randomplaces | Wanderers 1. First Awakening. Chapter 2

2

Mykayla looked around the small, open courtyard, her differently-coloured eyes taking everything in with a delight rare in one her age.

Then she turned to Mace. "Will you hold Zipporah for me? She needs to be kept warm."

He quirked an eyebrow and took the little baby being into his arms, holding her close to his chest as she squirmed and fussed softly. "Sure."

Sadri smiled. "This is one of our training rooms. I know it doesn't seem like it's a room, but look closely. We're completely closed in. Cool, huh?" She had discarded her robe and was now wearing a sleeveless tunic that fell to her ankles over the typical tight pants worn by Jedi. She was barefoot. "So, what would you like to do?"

Mykayla looked around as she carefully lay her own robe in a big planter at the base of a tree that looked much like a weeping fig. "Can there be music? Something with a good story to it?" She put her hands in the pockets of her loose lavender pants, then plopped down on her bottom and started untying her boots.

"Be good and watch that for me," she told the tree as it moved slightly.

"I could sing for you." Sadri grinned. "Otherwise, there's not too much we could do." She shrugged. "Sorry."

Mykayla cocked her head and pulled herself up by means of a branch that the tree lowered toward her, then began a series of slow stretches. "Maybe we should spar instead, then."

"You sure?" said Sadri with a grin. "Because if we do, know that I won't go easy on you." She flexed her hands.

"Good." Mykayla gave her a cheeky grin, then sat down again and retied her boots. "Okay, you attack."

Sadri's smile faded into her Serious Fighting Face - and she launched herself into the air, aided by the Force. She jumped up and over Mykayla and aimed a kick at the girl's side, only to find that her tiny, helpless-looking opponent wasn't there anymore.

The young Jedi searched for Mykayla with the Force, but then gave a squeak of surprise as her legs were suddenly swept out from under her.

"Okay. Now you know that I'm serious." Mykayla pulled two foot-long staffs from her pockets and telescoped them into her crutches, her face splitting into an rotten grin. "Let's rumble."

Sadri grinned and flexed her fingers. "If you insist," she said.

Then she sprang right at Mykayla, arms poised to grab the small girl and force her down onto the ground.

Only to feel a wisp of breeze as her opponent whirled away nimbly.

"Pay attention," the soft voice nearly growled the command.

Focus. She could see everything in the Force; the entire place was full of the energies of all the living things; the plants, the birds. Each of them was discernible to Sadri's senses.

Everything but Mykayla. Sadri could see the girl with her own eyes but in the Force, she blended right in. Like she was part of it.

Strange. The young Jedi's eyes narrowed and fell upon an abandoned practice stick that one of the Padawans had not put away. She reached for it and it flew through the air and landed in her hand. This happened in the frame of two seconds - and then she was standing right in front of Mykayla, the scuffed wood stick still full of life as she held it in front of her hands.

Her voice was even as she moved lightning-fast, slipping the stick behind Mykayla's crutches and sending them clear off the ground. Sadri swung the stick forward, upsetting Mykayla's center of balance.

"I have been," she whispered.

There was a glint of amusement in the differently-colored eyes even as the small girl followed the momentum of the push and rolled to the side. Then there was a deadly swish of metal and Sadri leaped over the crutches and countered with a swipe of the staff, which was parried with one crutch as Mykayla spun away on the other.

Sadri couldn't help but grin, because by the Force, this one could fight. The girl was fast; in an instant she'd switched crutches and sent the other one flying in an arc toward Sadri, who jumped high to avoid it and managed to get behind her, where it was more difficult for the smaller girl to press an attack. But she fell. Sadri couldn't ascertain if it was intentional, but Mykayla had dropped to her knees at the exact instant that the Jedi decided to attack. Sadri swung and suddenly there was nothing to swing at. Making a correction, the wooden staff and the crutch knocked together for just an instant as Sadri ducked one of Mykayla's legs.

Sadri allowed herself a split instant of amazement, dropping to the ground even as the other girl regained her feet, then using her own legs to immobilize the crutch that bore Mykayla's weight. Her opponent's mobility thus limited, the Jedi swung the stick around, aiming for a solid torso hit, only to squeak in surprise as the smaller girl once more let herself fall, letting go of both crutches and jabbing stiff fingers into the blond's ribs.

Sadri squirmed involuntarily, her breath leaving her lungs in an indignant squeal, then used the Force to propel herself away from the invading fingers.

"Dirty trick." She shook her head, manic grin firmly in place as she caught her breath.

"Yup." Mykayla bounded forward on hands and knees, aiming a shoulder at the Jedi girl's knees.

