I'm a Skywalker too!
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 08

Hyperspace

He was dreaming. And what he was dreaming was something that could not be put into words very easily. The dream was a confusing burst of random images, scattered and different, but all possessing an element of raw emotion and power behind them that helped him differentiate between them. In the beginning of his dream, the images were confusing but also so very terrifying; blood, pain, suffering, the deaths of tens of millions of people, the extinguishment of the Jedi and the light they heralded, and the onset of ever-deepening darkness and despair.

He watched as a colossal fire burst to life, consuming planets and systems all across the galaxy as white-armored soldiers led by Jedi fought against battle droids and bounty hunters. He watched as those same battle droids suddenly started changing into innocent civilians, with the white soldiers still shooting them down mercilessly. He watched as a black armored figure with a fear-inducing black mask began hunting down and killing many thousands of Jedi. He watched as a cloaked, wrinkled being sat upon a grand throne made of stars and planets alike, overlooking the construction of a massive moon that changed into an equally-massive battle station. He watched as a darkness spread outwards from this old man's throne of worlds, seeping out to cover the entire galaxy. He watched as small groups of people across the galaxy began banding together to resist the growing tide of darkness. And acting as a type of background noise to this entire series of images was a malicious laughter that invoked the purest sensation of evil he'd ever conceived of before, emitting from somewhere both near and far, as all-encompassing and pervasive as the black void that it was spreading.

And then, like a literal punch to the gut, everything stopped in a blinding flash of light, rewound, changed. He watched again as the brunette girl punched him in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards. He watched as pirates attacked an old freighter in space before sweeping down to bomb a small settlement on a grassy plain. He watched as a young blonde boy rose up out of the plains, alone against a whole swarm of enemy starfighters, laughing in excitement the entire time as he flew and fought them. He watched as the brunette girl and blonde boy fought in almost synchronized concert against a hugely muscled white Twi'lek with a spinning red lightsaber. He watched as he, the two kids, and some group of other people stared up into the sky as deadly turbolaser fire started to rain down towards them. But it was the last image that jolted him awake, Padme Amidala standing nearby him as she too stared up at the turbolasers that were about to incinerate them.

"Padme!" Anakin gasped, sitting upright as his bedspread slid off his chest, his body glistening with sweat as his heart raced. Gasping and taking a few moments to collect himself, Anakin pulled himself up into a seated position.

Running his hands through his short hair, he tried to comprehend the startlingly clear and crisp images that were now seared into his brain. A lot of it was terrifying in what it implied. The Jedi Order destroyed and hunted to extinction, a massive war that ripped the galaxy apart, an evil man who was probably a Sith managing to take power in the chaos that ensued, and a dark enforcer who imposed the Sith's rule. But as dark as those images were, he found he wasn't all that concerned about them. The fact that there were sparks of rebellion against the ruling Sith and his probable empire of darkness was enough to ease Anakin's conscience that the people of the galaxy wouldn't submit to his rule so easily. No, it was the final images of his dream that was really bothering him.

He saw Padme again, but she was in great danger! There was a young boy out there now who must've been an extraordinary pilot to be able to go up against a swarm of enemies and laugh it off as if they were nothing. Granted, Anakin was confident he could've done the deed just as easily. But what did that say about this new boy if he could possibly do the same thing? Then there was the fact that it seemed that the girl and boy must've known each other and quite well if the images of their fighting together so well was anything to go by. What were they in regards to each other? Friends? Fellow apprentices of some unknown master? Maybe siblings?

So many questions with no clear answers. Sighing heavily, Anakin pulled himself into a relaxed seated position. After that dream, he had little doubt he'd be unable to get any further rest. Perhaps he should try following some of Obi-wan's likely advice and meditate on what he saw. Perhaps the Force could clarify a few of the images, feelings, and questions he was feeling? But if nothing else, meditating would help to at least partially calm him down.

Sighing again, he closed his eyes and immersed himself as deeply into the Force as he could venture.

12:9:20 GrS
Takodana

"Why would they come here?" Obi-wan wondered aloud as he stepped out of the ship he, his Padawan, and Master Vos were flying in. "Takodana is an out-of-the-way stop with no outstanding settlement or government. Certainly nowhere they could unload or sell any cargo."

