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Previously On:  

Shaak had a busy schedule.  You’d think that forced Temple arrest and a stark drop in Senate requests would mean there was less to do.  But for Shaak, almost the opposite was true.  Someone had to carefully plan their distribution of resources, plan events to entertain the younglings, and make sure their Grandmaster hadn’t lost his marbles.  What that little man had to do with so many spheres of glass, it was beyond her.  On top of  that, with so many Jedi at home, it meant the Council couldn’t just send troublemakers out on an assignment anymore.   So many of their repeat offenders were returned to the Temple in one day!  If she hadn’t known better she would be saying it was a grand Sith plan.  ‘Wait a minute.  Where’s the tin-foil?  I know for a fact this was a whole Sith plan.’

On top of her huge to do list, she and the council had secretly planned another matter.  Helping the newly returned, de-chipped clones.  Sure, the council had refused to use Plo’s idea.  But after Plo left the council chambers hours ago, the discussion commenced, and they decided they had to do something.  Kidnapping them at the temple gate was a bit much, but they could give them messages through the Chancellor’s people.  

She looked up and noticed her comlink going off.  It was Plo.  She rolled her eyes and pushed to answer it.  “Master Koon, I know you’re worried about what to do when the Five-oh-First arrives…” 

“They’re already here.”  He said, and the revelation took her breath away.  “I just finished talking to Padawan Tano.  She knows those men better than anyone, and she says they’ve been here.”  

“We had people at the gates.  They should’ve told us the second they recognized anyone from the 501st.”  

“I know.  I have had my senses on it too, and I hadn’t sensed a thing.  Could they be unrecognizable to us without their chips?”

“The council will need to discuss this.  I’m calling a meeting now.”

“But Master Windu, Kenobi, and Skywalker are out of the Temple.  We have no reliable way to tell them to comm for a meeting,”  Plo worried.

“It doesn’t matter.  We’re not voting on any matters, we just need to discuss this now.  Yoda is Grandmaster, he will preside over the meeting.”

“I think he’s with his newest Padawan in the Room of a Thousand Fountains now,” said Plo.

“I’ll get him.  You go get Master Tiin and see if you two can drag Master Mundi away from his favorite holo-vision show’s season premiere. The rest should meet us in the chambers in a few.”

Chapter 22:  Meeting 

Rex stood on the street outside of the apartment block and waited.  In a few minutes the soldiers who were on duty would come out and he would order his men to enter and take over their duties.  In fact, he had been given leeway to, no, he was nearly begged to change things up due to his experience in taming the apparently illustrious rulebreaker, Skywalker.  

Rex didn’t know if he had any of these skills.  He couldn’t remember taming anyone, let alone a Jedi.  He was still telling himself that a truly exemplary Jedi would have to break a few norms.  So of course the chip would see him as a troublemaker.  Instead, Rex took the opportunity to place Creed, and the other chipped clones assigned to his unit, outside of the quarters, patrolling the street below.  He smiled a bit.  It was perfect.  When they finally got in there, and met him, no chipped clones would be nearby, forcing them to act cold and neutral.  

This was also the home of Padme, who he had been sending coded messages to since they started duties in the Temple.  If she were home, they could get an update on things, finding out when the next set of clones would finish their treatment.  He knew she also worked with the Chancellor’s office, so she was likely to be out most of today, but he couldn’t help but hope.  

The door opened and men started to file out.  Some of them looked tired.  A few of them had a mysterious substance staining their armor.  None of them gave him eye contact, he could tell, even though they were all wearing helmets. 

“Commander CC-2224, have there been any developments under your watch?”  Rex asked.  

“Nothing significant.”  the Commander replied.  “Order your men not to hold the little Jedi immediately after a feeding.”  

Rex didn’t know what to say to that.  “Okay.”  From what he was aware, the Jedi in this group were ‘mostly human or human-like’ which meant he was probably not dealing with a situation like he’d immediately imagined due to that statement.  Instead he turned to his men and gave the order, “Units two through four, proceed to your posts!”  Suddenly his men were walking past the other Commander, and into the building.  “Unit Five, take up your post.”  

Creed stood with his unit, and robotically peeled off to patrol the street outside of the building.  

Previously On:  

Maul made his way into the Meditation space he and his new Master used quite regularly.  Master Yoda wasn’t with him now, but Maul felt assured he would be pleased to see Maul using the techniques he’d taught him.  

