Jaden sat up in the bed, and rubbed his eyes sleepily, looking down at his chronometer he realized that he had slept in very late.  It was almost 0-1100, just an hour away from midday meal!

  Jaden lifted the sheets off of him, and looked to his left: expecting to see Zander’s sleeping form. He looked at the empty side of the bed with confusion; Zander usually slept in this late. “Did he get up early?” Jaden wondered.

  Looking up from the left side of the bed, he discovered a computer notepad on Zander’s pillow.  Curiously, he picked it up.

A sinking feeling filled within him as he began reading:

  If you are now reading this message, I am long gone; off to a place where I will be no burden. I’m sorry for all of the troubles I’ve caused you, and I know that my apology will never be quite enough to compensate for my past actions.  I’ve come to a realization that it would be better for everyone if I left, for if I didn’t, I would only cause more traumas and problems that no one deserves to deal with. It is with good memories, and a shameful heart that I leave you to be on my own. Hopefully, my decision will grant you a happier life. Goodbye Dad, try to remember me as I was before all of this.  As I go, I pray that you leave, and give yourself no blame. I love you.

 Zander

  Jaden’s torso shook as he tried through the shock to breathe.  A deep pain resided within his chest, and tears streamed down his face.  The pain expressed in his son’s words tore at Jaden’s heart; what had he done to his little boy?  He should have paid more attention to what he had overheard. Sighing heavily he tried to calm himself, but the task was found too difficult.

  Quickly, Jaden got off the bed and walked rapidly into the living quarters.  He found his father and brother-in-law staring down at something on the kitchen counter. Walking to the edge of the table, he saw a note written by Kaster. He had followed Zander when he left!

Jaden looked up at Gavin; “Can we communicate with him?”

  The unhappy father nodded, giving Jaden the code to Kaster’s communicator.  Shaking his head, Gavin cursed and muttered under his breath.  Finally, he looked up at his father in law, “Why didn’t he just wake us up if Zander ran away?”
 
 

  Shawn sighed, “Kaster is wise beyond his years in many ways, but still has much to learn.  His dreams of becoming a hero greatly influenced this act. Kaster still eagerly jumps into things that he can’t handle.”

  Jaden pulled away from the screen quickly, and threw on his brown Jedi robe. “They’re in one of the industrial cities.  It must be a new one, because I don’t think that Zander could have walked over 40 miles within three hours.”  Without another word the Jedi
was out of the door, too desperate and determined to stop and think of the situation.

  Shawn watched his son with concern; even in crises Jaden had never acted in this manner.  He sighed, and gestured for Gavren to follow him as he walked in long strides to catch up; deciding that it would be crucial for them to come so as to keep Jaden from becoming too desperate and stressed.

  Jaden remained ahead of them because of his advanced skills.  While Shawn and Gavren walked, Jaden was able to lift himself with the force; floating above the surface at high speed.  His senses guided him through the jungle: bringing him closer and closer to his son.  When in doubt, he checked with Kaster from his own communicator, using his vague description to offer his Jedi senses support.

   His determination and love for his son kept him going non-stop; exploring every place that had connections to Kaster’s directions, or to his instincts. No father would rest in a situation such as this; so would it be with Jaden.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

    The glaring sun poured through a rag-like blanket, into Zander’s eyes.  Sitting up, he blinked several times to force the sleep out of his eyes.  He yawned silently, and looked about him.  Zander’s eyes widened in astonishment; a city on the west side of Ithor? It was unheard of!

  The beings that walked about the cement streets were clearly not jungle animals: each of them walked perfectly erect and wore fabrics of loose and intricate design. On their foreheads and sides of their necks were creases that formed interesting patterns.

  Zander had the urge to go and talk to the aliens, but thought better of it; they might be very territorial, or perhaps afraid of other beings.  Sighing, he backed up to the edge of the building behind him, and put the old blanket around him once more.

  As he draped the crude material around him, he realized that he had brought no fabric on his journey, nor did he remember wrapping himself in it before he fell asleep.  He looked about him suspiciously, and then his eyes rested upon a familiar person.

“Kaster, what the hell are you doing here?!” he yelled.
 

  His little cousin quickly pressed a button on his communicator, looking at Zander in shock. “I…I…” he stuttered.

Zander’s eyes narrowed, “You decided to play hero, didn’t you?”

Kaster said nothing.

