A/N :

Erozoth - one of the meanings of squib is 'a small firecracker'

TarheelGrey - Gallon's in the USA are weird because they short pints. As a Brit I use the Imperial Gallon if I'm not using metric.

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When Rattatack comes into view for the first time, Lily says, "Yellow."

Asajj looks up from the wand Lily made her just before they left Dantooine, then looks back down again, "It's the deserts. Everyone lives in the canyons or on farms in the mountains. There's not enough moisture to form clouds."

Lily shakes her head, "How can they even survive there then?"

In a dull voice Assajj says, "Moisture farms in the mountains, and water farmers in the canyons. While there aren't any seas, there are rivers running through the caves at the bottom of the canyons. There's also a few lakes where the warlords used to live near the poles."

Shaking her head ruefully, Lily says, "In the last few years I've felt stupid more often than I did at Hogwarts." Leaning over she puts a hand on Asajj's leg, "Before I start asking about moisture farms, are you all right? You sound a little…"

"I'm fine… No, actually, I'm not fine. Last time I was here, everything was simple, but now." Absently she picks up Harry as he runs into the cockpit and tries to crane his head to see out the cockpit window. "It's like the squib here, looking at things with no thought to tomorrow."

Lily nods, "And now?"

"There are things I… I kept trophies to prove that I was better than the warlords. Not all of those trophies were things…"

Harry looks back, "Like droids?"

Asajj exchanges a look with Lily, "Yes, a bit like droids."

Lily looks back at the rapidly approaching planet, "How safe is it?"

Asajj looks towards their destination, "The upper few levels should be safe enough for the squib."

Lily shakes her head, "Why do you keep calling Harry that?"

Asajj frowns, "What? Squib? It's because he's a little firecracker. So full of explosive energy, but so small it's just fun to look at."

Lily looks down, "Oh right, I should have known that. Feeling any better?"

Asajj nods fractionally, "A little, though I'm a little worried about how much I'm playing with this wand. My lightsabers never felt like this."

Lily winces as the mention of lightsabers makes her remember the lessons that Fay has started both her and Harry on since she had Asajj put together a few training sabers. "I have to say, I don't like lightsabers. To me they feel like an escalation of something that shouldn't even be in a conversation."

Asajj laughs, "You sound like my master. What was it she said, oh yes, 'I'm teaching you to use a lightsaber properly because it's necessary to become a knight. If you ever have to use a lightsaber, then it's because I've failed as your master.'"

Lily nods, "That sounds like her. How is she getting on with her wand practice?"

Asajj shakes her head, "You'd know more than I, as you're the one teaching all of us. Including your own padawan."

Lily shakes her head, "Forri isn't my padawan. He is a student, but only of magic. And I was asking you because you spend time with Fay while she's doing Jedi stuff."

From behind them, Fay says, "I was coming to see how long until we land. But as you're talking about me, I'll just say that I'm doing about as well at using magic outside of training as you are at using the force."

Lily winces, "I'm scared of it. I'm scared of how good it feels and of the strange dreams I get after I've meditated on the force. I'm scared of threading the needle between attacked by puppets or golems. Even more, I'm scared of that bloody circle, as the exorcism ritual draws magic from the person inside the ritual. If it wasn't for the fact that we kept joining Asajj, it could have completely drained her of magic, and killed her."

Where she's holding Harry to make sure he won't fall while he's leaning against the console, Asajj freezes, "What do you mean it could have killed me?"

Lily looks out of the cockpit into space for a long moment, and in a low voice Asajj says, "Lily."

Slowly Lily says, "The exorcism ritual is as much a prison as it is a cure. Once you're inside, the strength of the barriers is drawn directly from your own magic. It is a slow and constant drain, unless you try and attack the barrier. If you do, then it draws the magic it needs to reinforce itself directly from you. In theory, we all have an infinite amount of magic inside us, as the soul is infinite. In practice… In practice our bodies will burn out long before our magic does, as it takes effort to use magic. Even if we didn't include the cleansing aspect of the ritual, most people would last maybe four months in the circle before their bodies just gave up from starvation. If they were well fed, or particularly strong they might last six months. When you include the stresses that the cleansing adds, it would take an exceptional person to survive 27 cleanses without being able to leave the circle. Nobody has ever survived 81."

