There's so much of it.  And so many things she thought she'd only see in magazines!  And - oh, that temple is beautiful.  Out of place, in the hustle and bustle, but perhaps that's the point.

After the speeder comes to a stop, Qui-Gon steps from the vehicle, beckoning Obi-Wan and Kina to his sides as they walk forward. "We'll make a report to the Jedi Council. Kina, prepare yourself, as they'll be testing you in your knowledge of the Force. Although I doubt it'll be much trouble for you."

"Master, I am concerned about her age," says Obi-Wan. "The Jedi don't typically take on anyone as old as her, even with her level of talent."

"...Do I actually need to be a member of the Order to learn about the Force from a Jedi I might happen to associate with?"

"The Order has much to teach you, some of which I might be unable to," says Qui-Gon. "But that won't be relevant, Kina, you're more than ready to join. I promise you, you will become a Jedi."

"I - do want to point out that there are possible circumstances where I might not want to, but thank you; that's...your confidence is touching."

"Why wouldn't you want to join the Jedi?" asks Obi-Wan.

"Well, I don't know yet!  Though the sort of problems I think are most likely to come up are generally to do with the restrictions placed on your actions by virtue of being agents of the Republic, if there are not problems with Jedi culture and I not getting along.  I know the Republic is better than Hutt space, but...I don't think it's all that good, with the way Naboo's been left to suffer for monetary gain.  And Sith."

"Naboo wasn't the Jedi's fault!" Obi-Wan says. "The Trade Federation invaded them, not the Republic! We're trying to help!"

"It's not the Jedi's fault, no.  It's the Republic's fault, for being so blatantly, blindly corrupt that it's tearing itself into power blocs in real time, for hamstringing the Jedi Order to the point that even attacks upon its diplomats by Trade Federation forces will not be permitted any response if it's not unambiguously Sith.  And it's probably the Sith's fault too, though that is as far as I know just my pessimism flaring up."

Qui-Gon winces; she's starting to sound like Dooku at this point, and that isn't a direction he wants her to go. "Kina, I don't deny that the Republic isn't as virtuous as it once was. But the Jedi are trying as hard as possible to improve the galaxy from inside the law, and I wouldn't want you to be too disappointed in us based on what you see in the Senate."

By now, they've entered the Jedi Temple, walking down an enormous stone corridor, adorned by towering metal pillars and illuminated by a soft orange glow. The halls are filled with Jedi, one reading, one meditating surrounded by hovering stones, one teaching a group of younglings... and there, on the platform at the end of the hall, stands Master Windu.

"Master Jinn," says Windu, looking them over. "I'm told the negotiations failed."

"Yes, it seems the Trade Federation's idea of a negotiation is poison gas and destroyer droids. We've had quite an eventful journey. This here," he gestures to Kina, "is Kina Skywalker, and I'm hoping to bring her into the Order. She's the Chosen One, she learned to use the Force at a standard level in about a week, and she helped us defeat one of the other interesting people we met, a Sith Lord."

...

"If that wasn't enough, we also stowed away on a Trade Federation ship, met the leader of the Gungans, entered Kina into a Podrace, and we brought the Queen of Naboo with us," says Qui-Gon, a wry smile on his face.

...

"And we found some former slaves hiding in our ship, we looked into the past through a lightsaber, and we were attacked by an Opee sea killer, but it was eaten by the bigger fish - "

"That's enough, Master Jinn," says Windu, starting to recover. "I think the Council will want to hear of this."

Kina shakes her head, because Qui-Gon has her angle wrong.  "...You are doing virtuous things, Qui-Gon.  I want to enable the Jedi to be able to do more virtuous things; that need not necessarily be something that touches on the Senate at all - I just think that most of the things I think the Jedi could do more of, are likely being blocked by the Senate.  Like slave rescues."

Then, they arrive.

"...oh.  Oh, wow."  Her eyes are wide as she just basks in the sheer wonder of it all, though, in due time, the lightsaber on her hip reminds her of material concerns.

"...Master Windu."  She gives a polite little bow.  "It's a pleasure to meet you.  I've heard your name before, and attached to good things.

Qui-Gon has been very insistent that I'd want to join the Order; now that I'm here, I can see why.  I'm also...told you likely have objections to me joining, but all I've heard for why was that I'm too old - and that sounds like it's a rule that's really far away from what caused it, so if I may ask a question before meeting the Jedi Council...why do Jedi need to join the Order young?"

"Sometimes it's harder for older kids to accept certain things that the Jedi teach," says Windu, most of his attention on other matters. "Master Jinn, what is this about a Sith Lord?"

"He showed up after the podrace, blew into the Queen's vessel on a speeder bike, and tried to kill Obi-Wan and Master Jinn especially; he failed, but by bare margins and with a fair bit of luck.  He felt awful.  And someone had...broken him."

"Zabrak, probably a Nightbrother, not very old, in frequent communications with Coruscant and Naboo, and my guess is his master's still out there. He had severe psychological damage, which seemed to be a part of how he drew from the Force. We got this from his lightsaber," and he gestures to Kina.

Windu stops, looking at the saber on Kina's belt. "You gave her the lightsaber? You gave a kid a f...amously dangerous weapon, that you say belonged to a Sith?!"

"It adopted me, it wasn't my idea.  Admittedly poking it with the Force was, but...we needed to do something."

They've reached the Council by now. When they open the door, they see Yoda near the right of the group, next to Windu's open chair. "Master Windu!" says Yoda, smiling. "Guests, it appears we now have. Qui-Gon, an interesting journey you seem to have had, hmm?

"This kid," says Windu, "is holding the lightsaber of what appears to be a Sith Lord. We have quite a bit to talk about."

The Council erupts into a clamour of voices, most focusing on the Sith having been gone for a thousand years.

"In addition to the quite complicated mission report, I'm hoping Kina here will be able to join the Order."

Kina's just going to wait until the Council stops clamoring.  If they take a long while, she might even start tapping her foot.

It takes quite a while for Qui-Gon to explain everything, interspersed with questions by the Council. Once they get through the general details, Yoda sends three of the Council members out to analyze the full report with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, leaving the rest to handle Kina.

"Begin by seeing your skills in the Force we will, hmm?" Yoda activates a device that begins displaying a series of pictures, and turns away from Kina. "Tell us what this shows, you will. Trust your feelings."

Kina listens intently to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's recounting of Naboo events.  When they get to the parts Kina was there for, she doesn't hesitate to start talking when her input is relevant.

Kina looks at the device.  Then she reaches out to the Force.  "Hmm.

