Strange Occurrences

The next morning on Coruscant, Ashlyn stood in front of the mirror trying to figure out how she could possibly hide her baby bump which was becoming more noticeable through her robes with each week that went by. She had started to wear two robes at all times but as the weather was starting to get warmer that idea was becoming less desirable with each day that passed. Soon she would have to get new robes as the tunic, pants and belt were starting to become rather uncomfortably tight on her. For the last month, Ashlyn had been wracking her brain to try and find a way to tell Daly about the baby but was worried that he would become extremely overprotective if she told him. After all, nobody on the Jedi High Council knew about the pregnancy yet and that's how she wished to keep it. However, if Daly started becoming overprotective of her and refusing assignments from the Council then it would become obvious to the Jedi Masters that there was something else going on. The attack on the Senate building had set Daly on edge and he had already expressed his dislike for Ashlyn travelling around Coruscant by herself. Ashlyn had also already started to sense the strong Force-sensitivity of the unborn baby and was actually surprised that no one else had sensed it through her attempts to mask the presence with her own.
"What am I going to do about you, little one?" Ashlyn whispered softly.
Then the Jedi Knight found herself walking through the Temple hallways as she headed in the direction of the West Hangar. Ashlyn climbed carefully into a speeder before she flew out of the opening and out into the Coruscanti traffic with a clear destination in mind. She needed to get to new robes that would fit her properly and then get back to the Temple before anybody noticed that the Jedi Knight was missing. It wasn't long until she landed on the platform outside of the small shop and entered, only to be greeted by Master Jasha. "Good morning Knight Dubreas," the retired Jedi Master greeted warmly.
"Hello, how have you been since I saw you last?" Ashlyn asked politely and Master Jasha nodded her head lightly in response.
"I am guessing that you are here for some new robes?" the Jedi Master guessed.
"Yes Master," the young Jedi Knight answered before she was lead into one of the back rooms.
Ashlyn stood on one of the stools as Master Jasha encircled her, taking measurements along the way with a slight frown appearing on her face as time went on.
"Have you been taking care of yourself? You have certainly put on quite a lot of weight since you were last in here," Master Jasha inquired curiously.
Ashlyn chuckled lightly, "I am perfectly fine, although I was fourteen the last time I was in here," she stated in an attempt to hide the extra weight behind now being a grown woman.
The Jedi Master hummed thoughtfully, "Very well, exact same fabrics and designs?" she asked and Ashlyn nodded her head in agreement. Then the retired Jedi Master went about her work again as Ashlyn stepped down off the stool. The young Jedi Knight sighed softly in relief at avoiding the detection of her unborn child as she walked over to the racks to pick out a new Jedi robe while she waited for Master Jasha to finish making her new robes.

After about two hours of waiting Master Jasha came out with the new robes and gave them to Ashlyn for her to change into them. Ashlyn looked in the mirror at her reflection as she inspected the new robes and was relieved to notice that they were no longer uncomfortably tight on her anymore. The young Jedi Knight nodded her head and exited the change room to find Master Jasha waiting for her.
"Thank you for your help Master Jasha," Ashlyn thanked her with an immense amount of gratitude. "I am glad that you like the new robes," the Jedi Master responded, "Have a wonderful day Knight Dubreas," she farewelled as she walked into the back rooms once again, with Ashlyn's old robes rested over one arm. Ashlyn exited the shop and climbed back into the speeder before flying back to the Jedi Temple which was little under half an hour away. The trip gave her plenty of time to think of how she was going to tell Daly about the baby but again she could not help the feeling that it was too dangerous to reveal her unborn child to anyone, even her husband. This feeling just made her even more uncomfortable about the situation though, which did not help her already prominent morning sickness issues.

The next day, the group had been summoned to the Jedi Council chambers early in the morning; for reasons unknown to everyone in the group. Director Corr Dalledos was standing in the room along with Chancellor Organa, Senators Amidala and Bonteri. This caused the group to be curious about what was going on and why exactly they had been called before the Council. Ashlyn's mind raced slightly as she realised that the Council must have a mission for them to go on which caused the Jedi Knight to feel unsettled and uneasy about the situation. Daly glanced down at her slightly out of the corner of his eye when he sensed her anxiety levels rise and then took her hand softly in his own as he rubbed the back of it with his thumb soothingly. Ashlyn smiled in gratitude up at him as the Jedi Masters began to talk, dragging her full attention towards what they were saying.
"Director Dalledos reported earlier this morning that one of his Agents has reported suspicious activity on Ryloth," Master Kenobi explained briefly.
"Senator Orn Free Taa has also been observed acting strangely in the Galactic Senate by the Chancellor and a few of his colleagues," Master Skywalker stated, explaining swiftly why the diplomats were present in the meeting.
"In light of the oncoming war, we need to ensure that Ryloth has not fallen into the control of the Empire and, if it has, we need to regain control at any cost," Master Mundi revealed.
"Selected this group we have to complete this mission," Master Yoda said, "Agent Highrock, lead it you will."
Mia glanced at her superior briefly to seek confirmation that he agreed with the decision and when the Director nodded she turned back to the Jedi Grand Master, "Of course Master Jedi," she accepted the responsibility.
"Master Skywalker and I will be accompanying you with some Clone Troopers, just in case this gets messy," Master Kenobi revealed.
"Look into the Senator's activities and movements, then go to Ryloth and try to solve this issue before it becomes a problem," Master Windu ordered, "May the Force be with all of you," he added. The group left swiftly after the Jedi Order members bowed in respect to the Jedi Masters and they proceeded to the Jedi Archives Hall to begin their work. Daly could still sense Ashlyn's anxiety but decided to leave addressing it until later when they weren't surrounded by their friends.

