Chapter Fifty One

While the Jedi slept, Darth Maul was busy, taking the lay of the land here on Tatooine, trying to calm some of his worries about there being so many Jedi here. While the one whose presence he discerned to be Master Fay was not a physical threat, Dooku certainly was, and together they could almost have been chosen to find Maul and bring him to battle.

The Rule of Two and the professional paranoia it had imparted to the Sith had kept them alive since the New Sith Wars. And Maul was, despite being a blunt object in many ways, still a student of that school. Could their presence mean that someone somehow had been able to get an accurate Force vision and predict my presence?

Thankfully, within a few hours of looking through the minds of the planet's inhabitants here and there in different towns, Maul realized this was not the case. Instead, it was pure chance that had brought this many Jedi here at this time. The injuries to the Nabooan yacht his target had taken had forced them to land here while other Jedi were here to deal with an entirely separate mission. According to his sources a Jedi had been captured while trying to spy on Jabba the Hutt and these other Jedi had arrived to rescue them.

That at least was all that was known to the few of Gardulla's enforcers he found. The news of Jabba's death had yet to reach the general populace, but Gardulla was already looking to consolidate what remained of Jabba's local holdings into her own.

On the whole, Jabba's death was not an issue. He could have become a threaten in time if he had succeeded in expanding into Black Sun's operations throughout the Republic, but even then he wouldn't have been a threat to Maul or his master.

More worrisome was the fact that there were no useful pawns on hand that Maul could turn to the Jedi. There were certainly ruffians and cutthroats aplenty, but none of them were worth anything. He would've had to promise to pay them in any event or directly manipulate all of their minds, an ability he was not very good at, to get them to help. The only local help he could look for might be from Gardulla, but Maul had read his master's profile on her. That one wasn't going to stick her head out after what happened to Jabba, and approaching her openly as he would have to, given the Hutt's immunity to mind tricks, was a risk Maul was unwilling to run.

Maul growled low under his breath as he returned to his ship, his fingers twitching in impotent fury. No, there were too many Jedi here. Take Dooku out of the equation and Maul might have been willing to attack anyway, but with the Makashi dueling master here there was no way Maul could attack the Jedi without being overwhelmed.

He stared off into the distance towards the ship his quarry had used to arrive on planet, which was situated on the far side of Mos Espa. Would an attack on their ship work? I could kill at least the padawan that was left there that way…

No, Maul decided after a moment. Attacking him would serve no purpose, especially given the Jedi's ability to communicate feelings and impressions from padawan to master. It would still warn the Order there was a Dark Side user involved in the Naboo issue at the very least.

Laying in ambush on Naboo however, that he might be able to do if his master allowed it. Certainly these Jedi won't stay together for the rest of this mission, I will have another opportunity. Mere luck has saved you this time, but I will have you eventually.

Moments later the daggerlike black-hulled vessel lifted off the ground, heading towards space, leaving no hint of its presence or that of its master behind.

OOOOOOO

Aayla and Harry had fallen asleep outside, cocooned in both their cloaks and the same type of heating technique Harry had made such profligate use of years ago when he first arrived on Ryloth, leaning back against the outer wall of the Skywalker's place. They were still asleep as Lily poked her head through the wall directly over them, looking down with a fond smile on her face. They're so cute, I wish I had a camera.

Behind her Master Fay finished waking up, a quick process for any Jedi. Jedi never seemed to go through the whole 'where I am I, what time is it can I go back to bed for a few minutes' that most people seemed to have to deal with. Instead they came to full wakefulness almost immediately and Lily often wondered if this was because of their being connected to the Force as a whole, or because of their mental discipline. She supposed it didn't matter, and with an ethereal shrug Lily set that topic aside. "Harry and Aayla are both outside, I don't suppose you have a camera on you Fay?"

