Chapter Fifty Three

During their trip from through hyperspace, Aayla started to teach Harry how to use Force Stealth her way. With their mental connection it was almost easy to get across the ideas, though experience still played a factor. It was a mix of both Force Stealth and Force Cloak, as well as a few other factors, very mild subtle ones, which merged the ability to camouflage yourself into the surrounding environment with a sort of notice-me-not of a sort and covered your own Force presence to boot.

When Harry tested his new abilities on Master Fay however by trying to walk through the sitting area of the patrol craft she shook her head and pointed directly at him. "Not good enough," she said simply.

Across from where Fay was sitting Aayla gaped and the older woman laughed. The sound was like the tinkling of bells in the patrol craft's sitting area, a small bare area, dominated by the bunk beds which lined the walls and which doubled as seats. This was after all a combat ship rather than a personal yacht like Master Fay's.

"I know that Master Tholme and Quinlan are known to be very good at hiding, but there is a difference between hiding and being and utterly unseen. Besides, you might say I have a hidden advantage. I, after all know Harry. That makes it far easier for me to find his mind behind the Cloak that you put up. But that kind of skill is precisely what Harry needs to be able to fool, at least for a short amount of time." Fay went on, her voice stern and devoid of humor for a moment.

"So it's back to the drawing board been? Or does this mean we just won't be able to go to Coruscant?" Harry asked, his tone an alloy of worry and hope. He didn't really want to go to Coruscant, he been told so often by Master Fay and before her Master Yoda that it would end up in disaster somehow that he had lost any slight interest in going to the temple he'd had in the first place. "Is there any way we could get the Council to come to us?"

"Unfortunately that is the crux of the matter," Master Fay sighed looking up as Lily moved through the wall separating the sitting area from the patrol craft's cockpit. Behind her came Master Dooku, who had set Osic, Fay's astromech droid, to control the ship for the remainder of the journey.

"I have long thought that the High Council is a little too proud of their own perspicacity and positions. It would be beneath the Council's dignity for them all to come out to see us, even if they could come up with a plausible reason that the Senate would accept for such a move. And we cannot in good conscience ask Quinlan to leave out the fact that Harry arrived to save Aayla from his report. It is after all a very big deal. How else would you be able to explain away the fact that the slaves were freed in such a fashion and Sorenno is going to be involved in repatriating them?"

"So I spent much of last night and much of this morning meditating on what we should do," Fay said with a sigh. The Force was murky on the matter." She emphasized the words one after another, giving them a certain special meaning that Dooku seemed to understand immediately. The youngsters didn't, nor did Lily.

Sighing Fay decided to explain. "The Force usually sends or allows us to see portions of the future if we have the skill to discern it. I am of course quite good at that, the Force has guided my steps for…"

"Years, decades, centuries," Lily interrupted with a laugh.

Master Fay mock-scowled at her for a moment before turning back to the children. "I am one of the best when it comes to determining much a course of action into the future, as you know Harry. But the Dark Side has grown strong enough of late that even my ability to do so has been curtailed. I can still sense where the Force wants me to go, but when it comes to even a topic that is as convoluted as this one, it becomes far harder to discern meaning. In this case I saw several paths, each of them with a greater or lesser chance of leading to disaster."

Both of the children stiffened, while Lily's eyes narrowed, those emerald eyes of hers becoming hard gems as an unseen wind began to pick up around her. Dooku despite being somewhat surprised decided to not comment on it, watching as Lily moved to 'sit' on the upper bunk above the two children.

Sighing he moved over to take a seat next to Fay, leaning back slightly so he could look at everyone in the compartment. "Elaborate please. I must say that my own meditations on the matter came up with nothing, but this is not the first time I have felt my ability to discern my own path be restricted."

"It is a wise man who can admit he is not the best at something," Lily quipped, but her eyes were still those hard emerald spheres as she too turned back to her friend.

Master Fay sighed once more, looking up at her friend then the two youngsters before looking at Dooku. "In one, we attempt to ask that the Council come out to meet us. It doesn't work, and instead they send a few representatives, with orders to forcefully separate us from Aayla and from Harry both. I am uncertain why this happens, only that Master Yoda seems to have had no say in the decision. Needless to say we don't go along with it, and things spiral out of control, though why is a mystery the Force did not share with me."

"We can, as I previously mentioned try to cover it up. That doesn't work however, and Quinlan is heavily remonstrated with. Something happens, and…" Fay sighed. "I don't know why, but he is suddenly wielding his lightsaber against Aayla. I have no idea far into the future that bit of the vision was, but I can safely say it is a bad sign."

"Okay that's just not happening," Aayla said, shaking her head at the very idea of fighting her Master. While she didn't have as great a connection with him as she would have if Harry wasn't around, she still respected, even cared for him dearly. The idea of coming into conflict with him about something in the future was anathema to her.

"I don't see the connection between Quinlan being reprimanded and he and Aayla coming to blows," Lily said sharply.

"Nor do I, but I could sense that at heart it was about a schism within the Order which placed Harry, Aayla, and their friends on one side, and the majority of the Order on the other. Indeed it wasn't the only vision that had such a schism occurring. The third version of us not going to Coruscant, instead asking for Master Yoda and Master Windu to come out to us by name, which we could get away with…." she glanced at Dooku.

