Chapter 6
"Are you a Sith?" Arlie asks Dooku showing none of the hesitation she felt, he pauses for a moment.
"Yes." He replies simply. "Do you know what being a Sith truly entails?" he asks, she knows her answer will pave the way for the rest of this conversation.
"No, but I know there is more to it than killing Jedi." Arlie tells him. "Are you Darth Tyranus?" He looks quite a bit surprised.
"Yes. I will assume I went by that moniker in the future. Do you know the Sith code and if so, recite it for me."
"Shouldn't you know your own code?" She replies without hostility.
"Shouldn't a Jedi have gone to tell someone of a Sith in the temple by now?" He replies challengingly.
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion I gain strength.
Through strength I gain power.
Through power I gain victory.
Through victory my chains are broken,
The force shall free me." She replies, it annoyed her how much she felt the Jedi ended up following this code during the war. She has never truly followed the Jedi Code on account of the fact that she disagrees with it and makes no secret of that, but these people that have devoted themselves to it basically betrayed it. She hates…dislikes war.
"Very good, not many Jedi would know it off by heart if they know it at all."
"Not many Jedi have met six Sith in their lives." She replies, "Have you ever or do you currently have an apprentice?" She asks now curious how many Sith are out there.
"Yes, one." He replies, "Which code do you prefer?" Arl freezes as she thinks it over.
"The Grey Code." She replies, he smirks at her, feeling oddly proud of her ability to look past the obvious answers, she had told him before, if she does not like either option, she makes another one. "Who was your apprentice, Sith name and people name."
"Promise not to turn him over. Whether or not you do me is up to you and depends on how this conversation ends, but I will not risk my former apprentice." She gives him a calculating gaze as she weighs her options.
"I will not turn him over until he does something new to deserve it." She replies.
"Darth Anarch." He tells her.
"How Poetic." She deadpans.
"Qui-Gon Jinn." Arl's Jaw actually drops.
"Qui is a fucking Sith Lord?!" She says just stopping herself from yelling. "Jesus Christ!"
"Who?"
"A deity from the planet I grew up on. How is that most important right now, Qui is a sith! Are Xan and Obi?"
"Not to my knowledge." He replies looking as though he's concerned he should not have told her, worried she'd go back on her words.
"How did that even happen? Did Qui know what you were teaching him…what am I asking of course he did, you wouldn't trick him into being a Sith if he didn't want to."
"You still believe that?" He asks looking quite surprised, she smiles at him.
"I am wary of you at the moment because in fifteenish years you joined Sidious, you killed Xanatos, and Garen's Padawan which sent him crazy as he tried to hunt you down. You were a very bad guy, Darth Tyranus, the future one, led an army against us and sent the entire galaxy into a war that lasted three years!" Arlie tells him giving up on being reticent. "But not because you were a Sith, because for whatever reason you were working for Sidious or as it turns out Wrath. But Qui did not, I mean he died but that's not the point because Maul killed him."
"Maul killed my apprentice? Why would I work for Sidious?! I hate him! He does not even follow the code." Dooku says sounding annoyed.
"I believe you Dooku, or do you prefer Tyranus?" She questions he looks shocked, she rolls her eyes. "I don't hate Sith, I dislike the ones I have met because they were evil, but Jedi can be too, anyone can be and it's got nothing to do with their belief system."
"I've never met such a level headed Jedi, if that even is what you are. I believe you technically have to follow the Jedi Code to be a Jedi which you very much do not." Dooku tells her, "So what, are you a grey Jedi?"
"I am whatever I need to be at any given moment." She tells him.
"Dangerous way to live, people can easily take advantage of that Arlie."
"You think I haven't learnt that in fifty years? I've run an entire war effort, I've faced down three Sith and watched my brother turn into one of them. No way of living is safe, at least mine frees me from any constraints except the ones I place on myself." She tells him releasing the anger her own words cause as it comes.
"So, what happens now?" He asks her, she looks over him and then to the door and back again.
"Now, we decide what you are going to get for Jocasta, and while you are there, I am going to have a little talk with Qui-Gon in private. I promise no turning him in or getting him caught, he's my friend, I wouldn't do that anyway. Nor will I with you unless you do something I feel deserves it."
"Thank you, Arlie." He says very seriously whilst holding her gaze steadily, she nods without breaking the eye contact.
