A couple days had gone by since my visit to the Senate, and they had been anything but boring. In that time most of the work had fallen to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, but they required my assistance in the presence of the Council of Reconciliation. Mildly curious, since I had never heard of the other councils until getting to this galaxy, I watched the session in keen interest. The Council took Daramin very seriously and had a lot to discuss based on our report - they would determine the scope of future missions and protection for the mour, among other things. They had the original copy of the report which had been transmitted from Ba'nom, and asked me to read sections of it for their personal verification. Qui-Gon assured me that that was probably the greatest extent of my involvement with the issue, but I wasn't so sure. If Senator Ryu was right and that report got circulated, I had a feeling I might have to stand up and do the same thing for greater audiences, maybe even the Supreme Chancellor himself.

My Jedi companions had more to do, and were often out and about doing it. I relished the relative peace and comfort of these days, letting my injuries heal completely and making a point of resuming as regular a meditative schedule as I ever had. The wild physical tricks I had discovered I could do served as a reminder that I should be trying to increase my skills, like Qui-Gon had always wanted of me. My meditation wound through my memories, dredging up moments like tiny clips of movies to replay - the sunlit room on Chad where Qui-Gon first spoke of teaching me to use the limited ability I had, meditating on board the Republic cruiser bound for home when Master Adi had a flash of insight into our bond, being called to share meditation with Master Yoda. Obi-Wan sliding over my back as I reflexively dodged his attack. The lightsaber flying through the air and clattering onto the cold, hard floor of the garage. The very first time I felt the Force's energy pulsing through me, enveloping me, awakening me to something I had no words to accurately describe. Every once in a while I entertained thoughts that there existed something on Earth akin to the Force - the Spirit, or chi, anything - and I just hadn't been fortunate or disciplined enough to discover it, but between the specific phenomena and moments like this, when I rested with the simplest of connections to the Force, I understood that my experience was unique. No other Earthling had or would even come close to experiencing the real, actual Force. My senses were far away at the moment, exploring, feeling farther outward from myself than ever, since there was nothing in the immediate vicinity worth peeking into. A disturbance in the fabric of the space inhabited by the Force drew my attention; someone was coming out of the lift at the end of the hall. Two forms...I could sense their minds, I knew who it was. Ah, good, they're back. I let go of the meditative trance and wavered to consciousness, stretching my arms over my head just as the two forms breezed through the door of quarters. "Hi," I purred.

"Ah, so that's what it was," Obi-Wan noted, spotting me. "I wondered if you were looking for us."

"No, just casting about," I assured, pushing myself to my feet and going over to them. "If I can't exercise for a couple weeks, the least I can do is work with the Force."

"A wise idea," Qui-Gon complimented, passing close enough to give me a surreptitious caress along the arm. "Perhaps we should make the time to work with you, as long as we're all together."

"I wouldn't say no." I smiled at him, and then gave Obi-Wan a surreptitious caress of my own as I came into range. "Augmented leaps and stuff are out of the question, I suppose."

"As long as you're under physician's orders," the Master agreed.

"Fine, fine." I looked up into Obi-Wan's smiling face. "Are we still on for the lesson?"

"Which? Mine? Of course," he answered. "As long as you're still up for teaching me."

"Well, I think you're right - it is a good idea that someone learns my writing. Just in case. You never know what might happen." After thinking about it for a few days, I had decided that I may as well, not only for the million utilitarian, practical reasons, but also because it would give me an excuse to spend some quality time with the Padawan, starting with a crash course in letters later that evening.

When night had begun to fall and all three of us had put an end to dinner and chores, I brought out my spare notebook and tossed it onto the table behind Obi-Wan, startling him out of his casual perusal of the holonet news at the communicator. "Ready?" I taunted him.

"If you are," he casually replied, shutting down the console and shifting into a seat at the table. "Are we going to do it with actual...writing?"

"It's the only way we can," I said, adding a couple styluses to the supplies gathering on the table. "My letters aren't computerized here. I promise to write neatly, though."

Qui-Gon wandered past just as I was taking a seat beside Obi-Wan, and he paused to look at us. "Getting started already?" We nodded and I grinned. "Well, then. If you two have your studies, I think I will take the opportunity to go and visit an old friend."

"Ooo," I said by way of encouragement. "Old friend?"

The Master only smiled in response and drifted toward the door. As he was free to do anything he liked, and had already politely declined the chance to learn this himself, I shrugged. "And I promise we really will be studying," I called after him.

Obi-Wan gave me a genuinely confused look as the door hissed closed. "What else would we be doing?" I sighed comically - well, thank goodness they don't have sitcoms over here where 'studying' is a euphemism for adolescent necking, I guess. He picked up the stylus and gave it a nimble twirl in his fingers. "Where do we begin?"

"I suppose you have to see the letters, first of all," I shrugged, sliding the notebook to me and writing down my ABC's just like a kindergartner. "Aurebesh doesn't have cases so that'll be your first lesson," I added, printing as neatly as I could.

"Cases?"

"Upper and lower case. Oh whee, this is going to be fun," I snorted. "My teacher friends back home would die if they saw this."