"Yes I can see how we could do that, I could ask for the two of them personally to come out to judge Komari's progress as it is well-known that I respect them more than I respect the rest of the High Council. Though I doubt that they would come alone, they would probably bring one of the others. But how would that start a schism?" Dooku said, his voice noticeably calmer than Lily or Aayla's.

"We would get them both on our side on the issue between Harry and Aayla. Yet they would be unable in turn to make the rest of the High Council agree to leaving you two together once it became known that Harry was the reason behind the new techniques Clan Saa has been introducing. There are many portions of the vision I could not make out, but essentially, the High Council splits, and Master Yoda is forced to step down and retire from his position on it with only Master Windu and Micah on our side. I think you can guess what would happen eventually once the truth of your bond came out. It would not come out all at once of course, but it would come out."

"So we have to meet with the entire Council daring whatever original disaster was supposed to take place if I go to Coruscant, which is why you told Aayla to teach me her version of Force Stealth." Harry said musingly, leaning back. "But who are we hiding from?"

"I wish I knew. I tried to see if it was indeed an individual or a group or some other reason, but I could not feel the truth of the matter." Fay said shaking her head. This had been the most frustrating series of meditations on an issue she could remember. Normally she was able to discern a path for herself and in recent years Harry but the Dark Side was so strong now, and this issue so complicated, that discerning a single path forward was the next thing to impossible.

"Lily could well be another issue, but once we are within Temple environs hopefully that will be enough. It was never her being on Coruscant that caused the disaster, it was you Harry. I'm sorry, but that hasn't changed. You'll need to be very careful about using your Force powers while we're there, and I want you able to fool my senses let alone anyone else's before we get there."

"I find it interesting, that you haven't mentioned one other possibility." Lily said tartly. "If the Order is still so against attachments, love and emotions then what's to stop us from simply leaving and heading somewhere out in the Outer Rim?" she asked, looking down at her son.

Dooku stiffened at that, understanding what Lily was implying. She wasn't talking about just leaving Sorenno, or going off into the hinterlands of the Outer Rim without checking in with the Order and letting Quinlan handle the fallout. Lily was talking about leaving the Order entirely.

This was a perfect example in his mind of why divided allegiances were never a good idea when it came to Jedi. But Lily's loyalty wasn't even divided, it was to Harry, period, full stop. Their discussions over the past week had told him that much and he couldn't really argue with her on that point considering what happened to the boy before she came back from the dead. Even if he still had only the vaguest notion of how that had happened.

"Darkness," Fay said simply then smiled wanly at her friend's surprise. "Did you think I wouldn't think of that Lily?" she asked, her own eyes going slightly cold for a moment. Harry had become her son as well over the last few years after all, and she had never really had much truck with the Order's totalitarian organization. She wouldn't abandon her duty as a Jedi, but nor would she have stood in Lily's way on this if it was the best way forward.

"But that vision was actually the strongest of them all. If you take Harry and Aayla and leave, Harry and Aayla will live a happy decently long life, but the Dark Side will grow ever stronger, and then," she leaned back now, looking weary and old for the first time Harry had ever seen. "Then the Order is gone, I know not how, I see visions of wars, but that is all, and suddenly there is no longer any Light in the universe, because even the three of you fall to it eventually."

Lily frowned, but retorted, "That seems awfully convenient. I think that the Order has benefited just as much as Harry has so far, but if they're going to start intruding into the bond between him and Aayla again, then I'm sorry to say that my priority is Harry's safety and happiness. If it can't be done within the Order, then maybe we should look elsewhere."

"I wouldn't be willing to do that anyway mom," Harry said interjecting and bringing both women's eyes to him. "Aayla isn't my only friend within the Order, and besides, it…it wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be right to leave the Order after all it's done for us, and it wouldn't be right to leave the Order in the lurch like that if I can make a difference to this encroaching darkness." Next to him Aayla nodded wordlessly, squeezing his hand hard. She wouldn't be willing to just leave the Order either.

Dooku spoke, his aged face set in grim lines. "The Dark Side is growing regardless of your presence padawan Potter. Indeed it has been growing for decades though we did not realize it until recently. But I will say that your abilities, and frankly the fact that your bond is of the Light gives me much more hope for the future then I had before Master Yoda and Clan Saa began to share your techniques with the rest of the Order."

"Are we so certain that they will even try to separate us?" Aayla spoke up for the first time her voice coming out small and worried to her ears. She hadn't liked the talk about darkness encroaching and all that, and she really didn't like the idea of the High Council ordering her and Harry to separate again. She knew attachments like this were forbidden but surely… She looked down as Harry squeezed her hand, hearing his words of reassurance through their link before turning her attention back to Master Fay and Dooku.

"If they had been there to see the two of you meeting in person, to feel the Light waves of Force around the two of you like I did, then no they wouldn't," Dooku said, his voice certain. "None of the Council except perhaps Master Koth and Master Tiin are so wedded to the Order's rules that they would be able to countenance doing so. But after the fact, I think the idea that your bond is of the Light will be obscured by the history of such things in the past."

Fay allowed herself an exasperated huff of displeasure. "Master Dooku is correct. Numerous Jedi have fallen to the Dark Side through trying to form attachments. One of the worst Sith from the New Sith Wars fell because she loved her fellow padawan, and when confronted she decided to leave the Order and he did not. The breaking of that bond caused her to Fall into the Dark Side, and they will worry about a similar thing occurring here, despite whatever you tell them of the bond."

