The Council chamber is quiet when Yoda enters, but it is not peaceful. He feels it before he even reaches his chair. The air in the chamber is still, the city outside is as loud as ever. Masters are already seated around the circle. Yoda climbs into his chair without hurry. His gimer stick rests across his knees. He places both hands over it and lets his eyes drift over the room. Mace Windu sits to his right, back rigid, jaw set. Master Ki-Adi-Mundi holds himself the way he always does. Shaak Ti watches in silence, neither tense nor soft. Oppo Rancisis coils loosely, though his fingers move once against the arm of his chair before they still. Plo Koon is present in person this time, newly returned and not yet fully rested. Obi-Wan Kenobi sits farther down the circle, shoulders square, expression composed.
A week and more has passed since the first visit to Serenno. Enough time for reports to be written, arguments to be repeated, and uncertainty to grow roots. Enough time for Dooku to do what many had feared he might. A small light on the projector ring flashes once. Mace touches the control beside his chair, and a pair of holos rise in the center of the room. A formal declaration pulled from Serenno's own channels and stripped of ornament by Temple archivists. King Dooku. The title still sits strangely in the room, though not because it is unbelievable. Yoda thinks, if he is honest, that the title fits too.
Mace opens the meeting without ceremony. "By now you have all read the reports," he says. "Serenno's regency is ended. Dooku has taken the crown openly. The formal language leaves trade untouched, but rejects further Republic involvement in Serenno's internal rule." Yoda keeps his eyes half-lidded. "Tell us, Obi-Wan," he says. "Heard this news, you have. Surprised, are you?"
Obi-Wan's gaze shifts toward him. The young Master looks tired in that careful way he does when he has not allowed himself to admit it. "No," he says after a moment. "Not truly." Mace glances toward him. "You expected it."
"It was always a possibility," Obi-Wan replies. "Dooku is not a man who likes power for show. But he is a man who dislikes disorder, compromise, and corruption very much. If Serenno's nobility pressed him long enough, and if he believed the Republic's hand was tightening…" He lets the thought finish itself. "Then yes. I can see him accepting a crown."
Plo Koon shifts slightly in his chair. "He would tell himself it is duty."
"He may be right," Shaak Ti says quietly. That earns a brief glance from Ki-Adi. He does not reply, but his mouth tightens. Yoda watched them all and the Force in the chamber moves strangely this morning. A sense, perhaps, that each of them knows the decision waiting at the center of this meeting will not be as noble as they want it to sound. Mace reaches to the projector again, and the public record dissolves. In its place appears a simpler report: a summary of events since the Serenno visit. Dooku's declaration. New guard patterns. Messages between noble houses, Trade questions, Quiet concern from Temple contacts.
"We are not here to debate whether Dooku has the right to rule Serenno," Mace says. "That is not our lane, and he would remind us of it, if we pretended otherwise." A few heads nod. Mace continues. "We are here because his change in status changes the conditions around the girl."
Yoda taps his stick once against the floor. "What new, then, is the problem?" Ki-Adi answers first. "Visibility." Plo turns his masked face toward him. "Explain."
"She is no longer merely a hidden Force-sensitive child in the household of a former Jedi Master," Ki-Adi says. "She is the daughter of a king. That changes how quickly her existence will travel, how many will take interest, and how much weight she may carry later even if she never leaves Serenno. History mad be repeating itself with Jedi and Sith lords of old." Oppo's fingers curl once against the arm of his chair. "And how much damage she could do later if Dooku shapes her against us."
Shaak Ti's eyes narrow slightly. "Or we might end up forcing her against us if we put the wrong kind of people around her." Mace looks toward Plo Koon. "Your report remains the most direct account we have of her thinking. Has anything in the last week changed your view?"
Plo takes his time before speaking. He does that more than most Masters, and Yoda has always appreciated it. "No," Plo says at last. "Not in the broad sense. She is still what she appeared to be on Serenno. Bright, careful and attached to Dooku and his family. Strong in the Force. Too self-assured in some matters. More aware than a child of her age should be." He pauses. "And determined."
"Determined toward what?" Ki-Adi asks. "That," Plo says, "is less clear." Ki-Adi does not like that answer it was clear on his face. Mace interlaces his fingers. "The report from Serenno's channels says little about the girl directly. That is notable on its own. Dooku is not parading her."
"Of course he is not," Obi-Wan says. "He knows better." Yoda looks toward him. "Think you do, what his reasons are?" Obi-Wan considers. "Several. Protection, first. He knows public attention invites danger. But also…" He pauses, choosing his words. "He is not a fool. He knows the fastest way to turn a child into a symbol is to hold her up as one and he doesn't appear to want to do that with her."