In spite of my inconsistent ramblings and poor attempts at explaining the bizarre phonetic renderings of written English, Obi-Wan was a ready student, and plied me with every question he could think of. He grasped much of it the first time around, but when I tried to stump him by spelling out words like laugh and cough and drought, I succeeded in awakening his furrowed scowl. We worked for a couple of hours, until he was just frustrated enough to call it a night, deciding that the first step to master was just learning the letter/symbol exchange and writing them clearly. Aurebesh had a few extra symbols for what were letter combinations in the Roman alphabet, so I made a key for Obi-Wan much like the well-worn cheat sheet in the back of my journal, from which he could practice in his own time. I would tackle phonetics and spelling later - much later! For now, I amused him by showing him what his name looked like written my way.

My head was still full of phonemes and spelling rules as I snuggled deeply into my blankets, content with the simple good-night wishes bestowed upon me by both Jedi before I excused myself to privacy. I indulged a flicker of homesickness as I mentally thanked my university and my favorite professor back home in the Milky Way for giving me a quality background in linguistics; without it, trying to teach Obi-Wan to read the Roman alphabet would have been torture. Snuggling down in the blankets, I drifted off not long after envisioning entering graduate school with a paper on writing systems of the Old Republic, and being asked by Lucasfilm to translate things for set decoration for the next two episodes. As a result, it wasn't entirely surprising when elements from my long-lost schooling and life on Earth found their way into my dreams. It seemed the usual at first - walking through a building that my brain told me was my old high school (though I knew perfectly well it wasn't, because my high school didn't have a three-story, enclosed, spiral staircase lavishly covered in lush red carpeting), thinking I was late for social studies because the clocks all said 6:30 pm, and so forth. I was more annoyed than anything when my mom showed up, and suddenly we were pulling up at a mall in desperate need for new clothing because the wash shrunk all of mine. But from there, the dreams began to darken. Strange figures flitted by, and familiar ones began behaving out of character. My middle sister accused me of trying to kill her. A vampire tried to seduce me. Then I was running from thugs, met MacGyver, and was utterly astonished when he pulled out a gun. MacGyver hates guns! Everything spiraled downhill from there, and before too long my subconscious was saying, "This is stupid. Wake up! You have to wake up. There's no sense in any of this! Wake up so you can forget about it!"

And suddenly I was awake, blinking wearily in the darkness of my windowless room. It took a moment for my mind to register that there were no vampires, thugs, sisters, or MacGyvers anywhere near me, and I was alive. Before the memory of the dreams could take root I steeled myself to forget them, squeezing my eyes shut and demanding my mind erase the disturbing dreams permanently. Even without the Force I knew it could be done, I had done it before, forcing myself to breathe deeply and concentrate, nearly entering a meditative state where all conscious thought and memory could be stilled. But the vividness of my dreams stayed with me, leaving a lingering emotion even after the visuals and situations had been banished. I felt awful, disturbed and disheartened, like I had just seen something terrible happen to someone I cared about. The dim glow at the base of the door to the refresher guided me to it, but five minutes later, fully awake and refreshed, the uneasy feeling remained. I lay in bed with my eyes shut against the night for a long time, my brain bouncing like a superball unleashed in a broom closet, refusing to go back to sleep. With a frustrated sigh, I turned to the Force again for help. It calmed me, but I didn't know how to use it to send my body to sleep. As a last resort, I decided to stretch out with the sixth sense and ensure myself that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were having a much better and more peaceful night of sleep than I was. The disturbed feeling at the back of my mind made it difficult to focus, but once I did, it comforted me to find Obi-Wan's mind blank and at rest, so deeply asleep that he probably wasn't even dreaming. Lucky. But a moment's concentration gave me curious insight: Qui-Gon was awake. Wide awake.

I lay there for a while, still, frowning at the dark ceiling. Qui-Gon's awake. What's he doing? I received no acknowledgement along our bond, no rejection either, meaning he either didn't notice my momentary intrusion or didn't want to respond to it. For a long time I debated with myself whether to get up and go to him, not wanting to bother him and certainly not wanting to give him the impression that I was a scared child who had to run to her protector. Perhaps he was merely unable to sleep, still shut away in his room giving it a try. Or perhaps he just had to use the refresher. If I walked into quarters and both rooms were closed tight, what did I expect to do? Yet, part of me wanted to see him, now that I knew I didn't have to wake him up. The thought of him sleepless, just like me, made me want all the more to go find out what kept him awake at this time of night. But I stayed in bed a while longer, wrestling mentally with myself, since I was not the type to seek sheltering arms after bad dreams. In the end, my curiosity won out, and I padded quietly into the dimly-lit hallway that led to the Master's quarters.

The door hummed open as I approached, its security precautions accepting me gladly. Faint light spilled through the doorway, and I paused in surprise as I found Qui-Gon sitting in the main room as if waiting for me. He wore his robe wrapped over his bare chest and sleep pants, its dark brown shroud pooling over the arms of his favorite chair. He glanced my way as I came in, and the slightest smile kindled in his eyes. "I was beginning to wonder if you were coming," he murmured so low that it sounded like a great lion's purr.

"I didn't want to disturb you," I said defensively, stalking cautiously over to him. Only one small lamp across the sitting room gave light to the scene, swathing it with shadows. The Master did not seem disturbed at all, though. I shrugged. "I sensed you were awake."

"I couldn't sleep," he confessed, stretching out a hand to invite me to a seat near him. I settled gingerly onto the edge of the couch. "My thoughts have been busy. I sensed you..." His eyes glowed warmly with concern as he turned his head toward me. "It seemed you were having a nightmare."

