"They are simply too old to be trained safely," the Jedi Council member told Yoda.
Yoda nodded. "Your point of view I understand, agree with it I do not. Force's will I will follow."
"It is the council's decision that they not be trained," the Jedi Master declared firmly.
"Know better than the Force you do?" Yoda asked, faking surprise. "Ascended you have?"
"No," the frustrated Jedi said, his mouth pausing as he frowned.
"First among equals the council is," Yoda said. "Leaders of the Jedi, shepherds even they may be, lords they are not."
"Jedi Masters cannot simply disregard the will of the council," the Jedi argued, sounding offended by the very thought.
"Many things to the Darkside leads," Yoda said with a heavy sigh. "Hubris and a desire for power over others both are."
The Master Jedi sputtered and Yoda cut the connection.
"Did you just quit the Order?" Shaw asked nervously after the hologram cut out.
"Those words I did not speak," Yoda assured him. "Been a Jedi longer than entire council has lived, I have. Forgotten their place they have. Remind them I will."
"This is why Karres doesn't do councils either, except in a loose way," The Leewit told Harry. "Power, even perceived power, inflates egos."
"Your world doesn't have anyone in charge?" Shaw asked in disbelief. "How do you function?"
"Quite well," The Leewit said smugly.
"The Jedi cooperate, they do not order," Yoda said. "Disobey me as a padawan you often do, punished you are, but voluntary it is."
"It's not really punishment," Shaw said, "mostly it's learning what I did wrong and working on my skills."
"Annoying it is meant to be," Yoda said, "but useful as well. Being a Jedi, a personal choice it is, being part of the order… optional is."
"I…" Shaw stopped and sat down, deep in thought.
"If the common opinion is that all Force users who aren't part of the Order are cultists…" The Leewit pointed out.
Yoda nodded. "Culture has changed much since young I was. Change more before I join the Force it will."
"I'm surprised you told the Council off, not that they didn't deserve it," Harry said cheerfully.
Yoda shrugged. "Told them off I have before and tell them off I will again later. Last time was… two generations ago?" he asked himself before nodding. "Yes, two generations ago it was."
"So how are you planning on training us?" The Leewit asked.
"First see where you are, then see where you need to go, we will," Yoda said. "Touch the Force you do and easily, so much of padawan training we can skip, but find the things you do not know that padawans do, important is."
"So we need a place where we can blow stuff up!" Harry said excitedly.
"Blow stuff up?" Yoda repeated.
"It is very easy to blow stuff up," The Leewit told him, "so training starts in areas where you don't mind blowing stuff up."
"Blow stuff up?" Shaw asked, perking up, his deep contemplation about what it meant to be a Jedi and his place in the universe forgotten for the moment.
Harry nodded eagerly. "It's a good distraction to keep you from worrying as your control improves."
"Changing course, I am," Yoda decided, turning back to the controls. "Place of peace and tranquility I was planning, but ancient battle site we will go instead."
"You never blow things up?" Harry asked the teen.
"No," Shaw said, "I cracked some things while learning telekinesis, but nothing more than that."
"Melt anything?" Harry asked hopefully.
Shaw shook his head.
Harry stared at him for a moment, hearing The Leewit's giggles in the back of his mind as not even her lips twitched in the outside world. "I'll teach you," he assured the young Jedi who slowly began to grin.
"Yes, battle site definitely, a good idea is," Yoda muttered as he tapped away at the controls.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You again?" A crotchety old woman asked as she saw The Leewit III. "Weren't you here just yesterday?"
"It was seven years ago, you old crone," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Or rather The Leewit saw you and gained a pattern seven years ago from you, I'm her clone."
The old woman flipped her hand and The Leewit III felt over a dozen gossamer threads of klatha brush against her and vanish before she could respond.
"Heh, interesting," the old woman said, before waving for them to enter her cave.
"Why a cave?" Harry III asked curiously.
"Because she's melodramatic," The Leewit III replied with a sigh.
