A/N: Hi everyone! So here's the big-time reveal chapter, which is over a hundred pages, hence why it took so long to write and ensure I included everything. I'm pretty sure I forgot a few things, but we have a couple more chapters to include that stuff if I can remember it. Or if you remember it, even better! Shoot me a PM and I'll do my best to include it later. Also, here are a few disclaimers: I made up the Marine Black Ops unit in this chapter, as well as ranking and a few other things about it. Sorry about that to anyone who has a problem with it, but this is AU, so please allow me some creative leeway here. Also, the Ocean of Fire race is from the movie Hidalgo, in case there are any horse movie fans out there. And the Day of 1000 IEDs is from the MacGyver TV show; I just changed it up a little. Any other recognizable references to the real world or TV shows automatically belong to their respective places and TV shows.

I think that's it! Here's the big-time chapter, and I hope you like it. Only a few more chapters and we're done! Please read, review, and enjoy! See you next time!


Saved from the brink! The destruction of Sidious, the ultimate Dark Lord of the Sith, by Avalaur is cause for celebration in the Jedi Temple. But many questions remain about how she and the wider Conspiracy accomplished this. And what it means for the Republic and the galaxy going forward….

Two days after Adi had met with Avalaur in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, things had settled down enough that the Council felt able to hear the evidence against Sidious that Avalaur and the Conspiracy had collected over the years. To that end, they had agreed to meet in the Communications center with everyone who wanted to be there. So when they started arriving, they saw that Avalaur and her brother were already there, along with their father.

Avery was standing on the stairs leading into the chamber, leaning against the stone side, while his sister was sitting on the stone side, one leg dangling down. The other leg was up against her chest, her chin resting on it, while the two Temple Guards shadowing them stood quietly behind them. Avalaur didn't seem to mind they were there and was ignoring them, but Avery clearly didn't like them and muttered something to his sister. Avalaur only raised an eye-ridge in amusement but said nothing. Avery was dressed in a tunic and trousers like his father, but his hands were bare of gloves and showed callouses and old scars, revealing a difficult life. His sister was dressed in her usual long blue multi-split skirt, but her leggings were gone and her feet were bare. The wraps and gloves on her hands and arms were also gone, and her tattoos and scars were on full display, as were her bracelets. The tattoos caught the eye of many there, but she didn't seem to care what people thought of them. The mark on her left shoulder was familiar to any who had fought with or against the Nite Owls, and there was clearly a story there. Her half-top was one-shouldered and blue but similar to what her grandmother wore with jewels along the top and going under her arm. Her hair was braided; thin braids on either side of her head joined at the back and braided all the way down while the rest hung free in thick curls and waves down her back. There were jewels in her hair as well, a large diamond on her forehead surrounded by sapphires with an emerald underneath the diamond. Both jewels were set in silver. The other gems were scattered throughout her hair and held together by thin silver chains dangling from a circlet of silver around her head. Both siblings had their lightsabers on their hips, and looking closely, Obi-Wan could see that Avalaur had Qui-Gon's lightsaber on her hip and Kit's was back on his. A small diamond stud sparkled in her nose while piercings along the tops of her ears had strings of leather with feathers at the ends attached to them resting on her shoulders, as well as a few more piercings in her ear lobes. There was also a tiny gold loop with diamonds along one side through her left eyebrow. Around her ankle were three cords of fabric, knotted together, one of the colors in each white. The others were dark blue, light green, and light tan. Around one toe was the ring Amin Gallia had given Qui-Gon when she died, and right above it on her foot was a tattoo of three interconnecting ovals shaped in a triangle.

Clearly, Ava had decided to start showing her personality a bit more and wasn't about to be shy about it.

The two half-Nautolans watched their father with interest as he worked on R6. The little droid was standing near the holotable, beeping at his master, but Kit said nothing as he kneeled in front of the droid. R6 beeped again as the Council started coming into the room, but Kit ignored it and them as he kept working. Quinlan Vos also entered the room with Ahsoka, the two Jedi looking rested for the first time in a while now that things were starting to get back to normal. Kit's children just kept watching in mild amusement, neither seeming inclined to help him, and a few minutes later, Gibbs and Ziva appeared and joined Avalaur and Avery. Gibbs looked around the room with interest and a wariness that said he was checking the exits and making sure he had an escape, clearly an old habit that wouldn't break anytime soon.

Ziva was doing the same, her long hair braided back and tight against her head, keeping it out of the way. As Adi watched, she leaned back and spoke with Avalaur in a language she didn't know, and Avalaur nodded and answered. Ziva shook her head before leaning on the other side of Avalaur, still looking around warily. The woman was apparently a bit jumpier than Gibbs, and that became clear when there was a slight crash from outside the room as a construction droid dropped something. Avalaur didn't jump; nobody did, but Ziva nearly drew her weapon before Avalaur's hand found it and kept it in its holster. The half-Nautolan only said, "Shalom, Ziva. It's okay."

Ziva settled and took her hand away from her blaster, with Ava saying lightly, "Gibbs was right; you are a bit trigger-happy."

"It has kept me alive where I'm from," was all Ziva said, with Ava saying, "I know where you're from, Ziva. I've been there. It definitely isn't a picnic."

Gibbs shook his head when he heard that before leaning in and saying something in Ava's ear. Ava listened before shrugging and saying, "Wouldn't be the first time."

Gibbs stared at her before shaking his head again, raising his eyes to the ceiling as he asked for patience before turning around and leaving. Seeing him leave, Ava asked, "Where are you going?"

"To find something solid I can hit my head against until either my head or the solid object gives out," Gibbs said, to which Ava raised an eye-ridge and said, "Avery's head is right here," barely keeping the amusement out of her voice.

She ducked suddenly as her brother tried to smack her on the back of the head, smiling with amusement and barely stopping herself from laughing, and that was when Gibbs turned to Kit and said, "You need to control these two," before climbing the steps.

Kit snorted and said, "Like that's ever worked," without looking up from what he was doing. When they heard that, the twins exchanged a glance but said nothing as Gibbs left. After he left, Avery asked, "Think he'll get lost?"

His sister shook her head, "No," was all she said, and it was quiet from them for a few more moments as they went back to watching their father work on R6. As this happened, more Jedi entered the room, and then a few senators started to enter. Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Riyo Chuchi were there, and so were Dr. Boll, Rex, Cody, and a few clones from their battalions that had had their inhibitor chips deactivated. Also there was Mina Bonteri, who looked around before finding Ahsoka amongst the crowd of Jedi and sighing in relief to see her alive. Ahsoka nodded at her, but that was all, and Mina nodded respectfully to the Jedi Council but said nothing. Taking up the rear of the group were Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.

Seeing them, Ava raised an eye-ridge and said, "Chancellor," the tiniest bit of irony in her voice. Padmé smiled at her before saying, "I almost think you had something to do with me winning the election. It wouldn't be the first time you influenced things from the shadows."

"That hurts, Padmé," Ava said with a bit of laughter, "I have never influenced politics from the shadows. I can do that in the light without anyone noticing. Besides, I was asleep when you were elected. How could I possibly influence anything?"

Padmé shook her head when she heard that before looking closer at Ava's left shoulder. Seeing the brand there, she looked at Ava, who only stared back before saying, "I don't regret the choices that led to it, Padmé, you know that."

Padmé nodded slowly while Bail asked, "What choices?"

Ava didn't answer, which was just as well since a new voice said, "The choice to see if she could become one of us," and Bo-Katan joined the meeting then, as did Satine. Satine had come a few days before to help Padmé adjust to her new role, and Bo-Katan had appointed herself as her sister's protector for the time being.

Satine bowed her head respectfully to the Jedi, giving Obi-Wan the slightest smile possible, before turning to Ava and saying, "That brand doesn't make you a Mandalorian. It only makes you a Nite Owl."

Ava nodded slowly before saying, "I'm from the Nite Owl clan and clan Kryze. I won't deny that part of my heritage, Satine, and I never will. Doing so would disrespect your sister and your ancestry, since we share it. I would be remiss to not be aware of it."

"That doesn't mean you need to brand it on your skin," Satine said firmly, to which Ava raised an eye-ridge and said, "Our mother did the same."

Satine shook her head when she heard that while the Jedi were surprised, but the surprise they were starting to feel with every new revelation regarding this family was less and less as more time went on. Seeing Ava shrug they decided to leave it alone, but Ava wasn't finished with the two sisters since she asked, "How are things on Mandalore?"

"Improving," Bo-Katan said, "For some reason, Death Watch is suddenly in disarray," she looked closely at Ava then, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Ava smiled slightly before raising her right hand. There was nothing in it, but a few seconds later, she twisted her wrist and uncurled her fingers, and there was a slight flash of light, and then the Darksaber was resting in her hand. Seeing it, the Jedi were surprised, again, that she could do something like that since it had come from the Force, but Bo-Katan was more surprised. She stared at it for several moments before slowly looking up at Ava, who only stared at her with an amused expression on her face. After a few seconds, she said, "Whoever wields the Darksaber, rules Mandalore, as you know. Pre Vizsla had it previously, which would have granted him leadership of Mandalore if he had known this. But the only way to be accepted by the warriors of Mandalore is to win it in combat. You know this," as Bo-Katan hesitated before looking at her.

Seeing this, Obi-Wan didn't need to guess what was going through her head: Ava was the best warrior in the galaxy and undefeated against Sith. A Mandalorian would stand no chance against her, even with her being as weak as she was right now.

Ava cocking her head caught his attention, and he looked up in time to see her stare at Bo-Katan for a few more moments before saying softly, "Luckily for you, you won't have to fight me for this weapon. I'm not the one who killed Vizsla for it."

"Who is?" Bo-Katan asked, and Ava smiled before saying, "The Mandalorian I have protecting Grogu, a Jedi youngling. He defeated and killed Vizsla, and therefore, by creed the Darksaber is his. I'm just holding onto it until he decides what to do with it. He doesn't want to lead Mandalore, and he is a foundling that no one will trust because he gave me pure beskar for armor, but he doesn't want to kill anyone for it. If you want this," holding the Darksaber up, "you will have to fight Mando for it. After you find him," she cocked her head again before looking at Satine for a long moment. Finally, she said quietly, "You asked me once, Satine, if I could restore Mandalore like I did with Korriban."

Satine nodded, barely hidden hope in her eyes, and Ava continued to stare at her as she said, "I could, but I don't see the point right now. If the clans keep fighting for territory and the right to lead Mandalore, they'll undo everything I've done. To that end, I won't restore Mandalore until there is true peace. And it can't be a temporary, fragile peace like what you built years ago. It has to be permanent. And you know how to go about achieving that peace," she looked at Satine more carefully then, "I won't fight this battle for you. I have my own to fight," glancing at Bo-Katan as she said this.

Satine nodded but didn't ask what she meant by that, seeming to already know, while Bo-Katan turned to Ava and said, "I won't ask for the Darksaber now; I have no right," as Ava returned it into the Force, "But I will ask you to remember you owe me, Avalaur Fisto. Don't forget those debts."

"I never forget my debts, Bo-Katan," Ava said quietly, "When you want to call on those favors, you know how to find me. As long as I can still sleep at night, I'll repay those favors."

"And will you be a Jedi or Mandalorian?" the warrior challenged, but Ava raised an eye-ridge in amusement and said, "I thought we established years ago that I am not a Jedi and have no intention of being one. I am not a Mandalorian either but regarded as one. Is that close enough?"

Bo-Katan nodded, and it was quiet for a few moments as Hulia entered the room. She was free of her armor and was looking between the two younger women with some interest, but in the end, decided not to borrow trouble about it and turned to the Jedi, saying to Mace, "Thank you for your hospitality, Master Jedi. I greatly appreciate it, since I understand my house is a bit….burned."

"We can start rebuilding as soon as you'd like, Hulia," Bail said quietly as Mace bowed his head in acceptance of her gratitude, "Just let us know when."

"Please don't, Senator," Hulia said as she turned to him, "I have no intention of returning to Alderaan. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I know it's not back to Alderaan. It's time to fly again and see where the space lanes take me."

"What about your belongings?" Bail asked, and Hulia snorted slightly before saying, "It's my understanding they're all burned to a crisp. The only thing I would care about is my husband's grave, and I won't move it every time I move. He was at peace on Alderaan and liked living there. Returning to Kalevala did nothing for him but depress both of us. He's at peace now; I won't disturb him."

Bail nodded slowly before stepping back as Eeth Koth asked, "Did you know why your daughter was being chased all those years ago?"

"Not in the beginning," Hulia said slowly, "I knew she was scared out of her mind about it and needed a place to hide. House Kryze had plenty of safe houses, and so did Clan Fisto. Hiding was never a problem for her. But once I learned it was the Monarchy after her because she was pregnant with a Fisto's children, that was when I realized that it was suddenly very dangerous to be related to her. I was more than willing to fight for her and keep her safe, as was her father, but she convinced us that as long as we kept a low profile, no one would find us. I think Sundali knew they were just after her and Kit from the beginning. Finding me wouldn't have served any purpose or gotten her out of hiding. Despite being taught as a Jedi, she does know the ways of the Mandalorian. She knows that sometimes the one must be abandoned so the many can survive. Even if that one is her mother."

Eeth shook his head when he heard that, but a few moments later, Hulia added quietly, "It all worked out in the end, Master Koth. I was never found by the Monarchy, and even if I had been, I wouldn't have let them take me without a fight," she grinned suddenly, looking much younger than she was suddenly, "I did have a few training sessions with the Geàrd Rìoghail. Once they decided I could hold my own against them, I knew the soldiers from Glee Anselm would be no match. The Geàrd are some of the greatest warrior women in the galaxy. If they say you can hold your own against anyone, you can. And if it's Amarona saying it, then you're set. That woman fought and killed Sith during the Old Republic and makes a few of her charges look like amateurs," shooting Kit a sly look that he missed since he was trying to figure out where his children had hidden the evidence against Sidious in R6.

Eeth shook his head again while Obi-Wan turned to Satine and asked, "How did you escape Mandalore, Duchess?"

Satine favored him with a slight smile before directing a larger smile at Kit and Kailan, who was sitting on the raised steps around the communication center and watching everything with mild interest, "Let's just say someone's twin brother was kind enough to get me away. He kept me safe for the entire journey to Home Base and even let me make a few messages before we disappeared," she looked at Obi-Wan then, "My sister and I are part of the Phoenix Order, as are many in Clan Kryze. That is why they came to fight more than anything else; they felt it was a matter of honor to come and help the Phoenix. Being part of the Order means you know about the Fisto Clan, what they have survived, and what the Fisto family has survived. Mandalore was always neutral regarding that fight, but we always welcomed anyone from the clan and family whenever they needed a place to stay or hide. When I said I needed help getting off Mandalore, after several assassination attempts, Master Fisto was kind enough to send his brother, knowing a bounty hunter would have a better chance and wouldn't stir political waters in the process. My guards were able to prevent the attacks, even though the last one left me wounded, and that was when it became clear I needed more help than my guards could give. Master Fisto and Ava planned it with some help from Ahsoka. Her coming convinced Death Watch to accelerate their timeline and attack before they were fully ready, making controlling the planet much harder. Before that, Ava came to me right after your first visit and stayed a few days before moving on. She helped me…." hesitating momentarily, "….understand a few things. It's amazing how much help someone can give without saying a single word. She and Bo were also on the Coronet," smiling slightly at the memory, "and made off with a plate of nuna legs destined for Senator Free Taa."

"We were hungry," Ava said with a shrug, "military rations and freeze-dried food lose their appeal very quickly, and I can fit in air vents. What did you expect me to do? I'm ruled by my stomach more than anything else some days. And we did come in handy when we got to Coruscant."

"Yes, you did," Satine said with a smile, "you and your father were kind enough to protect me in the underworld when I was framed for murder. And you and Bo ensured that assassin didn't threaten me again."

Ava grinned when she heard that, while Master Windu asked, "Your fleet wasn't anywhere near Coruscant. What were you doing here?" looking at Kit.

Kit shook his head before turning to look over his shoulder, "There was a Conspiracy meeting none of us could miss. Originally, they were in a rather unpleasant motel in the underworld, but then that motel was raided by the underworld police for illegal dealings, and the meeting place was moved to Chancellor Amidala's apartments. We were discussing the events happening on Mandalore and what was to be done about that when the Duchess brought up her concerns for her safety and asked for help. I contacted my brother then and asked him for a favor. Luckily, he has a soft spot for the Duchess; otherwise, I would have had to ask a different brother and hope they weren't feeling unpredictable that day," before turning back to R6, leaving Mace to shake his head.

"Worked out alright in the end, Jedi," Kailan's voice rasped out, sounding worse than usual that day, and he didn't bother to hide the wince as he spoke. Hearing that, Kit looked up and stared at his brother for a moment, and the Jedi could feel the Force move and take the edge off the pain he was feeling as his brother gave him some of his strength and calm energy. Kailan relaxed after that and nodded in thanks to his brother, which Kit returned before going back to R6.

Ava smiled slightly, "Our father left after that meeting and returned to his fleet, and Tarkin was none the wiser. We were all waiting for the moment he noticed Chipper and Monnk were two different people, but he never figured it out," her smile widening a bit while Avery snorted in amusement.

Ava's smile faded as she turned to Satine, and she said, "I am grateful for everything you have done," nodding at Ava and Kit, "I'm glad to have such good friends and the chance to return to Mandalore. Surviving those assassination attempts was trying, but I'll be relieved to go home. Death Watch's time may be running out, and their grip slipping, but more work still needs to be done."

"Since you were able to escape to send messages to your people that you weren't dead, it's even harder for Death Watch to hold Mandalore," Ava said quietly, "And now that Vizsla is dead, you just need to use what you know about politics to reclaim Mandalore, if you want it," she stared at Satine then, warning in her voice as she continued, "You won't be able to be a pacifist for that fight Satine. You will have to chose a side, you know this," when Satine looked hesitant, "If you want your people safe and without the threat of death and war hanging over their heads all the time, you must be ready to put aside the pacifist. Pacifists always die first in war," turning to look at the holotable and her father as he kept working on R6.

Satine stared at her but said nothing as she looked at her sister. Bo-Katan only shrugged; politics wasn't her strong suit and she needed to focus on reclaiming the Darksaber. After a few seconds, she said, "If I reclaim the Darksaber, I can yield it to you, sister. That is in the Creed; a sibling may yield to a better leader if that leader is also a sibling."

Satine shook her head before saying, "Let's discuss this later, Bo. We aren't going to find a good answer in a five-minute conversation."

Bo-Katan nodded, and it was quiet for a few more minutes as Kit kept looking for the evidence inside the droid. As this was happening, Ava turned to Mace and said, "While I'm thinking about it, I thought I'd return this to you," reaching into a pouch on her utility belt and pulling out a crystal. She held it out to Mace, allowing him to take it if he wanted, but he was too surprised to do so.

"Is that what I think it is?" Anakin asked, and Ava nodded without taking her eyes off Mace, "Yes, it's the Kyber crystal. Bolla Ropal gave it to me before his outpost was attacked, hoping I could keep it safe. After getting away from Bane and Tamson, I slipped into the Temple because I needed help with the cuts on my back and to hide the crystal. A few of the Order inside the Temple got me in and helped me with my back, and then once that was taken care of, I hid the crystal."

"Wait a minute," Anakin said, "You hid the crystal in the Temple?! Without anyone noticing?"

"Yes," Ava said simply as she finally looked at Anakin, "I hid it in the Room of a Thousand Fountains," she turned back to Mace, "That's what we were doing the last few days when we went swimming. It wasn't where I had left it in the first place, the water having moved it, so Avery was helping me find it."

"Why protect it in the first place?" Aayla asked, "You have no loyalty to the Jedi; you have made that clear."

"I knew the Sith would use the names to enslave more to their cause, and I didn't want that to happen," Ava said quietly, "And when Bolla gave it to me, I became its guardian. I took that responsibility seriously. Besides, the last place anyone would think to look for a missing Jedi crystal was inside the Jedi Temple, especially if the Jedi didn't know it was there, so it was safe the entire time."

Anakin shook his head when he heard that while Mace finally walked over and took the crystal from her. He nodded to her while Ava only cocked her head and an eye-ridge, but that was all. The Jedi Master returned to where he had been standing when Ahsoka asked, "So what did Bane get?"

Ava smiled slightly before saying, "A crystal full of Senatorial procedures and protocols," she looked at Ahsoka then, "Maybe he used them to fall asleep. I know I did," her smile widening a bit more.

Bail chuckled when he heard that while Padmé shook her head and a few Jedi looked amused. Silence fell again, but it wasn't uncomfortable as Kit kept looking for the evidence the twins had hidden inside R6. While that was happening, Dr. Boll decided to ask some questions since she was there and knew there likely wouldn't be many opportunities in the future.

"If you don't mind my asking, but we never found any record of you anywhere," she said, to which Ava raised an eye-ridge but was silent as she continued, "You were born on Naboo, but we couldn't find any records there. And your DNA doesn't match your parents, which are on record here at the Temple."

"We have records from there," Avery said suddenly, "They're just not what you expect since you were looking for our races, not our names. And our races don't match who we are or what we look like. The fact you didn't know our names made it even easier to stay hidden. And since the queen and governor of Naboo are of the Phoenix Order, they hid our records to keep us safe."

"What does that mean?" Dr. Boll asked, and Ava said, "I go by Avalaur Fisto, but my brother is Avery Abazza-Fisto. Since our names were always secret, no one could find anything about us, just how we wanted. And while what race we are doesn't define us, it does in records. So while I identify as a Nautolan and it says on my records I am one, my brother identifies as a human, and so his records say that," she looked at Dr. Boll, who was surprised, to say the least, "I don't look Nautolan, but I am one on the inside, which is what matters. As for our DNA not matching our parents?" she cocked her head, an amused spark in her eyes, "Qui-Gon Jinn changed the profiles of what was on record here. That way, if and when our parents disappeared or were thought lost by the Jedi, it would be easier for them to slip away into oblivion and the depths of the galaxy if their possible murder scene had blood but no body. It was done as a backup in case of an emergency."

"You were that prepared for an eventuality like that?" Bail asked, and Kit nodded without looking up from what he was doing, while Ava said, "When you become the parents of a Phoenix, you are in as much danger as she is. They needed to be ready to disappear at the drop of a hat, abandon the Jedi if necessary, and go as far underground as possible to stay alive. Changing out the DNA on record here was one step of many to make that backup plan possible," she smiled slightly then, "It doesn't change much in the grand scheme of things. I will always see myself as Nautolan, no matter what happens."

"I look Nautolan, but I see myself as human," Avery cut in quietly, "What we look like on the outside isn't as important as what's on the inside. And it doesn't define us or make us more or less than one or the other."

"I see," Dr. Boll said slowly and was quiet for a few moments before saying, "But isn't it harder for you," looking at Ava, "looking human but feeling Nautolan? There must be a few differences."

"Not really," Ava said thoughtfully before looking at Dr. Boll, "My physiology is a mix of human and Nautolan, but the important parts to being a Nautolan are there, which matters to me. I can do anything my brother and father can do, and we do a decent job keeping up with our cousins. Even though I think we are a bit smarter than a few of them," exchanging an amused glance with Avery as she said, "I mean….who in their right mind breaks into the Citadel, with an infant, for fun?"

"You would, and you did when you went looking for Siri's lightsaber. You didn't have to do it," Kit said deadpanned as he looked up briefly, "But you would leave the child behind because you know how dangerous it is."

Ava shrugged at that while Obi-Wan asked, "What happened to your cousins? Malachi and Deveron?" ignoring Kit's amused snort.

Ava smiled before saying, "They've been grounded. They aren't allowed to leave home for a while. In Malachi's case, twenty years. Deveran got a thirty-year grounding," seeing the Jedi's surprised looks, she said, "That time will pass in the blink of an eye for them. And considering they're on a new planet with plenty to explore, it isn't really a punishment. Once Actava simmered down and talked to Lyzann, they decided this was a good compromise because it would teach them responsibility while not being overly cruel to them since they would look after their younger siblings, cousins, and other children in the clan. Amari and Sanja took longer to cool down about it, and it wasn't until our mother came and reasoned with them that they agreed to it."

Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that, but Dr. Boll wasn't really listening as she watched Ava. Ziva was looking behind Ava at something and, after a few seconds reached behind her. There must have been something in her hair, but Ava wasn't having it as she jerked away, preferring whatever was in her hair to stay there instead of letting Ziva touch it. In that jerk, Dr. Boll also noticed something else but decided to focus on one thing at a time.

Seeing that reminded Adi of something, but Dr. Boll apparently had a faster memory because she said, "Your sister doesn't like people touching her hair either."

"I can understand why," Ava said as she glared at Ziva for a few moments before looking at Dr. Boll, "We don't have head-tentacles; instead, every strand of hair is a pheromone receptor. Each strand has a nanoscopic vein of blood in it. Our hair is a living part of our head and is incredibly sensitive to touch. It's also information overload when people touch it with their hands, especially considering where a person's hands have been throughout the day. So only a few people can touch it without possibly getting a bite for their troubles. And it's considered rude to touch head-tentacles without permission anyways. Same applies for our hair," giving her head a shake and letting her hair fly about.

Getting over her surprise about that fact was getting easier for Dr. Boll, who said, "So every strand is a pheromone receptor and can tell you things about people around you?"

Ava nodded, "Yes, it can. It's a bit more accurate for me because my hair's naturally divided into sections as if it were head-tentacles. Each section will give me a panoramic pheromone map of a room, which is good since my eyes don't work well."

"What does that mean?" Bail asked.

"Bad genetics," Ava said jokingly before saying more seriously, "A genetic trait in this family seems to be selective colorblindness. I can't see red or yellow, although I'm told it's no great loss. Lorelei can't see purple or pink. Avery can't see orange, and Koryo's blind, as you know. Others have more….interesting….colors they can't see," she quirked an eye-ridge as she looked at her father then, who finally looked up and cocked his head at her.

The silence became long for a few moments, but finally, Obi-Wan asked, "Anything you want to share, Kit?" the amusement more than clear.

Kit's stare became a glare for a few seconds before he relented and said, "I can't see blue," as he looked over his shoulder at Obi-Wan and the others, "Something my children find more than a little amusing. My brothers are worse," as he turned back to R6.

Obi-Wan had a hard time containing his laughter, almost unable to imagine a Nautolan not being able to see the color of something they loved so much, while Bo-Katan didn't bother to hide her amusement. She chuckled slightly but quieted as Ki-Adi asked, "Seriously?"

Kit only nodded without looking up, and Ki-Adi shook his head as Dr. Boll asked, "Aside from being selectively colorblind, what do you mean by your eyes not working too well?" deciding to take the attention away from Kit for a few moments.

Ava shrugged, "I have a problem with my eyes. I can't see well in well-lit places or outside in the direct sun."

"What?" Mace said, to which Ava nodded as she turned to him, looking him directly in the eye, "Here, right now, the lights are dim, and my eyes are filtering the light right, so I can see perfectly. If I were to go outside in the sun, I would just see white light, which gets painful after a while. My eyes don't filter light properly. I call it light-blindness, because of how little I can see. Ironically, I can see perfectly at twilight or pitch dark. I just can't see in the sun. It's why I fought Sidious in the atrium. I knew I would have the advantage there because the lights were so dim. I could see perfectly; he would have a hard time seeing into the shadows. When I was on Jakku, I made sure to go in a direction that wouldn't have me facing the sun directly, and I keep to the shade whenever I can. I know how to live with my eyes and live my life so they aren't a handicap. And being able to see in complete darkness does have its advantages."

"Is that how you navigated on Geonosis?" Obi-Wan asked.

Ava cocked her head in thought before saying, "Partially. But I was badly wounded, so I went more on instinct than anything else. When that happens, I don't rely on my eyes. I rely on my strongest sense."

"Hearing," Dr. Boll said confidently, but Ava snorted and said, "No, not hearing. My strongest sense is my sense of smell. Taste comes after, then hearing, then touch, then sight."

"You were using your sense of smell to navigate the tunnels on Geonosis?" Anakin asked, "What were you smelling? Where the Geonosians were?"

Ava shook her head, "No, I was focused on outliers in the scent. The stink from the Geonosians is background, and they were never close to us. I had picked up the scent of a Mirialan, which didn't belong."

"We were hours away from Master Luminara, and the air was still," Obi-Wan said into the stunned silence, "How did you pick up her scent?"

"Just did," Ava said for an answer, "I can use my sense of smell to navigate normally and find my way when my eyes don't work, but I can also track a scent. So when I picked up the scent of a Mirialan, I knew it was something to follow. Mirialans aren't common on Geonosis, and I knew only two were on the planet then. I couldn't smell any clones that had been near her recently, but I could smell Geonosians, which meant she was alone and likely needed help. So I followed it, knowing you were curious enough to follow me and assumed I knew where I was going. Which I kind of did, but not really. I was relying on scent and instinct because everything else had shut down. That's why I stayed out of the fight; I knew I didn't have another one in me that day. Plus, climbing up that tunnel with only one arm and making sure I didn't pass out was harder than you think and took a bit longer than I expected."

"You could really find me in those caverns? Even though I was hours away?" Luminara asked, and Ava nodded as she turned to her, "My sense of smell is my strongest sense. Always has been. When one sense doesn't work as well as the others, the others go into overdrive to compensate. So for most people who have problems with their sight, usually it's their hearing that goes into overdrive. For me, it's scent, probably because I've been hunting fish and crustaceans for a long time, ever since I was old enough to swim by myself. Hearing works fine underwater, but sometimes smell will guide you to a better meal. I can smell a single drop of blood from over twenty miles away underwater. So I learned how to use my nose to my advantage. Whether on purpose or not, I've fine-tuned it to the point that I can tell what sex someone is, how old they are, where they have been recently, whether or not they're in distress, and even what their last meal was if I really need to know. Tracking you would have been easier than you would think, but the blood loss made it hard to focus. In the end, I wasn't sure what I was tracking or where I was going, but I figured that if you were down there, you had to know the way out. It was better than wandering around in circles."

Luminara nodded slowly while Obi-Wan asked, "How much blood did you lose that day? And what were you doing on Geonosis anyways?"

"I think I lost about 40% of my blood volume that day," Ava said thoughtfully. Seeing his surprised look, she added, "It would have been worse without Kix and those bandages. I really appreciate that," the clone in question ducking his head when he heard that, "I probably could have lost another 10% without feeling the affects more than I was, but I was really glad to get off Geonosis. I slipped aboard the medical transport Ahsoka and Bariss were taking to the medical station and borrowed some supplies. That stopped the bleeding and repaired the damage, then Ahsoka dropped us out of hyperspace briefly so I could rendezvous with my ship. From there, I went to Home Base and was given blood. As for what I was doing on Geonosis in the first place?" she cocked her head then, "I was looking for evidence of transactions between the Trade Federation and the Geonosians and missing funds from the Republic. Padmé had brought me to Cato Neimodia, and I had found some of those transactions there, but I knew there were more. I didn't know until after I got to Geonosis that it was a trap. That was the only time Sidious got ahead of me; after that, I started planning more carefully and paying closer attention to him and his moves. I think you know the rest."

"How did you survive the injury?" Kix asked, "What happened after you left the transport?"

Ava cocked her head then, "I headed for Home Base. Tristan's figured out how to give me transfusions without causing problems and the right balance of human and Nautolan blood. He gave me two transfusions and a bag of normal saline before deciding it was enough. After that, it was two weeks strict rest before I was ready to go again. And even then, I was under instruction to take it easy. Tristan really doesn't like it when his patients undo all his hard work."

"Whose blood did you use?" the medic asked, causing Ava to smile slightly and say, "Normally, and in the few times it's happened that I needed a transfusion, my father would donate. We have the same blood type, and know my body won't reject his blood. But since he was being held captive by Grievous, we had to use Kailan's. Tristan figured since the blood was the same, it wouldn't be a problem, which it wasn't. The human blood came from Padmé," seeing Kix's surprise, she added, "We have a blood bank at Home Base, but it's mostly human blood. Tristan's decided to start a Nautolan blood bank there now, just in case someone else who needs major surgery comes in."

"Like getting their stomach stitched into place?" Ki-Adi asked, and Ava nodded, "There's no hint it's about to happen, and I'm told it's one of the most painful things ever to experience. Prevention is the only cure at the moment, and it's a pretty quick recovery for an old-breed. The pain was intense the few times we had to operate after the twist happened. We'd like to spare people that."

Ki-Adi nodded slowly while Dr. Boll asked another question she had a feeling wouldn't be taken well, "What happened to your jaw?"

That produced the reaction she thought it would; Ava froze a little and glared at her. Avery became more stone-faced than they thought possible, and Kit shifted slightly but was silent, knowing it was Ava's story to tell, if she wanted to. After a few seconds, Ava asked, "You mean the bullet someone was kind enough to leave in there?"

"No," Dr. Boll said carefully, sensing she was starting to enter dangerous territory, "Your jaw doesn't close all the way. Why?"

"I think it has something to do with the bullet a criminal was kind enough to leave in my head, but maybe you have another explanation," Ava snapped, and Dr. Boll immediately backed away from the question, seeing that it was a sore spot for Ava and not something she wanted to talk about more than that. The Jedi were surprised to see her reaction but left it alone, knowing she was too dangerous to rile up. At the same time, Kit looked up at his daughter before cocking his head and waiting. After a few minutes of this, Ava settled and relaxed, Kit going back to what he was doing, and that was when Dr. Boll decided to stay silent for a few minutes, realizing that she would have to be careful with what boundaries she pushed with Ava.

The young one had a more volatile temper than she was letting on about, and it would be nothing short of dangerous to push her more than she was willing.

Deciding to take Ava's attention off Dr. Boll, Obi-Wan said, "It is a shame the Geonosian queen was killed during that attack. The future of that race is uncertain now."

"No, it isn't," Ava said as she stopped glaring at Dr. Boll and turned to Obi-Wan, "The Geonosian race is safe to continue."

"How do you know?" Mace asked, "Is it something you can do as the Phoenix?"

"No," Avery said, "Just something anyone who read the Records knows."

"And that would be?" Jocasta Nu asked, and Ava smiled slightly as she turned to the librarian, "The Geonosians are always safe because there is more than one queen."

"How many more?" Mace asked, and Ava's smile widened as she turned to the Jedi master, "There are always six Geonosian queens. The one that was killed, Karina, already has a successor."

"I don't understand," Ki-Adi said, "You mean there are more queens?"

Ava nodded, "There are always six Geonosian queens," she looked at the Cerean out of the corner of her eye, "The first egg a queen lays is a queen egg. When she dies, that egg hatches, and there is a new queen. Then she lays a queen egg, and the cycle goes on."

Ki-Adi nodded slowly as she said this, and then she smiled slightly and said, "Some races have fail-safes like that in place so that if an attempted extermination is carried out, there is still a chance for the species as a whole to survive. In this case, I'm kind of glad the Geonosians have something like this in place. I don't like them, but I don't want them to stop existing either. It would have happened under a Sith empire," she added as Ki-Adi looked at her, "The Sith would have wiped out the Geonosians."

"Really?" Obi-Wan asked in surprise, and Ava nodded as she turned to him, "The Geonosians would have been wiped out, and then the Lasat of Lasan would have been massacred until there were only a few left."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly while Mace asked, noticing how she had used her words, "The Lasat of Lasan?" when Ava looked at him with a gleam in her eyes, he asked, "There are more?"

Ava stared at him a few moments before smiling and saying, "Yes, there are. It's another planet, called Lira San, in Wild Space. Even if a Sith empire had wiped out the Lasat on Lasan, this world would have been safe because it has been forgotten by the people of Lasan, except in an ancient prophecy that is met with doubt and speculation if you were to ask anyone on Lasan. Lira San is their original homeworld, where they came from initially, located behind a nebula formed from an imploded star cluster. That nebula is incredibly dangerous to fly through, and the only ship that has charted that system, as far as I know, is the Ghost, and I erased that chart as soon as I left. If the Ghost fell into the wrong hands, even for a little while, I didn't want anyone having that location. Lira San is allowed its secrecy, just like the planet our people have found," she cocked her head then, "If a Sith empire had been allowed to rise, it would have done so legally through the government of the Republic becoming an empire. Sidious would have ordered the extermination of the Geonosians and the Lasat and the enslavement of who knows how many others. Whether they knew they were slaves or not wouldn't have mattered; chains of the mind are stronger than any chain made of steel."

"You say the Jedi would have been gone, but I would still be here," Skywalker said quietly, "Wouldn't I have stopped this?"

"No," Ava said simply as she turned to him, "You would've fallen to the Dark Side and wouldn't have stopped any of this," her gaze intensified, "I can feel the darkness inside you, Skywalker, more than in my uncles or my brother or anyone else in my life who has felt their emotions so clearly. You control it to an extent, but let it control you more than anything else. You wouldn't have stopped anything and would have helped Sidious with his plans. You were a pawn to him and probably his most useful pawn because of how easy it is to manipulate you."

Anakin didn't say anything after that, knowing she was right, and then Ava turned to Yoda as he asked, "Say you did the Jedi would not have survived. But perhaps, some did?"

The half-Nautolan stared at him before saying, "You would have, and spent the rest of your life in exile on Dagobah," as the Jedi Master looked at her, "Skywalker and Kenobi would have, Kenobi spending the majority of the remainder of his life on Tatooine. Ahsoka?" she smiled suddenly, "Definitely. Quinlan Vos would have. Jocasta Nu, also. Oppo Rancisis and Luminara Unduli, for a time. Eeth Koth and the youngling Gungi. As well as a few more Padawans: Caleb Dume, after his master sacrificed herself to save him, Cal Kestis, Ferren Barr, and likely a few others whose names I don't know."

Yoda nodded slowly as he heard this, while Mace shook his head at the thought of so many not surviving, but a few seconds later, he asked, "What would have happened?" when Ava turned to him, he clarified, "What would have happened if you hadn't gotten involved?"

Ava stared at him before saying, "Only what the Sith do; corrupt worlds and destroy them, enslave their people, and take what isn't theirs. If you're asking what would have happened if I hadn't decided to get involved?" she cocked her head then as she stared at him, "There were two paths for me in the beginning: not get involved and spend the rest of my life restoring balance to the Force and the galaxy, as well as training a few generations of Jedi after things were settled, or get involved and save myself a lot of trouble. Sidious' spirit was too malicious to stay dead; he would have found a way to live on. If I hadn't gotten involved, the Jedi would have been massacred during Order 66, Padmé would have been killed by Skywalker's hand, but their children would have survived. Kenobi would have taken Luke to Tatooine to be raised by his relatives, staying there to watch over and protect him; Senator Organa would have taken Leia to Alderaan and raised her with the queen. When they were grown they would have been reunited at the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star and would have worked together alongside a rebellion that would have been started by Senator Organa and their mother to stop the Empire. Luke would eventually lose a hand to his father during a lightsaber battle, but they would have confronted each other again in the second Death Star. Skywalker would have redeemed himself by stopping Sidious from killing his son, and the galaxy would know some peace for a while. But Sidious wouldn't have stayed dead and would have found a way to survive the destruction of the second Death Star and get to Exegol, where he would attempt to clone himself until he succeeded in creating a clone. That clone wouldn't have been Force-sensitive, but his daughter would have been. Sidious would hunt her, but her parents would have kept her safe and abandoned her to throw Sidious off her trail. From there, she would reignite the rebellion against the First Order, the group that would spring up in response to the end of the Empire but wanted it to continue. She and Leia's son Ben would have stopped Sidious after Ben became Kylo Ren and served the First Order for a time. After the destruction of Coruscant and Kijimi."

There was a long silence as everyone absorbed what would have happened, but Ava said quietly, "The second option was the one I chose, obviously. Because I chose to get involved, things changed. I knew Jedi would die in war; that is what happens to soldiers, and I could do nothing about that. But I knew that getting involved would help the Jedi survive as a whole and hopefully wake them up to their faults and change," Mace looked at her, and her gaze intensified to the point even he found it hard to bear, "The Jedi have lost the faith and trust of the people they serve. You have served the Senate too long; you forget that you should help others first. You became generals in a war you had no business in, resulting in the people not caring what happens to you. Whether you wanted to or not, you have become soldiers and even think and talk like them now. That is something you have to fix. If the Sith had succeeded and you had been wiped out, the people wouldn't have cared. They would believe that you were traitors to the Republic because of how unpopular the Jedi have become, and there is no changing that easily. You have to make that change; I'm not making it for you. The Force is back in balance now; my task is almost finished. I will help Padmé and the few Senators involved set the Senate to rights, but it's up to you after that. I fight my own battles; I very rarely fight other peoples', only when I'm specifically asked to and I think I should will I do so. You have to fight that fight and restore people's trust in the Jedi, which will take more than empty words. The galaxy's tired of them."

Mace stared at her for several long seconds, and the silence was almost unbearable as he and others started realizing she was possibly right. But what really hurt was that she had no faith in them to restore the galaxy's faith in them, and that became clearer when she said, "I'm under no illusions about the state of the Republic, Mace Windu. I know it's corrupt; every senator involved knows it's corrupt. Your blind faith in it would have led to the destruction of it, but there is still a chance for change. I could have left things alone and let the chips fall where they may, but I didn't do that. There was still something good in the Republic and the Jedi, and there was no reason to start over with both. And you can thank Ahsoka for that," the Togruta's head shooting up when she heard her name, "When she got involved in the Conspiracy, I didn't want her to. It would have been incredibly dangerous for her if Sidious caught on she was helping me, but I also know what her fate would have been if I had done nothing. Because I got involved, events changed where they were happening in time. Rey was born much earlier than she was supposed to be, as was Ezra," nodding at the young one standing nearby, "Ezra is from Lothal, and during the time of the Empire his parents would have spoken against it. Doing so would lead to their deaths but help Ezra find his way. At the same time, Caleb Dume, who survived Order 66 thanks to his master, would have found Ezra and taught him how to be a Jedi. They, along with Ahsoka and the crew of the Ghost: Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren of Mandalore, Garazeb Orrelios of Lasan, and Rex," nodding at the clone, "would have freed Lothal from the control of the Empire and inspired the rebellion to fight against the Empire. They would have met their match in Thrawn and Skywalker, but would have come out on top, even though Caleb Dume would lose his life protecting his friends," she cocked her head as she stared at Mace, "Interesting how things work out, isn't it?"

"You could say that," Obi-Wan answered instead of Mace, "But where would Rey have learned how to be a Jedi?"

Ava smiled slightly, "From Luke and Leia, of course. You would have started teaching Luke, but then Skywalker would kill you on the Death Star. Luke would find Yoda on Dagobah and continue learning under him for a time but would have left without finishing his training. And then he would have taught Leia, and they would have taught Rey."

Obi-Wan shook his head, but then a thought came to his mind as the Force nudged a memory to the front of his mind that had been forgotten in the chaos of the last few weeks, "You met someone on Takodana, a Maz Kanata?" Ava nodded warily, "Who is she? How does she fit into all this?"

"I don't know how she fits in," Ava said thoughtfully, "All I know is she's Force-sensitive and has lived for over a millennium. I just felt I had to find her and meet her, and it was interesting to know it wasn't just the Phoenix Order that has known about the Phoenix for all this time. She's known, too, even though she isn't part of the Order. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned there from her, and I haven't figured it out yet," she smiled suddenly, "That's the fun thing about life: you never stop learning," her smile faded slightly, "Qui-Gon taught me that. I'm not supposed to be taught by either side, but Qui-Gon taught me restraint and how to figure out how to trust someone that I didn't know. It wasn't easy, growing up the way we did," nodding at her brother, "but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith."

"You didn't trust us in the beginning," Luminara said, but Ava shook her head, "My trust in the Jedi was solid, even if I didn't agree with your part in this war."

"Then why not show it?" Dr. Boll asked, "Why not say it?"

"I couldn't say it because I couldn't speak Basic," Ava said as she turned to the scientist, "The bullet that criminal was kind enough to leave in my head went straight through my brain. I don't remember the entire month around getting shot, and that will never change. And because I was born not speaking or understanding Basic, I had to learn it all over again," she cocked an eye-ridge then, amusement in her eyes, "Ever wonder why my accent is so thick?"

Dr. Boll nodded, and the half-Nautolan continued, "The version of our language I was born knowing is from the time of Avalonia's youth. It isn't spoken anymore, and almost forgotten, and very few of our people even know it. My parents had to find the oldest person in our clan to translate what I was saying because no one knew. Even she had trouble at times understanding it, but she was able to teach my parents the language so that they could teach me Basic. When I was shot, we had to start all over again. That elder had to help again because of how rusty we all were with it. On the bright side, I could still understand Basic; I just couldn't speak it for a while."

Dr. Boll nodded slowly, asking suddenly, "How many languages do you speak?"

Ava cocked her head in thought for a few moments before saying, "From this galaxy? About 500 fluently, and can get by on maybe 300 more," seeing the scientist's surprise, she added, "I can approximate the sounds Talz and Wookiees make, so those count. As for the planet where we live?" she thought a few moments more, "There's about 3,000 recognized languages, with several main ones, and I can speak about 400 of those," she looked at Dr. Boll, "Because of how fast our brains work we only need twenty minutes or less to learn a new language. If we're in a hurry, we just need ten."

Dr. Boll shook her head while Ahsoka asked, "Did you know about Wasskah?"

"I did," Ava said as she turned to the Togruta, "But I know you. You were more than capable of getting out of there. You're well-trained, Ahsoka; there was never any doubt in my mind you wouldn't have been able to survive. Skywalker trained you well, and you were unknowingly trained by me whenever I asked you to do something, even if it wasn't much. He might have a hard time controlling his emotions, but he's a good teacher," she smiled suddenly, "And once Chewie got involved, your odds went up a lot more," making a mental note to thank the Wookiees the next time they met. The Wookiees had left after the Temple had been secured, accepting Master Yoda's thanks before leaving, but Ava hadn't been able to give her thanks as well and needed to fix that.

Ahsoka nodded slowly while Obi-Wan circled back to his previous question, "Who did you not trust?"

Ava said nothing momentarily before looking up and saying simply, "The clones," surprising the Jedi and clones. After a little while she said, "I've been hunted my entire life. I was hunted by the Sith because I'm the Phoenix, I've been hunted by the Monarchy because I'm Santiana's granddaughter, and I've been hunted by criminals who want me because I'm a painted white half-Nautolan and the only one in the universe. The one thing those three groups have in common is that they send bounty hunters after us. And one time the Monarchy sent a bounty hunter named Jango Fett."