"You're thinking too much like a merchant, Kenobi," Vos said as he led the trio down the dirt path. They had landed their ship in a relatively small clearing a short distance away from a large stone structure by a lake that the bearded Jedi had glimpsed on their descent and landing. "All those reasons are exactly why this is the perfect place to go first. Smugglers, lowlifes, bounty hunters, the scum of the galaxy gather in areas such as this."

Gesturing towards the large stone castle that had just come into view ahead of them, Vos continued, "As you know, the galaxy is full of watering holes, but nothing like this place. It's been run by an old smuggler named Maz Kanata for a thousand years. She dabbles in a lot of different businesses here, such as information brokering on where to unload illicit cargo for potential buyers. As Maz is the closest and most reliable, it makes sense."

Seeing the slightly uncertain and distracted looks that the youngest of them was giving the parked freighters on the other side of the lake, as well as the group of beings who were moving to and from the castle, Vos stopped and gently grabbed ahold of the young man's wondering hand for a second. "This establishment is not one to walk into holding a lightsaber. First impressions are important, especially for Maz."

Nodding despite the uncomfortable look he was wearing, Anakin moved his hand away from where it had been drifting towards his clipped lightsaber. Nodding, Vos started moving towards the castle again.

"I take it you've been here many times already," Obi-wan said as he moved up alongside his colleague.

"As I said, Maz does a fair amount of business in information dealing, she knows almost everything that's worth knowing in the Rimworlds," Vos said as they neared the entrance. "The most important thing here is to keep a low profile, stay under the radar. A lot of the scum here probably know and hate me for various reasons, so don't draw attention to yourselves in there. Also, Maz is a bit of an acquired taste, so let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don't stare."

"At what?" Anakin and Obi-wan asked simultaneously.

"Any of it," Vos warned them as he opened the entrance and headed inside. Master and Apprentice shared a brief, confused glance for a split second before following after their companion.

Following the corridor to a sizable open hall of neatly finished stonework, the Jedi trio found a hodgepodge of humans, humanoids, and distinctly nonhumans engaged in what Anakin assumed were perpetual rounds of eating, drinking, gambling, scheming, negotiating, arguing, and occasionally attempting to split one another's livers or some equivalent organ open. Leading the way, Vos alternately shoved, requested, or cajoled assorted occupants of the hall out of their path until at last he halted.

The first impression Anakin had of Maz Kanata was that she was like a small, orange-skinned, goggles-wearing version of Jedi Master Yoda, just not as crippled by old age. She was dressed simply and practically: baggy dark maroon pants tucked into handmade boots and a vest of some charcoal gray material fitted over a teal sweater-like shirt with rolled up sleeves. But what really caught Anakin by surprise was that he could feel her presence. She was Force-sensitive! Barely as strong as a first-year Jedi Initiate, if that, but enough to give him pause in surprise. It was a small wonder to him why she hadn't been recruited into the Jedi Order.

"QUINLIN VOS!" Maz cried out as she'd turned to face her Jedi visitors. Almost immediately, all activity in the hall came to an abrupt halt as all eyes zeroed in on the hated undercover Jedi Master and the two other Jedi who were with him.

'So much for not sticking out,' Anakin couldn't help thinking derisively as he looked around at the crowd, trying to judge the likelihood of a fight breaking out.

"Hello, Kanata," Vos greeted kindly, quite indifferent to the sudden change in atmosphere. "I need to speak with you in private."

Wearing a none-too-pleased expression, the elderly creature considered the man for a moment before beckoning them to the side into an adjacent room. A few moments later, behind a thankfully locked door, the three Jedi found themselves gathered around a small, circular table. Vos took the center seat across from the diminutive Maz, looking as relaxed and comfort as could be expected. Obi-wan sat to the side, alert but not overly concerned. Anakin stood behind the two elder Jedi, arms behind his back as he glanced continuously around the room as he tried to stretch out his awareness.

"I see you're still in business," Vos said easily as soon as Maz climbed up into her seat and get situated.

