AN: Right off the bat, I want to address an issue that some people seem to be stuck on: Tyris's TK ability. First of all, this fic is rooted in legends, and there is precedence for a situation like this in established legends lore. Corran Horn, who is one of my favorite characters in the expanded universe, was naturally inept with TK, even though he was a powerful enough force user to eventually become a Master. Now, Tyris's situation is different from Corran's, and will be addressed during the course of the story. But, I didn't want to make Tyris broken right out of the gate. He's already leaps and bounds ahead of most Knights when it comes to physical martial ability, and he would have been a boring character, both to read and to write, if he didn't have any obstacles he needed to work around.

Further comments in AN at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

The whoosh of the door sliding closed behind me nearly made me jump out of my skin. I was on edge. Understandably so, but it was still out of character for me. I'd been in actual life and death situations before, and had been cool enough to be trading quips with my master while blaster bolts were flying left, right and center.

And that was the crux of the problem.

I'd never been in a situation like this where I was completely on my own. I'd been in scraps without my master before, sure, but always with the knowledge he was nearby, or even just having his voice in my ear. Master Fisto had an aura about him, something that just reassured you that whatever the situation was, you were going to get through it.

"I won't always be with you, Tyris. This is sooner than I would have liked, but that speaks more to my concern for you than any lack of faith in your ability. You are a far more capable Jedi than I was at your age. If you find yourself in a situation where you are doubting yourself, remember what I have taught you, and that I would have never agreed to this if I didn't think you could handle anything you might run into. May the Force be with you, Padawan."

My master's parting words sprung into my head. He'd said that to me at the end of our training session.

The words were reassuring, no question, but they didn't cause some kind of zen to fall over me and allow me to push on with unwavering conviction. What they did do was force me to take a second and assess my situation.

I took a breath, centered myself, and relaxed the white knuckled grip I didn't realize I had on my lightsaber. And then I started taking the steps we would always take at the start of an investigation. The person I was charged to protect was not here, and I had a door to my back and unobstructed views of all approaches to where I was standing, so I wasn't in a hurry.

First was to review all knowns. The exercise was so reassuring, I could almost hear Master Fisto's voice while I was doing it.

What do your eyes show you, Padawan?

I scanned my immediate surroundings, a large sitting room on the first floor, flanked on either side by long hallways leading to other parts of the estate. There was also a set of double doors at the back of the room that led into the main hall. I gained no new information from this, but I also went over everything I had seen since I arrived.

The most obvious thing was the figure I had seen while I was in the courtyard, but, again, this didn't aid me in gleaning any new information. What I had seen was someone in a cloak, so going over the memory wouldn't give me any details I had missed.

So I started from when I had stepped off the Mythosaur. The estate had been completely locked down, I'd needed the codes provided by Typho in order to gain entrance.

I sighed and nearly facepalmed. The estate was locked down, so I assumed it had been empty. Yes, I did a walkabout of the entire premises, but I was looking for ways an intruder could gain access, not for places one could have been hiding that was already there.

What was that phrase you once said about what happens if you assume, Padawan?

I rolled my eyes and mentally flipped the bird at the imaginary voice of my master.

"It makes an ass out of you and me, you dickhead."

Ok, so there was a possibility that someone had been hiding here the entire time I'd been at the estate.

What is our quarry's purpose, Tyris?

Knowing the motive of whoever we were investigating was arguably the most important part of an investigation. It gave you insight into their state of mind as well as possible actions they may take going forward.

The obvious answer was to assassinate Padme. After all, she'd already had multiple attempts on her life, there's no reason to think another wouldn't be made. It also explained why I wasn't attacked earlier while I was walking the grounds. The assailant would've wanted to wait until they could verify the senator was present, so as not to scare her into running.

Sometimes the obvious and easy answers are just that, obvious and easy. That doesn't mean we don't continue to look for other angles that are less blatant.

There was one problem with the obvious and easy answer. Anyone good enough to evade detection by me, even if I wasn't actively searching for them, wouldn't accidentally be discovered by standing at a window that overlooked where I was training. And the fact that I had felt nothing in the Force of their presence pointed to them being a Force wielder, and a damn good one at that. Which led to one startling conclusion.

I was the target.

The figure wanted to be seen in the window, and knew I would come to investigate. My mind started to kick into high gear.

