Adi Gallia held her lightsaber. She felt the Force stir somewhere to her left. She whirled around and moved her lightsaber in several complicated patterns, deflecting the bullets that shot at her from the robotic orb. Adi Gallia took off her blindfold and looked at her apprentice, her Padawan. She had not had an apprentice since Siri. Siri had been a tough job. Adi did not know where she was now. She only knew that she had turned a forceful schoolgirl into a magnificent Jedi knight. Adi smiled inwardly. Siri had been a job.

Mazairi, Adi's Padawan, looked amazed. Adi remembered when she had been a Padawan. Watching her teacher deflect those bullets had looked impossible. Now it was effortless.

Adi allowed a smile at Mazairi. Mazairi gave a weak smile back. Adi knew that Mazairi felt nauseated. The pressure of having to do that in a week was terrifying.

"Why don't we break now, Mazairi? It's been a long day, hasn't it? And there is still the afternoon to come. I shall give you a training saber, and show you some moves."

Mazairi trailed after her master as the walked out of the gymnasium-like training room. There were in Couruscant, the birthplace of Adi Gallia. But Mazairi had been born on Tatooine, the desert planet ruled by the Hutts. Mazairi shivered as she remembered living on Tatooine. It was so deserted there. Now all Mazairi had to do was look out one of the many windows to see civilization.

Mazairi thought of her mother, still on Tatooine, and shivered with that thought of the planet.

Adi was aware that Mazairi was trailing behind a bit. She stopped and let Mazairi catch up to her. If Adi turned around, Mazairi would feel that Adi was intruding on her thinking space. Adi wanted to be friends with her Padawan, as she had been with Siri.

Mazairi caught up to her, then advanced in front of Adi. Adi could tell that Mazairi was lost in thought. She wondered why.

"Mazairi," she said.

Mazairi stopped but did not turn around.

"Mazairi," Adi repeated softly.

Mazairi turned around, and Adi saw that her pale face was streaked with tears.

Mazairi advanced towards Adi, evaluating her. She did not know whether or not she could talk to this woman. Adi seemed too professional to understand the yearning Mazairi had to get her mother to Couruscant.

But Adi knew. "Mazairi, you left a mother behind, didn't you."

It wasn't a question.

Mazairi nodded her head.

"I had to part with my mother at your age. But there are choices people must make. You wanted to be a Jedi, and you wanted to stay with your mother. I know how you miss her. I still miss my mother even though she is long dead. But you made a choice. Which choice do you make now? You may go back to Tatooine, or stay here and continue your studies."

Mazairi gazed into Adi Gallia's eyes.

"I choose to be a Jedi," said Mazairi.

Adi smiled. The two continued walking towards the cafeteria. Adi decided to let her meet the other Padawans of her age. Mazairi needed friends.

"There is Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan learner. Anakin shows much promise to be a good Jedi night. But he also shows fear."

"How do you know, Adi?"

"I was there when Mace Windu tested him in front of the Jedi Council." Mazairi could tell that Adi did not want to discuss whatever had happened in that meeting. "Who is that?" she asked.

Adi brightened. "Plo Koon," she said. "And there is his Padawan. I forget the name."

This went on for a while. Adi took Mazairi around and introduced her to everyone. Obi Wan Kenobi seemed to be very pleased that Adi Gallia had detached herself from the memory of Siri.

But Mazairi just wanted to get on with her training so she could see her mother. Mazairi feared for her mother very much.

Disclaimer- everyone belongs to George Lucas except Mazairi.

Flashback

Mazairi closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Words flowed through her mind like water trickling through stones.

Think, Mazi. Think, my child

The words of her mother.

The memories flooded back.

Mommy, I can see Daddy.

No you can't, Mazi. He is far, far away on Alderaan.

But I can see him. He is shopping for food.

Your father is dead, Mazairi.

She remembered those words. She had spoken them when she was six. She had seen her supposedly dead father in a dream, a dream so vivid it was real.

She believed her mother.

Then it happened again. She was sixteen at the time, and awake.

There was two red bolts of lightning. A cry of "No!." A young man with flashing blue eyes and the braid of a Padawan learner behind a curtain of red. Then a pair of red eyes, thoughtless eyes, surrounded by red and black stripes... The lightning belonged to him. Then a pair of green eyes, squinted with pain. He was dead now... That wasn't red lightning. That was a lightsaber.

