, which Anakin had every intention of preventing.

Crouching down behind Aiin, Anakin closed his hands around hers to guide her movements, giving her instructions. "Step forward…good, now raise your left elbow a little more…no, your left elbow…the other one…ok, now slowly swing the lightsaber around—careful, careful!"

It was a very fortunate thing, Anakin decided then, that Jedi were forbidden to marry—if he ever had a daughter, she would be the most spoiled creature that ever lived. He had met Aiin only a day ago, and already he could refuse her nothing.

After fifteen minutes or so of this activity, Anakin declared lightsaber time to have officially ended. Disappointed but still exhilarated by her Jedi-like experience, Aiin sat down on the ground beside Anakin, who put the lightsaber back on his belt where it belonged.

"That was fun!" Aiin declared with a laugh. She was wearing the ilum crystal around her neck again, and the sight of it reminded Anakin of the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Almost without meaning to, he reached forward and cupped the little gem in his hand.

"Aiin," he said softly, "Who gave this to you? You didn't say."

The little girl shrugged carelessly. "I don't remember his name—I don't think he told me. He's really nice, though. He saw me looking at this, and he said I could have it if I wanted."

"Do you know where he got it?"

She shook her head, impatient of the questions already. "He didn't tell me that either. Papa said he must be a trader, because no one else would have this kind of crystal." Aiin straightened suddenly, her eyes alight with sudden excitement as she remembered something. "He showed me a magic trick!" she said. "It was amazing!" As she spoke, she unfastened the necklace from around her neck so that chain and crystal lay heavy in her hand. "He had this little ball in his hand—and then he turned his hand over, just like this—" Aiin demonstrated, and the pendent slid to the ground. "But instead of doing that, it stuck to his hand! It just stayed there!"

Anakin swallowed—his mouth seemed to have gone very dry all of a sudden. He picked the necklace out of the dirt and weighed it in the flat of his hand for a moment, then flipped his palm over, just as Aiin had done. A thread of the Force was all it took to keep the ilum crystal next to his skin, while the golden chain hung downward.

"Like that, you mean?" Anakin asked her, but the smugness had gone out of his tone. Aiin nodded, awed; Anakin closed his fingers around the crystal for a moment, then handed it back to her. It can't be, he thought. It's impossible…

"Do you know where he lives?" Anakin asked. "Could you take me there?"

"Oh, sure," Aiin replied easily. "Do you want to go now?"

Anakin hesitated. "Yes," he said finally. "As soon as possible."

Already Aiin was on her feet. "Come on!" she said. "Let's go, then!" She didn't see the slight tremble in Anakin's hands as he stood, and if she had, she would hardly have understood. To her, Anakin's request was a simple, strange whim which she was happy to oblige. She took his hand again and began leading him deeper into the forest.

"He's just on the other side of the trees," Aiin explained. "It's less than a mile, Papa says."

Anakin did not answer, and there were no more words for as long as they walked. Aiin seemed to realize that, although it was beyond her comprehension, something enormous was happening, and was sufficiently impressed to keep silent. Anakin, for his part, would hardly have been able to speak coherently through the knot of apprehension in his stomach.

Finally they came out of the woods. Anakin blinked several times—only a few feet away from him was a sheer, blank cliff face of at least twenty feet. "Uh…are you sure this is the right place?" he asked Aiin. She laughed at his confusion, and pointed to a spot behind him. Anakin turned to see an opening in the sand-colored cliff face, difficult to see unless you were specifically looking for it.

"He's right through there," Aiin explained. "There's some old house in there that no one uses, so he's staying in there for now. I was exploring around here when I found him." She moved to lead Anakin through the gap, but Anakin stopped her.

"I—" He began, unsure of how to say this. "Aiin, could you…could you wait for me? I need to go in there by myself, I think."

Aiin frowned in confusion, but nodded cheerfully and stepped backward. Without daring to think twice, Anakin ducked his head and stepped through the rock. As soon as he raised his head, he saw that Aiin had been right—only about fifty feet from where Anakin now stood was a low, very small stone building, alone in its vigil against the surrounding high stone walls. He approached the house tentatively—his heart was pounding furiously, fluttering anxiously in his chest like a bird trying to escape its cage—but didn't knock. He couldn't dare it, could not bear to be wrong.

I can't do it, Anakin faltered, stumbling back away from the door as though it had bitten him. I shouldn't have come here. I can't do this!

Suddenly there were footsteps behind him. Caught unawares, Anakin whirled around—

—and found himself looking into a pair of light blue eyes.