"I have to admit, this isn't anywhere near the sort of test I'd be best at; I've found that I don't often get images as much as impressions on my sense of touch and direction, when I'm looking for generic somethings.  Still..."  She closes her eyes.  "I do believe it's possible; I have seen a vision before.  This is merely that, but with more direction."

"A YT freighter, top view pointing down.  I don't know if I've seen that symbol before but I can draw it.  ...That can't possibly be a Dug.  The screen turns off."  With a click.

The master next to Yoda looks at the screen, and nods approvingly. "Knowledge, you seem to have," says the one sitting alone on Kina's left. "But a different test, you prefer?"

"This test is really narrow, is the thing.  I saw this lady who didn't even have eyes once; would you have asked this of her?  If you want to test divination, you need to actually test divination, not only far-seeing.  So if I was designing a test for this...You take something relatively innocuous, like simple shapes.  You run off a bunch of them, at least three types.  Then you hide only some of them in a training area, and ask your initiate to find them, tell you how many there are, tell you where they are, tell you what they are...maybe hide some from a different 'batch', too.  You could paint symbols on them, for that matter.  And you only hide some in the testing area but you take all of them out of their spaces to see if the initiate can...mm, danger sense-ish?  About absences.  It's probably enough like a trap."

"But to say I prefer that as a test is to get lost thinking about a world we're not living in, so...are there other tests you'd ask of me?"

"Creative," says one of the women from behind Kina. "Have you by any chance begun to move objects?"

"I have!"

"Could you demonstrate that?" asks the man sitting next to Windu, and he places a few stones on the floor.

She can!  Some of the stones twitch into a line, then levitate, in a pattern that the more mechanically inclined councilors might recognize as binary numbers, right to left, 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1101 1110 1111 - and then Kina, a little bit bored of counting, starts describing patterns, picking up more stones to do triangles and squares and rectangles, rotating and translating and scaling and multiple shapes rotating in opposite directions and she can do cubes and prisms and some of the weirdly shaped dice she's seen - she's having fun with this - but, eventually, she's worked all the stones into her choreography, with an expression of absolute glee on her face, before finally pulling them into an orbit around herself, just slightly askew from the direction of gravity's pull, and then piling them up neatly, one by one, in a towering stack.

She grins, and can't help herself from letting out an exhilarated giggle.  "Did I do good?"

Silence.

And then there's clapping, spreading across the room. There are various whispers flying back and forth, and did that one whose entire face is a beard just say he might have trouble doing that?

"The Chosen One theory is looking significantly more likely," says an impressed Windu. "I don't think any more testing is necessary."

"Not quite so sure, I am," says Yoda. "Talented, you are. But great anger, I sense in you, hmm?"

Kina takes a few moments to just come down from the high of genuine appreciation of her skill, and then seriously considers Yoda's question.

"Wouldn't you be angry, if there was suffering, in front of you, and your hands were bound with credible threats so you couldn't stop it?  I lived years on Tatooine with a bomb in me that would blow up at the click of a button, and it feels like the Republic has the - organizational equivalent - of that, for the Order.  So...yes, I might well be, get, frustrated, perhaps even resentful, at times, but...I'll do what I can, and the Force will help guide me to the times and places I should, and...that has to be enough.  I don't...hurt people.  Not if there's any other way.  That's.  Unspeakably wrong.  Even if it starts feeling - just - in the moment."

Yoda nods, that isn't quite the Jedi answer, but she seems to be fine. "Then confident I am, that your anger controlled can be." He looks around the room. "Ready to accept her, we are?"

The rest of the Council nods in agreement.

"Congratulations, Skywalker," says Windu. "You're a Jedi."

"Thank you, Master Windu."  She does a polite little bow.  "Um.  What does that...mean?"

"You'll begin your training soon," says Windu. "Although you probably already know all of the basics - honestly, maybe she should head straight to Padawan level, she clearly needs something specialized."

"Decide that in time, we will," says Yoda. "For now, with the other younglings you will stay. Yarael, to her quarters, you can guide her, hmm?"

One of the Jedi - Yarael? - stands up, and accompanies Kina down the halls.

"...so, what's...Where am I going to be staying, then?  Does the Temple have a workshop, can I use it?  I'm really good at machines and pretty good with droids too, y'know?  Built a podracer, in the desert, from a pile of scrap -" Kina flushes, a bit embarrassed.  "Though that's a bit much of a brag, so um, questions, questions, oh!  Did you grow up here?  What was it like?  What does the Temple teach people my age?  What's my - quarters - going to be like?  I'm probably still tangled up in the Naboo blockade mess, I'm not going to have to stop working on that all for this, right?  Like I get not focusing on it all the time I'm sure there's better slicers but I do have a couple things I want to try when I have a chance - oh I should have asked the Council that - um, my mom's come here with me and a bunch of other refugees from Tatooine because Tatooine is awful it has slavers do you know if there's anywhere - oh no, I probably should have asked the Council that too, now I feel silly, umm, oh!  Do you have a library?  Can I go see?  Before or after you show me where I'm going to be sleeping?  Am I going to have people in the same room as me I didn't use to except for my mom but while we were traveling here there weren't exactly enough bunks so like we had to share and I think the handmaidens set up a rotation and honestly it was kinda nice though I don't really know how much of that was just being off Tatooine," Kina pauses for breath, --

Yarael Poof prides himself on his memory, among other things. "With the other learners, a small one, yes, you probably are, yes, it was very exciting, mostly things you've already learned by now, comfortable although the other younglings can be troublesome, we can handle it, but you can try if you want, you didn't have to, there is some available space, you probably should have asked that, yes, yes, I'll show you the sleeping area afterwards, and no."

Kina looks a little lost, so Yarael summarizes, smiling. "You're far more advanced than most kids your age, but there are still plenty of interesting areas in the Temple - a workshop, some technology you can try to use to help with Naboo, some space for the refugees to stay for the moment, and a library, which we can head to now if you want."

"Thank you!  That would be really nice!  And thank you for answering all my questions!"  Her voice gets contemplative for a moment.  "Though I'm actually kind of expecting Force things to help more with the Naboo blockade than just technology; R2's been guessing passwords for this encrypted comm for days but if the Force guides a Jedi to the right password because it knows almost everything, well, that's almost cheating!  Not that there are rules in this sort of thing but, you know, it's still a whole lot - better, in the sense of speed and accuracy - than anything someone else who couldn't listen to the Force as clearly as we can could do, yeah?  But um, yes!  To the library!"  She points dramatically onwards!  (Mostly entirely at random!  She tries to not bother the Force about stuff like this unless it's important!  ...Probably should have done that for the comm, thinking back, but she's not perfect; she'd gotten caught up in the lightsaber, and she's not sure that would have worked as well without the understanding of the Sith Lord from the lightsaber thing.  The Force connects all things, but some things are closer than others, which can matter.)

