It was quite early in the morning and all the children at the orphanage were still in bed. She'd heard of Djin's ailment from Reba not more than an hour ago.

After knocking a second time, once again to receive no answer, Berdi tried the knob. The door swung open with a reluctant creak and she stepped inside.

"Djin? Djin, yousa der?"

Berdi put her basket on the kitchen table and wandered further into the house. She had just reached the closed door of Djin's bedroom, when the front door suddenly slammed shut, startling her.

She turned around to see F'jol standing in the kitchen, observing her as if she was an adolescent caught sneaking out past curfew. His face grew gentle then, and he walked toward her, footsteps barely making a sound on the wooden floor.

"Madam, may my ask, what yousa doin here?" he inquired. His very presence had a quiet and patient air about him. Berdi Ba still felt a tinge of discomfort, despite the fact that there was not even a shred of menace in F'jol's countenance.

"Mesa heard 'bout Djin. My wanted ta see if my coud hep."

F'jol nodded. "Isa understand. My sowwy, Miss Berdi, but Djin is ta be left alone. Hesa not well. Isa taken care of his. If yous wan to hep, what yous can do is make sure dat nobody disturbs us while we are at work. We would be most grateful. Djin needs his rest."

"How . . . how bad tis he?"

"Dat is yet to be deter-minned."

Berdi Ba knew then that all questions still on her tongue were perhaps better left unasked. F'jol obviously knew what he was doing and she did not want to get in the way . . .

As these thoughts appeared in her head, Berdi wondered if they were her own, or if somehow F'jol was making her think what he wanted her to. Nonsense. F'jol was the High Priest. Djin was in good hands.

Berdi nodded to F'jol in reverence, picked up her basket, and walked out of the house, closing the door silently behind her. Still, a part of her was troubled deeply, although she knew not why.

Jar Jar dipped the sponge into the soapy water, wrung it out, and continued to scrub the floor of the Main Temple Hall. His shoulders and neck ached and he was getting tired. Rather than focus on his problems, however, he worried about Djin. He hoped F'jol could do what he promised. If he lost Djin, he'd be devastated. Djin was both father and friend to him - the only real family he'd ever known.

A hand rested gently on his back and he looked up into a young priest's face. "Hedo," said the priest. "Mesa name tis Daenin Aht. Yousa been workin mooie hard, der, ah . . . wat yous name?"

"Ja Ja Binks. My gotsa do dis. Tis repayment ta F'jol for all hesa be doin. For healin Unca Djin." Jar Jar turned back to scrubbing the floor.

"Ah, tis a kind way of yous to show yur gratefulness. Yousa needn't work for us. We serve de ill and de elderly out of respect for da Guds."

"Rilly? F'jol asked mesa ta hep his. Hesa spaked dat it would hep my too, cause mesa don't gotta job. Tis hard work, tho. An mooie tirin'."

"Yes. Dat's de life of a priest. Work an prayers," Daenin said quietly.

Jar Jar looked up at him again to ask a question then his eyes grew wide in surprise. He noticed now what he hadn't before. Daenin had only one arm. Daenin noticed his surprise and nodded sadly. Jar Jar realized that he was staring, winced in embarrassment, and turned back to his chore.

"Ah, pardon my for starin'. Tis wude. Were yousa a soldier bafore yous joined da priests?"

"No. My was born yike dis. Tis a defect. F'jol took mesa in. Made my his acolyte. Ever since my was ten, mesa lived here."

"Yes, Daenin. Yousa bein' only a youngster when yousa came here. Ja Ja." F'jol's tone was not severe, but it was reprimanding. Jar Jar gulped, knowing he was in for a scolding, and turned around to face the High Priest.

"Yes, sah?"

"Yousa doin good work on dis hall. Time ta move on ta otha chores. An dis time, don't let mesa catch yous talkin more den workin'."

Jar Jar nodded meekly.

"First yousa goin' ta wash da windows. Den go to my chambers an dust. Afta that, report to da kitchen an help with the dishes. Den yous ken go home."