"I'm afraid not Lily," Fay said, smiling up at her friend, then looking around as Master Dooku came out of the small corner he had ensconced himself in the evening before. Master Qui-Gon too roused himself swiftly, coming out of the tiny kitchen where he had slept the evening before. "Why, do they paint a particularly cute picture?"

"Oh yes, however I am still going to give them the Talk later on." Lily caroled a surprisingly evil grin on her face.

"Why in the world would you want to do that?" Fay asked her eyes slightly wide now. "We've given Harry some of the Talk already, and Aayla will surely know about the biological side of things in excruciating detail. Explaining it and the birthing process as clinically as possible is part of how the Order indoctrinates younglings into ignoring the pleasures of the flesh."

Both Dooku and Qui-Gon frowned at the use of the word 'indoctrinate'. It had bad connotations, and they didn't like hearing it used for the Jedi training. Still, neither could actually argue with the fact that scaring them straight was a part of the normal way the Council of First Knowledge tried to 'help' the Jedi trainees going through puberty.

"I know, but that's the clinical side of things, not the emotional, not the do's and don'ts of dating." Lily replied, still smiling, though it had changed from an evil expression into a tender one for a moment. . "What they have is precious, and I don't know enough about their bond to say they could screw it up somehow. So it's best to make certain they know they shouldn't try to rush things or other more common ways of screwing up a relationship." Then the teasing glint was back in her eyes. "Besides, it'll be fun."

"Torture by any other name Madame Lily is not allowed by the Jedi Order which means I should stop you, on the other hand you are not a part of the Order lady, so I would merely ask you to keep the bloodletting to a minimum, " Qui-Gon said with a rueful chuckle, causing his former master to snort in amusement. A second later the Force Ghost he had been introduced to as Lily Potter left, allowing him and Dooku to turn to their plans for the day.

Inside Qui-Gon was wondering how this would go. Knowing now that Anakin was the Chosen One, Qui-Gon wondered if he had perhaps been a little too quick to agree that they would purchase Shmi from Watto as well. After all, it would not do for the Chosen One to still retain any kind of exterior attachment that could get in the way of his destiny.

But Dooku and the others would probably not agree with leaving her behind if we have the means to purchase her, and the very idea of leaving a slave in chains when we don't have to leaves a bad taste in my mouth as well. We will simply have to try to distance them physically. That should be simple enough.

He looked up as he saw Padme coming out of the small electronic workshop where she had been bedded down with Fay earlier. Fay of course had woken up far quicker than Padme, and now the young girl was walking forward, with her hands outstretched and her eyes squinted as if she was trying to see something in the distance. "What are you doing Padme?"

"Since I heard you talking to her I assumed Lady Lily was still around. Wouldn't it be rude for me to walk through her?" The currently in disguise queen of Naboo was still somewhat bemused by the idea of ghosts being real, but with the others talking to Lily most of last night, she had no choice but to accept their existence.

Lily laughed. "Don't worry about that child," she said reaching down to pat Padme on the head. As she had known it would, her hand passed right through, and Padme made no sign of having felt anything.

Fay chuckled as well, shaking her head at her friend's antics. "Don't worry Padme," she relayed to Padme. "You would not be the first person to walk through Lily like that, she is quite used to it."

"If you're sure?" Padme said, then looked around as Anakin, who had his own closet-sized room smiled at her, then looked around for the other Jedi as Lily turned away and made her way through the outer wall once more.

"I see you're still clothed at least."

Outside his mother's voice woke Harry up with a start, and Harry jumped, nearly dislodging Aayla from where she was sleeping against his chest to stare up at Lily, seeing one eyebrow arced in sardonic amusement. "What, I mean, of course we are Mum!"

"Don't 'of course we are mum' me young man," Lily said, trying to keep a frown on her face and failing somewhat as she looked at the two young people. "I know what hormones are like at that age dear. I lived in a boarding house for seven years after all. In fact, I had my own boyfriend when I was around 15, his name was Dexter Tomasion, and he was very nice Muggleborn Ravenclaw from Italy. But I would say I wasn't nearly as adventurous as your father was at that age…"

"Oh by the Force no…" Harry moaned, realizing where this was going.

