Disclaimer: I only own the Self-Insert/Mary Sue. All else belongs to their respective owners. That is all.

Chapter 5: The Naboo

Qui-Gon wouldn't admit it, but he was a bit nervous. A nine year old slave as the Chosen One. Even if Rae confirmed it, it wouldn't make it any easier for the Council to accept. In fact, it might make it harder, considering what she saw came about after the boy was trained. He sighed as she left the Council chambers, but then she stopped and looked straight at him. "Noble Walkers of the Sky make great Knights, Qui-Gon. Hotshot will be fine, mark my words," she said, sitting down on a bench. Qui-Gon quirked an eyebrow. "What? I have no clue how to get out of here on my own and besides, I have a feeling Anakin will need me when he gets out of there." Obi-Wan gave her a slightly wobbly, for him, smile. She turned her green-blue eyes on the unusually emotional Padawan and smiled softly. "He'll need you too, Obi-Wan. Don't sell yourself short big guy. You'll be there for him when I can't, of that I am sure. Now, I don't know about you two, but I just want to daydream. Let me know when the doors open, okie-day?" she said and then closed her eyes and leaned back without waiting for an answer.

/*/

Obi-Wan shook his head, wonder and bemusement floating across the training bond between him and Qui-Gon."How does she do that?" he asked through the Force. Qui-Gon sent a laugh back.

"Who can say for sure? However, I know why she does it. It's so she doesn't go mad. You know what she has lost, what she knows. Could you honestly say you would be normal after that?" Obi-Wan sighed.

"No, Master. I don't think I could," he answered. Qui-Gon merely sent a mental huff back along the bond and settled in to wait. Soon enough, Anakin came out in a daze.

"They said I was too old to train, Master," he said. Rae scoffed.

"You have no master, Hotshot. Even when they accept you for training, which I am sure they will, eventually, you will have no master. A friend, a big brother, yes, but not a master," she said evenly, though there was a sort of fire in her voice, barely held in check. The three males in the hall with her looked at her in surprise. "Hey, a freed slave is a freed slave. Why give him a master when you just got him away from one? It would eventually seem like he simply traded one kind of slavery for another. Give him a chance to truly be free before you being giving him orders, alright? Besides, we've got a planet to save, don't we?" she added. Qui-Gon shook his head at her, wondering why she was so eager to enter a battle.

/*/

Back on board the ship, Rae handed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan a holo-pad. "Don't ask me to repeat this, Jedi. I don't think I could," she said, then vanished into the room Padme had given her.

"Come master, this could be the knowledge you sought on the way to Coursant," Obi-Wan said. Qui-Gon nodded and the two went to their quarters for privacy. Qui-Gon activated the 'pad and a recording started up. Rae flickered into being, her discomfort clear.

"I told you I'd tell you what you wanted to know, and so this is me, telling you how you'll die. Just know this will not be easy to hear... or to tell. I've found both of you to be nice people, and so to bring what I know forward, to tell you... it will hurt." Rae took another deep breath to steady herself. "If things go as I know them, Queen Amidala will call for a vote of no confidence against the Chancellor and the Senator for Naboo, Palpatine, will be voted in. He will push for something to be done on Naboo. There will be a battle, a famous battle, for the peaceful planet that will solidify Amidala as a beloved Queen of Naboo. Many will lose their lives, and one boy will find himself in the star fighter that destroys the droid control ship of the Trade Federation, beginning his reputation as one of the greatest fighter pilots in the galaxy. During that battle, Qui-Gon will lose his life in a duel against the Sith you faced on Tatooine. Obi-Wan will react badly and take up the fight, cutting the Sith in half before holding his master as he breaths his last. It will be a trauma that scars young Obi-Wan deeply, and if we are not careful, will damage the early relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan, who will fulfill his master's dying wish. I will say no more, Jedi. In fact, I may have said too much," Rae said, then stood and switched off the recoding.

"And what did you hope to accomplish with this, Master? Now you've made Rae upset and I know you're not going to survive this battle," Obi-Wan said icily. Qui-Gon let out a long breath.