The curtain of red was gone. There was a flash of black and a flash of white. Blue and red met, turning into a rope of energy. Then a strangled gurgle.

The black fell away, the red and blue fell with it. All that was left was the white and green, the green of the dead man's eyes.

Qui Gon Jin.

The name saturated Mazairi's thoughts.

Qui Gon Jin. He was the dead man with the green eyes.

The blue eyed man. Obi Wan Kenobi.

Sixteen-year-old Mazairi had packed her bags.

She had kissed her mother goodbye.

She had won her freedom from the Hutts. The details of how exactly she had done so were grisly. She didn't like thinking about it.

She had stolen a speeder under the cover of night. Mazairi feared the Hutts.

She went to the airport and left Tatooine.

Mazairi had looked about her. She was on a lovely, ancient planet, that sang of sorrow and happiness.

Baroonda.

She had set down her bags and opened her arms to the salty rain falling from the gray sky. Laughing with pleasure, Mazairi caught raindrops in her hands and licked her fingers. Her hair streaming wet, she ran to the ocean, put her feet in, and sang an old folksong from Tatooine.

Eur nak dja li mi kole
En lpea liea ender
Jaba driki djaks lkiewe
Woem Tatoin oewn dieneli liea

Beautiful white petals of rain
Drop down on me from above
King of all wetness
Touch Tatooine with your glory

Mazairi had never seen rain before. On Tatooine, moisture was farmed out of the barren sands.

On Baroonda, it fell from the sky and licked her feet teasingly, running of her fingers and toes.

She had been sad to leave Baroonda two days later for Couruscant. The Mik Awla sitting beside her asked her why she was so sad.

"I have never seen rain before," answered Mazairi.

"Neither have you seen buildings as tall as the clouds," the old Mik Awla said laboriously.

She had thought he had been lying.

But when the ship touched down on the landing dock, and she saw lines of traffic out the window, she believed.

Mazairi stood there for a minute or two. Then there was a hand on her elbow, and a gently rough voice in her ear.

"Welcome to Couruscant, Mazairi of Tatooine. I shall be your teacher."

"Why have you come to Tatooine, Mazairi?" asked Adi Gallia.

"I have had a vision."

"A vision."

"Of two Jedi and a man with two red lightsabers and black and red stripes."

The cup Adi had been holding clattered to the ground. Mazairi had startled her.

"Obi Wan Kenobi. Qui Gon Jin," Mazairi recited. Then she said the name that had come to her in her sleep, only the other night.

"Maul. Darth Maul, apprentice of Senator Palpatine of Naboo."

Adi had then cleaned up the fragments of the cup and sent Mazairi to bed.

There had been an emergency council meeting.

"The Force is strong within her," Adi murmured.

"As with Anakin," said Obi Wan.

"Yes," said Yoda. "Strong within them the Force is. Strong within them fear is. A choice they must make."

"It could be dangerous training both of them as Jedi," Mace Windu said vehemently.

Adi stood. "If they are trained properly, they could be excellent additions to the Jedi. Mazairi has visions. She knows what happened to Qui Gon Jin, who stood before you, in this very hall, pleading for Anakin Skywa-!"

"Quiet, both of you!" said Yoda. "Adi Gallia, you may continue."

"My Padawan learner saw visions of what happened to Qui Gon Jin and Obi Wan Kenobi. She saw the battle. And what's more, she has given us valuable information. The apprentice was killed. Not the master."

Mace Windu remembered his words at Qui Gon's funeral. "But which one was killed- the master, or the apprentice?"

"And," said Adi, with a shaking voice, "she knows who trained Darth Maul."

Silence filled the room.

"The master was," said Adi, taking a deep breath, "Senator Palpatine, from Naboo."

End Flashback

Mazairi sat in her room. She felt the Force stir.

She whirled around, but there was nothing there.

She calmed herself down, reminding herself of her first real lesson with Adi Gallia, which would take place the next day.

"Mazairi!" shouted Adi Gallia. "Use the Force!"

Concentrate. Concentrate on the bullets, thought Mazairi.

