Jedi Temple, Coruscant, 38 BBY
In the following months, the friendship between Asajj and I grew. She opened up about her life before Narec found her, and while our first meeting had helped a lot with her healing there were still things she had to work through, and I did what I could to help her with that.
Narec and Komary often held our training sessions together; specifically lightsaber training. I was far ahead in mastery of Force powers and could outperform even our Masters in feats of telekinesis, but we were both new to lightsaber forms. Despite my inherent talents in most things, Asajj was a natural with the blade
While Komari was a far superior duelist than Narec, he specialized in Shii-Cho and had a firmer grip on the basics of that form than her. Since Shii-Cho was the most simplistic and straightforward lightsaber form it was traditionally the first form taught to Initiated, so Narec took the lead in our early lightsaber practice.
We were far too young and inexperienced to have practice duels, so we just practiced velocities together, letting our bodies get used to the movements.
“Your wings are throwing me off,” Asajj said, some frustration seeping into her voice. “You keep flapping them randomly and it’s distracting!”
I winced, and with a frown I said. “I’m sorry! I don’t think Shii-Cho was made with winged species in mind. If I don’t move them, half of the velocities would have me hitting them.” Shii-Cho included many wide swings that caused my wings to be a hindrance when practicing the basic velocities. I was hoping I could use them effectively with the high mobility of Ataru but with Shii-Cho, unless I modified the movements, they were just in the way.
She sighed and let her frustration flow into the Force. I was impressed at how good she had gotten at letting go of her emotions.
“No,” She said. “No, I shouldn’t let myself get distracted so easily. It’s not your fault and I shouldn’t have made it sound like it is.” She glanced at my wings and a light flush colored her cheeks as she looked away. Apparently, she found my wings attractive, and while I didn’t understand why, it was flattering.
“Good job on controlling your frustration, Asajj.” Narec stepped in after having given her time to calm herself on her own. In my opinion, this patience to let his Padawan see and correct their own mistakes, then compliment them on it made him one of the best teachers in the Temple. I had seen a few Masters that could learn from his example.
“Distractions will occur in combat, and being able to determine which ones are a threat and which ones can be safely ignored is a lesson best learned in the confines of the Temple. Continue being mindful of it.” He nodded, satisfied when Asajj replied with a “Yes, Master.” before turning to me and continuing. “As for you Anika, move your wings in tandem with the velocities rather than as a response to them. Move them with your lightsaber rather than away from it.”
I considered this for a moment before replying, “Yes, Master Narec.” and moving into a stance, indicating I was ready to start again.
This time, rather than moving my wings up to avoid hitting them, I moved them backward in the same direction as my training saber. They had more than enough mobility to do so, and the effect was like night and day. It wasn’t perfect, and I still suspected Shii-Cho wasn’t ideal for me, but now my movements flowed more easily. I was dancing around the blade rather than just moving away from it.
My new flowing, dance-like movements didn’t do anything to help Asajj with her focus though, but she was learning too and managed to keep up without making any mistakes. The flush in her cheeks was the only indication of her distraction.
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My fifth Life Day came and went as the days flew by in a blur. For the first time since I was reincarnated, I was truly happy with my current circumstances. Asajj and I would spend most of our days training together under the watchful eyes of our Masters and in our free time we would play games or explore the temple. Asajj was particularly happy when I managed to fly while carrying her. It was difficult, but the joy I could sense from her when flying made up for it. Besides, it was good training.
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Occasionally, Dooku would invite us for tea as well. You would think having tea with an old man like Dooku would be boring, but I loved it. More often than not we left having learned some new insight in the Force. He may have fallen in another timeline, but in this one, he was a gold mine of wisdom for curious young Padawans.
During one of these tea times, I met two people I had been looking forward to meeting the most.
Asajj was practicing her Force powers with Narec, so it was just Komari and I as we reached the door to Dooku’s chambers and knocked. I felt Dooku inside flex the Force to open the door for him.
“Master Qui-Gon, Padawan Kenobi, what a pleasant surprise!” Komari said as we entered and saw the two of them sitting at the table with Dooku. Thanks to years of intense training I showed no overt reaction other than a small widening of my eyes. On the inside though, hidden behind strong, practiced mental shields, I was fangirling like crazy! I nearly fainted when Obi-Wan spoke in greeting.
“Well, hello there! It has been some time, Komari.” He said it! He actually said it!
“Greetings to you as well, Knight Vosa,” Qui-Gon spoke with a glint in his eye. “Congratulations on your promotion. And this must be your young Padawan.” He turned to me. “Skywalker, if I’m not mistaken?”
“Greetings Master Jinn, Padawan Kenobi,” I spoke as respectfully as I could while bowing. “Padawan Anika Skywalker. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Master Komari and Master Dooku have spoken highly of you both.”
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow as he studied me with a curious smile. “My, you’re quite well-spoken for one so young. And polite.” He glanced playfully at Obi-Wan before continuing. “If only I had such luck in Padawans.”
Obi-Wan just smiled as he replied. “You’re the one who taught me to speak frankly, Master. If you have any complaints about the result you only have yourself to blame.”
They all smiled and chuckled at that.
Not intending to be out-snarked, I spoke again. “First impressions can be misleading, Master.”
They all stared at me for a few seconds, stunned before they burst out laughing. Obi-Wan was the first to speak.
“Oh, I like this one.” He said with a grin. “We’re going to get along splendidly.”
“Indeed.” Dooku chuckled. “Now, Komari, Anika, please, sit. I wanted to hear how your training is going.”
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Komari started talking about my training and they were all impressed by my progress considering my age. It wasn’t hard to feel the pride coming from her as she spoke and I could feel some from Dooku as well.
At some point, the discussion went to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan who spoke about their recent extended mission where they spent a year protecting Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore. It might just have been because I knew some of the untold parts of the story, but I thought I could feel some confusion and regret from Obi-Wan.
I was a key contributor when the discussion turned to the Jedi Code and the Jedi in general. They all listened in stunned silence when I explained my dislike of the ban on attachments. Both because they could see the logic and because they had a hard time wrapping their heads around hearing a child speak in such a reflected manner.
Dooku and Qui-Gon were concerned with how many Jedi I had felt struggling with attachments, especially when I told them the greatest struggle most had was fear of being discovered. My conclusion was basically that the rule was both born out of fear and resulted in fear, and therefore had no place being in the Jedi Code.
They promised they would take my concerns to the Council, and although I doubted anything would come from it anytime soon, it was reassuring to be taken seriously.
I knew the Jedi Order’s refusal to adapt and change were flaws the Banite Siths had both encouraged and taken advantage of. The chances I would be able to affect any significant change - especially before the Grand Plan came to its conclusion - were slim. However, even though both Dooku and Qui-Gon were mavericks who often disagreed with the Council’s decisions, they were also highly respected. If they stayed with the Order and stayed alive respectively, maybe they could affect change for me.
As the discussion went on, I idly wondered how the butterflies I had already released would affect the future. Butterflies… dragonflies maybe?