"Thank yousa, F'jol." F'jol smiled kindly and walked past Jar Jar who got stiffly to his feet and tried to work the pain out of his shoulders and neck. Daenin gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and walked to prayers after his master.

Lito sighed restlessly, and laid back on the tree trunk folding his arms behind his head. The warmth of the sunlight felt good on his skin and the leaves of the tree shaded his eyes from the hurtful glare.

He had a lot of spare time, which was good for his training. Tobby wasn't one of those simpering school teachers, thank the Gods. He was pretty cool. Aside from being his tutor in the arts and lore of magic, Tobby was a good listener.

Rested in a fork of the zaela tree next to him, Tobby seemed to be basking in the sun as well. Both had finished the lesson for the day and it appeared as though nothing was about to change the events of the peaceful day.

Lito hated it.

"My need a job," he complained.

"I know. You've only told me about five hundred and forty-three times," Tobby calculated.

"Yeah, my guess yousa gettin' pretty bored wit dis conversation. My ken't hep it. Tis borin' jus lyin aroun yike dis."

"I had thought you were getting to like it."

"Why? Tobby, my ken't steal anymore, yike Reba said."

"Excuse me? Do you think I approve of you stealing? Count me on Reba's side, if you don't mind."

"Tobby, what do you tink my shoud do?"

"Finally, he asks the metal ball."

"Tobby!" Lito said, exasperated.

"Allright. Here's my advice. Be prepared to hate it."

"Whysa?"

"You will, trust me," said Tobby.

"Just tell my."

"I think you should join the Grand Army."

Lito almost fell out of the tree. "What? An learn from Kroan? Hesa woud use mesa as target practice!"

"Told you you'd hate it."

"Well, my did ask. Yousa sure dey'd even let mesa in?"

"There are some requirements. One, you have to be of at least eighteen years, which you are. Second, you have to have a sponsor."

"Sabi would help. Shesa probably gonna look at mesa funny first, but she'd ask hersa dad ta sponsor my."

"Good. Third, you have to have your own kaadu."

"Eh?"

"Either buy one or catch one. You can't borrow one; it has to be your own investment."

"Whysa dat?"

"Kaadus are expensive. And in battle, they have to be under your complete control. Their obedience means the difference between life and death. If you borrow a kaadu from somebody else, the kaadu will be more used to following the previous owner's commands. It would be very hard to re-train it."

"So basically, my gotta catch a wild one an train it."

"Yes, to restate the obvious."

Lito gave Tobby a mock glare, then got up and started climbing down to the ground. "Welladen, wesa best get started, eh?"

Tobby floated down to his student. "Are you sure you want to do this? Kroan will not be a kind teacher."

"My know. But he ken't drag me back to jail if he's too busy teaching my fight."

"I see. I just want to make sure you understand that he won't be particularly easy on you."

"I know. But I don rilly have anotha choice," Lito replied bitterly.

Jar Jar finished with the last panel of windows and climbed down the ladder, relieved to be finished with at least half of his chores. All that was left now was dusting F'jol's room.

"Jar Jar!" he heard Saba's voice call.

"Over here!" he answered back. He dragged the ladder back and tried to set it down on the ground. His grip on it slipped and it teetered dangerously toward the freshly gleaming windows. Another pair of hands reached out and helped him steady it just in time.

"Heydo, Sabi," Jar Jar said, grinning at her.

"Brought yous lunch." She gave him a peck on the cheek and handed him a wrapped up sandwich. "My thot you might be needin it. I heard F'jol doesn' give yous many breaks."

"Ah. Itsa always do dis, o' do dat. But itsa worth it. F'jol spakes dat Unca Djin's doin' a lot betta. An' at least my gettin' wages fo dis."

"Are yous sure yous don want Len to come over an take a look at Djin?" Saba asked. Jar Jar sighed. He'd already talked to her about this before.

"If Djin twas normal-sick, F'jol would insist Len see his. But F'jol says dat Len ken't hep Djin."

"Ah. My sowwy, my jus wish I coud hep more. Len keeps askin'," Saba replied, lowering her eyes.