Sometimes the differences between Jedi and Sith were… Maul wouldn’t say cute, but… But he did want to pinch the cheeks of some younglings when they’d come up to him and beg him to duel.  Most Jedi younglings don’t have more than a basic education in type one lightsaber techniques.  When he was their age, he was required to duel in five of them.  But Yoda explained that the younglings were learning things at their own level, things that would expand as they got older.  Type one may be simple, but it’s one they can easily transfer the skills from to another form, when they are ready for it.  Maul wonders if his training would’ve been more productive if Sidious would’ve let him learn things at one level at a time.  It would’ve taken longer, surely, but he would’ve reached a more complete level of understanding before moving on.

Other times the differences between Jedi and Sith were truly maddening.  Like when other Jedi masters would behave in ways that were… Maul thinks the situation would totally justify murdering them, and Maul hasn’t murdered anyone in months.  Master Yoda just sighs and tries even harder to appease the troublesome Jedi.  The latest one, a Master Koon, was a worry-wart over something called a wolf-pack. 

Maul knew wolves.  Admittedly, he never heard of one native to Coruscant, but he did know that they were very good at looking after themselves, most of the time.  Anyways, he didn’t know if it was because they were Master Koon’s favorite wolf pack’s favorite snack, or because they were prone to hunting said wolves, but for some reason Master Koon became almost obsessed with tracking the movement of clones.  If you saw one you were expected to report it, and if you couldn’t identify the clone, he would become very upset.  This caused Master Yoda to give many sighs, and other Jedi to shake their heads quite often.  But it never led to a duel, or a murder!  Truly maddening!  

Chapter 20:  Signals

“Hello everyone,” a woman greeted them.  “I am Vice Chancellor Amidala, and I know that by now you are probably wondering why you have been segregated from the rest of the men, and what exactly we’ve been treating you for.”

She paused and Rex had a moment to think about what she meant by ‘rest of the men’ and he wondered just how many brothers he had.  

Appo and Jesse beside him shared similar looks of surprise.  Appo and Jesse were formerly designated Number one and Two, by him.  That was before the doctors came to talk to them and eventually someone told them their names.  

“The truth is, we were not treating you for an infection.  We were treating you for a chip.  It was one that was implanted into your heads when you were embryos, by a very evil man and the cloners he recruited somehow to use.”  She sounded very angry here.  “Anyway, these chips have been affecting the whole army, causing them to seclude and protect the Jedi, your former generals.”

The Jedi, that was a name he was starting to recognize with how often the doctors mentioned them.  If the image he saw on the holo-news program was one of these Jedi, he was very curious to meet one.  Though he suspected that, in fact as it may turn out, he already had.  He was in the image standing next to the Jedi, after all.    

“It also turns out that, because of your youth, when this chip was implanted into your brains, a lot of your memory went through the chip’s circuits.  They are still there, in your neural tissue.  It’s just that your brains don’t know how to retrieve them yet,”  She explained.  “We hope this is only temporary, but no one knows yet how long it will take.”

Prevously On:

“Hello Padme.  Can I get you anything?” Obi-Wan offered the tired mother.  

“I could use some protein.  Could you scramble me some eggs?” she asked.

“Sure.”  He went into the kitchen while she settled herself on the counter stool.  He grabbed a bowl and a fork to scramble the eggs with.  

“Thank you for this.  I have to get this paperwork finished, and Anakin has been so busy lately.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Obi-Wan huffed.  “Mace is teaching him Vaapad, or trying to, for that matter.  He’s complained that most Jedi don’t have the right balance to master the form.  It’s why he doesn’t regularly give lessons in it.  But Anakin wore him down and now he’s getting a lesson.”

“Mmm-hmm.  Are you jealous?” She asked in a way that said she already knew the answer.    

“Jealous… No… I’ve been trying to get Anakin to spend more time with Master Windu since the early days.  No.  They needed to talk, without the filters up, to actually communicate.  Now, they’re just making up for lost time, that's all.”  Obi-Wan stopped to pull the now finished eggs off of the stove.  

“Don’t worry,”  As Padme took the dish, she said, “You’re still his favorite.”  

Obi-Wan shocked himself, how hearing that made him smile. 

Chapter 19:  The Beginning

Where does life begin?  Does it begin in the grogginess as you are wiping the sand from your eyes.  Or does it begin before this, when your still unconscious mind is swaying between choices irrelevant to the waking one.  Our character is not sure, only that he feels his life has occurred before this point and that choices he made had consequences that were vast and awesome.  

“Uh-uuuuuuh,” Beside him, someone groans.  

He looks over and though he doesn’t recognize the face, he feels an immediate warmth.  “Brother,” he whispers, because it feels right.  

On his other side, a similar face nibbles on his thumb, still obviously asleep.   ‘Brother,’ He mentally labels him as well. 

