(This story started off as a light comedy for April Fool’s day, but like a lot of stories it underwent a metamorphosis, and in this case became more serious and even kind of mushy by my standards.)


After the Star Forge

The young, dark-haired girl sat at the window looking out at the planet as the cruise liner drew nearer. An older woman stood at the door looking at her.

"Tonzi, the other kids are in the conservatory. There's supposed to be a pond for swimming and everything. You like swimming. Why don't you go meet some new friends?"

"I don't want to."

"You've done nothing but sit by that window the whole trip. What's wrong? Are you having those bad dreams about the Jedi again?"

"No."

"Well, what would you like to do?"

"I want to get off this ship."

"And we will, soon. I promise." The older woman sighed, giving up. "Your father and I are going to the casino. Don't leave here without us. If you need us, contact me on the comlink, okay?"

"Okay."

"Gargicia, let's go. She's fine," a heavy set man said, stepping into the room. The woman gave Tonzi a final worried glance before allowing herself to be led away by her husband. The door shut silently behind them.

The truth was, Tonzi didn't like the vacation very much. Being stuck on a ship for weeks hadn't been much fun. She liked to be outside in the wild, climbing, hiking and exploring. But this ship didn’t have any of that, just a place with fake plants, fake animals and the water in the pond that smelled of chemicals. The conservatory looked nice, but it wasn’t real. The rest of the ship was even more boring, just adults gambling, shopping, stuffing their faces and watching stupid shows in the theatre. It wasn’t her fault if none of that was fun for her. She hadn’t wanted to come at all.

She missed her friends, and she missed Onderon. She'd wanted to stay with friends while her parents went on the cruise, but they hadn't allowed it. They said she needed to get offworld, and so they made her go. She didn’t think it was fair, but now they’d promised her that they would be getting off the ship for a little while soon. So she stared out at the planet, wishing the ship would get there faster...

Meanwhile, on the planet’s surface below them, a powerful Jedi was taking some time off.

"So what does the most famous heroine in the galaxy do after she's defeated Darth Malak, destroyed the Star Forge and saved the Republic?" the writer asked. More than once he caught himself following the curves of Revan’s figure as she laid on the beach. She wore one of the latest fashions in swimwear and red-tinted protective eyewear.

"She goes on vacation," Revan said, smiling up at the sky.

The famous hero of the Republic, Carth Onasi, could be seen about fifty meters down the beach, standing in the surf, attempting to catch one of the native species of fish with some sort of primitive device.

They were on a beach on the Rakata homeworld, on the far side of the planet from the Temple which had become so famous and such an attraction for tourists. There a visitor could pose next to the Temple, lay on the beach and even take home a live gizka which everyone knew had been brought there by Revan, herself. If one was careful enough, they might even catch a holopic of a live Rakata. All of these were reasons why Revan could be found on the far side of the planet, or rather, had chosen to conceal herself there. Finding her there would have been a trick for the most avid jungle trekker.

The writer had been called there to help Revan with her memoirs and was receiving a lesson in etymology at the same time.

“Rumor has it that you are searching for the ancient Sith Empire.”

“Grokk the Sith Empire.”

“Grokk?”

“Yes, grokk,” said Revan. “It comes from Nal Hutta. It may even be from the Hutt language. It started off as a term to imply the act of gaining carnal knowledge and evolved over time into a general purpose slang word for dismissing something. Such as grokk it, grokk them, grokk you, grokk everybody, so on and so forth.”

“I see. But what about the Jedi Council? Aren’t they wondering where you are?”

“Grokk them too.”

“So you don’t consider yourself a Jedi?”

“No.”

“But you’re not a Sith either.”

“No.”

“So what are you planning to do next?”

“Make babies,” Revan said, casting a predatory look in Carth’s direction. But then her expression turned dark. “Bastila didn’t want me to be with him. Tried to keep Carth and I apart. Even lied to my face hoping he would leave me behind. I‘ll never forgive her for that.” She turned to look at the writer her expression softening, but remaining serious. “Nobody is going to keep us apart. I won’t allow it. I expect that these memoirs will make that clear to everyone.”

“Do you miss the Order at all?” he asked.

“No. Not after what they did to me. Okay, I was a bad girl, but I made up for it. I saved the Republic from the Mandalorians and Malak. What more do they want from me?”

Suddenly, the writer looked up in the sky. “I don’t think it’s them you should be worried about.”