Sadri leaped up and over her, going into a backward handspring, then leaped again even as she landed as one small, lavender booted foot nearly caught her in the back of the knee.

Mykayla rolled away rapidly, then scuttled behind a planter.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," sang Sadri, eyeing both sides of the tree pot, then ducked and pushed as her opponent came over the top of the planter and rolled down her back, coming to rest next to the discarded crutches.

Slender arms went through the loops as though claiming a part of themselves, and the tiny alien spun away, one crutch going up to hit the wall and launch the girl back toward Sadri in a move that nearly caught her flatfooted.

"#$+&!" The young Jedi blurted, throwing up a hand and using the Force to push away the unexpected attack.

Mykayla landed and did a somersault on the crutches, then ricocheted off the wall again and came back from a slightly different angle.

Sadri bent backward and slipped away beneath her, then aimed a staff jab at the smaller girl's kidney, only to have the staff once more batted aside, this time with such force that it shattered.

The Jedi responded without thought, her mind and body dropping into battle mode. The green flame of her lightsaber sang into being and hit one of Mykayla's crutches in a shower of sparks and ozone.

"ENOUGH!" Mace's voice was like a whipcrack.

Both girls froze, then turned wide, startled eyes toward him.

Sadri's chest heaved as she struggled to breathe. She'd done something quite dangerous and reckless.... But it simply proved that this tiny girl was far more than she seemed.

"What was that?" Mace stood squarely in front of her, glaring fit to burn blasteel. If Sadri weren't nearly of a height with him, she might have been intimidated. But she wasn't, and her answer was short and honest.

"We fought."

"And were you in such fear for your life that you would pull out your lightsaber?" Mace's eyes were wide and he had the demeanor of a concerned parent.

"Well," Sadri said with a grin at Mykayla. "I might just have lost my head if I hadn't."

"Hardly," said the smaller girl dryly. Then she shook herself and seemed to remove a mask, becoming once more the wide-eyed innocent with the trusting gaze. "You're good, Sadri. I don't think I would have hurt you."

"Yes," Mace said tersely. "But she may very well have hurt you ." He shook his head. "I trained her. So I'd know."

Mykayla giggled and shook her head, then lifted the crutch which had struck the lightsaber blade and examined it. "I don't think so. We're pretty evenly matched." There was no brag or boast in the comment, only a calm certainty.

Mace eyed the crutch. "Is it damaged?"

"No." Mykayla retracted it and telescoped it a few times, then leaned on it and looked up at him.

Mace didn't press the issue, he simply adjusted Zipporah in his arms. The alien baby had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the battle, and was now sighing contentedly at her dreams. "What is the alloy? I haven't seen it before."

"It's called adamantium," said Mykayla, cutting an impish glance at Sadri and wriggling her fingers. "A rare metal from my homeworld."

"Better guard those," Sadri quipped, pointedly ignoring the implied tease. "If that stuff gets out here...." She sighed. "So anyway, now that that is out of the way, what else can I do for you, Mykayla?"

The small girl stood on her toes to check her little daughter, then glanced around before pulling out the front of her shirt and sniffing. "Hmm...." She cocked an eyebrow thoughtfully, then looked toward a bench. "Would you and Mr. Windu care to sit and chat and get aquainted?"

"I don't have a problem with that." Sadri grinned as she walked over to the bench and plunked down on it.

Mace looked after her, his eyes still showing his displeasure and dismay at her actions, then glanced down at Mykayla with a nod. "I would like that. There is much that I would like to know."

The tiny girl grinned, then retracted her crutches and slipped them into the pockets on her pants before taking her robe from the helpful tree and putting her hand on his arm.

"I guess what we all want to know is how you got here," said Mace, leading her to the bench and seeing her seated before he took his own place and drew his robe carefully around Zipporah. "We found you in Master Yoda's room. Your friend Ramada was almost dead...and then wasn't." He shook his head. "Jedi see a lot around the galaxy, but nothing like that."

She looked up at him, the merriment fading from her eyes to be replaced with sorrow and regret. "I think she was dead, Mr. Windu. I know that I was." She lifted her tunic to show the horrific scar that curved around her side toward her heart.

Sadri couldn't help herself; she gasped and turned away. "That's horrible," she said, suddenly forgetting etiquette and speaking up. "What happened?"

Mace, ever the diplomat, simply nodded. "I see. If you'd like to tell us what happened...?"

"First, I should answer your first questions," said Mykayla softly, letting the tunic fall and leaning back against the warm stone of the wall behind them. "My Master brought us here. And it was Him who gave Mady back her life. I explained the how to Mr. Yoda. He didn't tell you that part?"

