Present Day….
Silverstream paused after explaining the part about taking Katooni in as her apprentice. She fought back the rush of tears upon thinking of her. Her friends looked curiously at her, expecting her to continue with the story. When she didn’t, they looked at each other worriedly. Then they looked at her with concern.
Ocellus was the first to speak up.
“Silverstream…we had no idea how close you two were…”
“So that’s why you kept avoiding talking about her,” Sweet Leaf realized, “Oh Silverstream…I’m so sorry. You don’t have to tell us what happened if you don’t want to.”
“I’m still curious,” MJ stated flatly. The others glared at her, “What? If we’re going to find her, we have to know how she got taken and where she is.”
Citrine Spark nodded, “I agree. But she can tell us whenever she wants to. She clearly doesn’t like talking about this.”
Silverstream shook her head, “No. Talking about this is actually good for me. I’m happy you asked me to relive this. As I said, you all deserve to know the truth.”
“Just do it at your own pace,” Ocellus told her, “We’re here for you.”
Silverstream opened her mouth to continue the story when the cabin suddenly rocked violently and everyone had to grab on to the holochess table in order to avoid falling on each other.
Hondo’s voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Ride’s over, kiddies!! We’ve arrived!!”
Silverstream wasted no time in running to the cockpit and catching a bird’s-eye glimpse of Coruscant. She breathed a sigh of happiness. She hadn’t been back in so long. The Jedi must’ve missed her so much!
The Stellar Envoy touched down on Coruscant in front of the Jedi Temple. Through the large windows of the cockpit, Silverstream spotted a crowd gathered, watching the ship land. It took her a few minutes to register that the assembled crowd was the Jedi Council Masters, recognizing Master Yoda and Master Windu among others.
She took a deep breath to swallow her nervousness. They probably had some choice words for her considering that she had snuck out on her own without their permission. Of course, Anakin had given her his permission, but he had little to no authority and she had been gone for a full 2 years.
The ramp lowered and Silverstream stepped down alongside Hondo. The Jedi Council all wore expressions of contained anger or concern. Master Yoda looked like he hadn’t slept in a long time. How much had he worried about her throughout all those years?
“Um…hello, Masters,” Silverstream bowed down to them when she finally exited the ramp. The gesture did nothing, however, to quell the tension that had obviously built up.
Master Yoda noticed her, “Found your Padawan, have you, Silverstream?”
Silverstream shook her head, “I’ve come for help. I know you are probably mad at me and I’m very sorry.”
“We’ll talk about this in the Council Chambers,” Mace Windu told her sternly, “I see you have brought Hondo with you.”
“Salutations, Master Jedis!” Hondo exclaimed, “It is I, your ‘ol pal Hondo! Here to rescue my young damsel in distress!!” He bowed playfully to the Jedi. Mace Windu scowled while Obi Wan smiled slightly.
“Let’s go,” Mace Windu said. He and the other Jedi started walking single-file towards the Jedi Temple. Hondo followed suit. However, Master Yoda stayed where he was. His face looked solemn and grim and Silverstream instantly felt terrible for leaving without telling anyone.
“Talk more, we will,” Master Yoda said, “Missed you, Skywalker has. Your friends, you may bring.”
“Wait, how did you know that I had-“ Master Yoda pointed towards the ship. Silverstream glanced behind her and saw Citrine Spark peeking her head at the conversation. Silver motioned for the others to descend the ramp. They did.
Master Yoda then headed towards the Jedi Temple, Silverstream and her friends following close behind him.
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“Woooooow! This is AWESOME!!” Citrine Spark exclaimed once everyone was inside the Temple. Silverstream did her best to show everyone around while on their way to the Council Chambers.
“I can’t believe we’re in the real Jedi Temple,” Sweet Leaf was practically shaking with excitement, “My mind is officially blown! All those years of telling my parents the Star Wars universe was real, I was right!”
“You told your parents Star Wars was real?” MJ asked incredulously.
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Sweet Leaf protested, “I was only 10-12 years old during that phase! I grew out of it come the sequel trilogy. That was not my favorite.”
Ocellus also seemed fascinated with the area around her, flying around, checking every last detail, and squealing with excitement at every thing she looked at.
