My feelings must have been written all over my face, because the Queen of Naboo simply gave a small comforting smile my way.

Which made me feel a little guilty for being so rash towards her attire.

"Calese, was it?" Her voice was soft yet strong as she spoke. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. When your little friend brought you to us you weren't even conscious, we were quite worried for you."

My friend...?

Who...?

She gestures to Sin beside me rather warmly. "He's a brave one. Brought you here all by himself."

Oh, she thought Sin was my friend?

...But, why?

How, even?

"Um..." I say rather hesitantly. "Did he tell you that himself...?"

She dips her head gracefully in conformation. "Of course... He even informed me of how you fought your way here after the Seperatists took your master from you. You were both quite brave."

She sent a warm smile my way for an instant before her calculating mask resumed.

"Though, I did promise him I wouldn't tell anyone else of his-... abilities, so no need to worry. Your secret is safe with me, young Padawan."

I stare once more.

...What.

I look towards Sin with an obviously deadpanned face. Clearly not amused.

What the Force did he tell these people?

And what 'abilities' did he show them?

I wasn't going to pout over it, but still, I was never informed of him having any kind of special abilities whatsoever.

Well he was definitely showing me these 'abilities' of his later, my curiousity demanded it.

Though it was now apparent he liked to come up with fun little stories to tell people when I couldn't correct him.

Irritating, but even so I had to admit, it seemed like he was rather good at it, given no one was questioning the absurdity of one with his appearance being around a Padawan.

I mean, didn't he just scream 'Dark Side' to anyone looking?

Or was that only to Force sensitives?

Well whatever the case, he certainly had to of told quite the lies while I was out to have fooled the Queen.

She seemed highly perceptive about that kind of stuff to me, and I just met the lady.

Honestly, it was all rather... Nice, of Sin. Really.

I'm sure these people appreciated being played for fools.

"Oh really?" I finally say with false relief. "Well how kind of you Sin, I was so worried about that."

Sarcastically of course.

I was feeling a bit defensive for these people who were lied to.

Sin, as expected, read my mood easily enough as he turned to meet my gaze, grinning with absolute amusement at my sarcastic undertone.

Oh, he was certainly having fun with this entire situation.

The Queen silently exchanged a look with one of her robed servants, catching on that something was obviously going on between us yet clearly unsure as to what.

At a nod from the Queen though one of the servants clears her throat to gather our attention as another servant steps forward.

"Padawan. My Queen would like me to inform you that I've personally contacted the Jedi Order, and have informed them of your location. They sent a shuttle to pick you up imediately after I explained your current situation to them."

My situat-... Oh, thats right, Sin spun quite the tale for them earlier.

Honestly, why was I still feeling shocked by that?

'Sin... What exactly did you tell them?' I ask hesitantly across our bond, my growing irritation at him for his lies pushed aside for later.

I felt uneasy about not knowing what the heck everyone was talking about.

His chuckle in my mind was my only answer.

Fine. I'd find out soon enough.

But seriously though...

I wasn't ready to go to the Council just yet.

I had to find out more about this timeline first, and more importantly let my mind shields heal.

Maybe I could have them delay that pickup for a couple days...?

I look up to the servant and the Queen while biting my lower lip nerviously.

"Um, I'm not ready yet..." I say quietly. "Could you have them wait a couple more days please?"

My voice was small, hopeful.

They glance to each other sympathetically before the Queen stepped forward with an apology in her eyes.

"I am sorry padawan, but the shuttle is already here. They have been waiting for you to wake for days."

...Well then. There went my plan.

I was in some serious poodoo huh...

I couldn't help the spark of anger coming over me, making me upset.

'Wow, you don't say?' I replied to their answer with sarcasm in my mind, annoyed how I couldn't have even a days break to think everything over.

'And to top it all off, I was acting like a brat.' I mused darkly to myself.

Rolling my eyes at my own childish behavior I simply fell back into the covers with a huge huff of air, not caring how it looked to any of them.