Dooku took up the tale grimly. "Added to the bond will be their ongoing concerns about your techniques and about the fact you and your clan do not wish to follow the New Code, and, perhaps even Master Yoda's complicit aid in both the clan's ongoing individuality in that area. You have not seen it Master fay, but the fact that so few ancient and wise Masters of the Order are unable to perform these new techniques has not sat well with many. When I was on Coruscant last, there was a growing sense of disharmony because of it. No, you will have to prove your bond is both special and of the Light, and also defend Yoda's backing of your isolation from the rest of the Order Harry."

Lily had been looking down at her son and him up at her since his declaration that he wouldn't be willing to run away. Now she sighed, and leaned down through the top bunk, her arms going around her him in one of her ethereal hugs, as she kissed his cheek. "I think we've done too good a job with you Harry Potter, you're too darn noble for your own good. Alright, let's do it then."

"You say that as if being too noble is a bad thing milady, as a noble myself I feel I must take offense," Dooku said, smiling now at the two of them as Harry flushed in embarrassment and Aayla giggled, her own mood improving dramatically. "So you are agreed you must chance Coruscant?"

The others all nodded with varying degrees of acceptance, and he smiled wintrily. "In that case padawan Secura, I suggest you and padawan Potter get to work."

"And Fay and I have some work we need to get to too. If we're going to beard the lions in their den, there's no reason we can't go armed as well as forewarned." Lily said resolutely.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, and they arrived on Sorenno without further incident. By the time they did, Aayla had a good idea of how long it would take Harry to become proficient enough with Stealth to fool Master Fay, which she herself could not do yet, but Master Fay had said that Master Tholme had at one point when they were on the Explorer together.

Landing at Carrania they found Quinlan already working with the locals to repatriate the slaves, which the Jedi quickly began to help with. As they were Harry stopped occasionally, staring at some of the workers around them who are talking to the various slaves in a distant, somewhat odd manner. It wasn't as if they were looking down on the slaves for the fact they had been slaves exactly, but it was as if the very idea of slavery was so… blasé. Or as if it was something they didn't really or couldn't quite care about.

"What's wrong Harry?" Aayla asked looking over him.

"I'm just now realizing how slavery is viewed by regular people on planets like Sorenno," Harry said through their link. His astral projection appeared in her mental fortress as his body continued to go through the motions of helping Master Fay look over a few of the slaves who were suffering from various ailments. "It's just, it's treated so… normally. Just like a fact of life for something, one that doesn't really touch most of them. That's really not good."

Aayla's astral projection popped in as well, and she cocked her head not understanding what he was getting at.

"I mean, that slavery is either simply not thought of, like with Padme, not seen, like on Naboo or some of the others I've been on and thus ignored, or simply not cared about. As if it doesn't touch on your people can ignore it. It's very strange to me."

"That's just how people are Harry, I don't understand how that can be a surprise." Aayla said, with more than a bit of tartness in her tone which she would not have allowed anyone else to hear.

"You're missing my point Aayla," Harry said, reaching over to grab her hands in his, the feel of her fingers as solid here in her mental plane as if they were doing it in person, something they both noticed and vowed to… experiment with at some future date. "The Jedi order doesn't have enough influence to stop the trade entirely. While we can try to crack down on the illegals slave trade, the legal slave trade will keep going on, undermining our efforts at every turn. Instead, we need to figure out ways to start changing people's minds, their views on slavery and its evils. Some kind of public campaign the Republic over, along with a push in the senate to make all slavery illegal."

Aayla smiled gently while Harry talked as if he was the first person to come up with that idea. There were actually nonprofit groups devoted to trying to stop the slave trade, but they didn't have nearly enough influence across the republic to make much headway.

She leaned forward gently, kissing Harry on the lips, pressing her body against his as both of their physical bodies stiffened slightly before she pulled away, ending their connection as she physically turned to him. "Harry I love the fact you want to help, and I agree the Order should be doing more about making people aware of the issue. But please don't get your hopes up about that making a difference right away. Slavery is too deeply entrenched, and far too wide spread in the Outer Rim let alone the Core Worlds with their 'indentured servants' for even the Order to make much difference."

"What are you two talking about?" Fay asked, looking up from her patient. The young woman, a human female of around 24 must've been a slave for at least six or seven years, and bore the scars both on her soul and body to prove it. She was still beautiful of course, but the scars were there, for those with eyes to see. Fay had already started to deal with many of the physical issues, but Master Unduli and other local specialists, psychologists and medical personnel, were all around them as well.

Harry explained as around him more than a few of the helpers either frowned or looked away as Harry talked about how morally reprehensible it was to simply ignore the issue of slavery. Aayla noticed their reactions and shook her head. Sentient nature being what it was they would no doubt have forgotten about it in a few hours after they left. But perhaps, just perhaps they would put more effort in helping the ex-slaves right in front of them for now.

"I agree with you," Fay said after a moment, "However, the Jedi Order doesn't have the resources to pull something like that off. We barely have a PR department all, let alone one that would be up to that kind of a challenge. Nor does the Order as a whole ever make such large, sweeping statements as what you are describing."

Harry nodded sadly before going back to work.

It took the rest of the day, but eventually the repatriation process was fully organized, all of the slaves medically cleared and given housing for a time. It would take several weeks to get them all home of course. Many of them after all had come from planets which had no connection with Sorenno at all, and others were simply on the far side of the galaxy from Count Dooku's home planet. But now that it was organized and the local government involved it was going to get done one way or the other.

