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Chapter Text

A CR90 came out of hyperspace within close proximity of Dathomir. It was still a ways from its destination, but they needed to cool the engine off so they hoovered towards the planet, the pilots only steering the ship to avoid its gravitational pull. Entering the cockpit was a young man, dressed in light combat garb, a long blue jacket with it sleeves rolled up his pale arms, a black leather flak vest covering up his chest along with his utility harness that clipped to his belt, where his saber staff hung, brown pants with leather boots and brown fingerless gloves. Going with his pale flesh was his pure white hair and blue eyes. On the surface, it looked as though he was just pulled from ice cold water.

Looking out to the planet, the young man asked the pilots, “Why’d the engines go out?”

“We’re cooling down, Jack.” the pilot replied. “The hyperdrive was starting to overheat.”

“Why are we heading out to Ryss again?” the second pilot asked.

“There’s rumors that one of the radicals that attacked Ryloth came from Ryss.” Jack told them. “We just need to check this out and if it’s not true, then we only wasted time.”

“And fuel.” the second pilot complained. “Seriously, do they think this is cheap? With all of this craziness going on, they’ve been cutting our pay to afford importing fuel from Agrabah.”

“Well the sooner we resolve this, the better. Besides, don’t think I don’t know that you’ve gambled most of your credits away. You pay cut must not be so bad if you can just throw it away.”

The first pilot only held back his laughter as the second pilot sat uncomfortably. It was true that when they had a rest stop on Tatooine, the pilot did indeed his week’s pay away in sabacc and Jack let it happen. He just shook his head and left the cockpit to let the pilot contemplate his mistake in silence.

Jack went back to the corridor to the ship, watching all the passengers and troopers walk past him. He hated these missions, thinking that it could take one second for any of these people to be snuffed out. He remembered the first mission he went on, incidentally it was on the planet below, Dathomir. At the beginning of the conflicts, he along with a small band of troopers chased down a few renegades in their fighters and took out their ship, forcing it to crash into the planet surface. They had them outnumbered, but they had more dangerous weapons. Jack managed to fight them off, but his men fell.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the whole ship shook. Everyone stumbled to the ground, Jack nearly hitting his head on the wall. The alarm blared and the pilots announcing the ship was under attack and ordered everyone into the escape pods. While everyone ran for the pods, Jack ran back to the cockpit to see who it was attacking them. He forced the door open and saw the pilots trying to escape.

“Frost, we’ve gotta go!” one of them shouted.

“Who’s attacking us?” Jack shouted back.

“The Kyrama Pirates! They’ve got us out numbered!”

Jack looked out to see indeed that several Kyrama ships surrounding them. He ordered the pilots to the escape pods. They ran through the corridors towards the escape pods, the walls and the ceiling collapsing around them. Suddenly, Jack was struck on the head by debris and fell to the ground. He black in and out of consciousness, vaguely hearing one of the pilots asking for help getting him up, but the other one told him to leave Jack and to get out while they could before he completely blacked out.

After a short while, he woke to the sound of the ship crumbling. He knew he wasn’t out for long, but it wouldn’t have to take long for the ship to be obliterated. He struggled to his feet and held his head for a second. He held his hand out and saw there was blood, he must have hit his head hard. Not willing to dwell on it, he staggered to the escape pods. He entered the pod bay and saw there were no pods left. Everyone took all of the pods and left him behind. The only option he had was to see if the ship’s cockpit was detachable like in some of the Republic fighters and carriers. He ran back to the cockpit and saw out the cracked window that there were still pirate ships hovering overhead. He needed to work fast.

Thankfully the ship was still operable and he pulled the emergency lever for the cockpit. The air hatch closed behind and he heard the clamps to the cockpit break apart. He pulled the thruster and the cockpit took off into space, not with out attention however. Just as the ships started to fire upon him, he activated the deflector shield. Unfortunately, the scans showed that it was weakening fast and the stability of the ship was fading fast.

Jack knew he was going to die.

 Then, he heard it, coming from the planet below. A choirs.

 Ahhhhhhhh…Ooo-ahhhhhhhh

 It was beautiful. Was is the Force calling him to rest?

Then, his ship was engulfed in a blue aura, protecting him and pulling him down to the planet. With it, the singing continued, but in a strange form he never heard before.

Naheya heya na yanuwa h anahe yunuwana

 As the song played on, Jack felt relaxed in his chair as he watched the pirate ships fade away and their canons gave up on obliterating him. Then he felt himself drift into sleep, still hearing that choirs sing to him.

 Naheya heya na yanuwa hanahe yunuwana

 —

Jack woke to silence. He regained consciousness and looked out to see he landed safely on the planet. The landing gear was deployed and it was locked up so no one would barge in. However, the ship’s integrity was lost and he wouldn’t be able to escape the planet’s gravity. He looked outside and saw he was miles away from any signs of life.

Then again, this is Dathomir. He said to himself. But who locked the door? And what saved me?

Jack’s answers had to wait for now. He looked up to see seeker droids descending from the red clouds. Must be from the pirates to find him. He flipped the switch to open the door and ran out. He jumped out to the wasteland and looked up to see one droid coming towards him. He unclipped his lightsaber and activated its dual blades with a spin. The droid fired upon him but he deflected its blasts. One of the others joined in but he used his acrobatic agility to avoid their blasts. He found a moment to propel his lightsaber at them and it struck them both down. With the commotion, the last two started to come after him.

Reaching out with the Force, Jack used his power to manipulate the moisture in the air. His power allowed it to freeze it and create a ice wall to protect him from their blasts. He leaped on top of his and crushed some parts of the wall, shattering it to shards and tossing them up to the droids. The shards sliced through the hull, some striking the electronics and dampening them shorting the power out. The droids then came crashing down to the ground and Jack took a deep breath before pulling his lightsaber back to him. He was about to begin his journey when he turned and saw he was surrounded by a tribe of Nightsisters.

“Oh crud.”

 —

 Jack sat before the tribe matriarch as she meditated, chained and shackled. He only looked at her with an annoyed look, not worrying about them killing him. Over the years, the Jedi started an agreement with the Nightsisters that the Jedi would leave them be if the Sisters would remain on Dathomir. The Sisters agreed on one condition, that any Jedi who enter Dathomir without their consent, then the Jedi were to be held prisoner. Jack hate the idea to begin with, but now he hated it even more now that he was captured.

The matriarch was a woman of fine skin, past the markings on her face to hide her aging. Her long wavy stuck out from her hood. Her cloak was the standard crimson that the Nightsisters all wore.

After a moment, her eyes opened and she glared at him for a moment. Jack didn’t waver, he wasn’t afraid of them, and it showed.

The matriarch chuckled to herself and said, “I must say, you show great courage, Jedi. I admire that in you.”

“I show no fear to the Dark Side.” Jack retorted. “And if you have honor, you’ll stick with the agreement you have with the Jedi. No harm is to come to me.”

“Oh, don’t be such a worry wort, Jedi. I’ll uphold my end. In fact, your arrival here is most opportune.” The woman stood up before him and proclaimed, “I am Mother Gothel, leader of this tribe.”

With her proclamation, the surrounding Nightsister knelt before her. Jack turned his attention to them for a second then back up to her.

“I have a proposition for you, Jedi.” Gothel told him. “We’ll let you go without incident if you agree to a venture for us.”

“And why would I agree to that?”

“Because you are currently our prisoner and you’re a Jedi. This goal is for the positive and you want that, correct?”

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?”

“Because we need your help to rid our planet of a parasite. There is a Sister who was a part of my clan that has turned on us.”

“How so?”

“She denies our doctrines and teachings. Anyone who turns against the tribe must perish.”

“Why kill her? I could take her to the Jedi Temple on Courscant or even to Tython. I can take her away and you won’t have to worry about her.”

“You fail to understand our ways, Jedi. There is no redemption for her. She must die. Should you fail, we’ll kill you, hide your body and dispose of your ship. Anyone who comes looking for you will never know the truth.”

Jack knew he was outnumbered. He could get free and take a few down, but they’d overcome him and kill him. He had no chance to escape.

But he couldn’t just kill without reason. He was a Jedi after all, he was a protector, not a killer. This may be a Nightsister he’s being ordered to kill, but he didn’t know her crime, if there really is one. She was only being marked for death for not following in this tribes sacraments, she shouldn’t have to die because of that.

That’s when he thought that his idea to get her off Dathomir. He could agree to the venture and see if she was redeemable. If she was, he could fake her death and take her off planet with him. It’s possible she’s too old for the teachings of the Jedi, but that doesn’t mean the Jedi can’t help her.

With his plan ready, he said to Gothel, “Point me in the direction.”

 —

 Jack trekked across the wasteland towards his destination. Gothel described the location of the one the tribe called “The Heretic” as a mountaintop of heresy. The land was cold and the air damp, the terrain was crystallized and glittered and the Heretic built a castle to into the face of the mountain using her magic. The mountain itself reached above the clouds so the climb might be treacherous.

Jack finally saw the mountain and crossed the desert to it’s foot. He readied himself and began to climb the slope. It wasn’t too bad at first, there was even a narrow path going up the mountain. However the higher and higher he went, the more the path faded into the rocks and he began to lose his way. He looked around and saw a ridge right above him. He leaped on it and scanned the area, finding another path that lead into a cave. Trusting his instincts, he activated his lightsaber and entered the cave. He listened to the animals of the cave hiss and recoil at the light, but he was ready for anything. The path started to scale upwards so he knew he was going the right way. The cave went on for almost an hour until he came to the end and to a light. He must be close to the top because the light was clear blue sky and not the red clouds Dathomir was known for. As he got closer, his eyes had yet to adjust to the light so he shielded himself from the brightness. He stepped out and deactivated his lightsaber.

With his first step out of the cave, there was a crunch. He looked down and saw that the ground was covered in snow. This wasn’t impossible since the elevation was so high up, but this was more than just regular snow. Jack felt energy in it, like there saw something of the Living Force within it. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he couldn’t dwell on this. He’d have to ponder it later.

Jack followed the path up to the peak and when he came closer, he saw something that left him awestruck. There, close to the top of the mountain, formed into the cliffside, was a majestic palace of ice. It was nothing like the crude designs of the Dathomirian designs. This was intricate and elegant. Compared to the rest of the planet, it stuck out extremely.

“Wow.” was all Jack could mutter.

Shaking himself back to his senses, he looked around to see if there was a way up to the balcony that was the main entrance. There wasn’t so once again he had to give his all to leap up to the balcony. Landing sturdy on his feet, he examined the doors and used the Force to open them. Inside, it was like something out of a child’s story. There was a beautiful fountain forged from ice and a crescent stairway leading up to a lone threshold. There were pillars along the palace wall and the walls themselves were decorated in artistic designs. This was nothing like what any Nightsister could create.

“Who are you?”

Jack swiftly turned around and reached for his lightsaber when he stopped and saw her. She was standing a few yards from him, but she still held her hands up in defense when she saw him reach for his hilt. He just looked at her, examined her and thought to himself, She’s like no other Nightsister I’ve ever seen before.

It was true, despite her pale skin, platinum hair and the thin lines of her facial tattoos, she had no identity like that of a traditional Nightsister. The first thing that he noticed was her face. She showed the facial features of a woman close to his age, late teens, early twenties. The Nightsisters were always found with a sinister look, but this one, she didn’t have that at all. Here Jack saw fear and concern. She was scared. Her hair was tied in a thick braid that went over her shoulder while the rest went back over the crown of her head. And her eyes, her eyes were pure sapphire. Normal Nightsister eyes were filled with hatred and anger, but not hers. Her attire, the black leggings and compression shirt along with leather boots and bracers, was mostly standard for Dathomirians, but she didn’t wear the crimson. Instead, her surcoat was cobalt. This was no normal Nightsister.

Bringing his thoughts back to the task, he asked her, “Are you the one they call ‘The Heretic’?” She shyly nodded. After Jack relaxed his stance, he told her, “I mean you no harm.”

“Mother Gothel sent you, didn’t she?” the young woman asked.

Jack only nodded slightly. He would have guessed that she would know Gothel wanted her dead. He just could hope that he could convince her that he wasn’t here to kill her.

“She wants you dead, but I don’t.” Jack told her. He reached out his hand to her, but she recoiled back in fear. “No! I’m not going to hurt you. I swear it.”

She looked at him a little while longer. She looked into his eyes and he looked back. It was like he was under a spell, but he knew he really wasn’t. He was lost in her eyes.

His hand was still out to her and she looked down at it. She closed her eyes and she reached her hand up. As she raised her hand, she closed her eyes and began to sing.

 Na na na heyana hahiyaha naha naheya heya na yanuwa anhahe yunuwana

 Jack’s eyes widened because he heard her voice before. It was the voice he heard above the planet as he was being attacked. Then he saw the same blue aura glow from her hand.

She saved me?

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. She said to him, “Your heart is true.”

“Uh, okay?” Jack asked apprehensively, not understanding what she meant. She stood before him and her smile grew wider, Jack feeling his face flush and his heart skip a beat. Trying to regain his composure, he cleared his throat and asked, “What, uh, what’s your name?”

“My name is Elsa. What’s yours?”

“My name is Jack Frost.”

 —

“This palace is incredible.” Jack exclaimed, looking around him. “It’s nothing like here on Dathomir. It’s more like something from Naboo. How do you know of this design?”

Elsa explained, “Smugglers would land near our tribe and trade their goods for an escape. Some of the items we received were data pads of various systems. When I was a little girl, I’d look over them and wish I’d leave Dathomir and explore them.”

“Why don’t you?”

Elsa gave him a somber look and told him, “Look at me. I know what the galaxy thinks of Dathomirians. I’d never fit in.”

“The galaxy is vast, you’ll never know.” Jack gave another look around at the palace, still amazed at the spectacle. He asked her, “And this is what your magic does?”

“Yes, but my Sisters never accepted it.”

Jack looked back at her and said, “You’re not like any other Nightsister I’ve ever met.” She looked up at him with this curious look, a look that made his heart leap once again. He stammered, “What I mean is…most Nightsisters want to kill me. You’re welcoming me and treating me with respect.”

Elsa looked away, that somber look returning. Jack, for some reason, hated to see her face like this. He wanted her to smile again. Before he could apologize for upsetting her, she told him, “I was always different from my Sisters. They want to kill, but I don’t. They would torture me nonstop if I didn’t comply and leave me locked up in a cage.”

“That’s horrible!” Jack exclaimed. She jolted up to look at him, surprised by his reaction and he felt a twinge of embarrassment and he stammered, “Well, what I mean is that it’s horrible that they did that. Why would they do such a thing?”

Elsa was bemused by his concern, but she replied, “Well, they wanted me to be like them, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to be my own person, not some cold blooded killer.”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Nightsisters live the life their matriarch demands, but here Elsa was, wanting to escape. She was indeed an enigma.

“Well, you certainly escaped.” Jack commented.

With a light shake of her head, Elsa told Jack, “Not true. They sent you here to kill me, didn’t they?”

Jack grimaced, remembering that he had been tasked to kill her, a task he had no intention on initiating.

“Yeah, but I’m not going to.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’m not going to do anything.” Elsa’s face twisted with confusion and fear, but he reassured her, “I’m not going to do anything but sneak my way back to my ship, repair the power generator and turn on the homing beacon. The Republic will find us and get us off this rock-uh, planet.” Jack corrected himself, not thinking that this was Elsa’s home.

Her expression didn’t change when she told him, “But Jack, I told you I can’t leave.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not ignorant to how the rest of the galaxy feels to Dathomirians.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” Jack reached his hand out to her, hoping that she’ll come with him.

She gazed at his hand, amazed by his dedication to protect her. No one has ever treated her with such kindness. She looked up at him and saw the look of determination on his face, the desire to protect her. That look in his eyes, she saw it and felt her heart race and her cheeks flush. Without a second thought, she softly accepted his hand.

Chapter Text

Elsa sat on a lower branch of a nearby dead tree as she watched Jack try to repair his ship. He was attempting to repair the generator so he could send out the homing beacon for any nearby Republic ships. If the pilots were smart, they’d sent out a distressed signal when the ship was attacked. After a few moments of working with it, the generator started up and Jack chuckled with joy.

Jumping to his feet, Jack called out to Elsa as he ran inside, “C’mon! Let’s go in!”

Elsa leaped down from the branch and ran inside after him. Jack ran to the control panel and turned on the display. The map showed several Republic freighters nearby so all Jack had to do was flip the switch and the the beacon was active.

“So now what?” Elsa asked.

“Now?” Jack smirked at her. “Now we wait.”

They walked outside and Elsa scanned the area, hoping that none of her former Sisters would find them before help arrived. However, as she looked out to the dreary sight of Dathomir, she couldn’t help but realize something.

There’s a chance she’s leaving Dathomir. This was her whole life, these dark lands with very little bright sunlight, the thick air filled with dust, the impending storms. As she read over the holopads she acquired over the years, she always wanted to explore the galaxy, leave Dathomir behind and just see the Republic. She longed to see the colors of planets like Naboo and Tython and feel the cool air of the water planet Kamino. She loved the cold, maybe because of her unique power, but there was very little true cold on Dathomir, only in the mountains she escaped to as a child. Even then, the Nightsister would find her and drag her back to Mother Gothel, back to her tormentor.

“Elsa, you okay?” Jack asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“What?”

“You have this…look on your face.”

Elsa gave the land another look and asked Jack, “It’s dreadful out here, isn’t it?”

Jack looked around and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Dathomir. It’s such a terrible place.”

Jack, shocked, asked her, “What do you mean? This is your home.”

“It was, for a time. But when I discovered the wonderful planets around us, I wanted nothing more than to leave. There’s nothing for me here.”

Jack said nothing. He just wanted her to let her feelings out. He could hear the longing in her voice to leave and he wanted to give her that opportunity.

However, another thought happened upon his mind and he asked her, “Elsa, if Mother Gothel finds you, what will she do?”

Elsa rolled her eyes and said, “Best case scenario? She skins me alive.”

“Okay, I don’t think I want to know what the worst case scenario is.” Jack groaned. He gave Elsa another glance, noticing the worry in her eyes. He didn’t like to see her like this. She was fearful, for a Nightsister. He’d swear she was scared of her own shadow, but with the life she endured here, he wouldn’t be surprised. He reached for her hand, taking her by surprise. She looked up at him and he looked back at her, telling her, “I’m not going to let her touch you.”

Elsa looked up at him, feeling heat rise up in her cheeks. She let her fingers wrap around his hand as he continued to grip hers. After a moment, she gave him smile.

Jack then realized what was going on and cleared his throat, stammering, “Well, I better check the monitors.”

He let her hand go and began to walk off to the ship when…

Every inch of me is trembling , but not from the cold . Something is familiar  like a dream I can reach but not quite hold

He turned around and looked at her, a look of awe on his face. She was singing to him.

I can sense you there, like a friend I’ve always known. I’m arriving and it feels like I am home.

“W-What?”

“I can’t explain it.” Elsa said. “For as long as I can remember, this song was stuck in my head.”

“Why are you singing it?”

“I don’t know. I just started singing it. It just comes naturally.” Jack just looked at her for a moment, earning her a moment of worry. She asked him, “D-Did you not like it?”

“No, no! I think…I think you sing beautifully.”

Elsa looked away to hide her blush and shuffled her feet into the ground. Both stood bashfully, Jack finally realizing what he just said.

“I better, uh…check to see if, you know, help’s coming…” Jack stammered.

“You better hope they arrive soon.”

Both looked over to see Mother Gothel and her tribe standing there, machetes and bows in hand.

“Mother!” Elsa gasped.

“You reneged on our deal, Jedi.” Gothel hissed, pointing at Jack accusingly. “I warned you what would happen if you didn’t kill her.”

Jack chuckled and slyly told her, “Well, you’re the one who lied first. You told me you wanted me to kill a parasite.” He then pulled out his saberstaff and activated it, telling Gothel, “The only parasite I see is you.”

“Jack, don’t!” Elsa begged.

“Stay behind me.” he ordered her.

Gothel smirked and crossed her arms, commenting, “I’d figure you’d be infatuate her. That’s how her spell works.”

Jack lowered his lightsaber and asked, “What?”

“That’s right. Her singing can bewitch any man. I should have warned you she was a siren.”

“That’s not true!” Elsa shouted. She looked at Jack and could see the skepticism on his face. Jack took a moment to think. He looked back at Elsa, giving her this look. Elsa was terrified. “You don’t believe her, do you?”

“Ever since I first heard you voice, you’ve been drawing me into your spell, haven’t you?”

“Of course not!” Elsa begged again. “Jack, she’s lying to you!”

“Then why do you keep singing to me?”

“I…I don’t know. I just-”

“Wanted to use me to leave Dathomir. That’s why you saved me.” Jack deactivated the blades to his lightsaber, turned to Gothel and told her, “I will continue our agreement, but I won’t kill her.”

“Jack, no!” Elsa cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rolling his eyes, he said, “I’m a Jedi. I won’t attack unless I’m provoked. I’ll trade her for my safety.”

“Done.” Gothel smirked, turning to two of her Nightsisters and waving them to collect Elsa.

“Jack.” Elsa sobbed.

Jack said nothing, he didn’t even look at her. He only watched as the two Sisters walked up to them. He could hear Elsa sob and beg for her life, not breaking at all.

They were side to side with him when the sound of his blades activated rang out and with a spin, he sliced both of the Sisters in half. He turned back to Gothel, who gawked at him in anger, and growled, “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

“Kill them!” Gothel ordered her remaining seven Nightsisters.

The Sisters charged Jack and Elsa, who did not run away like she was told to do. A Sister leaped at Jack, but he held his hand out and a blast of ice shot from his fingers and blasted her back. Another came at him with a machete and he kicked her in the abdomen and elbowed her in the face, knocking her back.

Some of the Sisters went after Elsa, but she used her ice magic to defend herself. She swiped her hands across in the air and a spiked ice barrier protected her from a charge. One of the Sisters aimed her bow at her and an arrow was released, Elsa forming a quick ice wall to protect herself from the arrow. Coming up from behind her was another Sister, but she turned and gave an ice blast, but her blast went right through the Sister’s chest. The sister gripped her chest in pain and groaned. After a moment, the Sister writhed in pain as she turned to solid ice. Elsa gasped at the sight of what her power could do, but she was brought out of her shock when she felt something grip her throat. She glanced over and saw Gothel, glaring at her as she gripped her throat.

Jack managed to cut down more Sisters and turned to see Gothel lift Elsa off the ground.

“No!” he shouted as he tossed his saberstaff. It spun as it flew in their direction and sliced Gothel’s arm. The woman screamed in pain as Elsa fell to the ground. Elsa coughed as she tried to catch her breath, but Jack grabbed her and his lightsaber with the Force and pulled them towards him. She flew into his arms and he reached out to grab his saberstaff and activated it.

Catching her breath, Elsa regained her senses and realized she was in his arms. She looked up at him, looking at that look in his face, that determined look that made her heart race.

Gothel’s angered roar drew Elsa back to reality and she looked at the looming witch. She knew Gothel was ready to attack, but she remembered what she just did. To protect Jack, she had to do it again. She pulled herself from Jack’s arms and threw her hands out, an ice blast going from her hands and through Gothel’s chest. Gothel calmed her attack and winced in pain. Gothel glared back at them, but Elsa gave her another ice blast to Gothel, shoving her back. Jack and Elsa both watched Gothel try to recover, but she looked down at her remaining hand and saw it was turning to solid ice. Gothel gasped in fear then the ice spread quickly to the rest of her. Gothel was now an ice statue. Jack lunged at her and slash her icy form and shattered it.

Deactivating his lightsaber, Jack turned back to Elsa, who stood there blankly.

“Elsa?” Jack muttered.

“Jack.”

Elsa then ran to him and wrapped her arms around him and sighed in relief into his chest.

“I’m sorry.” Jack told her as he embraced her. “I had to do it.”

“I…I didn’t know what to think.” she gasped.

“I promised that I’d protect you.”

They stood there for a moment and only looked up when the sound of a freighter roared from up above. They both looked up and saw a Venator class ship slowly approach them. They parted, but Elsa moved closer and gripped his hand. He could sense she was nervous. He looked down at her and gave her a smile, making her smile nervously in return.

The ship came to a halt but after a moment, a LAAT gunship appeared from it direction and soared their way. After a few minutes, it landed in front of them, the doors opening and troopers jumped out. One was dressed in basic Republic duraplast white guard with red pauldrons on both shoulders and a black kama hanging from his belt and he approached Jack. The trooper looked at Elsa, but Jack stood in front of her to assure the trooper she was on their side. The trooper stood before the two and removed his helmet. He was a young man around Jack’s age with short black hair cut neat and brown eyes.

Giving Jack a salute, he greeted, “I’m Captain Tadashi Hamada of the 501 Republic Defense Corp. We received your beacon just it time it looks like.”

“Indeed.” Jack said, looking at the scattered dead among them. “I’m Jack Frost, a Knight in the Jedi Order.” He turned to Elsa and introduced her, “This is Elsa. She helped me.”

Tadashi looked at her suspiciously, but he just shrugged and said to Jack, “I’ll take your word for it. It it wasn’t true, you wouldn’t be alive.”

“Right.” Jack replied. He softly pulled her forward and told Tadashi, “I promised her I’d take her off Dathomir. It’s the least I can do for her help.”

Tadashi nodded softly and said, “I should contact my superiors about this, but wait. Anyone hear that?”

Everyone took a listen. There was the sound of screeching off in the distance. There was a swarm of Nightsisters heading their way in the distance. Elsa clung onto Jack, fearful that they would reach them before the could leave.

“No time for arguing. Better get going.” Tadashi ordered, giving Jack and Elsa a smirk and wink before slipping his helmet on.

Everyone regrouped in the gunship and it flew off towards the freighter. Elsa was a little too short to grab the support harness hanging from the top of the ship to keep herself from being thrown about, but Jack was. He wrapped his arm around her and she clung onto him. As they flew higher, they broke into the clouds and the setting sun was starting to peek through. The light shone through the slats in the door and she looked out to watch the sun set. This was the last time she would see the sun on Dathomir. She was off to a far better life now.

Chapter Text

Death, screaming, bloodshed. These haunted Jack’s dreams every night for the past few weeks. It was always the same thing, droves of people being slaughtered by figures in dark hoods. It was like he was trapped in the recordings he watched when he was a padawan, recordings of the Sith. But that was impossible, the Sith have been extinct for thousands of years, the Jedi made sure of that. However, over ten thousand years ago, the Jedi thought the same, when Darth Sidious rose to power and eradicated them.

