Shaak Ti had just finished training a new squadron of clone troopers on Kamino when Master Yoda called her to ask, if she couldn't take the younglings on a trip to Glee Anselm and then to Naboo. Without hesitation she agreed.

"Ashla – there is too. Good for you - that would do," explained the green grandmaster in a warm voice.

She hadn't expected so much of a good thing. She was also glad that Master Kit Fisto would accompany her. A Nautolan was always good on this much warmer sea planet she was about to visit. And the easy-going, cheerful disposition of the green Nautolan would be good for all participants in the journey.

"I wish you a pleasant holiday. This will surely help you to forget," were Nala Se's words when saying goodbye for this one week. At that moment, Shaak Ti didn't care if the Kaminoan's words were meant as genuine sympathy or sarcastic. She badly needed a break. And a change of scenery as well.

༺═───═༻

Anakin Skywalker was once again at the opera with Palpatine. Whenever the two men attended the opera, Palpatine would confide something in his young friend. So Anakin was already waiting for the Chancellor to order his guard out of the VIP box at the Coruscant Opera. He didn't wait ten minutes for what he had anticipated to happen. Sly Moore had just disappeared from the box and the Chancellor was left alone with the Jedi.

Now Palpatine addressed his young friend: "Anakin, you know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council. If they haven't included you in their plot, they soon will."

Anakin sighed. He knew what was coming now. Palpatine wanted something from him. Once again. Behind the backs of the Council and the Jedi. He was aware that the interests of politicians and Jedi were often diametrically opposed. This had been the case since he had known Palpatine. He was glad Padmé wasn't like this. On the contrary: his secret wife had already done so many missions alongside the Jedi.

"I'm not sure I understand," Anakin replied evasively, just as his Master had taught him for such tricky conversations. Let Palpatine make it clear what he wants before...

"You don't want to understand it, you don't want to admit it. But it's important that you tell me what you think, Anakin. Not what Obi-Wan wants you to think."

Anakin sighed again. As if the other had read his mind. But finally Palpatine came out with his request. Naturally! The Chancellor had gotten wind that the Jedi had hired him to spy on the Chancellor because he was said to have contacts with the dark side of the Force. However, the Jedi Council was not yet fully aware of the nature of these contacts. And now both were tugging at the young Jedi to assure his loyalty. In fact, he should be flattered that both sides were making such an effort. But Anakin wasn't much of a poker player and bargainer. He just wanted to do the right thing and know who he belonged to. And precisely the latter he knew less and less with each passing day.

With every argument that Palpatine brought up, with every half-hearted reply from his side, his brain became more mushy, more diffuse, more confused. Why couldn't Palpatine just let it go? Who else did the Chancellor want as an ally to protect the values of democracy and freedom if not the Jedi and the clone army? Himself and Anakin by his side? The two of you against the rest of the galaxy? Anakin found the idea ridiculous.

The now ignited discussion with the Chancellor about the value and credibility of the Jedi soon reached a new high.

"The fear of losing power is a weakness of both the Jedi and the Sith," Palpatine declaimed.

Anakin looked at him in disbelief at those words. Was his friend about to put the Jedi on the same level as the Sith?

"Anakin... have you ever heard of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"

Anakin shook his head.

"I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It is a legend of the Sith, of a Dark Lord who looked inward so deeply that he understood and mastered life itself. And since both belong together, if you see clearly enough, even death."

Anakin looked at the pausing Palpatine. "Please go on."

"Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life ... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."

Slowly, Anakin's astonishment gave way to unconcealed awe for the hitherto unknown Sith Lord. "He could actually save people from death?"

Palpatine smiled enticingly at Anakin. "With knowledge like that, it seems easy to sustain life in an already living organism, don't you think?"

"Stronger than death...", Anakin murmured devoutly.

Those visions reappeared in his mind, announcing the death of his beloved Padmé, while a newborn was crying.

"From what I've heard, the Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural," Palpatine murmured mysteriously.

Anakin let those words sink in. "And... what happened to him?"

"Well, it's a tragedy."

Palpatine paused artificially for some seconds to test Anakin's reaction. And—right—Anakin's eyes immediately darkened. "Once Plagueis had attained this final power, there was nothing for him to fear except losing his power again. Just as the Jedi Council is currently afraid of losing its power..."

"What happened?" an increasingly impatient Anakin asked, leaning closer to the Chancellor.

The Chancellor's voice became fatalistic. "After teaching his student everything he knew, Plagueis killed him in his sleep."

Anakin's shoulders lumped forward limply.

"Plagueis didn't see it coming", Palpatine concluded melancholically. "That's the tragic irony: he could save everyone in the galaxy from death but himself."

"Assuming this isn't just a legend and Plagueis really lived," Anakin asked, regaining his eagerness, "would it be possible to gain this knowledge of immortality?"