"No thanks to you and you showing your face here again," Maz said grouchily, glaring at Vos heated. "Do you have any idea how much business you cost me each time you show up here, Quinlin Vos? Do you? Unlike you Jedi, we lesser folk must care about our reputations in order to do business and get repeat customers!"

"It sounds to me like you two have a very…colorful history together," Kenobi said quietly, a tiny smile pulling at his lips. It wasn't often he got to see Master Vos get verbally flayed, much less by someone so much smaller and less physically imposing.

"Three times—THREE! —TIMES! —this Jedi has come barging into my establishment, picked a fight, and killed or scared off my customers for months at a time! All just to arrest a thug or such that he could've waited another ten or so minutes later to get ahold of!" Maz snapped, glancing at Kenobi.

"Three times?" Vos said sounding surprised. "I could've sworn it only happened twice. The slaver Hugo and the bounty hunter Grecko—"

"And the Ugla Brothers!" Maz interrupted.

Vos paused for a moment, thinking. Once the memory came to mind, he waved his hand dismissively. "Technically, I wasn't here for them and they attacked me—"

"It was a fight and you willingly took part in the chaos that trashed my home!" Maz snapped out. "Honestly, you Jedi have become so casually dismissive of collateral damage these past centuries! It's like you've forgotten some of your core values and virtues of being Jedi!" The statement wasn't quite true, closer to an exaggeration. But it held enough truth to it that it brought a small sad sigh from Kenobi, a bored eye-roll from Vos, and a glare from Anakin, who'd been quietly observing everything up to this point.

Shaking her head in a visible effort to clear her dark thoughts and annoyance towards the Jedi, Maz turned her attention back to the Jedi again. "So, Quinlin Vos, what brings you to my door yet again?"

"I believe you already know," Vos said levelly. "Two days ago, a Republic convoy was hijacked by a small group of pirates. We know they came here and I'd like all information you have on them, particularly where they're going next."

"I'd hardly consider a few missing crates of vegetables to be enough to warrant a full team of Jedi to track these 'pirates' down," Maz said dismissively. "Did they kill anyone? Did they cause any massively expensive collateral damage? What could be so valuable about these vegetables to need you to go after them?"

"They damaged a heavily-used mountainside roadway and stole 1.5 million credits' worth of vegetables from the Republic!" Anakin couldn't stop himself from snapping impulsively at the dismissively old woman. "Is that not grounds enough to arrest them?!"

Anakin ignored Kenobi's reproachful look for speaking up so rudely. He was more focused on Maz as she merely glanced up at the boy for a moment. Then, as she was returning her attention back to Vos, she flinched and snapped her gaze back up to him with wide, surprised eyes. Eyes that were made even more expressive thanks to her goggles. This reaction was noticed by all three men, Vos and Kenobi sharing a confused glance. Maz ignored them as she suddenly climbed up and stood up upon the table, moving forward and quickly grabbing ahold of Anakin's face before he could pull away. Vos and Kenobi moved aside to give her more room as she moved forward.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked, trying to hide his nervousness. Maz ignored him as she tilted his face one direction, then another, pulling at his skin to better expose his eyes more to the light with one hand while the other adjusted her goggles. Quickly growing annoyed, he reached up and pulled her hands away as he glared at her. "What—are—you—doing?"

Humming quietly, Maz seemed to come back to herself after a moment. She moved back to her seat as she began saying, "I apologize, young one. It's just that you…" Dropping back into her seat, she continued. "When you've lived as long as I have, you start learning how to recognize certain characteristics that get passed down through the generations. Eye colors and shapes, facial structures, body types, even hair colors." Catching on to what she was referencing, Anakin's gaze hardened as he focused more of his attention on her. Seeing that gaze, Maz chuckled softly, "You look…so much like them, it's almost uncanny."

"Like who?" Anakin demanded. Then a bizarre thought came to his mind. "Did you know my mother?"

Shaking her head, Maz chuckled again softly before turning her gaze back on Vos. "I do have a list of planets and stops that the ones you seek will be making. But when you find them, don't jump to conclusions! Watch, listen, learn. See what it is that they are doing. Maybe you will change your minds about arresting them. Maybe they can teach you what the Jedi have long since forgotten about."

