Out of the Shadows 30

Commenor - Spaceport

Still dragging Kelt behind him, Kam strode away from the commotion towards the Lore Seeker. The younger man wasn't being particularly co-operative but much of the fight had drained from him. Still, it was testament to his courage that he continued to try to free himself.

"Let go of me," he said, twisting and jerking to wrench himself from Kam's grasp but the words and the actions lacked his earlier heat. He was tired and his spirit seemed to have sunk lower than during his worst times before he decided to leave Osarian.

"I mean you no harm," Kam said brusquely and kept walking, still pulling the younger man behind him.

"Doesn't seem like it," Kelt muttered childishly, wondering why he wasn't fighting harder to get free and why his feet appeared to be going in the same direction as his tall cloaked assailant. It was if they had a will other than his own.

Kam stopped abruptly, roughly bringing Kelt around to face him. "You want out of here, don't you?"

"What I want has nothing to do with you," Kelt growled. The stranger was correct, he did want to get away from Commenor but he wanted to choose when he was going to leave and with whom. His free hand went for his lightsaber but it wasn't there. The stranger had it fastened to his own belt. "What I want doesn't seem to happen any more."

"Get used to it." Kam's lips twisted into a wry smile while his free hand tapped Kelt's lightsaber. "That state of affairs will probably continue for most of the rest of your life, especially if you." He cut off what he was going to say and gave Kelt a penetrating stare. "You want to know about the Jedi and you want to be able to use this."

How did he know that? Kelt's mouth dropped open in surprise and Kam again took the opportunity to start heading for Tionne's ship, his hand still wrapped tightly around the younger man's forearm. "What about the Jedi?" Kelt managed to say as he tried to control his wayward feet.

"We need to get out of here," Kam growled and then spoke into his comlink. "Tionne, open the access ramp." He reached the ramp and began to push Kelt towards the hatch and into the ship. "Come on."

Kelt looked as if he was going to argue but something in Kam's grey eyes seemed to make him back down and he walked hesitantly up the ramp and into the strange craft. His eyes widened at the sight of the large triangular sails boasted by the archaic starship. She was ready to leave. People still actually travelled in these?

As soon as Kam reached the top he ducked inside and slapped his hand over the door seal. The mechanism rolled into place with a sharp hiss leaving Kelt feeling trapped in the cramped and gloomy cargo area. This was a mistake, he decided, anxiety threatening to overwhelm him. But he did sense the tension in the stranger's tall frame lessening as they were cut off from the rest of the spaceport. As the taller man lifted his hands to throw back his hood, Kelt immediately lunged for his grandmother's lightsaber, his fumbling fingers managing by sheer luck to unhook it from Kam's belt.

"Careful with that!" Kam snapped. "You'll get hurt."

"It's you who'll get hurt," Kelt returned bravely. "I.I am a master." But the tremor in his voice gave him away. He knew by the mocking look on the stranger's face that he didn't believe him. He hadn't exactly instilled fear into the other man.

Kam snorted sardonically. "Not with a grip like that," he returned coolly. This was not a Jedi. Somehow this boy had acquired a lightsaber. He reached out with his senses and suddenly he could feel the faint humming of the Force in Kelt.

The sound of lightly running feet interrupted the glaring match as Tionne rushed into the cargo area. "Kam! Are you alright?" Her pearly eyes flicked around to land on Kelt's unhappy face. "Oh!"

"I told you I was bringing company but I'd be careful if I were you," Kam murmured dryly. "He has a lightsaber and is a master.apparently."

Tionne sighed. "He's a frightened young man and he doesn't know or trust us. Why should he?"

"I'm not frightened," Kelt declared, unhappy at being referred to as 'young' and 'afraid' - even if it was true. The woman sounded like his mother did while she was admonishing his father when he was being just a bit overbearing. A wave of pain swept through him at the thought of his parents.

Tionne straightened her shoulders, taking immediate stock of the situation and seeing more than either Kam or Kelt realised. Kam was worried about something but the boy didn't know that. He had no way of knowing about Kam's tortured history and she didn't think that her grey-haired companion was about to tell him any of it. It would definitely be the wrong thing to do. He looked scared enough to bolt and if Kam thought it important to bring him on board, then it was important that he stayed. "My name is Tionne," she said, holding out her hand graciously.

Kelt blinked. The social niceties Tionne was displaying interrupted his renewed ideas on how to escape this situation he found himself in. The manners his grandmother had drilled into him while his parents were at work came automatically to the fore and he grasped her hand bowing his head.

"Kam means no harm. He was just trying to help you."

Kelt still wasn't so certain of this as he quickly let go her hand. She.Tionne seemed nice, with her pale pointed face, silvery hair and strange eyes and he could sense her apparent gentleness but he'd seen the holofilms where everything started nicely and then the evil arrived. It could all be a plot. He ignored the fact that the evil had already happened to him with the death of his family and he was alone. Things were as bad as they could possibly be.

"Kam!" Tionne's silvery hair whirled about her face as she spun around to look at him. "What exactly did you say to him? He looks as if he's been stunned or worse."