This was great, just... Great.

'You're going to pay for this, Sin.'

I thought towards him as the servants began to lay my cleaned clothes out on the bed, not even caring to respond to his laughter in my mind as the servants came to help me back up, the Queen leaving as they did so.

It honestly felt like they were in a hurry to get me out of there, but I knew they didn't want to keep the Council waiting either.

It was rude to keep the Council waiting.

I knew that from a very young age.

A strange sensation traveled down my spine at that thought.

I couldn't help but frown.

Something felt...

'...They fear them...' The silky darkness around my mind suddenly whispered to me, my eyes widening and snapping to the side to look towards Sin.

He was facing away as the servants helped dress me, but that didn't stop the worry from growing.

From the doubt growing.

Was that him who said that...?

It sounded... different, somehow...

I shook my head, focusing back to the task at hand, as I noticed how they were dressing me back into the much cleaner version of the clothes I had to change into on my previous Jump.

The very clothes that reminded me of the Sith.

I really hated that.

I sighed. It didn't matter, I guess. I just had to push through until I got to the Order. They'd definitely let me change then.

Though...

I glance hesitantly towards Sin.

Worry creeping in once more.

I really hoped it wasn't Sin saying that earlier... But... I wasn't sure.

----------------------------------------

'Hmm, you know, that attire was actually quite normal for the Queens of that planet to wear.'

Sin says with a casual glance my way, trying to get some sort of response from me for the fifth time since we boarded the shuttle and took our seats.

I simply closed my eyes for a few moments as the shuttle shook from exiting Naboo's atmosphere and entering space.

He was seriously persistent for some reason.

''Look, no matter how interesting the subject you may talk about," I whispered heatedly towards him. "I still refuse to talk to you.''

I was trying not to draw the attention of our newest travel companions that we would be stuck with until we got to Coruscant, but Sin seemed to be trying his hardest to get my full attention.

I knew he'd hear my heated whisper though since we were sitting beside each other, so I had no problem with muttering once more.

''I'm still mad at you...'' I say truthfully and look away in anger.

I was still mad that we were in this situation so soon because of him.

Seriously, I needed time to recharge and think all of this over before heading to the Council, yet he couldn't resist the urge to have some fun while I was out?

I was freakin' time traveling for kriff sake!

What was I supposed to tell them that would make sense, when even I didn't know what the heck I was talking about?!

He could've told a different tale that bought a little time at least, but no, he decided to tell them something that appearently sent red flags off everywhere around us.

I bet he did some research on the timeline while I was out of it and told them whatever he did knowingly too.

If there ever was one, this would be a class-A Sin antic for sure.

I feel Sins amusement travel into my mind with a chuckle at my angered thoughts.

'Hmm yes,' He says casually about my previous remark. 'So it seems.'

Ignoring his obvious baiting, and the soilders called 'clones' sitting around me, I closed my eyes and signed.

Honestly I was still exhausted, but everyone seemed rather rushed to get me to the Council after I woke, so I couldn't catch up on some much needed rest.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Speaking of...

Maybe I could just...

I rubbed my eyes tiredly as I supressed a yawn.

Ugh. Sleep? Yeah, not gonna happen.

Not yet anyway...

'Why don't you take a nap?' Sin's voice suddenly asks silkily like a sirens call. 'I'll wake you when we arrive, promise.'

He was volunteering to wake me? Seriously?

Yeah, for some reason I really didn't believe he would.

Not one bit.

And didn't I say that I was going to have to be careful around him after his little 'bored' incident on that sand planet anyway?

Well he certainly seemed plenty amused today, thats for sure, but I still shouldn't let my guard down.

I needed to try harder.

"Hey." A mans voice suddenly speaks out loud, making me jump at the deep voice.

It definitely wasn't Sin.

My eyes snapped open instantly at that realization to meet the clones sitting across from me. He had taken his helmet off, much to my suprise.