She felt the disturbance in the Force. Perspiration on her brow, she deflected the red shafts shot from the practice orb. When the barrage finally ended, she opened her eyes and looked up to see her master, as well as two other people. Mazairi almost dropped her lightsaber.

"Anakin," said Mazairi.

"Mazairi," said Anakin. Using the Force to bring the lightsaber back to her hand, he smiled at her clumsiness in a friendly way. "Mazairi, that was splendid use of the Force," Obi Wan Kenobi said. "Now we must depart. Anakin, where did you put the-" Obi Wan's voice drifted down the hall, followed by the soft footsteps of his Padawan.

Anakin Skywalker, Mazairi thought. What a strange man.

She had been brought in late to training. Very late. The same year as Anakin, in fact. Only now were the advanced skills being shown to both of them. "Talented, the children be," Yoda had said. "But will be taken, special measures."

Mazairi had seen Anakin the first day and knew he was from Tatooine. The sand and sorrow lurks always in the eyes of a Tatooine native. In the years she had known him, he had shown two emotions well: love and anger. Defeat and weariness, he never showed. Until now.

He was weighed down with something, Mazairi knew it. But what was it?

When they saw each other that day in the Jedi Temple, when Mazairi had opened her eyes, it seemed like the weight was gone. She had seen him race many years ago, the Boonta Classic. When Sebulba had crashed, she had been so happy. Anakin had won, and he looked light as a feather. But when he hugged the girl in blue with the brown braids, he started sinking.

Padme.

Mazairi knew that she was feeling something she had never felt before.

Was it love?

Disclaimer: SOS. Same Old Stuff.
A/N- I just saw Episode II. I'm totally caught up in the moment, so I have to write about love.

"No, Ira, no," said Mazairi. "Adi Gallia is strict, but not mean. Why do you think that Plo Koon is such a good master?" She sensed eyes on her back. It was Anakin, looking at her. His eyes flashed, and then he looked away.

In the Jedi Temple, it happened again. He looked at her over and over again. Obi Wan's shouts at Anakin about "not concentrating!" carried across the room.

What did Anakin feel? Mazairi wondered.

You have brought hope to those who have none. I am so very proud of you. Look's like a storm's coming, Annie. Better get home quick. I am Queen Amidala. This is my faithful decoy. Anakin.

Words floated through his head. Quotes. His mother, the old village woman, Padme, Mazairi. Why Mazairi? Anakin thought suddenly. She's just a friend. I can't love her. I've loved Padme all these years.

There is room for change, whispered a voice in his head. Padme doesn't even know you love her, you were only eight or nine when you last saw her. But he still loved Padme, he was sure of it. He'd had a crush on her, but he'd grown up now. Maybe she's changed. Hell, Anakin thought, I haven't seen her in years; I couldn't judge my feelings when I was that young. But I've known Mazairi ever since I've come here. She's grown on me. I know when she changes.

You are afraid to let your feelings go, whispered the nasty little voice.

So Anakin thought of Mazairi before going to sleep. But her face kept changing into Padme's.

Mazairi had conquered the bullet-orb. Her next lesson was hand-to-hand combat. It was like ballet; every move had a name.

"Kupe," Adi whispered. "Pane. Rishen. Kupe-pane-rishen." Mazairi could do all the moves, but it was the combination of the three that she found difficult.

"Kupe-pane-rishen. Kupe-pane-rishen. Kupe-pane-rishen. Kupe-pane-rishen. KUPE-PANE-RISHEN!" Mazairi felt the Force stir. Whirling about, she executed a perfect combination on a practice robot.

"Excellent," said Adi, eyebrows raised. "it seems you can do anything when the Force warns you, very interesting. Put away your lightsaber. We shall go to etiquette next." Etiquette was the training of feelings. Mazairi had one every day. "To work on that stubbornness," Adi Gallia had said. Only one other person needed etiquette every day. Anakin Skywalker needed lessons in obedience.

"Look inside your mind," Adi Gallia instructed. "Find the place of peace." Mazairi found the place and breathed deeply. But then, Anakin's face whirled into her head. No, no, thought Mazairi, trying to push all thought away. You're not supposed to be here.

Then she screamed.

"Mazairi!" shouted Adi Gallia, as Mazairi was falling, falling, falling...