Before any of the Jedi could question her vague statement, Maz hopped off her seat and headed for the door. The three of them just glanced at one another, unsure of what to make of what had just transpired.

With her back to the Jedi, none of them saw the small grin that crossed her face as she moved to the next door over. Unlocking the storage room, she paused briefly to stare inside at it. The room was filled from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, with crates that had the Cerean government logo on them. Maz's grin grew as she relished in the irony of the situation. They may have only been one room over, but the Jedi would likely never find the 1.2 million credits' worth of vegetables she'd purchased from the Skywalker kids.

Quickly grabbing the list of planets she'd given to the kids, she reset her expression and returned to the Jedi, ready and willing to send them off on a wild bantha chase.

12:10:01 GrS
Dantooine

After making their required detour to Denon to drop off Lonnvy's share of the loot and using their new funds to purchase more fuel and fresh foodstuffs from the local market, the Dandy Eagle began its cargo run. They flew up to the galactic north, bouncing on and off the major hyperspace routes to visit remote or obscure planets. And, as they came in for a landing outside a settlement set near a hilly plain, this stop on Dantooine would likely be their last one. As he was going through the landing sequence and shutting down the freighter, a commotion back inside the ship quickly drew his attention.

"Come back here, you overweight glob of grease!" Sparky yelled, firing off several blaster shots. A loud, terrified shrieking droid call erupted as this was happening. Despite curious and worried, Luke forced himself to stay where he was and finish the landing sequence, trusting Leia or Tes'chi to handle whatever was happening back there.

"What's going on?!" Leia cried out as she shot out of her and Tes'chi's quarters.

But, not entirely paying attention to where she was going, she slammed into a fleeing astromech and got knocked to the floor as a result. The astromech recoiled in surprise at the unexpected impact. This moment of surprise cost the droid what precious little time it had before Sparky arrived, grabbed ahold of its antenna and bodily picked it up off the floor while pressing his blaster rifle up against its head.

"Now, hitchhiker, you're in trouble now!" Sparky declared triumphantly in a strangely singsong voice.

"Sparky, wait!" Tes'chi barked as she helped Leia back to her feet. Both girls were staring at the two droids in confusion with narrowed gazes.

"What's going on?" Leia demanded again, looking sternly at the unknown droid. "Who's this?"

The battered and filthy green C1-unit started warbling and chirping frantically, trying to explain itself before the aggressive guard droid blew its CPU from its casings.

"Slow down!" Leia ordered, only able to catch pieces of what the droid was shrieking about. "Now, who are you? What 'master,' 'important information,' and 'secret rendezvous' are you talking about? And, Sparky, put it down."

After Sparky reluctantly did as ordered, the astromech introduced itself as C1-QR. Once done, it spun its head around and started squawking reproachfully at Sparky.

"Oh, really?" Sparky said in a dangerous tone of voice as it shifted its rifle down into a more convenient position. "Would you prefer to be torn apart, melted down, or just blasted into oblivion, droid? Because I will happily accommodate you on any one of those!"

"Enough!" Leia interrupted firmly, glaring at both droids. "Sparky, Tes'chi, go start unloading the last of the cargo! I'll deal with this snarky, little rust bucket."

"Of course," Tes'chi agreed easily, bowing slightly which was more out of habit than anything. Turning, she grabbed Sparky's arm and started forcefully pulling the droid back down the corridor towards the main cargo hold, where it'd found the astromech in the first place.

Once they were gone, Leia looked down at C1-QR again. "Now, again, what were you talking about? And why are you on our ship?"

In hushed tones, the droid explained what its master had sent it to do. Its master had discovered something important and dangerous during his time at the bank and given the droid the data to ensure that if anything bad happened, it could get the information to the right people. The droid had been keeping in regular contact with its master since they'd had to separate and go into hiding, until about two weeks ago when his master failed to check in again. C1-QR was 98.464% certain that its master had been discovered and was now deceased.

"So, if that's true, where do you intend to take this information now?" Leia asked, curious. What could be so important for this droid's master to do something so paranoid as this? And if it was that important, where would he possible willing to send this information to and why?

A chirped reply caused Leia to recoil in surprise, wide eyed. "Alderaan?!"