Kam hunched his shoulders defensively. "If he'd stayed out there waving the lightsaber around in that fashion for much longer, he'd have been more than stunned. In fact, he'd probably be dead already."

"You are not helping, Kam," Tionne chastised her companion sternly.

"He is unharmed," Kam ground out between clenched teeth.

Tionne moved closer, thankful that the lightsaber hadn't been ignited, assessing the younger man, instinctively looking beyond his appearance. "Put away your weapon. We mean you no harm," she said soothingly. He wasn't a boy, yet he had the awkward look of someone who had finished his physical growing but wasn't certain what he wanted to be or where he wanted to go. He also had the pinched, tight look of grief about his mouth and eyes. Life hadn't been too easy for this one lately.

Things, in Tionne's opinion, had been better since the Empire had collapsed but the New Republic was even now too busy coping with the aftermath of many years of Palpatine's destructive rule to concern themselves with the fate of countless innocents. Some people were always lost to the vagaries of fate. It looked as if their new 'friend' was one of those innocents.

Kam began to look properly at his new charge and recognised the familiar expression he wore like a piece of body armour. He'd displayed the exact same look as his family and friends had died around him and the dark side had claimed him for its own. He couldn't let that happen to this boy, but he didn't know what to do with him for all that he was strong with the Force. He had been unable to save himself from the descent into darkness.

He glanced at his wrist chrono. They needed to get off of Commenor quickly. The red-headed woman's stare was burning its message into his brain. She knew who I was, he thought, dread gnawing at his stomach. How could she know? What would she do? Who would she tell? He began to pace in the confined area like a caged rancor cub.

Tionne placed a gentle hand on Kelt's arm. "You already know who I am. My name is Tionne and this is Kam Solusar. What is your name?"

"Kelt," he muttered, looking down at his feet. The older man's restlessness was not making him feel any better.

"Hello, Kelt," she said calmly. Without taking her gaze from Kelt she spoke to the brooding Jedi behind her. He wasn't helping the situation by looming over the young man. "Kam, would you take care of lift off? The ship is ready to depart and I've already received clearance."

"If you are sure that you want me to do it?" Kam's words emerged as if they'd been dragged from him.

"I do," she said firmly and then smiled at Kelt. "I'm sure you must be hungry?"

Kelt, about to say 'no', was mortified when a loud rumble came from his stomach. "A little," he admitted with embarrassment, clutching at his midriff hoping that the action would silence the noise.

Tionne smile at the source of the noise. "I'll take that as a yes. Once we are away from here, I'll make us a meal. I find my taste for spending time in a dreary spaceport on Commenor has long gone." She flicked her gaze to Kam who was still watching them and then raised her eyebrows. "I'll look after Kelt, Kam," she said loudly. The Jedi had paused, his steady regard fixed on Tionne. "The ship is prepped and ready to depart." Kam grimaced but finally headed towards the cockpit leaving Kelt and Tionne alone in the compact crew area.

"Are you coming with us?" Tionne asked Kelt carefully. "You do have a choice, you know."

"Where are you going?" Kelt asked grudgingly.

"Coruscant."

"Coruscant," he echoed, a tiny thrill sweeping through him. They were going to the jewel of the Core Worlds? Everyone in the entire galaxy knew of Coruscant - a city planet covered almost entirely by buildings and very different from Osarian. He'd dreamed of going there, had imagined himself standing amongst its legendary spires. That was until he'd lost everything dear to him. He'd never thought he would actually go there. It had just been a dream.

But now, Coruscant was exactly the place he wanted to go to. He had to find the young Jedi his grandmother had spoken about and he suspected that Coruscant would be where he found him. He didn't know what the Jedi's name was or what he looked like or even if he was human but his grandmother's instructions had been specific.

'Find the young Jedi, Kelt.'

"Kam and I." She stopped, unsure of how much to give away until she caught sight of the lightsaber now hanging at Kelt's waist. Of course, the lightsaber, she thought. "You are welcome to travel with us to Coruscant."

"I have little money to pay my passage," Kelt admitted. If they thought they could rob him they would be disappointed.

"I think we can work something out." Tionne wondered if Kelt had any Jedi stories he could pass on. That was worth far more than credits to her. But even she could tell that he didn't know what to do with the lightsaber.

"He doesn't like me," Kelt muttered sullenly.

"That's not true. You do not know one another. He's a hard man to get to know, I admit, and he's not quite acting like himself. He's normally very quiet, even gentle." She nibbled at her lip, thinking. "I suspect that it would be worth your while in persevering. He could teach you many things when you are not acting like a child."

"Teach me.?" Kelt's ire had risen at being compared to a child but he supposed that she was correct.

"You can feel the Force, can you not?" Tionne's voice was cool. "And you want to learn about it?"

Kam's disembodied voice rang through the speakers. "Strap yourselves in."

"It's your choice, Kelt, but you must make it now. You have just met one of the only beings in the galaxy who could possibly help you. Do you know how fortunate that is for you - how lucky?"

Kelt shook his head. "Who is he?"

"He will tell you himself," she said. "As I said, you have stumbled across the one man that could help you but it's your choice. Stay or leave?"

