The Way of the Mystics
by Tilt
(continued from Part 1)
Theri watched Ben and Kee practicing with their lightsabers, sitting on a rock ledge high above the flat shelf of rock where the two practiced. For the moment, she was at peace with herself and the world. She grinned to herself. Amazing. One good tumble with Ben and she was feeling remarkably better about the world.
She swung her legs over the edge of the rocks and looked down at herself with some interest. Black leggings, her own old black jump boots, thin white wrap-around undertunic and a light gray overtunic. Her own old black belt. She looked like a Jedi, except for the colors. She'd asked Kee to have her uniforms made in gray, the traditional color for Mystics. Kee's shining eyes and smiling face that morning when she'd come into the kitchen wearing the new clothes had warmed her all the way to her toes.
But she was wondering about all this anyway. She wasn't truly his student yet. She didn't really have the right to wear these uniforms. She didn't want Kee just assuming the Jedi Council would allow him to train her. The Council could just as easily refuse to allow her to be trained at all. Or give her to someone else. She knew she'd be a problem to the Jedi, the last of an exiled Jedi sect that they had neatly shoved into the Archives as past history five hundred years ago. They had no real responsibility to her or to the Way of the Mystics. Or so they thought. They might turn her out altogether. And she'd never see Kee or Ben again...
But she put the thought gently aside. She had to trust in the Force, as Ben had said.
She watched the two below her, the spinning green and blue flashes of their lightsabers, the deadly efficient economy of their movements. Kee stopped and pulled away for a moment, lowering his lightsaber, gesturing with his free hand explaining something to Ben, who nodded. They both moved back into ready positions, then Ben lunged forward and swept his blue-white saber across and down and back up again almost faster than Theri could follow, the blade leaving white afterimages in the air. Kee parried easily when the blue blade came back up, and with a twist of his own green blade hooked Ben's lightsaber out of his hands. Ben laughed and rubbed his wrists, complaining jokingly about sprained wrists. He reached out with the Force and deactivated his saber where it lay humming on the rock nearby, then Lifted it back to his hand. They went back to ready positions and this time Ben parried and tried to hook Kee's saber out of his hands, but didn't quite manage it. Kee pulled back, explained the problem, and they tried again. This time, the green blade went spinning away easily.
Theri Sent a gentle mental caress to Ben in approval, and both of them stopped to look up at her with a smile and Sent a wave of love to her in reply. She grinned and got up from the ledge as they turned back to continue practicing.
Soritsu-ji. Learning the Zharvanan martial art had been entirely her own idea when she and her Master had spent a year there. She had argued that there would be times when their mindpowers were not going to be enough, and that she needed some sort of self-defense training. He had agreed only after meeting the Ratashi Corwilin and realizing that while Soritsu-ji was not as intensive as the training of a Jedi, it was still a spiritual path that in many ways would benefit their own Way. And it had. She'd found herself absorbing the Soritsu-ji training almost effortlessly, the centering and grounding she had learned from her Master helping her to progress much more quickly than expected. She'd reached fourth-level so quickly Ratashi Corwilin had wanted to get her declared a Svalasta, 'one-who-returned', a reincarnated Soritsu-ji master. She grinned, remembering the look of surprise on his face the day she had explained why she had such an edge over his other students.
She cleared her mind, reached for the Force, centered, and began the katas.
The ritualistic movements and perfect balance required had always seemed to her like the inner knowledge brought into motion. With her sensitivity to the Force, she could feel the energy moving and when she was deepest into it, she could See it as well. Ratashi had been able to feel the energy, but not See it. She could. And it was just as both Ratashi and her Master had said. Both had urged grace and flowing on her, in both physical and spiritual realms. The Force. It was all one thing.
Down below, Kee and Ben stopped for a moment to get a drink and looked up at her in curiosity. Soritsu-ji was taught to Jedi trainees before they were allowed to learn the saber, both as a martial art and as an adjunct to their spiritual training. Both of them could qualify as a Ratashi, and there were many Masters who had done so and fought primarily as Ratashis, using their lightsabers as a last resort.
Kee grunted appreciatively at the smoothness and control of her movements, the precision. "She's pretty good at it, wouldn't you say, Ben?"
Ben nodded. "Fourth-level. And trained on Zharvan." Ben switched off his lightsaber and looked over at his Master with a troubled look on his face. "The Council will give her to us, won't they, Master?"
Kee sighed deeply. "I hope so, Ben. Like you said, we've just got to trust in the Force that there's some reason behind our finding her. Nothing is by accident." He looked back up at the small form in gray and black moving through the slow-motion turns and kicks of the katas, and hoped with all his heart he was right.
Later that night, when the house was dark and silent at last, Theri lay holding Ben as he slept with his head cradled in her arms. He'd told her to wake him up in an hour. He'd grinned at her mischievously, saying he had the Jedi reputation to maintain. Kee had already drifted off to sleep in his room, she could sense the deep dreamless formlessness in his mind. Ben wasn't afraid to make love to her without Kee's protective mental presence in both their minds. So they'd let Kee sleep and try to be as quiet as they could.
The quiet darkness of the house was comforting, the warmth of Ben's body a tranquilizer. She could hear the wind outside the open window above her head, see the hard cold glitter of the stars and the shimmer of the aurora through the skylight. For the moment, she was happy and content to just hold Ben as he slept. For the moment, she was happy with the moment, neither past nor future. She began to think Ben might really be right about all that. When living in the moment was like it was at this moment, it was an easy trick to manage.
The sudden bone-deep sense of wrongness jerked her out of that contentment all at once. Something was wrong. Something bad was happening. She tried to trace the feeling to the source. Not Kee. Not Ben. She heard nothing outside the house--
--Her Master.
--And suddenly, the peaceful drowsy contentment was shattered by a shrieking wailing Mindcall that jerked Ben and Kee simultaneously from sleep. Theri stiffened where she lay, all her muscles straining painfully, her mind paralyzed in a terror and pain so profound she couldn't even scream, only claw at the air with her hands weakly. Ben held her, calling her name frantically, trying to focus his sleep-fogged mind enough to Send. Kee rushed into the room and was scooping her into his arms in an instant, trying to uncurl her body from the ball she was trying to curl up into, Sending into the maelstrom of pain and terror.
Blinding agony stole all other sensation for a moment that went on far too long. White fire ripped down her spine. She didn't feel Ben's hands on her face, didn't feel Kee's arms gathering her against his bare chest, didn't feel their minds reaching for hers, didn't hear them murmuring in her ears trying to comfort or call back. All she felt was searing terror and pain like lightning down her back.
And then, as abruptly as it had started, it was gone.
And she knew with a certainty beyond question--
She collapsed against Kee's chest, and began sobbing in bitter blinding pain of another sort, the sort from which there was no healing and no appeal.
Kee heard the 'speeder pull up outside the house and reached for his lightsaber where it rested against his leg.
[It's me!] Ben's mindvoice called. Kee put down the lightsaber and put his arm back around Theri where she was curled asleep in his arms at last. He was sitting against the headboard of Ben's bed as he had been all night, holding Theri as she cried and screamed and pounded on his chest in grief and rage. He was exhausted and half-sick with guilt and remorse.
Ben came into the room, tossed his cloak over the chair at his worktable, sat down on the bed beside his Master, looking stunned and shell-shocked.
"Tell me he's alive," Kee almost pleaded in a whisper.
Ben shook his head slowly, sadly.
"Maul?"
Ben nodded. He swallowed convulsively and his voice was rough with suppressed anger and horror. "The bastard carved the old man up like he was a Mynock or something. Two cuts up each side of the spine, then ripped his head and spine out. Cut off the arms and legs. Blood all over the cave. Literally." He put his hands up to rub his eyes wearily, then just gave it up and sank down onto the bed beside Kee and started crying weakly. Kee cursed softly.
It could have been Theri, Kee told himself as he put out a hand to rub Ben's shoulders in the only comfort he could give. Two days ago Maul could have jumped us in the bazaar. Three days ago, Maul could have had Theri and murdered the old man too. Maul could have traced Ben's route through the desert and attacked us here tonight while Ben was at the old man's cave.
They had dodged the blaster bolt too many times. How long could it last?
"We're packing up today," Kee said, his voice rough with exhaustion and grief. "We're not staying here to get carved up like Mynocks. We're going home to Coruscant tomorrow morning." He stroked Theri's tangled hair and squeezed Ben's shoulder under his hand. "R2!"
The little droid came rolling up to the doorway, whistling softly in acknowledgement.
"Link the house shields up to the solar array directly, and then go outside and start doing continuous scans of the surrounding area. If anything, anything at all that you are certain isn't an animal, comes within five miles of this house, come inside and wake us up."
"I'll stay awake to watch, Master," Ben offered.
"No, Ben. You've been up all night. We all need to sleep." Kee sat up carefully, groaning as he shifted position and his back protested. He slipped out from under Theri as gently as he could, grabbed one of the pillows and slipped it under her head, then stretched out beside her and pulled her against him again. Ben clawed his boots off with his feet, pulled his lightsaber off his belt, grabbed another pillow. Both of them were instantly asleep.
Theri sat up some few hours later, looked around at Ben's room in the late afternoon sunlight. The two Jedi slept on. They had both had an arm around her as she slept.
She felt nothing but emptiness, a numb void where her feelings should be. Any other normal Thretketh would just shrug, cry a little, and go on with living. Any other normal Mystic would accept it all with unruffled calm as the will of the Force. A normal Thretketh female would see two men sleeping beside her and start with the one on the left. Any other Mystic would use the opportunity for a meditation on dissolution.
But all she felt was numb.
She slid off the end of the bed, trying not to waken Ben and Kee. She wanted to be alone.
She pulled on yesterday's uniform mechanically and went out into the main room, sitting down on the edge of the meditation bench staring off into space.
Her Master was gone. She was the last Mystic.
And here she sat, numb. While somewhere out there a madman schemed and plotted to capture her and twist her into his pet creature, and if he couldn't to kill her. For what? Greed. Power. Destruction. She was nothing but a weapon in a war between powers she didn't even believe in.
She sighed and rubbed her aching eyes. Tears threatened again. She swallowed them back. Crying wouldn't solve anything.
The droid whistled softly as it came up the ramp from the hydroponics room, came through the kitchen and rolled right up to her. The little curious chirps it made did nothing to lighten her mood. But maybe--
"Uhm, R2?" she asked tentatively. How did one talk to a droid anyway?
R2 whistled inquisitively.
"Do you know if the Jedi have a database of the Sith Lords?"
R2 whistled and bleeped at her for a moment, then pulled back, turned, and headed for the open door of Kee's room. She got up and followed him.
R2 bumped the door open wider and rolled right into the room and up to Kee's desk below the wide picture window. Theri saw a viewscreen terminal on the desk. She walked forward slowly into Kee's room, sat down on the edge of the oversize bed and looked at the terminal uneasily. R2 turned toward the wall beside the desk and beeped. A small panel flipped open and R2 extended a datajack toward the data terminals inside the panel. A moment later the viewscreen on the desk came to life, displaying a login screen with the silver triskele of the Jedi.
"Probably requires ret-scans or biometric scans, doesn't it?" she asked the little droid. "Can't hack those."
R2 whistled brightly and suddenly the screen changed.
"How did you--?" she asked in astonishment. "You've recorded his login info? But how? Biometric and ret-scans are supposed to be unhackable!" She realized she couldn't understand R2's little chirps and waved a hand dismissively. "Nevermind how you got in. Kee's a Master Jedi, so he should have access to everything, right? So find me all the info on Darth Maul."
R2 let out a string of beeps and whistles and hummed to himself happily for a moment. The screen blurred with text and data as the little droid searched through several billion records stored in the active files database. Then the blur of images and text stopped and the little droid chirped at her.