"I wanted to know if my suspicions were correct. Unfortunately, they were. There is a politician on Courasant that she bares a grudge to, likely Palpatine judging by her tone when she said his name, and I am going to die on Naboo." The Master turned to his Padawan. "I am proud of you, Obi-Wan. You have been a kind and patient apprentice when I have been... less than fair to you. Our early relationship was... poor... but now I truly care for you, my Padawan. I had hoped to have this information before we left for Naboo so that I could be there to see you Knighted, but now that will not be possible. Obi-Wan..." Qui-Gon turned to fully face his apprentice, dropping all shields and baring his heart to the young man. Tears prickled at the corners of Obi-Wan's eyes at the love and pride Qui-Gon allowed himself to feel toward his apprentice, and the terrible pain it caused the older man to know he would leave his Padawan, his son, in such a fashion. "I wanted to know if I survived this conflict or not so that I could say what needed to be said. Obi-Wan, you are more than a mere apprentice to me. You are my son. I am sorry that I may not live to see you knighted, I am sorry that I will likely die in your arms. I am sorry, so sorry, for all of this. And I want you to know, I am proud of you, and I approve of your feelings toward Rae. She knows so much, and has been able to make you smile and laugh more than anyone else. Do not be afraid to feel for her, because she's right. Humans are beings of emotion and we cannot cut ourselves off from that. Now, let us not dwell on this. We still have time to make memories, Obi-Wan, so let us make the most of it, shall we?" Obi-Wan nodded, too overcome with unfamiliar emotions that he finally allowed himself to feel to speak. Qui-Gon smiled and lead his apprentice, his son, to the gym for some lightsaber practice.

/*/

Padme was unusually glad that Rae was going with them to her home planet. She knew the girl was no warrior, not even a guard, but having her at her back made the girl queen feel more secure. Soon, they would meet with the Gungans and plead with them for aid. Padme was hoping the young woman could give her some information on how to sway the Gungan chief, but when asked Rae was stubbornly silent, a knowing gleam in her eyes. "Look alive Queeny! Boss Nass, straight ahead," Rae piped up near her ear, sounding far more cheery than Padme had expected of the civilian woman. Of course, in her borrowed clothes and with a blaster hanging from her left hip the young woman didn't really look like a civilian. Drawing her attention away from the enigmatic young woman who was grinning cheekily at her and back to the negotiation with the Gungan Chief, Padme soon saw that the classical plea for alliance her decoy was giving wouldn't work. It was time for a different approach. She stepped forward, sending a brief glance at Rae, who nodded, still smirking. Padme took a deep breath... and began to beg. She begged for her people, begged for help, begged the Gungan General to rally his troops and fight for Naboo. And it worked. "See? You didn't need me after all," Rae said softly, coming back up to Padme's shoulder, though the older woman was a little taller than the girl Queen.

"Okay. You were right. I had it in me all along. But you were not unneeded, Rae. You gave me moral support." Padme paused and turned to the older woman who was quickly becoming a good friend. "Are you sure I can't convince you to join us at the palace?" Rae shook her head.

"I couldn't bear it, Your Majesty. Not when I know what will happen there. When it is all said and done, I will come to you and the Jedi. And I will comfort, and I will cry, and I will rage. After it is done, yes, I will join you at the palace, but during the fight I am better off in the field. After all," she said, a mischievous twinkle entering her eyes, "it wouldn't do for the defending force to put more holes in the walls than the invaders now would it?" Padme chuckled.

"No, I suppose not," she agreed, though she felt a heavy weight in her chest. Rae hadn't told her what was going to happen, but whatever it was, obviously, it was going to be bad.

"You will win, but at a cost. But do not despair. Things will get better, eventually. Just remember that, Padme. Do not get overconfident, for pride comes before the fall, but do not despair. That is all I can give you now. I'm returning to the Gungans now. Comm me when the fighting is done, okay?" Rae said, quelling Padme's fears and holding up her wrist mounted communications device. Padme could do nothing but nod.