‘Reminds me of myself,’ Silverstream thought to herself fondly. Those innocent days seemed like a distant memory now. She imagined that everycreature back home had moved on with their lives. She was gone, Ocellus was gone, no one had any reason to remember her now.
Eventually, they reached the Council Chambers where all the Masters, including Anakin Skywalker, had already assembled. Anakin looked excited to see her, but Obi Wan glanced at him, silently telling him to maintain the serious situation and that there would be time for reunions later.
“Stay here, girls,” Silverstream instructed them. They nodded in unison. She stepped into the room, bowing down in respect to the Masters.
“We are gathered here today to welcome Silverstream’s return,” Mace Windu began, “and to ask her a couple questions about her journey, so that we may learn of the worlds she has explored while on her failed quest, as well as hear what she has to say.”
The words “failed quest” hit Silverstream like a ton of bricks. They were implying that her journey was over. It was not. Not until she got the help she needed. She imagined poor Katooni feeling scared out of her mind right now, being starved and tortured by the boy she called a brother. It made her sick.
She took a deep breath, “I’ve come asking for your help. I can’t do this alone.”
“What are you saying, Silverstream?” Master Plo Koon asked her.
“While on my journey…” Silverstream explained, “I’ve been to a lot of places…and learned a lot of things. And I realized…that even with the combined forces of my friends, there was no way we were going to get Katooni out there alone by ourselves. I’ve come to ask the Republic and the Jedi’s help again in rescuing Katooni…Please…”
Before the Council could even ponder, Mace Windu spoke up immediately, “The answer was no before and the answer is no now.”
“But Master Windu-“ Silverstream tried to say. He cut her off.
“Let’s get the facts straight, Silverstream. You left without telling us, after we specifically instructed you not to do anything, and you roped Anakin into this. We told you not to do anything, and you did. I should’ve known you two were too close.”
“Too close?!” Silverstream knew that she shouldn’t yell, but she couldn’t help it. What Master Windu had said infuriated her, “Too close?! All she wanted was for someone to love her and care about her! I gave her that and she was finally happy for once! What’s so bad about that?!”
“Attachments are forbidden,” Mace Windu continued, “You have violated the attachments ban in a way that could get you expelled from the Order if I wanted to.”
“Master Windu,” Obi Wan interjected, “You are being too harsh on her. She’s been gone a long time. Surely we can tell her no more nicely than that?”
“No,” Mace Windu countered, “Silverstream, you are lucky that I don’t expel you right now. If I did, Anakin and Obi Wan would never let me see the light of day. But it is tempting.”
That was when Silverstream finally snapped and she let loose all that pent up anger at the Master who she was beginning to build respect towards, but who also lost that respect immediately.
“Tempting?! The only thing I did wrong, Master, was give Katooni someone to care about her!! How would you feel if you always wanted someone to love you and never got that because attachments are forbidden?! You guys steal these younglings when they’re just born!! You steal them away from their families and you don’t even give them love in return! What does that say about you all, the so-called peacekeepers of the Republic?! When you brainwash these kids since birth, but don’t even give a shit about them when they’re captured or kidnapped?! You’re a cult, that’s what you are!!”
“That’s it! You’re expelled!!” Mace Windu shouted back, “You leave at daybreak tomorrow!!”
Silverstream didn’t care. Spitting in Mace Windu’s face, she ran out of the Council Chambers, sobbing uncontrollably. Her friends saw her run off and headed after her.
“Silverstream, wait!!” Ocellus called out, “Tell us what happened!!”
Silverstream headed outside of the Temple and towards the Great Tree, where she lay down and bawled. It wasn’t fair. If Katooni were there now to learn thar the Jedi Council didn’t really care about her at all, she would’ve been heartbroken. Silver felt betrayed. She gave up on going home to fight for the Jedi Order, she put her all into training, she risked her life on that fateful night to stop her Master and save the Order. And they didn’t even care. If she were to be captured by any rogue enemy, the Jedi wouldn’t do anything to save her, she realized. No, they would leave her to her fate because “attachments were forbidden.” She hated herself for putting her all for a group that couldn’t care less about her. Save for a few exceptions, the Jedi had been very apathetic towards her entire existence. She realized now that she had been too innocent back then to realize that.
‘The Sith should’ve killed them,’ Silverstream thought bitterly.