Chapter 28

Hello, my friends... yes, I'm a slacker, but I'm working on remedying that. Lately, the Star Wars fanfiction muse has NOT been my friend, but I believe that we will hug and make up in the future. Until then, please enjoy this lovely - although shorter than usual - chapter. Also, I am currently working on a Percy Jackson/Olympian/Rick Riordan expanded universe fic called "Daughter of the Mist" that is an OC x Luke Castellan. Now, I know what you're thinking, and no it will not be your orthodox PJO fic, and actually starts around the time that Luke goes on his first and only quest to the Garden of the Hesperides. If you're interested, let me know and I'll post whatever I have sometime in the next week or so. That being said, here's the docket:

Robinbird79 - You know, I hope Palpatine is foiled too, but you gotta remember that this is the guy who ultimately becomes Emperor over most of the galaxy. That being said, he also dies a horrible death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker, so who knows. Thanks for the review!

CardiacCane - Boy, I love long reviews! You're probably right about Quinlan, but I plan for him to make a few more appearances later on. Obi-Wan does seem to have that habit, doesn't he... I really hope that doesn't happen, but I haven't planned much past the end of the Clone Wars. Also, thank you so much for your advice on running with ideas!

Disclaimer: Own Star Wars, I do not... sad, that makes me feel. Review, you must, to cure this.

All twelve Masters on the Council sat silent in contemplative thought as Rhys Talik and Quinlan Vos finished giving their reports. Mace Windu sat forward, concern creasing his brow as he turned to a solemn-looking Master Yoda.

"And you say that there is no further trace of Maul?" Windu asked, turning his dark eyes back on the two Jedi standing before them.

"None," Rhys affirmed, "His ship held no further records and the empty planet was a dead end… literally. There was nothing left but droid parts and the memories of Maul destroying them."

Yoda's ears twitched thoughtfully, "No closer to finding the source of this assassin, we are. Alerted to our presence, his conspirators must be." Rhys tamped down the flare of irritation in her at the mention of assassin. Maul was definitely not just an assassin – he was highly trained in the ways of the Sith, to use his anger and fear as a weapon. He even had a red lightsaber, for Force's sake the main symbol of the power of the Sith. The Council still refused to believe that the Sith had truly emerged from their dark hiding place, that they had changed from the brash, uncontrollable warriors of old to subtle, cunning masterminds.

"With respect, Masters," she started, stepping forward slightly, "I would like your permission to continue this course of investigation. I believe that there are other actions we could take to find Maul's origin." Immediately the uneasiness in the Council room peaked at an all-time high.

Windu's voice cut through the tension as easily as his lightsaber would a binding cuff. "And what course of action would that be, Rhys?" She firmly held his gaze as she answered.

"I would like the Council's permission to consult one of the Seers," the Council stared at her in pensive silence, "My own glimpses of the future are nothing compared to what a true Seer can divine, and it would be helpful if Quinlan and I are to continue our search."

Finally, Ki-Adi Mundi spoke up, "And which of our limited Seers are you proposing could assist you?" Rhys cracked a small smile and exchanged a sideways glance with Quinlan.

"Tellura Synar." The Council drew back slightly at the certainty in her voice. They seemed to mentally debate her request for a while, before Mace Windu - acting as the mouthpiece of the twelve - nodded his head stiffly in assent. Rhys was jubilant at her victory, but suppressed her joy long enough to give the Council a short bow and make a hasty retreat, Quinlan not far behind. She breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the Council chambers, Tam and Aayla standing up from their chairs to greet their Masters.

"How did it go?" Tam asked hesitantly. His Master's meetings with the Council didn't usually go the way she liked them to, and often left her irritated. He was surprised to see her break into a smile.

"We get to keep looking," she said triumphantly, "This time with more help."

Quinlan groaned – spending more than a month on Ramordia looking through storage yards wasn't exactly his ideal mission. "I don't see how that's a good thing," he complained, "I don't want to go back to Ramordia!"

