Yoda merely hummed and nodded. Qui-Gon looked around the chamber, taking a breath and letting it out slowly. "It has been a long time since I came here to meditate," he mused softly, his eyes lingering on the play of water down the sculpted surface of the fountain. Very little light warmed the chamber, just a couple of votives near the door and on the floor by Yoda's cushion, so the thin sheen of falling water sparkled and glinted with whatever light it could capture by chance. It was a soothing sight and sound, no wonder the Jedi meditated here.

"Long have you been away," Master Yoda murmured, as if to himself rather than in response to Qui-Gon's observation. "Find rest you can here."

"Rest for a Jedi is hard to come by," Qui-Gon countered with a smirk, easing himself to a crouch before the venerated Master. "Your invitation was most welcome, Master."

Yoda looked up at him. "Invitation? An order that was. Hmmf."

A smile glittered in Qui-Gon's eyes as he looked up at me, though his face remained chastened. "Yes, Master. And we are here to obey."

I took his glance as a hint and lowered myself to my knees. The right one was still a bit sore - though much improved from a few days ago - so I maneuvered it into a more comfortable position. Master Qui-Gon also shifted, until he was kneeling before Yoda with his robe arranged perfectly around him. Yoda sat as still as ever, blinking lazily. I tried not to fidget, though the silence was tense and Yoda made no sign of starting the meditation. I peered into the nearest votive and found out that it wasn't a candle, but had an incandescent filament. Much safer, I thought, glancing at Qui-Gon. He was peering intently at me, as if trying to get my attention or tell me something without using words. Cringing sheepishly under his gaze, I settled down and tried to clear my mind of distractions. He subsequently let out a deep breath and relaxed, and at that sign Master Yoda's eyes closed and his head tilted upward as if he were sniffing the nonexistent wind. Giving Qui-Gon a brief look in the hopes I was doing things right, I breathed deeply and closed my eyes to meditate.

The Force awakened in my mind's eye, shimmering and buoyant, and I relaxed as it seeped into my consciousness. Everything proceeded as normal; first, a welcome tranquility came over me, then I became aware of the distinct flavor of Qui-Gon's presence, the familiar stability he exuded in the Force. Instead of passively floating in the Force's energy like usual, though, the Master reached out to me. It felt like his hands were on my shoulders, even though they weren't, and the presence seemed to embrace me into itself. With his own power supporting me, Qui-Gon then reached in a different direction. I sensed the shifting flow of the Force, as if it were a river carrying us along whichever way it willed, and a new presence mixed in with ours. I held back, cautious, because it felt different. It wasn't Obi-Wan, I could tell. It was a note I had never heard before in the sonata of our meditations. Unexpectedly, Qui-Gon's presence receded as this new one unfolded and flowed through the conduit he was making, and I found myself touching the mind of Master Yoda.

If I thought Qui-Gon was deep and inscrutable, Yoda was so a hundred-fold. The sensation of approaching his mind in the Force was like gazing at the spreading limbs of a hundreds-year-old oak tree, trying to imagine the ages it has seen or how deep its roots reach into the soil. I got no impression that he was actively searching me out, but rather that my mind was being laid open like a book for him to peruse if he so desired. I could do nothing but sit back and let whatever happened happen, I had lost any sense of control. But it wasn't torture - quite the opposite. Yoda's presence was as strong and calm as the ocean at sunrise, and just as unfathomable. It was incredible to get such a potent glimpse because my actual perception of it was faint and brief in duration. I tried to remain calm and open, but before too long a wall fell back into place and blocked the flow of the Force. Qui-Gon. I could no longer feel him as an open conduit but as the stable rock he usually was. Physical sensation began to register again - I felt the floor beneath my hands, and opened my eyes to find myself doubled over, drained. Qui-Gon instantly emerged from his meditation and placed one strong hand on my back. I glanced up at him and found his face serene, but with a light of wary caution in his eyes. The stunned feeling lasted only a moment and I was able to sit up again, showing no ill aftereffects of my moment of lightheadedness.

In his own time, Master Yoda's heavy eyelids slowly opened, his gaze falling instantly on me. He gave a long, ponderous hum, which growled deep in his throat. "Very unusual," he remarked simply.

"I'm sorry. It was hard to keep the pathway open for long," Qui-Gon noted. "Perhaps if I worked with her to strengthen her mind, we could sustain it longer."

"Time matters not," Yoda patiently lectured with a sigh. "Much illumination one can receive, even if short the moment is."

Qui-Gon turned to me and murmured in his usual protective tone, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I assured, speaking in a reverent hush. I didn't dare disturb the solemnity of the moment by making the meditation room echo. "I'm fine, it was just...overwhelming, I guess." I bobbed my head toward Yoda. "Thank you, Master."

His brow furrowed. "For what?"

"For giving me a chance to do something no one else I know ever has, or ever will."

Yoda nodded slowly, humming again. "In that case, welcome you are. Very valuable it was."

"I know I'm not going to forget it for a while," I smiled.

Qui-Gon smirked at me, but sobered as he turned to the great Jedi Master. "What did you sense?"

