Akari Navi, the Grey Jedi©

Prologue

"There is no hiding from me...."

Not today. Smirking to herself, a young blond girl ducked further into the bushes, lilacs brushing her cheek, branches snatching at her blue gown.

"Got you!"

The girl squealed, falling over as something brushed her leg. Turning around she came face to face with a brown haired young boy a year or so older than her. "Cheater!"

The boy laughed, "no. I found you didn't I?"

"Yes, but you can't enter the base!" the girl protested, smirking at him. "You-"

"Kiri!"

Both children froze at the commanding male voice.

"It's him," the boy whispered, his eyes wide.

"Shh," the girl put a finger to his lips. "Maybe he won't hear us."

Crunch!

"AKIRI NAVI!"

At such a close distance the sharp voice made the youth gasp, jumping in surprise.

The girl's eyes wide, she looked in front of her. Two booted feet stood in front of the bush, buckles sparkling in the sunlight.

"I'm here Daddy," she hastily crawled out of the flowers, knowing the game was over.

Standing up she came face to face with a frowning tall man in a blue suit. His dark brown hair contrasted with her light curls but both shared the same chiseled face and ocean blue eyes.

The man gasped, eyes wide as he glanced at the girl. "Akira! What have you done to your dress!"

The girl looked down, checking her bell sleeved dress and silver sandals. The once sky blue dress was now marred with dark brown spots where she had crawled on the dirt. Her sandal straps had come undone, one falling off.

"What were you doing out here on your own!" the father scolded. "Don't you know how dangerous Coruscant is!"

There was a rustling sound as the young boy crawled out from the bushes, standing by the girl. "She wasn't alone. I was with her."

Startled, the man looked the boy over. Sighing heavily, he put a hand up to his forehead. "You were with her?"

The boy nodded, shrugging his shoulders back.

Breathing in deeply as if to control his composure, the man shook his head at the boy. "I meant she must be accompanied by an adult." he raised an eyebrow. "What is your name?"

"Phillip," the boy grinned. "My father is the head tender of your gardens. His name is Mathias."

"Ah," the man frowned slightly, "Well Phillip, if you don't mind returning to your father, I am sure he could use your help."

"Yes sir," the boy nodded, beaming at the idea of helping. He turned to the little girl and waved as he ran off. "By Kari. See you later!"

"See you later Phillip!" the girl called after with a bright smile. She turned to her father. "Daddy, isn't he nice? His dad lets me pick a rose whenever I visit the garden and Phillip has the greatest ideas for games. He-"

"Kari," her father interrupted in a somewhat stern voice. "I have been searching for you for almost thirty minutes! Now I will be late to the Senate meeting, especially since you have to change!"

"Sorry Daddy," the girl hung her head. "We were just having fun."

The man sighed. "I know a little one." Taking her hand, he led her away from the bush. "Being a diplomat is an important job. Appearance and composure-they mean everything as well as punctuality."

The girl titled her head somewhat puzzled by what he was saying.

"Do you understand?" the man looked down at his daughter. She bit her lip, shrugging.

Exhaling, the man paused. He knelt down to her height. "Kari. you are not to play with Phillip anymore. And I do not want you going outside without an escort."

"But...but you always let me go outside and play with the other kids," the young girl's lip quivered. She could not fathom why she was suddenly not allowed to do what she had grown up accustomed to.

The father pulled a twig out of the child's hair. Then he lifted the silver blue ruby diadamen that had become tangled in the girl's curls. "Kira," he said gently, positioning the tiara back in place. "My little light. There is a line that separates the two worlds."

"What two worlds?" the girl scrunched her face up in confusion.

The father took his daughter's hands on his own. "You are from the line of the Navi–a nobleman's daughter-my daughter," he paused, then went on. "There are things we leave in the past. Now that I have been elected to the Senate, adjustments will happen. Mingling with those under us will only cause our own authority to be usurped leading to chaos." he stared into her deep eyes. "Do you understand?"

The girl nodded, though she still did not grasp the full meaning of his statement besides the fact that she knew things were going to be different now and there was nothing she could do about it.