The library is enormous, with a series of pillars supporting dozens and dozens of halls, each of which has thousands of datacards. Jocasta Nu emerges from the pack of Jedi walking the halls. "Yarael! I see we have a new visitor today?"

Kina may or may not be emitting a very high-pitched eeeeeeee but she's certainly almost paralyzed by the indecision of oh goodness what to read first there's so much!  It's wonderful!  This is her new favorite place in the entire galaxy!  ...Force?  This is a little bit frivolous, but...do you have any advice or suggestions, she'd like to know?

Most of the library seems to be in the form of encyclopedias. Turning to a few random pages in Strategic Resources of the Galaxy and Plevitz Essential Guide to Species, Kina finds entries such as:

Beskar is a uniquely resistant iron that develops a wide range of properties—and colors—in the hands of skilled metalsmiths. The ore is found solely on Mandalore, and only Mandalorians know how to work it to maximize its extraordinary properties. Therefore if you want beskar, you must take Mandalore. But that inevitably proves easier to say than to do.

and

Zeltrons: A humanoid race native to the planet Zeltros. They are distinguished by their crimson red skin and possess the unique ability to love others unconditionally. While Zeltrons have little concern for military defense, they tend to keep themselves in peak physical condition.

Kina, left undisturbed, develops Opinions!

("...why would you need to take Mandalore, if you could instead find common cause and mutual benefit...though beskar sounds really cool...but hang on if you're - is this some sort of sabotage attempt?  If you invade Mandalore, and only Mandalorians know how to work beskar, and that's a cultural secret, then they're going to not cooperate because kriff you, so you extra won't get the beskar!")

("...What the kriff is this speciesist-psychology about Zeltrons, that's...well first what definition of love are they even using, but - everyone in the universe is still a living soul deserving of compassion, so how in the sandblasted sarlacc pits are they coming to the conclusion that every other species in the galaxy - and it doesn't even mention interactions with Force sensitivity, I wonder if that's something that, if true, makes it easier to...hear, the Force, I guess, if you can do that as a natural quirk instead of having to learn it...are they conflating species with government?  That's - culture isn't species!  I bet there exists at least one non-asshole Hutt somewhere!")

After Kina's read for a while, Yarael takes her to her room, which is by itself nearly as large as her old home, with a fancy bed, several storage areas with some food and toys, and a bookshelf that doesn't look enormous after what she's seen in the library, but certainly would have an hour ago. "It's pretty close to nightfall, so you can stay here for now," he says. "We'll find someone to start teaching you tomorrow, and there's a droid outside if you need anything."

"...wh...all this?  You're sure?"

"Yes, all of this," says Yarael with a smile. "You seem to have a lot of talent, Kina. I'm excited to see how you turn out." He exits the room.

It's a few minutes after Yarael's departure that Kina says "...I hope I can live up to it."  And then she's out like a light.

When the Council reconvenes, it's to now meet with Padmé. "The Chancellor was being uncooperative as usual, and the Trade Federation were trying to push a legalization of the invasion. I'm sponsoring a vote to reorganize the executive branch with a new, more powerful Chancellor that can override them."

"No protest, the Trade Federation has?"

"No, they seem confident that their candidate, Senator Teem from Malastare, can take control, which admittedly would be a problem. We're running Senator Palpatine, and Senator Antilles is also running, which isn't great, since he might split the Palpatine vote. At this point, though, our top priority is to push this election through as fast as possible, and hope Teem doesn't make it."

"So what have you come to us for? You know the Order can't endorse any particular candidate."

"I'm aware, Master Windu. It could still be several weeks before the election is completed, and my people are still suffering. We'd like to ask the Order to send Jedi to Naboo on the grounds of investigating the Sith Lord."

 "Support you in this investigation, we can," says Yoda. "But your army, we cannot be."

"I understand, Master Yoda. How much force would you be prepared to send?"

"Three or four Jedi, maybe," replies Windu. "We can protect you to some degree, maybe intimidate the Federation. How strong is Naboo's army?"

"We don't have much," Padmé says. "We're hoping to draw the support of the Gungans, but even then, we won't be able to win the battle. Our goal is just to keep our people safe until the vote finishes."

"Help, we will send," Yoda tells her. "But hope, I do, that your Senator succeeds in his goal."

The Senator will succeed in his goal! Already he's spread seven rumors about Teem's criminal activity, two of which are even true!

Shmi prepares to go to sleep, now in a larger room than she's ever had before, but still not the room she wants to be in.

She knows it's time for Kina to leave. She knows Kina's always had so much potential, that she became an expert in those incredible powers after just learning she could. She knows Kina's ready to make the galaxy a better place, she knows the Jedi can provide her with a better home, she knows she can have a new life on Coruscant with so much more freedom.

It still hurts.

...Kina seemingly knows how to sleepwalk, because she's sleepily hugging her mom by next morning.

Shmi wakes up, blearily rubbing her eyes.

"Kina!" she says. "How did you get here - weren't you in the other hallway, I thought you..." Oh, well, she'll take any chance to still be with her.

"...hey, mom.  I dunno...Sleep-forcestuff?  ...I'm not leaving you behind.  You might not be at my side but - you're always going to be my mom."

They lie there for a while, not saying much, just taking in what's happened.

"...yeah, it's been a lot, all at once, hasn't it?  I...think I should probably make sure no-one's waiting on me for Jedi things, but...meet me for lunch, maybe?  ...Do you know why Padmé was here?  I swear I felt her yesterday but I was...uh.  A bit distracted.  There are so many books."

"I don't know anything about Padmé being here," says Shmi, as the door opens, revealing Qui-Gon.

"Shmi, have you - ah, that explains it. Kina, we're going to be skipping the standard Force exercises with you, but there are quite a few other things to teach you. Yoda is going to show you some basic meditation exercises that the Jedi use for self-control, and later today you should start your lightsaber training."

"Oh!  Qui-Gon!  Hi!  ...Was Padmé in the Temple yesterday?  I swear I felt her.  But, uh...didn't go looking then.  Because, y'know, books?"  That is actually a statement, despite the questioning intonation it takes - Kina's just not sure how much Qui-Gon agrees with her about the goodness of words yet.

"And yeah that sounds reasonable!"

"Padmé probably came in with the Queen, she was reporting some chaos in the Senate. Come on, you might be late."

