Lilikai, Nomi, and Somi

After everyone has had their fill of pantry snacks from Chateau Dara, Lilikai Singan stands up and says she's going back to her own room for the night (the blanket fort, for all its excellent qualities, is more than a little cramped). As she prepares to leave she makes pointed eye contact with both Nomi Amersu and Somi Amersu, not needing the Force to convey that she'd like to talk to them privately.

Eventually, both Nomi and Somi make their way to Lilikai's guest room and/or jail cell on the lower level, now unlocked and devoid of droid guards. It's similar in decor and furnishings to the rooms upstairs, just sized for one person. As soon as they're all inside, Lilikai closes the door and sweeps both of them up in a tight hug that goes on for quite some time. They can both feel the same mechanical, inorganic firmness of her right arm that Efnir Kis felt. "I'm so glad you're safe," she whispers in a voice heavy with emotion.

Finally she pulls away and looks the sisters over. Her eyes immediately fall on the lightsaber hilt at Somi's belt. "You built a saber," she says, as much to herself as to anyone else. "I should have been there. The Nightsister with you...Rhen? She said you passed through a trial on Zoph? Even without that, I can tell you've been through so much. You don't need me to tell you this, but you've earned it."

Somi gives a slight smile as she gestures towards her new saber. "From the trials in the cave, though I guess those haven't been the only ones. I remember hearing talk about the difficulties of the Jedi trials, but I think we've experienced a bit more."

Lilikai turns to Nomi. "I could tell from your messages that you've grown too. You've been holding your crew together through a lot. I'm sorry I didn't respond to the last one. The Hapans picked me up not long after I received it and I could only get through to Somi. I don't know if I can teach you what you asked me to teach you. Maybe all of this would have gone differently if I did." A wry smile.

Nomi returns the hug, including Somi in her grasp. She leans her head against Lilikai, closing her eyes. When they split apart, she straightens her shoulders a bit, resetting her composure. "I'm glad you're safe." Nomi returns. "Where have you been staying this whole time? Did you find allies on Coruscant? And what happened to your arm?" Nomi sits on the couch a bit tiredly. It has been a long day. She leans her chin on her hand and grimaces. "It's okay about the message." She looks over at Somi, a sheepish expression on her face. "I should have told you. I wasn't sure it was safe, so I didn't. But I have been exchanging some messages on an old channel with Lilikai." She blushes and to her credit does look regretful. This is the one thing she has shown the most remorse about not sharing, in fact.

For just a moment a haunted look crosses Lilikai's face, before she actively strives to find her composure again. "There are people on Coruscant who still esteem the Jedi, yes," she says. "It's not so much that I found them as they found me. They kept me safe while I recovered." Nomi recognizes the tone Lilikai is using here - the careful one used when giving a mission, making sure not to put other assets at risk by telling the agent only what they need to know and no more.

"I still haven't pieced together everything that happened in the temple that day. It all happened so fast and there were so many of them. But this - " She taps her right hand with her left. " - It had to have been Anakin's doing. We think he overpowered me and threw me out the skylight. The people who found me were...many levels down from the temple." She shakes her head. "By all accounts I shouldn't be alive, several times over. The Force willed otherwise."

Nomi says, "So it was Mast- Anakin Skywalker that was following all of those clones into the Temple. Efnir had thought he recognized him, but it was just such a strange thing to think - Anakin falling to the dark like that. I'm glad that those allies found you and I am glad that you were able to come here to be with us when we need you. We're done some impossible things as a team, but this is one cut above what we have accomplished as yet."

Somi tilts her head to one side, considering the two people in her world who she trusts the most. "So, isn't there more benefit to telling me everything than not? At least at this point?"

Nomi looks to Somi. "Yes, of course. That is why I told you about the messages now. If Lilikai says that there is no point in withholding any information about what I used to do for the Republic then I see no reason not to tell you anything that you want to know."

