PROLOGUE

Coruscant, 26 BBY

Jedi Temple

Studying was fiercely boring.

Xur felt his eyes shuddering every few seconds as he slouched more and more into his chair in the Great Library. Today he had been tasked with researching the three things of the whatever for Master bantha poop-head or whatever their name was for their big, mysterious project that the young Jedi could care less about. He already knew why he was here; getting busted for trying to sneak into the holocron vault.

Again.

He found it cruel that they would place him directly within eyesight of the vault he couldn't access (and yes, he was literally at the desk right next to it), but expected as much from his Master, Mace Windu. The Jedi Council member sure had a way with poetic justice. Xur could imagine him saying already, "You'll keep this up until you learn discipline, Eon. I've got all the time in the galaxy."

Yeah, yeah sure he did. It was all a trick, Xur knew. The Jedi couldn't keep him locked in here forever. His talents were just too great. They needed him, and Xur was plenty sure of that idea, and oh the comfort it gave him.

"Xur," someone whispered in the desk next to him, making him jump awake.

That someone was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi only a few years older than him, but the puberty strike spoke otherwise. He stood almost a full eight inches taller than him, and his deeper voice only made the young zabrak more jealous the more he heard it.

Xur rubbed his eyes. "What do you want, man?"

"Find anything?" Anakin asked, trying to peer at his screen.

He almost laughed. "Nope. All I've got is this guy went blah blah and then blah blah."

Anakin had been roped into "punishment" as well, but not for the same act, in fact Anakin hadn't disclosed why he was there in the first place. The Jedi usually bragged about the daring and certainly unpermitted heist that had landed him there.

Anakin began. "Well, I've got-,"

"Shhhh!" the Librarian, Master Nu, shushed from the other side of the arrangement of desks. "Keep it down, Padawans."

"Sorry Master," Anakin and Xur both said in unison, more to just get her attention away from them.

The two of them kept quiet until she wandered away, helping younglings with whatever assignments they had. It was odd for the two of them, since they had been padawans since they were inducted at their young age, which meant some of the younglings were actually older than them. Xur was only 12, and the average Padawan age was 16 years old, but his case was certainly special enough to warrant an exception. Master Windu had vouched for him since he was found on the Temple steps.

Anakin noticed Xur's attention never returned to his screen, and he traced his gaze to a teenaged human girl sitting across from them and a few desks down the row. All he could make out was her forehead and short, shoulder-length black hair from his angle.

"Who are you looking at?" Anakin asked, keeping his voice as low as possible, even using a bit of the Force to keep the sound only in Xur's direction.

The zabrak flushed red, even detectable with his already crimson skin. "N-no one," he stammered, his eyes focusing back on his screen.

Anakin smirked and discreetly peered over and found recognition once he could see her face. "Oh, I know who that is."

"You do?" Xur asked, trying as well to keep his voice down despite his excitement. "I-I mean…I-,"

Anakin tried not to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Xur protested, and then received a shushing gesture from Anakin.

"Are you trying to get us in trouble again?"

Xur realized his mistake, and then tried to hide behind his screen as he could feel all the others looking at him. "Sorry."

After another waiting moment for things to quiet down, Anakin leaned in. "Her name is Trilla. I can introduce her to you, if you want."

Xur shook his head feverishly. "Pfft what? No thanks…I'm alright, man."

"Come on," he pressed. "No. After this, you're meeting her."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Padawans!" Master Nu called again.

"Sorry, Master," they both mumbled in unison.

After the grueling twelve hours that Anakin and Xur spent in the Library, the sun had already dipped below the horizon on Coruscant, leaving the two of them to wander the halls to their quarters. Much to Xur's pleasure, Trilla was long gone before Anakin had a chance to force him to speak with her, so he found it much easier to breathe after the stress had washed over.

Neither of them was feeling drowsy, and since everyone in the Temple had either retired for the day or had gone off on assignment, they both ended up in Anakin's quarters…with a deck of sabacc cards.

Anakin mulled over his three cards, looking across to Xur who was stuck deciding whether or not to draw his third. Since neither of them had any credits to speak of, they commonly used bits and pieces of scrap to simulate some form of betting, even if none of it was worth anything.

