Chapter 12: Revelations

Sooner than she would have liked Lyyr found herself standing before the High Council again. This time she was standing in the center of the room alongside Aankin. Lyyr briefly clasped his small hand within her own; a gesture meant to give her comfort as much as it comforted Ani. Qui-Gon stood behind Anakin and she was acutely aware of Obi-Wan hovering directly behind her. The sensation of someone breathing down her neck was never one she welcomed; it had always led to pain and unpleasantness in the past.

That had always been Shol's calling card; a whisper of hot breath at the base of her neck and then Lyyr would find herself pinned between a wall and an unmovable body. That was how he kept her still while he burned his mark into her skin. Lyyr shuddered involuntarily at the memory. Obi-Wan shifted away from her in response and it was an immediate relief for Lyyr.

"No?!" Qui-Gon exclaimed and the strength of his outrage startled her. She dragged her attention back to what was in front of her just in time to notice a hurt expression flicker across Anakin's face. Her jaw tightened with righteous indignation on Anakin's behalf. Lyyr knew that he had been dreaming about becoming a Jedi for years and they just destroyed those dreams with cold efficiency.

"He is too old," Mace said by way of explanation. "There is too much anger in him."

Lyyr resisted the urge to scoff vocally at that statement. Anakin had never been an angry, or even moody, boy. He had been far more accepting of the way of life on Tatooine than Lyyr could ever manage. He never complained or ranted about being a slave and he had never thought that being a slave defined who he was as an individual. The bitterness that had razed her character had never taken root in Anakin.

Lyyr could sense that the Jedi Masters harsh criticism of him upset Anakin further. It pained her to see him that way and she attempted to project sympathetic and loving feelings towards him. She hoped that he would sense what she was doing and be encouraged as well as comforted.

The Jedi continued to discuss Anakin's future in the Order, or lack of it, but she ignored them. After her disastrous interview, she started forming a plan to take Anakin and leave the Jedi. They could set up a repair shop somewhere and earn enough money to rescue Shmi. The only flaw in the plan was she couldn't yet see how to get them away from the Jedi and their influence. They needed to blend in with the local populace, so as not to draw any attention to themselves or what they had been. She was trying to work that problem out when her thoughts were interrupted by Qui-Gon's declaration that he would take on Anakin as an apprentice despite the Council's decision.

She could see Ani's immediate elation at the idea and it alarmed her. Seeing Qui-Gon place his hands possessively on Anakin's shoulders vexed her even more; there was something fatherly in his gesture and Lyyr envied it. She was not the only one to be affected by the older man's actions. She could feel the quick flare up of jealousy from Obi-Wan.

"An apprentice, you have," Master Yoda reminded Qui-Gon. "Impossible, to take on a second." Aggravated by the injustice of their attitude Lyyr continued to solidify her plans. She would have rather taken them to task for crushing the boy's dreams but she knew that the more satisfying thing to do would be to live a fulfilling life away from their meddlesome influence.

"We forbid it," Mace declared sternly. His declaration only led to Qui-Gon's instance that Obi-Wan was ready to face the trials and become a Jedi Knight. The Council merely brushed aside his assurances.

"Besides," Master Mundi finally interjected, "if you took on another apprentice would you not want to train your daughter?" Mundi's question caused everyone in the room to pause.

"The girl will be trained," Mace spoke into the collective silence; answering Qui-Gon's unspoken question. It was a statement that shocked Lyyr and she did not bother to conceal it.

"You just claimed that Anakin is too old for this training and he is only nine," she protested with an edge of anger to her voice. "Wouldn't I at fifteen be considered too seasoned for your precious training?"

"Different, are you." Master Yoda told Lyyr. That only infuriated her further.

"Different my ass," she blurted out and she heard Obi-Wan choke on his surprise. She thought her outburst would earn a beating but no blow came and that made her nervous.

"There's no disputing the fact that she is Veira's and your daughter." Windu finally said a suspicion of a smile around his mouth.

"So I was correct," Qui-Gon murmured regarding Lyyr speculatively. Lyyr was utterly taken aback; her mind went blank trying to process what she had heard. She stepped back physically away from Qui-Gon.

"Yes, her resemblance to her mother is undeniable." Master Mundi agreed with him.