“Do you realize how worried they will be about you?”

“They’re worried about you also,” Kaster replied in a soft tone.

  Zander relaxed a little; realizing that what he was doing to Kaster was the thing he hated most of all that was done to him. Shaking his head sadly, he responded in a softer tone: “You’ll understand when you are older.  I want you to go back to your Dad and Grandpa.”

Kaster shook his head vigorously; “I can’t let you leave.”

  “I have to kid, it’s in everyone’s best interest,” Zander replied, cupping his cousin’s chin gently.

  “How?” Kaster asked desperately, “ Everyone loves you, Zander.  We’d miss you too much if you left.”

  Zander embraced his cousin lovingly, sighing deeply. “I’ll miss everyone too, but I still believe that this has to be done.  As I told you before Kas, you will understand when you’re older.”

Kaster shook his head defiantly; “You can’t go!” he cried, hugging onto Zander’s leg.

  Zander looked down at him in shock; he was truly desperate. He’d never seen Kaster like this! Sighing, he looked down at him with sentiment, and shook his head.  “Come on Kas, don’t demean yourself this way,” he said pleadingly.

  Looking down at his cousin striving so broke his heart, but still within him was the determination to de-burden the family.  His lowered self-esteem had convinced him that no good for those he loved could ever come from him.  In order to give them happiness he thought to leave, and find his own.

   Prying the seven-year-old from his leg, he attempted to depart for his new life. But in his way were troubles more dangerous than conflicting emotions.  In his way stood several angry city beings, wearing more elaborate garments than what appeared to be the normal style of apparel.  From the looks of it, Zander concluded, these people were some type of police force; a police force that didn’t think kindly of trespassers.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Jaden looked down at his wrist communicator in shock; Kaster had disconnected with him. Calming himself, he realized that the reason for the separation might have been Zander waking up.

  Jaden felt a tingling sensation in the back of his neck, and stopped in mid-air; they were in danger.

 Shawn felt it also, and looked up at his son with the same concerned expression. Jaden quickly flew through the trees, franticly trying to find Zander and Kaster.

 Shawn was equally concerned; however, he had enough experience with these types of situations to know that staying calm and precautions was the best way to find Zander.
He had had quite a time trying to tame his other son, Danal.  When his children, Jaden, Mellisa, Danal, and Kale, were three years old, he was forced to give them up to grant them a better childhood.  When he recovered them nine years later, Danal was very rebellious and out of control. Because Danal’s life wasn’t very good with his foster parents, he had many issues to deal with all ready, adding Shawn to his life had made things even more unstable. Danal had run away many times, and it took two years just to get him to sit down and listen.

   He looked up at Jaden and sighed, he would have to be the one keeping his son sane during this search.

………………………………………………………………………………………………
 

  Kaster looked from one officer to the other, feeling fear quickly rising within him.  He sighed deeply; he had to remember what his grandfather had taught him! He couldn’t give in to fear.  Fear led to anger, anger led to hate, and hate led to suffering.

 Closing his eyes briefly, he drove his fears from his mind, and looked up at the Abissen police with attempted serenity.  “Is there a problem?” he asked.

  A gruff man looked down at the seven-year-old, and snorted. “I believe there is, little boy.  We don’t allow trespassers.” He looked back at the other guards, “Capture him,” he ordered.

The hapless boy’s eyes wavered; what was he to do now?

  Two of the guards grabbed Kaster by the arms and attempted to drag him to the jail forcefully.

 Though the police officials were very strong, they underestimated Kaster’s ability; he
soon slipped from their grips, and ran away with his cousin close behind.

  A few stared at them, awestruck, while the others began chasing the boys down.  Kaster was tackled, and Zander’s arms were bound behind him.

   “You think you’re so cunning don’t you?” a man sneered looking at Kaster with a mocking glare.  Snorting, the man stood domineering before the child, “I’ll teach you some manners!” he yelled.

 Kaster was punched several times in the gut before Zander, who was in shock, was able to react.  Frantically, he used the force to pull a heavy container through the air quickly, to the leader’s body.

  The men all ducked, and the container ended up crashing into a building wall.  Kaster stared at his cousin, flabbergasted. How was he able to use telekinesis? He hadn’t even begun his training yet!

  “Well, well,” the head guard mocked, “Someone has a little extra energy. Geative, why
don’t you come over here and beat it out of him?”