Mace's head shot up when he heard that, and the clones in the room glanced at each other when they heard that; things starting to make sense, and it made more sense when Ava said, "Jango came after me and my brother, but our parents were able to convince him to leave us alone. Two over-protective Jedi for parents are sometimes a good thing. And Jango could be reasoned with. He swore to leave us alone once he learned why he had been hired. He just thought we were runaways from the palace of Glee Anselm and they wanted us back. He didn't think any further than that about it. But once he learned he had been hired to bring a couple children to their deaths he left us alone. I admired his sense of honor in that regard," she cocked her head then, staring at Obi-Wan, "Life can leave scars. Some are visible, some aren't. In Jango's case, the scars he left were physical," running a hand along a small scar on her neck, "and under the skin. He guaranteed I wouldn't trust anyone with his face easily, so I avoided the clones in the tunnels of Geonosis. I was very young when he came after us; that memory doesn't go away easily and always came up whenever I saw a clone. It took a long time to convince myself that even though the clones have his face, they aren't him. I preferred working alone, without them, for that reason. And we were going to dangerous places; I didn't want to risk their lives when I wasn't sure if I was even keeping my own."

"Was one of those places Malachor?" Eeth Koth asked, and Ava nodded, "We went there to find a Sith holocron. We found it and almost activated the weapon that was used during the Scourge there. Serves us right for touching things we shouldn't," glancing sideways at her brother, who shook his head and muttered, "It was an accident."

"An accident that almost vaporized both of us, and our sister," Ava said bluntly, "Not to mention Ventress and Quinlan."

"Why did you need a Sith holocron?" Mace asked, and Ava shrugged, "Didn't need it; wanted it. The Records has the largest collection of Sith holocrons in the galaxy, and I wanted one more for the collection. And taking it guaranteed the Sith couldn't use the knowledge on it for their own purposes."

"What did Lorelei see that scared her?" Adi asked into the silence, and Ava shrugged, "I have no idea. She won't tell us, and considering how annoying we can be, I'm surprised. She certainly is stubborn when she wants to be," she cracked a grin then, "Must run in the family."

Adi shook her head when she heard that, while Kit said quietly, "We're getting the answer out of her in bits and pieces, Master Gallia. We just have to be patient," as he worked on R6. The Tholothian nodded slowly while Mace asked, "What happened to the bounty hunters that found Home Base?" he raised an eyebrow, "And how did they find it in the first place?"

Ava winced slightly, "They found it be finding and killing our other neurosurgeon," she looked at Mace, "The one we thought was visiting his family? He never arrived home and was captured and interrogated by the hunters, and by the time we figured that out the base was being attacked. Thankfully the clones and the others there are good at what they do, or things could have been much worse. We retrained the clones to Delta level so they could fight anything that came their way and because of how dangerous a few of our missions were. We wanted them to have a better chance. The bounty hunters have had their memories altered and been let go. In the end, we decided to do the same to Boba; we couldn't risk Home Base, and altering his memory to such a finite degree would have been difficult. Between myself and Tivann, we could have managed, but it was decided to just do a blanket wipe of his memory and let him and the others go. We couldn't keep them at Home Base indefinitely. The only good news was that they were hired by the Monarchy and only told Raojull Gon where the base was. He never told anyone, probably because he didn't expect to die that day. He was arrogant to a fault. Boba might find his way to Actava, he might not. Only time will tell. We still moved Home Base, just to be safe."

"How did you manage that?" Master Plo asked, "It couldn't have been easy and would have been noticed on scanners."

Ava smiled, more amused than anything else, "Home Base was designed to be easier to move than a normal space station. It doesn't have a hyperdrive, but that is where I come in. You know purrgil can travel through hyperspace, right?" Master Plo nodded, realizing where this was going, and Ava continued, "If you send out a blank message on frequency zero for a few hours, they'll show. And since intelligent life is drawn to me, they were more willing to help. They travel hyperspace lanes unknown to many; having them take us somewhere new guaranteed no one could find the base. It was the best way to get us there. The new location is as far away as we could get while staying in this galaxy and being near enough to habitation for supplies."

"And the old location?" Anakin asked, making Avery snort in amusement while Ava laughed outright, her laugh a mirror of her father's. It took her a few moments to calm down, but finally, she could settle down and grin just like her father. Still grinning widely she said, "You passed right by it on your way to destroy the Malevolence."

"What?" Obi-Wan said in surprise, making Ava nod while still grinning, while Kit said with some amusement as well, "Home Base was hidden inside that nebula, near the neebray mantas nesting grounds. Everyone involved in its construction decided that the odds of someone flying through the nebula were rather low, and the gases would disrupt scanners. And any scanners that did work would only pick up the neebray, so it was a safe place for the station. There was the danger of entering and leaving hyperspace inside the nebula, but it was decided to take the risk. The cloaking device hid it from anyone looking for it or not looking for it and gave the younglings living there quite the show when the strike team passed through. Some of them had never seen ships like that."

"You mean we passed right next to it and didn't see it or pick it up on scanners?" Anakin asked in disbelief, making Kit grin and chuckle, "It was designed to not be found, Skywalker. My brothers knew about the old smuggler's route through it and explored it thoroughly when the idea of Home Base was thought up, and then added their own ideas about how to make it invisible. Anyone finding it easily defeated the purpose of having it. And making it mobile meant it could be moved quickly if it was ever found."

Anakin shook his head when he heard that, while Master Plo said thoughtfully, "I'm still surprised we didn't sense there was something there through the Force."

Ava looked at him, "You saw and sensed what you wanted to see and sense. And I blocked you from sensing those on Home Base. You wouldn't have known they were there unless I wanted you to. And I didn't. Allowing those younglings to have lives has always been the priority of Home Base, while allowing those of the clan that need help of any kind to get it whenever they need it."

Master Plo nodded slowly, and after a few seconds, Obi-Wan asked hesitantly, knowing the last time someone had asked a version of this question it hadn't been received well, "Did your people find Rayla, whoever she is?"

Instead of getting snapped at, like he was expecting, Ava nodded and said, "You'll meet her soon enough. She's a bit banged up, but she'll heal with time. And now that Raojull Gon is dead, that's one less threat against the clan. That party lasted almost three days.''

When he heard that, Obi-Wan shook his head while Luminara asked, "Why do you keep returning to Home Base? There isn't another place you would want to live in? And what of the children there that live there permanently? Why can't they leave?"

Ava looked at her brother for a moment, who only looked at her blankly before turning back to Luminara and saying, "We've always had something like Home Base in our lives. Before the station, it was the winter palace on Naboo. We lived there until the Sith and the Monarchy found us, and there has always been a connection. Whenever we come here from the other galaxy where we live, we always go to Naboo first. It's like we're drawn there, no matter what happens or how long we're away. Home Base is now a space station, and it was a good base of operations because no one knew it existed. The winter palace was given to Tristan decades ago for his research, and I still remember playing with our friends and annoying the adults when we used the hidden tunnels to hide from them. We knew their layout better than they did and could sneak into and out of the kitchens for a snack before anyone knew. And ruin our dinners by eating those snacks several times a day," smiling slightly at that, but it faded a few moments later, "We don't want to live anywhere else because we don't know what it's like to settle down and actually have a home. We're so used to moving around that even on the planet where we live, we move every few months or years. Settling down is now impossible for us. The urge to always be on the move, always be on the alert for danger is still there, and it will likely never go away. As for why the younglings can't leave Home Base?" her eyes became pained then, "The unfortunate thing about half-Nautolans is that even though Tristan has figured out how to get us to live longer, we still don't live that long. Average lifespan for a half-Nautolan is about 20 years. My brother and I are pushing it at 37. We're the grandparents of the group, and have outlived all the friends we grew up with. The last one died a long time ago."

Mace shook his head when he heard that, while Luminara still looked confused, "That doesn't explain why the children can never leave."

Ava smiled sadly at that, "They can't leave because the Monarchy hunts them for one. Another reason is half-Nautolans are usually born without immune systems," seeing Luminara's and everyone else's surprised looks she nodded, "They can't leave because they don't have immune systems. The only way to fix that is to give them a bone marrow transplant when they're born, which kick-starts their immune system. But the best way for it to work is for it to come from a close family member. Anyone in the clan will willingly donate, but that doesn't guarantee it will work. So the children stay there and we try to keep things interesting and fun for them. We want them to have as normal a life as possible."

"You didn't have an immune system?" Madam Jocasta asked, and Ava shook her head, "Neither of us did. Our grandfather gave Avery a donation because Nautolan bone marrow works best to kick-start our systems, while our father donated for me."

Dr. Boll looked at Kit then, who looked at her before shrugging and turning back to R6, saying, "I wouldn't recommend going on a mission of any kind after giving bone marrow. Apparently, the best place to get marrow is your pelvis, and mine was painful for about a week after that."

Yoda shook his head when he heard that but then said, "Unique, your lives have been, and not telling us everything you are," Ava cocked her head while quirking an eye-ridge, while Avery became slightly stone-faced, but he relaxed when Yoda said, "Ask for those answers, we will not. Curious about something else, I am. Restored Korriban you did, but understand how we do not. Significance of the white tree, understand it we do not."

Ava stared at him a moment before saying, "I won't tell you how I restored Korriban. That knowledge is only for the Phoenix. Even if I told you, you couldn't apply that knowledge. What I can do with the Force is different than what you can do, and the power I have at my disposal is greater than yours when I'm at full strength. Even now, as weak as I am, I am still stronger than you. At my weakest I am more powerful than you at your strongest. But it will kill me if I tried anything like that now. If you were to try, it would likely destroy you. The Force is the power of creation and destruction in one, and it shouldn't be misunderstood or misused. All I will tell you is that evil will never return there; the Sith will never return because their old training academy and burial grounds are gone. There were Sith there when I restored Korriban, but I spent two days clearing them out and killing them. I slipped past their border guards first and then doubled back, so they wouldn't see me coming from behind. It took the others a few hours to figure out I was there, but it was too late by then. Avery wasn't there, so I was on my own," Yoda shaking his head when he heard that but was silent as she continued, "The fights weren't challenging, except for the last one where I was fighting a Basilisk. He was a bit more difficult to fight than I expected, but it didn't matter. After they were cleared out I went to the highest mountain and restored the land so that evil could never return there. But even after that, Ajunta Pall didn't want to leave. He considered Korriban his by right and felt I shouldn't dictate whether he stayed or went. Ultimately, he had no choice; my will was stronger than his, and I have power over life and death. And he was dead, firmly in my power to do with as I will. I sent his spirit where I sent Sidious'," she cocked an eye-ridge then, "I'm sure they're in good company with each other."

"You aren't worried about evil returning there?" Saessee Tiin asked, "The Sith could return."

"They won't," Ava said quietly, "because of the white tree. The creation of the white tree is something I can talk about. Its seed was created from a shred of Phoenix spirit. When that happens, it is the purest form of energy in the universe. Evil can never corrupt it, especially if a Phoenix spends her entire existence creating it and pours every bit of her strength and power into it. That shred didn't come from me; that came from Amin Gallia, who wanted to have some of her spirit remain behind as a deterrent to the Dark Side. She'd left the seed on Tholoth with the intention of it becoming a tree and hoped I would find it when I was ready to restore Korriban and know where it was meant to go. I did find it, and then took it to Korriban to quicken it with my blood. The blood of the Phoenix can bring about life, and every drop I gave that tree was a year of growing for it."

"But what does it do?" Master Tiin asked, while Adi just listened in interest to what her grandmother had done to help a Phoenix she had never met. Ava looked at him, "The white tree helps balance the Force and will prevent the Dark side from returning to Beatha úr. As long as it stands evil can never return to that planet. Anyone with evil intentions will not last long; the air will be like poison to them, making them want to leave. A few years later I grew another tree, a black tree on Malachor, that is the Dark side of the Force. One cannot exist without the other. There must always be a balance, so the black tree will remain. The black tree will do its task like the white tree. In the case of the black tree it survives off the Dark side that is part of Malachor, while the white tree survives off the Light side that is now Korriban, or Beatha úr. That means "New Life" in our language," nodding at her brother and father, "and it seems like a good fit."

Saessee nodded slowly while the other Jedi listened in interest, but a few seconds later, Ava looked at her father and kept staring. After a few seconds he sighed and shook his head, tossing her his lightsaber before going back to R6. Ava caught it one-handed, her left hand Obi-Wan noted distantly and then took it apart with her hands to get the crystal out. The crystal itself was dim and dull, clearly spent from the fight with Sidious and only weakly flashed in her hand. She gently held it between her forefinger and thumb before turning to her brother and saying, "Your turn."

"Why do I have to do it?" he grumbled, and Ava raised an eye-ridge, "Because I'm half dead and you're better at this than I am."

"It won't make much of a difference," Avery said as he reached under his tunic and pulled out a necklace similar to Ava's but with a triangular blue stone. This stone was also alive with the Force, and those gathered there watched Avery put the crystal near the stone for a few moments and cupped both in his hands. He closed his eyes for a few moments and there was a brief light that soon went away. He opened his eyes then and drew his hands away, revealing the crystal. It was a bit brighter now, but clearly still needed help.

Ava cocked her head as she took the crystal from him, looking it over carefully before saying, "This thing needs the white tree. A few minutes in it, and it will be good as new," as she put the crystal back inside the lightsaber and tossed it back to her father, who caught it and put it back on his belt before turning back to R6.

As this happened, Avery cocked his head and asked, "What happens if you eat the fruit from the white tree?" as he turned to his sister.

Ava shrugged, "I have no idea," and Avery asked again, "What happens if you eat the fruit?"

"I have no idea, and no interest in finding out," Ava repeated, "I doubt it will help me recover my strength, and I've got no interest finding out until I'm strong enough to handle any backfire that comes with it."

Avery nodded slowly while Yoda asked, "Interesting, your lightsabers are. Seen designs like them, I have not," as Professor Huyang came into the room with the younglings that had followed Ava throughout her fight with Sidious. Seeing her sitting there, calm and quiet, the droid left the younglings and approached her, her turning to watch him with an intensity only a droid could ignore. When he reached her he asked, "May I see your lightsaber? I've been curious about it for a long time."

Ava did and said nothing for several moments, only looked at the droid intently before finally reaching down and handing him her lightsaber, saying, "Just don't –" cutting herself off as she quickly shut her eyes, everyone else having to do the same as too-bright light came out of where the crystal was, if there even was a crystal, "– open it," Ava finished seconds later as Huyang quickly shut the lightsaber.

Once the room had returned to normal and everyone could see again, Huyang turned to Ava and said, "I didn't see a crystal in there."

"There is one," Ava said with a slight smile, "but my brother and I didn't go through the Gathering. I found mine in the World Between Worlds," not explaining what it was for the moment, "and Avery found his…." trailing off as she turned to her brother.

Avery looked at her before saying to Huyang, "I found mine in an ancient Sith temple we explored as teenagers. It had been corrupted by the Dark Side, but I healed it and it became mine."

Huyang nodded slowly as Ava turned back to him and said, "I cultivated my crystal to allow the Force to flow more easily from me to my crystal and allow a stronger bond that way. That's why it could take everything I had it do during the fight with Sidious."

"I see," Huyang said slowly as he held it up to the light and revealed the tribal markings and the vial of water that made up part of the hilt. The metal was much more beautiful in the light, and that was when Huyang asked, "You used silver for the hilt? That seems like a poor choice," as he handed the lightsaber back to Ava.

Ava shrugged as she put it back on her belt, "It's silver plated. The rest is stronger metals. One quirk of being half-Nautolan is you sometimes have strange allergies. I'm allergic to certain metals. Silver is one of the few that doesn't make me break out in hives. Brief contact with other metals won't cause too many problems, but since I use my lightsaber constantly I didn't want to worry about allergies in the middle of a fight. I have gotten hives from other lightsabers, but it beat the alternative at the time. And I have only used a few other lightsabers over the years. Metal alloys that have silver in them don't bother me as much. When our father started teaching us how to fight with lightsabers, he put some silver in the grip so I wouldn't have to deal with the hives. They don't go away for days and are hard to ignore and not scratch. I've scratched myself bloody a few times when I've gotten them. I've even left scars from all the scratching, but my tattoos cover them now."

Huyang nodded slowly while Yoda shook his head and the other Jedi listened with their full attention, "And the water?" the droid asked.

Ava smiled painfully then, "From Naboo. A reminder of home, no matter how far we wander from it," seeing Mace's surprised look she added, "Naboo will always be home for us. We'll never live there again," the Sight strong in her eyes in that moment, "but it will always be home. Water from our favorite ocean is how I keep it close. Silver is also a rather soft metal that allows for carving. I carved those symbols myself as a reminder that I belong to many different people: Nautolan, Mandalorian, Nabooian."

"How did you construct them if you didn't go through the Gathering?" Huyang asked, and Ava smiled slightly, "Our parents got us the parts and took theirs apart a few million times before we got it right. I think I inverted the emitter matrix about five times before I figured it out. Building a lightsaber without a diagram is harder than it looks."

Huyang nodded while Mace shook his head before looking at Avery, who only said, "Mine is made of obsidian and gold, and while I have some fondness for Naboo, I don't miss it that much. I don't have much attachment to any one place since we've moved around so much, and it's hard to forget some of our worse memories from that planet," reaching up to touch the scar on his face. He looked at Mace then, "I miss our old home, but not enough to want to always remember it."

"A consequence of moving so much," Ava said quietly, "After a while, you learn not to bother unpacking."

"How often did you move?" Huyang asked.

Ava cocked her head then, "We left Naboo when we were four and started moving from place to place after that. Longest we stayed in one place was three months, a monastery on Teth; shortest was about an hour. I don't even remember the name of that place. Qui-Gon thought it was safe, but there were Monarchy mercenaries there, and we had to leave fast. It went on like that for three years, and then Qui-Gon and our parents found that other galaxy and the planet there, where we've lived ever since."

A few Jedi shook their heads when they heard that, while Kit only glanced at his children before going back to R6, allowing Mace to ask a question that had just come to mind at the mention of Qui-Gon Jinn: "Did Dooku know that his former Padawan was the leader of the Phoenix Order?"

Ava looked at her brother before looking at their father, knowing he would have the answer, and Kit shook his head, "He never knew. Qui-Gon's greatest skill was keeping secrets, and there was distrust in the end towards his old master. He wouldn't have told Dooku anything about the Phoenix, not even when Dooku was still a Jedi. He wouldn't have risked Amin," he looked up at Padmé, "Which reminds me: I sent a few Phoenix guards, and a few of my brothers, to find Dooku and Grievous. I can't guarantee the condition they'll be in when they get here, but they are bringing them in, I think to Home Base because they'll be easier to control there. Hopefully, with them out of the way and without a Master manipulating Dooku, negotiations will be easier for the Senate."

Padmé stared at him while Obi-Wan asked, "Why didn't you go after Dooku before?" as Ava turned to him with a raised eye-ridge, "Never thought he was worth my time. He was an amateur compared to Maul and Sidious; I could beat him with my eyes closed and a hand tied behind my back. Always thought of him as a kid playing with his parents' weapons and trying not to get a hand cut off in the process."

"He was one of the finest duelists in the Jedi Order," Mace said quietly, "He didn't earn that reputation for nothing."

"Maybe. I know he killed Yaddle before he left the Temple," Ava agreed, "But doesn't change how I saw him. End of the day, I wasn't going to waste my time going after him when there were bigger fish to deal with. The Sith on Kef Bir, Malachor, Korriban, they were worth my time and effort to find. Dooku never was. Still isn't," dismissing the idea with head-toss and going back to watching her father work on R6.

"How do you know he killed Master Yaddle?" Oppo Rancisis asked, wondering how she'd known, remembering Yaddle with some fondness as she had been his master. Of the same species as Yoda, Master Yaddle had been a skilled Jedi and well-respected for her wisdom and strength in the Force. But she had been mysteriously killed in the Temple hangar, and no one had been able to figure it out.

Ava shrugged, "I guessed," she looked at the Thisspiasian then, "And a few years later, I looked through Dooku's mind with the Force. I saw him kill Yaddle because she had noticed him acting weird. And that was because Sidious had corrupted him and turned him to the Dark side. She caught up with him just after he had erased the information on Kamino from the Archives and was getting ready to leave. She gave him a chance at redemption, but he turned it down and killed her. He cared about Qui-Gon a lot; I think his death sent Dooku over the edge and make him lose even more faith in the Jedi."

Oppo nodded slowly, while Master Plo suddenly said, "Master Sifo-Dyas ordered the creation of the clone army," Ava looked at him then, and he asked, "Was he part of the Phoenix Order as well?"

Ava looked at him briefly before nodding, while Kit said, "He saw, through the Force, a great war happening. When Ava returned to this galaxy to get a few more pieces ready for the war, he asked her about those visions, and she said they would happen. She then told him to go to Kamino and order the creation of the clone army, telling him that doing so would set things in motion. And it did. Dooku erased the information on Kamino from the Archives, and then Sidious sent his assassins after Master Sifo-Dyas. That's why there's been no sign of him for so long. Dooku and Sidious had him killed to keep him quiet," looking at Master Plo, "Sidious and Dooku made sure he wouldn't be able to tell anyone what he had seen or what it meant, leaving them free to gather their forces and start the manipulation of the clones and Kaminoans. The Kaminoans would do whatever the highest paying person asked them to do, which was Sidious through Dooku, and play both sides if it meant they would get more credits. They knew Dooku was on both sides of the conflict, in one form or another, but didn't care because they were getting paid quite a bit."

"Luckily, a few Kaminoans were willing to do the right thing," Ava said quietly, "Nala Se's family has been part of the Phoenix for a long time; she was more than willing to help and do what she could to keep the clones from turning against the Jedi. Good thing she saw them as actual beings and not things to make money off of. It would have been a lot harder deactivating the inhibitor chips without her."

Kit nodded in agreement, while Yoda shook his head at how much planning had gone into this and who had been involved. It was quiet for a few minutes, but then Dr. Boll asked, "What about that moss you found on Naboo?" when Ava turned to her, she added, "It did something to those animals you had with you; what was it?" deciding to change topics to something not as depressing.

Ava glanced at her brother before saying, "That moss was just regular moss; I just knew it didn't taste as bad as any of the others growing there and the horses would eat it. Working it that way between the stones brought out the better taste. We used to eat it with the seafood we found hunting on Naboo. Moss is like a sponge and can absorb almost anything, even the Force. I used it to heal them. Aineislis has been a close friend for a long time, and she loves to run. The Sith attacked us on Jakku and she spooked. She fell down the dune and snapped her leg on the way down. That's usually a death sentence for horses because of how hard it is to heal a broken leg; there's not a lot of space for a whole lot of important things that need to be there. But I wasn't about to give up on her and wanted to help her run again. The other mare, Ginger, was so badly abused that her wind was damaged and she couldn't breathe right, so it also helped her. She was raced before she was fit, and it shattered her. She was rested for about a year and that helped, but then she was worked again and her wind broke again. She was half-dead when we found her. So was her friend Black Beauty."

"They all have names?" Skywalker asked in surprise, and Ava looked at him with some annoyance, "Of course they do. On the planet they come from, horses were used as livestock and work animals for thousands of years, but ours are more or less over-sized pets. Except for Aineislis and Plenty Coup. Aineislis loves long-distance endurance races and there is one race, the Ocean of Fire, that she loves. It's a three-thousand-mile endurance race across a desert. It really tests you and your horse, mentally and physically. If your horse gets hurt, especially in that desert, the kindest thing you can do is kill it so it doesn't suffer for days, and then you have to walk the desert and finish the race on foot. If the desert doesn't kill you first. She's never not finished that race; she's tougher than she looks and twice as determined. As for Plenty Coup," she smiled suddenly, "I compete him in horse shows and jumping competitions, mostly for fun. He loves it. Especially cross-country races. He loves to run fast, he loves to turn quick, he loves to jump high. And he can jump six feet if you give him half a chance. Those races also have water jumps, and he isn't afraid of them. He races through water like it's not there. He's our quietest horse, until it's time to compete. Then he gets incredibly excited and can't sit still until it's over. All our horses like to swim, too; Aineislis and Plenty Coup are the ones that love it the most, though."

"And he's yours?" Eeth asked Kit, who looked over his shoulder and nodded before returning to R6. Eeth shook his head while Aayla asked quietly, "Aineislis killed someone on Jakku; is that normal?"

"No," Kit answered instead of his daughter, "The last thing a horse wants to do is kill. But Aineislis is a bit different."

"In what way?" Ki-Adi asked, remembering how Aineislis' hooves had crushed that Sith's head and the blood that had covered them.

"Aineislis hates men," Ava said bluntly, making Ki-Adi look at her in surprise, which was shared by many there, "She hates them with a passion."

"Why?" Padmé asked, "She's mild as a dove with your father and Gibbs. And she lets others in your family and Senator Organa get close without hurting them."

"Because she knows they aren't going to hurt her," Ava said quietly, "Horses have powerful memories and don't forget quickly or easily. Aineislis remembers being stolen by men when I took her back to her planet for a few weeks. She remembers them beating her and trying to break her spirit with those beatings and starving her. She remembers that and remembers that it was men who did it. She still has the scars from their whips on her back legs, but her coat covers them now. But they are still there, and she still remembers. She won't forget, and she won't forgive. As far as she's concerned, men are cruel and don't deserve her trust, but do deserve her hatred. So she will give it, and she's strong enough to kill, and will kill if it means no man can threaten her."

Padmé shook her head when she heard that, knowing better than to continue the conversation when Ava was speaking like that, like she wasn't really there but still saying something like she was stating that rain was forecast for the next day.

"There is nothing you can do about that?" Mace asked, and Ava shrugged as she turned to him, "That distrust has its uses, and I don't think I can do anything about it. There is no harm in it as far as I can see because Aineislis will give men the benefit of the doubt as long as they aren't hurting that which she considers her own. On Jakku, the Sith were trying to hurt Plenty Coup and Rey, and she considers them her own. So she will protect them with everything she's got. And as long as she's gentle with children, which I know she is, it's alright with me. I think she knows children, male or female, are harmless and will not hurt her. She lets Lorelei, Rey, and a few other children at Home Base ride her without a problem. The others in the herd are hers as well, so on Naboo, she had no problem leaving the herd and leading you away to give them a chance to escape. You were so interested in catching me that I knew you would follow us and give the herd a chance to escape. The herd knew where to go and took Lorelei back to the ship that had brought them there while Ventress took the Ghost to the swamp to find me. She knew where to land to wait."

"Did you confuse Master Gallia?" Eeth asked, making Ava smile slightly, "I did. Mostly for fun, I'm sorry to say," when Eeth frowned she added, "And also because I know that swamp. She was heading right for lightning sand when she saw me. That sand sucks you in faster than you can blink or do anything about it. I didn't want to have to go in after her. You have to hold your breath and hope the area of sand on the surface is the same underneath. If the lightning sand is a mile long and wide underneath but only a few feet wide on top, you'll never find who you're looking for. I didn't want to have to deal with that. And then I hit a bit of a snag with getting her back here. In the end, I decided Hondo was the best option."

At that moment, there was an incoming transmission, which Mace accepted, revealing the very pirate in question. Seeing him, Ava smiled slightly while Hondo said, "Ah, Master Jedi. I didn't think you'd be the ones getting this transmission. You seem better off than I thought."

"And you are contacting us because…?" Obi-Wan asked, and Hondo smiled and laughed, "It's not for your charm, I assure you, Master Kenobi. I just wanted to make sure I was still getting my fee."

"Your fee?" Obi-Wan asked, and Hondo smiled, "Of course, Kenobi! I was well-paid before whatever happened in your Temple, and I wanted to make sure I was still getting paid."

"For what?" Skywalker asked, and that was when Ava said quietly, "His fee for not bothering the nysillin farmers on Feluscia," making Hondo turn to her with a smile, "I pay him to keep him from bothering them. And stealing their herbs."

"And you take some of it instead," Hondo said, but Ava smiled tightly and said, "I pay for it, you don't. I also pay more than it's worth because I know how meager of a profit they usually make. Therein lies the difference between us."

Hondo scoffed when he heard that, but after a few seconds, Ava asked, "Is there something else you wanted, Hondo? Or can we get back to what we were talking about and you can get back to drinking?"

"Yes, sorry," Hondo was quick to say, "I was just wondering, since I've helped you over the years with various errands and also helped you out of certain – situations – you've found yourself in, if I could perhaps have an increase in my fee?"

"Why would I do that?" Ava asked quietly, "You already make a pretty credit off me and my brother, and that's just to leave people alone. Why would we increase it?" warning in her voice not to test her patience, and luckily Hondo heard it and knew to back off.

"So I'm not getting my finder's fee?" he asked almost hopefully, referencing something Ava and her brother knew about, to which Ava replied, "You never were."

Hondo was quiet for a few seconds before suddenly smiling, "I am so….proud of you right now. I never had a student learn as quickly as you," giving a somewhat cocky salute and laugh before ending the transmission, leaving Ava to look at her brother and shake her head before turning back to Kenobi and saying, "He's not that bad, as far as pirates go. There are worse ones out there. Our uncle, for example. I've yet to see a score Kiveki didn't think he could make money off of."

"Hmmmm," was all Obi-Wan said, while Avery said suddenly, "Maybe he grows on you."

"So do parasites," Ava said bluntly, "And that one, if he were braver and we were dumber, would have bilked us for every credit we have by now."

Avery scoffed in amusement when he heard that, while a few clones openly chuckled. A few seconds later, the conversation went back to the horses as a holo-recording was played of Aineislis racing across the grasslands of Naboo. Seeing her run, Skywalker asked, "Does she always run like that, with her nose in the air?"

"Yeah, she's a stargazer," Ava said, "A few of the others do it too, but she's the fastest one we got. That's why those men stole her. They wanted her for racing but didn't expect her to put up so much fight. She's never accepted a saddle and barely tolerates a bridle, but she would have to accept both for racing. She isn't a racing breed, but they were willing to claim in the paperwork she was so that they could race her. It took me a week to find her, and I was almost too late. She had already killed one of them and they were getting ready to kill her. I haven't been that angry in a long time after I saw what they did to her. She was barely two years old, still a baby to her kind since they aren't adults until they're five, and was skin and bones from being starved. She was also bloody from the beatings. That kind of cruelty I've seen before, but somehow it's different when it's directed at something or someone you've raised and care about. The authorities told me that if she was ever on the loose or seen without me, they would shoot her dead because of what she did to that man. That's why I brought her back here. It's safer for her and the others. A few of our horses have bite histories, and horse bites are no joke. They really leave a mark. A kick can cause serious damage as well. But so far, I think Aineislis is the only one that would. She's a bit more reactive. Plenty Coup keeps her calm and doesn't let her act out as much as she wants. Horse herds are led by a lead stallion, who protects the herd, and the lead mare that guides the herd. Plenty Coup's lead stallion, and Aineislis is lead mare. They're a good team. The others trust them."

Skywalker asked then, "What about the others? You mentioned two of them, but you have a lot more. Were they bred by you, or did you get them from somewhere else?"

Ava rested her chin on her knee briefly before saying, "We bred Plenty Coup because I wanted to see what a cross between an Arabian horse and an Appaloosa mustang would be like. Those are three separate breeds. Arabians are from the same desert the Ocean of Fire is held in and are world-famous for their endurance and speed, as well as their grace and beauty and dished faces, mustangs are horses that escaped from their owners and went wild centuries ago, adapting to harsh conditions and making them incredibly tough, and Appaloosas are known for coloring like what Plenty Coup has. But even other Appaloosa owners say they haven't seen an Appaloosa that striking before. He certainly catches the eye. Aineislis is a mustang I rescued when she was two days old. I had gone back to that planet for a week or so to take care of a few things and spent a few days hiking some mountains. I found her and what was left of her mother and carried her down the mountain. Thankfully, she was a bit on the small size and it wasn't too hard on my back. I raised her after that. As for the others? Ginger and her friend, Black Beauty, the gelding with the white star on his forehead and the white hoof? They came from a slaughterhouse auction, as did the giant Shire Phantom," seeing Skywalker's look, she added quietly, "Cruelty does exist on that planet, Skywalker, and a lot of it is directed towards animals, unfortunately. Horses are often slaughtered for their meat. I find it disgusting, mostly because I love having horses. They are smart, loyal, and capable of a lot if you give them a chance. The white stallion with the very long mane is Cloudmane. He belongs to Avery," nodding at her brother, "He was from a small farm that bred horses to have manes like that. He certainly has Avery's personality when he wants to. They say horses take after their owners, which is never more true than Cloudmane. Plenty Coup mirrors our father's personality: quiet, calm, and not very reactive."

Skywalker shook his head in amusement when he heard that, while Obi-Wan asked, "And the others?"

Ava cocked her head then, "The silver stallion, Zanzibar, is a mustang we rescued from a barbed wire fence. It's used to corral cows on that planet, but horses can't see it too well, and he was badly tangled. It took almost an hour to cut him free, mostly because he kept fighting us. That dished face he has is a characteristic of Arabians, so I think he has some Arabian in him somewhere. The gray mare is Sorraia, and she belongs to our mother. Neither of us likes her," nodding at her brother, "because she bites for no reason, but we put up with her. She's also incredibly unpredictable and has proven herself dangerous to many different things. The brown and white mare, Rain Dance, is another mustang we rescued. Our last two are the gold-colored one, the palomino Esperanza, and her son Raven. Palomino isn't a breed, it's the coloring she has. Esperanza was also rescued from a slaughterhouse auction while she was pregnant. It took her a year to let us get close enough to touch her. Whatever she'd been through in life had left her completely unable to trust people. By then, Raven had been born."

"And that was a problem?" Dr. Boll asked, curious about all this, and Ava nodded, "We don't geld, or castrate, our stallions unless we have to. Or if they came to us already gelded. Black Beauty and Phantom came to us gelded, but with the other stallions, they've learned how to behave without causing problems. Horse herds have a strict hierarchy, and Plenty Coup is at the top of that hierarchy. Aineislis is also at the top, and they keep the herd functioning and stable. When it comes to young stallions that don't have any manners, like Raven, they don't know they have to behave a certain way. And since we couldn't get close to Esperanza for so long, Raven wasn't taught how to behave around the others. Once he got old enough, he started challenging the other stallions for dominance. Which wasn't a problem for a while; they found it more amusing than anything else because he was a scrawny three-year-old trying to fight stallions twice his size, and they could scare him off with a nip or mock-charge. But then he started challenging Plenty Coup, which was when things could have gotten dangerous. Plenty Coup has the patience and tolerance of a saint, but he won't put up with everything forever. I know the warning signs that say he's losing patience, and it was becoming clear with Raven. Raven was also uncontrollable and difficult to manage. It was becoming dangerous for us. They may be pets, but they can easily be over 2,000 pounds, which sometimes makes them very dangerous pets. It might have come down to a fight, and even though horses don't intend to kill during fights, it does happen. The easiest way to fix the problem was to geld Raven. Now he's settled down and knows how to behave, and Plenty Coup is happy. I think he likes Raven; he just couldn't stand him or his behavior any longer."

Dr. Boll nodded slowly before asking, "And you're going to keep them all? For the rest of their lives?"

"Yep," Avery said instead of his sister, "They're more like pets to us than anything else. Aineislis and Plenty Coup are the only ones we do anything serious with. Even though I find it more than funny you can't get a saddle on Aineislis," turning to his sister with a slight smile on his face, if one wanted to be optimistic and call it a smile. Now that Obi-Wan thought about it, he hadn't seen Avery fully smile once the entire time he had been there.

"You're welcome to try, brother," Ava said somewhat sourly and very sarcastically, "But you would have to be braver than you are, and we both know she doesn't like you. And she broke a few bones the last time I tried a saddle. I'll stick with the bridle and leave it at that. It's not like the bridle works any better than a saddle."

"What does that mean?" Dr. Boll asked, to which Ava smiled slightly, "The bridle is supposed to be the brakes and the steering when it comes to horses. Your heels are the gas. When it comes to Aineislis, the gas works fine, and so does the steering, to a point. The only thing that doesn't really work is the brakes. She doesn't like to stop running. And since a horse's mouth can be very soft or very hard, depending on their training and general personality, the bit has to be soft or hard. Aineislis has a soft mouth and will start bucking and rearing if I pull too hard, but in emergencies, it's the only way to get her to stop," she quirked her lips slightly, "I think you saw that on Naboo. She has a mouth softer than silk, but I have to use a hard bit on her because she won't obey a softer one. When that happens, you have to be an expert rider so you don't hurt your horse or cause what happened on Naboo. I did that on purpose, though, because I knew she would run Yoda over if I didn't stop her. She didn't think he was a person, and I knew she wouldn't have stopped."

"She didn't want to leave you," Mace said quietly, ignoring how matter-of-factly Ava had said her horse would have run Master Yoda over, making Ava nod as she turned to him, "She's loyal and sees me as her mother; I think. And I think she wanted to stay, but once I forced my will over hers she left. I didn't want her hurting anyone," warning entered her eyes then, "And she would have. She protects me as I protect her."

"I see," was all Mace said, while Dr. Boll added, "I would like to see these animals in person if I could. I would like to learn more about them."

Ava cocked her head then, "I can't guarantee they'll let you. Horses are very independent when they want to be, and since they are domesticated wild animals, they still have their wild instincts. They don't like being forced to do anything. There's a saying on that planet: you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. There's always that wild horse lurking under the surface, the horse that never let itself be tamed and doesn't let anyone or anything control it. You see it when you first let them out to pasture to graze and have fun in the head-toss and when they buck, and see it again when it's time to bring them in when they refuse to come to you. It is clear with some of our horses; Aineislis can't be controlled unless she wants to be, and Cloudmane and Sorraia only let one person ride them each. I can't get near either of them. If they decide they want nothing to do with you, I can't change that."

Dr. Boll nodded slowly, deciding to close the topic while Ava looked at Obi-Wan. Seeing the way she was looking at him, Obi-Wan knew she knew he had a few questions for her, and she was willing to answer them. Deciding to plow ahead, he asked, "During the arena fight on Geonosis, you killed Viscus Stabo a little too efficiently. I know you were trained to kill Sith, but why kill him when he was defeated? And I felt your presence several times over the years before you showed yourself, why?" as Delta Squad came into the room. They had been occupied the last few days dealing with the remaining Red Guards and were now ready for a break. Hearing those questions instantly interested them, with Sev and Scorch inching closer to hear what she had to say.

Ava cocked her head before saying, "You feeling me was likely unintentional on my part. I must have forgotten to hide myself in the Force or didn't do as well as I would've liked, and you felt me. As for Stabo….I killed him when he was defeated because that was how I was trained. A defeated enemy can still get up; I know how tough Zabraks are. I've fought them before. I knew he just needed a breather and would be on his feet again. But that wasn't all there was to that decision. I was also badly wounded and on my last legs when instinct took over and forced me to do whatever it took to survive. Old-breeds are more instinctive than new-breeds, you know that. My vision was going gray around the edges, and I knew I didn't have much left in my energy reserves. I needed to end that fight and ensure that he couldn't threaten me again. I hadn't figured out what I would do about the Trandoshans, but I was hoping you and the clones could hold them off long enough for me to have a thirty-second breather so we could get out of there. I didn't know Delta Squad was coming, and at that point didn't care. My instinct was to survive and not let anything stop that from happening. Killing Stabo when he was defeated might not have been something a Jedi would do, but I am not a Jedi," she cocked her head then, "I think I proved that on Zygerria," Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably then. Her gaze intensified for a moment before softening minutely, "I have no tolerance for slavers and have found a few of my people in those markets before. That Zygerrian, in particular, had figured out how to torture old-breeds to the point where their wills were almost broken. While I was there as the Phoenix to stop the slave markets from fully returning, I was also there under my grandmother's orders to find and kill him. I also knew he had been the one who ordered the torture of Adi Gallia, and that was something I took a little personally. Probably a little too personally, but I'm not losing any sleep over it."

Hearing that surprised the Jedi, with Master Plo asking, "Your grandmother asked you to kill him?"

Ava nodded as she looked at him, "She knows I know how to kill and that I hate slavers with a passion. She would have gone herself, but she couldn't risk anyone seeing her. She didn't want to send me, but she knew I would be there anyways," seeing Master Plo shake his head, she added softly, "I've seen what happened to my people that were rescued from the markets there. There was almost nothing left of them, and some are still recovering from what they survived, even though it's been a long time. I have no regrets about what I did, and I'm not losing any sleep over it."

Master Plo shook his head while Eeth Koth asked, "After you killed that guard in the cell, Dooku suggested starving you, but the queen said it was impossible. What did you do to show that?"

Ava smiled slightly, "Old-breeds can bring up a previous meal and swallow it again. It's kind of a trick to keep from starving, and it works for a while to trick our stomach into thinking we just ate, even if it's been a few days or even a week. More mature old-breeds can go longer between meals. It will work until there's no nutritional value left in the meal, at which point you just leave it in your stomach and hope your circumstances have changed and you can get a fresh meal."

"I never did it when I was being held by Grievous," Kit cut in suddenly, having stopped working on R6 for a moment, "My system was so messed up it likely would have killed me to try, and there was nothing in my stomach anyways," Eeth shook his head when he heard that but was silent as Kit turned back to R6 and kept working for a few more minutes.

"The other times you felt me were also accidental," Ava said, bringing their attention back to her as she looked at Obi-Wan, "You felt me near the Rishi moon when I landed for some quick repairs, and also on Iego. I was there in the meeting when you told everyone about the laser field surrounding the planet."

"Why?" Skywalker asked, "There was nothing you could do there; the Separatists had already cleared out."

Kit shifted slightly then, not looking entirely comfortable about where this was going, and that was when Ava smiled slightly and said quietly, "My father asked me to go there. He couldn't get away from his fleet and Tarkin to help. My uncle had gotten himself captured by the Pykes, and they knew who he was and how much he's worth," Kailan looking a bit uncomfortable as well. Ava continued, "I got there before you, after tracking him there, and had to figure out how to rescue him. I found the house the Pykes were using but had no way to get in until I saw Chewie on the roof. He was acting as a guard and trapped there because of the laser field, but when he saw me, he helped me out. He's been a good friend for a long time, so I asked him to come here and bring some friends. When he made friends with Ahsoka, convincing him to come and help was easier. We were able to get Kailan out and to an abandoned house on the other side of town. We had to wait a few days for him to recover enough to walk, and by then, you had arrived and were able to destroy the field," she raised an eye-ridge then, "But if you had failed, I would have taken a run at it. I didn't have the starfighter or the Ghost; I had something that was a bit of a mix between the two. I might have made it."

Skywalker nodded slowly while Obi-Wan turned to Kailan, "You were injured by the Pykes?"

Kailan nodded and rasped, "They cut my side open – slowly. Basically skinned me and let the flesh hang down," a few Jedi looking a bit sick at the thought, "My guild was responsible for stealing some spice from them, and they wanted it back. But bounty hunters aren't the negotiating type, and those hunters didn't care about me farther than they could throw me. As soon as I was captured, others were looking to take my place. I led that guild by fear more than anything else. They turned on me the second they learned my brother was a Jedi."

Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully while Ki-Adi asked, "You really thought you could have made a run at the lasers?" as he looked at Ava.

She only shrugged, "Maybe. Between the three of us, we're pretty skilled pilots. If Spitz had been there the odds would have been better, but I didn't want anyone seeing him and asking questions," she turned to Skywalker then, "I didn't know if you could make it through the lasers, so I thought if you failed and got blown to pieces I would get through and take some reeksa root back to Naboo."

"You would have saved Padmé and Ahsoka?" Anakin asked in surprise, to which Ava nodded seriously, "Padmé has been one of my closest friends for a very long time, Skywalker, longer than she's known you. I would do anything to help her," she grinned suddenly, "And I like your Padawan; I remember being that age and that reckless once."

Ahsoka had the grace to blush slightly when she heard that. Ava suddenly cocked her head and said, "When my brother and I went back to Naboo once, we went to the eastern swamp to explore. While we were there, we got very sick, and that was when the Phoenix Order realized something was going on. It was the Blue Shadow Virus then, but only in liquid form. Some had escaped from the lab. We breathed it in through our gills while swimming the river there. The Order's priority then wasn't finding the source since it didn't spread and was contained fairly quickly or on finding who was experimenting with it. It was on making sure we survived."

"There was doubt you wouldn't?" Bail asked in surprise, and Ava nodded, "Half-Nautolan physiology can be very weird, and our immune systems may be the weirdest part about us. It can fight off incredibly deadly diseases like cancer and the plague, but not be able to do anything for a common cold. I've had cancer several times, and my immune system was able to fight against it and send it packing. But with the Blue Shadow Virus, it did nothing."

"Oh no," was all Bail said, and Ava winced before saying, "We're also allergic to the cure," Bail's head shot up when he heard that, and Ava nodded, "The only way we were able to survive was us deciding to fight like hell. Avery recovered more quickly than I did; my lungs had taken such a beating from the virus I couldn't take a full breath for months. My lungs are now permanently scarred from it. Once we were strong enough, we went looking for the source of the virus. But we found nothing."

"Would you have reported it to the Jedi or the Nabooian authorities?" Dr. Boll asked.

"Of course," Avery said, "The Blue Shadow Virus is a threat to everyone. And the queen and governor are of the Phoenix; they knew about the first outbreak from the get-go and were able to contain it; they just never figured out where it came from. They didn't talk about it because they didn't want to cause a panic on what might be a singular event. The Order remembers what happened the last time the virus was out in the galaxy and the panic it caused; we didn't want to cause that kind of panic again if we could help it. Containing and covering it up was the best way to not freak out the galaxy."

Ava glanced at him before saying, "On the planet where we live, I'm a scientist and a surgeon. I study viruses and diseases there to find cures and vaccines. In this galaxy, I'm curious about just about anything and am always trying to figure out the puzzles surrounding life. I'm working on finding another cure for the Blue Shadow Virus that doesn't involve reeksa root, mostly by looking at the virus' genetic code for a weakness that can be exploited. I haven't found anything yet, but I haven't gotten down to the 1's and 0's of the code. Usually, when you explore that deeply, you find something that can be used against it. And luckily Home Base has some of the most advanced viral and genetic labs in the galaxy; I can play around as much as I want there. While being careful about containment protocols, of course," she added hurriedly when her father looked at her when she said "play around with viruses". He only narrowed his eyes briefly before returning to what he was doing, deciding to talk with his daughter about that later.

"What kind of puzzles?" Ki-Adi asked, bringing the conversation to a different topic, and Ava smiled slightly before shaking her head, "Nothing major. But suppose a race of people is having a problem with its population and no one can figure out why?" she looked at Ki-Adi then, "That would be of interest to me."

There was silence for a few minutes before Ki-Adi asked, "Did you figure it out?"

Ava stared at him before cocking her head, "Almost. At this point, I don't know if knowing will make much of a difference or help the Cerean race survive, but if you want to know what's causing the birth rate to be so low, I would look at the water."

"We have," Dr. Boll said, "There's nothing wrong with it."

"There isn't?" Ava asked in mock surprise as she turned to the scientist, "I could have sworn there was," Dr. Boll was silent then, and Ava's eyes became serious as she said, "If you were to compare the water now to water from before the birth rate started tanking, maybe you'll find something."

