And The Truth Shall Set You Free (Council Attention Request.)

[Abagael Zellan]

It had to happen sooner or later. She was already nervous enough with the press leaping all over her recent choice to quit a prestigious job at a major Coruscant law firm. Her secret had been well buried and hidden by some very powerful people, but all it would take was a few suspicions, a dedicated digger, to uncover the truth. And with Dougrey Zellan breathing down her back to return to work, Abby couldn't be sure what to expect.

It was better that certain people knew know.

It didn't make this any easier. Telling Hayes had been had hard enough, but the Council was a completely different matter. Telling the Council was just as bad, maybe worse, than the public. And a heck of a lot harder.

But it had to be done. If there was a chance that she would be facing murder charges in the near future, it had to happen.

With a deep breath Abagael walked briskly into the Council chambers, dressed in one of her oldest suits in an attempt to make this a little less nerve-wracking. The woman found herself unable to put her court face on. It was like being back in school , the first day of mock trials. Her hands were shaking. Abby found herself wishing that she hadn't requested the appearance. She wanted to leave.

Instead she only bowed awkwardly and waited. She didn't trust herself to speak yet.

[Dasquian Belargic]

It seemed the Council was never out of their chambers now. Just when one matter had been dealt with, another two sprang up – it was like trying to slay a Hydra. Still, they remained attentive and for the most part upbeat. Abagael’s entrance was the next issue on the agenda, and Dasquian smiled slightly at the decidedly nervous looking Padawan.

“What can we do for you today, Padawan Zellan?”

[Abagael Zellan]

Here it goes.

Abagael started unsteadily, still unsure of what would happen when everything was brought to sight. Gradually though, her voice became steadier and slipped into the professional lull that was used in trial.

"Recently I left my job at Zellan and Zeelan Law, and a situation has arisen surrounding this decision. Certain allegations are being threatened to be made public, and if they are... If they are I face the risk of being incarcerated."

She let that hang for a moment while she collected her thoughts. Abagael grit her teeth and her shoulders tensed noticably.

"I haven't been completely honest about who I am."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira's brow knit slightly as he steepled his fingertips.

"Explain."

Even before she spoke, he began to draw an idea of what was on her mind, as she formed the words in her head.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei made a tsk sound and shook his head. "Incarcerated, eh?"

It had been a long day for Wei. Council responsibilities usually didn't drain him much, but there were days when he was ready for it to be over. And Abagael didn't help things either.

"Not been completely honest about who you were?" Wei smiled and his chest heaved as though he had hiccuped. But in reality Wei was suppressing a chuckle. "Well, lying about who you are is never good. After a while, you find that you've got even yourself fooled."

As irritated as Wei was, Wei had to cut her some slack. After all, she had decided to come out and tell the truth. Which was better than sticking to her falsehoods in the first place.

[Abagael Zellan]

"..."

Abby had to stop before she'd started and take a slow breath. Her stomach was churning as she tried to situate what needed to be said in some kind of understandable order.

"My name, my real name, is Ana Gallowac. I came to Coruscant eighteen years ago... the year Abagael Zellan was killed."

It was hard to continue without her voice shaking. It was unnerving, the way sound echoed in the Council chambers. Her heart was pounding so fast and hard that it almost made her dizzy, and Abagael was sure that it was audible.

"Dougray Zellan approached me a few months after I arrived on Coruscant with a proposition. He...uh, he had killed his daughter and then arranged for it to appear from all angles as if she was taking a hiatus at the families Chandrila estate.

He needed someone to be Abagael. I wasn't known by many here, most of my time was spent with other users, so I was one of the final candidates. I'd never been arrested and I came from a very small outer-rim planet, any record of my past wouldn't have been hard to destroy. I also bore a resemblence to his daughter, which became the deciding factor.

Within a few weeks I was on Chandrila. Dougray provided me with family albums, holos, background information on Abagael. I spent time with associates of his who had watched her grow up. Zellan scheduled me for several facial reconstruction surgeries. At the time I wasn't aware of how extensive my employment would be."

The woman had settled into a rhythm of pausing and looking up, then beginning again and shifting her gaze inward.

"The process took a year, and even then when I returned to Coruscant I was told to limit my time spent out in public. From that point until about five years later, I was monitered constantly to ensure that I wasn't arousing suspicion. As far as everyone is concerned, Abagael Zellan returned home after a year."

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Well…"

Dasquian was baffled. It took him a good while to think of a reply to the story. He could imagine, now, Pierce appearing and charging her with obstructing the course of justice, being accomplice to murder or some such.

"Thank you for your honesty, Miss Gallowac. I'm not quite sure what implications of this confession are."

This said, he looked to his fellow counselors, and to their thoughts on the matter.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shook his head. "Well....Abagael," he said deliberately.

"I must admire your honesty. This sudden change is going to affect every fiber of your life, and every relationship you are in. Everyone and anyone that you have interacted with since you became Abagael Zellan will be severely impacted when they find out who you really are."

Wei pushed his glasses up onto his nose. "To say that the consequences will be severe is an understatement."

[Abagael Zellan]

Everything was going as she'd suspected it might, Abagael thought vaguely. The woman felt dizzy and, for an instant, wondered if fate would be so kind as to let her go into labor months early and escape the present situation. Then the sensible side of Abby nudged her back to reality.

"I know that what I've done is wrong. I also know that hiding it from the Order was hardly a step in the right direction. But,"

Abby--Ana--looked up.

"I have been Abagael Zellan for my entire adult life. As awful as it will sound, I was neither prepared nor comfortable with the idea of revealing and losing my identity again. I'm also a mother. Not a very good one I'll admit, but a mother all the same and I was afraid that my son would become a tool for Dougray Zellan to use. To avoid that happening I tried to keep things between us as smooth as possible, which meant continuing my role as his daughter."

The woman knew she was beginning to sound defensive.

"I'm not trying to excuse my actions. Attempting to explain why I didn't come forward sooner, yes, but I know there are consequences and I'm not trying to avoid them."

[Figrin D'an]

Figrin was not quite sure how to react. He had remained silent for the explanation, and the initial responses from others on the council. He pondered the fallout from such information about Abagael... or rather Ana... becoming public.

"What kind of threat does this Dougray Zellan still pose to you and and your son? This will likely dictate how you, and we, will proceed on this matter."

[Abagael Zellan]

"That's hard to say."

Abby pondered the question slowly. She had known the elder Zellan for a long time now, and yet the old man was still constantly surprising her with his spontaneous reactions to situations. It always depended on his mood, and those were harder to predict than the weather. There was only one thing that Abagael was sure of; Dougray was a man who worked at something until it was finished the way he wanted it to finish.

"He wouldn't hesitate to kill us himself, if given the opportunity. But I don't think he is prepared to do that just yet. Until he thinks that I have some kind of evidence against him, which I don't, he'll simply try and manipulate the situation to his benefit with threats."

She shook her head slowly.

"My son, however, could be in physical danger. My ex-husband just gained custody, which means that Dougray has access to him at any time."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Well, that would be bad, wouldn't it?" Wei said. "So, it leaves the Jedi in an odd situation. I don't think we can override the court can we?"

Wei's brow knitted up while he concentrated on thinking up something like a solution.