"I'm old enough to be childish," the old woman said, "and ancient witches living in caves dispensing wisdom is a classic."
"Your cave is a massive labyrinth filled with more wealth and knowledge than most planets," The Leewit III pointed out as the rough cave exit immediately gave way to smooth shaped stone and banks of interior lighting that displayed various works of art.
"A girl's gotta have her hobbies," the old woman said, waving a hand as she led them to an elevator.
"I'm still not sure if you stole everything or just made copies," The Leewit III admitted as the old woman tapped a button and the elevator descended.
"Depends on my mood," the old woman admitted. "Let me get some tea ready because this is going to take a while."
"I don't remember it taking that long last time," The Leewit III said with a frown.
"You were less you last time," the old woman replied, "now you're complicated."
"Have to be an idiot not to be," The Leewit III said as they sank dozens of floors into the mountain.
"You gonna introduce me to your man or what?" the old woman demanded.
The young witch rolled her eyes. "Harry this is Granny Gaia, she's really old and set in her ways, but also really skilled at just about everything. She spends her spare time travelling about the universe stealing anything she can pry up and leaving duplicates in their place when she's not hollowing out the mountain to make room for everything."
"That sounds like fun," Harry III admitted.
"It keeps me young," the old woman said with a grin.
"Why not just make yourself young?" The Leewit III asked.
The old woman cackled. "You still ain't ready for that answer. Come back in another seven years and I'll tell you."
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out onto a thin walkway that seemed to extend out into space surrounded by the whirling stars of the galaxy.
"Whoa," Harry said, eyes wide as they continued onto a circular platform made of marble where a series of chairs surrounded a crystalline table.
The old woman gave out a theatrical sigh as she settled onto a chair, cups of steaming tea appearing in front of the two as they joined her.
"This tea is drugged," The Leewit III noted as she smelled hers.
"Can't have you two linked while I imprint your pattern," Gaia said. She turned to Harry III. "Would you like to spend the next six hours without a line on her or sleep and wake up attached?"
The Leewit III turned to Harry III just as he set his empty cup down and yawned, falling asleep almost instantly. The Leewit III sighed and reached over to adjust his sleeping form so he'd be more comfortable. "And why's mine drugged?" she asked.
"Same reason," she replied. "Wanna deny it?"
"No," The Leewit III replied firmly, tossing her tea back and setting her cup down just before she fell unconscious.
Gaia nodded with a smile. "Now that was properly dramatic."
Seven hours later
Harry III awoke with The Leewit III cuddled into his side still asleep. There was barely a thread connecting them, making him anxious but he could feel it thickening and relaxed.
"She'll come around in a couple of minutes," Gaia told him. "Most couples don't stay connected the way you two are, it takes a strong will to accept opening themselves up that way and your teenage years are going to be… turbulent as they always are. I expect you'll both disconnect at some point, but for now she needs this every bit as much as you do."
Harry III nodded, not quite believing her, but not really caring either, as he could feel The Leewit III beside him and he couldn't ever imagine wanting that to change. "Why all this?" he asked, gesturing at their surroundings.
"Guess," she challenged with a grin.
Harry III looked around. They appeared to be floating in space, the universe swirling around them. "Because it's awesome?"
Gaia smiled. "Because it's awesome," she agreed.
"Cool," he said, smiling as he felt The Leewit III begin to stir, her mind slowly checking itself over and radiating a feeling of satisfaction and security at what it found before reaching for the thread between them and thickening their bond.
"Good tea," The Leewit III said, "I"ll be sure to recommend it to my other clones when they come to get their patterns."
"Other clones?" Gaia asked, wincing. "Dear… how many of you are there?"
"The original and two clones," The Leewit III said cheerfully, "of course I have to swim to a particular moment in time to prevent Linda from making another six or maybe a dozen, we're not sure if she meant a dozen total or six of each of us."
Gaia just stared at her, nonplussed.
