Wanderers 1. First Awakening. Chapter 1

[random_xtras]

"Ramada," the voice was soft and deep, though slightly strained as though its owner had been through some unimaginable agony. "Please, wake up." A hand, large and rough, gently touched her cheek and she heard a suppressed sob. "Ramada?"

She opened her eyes slowly. Her body felt heavy, and all of her limbs were numb. She wondered who was speaking.

"W...what?" She blinked. It was bright. "What happened?"

The sob was repeated and she felt herself lifted and her face pressed to another that was slightly bristly. She breathed in the scent of a cologne as familiar as her own name.

Then the other face was taken away and lips brushed her forehead as the one who was holding her shook with rough tears.

Ramada shook her head slightly. "David?" The words were hard leaving her lips; she still felt like dead weight, as though her body was remembering how to work again. "What...?"

And then she remembered. A gunshot. A friend.

"What happened?!" She sat bolt upright. "Where's everyone?"

He looked at her with eyes full of haunted shadows, his face pale behind the three o'clock shadow. "I don't know. I don't even know where the #$+& we are."

Then he squeezed his eyes shut with a shudder and started to cry again.

Ramada tried to make herself smile as she raised a shaking hand to his face, gently wiping away his tears despite the alarm that was flooding her body. "But we're together," she whispered.

At least she had that much, she noted glumly, the half smile falling from her face. She was left with nothing to do but hold him.

"The kid and the Japanese guy...." He shuddered and clung to her, making her ribs creak in protest. "I saw you die!"

"What? Oh...." She paused. "Are we both dead?"

She wasn't sure. She knew she had died - she'd felt life drain from her like water from a pot, and she knew she had died with a smile on her face. But if all of that was true then why was she here?

"I hurt too much too be dead," whispered David.

Ramada looked around at the vaulted ceilings and smooth shining surfaces. Monolithic statues stood in the corners of the room. Light came in, diffused through blinds. The scientist in her was curious despite the fact that she was thoroughly disturbed by her situation and David's state of mind. "You're sure you don't know where we are? It looks so...new.... Somehow I think we're still alive." She stood slowly and winced as her head throbbed like crazy. Remaining on her feet, she inched toward the blinds, then looked through them and was flabbergasted.

"In my sitting room you are," said a soft, strange voice from behind her. "But welcome you are, yes!"

David cursed behind her, then scrambled to his feet and cocked a gun.

She whirled to stare at him, and then at the source of the voice. "David, he...he's a little...." She blinked. "Green...?"

"Green I am, yes, hmm?" The thing cocked its head and nodded toward David. "Aggression, not necessary it is. I mean you no harm."

"What the #$&+ are you? And why'd you bring us here?" snapped the Jewish man in a tight voice, his finger whitening as it tightened up on the trigger.

"Brought you here I did not," the green being said. "What I am is not your concern, but know you should that I am Yoda." He nodded and thumped his stick on the ground.

Ramada took a step toward the minuscule being and looked at him earnestly, waving a hand at David that told him clearly not to shoot. "But where are we?"

"Mady??" cried a voice from somewhere behind Yoda. "Mady, is that you??"

"What?" She looked around, searching for the source of the voice. "Mykey?"

There was a clicking sound that echoed through the huge room, and then a familiar lilac-haired figure crutched rapidly into sight and threw herself at the Indian girl, laughing and crying and trying to talk all at once. "Mady! I thought I'd never see you again! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Okay, what on earth happened?" Ramada began to shake. "You...you...." She sat down beside Yoda and put her head in her hands. "I thought...I thought you were dead and I was dead and...what the #$&+?!"

There was the echoing clatter of crutches being dropped as Mykayla sat next to her and leaned close, her arms wrapping around a lump in the front of the oversized lavender robe that she wore.

"I was dead," the tiny teen murmured, her soft voice steady. "But I guess I still have things to do. God brought me back again."

"I...see." Ramada shook her head, then eyed the younger girl. "What's that you've got there?"

Mykayla's big eyes lit up, then she bowed her head to look down at the bump before opening her robe and carefully taking a blanket-wrapped bundle from within it. She cuddled the bundle to her chest for a moment, then offered it to Ramada. "Her name's Zipporah."