“What?” her gaze followed his up to a small ship descending through the atmosphere off in the distance. “What’s that?”

“Tourists,” said the writer. “I recognize that it. It’s an away shuttle from a cruise liner.”

“Here?” Revan asked, sitting up and shielding her eyes from the Sun. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“That’s what they are, all right.”

She stood up, wrapped a sarong around herself, and brushed the sand off. "Carth, baby," she called down the beach. "It's time we pull our disappearing trick."

He set the device down on the beach and walked over to them. "What's the matter, beautiful?"

"Company," she said, motioning up.

Off in the distance, the ship could be seen landing in the jungle.

"What do you mean, disappear?" the writer asked Revan. "What about me?"

"It’s a Jedi trick called Force Camouflage. We'll be out of sight, but you have to make them go away," she said. Without another word, she grabbed Carth's hand and seemed to go into a trance. She and Carth faded from view.

“Me? Why me?”

But there was no response.

Just then a group of a dozen individuals appeared beyond the tree line wearing gaudy shirts, floppy hats and bearing all the latest models of holocams from which, the writer suspected, nothing could escape. Accompanying them were a platoon of protocol droids and a few children. They stomped through the jungle, apparently intent on squashing flat whatever vegetation they could find and generally making as much noise as possible. All except one dark-haired girl who had found the device Carth had been fishing with and was eyeing it curiously.

"Revan, what am I supposed to do?" queried the writer in a low voice.

"Just get rid of them," a voice whispered from behind him. Two sets of footsteps appeared moving through the sand and up into the jungle.

In moments, the writer was surrounded by a sea of flamboyant and thoroughly tasteless shirts. A cacophony of voices assaulted him all at once.

“Hey chummer, nice spot, huh?”

“What’s there to eat around here?”

“Any good hotels?”

“I got to go to the bathroom. Is there any facilities?”

“Where the bar?”

“My feet are killing me. Honey, did you bring the other sandals? We shouldn’t have got off the ship!”

“Damn! I forgot to bring a blank chip for the holocam.”

“Tonzi, don’t you go near that water! You’ve no idea what kind of monsters might be in there!”

A large, clammy hand came to rest on the writer’s shoulder, spinning him around.

“Hey bud, can I take your picture? Smile.” Click. “That your hut up there? Say, you don’t have the live feed from Nar Shaddaa, do you? I’m missing the Galactic Series of Pazaak.”

“Oh, Folbert. We’re supposed to be on vacation. Didn’t you get enough of that on the cruise ship?” a woman behind him asked.

But the large, burly tourist was already on his way up to the hut.

The writer was temporarily numbed from the burst the activity, but quickly went into the motion as he saw Folbert drawing dangerously close to the building. “Um, sir!” He ran passed the man and positioned himself in the doorway. “Actually, I don’t get reception way out here. I kind of came out here to get away from it all if you know what I mean?”

Folbert stared at the writer as if he’d grown a second head. “No pazaak?? How do you live?”

Just then a board creaked inside the hut.

“What was that?” Folbert wanted to know.

‘I told you to get rid of them,’ Revan’s voice spoke inside the writer's mind.

‘It’s not so easy with you making noise back there,’ the writer returned, sending his own thoughts back at her. He smiled at Folbert. “Uh, yeah. There are wild gizkas even on this side of the planet. They get everywhere.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, there is rumored to be a Rakata temple off in the jungle a couple of kilometers away.”

“Really?” Folbert said, checking his holocam over.

“Oh yes. I haven’t been able to find it myself,” the writer went on, “but it’s supposed to be more incredible than the other one. And no tourists.”

“Good. I hate tourists,” Folbert said with a smile. He turned back toward the crowd that was milling about on the beach. “Gargicia, this guy says there’s some more ruins in the jungle.”

Gargicia turned to the protocol droid next to her. “Contact the ship. Tell everybody there’s more ruins.”

The writer’s face went white with alarm. “Um, ma’am...” But try as he might, he couldn’t think of anything to say that might prevent the unthinkable from happening.

‘Nice going,’ said Revan’s voice in his mind.

“Yes?” Gargicia was now looking at the writer expectantly.

“Honey,” Folbert called back to her. “Tell Tonzi there’s gizka around here.” He turned to face the writer again. “My daughter loves gizka. Wants to bring one back to Onderon. Kids.”

“Dad? There’s two ships back here,” a little girl’s voice said from behind the hut.