I needed codes to access the estate. Codes given to me by Captain Typho. He sent them directly to me, but there's a possibility that I wasn't the only one he sent them too. There was another individual at the briefing who absolutely could have asked for everything about the estate, and made some bullshit excuse about how it would "set my mind at ease".

Palpatine.

It made sense. He wanted Anakin separated, not only to limit his exposure to Jedi teachings and try to poison him against them, but he more than likely knew about Anakin's feelings for Padme, and saw that as a convenient avenue to drive a wedge between him and the Council. My presence was not conducive to either of those ends.

Jumping to conclusions can be the death knell of an investigation. All possibilities, likely or unlikely, should be explored before setting one's mind. Objective eyes have the sight of a hawk bat.

I took a breath and calmed my rapid breathing. I was pretty sure I was right, but looking at it as a certainty was only going to serve to stress me out. I needed a plan of action now.

Always address the most alarming concerns first. Doing too much at once will be like trying to hold water in a squeezed fist.

My biggest concern at the moment was that I couldn't feel anyone else here. But, if they were indeed a Force user, there wasn't much I could do to fix that. Not unless I could get eyes on them.

Eyes… why hadn't I seen the figure on camera?

I quickly pulled out my data pad and selected the camera that covered the hallway I had seen the figure in. It was a good distance down the hall from the window, but I would clearly see someone if they were standing there. I rewound the footage all the way to when I had placed the camera, and didn't see a single thing.

I then had a distressing thought. If they had the codes to enter the estate, they would have access to all of the security of the grounds, including the main security office. My extra cameras and datapad were slaved to the already existing security network, so realistically someone could have accessed the network and I wouldn't have received a notification, because the system would have thought that it was the security admin.

Whoever was here could be looping the footage, essentially making me blind. Everything on the feed was static and it hadn't been long enough for there to be a difference in the light coming in through the window, so it was impossible to tell just from the feed if it had been tampered with. Regaining control of the cameras was top priority, or, failing that, disabling the system altogether.

I put my datapad away, checked my surroundings, and then quickly made my way toward the security office. I stayed alert, but the fact that whoever was here probably had eyes on me with the cameras meant that speed was far more important than stealth at the moment.

I rounded several corners, fully expecting to be attacked as I sprinted down the halls, but I made it all the way to the office without incident. I quickly tapped in the code for the door and stepped through as it opened.

Who the hell puts a goddamn tree in a security office?

I was so disoriented it took me a full five seconds to actually register what I was looking at.

Instead of an office full of monitors and computers, I was in the middle of a thick jungle, vines and branches criss crossing in front of me, obscuring my vision. I spun back around, but instead of the doorway I had just walked through, I saw more jungle.

I immediately closed my eyes and channeled the Force outward, trying to get a feel of everything around me.

Master Fisto had placed me under illusions before, so that I would know what to look for and how to orient myself with what was actually going on around me.

That problem was that I could actually feel the plant life around me. I felt the sticky heat already beginning to make me sweat under my robe and jacket, and could feel the leaves from the branches brushing against me.

I'd never heard of a Force illusion being this accurate and realistic before, and the jarring transition from the hallway to this setting basically defeated the purpose of putting an illusion on someone.

I was roused from my confusion when I felt a presence making its way by me through the foliage. It felt humanoid, but when I looked in the direction I didn't see anything.

No, that wasn't right.

I saw movement, but it was the movement of the branches and bushes, as something moved through them. I should've been able to see what it was, but all I could catch was leaves rustling, twigs snapping, and a slight shimmer passing through the air.

Something about it resonated in my memory, but I was having a hard time placing it.

And then things got weird.

A loud explosion sounded in the air, far above my head, and, I'm assuming, far above the canopy of trees.

Then I was standing in a clearing, having somehow moved. In front of me was the smoking wreckage of a ship. I couldn't place the model, but I could place the species of the individuals extricating themselves from the crash. It was a group of Duros.

Once again, I was transported, still in the jungle, but now there were blaster bolts flying everywhere. Men in military garb were shooting wildly around, trying to hit something I couldn't see.

I could also hear the sounds of battle behind me. Along with the whine of blaster fire, there was another, very distinctive sound that I was intimately familiar with. However, when I attempted to turn around, I found I was unable to. I was rooted to the spot, watching this group trying desperately to shoot something…. there.

The shimmer was back, and I did my best to track it while it flitted around the group. The men, soldiers presumably, began to fall, one by one, sporting blaster wounds or injuries from what I could only assume was a vibroblade.