The Indian girl peered down at what her friend had put into her arms. It was a baby, covered in deep blue fur. She was odd, yet very beautiful.

"She's gorgeous," Ramada whispered, smiling up at Mykayla.

The lilac haired teen smiled back, her thin face alight with what was unmistakably mother love. "Thank you." Then she looked up at David as he stood over them and frowned down at the infant in his fiancée's arms. "Would you like to hold her?"

He shook his head and backed off slightly, but then glanced around watchfully and hunkered beside them to get a closer look, the gun hanging forgotten in one hand as he placed the other on Ramada's shoulder and gazed awkwardly at the baby. "Weird, but..." was all he could say as he watched little Zipporah begin to squirm and whimper.

Ramada laughed.

"I think she wants her mommy," she whispered, handing the bundle back to Mykayla.

"She likes to be warm," said the teen, tucking Zipporah back into her robe and pulling it shut. "Her birth mother would have kept her wrapped in her wings for her first year." Some memory wiped the smile from her face and she rubbed the fabric-covered bump and blinked, then wrinkled her face up slightly before forcing a smile and looking up at her friends. "David, what's wrong?"

"Babies...." He shuddered.

Ramada looked over at him and chuckled. "You can't tell me you're afraid of them?"

He made a face. "Not...exactly."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Wuss." Then she frowned and clutched a hand to her stomach, swallowing nervously as she felt like she was going to throw up.

"Mady?" Mykayla hastily brushed away a tear, then leaned forward and put a hand on her friend's stomach, murmuring in that other language that Ramada had heard her pray in so many times back at Haven.

"What's wrong?" asked David sharply.

"Just...nausea," gasped Ramada. "Dunno what from, but then again...." She chuckled "I've had an eventful day." She patted her stomach. "I think I'll be okay...." She sat up again slowly, her eyes falling on the little green thing that had remained remarkably silent through everything. He was sitting on one of the round cushions that were littered about the floor of the room they were in, his ancient hands folded on top of one another, staring off into space with a placid smile on his face.

"Where are we?" Ramada asked in attempt to draw the attention away from herself.

Yoda angled his head and smiled at her. "At the Jedi Temple, you are." He giggled and hopped off his cushion. Producing the knobbly stick from apparently nowhere, he hobbled toward the three mutants. "Focus point for the Force, it is. Maybe brought you here, it did, yes, hmm?"

Ramada's eyes went wide. She hadn't understand a word of what Yoda had said.

"God brought us here," said Mykayla quietly, pushing herself up to her knees and turning her differently-coloured eyes toward the strange little being.

Yoda looked at her thoughtfully. "Great power I sense around you. Unlike anything I've felt before, it is. But a friend also, it is. Is that what you speak of?"

Mykayla nodded. "He's my Master."

"Ah." Yoda's ancient face creased into a smile of understanding.

Then he turned to Ramada and perked his long ears toward her before giggling again.

She smiled awkwardly at the little green thing giggling at her, then nearly jumped a mile when he proclaimed, "Great warrior, you are. A Jedi, in another lifetime, you could have been."

His swamp-coloured eyes surveyed David as well. "Strong you are. Protective. Another great warrior. Warriors you all are, but as to why you are here, find out we must."

"We died in our own place," said Mykayla softly, opening her robe again and pulling up her shirt to show the shocking scar that tore across her side toward her heart, then tracing it with one slender finger. "But God brought us back. I've got a feeling that this is only a way stop for us to rest and learn." She frowned, her eyes unfocused. "But He's not telling me what we're supposed to learn." Her mouth quirked upward at the corners. "But He's singing about something. Something good's going to happen, I just know it!"

"You know it freaks the #$&+ out of me when you start talking like that, kid," said David, regarding her narrowly. "Just don't start giggling."

Mykayla blinked and let her tunic fall, then giggled merrily.

"Rest, you must." Yoda nodded and turned toward the door. "Sadri, come inside."

A tall blond woman sidled into the room. She was dressed in light tan robes and carried herself gracefully.

"You know I'm the eyes and ears of Master Windu, Master," the woman said with a smile. "He was curious, so he sent me to hang out in front of this room...."