"And where would we get that?" Dr. Boll asked, skepticism in her voice, along with some sarcasm.

Ava only looked at her for a moment longer before raising a hand. Like before with the Darksaber, she twisted her wrist around and uncurled her fingers, and a vial of water appeared. Using the Force, she sent it to the scientist, saying, "I've been holding onto this for a while. I found it in the remains of Amin Gallia's house, along with a note to get it to a scientist who could do something about it. It's been passed down from Phoenix to Phoenix for a long time. It took a while to find the right scientist, but maybe you can do something with it."

It was silent for a few minutes before Dr. Boll nodded and put the water away to analyze later. If there was something there that could help them solve the mystery, she would find it.

As this was happening, Yoda asked, "Went to Amin Gallia's house, you did?" when Ava nodded without looking at him, he asked, "Why?"

"I wanted to," Ava said as she turned to Yoda, "I had been feeling the urge to go to Tholoth for a while, and it was almost as strong as the urge to find Siri. When I finally went there, I was able to figure out many things. There's nothing left of the house; the Order made sure of that, but Shan Vale put a small grave for Amin on a small outcrop above the house in the mountains, along with a few things of hers he knew needed to be safeguarded. From there, you can see everything for miles and miles. I went there for answers. I found some, but there are a few that remain elusive. Phoenixes don't remember previous lives, but Amin Gallia has been hanging around in the cosmic Force for a while," not explaining what that was at the moment, "She has unfinished business, and after traveling for a while, I think I know what it is, and it is something only a Phoenix can help her with. When I'm ready, I will."

Yoda nodded slowly when he heard that, but that was all, while Dr. Boll asked, "You said your physiology is strange," as Ava turned to her, "Why do you say that?"

"Just from how we grew up," Avery answered instead of his sister, his unaccented words in stark contrast to his sister's heavy accent, "The two of us got into a lot of trouble, but we didn't start out healthy. Very few half-Nautolans do."

"What was wrong with you?" Dr. Boll asked.

Avery's jaw clenched, clearly not wanting to answer, and Ava said quietly, "Not very subtle, Doctor," before saying more loudly, "Avery was fine, minus not having an immune system," she looked at the Bivall scientist then, "Old-breed and half-Nautolans are born with two hearts. Those two hearts work together to support us and send a lot more blood around our bodies, allowing us to go longer than others. But half-Nautolans, despite all the advances Tristan has made, can still have fatal defects they are born with. Some cases are easy to fix, like our immune systems, and others are harder. In my case, I was born with a few holes in one of my hearts. My tattoos cover the scar where Tristan went in. Immediately after I was born, I was rushed into open-heart surgery."

"Did it work?" Dr. Boll asked, and Ava cocked an eye-ridge in dry amusement, "Partially," hearing that Dr. Boll looked at her more closely, and that was when Ava said, "Tristan's an amazing doctor and surgeon, I will never deny that, and fight any claims to the contrary with everything I've got. He was able to repair four of the holes in my heart; he missed the other two because he couldn't get to them. My heart was too small, and he couldn't remove it to repair the holes. And because our bodies reject transplants, he couldn't give me a new one."

It was silent for a moment as everyone took this in, but then Dr. Boll got over her shock enough to ask, "You did all this with a bad heart?"

"Yep," Ava nodded, "I decided a long time ago that my body wasn't going to be the reason I called it quits on this. But I know how this will end. My bad heart is a ticking time bomb in my chest. I can't stop the countdown," she raised an eye-ridge in mock amusement, "Which is ironic because I could repair the holes. They can be reached now, but it's a bit impossible to do open-heart surgery on yourself. Tristan could do it too, but because of our tolerance for drugs he would have to use the drugs needed to knock out a rancor, and very high doses at that. Which, considering the shape of my heart, may kill me anyway. So I've decided to leave it alone and let what happens, happen. I know that one day my heart will give out and the other won't compensate, and then it will be a very slow end for me, but I'm not going to let that slow me down now," she smiled suddenly, her eyes alive, "I got a lot to live for, and a lot more I want to do, and there is no way my heart is killing me before that happens. And that doesn't mean we've stopped looking for a way to fix my heart. Maybe we'll figure it out one day, and I can live as long as I want or longer than expected. Tristan hasn't stopped looking for a way, and neither have I. Maybe one day, we'll figure it out."

"I see," Dr. Boll said quietly, while Kit only shook his head and said quietly, "You and your brother are going to age us before our time, with all the stress that has come from raising you and keeping you alive."

Ava only smiled thinly at that while Avery said quietly, "And you still have to raise our sisters."

Kit shut his eyes for a moment when he heard that, while Mace asked, "Sisters? You have another sibling other than Lorelei?"

Ava exchanged a glance with her brother before looking at her father, who raised his head and nodded before going back to R6. Ava sighed before saying, "The girl I found on Jakku? Rey?" seeing Mace's nod, she continued, "Her mother is our distant cousin," nodding at Avery, "Her family was exiled from a Mandalorian clan, but the blood ties remain for us. And for our mother," she glanced at her brother then, "Her mother reached out to us and said she needed help. I met her in a Dark tavern on Pasher," seeing the look Mace shot her she added, "Dark taverns are safer for us than you think. Everyone who frequents them knows they will have to deal with the Fisto brothers if they try anything with us. It's only criminals like Jabba that won't leave us alone. Anyway, I met Rey's parents on Pasher, and they said they were being followed, and those following them wanted Rey. They asked me to find her and get her somewhere safe. Sith entered the tavern then, and there was a bit of a scuffle," a light entering her eyes saying she was responsible for that "scuffle", and then she said, "We were able to get out of the tavern, but Rey's parents stayed behind to distract the Sith. They knew it would be the end of them, but they didn't want Sidious getting her."

"Why?" Saessee asked, "What made her so special Sidious wanted her?"

Ava was silent as she stared at him briefly before looking at her brother. Her brother only shook his head, and then she turned to her father, who looked at her and nodded. She sighed then, "Rey's name is Rey Palpatine. She's Sidious' granddaughter."

The silence this time was more shocked than before, but it was finally broken by Yoda asking, "Force-sensitive, she is?"

"Very," Ava nodded as she turned to him, "She's a dyad. Our sister is the other half of that dyad. If I hadn't gotten involved Ben Solo, Skywalker's grandson, would have been the other half. Her father was Sidious' son, but nothing like him. He didn't want his daughter growing into something terrible and asked us to keep her safe. Now that they're gone, we're keeping her until she's grown enough to make her own decisions. So, as far as we're concerned, she's our sister."

Yoda nodded slowly before turning to Kit, who raised his head and said, "I was in a coma during all of this, but agreed when I came out of it and could think straight. As far as I'm concerned, I have another daughter to raise."

Yoda nodded again but then turned to Ava as she said quietly, "Old-breed Nautolans, and Mandalorians, are protective of anyone they regard as their own. Especially old-breeds; if you're claimed as one of them or a child of them, they will protect you. Old-breeds are some of the best parents in the galaxy, especially if they decide to be your parent. They are protective, caring, and will love and look after you with everything they've got, no matter what it costs them. The instinct to protect and love is so strong it can't be denied or ignored, and can result in death. That's why old-breed children are taught independence from the start; it gives their parents a chance to survive as well while being the amazing parents and protectors that they are. Rey's parents knew this and knew that as long as Santiana accepted her as one of the clan, Rey would be protected by a clan of warriors more skilled than Sith could ever hope to be. That's why they reached out to me; they were hoping the Phoenix would know how to get in touch with the clan and protect their daughter at the same time. One of Sidious's many mistakes regarding his son was telling him about me; he was hoping his son would hunt me down and kill me; he didn't expect his son to use that information for something else."

A few Jedi nodded and murmured amongst themselves when they heard that, and that was when Ava turned to Mace and said, "Our mother brought Lorelei here after the fight since she was hoping we'd win. I don't know if that was misplaced optimism or foresight, but it doesn't matter now. Rey stayed behind at Home Base. She wanted to keep Siri company."

"How is Master Tachi?" Obi-Wan asked, and Ava chuckled slightly, "Incredibly put out that we wouldn't bring her along to fight. But she could barely walk; there was no way she could run or fight. She's healing quickly but wouldn't have been ready for this fight. Rey offered to keep her entertained," she raised an eye-ridge then, "And keep her from stealing a ship and coming here. Between her and Myeko, I'm sure Siri is fine."

Obi-Wan chuckled when he heard that, as did a few others who had known Siri when she was younger, and it was quiet for a few minutes as Kit went back to working on R6. As this happened, Obi-Wan had another question, "Bant knew?"

Ava froze a bit before saying, "She did," she looked at Obi-Wan then, "She ran into us while swimming one day. We were with our father, and it was hard to explain. So our father told her what was happening and about the Phoenix Order, and she agreed to the secret. Siri already knew then, so there was no point not telling her. They were closer friends than you think. We were about five at the time; they were a bit older. We became friends, and they even made friends with Avery. Something almost impossible to do," as she glanced at her brother.

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, and it was again silent, seeing from Avery's set mouth and gritted teeth that the answer was likely related to what their mother had told the Council the other day, but that silence was broken by Scorch, who had waited as patiently as he could for a chance to bring the conversation to his favorite topic: explosives. He ignored his brothers, who were not-so-subtly signaling him to stay quiet, and turned to Ava and asked nonchalantly, "So you worked explosives when you served?" when Ava nodded, he cracked a grin and asked, "Ever blow up anything major?"

Ava raised an eye-ridge before saying, "My job, usually, was Bomb Squad, disabling bombs. But to take apart an improvised explosive device, or IED, you have to know how to put them together. I only put together explosives when I knew I needed to, and because of my Black Ops team's work, we couldn't rely on or use explosives that could be tracked. I had to become a chemist and make explosives from household cleaners and chemicals you usually find under the kitchen sink. Those came with their own risks; mix the chemicals wrong and smears of you are being cleaned off the walls of a building a few miles away."

Scorch looked somewhat impressed at her skill with explosives since she was making them from scratch, but still circled back to his other question, "Did you ever blow anything big up?"

Ava didn't say anything, and surprisingly, her father answered the question, "Yes, she did. When she was twelve."

"Twelve?!" Padmé asked in surprise, while Ava only glared at her father, but he refused to look at her as he worked on R6. After a few seconds, the half-Nautolan stopped glaring at her father and turned to Padmé, "I was always interested in science and math, but the teachers at the school we were going to held me back and wouldn't let me be as smart as I could be. Well….one of them didn't. He let my brother and I work on stuff that university students in their thirties were taught, and we weren't even fifteen yet. But if you ever go to that school, you probably won't notice the sports arena next to it."

Padmé shook her head when she heard that, while Scorch asked, "Wait, so you and your brother burned down a stadium?"

"Well, technically it wasn't a fire," Ava said by way of explanation and a bit hesitantly, "It was more like a small nuclear meltdown."

Scorch's eyes looked in danger of popping out of his head, while others in the room were similarly surprised. The only one who wasn't surprised was Kit, who turned to his daughter and said something in their language. She answered but neither translated, and a few moments later, Kit was shaking his head and turning back to R6. As this happened, Scorch changed the subject and asked, "I know how Bomb squads work. Ever have a long day?"

"Yeah," Ava said, "There is an area of that planet, called the Middle East, where conflict is common because of the natural resources there and the fact that extremists from the countries there have attacked the government Gibbs and I work for, along with others that promote democracy. In one of those Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan, there is a city called Gardez. One day, the base I was stationed at got reports of IEDs all over the city. So command sent in bomb squads to find them and disarm them. These weren't run-of-the-mill IEDs you could build with a model toy set; they were some of the most complex ones I have ever seen. It was a ten-minute disarm for each one, sometimes longer if there were two chronos instead of one. That day came to be called the Day of a Thousand IEDs, but there were a lot more than a thousand. It was 96 hours long for me, from the first report to the last bomb being disarmed."

"96 hours?" Scorch asked in surprise, wondering how that was possible, and Ava nodded. He asked then, "How many did you disarm?"

Ava smiled slightly, "Set a company record that day that still hasn't been broken as far as I know: 493 IEDs. There were over 1,500 in the city, but the Day of 1,500 IEDs doesn't sound as poetic as the Day of a Thousand IEDs. The one running theme was that they were all made by the same bomb maker."

"How do you know?" Scorch asked, genuinely curious and wanting to learn more, as were a few others in the room. Ava cocked her head then as she said, "Bomb makers have their own signatures, their own unique way of making bombs. This bomb maker had a habit of hiding one bomb with another; disarming one triggered the other. And I've seen his work before, in other conflict zones I'd been in. He's called the Ghost, because no one knows his identity or even what he looks like. Gardez was him showing off, and the worst part was that he was in the city while we were, setting up bombs."

"How do you know?" Sev asked, and Ava turned to him, "Because I saw him and the guys with him pretending to be bomb squad. They were dressed as us, so we thought they were us. We left them, and a few minutes later the bomb they were setting up went off, killing 4 adults and 9 children. At the time, I thought it was because they missed one, but I know better now," she cocked her head then, "Most EOD techs don't remember any of the bombs they disarm, but we have a habit of remembering the ones we miss. I remember that one and another that went off the next week."

"Why do you remember that one?" Boss asked, and Ava turned to him, "It killed my CO."

Hearing that was a surprise, and that was when Ava said quietly, "I learned through a contact of mine afterward that the Ghost had decided I needed to be put out of commission, permanently. I was too good at disarming his bombs, not to mention I was always learning from his bombs as I was disarming them. Because of my memory and skill with chemistry, I could chemically disarm bombs as well. So he rigged a house in Gardez to blow and sent us a tip to go there. So we did, myself and my CO. He was the one who trained me to disarm bombs, and he was the best. Everyone wanted him to teach them, but he taught me. He only took one student at a time, and we were working together that day. He went in first, but that was before we knew the Ghost liked to hide one bomb with another. So while my CO found the bomb he stepped on, he missed the one hidden in the ceiling. My radio conked out then, so I missed what he was saying when the bomb blew. The military uses robots to disarm bombs when they can, just to keep us safe. Ours decided to go on vacation between the base and the house, and my CO had me stay outside to fix it. He went in, and that was when his comms died. Didn't know what he was saying for a long time, until I tracked down one of the Ghost's workshops. He liked to record videos of his bombs going off and killing EOD techs. He had one of my CO being killed and others of me disarming some of his more complicated bombs over the years. He wanted to kill me but killed my CO instead and guaranteed I would never stop looking for him."

"You want revenge," Obi-Wan said, and Ava stared at him before saying, "Partially. I'm watching my CO's daughter grow up now that he can't, and he never got to meet her. But I'm obsessive, and I know the Ghost has hurt more people than I can think of or even know. I would like some measure of justice for them. But I also know I need to be careful; he may be motivated by money now, but his earlier bombings were all political. That makes him even more dangerous because his mentality isn't based on anything other than making things blow up."

Mace suddenly asked, "What do you mean by obsessive?"

Ava smiled thinly as she turned to him, saying, "I've been hunting him for fourteen years, and I won't stop until I find him. It's not because I want revenge, not fully, but because I was raised by Gibbs as much as my family. He was the first person we met on that planet, and I've stuck by him ever since. He lives by a set of rules, one of which, rule 45, is Clean up your mess. My mess, that time, was letting the Ghost get away. I've got every intention of cleaning that mess up, and one day I will."

Mace shook his head when he heard that, while Obi-Wan asked, "You said rules?"

"Some of them are pretty basic and used for everyday life," Avery said quietly, "Rule number 9 is Never go anywhere without a knife," he smiled thinly at that, "I think you've heard that one."

"We have," Obi-Wan said carefully, remembering that moment before Raojull Gon was killed. Ava smiled thinly before pulling out a large black knife from a sheath on her back. It had a heavy grip and serrations near it and was curved towards the end, and was almost six inches long. Delta squad was impressed by it; Sev whistling under his breath while Boss raised an eyebrow at it as Ava said, "Marine-issued tactical knife, also called a Ka-bar. Most don't have the serrations, but I special-ordered mine. It's also made of metals I'm not allergic to that won't set off a metal detector," she smiled slightly, "It drives people that work security nuts, but I don't really care. Rule 9 has saved my life more than once, so I keep it close," as she sheathed the knife, "There are a few others that can be applied to life: rule 23 is never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live," she grinned suddenly, "Good thing I don't drink coffee."

"You already bounce off the walls most days," Kit said quietly without looking up, "The last thing you need is caffeine."

Ava only glanced at him before saying slyly, "Rule 12 is never date a coworker. I think you broke that one," making her father duck his head and keep working. Obi-Wan chuckled slightly at that, as did a few others, at the sight of Ava putting her father in his place. Ava continued, her smile fading as she said, "Rule 10 is never get personally involved in a case, but I've been trying to get Gibbs to burn that one. He always gets personally involved in every case, even when he says he doesn't. He's the universe's biggest hypocrite in that sense."

"Any other rules that could be of interest?" Obi-Wan asked, more amused than anything else, and Ava thought for a moment before saying, "Not really. There are 69 of them, but they have their own categories. Rules 1 through…." she stopped a moment to think, "….39 are for everyday use. Rules 40 through 50 are for extreme emergencies. Rule 40 is if it seems like someone's out to get you, they are," she smiled slightly, "That one has kept me alive a lot, especially over the last few years. And rules 51 to 69 are mostly for this galaxy, even though I think rule 62 could apply to both: Always give people space when they get off a lift. In this galaxy, it's because you never know when they'll start waving a lightsaber around; in that galaxy, you never know when a fist will come flying at someone on the lift with you. It's better than being sucker-punched in the face."

"Isn't that one of Gibbs's rules also?" Avery asked as he turned to his sister, and she had to think before saying, "Almost; I think it's "never accept an apology from someone who just sucker-punched you." I'll have to ask Gibbs on that one. It's hard to keep them all straight, although the ones in the teens are easier to remember, mostly because rule 13 is never involve lawyers, and rule 14 is bend the line, don't break it. I think rules 15 through 18 also involve lawyers, but number 13 is a good one to remember in general. If you remember that one, the others aren't as important."

"And the Phoenix Order has applied rule 4 liberally over the millennia," Kit said quietly, sounding more amused than anything else. Seeing Yoda look at him curiously, he said quietly, "Best way to keep a secret: keep it to yourself. Second best, tell one other person – if you must. There is no third best," he cocked an eye-ridge then, "Although I think the Phoenix Order has told more than a few people over the years, just no one in a position to stop them from their work."

"Do any of those rules mention getting out of binders?" Anakin asked in amusement, making Ava snort in laughter while Avery smiled thinly. Kit shook his head as he looked over his shoulder at the younger Jedi, "No, that's a trick my brothers know. Binders haven't changed much in design over the millennia, and we were all taught how to get out of them before we were five. Rayla taught me since the Geàrd also knows it, which was how I freed myself. The guards outside the cell didn't have the key, but that has never been a problem. Ava used the same trick on Zygerria to get out of her binders. My brothers have used the same tricks over the years to get out as well."

"We're all expert lock-pickers," Ava said quietly, "No matter what form the lock comes in. It's just a skill we never used much. Breaking and entering is also a skill my brother and I refined over the last few years, with some help from our uncles," nodding at Kailan, "He's a good teacher, even when he isn't talking, and even when he decides not to take a job. He's been really good at teaching us how to say 'no' to a few things that may have been more than we could handle when we were younger."

A few Jedi looked at the bounty hunter, but he only raised an eye-ridge before rasping quietly, "Sidious wanted me to break into the Temple and steal the holocron. Turning him down was harder than I thought, and I had to lie that I was busy. I almost did it, but Kit was missing at the time, and I wasn't really in the right mindset for something as complicated or dangerous as that. And I wasn't sure how to explain my being there when Kit was missing. And if I was seen and then Kit was found, I didn't want to put him in the position of explaining his twin brother being a bounty hunter and that he had known it for a long time. I don't have Ava or Tivann's ability to alter memories. Besides," with a glance at his brother, "I was told off for doing it before and almost getting caught when we were younger. I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off again, or what I would do if I was caught," he shrugged then, "Better Bane's neck than mine, I guess."

Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that, realizing even more how protective his siblings were of Kit, but then a thought came to mind and he turned to Quinlan Vos, who had been silent the entire time as Ava and her family explained and filled in the gaps of the last few years, "Did you know Ky Lan was Kit's brother?"

"No," Quinlan said, "I knew he had brothers, but I didn't know one of them was his twin. He was careful not to mention or even name them that often, so I never knew much. I didn't make the connection until Ava made it for me that day. Even though they are part of the Phoenix, there was always a bit of mystery around them, and I know that was because that was how they wanted it. I decided not to ask questions; I figured I would learn the answers eventually. I knew they were dangerous though; Kit always stressed that," he grinned suddenly, "He also stressed not to push them into a fight, not even for fun or practice. He knows his brothers don't fight for fun or practice; they fight to survive and don't hold back. They 'practice' every time they fight, and since they always win, you know they're too dangerous to mess with. If they lose a fight, they're dead and they know it, so holding back isn't something they'll do."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, then turned to Kailan and asked, "Were we seeing things on Glee Anselm with those ghosts? Or were they real?"

"My abilities with the Force don't cover making the dead show themselves, if that's what you're asking," Kailan rasped, "They were real. The lone one at the end was Avalonia," Obi-Wan's memory instantly trying to remember what she looked like but not having much luck, and could only turn back to what Kailan was saying, "Many think she still walks Glee Anselm because she isn't at peace. No one knows what happened to her body, just as no one knows what happened to Laurentia's. When the clan went to find it to bury her, her body was gone. Some of the clan believe their bodies were taken and defiled before they were destroyed, just so their resting places wouldn't become martyr sites for the clan and others. Maybe they're both wandering Glee Anselm looking for peace they've been denied, and we've never seen Laurentia. Or maybe her spirit is at rest because Dhiren was buried in the clan's old territory, but Avalonia can't find that same peace for whatever reason."

"We've only been to Glee Anselm once and didn't see any ghosts then," Ava added quietly, "And that was to retrieve the stones for our bracelets. I found the stones for these necklaces there as well," nodding down at the one around her neck, "I found four of them, actually," but that was all she said on the subject.

"You've been to Glee Anselm?" Mace asked, wondering why she would go there when it had been explained that it was too dangerous for her many times.

Ava nodded, "There was the desire, among some of the elders, for my brother and I to be raised on Glee Anselm. But the fact we probably wouldn't have lived past our first birthday was well-accepted, and that idea was quickly abandoned. But there were a few rites of passage we wanted to be part of, and that required going to Glee Anselm. The stones were one; fighting the waterfire dragon was another. We both survived that test," nodding at her brother.

"Take the test, you did?" Yoda asked his old Padawan, and Kit froze a moment before looking up and nodding at his old master. He said quietly, "The waterfire dragon walked away from that fight, as did I. The only thing that got hurt was my back; I threw myself into a wall to avoid getting burned by its fire. It's the only creature I know that can breathe fire underwater."

Yoda shook his head when he heard that but left it alone to watch as Kit kept looking through R6 for the evidence, but not having much luck. After a few more minutes, he seemed to admit defeat because he looked up at the twins and asked, "Where did you two hide the evidence?"

Ava only said, "Inside R6," surprising those in the room, especially Tarkin and Thrawn as they entered the room. The two captains had been coordinating the Republic's response to various surprise attacks from the Separatists, but those attacks had suddenly stopped a few hours ago as the Separatist fleet withdrew from contested space. No one knew what was happening, so the two captains had decided to return to the Temple and see what the fallout would be. And see if they needed to go on the run for their more secretive roles in the war.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tarkin asked and was rewarded with Ava and her brother ignoring him completely. It seemed they were taking after the rest of their family when it came to Tarkin since Avery glared at the captain quietly while Ava just stared straight ahead. Neither would give him a direct answer, much less the time of day. Seeing this, Tarkin's eyes narrowed, but then Padmé asked, "Is this one of those 'never underestimate a droid moments,' Ava?"

Ava turned to her with a slight smile and a wicked glint in her eyes, and Padmé shook her head before turning to Kit and saying, "These two are nothing but trouble. Didn't you teach them anything about manners and respect?" but there was laughter in her voice when she said that.

"I tried," Kit said as he looked over his shoulder at her, "But they never listen. They decided to stop listening to me a long time ago."

"Explains a lot," Chuchi muttered quietly as Bail chuckled slightly. Ava glared at them, but there was no malice behind it as Chuchi asked, "What were you doing on Orto Plutonia while we were there?"

Ava cocked an eye-ridge, "Aside from asking you to get information from the Trade Federation ship when you had the chance?" as Lott Dodd and a few other representatives from the Banking Clan, Trade Federation, and Techno Union entered the room to see what was going to happen. They were surprised to hear that, but Ava smiled and said, "I was there for some fun. I had no intention of this being an all-work and no-play few years of my life. I went there to go snowboarding down the mountains there. The snow was perfect for it."

"I'm surprised we didn't see you," Obi-Wan said mildly, but there wasn't a lot of surprise if he was being honest with himself. After hearing so much about her that day, he wasn't surprised that Avalaur Fisto would find it fun to risk her life in such a way on such a cold planet.

"You wouldn't have seen me unless I wanted you to," Ava said, "And I wasn't there for you; I was there for fun. Snowboarding a mountain is like surfing a wave; the wipeout is just as bad. But I didn't wipe out that day, I just accidentally set off an avalanche," she cocked her head then, "Still not sure how I pulled that off, though, since I'm pretty sure I didn't sneeze or make a noise that could have set off an avalanche," she shrugged suddenly, "Oh well."

Seeing Lott Dod there, she asked nonchalantly, "You kidnap the child of another world leader anytime recently?"

"What?" Obi-Wan asked in surprise, and Ava nodded without taking her eyes off the Neimodian, who was speechless, her eyes suddenly intense and focused, "You didn't know that, Master Kenobi? He had his goons abduct the daughters of Chairman Papanoida to force him to leave the Republic and join the Separatists. Luckily, Ahsoka and Chuchi figured it out and got them back."

"Slanderous!" Lott Dod exclaimed, finding his voice finally, "We did no such thing!"

"I was on that ship," Ava said calmly, "I was there when Ahsoka and Chuchi found one of the Chairman's daughters. I also 'borrowed' the security feed recordings showing you bringing her onboard."

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Lott Dod said, trying to find a way out, "We had a deal not to mention the entire incident."

"Your deal was with Pantora and Senator Chuchi," Ava said quietly, "I'm under no such bounds. I've already turned the recordings over to the police. Anonymously, of course. Have fun talking your way out of that. And….considering everything else you'll have to deal with soon, kidnapping charges will be the least of your problems."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lott Dod snapped, and Ava smiled slightly before saying, "You'll see soon enough," as she went back to watching her father work on his droid. A few minutes later, Kit shook his head and looked at her, to which she said, "It's inside R6."

"No, it isn't," Kit said, "It's not anywhere in his memory banks."

Ava raised an eye-ridge before looking at her brother. Avery looked at her before they turned to their father, Avery's lips twitching slightly. Ava stared at her father for a few moments longer before she finally cracked and said, "Paranoid slicers hide their stuff offline," she cocked her head then, "And I think you know my brother and I are the definition of paranoid."

Kit stared at her before shaking his head and reaching into his utility belt. He pulled out a few tools and started taking the paneling off the front of R6. After a few moments, he looked up and said, "You two could help, you know."

"We could," Ava agreed, "But R6 knows we wipe his memory every time we take him apart and doesn't let us get near with tools now. And I don't think you want to spend an hour chasing him around the room."

Kit shook his head when he heard that while R6 swiveled his head around and beeped at Ava. Ava only listened before saying, "This is the last time, I promise, R6."

R6 apparently didn't believe her since he thrummed his gears, but that was all as Padmé asked, "Why did you hide the evidence inside R6?"

Ava shrugged, "Last place anyone would think to look for it," she looked at Padmé then, "Never underestimate a droid. Especially this droid," nodding at R6, "If it weren't for him, the Conspiracy wouldn't have the evidence it needed to prove Palpatine was a Sith Lord. If you don't give droids a lot of credit, then you never once think one of them could be hiding something as important as evidence inside them."

Padmé shook her head when she heard that, and a few minutes later, another droid entered the room. It was Artoo, followed by Threepio, and the second Ava saw them, she smiled and said, "Have you been behaving yourself, little one?"

Artoo's dome spun around so fast Ahsoka thought it would fall off, and he stared at her for several long moments before suddenly racing over to her, running over Rex's foot, making him almost curse, nearly running a few Jedi over and beeping excitedly all the while. He almost hit the stairs but stopped himself in time, still beeping and whistling, and Ava listened in amusement as she pet the top of his dome. After a few more minutes of this, Kit looked up and said, "I don't think I've seen a droid that happy to see anyone in my entire life. I think he missed you," raising an eye-ridge in amusement before going back to R6.

Ava shrugged but said nothing as Artoo continued to talk to her. After a few more minutes, he ran out of things to say and Ava was able to look at Padmé, "Thanks for taking care of him for me. It was hard leaving him behind."

"You did a good job building him," Padmé said, "I don't think I've ever met a more resourceful and creative droid, not to mention loyal. He certainly takes after you."

Ava smiled slightly, turning to Anakin as he asked, "Artoo was your droid?" clearly unable to believe it.

Ava nodded, her eyes sad when she said, "Built him from scratch. Programmed him, too. When we had to leave Naboo, I had to leave him behind and ask Padmé to take care of him. Events led him to you, it seems. I saw him on Tatooine a few years later, during a very memorable pod race, and he seemed happy, so I didn't try and take him back then. I'm glad you didn't erase his memory banks; that would have definitely changed his personality and made it harder for him to know me."

"That's why you never wanted to know what was going on with our units," Rex realized, "You had a source in them already."

"Not intentionally," Ava said as she turned to the captain, "Artoo wasn't a spy for me, and I've been careful to make sure he's never seen me the entire time. I almost wanted to get involved when Grievous held him at that spy station, but I had some faith in him getting himself out of that mess. He's definitely one of the more inventive droids I've met. Not to mention feisty. I was on the junk trader's ship when he was being brought to the spy station, looking for parts. It was amusing watching Artoo get the better of the dealer and the assassin droids there."

"You were looking for parts?" Rex asked, not quite believing her, and Ava's smile widened a bit more before saying, "Yes. Parts on junk ships have a pretty good price tag if they're stolen, namely free if you get the dealer in the right mood, and I was also looking for an assassin droid. I wanted to reprogram it for different tasks and was able to do so."

"I'm surprised it didn't show up to help out in the Temple," Anakin said nonchalantly, and Ava snorted, "Blame Ventress for that. When I brought her to Home Base, I forgot to tell her about the droid and how I'd reprogrammed him, so she went a little lightsaber crazy on him."

"What does that mean?" Rex asked, leaving Ava to smile slightly and say, "She sliced and diced him into so many pieces even I couldn't put them back together. I'm going to have to get another one when I have a minute. Luckily I saved the reprogramming program I wrote and can do it quickly. The first time I did it, it took me two months to get that droid programmed. Oh well," she said with a shrug, "I probably would have been more upset if she'd damaged Artoo. His programming was a bit of an accident; there was a bit of a glitch when I was programming him that made him much braver than I thought he would be, not to mention giving him some free will to think creatively. And made him a lot smarter. That mission that ended with that….unexpected….landing on Abafar probably would have ended fine because Artoo was there," she turned to Anakin, "Now you have two things of mine: Artoo and the Twilight. Luckily for you, I don't want the Twilight now, but I hope you'll allow it if Artoo wants to come with me. I've missed having him around."

"The Twilight is yours?" Anakin asked in surprise, and Ava nodded towards her brother before saying, "We saved up every credit we had at the time to buy it. Our parents and relatives weren't going to buy it for us. They've made sure we worked for everything we wanted in life. After we got it, we modified it a bit to make it more comfortable and added a few more weapons with our uncle's help. It was stolen by pirates, who then sold it to some smugglers. They lost it to some other smugglers, who lost it to the Separatists, which is when you got it. Luckily, those modifications are in a hidden partition of the Twilight's computer; otherwise, they would have been used by now. Probably against Jedi."

"Then how come Artoo never found it or the partition?" Obi-Wan asked, and Ava snorted slightly, "Did he ever short out when he was plugged into the Twilight's computer?"

Obi-Wan nodded, and Ava chuckled slightly, "Then he found it. The computer's programmed only to let R1 and R6 have access to that partition. Any other droid tries and they get fried. I might give Artoo access; I haven't really decided yet."

Obi-Wan shook his head while Anakin said, "If Artoo wants to go with you, I won't stop him. It seems like he's way too happy to see you," as the droid settled near her and refused to leave, while Obi-Wan started wondering if his old Padawan had finally learned how to let go.

Ava slightly smiled when she heard that, leaving Anakin to wonder if they could find common ground and perhaps not be friends but something close to it. Ava turned to Ahsoka and said, "I was there when you challenged Grievous. You shouldn't have done that," Ahsoka ducking her head slightly when she heard the censure in her voice, "Grievous is a challenge for a Jedi Master; you shouldn't have taken him on by yourself. I was tempted to show myself and help with that fight, but luckily you knew when it was time to retreat. Now you would have a better chance, but back then, that was a risk you shouldn't have even thought about. Nothing stopped him from killing you other than the fact that you were faster than him, but not by much. His modifications aren't just bodily."

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked, and Ava turned to him, "Grievous was shot down by Dooku, who sabotaged his shuttle, and then he and Sidious turned him into a cyborg. But they also implanted microchips into his brain to make him easier to manipulate and more open to their orders. That was done without his knowledge. Those implants made him more reactive and quicker with his reflexes, putting him on a level close to a Jedi, which was why he was able to kill so many. And his hatred of the Republic and the Jedi guaranteed he would be the most useful pawn in Dooku's army," she cocked her head then, "Can't help but feel a bit sorry for the guy, even after what he did to our father. Things would have turned out very differently for him if Dooku hadn't sabotaged him."

Obi-Wan shook his head, somewhat surprised at the level of compassion Ava had for Grievous, while Tarkin suddenly asked, "Why didn't you free your father from Grievous and Dooku? That seems like something you should do as his daughter and the Phoenix."

"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do!" she snapped at him, eyes and voice hard, "You don't know anything about me!" glaring at him and the Dark Side welling inside of her so quickly a few of the younger Jedi felt physically sick. It stayed inside her for several long moments before she settled and said in a hard voice, "Don't think you know me, Tarkin. I wanted to free him, but I wasn't ready for the Jedi to know about me when he was taken. And there are some things the Force won't let me do, and it is one of the few things in this galaxy with a will stronger than mine. So when it won't let me rescue my father, I can do nothing about it. Every time I tried, I was turned away or something stopped me from going after him. I know now that there was a lesson it wanted me to learn, but I'm not interested in sharing with you what it was. And there was the advantage of knowing what the Monarchy was up to when they secretly aligned themselves with Dooku. If they gave him me, he would have given them our father. I had already patched into Separatist transmissions to stay ahead of them; having that communication allowed me to put a rat in the palace's communication center and listen in on their conversations with their operatives. We've been able to get our people out of harm's way more easily now. And I knew the Jedi wouldn't have let him stay prisoner for long, even though it felt like a long time for us. We had to keep lying to Lorelei until he was rescued."

"That explains that one recording from your lightsaber," Tarkin muttered under his breath, making Kit turn and stare at him, which was when the captain explained, "There was a recording that was made after you were rescued that didn't make any sense to me in the grand scheme of things. And I didn't see it until a few days ago when I went back through the recordings and saw Sundali Abazza for the first time. It happened a few days after you were rescued. I believe you were in Chancellor Amidala's apartments?" daring the Nautolan to deny it.

But Kit only said quietly, "I have nothing to hide now, Tarkin, and I think everyone in this room knows I have children. Why must what happened between me and my mate be a problem for anyone here? You never saw anything inappropriate."

Tarkin stared at him while Padmé said quietly, "We were there," nodding at those with her, "I've never been more glad to see an old friend, especially after what he'd been through. If you want to show the holovideo, it is fine by us."

Tarkin glanced at her but put it up on the holotable, revealing the scene right after Kit was rescued:

Kit was walking down a hallway in the Chancellor's apartments and smiled slightly as he passed Threepio, powered down. He kept walking, a definite limp in his step and having to stop for a brief moment with his hand on the wall to rest before continuing, and a few moments later, walked out onto the balcony where Padmé, Bail Organa, Riyo Chuchi, Onaconda Farr, and Mon Mothma were sitting. He smiled when he saw them and asked quietly, "Is this a political gathering, or can any join?"

Five heads whipped around in surprise, not expecting him to be there, but suddenly Padmé smiled and exclaimed with relief, "Kit!" rushing over and surprising him by hugging him. He reacted instinctively and embraced her back, feeling quite a bit of anxiety and fear melt out of her when he did so, and she squeezed harder. Unfortunately, doing so put painful pressure on his ribs, and he drew in a quick breath that Padmé heard and made her immediately let go, "I'm so sorry!" she said in a panic, not wanting to hurt him even more.

"It's alright, Padmé," Kit said as she led him over to the others, "My ribs are still tender; they need some more time to heal," smiling at all those gathered there, "but it is good to see you all again."

"And you, my friend," Bail said, "You had us all worried for a long time. We thought things would fall apart without you. I'm glad they didn't."

"As am I," Kit said as he slowly lowered himself onto a nearby settee, clearly still sore on his leg, "But I have faith that this won't fall apart because someone goes missing, and I'm glad that faith wasn't misplaced," seeing the way they were looking at him and more specifically his lightsaber he said, "At this point, it seems there is a traitor of some kind in our organization, so we will need to take precautions while we root them out. And with a few things, I will still insist on secrecy to protect a few that need to be protected."

"We know what you mean, Master Jedi, and they have stayed safe the entire time you were missing. The fact no one knew where they were or even who they were has helped as well," Onaconda said, "But the Jedi now have an interest in finding our friend and are committing a task force to do so. I don't think they will let her go that easily," Chuchi and Mon Mothma nodded.

Kit only smiled slightly, "That's part of her plan, I'm afraid. The last few years have been about putting her pieces on the board so that no one notices, and now she is ready to play. She hasn't reached out since I was rescued, and at this point, she won't until she is ready to include us again. What plans she has in the future, I don't know for the most part, but we will need to be ready for whatever comes next, and I have no idea what that will be."

"Well, I do," Padmé said suddenly. The others turned to her, "You stay and heal, Kit, and then go back to helping our friend. For now, though, there is someone who has been waiting to see you for a long time," smiling as she looked over Kit's shoulder, the Nautolan and the others looking as well, knowing it wasn't the half-Nautolan. Kit, drawing in a breath of surprise caught their attention, and they all watched as he stood up as quickly as he could with Bail's help before handing his lightsaber to Padmé, who smiled as she took it. The senators watched as the Jedi limped over to those waiting for him as quickly as possible.

Apparently, the lightsaber bug's range was a bit farther than any of them had thought because Sundali and a younger Lorelei were waiting there, Sundali holding the young girl. Kit stared at them for a long moment, both staring at him. Sundali was staring at him in relief, while Lorelei just looked scared like this was a dream that couldn't be true. Kit stared back at them for several moments before suddenly pulling Sundali into his arm since the other was still in a sling. Sundali could barely keep herself from crying as she was held in his embrace; her embracing him as their daughter wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as tight as her three-year-old body would let her.

After a few seconds, they were able to pull apart but still stayed holding hands, and then Kit was placing a gentle kiss on his daughter's forehead before doing the same with Sundali, resting his forehead against hers after and just holding her close, a tear leaking out of his eye a moment later. They left the room after that, while the senators watched what was happening for a few moments longer before heading farther out onto the balcony, Padmé still holding Kit's lightsaber, to let Kit reunite with those that had waited so long for him. They were soon really out of range of the bug, and that was when the holovideo ended.

Kit looked at Tarkin then and asked, "I don't think there is anything wrong with that, do you?" before turning back to R6, making Tarkin scowl, while Padmé said, "There was more wrong in the fact your lightsaber was bugged in the first place. That shouldn't have happened."

"It is alright, Chancellor," Kit said quietly, "I'm used to my every move being watched. If it wasn't Sidious, it was either my brothers and clan or the Monarchy. You get used to it after a while and learn how to adjust. And avoid being watched when you don't want to be. I'm sure I frustrated Tarkin and Sidious to no end whenever I left my lightsaber behind. At least I know my way around other weapons; my brothers ensured that. It made rescuing Mina Bonteri a bit easier. Those bounty hunters and droids weren't expecting me to have a blaster, but I knew if I used my lightsaber, Dooku would use that to say a Jedi had killed Mina. We couldn't reveal she was alive without putting her in danger," saying nothing more on the subject as he returned to R6.

At the same time, the Jedi decided to leave it alone and turn their attention back to what Avalaur and Avery had been up to over the last few years, with Aayla asking, "You mentioned Tatooine. We know you've been there before. What were you doing each time you were there?"

Ava's eyes and voice became thoughtful as she recalled the past, her hand still resting lightly on Artoo, who was incredibly content to be with her, and she finally said, "When Mando brought Grogu there and came back with that krayt dragon meat, I was there to settle a debt. I owed some Tuskens in the area and they asked for my help to kill the dragon so it would stop eating them and their banthas. I went as a Mandalorian because I knew it would take something drastic and/or crazy to kill it. I didn't want to kill it, but it was threatening Mos Pelgo and the Tuskens. It also had a taste for their banthas, and they were worried it might take out the school or something else. In the end, I had it swallow me and a bantha with a lot of explosives packed on it. My armor protected me so I could shoot my way out and blow it up from the inside. The Tuskens were glad to have the meat, and we were able to negotiate a peace between them and Mos Pelgo that's held true up to now. I might check in on them soon and see how it's going. I got some dragon meat out of it as well, and the clones were very interested in everything I made out of it. I was able to feed Home Base for two weeks off that meat, with different dishes every night."

Aayla shook her head when she heard that, while Ava suddenly smiled slightly and said, "Then another time we went there," nodding at her brother, "was right in time for a very interesting pod race," she turned to Skywalker then, a teasing light in her eyes, "You owe me some credits. I thought you would crash and burn during that race, but Avery thought you had a decent chance. I didn't think anyone would have a chance with Sebulba in the race, but I guess I was wrong."

Anakin actually laughed when he heard that, while Obi-Wan and Mace exchanged an amused glance. A few moments later, Ava said laughingly, "After you won, we bought the pod and took it to Malastare. We had some fun with it for a while, but then Sebulba went home and cheated during a race we were in and nearly cooked us. Unfortunately, the pod was totaled in that race, so don't ask for it back."

"That pod only fit one person," Anakin said, not understanding why Ava would say both of them were racing the pod, and that was when Kit said, "Don't think about it too much, Skywalker," he looked over his shoulder at the younger Jedi, "Saying it was both of them keeps Sundali and me from figuring out which one was actually racing the pod since we told them they weren't allowed to, and keeps the one actually racing the pod from being punished. It's how twins avoid getting the other in trouble with suspicious parents. I would be remiss if I said my twin and I haven't done the same. Yours will probably do it too when they're old enough," turning back to R6.

Skywalker shook his head when he heard that, while Ava went back to Aayla's original question and said, "We went back one more time to learn the ways of the Tuskens, and the last time was to find Geeta. And I think you know how that ended."

Aayla nodded while Kailan suddenly said, "Since we understand things from such a young age, we can be asked what we want to do in life. So when we asked Lorelei if she wanted to be a Jedi and she said no, we were obligated to honor that and keep her from being one," the Jedi looked at him when he said that, and he continued, "I went and got her because I respected that choice of hers, and I didn't want her anywhere near Tarkin."

"We can still teach her about the Force and being one with it," Kit added quietly before smiling slightly and looking at Ava, "And with the Phoenix for a sister, I'm sure she won't be lacking for teachers."

Ava smiled at that, adding, "When we came to get her, I knocked you out with the Force by forcing my will over yours," turning to those Jedi in question, "but I was gentle about it, knowing it could cause a rather unpleasant headache. I did the same thing on the Ghost, but was in a bit of rush, resulting in a headache, unfortunately," glancing at Adi when she said that.

Adi nodded while Mace asked, "Are you sure she doesn't want to be a Jedi? Or Rey?"

Ava looked almost amused as she asked, "You would bring the granddaughter of a Sith into the ranks of the Jedi?"

"Her family doesn't define who she is," Mace said before suddenly raising an eyebrow of his own, "I think you and your immediate family are proof of that."

Ava smiled slightly while Kit said suddenly, "If Rey wants to, then none of us will stop her. But Lorelei definitely doesn't, and with our family, we have found an interesting middle ground in the Force: the place where we can still have family and attachment without giving in to the Dark Side when either is threatened. We have learned to have those attachments without the fear of the Dark Side if they are in danger."

"A lesson you would do well to learn, Skywalker," Ava said quietly as she looked at the young Jedi, "Your emotions are too raw and dangerous."

Anakin ducked his head when he heard the censure in her voice, knowing she was telling the truth, and that was when Aayla asked, "Why did you save me on Kef Bir? You could have gotten away."

Ava turned to her and stared at her for several long moments, no emotions to be seen anywhere on her face, not even in her eyes, before saying simply, "It was the right thing to do," Aayla looked at her in surprise, but there was no time to ask what that meant as Ava actually started explaining what she meant, "My brother and I were taken surfing for the first time when we were three months old, on Kef Bir, by our father and a few of our uncles. Our mother doesn't know," glancing at her father, who only stared at her emotionlessly, "but I think that's more of a case of not wanting to know, or living in denial. Our father and uncles put us on their backs and started surfing those waves as soon as we got there, and it was more fun than you would think. We were taught how to surf before we really learned how to walk. Glee Anselm doesn't have much in the way of oceans at the south pole, and young old-breeds need to know how to swim rough seas before they can swim the south pole. Kef Bir is the perfect place for such a thing. So they took us there and taught us. But the first rule our father taught us was to always help swimmers in distress. We have a board to float on; they don't. That next amazing wave isn't worth someone's life. And since I was the only one on the moon who knew the currents and where they were taking you and could go as deep as I had to, there was no other choice. My father didn't raise me or teach me it was okay to let people drown when I can do something about it."

"Why were you there anyway?" Obi-Wan asked since it looked like Aayla needed a few minutes to get her head around Ava saving her for such a simple reason, and was rewarded by Ava saying, "It wasn't to hunt Sith, although that was an added bonus if you ask me. We were looking for this," holding out her hand and having a triangular shaped object appear in her hand. It rotated slowly, and Yoda knew what it was.

"A Sith wayfinder, that is," he said quietly, "Lead to Exegol, it does."