Theri slid off the bed and sat down gingerly in the chair at the desk, turning the viewscreen toward her with one finger. For a moment she didn't know what she was reading. Then the screen full of text sorted itself out in her mind. Everything currently known about Darth Maul. A description of his ship, the faked registries on his ship. Performance factors and data on his ship. His master Sidious. His various connections to the black markets and underworld. His involvement in slave rings, prostitution, drug dealing, gunrunning, smuggling. Where he lived.
...And most intriguingly, the names and pictures of his several children.
Theri sat staring at the data stunned. The Demon had children?
She'd been involved with enough gang violence on Korolis to know that the most effective targets were emotional ones.
Vengeance. She could make the Demon pay for what he did!
The viewscreen went abruptly dark and R2 beeped apprehensively, unplugging from the data terminal and rolling backwards away from the wall.
"Hey, what are you--" Theri started to say, turning toward the little droid.
And saw Kee in the doorway, watching her with weary sadness.
After a moment he sighed and came into the room, pulled her out of the chair, made her sit down on the edge of the bed and stood in front of her. "R2, go back to your scanning," he said quietly over his shoulder. The little droid whistled and rolled out of the room.
"Now, young lady, just what were you doing?" The deep voice was that of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, not Kee Jinn who had just spent the night holding her as she wept helplessly in his arms. Theri felt the difference and gulped.
"I had R2 hack your account in the Jedi databases and do a search for all information on Darth Maul," she said in a near-whisper.
"To what purpose?"
Theri gulped again and closed her eyes. "So I could find a way to get revenge for Maul killing my Master."
"Did it never occur to you that seeking revenge is wrong? Or that hacking into the Jedi databases is wrong?"
Theri stared down at her hands clutched together in her lap. "I have no expectation of justice for my Master's murder," she said, anger coming into her voice now. "When there will be no justice, there can only be vengeance. I'm the only person who knew or cared about my Master, so it's up to me. The Jedi aren't going to give a damn about one crazy old man out in the desert or about the Way. So why can't I have vengeance? "
Master Qui-Gon Jinn stood staring down at her with his arms crossed on his chest for several long seconds. Theri couldn't look him in the eye, but she'd meant what she'd said.
"You assume there will be no justice without justification for that assumption," Master Jinn said quietly. "Darth Maul has much to account for, and one day he will be made to pay. It is not your place nor your duty nor your right to seek vengeance. Justice, yes, but not vengeance. That is not allowed and will not be tolerated while you remain with us here. Nor will theft of any sort be tolerated, whether of information or of property. Is that understood?"
Theri nodded. "Yes sir," she whispered.
Master Jinn stood again for several long seconds looking down at her bowed head and the hands balled up in her lap, then he sighed again and relaxed and it was once again Kee who stood there in front of her, Kee who held out his arms silently. Theri jumped up and flung her arms around him, hiding her face against his bare chest, tears seeping out of her eyes. He folded his arms around her, shaking his head sadly.
[He will pay for it one day, beloved, this I swear to you. We've been after Maul for years. One day he'll have nowhere left to run and we'll have him.]
[I want him to die slowly! I want him tortured before he dies! There's not enough pain in the entire galaxy to make him pay enough for what he did!] Theri Sent in a despairing helpless rage.
[No! You heard me! No vengeance!] Kee pulled away a little to hold her head in his hands, forcing her to look him in the eye so she couldn't hide. [I meant it! No vengeance! That's part of the Dark Side. Anger and fear lead to suffering. I know how you feel. But you must not go looking for vengeance. That will not be permitted!]
[Suffering?! Don't go off on a riff about suffering to me! My Master was the one who suffered! My Master was the one who had his spine carved out and his legs and arms cut off with a lightsaber! And now you're telling me not to be angry because it's part of your silly Dark Side! Might as well try to hold the tide back with your hands! How can I not be angry, how can I not want to rip the damned Demon's heart out, how can I not want to see him screaming like he made my Master scream?]
Kee pushed her away from him back onto the bed, put his hands on her shoulders to stop her squirming. "Theriyah bel Kaitryn dan Thretketh, vengeance is not allowed. That is my final warning."
Theri swallowed her words and pulled her thoughts inside herself, but she couldn't stop the wracking sobs. It was once again Master Jinn who was holding onto her shoulders not allowing her to squirm away or hide. She waited for him to let her go. With one final warning shake of her shoulders he did let her go. Theri balled up on herself, crying weakly in rage and frustration and hurt.
Kee shook his head, ran a hand over his face, and sat down beside her, gathering her into his arms.
Silly Dark Side, he thought with a quirk of one eyebrow. How easily she dismissed it. But when you're only twenty-six you don't think about the rest of your life or the consequences of your actions or the influence those actions may have on others. You don't think anything will ever change. It never occurs to you that you may die the next day, the next moment. When you're twenty-six, all you care about is love and happiness. But the world goes on around you.
[You think I don't know how you feel?] he Sent wearily. [I went down this same road myself when I was younger than you are now. All I wanted was vengeance too. And I got it. And I paid for it. I paid a hell of a lot more than those I went after. I've had nightmares for more than twenty years from the price I paid for my vengeance. I will not allow that to happen to you.]
Theri snuffled and uncurled enough to look up at him wonderingly.
Kee grimaced and looked away. [When I was on Thretketh,] he Sent in reply to her unspoken question. [I was twenty years old. I'd been confirmed only a week. Windu and I were sent with some of the Jedi Masters to Thretketh to hunt down that Master clan. When I saw what those bastards had done, I..I just lost it. Didn't care about good or bad anymore. Didn't remember everything Yoda had tried to teach me. All I could think of was that pregnant woman I'd seen gutted in front of my eyes. It happened right in front of me. And I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. I felt the woman and the baby die in my mind. Nothing mattered anymore except hunting down every last Master clansman and beheading them all. If Windu hadn't been there, I'd probably have gone insane. Or ended up as Dark as Maul and Sidious.] He took a deep shuddering breath and ran his hands over his face. He looked down at his shaking hands and then back up at Theri. [I will not allow this to happen to you or Ben. I will not allow you to make the same choices I did. I will not watch you dying inside a little bit at a time until there's nothing left of you but duty and habit. You are my life and my soul given back to me. I'm not going to let it be taken from me again. Not while there's life left in my body.]
Theri looked up at him with wide eyes, her tears and rage utterly forgotten. Things were connecting in her mind again, that feeling of balances shifting, that far faint chime of rightness in the Force. The anguish she heard in his voice and felt in his mind touched the emptiness where her Master had been, the hole in her soul that demanded to be filled by Maul's tortured screams. What Kee was saying was right, it was a truth he had paid for with twenty-six years of thrashing out what he'd done over and over again until he had come to an uneasy peace with it. Twenty-six years. It had happened the year she had been born, the other side of her world from her Apa's clanhold, and worlds away from Slave to Master clan. The unborn life he had watched destroyed, while her own was just beginning. It chimed like a bell faint and far away. And while he couldn't have saved the lives of that woman and child, she herself could give him solace and redemption by swallowing her Thretkethan pride and obeying his command despite all her street-fighting instincts. But there was something more to it, something in the Force urging her toward some greater course of action. The balances shifting in the Force and her soul...what was it? Some urge to reach out to something outside herself, a mad crazy certainty that despite the future, despite her fears, this man in front of her would always be a part of her, the other half of her soul, even if she never acknowledged it. Kee Jinn might not always be there in the body, but something of his soul would forever remain within her own, entwined in the Force she lived and the steel of her soul. She sat up slowly, still looking deeply into his troubled sapphire eyes, and took his hands in hers. She reached for the Force and felt it flood into her eagerly, the joyful silent wave that caught her soul up and carried it along.
And this time, despite her fear, she didn't resist it.
[Qui-Gon Jinn, I choose you as my lifemate, forever and always touching and being touched, in soul and spirit and body, from this moment forward and throughout all time and beyond time, so long as anything remains of my soul.] She put her arms around his neck, leaned forward to kiss him, and let the Force weld her soul to his so completely that she could never take it back nor close him out ever again.
Ben rolled over onto his stomach, yawning and stretching sleepily, absently moving his lightsaber out from underneath him when he rolled over on top of it. He stretched out a hand, expecting to feel Theri's warmth beside him--
--and found only his master's lightsaber, buried in the rumpled blanket.
And then he heard noises. In familiar rhythms. And Theri's voice groaning in pleasure.
He buried his head in the pillows and laughed until he cried.
Three hours later, Ben folded the last of his uniforms neatly into his backpack and turned toward his worktable. A shame he hadn't been able to finish that new remote yet, but maybe he'd have time when he got home to the Temple. He gathered up the various parts and dumped them into his toolbox along with the half-finished remote, shoved both toolbox and schematics printouts into his backpack, then tossed in his four completed remotes. Building the little droid-brained remotes was a useful and profitable hobby. He made quite a bit of pocket money selling the little flying practice remotes to his friends at the Temple. And he was working on a new design for the brains that would allow even more unpredictability and faster reaction times...
He realized that the house was quiet now and grinned. Finally. After at least three hours. He wondered if he should be jealous. Then he laughed. No. Master Kee probably wouldn't be able to walk in the morning.
[My my. What naughty thoughts,] Theri Sent from the other room. Ben dropped onto his bed laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. [And no, I think it's me who's going to have trouble walking.]
Ben pulled his pillows over his head. [No more! Please! I can't breathe!]
He felt her amusement and a vast warm lazy contentment. She was so completely at peace that she could think of nothing to say or Send. He got up, scooped up his blanket from the bed. [Cold?] he asked.
[Hmm. No. I need to get up and help you get stuff packed up. Kee's not going to be awake again for the rest of the night.]
She came through the bathroom connecting his room and Kee's and walked straight into his arms to hug him tight for several long moments. He wrapped the blanket around her naked body and just held her, both of them too happy to speak or Send.
[Help me take care of him, Ben. He needs us both. And he's not as young as he likes to think he is.]
[I'd never leave him. Never. He's all the father I've ever known. More than my father,] Ben sent with such fierceness that she smiled.
She clutched at him tight for another moment. [I'm still scared of what I've done. But I can't take it back now. And I don't want to. We're one soul in two bodies now, literally. What will I do when he dies?]
Ben shook her gently. [Don't think of that now! Trust in the Force. Love him with everything you are and every ounce of strength you have. Let the future take care of itself.]
Theri nodded. She pulled away and headed for the bathroom to get cleaned up. [I'm starving. Aren't you? We haven't eaten since...when?]
Ben thought about it, realized he couldn't remember himself. [Yesterday sometime.]
Theri nodded again as she turned on the hot water. [Y'know I'm not certain if I can stand up long enough to take a bath.]
Ben rolled his eyes and snorted a laugh. [You mean he wore you out? I thought that wasn't possible!]
Theri tossed a grin over her shoulder at him. [Remember what he said about age and experience?]
The sense-memories that twined through her Sending made him chuckle. [Oooh, that's what he was doing! I'll have to remember that....]
Dawn the next morning found Ben and Theri awake and dressed, kralia bread baking in the oven and their backpacks waiting neatly packed against the wall beside the front door.
They had worked late into the night, cleaning and packing things away in storage. Who knew when the three of them would be back? Kee owned the little house and the desert land in a ten mile radius around the rocks where the little house stood, so no one would be here while they were gone. Ben and Kee had spent many months here over the course of the ten years that Ben had been his student. It was a good place for meditation and peace, a good place to concentrate. But now it was a dangerous place with Darth Maul still on Tatooine.
Thus, everything was ready for a quick departure. All they waited on was Kee to wake up.
[How are we going to get offplanet?] Theri asked as she and Ben sat wolfing down the fresh bread and tsala fruit for their breakfast.
[We go into Mos Idris and take a shuttle to Mos Eisley. There's a bigger spaceport there, and they have charter flights. We catch a fast shuttle up to Droma and take a Jedi courier ship from there. Takes about a day to get home, all told.] He shrugged with one shoulder. [It would really be nice if we had our own ship. But might as well ask for moondew on a meteorite.]