She talked about the Force as if it was a normal everyday event but Kelt knew that this was not usual. Mention of the Force and the Jedi could lead to imprisonment and death. "I'll stay," he conceded reluctantly. He had the feeling that a voice in the back of his head was telling him to remain with the strange couple. It was too late to say that he had a whole tribe of friends and family waiting for him in one of the cantinas near the workshops and he did want to go to Coruscant. He had the feeling that Tionne's pearly eyes would just gaze at him pityingly if he decided to leave, somehow knowing that he was not telling the truth.

"The crew area is this way," Tionne told him, relaxing the breath she was holding. "Come on. You'll need to strap yourself in for takeoff."

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She stood silently at the cockpit door for a few moments just watching as Kam's slender, capable fingers performed the final tasks readying the ship for departure.

"He's staying then?" Kam pulled the lever and Tionne's graceful ship rose into the air.

"He doesn't know what else to do." Tionne sat in the co-pilot's chair and observed the planet diminishing as they sped away.

"Even non-Force sentients could guess that he's lost," Kam said shortly.

"What is it, Kam?" Tionne asked quietly. Something was definitely bothering him. She'd heard the sharpness of disquiet in his voice.

"It's nothing," he said.

"I don't think so." Tionne placed her hand on Kam's arm and found it tense, the muscles bunched and tight. "What happened out there? Why are you so worried about him?"

"It's not just the boy." He flicked his eyes to hers and then immediately looked away. "I'm worried for all of us. There was a woman.I recognised her."

Tionne pushed down the irrational feeling of disappointment. She'd foolishly begun to think of Kam as.hers. "Recognised her! Who was she?"

Kam let out a deep sigh. "I can't remember. I've seen her before too. I know I have but I cannot remember where. She's very.distinctive. Red hair and green eyes. Where have I." His fingers clenched, the skin over his knuckles white and taut. "If I could only remember."

"Perhaps you were mistaken."

Kam shook his head. "No. She doesn't have the kind of face that you forget about."

Tionne's breath felt tight in her chest. "Then you know her.know who she is."

"No, I do not but I feel that I should."

"So she recognised you and you recognised her.or so you think. She did nothing. In any case, what could she do?" Tionne felt relieved despite Kam's obvious unease. It wasn't a former lover - not that she had any right to think of Kam Solusar as hers. "It could be worse."

"It could be," he agreed reluctantly. "But."

"But what?" Tionne wanted to shake him. This had obviously disturbed him in some way and she only wanted to help him. He'd become very important to her in a very short time. She calmed her voice and said gently, "Tell me."

Kam exhaled loudly. "It was only a momentary glimpse but it felt much longer than that. It was as if time stood still. But the most worrying thing is that I'm certain that she blocked me. That's what makes me uneasy."

"I don't understand."

"She blocked me.using the Force. Reaching out with the Force to others is as natural to me as breathing. I don't often feel it coming back at me. Not since the dark times began."

Tionne looked startled. "Oh!" She sought to think rationally. "You did say that the Force was all around us. Are you certain that she blocked you? I thought you would have to be really strong to do that. Perhaps it was an automatic reaction, one that she had no knowledge about."

"I don't know how strong she is. I didn't wait long enough to gauge how strong her ability was but her use of the Force was a conscious one."

"Which means what?" Tionne kept pushing.

"That she must have had some training. She was aware of what she was doing."

Tionne finally understood. "Ah, I see. Training could either have been good or bad."

"Most likely dark," he said bitterly. "I don't like this."

"She could have been a member of the old order," Tionne argued.

"She's far too young, barely older than the boy."

"Well, Skywalker could have."

"Skywalker's not around, Tionne," he snapped, frustrated at his inability to remember the identity of the redhead. She was powerful - he'd sensed her probing him. Where had he seen her before? "Do you see the Rebellion's hero anywhere? He's been missing for over three years and many presume that he's dead."

"But you don't think that."

Kam's thin shoulders slumped wearily. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"Skywalker's not dead. You told me that he wasn't."

"It's not a certainty but I believe that I would have felt his death," Kam whispered. "I would have known that someone that powerful had become one with the Force. We felt his rise in the shifting layers and then nothing. He's too strong to just disappear like that."

"Trust in the Force, Kam." Tionne sent him a sly glance from mischievous pearly eyes.

A sudden surprised grin ghosted around the edges of Kam's mouth. "I'm beginning to wonder who the trained Jedi around here is - you or me. I must thank the Force for directing my stumbling steps towards you. It's one of the best things that has happened to me in many a long year."

"Thank you." Tionne blushed lightly. "I'm only doing what anyone should do. You have to think reasonably about this and the answer will come to you. Don't automatically assume that this woman is evil. Who could train this woman if Skywalker did not? Darth Vader and the Emperor are gone."

"Yes, they are gone but she could have been one of their spies. It's only been four years, not forty, since their death. The Emperor did identify some gifted Force users, spared their lives and partially trained them. She could have been one of them, surviving Palpatine's death."

"Then she's in the same situation you are. If she has lost someone who told her what to do."