Ramada was only half listening; her mind lingering on the horrific scar that marked Mykayla's skin. But her ears heard her friend's genuinely happy laughter and she was at once relieved.

She turned back toward Yoda and was startled to see the young woman - who looked only a year or two younger than she - crouched on the ground and staring up into her face. The woman had the greenest eyes that Ramada had ever seen, and their gaze was piercing.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before the other woman's face split into a vivacious smile. "Hi," she said. "I'm Sadri Oboa, and I live here."

Ramada quirked an eyebrow. "So you're a Jedi."

Sadri grinned. "In a manner of speaking." She waved a hand idly in front of her. "Anyway...what are you doing here?"

"We're trying to figure that out," said David gruffly from beside Ramada. "So far we haven't gotten a straight answer."

Sadri put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll help you figure it out."

Yoda cleared his throat from where he now gazed out a window. "Quarters, they need. Share your suite with them, you will, Knight Oboa."

Sadri nodded, still smiling. "There are four bedrooms in it anyway.... And we're right next door to Master Windu, so he can have me answer all of his questions about you...." She stopped mid sentence and clapped her hands. "So let's go!"

David rose to his feet warily, tucking the gun into the back of his jeans, then offered Ramada a hand as Mykayla closed her robe and reached for her crutches.

"Need a hand?" asked Sadri, grin still firmly in place.

"No thanks." Mykayla got the crutches in hand, then rose to her feet and tossed her head to get her hair out of her face.

"Say, you've got neat eyes." The tall blond lowered her head to look at them more closely. "Is that normal for your race?"

"I'm human." Mykayla's mouth twitched at the corners again. "It's not that common."

"Can we get this show on the road?" growled David, supporting Ramada as she sagged against him dizzily.

Sadri rounded on him, smile still in place. "Listen - all in due time, okay?"

Turning around, she led the group out of Yoda's room, things clinking at each hip. "This is the Temple," she said, waving her hand toward the enormous foyer where tens of beings milled about. Her voice made them all think that she was going to give them a tour, but the tall blond didn't stop walking.

"Don't eat the food here." She laughed, taking them up a flight of stairs toward an elevator. They trailed into it and looked up as it began to ascend.

"So, what exactly does a Jedi do?" asked Ramada wanly.

Sadri snorted. "Good question. I guess you could consider us generals, knights, diplomats.... We fill a lot of roles." She shook her head. "Above all of this though, we are the instruments of the Force."

"Don't start giggling..." growled David.

Mykayla snorted and sputtered, holding a hand over her mouth as she swayed with an invisible wind.

"Too much sugar?" Sadri cocked an eye at her and glanced at Ramada questioningly.

"No," the Indian girl said simply.

Sadri turned back to the giggling teen, her eyes seeming to look through Mykayla.

"Ahh," she whispered. "I see."

"How the #$&+ do you see that?" demanded David. "She's just standing there."

"The Force," Sadri intoned, "lets me see people with a...ahh...different perspective. Your friend there is well attuned to someone or something that guides her life."

"Well done," Ramada said with a grin. "You win the prize."

Sadri laughed. "Is it a pie?"

"Great, I'm locked in a #$&+ elevator with two flakes," growled David, then sighed as Mykayla lost control and filled the tiny space with peals of merry laughter.

Ramada gasped, suddenly flashing back to the last time she'd heard that laughter.

"Mada?" David's voice was sharp with concern.

-No. She's right here. She didn't die, she lived.- Ramada clenched her fists unconsciously on the front of his jacket. -You answered my prayer. She's alive. Oh #$&+!!!!-

"Yuck!" said David, his eyebrows shooting upward in dismay.

"Meep!" said Sadri.

"Oh dear," commented Mykayla mildly.

Sadri smiled and skillfully dodged the mess Ramada had made on the elevator floor. "If a lie-down doesn't help that I'm going to take you to a healer," she mused.

Ramada was shaking with the realization that she'd gotten what she'd asked for. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she straightened up and sighed apologetically. "Sorry."

"It's no matter," said Sadri as the elevator door opened and a small robot entered. "The droids do an excellent job of cleaning. Give them five minutes and you won't even know." She took a few steps to the left and stood in front of a large door. Pressing her fingers to a keypad beside it, she stepped through as it slid open. "Here we are. It's not much...."