Yoda didn't answer right away, looking away as if savoring the moment and reflecting upon his choice of words to describe it. "Unusual it was," he said at last in a low voice. "Fortunate she is to have you to help her, Qui-Gon. Need guidance you do," he added to me with a dubious look.

"You can see, then, what I have been telling the Council all along," Qui-Gon said firmly. If I didn't know him better, I would have almost called him excited. "She does have a presence, and it is tied to mine."

"Yes. In doubt I am not. But," the little Master cautioned, pointing one claw stabbingly at Qui-Gon to emphasize each word, "resolved this matter is not. Established little, have we. Her claim to origin, on faith we must take that, for proof there is not."

"Yes, Master. I am well aware of that." Qui-Gon turned kind eyes on me. "But if that is what she says, and we know she isn't lying, then I will trust what she says. If there is another explanation as to where she comes from and how she got here, I am sure she would be as interested to know it as we are."

I nodded enthusiastically. "If I'm wrong, I have no way of knowing."

"Considered that have I." Yoda clasped his hands on the end of his gimer stick and closed his eyes. "Much have I learned by this brief encounter. Much have I to think on. Finished we are, go your way."

I looked up at Qui-Gon as he simultaneously glanced at me. "Do you want to stay?" I hesitantly wondered. "I think I can find my way back by myself."

"No. We are finished, here." The Master got to his feet and helped me up after him before bowing deeply to Yoda. "Thank you, my Master. If there is anything else we can do, let us know."

Yoda said nothing more, having retreated into himself and letting us depart without acknowledgement from him that we even existed. I almost tiptoed out of the Fountain Chamber so as not to disturb him, and walked behind Qui-Gon for a long way in silent thought before finally feeling it was safe to talk in a normal tone. "Wow," was all I could say.

The Master glanced at me with a smile. "You are very fortunate. Not many people outside the Jedi Council have spent so long in meditation with Master Yoda, or been allowed so close."

"How long was it?" It only felt to me like a couple of minutes had passed.

"A quarter of an hour, maybe more. Most of the time was spent trying to establish the connection." Qui-Gon kept his eyes straight ahead as we walked, his face solemn. "I have never done anything like that before. I hope we didn't cause you any undue stress."

"No, I think I'm fine," I assured him. "It was just...wow." I looked up at him as we walked. "What do you think he sensed about me?"

Qui-Gon didn't answer right away. At last, he murmured, "I don't know." We stopped in front of a lift door and waited for it, and the Master looked down at me. "I have a feeling we won't know, either. Master Yoda is very close about the things he knows. Unless he intends to take some sort of action, he will probably tell no one what he experienced."

The lift door swished open, and we headed back to quarters without any further discussion. I wasn't sure what to make of the cryptic comments from either Jedi Master, but figured that as long as Yoda was the type to keep things to himself, anything he had discovered about me, my mind, or my thoughts would remain private business. Still, I couldn't stop wondering what Yoda had been able to pick from my mind while my defenses were down.

A couple of days went by without event, as I found myself falling back into a very simple and carefree routine of sleeping, eating, and hanging around the Jedi Temple. My companions were not idle; rather, Qui-Gon used his time wisely, meeting with various Councilors and other Jedi about important matters. As he had promised weeks ago, the Master sat down with Mace Windu and Ki-Adi Mundi and presented them with a complete report on the supplies from the satellite temple on Chad which we had graciously bestowed upon the needy residents of Kalinda. They were in that meeting a long time, and Qui-Gon came back in no better mood than when he had left, but he declined to talk about it other than to say he would be addressing other members of the Council regarding future support for Chad. In between meetings and visits, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan sparred in a practice hall more than once, with an audience of one: just me, invited and appreciated. I loved to watch them practice, weaving an intricate and deadly dance of light and power across the floor of the hall. Watching them, I almost forgot that the spectacular skill displayed by both of them would never be enough to stop Darth Maul, no matter how much they practiced. I let myself be deluded by the beautiful battles that ended sometimes with Obi-Wan as the victor, sometimes Qui-Gon. Once, after they finished a particularly dazzling, high-speed clash in the dim half-light of the twilit hall, the Master decided to teach me a few moves. Considering the attacks made on me on Salji, Qui-Gon wanted to make sure that if I ever found myself grabbed from behind again, or chased into a blind alley, I would be able to get myself away safely. This time, I listened and learned, because I didn't want to be caught unawares ever again.

The second night after the meditation session with Yoda, Qui-Gon missed dinner because he was out somewhere with some unspecified Jedi Master, but Obi-Wan and I made sure to save some for him. The two of us sat and talked, Obi-Wan telling me about the Jedi Code in detail that I had never heard before. It was clear that the young Padawan really did adhere to the Code more closely than his Master, taking its tenets and guidance very seriously. Once I got him on the topic, it was impossible to divert him to more frivolous lines of conversation. Not that it wasn't fascinating, but I could have used a little less heavy subject for dinner small-talk. While we sat there, Qui-Gon returned, breezing into quarters as if on urgent business. "There you are," I chided him. "Sorry, we were hungry. We started without you."

"It's all right," the Master assured, coming to the table and sitting down right away, though he didn't reach for a plate. "Stacey, I need to ask you something."

I cocked my head curiously. "Yeah? Shoot."

"I need to know what you were doing just prior to finding yourself here, in our galaxy."