If there was something about the Sith that he was certain of, it was that they were parasites that will always come back. One way or another.

He opened his eyes to see Elsa looking down at him, giving him a glance of concern. She was sitting on the edge of his bunk.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her, sitting up from his bunk.

“You were crying in your sleep.” she told him. “What did you dream of?”

Jack rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, “It’s nothing. You wouldn’t understand.”

Elsa just looked at him with pleading eyes. He could tell she desperately wanted to help him, but he didn’t know how to explain it all to her. Even so, he knew that there was no getting away from the situation.

Gathering his thoughts, Jack began to explain it all, “I don’t know how much you know about the history of the Jedi, but long ago there were those sensitive to the Force who didn’t share the Jedi’s ideas.”

Elsa nodded and asked, “The Sith?”

Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be too difficult. Jack said to himself.

Continuing, he told her, “I keep having these nightmares that they have returned, but I just don’t think that’s possible.”

“Why?”

“Because the Sith have long died out. The Jedi have been hunting them down and collecting any Sith artifacts throughout the galaxy to make sure they stay gone forever.”

“Are you certain of that?”

Jack looked at her and said, “I want to say yes, but we’ve had our guard down before and I think we all remember what happened then.”

They sat in silence after that. After their conversation, the silence was beginning to become awkward. Elsa only sat quietly as she loosened her braid, letting it just hang in a ponytail. Jack looked up at her, but double took when he noticed her hair out of its braid. It made her look...different. He couldn’t stop looking at her, even when she looked up at him and noticed the look he was giving her.

“What?” she muttered. She noticed that he was looking at her hair and asked her, “Does it look bad?”

Jack shook his head and said, “What? No, no! It-It looks...nice. Really nice.”

“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that, are you?”

“I’m serious, you look really nice like that. You should...You should keep it like that.”

“O-Okay.”

The awkwardness intensified after that and they sat in silence again. After a moment, E;sa decided to break the silence.

“So, what was it like growing up with the Jedi?” she asked him.

Jack cleared his throat and said, “Well, it’s a lot of schooling, a lot of training, very little free time. I did some training on Coruscant, but I spent most of my time on Tython.”

“Tython sounds like such a wonderful system.” Elsa finally cracked a smile. “I remember reading about it in the holopads. I can just picture the blue skies and the green mountains. I would wish that one day I could just go there.”

Jack smiled, took her hand and told her, “Well it’s your lucky day, because that’s where we’re going.”

Elsa’s smile widened, but she looked down and noticed him holding her hand. He realized it as well and quickly let her hand go and bashfully looked away. He needed to break this awkwardness before it got worse.

“Uh, so, what was it like growing up on Dathomir?” he stammered.

Elsa chuckled at his bashfulness, but it faded when she thought about her childhood with the Nightsisters. All her life, she faced nothing but hardships and torment.

Noticing her smile fading, Jack asked her, “Was it really that bad?”

She said nothing.

“I’m-I’m sorry.”

She shot him a glance and asked him, “For what?”

“For asking.”

“It’s nothing. But, I don’t think you want to hear my sad tale.”

Jack squinted and asked, “What made you abandon the Nightsisters?”

She scoffed and said, “If you listen to Mother Gothel, it’s because I was cursed or something.”

“But if I listened to you?”

“Honestly? I just never felt like one of them. They took pleasure in torture, I didn’t. I never wanted to kill or hurt anyone or anything. I just felt...like an outsider.”

She couldn’t explain it to him. It was more than feeling like an outsider. She just didn’t belong with the Nightsisters. It wasn’t a feeling, she knew she didn’t. Any lost souls that had the misfortune to land in their lands, she would watch in horror as her Sisters would do unimaginably horrible things to them. She never once participated in any of it and the one time they demanded her to do so, she ran. She ran to her sanctum in the mountains and locked herself away. That was where she stayed, until he came and found her.

“Well, you never have to worry about that anymore.” he said, breaking her from her thoughts. “We’re going far from Dathomir and we’re going to set you up with a new life.”

Elsa smiled at him, grateful for his help.

“Well, Tython’s going to have to wait.” Jack and Elsa looked up to see Tadashi standing over them. “We have to land on Ord Mantell.”

Jack rolled his eyes and groaned, “Oh great.”

Confused, Elsa asked them, “What’s Ord Mantell?”

“Junkyard.” Jack said.

“Armpit of the galaxy.” Tadashi chuckled.

Jack asked, “Why are we landing there?”

“We have to refuel. These tanks are large enough to last us a dozen trips, but with all that’s been going on, we burned through a lot. It’s going to take a while.”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Elsa asked him.

Turning back, he told her, “I need to make contact with the Order and let them know that we’ll be late.”

With that, Jack followed Tadashi out of the room, Elsa following behind him. Elsa was going to follow them, but someone bumped into her from behind. She turned around and saw a young man with shaggy dark hair and similar facial features as Tadashi. He apologized for running into her, which she smiled and told him it was okay.

“Hiro.” Tadashi called the young man. He stepped next to Elsa with Jack and introduced the boy, “This is my brother Hiro. He’s in the training program with the cadets. One of the best droid builders in his age group. Hiro, this is Jedi Knight Jack Frost and Sister Elsa.”

Jack gave him the Jedi curtzy, Elsa observing him and shyly mimicking him. Hiro didn’t understand that Elsa was only mimicking Jack so he gave them both a shy reply.

Tadashi told Hiro, “We’re going to be landing on Ord Mantell for a bit so if you want to stretch your legs, that would be the time.”

“Okay, Tadashi.” Hiro turned to Jack and Elsa, waved and said before leaving, “Nice meeting you.”

Both of them bid him farewell and they followed Tadashi to the communications room. Once they entered the room, all eyes were on Elsa. Officers and troopers all looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and caution. Like she said before, Elsa was aware of how the galaxy perceived the Nightsisters. They were the only ones in the galaxy that were attuned to the Dark Side since the Sith vanished. Even though they hardly left Dathomir, just the sight of one would bother any stranger. Elsa only looked away.

She then felt a hand wrap around hers. She looked down to see Jack holding onto her, then looked up at his smiling face. He told her in a hush tone, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Elsa felt her cheeks flush warmly as she realized that he was really close to her. She looked away again and bashfully stroked her hair with her free hand. He guided her to the communication panel and Tadashi punched in a few commands. After a moment, a hologram of a tall and brawny man in Jedi garb with a long white beard, styled back hair and thick dark eyebrows appeared.

“Jack, you look well, even after facing off a tribe of Nightsisters.” the man chortled. He looked to Elsa, who shyly hid behind Jack, and asked, “Is this the one who helped you on Dathomir?”

“Yes, Master.” Jack replied, looking over his shoulder at her. “This is Elsa. Elsa, this is my master, Jedi Master North.”

“Hello.” Elsa softly greeted.

North closed his eyes and relaxed his breathing. Jack knew that he was reaching out through the Force to study Elsa. She just watched him curiously. After a moment, North smiled and opened his eyes.

“Yes, very good.” North smiled. “So pure, so kind hearted. Not like other Nightsisters, you have the heart of an innocent.”

“Uh, thank you, I guess?” Elsa didn’t know how to react.

“I would ask why you deny the ways of the Nightsisters, but there will be time for that. Jack, why is it you needed to contact me?”

Jack said, “We need to make a stop before we reach Tython. Our ship is running low on fuel and we need to refuel on Ord Mantell.”

“You must take care, Jack. Ord Mantell may be Republic territory, pirates still invade its ports.”

“Understood, Master.”

“We will make our reports once you two arrive. For now, both of you take some time to relax and when you arrive on Ord Mantell, be careful. May the Force be with you.”

“May the Force be with you, Master.” Jack replied before the message closed.

Tadashi stepped next to Jack and told him, “We’ll be arriving soon. Like I said to Hiro, if you two want to stretch your legs, feel free. I’ll report once we’re ready to leave.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Jack curtzy and guided Elsa out the room and back towards their room.

Where Jack hit his head when his ship was attacked started to hurt again and he hissed in pain.

“What’s wrong?” Elsa asked him.

He rubbed the spot here he hurt and said, “I hit my head when my ship was attacked. Thanks for saving me, by the way.”

Elsa smiled and reached up and felt where his head was hurting. She felt a bump and gave it a soft rub. She accidentally rubbed a raw nerve.

“Ow!”

“Ah, sorry!” Elsa whimpered as she pulled her hand back.

Jack chuckled and said, “It’s okay, that’s just smarts.”

They then heard the sounds of latex squeaking and soft patters of what sounded like footsteps that were coming towards them. They looked over at the door they didn’t realize they stopped in front of and saw a large white figure approaching them. It looked like a droid, but it had a white latex suit that looked like it was inflated. It looked friendly, but Elsa had hardly seen a droid before so she stepped closer to Jack for safety.

The droid looked down at Jack and said, “Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said ‘ow’. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”

Both Jack and Elsa stared blankly at Baymax.

“Baymax.” they heard Hiro groan. He walked up behind Baymax with a wrench in his hand and told the droid, “You can’t just walk off from your diagnostics.” He looked over and saw Jack and Elsa and said, “Oh, hi! Sorry, this is Baymax. He was a project Tadashi started in the academy, but when he made trooper he passed it on to me.”

Baymax looked back at Jack and said, “I will scan you now. Scan complete. You appear to have bruising around the crown of your head. You have not received any damage to the brain, but I will treat your wound.” Baymax grabbed Jack’s shoulder and pulled him down and raised his other hand. Baymax sprayed a fluid from his finger as Jack just stood in apprehension. Baymax told him, “This is a bacta spray, it will heal you in a matter of minutes.”

When Baymax let him go, Jack straightened out and rubbed where the droid sprayed. The bacta had already seeped into his scalp and he could feel the cooling effect on his hair and skin. His pain soothed away and he gave an exhale of relief. He looked up at Baymax and said, “Thank-Thank you.”

Baymax held up a lollipop and said, “You were a good patient. Have a lollipop.”

Jack took it, but didn’t want it. He looked at Elsa and saw she was curiously looking at it. She clearly never had never seen a lollipop before. He held it out to her and asked, “You wanna try it?”

Elsa asked him, “What is it?”

“It’s a lollipop. It’s candy.”

“What’s candy?”

“Here.” He unwrapped the plastic and gave the lollipop to Elsa. He told her, “You put the red part in your mouth and you suck on it.”

“Um, okay.” Elsa slowly put the lollipop in her mouth and began to suck on it. Her eyes widened and she said, “Oh my, it’s really sweet.”

“Do you like it?”

“I do!” Elsa then cheerfully sucked on the candy.

Jack chuckled and said, “Well be careful not to eat the stick too.”

Elsa laughed a bit and said, “I won’t.”

They both turned back to Baymax and Hiro, the latter looking up at Elsa strangely. He had never seen an adult react to a lollipop like that. However, he did think about the fact that she was a Nightsister. Candy must be hard to come by on Dathomir. Also the fact that she was so excited about the sweet treat must mean that she must have had a rough time and small moments like this must mean so much to her. He may be fourteen, but he wasn’t naive or ignorant. He was happy that Elsa had a moment like this.

Baymax told them, “I can not deactivate unless you say, ‘I am satisfied with my care’.”

Jack said, “Very well then, I am satisfied with my care.”

With that, Baymax turned and returned to the workroom. Hiro stayed behind with Jack and Elsa.

Hiro said, “Baymax was Tadashi’s project when he applied for the academy. He wanted to design a new form of nurse droid that the Republic could use in times of crisis. He was already strong enough to lift heavy loads, but his strength could be used in combat. He was about to program that when the 501st contacted him. He left Baymax to me to work on.”

“He’s brilliant.” Jack complemented. “I’ve heard of your brother’s ingenuity as a weapons specialist, but I had no idea he was a droid builder.”

“We both are. Ever since we were little, living in level 1313, all we had were droids. Our aunt took care of us after our parents died, but it wasn’t easy for her. That’s why we both went to the academy. We give her our pay so her business can stay afloat. 1313 isn’t the best of places.”

“I know.” Jack said, placing a hand on Hiro’s shoulder.

Elsa had finished the lollipop and said, “I’ve read about droids on the holopads we stole, but I’ve never seen one like Baymax. I think he’s wonderful. Both you and your brother built something special.”

“Once I’m finished with this diagnostic, he can fight his way through an army of Trandoshians without pulling a single trigger.” Hiro boasted.

“Whoa, that’s a big claim there, kid.” Jack chuckled.

Then Tadashi’s voice entered through the intercom, “Attention all hands, we will be arriving on Ord Mantell in five minutes. We will be refueling for one hour so anyone who needs to depart for some air are free to do so.”

Hiro looked back up at Jack and said, “Well, I better hurry and finish up with Baymax. See you guys on the planet surface.”

The three bid farewell and Jack and Elsa went to get ready for the landing.

Chapter Text

Ord Mantell was the galaxy’s biggest junkyard, the landscape scattered with garbage, ship parts, dismantled droids and building scraps. The water was mostly brown with green oil floating on the surface. Due to the built in air filtration systems in the ports, the air was foul but breathable. Elsa noticed it right away as the ship descended upon the port. She groaned and covered her nose.

Jack chuckled and said, “You’ll get used to it...eventually.”

He then had a thought. The patrons in the port city might not take kindly to a Nightsister. He needed to disguise her somehow. He looked around his quarters and found a spare sheet. He picked it up and tore a section off.

“Okay, the people here won’t like a Nightsister in their midst so you’ll have to wear this.” he explained as he wrapped the torn section around her face below her eye. Wrapping the rest over her into a cloak, he said, “As long as I’m with you and you keep this on, we’ll have no…”

Jack stopped when she looked up at him from under her hood and the fold of her sash. Her eyes all but sparkled up at him. He felt his cheeks warm up and he became flustered. He tried to continue to explain everything, but he was too tongue tied.

“Jack, are you okay?” Elsa asked him.

“Uh, yeah! Sorry, I’m, uh, I’m just a little tired.” He relaxed and said, “We need to get you something to eat, you must be hungry.”

“I could go for something. Do they have fruit here?”

“Yeah, the Republic has offered the people here fresh food.”

The two left for the docking bay of the ship. They went down the hall when they heard Hiro call for them.

“Hey, wait up!” he called out as he ran up to them with a red pack on his back. When he caught up with them he asked, “Can I stick with you two? Tadashi needs to stay with the ship but he won’t let me into the city without someone looking over me.” His tone went hostile and groaned, “Like I’m some little kid or something.”

“Now, Tadashi’s only worried about your safety, Hiro.” Jack corrected. He smiled, gave Elsa a wink and told Hiro, “But yeah, you can come with us.”

Hiro sighed with relief and said, “Ah, thanks! I’ve been on this ship for three days. I need to get off and get some air.”

Jack laughed and said, “You should have waited then.”

The ship landed and the doors opened up to the sight of the derelict space port city and the mountains of garbage in the distance. Jack unclipped his lightsaber in case of any trouble. Elsa gripped her cloak tighter, but was more nervous for Hiro. He was just a boy heading into a place like this. It was true that neither Jack nor her would let anything happen to him, but she was still worried about him.

Then she noticed the pack and asked him, “What’s that, Hiro?”

“What, this?” Hiro asked as he pointed at the pack. “It’s Baymax’s charging station. I figured I’d bring him along in case we get into trouble.”

“Finished him up, huh?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I think he’ll be lots of help in case we run into trouble.”

“Like running into a hoard of Trandoshians?”

Hiro shrugged and all three departed. The city wasn’t a pretty sight at all. All the buildings were hollowed out ship parts and the markets were like shanty towns. However, the grizzly and haggett food cooking drowned out the smell of the planet itself. It smelled greasy, but it smelled better than the fowl air. The patrons were a mixture of some of the most wretched scum and villainy that had no fear in coming to Republic territory as well as smugglers, gamblers and blackmarket dealers that the rich and elite of the Core would hire for odd jobs. Amongst the scum were Weequay pirates and Trandoshian bounty hunters, and all of them were looking at Jack and Elsa.

Elsa noticed and moved closer to Jack as she adjusted her cloak. Jack looked over at two Trandoshians who glared and hissed at him. He glared back and tightened his grip on his lightsaber, warning them not to cross him. The hissed and turned away. Jack smirked and looked down at Elsa, telling her, “See? You’re safe with me.”

Jack then felt something, a tremor in the Force. He looked over and saw two men, one tall and thin and the other short and fat with both having similar pointed noses. They both were dressed in smuggler’s garb, so they were either that or thieves. The tall thin one was speaking into a comlink as he kept glancing over towards him and the others. Jack patted Elsa on the shoulder and hinted that they needed to move faster. As she picked up her pace, he looked over at Hiro, who looked back at him. Jack nodded his head to signal him to follow her. They rushed past the two men eyeing them down and the taller one slipped the comlink into his pocket. Then he motioned to his partner to follow them. Jack looked around for an alleyway or a street to veer off of to give their pursuers  the slip. Unfortunately, the entire row was lined in connected structures with no gaps or escape.

The Force was telling Jack something else. It was about the person the one pursuer was talking to on the comlink. He couldn’t help but feel that the person on the other end was someone who wanted Jack, Elsa and Hiro taken care of. His instincts weren’t clear on the matter, but he knew that he was right. Someone wants them done away with. But who?

In his thoughts, Jack didn’t realize that the tall one had vanished, leaving the short and heavy set one to follow them. There was no time to dwell on it since they were ready to turn the corner.

Jack quietly told Elsa and Hiro, “Okay, once we turn that corner, we run. Got it?”

They just nodded and Elsa gripped her cloak, ready to run. They turned and were ready when they came face to face with their tall and thin pursuer.

“Well, well. Lookie what we got here.” he said as he looked down at the trio with a sinister smile. His hand was over his holster and his fingers grazed over his blaster. He looked at Jack and said, “An honest to goodness Jedi Knight! Right here on Ord Mantell! What do you think of that, Horace?”

“I think we got ourselves a good payday, Jasper.” the heavy set man said as he appeared around the corner behind the trio, his blaster in hand. He pointed it at Jack and said, “Now why don’t you be a good lad and hand over the lightsaber?”

“Not gonna happen.” Jack sneered, holding up his lightsaber ready to fight.

“Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” Jasper said as he drew his blaster and pointed it at Elsa. Elsa looked down at it and gasped. Jasper told Jack, “You just hand that over and you and your friends can go on your merry way.”

“Why do you want his lightsaber?” Hiro asked, slowly reaching back for the activation switch for Baymax.

Horace pointed his blaster at Hiro and said, “Now take it easy, boy. I don’t know what you got in that pack of yours, but you might want to take your hand back, huh?”

Hiro slowly complied, knowing that they weren’t messing around.

Jasper told him, “And for the record, kid: a lightsaber’s kyber crystal goes for a lot of boodle in this port. You hand it over, we won’t bother you.” He looked to Jack and asked, “So what’s it going to be, kid? Your lightsaber or the brat and over sized Jawa?”

Elsa looked between the two hoodlums, trying to figure a way out. Jack was adamant about hiding her identity, but if she didn’t do something, there would be trouble. She didn’t want Jack to give up his lightsaber, but she couldn’t put him or Hiro into any further danger. She looked down at the blaster Horace was holding and saw his hand twitching. The wrong move would pull the trigger. Giving Hiro a quick glance, she could see the fear in his eyes. She looked back, determined that no harm was to come to any of them.

As Jack sulked in defeat and was ready to hand his lightsaber over, Elsa threw her cloak off and tossed it at Horace, engulfing him and making him drop his blaster. She turned and shoved Jack out of the way and threw her hand out, giving an ice blast to Jasper’s hand, trapping it and his blaster in an ice clump. Jasper stumbled back in shock and shouted. He looked up and saw Elsa’s true form.

“A Nightsister!” Jasper gasped.

“Everyone, run!” Jack shouted. All three of them ran away as Jasper banged his hand against a wall to shatter the ice and Horace struggled to get the cloak off. Jack looked over at Elsa and asked, “What were you thinking?”

Elsa threw him an offended look and replied, “I was trying to get us out of that without you giving up your lightsaber!”

Jasper finally broke the ice off and shook his hand of any remaining ice chips. Looking over to see Horace struggle to get the cloak off and groaned. He pulled the cloak off and scolded, “You bantha brain! They got away!”

Jasper pulled out his comlink and radioed, “Find their ship and make sure they don’t escape! If it’s a Republic ship, kill the crew!”

Back on the docking bay, Tadashi heard the commotion coming up from behind him. He saw droves of pirates rushing the ship.

“All hands, battlestations!” he shouted to everyone as he slipped his helmet on. He drew his blasters and ducked for cover. He reached up and fired a few shots before dodging a blaster bolt. As he hid, he groaned, “Hiro, what did you do this time?”

He pulled out his comlink and radioed for Hiro, but they were being overruned. He had to rejoin the fight, hoping that Hiro and the others were safe.

Hearing the commotion in the city, a pilot stepped out of her ship to listen to the sounds of battle from the island she docked on. She was a fair skinned young woman with pure blue eyes and curly red hair that poofed out messily. She wore a long green coat over a tan shirt, navy pants and leather boots. Over her shoulder was a bowcaster heavy fire rifle. As she heard the battle rage on, she smirked and walked over to her skiff off of the island.

Jack peeked around the corner, seeing the droves of pirates barking orders and ordering their crews to get out and look. He ducked back and looked at Elsa and Hiro, hiro looking back nervously and Elsa looking away in shame. He placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, “Hey, you okay?”

She shook her head and said without looking at him, “No, this is all my fault.”

Jack snickered and said, “Nah, no of this is your fault.”

She looked up at him and said, “But I revealed myself. How could I have been so foolish?”

“Hey, hey, listen.” he soothed as he tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. He told her, “Look, no one here is upset with you because you did nothing wrong, okay?”

Elsa looked away for a moment, but looked back up at him and softly nodded. He gave a nod in response and looked back around the corner. The pirates were scattering and moving away.

Jack looked back and told Hiro and Elsa, “Okay, we’re clear.”

“Wait, should I activate Baymax?” Hiro asked before they could move.

“Not yet. He might give us away.”

Hiro nodded and waited for Jack to signal them to move. Jack looked again and waved for them to move. Jack led them back into the street on alert. They needed to head back to the ship and hoped they fueled up enough to escape, but even so they’d be surrounded by Republic troopers.

Then Jasper and Horace reappeared and grabbed Hiro and Elsa. They called for Jack and he turned around, activating his lightsaber.

“Let them go!” Jack warned.

“Or what? You’ll kill us? You make a move and we’ll kill them!” Jasper shouted as he struggled to hold Elsa. He drew his blaster and held it to her head, asking, “Why don’t you try freezing me again, witch?”

“Leave her alone!” Hiro shouted, trying to escape Horace’s grip.

“Let them go now!” Jack ordered.

“Hand the saber over and we’ll let them go!” Jasper said, pressing his blaster hard against Elsa.

“Jack, don’t!” Elsa begged.

Jack looked at both Hiro and Elsa and knew, there was only one way out. He deactivated his lightsaber and held it out. Jasper chuckled and ordered Horace to get it. As he pressed his blaster hard onto Elsa’s head, she cried out in pain.

Then, Hiro’s pack opened and Baymax shot out and quickly inflated. He was activated by the sounds of Elsa’s cries.

“Baymax!” Hiro cried out. Still struggling, he ordered, “Activate protocol nine! Protect Jack, Elsa and me!”

“Protocol nine activated.” Baymax responded and took on a fighting stance.

“What the jumping Gungan is that thing?” Horace asked right before Baymax’s fist collided with his cheek, knocking him out. Hiro was about to fall with him, but Baymax caught him.

Jasper pointed his blaster at Baymax, but the droid kicked it out of his hand and was punched in the face. He didn’t get knocked out, but he let Elsa go. She fell to the ground, but Jack helped her back up. Jasper recovered and tried to fight back, but Baymax was far too strong and agile against him. After a few blows, Baymax knocked him down to the ground with a dizzy spell and a bloody nose.

Baymax turned to the group and asked, “Are all of you alright?”

Hiro smiled and said, “Yeah, thanks to you, big guy.”

Elsa smiled up at him and said, “Thank you, Baymax.”

“Your thanks are not necessary. I am programmed to nurse and protect. I live to serve.”

Jack told him, “Still, if it wasn’t for you we’d all be dead.”

There was static coming from Hiro’s comlink. He pulled it out of his pouch and radioed, “Tadashi, is that you?”

“Hiro, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you!” Tadashi replied over the com. With the sound of blaster fire over the line, Tadashi said, “Listen, we’re pinned down by pirates! We only have enough fuel to get us to Naboo! We need to take off now!”

“Wait for us, we’ll be right there!” Hiro replied.

“No time! We need to leave now!”

“Wait, you’re going to leave us?”

“We have no choice! If we don’t leave, the ship will be destroyed! Find a place to hide and stay there! I’ll come back for you, I promise!”

“Tadashi, wait!” Hiro called out, but the line was cut. Then off in the distance, they heard the sound of the ship taking off. He groaned as they watched the ship take off, “We’re...We’re trapped here.”

Elsa looked down and saw the worry on his face. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. She looked up at Jack, who could only look down at the boy with a somber look.

The moment was cut short when Baymax said, “I am picking up two lifeforms approaching.”

Everyone looked up, Elsa let Hiro go and took a stance with Jack and Baymax. They waited for whoever was coming to jump out. Out of the nearby dark alleyway came a Rodian with a blaster in hand. He shouted as he charged them and Jack, Elsa and Baymax were ready to fight back.

Then the Robian was struck with a heavy blast and was sent flying backwards, dead before hitting the ground.

Jack and Elsa looked at each other for a second before looking to where the blast came from. They looked atop the mound of scraps and saw the red headed woman, her bowcaster still smoking from the blast. She raised it to show compliance and asked everyone, “Need a lift?”

Chapter Text

The skiff hoovered across the putrid lake with the mysterious woman carrying Jack, Hiro, Elsa and Baymax across to her island. As the woman drove the skiff, the four sat on a bench in the center of the vehicle. Very little was said between the four and her, but Elsa used her magic to tell if she was trustworthy and she concluded that she was, but Jack was still wary. Judging by her attire, the woman was a smuggler. He didn’t know who he trusted less, Hutts or smugglers. Either way, he had to trust Elsa’s word since the entire port was after them and they had no choice but go with this woman. Where she was taking them or why she was helping them he had no idea, but he didn’t want to take too much stride into it. The Force was calling him to go with her.