Late?  For learning?  Oh no!  Kina hasn't learned Force Speed yet, but from the way she moves to prepare you'd be forgiven for assuming otherwise!

Aaaaand... that's why you don't run in the halls? Kina flies towards another student, and while they do both try to step out of the way, they both step in the same direction, and they collide.

"Oh dear Force are you alright I'm so sorry I'm normally better about that but I wasn't paying attention but I think I still get there on time so I don't know why Qui-Gon said hurry -" Kina is going to at least help them up!

She seems to be okay, if dazed. "Who are you?"

"Kina!  Who're you?"

"Bultar Swan," she says. "I don't think I've seen you before?"

"I don't think you would've, I don't believe I'm in any year-normal classes right now?"

"What do you mean? You're at an advanced level?"

"And I have almost no idea how to use this," she points at her lightsaber, "but it's stuck to me like glue.  No normal classes!"

"Is that a real lightsaber?" asks Swan, impressed. "You've already made one?"

"I wouldn't really say I made it, more, um, confiscated it from someone who really shouldn't have had one himself.  And then Force stuff happened?  And the crystals like me, apparently, and I'm not just going to - abandon them, y'know?"

"Wow. What class are you heading to?"

"...I don't actually know, I'm just starting on this one?  Apparently Master Yoda is supposed to be teaching meditation there?  And uh he's over that way a ways, so I should probably, um, get going; long way to go yet!  It was nice meeting you!"

And unless there are parting comments...Well, off Kina goes!

Kina finds herself in a small, somewhat dark room, where Yoda stands in front of several younglings. "Kina! Good to see you, it is!"

"Master Yoda.  Good to see you, as well."  Her response quiet, Kina gives a respectful head-dip as she finds somewhere to sit for the lesson.

"Meditating, we are. An important way to steady one's spirit, it is. Close your eyes, calm your mind."

And as the class quiets, Yoda begins to repeat the words of the Jedi Code.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is only the Force.

Kina...was meditating, probably.  Now she is not meditating, because that...does not sound right.  She's giving Yoda a look, instead.  That's, it's just, wrong.  Burying things like that...She tried; they come back, and worse more often than not, Yoda, so you had better have an explanation for this!  Though she's not sure how much of that actually gets across simply by giving a squinty calculating glare at him.

...If this is meditation class, she isn't going to learn anything from it except new and exciting ways people break.

...Though, she is the new girl...  "...Master Yoda?"  Her voice is quiet...but full of subtle determination.  "I don't think I've ever had emotion go away when I tried to...push it aside.  And um.  I don't think most people have emotions that work like that, either, really.  So...what is that supposed to mean?"

"A push, it is not. More of... a release. Within yourself, you must look, and all that troubles you, you must release. Hold you back from true peace, they can."

"...That sounds like it means Jedi are supposed to not care about anything, Master Yoda."

"Attachment can lead to corruption," says Yoda, looking somewhat concerned. "Care too strongly, and at risk of blindness to your duty, you are."

"Corruption in what sense, Master Yoda?  And service to - the flourishing of life - above all is certainly something I aspire to...but we are yet fallible minds cloaked in flesh and sometimes steel; I am not an inert, unthinking device, and even those tools fail, Master Yoda; what happens when you reach the breaking strain?  How does a Jedi recover, when they slip, when they fall, as we all will when we are sufficiently challenged?"

Kina looks Yoda in the eye, and demands an answer, any answer, that acknowledges the simplest lessons she learned at her mother's knee.

She doesn't want to find him wanting.  That would be - sad.

She might have to leave, if the Order was carved from the same eroding stone as the Temple.  That would...suck.

Maybe she could help Padmé, but that it was maybe...

Kina has never liked chance.

The rest of the students are beginning to whisper to themselves.

"Perhaps outside, we should continue this," Yoda says, and beckons her over to the hall. "A part of the training of a Jedi, controlling your emotions must be. Understand, I do, that difficult it can be, especially as you are new to this. A trained Jedi can ignore the excuses of emotion; on only helping others they focus. When challenged to the point of anger you are, help you, the Force will."

She stands in the doorway.  "That, Master Yoda, was not an answer to my question."

And Kina's footsteps echo in the halls, because this lesson will clearly teach her nothing more that she hasn't learned from podracing.

She's not even angry.  She's just - disappointed.  She wanted to learn, not have to - teach.  Where's Qui-Gon?  Or Obi-Wan?  Or that kid she ran into?  Are any free?

She just... left?

Well, that's what happens when you can't control your anger!

Yoda sighs, and heads back into the room. He'll deal with Skywalker later.

Soon enough, she runs into Obi-Wan. He has a helmet over his eyes, but he's nevertheless using a lightsaber to deflect shots fired by a training droid - evidently not his real lightsaber, because when it hits the droid, it merely lets out a ding and turns off.

"Kina! Are you already starting with your saber?"

"I don't think that's on my schedule, but I don't think 'learn Master Yoda does not actually have the concept of failing gracefully or recovering from failure in his vocabulary' was necessarily on it either, so...where do I get any of those, anyway?  Workshop?  I'm hardly going to use this," she gestures to Maul's saber, "I'm pretty sure there's no switch for 'training setting'!"

"You can use this if you want," says Obi-Wan, offering his training saber. "To be clear, while it can't inflict any serious damage it is probably not a good idea to grab the blade or anything. What's this about Yoda failing at something?"

"He failed at failing.  Which isn't good, because maybe he's the ideal Jedi, people sure look at him like he's absolutely the wisest, but, most Jedi simply aren't him, and he was trying to teach like they were him.  It was...  Really, really bad, Obi.  I'm worried that someone'll get hurt because Master Yoda can do no wrong, but he's teaching younglings techniques that only work for - old people, who've already had life kick them in the shins a lot."

"...I started meditating when I was, just about six.  Because my hands were shaking.  They were shaking because I was afraid.  I was afraid because -

"There are so many things that could have killed me, long before I could meet you and Padmé and Qui-Gon.

"Watto, thrice over, podracing and unsafe handling of machinery and the bomb in my shoulder.

"Gardulla who hates kids.

"Sebulba, podracing again, 'cause I'm good and he didn't like that.

"Someone deciding to rebel and the whole district getting exploded.

"Honestly those were easier to accept than messing up something I'd survive.  At least then I wouldn't personally face consequences.

"But Master Yoda sees me angry once, and he thinks that I must need lessons in anger management, that my questions were asked because of - I don't understand how he got to anger from questions about the mindset Jedi are supposed to live, and how they're supposed to recover when they've lived, but they've failed, or they've simply lost.