"Ey," Jar Jar said, stroking her cheek. "Yousa heppin' enuf. My rilly ken't think of yous doin' any mur. F'jol won't let anybotty come near da house. Says Djin needs rest and that Isa coud catch watever Djin has."

"Dat doesn' sound right." Saba said, frowning. She was about to say, 'What if your uncle dies and you don't even get to say goodbye?', but bit her tongue, refusing to let it slip out.

Jar Jar smiled at her sadly. "My wishin my coud see yous mor often. My bein so busy wit alla dese chores."

"Isa missin' yous, boyo." Saba kissed him gently.

"Ja Ja!" F'jol said from above. Jar Jar looked up to the window which the High Priest had opened. "How many chores yous complete yet?"

"Mesa done wit da windows an da . . . ah . . . wait, wat else yousa wan my ta do? Mmm, my forgot."

F'jol groaned softly. "My chambers - dust da furniture, den go to da kitchen an wash dishes," he reminded Jar Jar, seeming a little short on patience.

"Okeday," Jar Jar said, giving F'jol a 'thumbs-up'. "Ah, be right der! Sabi -"

"My kno." She hugged him goodbye. "See yous tamorrow. Isn' der any days yousa get off?"

"Ah, my'll tell yous. Love yous."

Saba kissed him once more, then turned to leave. As if remembering something, she turned back. "Jar, my forgot ta tell yous."

"Wat?"

"My bein a warrior soon."

"Wha? Wat yous mean? Yousa joinin' da army?"

"Yep." Saba nodded proudly.

"Bombad! Dat's rilly-"

"Ja Ja!" came F'jol's voice again, this time a trifle more insistent. Jar Jar, looking flustered, picked up the ladder to put it away inside.

"My has ta go now," he told her, remorsefully. He really wanted to find out more. Saba smiled at him understanding, and watched as he walked away.

Lito tentavely held the branch of blumbush out to the kaadu who sniffed it suspiciously. "Now wat?" he whispered to Tobby.

"If you weren't gifted with magic, I'd suggest trying to grab it around the neck and having a delightful time getting dragged through shrubbery or even more fun, getting thrown through the air by a well-placed kick-"

"Tobby."

"Allright. Try sending to him. Animals can sometimes understand your kind."

"Wat yousa mean, 'sometimes'?" Lito asked as the kaadu munched on the blumbush, sensing that Lito was no threat.

"It never worked for me."

"Oh. Well, my should try at least . . ." Lito closed his eyes.

In a moment, the kaadu perked up and looked intently at Lito. Tobby saw it snort and then move closer to Lito, its nostrils flaring apprehensively.

For the longest time it seemed, the kaadu regarded Lito while Lito stood still, eyes closed in concentration. Tobby had never mastered the art of anim-speech, what his kind called talking to animals, but it seemed to be working well-enough for Lito.

At length, the dark-skinned Gungan opened his eyes and reached a hand out to stroke the bridge of the kaadu's bill. It hooted at him softly and nuzzled his hand. Lito grinned.

"Try mounting him."

"Itsa worked . . . my ken't balieve it . . ."

"Lito, nothing's worked yet. The kaadu trusts you, but you still need to get him ready for the rest of your kind. He'll need to get used to the sound of Otah Gunga and other voices, and the weight of you on his back. See if he'll let you mount him."

Lito didn't need to close his eyes this time. The kaadu blinked at his request, and seemed to ponder it. Tobby knew the answer when Lito smiled again.

The kaadu stood still while Lito pulled himself up on the creature's back.

"Really? As easy as that?" asked Tobby. "He agrees with being your steed?"

"My promised, my will let hissen run freely as often as hesa likes up here and mesa gonna try my best not to cause hissen any dis-comfort. Hesa still free. Hesa knows dat my don't own him. Itsa his choice alone ta hep mesa, no-botty's makin his."

"A wise thing to tell him," said Tobby. "All animals desire their freedom, as much as you and I. If you keep this promise, you will have a faithful friend."

"My will keep it." Lito fondly stroked the kaadu's head. "My liken his already. Hesa name is Raen."

