Star Wars : Tanya

Where was Prialla? She'd been gone for more than an hour on what should have been a ten minute errand.

He'd already tried calling her, but she must have had her holocommunicator turned off because the call hadn't even connected. Maybe he should try reaching her with the force?

...

He was just drawing his legs up under him to sit cross legged, when Prialla exploded onto the ship and yelled to the bridge. "I found one! I found a youngling!"

Ky was so shocked that he nearly dropped his lightsaber. He jumped up, hiding the weapon behind his back like a guilty child, and felt grateful that he long ago learned to shield his feelings from others even without thinking about it.

Prialla stepped onto the bridge, smiling with excitement and holding out a black rock in both hands like it was something precious.

Wait, no. That wasn't a rock.

"Prialla, what is that?"

"An egg." She beamed back at him.

"I can see that. Where did you find it?"

"In the tunnels beneath the city!"

"...What were you doing in the sewers?"

"I heard a voice crying out in the force, and that led me to this!"

"...You found an unattended egg in a sewer?"

"No, its parents were there, and they had other eggs! Big reptiles of some sort, sentient, though they didn't speak Galactic Standard or Outer Rim Basic."

"Then how did you convince them to give you this one?"

"We drew pictures!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of children's coloring wax. "With these."

"Where did you find those?"

"Some kids give them to me after I used the force to get their ball off the roof of a tall building."

That raised even more questions, though Ky knew he was getting off topic. "So, giant reptiles living in the sewers just gave you this egg, which you believe contains a force sensitive?"

"No, sir."

"No?"

"They exchanged it."

"...For what?"

"Oh, just a trip to anywhere else."

She stepped off the bridge, pointing back down the corridor, and Ky followed her to find himself standing face to chest with an enormous bipedal reptile that had a wide mouth full of serrated teeth.

He had plates of crudely made metal armor strapped to him with rough leather, and he stank like he just crawled out of a sewer. He also wasn't alone. There were three other of them behind him, each carrying a pair of eggs and looking about his ship curiously. All of them were armed with knives on their hips and rifles slung over their back.

Ky gaped, then reached over to pull Prialla aside. "Those are Barabels! They were probably hiding in the sewers because they murdered someone and ate them!"

Prialla gave him a disapproving look. "You have to be careful with that High Human thinking, Ky."

"...Right, of course. Yes, I see. The fault is with me, clearly."

"No need for sarcasm." Prialla held the egg out to him. "Look, see? The babe inside is Force Sensitive."

Half dreading that she was right, Ky reached out with the force to the tiny, sleepy, undeveloped mind that resided inside the egg. Ever so lightly he gave it a tiny tickle to the brain and after a few short moments he felt it try to bat him away sluggishly.

"By the Living Force, you're right." Ky shook his head with disbelief.

"See?" Prialla preened.

Ky glanced up at the Barrabels, before sighing. "I need to call the Count."

...

"So the egg is force sensitive."

"Yes, Master."

"And it will only cost you delivering its parents somewhere else?"

"Well that's the thing, I'm worried that they're criminals, and I'm not sure how much they understand the deal they struck with Knight Priala. They don't speak Standard or Basic, and we don't have any kind of translator."

The Count breathed out through his nose. "Very well. Bill me the cost of a protocol droid."

"Are you sure?" Ky asked. "Those are expensive out here, we're all the way at Lothal."

Dooku didn't even know where that was. "I'm sending you my billing code now, any Banking Clan outlet will accept it."

"Uh, okay, I guess we could use one for the Temple anyway." Ky shrugged.

"And the Way Temple?" Dooku asked. "Is it still there?"

"Yes, Master." Ky replied. "Uh, I think it hasn't been used in a long time, though. Hundreds, if not thousands of years."

"All the better." Dooku replied. "Send me its coordinates now." Orders given, Dooku cut the connection.

Seated just behind him, Padawan Asajj was leaning out past his shoulder to watch the conversation happen with a look of fascination. "Can you really just buy a new protocol droid? How wealthy are you?'

As Dooku looked back at her, he commanded, "Padawan, correct your posture."

Asajj blinked for a moment, before leaning back up straight. "Like this?"