"I don't have nightmares," I disagreed honestly. "It was just...unsettling dreams. Unpleasant ones. Nothing really nightmarish, just the kind that leave a bad taste and aren't much fun." I clasped my hands in my lap, awkwardly avoiding his eyes as the desire to impress upon him that I wasn't here looking for comfort arose sharply within me. "I'm okay, really Master. I only came because...I could tell you were awake and I hoped it wasn't because of me."

He cocked an eyebrow at me as if in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, very," I assured. "The dreams were nothing. I'm fine."

Qui-Gon nodded gently. "That's good. You know you are always welcome here if you feel the need."

I sighed in frustration. "I don't need, Master. I'm not the kind of girl who can't take unsettling dreams and has to run to her big strong man to make it all better. I don't need to be babied."

I finally met his eyes, finding them astonishingly clear and aware. "No, you don't," he agreed, his voice still hushed to a purr. "I understand that. That is simply the type of person you are, and I expect nothing short of it. But, don't let your pride keep you from seeking what you want."

It took a moment for his meaning to sink in, and I found myself letting go of my annoyance with a smile. "Well," I said in embarrassment, "I wouldn't want you to think I don't want your company."

"I don't think that either," he said, a smile twinkling deep in the stillness of his eyes. "I think by now I'm beginning to understand you, quirks and all. The connection between us is still growing, you know."

I didn't, actually. "Is it?" I pressed, making myself more comfortable on the couch.

"It's more of a steady, subtle growth now, rather than leaps and bounds," Qui-Gon explained, turning as fully toward me as the chair permitted and lacing his fingers together. "My sense of you was tenuous at first, but now, it is quite stable. We can touch each others' minds without thinking - more of a feat for you, I suppose."

I smiled slyly. "Then how come you still have to ask me how I'm doing, if I'm okay and all?"

He didn't back down from the challenge. "I believe you were the one who told me that some thoughts and feelings had to be spoken, and not stolen through the Force?"

I grinned. He got me, there. "All right, all right," I acknowledged. "Well, I really am fine. The weird feeling will go away, as long as I don't dwell on it. Dreams are nothing, they'll pass."

"Yes, they always do," he said kindly. "If I may ask, what were they about?"

"Nothing, really. Just flotsam and jetsam from my subconscious. I have no idea where any of them came from."

"They didn't have anything to do with what happened to us?"

"What, you mean the crash?" I gave the Master another shrug. "No, that had nothing to do with it. I'm fine about that, I told you. It's kind of funny," I added. "A lot of people are traumatized by accidents and things like that. I've never had anything like that happen to me before, so I didn't know how I would react to it. But...I'm really fine. It doesn't bother me at all. I'm a little stunned, yet, when I think about it, kind of in awe that I went through that, but..."

Qui-Gon nodded serenely. "That's very good to hear. You hadn't said anything about it, I hoped you weren't suppressing your reaction for my sake. But you're being honest with me."

"Yeah." I peered at him. "You're not taking what Master Eeth said seriously, are you? I don't blame you for me being hurt, you know. It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have stopped it happening."

Qui-Gon's eyes lowered for a moment as he shook his head. "I gave Eeth's comments no more thought after I closed the communicator. Regardless of whatever he might have said, I know in my heart that no one placed you in danger above what can be normally expected out of life."

"Good," I said firmly, "because we've already had this argument. You know you don't have to be afraid you're putting me in danger by asking me to leave the Temple at any given time." He chuckled to show his agreement, and perhaps his remembrance of the last time this issue came up. I curled my legs under me on the couch and leaned toward him. "I'm not a delicate flower that has to be carried carefully everywhere I go or shut up behind strong walls - I have to accept it as much as anyone else does. I bear a certain amount of responsibility, I make my own decisions, and it's up to me to cope with the consequences. I'm a normal person, whatever that means here. I should be expected to behave like one, and be treated like one."

A wise look gathered on the Master's face. "More than once, in all the missions I have been on over the years, I have found myself the guardian or protector of a person or people who until that point had never been in mortal danger before, and couldn't cope with the expectation of it. They would cling to me, as I presented the fearlessness and determination they wished they had, even when they were not actually in trouble. But, not everyone reacts to dangerous situations like that. Just as many people have a grain of courage inside them that, when awakened, drives them to do what they might in their normal states think impossible. It's not until they have their mettle tried that they find they have the capability to be heroes themselves." He smiled warmly, his eyes dark and gentle. "I am proud to be able to say you most certainly fall into the latter category."

"Thanks," I said, blushing. "I've never been the type to panic and lose my head before, I'm not going to start now." A brief silence passed between us, the quarters so still all we could hear was each other breathing. I looked up into Qui-Gon's face, lowering my voice as if afraid to disturb the peaceful quiet. "So what was on your mind that kept you awake thinking?"

He turned the smile upon me once again. "You have just answered it. I suspected I had no need to worry about your well-being, but the reassurance is good to have."

I shyly twiddled with a loose thread in the hem of my pants. "Thanks for worrying about me."