"What about a book? Like an actual paperbound book of whatever favourite novel she has?" Arl suggests.
"Where would I find a book?"
"I don't know if it's there now but there was a bookstore on the lower levels of Coruscant ten years from now." She tells him, gives directions and then bows as he leaves which he returns, he turns back just before he leaves the room.
"Arl, why do you know my code off by heart?" He asks her curiously, she debates with herself for a minute.
"I was given back my body from when I was seven, but old body or not, some scars will always remain." She tells him, he seems to be pondering her words even as he nods and leaves the room, she wonders if he knows how literally she meant it.
She leans against the wall of the classroom for a while thinking over everything that happened before deciding she'd brooded long enough and she needed some answers, she goes to Qui-Gon's quarters.
"Master Aa." Obi says mockingly, though not cruelly, as he opens the door, she looks confused at him, "What was with Master Dooku calling you that?"
"He was teasing me on the way to Telos IV and the name came about and apparently is sticking." She replies.
"And catching on." Qui-Gon says as he walks out of the kitchen to see her, she bows to him and receives a bow in return.
"Master Jinn, I was wondering if I might talk to you in private regarding something Master Dooku told me." Arl requests politely, he nods and leads her to the couch as Obi says something about going to the commissary.
"What's this about?" He asks as she gets her serious face on.
"Darth Anarch and Darth Tyranus." She replies, Qui freezes and opens his mouth to feign ignorance when Arl puts her hand up to silence him. "Relax I am not telling anyone. I had enough of a conversation with Tyranus to know you both mean no harm. Being what you are is not necessarily a bad thing." Arl tells him, he relaxes as he senses the truth in her words.
"Odd of a Jedi to think that way." He replies hesitantly as though she may change her mind at any second.
"Odd of a Sith to be disguising himself as a Jedi without the intent of destroying them."
"Have a lot of experience with Sith?"
"Enough. I need to know what you know of Sidious." She tells him, he nods.
"I figured that was what this is about. I do not know more than what my Master has told me." He tells her.
"What has he told you?" Qui-Gon raises an eyebrow at her challengingly.
"Should you not be asking him?" She smirks realising the verbal battle and mastery of words is a trait of the Sith. It's not much of a surprise, it is a way of sneakily manipulating people into the position you want them in after all.
"He is otherwise occupied." She replies, Qui-Gon's eyes narrow.
"With what?"
"Book shopping." Qui sputters a laugh.
"I shall not even ask. Lord Tyranus told me that when he was a young Jedi Knight, he met a man who called himself Darth Sidious, he taught him the code and to use the Dark Side. Then one day he had a son whom he grievously mistreated. Master did not like what he was doing and could not allow it to continue so he killed him. Only he did not die, his spirit arose from his body and promised my Master that one day he would feel the full extent of his wrath. Except it has been almost seven years and not a word." A timeline starts clicking into place in her mind and she nods.
"Thank you Qui, you've been a big help. Quick question, what would you and your former Master prefer I call you both? In private that is." She asks sounding very grateful. "I know that Sith generally denounce their birth name once they've earned the new one but yours is an irregular situation."
"I would prefer my Sith name as I consider it my true name, but only if you can be certain it will not be overheard." He replies, she nods.
"One more thing, do Xan and Obi know?" Qui shakes his head.
"No and I have trained them to be Jedi." He tells her, she nods again.
"Thank you for your help Lord Anarch." She says bowing to him, he smiles and bows back.
"Master Aa." He says smirking at her, she pokes her tongue out at him before leaving and heading back to her quarters.
Arlie walks into her quarters and finds her Masters and Brother-Padawan sitting there watching some holovid, she smiles at Mic resting his head against Mace's shoulder.
"Okay so, Plagueis retired, Wrath who was then Sidious had an apprentice who killed him for mistreating his own son. He told said apprentice as his soul was released from his body that he would feel the full extent of his wrath. He becomes Wrath and possesses Sheev dubbing him Sidious, this was seven years ago. Then Plagueis returns, angry at something and tries to kill Sidious/Wrath when he finds out he survived his Apprentice's attempted assassination. Sidious/Wrath survives thanks to Maul's help, Sidious/Wrath now wants me to help him kill Plagueis and he wants to punish his apprentice." Arl tells them in lieu of a greeting.
"Hello to you to." Garen says sarcastically.