"Where's the bed?" growled David, nearly lifting Ramada off her feet as he supported her.

Sadri had placed her tan robe on a chair, and was fiddling with something on her belt as he spoke. She lifted her head and smiled again. "The last two doors on the right of the hall are extra bedrooms, and the one door on the left is the 'fresher."

"The what?" demanded David.

"You know, where you shower....?" Her smile never faltered as he stomped away.

Ramada looked back at her, watching as she spoke to Mykayla and the tiny mutant shook her head, then faced the direction that David was carrying her. "Stop being so uptight, you're making me want to puke again."

"I'll get you a bucket," he said absently, then turned to the right and lay her on something unbelievably comfortable.

"This is nice," she murmured, almost falling asleep immediately on the whatever-it-was. "Somehow I doubt you'll find a bucket here...."

She watched David walk out of the room and heard a brief exchange between him and Sadri - that woman was so cheerful it was almost scary - and then he re-entered the room carrying a very ergonomic, streamlined bucket.

"I win." He grinned shakily.

Ramada saw his hands shaking as he set it on the floor and quirked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice coming out thick and exhausted. "You're shaking."

"Nothing," he said gruffly. "But I think I'm going to go out and see if I can't get some answers. The kid'll keep an eye on you. But don't go anywhere till I get back, okay?"

"I don't think I'll be going anywhere," said Ramada sleepily, closing her eyes.

She was out in about thirty seconds.


* * *


Ramada opened her eyes and sat up, noting with relief that her stomach was no longer rolling, and she felt less exhausted. Sighing, she stretched, then got off the bed and padded out to the main room to find Mykayla laying flat on her back on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

She scratched her head and sat on the sofa nearest her friend. "What are you...."

"There's a little robot up there," said Mykayla without turning. "I think it's watching me."

"Eh?" Sadri turned from where she'd been chortling over an odd-looking hand-held computor and glanced up. "Stinking spy droid." She pulled a face at it and chuckled. "That's the entire Jedi council making sure you're not evil Sith Lords in disguise. Which makes NO sense because I was the apprentice of the second most senior member of the Council...and I'm morally obliged to give him the second key...." She shook her head and went back to her computor.

Ramada's eyes went to the ceiling and surveyed the small robotic thing firmly affixed to the tile. "Interesting...." She leaned back against the couch to watch it, but then realized that she was still wearing her uniform, which was smelly and covered in dried blood.

She shuddered. "Sadri, is there anywhere I can get some clean clothes?"

"Mr. Yoda had some things brought while you were sleeping," said Mykayla, still keeping her eyes fixed to the droid as she patted a pile of fabric beside her. "There's boots and pants and a top.... Sadri, is this robot sentient? It's starting to twitch."

"It's programmed," said Sadri, glancing at it. "But I wouldn't go so far as to call it sentient. I can let the Council know to kriff off and get it removed...."

Meanwhile, Ramada was poking through the clothes. Each article was some shade of grey or off-white, and the high boots were flat-soled and black. It looked impressive. "Thanks," she muttered, going into the 'fresher to change.


* * *


She emerged a while later, feeling much more comfortable and much more clean in the close-fitting, sleeveless top and baggy pants.

"It's still there?" She sat back on the couch and stared upward.

"Uh huh," said Mykayla absently. "And now it's really twitching."

"It's probably going to go spastic in a few seconds...." Sadri had gotten on the floor and was now laying next to the lilac-haired girl. "Try making funny faces at it. You never know, it might blow up and then the Council would be really miffed."

Ramada laughed. "Do you enjoy getting on the Council's nerves?"

Sadri shrugged, closing one eye as she pointed her finger at the droid. "Maybe," she said. "Or maybe I have the measure of you guys and I know you are nothing close to a threat. Except that guy, he's sort of freaky."

"David's alright," said Mykayla softly, rubbing Zipporah's back as the baby stirred and grumbled. Then she giggled as the droid suddenly stuck out eight wiry legs and scuttled across the ceiling and out of the room. "We win?"

Sadri cocked her head. "I think so," she muttered. She heard the whoosh of hydraulics as her door slid open; and the lights on the ceiling were then eclipsed by the large form of her Master.