Unsure what he should be doing, our character sits up and attempts to get out of bed.  He’s not sure where the impulses come from, but something is telling him he should be active immediately upon waking.  A sensor which pulls off from his movement, drops to the floor, and a loud beep goes off in the room.  

Suddenly there is a blur, as another figure comes in to turn off the beeping machine.  As our character stares at him, he squints, and the face comes into focus.  It’s clearly not a brother, as he doesn’t recognize the man.  

“Captain, Captain.” The figure repeats himself.  “Captain Rex.”

Our character is not sure who Not-Brother is talking to, but the name he used for him, Rex.  It feels right, in a weird way.  

“Captain, you’re waking up from treatment.  Can I ask you a few questions?...”  He pauses for a moment, but Rex doesn’t do more than tilt his head.  “What is your primary mission objective? Can you tell me?”

Rex closes his eyes as he tries to focus on what he’d last dreamt of.  It was full of figures in white, shooting to guard something.  “Protect, uh.  Protect everyone, I think.”  

“And the Jedi?” Not-Brother asks. 

“Ugh, I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”  Rex is forced to admit.  

Previously On:

“So Anakin,” the Master opened.  

His former Padawan was holding his infant son.  He looked up and waited.

“This chip,” Obi-Wan started.

Anakin rolled his eyes.  “Please, if this is about how stupid I was to get tagged by a Sith, with one of his perverted chips, I don’t want to hear it.”

“It’s not that.  I was just wondering, do you know if I should get a brainscan?  You know, Dooku had me captured and unconscious on more than one occasion.”

“No, I already had the healers do a thorough look at your head.  There’s no sign of a chip in there. Though there may be a few loose wires, old man.” Anakin teased.  

“Good, do you know what was in yours?  I can’t imagine a future where you’d turn evil and try to kill me,” Obi-Wan tried to laugh it off.

“Not yet.  Bail said they would be scanning the chip and I imagine he’ll come back to me to get it interpreted.  But that was a few days ago, and I haven’t heard from him yet.”

“Maybe he’s found another expert,” Obi-Wan suggested.

Anakin shrugged, “Maybe.”

Chapter 18: A New Solution

“Sir, may I have your signature here?”  As Bail walked into his office, the squeaky voice followed him.  It was an annoyance that followed his rise in position, the ever increasing responsibilities and duties of chancellor.  

He’d spent the night before being briefed on new insights their investigation into the clone chips was providing, and he was prepared to give the same to his committee, gathered here.  It was hard to keep track of certain neurological and immunological facts, which he needed to keep repeating, while he signed the documents on automatic.  

Chapter 17: Chapter 17:  Peace

Summary:

Previously on:   “C3:PO loves his life.  He has a good home, in a clean part of the city.  There is no sand to clog up his rotors, and no Jawas eying him with calculating eyes whenever he leaves the home base.  Tatooine was hard.  He’s so glad he’s not there anymore. Still, C3:PO wonders how he got here, when he steps off of the shuttle, into the dark underbelly of Coruscant.  Padme instructed him to find a figure smoking something in a long pipe called a death stick, the logic of meat bags sometimes, and purchase from him a packet of purplish powder.  It is a Dehydrated Mushroom powder.  C3:PO wishes the humans would have let him use the white mushrooms that were already in the kitchen, and fresh.  Apparently, they weren’t the right type of mushroom.  And his cooking wasn’t good enough for the Masters, either, as they also wanted him to pick up meals they’d ordered from a junky place too.  

Notes:

Content Warning:  The unintentional and intentionally hilarious use of drugs implied ahead. 

Chapter 17:  Peace

“AAAH!  Too bright.  Too bright.”  Windu put his hand in front of his face and started moaning.  

It was then Anakin realized that his shields had slipped. He awkwardly tried to pull them back up, but struggled.  It was like his mind had swollen and they just wouldn’t stick.  “I’m sorry,” he attempted to apologize.  

He was flooded with, not words, but thoughts sent back to him.  For some reason Master Windu had dropped his own shields as well.  

‘It’s okay, I’m starting to adjust.’ Windu’s internal voice said.  

‘Really, I didn’t try to do this.’  Anakin returned.

‘Have you ever had any of the mushrooms that grow in the Lothal swamplands?’ Windu asked.

‘No, we were there once, before the war.  But Master wouldn’t let me wander too far.  I was only a Padawan at the time.’ Anakin answered.  He wasn’t sure why Windu would be asking about mushrooms now, of all things.

‘They have this effect.  It’s a natural drug.  If you were not Force sensitive you’d just get a little high, but us.’