"It's not so easy just to forget, Tionne. After the death of my father, I spiralled into darkness consumed with bitterness and thoughts of revenge. I was perfect material for moulding into an agent of the Sith and the corruption consumed me. I became an unwilling but loyal member of Palpatine's Dark Side Elite, serving his evil. We were all trained in the Jedi arts - me by my father originally but Palpatine finished my training. It was my own fault that I ended up the way that I did."

"Stop blaming yourself," Tionne said sharply. Kam was a good man. Why did he persist in punishing himself? She had to make him see that he had changed. "You broke away from the Emperor and renounced the darkness. My studies suggest that this is very rare. Besides, there could be more Jedi out there in hiding until it is safe and they will need your expertise. You have to get rid of your doubts for their sakes as well as your own."

"We can hope." But Kam's voice didn't sound as if he had much hope of that happening. "Darth Vader had an almost uncanny knack of finding supposedly lost Jedi and many were killed in the years after the Clone Wars. It was as if he was driven to finish the Jedi forever. But you are right. We must not give up hope that some survived."

"Yes."

"Palpatine's death wasn't kept a secret," Kam gritted between his teeth. "Why wait nearly four years to make an appearance?"

"Perhaps she didn't know that it was safe. Maybe she didn't wait and has been working to earn her keep like the rest of us," she said softly. "I don't know the answers."

"Neither do I," Kam admitted. "It would make my life an awful lot easier if I did. I must meditate on it."

"If you say that Skywalker's alive then I believe you."

A warm feeling swept through him. "Thank you. In my opinion, the New Republic didn't look for him nearly hard enough. It was as if he disappeared with their blessing."

"Maybe he did." Tionne checked the navacomp readings and then slid from her chair. "Coruscant?"

"Coruscant," Kam echoed. "If you want to speak to Princess Leia Organa then that is where we will have to go."

"It will all work out. I need to go and check on Kelt." She gave a wry grin. "I don't think he's a very trusting soul."

Kam's grey eyes darkened. "I think once upon a time he was."

"Yes, you're probably right. I'll call you when I've finished making the meal."

Kam sighed again. "What am I going to do with him?"

"Speak to him and perhaps teach him some things. What the Force is and how to use his lightsaber, for example."

"Good idea," Kam muttered darkly. "For the sake of all our lives. He'll do more harm than good if he continues to run around waving that lightsaber without the first idea of how to use it."

Tionne patted him on the shoulder affectionately. "You felt the instinctive urge to protect someone who needed looking after, Kam. I told you that you were a good man. You have found a calling and Kelt could be the start of what you need to do to forgive both yourself and the Force.

"How can I forgive the Force?" Kam asked. "It is both light and dark."

"Exactly. It is within you and always will be regardless of the choices you make. It is your choices that define what you are and could become."

He opened his mouth to argue and then decided that she was right. His thoughtful grey gaze continued to stare in the direction she had taken. His father had loved his mother and they had married despite it not being usual for the Jedi. He was beginning to associate Tionne with the strong emotions he had once felt around his father and his mother.

Could he forgive himself and could he learn to love again?

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Kelt waited in the crew quarters, still strapped into his chair, not able to relax yet. He was alive, that much was true but he continued to wait for the vibroaxe to drop. The strange couple could even now sell him into slavery or do something much worse to him.

He picked up his grandmother's lightsaber and ran his hand gently over the hilt. It had been several months now and he still couldn't believe that Kehta had gone. He knew one thing - she had died to protect him. His parents hadn't had a chance. They'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'But it had been their home,' his mind screamed at him. They should have been safe there.

His thoughts turned to the tall man.Kam. He could safely say that he'd never met anyone like him. He'd actually talked about the Jedi. No one talked openly about the Jedi in his experience. His grandmother had been the only one who had even mentioned them in his presence. His father had known, he thought. His father had known and had been afraid. He'd been right to be afraid.

After undoing the safety restraints, he wriggled his shoulder and flexed his arms feeling discomfort where Kam's strong fingers had gripped him. He'd probably be bruised tomorrow. But Kam hadn't threatened Kelt with weapons or violence. He could have had a blaster digging between his shoulder blades but he had not. There was a weapon hanging from his belt and it had been cylindrical in shape rather like his grandmother's.

Kelt froze, his mouth dropping open as his brain finally registered what Tionne had been telling him and what his own eyes had actually seen. Kam had done more than talk about the Jedi. When he'd dragged Kelt back to his ship he'd been wearing a lightsaber.

Was Kam Solusar a Jedi - a real one? He wasn't sure what a real Jedi would look like. His grandmother had been different from any other being living in Osar but he'd found it hard to believe that the tiny, shrivelled person had been a Jedi. For the first time since he'd left Osarian, Kelt felt excitement not borne of fear tingling through his veins. The tall grey-haired man had an air of an indefinable something. It reminded him of the feeling he'd had around his grandmother but this was much stronger.

His stomach rumbled again and Kelt tried to remember the last time he'd eaten anything decent. He stared around at his surroundings. The ship was an ancient sail yacht and looked decades old, yet was beautifully kept, the polished wood trim shining. There was none of the clutter normally found on a working ship. He could almost feel Tionne's love for her.home around him.