Theri Sent her agreement, then her face brightened like the sunrise outside the windows. She hopped down from her chair and ran into Kee's room. Ben grinned.
Kee rubbed his eyes dazedly with one hand, waiting for his thoughts to connect in some sort of coherent order when Theri dived onto the bed beside him.
"Hey there," he said with a grin as she cuddled up to him. "I think I'm supposed to be your husband, aren't I? Something like that?"
"Something like that," she agreed. He rolled onto his side, slipped one arm around her to pull her closer, and kissed her long and deeply. Their minds and souls joined almost without consciously willing it, connecting on every level that bound them together in one shining perfect whole. It left them both breathless and stunned with each other.
"That is definitely the best 'good morning' I've had in a long, long time," he whispered, stroking her hair.
"Well, I could think of one better, but we're sort of pressed for time," she whispered back.
"Unfortunately, you're right," he agreed and leaned over to nibble on her neck. She went numb all over with the need for him. He sighed against her neck and pulled away very reluctantly. [You are far too delicious this early in the morning, and we have to get the house cleaned up and get out of here--]
Theri smiled at him and buried her hands in his hair, pulling him close for another kiss. [Not quite. Ben and I cleaned up the house last night. We're ready to go. We were waiting on you to wake up.]
He pulled away to look at her with shining eyes. "You two did everything? By yourselves?"
She nodded. "Ben did all the stuff with the power systems and all that, I picked up and washed all the uniforms and packed up for you. We have breakfast made already and all you have to do is get washed up and dressed and we can head out for Mos Idris."
Kee just looked at her with amazement, then laughed a little and shook his head. He pulled her close again, kissed her for a long moment. [Thank you, beloved. You two constantly amaze me.]
"Sure we do," Ben said from the doorway with a mischievous grin.
Kee threw a pillow at him.
Mos Eisley Spaceport was the largest on Tatooine, but it was still an untidy jumble of hastily-built ship bays and low buildings. The freight section was the largest, the small passenger and charter terminals almost added on as an afterthought. The broiling double suns glared off the endless salt flats surrounding the spaceport and could blind the unwary who looked out on the bright of day without polarized goggles dark as a welder's mask. Sandstorms here were the worst as the winds would scour anything left outside with salt as well as sand. Anything metal left outside here would be eaten away by corrosion within six months.
The two Jedi Knights in their enfolding cloaks flanked a young woman in gray and black, a small blue and white astromech droid following close behind. The Jedi both had their arms hidden inside the voluminous sleeves of the cloaks, their hoods pulled up to shadow their faces. The young woman jounced along between them, looking every which way about her in curiosity. The two Jedi were clearly protecting her, and many they passed by wondered who she was if she had two Jedi as bodyguards. Who on Tatooine would be important enough to need Jedi as bodyguards? She was clearly no one native to Tatooine and the delighted, wondering look of excitement on her face gave the impression that she was little more than a child despite the curves that filled out the gray Jedi uniform. Most took one look at the imposing, mysterious cloaked figures in the black and rust-brown cloaks and decided they really didn't want to know. Whoever the girl was, she was obviously not an easy target.
The strange little group stopped before a security checkpoint and the security droids approached them, scanning for weapons and contraband. The two Jedi spoke quietly to the droids, and the taller one handed the lead droid a chipcard, which it scanned quickly and handed back to the Jedi. The droid moved away to allow them to pass through the checkpoint and the little group turned to go--
--when the taller Jedi and the girl whirled simultaneously to look back the way they had come.
A black blur arrowed through the thin crowd straight at the taller Jedi, twin orange streaks of light erupting from the ends of the metal rod in it's hands as it closed on the Jedi. Instantly the two shoved the girl behind them and activated their own lightsabers to defend her, racing forward to meet the cat-like figure in black. Passengers and bystanders scattered screaming, and the security droids scrambled to try to surround the combatants, firing stun bolts at the figure in black which he deflected easily into the crowds.
The battle was fierce and blindingly fast, green and blue and orange streaks of light whirling and slashing with superhuman speed. Maul attacked relentlessly, but Ben and Kee worked together, each trying to distract the Sith so the other could get inside his guard. It wasn't working. The Sith was easily a match for both of them together. Ben lunged forward eagerly, trying to hook Maul's double-bladed lightsaber out of his hands. Maul leapt away sideways and Ben fell tumbling as the Sith kicked his legs out from under him. Kee took advantage of this to leap forward himself, slashing his green blade vertically down toward Maul's horned head. The Sith ducked away out from under the droning green blade, brought up his own weapon, blocked the blow with one glowing orange blade even while he swept the other end toward Kee's chest. Kee dived out of range while Ben rushed forward with a yell, his lightsaber a blue blur in front of him as he ran to his Master's defense.
Theri realized it was Maul and screamed in rage, reaching for the Force and running forward out of the ring of security droids that had surrounded her. She shoved the droids out of the way, trying to focus on the darting figure in black, reaching out with her mind to find the Demon's spine--
[Theri! No! Shield! Now!]
Kee's Sending was like razorwire in her mind, ragged and sharp with the demands of the battle, but she obeyed instantly, vanishing from sight and sound. She slipped out of the ring of confused droids and down a nearby hallway, into another corridor, running on light feet down the broad concourse, unseen and unheard.
Ben slashed at Maul's legs, diving sideways in a Soritsu-ji tumble and springing to his feet again behind the Sith, his blue saber slashing upwards as he rose to his feet, slicing a deadly arc up the Sith Lord's back. Maul whirled and Ben barely managed to parry the counterblow in time before it connected with his neck, and suddenly came face to face with the Sith Lord. Cat-pupiled yellow eyes glowed not three inches from his own, and Ben felt fear beginning to take hold of him at the snake-like compulsion that radiated from the Sith's eyes. Inhuman amusement flickered in the yellow eyes before the Sith Lord was abruptly jerked away by the impact of Kee's lightsaber pommel on his skull. Ben jumped out of the way as Kee grabbed the Sith Lord's neck in one arm and put his green lightsaber blade across Maul's throat, the angry droning hum of the weapon loud in their ears, the edge of the blade only a centimeter from slicing Maul's head off. Ben recovered and snatched the Sith's double-bladed lightsaber from his hand, fumbling to turn the two blades off.
The whole battle had taken less than three minutes.
Kee shoved Maul into the ungentle arms of the security droids who immediately surrounded the Sith in a containment field. The Sith glared up at the tall Jedi Master with a mixture of amusement and contempt.
"Attacking in public now, Maul? Getting a little desperate?" Kee asked as Ben came up and handed the Sith's double lightsaber to his Master. "Sidious told you to get the Mystic girl, didn't he?"
Maul's sardonic grin was like a cavecat's grin over a struggling bantha cub.
Kee wanted to wring the Sith's neck, his hands itched to run his lightsaber through Maul's throat. He stood staring at the Sith for several long seconds, struggling with his anger and anguish and hatred, then clenched his hand on his lightsaber and turned away, the green saber blade retracting and disappearing as he turned it off. He shoved the double lightsaber into the hands of the lead security droid. "I doubt you'll be able to keep him long, he usually has friends in high places." Kee scanned the crowds that were gathering to gawk now that the obvious danger was past. [Ben, do you see Theri anywhere?]
Ben slid his lightsaber back onto it's ring on his belt and scooped his cloak up from the floor where it had fallen during the battle, turned a circle looking for the girl, and shook his head at his Master.
From the containment field's blue-green bubble of force, Maul grinned wolfishly, showing all his stained teeth in satisfaction. [The little whore's disappeared, eh?]
Ben leapt forward in sudden white-hot anger at Maul. Kee caught him and held him back, turned him forcibly away from the laughing Sith.
The two Jedi folded their cloaks around them again and pulled the hoods over their heads. The security droids began to move away, taking Maul with them, but the lead security droid walked up to the Master Jedi.
"There is another disturbance. The female of your group--" began the mechanical voice.
"Where?" Kee said calmly.
"Concourse five."
Ben and Kee turned as one for the side corridor leading to the concourse the droid had indicated. [Beloved? The fight's over now. Come back! Maul's gone!] Kee Sent to her.
Ben and Kee now stood at the plascrete archway that opened on Concourse Five. Small crowds of passengers filled the broad hallway, baggage droids and courier droids zipping on their errands. Far down the hallway near the end, they could see some sort of commotion, people moving abruptly out of the middle of the concourse for no apparent reason. Droids that zipped down this suddenly open pathway stopped abruptly and several shot out bursts of blue sparks. Once or twice, an alien would point to a spot in the opening pathway and shout something, but then would abruptly stop and stare off into space for several long seconds before turning and walking away listlessly. Ben and Kee could see a familiar transparent shimmer moving toward then very fast down the open pathway.
[Hope no one connects all those blown powercels with us, we could end up going bankrupt,] Ben Sent with a twist of amusement in his mindvoice. Kee's mouth quirked briefly in a grin.
Theri ran right up to them and flung her arms around Kee without bothering to unshield. It was a disturbing sensation, feeling her arms hugging him tight without being able to see her. Kee felt her slip inside his cloak to bury her face against his chest, he could feel her trembling against him.
[It's all right, beloved, he's gone. We'll be gone before they even get him to the local law,] Kee Sent. He felt her sigh and relax, and suddenly she was visible again in his arms. He smiled faintly as she got herself back under control.
[Well, Ben, I guess you got to fight Maul, huh?] Theri Sent shakily, the fear still threaded through her mindvoice but her face calm. It sounded like she was trying to make a joke of it, and Ben reached over surreptitiously to squeeze her hand in comfort.
They made their way back to the boarding area for the shuttle to Droma. Theri was surprised and somewhat disturbed when they were taken to a small private cabin in the shuttle instead of being given seats out in the main passenger cabin.
"Because we're Jedi," Ben explained. "You know how normal people react to us strangely? So they usually put us in a cabin to ourselves. To keep the rest of the passengers from getting nervous or frightened."
"Nevertheless, it is greatly appreciated," Kee said as he stretched out in one of the conformable blast couches, wrapped his cloak around himself for warmth and pulled his hood over his head as if he were going to go to sleep.
Theri giggled and pulled the hood away and leaned down to kiss him. "Probably a good thing, too. If they saw how funny you look like that the Jedi reputation would be shot all to the Core and back."
Kee growled up at her in mock anger and pulled her down on top of him. Ben rolled his eyes at their antics.
The little shuttle moved smoothly away from it's docking bay and lifted off, arrowing up through the atmosphere and into high orbit around Tatooine in only a few minutes. Theri sat staring breathlessly out the window, watching. It had been almost three years since she'd seen Tatooine from space. She felt like she was leaving her second home, yet she remembered thinking that when she'd left Korolis and Zharvan. But down there on that dusty little world her Master had died, his killer was no doubt wandering around a free man again by now. Down there...she oriented herself, recognizing the Dune Sea, and to the west of it the Jundland Wastes...yes, down there in that darker brown patch was her Master's cave. Down there she had lost everything she cared for in the universe.
Then she felt Kee reach over and take her hand silently, and tears came to her eyes.
[Ben told me he buried Therasslen in one of the small undercut caves in those rocks where you lived. He said he sealed the little cave up with some pretty large rocks and carved some Tusken warnings and the Jedi triskele and your spiral on the rocks with his lightsaber. Your Master won't be disturbed. He'll rest in peace.]
Theri nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks. The bright tan curve of the planet blurred in her sight. Ben came to stand beside her and slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her in comfort. She reached out one hand to touch the icy cold vitriglass of the viewport, but more than just vitriglass and vacuum separated her now from the life she'd left on the little desert planet.
I'll never ever forget you, she thought to the remembered presence of her Master. Wherever I am you'll be in my thoughts always, father of my heart.
The shuttle rotated away from the planet, moved out of orbit, and shot into hyperspace.