That face, that dark ugly face, covered by the mask, what was it? No one she knew, for sure.

"Mazairi?" called a voice that floated gently over her head.

"Maaazzaiiiirrrriiiiiiiiiii?"

"Anakin?" Mazairi whispered.

"Mazairi?"

"Are you the one in the mask?" asked Mazairi.

"Mazairi?!" It was Anakin, looking down at her on the cool mosaic floor, concern in his endless brown eyes. "Mazairi! You're awake!" said Anakin happily, lightsaber in hand. He had run straight from practice to go and see her.

How had he known she was in trouble?

"How did you know I was hurt?" asked Mazairi.

"How did I not know?"

"That's not an answer."

"I felt the Force."

"You cannot feel people who are injured with the Force. Only people you-!"

"Deeply care about," Anakin recited with her.

Mazairi realized in a moment. "But-!"

"Shh," Anakin whispered. He put two fingers on her lips. "Shh." Anakin took his fingers off her lips and knelt down beside her. She leaned up, and then-

"Anakin! Anakin! Break your concentration one more time and I'll-!"

"Coming!" Anakin shouted, and left smiling. Mazairi was smiling, too. He had made the first move.

A/N- fluffy, fluffy, fluffy. Not usually my area, but, oh well. Don't worry, I foresee more action in future chapters.

The nighttime air on Couruscant was fresh and reviving. It blew across the now scant lines of traffic into the buildings raised high above the skyline. The buildings on the actual surface of the planet were horrible, run-down things. There was no fresh air. Fuel spills kept landing on roofs, and the mothers who lived there wept for their children night by night because they couldn't see the sky.

Mazairi had a home like that in Tatooine. She knew how lucky she was now, to be standing high above the ground. No one could touch her here. Mazairi stood on the purple-gray balcony connecting the Jedi Temple to the actual training rooms. There was another balcony leading to private quarters, but Mazairi was not tired. She had just come off training.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Mazairi jumped. "Anakin! Don't come up behind me like that! I could have fallen off the balcony!"

"We couldn't have that, could we?" Anakin smiled.

Mazairi grinned back. "This is so different from Tatooine," she thought aloud. "So much better."

"You were raised on Tatooine?"

"You didn't know? I could always tell when someone was from Tatooine. Their eyes were never the same again. Anyway, I saw you race a few years back- the Boonta Classic. I was so happy when Sebulba crashed. He deserved it," Mazairi added bitterly.

"You watched me race?"

"You looked so happy when you won. It was like you were floating. But," Mazairi went on tentatively, "you don't seem so happy now."

Anakin was silent. His hands gripped the walkway's rail so tight that his bones popped out under his skin like deformed lumps.

"No," he finally said. "I was not as happy then. I was under a lot of stress, me becoming a Jedi, saying goodbye to Mom, meeting Padme."

"Padme? Who is that?"

"The rest of the world knew her as Queen Amidala."

Mazairi breathed sharply. "You met Queen Amidala?"

"I met you."

"Well, that's obvious but Queen Ami-!"

Her sentence was cut short. Anakin had suddenly leaned down and kissed her. She took her hands off the rail and put them around his neck. His hands were around her waist (how original! Just like the movies!). Mazairi felt a tingling sensation spread throughout her entire body. It was stronger than gravity, and she felt weighed down and floating at the same time.

It ended too soon.

"I shouldn't have done that," said Anakin angrily. "Obi Wan always told me I had troubles with my feelings. But even if I wasn't a Jedi, I shouldn't have done it. I've pledged my heart to Padme."

"Shh," Mazairi whispered. It was her turn to put her fingers on his lips. "Feelings change. Time goes by. Put Padme in the past for now."

The leaned in for another kiss, but-

"Anakin! Mazairi! What the hell are you doing?"

"Anakin! Mazairi! What the hell are you doing?"

Anakin and Mazairi sprang apart at the sound of the harsh voice slicing the cool night air (and their fiery kiss) like a knife.

"Master!" Anakin cried.

Obi Wan strode towards them with a look of fury upon his usually somewhat serene face. Taking Anakin by the arm, he spat out angry words at Mazairi.

