Siri was gone before mid-meal.
Anakin saw her off and watched her go wondering why he felt so much. It was just a mission. Not even that far out of the ordinary, officially sanctioned or not. But watching her leave felt both exhausting and freeing. He felt alone again despite knowing he had his age-mate allies, his therapists, Master Yoda and even Mace Windu of all people. He still felt as if a crutch he'd come to lean on had been yanked out from under him, despite knowing that Siri was most certainly not a crutch. It was… hard to see her go, not knowing when she'd return, but he knew he'd done the right thing by giving her the push to find Ferus.
He remembered feeling similarly about Obi-wan on more than one occasion during the Clone Wars. The feeling itself brought back more nostalgia than he could have anticipated and he remembered how much he'd cared for Obi-wan, despite everything. He'd thought of his old master as an older brother and even a father at times… and he felt similarly about Siri now. Not exactly the same, but he'd probably have to go over that on his own or with his therapists to really figure it out.
A saying from his mother came to mind as Siri's transport to Fett's rendezvous finally disappeared into the bustling traffic of planet.
Love hurts, Ani. If you love, it will bring you pain somehow, as that is the very nature of it. But love is a wonderful, mysterious force in and of itself. A life without it is dull, meaningless and no life at all.
In this one fact, he hated that she was right.
Sighing, he turned to go back inside the temple and paused when he looked up at the enormous doors. It was a familiar sight, one he'd seen hundreds of times before and yet…
He'd dealt with so much of his past that he'd thought he would no longer get harsh reminders or flashbacks, at least not of the Jedi Temple… but, for some reason, right then, the memory of him walking up the steps as the light of the sunset faded, lightsaber out and so many brainwashed troops following behind him flashed through his mind.
Anakin let out a breath and closed his eyes.
"My name is Anakin Skywalker. I am currently eleven years old in the Jedi Temple, Year 970 RR." Only eleven years before the formation of the Empire…
No, that wouldn't happen this time. He would absolutely make sure of it! Even if the Republic fell, it would not be replaced by that government that put forth such a farce of peace.
He took another breath and began the process of releasing his emotions to the Force. Only a couple of seconds into that, a familiar voice clearing their throat alerted him to a presence approaching him. Anakin set that aside and made sure to finish letting his fear and regret go, reminding himself of when and where he was twice more before he opened his eyes to see the temple Grandmaster standing before him.
"Master Yoda," he said with a slight bow.
Yoda blinked, cocking his head to one side. "Gone, she has, then?"
Anakin sighed a little. "Yeah."
"Hmm. Hope, I do, that return soon with young Olin, she will."
The time-traveler nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the familiar Coruscant horizon line. "As do I."
"Hmm," Yoda said as Anakin turned back to him. The smaller being studied the larger for several seconds before he nodded and shifted to go back into the depths of the temple. Somehow, Anakin felt as if he'd just passed a test…
Before he could ask, though, the diminutive Master spoke up. "Come. No classes, you have. Excused you, I did. Help you, I will."
The blond boy blinked. "Excused? What? Why?"
Yoda simply chuckled in that humming laugh of his and glanced up at his companion. "Have much information to go through, do you not?"
Oh.
Right.
"Yes," he said slowly. "But even if I take classes off, it could be weeks before we get something concrete together. I haven't even looked at the information."
Yoda chuckled again. "Need those classes, do you? Fall behind, will you? Too much work, hmm?"
Anakin's expression dried out. "No."
The little, green troll just shrugged. "Then see no problem, I do. Good, those classes are for you. Force you to talk with others, they do. But a break, you can take."
That took the time-traveler back a bit and he paused in his stride. "Are you telling me you keep me in those classes for social interaction?"
A humming chuckle met his ears. "Mmm, partially. Need it, you did. In many ways, you still do."
Anakin snorted.
"Did Siri put you up to this?"
"She did not. Want to expose our enemy, I do. Protect the Jedi, we will."
The initiate felt himself softening a little. Protecting someone or something dear to him was certainly something he could understand.