Plo inclines his head slightly. "That sounds like him."
"Yes," Obi-Wan says, and there is something very old in his voice for a second. "It does." Yoda watches Obi-Wan more closely then. He knew Dooku less well than Qui-Gon did, of course, but he knew him enough. Knew the weight he left in the Order when he walked away. Knew how younger Jedi still sometimes said his name with frustration, admiration, or both. It was times like these he wished Qui-Gon was still with them. Mace shifts the meeting forward. "We decided previously not to remove the girl by force. That remains the correct decision."
No one argues. "She is not in immediate danger from Dooku," Shaak Ti says. "And the harm of taking her would have been grave."
"It may still become necessary later," Ki-Adi says.
"It may," Mace says. "Time will tell." Obi-Wan's gaze rests on the center of the circle, not on any one person. "And if we ever reach such a point, it will mean we have failed every other path first." That line sat in the chamber for a moment. Yoda feels agreement from some. Resistance from others. Mostly from those who prefer clean action to slow discomfort. He understands the temptation. Oppo clears his throat. "Then we come to the question beneath all of this. We said we would keep watch."
Mace looks around the circle before speaking. "Not a Temple summons. Not surveillance in the crude sense. Not a formal Republic mission. Dooku would refuse all three. He has already declared Serenno closed to outside interference in its governance." Yoda rests his hands over his stick. "Think you, a way there is."
Plo speaks first. "A child." No one looks surprised. Shaak Ti tilts her head. "A companion."
"A peer," Plo corrects gently. "A watcher," Ki-Adi says flatly. Plo's head turns toward him. "Both can be true."
"Should they be?" The question lands harder than Ki-Adi perhaps intend. Yoda watches the currents in the room. Obi-Wan spoke before anything else could be said. "If we send a child for the purpose of observing another child, we should at least be honest with ourselves about what we are doing."
Mace's eyes shift toward him. "Honesty inside this room is not the problem."
"No," Obi-Wan says quietly. "It rarely is, I imagine." Shaak Ti folds her hands in her lap. "And yet a peer may still be the least harmful path. Liora is isolated. Even if Dooku cares for her, he cannot be everything to her. Plo's report made that plain enough. A child beside her would reveal things to us, yes. It might also give her something she needs."
"A mirror," Plo says while some of the other masters nodded. "A line into her household," Ki-Adi counters. "Everything is a line into something," Shaak Ti says. "The question is whether it cuts both ways." He thinks of the girl on the balcony from Plo's report. The too-old eyes. The watchfulness. The readiness to learn and to doubt. He thinks too of Anakin in the Temple, bright and restless. One child within. One without. Now perhaps a third, if they choose this.
"Who?" Oppo asks. A number of names have already been thought of by the room. Yoda could feel them in the slight shifts of posture, the small changes in breathing, the way Ki-Adi's attention sharpens toward certain Masters and not others. They have all been thinking ahead to this moment.
Mace says, "Not Anakin." That draws the smallest possible movement from Obi-Wan, something between weariness and relief. "Too obvious," Ki-Adi says. "Too volatile," Oppo mutters. "Too important to the Order's current balance," Shaak Ti adds. Yoda says nothing. He does not need to. There are too many reasons, and all of them are valid in their own ways. Plo speaks next. "Not one of the younger Temple initiates either. Too unformed and too easily impressed."
Ki-Adi nods once. "It must be a Padawan, then. Not merely a child. One capable of observing. One capable of making bridging the gap." Obi-Wan speaks more slowly than the others. "It should also be someone who does not arrive already carrying a great public shadow. Liora is visible enough now. Sending a very prominent Padawan would only make things more difficult."
Plo turns slightly toward him. "Agreed." Yoda lets his gaze travel the circle. "Master with the child, send we must. Alone, go a Padawan will not."
"Of course," Mace says. "And that Master must be one Dooku cannot dismiss as foolish." That narrows the field more than anyone says aloud. Some Masters are brilliant and unsuited to this. Some are wise and too rigid. Some are soft enough to invite manipulation. Some would turn a quiet residence into a test of wills. Ki-Adi leans forward a little. "We need someone disciplined. Politically careful. Not sentimental. Capable of guiding a child without becoming captive to household sympathy. And not so hostile to Dooku that the placement fails."
"A very modest list," Shaak Ti says. Plo's gloved fingers rest lightly on the arm of his chair. "Luminara Unduli." Obi-Wan looks toward him. Mace's expression does not change much, but Yoda feels the shift in his attention. Ki-Adi sits back. Oppo blinks once, slowly. Shaak Ti's gaze lowers. Luminara was disciplined and controlled, Formal without being stiff. She has experience advising local authorities. She can stand in a room with nobles and remain herself. She is not unkind, but she is also not easily swept away by affection.