"Well, hi, Mace!" she quipped.

Mykayla sat up and looked at the tall, dark-skinned man gravely, then reached up a hand toward him. "I'm sorry, I need a bit of help to stand and greet you properly."

Ramada stared at her small friend, then glanced at the newcomer to see what he would do.

Mace looked down at Sadri and then over to Ramada.

"Trust me, she doesn't bite," the Indian girl said with a grin.

"I...wasn't implying...here." He offered his hand to Mykayla and helped her get to her feet, then glanced at his Padawan, who had remained on the floor, staring up into his face. He sighed.

"My name is Mace Windu," he began, "and I am...."

" A grumpy old man." Sadri grinned at him.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Some might say that, but I am a Jedi Master...."

"Don't make him mad, he has the worst death glare ever," Sadri interjected. "And oh yeah, he's on the Council."

Ramada giggled from her place aside all the action. "Let me guess - you were her mentor."

"He still is," Sadri grunted as she hopped to her feet.

Mykayla gave him another smile, then turned serious. "I'm Mykayla Gordon. This is my friend Ramada Mardin. The man with us is David Thantor, and this is my daughter, Zipporah. We're no threat to your world, Mr. Windu. We're only stopping for awhile before we move on."

Mace's eyes flickered from Mykayla to Ramada and back again, and he spoke to Sadri via the Force:

-Do you see that?-

Sadri was grinning. -Of course I do, I'm an empath. It's my job. What a destiny, hmm? Almost like a....-

-Shatterpoint.- Mace finished Sadri's Force-sentence for her, and then turned to Mykayla. "It's nice to meet you both," he intoned, now speaking out loud. "Rest assured that your safety and well being will be a prime concern of the Council for as long as you stay here."

Ramada smiled and fixed her eyes on his. "Thank you."

For him, the Force seemed to swell. The woman was powerful . Possibly even more so than himself. He nodded his head in a bow and motioned to the couches. "Shall we sit?"

Mykayla put her hand toward his arm and looked up at him, big eyes focused on his face as they asked quite naturally for the assistance that she needed.

He offered the limb, then helped her take a seat. Ramada moved forward to perch herself on the edge of her couch, and Sadri leaned jovially on the armrest next to her mentor.

"I was wondering," he said, "if you knew why you were here."

"Rest?" Ramada looked at Mykayla.

The smaller girl nodded and crossed her legs. "Rest and learning. But my Master isn't telling us yet what we're to learn." She glanced down as Zipporah squirmed, then turned back to Mace.

"Learning." He frowned, deep in thought as he repeated the word to himself a few times. "Learning."

Inexplicably, Sadri was staring at Ramada with an extremely flashy grin, her green eyes sparkling. "Very good, Mace. You learned a new word. Now if you would just look, you'd see what I do."

The dark Korun master gave his Padawan a funny look and then followed her gaze. Immediately he began to smile.

Ramada felt extremely weird. Why the two Jedi were staring at her was beyond her range of understanding, but then they began to speak cryptically.

"Vaapad?" Mace said.

"Naturally," replied Sadri.

"What?" Ramada asked.

"We're going to teach you how to use a lightsaber," Mace announced.

"What?" Ramada repeated.

"Does Mr. Yoda know that you've got listening devices in his quarters?" Mykayla's quiet words cut across the conversation.

"Listening devices? Hardly," Mace said with a smile. "He's been speaking to me about you since you arrived here. We share that sort of information."

Mykayla smiled. "I'm sorry. I hadn't realized that you all shared the mental communication." Then she looked toward her friend. "Are you alright, Mady?"

"Light saber?" sputtered Ramada. "Teach me to use a lightsaber? What the #$&+ is a lightsaber, anyway?"

Mace and Sadri shared identically evil grins. "This."

They stood and removed the rod-like things from their belts and pressed small studs on the sides of them. Suddenly the room was lit by the luminescent blades of Sadri's green lightsaber and the amethyst fire of Mace's unique weapon.

"They're SWORDS?" Ramada's eyes lit up.

"Well, yeah," Sadri said matter-of-factly.

"W00t!" said the Indian girl, then made a choked sound of dismay.

"Oh...my," said Mykayla, one hand over her mouth in horror.