"I'm a little bit angry now, because I can tell he wasn't taking me the slightest bit seriously, because I'm a child, but - when's the last time he had death stalking his footsteps?  What has he failed?  How has he recovered?  What times has he done his best that wasn't enough?  How did he grieve it?"

Kina hasn't taken the lightsaber.

"I'll be - somewhere.  Archives, workshop."

She needs space to breathe.

Obi-Wan didn't actually get all of that. Yoda's sometimes been a little annoying with his speeches, but he's always seemed to be looking out for all of his students. Eight hundred something years of experience, he certainly knows what it's like to be in danger, to fail at something important. Or was that Kina's point, that he's asking too much from the kids?

"I don't know exactly what you're talking about? What did Yoda say to you?"

"The conversation I had started something like - well, Master Yoda was starting in on meditation exercises, and - he started saying 'there is no emotion, there is peace' - except, that's not how emotions work, they don't go away just because you deny them, so I asked him what that was supposed to actually mean, because I couldn't believe that was it, and --"

She pauses.  Collects herself.  Resumes.

"Master Yoda said, something, about - true peace? - and that was...What I said to him next was 'that sounds like you're saying a Jedi is supposed to not care about anything, Master Yoda', and his reply was, 'Attachment can lead to corruption, and blindness to duty'.  Which...implies that I was hearing him right.  But that's simply impossible for most people except, apparently, Yoda!"

Another deep breath, in, and out, slow, and steady, waiting for her racing heart to calm.

"So I asked him what he thought corruption was, and I never did get an answer, but I - gave him another chance, because frankly at this point I was getting convinced that I wasn't going to learn anything from the class if Yoda was going to continue teaching it this way, and I asked him, what happens when we fail?  When we're pushed past the breaking point?  When we're fallible - I love that word, fallible, capable of making mistakes, capable of falling - I asked him, when we're fallible fleshy beings, and we make mistakes, how do we recover?

"The closest thing to an answer I received was 'the Force will help you', he tried to drag the conversation out into the hallway to tell me that, and what he said was, quote, When challenged to the point of anger you are, help you the Force will, end quote, which is - I wanted to learn, Obi-Wan; if I felt anger at that time it was so hidden behind other feelings that I didn't even notice, but if he can't see what's in front of his own eyes, why is he a visionary?  If he can't answer questions, why does he teach?  Challenged to the point of anger, alright, but it's a self-fulfilling prophecy he made!

...You know, I may as well try taking his advice."

So Kina plops down on the floor, up against a wall, closes her eyes, and opens herself to the Force.

"Yoda is definitely pretty confusing," agrees Obi-Wan. "I don't know. They say his advice usually goes well, but yeah, he doesn't always give a clear answer. If you want to be alone, I'll head out."

"...Nah, stay, please, I can be alone with you around; it's just - I am not ever going to be a fan of authority figures and, I just got in a fight with Yoda in his space, and...part of me is anticipating a deadly explosion.  Even though that's really out of character for him.  ...I just hope that maybe he'll think about what I said."

Obi-Wan nods. After a few moments, though, he sends a message to Qui-Gon. This, he would want to hear.

"You want to what?"

"I want to take Kina Skywalker as my Padawan learner," says Qui-Gon, calm despite the incredulous stares of the Council.

"Uncontrolled, Skywalker is," says Yoda, who is clearly exuding a vibe of I am Yoda and I never get angry but if I were anyone else I would be furious. "Behind in many ways, not prepared for the Padawan level. She has learned little of the Force. Discipline, she needs, and in your many strengths, Qui-Gon, discipline is not."

"I don't deny that she has a bit of a rebellious streak," says Qui-Gon. "But that is precisely why she needs a specialized training. I am extremely concerned that Kina will choose to leave the Order, and she is someone that we cannot lose. We all know I've had my... disagreements... with the Council. I think I'm prepared to give her a perspective that isn't necessarily standard for the Jedi, but will still show her that there's a place for her."

"Encouraged, this should not be," Yoda replies. "To teach her to oppose the Council further, would you?!"

"No, if I don't teach her, she'll end up opposing you further!" says Qui-Gon. "She thinks of the Order as trying to oppress her emotions. I don't think there's anyone else who can explain things to her. She doesn't trust any Jedi except me and Obi-Wan."

"And what of Obi-Wan?" asks Yoda. "Train two Padawans, you cannot."

"Obi-Wan is more than prepared to face the trials and become a Jedi Knight. The first priority is that I train Kina before she tries to run away from the Order - "

The door opens.

Queen Amidala paces into the room, followed by Senator Palpatine. "Hello, Masters. Is this a bad time?"

"I think we can wrap this up now, milady," says Windu. "Qui-Gon has the right to select a Padawan. All in favor?"

A little over half of the Council raise their hands. Yoda is not among them.

Palpatine watches as Qui-Gon exits, though his eyes don't visibly follow him.

"Master Jedi, the election seems to be taking longer than expected. However, we've successfully gotten permission for the Queen to bring up to five Jedi to Naboo, in order to protect her and investigate the threat by this assassin."

"We and our people are very grateful for your assistance. Do you have anyone selected for the mission?"

"Master Mundi, Master Koon, Master Fisto, Master Ti, and... ready to accompany them, Master Jinn was, but occupied, he seems to be. Master Windu, prepared, are you?"

Windu nods.

"We're prepared to leave within an hour. Will that work with you?"

"Yes, I think. Ready, we will be."

Padmé thanks them, and leaves the room, Palpatine scuttling off behind her.

Half an hour later, Palpatine watches as the ship flies away, Jedi onboard. He'll contact the Trade Federation at some point, to make sure they're ready, but the outcome of the battle really doesn't matter much; he's gotten what he needs from the Naboo. It's Qui-Gon Jinn who's on his mind.

Because Qui-Gon had been completely correct. The Chosen One trusted him; if anyone could convince her that the Jedi were on the path of good, it would be him. When she doubted the Jedi and prepared to leave the Order, it would be him who would bring her back.

Unless...

In a side alley of the deepest layers of Coruscant, carefully selected to be entirely empty, Darth Sidious places a call.

"Something came up, my friend," Sidious says, a grin on his face. "Something that appeared to be a significant problem. However... I think it may be an opportunity. A chance to achieve two goals in one strike. A chance for you to become stronger."

Kina Skywalker, meanwhile, is holding a disassembled-reassembled encrypted communicator in one hand, with a freshly added tracer program, and the lightsaber that was the Sith's in the other.

She's let the Jedi, and Padmé, know that she's going to try to crack the Sith Lord's communicator again, since R2's brute-forcing still hasn't hit the jackpot.