Then there was that. His mind was on the fact that the Force warned him about Jasper and Horace, but there was something more. Someone told them to go after him, Elsa and Hiro. He was certain of it, but the question was why. The only people who knew about them were the people on the ship and they wouldn’t have a reason to want them dead, not even Elsa. They served the Republic and would never turn on a Jedi. He radioed Master North but there was no way that he would want Elsa dead. Master North was a jolly and good man, possibly the kindest man Jack knew. He wanted Elsa safe on Tython. Jack was certain that the coms were secure too. With pirates hacking into Republic communications, the senate voted to hire private contractors to provide scramblers to ensure the safety and security to protect the armada.

So Jack had only one conclusion, but it wasn’t a good one. Whoever sent the pirates after them must have been nearby when he contacted Master North. This makes matters only worse since North was on Tython and the only people close to him in the communications room had to be a Jedi. Only a member of the order was allowed in the communications room in the Jedi Temple. Jack didn’t want to believe it but what other options were there? Coms are secure and no one on the ship really wanted them dead. Unless he saw evidence to the contrary, he could only suspect a Jedi’s involvement in this. But why?

Jack felt something brush across his hand and lay on it. He looked down to see Elsa’s hand laying on his. He looked into her eyes and they smiled. He knew she was trying to comfort him. She could tell he had a lot on his mind and she was worried.

Hiro looked over at the woman, who wasn’t paying any attention to them and was driving the skiff. He didn’t want her listening to the question he was about to ask. He turned and leaned over to ask Jack, “Hey, uh, so are you two like a thing or something?”

Jack twitched and looked down at Hiro, embarrassment plastered across his face. Elsa didn’t hear what Hiro just asked, but she was surprised by Jack’s sudden change in demeanor and looked up at him in curiosity. He asked Hiro, “Why did you ask that?”

“Well, you two have been really clingy and have been joined at the hip the whole time.”

“No! No, it’s not like that.” Jack chuckled nervously.

Baymax scanned Jack without him knowing and said, “Jack’s heart rate elevated when Elsa’s hand touched his.”

Jack glared at the droid for a second before sulking in annoyance. Elsa was still confused by the whole issue, but she softly stroked his arm to comfort him. He looked back down at her and the two smiled again.

Hiro watched the two before turning to Baymax and quietly telling him, “They got it bad.”

Baymax said nothing, but the woman shouted over the engine, “We’ll be at my lil’ island shortly! The name’s Merida, by the way! Merida DunBroch!”

Elsa looked up at her and said, “Thank you for helping us!”

“I ain’t! Jasper and Horace have been a thorn in my side for a while now and I wanna get back at them! Even if that means cutting off a paycheck for them!”

Jack asked her accusingly, “How do we know you won’t turn us in?”

Merida smirked and said, “I’m no bounty hunter! Smuggling’s my business and business is good!”

After a few minutes, they arrived on Merida’s island and the skiff came to a stop. As they departed, Jack leaped down and held onto Elsa’s waist and lifted her off. He was amazed at how frail and light she was. She thanked him and they followed the others. The island had some vegetation, mostly small trees and bushes, but they were more interested in the only man-made structure on the island. A decrepit YT-2400 was docked in the small clearing. It looked like it had seen a lot of action, panels missing, blast and burn patterns all across the hull and carbon scorning everywhere.

Merida stood proudly and said, “She’s not much, but she’s mine. This is the Bear’s Claw.”

Hiro looked at it and said, “Doesn’t even look like it can get off the ground much less into orbit.”

“Hey, she can make the fastest cruiser in the entire Republic fleet look like snails.” Merida stood silent for a moment, but then said, “Okay, the hyperdrive has been acting up lately but I’m working on it.”

Hiro looked up at her and asked, “Got a hydrospanner? Let me take a look at it.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Jack stepped between them and told Merida, “Hey, don’t knock him. He helped build Baymax here.”

Merida gave both Baymax and Hiro skeptical looks, but shrugged and agreed. Her and Hiro went off with Baymax waddling behind, leaving Jack and Elsa alone.

“Ah, ow.” Elsa groaned as she reached down her leg.

“Hey, you okay?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I just hurt my ankle back there.”

“Here, let me see it.”

Elsa went over and sat down on a log. Jack knelt down in front of her and elevated her leg and took a breath. He pushed the Force through his fingers and into her ankle, sensing that she twisted her ankle. Must have been when Jasper grabbed her. No matter, he slowly began to heal her.

Breaking the silence, he asked her, “So, I’m sorry this was your first experience off of Dathomir. I was hoping we’d be on Tython round this time.”

Elsa smiled and said, “It’s okay. I’m just sorry I acted impulsive back there when I pulled my cloak off.”

Jack smirked and said, “That was quick thinking actually. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“You were right to. If I didn’t we wouldn’t have that entire town after us.”

“They were after me. They wanted my kyber crystal, remember?” Jack looked back down as he healed her.

His thoughts went back to what his instincts were telling him about someone sending Jasper and Horace after them. He was certain that it was a Jedi.

Elsa noticed the look on his face and asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Jack looked back up at her, breaking from his thoughts. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Jack.”

Jack didn’t want to tell her, yet he couldn’t deny her. He gave in and said, “I think someone sent those pirates after us.”

“Are you certain?”

“The Force keeps telling me that someone told them about us. But I fear things may be worse than we think.”

“What do you mean?”

“The only person who would know about us outside the ship would have been someone on Tython. I believe someone was listening to my conversation with Master North and sent those pirates after us.”

“You don’t really think that, do you?” Elsa asked concerningly. “Jack, they’re Jedi. They raised you.”

“I know, but I don’t know what else to think. Once we get a communication line, I must get in contact with Master North. I have to know if there was anyone else in the room when we made contact.”

Elsa was worried. Not for her, but for Jack. The holopads she acquired told her all about the Jedi and their loyalty to each other. To think that a Jedi would send mercenaries after him would be awful.

I can only hope his instincts are wrong. She said to herself.

Jack let her ankle go and told her to stand on it. She did and felt no pain. He stood up in front of her and looked down at her. He couldn’t get over how short she was to him. He had a good three inches on her. Once again, he noticed how frail her structure was. She had some muscle in her arms, possibly from all of her ice magic. He noticed on Dathomir how much effort she put into her magic as she tossed her arms out. But there was another thing that he was curious about.

“I don’t even know how old you are.” he chuckled.

She looked up at him, confused at first, but she chuckled and said, “I’m actually twenty one.”

She’s twenty one? She looks so much younger! Jack said to himself.

She asked him, “Why? How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.”

“Really?” she gasped as she looked him over. “Your height and strength, I figured that you’d be older.”

“Well with your tiny build, I guessed you were younger.” Jack teased.

“Oh?” Elsa replied with a smirk and placed her hand on her hip. She asked him, “And how old did you think I was?”

“Fourteen.”

“‘Fourteen’? Jack Frost, you have no understanding of a woman’s age.” Elsa laughed.

“I think I’m okay.”

“You’re terrible.”

They both laughed for a moment. It was the first time Elsa had a pleasant laugh in a long time and she finally felt alive. As she calmed, she watched Jack continue to laugh. Seeing him happy like this made her happy. Seeing him laugh like this made her realize how far away from Dathomir and how free she truly was. Mother Gothel only laughed while she committed horrible atrocities. Here, there was only laughter out of pure joy. Even though they were currently being chased by pirates, she finally, for the first time in forever, she felt free.

Jack calmed down and wiped the tears from his eyes. Elsa couldn’t help but blissfully smile at him. He took notice and couldn’t stop himself from blushing. That smile always gave him flutters. He never felt this way before, but ever since he met Elsa, he was enwrapped by her. If Gothel were still around, she’d tell him that it was a spell but he knew better. The Force protects him from such power, that’s why he never believed Gothel to begin with. Still, he had no idea what was going on with him. He had to talk to North about this.

They were interrupted by the sound of Baymax’s squeaky footsteps. They looked over at him and he walked up to them to tell them, “Hiro wanted me to inform you that the ship is ready for take off.”

“‘Take off’?” Jack repeated. Him and Elsa looked at each other for a moment and he asked Baymax, “Is Merida going to take us to Naboo?”

“Yes. They are waiting for you. Follow me, please.”

Again, Jack and Elsa looked at each other. Merida is a smuggler, she’d never do a job like this for free. Jack was curious as to what her and Hiro discussed. He knew the kid had something to do with this. Elsa just shrugged and the two followed Baymax.

They arrived back at the ship and saw Hiro cleaning his hands with a rag. He looked over at Jack and Elsa and said, “Nothing a little elbow grease couldn’t fix. We’re ready for take off when you guys are.”

“Yeah, about that.” Jack said as he walked over to Hiro. He placed his hand on Hiro’s shoulder and pulled him away. Hiro was hesitant, but he agreed to follow the Jedi. When they were out of earshot, Jack asked Hiro, “What do you say to get Merida to take us to Naboo?”

Hiro blankly stared at Jack for a moment, then gave a nervous smile.

“Hiro, what did you do?”

“Well…” Hiro drew out, but went silent for a moment. Jack gave him a look and he finally told the Jedi, “I promised Merida a reward if she took us to my brother.”

Jack slapped his forehead and groaned, “What did you promise her?”

Hiro nervously looked away, sulked and whispered, “Twenty thousand credits?”

“What?” Jack loudly gasped, but quieted down so the others wouldn’t hear their conversation. He didn’t want Merida to get suspicious. He looked over to see if anyone heard them then turned back to Hiro and asked, “Are you out of your mind?”

“Yes, just a little.” Hiro shyly replied. “But I didn’t see any other way off of this trash heap. We get to Naboo safely and explain everything to my brother and I’m certain Queen Corona would understand perfectly. She’s nice like that, you know.”

“Hiro, you never take advantage of someone’s kindness like that. The Queen may be kind hearted, but that doesn’t give you the right to take advantage of her like that.”

“But how else were we going to get out of here? Everyone at the port wants us dead and there’s no doubt in my mind that the word’s spread all over Ord Mantell. We play our cards right and we can get off safe and sound.”

Jack wanted to argue more, but he knew Hiro was right. If the port wanted them dead, the pirates would have contacted other ports and villages across the planet by now. Merida was only helping them because she wanted to get back at them. He had no idea how much the four of them were worth, but twenty thousand credits in this economy wasn’t something to say no to. Plus, credit from a Republic official was guaranteed, unlike from a bounty broker.

Jack sighed in defeat, but told Hiro, “I’m telling your brother this was your idea.”

Jack and Hiro began to walk back to the ship, but Hiro lightly shoved Jack as he walked past him. Jack looked down at him and shoved him back. Hiro smirked and shoved him harder then ran off.

“You little punk, get back here!” Jack chuckled as he chased Hiro.

On the ramp of the ship, Elsa smiled as she watched Jack and Hiro carry on. Merida walked down the ramp next to her and said, “For someone desperate to get off this rock, they sure are taking their time.”

Elsa looked over at her for a moment, but looked away shyly. She hadn’t forgotten what she discussed with Jack when they first met. She thought that Merida would probably look down upon her since she was a Nightsister. Yet, she didn’t move. She took a small comfort in watching Jack and Hiro chase each other.

Merida looked at Elsa for a second, but looked back when she saw the nervousness on Elsa’s face. She asked, “What’s the matter with you?”

Elsa gave her a quick glance and said, “It’s nothing.”

“C’mon, I don’t bite.”

“Well, having a Nightsister around might be unsettling so I’ll just wait in the ship.”

“Wait, is that what you’re worried about?” Merida asked as Elsa began to walk into the ship. When Merida said that, Elsa stopped and looked down at her. Merida said, “I’m a smuggler. It doesn’t pay to be prejudiced to anybody. You do you, lassy.”

Elsa was surprised that this brawny woman was so kind to her. She smiled at her and Merida gave a kind smirk to her.

Merida turned back to Hiro and Jack and shouted, “Alright, enough messing around! Time is money!”

Hiro and Jack stopped running, but continued to chuckle loudly. Jack russled Hiro’s hair and they went up the ramp past Elsa and Merida.

Merida looked back at Elsa and said, “Gotta say, the kid’s very bright though. Don’t see many like him anymore.”

“He’s very sweet, too.” Elsa added. “So is Jack.”

“Yeah, I can see you got your eye on him, ey?” Merida quirked as she walked up the ramp. Elsa, being too naive about the outside slang, only raised her eyebrow out of confusion. But she shrugged it off and followed Merida.

Chapter Text

The Bear’s Claw fired up and the engines roared. In the cockpit, Merida flipped some switches and turned on her monitor. She punched in the coordinance for Naboo and pulled the lever for the thrusters. The ship lifted up off the ground and took off into the sky.

Elsa walked into the cockpit with Jack and looked out the window to the stars. She stared out in awe. The whole time she was on the Republic’s ship, never once did she look out at the stars. To see them from her mountaintop on Dathomir was one thing, but to see them in the void of space was something different. She felt her knees weaken and she had to sit down in one of the cockpit seats.

“Hey, you okay?” Jack asked her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Yes, I…” Elsa was still awestruck by the sight and she had a hard time finding her words. She could only smile and give short chuckles.

Jack looked out the window, realizing that was what she was in awe of. He looked back down at her and asked, “Have you never seen the stars from space?”

Elsa shook her head no.

Merida looked back at her, a slight smile on her face, and told Elsa, “Then you can stay in here as long as you want.”

Both Jack and Elsa looked at her, Elsa smiling while Jack was confused. Merida was being really nice to them, unlike other smugglers he’s dealt with. All of the ones he dealt with before had treated him like dirt, but Merida saved them. She may have said that she did it to get back at the pirates, but she didn’t even have to do that.

Jack decided not to dwell on it and just be thankful.

Leaving the planet far behind them, another ship followed them. The pilot was a tall and brawny man with long balck hair tied into a ponytail. His facial features were extremely handsome with a large chin, blue eyes and slender face. He watched them from afar with a cocky smirk.

As he punched in commands on his panel, he said, “Think you could get away so easily, huh? You may have escaped Jasper and Horace, but not Gaston. I’ve never hunted a Nightsister before. Can’t wait to add you to my list.”

His commands were done and the cannons on his ship were primed and ready. They all opened fire on the Bear’s Claw. Though the deflector shield protected the ship, it did weaken it.

After the cannons fired on them, the passengers were knocked about. Merida tried to stabilize the ship and scanned to see who was firing on them.

“What happened?” Elsa panicked.

After Merida saw who it was, she groaned, “Ah! That damn braggart! What does he want?”

Jack and Hiro entered the cockpit to find out what was going on. Merida told them they were being fired on by a bounty hunter and she was going to shake him off.

“Ha, there!” she cheered. Thrusting the ship, she said, “He’d be crazy to follow us.”

Jack and Hiro slowly glanced at each other when they saw where Merida was piloting them. She steered the ship to head for a nearby asteroid field.

On board Gaston’s ship, he said to himself, “I figured that’s where they’d be heading. Thankfully, I have a simple remedy.”

He pressed a button on his panel and a device shot out from his canon. It flew right for the Bear’s Claw as it entered the asteroid field and clung to the hull. Once it latched on, a light signal began to blink.

As the Bear’s Claw flew through the asteroid field, some smaller one began to follow them. In the cockpit, Hiro noticed the amount of blips following them.

“Um, what are those?” he asked, pointing to the monitor. “They’re too small to be fighters.”

“That’s because those are asteroids. Gaston must have a magnet attached to us.” Merida said. She flipped some switches and told Jack, “I can try and cancel it out but it’s going to take some time. I need you boys to work the canons and blast them off of us.”

Jack nodded then asked Hiro, “Can you work a canon?”

“Work them? I build them!” Hiro laughed. Then an asteroid hit them, causing the ship to shake. Hiro replied, “Bragging later, guns now!”

Both Jack and Hiro ran down the hall to the canon perches and they climbed into the seats. Once they were strapped in and had their headsets on, they immediately fired on the asteroids that were following them. They also kept an eye out for any sign of the magnet to see if they could blast it off, but it wasn’t to be seen. Instead, they focused on the asteroids and hoped Merida could take care of the magnet.

In the cockpit, Elsa gripped her chair nervously. She still wasn’t used to space travel, but this was beyond excruciating. She never thought she’d end up in an asteroid field with hunters after them. Watching the asteroids fly towards them then burst from canon fire didn’t help her nerves either.

Looking over the commands, Merida shouted, “This is taking longer than I’d hoped! This is one advanced magnet!”

Overhearing her, Hiro radioed from his perch, “How long until you can deactivate it?”

“You mean until it pulverizes us?”

Elsa thought for a moment, then walked out of the cockpit.

Baymax was in the recreational section of the ship, stumbling about as the ship moved about from the asteroids smashing into the ship and Merida’s flying. However, Elsa ignored him as she walked into the room. She got down on her knees, took a breath, closed her eyes, then began to sing.

Ahhh-ah-ahhhhhhh....Ahhh-ha-ah-ahhhhhh…

As Elsa sang, her blue aura engulfed her. Baymax tilted his head in curiosity, never seeing a Nightsister’s magic at work. She sang even more and louder, the aura growing stronger and brighter. It got so loud and so bright that Merida heard her and saw the light from the cockpit.

“What’s going on back there?” she shouted.

Outside the ship, the magnet’s blinking light began to malfunction as the blue aura glowed around it. Jack was the first to notice the light since Hiro was more preoccupied with the asteroids. He knew what was going on.

“Elsa?” he muttered.

Then, the magnet disconnected and was smashed by a passing asteroid. Merida lost the signal from it and was baffled. She set in the autopilot and ran out of the cockpit. Meanwhile, Elsa collapsed on the floor just as Merida ran into the room.

“Elsa?” she gasped as she ran over and knelt next to her.

Baymax went over and picked her up in his arms, Elsa now unconscious. The two boys came out from the canon perches and saw Elsa in Baymax’s arms.

“Elsa!” Jack gaped and ran towards her. He brushed the strands of hair out of her face and cupped her cheeks.

Baymax told him, “She is suffering from extreme exhaustion, but she will recover.”

Hiro looked up at him and asked, “What happened?”

“She was singing, then a blue light came from her body. I have never seen anything like it.”

Jack continued to look into Elsa’s face, realizing what she did. He said to all of them, “She saved us.”

Merida opened a compartment in the rec room, revealing a mattress, then told Baymax, “Here, lay her down in here.”

Baymax carried Elsa into the compartment and Merida laid a blanket over her. Elsa’s breathing was heavy, wheezing loudly with each breath. Jack looked down at her, terrified by her condition. She was promised a better life off of Dathomir and now she’s like this. He just wanted to get her to Tython and give her a chance for a better life, now this was happening.

Hiro looked at everyone and said, “We should let her rest.”

“Aye, plus we need to get out of this asteroid field.” Merida said as she turned to walk to the cockpit. She looked down at Hiro, lightly jostled him and asked, “Hey, you know how to fly a ship?”

Hiro was surprised at first, but smiled and said, “Sure. You’re gonna need help with this hunk of junk.”

“Oh, now suddenly I need help, huh? I’ll have you know that I’ve flown this ‘hunk’a junk’ for the past year without trouble.”

“I’d like to know how.”

Baymax watched the duo walk off to the cockpit then turned back to Jack. He watched as Jack softly caressed her cheek. Baymax gave Jack a scan, noticing his heart rate. Afterwards, he asked, “Jack, are you feeling alright?”

“Hm?” Jack hummed as he looked up at Baymax. He said, “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Your heartbeat is irregular. Also, you appear to have high heat levels on your face and your dopamine levels are abnormally high.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s from the fight.”

“Your stress levels and adrenaline have lowered. The only logical explanation is that you show signs of,” Baymax raised his hand, pointed his finger matter of factly and said, “falling in love.”

Jack spat out a chuckle and asked, “Excuse me?”

“Your dopamine and heart rate only rises only when you are around Elsa. Are you two a couple?”

“We’re not. Seriously Baymax, I’m fine.” Jack looked back down at Elsa, who was now sleeping contently. After a moment of watching her sleep, he finally said, “I’m just worried about her.”

“It is normal for someone who is in love to show concern for their significant other.”

Annoyed, Jack told him, “Baymax, seriously. We’re not a couple.”

“I will not argue with you if you so wish. I will go check on the others.” Baymax turned and began to scuttle towards the cockpit. Before he entered the hall, he stopped and told Jack, “If it’s any comfort, her symptoms are the same as yours when she is around you.”

Baymax continued to walk off to the cockpit, leaving Jack alone with Elsa. He heard what Baymax said to him, but he didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t think, he was far to lost at the moment. The only thing he did was lay his head on the mattress, right next to Elsa’s, and closed his eyes.

Baymax entered the cockpit and told Merida and Hiro, “Both Jack and Elsa are resting right now.”

“Good, they’ve been through a lot.” Hiro replied. He sat in the copilot’s chair as he helped Merida pilot the ship out of the asteroid field. He ordered Baymax, “I need you to watch over them. When they wake up, I need you to tell them that the fight has brought us off course. We’re not heading for Naboo.”

Baymax replied, “Very well. Where are we going?”

Merida turned around from piloting and said, “Mandalorian space.”

Gaston slammed his fist on his command panel in anger. His magnet gave out and they were escaping. Not only that, he was monitoring them. He realized that the ship was heading right into Mandalorian space, the one place he knew he wasn’t welcomed in.

However, he wasn’t done with them.

Pressing a button on his command panel, he radioed, “Lafou, get in here.”

As ordered, the short and stocky man entered the cockpit and asked, “What you need, Gaston?”

“Get in the pod and follow that ship.”

“Gotcha. Where are they going?”

Gaston smirked down at his first mate, knowing that he was heading right into the proverbial gundark den. But he was determined to acquire his prize, no matter the cost.

Chapter Text

Jack stirred awake, noticing the hum of the ship was silent. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Elsa was missing from the mattress. He stretched and stood up, noticing the ramp for the shit was open. He heard Merida yammering on and figured the others were outside with her so he decided to head out.

His eyes adjusted to the brightness of the planet they landed on. He looked out and saw the miles of grain fields. Not too far from the ship, Merida drank from a flask and offered it to Elsa. The Dathomirian took it and sniffed the contents, gagging at the smell. Hiro and Baymax were sitting on the ground nearby and Hiro laughed at Elsa. Jack shook his head and walked their way.

Elsa was the first one to see Jack approaching them and cheered, “Jack!”

She ran over to him and they stood face to face, Elsa smiling brightly at him.

Jack asked her, “You okay?

“I am. I just overdid myself, that’s all.”

Jack smiled and nodded. He looked around at the fields again, not recognizing the landscape.

“Where are we?” he asked.

Merida walked up to them and said, “Concord Dawn.”

Jack glared at her and asked, “You dropped us off in the middle of Mandalorian space?”

Merida was about to rebuttal, but Hiro stepped in and said, “It was the closest system and we needed a place to lay low from that bounty hunter.”

“So landing in the system that is home to the most skilled and deadliest hunters in the galaxy was a better idea? Not to mention that Mandalorians are trained to kill Jedi.”

“Relax, nobody knows we’re here.” Merida told him.

Jack only shook his head.

Elsa looked up at him and asked, “What’s a Mandalorian?”

Jack sighed and said, “Mandalorians are a group of warriors known for their combat skills. They have been the enemies of the Jedi for many centuries.”

“Excuse me, Jedi Knight Jack, but I’m afraid your analysis is incorrect.” Baymax told him. Raising his finger matter of factly, he continued, “My records show that there have been moments in the galaxy’s history where the Jedi and the Mandalorians have commingled for the greater good, including during the Galactic Civil War to overthrow Emperor Palpatine many centuries ago.”

“Yeah and there have been radicals ever since.” Jack corrected him.

“If you are referring to Deathwatch, worry not. They died out long ago.”

“Still…” Jack rolled his eyes. Giving one more scan of the area, he asked, “How long have we been here?”

Hiro looked to the sun and said, “Probably twenty minutes. We didn’t want to wake you.”

Jack gave a scoff and rustled Hiro’s hair, making the boy laugh and swat at him. He told everyone, “Well I guess we can lay low if nobody saw the ship. I say we wait until nightfall and take off.”

As he spoke, he slowly trotted around. He didn’t realize that there was a wire sticking out from the tree they were all standing next to. Just as his foot touched it, Merida took notice and tried to stop him, but it was too late. All five were lifted into the air in a massive net.

Groaning, Merida said, “Kriff, I thought Jedi were supposed to be aware of their surroundings!”

“Hey, I just woke up!” Jack replied. With his arm tangled up in the net, he couldn't reach his lightsaber. “Hey, can anyone get my lightsaber?”

“I got it!” Merida groaned as she tried to climb her way to him.

However, Hiro pulled out a mini saw from his belt and began to cut the net. Baymax saw him and said, “Hiro, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. It’s a very long-”

Before he could finish, Hiro had cut enough of the net for it to rip open and sent everyone plummeting back down to the ground. As they fell, Jack grabbed onto Elsa and Baymax grabbed onto Merida and Hiro to cushion their fall, both of them landing on their backs.

As they all recovered, they heard the sound of screeching coming from above. They all looked up to see large winged reptilian creatures descend from the skies and surround them. It didn’t take long for them to notice that the dragons had riders on them. Riders in beskar armor.

“Oh no.” Baymax simply said in response to their predicament.

Jack grabbed at his lightsaber, but before he could draw it, he had a bright light shined in his face. He looked up and saw the blade of what he thought was a lightsaber, being held by one of the riders who rode a black dragon. It didn’t take Jack long to realize that he was face to face with the Darksaber, an heirloom passed down through the Vizsla Clan of Mandalore. This rider must be a descendant of said clan to wield it.

He looked up at the rider, holding Elsa closer. The rider said, his nasally voice evident even through his helmet, “Drop it.”

Not wanting to put anyone in danger, Jack unclipped his lightsaber and tossed it to the rider. The dragon caught it with its teeth and snarled at Jack.

“Take it easy, bud.” the rider eased. He deactivated the Darksaber and ordered the other riders, “Take their weapons and shackle them.”

The Mandalorians took them to a nearby sea where a large skiff was waiting for them. Once they were aboard, the skiff flew off over the raging waters and off into the horizon. Naturally, Elsa stayed close to Jack as she nervously looked around. Jack gave her a look, knowing full well that if they all weren’t all shackled, he’d reach over and take her hand. Hiro was also nervous with Baymax tied up in whipcords. The droid only stood still since he had many blasters pointed at him. Merida only sneered.