"Tonzi, I don't want you back there alone," Gargicia called out.

"Is there somebody else here?" Folbert asked the writer.

"Uh, yeah. Actually my wife is trying to sleep. She's really sick."

"Oh, no problem," Folbert said. "My wife is one of the foremost experts on tropical disease in the galaxy." He turned toward Gargicia, "Honey?"

"I heard." Gargicia joined them on the porch of the hut. "Better let me have a look at her."  She hollered at her protocol droid again. “Better tell them not to come down afterall. We may have a quarantine case on our hands.“ She shoved her way past the writer into the hut.

"No, ma'am, really," protested the writer. "All she needs is..."

"Dad, there's tracks back here leading into the jungle," the girls voice rang out.

Folbert shook his head at the writer. " Ten years old, and always getting into something. Likes to pretend she's Jayden of the Jungle from that kids show. You know?" He turned and walked off the porch towards the rear of the jungle. "Tonzi, stay where you are. I'm coming," he said.

“Dad, I’m Jayden! Remember?” the little girl's voice cam back at them.

“Okay, Jayden. Just stay there,” he called back, rounding the back of the hut.

“Hey, there’s nobody back here.” Gargicia emerged from the interior of the hut.

The writer looked blankly at the woman. “Huh?” But then quickly recovered. “Oh my, she must have been delirious and run off into the jungle. We’ve got to find her!”

He led the way to the back of the hut. Gargicia and Folbert barely taking notice of the ships.

Gargicia cupped her hands to her mouth and called out, “Tonzi! Where are you?”

“Where has that girl got to now?” asked Folbert, shaking his head again.

“We’ve got to go after her,” Gargicia said, looking at both of them. “Come on. We’ll find your wife too.” With that, she led them into the brush....

Now Tonzi was steadily making her way through the jungle, following the tracks she had found. Two humans had moved through there recently, and so she followed them, moving lightly through the brush. She was careful not step on the tracks, but instead she stayed off to one side, her eyes searching for signs of passage.

She had done this many times before, outside the city of Iziz on Onderon while visiting with the beast riders on that world. Though her parents seemed not to trust the beast rider people, she had many friends among them, kids who, like her, could not understand the tension between their parents. To Tonzi, the kids from the beast rider clans looked like her and liked doing the same things as she did. Her parents insisted that those people were different, but she could never understand how. So despite what her parents said about them, she spent as much time with them as she could, deciding that they were more fun than most of the kids in the city. They taught her all about the wild and beasts, and she returned the favor by bringing them the latest episodes of Jayden on data chip.

This planet seemed warmer to her, but otherwise much the same as Onderon. And when there was a trail to be followed, she could not resist to follow it. She wanted everybody to know how good a tracker she was, and maybe someday she could be in the holovids like Jayden. Life in Iziz seemed boring for her, even if her parents always found something to complain about whether it was the beast riders, the Queen or the Republic. And  her parents often wouldn’t let her do the things she wanted to do.

One time, when she was real small, a couple of Jedi Knights came to visit them and talked with her parents while she played in her room. She knew they were Jedi because they had brown robes, and everybody knew that Jedi always wore brown. They’d given her a funny feeling even though they weren’t even in the room. Eventually, the Jedi had went away. Later one of her friends told her that sometimes the Jedi took kids away from their parents. She’d asked her parents about it, but they’d said no, the Jedi hadn’t come to take her away. But from then on, she’d avoided the Jedi whenever she saw them, afraid that they would catch her and never let her go. She always knew when they were around even before she saw them because she got that  funny feeling every time.

Pretty soon she came to a stream, the tracks disappearing into it. Just then she felt it again. Jedi were near, and that made her afraid. She crouched down behind a tree, looking and listening. The feeling was getting stronger, as if the Jedi were getting closer, and she was sure that this time they were after her. The fear overcame her, and not knowing what else to do, she ran as fast as she could, splashing through the stream and up the opposite bank. As she ran, she started to feel sick in her stomach. “Mom? Dad?” she called out, but nobody answered. She’s heard that the Jedi could do strange things. They were supposed to be good, but they couldn’t be good if they took kids away from their parents, could they? So she ran faster, calling out again and again. And then came to a sudden stop as she entered the tree line on the other side.

There in front of her stood a scary man-like creature holding a sword. It had a big head with eyes on the side of its face and yellow skin. It took a step forward and swung its sword at her.