Previously On:   Grandmaster Yoda was on the Comms this morning when Master Windu called the Temple.   “Grandmaster, I’m sending you a lesson plan.  I think we should start teaching this immediately to everyone.  Take advantage of everyone being grounded templeside.” “Approve of this lesson plan, does Master Skywalker?” Yoda asked. “Well, uh…” Mace stammered.  “I haven’t actually asked his opinion yet.  But I’m very confident the lessons will help at least a third of the illegal attachments not reach a critical stage.” Yoda sighed.  “Suggest you seek Skywalker’s guidance, Amidala did.  Approve of you forming these plans with his assistance, I did.”   “Oh alright.  Alright.  I’ll ask him sometime today.”  Mace mumbled.  Yoda saw for a moment the teenager who didn’t want to study for his math final again.  Younglings, they do avoid growing up at times.  

Chapter 16: Conflict

Anakin walked up to his youngling’s nursery with a digital book in his hands.  Padme had to work that morning, so she left after a short breakfast.  He didn't feel like meditating, so he was proud of how stealthily he snuck past the other Jedi’s door.

His wife had been reading some youngling development books, and one of them she read out loud to him the night before.  It stressed the importance of reading to infants.  He understood that it didn't matter what you read to them.  Younglings Luke and Leia's age don't know enough Basic to understand it.  The important part is that it has to be in whatever language you want your younglings to learn.  So Anakin downloaded a document on the inner workings of a speeder.  It was the perfect reading material.

“Skywalker,” the abrupt use of his surname tore him back to reality.  

“What,” Anakin sighed.  He didn't even need to look up at the man.  He knew exactly who was talking to him.  Obi-Wan hadn't called him ‘Skywalker’ since their early years.  It was a habit he easily got rid of when he saw how it bothered his Padawan.

“Over here,” Windu summoned.  

Anakin sighed, but the Master was actually summoning him into the room he had been planning on entering anyway.  He supposed he should be thankful for that at least.

In the nursery, Windu pulled out a piece of flimsy.  “I've finished the reorienting of the lower floors.  Now all that's left is this room here.  I've sketched it all out, but I could use your help.”

“Uh-huh,” Anakin reached out for the notes.  It was a decent layout, with the changing table and wardrobe being next to each other.  Just, it would put the cribs on the other wall.  He stepped out to the hallway and called, “Three-pio.”

“Why are you summoning a protocol droid?” Master Windu probably thought he was shirking responsibilities, or being stupid.  In fact, the man probably goes around most days thinking Anakin is not the brightest tool in the shed.  It would be far less annoying if Anakin would stop being surprised by it.

“Unless you want to sit around all day while I painstakingly translate that into binary coding, we will need a droid to translate it, so the other droids can move the furniture.”

“Oh, I was going to suggest you help me move the cabinet,” Windu sounded surprised.  

“And who do you expect is going to hold Luke and Leia during the move?”  Anakin asked.  Windu’s eyebrows shot up.  He clearly hadn’t thought of that yet.  “I was planning on reading to them this morning.  I can do that while the furniture is moved.”

Windu nodded.  “I had a selection transferred from the Creche library.  You can select your reading material from there.”

“Actually, I had already chosen an article to read.” Anakin handed him the datapad he carried.

The master looked at its contents and made a face.  “This isn't even Aurebesh!” 

“No, it's binary.  Learning to talk to droids is a very valuable skill, if they decide to do anything technical.”

Windu tilted his head and made another funny expression.  “I guess, given your own talents, it is a likely hobby,” he agreed.  “But I think you should still start with the Jedi Codex.  It is fundamental and we don't want them to be behind the Temple raised younglings.”

Chapter 15:  The Surgery

“Mfff Ahhhhh.” Master Anakin cries out as Mistress Padme answers the door.  

Why C3:PO can’t be the one to answer the door, he still doesn’t get.  Urgency is in his programming after all.  But to Mistress Padme’s insistence, he stands beside Master Anakin and “Tends” to his fake illness.  

“He’s right in here.” Padme tells the men who arrive.  

“Kix,” Anakin mumbles in greeting to the clone medic who bends down to examine him.  

The clone doesn’t so much as blink in recognition of the designation.  Perhaps someone should send these clones back for reprogramming, C3:PO thinks.  It cannot possibly be the intended behavior.  

The clone medic pulls out a device meant to scan his patient, then becomes confused.  “It’s not working.”  

Padme says,  “He was doing something technical before the pain started.  I ah, don’t know how to turn it off.”  Of course the pair had anticipated someone bringing a medical scanning device, and Anakin broke a T-Cell on purpose because it would interfere with any scanners they might use.  