"What?" I found myself sitting up and frowning at him. "Why?"

Qui-Gon settled down a little, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands as he faced me. "I have spent the last several hours debating intergalactic travel with Master Eeth Koth and Master Garen Olour - a respected scientist," he explained, as I had never heard the second name before. "They have been trying to formulate theories on how and why you were brought here to our galaxy, but there was much I couldn't help them with because I don't know much about you. I need you to tell me about the last moments you spent on your world."

"Oh, come on," I countered. "It's been weeks! I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, much less where I was and what I was doing weeks ago and in another galaxy."

"You must try," Qui-Gon insisted. "Anything you can remember, the smallest thing, may be of some importance."

"Oh, all right," I relented, thinking back to the start of my adventure and trying to push past the haze that disconnected me from my life on Earth. It was no good, I couldn't really remember anything except a vague picture of what my cluttered apartment looked like. "I don't know what I was doing," I hedged, "but I think I was at home."

"Consider what you had with you, or how you were dressed, when you found yourself here," Qui-Gon advised, leaning forward and focusing intently on me. "Was there anything unique about it that might indicate where you were?"

"Well, let's see. Jeans, my Echoing Green t-shirt...that means I definitely wasn't at work," I said with a grin. "And I had my watch on..." More details started to take shape, and I found myself frowning curiously. "Funny, I had my shoes on. But I never wear my shoes around the house, or my watch - not unless I'm planning on going somewhere." I instinctively reached a hand down and brushed it over my thigh, almost expecting to feel a chain hanging from my pocket. "But I didn't have my wallet. So, I probably wasn't going anywhere, unless I was just going outside for something. Maybe taking the garbage out, I don't know. It's kind of weird."

"What is?" Obi-Wan wondered, as if to try and remind us that he was sitting there too.

"That I'd be hanging around at home with my shoes on. I must have been expecting to leave my apartment for something, but I wasn't going to drive or I would have had my wallet in my pocket." I mulled it over for a bit and then shrugged. "Heh. Weird. Anyway...that's all I remember. I told you, it's not much." I glanced up at Qui-Gon. "Too bad I didn't have my wallet along. I could have showed you my driver's license, my money...wait, there probably wasn't any money in there." More dim shreds of memory poked through, reviving my speculation. "Maybe I just got home from somewhere. Took my wallet out of my pocket but didn't get so far as kicking off my shoes..." Illumination. "Yeah, yeah, that was it! I just got home. From...gosh, I don't know. Running errands, maybe. And I took my wallet off, turned the TV on, and...that's all. Then everything goes black from there."

Qui-Gon smiled faintly. "You see? I knew you could remember."

I frowned at him. "But how does that help us figure out why I'm here?"

"Well..." He sat back in the chair, and after a moment of quiet reflection, slid a plate over in front of him and started helping himself to what was left of dinner. "Perhaps it won't help with the why. But Master Olour was speculating that something you were doing before the...transport..." He didn't sound certain of using that word to describe what happened to me. "...may have contributed to it happening."

"How?" I demanded, bewildered. "I wasn't doing anything. Not that there's anything on our planet that would cause something like this to happen," I pointed out, waving my hands, "regardless of who I was or what I was up to."

"I think it's something else," Obi-Wan ventured, gazing thoughtfully at me across the table.

Qui-Gon gave his apprentice a subtle questioning glance as he started in on his dinner. "You would say Master Olour is wrong?"

"Master Olour doesn't know Stacey," Obi-Wan said simply, his tone contemplative, his eyes still focused on me. "She's not a scientist, or a pilot, or anyone who would have a means or motive to get herself here. It wasn't anything she did, it must simply have been the Force's choice of when to snatch her up and bring her here."

"Sounds good enough to me," I shrugged. "It's been so long I can't really remember exactly what I did just before...it happened. I don't even know what happened. I guess I just blacked out." The Jedi looked at each other and nodded, and apparently that was the end of that. I gazed at Qui-Gon. "So how long have I been here, anyway?"

They looked at each other again. Obi-Wan offered, "I can look it up."

"Look it up?"

"Your arrival here was recorded, as is just about anything of significance that happens around the Jedi Temple," the Padawan explained as he got up from the table and tapped into the communicator.

"You mean I'm officially part of Jedi history? Cool!" Leaving Qui-Gon, I got up and dashed over to Obi-Wan's side, wanting to see what he was doing. "Where does it say?"

Obi-Wan glanced at me and smirked, eyes twinkling and dimples perking. "Just a moment. I'm checking the records. Ah, here." He pointed to a crawl of angular letter-symbols. "This was the day records show a stranger, a human, was brought in under the charge of one Qui-Gon Jinn, given medical treatment, and turned over to his keeping. I think further records show that you were of some interest to the Jedi Council, but that's all it says. Wait..." He cross-referenced something, and I was able to translate the notation on the screen: infirmary records. "Here is the record of the day you almost died, until you were infused with donor midi-chlorians."

I glanced over my shoulder at Qui-Gon, who was quietly going about dinner. "I remember that day."

"Let me see. If this was the day your arrival to the Temple is recorded..." Obi-Wan went back to the previous entry and stared hard at the screen, brow furrowed as he thought. "...then, you had to have appeared a little more than a day before that. It's been forty-four days, today, since you came to our galaxy."