"Well, then. Would you like a ride so we can arrive faster?"
Yoda snorted. "So impatient."
Anakin smiled, but it felt bittersweet. "No, I just know what we're up against."
Beside him, the Grandmaster paused and looked up, ears perked as he thought over that. "Hmm. Correct you are. Waste more time, we should not. Accept your offer, I do, hmm?"
The initiate rolled his eyes good-naturedly before he turned and knelt down, waiting for Yoda to climb on and situate himself. Once the old Jedi had settled, Anakin stood and began his stride towards the lifts.
"I… appreciate the help," he said slowly as the door to the nearest lift opened and he aimed for that. A couple of knights stepped out, eyeing Anakin and Master Yoda in surprise before shaking their heads fondly, then turning and going on their way. Anakin wondered what the scuttlebutt around the temple would be after this.
"Welcome, you are," the Grandmaster said warmly.
They rode the lift in a pleasant silence for a couple of minutes before arriving. Once the door slid open, Anakin set off towards the crèche. He hadn't gone far before Master Yoda stopped him.
"Have the information, do you?" he asked.
Anakin paused. "Yes. I got it from Siri before she left."
He felt the old Master nod. "Then to the library we should go."
The time-traveler frowned. "It's a little public…"
"Have special clearance, I do. A private room, we can get."
Anakin thought about it, then nodded. "A good idea," he said before turning and heading off towards the library.
He both was and wasn't looking forward to this… but no matter what they came across, they'd have a long day ahead of them.
xXx
There was, indeed, a lot of information to go through. So much so that Anakin thought his initial estimate of weeks may be understating it all. Still, as mind-numbingly boring as some of the information could be, he and Yoda plowed on, sharing a computer with different terminals that allowed them to collaborate. They'd begun to sort different documents into different folders, making notes of each one in a separate document, whether they saw something interesting or not.
Some of the numbers would need some seriously close scrutiny to find anything, but as an initial run-through, they really just wanted to get everything organized, making sure to put copies in multiple places in case it could be useful for different reasons.
Master Yoda insisted on an index, despite the search option built into the programs they used.
Times like this, Anakin really missed both Obi-wan and Padmé. They'd been far more patient about things like this.
The next couple of days were lost in a bit of a haze as Anakin and Master Yoda continued on their self-made mission. Both of them made sure the other ate (the Grandmaster insisting they go to the cafeteria, as it allowed them some small breaks and exercise) and slept, but other than that, they devoted their time to their research and only spoke of what they found.
It took Anakin a little while to realize that Master Yoda must have canceled any and all classes he'd been scheduled to teach and he hadn't gone to a single Council meeting since they began to go through everything. His respect for the old master went up several notches then. Yoda had his faults. He was sapient and mortal (no matter how much longer than humans his species tended to live) and thus was not perfect. However, once he set his mind on something, he dedicated himself to it one hundred percent, and he could prioritize what really mattered.
The day of Anakin's next therapy session arrived, this one with Girth, and the initiate found himself wondering if he should cancel it in favor of continuing to go through the information. He voiced his concern to the Grandmaster.
"Hmm," Master Yoda said thoughtfully when Anakin asked for his opinion on the matter. "Go, you should. Take the night off, you should."
The time-traveler blinked. For some reason, he hadn't expected that. "But, Master Yoda, we still have so much to go through…"
The old Jedi shook his head. "Made good progress, we have. However, much information there is. Hurt, one night off, will not. Besides, long has it been since sneaked out at night, you have… hmm?"
Anakin winced at that. No, he hadn't gone racing in… almost two weeks now. Bleersh was probably beside himself. But more than that…
"You… knew?"
The Grandmaster chuckled. "Yes. Confront Knight Tachi about it, I did. Assured me, she did, that necessary, it was, and that hurting or endangering anyone besides yourself, you were not. Confront your Mind-Healers, I did. Assured me, they did, that necessary, it was. Planned to confront you about it, I did, but never a good chance, did I have."