"Kelt!" Tionne appeared at the door and stood smiling at him. "I'll show you to your cabin. It's very small but it's not often I have company. I'm in here and Kam is across the corridor. You may have this one. I'm sorry it's so cramped but the Lore Seeker is not built to carry very many."

He stared in at the tiny space. It was basic but spotlessly clean. "This is lovely, thank you." He remembered his manners.

"Come," she said." I was just about to start the meal." She ushered him towards a small table in the crew area. "We're heading for Coruscant."

"That's good," he muttered.

"We'll be there by early tomorrow. Do you have family there?"

Kelt's face whitened and he shook his head. "No, no family."

Tionne gave him a piercing stare which seemed to cut right through him. "They're dead.aren't they?"

"How?"

"I can sense your pain." It was true, she thought. She could sense the young man's sadness almost like a coloured aura. "The pain will lessen with time."

Kelt's voice was raw. "All of them are gone, my mother, my father and my grandmother. I know the pain will pass one day. Sometimes I forget and then, when I remember, I feel guilty for still being alive. But I don't want to forget them."

"You won't and you shouldn't feel guilty about living. Your family would not want you to brood on things that you cannot change," Tionne murmured soothingly, placing a bowl of steaming stew in front of him. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen," she offered.

"Thank you," he replied. Even the counsellors on Osar hadn't wanted to listen but Tionne's offer felt genuine.

"It is a difficult thing to leave your home."

"Commenor was not my home," he said. "I left Osarian and came here after my family died."

"Osarian," Tionne echoed. "Mid Rim?"

He nodded. "It was such a quiet place. Nothing ever happened in the town where I lived - not until." Kelt took a steadying breath.

"It's alright, Kelt." Tionne could see and feel the anguish rolling in waves towards her. She was no psychologist but he needed to talk about what had happened and soon. "You don't have to say anything more just now but if you need to talk... I will listen." She pointed at his bowl. "It will get cold."

"Kam!" she called softly. "Food."

She watched as he hesitated. "Go on.eat."

Kelt took several rapid spoonfuls, shovelling the food into his mouth as if he hadn't seen any for days.

"Do you want some more?" Tionne asked with a smile. "There is plenty."

Kelt gave Kam a wary look as he entered the crew area and slid into the seat opposite. "Please," he said, his gaze fixed on his plate.

Tionne sent Kam a warning look as she placed his bowl in front of him but the Jedi made no move to pick up his spoon. "Where did you acquire your lightsaber?" Kam asked gruffly, suspicion shining in his eyes.

Kelt traced the hilt of the weapon hanging at his waist with a careful finger. His grandmother had kept her former life a complete secret and may have died because of what she had once been. It was tempting to tell Kam to mind his own business but the man also wore a lightsaber.

"Can't we leave this until after we've eaten?" Tionne asked plaintively.

Kam let his own lightsaber fly into his hand and watched with mild amusement as Kelt paled. He placed it carefully on the table between them. "I also have a lightsaber. This once belonged to my father."

"Kam!" Tionne muttered, indicating the bowl in front of him. "Eat!"

Kam scowled like a small boy but did as she asked, his grey gaze occasionally flicking towards Kelt and then Tionne. Kelt could somehow sense that Kam was looking to Tionne for some sort of approval.

It would be a relief to tell someone, Kelt thought. He just hoped he was telling the right one. Clearly, Tionne would listen to his story without judging him. He finished his meal and thankfully grabbed the mug of caf Tionne pushed in his direction. He took a welcome sip of the dark brew, let as much of his tension go as he could and decided to let his feelings guide him in this matter. They were quietly telling him that now was the time to tell the story. "My grandmother gave me the lightsaber," he said quietly. "I never knew that she owned one. She kept everything hidden and never told us anything. She was different from the other beings in the town but I never thought that she had been a Jedi."

"Are you sure she was a Jedi?"

"I think so.the things she said and the way that she said them. She knew things that others could not. Sometimes I think she saw things before they even happened. The people in our area of town came to her if they were sick. She didn't charge as much as the doctors did."

"A healer?" Kam wondered.

"I don't know."

"Healers are rare amongst the Jedi."

"Are they strong with the Force?" Kelt asked.

"They are powerful."

"Because she said that she wasn't very strong and that was why she hadn't been found."

"She could have been attached to a healer. Perhaps she was an apprentice."

"I'm sorry, I just don't know," Kelt admitted.

"How did your family die?" Tionne asked carefully.

"They were attacked - a random killing, the notary said. But my grandmother knew that it was going to happen. Like I said, she could see things. My father didn't like when that happened. He said that it was creepy. She'd not spoken anything that anyone understood for months but just minutes before the figure in black came."

"Figure in black!" Kam echoed, startled. "With a mask?"

"You make it sound as if Darth Vader himself visited my house," Kelt muttered. "I know what he looks like. He was always on the holo news. No, it was someone clad head to toe in black. Like one of those assassins from the holodramas."

"How long ago did this happen?" Tionne wondered.

"A few months ago. I've been working my way across the galaxy ever since I left Osarian."

Kam sat up straighter. "You said that your grandmother knew what was coming."