“Based on the symptoms he is presenting, I’d diagnose him with Acute Appendicitis.  Immediate surgery is the suggested treatment.”  The clone moves to pull out a scalpel, only to be blocked by Chancellor Organa.  

“Absolutely not.  The risks of doing a surgery here are too high.  I insist we bring him to Coruscant General.  I have already arranged for a surgeon of the highest skillset to receive him.” 

“Alright, do a Status Check on the remaining four Jedi.”  The one standing next to the Chancellor, who C3:PO remembers being referred to as Fox, orders.  

“The twins are sleeping in that room.  Do NOT wake them!” Padme uses her stern voice.  

The troopers open that door quietly to visually check on the babies.  Then they bang down the other doors, startling the Jedi who were in the middle of a comm call.  

“Aaaaaah, pain.  Please, take me to the Hospital!”  Anakin tries.  

It seems to work, as two clones come up to Anakin and transfer him to a stretcher.  Then they lift him off of the couch.  

Before Padme follows them out, she turns to C3:PO and tells him, “Mind the Twins while I’m gone, and don’t try explaining this to the others.  We will explain everything when we return.”  

Obi-Wan sat next to Mace as they waited for the jedi in the temple to set up the confessional.  A chair was placed across from him,in their room, which the holo Maul would use.  Sure, technically holo’s don’t need chairs, but it looks strange to have them sitting on nothing, especially with a cheaper device that didn’t project holos of everything in the room with them.  

Then the former Sith was led into the room.  Obi-Wan was surprised at first not to see cuffs on his wrists or chains around his neck.  Still, he supposed there were temple guards nearby.  Probably just out of reach of the cameras.  Still, he glared at Maul, as he made himself comfortable.  

“We have gathered here, open minded, to hear the confessions of the one known as ‘Maul.’  I, Jedi Master Mace Windu, was Head of the Order at the time he is accused of killing Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and the last time he is known to have worked for the Sith.  Beside me is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the former Padawan to Qui-Gon Jinn, the one most aggrieved by the accused’s alleged actions.” Mace started.  

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.  He was not open minded, okay.  He was never going to forgive the monster for killing his Master,the one who taught him, nor for Satine, his lover.  Not even for Master Gallia, though it was Savage’s blade that took her life, he was working with his brother at the time.  They could both be held responsible under Republic law.

“I suppose it is time for me to speak,” Maul sounded like his mouth was full of marbles.  His voice was gruff from not wanting to be here, Obi-Wan supposed.  

Previously On:  

Bail dialed the number onto the keypad.  In a few seconds, a face came up.  “Ms. Retrac,” he greeted.  

“Your Highness,” Sheltay bowed her head slightly.  “I assume you’ve talked with the Jedi.  Do they have a new interpretation to these events?”  

“Yes, actually, they were able to speed things up dramatically.  I now know the chips contain two orders, order one was a default order to sequester and protect, largely what they are doing now.  Order two, however, would have had them shooting to kill at all Jedi.  That would’ve been a devastating catastrophe.  They also asked me if there was any sign of an immune system response to these chips in the clones.”

“How horrible.  I don’t think there’s been any immune response.   I mean, I was there during the autopsy.  The surgeon mentioned no swelling.  And the chip was whole when we analyzed it.”  

“Yes, I was afraid of that.”

“Still, it’s an oddly specific question to ask,” Sheltay noticed.  

“It turns out that one of their own was slipped a chip, similar to this.  The only difference is, it seems, his immune system is fighting against the chip.”

“That could be a valuable find.  If we can get a look at this chip, compare it to the ones in the clones, we might be able to come up with a treatment.”

“And we come to my second conundrum of the day.  How to get a surgeon in to see a Jedi?”

“My Celchu had a bad appendix once.  They had to race to get him to the hospital to get it taken out.  If your Jedi has a similar issue, Fox might not be able to think about what to do.  If you correctly press on the urgency and life saving buttons, he might let you bring him to an ER.”

“We’ll just need to get a message to the doctor in time, so he knows what operation he’s really doing.”  Bail agreed.

“Even if you should fail, the appendix is not a necessary organ anyway.” Sheltay shrugged.

Chapter 13: Agreement 

“Hey Angel, did Bail message yet.”  Anakin stuck his head into her office to ask.

Padme reluctantly looked at her comlink.  “No,” Thankfully the device read zero messages.  

“Oh, last time we spoke, when we gave him the results of the chip analysis, he said he’d be talking to Fox today.”