"You could ask your Jedi friends to help you. But even if they found someone who had Plagueis' knowledge, they would kill him. Not because of his misdeeds, just because he's a Sith," Palpatine hissed accusingly at Anakin.

Anakin's voice got a tad of longing. "You seem to know so much about it. Tell me: Is it possible to gain this knowledge?"

Palpatine raised and lowered his shoulders. Then he smiled a smile of deepest wisdom. "Well, certainly not from a Jedi."

The older men's words sent a shiver down Anakin's spine. The young Jedi followed the rest of the opera more or less absently, while his Chancellor friend seemed suddenly engrossed in the work of art like never before.

After the opera performance ended and Anakin said goodbye to the Chancellor, he headed for the Jedi Temple. He wanted to be alone in his room now. He called Padmé, caught a glimpse of her blue holo-face over his comlink to wish her goodnight, then drove his speeder to the landing bay reserved for him in the temple.

Anakin tossed and turned uneasily on his bed, considering the options for accessing the Darth Plagueis' secrets. But no matter how he twisted and turned it, he always found a reason how his suggestion could arouse suspicion and put him at too great a risk beforehand, so that achieving his goal in those days or weeks seemed impossible. So he sat cross-legged on his bed and tried to sink into himself, to look deep enough within himself to unravel the mystery of midi-chlorian manipulation - just as Palpatine had explained to him. Just as Darth Plagueis had delved deep into the dark mysteries to gain his groundbreaking insights and the power of life and death. He, Anakin Skywalker, was the Chosen One after all. So why shouldn't he be able to do what a Sith could do?

༺═───═༻

"Hello, I'm Veyla Lare, head of the Glee Anselm Ministry of Tourism," introduced the green-skinned, black-eyed Nautolan herself, leading the group of Jedi to a large blue house in the middle of downtown Pieralos, the Nautolan capital. Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto and the Padawan youths walked up the wide, white, curved staircase into the dining room, where their hostess was already waiting for them.

"I am Hanabi, the mother of Veyla," the older red-skinned Nautolan explained kindly to the group of visiting Jedi.

"We're happy to be here," Shaak Ti explained to the woman, who was perhaps five years older than her and who had quite a few lekkus for Nautolans, maybe eight, while Master Fisto had at least twice as many. What particularly caught her eye were her eyes. They weren't Nautolan eyes, which were usually round and solid black or red. Hanabi's eyes were almond-shaped, with the white of Twi'leks or Togruta's eye corners. 'Maybe she's a half-breed?' Shaak Ti thought.

"It smells delicious," Kit Fisto said happily in anticipation of a sumptuous lunch, while Shaak Ti gave him a mentioned look. But she had to admit it smelled damn good. She knew that scent. And she was eager to enjoy a familiar taste immediately after everyone is seated around the large dining table.

"What are those dumplings?" Ashla asked curiously while her slender white hand veined with blue grabbed the second or third of the delicious dough balls with a long fork and brought it to her mouth.

"These are with Yagannath fruit. It's something very rare and very delicious," Shaak Ti explained to her daughter.

"Well, apparently not rare enough for Master Jedi not to know," Hanabi replied with a smile.

"It's been so long since I last ate them, almost thirteen years," the Togruta replied.

"Thirteen years is a pretty odd number. How come you remember it so well?" the hostess asked the Jedi curiously.

"Because something happened after that day that I will not forget. At that time I was given the mission to watch over the businessman Hego Damask for the night because he feared an assassination attempt on himself. The next day he really was dead. No coincidence, it seemed to me. But they never found a murderer or even proved a murder," she explained with a shrug.

"What's that got to do with the dumplings?" Kit Fisto wanted to know.

"He prepared them for me in the morning after vigil," Shaak Ti explained.

"Well, Master Jedi, as you can see, this dish has now achieved the rank of an interplanetary standard dish, no doubt deservedly so," Hanabi explained with what Shaak Ti thought was a rather hard smile.

"I don't think so," Shaak Ti replied. "He told me it was a family recipe from Mygeeto from his mother."

"Well, I see you are well informed, Master Jedi," Hanabi replied, her black eyes searching Shaak Ti. "And back then it was certainly a more pleasant mission than you usually get assigned, am I right?" she asked with an indefinable smile.

"It was a mission like any other," Shaak Ti replied stoically, looking just past Hanabi.

"Well, as a simple housewife, it's obviously not my place to judge what nature Jedi missions usually are..." Hanabi retorted with an apologetic look that also feigned ignorance.

Shaak Ti breathed for a moment, then the red woman followed suit.

"... Just as little as I can judge how and with whom Hego Damask spent his evenings and nights back then. I suppose it wasn't the first time he'd requested some sort of…" she stretched out the pause for the next word, …protection mission in the Jedi Temple", Hanabi finished her sentence with an almost imperceptible grin.