The zabrak continued to look, but eventually decided to draw from the deck. In that moment, Anakin tried to peer into his mind, but was met with a stronger resistance than any other young Jedi he had faced. Xur's eyes panned up.

"Nice try, Skywalker," he smirked. "Might work on those other younglings, but not me."

Anakin shrugged. "Wouldn't need to anyway."

Xur rolled his eyes. "It's your bet, man."

Anakin looked at his cards again. He had the required total of 23, all suited as well, and Xur hadn't looked confident through the round. With a smirk, he pushed all of his scrap to the middle. "All in."

Xur stared for a moment, his eyes moving to his cards again, and then back to his pile. "I'll call."

Anakin scoffed and showed his cards. "Pure Staves Sabacc."

"Ouch," Xur winced, and Anakin began early celebrations, before Xur turned his cards and slapped them on the floor. "Idiot's Array."

Anakin was stunned. "Blast! You cheated!"

The zabrak grumbled. "Said by every loser ever. Want to start a new game?"

The opposing Padawan was about to argue more, until his door chime sounded, taking both of their sets of eyes off the game.

Xur sighed. "Don't tell me they reinstated curfew."

"Nope," Anakin shook his head. "Come in guys!"

When the door opened, a few teenaged younglings filed into his room. They were all human, one male and two females. The first girl who came in was named Effa, a dirty blonde about Anakin's age, and truthfully one of the only friends Xur had ever seen him with. Behind her was Kaidan, a dark-skinned human who was one of his only friends.

"Thanks for coming Effa, Kaidan," Anakin greeted. "Xur and I were just playing sabacc. Want to join us?"

Kaidan scoffed. "Join you? We've been reading ancient scrolls all day, so I'm dying to have a little fun for a change."

"Of course!" Effa agreed, and then stepped aside. "We're all really bored, I brought my friend Trilla, if that's alright."

Xur's body might as well have melted into a puddle of matter right then and there.

"Yeah, sure," Anakin shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Trilla stepped forward, looking a little shy, but held out her hand. "Sorry, I hope I'm not a bother."

Anakin shook it. "No, the more the merrier," he said, and then Xur felt a Force nudge from him, which really only annoyed the zabrak. He knew Anakin had set all this up and had somehow convinced Effa to go along with it, and now he was trapped unprepared and in an awkward situation. "This is my friend Xur, by the way," he presented, but Xur never looked up. "He's really good at sabacc."

Xur almost cringed, but looked up anyway, doing his best to smile. "I'm alright," he said, bashfully and with his hand on the back of his neck.

"Alright?" Kaidan exclaimed, taking a seat around the pile of scrap pieces. "You're amazing! I've never beaten you."

Xur didn't know what to say. He had never liked flattery in the first place, and he knew even less about what to do with it.

Everyone took a seat around the pile, and as predictability demanded, Trilla took hers next to him. As Anakin began to shuffle and deal everyone's first card, Xur fought off his fight or flight instinct and took a deep breath, knowing that he'd be smart to take the chance that Anakin had forced upon him, despite the manner it had been.

"Hi," he greeted. "I'm Xur…but uh…you already knew that."

Trilla smiled anyway. "Nice to meet you," she replied, and then took her first card. "I'm not very good, honestly."

Xur shrugged. "It's all just chance with a little bit of awareness," he explained. "I could show you, if you want."

"Sure," she agreed.

The first few rounds progressed slowly, since Xur spent a lot of his time explaining the rules and showing his cards to Trilla, much to the displeasure of Kaidan, who was anxious to get going. He could feel Anakin's amusement through the force, which he knew he was purposely projecting, but he didn't let that throw him off. The zabrak was beginning to finally get a grip on himself.

"Pure Sabacc," Xur said, dropping his total of -23 on the floor, which was followed by collective groans as he pulled in the pot. "Sorry guys."

"This nerf-herder has got to be cheating," Kaidan complained. "How did a little kid like you get so good?" he laced his tone with condescension on purpose.

Xur shrugged. "I read a few logs in the Archives, oh and I practice at the Dark Star Lounge, just a few blocks from the Temple."