  A sinister looking man approached the twelve-year-old with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.  Through severe knocks and blows, the boy was left gasping for air, and being dragged on the cement by yet another guard. With all the energy he had left, he managed a few curse words as the hard surface tore at his wounds.

  They were dragged through the prison, and thrown into a cell as others jeered at them mercilessly. Trails of blood led from the cell into the open street from which they had been captured. The loss of blood had made the two disoriented; Zander more so than
Kaster.

  They looked at each other nervously, not knowing where their lives would go from that moment.  Sighing deeply, Zander closed his eyes and tried to relieve his headache as he spoke; “I need you to tear some cloth from our clothes and bandage these wounds, quickly.”

  Kaster did so as fast as his nimble fingers could allow. He wrapped Zander’s wounds first, securing the cloth tightly to keep blood from seeping out.  He did the same to his wounds, and laid back against the wall.  His head pounded with pain, making him unable to move.
 

  Leaning on Zander a bit, Kaster rested himself, hoping more than ever that he would see his father, grandfather, and uncle soon; that they would get them out of this cell, and back to full health.
 
 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Jaden was getting restless; Kaster wouldn’t return his calls, and he was completely ignorant of the geography of the planet.  He had to rely completely on his senses, which were greatly squandered by his instinctive worry, and desperateness.

   He looked at his calm father walking beneath him, and realized that he still had much to learn.  Breathing slowly, Jaden did his best to calm his nerves and clear his mind.  He reached out with his feelings, and soon detected their exact location.

  Shawn looked up at Jaden, discovering his grandsons’ locations. Smiling slightly, he realized that Jaden all ready knew and was heading that way.  He was learning to clear his mind well.

  Gavren strode behind the Jedi, cursing and muttering the whole way to the city. While he loved the fact that his son had a passion for helping people, he wished that Kaster could learn to do it by using his head.  What was he thinking?  Why did he decide to go out in the dark after Zander, when he could’ve woken everyone else up and told them?   He was going to have a long discussion with Kaster after all of this was over.

  The three men made it to the city within a half of an hour, and walked cautiously through it.

  “Kaster appeared to be in an alley, or small dead end street when I talked to him,” Jaden said quietly, looking at Shawn.

   Shawn nodded silently, and looked around every small corner that he could see. “I do not sense them here,” he said quietly, “I believe their location is more to the east.”

 Guards stepped in their way in an intimidating manner, towering over them.  “Looks like more trespassers,” one said cocking his head a bit, “Get them.”

 Jaden gave his power up quickly. Although he could have easily beaten them, he had a feeling that they would lead him to his son and nephew.  Shawn sensed the same thing and gave up.

  Gavren’s eyes widened with astonishment and irritation, “You two are the big macho
Jedi! Why don’t you do something?”

 Glares from the older men quickly quieted Gavren’s ranting. At that moment he discovered what the other two all ready had, and lifted his arms in surrender.
 
 
 
 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Zander lay sprawled on the floor lethargically, he hadn’t moved since he had been thrown in, finding it too painful to do so.  His head pounded fiercely, and every breath he took was almost too much to withstand.

  Kaster looked over at him with a worried expression. He had bound the wounds, what else could he do? The pounding in his head had stopped, and was replaced by a light feeling that made him dizzy when he moved about. Kaster sighed deeply; he hated being helpless.

  The other prisoners were still jeering at them, excited to see new members, but Zander and Kaster were too out of it to notice.  When the steel door at the front opened, however,
their cries were quieted by curiosity. Who were the newcomers?

 Kaster’s head jerked in the direction of the sound, and he winced at the blood rushing through.  Rubbing his head, he wished in vain that he hadn’t done that.  As his vision cleared up, he realized who had just walked in; the people he wished would come!  He tried to hide his excitement from the guards, thinking that if he pretended not to know them, the guards would be more likely to throw his kin into the same cell.

  The guard smirked, seeing the excitement in the young boy’s face.  It wouldn’t last once the group of Jedi’s discovered that they were in a much more imprisoning cell.  No one could get out, no matter how great his or her power was.

 Jaden walked into the cell, looking down at his son with concern.  From what he could tell, Zander had two broken legs, a fractured rib, and a possibly fractured arm.  What kind of people would do this to a defenseless child?

  He kneeled beside his son, and lifted him slightly to use his healing technique. Shawn did the same with Kaster as the guards left.