"He's dead, what does that matter anymore," Shaak Ti replied harshly and looked at Hanabi challengingly.

"Ladies, if you please," Kit Fisto interjected with an unfunny look. Then he bit off another dumpling.

"Except for the skin color, the little one here looks very much like you", Hanabi began to drill into another weak point of Shaak Ti with a look at Ashla. "One could almost think she would be your daughter."

Shaak Ti shot her a short laughter. "Of course she's not my daughter."

"We Jedi are also forbidden to do that," the green Nautolan Jedi Master jumped in.

"Her index finger and middle finger are quite long in relation to her other fingers", Hanabi digged further. "Could her father have been a Muun…?"

"Yes, that is him. I have three hearts too," Ashla replied proudly.

Shaak Ti saw Hanabi looking down, lost for a brief moment. Then the red woman turned to Kit Fisto: "Are there any Muuns among the Jedi?"

Master Fisto shrugged. "Not that I know of such a thing ever happened."

Then everyone had eaten and the table was lifted.

"He was just like his father," Hanabi angrily hissed at her daughter Veyla after the Jedi left.

"Mother, you don't really think..."

"Yes, that's exactly what I believe", Hanabi whispered. "I kept the plates and cutlery of the two Togruta. And I already have a comparative sample to find out if he really left us more of an inheritance than he told me at the time. At least if Palpatine isn't going to take care of her, which is likely, should he find out. It's a pity that 11-4D isn't with us", she sighed, then gave corresponding instructions to another medi-droid.

༺═───═༻

After five days of hilarious swimming and diving on Glee Anselm, the vacationing Jedi flock moved on to Naboo, where Senator Padmé Amidala Naberrie would grant them lodging and entertainment for the day. The brown-eyed, brown-haired senator met her at Chancellor Palpatine spaceport in Theed to board a large speeder with the Jedi and so motorized to follow the speeder's standard route through the capital city of Naboo. After a while they came to a gigantic roundabout over a large square, on which stood a statue whose model Shaak Ti recognized immediately.

"Hego Damask doesn't even have a transpirator mask on this statue," Shaak Ti wondered.

"Oh, you know him", Padme said surprised. "Well… this place is named after him."

"Why is that?" Shaak Ti wondered.

"He's done quite a bit to modernize Naboo. Even if he asked a high price for it, of course," Padmé explained.

"What price was that?" Shaak Ti asked curiously.

"That is a long story. I'll tell you later," Padmé promised.

Named Shaak, the giant brown-and-white speckled pigs so typical of this planet grazed quietly across the green meadows of Naboo, while Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, the younglings, among them the Padawan Ashla sat on the terrace of the Naberries' summer house to watch the tepid afternoon to enjoy. The golden protocol droid C3-PO poured them Jogan juice and served them a small snack while Shaak Ti gulped down some blue milk.

"Now why was the place named after Hego Damask?" The Togruta took up the topic from before, while Kit Fisto rolled his black eyes slightly annoyed.

"Back then, on behalf of the Banking Clan, he boosted the local economy enormously with his loans. But he did claim pre-emption rights for Damask Holdings on Naboo's plasma, which he had bought cheap from us and resold to the galaxy at high price. That was the beginning of the rise of Damask Holdings."

"Is he popular on Naboo?" Shaak Ti asked.

"No not that," Padmé said. "But he still has some admirers around here."

Shaak Ti leaned a bit forward. "Why?"

"Even Hego Damask's arrival on Naboo was surrounded by myths," Padmé began to tell. "That fall when the Muun came to Naboo to set up business here, forty-five standard years ago, was followed by the coldest and harshest winter that both human Naboo and Gungans can yet recall. The rivers and even the waterfalls below Theed froze, the rolling plains and towering forests were blanketed in ten feet of snow, plasmatic tremors rocked the Gallo Mountains and Lakelands, the sacred sites and the underwater city of Otoh Gunga. And many of the approaches to the underwater pathways that gouge the planet were blocked by thick ice floes," Padmé said with a dramatic gesture while the youths hung on her every word and listened to her narration.

"But the plasma exploitation wasn't the only thing," Padmé continued excitedly. "He's also since then deployed and deposed the kings on Naboo at his leisure. Bon Tapalo only became king on Naboo forty-five years ago because Hego Damask wanted it that way. Under Tapalo, the plasma deal was engineered and the Trade Federation was used as overseer at the time to ensure that plasma extraction and resale to the galaxy went smoothly. We've had those greedy Neimoidians like Nute Gunrays on our backs ever since," Padmé explained angrily.

"But it didn't stay that way," Kit Fisto researched, so as not to let Shaak Ti do the conversation alone.