One Mandalorian, a woman in blue armor, had opened a small sachet and pulled out its contents. It looked like a strip of dried jerky, but she didn’t eat it. Instead, she went over to Hiro and held it close to his face.

“You look hungry. Here.” she said in a soothing voice. Hiro was nervous as he gave her a skeptical look. She chuckled and said, “Relax, it’s not poisoned.”

Hiro gave Baymax a look and the droid scanned the jerky. Baymax told him, “It is dried nerf meat seasoned with local spices. It is perfectly safe to eat.”

Hiro looked down at the jerky and took it with his teeth. He hesitantly munched on it, but then his face brightened up and chewed on it blissfully.

The woman grabbed another one and held it to Merida. The smuggler told her, “It’s gonna take more than that to fill my belly.”

“Well we got plenty to go around.” the Mandalorian told her. Merida reached up with her shackled hands and took it.

Jack curiously watched the Mandalorian feed their comrades. He turned to the one who held the Darksaber, who looked back at him.

“What about you? Can we get you anything?” he asked Jack, hostility in his voice gone.

Jack looked down at Elsa, who was nervously looking up at him, but also cringed when her stomach growled. He looked back at the Mandalorian and asked, “Do you have produce onboard? She’s a vegetarian.”

The Mandalorian turned and took out a fruit from a crate. He held it out to her and said, “Grown locally. Concord Dawn has some of the best produce in the galaxy.”

Elsa nervously took it, but was still hesitant to eat it.

The Mandalorian shook his head and said, “If we wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already.”

Not taking her eyes off of Jack, she slowly bit into the fruit. After some chewing, Elsa’s eyes widened with delight at the taste of the crispy fruit. She took more bites and blissfully enjoyed it.

Confused, Jack looked at the Mandalorian and asked, “I don’t get it. Why don’t you kill us?”

“That’s not up to me. I’m taking you to our leader to decide your fate.” the Mandalorian told him, looking to the skies to see their dragons fly overhead.

Jack couldn’t help but smile at the sight, noting, “Went from riding the Mythosaurs to dragons. Your people love scaly creatures.”

The Mandalorian chuckled and said, “Yeah, we do.”

Jack looked ahead and saw the island off in the distance. He knew that’s where they were going. He felt his dread build up again. While these Mandalorians were being kind to them, know knows what was truly waiting for them at their destination. He wasn’t worried about himself, but for Elsa, Merida, Hiro and Baymax. He just hopes that the Mandalorians’ hatred for the Jedi didn’t put the others in grave danger.

The group were chaperoned to the center of the village where a large hut stood. Despite all the technological advancements of the system, this covert still lived in wood huts, primitive like the bygone days of early Mandalore. There were more dragons here, perching themselves on the roofs of the huts or flying in the air. There were varying species of dragons all around, but the Mandalorians all tamed them.

Jack saw a tall and burly man walk out of the hut they were walking up to. He was intimidating to say the least, He had a fur mat as a cape over his bronze armor and his helmet was accompanied by tall thin antlers pointed upwards. The group were all lined up before him as he looked down from the balcony.

“State your business, Jedi.” he spoke in a loud and gruff voice.

Jack cleared his throat and said, “We come in peace. We only landed on Concord Dawn to avoid detection from an enemy.”

“Aye, and you better not have touched my ship!” Merida shouted.

“Merida, quiet!” Jack hissed.

The female Mandalorian replied, “That was a ship? We thought it was a pile of garbage.”

Merida growled at her and muttered under her breath.

The leader looked down at them, crossing his large arms in a pondering pose. After a moment, he asked, “And the Nightsister?”

All eyes were on Elsa, who was now terrified. She eased closer to Jack to try and hide herself.

Jack glazed back at her before stepping in front of her.

“She’s with me.”

The leader nodded. After a moment of silence, he ordered, “Unshackle them.”

Much to everyone’s surprise, Mandalorians all came to them and removed their shackles. After fixing their wrists, they all looked about to see if there was more. There was, but it was only for Jack.

“Give the Jedi back his lightsaber. He shall earn his freedom.” the leader spoke. Jack glared up at him and the leader said, “Don’t worry, your friends will go free without conflict. But you, Jedi, you are the sworn enemy of all that is Mando’ade. If you wish to leave this island alive, you will honor the way of combat.”

“And if I refuse?” Jack asked.

“You can’t.” The leader looked to the Mandalorian that wielded the Darksaber and told him, “Prepare for battle, Hiccup.”

“Hiccup?” Jack laughed. He looked over and saw the Mandalorian, Hiccup, toss his lightsaber to him.

“Let’s see if you’ll be laughing when I’m done with you.” Hiccup replied, a hint of amusement in his voice, as he activated the Darksaber.

Jack spun his hilt and activated both blades before taking a battle stance. Hiccup also took a stance and they were ready, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Instead of leaving, Hiro and Elsa stayed to watch the fight. However, they were surrounded by Mandalorians who were also watching. They were nervous to move, but they were more worried for Jack.

Then, Hiccup made the first move.

Chapter Text

“Why is there nobody at this skiff?” Merida shouted, throwing her arms up in frustration.

While Jack fought Hiccup, Merida walked off to see if she could return to her ship. Baymax stayed with her, following her since she had a higher chance of hurting herself. However, they both came across the skiff with no one to pilot it. Merida knew better than to steal a skiff from Mandalorians.

Baymax told her, “Perhaps we should go back with the others.”

“We will once we get the ship. We ride back, get to the ship and fly out here and pick them up.” Merida replied. However, she looked around, held her arms out and shouted, “But there’s nobody here!”

Baymax stared at her for a moment, then turned his head and said, “Someone is coming.”

“Oh good. Maybe they can fly us-”

When she saw who was coming, her face dropped. Coming out from one of the shacks was the black dragon that Hiccup rode. She stepped back and reached down for her blaster. The dragon however had its attention on Baymax. Its eyes curiously scanned the droid and slowly crawled over to him. When the two were inches from each other, the dragon stretched its head out and sniffed him.

Baymax held hand up and greeted, “Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.”

The dragon perked up and licked Baymax’s face.

“Aw, look at that. You made a friend.” Merida sarcastically remarked.

The dragon then turned its attention to her. It panted happily and hopped over to her.

“Whoa, whoa, okay.” she stammered, holding her hands up as the dragon pressed its nose against her and sniffed her. It then began to nuzzle its snout into her chest and she could feel it purring. She asked, “What’s going on?”

“I believe it has imprinted on you.” Baymax told her. He scanned the dragon and said, “It is a male Night Fury. He is also very young.”

“Great, now how does that help-Hey! Watch yourself there, you scaly goof.” she giggled.

“You seem to have formed an attachment to hiiiiiiimmmmmm…” Baymax slurred and he started to buckle over.

The dragon and Merida both looked at him and she asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Loooowww baaattery...hehehe…”

“Oh no. We need to find Hiro!” She ran over and held him up, the dragon watching them in amusement. She asked him, “Can you walk?”

“IIII’ll can you now-scan complete! Hic-hic, healthcare.”

Lefou slowly scaled up the small cliff that overlooked the arena Jack and Hiccup dueled in. He could hear the clashing of the blades as he drew closer and closer to the edge. Once he got to the overlook, he felt his blood turn cold as he saw the mass gathering of Mandalorians surrounding the arena. He knew if they caught him, he wouldn’t live to see the dawn.

Ignoring them for the time being, he pulled out his binocs and scanned the area for his target. It didn’t take him long to see the Nightsister standing there with Hiro, both watching the duel with nervous anticipation.

“Gotcha, witch.” he whispered to himself.

However, his attention was turned to the duel down below between the young Jedi and Mandalorian. Despite being up against a Jedi with a saberstaff, Hiccup was able to keep up. He was clearly young and agile and was well trained in saber skills. Early on in the duel, he managed to dispose of his helmet to make the duel easier. He was indeed young with shaggy brown hair with small braids dangling from the top of his neck with green eyes. He had a thin but noticeable scar on his chin, right beneath his smirking lips.

Jack was also smirking. Both young men took this competition as more of a test of each other’s skills.

Jack was the first to speak, “Gotta say, I’m impressed!”

“You’re not so bad yourself!” Hiccup said as he blocked one of Jack’s strikes. “I’ve been practicing for this blade for as long as I can remember!”

Also blocking, Jack replied, “Well it’s paid off! It’s a shame we had to fight like this!”

“I know! I’m not even going easy on you!”

“Neither am I!”

Jack shoved Hiccup and Hiccup did a back flip to gain more momentum. The two stopped and gave each other approving looks before continuing on.

“C’mon, Hiccup!” the female Mandalorian in blue cheered next to Elsa and Hiro.

Wanting to one up her, Hiro cheered, “Come on, Jack! Kick his butt!”

Elsa only watched in fear, worried about Jack’s safety. She wanted to step in and stop this before it went too far, but with an army surrounding them she knew that they wouldn’t even get ten feet before they were shot dead.

Hiccup and Jack locked blades as Hiccup pressed the opposite blade of Jack’s staff into the ground. Jack smirked as Hiccup panted.

“That’s what you lack in this fight, Hiccup.” Jack told him. “The Force gives me strength.”

Hiccup’s smirk returned and said, “Gimme a sec. I’ll get my second wind.”

“We’ll see.”

Then, Jack twisted his hilt and it broke in half, making Hiccup plunge forward as the support was gone. Hiccup attempted to turn but Jack swiped up with his second blade strong enough to knock the darksaber out of Hiccup’s hand. Hiccup lost his balance and fell to the ground. He tried to get back up, but he was greeted with the sight of two blue blades crossed in front of his neck.

The entire arena went silent save for Elsa’s gasp and Hiro’s cheers. Jack had won.

Jack and Hiccup glared at each other, knowing that Hiccup was the loser. Hiccup looked down and gave a nod. He closed his eyes, waiting.

Instead, there was the sound of Jack deactivating his lightsabers and clipping them back together. Hiccup looked up at him in confusion, but Jack just clipped his lightsaber to his belt and held out his hand. Hiccup continued to look confused for a moment, but smiled and took Jack’s hand. Jack pulled him to his feet and gave Hiccup’s hand a slight squeeze.

“Our ancestors may have been enemies, but that doesn’t mean we have to be.” Jack said with a smile.

Hiccup nodded and the two shook hands.

Then the arena erupted in cheers. The two looked around before Hiccup took Jack’s arm and held it up high. Hiccup leaned over and said, “We both know that if you didn’t have the Force, I’d win.”

Jack only chuckled in response.

The leader held his hand up to silence the crowd. The two looked up at him and waited for his words as the cheering died down.

“Jedi, you are the victor of this competition, despite your decision to spare my son.”

“That’s your dad?” Jack whispered.

“Yup.” Hiccup begrudgingly replied.

“However, I can not allow you to leave this island...You must join us in a feast!”

The cheers returned as the leader came down into the arena and gave both young men pats on the shoulders. Jack was gracious and looked at Hiccup, who was also smiling back at him. Jack turned and saw both Elsa and Hiro were standing there only a foot away. Hiro was happy, but Elsa was still worried. Jack was about to say something when she ran up and wrapped her arms around him. He was taken aback by this sudden reaction.

“I was so worried.” Jack managed to hear her say. He only smiled and held her tightly. Hiro joined in on the hug, both to comfort Elsa and to congratulate Jack. Hiccup placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder in his own way of joining them.

Lafou was still watching them from the cliffs. He could have taken Elsa out with his rifle, but knowing that the area was filled with Mandalorians, this wasn’t the best idea. He had to wait until she was more isolated from everything, hopefully with only the Jedi nearby. He could hit two birds with one stone. All he had to do was wait.

Jack felt something in the Force. There was a threatening presence nearby. As Elsa and Hiro let him go, he looked around and felt the energy grow stronger as he looked up at the cliff. He looked up to the top, but it was too high up to see anyone.

Elsa wrapped her arms around his and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Not looking at her, he simply said nothing. He didn’t want to worry her any more than she already was. He just looked back down at her and gave her a smile. She smiled in return and the group followed the departing Mandalorians, Hiro mentioning that they haven’t seen Merida or Baymax for a while.

It was almost time for the feast, but within this time, introductions were made. The female Mandalorian in blue armor had revealed herself to be a blonde haired, blue eyed beauty named Astrid. Hiro was slightly infatuated, that was until it was revealed that she was Hiccup’s girlfriend. Hiccup was being extremely courteous to his guests, always trying to accommodate them in any way. Both Astrid and Hiccup could tell that Elsa was still nervous, but they both tried to ease her mind. However, it was possible, as hinted by Hiro, that it was because Jack wasn’t there with her.

Jack was with the leader, a tall burly man with a bushy beard tied up into several braids named Stoick the Vast. Stoick invited Jack to his stronghold overlooking the village so they could discuss some things in private. Stoick offered Jack mead and the Jedi took it, trying to hold it down despite the strong taste.

Stoick took a sip and said, “Our people have separated from the vast clans across the galaxy. We chose to embrace the code of honor our forefathers laid down many generations ago. This is why we didn’t kill you and your friends when we found you.”

“I appreciate that.” Jack said, pretending to take a sip.

“You know if you don’t want it, you don’t have to drink it.” Stoick flatly said. Jack nervously stammered, but Stoick chuckled before taking Jack’s cup and gulping down the mead. He sighed and slapped the cup onto the table. Stoick continued, “I hope you can understand that our clans no longer hold any animosity towards the Jedi. Both of our people have suffered enough. Both Mandalorians and Jedi are warriors, but history has proven that we both can fall in a fortnight if the odds are against us.”

Jack replied, “Aside from the fact that your people have the ability to hold their own against Jedi, I wish no ill will against the Mandalorian people. As you’ve said, we’ve both suffered enough.”

Stoick gave the Jedi an approving smile and nod, complete with a toast of his cup. He then asked, “So, why is a Jedi traveling with a Witch of Dathomir?”

Jack looked out the window to see Elsa conversing with some other Mandalorians. She seemed like she was getting comfortable around them. Her smile always made his heart flutter.

Not looking at Stoick, he said, “Let’s say we saved each other.”

Stoick looked out at Elsa for a moment, then looked back at Jack with a slight smile.

“The ways of the Jedi certainly have changed since the old days.”

Jack looked at him for a moment, noting the sly look on Stoick’s face. He rolled his eyes and the two stood up and exited.

Up on the cliff, Lefou used his rifle’s scope to watch over Elsa. He was still waiting for her to move to a secluded area so he can finally make his move. He had waited here for a long time and he just wanted her to move. He also saw Jack walking up to her and the two exchanged greetings.

“WEEEEEE!” a robotic voice howled behind him, making him jump and pull the trigger.

A Mandalorian Elsa was talking to was shot in the back, but thankfully his beskar protected him from the blast. He was knocked down though and Jack pulled Elsa closer to him as he drew his lightsaber. Hiccup joined them as he drew the darksaber.

Everyone saw Lefou tumble down the cliffside, his rifle and Baymax rolling behind him. Atop the cliff, Merida and Toothless looked down to watch them roll down.

When Lefou stopped rolling, he looked up and was instantly greeted by Jack’s lightsaber and Hiccup’s darksaber.

“Who are you?” Hiccup demanded.

“I know.” Merida said after sliding down the cliff. Kicking the hunter in the face, she said, “His name is Lefou, Gaston’s lackey.”

Jack looked at her and said, “Then it’s a good bet that Gaston knows we’re here.”

Hiro joined everyone and noticed that Baymax tumbled down the cliff, crashing into Lefou. Seeing the droid was wigging out, he groaned, “Oh no, Baymax needs to be recharged.”

Merida told him, “Then pack him up and we can get moving.”

“If it were that simple, I would. But the charging station needs to be plugged into a power outlet if he’s to charge faster. Just putting him in the station alone would take hours.”

“Well this complicates things.” Hiccup said, deactivating the darksaber. He pointed at Lefou and ordered, “Lock him up.”

Three Mandalorians came and took Lefou away. Astrid helped Hiro with Baymax and took the droid to a nearby terminal. Jack deactivated his lightsaber and turned back to Hiccup.

“Once Baymax is charged, we’ll head back to our ship. This is our fight, we don’t want to drag you into this.”

Hiccup chuckled and said, “You’re kidding, right? We’re Mandalorians, we live for the fight. Plus…”

Hiccup held his darksaber out again and reactivated it. He placed the hilt over his heart and gave Jack a bow.

“You chose to spare my life, so now it is now in your service.”

Jack tilted his head and said, “I’m confused.”

“Since you didn’t kill me when you had the chance, I now owe you a life debt. I am at your beck and call until my final day.”

“Whoa, whoa, I appreciate the gesture, but you don’t have to.”

“It is tradition. This is the way.”

Jack was about to protest, but he looked at Elsa, who only smiled and winked at him. He knew what she was thinking. Jack smirked and returned the gesture. He reached and deactivated the darksaber, getting Hiccup’s attention.

“How about this? If you wish to join us, join us not as a servant, but as a friend.”

Hiccup smiled and nodded. He and Jack linked arms, solidifying their newly formed friendship. Hiccup then chuckle.

“What?”

“A Mandalorian and a Jedi? What’s the galaxy coming to?”

Jack chuckled and said, “It’s time for a new beginning for both our people.”

Merida smiled at the two while Elsa gave Jack an admirable gaze, thinking how wonderful it is to see Jack making an alliance with such a proud and strong warrior. He just keeps on amazing her.

Chapter Text

Both Jack and Hiro had already fallen asleep in the Bear’s Claw recreation room. Jack was reclining on one of the chairs near the navigation terminal while Hiro was sleeping at the dejarik station, snoring loudly. Elsa chuckled at Hiro as she strolled by with a blanket draped over her arm, going right to Jack. She opened up the blanket and softly covered it over him. She watched him softly snore in his sleep, not wanting to turn away from his sleeping face. She just couldn’t help but find him cute as he slept.

She felt something nudge her hindquarters and quietly yelped. She turned to see Toothless looking at her with what she assumed was the dragon’s version of a smile. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the dragon and softly stroked his snout. He purred as her hand brushed across his scaly skin. She couldn’t help but remember how angry Merida was when Hiccup told them that Toothless was coming with them, thinking that the dragon would make a mess on her ship. Instead, he was just sleeping or laying around, behaving like a well trained companion.

“He likes you.” Elsa heard Hiccup quietly say. She looked up and saw Hiccup standing there with his arms crossed and smiling. He said, “He’s very good at reading people so he can tell when someone is trustworthy.”

Elsa replied, “He’s really sweet. I’ve read about these kinds of dragons and thought that they were more vicious.”

“They can be. You should see him in battle. He shows absolutely no mercy.” Hiccup joined her in pampering the dragon. Toothless’ purrs grew louder as the two spoiled him, making Elsa chuckle. Hiccup looked at Elsa and said, “Astrid told me you were a bit distant with everyone. You weren’t afraid, were you?”

Elsa slightly grimaced and said, “A bit. Not of your people, but…”

Hiccup gave a slight glance and asked, “Is it because you’re a Nightsister?”

Elsa gave a nod.

Hiccup smiled as he stopped petting Toothless and said, “You know, our people are much more similar than you think.”

She gave him a confused gaze.

“I know that the Witches of Dathomir ride Rancors through your crimson deserts. The ancestors of Mandalore conquered the mighty Mythosaurs. I think both of our cultures know how to tame some of the most vicious beasts in the entire galaxy.”

Elsa smirked and said, “I think Mythosaurs are far more vicious. I don’t know about the Mandalorian culture, but I do know of the Mythosaur. If your people manage to conquer them, I think you’ve one upped us.”

Hiccup chuckled in response.

The room then echoed with the sound of metal pots clanging together, making everyone jump, Hiro and Jack stirring awake. Merida was clanging two pots together and shouting that they were arriving at Naboo. Once she stopped and returned to the cockpit, Hiro groaned and went back to sleep. Jack on the other hand remained awake, but annoyed. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, Hiccup following suit and heading for the cockpit. Jack sat down next to Elsa and began to pet Toothless.

“So, did you ever ride a rancor?” he asked.

Surprised, she asked, “You heard?”

“Well you two were a bit loud.”

Elsa blushed and said, “S-Sorry.”

“No sweat. You didn’t answer by the way.”

“Oh! Well…I did when I was very little. There was a fully grown albino rancor I named Marshmallow.”

Jack chuckled at the name.

“He was so sweet and so loyal to me. He protected me everywhere I went.”

“So what happened to him?”

Elsa’s smile faded as she told him, “Mother Gothel sacrificed him for a ritual. She made me watch.”

Jack’s face dropped and he placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and gave him a sad smile. They really didn’t need to say anything, they could read each other’s actions.

Then, Elsa did something that took Jack completely off guard. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. Jack felt his cheeks heat up and his heart race. Elsa’s presence was always wonderful, but this was different. She was actually resting on him, content on his shoulder, an adorable look on her face. Jack was afraid to move, not sure what to do.

My Jedi training didn’t prepare me for this.

The Naboo flight command were leary on having a decrepit and worn down Corellian freighter fly into Theed’s royal hanger, but since it was noted that Jack and Hiro were onboard, Queen Corona told them to let them land. The Bear Claw limped into the  hanger, contrasting the sleek and pristine star ships the Nubians were known for, but with the Queen’s blessing, everyone just went about their duties. The Bear Claw’s passengers and captain all exited and looked around for anyone who would help them.

Annoyed about the fact that everyone was ignoring them, Merida commented, “You know, it wouldn’t kill someone to point us in the right direction here.”

Hiccup agreed, even commenting, “You’d think a dragon would catch someone’s attention.”

“Maybe that’s why they’re ignoring us.” Hiro said. He turned to asked Elsa something, but she wasn’t there. Looking around, he found her looking out the hanger doors overlooking the wide open landscapes of Naboo. Curious, he walked over to her and noticed the amazement in her face. He looked out as well and said, “It never gets old.”

“I’ve never seen a place so beautiful in my life.” she responded. A breeze blew it, filling the air with the scent of a fresh and clean aroma. Elsa took a deep breath of it, savoring the fresh air. Releasing, she said, “It’s so pure here. Not like Dathomir.”

Hiro smiled and said, “Wait until you get to Tython.”

Elsa looked down at him and brushed his hair. She knew that once Tadashi arrived, she wouldn’t see him again.

“I wish you were coming with us.”

“Yeah, me too.” Hiro tilted his head out of Elsa’s hand and said to her, “You know, I’ve heard stories about the Nightsisters, but you’re nothing like I’ve heard. You’re kind and sweet.”

Elsa couldn’t help but blush at the comment.

“I mean it. I know Tadashi’s going to take me back to Coruscant, but I’m going to miss you, Elsa. This has been one great adventure.”

“I’ll miss you too, Hiro. I hope we see each other again.”

As he nodded, Jack joined them. Placing a hand on Hiro’s shoulder, he said, “C’mon, let’s go find your brother.”

Just as the trio joined the others, a young man came walking into the hanger. He seemed important with his regal uniform and the fact that everyone bowed to him, to which he insisted that they didn’t. He approached the group and gave a slight salute.

“Welcome, welcome! I’m sorry I’m so late, I just was informed of your arrival.” the man greeted with legit concern. Relaxing, he straightened himself up and introduced himself, “I’m Governor Eugene Fitzherbert, the Queen’s consort. I’ve been requested to escort you to the Queen.”

Jack stepped up with Hiro and greeted, “I am Jack Frost, Jedi Knight. Before we leave I need to speak with Captain Tadashi Hamada. Tell him his brother arrived.”

With that, Eugene’s face dropped. He looked down at Hiro with a somber look. This immediately sent concern through Hiro.

“You’re Captain Hamada’s brother?” Eugene asked. When Hiro reluctantly nodded, Eugene gulped and knelt down in front of him. Hiro just looked at him in utter confusion, but Eugene told him, “I’m sorry, kid. I’m afraid after you were attacked on Ord Mantell, your brother’s ship was shot down.”

Hiro and Elsa gasped, Elsa covering her lips. Jack was also stunned, not hearing any reports on the ships’ destruction since this had to have happened shortly after they took off. He turned to Merida, who was a s stunned at the others, and gave her an accusatory look, thinking she knew. However, she shook her head no. Jack believed her and relaxed himself. He looked back down at Hiro, who was on the verge of breaking down.

“Hiro.” he softly said as he reached his hand up for Hiro’s shoulder.

Hiro slapped Jack’s hand away and ran back up into the Bear's Claw.

“Hiro!” Elsa called out as she chased after him.

Jack glanced at Eugene for a moment, who like the others was sympathetic to Hiro’s plight, then looked up into the ship and ran after Elsa. He went in to see the both of them on the floor, Elsa holding onto Hiro as he sobbed wildly with his face buried into her chest. She was softly caressing his hair and rocking him, shushing and telling him it was okay. Jack knelt down next to them and wrapped his arms around Hiro with Elsa. After a moment, as his sobs began to calm down, Elsa began to hum sweetly to him.

After some time, Jack slowly came out of the ship, everyone looking at him. He walked over to Merida and asked her, “When we’re done here, can you take him back to Coruscant? I’ll pay you-”

“Stop.” Merida held her hand up. She glanced back and forth between Jack and her ship and said, “I’ll take him back, but not for money.”

Jack gave her a sad smile and nodded. He turned to see Elsa escorting Hiro out the ship, Hiro still sobbing. Jack wanted to comfort him, but Elsa was already doing a great job. He had to admire her ability to calm him down so quickly. When they stood before the Governor, she wrapped her arms around Hiro and continued to sooth him.

Eugene said to Hiro, “Young man, on behalf of the people of Naboo, I am so sorry for your loss.”

Hiro only looked away and clung onto Elsa.

Understanding his plight, Eugene let Hiro express his sorrows. After a while, everyone thought it was best to leave the hanger.

Elsa stood next to a window, but didn’t look out at the beautiful landscape. Her attention was on Hiro, who was sitting on a bench at the end of the corridor, sitting with a young woman about her age. Eugene addressed her as Queen Rapunzel Corona, however instead of getting right to the issue at hand, she pulled Hiro aside and gave her condolences. Though the Queen only gave Elsa a short greeting, Elsa found her to be cordial and kind, especially since she immediately began to show sympathy to Hiro.

Jack joined Elsa and said, “This is not how I wanted your first trip to Naboo to be.”

Elsa shook her head and said, “Hiro’s more important right now.”

“Yeah.” Jack could tell Elsa was upset. They all were, Jack especially. Tadashi was a good man and a fine soldier, a man of honor. He never looked at Elsa in discontent like so many others did and he treated Jack like an equal, not as a Jedi. Jack looked at Elsa and said, “Thank you for tending to him. He really needed it.”