What she hasn't told anyone yet is precisely how she plans to try.

So, sitting in a secluded meditation room, C3PO in place as her assistant/spotter, she places the communicator on a table before her, and starts pacing, stalking, back and forth, pulling on that part of herself that knows this Sith.

It's risky.  She knows this.  It's probably something most Jedi would disapprove of on principle, especially Master Yoda whose word is almost law.  She knows this.

If it works, however...she might be able to crack this conspiracy open, just a bit more, and that is worth it, because a thousand years of absent Sith, and then definitely a Sith Lord and his Master, means that they've gotten close enough to doing whatever it is that they're trying to do that they think it's worth exposing themselves to the galaxy to do it.

So she stalks the dark, gloomy depths of the Temple, and meditates on the mindset of the Sith Lord, in the days before his death to Qui-Gon's blade.

She knows his pain, intimately, but that is not the sum of a soul's life story.

She knows that this Sith Lord was never all that far from his pain, that this would remind him of it more than most.  It is a tool for communicating with his Master, after all.

She knows some of where he's been, and some of what he's done, and some of how he might have reacted to that, and she has seen his soul herself, in its final moments.

It's not a perfect reconstruction.  She'll try anyway, because to succeed, she must.

She wraps herself in memory and guesswork, opens herself to the Force, picks up the communicator, and thinks about last days on Tatooine, seen through another's eyes.

She sees the communicator in her hand, but it's interpolated with another vision, where it rests in the scarred red hand of Maul. He's sending a message, not speaking but typing, to someone labelled only "S." The Queen is landing on Tatooine. Closing in on the Jedi before it's too late. There's a previous message sent by the same address, something about blood, but Maul turns off the device and hops onto his speeder. He races across the sands, crashing through the crowds until he makes it to the Jedi. Leaping off of his now unsteady speeder in time to throw it at the Master, he leaps towards the Padawan, lightsaber drawn.

After a series of slashes, there's a small sting on the back of his head, distracting him for only a fraction of a second, but it's long enough, and then he's thrown forwards. He scrambles over the Padawan, his lightsaber ready, and -

Even with his head separated from the body, it takes him a few seconds to die. Even so, it's almost a relief.

Good.  It works.  "He's sending a message; 'The Queen is landing on Tatooine.  Closing in on the Jedi before it's too late.'  His contact knew the Queen was alive and heading to Tatooine before she landed, and was aiming specifically to eliminate the Jedi with her, not the Queen herself.  His Master's name might start with S, as that is the letter this contact was saved under."

She reaches further back in history, building on the connection she now has to see a greater distance...

And she fades into another memory. This time, it's dark; there isn't much beyond muffled noises. Maul strains his ears to hear, not catching much, until suddenly a brilliant burst of light shines into his eyes, and he tries as hard as he can to resist looking away, but he can't.

When his eyes adjust, he finds himself tied down in what appears to be some sort of healing pod. But it's not healing him, it's draining; his blood flowing from him through thin pipes into some sort of machine. There's someone standing over him, wearing a dark cloak, but the hood has fallen back, and it shows his face as that of a Muun. He feeds some of the blood into a vial, and records several measurements. "This is interesting," he says. "One of the lowest midi-chlorian counts I've encountered in someone with the Force. Barely twice the galactic average. What are you?"

"Maul, sir," he says, his voice quivering, clearly still young, maybe the youngest she's seen him.

"No, what. I'm told you already have some skill. What fuels your power, Maul, if not the midi-chlorians?"

"My master tells me my pain makes me stronger, sir. I haven't really understood - "

The Muun turns a dial, and a sharp electric shock bursts through Maul's body, forcing a scream. "Significant spikes in heart rate," he mutters to himself, "heightened adrenaline, all the standard reactions to pain. But nothing seems to change in the midi-chlorians. I know the Sith ideology better than anyone. I know anger is connected to the Force. What I want to know is how."

"Sir, please, I - "

He turns the dial higher. "Those emitted during states of intense pain seem to survive slightly longer after leaving the body. Not by a significant amount. Might be chance. I'll need further measurements."

Maul is bawling at this point, screaming out anything, pleading, offering to do anything. "My master!" he tries. "My master won't let you hurt me! He'll kill you!"

The Muun turns the dial off, leering over him. "I don't think so," he says. "You don't seem to understand, Maul. I am your only master, and you would be wise not to forget that."

"Maybe a pulsing sequence would have different effects," he muses, and he returns to the dial, spinning it back and forth, watching as more and more drops of blood ebb through the tubes...

"...I think Maul's Master might have a Master; there's a Muun who is a horrifyingly uncaring person interested in studying midi-chlorans and the Force, with significant equipment involved in the studying, torturing tiny Maul and knowing much Sith philosophy.  We could possibly track that, Muuns making purchases of medical equipment...and it implies wealth.  ...Kriff.  Now there are two of them."

That wasn't quite the connection she wanted, but it was what she needed...so she lets the Force guide her aim, and reaches out again.

The next time, Maul's an adult. He's on a jungle planet, and he stands before a Jedi, a human, with a green lightsaber. "Who are you?" she shouts, but he ignores her, slashing at her several times before tripping, in what Kina can clearly feel is a deliberate motion. He falls back, his lightsaber blade pointing back behind his head, and as she reaches to complete her strike, his other blade ignites, stabbing straight through her heart.

Maul stands back up, and brushes off his robes before reaching for his comlink and tapping on it as he turns around to survey the area. "The heart's damaged, but we should still have a decent blood supply, my lord. I - " He pauses. "My lord, I'm not able to give my own - " Maul drops the device along with his saber, starting to clutch at his throat as the vessels tighten, and by this point it's happened so many times a part of him knows he's not in danger, but the rest of him can't stop the fear from filling him again and again, wondering if this will be -

"...what the kriff are they doing with Force-sensitives' hearts and blood?!  And one of the Sith can choke people through a commlink.  Kriff...Okay.  Definitely confirming that - there's some ongoing link between the two Sith Lords - because he had the second blade this time and that was Lord 1's doing and I don't believe Lord 1 wants blood for his own sake - kriff.  I'm not sure what else there is to find, I was just looking for a password, but I'm going to see this blasted thing through, I have to, I have to witness, I have to help, I'm not sure who else can and will - "

- and there's a fragment of the password on the screen and her fingers tapatapatapatap on a grid - and she asks the Force once more, straining, if there is more she should see -

There's another vision now, and Maul is hanging, chained, over a pit of lava, struggling as his head approaches the fire and he tries to escape but he can't get out and -

"Kina! What the HELL?" Qui-Gon bursts into the room, snatching away the communicator and the lightsaber, which seems to have turned on by itself in Kina's hands, the golden blades flickering, subtle shades of red starting to return.