"She did. It was strange to hear her speak so clearly because her mind had been gone for many years but suddenly she knew me, spoke to me and warned me. She gave me her lightsaber and told my parents and me that danger was coming. She was right - it did come and now they are all dead. She was old and her mind was gone - she wasn't a threat to anyone." He lifted his head and for the first time his eyes met Kam's. "We didn't believe her even though I felt uneasy. Something in the air didn't feel right to me but I dismissed it. I went out to the barn to examine the lightsaber. When I returned it was too late."

Tionne pressed a comforting hand upon Kelt's shoulder. "It must have been hard for you."

"It was.it still is."

"The loss of family is always hard to bear; both Tionne and I have lost loved ones in less than pleasant circumstances. If I may give you a piece of advice, Kelt? Don't let your anger fester into vengeance. It does no one any good and will ultimately fail."

Kelt nodded, amazed at how easily he had divulged his family's tragedy. But it was a relief to get it off his chest and to people who appeared to understand. A little more of the ice holding his pain to his heart melted. "My grandfather must have known what she was and I'm certain that my father suspected something."

Kam tilted his head to one side and stared at the younger man. "Why should she tell her husband everything?"

"He was her husband."

"But the Jedi were hunted and killed, Kelt. If she told him what she was then he would probably have been killed too. We existed in dark times. To be a Jedi or to harbour a Jedi was punishable by death."

"Like my family were?"

"It's possible."

"But no one knew that she'd been a Jedi." Kelt dropped his spoon into the bowl with a clatter. "I'm not even convinced."

"The lightsaber is a strong clue," Kam said firmly. "And I think you are convinced. It feels true, doesn't it?"

"But suppose it wasn't hers?" Kelt wanted to cover all the possibilities even though everything that was in him was screaming that the lightsaber had belonged to Kehta.

"Suppose it was and she was found out?" Kam shrugged. "There are beings out there, even after the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader, who would not like to see the Jedi rise again. Power is something that is very dangerous. How was she discovered?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "I really don't know."

"She must have done something rash," he decided. "Been careless."

"She was careful," Kelt gritted out between clenched teeth. "She never spoke of it - ever. None of us knew."

"Not careful enough," Kam snapped. "Even if she had been hiding for." He stopped. Had Kelt's grandmother been hiding since the order had gone out to destroy the Jedi at the end of the Clone Wars? It was more than possible.

"Am I in danger?"

"Does anyone know that you are here?"

"No.just the captain of the freighter that took me from Osar. I worked my passage for several months. He's a good man. Apart from him." Kelt shrugged. "No one knows me anywhere. My family died and I'm alone. Of course, nobody knows I'm here. Nobody cares."

Kam's face darkened with worry. "But they may do so now because you were waving your lightsaber around in the middle of a crowded spaceport."

Kelt's jaw tightened visibly. "I've never been away from Osarian before. The farthest I've ever travelled has been a few miles out of Osar, my home town. But since I've come here, I've been attacked, threatened, someone's attempted to rob me and I didn't even look at the being who knocked me through a set of doors into a cantina full of staring faces. He didn't like the way I looked and smelled for some strange reason." He wearily rubbed his hand over his forehead. "I had to do something," Kelt argued. "My money was going down - there were fights springing up every night. I had to do something to get away from here."

"You may even say that it worked." Tionne's voice held worry but also a touch of amusement.

"What worked?" Kam snapped.

"Using the lightsaber got Kelt to people who might be able to help him.namely us," Tionne said matter-of-factly.

"I didn't think he was convinced about that," Kam murmured as he began to relax. They were away from Commenor and who knows where they could be headed. Coruscant was big enough to lose oneself in.unless you wanted to speak to someone like Princess Leia Organa.

Kelt stared at Tionne's fair prettiness. "Are you a Jedi too?"

"No. I am a researcher.a historian, if you like. Much of the information I seek has been lost or deliberately hidden and destroyed."

"You are looking for information on the Jedi?" Kelt said, thinking of the data cards hidden amongst his belongings.

"She is also an accomplished musician and storycaster," Kam added, giving Tionne the first true smile that Kelt had seen on his face.

"My grandmother used to tell me stories and sing me to sleep when I was a boy."

Tionne's face lit up with anticipation. "Were they Jedi tales?"

"I don't know but they were tales of many beings doing heroic deeds."

"Will you tell them to me? It would be a fitting trade for your passage to Coruscant."

"Stories for my journey?" Kelt asked. "It doesn't seem fair."

"Oh, it is," Tionne replied fervently, pearly eyes glowing.

"What was your grandmother's name?" Kam asked curiously. It was possibly that his father may have known her.

"Kehta," Kelt said. "Kehta Kuhn-Marliss."

"Kuhn is a Jedi name," observed Kam.

"Indeed," Tionne agreed. "But that was many thousands of years ago."

"My father did not have the gift and only used Marliss. But my grandmother insisted that I have the full name on my birth documents. None of us understood why she was so insistent. We all thought it was a bit too much - too fancy. I never used it either." Kelt sighed. "She said that she was weak and that was what had kept her alive. If she had been more powerful they would have found her much sooner."