And she is Mirialan. Plo gives the reason aloud before anyone else can. "She shares the girl's people. Or enough of their cultural background to make the placement feel less arbitrary. That alone gives us a cleaner reason than most." Shaak Ti nods faintly. "And her Padawan."
Barriss Offee. Mace says, "You believe Unduli would accept?" Plo answers, "Yes." Ki-Adi finally speaks again. "Luminara is suitable. Perhaps more than suitable. My concern is not her. It is the Padawan." Obi-Wan glances toward him. "Barriss?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Ki-Adi folds his arms. "She is disciplined, yes. Intelligent, yes. But she is young enough to be influenced and serious enough to be wounded by influence. If Dooku is as careful with Liora as we believe, that household will not feel openly hostile. That may be more dangerous than open hostility."
Mace's gaze hardens by a degree. "Any Padawan sent there would be influenceable."
"Yes," Ki-Adi says. "Which is why I do not like the plan." Plo's voice stays quiet. "You dislike it because it not what you would have chosen." Ki-Adi's mouth tightens again. "Do not lecture me, Plo."
"Then do not pretend we have a riskless option available." Yoda taps his stick once. "Hm." Silence falls again in the room. He looks toward Obi-Wan. "Thoughts?" Obi-Wan took a breath before answering. "Luminara makes sense. More sense than most. She would not confuse hospitality with trust. She would understand the discipline required to stand near Dooku." His gaze drops briefly, then lifts again. "And Barriss… Barriss is observant. More than many realize. She watches before she speaks."
"What about the concern of influence?" Shaak Ti asks him. Obi-Wan is quiet for a moment. "It is real," he says. "But that is true of any assignment involving a Padawan. If the Order cannot trust a Master and student to remain themselves in the presence of another view of the universe, then we have admitted a deeper weakness than this meeting can solve."
Yoda feels the truth in it even as he feels the discomfort it raises. Plo adds, "Barriss is close enough to Liora's age for the connection to be plausible. Far enough along in training that she is not a child sent blind into strange halls. And because she is Luminara's student, the arrangement will not feel improvised."
Mace brings the room back before it can drift. "If we send Luminara and Barriss, we must be clear with what we are asking them to do."
"Watch," Ki-Adi says.
"Observe," Shaak Ti corrects.
"Guide," Plo says.
"Endure," Oppo mutters.
Obi-Wan says nothing and Yoda looks to him again. Obi-Wan notices and answers the unspoken invitation. "We are asking them to do three things at once," he says. "Offer Liora legitimate contact with the Order. Assess her more closely through daily life, not one conversation. And remind Dooku that we are there to help if he is willing to listen."
Yoda folds his hands together over the stick. "A power play, this is." Plo speaks first. "A restrained one." Shaak Ti lowers her gaze. "That does not make it automatically wrong."
"No," Yoda says. "it does not." He feels discomfort most strongly from the younger ones in the room. Obi-Wan, especially. Not because he disagrees. Guidance. Presence. Watchfulness. The Order has done such things before. Sometimes wisely. Sometimes poorly. "Dooku will see through it," Obi-Wan says at last. Mace looks toward him. "Of course he will."
"And?"
"And if he still accepts, then that tells us something too." Obi-Wan's mouth flattens a little. He knows Mace is right. Ki-Adi says, "He may refuse on principle."
"He may accept because it is easier to watch what stands in front of him than what does not," Plo says. That draws several glances. Plo inclines his head slightly. "He knows us. We know him. Let us not pretend he lacks reasons of his own if he agrees." Yoda feels the chamber settle around that. This, too, is truth. Dooku does not simply endure what he dislikes. If he lets Jedi into his house now, it will not be because the Council has outplayed him. It will be because he has seen some use in the arrangement.
A wiser room would let that sober it. Oppo lifts one hand. "Then what are the terms? We do not station them there as political advisers."
"No," Mace says sharply.
"Of course not," Shaak Ti adds. Plo says, "They go on Jedi grounds only. The girl's development. Her education. Her social isolation. Barriss as peer contact. Luminara as a stable adult guide." Mace did not let the silence drag on once the choice was made. He reached toward the panel beside his chair. "Send for Master Unduli and Padawan Offee."
A Temple aide answered at once. "Yes, Master Windu." The chamber settled again. Yoda remained still in his chair, hands folded over his stick. Across the circle, Ki-Adi sat with his arms tucked into his sleeves, his face long and unreadable. Shaak Ti had gone quiet. Plo Koon did not move at all. After a few minutes, the doors opened. Luminara Unduli entered, composed as ever. Barriss Offee walked at her side, younger, straighter, and a touch more guarded around the eyes. Both stopped at the center of the chamber and bowed.