"Forty-four days? That's...that's like six weeks!" I exclaimed.

"Six? No, that's almost nine weeks."

"The way you measure it, yeah. But my weeks are seven days. Still...that's a heck of a long time!" I thought about it, staring at the crisp lettering scrolling across the screen. "I wonder if that much time has gone by on Earth, or if none has. More than six weeks...man, the police would be investigating my disappearance by now. My mom would probably be afraid that I was dead." The giddy feeling of being part of recorded Jedi history faded very quickly. "I hope time isn't passing. I'd hate to think of my parents boxing up my stuff and taking it home in the slim chance I might turn up again someday. And if I don't..." I bit my lip.

Obi-Wan touched my shoulder gently. "It's all right. You don't know that that is what is happening while you're here."

"It's not like I have a choice to go back," I muttered. "I don't know that I ever will."

"Hush." Obi-Wan's hand caressed softly along my shoulder, and I couldn't be sad with him so close. "Don't worry about it. You're here, now, and there's no use worrying about the past or the future."

"Thanks, Obi-Wan," I whispered.

"I tend to think of it as, you've come so far and done so much in just two months," he went on. "Think of how much more there is for you to explore."

I giggled at him, incredibly grateful that he knew how to get my mind off troubling thoughts. "Yeah, there is a lot I have to do yet. I gotta figure out why I'm here." I turned to face him and gave Obi-Wan a petulant look. "There's got to be a reason!"

"Well, don't look at me," he said dryly, "I don't know what it is."

I punched him lightly in the side. "I know that! Sheesh." Brushing against him, I went back to keep Qui-Gon company at the table. "Did you and the other Masters talk about that? Why I might be here, if I'm nothing really special?"

"Nothing really special?" he questioned, sounding offended. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, it's not like I'm a scholar, or a leader, or any great mind that you need to help you," I suggested as I sat down at the table. "I'm nobody. I'm so absolutely nobody."

"I don't think that," Qui-Gon said softly, folding his arms on the table. "I have never met a person who hasn't meant something to somebody."

"But what do I have to do with you?" I continued to protest in an insistent hush. "You're a Jedi, I'm nobody to you. You don't need me - not as far as being a Jedi goes. And I don't believe the Force brought me all the way here just for romantic entanglements," I added with a sly grin.

"Perhaps not," Qui-Gon conceded, lowering his eyes for a moment, "but I won't have you say that we don't need you." He fixed a piercing gaze on me again. "You saved my life. You've helped both myself and Obi-Wan a number of times. That's not insignificant." He lifted a hand and idly toyed with the glass in front of him, which was half-full, but he didn't pick it up to drink. "I find it hard to be able to judge the reason for a person to cross my path, or to be involved in something they normally wouldn't be, until after it is over and we have the wisdom of hindsight. But, no matter where you are, you are important. Simply by being here, or at your home, or wherever you are, you have an effect. Because you are here, whatever you do affects us." The smile came back into his eyes. "And so far, I would say the effect has been extremely positive."

I found myself blushing involuntarily. "Thanks. But I can't help but feel there's some greater design here. Unless people get transported back and forth between our galaxies for no good reason all the time."

"You may be right," the Master admitted. "But as I said, we may not know until we have a chance to look back, and the picture becomes clear. The only thing that distinguishes you from us is..." He hesitated.

"The fact I'm from another galaxy?" I offered.

"No," he said, his voice strangely discomfited. "Your knowledge of our future."

I glared at him. "I am not telling you what happens in the future!"

Qui-Gon's eyes lifted, and a look of surprise came to his features. "Well. This is the most vehement I have seen you on the subject."

"Oh man, Qui-Gon - please tell me Yoda didn't find out that I know the future!" I suddenly cried, as the thought entered my mind. "No one else can know, they'll question me until I tell them and it's going to change everything!"

"No one else knows," Qui-Gon gently assured, holding up a cautioning hand. "At least, I haven't told them. Should Master Yoda have discovered it..." He thought for a moment, his hand dropping back onto the table. "As I said the other day, we won't know unless he decides to act on it."

I slumped back in the chair and covered my face with my hands. "Oh, I hope he doesn't. I would rather die."

"I don't see why he should," Obi-Wan broke in. He was standing behind my chair, I heard his voice as a soft purr intruding on my lamentation. "Master Yoda has foresight of his own. I don't know why he would be alarmed by discovering yours."

"I don't think his is as detailed as what I know," I growled under my breath. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I'm not. No way."

"I will respect that," Qui-Gon said. "Now, let's leave the subject be. Don't get upset about it."

I took a deep breath and nodded, murmuring, "Yes, Master."

*****

The call came early the next morning, interrupting breakfast. A senator's aide contacted Master Qui-Gon Jinn at the Jedi Temple and requested a meeting for later that day, after the senator got out of some committee meetings. The aide made all the proper arrangements for transportation and everything, the Jedi just had to be ready at a certain time. Strike that - we had to be ready. Qui-Gon wanted me to go as well, since I had been on Salji and witnessed everything. I didn't realize what was going on until I heard the aide speak her employer's name, and Palpatine shivered down my spine. But there was no way I was going to wriggle out of meeting him. The Master made that clear in no uncertain terms. "I can't say whether or not the senator will be interested to hear about your experiences on Salji, but I would like to leave the option to him," he explained as we left quarters and started down the hall. "He may prefer your witness over ours, he may not."