Softly, Asajj says, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Lily looks back with tears in her eyes, "Because, by the time I cared, the news would have just killed you faster. Or can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't have tried to batter your way out of the circle?"

Confused, Harry turns away from the cockpit and look at the stony face that Asajj is wearing, and the tears in Lily's eyes, before hugging Asajj, "Are we going to see your home?"

Asajj forces a smile, "Yes squib, we're going to see my old home."

Fay gently puts her hand on Asajj's shoulder, "I've had D12 put in the symbols for a cleansing circle. Once we've landed you should spend some time in there processing your emotions while isolated from the unifying force. That one is not a trap, and you can enter and exit freely."

Asajj stabs the coordinates of the landing pad into the computer and broadcasts her authorisation codes before she hands Harry to Fay and storms into the back of the ship.

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At the sound of breaking furniture, Forri gets out of the relaxation pool that is the lower floor of his crate, and makes his way into the cargo hold of the ship.

Once outside he spots Asajj using a long spanner to physically beat the stuffing out of the two chairs that Lily made, while kicking the remains of the table around.

Mildly he asks, "Asajj, what's wrong?"

Snatching up a chess piece, Asajj throws it at Forri, who deftly dodges it, "I just found out they tried to kill me."

Forri shakes his head, "You're looking remarkably healthy for someone they tried to kill. Whoever they is."

"You know full well who they are."

Forri shakes his head, "Actually, no I don't."

Asajj stalks towards him while pointing towards the cockpit, "Well, bantha brains, they would be my Master and her mini me."

Forri sighs, "You're looking remarkably lively for someone they could have just shot with a blaster, spaced, or even just stabbed with a lightsaber."

Asajj stops short, her finger less than an inch from poking Forri in the chest, "What did you say?"

"I said you're looking remarkab…"

Asajj pokes him, "I heard you, I meant what did you say."

"Oh, I heard Lily complaining, while she was filling a data slate with magical stuff, about how 'wizards' where all a bunch of idiots that kept forgetting that there were perfectly suitable mundane ways of doing things without magic. Since then I've been trying to think of a few ways that you could accomplish something without the force or magic whenever I can. Still can't come up with something for my crate. But I'm finding myself appreciating just how easy even the levitation charm makes things. A swish and a flick and you're doing the same thing that took years of meditation in the temple to learn. Or the cutting charm, you could achieve the same result with any number of things. But not as easily as with a wand."

Asajj stumbles backwards on suddenly weak knees, as though she's just been doused with cold water. "Oh…"

"Well, if that's all, I'm going back to my pool. You're welcome to join me if you want."

Asajj looks back at the circle that is now strewn with leather, stuffing, and wooden splinters, "I'm, ah, going to meditate."

Forri smiles as he steps up into the crate, "Well, if you want to practice some magic, the repairing charm is a second year spell, and the data slates have a recording of Lily casting it as well as the instructions."

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It doesn't take long for the the ship to land on a landing pad near the top of a truly massive tower.

A few minutes after they land, Warlord Ventress walks down the landing ramp followed by Fay and Lily.

A moment later, Lily raises her wand and Ventress jumps with a yelp. "Asajj, relax. You're not alone, and as long as you call me a friend you'll never be alone again." Asajj turns around and glares at Lily, so she adds, "And I'm sorry about how I told you about that ritual. I… I should have been more aware of how it might sound to you."

Asajj's shoulders relax slightly and she turns back to the blast door that separates the landing pad from the rest of the tower. Walking over to a panel next to the doors, she places her palm against the panel and smiles as the door smoothly slides up into the ceiling. For better or worse, she's home.

Looking back at the ship, Asajj stifles a laugh as she watches Nanny restraining a crying Harry while D12 raises the ramp. With a deep breath she says, "Welcome to my home. I fear that it's more than a little messy."