At C1-QR's questioning warble, she shook her head before giving it a small, sad smile. "Sorry, it's just…Alderaan was my home once and I…I miss it very much." C1-QR warbled in acknowledgement, rocking its body as though nodding in understanding.

Sighing, Leia turned to look to the side where she spotted her brother leaning against the side of the hallway. He had a thoughtful frown on his face as he watched and listened. "Alderaan?"

Looking between C1-QR, who'd just now noticed his presence, and his sister, Luke shrugged. "Don't see why not. If nothing else, it'd be interesting to see what Quirky there's carrying and it'd be nice to see Mrs. Organa again."

Leia nodded with a sad smile. Turning back to the newly-named Quirky, she pat its head softly as she said, "After we finish up our business here, we'll take you to Alderaan. I promise."

Quirky just rocked in acknowledgement again.

The sight of a pair of young children, a blue-skinned young woman, and two droids pushing or guiding a series of crates out of their ship towards the small settlement was curious enough to draw the small number of residents out of their homes and away from the little businesses. The settlement itself was clearly that of a ram-shackled hamlet of cobbled together buildings surrounding a decaying homestead that must've been centuries old. There were a few speeders here and there, but they were rusted and likely didn't run as well as they used to. The populace of the small hamlet couldn't have numbered more than fifty, mostly humans but with a random mixing of Twi'lek, Duros, and even an old Ithorian. Coming to stop just outside the main street of the hamlet, the Dandy Eagle crew popped the lids of the containers, revealing a large number of green, golden, and colorful vegetables and fruits inside each crate.

"Who wants free food?!" Leia called out loudly, her small voice managing to carry over the crowd skillfully. "We've got everything! Meats! Fruits! Vegetables! Cheeses and dairy! Even candy for the kids! For free!"

That shout easily and instantly drew a crowd of the townsfolk. The kids and Tes'chi all smiled widely as they passed out the food to the hungry people who came to them. Glancing over at her young masters and, dare she even think of it, friends, Tes'chi's smile widened slightly. This was why she stayed with them for so long. Watching as they handed out the food, seeing the relieved and delighted reactions of the people, and feeling as though they'd helped make the galaxy a better place in a small way. This…This feeling of happiness and giving, without even a thought of a reward for their services. This was why she stayed with them. They may have only been younglings, but they had hearts of gold and such raw talent to do and become anything they wanted. Seeing them like this, it made everything they did all worthwhile.

Quickly turning back to what she was doing, Tes'chi smiled with a spreading blush when one particularly handsome farm boy close to her age came up and made some stumbling attempts at flirting. She couldn't help but giggle at him for this. With a few whispered words, she promised to meet with him later.

This was another perk for why she decided to accompany the kids.

Night was coming, coloring the skies with reds, oranges, and purples. The last of the fruits and vegetables had been taken and/or eaten. And the townsfolk had long since returned to their daily routines. Everyone was starting to bunker down and prepare for the coming night. Sparky and Quirky had returned to the Dandy Eagle to begin recharging themselves for the next day while Tes'chi had wandered off to meet with a local boy, probably for a romp in the hay.

Luke and Leia stood outside the Eagle, going through a series of katas that they'd developed on their own from months of sparring and training. Leaping into the air, they performed a trio of rapid punches before finishing with a powerful kick. Landing lightly on the ground, they sprung backwards into a short burst of handsprings before sliding into a crouches and thrusting their hands forward into a palm strikes. Twisting around, they raised one arm up in a defensive block, still rotating their bodies and snapping out a strong kick that would've hit a man's jaw easily. Spinning around slightly, they crouched down as they thrust their arms outwards to the sides, palms out and fingers locked together. And that was the end of their little kata.

Rising up from the crouch, the siblings shared a look with one another.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Luke said, looking off to one side.

"Yes," Leia admitted, also looking off into the distance. "There's…something out there, calling to me, to us."

"And it feels…strong, but muted, forgotten," Luke finished, his brow furrowing in thought.

"Guess we should investigate, eh?" Leia said, already heading up the Eagle's ramp.