Coruscant.
Theri bel Kaitryn stood behind the pilot of the little Jedi courier ship, peering out the cockpit viewport at the capital planet of the galaxy with a mixture of awe and uneasiness. The entire planet was one gigantic city, every acre of land and ocean covered in immense skyscrapers, plascrete and vitriglass. Ships circulated in a continuous stream above, around, among the buildings, landing, lifting off, hovering, joining the traffic patterns. Whatever plant and animal life Coruscant had once claimed as native had long ago disappeared. Now it was an immense construct of artificial design, urban sprawl taken to it's logical and extreme conclusion. For Jedi who were sensitive to the presence of life, Coruscant was both an almighty charge and a true test of mental endurance. At night the glow of the artificial lights of the buildings gave the impression that the planet's crust was breaking up and glowing red magma was seeping out in unnaturally straight lines and dots. All attempts to take an accurate census count of the population were doomed to failure. By the time the entire planet had been counted, another few million more would have been born. And not all of them could be accounted for.
Like any metroplex, Coruscant had it's darker side as well. The Undercity lurked below the bright spires and towers like the undercoat of an animal beneath the longer fur. Below a certain altitude ships did not descend. There were always reports of ships and transports descending below the Safe levels and disappearing in a haze of radar blindspots and communications static, never to be seen or heard from again. And it was said there was no better market for slaves in the entire Republic, though slavery had been outlawed for several hundred years. Below the Safe levels, Coruscant was as much a jungle as any planet covered in trees.
Theri looked out at all this and gulped. Kee had warned her that she would have to keep her mindshields up constantly to screen out the peripheral telepathic static. Now she understood why. The chatter and squabble of millions of minds filled her head even from high orbit. For once, she envied Ben's lack of strong telepathic powers. He would be able to sleep without the dreams of others intruding into his mind...
[Our rooms are shielded,] Kee Sent, responding to her thoughts. He stood behind her wrapped in his cloak, his hands on her shoulders to steady her as the courier ship descended across the nightside of the planet toward the brilliant curve of daylight below. [Most Jedi have at least a little telepathy, so our rooms are psi-shielded. So are the meditation halls and some other of the rooms. Otherwise we'd spend all our time and energy trying to figure out who thought what.]
Theri grinned and looked up to see him smiling faintly down at her. [Well, even if I am Thretketh, I don't want anyone else except Ben to hear us raping each other,] she Sent on a narrow line to him. [I am not going to share you and that's that!]
Kee quirked one eyebrow up at this and surreptitiously let one hand fall from her shoulder to brush against her breasts in a caress. Theri bit her lip as her knees nearly gave out and her body went numb all over with wanting him. It had been over twenty-four hours after all....
Ben came into the cockpit behind them, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He'd been asleep in the passenger cabin. [Home again,] he observed as he came up to them, scratching his head inside his hood and stretching out his arms to make his elbows pop.
Kee's amusement flickered in Theri's mind. [When Ben was little, he could not stay awake aboard a ship no matter how hard he tried. It was uncanny. We'd get on a ship, and he'd be asleep before we left orbit and wouldn't wake up until we went into orbit again. I swear he could feel the moment a planet's gravity took us and it would wake him up like an alarm clock going off.]
Ben reached over to poke his Master in the ribs with a well-aimed elbow. [Watch it or I'll start telling her about that Gamorian who thought you were it's pet human.]
Kee smiled. [It will be good to be home again.]
The courier ship merged with an eastward-bound traffic stream as they came across the terminator into daylight, and the endless maze of spires and towers stood out sharply contrasted in the angular light of dawn. They passed over the Galactic Senate, the great mushroom-shaped building and it's surrounding towers of administration buildings and embassies. A few minutes later the immense pyramid of the Jedi Great Temple came into view over the horizon, rising up to greet them, the stepped form ascending into the early morning mists. White and amber marble sparkled in the dawn light, the four minaret towers at the apex flashing diamond fire from their windows. [See the lightsabers down there? We practice out on the terraces unless it's raining,] Ben Sent, nodding down at the sides of the pyramid. Theri could see the flashes now, tiny from this height but the familiar neon glow unmistakable. The courier ship dropped out of the traffic pattern to circle around the Temple, and on the eastern side there was a waterfall that fell splashing from midway up the pyramid to disappear into mist somewhere far below. Millions of quartzite bits embedded in the marble of the Temple sparkled in the dawn. Theri reached for the Force and it flooded into her so strongly she swayed. Kee caught her instantly against him. The peace and power in the Temple was like a hurricane tide that nearly overwhelmed her. The Force was almost a physical thing here, almost more real than the stone and life that comprised the Temple itself. If the Force had been a howl on Tatooine, it was a symphony of angels here! Theri closed her eyes and leaned back against Kee's chest and opened herself up to it in wonder and joy. She felt Kee and then Ben do the same, rejoining the gestalt of Force and Jedi that had raised the very walls of the Temple.
Theri followed behind Ben and Kee, her mouth hanging open in astonishment and wonder as they led her down the broad hallway leading from the hangar bay to the 'public' areas of the Temple. Starships and fighters stood in ordered ranks along all four walls of the immense hangar, droids were constantly underfoot everywhere, people and aliens alone and in groups. Many Jedi, of course, coming in from arriving ships or heading out. Several called out to Kee and Ben as they made their way toward the main Temple, saying hello or promising to stop by and talk when they got back from their assignments.
The hallway opened out at last into the first level of the Temple and Theri stopped in surprise. Kee turned as she stopped and smiled at her wide eyes and white face, and simply let her look for a few moments.
The main floor of the Great Temple was one vast open space, bigger by far than the hangar they had just left. It was at least five stories up to the ceiling. Natural sunlight slanted in golden bars from skylights placed randomly about the periphery of the gigantic room and from the masses of chromaglass rods that carried natural sunlight into the interior of the building. A huge sunsplitter sculpture dominated the center of the room, thousands of slivers of diamond and crystal suspended on hair-fine wires refracting the sunlight into millions of rainbows that danced everywhere. The crystals spun and swayed gently with every stray air current, tinkling faintly together like bells far away. Beneath the sculpture was a large round terraced waterfall surrounded by a low white marble wall. The floors were the same white and amber marble she'd seen on the outside of the Temple. The walkway they stood on was raised several feet above the level of the floor with broad low steps leading down to the main floor. The walkway and stairs went all around the walls of the huge room, and various meditation benches and chairs were scattered about the space between waterfall and stairs. Hallways radiated off from the walkway to other parts of the Temple. And there were Jedi everywhere, trainees and Masters and Knights talking or laughing in groups down below where they stood, walking on the walkway, meditating, watching the kinetic play of the sunsplitter sculpture, sitting on the edge of the waterfall chatting....
Theri just stood there like an idiot, staring wide-eyed. She was here. She was really here, at the Great Temple. This was it. She could sense every one of those people down there, every one of them had that low mental hum of the Force about them that she'd realized she had always felt about Kee and Ben. They were all Jedi, this entire vast Temple was bursting at the seams with Jedi and the Force like a reactor going critical. She shook her head slowly and looked up at Kee's smiling face. He put an arm around her and turned her gently toward a hallway to their left.
[You'll have plenty of time to explore, dearheart,] Kee Sent gently. [At least, I hope so.]
Theri gulped. "Yeah. I might not even be staying here." She shook her head a little more vigorously and built another layer of shielding around her mind, carefully building just shields around her thoughts and not around her physical body. She didn't want to be disappearing everywhere, it might bother some people who didn't know she could do it to see her disappearing and popping back the way she usually did. The hum of all the Jedi in the room faded from her awareness. "You weren't kidding, I'm going to need to get used to holding more shields than normal."
"This is the public part of the Temple," Kee explained, gesturing at the huge room. "Believe it or not, there are a great many non-Jedi who come here to meditate. Corusca University sends students here too, for theology and philosophy classes. And some of the Masters teach Soritsu-ji on the side when they're not on assignment. Sometimes we host political summits here or humanitarian conferences. This part of the Temple and the meditation halls on the first floor are open to the general public. The classrooms are on the second floor. Everything above the second floor is off limits to the public unless by invitation only. And we're very picky about our privacy."
Kee and Ben were leading her now down one of the larger corridors. Pairs of thick wooden double doors opened onto this corridor, though at the moment all on the left side of the corridor were closed tightly. The ones on the right-hand side opened occassionally as people entered or left. "These are meditation rooms," Kee said, indicating the double doors. "The ones on the left here all lead to one big room, and there's a regular hourly schedule for that one. You can only go in or out of the room every hour on the hour, it's for people who want as few distractions as possible. It's soundproof in there and there's a strict silence rule. The doors on the right are smaller meditation rooms, some are for chanting meditation. There's no set schedule for these rooms, you can come and go as you like, but if they're not chanting try to be as quiet as you can so you won't disturb anyone else. The hourly meditation room is only open from first bell in the morning to fourth bell at night, a couple hours after dinner. The other rooms are open around the clock."
They had come to the end of the hallway now. Great vitriglass doors opened onto a terrace walkway full of flowers in bloom where people walked in the sun or read from handheld textreaders or just sat and talked. But Kee and Ben turned her to the left down a connecting corridor, walked halfway down this corridor to a smaller one, and came to a bank of turbolifts. Kee dug into a pouch on his belt and brought out a small transponder button that he held to a sensor pad beside the turbolift door, and the sensor chirped an acknowledgment. Ben sighed happily and stretched his arms up as far as he could, scrunching his face up then laughing. "It's good to be home again. You're going to love it here, Theri! There's so much to do here! Even just here in the Temple there's too much to do and not enough time to do it in!"
Kee grinned. "Yeah, it's a wonder you ever manage to do any studying at all outside of saber practice."
Ben grinned back. "Not my fault the Temple is in the middle of the Galactic Capital! And I meant studying!"
Kee smiled down at Theri. "He is right about that. We have one of the best library systems in the galaxy. And all the Master Jedi, of course. You could learn everything from starship mechanics to medicine to literature to podracing here. You can take as many classes at a time as you can handle in your schedule and as your Master will allow."
The lift opened and Ben punched for Level 35 as they got in the lift. Kee continued, "I'll give you the same rules I've given Ben. We have four set class periods through the day, two hours each, starting with first bell in the morning. I'll assign you three classes and you can pick one of your own and work out the schedule for yourself. Any other free time during the day is yours. I require you to make at least ninety percentiles on your classes, and I expect higher than that. I require you to be on time to your classes and not to skip any unless you clear it with me first. Some classes only meet three times a week, and the other days you can use the free time however you wish." He looked down into her shining eyes and put up a hand to caress her cheek. "Just see you spend a little time eating and sleeping. I know you! You'd spend every waking minute either meditating or studying if I didn't remind you to eat!"
"Well, not every waking minute," Ben said mischievously. "Gotta fit sex in there sometime!"
Theri laughed and tried to goose him. "Look who's talking!"
Kee laughed at them and put an arm around them both as the turbolift doors opened onto Level 35. "It is good to be home. We've been gone three months. Sometimes it does get a bit much here, and Ben and I head for Tatooine for some peace and quiet, but it's always good to be home." They turned left down the lift corridor. The hallway was open on one side to a balcony with tables and chairs scattered under a trellis of some strange vine with huge purple flowers and a tiny waterfall bubbling in one corner. The fresh breeze swept in, scented by the purple flowers. At the end of the hallway they stopped at a doorway and Kee punched in a code at the keypad there. "And here we are."
R2-D2 was waiting for them in the middle of the room and let out a long string of beeps and whistles in jubilant greeting. He'd had to ride in the droid room of the Jedi courier ship with their backpacks, and if it was possible for a droid to be lonely he'd been so. Beside him were their backpacks, and Theri rushed to hers to make sure her textreader and the cards containing her Mystic teachings were safe, appalled that she hadn't even wondered if they would survive the trip intact. She had wrapped them in her uniforms but you never knew....but they were all fine. She sighed in relief and hugged the cold metal of the Mystic symbol disk for a long moment, fingered the deep etching of the spiral. Then she stuffed it back into her backpack and looked around from where she knelt on the floor.