Anakin stared at the little, green troll, washed blue in the light of the holo-computer, for several seconds.
"You're… okay with it?" he asked.
Yoda harrumphed. "Okay with it, I am not! But listen to your mind-healers and friends, I will. Still," he hopped down off of his chair and hobbled over to Anakin, who just watched him curiously, "put yourself in danger unnecessarily, you should not! Important, you are!" He punctuated each word with a soft jab of his gimmer stick.
Anakin sighed. "Yeah, I know. I have so much information and knowledge of the future that—"
"No!" Master Yoda interrupted striking his stick on the ground and frowning, his ears down and forward, a position Anakin hadn't seen them in often. "Important, you are, because alive, you are. Important you are, not for this," he pointed at Anakin's head with his gimmer stick, "but for this." He moved his stick down to point at Anakin's chest.
"Know this, you do, but believe it, you do not. So, say it, I will, until believe it, you do!"
It wasn't a new concept. Anakin knew that. He knew he still had the slave mentality of having to earn his right to live and love and be happy, but he was working on it, and having yet another person – someone whose opinion he did value (despite himself) – say it so blatantly, helped.
He smiled. "Thank you, Master Yoda… although I don't know if I can stop racing. I truly love it." It just felt so… good and so free. He anticipated that sense of danger and of overcoming the challenges it presented…
"Hmm," the Grandmaster replied, not looking happy. Then he shook his head. "Listen to your mind-healers, I will… but ask you, I do, to remember this: Missed, you would be, if happened, something did."
Anakin stared at Master Yoda for several seconds, wondering why those words felt so… heavy. But before long, the old Jedi shook his head again.
"Enough, we have done, for today."
"Oh," Anakin replied. "Um…" he was still uneasy about leaving everything and taking a break. But, he also knew that working so obsessively on this task, as he had, led to mistakes and overlooking information. Yet another thing his time as Vader had taught him.
Still… he also knew to dismiss Master Yoda's wisdom only at his own risk.
"Let me finish this section," he suggested.
"Five minutes, you have," Master Yoda said wryly before hopping back up onto his seat to reach a good stopping point himself. They were going through shipping manifests at the moment, and sorting them into different categories of time, length, destination, departure, stops along the way and any problems each vessel had encountered. Anakin had almost finished with the folder he'd been working on, having been sorting all the information in it for a while.
A little over four minutes later, he shut his station down and stretched. Master Yoda had already done the same and seemed perfectly fine in waiting for Anakin to move first.
Before he stood, the time-traveler looked over at the old Jedi, studying him for several seconds.
"Master Yoda, I do have a question I would like to ask you," he said quietly.
The little being nodded. "Ask you may, although answer, I may not."
Of course. Anakin expected no less. Still, he was curious.
"The changes, in the Jedi Order – bringing in the corps for the younglings, allowing the Masters to take on more than one apprentice… I've even noticed that some of the younger classes have scheduled more field-trips to different places on Coruscant and even other planets in the core. None of this happened last time… I am surprised these changes were even considered.
"I can only assume that my presence caused the changes in one way or another… but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how or why."
Yoda's smile looked particularly gentle as he observed Anakin.
"A blessing, your presence is," he finally said. "A boon and a chance. See this, we did not, until take us to task, your mind-healer did." He chuckled.
Anakin blinked. "You mean to say that a non-force-sensitive drall who has devoted his life to helping children overcome trauma changed the Council's view?"
The Grandmaster smiled and rested his chin on his gimmer stick. "An outside view, he has – one we were not used to, but one we respected nonetheless. Made us step back and view ourselves in a new light, he did. As did you."
Anakin frowned. "Me? Surely not. I was nothing but a determent to the Order last time."
"Doubt that, I do," Yoda said, his voice almost… dry? Anakin didn't know Yoda could do dry. It was… more than a little surprising. However, before his brain could catch up with the situation, the diminutive being continued.
"Positive, I am, that changed, in your last life, the Order did. Not enough, it was. Your fault, that was not."