That evening, while Harry and Aayla went to the beach together with Master Quinlan in order to catch up with him Master Fay checked in with Komari and Luminara. She was happy to see that the progress the two of them had been making had not slowed down in her two-day actually agreed with Master Unduli that Knight Vosa should be allowed to carry her lightsaber once more. She wasn't going to sign off on Komari going all out on missions anytime soon, but the younger woman had enough mental and emotional balance no for Fay to believe Komari could practice training once more and not become a danger to herself or others.

That evening Lily showed up before Harry, Harry and Aayla now walking around the grounds of the estate, having more 'us time' as Lily put it.

Hearing that Master Unduli shook her head. "I still do not understand why you are so willing to look the other way on this issue. I know I can sense their connection, but even so attachments like that will lead to jealousy. They always do. You probably do not know but when I was younger, a knight by the name of Shan-Ree fell for a young man, a Antaran Ranger. But she eventually fell to the Dark Side when they could not spend enough time together, and he gradually fell out of love with her."

"Then perhaps you should listen to what you just said," Lily retorted tartly. "They could not spend enough time together. That certainly won't happen if Harry and Aayla are allowed to stay together."

"You're missing the point Lily. We Jedi, with our connection to the Force emotions such as love can all too easily be turned around entirely. There is a corrupting effect to the Dark Side, anger, hate, fear, aggression. All of these emotions once you feel them can become a part of you, can corrupt you. If their love turns to jealousy…"

"You misunderstand the nature of their bond." Lily said, looking over at Fay who nodded, indicating Lily could tell Luminara what they knew of the bond. "It isn't just a Force thing, it's a full mental connection. They literally feel one another's emotions and thoughts. Admittedly I thought maybe this could lead to some moments of friction, but I haven't seen any yet. And until I do I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. That is something you Jedi seem unable to do, you're unable to admit that you should take people as they come rather than as you believe them to be. You always put your own opinions above anyone else's until the fact you're wrong is rubbed into your faces."

Luminara winced at that attack, knowing it did hit on a problem with the Order: Jedi tended to trust what the Force was telling them over what they could find out in others ways, and it did indeed cause problems at times on missions if the Jedi didn't make allowances for the need to find physical things to back up his or her feelings from the force.

"As for the idea of anger and hate corrupting, I haven't seen the phenomenon, but Fay has, and she believes the effect is real." Lily went on calmly. "However again you are basing that argument on their love turning around on them, and again I say their mental connection would make that next to impossible so long as it remains intact."

Master Unduli sighed faintly, leaning back. "I cannot win this argument on logic alone it seems. But the Force is not the most logical of phenomena in any event. Further the corrupting effect of the Dark Side is real, the danger of it too great to allow for attachments which might lead to those feelings. Still, it will be the Council's decision whether or not to separate them, or to even try to break their bond. I will abide by their decision." With that the woman stood up and moved to the door, closing it gently behind her.

Lilly shook her head staring at the door for a moment before turning to look at her friend. "You know before all of this came up I actually liked her."

"Luminara is a product of both the Order and her own species. The Mistrali tend to be rather cautious in terms of courtship and things of that nature, and I think there is also a certain amount of wistful jealousy within her as well. After all, you were correct in saying that Harry and Aayla's bond would stop them from feeling jealousy, or being overly anxious about one another, which are the most common ways that attachments can lead to the Dark Side. I also sense that Luminara has an interest somewhere else, a wistful 'what if' in her mind." Fay shrugged. "She might come around eventually, but even if she doesn't she won't interfere."

"I hope so, like I said, I liked Luminara before this." Lily said with a laugh, then turned serious. "You know, not only should we start our little project soon, but I think we can turn it into a two birds with one stone kind of deal. After all, why should we limit ourselves to Aayla's memories about what almost happened to her Why not use your memory of the feeling through the Force when Harry and Aayla met again physically?"

Master Fay's eyes widened. Why did that not occur to me!? "Excellent idea Lily, can we start tonight do you think?" she asked quickly, standing up.

"We can start working on the arrays tonight yes though we'll want to make certain we have them all in proper order before we start inscribing them. We should also think about the design of the pensieve as well…"

The next morning, Harry and Aayla were both woken up by Master Dooku and Quinlan, who had the two of them move out into the training area. "We will start our day with your practicing your Force Stealth training, both of you. Until you can sneak up on Master Fay, myself and Quinlan, we will not be satisfied. Quinlan and I have discussed it, and he is going to be making a preliminary report this evening on what occurred on Tatooine. He and I have written most of it already, and it should give the Council enough information to satisfy them for a time, as we work on getting the repatriation process started."

Quinlan nodded from where he stood beside the older man, looking at his padawan. "I will be transporting most of what we gleaned from Jabba's computers today as well as the repatriation process and Aurra Sing's death, but won't go into detail on why we broke cover. Or about…"

"About my uncle's involvement," Aayla replied with a nod. "Don't worry master, any familial feeling I still had to him is long gone now given what his ID'ing me almost meant."

"I realize that, I was simply trying to be delicate is all. Since it obviously hasn't worked I'll revert to type." Quinlan quipped, eliciting a giggle from his padawan and a snort from Harry.

"Nonetheless you won't be able to stay here for more than a bare day, but that doesn't mean you get out of training your lightsaber skills padawans. For today we will be splitting up your training like this: Mornings for stealth as Master Dooku said, then late morning and early afternoon lightsaber practice, Djem So for you Harry while Aayla practices her Jar'kai with me. Will switch to pure lightsaber dueling after two hours of practice."

