Kyah shot up in her bed as the sound of her alarm ripped her from her dreams. She reached out and drew the small clock to her hand with the force, looking at it in disapproval as she switched it off and read a bleak '5:00' on its screen.
Kyah dropped the clock beside her in bed, and flopped back onto her pillow with a groan. Her eye managing to drift closed again for little more than a second before there was a knock on her door. She watched as a young maid entered the room followed closely by Talia, the older lady in waiting from the day before. They came to stand at her bedside with their hands folded, staring expectantly.
"Good morning." Kyah said with a look of absolute confusion on her face.
"Good morning ma'am." They replied in unison, then the younger of the two stepped forward and offered Kyah a hand up, "We'd best be starting your day. There's an awful lot to do before sun up." She said with a cheery voice. Kyah tried to hide how annoyed she was that there were already people bugging her, mere moments after she'd woken up. She accepted the hand and was pulled to her feet.
"Oh." The young girl said as Kyah rose out of bed with her pyjamas ajar and her hair in a knot up on top of her head.
"What?" Kyah asked as she looked at the maid's startled expression.
"Nothing." She said quickly, "Nothing at all." She repeated and the two serving girls rushed her into the washroom.
Talia handed her a tooth brush and squeezed a dollop of paste onto it, while the other girl immediately got to work, pulling a brush through her hair. Kyah tried to ignore the tugging at her scalp as she leaned over the sink and brushed her teeth.
As quickly as she'd gone, Talia reappeared with a long, fitted and very fancy dress.
She held it up for Kyah to see and the Jedi choked on the toothpaste foaming in her mouth.
"That's what I'm meant to wear?" She asked and her eyes grew wide as she turned to face the maid.
"Yes ma'am. The Duchess picked it out herself. Senator Organa will also be wearing white, so she thought this would help to make you look well coordinated." She explained and started to undo the lacing at the back of the gown.
"But..." Kyah pouted, "What if I end up needing to fight?" She asked. "I can't wield my lightsaber in that." She said nervously and looked up at Talia with pleading eyes.
"I see." She said and stopped to look to her coworker for ideas.
"Perhaps you should go find the Duchess again, and see if you can't come up with a more practical outfit." The young maid suggested and Talia nodded before hurrying off.
"Pardon me askin' ma'am," The maid behind her spoke timidly as she continued combing out Kyah's tangles. "You don't expect that you'll be needing to fight today, do you?"
Kyah locked eyes with the young girl through the mirror as she rinsed out her mouth and laid down the tooth brush, "I hope that I won't, but I still need to be ready." Kyah answered soberly and the maid nodded.
"What's your name?"
"Penelope." The maid answered and Kyah turned around to face her formally.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Penelope." She said and smiled, "I appreciate all you and the other girls have done for me these last couple of days." She said and walked out into the bedroom with Penelope trailing behind, a little stunned.
"Of course, that's what we're here for." She shrugged and Kyah could tell she wasn't sure how to take the compliment.
Kyah walked over to the small refrigerator in her suite and grabbed the ice pack she'd found last night. She made her way over to the bed and plopped down, holding the ice over her ribs while she waited for the other girl to come back with her clothes.
"Are you injured miss?" Penelope asked.
"Nothing too serious, but yes." She nodded and Penelope seemed rattled.
"Is it alright if I ask what happened?" Penelope took a few steps closer and Kyah smiled.
"Of course. I was injured in a battle against a Separatist General." She answered vaguely and Penelope looked pensive.
"The separatists," She said quietly, "Are they really as bad as the Duchess says?" She asked and Kyah shrugged, thinking long and hard before speaking.
"Probably not all of them." she answered honestly, thinking back to what Satine had told her yesterday, "I know that there are Separatist aligned systems, that are no more evil than you or I, many of them are not involved with the nefarious deeds of the Sith." Kyah explained, "Count Dooku, however, truly is evil." Kyah said, a dark look coming over her.
Penelope sat down on the bed beside Kyah, seeming very curious. "I've heard stories of the Jedi and the Sith. I was taught that neither one is truly good." Kyah looked up, a little shocked by the blunt statement, "That the Sith crave power, but the Jedi crave order, and both sides will fight for what they believe in, at any cost."