As she turns around and steps through the blast door, she tries to hide a sniffle as memories of the last time she was here threaten to make her draw on the darkside once more. Just before she does, Lily walks up beside her and takes her hand. "Asajj, you're not alone. Not anymore."

Slowly, her eyes darting around the corridors with practised caution, Asajj leads Lily and Fay through a few corridors before they reach her trophy chamber.

As Asajj stands there waiting for judgement, Fay simply walks forward to the statue dedicated to her old master. Just before Asajj starts to fidget, Fay turns around and says, "Grief. This whole room is drenched in grief, along with hate and anger born from that grief. We shall not be living here my padawan, as I can feel the pain and anguish below us."

Asajj lets her head hang low, "But…"

Fay walks forward and lifts Asajj's chin, "Child, you do not need to punish yourself in order to put right what you have done. You should never have been put in the situations you were. But should have's don't make reality. Tell me, where did you live when your old master was alive?"

Asajj looks down one of the three cardinal corridors to the large window on the outer surface of the tower. After a moment she says, "We used to hide in the caves with the poorer people."

Fay shakes her head, "I disagree. You weren't hiding there. You were living there." She starts to walk down the corridor that Asajj looked out of, "Come, tell me. What do you see when you look out of this window?"

Asajj frowns as they reach the window and look out at the canyon below it. Built in tiers carved into the rock are lines of houses and walkways. Far below them in the dark shadow of the canyon walls are the caves and homes of the poor. Those who cannot afford to live far away from the underground water source. At the far end of the canyon is the faint glitter of one of the rare above ground lakes. Then her eyes flick up to the towering spires of the guardian towers that line the top of the canyon like her own citadel sits at the mouth of the canyon. Each one manned with warriors and slaves watching for the desert monsters and attacking warlords.

Shaking her head Asajj says, "I see my city. The people that I worked so hard to free."

Lily frowns as she looks out, "I see a lot of division. The houses near the top are much larger than those at the bottom." A wave of her wand forms a distortion in the air that magnifies the bottom of the canyon, "The same seems to be true at the bottom, with the houses near the centre being larger and quickly turning into slums once you get away from that narrow strip."

Before Asajj can say anything, Fay nods, "I see a society where not much has changed. All to often we Jedi only ever see things from the halls of power, especially those that are based in the temple. This is simply because those are the only people who can afford to call for aid. Those of us who are nomads and follow the call of the force. We often find ourselves living amongst those who have nothing. The people who are voiceless and need us to speak for them. From what you've told me, your master was seeking to give the voiceless voices. After he died, what did you do?"

Asajj sneers, "I raised an army and destroyed the warlords that dared to destroy the only good thing in the world."

Fay points out of the window, "And what of the people. Did you remember them?"

Asajj looks up at Fay as though she just slapped her, "I…"

Lily sighs sadly, "Asajj, do you remember me saying that the taint blinds us?"

Asajj looks down at Lily in confusion, "You did?"

Lily looks up and smiles, "You were lying on the floor and I was feeding you cookies. The dark taint blinds us, it narrows our focus so much that we can only see that which is in front of us. It also stops us from caring. Not about our loved ones, but about everyone else. Before the ritual, how were you different to the warlords that you destroyed?"

Asajj looks out of the window with a distraught expression on her face, "I… I…"

Fay smiles gently as she rests her hand on Asajj's arm, "Come, let us find somewhere that Lily can show off her magic while she makes us a home to live in."

As Fay turns away Lily shouts, "Oi! It's not showing off."

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Slowly, the three women make their way down the tower towards the base of the canyon. As they get closer and closer to the top of the canyon, they start meeting more and more people and droids. All of whom show obsequiousness in some way. At the same time, the signs of battle in the halls becomes more and more apparent, with scorch marks and gouges decorating the halls and floor.