Kam reached out and curved his hands around his own lightsaber, still resting on the table between them. "She may have been weak but I suspect you are much stronger with the Force and she knew that. She did keep you safe."

"She told me to find the young Jedi."

"The young Jedi.?" Kam glanced at Tionne and saw comprehension on her face. "Skywalker!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Commenor Spaceport

"Arrogant, insufferable." Mara ground her teeth as she ducked down again behind the packing crates.

"Now, now, Mara," Luke chided mildly. "Names? I thought you were above such petty behaviour."

She glared at him. "We can't stay here."

"Come on then," he said sarcastically, stretching out his arm as if ushering he forward. "Please go and get yourself maimed or killed."

"I'm not going anywhere for the moment until this dies down a bit."

"What about your injury?"

"I told you that it was just a scratch." She tried to crane her neck to see exactly how bad her wound was but the attempt was uncomfortable. What was Skywalker doing? It might be better if he contacted the negligent security force. But then, perhaps they couldn't get through either. "How did you.?"

"Manage to get here?" He shrugged. "I just did what I had to do. I made a call to the spaceport security first of all and then decided we had a better chance if I could get to you."

"Did you realise the risk that you were taking?" Mara asked incredulously.

"I surveyed the scene and assessed your position. You weren't far away from the ship but you were effectively trapped right in the middle of the worst of the fighting." As soon as he'd known about her injury he'd worried about getting her out of there. He didn't want to be stuck in Commenor any longer. He'd been away from Leia and Han for longer than he'd wanted to be and he wasn't wasting any more time in this soulless place when he could be with them.

So, stretching out with the Force, he had walked straight into the middle of the melee, his lightsaber immediately flying into his grasp.

Mara, at that point, had peered over the edge of her shield and sighed resignedly. "Skywalker!" What was he doing? She had known him as a real person for so little time instead of the terrible myth that the Empire had built him up to be. She'd known him truly from the first time he'd touched her. What was she going to do with him when he persisted in attempting to throw away his life like this?

Luke had lifted a hand and several combatants flew backwards to lie stunned on the duracrete flooring and then almost instantly, his lightsaber had ignited and he'd batted away a couple of shots. Mara had slid her own trusty hold-out blaster from her wrist holster and prepared herself to cover Skywalker's movements. It would just be typical if the stupid Jedi got himself killed just before reuniting with his sister. She couldn't let that happen. Solo had promised remuneration on his safe return. Mara wanted to see Karrde's company get the necessary credits.

Suddenly Luke had spun on his heels, the saber flashing up in front of his face, blocking a shot that would have killed anyone else - including herself, Mara admitted soberly. Then she'd lost him for a few frantic minutes. Where was the bastard?"

"Looking for someone?"

Mara jerked around to face him, her blaster pointing into his chest. "You do that again, Skywalker and I will kill you. This." she pressed the muzzle into Luke's chest, ".is not a toy."

Luke slid in behind the packing crates to join her. "So you keep saying and I'm sure it's a very fine weapon. But a lightsaber has more finesse."

"I left the lightsaber on board the ship," Mara said.

"You could have managed fine with the lightsaber but I understand that you are more confident with your blaster. Just be careful you are not tempted to use your weapon when it is not required."

"Not required!" Mara clenched her jaw in irritation. She'd been shot at for no apparent reason and he had decided that she didn't need to be able to defend herself properly.

"Besides, you don't really want to kill me."

"No?" Mara scowled. "The idea is extremely tempting and if you continue to push me, you will find that I mean what I say."

"You've said that before; pardon me if I have a hard time believing you." Luke bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile. "Didn't you just ask for my help?"

The relief at having him safe hadn't stopped her raining a series of choice epithets at him. "Arrogant, insufferable."she repeated as her green eyes continued to drill holes in him. "I thought you could have sorted this out by talking to them or something. I thought that was what Jedi pacifists did. You're a Jedi Knight, not a daredevil exhibitionist," she screeched. Mara was more upset about caring for the stupid nerf of a man than worrying about his well-being.

"It was close but I was safe enough. I was more worried about you."

Mara was both upset and intrigued in what Luke had just managed to do and found the strange duality of emotions that she often felt in his presence more and more disturbing as time went on. She was angry with him for taking such an apparent risk, and flat amazed that he had exhibited such skill, confidence, and poise to carry off a manoeuvre like that, and make it look like he was going for an evening stroll.

"You were worried about me. I'm touched," Luke said, smiling.

"If I ever catch you doing that again, you will be worried," she snapped. "Because I will despatch you with your own saber and then I'll chop you in little bits and feed you to the first rancor I come across."

"But you asked for my help," he said, his blue eyes guileless.

"I didn't expect that you would walk straight into the middle of a blaster fight."

"You really are very inconsistent at times, Mara Jade," he said mildly. "You asked for my aid and that's not something you do very often, is it? Therefore, I had to help."

Her lips tightened. She had asked for his help, so why was she so irritated that he had done what she'd asked of him?

"They have little or no reason to fight," Luke explained gently. "They are enjoying inflicting misery on innocent passers-by. There is nothing I can currently do that would reach them without resorting to violence."

"But you don't like violence."