"Okay we knew half of that, where'd you get the rest?" Micah asks ignoring his Padawan.
"It's better you don't know for now." She replies, Mic and Mace exchange looks but ultimately decide to trust her.
"So why did Plagueis retire and where did he go? Why did he come back, why was he angry? How does he know you Arlie and how do you know him? I feel he is the one we know the least about now." Mic tells them as he frowns.
"His name is Hego Damask, he went to Tatooine where he met a slave, secretly courted her for two years and became like a father to her daughter. Then Mos Espa was raided by Tuskens and he slaughtered them all using the force, ripping bodies apart and one time ripped a heart out of a child's chest. The slave told him to leave, to get away from her and her daughter and to never come back, and he did. Then she found out she was pregnant, the mother and daughter vowed to never tell the baby who it's father was and they never spoke about what happened again. After he was sent away he clearly went back to the Sith and was pissed off about what happened." She tells them solemnly as she leaves out the worst of what happened.
"Oh Arls…" Garen says unsure what to say, Mace lifts his arms so she sits on his lap and accepts his offered embrace, Mic and Garen sit on either side of them offering support.
"Okay, we have a name for him and know his whereabouts from then, we have a vague timeline on Wrath's possession of my brother and his overall plan along with reasoning for his targeting of you. An apprentice out there also being targeted by Wrath though gods know what he means when he says 'feel the full extent of my wrath'. We also have a child of Plagueis that he may or may not know about and possible attachment to Arl and her mother. Plus, how many Sith in the galaxy as of this moment?" Mace recounts before looking at Arl for her answer.
"Five or six if you count Sidious and Wrath as two entities." They look surprised, "Two of them are not a threat to us though and will likely aid us against the others."
"What Sith would help us? And why count Wrath and Sidious as two?" Micah asks confused.
"Well, like he did with Xanatos, he could go into another body and control Sheev's mind like that which means more bodies but he will have less control over every move Sidious makes and he won't be force-sensitive." Arl explains, "So what we are dealing with is four, let's call them…Dark Sith, and two, let's just call them Sith."
"Alright assuming we believe you, how do we know which Sith are with us and which are against us?" Mace asks not sounding happy with her assessment.
"Well it is not Plagueis, Maul, or Sidious/Wrath." Garen replies, Arl nods and they both get glared at by Mace. "Masters, do Jedi love?" He asks suddenly as he begins to implement the plan he and Arl made to get the two together, both flush at his question.
"N-not typically no." Mace replies hesitantly, caught off guard by the seemingly random question.
"So, some do then?" He questions curiously.
"Jedi are not robots so it would stand to reason that Jedi will, on occasion, develop such feelings for people. However, love is an attachment which Jedi are not supposed to have." Mace tells him diplomatically.
"What happens to Jedi that do love?" Garen asks innocently.
"Arl, you've seen the future, ever witnessed something like this?" Her master asks her, she smiles, her eyes dancing in amusement.
"I am only fifty-years-old Master, and I lived in war time where everything changed, I believe you or Mic would be better suited to explain this. Unless neither of you know of a Jedi who loves someone?" She challenges, both of her Masters grow a little twitchy as Mace flushes even more, Mic smirks with barely restrained laughter at the display.
"Jedi in love with people are frowned upon and criticized by others, so often a Jedi feeling love for someone will not admit it, not even to the person they are in love with." Micah says to save his friend from answering.
"What would happen if two Jedi loved each other and people found out?" Garen asks pushing the conversation along calmly despite wanting to sigh in frustration and roll his eyes at the two.
"They likely wouldn't tell each other, even if they suspected the other felt the same way. If people found out I imagine they would be subject to ridicule by many and be constantly fighting accusations of impaired judgement and allowing attachments to come before their job." Mace tells him significantly calmer now.
"Wouldn't love be worth that?" Garen asks quietly with sad eyes. The hope was that his look would seem to be a child whose dreams are being crushed so that neither would deny it and hope would bloom between the two that he was right.
"I suppose that would be for each Jedi to decide individually." Micah eventually says after locking eyes with Mace and looking back to his padawan.
"I once knew a couple of Jedi in a relationship, they were very well respected in the order and trusted to not let it come between them and their duty. It never had an effect on their job because they kept everything professional even after moving in together." Arl tells everyone, "Actually that's the case for three couples I have known, also a marriage between a Jedi Padawan and a Senator that they kept under wraps. I mean it ended in the death of one and destruction of the other but the relationship itself was solid." Arlie tells them all, Mace and Mic both seem hopeful.