Sadri smiled; she'd heard it all and she understood, but she wasn't entirely certain whether Mace had, and if so, what his opinions on the matter were.

Her master sighed. "I had hoped that there would be more to it than that - something that we could use to placate the...." He paused. "Less understanding politicians we deal with."

"Would you like me to answer your other question now?" asked Mykayla, laying her hand on his arm with soft sympathy.

The two Jedi nodded.

Mykayla nodded as well, her eyes going distant and sad again. "Mady and David and I are mutants. We all carry a certain gene which can cause unexpected and unusual characteristics in those in whome it's active. The carriers of this gene are not common, but some are very powerful. Many people without the gene fear and hate us, some refuse to acknowledge our humanity and call us spawn of the Evil One."

Sadri and Mace nodded again.

"The particulars of genetics and mutation are quite prevalent in this galaxy," noted Mace. "But go on."

Mykayla drew in a deep breath. "There is a man named Joseph Kain in the nation of America. Though he carries an active X gene he believes that peace between X positive and X negative is possible. He runs a safe house for children and adults who carry the gene, and has trained a special task force with which he attempts to thwart the plans of those X postive who believe that violence should be met with violence. This task force is charged with protection of the helpless, no matter their genes."

"You were a member of that task force," rumbled Mace, rubbing Zipporah's back as she squirmed.

Mykayla nodded and buried her face in his sleeve, then tensed and straightened. "Forgive me...you remind me a little of Dr. Kain."

Mace looked down at her for a moment, then glanced at Sadri and put an arm around the lilac-haired girl's thin shoulders as she focused her eyes on the opposit wall of the courtyard.

"There was a man, a leader of the state we lived in, who strongly believed that mutants weren't human. He wanted to regester us all, make it so that our movements and daily lives would be constantly monitored. This man challenged Dr. Kain to a debate over the public broadcasts. We were there to make sure that nothing happened to the man. The group who wanted to fight had men there. A fight broke out and turned into a riot. In the course of the battle the leader of the other group took over the mind of a female police officer, who shot me." Tears trickled down Mykayla's cheeks, though her stare remained unblinking. "That's all I remember before I woke somewhere else."

"Here?" Sadri sniffed and wiped her eyes on the hem of her tunic.

"No. Not here. Another Earth, where history had gone differently. That's...that's where I got...Zipporah." Mykayla's shoulders began to shake and Mace pulled her close, his face creased in sympathy as he murmured softly.

"That...that's awful." For the first time in a long while Sadri Oboa had been rendered nearly speechless. Grief permeated the room, and while Mace was talented enough to keep a level head, Sadri's innate empathic abilities had her in tears. She slid closer and threw her arms around the smaller girl, then realized with a sickening lurch that beneath the maturity and levelheadedness that Mykayla was little more than a child. Inexplicably she hadn't realized that fact until this very moment.

Mace extended his one-armed embrace to include his Padawan, his dark eyes thoughtful and full of sympathy as he waited for the storm to pass.

"And Ramada?" he said softly as the wrenching sobs faded to sniffles.

"I don't know. She was still fighting when I fell." Mykayla wiped her eyes on her arm, but then once more buried her face in his sleeve and fell prey to weeping.

Sadri and Mace both sat there, silent as the tempest slowed. Her eyes slightly red, Mykayla looked up at the two of them with a look that was half anguish and half apology.

"But," Sadri said quietly, her own eyes swollen and red, "you're all alive now. You've got each other, right?"

"Yes," whispered the lilac-haired girl softly, her face threatening to crumple again. "But when I think of how the friends we left behind must be feeling. They don't know my Master. And my parents.... They've already seen me die once."

Sadri smiled. "Most likely they feel sad, of course. But somehow I think that when they think of you two, they won't be able to not smile a little bit." A slight chuckle escaped the Alderaanian Jedi. "There isn't much to do but to plug forward, and cherish your memories."

Mykayla gave her a look as though she'd given a blow instead of words of encouragement, then seemed to collect herself and reached for the baby cuddled against Mace's chest.

"I wonder if David has realized that I'm gone yet?" she mused.

"Considering what Ramada was about to tell him, I don't think he'd be capable of realizing anything." Sadri shrugged. Then a sly grin spread over her face. "Want to go check?"

"You said that your parents had already seen you die once?" rumbled Mace, handing over Zipporah with obvious reluctance.

"Yes." Mykayla smoothed the fuzzy hair that stood up on the furry blue baby's head, then lowered her own head to rest a cheek against it as she murmured softly in a strange soft language that seemed to be composed of equal parts joy and sorrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked gently as Sadri snorted to herself at his hovering.