Rhys gave him a small push on the shoulder as they all entered the elevator, "We're not going back to Ramordia, weren't you listening?" He returned a blank stare that obviously indicated that he most definitely was not listening. To be fair, Rhys couldn't remember the last time that Quinlan actually paid attention to a Council briefing. She huffed a sigh before continuing, "We can't get anything from a dead end, so it's time to try something different. I'm going to be taking Maul's lightsaber to a Seer to see if she can find out anything that we can't. Tellura doesn't have the same limitations when it comes to visions as we do – through the Force, she can find anything through the past, present, or future."

The wheels seemed to be turning in Quinlan's head as he thought. "So… if this Tellura lady can find anything, why wasn't she given this assignment in the first place?"

Rhys placed a hand on her temple. "Because, Quinlan," she nearly growled, "Jedi Seers are rare, even among the gift of the Force. Most Seers are Jedi Consulars, and don't leave the Temple often. They're too valuable to the Order."

"Hey, I'm valuable!"

"I shouldn't have used valuable," she corrected herself, "Needed, perhaps… Nearly all of the Seers here at the Temple are tasked with scanning the future and past for potential threats, especially now, when the Force is imbalanced... even here in the Temple."

"Imbalanced?" Tam piped up from beside his Master, "How can the Force be out of balance in the Jedi Temple? I thought that the Jedi created balance when the Sith Empire fell. Without the Sith there's peace."

"Yes and no, Tam," she answered, "Peace doesn't necessarily mean balance."

"Oh…" he trailed off, "Really?"

Rhys laughed as the elevator doors opened, directing them out into the hall. Thankfully it was empty – she didn't exactly feel like debating her beliefs with any Jedi to pass them and overhear, as it had caused quite the crowd when it last happened. She bid Aayla and Quinlan a hasty goodbye, promising to talk to them later, then herded her padawan up to the long meditation walkway that stretched the entire length of the Temple.

Once they were out of earshot of any who might hear, Rhys spoke, "I suppose that this discussion could take the place of our usual afternoon lesson. Let's start off with an easy question: What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the word peace?"

"Calm," Tam blurted immediately, then blushed at his hastiness, "I think of calm."

"A meaning of peace is calm, true, but is that balance?" Tam's brow wrinkled in concentration as he thought over his Master's question. This was really the first time she had really given him an in-depth lesson on her views of the Code. Somehow he got the sense that it wasn't going to be a simple one. He knew that his Master had spent many years debating the Code, forming her own opinions about it, and meeting harsh opposition for her views. Several other Jedi - including several on the Council - had even gone so far as to label her as a Grey Jedi.

"Well…" he hedged, "When I meditate, I'm calm and at peace, so that must be balanced, right? I don't have any anger or fear to distract me." Apparently, that had not been the answer she had wanted, because a small frown appeared on Rhys' lips.

"Let me try something different," she said, a hint of a sigh in her voice, "When we arrived on Naboo, it was a beautiful, sunny day. It was very peaceful." Tam nodded in assent, not quite sure as to what she was alluding to, "However, it was also very bright outside. As I recall, it cast some very dark shadows, especially the closer that you got to the ground. Let me ask you this: Can darkness be caused by the light?"

Tam thought for a moment, then answered, "I think so… like the shadows?"

"Very good, Tam," she replied, explaining further, "Darkness and light cannot live without the other. Too much of one, and it chokes out all life. Too little, and life cannot exist. Think of Tatooine – its surface is scorched and lifeless because it receives double the sunlight than most planets. There must be a balance between dark and light for life to go on. Can you see how just having peace is not having balance?"

He nodded slowly, understanding dawning in his eyes, "I think so… but aren't the Sith evil? Don't they want to destroy the Republic?"

Rhys sucked in a breath – she hadn't thought that they would get this far today. Actually, she didn't even think that Tam would be able to accept her belief of balance, like the others she had tried to explain to. "That depends greatly on your point of view," she said softly, slowing her walk, "Do not all ecosystems need predators? Will not a planet full of prey grow out of control, so large and twisted that they no longer know what they came from, what they started as? A planet populated in extremes with become corrupt and die without the proper balance to counteract the extremes into moderation. The quest for balance is what drove our predecessors and those of the Sith to leave their original planet." She turned her gaze to her padawan, his bright green eyes eager for knowledge.