"I realize that your hormones are going to be telling you both to hurry your relationship along as fast as possible," she said, smirking down at them both as Aayla too realized what was going on, her blue skin paling considerably. "But as we don't want any issues coming around nine months from now or indeed for oh, fifteen more years or so, I feel I should talk about the do's and don'ts of dating with you both."

Harry and Aayla quickly scrambled away from one another, entering the room that constituted the majority of the Skywalker house, with Lily following them. But if they had hoped to find a reprieve from her teasing, they were sadly disappointed. "A general rule of thumb is that going slow is never a bad thing, nor is setting rules from the outset. Things like your clothing needs to stay entirely on for at least the first four months or so, what you can and are not comfortable with in public, that sort of thing."

To one side Dooku was resolutely ignoring everything around him in favor of sipping from a bottle of caff that he had brought along purposefully for the mornings. He could wake up as fast as any Jedi of course, but that didn't mean he liked it these days.

Next to Dooku at the small table Shmi looked across at Qui-Gon questioningly as the two young people continued to cringe and look dyspeptic at whatever the Force Ghost was saying to them. She still couldn't see the Force Ghost of course, but given the conversation they had last night with Master Fay relaying her words, she no longer had any doubts of Lily's existence. "I confess I do not know much about the Jedi Order, but I thought you weren't allowed to have children or any kind of attachments to anything but the Order, like monks who have taken vows of celibacy."

There was in fact an order of monks on Tatooine called the Order of the Vast Way. They had a small hold in the mountains, far away from everyone. They seemed to get on well enough with the Tusken Raiders, but kept to themselves for the most part.

"The Jedi Order does indeed follow the way of abstaining from physical pleasures," said Qui-Gon, looking somewhat wistful as he too stared at the two youngsters. "However, as I understand it Harry was born to a small dying sect of Force users hence why his mother was able to have him in the first place. As for Young padawan Secura and padawan Potter's connection, I am afraid I do not know how that came about or why Master Fay does not seem to be discouraging it."

This was the story Lily and Fay had come up with over the years to explain the two Earthers. . And neither Harry nor Aayla had used any of their special powers in front of Qui-Gon beyond the space expanded bag Harry always kept on him with food in it for when they were away from Fay's ship. Harry had come to trust Master Dooku somewhat, but Qui-Gon was an almost entire unknown at this point.

Knowing that last was actually a question directed at her Fay replied, her voice serene sipping from a cup of local tea which Shmi had prepared for the two of them upon waking up. "I would sooner try to discourage a hurricane and would have more luck in doing so. You can feel it can you not? Their bond is made of the Light Side of the Force!"

"I can, if barely, my ability to sense such things is not up to yours Master Fay." Qui-Gon replied dubiously. Fay's ability to sense such things was among the best in the Order, something that was part of the woman's legend within the Temple's halls. "But that does not change the facts that such attachments are forbidden within the Order. Not just physical but emotional attachments can lead to the Dark Side, no matter how much true 'love' or affection exists between them."

"Pity," Shmi said, with a smirk at Qui-Gon, unwilling to allow the Jedi to start talking about such serious things right now. "Jedi stamina is the stuff of legends and I'd have liked to see if that carried over into other… endeavors."

As Qui-Gon actually blinked in shock at that Shmi went on wistfully. "Although I will say Aayla is a lucky girl, Harry reminds me of this lover I had once, the same shade of hair at least and the same roguish smile. But those eyes of his, they're enough to make a girl swoon all on their own…" All this was said with a sly smirk on her face and a sideways glance to her son, who was now looking pained.

Seeing this and realizing it could be a way out of his own predicament Harry quickly said, "Come on Anakin, let's get breakfast ready, its most important meal of the day right?!." So saying he quickly sped past the younger boy into the small kitchen, though the giggles of Shmi and Lily both followed the young Force users.