An air taxi waited for us at the hangar, a young human male at the helm. He whisked us across Coruscant at an insane rate of speed, weaving in and out of the static traffic lines with more skill than the best New York cabbie. I tried not to freak out at the bobbling and swerving, though I confess to closing my eyes a few times as we passed a bit too close to other craft. The Jedi sat calmly in their seats, almost bored with the trip, able to easily brace themselves with the Force's insight preparing them a split second before each unexpected lurch. After watching them enviously for a bit, I calmed down and sat back, and decided to enjoy the ride as if I were on a roller coaster, since a tractor field generated by the craft kept me firmly in my seat.

The taxi sped between gigantic skyscrapers, dropping us into shadow for a moment, but as we passed back into sun, the grand spectacle of the Senate dome, the Mushroom as Apache called it in her fic, opened up before us. The last time I saw it, I was accompanying the Jedi as they met with Chancellor Valorum, and I could still remember which office in the towers around the Senate was his. We flashed past it and headed down a long avenue, which was elevated far above the Coruscant landscape, through a crazy tangle of air taxis, and into a collection of monstrous towers beyond the far end of the avenue. I didn't recognize where we were until we came around the other side of one tower, and I remembered seeing the elegant façade before - in about three seconds of film. This was the prestigious apartment building where Palpatine made his home. The air taxi glided onto a private skydock and let us off.

The smiling young woman who had contacted Qui-Gon was waiting for us on the dock, her shimmering dress cut in sharp, professional lines beneath a flowing blue robe. Enameled art-deco-type pins held her long hair up. "Master Jedi. Welcome. Senator Palpatine is ready to see you, he has just a few moments to spare before leaving to tour some of his constituencies."

"Thank you," Qui-Gon nodded, his hands tucked in his robe sleeves as he strode behind her. Obi-Wan and I trailed him, and I looked around a bit even though I was dreading this meeting. The place was gorgeous, what parts of it shown in the movie were no lie. Rich, thick carpets deadened our footfalls, smooth wall panels reflected daylight from gigantic windows, which in turn framed spectacular views of the Senate Dome in one direction and clusters of sparkling skyscrapers in the other. The lift coasted to a cushioned stop on one of the uppermost floors and deposited us in an eerily familiar, red-carpeted hallway. Paneled doors lined one side, while a wall of windows on the other gave us a view of the distant Mushroom as we swept around a long curve. Passing through one set of doors which opened for us with a familiar groan brought us into a foyer, where the aide left us while she went to see to the senator's readiness. I watched her disappear through transparent doors which slid noiselessly shut behind her, and knew exactly where I was. There, that curve of the wall, is where Jar Jar would sit while he and Anakin tried to peer into the conference between Amidala and Palpatine. Through the doors I could see the pinkish couch, the maroon chairs with curved backs, even the anthropomorphic sculptures which decorated the apartment. A chill swept through me, and I shivered visibly. Qui-Gon glanced down at me with a cool expression. He did not ask me if I was cold.

There was a flash of movement beyond the glass doors, and the man himself strode briskly toward us, one of his delighted grins on his face. Of all the people in this galaxy who I had met after seeing them in a Star Wars movie, Senator Palpatine looked the most like the actor who brought him to life. The graying tufts of otherwise brown hair on the sides of his head, the sharp blue eyes set in a steely, heavily-jowled face - it was him all right. He was wearing the same blue-green brocade robe that I remembered from the movie, but the waistcoat beneath was purple, and the sleek trousers tucked into his high boots were black. The transparent door glided out of his way with a hiss and he came on in a hurry, one hand extended. "Ah, you must be Master Jinn. Thank you for coming to meet with me on such short notice."

Qui-Gon bowed first and then shook the offered hand. "Senator."

"A pleasure to meet you. And this is...?"

"My apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi," the Master introduced. Obi-Wan likewise bowed respectfully. "And a friend of ours, who was with us on Salji. Her name is Stacey."

"A pleasure," Palpatine purred, reaching out to shake my hand. I almost didn't, but I couldn't back away. His eyes were paralyzing, and I found my small hand caught up in his soft, padded, wrinkled one. "You were on Salji as well?"

"Mm hmm," I muttered.

"I see. Don't worry, it's only Master Jinn's report that I want to hear. Though, if there is anything you can tell me about the conflict there, I would be glad to hear it."

The voice, the accent...it was too creepy. I nodded to acknowledge his request and shrank away from him, hiding behind Obi-Wan. "What is it you wish to know?" Qui-Gon patiently asked the senator.

Palpatine waved as he turned, indicating that we should follow him. "Master Gallia of the Council has sent me her report assessing the state of affairs on Salji," he explained as he led us into the sitting room and gestured toward the seats. Qui-Gon gave a slight shake of his head to indicate that he would rather stand, and folded his hands inside his sleeves again. Palpatine continued after only a short, dramatic pause. "To be honest, I have not had the time to read it in full, but I do know the important details. I'm curious to know what you think, having been there, of the cease-fire, and whether it will hold."