Elsa held herself and said, “I owe it to Tadashi. He was just as much a reason for me escaping Dathomir as you were.”

Then she looked up at Jack, giving him a look.

“We can’t send Hiro home.”

Jack asked, “What do you mean?”

“Jack, he’ll be lost and confused. He needs us.”

Jack shook his head and said, “He needs to be with his aunt. It might be a couple of days until we can-”

“Jack, look at him. He’s lost, he’s scared. If we send him away now, it’ll be like throwing him into a nest of gundarks.”

“He needs his family.”

“We are his family.”

Jack didn’t expect that. It was true that Hiro needed to return home to his aunt on Coruscant, but what would he be going back to? Hiro told him that they were from level 1313, one of the worst hovels in the entire substratum. Elsa was right, sending Hiro back there in this state wouldn’t help at all. Maybe he could contact the Jedi order on Coruscant and have his aunt brought here to at least stay with him until he was ready to travel.

But then Jack would worry about him. As much as he wanted to get Hiro to his aunt, he himself would constantly worry about the kid. There was no point in denying it, Hiro grew on Jack and they formed a bit of a bond as well. Besides, Jack owed it to Tadashi to make sure Hiro was safe.

Jack rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s give it a few days. He needs time to mourn and we need to rest.”

Elsa nodded and leaned against him. It was like earlier when she rested against him, but he felt more comfortable. It might be the somber feeling everyone was having, but Jack felt less hesitant to the point when he even wrapped his arm around her and rested his cheek against her forehead. He looked out at the Naboo landscape, again regretting that this was her first experience off of Dathomir.

He heard the sound of steps on the marble floor and looked over to see Queen Corona walking with Hiro over to them. Jack and Elsa separated and gave Hiro their sympathies, Elsa holding her arms out and Hiro walking into her embrace.

The Queen looked at Jack and explained, “We’ll be holding a vigil tonight in honor of those lost. You’re all more than welcomed to join us.”

“Thank you, your highness.” Jack replied with a curtsy, the Queen returning with her own.

The Queen gave Hiro another sympathetic glance, but gave Elsa an apprehensive one. Jack immediately noticed it and was concerned with the look she gave Elsa. He was afraid that he was witnessing someone who wasn’t trying to kill them expressing some kind of prejudice to Elsa.

The Queen looked back at Jack and asked, “May we talk for a moment?”

Jack agreed, hoping to get some insight. They walked all the way down to where she sat with Hiro and Jack addressed, “I noticed the looked you gave Elsa, your high-”

“Oh please, Master Jedi! I insist, just call me Rapunzel.”

“Oh, well. Very well then. I noticed how you looked at Elsa. I understand you’re concerned about her, but all of us can testify that there’s nothing to worry about.”

Rapunzel nodded and said, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ll admit that I was worried when I saw a Nightsister with you, but I see her with Hiro and I can tell she really cares about him.”

“She does. We’d be dead if it wasn’t for her.”

Rapunzel gave him a small smile and said, “That’s why there was a bit of hostility in the hangar bay.”

Jack gave her a look.

“I know about it. I try to put an end to prejudice here on Naboo, but there are some people you just can’t change. Which is why if she’s to roam around here, please tell me you’ll have someone watch over her.”

Watch over her?

Jack was flabbergasted. Did she really say that? He told her, “She’s not some animal to be put on a leash, your highness.”

Rapunzel raised her eyebrows and gasped, “Oh no, that’s not what I meant! Oh my, I realized how I worded that, that’s not how I meant to put it. What I meant was that I hope she’ll have someone to protect her.”

Jack calmed but he was still offended, telling her, “We’ll keep an eye on everyone else, but she’s got nothing to worry about. She can look out for herself.”

“That’s what I mean. There are people here who would find her presence a bit, for a lack of better word, hostile.”

Jack turned to look down the corridor towards Elsa and Hiro. They were looking out the window and talking, her hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but she was smiling so she must be calming him down.

Turning back to Rapunzel, he asked, “Does that look hostile?”

Rapunzel said nothing at first, but her eyes could tell that she agreed with him. She sighed and said, “It’s not me you have to convince.”

Gaston’s ship was berthed in the swamps miles away from Theed, not wanting to garner any attention. He packed up some weapons and locked up his ship before making the trek across the field to the city. There was a smile across his face as he thought about claiming his prize. Even though Lefou failed, he didn’t let that deter him. He wasn’t going to stop until his blaster ended Elsa’s life and add a Nightsister to his list of kills. Even if Jack tried to stop him, he could add a Jedi to the list along with it. Nothing was going to stop him.

Chapter Text

Night fell upon the city as Hiro sat alone on a windowsill, still numb from the news he had received of Tadashi. He wanted to be alone, to not have anyone bother him as he contemplated his thoughts. Tadashi was really gone. He should have known something like this would happen since Tadashi was assigned to the 501st, but it still came as the shock of his life. He hadn’t felt this way since he was a child when his parents died and his aunt took them on. Did his Aunt Cass know? Would he be the one to tell her? What was going to happen to him now? Would he be sent back to Coruscant? Would he have to withdraw from the academy? So many questions rushing through his head, yet no answers.

The one thing he was thankful for was that everyone was there to support him. He knew Jack and Elsa were nearby, watching over him. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate it, he just wanted his privacy. Merida was down in the dining room filling her gullet, but she told him that should he need to talk, she was there. For a smuggler, she was truly caring. Hiccup took Toothless out for a flight in the Nubian night, but he promised Hiro that he wouldn’t be long. They might not have talked much, but Hiro felt a friendly aura from his new Mandalorian companion, like he could trust Hiccup with just about anything. Even Toothless tried to comfort Hiro. He was more than just a dragon, he could understand and sense that Hiro was hurting and even tried to snuggle against him. Hiro wasn’t too keen at first, but the purrs of the large reptile almost gave him comfort.

Then there was the Queen herself. Queen Corona was extremely compassionate to Hiro’s plight and offered her best to comfort him in any way. He heard about her charity but didn’t think it was that strong. From the moment she sat down with him, she didn’t treat him lesser as a commoner or as a child, she treated him like a friend in need. She reminded him of one of Tadashi’s friends, a girl named Honey Lemon who treated him like a little brother. The way the Queen treated him was like an older sister trying her best to comfort her little brother, kind and caring. Like the others, she assured him that she was there for him if he ever needed any comfort.

“Hiro?” Much to his surprise, the Queen was slowly walking up to him. He moved his legs so she could sit with him. He still wanted to be alone, but he knew that she would be long so he let her be. As she sat, she told him, “The ceremony will begin soon.”

Still baffled, he slowly looked up at her and asked, “Queen Corona, may I ask you something?”

“Of course. And please, call me Rapunzel.”

“Oh, okay. Rapunzel, why are you doing this ceremony for my brother? Did you know him?”

“Sadly, I did not. I’ve heard a great deal about Captain Hamada, but I never had the pleasure of meeting him. As to why we’re doing this, it’s because it’s tradition. He was a just warrior and a protector. Here on Naboo, we honor those with such valor because the Core doesn’t.”

She wasn’t wrong. To the Republic, when a soldier dies, no matter the rank, it’s only briefly mentioned and then it goes back to its usual business. Tadashi’s death would be deemed an “acceptable loss”, nothing more. Hiro was more than grateful for Rapunzel and her people to take time and honor his memory, even for a short moment. This made him shed a tear.

Rapuznel reached up and wiped it, smiling and telling him, “You have wonderful friends, Hiro. They care deeply about you.”

Hiro looked at her and gave her a sad smile. All he could do was nod in response.

Gaston had scaled the cliffside leading up to Theed Royal Palace and was now sneaking along the upper walls in the dark. He knew that a gathering was being held at the plaza so he knew the guards would be distracted. This would be easy for him to find a place to perch and wait for his target.

Thankfully there were plenty of handmaiden robes to spare so Jack managed to snatch one for Elsa. Even though he didn’t want to, it was her insistence that she attend the vigil in disguise. She didn’t want to cause any trouble, especially since this was for Tadashi and she didn’t want to be the cause of a debacle. She even covered her face so no one would see her markings. Truthfully, she hated to cover herself like this but she had no other choice.

The door opened and Jack walked in. The two gazed upon each other for a moment before Elsa asked, “Is Hiro okay?”

Jack nodded, but the conversation switched to, “You don’t have to wear that. I will-”

“Jack, we’ve been over this.” Elsa cut him off. Unlike before, Elsa was much more stern. “I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for Hiro.”

Jack was about to retort, but he didn’t want to upset her any further so he just nodded in response.

Elsa on the other hand felt terrible for being as stern as she was. She usually wasn’t, but ever since the news of Tadashi, she just couldn’t stop worrying about Hiro. There was this feeling of wanting to protect him all the time, even at the cost of her own comfort. True, it was frustrating but that was no reason to give Jack a hard time about it.

“Jack, I’m sorry.” she softly said. “I just want to do this for Hiro.”

Jack smiled and replied, “It’s okay. And I get it, I’m worried too. I just…”

She knew why he was like this. She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, smiling at him under the shawl, telling him, “I know. Please don’t worry about me. I’m doing this for Hiro, not myself.”

“It’s still not right.”

Elsa then wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.

“You’re a good man, Jack. I’ll be fine.”

Jack’s heart raced as she embraced him, but he hid his emotions. He didn’t want to worry her with any sudden outburst. Instead, he just wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head.

“Am I interrupting?” They both looked to see Eugene standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Flustered, they quickly parted and blushed. Rolling his eyes, he said, “The ceremony’s starting. I’ll take you both down.”

He then directed them out the room and they followed him towards the plaza.

All of Theed had gathered outside the palace, lanterns in their hands. Rapunzel stood atop the steps, Hiro standing next to her. She was also holding a lantern. Jack and Elsa joined them, along with Merida, but Hiccup and Toothless were still absent.

Rapunzel proclaimed, “People of Naboo, we gather here to remember the lives of many brave soldiers whose lives were taken in the line of duty. It’s our tradition to remember those who perish in the service of others.”

She then turned to Hiro and held out the lantern. He wasn’t sure what to do.

“For your brother.”

Hiro slowly took it, figuring out the purpose of the lantern. She guided him up in front of the crowd, softly held his wrists and lifted his arms. When his hands were above his head, he felt the lantern lighten as it began to levitate. He watched as it slowly flew away into the air, soaring high into the sky. Shortly after, the people that surrounded them did the same. The lanterns flew high above them, lighting the night sky up like stars in space.

For a moment, Hiro was lost in the spectacle, almost forgetting about Tadashi and just focused on the lights around them. It was beautiful.

Elsa looked up at the lanterns as well, just as mesmerized. Jack also stared up at them, but he glanced down at her. He could see the wonder in her eyes, this made him smile. He couldn’t explain it, but he always wanted to see her happy. When she was upset or scared, he felt a searing pain in his chest. When she was like this, he was more subdued and happier.

Then, he felt a strange presence nearby. It was a threat, but with so many people he could never tell where it was or who it was. He scanned the crowd, waiting for the slightest motion.

As Hiro looked up, watching the lanterns ascend to the skies, something caught his eye. It was something atop a palace wall. He squinted to get a better look, making out the outline of a person. As he tried to focus harder, he could make out what looked like a rifle. An assassin? Who were they aiming for? The Queen?

No! It was Elsa!

Hiro turned and shoved Elsa out of the way just as Gaston had pulled the trigger. The blaster bolt missed Elsa, but it singed Hiro’s shoulder. He cried out in pain as the crowd panicked and scattered, leaving only Jack, Elsa, Merida, Rapunzel, Eugene and the Queen’s guard. While the others went to help Hiro, Jack looked up to see where the blast came from. He could see Gaston, who was ready to fire another round. When he did, Jack activated his lightsaber and blocked it. Gaston kept firing as Jack engaged him.

Hiro groaned in pain as he gripped his shoulder, Elsa removing her cover and cloaking him. Baymax was in the palace as his power station was charging so they had to usher him back inside for cover. Elsa watched as Jack was still deflecting Gaston’s blasts. Knowing full well that the bounty hunter was the one that hit Hiro, Elsa felt her rage rise as she looked up at where Gaston was perched. She used Jack as a distraction as she charged past the Jedi. He called out for her, but she ignored him. Once she was at the base of the wall, she powered her ice powers into her hands and threw them down. Her ice released so powerfully that it propelled her into the air. She flew up higher and higher until she leaped over the edge of the wall. Gaston noticed her and began to fire on her, but she used her ice to block each blast. Once she got an opening, an ice ball formed in her palm and she threw it hard at him, hitting him in the chest. He was forced back against a nearby spire. As he tried to recover from the wind getting knocked out of him, she slowly stalked him, snow and ice engulfing her hands. Still winded, he raised his rifle only for Jack to leap over the wall and slice down on the barrel. With his rifle destroyed, Gaston rolled along the spire and drew a side arm. Jack and Elsa were on his tail as he ran, Gaston turning back to fire at them. He was close to a door that led inside the palace. He would be chased by security, but at least he’d have cover.

However, the door opened and he was greeted by a blaster. A blaster being held by Rapunzel herself. She fired, but he dodged her just in time. He had only one recourse and that was to jump.

Over the ledge he went to the 20 foot drop below. He landed with a roll and began to run as Rapunzel fired on him. He ran for the main gate in hopes of escape, but the flash of a large orange puff with a green trench coat blocked him. Merida had her blaster drawn and ordered him to stop, but Gaston just turned and ran another direction. Again, he was cut off when the black dragon landed in front of him. Toothless snarled as smoke streamed from his mouth, making Gaston give a slight quiver at the massive reptile. Not only that, but Hiccup jet down as well with his Westar pointing at Gaston. Joining them were Jack, Elsa and Rapunzel. He was surrounded. Begrudgingly, Gaston dropped his weapons and held his hands up.

“Who hired you?” Rapunzel demanded. He only glanced at her. More aggressively, Rapunzel said, “Tell up who hired you now!”

“Don’t even bother, I know this clown.” Merida jumped in. “He’s Gaston, one of the best bounty hunters to the underworld. He’s not going to talk.”

Before anyone could say more, Elsa gripped Gaston’s throat. Despite her thinner and more frail stature, everyone was surprised that he struggled to remove her hand. Not only that, frost began to form on his skin.

“It doesn’t matter. He shot at Hiro, he must die.” Elsa snarled.

“Elsa, stop!” Jack pleaded, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her off. He also noticed her eyes were glowing, a blue aura smoking emulating from them. He knew she was tapping into her Nightsister magic. Still, he tried to reason with her, “He’s just a pawn! We need to know who hired him! We need him alive!”

Then, Elsa gasped and collapsed into Jack’s arms. Jack looked up to see Rapunzel standing over them, nervously looking at them. She used her pistol to knock Elsa out. With Jack looking at her, she yelped and jumped away.

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

Panicking, she nervously replied, “She was going to kill him! We need him alive.”

Gaston was on the ground gasping for air while Merida and Hiccup held their blasters to him. The frost around his neck was melting as he held it. He glared at Elsa and sneered, “Filthy witch.”

“Shut your mouth.” Jack replied. Then, Elsa gasped as she woke up in his arms. As her eyes opened, returned to normal, he asked her, “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry!” Rapunzel squealed.

Elsa just confusingly looked up at her then groaned when she tried to move her head. She reached up and rubbed where she was hit. Then, her memory came back. After remembering that Rapunzel hit her, she gave a chuckle.

“Nice hit.” she said to Rapunzel.

Jack stood with Elsa still in his arms and they turned their attention back to Gaston. He glared at them all as the guards came running up. Rapunzel ordered them to arrest him. When they lifted him up, someone rushed past everyone and shoved Gaston back down and jumped on top of him. Everyone was stunned to see Hiro using a stone to bash Gaston’s face with.

“Who hired you! Tell me!” Hiro hollered. He kept hitting, demanding answers, “Who killed Tadashi? Tell me!”

“Hiro, that’s enough!” Hiccup shouted as he pulled Hiro off Gaston. The boy thrashed and demanded to be put down, but the Mandalorian wasn’t giving in. As Hiro continued to shout, Hiccup responded, “We won’t get answers if you kill him!”

Instead of arguing, Hiro only kept screaming for Tadashi. He began to wind down and Hiccup held him close, trying his best to comfort him.

“It’s okay, kid. You’re okay.”

Merida knelt down next to Gaston and looked his injuries over. That’s when she noticed he just laid there motionless. She reached for his throat and pressed her fingers against it. After a moment she told everyone that Gaston was dead.

Jack and Elsa looked at each other, stunned that Hiro just killed a man in cold blood. They then looked at Hiro, still crying in Hiccup’s arms. Merida and Rapunzel were just as stunned. The guards, on the other hand, had witnessed a murder. They were inclined to take the boy into custody. That would have been if they weren’t greeted by the gleam of the darksaber. Hiccup wasn’t going to let them take him.

“Hiro Hamada is now under the protection of the Dragon Riders of Mandalore. I, Hiccup Haddock, take him under my guidance as a Mandalorian Foundling.” Hiccup proclaimed. While most of the others were still stunned, Jack and Merida smiled. Hiccup finished his proclamation, “The blood spilled here is not murder but retribution. Gaston was a part of a band of mercenaries that were responsible for the death of an honorable warrior. Blood for blood, that is the creed. This is the Way.”

Hiro said nothing more as he clung tighter to Hiccup as he continued to protect him. The guards were ready to raise their blasters.

“Lower your weapons.” Rapunzel ordered. The guards looked at her, but she said, “We on Naboo honor the Mandalorian traditions. Lower your weapons.”

Without question, they did. They backed off as the others gathered around the two. Hiccup deactivated the darksaber and clipped it to his belt. Jack let Elsa stand on her own as she softly brushed Hiro’s hair. The boy looked up to see everyone showing him sympathy. He felt safe here.

Rapunzel stifled and said, “There’s a conspiracy here. As a leader of the Republic and servant of the people, I must honor my duty.”

Jack glanced at her and asked, “Your highness, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I have a job to do and I can’t do it here on Naboo. If you’re going to Tython to uncover this plot, then I’m going too.”

Chapter Text

The Bear’s Claw sped through hyperspace to Tython. Hiro slept against Elsa as she napped. Both Hiccup and Jack looked over them as they sat at the dining table. Jack was deeply worried about their young friend. He knew that Hiro was hurting because of the loss of Tadashi, but he didn’t hesitate to kill Gaston. He may not have intended to, but it still happened. This wasn’t going to be easy on him.

Jack gave Hiccup a glance. He was about to say something when the Mandalorian held up his hand.

“Don’t.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.” Jack replied.

“I don’t need to and I don’t need you ragging on me.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Well whatever you’re going to say, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Even if I told you you did the right thing?”

Hiccup rolled his eyes and looked away.

“I’m serious. I know why you did it and I know your intentions.”

Hiccup glared at him and asked, “Is that so? What are my intentions?”

“That you don’t actually intend to train him. That you only did that to protect him.”

Hiccup was about to respond angrily, but his expression softened and he relaxed. Hiccup knew all too well that the Jedi could sense his true emotions, but he was only half right.

“He still needs to defend himself. He can’t just depend on Baymax his whole life.”

Jack smirked and nodded in agreement. He looked over towards Hiro and Elsa, still smiling. He was really grateful that Elsa soothed Hiro after what happened on Naboo. He knew Hiro felt instant regret after killing Gaston, but he was so full of rage that he couldn’t control himself. No one on the ship blamed him for reacting the way that he did.

Jack stood up to place a blanket on both of them, but Rapunzel came into the room with a blanket and covered Hiro. She slowly ran her hand through his hair before softly caressing his cheek. Jack’s smile widened at her, Hiccup also smiling at her. She took notice.

“What?” she smiled back. “Just because I’m a Queen doesn’t mean I can’t take care of someone.”

“That’s why I’m smiling.” Hiccup told her. “It’s rare to see a leader of your stature to care for someone so young.”

“‘The innocence of youth must be protected at all cost’. That’s the way we were taught on Naboo. My father taught me to guide the people with compassion but to take up arms when needed. Our history has taught us to never let our guard down.”

“That explains why you’re so handy with a blaster, your highness.” Jack said as he crossed his arms. “How long have you trained in combat, may I ask?”

“Of course. Well, first off, it’s not ‘your highness’. It’s Rapunzel. Secondly, my father had the best of his guards train me in the art of combat ever since I was a little girl. He hated the idea of someone taking advantage of the royal family so He wanted both mother and I to learn how to defend ourselves.”

“Where are your parents?” Hiccup asked.

“Coruscant. My father became senator of Naboo when I came of age and took over as Queen. My mother reigned while he was governor, but he took over as senator because she was tired of the responsibility. When my tenure is done, Eugene will also become senator when our heir is old enough to rule. Naboo is a matriarchal society, but both men and women are equal.”

“What if you don’t have a daughter?” Jack asked.

“Oh we will. Half a millenia ago, we did away with voting for the Queen and established a royal family and every line has had a daughter.”

“I guess I’d count that lucky.”

Everyone looked to see Merida sitting by herself in a chair next to the command panel.

“My family were deemed to be royalty but we decided to leave our home with my three little brothers. We went from planet to planet before we decided to take land on Ord Mantell. It was so cheap, my da bought it for a literal credit. I think my parents were ready to step down for the longest time to live a simple life.”

“What do they do now?” Rapunzel asked, sitting down next to her.

“My da runs a spare parts shop in the town I saved this lot. You’d think it would be dangerous, but no one would dare mess with a beast of a man like him. My mother helps out, but she spends most of her time training my brothers like she did me.”

Then there was a beeping from the panel next to Merida.

“We’re arriving. Jack, better let them know we’re coming.”

Jack followed Merida into the cockpit and strapped in next to her. They waited until they got closer to jump out of hyperspace. When they did, all they had to do was wait for Tython to relay to them. The wait wasn’t long.

“This is Tython control, please identify yourself.”

Jack took over the communication, “This is Jack Frost, Jedi Knight. I am expected to rendezvous with Master Saint North at the High Temple.”

“Copy. We have you on record as due and you may dock at the temple. Welcome home, Jack Frost.”

The Bear Claw descended to the planet below. With the two alone, Jack had a question on his mind.

“Hey Merida, there’s something you never told us.”

“What’s that?”

“Why did you become a smuggler?”

“Why not?”

“Well spare parts sales on Ord Mantell is a lucrative business. Why not just stick with that?”

Merida sneered and said, “Look, I love my family, I really do. But you know, you need to make your own way without them.”

Jack just shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

“What about you?”

Jack looked over at her curiously.

“A Jedi. How did you end up like this?”

Jack just sat in silence. He never really pondered the life he had before he was a Jedi. It was all he knew, growing up on Tython, training with his master and the other padawans and becoming a Knight at the age of fifteen. Nothing at all before. He didn’t know who his parents were, nor did it even bother him. All his life, Master North was his father and that’s all that mattered.

“The life of the Jedi was all I knew.” Jack said. He looked out to see the ship breach the atmosphere and watch as they broke through the clouds to see the lush green landscapes and the scattered lakes. There were ruins and temple all along the land and the cliffs reaching for the skies. Jack smiled and said, “It never gets old.”

Merida smirked at him and said, “The docking bay’s locked in. We’re beginning our descent.”

Jack nodded and got up to let the others know. When he got back to the common area, he saw that both Hiro and Elsa were awake. Elsa looked somewhat refreshed, but Hiro still looked tired.

Jack sat next to him and asked, “Hey kid, you okay?”

Hiro shook his head and said, “I kept having bad dreams.”

Jack nodded and he let Elsa hold Hiro. Both she and Jack looked at each other, Elsa giving him a look of concern. He didn’t blame her, they were all concerned for him. As she brushed his hair, she softly continued to hum the same tune she hummed the first time she tried to calm him down.

“We’ll we’re arriving on Tython. My Master will help us from here on out.”

They felt the ship begin to shift and the landing gear engage. After a while, there was a tremor and the ship powered down. Merida walked out, slipping on her overcoat, and opened the exit. Everyone followed her out onto the platform.

“Whoa.” They all heard Merida softly exhale. Once they exited the ship, they understood why.

Tython was beautiful. The landing platform was built atop a waterfall that spilled down into a lake deep in a rocky valley that streamed a large river flowing towards a mountain range. The white clouds above shaded some of the sun, but what rays escaped shone down in curtains of gold, adding more to the beauty.

Elsa’s eye watered at the sight before her. While Naboo was beautiful, this affected her differently. Never in her life would she ever think she’d see such a beautiful place in all her life. She was about to wipe her eyes when she felt a hand reach up and do it for her. She turned to see Jack next to her, softly wiping her cheek.

“Jack…it’s beautiful here.”

Jack gave her such a sweet smile that her heart fluttered. The combination of him and Tython gave such a comforting and loving aura she had never felt before. For the first in forever, she truly felt safe.

“Jack Frost!”

Everyone looked over to see a large and burly man walk over to them with his muscular arms open. He was wearing a large red overcoat with black fur, the same kind of fur that made the hat covering his long silver hair, his garb colored in the same shade of red along with gold and black contrasting his long white beard. His blue eyes wide with excitement as he kept them on Jack.

“Master North.” Jack replied, walking over and embraced him. “It’s good to see you.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” North let him go and patted him on the back. His eyes then met Elsa, who slightly recoiled. He slowly walked her way and told her, “Don’t be afraid, my dear. No one will harm you here.”

He held his hand out to her and she apprehensively looked at it. She gave Jack a glance and he nodded to her. She slowly held her hand out and placed it in his. His hands were so massive that it all but engulfed hers when he closed it. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

“You’ve suffered so much.” North softly groaned. Taking more breaths, he continued, “So much fear, so much loss, so much pain. A lifetime of horrors and yet, you still keep your innocence. Elsa, my dear, you are a pure soul.” North opened his eyes and told her, “You’re safe here, my dear. No harm will come to you, I promise.”

Elsa couldn’t hold back her smile nor could she keep herself from hugging him. North’s words were like Jack, full of care and kindness, now she knew where he got it from. She opened her eyes to see Jack giving her his famous smile as North embraced her. They stayed this way until he stood up and looked around the rest of the group.

“Tell me, Jack, who are the rest of these youngsters.”

The Jedi Temple was bustling with so many Jedi that it was almost intimidating. However, not many paid the group much mind and what few did greeted them kindly. Even Elsa was treated with respect despite the Jedi and Nightsisters being enemies. It was possible that, like Jack and North, they could sense her true nature. She wasn’t here to cause trouble, she was here to be safe.