A few minutes later, the two children were flying over the grasslands on a pair of small speeders. Following their senses, they headed into the hills, swerving around blba trees and rocks, and avoiding a pack of wild kath-hounds and any other wildlife they could see. After nearly an hour's journey, they came upon a man-sized cave that was cut deeply into an especially large, rocky hill. Parking their speeders, the duo entered it cautiously, lighting their glowrods as the darkness deepened.

"I sense a lot of activity in here," Luke said quietly, yet his voice still carried disturbingly loudly. "A lot of life forms."

"But also that strange pull as well," Leia pointed out, just as quietly.

"Think we should keep our weapons ready? Just to be safe?" Luke asked, his hand moving towards his blaster pistol.

"Might as well," Leia said, grabbing her lightsaber and igniting its green blade. Technically, it wasn't really her lightsaber. It was the one that Luke had snatched away from the Hunter five years ago. But she had more or less taken it as her own since she was usually the one in the thick of the fighting, even if she never really felt comfort using it.

With the enhanced green light of the saber aiding, they were able to make a fairly good distance into the cave tunnels before they caught sight of movement. They had just entered into a large cavern that had a series of tunnels branching off in different directions. And waiting for them inside that cavern was a creature that they could sense was very hungry and very dangerous.

"Kinrath," Leia uttered in disgust at the spindly-legged creature that turned and towered over them.

The spider-like creature let out a hissing roar before it charged them. Jumping to opposite sides, the siblings watched as the creature skidded to a stop and spun around to face them again. It hesitated for a moment, no doubt trying to decide which child to go after first. Finally making its choice, the kinrath rushed at Luke with another roar. Dodging its flaying, poisonous stinger, Luke shot his blaster into the base of the appendage, trying to limit is mobility.

The kinrath roared again, this time in pain. With pain-induced rage and strength, the creature rushed forward again and slammed into Luke, knocking him back into the wall. As the boy floundered to recover his footing, the kinrath came in for the kill. But it had forgotten one minor detail: there were two of them inside the cavern with it. Leia descended upon the kinrath, sinking the lightsaber blade deeply into its stubby torso with her own war cry. The kinrath roared, flaying and bucking violently, throwing Leia off of it but causing her to lose her grip on the saber. Landing on her feet off to the side, she and Luke watched with quiet indifference as the kinrath entered its death throes, the lightsaber still deeply protruding into its torso. When it finally died and collapse limply to the ground, Leia reached out and drew the lightsaber back to her hand.

Walking away from the corpse, the children nodded at one another before turning to look at the different tunnels they found.

"My gut is telling me to go this way," Luke said, pointing toward the tunnel on the far left.

"And mine says this way," Leia gestured towards the centermost one.

Glancing at one another, they simply nodded in understanding before walking towards their chosen tunnels.

12:10:01 GrS
Jedi Temple, Coruscant

He was meditating again, searching. It had been years since that fateful day, but he hadn't given up hope. If there was one thing that Yoda had learned through his many centuries of life, it was the importance of patience. It had taken him several months, but he had begun to faintly be able to detect those two powerful Children of the Force again. He could never quite get close enough to get a clear image of them, not like that first one he'd glimpsed on Alderaan. But he had been able to catch flashes of strong emotions, bursts of power and the intent behind them, and even a sense of the general vicinity they were in.

The two of them were quite busy, always traveling, always moving, always getting into some kind of mischief. He had watched they journeyed from one world to the next, helping people when and how they could, fighting crime lords and pirates, and watched as their strength and grasp of the Force grew by leaps and bounds. Their rate of growth was nothing short of phenomenal, rivaled only by Anakin Skywalker whenever the youth would bother applying his skills in that area.

Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. He didn't necessarily 'watch' them do those things. But he was able to piece together a variety of clues that they'd left behind and figure out where they had gone and what they'd done. The first true such clue he'd ever uncovered was news of a violent and devious crime lord on Nar Shaddaa being outed by the Hutts. Strangely, the Hutts who were responsible for the crime lord's downfall had actually sent a message of thanks to the Jedi Order. They had claimed that they had received intelligence of the crime lord's backstabbing dealings from a young Padawan of theirs and wished for the Council to send along their gratitude to the youngling.