  Jaden concentrated on all of Zander’s wounds for over an hour before he had done all that he could.  Zander’s bones were healed and his muscles were repaired, but Jaden could do nothing for his son’s exhaustion; he would have to rest.

  Kaster however, was restored quite easily; he didn’t undergo physical damage to the extreme that Zander had.

  Jaden looked up at his nephew grimly, “What exactly happened?”

  Kaster looked up at him, and quickly went through the details. “I was discovered by the guards, they don’t like trespassers, so they started attacking me.  Zander cut in by throwing a barrel of some kind at them with his mind…”

Jaden put up a hand to stop his recollection, “With his mind?” he asked.

Kaster nodded an affirmative.

  Looking up at Shawn, he shook his head in shock, “I haven’t even begun teaching him telekinesis, how could he have done that?”

  Shawn shrugged, showing that he didn’t know.  “Every generation of Jedi grows stronger, perhaps he just learned from watching.”

  Zander stirred on the floor, drawing everyone’s attention.

  Crawling towards him, Jaden lifted him slightly, laying Zander’s head in his lap to let the excess blood flow from his head to his body.  He moved his son’s bangs away from his face, and stroked his hair softly.  In response, Zander’s eyes opened and squinted to clear water, among other things, from vision.

“Dad?” he asked in shock.

Jaden nodded smiling, “You’re all right now.”

  Zander sighed heavily, now that he had come after him it would all be the same again.  Why hadn’t he left? They should’ve just grabbed Kaster and left, they had the power!  “Dad, you shouldn’t have…”

   Jaden pressed his index finger to his son’s lips, quieting him.  “I would never and could never leave you, son.  You are my child and I would defend you with my life.”

  Zander’s eyes watered a bit at the last remark, as he glanced about the cell.  Although he had truthfully known of his father’s love through out everything, it felt good to hear it.  Still, he couldn’t help feeling guilty for everything.  The lingering dark feeling telling him that he was unworthy haunted him, and ate at his self-esteem.

 He closed his eyes slightly as his father hugged him closer and kissed him.  Zander hugged his father back loosely in response, but his feelings hadn’t truly changed.  Jaden shouldn’t be in the prison cell with him; he should be going home to the girls without looking back.

  Jaden tilted his son’s head toward him, so that their gazes met. Looking deeply into Zander’s brown eyes, he responded to his son’s feelings. “Zander, listen to me carefully.
You are not a bad person, you are not unworthy, and if you left we would all be worse off without you.  Do you understand me?”

  Zander nodded slowly, though not agreeing completely with what was said.
 
 
 

  Jaden sighed softly, he would help him re-build his self-esteem, but he could only do so when his son is willing.  If only he had seen the emotional instability from the beginning.
He shook his wishes and worries from his head, knowing that now was not the time to ponder them.  They had to get out of there.

 He looked up at Shawn inquiringly, “What can you make of the cell, Father?”

   The old man’s green eyes penetrated the walls and beams of the imprisoned room.  “They have quite a lot of technology guarding this cell.  It seems that they thought to try and make a ‘Jedi proof’ cell.”

“How well did they create this technology?” Jaden asked, scanning the surface slowly.

  “It may be a challenge to get out of here, but I believe that we can find a way,” Shawn responded quietly.

   Jaden nodded, seeing the logic in what his father reported.  Although Jaden was a Jedi master, Shawn still had much more experience.  He had been a Jedi master himself, and taught Jaden all that he could.  By the time that Jaden and his siblings had grown up and took their places at the New Republic, things were much more peaceful.  With Danal and Mellisa on the defense squadrons and battle vessels, there was little need for Jaden or Kale other than to work with the academies.  Jaden instructed the beginners, Kale, the intermediate, and if students were powerful enough they went to Mellissa’s and Danal’s advanced training.  About eight years ago, however, a big war in the unknown regions had pulled Mellisa and Danal into battle, and the New Republic relied a lot on Jaden and Kale to create worthy Jedi to help in the struggle.

  Laying his son on the hard floor, Jaden stood and looked well about his surroundings.
The Guards walked up and down the hallway without stopping, the other prisoners were obviously not trustworthy enough to say nothing should they try to escape, and the technology keeping them from freedom was well advanced and could be deadly to go through. Should one mistake be made in their flight, they would either die, or be fighting in an open war between the police and the prisoners. Yes, this would be challenging.