"When I was sixteen a gang beat me to death." Mykayla didn't look up.

"You were badly injured and revived?" said the dark skinned Jedi.

"I woke up in the morgue."

Sadri raised an eyebrow as she realized that indiscriminant white aura was back again. She watched it for a few seconds as it faded in and out of her Force sight, and then spoke up. "He revived you, didn't He?" Then she recalled the religion of her home planet - in which worshippers revered a single God portrayed as sentient - and wondered idly if that was what she was witnessing.

"Yeah," she muttered, her eyes focusing on a point beyond Mykayla. "He did."

"Yes." The smaller girl looked up at her, something seeming to shine in her eyes. "He has work for me to do yet." She took a deep breath and Sadri once more felt the hair on her arms stand up.

Mace looked thoughtful, then irritated as a protocal droid strutted stiffly into the courtyard.

"Master Windu, the Council requires your presence...at the meeting that you called," it said in a cultured, snooty voice.

Mace glanced at Mykayla as she sat up and began to stare at the droid intensly, biting off a grin at the sudden mischief in her differently-coloured eyes.

Sadri laughed out loud at the protocol droid's proclamation. "Better hurry," she said, pulling her Master off the bench and shooing him out the door.

"But...." He looked at Mykayla with concern.

"She's a big girl, and I think she'll be fine with me," Sadri said in a firm voice. "Now go before they demote you and I lose all these perks."

Mace gave her a stern look, but then took his leave, exiting the room through a door flanked by two extremely tall trees.

"So." Sadri turned back to Mykayla. "What now?"

The younger girl smiled, her eyes still fixed on the suddenly fidgety droid.

"What?" Sadri looked at the droid. "What's so funny?"

"My circuits seem to be...oh...excuse me." The droid shuffled out as fast as its legs could take it.

Sadri snorted. "All the robots seem to be afraid of you."

Mykayla giggled, a sound that made the older girl glance at her in delighted shock, then carefully slipped the straps of Zipporah's sling around her and wrapped herself once more in the concealing robe before standing and telescoping her crutches. "I've noticed that. I can't think why...."

"Hmm." Sadri shrugged. "I doubt the droids can feel what I feel." She shivered again. "Anyway, should we go see how David and Ramada are doing?"

* * *

Mykayla lay curled around Zipporah, the warmth of the mattress and the baby's body making blankets unnessary. The small teen's sleep was quiet. But then it changed and she began to frown and mutter.

She looked around and saw herself standing in the hallway outside her bedroom at her parents' house. Knowing that she was dreaming due to the fact that she was hovering a foot above the floor and could feel no ache in her back, she settled down to the carpet and walked swiftly to her mother and father's room.

Her mother turned as she pushed the door open, brown eyes lighting in relief. There you are. I wondered if I'd get to see you again.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly, stooping to catch Zach as he ran to her.

"I dreamed that you were coming," said Mrs. Gordon. "We've been waiting."

"But, Mama, isn't this just a dream?" Mykayla frowned, then smiled as her little brother discovered the baby hidden beneath her robe.

Mrs. Gordon only smiled a little tearfully and gathered the three of them close, laying her cheek against her eldest child's hair. "You have to take Zach. People have been poking around, asking questions at his daycare."

"But, Mama, this is a dream...."

Mrs. Gordon stepped back and looked at her long and lovingly. "Thank You, Father, for letting me say goodbye."

"Mama?" Mykayla frowned as the dream faded around her.

* * *

Sadri was wakened from a sound sleep by the peircing shriek that suddenly tore through her suite. She bounded out of bed and flew to Mykayla's room, shoving the door open slowly. "Is everything okay in - who's that?"

"I'm Zach." The toddler on the bed gave her a million dollar heartbreaker grin, his golden hazel eyes bright. Then he frowned. "Who are you? 'N why's Mykey screamin'?"

Sadri glanced at the lilac-haired girl, who was crouched at the head of the bed with her arms wrapped around herself, still making breathless squeaks.

"Crap, kid, this is no time for hysterics." David pushed passed Sadri and lifted a hand to slap Mykayla.

There was a blur of movement as she caught his hand, then a soft grunt as she wrapped her arms around him and burst into tears. "Aw, crap, kid. Hey, don't freaking cry...."

"I'm Sadri," said the Jedi, who, after the day she'd had, really wasn't surprised to see someone else come out of nowhere. She was elbowed by an angry looking David, and turned around to see Ramada walking through the door. "And I don't think Mykayla was expecting...."