It felt like Anakin's fault, but when he examined that emotion, the initiate realized Master Yoda was correct. He made a mental note to bring that up in his mind-healing session that evening.
"Wanted to be better, this time, you did. Tried to change things, you did. Saw this, we did, even if understand it, we did not. Part of the reason we sought Healer Girth, it was." His smile widened and his eyes seemed to sparkle a little in mirth at he looked so fondly at Anakin, even knowing his dark past. It wasn't an expression the former Sith expected anyone who knew who he had been to give him. He found it confusing but also… warm and welcoming. He was thankful, he realized. Thankful for Master Yoda's understanding and realizing how rare such understanding was in the universe.
"Simple, it was, for you to try," the Grandmaster continued, "but not easy. Yet persisted, you did. Changed the world, it did, simply because want it to be better, you did."
"But… I changed so little back then..."
Yoda's smile widened. "Matter, intentions do."
Anakin was… well, shocked. He couldn't seem to form coherent sentences when the Grandmaster laid everything out like that.
Eventually, all he could really force himself to say was, "I… thought there was no 'try'."
The old Master gave another humming chuckle as he shook his head fondly. "Need that perspective, many do. Most who grow up in the temple, in fact. But help you, right now, it will not. So, Anakin Skywalker, ask you I will: Continue trying, will you?"
Why did he almost feel like crying?
Stupid, hormonal pre-teen body. That was why.
Still…
"Yes," he choked out, hoping the older Jedi wouldn't direct attention towards his rough voice.
"Then enough, it will be."
Those words, somehow, did more for him than just about anything else anyone could have said at that moment. Because he didn't feel like enough. He could only try and there had never been any guarantee that he would succeed. Quite the opposite, in fact.
And yet, Yoda believed in him. Believed in him just trying…
He felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, one he hadn't realized he'd been carrying.
He couldn't bring himself to say anything – couldn't trust himself with his childish brain and body to not make a fool of himself. So he just watched Master Yoda hop down from his chair again and begin to hobble towards the door. Before he got far, though, he turned to look at Anakin over his shoulder.
"Carry too much, you do. Chosen one or not, human you are. Expect more, you should not."
Anakin managed to smile at that as he rose to his feet to follow Yoda out of the room, grabbing the ever precious data disk on the way out.
"Easier said than done," he replied, softly.
Yoda smiled. "Then try, you should. Believe you will succeed, I do."
The smile that came to his lips felt so utterly real that he almost couldn't imagine any other expression there. Nothing else would be remotely right and it almost felt like nothing could take its place. He knew that thought to be naive, but he reveled in it nonetheless.
"Thank you, Master" he said softly.
As he thought back on the conversation something occurred to him.
"This is the most forward I've ever heard you speak, Master," he said as the doors to the room closed behind them.
"Hmm. Exhausting, it was. Get used to it, you should not."
Anakin actually laughed at that. "So you'll go back to being the typical old, cryptic Jedi Master.
A quirk of the smaller being's mouth. "Perhaps."
The time-traveler rolled his eyes, but still couldn't stop smiling. He liked this Yoda and wished he'd gotten to see this side of the Grandmaster in his previous life. How different would hat have made everything?
"Off you go," Master Yoda said as they approached the Library exit. "Enjoy yourself, you should. See your friends, perhaps? Or visit Knight Kenobi?"
All good ideas. So he nodded at the old Jedi. "Yes, Master. Thank you."
xXx
Three days before
The first thing Siri did when she reached the rendezvous was take a deep breath and release her anxiousness to the Force. She wasn't happy to work with Fett, but she did trust Anakin (and wasn't that a surprise for the records), and he trusted Fett to be a professional. If he accepted the job, he'd follow through. That was what the Fetts strove to do. Or maybe Mandalorians in general. At least, according to Anakin.
In any case, she clutched her bag and her data chip tightly as she sat down at the specified diner in the spaceport and tapped her finger in the pre arranged code. She ordered a light drink, as that was all she thought she could stomach at the moment, and then waited.