Kina is shaking, but her voice is steady; she has no complaint about Qui-Gon taking the 'saber and indeed was about to break contact herself - C3PO had instructions about things like this, too.

"I took a risk.  It paid off.  We can get into that communicator, now, and I know the face of another Sith Lord.  It sucked.  But it was worth it.  And the reason I didn't tell you my plan, because I wanted to, believe me, was because I was certain the Temple would refuse to permit it on ethical grounds.  Normally, they wouldn't be wrong.  Normally, none of this would be a thing that was happening.  Normally they'd have someone who'd been indoctrinated by Yoda into seeing 'caring' as a thing Jedi don't -- "  She cuts herself off.  "That's not charitable and I am clearly more emotional than I should be.  I do think Yoda's asking too much of his students, though.  ...Normally, there wouldn't be a Jedi capable of empathizing with Maul in the way I felt necessary to try, because if I wanted to get his password, I'd need to be in his head.  ...It sucked.  But it was worth it to find out what I learned."

Kina slumps, and looks like she really needs a hug.  "I should write down what I saw; there are details I didn't say out loud that are probably relevant.  Not to mention the faces.  But after that...I think I intend to rest, and let my mind focus on anything other than the Sith.  I still haven't been to the workshop; maybe I could visit and pick up a training saber?  ...and reconfigure this one, probably.  I could plausibly press for the face of the first Sith Lord still, but...I think that's beyond me right now, and I think it somewhat unlikely that he slipped in a way that's readily found, too.  ...Maybe just get an entirely new chassis, but reuse the kyber crystals; that seems more...right."

"Kina, I know that you're trying to help, and I'm very grateful, but can you at least run plans by me? I can't actually go against the Council, but I promise, whatever you tell me will stay private." He sighs. "You can write up a report and send it to... R2 just left, but I'll see if I can find anyone else who can handle the technology. Is there anything incredibly urgent? If not, I suggest you rest."

He hasn't handed anything back to her.

"There is the other Sith I saw.  A Muun, who was able to command both Maul and Maul's Master to bring him blood of Force-sensitives for research.  If you have people who're good at that sort of thing...I'd set them to looking for strange medical equipment purchases, especially correlated with disappearing Jedi.  Track them from both ends.  And for Force's sake you should stay safe.  I'm pulling things off that will find them eventually, and they will want to mess with me because of that, and I lean on you for support, which means they'll mess with you."

...Qui-Gon is apparently getting a hug from Kina now.

"Give me a few minutes and some parts; R2 was running the slicing but I think I have the password's...finger pattern.  Threepio?  Did you get it?"  The protocol droid nods.

"...Master Jinn, I certainly understand you holding onto the lightsaber, because I don't want me to have that, but I want to keep the kyber crystals?  They're...they're a comfort, and they're mine in a way few other things are.  And I'm going to need the comm for just a minute to hopefully get it open.  But then, yes, I should be not doing things.  Especially these sorts of things.  The last fragment of vision - Maul was, tied up, descending towards lava, couldn't escape - and I think that was a warning that I'd best back off, for now, because the pressure is certainly getting to me.  Sith.  They're worse at teaching practices than Yoda."  She laughs wryly.

"The kyber crystals are what holds the connection to the Sith! I understand that it's more connected to you, but that doesn't reassure me much! I'm not trying to keep you from having it forever, but at the very least I'll want to be there to supervise you whenever you're using it. Which you are not doing immediately." He does give her the comm, though.

"Speaking of supervising and teaching you, what I came in here to tell you is that I've received special permission from the Council to train you as my Padawan learner."

"They're capable of symbolizing that.  It's not what they are, not anymore.  I had to - I'm as much a connection as the crystals are, at this point, perhaps moreso.  I'm the one with memories; the crystals are just Force-resonant.  I don't even want a lightsaber all that much, overall.  Don't get me wrong, I'm going to have one, and train myself to use it, but it's just so...weapon.  And that feels very wrong.

"...I'm glad you're going to be teaching me.  You actually know how emotions work.  And might have ever failed and recovered.  Apparently unlike Master Yoda.  Which is really quite petty of me to say, but it seems to be true enough that I can't argue myself out of the position yet, and concerns me about the standard education, for all that it's been one lesson I walked out of with him.  Is he always like that?"

Kina looks to C3PO, and inputs the few characters she's sure of, of the password!

"Threepio, is that enough data?"

"Dear Maker, I am not an astromech, but from the library Artoo left me, and what your hand did, I believe the remainder to be -" And then C3PO does math to transform the movement of Kina's fingers based upon measurements of Maul's hand, and the known bits of the password - which will hopefully reconstruct it!

Qui-Gon watches as they work. "I really don't think Yoda is as bad as you seem to think. I certainly don't agree with him about the best way to handle emotions, but he's been a very helpful teacher. I wish you had at least given him a little more of a chance. Anyway, yes, I'll be teaching you, and we probably will start out lightsaber training soon - I would say tomorrow, but I guess we have a few higher priorities at the moment."

"You say there was a third Sith? From what I understand, the ancient tradition of the Sith was to have only two alive at a time, one master and one apprentice. I suppose things have changed in the past thousand years. And they were hunting Jedi? For... blood research?"

"I did.  I gave him three chances.  Though I suppose I should at least explain why I think what he was teaching was harming his students, if he agrees to actually talk to me instead of the image of me he has in his head.

"If I had to guess...And this is a guess...I'd guess that the Zabrak was being raised as a backstabbing attempt, just based on how much of him was...combat, and only combat.  Compared to the Muun doing research.  Or the other Sith Lord meddling in whatever he's meddling with with the Trade Federation.  Sith have to inherit somehow, if there's only ever two, and I'd put money on it not being by age.  But the big Sith Lord caught wind of the small Sith Lord doing this, somehow, and decided that Maul was an interesting research subject, so he got to live as long as he was useful.  The Muun said Maul was anomalously powerful, given his midi-chloran count; 'barely double galactic baseline'.  I have no idea what any of that means, in practical terms, other than it being evidence that midi-chlorans probably aren't everything.  And, yes.  They were hunting Jedi.  For blood and hearts.  If there are suspicious disappearances of field Jedi...I imagine that quite a few of them were Maul's work, and a lot of them on the Muun's orders."

And the communicator opens!

The message history isn't long; there are only three days' worth of records.