"It's hard to say," Qui-Gon replied quietly, his voice and face betraying no emotion. "Saljans are a strong people, but not so set in their ways as I thought for a time. Under the right circumstances, there may be peace yet."

Palpatine gazed thoughtfully at him for a moment, and then began to pace slowly. He asked the Master a few more questions, which Qui-Gon answered simply, never speculating or requesting any action on the senator's behalf. I sat down on the edge of the couch, though the creepiness of being there in that room, with Palpatine pacing back and forth around me, made the soft upholstery feel like sandpaper. I didn't dare relax and put myself at ease, so I perched just on the corner with my hands clasped between my knees. The senator's queries were perfectly boring, as to be expected from a politician, and I didn't want to look at him anyway, so I swiveled my head around and studied the cityscape beyond the windows. There was a balcony which looked out on a jungle of tall, elegant buildings, though in the far corner the end of the elevated avenue which led to the Dome could just be glimpsed. Something Palpatine said arrested my wandering attention, then. "I apologize. The matters of galactic politics must hardly be interesting for a young girl."

I looked at him, wary of his politeness. "Sorry, I...I didn't mean to drift off, there. I don't mean to be rude."

Palpatine gave me one of his smarmy smiles, that looked so innocent but could hide any reaction. "It's quite all right," he assured. "If you and the young apprentice would like, my aide is in the next room and can get you anything you need. Please, make yourselves comfortable while I speak with Master Jinn."

Muttering thanks under my breath, I got up and hesitantly sidled around the chairs, pausing in front of a paneled door that I knew led to further reaches of the apartment. Obi-Wan was right behind me, and as the door slid open, he passed me and led the way into what turned out to be a small office. The woman who had met us was packing up some last things for Palpatine's trip, but smiled at us and echoed her employer's offer of refreshments. I wanted nothing, so I turned her down nicely and went to stand by the sliding-glass door that opened onto the balcony. It was, quite obviously, the balcony where Sidious and Maul had their revenge talk. So this is where it all happens.

"Is something wrong?" Obi-Wan asked, breaking the silence and my dark train of thought.

I looked sharply at him as he came to stand beside me. "What do you mean?"

He glanced back, then, and we both noticed that the aide had left the room. Nevertheless, Obi-Wan hushed his voice. "I sense an extraordinary level of discomfort in you. If I didn't know you better, I would say you were afraid of the senator."

"I'm not afraid of him," I argued, belatedly noticing that it had come off too defensively. Lowering my voice also, I went on, "I just...he's creepy. Like Captain Falte, remember? He just creeps me out, I dunno." I shrugged and turned a stiff shoulder to the Padawan, studiously gazing out the window instead. He said nothing more, but hovered at my side, hands clasped inside his robe sleeves, so I tried to lighten the mood by asking him what landmarks we could see from here.

It wasn't very long before the door to the sitting room opened again, and Palpatine's distinctive voice drifted through. "You have a remarkable insight, Master Jinn," he was saying. "Thank you for sharing it with me. I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but my transport is waiting."

Obi-Wan and I went to the door before anyone could summon us out. Qui-Gon was standing in nearly the same place he had been when we left earlier, though he was facing the door as we came into the room. "If there is anything else we can tell you, contact us at the Jedi Temple," the Master offered. "My apprentice and I will be staying on Coruscant for a short time, it shouldn't be hard to reach us."

"I just may do that," Palpatine threatened with a wary huff. "I shall be addressing the issue before a subcommittee in a few minutes, my last meeting before I leave Coruscant this afternoon. I have a tour of some of the systems under my jurisdiction arranged, I will be away nearly two weeks, but I hope to be able to address the full Senate on this matter when I return. It would be helpful if you were available then, should the need for...official testimony arise." The businesslike demeanor dropped abruptly from his countenance and he resumed his self-effacing charm. "Your help in this matter is appreciated. My aides will contact you if I have further need for your report."

Qui-Gon bobbed his head and turned to go, expecting Obi-Wan and me to follow. I averted my eyes and barely nodded to acknowledge Senator Palpatine as I walked past him, thinking I could feel his eyes on my back, unless that was just my imagination. As we passed through the sitting room I glanced to one side and nearly laughed - there was the "Maltese Falcon," sitting in its place on a little table. It wasn't just an easter-egg for frequent moviegoers to notice, it really was there, though it looked to be to just be a simple marble statue of a bird after all. Keeping my giggles to myself, I concentrated on putting as much distance between myself and Palpatine as I could.

It wasn't until we were all the way back at the Jedi Temple and in quarters before I finally felt able to breathe easily. "Do you think you're going to have to go testify before the Senate?" I wondered of Qui-Gon as I flopped down on the couch.

"I doubt it," he replied. "But I will do as the senator and Master Adi requested and remain on Coruscant until cleared. Even if it does mean another two weeks stationed here." He came over and stood in front of me, in a rather commanding posture. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Me?" I looked up at the serious face towering above me and started to shrink back into the couch. If Obi-Wan had sensed my discomfort, surely Qui-Gon did too... "Um...yeah, I'm fine."

