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By Root 837 0

Horn siblings, and it had only been in recent years that they had begun relating as friends and not just as brother and sister. Jysella had always idolized her easygoing, levelheaded big brother. The lives of her rather famous family had been fraught with danger almost since the day she was born. Often, she and Valin were separated from their parents and even from each other for long periods of time. Three Jedi in a family did not make for much time spent doing traditional familial things. But the challenges and the separation had always brought them closer, not driven wedges between them.

So the sight of her brother coldly staring at them through the oneway transparisteel panel, knowing that he had attacked both their parents and claimed that his beloved sister, father, and mother were “fakes,” had somehow been stolen away—

Jysella shivered. Cold, she was cold, he was cold and in carbonite, her kind, grinning brother, the gentle and loved one, whom they said was criminally insane.

Bazel Warv laid a heavy green hand on her narrow shoulder as they climbed up the long ceremonial staircase of the Processional Way toward the Jedi Temple. A series of grunts and squeaks issued from his tusked mouth as he offered reassurances.

“I know, I know,” Jysella said to the Gamorrean with a sigh. His small, piggy eyes were full of compassion. “Everyone's doing their best. It doesn't make it any easier.”

Bazel, “Barv” as his little circle of close friends called him, considered this and nodded agreement. He squeezed her shoulder, putting all his concern into the gesture, and Jysella forced herself not to wince. Around his fellow Jedi, Bazel tended to forget how strong he was. With little Amelia, the young war orphan who had been adopted by Han and Leia Solo, though, the Gamorrean was gentle to a fault. Amelia often went for piggyback rides on Barv's huge shoulders, laughing and giggling. The little girl was fond of everyone in “the Unit,” as Barv, Yaqeel Saavis, Valin, and Jysella called themselves.

“The big guy's right,” Yaqeel, walking on Jysella's other side, commented. “Don't underestimate what a group of top Jedi can do when their backs are against the wall.”

Jysella had to force herself to again refrain from wincing, this time from the coolness of the Bothan's words. She'd known both Barv and Yaqeel for a long time now. They had been Valin's friends first, but had drawn Jysella happily into the circle as she grew older.

Yaqeel used words in the same controlled, deadly way she used her lightsaber. Normally the acerbic, cynical comments she was fond of drawling didn't bother Jysella in the slightest. But now she felt … raw. Like her emotional skin had been filleted away and even the slightest breeze caused agony.

Barv oinked, annoyed, and Yaqeel's ear twitched slightly. Barv was convinced that the Jedi were working hard to find a cure for Valin's condition not because their own necks were threatened, but because it was the right thing to do. Because that's what Jedi did.

Tears of gratitude stung Jysella's eyes as she smiled at her friend. Yaqeel's ears lowered slightly, a sign that Barv's simple faith had gotten to her as well. That wasn't unusual. Everyone—well, everyone except dear, slightly dense Barv himself—knew that Yaqeel had a soft spot for “the big guy,” and no one blamed her for it. Barv was uncomplicated and true, with a heart as big as the galaxy and an unshakable sense of right and wrong.

Jysella desperately wanted to believe him in this case, but the fear, fluttering at the back of her throat like a living thing, prevented it.

“Anyway, honey, we know your brother's got his head screwed on right,” Yaqeel said in a gentler tone of voice. “Whatever's happening to him, I'm convinced it's only temporary. What you need to do is stop watching newsvids. They're all about reporting whatever sounds juiciest. And that's usually not the truth.”

They'd reached the Temple entrance. Once, the Jedi Temple had been notable for its five spires, a unique feature of the Coruscant skyline. But much of that had been destroyed during