"Okay. Be safe, Rae. I don't think we could stand losing you," she said, clasping the young woman's forearm. Rae gave her a weary smile.

"Too many will die as it is, Padme. Why should I add to it? No. I'll stay safe and come afterward to help you heal," she said. A chill went down Padme's back and then, Rae was gone, lost in the horde of Gungan's marching out to the fields of Naboo. The queen took a deep breath and then returned to her guards, ready to march to war.

/*/

Rae shut her thoughts down, narrowing her focus to the matter at hand. At first, she had wanted to stay in the star cruiser, but not even Anakin was staying behind, which would have made a great deal more sense considering what she'd already told the others about the role he played in the battle and what that later lead to. So, she wouldn't have had anything to distract her from playing the movie over in her head, watching Qui-Gon die over and over. "Yousa no gungan," a random soldier remarked.

"You are quite astute, Master Gungan," Rae remarked drily. "I am, in point of fact, human."

"What are yousa doing here?"

"AH! Rae!" Jar-Jar called, his gangly walk making him look like a drunk.

'Or a master of The Drunken Fist,' Rae's mind whispered, a half forgotten fan theory about Jar-Jar being the real Sith Lord coming to mind.

"Yousa here to fight, Bombad Lady?" he asked. Rae gave him as fierce a smile as she could muster, which at that point in time must have looked more like a grimace of fear, and replied,

"As long as I don't start questioning whether or not these battle droids qualify as sentient life-forms." The gungan who had challenged her previously scoffed.

"And why should that matter?" Rae glared at the gungan.

"Because, my religion has twelve laws that must be followed or you must ask most humble forgiveness for your sin. One of those Commandments is 'Thou Shalt not Kill' or, in plainer speak, 'Do Not Kill.' Back home, hunting was allowed for the animals were under our stewardship and the Lord God had given them to us for food as well as companionship, but the killing of another human was a great crime. In a galaxy as vast and populated as this, I would think that 'Do Not Kill' Commandment would extend to other races and societies than Human. As Droids are not blessed with a soul, and therefore lacking sentience, I would feel no guilt in permanently off-lining them but if they were sentient... then I'd have a bit of a problem and have to sit down somewhere and cry my eyes out begging for forgiveness for my mass killing," she ranted, sending the poor gungan staggering back a couple paces. Jar-Jar chuckled.

"Isa told yousa! Rae isa Bombad Lady!" he said gleefully. Rae rolled her eyes.

"Let us just hope my blaster bolts hit the droids and not you gungans," she remarked drily.

"Ah... isa yousa really that bad of a shot?" Jar-Jar asked. Rae shrugged.

"Dunno. I haven't used a blaster once in my life," she told him.

"She's yousa's Captain, General Binks." Rae blinked.

"Wait... Captain? General? What?"

"Mesa think hesa putting da walkin' disasters together," another gungan theorized. Rae groaned.

"Just my luck," she muttered before stalking off. "I'm finding a nice tree to topple. Back in ten."

/*/

True to her word, Rae found a decent sized tree and began firing her blaster at it, attempting to shot a line across the trunk. At first, her accuracy left something to be desired, but by the end of her self imposed time limit, she felt she could hit the torso of a droid fairly well. Most of her shots were actually hitting the tree anyway. When she got back to the field, the gungans were in formation, waiting for the droid army... which was slowly advancing on them. "Well... drat and botheration," Rae growled, crossing her arms and glaring at the slowly marching droids. Then their voices hit her and she pulled her blaster out, eyes lighting with fire. "Finally, an annoying toy I am actually encouraged to trash!" she snarled with a feral grin. The gungans around her slowly edged away. Even Jar-Jar.

"Mesa no likein' dis," was heard somewhere to the left of the pair, but neither seemed to really care as the shields were raised. Rae began to bounce slightly, grinning in a fairly mad way.