Eventually, the last of them fell, and the shimmer came to a stop right in front of me. I heard a sound, as if something was deactivating, and then with a shimmer, the figure stood in front of me, no longer cloaked.

It wore dark maroon and white armor. The design of the armor wasn't what I was used to seeing, but there was no mistaking the helmet. A T-visor stared back at me.

The Mandalorian looked at me for what felt like several long seconds before I felt another shift and my equilibrium was thrown off, a wave of nausea hitting me. Gathering my bearings, I realized I was no longer rooted to the spot, and instead of the jungle surrounding me, there was a circle of figures surrounding me. They were geared in the same manner as the maroon Mandalorian standing in front of me. However, with the exception of one who was also in maroon, the rest of the Mandalorian's wore blue armor.

"You have enough honor to face a champion of a previous day," rang out a voice from the circle.

The feeling of familiarity hit me again, stronger this time. There was something significant about what was going on, but I was to concerned with trying to figure out what the fucking hell was going on to put my finger on it.

"Kelborn, what are your terms?"

I was surprised to hear my name, and reflexively turned to the speaker, the maroon Mando that was a part of the circle, to ask what the hell he was talking about.

Then my slow ass brain decided to kick back into gear and provide me with the information I'd been seeking.

"Swords only. No items or the Jedi's Force. And no sword of this Jedi's choosing. Just a simple long blade," answered Kelborn, second in command to Mandalore the Preserver, AKA Canderous Ordo.

I was on Dxun, Onderon's moon. I was at the Mando base camp. I was looking at the Mandalorian who started my clan readying a sword in my direction.

I was four thousand goddamn years in the past!

"Kelborn chooses to fight with the blade. You may fight with fist, foot, and the blade provided. No using the Force or any other item."

With that, Kelborn rushed at me, blade held for a strike. I absentmindedly realized that I was also holding a very simple blade. I had no idea what the kriff was going on, but Force vision or not, as I began to realize what this was, the Mando'ad in me wasn't going to ignore a challenge.

I moved to meet Kelborn head on, and in doing so realized several things all at once.

I felt lighter, more agile. There was a confidence in my movements that I didn't recognize, far greater than even the hard earned confidence I normally felt. And I was significantly shorter than I should have been. All these observations vacated my mind, though, as I closed with Kelborn.

Our blades met with a thunderous clash.

And suddenly I was falling through the air, the wind tugging at my hair and robe, as explosions rocked the world around me.

Ahead of me, also dropping out of the sky, was a large machine. It was clearly designed for war, as turbolasers and torpedos fired from it, directed at a city far below that we were quickly falling towards.

I was so disoriented at this point, I thought I might actually be sick. My stomach turned and my heart was pounding in my chest harder than I'd ever felt it before.

But it seemed my torment was not over yet. Everything changed once more.

Something was different this time, though. I was floating, high above what appeared to be a compound built directly into a mountain. There was a green glow that permeated everything.

I also didn't appear to have a body, and of everything that had happened so far, this was the most disconcerting experience of all. I floated for a moment, knowing I recognized the place I was looking at, but unable to put my thumb on it.

Without warning, I was shot directly at the mountain the compound was built into, going through solid rock, until I suddenly stopped.

I was floating above a chasm. There was a circular platform hanging above the chasm, with what appeared to be claws surrounding it. From the middle of the platform came a sinister, stark red glow.

I knew where I was. The Trayus Academy on Malachor V.

"You are not a Jedi. Not truly."

The words rocketed into my skull, screamed and whispered at the same time. Like a physical blow, I felt battered by the force behind every syllable as it was uttered. I'm sure if I had a body currently, I'd be on the floor, screaming.

"You are more rare than you know."

I would have given anything to make it stop. So great was my terror, if I could have ended myself, I wasn't sure if I would hesitate.

"In you, I see the death of the Force."

The terror grew until I lost all sense. Tyris Kelborn did not exist here. I was an incorporeal being whose only purpose was to experience fear. It grew and grew, until I knew I was forever lost.

And then everything was swallowed by darkness.

This is a line break

My eyes snapped open, and I shot upright so fast I nearly headbutt the person standing over me. I glanced at who I'd nearly assaulted, my eyes widening slightly, before quickly standing up and taking in my surroundings.

Surprisingly, I was still in the courtyard, in the exact same spot that I had been practicing my forms. My eyes automatically snapped to the window where I had seen the figure. Of course there was nothing there. I continued looking around, desperately trying to gather my bearings.

