A/N: I just want to take a moment to thank my loyal beta of many years, Toni. She is an amazing person and a friend. She just undertook NaNoWriMo and I had the pleasure of returning the favour. If you love Siri/Obi-Wan, I suggest you check out her fic, The Spy Family.

Chapter Twelve: Connection

Mara dutifully turned up to the Temple exactly one week after her one-sided conversation with her Master. Her two weeks reprieve from the Temple was welcomed but a part of her did miss the familiar halls and gardens.

She walked in with her head held high. A few of the younger padawans and the younglings occasionally stared at her but, as was the nature of the Order, many were passive aggressive and nobody dared confront her.

Leia had passed on that Anakin was going to wait for her in the meditation gardens. She was unsure whether Master Yoda would accompany them. As she reached the entrance to the garden, she felt a very familiar signature in the Force.

A joint meditation session spelt trouble but Mara had been asked to attend and attend she would. Her thick hair was in her trademark braid with her small padawan braid left out. She fixed her tunic and opened the door leading out to the gardens.

It was a bright, sunny day on Coruscant and that was reflected in both her father and Master's faces. To their credit, as soon as she approached, neither of them flew into lecture.

"I invited your father to join us, I hope you don't mind," Anakin said, motioning for Mara to sit.

"Nice to see you, Mara," Obi-Wan said carefully. It was painfully obvious that they were both trying to be as pleasant as possible to her. It was very disconcerting. In her youth, Mara had often pushed both her Master and father to their limits as Jedi. They usually yelled at her or spoke softly, trying to convince her politely that what she was doing was wrong.

They did neither.

Without words, Mara sat between them. Anakin beamed with approval and he and Obi-Wan took their places.

"Where is Master Yoda?"

"Busy with the younglings, I'm afraid," Obi-Wan answered. "I hope between the three of us we can meditate on his wise words of wisdom."

Anakin nodded. "Obi-Wan is right. I'm sure with guidance from the Force, Yoda's task will be successful."

Mara didn't want to state the obvious but she couldn't help herself. "Do you even know what the task is?"

Anakin looked slightly put out and Mara could just imagine the same look on her own father's face. "Of course I do."

Mara looked at him sceptically. "I've just spent two whole weeks in the real world but even before then, I could tell when you're lying."

"Lying is unbecoming of a Jedi of your stature, Anakin."

Mara couldn't help but smirk and when her father winked at her, a familiar ease settled over her. "Let's all join and meditate. I feel that Master Yoda's instructions will present themselves if we all concentrate and connect," Anakin interrupted.

Mara didn't argue on the implausibility of his suggestion, but instead opened herself up to the Force. She felt both her father and her Master follow suit. The Force felt like an empty green field with nothing but wildflowers. Then, a single tree appeared. Red fruit filled its branches and leaves and Mara felt herself drawn to the tree.

The red fruit sparkled in the sunlight and all she had to do was reach up and grab one. Take one, a dark voice urged. Mara immediately withdrew her hand and couldn't help wonder how the dark voices managed to penetrate her safest place. In the Force, nestled between her Master and her father, the darkness still spoke.

Her hand took on a mind of its own and despite her misgivings, it propelled her body forward. Her hand was just about to grab the delicious, red fruit when another voice spoke to her.

Even in light, darkness comes, Yoda's voice spoke. Find the truth, Mara Jade, set you free, it will.

Before Mara's unwilling fingers could rip the fruit from the tree, a mutual understanding filled her. She backed away from the tree and looked upwards, towards twin suns. She felt her Master's summons from the Force but just before, she heard an unmistakable snap and as she turned her back, the red fruit crashed to the ground.

o0o

Obi-Wan led the three of them into a private study room. The Archives were relatively empty but Mara had a sneaking suspicion they were about to discuss or view something very personal.

Her vision had startled her at first and she wasn't entirely sure if it had been personal. All she had confirmed was that they too had heard Master Yoda. They had shared a look of understanding between them. It was a look that had been cultivated through many years of friendship. Mara briefly wondered whether she and her Master would ever have a bond that strong. She also wondered whether her bonds to her father would hold, despite the dark whisperings in her ear.

With a flick of his wrist, Anakin sealed the door. "Master?"

"Sit down, young one," Obi-Wan said kindly, pulling out a chair. Mara ignored his request and stalked over to the terminal. "Dad? What are we doing in here?"

"Yoda's training," Anakin supplied. "The truth will set us all free."