"Be sure," he yelled out, "be very sure, young woman, that Adi Gallia will hear about this, as soon as I am done with my apprentice here!"

"What are you going to do to him?" Mazairi cried. But Obi Wan and Anakin had already vanished into the shadows.

Mazairi knew in her heart that Obi Wan would not touch a finger to Anakin in harm, but her mind was racing with anger and fear. She knelt to the floor, trying to remember what Adi Gallia had taught her about these feelings when they came suddenly upon a Jedi.

When, my Padawan, feelings that Jedi Knights should not possess come upon you, you must kneel and meditate upon those feelings. Use them to better yourself, to gain knowledge about these feelings, so you know what to do next time these feelings come upon you. Feelings are everything and nothing to a Jedi, Mazairi. In time, you will understand.

She did so. Meditating on those feelings of fear and anger, Mazairi realized something.

She should have done this to her love for Anakin long before the kiss. Now both of them might be expelled from the Jedi order.

No, Mazairi thought fiercely. I will not be expelled. I shall become a Jedi Knight, and sit in the chair Adi Gallia sits in the Jedi Temple. Anakin will be beside me, our feelings forgotten.

But Mazairi could not forget.

There was a sudden swishing noise beside her, and Adi Gallia appeared with Mazairi's robe.

"Here," she said curtly. "We must go to the Jedi Temple. Mace Windu wants to see you." Adi Gallia struggled to keep frustration out of her voice. "You and Anakin must be kept apart. You shall never see him again as long as you learn in the Jedi Temple."

Disclaimer- you know the drill.
A/N- evil laugh cliffies, cliffies, cliffies, just to torture my readers. Ha ha ha ha ha Ahaha AH HA HA HA (cough and clearing throat, retching noise) Laughing like that isn't good for my throat.

No more Anakin. No more.

It was like the Jedi Order had taken her own lightsaber and cut out her heart in five swift strokes.

No more Anakin. Never again would she see his coarse brown skin, hardened from labor on Tatooine. Never again would she see the flash in his brown eyes when he was angry, or see his smile with its white, even teeth light up his face. She would never again hear his drawl, the voice that touched her heart, argue with Obi Wan Kenobi. Never again.

As all of these things pressed down on Mazairi, she felt like she could not breathe. The thought of never seeing Anakin again, her Anakin, the Anakin she loved, breathed, needed, wanted.

No. Mazairi would not let that happen. She would see Anakin again.

Even if she had to die for it.

Anakin sat stiffly in his high backed chair. Obi Wan had just finished yelling at him. Anakin had stared straight into his mentor's eyes, daring him to yell more. He wasn't sorry for it. Obi Wan had stomped off in a fit of rage. Probably to do something productive with his anger, Anakin sneered in his mind.

His thoughts shifted from Obi Wan to Padme, the one he had decided to marry from the very first time he had spoken to her.

"Are you an angel?"

The words floated through his head like the remnants of a spirit, drifting farther and farther away. Padme was the cold white moon now, setting at the darkest hour of the night. Mazairi was the sun, shivering in the first hours of daylight as it rose above the hills. She made you wait for her rising, and then she surprised you, peeking over the horizon when Anakin least expected it.

His lips were tingling with the thought of Mazairi's sunrise as he climbed into bed.

"Protecting Barrondan royalty, the assignment is," Yoda said. He spoke to six Padawan learners and their masters, the cream of the crop.

There was Ira of Malastare, Padawan of Plo Koon.

There was Mazairi of Tatooine, Padawan of Adi Gallia.

There was Hangoe of Alderaan, apprentice to Ki Adi Mundi.

There was Ishira of Baroonda, Padawan to Mace Windu. He shrieked with happiness at the thought of going home.

There was Bijira of Mon Gazza, apprentice to Yoda himself.

Then there was Anakin Skywalker of Tatooine, Padawan learner to Obi Wan Kenobi. It was the first time he had seen Mazairi, really seen her, since the night on the walkway. Anakin stared at her as Yoda explained why they royals needed protection (something about rival farmers on a neighboring planet, everyone thought it was a stupid fight except Mazairi and Anakin, who grew up around farmers farming water). Her head had hung down as the names of the Padawan learners were read aloud, her green eyes lacking the spark they so often possessed. But as Anakin's name was read, she came alive again. The thought of being close to Anakin thrilled her more than the thought of going back to Baroonda, where she had landed on her trip to Couruscant and had danced in the rain.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Obi Wan whispered to Adi Gallia as he saw Mazairi's head jerk up in anticipation as Anakin's name was read. "Do you think you were too hard on her? She looks so tired."