“I know, Ani.  I’ll tell you as soon as he messages me.”  Padme wished Fox would refuse their request.  She knew it might become something she would regret, especially if the twins ever got sick.  Yet still, the thought of her husband having brain surgery in whatever rickety, makeshift operating room they’d likely put together, filled her with anxiety.

She knew her husband was successful in persuading Bail to try, with his comment on not trusting himself around their babies.  The man had a weakness for fathers being separated from their children.  She would be sympathetic too.  It's just that Anakin was her husband.  She knew he was stronger than any chip.  Nothing could make him hurt them.  She believed this, one hundred percent!

“Thanks Love,” Anakin kissed her. “What's wrong?” Did he notice the guilty look she was having?  She wasn't lying exactly.  If Bail texted she would inform him…eventually.

“Nothing, I just have a lot of work to do.” 

“Okay, love you honey.” As always that excuse worked.  If anything, it was easy to get her husband to not want to talk about something.  Make it about politics.

“Love you back,” she kissed him again.  Then turned to her workstation.  She could hear Mace sigh from the hallway outside, and she blushed.  Padme supposed she should feel pity for the older Jedi.  They must be very unused to lovers as demonstrative as Anakin can sometimes be.  

Of course she wouldn't suggest anything to her Ani.  She knows the only reason they haven't been making out in the main room is because, thankfully, Obi-Wan hasn't shown this level of discomfort yet.  If he had, her husband would be trying to make him as uncomfortable as possible.  Those two have the craziest of relationships.  

“Oh, and remember to get them to initial each amendment, in addition to signing at the bottom.” Padme reminded her husband.  

Previously On:

When Master Windu was taken from the Temple, the other council members grouped together to provide what the Master had long done. It was a job that Shaak took seriously: Looking after the elderly Grandmaster. In fact this job was the reason she was sent to the opposite side of the temple, only to need to turn around and come back here when her wayward ward was spotted. She volunteered for this role, she reminded herself.  

“Grandmaster, what are you working on there?” She asked.  

Shaak leaned over and read the first lines of text. “We the Jedi Order do hereby promise to allow parental attachments for initiate Skywalker. This includes both Anakin Skywalker, the acknowledged father and Padme Naberrie Amidala, the mother…” 

“Are you getting ahead of yourself, she hasn't responded to our offer yet. And why does this sound like a contract?”

“Better to be ahead than behind.” Yoda wittily responded. “A politician, the mother is. These things in writing, she will want.”

“Oh, and you're just getting it ready for when she does.” Shaak filled in. “Shouldn't we hire a lawyer to draft this flimsy-work?” 

“A wonderful tool the holonet is. Learn a lot of things on it, you can,” Yoda replied.  

Shaak ruffled the hair on his head. She loved the old Jedi a lot. He was always doing things to help the younglings in the creche. Even the ones who weren’t yet in the creche. Curse any being who would make the grandmaster live without his younglings. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll send this to Master Jocasta Nu. She will be able to get a real lawyer over the Holonet to look at it. Why don’t you and I go down to the Creche? I think Master Beq has a class about to finish lightsaber practice now. I bet they would love to hear one of your stories.

Chapter 12: Regrets and Revelations 

“And that’s everything our regulations would alter,” Mace finished. “But, I would also suggest a few modifications to the lower floors.” He added. “To allow dark side energy to flow out of the space easier.”

“Dark side energy. I don’t like the sound of that.” Amidala mumbled.

“It shouldn’t be surprising. We are in an old Sith’s home.” Mace continued. “But the younglings have been shielded by all three of us since they left the Temple, and with some minor modifications, we should be able to get rid of much of it. Of course I’ll need to see the lower floors to say more specifically.”

Chapter 11:  The Transfer

C3:PO goes over his to do list.  It is a lot of work, re-orienting to a new space.  A lot of things, which he still needs to unpack, are in crates and boxes in the apartment.  At the mistress’s request, he put special focus on assembling the little Master and Mistress’ room first.  It was organized in a way the holonet media he’d consulted suggested was best for a human infant.  Though this droid doesn’t have the experience in his memory files to know for certain.  C3:PO hopes it will be sufficient.  

The Master and Mistress’s room is filled with boxes of clothing he’d meant to put away, but he wouldn’t be able to now, not before Mistress Padme returns from the Temple.  He still needs to unpack most of the kitchen goods, and to prepare the noon meal.  