"If Exegol still existed, it would," Ava corrected quietly, "It was hidden in the space station on Kef Bir. I wanted it. I could find Exegol without it," closing her hand and having the wayfinder disappear into the Force once more, "It was the first true homeworld of the first Phoenixes, and was an even older world than some others in the galaxy, but I wanted it to be easier for the cruisers we had to get there. There were a lot of hazards out there the cruisers would have been badly equipped to handle; a wayfinder makes it easier for them to get there without getting damaged. There are actually only two left. I have one, my brother has the other. It probably was a good thing we could only get two cruisers, one for each wayfinder. We'll hold onto them for now; I might bring Exegol back as it was one day and want to find the way there as easily as possible. The Force could lead me, but I would rather use the wayfinder. If I can, I'll restore the system too, to make it easier to get there without all those space hazards."

Yoda nodded slowly, and that was when Ava added, "Swimming Kef Bir means you can swim anywhere. I wasn't worried when I was on Kamino because I knew I could handle those currents. I also swam Mon Calamari for fun and for some very interesting cuisine."

"What were you doing on Kamino? And on Mon Calamari?" Cody asked, and Ava smiled slightly and asked, "On Kamino? Other than altering memories?" before her smile faded and she said, "The first time I went there was to pick up a prototype of the device that could short out the inhibitor chips in your heads. I had designed it but had no time to build it, and there were a few specifications about the chips I didn't know. The Kaminoans involved in the Conspiracy knew more and agreed to prototype it for me. Once it was ready, I took it to a company I knew would mass-produce it without letting everyone in the galaxy know. The second time was to sabotage the transmitter that would have sent the signal to the chips. It was hidden under Tipoca City. I guess the Kaminoans didn't think anyone could get to it."

"You did," Shaak said quietly, "And caused some damage with that explosion."

"The Separatists caused more, and Avery was the one who set the charge and made the device. So blame him for that," Ava said somewhat sarcastically while Avery's lips twitched into a slight smile, "And I was able to sabotage the device; I just wasn't sure if it would be enough. I almost didn't get to the device, to be honest. I was almost lunch for a saberjowl that lived near the city. He thought I would make an easy meal. Luckily I can dive deeper than him. The pressure was too much for him."

"How deep can you dive?" Dr. Boll asked, knowing it was very deep for old-breeds if finding food meant diving five miles down for it but still wanting to know how deep she could go.

"Me, personally?" Ava asked. At Dr. Boll's nod, she said, "I can go eight miles before the cold starts to get to me. After another half mile, the pressure starts getting to me. Avery here," nodding at her brother, "can go nine miles," she smiled suddenly, "And this idiot," nodding at her father while Kailan started grinning as well, "can go ten miles."

"Ten miles?!" Dr. Boll exclaimed, shocked, as were a few other Jedi. Ava nodded, "Only one in the clan that can. Everyone else can't handle pressure that intense. Not to mention the cold. There also isn't a lot of oxygen down there, but it's there if you know how to find it."

Dr. Boll stared at her before looking at Kit, who only looked over his shoulder briefly before shrugging and turning back to R6, clearly not thinking it was a big deal. Padmé shook her head when she heard that, saying, "I wish I could be more surprised if I'm being honest. There's a lot of things you can do, Kit, that I don't think anyone else can do. You diving ten miles is probably only the surface of it all."

Kit didn't answer or even look at her, prompting Padmé to shake her head again, which was when Obi-Wan cleared his throat and decided to ask her something to get everyone's attention off Kit since he didn't look all that inclined to talk about anything else at the moment, "How are your children, Chancellor?"

Padmé smiled as she turned to Obi-Wan and said, "Luke keeps us up all night, and Leia is up all day. I have never been more thankful for my handmaids and staff than now. And Anakin has been helping as much as he can."

Anakin blushed when he heard that, while Obi-Wan nodded with a smile before Padmé turned to Kit and said, "You've raised your twins into good people, at least in my opinion," Kit staring at her expressionlessly while Ava turned to her with a cocked head and raised eye-ridge while Avery's stony expression became a little less stony, "How did you do it? Do you have any advice?"

Kit looked at her before saying, "Keep them away from anything they can fall or jump off of, unless you're ready to catch them before they hit the bottom."

Padmé didn't understand what he meant by that, and neither did anyone else, but Ava clearly did since she said, "It was an accident."

Kit wasn't falling for it, though, as he turned to look at her, "An accident is supposedly what you did to Gibbs' garden shed when you were thirteen, even though I highly doubt that. This wasn't an accident."

"And what is 'this'?" Bail asked amusedly, and Kit only said, "Falling over the side of the landing platform at the monastery on Teth. Somebody," glaring at his daughter now, "had the nerve to ask if we could do it again when we got to the bottom. Never mind the fact we'd barely survived the fall itself."

"It was fun," Ava said with a one-shouldered shrug, "And it was an accident. I misjudged how close I was to the edge. And you caught me and landed us safely before we hit the bottom."

"And took a few years off my life with that stunt," Kit muttered, clearly not believing her, and that was when he turned to Padmé, "Keep your children from doing something like that, and you'll all live longer."

Padmé shook her head in amusement while Ava turned to Padmé and Anakin, "The problem with not being afraid of anything?" she paused while Anakin and Padmé exchanged a glance, and she raised an eye-ridge, "You're not afraid of anything. So the instinct telling you to be careful isn't there, and you ignore everything and everyone else saying you should be careful. My best advice is to make sure your children have their natural fear instincts that tell them to be careful around big drops or dangerous animals, and they'll be fine," she suddenly grinned recklessly, "Or don't. We didn't have those instincts growing up and we turned out alright."

Padmé shook her head, "You two are the reason parenting books say don't let your kids out of your sight when they start walking."

Ava grinned again, "We were trouble before we learned how to walk, Padmé," laughter clear in her voice, "We were both up and moving as soon as we could. That's how it is with old-breeds; the faster you get up and going the less chance you have of being eaten by a predator," she cocked her head then, "or killed by the Monarchy. They can't kill you if you can outrun and out-think them."

Padmé sighed when she heard that, knowing the difficult lives her friends from Glee Anselm lived but knowing there wasn't much she could do about it right now since the Republic was so unstable and that was when Mace said, "I would expect fear is the last thing you would want to feel," as he looked at Ava.

Ava shrugged again, "It isn't something I like to feel, but it has uses. As long as it doesn't control you or your actions, fear is an emotion that all feel as part of their instincts telling them to be careful. It tells you to tread carefully around a rancor or watch out for hidden traps. Or be wary of false promises and lies," glancing at Skywalker when she said that, "I've learned to compartmentalize: I put my fear in a box and shove it into a corner of my mind to deal with later," she raised an eye-ridge, "It's getting a little crowded in that corner," seeing the way Mace was looking at her she added, "I don't always deal with my fear. Sometimes, I just let it sit in my mind, but I don't do it that often anymore. I'll let it sit there for a little while and then look at it from a new perspective, and that helps me understand what caused it in the first place. It's a bit more efficient than just ignoring it and hoping it goes away; that just makes it worse."

Mace shook his head when he heard that, while Ava circled back to the second question Cody had asked, "As for what I was doing on Mon Calamari?" she cocked her head then and said, "Aside from giving King Lee-Char my support and help in fighting for his people and world, it was to see my father about something I needed him to do. He also wanted to check my side and see how the scar was doing. He trusts Tristan, but being overprotective means he needs to see for himself that I'm okay after a bad injury or intense fight. I went to Quarren Town to retrieve information the Separatists had given the Quarren. Since I had lost my closest spy to Dooku and Sidious, Ventress, I needed another way to get information. I didn't know if the Quarren would have anything of use to me, but I thought it was worth the risk to see what they had. And the king of the Mon Cala had given my brother and me permission to swim his seas whenever we wanted and use their shipyards whenever our ships needed repairs. Personally, I enjoyed the ocean fare there more than anywhere else. My favorites were the soft clams and those oysters on the sea floor, wrapped in that kelp I showed you," looking at her father for a moment before looking up at Mace, "I was getting ready to put the pieces in place for the Temple fight, and had asked my father for the map of the Temple that had the hidden tunnels in it. He delivered it to Padmé a few weeks later, around the time you jumped to conclusions," glaring at Tarkin, "and made everything much worse than it needed to be."

Tarkin glared back at her but couldn't do so for long when her glare intensified and he dropped his eyes. At the same time, Mace shook his head again when he heard that, knowing that Ava and her brother were two people they were just now really learning about. It was becoming clearer and clearer how dangerous they actually were. It was quiet for a little while until Sundali arrived with Ventress, who was back on her feet and had healed well. They had left the Temple the day before without saying where they were going and had just returned. Kit had acted like he didn't know where they were going, but it didn't matter now that they were back. Sundali looked around the room as she came in, checking on the twins before nodding at the Council. Seconds later, a whirlwind of energy ran into the room, and Lorelei jumped on her father's back, talking all the while. Kit only looked over his shoulder in amusement at her and listened to what she had to say before Ava finally said, "Lorelei," the young girl looked at her, and her sister continued, "Thig an seo, leig le athair obair gun thu a 'crochadh dheth."

Lorelei stared at her before suddenly nodding and racing for her sister, half-climbing and half-jumping into her arms as Ava put her leg down, revealing what Kit had meant when he said her left knee was damaged. It looked….off, like something was missing or misshaped, maybe. Whatever was going on with it, it didn't look like a normal knee.

The little girl looked at her sister before Ava suddenly smiled and asked her a question. Lorelei only cocked her head before suddenly growling a little and barring her teeth, revealing too-big canines alongside the rest of her baby teeth. Now she was as venomous as the rest of her family, which became clearer when a few drops of venom dripped down from her teeth and hit the stone, bubbling like acid before going away. Ava smiled in amusement then, while Dr. Boll asked, "Is your venom really that acidic? How are you not harmed by it?"

"Same way a snake isn't harmed by its venom after eating a meal," Ava said, "Our bodies have natural safeguards in place. It's also a really good antidote against other venoms and poisons. It can fight them off and we just feel a few unpleasant side effects," she cocked her head then, "Our venom isn't really acidic, it just bubbles like that to make it look more intimidating to predators. Mine just eats through stone because it's much more toxic than a normal old-breed's, or even another half-Nautolan. I don't know why."

"Have you ever used it?" Mon Mothma asked, speaking for the first time since she had been content to listen until now.

Ava looked at her, "Aside from Zygerria, a few times, mostly on the planet where we live. I never use it on people, but there are sharks there, and sometimes I get a craving for them. Sharks on that planet are in danger of dying out, mostly because the humans there fear them for no reason and hunt them for soup that tastes like nothing, so I make sure I choose a shark from a species with good numbers. But that's a once-a-year kind of thing; other than that, not really. I have used it to counteract poisons in others because it is a powerful antidote for others as long as they have been poisoned. If they haven't, it will kill them."

The half-Nautolan was silent after that, Lorelei settling on her lap as Ava put her arms around her. Now that she was still, the Jedi were surprised to see that Lorelei's hair was a brighter red than her mother's, with the same greenish-brown spots as her father but full of thick curls and waves like her sister's. Seeing it now, Adi and the others could understand why it had been changed. Anyone who knew Sundali would know Lorelei was her daughter.

Lorelei settled, smiling shyly at Adi before turning to Ziva as the woman got out a device and turned it on. A few seconds later, a game was apparently started since Lorelei took the device and started tapping the screen, leaving Ava to shake her head as she turned to look at her father, who had finally gotten to where the apparent evidence was. He started pulling out large datacards, capable of storing massive amounts of information. Seeing them, the Jedi and the Senators were amazed, with Bail saying quietly, "I didn't know you had so much," as Kit finally finished and started putting R6 back together, leaving over twenty datacards on the holotable.

Ava shrugged, "Good thing they're labeled, or this would take a lot longer than it needs to," as Avery came forward and sorted them. A few minutes later, it was done and Avery turned to Bail and asked, "Where do you want to start?"

Padmé answered instead, "I think at the beginning. Many in the Phoenix Order have known the former Chancellor was a Sith Lord, but those not in the Order need to know how you figured it out."

"Him attacking us when we were four isn't enough for you?" Avery grumbled under his breath, but that was all he said as he started getting the information ready. Padmé ignored his grumbling with the ease of long practice while Kit finally stood up and turned to help his son. He said nothing about Avery's attitude, and neither did Sundali, while Ava just looked on, unable to get up with Lorelei in her lap. Yoda and Mace exchanged a glance at Avery's bad attitude but said nothing as the first datacard was finally ready and banking information was displayed.

Ava said quietly, "When I sensed he was a Sith, Avery and I started looking into his finances. As citizens of Naboo, we were allowed to look into his finances to make sure he wasn't doing anything corrupt. On the surface, he wasn't, but beneath that we found he had been embezzling money from the Republic for decades. Over forty trillion in three decades. That was as far as we got before the trail ran cold. There is probably a lot more money unaccounted for, but that has likely already been spent on Separatist warships and weapons, bases, and secret projects. That money is never returning, but the forty trillion is sitting in hidden banks and vaults all around the galaxy. We've found those and have them under Phoenix guard until the money inside can be returned to the Republic. Apparently Sidious preferred cash transactions, which is smart. Cash payments aren't easily traced."

"Your guards are capable of defending against Sith?" Thrawn asked, to which Avery snorted, "Of course not, which is why we started hunting Sith. If we're killing them, they can't kill our guards."

Ava shrugged when she heard that while Thrawn glared at Avery. Avery glared back but didn't say anything more, leaving Ava to say, "As soon as the Senate is stable enough for us, we'll start getting the money back here. Right now it can't be spent on continuing the war or profiting groups like the Trade Federation or the Banking Clan. I'm not interested in them getting richer."

"We've been trying for a long time to shut down the Banking Clan and the Trade Federation," Bail cut in, "We haven't had much luck."

"Better evidence would probably help," Ava said somewhat sarcastically before adding, "When the Malevolence was destroying ships, I snuck onboard and sliced into their communications and information. I knew a ship that big had records of who built it and where, as well as the funds necessary to afford it. Using those records led me to bank account numbers where the stolen money was, so it wasn't hard to make the connection."

"Wait," Anakin interuppted, "You were on the Malevolence?"

"Yep," Ava said as she turned to him, "You really think taking out the ion cannons alone would have been enough to stop it? I overloaded the coolant system while I was there and shorted out the electrics to give you a better chance of overloading the weapon. Barring that, nothing would have happened. Those cannons were too tough for just torpedoes."

"Why?" Thrawn asked, to which Ava turned to him and said, "Think about who my family is, and then try asking that again. Grievous wasn't just using that ship on Republic ships; he was using it on any ship that crossed his path. My brother and I knew if he found any of our uncles or our peoples' ships, he would have attacked them. Regardless of allegiance, any ship in the galaxy was in danger because of that ship."

Thrawn was quiet after that as Ava turned back to the many datacards on the holotable. There weren't a lot of accountants in the room, but luckily the Senators were able to follow the money a bit easier than the Jedi, with Mon Mothma finally saying, "I recognize a few of these accounts as belonging to the Trade Federation," as Lott Dodd and those with him started looking uncomfortable.

Ava nodded, "And you'll notice rather large transactions going to their accounts right after large battles. I'm not an expert on financial crimes, but I'm pretty sure that's war profiteering."

"Yes, it is," Padmé said, "And it wouldn't be the first time," as she remembered the battle that had started this for her, the Battle of Naboo.

Ava only said, "There's a lot more where that came from. Nute Gunray's transactions with the Trade Federation and communications between him, a few people in this room, and Cad Bane to steal the holocron and Kyber crystal are there. Nute Gunray lent Cad Bane the Federation fleet that took Bolla Ropal. And there is information proving they worked together to prolong the war and maximize profits for themselves."

Padmé nodded slowly while Thrawn also looked over the information and noticed a slight discrepancy. But before he could say anything, Lott Dodd said, "Even if this can be backed up with more evidence, it doesn't change the fact the Republic does owe us credits it must pay; otherwise, there will be difficulties for those refusing to acknowledge the debt. I'm sure, Chancellor, you remember what happened the last time a debt wasn't settled with us," as Padmé looked at him with narrowed eyes, but it was Ava who ended the stalemate.

"Threatening the Chancellor of the Republic doesn't sound like the smartest play," she said lightly, "And if you threaten her family, watch out. There's a saying on the planet where we live: never get between a mother bear and her young. There's no creature more terrifying in two galaxies than a bear protecting her own. It's the same with mothers no matter what race they are. It's why my grandmother threatened Tarkin; she's incredibly protective and doesn't care about the repercussions of doing so becasue she knows the Republic could never find her even if they looked for her. But I wouldn't be worried about that," as Lott Dodd turned to her, "You forget the Republic entered into this business venture with a contract. And if you read the very fine print of the contract, you would see that if either entity engages in war profiteering or war crimes, the contract is null and void and the debt is non-existent. Which I believe you did."

Lott Dodd stared at her, speechless and shocked she had found such a small detail in a contract that had been thousands of pages long, but before he could say anything, Ava turned to Padmé, "The contract in question is here as well. Just so you don't have to read through a few thousand pages of incredibly boring legalese, we highlighted where in the contract that's written, as well as a few more relevant parts that may interest you."

"I'll be sure to look at them closely," Padmé said seriously as she looked at the representatives of the Trade Federation, Banking Clan, and Techno Union, "If this is true, then they have broken the terms of corporate neutrality and can be treated as an opposing entity operating within the Republic Senate. That is grounds for dismissal and dissolvement of their businesses and practices and loss of representation in the Senate. They couldn't form anything because their assets would be seized, and anything physically present would be auctioned to return stolen money to people and worlds."

Lott Dodd glared at her, as did the others, which was when Thrawn cut in quietly, "I'm not seeing a lot of information here for the Techno Union. Did you miss something, or were they better at covering their tracks?"

"We didn't miss anything," Avery snapped irritably, clearly not able to tolerate a possible insult to his skills and pride, while Ava said more calmly, "There wasn't as much to find on the Techno Union because unbeknownst to them, we are majority shareholders in their ventures. We've been cleaning up their business practices for a while now. You'll notice a lot of evidence against them at the beginning of the war, but there was less and less as time went on. That was because of us," as Gume Saam, the representative of the Techno Union, stared at her in surprise, as did everyone else.

They definitely hadn't been expecting this, but then Gume Saam decided to see if they could be persuaded to do anything in his favor.

"Perhaps an arrangement can be reached," he said smoothly, "I'm certain you don't want your practices brought out into the open."

"Go right ahead," Ava said as she turned to him, "We have nothing to hide. It would spare us the time of bringing up those documents ourselves," Senator Saam immediately back-pedaling and stopped speaking, realizing he wouldn't be able to buy her out as Ava turned to Padmé and added, "The Techno Union documents will be at your office by the time you return there. We would like to make a few changes, mostly in the representation in the Senate, but we can't do anything about it. We don't have that power in the Senate, but you do. A more….reasonable….and less profit-hungry representative is waiting for the position to become available. Let us know what happens."

Padmé nodded, while Obi-Wan asked, "You own the majority of the Techno Union?" looking more amused than anything else, and Ava nodded as she turned to him, "Yep. We were able to negotiate our way in and take over fifteen years ago," she seemed to remember something then because she turned back to Padmé and said, "Money we spent on the war effort from our side is accounted for in those books as well. Most of it was pay-offs to certain groups, like Hondo Ohnaka and his gang, or financial support for systems impacted by the war. That money has a trail that can be followed."

Padmé nodded again while Thrawn asked suddenly, "You own the majority of the Techno Union, but that wouldn't have been enough to finance a fair portion of your efforts, especially if some of that money was going to support Home Base. Where did the rest of it come from?"

Ava stared at him for a few moments before saying, "Offworld Industries," making Obi-Wan's head jerk up in surprise when he heard that name, not-so-fond memories coming back to him as he heard it. Offworld was one of the oldest mining operations in the galaxy, and they had become that by not letting a lot of people get in their way. Many had died in Offworld's quest for profits. Qui-Gon's former Padawan, Xanatos, had been the owner of Offworld until his death. After that, it had faded into obscurity a bit as infighting took over among the board of directors.

But now it seemed like it was under new management.

"You own Offworld Industries?" Mace asked, bringing Obi-Wan back to the present, "How? And why?"

"We were always minor parties in Offworld," Avery said instead of his sister, "When Xanatos died, we saw an opportunity to take over and reform the company. Xanatos hadn't really known who we were or anything about us, and neither did the board of directors. But he trusted us, for reasons I'm still not sure about," glancing at his sister, "Maybe it was because someone is a very good liar and was able to convince him we weren't fond of Jedi either. Either way, after he died, we were able to take over. Offworld is still a mining company, but we're not so brutal to our miners or competitors. Profit margins are still as good as before, including the fact that we're being a bit more careful about the worlds the company is mining on and leaving them as intact as possible. And if the world needs to be altered to get the resources we want, we pay to restore it afterward."

Hearing that was a surprise, and Obi-Wan turned to Ava, who looked at him before shrugging, "We were able to finance our entire operation over the last five years with Offworld and Techno Union profits. But that was because we didn't spend a lot of money to begin with. Aside from the payments to Hondo and others, we spent very little. I spent ten years living out of a backpack when I was Black Ops; I know how to be frugal."

"But you're not going to shut down the company, are you?" Mace asked, and Ava smiled slightly as she said, "That would be counterproductive to us making a profit," she looked at Mace then, "We have to make a living here and contribute to the clan. We're not Jedi, and we do have bills to pay. That said, being in charge of Offworld guarantees the company doesn't destroy planets or enslave people for mining operations. Over the years, we've replaced the board of directors with people who think as we do, and Offworld has slowly turned around on that front. But just to ease the minds of everyone here, Offworld's books are free to look through. They're on their way to your office as well," turning to Padmé, "Let us know if we missed anything and we'll get it to you," she raised an eye-ridge then, "We'll also send some money to pay for the repulsorpods that were damaged, as well as the damage to the Senate buildings," her lips quirked into a smile, "Sorry about that; the ice was a bit sharper than I planned."

Padmé chuckled slightly as she shook her head, more than used to Ava's personality and sense of humor while knowing the twins were a bit like their uncles and always interested in making money somehow, and it was quiet for a few moments before Obi-Wan shook his head and said, "Why would you be interested in such a thing?" as Ava turned to him curiously, "Why would you want to make money in such a way?"

"Because I can. We aren't Jedi; we do feel an incentive to make money, and we were raised by our uncles as well as our parents. They taught us that sometimes money really does get you the things you need to survive," Ava said quietly, "And the money we make goes to the clan; we don't keep it. It goes to keeping Home Base running, helping Tristan with his research, and helping fund my own. I may be a surgeon, but another specialty of mine is viruses and diseases. I look for cures and vaccines, and that's easier to do when you don't have to beg for funding. I give those cures and vaccines away for free; I won't force people to pay for it when they're on death's door. That money never goes to profits; it goes to helping others," she cocked her head then, "I think that's what the Phoenix Order does sometimes: use money to help others. Sometimes that does more than empty words and broken promises."

Obi-Wan winced slightly when he heard that, knowing Ava was speaking about the Jedi's inability to use money as a way to make things better. But they were taught from an early age it led to greed and the Dark side, so they stayed away from it. And now Ava was saying it could be used for the right reasons as long as people were careful with it, but that didn't mean it was the right thing to do.

This was getting confusing!

Obi-Wan shook his head inwardly and returned to looking at the evidence against Palpatine and the Trade Federation and Banking Clan, knowing there wouldn't be an easy solution soon. After a few minutes of staring at banking information even his head was hurting, and his wasn't the only one. Many Jedi in the room were struggling to understand it, but thankfully Padmé seemed to know it was becoming harder and harder to follow since she finally said, "I think that's enough for now. What I've seen so far is more than enough to convince me the Trade Federation and Banking Clan have a lot to answer for, and it's safe to assume with all this information, they won't be able to talk their way out of this as easily as they normally do. Let's move on."

"One question," Lott Dod said suddenly, having been silent the entire time, and Ava turned to him, "How did you get all this information?"

Ava shrugged, "Part of it was on Geonosis; other parts were scattered throughout the Separatist fleet. Some was given to me by anonymous sources in the Confederate Parliament, and some I gathered myself on Cato Neimodia."

Lott Dod stared at her in surprise before saying suddenly, "You! You were the one that hacked our system when Rush Clovis and the Chancellor came, weren't you?"

"I was," Ava said simply, "You need better security; it only took me five minutes to slice in. And before you say it was illegal or anything like that, I was working as a spy for the Republic, which meant I could look into allies of the Republic for corruption or war crimes they were funding. I was well within my bounds."

Lott Dod stared at her in surprised hatred while Padmé quickly hid a smile and said, "Ava is correct in saying that she was within bounds. I'm afraid all this information is admissible to the courts," not looking particularly sorry about it, "Let's move on with this information and see what else we can learn. There's a lot to look through," glancing at the datacards still to be reviewed.

Ava nodded and glanced at her brother, who shrugged and turned to the next few datacards, which was just more information about how Palpatine had embezzled money and where it had gone. Seeing how much time and work the twins had dedicated to this was impressive, with Yoda saying, "Spent much time on this, you did. But get the information, legal was it?"

"It was," Ava said, with Sundali adding, "When the war started informants were needed for both sides of the fighting. I started informing Ventress of what troop movements I knew of, mostly of Kit's fleet, but she only passed along half of that, none of it useful. That was done so that Dooku would still see her as useful and worth keeping alive," nodding at the former Sith apprentice standing nearby and looking like she was feeling out of place, "The twins became informants for the Republic. Under the emergency powers the Chancellor was granted by the Senate, they could become official spies for the Republic under code names so that their real identities could be hidden and protected. Because of that status, they got these records and started connecting the dots."

"You and your brother were spies for us?" Aayla asked in surprise, to which Ava nodded, "Double agents would probably be the better term. We didn't give information to the Separatists, but we did give it to the Order to better complete our missions. Just because a war was going on doesn't mean the Order's work stops. Because the Phoenix Order wasn't officially part of the war it was easier for them to keep working," she cocked her head, "Anything you received from the operative labeled "Fulcrum" was us," nodding at her brother, "or one of our spies. Most of that information came from Ventress."

Ventress ducked her head when everyone looked at her with Obi-Wan saying quietly, "It seems we have a lot to learn about everyone's roles in this."

"You may be right about that, Master Jedi," Tarkin said before turning to Ventress, who glared at him, "Why help these two?" nodding at the twins, "Why not stay out of it?"

"I wanted to," was all Ventress said, "It's not like Dooku ever did anything for me. All he ever did was use me. At least with the twins, they treated me like I was somebody and could become something. Ava's never stopped believing that."

Tarkin turned to Ava then, who shrugged, "Give someone half a chance and you'll be amazed at what they can do. I've never once not trusted Ventress, and she is someone I would trust my life, or my sibling's lives to, without a second thought. Avery took her with him to hunt Sith a few times, and I wouldn't have let them go without me if I didn't think Ventress could hold her own. I've known her a long time; in many ways, I regard her more like a sister than an ally or student. And as my student, she's been well-taught in the ways of the Force and hunting Sith. The only reason the Jedi she fought are still alive is because she stopped herself from fully acting on her training."

Tarkin's eyes widened when he heard that while Ventress blushed so red it was impressive, while Thrawn said quietly, "You trusted her with your necklace," he turned to Ava then, "How did you know she would come back from the Chancellor's apartment?"

"I didn't," Ava said simply, "But I had a lot of faith in her and trained her as well. I know what she's capable of, and I knew the Red Guards wouldn't stand a chance against her if she acted on that training. I was right."

"That still doesn't explain why you gave her such an important thing," Tarkin said, but Ava was apparently tired of the conversation because she snapped, "Maybe it's because I see something in her you're too blind to look for, or maybe it's because she was the last person anyone would think of having something like that. I'm just guessing at this point, but maybe you should stick to what you think you know and leave the rest to me."

Tarkin's eyes narrowed when he heard that, but that was when Kit finally spoke again, "I trust her as well, Tarkin," making the captain turn to him, and Kit added, "Ventress has made mistakes, I doubt there is anyone in this room who hasn't, but I would still stand by her. She is capable of learning from her mistakes and changing her ways, and she has done so. I would trust her with my daughter's life," referring to Lorelei, then cocked his head, "I think I have in the past, several times, unknowingly a few times after I was wounded. It's why Lorelei sees her as a friend."

"There are still a few things I could teach her," Ava said thoughtfully as she stared into space before focusing on Ventress with an amused but gentle smile, "How to tell her left from her right would be a great start. Twenty years later, you still get confused. But I think you got the whole ass-kicking thing down. You can hold your own against my father and a few of my uncles all at the same time; not an easy feat. There aren't many people in the galaxy that can do that."

Tarkin snorted when he heard that, making Ventress glare at him, "You can't tell your left from your right?"

"She can," Ava said quietly before Ventress could answer with something unkind if the anger in her eyes was any indication, "She just gets confused. It's called dyslexia. In severe cases, it affects your ability to read and makes numbers and letters appear out of order. In mild cases, like Ventress, she can't tell her left hand from her right. That's why I corrected her on the Ghost. Teaching her how to fight when we were growing up was interesting. For some reason, she doesn't get confused then, but at this point fighting is instinct for her, so she doesn't think about what each hand is doing."

Tarkin shook his head when he heard that while Ventress glared at him, daring him to say something, but Tarkin decided to focus on something other than Ventress' abilities with her lightsabers, almost, "She was still sent to free Nute Gunray," Tarkin argued, "She could have killed General Unduli or Commander Tano."

"I'm aware of that, Tarkin," Kit said suddenly and quietly as he entered the conversation briefly, once again refusing to address him by rank, "But she was under orders from Dooku and Sidious to free Gunray, and she couldn't risk her cover. She was given the go-ahead for the mission from Ava, and that was all she needed. Ava didn't think it would be a problem. The only thing I don't agree with was not telling either of them they were on the same side when Ahsoka joined the Conspiracy," he cocked his head then as he looked at his daughter, "That wouldn't have made the entire situation more believable, but it also made it more dangerous."

"I had some faith Ahsoka would stop Ventress," Ava said, "Interesting thing about being young and reckless: you never do what you're told, at least not all the way. I knew Ahsoka would abandon her post in two seconds because she knew what Ventress was capable of. I knew she would stop Ventress from hurting Luminara Unduli in time. That was never my concern. My concern was Ventress being able to maintain her cover in the Separatist fleet. In the end it was never blown; Sidious just decided she was getting too powerful and ordered Dooku to kill her. I wasn't in time to stop that from happening. After that, I sent her to the Nightsisters for a while, knowing they would create Savage Opress, who would eventually lead me to Maul," she looked at Tarkin then, "Everything's connected, Tarkin, whether you like it or not. And without Ventress risking her neck to get the Republic intel, the death count would be a lot higher than it is. She saved more lives than I could during the war; don't forget that. She's probably saved yours a few times without either of you realizing it."

Ventress ducked her head again to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks and standing out in stark contrast to her silver hair, and that was when Ava turned to Rex, "You remember how things really went on Umbara?"

Rex nodded slowly, "I think so. You altered everyone's memory so no one would know Ventress helped you defeat General Krell, right? I didn't remember how the fight really went until a few days ago."

"I did," Ava nodded, "I didn't want anyone at the time knowing Ventress and I were working together. That would have made things more complicated."

"Was there any way to give Master Krell a chance?" Ahsoka asked quietly, and Ava turned to her, "Did you have to kill him?"

"I did," Ava said bluntly, "He fell to the Dark side and was no longer a Jedi. I wasn't going to let him become a Sith, and there was the matter of the clones. I've had commanding officers who didn't give a damn about my life or the lives of my men, and I could see that Krell didn't care about the clones either. If he did, he wouldn't have led from the back. That's where the cowards hide," a few Jedi wincing at her harsh tone and opinion of Krell, "He fell to the Dark Side and started killing his own men. All because he didn't see them as people. You heard what he said," turning to Rex, "You heard him say he wouldn't be undermined by creatures bred in a lab. Does that sound like a Jedi?" as she turned back to Ahsoka.

Ahsoka shook her head, and Ava's face and voice softened as she said, "I didn't like doing it either, Ahsoka, but I didn't have a choice. I care about the clones, definitely more than Krell did, and wasn't about to let him kill them because they realized he was using them and taking advantage of their loyalty to sabotage the war effort there. He wasn't going to protect the clones, so I decided to. But Ahsoka," the Togruta looked at her, "Krell was going to fall to the Dark side no matter what; I saw that coming a long time ago, so his fate was set in stone as soon as he started losing his way."

"You still had your father go there and speak with General Krell," Tarkin said suddenly, and Ava turned to him, "Why? Why try to talk him out of dealing with insubordination and disobedience?"

"I was just asked to stall for time, Tarkin," Kit said quietly, "And give Ventress a chance to get away and leave the base. What she and Ava did after that was beyond my control," he looked at Tarkin then, "Ava is an alpha female, so if she forces her will over mine, I can't resist it. It's not a pleasant feeling, and the pain I was in didn't make fighting it worth it. What happened with Krell was beyond my control. All I could do was ask Ava and Ventress to be careful."

"You still could have stopped it," Tarkin argued but was cut off then by Ava saying, "No, he couldn't," as Tarkin turned to her, "I was going to kill Krell no matter what, with or without his help. Fives, Hardcase, and Jesse thought outside the box and came up with a plan that worked, and their reward was going to be their executions. How is that fair?" that was clearly a rhetorical question since she didn't give Tarkin a chance to respond, "It's not, and as far as I was concerned their ability to improvise in such a way was admirable. Why should they be punished so severely for doing something Skywalker would have probably allowed, or done himself?" Anakin ducking his head when he heard that, "You forget, Tarkin, I've led men into battle myself. The leader that wins battles is the one that can take advice from others, even subordinates, because there's a good chance those subordinates have better ideas than they do. Krell couldn't tolerate his subordinates having an independent thought in their brains, and I had access to his casualty reports. I know how little he cared. I killed him, more to protect the clones than anything else. He did trick them into killing their own brothers. Who does something like that?" impressing the Jedi again with her commitment to the clones and how she saw them and felt the urge to protect them so strongly.

Tarkin didn't try to answer, knowing any answer to that question would seem insensitive and uncalled for, and the conversation moved back to the holotable as Avery and Kit moved on to the more confusing parts of the evidence. At least the parts that were more confusing for the non-Force users in the room. Watching the video of the twins being attacked was hard, but it solidified everyone's understanding of how dangerous Palpatine had been to the Republic.

Hearing the name of Sidious' master from Kit made Tarkin stop the video and ask, "I forgot to ask the other day, but how did you know his name?"

Kit only stared at him while Ava said, "The Phoenix Order is well aware of the more powerful Sith in the galaxy. The main job of the Grand Master and their Successor is to keep track of the lead Sith and their apprentices and make sure they stay away from the Phoenix until she's an adult. They would be remiss if they didn't at least know their names."

"Darth Plagueis?" Tarkin asked, "Interesting name."

"Don't underestimate him," Ava snapped warningly, "He wasn't considered as powerful as he was for no reason. He could influence and manipulate the midi-chlorians inside someone's body to prevent death and create life. A skill he taught his apprentice. He also taught his apprentice how to enter the dreams of another," turning slowly to Anakin then, "I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, on both counts."

Anakin stared at her before asking, "You mean Sidious was the one who…?" unable to complete the sentence, leaving Ava to nod and say, "Yes, Sidious manipulated the midi-chlorians inside your mother to create you. He also attempted to kill Adi by manipulating the midi-chlorians in her body, but I was expecting it and stopped him," Adi staring at her in surprise at how far Ava's protection of her went, "Sidious also used the Force to send you nightmares of Padmé dying while she was giving birth. It wasn't going to happen because she was under my protection as the Phoenix, but you didn't know that. If you had acted on that fear and doubt he was sowing in your mind, the Jedi Order wouldn't exist right now. He would have given you false promises about saving her in exchange for your loyalty to the Dark Side. If that had happened and you had been there when I arrived to confront him…." she cocked her head then, "I think you can guess what I would have done."

Anakin was surprised to hear that, while Padmé said quietly, "Thankfully that didn't happen," before saying more loudly, "And thankfully you were a bit ahead of Sidious," looking at Ava, "Although I still don't entirely understand how."

Ava shrugged, "I'm the Force," she said quietly, "I can sense what anyone anywhere in the galaxy is going to do, especially if they don't hide themselves well enough from me. Sidious hid himself from the Jedi, but that wasn't enough to hide himself from me. He was too arrogant to consider I could see through those deceptions and disguises to what he really was. Typical Sith. They might have always known about the Phoenix, but the Phoenix has always understood their weaknesses better than anyone. I share those weaknesses after all."

"What do you mean?" Mace asked, and Ava shrugged as she looked at him, "The Phoenix lives in the Gray, between Light and Dark. I have to feel both sides of the Force, the good and the bad. The Jedi practice detachment and control of their emotions; the Sith don't. I let myself feel things the Jedi wouldn't: envy, anger, greed, attachment. I let myself feel things the Sith wouldn't: love, commitment, responsibility, compassion. Feeling those things keeps the Force in balance and the universe safe."

"And what do you do if one emotion becomes more powerful than the other?" Shaak Ti asked, and Ava shrugged again, "Feel it, then let it go. I am no Jedi, but I was taught restraint by a Jedi. If I feel the wrong emotion too strongly, things get dangerous. Like destroy a planet or moon by accident dangerous. Although I try to destroy stars when that happens," she cocked her head suddenly, "While I'm thinking about it, I actually didn't destroy Maridun; I destroyed a star near it. I was feeling confused after the fight and only knew I had destroyed something in that sector; just wasn't sure what. The Lurmen can go back if they want," looking at Bail, who nodded to say he would take care of it.

Shaak shook her head when she heard that, while Padmé said, "Thankfully you don't destroy planets that often," seeing the look Ava shot her, she added, "I know you destroyed Exegol, and that other planet in the Outer Rim. You still haven't said why. I can understand destroying Exegol, but that other planet doesn't make any sense to me. What did it do to you?"

Ava stared at her before turning to her father and saying, "There's a specific datacard, number ten, with the name 'Starkiller' on it. That explains why."

Kit nodded and found the datacard, inserting it into the holotable and revealing the plans for a massive base on the planet. Seeing it, the Jedi and Senators were amazed, especially when Ava said, "Starkiller Base was designed as the ultimate planet-destroyer. It would use the energy from the sun in that system to power the weapon, which could move through hyperspace to any planet and destroy it and the system surrounding it. If it had been allowed to be built, nothing would have been safe from it," she looked up into the surprised faces of the Jedi and the horrified faces of the Senators, "That's why we destroyed the planet. The Sith were already starting to build the weapon, banking on the fact the Jedi Order would have been destroyed by the time it was finished."

"That's impossible," Ki-Adi said quietly, "There's no weapon in the galaxy that powerful."

"Jenna Zan Arbor's research would have made it possible," Ava said, "Her experiments on the Force did yield the knowledge that the Force is capable of creation and destruction. I wasn't interested in the Sith making such a weapon, even though I knew it wouldn't be ready for a long time."

Ki-Adi shook his head when he heard that, while Obi-Wan asked, "How did you destroy the planet? The Force?"

"No," Ava said, "I could have, but I wanted to save that for when I truly needed it. Destroying Exegol and Sidious, for example. I just built a massive bomb and dropped it into the lava heading for the planet's core. With some help," looking at her father as she said this before adding, "Thankfully the Ghost can take a hit. We barely escaped the blast zone before the planet blew."

"How was that lava exposed?" Obi-Wan asked, unable to imagine such a thing, and Ava said, "The Sith had dug into the planet's core and were looking for the center. That lava river they exposed made it easier to get the bomb where it needed to go," she cocked an eye-ridge, "Couldn't really hear anything for a few hours after it went off though. That was loud."

"Very loud," was all Kit said, making Ava shrug. Hearing that, Tarkin asked, "When did this happen?"

Kit turned to Ava, who thought for a moment before saying, "I think it was around the time the Separatists invaded Ryloth. I had just picked up the Ghost from Cham and made a few modifications before heading out to the planet."

"The Ghost belongs to Cham Syndulla?" Mace asked, and Ava nodded before saying, "I need to remember to return it to him. His daughter's expecting it."

Kit shook his head when he heard that while Tarkin asked, "What modifications did you make?"

Ava shrugged and didn't answer, leaving Kit to say, "I don't know them all either, but I doubt all of them were legal," he looked at his daughter then, "You've spent too much time with your uncles."

"I like their personalities," Ava said with another shrug, "And they're great teachers," she grinned suddenly, "Especially for learning some of their more….dubious….skills."

Kit shook his head when he heard that while Scorch asked, "How big of a bomb did you make?" trying to imagine how much yield it would have required.

Ava shrugged, "It was about the size of two Hutts, with a 200 thousand Kiloton yield. The outside was a heat-resistant metal mixed with a chemical that would melt down slowly when exposed to heat over 2,000 degrees Celsius, and the yield itself was protected by that metal until it got to the planet's core. The wiring and circuitry were protected by heat-resistant coating so it wouldn't blow prematurely."

Scorch's eyes looked in danger of popping out of his head again, and he finally got over the surprise to ask quietly, "Where did you learn how to make that?"

"Nowhere," Ava said, "I made it up as I went along. I knew what I wanted and what had to be built, so I kept going until I had what I wanted. And because of my background in physics and chemistry, I combined the two to make a much stronger bomb. I'm not giving you the recipe, so don't bother asking," since it looked like Scorch was going to ask, "I know explosives experts, and they apparently don't change much from one galaxy to the next. Sanity is not something I expect from them. The bigger boom is what they're always looking for, and I've got no interest in helping you find that."

Scorch had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed at being called out so accurately by Ava, and Kit shook his head while Padmé quickly hid a smile before saying, "You went to Geonosis as well. I know the first part of that mission happened during the second attack, but what were you doing the second time you went there?"

Ava shrugged again before saying, "Sidious had decided to create another planet-destroying weapon he was going to call the Death Star. He was building it near Geonosis. I wanted to get ahead of him there, too."

Padmé shook her head when she heard that, while Mace asked, "How did you know about all this?"

Ava shrugged, "I help Gibbs solve crimes on his home planet. Most of the crimes can be solved by following the money. I followed the money Sidious was stealing to these secret projects. If I felt they were a danger to the galaxy, I would stop them, especially those projects I knew would destroy planets. It wasn't a question of if, but when. And I knew what planets he would go after first: Alderaan, for defying him. Coruscant, when he couldn't control it or the Senate. Kijimi would be another that would be destroyed as a show of strength. Any planet, any moon, anywhere was under threat from him. It would have been Starkiller Base if it wasn't the Death Star. If not Starkiller Base, it would have been a fleet of planet-destroying ships being built on Exegol. That's another reason I destroyed the planet; I didn't want those foundries coming online."

"So you decided to get preemptive," Tarkin said, "Without for a second thinking about how it would look to the galaxy."

Ava looked at him then, "Why would I care about that?"

Tarkin stared at her before saying, "Maybe because you risked lives unnecessarily?"

Ava snorted then, "That's rich, coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tarkin snapped, but before this could get worse, Kit finally said, "Enough."

He turned to his daughter and said, "You, stop baiting him," staring at her for several minutes. She stared back before finally dropping her eyes, surprising the Jedi that she actually obeyed her father, while Tarkin smirked. But that smirk went away when Kit turned to him and said, "And you, stop falling for it."

Ava looked more than smug when she heard that, while Tarkin couldn't bear Kit's stare for long. Seeing how Kit controlled his daughter and former captain was impressive, with Bail saying, "I thought you said you couldn't control her."

"I can't control the Phoenix," Kit said without taking his eyes off Tarkin, "But I can control my daughter when I have to. I just have to know where the line is. It changes daily."

Bail shook his head when he heard that, while Ava shrugged, and a few moments later, Tarkin said, "I still don't understand how you managed to out-think Sidious the entire time."

"It wasn't that hard," Ava said, "He wasn't as smart as he thought he was. He may have spent decades planning this, but the Phoenix and the Order have spent several thousand years preparing for him. We knew the Sith would come back in strength one day, and there would be one who was more powerful than the rest and would try and take over the galaxy completely. We knew the Jedi couldn't stop him, not on their own, and started preparing."

"Which led to the near-destruction of the Senate building," Thrawn said, but Ava shot back, "Better a building than the entire galaxy."

"You could be arrested for the damage you caused," Tarkin said, "And entering the Senate without permission."

"Do you want to try, Tarkin?" Ava asked quietly, the warning clear in her voice, "You're welcome to."

Tarkin almost looked like he was going to, but seconds later a massive wolf appeared out of nowhere and snarled at the captain. It was one of the Loth-wolves, the white one, and he bared his teeth at Tarkin and immediately made him backtrack, while behind Ava three more wolves appeared, two browns and a black. Seeing them, the Jedi were more amused than anything else, while Tarkin was just scared. He backed away quickly, and after a few moments of letting him squirm, Ava said quietly, "Easy does it, Mountain Snow. He isn't going to try anything."

The white wolf settled after that onto his haunches, watching the captain warily, while Kit asked lightly, not looking up from what he was doing, "Still running with wolves, Ava?"

"I'd run as one of them if I could," Ava said quietly as she petted the white wolf's massive head. It rested its head on her lap without taking its golden eyes off Tarkin, "Them, or horses, or whales. Anything that lives free."

Hearing that surprised the Jedi, while Kit only shook his head and said quietly, "And there's never much holding you back from that."

"Family bonds are all that do," Ava said just as quietly, leaving a few Jedi wondering until Ava looked at Yoda and said more loudly, "I could take a new form if I desired, at any time, as anything I desire, and turn back to this form when I am done. But that would require more strength than I have to give right now. Strength of body is important, but with my will as weak as it is right now, the animal will take over and I won't have the strength to switch back. And bonds with family and friends mean more to me than that, and I can run with wolves and horses, or swim wild with whales, whenever I want. They are still good friends, though," as she pet the wolf's head and he stared at Tarkin unflinchingly. Despite his massive size, he fit comfortably in the room and impressed many. The wolf turned to Ava then, and she reached out and pet his nose before turning to Tarkin and saying, "Intelligent life is drawn to me, Tarkin, and looks to me for protection. If I give it, then they protect me if they're able," she raised an eye-ridge then, "And Loth-wolves are more than able."

She stopped petting the wolf and he lay down on the ground at her feet while the others stayed near, watching everything and everyone warily, and that was when Yoda walked over to the white wolf and raised a hand. The wolf accepted it and let the Jedi Master pet him, and that was when Ava said quietly, "Loth-wolves have a deep connection to the Force, and the energy of Lothal."

"Don't all living things?" Ezra asked, making Ava shake her head, "This is different, Ezra, more focused. Like they have a purpose," she turned to Ezra, "Their purpose is protecting Lothal, and being here helped guarantee that protection. I asked them to fight and protect their home by protecting the galaxy."

"You asked them?" Tarkin asked, his disbelief more than clear, "How? They're just animals."