It was a large room, though comparatively low-ceilinged to the rest of the Temple she'd seen thus far. The main room was round with a circle of huge deep-cushioned chairs that could have held at least two people each. One wall opened out onto a balcony with more of the purple-flowered vines shadowing it and a small terraced fountain bubbling over some rocks. Ben headed for the door to the left of the balcony with his backpack in one arm and his cloak in the other, bumping the door open. He came back a moment later and grinned at her.
"I only managed to convince him to take off the 'No girls or Dugs allowed' sign a couple years ago," Kee said in a droll undertone. Theri giggled. He picked up his own backpack and hers and she followed him into his room while Ben headed for the open door to the tiny kitchen area.
The outer wall of Kee's room was all field-shielded vitriglass panels that followed the slope of the outer Temple wall. The view was all Coruscant at Level 35, ships moving and massive endless skyline. A desk built into the wall held a viewscreen, chipcards of data and files scattered atop the desk in a jumble, the low chair pushed neatly under the desk. Shelves built around the desk held more chipcards and textreader cards, remotes, wooden practice swords, Soritsu-ji practice gear, tools, various other odds and ends. There was an oversized bed against the wall by the door with bright-colored pillows and thick blankets woven of some soft wooly stuff. It looked heartlessly plain and homely to Theri, but reflected much of Kee's personality. He didn't go in much for decoration and flash, preferring simple things. It was the inner life that counted.
Theri stood at the windows looking out over Coruscant as Kee moved to hang up his cloak in the closet behind the door. There was so much to see, so much to take in all at once. She felt almost dizzy with it all. After all the time she'd spent out in the desert it was overwhelming. Suddenly she felt a thousand years old and terribly lost.
But then Kee's arms came around her and she felt his soul join with hers and she relaxed into his arms. He scooped her up and carried her to the bed. [Too much all at once, isn't it?] he Sent as he put her down on the bed and lay down to cuddle her close.
[I was only just in the desert, I turn around and here I am,] she Sent wearily. [In the Great Temple of the Jedi. Lifemated to you. My Master dead and Maul trying to get me. A week ago I didn't even know you existed. Now here I am. The last Mystic. Hunted by a madman. Lifemated to a Jedi Master. I feel like I'm flying to pieces, like I'll never be able to concentrate or meditate ever again. I feel like if things don't calm down I'm going to start screaming and throwing things.]
Kee chuckled softly in her ear and held her close. [I'm here, dearheart. Body and spirit and soul forever with you beyond time.]
Theri sighed and tried to relax. Kee kissed her neck and she was even too weary to respond much to that. So he just held her.
[We'll get a good night's sleep before we even think about going to the Council,] he Sent. [I want you focussed and calm when we go to them, and that means getting settled down. So I want you to think of the cliffs over the water where you used to sit at home on your Apa's clanhold. It's night time, the tide is coming in down below on the beach. The wind is warm. It's spring and the klatchaska trees are starting to bloom behind you. The stars are up above, silent and steady....]
He trailed off with the images he Sent with his words. It had worked. Theri was asleep in his arms.
He smiled and held her for a few minutes more, settling down himself. Theri was right. They hadn't really had any time to just sort things out. Too many things had happened at once. Maybe they shouldn't have lifemated so quickly but it had felt more right than anything he'd ever felt in his life to let the Force make their two souls into one. He wasn't exactly certain what all the implications of this were yet. But now neither of them would ever be truly alone again. Some people, some souls, might not be able to accept such a thing, might feel it as some kind of threat. But Kee believed as Theri did that true love and sharing had no place for ego in it. True love, true sharing, was in a sense egolessness, the intentional giving up of at least part of the hard core of identity that kept a soul separate from the Force and other souls. Yes, it required a great deal of courage and faith to become one with someone who might change completely at any moment, who might die or disappear or be killed. But as Ben had said, life had no guarantees. You either took that leap of faith or you lived alone. So they had.
He took a deep breath and tightened his arm around Theri gently, burying his face in her hair. One day she would be living without him, and the thought of what his death would do to her nearly broke him right then and there. He was twenty years older than she was. Even if he stayed here teaching at the Temple for the rest of his life, he would not live as long as she would. She would live easily to one hundred fifty years old. He would maybe live to see one hundred. Theri would have to go on without him after he died. And what if he was killed in combat?
No. Nothing happened by accident. It was all the will of the Force. In Theri's Way, all things were the will of the Force no matter the outcome. Even violent death and agony of heart and soul. He knew her iron-willed determination to be able one day to accept all things as the will of the Force in this way. Intellectually he could understand it. Emotionally, his spirit rejected it utterly. But that's why he was of the Light and she was of the Way. He was deeply in awe of her courage in this. It was a very difficult path she walked, even without being the last one to walk it. And now she had to teach others to walk a Way she herself was still only starting out on.
He would protect her all he could. She would never be alone again. If he had to he would leave the Temple and teach her himself on Tatooine if the Council refused to give her to him as his student.
No. Hold. What you focussed on became your reality. If he dwelled on speculations that the Council would not give Theri to him as his student then that's what he would get. He wrenched his thoughts out of that path immediately. He began one of the mindfulness meditations, identifying every sensation and thought going through his head, every sound and scent and feeling. Counted his breaths. Counted Theri's heartbeats. Sank his awareness and focus into her aura until he could feel the pull of her muscles as she breathed as if it were his own body. Listened to the curious shimmering sound in his mind that came from the unique way she linked with the Force, as if the aurora on Tatooine were translated into sound. He opened himself to the Force and just let it wash over and through him.
All would be well. Nothing was ever by accident.
Theri awoke from a six hour nap to find herself alone in the bed. She sat up and scanned for Kee, but could not feel him anywhere near. She slid off the bed yawning, found her boots where Kee had left them on the floor and tugged them on. Well, Kee wasn't here but she felt Ben out in the main room.
Ben looked up at her with a grin from where he was sprawled sideways in one of the enormous chairs, munching on some odd green crunchy stuff in a bowl in his lap and looking at a schematic file on a textreader. [Master's gone to see Master Yoda,] Ben Sent in explanation to her silent question. She leaned over the back of his chair to slip her arms around his neck and kiss his cheek, then came to sit on the floor in front of him.
She just looked at him for several long minutes, keeping her thoughts to herself inside her shields, but it was plain from the look on her face that her thoughts were not happy.
Ben quirked one eyebrow up at her as he crunched through another mouthful of whatever it was he was munching. [All right, give! Why are you moping?]
She shrugged with one shoulder. [I'm not moping. I'm afraid. Afraid this may be one of the last times I ever have the chance to just look at you, hear your mindvoice. Hoping I can remember all this as clearly as I do now, in case I get thrown out of here.]
He waggled a finger at her in admonishment. [Don't think about the future! Or the past! Live right here right now. Do I have to pound this into your head or what?]
She smiled and reached over to rub his leg. [No, love. I've heard you every time you've said it. Just takes some practice to get that trick down.] Theri looked over sideways at the stuff he was eating, [What is that stuff, anyway? Sounds like you're eating chipboards.]
[Fried falasa seaweed,] he Sent. [Want some? I love this stuff but Master hates it, so you might not want to get a taste for it.]
[I think I'll leave you to it, then,] Theri Sent with a grin. [Although I guess it can't be much worse than alga, and I grew up on that.]
They sat together silently for a while, just being together, Ben crunching his fried seaweed and Theri rolling her eyes at the noise.
Theri got up and moved out onto the balcony to lean on the railing there and look out over the lights of the vast city-planet beginning to glow in the gathering darkness. A cool misty breeze blew across her face, and she leaned over a little to look down the slope of the Temple. Five levels below her the waterfall of the Temple thundered down to vanish in mist and shadow. The constant stream of ships darting across the sky stitched patterns between the stars just coming out, the quiet hum of repulsor engines. Over to the right she could see a maglev train snaking slowly past the Temple to move through a transit tunnel in another building. Above and to the left her she heard faintly the droning hum of lightsabers, voices.
Ben's arms went around her and she leaned back against him. [Careful. There's a force-shield over this balcony, and there's only about six inches clearance to the railing. Don't want you to fry anything.]
She grinned and turned in his arms to hug him tight. [You do know I love you too, don't you Ben? Not like I love Kee, but I do love you. I know it may be hard for you to understand the way I feel things like this. Maybe it's a Thretkethan thing, I don't know. A lot of times other people don't understand.]
Ben shrugged. [No, I don't understand it. Master said your people ...well... that you probably slept with your brothers. To most human cultures, that's incest. And that you could probably never understand being committed to just one person at a time. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd want me too. I must be like a brother and another mate to you.]
She nodded. [Yes, exactly. And I know that other humans call Thretketh incestuous and that they think we're all perverts. I've heard it all.] She couldn't hide the bitterness in her mindvoice. [Yes, I did sleep with my brothers, I had sex with my brothers and my cousins. So did my sisters. That's normal for us. But none of them ever understood me. No one except my Apa. No one ever understood why I wasn't happy with working on the alga farm or gutting fish or mending nets. None of my family understood why I was so strange, why I spent hours on end staring down at the ocean like an idiot. And even Apa got annoyed with me for that. But what could I tell him? He'd never understand that it wasn't the water itself that was so fascinating, it was what it symbolized...] She trailed off and sighed. [How can you explain these things to a clan of fishermen and alga-farmers? People who ask for nothing but food, fun and each other? How can you tell them you know there's something more out there without sounding like some crazed lunatic? But my Master understood. And now you and Kee. Kee is my soul. But you're like the twin I never had. You would make love to me one minute but let me go the next and never feel cheated or betrayed, even when you don't understand why I do what I do, why I can love the two of you at the same time in different ways but with equal passion. I can love you like I used to love my brothers, love for love's sake without needing to feel like we own each other or have any claim on each other outside of the moment. So that's why I can say I love you, Ben.]
Ben just looked down into her eyes for a long moment. She could sense thoughts moving through his mind, but she couldn't make them out. [I don't know exactly what to say,] he Sent tentatively. [I love you too, I'd do anything for you, but you're not...you're not the right one for me. I don't think I could do what Master Kee has done, I don't think I could give up that much of myself to bond with anyone the way you two have. Even Khali. Sure, we fool around but she's not the right one either, no matter how much she'd like to be.]
Theri nodded. [You'd think with telepathy there'd never be any misunderstandings ever again, but that's never been true. We are lucky in that way, though. Understanding is a lot easier with telepathy, and you can't really hide anything. Is that why Jedi have that reputation for absolute honesty and incorruptibility?]
Ben grinned briefly. [Probably. Even I can hear it when people lie, and I'm not that good of a telepath.]
She hugged him again, rubbing his back. [You're perfect. Never forget that. Perfect just the way you are.]
They stood holding each other for a while, watching the ships passing by, the lights of the tram trains moving below, not really thinking. Finally Theri stirred and reached up to kiss his neck. [I hear Kee coming back. He's in the lift.]
Ben nodded, looked down at her for another long moment and then kissed her quickly and they went back inside.
Theri stood outside the Jedi Council chamber door, concentrating on her breathing, letting her nervousness drain away into the Force, repeating over and over in her mind a passage from the Book of the Force to keep herself centered. "There is no generation, there is no destruction. There is no continuation, there is no interruption. There is no unity, there is no plurality. There is no arriving, there is no departing." All things were empty of a separate, unique self. All was the Force. All actions were the will of the Force. Calmness. Focus.
She had no idea what she was going to do or say. She would trust in the Force. She would make that leap of faith and trust that none of this had happened by accident. She felt ready to face this. Whatever happened in this room, she would accept it and go on.