"What?" Trilla asked. "How do you manage to even get in the door?"

"I know the guy who owns the place. He says he knew my dad," Xur explained as Anakin dealt the first card to everyone. "Old togruta guy. His name is Paavo."

Trilla looked intrigued. "Who's your father?"

Xur wasn't expecting anyone to bring up his family, especially since he never brought them up, and he silently wished he had caught himself. If someone aside from her had asked, he wouldn't have even answered.

The zabrak looked away. "He used to be a Jedi Knight, Osiris Eon…but he killed my mother when I was little. He disappeared after that."

His story sucked a lot of the life out of the atmosphere, and the traumatic experience he had when he was only two years of age came back to him in that moment.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Effa asked.

Xur shoved it away, as he always did. "I prefer to just say he's dead. Makes it easier to forget."

Anakin could feel his distress, and chimed in. "Hey guys, we've got to end this kid's reign of terror on this game."

Eventually, Xur's reverie wore off, and he returned in full spirit after dropping a few rounds. Still, his pile was the largest just ahead of Kaidan's, who had won a major bet against Anakin that had nearly cleaned him out.

Xur had a decent hand so far, his first two were a 13 and a 1, so he felt in position to grab the 23, but his chances weren't very high.

"16," Anakin called out his total, which happened on the second round of drawing.

"10," said Effa.

Kaidan groaned. "32."

"Yikes," Xur mocked. "14."

Everyone looked to Trilla, who took her time to look through her cards. "Um…I think I have…minus 6?"

"Let me see," Xur peaked over, but she hid them from his vision.

"No, no, I'm fine," she insisted. "minus 6."

When the drawing round came to his turn, he pulled from the pile and found an 8, putting him just at 22, right after Kaidan expectedly bombed out over 23.

Anakin had first bet. "10 pieces."

Effa shook her head. "No thanks," and placed her cards in the side pile.

Xur already knew Anakin couldn't beat him. He hadn't bombed out, and all the cards that would beat his 22 had already been played, and Trilla had -6, which had slim to absolutely no chance at reaching 22.

"Alright," Xur nodded. "I guess I'll raise you…however much this is," he said, splitting off half his pile and into the pot.

Kaidan waved his hand through the air in dismissal. "You're full of more hot gas than a hutt after dinner."

Xur rubbed his chin, feeling the pride of victory swell. "Let's see, are you still in the game? Oh right, you bombed out."

"I'll call," Trilla said.

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"Huh?" Kaidan asked.

"The bet," Trilla explained. "I'm calling. Everything I have. I think that matches what you put in," she said, looking at Xur, and pushing her entire pile into the middle.

Xur almost laughed, but kept it to himself, turning to Anakin. "Uh, your bet, man."

"Yeah, I'm out of here thank you," Anakin discarded his cards.

Trilla kept her cards hidden, looking to Xur. "What do you have?"

Xur cocked his head in disbelief, and then presented his cards. "I've got 22," he said, which was followed by more groans from the others.

She looked down, her head drooping with a heavy sigh. "At first, it wasn't adding up, but I figured I'd stay in," she explained. "But then I saw this card I'd never seen before. I believe it's called 'The Star'?"

Xur gulped.

Trilla dropped her cards with a sudden smile. "Pure Sabacc. Minus 23."

The room exploded with laughter as the others finally witnessed Xur being beaten at his own game, downplaying the value of everything until the very end.

Through the laughter, he scoffed. "Well played."

She smiled. "I had a good teacher."

A few years passed, and suddenly the Republic was beginning to split itself apart. Many systems began to flock to the Confederacy of Independent Systems as the Sith Lord Count Dooku riled up dissent within each world. That's when the Clone Wars broke out.

Trilla and I had become close, but since we were Jedi, we were forbidden to form romantic attachments…which strained the both of us. It was almost like a curse. We loved each other, but it felt like it didn't matter. There were hundreds of reasons why we couldn't be together, and all of them felt like knives in my heart. It was…too much…for either of us to bear.