"You seemed uncomfortable during the meeting." His eyes softened. "Was there any particular reason?"

"Umm...not really," I fibbed. "It's like I told Obi-Wan - he just seemed creepy to me. The senator," I clarified. "Politicians usually put me off, I don't know why."

"Are you sure?" Qui-Gon pressed, a little too pointedly. I nodded, but he continued to gaze down at me, his arms folded over his chest. "Because I also sensed that you are familiar with this senator, as if you have seen him before." He started to pace slowly in front of me. "There was one main reason I took you with me today, and it wasn't so the senator could hear your perspective on Salji. You reacted strongly the other day when you first heard about him, so I wanted to see how you would react to being in his presence."

"What?!" I forgot about concealing what I knew, becoming intensely angry. "Qui-Gon!"

"I had to know," he said patiently.

His calm irritated me further. "Why are you pressuring me like this?"

"You have an interesting and unmistakable reaction whenever you confront some element of our existence that you were previously familiar with, because of the story you heard on your world. I sensed it as early as your first few moments after waking with your own presence in the Force. When you realized what that meant, I felt your understanding." His eyes became suddenly sharp. "The reaction you had to the senator is different than mere familiarity, though."

I glowered up at him. "You said," I seethed, "that you weren't going to push me about the future anymore. You promised, on Chad!"

"I don't recall making any promises," he countered.

"You said you knew that it bothered me whenever you asked and you didn't want to know anything about the future anyway!" I felt my face getting hotter, my composure slipping. "You said you would never force me to do anything, not even this! I know you did!"

Qui-Gon lowered his eyes for a moment. "Yes, I did say that."

"Then don't force me," I growled, "because I refuse to be pressured into telling you anything. I can't believe you manipulated me like that today! After saying the other night that you'll respect my decision. You don't know what I really thought, you're going to start jumping to all the wrong conclusions!"

Qui-Gon paused in his pacing with his back to me, though he glanced briefly over his shoulder at me. "I just wish you could be more open with me."

I couldn't stop the hurt tears that rushed to my eyes. "I'm being as open as I can!" I cried. He turned, then, and before he could say anything I got up from the couch. "If you don't trust me then maybe I shouldn't be here," I pouted, storming across the sitting room toward the refresher. I was feeling the instinctive need to escape, but I didn't have a room into which I could shut myself and brood alone - the refresher was the only thing available. I shut the door behind me, activated the lock, and threw myself to a seat on the cold floor. A couple tears slipped down my face, but I grabbed a towel and pressed it to my eyes, and after heaving a few deep breaths the vicious feelings passed. I let my head fall back against the wall and sniffled, clenching my jaw at the bitter thoughts that kept circling around my head. I was scared of Master Qui-Gon, scared of what he could do if he put his mind to it. I had no way to stop him if he truly wanted to know what I knew. Part of me suspected that I would have to run away to keep him from gleaning any knowledge of the future, but the more sensible part of my mind reprimanded me for even considering that. I didn't want to leave them. I didn't want Qui-Gon to die. But I couldn't see any other solution. Meeting Palpatine today confirmed something I had suspected ever since trying to ponder why the Force brought me: I came too late to prevent him from becoming Emperor and destroying the galaxy. Events were already in motion. He was already gadding about in that blue-collared coat that supposedly meant he aspired to be Chancellor. And Obi-Wan's news the other day that Amidala was governing Theed - it was all falling into place. I had a strong feeling that it was all going to happen exactly as I had seen it on the big screen, and the only pawns under my control were the two Jedi in the next room. But I couldn't guarantee that by just bending to Qui-Gon's will and telling him what I knew, everything would turn out okay. What could they do, except not go to Naboo? And what kinds of disasters would befall if they did that?

I let my thoughts spiral around for a while until the bitterness choked me, and tried to force myself to think of something else instead. I felt no intrusions from without, no sense of the Force trying to give another person a glimpse into my train of thought. I couldn't even hear movement. Curled up in a corner of the room, I laid my head down on my folded arms and swallowed the lonely tears. They don't care about me came to mind, which I countered with, of course they do, they just don't know how to react when you go storming off like that. Shamed at my behavior, I decided to wait until I was sufficiently calmed down before going back out and facing them. That was when I heard a rap on the door and the Master's velvet voice speak my name.

A crazy thought came to me - he was out there, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master, hero, Star Wars icon, knocking on the door of the refresher like some parent of a wayward teen in a bad TV melodrama. In spite of myself, I started to giggle. Weary and drained, I dragged myself to my feet and pressed the electronic latch. Master Qui-Gon's gray eyes were clouded with concern when I met them. "I'm sorry," I groaned before he could say anything. "Temporary bratty mode. That was stupid."

"It's not entirely your fault. I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to push you," he said quietly, honestly. "I just want to know you're all right."

"Yeah, yeah..." I gestured at him, until he moved out of the way and let me step out of the refresher. Edging past him, I looked up into his irresistible face. "I'm so sorry. I just don't know what to do. I wish I did."

The Master's large hand glided onto my shoulder and caressed in a soft circle. "Perhaps the solution doesn't lie in whether or not you tell me anything. Perhaps I need to teach you to control your anger instead."