She froze, watching the sword come closer, and then suddenly it flew out of the creature’s hand into the jungle behind it. The next thing she knew, there were a man and a woman standing behind her, and the feeling was stronger. Stronger than she’d ever felt it before. She realized they must be Jedi. She was glad they’d rescued her from the thing, but suddenly felt more afraid then ever knowing that they would take her away. She would never see her parents again, hadn’t even had a chance to say goodbye. Unless...

The creature pulled out a dagger and rushed at the man, but the woman held out her hand toward it. The creature moved backwards as if thrown by an invisible hand, the knife flying out of its hand. It landed in some thick foliage.

While that was happening, Tonzi slipped back behind the two Jedi and began to creep backwards through the brush.

‘Tonzi, stop,’ a voice said in her head. Suddenly she realized the woman had turned and was staring at her, while the man was moving toward the creature. A fresh jolt of fear moved through her.

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re not going to hurt you,’ the voice said.

And suddenly, despite her fear, the words burst out of Tonzi. “I won’t go with you!” she yelled at the woman. “I won’t let you take me away!” Having said that, she felt better about herself, despite being face to face with a Jedi.

“We’re not here to take you away,” the woman said.

“Yes, you are. That’s what the Jedi do. They take kids away from their parents!”

By now the man had turned away from the creature that was lying on the ground not moving, though she could still see its chest moving up and down with each breath it took. He approached them, but stopped as the woman held up a hand.

“Both of you, get away from me,” Tonzi said, firmly, beginning to back away.

The woman crouched down and smiled at her, though Tonzi wasn‘t sure if it was really a friendly smile. “I’m hiding from the Jedi too, Tonzi.”

The woman’s words caught her by surprise, and she stopped her backwards movement as she thought about it. “What do you mean? You are a Jedi. You can’t be hiding from them.”

“My name is Revan. This is Carth,“ the woman said. “And you’re right, I am a Jedi. Or at least I was. But I was bad, and they punished me. I made up for the bad things I did, and now I don’t want to be with them anymore. That‘s why were here. To be left alone.”

As the woman spoke, Tonzi thought they might look kind of familiar, but from where she couldn‘t remember.  She thought maybe she‘d seen them in the holovids, but no, that didn‘t seem right. “I don’t understand. If you don’t want to be with them, why won’t they just let you go?” Tonzi asked her, her fear beginning to go away. “Can’t you make them go away?”

“It’s better if they don’t know where we are,” the woman said. “Better if nobody knows where we are. That’s why we ran away from the hut. We don’t want those people knowing we’re here. Which is why I’m hoping you won’t tell them. I can help you find your parents again, but I need you to keep this secret. Will you do that for us?”

Tonzi stood thinking for a minute. It might a trap. It might just be a trick to catch her, keep her away from her parents. But the woman seemed like she was being honest. She seemed friendly. Even if she wasn’t, Tonzi decided, she would pretend to go along with it until she got a chance to get away.

But the woman spoke again. “If you want to run, we won’t stop you. But please don’t tell them about us.”

It was like the woman could see what she was thinking, and if so, Tonzi wouldn’t be able to get away. She knew it and suddenly felt anxious again. But it didn’t make sense for the woman to let her run away if they meant to take her. They could have just grabbed her or did some Jedi trick, but the woman remained where she was, crouched down to Tonzi’s height, hands resting on the ground. Despite her anxiety she took a step toward the woman, who’s smile became a little wider.’

“Carth, say hi,” said the woman, not taking her eyes of Tonzi.

“Hello, Tonzi,” the man said. “Sorry if we scared you. We’re a little bit scared ourselves.”

“Is he your husband?” Tonzi asked Revan.

“Not yet,” she said, and smiled up at him, before turning her gaze back to Tonzi.

“Did the Jedi take you away? Is that why you don’t like them?” Tonzi asked.

Revan’s smile faltered and was replaced with a look of surprise and then something like sadness. “Yes they did, but that’s not why I don’t want to there. I had a...disagreement with them. But I understand why you’re afraid of being taken away. It’s true, the Jedi...”

“Why?!” Tonzi asked, cutting her off. “How can they do that? They ‘re supposed to be good!”

“Children are taken away with their parents consent to become Jedi. Those Jedi came to your house that day because you have the Force in you. That’s why you get a funny feeling when Jedi are near. They knew that about you and wanted to train you as a Jedi,” Revan said.