"So, there is something that we want to tell you Arlie." Mace tells her though it is clearly a complete change of topic.
"What's that?" She asks keeping all of the frustration at her stubborn Master out of her voice as she watches Mace refusing to look at Micah.
"The council has agreed to knight you. Obviously, given your age you will need to be assigned a partner to work with, but it has been decided that you do not need a teacher. Had that happened merely a week ago I'd have disagreed but, you have overcome an obstacle and brought another over the same one that no Jedi before you has done. You have more than earned this." Mace tells her, she smiles at him.
"Thank you Master." She says softly as she smiles at him. "Any idea who I am being partnered with?"
"We discussed that and decided that since you worked well together you will be partnered with Dooku. However, for a while he is going to be at the temple unless his specific skill set is required so that he can help his Padawan recover from his ordeal. Therefore, you will be partnered with Knight Vos unless Dooku is needed somewhere, then you will accompany him. Xanatos will likely be knighted soon after his recovery so we want you and Dooku beginning to work together now, we want it to be a more long term partnership since at some point Vos will take a Padawan." Micah explains, she nods understanding and agreeing with it all.
"She will be brilliant as well." Arlie whispers thinking of Aayla and wondering if she were lucky enough to have died before order 66 and somehow word had not gotten back to Coruscant yet. "Crap, younglings! I got to go." Arl says before sprinting out of the room and not stopping until she reached the crèche despite nearly running into several people and walls.
Finally reaching the crèche she notices several of the initiates from earlier who immediately see her and start gathering their friends. She finds Master Jey-Sahl Penn quickly and decides to attempt to remake her friendship with the kind-hearted Master.
"Excuse me, Master Penn." Arlie says bowing when she had the woman's attention.
"Hello, are you a new initiate? Or perhaps just lost?" Master Penn asks being confused by a youngling being in the temple and her not knowing them, Arl smiles and shakes her head.
"No Master, I am Master Windu's Padawan." Arl says, though she supposes it's more a halfway point between Knight-elect and Knight now, Jey-Sahl bows politely.
"My apologies, Padawan Aa yes?"
"Yes Master."
"Well, what can I help you with dear?"
"I was hoping to get your help with something. My Master and I were discussing the number of different species in the Jedi and noted a low number of Wookiee's. We were wondering if you could tell us how many Wookiee initiates there currently are?" She asks as respectfully as she could, the older Master smiles kindly at her.
"There are only two at the moment, Initiates Tillindàar and Nurdruaa." Master Penn replies, Arl is very glad that using the head of the order's name opens several avenues that may otherwise be closed to Padawans.
"How old are they?" Arl questions curiously.
"Tillindàar is two years old and Nurdruaa is six years old." She says, Arl's eyes light up, Tillindàar, that was her wookiee.
"Thank you so much Master Penn." Arlie replies as she notices the initiates that watched her and the others sparring all looking at her expectantly as some others come over and sit with them.
"Ah yes, the initiates told me about your demonstration earlier, I remember now, they've been waiting eagerly for you." Jey-Sahl tells her welcoming her into the crèche and walking over to the initiates with her. They ranged from a few years older than her down to toddlers aged about two or three. "If you will be all right with the children, I have some babes to check on." She tells Arl who nods and bows before sitting down.
"You came!" One of the kids from earlier says excitedly, in terms of physical age, the initiates Yoda had been teaching were only three years younger than she was, but they still respected her status as a Padawan.
"I did promise, didn't I? Now I believe I owe you some stories." She tells them immediately noticing the two wookiees of the group, Arl is slightly surprised that Tillindàar is still up given her age but Arl is excited all the same. Tillindàar walks over and stands before her as though recognising her on some level. "Hello little one, you're Tillindàar right?" the young girl nods. "Would you like to sit with me?" the girl nods again and crawls into her lap as best she can given that Arlie's lap is fairly small. The younger of the initiates all gravitated towards the older and soon everyone Arlie's age or older had an initiate younger than Arlie as they waited for her to begin. "Do you want me to tell you real stories or made up ones?"
"Real!" Some initiates say excitedly, none disagree so Arl nods.