The white wolf leaped to his feet when he heard that, snarling again, and Ava said lightly, "I don't think he likes you," before saying more seriously, "Loth-wolves are capable of understanding speech, Tarkin. And even if they couldn't, because of my connection to the Force, and theirs, I could speak with them through the Force," turning to the white wolf and staring intently at him. A few seconds later, the wolf settled but now was watching just Tarkin with intensity and wariness.

"Is that how you got away from us on Lothal?" Thrawn asked, and Ava shrugged as she looked at him blankly, "Partly. Loth-wolves are capable of moving through the Force. For them, it's like traveling through space and time. I can do the same, but since Lothal isn't my homeworld, it isn't as easy for me as it is for them. I asked them to take me to the Jedi Temple there, and they did."

Thrawn quieted after that, and then Ava turned to Tarkin. She stared at him for a few moments with the same intensity the white wolf had for Tarkin, and that was when Ava said quietly, "Beings as powerful as them in the Force are extensions of myself, Tarkin. They see you as I do, as a threat and a danger, and so they will treat you as one. But luckily for you, Mountain Snow doesn't think you are capable of much; otherwise, he would have done something to you by now."

"Mountain Snow?" Obi-Wan asked, deciding to ignore the threat he could hear in Ava's voice, and was rewarded by Ava saying quietly, "That's his name. The others are Prairie Grass, Shadow Moon, and Desert Dawn," the three wolves raising their heads in response to their names, and she finally looked at Obi-Wan, but Mountain Snow's attention stayed on Tarkin, "I can open the mind of any sentient animal I chose. Doing so makes them self-aware and capable of understanding speech. I don't have to do that with them," nodding at the wolves, "but I did it with the horses," she looked at Obi-Wan more closely then, "That's how I know the wolves' names. I didn't give them these names; they already had them. The horses also had their own names; I just named Aineislis and Plenty Coup before I opened their minds. It's why I can tell them to do something difficult for an animal to understand and they're able to do it," she turned back to Tarkin and stared at him for several moments before saying quietly, "But I think I've had my fun for now with you, Tarkin."

She turned to Mountain Snow and stared at him intently for several long moments before he finally looked up at her. They made eye contact and held it for several long moments, and that was when Ava's eyes changed to the blues and whites of hyperspace for a few moments. It was amazing to watch, but lasted only seconds and was over. Her eyes returned to their normal color from one moment to the next, and the wolves got up. They moved away from the Jedi and left the room, but Prairie Grass stopped and looked back at Ezra. The young man only looked at Ava, who nodded, before shrugging and walking over to the wolf. Prairie Grass crouched down and Ezra climbed on; seconds later, they disappeared into the Force and returned to Lothal.

Once they were gone, Mace turned to Ava, who shrugged and said, "I guess they want Ezra to help them protect Lothal. There's a Phoenix presence there, so we can check in on him in a few days and see what's going on. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Mace nodded slowly while the white Loth-cat suddenly appeared and hopped onto Ava's lap beside Lorelei. Seeing how crowded it was was amusing, but Ava didn't seem to think so as she looked at the Loth-cat. The cat only meowed and rubbed against her chin, and that was when Ava suddenly sneezed. She did it again, and again, before saying softly, "Why can't you bother Avery? Why do you always bother me?"

"He likes you," Avery said in amusement, while Ava said sourly, "I think he likes making me sneeze. He knows I'm allergic and he still comes over," as she carefully picked the cat up and put him on her brother's shoulder as he came over. Avery moved away then and returned to the holotable, the Loth-cat settling on his shoulder and now content. Only then did Obi-Wan ask, his amusement more than obvious, "You're allergic to cats?"

"Yes," Ava said as she glared at the cat, who was oblivious to her bad temper, "And he knows it and still bothers me," she looked at Obi-Wan then, "His name's Hitchhiker. He's been following us, and bothering me, for over twenty years. Loth-cats live a lot longer than people think; we're going to be stuck with this guy for another 40 years, if we're unlucky enough."

"Why Hitchhiker?" Master Plo asked, and this time, Avery answered, "We can't get rid of him no matter what we do. We've left him behind on planets, thrown him out of the ship more times than we can count, had someone distract him while we take off, and nothing works. He just keeps showing up when we get where we're going, so we've decided we're stuck with him. I like him," as he reached up and petted the cat, "mostly because Ava doesn't."

Ava glared at her brother but didn't say anything, while Thrawn said suddenly, "You followed him on Lothal though," and Ava turned to him, "You followed him through the mountains. Why?"

"When in doubt, follow the Loth-cat," Ava said, some amusement coming through in her voice, "I had no idea where I was going, but I figured he knew. It had to be better than getting lost in the mountains. And I had no intention of getting caught."

"You didn't know where you were going?" Thrawn asked in quiet surprise. Seeing Ava nod, he added, "You seemed like you did. You were following the impressions in the mountain tops."

"My father told me that those mountains are where the more Force-sensitive Phoenix guards train," Ava said, "That's how I knew about them. That doesn't mean I knew the way through them. I just figured since Hitchhiker usually knows what he wants in life, he would know how to get out of the mountains. And once I found the Loth-wolves, they helped me the rest of the way. From there, it was a straight shot to the Temple to close the portal there. I didn't want anyone getting through there. Loth-wolves can travel through the World Between Worlds and get from place to place that way," still not explaining what it was yet.

"You still ran away from the Jedi and broke your leg," Thrawn said quietly, "I don't think you had everything planned out as carefully as you could have."

"Consequence of making your plans up on the fly," Ava snapped at him, "Sometimes you make a mistake, in this case, a very painful mistake. I've set my own bones before, but the last time I broke a leg someone else set it for me. Wedging your foot in between two rocks and then straightening it is the worst way to set a leg, but sometimes it's your only option," her eyes narrowed then, "Can't say I'd recommend it, though. It freaking hurt."

Obi-Wan laughed inwardly at the amount of fire Ava had, but it went away as Tarkin said, "You could have spared yourself some pain if you had trusted us."

"I think we've established I haven't been given a lot of good reasons to trust anyone just because someone else says I should," Ava said testily, "And I've never trusted you, Tarkin. I trust you about as far as I can throw you, which considering how my back woke me up this morning, isn't very far."

"Since when have I given you a reason to distrust me?" Tarkin asked, not seeming to realize how stupid of a question that was. Still, he found out when Avery snorted and asked, "Seriously?" he looked at the captain, a sneer barely hidden, "You stab and almost kill our father and then have the nerve to ask why we don't trust you?"

"And you tried to kill me," Ava said, "I take that personally," she looked at Tarkin more closely then, "But if you want to try again, you're welcome to it," she reached for her neck and brought her necklace forward, "You just have to take this off. It's the only thing keeping me alive right now. You take it off; I'm dead within the hour."

"What?" Master Tiin asked in surprise, and Ava nodded without taking her eyes off Tarkin, "I'm not as strong as you think right now. The wisp of my spirit I put in this is too strong for my body right now, so it's staying inside my necklace until I can hold it without it. It's my greatest weakness right now, and I'm well aware of that. So Tarkin," the captain looked at her, "If you want to kill me, I suggest you stop beating around the bush and go straight for the throat," she smiled then, her deadly canines on full display, "If you think you can get to it. Most men don't have the guts to try."

Obi-Wan chuckled slightly when he heard that, as did a few others, not expecting Ava to have so much fire after the last few days, especially when he saw that Tarkin was quick to back down and unable to keep eye contact with the half-Nautolan. Ava was a force of nature, and that was becoming more and more clear as she sat there. She might have been too weak to do much with the Force right now, but she clearly didn't need it as she put Tarkin and Thrawn in their place over and over again, and the conversation continued to the fight in the Senate. Seeing the fight recording was impressive, especially in the beginning when Ava confronted Sidious. Seeing him actually admit to his crimes and his desire to control the galaxy entirely was amazing, highlighting his arrogance. What was also amazing was the way Ava used the elements to her will, but a glance from Kit stopped them from asking about it just then. What wasn't impressive was the group of younglings that had decided to ignore Ahsoka and Master Vos and were nearly killed several times by Sidious, only barely saved by Ava each time.

They were in the communication center when this was revealed, and the disapproval was easily felt. Ava asked quietly, "Are you incapable of doing what you're told, or is that just a common trait among Jedi?" as she stared at them, Petro ducking his head since her glare was directed at him, "I told you to get out of there. Sidious would have killed you if he had been given a chance and nearly did a few times. It was hard to focus on the fight with him and keep you safe at the same time. I know my father says I don't use my head as often as I should, but I never would have thought Jedi younglings wouldn't use their heads either."

"We just wanted to help," Petro said quietly, not looking up, but Ava wasn't having it as she said, "By getting yourselves killed? Or by distracting me?" Petro looked at her when she said that, and she nodded, "Yes, half my attention was on making sure you stayed safe and alive. It was hard to do when you weren't making it easy. Doing what you're told isn't fun, but usually, when an adult fighting a Sith Lord tells you to get lost, it's because they're trying to keep you alive."

"You didn't do what you were told when you were younger," Tarkin pointed out, and Ava's glare slowly went to him. He couldn't stand that glare for long and dropped his eyes, leaving Ava to turn back to the younglings and say, "I'm not about to lecture you; that's for the Jedi to do. But next time, use your heads a bit more. You're younglings and wouldn't have lasted two seconds against Sidious. Think about that the next time you decide to do something catastrophically stupid."

Petro ducked his head again while one of the Sith hunters, the Rodian, who had been there the entire time along with a few others Ava had trained in secret, said, "If it makes you feel any better, I have a terrible time doing what I'm told too. But I know when to obey an order, which is why I'm still alive," the younglings looked at him and he added, "If someone like Ava says to get lost, you get lost. It's that simple. You usually live longer, too."

The Rodian was quiet after that, but Thrawn asked, "What are you still doing here, anyway? The fighting is done and the Sith are dead."

The Rodian shrugged, "Got nowhere else to go. I'm not part of the Order," nodding at Ava, "And my parents are dead and have been for a long time. The ones that stayed," nodding over his shoulder at the four or five remaining fighters Ava had trained, "Don't have any family to go back to either."

"But you're not Jedi," Thrawn said bluntly, but that was when Ava cut in, "Doesn't matter, they're trained as Jedi even though Sith Hunter training was necessary more than anything else. The only one who isn't is Ezra; he's fully trained as a Sith Hunter, but he doesn't want to be a Jedi. I found him in a Dark tavern, working as a barkeep. The others still here are orphans too; the ones that left are either part of the Phoenix Order and have no interest in being Jedi or have families to return to. Ezra's a bit stronger in the Force than you think, but his interest is in protecting Lothal. He won't be part of the Jedi."

"But he knows about them," Tarkin said, and Ava repeated, "Because he's part of the Order. He'll help protect the galaxy by protecting Lothal, and that's it. That's all he needs to do to be part of the Phoenix Order. As long as he's committed to protecting his homeworld, that's all he needs. As for the others still here, I've been training them since they were young; test them before you reject them," turning to the Council, "If you don't take them, the Order will. No matter what, they'll have somewhere to go."

Mace and Yoda exchanged glances before Mace said, "There are no guarantees you will become Jedi," as he looked at those Ava had trained.

"I can live with that," the Rodian said, "There were no guarantees we'd survive the fight either; Ava made sure we knew that."

"And you still came," Aayla said, somewhat impressed, and he shrugged, "Was the right thing to do."

It was quiet for a few moments, but then Avery started the holovideo of the fight between Ava and Sidious again. Watching it was impressive, with Anakin asking, "Why'd you record the fight?"

"I record all my fights," Ava replied, "That way, I can go back and see what needs improvement and what I should do differently for my next fight. And every time I get hit knocks my ego down a peg and keeps me from getting cocky."

Anakin nodded as he watched the fight between Ava and Sidious, and even Yoda was impressed at the level of skill they were seeing. Ava's mastery of the various lightsaber forms was clear, but eventually she started using moves the Jedi had never seen before. Seeing them, Ziva asked, "Where'd you learn that?"

"Tusken Sand Raiders," Ava said as she watched the feed, "I knew I would have to make my fighting as difficult to follow as possible, and adding moves from different fighting styles and cultures guaranteed Sidious wouldn't be able to adjust to my style, since I don't seem to have one."

"When did you learn how to fight from Tuskens?" Quinlan asked, and Ava shrugged, "When I spent a year with my brother exploring the Outer Rim. We lived with a Tusken tribe for a time learning their ways and how they fought. They certainly are capable warriors," a hint of admiration in her voice.

"They raid villages and kill people," Anakin said quietly, and Ava looked at him, "You could argue that the Tuskens have more right to Tatooine than anyone else and see others as intruders that don't respect their way of life. They didn't kill us because we respected that and wanted to learn from them. We weren't disrespectful to them, and they taught us much. Not just about fighting, but how to survive the desert as well."

Ava turned back to the video then and apparently considered the subject closed, which it was until Ziva said, "That's from my planet," as she watched the video, and Ava said with some sarcasm, "Those Chinese masters I learned from are going to be so proud. Ten years later, I finally used what they taught me for something useful. The Zen gardens of Vietnam and Thailand were also great places for meditation and reflection and were very peaceful. Not to mention beautiful. Eastern and Southeastern Asia are great places to learn about yourself and how to protect yourself from others and yourself."

Ziva shook her head when she heard that, but a few seconds later, she looked at the holovideo in confusion before saying, "Isn't that from that television show about warring families and dragons and too much blood and gore? Game of Thrones?"

Ava shrugged with a grin similar to her father's, "Hard to believe that an entertainment show could have good fighting moves. It's called water dancing in the show; I expanded it and invented more moves to make it easier to use for lightsabers. I don't think Sidious was expecting it. That fighting style is about being fluid in your movements and not staying in one place for very long while using fast, light moves and quick footwork. It made it easier to get ahead of Sidious. Every style of fighting that wasn't lightsaber forms I used was another advantage I had over him. He had to learn those styles, but I moved on to a different one before he could."

It was silent as the fight continued, but Mace paused it a few seconds later when he heard Ava's comment about not being right-handed. Hearing that, he turned to her, and she stared at him before saying quietly, "Every advantage I could take, I did. Most people don't expect their opponent to be left-handed, and I knew it was an advantage because no one is trained to fight that way. I lost three fingers when Sidious and his master attacked; I couldn't hold much of anything in that hand for a long time. It didn't stop me from becoming a surgeon or anything else I wanted to be, but I figured it would help me if I kept it secret. I was born right-handed, but after I lost those fingers, I became a lefty and never bothered to switch back after I got the prosthetic. I was too used to being left-handed and knew no one would expect that in a warrior. Everyone is taught to fight right-handed; I just decided not to. I still knew how but decided to keep the fact I was left-handed away from prying eyes. Everyone who knows me knows I'm left-handed; I just asked them to never say anything. And I can use both to the point of being ambidextrous."

"I see," Mace said and was silent until Ava started using Form VII. Seeing this, he turned to her and asked, "Where did you learn this? Aside from Sidious, apparently, only myself and Master Billaba know how to use Form VII. I doubt it is something you learned on your own or from your parents," Master Billaba staring at her as well as she waited for an answer, which came soon enough.

Ava shrugged again, "Over the years, my brother and I were sometimes left in the Jedi Temple since it was a safe place. We would hide in the ventilation system and watch the goings-on of the Temple, especially the training rooms as we got older. And there is the fact that the Phoenix Records are constantly updated. If I wanted to learn a lightsaber form or any other fighting style, I didn't have to go far to learn it."

Mace's eyes widened when he heard that, while Ki-Adi turned to Kit and asked, "You left your children in here? Without anyone noticing?"

Kit nodded, "There were a few times over the years when neither myself nor Sundali could watch them or anyone else in the Order at the moment. Qui-Gon Jinn suggested the Temple as a temporary place. Because of how powerful the Force is here, the Sith wouldn't have been able to sense them here, and because they knew how to hide themselves in the Force, no one would look for them either. It was never for long, a few days at the most."

"And it allowed us to do what we needed to do for the Phoenix Order, or work to rout Sith from various corners of the galaxy," Sundali added suddenly, joining the conversation, "It was a relief for me that they did have a place to hide and be safe in. Qui-Gon made sure they were safe here and suitably entertained. These two being bored isn't good for anyone. Avery gets crankier than usual and Ava's brain always needs something to chew on. Having them here was a good way to keep them out of trouble."

Ki-Adi shook his head when he heard that, while Obi-Wan said, "I can't believe Master Qui-Gon did all this without telling anyone. And that he agreed to do what you asked in the end."

"It was his choice," Ava said quietly, "I didn't want him to, mostly because I knew that there was more to be paid than he thought," Obi-Wan looked at her sharply when he heard that but said nothing as Ava continued, "But he couldn't be convinced otherwise. I don't think he ever stopped blaming himself for what happened on Tholoth, even though there was nothing he could have done. Either way, Amin was going to die, but at least she didn't die alone."

Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that, but Yoda had noticed something she said and asked, "More to be paid, you said? How?"

Ava stared at him before saying, "When I agreed to the trade, I told him that there may be backfire when it happened. Force backfire doesn't affect anyone except me, and it's usually just me coughing up blood because I have built protections against the more adverse effects. In the end, nothing bad really happens to others, but messing around with events that have been set can cause some unpleasant effects."

"What does that mean?" Tarkin asked, and Ava shot him a glare before saying, "Certain events the Force has set in stone are going to happen. I can change them; it's just unpleasant for me. Qui-Gon surviving and Maul not was set in stone, but Adi Gallia not surviving wasn't set. Changing those so that Qui-Gon wouldn't survive and Maul would caused some backfire that I could handle, but I knew there were other consequences."

"Like what?" Obi-Wan asked.

Ava turned to him then and said, "Remember how I went into that portal on Lothal?" when Obi-Wan nodded, she continued, "That portal led to the World Between Worlds. It's a gathering point for the cosmic Force and a place of power. It has many portals that show the past, present, and future. I can look through those portals for what may happen, what has happened, or what is happening. For example, I saw the fight on Florrum and what was supposed to be the result, then decided to change it. But there is not much else I can do there. I can change events if I wish, but I'm content to let them happen as they do most of the time. Exiting the portal closed it on Lothal, and there were a few others that were open that I closed over the years. They are left open or closed at the Phoenix's discretion, and I decided to close them. If I failed, I didn't want Sidious having access to them. He could have changed the past to the point the Jedi never existed in the first place but the Sith always existed, and I wasn't interested in dealing with that. The next Phoenix may decide to open them or leave them closed; it's her choice."

"I'm not seeing what that has to do with anything," Anakin said, and Ava turned to him, "The World Between Worlds is also the midway point between the living and the dead. It is from there the dead journey on, but they can stop there for a time. With Sidious, I forced him past even the realm of the dead, knowing he was too malicious to be confined there for long, and shattered his soul into so many pieces it can't come together again, even though I will watch that realm closely to make sure it doesn't happen. But with Qui-Gon, when he agreed to exchange his life, that came with the agreement he would be a guard for the World Between Worlds. Neither living nor dead. He can never return to the living, but he can never die either."

"Seriously?" Anakin asked, "How is that possible?"

"It's the Force, Skywalker," Ava said bluntly, "Almost anything's possible. And where he is is a gathering point for the cosmic Force, but he's the living Force, so he can't continue on."

"I don't understand," Mace said, and Ava turned to him, "The Force is divided into the cosmic Force, which binds the universe together, and the living Force, which binds lifeforms together. There is very little overlap between the two; if there is, it's because of me. I'm the living and the cosmic Force in one being, but that can never happen again. Every living being is of the living Force, but when one dies, they go into the cosmic Force. When Qui-Gon died, I diverted him from joining the cosmic Force, and he stayed as the living Force. Because of that, he can never truly die, but now he watches over the World Between Worlds and all the events of the universe. And he is learning more about the Force there than anywhere else; he just can never share that knowledge with anyone."

"Can't you fix that?" Tarkin asked into the stunned silence, "You know, bring him back to life?"

"I could," Ava said, "But I would have to abide by the rule of the Force that was used when he died. A life for a life. And there is the fact he doesn't have a body anymore. I could make him one, which is its own level of difficult, but there's still the rule we used to make the switch."

"A life for a life?" Padmé asked, "But that would mean…." trailing off as she looked at Adi, and Ava nodded, "There are some rules of the Force even I can't break. That's one of them. If Qui-Gon wants to come back to life, which he doesn't, he would have to exchange his life for Adi Gallia's again. And that is something he doesn't want to do. It would defeat the purpose of his sacrifice."

"And you're okay with that?" Tarkin asked, and Ava glared at him, "Not especially. He was my friend, a very close one, who protected me for years, and I did this to him. Do you think I liked forcing this on him, without telling him? I couldn't tell him, because another rule was I had to keep my silence about it, or it wouldn't work at all. Now he's trapped between the living and the dead, and he'll never know the peace of death or the joy of living again. I have to live by the promise I made all those years ago when I said I would do nothing if this was his fate. Do you think I like that?"

That was clearly a rhetorical question, and thankfully Tarkin was smart enough not to answer it, leaving Ava to turn to Adi and the rest of the Council and say, "Whether you agree with his decisions or not, they're in the past now, and there's no changing them. The World Between Worlds is the only place where the present is the future, the future is the past, and the past is the present. There is no way to change his fate, even if I could. Which, considering how weak I am right now, is impossible."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly before asking, "Why do you have his lightsaber, though? And how?"

Ava looked down at it on her belt for a few moments before saying, "How I won't say," looking up at him, "His lightsaber was given to me by secret means. As for the why? It was because I knew I would need it eventually. I wanted his lightsaber fighting a battle he knew would happen and wanted to be here for, but decided to sacrifice himself for a friend instead. Even if he couldn't be here, I thought his lightsaber could be here for him."

It was quiet for a few moments when the Jedi heard that, but after a few moments, Yoda shook his head and said, "Wiser than you seem, you are. Unfortunate it is, that notice this we did not."

Ava shrugged and said, "Being underestimated is a good way to stay ahead. No one on the planet where we live thinks I can do anything because of my back, but then I keep proving them wrong."

"That planet, what's it like?" Jocasta Nu asked, "We haven't heard much about it."

"It's nothing glamorous," Ava said, "It has the very unimaginative name of Earth, and there are seven other planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and the non-planet Pluto. They're named after mythological gods from one of the cultures that discovered them thousands of years ago. Earth is the only habitable one, as far as we know. We haven't explored the others that much. Earth itself is beautiful: 70 percent is covered in oceans that haven't been explored as much as the galaxy around it has, so there's plenty for us to discover. The land is varied, too; there are grasslands and prairies, deserts, jungles and rainforests, tundra and snow, forests and savannah. There's millions of animals of all shapes and sizes; the largest animal on the planet, the blue whale, is 400,000 pounds and almost 30 meters long. Swimming alongside one of those makes you realize how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things. There's not much keeping one of those from swallowing you in one gulp other than the fact they only feed on plankton. Almost 200 individual nations, over 7,000 recognized languages, and at least 7 billion people who can't get along no matter what you do are on that planet. In that planet's recorded history, over 5,000 years, combined, there have only been about 268 years without war. There is always one group or government fighting another for who knows what. Mostly, it's based on religion: I'm going to come to your land and take it over and enslave your people because my god is more powerful than yours and said it was okay. That was before in older times; now, it's because of natural resources that private companies want and expect the governments to help them get. There's a lot of corruption on that world."

"And you decided that was the better option?" Tarkin asked Kit, who glared at him before saying, "Qui-Gon Jinn and I, along with Sundali," nodding at her, "thought it was a good idea because no one knew where it was or how to get to it. There was also the fact that it's in another galaxy. That galaxy is significantly smaller than this one, but that planet has enough people to hide Ava and Avery. It took some work for the governments there to accept there was an inhabited galaxy nearby that had people in it and even longer for them to allow them to stay. Ultimately, they were only allowed to stay if they were productive and contributed in any way they could. Which they have. Ava was a soldier and is a surgeon and scientist there while helping Gibbs and his agency; Avery works in security. They do have to live by some pretty interesting restrictions, as do myself and Sundali, but that's all."

"Restrictions?" Ahsoka asked, and Sundali snorted in amusement before saying, "Like not being able to have children on that planet," she cocked her head then, "But those rules didn't say anything about having children here and then bringing them back. Considering the state of maternal care on that planet and in that country, having children here is significantly safer."

Ava chuckled at that before saying, "I work for Gibbs as a medical examiner. I figure out how people died, and when I was in the military, I created a vast web of contacts and friends all over the planet. They help me when I need them and are like the friends and allies our uncles and cousins have set up all over this galaxy. I met Ziva when we were teenagers and stayed in touch. When Gibbs was looking for a new agent, I recommended her because I knew she was more than capable as a fighter. Investigating crimes is something she needs to learn, though."

"I'm working on it," Ziva said quietly, "It's hard to do out here."

Ava shrugged as Gibbs reappeared, looking like he was still in one piece. Seeing him, Mace asked, "She really works for you?"

"Yep," Gibbs said, "I'm the only one she works for without getting a ton of complaints. Ava has a bad habit of not making friends with people in power, and her personality is an acquired taste that most people don't want to acquire and just try and shoot her instead. So she only works for me; anyone else tries, and she'll work for governments mine aren't exactly friends with. She's a bit too mercenary for me sometimes, but there are worse people on our planet. Her moral compass doesn't point truth north, but it doesn't point too far off course. She'll willingly lie to my bosses, lawyers, or anyone else if she thinks she should, and you'd never be able to tell. She knows how to beat lie-detector tests. I blame her uncles. The ones I've met aren't what I would call good influences. I met them for the first time when Ava was ten, and it was certainly a memorable experience. She was the first ten-year-old I've ever met with dreadlocks. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" as he looked at Quinlan.

"Didn't even know she existed until I was approached to be the Successor," Quinlan said before looking more closely at Ava, "But, yeah, I can see her with dreadlocks. She's covered in tattoos; dreadlocks aren't a stretch."

"Consequence of swimming every day and not letting anyone touch your hair," Ava muttered before saying more loudly, "As long as I took care of it, my parents didn't care what it looked like. I brushed out the dreads when I was thirteen. Wasn't easy since I would go swimming after I detangled a bit and it would get tangled again. So it was three steps forward and four steps back every time."

Obi-Wan asked suddenly, "Why would you lie to people who could force you to leave their planet?"

"They couldn't force us to do anything if they tried for a thousand years," Avery muttered, while Ava said, "Because it's the right thing to do," seeing Obi-Wan's confused look, "Suppose a war veteran, over fifty years after the fact, admits to killing a friend while up range because they were on a stealth mission, but his friend couldn't be quiet on account of his legs being blown off by a landmine. I know it's an accident, Gibbs knows it's an accident, everyone knows it's an accident except for the prosecutor because she's a hard ass. Do I let that man take the fall for it, or help Gibbs reveal it was an accident by not admitting to that prosecutor that the guy Gibbs got to play the enemy in his little reenactment was the chef from the restaurant he took me to the night before?"

"Interesting hypothetical," Tarkin muttered, but Gibbs heard and said, "Not hypothetical; it actually happened," Tarkin looked at him, and Gibbs added, "You might not be able to accept breaking the rules, but Ava will if she thinks it's a good idea and for the right reason. She doesn't care if people get mad at her; she'll do whatever she thinks is right, regardless of the consequences or the law. She isn't afraid of people in power. I guess because she was taught not to be by her family and to stand up for what's right, even if she goes about it the wrong way."

"Why would I want to make friends with people who abuse their power?" Ava asked under her breath, but that was all she said on the subject, while Tarkin asked, "You were in the military there? What did you do?"

"Marine Black Ops," Ava said quietly, "Aside from being team leader of about twenty-five guys, I was a sniper and explosives expert. I also worked bomb squad disabling bombs and mines."

Gibbs interrupted then, Ava turning to him, "Ava's unit was the best in Black Ops for over ten years. That doesn't happen often, and they more than earned their call sign. They stuck together through thick and thin without batting an eye. Rarely turned down a mission and only turned it down when they thought it was impossible. Which was almost never."

"What was their call sign?" Cody asked, and Gibbs shrugged, "Code name Wolfpack. They certainly acted like wolves a bit. The tattoo on Ava's shoulder of a wolf's head is one everyone in the unit has. The only difference is the circle's color around it; Ava's is the only one that's blue. Their way of saying they're stuck together for life."

"Wolfpack, huh?" Rex asked, "Looks like you got some competition, Wolffe," as the commander stared at Ava in surprise, but Ava shrugged and said, "Wolves are my favorite animals, regardless of the galaxy they're in. They're loyal, committed to the pack, and determined. Those guys were the same. Still are. They might be retired now, but the second I need help, I can call them and they'll drop whatever they're doing and come running. End of the day, they're more loyal to me than to the country they were fighting for," Wolffe shook his head when he heard that, while Ava suddenly grinned and said, "But a lot of my problems on that planet can be solved by talking my way out of them. And if not, there's always bombs. I learned a lot working EOD," seeing Wolffe's confusion, she elaborated, "Explosive Ordinance Disposal. Bomb Squad."

"Explains how you know your way around the explosives here," Tarkin muttered, but Ava heard him and said, "No, my uncles taught me that."

Tarkin glared at her but said nothing else, while Mace asked, "You were a sniper?"

"Still am," Ava said before nodding at her brother, "Avery is too. Neither of us has ever missed a shot. We're keeping with family tradition."

Mace nodded slowly, while Tarkin suddenly realized something, "You were the one that shot at me on the Temple launch pad, weren't you?" when Ava only looked at him blankly, he continued, "It was you, wasn't it?" he chuckled slightly, "I thought you said you never missed."

"I missed on purpose that day, Tarkin," Ava said quietly, "My grandmother gave the order that I could take a shot at you, but that I had to miss. I followed that order. She wants the pleasure of killing you all to herself," she cocked her head then, "I wanted to kill you, but my grandmother forced her will over mine as an alpha female and made me miss. She made me miss each time I tried to line up a shot with your head."

"She made you? Just by forcing her will over yours?" Mace asked, "That was all it took?"

Ava nodded as she stared at Tarkin, "I didn't like that feeling. I don't like being controlled like that, so I stopped when she kept doing it. It didn't matter that I wanted to kill him; she wouldn't let me. But she still let me take a shot at him, so that's all that matters to me. I'll be satisfied if he answers for what he did. I'm not immature enough to think that revenge solves all problems; I know it doesn't."

Tarkin glared at her while Obi-Wan cleared his throat and asked, "What rank did you have while you were serving?" trying to understand how she would fit into the command structure in this galaxy. And get her attention off Tarkin, again. It seemed a constant struggle to keep her from acting on the anger they could feel bubbling beneath the surface, and part of that struggle was keeping her attention off Tarkin. Not easy when he kept asking her questions.

Why Kit wouldn't get involved was something he didn't understand. He was the only one who could control her to any degree, so why wasn't he?

"I was a field colonel," Ava said, "In Black Ops, that was the highest rank you could get while still in the field, and I like being in the action. My team didn't just carry out covert ops; we were a more military investigative branch for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS, the agency Gibbs and Ziva work for. Investigated everything from petty crimes like pickpocketing and scams all the way up to espionage, kidnapping and hostage negotiation, and homicide," she looked at Obi-Wan then, "A field colonel would have the same rank in this galaxy as a general, same as on that planet. I just couldn't have the rank on paper without losing field work."

"And you stayed in that rank?" Admiral Kilian asked. He, Admiral Yularen, and a few other high-ranking officers from the Republic were there as well to listen to what had happened over the last few years.

Ava nodded, "For ten years. I busted my knee doing that job and a few other bones. I fractured a few vertebrae in my spine during one mission, and it was just me and another Marine. Since we were stationed in a desert, I had to carry that Marine's body and all our gear over five miles back to base in the beating hot sun. That was over 350 pounds on my back. I was ready to drop when I got back to base."

"Why didn't you leave his body behind?" Tarkin asked, and Ava actually snarled low in her throat when she heard that, while Gibbs snapped, "Marines never leave a man behind, no matter what. Even if they're dead, we never leave them behind. Our loyalty to each other stays strong even if they're dead."

"You were a Marine as well?" Luminara asked curiously, and Gibbs nodded without taking his eyes off Tarkin, "I was a Gunnery sergeant and scout sniper for a long time."

Tarkin quickly backed down when he saw Gibbs glaring daggers at him while Aayla asked, "How did you hurt your knee? And what did you do to it?" glancing at Kit out of the corner of her eye and asking herself the same question Obi-Wan had asked himself: why wasn't Kit controlling his daughter and keeping her in line? It couldn't just be because she was an alpha female, could it?

Ava stopped glaring at Tarkin to turn to her and say, "On that planet, sometimes the safest way to get to mission coordinates was to airdrop in. Black Ops usually does it at night, but that time we did it during the day. It was a jump I've made hundreds of times before, but that time my parachute hit a draft and lost some air under it, and jetpacks don't exist there. It recovered pretty quickly, but I knew that the landing was going to be bumpy. It was desert sand and rock where we were, and I misjudged the rock I landed on. Some water on it made it slippery. My boots didn't have enough traction because they were worn out, so when I landed, my left foot slid out from under me. It didn't slide forward or back; it went to the side and made a 90-degree angle that way," her hand following her leg down to her knee before suddenly going out to the side to the left, making Aayla wince when she saw that as Ava continued, "We still had a mission to complete, and I was going to be in sniper position anyways for it. But it was still three miles to where we needed to go, and I couldn't walk. The medic we had with us and I were able to get my leg straight, somewhat, but the kneecap was in pieces. I think I cracked a tooth to keep from screaming when we braced it so I could keep going. Luckily, one of my guys, Tank, was there. He's built like a tank and could carry me, my gear, and his those three miles without breaking a sweat, and then stuck around to watch my back while I was a sniper. Usually, snipers are by themselves because they're so far away from the action, but that's because they can defend themselves if they have to. I couldn't because my knee was too painful to walk on, let alone fight on, so Tank stuck around just in case. Mission was successful, and we were able to get back to base, with Tank carrying me until we met up with the convoy that was picking us up. The doctor at the base decided to take my kneecap out because there was no way to fix it and then put my knee back together, sort of. He had a hard time because he couldn't sedate me with anything strong enough to make a difference, and I metabolized the nerve block before he could pick up a scalpel. I had to stay still as he cut my leg open, and the sight of my bones being removed from my knee was something I could've gone my entire life without seeing. But he still made it functional, sort of."

"Sort of?" Thrawn asked, and Ava smiled slightly, but there was nothing pleasant about it, "My knee, if you want to call it that, is now held together by a few ligaments, two tendons, and a few pieces of sinew. It's not technically a knee at this point. The bones rub against each other and there isn't much cushioning between them, so it can be painful at times. Sometimes I can bend my knee; other times I can't, and other times I have to keep it straight so the blood flow isn't compromised. I've learned to make do at this point. Besides, I broke my back a few years later and that was a bigger concern. It's broken in three places now, and a surgeon on that planet thought putting a metal rod in it would help. It doesn't and only adds to the pain, but I haven't had a chance to take it out yet. I was also told to be careful with it. Doing the wrong thing could leave me completely paralyzed; I don't want to live like that."

"Wrong thing?" Tarkin asked, and Ava stared at him before saying quietly, "Tristan warned me against deadlifting anything over 50 pounds. If I do that, I could permanently break it and wind up completely paralyzed for the rest of my life."

"But you have done that," Bail said suddenly, and Ava turned to him with a curious look in her eyes and a cocked head, "You carried Master Gallia to the pirates, twice, and dragged your father into your ship. Neither of them is light enough. How did you not hurt yourself?"

"Adrenaline for Florrum, Ventress for the ship," Ava answered, "I had put a brace under my top for the fight on Florrum. I had a guess as to how it would go, and I wanted to be somewhat prepared. The adrenaline I was feeling helped me to ignore any pain in my back and keep my focus. As for the ship, Ventress was able to help with that. I also used the Force as much as I could. It doesn't change much in the grand scheme of things, and I blame that landmine. It really threw a wrench in my life. When it went off and broke my back, I was forced into the reserves because the Marines didn't think I could pass a physical, which made my entire team call it quits. They didn't want to roll the dice with another commanding officer that might not have given a damn about their lives. At least with me, they knew I would get them home at the end of the day. I never asked them to do anything I wasn't willing to do myself."

"Really?" Kilian asked, Ava saying simply, "Always the first one in and the last one to leave."

Kilian shook his head when he heard that, while the clones were even more impressed by her, while Yularen noticed a slight fault in her reasoning: "But there are never any guarantees in war," Yularen said quietly, and Ava nodded, "I know that. My men knew it, too. I just did a better job at keeping them alive than anyone else at the time. They liked me and I was an improvement over their last CO, who had committed war crimes and was in prison, and his lieutenant who had helped him commit those crimes. The only reason he's still in prison is because I asked Gibbs for a favor. Normally, I solve my own problems, but that time it was a good thing to be friends with an NCIS agent."

"You solve your own problems?" Tarkin asked sarcastically, "When?"

"Aside from the last five years?" Ava snapped back, making him shut up faster than anyone there thought possible, a few of them realizing Ava had a bit of a temper and would lash out. That became clearer when Ava said quietly, "Don't for a second think, Tarkin, that I'm meek or mild-mannered. Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm passive. I might have learned to control my temper out of necessity since letting it run wild means a planet may explode, but don't think I'm passive for a second. That kind of thinking will have you running for the door faster than you think you can run," she cocked her head then as her gaze turned deadly for a few moments before softening slightly, "That bullet going through my brain threw a wrench in my personality and skewed it pretty bad. I'm a lot less tolerant and a lot more irritable than I was in the past. No one, before, would accuse me of being a nice person, and that hasn't changed. I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good person, even though some swear I have my moments," glancing at her father as she said this.

"What do you mean less tolerant?" Tarkin asked, somehow finding the courage to make his mouth start working again, and Ava's glare intensified as she stared at him, "I don't tolerate stupid very well. For some reason, people being stupid rubs me the wrong way, and I won't put up with it for long. I understand people make mistakes, but if you keep making the same one over and over for the same reason, then I'm just going to assume the lights aren't all on upstairs and your brain took a vacation. That'll make me irritable, and since my tolerance level for that kind of stuff is low to begin with, if you prove you don't have anything resembling a brain, then I just get more irritated with you."

Anakin laughed inwardly at the fear Tarkin couldn't try and hide, and now that Anakin saw the way Ava was glaring at him with slightly narrowed eyes and barred teeth, it was clear she was only a few seconds away from leaping at Tarkin. The only thing stopping her was her father finally coming over and resting a hand on her shoulder for a few moments, apparently deciding that was enough and she needed to calm down. She settled after that and he returned to the holotable, making everyone there understand why Sidious had wanted Kit so much. It had taken him only a few seconds to calm her down, and it was clearly hard for her to do, but somehow he had her settled in moments.

A few minutes after she settled down and relaxed, Anakin felt ready to ask another question that would hopefully get her lethal attention off Tarkin since even though she had calmed, her eyes hadn't left the captain, and so did, "You were watching Fives and Echo. Why?" the two ARC troopers nearby and wondering the same thing. They had been reunited during the Temple fight and had fought together and were still catching up on all Echo had missed in the 501st while he had been gone.

"I was curious about them," Ava said as she finally turned her attention back to Anakin, allowing Tarkin to breathe and exchange a glance with Thrawn. The Chiss returned the glance; it was hard to tell if they needed to leave now while they had the chance or if they could risk staying longer. They both turned their attention back to the half-Nautolan as she continued, "I knew they were considered rejects by one of the bounty hunters training them on Kamino, and I wanted to see if them passing the test was a one-time fluke or if they were actually capable in the field. Which they were. And they reminded me of the men who served under me. They were all rejects and outcasts from their old units that hadn't fit in until I took them. There were a few bumps in the road, but eventually, they became one of the best units in the Marines. It was interesting watching these two follow the same path, in a sense," as Monnk and a few other clone officers that had repelled the attack at the Temple and then started the rebuilding entered the room.

Hearing those words from someone who had spent so long in a military it had made her a powerful soldier would have made anyone blush, but somehow the ARC troopers were able not to. But they came close, and thankfully, the attention was back on Ava as Admiral Kilian asked suddenly, wanting to know just how skilled of a leader she was that her men were willing to risk their lives and trust her so completely, "How many did you lose?"

Ava stared at him before asking, "Including Trap?"

When the admiral nodded, she cocked her head and said, "Including Trap, five in fifteen years."

Hearing her numbers were that low was a surprise, and that was when Avery added, "And she's made sure they're never forgotten."

"What does that mean?" Mace asked, causing Ava to look at him and say, "When you're Marine Black Ops, no one knows who you are or what you do. Our identities are secret; no one knows our names for security reasons in case someone wants to retaliate. I can't change that, but I do make sure those guys are always watching my back."

Mace didn't understand, but that was when Adi asked, "Those are names tattooed on your back, aren't they? Of the men you lost?"

Ava nodded slowly, "The one at the bottom is Trap. After I left the Marines, the others left too. They didn't trust anyone else to keep them alive. Military service for that government is voluntary, and when you're Black Ops, it's easier to leave than you think. Those missions are tough and could break the spirit of just about anyone, so the units are always short men. I don't think the Marines expected an entire unit to retire at once, but there you go."

"And you translated what you had learned there to leading men here," Kilian realized, and Ava shrugged, "Wasn't that hard to translate. Command structure was pretty similar, and once I had the trust of Commander Monnk and the other clone officers in my father's fleet, they made sure I had what I needed. Whether it was supplies or men didn't matter; they knew the supplies were going to good use and the men would come back. Not that I used either that often. I wasn't willing to risk lives against opponents they wouldn't stand a chance against."

Kilian nodded as Ava turned to Padmé and said, "The clones protecting Home Base want to keep protecting it. They've gotten attached to the younglings there," she raised an eye-ridge, "and the much better food. Will you allow that? And the other terms I mentioned regarding the clones?"

"Yes, I will," Padmé agreed immediately.

"What terms, Chancellor?" Rex asked, and Padmé smiled as she turned to him, "When the war began and Ava got involved, she told me one of her conditions for helping was that the clones be given a soft landing, as she called it. Because of what they have done for the Republic, she has asked that they continue being allowed to serve and protect the Republic alongside the Jedi, and then once they can't fight anymore, be given a pension, or ship, or whatever they desire as thanks for their service to the Republic."

"Really?" Cody asked in surprise, and Padmé nodded as Ava said quietly, "I was a soldier for a long time, and I know what it's like to come home and have people say that the fighting is done and you can rest. But the fighting is still happening for some, only it's in their minds now, and they struggle. I doubt that will happen with you, but I wanted the clones that survived and the sacrifice of those that didn't to be honored."

Cody stared at her in surprise, as did a few of the Jedi who hadn't thought of what would happen to the clones after the war. However, after a few minutes, the surprise faded as the clones saluted her. She only bowed her head in response, a smile playing on her lips, and that was when Colonel Gascon appeared. Seeing him, Ava's smile widened and she asked laughingly, "How did you like your walk through the Void?"

"I didn't," Gascon said absently before what she said sunk in and he looked at her. Seeing how she was resisting the urge to smile and failing, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "You were there? You knew?"

Nothing could stop her amusement now, and she grinned openly while her brother also smiled slightly. A few moments later, Ava said laughingly, "Yes, we knew. We found Gregor, remember? We were originally only there on clan business, but I got curious about the Jedi cruiser in orbit and wanted to check it out. Once I scanned a lot of rhydonium on board, we left since I knew what it meant. I was an explosives expert in the Marines and a sniper; I know a bomb when I see one. Even one that big."

"How is Gregor?" Gascon asked, to which Ava looked uncomfortable for a moment before saying, "Alive. He's more or less recovered, but his head took a pretty hard hit from a wall and then the fumes and his personality is a little….different."

"Different in what way?" Mace asked, to which Ava smiled and looked at him, "You kind of have to meet him to understand. I'm glad we left him behind for the Temple fight, though; he might have made things worse."

Mace shook his head when he heard that, while Gascon asked, "How do you know about the Void and us being trapped there?"

"I know everything," Ava said jokingly before getting slightly more serious and saying, "I saw you arrive at Pons Ora; you just didn't see me because I didn't want you to. I was actually impressed you survived the Void. Not many do."

Gascon narrowed his eyes, which was when Kit said quietly, "Ava and her brother have survived the Void, Colonel," when the Zilkin looked at him he said, "They and a few of their uncles crash-landed when they were sixteen and survived."

Gascon's eyes widened when he heard that, and he turned to the twins and asked, "How?"

Ava shrugged, "Instinct," she looked more closely at Gascon, "Nautolans, especially old-breed Nautolans, will always follow their sense of where water is. Where there's water, there's life. It doesn't matter if there's no sun or moon or stars; as long as there's water, we can find it. We don't need landmarks or navigation aids to find it. And our uncles believe in redundancy. Something they have taught us well."

"What do you mean?" Saessee Tiin asked.

Ava smiled slightly as she stared at the holotable, "Our uncles have taught us to assume we may come back to a place, even if we don't mean to. So we need to know how to survive it. Following your sense of water can help, but sometimes it isn't enough. It could be days or weeks until you get to that water, and it won't do you any good if you starve to death before you get to it. Our crashed ship on Abafar is a landmark for us. It's what we were doing there that time. We were restocking a cache of food and supplies our uncles keep there. There's medical supplies and a homing beacon to help us find the ship, tuned to frequencies only the clan uses. From there it's only a few days' walk to Pons Ora."

Gascon shook his head when he heard that while Ava gave her head a toss before stretching her back, making it crack loudly, which was when Mace suddenly thought of something and asked, "Your back was broken on Naboo," when Ava turned to him he continued, "It was broken on Naboo, but a few moments later it was fine. What happened?"

Ava winced then while Avery looked away, and that was when Mace knew it wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone involved. That became clear when Ava said, "Because of how my back was broken and where the bones are broken, they can slide in and out of place very easily. When that happens, it puts pressure on the nerves in my spine and causes paralysis. If they're put back into place, the paralysis goes away and I can move again. But there was no time to be gentle about it then, so Avery forced them back into place as quickly as he could, and then Aineislis carried me so that I could rest my spine for a few minutes."

Mace nodded when he heard that while the other Jedi were just surprised she could deal with that kind of pain so readily, but suddenly Ava raised her head and turned to Yoda, "I was telling the truth when I said I didn't send for you on Naboo. It wasn't Sidious either because I would have sensed that, and so would you. The only person I can think of who would have reached out to you is Qui-Gon, but why he would do that I don't know. Maybe he was hoping that you going to Naboo would help you understand what was happening and what I was doing. Or at least maybe figure out what was motivating me to keep going."

"Which was?" Tarkin asked, and Ava snorted in amusement, "If you're asking that question, you still haven't figured it out. Part of my motivation, part of why I was doing what I was doing, was in the gardens of that palace. The other part is something I will keep quiet about for now."

Tarkin narrowed his eyes at that, but before he could say anything, Yoda said quietly, "Meditate on this; I will. Perhaps, reach out to Qui-Gon, I can."