Eventually, Asajj freezes, shivering, at the top of the stairs that lead to the first level below the lip of the canyon. Before they can say anything, a one armed grey skinned humanoid, with long dark hair and a jaw that looks a lot like a sharks rather than a chin, stops to laugh, "The great Ventress is terrified of her own prisons? I urk…"

Slowly, Lily lifts her wand and levitates the offending person out of the shadows and into the centre of the corridor. Looking around at the, now terrified, bystanders she asks, "Who is this?"

One of the nearby Rattatacki, heavily built near humans with larger than standard eyes, steps forward and kneels, "This is Osika Kirske Mistress Ventress."

Lily mentally stalls for a moment before rallying, "I… I'm not related to Asajj Ventress. If you must have a title for me, I would be the Lady Potter in my own society. Who are you?"

"I-I am j-just a lowly servant Lady Potter."

Lily rolls her eyes as she spots the more distant servants being replaced by armed guards. "Very well. Who was Osika Kirske before he came to our attention by insulting my student."

Softly Asajj says, "He was the warlord that killed first my parents, and then my master. He should be in a cell in the lower levels."

As soon as Asajj finishes her first sentence, a hole appears in Osika's head and he slumps in mid air.

As Lily starts to vanish the body, Fay asks, "Lily, why did you do that?"

Lily looks up, "Because he only lived so that Ventress could prove that she was better than him. As she is at the moment, it would be a constant temptation to give in to her darker urges and go back to what she knows. I used a completely neutral spell to execute him on the spot, and," she looks at Asajj, "make sure that you can start to heal from the trauma. It's already going to be hard enough on you, as you are the leader of these people, and if we just leave then new warlords will arise. Isn't that right Fay."

Fay looks away, "Jedi shouldn't be leaders. We are mediators and diplomats."

Lily shakes her head as the last of the body disappears, "Was that always true?"

Fay looks back, "You already know the answer to that, I saw you reading."

Lily gestures at the surrounding people with her wand, "I'm not asking because I don't know the answer. I'm asking because your padawan doesn't know the answer, and neither do our audience."

Reluctantly Fay says, "Before the Ruusian Reformation Jedi were allowed both family and were able to hold positions of power."

Asajj blurts out, "What about Count Dooku? He's a Jedi."

Fay looks down and reaches out to the force with a shudder. A moment later she looks back up, "Count Dooku was born into the leadership of his planet before he became a Jedi. It is because of this that he was allowed to take up the duties of his station."

Lily has a triumphant look on her face as Asajj says, "So were my parents. They were Warlords before Kirske had them killed."

Fay sighs, "I will need to meditate on this, as positions of leadership come with attachments that can lead to the darkside. We should appeal to the republic to bring in negotiators and diplomats to set up a new government."

Lily looks into Fay's eyes, "And what is the force telling you to do?"

"That is why I must meditate, so that I can separate my own thoughts from the will of the force."

Lily winces as she opens herself to the force, as she does she turns towards one of the external walls and transfigures it into a sturdy wooden door. "Then we will make our home out here."

One of the servants steps forward in fear, "No Jedi Potter, you can't. It's too dangerous."

Lily turns back, her eyes glowing green with magic and the force, "I am no Jedi, I am a Witch, and we must live apart from you. We will not be your leaders, as the Jedi is right. We will be your healers, your advisers, and the watchful eye over your leaders. As more witches and wizards, like Asajj, are found and trained amongst your own peoples they will in turn live amongst you as healers, advisors, repairers, and more. But to start, we, who are not of your world, will live out there. It will be both proof of our power, and our promise that we are not invaders seeking to take from you."

Turning to face the door, her wand flicks out in swift, force guided, motions and runes swiftly decorate the edge of the doorway. As the last rune is placed, the doorway seems to shimmer, and for everyone not part of the ship's crew, disappear. "The first test for those who wish to be trained is to find this door."

With an effort, Lily shuts off her connection to the force and almost collapses to the floor, only to be caught by Asajj. While Asajj steadies her, Lily vomits up her lunch as she begins to shake. Some what humourously, Asajj says, "Lily, you're not supposed to just give yourself over to the force outside a fight."