“What’s the Force?”

“It’s an energy field that you can’t see. It comes from life... people, creatures, plants, and it extends throughout the galaxy. It where a Jedi draws their power from. It’s how we’re able to do our special tricks. You feel it in me, just like I feel it in you,” Revan explained.

“I don’t want to be a Jedi. I don’t like them. They shouldn’t be taking kids away from their parents. It’s not right,” Tonzi said.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about it. They won’t be coming back for you,” Revan told her, suddenly looking off in the distance. “They only come once. At least for you they’ll only come once.”

Tonzi saw the man grip the woman’s shoulder lightly, and Revan’s hand came lightly to rest on his. Just then Tonzi felt sorry for her, sensing the sadness in her words, and seeing the momentary far off look in the woman’s eyes. She seemed sad, and Tonzi wanted to help her. It felt right, so drawing up her nerve, she said, “Maybe you could come with us to Onderon. The beast riders would hide you. Some of my friends are from the beast rider clans. You could meet them.”

Revan smiled broadly at her and moving forward, she gave Tonzi a hug. Tonzi hugged her back, feeling her eyes getting watery.

Just then they heard voices calling out Tonzi’s name in the distance.  The woman released her and motioned in the direction of the voices. “You should go. Your parents are worried about you.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Tonzi asked her, not in as big a hurry to leave them now.

“We’ll be fine.” Revan said, smiling again. “You’ll keep our secret?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Tonzi. I know you don’t like them, but I think you would have made a good Jedi. You're a good person, and that's what being a Jedi is all about. Sometimes Jedi forget that."

"I think you're a good person too." Tonzi said  and hugged her again.

"Maybe we'll meet again some day."

"Come to Onderon. I'll introduce you to my friends," Tonzi said.

"I'd like that," Revan said. "But you'd better get going. They're getting close. But before you do...” She whispered something in Tonzi’s ear, before pulling back and ruffling the little girl’s hair.

Tonzi nodded. "Okay. Bye Revan. Bye Carth." She waved at them, and sniffling, she turned and began to walk toward her parents voices.

"See you around, Tonzi," Carth said.

Revan took in a deep breath and let it out slow. Standing she turned to face Carth. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. They stood for a long time like that, neither moving, finding comfort in each other. Eventually, Revan pulled back.

"Hey, you all right?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, she just kind of struck a nerve. Made me think about some things."

"What kind of things?"

"Things I never want to lose." She leaned forward and kissed him deeply...

Tonzi moved through the jungle towards the sounds of her parents voices, wiping her eyes. Soon they came into view with the strange man from the beach. They ran at her, and her father swept her up in his arms. Her mother was right behind, and both of them hugged and kissed her over and over again.

“Tonzi, you had us worried sick! How could you run off like that on a strange planet?” her mother scolded her. “Stars, you had us worried. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry. I got lost,” she said, and turned to face the writer. “I found your wife in the jungle. She’s okay, but she says she’s making some medicine and can’t be bothered right now. She says she’s feeling better.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, that’s a relief,” the writer said. He wiped his brow and sighed deeply. He turned to face Folbert and Gargicia. “Well thanks for your help.”

“You sure you don’t want me to have a look at her?” Gargicia offered.

“Oh no, I’m sure she’ll be fine. But thanks.”

“No, really,” Gargicia persisted. “You really should. It could be serious. This is how epidemics start.”

Suddenly, Gargicia’s eyes stared blankly past the writer. Just then, Tonzi felt Revan’s presence nearby.

“No, you know what. You’re right. I’m sure she’s fine. Come on, family. Let’s not bother this nice man anymore. Let’s get back to the ship.”

He walked them back to the beach where Folbert, Gargicia and Tonzi joined the rest of the tourists who were still milling about. He watched them herd themselves back to their away ships and head back up to their cruise liner in orbit. The sun setting, her turned away and walked down the beach toward the hut...

Back on the ship, Tonzi had, to the surprise of her parents, wanted to go to the conservatory right away after they’d got back.  They were still unhappy with her for running off like she had, but she’d promised not to do it again so they’d taken her there and dropped her off in care of the ship’s cruise director responsible for watching kids. But she hadn’t wanted to swim or play with the other kids, she simply walked among the plants until she’d found a quiet place and sat down. She leaned up against a  fake tree, closed her eyes and thought about the Jedi she’d met that day...