"Come on, Destruct-o-Bots!" she sang, bouncing on her toes, blaster held at the ready, "come to Slagger!" Soon, but soon enough for the young woman's liking, the droids breached the shields and began firing. With a cry of "Allons-y!", the temporally/cosmically displaced woman jumped into the fray, shooting at droids with a wild abandon. She even managed to score a few headshots, though she mostly aimed for the largest targets, which would be the boxy torsos of the attacking B-1 battle droids. The battle dragged on. Rae lost sight of Jar-Jar for a time, though a yelling, flailing gungan hanging off of an energy tank's turret was kind of hard to miss. "Ya know, I can't help but wonder how he manages to find himself in such bizarre situations," the human mused aloud, before promptly turning around and blasting the head off of a droid that had gotten too close for comfort.

"Mayar!" a voice called, a staff flying through the air. Somehow, the woman caught it in her off hand.

"Gee, thanks!" she called, a little put out. How was she supposed to use a staff while wielding a blaster? Sighing, she put the gun away and gripped the staff with both hands. "Alright, fine. FORE!" A new game was invented as four droid heads went flying from her strike and it was called, 'Who can Bat a Bot the Farthest.' A gungan by the name of Ra-Ra; odd name for sure but hey, he was a gungan; held the record distance, but Rae managed to snag the record for most droid heads sent flying with a single swing. She was quite happy with that.

/*/

The droids were deactivated. Rae let out a humph and folded her legs to sit atop a pile of decapitated droids, her slightly singed staff leaning against her right shoulder and a truly thunderous pout on her face. "Rae? Are you there?" Padme's voice said, slightly distorted, from her wrist.

"Sittin' pretty on forty-three," the young woman replied, finding some comfort from the familiar quote.

"R~ight, well, the fighting's done here," Padme said, clearly confused by Rae's 'forty-three' comment. "You have a promise to keep, Ms. Mayar."

"Copy that, Your Majesty. I'll be there as soon as I can. Please, inform Obi-Wan and Anakin that I'm coming to cheer them up. If they say I wouldn't understand... remind them that I have lost everything. Rae out," she said, then cut off the transmission before climbing to her feet. "Now I just need to figure out a way to get to the palace at Theed. Too bad there aren't any taxis around," she muttered. Thankfully, the gungans were headed the same way and gave her a lift.

/*/

Padme found Anakin and Obi-Wan in one of the gardens of the Palace at Theed. "I just got off the comm with Rae. She said she's coming to cheer you up," she told the grieving Jedi. Anakin simply seemed numb. Obi-Wan snorted.

"Cheer me up? How could she do that?" he asked. The young Queen sighed and said,

"She thought you might say something like that. She also told me to remind you that she has lost everything. Remember that, Jedi, and maybe you won't run her off." Obi-Wan looked up, mildly shocked, but the Queen was already stalking away. He thought about her words and realized, she was right. Rae had lost everything she knew, everything she had grown up with. At least Obi-Wan had the Temple and the other Jedi. And Anakin. But what did Rae have? He was still thinking about that when Rae caught up with him later that day. With a picnic basket.

"Come on. Let's get out of here, away from the Palace. Memories have a way of cropping up when in the vicinity of the event," she said softly. Obi-Wan wanted to snap, to pull away, but he remembered Padme's warning and instead allowed himself to be pulled away.