"What kind of a Jedi would I be if I did?" Luke's mouth twisted and he didn't meet her eyes. "Violence appears to follow me wherever I go whether I want it or not. Pacifism is a goal but not always an achievable one. Banging heads together has its place whether I like it or not. I am not a warmonger and I have learned that I do not like war; sometimes, alas, there are no other alternatives. The 'daredevil exhibitionist' seems to be a part of me although I wish that it wasn't."

Mara rolled her eyes. "You're not fooling me."

"I didn't think that I was and it was never my intention to do so. You are a level-headed young woman, Mara Jade, and I have come to value your opinions. I believe that you would tell me truthfully what I needed to know whether I wanted you to or not. However, I need to look at your injury."

"It's just a scratch and looks worse than it is." Mara carefully turned so that Luke could check the wound and quietly considered her jumbled feelings. She was still mad at him, but he did value her opinions. He was making it almost impossible for her to stay angry with him.

"You are correct, Mara. It looks painful - but not life threatening." He touched her shoulder gently and the stinging pain eased.

"You will have to teach me how to do that," Mara mumbled, relief visible on her face.

"Of course but not right now. It can wait." Luke raised his head above their shelter and noted that the smoke was clearing. Spinning a line with the Force, he gathered his power together and a pile of ferrocrete struts used to reinforce some of the buildings collapsed. There were a few loud curses and several figures made a dash away leaving Mara and Luke with a clearer run to their ship. "Get ready to go," Luke instructed Mara. "I will cover you." She nodded and prepared to dash towards the ship.

Using the Force, Luke edged one of the crates further out from the wall, stood up and stepped forward; immediately several shots were directed his way. But the green blade of his lightsaber hissed immediately into life as he deflected the bolts back from whence they came.

'Now, Mara!'

She needed no second telling and began to run, directing several blaster shots in all directions as she sprinted for the Lucky Strike's ramp. She could see Artoo Detoo jiggling at the top, squealing worriedly over several electronic octaves. "Prepare to raise the ramp when Skywalker gets on board," she ordered.

Luke continued to block all the shots that came his way until a quavery voice shouted, "He's a Jedi!" The cry seemed to echo around the spaceport.

"Yes," Luke shouted, truth and the power of the Force ringing through his voice. "I am a Jedi and this has to stop. People have been hurt and for what? This is no way to solve your problems."

"No one listens to us," the voice insisted. "We are trying to defend ourselves and keep our livelihoods."

Luke wasn't surprised. "I will listen. The Jedi will listen." He didn't want to say that he was the only one. No, he was not the only one. Mara could be a Jedi, as could Leia and there was the stranger who had saved the boy. They could also become Jedi. "The Jedi will listen," he repeated.

"The Jedi are gone."

"No, they were never gone.not really. They were almost destroyed but will return to full strength. I promise you that."

"Who are you to promise us such things?" another more strident voice shouted, bitterness colouring his tones.

Mara and Artoo, from their vantage point at the top of the Lucky Strike's ramp could only groan. "He's dead, short stuff," she said, readying her blaster. "Your master has a streak of idiocy wider than the Cron Drift."

Artoo beeped back. He was in full agreement with the red-headed trader.

Luke stepped unafraid into the open, his slight figure seeming more so but Mara could see the strength.

"My name is Luke Skywalker and I am a Jedi Knight. My mission is to see that there are Jedi in the galaxy once more to help mediate for those who need it." He took a few more steps and no one shot at him. It seemed as if a reverent silence had fallen over the spaceport. An old spacer shuffled from behind another set of packing crates. Luke's hands tightened on the hilt of his saber but he sensed that the danger had passed.

"I believe you, lad," he said.

"Aye, so do I," another voice added. "Boys, enough's enough."

There were various grunts of agreement.

"Just as well," Luke said with a smile, attaching his lightsaber to his belt. "Spaceport security should be on their way. I would suggest that you all remove yourselves from the scene unless you are prepared to spend a night in the cells. I will speak to those in power about your issues if you would send them to me."

"How do we know where you are?"

"I'll be on Coruscant. Send your concerns to me through the office of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. I can do no more just now. My friend was hurt in the crossfire and her wound needs to be treated."

"You mean what you say?" The old man's tone was suspicious.

"Yes. I give you my word as a Jedi."

"Then that's good enough for me. I still remember the old days." The old spacer waved his blaster above his head and keeping a regular unhurried walk, Luke reached the ramp of Mara's ship. As soon as he placed his foot upon it, it began to close.

"Mara!"

"We're leaving here," she gritted between clenched teeth. "Now!"

"But your shoulder?"

"Will keep until we're off Commenor." She scowled at him and he was reminded of the woman who had first arrived on Dagobah. "Stop arguing and do as you're told for once, please."

A stream of electronic invective made him turn his head to see Artoo Detoo whirling his little domed head from side to side.

Mara's smile was smug. "And your droid agrees with me."

"You I might argue with," Luke said, grinning. "But you and Artoo together? That's more than a match for one lowly Jedi Knight."

"You think you're so funny, don't you, Skywalker," Mara said pithily.

"I try," he countered neatly.