Anakin quickly scrambled after him, thankful that Lily had let Harry go for now. "Er, thanks for that."

"No problem Ani," Harry said before closing his eyes, quickly centering himself. "Mothers are pure innocent beings who give birth through immaculate conception," he said aloud, not realizing the irony in that statement though in the main room Qui-Gon was close enough to overhear this and had to bite down on a guffaw.

"That works," Anakin said with a jerky nod. "Yes I think I can keep a hold of that image now." Then he leaned forward, whispering. "I can't understand how you deal with a mother that follows you around like that, it would drive me mad!"

Harry laughed, ruffling his hair, trying to push down a spurt of jealousy. Shmi could hug her son after all for more than a few seconds, could hold his hand, could physically protect him at least somewhat even though they were both slaves. And Anakin had known her all his life, he didn't have eleven years of solitude and sadness, with only a single memory of his mother screaming at someone to take her instead of him to hold onto.

A sharp mental prod from Aayla brought Harry back to the here and now and he pushed his jealousy away quickly. He sent a feeling of grateful thanks back to Aayla, who nodded back. After all, she had never known a father or mother, and they had each other and Lily now, so wasn't that the important thing?

"I'm a mama's boy," Harry said aloud, "and the good of her being around far outweighs the bad. In fact up to a few moments ago I'd have been hard pressed to think of anything bad about having my Mum around," he said, mock glaring over at Lily who had finally followed the boys into the kitchen. In reply she merely smirked, leaning down to bus his cheek with her ethereal lips.

"Since you have all gotten this morning's comedy routine out of your system, I think it is indeed time for us to plan out our day," Dooku said drolly. He looked at Aayla then through the open doorway into the small kitchen at Harry. The two of them no longer seemed to be fighting the urge to look at one another, and seemed far more centered than they had been the day before. Best to make certain however. "I trust the two of you are over your reaction to once more meeting one another?"

"Yes Master Dooku," Harry and Aayla said as one, before looking at one another and sharing a laugh.

"It was just, we spent so many years apart and could talk so rarely, we had a lot to catch up on up here," Aayla went on tapping her forehead. "We're over it now." What she didn't say was that there was now a small constantly open back door between their minds, connecting their mindscapes through their bond. That was no one's business but their own, for now. Though Aayla knew they might well face opposition from the Order as a whole because of it.

Aayla sat down at the tiny table as Harry and Anakin came out of the small kitchen with the food Harry had prepared. Most of it had come from his expanded bag, a project Lily and Fay had completed while taking a break from working on Fay's ship. Anakin had seen Harry use the bag last night, but it was still wondrous to him.

Not so much the fact that Harry could do it, Harry was after all a Jedi padawan, and Jedi could do anything in Anakin's mind. No, it was the variety and the fact that there was actual meat in the food, making it a hearty meal rather than a soup or something else accompanied by cheap bread.

Padme flushed slightly as Harry sat across from her, sending a grin her way before nudging Aayla with his elbow and holding out a plate of something that looked like small cherries but not quite. They were a pink color rather than red, and seemed to have a hard rind to them as well. Aayla beamed in turn, smacking her shoulder against Harry's for a second as she took two of them, peeling the rind off the small items expertly before popping them into her mouth. "Kelu berries, they're really good," she said, holding out the plate to Padme.

Nodding in thanks Padme reached out as the others all grabbed their own meal. At one side of the small table Dooku had immediately begun to question Fay about their plans for the day, and Fay had promised to meditate once more on the near future while he and Qui-Gon dealt with Watto. Qui-Gon in turn was speaking to Anakin. He was so intent on questioning the youth he didn't even seem to notice the food in front of them.

With the skill of a trained diplomat to listen to multiple conversations at once, Padme heard Fay say "And I trust that you will be able to try to do so peacefully?"