North had told the group that they needed to meet with the Jedi High Council so North and Jack could debrief them on the events that have transpired over the past several days. North had gone into the main building to convene with them but Jack waited outside with the group. He told everyone about how he was raised on the planet and how he spent so much time in his youth on the temple grounds. He also told them on how much Jedi teachings on attachments had changed so he was free to make as many friends as he wanted.

“Jack!”

Speaking of friends, a young woman came running up to them. She was about Jack’s age with dark features such as bronze skin, dark hair and dark brown eyes. When she reached the group, she immediately wrapped her arms around Jack.

“Whoa, Raya! Too much!” Jack chuckled. The two embraced for a moment until they parted and laughed. “It’s good to see you too! It’s been too long!”

“I know!” Raya excitedly replied. “I heard about your adventure, I was worried!”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Jack turned back to his group and introduced her, “Raya, let me introduce you to my friends. Sister Elsa of Dathomir.”

Raya gave Elsa a Jedi’s bow and Elsa replied as such, but she gave the young woman a bit of an apprehensive look. Ever since Raya hugged Jack, Elsa could help but feel a bit of resentment towards her. She couldn’t explain it, but she didn’t like that Raya had the audacity to put her hands on Jack, even if it was friendly.

Not realizing Elsa’s feelings, Jack continued, “Hiro Hamada, he’s a droid builder and an amazing mechanic.”

Hiro, still a bit numb from what happened on Naboo, gave her an apprehensive greeting. This didn’t go unnoticed by the young Jedi. She knelt down in front of him, closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. After a moment, she spoke.

“You have so much pain in your heart. You’ve experienced a loss so painful to bear.”

Hiro said nothing, only looked away.

“I also feel an action that causes you great regret. A life…” Raya opened her eyes with a smile, placed her hand on his shoulder and told her, “Revenge isn’t always right, but the fact that you regret your actions shows that you have a kind spirit. It will take some time to heal but…”

Raya glanced around at the group.

“You have such wonderful friends to help you through it.”

She slowly slid her hand off his shoulder, only for Elsa to pull Hiro into an embrace. Hiro looked up at her to see her smiling down at him. He looked back at Raya, who also continued to smile. Raya stood back up and glanced at Jack.

He told the group, “Raya is Master Sisu’s finest student. She’s fully attuned with the Force and can see into the heart and soul of many.”

“I’m not perfect at it but that’s the great thing about being a Jedi; You never stop learning.” Raya looked at Hiccup and said with a smirk, “A Mandalorian? On Tython? We better call security.”

Hiccup could tell she was joking. He placed his fist over his heart, lowered his head and introduced, “I am Hiccup Haddock of Concord Dawn. I come with my trust mount and best friend, Toothless.”

Raya reached out to Toothless, letting him smell her finger. He sniffed for a bit before nuzzling his snout against her hand. He purred loudly and gave her hand a slight lick. A slimy film was left on her hand and she nervously chuckled, shaking her hand to try and get it off.

Jack laughed and said, “And last but not least, Merida DunBroch.”

“Smuggler and gambler at your service.” Merida added with a wink.

gave another bow and said, “I’m very pleased to meet you all. Any friend of Jack’s is a friend of mine.”

Jack added, “Raya and I grew up together. We trained in the meadows not far from here, testing each other’s abilities and perfecting them. Like I said, Raya’s strength is in her abilities to wield the Force.”

“And Jack’s is in his abilities to wield a lightsaber. He’s wise but he’s better on the battlefield than in teaching.”

That was when Jack had an idea. He gave Elsa a look and asked her, “You wanna test that?”

Elsa’s eyes widened in confusion.

Looking back at Raya, Jack said, “Elsa’s pretty powerful with her magic. Maybe I could teach her a few things about Jedi techniques.”

Raya smirked and said, “If you’re certain you can.”

The two winked at each other when North returned. He must have heard them because he told them, “It’ll have to wait until later. Jack, the High Council will see you now.”

“Okay, be right there.” Jack asked Raya, “Hey, can you show everyone around? I’ll meet up with you later?”

“Sure! I’d love to!” Raya turned and took Elsa’s hands. Despite Elsa’s stunned apprehension, she insisted, “C’mon! There’s someone I want you to meet!”

“But I-” Elsa tried to protest as Raya began to pull her away. She turned to see Jack standing with North and called out, “I’ll see you later!”

“See you later, Elsa!” Jack called out as he waved to her. With everyone else leaving with Raya and Elsa, he turned to North, who was smirking at him with his arms crossed. Jack asked, “What?”

North chuckled and asked, “Have you and the Nightsister gotten close?”

“Of course, Master. We saved each other.”

“Is that all?”

Jack wanted to reply, but he knows where this line of questioning was going.

“I don’t know…Let’s just get this over with.”

Raya continued to pull Elsa along the trail leading up to the mountains near the temple. It didn’t take the Force to tell that Raya was really excited to show everyone something. Elsa, despite being dragged, was still apprehensive for this new Jedi. She didn’t know what to think of this girl, this stranger that only Jack knew. That alone bothered her, thinking that Raya’s relationship with Jack was more than what they said.

Raya turned back to Elsa and excitedly said, “C’mon, we’re almost there! There’s someone I want to-”

Raya was cut off when she turned and came to a stop when someone walked onto the trail ahead of them. The person was tall in dark robes, much out of place on Tython, and his hands folded in front of him. He was thin in stature, intimidatingly looking down at the group with his dark eyes. Silver hair showed from under a tricorn hat, framing a thin aging man.

Raya let Elsa’s hands go and bowed to the stranger, greeting him. “Master Frollo.”

Frollo nodded before turning his attention to Elsa. The look he gave her made her feel uneasy, like his eyes were trying to strangle the life out of her.

Turning his nose up, he asked Raya, “Why is there a Nightsister on our sacred home?”

Raya looked up and said, “She came here with Jack. He made it home okay.”

Frollo raised his eyebrow as he looked the rest of the group over. Like Elsa, they didn’t like his glare. Not looking away, he said to Raya, “Leave it to Frost to bring such riff raff to Tython. Nightsisters, smugglers, Mandalorians, what has the Jedi Order come to?”

Rapunzel cleared her throat and said, “With all due respect, Master Jedi, but I can vouch for them. I am-”

“I know who you are, your highness. I must also add you have no authority here. The Jedi High Council are authorized to allow these…guests here.”

“And we have the authority of Master Saint North. If you wish to discuss this with him.”

Frollo’s sneer grew as Rapunzel glared back at him, crossing her arms. After a minute, he broke his gaze and gave Raya a disappointed look. Still, he gave her a bow and walked past the group down the trail towards the temple. Everyone just watched him walk off and disappear in the treeline.

“That’s Master Claude Frollo, the saber master.” Raya somberly said. “He’s the best but he’s also the most arrogant of all the masters. He still wishes to honor the old ways.”

Hiccup looked up at her and asked, “Old ways? What old ways?”

“Like the whole idea of Jedi not forming attachments.” Raya took a breath, releasing her tension when she sensed an approaching presence. “Speaking of attachments.”

She turned and looked up the trail to see another person walking down the mountain towards them. A young woman with similar dark features as Raya in a beige tank top, gold belt with crimson sash, blue pants with long black boots and gold rings on her muscular arms. Clipped to her belt were two lightsaber hilts. Her hair was short with a side cut, her dark eyes gazing down at  Raya. When they were face to face, she was slightly taller than Raya.

Much to Elsa’s surprise, the two deeply embraced, Raya resting her head on the woman’s chest for a moment. Again, much to her surprise, Elsa watched as Raya raised her head to kiss the woman. Suddenly, all the worry she had about Raya seemed to fade away.

Raya let the woman go, save for holding her hand, and looked back at the group and introduced her, “Everyone, this is my girlfriend Namaari.”

Frollo entered the temple grounds, his face still twisted in annoyance as he looked about at the distant mountain range. He paid no attention to the path as he looked off, nearly bumping into someone. They managed to stop before the two could collide. It was a man, possibly forties, auburn hair with a matching mustache and blue eyes, black surcoat over a long sleeved tunic with brown cuffs and gray pants, a saber staff clipped to his red belt.

Sneering, Frollo greeted, “Master Agnarr.”

“Master Frollo.” the man greeted dryly. Clearing his throat to ease some tension, he asked, “You seem to be in a bitter mood. Any trouble?”

“Any time it involves Jack Frost, there’s always trouble. Once again, he makes a mockery of the Jedi traditions.”

Scoffing, Agnarr replies, “The boy so much as breathes, you accuse him of mocking the traditions. Times have changed, Frollo. It’s time you have as well.”

Frollo glared at him and said, “The ancient traditions have kept this order alive for millennia. I’d rather them fade away than let fools like Frost taint them.”

“Need I remind you they nearly did because of no attachments? After Skywalker, the ways have changed, we can form attachments, we can have close friendships, we can fall in love and the Order has grown stronger ever since. The way you think, you sound more and more like a Sith.”

This made Frollo give Agnarr a glare after that statement. Agnarr met his glare with stern opposition, meeting it with a similar glare. Like many other Masters, Agnarr disapproved of Frollo’s zealotry. For centuries, the Jedi Order evolved for the better and yet, he wanted it to fall back into the ways that lead to its downfall. He was a wise teacher and an expert saber master so the Order still needed him.

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Agnarr broke the glare and asked, “What did he even do this time?”

Frollo calmed and said, “The boy brought a Mandalorian and a Nightsister to Tython.”

Agnarr curiously asked, “A Nightsister? Why would he bring her here?”

“If North’s story is true, then it’s the Nightsister he claimed saved Frost on Dathomir. If they actually had any sense at all, they’d realize that this is just a ploy.”

Agnarr sneered again and said, “I was saved by a Nightsister long ago. Maybe she actually is what they say.”

“Don’t be fooled, Agnarr. They’re all alike, no matter what color they wear.”

“What does that even mean?”

“This witch wears blue instead of the basic crimson.”

“Wait, blue?” Agnarr gasped.

Raising his eyebrow, Frollo replied, “Yes, blue. Why?”

“No-Nothing.” Agnarr stammered, taking a few steps back. He paused for a moment, not looking at Frollo before softly saying, “I-I’ll let you go back to what you were doing. Good day, Master Frollo.”

Watching Agnarr stagger away in confusion, Frollo softly replied, “Good day, Master Agnarr.”

Leaving the grounds, Agnarr ran his hand through his hair and held his chest, trying to slow down his racing heart. This was causing him to lose balance and start to lose his footing. He went over to a nearby tree for support, but he slowly slid down to the ground and supported himself against the trunk. He took a few breaths to help calm himself.

When he could finally speak, he loudly gasped, “Elsa!”

Chapter Text

“Are you certain it was someone in the communication’s room, Jack?” Master Bunnymund asked.

Jack glanced over at the Lepus Jedi Master and told him, “I have no doubt. The pirates attacked us right after I made contact with Master North. No one else knew we were there.”

Toothina, the Devaronian member of the Jedi High Council, told Jack, “But Ord Mantell is a pirate hive, they could have just attacked you because they felt like it.”

“It’s more than that, Master Toothina. I had…a vision.”

Master North raised his eyebrow and asked, “What vision?”

“A vision…of the Sith.”

Bunnymund crossed his arms and asked, “What about this vision?”

“I dreamt I saw an army of them attacking innocent people.”

“Wait, I thought you said it was a vision.”

“Well I saw it in a dream.”

“Jack, there’s a difference between a dream and a vision.”

“Look I know it sounds-”

Jack was cut off when he felt a slight tug on his arm. He looked down to see the Jedi Grand Master, Sanderson. The Ugnaught didn’t speak, but he was the most adept in the Force more than any Jedi. His abilities have brought him to the rank of Grand Master, one of them being able to communicate through the Force. This time, he needed to use the Force to read Jack’s mind. He motioned Jack to sit before him, to which the young night did. Master Sanderson also sat down to instruct him to close his eyes and take a deep breath. When they both closed their eyes, they entered into the dreamspace of Jack’s mind.

Master Sanderson and Jack awoke to the sight of mist as they slowly walked through the glowing landscape of the dreamspace. They knew it wouldn’t take long for things to clear up, knowing the purpose of this journey. When the mist was clear, they saw two figures, a small one and a large one. The large one was a tall burly man in Jedi robes. His dark beard hung from his chin as he knelt down to pick up the small crying boy. The boy had white hair.

“What’s your name, little one?” the Jedi asked softly.

Sobbing, the boy replied, “J-Jack.”

“Where are your parents, Jack?”

“I-I-I dunno.”

“Then how about I look after you until we find them, eh?”

The figures faded away, leaving Sanderson and Jack alone. Sanderson looked up at Jack with a concerned look. Jack just stared off where the two figures were.

“They never came back.” Jack said somberly. He sadly looked down at the Grand Master and said, “That was the day Master North took me in. It was the start of my journey as a Jedi.”

Sanderson only smiled and nodded to him, making Jack smile as well. With that, they carried on. The dreamspace was still in a mist but there were patches of clearing along the way. They passed by the parts of Jack’s past that marked him, such as when he discovered his ice powers. Few were fearful but Master North and his friends cheered him on, encouraging him to enhance them. There was the time a forest fire broke out and some padawans were trapped in the inferno. Jack pushed his powers to the max when he used them to douse the flames. Even though he was exhausted, he kept on pushing until they were saved. Sanderson looked up at Jack, proud of the young Jedi. He was only nine at the time.

Then came the part Jack feared the most. During his training, he had faced one of the most powerful Jedi ever.

“Your skills with a saber are lacking, Jackson.” Both Jack and Sanderson heard the voice of Sabermaster Frollo. A young Jack was on the ground, panting hard with a training saber hilt near his hand. Overlooking him was Frollo, his purple lightsaber ignited and only inches away from Jack. The old man said, “If you wish to battle with a lightsaber, you need to be able to predict your opponent’s next move.”

Jack grabbed the training saber and lunged for Frollo, shouting as he did. However, merely grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him back to the ground.

“I said predict your opponent’s next move, don’t let them predict yours.” Frollo deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. Folding his hands in front of him, Frollo mocked, “Look at you, Frost. A weak little boy who can’t defend himself with the simplest of tools. You’re not even worthy to carry that training saber. All you can rely on is your ice and nothing more.”

Jack, still panting looked up. His eyes glowed orange as rage coursed through him. Even at eleven years of age, Jack was strong in the Force, but he was still a child, with a child’s rage. The older Jack looked down at his younger self in both fear and shame.

“That was the first time I ever felt such rage.” he told Sanderson. “I felt like nothing I could ever do was right, that Master Frollo was right about me not being able to defend myself.”

Jack shamefully looked down at Sanderson, who only gave him a caring smile. The Grandmaster held up his finger to tell him to wait and watch. Jack looked to see the younger Jack take a breath and close his eyes.

Frollo chuckled and said, “I will let the Jedi Council know that you just tapped into the Dark Side of the Force. They’ll cast you out, Jackson. You’ll be all alone.”

With that, Frollo turned and began to walk away.

“Master Frollo.” the young Jack called to him. The older man looked back at him and watched him stand back with eyes closed. When Jack opened them, they were back to their normal sapphire blue. The boy said, “How about a deal? One more round. You win, I’ll let you tell the Jedi Council. If I win, you say nothing.”

Frollo chuckled again and said, “Bold of you to assume that you have a chance. But since I find beating you quite amusing, I’ll indulge you. This will be quick.”

As Master Frollo activated his lightsaber, Jack tossed his training saber and reached for the rack of saber hilts. There were all manner of different blades ready, but the one that flew from the rack into Jack’s hand was a saberstaff hilt. Jack activated both blades and leaped towards the Jedi Master. With the sudden change of style and weaponry, Frollo’s enthusiasm faded. He tried to adjust his stratagem but Jack was far too quick for him. The young padawan was finally finding his momentum in the battle, letting the Force guide each swift strike until finally he found an opening. Jack sweeped his foot underneath Frollo’s legs, knocking him down to the ground. Before the old man could get up, Jack shoved one of the blades into his face. As Jack smiled, Frollo panted heavily, his eyes wide open. He could not believe that this boy had just bested him.

“Submit.” Jack said.

Frollo’s stunned expression turned to a scowl as he deactivated his lightsaber. Jack let him back on his feet and turned the staff off.

“Very good, Jackson. Very good.” Frollo told him. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t forget what happened. I’ll keep my word…for now.”

Jack only nodded and bowed to the master.

Older Jack glanced down at Sanderson and said, “I doubt he even knows that I went right to you and explained everything.”

Sanderson nodded.

Jack looked away, the shame returned to his expression. He said, “I felt the Dark Side flow through me. I wanted…I wanted to kill him. I…I hated that feeling…I hated feeling the anger in my soul.”

A glow from Sanderson’s hands got his attention. Jack had seen this before, Sanderson used this as a way of harnessing the Light Side. It was Sanderson’s way of telling Jack that he had the Light flowing through him. Sanderson looked off and saw another figure nearby. He motioned for Jack to look.

Jack looked off and instantly recognized it. It was Elsa.

Jack walked over to the vision, Elsa smiling at him. When he reached her, he placed his hand on her cheek. She nuzzled into his hand and softly sighed.

Knowing it was only a vision, he told Sanderson, “I want to protect her. I have never felt this dedicated to anyone in my life, Master. I know I can’t if I turn to the Dark Side. I have to do what I can to keep her safe. Is it wrong of me, Master?”

Sanderson shook his head no. Once again, an aura of light glowed from his hand and he used his free hand to point to Elsa then to Jack. Jack immediately understood.

“She is my anchor to the Light.” Sanderson nodded and gave Jack the kindest smile he could. Jack looked back at the vision of Elsa, saying that, “If the law of attachment was still in place, I know I would have fallen. I’d give anything for her. Master, I…I love her.”

Sanderson took a breath, closed his eyes and used the Force to communicate with Jack.

Jackson, the law of attachment was a horrible mistake for all Jedi. We try to repress the natural feelings we have in our soul and we damage it. We teach that fear leads to the Dark Side, but the only way to fight fear isn’t to suppress it but conquer it. Love is the most pure of emotions. Let it guide you, Jackson.

“I don’t want to lose her, Master.”

Then follow your heart, Jackson. It is a conduit of the Force, it will lead you down the right path.

Jack smiled and let the vision of Elsa fade away. He then wiped his eyes from the tears that dripped. He smiled down at the Grand Master, thanking him.

“Alright, now for the reason we came here.”

Jack took a breath and listened out. After a moment, he could hear the waves and clashes of lightsabers. Both Jedi shot their eyes in the direction of the sound and the utter shock terror in their eyes grew. Sure enough, there was a vision of many crimson lightsaber blades waving around. The vision showed them fighting Jedi and Republic troopers alike and winning, cutting them all down in cold blood. The Sith then turned their attention to Jack and Sanderson and began to tromp towards them.

Jack and Sanderson opened their eyes and they were back in the main hall with North, Toothina and Bunnymund. Jack was gasping for breath while Sanderson rubbed his strained eyes. North knelt down next to Jack as he tried to relax while the others rushed to Sanderson’s side. As the Grand Master recovered, he looked to his fellow masters with a concerned expression, giving them a nod.

Stunned at first, Toothina sighed and said, “It’s true then. The Sith have returned.”

“And they don’t follow the Rule of Two. There’s an army of them.” Jack panted. He struggled to get back to his feet, North helping him up. When he was fully up, he pulled himself from his master’s hands and staggered away, only muttering, “Elsa…I need to find Elsa…”

Before North could chase after him, Sanderson used the Force to stop him. The human looked back at the Ugnaught and saw him give a soft shake of his head. North always trusted his Master’s wisdom, knowing only he knew what was in Jack’s mind. Plus, they had other matters at hand.

Bunnymund pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “If the Sith have returned, then chances are they have infiltrated the Jedi Order. But why go after Jack and his friend?”

“And who among us can we trust?” Toothina asked. Looking at North, she asked, “Do you remember who was in the communications room with you that day?”

North tented his hands together and pressed his fingers onto his brow in frustration, groaning, “It’s been almost a week, I don’t remember.”

Bunnymund said, “There are far too many Jedi to interrogate. This is going to be a dangerous task.”

North thought for a moment and said, “You know, Jack brought some help.”

Sanderson looked up at his former student and smirked, agreeing with North.

Elsa curled herself up on a soft patch of moss on a flat boulder, looking out at the beautiful landscape. Despite Namaari and Raya saber sparring in the meadow, the entirety of Tython was like something out of a dream. Even the ruins at her back were beautiful, Raya explaining they date back all the way to when the Jedi first came to Tython tens of thousands of years ago. They were built into the base of the mountain and though they crumbled and succumbed to the elements, they still held their wonder. The air was clean too, so fresh and soothing. Nothing at all like Dathomir, the harshness that burned the lungs of those who breathed it was filled with a history of death and degradation. The sun above brought light and life like nothing she had ever felt before. The energy radiating from the planet wrapped around her like a soft and warm blanket. For the first time in her life, she felt safe. She felt peace.

Then, the presence of another nearby disturbed her. It wasn’t any of her friends, it was a stranger. However, it wasn’t a threat, quite the opposite actually. She felt sorrow, pain, relief and regret. It was coming from the ruins behind her. She slowly sat up and looked behind her. No one was visible, but she knew someone was there. She looked back to see Raya and Namaari still engaged in their sparring. She looked back and slid down the boulder she was laying on and started to explore the ruins.

The large stone structures were like a maze going along the slope of the mountain. They were similar to the ruins on Dathomir, except these were made from aged sand stone and covered in moss. Namaari told her that it was the sight of the early Jedi, where they would meditate. Years of Sith invasions have ruined the former temple and left these remains of a bygone time long forgotten. Elsa was amazed by their structures and designs, crude yet intricate at the same time. Unlike the destroyed temples on Dathomir. They were ruined from all the years of civil wars and outside invasions and aged by the acid rains, turning them moldy black and covered in dead vines. She used to love to play in them when she was child. She remembered running with her sister among the stones and just feeling free as her mother watched longingly.

Wait, she didn’t have a mother or a sister!

In her thoughts, Elsa had a flash of a young girl she never saw before, a young Nightsister, younger than herself, with auburn hair and the same blue eyes as she does. However, she wore the traditional crimson garb of the Nightsisters unlike Elsa’s cobalt surcoat. And then there was the woman watching over them, another Nightsister but older, possibly twenties or early thirties. Like the young girl, she wore more traditional garb and had sparkling blue eyes. Unlike so many Nightsisters, she had the kindest face, loving and caring as she watched Elsa and the girl play amongst the ruins.

Who are they?

“And why do I feel sad when I think about them?” Elsa asked herself.

“Is someone there?” a voice allied out from the ruins. It was a man’s voice, accompanied by the sound of footsteps. Elsa held up her hands in defense, her ice magic forming in her palms. The voice called out, “I sense your hostility. I mean you no harm.”

Elsa could sense the emotions she felt before coming from this man. She knew this was the one she came looking for. She lowered her hands and her magic faded away. The man stepped out from the ruins, revealing himself to be Master Agnarr. At first, he seemed hesitant but not fearful when he looked upon her. He almost seemed shocked to see her, but that could be easily explained as to the fact that Nightsisters weren’t  common on Tython. Then he gave her a small smile, just to assure her he was no harm. He completely stepped out and stood before her.

“You-You must be Elsa. Word gets around fast here.” He said to her, she could tell he was lying about something. He cleared his throat and introduced himself, “I’m Master Agnarr Arendelle, I train padawans here in these ruins.”

Elsa said nothing as she gazed upon him, she could sense him hiding something. He was no harm to her of course, but what he was hiding was of great importance. He was doing a good job at hiding it, making sure she could never find out.

“I’ll-I’ll leave you be, then.” Elsa said, trying to back away.

Agnarr held his hand up and pleaded, “Wait! I…”

Elsa could feel the desperation radiating off him. He wanted, no, needed to talk to her.

“I-I can sense you have conflicting feelings. A loved one, perhaps?” Elsa still remained silent. Agnarr relaxed and explained, “I have trained many young padawans for many years, I can tell when someone needs someone to talk to.”

Agnarr sat down on the ground and held his hand out. Elsa looked down at him, sensing his intentions. He truly was sincere, he wanted to help her.

Feeling his care, she smiled and sat down in front of him, telling him, “Very well, where do I begin?”

Chapter Text

Hiro was nervous as he was escorted through the temple. North had his arm around him while Hiccup and Rapunzel followed them. Much to her chagrin, Merida was ordered to stay at the Bear’s Claw to wait for Elsa and watch over Toothless and Baymax. The others, however, had no idea why they were being escorted through the temple, just that Hiro was needed for an important task.

North took them into the communication room and asked Hiro, “What do you know about communication lines?”

Confused, Hiro replied, “Um, only a little bit. Why?”

“We need to see if anyone used scramblers to send out messages.”

“Well, I know how scramblers work, but to track messages is a little bit harder to do.”

Hiccup said, “I can track them. Hiro, if you can get into the mainframe, I can tell you what to look for.”

With that, the two got to work. Hiro plugged his tablet into the communication panel. It took a while for Hiro to get access to the mainframe but when he did, Hiccup guided him through it.

“How do you know so much, Hiccup?” Rapunzel asked.

“I used to be a bounty hunter. I learned a few things along the way.” Hiccup smiled proudly. He looked down at the tablet and that's when he saw a discrepancy in the binary. “There, that's it.” 

Hiro accessed it and tried to decode it. Frustrated, he said, “It's scrambled up so badly, I don't know if I can get a full message.”

North asked, “Can you project it?”

“Just the outgoing message, not whoever they were talking to.” Hiro tapped on his tablet and said, “Okay, here we go.”

The projector showed a static image of someone in a hooded cloak, their face covered by the hood. It was hard to tell who they were, even when they spoke.

“There's a…on Ord Man…pay pirates to…make sure they don't get…alive.”

That was all they could make out through the static. Whoever sent that message out made sure it was unrecognizable should anyone try to track it. North rubbed his forehead in frustration.

“That tells us nothing at all.” North groaned.

Hiro told him, “Well hang on, I can save it to my pad and try to fix it up. I can also see if I can…wait, what?”

Rapunzel asked, “What is it?”

“You would think that the message was sent to Ord Mantell, but it was sent to Coruscant.”

“Why would they send the message to Coruscant?” asked Hiccup. “That makes no sense…unless…”

“Unless whoever sent this message has informants in the Core.” Rapunzel added. “If this is true, then we must assume that the Senate has been compromised as well.”

