"Your friend out there… she doesn't have the same interest. At least not yet," Harry explained, his tone still soft despite his piercing gaze.. "Don't get me wrong, she's curious. But she isn't already questioning. Not like you."
"And … that's why you were pressing my buttons in the first place?" Aayla asked, her tone filled with doubt.
"I was just seeing whether you could think, and whether you'd admit to feeling like any sentient being as well," Harry replied. "I didn't do it with Shaak Ti because she didn't ask to stay."
"So, just as she was determined to find fault with myself and what I've shown Ahsoka, I was just as determined to make her at least think. Even if she decides I'm wrong, she'll have to have thought about it." Harry's expression turned very tired as fatigue seemed to overcome him. "The moment people stop thinking for themselves, is the moment a movement, organization, culture, or civilization dies."
Aayla regarded Harry quietly for several moments, as she chewed her bottom lip and asked quietly. "Did you mean what you said about the clones?"
Harry met her eyes and shrugged a little bit. "I simply call it like I see it."
"But you're saying… the Order… the entire Republic…" She trailed off not sure what to say, her entire view had changed and she wasn't sure how to react.
Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure what you want me to tell you."
When she appeared to look a bit lost, Harry realized that it just wasn't worth it to metaphorically hit a girl when she's down.
"Now, am I blaming you personally for the decision the higher-ups of the Senate and the Council to continue to create clones, use the military assets that magically became available to you in order to protect yourself from a foe that also manufactures its soldiers on an assembly line?"
She looked up at him at this, when the pause had started to lengthen, he said, "No, I don't blame you."
Before she could say anything, "But that doesn't excuse you, or anyone else in this galaxy from stepping back and at least realizing exactly what kind of lives those Clones have and what classification it truly falls under. Whether you're in a position to do anything about it is an entirely separate issue. I mean, it's not like you can wave a hand and free all the members of your own species, right? You can't expect the weight of freeing the Clones from their chains of servitude to be any easier."
"Why aren't you out there helping then?" Aayla asked. A week ago when she'd met him, that might have come out like a demand after seeing some of his abilities. Now it was just honest curiosity.
Harry regarded her thoughtfully for a few moments, his thoughts echoing her own. "Simple answer? I'm a hypocrite." He answered honestly, weariness once more in his tone.
"And the not so simple answer?" Aayla asked intuitively, despite being taken slightly aback by her comment.
"Not so simple answer?" Harry mused as his eyes got a faraway look, "I'm not sure what a wizard's role should be in this galaxy."
"Or more specifically, I'm not sure what my role should be." His lips twitched in a smirk or a sigh, Aayla wasn't sure, "Because if I get involved, and I mean truly involved, things will change."
"You did that when you helped against the slavers." Aayla pointed out, Harry shook his head, his voice quiet, "No, I didn't. Right now I live my own life, explore, pursue my own interests, and occasionally flit along the edges of events. I save a life here and there, maybe occasionally more than one. But I've avoided interfering in ways that would bring me more prominence than I feel is necessary. In fact, here on Kashyyyk is the only place anyone of prominence in the ruling government even has real information on me. And that's minimal at best. As for my reasons for this, some are altruistic and others make me a selfish bastard."
"But … if I place myself at the center of events… your galaxy may not ever be the same." Harry's voice dropped to a soft whisper, "And … if I start getting involved again, where and when do I stop?"
Aayla just stared at him for a long moment as she processed that. She was tempted to tell him that he had gotten involved. That things already were changed. She was also tempted to ask what he meant by 'again'. But she didn't know how to put it in words in response to his blunt honesty. There was no trace of humor or joking that she usually found in conversation with him. He seemed strangely vulnerable at the moment.
Her voice was soft as she finally responded, "You are a very complicated person, Harry Potter."
Harry blinked and stared at her for a second before a sad smile crossed his face. "You aren't the first to say so. I doubt you'll be the last."
His smile turned more amused and she saw his expression warm up a little bit. "Usually there's more swearing involved though…. or a bit of an afterglow."
Aayla shook her head a little bit ignoring the innuendo and then glanced around. "I think I'm going to follow Shaak Ti's direction and meditate for awhile as well."
She didn't see the small smile on his face as she forgot to ask once more to change her back to blue.
After she had left, Harry's grin faded as his mind replayed the events of the day. One moment in particular. It wasn't often he experienced something that he'd never seen or at least heard of before. Unfortunately, running into such an experience now was very troubling. He pushed himself off his table and headed toward the shelves of books. He had some research to do.
The sun was setting on the mountain palace that was as much a fortress as anything. Given the surrounding mountains, the lights and refraction off the snow made it artificially lighter until the system's star actually set. The planet of Scipio was mostly hills and mountains so this was far from a unique structure, albeit more reinforced and protected than most of the others. The palace was centuries old and built to defend any assault on it, as befitting the predominant warrior culture of the planet.
The banking clan had their headquarters on the planet, which made the planet an ideal place for the Sith to have one of their many bases, and one that was especially well protected. Any military force that attempted to occupy the planet would suffer massive casualties from a culture that built everything with a mind toward war.
However, despite their significant warlike mindset, that did not mean they skimped on the aesthetics. Everything about the palace's decorations and environment was understated but clearly expensive.
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