Though confused by what the Hutts were speaking of, the Council had accepted the message graciously before conducting their own investigation on this event. What they found was what they'd suspected, there had been no Padawan on Nar Shaddaa at the time of the crime lord's bust. And yet the Hutts were positive that they had been dealing with a Jedi Padawan? There was certainly evidence to back it up, lightsaber scorch marks where a fight had broken out and a faint Force Echo of an especially powerful individual that had lingered. Adding this evidence to what he'd remembered sensing of the Children at the approximate time of the event, and Yoda knew who was really responsible.

Since then, Yoda had been tracking their progress as regularly as he was able to, trying to pierce the growing cloaks of concealment the Children wore to protect themselves from discovery. He had tried to find a pattern to their movements and actions, but could never quite get a basic and consistent schedule to work. They traveled at random throughout the galaxy, sometimes operating in the Outer Rim, sometimes exploring the Expansion Regions, and sometimes even skulking around the underbelly of Coruscant itself. What were they up to and what were they hoping to accomplish? But the most he could manage to glimpse these days was a thick and almost impenetrable cloak of darkness, clouding his vision so much that all he could see where vague shapes and shadows moving about in the darkness therein. The Dark Side was growing ever stronger.

Suddenly, his vision changed.

Like a blind man who'd been floundering about in the darkness and then suddenly could see, Yoda could see. He watched as the two Children he'd been searching so long for entered a cave. He drew back slightly, observing the planet they were on and recognizing it as Dantooine after a few long moments. Zooming back in, he found the pair inside what he knew were the ancient crystal caves of the old Jedi Enclave that had once been on the planet. Even if the Force was still quite strong on the planet, those caves were reputedly picked clean millennia ago, so what were they doing here? Did they know about that? Or did the Force call them there for some reason. He settled in to watch and learn about them.

They dealt with the kinrath easily enough, even if they didn't have to necessarily kill it. But when he saw them take separate paths, he understood. The Force had indeed called them here. Maybe they were here to undergo a Trial or maybe to harvest a crystal? Splitting his attention, he watched both carefully.

After moving through her tunnel for a fair distance way, the girl came to a stop as he sensed the Force fluctuate around her. He couldn't see or hear what it was that she was experiencing because it was all in her mind, but he could sense her rising levels of distress, fear and anger pulling at her strongly.

"Stop it," he heard her utter in a hurt voice. "That's not true! I'm on Dantooine, not Alderaan! Stop it! STOP IT!" She fell to her knees as she grasped her head in pain that was more spiritual than actual. The Force fluctuated again and she jerked her head up in surprise, fear bursting off of her in violent waves.

"You… No, not you! Go away! Leave them alone!" Who was she seeing? If this Trial was anything like the usual Jedi Trials, then she must've been seeing the person who she feared most, but who could it be? Gasping, she fell back and tried scrambling away, but only backed into the tunnel wall.

"Luke! Luke, get up! Help me!" At this rate, she was going to fail, Yoda realized as disappointment started to grow. The girl grabbed her head again as the spiritual pain increased yet some more. Then, he faintly heard her whisper, "This isn't real. This isn't real. I'm on Dantooine. I'm…I'm scared. I'm scared."

Then she paused, lifting her head slightly as her eyes seemed to widen slightly. "I'm scared, but…so what? I've been scared all my life! And this…this isn't real! Why should I be scared of this?!" Bouncing to her feet, she hefted up her hands as she slid into a fighting stance. Fear and uncertainty still clung her, but she willfully ignored them as she glared at what she was seeing, though to Yoda it seemed that she was glaring at a stalagmite that was standing just in front of her.

"You wanna fight? BRING IT ON!" With a powerful leap forward, the girl swung her petite fist at stalagmite. To Yoda's admitted surprise, when the girl's fist struck the stalagmite, it was the rock that was demolished and not her hand. While augmenting her strength with the Force was one thing, that didn't seem to be the case this time. Was that her natural raw strength just now?! How…interesting.

The same instant she destroyed that stalagmite, the Force fluctuated again before settling down. The girl blinked eyes rapidly as they cleared of the dust and induced Force vision. Coughing slightly, she backed away back to the wall and slid down exhaustedly.