Wait...

Was I unknowingly drifting to sleep this entire time?

Well that wasn't good, I thought for sure...

The clone smiles warmly at my look of confusion. "Don't worry about it kid, we all get tired sometimes." He leans back against the shuttles wall. "Why don't you catch some Z's? Me and Stripes here will wake ya when we get there."

He gestures to the helmeted clone beside him, making me smile a little hesitantly.

The clones felt trusting the moment I met them for some reason, as I had no problem letting my guard down around them once we entered the ship.

Which would be alarming to think about later, but for now, it was comforting.

"Well... I would love to, honestly... you wouldn't mind?" I ask, unsure.

He gives a warm chuckle. "The names Kit. And I wouldn't have offered if I did."

His smile was contagious.

I mirrored it with an honest one of my own.

"Thank you, Kit. I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Leaned to my side I curled up across the empty seats beside me, letting my eyes close as my mind drifted to darkness willingly, the sounds of clones laughing as they talked sending me to sleep with a sense of safety I hadn't felt since this whole journey began.

'Definitely gonna have to thank him later...' I thought on a yawn.

Within moments I was drifting to sleep soundly.

----------------------------------------

To his word, Kit woke me when we arrived, and after we landed I was pleasantly shocked to see the Temple in all its glory in the distant skyline.

Last I had heard it had been attacked in my time, yet to not see distant smoke or scars of previous damage on the distant Temple was a great relief to me.

But also a little saddening.

I wasn't near my original timeline, that was for sure.

Sin jumped to my shoulder as I straightened in my seat and yawned, pushing away my negative thoughts before standing up as the clones started to exit, swiftly stretching a little as my body felt a little better after the nap as I followed them out.

We had landed on what looked like some sort of military platform as it was filled with plenty of other shuttles and clones as well, all taking off and landing around us.

Though the droning sounds of it all was strangely a pleasant sound in my mind.

Looking around to the views beyond the platform I gave a small smile, ignoring Sin rolling his eyes towards the warmer feelings that flooded through our bond from me.

Honestly, besides adding more building to the skyline, I felt like Coruscant would never really change much in looks, no matter what timeline I was sent to.

There was always more buildings reaching further and further towards the sky.

Always more traffic.

As we stopped into the middle of the platform one of my clone escorts pointed to another shuttle surrounded by a few clones in front of us, explaining that we were ordered to board that one and head for the Temple immediately.

Suddenly nervous I simply nodded and began following them across the platform.

Geez, this was nerve-wracking.

...Why though...?

It was my Order, a place I had been in for years, there shouldn't have been a reason for me to be nervous going there.

Unless... I was picking up on someone else's emotions and they were confusing my own...?

My mind guards were currently down, so that could be why I was feeling hesitant all of a sudden...

Lost in thought, I was about to board the shuttle with the several other troopers that were escorting me before movement to the side drew my attention.

It was Kit removing his helmet once more before breaking off from the group and heading to a different shuttle nearby.

I came to a stop making the clone behind me nearly run into me from my abruptness.

"What are you...?" He begins in surprise, but I interrupt him.

Quickly turning around I bow in apology. "Sorry, but could you give me a minute?"

Not giving him a chance to answer I turn and start running towards Kit, surprising the rest of the clones escorting me as they were unsure as to what I was doing.

"Kit!" I shout, effectively gaining his attention as he stops and turns around just as I reached him and slowed to a stop.

Surprise was written on his face as well as he instinctively crouched down in front of me.

"Hey kiddo, what're ya doing? You're supposed to be heading to the Temple already."

It kind of irritated me to have him kneel down like I was a child, even though I was looking down at him when he crouched, but I guess it was just his instinctual response to Padawans or people smaller than him anyway, so I just suppressed my negative feelings and smiled.

"I know, but I wanted to thank you for earlier. It was nice of you." I say, appreciation evident in my tone.

He chuckles warmly.