“The plot thickens, this has to have taken a long time and a lot of influence to conceal.”

North added in, “With both the Jedi and the Senate infiltrated, this can only solidify what Jack has told us. The Sith have returned and they're not alone.”

“But how can they hide themselves so easily?” Hiro asked. “I know it was thousands of years ago but after Palpatine, you'd think the Republic would be more vigilant.”

North told him, “Never underestimate the Sith, my young friend. The Sith are cunning and their best defense is to hide in plain sight. It's enough to install distrust and paranoia amongst their enemies.”

“We need to tell the Republic!” Rapunzel gasped.

Hiccup shook his head and said, “No, if the Core has spies on the inside then the Sith will just slither deeper into whatever dark corner they're hiding in.”

Hiro looked at the three and asked, “Then what do we do?”

North thought for a moment before saying, “We have no choice. We're going to have to keep this investigation amongst ourselves.”

Rapunzel sighed in defeat. She didn't want to keep this quiet, she has far too many people she loves in the Republic government that were vulnerable to this conspiracy. But she knew both North and Hiccup were right. If the Sith really were back and they were inside the government and the Jedi Order, then there was more danger in exposing them. There would be too much speculation and this will fuel discourse, just what the Sith would want.

She conceded, “Very well, but I think we should tell Merida, Jack and Elsa at the very least.”

Hiccup asked North, “Where is Jack?”

“He went to look for Elsa.”

“Then where's Elsa?”

Agnarr softly shook his head and said, “That's such a heartbreaking story.”

Elsa nodded and said, “I thought I would die on Dathomir. I grew up thinking that Mother Gothel would do her worst and my soul would have been consumed. I'm thankful for Jack for saving me.”

Elsa smiled bashfully and curled her legs up. Agnarr noticed and smiled. He asked, “Am I to assume that you two became very close?”

Elsa's smile widened and she said, “We have. Do you know Jack?”

“Of course. I trained him with a class of some of the best. His adequacy in the Force is impressive with his ice powers. He's one of the best saber fighters I have ever seen and he is wise beyond his years. He can be the class clown, as it were, but his heart is true.”

“Yes it is. He's such a wonderful person. He's so kind, smart, strong, handsome-”

“Am I to assume that you have feelings for him?” Agnarr jested, making Elsa blush. He chuckled and said, “Hey, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. He is a good young man, I'd understand your infatuation.”

Elsa nodded and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She looked at Agnarr for a moment when she took a moment to observe his facial features. That's when she asked, “Master Agnarr, have we met before?”

“Why do you ask?” Agnarr asked, a hint of enthusiasm in his voice.

“I don't know why, but I know your face.”

Agnarr was about to say something, but they both heard Raya calling for Elsa. Both her and Namaari entered the ruins and took notice of Agnarr and Elsa and she said, “Oh, Master Agnarr! I see you've met Elsa.”

“Yes, such an insightful mind.” He said as he slowly stood up. He held his hands out to Elsa to help her up. They stared at each other for a moment before he said, “We'll talk more later.”

He walked off, Elsa watching him. There was still the aura about him, a sense of familiarity. She didn't understand it, but it was comforting. Being around him, it was like when she was with Jack but this was different. She still didn't know why his face was so familiar, like a friend she's always known.

“Hey, you okay?” Raya asked, bringing Elsa back from her thoughts.

Elsa stammered, “Y-Yeah, sorry.”

Raya and Namaari looked at each other before Namaari asked, “Are you sure? You seem flustered.”

Elsa was about to deflect again, but she couldn't help but let her thoughts out, “There's something familiar about him. I swear I know him from somewhere.”

“That's interesting since Master Agnarr doesn't really leave Tython.”

Looking back at the two, Elsa asked why.

“No one knows. They say he would leave often when he was younger but one day he came back and he seemed distraught.”

Raya added, “And ever since, he stayed on Tython unless he was needed elsewhere.”

Elsa asked, “Does anyone have any idea as to what happened to him?”

Raya said, “Master Sisu said he would seem happy when he came home from a long mission in Wild Space, like a Gungan after a hot meal. He never told anyone what he was doing but after that incident, he was never the same.”

Namaari added, “There were rumors apparently that he may have found a love interest, but he was in his early twenties at the time. It could have been anything.”

That part broke Elsa's heart. If it were true that Agnarr did indeed have a love interest and something happened, it must have left him heartbroken. She could feel the pain right down into his very soul, it was unbearable.

Yet, there was a sense of healing as well. It was like the two of them talking about her life was soothing him. She didn't understand it at all, he had no reason to get involved with her life story at all.

Did he?

Merida was doing pullups on an exposed bar outside the Bear’s Claw hull. Baymax was charging, Toothless was napping and she was bored silly. Hiro, Hiccup and Rapunzel were off to the Jedi Temple, who knows where Jack and Elsa were and here she was babysitting a droid and a dragon. She was beginning to regret this whole arrangement. First she's chased by pirates, then bounty hunters, nearly was pulverized by asteroids, held captive by Mandalorian and now she's sitting around with nothing to do. When she was done, she dropped to the ground, huffed in annoyance and went over to put her coat on.

Before she did, she heard someone rustling in the nearby foliage. She sighed in relief because she thought it was her friends finally coming back. She turned around and was about to snark, but no one was there. Instead, she caught a glimpse of someone walking off into the forest. The person was covered in a cloak, but this was Tython, it wasn't uncommon to find a cloaked person here. However, her instincts kicked in, telling her this person was up to something. She looked around and slowly followed them.

She followed them deeper and deeper into the forest, coming upon ancient ruins covered in overgrowth. Merida was careful to not trip on any foliage and would duck a few times behind some of the ruins. Only once did the stranger turn around to see if they were being followed. Merida remained hidden until she heard them begin to walk off again.

They trekked further until the stranger came upon a control panel hidden in a compartment in one of the bombed out temples. Merida snuck a little closer to see what the panel was. She was still far but close enough to make out that it was a communication panel. The stranger punched in some commands and it activated, projecting a tall hooded figure.

“Yes?” The figure asked, his voice dripping with annoyance along with his sinister tone.

“I'm afraid I have some bad news, my lord.” The stranger replied, revealing that it was a young woman. “The ones you ordered the pirates to kill, they're here on Tython.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and they weren't alone. The Queen of Naboo, a dragon and a Mandalorian are with them.”

“Typical. Mandalorians and Nubians are always sticking their noses where they don't belong. We must accelerate our plans. Tell the others I will be leaving Coruscant with what forces we have.”

“Yes, my lord.” The woman deactivated the panel and backtracked.

Merida sunk deeper into her hiding spot and drew her DL-44 blaster. The stranger walked past her, not even acknowledging Merida. When there was a bit of distance, Merida slowly and quietly stood up and began to follow her back. When she walked out of the ruins, the stranger disappeared.

“Damn it.” She hissed as she began to holster her blaster.

However, she stopped before she completely holstered it and paused for a moment. She stood frozen for a little while before quickly drawing and firing to her left. The stranger was there, drawing her lightsaber and blocking the bolt. The blade glowed red, the hilt was gold and curved in like an “S” shape in her hand as she held it in a reverse grip. The stranger was clothed in black with a metallic mask covering her face, still hooded by the cloak.Merida fired again and the stranger drew a second blade in her free hand. Merida kept firing and the stranger kept blocking until she leaped into the air. Merida watched her fly over her head and instantly knew the stranger meant to land behind and cut her down. Before she could, Merida rolled forward before her opponent even land. When she did, she was surprised for a moment that Merida even knew to dodge, leaving her open. Merida sat up, pointed her blaster and shot. The stranger was hit in the face and yelped when her mask was blown off and the hood was blown back.

Merida saw her face, a young woman with tanned skin, black hair and brown eyes. A scratch was across her face which was now twisted with rage. Still, Merida fired again and again, determined to walk from this. This assailant was skilled in blocking each blast despite her wound. With one swift motion, she clicked her lightsabers together and spun her newly formed weapon, making blocking easier.

“Oh you show off!” Merida shouted as she kept firing.

She recognized the form the woman was using to counter. This assailant was using the same techniques she saw Jack used.

Again, the assailant leaped over but this time, she ran off into the forest.

As Merida chased after her, she shouted, “Get back here, you coward! Get back here so I can -”

The assailant threw her lightsaber ahead, spinning it as it sliced a tree far down the trail. It slowly toppled down as the assailant called her lightsaber back and slid under the tree before it hit the ground. Merida slid to stop as it crashed, noting that it was massive. It was too big for her to jump over so she ran around it, the assailant was far ahead of her and turning the corner into the forest.

“Wait until I get my hands on you.” Merida snarled as she sped up.

However when she turned the corner, she was cut off. There standing in the trail was Master Frollo.

“Is there a problem?” Frollo casually asked as she slid to a stop in front of him.

Merida ran around him but when she looked down the trail, the assailant was nowhere to be seen. She scanned the entire area for any sign of her, but the only ones that were there were her and Frollo.

Merida turned to him and asked, “Where'd she go?”

“Who?”

“The woman that just ran by here! I was after her!”

“No one ran by here.”

Merida stared at him for a moment before asking, “How could you not see her? She literally just ran by here, I saw her!”

Frollo smirked and said, “I assure you that if someone ran by here, I would have noticed. Perhaps you should refrain from whatever substance you smugglers like to indulge in.”

Merida stared at him slack jawed for a few seconds and exclaimed, “Excuse me?”

“I know smugglers, you all indulge yourselves in drink or narcotics. Perhaps it's time you refrain from whatever it is you poison yourself in.”

Merida felt her rage burn harder in her chest. She said to him, “I'll have you know that I don't drink or do anything else. You got a lot of guts to accuse me of that dank.”

Frollo chuckled, “Well you must be on something if you're chasing imaginary people in the woods.”

“I know what I saw! She was my height, brown eyes, black hair, tan, dressed in black and furthermore!” Merida turned back down the trail and pointed off, “Explain that!”

Frollo walked over and looked down the trail, seeing the tree that was cut down. The wood still smoked from the lightsaber cut. Frollo’s smirk faded away as he looked back at Merida, who crossed her arms. He gave the tree one more glance before locking eyes with her again.

“Very well.” He begrudgingly replied.

Merida raised her eyebrows and asked “‘Very well’? That's all you can say?”

“I don't know what this is all about but I don't have time for-”

“For the love-I know what I just saw! I saw a woman, in the woods, talking to someone on a communication panel in some ruins just down the trail and they attacked me!”

“Ruins?” Frollo muttered, his eyes narrowing. “That is the sight of an ancient Jedi Temple, its sacred ground. Perhaps this Jedi was keeping you from defiling it.”

“I know Jedi don't use red lightsabers.”

Frollo finally reacted, his eyes widening and his hands thrown back in terror. He asked, “Red, you say?”

“Aye, red.” Merida said, putting her hands on her hips. “You believe me now?”

Jack stood with Raya, Namaari and Elsa as he explained his vision to them. The women were perplexed and disturbed by everything he told them. Raya asked, “And you're certain of this? The Sith have returned?”

Jack replied, “There's no doubt. The Force showed Master Sanderson and I everything.”

Namaari took Raya’s hand and asked, “What do we do?”

“Let's head back to the temple, it'll be safer there.” Jack told them as he unconsciously took Elsa's hand. She noticed and blushed a bit. Jack pointed out a nearby trail and told them, “This way, it's faster.”

The four ran down the trail into a brush covered mountain trail. It went down the mountain but wasn't too steep. They kept going until they saw the trail was cut off. It looked like something massive had slid across the ground, smashing the nearby trees and disappeared into the woods.

“What the heck happened here?” Namaari asked as they came to a stop.

Everyone looked down both ways the scrape on the ground went. However, Elsa was sensing something, something that made her chest tighten. She looked down the cut off into the forest.

Raya placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, “You okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost.”

Elsa tried to regain her senses and she said, “I think I sense something down there.”

Not saying anything, the four ran down where Elsa referred to. They trekked down the mountain for quite some time until they saw something off into the forest. As they got closer, both Jack and Elsa stared in disbelief.

Elsa asked, “Jack, do you recognize that?”

“Of course I do.” He hushed. As they looked at the battered structure, he slowly looked back at Raya and Namaari and told them, “That's the cockpit of the ship I was assigned to when I met Elsa.

Both of them gawked at him and Raya asked, “You mean the one you left on Dathomir? That thing isn't even capable of taking off let alone make its way all the way out here.”

Raya let Namaari’s hand go and she got closer to the cockpit to investigate it. However, as she got closer, she could feel the heat radiating off of it. The rest joined her and both Jack and Elsa used their ice powers to cool it down.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Raya commented, “That heat feels like it just busted through the atmosphere but we would have seen or heard it. Plus it looks like it settled in so it has to have been here at least a day. That heat can't be natural.”

“It's not.” Elsa replied as her and Jack finished cooling the cockpit off. Her eyes lowered in fear as she explained, “Back among my tribe with the Nightsisters, there was another that had powers like mine. However, instead of ice, they controlled flames.”

Jack stood closer and asked, “Who is this person, Elsa?”

“That's the thing, she's the most cruel of us all. All that I've told you about Mother Gothel, this one is far worse. In fact I'm pretty sure even Mother feared her sometimes. I can still hear the screams of all the people she took pleasure in burning alive.” As Elsa told the others about this person, her voice shook in utter fear. She began tremble as Jack wrapped an arm around her and Namaari placed a hand on her shoulder. Elsa told them, “Her name…is Anna.”

Chapter Text

Frollo gathered with the Jedi High Council as well as Master Agnarr, Jack and his team. He told them what Merida told him and he heard what Elsa told them all about this mysterious entity that had arrived on Tython. She told them all about Anna’s cruelty, how she was molded by Mother Gothel herself to be a violent killer. Everyone listened intently, but she noticed how Master Agnarr stood off in the corner, his demeanor filled with dread. She could tell it was out of fear, but not a fear of safety for everyone. It was something else.

“Elsa?” Rapunzel shook her.

“What?”

“You okay? You dazed out there.”

“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry. I was…distracted.”

Bunnymund shook his head and said, “This is no time to be distracted, shela. We need you to tell us everything about this Nightsister.”

Jack added, “Most importantly, how we can find her.”

Elsa explained, “That’s the thing, she’s very evasive. When I told you Mother made her into the perfect assassin, I mean she’s perfect by every means. She can hide in the light as easily in the shadows. It’s like hunting a dire cat, by the time you see it, it’s seen you only minutes before.”

“Hm, elusive witchcraft to help trick opponents, no doubt.” Frollo commented. He gave Elsa a glazed look and asked, “Perhaps a trait learned by all Nightsisters. Isn’t that right, Elsa?”

Elsa didn’t feel comfortable under his gaze. Something about his look shook her to her very core. It was more than just suspicion, something that made her feel like she never wanted to be alone with him.

Her thoughts were cut short when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Master Agnarr move in front of her as if to protect her. He said to Frollo, “If you’re accusing Elsa of similar motives, I can assure you you’re dead wrong. You just have trust in the Force to tell you that she means no harm.”

Elsa felt a wash of relief with Agnarr’s words. He really did trust her even though she gave him no reason to, outside just talking with him. She trusted him as well, his heart was true.

With Agnarr’s words, Frollo softened a bit as he explained, “I merely think that if there’s anyone we can trust to hunt down one Nightsister, it would be another. After all, she knows more about her own people than we do.”

“I agree.” Namaari’s master, Kida, said. Stepping forward, she told everyone, “We have two conflicts at hand. We have a deadly assassin in our midst and we have the Sith infiltrating our ranks. I suggest we split into two groups. Jack and his friends will hunt down the Nightsister and the rest of us will investigate this mysterious saboteur.”

“I agree with Master Kida on this.” Master Sisu responded. She turned to Merida and asked, “You said you got her, right?”

“Aye, she’ll have a big ugly scar on her face.” Merida replied, tracing her face with her finger to demonstrate where the scar is. “Everything happened so fast and I just got a lucky shot.”

Master North got up and said, “Then it’s settled, we’ll go with Master Kida’s plan. Let us all move swiftly and diligently. Also, this stays between those who are in the room. If word got out, there would be panic among the Jedi. Good luck everyone, may the Force be with us all.”

With that, everyone began to leave the meeting room. Elsa and Frollo gave each other one final glance before heading out with the others. Raya and Namaari were also in the meeting so they also knew the plan, however they told Jack they would stay at the temple to help the masters in their search and keep him posted. Jack agreed and his friends went to gear up for their mission, knowing they were heading into dangerous territory.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Merida complained as they trekked through the mountain forest.

They had located the pod and Jack led the group through the trees to find any possible trace of Anna. Outside a few tracks near the pod, there were no signs of her at all.

Rapunzel asked, “How can we be lost? The idea is to track this assassin, not go on a hike.”

“Aye, but we passed this boulder four times already.” Merida pointed to a worn down boulder along the trail they took.

“It’s a boulder, they all look the same.” Hiro groaned.

Baymax was active and he said that he would scan the boulder to make sure they wouldn’t pass it again.

Elsa tried to sense Anna out but she couldn’t feel anything. Neither her nor Jack could feel a sliver of Anna’s power, she truly was the perfect assassin if even a Jedi couldn’t seek her.

Groaning loudly, Merida pointed to a tree and shouted, “Look, see this tree? This groove in it, I’ve seen it more than once! We’re going around in circles!”

“Merida, cool it down. Anna could hear us.” Hiccup said as he climbed down off of Toothless.

“She could be long gone by now!”

“Still, shouting and complaining isn’t helping.”

“We’ve been out here for hours and we got nowhere!”

Jack jumped in, “You knew this wasn’t going to be a fun little trip. This is a dangerous mission we’re on, take it seriously.”

“I am taking it seriously, that’s why I’m annoyed. The more time we waste, the more likely we’ll lose her and people will die.”

As the three argued, Rapunzel just watched between them, both worried and annoyed. She looked back at Elsa, Hiro, Baymax and Toothless and shrugged. Elsa crossed her arms and shook her head. They both knew that both sides of the argument were right but here they were at a stand still arguing. This was getting them nowhere.

Elsa placed her hands on Hiro’s shoulders and said, “Let’s stay out of this.”

The two with Baymax and Toothless walked away from the four. Rapunzel stayed with the three and listened to them bicker even more, sighing and rubbing her forehead.

“Alright, everybody shut up!” She finally had enough. The three stopped and stared at her, surprised that she shouted at them. Taking a breath, she calmed down and said, “Arguing isn’t solving anything. Yes, Merida is right. The longer we dawdle, the more lives are at risk. We need to move faster and stop wasting time. But, Jack and Hiccup are right too. Yes, this is maddening but shouting and getting annoyed isn’t helping. We need to keep our wits about us and keep calm because for all we know, she could be listening to us right now.”

That last part hit all four of them and they all got paranoid. They slowly looked up into the trees then scanned the area. So far, nothing.

Once they knew they were alone, Rapunzel continued, “Okay, we’re wasting time. Let’s get the others and get back on it.”

Both Raya and Namaari agreed they needed more help for this mission. The masters went on their way, but there were more of them at once. If Raya and Namaari had any hope of accomplishing their part, someone needed to join them, and Namaari knew exactly who to ask.

As they entered the training grounds near the temple, Raya asked, “Are you sure about this, Binturi? I mean, he’s been focusing on his training so much, we’ve all advanced long before he did.”

“Exactly, Dep La. And that’s why we need him.” Namaari told her. “Relax, he’s been training for so long that he just advanced from padawan to master pretty much instantly.”

“Really? No knighthood? Nothing?”

“Nope, I was present. Even when they granted him the rank of master, he insisted that he wasn’t ready. You know what his master said?”

“What?”

Namaari took Raya’s hand and said, “He said, ‘Kristoff, you’ve learned everything there is to learn. There’s no where to go but master’. If there’s anyone that can help us, it’s him.”

She led Raya through the grounds, all littered with ruins and henges, much like most of the grounds on Tython. Like Jack and Raya, Namaari and Kristoff grew up together. From the moment they met, Namaari noticed that Kristoff was always eager to learn and listened intently to what the masters taught them. It wasn’t out of pride or ego, Kristoff just loved to learn. She also noted that he was very humble. Like she said, while everyone advanced, Kristoff intentionally held himself back. Namaari, Raya and Jack all became Jedi Knights all around the same time, but Kristoff wanted to stay as a padawan for one reason and one reason only; he felt like his knowledge wasn’t enough. It wasn’t that he thought the others weren’t knowledgeable enough, quite the opposite. He always thought the others were smarter than him and earned their way. For years, Namaari tried to assure him that he was ready, but he kept saying he wasn’t ready.

Until now.

At last, they found him. He was sitting on a boulder with his back to them. His hands were out while large stones and ancient ship debris floated and danced around him. Raya was amazed at how much was floating about, all must of individually weighed tons and Kristoff was holding them up with his strength in the Force like they were pebbles.

She couldn’t help but note how he was physically. The blonde young man was strong. He was wearing thick leather clothes, expressing his well built physic. No wonder he was able to lift these large stones with such ease.

Naraari couldn’t help but smile and comment, “Not ready for master, Kristoff? Are you kidding?”

Kristoff lowered his hands and the stones and debris slowly and softly lowered back down to the ground. The ground shifting and crushing beneath them again expressed how heavy they were. Raya’s mouth dropped.

Taking a breath, Kristoff replied, “There’s more to the Force than just lifting stones, Namaari. You of all people know that.”

Namaari rolled her eyes and shook her head. Kristoff spun around and leaped off the boulder. The three approached each other and greeted each other with a slight curtsy. Kristoff glanced down at Raya, who he towered over and smiled. It was a friendly smile, Raya noted. He had a kind and friendly face.

He commented, “You must be Raya. Namaari talks about you all the time. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Right back at you.” Raya reached out and pulled Kristoff into a hug. When they parted, she said, “Namaari talks about you too. It’s almost like I know you already.”

“You flatter me, but I can sense you need more for something. What can I help with?”

Raya and Namaari’s smiles faded and Namaari said, “Listen, there’s a problem and it must remain a secret. It’s very important.”

Kristoff nodded and crossed his arms.

“Kristoff, the Sith might have returned and infiltrated the Jedi Order.”

Kristoff’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

“Yeah, and there’s more. Do you know Jack Frost?”

“Not personally but I know of him. Very strong, very smart.”

“Well, he’s leading a team to search for a Nightsister assassin in the eastern mountain range. Our home is in danger.”

Raya added, “Not just our home, but the entire galaxy.”

“What do you need from me?” Kristoff eagerly asked.

Namaari told him, “You know those mountains more than anyone else, you practically grew up there. If you can find Jack and the others, you can help them out better.”

Kristoff nodded.

“Oh, I just remembered!” Raya gasped. “When you get there, there’ll be another Nightsister with them. Her name is Elsa, she has blonde hair. She’s on our side.”

“I’ll remember that. How long ago did they leave?” Kristoff asked.

“About three hours ago so they might be hard to find.”

“I’ll find them. I know how to catch up with them.”

With that, the three parted, Raya and Namaari returning to the temple while Kristoff went to trek up to the mountains on a nearby speeder bike.

“Alright, take a break.” Hiccup announced, everyone sighing in relief.

Rapunzel sat next to a berry bush and was ready to pluck one to eat.

“No, stop!” Merida shouted. “Those are baggard berries! Those are poison!”

Rapunzel flinched and pulled her hand back. Elsa went over, looking at the berries. Then she plucked one and ate it.

“Elsa, what are you doing?” Jack gasped as he shot up to stop her.

After she gulped, she explained, “It’s alright. If the berries have purple spots, they’re safe to eat. It’s only if the spots are black, then they’re poisonous.”

Jack looked at the berries and sure enough, the berries were spotted with purple. Merida also looked them over and saw it.

“Yyyyyeah, she’s right.” Merida nodded. She asked Elsa, “How did you know that?”

“My diet is mostly fruits and vegetables. I learned how to cultivate when I was a little girl.”

Everyone was impressed. Hiro added, “Plus, we have Baymax here. He can help us if something happens.”

Elsa plucked a berry and held it up to Jack, telling him, “Try it. It’s good.”

Jack nervously looked down at it, trying to see if the berry had purple spots. He then got distracted by the eager look on her face. Her eyes were all but glittering with excitement for him to try it.

May the Force be with me. He thought to himself as he let her slip the berry through his lips. He chewed on it, hoping that the tangy juice on his tongue wasn’t toxic. Then, he found himself enjoying it more, the sweetness was very pleasant. He said, “You know, this actually is really good.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Elsa said sweetly. “Although, I didn’t check to see if the spots were purple.”

Jack spat the berry out and gasped, “What?”

Elsa laughed and said, “I’m kidding! I would never do that to you.”

Jack sighed in relief, thankful that it was just a joke. Then, he noticed she was softly caressing his arm. He felt his cheeks heat up at her soft touch. Elsa also realized she was unconsciously stroking his arm and quickly pulled away, also blushing.

Merida and Hiccup noticed and she quietly said to him, “They got it bad.”

“Tell me about it.” he smirked.

Kristoff made it to a marker in the mountain signifying the trail. If he were to find anyone, it would be here. He dismounted and took a breath. He was reaching out through the Force to find any nearby presence. He reached out far and wide for any form of life that didn’t belong in the mountains, regardless of friend or foe.

That’s when he felt it, a threatening presence near him. He turned its way and activated his lightsaber, the green light illuminating the tree covered shadows. He stared down whatever was hiding in the brush, knowing it would pounce at any time. Then he smelled something in the air, like the smell of heat. That’s when it happened, flames darted out from the brush towards him. He lowered his lightsaber and caught them in his hand, extinguishing them. When the flames subsided, that’s when he saw her leap from the trees.

A young woman, slender in form and pale in complexion with black marking on her face framed with auburn hair. She wore the usual crimson robes of the Nightsisters. As she leaped over Kristoff, she again blasted flames from her hands. Kristoff blocked her flames with his lightsaber. She landed and he threw his hand out, throwing her back with the Force. She fell forward and rolled back to her feet, that’s when he saw that her eyes were glowing green with the familiar aura of Dathomirian magic, expressing the sinister scowl she gave him.

“Stop, I don’t want to hurt you!” Kristoff pleaded.

Then she spoke with a distorted voice, “Then just stand there and let me rip your innards out!”

She charged him with a roar.

Elsa, Jack, Baymax and Toothless all looked over into the distance. Toothless heard a loud roar off into the distance, Jack sensed a surge of Dark Side energy, Baymax’s reading picked up a rise of activity and Elsa felt the Nightsister magic.