"Then after lunch, you'll switch to Shienand Aayla will switch to Force training with me. How much of the techniques you developed since the two of you were separated does Aayla know already?" Quinlan asked bluntly.

Aayla and Harry exchanged a look before turning back to the two masters. "All of them." Aayla said with a shrug. "I mean he shared most of his memories with me over the past few days about how he'd come up with them. I can't do many of them, at least I don't think I can I haven't been able to experiment with them yet, but I've added a few to my skill set."

"Then this will be a perfect time to experiment. The evenings will be devoted to again for stealth. In the future if you return here we may replace the midmorning or late morning exercises with full on sparring Harry." Dooku said.

"So you can see more of what I can do Master Dooku?" Harry asked. He had come to trust the older man, and felt that he should be doing more than he was in teaching Dooku the Force techniques that Harry and Lily had come up with, as well as more of what Lily had taught him from their old world.

But Lily was adamant that Dooku come up with them on his own, and that Harry always keep some techniques a secret. Transfiguration and conjuration after all were easy enough to talk about, but only a few of the clan members and surprisingly Master Yoda had been able to do even small stuff completely unlike the large-scale things Harry could do in that area. And the cutting spells and other things that Harry had come up with from reverse engineering sort of the magic spells of Earth were things that Lily wanted to keep under wraps.

"Somewhat, but I want you to begin to get used to the idea of using your abilities in tandem with your lightsaber skills. Force Precognition is all about being able to both perceive your enemies' abilities as well as how best to utilize your own to take advantage of their weaknesses. If you do not get used to using all of your abilities, your Force Precognition will suffer and you open yourself up to unpleasant surprises."

"I see Master Dooku," Harry said thoughtfully, then his eyes widened. "Is that why you've also started teaching me tactics and strategy as well? I hadn't made that connection before."

"You are young yet, and you have not had the formalized lightsaber training which includes tactics, strategy and other lessons of that nature," Dooku said with a shrug. "In that manner you are, despite your incredible Force abilities, playing catch-up when it comes to direct combat."

Though it isn't as simple as that, Dooku thought dryly. If Harry could keep the range open, Dooku doubted that there was a master in the Order that could defeat him. Admittedly Dooku could do so now, but that was within a training salle. If Harry could simply teleport, say to the top of a nearby building and rain down his techniques, Dooku would be very hard-pressed to be able to close the range. Even his own Force Shield and other new techniques would be unable to stop that kind of assault.

Aayla snickered, nudging Harry with her elbow. "Maybe the two of us should spar, and I could show you how far behind in lightsaber dueling you are?"

Harry's eyes narrowed challengingly. "Don't underestimate me!" he said haughtily throwing his hair back with one hand as he glared at her, and Aayla laughed aloud.

"That will do for now children," Quinlan said, shaking his head internally at how the two acted around one another. They had thankfully gotten that whole spacing out thing out of their systems, but frankly he was a little bemused by the simple feelings and emotions coming off the two in moments like this. He was unused to being around Force users who were feeling such emotions let alone letting them show.

For three hours Harry and Aayla practiced their Force Stealth abilities, mixing in a few other spells or techniques in order to hide Harry from anyone looking for him physically or through the Force. Yet they still couldn't sneak up on either of the two men well enough to pass muster.

Master Fay did not make an appearance. She had left a message with Harry that she and Lily would be working on something. Knight Vosa and Master Unduli had gone out with her to purchase something, but that was as far as Harry and Aayla knew what they were working on.

That afternoon, Master Dooku once walked more stood across from Harry, their lightsabers on training mode, nearby Quinlan and Aayla also stood across from one another, their eyes locked as Aayla activated her twin lightsabers, holding them down low to either side of her body arms crossed slightly.

Standing along the side of the training salle Master Unduli stood by, watching this interestedly. She had not actually met any Jar'kai users other than Master Giiett, and had never sparred with the man so she was interested to see how Aayla would do. "And begin," she said calmly, backing away quickly so she could watch both battles. And they were battles, not just spars. Despite the fact that they were only using their lightsabers, none of the quartet seemed inclined to hold back further than that, and the sound of lightsaber's striking against one another filled the heretofore peaceful gardens.

Harry immediately sprang forward, his lightsaber coming up in an attack from Djem So, smashing into Dooku's lightsaber and trying to drive the older man back, using his Force abilities to empower his body's speed and strength as Master Fay had taught him. Dooku however while not having nearly as much Force to call upon as Harry, was better at manipulating it, despite Master Fay's excellent instruction. He was also a Master duelist, and simply deflected Harry's blow before his lightsaber came up into an attack of his own which nearly took Harry through the head, but Harry blocked that in turn and again swung in, moving this way and that as Dooku did the same, one hand behind him the other wielding his lightsaber like a fencer, using a modicum of movement for the most effect as always.

Master Unduli had seen that before, and so was not surprised. The other match interested her more, and she watched as Aayla pressed in on her Master. Both of them were using Ataru, the way of the Hawk Bat. This form emphasized movement, jumping, leaping, attacking from all angles and sides, with a wide flurry of movements, none of them designed with much power behind them, but with swiftness and speed.