"Yeah, well, you certainly needed it." He says, standing back up to rub my head fondly.

I was to his shoulder when he stood, so I was looking up at him now as he continued.

"Ya know, if you ever need someone to guard ya while you sleep again, just ask for me or Stripes anytime. I'll be there for ya. No questions asked."

Warmth traveled through my chest as he removed his hand, allowing me to ignore Sin's gagging noises in my head as I bowed gratefully.

"I will. Thanks Kit." I nod to the clone beside him as well, recognizing Stripes stepping up beside him. "Thank you as well, Stripes. Though I better get going now, I left the others back there pretty abruptly."

Stripes chuckles, his voice slightly distorted behind his helmet as he nodded towards the shuttle behind me.

"You got that right kid, now get out of here before you get everyone in trouble."

His voice was teasing, making me grin warmly and give a small wave in reply before turning around and jogging back to the shuttle, boarding finally with the rest of the clones as the door shut and we took off.

As we made our way to the Temple I tried to hide the sudden wince of discomfort that came over me, turning slightly to hide my face from view of the clones as I rubbed my temple.

Ugh... maybe I shouldn't have pushed myself to run around so soon, it made things feel weird within me. Distorted.

Which didn't really make sense, but... It was there, in my head. Hurting.

What was going on...?

Sin shifted on my shoulder as he heard my inner confusion, glancing towards me coldly as he spoke.

'I told you once already. You can't go pushing yourself. Without your shields your energy will just keep leaking out.'

He looks away and licks his paw casually, keeping up the appearance of being "just a pet" in others eyes. 'Seriously, I'm only shielding your mind, not your body, Calese. Moving rapidly so soon will just make it worse for you.'

I sigh.

He was right of course, my physical energy would just deplete faster in my current state, but...

That didn't make me feel any better about this whole shielding situation.

Well, at least he was protecting my mind from intrusion, that was a small blessing of luck in my book.

No way was I comfortable with the Temple as a whole being able to read my mind.

That would've been disturbing.

Wait...

Would that really be a bad thing?

Why was I acting like I had something to hide?

I wasn't sure, but one thing I was certain of was how differently I was beginning to think with Sins Force energy wrapping around my own.

Quite paranoid, actually.

I needed to heal my shields fast.

Maybe the Healers at the Temple could help with that?

I sigh tiredly, resigning myself to respond halfheartedly to Sin's earlier remarks.

"I know, I know..." I glance to the clones. "It's just..."

Sin raises his brow as my voice fades off. I was clearly distracted.

His eyes narrow slightly, seeing an opportunity.

'Oh? Just?' He asks in a purring voice. 'As in, you're just an ignorant Padawan who never listens to those who are clearly wiser than you?'

I roll my eyes at that.

"Oh yeah, you got it, that's definitely me. How'd you guess?" I mutter sarcastically.

Sin chuckles, clearly amused by our exchanged words.

He seemed to enjoy our little spats.

Not that a part of me didn't as well.

I had to admit, being able to express my weird sense of humor with him so freely after everything was... Invigorating.

And a simple distraction from my Master, I knew.

With an exaggerated huff I raised my hand and tugged lightly on his tail with a light smile, before something else crossed through our bond, distracting me from our mutual moment of humor.

Ah...

Speaking of sensed emotions...

Sin seemed... anxious?

Extremely so.

Which was shocking that I could even pick up on that, but I guess that whole ''protecting my mind with his" thing was a two way street sometimes.

A little worried I glance to make sure the clones were still talking to each other before shifting further away and looking to him. "...Hey, you okay? You seem..."

'Unsettled? Distracted? Hmm, just a bit, yes.' He glances down at me from his perch. 'More importantly, are you completely done with your childish fit from earlier? If so we need to talk before we reach this Council of yours.'

He sounded serious...

Was there something going on within the Force that I wasn't picking up on?

I honestly couldn't really tell since anything I felt from the Force was sensored through Sin and our bond.