All would be well. Nothing was by accident. All was the will of the Force.
The Council chamber door opened and Kee came out, nodded to her. It was time.
Theri took one more deep breath, straightened the emerald green and silver Jedi tunic and the cloud-white silk undertunic, tossed her unbound hair back over her shoulders, made sure the small braids at her temples were tight in the clutch-beads at the back of her head, centered herself, and walked forward into the Council.
There were only three Council members present for this meeting, the remaining nine members were not currently on Coruscant. Thus, Theri was faced by Master Yoda, Master Windu, and Mistress Yaddle. Theri came to the center of the mosaic circle on the floor and stopped before the three, bowing in the Mystic way with her hands together at her forehead.
"Aaah, Mystic!" Yoda said with wonder evident in his gravelly voice. "Yes! Long time gone, you have been, from this Temple! Long time!"
Kee nodded to his old master. "Indeed, Master. Five hundred years."
Theri tried not to stare at Master Yoda, but he was not what she had expected. He was a small being with wrinkly green skin, huge pointed ears, frizzly white hair in a cloud around his round head, with huge bulbous blue eyes. Small, clawed, three fingered hands clutched a gnarled wooden walking stick across his lap. He was dressed in brown and gray Jedi robes and sitting in a chair that brought his small form up to a level with Master Windu. One part of her said to herself, This is Kee's master. The other part said, This is Yoda, the one who spoke for the Mystics when all others would not. Another part said, He looks like a frog.
But the huge blue eyes were peering at her with a great deal of amusement now, amusement which bubbled up in a hearty burbling laugh. "A frog am I! A child you are!"
Theri lost it and cracked up laughing. Kee reached over and put an arm around her shoulders with a gentle smile for her. She calmed down again and nodded up at him.
"Away with you, Qui-Gon, talk we must with this child," Yoda said, waving a hand at his former student. "Call you, we will, when needed."
Kee bowed to his master silently, gave Theri an encouraging wink, and turned to go.
"So. What say you? Hmm?" Yoda said as the Council chamber door slid closed behind Kee's retreating form.
Theri took a deep breath and touched the Force, and her nervous mind stilled. "I was instructed by my Master to bring what remains of the teachings of the Mystics back to the Jedi. He also charged me to learn to fight if it would be permitted, so that I could defend myself and others. I am the last of my kind. My Master Therasslen is dead. He was killed on Tatooine by the Demon Maul." She almost stumbled over her words for a moment, she'd forgotten to say Darth Maul instead of Demon Maul. Oh well. "My Master hoped that I could teach others in our Way, so that the Way of the Mystics would not die with us but go on."
"How far along are you in your training?" Master Windu asked. He was a very tall, handsome, dark-skinned man. This is Kee's best friend, Theri thought, his old partner.
"My Master told me I was nearly ready to go on my questing. He said this was a comparable level to your confirmation," she answered.
Yoda pointed his walking stick at her. "Questing is more difficult! Confirmation, easy is! Wisdom? Another story! No wisdom required to swing a lightsaber! See! Obi-Wan confirmed three months ago, yet far from wisdom he is!"
Theri allowed nothing to show on her face at this, but inwardly she bridled at it for Ben's sake. Yoda laughed again merrily.
"Oh-ho! Obi-Wan is wise, think you? Why think you so?"
Theri peered at the old one for a long moment, then touched the Force again and knew..."Obi-Wan has taught me not to look to the past or the future, to live in the now. He is far wiser than I am in this respect, Master Yoda. He lives this way in every moment. I cannot manage that yet. But I am trying. Wisdom is not the learning of any one thing or the achievement of any one goal. It is learning to move by the will of the Force."
Yoda's eyes smiled at her at this. Yaddle, silent up til now, nodded. Master Windu looked up at her, and in his eyes she thought she saw a veiled answering gleam of approval.
"Committed to the Way, you are?" Yoda asked, again pointing at her with his walking stick.
"Yes, Master Yoda."
"Ready to go on questing, you are?" Yoda's eyes gleamed at her mischievously, and his huge ears lifted like wings.
Theri stopped. "I don't know, sir."
Yaddle stirred and pointed a clawed finger at her. "Fear, there is, of the questing. Fear of letting go into the Force. Fear to trust yourself or others." She was another of Yoda's kind, smaller, with smoother skin and walnut brown hair. Her own huge ears lifted as her greenish-blue eyes studied the girl. "Fear of loss. Fear of Maul. Fear of the future."
Theri stopped cold at this. She was shielding. How could Mistress Yaddle and Yoda..?
Yoda's laugh rang out again. "See through you, we can! Shields no obstacle to sight of the soul!"
Well, no point in denying it now. "Yes. I do have a great deal of fear of these things."
"Being afraid of Maul is understandable," Master Windu said with a quirk of one eyebrow.
"Fear of the future? Fear of loss? The will of the Force are they!" Yoda said, jabbing one finger at her in emphasis.
"I know, Master Yoda," Theri almost whispered.
"Much anger in you too, anguish and grief," Yaddle said gently.
Theri nodded silently. Homesickness for that little cave in the desert, for the crazy old man she'd loved with all her heart, swamped her. And the grief and rage at his death, Kee absolutely forbidding her to go after Maul for vengeance. Her Master, the last of the Mystics, killed by the damned Demon, cut up with a lightsaber like her Apa would have gutted a thorotla fish...she swallowed against the tears that threatened suddenly. No. She had to accept it. It was the will of the Force. If it hadn't happened, she wouldn't be standing here now making a fool of herself. She took a deep breath and with all the will she could muster she touched the Force and made her anger drain out of her. She would go on. She had made that choice.
Master Windu raised one eyebrow as the girl looked up at them all again, looked them straight in the eyes with no fear at all apparent in her face or voice or mind.
"To answer your question, Master Windu, aside from being nearly ready to go on my questing, I am trained to fourth-level in Soritsu-ji. I was trained on Zharvan by Ratashi Corwilin Banthar in the city of Mylasasi." She shrugged. "I would have completed my training there to Ratashi-level, but the Demon Maul found us and my Master and I were forced to flee the planet."
Windu nodded, looked over at Yoda inquiringly.
"What think you of Qui-Gon?" Yoda asked almost casually.
What could she say? "He's been a lot of help. He heard my Master's mindcall for help and came to help us, and my Master told him to bring me here. He's certainly been a good master for Ben..." she started lamely.
Yaddle and Yoda both laughed heartily at this. Yoda jabbed his walking stick toward her again, "Child you are! Trying to hide! Think you we do not see? Lifemates you are already! One soul in two bodies!"
Theri looked down at the floor, feeling herself blushing.
"Eh? Lifemates already!" Yoda said with a final chuckle. "Qui-Gon I have trained for forty years! Know him better than he does himself! Would train you himself without approval of the Council! Obi-Wan as well! Love you, they do."
Windu nodded, that veiled gleam of approval once more in his eyes.
There was silence for a long moment as Theri tried to stop blushing. Well, she shouldn't have tried to hide it. Certainly she would never deny it.
"Kee says that a lot of the things I can do would be useful to the Jedi," Theri said tentatively. "Like my shielding--" and she shielded herself completely, vanishing from their sight and sensing for a moment, then she reappeared. "It doesn't work against droids and some kinds of aliens, but to anyone who is Jedi or Demon I can disappear completely. And there are other tricks I can teach."
"Tricks not Dark, only the way in which they are used," Yaddle said gently. Theri looked up at her startled. But Yaddle merely looked back at her serenely, and Theri wondered what the old one had heard in her mind.
"What tricks are these?" Windu asked.
Theri took another deep breath. Well, she wasn't all sweetness and light, surely they knew that by now. "I can implode the powercels inside droids. I can block Jedi and Demons away from the Force. I can plant subliminal suggestions and impulsion-loops into anyone's mind right through shields. I can use the Force to rip out the heart or spine of living creatures, and use the same trick to destroy anything inanimate, droids, ships, transports, whatever. Though I've not tried anything bigger than a bantha. I can project illusions, though again that doesn't work on droids and some aliens. And most of the usual Jedi tricks too. Though I can't Lift anything much bigger than a lightsaber."
"You have used all these tricks before?" Master Windu asked.
"Hundreds of times, Master Windu." Theri looked up at him steadily.
"Used them for cruelty? Used them in hate? Used them in fear?" Yoda asked, his huge blue eyes intense, his ears lifting.
Theri shrugged. "I killed that bantha because my Master and I were caught in a stampede. It was heading straight for us and we had nowhere to run. My Master couldn't climb the rocks." She shuddered a little, remembering how the maddened beast had simply...exploded. Covering her and her master in brownish blood and gore. "I used the other tricks to defend myself, to hide myself and my master. I did what I had to to survive and keep us safe and alive."
"Qui-Gon tells us you are a telepath," Windu said.
Theri nodded. "Yes, Master Windu. My Master Therasslen told me once that our Way allows us to develop whatever latent psi-talents we have to the limits of the potential we possess. It is a sort of side-effect of our meditation practices."
Windu sat back in his chair to peer at her consideringly. "We would need to test your telepathy and extrasensory perception before we can make any decision regarding your training."
"I understand, Master Windu."
Windu looked over at Yoda again inquiringly. Yoda nodded. "Tests first. Then decision will be made."
Yaddle, too, nodded her agreement.
Master Windu rose from his chair, beckoned to Theri to follow him. She bowed hastily to Yoda and Yaddle again and followed Windu.
Kee and Ben were waiting outside in the hallway and turned as the Council chamber door opened. Windu held up a hand and made a series of small quick movements at Kee, who nodded and relaxed. Kee gave her a quick smile and nodded at her to follow Windu.
Theri sat in a conformable chair in a tiny little room thickly panelled in soundproofing tiles, looking up at a screen in front of her and wearing a pair of headphones. The screen gave out the only light and it was currently showing only a view of the stars over Coruscant, probably a direct feed from one of the thousands of satellites in orbit around the planet. She concentrated on her breathing, waiting patiently, watching the stars on the screen, thinking of Kee. Though she'd noticed lately whenever she even thought of him for more than a moment she began to hear his thoughts without consciously willing it, feeling his feelings.... She touched that other half of herself now with a gentle mental caress and felt his startlement, then a flood of love and pride. Then with another parting caress to him she turned her attention resolutely away from Kee and toward the screen full of stars again.
Windu's voice came through the headphones now. "All right, Theri, when you see the light flash on the screen I want you to tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. We'll do four sets of twenty-five each. Ready?"
Extrasensory perception test. She'd done this kind of thing hundreds of times with her Master, only he had used a handful of old coins from Korolis.... she took three deep breaths, looked up at the screen, and blanked her mind. "All right, go," she said firmly.
She'd learned the trick to doing this several years ago. The trick was not to think, to just let her mouth say the first thing that popped out. Sometimes she got the answer out before the light had even flashed. It required a sort of mental balancing act to keep her thinking suspended and her mouth ready to catch that fleeting answer that needed to pop out. She'd never done it for this amount of time before though...it was beginning to be a strain when Windu stopped her after the fourth set.
"Now for telepathy," Windu said after a few minutes, and Theri wriggled her shoulders deeper into the gelfoam padding of the chair. "There will be a set of symbols appearing on the screen, and I want you to Send these to me as they appear. I won't be able to see the symbols from here, and they're randomly generated, but I'll record what you Send to me. This is to test for accuracy in telepathic visualization, so try to be as detailed as possible."
Image Sending, Theri thought. This should be easy. It had been a game she'd played with her Master, visualizing complex polyhedrons back and forth to each other, maintaining the visualization despite distractions. Damn her ticklish ribs, the old man had always been able to make her crack by tickling her... The first image appeared on the screen, a dodecahedron. She visualized it just as it was on the screen, even down to the color and Sent it to the calm presence she felt outside the little soundproof room. The next image was a simple square. The next was a chipboard filled with circuits, and that one was hard to do, but she was fairly sure she'd managed to Send a coherent image. The next was a page full of text. The images went on for several minutes, she had no idea how many she Sent, but finally the screen blanked for the last time.