C3:PO runs down his list of recipes for one that requires the least supplies to prepare.  Then he goes over his internal list of boxes to find the ones with the items he needs.  They are already in the new kitchen space, so he goes there.  Opening the first box, the droid shrieks.  “This is not how I specified.”  He goes to the next box.   “Neither is this one.  The Bubble Brained Hydrosnakes, nothing is packed according to my instructions.”  The Mistress had insisted on hiring a moving company to pack up their things.  C3:PO puts writing a particularly nasty review for their online profile on his to-do list, then goes to comm Master Organa’s droid.  Master Organa offered to pay for take-out meals for them, and though C3:PO would not want to ruin his mistress’s figure with grubbage, he knows now that he doesn’t have any other options.    

Chapter 10:  Trouble Jedi

Anakin ran into the Council room.  He knew he was late, and he knew it would irritate some in that room.  

“I vote in the affirmative,” Obi-Wan whispered.  This time he strangely did not criticize Anakin for being late.  

“I’m sorry.  What are we voting on?”  Anakin sat down and glanced around the room to try and get to business.  Strangely most of the others looked down or away.  Plo barely held eye contact for more than a split second.  

“It doesn’t matter.  I think we have enough votes to run it.”  Windu said.  “Skywalker, you’re late!”  

Anakin closed his eyes hard.  “I know Master, and I’m sorry.”

“Are you even prepared for this role?  You know a lot of your fellow…”

Anakin couldn’t stand listening to the Old Master berate him anymore.  He stood up and walked closer to the knight’s chair, coincidentally standing just a step away from the center of the ring of Masters.  “I DO KNOW!  I know that the decisions we make here affect more than just the Twelve of us.  I know we have a lot on our plate now, besides my difficulty finding a youngling sitter.  And I know that I was never your favorite candidate for the role!” Anakin took one step forward, during his rant.  Suddenly the lights clicked off.  “Huh!”

Anakin looked back to the control panel by the door, which controlled the room’s lights, amongst other things.  No one was standing in front of it.  He then turned back to face the Jedi, when he heard the sound of lightsabers activating behind him.  Everyone slowly pulled out and activated their lightsabers.  Anakin took a large breath.  

“Knight Skywalker, kneel.” Master Windu commanded.  

Anakin had read about prior council members who had been unseated, and he never read anything as dramatic as this happening to them.  Of course all they had in the archives were dates and names.  The ones that he always imagined to be more dramatic were the ones corresponding to a banishment and a degradation as well.  That couldn’t be what was happening here now, was it?  Of course a couple weeks ago he would have expected them to react to his attachments like this, but then they found out and no one reacted at all.  There was all that talk about an exception.  Anakin bent over and he reached down to pull out his lightsaber.  Windu hadn’t mentioned it, but if this was a degradation, it would come next.  

“Keep your saber,” Windu sighed.  Anakin quickly reattached it.  The man had always been a stickler for routine, and he hadn’t asked for it yet.

Suddenly the Masters around the room started to speak.  They all spoke as one, though when Anakin tried to reach out via the meditation exercises Windu had taught him, he didn’t sense anything.  So this must not be another meld.  "We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed."

“Skywalker,” Mace began.  “To become a knight, one must only pass their trials, but it is our goal to go beyond that.  To imbue Skill, Courage, Spirit, and Insight at all times is an achievement rarely seen by those who haven’t raised a Padawan to knighthood.”  

This was it.  Anakin winced.  He was going to have his knightly status berated by the Master in front of him.  

The lightsaber Windu was holding came down towards Anakin’s shoulders.  The only thing that kept him from flinching were the troopers who had insisted on standing guard inside the temple in recent days.  There were two in that room at the moment, and if they refused to let anyone kill Maul, surely they’d defend him, as well.  “By the right of the council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee, Master.  Master Skywalker, you may rise.”

Chapter 9:  Dad-Mode

Ahsoka leaned back, waiting for the healers to release her.  She understood them doing a standard physical, once she returned to the Temple.  She even understood Anakin following the healers around her, making sure they did what they had to.  She just wasn’t sure when the standard physical began to include a brain scan, and full body x-rays.  

Obi-Wan was given much the same in his own turn.  He was never the most cooperative of patients.  She heard him arguing with the healers and Jedi through the closed door between them.  She even heard him yell “Anakin” at least once.  So Skyguy was being super protective of him too.  

“Master Che,” Ahsoka greeted the head healer who walked up to her.

“Pada- Citizen Tano, you will be pleased to hear that you are completely healthy.  There is no sign of a chip in your brain, or any Sith manipulations.  Please tell your Master that we were VERY thorough.” 

“That's great, can I leave?” Ahsoka got up mid question.  She was eager to learn what the Council was planning.  

“Yes, you are released.” She answered.

Ahsoka ran out the door.  She was never a big fan of the healers either.  

“Stop,” went a familiar voice.  “Just where're you heading off to, Snips?”