Kyah was stunned to say the least. "Working with the republic all the time, has certainly blinded me to the outlook neutral systems might have." Kyah admitted. "It's true that the Jedi cherish order, but what we crave is peace." She sighed, "I know it's difficult to understand the idea of fighting to achieve peace, but..." Kyah trailed off, "You know, sometimes I question our place in this war, just as many others have, but," She looked Penelope in the eye. "I've seen the way that the Separatists use their power. As a Jedi, I have watched their generals and their armies slaughter innocent people and sacrifice those who they call their allies without a second thought. I've seen governments crippled and entire species irradicated for standing up against them." Kyah sighed and looked down, "The reason that I, as a Jedi, choose to fight in the war, is to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
Penelope stared in amazement as Kyah spoke, "I think perhaps, that is the speech you should make in the meeting today." She suggested and Kyah smiled.
"Was it good?" She asked and Penelope nodded enthusiastically as the door to the room swung open and Talia hurried in.
"What are you doing siting around?" She asked with an exasperated look on her face, "You should be getting her hair into rollers." She instructed Penelope and shooed her off the bed.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault for distracting her." Kyah said and stood up, dropping the ice onto the side table behind her.
"I don't care who's fault it was." The maid said as she hurriedly removed the hanger from the white ensemble she was holding, "The Duchess will have all our heads if we're late." She said and Kyah nodded.
Talia lifted up a flowing white top and matching floor length skirt.
"This is perfect." Kyah smiled, "Thank you for going through the trouble of finding it for me." She said and the older maid breathed a heavy sigh and seemed to relax a little as she smiled politely.
"Of course." She nodded, "Now, before we get you into it, the palace physician is gonna come and change your bandaging." She spoke quickly as she bustled around the room collecting bits of makeup, hairspray, ironing tools, etc.
"I'm sorry, the doctor's coming?" She repeated her words.
"Yes. He should be here momentarily." She answered without pause.
"I'd really rather handle my own bandaging." Kyah said, nerves rising in her stomach.
Talia stopped in her tracks, and turned to look at Kyah. "But, the wound is on your back, is it not?" She asked, her brow furrowed questioningly.
"Yes, but I can manage." She insisted.
Talia looked entirely unconvinced, "But, he has ointments and medicine to prevent infection and ease your pain.
"I can't take any pain killers today." Kyah shook her head, "I need my mind sharp and clear."
Talia ran a hand across her face and sighed, "Fine, but you should still have a doctor looking at a wound that fresh every few days." She insisted.
Kyah chewed her lip, and shuffled uncomfortably, "Well, could you do it instead?" She asked and Talia looked more confused than ever for a moment, before clarity washed over her.
She walked over to Kyah and spoke quieter and softer than before, "Are you uncomfortable because he's a man?" She asked plainly and kyah looked down at her hands.
"Partly. I've also just never met him." She answered, "I'm sorry Talia, I know he's your father, and I'm sure he's perfectly lovely, but I usually insist on seeing a med droid rather than a doctor." She explained hurriedly, until Talia raised her hand for Kyah to stop talking.
"You don't need to explain yourself miss. I'd be happy to assist you in his stead." She nodded and Kyah visibly relaxed as she exhaled.
"Thank you." Kyah nodded.
As if on cue, someone knocked at the door and Talia went to open it.
She quietly greeted her father and stepped into the hall with him for long moments, then reappeared holding his medicine bag, and closed the door behind her.
"Penelope." Talia called to the young girl with her arms full of hair accessories, "Go and make sure Master Tano is up and moving." She instructed, and the young girl nodded, quickly and indelicately dumping her armload onto the vanity top, before rushing out of the room.
Talia set the bag down on the bed beside kyah, "Lets see what we're working with." She said and Kyah nodded.
She turned around where she sat on the bed, and moved to the edge so Talia could stand behind her, then Kyah pulled off the silk robe she was wearing, and heard Talia gasp when she saw the deep purple colouring across her shoulder blade, already browning at the edges as it started to heal. The contrast of the clean white bandages in the centre of it, was jarring.
Kyah glanced over her shoulder and saw the look of shock on Talia's face. "If it's too much for you, I really can manage on my own." She started to turn around, but Talia shook her head firmly.
"No, no don't be ridiculous." She said and motioned for Kyah to turn back, "Too much for me," she mumbled quietly, "looks like too much for you, is all I was thinking."
Kyah slipped the thin strap down her arm, to give Talia complete access to the bandaged area.
Talia pulled out a pair of disposable gloves from the bag and put them on, then started carefully removing the tape from the edges of the bandaging.