It didn't take long for Jango Fett to take the seat across from her.
"Tachi?" he asked.
"Fett," she replied coolly, but made sure to nod respectfully.
He studied her closely for almost a minute, and she did the same right back. Both of them knew enough about the other to realize the kind of threat they posed, but Fett had come without half of his arsenal or his helmet – which was as much of a show of peace as he would offer if she knew Mandalorian culture at all. In return, she made sure not to reach for her lightsaber and to keep her body language calm and relaxed.
She didn't look like a Jedi right now, dressed as a normal spacer in pants, a long-sleeved shirt and a poncho. She didn't have typical Jedi boots, but those that laced up firmly and had durasteel toes. She hadn't bothered to change anything else about her appearance, though. She knew where to get a wig and makeup if she needed to go under cover, but doing anything else would make Fett suspicious, and that was the last thing she wanted right now.
It was hard not to really react to him though. She'd worked with so many men with his face… she'd trusted them, and part of her wanted to trust him for that reason. Part of her screamed at his own obvious distrust, and the rest of her was just wary. Bounty hunters were mercenaries and only held allegiance to money.
Well, that wasn't entirely true, but it was a good general rule, and she'd thought it certainly held true for what she knew about the man sitting in front of her.
"So, do you have any information to go off of?" he asked after over a minute of complete silence.
"I was given this," she set the data chip down on the table, "this morning. I haven't had a chance to look at it."
"What are we working with?" he asked.
She frowned and glanced around pointedly.
"Jammer," he said with a shrug. "Just talk quiet."
She sighed and leaned forward, deciding that arguing with him about that wasn't worth it. She had a feeling there would be many similar instances in the coming days.
"Granta Omega. He attacked a friend of mine and took his padawan, leaving him in critical condition. He was brought back by a fellow Jedi which is the only reason we know what happened. Even then, we don't know the details.
"All I know is that I'm not going back without that boy."
Fett looked simultaneously suspicious and curious. "That doesn't seem very… Jedi of you."
She raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Why do you say that?"
He shrugged. "Detachment and all that."
Siri sighed. "It's true that Jedi aren't encouraged to form attachments. Discouraged, really, and for good reason." She looked down at the data disk, hoping it would lead her to Ferus. "That doesn't mean it doesn't happen."
Realization came into his eyes. "Which is why you need my help. You can't go through normal Jedi means because this isn't backed by your Council."
Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. "They know about it," she said with a nonchalant shrug, "and wisely chose not to stop me. I would have liked to see any of them try." Because once she decided to go, well, she would have found a way through the entire Council if she'd had to.
Briefly, she wondered what her Ma… Adi thought of this, but quickly shook that thought away. No point in dwelling on that now.
"In any case," she said as she sat forward, "I won't lie to you. I have little idea of where to go currently, and will need a little time to go through everything. I figured you'd want to look through this as well."
He rubbed his chin as he gazed down at the data chip. Then he shook his head. "Later. If we're looking for Omega, I have some contacts I want to get in touch with first."
She couldn't help but be a little surprised, but figured he was a bounty hunter, and a good one at that. He had to have a network. So she nodded and grabbed the data chip, slipping it into the pouch under her poncho.
They sat there for a couple more seconds before the waitress came by to give Siri her drink. She asked if Jango wanted anything, but he declined. Siri frowned as the girl left, wondering why they were still sitting there instead of heading off to his ship or whatnot.
"I'm getting paid for this," he said suddenly. "Decent pay, albeit lower than my normal rates, but I took this job for other reasons." He leaned forward on his elbows and Siri watched him warily. He wanted something else? Did he want access to the Temple or maybe some other information? She didn't reject him insantly, but she did tense a little, her hand twitching for her lightsaber.
He took her silence as permission to continue (or perhaps would have continued anyway, it was, after all, Jango Fett) and his familiar, brown-eyed gaze met hers.
He isn't Macro, she told herself firmly.
"How much do you know about the plan I was hired as a… template for?" he asked slowly.