“I was released.” She announced.

Anakin didn't seem satisfied.  He looked at her through squinted eyes.

From behind her, Master Che nodded.  “Yes, they are both cleared.” 

Behind Anakin, Obi-Wan sighed.

“No wait, are you sure? Because if there is anything else you want to test for, it would be better to run it now.” Anakin reached out to block Obi-Wan from leaving.  “He's not easy to get into the halls, and I won't always be able to strong-arm him.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and sighed very dramatically.

Master Che answered, “We have run every test we are able to, on both of them.  I found no evidence that the Sith did anything nefarious to either of my patients.  Should that change, I'm sure Master Kenobi will do the responsible thing and report it,” she said with a well practiced glare.

“Yes, Master Che,” Obi-Wan consented.

“Of course, Master,” Ahsoka added, even though she wasn't specified in the demand.

Chapter 8:  Homecoming

Mace huffed and he rolled his eyes.  It was the morning of the day most of the Council was due to return, if their estimates were accurate.  He'd prepared a little greeting party for the Masters in the Council Chambers.

Of course he'd prefer to have the Skywalker Younglings at said party, but the healers had to object.  Infants don't have a full immune system yet.  And Vocara threw a fit when she found out that Caleb saw the twins before she had seen him.  Thankfully he was completely healthy.  Still, her wrath was best avoided, Mace had learned that the hard way.

Still, just because the younglings couldn't be here, it doesn't excuse their father from attending.  “I’ll go check on him,” Master Kolar said.  

“I think he’s just nervous about the confession,” said Master Fisto.  

“You did tell him about the exception?” asked Master Tiin.

“Yes, he knows about that,” Mace replied.  

Suddenly their conversation ended because a door opened and a short green figure walked into the room.  “Good to finally be home, it is.” said Master Yoda.  He helped himself to one of the shelled fish off the center table Mace had laid out for them, and then he sat down on his usual council seat.  “What news, is there?”

The other door opened and Skywalker finally rushed in.  Mace thought this was good timing.  “As you’ve read in the reports, it was Skywalker who reported Palpatine to us.  His perceptiveness should be commended, I think.”  

‘What was that reaction, did he just blush?’ Mace questioned himself.  ‘Surely this can’t be the first time I’ve complimented him.’ 

“Yes, very fortunate that was,” Yoda replied.

“Ah, greetings Grandmaster.  How was your trip?” Skywalker said.  

“Interesting, it was.  A surprise, I brought.”  Master Yoda got up and started walking back to the door he had come through.  Mace and Skywalker just shared a bewildered look.  

He let in a man and woman that looked faintly familiar to Mace, along with an infant youngling.  The man hovered protectively over the woman who carried the baby.  Both of them came in nervously, and stood next to the table Mace had set up with his appetizers.  The usual location one stands in when presented before the Council.

“On Kashyyyk, I was.  See all Jedi, even former Jedi, the same, troopers now do.”

“That’s who you are.” Mace suddenly recognized the former knights in front of him.  “Kento Merek, and Mallie Adis.”  Both knights had come before the council almost nine months ago to resign from the order.  “You ended up on Kashyyyk?”

“Yes, helping the Wookies, they were.  And saw him use the Force, a trooper in my unit did.  If the same misunderstanding, other troopers make, alter our ways, we will have to.”

“Yes, I'm sure the housing office can assign them a room.” Mace said.

“Perhaps in the west wing.  It's where other guests and refugees have stayed in the past,” suggested Master Shaak Ti.

This idea made the Grandmaster nod his head.  “Yes.  Skywalker, help watch little Galen, will you?  While to the housing office, Merek and Adis go?” Yoda turned to address Skywalker directly.

“Of course.  Hello, I’m Anakin.”  Skywalker proceeded to greet the newcomers and the baby.  “Come little guy, I've got a couple friends for you to meet.”

“Good practice for him, it will be,” Yoda hummed to Mace.  

Chapter 7:  Upset

Anakin rocked Leia.  He'd just fed her, changed her, and boosted the shielding he tried to keep up around the twins.   And yet she wouldn't settle.

This felt like the night.  He had learned the meditation Master Windu was trying to teach him, so much that he finally felt safe taking care of his younglings for the night.  Master Windu agreed.  No, beat that!  He actually looked pleased when Anakin brought it up.  

“Oh, come on little princess.  What's keeping you up?” 

Luke wailed from the other cot.  

“I know little buddy.  It's hard to sleep when your sister's being so loud.” Anakin tried to whisper to his other twin.  It wasn't working.  Nothing was working.  He was such a bad parent.