"You don't have to be so delicate. You won't hurt me." She assured the maid, who nodded and moved a little quicker.
"If you don't mind me asking miss, how did this happen?" Talia spoke as she pulled back the corner of the gauze, and found it was plastered to her skin with dried blood.
"A separatist general." She answered vaguely, then found that they fell into an awkward, heavy silence as Talia tried to slowly inch off the gauze plastered to her wound.
Kyah considered how she could help make the maid feel more comfortable so she decided to keep talking. "He was a Sith. Master Skywalker and I were sent to capture him and dismantle his fleet, before he could break through the republic blockade and invade a heavily populated world."
Talia listened intently as she finally pulled the last of the bandage away. "A world allied with the republic?" She clarified, prompting her to go on.
"No, a neutral planet." Kyah corrected. "Like your's."
Talia was confused, "Why would the republic go through so much trouble defending a neutral planet?" She asked.
"The separatists wanted to mine their world for a rare and precious type of metal, they didn't care what happened to the planet's inhabitants, which in similar, past circumstances has meant turning them into slaves, and forcing them to mine their own land." Kyah spoke with a far off look in her eye, "I've seen it done before."
"So the republic offered to defend them in exchange for a share in this rare metal?" Talia said, as if she was already certain.
"Nope." Kyah shook her head, surprising Talia as she dabbed gently at the wound to clean away all of the dried blood, as well as the bits of fresh blood that had started to seep through the stitches where the bandage had pulled the scab away.
"They called for aid, when they got word that the separatists planned to invade, so the council sent Anakin to form a blockade. Then, when the Sith Lord appeared and overwhelmed Anakin's men, they knew they couldn't hold out, so the council sent me and my men to help. We managed to sneak on board his ship, capture the general, and destroy his armada." She said proudly.
"What happened to the planet once you had won?" Talia asked as she carefully applied an ointment to the length of the cut.
"Some of Anakin's men stayed behind to offer relief aid to the city that had been attacked before we arrived, then they followed us home a day or so later." She summed it up.
"So, you really didn't ask for anything in return?" Talia clarified.
"No. We didn't go with the intention of strong arming them into some deal or to make them feel indebted to the republic. We came because they asked us to. Every planet deserves freedom." Kyah looked over her shoulder as the maid placed a fresh piece of gauze over the wound and taped it down securely.
Kyah slipped her strap back up and pulled her robe on again, then turned to face Talia.
"And, this Sith, who hurt you so badly. What happened to him?" She asked.
"We captured him, and brought him back to the Coruscant for questioning." She said.
"I hope you got in a few good punches. It's the least that he deserves for doing something like that to a kid like you." She said coldly.
Kyah chuckled, "He suffered enough, though, not through punching. He's cybernetically enhanced, with four arms and a lot of claws. Punching would probably do much harm to me than him." She said, picturing Grievous in her mind.
"And you defeated him?" Talia asked, clearly impressed.
"With the help of Anakin and all 9 of my men." She clarified.
"Still. That's amazing." She nodded, "I just can't get over how young you are." She admitted. "I mean, where does your council get off sending in a couple of kids to fight a monster like what you described?" She asked harshly.
Kyah was shocked by her blunt question, "It's what I was trained to do." She shrugged, "All of us have trained tirelessly to be able to fight for what we believe in."
"But, you're just kids." She said again. "Someone like Obi Wan, I can understand being trusted with such a monumental task. He's old enough and experienced enough, but you, Skywalker and Tano. I just don't understand." she admitted.
"You don't know the experiences we've faced already in our lives." Kyah shook her head starting to feel defensive, "Ahsoka has been training for ten years already, and still has years to go as a padawan before she will be sent on solo missions. Anakin too, has trained since he was a child to become the incredible general he is today. We've all worked very hard to earn the right to defend those who can not defend themselves."
"What about you? How long did you train before they sent you to war." She asked harshly.
"I trained for three years before my first solo mission." She admitted and Talia's eyes grew wide, "But I was a special case. Found late in life by my master. I was already trained in both combat and the force, though, I didn't know what it was at the time." Kyah said, feeling overwhelmed by this line of questioning.
"I didn't mean to offend you with my questions Master Paladin." Talia said, trying to defuse the quickly escalating conversation, "I think you are incredibly brave. I just wish you didn't have to carry so much on your shoulders from such a young age." She tried to explain.
"It is a great responsibility to be a force wielder, that's why it's so important that the Jedi raise us. They protect us from people like Greivous and Dooku who would seek to corrupt us and turn us into weapons." Kyah argued further.