At the same moment as this bit of drama was taking place, the boy was undergoing his own test of character. It had gone essentially the same way. The boy getting drawn into a vision of his worst fears, which Yoda assumed was him being taken back to his original home, separated from the girl—his sister, if he heard right—and forced to give up on his dream of exploring the galaxy and helping people. Then he had to watch as the people he cherished most were cut down right there in front of him.

But where the girl had recoiled in horror and fear, the boy lashed out in desperation to save and protect them, launching a strong blast of Force power. The powerful wave slammed into the wall, blasting it into rubble. Whatever happened in his vision, he had clearly failed as he collapsed to the ground, weeping while staring at a section of the wall. Then, raising his gaze, the boy's tear-stained eyes just gazed up blankly as the figure that stood before him that only he could see.

"Do it then," he whispered sadly. "At least I'll be with them again." He closed his eyes and nodded his head submissively. After a long moment, the Force shifted around him as it settled down as well.

"Big fears you've faced, youngling," Yoda said softly, his voice carrying across space and time. "Faced them well, you have indeed."

"Yes," the boy said, his voice still wrought with emotion.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, looking upwards at the glowing speckled projections he was emitting to reveal his presence.

"A simple guide, I am," Yoda said humbly. "Better question is, who are you?"

"I'm Luke," the boy said, lifting his head and cocking his head to side at the sight before him.

"I'm Leia," the girl answered, cocking her head to the side.

"Very strong, you are, in the Force," Yoda said. "Yet, for what reason? Wish to become Jedi, do you?"

"No," Leia said quickly, looking down almost in shame at what she'd admitted.

"I…don't know," Luke admitted, uncertainly.

"Hmm," Yoda hummed thoughtfully before pointing out, "Yet undergo Jedi Trials, you just have."

"I did?" they asked simultaneously, surprised.

"Yes," Yoda said, smiling in amusement. "Passed, you did. Very difficult test, this was. Test of character, test of self. Show you, teach you new things, about yourself, about the Force, it did." He was quiet for a moment, to let the two of them think over what he'd told them. "Tell me, why don't you want, become Jedi?"

"The Jedi only help those who can pay for it," Luke said quickly.

"They may help manage the Republic, but they are completely submissive to the Senate and the Chancellor," Leia answered, an unhappy look on her face.

"The Jedi are supposed to be the guardians of the galaxy, bringers of peace and justice," Luke continued. "But they almost never come out to help the people on the Outer Rim. The farmers, herders, miners, people who live in hard places and suffer under crime lords, greedy businessmen, and pirates."

"The Jedi help keep the Republic safe," Leia was saying. "But they are too few and seem to always focus their efforts on only helping the politicians, not the common folk."

"There used to be a time when the Jedi were different," Luke acknowledged. "But ever since they'd relocated to Coruscant, they no longer seem to care about the people who struggle every day out in the Rimworlds."

"I don't want to be a Jedi if it means I have to give up helping those who truly need it," Leia said empathically, looking down sadly.

"But…" both children said quietly, simultaneously. "I would…really liked to have been a Jedi one day."

Humming thoughtfully at their arguments, Yoda said, "Good arguments, you have, youngling." Drawing himself out of his musings, he quickly continued, "Not of the Order, you could be. But, continue this path you are on, and great Jedi you will be."

After he said that, the Force around the children shifted again. He watched as their attentions were captured by a pair of glowing kyber crystals. The girl's crystal was glowing from the exposed shattered tip of the stalagmite she'd destroyed. The boy's was glowing from within a small crack in the wall he'd been staring at during his Trial. Moving forward and cautiously grasping the glowing crystals, Yoda's smile returned as he watched their faces light with awe and reverence at what they held.

'Great Jedi, they will be,' Yoda thought as he finally withdrew from his meditation. 'Whether in the Order or not.'

(Author's Note) Bigtime shout-out to my good friend animefan29 for beta-reading and reviewing this chapter. Without him, this chapter would've undoubtedly not turned out quite as well. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please remember to review so that I know what's good, bad, and needs work to improve.

Previous Chapter Trivia Answer: The heist was inspired by the 2010 movie 'The A-Team', specifically the heist for the US money printing plates.