/*/

Rae lead Obi-Wan and Anakin away into the wilder part of Theed, away from the signs of civilization, and spread out a blanket. "Sit," she commanded. The two Force sensitives could not stand against her, and so fell to the ground atop the blanket. Rae opened her basket and set out the sandwiches, knowing they would need the cookies and cocoa after the next stage. "Dig in," she said, giving them a very commanding look. They swallowed and obeyed, finding themselves to be quite hungry. When they were done with the sandwiches, Rae hauled them to their feet and lead them a little ways away from their picnic. She handed Anakin a sturdy branch and pointed him toward one stand of trees while she pushed Obi-Wan toward a lake. "Scream, rant, rage, hit, go through your forms, throw things. I don't care which, just let it out. Rage, pain, bitterness... they can fester inside of you, poisoning your mind and relationships. So, let it out! Now, while we are in a mostly controlled environment and away from prying eyes," she instructed, commanded. The boys looked at her in confusion before she grunted, picked up some rocks, and threw them into the lake with a mighty roar. "They're gone! They're all gone! And I will never see them again! Why?! Why was I stolen away?! Why am I here?! WHY?! JUST TELL ME WHY FRAG IT ALL!" she screamed, throwing more rocks as she let her emotions out, tears streaming down her face and her voice growing choked before she stopped throwing and just sank to her knees, crying loudly. Anakin widened his stance and began hacking at the trees with his branch, screaming out his frustrations before he too fell to the ground, hugging his knees as he rocked back and forth, crying. Obi-Wan was a bit shocked, but he could feel the chaotic swirl that had been around Rae since she came into his life settling as she cried herself hoarse. Likewise, Anakin seemed to be calming, and his Force signature felt more at peace than it had since Tatooine after the outburst. So, Obi-Wan tried it as well.

"Why?! Why did Qui-Gon have to die?! Why did he want to cast me aside for Anakin?! Was I not good enough?! I tried! I tried so hard to please him and he never once said 'good job' to me! What good is it being the perfect Padawan if no-one recognizes the effort you put into it?! He had always been so hard on me, always saying he had to purge the darkness from me! Well guess what?! I'M NOT XANATOS!" Obi-Wan yelled, picking up Anakin's discarded branch and hacking and slashing, making sure he wasn't anywhere close to Rae or Anakin. "Tell me why it had to be this way! Tell me how I go on after this! Just... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRGGGGG!" he screamed, letting out all of his feelings as he spun and flipped and stabbed and finally Force threw a large stone across the lake. He fell to his knees, screaming and muttering and crying unintelligible nothings of emotion before he finally fell silent, though tears still streamed down his face. And there they sat, three emotionally drained Humans, crying even with closed eyes on the bank of a Nubian lake.

/*/

None of them knew how long they sat there, just letting their emotions run their course. Rae was the first to stand and make her way back to the blanket. She pulled out the cookies and cocoa before calling the boys over. They said nothing as they came and accepted the cups of hot chocolate and cookies that Rae handed them. Finally, she spoke.

"They wouldn't want us to wallow in sorrow or pity. They wouldn't want us to remember only the pain of their loss, the way they left us. They would want us to focus on the good times, not the bad or the sad." Obi-Wan nodded.

"It is the Jedi Way to release attachments," he said tonelessly. Rae nodded.

"Those who love us, and those we love, never truly leave us. They live in our memory, in our hearts, and for many, in our actions. We need to let them go, but we can never forget the ones who leave us, because when they are forgotten is when they truly die," she said. Anakin sniffed.

"Whenever I got scared, mom would always sing to me, so I could go back to sleep," he said softly. Rae smiled.

"My mom loved food, loved to cook. She'd been a bit harried, before I left, so she didn't have a lot of time for that then, but when she did have time... When Mom cooked, you knew you were in for a good meal. And she loved tea, and cocoa, and cookies, and scones. Her chocolate chip cookies were the best cookies I'd ever had. But at Christmas, the Winter Holiday, she'd make Welsh Cookies, which were cooked on a grittle. I regret that I never learned the recipe. And grandma Mayar, up in Michigan, a Northern State, would send Welsh Cookies down for Dad's birthday," she said, a few more tears leaking out of her eyes even as she smiled. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, then said,

"I don't remember my mother, or my father, but Master Qui-Gon... he was a master in the kitchen as well as the Force. Whenever he had time, he'd cook for us in our rooms at the Temple. My favorite dish that he made was called the Jinn Special. I'm not even certain what was in it, but you could smell it cooking from six feet down the corridor." Rae smiled at the fond look in the young man's eyes. He was healing, just a little, but he was healing.

"I wish I had a dad," Anakin said softly. Rae smiled at him sadly.