Which was weird, but hey, I really didn't want my brain to end up frying by channeling the Force without my shields up, so it was much preferred at the moment.

Holding his gaze I nodded hesitantly, not letting it get to me that he called my fit '"childish".

Honestly even I thought it kind of was anyway, so I didn't pay it much mind.

"Sure, but first I want to apologize about earlier. I get moody when I'm in pain." I say quickly as I wince a little mentally at the memory. "...Actually my master was helping me with that before all this happened. She said my... rampant emotions, could lead to the Dark Side if I wasn't careful."

I shake myself from my memories as I exhaled. "That aside, what was it we needed to talk about? Is there something wrong?"

'Hmm yes, you could say that.' I frown as he continues. 'You do know your Council will want to separate us, yes? I can't hide my presence from them once we enter this Temple of yours, so my true... Nature, will be discovered quickly before this meeting even begins. Not that they could actually stop me from staying by your side.' He grinned. 'Though I would surely like to see them try.'

...Huh...?

That's what he wanted to talk about?

Well that wasn't what I was expecting, but still, why would he even think that anyway?

The Council was wise and well known for their compassion among those in the Order and outside of it, so once they found out he helped me so much they'd surely look past his origins. Dark Sider or not.

I did after all. And I certainly didn't hold a candle to the Council.

I was already shaking my head firmly at his words as I crossed my arms in response.

"Why would they ever do that? Once I tell them how helpful you've been and that you helped me survive several times already they'll be more than willing to give you a chance. And my Master would agree with me on that." Sins eyes shifted with something as I continued. "Besides the Council has always been filled with wisdom and understanding. What you're thinking is frankly ridiculous. It would never happen. Never."

And I believed every word.

Honestly it still hurt to talk about my Master.

To even think about her.

And to bring her up for something my Master would be proud to hear me say only made it hurt all the more.

But it needed to be said so I just suppressed it as much as I could as Sin raised his brow at me.

'Hmm, so you say...' I could feel his irritation at my sheer faith in the Council as he faced forward, the shuttle smoothly landing at the Temples large hanger as he continued.

'But we'll see how much your faith truly amounts to soon enough I suppose.' He glances to me in sudden contempt, like he knew something I did not. 'This isn't your Council Calese. You shouldn't forget that.'

Looking away sharply from his gaze a spark of anger flared.

So what if they weren't?

That didn't matter.

Not in the least.

We were always taught that the position the Council held demanded certain beliefs from its members above all else, and I doubted a different timeline would change that.

Compassion. Understanding. Integrity.

Those were only a few.

And soon Sin would see that too.

I'd show him.

He'd see the truth in my words once I told them everything.

The Council lead the entire Order.

They would never take their positions so lightly as to judge someone so absolutely.

I pushed past the clones as the doors opened and exited the shuttle with determination, my previous nervousness gone as I left the hanger without waiting for an escort to go further in.

I already knew the familiar layout from a time long past, and I saw no need to wait.

There were no dangers here.

I would be safe within the Temple.

With single-minded focus I made my way through the Temples beautiful halls towards the center spire, not noticing my surroundings or the looks I was getting from Masters' and Padawans' alike in my rush to prove Sin wrong.

Though if I was paying attention, I would've noticed Sins amusement and fanged grin at the looks we were receiving and promptly figured out why.

Sin and I made quite the image going through the sacred halls I grew up in.

With Sins natural dark look and energy cloaking us both in a thick nothingness compared to everyone else's Light, the dark cloak billowing behind us as I walked and my dark clothes I was wearing underneath was doing nothing to dispel the ominous feeling we seemed to be giving off.

No, if I was paying attention I would surely have remembered.

Remembered just how much I looked like a Sith in that moment.

Only later would I understand why I wasn't attacked for that alone.

But at the time none of it seemed to matter.

I had a purpose.

A goal to fulfill.

It was finally time to meet the Council.