"She looks," Adi Gallia said curtly, "like a Padawan learner who has learned part of a valuable lesson." She grinned, and added, "If she makes a move on Baroonda, she shall learn the other part of the lesson, I promise you."

Anakin and Mazairi left the council room with the same light, dizzy feelings in their heads.

Disclaimer- lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala if you are reading this you are stupid because you know who belongs to who lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala
A/N- sorry about the delay. I've been having some writer's block lately

The starship landed in the port in Helri, called the White City for its whitewashed buildings with golden trim, the capital of Baroonda. Flowers spilled out of golden pots and scented the walkway. If you climbed to the top of the Royal Palace's highest tower and looked north, west and south, you would see the white abruptly meet green. The forests were rich, and the streams that flowed through them ridden with leaves. The branches of drooping trees found their place on the cool water's surface. Only to the east did this landscape change. The gray sea met tan beach there. Legend was that the god Barono and his wife Baroon had sailed to the shore and built the city of Helri. When Baroon died, Barono named the planet after his beloved wife. Rain now splashed on fallen statues of them, hidden deep in the forest and lying on the sand.

The ship touched down gently, and the hatch opened. The Jedi and their Padawan learners went immediately to the Jedi Council building on Baroonda. Every planet had a Jedi meeting place of some sort.

There, rain slapped against the windows as Yoda and Mace Windu went into more detail.

"We are here to protect Queen Rwen and King Liam. Several assassination attempts have nearly succeeded already. We believe that the attackers are the Oovoos, though we are not sure. The inhabitants of the Oovoo systems are farmers of," Mace Windu paused to look down at a paper in his hand, "onliumsna, which is a precious metal. Onliumsna is also very abundant on Baroonda, and the Oovoos do not get a lot of trade their way."

"To protect the King and Queen, our mission is," Yoda said. "However, it means not that finding the true attacker we can. If the assassin one of you sees, report it to me or Master Windu, you will."

After a murmur of assent among the Padawans, they were shepherded to their chambers. Mazairi shared a room with Bijira and Hangoe. After saying goodnight to each other and pulling the curtains shut round their beds, Mazairi sat on the edge of her mattress. She could not sleep yet. Thoughts of Anakin filled her mind. Eventually she went to sleep.

She dreamed.

There was a white palace, the palace on Baroonda. The Queen was sitting in a chair, reading. Behind one of the pillars supporting the roof was a droid. Mazairi recognized it as being from the Trade Federation. It raised its gun, and shot.

"No!" Mazairi woke with a startled yell.

In the next room, Anakin Skywalker awoke with a start from the same dream.

A/N- AHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA AH HA HAH HAH HAAAAAAAAAA! (choking noise) ok, evil laugh over. Yet another cliff hanger, and another bout of writers block. Must be in my system. If anyone knows a cure, call 1-800-NOBRAIN immediately.

Sweat drenched Anakin's sheets. His blankets were rumpled from his tossing and turning.

Why the Trade Federation? He thought. Why would they be attacking the King and Queen?

The same reason they wanted to kill Padme, Anakin thought with a shiver.

Neither Anakin nor Mazairi slept that night.

Both woke up early the next morning, as the sun was just turning the leaves' edges on the jungle floor shine gold. Both donned their black Padawan robes. Both attached their lightsabers to their belts. They knew that the Trade Federation would move today. The Trade Federation did not wait.

Both walked down the mosaic floors to the central lobby. The lobby was an unspoken meeting place.

Anakin was not surprised to see Mazairi there.

Mazairi was not surprised to see Anakin there.

They had both felt each other in their identical dreams. The Force bound them together like no other pair of Jedi.

Wordlessly, the pair swept out the door and began their way to the palace.

Twenty-five minutes later, Anakin shivered.

"What's wrong?" Mazairi asked.

"I feel a disturbance in the Force."

"I feel it too," Mazairi murmured.

Run.