What the actual hell is going on?

I was uncharacteristically mad. I felt like there was some unseen force that was jerking me around, which, considering what universe I'm in, there probably was.

Was any of that real?

At that moment, the door to the sitting room, the same one I vividly remember walking through, slid open. The second I heard the door start to cycle, my lightsaber was in my hand and activated.

"Wait!" I heard the individual beside me yell. "My men are sweeping the grounds!"

I glanced sideways at him, before my eyes returned to the door, lightsaber still in hand, but holding my ground.

Several individuals filed out, and once I verified every single one of them was dressed in the garb of the Royal Naboo Security Forces, I took a deep breath and deactivated my blade. I felt awful, like I had just run a full marathon at a record pace with no food or water. I was light headed and felt unsteady on my feet. I reached out to the Force, and triggered a slight application of Revitalize so I felt less like a walking corpse. While doing so, I felt a very concerned query from Anakin. I sent back my reassurances, and then finally turned back to the man who had welcomed me back to the land of the living.

"Apologies, Captain. I'm a little disoriented at the moment."

Captain Quarsh Panaka, Head of Security for the monarch of Naboo, curled an eyebrow back at me.

"I hadn't noticed," he said, making me slightly chuckle. "Care to explain why I found you unresponsive in the courtyard, Master Jedi?"

"I don't know that I can, Captain, seeing as I'm not entirely sure myself. And I'm merely a Padawan, no need for formality. Tyris Kelborn."

His eyes widened slightly at my name, but, being the professional he was, he set that aside to further assess the situation.

"Were you attacked, Mr. Kelborn?"

I quickly glanced around once more, before placing a hand over my eyes and slightly massaging my temples.

"No, I don't believe I was. My best guess is that my condition was induced purely from a very intense interaction with the Force. Something I'm sure sounds a little far fetched. Did your men find anything during their sweep?"

Panaka glanced at one of the men that had exited the building, who shook his head in the negative.

I nodded. "I don't believe there is any danger here, Captain. Just unfortunate timing for Jedi nonsense to occur. I'm sorry that you wasted your time coming out here."

He waved my apology off. "We were just sitting on our asses anyways. Gave us something to do."

"Anakin sent you?"

"The Queen, actually. Though it would be more accurate to say that Padme threatened to come here herself until the Queen promised to send me to check on you. Apparently, Skywalker had to nearly restrain her when he informed her there might be something wrong."

I smirked. "Sounds like the senator."

"Indeed," Panaka said. "In fact, we couldn't even get her to stay at the palace."

The captain pulled out a comlink and quickly spoke into it. A few seconds later, I heard a high pitched whine beginning to approach the estate. I didn't have to wait much longer before a landspeeder, the same kind seen during the Battle of Naboo in Episode 1, pulled into the courtyard. Two more security officers exited the speeder, followed by Anakin and Padme, who quickly made their way over to us.

"Are you ok?" Padme immediately demanded.

I chuckled and held my hands up. "I'm fine, just exhausted and confused."

Anakin looked at me with a serious expression. "What happened?"

I put my hands down and let the smile fall from my face. "It was a vision. An intense one."

Anakin crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression, but didn't appear surprised. My group of friends all knew about my 'visions'. Ironically, this is the first legit one I'd had. Padme's eyes, however, were wide as saucers.

"I'm not really sure what I saw," I said before she could ask the obvious question. A lie, but explaining how I knew exactly what I saw would raise some questions I couldn't really answer. "I'll need a few days to meditate on it and try to figure out what it meant."

Anakin nodded, but Padme didn't look all that satisfied with the answer. I turned to Panaka before she could press the issue.

"I really do appreciate you taking the time to come out and check on me, Captain. Sorry it wasn't more exciting than just finding me passed out on the cobblestone."

Again, Panaka waved off my thanks and shook his head. "It's nothing. It honestly brings me some peace of mind that I was able to have my men go over the place the Senator will be staying. Before I go, however, I wanted to talk to you for a moment."

I nodded my assent to him.

"You said your name is Kelborn. Any relation to a Mandalorian named Rhydis?"

It had honestly slipped my mind, what Padme and Typho had said about my father, so I was a little taken aback at hearing his name come out of Panaka's mouth. A benefit of him asking, however, was that Padme immediately looked interested in the conversation, hopefully having forgotten about my vision for the time being.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before responding.

