The Rebel Faction

As soon as the crying began, Malice grabbed hold of Lono. Holding his son tight, Malice rocked him like any loving parent would, except that he didn't mean it in a loving way. He just didn't want attention brought onto him just yet.

*Be calm my son, do not worry about your mother. She is not bad, just lost. She is close to becoming just like daddy,wouldn't that be good? then we could all be together*

Malice patted his son on the back, trying his best to calm the boy down and ease his fears. Something that he normally would never do.

Malice laughed softly at the boys words, at how childish it sounded. But then again that's what he still was after all, a child.

*Lono, you must understand. Everyone goes through changes. I went through many changes growing up, and so has your mother. You will to i'm sure of it. Right now your mother is merely going through another change in her life that's all. Inside she will still love you the same as before, and treat you the same as before. Do not resist change my son, for it is unavoidable. To deny change is to...deny life*

Malice had to stop there, His own words were making him sick to his stomach. So he now just sat there, patting his son on the back, trying to get him to stop crying. The food had arrived now, but it looks like the two wouldn't be able to eat.

(Amalia, you will pay dearly for this. Its cause of you that our son is growing up weak. Dependant on you and the rest of those pitiful jedi. Its a shame he will not live to see another sunrise once you have come, i would have liked it very much to raise him in my own image. Shame indeed.)

His thoughts kept him sane from all this fatherly emotions. Truthfully, Malice couldn't love anyone even if he wanted to. It was no longer there in him. After being betrayed by love, the emotion was like venom to the sith and he wanted nothing more to do with it.

The Jedi Master's expression was hard to read as he continued to observe Amalia and Jensen, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, unable to help the slight guilty feeling he had from doing so. After all, everything seemed normal, and he couldn't sense any danger. . .

Wait.

A slight frown crept over Kahn's features, as he felt a chilling darkness in the area. It was a presence he recognized, and his hand strayed instinctively to the hilt of his saber, this time remaining there.

Malice.

Kahn remembered the confrontation he'd had with the Sith, before he left to search for Amalia- a confrontation in which Malice had pledged to get back at Amalia. . .and suddenly, things were becoming very clear.

He could sense another presence as well, one that he vaguely remembered- it was a Force user, though young, untrained, that much he could tell. The Jedi Master's eyes widened as he put two and two together.

The Sith had Lono. . .Amalia's son.

And now, Kahn realized that this was more than Amalia dabbling in the Dark Side- he knew that with her current emotional state, a meeting now with Malice- especially if he was in a position to hurt Lono- would escalate into a battle; and according to Amalia, this was a battle only one of them would survive. . .had she seen her death at Malice's hands? Kahn had heard of Jedi recieving visions of the future at times, but something didn't seem quite right. . .in any case, now, more than ever, Kahn was determined not to lose his Master.

"Sign here..."

Leia obediently endorsed the line indicated by her aide's pointed finger, only vaguely aware of what she was pledging her name to. The aide quickly flipped a few pages in the thick stack of duraplast sheets in the middle of Leia's desk and pointed to a new blank line, which Leia also signed.

This one was of Leia's last afternoon rituals that took place before she was allowed to escape the confines of her office for the day. Unfortunately the ritual was a long and tedious one, and on certain days Leia found she had to sign her name at least a hundred times before it was complete. The process would have driven many others mad after the first twenty signatures or so, but for Leia it had just always been a necessary and therefore accepted part of her life.

The aide was flipping pages again, looking for the next paper which required Leia's signature, when Leia felt a familiar Force presence subtlely wash over her.

Familiar.... yet disturbingly different.

The feeling took Leia by complete surprise, and the stylus she had been using fell from her hand, clattering to the floor. The confused aide reached out to place his hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away from him before he even touched her.

She was back.... she had returned to Naboo....

but why?

Leia's first impulse was to go and find her, to seek her out...

But she immediately reigned in that emotion, with much difficulty. It was not her place to do such a thing. Leia knew that if she was wanted or required, she would be sought out. Otherwise....

Leia took a long, shaky breath to recompose herself, and then bent down to retrieve the dropped writing utensil from the floor.

"Let's get this over with already, shall we?"

The aide was more than a little perplexed as to the behavior of his superior, but knew it was not his place to ask any questions. Instead he returned his attention to his work, and pulled out a long document that had something to do with a request Leia had made to the Royal government earlier that week....

Squirming slightly within his father's lap, Lono looked to the entrance of the cafe, longing to search for his mother who was somewhere out there..

Tugging at his father's garments as he struggled to release himself from his father's grasp, Lono returned his gaze to his father, a small expression of desperation settling upon his small face.

"C'mon Daddy! Mommy needs us! Let's go!"

He grunted and puffed through his struggles, his father's strong grasp frustrating him more and more as time passed on.

"Let's go outside!"