Later that day, Daly was deep in thought while walking back to the Jedi Archives with Raven to do some much-needed research on the recent activities of Ryloth and Senator Orn Free Taa who was still claiming that there was nothing suspicious happening on his home planet. The two Jedi Knights had just returned from the Galactic Senate building where they had questioned the Twi'lek diplomat in an attempt to get him to confess and reveal the strange activities.
"Daly?" Raven's voice reached him and he shook his head jerkily as he looked to his right.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" Daly asked apologetically.
"Are you okay mate? That's the fourth time today that you have been off in daydream land," Raven asked both as a joke but with a streak of seriousness in his voice.
"Yeah, I don't know, I'm just worried about Ash. She has been acting weird lately even more so in the last month. In the Council chambers this morning she was really nervous about something and yesterday, she left the Temple for the day and came back with new robes," Daly said as he dazed off again slightly, "And she has been going to the refresher triple more times than usual," he added.
Raven cringed, "Okay! Way too much information!" he exclaimed in a low voice.
"Sorry mate," Daly apologised quickly in a soft tone.
"If you are worried about her, why don't you talk to her about it?" Raven suggested simply.
Daly nodded, "I plan to do that but you know how Ash is, it's hard to get her to open up about something when she is anxious," he reminded his best friend simply.
Raven chuckled deeply, "You don't have to remind me of how she gets when something is spooking her out," he mentioned thoughtfully, "Even though very few things ever actually do scare her."
At that moment, the two best friends reached the Jedi Archives Hall where they knew the rest of the team was waiting for them inside. When they entered the private room which had been booked out for their use the pair found everyone, including Sabine who had volunteered to help them with the mission.
"I can help us get in contact with someone who will be able to help us with our investigation on Ryloth," Sabine revealed as she pressed a few controls which resulted in a holoimage of a Twi'lek to appear.
"Cham Syndulla?" Mia asked curiously, "How did you manage to become a contact with him, Sabine?" she inquired curiously.
"I became acquainted with his daughter a year or two ago, Hera Syndulla," Sabine answered, "We got each other out of a few really tight corners and Hera is actually the one who gave me Chopper as a parting gift," she added as she gestured towards Chopper who was in a corner of the room with P7, the two droids were chatting up a storm.
"Isn't he Senator Taa's diplomatic rival though?" Serin asked in suspicion, "He could be biased and have his own motives in helping us."
"Cham might be a rival but he puts his people first in every situation which means if Senator Taa is doing anything suspicious, he will know about it," Sabine stated confidently as she tried to convince everyone in the group that this was their best contact.
"How soon can you contact him?" Jania asked as she got straight to the point.
"Unfortunately, no one has been able to get through to anyone on the planet without the Senator knowing about it which means contacting him before we get on the planet's surface would be too risky," Mia explained.
"Great, more setbacks," Serin groaned in frustration.
"Not necessarily, arriving without announcement will give us an advantage. It means that whatever is happening on Ryloth can't be covered up by the time we arrive," Raven pointed out.
"How did the interview with the Senator go?" Gav asked curiously.
"Well, we weren't able to get anything out of him except that Ryloth is under quarantine which is why no one has been able to contact anyone of the planet or go there," Raven started to explain. While Daly droned out his voice as he noticed for the first time that Ashlyn wasn't present which caused his concern for her to heighten considerably. The Jedi Knight excused himself quietly and left the room to go find where Ashlyn had disappeared to this time. It didn't take him long to find her meditating under the Tree of Serenity out in the gardens, he could still sense her troubling emotions which grew stronger as Daly approached where Ashlyn sat.
"Is everything okay?" Daly asked as he sat down next to her and she jumped slightly as she looked at him, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
Ashlyn sighed, "It's okay, I'm just nervous about the mission," she said in an anxious tone.
"Is there anything I can do?" Daly asked as he placed his hand over Ashlyn's which was still resting on her knee.
The other Jedi Knight broke eye contact as she looked like she was attempting to say something but then just shook her head softly, "No, it's okay. I'll figure it out," Ashlyn said reassuringly.
"Okay, we should get back to the group," Daly suggested as he rose to his feet and helped his wife to hers. As he pulled Ashlyn to her feet he noticed a slight difference in her weight but he dismissed the thought almost immediately.

A/N: I apologise for the long cliffhanger. This book is done, I just haven't had much time to post chapters. So to make for it I posted all the way to Chapter 10 which is the half way point.

Ashlyn_Dubreas