"Interesting name you've given him."

"No, my not namin' his. Tis his name."

Tobby was bemused. "Most interesting . . . I never knew animals named themselves."

"Neither did mesa . . . my didn' kno names mattered to dem as much as it does ta us."

Jar Jar sneezed as he wiped the cloth over a high shelf in F'jol's study. The dust particles drifted down to his face and he wiped his bill furiously to get rid of the itching. He'd never seen a more miserable room.

The furniture was sparse and stiff - even the floor in Jar Jar's attic room when he used to live with Valei looked more comfortable than F'jol's bed - and it smelled disagreeably like polish.

Jar Jar clambered down off the chair on which he was standing in order to reach the high bookshelves, and sought next to attack the wardrobe with dust-rag and furniture polish. As he cleaned the top of the wardrobe, which wasn't as dusty as the shelves had been, fortunately, one of the wardrobe doors swung open and bumped lightly against his chest.

Jar Jar was about to close it, when he saw a glimmering light come from within. Curiously, he opened the door the rest of the way; one little peek couldn't hurt anything, could it?

It was nothing like he'd ever seen before. Jar Jar stared at the glimmering object which was coming from inside a clear round-based bottle with a narrow neck and a waxed-sealed candle jammed into the opening. Gently, he picked the bottle up and brought it closer to his eyes for a better look.

Curled up inside was a small creature that could've fit in the palm of a child's hand. It's eyes were small and slanted, it's ears elongated and pointed. The creature was blueish-green and shone with an unearthly light. Long fingers on skinny arms were curled around it's knees. It appeared to be either sleeping, or dead. Whatever the case, in Jar Jar's opinion, it looked sad at it's entrapment. He wondered how it managed to keep alive, if it still was - it couldn't be fed because the wax sealed the only opening and how could it breathe? But then again, this little creature might not need to breathe or maybe it fed off of light . . .

Jar Jar wondered why F'jol had this poor little guy trapped in the bottle in the first place. It didn't look malevolent -

The creature opened it's bottomless black eyes and blinked at him. Startled, Jar Jar lost his hold on the bottle and it slipped from his shaking hand to break into pieces on the floor. With a burst of white-blue light, the creature burst free from the shards and did a wild dance through the air.

Jar Jar shrank back in terror. He had done it this time - he'd let out a demon or something and now F'jol would yell at him or make him catch it again, and he'd be in serious trouble if he didn't.

"Thankyou thankyou thankyou!" the creature chirped, finally stopping it's dance of joy.

"W-Wat did you spake?" Jar Jar asked, nervously.

"Savedme! Broketh'bottle! You my hero!"

"Yousa not bombad trubble, are yous? Yousa gonna behave yourself an not go zinging around an breakin' stuff?"

"Notrouble! Nono. Goodguy you. Goodguy me . . . Badthing Priestman." "B-Badting? F'jol tis no badting! Hesa da HighPriest." "Manypeople hefool. Baaaaadthing. Dontforget. Thankyou. Bye." "Wait!" Jar Jar cried as the creature sought to zip out the window. The poor thing didn't really know about windows so naturally, it hit the glass with a thud and fell straight down to the floor in a heap. "Oh noooo . . . poor little flythingie . . ." Jar Jar murmured in sympathy.

He gently picked the creature up with his fingers. It's chest was still rising, so Jar Jar knew it was only stunned. He slipped the small creature into his vest pocket where it would be safe. 'Badthing' or no, he didn't want F'jol to put the creature into another jar - now that he knew it wouldn't cause trouble.

F'jol . . . Jar Jar paled when he looked at the broken bottle pieces on the floor . . . F'jol was going to be furious. Should he tell F'jol? It had been an accident . . . but then what if F'jol was really what the creature had said? Jar Jar was confused.

He knew he had to do something quickly, because the High Priest could come walking inside at any second.

Making up his mind, he picked up the glass and dropped it into the waste-disposal. He shut the wardrobe door, and picked up the rag and furniture polish. He felt the creature stir in the pocket against his chest and grew worried. He had to get outside, quick. He had the sick feeling that F'jol would still know exactly what happened when he entered his chamber, but he really wanted the creature to escape.