"Tell us about your first mission?" a girl about her age asks, Arlie nods.
"Alright, well Master Mace and I do not go on missions often because he is busy as head of the order. Most of the time his work is at council meetings and paperwork, meetings with important people from other worlds. My first mission off of Coruscant was so that my Master could serve as a witness to a treaty signed between two war torn planets." Arlie says hoping it isn't too dull.
"Why were they at war?" One of the kids asks, Arlie thinks back, it had been a few weeks after Xan fell but so much had happened since even then. (Considering I've gone on the mission twice now, it should be clearer in my mind but…well my memory has always been shit.)
"Well, the planets are in the same star system, but one of them is a matriarchy and the other is a patriarchy." She explains, the younglings look at her confused, "A matriarch is a female in charge of everything. So, a matriarchy is a system of government controlled by females. A Patriarchy is the opposite, it's ruled by males."
"So, they were at war because one planet thinks girls should be the rulers and the other thinks boys should be?" One of the older initiates asks sounding confused.
"Yes, they had been arguing over who controlled the solar system for a long time before deciding if they combined their governing bodies, both planets could claim the solar system. Which would have been perfect if not for their differing beliefs on rulers. Master Fisto and his Padawan had been in charge of mediating the peace talks and observing the creation of the treaty, however the planets requested to have a different Jedi witness the signing. My Master and I went hoping that going personally would show the planets how seriously the Jedi were taking it so that they would as well and the treaty will last."
"I hope I can be a peace talkerer. I wanna negoshet a peace tredy one day." A very young girl says.
"Not me, I wanna solve crimes. Have you ever been on a mission to solve a crime?" A young boy asks Arlie who smiles.
"I have actually, Master Dooku and I were sent to Telos IV to investigate a series of bombings." Arlie tells them, it was surprising Arlie that even just speaking of this life, she had had an interesting one. Two years was a long time for a Jedi Padawan caught up in an internal Sith dispute.
"That was you? I heard you turned a fallen Jedi!" One of the older initiates asks.
"I heard Master Dooku was dying and you took down the fallen Jedi by yourself." Another calls.
"I heard you found Xanatos and he tried to kill you both but you talked your way out of it and arrested him." Arlie resists the urge to sigh, Jedi were such gossips.
"I didn't turn a fallen Jedi, nor take one down, and Master Dooku was not dying. He was rendered unconscious by a fallen Jedi, this Jedi was being externally influenced by a bad person and was not at fault for his actions. All I did was talk the bad person into temporarily leaving the Jedi alone and then brought both he and Master Dooku back. The formerly fallen Jedi was helped to shield his mind more efficiently and now he's back to normal and safe." Arlie tells them hiding the defensiveness from her voice.
"Was he the one that set off the bombs?"
"Under the control of someone else yes. Or, at the very least took the fall for it…"Arlie trails off.
"What is it?" one of the eldest initiates asks her, Arl looks at her in surprise and recognises her as Siri Tachi. "Quinlan Vos has been mentoring me, I know that look. You've started piecing something together, Quinlan always finds it helpful to say it out loud." She explains, Arl nods.
"It's just that the Jedi was from Telos IV and related to quite a well-known person. If he were sneaking around in the populated places the bombs were set off, someone would have been able to identify him." She explains.
"If he's good again why doncha ask him?"
"His memories are quite fuzzy of his time under the influence of the bad person."
"Can the bad person control all our minds?" one of the initiates about her physical age asks.
"Not if you pay attention to your teachers and learn what they are teaching you. Your knowledge of the force and of shielding will protect you from that, meditation as well and actually kata's for discipline. It all comes together and intertwines, all of our teachings, the lessons and trials we face come together to protect us and enable us to protect others. That's what being a Jedi is about and that's why we are taught the way we are." Arlie explains, even those older than her seem to take her words to heart.
"So, what are you gonna do about the bombs?" the boy who wants to solve crimes asks.
"I am going to talk to the Jedi involved and Master Dooku. We will find out what happened and hopefully, we may find something that will lead us to the bad person behind it all." Arlie explains, they all seem satisfied with her answer.
"You'll come back and tell us how it goes, won't you?" Arl smiles at the young girl.
"Of course." She says.
"Can you tell us the scariest things that's happened to you?" one of the younglings asks, the elder initiates look at her wide-eyed knowing it's not a good idea, she smiles at them to let them know she won't.