"Thank you for thinking of me, instead of just rolling over and going back to sleep." He pushed himself out of the chair, holding out a hand to help me up after him. My eyes were distracted by the glimpse of his brawny, muscled chest hiding beneath the thick folds of his robe; I had to tear them away and focus on his face instead, which was just as lovely to look at. Qui-Gon placed his large hand around behind my head and pulled me to him so he could place a sweet kiss on the top of my head. "I know you don't need to," he quietly murmured, "but do you want to?"

"Stay here? Tonight?" I asked for clarification. "Heck yeah."

Master Qui-Gon chuckled deeply and stepped aside to let me go before him into the dark depths of his room.

*****

About halfway through the day, the definite lack of work-like activity for my Jedi companions made it obvious that the Senate holiday recess had gone into effect. After spending several days hard at duty, around the Temple and even outside it for many long hours, they were suddenly left with nothing to do and nowhere to go, no one calling for them early in the day to schedule appointments. After our leisurely breakfast I had some housekeeping to take care of, but apart from that, the day passed quietly and slowly, almost like a Sunday, or the day after Christmas when all you have to look forward to is another five days of mindless vacation. The absence of work didn't bother the Jedi, though - Qui-Gon spent an hour or two reorganizing information from the report on Daramin to his satisfaction, while Obi-Wan used his free time to find an empty exercise hall somewhere and work out. I did as much as I could around their quarters until the Master semi-sternly warned me about physical exertion and my injuries, after which point I just threw myself into a comfortable chair and talked with him until I had successfully diverted him from work and steered him down a path strewn with funny anecdotes and long-held memories. The silence around us in quarters was a blanket of security and comfort, which Qui-Gon drew close about us as he came over and sat near me, so we could speak in gentle, untroubled tones and laugh and muse. At least, until a transmission signal chimed from the communicator. Glancing over his shoulder, Qui-Gon decided to let the message be for a moment, as it was not a direct communication and thus didn't require his immediate attention. He finished up the story he was telling me about trying to conduct an investigation in the middle of some culture's religious period of atonement in which no one was allowed to speak for days, and before I knew it almost a half an hour had passed since the signal interrupted our cozy bonding. Qui-Gon decided to go back over to the communicator and see what had come through while we were occupied. I heard him give a distinct hum of curiosity. "Who's it from?" I wondered.

"The Supreme Chancellor's office," he replied smoothly, settling down in his seat to give it his attention.

"They're not on recess too?" My query went unanswered, so I let my mind wander back to his funny story while he read the message. I've heard of vows of silence before, but that had to be just crazy. Not being able to speak when you really had to! Then, the Master snorted in amusement, making me look at him. "What?" I wondered.

"Either this is a mistake, or the Chancellor has a twisted sense of humor," he mused by way of reply. After staring at the transmission screen a moment longer, he snorted again and looked over at me with a smirk. "I have been invited to Chancellor Valorum's party for the New Year's Fête."

"What?" I giggled. "No way!" I had to get up and see for myself. Qui-Gon moved aside just enough for me to see the screen, and sure enough, an invitation to a party had been transmitted to one Qui-Gon Jinn. I squealed with laughter. "Dude! I think you should go."

"I think I should contact the Chancellor and make sure it isn't a mistake," he corrected me, rolling his eyes at my encouragement.

I made sure to hover over his shoulder as he put in a call to the Supreme Chancellor's office and waited to be put through to Valorum himself. This, I had to see. In a few minutes the Chancellor was able to take the call, and he wore an expression of slight confusion as he greeted the Master and heard the reason for the unexpected contact. The face on the screen then lightened with an ill-concealed sly grin. "My apologies, Master Qui-Gon," he said with dry humor. "I instructed my secretary to send an invitation to every name on my contact list, but I must have forgotten that your name was also on that list."

Qui-Gon nodded understandingly. "I had a feeling it might have been a mistake."

"Are you saying you wouldn't like to come to my party?" Finis Valorum's voice was as thick and cultured as ever, but even I could hear the threat of laughter in it. His dark eyes narrowed, glittering with suppressed mirth. "A pity, Jinn. I had hoped most of my invitations would be returned positively."

I slipped out of the transmitter's view, clapping my hands over my mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. Standing to one side, I watched Qui-Gon. He did not look amused. "You're not withdrawing the invitation, even if it was a mistake?" he wondered of the statesman on the other end.

"Absolutely not. Consider yourself officially invited to celebrate the Fête with me and my household. You and your apprentice."

I was shaking with the force of holding in my laughter, dancing around the room just beyond the communicator's ability to display me to Chancellor Valorum. Qui-Gon, though, was watching me bounce up and down with just one slightly-raised eyebrow to show for a reaction. His eyes suddenly darted from me to the screen. "Am I permitted to bring a guest?"

I stopped bouncing and stared at him, dropping my hands to my sides as my mouth fell open. Valorum's voice murmured delightfully out of the communicator. "Of course. Someone besides your apprentice? This could be interesting." He chuckled. "You have all the information. I look forward to seeing you. And mind you, this is a formal affair."

"Then I will be sure to put on my nicest robe," Qui-Gon purred with as much good humor as the Chancellor was displaying. A short laugh barked from Valorum's end, and he ended the transmission.

"Qui-Gon!" I squealed as soon as it was safe.

The Master swiveled away from the communicator and eyed me. "If I must be subjected to this party, then you will, too."

I stared at him for a second, but then straightened up and grinned. "Cool! Not everybody gets invited to the Supreme Chancellor's New Year's party, do they?" I made sure to snidely emphasize the words Supreme and Chancellor. "That'll be so awesome!"