"Yes, actually. Senator Amidala and Captain Typho mentioned that they knew of another Kelborn, one who had helped you at some point," I said. I paused, and then unholstered my S-5 and held it out in both hands towards him. "He was my father. I'm assuming he got this from you."

It wasn't hard to piece things together once I'd heard about my father helping Panaka.

I sensed surprise from Anakin through our connection, and could imagine the expression on Padme's face, but I kept my eyes on the captain as he slowly turned the blaster over in his hands, looking it over.

"I can't believe he still has this. Or that his son is a Jedi." He paused. "You said 'was'."

I shrugged. "Was, is, I'm not sure, honestly. He disappeared when I was very young."

"Abandoning a child does not sound like the Rhydis I knew," he said.

"No," I sighed. "I'm fairly sure it was involuntary."

Panaka gained a somber look, and then nodded as he handed the blaster back.

"I gave that to your father as a wedding gift. I'm glad to see it being used to protect his son."

I thanked him and accepted the blaster, returning it to its holster.

Panaka cleared his throat. "Well, now that it seems everything is in order here, we will leave the Senator with you Jedi and return to the palace. If you are ever near Naboo again, stop by. I'll buy you a drink and tell you how your father saved my life."

He shook my hand, and then signaled his men. Five minutes later, Padme, Anakin, and I were in the sitting room right off the courtyard, and I was on my third glass of water.

"Well, this venture is off to an auspicious start, I'd say," I snarked, mostly to break that awkward silence that had settled over us.

Anakin snorted. "I've decided that nothing involving either of us will ever go as expected."

Fair, based on our track record.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Padme asked.

I did my best not to roll my eyes. I shouldn't blame her. Someone who didn't grow up in the Order would have a hard time understanding that what I went through took mainly a mental toll, not a physical one.

"I appreciate your concern, but I am fine. What I went through was mostly disorienting, I just need some time to sort through everything I saw."

She actually rolled her eyes. "You keep saying that, but I don't understand what that means!"

Anakin stepped in here. "It's hard to explain to someone who has never experienced the Force the way we have. I experienced a vision while constructing my lightsaber, in which I fought several specters, one of which being the Sith that Master Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon fought in Theed. When I awoke, my lightsaber was completed, and I had no memory of actually building it. I'm still unsure what the vision meant."

Padme's eyes were wide, and she kept glancing between the two of us.

I stood. "Rest assured, Senator, if what I had seen pertained in any way to our current mission, I'd do my best to share the details. More than likely, I won't truly understand what the Force was trying to show me until far into the future." I turned to Anakin. "I'm exhausted, and it was a long journey here. I'm going to turn in. I'll send you the details of what I added to the security system, and any codes you might need to access it."

He nodded. "After you've rested, there are some things we need to talk about," he said, giving me an unreadable look.

"Sounds good," I said, throwing a wave over my shoulder as I walked away. I was pretty sure I knew what he wanted to discuss, and it definitely was going to be an awkward conversation.

This is a line break

The next couple of days went by without incident. The three of us fell into a companionable routine, eating meals together, walking the grounds, enjoying the countryside. Though, I did try to give them their space when appropriate.

While I had decided that some intervention in Anakin's timeline was needed, for obvious reasons, his relationship with Padme was not something I wanted to meddle with. There was an argument to be made that his love for her was partly a catalyst for his fall to the Dark Side, and that argument absolutely had merit to it. However, I think a bigger catalyst was that he felt like he couldn't turn to anyone in the Order when he was scared he would lose her, unfortunately leading him right into Palpatine's hands.

I also was timid to find out what state the galaxy might be in if Luke and Leia, arguably the two most important people in the galaxy the further down the Legends timeline you go, were never born.

Most of my time was spent training, reviewing footage for anything out of the norm, and doing my best to keep up to date with the local news. Captain Panaka had even granted me access to the logs of all spacecraft entering Naboo space, not that I expected to find much there. Anyone coming to make an attempt on Padme wouldn't be using official channels. But, it was something to pass the time.

Currently, I was in the middle of an animated argument with Padme.

"The creation of a standing military will almost guarantee hostilities! Not only will it be seen as a sign of aggression, it will show other member planets that the Republic is not above bullying governments into toeing the line."

I sighed. We were currently in a circular argument, and I should just concede and get on with my day, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to drop it.