"Our Jedi Order once had its roots in the ancient Je'daii Order in the Tython system," she began, and his eyes lit up with recognition at the familiar history that all younglings were taught, "To keep their world from the destructive power of natural disasters, the Je'daii were required to be balanced between the Dark and the Light. Those that were imbalanced were temporarily exiled to the two moons of Tython: Ashla, the moon always turned to the light, and Bogan, the moon shrouded in darkness. There they would live until they found balance in their lives and in the Force." Tam's face clouded in confusion – clearly he had never heard that part of the story before. Rhys wasn't surprised… it wasn't exactly the thing that they taught the younglings in the crèche. Usually the crèche masters taught that only those that used the Dark Side of the Force were exiled, ignoring or not knowing themselves that those that over-used the Light were also banished.

"Both the Light and Dark sides of the Force were needed to keep the planet stable and balanced in the Force," she continued, "But over the years, there began to be an increase in the exiled, and there was a brutal civil war that nearly destroyed both sides. Those that were devoted to Bogan, or the Dark side, fled the system when they were ultimately defeated. The remaining members of the Je'daii Order now devoted to the Light side soon found their way to the newly-formed Republic, becoming the keepers of the peace that we know today as the Jedi Order." She stopped and turned to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "So now you know… Peace is not balance. There hasn't been peace since the Sith Empire was destroyed – there is still slavery, still corruption, and still unbalance in the Force. If you look hard enough, you can find it, even here in the Temple."

Tam closed his eyes tight in concentration, and Rhys felt him reach out into the Force, straining to perceive some heavy imbalance in the Force around him. She smiled at his efforts, but knew that he wouldn't be able to feel it right away.

"I can't feel anything!" he exclaimed, catching the attention of a Master and padawan pair passing them by. Rhys fixed them with a look and they went on, whispering conspicuously.

"You may be able, in time," she comforted him, "Remember, my senses are much more attuned than yours are, padawan." They walked on in silence for a few minutes until Tam spoke abruptly.

"Does the Council know about the imbalance?"

Rhys huffed a sigh – she didn't remember her questions to Master Yoda being this hard. She felt more sympathy to the griefs of the venerable old Master that had put up with her as his padawan for more than a decade. "Sometimes I think that they can't sense the Dark, but other times even I find it impossible to ignore. To be honest, I have a very hard time sensing what the Council knows. They are very wise, but I believe that their status and respect gives them arrogance, and that arrogance is what blinds them to the Dark Side. I don't think that they believe that the Sith could return without them knowing it, but they give off so much light that it is difficult to see where the shadows are hidden."

Master and padawan walked next to each other in silence, mulling over the words that had been spoken. Finally, Tam spoke up again, turning to his Master. "Why can you sense the imbalance when they can't?"

Rhys cast her eyes to the ground, not sure if she should answer the question, or if she even truly knew the answer. When she finally spoke, it was in a hushed voice. "You know that I sometimes struggle with the Code, Tam. I fall prey to anger, jealousy, pride, and attachments. Perhaps the easiest answer would be that I have felt the influence of the Dark Side more than most, and it still calls me. I can't explain any more than that."

Tam, sensing the pain in his Master's voice and the nearing end of the lesson, wisely kept quiet. There were still questions burning in his heart, but he knew that this was no longer the time to try and pry open his Master's abundance of secrets. He walked alongside her in silence as they left the Temple and went to the apartment together for the first time in a month. He wasn't surprised when she quickly excused herself to go to bed, feigning tiredness after her long mission.

Now alone, Tam sat himself on his bedroom floor and began to meditate, pondering over the impromptu "lesson" he had received earlier. Closing his eyes, he focused his inner sight in the direction of the Temple and the nexus of the Force located there. For a moment, all he could feel was the intense concentration of the Light Side of the Force, flowing through all of the Jedi in its halls. After nearly an hour of meditation and almost falling asleep once or twice, Tam began to feel something… different. Something was wrong there, something far beneath the Temple seemed to be cold and dark. He tried to concentrate on the chilling sensation, but was unable to keep hold on it as it slipped away into nothingness.

He closed his connection to the Force and climbed into bed, still trying to wrap his head around the cold sensation he had felt buried in the river of the Force.

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