He raised one eyebrow, and the corner of his mouth mirrored it, giving him a cool smirk. "It's formal."

My thrill at being told I was going to party with Valorum came to a screeching halt. I glared at Qui-Gon. "No."

"You'll have to wear something nice. A formal gown, perhaps."

"Noooo!!"

Genuine laughter, deep and mirthful, began to trickle out of him, and the more I tried to glare at him, the harder he laughed, until I could only look insolent and huff in frustration. He had successfully transferred his discomfort over the invitation to me!

When he came back from exercise, Obi-Wan was startled and extremely amused to hear about the party. "We're going?" he asked for clarification.

"Of course we're going," his Master answered, though with much less certainty than such a remark deserved. I was still slouching about grumbling, which made him chuckle. "Unless you have somewhere more important to be, Padawan?"

"Not at all, Master. It's just..." He hesitated, his lips pursing with suppressed reaction, and then added, "...I didn't think you were so close to the Supreme Chancellor to warrant such an invitation."

Qui-Gon's expression lightened, and took on a shade of inscrutability. "A chancellor who does not think to rely upon the Jedi faces his duty without the promise of an ally to help him when he needs it the most." A shrug rippled along his broad shoulders, and he chanced a rueful smile. "Admittedly, in all my years I believe this is the first time he's ever invited me to a party. It would be impolite to decline."

"Not that you didn't try," I pointed out.

The Master gave me a look of such mischief as he was capable of. "I wouldn't be myself if I didn't."

"I can't believe I'm going," I went on, resuming my anti-formal-wear protest. "You are in so much trouble, Master. 'Can I bring a guest.' Hmph! What am I going to wear? You guys are Jedi, you can get away with the same old brown robes, but I can't."

The Padawan shifted his gaze to me. "It's a formal occasion, isn't it?"

"Exactly. Unlike you, I can't get away with Temple-appropriate garb. You know what that means? I have to dress up. Dress up!"

A smile danced in Obi-Wan's blue eyes. "I thought you said once that 'Stacey doesn't get dressed up.'"

I pointed a finger at him. "And don't you forget it! Ugh. Having to wear a dress. Yuck!"

Qui-Gon let out a bright laugh. "Well, it will be good to see you challenged." I glared at him, but he kept wearing that smile, so I let it go. After a moment, he added, more gently, "I appreciate that you are willing to endure something you don't like for our sake."

"Kind of like you did at the party we had on Chad, huh?" I said with a sly grin. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Normally I'd run screaming in the other direction, but I suppose. One night. I can be persuaded."

"Your concern is a valid one, though," Obi-Wan remarked thoughtfully, turning his gaze upon his Master. "Neither of us knows the first thing about women's formal wear, I'm sure."

"And as much as they have a variety of weird and fascinating things for every need," I added, "I doubt the requisition office can handle this one."

Master Qui-Gon's face took on some of the thoughtful look of his apprentice, but he didn't make any comment for quite a while. Obi-Wan continued to think out loud. "Well, not every Jedi in the Order clothes themselves in standard robes, I have seen females wear gowns before."

"Yeah, but I couldn't even begin to describe a dress to your tailors, much less convince them to make me one," I pouted. "There's a reason I said I don't get dressed up. I don't know how. Dressiest thing I owned back on Earth was a nice pair of pants."

"Perhaps some outside advice is called for," Qui-Gon finally said. "Someone in this Temple must know or have connections to that which can help us." His head inclined in my direction. "A female perspective, perhaps."

"Like...?"

He thought for another moment. "Adi?"

I snorted. "When was the last time you saw Adi Gallia in a dress?"

"Well," he muttered, "it's very unlikely you'll find what you need here in the Temple, you'll have to go outside it - and I don't want you going out alone." His eyes flashed a serious blue for a second. "Someone should help, even Master Adi regardless of her experience in the matter."

"Would you know anyone who might be a better choice?" Obi-Wan wondered.

The answer hit me like a cannon blast. I sat up sharply with an exclamation. "Te!"

Both Jedi looked curiously at me. "Te? Oh, yes, Te Haruth," Qui-Gon realized.

"She lived like an average citizen for twenty years before coming here - even better, she was right in with the world of parties and opulence and all that. She's got to know something." I looked ruefully up at my companions. "More than you guys, anyway."

I didn't get a chance to talk to Te that day, but the message I left her was returned early the next morning, while I was still in my own quarters getting dressed. It had been so long since I'd last seen her, considering the length of time I spent on Daramin, so we chattered comfortably for a while, catching up, before I could tell her what was so important that I needed to talk to her. When she heard about the invitation, she tilted her head back and laughed for a couple minutes. "I don't believe it!" she gasped in delight. "You're going to be a guest at the Supreme Chancellor's Fête celebration?"

"I'm kind of more slightly stunned that Qui-Gon got invited," I chuckled.

"Then, where do I come in?" She blinked steadily at me through the communications link. "Does Obi-Wan need a date?"

"No," I quickly said, grinning at her teasing. We both knew more than enough about my situation and it gave her no end of sport with me. "I need a dress. I have next to nothing, only regular clothes. I wouldn't even know where to start looking for one."

Te's full lips curved in a pensive pout. "When is the party?"

"Next week - the actual night of New Year's Eve. Counting today, we've got six days."