Mace stared at his Padawan's boots, the corners of his mouth twitching as he put his weapon away.

Sadri snapped her saber off and looked down at the mess. "Oh." was all she managed to say before her mentor began to chuckle. "Shut up, Mace!" she ordered, stepping gingerly down the hall to get another pair of boots, her voice trailing off into murmuring as she rounded the corner. "Okay...Ramada, we're taking you to a healer before you even come within three feet of a 'saber. Mace, stop laughing, it's really not all that funny. I mean, you can't train when you're spew...."

From the living room, Ramada turned to Mace, hand over her mouth. "I thought it was kind of funny," she said hoarsely.

"I HEARD THAT!" Sadri's voice became louder as she reappeared with a fresh pair of boots on.

"Ramada, you're pregnant." Mykayla's eyes widened.

"What?" Her friend turned to give her a 'you just grew another head' look. "Mykey, I think you need a rest. You're not making sense."

"You're pregnant!" insisted Mykayla, pushing herself to her feet, her whole body shaking. "You're going to have a baby!"

Ramada shot a quick look at the two Jedi. "Mykey...did you drink something other than water?"

Sadri grinned slyly. "She's right."

Mace held up his hands. "I'm not looking."

Ramada rolled her eyes. "You don't understand...this can't be happening. It can't happen."

"But it is," Mace, Mykayla, and Sadri all chorused.

"Think we should tell David?" Sadri put a finger to her chin.

"You guys are all insane." Ramada shook her head. "Each and every one of you."

Mykayla suddenly flopped onto the couch and burst into tears.

"Wow!" Sadri stared at her. "Um. Your Master...what's He doing, hmm?"

Mykayla just shook her head and went on weeping.

Sadri smiled and shook her head, trying to see the Power she could feel; distinct from the Force, but at the same time forming the very fabric of it. To her senses it was like a soft glow of white light. She couldn't place it and she couldn't focus on it, but it was there and it surounded the small girl.

"Let me see." She suddenly leapt off the arm of the couch and came to rest on the floor in front of Ramada. "May I?" She raised a hand toward the Indian woman's midsection. "The Force allows me...us...to sense living beings. I can sense you, I can sense Mykayla, and if you let me, I could...." She grinned. "We can go to the healer to confirm it."

"Uh... sure?" Ramada shrugged as the young Jedi placed a hand on her tummy.

Sadri immediately began to smile. "She's there," she whispered, her eyes sparkling again.

"Child of healing," said Mykayla softly, calming and laying back to stare at the ceiling. "Child of hope. Child of the future. David's going to be so scared."

Ramada snorted softly despite herself at the prediction.

"I bet he will be," said Sadri. "So do you believe us now?" She looked up at Ramada.

"Not really," she said. "Because it can't happen. It just ... can't."

"Fine," Sadri said. "We're getting you to a healer. And then we're getting you into shape."

"We can't teach her like this!" Mace said, his voice as shrill as it could get.

"You know, I won't break," Ramada snapped. "I've been through a lot worse than anything you could throw at me." She glared at the tall Jedi, her lips pursed tightly.

"Mady," called Mykayla, sitting up. "Mady?"

Ramada turned her head. "Yes?"

"Remember the first day you saw Zach?" Mykayla's differently-coloured eyes were wells of memory. "Remember?"

"Well, yes...but this is different. It just can't happen. I can't...it can't...." She shook her head. "Not to me. It can't happen to me. I can't be the recipient of a...a...."

"A miracle?" Sadri interjected.

"You're alive," said Mykayla softly, those big eyes looking into Ramada's soul.

"But...even before that, I can't...it can't..." Her inner scientist refused to believe.

"But it has," Sadri said. "If you could get a med droid up here, Mace..."

He nodded and set off. "I'll be back."

Sadri stared at Ramada. "I know what happened to you," she said. "And I know why you think this can't happen. But it has. I swear to you with everything I am that this is real and this is nothing short of a miracle."

"She's right," said Mykayla softly. "Mady, if God can bring people back from the dead, why can't He mend your womb?"

Ramada shook her head. "Because I don't deserve it."