"Relax, I just have to hit a spot a year wide to avoid that," The Leewit III said.
"But your aim is terrible," Gaia complained.
"It's not that bad," The Leewit III replied.
"No, it really is," Gaia told her. "Okay, it looks like I'll be training you in person and not just through pattern."
"A year is a really wide target," The Leewit III complained. "Really, I'm sure I can hit it."
"So much training," Gaia groaned out.
"An entire year," The Leewit III repeated.
Harry III giggled and she groaned when realized Gaia was just being dramatic and Harry III had figured it out before her.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"And this old shack is my family home," Sirius said as he led the way to the front door of the decrepit looking mansion.
"The klatha is pretty thick," The Leewit II noted, seeing complex weaves of klatha surrounding the place in interesting patterns.
"I'll take your word for it," Sirius said as he drew a small knife and sliced his palm before grasping the doorknob. "As the lord of the house of Black I claim this property."
"And now it's not as bright," Harry II noted.
The door unlocked itself with a loud click as Sirius healed his hand.
"Be very careful, my family was really dark and there's no telling what's cursed in here," Sirius warned them.
"Not to mention the magical pests that have probably moved in while it was empty," Remus added, drawing his wand.
The four entered and there came a screeching voice from the hall. "Kreacher! We have intruders! Deal with them!"
With a pop, a small greenish grey creature appeared, looking and smelling like it had spawned from some form of fungus that had sprung up in an uncleaned bathroom. "A muggle!" it exclaimed and raised its decrepit hands towards The Leewit II.
Harry II felt his danger sense scream and flung out a hand, multiple threads of klatha slamming the little creature to the wall hard enough to dent the plaster and pinning it in place, thin trails of blood beginning to well up from the lines cutting into its skin.
"Kreacher, stand down!" Sirius ordered.
The eyes of the house elf turned to Sirius, as that was all of its body it could move, and gave him the driest look imaginable.
"Um… Harry, you can probably release him now," Sirius suggested.
"If you even look at The Leewit funny I'll slice you into centimeter cubes," Harry II told it before releasing the threads, leaving the house elf to fall to the floor.
The Leewit II blushed slightly, feeling how much Harry cared for her, but quickly pushed it away as she relled something foul in the house. "Something here needs to be destroyed," she said.
"Kreacher?" the house elf asked nervously.
"No," The Leewit II said, "there is something… unnatural here that shouldn't be."
"Let me go shut up the painting and we'll find it," Sirius volunteered, tense and unable to think straight with all the yelling coming from his mother's portrait.
"Bit more exciting than I expected," Remus said as the painting fell silent, after half a dozen spells from Sirius who had eventually conjured and glued a mattress over the portrait.
"Bad master is back with…" Kreacher asked cautiously.
"Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, and The Leewit," Sirius said, "do not harm them."
"But she is being a muggle!" Kreacher complained.
The Leewit II gestured and Kreacher rose up in the air, much to his shock.
"Not a muggle?" the house elf asked, confused.
"I'm a witch, from a long line of witches," The Leewit II said firmly.
"But Kreacher cannot be sensing you," he complained.
"Why would I let you sense me?" she asked, as she carefully scanned the small being. "Now, do you know what the source of that… stench is? There is something here that has to be destroyed."
"Kreacher may know," he said cautiously. "You be swearing on your magic to be destroying it?" he asked.
"There isn't much here that I care for," Sirius said, "so sure." He raised his wand. "I Sirius Black swear on my magic to destroy whatever it is." He glowed for a second. "Satisfied?"
"Yes!" Kreacher exclaimed happily, then frowned. "Um, could yous be letting Kreacher go so he can get it?" he asked hopefully.
Typing By: Abyssal Angel
Beta By: Abyssal Angel and Mist of Shadows
AN: And now you can tell the three apart! I gave them numbers to avoid confusion as apparently minor physical differences just aren't as effective in a written format unless used with each and every appearance. Who knew?