Thus their match was a display of acrobatics that would've made any non-Jedi gasp in envy. But within two minutes Master Unduli could see that Master Quinlan was a very good lightsaber duelist. She had not run into him before this, but the way he anticipated his opponent's moves spoke of excellent Force Precognition, and the way his body, despite having been battered a mere day ago by his duel with Aurra Sing, was able to handle young Secura easily enough.

Aayla used both of her lightsabers in a blur, swinging this way and that, taking to the air as often as she could to attack from above, using her opponent's blocks to fling herself around and up over him occasionally, coming down to rest and then attacking from a new position. She was mobile and moving all the time as Ataru demanded, and her Jar'kai form was decent enough. Whoever had taught her how to mix Jar'kai into Ataru had done relatively well, Luminara decided.

In contrast Quinlan remained on the ground, but used short hops, rolls and dodges quite often. He rarely tried to block his opponent's lightsabers unless he had to, and then for a as short a time as possible before disengaging, while when he attacked and had the leverage he always tried to lock their blades in an effort to overpower the young Twi'lek.

But generally speaking he stayed on the defensive, pointing out little mistakes occasionally for the first few moments, before taking advantage of Aayla's mistakes, his lightsaber smacking into Aayla's legs and feet more often than the rest of her. Master Unduli nodded, understanding that that was a mistake many way of the Hawk bat user's made, forgetting they had to defend their entire body instead of just their upper torso or becoming too wedded to the attack.

Back with Harry and Dooku, Master Unduli saw that Dooku had enough of being on the defensive, and was now attacking shouting out instructions occasionally, mostly to do with footwork today, as well as overextending. Master Unduli had to nod at that as well, Master Dooku was truly a gifted lightsaber teacher.

Harry however was doing better this time around, as if that one bit of combat he had faced on Tatooine as well as speaking to Aayla for so long in his head had helped him fill in some of the gaps of his own training. Dooku wasn't shouting nearly as many instructions as he had been in similar bouts before their trip and all of them had to do with specifics to Djem So rather than basic lightsaber training.

Dooku too noticed this almost immediately as he went on the attack, and his eyes narrowed. "It would seem as if you have had a bit of an epiphany young padawan, excellent. That means I no longer need to hold back."

"Wait you wereeeE!" Those were the last words that Harry could get out that match as Master Dooku suddenly moved even faster and stronger, spreading his Force ability between Precognition and reinforcing his body to the kind of degree that Harry could not match. Of course he didn't have to, being so much younger and with more Force to call upon, but Dooku's experience allowed him to easily dominate the younger man, hurling him backwards again and again while Harry tried to break the older man's defenses, not content to pull back into a defensive stance.

Despite the fact that Makashi should have been susceptible to the power attacks of Djem So, Harry could not regain the offensive, something that began to almost visibly frustrate him as the match continued. Dooku had not said it before this, but while when he was using his Force techniques Harry would carefully mold his combat style to the needs of the moment, as a lightsaber duelist Harry fell back into a kind of focused aggression that made him perfect for Djem So. At this point in his training however, it allowed the older man to predict his attacks to an appalling degree.

The match ended when Master Dooku knocked his lightsaber out of position one time too many, and his hand came up into a karate chop as he twirled inside Harry's guard, the knife edge of his hand resting gently against Harry's neck. "And dead I'm afraid," he said calmly, before stepping back disengaging his lightsaber and powering it down with the normal faint sizzling hiss.

The other battle continued for a few more moments, before Quinlan once again got through Aayla's guard, his lightsaber slashing her across her thigh in a way that would have cut off her leg if his lightsaber had been at full power. She stumbled from the pain, and suddenly his lightsaber was there, pressed through her own defenses as she desperately tried to cross her blades to block it, the tip of it stopping right above her chest.

"Master Unduli, I believe you had some insights you wish to share as the outsider before we get down to forms and styles. We will then take an hour to go over various stances, moves and targets of the various styles, and then back to sparring again." Dooku asked, bowing towards the Miralian respectfully.

"Yes Master Dooku!" said Harry enthusiastically, powering down his lightsaber and bowing to the older man, which won a faint smile to appear on his face. The boy was eager, and a hard worker.

Later that evening, they began Harry's training in Shien. "This training is meant to enhance both your Force Precognition as well as your body's natural responses, your ability to automatically gauge distance and angles of attack." Dooku said as he finished tying down the helmet that blocked out Harry's physical senses. "Rely solely on the Force, reach out to it, let it flow through you as you do with your Force Precognition, but now it will be your only weapon."

"When it comes to Shien, the Force is a far better indicator than anything physical. We will do this for a few days then mix it up until you can use both your physical senses and your Force Precognition without them interfering as you try to deflect blaster bolts."

"If I may ask Master Dooku, why is it so important to train my Force Precognition in this manner for this style rather than Djem So or any of the others?" Harry asked. At the same time he unerringly moved into the center of the training area, his lightsaber igniting in his hand.

"A good question. This sensory deprivation training is also a way to combat your natural reaction. Your physical senses tell you 'I'm being fired at, I should get out of the way'. But Force Precognition can tell you how and from what angle the blaster bolts will come from, so that you will be able to not only defend yourself but to attack, returning your opponent's bolts towards them. You need to believe that and understand that the Force is telling the truth when it directs you to do so instead of fighting it, no matter how involuntarily."

"That makes sense, although that makes it sound as if you will eventually be training me like this in Djem So as well Master." Harry replied.