"Masters," Luminara said. Barriss bowed lower. "Masters."
"Sit," Mace said. Two seats were brought forward. Luminara took hers without hesitation. Barriss followed her lead. Neither asked why they had been called. That, Yoda thought, was answer enough for what kind of pair they were. Mace folded his hands before speaking. "A matter has arisen on Serenno. You both know of what I speak." Luminara gave a small nod. "Count Dooku has taken the crown."
Mace went on. "There is also the child. Liora Serenno." At that, Barriss looked up fully for the first time. Plo spoke next. "You have both heard her name, I assume."
"I have," Luminara said. Barriss answered after her. "Only in passing, Masters."
"She is strong in the Force," Shaak Ti said. "Very strong," Ki-Adi added. Mace did not waste time. "The Council intends to extend an offer to Serenno. If accepted, the two of you would reside there for a time." Barriss' posture tightened by a degree while Luminara stayed still.
"On what grounds?" Luminara asked. "Jedi grounds only," Mace said. "The child's development. Her education. Her continued contact with the Order."
"And observation," Barriss said quietly. Luminara turned her head slightly toward her Padawan, she only looked at her. Mace answered Barriss directly. "Yes." Barriss lowered her eyes again. Luminara looked back to the Council. "Then I would hear the terms of the mission clearly."
Mace inclined his head. "You would go as guests of Serenno, if King Dooku agrees. You are not to interfere in the governance of the planet. You are not to speak for the Republic. You are to advise on policy only if directly asked." Luminara nodded once. "Your concern is the girl," Plo said. "Her training, her behavior and the environment around her."
Shaak Ti added, "Her isolation as well." Ki-Adi spoke without softness. "And whether Dooku is shaping her in ways that may a threat later." Luminara did not speak at once. When she did, her voice stayed even. "You believe the child may be turned against the Order."
"We believe many things are possible," Mace said. "That is why we do not intend to leave the matter unattended." Barriss sat very still beside her master. Yoda spoke this time. "Stand near her, you will. Learn what she is. Let her learn what Jedi are. Watch, yes. Guide, if welcomed, yes. Judge too quickly, no."
Barriss held his gaze and bowed her head. "Yes, Master Yoda." Luminara folded one hand over the other in her lap. Mace settled. "If this proceeds, it proceeds with Dooku's consent and the child's willingness. We are not forcing residence on either of them under present conditions."
Luminara took that in. Yoda watched Barriss more closely now. She was listening hard, not only to what was said, but to what was not. The girl had sense. Good. That would be needed. Luminara asked the next question carefully. "What precisely is expected of my Padawan?"
Mace answered with no delay. "She is near enough to Liora's age to make companionship plausible. That is part of why she was chosen."
"Part," Luminara repeated.
"Yes." Plo leaned forward slightly. "The younger one may speak more easily to one near her own age than to a room full of Masters." Barriss said nothing. Ki-Adi looked toward her. "It also carries risk."
"Yes," Luminara said. "It does." Yoda rested his chin forward slightly on his stick. "Changed by this mission, your Padawan may be." Barriss lifted her eyes. "Changed by Serenno. Changed by Dooku. Changed by the girl," Yoda said. "Not all change, corruption is. Not all change, wisdom is."
Barriss listened in silence and Luminara answered for both of them. "I understand." Mace took the room back. "Master Unduli, if you accept this mission, your first duty remains your Padawan." Barriss' eyes moved at that. Luminara's expression stayed composed, but something in her posture changed. Mace's gaze did not move from her. "You will not lose sight of the assignment. But neither will the Council place your student in a situation she does not understand."
Mace looked between master and student. "If you accept, reports will come directly to the Council."
"Of course," Luminara said. Mace turned slightly toward Barriss. "Padawan Offee." She straightened. "Master Windu."
"If you go, you are not there to win an argument with a child. You are not there to prove the Order right. You are not there to carry every curiosity back." Barriss nodded once. "No, Master."
"You are there to remain yourself. To learn. To speak honestly when honesty is useful. And to keep your eyes open."
"Yes, Master."
Yoda heard the firmness in her answer. Luminara was quiet for a few breaths before speaking again. "If I refuse, what then?" Mace answered plainly. "Then we consider another path." Luminara looked down briefly, thinking. Barriss did not look at her teacher. She kept her gaze lowered and waited, which told Yoda much about the trust between them. At last Luminara lifted her head. "I will accept."