“Anna.” Elsa breathed in terror.

Jack stepped forward, trying to pinpoint where this power was coming from.

Baymax stood up and announced, “I’m picking up massive heat signatures a mile from here. Southeast.”

“Let’s go!” Merida shouted as she slung her bowcaster.

The whole group ran off into the forest, Jack activating his saberstaff. They kept going until Toothless got hit by a fire blast.

“Toothless!” Hiccup screamed as he went over to check up on his dragon companion.

Elsa jumped next to Toothless, her ice touch at the ready, but thankfully Toothless shook the flames off and snarled at the direction the blast came from. When Toothless was ready, they charged again. That’s when they happened upon the fight between Kristoff and Anna, again nearly dodging another stray flame blast. Everyone watched the intense fight between the two, Kristoff using both his abilities in the Force and his saber techniques to block and dodge every flame blast Anna gave him.

“Kristoff?” Jack muttered.

Hiro asked him, “You know him?”

“Not personally. Elsa, what do we-” Jack looked over to speak to Elsa, but she was gone. He looked around and saw she was running into the battle. He called out, “Elsa, stop! Come back!”

Anna kicked Kristoff across the face, knocking him back and into a tree, disorienting him. He looked up and saw she was ready to lunge and thrust her flames onto him. He closed his eyes, ready for death.

However, it didn’t come.

He opened his eyes and saw Elsa standing in front of him. She was using her ice to protect herself from Anna’s flames as she held her hands to hold her back. They two pushed at each other, trying to assert dominance.

“I’ve been looking for you!” Anna snickered.

Elsa winced in pain from the struggle, but told her, “Leave these people alone!”

Anna only laughed and threw Elsa down to the ground. She charged her flame and was ready to kill Elsa, but Rapunzel ran next to her and kicked Anna across the stomach, making her lose momentum and extinguishing the flame. Elsa got back up and gave Anna an ice blast, but Anna blocked it and attacked both of them, but Jack and Hiccup jumped in front of them and blocked the flames, Jack using his own ice power and Hiccup used a shield from his bracer.

“Baymax, protocol nine now!” Hiro called out.

Baymax activated and charged Anna. She turned and used her flames again, but he used his internal cooling system to protect himself and slammed into her, launching her back into a nearby tree. The impact made her throw her head back and hit it against the tree. She fell to her knees and held the back of her head. Everyone gathered around her, weapons drawn and pointing at her. She panted and heaved as she recovered, everyone standing on guard. She looked up at everyone, revealing that the aura was gone, her blue eyes looking back and forth between everyone. She had a look of fear on her face.

“Who-Who are all of you? Where am I?” she asked, shaking in terror. Her tone was like that of a lost child. She then looked up at Elsa, looking at her intensely. While Elsa was nervous and confused, Anna asked, “E-Elsa? What happened? Why are you so…so tall?”

“W-What?” Elsa muttered.

“Elsa, don’t fall for it!” Merida warned, stepping in front of her. She pointed her blaster at Anna, who recoiled with a terrified gasp, and said, “I’ll blow your brains out!”

“No please! I don’t wanna die! Please, I-I’m scared!” Anna cried out. Then her body contorted and twisted as she groaned in agony. She leaned forward and revealed the aura returned to her eyes, smiling sinisterly and proclaiming, “You won’t take this one from me! Not like you took the rest of my tribe!”

Jack leaned forward and asked, “Mother Gothel?”

She looked at him and sneered, “You really think you got rid of me so easily? I always have a back up plan.”

Anna flung her arm and gave a powerful blast, forcing everyone back. She got back to her feet and started to trump up to Elsa, who was getting back up. Elsa was ready to fight back, but Anna groaned and held her head. Elsa watched her for a moment, Anna’s eye returning to normal again, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Elsa,” she moaned softly. “Elsa, what happened? Why am I hurting?”

Then, Mother Gothel returned, “Shut up, you little brat! I won’t lose control!”

Anna shook her head and cried out, “Elsa, please! I’m scared! Where’s Momma and Papa?”

“Momma and papa? I don’t…” Elsa thought for a moment, then she had a flash of a memory that she didn’t have. She was young, younger than she could remember, and there was a little girl with her, a girl with auburn hair, Dathomirian like her. She knew it was Anna. They were playing in the ruins of Dathomir, laughing in joy. Elsa looked back at Anna and asked, “What are you doing to me?”

“Elsa…I wanna go home.” Anna sobbed. “I want Momma and Papa.”

Hiro got between the two and shouted, “Stay away!”

Kristoff stood before Hiro and said, “Wait! There’s something more going on here!”

Hiro gave him a confused look and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Do you not see she’s being controlled?”

“She is.”

Everyone looked over to see Master Agnarr approaching them.

Jack asked, “Master Agnarr, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to save my daughter.” He ignored everyone’s reactions, all shocked by what he just said, and went right up to Anna. He said to her, “My sweet Anna, I thought I lost you.”

“P-Papa? Where are we?” Anna asked him. She twinged as Gothel tried to regain control, but she fought back, pleading, “Papa, I’m hurt! Make the pain stop!”

“It’s okay, my little sweet.” Agnarr held her tightly. He could sense Gothel’s presence and whispered, “Let my daughter go.”

From Anna’s mouth came Gothel’s voice, “You failed, Arendelle. I have control over your daughter and I made sure your other one forgot all about you. I’ve taken everything from you.”

“My daughters are back with me. You brought them back to me and I’ll rescue them.”

“You’re too late. I have complete control-wait, why can’t I move?”

Kristoff stood next to them, holding her in place with the Force. He said, “Do what you need to, Master.”

Agnarr reached out through the Force and used his power to fight Gothel back. She snarled and struggled against his power. He was no longer the Jedi he was when he first faced her when he was younger. He was stronger, strong enough to draw her energy from Anna’s body. Agnarr’s arms held Anna tightly, Gothel’s screams bellowing from her throat. Agnarr did not stop, not willing to let her win. Gothel gave one last scream as her aura blasted from Anna’s body, throwing Agnarr to the ground. He quickly got back up to help Anna, but he saw her in Kristoff’s arms, unconscious from the ordeal. He was gentle with her, despite all that she had done just now.

Elsa felt her head start to hurt as an aura vapored from her. She rubbed her temples to soothe the pain.

“Elsa?” Jack softly held her head to help her with his ice.

She groaned as the pain only grew, but it was the result of Gothel’s power leaving her body. As it did, her memory began to recover, remembering her life before Gothel. Gothel must have placed a block in her mind because she remembered more of her childhood, memories of her and Anna playing as children. They were happy in these memories, happier than any memories she had that were viable, the memories of Anna murdering everyone she was told to. Elsa realized now that Gothel was controlling her this whole time. That wasn’t the only memory she had of Anna.

“Jack, don’t let-don’t let anyone hurt Anna!” she begged as she pulled herself into Jack’s arms, still trying to fight the pain. She teared and sobbed, “Mother Gothel took her from me! She’s my-my sister!”

Chapter Text

Elsa had fallen unconscious in Jack’s arms and he had sat down on the ground for her comfort. He was next to Kristoff who was still holding Anna in his arms. Agnarr looked between the two, tears streaming down his face at the sight of the girls. He held both his hands out and softly brushed their hair. Both boys looked at him with a mixture of concern and confusion, wanting to know the story. They weren’t the only ones, everyone else looked them over.

He told them all with his eyes only on the two girls, “Many years ago, when I was a padawan, I was stranded on Dathomir. I spent days without food or water and I was nearly dead. I was rescued by a lone Nightsister. She nursed me back to health and I instantly fell in love with her. She was kind, beautiful, the most beautiful girl I ever saw. I was trapped there for weeks, enough time to cement our love. One day, a ship came and rescued me. I wanted to bring her with me, but no one would let me. I kept trying to go back and it took me the better part of a year to finally return to her. She had just given birth to our little Elsa.”

Jack looked down at Elsa, sleeping soundly in his arms. He held her tighter.

Agnarr looked at Anna and said, “Our little Anna was next. I kept going back to Dathomir and I just fell more in love with their mother and I kept trying to figure out ways to bring them home with me. Then one day I came back, but I couldn’t find my family. Gothel found me instead and taunted me, telling me she killed them all. I tried to fight her, but I was too weak. Now, my girls are back to me.”

Both Jack and Kristoff stood, the girls still in their arms, and Kristoff explained, “Master, the Council will need to hear about this.”

Jack argued, “They don’t need to know.”

Agnarr shook his head and said, “No, Jack. Kristoff’s right, I need to let them know. I am a Jedi Master and I need to accept the responsibility for my actions, all the lies I’ve told in my life. The consequences be damned, I’m just glad my daughters are safe.”

Agnarr looked back at the group, all of them smiling at him, happy that he had his daughters back. Merida then asked, “Wait, how old are you? You look kinda young to have children as old as them.”

Agnarr laughed and said, “We were young and in love. I was fifteen when we had Elsa.”

Hiro gasped, “Fifteen? For crying out loud, how in the-”

“Uh, Hiro, best not to ask.” Hiccup cut him off.

Agnarr looked back down at his daughters, tears returning to his eyes. He turned his attention to Anna, his smile faded as he wiped his tears. He said, “We need to keep Anna safe. They’ll still consider her a threat, even though she was controlled by Mother Gothel. I know Frollo will want her locked up.”

Kristoff said to him, “Master, I sensed the Nightsister’s control over her, I can tell that’s not the case anymore. Let me help you.”

Agnarr smiled again and said, “Kristoff, I do appreciate your willingness to help, but I have to figure this out myself. I’m their father, after all.”

“Yeah, but you can’t do it all by yourself.” Jack argued. “Look, Elsa and I can help you. If Gothel also put a curse on her, then she can testify on her behalf.”

Agnarr was about to respond, but Elsa stirred awake in Jack’s arms. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. She smiled up at him and he smiled back at her. Then she flushed when she realized she was in his arms and he quickly set her on her feet, both bashfully looking away from each other. Agnarr only smiled and shook his head at the two.

Elsa cleared her throat and looked over at Anna, “Is she-Is she okay?”

Kristoff looked down at her and explained, “She will be. She’s safe now.”

Merida looked at her and said, “Sheesh, it’s so weird. Only minutes ago she was trying to kill us. Now she’s sleeping like a baby.”

“I think it’s cute.” Rapunzel gushed. “Uh, not the killing us part, the sleeping like a baby part.”

Hiccup looked at Anna and said, “We should still be on guard though. Who knows what will happen when she wakes up.”

Then, as if on cue, Anna started to groan and stir awake. She yawned and stretched her arms and legs out while still being in Kristoff’s arms. He softly placed her on her feet, catching her as she nearly stumbled. She groaned and held her forehead as she tried to wake. Everyone waited for her to say something, wondering what she was going to say or do.

“Wow, does my head really hurt!” she exclaimed loudly. She twinged as she rubbed her head then looked at everyone staring at her. “...Why are you all staring at me? Wait, who are all of you people?”

Elsa asked, “Um, Anna, do you recognize me?”

“Well, duh! You’re my sister, but Elsa, who are all of these people?” Then she noticed, “Wait, Elsa, why are you all grown up?...Why am I all grown up? Where are we? Where’s Momma and Papa?”

Agnarr stepped forward and said, “Anna, I’m right here. You’re safe now.”

“Safe from what? And Papa, why are you so old?”

Elsa shook her head and said, “She doesn’t remember Gothel taking control.”

“I doubt she remembers anything at all.” Agnarr added. “That may be for the best. I don’t want that witch’s influence on her any more.”

Hiccup said, “Yeah but now it seems like she has the mind of a child.”

Elsa sighed and said, “That’s because I was nine and she was seven when Gothel took us. Her mind is stuck in that time period.”

“Oh great, now we’re playing babysitter for a woman-baby.” Merida groaned. “So what do we do now? We can’t just leave her out here and we can’t bring her back to the temple.”

Agnarr thought for a moment and said, “I have an idea.”

Agnarr took Elsa and Anna away from the group and sat them down in the grass, explaining to Anna what had happened. She just stared at him, confused by his words. From a distance, Jack, Hiccup and Kristoff watched them.

“Do you think the witch’s control is really gone?” Hiccup asked.

Jack nodded, “No doubt. Look at how confused she looks, no one can fake that.”

Kristoff told them, “When I fought her, I could sense her trying to fight for control. I think she was aware of what Gothel was doing to her, but she couldn’t fight back.”

Hiccup asked, “Then why did she regress to her childhood.”

“It’s probably a coping mechanism, like her mind wanted to go back to a time before those horrible times.”

Jack nodded and said, “It’s possible, it’s also possible that we can bring her out of this state.”

Kristoff told him, “I might be able to help. I remember in my lessons that there is a way to restore someone’s mind but it’ll take time.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“No doubt.”

“Then we’ll ask Master Agnarr if we should try it. It’s his daughter after all.”

Hiccup added, “For now, we’ll tell the Jedi that we got the assassin and we can focus on the Sith.”

They looked over and saw Elsa and Agnarr hugging Anna, who only looked wide eyed in confusion. Agnarr pulled himself back and kissed her on the side of her head. They all stood up and Agnarr brought his daughters back to the group. Jack, Hiccup and Kristoff greeted them first.

“We explained everything to Anna. She seems to understand but she still needs time.” Agnarr explained. “Now, I just need to explain this to the Jedi Council.”

Hiccup told him, “We already thought about that. We’ll tell them we got her.”

Kristoff added, “Let me keep her here, I can help her regain her memory.”

Elsa asked him, “Do you think that’s a wise decision? She doesn’t need to know about Gothel controlling her.”

“Elsa, she’s going to find out one way or another.” Jack told her. “At least let us try.”

Agnarr didn’t know what to think, he didn’t want Anna to relive any trauma from the years of Gothel controlling her. However, Jack was right, one way or another Anna was going to remember. If they were going to help her, maybe Kriistoff could. Sure, she was his daughter and he didn’t know Kristoff all that well, but he knew enough about the young Master to know he was a decent person and the Force told him that Kristoff would keep her safe. He was about to reply but heard Jack and Kristoff giggling. He turned to see what they were laughing at, Anna holding onto Toothless’ cheeks and intensely observing his face, the dragon looking between her and Hiccup.

“This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” Agnarr asked. He looked back at Kristoff and asked, “You know what to do? Can I trust you with my daughter?”

Kristoff was almost offended by the question, but he was certain that if he had a daughter, he’d have the same concerns. He told Agnarr, “I promise you that I will keep her safe and I promise not to push her. We’ll take our time.”

Agnarr nodded and turned to Elsa to ask, “Do you think we can convince the Council that she’s dead?”

Elsa held her hand out and used her magic to create a replica of Anna’s locks, a scorch mark on the end. She said, “This is the best I can do. Anything to keep her safe.”

Agnarr nodded and called everyone to leave. Elsa looked over at Anna, who was holding onto a thin tree branch and swinging a few feet off the ground.

“You okay?” Jack asked her, catching her attention. He looked over and saw she was looking at Anna. He smiled and told her, “She’ll be fine.”

Elsa sighed and said, “I know. It’s just that…I remember our childhood now, Anna was so sweet. Why would Gothel corrupt her like a…like a…”

Elsa began to bawl into her hands, Jack wrapping his arms around her, shushing her soothingly. He told her, “Hey, it’s okay. She’s alright now. I mean look at her, she’s got her spunk back.”

Elsa looked up at him and said, “Yeah but, she was just a little girl. What kind of monster would be so cruel?”

“It was Mother Gothel, she was pure evil. She’s free now, you both are.”

Elsa nodded and rested her head on his chest. He softly rubbed her back, letting her sob a little more.

“Jack!” They both looked over and saw Agnarr looking at them both. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Jack gave her a glance before letting her go and walked over to Agnarr. Elsa looked over at Anna who was still swinging. Kristoff went over her way.

“Anna, be careful up there.” Kristoff called to her.

“Oop!” she yelped when the branch broke and she fell into the brush beneath her. After a couple of seconds, she called out, “I’m okay!”

With Jack and Agnarr, Agnarr told Jack, “I need you to listen to me. I need to know something really important.”

“Of course, Master. Anything.” Jack replied.

“Good. Jack, I know you harbor feelings for my daughter.”

Jack turned beet red and panicked, “I don’t know what you mean!”

“Jack, it’s alright. I see you two and I can tell you take care of her. I need you to do so back at the temple.”

Jack’s color returned and asked, “What do you mean?”

Agnarr looked over Jack’s shoulder to Elsa, who was still watching Anna. He looked back at Jack and said, “I’ve been noticing Frollo’s eyes on Elsa. Have you?”

Jack thought back and sure enough, he remembered Frollo constantly looking at Elsa. He asked, “What do you think that means?”

Agnarr sighed and said, “Years ago, when you were still a boy, there was another padawan. Her name was Esmeralda. She told me he…did things to her.”

Jack instantly knew what that meant. His eyes were saucer wide and his jaw dropped. He asked, “Master, did you tell the Council?”

Agnarr scoffed and said, “He’s part of the Council, he outranks me. Who would believe me anyways?”

“Tell Master North, he would!”

“Jack, it’s not going to be that easy. They would have to conduct their own investigation and now, they’re preoccupied with the Sith. For now, I just need you to keep my daughter safe.”

Jack wanted to say more, but he was right. Now, they needed to get back to the temple and join in on finding the Sith. He nodded and turned to get Elsa.

“And Jack,” Agnarr called to him. “If it comes to it, you have my blessing to be with Elsa. She trusts you, so do I.”

Jack flushed again and went over to get Elsa, Agnarr laughing at him.

Frollo was with Bunnymund in the main court of the temple, waiting for Agnarr and the others to return. They got word that the Nightsister assassin was “dealt with” and that they were on their way back. Agnarr managed a speeder and was piloting the entire group back, Hiccup and Toothless soaring overhead. Frollo sneered up at him in disgust, repulsed that the Jedi would allow a Mandalorian on Tython still. Outside the Sith, no other culture had been at war with the Jedi longer than Mandalore and here was one, carrying a stolen relic from centuries past no less.

The speeder returned and the group departed and greeted the masters. When Jack and Frollo were face to face, Jack gave him a look.

“Care to tell me what that look is about, Jackson?” Frollo asked, almost angrily.

Jack said nothing, but Elsa went up to him and he took her hand, pulling her away from the Jedi Master. Frollo only glared them down as they walked off, Elsa giving him a quick glance. His eyes narrowed for a moment before turning and seeing Agnarr standing before him.

“So, the witch has been dealt with, I assume?” Frollo asked.

Agnarr held out the strand of hair that Elsa gave him and said, “Her magic was used against her. This is all that’s left.”

Frollo looked it over before looking Agnarr in his eyes. Agnarr could tell he was trying to read his mind, but Agnarr fought to block him. They continued for a few moments until Frollo relented.

He sighed and said, “Very well then. I suppose it’s time that we all reconvene to begin our investigation into the Sith’s infiltration."

“I agree. We need to move fast.” Agnarr moved past him and began to enter the temple.

“I have a question, Agnarr.” Frollo called with his back to Agnarr. He glanced over his shoulder and asked, “Why did you leave our investigation? Why join Jackson and his friends up on the mountain?”

Agnarr said nothing, he didn’t even look back. He just went inside and left Frollo on the steps, the saber master looking off and giving a sinister grin.

Hiro plugged his datapad back into the panel and it again recovered the message sent to Coruscant, trying to pinpoint the location it was sent. He pulled a wire from his datapad and handed it to Hiccup, who plugged it into his own pad and began to punch in some commands.

“This might do the trick.” Hiccup muttered. As he continued his scan, he said, “Your pad can decode the message, I’ll try to see where it went.”

“It’s clear it came from this communication panel, it’s just a matter of…wait!” Hiro stopped. “I got another message! Merida, where are you?”

Merida stepped next to him and asked, “What you got, kid?”

Hiro projected the message and asked, “Is this what you saw in the forest?”

Sure enough, it was the same hooded figure she saw communicating in the forest.

“Aye, that’s him!” she pointed. “Where is that coming from?”

“I’m trying to figure that out now.” Hiccup told her. After decoding, he said, “Got it. It’s coming from…not Coruscant. It’s being redirected to Coruscant and being sent here.”

Rapunzel asked, “Do we know where it’s being sent from? Whoever this person is, they’re going to great lengths to cover their tracks.”

“Aye, they could be anywhere in the galaxy.” Merida said.

“Gimme a second.” Hiccup hummed. He decoded it some more and finally got a pinpoint, “This message was bounced all over the galaxy. I’m getting points from Coruscant, Tattooine, Balmorra, Nar Shadda, Null Hutta, but I mapped it back far.”

“How far?” Rapunzel asked.

Hiccup plugged his pad in and projected a galactic map. After a few seconds, Hiccup pointed, “Here.”

Rapunzel looked closer and said, “That makes no sense. There shouldn’t be any communications coming from there.”

“Why not?” Hiro asked.

“Because that system is where Korriban is.”

Merida replied, “Oh I get it…No I don’t. What the hell is Korriban.”

“I know about it.” Hiro said as he stood up, glaring at the map. “It’s the birthplace of the Sith. The Republic closed it off decades ago, no ships in or out.”

Merida asked, “So how did this person get there? Do you think they have a ship with a cloaking device or something?”

“I don’t know, but whoever this person is, they’re planning something. What should we do?”

Rapunzel thought for a moment, thinking out loud, “We can’t reach out to the Republic to let them know, we can’t contact anyone we know on our homeworlds or else they’ll be at risk. Plus, even if we were to send out a message, whose to say they aren’t redirecting correspondences from Tython and monitoring them as well?”

“So that means we’re stuck. That pisses me off.” Merida snapped.

Hiccup said, “The only thing we can do is let the Jedi Council know. Perhaps they would know better.”

Rapunzel snapped her finger and said, “You’re right! The only ones who have direct access to Korriban would be the Jedi…which means-”

“Whoever this person is was once a member of the Jedi Order!” Hiccup realized. He looked at Hiro and Merida and added, “It’s true then, the Sith really have infiltrated the Jedi. We need to see who has access to Korriban.”

Hiro began working but groaned and said, “Crap, access is locked tight. I can’t get in.”

Merida nodded and said, “Aye, it makes sense. The Jedi would go to great lengths to make sure no one could hack into their databanks for Korriban. We need to talk to the others.”

“Assuming they’ll even tell us anything.” Hiccup said as he put his datapad away and the group exited.

Jack and Elsa walked through the hallways of the temple and into one of the rear corridors. They came to a door and Jack told her to wait outside before going in and closing the door. Elsa caught a glimpse of Raya and Namaari at an archive computer before the door closed. She turned and observed the corridor structures, they were ancient but had signs of restoration. She was amazed by the intricate designs surrounding her. She came to love Tython very much, it was clean, cool, fresh air and clear waters. It was nothing like Dathomir at all.

“Waiting for something?”

She quickly looked over and saw Frollo next to the door, giving her a look. It sent chills down her spine.

“Just Jack. He said he’ll be right back.” she told him, trying to hide any fear.

He glanced at the door for a moment before giving her an uncomfortable smile. He said, “You know, Jackson is quite young. He’s easily…maliuble, wouldn’t you say?”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that he could be easily influenced, enticed to abandon his place in the Jedi Order by something so…” Frollo stepped next to her and softly caressed her braid. “...refined.”

Elsa began to gasp for breath, like his touch was suffocating her. She watched him get closer and closer, lust in his eyes. She wanted to cry out but her throat was still, she was paralysed with fear.

Then, someone grabbed onto Frollo’s wrist, pulling him away from her. It was Jack, standing between him and Elsa, reaching for his lightsaber. Frollo found it amusing.

“I’ve beaten you before, I can do it again.” Frollo smiled.

“Last time, I beat you, old man.” Jack snapped back. “Don’t you touch her.”

“And what will you do? Don’t forget, I still have leverage over you, Jackson.”

Jack scoffed and said, “I already told Master Sanderson. He’s known for a long time.”

Frollo’s smile faded.

“And that’s not all. I know about Esmeralda.”

Frollo’s jaw clenched and his eyes widened in shock. He gasped, “How did you-”

“You put your hand on Elsa again, I’ll let the Council know. You’ll be expelled from the Jedi Order.”

“Like they’ll listen to the likes of you.”

“Master North is a member, he’ll listen to me.”

Jack was right, he had it over Frollo. Frollo relaxed and gave Elsa a menacing glance, making her shrink behind Jack. He smirked and looked back at Jack.

“Very well, Jackson. You win this one, but don’t think you’ll one up me again.” he said, impressed that Jack managed to back him into a corner. He passed them, but he told Elsa, “We’ll meet again.”

Elsa only cringed at his words. Jack watched him turn the corner and disappear, blowing out a breath in relief. He turned to Elsa and asked, “You alright?”

“Jack, I don’t want to be alone.” she begged.

“It’s alright. I’ll keep you safe.”

Elsa felt a tingle in her stomach with his words. He always made her feel safe.

Then Raya and Namaari walked out of the archive room and Raya asked, “What we miss?”

North rubbed his forehead, a look of worry on his face. Agnarr told him everything, about his daughters, his life when he was younger, even that Anna was still alive and hiding in the mountains. North was the only one he told, trusting his old friend more than anyone else.

North sighed and said, “Agnarr, this is bad.”

“I know,” Agnarr groaned, holding himself. “I know, but I needed to tell someone. I need to take responsibility.”

North shook his head and smiled, “My young friend, you took a lot of risks all these years. You hid the fact that you had a family outside the Order and you’ve held the pain all this time. You risked the Dark Side taking over.”

Agnarr didn’t look at him, but he shook his head and said, “I couldn’t, I did it for my daughters…for my love.”

Then, Agnarr began to sob. North knew it wasn’t out of fear of any punishments from the Jedi. North knew it was something more important.

“I have my daughters back, but I’m lost without my love…Iduna…I want her back too.”

North reached out and hugged Agnarr, patting him in the back. He softly said, “Listen to me, Agnarr, what you’re feeling is normal. You spent all these years thinking your children were dead, but you have them here. They’re safe now, don’t be afraid anymore.”

Agnarr coughed out a sob.

“Your secret is safe with me.” North reassured him.

North let him go and patted his shoulder. Agnarr nodded in response, “You’re right. I’ll always love Iduna and I wish I could have saved her, but I know she would want me to protect our daughters.”

North nodded in agreement, letting Agnarr regain himself.

Then Agnarr told him, “Nick, I need to tell you something else…It’s about Frollo.”