"Of course. In fact I had intended to work an hour of training like this into that before you had your Force vision of Aayla's being in danger. But to be blunt, I don't think you need to rely as much on Force Precognition or lightsaber skills as most Jedi would have to, even in close range. Your Force abilities are far more varied than most Jedi, padawan," Dooku said dryly, activating a small, circular droid which began to hover in the air on repulsors set all around its surface along with blaster apertures.

Harry chuckled self-consciously, rubbing at the back of the helmet that covered his entire head. A second later he brought up his lightsaber as one of the many droids shot a little bolt at him. Harry barely got his lightsaber up in time to block it then swept his lightsaber to the side, blocking a second, and had to jump up over a third. A fourth and a fifth followed quickly, and Harry whirled, unable to block the bolts and return them to their source, but able to us keep up with the droid set on slow at least.

"Impressive reflexes, good Force Precognition to start with." Master Dooku mused, one hands stroking his chin thoughtfully. Indeed, Harry was picking this up faster than Dooku thought he would. "We will continue to use the one droid, until you are able to tag it at full power. Eventually we will start adding more droids, after you acclimatize to the highest speed setting of the previous number. Between each, we will meditate and discuss the stances and underlying precepts of Shien. However long each step of this training takes is up to you padawan."

"Yes Master Dooku!" Harry replied, interspersed with the zapping sound of his sword intersecting another bolt. Every time he did the droid moved faster, it's shots becoming more and more random as time went on and it tried to overwhelm him.

However to Master Dooku's surprise, a few seconds later Harry was indeed able to angle his deflection back into the droid. The older man's eyes narrowed. Harry was a good student, rarely making the same mistake more than twice, and seemed to pick up lightsaber drills as quickly as someone with very little in the way of prior training in them could. But this was impossible. Something odd is going on here.

He watched a few moments as the droid continued, its bolts becoming more powerful and its movement's even faster. Beside him Knight Vos called out instructions about how to feel out the Force around him, the movement of the air around the droid, the sense of danger in the Force as the droid targeted him for that brief millisecond it had to before firing.

But Master Dooku's eyes suddenly tracked to Aayla. "Halt exercise," he ordered and the droid's stopped hovering in midair directly behind Harry, his lightsaber having just swiftly come over his head and straight down to try and deflect the bolt. "A moment young padawan. Padawan Secura, is padawan Potter using your Force senses right now? Both physical senses and through the Force?

Aayla blinked. "I… don't think so Master." "I should be able to feel that shouldn't I?" She asked mentally, looking over at Harry.

"I don't know, if I am on not doing it consciously I promise Aayla!" The last thing either of them wanted was to be able to look through the other's eyes without having to think about it, that kind of thing could lead to… bad moments. The kind of thing that mom was worried about underneath her teasing. Neither of them were interested in making the other uncomfortable like that.

"I know Harry." "Master Dooku, could you restart the exercise please," Aayla asked politely aloud. "I want to see if I can feel anything."

"Of course," Dooku said, reactivating the drone. The next second Harry was busy deflecting blaster bolts again.

Aayla closed her eyes, feeling out their bond for a moment then nodded slowly. "I think he is Master, but I think it's tied into his sense of danger through the Force, which is a relief. I wonder if I can do the same thing?"

"Only one way to find out," Master Dooku said, intrigued at this idea. Many Masters and padawans could fight as one unit, their Force Precognition merging and melding along with their styles into a single entity. But to do so unconsciously, especially with such a strange bond as what existed between the two of these youngsters, that was something else.

Aayla quickly leaped up from where she had been sitting on the grass eagerly racing over to Harry who pulled off the helmet, and helped her put it on. Since it was designed for human head there was a little difficult, but they were able to remove two of the lower plates to allow her lekku to hang loose down her front. Harry let his fingers caress them absentmindedly as he helped Aayla buckle the helmet underneath her chin, then stepped away, patting her on the head before joining Quinlan and Master Dooku. Aayla quickly activated her twin lightsabers, bringing them up and around, holding them ready at elbow height.

Without warning Master Dooku restarted the drone, looking over a Quinlan. "How many drones is she up to at this moment?"

"She was up to four at full power before we left the temple." Quinlan replied, somewhat proud of his padawan's skill.

"Let us make it five then," Master Dooku mused. "That way we will know for certain if she can use Harry's physical and Force senses to aid her."

A second later Aayla was leaping around, her lightsabers a twin blur of green light as she batted bolts aside. But within seconds, Master Dooku realized that she was indeed using Harry's Force Precognition to aid her. No way could a 15-year-old padawan have tagged three of the five droids in that short amount of time, one of which was even tagged twice, the one not incidentally nearest Harry.

"Fascinating," he said as he stopped the drones once more. "I have known Jedi Masters and padawans who work for years to build up the kind of rapport you two seem to have built into your bond."

"That kind of ability could be a serious game changer." Quinlan mused. "Does this alter your plans for Harry's training? Should we test their bond's distance? And whether or not it's just using their physical senses as well."

"It certainly is at least partly physical senses at least. I believe I have another helmet, I'll go and get it, and I think we should also have Master Fay join us. Her ability to feel out the Force is better than mine or yours," Dooku replied, already turning away.

Master Fay of course simply laughed as she watched the two youngsters, now with both of them wearing the sensory deprivation helmets, moving in tandem like the best Master/padawan pairs could, their lightsabers flashing and smashing bolts aside. "We should really have seen this coming."