When the day came that my Master and I would head to Geonosis…head to war…she and I met in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. She was a Padawan by now, just beginning her apprenticeship, while I had been groomed for combat. I was a weapon, and I knew it. The Jedi were going to utilize me in every aspect if they could, and I knew that meant I wouldn't be on Coruscant nearly enough.

I told her that I was-,

"…heading to Geonosis," Xur explained. "Master Windu is assembling all able Jedi to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Separatists…and…he's confident enough to bring me along."

They both sat together between two of the majestic fountains in the grand hall, the quiet water enough to drown out their voices as they talked. Xur's eyes remained fixed to the floor, holding back the terrible idea he was about to suggest, and he didn't dare look her way. He couldn't bear to see her eyes when he revealed the truth.

Trilla placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling his anxiety almost crackle in the Force. "You've trained for this your entire life. You'll be ready," she assured, and then leaned in to whisper. "I know you will."

"I know, I know," Xur eased, but still didn't look her way. "But Trilla, I…I don't know if we should-," he couldn't finish, no matter how hard he tried to force himself to push her away, he couldn't find the strength. Most of him didn't want to. He couldn't count how many times he had imagine scooping her up in his arms to telling her how much he cared about her, and that it was time to say to hell with the Order and live the rest of their lives together. The picture he saw…it was the most beautiful thing he could imagine…and yet he knew it was a twisted fantasy that could never become reality.

But it wasn't the Code, it wasn't the fact that they were Jedi. He just felt as if…

As if it wasn't his destiny.

He could feel it in the Force…a pull. Something out there in the galaxy was calling him to be something greater than just another Jedi. Anakin was the Chosen One, but Xur felt like he had his own part to play in the wars to come…and perhaps beyond that.

"Xur," Trilla called. "What's bothering you? I can feel great conflict within you…as if you're…at war with yourself."

The truth had to be said.

He turned and took both her hands into his own. "Trilla…I want you to know that no matter whatever may happen to either of us, I will always care about you. You mean the world to me, and I'm sincerely glad I met you…but-,"

"We can't be together," she finished for him, the look on her face understanding, which was not what he expected. In fact, he could sense that she perhaps knew what he was going to say before they had even sat together. "I know, and I care about you too, but I understand that we're both traveling in opposing directions. You have your war, and I have my training."

"Y-yeah," Xur agreed. "What I was going to say…kind of word for word. How did you know?"

She shrugged. "You're not as subtle as you think."

Xur scoffed and pulled his hands away. "Alright that's enough out of you. Obviously, you're too damn smart for your own good," he joked.

"Learned from the best," she smiled.

He laughed. "That's cute. Thanks."

When they both had run out of banter, and frankly words to say entirely, they embraced, feeling the love they had for each other intertwining in the Force, and let it sink in as best they could.

"Don't die," she almost begged. "Please."

"No one's killing me," he promised. "Anakin and I…we're the best there are," they pulled away and Xur squeezed her shoulder. "You know that."

"I know," she nodded. "Still, I worry."

"Don't worry about me," he said, rising to his feet. "I'll end this thing swiftly…and when it's all over, we'll compare notes. Who knows? Maybe you'll have caught up to me by then."

Trilla rolled her eyes. "Get out of my sight, you brute."

With that, Xur walked away…walked to war.

Thanks for checking this out! Let me just say that I absolutely fell in love with Jedi: Fallen Order, and all its characters, so I felt it necessary to write up my own story featuring far and away my favorite: Trilla Suduri. This OC I've introduced was the main character of a series I have already written, but I've decided to make this story a spin-off, so no need to catch up! This story has Clone Wars flashbacks, but mainly focuses on the Imperial Inquisition, and Xur Eon's daring mission to infiltrate the Inquisitorious with LOTS of drama along the way.

As stated in the description, this story is rated M for a reason: mostly for FREQUENT crude language, harsh/dark comedy, violence and adult themes. This story is a gritty take on Star Wars, so just be prepared for the things I have mentioned.

I hope you've read enough to be on board! Please feel free to give me feedback, even if you don't like something. If you think something is wrong, or doesn't make sense, don't hesitate to let me know, so I can analyze and fix the issue.

With that out of the way, let's begin!