"Well, I'm not set to do anything else today. Perhaps we could go out and look - will you be around?"

I certainly would, considering my lack of any real tasks to complete, so we arranged to meet at Master Qui-Gon's quarters just after noon. He decided he had better be present when Te arrived, and in fact greeted her at the door in his most gentlemanly fashion. I caught sight of Obi-Wan over in the corner, blushing, before he ducked out of sight. Qui-Gon smiled amicably at our guest. "I suppose you've heard all about our little...excursion."

"I should consider you fortunate, Master Qui-Gon," Te said respectfully, but with a hint of a tease. "Invitations to the Chancellor's functions are rare and hard to come by. He must value your friendship greatly."

"I'm not sure that's why he insisted I be invited," Qui-Gon said wryly. "So. You were thinking of taking Stacey for a trip outside the Temple?"

"I'm not sure what we'll find," Te offered diplomatically, becoming more serious. "At the very least, perhaps we can take in some ideas and the tailors can design something. Though, I'm not sure they can create a stunning work of elegance in just six days."

Without pause, Qui-Gon reached around him to the pouch on his belt and retrieved something, which he handed to me. "I am Stacey's guardian, officially, and it is my duty to look after her needs. If it can not be got in the Temple, my stipend can be used to purchase it elsewhere." I took the credit chip into my hands and flipped it around in my fingers, curious and excited to be holding it - not for what it contained, but for the memories of debates on an email list about Republic credits not being good on Tatooine. Qui-Gon nodded vaguely toward it as I held it. "Mind you, I'm not sure how I'll justify the expense in report, but I'll think of something. Go ahead, use it."

I eyed him warily. "Aren't these things security-coded so only you can use it?"

Te held up a hand. "Don't worry, Master Qui-Gon. I will use mine. I can justify it more easily than you can."

I shrugged and handed the Master back his credit chip. He nodded his acceptance of the offer. "You know where to go, what she needs?"

Te smiled warmly. "Of course I do, Master. There's no need to fret, women go shopping like this all the time."

He heaved a short chuckle, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Most of them. But are they Jedi?"

"We will try not to stay out too late," Te assured as she glided towards the door, "but one never knows how many stores we will have to visit before we find The One."

"I will repay you for whatever expenses you incur," Qui-Gon promised, laying a hand on my shoulder just before I could leave. Pulling me closer, he leaned down and murmured, "You have your comlink?"

"Always, Master," I affirmed.

"Be wary. A Jedi never lets their guard down even on a shopping trip." He straightened up, and I noticed his eyes still twinkling. "And try not to spend too much."

I beamed at him. "I never do, Master."

*****

The air taxi ride across the surface of Coruscant allowed Te and I plenty of time to catch up on my adventures on Daramin; it was with great excitement and much squealing that I told her of the steps forward in my relationship to the two Jedi who shared a bond with me, allowing me a chance to finally tell someone else about it instead of keeping it bottled up inside, and her a chance to sigh dreamily and live vicariously through me. I was just beginning to tell the story about the field of glimmerflies when we reached the market center and docked at a platform swarming with atmospheric transports of all sizes. Te alighted gracefully from the taxi with me clumsily trailing, and in moments the crowd of miscellaneous aliens swallowed us up. Being a Twi'lek, my companion naturally attracted a certain amount of attention, but she was not spectacularly dressed, nor did either of us even remotely pass for Jedi, giving us a welcome sense of anonymity in such a public place. I put aside my stories for a bit while I followed her through the grand halls, looking eagerly around at the fascinating similarities and differences between this - the day-to-day life of Coruscant - and my own familiar world. We were on a fairly high level of the structure, where the storefronts stood farther apart and hid higher quality merchandise behind their gleaming doors. "So," I pressed, "what are you thinking?"

"First of all, you were right to come to me," Te said with a mischievous smile. "Of all the people inside the Temple, I'm probably the only one who has spent a fair amount of her life in civilian clothes. Well," she added, more thoughtfully, "that's not including the civilians who work there, but I would venture to guess that you know none of them personally."

"No, I don't," I affirmed. "Heh, right, I couldn't just walk up to a complete stranger working in the hangar or something and ask them to take me shopping." A row of sparkly garments in a window caught my eye for a second, but only a second as I realized there was no way anyone could get me into one of them. Literally. "Are we shopping?"

"It's as I said to Master Qui-Gon," Te explained, sweeping her form-concealing cloak tighter around her so as not to trip on it. "If we see something you like, then we should just buy it. But, if we don't, or you don't wish to buy, we can simply make note of the qualities that interest you and take some ideas to the tailors. The only problem with that is, I doubt they could complete your dress in time for the party."

"I don't even know what I'm looking for," I muttered. "At least I know what I don't like - eugh, and that's one of them." I gestured surreptitiously at a display off to our right.

"Oh goodness, no," Te agreed, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh. "Mind you, it's been a very long time since I kept current with fashion trends, but some things are universally ugly." We both giggled for a bit until we had passed the storefront. "Likewise," Te continued, "some things are universally beautiful. One doesn't need to know the first thing about modern fashion to see that."

"All the same, I'm glad you're with me, Te." I smiled up at her. "This is going to be fun."

"Keep that in mind," she warned playfully. "I won't have you getting grumpy with me if we don't find anything."