"Is there any way we could shut down that portion of the connection? It hinders the training if they are always using this ability, and worse it builds interdependency. What will happen if they can no longer rely upon it because of distance?" Quinlan asked, shaking his shaggy head. Despite having taken the time that morning to shave and shower, his dreadlocks and Kiffar markings made him look unkempt even in traditional Jedi robes like now.

"You already answered your own question, Quinlan. Take Aayla elsewhere, send her with Knight Vosa and Master Unduli or something else of that nature," Fay said absentmindedly. Her face had taken on an introspective look as the two padawans moved to join them, having finished off fifteen droids at once. In this kind of environment, with the attacks coming in at all angles, that was very impressive.

"Let us experiment then. Though I think we should keep the true extent of their bond a secret, even when you are before the High Council." Dooku mused. He was concerned about how it would affect Harry's training going forward, but he could see the utility of such a bond in the future and was uninterested in letting anyone else know, even other Jedi given how he knew the High council would react to their bond already.

A series of experiments proved that Harry couldn't feel Aayla's emotions as well as she could feel his, but he was slightly better at using her Force Precognition and senses to feel out the area around her. They both concluded that made sense given what he had been able to do through Aayla when he helped her on Tatooine and her own ability as an empath.

Attempts to stop it occurring were completely ineffective. The two of them simply could not fully shut down their Force Precognition links. Distance helped immensely with the training though, simply removing Aayla from the vicinity forced Harry to stop using her Force Precognition to aid his own.

Talking about it over dinner, Master Fay summarized their findings from this new level of closeness in comparison to the way the bond had worked before the two youngsters were initially separated, shaking her head. "Their connection is always going to be there, always that bright little thread of Light between them. Neither one of them will ever be alone in their own heads ever again I don't think, not entirely anyway. They have to open that door to share thoughts, but the doorway is always there, waiting to be used, an undercurrent of emotions and senses going through it."

She sighed faintly. "I'm rather jealous in a way. They are sharing a part of themselves they can never share with anyone else."

Aayla cocked her head thoughtfully as she looked at Master Fay then at her own Master, who looked just as conflicted about this information as Fay did, despite having known about the bond for so long. Dooku did not, not having any kind of padawan bond with either youngster, though he was growing somewhat fond of Harry. "I don't know about that Master, I think we could if you want to try?"

Master Fay blinked looking at Aayla then it Harry, who was also looking at Aayla, nodding slowly. The two of them clasped hands underneath the table and then slowly lowered their mental defenses, and just as slowly Aayla began to extend a tendril of mental Force a whisker gentle Force touch toward Master Fay. She felt it and after a second closed her eyes and was…

Suddenly somewhere else. Fay found herself in the same kind of mental avatar she used when she had begun to organize her own mind under Lily's instruction. Her mind was normally a forest glade, filled with dozens of tiny pools and small trees. But now she found herself standing in what looked like Harry's description of his mental plane. And beside her, just as suddenly, holding her Avatar's hands were Harry and Aayla's mental avatars.

Harry realized as he stared through his mental eyes at his Master's form that it had never been his power his 'magic' as his mother had called it at the time, and still occasionally did that had forged the connection the bond between him and Aayla. It had always been Aayla! She had been the one to forge that path in the first place when she helped him to create that first Light Construct during the Bando Gora attack. Harry had merely solidified it. He had changed their connection into what it was now, but it was still Aayla who held the key to that door.

And just as suddenly Fay could feel it, the love and affection these two shared, the love and affection Harry felt towards her, the respect and affection Aayla felt towards her. There was no barrier here, her own feelings were bare to these two as well, her love for them, her concern, her growing worry about what the Force had planned for them. It was only the depth of Fay's memory and her internal shields that kept them from seeing as much of her as they would have from one another.

The depth of their union was beyond shocking to her, it was a joyful merging, as Aayla had said. Their minds were still separate, they had not become a hive mind, but they had become connected, and far more than the sum of their parts.

Then she was back in her own body, a smile so wide it split her face as she stared at the two children across from her at the table, Aayla gasping slightly, leaning against Harry's shoulder as the boy looked exhausted as well. For some reason that act had taken it out of both of them. "That was amazing Aayla, Harry, thank you for the experience. I don't know if I would be able to put up with it for long periods of time, but it was certainly amazing."

From her position against Harry's shoulder Aayla beamed at her, then turned to her own Master cocking her head, shaking off her momentary exhaustion. "Do you want to try Master?"

Quinlan Vos hesitated then shook his head ruefully. "I think not Aayla. I would not like to burden you with my own thoughts. My darkness is my own."

Dooku looked at the younger man then nodded thoughtfully. "I have heard such things spoken of before. Master Tholme is a harsh taskmaster, and skirts the edge of what is allowable often. Though not as often as the Dark Lady it must be said. That choice is mine as well. I prefer my thoughts to remain my own. Thank you though."

To that the two children nodded. Neither of them were willing to say it was probably just as much the love they felt towards master Fay as much as it was their trust in her that had allowed Aayla to forge that momentary connection. It made sense given that Aayla the empath had been the one to forge that connection, but it might have meant that any attempt to bring in Dooku would have failed.

Lily looked wistful for a moment then shook her head. "So we know about their bond, and how to stop it from hindering Harry and Aayla's ongoing training. That's good. Now, since were supposed to be leaving tomorrow morning for Coruscant, Master Fay and I have something of our own to share with you. We've come up with a game plan for dealing with the High Council…"