Ava nodded before saying quietly, "Now that you know about the World Between Worlds and that he is there, it should be a bit easier. Trace the paths of the cosmic Force and not the living Force, and he can meet you halfway. But he may not do it right away. Time is strange in the World; he may feel you reaching out and decide to speak with you the next day. But the next day for him could be the next year for you, so be patient," she grinned suddenly, a grin that was just like her father's, "It'll definitely be a lesson and test in patience."

Yoda nodded with a slight smile when he heard that, while Tarkin suddenly asked as he got some of his courage back and decided not to let this incredibly intense warrior scare him, something that still might be impossible in the end, "That device you put in Captain Thrawn, can you take it out?"

Ava turned to him, her head cocked, staring at him for several long moments before finally saying, "I could. It is in a place I can get to easily as a surgeon and a Force-wielder," Anakin looked up when he heard that term, "But I don't think I will right now. I have other priorities right now, and perhaps Thrawn will learn something from this as well, like what it feels like to always have someone watching your every move and not being able to do anything about it," turning away from both captains, allowing Anakin to look ready to ask some questions he had, but just then the convor bird that had accompanied Ezra during the Temple fight flew into the room from one of the broken windows outside. Seeing her now that things were calm, the Jedi could see she had green eyes and green and white plumage. She landed on Ava's shoulder and hooted a bit before settling, and that was when Ahsoka asked, "That's the convor the Daughter of Mortis had with her. How did you…?" trailing off as she realized something.

Ava nodded with a slight smile as she looked at Ahsoka, and the bird rubbed her head against hers', "Yes, Morai and I are friends, in a sense. She's actually an extension of myself. Anything she sees, I see. Anything she hears, I hear. She can get into a few places I can't, and has helped me often over the years. Her strength in the Force has been a great help to me. And her friendship is something I enjoy the company of," as she reached up and pet the convor gently on the head. Morai leaned into the touch and hooted in enjoyment while Ava smiled.

Seeing this reminded Anakin of his questions, and he asked, "You said 'Force-wielder' just now," Ava looked at him, "I've heard that before. And were you serious earlier about what you would do if I was on Coruscant?"

Ava stared at him briefly before saying, "I would have carried through on that threat, Skywalker. Not because I would have wanted to, but because I was worried that Sidious would be able to convince you to do things you wouldn't have been able to undo. If he had gotten his hands on you, he would have used your emotions against you and likely caused the fall of the Jedi and the Republic. Sometimes, I can't do what I want, but I have to do what's best for everyone. Doing what I want would mean the galaxy would likely fail, but doing what's best for everyone means that maybe everyone survives. It wasn't ideal, but I didn't want to kill you unless I had no other choice," Padmé shaking her head when she heard that but not looking surprised, revealing she had known what Ava would have done to her husband to ensure stability in the galaxy.

"And that part about not liking me?" Anakin asked, and Ava cocked her head then, "An unfortunate truth, Skywalker. I could feel your lack of control over your emotions halfway across the galaxy, and it always gave me a headache. It was hard to tolerate. Your emotions are dangerous, because you have no control of them. I knew Sidious would use that to his advantage."

Anakin nodded slowly in thought while Yoda and Mace exchanged a glance over the idea that maybe Skywalker was finally starting to learn the lesson they had been trying to teach him for years, while Obi-Wan circled back to Anakin's first question, "But why do you know the term 'Force-wielder'? You weren't there on Mortis."

"You sure about that?" Ava asked playfully as she turned to Obi-Wan, amusement clear in her eyes, "After everything you have learned about me, you want to say that it's impossible for me to create something like Mortis? Or that I can't know what was happening in there? That world was made completely of the Force."

"You created Mortis?" Mace asked in surprise while the other Jedi glanced at each other and murmured amongst themselves when they heard that, but their attention was back on Ava as she nodded, "I did. It was easier than you would think because I just created a little bit. Your imaginations," looking at Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka, "created the rest. You saw what you thought you were seeing. I was just the conduit that made what you were seeing physical."

"But why do it?" Ki-Adi asked, "What did you hope to gain?"

"It wasn't for my amusement, Master Mundi," Ava said as she turned to him, "I wanted to see what would happen if Skywalker was forced to face himself. That is the purpose of Mortis more than anything else. It is like the Gathering, but more intense, where you are forced to face who you are and what you want in life. You aren't the first to take the test of Mortis, Skywalker," turning to the younger Jedi, "And you won't be the last."

"But I failed the test," Anakin said, his confusion clear, "The Father, Son, and Daughter all died."

"The point isn't to pass the test," Kit said suddenly, becoming part of the conversation where before he had been content to be silent and let his children explain everything, "No one passes the test, Master Skywalker, not even the Phoenix," Ava nodding as her father continued, "I went through the test of Mortis as well, and did not pass. You face your deepest fears and desires, as they are often the same, and then confront those fears and desires made flesh in the Father, Son, and Daughter in your case. It was different for me, and different for Ava."

"You went through the test?" Obi-Wan asked Kit, who nodded but said nothing about what the test had been like for him, while Ava said, "The test of Mortis is meant to make someone confront everything they fear in life, and face it. That is why I had the Son take Ahsoka when you tried to leave the first time. I wanted to see what ruled your decisions, Skywalker, your head or your emotions. Your emotions were my answer, so I was concerned about what you would do if you were on Coruscant. You need to stop dancing with your demons and confront them, and hopefully they won't win."

Anakin nodded slowly while Obi-Wan said, "But Ahsoka died on Mortis, and the Daughter brought her back. Not even you can have that much power over death."

"Did she, though?" Ava asked, a playful light in her eyes, "Did she really die? Or was it what you thought was happening? Isn't it possible it was just what you wanted to see, not what was actually happening?" Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that, but understanding entered his eyes when Ava said, "I have a soft spot for Ahsoka, Kenobi. I like her and had no intention of hurting her in any way during the Mortis test. As long as I was facilitating the test, she was fine. It didn't matter what happened during the test; outside of Mortis she was fine. Outside of Mortis, time was still flowing on while inside, it was still, and she was alive. As long as she was alive on the outside, what happened on the inside didn't matter. It was nothing more or less than the Force, and that's all there is to it."

Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully but decided to leave it alone for the moment, and up next in the evidence was the fight between Ava and Maul on Florrum. It was an interesting fight for all involved, especially for Adi, who hadn't seen the fight end because of her wounds. She had heard about it, but to see it happen through a holovideo was interesting. Watching Ava kill Savage Opress impressed many of the Jedi who hadn't seen the fight but had heard about it, but seeing Ava get impaled on that piece of metal was hard to watch. Kit visibly winced when he saw that, while Bail suddenly asked, "Why did you keep fighting after that? Why not let the Jedi step in?"

Ava shrugged as she rested her chin on her knee, Lorelei balancing on her other leg without looking up, "Didn't want them to, for starters. If I'm being honest, I didn't think any of them could kill him. The Jedi haven't fought Sith in a long time; their skills are rusty in that regard," a few Jedi that had been injured or watched friends die during the Temple fight wincing slightly when they heard the censure in her tone, "Also wanted to test my limits. I wanted to see how far I could push myself; how much could I take before it became too much? I had to learn what kind of limits I had; were they the physical ones like my broken back and busted knee, and at the time a few broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, being impaled, and broken wrist, or were they mental blocks? It turns out they were mental, but I didn't figure that out until after the fight on Florrum. If the limit was mental, then I could push past it. That way, when I eventually fought Sidious, no matter what he did to me physically, I was fine and could keep fighting as long as my mental limits weren't reached. The only reason I didn't fight Maul for the first few minutes was because I wanted to see what his fighting style was like. Opress didn't have much in the way of technique; he just rushed in and relied on brute strength to overpower opponents. That was easy for me to dance around; I didn't have to work hard to fight him. But with Maul, I knew it would be harder. He bested Qui-Gon; I couldn't rush in. I wanted to see how connected he was to his rage and anger, how much more dangerous he was than Opress. Maul was personally trained by Sidious; fighting against the apprentice was good practice for fighting against the master."

"But how did you keep going?" Shaak asked suddenly, "The pain must have been overwhelming."

"Pain is energy, if you use it right," Ava said as she looked at the Togruta, "I focused the pain I was in through the Force and turned it into energy to keep going and keep up the shield I had created around myself so that when I brought the acid up, I was protected. It also connected me to all living things on the planet and allowed me to establish a connection with Adi and bind my life-force to hers. Unbinding myself from her was the hardest part; a part of my spirit didn't want to, and that was probably Amin. Every living Phoenix has part of all Phoenixes in her, so that she feels attachment to those she has never met. Amin wanted to stay near her granddaughter, but I had to sever the connection so that I could heal. I couldn't start healing myself until I unbound my life-force from hers. My wounds would have pushed her over the edge, not to mention the pain I was in and the pain she was in. A combination of the two, in her condition, might have caused a fatal heart attack. Using pain as a type of energy comes with its own risks, but I decided it was worth it for the few advantages it gave me during that fight. In the end, Maul was defeated, which was what I cared about. I don't believe in revenge, but I did want him to answer for what he did to Qui-Gon and, after that fight, to Adi. He knew death was waiting for him during that fight and that he was dancing with it. He knew, on some level, I wasn't going to let him leave that planet alive," she cocked an eye-ridge after that, "And you know what happened after that when Ventress picked me up."

"You burned your side closed," Obi-Wan said, making Ava shrug, "It's not the worst thing I've done to myself," she looked at Obi-Wan then, "The blood loss was intense, and so were my other injuries, but I could've kept going if you'd started a fight with me. And I could tell Krell wanted to start one. Good thing Ventress came when she did; I was functioning on a lot less sleep than I normally get and was about tapped out."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly while Dr. Boll suddenly asked, "You operated on your father after not sleeping for….how long was it? Three days?"

"Four," Ava corrected, "I could have gone longer without, but decided to get some rest."

"Really?" Dr. Boll asked with interest, "What's the longest you've gone without sleep?"

Ava stared into space for a moment as she thought before saying, "29 days."

"What?!" Dr. Boll exclaimed while the others in the room were just shocked, "That's impossible."

"Old-breed Nautolans have a lot of control over their brains, Dr. Boll," Kit said instead of his daughter, "We evolved at a time when there were a lot of predators that wanted to eat us, and so we were migratory for a long time. When all you do is swim, non-stop, for years on end, you need to find a way to rest without stopping. So, we evolved to rest half our brain while the other half remained awake. Then we switch so the other half can rest. It can be done as long as need be, even though now that we actually stop and sleep fully, this ability doesn't really have a use. Unless you have a reason or a need to go days without fully resting. Then it's useful."

Ava nodded and added, "I'm only half old-breed, so there are limits for me. 29 days is the longest I'm willing to go without full sleep, and there comes a time when I have to rest my body and mind. Resting half your brain only rests your brain; it doesn't rest your body. 29 days is the longest I've gone, and I stopped because of the fight with Maul. That was another limit I wanted to test: would not fully sleeping affect how well I fought? It didn't, because the adrenaline did its job, but I was ready for a long nap after that. Good thing Ventress is a good pilot and knew where to go for that safe house the clan set up. I patched myself up there and we kept going back to Home Base. My brother was kind enough to give me some blood. That's another good thing about having a base no one knows about," she smiled slightly, "You can rest and recover without worrying about anyone finding it."

Dr. Boll nodded slowly while Yoda shook his head, but their attention was caught by Kit saying, "After the fight, I got in touch with Sundali and told her what was going on and that she needed to keep moving. We were worried about the Monarchy or the Sith following you," glancing at Master Koth, "as you looked for her. Sidious knew you were looking for Sundali and wanted to find her, knowing capturing her would lure Ava out of hiding and possibly reveal where Home Base is. But that didn't happen, and Sundali headed for Malastare to hide for a bit before it was safe to leave. Clan safe houses are always on planets where Nautolans are least likely to be. She was helping Geeta for a little while and then left after that. She had Lorelei with her, another reason we didn't want anyone finding her. The Monarchy would have gotten involved."

"And neither of us held out any hope of Sidious keeping us out of their hands," Sundali said quietly, "The Monarchy had already collaborated once with the Sith to get their hands on Kit and Ava, and they didn't know they were related. I didn't want to know what they would do if they got their hands on Lorelei. The clan would have come out of hiding to get them all back, but it would have cost many lives, something we wanted to avoid at all costs. It was easier to run and hide and kept everyone safe and alive. Sidious collaborated with the Monarchy again to find and capture Rayla; it was the only way they could have found her so quickly. She's an expert at disappearing into thin air; the only way the Monarchy found her was with Sidious' help. Likely to lure Kit and Ava out of hiding again. We're all fond of Rayla and she's closely bonded with our family. The kids," nodding at her children, "grew up with her nearby, as did Kit. For her to be absent from our lives is something I don't think any of us would be able to deal with easily."

Shaak shook her head when she heard that, while Even Piell turned to Kit and asked, "But why do all this? Why turn your children into Sith hunters? There must have been another way to do this."

Kit hesitated as he looked at the Lannik before saying quietly, "They asked me to," seeing Master Piell's surprise, he said more loudly, "They asked me to train them to be Sith hunters. They knew more than I did about what would happen and knew they would be spending a lot of time hunting Sith. They didn't want to be at a disadvantage or have to rely on others to fight their battles for them. The information to train them was in the Phoenix Records, and some of my brothers trained the first hunters, so it wasn't impossible to train them. Training them to fight would also help them defend themselves against the Monarchy. But I knew that once I started down that path, I wouldn't be able to consider myself a Jedi after that because no Jedi, or parent, could subject children to that kind of training and come out of it thinking they were right for doing so. It might have been what they wanted, but it isn't something I would want to put them through ever again. It's why Lorelei doesn't fully know what the clan does; we're keeping her innocent as long as we can. She doesn't even know the Monarchy is hunting her and her siblings."

Master Piell nodded slowly as he heard this and Kit turned back to the holotable, leaving the other Jedi to realize this experience had scarred Kit more than the scars left from what the Monarchy had done to him over the years. It was quiet for a few moments as Kit and Avery got the next bit of evidence ready. As this was happening, there was a stirring from the back of the room, behind where a few members of the Council were standing, and then someone bumped into Master Plo. He looked down when he felt that as a quiet, familiar voice said, "Sorry, Master Plo, still getting used to the limited peripheral vision."

The Kel Dor Jedi stepped aside in surprise as the owner of that voice entered the room, followed by Santiana, Tzakara, the leader of the Geàrd Rìoghail, Amarona, and a few of Kit's brothers. Koryo stayed near his parents while Tazeki and Lyzann walked over to where their nieces and nephew were, Lyzann aiming a gentle swat at Kit's head as he passed him. Kit only ducked with a long-suffering look on his face, clearly used to his brothers and more or less resigned to how they treated him. Lyzann smiled when he saw that look and kept walking, while Tazeki only said, "You're getting wise to us, little brother. A few more centuries and you might be able to get ahead for a few minutes."

Kit didn't answer other than glancing at Tazeki out of the corner of his eye, leaving Lyzann to say, "Your five-year-old niece could get ahead of you for a few years without even trying, Tazeki. Don't kid yourself if you think her father can't get ahead of you."

Tazeki stayed silent when he heard that, leaving Lyzann to settle next to Kailan on the steps and Tazeki next to Ziva, giving Obi-Wan a chance to ask Lyzann, "How is your son?" remembering the last time he had seen the young child he hadn't looked that well after almost eight days without food. The Jedi involved in that mission also looked at Lyzann, wondering.

Lyzann smiled slightly, "Layka? He's fine. He's up and walking, and once he was feeling better started talking back to his brother for putting him through all that and letting him know what he thought of that "adventure." Malachi and Deveran are fine as well. Actava only tanned their hides once, while Amari also ripped them to shreds over that stunt. Between them, myself, and Sanja, they won't be doing something like that again. And then Sundali took a few pieces out of them too," the woman in question shrugging when Mace and a few others looked at her, "Once Kit came around and could think straight, he gave them a piece of his mind too," Kit only smiled slightly at that when Obi-Wan looked at him, leaving Lyzann to say, "It's kind of depressing when your kids listen to their uncle instead of you, and actually do what he says first before even thinking about listening to you. They definitely won't be trying that again. And if they do, it'll only be after they are better trained and without a young one in tow. That was just stupid."

Obi-Wan smiled slightly when he heard that while Koryo finally walked farther into the room and went to his nieces. Lorelei didn't look up from her game, making him smile, but the smile faded when he looked at Avalaur, once again making the Jedi wonder how he could "see" when he was blind. Avalaur stayed silent, not taking her eyes off him, and a few seconds later, he reached up and opened his hand, revealing a black metal band. It had been polished to a mirror sheen and engraved with markings that must have been clan markings, seeming to represent the sea and its currents and the stars above. The young half-Nautolan stared at it for several moments before looking up at her uncle, and that was when Koryo said softly, "You earned this more than any of us ever have. None of us have ever done what you did; no one in the last few thousand years has. It is yours."

Avalaur stared at him a few moments longer before nodding slowly, and that was when Koryo reached up. He didn't weave it into her hair, knowing it would fall out, but it had been made to go around her upper arm, under the Mandalorian brand on her left arm. She stared at it for several moments after it had been placed, then looked at her uncle and bowed her head. He only nodded before turning and going to his parents, saying to Kit as he passed, "You need to remember to get yours. I'm not holding on to them for much longer."

Lyzann snorted in amusement when he heard that, "Especially when you consider how many you have. Your count for Sith is more than the rest of us combined," leaving Yoda and Mace to stare at Kit in surprise while the other Jedi in the room were amazed to hear that. Quinlan Vos only shook his head when he heard that; he had known Kit had quite a few bands; he just hadn't known it was that many.

Kit didn't say anything about it or even look at his brother, making a few Jedi wonder how many he actually had and what he had done to get them, but there was no time to think about it as Santiana shook her head slightly in amusement and entered the room a bit more, followed by her mate, Amarona, and the one who had accidentally bumped into Master Plo a few minutes before, making a few Jedi stop and stare at the sight. It was Mai Dunta, who had worked in the kitchens for as long as any of them could remember. Which had been a surprise for them when they thought about how young she seemed and hadn't seemed to age, but a few seconds later, things started making painful sense.

But she didn't seem young now. Now she looked tired and worn. She now wore the half-top and multi-split skirt of the clan, which did nothing to hide the deep bruises, cuts, and gashes that covered her light orange skin. They were tended, the cuts and lacerations stitched, but they still looked painful. Bandages were wrapped around both wrists, and she was limping heavily as Amarona helped her walk. The reason for bumping into Master Plo was painfully obvious: someone had ripped off the left half of her face, including her eye, and there was now a gaping hole where it had been before. The wound itself was red and raw, and there was a clear line where flesh stopped and skin began. The wound went halfway across her forehead and halfway down her cheek and down her neck, and all the way to her nose, barely missing her chin. Judging from how raw the flesh looked, it must have happened slowly.

Seeing her like that was hard for the Jedi, especially when they saw how she wasn't complaining about it or seemed to even be thinking about it, even though it had to be painful. But Kit's reaction wasn't what they were expecting as he stared at her in surprise and grief, and that was when she looked at him and said, "Don't give me that look; I agreed to this before you were born. I wouldn't change a thing or not repeat what happened. My task is protecting you and your brothers; if this is the price I pay, so be it."

Kit shook his head when he heard that, while Avery said, "Doesn't make it right, Rayla."

Hearing that shocked the Jedi, with Tarkin asking, "You're Rayla?"

The Nautolan woman looked at him when she heard his voice, nodding slowly, while Mace said, "But you have been here…."

"As long as Kit," Rayla finished the sentence, "Amarona and Santiana sent me here to keep an eye on him when he was brought here and make sure the Monarchy could never find him. And when he met Sundali, I started watching over her as well. And when they had the twins, my protection went to them as well," she smiled slightly then, "How do you think those two were able to sneak around in here without anyone noticing? It wasn't just the Phoenix guards here helping them with that. One thing Sundali left out was that they stayed out of trouble as long as they were fed. That was where I came in. Both will eat like there's no tomorrow and are easily distracted by food."

Avery snorted slightly when he heard that, while Ava said quietly, "You trying eating half your body weight every day and let me know how it goes," leaving Dr. Boll to look at her and ask, "What?"

Ava shrugged, "Joys of being half-Nautolan; you have to eat a lot more because you have a faster metabolism. And because we're half and half, our bodies require a lot more energy to keep going. We get that through our food, mostly, even though there are a few things we can't eat."

"Like what?" Ahsoka asked, causing Ava to chuckle slightly and say, "I've had jogan fruit once, when I was two. Never again," shuddering slightly at the memory.

She didn't say anything else, leaving her father to add, "We all learned that day that jogan's toxic for her and her brother, or at least her. Avery's never tried it, mostly because we've never let him. It shut down her kidneys and liver, and we almost started thinking they wouldn't start again. Luckily, they did, but she's never had it again," saying nothing else about it, while his daughter added, "That was very painful," shuddering again with a slight smile, but it faded as she turned back to Rayla as the Geàrd snorted slightly before wincing in pain, but that seemed to set off a chain reaction of pain that needed a few moments to settle down.

Seeing that, Mace shook his head while Master Plo said, "What happened?"

Rayla shrugged slightly before wincing as another wound was aggravated, "Raojull Gon caught me after Kit was wounded and I left the Temple. Either I wasn't as careful as I should have been, or he had gotten stealthier over the years. And after he did this," resting her fingers under the wound on her face, "I don't really remember what I said. He took his time doing it and enjoyed every second of it. His revenge for not going with him when he told me to. I never was good at listening to my brother. He was the definition of insane," lowering her hand when she said that.

"Your brother was Raojull Gon?" Padmé asked in surprise, and Rayla nodded tiredly, "He was. And out of his mind," she looked at Padmé then, "I don't regret that he's dead. He got everything he deserved and more besides. After I decided to stay with the Geàrd and abandon him, it was more than his sanity could take. He went off the cliffs and swore he'd kill me if we ever crossed paths again. Being in the Temple protected me as much as Kit. As soon as Kit left, I left a few weeks later after getting everything I could set up here and was caught by Raojull," she shut her remaining eye for a long time before opening it, "Skinning me was his way of saying that I'll never forget him, no matter what happens to him," she smiled slightly then, "I hope my mate and daughters don't mind my new look. They all knew what my brother was like."

Master Plo shook his head when he heard that, while Kit's mother finally stepped out of the shadows more and said, "It doesn't matter now, Rayla. He's dead, and your task is finished. There is another task for you that needs done, healing, and there will be another to take your place so you can rest and recover. You don't need to hurry back to your task."

Rayla shook her head when she heard that but said nothing, giving the Jedi a chance to see Kit's mother for the first time in person and not over a hologram. She looked just as she had the first time they had seen her, but her skin was a beautiful burnished golden, a color no one had ever seen before but likely not as rare a color as her granddaughter or grandson. Tzakara, standing next to her, looked as relaxed and calm as always, while Santiana was focused on Rayla for the moment. Once the Geàrd looked at her and nodded, she turned to the Jedi and said, "Master Jedi," inclining her head, "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you," as she stepped closer, the sapphire on her forehead in stark contrast to her skin. It was surrounded by a few diamonds and an emerald rested underneath it, just like the headpiece her granddaughter was wearing, but this one was gold instead of silver. She was as tall as her mate and regarded the Jedi with some humor but quite a bit of calculation.

This was a woman who knew how to get what she wanted.

The Council was surprised to see her in person, but thankfully Padmé was able to say, "Santiana, it's so good to see you again."

"And you, Chancellor," Santiana said softly as she turned to Padmé, "How have your first few days in office been?"

"Well enough, thank you," Padmé said, "Thank you for sending your sons to help the Jedi."

"Thank Kit for that," Santiana said, "I wasn't going to send them at all. Kit convinced a few of his brothers to come and help. Without him, they wouldn't have come at all. He certainly knows how to get them to do what he wants. And thankfully the ones that came regarded the Jedi as friends in the past and decided to honor those old friendships. Things may have turned out very differently if they hadn't."

Padmé nodded with a slight smile when she heard that while Kit ducked his head to hide his embarrassment at being called out by his mother, while Santiana finally looked up and took in all there. Her gaze stopped on Tarkin for the briefest of moments, her eyes hardening briefly, but that was all, and then she was moving on to look at those there. Her eyes looked over Kit and Kailan, who had been sitting silently on one of the stone benches surrounding the central hub, ensuring they were alright. They then went to her grandchildren, smiling slightly when she saw that Avalaur and Avery were fine. Ziva nudged Lorelei, who looked up from the game she had been playing the entire time to see her grandparents.

The girl grinned, giving Ziva only seconds to grab the device before it fell before she was leaping out of her sister's arms and running for her grandparents. She jumped into Santiana's arms as she kneeled down, hugging her close as Santiana stood up and talking a hundred miles a minute. Santiana listened patiently before she could pass Lorelei over to her grandfather, whom she was just as excited to see. He was glad to see her too and held her as Santiana turned back to Padmé, who said, "I just wanted to let you know that the Senate will be investigating the coup from all those years ago as soon as we can. We won't deny you justice any longer."

"If you want to, Chancellor, you may," Santiana said, "I won't stop you, but I won't help you either. Glee Anselm is no longer our home."

"What?" Padmé asked in surprise, and Santiana inclined her head, "My people have fully left the planet, Chancellor; we have no desire to go back or wallow in old memories. We may live a long time, but we don't live in the past. The past is done, and nothing can be done about it. Justice for the dead doesn't help my people live now in the present. It doesn't help them move on."

"But it stops the Monarchy from doing this again, to another clan," Padmé protested.

"Maybe, maybe not," Santiana said quietly, "But my people have found a new home and we fully intend to start living again. The last 9,000 years, we've just been getting by, starving ourselves to keep our children alive, fighting as hard as we can to keep our will to live alive," she looked over at her sons before looking at Padmé, "You don't know, Chancellor, what it's like to watch your children realize the second they're born they may not live past their second birthday. It's a deep instinct they have instantly, after 9,000 years of being hunted. Even Kit had it; it's why he's so wary, even though he's spent most of his life in the Jedi Temple. Old-breeds are slow to trust, even if they've lived in safety their entire lives. You don't know what it's like to hear your mother's voice before you're born and then never again, or forget what your father looks like. I never knew my mother, or my father, and my grandmother was murdered the night I was born. You don't know what that kind of pain is like or what has to be done to move past that pain enough to survive. Please spare me the platitudes; I grew tired of them long ago."

"But if we prosecuted the Monarchy, they would stop hunting you and your family, not to mention your people. Your sons wouldn't have to keep fighting so hard," Padmé said.

"At what cost, Chancellor?" Santiana asked quietly and slowly, suddenly looking and sounding like every one of her 9,000 years, "My sons are warriors that have had to fight every day of their lives, but they love what they do. Their work drives them, gives them the happiness I never could. But it also drives them to the brink," glancing at Kit as she said that. Kit only lowered his head when he heard that but said nothing, "They wouldn't want to be anything else, and I wouldn't want them to be anything else. And even though we've been driven from our home, we have found a new one with more than we could ever want or need. We call it Vanora. It is our home now, and we have no desire to leave it. The Monarchy doesn't know where it is; no one does. And it is big enough for the entire clan. Anyone of the family can go there, even if they have no blood ties to our people as a whole," looking at Kit when she said this and clearly finishing a conversation, making a few of the Jedi realize that she was talking about Rey and whether or not she would be allowed to live there. Which she clearly would be now that Santiana had given her permission.

"How big is it?" Padmé asked, bringing the focus back to Santiana, who smiled and asked, "Remember when we all said the clan was only 80,000 strong?" Padmé nodded, and Santiana's smile widened a bit more, "That was a bit of a lie, mostly to make the Monarchy think we were almost gone. 80,000 was how many were on Glee Anselm when we found Vanora, but the rest of the clan was scattered around the galaxy by then. The clan numbers over six million. All of those six million are now on Vanora. The ones remaining out in the galaxy include those on this planet and the ones at Home Base, as well as those who are wanderers who aren't ready to settle down and come home. Half-Nautolans are part of the clan, no matter what the Monarchy says. In time, it may become possible for them to live on Vanora with us, but for now, they are safe at Home Base."

Padmé was shocked to hear that, as were many of the Jedi, but then Santiana was turning to her grandchildren. She looked at them with barely hidden amusement before saying quietly, "I wonder how much I owe to you, young ones," the twins looked at her then, and her smile widened slightly, "I know Vanora wasn't just found. I have been wandering this galaxy for many years; I know it wasn't there before. I don't know how it came to be but thank you all the same. Our people will be safe for many years to come now. Especially since it is so hard to find."

The two half-Nautolans bowed their heads to their grandmother, and that was when Santiana turned to listen to Amarona as her Geàrd spoke to her in undertones. While that was happening, Mace and the other Jedi turned to Ava, who only looked at them blankly. Finally, Yoda said, "Similar to the Zillo Beast, I imagine you did, when creating a world. Where he is, I do not understand."

"What makes you think I created this planet?" Ava asked as she cocked her head, "Maybe it was already there, and it was just missed in exploration. It's my understanding such a thing does happen quite often. It would explain why the Pantorans never found the Talz, and they're neighbors."

"Fair enough," Luminara said with some amusement, "But it still doesn't explain what you did to the Zillo Beast."

"He's fine," Ava said, "I was able to move him along cosmic Force paths through the World Between Worlds to another planet, like how the Loth-wolves travel. That planet is unoccupied and has no people, similar to Malastare, but with plenty of other Zillo Beasts. It's also on the other side of an imploded star cluster, like Lira San, and even harder to get to. It's where we have been moving them to for many years. Zillo Beasts are hatched from eggs, which are easy to transport. The juveniles are easy to transport as well. We thought we had gotten all the adults, but we hadn't. The Phoenix Order has been moving them off Malastare for years, claiming to be exotic pet traders, but we missed that last adult. When he was brought here, I knew it wouldn't end well and decided to do what I could. I didn't want him dying for such a stupid reason," she winced slightly then, "Although the backfire from that was pretty intense. I think I was coughing up blood for three days after that," she shrugged then, "Oh well, he's with other Zillo Beasts now and seemed content the last time I checked on him. He was the last of his kind on Malastare but isn't the last of his kind in the galaxy."

"Not unlike the each uisge," Santiana said quietly as she rejoined the conversation, a frown still on her face at whatever Amarona had told her, "There are none left on Glee Anselm."

"What?" Padmé asked in surprise and grief, and Santiana turned to her with a sad smile, "The each uisge were war mounts for our clan for many millennia, Chancellor. They are intelligent, capable of understanding speech, and loyal to only one rider. Then the Monarchy started hunting them for sport. We tried to protect them, but in the end, we failed. By the end of it all, only one nesting female was left on Glee Anselm. The male was killed, and only one of her eggs hatched. That one water horse grew into the one you saw on Naboo," turning to the Jedi that had been there.

Obi-Wan and the others were surprised and turned to Ava, who said, "His name is Eòghann. He is a very good friend and has saved my life many times over the years. His letting me ride his tail in such a way is the ultimate show of trust he can give. After he sent me down that canyon path and went the other way, I hid in a tunnel hidden behind a rock in the pond you surfaced in. That tunnel, after a few hours, leads to the winter palace. After you were gone, I came out and called for Eòghann. He came and carried me back to the fork in the canyons. From there, I was able to open a Force portal between Naboo and Vanora and bring Eòghann there. He's happy and has already made many new friends."

Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that, able to guess what a Force portal was, while Adi asked, "You mean there are more water horses?"

Ava smiled, "Yes, there are. They were already on Vanora when we found it, so perhaps old-breeds started there and left some behind, or some other reason I can't think of right now. Or perhaps," she paused with a sly glint in her eyes, "They were created in the way Beatha úr's creatures were when I restored the planet. Eòghann won't be lacking for friends."

Adi nodded when she heard that, while Ki-Adi asked, "What if there were others on that planet living there when you came?"

"We wouldn't want to repeat what happened to us, Master Mundi," Santiana said, "We have carefully checked, through various means," glancing at Ava, "to make sure there was no one living on that planet before we started colonizing it. The last thing we want is to force anyone to leave their home. And even if there was, we would find a way to live with them, not against them."

Ki-Adi exchanged a glance with those near him when he heard that, but then Skywalker asked, "Was it one of your people that saved Ava on Sorrus? When that Nautolan was trying to strangle her?" as he turned to Santiana.

Santiana only stared at him and didn't answer, leaving Kailan to rasp, "That was me, Skywalker," and the young Jedi turned to him as the bounty hunter started speaking, "She was there to gather intel about Separatist movements in the area to avoid them from Ventress, and I was there for a job. The job was finished, and I was meeting with her for lunch, but we were found by Raojull Gon and those soldiers before we could even talk about a place to go for lunch. We split up, and I decided to take to the roofs because I knew they would eventually corner Ava. They've studied our tactics for a long time; they know how we think. Thankfully, they were so focused on following her they didn't think that I was there or in a position to protect or help her. There weren't any Geàrdan there because Ava hates having them follow her around, even though she definitely needs them more than anyone else. I ordered mine to protect Geeta, so we were the only backup we had for each other. I knew she could hold her own against Grievous, but I wasn't sure about the soldiers. I'm glad I set up, though, a few more seconds and Ava would probably sound like I do now," smiling slightly at his attempt at a joke.

Anakin shook his head when he heard that, "Don't you have any regard for the law?"

Kailan only stared at him with an eye-ridge raised before rasping quietly, "I was defending my family, Skywalker, and hopefully you'll never have to make a decision like that. All we want is to live and survive, and not have anyone else tell us we don't deserve to live and should die. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with wanting to live? If we have to break a few laws for that to happen…." he trailed off as his eyes hardened suddenly, "So be it."

Anakin shook his head, unable to believe Kailan could think like that, while Padmé said suddenly, "The Sorrusian security force has determined it was self-defense, Anakin, and I'm not going to pursue it any more than that. I also reviewed the footage; I can see it was self-defense through a third party. There's nothing anyone can do at this point to undo what happened. And even if there was and Kailan was arrested, I doubt anyone in his family would see it as anything other than self-defense and would help him escape from prison."

Anakin stared at her in surprise while Padmé asked Kailan, "You killed Ziro the Hutt; do you still have his holodiary?"

Kailan nodded, "I do, but I'm not giving it to you just yet," seeing how she was looking at him, he added, "I will give it to you, Chancellor, but not until I'm done with it. With that diary, I can dissolve their organization from the inside and save you and the Jedi a lot of trouble. That diary is my ticket to getting the Hutts to leave me and my family alone. I know how Jabba thinks, through rather painful experience," reaching up and rubbing his throat gently, "I know what he would do to my mate and son if he ever got his hands on them. He would kill my son; I know this. He wouldn't care that my son is young and innocent in this, or that Geeta has nothing to do with this life. She is a dancer and artist, her life isn't connected to this life in any way other than by being my mate. He would kill both of them to get me out of hiding. Assuming killing my brother didn't draw me out. I have their holodiary now, and I will end this fight on my terms, not theirs. It's high time someone in the underworld stood up to them, and I'm more than willing to do it. I won't let them take anything else from me."

"Will the Hutts live through the encounter?" Mace asked, but Kailan only looked at him blankly, not answering, and Mace turned to Kit, who looked at him and nodded.

He would make sure his brother held back when he finally confronted the Hutts.

"Live hard lives you do," Yoda said suddenly, having been mostly silent until now and content to listen. The old-breed Nautolans in the room turned to him, even Kit, and he continued, "Live the way you do, how?"

"There are worse people than us out there, Master Jedi," Lyzann answered suddenly, surprising them since he had been silent for a while now, "People not bound by a code of honor or having even a sense of right and wrong," he looked at Yoda, "We live this way because we want to, not because anyone is making us live this way. If I decided tomorrow I wanted to stop fighting and become a farmer, no one would stop that from happening. I'm pretty sure I would get bored with it in a week, but no one is stopping me if that's what I want to do. It's the same for us as warriors. We want to be warriors and follow this path, and no one is stopping us," he cocked his head suddenly, "But I don't think that's the reasoning behind your question."

Yoda looked at him then, and the Nautolan continued, "You want to know how we can live our lives and seem to have such little regard for the people in them who aren't our own. But we have more regard than you think. We just don't care for those that hurt our family and our people," he paused a moment before saying, "Old-breeds live a long time, Master Jedi, longer than the Jedi Order in some cases. Because we live so long, we don't have to care about mortals, but many of us do. Some don't, I'll admit that, but there are a lot who do," glancing at Kit, who stared at him expressionlessly, "And that's because mortals teach us as well. They teach us how to enjoy small pleasures and joys; otherwise, this long life would be a drag and a hindrance to our own joy. Mortals teach us to enjoy every day like it's our last, because it may well be. No one, not even the Phoenix, knows what tomorrow will bring, so we've learned to enjoy every day we get," he smiled suddenly, "But we have a new home now, and it's big enough that we'll be exploring it for many years to come. Who knows? We might not leave Vanora for a few thousand years. By then, the galaxy will probably have forgotten about us and changed again," seeing the way Padmé was looking at him, he added, "We care about mortals, Padmé, but we also know we will likely outlive all the friends we will make in certain times and places. It's why we try not to get attached to them, but I would be the first to admit it isn't easy. Sometimes, your friends almost become your brothers the more you get to know them. Especially if you spend years fighting alongside them and having them watch your back. And when they betray you, that betrayal stabs deeper and burns more than a lightsaber," the one gold band around his head-tentacle a stark reminder that he had killed a Jedi that had been his friend to protect others.

Padmé shook her head, while a few Jedi were surprised to see Lyzann speak so deeply about something, and that was when Yoda realized that he had given this a lot of thought in the past. But before he could think about it more, Tazeki said suddenly, "That's how it's always been, Jedi, for as long as I can remember," as Yoda turned to him, "Don't think about it too much. If we're on another planet and out of contact with the rest of the galaxy, we aren't causing trouble in the galaxy."

Kit snorted when he heard that, clearly not believing him, and Tazeki whipped around, his temper flaring at his brother clearly mocking him, but Kit wasn't intimidated and looked more amused at his older brother's temper than anything else. Tazeki glared at him, but before he could really round on his brother, Lyzann said suddenly, "And that is why you have the blue ring around your eye."

"Really?" Obi-Wan asked, to which Lyzann nodded without taking his eyes off Tazeki, "It lets everyone in the clan know that the person sporting it doesn't have a lot in the sense department," he looked more closely at Tazeki until finally Tazeki looked at him. Only then did Lyzann say, "You're a bad influence, you know that, right? Your nephew," nodding at Avery, "is only one bad accident away from getting that tattoo. Whose fault do you think that is?"

"I know it's not mine," Kit said quietly, still sounding somewhat amused by the entire thing, and Tazeki glared at him. Avery only smiled thinly when he heard that before saying, "At least I don't lose my temper at the drop of a hat."

"No," Koryo said, speaking for the first time in a while, "You lose it at the drop of a feather. You need to learn to control it better. Your temper won't win any battles you fight in life, on the field or off. And it can't just be your sister and your parents that can mellow you out; you need to let others in to do so, otherwise, I'll put that tattoo on you myself. You're getting too dangerous and uncontrollable, even for your sister. I don't care what your father says; you don't control that temper, with or without help, I will put that tattoo on you. I've been asked several times why you don't already have one; that isn't a good sign, and your father can't help you or stop it from happening. Not even your grandmother can help you if people are saying you need one. The clan is saying it doesn't trust you, and that is something you shouldn't be okay with."

Avery dropped his eyes when he heard the censure in his uncle's voice, making the Jedi wonder about the dynamics of the family and how they were able to get along when there were so many different personalities and tempers to consider, but Obi-Wan decided to change the subject to something else still related to the brothers, "On Serenno, Tivann never revealed who I was. Why? And how did he lose that head-tentacle?"

"His head-tentacle was cut off by a Sith during the fall of the Old Republic," Lyzann said, turning to him, "During those wars, he fought in more battles than the rest of us; that head-tentacle was the price he paid for fighting against the Sith so much. He also found Tagali after the Sith took him; he lost it during that fight, while Nagala went to the dungeons to find him. He doesn't have any regrets, though. As for him not blowing your cover?" he cocked his head then, "Probably didn't blow it because he didn't want to. Jedi used similar tactics during the Old Republic wars, so he probably didn't think anything was wrong with it. And there was the promise we made to Kit not to hurt his friends. Blowing your cover would have done that. It didn't stop him from stealing that ship, but like he said, there's nothing left of it, so don't ask for it back."

"But how did he know about the plan in the first place?" Anakin asked, "Did someone tell him?"

"I would bet money on that, Skywalker," Lyzann said, "But I doubt it was Rayla," who nodded in agreement, "so it was probably another source of his. Good luck finding that source; I doubt Tivann's going to use it again anytime soon. He's too careful for that, not to mention paranoid. Paranoia keeps you alive in this line of work and with our family; otherwise, we'd all be dead a long time ago."

Anakin nodded slowly when he heard that, while Mace suddenly had an unpleasant thought he almost didn't want to ask. But knowing there was nothing else to do but ask, he turned to Kit and decided to go for the direct approach and see what would happen. He was starting to understand how Kit's personality had changed recently, namely in that he no longer beat around the bush as much as he had in the past, but he didn't know in what way and to what extent his personality had changed.

This would be a good test.

"Before we knew he was Darth Sidious, Palpatine forced us to hand over your father and Tristan to the Monarchy," he started. Kit nodded, knowing this and letting Mace continue as Tzakara looked on, "What would have happened if they hadn't been able to escape and been taken to Glee Anselm? What would you have done?"

"Assuming I survived?" Kit asked softly before falling silent and lowering his eyes as he thought. Mace and the others waited him out for a few minutes before he finally said, "I don't know, not fully. I do know I would have blamed somebody for it, and since I always knew he was a Sith lord, hopefully I would have blamed Sidious for it. After that, I don't know what would have happened. I fought him once, when I was younger, and knew then I wouldn't have the upper hand in that fight for long, if at all. I doubt that would have changed in the intervening years. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened, but thankfully, we don't have to know what I would have done."

Hearing Kit actually say he would react as his father had guessed was hard to take for the Jedi, but Mace still had one more uncomfortable question to ask, and he knew it would be the one that showed whether Kit was willing to be a Jedi again, "Do you want to stay? At the Temple?" he clarified when Kit looked at him blankly.

Kit stared at him a few moments longer before saying simply, "No," seeing the way Mace was looking at him, he said quietly, "The Temple always felt like a prison, Master Windu. I couldn't leave without worrying about the Monarchy coming after me, and there was always the fear in the back of my mind about what they would do if they caught me alone. In that way, whenever I left, even if I was with Jedi, I knew my brothers and the Geàrd were always watching out for me and keeping the Monarchy away. Knowing they were always there made it feel like I was a prisoner on leave from a prison cell. The Temple is a beautiful building, but it always felt like a gilded cage where I could never be what I wanted to be or be back with those I wanted to be with. I could never live my life until I left, and I have no interest in returning. I'm grateful for the Jedi allowing me to stay for so long, even if you didn't truly know why I was brought here, but I don't want to return to the Jedi. In the end, the only good things about the Temple are the friendships I had that led me to the Phoenix Order and Sundali and Qui-Gon, and what I learned in regards to the Force and fighting. And even then, what I learned was supplemented by my brothers and family. In the end, it is time for me to leave and see what happens next," he smiled slightly, "It should be interesting, no matter what happens. I get the feeling I'll be seeing even more of the galaxy now."

Mace nodded slowly, knowing this was the likely reaction and response he would get, and not entirely surprised. Kit had a whole other life outside the Temple; they knew that now, and was ready to get back to it and live it. He had his brothers and his parents, his children and his mate, and so many others who wanted him back with them. And even though Mace knew the Jedi as a whole were grateful for what he had done to safeguard the Order, there were plenty who no longer trusted him and likely wouldn't trust him ever again.

Especially now that they knew he was the leader of another incredibly dangerous order that was much more hidden than theirs.

Gaining back their trust would take time he clearly wasn't interested in investing in. The slight irritation he was working to hide regarding the Temple Guards following him everywhere likely wasn't helping.

Shaking his head inwardly, Mace turned to Tzakara and asked, "What happened twenty years ago that almost killed you?" when the Nautolan turned to him, he clarified, "What did the Monarchy do?"

Tzakara shrugged, "They caught me," he looked at Mace then, "I've been through plenty of painful things in my life, Master Windu. I watched my parents and grandparents get slaughtered by the Monarchy when I was young because we were of some of the oldest bloodlines of old-breed Nautolans. Our family had as strong a claim to the throne as Santiana," nodding at his mate, "And I did have a sister who would have been the one to stake a claim. She was killed a few weeks later. A few more days, we would have been safe in clan territory where the soldiers wouldn't have dared to go. All we could do was carry her body the rest of the way and bury her in our home territory. I watched my brother and sons die in front of me, and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren," he cocked his head then, "All of that can compare to what the Monarchy did when they caught me, but the Monarchy only hurt me physically that time. All those deaths just hurt my spirit, which caused deeper wounds. They beat me, with whips made of each uisge hide that had been hardened with salt water, branded me with hot irons, and shot me several times in the head. Those shots to the head were what almost killed me. I could have recovered from just one easily enough, but those five or six more really didn't help. By the time I was found, I had lost a lot of blood, and it took years to recover my memory of all that had happened that led up to my being caught. Only then could I properly grieve for the fifteen Geàrdan that had been killed to get to me," he looked more closely at Mace while a few Jedi shook their heads at how many had been lost in just one attack, "Never underestimate how far the Monarchy is willing to go to get to me or Santiana, Master Windu. Two of those Geàrdan were pregnant, and that didn't stop those monsters from killing them. Do you really think an investigation by the Senate or anything from the Jedi will stop them? It won't," answering his own question, "They'll keep coming after us. In the end, leaving to find a new home was always the answer; it just took a long time to get there. And now we have, and the clan is safe."

"It was really that easy to leave?" Shaak asked, and Santiana was the one who answered when she said, "It was, especially when you think of everything our people have missed out on," she looked at Shaak then, "Our ancestral territory didn't have enough open, above ground water for sailing, so very few of the younger generations know how. And the south pole doesn't have any above-ground water at all. The only ones in the family that do know are Avalaur and Avery, and that is because Gibbs taught them with a boat he built for them for their sixteenth birthday. They are teaching the rest of us now, and we will go back through our memories to when our people built boats to build and sail again. The elders remember how to build those boats, and they will teach us. They also remember the old sailing songs we sang as we sailed and have started teaching us," she cocked her head then in the face of Shaak's surprise, "Yes, none of us know how to sail. We couldn't teach Kit how to swim before he was brought to the Temple because the water was too dangerous. Thankfully, swimming is always instinctive for us, and he didn't need to learn. The only thing we could teach him was how to navigate dangerous currents. As Avalaur said, we bring our children to Kef Bir when they are five and teach them then. Before that, they are denied what makes them Nautolan, even if they want nothing more than to swim the tides and currents. When everything that makes you what you are is denied, it's incredibly easy to leave and start over in a place where the only thing stopping you is yourself."