For a good hour we walked through not only this complex but another connected by spidery walkways, doing a great deal more talking than looking. Things I saw reminded me of things worth telling my friend, and it was a very long time before the topic returned to formal wear. Nevertheless, we did at least glance while we meandered through long, high-ceilinged corridors walled with transparisteel and into echoing chasms of architecture spanned with arcades, never really lingering in one place. I was starting to think taking ideas back to the Temple's private tailors wasn't such a bad plan after all. Nothing seemed right, it was either too gaudy, not made for human bodies, or too expensive. Here and there I would stare at breathtaking creations that would look far better on a thinner and taller body than mine, admitting deep down that not everything being pawned for high price was ugly. The search was getting nowhere, and it was high time we accepted it. "I'm no good at this, Te," I shrugged. "I'm no connoisseur of dresswear, I don't even know what I should be looking for."

"Are garments that different on your world?" she wondered, keeping her voice low just in case. No one around us could have cared to eavesdrop, but you never know.

"No, it's not that at all. I'm just not a dress person, you know that. I never even looked at them on my world." I peered up at her supermodel face as we stood before a glittery gold confection that probably needed to be painted onto the wearer. "What do you think?"

Te gave the dress a frown and turned, leading me away from that store. "If there's one thing I know, it's that clothing is the outward expression of a being's personality. Not even the Jedi can avoid that, you may have noticed considerable variety even among our own kind."

I laughed. "Who would have thought standard robes could be worn so many different ways?"

"Precisely! So, if we want to find out what best suits you, we should go to your personality, yes?" Te smiled sunnily. "What is your favorite color?"

"Uh..." That used to be such an easy question to answer. "I don't really have one."

Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "Not at all?"

"Well, I used to just say 'yellow,' for absolutely no reason. But I don't really wear yellow. Um..."

We passed under a skylight that gave us an enormous overhead view of lines of ships striking out on their business across a brilliantly azure sky. "Then, what sorts of colors do you find beautiful? Like, look at the sky. I love the skies of noon, they're so blue, like gems."

"It is pretty," I mused. "But not like twilight. After the sun's already set, and all the bright colors are fading away? And it starts to get sort of a dark blue? That's my favorite time of day."

"Well, that's something," Te encouraged, pausing in our walk to peer at me, sizing me up. "Twilight blue. Yes, I can see that. Now, nothing has caught your eye so far, perhaps we should look for something more simple."

"Oh, goodness yes! I don't want to have to read an instruction manual to figure out how to get into it." Te glided along a catwalk to a bank of lifts, and we dropped to a lower level, still debating the qualities of my personality that could be found in a dress. The stores down here were smaller, and didn't really have displays, so we wandered into a few and poked around, trying not to raise the attention of shopkeepers until we decided we saw something we liked. Thanks to Te's suggestion, I began to zero in on shades of blue, passing over anything that didn't immediately remind me of standing in a field of glimmerflies at dusk looking up at the stars. Several stores later, as I rejected a garment covered in far too many glass beads that gave the impression of a Vegas showgirl, I nudged Te and tapped a finger at one of the small signs I could read. "Okay, new problem. What size am I?"

Te stopped and blinked, and tried not to laugh. "That's a very good question!"

"I suppose I could just grab something and try to get into it. I'd at least get the idea of 'bigger' or 'smaller.'"

As of yet we hadn't seen anyone working this store, but we were just about the only patrons anyway. Te looked around, her lekku twitching at the ends. "Perhaps we can find some help. I assume a shopkeeper would be able to make suggestions just by looking at you." At that moment, a very plainly-dressed woman came out of seemingly nowhere, drifting among the hanging racks of gowns segregated by style. She was a little older, kindly-looking, and human. Te straightened up, letting her cloak fall from her shoulders a little. "Excuse me. Could we ask you a question?"

"Good afternoon, ladies. Shopping for the Fête?" the woman asked brightly. Her eyes fell immediately upon Te.

"As a matter of fact," my friend replied.

"I'm afraid we may not have much to interest a Twi'lek of your obvious taste," the shopkeeper admitted, "but there is a little something in gold I'm particularly proud of. Maybe I could take it in for you?"

"Oh, it isn't for me," Te demurred politely, "it's for my friend." She held out a hand to indicate me; I smiled weakly. Te peered keenly at the old woman. "Does that mean you are the dressmaker?"

The woman nodded. "One of three, here. We're not very modern, but our clothing is good quality and I will stand behind it." She finally looked at me, now that it was established that I was buying, and I could have sworn a flicker of disbelief crossed her face. "I would be happy to show you around. What is it you're looking for?"

"Blue," I replied. "Dark blue. I don't really have a preference, I'll know what I like when I see it. You couldn't tell me...what size you think I am?"

The shopkeeper eyeballed me and hummed a little, but didn't answer right away as she started off through the store. "Better yet," she finally said when we followed, "I think I can pick out something for you. If it doesn't quite fit, we can do the alterations."

"The Fête is a week away," Te reminded her. "Could it be done in time? You must be busy."

"I'm sure we can work one more in." The woman plucked one dress off a rack, which I immediately vetoed in my mind just by looking at it, then swept across to another and pulled two more dresses out for me. I was starting to feel really stupid, wishing I could just go back to the Temple and tell Qui-Gon to attend the Supreme Chancellor's reception without me. The three options were put up along a bare wall side-by-side for comparison. "Well?" the woman enthused.