"Scariest thing I have ever seen is Master Windu in the mornings before he's had a cup of tea." She replies making everyone giggle, except the few that had fallen asleep in the laps of various people. Or in the case of one girl, slumping against a wall as an excitable toddler sits on her lap wide awake.
"Come now younglings, bed time. Only the eldest may stay up with Padawan Aa, assuming she does not have to return." Jey-Sahl says from the doorway, Arlie wonders how much she heard and if Arl will be in trouble for things she told them, however Master Penn smiles at her pleasantly and Arl knows she has made her happy.
"What is the scariest thing you've seen?" One of the few allowed to remain asks once the littlies have retired to bed. Arl thinks through everything, Sith, slavery, massacres, pirates, Sith, war, fallen Jedi, fighting Yoda, the room, more. Kriffing. Sith.
"Something I hope no one else ever has to witness." Arlie replies with a haunted look in her eye that frightens the initiates, Arl snaps out of it and smiles warmly. "So, if that girl wants to be a diplomat and the boy wants to solve crimes, what do you guys want to do?"
"I want to save people in wars and things." A girl who looks to be about twelve responds.
"I want to be a healer." Another says.
"Me too." One more replies.
"I sort of do but I want to be a mind healer."
"I want to be on the council and help run the order."
"I want to work in the crèche, I like helping the young ones."
"I want to be a warrior." This was followed by three voicing their intention to do the same. It made Arlie sad knowing that in another life they truly had to be. But not this one, that war would not happen.
"What about you?" Arlie asks a boy who looks to be thirteen, he looks down shyly.
"I want to go to the agricorps." He says quietly, Arlie notices some of the mocking looks on a couple of initiates faces and realises why he's so shy.
"I think that's brilliant. Anyone can do that but most don't want to. If you go there wanting to do it, you'll be running the place in no time." Arlie tells him, he brightens significantly after that, the initiates who had seemed to be mocking him looked thoroughly chastised.
"Can you teach us to fight like you can?"
"If your instructors don't mind then I can help teach you whenever I am in temple." Arl tells them, they seem excited or, in some cases, nervous at the idea.
"My name is Initiate Chaill. I look forward to learning under you." The one who wanted to be on the council tells her.
"It is nice to meet you, I look forward to teaching you." She replies, the other initiates follow suit and introduce themselves as Initiates, Skara, Balik, Dionadair, Danvire, Bo, Siuthad, Novali, Siar, Bhaille and to her great surprise, Thelm Gart. Arlie fights back the urge to hug Thelm as she remembers the brilliant work the girl did during the war acting as her aid and helping run things. It was certainly odd seeing her as a ten-year-old and so hopeful.
Soon after, Arl has to return to her quarters, but she is so glad she went and decides to visit more often. Arlie finds it hard to be around children sometimes knowing that they expect her to act like them and her not being able to. Somehow though, she feels like she has already earnt their respect which goes a long way to having them treat her like their senior, it makes her feel as though she can make friends with the younglings without having to be one. Plus, she has to keep an eye on Tilli, it was wonderful for Arl to hold the young wookiee in her arms and know she's safe, she won't allow her to be sent to the corps again even if she has to take the girl as a Padawan herself. That didn't mean she wouldn't also take Quilo, she'd just have to find a way. The Jedi were already evolving, she'd use it to her advantage.
Arl makes plans in her head to speak with Xan and Dooku about her suspicions tomorrow, as well as find out about Dooku's date. Arl smiles giddily thinking of it, she hopes it went well, Dooku needs a life. (Stubborn Masters do too, I may need to recruit more help. Depa and Tahl maybe? Depa will know Mace as well as I do at least and Tahl is one of Micah's oldest friends. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are busy helping Xan at the moment so Qui's out. Then again, Xan may appreciate the distraction…I'll think in the morning.) Arl thinks to herself as she walks into her room and finds Garen asleep on her bed. "Yo, asshole." She says kicking his leg.
"Shush Arls, I left room." Garen says vaguely gesturing to the spot beside him that he had indeed left despite the bed being tiny, Arl rolls her eyes and just lays down next to him. (Insufferable best friend and brother-padawan.) For all her complaints, Arl sleeps more peacefully that night than she had in thirty-six, no seven, no wait…okay ever. She slept better than she ever had, and she fell asleep smiling.