"My dad would wake me up with cold coins, or off the wall comments, delivered in perfect deadpan of course. One time, he put a cold can of Coke-a-Cola under the covers with me and laughed as I tried to wiggle away from it. And then there was the bag of frozen peas! Sometimes, he'd come in and tell me it had snowed. I rarely believed that, seeing as where we lived it only snowed during the harshest of winters. He loved to mess with me. He'd tell me I had cauliflower in my ear, or something like that. Dad also liked to mess with my feet and listen to me squeak," she said, putting an arm around the boy and drawing him close. Obi-Wan smiled wanly.

"I almost wish I had known the love of a mother, like you two," he confessed. Rae smiled.

"I could mother hen you, if you'd like, Obi darling," she said, sugary sweet. He made a face, though it was more reserved than a non-Jedi's would be.

"Oh, Force, no!" he said. Anakin joined Rae in laughing and after a little while, Obi-Wan did too.

/*/

When they had calmed down and finished about half their cups of cocoa, Obi-Wan sighed and looked at Rae in slight wonder. "Thank you, Rae. I didn't even know I needed this," he said. She smiled and pulled out some more sandwiches.

"Here, I think we've missed dinner," she said, handing them the food. They smiled at her and ate their dinner. Then, they just sat and looked at the stars, taking a moment to enjoy the peace and quite. As they packed up, Obi-Wan realized he was calmer and more at peace than he could remember being.

"How did you know?" he asked Rae. She chuckled.

"Easy. I felt like I could use a good cry and some physical exertion, so why shouldn't you and Anakin? Also, I told you before, Humans are emotional beings. Emotions are healthy, but keeping them bottled up and refusing to deal with them isn't. So, I found a good place to let my pent up anger, frustration, pain, grief, and worry out. That you were there to benefit from my example was a planned bonus. Now, we all know each other a bit better and we all feel a bit more at peace." She looked over at him and Obi-Wan felt his heart nearly skip a beat at the smile she gave him. "Stress relief is a good thing, Obi-Wan. I just wouldn't recommend using a lightsaber for it. Use a stick, or a punching bag, or a rock and a wide open field, not a deadly weapon. Unless you're sent out for firewood, then you can take an ax and just hack the living daylights out of dead wood," she said, perfectly serious. Obi-Wan couldn't help but laugh. And Force did it feel good to laugh!

/*/

From the mysterious depths of the Force, Qui-Gon Jinn was given the gift of watching his Padawan let go of a good deal of his grief and move on. The departed Master smiled, if a disembodied consciousness could smile, and said, or would if he could, "Thank you, Rae Donna Mayar. Thank you for helping him let go." Gui-Gon, as part of the Force, could see the beginnings of a bond between the three of them, though it was different for each of them. Between Obi-Wan and Anakin was the beginnings of a unique Master/Padawan bond, unique because it also had traces of a bond of brotherhood and a little of a father/son bond. Between Obi-Wan and Rae was a friendship bond tinted slightly by romantic love. Rae and Anakin shared a big sister/little brother bond with a little bit of mother/son thrown in. Seeing it, Qui-Gon was pleased. These three would need each other to survive what was going to come later. The war Rae had spoken of was already set in motion, already building in the dark and the quite. Like a festering wound, it would lay in wait and then, it would erupt into sickness. The Jedi Master was sorry that he would not be there to help them physically, but he was now one with the Force and could help from there by being with them... as the Force. He smiled as well as he could as a disembodied consciousness in the Force and sank back into the flow, though a part of him would always be with his Padawan. Though, he had to admit, Rae had it right. He was a Shining Knight, and he would be hers.

/?/

A/N: Originally, I had planned to keep Rae out of the fight but... I think she wouldn't have a problem destroying battle droids. I wouldn't! So, she fights alongside gungans. Hope you enjoyed it! Oh! I'm also not a psychologist or a therapist so that little 'therapy session' probably isn't scientifically correct. To any psych students, or Dr.s, I apologize if I've got it wrong.