"I'm not sure what happened to Anakin," Lilikai says, "or why he did the things he did. My information networks aren't what they used to be - that's an understatement - but I haven't heard anything about what might have happened to him after that day. It certainly seems he fell to the dark side. We can only hope that someone stronger than me stood in his way and stopped him later on. But if Firith is dead too, and so many others, perhaps that's too much to hope for."

Lilikai shakes her head, clearly troubled by such dark thoughts. "We need to keep our focus on who and what remains. What did you want to know, Somi?"

"We don't know too much more about who remains than what we have told you," Nomi says. "Though I did rescue a spy from Nar Shaddaa - Zio. He is a Bothan. Unfortunately, the Jedi that he was there with was killed. The crew and I returned him to Bothawui at his request. Firith appeared to have fallen to blaster shots, not sabers. Anakin was the only saber-wielding person we saw that night that seemed to be working with the Troopers. I wish we knew more. The only thing that we know for certain now is that it is a crime to be a Jedi, or Jedi associated and that known Jedi or force users are being collected up and taken to the Citadel. This guy, Seth Iscandar, is really in on all of that. And he seems to be collecting up Jedi knowledge too. We have to make sure that he never finds out about Zoph."

Nomi looks over at Somi. "You know a lot of the broad sweep of it. Lilikai trained me to work for her as a spy. It wasn't right away when we got to the temple. You observed me for a while, right Lilikai? A few months at least? I mean, I always assumed it was as good a reason to keep me around as one could ask for. Better than making me a mechanic for real or something. Especially since the whole twin sisters thing might have made some people look at keeping me around as a little... tempting... toward what, I don't know, attachments that lead you toward the dark side? I have my own thoughts on that."

"Anyways. About the only thing that I haven't told you, besides that I had my own way to contact Lilikai, is that I didn't know Zio before we were on Nar Shaddaa. I picked up a distress message from him on the net and I went to meet him to see if I could help him. And despite the implication that he made to Vesper, we never dated, had a fling or any romantic connection. I can't speak for him, but there was no attraction on my part.  I just don't go in for all that hair."

Somi makes a gesture with her lekku akin to a shrug. "I don't know what questions I should be asking. I'd always taken it for granted that we shared everything." She looks sheepish for a moment. "Of course, I know that was an immature way of thinking about it, because as I grew as a Jedi, naturally there would be things that I couldn't share. I never considered the possibility that it would be the other way around, so while I understand logically why it happened, I think I'm a little unprepared to deal with the emotional side of it." As she finishes her last sentence, a drop of emotional vulnerability slips through the veneer she is zip-tying to herself through force of will, and for a millisecond Somi looks as if she might burst into tears.

She takes a deep breath, re-focusing herself away from the emotion (because tears and snot are not reflective of the Jedi Order) before she continues. "When Boez Monato came up to me on the street, I did my best to play along, because it seemed like maintaining his perception of who I was was the right thing to do. But, I could have done better if I had warning."

Somi looks directly at Nomi with an expression somewhere between love and pragmatism. "You've been living your own life, but you've also been doing it with a face you share."

Addressing both Nomi and Lilikai, she continues. "Here's my first question: What covers and names have you been using over these past years?" She gives a small mischievous wink to Nomi. "After all, if you have any other secret boyfriends out there, I'd like to know who I should kiss and who I should throw pasta at." She gives a small laugh. "I think I might have seen too many cooking operas these past few days."

"I've never met anyone named Zio," Lilikai says, "but I'm glad you were able to help him."

To Somi's question, she says, "I wasn't a sleeper agent like your sister - not anytime recently, anyway. My face is too well-known to too many people to operate like that. I was a point of contact and a handler for assets on the ground like Nomi. The Jedi would send me to places under some pretext or other - places like Ryloth - but I'd really be there to retrieve information from dead drops and act on the intelligence they shared. Nomi's job was to find out what needed to be done. My job was to carry it out."