Jar Jar opened the door and walked down the hall toward the nearest exit from the Temple.

His heart soared with relief as he reached for the door handle - he was almost out of here.

"Jar Jar," F'jol's voice sounded cold and different. Jar Jar shivered and his hand dropped to his side.

"Yes, F'jol?" he asked, nervously.

"Have you finished cleaning my chamber?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"I would have a word with you. As would a few of my guests later. Meet me back in my chambers in a few moments. Where are you going?"

"Um . . . to report to da kitchens," Jar Jar lied. It made sense why he was going outside; the kitchens were a separate building from the main Temple. He'd have to walk around the side of the Temple to get to the kitchen entrance.

"Tell dem yousa won't be needed. Daenin can be charge of da dishes tanight."

"Okeday, sir." Jar Jar quickly walked outside and breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly walked around toward the kitchen. He stopped halfway there and lifted the little creature from his pocket.

"Hey, wakie up." Gently he nudged the creature's slender body with the tip of his finger. The creature moaned and sat up in the palm of Jar Jar's hand. "Yous okeday?"

Immediately, it flitted up and zoomed around happily. "Freeeeeee!" it squealed.

Terrified, Jar Jar caught the creature and held him in his cupped hands. "Shhh! F'jol's gonna hear yousa an stick yousa in da bombad jar again if yousa don't knock dat off!" he whispered fiercely.

"Lemmego!" squeaked the creature's indignant and somewhat muffled voice. Jar Jar did after he made it promise not to make too much noise.

"Whosa - ah - whatsa are yousa?"

"Feyrie. Badpriest caught me by fullmoon. Keeps me injar. Drains my power. Badbadman! But you letmego! So heresapresent."

"Wat you spake?" Again, Jar Jar was confused by the Feyrie's speedy dialogue. It closed its eyes and Jar Jar felt something heavy suddenly in his vest pocket. He pulled it out and studied it with interest. It was a necklace made of slender reed sticks and set with small stones that were as clear as water.

"Tis for yous girl. It keephersafe. You din't want nothing for you . . . not within my power," said the Feyrie sadly, and Jar Jar knew that he was talking about Djin.

"Me verytired. Go homenow. Thankyougain! An watchout for badpriest! He planning somethingnasty." Before Jar Jar could say a word, the Feyrie disappeared leaving a brief trail of white-blue.

He sighed, resignedly and walked toward the kitchen to tell them to expect Daenin instead.

"Jar Jar, come here." F'jol told the young Gungan as he walked in. Jar Jar swallowed nervously. Here it came . . . F'jol was going to ask him about the broken bottle and the Feyrie.

"Give me your hand." Jar Jar obeyed. He was so agitated, he didn't realize that F'jol's speech pattern was no longer like other Gungans.

Jar Jar gave a sharp cry of surprised pain as there was a sudden sharp pain in one of his fingers. F'jol withdrew a needle from his skin and held Jar Jar's pricked finger over a small vial, squeezing three fat droplets of blood out. Jar Jar was surprised, but something was telling him to keep quiet. It wasn't likely that F'jol was going to answer any questions, judging by the way he was acting so out of character. His facial features were more cold and removed than they had ever been before.

Jar Jar was allowed to sit down. He squeezed his finger against his thumb to stop the bleeding; it was annoying him.

"Now that that's taken care of, we have guests. Won't you please come in?" F'jol asked, gesturing at someone standing at the entrance to his chambers.

Jar Jar turned and felt his heart drop towards the floor as Valei and Kroan entered the room. Bewildered, he turned to F'jol. "Sir, whatsa dis all about?" he asked, voice shaking slightly. He flatly refused to look again at Valei and Kroan, if he could help it. As angry as he was at them both, he was also frightened.

He looked to F'jol for an explanation and received a wan, icy smile in response.

To Be Continued . . .

Disclaimer: Jar Jar Binks and the Gungan race belong to Lucas.