"Okay. No one deserves it, Mady. I didn't deserve being brought back twice." She nodded at Sadri's startled glance. "But I was. And if you try the 'you're good' argument, then look at it this way. Did you deserve to live again?"

"No." The word left Ramada's lips as a whisper. "No I didn't."

Sadri narrowed her eyes. "If I told you it was the will of the Force - that is to say that it's all beyond our own understanding - would that help you get it?" There it was again, that dull white glow, unplaceable and only vaguely recognizable. It was soothing. It was the very embodiment of comfort.

"No," Ramada repeated. "I can't believe it."

"This isn't the Force's work," said Mykayla with quiet firmness. "I know Who did this one." Then her eyes widened as the other two women felt the hair on their arms prickle in a non-existent wind.

"Did we #$&+ him off?" gasped Sadri.

"Of course," Ramada sighed. "Of course you know." She sounded vaguely resigned, and her eyes were distant. Meditative. Sadri peered into those wide eyes and noticed that the red part of the Indian woman's eyes were almost...glowing.

Mykayla threw her arms up with a peal of joyous laughter and both the Jedi and the swordswoman toppled like dolls before the force of a wind that seemed to push against their souls instead of their skins. They felt themselves filled with joy, and a peace beyond description.

Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over, and Mace was looking down at his grinning Padawan with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?" he asked.

"I don't think so," said Sadri. "Did you get that droid here so we can prove to Ms Science what's really going on?"

He glanced at the other grins in the room and shook his head, then turned to the shining robot who had followed him inside.

The robot could talk. It asked Ramada general health questions and then proceeded to do a few tests. It listened to her heart rate and took her blood pressure.

She shook her head as it drew a blood sample, then frowned as it whirred and clanked as it ran its analyses.

"This is scary," she said to Sadri.

"Yeah, they can be," the blond agreed with another smile. Then she glanced at the couch. "I think Mykayla just fell asleep."

"Ah," said Ramada. "She does that from time to time. If she is asleep, she'll wake up eventually. Same thing for if she isn't."

The droid beeped. "The blood analysis confirms that you are pregnant."

"See?" Sadri said with an I-told-you-so look on her face.

Mykayla giggled.

"Well...." Ramada shook her head. "Okay, then."

Everyone heard a voice in the hallway loudly telling someone to get the #$&+ away from the door and stop their spying. Then the door opened and David strolled in with the wide grin that was only seen on his face after he'd met with several shots of very old whiskey.

The grin faded into suspicion as he caught sight of Mace. "Who the #$&+ are you?"

The dark-skinned Jedi studied him thoughtfully. "Congratulations, Mr. Thantor."

"What?" David frowned, then glanced at Mykayla and slapped her on the leg. "Hey."

She sat up with a start and gave him the grin he'd learned to fear.

"What did you do?" he said warily, forgetting Mace. "It couldn't have been the whiskey. I already drank it...." His eyes narrowed as he turned to Ramada.

"Well, that big guy there is Mace Windu, and he's got a fair bit of power here so I wouldn't really cross him. And..." Sadri said without pausing for breath. "Your partner here is expecting."

Ramada grinned at him around the knot of tears in her throat.

"Expecting what?" asked David.

Mykayla pulled herself to her feet, then caught Mace's arm as he held it out. "Sadri, why don't you and Mr. Windu show me the cafeteria?"

"Why would you want to go to the cafeteria? The food here is horribbbbOohh, yes why don't we go?" Sadri changed gears rapidly in response to a death glare from Mace and a gentle smile from Mykayla. "Uh sure. Yes. Let's go. Bye, guys!"

"Do you need your crutches?" Sadri asked Mykayla. "I'll get Mace to get them so I don't get my butt kicked."

"I'm alright." Mykayla patted his arm as he led her gently from the room.

He looked down at her with a smile that made his Padawan blink. "Would you care to come to my quarters to eat, Mykayla?"

"I'm not really hungry," she confessed, her face scrunching up. "Sadri gave me a bag of chips while Mady napped. I think I'd rather have some sort of exercise. I've been cooped up for days."

"I think we can satisfy your exercise needs," Sadri said, grinning over Mykayla's head at Mace. "Our training isn't simply waving a 'saber around. What do you think of gymnastics?"

Mykayla chuckled. "I know a little bit."