"The more time I spend with her the more I am reminded of her mother." Qui-Gon remarked almost to himself.

"My mother," she said her eyes wide with shock and her voice sounding small and vulnerable; the bitterness leaving her. She sounded, like the child she was, and the Council members were struck by how unguarded she appeared.

Lyyr had never seriously considered the identities of her parents before; Shmi had always been the only parent she needed. Now the identity of both her mother and father had been dumped in her lap. For once she had no idea what to do or how to react, she couldn't even fake composure.

"Veira Dysar, your mother was." Master Yoda told the confused child, "A good woman and great Jedi was she."

"A Jedi?" Lyyr asked still dazed and suspicious. "Are you certain that this Veira is my mother?"

She found it all impossible to believe; in fact she wasn't willing to believe. After years of not knowing anything about her parentage, she did not think that pivotal mystery of her life could be so easily solved. The fact that the Jedi were providing her with this information did not ease her suspicions. She felt her jaw involuntarily tighten with stubbornness.

"We have no doubt," Mace told her his voice stern and oddly gentle at the same time. "She disappeared eleven years ago journeying to Bakura in the Outer Rim. She had taken her young child with her and the last transmission from her ship originated near Tatooine. The coincidences are staggering; do you suggest we ignore them Lyyr?"

"Besides child," Master Mundi interjected, "you look like her."

"Her eyes have you. And Qui-Gon's defiance," Yoda added.

"There is no denying it Lyyr, Veira Dysar was your mother and Qui-Gon Jinn isyour father." Mace concluded stressing the words 'was' and 'is' hoping that would convince her.

"Search your feelings child and you'll see what we say is true." Mundi suggested.

Lyyr did not know what the Jedi Master meant by that cryptic remark and was about to continue arguing when a small hand slipped into her own; jolting her out of her inner confusion. She looked down to find Anakin looking encouragingly up at her. In his gaze Lyyr found the steading support she needed in that moment. Again she found herself wondering why the Jedi thought him unworthy of joining their ranks.

Her gaze wandered from Anakin to Qui-Gon who was watching her reaction. Finally, her brain processed what Windu told her. Startled by the realization Lyyr blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"You're my father?" She asked him her voice sounding both exasperated and exhausted. It was just too many shocks to her system and Lyyr was surprised she hadn't kneeled over from the stress. Then an idea occurred to her as she stared at Qui-Gon's ruefully smiling face.

"You knew all along," she accused him again just blurting out what popped into her head.

"I suspected," he answered her truthfully. "Do as Master Mundi suggests Lyyr, search your feelings."

Lyyr stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. She had no idea what they meant by that but decided to give it a try. She closed her mouth and shifted her gaze so that she was staring out of the glass windows behind the Jedi Master's heads. Lyyr allowed her gaze to become unfocused as she thought about all they had told her. She drew comfort from the warmth of Anakin's hand in her own.

Their story had a certain kind of logic to it. Lyyr could not deny that it would make sense but still there were some questions left to be answered. Such as why did it take them so long to find her? She had a feeling though that now was neither the time nor the place to ask them. Lyyr sensed them all watching her, waiting for a response and hesitantly she gave them one.

"I cannot deny the possibility of what you say," she said focusing on Master Yoda and ignoring everyone else. "However, you have yet to give me enough proof." Yoda nodded as though he expected that answer from her.

"About being trained, what think you? Hmmm..?"

"I never wanted to be a Jedi." She told him truthfully, in all her dreams that one never occurred to her.

"Daughter of two Jedi, are you," Yoda told her pointing out that particular irony. "Trained you need to be, dangerous it is to not."

"What of Anakin?" She asked. She was hyper aware of the boy who was now trying to meld himself into her leg.

"Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later," Windu decided, she turned to look at him them.

"Very well then so will mine," she replied. Lyyr needed the time to think about all of this. That statement ended her second painful interview with the Jedi Council and as she left the Chamber she hoped fervently that she would never have to endure that again. Back in the hallway she broke away from Anakin and once more sought solace out on the balcony watching the traffic. In that moment Lyyr felt akin to the way she felt walking into the arenas – shaken, anxious, nauseous, and resentful.