"Senator—," she shot me a glare. "Padme," I corrected, hands raised, "I'm slightly confused here. You yourself have said that you believe Count Dooku, the leader of the separatist movement, is behind the attempts on your life. Would you not agree that that is essentially an act of war? As it stands, with the systems that have joined him, he has an organized, mobile and large military force at his disposal that could prey on any individual system of the Republic with little effort should he decide to be the aggressor."

We were currently finishing up a routine sweep of the grounds and making our way to the courtyard where Anakin was doing some training. I owed him an overdue conversation, and planned on wearing him out a bit, hoping fatigue would make him more receptive to what I was going to say.

"The Republic commissioning a military should not be seen as a strong arm tactic, but as a responsible action to help protect its citizens," I said.

I could practically hear the eye roll from her, and I couldn't fight off the amused smile that touched my face.

"You have a way with words, Tyris, that makes me worried should you ever decide to pursue politics." I made a loud gagging noise that earned me a laugh and a quick swat to the arm. "It makes sense when you put it like that, but what doesn't make sense is that I keep getting targeted. I'm the loudest voice against the MCA, I should be getting quiet support from the entity that would be in the most peril should the creation act pass, not attempts on my life."

I stopped walking and faced her, a slight smile on my face. She stopped as well and quirked an eyebrow at me.

I motioned for her to continue. She folded her arms.

"It only leaves two realistic possibilities, both of which are equally terrifying. First, someone from the Republic stands to gain something from the military being created, wants me removed to make the path easier, and is pinning the blame on Dooku."

She sighed, and her eyes hardened. "The second is that Dooku wants this conflict to happen."

I now sported a full blown smile, causing Padme to give me a quizzical look.

This girl. She didn't realize it, but she was technically correct on both accounts. She had deduced almost exactly what was going on, while the entirety of the Jedi Council appeared to be fumbling around in the dark. I took a moment and fantasized about how formidable a Chancellor she would make.

A second later, realization dawned on her face.

"You already know that, though."

I shrugged, and shook a hand in a 'kind of' gesture. "'Know' is too strong a word. I suspect you are correct, but have yet to find anything substantial enough to be actionable. It's painfully obvious something is happening, but it's easier for people to believe it's as cut and dry as systems leaving and the Republic not wanting to lose power."

I sighed. "It's worrisome to think Dooku wants war and potentially has an ace up his sleeve, but we could still face that conventionally. The idea of all this stemming from inside our government, however….," I shook my head. "Far messier."

"Something tells me it's worse than that," she said, turning and exiting the building out to the courtyard. "That it's a combination of both."

I followed her out of the building, and could see Anakin in the center of the courtyard. It's no wonder he fell so hard.

"Pardon?"

My eyes snapped to Padme, who was giving me a quizzical look.

Did I say that out loud?!

I was saved from trying to come up with an explanation when Anakin caught sight of us and threw a wave.

"You two do a sweep together?" He asked, eyes flicking between the two of us, a spark of something in his glance.

I rolled my eyes.

"I did a sweep. The senator just wanted someone to talk at," I said, a playful smirk on my face, indicating I wasn't serious.

Padme scoffed and sarcastically turned her nose up at me. "Unfortunately, Tyris wasn't even good for that. Any more than two syllable words and I was worried he was going to run into a wall attempting to think and walk at the same time."

I gaped, and Anakin let out a bark of laughter.

I staggered like I'd been injured, a hand gripping my chest. "No amount of therapy is going to help me recover from that one."

After we all shared a laugh, I turned to Anakin. "Are you busy?"

He shrugged. "I was just going to practice some bladework."

"Room for one more?"

Excitement shown in his eyes. "Eager to be embarrassed again, Kelborn?"

"I'll try not to make you look bad in front of the lady, Skywalker."

Anakin's eyes hardened slightly.

Touched a nerve apparently.

AN: Well, that was a long time coming, huh? No excuse, just had lots going on and things I was more excited about than writing for a while. Anyways, more exposition, I know, I'm sorry. And for all those shipping Tyris and Padme, I'm gonna have to shoot you down right now. Tyris kind of explained it in the chapter, but no Anakin and Padme means no Luke or Leia, which in turn means no Jacen, Jaina, Anakin Jr., or Ben. It's probably VERY optimistic to think my story will ever get to a point where those characters come into play, but the Star Wars Legends nerd in me won't allow me to essentially write them out of existence.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-Teee-Jayy