Mara looked at them both incredulously. "You've got to be kriffing with me. How is there more to this story?"

Obi-Wan frowned at her use of language but said nothing.

"You're not going to tell me my real father is the raised spirit of Darth Maul are you?"

"That was be impossible," Anakin corrected. "We have something to show you. It won't be easy—"

"But we think you're old enough to know," Obi-Wan finished. "I really think you ought to sit down."

The gentle tone in her father's voice convinced Mara to sit in the proffered seat. She couldn't imagine what sort of classified information she needed to see.

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan input their login details and the fact that it required two Masters' signatures was unnerving. The Jedi medical register appeared on the terminal.

"What's so exciting about these? Anyone can access medical records."

"These have been encrypted and stored for a reason. Not just any Jedi can reach these records. They are very private."

The first crude thought that came to Mara's minds was that the Jedi wanted to hide their dirty medical records but the seriousness on her father and Masters' faces kept her mouth shut.

"You are aware that your mother had an addiction to narcotics and she was using spice around the time of your birth?" Obi-Wan asked softly.

Mara frowned. "Well, yes." She thought about mentioning the datapad but something told her now wasn't the time.

Obi-Wan looked like he was trying to find the right words to say so predictably, his former apprentice came to his rescue.

"Mara, when we found your mother it was apparent that she had been using the drugs well into her pregnancy."

"Could you cut to the chase, please?" Mara snapped, already sure she didn't like where this conversation was going.

"You were born prematurely and Master Offee kept you in bacta for two months. But there was a complication when we removed you from the bacta," Obi-Wan started.

Mara's senses were alert. "Complication?"

"The spice, Mara. From your mother's prolonged use whilst carrying you, it had entered your bloodstream."

Obi-Wan then opened a holo and the image played out in front of Mara like a holofilm. Her father, younger and with most of his auburn hair, paced around the ward. Mara heard herself before she saw her face on the screen.

Piercing wails filled the previously silent room. As a Jedi, Mara had taken an oath to prevent all suffering and the wails of the clearly suffering baby on the screen hit her heart.

She raised her hand against the image, watching as her fingers ghosted through the holographic image. Master Offee walked into the frame carrying her now.

"There must be something you can do, Barriss. Anything. Please, she is suffering!" Obi-Wan begged. "Why didn't the bacta erase it from her system?"

The holographic form of Master Offee shook her head. "It doesn't work like that, Obi-Wan. Her body needs to purge itself of the traces of spice. And even then, the withdrawal will take some time," she said.

Another wail pierced through the holo and Mara had to turn away. "Get rid of it," she whispered.

Anakin immediately shut it off.

"How long?" she asked. "How long was I like this?"

"Many months," Obi-Wan answered. "Nearly the first year of your life."

"Why did you show me this? Why now?"

Anakin placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yoda's instructions were very clear. The truth will set you free. We have kept too much from you, under the guise of trying to protect you. You have turned into a wonderful and capable adult and we agreed that it was time you knew."

After her vision earlier, Mara had gathered the same instruction from Master Yoda. It had taken courage for her father and Master to show her the holo. She wasn't exactly okay with the knowledge that her mother had died and left her a spice-addicted baby but the emptiness was a little smaller. The holo at least had given her some perspective about her father. From a powerful Jedi Master to caring for a very ill infant, he was still amazing.

But Master Yoda's instructions had applied to her too. Anakin and Obi-Wan had been honest with her. But something stopped her from opening her mind or her mouth.

They'll take that datapad away from you. The Council will lock you away and throw away the key. They want to do it already. The Dark Side is in your blood and if you can tell them it hums in your very thoughts, they'll rip your lightsaber from your belt and cut you down.

Besides, Mara argued internally, they think I am a capable adult. Capable adults don't go crying to their fathers at the first sign of trouble. I can do this.

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at her expectantly. Sadly, she realised they were waiting to see if she would crumble or have another episode like she did with the Jedi Council.

"I'm fine," she assured them. "A little sad and unnerved but fine. I ah, want to thank you for showing me," she responded.

A grin appeared on her father's face and Anakin nodded, his relief apparent through the Force. "We haven't finished out training, not by far," he warned. "Before we can be put back on the mission roster, there is much to be done. The Council has placed as much blame on me, so we are going to have to pull through and show them that we are servants to the Force."

Mara didn't reply—instead, she focused as hard as she could on the Force around her.

Give me guidance.

And a fully formed idea popped into her head. It was time to look at the datapad.