"We will certainly endeavor to do so, but Tatooine is technically within the environs of the Republic. If we have to we can simply point out that slavery is illegal, and as a known slaver Watto's rights to retain his 'property' go out the airlock. I am not in the mood or see any need for us to tread lightly on this planet any further." Dooku replied grimly.

While that sounded good to Padme, she had a hard time concentrating on that, or even on the plate in front of her. Those eyes of Harry's and his handsome face was still enchanting to her. I am not used to feeling jealousy towards another woman, but I have to admit that I am somewhat jealous about Aayla and her connection to Harry. It seems the sort of thing out of a fairytale.

Thankfully Anakin broke Padme out of her momentary stupor as Qui-Gon's attention was taken by his former master. The young boy began to talk excitedly about what kind of planets he'd like to see when he became a Jedi, finishing with, "But anyway, what I wanted to ask is what kind of planet Naboo is Padme?"

Padme smiled wanly and answered as best she could while the meal went on and Dooku and Qui-Gon left on their mission. "I would say it is an idyllic world in many ways. We have a magnificent climate, which allows us to grow enough food to feed our own population, with large oceans, vast plains suitable for farming, and a few scattered mountains. Naboo is all green, blue and water from above, a pristine world which has never felt the touch of overcrowding, over industry or any other excess which might have harmed its environment. We are an ancient people, with an ancient and storied history, mostly one of peace, showcased in our architecture, our cities are a wonder of history. Naboo is not a powerful planet, but we are self-sufficient.

"Of course," she said after finishing describing Naboo, "For all our beauty, we are still now under the heel of a conqueror at present. And I still don't understand why the Trade Federation has done this! Her majesty's government might have been looking into other means of transporting our goods elsewhere into the rest of the Republic, but their monopoly on trade doesn't mean they can simply and invade any planet that looks for alternate solutions to purchasing space with them!"

"Don't worry," Harry said reaching over the table to pat Padme's hand. "The Senate will have to act once you arrived on the city in person won't they?"

Padme nodded resolutely, flushing ever so slightly at the contact. "That is what my queen expects, and why we are in such a rush to get to Coruscant."

Nearby Fay rolled her eyes which Lily caught and she leaned down. "What?"

"Young Padme is hiding a bit of a royal secret so to speak," Fay said out of the corner of her mouth.

Lily's eyebrows rose in surprise and Fay shrugged. "She is in fact the Queen of Naboo under a very thin disguise at present. I don't know who Padme think she's fooling. Any Jedi could read her body language, tone of voice and presence as being that of someone of importance."

Lily frowned. "I haven't gotten that actually, although now that you mention it, she does seem a little bit… imperious I suppose, at times. But wait, she's only what 14, 15? And she's the queen of an entire planet!?"

Looking at Padme from the corner of her eyes Fay shook her head, still whispering so the young woman could not hear her. "I doubt she has much real power, a girl like her is most likely a pretty figurehead in many ways although if Padme will remain so for her tenure as Queen is anyone's guess. I've not dealt with Naboo myself. The inhabitants tend to be peaceful and solve any conflict between them through discourse, even Jar Jar's people so the Force never called me there."

Lily shot Fay another look, and the other woman laughed, reaching up to pat Lily on the lower leg, her hand seemingly patting nothing in the air to those without Force senses for a moment, sinking into Lily's ethereal form after a few seconds. "Don't worry he is not representational of his race."

Nearby Jar Jar looked up from where he had been slurping at a meaty kind of soup Harry called sucal, which he had run into on an ice world. "Mesa think I be insulted but mesa no know why…"

"Good." Then Lily's eyes hardened noticeably, and she leaned down until the two women were Face-to-Face. "Now, what are we going to do about keeping Aayla and Harry together?"

"I will meditate once more on that matter," Fay replied with a calm she did not altogether feel. "Then we will talk in depth about that topic, unless you have an idea now?"

"Not on that point, but I did have an idea about how to stop the High Council from being so cavalier with their people's lives in the future..."