Nomi raises her hands toward Somi in the traditional gesture of peace and showing one is unarmed. "Everyone has a face that they share. I may have had false faces, but those were faces that I wore on missions. I took those off around you and around everyone here and Lilikai and at the Temple. Not telling you about the other faces doesn't mean that I acted falsely to you or acted like someone that I am not. I am who I have always been. While I was working I had a few names I used. Freya Blen was one of them, the last one. I also used Aayla Shalah and Poy Supissy. There were some others, but I really doubt anyone will be calling you by those names. It was such a fluke that we ran into Boez. My cover has frequently been as a ship's mechanic or aide. Sometimes I have worked in big houses as a serving girl. I was on Ryloth during the occupation. I worked in the palace as kitchen and cleaning staff.  I knew Wat Tambor. That might explain my reaction to Vic a little bit better."

Nomi gives a sigh. "I have no more secret ex-boyfriends. Boez was the only one that I should have broken up with, by rights, and didn't get a chance. There may have been some kisses, but I am not sure any of those men would spare me a second glance. At least one of them is dead."

Somi looks as if she's about to argue about the relevance of Nomi's list of covers, but once she hears the mention of Ryloth, her attention switches. "You were on Ryloth?"

Nomi nods hesitantly. "Yes. Lilikai's intelligence indicated that it would be good to have a plant in the palace. I was placed there just before the take-over. I was there for the whole occupation, not just stuck on the wrong side of the blockade in a trade ship, but on Ryloth and sending information back when I could. I didn't see our family, but I did what I could to make sure they were safe. After, when I passed on to you that they were okay I knew that information from being there, not from asking around at the Temple."

Lilikai adds softly, "The last I knew, your parents and siblings were alive and well. I've done what I could to protect them, too. I wish I could do more."

Somi bobs her head slightly as she takes in the information. "I never expected to see them again, but it's nice to know."

She looks down at her hands. "Is there anything that could be done to help them, aside from getting them off planet? Aside from trying to fix an entire planet?"

Lilikai says, "Right now, with the resources at my disposal? No. I wish I could tell you something different. But your parents are resilient and resourceful, Somi. They would have to be, to produce daughters like Nomi and you."

"I've been keeping up with news about it. Ryloth has been declared an independent Protectorate by the Empire." Nomi shrugs as though she has no idea what this really means. "On paper, we are free for the first time in thousands of years. The main exports of Ryloth remain Ryl Spice and Females - all happily perpetrated by our own rulers- so it doesn't mean much. Twi'lekki have been good at messing up our own lives since we knew the greater galaxy existed and the struggle for power started. Lilikai is right, they are resourceful, as are our siblings. We wanted, but we all survived."

"Independent?" Somi smiles, somewhat knowingly. "Based on what we saw on Hapes, I'm guessing the Empire is probably in control. Still, it would be nice to go back someday. Not to see family - I'm not naive, I know that's a connection that best remains severed, but to see it for myself."

"So. Freya Blen, Aayla Shalah and Poy Supissy?" She sighs, releasing some of the pent up emotion held within. "I'm not upset." She pauses for a second before continuing, sounding more measured than emotional, "No, that's a lie - I AM upset."

Somi turns her head so that she is facing Master Lilikai. "I understand that there's a certain amount of secrecy needed for you to successfully do your 'real' job. But, Master, I don't understand why you wouldn't have told me about this earlier. My sister and I share a face. There are things that she could have done, under your command, that could have been attributed to me. Why didn't I deserve to be aware of this?"

