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She hadn't liked the talk about darkness encroaching and all that, and she really didn't like the idea of the High Council ordering her and Harry to separate again. She knew attachments like this were forbidden but surely… She looked down as Harry squeezed her hand, hearing his words of reassurance through their link before turning her attention back to Master Fay and Dooku.
"If they had been there to see the two of you meeting in person, to feel the Light waves of Force around the two of you like I did, then no they wouldn't," Dooku said, his voice certain. "None of the Council except perhaps Master Koth and Master Tiin are so wedded to the Order's rules that they would be able to countenance doing so. But after the fact, I think the idea that your bond is of the Light will be obscured by the history of such things in the past."
Fay allowed herself an exasperated huff of displeasure. "Master Dooku is correct. Numerous Jedi have fallen to the Dark Side through trying to form attachments. One of the worst Sith from the New Sith Wars fell because she loved her fellow padawan, and when confronted she decided to leave the Order and he did not. The breaking of that bond caused her to Fall into the Dark Side, and they will worry about a similar thing occurring here, despite whatever you tell them of the bond."
Dooku took up the tale grimly. "Added to the bond will be their ongoing concerns about your techniques and about the fact you and your clan do not wish to follow the New Code, and, perhaps even Master Yoda's complicit aid in both the clan's ongoing individuality in that area. You have not seen it Master fay, but the fact that so few ancient and wise Masters of the Order are unable to perform these new techniques has not sat well with many. When I was on Coruscant last, there was a growing sense of disharmony because of it. No, you will have to prove your bond is both special and of the Light, and also defend Yoda's backing of your isolation from the rest of the Order Harry."
Lily had been looking down at her son and him up at her since his declaration that he wouldn't be willing to run away. Now she sighed, and leaned down through the top bunk, her arms going around her him in one of her ethereal hugs, as she kissed his cheek. "I think we've done too good a job with you Harry Potter, you're too darn noble for your own good. Alright, let's do it then."
"You say that as if being too noble is a bad thing milady, as a noble myself I feel I must take offense," Dooku said, smiling now at the two of them as Harry flushed in embarrassment and Aayla giggled, her own mood improving dramatically. "So you are agreed you must chance Coruscant?"
The others all nodded with varying degrees of acceptance, and he smiled wintrily. "In that case padawan Secura, I suggest you and padawan Potter get to work."
"And Fay and I have some work we need to get to too. If we're going to beard the lions in their den, there's no reason we can't go armed as well as forewarned." Lily said resolutely.
The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, and they arrived on Sorenno without further incident. By the time they did, Aayla had a good idea of how long it would take Harry to become proficient enough with Stealth to fool Master Fay, which she herself could not do yet, but Master Fay had said that Master Tholme had at one point when they were on the Explorer together.
Landing at Carrania they found Quinlan already working with the locals to repatriate the slaves, which the Jedi quickly began to help with. As they were Harry stopped occasionally, staring at some of the workers around them who are talking to the various slaves in a distant, somewhat odd manner. It wasn't as if they were looking down on the slaves for the fact they had been slaves exactly, but it was as if the very idea of slavery was so… blasé. Or as if it was something they didn't really or couldn't quite care about.
"What's wrong Harry?" Aayla asked looking over him.
"I'm just now realizing how slavery is viewed by regular people on planets like Sorenno," Harry said through their link. His astral projection appeared in her mental fortress as his body continued to go through the motions of helping Master Fay look over a few of the slaves who were suffering from various ailments. "It's just, it's treated so… normally. Just like a fact of life for something, one that doesn't really touch most of them. That's really not good."
Aayla's astral projection popped in as well, and she cocked her head not understanding what he was getting at.
"I mean, that slavery is either simply not thought of, like with Padme, not seen, like on Naboo or some of the others I've been on and thus ignored, or simply not cared about. As if it doesn't touch on your people can ignore it. It's very strange to me."
"That's just how people are Harry, I don't understand how that can be a surprise." Aayla said, with more than a bit of tartness in her tone which she would not have allowed anyone else to hear.
"You're missing my point Aayla," Harry said, reaching over to grab her hands in his, the feel of her fingers as solid here in her mental plane as if they were doing it in person, something they both noticed and vowed to… experiment with at some future date. "The Jedi order doesn't have enough influence to stop the trade entirely. While we can try to crack down on the illegals slave trade, the legal slave trade will keep going on, undermining our efforts at every turn. Instead, we need to figure out ways to start changing people's minds, their views on slavery and its evils. Some kind of public campaign the Republic over, along with a push in the senate to make all slavery illegal."
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