Siri's breath caught in her chest for just a moment. "Enough," she answered, ready to move if she had to.
Jango looked around cautiously. "I want to stop it," he finally said.
At that, the Jedi could only blink because… what?
"Why?" she asked.
He shook his head and put his own data disk on the table. Her eyes widened, than narrowed in puzzlement. "That's everything I could find about it. My price for this information is clemency for my… my children."
Her eyebrows rose almost to her hairline and she glanced between him and the chip incredulously. "How… many?" she croaked.
"Currently, about 450,000, but they're done with the preliminary tests, finally have all of the equipment ready for mass production and 500,000 more are on schedule to begin growth this week, 1,000,000 more next week, and 2,000,000 a week after that across thirty five different sites all over Kamino. Next year, once this 'batch' is finished, they plan on raising that to 3,500,000. Seven weeks in a month, ten months in a year… you do the math."
He suddenly looked down, eyes grim. "In ten years, there should be well over a billion clones, all grown as soldiers to fight and die for the greediness of those who want power…
"And I was too blind to see it."
It took Siri several seconds to fully wrap her head around what this man was asking.
"You… want me to help you stop the Kaminoans from making clones?"
He slumped slightly, looking defeated and a little desperate and all the more dangerous for it. "I don't know," he replied quietly. "I… just don't want them to be grown and used like robots or manikins or just canon fodder, without any regard for their own lives. Just because they can be grown doesn't make them any less precious."
And suddenly, Siri could see why Anakin trusted this man. He was a mercenary who had his own code and morals, he was exceedingly dangerous and very good at what he did… but he wasn't the monster she'd come to see the man as. He'd hated Jedi and he'd been part of the plan that led to their downfall. His own DNA had been used to grow the army that destroyed the republic, and she knew he'd been complicit… but perhaps not as complicit as it had seemed.
Maybe, just maybe, she could work with him.
"I'll help," she said, determined. "We can discuss ideas and come up with a plan to save all of… your children."
He blinked, then frowned skeptically. "Just like that?"
She shrugged. "I don't want the war to happen at all, and I value life – all life. I promise I will do everything I can to help you find a way to rescue the clones."
He just stared at her, looking almost incredulous. "You really mean that."
She nodded firmly.
"Huh. Okay, let's find your boy, then."
With that, he rose to his feet and Siri followed. The way he acted as they made their way through the spaceport, though... well, she was pretty sure she hadn't been the only one at that table who had needed to re-evaluate their worldview.
xXx
AN: Thank you once again to Quathis, Khalthar and Hidden50 for their help on this!
So... I have my issues with Yoda, but I still love him as a character. I mean, he' the epitome of 'old man stuck in his ways'... even if those ways are warrior monks, but hey. In Clone Wars, he was one of the first ones to try and change. Admittedly, it was too little too late, but I kind of feel like people don't like to give Yoda as much nuance as he could have, so here's my take on it. Dunno if I succeeded.
Also, as for those numbers, I looked up the amount of Clones they were estimated to have by the time the Clone Wars came about... and it was like more than 1.6 BILLION... which is a staggering number that I don't think we as people can truly comprehend. Now, admittedly, they still had children that Boba could infiltrate at the age of 11, so they were still growing said clones well into the war. (I don't remember many people in the show addressing that those clones would take a minimum of 8 years to grow to an age they could fight - and man, growing pains must SUCK for accelerated growth cycles... yeesh - but yeah, did they expect the war to last 10 years? Did they accelerate the growth more? How terrifying...)
In any case, thank you for reading. Chapter might be late next month again (sorry it was a couple of days late this month) as I'm having some major changes in my life: getting a new roommate, dealing with anxiety and other health problems - yes, I'm looking for a therapist. I'm sure you're shocked. LOL But yeah. Just a warning and a head's up.
Also, I'm working on my original book cover and am hoping to get it up by the end of the month. First 10 chapters should be free on Kindle Vella if I'm reading everything correctly... yeah. Will let you all know.
In any case, luv and hugz and thank you again!