"Yes, shoulders back, chin slightly raised." Dooku demonstrated. "Don't stare, either. Mouth closed, unless you're speaking. Unless someone else raises the topic, do not discuss credits or cost. That is beneath us."

"Yes, Master." She stood as instructed. Her corrected posture combined with the new clothes he purchased for her gave the impression that she was nobility, instead of an off-system slave someone happened to find.

Dooku looked away. "Learn to return to this pose. Good Jedi are formed with good habits. As for the price, Knight Ky was correct. The Temple was going to need one anyway."

Asajj nodded in understanding. "And… is Lothal where I'm going to get my lightsaber?" There was a note of anticipation in her voice.

"It is."

His padawan looked positively giddy at that. So far, Dooku found that compared to Qui-Gon, Asajj was much more emotive, and if there was one thing Ky hadn't really taught her it was composure. Though she was well trained with a lightsaber and strong in the force, Ky had been too indulgent with her. She was a lot more cheeky and excitable than most padawans he knew from Coruscant. He would have to teach her how to present a respectable face to those outside the temple.

His holopad beeped, and Dooku took it out to discover his wife was calling.

"Hello, wife." He greeted with a smile he couldn't quite help. "How are you?"

"Good, husband." She paused. "Well, I spoke to the nurse droid today, and it's not very bad news, but they told me the baby has stopped growing."

Dooku trusted his wife to understand the particulars of childbirth, and often nodded along whenever she described the different stages of fetal growth or the technical words that came with something as simple as breastfeeding. At this moment, Dooku wasn't sure he understood the significance of the fact his child wasn't growing so close to birth, but to ask what that meant would reveal how little of his wife's maternity babble he understood.

He was saved when Asajj asked, leaning over so her head was just in the call. "Oh, no. What does that mean?"

Athemeene looked surprised at the youthful face that was now being projected at the very edge of her hologram's emitter, but answered the question anyway. "It means that my placenta has stopped providing the baby with nutrients, and if we don't induce the birth sooner rather than later, they could die."

"How long do we have?" Dooku demanded.

"The nurse droid wants to start inducing tomorrow."

The Count checked his chronometer, which was set to standard time and Serenno Palace. "That's nine hours."

"Can you make it?" Athemeene asked, sounding anxious.

"Of course we can!" Asajj answered.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Sighing lightly, Dooku answered. "Athemeene, meet my new padawan, Asajj Ventress."

"Oh, like Qui-Gon?"

Dooku nodded. "Exactly like Qui-Gon."

"Well, I look forward to meeting you in person, Padawan Ventress." Athemeene said to her. "But I need to talk to my husband for a moment, if that's alright?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Asajj pulled away so she was no longer in the call.

Much to learn, indeed, Dooku thought to himself. He said to his wife, "We're just coming out of the Mandalore sector onto the Salin Corridor. We can be back at Serenno in just a few hours."

Athemeene breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, call me as soon as you breach atmosphere."

"I will." Dooku promised.

"I love you."

Aware that he had company, Dooku hesitated for just a moment before saying in a low voice. "I love you, too."

After hanging up, Dooku turned to the droid pilot. "Change course heading. New destination Serenno palace."

"Confirmed." The droid buzzed.

He leaned back in his chair, feeling anxious despite knowing he'd be home soon. Even though his padawan was shielding her mind he could still feel her gaze on his neck. "Something to say, Padawan?"

"No, no, not at all." She answered, voice cheerful. "It's just that Ky had always told me that the Jedi aren't allowed to marry, and that was a sacrifice I was willing to make to be a knight, but… Well, that did always sound lonely to me." Her voice turned wistful. "It's great to know in our Temple, marriage will be allowed."

Being honest with himself, Dooku hadn't decided on whether to allow his knights to marry or not, but it would be incredibly hypocritical of him to deny his Jedi something he would never let go of himself.

"You do understand that this means that your lightsaber will be delayed, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course." Asajj replied, casually. "But this is more important than that. It's not like the Temple's going anywhere."

A surprising well of gratitude sprang up inside Dooku. Really, he was blessed by the Force to have an excellent padawan.

Maybe he should try not to be so hard on her.

...

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