Shaak nodded slowly before looking at Kit, only now realizing and understanding everything he and his family had been through to give him a better life. Granted, it had started with Raojull Gon poisoning him to the point where he had to be taken away, but to hear how little he had growing up that was part of what he was was hard, and made it easier to understand that even if he saw the Temple as a prison of some sort, it had been a prison with everything he hadn't had on Glee Anselm.

It said a lot about what his home had been lacking and what they had been denied.

Obi-Wan sighed then, "I doubt there is anything anyone can say to make up for everything you and your people have gone through," as he turned to Santiana before looking at Tzakara, "But there is one thing I was wondering: what did Tristan call Palpatine as you were leaving that day?"

Surprisingly, Kit answered, "Maorach means 'coward,' Master Kenobi," he looked over at the Jedi Master, "I think it's an apt description," referencing Master Yoda's belief that cowards would always follow the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan nodded slowly before asking, "Did you know Palpatine was a Sith lord then?" seeing Tzakara nod, he asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"There was nothing I could do, Master Jedi," Tzakara said, "I knew he was Sith the entire time, but just like my son, I had no physical proof that he was one. I would have done something about it if I could, but without any proof, my attacking the Chancellor of the Republic wouldn't have looked right and gotten me into deeper trouble. And with you all around and me being unarmed, I knew the odds weren't in my favor since you couldn't see he was a Sith. Aside from that, I knew Ava would do something about it anyway, so why waste my time and energy dealing with him? I needed to escape from prison….again," smiling slightly when he said that.

"That wasn't your first time?" Anakin asked, not surprised in the slightest now that they better understood this family, and was rewarded by Tzakara shaking his head as his smile widened into a full-on grin that looked just like his son's, "No, not even the fifth escaping from that prison in particular. I used different names each time, of course, including 'Ky Lan,' so I knew escaping would be just as easy as it was the last few times. Whenever someone says they've changed the security protocols to something new, they're changing them back to something they haven't used in a few centuries and hoping no one catches on," he grinned suddenly, "Or remembers them. After that, it was a quick getaway back to Home Base. We were gone before morning. Thanks to Astri Oddo. She was kind enough to give us a ship."

Anakin shook his head when he heard that, not entirely surprised, while the Council exchanged glances and decided not to pursue the matter. There was no way to contain someone like Tzakara Fisto; they knew that now, and it would be a waste of time trying.

"I don't think I fully understand how the laws of the clan work, Tzakara," Padmé said suddenly, and he turned to her, "Are both your last names Fisto or did one of you take the other's name?"

"I took hers," Tzakara said quietly, "That's the law of the clan. If someone mates a female, they take her name. If they mate a male, she can take whatever name she wants, even keep her old one. That's why Taylora is still Taylora Darka instead of Taylora Fisto. If she wants to change it, she can. Now that we have a new home where being a Fisto won't put a death mark on your head or get you killed, she can do whatever she wants. More so than she already does."

"It's why I'm still Sundali Abazza," Sundali added quietly, "And why Avery decided on Abazza-Fisto for his last name. There's more freedom than you think in the clan, and everyone can take advantage of it whenever they want. No one, not even Kit, can tell me what to do or how to live. All he can do is suggest it, but since our minds work so closely in sync, it's usually something I was going to do anyway."

Padmé nodded, understanding now, while the Jedi exchanged glances with each other when they heard that, and that was when Tzakara suddenly asked, "What happened to the ship we were in when you found us over Glee Anselm?" looking at Mace.

The Jedi Master replied, "We still have it. Master Skywalker was trying to figure out any modifications that had been made to it that you would have used to get away from us and the Monarchy."

Tzakara smiled slightly when he heard that, "The only modifications were reinforced shields and a few more weapons. I was asking because we would like it back."

"I don't see why you would want it," Thrawn said quietly, "You and your people can afford better ships."

"That ship belonged to the smuggler who brought Kit to the Temple," Santiana answered instead of her mate, surprising the Jedi, "His name was Crazni Ilzee, a Rodian and good friend of the clan. He never hesitated to help us in any way he could. He smuggled food and medicine to us for free, often from Tristan and the Nabooians when he was there, and was one of the ones that got our people off Glee Anselm over the years and got them to safer areas in the galaxy to set up small colonies while they waited for us to find a new home. One colony was on Naboo, in the more dangerous parts of the northern reaches where no one wanders, and there were others on Jakku, Tattoine, Rattatak, and other desert places, as well as Hoth and Ilum. We even set up a small colony on Orto Plutonia and made peace with the Talz while we were there so they wouldn't harm us. The last place anyone would think to look for a Nautolan is on a desert or ice planet," seeing the surprise of a few Jedi when they heard one name, she nodded, "Yes, that is how Avalaur knew about that oasis in the mountains of Jakku. The pool leads into a massive underground flooded cave system. The colony was there until Vanora was found, and the area was abandoned. But Avalaur still knew about it in case she needed it. But without Crazni and his courage, Kit wouldn't have made it to the Temple. Not even Tristan could do anything to help him, and we knew if the snipers clocked him and Kit getting on a ship together, they would have the palace blow it out of the sky. In the end, sending Kit to the Temple was the safest option for everyone. We couldn't risk our only doctor, and we couldn't risk Kit. Crazni solved the problem for us, and we would like his ship back."

Mace was silent for a few moments while he looked at Yoda, while Kit suddenly asked, "What happened to Crazni? You never said the last time I asked," when his parents looked at him, he added quietly, "You dodged the question."

Santiana looked at Tzakara before sighing and saying, "He helped us get the last of our people off Glee Anselm and to the rendezvous point where Malani was taking them to Vanora. Like with Home Base, we don't take chances getting our people to safe places. He'd left his ship behind on Glee Anselm and taken a faster ship, mostly because he knew the Monarchy wasn't looking for that one. But it didn't make a difference; the Monarchy still found him and blew him out of the sky as he was returning to pick up his ship," Kit stared at her before lowering his head to stare at his hands as he leaned on the holotable, and even Yoda was surprised to feel the grief he didn't hold back, realizing then Kit remembered more about Crazni then he let on and had probably met with him a few more times over the years. Santiana continued quietly, "That's why we want his ship. He was part of the clan and part of the family, and we relied on him and his ship. We just want it back to have a piece of him with us. Is that so wrong?" she asked Mace.

"No," Yoda answered instead, "Return the ship to you; we will."

Santiana stared at him before nodding in thanks with a slight smile, something Yoda returned, but at that moment, there was the sound of two voices coming from outside the room, one of them saying rather loudly, "I don't care if they are busy or not, I want to speak to the Jedi Council and the Chancellor now! You cannot deny us that!"

Santiana stiffened slightly when she heard that while Amarona immediately activated her staff on instinct, Rayla looking up and ready to fight before Amarona said something to her that caused her to nod and limp over to Ava and Avery and stand with them, even though she had to stop and lean on the holotable for a minute when pain flared. Kit watched her like a hawk-bat for a few seconds, but then she controlled the pain and kept walking. As this was happening, Amarona and another Geàrd hidden behind Tzakara flanked him and Santiana, eyes fixed on those voices as they came closer and clearly recognized them. Tzakara put his granddaughter down and sent her to her father, but Kit had her go to Kailan and stay with him while her siblings took up their lightsabers but didn't ignite them. Kailan and the rest of their brothers looked as unconcerned as always, but the Jedi noticed that Lorelei had been quietly placed in the center of them to keep her safe. Kit looked at his parents, but Santiana only said quietly, "This is neutral territory as far as I'm concerned. It will only come to a fight if they start it. If that happens, I guarantee nothing," nodding at Amarona, who deactivated her staff but kept it at the ready.

Kit nodded but said nothing as the owners of those voices finally entered the room, revealing the king and queen of Glee Anselm. The king, Nir Maru, was a teal color, while his queen, Lu Maru, was a darker red. The two entered the room with their heads high, wearing crowns that symbolized their status. They weren't wearing much jewelry other than that, but those crowns were enough for Santiana to curl her lip and the Jedi to feel the resentment radiating off her. Seeing her, the king and queen hesitated only a moment before they entered the room, flanked by guards of their own dressed in black. Compared to the half-top and split skirt of the Geàrd Rìoghail, it was more formal, but there was no denying the skill of the Geàrd, evidenced by the battle scars that covered Amarona and the abuse Rayla had gone through at the hands of her brother. Also with the king and queen was Darsana, the senator of Glee Anselm, and he was the only one courteous enough to bow his head to Santiana and Tzakara. Santiana nodded her head so slightly it was invisible, and that was when Mace remembered that spies were in the current Monarchy's ranks. And knowing how the Monarchy thought of the Anselmi, perhaps that was enough to convince Darsana to quietly shift his alliances to those that were likely more kind to his people. Or maybe he didn't believe in the abuse and slaughter Clan Fisto had suffered through over the millennia. A few seconds later Mace remembered that Kit and Darsana were friends, and had been for many years, meaning there was much more going on here than he had thought and that Kit had used his position in the Jedi not just to keep his daughter safe.

Mace was drawn out of his thoughts by the king saying, "Master Jedi, we apologize for interrupting this meeting, but it is a matter of importance."

"Regarding what?" Padmé asked instead of the Jedi, suddenly the Chancellor of the Republic, and the king said, "You have criminals and traitors of Glee Anselm here. We were hoping to detain them and bring them back to Glee Anselm for trial. Starting with that one," nodding at Kit, who only looked at him blankly.

"Really?" Padmé asked, cocking her head for a few moments before saying, "It's my understanding that this clan has been through quite a bit at the hands of the Monarchy you lead. Even if the allegations are unfounded, as you claim, they still need to be investigated. And what proof do you have that Master Fisto is a criminal?"

"The proof is in front of you, Chancellor," the queen answered, nodding at the half-Nautolans, "It is accepted on Glee Anselm that half-Nautolans are forbidden. Their existence is a crime, because of how unnatural they are. They have no right to exist if their lives will be short and painful. Those that facilitate their continued survival must be punished," Ava raising an eye-ridge while Avery snorted in amusement. Lorelei just looked at her uncles but said nothing as she settled into Lyzann's lap and started gently playing with one of his head-tentacles.

"Really?" Padmé asked again, "But I have it on good authority from Tristan Darka himself, one of the foremost experts, and likely the only expert, on the subject of half-Nautolans that leads me to believe there is no harm in them living. What gives you the right to decide whether they live or die? And you still haven't answered my previous question. By what reasoning should Master Fisto be detained? As far as I know, he has done nothing wrong to the Monarchy or Glee Anselm."

"You forget, Chancellor," the king said, "We've had a lot more experience dealing with this family. We know for a fact that Kit Fisto and his brother Kailan Fisto, as well as a few of their warriors, broke into our palace and stole from us. And killed a few of our guards in the process."

The queen added, "And terrified one of my handmaids half to death in the process. We still haven't found her body," she cocked her head, "You don't know this family as well as you think you do. Each brother has a set of warriors they train loyal only to them for their entire lives. Kailan and Kit Fisto have ninety warriors between them, and used all ninety that day to break into the palace. Kit Fisto used his warriors to attack our guards while his brother used his to steal from us. I still don't know how or when he trained those warriors since he has been away from the clan, and they are usually those he grows up with, but he did. Something I imagine isn't allowed by the Jedi. Those warriors follow his orders without question, a dangerous idea if you think about it. If he told them to massacre everyone in this Temple, they would without a second thought."

Hearing that surprised the Jedi, with Mace and Yoda looking at Kit, but his face was expressionless and his focus on the king and queen. He wouldn't look at the Jedi, but finally, Padmé looked at him and asked, "Is that true?" Kit cocked his head then and stared at her before nodding slowly, leaving Padmé to ask, "What happened?"

"We told you what happened, Chancellor," the king said, but Padmé ignored him as she asked again, "What happened, Kit?"

Kit stared at her as he said quietly, "They never said what we stole, Chancellor," causing her to look at him, "We broke in because they had captured our father," nodding at his brothers, "and we wanted him back. As for killing a few of their guards, we did, I will admit that, but most of them stood down and let us pass. They weren't blind to what the Monarchy does to us and the clan, and they helped us as much as they could without being labeled as traitors who would have faced death for helping us. They were sickened by what they heard and saw in the dungeons, and wanted to help us. We killed those who believed in the Monarchy and saw us as criminals. It was then I knew there was no going back for me as a Jedi, because I killed those guards too quickly and too easily. As for the warriors, that part is true, but the without question part is a lie. There is no way my group of warriors, or the dara h-ordugh, second-in-command or lieutenant," he hurried to translate for the Jedi in the room, "of my group would have followed orders blindly. He will question my decisions without hesitation and will disobey my orders if he believes them wrong. As will any other warrior I have trained. My lieutenant is one of my closest friends and has been by my side for many years whenever I dealt with clan business; nearly a blood-brother to me. It is the same with the warriors I've trained. They will fight with everything they have if I ask them to, but they won't slaughter innocents," turning to glare slightly at the king and queen, "So that idea holds no weight. We are given warriors to train that stay loyal to only us," nodding at his brothers, "But how we ask them to fight is up to us. I decided to keep my group away from the Temple because I didn't want them to be discovered. And they wouldn't have killed Jedi," glaring at the king and queen now, "A few fought in the Old Republic wars; Jedi were their friends back then, and that still matters to many of them now. And as for the handmaid, she is one of the clan, taken as a slave when she was young," Padmé stared at him when she heard that, "We were just retrieving her to take her home. Her parents were overjoyed to have her back. And her oldest brother and sibling, Atalelu, is my lieutenant. He was not in an amenable mood when he saw her, and her mother even less so when we got her home. Right, Amarona?" pointedly directing his question at the head of the Geàrd, who nodded.

"Very overjoyed to have her home, but in an even less amenable mood," Amarona said, her accent thick but understandable, causing the Jedi to realize what was happening, as well as the fact Kit's brothers had lied about her knowledge of Basic and Taylora hadn't told the truth about her and Tzakara's brother being in a relationship, "Seeing her covered in bruises and cuts from her most recent beating almost made me want to break into the palace to deliver my idea of justice," tightening her grip on the staff she held.

Hearing this caused a flash of insight in Obi-Wan, who asked Lyzann, "Those warriors on Tatooine, they were your personal warriors?"

The Nautolan nodded, "Somewhat," when Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, he clarified, "Those warriors were Tazeki's. They were the only ones close enough to get there in time and are some of the more skilled warriors we have. A few were mine, and quite a few were Kailan's," nodding at his brothers, "Kit's lieutenant, Atalelu, was there also. He'd been eager for a fight for a while and needed to let out some energy. And he's a skilled sniper in his own right, so he was deployed as a sniper and you never saw him. Luckily, the rest of Kit's warriors stayed behind; it would've been a much bloodier event if they'd come. He trained them very well, and they care about Geeta as much as the rest of us and would have done anything to get her back. They were on Home Base at the time, protecting Kit and his family, like they've always done. Atalelu was asked to go to Tatooine because all our warriors will listen to him when he tells them to retreat or attack; his seniority over them is without question and they will obey his commands. Especially if they know those commands come from us from the outset. He's here on Coruscant right now but staying away from the Temple. He'll come when we need him or go with us when we return to Home Base," he cracked a grin then, "You won't be able to miss him when you see him. He's quite memorable to look at. He and Kit are best friends, almost as much as him and Kailan, despite the fact they're as different as night and day, and nine days out of ten can't stand the air the other breathes," Kit staring at his brother then but saying nothing, leaving the Jedi wondering again about all this.

Padmé nodded slowly before turning to the king and queen, who had been silent, and said, "I think I understand what is happening here. Unfortunately for you, I've known Master Fisto my entire life, and his family. They have never lied to me, unlike the Monarchy and so many others on Glee Anselm over the millennia, and there is proof of what you have done to their clan, as well as eyewitness testimony from that time. Those testimonies were from those outside the clan, and were preserved to ensure there would be justice one day. And they are in a place you can't find or destroy," making the Jedi realize they were in the Phoenix Records, "so there is no merit to your claims the clan lies about what happened all those years ago. And as for what you did to Santiana and her family, she has decided that she has no desire to ask for justice for her clan. I can understand that, but that doesn't mean something won't happen. The 70,000 dead deserve justice, so you will be investigated by the Senate. If you are found guilty of genocide and usurpation, there will be witnesses and you will be tried. From there, new times may come to Glee Anselm and the people will be able to live well."

Nir's skin darkened when he heard that, causing Amarona and the Geàrd with her to shift nervously and grip their staffs tighter, recognizing the signs of anger in the king, but a few seconds later, he relaxed slightly and said, "Investigate as much as you'd like, Chancellor. I'm sure you will find nothing, but go right ahead. If there had been a coup so long ago, it would have been covered up. As far as we are concerned, Glee Anselm has always been led in this fashion. There is no record of a female monarch, ever, in the history of Glee Anselm."

"That's because the traitors from that time destroyed the histories and killed those that wrote them," Santiana said quietly, speaking for the first time since the king and queen entered the room, "But there is always a history that is remembered by the clan, and the original histories were smuggled off-world before the soldiers came looking. The historians allowed themselves to be killed to convince those traitors that the histories were really gone. But they aren't, and they show that Glee Anselm was always led by a queen."

"You have no proof of that with you," Lu almost snarled as she looked at Santiana, but Santiana only looked at her in amusement before saying, "Yes, we do. And it is here with us right now and why you came here. If we weren't here, you wouldn't have risked coming. You are desperate for it, and want it, even though it was never yours to begin with. But with it, you can legitimize your claims. Without it, those crowns you wear are nothing more than pieces of jewelry without meaning."

The king's eyes darkened at that, and the queen said quietly, "Give it to us, now. You have no claim to it."

"I believe I do," Santiana said, reaching up and gently touching the gold headpiece she was wearing, "It is one of the only crowns of Glee Anselm. When my grandmother forced my parents to flee the palace that night, she gave both crowns to them, knowing without them, the people of Glee Anselm would never acknowledge a new king and queen. This is what is happening now, isn't it? Your grip on the planet is slipping now that the clan has left and proven you haven't broken us, and now that the Republic has an interest in investigating the crimes that were committed so long ago, you are realizing there is no way forward for you to maintain your stranglehold on the planet. Because of this, you need the true crowns of Glee Anselm to have any claim to the throne. Go ahead, try and take them. If you can take them, I won't fight you."

The two Nautolans immediately hesitated, and the Jedi could understand why. Even though Santiana had said she wouldn't fight them, the others in the room hadn't made that claim at all, and they knew it. They would have to contend with the Geàrd, the sons of Santiana, and Ava and Avery. As well as the Jedi, who believed Santiana and her people over the king and queen. It wasn't because there was any proof of what had happened; it was because there was no deception in the hearts of Clan Fisto. They were skilled warriors and could be brutal killers, but they wouldn't lie about an issue such as this, while there was only cruelty and malice in the hearts of the king and queen.

At that moment, Kit said quietly, "Perhaps we should include how you colluded with Count Dooku when I was captured to turn me over to you. You were willing to exchange me for Ava," nodding at his daughter, "and were willing to collude with the Separatists if it meant getting me since you wanted both of us, but assumed Dooku would actually succeed in killing her and you could get me to play with as much as you wanted, even though you had to have known that doing so would cause hell to rain on you as everyone in my clan attacked the palace, releasing prisoners as well," he smiled then, but it wasn't a particularly nice smile, "It's a shame that you had no way of knowing that it wouldn't have stopped anything. What you fear most has already come to pass."

"What does that mean?" Lu snapped, causing Kit's eyes to darken and harden slightly while his smile became colder, "Look for the second crown in this room. You can see it if you look."

Lu's eyes widened when she heard that, and she immediately started scanning the Nautolans in the room, clearly wishing that he hadn't said that and it wasn't true. But it became true when her eyes found Ava, and her mouth hung open slightly when she saw the silver circlet and chains of jewelry on Ava's head and through her hair. Seeing that and really seeing her skin and hair color made the queen realize just what had happened, and so did the king, while the Jedi that had been forgotten during this conversation watched in interest. They weren't entirely upset about being ignored since it allowed them to see the power struggle happening here and how it would play out. They would step in if it dissolved into violence, but both sides seemed willing to be somewhat civil for now. The guards the king and queen had brought weren't interested in engaging the Geàrd or any of the brothers; that was clear, and would need a lot of convincing before engaging anyone, so the Jedi were just there to make sure everything stayed calm.

The king and queen looked at each other then, and finally, Lu turned to Santiana, who only smiled blandly at her but with genuine amusement in her eyes before saying, "Interesting how things work out, isn't it? You poison my son and force us to send him to the Jedi to survive, where he meets his mate and has children, resulting in the first girls born into the family in 9,000 years. And results in something else you loath more than anything else. You weren't just after Avalaur because she was a half-Nautolan. And you won't be after her now because she is just my granddaughter and has a claim to the thrones you now hoard," the queen turning slowly to glare at her, "You want her because of what she personally stole from you. Something you will never get back."

Hearing that made the Jedi look at each other when they heard that, while Ava finally looked up and engaged in the conversation. Until now, she had been content to watch, but now she looked at the king and queen with some amusement in her purple and red eyes. Seeing that amusement caused the queen to get angry, while the king said, "You can end this now, if you want. You will have the power one day to end this. That day could be today, if you give us the crowns. They are yours by right, but they don't have to be."

"That's true," Ava said slowly as she nodded her head in thought, "But there is something you don't know," she leaned forward then, eyes boring into the king and queen, "I am not the heir of the clan."

Hearing that surprised the Jedi and their friends, while Kit and his family looked like they had always known this.

"Yes, you are," the king snapped, thoroughly fed up with all this.

"No, I'm not," Ava said quietly, "Yes, I'm a Fisto and my grandmother is the clan chieftess, but I don't want to be next. I don't want that power. I've never wanted it. I already have more than I ever wanted, and more than I need. I have the power of life and death in my hands, not just for my clan, but the entire galaxy. You know of the Phoenix Order, you have tried to get your spies into it for centuries to work it to find Santiana and the rest of the clan hidden throughout the galaxy, but the Order always caught on and prevented it, by whatever means necessary," the Jedi listening in surprise, but Ava wasn't finished yet, "As the Phoenix, I have as much power as I could ever want. As Santiana's granddaughter, I could have more power than you can imagine. But I don't want it. I've never wanted it because too much power corrupts. I've seen it before," eyes and voice distant as ancient memories stirred in her mind, "It's too much," her eyes snapped back into the present then, "And so I've already abdicated my claim to the throne and the chieftess title."

"And she's next in line," Lu said, nodding at Lorelei, who was staring at all this with interest, but her eyes were black and there was an undercurrent of fear the Jedi could sense. Suddenly, Yoda and Mace realized that Lorelei may know more than they thought about what was happening with their clan. Movement from Lorelei caught their eye, and they watched as she finally left her uncles and went to her father, deciding she wanted the safety he had always given her more than being with her uncles, who picked her up and held her close. Seeing that, the queen curled her lip in disgust, but Kit's eyes hardened and his glare became so intense she had to drop her gaze, revealing to the Jedi a protective father who would do what he had to to keep his child safe.

"No, she isn't," Ava's words surprised everyone, "She's the second-born daughter; she can never claim the throne or the chieftess title. Which is a good thing, I think. She deserves everything you made sure my brother and I never got, namely safety and a chance to be kids," she cocked her head, "There is another who is the true heir to the clan. But you will never find her," a cold smile came across her face, "Or what I took from you."

"Give it back," the king snarled suddenly, but Ava only smiled more as she said, "You held onto it too tight, making you lose it faster than you will ever know. So I think I'll keep it for now and take care of it myself. Good luck ever getting it back," she cocked her head again, "Not that I believe in luck. Bad luck? Sure. But I've never had much in the way of good luck, so I don't really believe in it," her stare turned hard, "I think it's time for you to leave. You won't ever get what you really want, and you've lost everything you already had; you just don't know it yet."

The two Nautolans stared at her for several long moments, thinking of staying, but then the Geàrd decided enough was enough, and it was time for them to leave. Amarona and her companion activated their weapons and stepped forward, and that was when the black guards stepped forward as their leaders stepped back. The two guards covered their exit, the two monarchs not even having the manners to be polite enough to say farewell to anyone and left without looking back, Darsana following along behind, but he was polite enough to bow his head in respect to the Chancellor. As they left, one of their guards turned around for the briefest of moments, and while his companion clearly ignored what he was doing, he tossed something to Santiana before nodding with a slight smile at Amarona. He left after that, and once he was gone, the Jedi turned to Santiana, who held up a datacard, revealing another of their spies.

She only said, "Your son takes more risks than mine, Amarona. I hope his exit is secure if he ever has to use it. We won't be able to help him if he is compromised."

"He knows the plan, and his best friend is there to make sure they get out if they have to," Amarona said quietly, "and those two are too stupid to think he is a spy. They trust Darsana's word that he is trustworthy, which will suit our purposes for a while longer. He's always been able to stay one step ahead of them."

Santiana shook her head but said nothing more on the subject while Padmé said, "I think those two will be a continual headache for quite a while. It will be interesting to see their defense if we prove the coup was illegal and it wasn't just Clan Fisto that was killed. I'm assuming the evidence you referenced includes the killing of the Jedi sent to investigate?" turning to Santiana, who nodded. Padmé inclined her head, "This will be interesting."

Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that; 'interesting' wasn't the word he was thinking of when he thought about all that was happening on Glee Anselm. But there was no time to think about it more as Padmé said, "They are gone for now," glancing at Amarona, who deactivated her staff as the other Geàrd did the same; Aayla suddenly asking, "What were you talking about?" turning to Ava.

Ava only looked at her blankly, and Aayla pressed on, "You were talking in riddles none of us could understand," nodding at the Jedi around her, "But I would guess your family knows what you're talking about," Kit's lips twitching slightly in a smile, but Aayla didn't notice as she continued, "What did you take from them? And who else were you talking about?"

"You'll see soon enough," was all Ava said on it, and when Aayla looked ready to push, the half-Nautolan turned to her slowly with a glare, suddenly becoming a field colonel those under her command had learned to fear. Aayla wasn't scared, but it was still disconcerting, and she backed down. She was willing to bet they would find out later what was going on.

Padmé, once the exchange was over, turned to Santiana and said, "There will be many more times we meet with them, I think. For now, is there anything else we can do for you while we are here?" she asked Santiana.

Santiana didn't say anything; instead, she focused her attention on Tarkin, and it was a deadly focus that left no room for guessing about what she wanted to do to him. Amarona nodded when she saw that, saying, "I would like someone to answer for the harming of one I regard as a son, Chancellor. It isn't the same as what the Monarchy has done, but there is no guarantee of justice there. There can be here."

Santiana said nothing, only kept staring at Tarkin as Kit put his daughter down and had her go to her grandfather, seeming to know something he wasn't interested in sharing with anyone just yet. But everyone's attention was soon back on his mother and Tarkin. She stared at him a long time, and that was when Padmé said, "I know clan justice is what you would prefer, but your granddaughter has preserved the evidence against him. Allow a Republic tribunal to try him before you do. I promise he won't get away with what he did."

Santiana didn't look at her as she said, "If it had been another of my sons, Chancellor, I might be convinced by that argument. But I saw the video of what he did, and I cannot just let it slide," as she walked slowly over to the captain, easily standing over him and making him seem small, mostly just from her presence, "My people are my world, my children are my being. I am committed only to them, and his actions would have made me bury two more sons, not to mention two daughters-in-law and a grandson. I have no intention of just letting it go," she looked over her shoulder to Padmé then, "The Jedi may not believe in revenge, but I do. I am not foolish enough to think I can accomplish that against all who have wronged me and my people, and my people don't expect that. But I am subject to the expectations and beliefs of my people and the laws of the clan. And so when someone stabs one of my sons the way he did, and he happens to be one of mine and the clan's favorite, there is nothing I can do but follow the laws of the clan."

Padmé looked as though she wanted to say something but wasn't given a chance when Santiana turned to her fully and said, "Your children are young, Chancellor, and innocent. Mine never got to be young or innocent. They grew up the moment they were born, or else they wouldn't have grown up at all, but I always tried to give them lives they wanted to live. The first innocent child born in my clan since I was born is Lorelei," nodding at the young girl, "Not even her siblings know what it's like to not be scared for their lives. She doesn't know what it's like to be starving, or scared for her life, or how to hate someone as thoroughly as her father and uncles have been taught, mostly from terrible experience. That experience could be watching your entire patrol slaughtered, like Naharen saw when he was young, or being forced to live through a famine, like Talecti. He was born hungry because I was starving when I was pregnant with him, and got used to it so well he doesn't understand what having a full stomach means because he was always hungry as a child, yet he still lives his life," she cocked her head suddenly, "Even if we have to force him to eat sometimes. He doesn't know he has to and will go weeks without eating if we don't remind him. Sometimes it seems like he survives on air alone," she turned back to Tarkin then, ignoring the shocked looks of those around her when they heard about Talecti, "The one thing I have no tolerance for is someone hurting my children, and that will never change. Nothing you say will change that. Nothing you do will change that," she looked at Tarkin carefully, "As far as I and my people are concerned, he forfeited his right to live the moment he stabbed my son."

Padmé shook her head when she heard that, while Tarkin glanced around for help from anyone, looking at Kit finally. But the Nautolan was silent and wouldn't look at him, and that was when Santiana said, "Don't look to my son to save you. He already tried, several times. He spoke on your behalf more than you think, and more than I expected him to. The elders weren't interested in listening, I wasn't interested in listening, and his brothers definitely weren't interested in listening. They are incredibly protective of him, mostly because they had to watch him nearly die when he was two and could do nothing to help him, and then take a backseat to his life as he was growing up. They were the people he would have needed to convince, and then convince his father. And Atalelu as well, who called him six kinds of idiot and eighteen kinds of stupid for thinking you were worth being kept alive. If Atalelu didn't obey orders so well, he would have killed you long before now. He didn't, mostly because my mate takes over command in my son's absence. While I lead the clan as a whole, his father leads his son's warriors when they cannot, while Amarona leads the Geàrd. They are the ones that would have meted out justice."

Padmé turned to look at Tzakara, who only shrugged from where he was still holding Lorelei. The Jedi were similarly surprised at her words, but a few moments later, Yoda stepped forward, "Allow this, the Jedi will not. Seek justice in this matter; we will."

Santiana raised an eye-ridge as she turned to him, "You had a chance to do so when my son was first stabbed, and you did nothing. There were those in the Senate willing to pursue this for you, but you still did nothing," she cocked her head, "I have seen this happen before, when I asked the Jedi to do something to keep my people from dying. The Senate stopped them, and my people continued to die. What will you do that can convince me there is something different about the Jedi now?"

Yoda wasn't entirely expecting that response and looked over at Kit, but he didn't look at his old Master, knowing there was nothing he could say to help the Jedi in this situation. Yoda's attention was then caught by Santiana, "Don't expect my son to help you out of this, Master Jedi. I will freely admit I didn't have as much influence in his life as I would have liked, but Rayla made up for that by telling him about the clan and making sure his knowledge of the clan's history was complete. He also is not an alpha male, and subject to my will when I chose to force it over him. I am not doing so now, because he knows when to step back. He will not help you."

Yoda stared at her before again looking at Kit, who finally looked at him and shrugged before walking over to his children, making it clear he couldn't and wouldn't get in the middle of this. He had already tried and failed; it was time for someone else to try and convince his mother.

And that someone was about to come from an unexpected source as Ava raised her head. Until now, she had been content to watch and observe what was happening, but now Rayla had leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was was too soft for even Ziva standing nearby to hear, but it was apparently enough for Ava to decide to get involved again. She shook her head, making the gems in her hair chime against each other, and Santiana looked at her. She stared at her granddaughter for many long moments, but Ava wasn't intimidated and kept staring back, clearly a dominance struggle between two alpha females. Finally, Santiana asked, "What is it, ogha? What do you want to say?"

Ava said quietly, "Is there a way to satisfy all here? Tarkin lives but there is still justice."

Santiana raised an eye-ridge, "You would ask this for him? He nearly killed your father, and tried to capture you several times. Something I know you won't tolerate. You living depends on your freedom, and whether you have it. I know this very well."

Ava only stared at her before saying, "I ask nothing for him. I have my own motives here, as you know. There are crimes greater than stabbing the chieftess' son he committed."

"What do you mean?" Mace asked as Santiana continued to stare at her granddaughter, but Ava ignored him as she continued, "Is there a crime greater than stabbing the chieftess' son that the Republic could try him for that would satisfy the clan and the Republic?"

Santiana cocked her head, "If he were found to be in league with the Sith without our knowledge and conspired with them, then according to law we would hand him over to the Republic for trial. Our laws are built around the Phoenix Code and our own code, and the Phoenix Order fights against the Sith as the clan has done for millennia. No matter what the Republic did with him, justice would be served for us," she stared at her granddaughter, "But how do you plan to prove that? You have no way to know if he did so or not."

"What if I did?" Ava asked quietly, "Would you leave him be if I did?"

"I would," Santiana said, "But I am not committing to anything until I see this proof myself."

Ava nodded and jumped down from where she had been sitting, Kit giving her his lightsaber as she did so. Ava stared at Tarkin for several long moments until he dropped his eyes, unable to maintain eye contact, and she walked over to the holotable. The tattoo on her stomach was on full display now, and many Jedi were surprised to see it. Except for Adi, although she found the way the wolf's emerald green eyes were staring at everyone a little intimidating. Seconds later, Kit's lightsaber was floating in the air because of the Force, and moments later, it had been taken apart by the Force. All the usual pieces were there, even though the crystal still didn't look good, but that wasn't what Ava was focused on. She was focused on the one piece that seemed out of place, and that was the one she took. She looked around before suddenly putting Kit's lightsaber back together in seconds and walking over to the table. She returned the lightsaber to her father, who said nothing as she kept walking.

Kit settled near his twin then as she plugged the bug into the holotable, Kailan shifting slightly so their head-tentacles were touching, more out of habit than anything else, and Kit relaxed minutely. Seeing what Ava was doing, Tarkin asked, "What are you doing?" trying to hide his nervousness.

Ava looked at him before saying, "We can prove you planted this illegally, and when we discovered it was there, we were able to patch into the frequency," she looked at him directly then, "This bug doesn't fall under the emergency powers the Chancellor gave himself, because it happened before they were authorized. Which means any recordings here were illegally obtained. But because of this bug, we got the idea for some bugs of our own. They aren't in any of your devices, or on your person, because like I said before you were too predictable to waste the time to bug. The bugs we planted, as spies working for the Republic searching for traitors within the Republic, were in the Chancellor's personal apartments."

Tarkin turned as white as a sheet when he heard that, and Thrawn blanched as well, realizing their window for escape was closing fast, but they had no way to get away now that there were so many people in the room, while the Jedi were surprised. Master Plo asked, "How did you manage that?"

"It wasn't easy," Avery said, "We knew if we were caught, we wouldn't be able to explain ourselves, and at the time Ava couldn't speak Basic at all, and then Sidious would have made sure we were never seen or heard from again. It took many pieces falling together to pull it off."

Ava nodded as she said, "I was sneaking through air vents; Avery was a sniper. Our father was the getaway driver, and Senator Organa and Chancellor Amidala were the distraction. It could have ended badly, but thankfully it didn't. Even though I would have preferred being the sniper," as she glanced at her brother.

"I don't fit in air vents anymore," Avery said, to which Ava snorted and said, "Yes, you do. You just say that to get out of it. And leave me sneezing on dust. I think I'll make you do it next time. You know I don't like tight spaces."

"Leftovers from your military career?" Tarkin asked snidely, hoping to get her off-track and give him a chance to get away.

"You could say that," Ava said as she turned to him, "Myself and another Marine, Martinez, were buried alive in a shallow grave by rebels that wanted to interrogate us before they killed us but couldn't take us with them at the moment. I was beat and Martinez bled to death in that grave, and I couldn't do anything about it. We were eventually found by the rest of the unit, but by then it was too late for Martinez. He was dead, and I almost suffocated. I passed out, and the next thing I know Stone, our other sniper, is giving me mouth-to-mouth."

Tarkin looked up when he heard that, but said nothing as Ava continued quietly, "I get to feel my fears more than a Jedi, so I'm claustrophobic," she cocked her head then, "And yet, the last thing he said to me is what I remember most about that day."

Tarkin didn't ask what that was, and a few seconds later, Ava smiled slightly and said, "I save your life, you save somebody else. That's how it's supposed to work," her smile faded and her eyes hardened. Now she looked at Tarkin with almost deadly intent, "That is the last thing Martinez said to me, and I haven't forgotten. And now I see what he meant by that, since I can save many lives because he sacrificed his. So when we say we planted bugs in the Chancellor's apartments to keep an eye on him and save more lives, this is what we mean," as she turned back to the holotable and started hitting buttons, ignoring the Jedi that were looking at her with some admiration and the clones that were regarding her with even more respect.

This was an officer they would be proud to follow, especially when they saw and heard what she was willing to do, even though when Mace looked at Kit he wasn't entirely surprised to see the pain Kit was working to hide. Clearly, the life his daughter led wasn't the one he would have chosen for her, but there was no going back now for any of them.

Knowing nothing he said would help Kit, Mace turned back to the feed as Ava went back to when she had first planted the devices, saying, "They were recharged with solar energy and went all day and all night. We used them to stay ahead of Sidious as well," as she skipped ahead to the more interesting moments. Those moments were when everyone was able to see Palpatine turn into Sidious as he put a black cloak and cowl on and gave orders to Dooku, ordering things too terrible for the Jedi to believe had come from someone they thought had been kind and wanted what was best for the Republic.

Yoda shook his head when he saw that, that he had been so completely fooled and manipulated by Sidious, but he was even more surprised when Ava showed a video that didn't put Palpatine in the best light. It was just after Kit had been captured by Grievous, and was the room in Grievous' lair where a large chair was:

Grievous and his guards walked over to where a hologram of Dooku was waiting, hands clasped in his lap and his leg crossed over the other. If Grievous could have smiled, he would have, since he said, "Count Dooku, the Jedi have been defeated."

"Victory over the clones and the young Jedi was expected," Dooku said, standing out of the chair as he said this, "but how did it go with Kit Fisto?"

The Jedi and senators were surprised to see this holovideo, having never seen it before or seen how Kit had been captured. It surprised them, but then Kit looked up at his father and stared at him for several long moments before Tzakara nodded and took Lorelei out of the room so she wouldn't see this.

"See for yourself, my lord," the cyborg said and raised his hand. Clasped in his claw-like hand was Kit's neck. The Jedi was awake, his hands around Grievous' metal fingers, pulling at them and trying to get them to loosen their hold so he could breathe. His own hands were cuffed with binders, a wire of energy between them, but that didn't stop him from struggling. Dooku smiled, "Well done, General, you have certainly earned your position now."

"Thank you, my lord," Grievous said, bowing his head and ignoring the Jedi's struggles. Moments later, another hologram caught Kit's attention, and he looked up as best he could while still pulling at Grievous' claw-like hand.

That person stared at him for a few minutes before saying, "General, if you please," and the cyborg nodded. He let Kit go, and the Jedi dropped to the ground, unable to stop his fall. Before he could even think of getting up and fighting, the cyborg grabbed his arm and dragged him onto his knees in front of the hologram. He let go then, but only to grab the top of Kit's head and force it up so that he could look at the hologram, the Jedi still on his knees and kneeling in front of the holograms. One of Grievous' cybernetic feet was on Kit's hands to keep them in place off to the side.

Once he was done, there was a tense silence as Kit tried to escape, but Grievous was too strong and the guards too capable. In the end, a shock from an electrostaff stopped his struggling, and he decided to save his strength, staying silent as he looked at the Sith Lord before him, Dooku and Grievous forgotten for the moment. Seconds later, the Sith Lord finally said, "After all this time, we meet again. You certainly have not changed all that much, have you? Still fighting when you should just give in to the inevitable?"

Kit stayed silent, refusing to take the bait, and Sidious smiled slightly before leaning forward and asking quietly, "Where is she?"

Kit smiled then, "Who?"

Sidious scowled as he straightened, "You know who. Where is she? What is she doing, and what are her plans? You know something, and if you don't tell me, your death will come all the faster!"

Kit smiled again before actually laughing, clearly not intimidated or afraid, and Grievous punched him in the stomach. Seconds later, he was being straightened up again, since the blow winded him, and smiled again, even though this time there was blood coming from a corner of his mouth. A few seconds later, he had gotten the pain under control and asked, "The threat of death for one who is already dying? Is that the best you can do?" he became serious then, and his smile faded away, "You cannot threaten me with death, Sidious, not when that is what waits for you."

The Sith Lord scowled again, but Kit wasn't done yet, "Can you see it coming for you? It will meet you, and you will have no choice but submit to it. All do in the end, and so will you. Whoever's hand it comes by won't matter in the end. Mine or hers, it makes no difference. Your end is decided, and nothing is to be done about that. Not even your fear of death will stop it from happening to you."

Again the Jedi were surprised, not just at Kit's audacity but the fire in him they had never seen before. His commitment to his children and those he had sworn to protect was touching and inspiring. Even facing the most powerful Sith in the galaxy, he refused to show fear or be intimidated by the threat of death.

Sidious stared at him for many long seconds before finally saying, "If that's how you want it to end, so be it," turning to Grievous and saying, "General, I leave this Jedi in your care. Make sure he tells me what I want to know, and I don't care what you have to do to get the information out of him."

"Yes, my lord," Grievous said, bowing low as the hologram of the Dark Lord faded away. A few seconds later, Dooku said, "The Jedi will be coming soon to rescue their friend. I suggest you not be there when that happens," before also ending his transmission.

The holovideo ended then, which was when Ava said, "And a few hours later, this happened on my father's ship," as she found the next video that made things even worse for Tarkin:

Tarkin was in his office and had accepted a secure transmission from Captain Thrawn and Chancellor Palpatine, who looked very pleased. Seeing this, Tarkin said, "Everything is ready here, my lord, but I still haven't found anything to be used against General Fisto. He guards his secrets very well."

"Do nothing more for right now, Captain," Palpatine said, "Pretend you are concerned for your general and say you hope he comes back quickly. Quinlan Vos is an expert in the criminal underworld; he may catch on to what we are doing, and I don't want him to get suspicious. The bounty for Kit Fisto was taken down as soon as he was captured so that the Jedi won't be able to understand why he was captured, so no one should be looking for him other than the Jedi. And suppose someone does mention the bounty to them. In that case, they will just assume it's because he has information regarding the Republic's war effort. We will take care of everything else," nodding at Captain Thrawn.

"Yes, my lord," Tarkin said, "Let me know if there is anything else you need."

That video ended almost immediately, with Tarkin saying, "Those are lies! That didn't happen! That video's been altered!" as the Jedi looked at him with narrowed eyes. Padmé signaled the Senate guards standing nearby to stand closer, which they did as Thrawn started looking for exits also. Still, the Jedi were blocking those as well. Santiana was now staring at both Tarkin and Thrawn, and Amarona was watching what was happening carefully. Even Rayla was alert, placing herself in such a way she could attack and defend if need be despite how injured she was. Kit looked as relaxed as ever, clearly knowing how this would end.

"How can it be altered, Tarkin?" Ava asked quietly, "It hasn't been accessed in years, and the logs will show it. I knew what was happening on that ship because no one liked you, and a clone was listening in outside your door. That clone was Trap, and he reported directly to me and Quinlan after my father was captured. But if the Republic wants more proof, we can certainly find it. I'm sure the Chancellor would want all the evidence possible."

"Yes, I would," Padmé said quietly, and Ava nodded as she returned to the feed. A few moments later, she had found another video that made Tarkin look even worse, saying, "This is right after the fight with Maul on Florrum. You had come to his office after speaking with the Jedi and learning what Sith hunters were," as she started the holovideo.

Captains Tarkin and Thrawn were waiting for Palpatine as he came into his office from his personal quarters and sat behind his desk. They waited until he was seated before Tarkin asked, "What is the plan, my lord? There is no way for us to track down the half-Nautolan, correct? Not if she's as well trained as the Jedi think she is."

Palpatine only rested his elbows on the desk before him, his clasped hands under his chin as he thought before shaking his head slightly and saying, "No, there is no way to track her down easily. The only one who can find her is Kit Fisto and possibly Quinlan Vos. I am convinced he is another Jedi working with Fisto and the half-Nautolan, but I'm not sure to what degree. Either way, we will have to be more careful about what happens next. I don't want you aggravating the Jedi again, Captain Tarkin," turning to the man in question, "If they freeze you out of the search for the half-Nautolan, we won't be able to know if they find her or not until after they bring her in and convince her to work with them. That would be disastrous for our plans."

Tarkin nodded while Thrawn asked, "Has General Fisto revealed anything that would lead us to her? Anything, no matter how small, could prove useful," as he turned to the other captain.

Tarkin scowled now, "No, he hasn't, and it isn't from lack of watching. I watch him all day and all night with the help of the bug in his lightsaber, and he reveals nothing about the half-Nautolan. If it hadn't been for that meeting with Senator Amidala and Senator Organa and a few more in the past few months, I would have been convinced he wasn't involved at all. I think even he was surprised to hear about Zygerria. He may be part of whatever the half-Nautolan has planned, but I think she sometimes keeps him in the dark. It doesn't help us find her now, unfortunately."

"No, it does not," Palpatine said softly as he furrowed his brow and thought for a few minutes. Finally, he said, "For now, keep working to track her down. The Jedi will be focused on attempting to track down a Sundali Abazza. She was a Jedi that disappeared many years ago, and the Jedi think it was to train the half-Nautolan to be a Sith hunter. If we can find Master Abazza, perhaps we can find the half-Nautolan. But it won't be easy," scowling himself for whatever reason.

Thrawn was confused, "Why not, Chancellor?"

Palpatine sighed as he stood up and said, "Because Master Abazza has successfully evaded the Jedi for several decades already. She knows how to hide and avoid them, as well as their sources and contacts throughout the galaxy. And if she is working with Fisto and Vos, like I suspect she is, they will make it even harder to find her. They can keep her away from us through coded messages, and there is the fact that if she is involved in this, it may be impossible for even them to find her if she is so far underground. We may be forced to think outside the box to find her."

Tarkin nodded, while Thrawn said, "We can probably still find her without the Jedi, Chancellor. We just need to keep finding information that could prove useful. If you have been careful," turning to Tarkin, "then General Fisto doesn't know you are the one who bugged his lightsaber. We can still use this to our advantage if we are careful in our planning."

Palpatine was already nodding along with what Thrawn was saying and after a few minutes, said, "That sounds good to me, Captain. Keep me informed of what you learn. I expect regular reports," effectively dismissing them.

The two captains immediately understood the message and left, leaving Palpatine to return to his desk and sit down. Once settled, he again put his elbows on his desk, clasped his hands under his chin as he closed his eyes and apparently thought deeply about what came next.