"Zach?" Ramada asked loudly, cutting her off. "What are you doing here?"

"Auntie Mady!" The little boy gave an impossible leap off the bed and landed in her arms, causing her to stagger backward slightly. "Mama gave me to Mykey 'cause the strangers were askin' 'bout me at daycare."

"I see," said Ramada. "I guess Mykey's sort of surprised, wouldn't you say?" She hefted the boy and pinched his nose playfully.

"Calm down," said Sadri. "It's okay...." She looked perplexedly at David, who simply swore every few seconds as Mykayla's hug became progressively tighter.

"Shut up and get the baby," he growled.

Sadri crawled onto the bed and gently gathered Zipporah in her arms, wrapping her in the blanket that had been on the bed as the beautiful tiny being's fussing turned to angry wails. With a decisively maternal air that seemed out of character for her usual flamboyant impudance, the Jedi sat crosslegged atop the mattress and held the child close, making eye contact as she began to sing softly. Zipporah's wails faded as two big brown eyes fixed themselves on Sadri's. The Jedi smiled as the tiny child's forhead creased in intent interest.

"Ow, come on, kid," David grumbled behind her as he finally managed to pry Mykyala loose and lifted her into his arms. "Come on, get hold of yourself."

"Goodness!" The lilac-haired girl managed at last. "Oh goodness!"

"Don't start laughing...." David winced.

Mykayla's tears returned with reinforcements.

"Or that." He gave his fiancée a pleading look.

"She's sad for Mama," said Zach wisely, his stubby fingers tangling themselves in Ramada's hair.

"What do you mean?" the Indian girl asked him. "Where's your mom now?"

"At home." He gave her a 'well duh' look.

"Oh." She looked at Sadri. "And how's the baby?"

The Jedi smiled at Zipporah, who quirked one eyebrow quizzically. "She's fine. And shouldn't I be asking YOU that question?"

"Mama sent Zach away!" gasped Mykayla, then shoved away from David. "Eww, you're not wearing a shirt...."

"Crap!" He dropped her and backed away, scowling.

"Oo, now that you mention it." Sadri's grin widened, invoking a huge frown from Zipporah.

"Hey," said Ramada with a grin. "He's taken."

Sadri's grin faded back to the smile. "I was just kidding." She looked down at the baby, who looked strangely relieved.

"Zach?" Mykayla held out her arms to the little boy, then toppled backward onto the floor as he did another flying leap.

"How many times do I have to tell you to be careful!" growled David. "You're going to hurt her one of these days."

"No, I'm not." The toddler gave him a scowl and snuggled in Mykayla's arms as she struggled to rise without letting go of him.

"Alright," said Sadri. "So, does someone want to fill me in on what's going on?"

"This is my baby brother...eek!" Mykayla fell back again.

"Okay." Sadri shrugged again, adjusting Zipporah's blanket.

"Why did your mom drop him off?" asked Ramada.

"She didn't." Mykayla squinched her face slightly as David hauled she and Zach off the floor and sat her on the bed. "I was dreaming that I was at home. In the dream I was holding him and she told me that I had to take him. When I woke up he was in my bed."

David stared at her, then shuddered and growled.

"Okay," said Ramada. "I'm just going to get used to the idea of people popping out of nowhere before it makes me go nuts." She walked over to David and leaned her head on his shoulder. "So he's to stay with us?"

"Yes," said Mykayla softly as her little brother let go of her to crawl over and smile down at Zipporah, who scowled at him hugely. "I...I don't think I'll be going back to Earth again...in any way. At least not that Earth."

"I need a drink," grumbled David.

Sadri smiled sadly, and this time she had nothing to say as she quietly hoped that things would turn out well in the end for these wanderers.

"No, you don't," said Ramada, pinching her fiancé gently on the love handle and smirking at the resulting bellow.

Zipporah startled and went stiff in outrage, then relaxed as Mykayla gently took her from Sadri and cuddled her close.

"Quit being such a baby." Ramada went for the enticing bit of pudge again.

"I'm not, that hurt!" David swatted at her hands.

"Do you two mind?" said Mykayla dryly. "Just because your baby is still where she can't be disturbed by yelling...."

David scowled at her, then bolted from the room with Ramada in pursuit.

"I'm sleepy, Mykey." Zach rubbed his eyes and yawned, showing a surprising lack of teeth for someone so vocal.

The lilac-haired girl nodded and smoothed out the blankets, then paused in the act of laying down to look at Sadri. "I'm sorry."

"No problem," said the young Jedi absently. "Have a good sleep." She didn't really hear Mykayla's reply, and she stared into the darkness for a long time after she'd gone back to bed.