The voice sounded in both of their heads, and they ran towards the palace. Down the streets, they were one as they ran, same robe, same lightsaber, same soul, same body. They were one as Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker would never be. Mazairi understood Anakin, and Anakin understood Mazairi.

They were one.

Hurtling down the streets, they turned towards the magnificent palace. Anakin's legs were cramping from running so hard, but he gritted his teeth and went on.

Three seconds before they reached the glass doors of the place, they activated their lightsabers. Flashes of blue and green broke through the curtain of glass as easily as if it were made of cloth.

A droid heard the glass breaking. "Intruders. Destroy them," it said in its monotone.

Mazairi swiftly sliced off the droid's head and ran on without pausing.

Down the corridors they flashed, droid after droid after droid, until they came to the throne room.

The room in their dreams.

Mazairi and Anakin rushed in, not thinking. The slamming doors caused the queen to jerk her head up. The droid, its gun in position to shoot, also looked up, surprised. With a flash, the gun went off by accident, and the queen crumpled to the floor.

"No!" Anakin and Mazairi cried. Mazairi rushed over to take care of the droid, and Anakin ran over to the queen.

"You. Jedi," the queen croaked.

Tears welled in Anakin's eyes. "We are Padawan learners."

"Never have...I known...the Jedi. Even the Padawan. To fail. Who are you?"

"Anakin, Padawan to Obi Wan, and Mazairi, apprentice to Adi Gallia."

"Obi Wan... told me... about you... boy," the queen rasped. "He said to watch out... for you, and now I see...why...You terribly failed me..."

And with that the beloved Queen Rwen of Baroonda died in Anakin Skywalker's arms.

With a shaking hand, Mazairi leaned down and closed the Queen's eyes. The casket moved slowly down the street. The Jedi and their Padawan followed, Bijira in front. Everyone was in black.

Everyone was staring at the two teenagers walking in front of the casket. The Padawan learners that had miserably failed.

Anakin and Mazairi huddled deep into their cloaks. Both wished they could disappear. Even though the Trade Federation had been taken care of for now, they had still let the Queen die. Even though Obi Wan and Adi Gallia had told them that it wasn't their faults, both knew that the masters blamed them at heart.

Anakin was thinking fiercely.

I'm sorry, Obi Wan. I let you down. But I promise I will not fail again. I promise you, Mom, Queen Rwen, Obi Wan, and Mazairi, that I will be the greatest Jedi that ever lived. Even if I have to kill for it.

I will not fail again.

Mazairi was thinking too, but not about the Queen. She had finished thinking about that. She was thinking about Anakin.

Later, as the two stood in the Jedi base on Baroonda, Anakin suddenly turned towards Mazairi and kissed her.

Mazairi started crying. Hot tears slid down her cheeks and wet Anakin's lips.

"Why are you crying?" Anakin said softly.

"Because we can't."

"Can't what?"

"See each other again. I love you, Anakin Skywalker. I truly and deeply love you. But being a Jedi comes first for me." She sobbed even harder at this point. "I will always love you, Anakin. But I must be a Jedi. I cannot live if I cannot be one. We will see each other again, won't we?"

"No."

Mazairi looked into his eyes. "What?"

"I received an assignment today to go to Couruscant to protect Senator Amidala from Naboo. Someone is trying to kill her." Anakin choked on his words. "I love her, too."

Mazairi pulled her top lip between her teeth. Anakin began crying, too.

"I love you too, Mazairi," Anakin sobbed. "But if you want to be a Jedi, I have to respect that. Goodbye."

Anakin walked off towards the port where the ship was waiting to take Obi Wan and himself to Couruscant.

Mazairi watched his ship depart, and then collapsed on the floor in tears.

THE END

Epilogue

"Tell your sister, you've arrived."

In the last seconds of his life, Anakin Skywalker, no longer Darth Vader, looked into his son's face. He saw Padme in there, perfectly etched into his features, once mauled by an ice monster.

He loved Padme, even though he as good as killed her. He was sorry for that now that she was gone, and he was going.

As Anakin breathed his last breath, a thought filled his head. If he had stayed with Mazairi, would he have ever turned to the Dark Side?

As his soul left his body, he tried to smile. Either way, he would be seeing both of his loves now.