Arrived on Tatooine. Surveyed major cities and the ship is not present. Suspect they have landed in the open desert. They'll need repairs at some point. Recon droids are monitoring shops.

(voice call begun)

(voice call ended. 2 min 19 sec)

Positive identification in Mos Espa, one Jedi with two assistants. Attack?

No. Monitor and wait for the ship to land; the Queen must be present.

Jedi has visited the home of young slave. Advise?

Most likely the Jedi's aversion to slavery. Notify me with updates.

Jedi have entered slave into podrace.

(voice call begun)

(voice call ended. 6 min 57 sec)

Slave has won podrace. Jedi have acquired hyperdrive.

Continue surveillance until ship arrives. Plan remains the same. Kill both Jedi and as many Naboo as possible; let the Queen escape.

The Queen is landing on Tatooine. Closing in on the Jedi before it's too late.

(voice call begun)

(voice call failed to connect)

"...Why the kriff were there specific orders given to let the Queen escape?  How does the Sith plan benefit from Queen Amidala arriving at the Senate and smacking it around until it starts actually moving?  Ohhh, I've got a bad feeling about this...Well, now that we're in the comm, we can track its routing and see where its counterpart was.  So.  This needs to go to...whomever it needs to go to to get the investigation started and shake things out of the holonet providers' records.  Not you; you're already known to their agents, do not go off alone."

"...It's like he wanted the Queen to be angry.  To feel helpless.  And then use that anger.  But who would be placed to take advantage of the Queen's fresh anger?  Who benefits?  ...Who benefited from what the Queen did do?  It's not like she wasn't."

"Having taken advantage of proper holonet access to update certain fast-changing datasets, and analyzing the data collected ancillary to that, I do expect that whoever it is that is pulling political strings wanted to provoke the election of a new Supreme Chancellor, Maker, Master Jedi.  That is the only thing Queen Amidala was involved with on Coruscant, and she cannot impact galactic politics while under Trade Federation blockade upon Naboo."

"...Hmm.  Who's in the running?  They're going to want to be close to the locus of control, wherever that is."

"Senators Palpatine, of Naboo, Teem, of Malastare, and Antilles, of Alderaan."

"...What species are the latter two?  I'm confident enough that the other Sith was at the very least a near-Human, even through the hood he was wearing; there weren't any things indicative of protrusions.  I've seen a lot of hoods like that; I know what they look like.  So if there's someone with eyestalks, it's not them, although I suppose the candidate is likely to just be a convenient mouthpiece - we're going to need to learn who associates with whom."

"Senator Teem is a Gran, notable for their snouts and having three eyes.  Senators Palpatine and Antilles are both human."

"Well, I suppose that we can rule out Senator Teem as the other Sith, then.  ...How do we investigate Senators?"

"...how do we investigate the Queen and her retinue?  ...wait, no.  Too young.  Way too young.  And I know Padmé does not have the personality for it."

"Still.  If I were a Sith...I'd be close, but not too close, to whomever I wanted to manipulate in galactic governance.  Probably wouldn't get too close myself, that's just asking for a roaming Jedi to apply a lightsaber.  Unless they're under some sort of Force disguise, which, you'd be better placed to know than I do if it's even possible to do that, Master Jinn, but I don't think they're going to be risking daily contact with Jedi, because that's supposed to end poorly.  So we investigate Palpatine and Antilles just in case, and we bring Teem in on it because I doubt they like the idea of dying as a loose end, and then we get everyone's social circles and close companions and favorite bars' proprietors and speeder drivers and we investigate them."

"Uh..." Qui-Gon feels like he should intervene at some point. "You think the Sith is behind one of the candidates... so your plan is to investigate them and everyone they know to see who's the Sith?"

"Not by myself; this is enough actionable information to bring the whole Order in on."

"And possibly get in touch with whoever manages the Republic's spiiieeeessss oh that's not a good thought I do not like it.  I really do not like that thought.  ...Still, if there's a way of definitely clearing someone as not-a-disguised-Sith...I bet that they'd help."

"We'll certainly investigate that. Palpatine should be cooperative, Antilles I'm not sure, and Teem I assume will fight us on it. It might be better to wait for the election to end so that we can settle the Naboo situation, but that might give them the opportunity to seize power if one of them really is a part of this."

"In any case, I want to say that I'm very impressed with everything you've accomplished, Kina. I'm looking forward to having you as my Padawan."

"...We can't actually trust Palpatine, no matter how convenient his cooperation might be.  He's within the profile of 'could, himself, be a disguised Sith Lord', and while he'd really have to have quite a fortified spleen to dare, it can't be ruled out.  He's also the person who'd know best how to manipulate the Queen, of those who aren't her own staff or kin.  Who we should probably check, too.  ...And his 'your favorite grandfather' act spooks me.  It's not real.  But I'm getting off topic.  We can't trust anybody who's not presently in the Order, as far as I'm concerned, and even then I'm not as sure of that as I'd like.

"...Honestly, I'd expect Senator Teem to jump at the opportunity to save their own skin from a Sith Lord cutting off loose ends.  There's nothing so motivating as self-preservation, to a selfish soul.

Then something percolates up again.

"...I look forward to learning from you, Master Jinn.  I'm glad you'd have me."

Qui-Gon smiles. "See you tomorrow, Kina."

"See you in the morning, Master Jinn.  Stay safe.  I - would be worse off without you."

He gets another hug.

Qui-Gon heads out. After taking a break to meditate and explaining things to the Council, which takes a while, he searches the Temple for Obi-Wan, who doesn't seem to be present.

Where are you? he sends.

The reply takes a few minutes. Dex's diner...

Of course. You know, it was just a few hours ago I was telling the Council how responsible you were, and now this?

What were you talking to the Council about me for?

I told them you're prepared to face the Trials.

The Trials? As in the Jedi Knight trials? As in me becoming a JEDI KNIGHT?

Those are the only Trials I know of! Come back to the Temple, we have a lot to - He considers this, then deletes it. Obi-Wan deserves to celebrate. I'll come down to... Dex's. We have a LOT to talk about.

Qui-Gon steps outside, walking through the wide space surrounding the Temple, and calling for a cab. As they fly, he begins to wonder, questioning again if maybe Obi-Wan isn't ready, if he might just be motivated entirely by a desire to teach Kina. But Obi-Wan has plenty of experience. He's spent years training, he's more than ready to move on. His thoughts do return to Kina. She's more advanced than most Knights, at least in some ways. But she still isn't used to this world. And he can guide her.

He can give her a chance to make a difference without giving up who she is.

By the time he's noticed the disturbance in the Force, that something is horribly wrong...

The shot has already been fired.