The video ended then, and Ava was turning slowly to Thrawn and Tarkin, who were looking for a way out but not seeing anything. Jedi were all around, and Amarona and Rayla looked at them with barely hidden hatred. Santiana was staring at them with disgust, while Padmé finally said, "At least now we know who was bothering Ava all this time and betrayed Master Fisto, even though the Conspiracy knew you would be a problem from the beginning. How could you turn against the Republic? What made you think it was a good idea?"

Neither captain responded, not wanting to implicate themselves further, and that was when Ava spoke again, "They did it because they could, Chancellor," Padmé looked at her while everyone else kept their eyes on the two captains, "They wanted power and influence beyond what they had, and decided the only way to get that was to align themselves with a traitor. That traitor also promised them things. For Thrawn, he would have become a grand admiral in the Imperial fleet, free to terrorize and exploit any world he wanted. For Tarkin, he would have become governor of the Outer Rim, allowed to terrorize and enslave anyone who crossed him, and kill millions without batting an eye when Sidious gave him permission to use the Death Star to destroy Alderaan," she cocked her head then, "There is more proof of war crimes they have committed. It has been verified and is ready for court. What is the punishment under the emergency powers set if they are found guilty?"

"The punishment would be execution for treason," Padmé said softly, "But luckily for them, I ceded those emergency powers as soon as I was elected. They won't be facing a blaster squad. The rest of their lives in prison?" she cocked her head, "I think the Senate will accommodate that."

"Will that work for you?" Ava asked as she turned to her grandmother, who nodded, "It will, because the clan will follow the chancellor's lead in this regard. Padmé Amidala has always been a friend of the clan, like her father and ancestors before her, so I know she will ensure justice is carried out. At the end of the day," turning to look closely at the two captains, "it isn't just justice for my son, but for all those that were hurt or killed by Sidious in his quest for power. That is enough for me if these two can answer for their crimes in helping him attain that power. And it will be enough for the clan."

Ava nodded when she heard that, and Padmé turned to her guards. Thrawn went peacefully, knowing he didn't stand a chance against all the armed people around him, while Tarkin asked suddenly, "Isn't the accused allowed to defend themselves?"

Padmé turned to him with mild disgust in her eyes, "This isn't the courts, Tarkin. You can defend yourself then. With a litigator that has helped you with your defense."

"But aren't I entitled to face my accuser at the time of charge?" Tarkin pressed, and Padmé stared at him before nodding slowly.

Tarkin turned to Kit then, who raised an eye-ridge before saying, "I am not accusing you of anything, Tarkin. I have been careful not to, as you and everyone here know. Any accusations against you are made by either my children or my family. I have no intention of getting in the middle of this."

"But you are," Tarkin snapped, "You've always been in the middle of it. And you did accuse me; you admitted I was the one who stabbed you when you woke up."

"True," Kit nodded, "But I can play the semantics game as well. I said it was you; I didn't accuse you because it had already been proven. Not just the knife you were so kind to leave in my gut, but the holovideo. Besides, Tristan had given me some rather powerful drugs, so there was no way I could have known what I was saying. I could have accused my brother of stabbing me and believed it then. Those drugs did an excellent job of blocking the pain and clouding my mind. That was their point; it was interesting not feeling intense pain for the first time in decades. It took some getting used to and was a relief I was and am still glad to have."

"There isn't a holovideo," Tarkin shot back, "You didn't have your lightsaber with you."

"No, I didn't," Kit nodded, "But there were surveillance cameras throughout the ship. An enhancement I believe you asked for," as Tarkin paled, "But we aren't debating that," Kit leaned forward then, arms crossed on his thighs, his intense eyes not leaving his former captain, "We are debating whether or not you were in league with a Sith Lord, which from these videos you are, and what's to be done about that. In this regard, I am staying out of this because I am not the one accusing you. That is my daughter and son, so you must deal with them," before leaning back as Ava stepped forward slowly.

She walked in front of her grandmother, who turned to watch her go and then passed the Council, who did nothing as she walked over to Tarkin, her tattoos somehow making her look even more intimidating than she already was. She never stopped staring at him, and this time Tarkin met her gaze and held it, even though it was clearly a struggle for him. After a moment, she said quietly, "I could tolerate what you did to me. As Gibbs will tell you, I am a veteran who has fought in more battles than I care to think about back on his planet and survived them when those fighting with me haven't always done the same. And you know the battles I've survived here. And as my parents, uncles, and grandparents will tell you, I have also had to fight and kill to protect the clan. I know there is a price to be paid in battle, which is often paid in blood. Knowing that, I could tolerate what you did to the galaxy. Being what I am, I have to accept that people like you will always exist and there is not much I can do about it. The balance is maintained with the Jedi and good, decent people on one side, and people like you on the other. But the one thing I have no tolerance for is what you did to my family. You put all of us through hell those few months, and there was nothing we could do about it. Not even I could do something about it. And yet…." she paused a moment before shaking her head and continuing, "And yet, I could tolerate that a bit, until my mother brought our sister to the base. Watching Lorelei give up wasn't something I ever wanted to see, and you forced that on her. It wasn't Malachor and what she saw there that really scared her; it was the idea of never seeing her father again. That is something I have no tolerance for. That made it personal for me."

"You can't make anything personal," Tarkin tried to argue, "You have to stay neutral."

"Where is that a rule?" Ava asked as she stared at him, "Nowhere, in the Force or the Records, does it say I have to stay out of things. It's a choice every Phoenix makes to get involved or not. Amin Gallia didn't get involved in the galaxy's affairs; I decided I would. My actions over the last few years are proof of that. I have never once, not once, stayed out of clan life and what is happening there. I have never stayed neutral in that fight and have killed more than my fair share of those who threaten my clan and my family, as the Jedi saw on Sorrus. I wasn't just fighting for my life; I was fighting for my clan," she cocked her head then, "Sidious wanted to know what it was that gave me such drive, made me so committed to stopping him. It wasn't just because I am the Phoenix and had to keep the Dark Side's power in check. It was because I wanted my family to be safe. That is what drives most Phoenixes that decide to act and fight. Whether you like it or not, the Phoenix has become part of the galaxy by her bloodlines becoming part of the galaxy. Whether or not they become Jedi or Sith is immaterial. They are still there, and just like many Phoenixes that have come before, I will do what I have to to protect my family," her glare turned hard then, "Just because I have no memory of any of them doesn't change how I see them. It doesn't change how I see the galaxy. You, and Thrawn, threatened my family, in more ways than one. And that is something I will not tolerate."

Hearing Ava speak that way wasn't what anyone in that room expected, but it didn't have the desired effect on Tarkin as he kept looking for a way out. And there was only one way he thought he could escape: going through Ava. It would put him in the direct path of the Jedi, but he didn't care. If he got even to the stairs, he may be able to get out and away.

His lunge forward surprised everyone except Ava. She dodged to the side, letting him continue running for the stairs. Avery was there, though, along with the two Temple Guards, blocking the way, something Tarkin hadn't thought about. Also there were Kailan and Lyzann, who stood up quickly and beside their nephew, an unmoving wall of muscle. Kit was also there, along with Ziva, Gibbs, and Tazeki, who had taken their weapons out and were ready to use them if they had to.

And everyone there knew they knew how to use them.

But Tarkin hadn't counted on Santiana, who watched all this with some amusement. She stepped forward, extending her arm and slamming it into Tarkin's chest. Tarkin went down, hard, as the Senate guards rushed in and cuffed him. Santiana stepped back then to give them room, saying, "You forget, I fought the Sith during the Old Republic as well. I just don't advertise it the way my sons do," as Tarkin was dragged to his feet and led away.

He glared at her but that was all, and once he was out of the room, two Temple Guards following to make sure he would give no trouble, Santiana turned to Padmé and said, "I will accept the judgment of the Republic, as will my clan. I can't guarantee my sons will leave this alone, but I will tell them justice is being decided. It may not be enough for their warriors; they are taught to think independently of each other when necessary and will act if they think they have to. And my son's friends and allies around the galaxy may not leave this alone either. Many are in prison now and would see this as an opportunity to clear old debts. Especially if doing so meant my sons could….liberate….them from their current situation."

"I understand, Santiana," Padmé said, "I will make sure Tarkin and Thrawn are in protective custody before their trials and afterward if necessary."

Santiana inclined her head before Padmé turned to Kit and said, "Before this meeting, Tarkin did mention that quite a few people had betrayed the Republic, starting with you, Master Fisto. I know now that was an attempt to divert attention away from him and his treason, but unfortunately, it does need to be addressed. There are those in the Senate who think your actions are treasonous and worthy of some kind of punishment," Kit raised an eye-ridge when he heard that but said nothing as Padmé continued, "But I know your brothers and your family. They won't see what you did as a crime and are perfectly capable of breaking you out of any prison that may exist in this galaxy. Whether it was designed to hold Jedi or not won't make a difference to them. I also know the Phoenix Order. They won't see this as a crime either and are more than capable of helping you escape from prison. And I know you don't consider what you did treasonous and would go along with a prison break. Knowing all this, I don't see the point of detaining you, but that is also because I know you did what you did for the betterment of the Republic and the galaxy. The one emergency power I did not yield was the power to grant full pardons to anyone accused of treason. I grant that to you now: a full pardon for you and every other member of the Phoenix and the Conspiracy, known or unknown, who helped the galaxy and ended the threat of Darth Sidious. Even those that may not think they deserve a pardon," glancing at Ventress as she said this, "will be granted a pardon," she turned to Ava then, "And I know better than to try and tame you. That is something no one has ever been able to accomplish. Not even your parents can, and that was proven the moment I met you. You were a wild thing then, terrorizing the Gungans and your hair a tangled mess of dreadlocks with leaves and twigs everywhere, not to mention covered in mud from wrestling your brother, and you're still a wild thing now. So I will leave you with the bit of wisdom you gave me all those years ago: set a wild thing free and let it come back to you if it wants. It is yours then and only then."

With that, Chancellor Amidala smiled at Ava, who returned it with a grin of her own as she returned to where she had been sitting. Ventress still looked surprised she had been singled out, but the second Tzakara came back into the room with his granddaughter and Lorelei said her name, she looked over and smiled at the young girl. She walked over and took Lorelei out of her grandfather's arms, who allowed it with a smile. Lorelei hugged her tight before squirming out of her arms and going to her mother. Sundali picked her up then and turned to the Council as Mace turned to Padmé and asked, "I seem to recall one member of the Conspiracy committed a serious crime while acting in that conspiracy. What's to be done about that?" glancing at Kailan, who openly glared at him for bringing that back up.

Padmé cocked her head then, "The pardon still applies, I'm afraid," before turning to Kailan and adding, "We all know you took over the Senate; stop denying it. That pardon applies to any crimes you may have committed during the Conspiracy period, and the only reason it's that broad is because your twin had to commit some crimes while acting in the name of the Conspiracy and the Phoenix Order. Since that's the case, you can stop dancing around this and tell the truth."

Kailan stared at her a few seconds before raising an eye-ridge, but she only repeated something his twin had said in the hanger of Home Base, "Tha an fhìrinn gad shaoradh," revealing she knew the language, and the Nautolan stared at her again before looking at his twin.

Whatever was said between them was silent, but after a few seconds, Kit bowed his head and shut his eyes, and that was when Kailan asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Just confirmation it was you," Padmé said quietly, "and whether you knew Anakin was in the building from the beginning."

"I knew," Kailan said, "I could sense him. I'm a tracker more than anything else, but I knew he was there that day because Kit told me," his twin opened his eyes and looked slightly uncomfortable about that; but said nothing as Kailan continued, "He tried to convince me not to do it, but I beat him down with the argument that if I didn't, the Hutts would come after him and perhaps his kids again. Or worse, Geeta or our son. Neither of us were willing to take that risk. But he didn't know I planned to kill the Gran. I kept him in the dark about that part, mostly because I didn't know I would be killing anyone that day. I was hoping everyone would behave and we'd be in and out quick. But he didn't believe me, and that came with a price. If I could have spared him, I would have. I'm not so bloodthirsty that I kill for the sake of it," when Mon Mothma stared at him, "But he didn't believe me, and that was something I wouldn't tolerate. If I hadn't killed him, the other hunters would have wondered if my reputation had been exaggerated and if I could do the job. That was something I wasn't going to tolerate."

"You told your brother I was there?" Anakin asked Kit, who only cocked an eye-ridge and said, "I was hoping it would make him more careful or even abandon the idea completely, but you being there turned it more into a challenge than anything else. My brothers will never see a Jedi, especially alone and unarmed, as a serious problem, and so I knew he wouldn't be bothered by you being there. And would react accordingly to get the bounty completed. He didn't even see Sidious as a threat, but that could either be because he knew Sidious wouldn't act like a Sith Lord in that situation or because he truly didn't see him as a threat as either the Chancellor or a Sith Lord," he cocked his head then, "I'm leaning towards the second option, myself. None of my brothers will ever really exercise sane judgment most days. Especially when it comes to Sith. Sith are a challenge of wits and skill they are always eager to go up against."

Mace shook his head when he heard that, while Bail asked, "And would you have killed him if given the chance, or if the need had presented itself?"

"Probably," Kailan rasped, not taking his eyes off the senator, "But that's because I'm a bounty hunter who needed to keep those other hunters in line. Money may have motivated them to work for me, but if I'm shown sympathetic to Jedi, it would have ended badly for me too. I likely would have had to kill one of those hunters to keep the others in line, which would have decreased my numbers by one. With only five hunters, I could have controlled you easily by calling Robonino back to the atrium; I didn't want to take that risk. The hunters weren't under orders of any kind; if they had shot him, they would have killed him. Perhaps it was a good thing Robonino knocked him out in the grand scheme of things."

Bail shook his head when he heard that, while Kailan cocked his head then, "I knew about my niece's distrust of you, Skywalker. She knew about this job, and I asked her if she wanted me to save her some trouble. You dying in a hostage situation in the Senate wouldn't have raised too many eyebrows in the grand scheme of things; you're too impulsive, and that'll get you killed faster than you can blink nine days out of ten," Anakin staring at him when he heard that before slowly looking at Ava, but her face was carefully blank, and that was when Kailan added, "But I decided not to, especially when Kit forced his will over mine. He knew what I was doing the entire time and sensed me taking aim at you when you were on the second floor of the atrium. He threw my aim off; otherwise, you would be very dead right now. I'm not one to miss such an easy target."

Anakin stared at him in surprise before turning to Kit, and that was when Obi-Wan said quietly, "And that's two times you owe Master Fisto your life, Anakin. You certainly are going to have to settle with him eventually."

Kit raised an eye-ridge in amusement when he heard that but said nothing, and that was when Kailan added, "I missed, Skywalker, which means you get a second chance," he leaned forward then, his intense eyes boring into the young Jedi's, "Don't blow it. My niece isn't so forgiving regarding people making the same stupid mistakes for the same reason and hoping to get a different response. She's not that naive. Neither am I."

With that, Kailan leaned back and was quiet again while Anakin looked at Ava, who only said, "He's right. I don't tolerate stupid all that well. Which makes what you do on a daily basis very irritating. Some days, Skywalker, I wondered if you were being stupid on purpose or if it was just a byproduct of thinking you're always right. I still wonder it some days."

Anakin was silent and ducked his head, knowing she was right, while Obi-Wan chuckled at the sight of Anakin possibly, finally, learning a lesson the Jedi had been trying to teach him for a long time and a few seconds later Mace asked, "But where did you get the plans for the Senate building?" turning to Kailan, "I doubt your niece got them for you," he raised an eyebrow, "And I extremely doubt your brother got them for you."

"True," Kailan agreed, "Ava told me I would have to figure that one out on my own, and I knew better than to ask my twin. That's an argument not worth having," he cocked his head then, "I borrowed them."

"When and how?" Mace asked, causing Kailan to smile and attempt a chuckle before stopping himself and wincing from the pain of it. He then rasped, "From a couple of droids."

Mace didn't understand what he meant by that, but Ava did when she asked her uncle something in their language. He replied, looking a bit too smug, and that was when Ava turned to Padmé and said, "In terms of days, your party for Senator Aang and then the hostage crisis were how many days apart?"

"About two days, now that I think about it," Padmé said, causing Ava to ask, "Ever figure out what happened to Artoo and Threepio and why they were late?"

"No," Padmé said slowly, "But I think I've just figured it out," as she looked at Kailan, who only shrugged and rasped, "I found them at the market and borrowed them. But don't blame them too much for it; my techno service droid is very convincing when he wants to be."

"And what did he convince them to do?" Anakin asked, making Kailan smile slightly and say, "He convinced Artoo that a trip to a maintenance spa wouldn't take that long and wouldn't be a waste of what few credits they had left. Artoo went in, Threepio stayed out and was easy to grab. Then I realized Threepio didn't have the plans I wanted, but let slip Artoo did, so I had my droids grab him as well. A few restraining bolts and memory wipes later, they were back on the street and running late for the party. And I had what I needed for the next part of the job."

"Well….that explains why I have no memory of that day," Threepio said, "But at least we completed the mission with a few minutes to spare."

"And it wasn't entirely your fault," Padmé said quietly, while Ava asked, "What were you doing at the market anyways?"

"Buying jogan fruit for the cake garnish," Threepio said, "And not getting swindled," sounding somewhat proud of himself.

Ava nodded slowly before asking, "How much did you spend?"

"32 credits," Threepio said, causing Ava to raise an eye-ridge and ask, "For how many fruit?"

"Four," Threepio replied promptly, making Ava snort and say, "You got swindled. Not even meiloorun is worth that much."

"Oh," Threepio said as he realized his mistake before turning to Padmé and saying, "My apologies, my lady, I didn't realize."

"It's fine, Threepio," Padmé said quietly, "I'd rather lose some credits than you."

If a droid could have blushed, he would have, that was for sure. As it was, Threepio turned away from them for a few moments while Kailan rasped, "I did return them to you, Chancellor, which I think is the main thing."

"Yes," Padmé agreed, "Although I hope there isn't a next time."

"I'm not one to do something that stupid twice, Chancellor," Kailan said quietly, "I'm sure the building security forces have already updated security to prevent such a thing from happening."

Padmé nodded slowly before asking, "There were many Conspiracy members in that meeting. Except for Senator Philo and a few others, would you have hurt them?"

"No," Kailan said immediately, "My twin made it more than clear they, and you, were off-limits and I would have to find another way if it came down to that. Thankfully, it didn't."

Padmé nodded slowly, "What about the other bounty hunters? Would they have accepted you not killing us to keep others in line?"

"Didn't have to," Kailan rasped, "Part of hostage-taking is psychology. I knew that as long as I showed an extreme enough use of force, you all would behave. It was as simple as that. And once you recognized me, even under the fake scars, you wouldn't have done anything, even with Skywalker's lightsaber in your sleeve. You wouldn't have hurt me, on purpose or not, because Kit's my brother. He described your personality quite well, Padmé, and said family means quite a lot to you. And once you knew we were related," nodding at his twin, "You wouldn't have done anything."

Padmé shook her head when she heard that, muttering to herself, "Hopefully, my opponents in the Senate don't catch on to that," before raising her head and saying, "Thanks for clarifying what you did. I doubt it will make anyone feel better about the entire situation. You did kill over twenty Senate guards."

Kailan shrugged when he heard that but said nothing, knowing there wasn't much he could say about it, which was when the silence got a bit uncomfortable before Quinlan Vos decided to change the topic rather bluntly when he said, "Sounds like a good time to mention a few of the Phoenix are planning on revealing themselves to you," Yoda looked at him curiously then, and that was when Kit added, "A few of the older members of the Order that were inside the Temple have decided to leave and sever their connection to it. They only ask they decide what questions they want to answer, and that is all."

Yoda stared at him before nodding slowly, and it was still in the room for a few moments before Rig Nema suddenly stepped forward and bowed her head respectfully to the Council, surprising them. A few moments later, another Jedi stepped forward, revealing Ali-Alann. The older man had been looking after Jedi younglings in the nursery for a long time and was well-respected by his peers, as was Master Nema. Seeing the two of them standing there silently was a surprise, but Ahsoka stepped forward as well. Seeing her step forward as well was a surprise, especially since they had known for a while she had been involved, but a few moments later, Mace said, "You were part of the Phoenix Order?" directing his question at Rig and Ali-Alann.

Both Jedi Masters nodded, with Rig saying, "I joined when I was a Padawan, learning healing. My master wasn't part of the Order, and no Padawan I have trained is part of the Order either. I have fulfilled what I set out to do when I joined the Order: protect the Jedi from being destroyed. I did so by helping Ava when she was injured by that Karkarodon on Naboo and not telling anyone about Master Fisto's injuries. I also helped smuggle younglings out of the Temple before the attack. When Tzakara and Tristan were brought here, Ava contacted me and asked me to get them a few herbs they needed for Master Fisto and the paste Tristan was making. She knew I could get them without anyone asking questions. I gave them to Chancellor Amidala, who gave them to Tzakara and Tristan when they left Coruscant."

A few Jedi looked at Padmé, who only said, "They came to my house looking for a place to hide. I am part of the Phoenix and know about the struggles of their clan; helping them was the right thing to do. And it kept them away from Raojull Gon long enough to escape. From there, Astri Oddo gave them a ship to get to a nearby safe house and pick up another ship we wouldn't know to look for, and then they went back to Home Base."

Mace nodded slowly as he thought, but then Padmé said quietly, "I would do it again, Master Windu," he looked at her, "Clan Fisto has been suffering for a long time and struggling to survive for an even longer time. Killing Tzakara, and possibly by extension, Kit, would have been the end of the clan. You don't know how this clan operates," she said gently as a few of the Jedi looked at her in surprise while Kit only stared at the holotable, "This clan relies on the Fisto family to find the drive to keep going. The clan will keep living and fighting as long as the family stays strong and continues to live and fight. But if Tzakara dies, Santiana wouldn't be able to go on. And without an acknowledged female heir, the clan would have failed. The only one who can acknowledge an heir is Santiana, and she couldn't expose her granddaughter when her granddaughter is fighting to preserve the galaxy. All in all, helping Tzakara then means the clan will survive now, which is, I think, a good thing," she smiled suddenly, "Once you get to know the people and their way of life, their culture and everything that makes them what they are, you want to protect them. There's just something about them that makes you want to help them, something that says they are more than what they seem. And when you hear the old stories about the Old Republic and fighting alongside the likes of Satele Shan and her son Theron, as Koryo, Tivann, Tazeki, Myeko, and Kiveki did, as well as Jace Malcom and so many other heroes from that time, like Lyzann did, it almost makes you feel like you were there with them. It really is an amazing thing to listen to war stories from people who actually fought in those wars. And makes you wonder how people could label an entire clan as criminals. It makes no sense to me."

"How many clan safe houses are there?" Eeth Koth asked suddenly, making Lyzann say, "Too many to count. We set them up where we need them, and they are open to anyone who needs them. There is one on Tatooine, where Ventress went to meet up with Ava for her mission involving Savage Oppress, and it is where Sundali went after the Monarchy tried to blow her out of the sky. There are others throughout the galaxy that serve our purposes well and are always there and stocked when we need them. Only those of the clan know the access codes to get inside."

Mace nodded slowly before turning back to Rig and asking, "How long have you known Master Fisto was injured in such a way?" and Rig answered, "Since it happened. Master Qui-Gon told me about his wounds and said to do what I could to not arouse suspicion. To that end, I helped Master Fisto manage the pain when Ava could not and did my best to keep him alive. His injuries were beyond what I could heal, so I could only do the bare minimum for him."

Mace nodded while Shaak turned to Ali-Alann and asked, "And you, Master? What role did you play in this?"

Ali-Alann bowed his head before saying, "Nothing as grand or daring as Master Fisto or Master Vos, or even Master Nema. The most I did was get younglings out of the Temple before the attack. The least was looking after Ava and Avery whenever they were here in their younger years."

"And now you are severing your ties with the Order?" Ki-Adi asked.

Both nodded, with Rig saying, "It is voluntary to go; you have no choice to join because the Force knows there is something you can contribute to the Order. I have decided, and I think Master Ali-Alann has also decided that our purpose has been served. We are no longer needed to complete the tasks the Phoenix Order and the Force wanted done, and are more than ready to stop serving the Order and commit ourselves to the Jedi. If we are still allowed to continue in the ranks of the Jedi?" that last was a question aimed at Yoda.

Yoda nodded slowly before saying, "Understand your motives; I do now. Grateful I am, that so committed you were to them. If not so, survive the Jedi would not have."

The two masters nodded, and Ava said, "The Jedi Order likely would have survived, but it would have been Padawans and younglings with almost no training scattered amongst the galaxy, constantly hunted by Jedi Killers. The few masters that would have survived wouldn't have been enough to combat a Sith Empire," Yoda turned to her when she said that but said nothing as Ava continued, eyes only for the two Jedi, "You are certain you want to leave the Phoenix? I cannot guarantee you will be left alone, or that those of the Phoenix that remain in the Temple won't seek you out for help or advice."

"I can live with that," Ali-Alann said, Rig nodding in agreement, "But I am ready to stop having such an active role in the goings-on of the Order. I would like to devote what time I have left fully to the Jedi. If you grant it, I would like to leave."

Ava only stared at him before saying, "I am just the one the Order protects; it is for the Grand Master to decide if you can go," Kit looked at her but said nothing. He only stared at the two Masters before nodding slowly, allowing them to leave, and that was when Ava added, "The Force binds us all together, Ali-Alann; it doesn't make us stay together. If you wish to leave, I won't make you choose one way or the other, and neither will my father. It isn't for me, or anyone else, to decide what you do with your life," she smiled suddenly, and it made her seem not only younger but like the weight of the galaxy wasn't resting on her shoulders for a few seconds, "You should know better than anyone I have no interest in telling you how to live your lives. The Phoenix Order will miss your insight and wisdom, but we will get by just fine without it."

Both Jedi bowed their heads to that, with Master Nema saying quietly, "With your permission, Master Yoda, I am not going to reveal who in the Temple is part of the Order. That is for them to do if they so desire."

Yoda nodded, knowing that was the best he would get, but then Ava turned to Ahsoka, an almost curious look in her eyes that said she knew some of what was happening but wasn't entirely sure what else was happening. Ahsoka looked at her before taking a deep breath and turning to Master Yoda, who said, "Certain of your actions, you are, Padawan?"

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka said before turning to Anakin and saying, "Lux Bonteri has asked me to go with him and help him rebuild planets and worlds damaged and destroyed by the war. Both Republic and Separatist worlds."

"You don't need my permission if you have the permission of the Council, Ahsoka," Anakin said, clearly confused, but that went away when Ahsoka shook her head and said, "I'm not coming back," she looked at her Master then, "I've decided to leave the Jedi, Master. It's not because of you or the Jedi, but Lux has offered me the chance to work with him and the Phoenix Order more than I have in the past. I feel like it's the right call."

Anakin stared at her before turning slowly to Ava, who immediately put her hands up and said, "Don't look at me; I have no bearing or influence on this. If it's something Ahsoka wants, I'm not stopping her."

"Are you sure about this little 'Soka?" Master Plo asked into the stunned silence.

"Yes, Master, I am," Ahsoka said as she turned to him, "I've thought about it a lot for the last year or so. I never thought I wanted to be anything more than a Jedi, but I think spending so much time with Ava and her family and seeing what the war has done to so many worlds, has made me want to fix that. I think working with Lux and the Phoenix Order can do that."

Anakin looked as though he still couldn't quite believe it, but then Obi-Wan asked, "Are you sure that's all there is to this decision, Ahsoka? It isn't one you can make lightly. As I'm sure Ava has told you," glancing at Ava, who only raised an amused eye-ridge but that was all.

"I'm sure, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka said, turning his attention back to her, "I know that it was difficult for you to rejoin the Jedi after you left for a time; Siri told me about it. But you knew you were a Jedi through and through; I've realized I am not. I've spent too much time helping Ava, and Master Fisto, and that meant getting close to Master Fisto's brothers and the rest of his family. I've seen how close they are and the love they have for each other. I don't know if that's what I want, but I know I won't be able to figure it out here. I need to decide for myself what my path will be in life, and now I know it veers away from the Jedi."

Obi-Wan stared at her before nodding slowly, while Anakin asked, "When do you leave?"

Ahsoka turned to him then, "As soon as Ava does. She's dropping me off at Home Base. That's where Lux is. From there," she shrugged before smiling suddenly, "I guess I go where the Force leads."

Anakin stared at her before nodding slowly, and that was when Ava suddenly said, "You might see her again, Skywalker; you never know. The only thing that's certain in life is the past, because it's the past. Not even the present is set in stone, and the future is more unpredictable than a storm. The only thing anyone can really do about it is just be ready for whatever comes next."

Anakin turned to her but said nothing, and that was when Mace said, "I hope our paths do cross again, Ahsoka, if for nothing than you can help us coordinate with the Phoenix Order repairing the damage done from the war," Ahsoka nodded when she heard that, while Mace turned to Ava and asked, "And what about Grogu and the rest of the younglings? Will they be returned?"

"The younglings are already on their way," Ava said, "As soon as I woke up, I sent a message to Home Base telling them to get the younglings ready to go. It's a bit of a journey from Home Base to here, and I wanted to return the cruisers I…." she hesitated for a brief moment, "borrowed….to the Republic. The younglings, their caretakers, and the junior Padawans and Elders should be here soon. They have to go from Home Base to the cruisers to protect the location, and then the cruisers will bring them here. The clones on those cruisers don't have inhibitor chips, so we don't have to worry about them. They should be here in a few days."

"And Grogu?" Eeth Koth asked.

Ava winced slightly before saying, "I'm still working on getting in touch with Mando. He's not making it easy, but he's not supposed to. I may have to route the communication through a Nite Owl frequency he trusts to get him here. He knows the protocol: only accept a transmission from me if it's from somewhere he trusts. He was specifically told not to trust anything coming from the Temple, so that's making it a bit harder. But I'm getting there. I'll let you know when he's on his way."

"Know how Grogu is, do you?" Yoda asked, and Ava had to shake her head, "No, I don't. Mando would have sent a transmission if something was wrong, so I'm working under the no news is good news belief. I'll know more when I can get in touch with him."

Yoda nodded slowly, while Aayla suddenly asked, "Do you think we could go to Home Base? Those of us that want to?"

Ava drew in a breath when she heard that and turned to her father, who looked back at her. They didn't hear whatever was said, but Ava turned back to the Jedi a few moments later. Seeing the almost hopeful looks, she sighed and said, "I can send a message to Home Base and ask. The people who live there all the time have the final say. If it's alright with them, we can take you there. As long as you accept the fact you won't be allowed to know where it is. If you can't accept that, don't bother asking again. That isn't my rule; that's Home Base's. I have no power over it."

Aayla looked at Yoda, who bowed his head in thought before nodding and saying, "Accept these terms, we do. Let us know the response as soon as possible."

Ava nodded, and that was when the meeting ended as the Jedi returned to their various tasks of repairing the Temple and cleaning up. They didn't want the younglings to return to a destroyed home if they could help it, knowing that would only make them more scared than needed.

They would have to wait and see what happened with Grogu and the Mandalorian and hope the youngling was alright when he finally arrived.


About an hour after the meeting, Obi-Wan and Satine met quietly in a small alcove of the library that hadn't been damaged. Seeing him, Satine said quietly, "I'm sorry I never told you where I was or what was happening. If I could have done anything different over the last few years, it would have been that. That is something I've never forgiven myself for."

"I think I understand why you did it," Obi-Wan said quietly, "It wasn't just your promises to Ava and Kit, wasn't it? You and Qui-Gon had a secret that you kept from me, and that was why you never said anything."

Satine sighed then, "My greatest regret was never telling you about it," she looked at Obi-Wan then, "When Kit brought his family to me the first time, Ava had just been grabbed off the streets of Belasco. They were able to get her back quickly, but it scared her," she shook her head then, "A child that young should never look or be that scared. It hardened my resolve to do what I could for them. Over time, she helped me realize many things, especially regarding my feelings about those in my life. She helped me reconcile with my sister."

"I can see that," Obi-Wan said quietly, "I remember what it was like when you two were at odds. But Satine," she looked at him, "Did you ever wonder what was going to happen after the war while you were in hiding?"

"Sometimes," Satine said, but movement caught her eye, and she looked up to see Ava and Ahsoka walking past and speaking to each other in low tones. She looked back at Obi-Wan then, "You know Ahsoka isn't leaving just to rebuild worlds," making Obi-Wan look at her, "She and Lux are incredibly close, and they want a future together. They are an amazing couple and are each other's strongest supporters."

Obi-Wan shook his head when he heard that, "I think I can believe that. I saw them fight together in the past, and there was no stopping them," he looked at Satine then, "You know I would have left the Order in a heartbeat for you, right?"

"Yes, I know," Satine said quietly before looking at him more closely, "What are you going to do?"

Obi-Wan sighed, "I don't know. Duty demands I stay here and help the Order, but I'm tired. Tired of fighting, tired of bending the Jedi Code to suit my purposes during the war. I think it may be time for me to step back, take some time away from the Jedi, and see what happens. At least I think leaving and coming back, if I decide to, will be easier."

Satine smiled gently when she heard that, reaching up to rest a hand on his cheek before saying quietly, "You know where to find me," giving him the gentlest kiss on the cheek before walking away, leaving Obi-Wan to stand there and think about what he was going to do next.

And where the Force was going to take him next.


As this happened, Mace and Yoda were waiting for something in one of the meditation rooms. What that something was became apparent when Anakin opened the door and walked in, bowing his head respectfully to them and sitting on the ground when Yoda invited him to do so. It was silent for a moment before Yoda said, "Revealed much about you today, Ava and her family did, young Skywalker."

"I know, Master," Anakin said, "And the fact it's true doesn't make it easier to bear."

Yoda nodded slowly, while Mace asked, "What are you going to do now?" when Anakin looked at him, he clarified, "You have children now, Skywalker. What are you going to do?"

"I've thought about it a lot, Master," Anakin said quietly, "Ever since Padmé told me she was pregnant. And I think I have the answer," he looked at the two Jedi seated before him, "I think I will follow Master Fisto's path, and leave the Order. Having many people, in the space of a few hours, tell me that I'm too emotional to be a Jedi is hard to hear, but I think it's something I needed to hear. And I want Luke and Leia to have a father. And seeing the love between Kit and Sundali, and what they were willing to sacrifice to keep their kids safe, makes me realize I would do the same. But they are older than I am, more experienced, and aren't ones to give into fear. I am, and that makes me dangerous. I know that now. It makes me vulnerable in ways I didn't know were possible," he looked at Mace then, "I think leaving the Order may be for the best for everyone, but with your permission, I will stay close. I'll be helping and protecting Padmé and my children, and when it's time and if they want to, I'll send them to the Temple. If not, I'll teach them what I can as best I can."

Mace stared at him, but it was Yoda who said, "Grown up much you have, young Skywalker. Such words, a year ago heard them we would have not. Taught you without realizing it, Masters Fisto and Abazza have," he smiled slightly then, "Think I do, your solution is good. If advice you need, be here we will be," he leaned forward then, his smile suddenly gone, "But some conflict, sense in you I do. Seek out Master Fisto, you must. Resolve this conflict; you should. Able to let go, still you are not. Speak with Master Fisto, learn his way, you must."

"I will, Master," Anakin said quietly before reaching for his lightsaber and holding it out to Yoda, knowing that he shouldn't keep it as he was no longer a Jedi, but Yoda shook his head, "Your weapon, it is. Protect your family, it will. Keep it."

Anakin stared at him in surprise as the elderly Jedi got up and headed for the door, followed by a silent Mace. Opening the door revealed Ava, who entered and asked quietly, "Are you ready to know what would have happened to you if you had fallen to the Dark Side?"

The door shut before the two Jedi masters could hear Skywalker's response, and that was when Mace turned to Yoda and asked, "Are you sure about this course of action, Master?"

"Sure I was, that the Chancellor a Sith Lord he was not," Yoda said quietly, "Learning again, I am, what trust is," he looked up at Mace then, "Give Skywalker room to grow we will, but always here we will be. In time, learn lessons he hasn't in the past he may. Start those lessons he will do, with Avalaur and Master Fisto."

Mace nodded slowly as he followed Yoda, wondering if his distrust of Skywalker made it difficult for him to see the changes Skywalker was trying to make to himself.


After speaking with Satine, Obi-Wan found Shaak Ti, who had asked him for help with something. He had agreed, and they had headed for the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Getting there, they were glad to see minimal damage to the room and started down the path to the largest waterfall. Arriving there, Obi-Wan was surprised to see Ventress sitting on one of the larger rocks and staring at the water. She didn't even look at them when she said, "Ava always says water is the bringer of life and the greatest healer," she shook her head, "I've always wondered what the inside of the Temple was like. Ky Narec tried to describe it to me, but his descriptions never gave it any justice."

"What did she mean by healer?" Obi-Wan asked quietly as he settled near her, marveling at how at ease everyone was here. Not even a year ago would he have trusted Ventress enough to sit near her without a weapon in easy reach.

Ventress shrugged, "I have no idea. She's still teaching me, and she believes in learning on the job, as she calls it, and backseat teaching. She wants you to figure things out on your own; that way you learn the lesson in a way you remember and understand."

"I see," Obi-Wan said, while Shaak said, "You have grown a lot, Ventress, in many ways. What are you going to do now?"

"Leave," Ventress said as she finally looked at the two Jedi, "I've seen the inside of the Temple, and that's enough for me. Ky Narec always wanted to come back, but he didn't live long enough to do so. Now that I'm here and I've seen it, Ava says he's seen it one last time through my eyes. I don't know how she knows that, but it makes me feel better about it. That's enough for me. As for what I'll do now?" she cocked her head, "Quinlan's going to leave too. He and Kit will have an easier time coordinating the Phoenix if they're outside the Jedi. I think I'll go with him and see where the Force takes us."

"Really?" Shaak asked in surprise and was rewarded by the slightest smile she'd ever seen from Ventress, "I've changed a lot, and that's because of Ava. She's the one who finished my training and taught me everything she could about living between the Light and Dark Sides, where she is. And Quinlan and Kit want my help with the Phoenix. Everyone knows that Ava and I are good friends; they all know I can think like her and see things as she can. That'll be enough for me to act in her name and get things done in the Phoenix. I won't abuse that power," she added quietly when she saw how Obi-Wan was looking at her, "I've seen what too much power can do, Obi-Wan, and I don't want any part of that. I'll be careful."

Obi-Wan stared at her before nodding slowly, and that was when Ventress looked over his shoulder, and her gaze softened considerably. Turning, the two Jedi were only slightly surprised to see Quinlan standing there and waiting patiently. Ventress' smile widened considerably, and that's when she said, "I think I'm in good hands, Obi-Wan, and I don't think I have anything to worry about. It's not every day you meet someone who only wants you happy. It's a rare thing, I think."

With that, she stood up and went with Quinlan, leaving Obi-Wan and Shaak to look at each other before Shaak said, "I think she's grown past her past and is now more than ready to live life without fear and anger."

"So do I, Master Ti," Obi-Wan said, "So do I."


Avery, Sundali, and Kit were meeting just outside Kit's quarters, a Temple Guard nearby. The three of them were ignoring the Guard, Avery saying quietly, "Tha mi a 'dol a-mach chun an Taibhse, gus dèiligeadh ris na h-atharrachaidhean a rinn sinn a thogadh sùilean. Gheibh mi a-mach mar a gheibh sinn a-mach an-còmhnaidh."

Kit and Sundali nodded, with Kit saying, "Bi faiceallach, agus thig air ais gu sgiobalta. Mas urrainn dhut, thoir air cuid de mo bhràithrean dèiligeadh ris an t-soitheach. Dìreach innis dhaibh dè tha thu airson a dhèanamh, agus nì iad e. Bhiodh e na b' fheàrr na thu a' dol à sealladh airson làithean agus an Jedi a' fàs iomagaineach mu dheidhinn. Chan eil earbsa aca annad, airson adhbhar fìor mhath."

Avery ducked his head and nodded but said nothing as Anakin suddenly appeared in the hallway. Seeing him, Sundali and Avery entered Kit's quarters while Kit waited outside. Anakin only hesitated a minute before walking over, and that's when Kit said, "Follow me, Skywalker."

Anakin nodded and went with Kit, the Temple Guard following along behind. Once at an alcove with a window, he stopped, glaring slightly at the Guard to get them to keep walking until they were out of earshot. Once certain they weren't about to be heard, even if shouting occurred, Kit turned to Anakin and asked, "What do you want to know?"

Anakin hesitated a moment before asking, "Are you really the reason Ahsoka's leaving? Are you and the Phoenix really why she's leaving?"

"You are leaving too, Anakin," Kit said, surprising the younger Jedi for a moment since he hadn't told anyone other than Yoda, Mace, and Ava, but Kit wasn't finished yet, "I'm sure that's part of the reason, but a student learns from watching the teacher. And what Ahsoka's learned from you involving attachment makes it impossible for her to stand by and do nothing. She has a great capacity for compassion, something she learned from you, but at the same time, she's learned that attachment isn't as dangerous as the Jedi make it out to be. As long as that attachment doesn't rule your life."

Anakin looked at the Nautolan then, and that was when Kit leaned in close and said, "I know what you did, Skywalker."

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, and Kit's eyes narrowed before saying, "The Tuskens that killed your mother. I know what you did to them."

Anakin stiffened when he heard that, which was when Kit said, "It wasn't Padmé who told me; it was Ava. Those Tuskens were her friends, and the Chief Guide of Tatooine was there. He wasn't part of that tribe, but you still killed him that day."

The younger man was quiet but then looked up and asked, "When did you find out?"

"When it happened," Kit said quietly, "Ava held nothing back in her opinion of you, and it was never anything kind."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Anakin asked, making Kit sigh slightly before saying, "Because I can't say with absolute certainty that I wouldn't have done the same if it was my mother. She means everything to me, and I know I wouldn't be able to stop myself if someone tried to hurt her," he looked closely at the young Jedi, "You know how young I am in the eyes of my people. I know how young I am. The idea of my mother not being somewhere out there, safe and alive, is so terrifying for my young old-breed mind that it can't comprehend it. I know I seem older than my brothers and parents say I am, but I'm still young. I still have a lot to learn, and my mother is the only one who can teach me those things. I've learned much from the Jedi, but my mother still has a lot to teach me," he looked intently at the younger Jedi, his now-black eyes boring into Anakin's, "But even after all of that, even after knowing what I would do if someone hurt my mother, I know I wouldn't have hurt innocent people. You hurt innocent people, Skywalker; you killed women and children. Would your mother have wanted you to do that? I know mine wouldn't, but that is because we are not allowed to kill women or children, no matter what they've done to us."

"Your brother threatened to kill Boba Fett," Anakin offered weakly, and Kit's eyes narrowed, "Don't change the subject, Skywalker. You know what you did and must make peace with that. I won't help you do that, but if you're honest with yourself and your family, you will tell your children what you did when they're old enough to understand. I've done things to protect my family the Jedi would never approve of, but it never stopped me from sleeping at night. What you did wasn't to protect anyone, and you have to figure out who you are. You are not a Jedi for what you did, nor a Sith because you've turned away from that path. But you are not a Gray either because your emotions are too dangerous. Ava will not teach you how to be a Gray, so you must learn it yourself. I will not help you either. The Jedi haven't learned everything there is to know about my family and people; they will be learning that in the coming days, and that will further distance me from them. And meeting Atalelu will not help my case either. By the time this is done, you will be on your own with your guilt, if you have any, and I will be trying to convince the Jedi we aren't as dangerous as we are. Something that will be impossible if the Council ends up going to Home Base because they will definitely be seeing everything that makes my people what they are," he glared slightly at the younger man then, "Are you willing to tell the Jedi the same? Are you willing to tell the Jedi something Padmé already knows and has made peace with? Or are you going to keep hiding behind your lack of control?"

Anakin ducked his head when he heard the censure in the older Jedi's voice, and that was when Kit looked at him carefully and said, "And all of that is one of the reasons Ahsoka is leaving. Ahsoka's reasons for leaving are the same as yours, but at the same time, they're different. You need to learn who you are and what you want in life. Only then will you truly understand why she's leaving you," he looked more closely at Anakin, "My daughter has said, whenever the conversation turned to you, that your greatest strength was your greatest weakness. You have an amazing capacity for love and compassion, but those are weaknesses Sidious would exploit. I'm sure Ava told you what he would do with you?"

Anakin nodded, and that was when Kit's tone softened, and he said, "I've learned, through a lot of difficulty, that keeping attachments without them ruling your life is much harder than becoming a Jedi. But if you can manage to do it, you can find the middle ground and have a family and relationship that will last a lifetime without fearing the Dark Side taking everything away. I won't show you how to find that path; that's for you to discover, and I won't guide you. You need to learn this for yourself," he rested a gentle hand on Skywalker's arm, making Anakin look at him, "You may think it's impossible, but nothing's impossible if you want it badly enough and are willing to work hard for it. You just have to be willing to face yourself during that journey. Only then will you know if the path you have set for yourself is the right one."

With that, Kit left the alcove and headed back to his quarters, the Guard following along behind and leaving Anakin to wonder if he was more confused now than he had been before the conversation with Kit.

Either way, it'd given him a lot to think about as he tried to figure out if it wasn't just the Jedi Order that had had its foundations shaken so thoroughly. Maybe he was discovering things about himself he hadn't known before, making everything more confusing than it had been in the past.

Hopefully he could figure them out.


Translations:

Shalom – peace
Thig an seo, leig le athair obair gun thu a 'crochadh dheth. – Come here, let Dad work without you hanging off him.
Eòghann – born of the yew tree
Ogha – granddaughter
Tha an fhìrinn gad shaoradh. – the truth sets you free.
Tha mi a 'dol a-mach chun an Taibhse, gus dèiligeadh ris na h-atharrachaidhean a rinn sinn a thogadh sùilean. Gheibh mi a-mach mar a gheibh sinn a-mach an-còmhnaidh. – I'm going out to the Ghost, to deal with the modifications we made that would raise eyebrows. I'll get out the way we always get out.
Bi faiceallach, agus thig air ais gu sgiobalta. Mas urrainn dhut, thoir air cuid de mo bhràithrean dèiligeadh ris an t-soitheach. Dìreach innis dhaibh dè tha thu airson a dhèanamh, agus nì iad e. Bhiodh e na b' fheàrr na thu a' dol à sealladh airson làithean agus an Jedi a' fàs iomagaineach mu dheidhinn. Chan eil earbsa aca annad, airson adhbhar fìor mhath. – Be careful, and come back quickly. If you can, get some of my brothers to deal with the ship. Just tell them what you want done, and they'll do it. It'd be better than you disappearing for days and the Jedi getting nervous about it. They don't trust you, for very good reason.