Disclaimer: Disney owns Star Wars, not me. All the characters and places (except for my OC Analise Joy) belong to them.

"aaaa"-talking out loud."aaaa"-talking through a holo. 'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. aaaaa-talking through a Bond

AN: Thank you necessaryreading for the review:)

This was a tough chapter to write. Mace is one of the few Jedi that I have felt comfortable writing because he is such a stern and almost unbending figure in the series to me. He's going to be acting OOC like pretty much all the characters, so please enjoy.

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Chapter Six

This time the Temple courtyard was quiet, peaceful. The Jedi, young and old alike were inside getting ready for late-meal. The young ones doing or attempting to get out classwork. The older ones preparing the food or working on mission reports or lesson plans.

Mace liked the courtyard when it was quiet and empty. He came here often to meditate, to think when it was impossible for him to focus anywhere else. Even his own chambers could become too closed in, too loud to hear his thoughts. At times too closed in and too loud at times it seemed to even hear the Force.

Tonight thoughts swirled around his head and he had trouble even focusing himself on reaching out to the Force so he could release his troubled feelings into it.

Mace wasn't afraid exactly. He was uneasy. The Jedi Order had always seemed as steady, as strong as a large boulder anchored in the middle of a rushing river. It should strong against the raging currents that rushed passed it, never moving. Never changing. Strong and firm.

And yet in years that boulder could be slowly eroded by the rushing water. Made smaller and smaller until one day it is too weak to stand firm against the pushing current. Losing its grip, it finds itself being pushed away from the spot it had once held so tightly to. Swept away, caught up in something it didn't fully understand.

That was the position that Mace felt the Jedi Order was now in. The fast-paced changing galaxy was threatening to pull, push the Jedi from the spot where they had always stood firm. Remote, apart, aloof. Protecting the Republic, the galaxy; but never truly a part of it. They had no representatives in the Senate that spoke on their behalf. They did not stand up for themselves when senators or other citizens of the Republic rebuked them, taunted them, spoke hate against the Order for the way they lived.

It seemed whether or not he wanted to, whether the Jedi wanted to or not; they would have to change. They would no longer be able to stand against the raging water pushing past them. If they didn't, it would be as the twins said. The Order would be destroyed.

Soft humming, a happy sound caught his ears. Mace turned. 'Speaking of twins.' Analise was strolling through the courtyard, clutching a package to herself. The humming was her. It had become a well-known habit of Analise's and many at the Temple liked it when she hummed. It meant that the Earthling was happy, content.

"And where have you been Padawan Analise?" The teen squeaked and turned, blonde hair and brown cloak flying. Mace sighed. He wished, wished very hard that Analise was as comfortable around him as she was around the other Masters. Even Ki-Adi liked the girl and he was at times more of a hard-liner than he was.

Analise bowed so low that Mace was surprised that she didn't topple over. "I am so sorry Master Windu, but have permission. Da...I mean Master Qui-Gon told me I could as long I was home before late-meal...I was just picking up something up for Anakin...I mean Padawan Skywalker..."

"Peace Analise. You do not have to be so formal with me." Mace raised his hand. "You're not in trouble. Did you get him a gift for your birthdays?"

"Yes...and I followed all the rules about getting a birthday gift. It's something practical and useful as well as something I know that Ani will love...I got him a new tool-kit." The smile on her face was so bright that Mace believed it could light up even the darkest of Coruscant's allies.

"I am sure he will love it." He patted the bench next to him. "Come sit. I have a couple of questions I wanted to ask you."

"Yes Master." She sat by him, sitting just as she had been taught when she was still a little girl. Mace smiled to himself. Her years and years of dance training showed in moments like this. Even in her lightsaber drills Analise moved more as a dancer than a warrior.

"Do you ever miss Earth?"

"Huh?" She looked up at him startled.

"Earth...do you ever miss it?"

"Not really...the only place I really miss is where my first Da and I lived. It was all wild. Forest. Trees as far as you could see. It was one of those small outpost towns that somehow survived into the modern age. Quiet, peaceful. Coruscant...Coruscant can be so loud and smelly and bright. Even in the Force it's never really quiet. Except for the Temple, home."

"That's it?"

"Yes...you see except when I was with my first Da, I never fit in anywhere. I was too different...to odd. The quiet dreamer who could see colors, who could tell just by looking if a person was truly good or not. After my first Da died, I had no family. I had no one." The smile returned to her face. "That's why I'm so glad that the Force brought me back here. I have a family again and friends. I have a Da and a brother and an uncle and an aunt and even a great-grandfather."

"Great-Grandfather?"

"Master Yoda," She giggles. Mace's eyes widened. He knew Yoda was getting close to the twins. He just didn't know it was that close.

"Analise...what are your thoughts about change." Analise frowned a little in thought.

"On Earth, it seemed like things were always changing. Traditions, ideas, public opinion, stuff like that."

"How did beings there deal with it?"

"They could get upset. Sometimes really mad. Maybe even violent because with each new change, each new idea they feared it meant loosing their way of life. Being forced to give up their beliefs, their ideas." Sky-blue eyes meet dark brown, earnest sparks lighting them up. "But I don't think you have to give up your beliefs and ideas just because change threatens them. You just have to find a way for the old and the new to blend together, to exist side-by-side."

Mace gazed at her. He studied her with the Force. It sprang from her, glowing like a soft sliver candle flame. Steady, bright, peaceful. "You speak with a wisdom far beyond you years Analise Skywalker. The Jedi are lucky to have you."

"But Master Windu, there's no such thing as luck."

The honest statement that Mace had often said himself surprised a laugh from the normally stern Jedi Master. Maybe change wouldn't be so bad or that hard.