"How is that any different than what the Jedi have done to you? Taken you as infants and raised you with their ideals to be the perfect little soldiers in their war." Talia raised her voice.
"It is different! The Jedi would never force us to fight. There are plenty of us who choose to live as librarians, teachers, or leave the order all together rather than join the war. What's important is, as they grow they're in a nurturing and protected environment that teaches them to control and harness their power."
"Spoken like someone who has been indoctrinated since birth." Talia said under her breath.
That comment was enough to send Kyah over the edge, "I wish I had been lucky enough to be raised by the Jedi!" She shouted, so blinded by her rage that she didn't hear the door open. "I was sold as a slave along with dozens of other force sensitive children collected and displayed like trophies. I know what it's like to be raised by people who seek to corrupt the natural gift of the force. Who use it for selfish, evil deeds. If the Jedi had never found me, I don't know what I would have become!" She shouted at the woman, who stood in stunned silence.
Kyah took deep breaths as her heart raced, panic filling her chest at the mere mention of her past. She took a few steps back, blinking quickly as she fought back tears that welled in her eyes.
"Master Paladin." A small voice came from the doorway, drawing Kyah's attention.
To her horror, she locked eyes with Ahsoka and Anakin, both staring at her with wide eyes and worried expressions.
"I need to be alone." Kyah said in a trembling whisper. She managed to blink back the tears, and keep her composure a little longer.
Talia obeyed immediately, brushing past the Jedi.
"Snips, go back to your room." Anakin instructed his padawan. Ahsoka looked up and opened her mouth to argue with him, but one look at his intense expression and she shut it again, obeying his command.
Anakin took a deep breath and walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
Kyah glanced up, seeing he had stayed, and she turned away from him, covering her face with her hands, "Please, Anakin go." She begged, "I just need a minute." She insisted.
"Kyah, I'm sorry we intruded-" He started to say, but she cut him off.
"It's fine." She said and took a few steps further away from him, swiping away the tears that had started to silently fall.
"It's not. I'm sure that was something you have told few people, and I feel awful for barging in without your permission." He explained. "I wish I could take it back and give you the choice to tell me, but I can't, so... instead..." He trailed off, "I'll tell you my secret too. Level the playing field." He decided and Kyah turned around, tears on her cheeks and her arms folded in front of her as she faced him. "I was born a slave as well." He said, and her mouth hung open as she audibly gasped.
Anakin took a few steps closer to her as he spoke, his eyes downcast, "I never talk about it. Not with any one. Obi Wan knows, but only because he was there when his master found me and bought my freedom." He spoke quietly and glanced up at her occasionally, seeing her expression was unchanging. "Now, I know that it can't compare to what you went through. I was never used for my powers, I didn't even know I had powers back then." He took a breath to keep himself from getting angry, "I can't imagine being manipulated like that." He said.
"Don't downplay what you went through Ani." Kyah said in a raspy whisper as more tears fell.
"I'm not," He shook his head, "What I went through was horrible and dehumanizing, but what you went through was worse." He stated plainly.
Kyah timidly took half a step closer to him, "Can I..." She started to ask, then reconsidered.
"What? Ask me anything." Anakin begged, hating to see her hurting like this.
"Can I hug you?" She asked nervously.
Anakin smiled and opened his arms to her, "Yes please." He said in relief as she rushed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist, as she felt his resting cautiously on her back, careful to avoid her shoulder. He set his head on top of her's and savoured the moment. Kyah sniffled quietly and held on as long as she could before she worried it would get awkward, and pulled away.
There was a heaviness in the room with them that was felt by both as they stood in place, wondering what to do next.
Finally Kyah cleared her throat and spoke, "Thank you. I'm sure it was hard for you to share that with me. It helped."
Anakin nodded, "It's kinda nice to know I'm not the only Jedi who wasn't born into the temple. Who can see the Order from an outside perspective." He added.
"Agreed." She nodded.
Anakin was about to say more, but before he could, there was a knock at the door behind him.
"I'll get rid of whoever it is." He assured her and she sighed in relief, as she wiped away the remaining tears in her eyes. "You should get ready. Ahsoka and I were coming to tell you that breakfast will be served at seven." He turned to go.
"Anakin," She caught his hand and he turned back to look down at her, "Thank you." She said simply and he smiled, then ducked swiftly out of the room.