"Now for range," Windu said through the headphones. Theri scrunched her shoulders, trying to ease the tension of 'pathing so much. It had been a while since she'd had to do such intense work with her mindpowers beyond simple verbal Sending. "We have a Jedi ship in geosynchronous orbit above the Temple right at this moment, with a telepath on board. His name is Sarvis," Windu explained, and the screen suddenly showed a live image feed of a merry-faced, smiling man in light tan Jedi robes with a dark-colored cloak, nodding to her. "He's a Master Jedi, coming back from assignment on the courier ship, and he's agreed to play receiver for us. Can you reach that far?"
"What do you want me to tell him?" she asked.
"Send him this image here first," Windu said, and onto the screen popped now an image of a diamond-shaped polygon with alternating green and white sides. Theri visualized this easily and reached her mind upwards, like stretching her arm out to touch something just out of reach...she concentrated on the person she saw on the screen, reaching her mind...there! Yes! The mental hum of Jedi, and she caught the pulse of the mind there. [Master Sarvis?] she asked tentatively.
[Yes, child! I'm Sarvis!]
[Master Windu says to send you this image,] she explained, and Sent the image of the green and white diamond-shape. [Hold on, there might be more coming,] she Sent. [If I'm not very loud up there, tell me. I can Send louder.]
[Not at all, child, you're loud and clear here! Amazing!]
"What else do you want me to tell him?" Theri asked. "And why does he think it's amazing that I can reach him up there? It's not that far."
There was a moment of silence from Windu, and then, "Here's a bit of text, can you Send this to him verbatim?"
Theri looked up at the screen and read the paragraph of text, Sending it verbatim to Sarvis. [Did you get all that, or should I repeat it?] she asked Sarvis when she was done.
[I got it, child. You're doing very well.]
Theri smiled a little. She could sense the peace and laughter about Sarvis, and he seemed like a very interesting person. She hoped she'd be able to meet him when he got back to the Temple. [Are you a teacher, sir? What do you teach?]
She heard the chuckle in his mindvoice. [I'm a diplomat, actually. I'm the Council's liaison to the royal family of Alderaan. But I'm coming home for a vacation and to catch up on the news and gossip. It's been almost two years since I've been home.]
[I just got here myself yesterday,] Theri Sent. [Master Windu's talking again, I'd better go. Maybe I'll see you when you get home! Bye!] She shifted her attention back to Master Windu, who was speaking to her again.
"All right, Theri, that's all we need to start with. You can come out of there now."
Theri took off the headphones and hopped up from the chair, opening the door of the little room and blinking in the brighter light in the larger room beyond. Windu sat at one of the computer consoles nearby and was taking a textreader card from the computer as she came out. He fitted it into a handheld textreader on the desk, checked to make sure the file he had loaded was secured and readable. Then he saved the original in the computer. No doubt they encrypt stuff like that, Theri thought. That kind of information about the Jedi would be priceless.
He stood up and smiled at her briefly, dazzlingly. "What do you want to bet Kee and Ben are pacing outside the door?"
Theri grinned and blushed. "No. Kee's not pacing. He's sitting on the bench outside the Council chamber staring at the floor, trying not to be worried about me. I don't know about Ben."
Windu's smile slid up a notch to a grin. "You're from Thretketh, aren't you?"
"Yes sir. From the north coast of Pthora."
The tall dark man nodded. "You didn't sound like you were from Delia. I've noticed the Pthorans have a sort of lilt in their voices, even with all those raspy consonants in your language."
They chatted amiably enough about Thretketh in the lift as they made their way back up to the minaret tower of the Jedi Council chamber. Windu nodded to Kee as the lift door opened, made another series of quick movements with his hand at Kee, and turned to the Council chamber door. Kee nodded to Windu and held out his arms to Theri.
[Here, beloved, stay with us out here. Windu needs to talk to Master Yoda. They'll call us in when they need us.]
Theri ran into his arms and hugged him tight. He stroked her hair carefully so as not to muss up the tiny braids she and Ben had worked so hard on arranging that morning. Ben put his arms around her from behind and hugged her too, all three of them cuddling happily for a long moment.
[What was Master Windu saying with that sign language he was doing?] Theri asked Kee.
[That was our old way of talking when we couldn't Send to each other. We had a few assignments where our Sendings might have been picked up, so we developed a sort of hand language. He was just telling me to wait out here with you.] Kee smiled down at her, caressing her cheek and leaning down to kiss her.
[Hmm. Stress. We're all nervous as cats.] Theri Sent, rubbing his back under his cloak.
Ben tried to tickle her and she tried to kick him. He laughed and hugged her again.
The Council chamber door opened again, and Windu beckoned them all inside, his face so absolutely blank that Theri's heart nearly went crashing through the floor. She pulled away from Ben and Kee and straightened her tunic, tossed her hair back over her shoulders. Kee nodded at her and she led the way into the Council chamber.
Yoda was laughing as the three of them came inside, a burbling chuckle that made Theri grin despite her half-formed determination to stay calm and cool. "Qui-Gon! Chosen well, you have!"
Kee smiled faintly. "I am glad you approve, Master."
Yoda waved his walking stick at all three of them. "Approve? Only one for you, she is! Only one worthy of you!"
Kee quirked one eyebrow up at this and bowed slightly to his Master. He'd been dealing with his old Master's capricious sense of humor all his life. It had been as much a part of his training as the deep knowledge Yoda had taught him to find within himself. And there were times when he learned more from the jokes than from the lectures.
Windu sat back in his chair, looking up at all three of them. "Theri, you have one of the highest psi-ratings we've ever seen. Sarvis isn't much more of a telepath than Ben, that's why he's a diplomat. But you were chatting away with him like he was right beside you! That's what he was amazed about! He very rarely hears anyone! And he was on a ship in high orbit!"
Theri shrugged helplessly, at a loss as to how to answer that. "He wasn't that far away. I probably could have reached farther," she said softly.
Windu held up a hand to her. "And you made over eighty-five percentile on the ESP test. I've no doubt that with a little practice you'll be making over ninety percentile."
Theri shrugged again. "Is that good?" she asked tentatively. "I mean, once you get the trick of it it's not that hard to do..."
Windu just stared at her for a moment in amazement, then shook his head and looked over at Yoda.
Yoda looked over at Yaddle, who nodded serenely and looked up at Theri and held out a small green hand to her. "Come here, child."
Theri looked up at Kee and he nodded, so she went forward slowly and knelt in front of Mistress Yaddle. The old one put her hand on Theri's cheek gently and Theri felt the touch of her mind. It felt like a soft furry hand was brushing through her mind, touching and testing, slipping past the wall sealing off her deepest mind to take the measure of the core of her soul. Theri stiffened in fear, but the calm unruffled presence in her mind kept searching, kept testing, measuring. Until finally it got the core of her soul. Theri wanted very much to pull everything inside, to retreat inside the familiar confines of the walls in her mind, but those walls were no defense and no hiding place. The presence sifted through her memories, Korolis, Zharvan, Thretketh, Tatooine, all the places she'd been and the things she'd done since leaving home. Yes, she was capable of killing. Yes, she had killed before, with her hands and with her mindpowers. She was capable of lying and stealing and had done so in the past many times. She had played the part of a drug dealer to the hilt on Korolis. She had been caught in the middle of a gang war there. Through it all, she'd had only one overriding thought, only one imperative motivation: survival. Sheer survival. Living in fear of the Demons. Having to keep her ears attuned to the news on the street for the merest mention of Maul. Then dropping everything, every bit of security and peace she'd managed to create, and disappearing again, taking her Master and somehow finding a way off planet, anywhere where Maul wasn't. The guilt at leaving Ratashi Corwilin when she'd promised she'd stay and make it through her Soritsu-ji training. The dozen other planets she'd spent a few days or a week on, just long enough to run a quick scam to get the money to run again. Living out of a backpack with only two changes of clothes and a couple hundred textreader cards filled with teachings she couldn't even read. And trying to learn through it all, trying to grow, hungering for the knowledge and uninterrupted times of silence when she could truly learn something about herself. The silent joyful tide of the Force threading through her mind and heart and life, getting stronger every day, getting surer and solider every day, the endless unfolding wonder of the Force. But never quite trusting either the Force or herself. Never trusting others. Until Qui-Gon Jinn refused to allow her to fall into the madness of vengeance for her Master's murder. But it wasn't truly Maul she'd been in a rage at. It was herself. For failing to protect her Master when so many times before she'd managed to save them both.
The furry touch of Yaddle's mind receded and faded away, and Theri shuddered and dropped back to sit on her heels, hugging her arms around herself, scrunching her eyes closed to hold back the tears that threatened. Instantly she felt Kee's hands on her shoulders, helping her to stand again despite her nerveless fearful trembling, and the comfort of his arms around her and the fierce protectiveness of his soul enfolding hers.
"There is no taint. She is not Dark, nor has ever been. Only shadowed by fear and sadness," Mistress Yaddle was saying. "But the balance of these is her hunger to learn of her Way and the love she had for her Master and now has for Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan."
"Then it is decided," Yoda said. "Obi-Wan! You shall teach her the lightsaber!"
Ben startled and looked up at Yoda. "Me, Master Yoda?"
Windu grinned up at him. "Yes you! I want to see you laying on the floor with her foot on your chest, just like you had me! I think it's payback time, kiddo!"
Ben grinned and looked down, blushing.
"And Qui-Gon will teach all else," Yoda finished. "But require of you this only, that from second bell to third she comes to me for training too!"
Theri turned around in Kee's arms and blinked. "I'm to come to you for training too, Master Yoda?"
Yoda's ears waggled as he nodded. "Yes. Remember of the Mystics, I do. Teach you what I know. Long time gone. But owe it to them, I do, to teach what I know of the Way."
Theri felt like she'd taken a dive into icy water. Relief so great it nearly made her faint washed through her, and Kee held her against him to keep her from falling. Yoda grinned up at them and chuckled to himself.
"Enough! Away with you all! Qui-Gon, come to me tomorrow to plan! But not too early!" And Yoda laughed heartily at this last command, poking his walking stick toward his student.
The three of them bowed to the ancient Jedi and turned to go.
"What did he mean by that? 'Not too early'?" Ben asked as soon as the Council chamber doors had whooshed shut behind them.
Kee grinned lopsidedly. "It's his way of saying I'm forgiven in advance if I don't pry myself out of bed until noon. He expects us to celebrate." He swept Theri into his arms and hugged her ecstatically. [It's done, beloved! You're truly ours now! You'll never be taken away from us! ]
Theri stood stunned stupid in his arms, trying to get it through her head. They'd done it. She was to be trained by Yoda and Kee and Ben. She was doing what her Master Therasslen had told her to do. Kee scooped her up and whirled her around and kissed her for a long breathless moment, and she finally broke out of her bewilderment and kissed him back.
Kee and Theri rushed laughing hand in hand from the lift, racing to the door of their apartment. Kee barely managed to keep himself from crashing into the door trying to avoid Theri, who was trying her best to tickle him as he fumbled to punch in the code to open the door. The second the door slid shut behind them they were in each other's arms.
[You're turning me into a kid again,] Kee managed to Send as he kissed her for a long moment. [My reputation is going to be shot all to the Core.]
Theri's Sending was only a bubbling amusement and a rush of need for him that numbed them both. She was tugging his cloak off already even as she kissed him, her mind joining with his. He pulled her toward the bedroom.
[Good thing you told Ben to find somewhere else to be tonight,] Theri Sent with a grin.
Kee answered that grin by picking her up and tossing her onto the bed. [We've more than earned a night alone together. It's been two days! You were too nervous last night!]
[Don't Send. Don't talk.] she Sent, tugging him down on top of her, her hands buried in his hair.