I gazed curiously at him. "Master...?"

A hint of a smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. "It becomes second nature for a Jedi, but I forget that while you are Force-sensitive, you have none of our mental training." The smirk faded. "You need to learn control. That way, no matter what you face, you can find your center of calm and deal with it rationally."

I was about to dismiss his help as I usually did when anyone tried to offer advice to me, but then I thought about what he meant. Jedi control. "Wow, that would really help," I realized, giving him a hopeful look. "Can you do it?"

"Most certainly. I think you will find it easier to learn than moving lightsabers." He winked, then, and guided me with him back to the sitting room, where Obi-Wan had remained. "I know the Council doesn't want me working with you, but this is no small matter, not like defense training. You need to know this. You're already quite adept at meditating," he pointed out as we sat down in chairs facing each other, and Obi-Wan sat up to join the conversation, "so I have little doubt you will be able to learn this."

"It may take time," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Control is something a Jedi takes years to master."

"Yes, but even the smallest bit of control will go a long way toward helping her deal with the conflicts of her feelings," his Master instructed. Shifting his gaze to me, Qui-Gon settled back in the chair with his hands resting placidly on his knees. I tried to relax and do the same, but out of nervousness my hands remained clasped in my lap. "The human mind is a realm of chaos," Qui-Gon began, in a straight, no-nonsense tone that made me feel like he was teaching me in the same manner he had taught this same lesson to all three of his Padawans. "But a Jedi can train himself to turn that chaos into order. It takes three elements to bring about control: the body, the mind, and the Force. When these are combined, you can set aside the emotions that create the chaos, and prevent them from clouding your sight."

"Is it anything like quieting your mind?" I queried. "Like when we meditate?"

"The concept is the same," the Master replied, "but the methods of control I plan to teach you go deeper than that. When you meditate as you have with us, you temporarily ignore whatever thoughts and emotions might be foremost in your mind. But I will show you how to master those emotions, with the help of the Force."

I listened raptly to what he said, desperate to understand as much of it as I could. For now, Master Qui-Gon only explained how each facet of a Jedi's self contributed to taming their emotions, though I was sure a demonstration and practice would come soon enough. We sat for a long time, him talking in gentled, patient tones, me listening, Obi-Wan hanging on every word and occasionally interjecting some insight of his own. Qui-Gon said the body's part in it was simple, often as little as a deeper breath taken. "You know the changes your body undergoes when you get angry, or frightened," he elaborated. "Your breathing gets shallow and rapid, your heart rate increases, your muscles tense. The first thing you must do is counteract those natural impulses. Take a breath, relax your muscles. It is a simple step, but an important one." I grasped that lesson easily enough, but as he moved on to the mind and the Force, I had to ask him more questions and backtrack now and again. Thank goodness this was not a one-lesson shot. I would never have gotten it. Qui-Gon taught me as much as he could, until either the glazed look in my eyes or his own weariness told him it was time to stop for now. "We will continue this tomorrow," he decided, reaching over and giving me a comforting pat on the hand. "It's all right. I don't expect you to be able to grasp it all right away."

"Understanding it is easy," I said with a cautious grin. "Practicing it - that's going to be the hard part."

"We will take it slowly," the Master assured. "We have the time."

Obi-Wan got up and passed between us, heading for his room. I sat there for a bit, mulling over what I had learned. "And you say this is second nature to a Jedi?" I pressed Qui-Gon. "Is it easy for you?"

"Yes, for the most part."

"What about...on Chad?" I hesitantly wondered. "You fought with your feelings. You couldn't control them then."

Qui-Gon smiled softly. "That is true. But, when I finally admitted to you how I felt, and to myself, and accepted that it was not wrong for me to have those feelings, they became easier to control."

"Oh." I looked at him, and found his expression calm and sympathetic. "That's how you were able to go around like normal on Salji and not let anything slip."

"Yes, well..." He looked away for a moment with an uncomfortable smile. "It was not quite as easy, then. As time went on and you were put in danger, I had to exert a greater effort to keep my control, especially around Adi. I would not have trusted you to be able to do the same - it is to our fortune that she couldn't sense you at all."

I tilted my head to one side as I gazed at him. "Does it seem weird to you that we're keeping this...these feelings, between us..." I gestured back and forth between him and me. "...secret? Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

"In keeping it from Adi, or Master Yoda?" Qui-Gon sighed. "Yes, I do," he said after a pause, his voice tired and soft. "If only because we can't be sure how they will react. I think, in the days to come, we may find that you will be the focus of greater scrutiny, and myself less. Should the Council be aware of our relationship, it may be a cause for contention. The strange nature of your sensitivity may be a comfort and advantage for you in the coming days."

"I like that you and Obi-Wan are the only ones who can sense me. It's a new feeling for me, it's very intimate. I don't know how I'll react if I start being able to sense other people. I don't really want to share that with anyone else. Selfish, I know." I looked up at a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision, and saw Obi-Wan step into the doorway of his room. He had taken off his robe and left it, and was now leaning on the frame of the door in languid repose, a playful smirk on his lips. I shot him a grin over Qui-Gon's shoulder. "If I'm wrong to think that," I concluded, "someone tell me and I'll stop."

On to part 31

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