I pretended to give the first an appraisal before shaking my head - it was just plain awful, bridesmaid's-dress awful. The second intrigued me, but I didn't like the way the bodice sloped, it wouldn't have been flattering. But the third caught my eye. It was a true twilight blue, like the shadows beneath a full moon at midnight on a crisp winter's night. Much simpler than anything else I had seen, it still had an inherently Star Wars look to it, with an intricate pattern of silver stars embossed in a thin strip down the front of the bodice and a unique high collar that one just didn't see on Earthly gowns. Streamers of sheer fabric cascaded down the back from the waist like falling water, again embroidered with the same silver-star pattern. My eyes wouldn't leave it, even though the dressmaker stood beside me extolling the virtues of the second dress. Te could not read my mind, but I think she could tell by the sudden relaxing of my posture that I stood in the throes of epiphany. "Which dress," she inquired of our hostess, "is the least expensive?"

The woman pursed her lips. "That one," she answered, pointing at the one I was staring at. "We marked it down because it's an older style. Not very popular these days."

"I don't care about popular," I murmured, having finally heard the magic words: least expensive. "Can I try it on?"

The shopkeeper escorted me to the fitting room, and left me with the dress and a huge mirror, which revealed to me the utter scruffiness of my existence. Of course she didn't want to sell me anything, look at how I'm dressed! I look like I crawled up from the lower levels, not like a lady out shopping for a party dress. I sighed at my reflection and reluctantly undid my sash, letting my tunic fall open. To my great surprise, the dress fit, and was even a little loose in the waist and bust. The latter didn't surprise me, but I laid a hand on my stomach as I twirled this way and that to watch the full but straight gown float about my ankles. Could it be? I had lost weight.

The sound of Te's voice begging to see it broke in on my reverie, so I stepped out and gave her a little self-conscious smile. Her dark eyes lit up, and she lost all that Jedi elegance as she pranced over and pulled at my arm, encouraging me to stand straighter and not hide myself behind the dress. "There we go! What do you think?"

I tugged at the bodice. "It's a little loose."

"I could alter it for you," the dressmaker suggested, cocking her head curiously. "It would cost extra, though."

Te motioned at me with an upraised finger. "Consider that my gift to you."

"Thanks, Te," I grinned, starting to feel a little more natural the more I got used to the feeling. The skirts were not overdone, but had lots of drape and flow and swirled around me nicely. The strange collar came all the way up to my neck, disguising my lack of significant features, but my shoulders and arms were still bare. "I like it."

The shopkeeper had already produced a datapad and was entering information into it. "What night is the celebration?" she asked me.

"Uh, five days from now...the Eve," I said, trying to remember what they called it here. "It's the Supreme Chancellor's party."

The woman nearly dropped the datapad. "I'm sorry...the Supreme Chancellor?" she repeated in disbelief. "This is for his party?"

I straightened up with a smug smile. "Yes, I am being escorted by a Jedi Master who is a friend of the Chancellor's."

A smile worked through the astonishment on the old woman's face. "Well, then! Certainly we can do better than this old thing."

"No, I like this," I insisted. "It feels right. As long as you can take in the bodice before the Eve."

"I can do that, yes. But you know what this needs? It needs something." She bustled away, and came back with handfuls of trinkets for me to try. Te started getting into it, until they were dressing me like a doll in search of something to add to my bare arms. In the end, I settled on a shawl-like half-robe, worn draped from the elbows, made of a silvery netted fabric that complimented the stars. Out came Te's credit chip, and I was promised the dress would be delivered to the Jedi Temple in two days.

"I can't believe I just bought a dress," I mused to Te as we headed back to the Temple, having completed the shopping trip with some earrings and a pair of comfortable slippers - thank goodness I could get away without heels. "This is so not like me."

"Come now," she teased. "Every woman, no matter how hard life has treated her, has a tiny wish deep inside to be lifted up like a queen. Even if it's just for one night."

"Oh my gosh. How do you think Master's going to react to this?"

Her Twi'lek eyes glittered with excitement. "Can I be there to see it?"

Fortunately, the Master was relieved when we came back after only two or three hours out, doubly so when we told him the trip was a success and he didn't have anything to worry about. Te explained about the alterations and delivery, and that she'd also helped find me the shoes and jewelry needed to compliment the outfit. "These things are more complicated than just a gown, you know."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow rather like a scolding parent. "And how much did this set me back?"

Te laughed musically. "Not that much, actually, Master. No matter how many of the expensive dresses we looked at, she wouldn't be swayed. This one caught her eye, how was I to know it was sale priced?"

He folded his arms and just gave a little "humph." "Is that all, then? The situation is under control?"

"For now," Te replied, in a manner that suggested that he had something to be worried about.

"You're going to do my hair for me, right?" I confirmed with her on her way out the door. "How early should I be to your quarters?"

"An hour before you must leave. Yes, I have an idea what we should do. It will look lovely. Oh!" She leaned in close to me for confidence. "And I believe I may still have some jewelry left from my previous life, something that would look good on your wrist." We clasped hands as she parted, agreeing to stay in contact and that I should let her know when the dress came so I could try it on before her and get her approval. When she had gone, I turned to find Qui-Gon looking decidedly like he was glad there was only one woman in his life.

On to part 59

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