"Of course not", Padmé confirmed. "Bon Tapalo went too far with his loyalty to the Banking Clan and was quite hated by the populace on Naboo. And then Hego Damask in the twentieth year of his reign supported his adversary Ars Veruna, who of course became king thanks to his campaign help."

"Did he already have his transpirator mask at that time?" Shaak Ti asked curiously.

"Yes, he had gotten it as a result of an assassination attempt, which, however, had been perpetrated on him on Coruscant," assured the senator eagerly, hands pointing far away.

"But what became of Ars Veruna? I only vaguely remember his name," Shaak Ti inquired about the former king of Naboo.

"He got rebellious at some point. He wanted to reduce the influence of Damask Holdings and the Trade Federation. That's what Palpatine, who was my predecessor as senator for my home planet, assured me at the time."

"But I guess he didn't make it," Kit Fisto surmised.

"He was close," Padmé confirmed to the Nautolan. "He had upgraded Naboo's air force to stand up to the Trade Federation's droid forces. And then there was this second assassination attempt on Hego Damask shortly before the Battle of Naboo. It was rumored at the time that Ars Veruna should have been responsible. In any case, once it became known that Damask had survived, Ars Veruna abdicated in my favour. And just two days later he died under mysterious circumstances at his country home on Naboo," Padmé explained with a dramatic look.

"Just like Hego Damask died a few days later under mysterious circumstances," Shaak Ti said, lost in thought.

"Ars Veruna was all alone when he died", the senator declared resolutely. "Nobody in his castle had noticed anything. No cause of death was found. That was scary. Since his death, I've had my four bodyguards who look so much like me. But if I should be killed after all, then there will be witnesses who can tell the galaxy how and by whom I died."

A sudden thought flared up in Shaak Ti's mind. "So Hego Damask was still alive when you became Queen of Naboo. Do you think it is possible that he also secured the throne for you back then, after he had grown weary of Ars Veruna's intrigues?"

Padmé thought for a moment.

"I don't really think so," she said with a smile that shone through all doubts. "But I still remember Senator Palpatine visiting my parents back then to convince them, and in turn to convince me, to let me be elected the new Queen of Naboo - when I was only fourteen!" Padmé declared proudly.

"Palpatine believed in you and he nurtured you", Kit Fisto chimed in. "And as a thank you, you later introduced a motion of no confidence in the Senate against then-Chancellor Finis Valorum, which ultimately made Palpatine Chancellor and you succeeded him as Naboo's Senator."

"No, that wasn't such a Bantha trade!", Padmé defended herself. "It just needed both at that time," she assured the Jedi - and herself, while her large brown eyes showed signs of self-doubt for a moment, which soon disappeared again.

Shaak Ti had become calm and thoughtful that afternoon. She would never have thought that this journey would take her so much into Hego Damask's past. And when she thought of Hanabi's behavior towards her and the cooking skills of this half-Nautolan, she became painfully aware that she probably hadn't been the first woman in Hego Damask's life. But she had to admit that she couldn't expect him to have been celibate for all of ninety-one years. After all, she had benefited immensely from the Muun's experience of love that night. That thought calmed her a little.

Then she considered whether Hego Damask could have other children besides Ashla. The green Nautolan named Veyla Lare certainly didn't look like a Muun child.

༺═───═༻

Master Yoda was not surprised when Shaak Ti wished to speak to him privately.

"What - up is? How the trip was?" he asked her kindly.

"The trip was beautiful. I just have one question: Was that special mission back in Kaldani Tower the first of this kind by Jedi for Hego Damask, or had he previously ordered Jedi for the night's watch?"

Yoda frowned and considered.

"Only recently on Coruscant - Hego Damask that time had been. On such a matter to the Jedi Temple – never before your visit a request he had submitted," he assured Shaak Ti, raising his green three-fingered hand reassuringly.

A thousand stones rolled off her heart.

"Thank you, Master Yoda," she said, almost happily, and hurried back to her chamber elatedly.

Ashla trotted alone across the now-empty practice ground on the grounds of the Jedi Temple. This was the second time she had undertaken a journey with other youths and with Shaak Ti. And on each of these two trips, the older Togruta had talked to the hosts about this Hego Damask, and the conversations had always been somehow strange. She wondered if she could ask Master Fisto about it. But it seemed to her that the green Nautolan would not be too interested in the subject. Also, it would be dishonest to gather information about the other Togruta through third parties in this way. Shaak Ti herself would certainly react non-amused again if she asked her directly. And the only elderly person she would want to talk to about this, was no longer in the temple. Ashla noticed that Ahsoka was missing. Everyone somehow noticed. The temple was different without Anakin Skywalker's former Padawan - colder and quieter.

Hanabi Lare and the rest of the Lare clan are OCs of mine. Those, who know the Darth Plagueis novel by James Luceno, will perhaps remember the family name Lare.