Nomi breaks in before Lilikai has a chance to answer. "Honestly, Somi. A spy's job is to go in and remain unnoticed. If you went up to most any of the people I spied on and asked them about a purple Twi'lek who'd been around they'd say 'who?' If Wat Tambor was alive he'd have no recollection of any Twi'lek servant who swept his dirt off the floors of the manor he lived in. Boez was a fluke. I made myself memorable by having a personal relationship with him and then leaving in the middle of the night with no explanation. He was on the last mission I did. And if I hadn't done that, my departure would have been dismissed pretty easily. Turnover on smuggler ships is high. Turn over in the service industry even higher. Twi'leks are everywhere and people's brains have been wired not to take any great notice anymore. Maybe because they are guilty about the treatment, or maybe just because we've become so ubiquitous. If there are NO Twi'leks it's more memorable than having another around. There will be no more Boezes we run across in the galaxy. And he didn't wish us any harm, anyway. Lilikai and the Network regularly did checks for any bounties or official notices with my face. There never were any, which is how I could keep going on missions. The bounty with you in it is the first time that our likeness has been on the wanted list. You were never in any danger and my past has created less danger for you than what we have been most recently doing since the fall of the Temple. I'm sorry you're upset that I did something you didn't know about, but what did you think would happen when you became a Jedi? You'd tell me every aspect of the secret Jedi missions you went on? And if someone thought I was a Jedi and had brought to bear the tools they used against a person who can wield a lightsaber, should I have been upset?" Nomi barks a laugh. "They probably would have paired us up again on missions, actually, a Jedi and her spy who could gain her access wherever she needs to go. You would have been told then, when it mattered."

Lilikai nods along with what Nomi is saying, clearly in general agreement with the answer. "We were at war," she adds when Nomi has finished. "I don't think either of you can fully appreciate how differently things used to be done around the Temple before the Clone Wars began. Over the past few years, everyone in the Jedi Order said and did things that would have been unthinkable when I was a padawan...kept secrets that never should have been kept. Nomi, your thinking is correct - there was a lot of discussion about the opportunities afforded by a matched pair of a seasoned spy and a Jedi Knight. But in order for that to be possible, the spy's cover couldn't be blown before the Jedi was ready to join her. Not even to the people closest to her.

"But you've been lucky, Nomi - you've been lucky, and I shielded you from some of the worst of what can happen to a spy who gets found out. There are much worse fates than imprisonment or death. I don't know what I was thinking, agreeing to involve you in all of this. And I don't want to say it was all pointless because I know we made some meaningful changes for beings in the galaxy, even though the Order fell in the end. But if I had fully understood what this would all cost, I might have made different choices." She looks to both of you in turn. "For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry."

Somi nods at Master Lilikai, accepting the apology before turning back to Nomi. "It's easy to assume that you'll always be overlooked. Before a few days ago you probably would have said the same about Boez." She sighs, sounding somewhat frustrated before continuing.

"I still think it was shortsighted that I wasn't made aware of certain things, but that's not really what we should talk about right now. Is there anything else I should know?"

With her lekku, she also says to Nomi, "We are individually strong, but together we're even stronger. I hope you still believe that."

Nomi crosses her arms, her body language obviously closed off. She shrugs. "Nothing else that I can think of right now. Nothing relevant."

With her lekku she responds, "It doesn't feel like that right now."

Internally, Somi wills away tears. She can't understand why her sister, the one certainty that she always knew she could count on, is so angry at her, when Nomi, along with her Master, were the ones who had been lying to her for years.

The confusion shows on her face as she responds, "I see."

With her lekku, she adds, "If that's what you want," turns, and exits the room. This conversation hadn't gone anywhere near as expected, and trying to continue it seemed unwise. The best course of action seemed to be to see if Vesper would let her crash in his rooms for the night.

Lilikai watches Somi go. When she turns back to Nomi, her eyes are sad yet resigned. "Give her time, Nomi," she says. "This would be a lot to take in for anyone, and especially for her. I think we should all try to get some rest."

Nomi is holding back tears of frustration. She sniffs angrily and wipes one fist over her cheek. "Of course. It's been a really long day and things may look better in the morning." She gives Lilikai a weak smile. "For what it's worth, I am really glad that you are here. I missed you a lot. And I'm glad that you are safe now." She shakes her head. "Truly, it is amazing that you survived. You are a credit to the title." Nomi gives Lilikai a final hug and goes back to her room.