[No need to rush things,] he Sent with a smile. [We've got all night, so you just calm down, young lady, I'm the one running this show tonight!]
Theri burst out laughing. [Sure you are!] she Sent, her hands busy trying to get him out of his clothes.
He growled and flipped her over onto her back and pinned her there. She giggled and tried to squirm away, but he held her arms down and started nibbling on her neck. She went numb and every thought in her head scattered.
[See? Told you,] he Sent. [Calmly, now. Gently. Remember what I told you before.]
Theri nodded. The famous Thretkethan lust was about one thing, the mindless rush and the quickest possible satisfaction of that lust. It was almost like a mental mugging even to many Thretkethans. They'd wake up in the morning unable to remember anything of the previous night because the emotional extremes had blanked all but the final searing moment of ecstasy from their minds. True intimacy was very difficult for some Thretkethans, especially those from clans who had had truly sadistic Master Clan owners. The worse the Master clan, the more mindless the Slave clans were. Clan Kaitryn had been owned by a fairly sadistic Master Clan, and interbreeding with one of the most preyed-upon clans of Delia had added those memories to the clan-memory.
So Kee was trying to teach Theri to control all this, to feel and be aware of what she was doing even in the passion they both felt in their linked minds. He wasn't going to be lifemated to a mindless animal, and she had no intention of being that to him. But it was still so difficult, when it seemed every cell of her body was screaming at her to absorb him through her skin at lightspeed. But now half her soul was a Jedi Master twenty years older than she was, who could anchor her mind and give her a center even as he was making love to her with all his heart. It was a strange sensation for a Thretkethan, loving without the madness, feeling every moment of it instead of blanking it out. Sometimes Theri wondered privately if this was ever really going to work.
Theri gulped, squinched her eyes shut and tried her hardest to claw her mind back down into some sort of control. Kee felt the violence in her thoughts. [No! Gently! Even to yourself,] he Sent. He smiled and kept kissing her neck as he felt her confusion. [Violence never controlled anything, even our own thoughts,] he Sent in a whisper. [Relax, dearheart. Feel what's going on. Concentrate on what's going on. You can control it. I know you can.]
Theri sighed and squirmed a little, wanting to have her arms around him, but he was still holding her down. He chuckled softly and began gently tugging at her clothes. She reached up to do the same to him, but he pushed her hands down. Let it happen, she told herself, don't do, just feel. She felt like she was trying to hold onto a hurricane with psychic teeth and toenails, a hurricane of sweet fire that threatened to blow her away at any moment. Warm hands on her body, caressing. His voice murmuring in her ear as he kissed her. The powerful athletic body that filled her arms, the taste of his skin as she nibbled on him. She unfastened the clutch-beads in his hair, buried her hands in his hair, letting it fall around her face as he kissed her.
[You should wear your hair down more,] she Sent, snuggling against his bare chest as they rested for a few minutes. [It's beautiful.]
He smiled and stroked her hair, the blue-black true ebony that fell past her waist. [Even with all the gray in it?]
She caressed his cheek, fingering the gray in the short beard that edged his jaw. [I never think of you as old, actually. You're not. You're just Kee.]
He kissed her softly. [I never really think of you being as young as you are. Then something reminds me and I'm surprised all over again. You won't be able to have children for...what? Another five years?]
[Mmm-hmmm,] she Sent, busily nibbling on his fingers. [Not til after I'm thirty sometime. At home they'd think I'm still a kid. But other humans think I'm an adult. So that's how I think of myself, most of the time. As an adult. My Apa and Ama are older than you are, my Apa is eighty-four. It's a weird thing.]
[It means we have a long life ahead of us together,] Kee Sent firmly, looking into her green eyes, seeing the shadow there of sudden fear. [The only thing we can change is right now. We only live in this moment, not in the future. And at this moment all I want is you.]
Theri groaned as he began caressing her again, his own need for her joining her need for him, twining together. She pushed him over onto his back and moved on top of him, kissing and caressing, feeling the way his heart skipped and raced along with her own, his breathing going erratic as her hands touched. She traced the many scars that crossed his body, kissing each, old lightsaber burns that drew dark inch-wide slashes down the side of his chest and down one leg.
[You should have seen the other guy,] was all Kee Sent, feeling her dismay. [There's one down my back too.]
Theri had seen that one, and it made her shudder everytime she saw it. A lightsaber cut that ran from his right shoulder diagonally nearly to his left hip, faint now from the passage of time but visible still.
But now all she felt was Kee's hands on her breasts and his lips on hers and his hair in her hands. Her thoughts stumbled to a halt, only feeling and sensing now, the hungry fire slashing through her body tracing the path of his hands. He shuddered as she sank down onto him at last and their souls enfolded each other. That soul reached for the Force, the bright joyful silent spiral that whirled about them, through them, sweeping them into it's dance, the sense of so many other voices in that spiral, all in harmony, encouraging, rejoicing, loving with them and through them. Theri clutched Kee's hands and just moved, letting the Force move her, feeling the Force all around her, almost seeing the sparkles of it, feeling the Force moving through herself to Kee and from Kee to herself. It was all one, they were one, letting go into that vertex that pulled her mind and soul into the bright center of existence. Feeling nothing now but frantic movement and pleasure and need and the whirl of the Force that drove them on.
Then there was nothing but a supernova of pleasure that dissolved everything in white fire, and there were no more souls and no more spiral and no movement. There was only the quiet after bliss and drifting to sleep wrapped in each other's arms.
Ben punched in the code to open the door the next morning to let himself into the apartment, yawning and hungry and tired. He'd spent several hours the night before at saber practice with some of his friends, then had ended up tumbling Khali. He'd only gotten about three hours sleep, and now all he wanted was breakfast. And to ask Master about that strange surge in the Force they'd all felt last night...
He scooped up his Master's cloak from the floor, tossed it over the back of a nearby chair. Hmph. Theri. The way the two of them had been acting last night at dinner, he expected a trail of clothing all the way to the bedroom, but it didn't look that way. He was happy for them, he blessed Theri for lifemating with his Master, he certainly didn't blame Master Kee for falling for her, but when he felt like he did now it was very hard not to be annoyed with them. All this sweetness and light could get to be a real pain.
He grumped and growled to himself even as he was grabbing some bread and fruit and cheese from the kitchen and stomped to his room. He was half-way across the main room to his door when he heard soft voices in the other bedroom.
And that's when the events of the night before connected in his head in a logical fashion.
"Ah, no, damnit, you two, tell me it wasn't you!" he yelled at the half-open door of Kee's bedroom.
[Good morning, love!] came Theri's bright mindvoice, simply bubbling with happiness and far too cheerful for this early in the morning. It was barely past dawn. Ben groaned and dumped his breakfast onto one of the low tables in the main room and threw himself into the chair next to it.
[There was some sort of ripple in the Force last night, very very strong, Torin nearly cut my hand off when it hit. Tell me it wasn't you two! If it was I'll have to kill you both.]
He heard his Master's chuckle. [I think you had a long night, Ben. Get some sleep.]
[I'm serious! And no, it wasn't me and Khali having a mutual orgasm, it was real! I was down in a saber cube with Torin when it happened! About two hours after we split up after dinner! Was it you two or not?]
There was silence for a long moment. [We don't know, love,] Theri Sent timidly. [It might have been. But we're not certain.]
The puzzlement threaded through her mindvoice was real. Ben snorted and shielded them both out angrily, determined only to eat and then go to bed.
A moment later Kee came into the room, dressed in an old pair of Soritsu-ji practice clothes, his hair loose and disheveled, barefoot. "What's this ripple you're talking about, Ben? What happened?" He dropped sideways into the chair across from Ben and hiked one leg over the arm of the chair. Theri came from the bedroom, dropping her old Thretkethan tunic-dress over her head as she came and sank into the chair with Kee.
Ben grimaced, crunching an apple. [A ripple. It felt like a minor earthquake, only it was all in the Force. Now I think about it, it was the same effect as Theri did the first morning she woke up with us on Tatooine and pitched her fit. That shudder she made in the Force was the same as last night's ripple. I was blocking Torin's sky-to-earth cut when it happened and he nearly cut off my hand when his saber blade slid on mine. Scared the hell out of us both.]
Kee and Theri exchanged startled looks.
[Must have been you. You're the only ones who don't know about it. Everyone else is trying to figure out what it was,] Ben Sent in annoyance.
Kee and Theri both looked at him blinking in confusion, then at each other again. [The spiral. You don't think it was--We didn't--How could we--?] Theri Sent in the most timorous tone of mindvoice Ben and Kee had ever heard from her.
[The gestalt,] Kee Sent. [That spiral must have been the Jedi gestalt. We touched it. Hell, we went straight down it like it was a black hole. And at the center of it...what was that? Everything just blanked out...]
Ben looked from one to the other, crunching the last of his apple. [You're telling me you saw the gestalt? That must have been one hell of an orgasm.]
Kee snorted a laugh. [We didn't just see it, we..uhm...we kind of ...well...]
[I think we got to the Force. I think we dissolved into it, like my Master told me I'd have to do on my questing,] Theri Sent slowly, thinking, her eyes distant. [For one split second, we *were* the gestalt. We were the Force. There wasn't Kee Jinn or Theri bel Kaitryn. There was just that white center of the spiral and then ...nothing? Everything?]
They both looked uneasy with that thought. Ben scowled at them. [Great. I get a jealous twenty-year-old for a girlfriend and you two are having religious experiences. I give up. I'm going celibate.]
Kee and Theri both laughed. [Go to bed, Ben. Now!] Theri Sent, pointing toward his room.
And with a final grumble at them, he did, firmly locking his door behind him. [If either of you two wakes me up in the next eight hours, I'll run you through, I swear I will!] he Sent angrily to the two amused presences in the main room.
[Wouldn't think of it,] Theri Sent with a laugh.
Theri and Kee sat for several more minutes, cuddling together, thinking. Kee pulled her over to rest against his chest, running one hand through her hair meditatively.
[Do you think we really did dissolve into the Force?] Kee Sent softly to her.
She shrugged. ["What is the harm, ye ask, in not distinguishing oneself?
If we do not distinguish, we get beyond our own nature, away from creatura. We fall into indistinctiveness, which is the other quality of the Force. We fall into the Force itself and cease to be creatures. We are given over to dissolution in nothingness. This is the death of the creature. Therefore we die in such measure as we do not distinguish." ] Theri quoted to him from the Book of the Force. [We're not dead, we're still here, so there must have been something in us that kept us distinct enough from the Force that we didn't. There's some stuff my Master told me once about the tree of life, a sort of map of how to get to the Force, and that when we die naturally we dissolve into the Force anyway and then start down the tree of life, going from the absolute true Force down into existence again spiritually. From the Force down to animals and everything in between. But the important part of this is that if you can't manage to hold onto the absolute Force and dissolve, your soul sort of cringes in fear of it and you go down the tree of life until you can handle things again spiritually and that's where your next life starts. I think that part was from one of the Mystics who's home planet believed in reincarnation.]
Kee nodded, kissing her hair. [I don't remember being afraid of anything. I don't remember anything beyond the light at the center of the spiral. I wonder if that's where your people got their spiral symbol?]
[Could be,] she Sent. [And what they meant by it. Master always used that analogy to explain things to me. That whatever path a person walks, it's always spiralling down toward the center of everything, it just takes some people longer to get there. Our way is to sort of put ourselves into the fast lane and hit the hyperdrive.]
Kee grinned. [So. I don't have to be at Master Yoda's for several hours yet. Do you want to go back to sleep or--?]
Theri smiled. [Or what? Do I hear a hint?]
Kee ran a hand down her back in a hopeful caress, smiling down into her eyes.
Theri squealed in delight and climbed over him to tumble to the floor, grabbed his hand, pulled him to his feet and tugged him back to the bedroom.
Part 3
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